Chapter 6! Yay! I like this one. I hope you do too!
Disclaimer:
Sparrowflyaway: …Oooh, a letter? For me! Cool! Who's writing to me? Maybe it's from Naoko Takeuchi. I did write to her last week and offer to buy the rights to Sailor Moon... let's see... "Dear Sparrowflyaway, While your offer of $150 is very generous for someone your age, I am not looking to sell the rights to Sailor Moon at present. Please find enclosed a signed picture of your favourite Sailor Scout, Sailor Venus. I hope you continue to enjoy Sailor Moon. Sincerely, Takeuchi Naoko." Darn! I was hoping she'd like my offer enough to sell the rights to me.
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"Ding, dong."
"I'll get it!" Christina called, dropping her plate of pancakes onto the couch and running to the door. She peered through the peephole to see a familiar head of red hair on the other side. She frowned and opened the door.
"What are you doing here, Riley?" she asked.
"I thought we could talk before school," Riley said, before quietly and hesitantly adding, "Sailor Venus. Or should I say Princess?" Christina scowled.
"How long have you known?" she asked icily.
"Could we just talk about it, please?" Christina sighed.
"Artie, we've got a guest here!" she called over her shoulder. Artie appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, his eyes widening as he saw who the guest was.
"You'd better come into the loungeroom and sit down," Christina said to Riley, opening the door wide and walking through the loungeroom without a backwards glance. When the three of them were seated on the couch, Christina said,
"Now, same question: how long have you known about me?"
"He knows?!?" Artie exclaimed, staring at Riley.
"Yeah. I had my suspiscions months ago, when you started disappearing from parties and stuff, and then I'd hear about Sailor V turning up. The timelines were too close to be coincidental. But my suspiscions were confirmed yesterday, when I saw that white cat announcing you. I recognised it as the one that followed you last year, back before reports of Sailor V started appearing," Riley said. Christina couldn't help smiling as she remembered her first encounter with Artemis.
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"Riley, I wish you'd stop annoying me!"
"I'm not."
"You are!"
"Am not."
"Are too!" Christina couldn't help sighing as her cousin's shrieks echoed from the back of the bus. She had been pleased that Steph was taking her bus to go visit Bonnie, but had not been banking on Steph's sworn enemy being on the bus at the same time. She shook her head and stared absently out the window, trying to block the noise from her mind.
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Can it, you guys! You're giving me a headache!" Christina yelled, silencing the bickering. She sighed and turned back to the window as the bus slowed near a bus shelter. As the bus pulled up, Christina noticed a white cat with a gold crescent moon on its forehead sitting on top of the bus shelter. The cat was staring straight at her, and its cerulean-blue eyes seemed to be analysing her very soul. Christina shivered and turned away from the window, only to see the cat jump through the open bus doors and sit down on the seat opposite her, directly behind the bus driver. It turned its gaze on her once more and she turned away, resolutely trying to ignore the cat. She absently waved goodbye to Steph, still focusing on ignoring the cat. She couldn't help glancing back at it every now and again, and every time she found that it was still staring at her. What's with this cat? Christina wondered, turning and watching the cat, who seemed to smile and nod when she began to take notice of it. Somehow, it seemed a little less creepy that it had before, so she continued to look at it. She could not bring herself to look into its piercing blue eyes, though. The bus finally began to pull up at Christina's stop, so she gathered her things and got off, noticing that the cat also got off the bus at the same time. She looked up and noticed that Riley was watching them, and she frowned and shrugged at him to tell him that she had no idea what the cat was doing. Christina turned and walked home, stopping every few steps to turn and look at the cat, who was still following her. She had the strange feeling that the cat was playing a game with her. Whenever she stopped walking and turned around to look at the cat, it stopped walking and stared at her.
"Go home kitty. Go on, scat," Christna said, waving her hand at the cat, who blinked expectantly back at her. Christina shook her head in defeat and walked the rest of the way home, the cat following all the way. Christina unlocked the door and glanced back at the cat, who stepped forward. It must be expecting to be allowed inside, Christina thought. She hurried inside and shut the door before the cat could get in, then looked through the peephole to see that the cat was walking away. Sighing with relief, she put her bag in her room, then went into the kitchen and pulled out a packet of chips. Munching happily, she walked back into her bedroom and changed into her favourite orange summer dress and white sandals and turned her laptop on. She then opened the curtains and jumped in surprise: the cat was now sitting on her bedroom windowsill. The cat began pawing at the window, attempting to open it. Christina shook her head at the cat, then shut the curtains again, thinking that she'd rather have the light on than have the cat staring at her.
"Hi, honey! How was school?" Christina's mum called, shutting the front door and walking through to Christina's bedroom.
"Yeah, pretty good," Christina said.
"What do you know?"
"Oh, not much."
"Well, you're a mine of information, aren't you. And what are you doing now?"
"Not much."
"Well, open your curtains and finish those chips, then get down to homework."
"Mum, today was the last day of school, remember?"
"Oh, yes. What are we going to have for tea?"
"Ummm... I dunno. Spaghetti Bolognaise?"
"Oh yeah, I suppose we could have that. Open your curtains while I go get tea started," Mrs Aino said, shutting the door behind her. Christina sighed and peeped out the curtains, frowning when she saw that the cat was still there. Christina opened the curtains and turned away, putting a DVD in her laptop and playing it, aware that the cat was still watching her from the windowsill. She glanced at the cat, who had begun pawing at the window again. Christina shook her head and turned the volume up, which prevented her from hearing the window creak open. She felt a tap on her shoulder and looked up to find the cat standing on the desk beside her, almost nose to nose with her. Christina shrieked and jumped backwards, falling out of her chair and onto the floor. She sat up and stared at the cat, who was still standing beside her laptop.
"How'd you get in? I'm sure that window was shut," Christina said, scrambling to her feet and walking over to the window. She examined the lock, but could not find any reason why it could have opened.
"The lock's not broken, Christina. I opened it," a male voice said. Christina whirled around, searching for the source of the voice.
"It's OK, Christina, don't be afraid. I've been looking for you for quite a long time," the voice said again. Christina stared at the cat, who jumped off the desk and landed on Christina's shoulder.
"My name is Artemis. I'm very pleased to meet you, Christina," the cat said into her ear.
"W-what do you mean, you've been looking for me?" Christina whispered, looking at Artemis.
"You, Christina, are a very special, powerful person," Artemis began, before a loud siren reached their ears.
"That sounds like the police. Here's a way that I can explain. Here, take this pen, hold it up and say, 'Moon Power, Transform!'" Artemis said, doing a backflip and creating a white-and-gold pen. Christina picked the pen up and examined it, then looked at Artemis and nodded.
"Moon Power, Transform!" Orange light shot out of the pen, making her hair waist-length and changing her dress into a white-pink-and-blue school uniform and her white sandals into blue high-heels. The light then formed a pair of white gloves with orange bands at the elbow, a red bow in her hair, a white choker with a gold crescent moon on her neck, a red mask over her eyes and a gold crescent moon on her forehead. Christina twirled around and posed, making a V for Victory sign. Then she gasped.
"What the...? What's going on?" Christina asked, examining her outfit.
"You've transformed into your Sailor Scout form: Sailor V. Don't worry, just follow your instinct," Artemis said. Sailor V nodded, then locked her bedroom door and jumped out the window, off to stop her first burglar.
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"Hmmm... Well, all that aside, why did you come here?" Artie asked.
"I wanted to talk to you, Princess," Riley said.
"Riley, I'm not the Princess in this form. I'm just an ordinary girl when I'm untransformed. Just like you're just an ordinary guy when you're untransformed," Christina said.
"So you know that I'm..."
"Tuxedo Mask? Yes. I know. So does Artie. And if you know what's good for you, I suggest you stay away from Sailor Moon," Christina said, getting to her feet.
"Wait, I just want to know one more thing. Why did that other General, the female one, call me 'Endymion'? What does that mean?" Christina looked at him for a moment before saying,
"You'll find out. It's only a matter of time. Until you understand, stay away from Sailor Moon. And stay away from me and my friends, too," she added, before picking up her schoolbag and walking out the front door, leaving Riley and Artie sitting on the couch. Riley sighed and stood up.
"Well, I'd better get going or I'll be late for school," he said.
"I'd do what Christina says, you know. She can get pretty cranky if you don't," Artie called, watching as Riley walked out the front door.
"Man, I hope he listens to us. Things could get very nasty otherwise," Artie said, shaking his head and sighing.
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"Artemis, I've been thinking... since it's my birthday this weekend, do you think I could have a dress up party with Steph, Bonnie, Dee and Phoenix?" Christina asked, sitting down under a tree on the far side of the school oval. Artie frowned.
"What sort of a dress up party, Christina?"
"Well... I'm not really sure, to be honest. I've been tossing up a few different ideas, but I haven't really decided anything yet," Christina said.
"Are you going to call Steph and the others now, or wait until you get home?" Artie asked.
"First we need to decide where we're going to have the party. Should we have it at home, or maybe at the bowling alley? Although, if we have it at the bowling alley, there's likely to be reporters and people wanting interviews, considering what happened yesterday at the cinema," Christina said.
"What about Macey's Bistro in the side party room?" Artie asked. Christina smiled.
"Artemis, that's perfect! I'll call Macey's, then I'll call Stephy and the others," Christina said, pulling out her phone and smiling at the Venus symbol on it, before flipping it open and pressing a few buttons.
"Hello? Yes, I was wondering, is the party room free this Saturday between about 6:30 and 9:30 PM? ...Great! Could I book that for those times, please? ...Aino. ...Yes, Aino, A-I-N-O. ...OK, thanks. Bye." Christina pressed a button on her phone and smiled at Artemis.
"Well, that's all set! I'd better ring Stephy and the others now," she said.
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"Hi Bonnie! Hi Dee! Hi Nixx!" Steph called, running down the steps into the Base. Steph stopped at the foot of the stairs and stared: fire, ice and electricity were flying in a circle around the room. At the centre of the circle were Bonnie, Dee and Phoenix, who were watching the elements and laughing with pleasure.
"Yeah! I won!" Bonnie shouted, defrosting her ice and sending it back into the empty bottle on the table.
"Only 'cause you put my fire out earlier," Dee said, smiling and letting her fire go out. Phoenix's electricity fizzled out of existence, and the three girls smiled at Steph.
"Where's Luna?" Dee asked.
"I'm not sure. She was going to see if she could sense Sailor Venus when she's detransformed, but she should be back by now," Steph said.
"Maybe we should go look for her," Phoenix said.
"Yeah. But she did say that she had a big surprise to show us, so maybe one of us should wait here and call if she comes while we're gone,"
"I'm sure she'll call if she gets here before we get back," Bonnie said.
"Yeah, you're probably right. Let's go see if we can find her," Steph said,
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Gee, I'm hungry. Maybe I should have grabbed some ice cream before I left, Steph thought. A buzzing reached her ears, and she looked in her bag to find her phone flashing. She pulled it out, flipped it open and pressed a button.
"Hello? ...Oh, hey, Chrissy! ...Your birthday party? Sounds cool! ...Oh, really? Well, did you see the newspapers this morning? ...Yeah, them. We could dress up like them. ...Yeah, good point... ...Oh, I know. What about Princess Sailor Venus? ...Yeah. Have you got a pen and paper? ...OK, she looks like the others, except her shirt, choker, collar and back bow are orange, her front bow is navy blue, she's got orange bands on her gloves, a red bow in her hair, a- ...Yeah, like Sailor V's. ...She has a crescent moon on her forehead, and a crown in her hair. Oh, and her shoes are like Mars', except they're orange, and they've got a band attached to the back that goes around your ankle. ...Oh, I, ummm... I followed the other Scouts and saw her, too. ...I'll go as Sailor Moon. ...Sure, I'll tell them. ...Oh, I'm sure they'll be able to decide. ...OK. See you there, then. Bye," Steph said, pressing a button and slipping her phone back in her bag.
"I don't know that the Princess would be very happy with you letting someone else dress up like her," a voice said. Steph turned to find a young girl in a purple top and a yellow skirt jumping over a skipping rope, her midnight blue, odango-style hair bouncing as she skipped.
"Who are you? And how do you know about the Princess?" Steph asked.
"You don't recognise me? Well, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. In this form, my name is Lucy," the girl said, pausing in her skipping.
"What do you mean, 'in this form'? Who are you?" Steph asked. The girl giggled.
"I told you, my name's Lucy. And it's not really a good idea to be telling civilians about the Princess, or to be using your Scout form for dress up parties," the girl said, pointing the handle of her skipping rope at Steph. "Although I suppose it couldn't hurt to be ready if a Youma decided to show up," she added, tapping the other handle thoughtfully against her chin.
"Lucy, how do you know about all of this?" Steph asked.
"Well, since you asked, I suppose I'd better answer. You know me in my other form. That's the only way you've ever seen me before. When I'm in my normal form, you know me as-" Lucy froze as a bark resounded through the air, and a small poodle came running at them. Lucy took one look at the poodle, screamed and ran.
What the...? What was that about? Steph wondered, watching as the poodle followed the girl, barking madly. Who is she?
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"Where could Luna be?" Dee asked, looking around.
"Dunno. Maybe she's found something," Bonnie said. The two girls walked through Lake Pertobe, remembering the previous day, when Bonnie and Steph had defeated the balloon-like youma.
"Sheesh, that youma was so weak," Bonnie remarked.
"What'cha doing, Mercury? Mars?" a voice said cheerfully. The girls turned to find a young girl riding a swing set, her purple top, yellow skirt and midnight-blue, odango-style hair flying out behind her as she swung.
"Who are you? And how do you know about us?" Bonnie asked. The girl smiled.
"I'm Lucy. Well, at least when I'm like this. Normally, I'm-" Lucy stopped and sniffed the air as the smell of fried fish came wafting over to them from a nearby barbeque. Lucy squealed with delight, jumped up and ran off, following the scent.
"Well, someone certainly likes fish," Dee remarked, watching as Lucy begged the picnickers for some fish.
"Yeah. But how did she know that I'm Mercury and you're Mars?" Bonnie wondered aloud.
"Hmm. I dunno. We should probably talk to Luna and the others about this," Dee said. Bonnie nodded in agreement.
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Where could Luna have got to? Phoenix wondered, looking around the Gateway Plaza car park. She glanced at the shopping plaza and smiled, remembering the first time she had transformed into Sailor Jupiter. That sure was amazing, she thought.
"What'cha thinking about, Jupiter? Your first transformation?" a voice said. Phoenix turned to find a small girl with midnight-blue, odango-style hair riding a tricycle towards her, the purple and yellow tricycle exactly matching the colour of her top and skirt. "My name's Lucy," the girl said.
"How do you know that I'm Jupiter?" Phoenix asked, staring at the girl. Lucy moved her trike out of the way of a passing car, then smiled at Phoenix.
"I'm actually..." Lucy trailed off as the cloud of dust kicked up by the passing car got up both her and Phoenix's noses, and both sneezed. When Phoenix looked up again, Lucy had vanished, leaving her purple-and-yellow trike sitting in the middle of the carpark. Phoenix picked it up and moved it aside, wondering what to do with it. How did that girl know I'm Jupiter? she wondered, sitting the trike down out of the way of cars. Maybe I should call the others and let them know... Just then, Phoenix felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She pulled it out and pressed a button.
"Hello?"
"Nixx, have you found her yet?"
"Not yet, Steph. What about you?"
"Nope, nothing. Although..."
"What?"
"Well, there was this little girl... She was wearing a purple top and a yellow skirt and she seemed to know quite a lot about us."
"Really? Did she have blue hair?"
"Yeah. Wait did you run into her too?"
"Yeah. She knew I was Jupiter."
"That sounds like the girl that Dee and I ran into, doesn't it, Dee?" Bonnie said, joining in on the conversation.
"Yeah, it does. She knew that I'm Mars and Bonnie's Mercury," Dee said.
"Well, I suggest we get back to base and talk about it there, OK?" Steph said.
"Sure. See you there, then," Phoenix said, pressing a button on her phone and slipping it back into her pocket. She glanced at the trike, then began walking back into town.
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"I wish I knew where she was, I'm starting to get worried," Bonnie said, looking thoughtfully around the bowling alley car park.
"Yeah, same here," Dee said.
"Hi guys, any luck?" Steph called. Bonnie and Dee looked up to see Steph and Phoenix running towards them.
"Unfortunately, no," Bonnie said.
"Maybe she's waiting for us inside," Phoenix said. Steph nodded and opened the door, and the four of them hurried inside and down the stairs, where they found Luna sitting at her computer.
"Luna! Where've you been, we've been looking everywhere for you!" Steph exclaimed. Luna pulled off her headset and turned to them.
"First off, you're late. And secondly, I've been right under your noses the whole time," Luna said.
"What do you mean, Luna? Were you hiding on us or something?" Dee asked.
"No, I wasn't hiding," Luna said, clearly amused by the girls' confusion.
"Then what? Can you just tell us and put us out of our suspense?" Bonnie said. Luna smiled wider, then somersaulted off the table. There was a flash of white light, and then the girls gasped.
"Told you I'd been around the entire time," Luna said, smiling at them.
"I... I don't believe it! Luna... You're Lucy?" Steph gasped. Lucy grinned and nodded.
"Well, at least that's one mystery solved," Phoenix said, looking at Lucy's black tail, which was poking out from under her skirt. I wonder why we never noticed that before, Phoenix thought.
"Now, about that party," Lucy began.
"Party? What party?" Bonnie, Dee and Phoenix asked.
"Oh, yeah, I completely forgot with the whole Lucy mystery. Chrissy's having a dress up party for her birthday this Saturday. She asked me to tell you," Steph said.
"So what's the theme?" Bonnie asked.
"She decided to have a Sailor Scout dress up," Steph said.
"OK... but who's she going to go as?" Phoenix asked.
"Steph suggested to her that he could go as Princess Sailor Venus, which I wasn't too happy about. But, I suppose there's no changing that now, so I've decided to go to the party with you," Luna said, reaching down beside her computer and pulling out a crescent-moon-shaped sticker and a headband with a pair of fluffy black cat ears attached.
"Good idea, Luna. Ooh, this is going to be a great party! I can't wait until Saturday, can you?" Steph said, grinning. The others nodded in agreement and smiled.
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"I'm glad you were able to teach me how to change the appearance of my Silver Crystal Tiara and my Crescent Moon, Artemis," Christina said, hanging up some orange streamers. Artie smiled and stuck a few balloons to the wall.
"Yeah. You'd better transform and change it now, before the others get here," Artie said, pulling out his tail and putting his cat-ear headband on. Christina nodded and pulled out her orange-and-gold transformation pen.
"Venus Power!" Orange love hearts burst from the pen, transforming Christina into Princess Sailor Venus. She reached up and touched the Crystal in her Tiara, then clicked her fingers. The Tiara glowed with a soft orange light and turned into a plastic tiara with the words "Birthday Girl" on it. Christina then did the same thing with the Crescent Moon on her forehead, which disappeared, leaving a face-paint-like, Crescent-Moon-shaped mark. Artie looked up as he heard a faint trickle of conversation from outside.
"That sounds like them," he said.
"You wait here, I'll go get them," Christina said, walking out the door of the party room and past the restaurant patrons, who stared curiously at her. Christina stepped outside and peeked around a corner, where she could see Steph, Bonnie, Dee and Phoenix dressed in their normal clothes and talking to a small girl wearing purple and yellow. Christina smiled when she saw that the girl was wearing a headband similar to Artie's. Luna came too, she thought. Christina watched as her four friends pulled out their transformation items.
"Moon Prism Power!"
"Mercury Power!"
"Mars Power!"
"Jupiter Power!" The car park lit up with pink, blue, red and green, then the five girls stepped around the corner to find Sailor Venus leaning against the wall waiting for them.
"P-Princess! What are you doing here?" Sailor Moon gasped. Christina giggled.
"Hi, Stephy. I take it I did a good job on my costume, then?" she said. Mars gasped.
"Christina? Wow, yeah, you did do a good job on your costume. Except for the Tiara and the Crescent Moon, everything looks like the real thing!" she said.
"Anyway, let's get inside. It's getting cold out here, and this outfit isn't exactly suitable for cold weather," Sailor Venus said. The six girls walked inside, attracting more curious looks, as well as some shocked and worried ones. They walked into the party room and shut the door, then sat down at the table that Artie and Christina had set up.
"Hey Artie, how are you?" Sailor Jupiter asked.
"Phoenix? Wow, great costumes, guys! You all look exactly like the Scouts!" Artie said.
"Artie, Chrissy, I'd like to introduce our friend Lucy," Sailor Moon said. Artie and Lucy stared at each other in surprise.
"So, tell me guys, what's it like being superheroes?" Christina asked.
"Who, us? We're just dressed up, we're not really the Sailor Scouts," Sailor Moon said.
"Come on, Stephy, how dumb do you think I am? For one, you look exactly like the Scouts, something that's kinda impossible if you're just dressed up. And secondly, you guys talk about what happened during a fight, which would be kinda impossible to know if you were hiding," Christina said.
"Well, I... Um..." Sailor Moon trailed off, unable to think of anything to say.
"So go on, tell me, what's it like being superheroes?" Christina pressed.
"Well, we may as well tell you, since you figured it out. It's kinda cool, but it's also really exhausting," Mercury said. Christina giggled.
"Yeah, I bet. And what do you think of Princess Sailor Venus? I mean the real one," Christina asked, trying to hide the worry in her eyes and voice.
"Well, she seems nice enough, but she's not very nice to Tuxedo Mask. She talks to him in a really cold tone, and when we were out at Gateway, she almost hit him and me with one of her Crescent Beams," Sailor Moon said.
"Let me guess, you like Tuxedo Mask, don't you, Stephy?" Christina asked. Sailor Moon went pink and looked away.
"I knew it. So... Do you know who he is?" Sailor Venus asked.
"I'd laugh if he was Riley," Mercury said.
"I think I'd cry," Sailor Moon said. The others looked at each other and burst into giggles. Their laughter was cut short as a scream reached their ears, and they looked through the glass doors to see a tall youma standing in the middle of the restaurant.
"Let's go!" Sailor Moon said, getting to her feet. The five Scouts got to their feet, but Artie and Lucy pushed Christina back into her seat.
"Let me go! I have to help them!" she ordered, glaring at the two.
"No, Christina, you can't!" Artie said.
"It's their fight, not yours!" Lucy said.
"But..."
"NO!" Artie and Lucy chorused. Christina stared after the others for a moment, before throwing their arms off of her and getting to her feet.
"I don't care. I've had enough of those stupid Nega-creeps getting in our way," she said, before marching out to join the fight.
"She... She just called them 'Nega-creeps'... Artie... Is she... Are you..." Lucy stuttered. Artie only nodded in reply and frowned sadly.
"P-Princess..." Lucy whispered, looking out at the demolished restaurant.
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"We've got to get it outside, Sailor Moon! It's doing too much damage!" Jupiter shouted.
"Right!" Sailor Moon called back, and let loose with a massive kick, throwing the youma through an open window and out into the street. The four scouts jumped out the window after it and began attacking.
"Moon Tiara..."
"Mercury Bubbles...
"Mars Fire..."
"Supreme..."
"Magic!" "Blast!" "Ignite!" "Thunder!" the four attacks merged and flew towards the youma, which conjured up something resembling a baseball bat. It swung its bat at the flaming, crackling, bubbling tiara and sent it flying back towards the Scouts, who shrieked and tried to get out of the way. The attacks separated again, and each Scout was struck by her own attack and fell to the ground. The youma snickered and advanced towards them, then stopped as a Christina jumped out of the window and landed between the youma and the other scouts.
"Chrissy, no! What are you doing?" Sailor Moon shrieked
"Christina, quick, get out of here before it gets you!" Mercury yelled. Christina sighed.
"I never meant for you to find out this way, guys," she said, before turning back to the Youma. She reached up and touched her tiara and her forehead, clicked her fingers, then closed her eyes as the tiara and the crescent-moon mark on her forehead began to glow orange. When the glowing stopped, the Scouts gasped at what they saw: the 'Birthday Girl' tiara was now the Silver Crystal Tiara, and the crescent moon mark on her forehead was now the proper Lunarian symbol.
"Ch-Chrissy..." Sailor Moon said weakly.
"Christina is..." Mercury whispered.
"Princess..." Mars continued.
"Sailor Venus," Jupiter finished. Sailor Venus drew herself up to her full height and pointed at the youma.
"I'm sick and tired of you stupid Nega-creeps ruining everything! It's time to take you down! I'm Sailor Venus! And in the name of Venus, I shall destroy you! Venus Crescent Beam Smash!" Sailor Venus yelled, sending a beam of yellow light flying through the air and striking the youma, which yowled in pain. Sailor Venus turned to the others.
"Are you OK, guys?" she asked, helping them to their feet. The girls only nodded, still staring at their friend.
"P-Princess..." Sailor Moon whispered. Sailor Venus chose to ignore the shock in her cousin's tone.
"Let's attack together, OK guys?" Sailor Venus said, snapping her fingers and making her tiara glow. The others nodded slowly as new attacks began to form in their minds.
"Venus Crescent Beam...
"Moon Twighlight.."
"Mercury Aqua...
"Akuryo..."
"Flower..."
"Smash!" "Flash!" "Illusion!" "Taisan!" "Hurricane!" Sailor Moon's tiara created several silver-and-pink glowing orbs, Mercury whirled her arms and created a stream of half-frozen hailstones, Mars cupped her hands and released a flurry of burning spirit-expelling paper, and Jupiter twirled around and created a flurry of pink-and-green flower petals. The four new attacks merged with Venus' Crescent Beam to create a glowing, multi-coloured rope, which wrapped round the youma and tied it up. The youma screeched in pain from the rope, then both the youma and the rope disintegrated into dust. Sailor Venus sighed in relief, then yelped as she felt the Tiara snatched from her head. She looked up to see the female general from the previous day floating in the air and examining the Tiara with glee.
"Hey, give that back, you Nega-creep, before you seriously regret it," Sailor Venus shouted.
"Hmmm, and what are you going to do about it, little Princess?" the General asked amusedly.
"We'll handle this Princess! Moon Twilight..." Sailor Moon shouted
"Forget it, Sailor Moon, just get down! All of you, get down!" Sailor Venus yelled. She twirled around on the spot and then pointed at the Tiara, which began to glow orange. The General held it up in amazement, then screamed as the Tiara exploded, sending shards of hot metal flying everywhere. The General glared at Sailor Venus, blood trickling down her face.
"You... How could you destroy the Crystal?!?" she screeched. Sailor Venus grinned cheekily.
"Did you really think that I would be stupid enough to put the Crystal into a tiara and wear it? That was a fake, you stupid Nega-Baka! A trap designed especially for you and your friends. And you fell right into it!" Sailor Venus said, before bursting into laughter.
"Ooh, you little brat! You're going to pay for this! Give me the real Crystal before things get even worse for you!" The general screamed.
"Zoisite. You're wasting your time. This girl doesn't even have the Crystal," said a voice. The Scouts looked up and saw a tall, white-haired General appear beside the female one.
"Kunzite! What do you mean, you don't think she has the Crystal? She's the Princess, isn't she?" Zoisite asked.
"Zoisite, Queen Beryl-sama has informed me that the Silver Crystal was split into Seven Rainbow Crystals at the end of the Silver Milennium," Kunzite said.
"Really? Well then, I suppose we have no more business here," Zoisite said. Kunzite nodded and then both Generals disappeared.
"What was that all about, Princess?" Mars asked. Sailor Venus groaned a little and turned to her friends.
"Guys, I'm really not for all of that 'Princess' stuff. I'd rather you called me Christina or Sailor Venus. As to what that was about, well, I'm not sure. Let's get inside, it's getting dark out," Sailor Venus said. The others nodded and walked back inside, where they were greeted by applause and camera flashes.
"Darn, I knew this would happen. Artie, Lucy, we're going now," Sailor Venus called. Artie and Lucy poked their heads out of the party room and nodded.
"I thought we might be going. Lucy and I have been taking down the decorations," Artie said, holding out a garbage bag full of streamers and balloons. Sailor Venus nodded and turned to the others.
"Let's get going, guys. I've never been one for the media either," she said. The others nodded, then all seven leapt over the crowd of people and ran out the door.
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"Wow, what a day," Sailor Moon said, slumping onto the couch in Christina's lounge room. Mercury, Mars and Jupiter sat down next to her, while Artie and Lucy settled themselves on the floor. Sailor Venus walked around the house, drawing the curtains and locking the doors. Finally she detransformed, grabbed a bowl of chips and passed them around. For a while, the only sound was that of crunching chips and the whoosh of the other four scouts detransforming.
"Princess," Lucy began.
"Look, Luna, I really don't go for the whole 'Princess' title. I'd rather you just treated me like a normal friend," Christina said.
"You... I... But... You know who I am?" Lucy stuttered.
"Yeah. I figured it out pretty quickly when I saw you," Christina said.
"How?" Lucy asked. Christina sighed and looked at Artie.
"Artie, you may as well show them. They're bound to figure it out sooner or later anyways," she said. Artie nodded, then turned back into his cat form with a flash. All the girls except Christina gasped.
"Artemis! It is you! I thought you looked familiar in your human form," Lucy said, before turning back into her cat form too. The two cats smiled at each other, then jumped onto their charges' laps: Artemis on Christina's, Luna on Steph's. Christina began stroking Artemis absently, thinking about what she should do next.
"Christina, do you think... Could we could move in here with you?" Bonnie asked. Christina looked up.
"No!" she said sharply.
"But, Pri- Christina, it's our mission to protect you! Please!" Luna pleaded.
"No, Luna, I..." Christina trailed off as she realised how helpful having the Scouts living with her would be to their mission. "...Well, alright. When do you want to move in?"
"Wait a sec. What about your parents? Won't they be coming back from their extended holiday sometime?" Dee asked. Christina smiled.
"Dee, they're not really on an extended holiday. I sent them away so that they're safe from the Negaverse. Believe me, it wasn't easy. I had to tell them the truth about what was going on. I don't think I've ever seen them so surprised in my life as they were when I showed them that I was Sailor V. Luckily, I managed to convince them without having to have Artemis talk to them too. And I suggest that you send your parents away too, so the Negaverse doesn't use them as hostages," Christina said. The others nodded slowly, then jumped as a novelty clock sitting on the television began to play the theme from the Sailor V games.
"Eleven o'clock. Where's the day gone? We'd better get to bed. You're all welcome to stay over tonight and then get your stuff tomorrow," Christina said. The others nodded and smiled.
Yes, we'd all better get a good night's sleep, we need to start researching those Rainbow Crystals tomorrow," Artemis said.
"So... You really don't have the Silver Crystal? Those two from the Negaverse were telling the truth?" Phoenix asked. Christina and Artemis nodded.
"So how exactly are the Rainbow Crystals supposed to become the Silver Crystal?" Steph asked.
"Dunno. The one thing I do know is, the key to putting the Rainbow Crystals back together into the Silver Crystal is for the Princess to fully awaken," Artemis said, looking up at Christina, who nodded in agreement.
"Well, sounds like we've got a busy day tomorrow. There's enough beds for everyone, but one of you is going to have to sleep on the spare mattress in my room. What about you, Stephy? You wanna sleep in my room?" Christina asked.
"Sure!" Steph said, before smiling at her friends and going upstairs.
"The mattress is underneath my bed. It's already got a blanket on it," Christina called after her.
"I'll help her get it out," Artemis said, changing back into Artie with a flash. Luna got up and transformed too, and the two of them walked upstairs to Christina's room.
"Bonnie, Dee, Nixx, there's my Mum and Dad's queen size bed, and there's a single and a double in the spare room. I'll let you guys decide who's getting which bed. G'night, everyone," she said, before following Artie upstairs.
"Could I have the queen size?" Phoenix asked. Bonnie and Dee nodded, then looked at each other.
"I'll take the single if you want the double, Bonnie," Dee said. Bonnie smiled and nodded.
"Good thing we don't have to share beds, otherwise someone would probably end up on the floor. I seem to hog the entire bed," Bonnie said, smiling as she and Dee trooped off to their beds.
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"Well, I have to say, today was probably the most eventful birthday I've ever had. Well, except for last year, when I had to get up at three AM and stop a burglary," Christina said, smiling at Steph. Steph smiled back and snuggled down under the blankets. Luna curled up on the end of Steph's bed, and the two were soon fast asleep. Artemis jumped up onto Christina's bed and sighed.
"That wasn't very good judgement on your part today, Christina," he whispered.
"I know, but they're my friends, and she's... Come on, Artemis, I couldn't just abandon them," Christina said, watching the sleeping figure of her cousin.
"Why did you agree to let them stay, Christina?" Artemis asked.
"Well, I figured we'd be better able to protect them if they're here," Christina said. Artemis nodded knowingly, then the two of them settled down to sleep too.