11: "Shooting stars"
Rei had been staring at a stack of papers that needed to be signed, authorized, and verified for so long that she fell into a daze. She caught herself moments later, drawing a deep breath and rubbing a hand over her face. She had been at this for hours and needed a break— and she had been thinking of him again, further proof that some fresh air would do her some good. It was just past her lunch hour, so she decided to call Ami and Usagi and see if they'd like to meet up. Mizuno was predictably tied up: the city had suffered greatly for the past month or so, and its citizens had shared in that pain. Thinking about the good doctor being bogged down like that brought back even more memories: some fond, others not so much.
"We had to let each other go because of that," she whispered. Usagi was similarly busy, constantly on patrol with her partner, usually acting as security detail for the cleanup and construction crews scattered across the city. Burglaries always followed disasters, and the police were spread very thin over the city. No doubt they were also keeping track of further attacks, but really now, what could be worse than a giant bull rampaging through town?
On second thought, Rei didn't want to know the answer. She knew better than to dare the universe like that.
So much for company, then. Rei called Makoto and Motoki, purely on a lark. Makoto was free for the afternoon but in no position to take the train all the way to Shibuya, while her husband was entrenched in their business. Rei's list of friends was running short. She recalled Usagi bumping into Naru awhile back, but she had never been close to the redhead even at the best of times; similarly with Umino, who frankly had been terrified of Rei during their youth (but hadn't most boys been, aside from him?). Well, that was now the second time her mind wandered to the only boy she had ever really loved. She entertained the idea of actually calling him, but wondered if he would even remember her. The last time they had spoken, she had given him her very first kiss, and demanded to know why he would not marry her. She never got an answer.
Three months later, he tied the knot with someone else.
Feeling spontaneous, she gave him a call. It went to voice mail. She almost hung up, feeling chastised, but then heard his voice calling out. She hit the button to receive, and was met with tense silence.
"…Hino?"
"Kaidou. It's been a long time."
"Yes it has." She swallowed. A hundred thousand different thoughts could have been expressed in that moment, but the only words she could say were,
"Can we meet for lunch?"
"Yes," he said without hesitation. "Same place as always?"
"That would be fine. In five minutes, maybe."
"Okay, see you." They both hung up. Elation: he remembered. Kaidou. Why had Rei started to think about him just now? Regrets? Curiosity? Nostalgia? Jealousy, at Makoto, for achieving what they all had wanted? Closure? Kaidou was married now, and probably a father. There was going to be a lot of awkward silence between the two of them, but Rei wanted to see him again; the impulsive desire had become enflaming.
She instinctively reached for the keys in her purse when she remembered: that car had been crushed in the attack three days ago. Rei certainly wasn't special in this regard; scores of people had their cars destroyed, their businesses leveled, their phone, internet, and cable services severed… City hall was working round the clock to fix the damage and get people's lives back in order, and they had been kind enough to give their hot-blooded intern a rental car until something better came along. Those keys were in a cabinet at the front office, and she needed to sign them out before using them.
"Ugh, what a pain," she grumbled. It was a blow to her independence, having to go through with this every time she needed to drive home or get lunch or run errands. The secretary offered to let her have some additional time off to eat, since she had been working so hard lately, and Rei made sure to thank her. She got as far as the motor pool and had clicked the button that activated her rental car's headlights, when she heard her name being called.
"Hino!"
And lo and behold, there stood Kaidou, hovering over a car parked not three meters from hers. They stood staring at each other for a very long time.
"Do you work here, too?" he said softly. Rei nodded.
"Hypocritical of me, isn't it?"
"Me too, remember?" he smiled, rubbing the back of his head. She smiled back.
"Should we take separate cars?"
"I don't think that's necessary. We'll play for it." They reunited at last, hands waving up and down in a timeless ritual, one throwing rock and the other scissors. Kaidou kindly opened his door for her and drove out of the garage.
"You haven't changed a bit," she remarked, stealing glimpses at him. He looked older, certainly, and taller, and somewhat more defined than she remembered— but yes, this was her Kaidou, all right. The only man she had ever really loved.
"Only a little," he announced. She smiled, knowing what he meant.
"I'm sorry I never made your wedding. It was rude of me— "
"It's okay. I didn't exactly let our last encounter end on a high note. What's that?" Rei heard a little buzzing and plucked out her cell phone. Usagi was texting her, in very garbled structure as always, and Rei excused herself so she could take this. Given the current situation, this would no doubt be very serious.
[rei hope u r not busy TV ch 4] She signed it with the kanji symbol for "Moon", which could either mean "Tsukino (of the moon)" or "Sailor Moon". Seeing as how Rei could always tell who was texting her based on their writing style (or in this case, the lack thereof), she assumed it was an emergency. There was a television in the diner they were heading to, and channel 4 was an all-hours news broadcast. Usagi was alerting her to something important, possibly Senshi duties.
Senshi duties… It had been so long since Rei had used those words in a sentence that she nearly forgot what they meant.
"Is it work?" Kaidou asked. They pulled into a parking lot, but he didn't stop the car. Even though it had been many years since they had spoken, Rei knew her first love well enough to know that he'd turn right around and head back if she said the word.
"Sort of. One of my friends needs my help. Usagi— I think you've met her before."
"How could I forget?" he laughed. He stuck his fingers up and put them on his head, imitating a rabbit— then, in an impersonation more for humor than accuracy, "Rei, Rei, I'm sorry I'm late! Why are you so mean, Rei? Rei, Rei…"
She found herself laughing, and embarrassed to be laughing. That was uncalled for; she shouldn't have fun at Usagi's expense…even though the little ditz did bring it upon herself. Kaidou then said, "If she's in trouble, I'll be happy to take you there. Where does she work?"
"With the police."
"Oh, then we're the right people for the job, aren't we? Just monkeys shuffling papers around for city hall…"
"Let's at least grab something to eat first," she said, climbing out the door. He stopped and followed her, smiling as she added, "Knowing Usagi, she'll cry if she finds out we had lunch and forgot about her."
Usagi had been riding around with Toha on a routine patrol when their police radio issued an all-points bulletin regarding an unknown assailant in the ruined sectors. Roving bands of looters were engaged with what seemed to be another vigilante, and for awhile, Usagi wondered if Makoto or Ami had finally decided to join them. The aggressor's description dashed all of her hopes: the person glowed with a very strong light, like a sun, and was covered with silvery body armor. They were otherwise human in size and build. The vigilante had killed three vandals so far and was in pursuit of a fourth, so any chance of it being a Senshi with a high-tech sense of fashion was put to rest. Usagi clutched her brooch as Toha raced through city streets, but kept one hand on her sidearm.
"This is the place," Toha said as they joined the three or four squad cars already on the scene. One officer was already down but still alive; three more were firing at the unknown vigilante, hitting him dead-on. The bullets were deflecting off his body armor, not even slowing the radiant man down. It suddenly leaped high into the air, a short blade extending from its wrist, and cut their guns in two as it descended. Before the officers could run or fight back, it kicked them both in the chest, sending them sprawling.
"Tough son of a… Tsukino, get the armor-piercing rounds— deer slugs. I'll cover you."
"Deer slugs?!" Shrieking drew the armored man towards her; Toha fired relentlessly as she dove into the car and found a box full of cartridges. Deer slugs could penetrate even the toughest bulletproof material, and would tear a person's body apart in the most gruesome fashion. There was no such thing as a non-lethal hit as far as this ammunition was concerned, but Usagi certainly wouldn't be the one pulling the trigger. She loaded a rifle and tossed it to Toha; he threw her his sidearm and ordered her to flank the vigilante. He whipped around, glaring with deadly seriousness.
"This is your only warning, man! Knees on the ground and hands on your head, now!" The glowing creature charged at him; Toha fired; the blast splattered on the man's armor, opening a broad hole and sending it slamming to the ground. Usagi rushed up to it and nervously trained her gun at its head, on the miraculous chance it had survived.
"I think you got it!" she said. Toha took a deep breath and loaded another round.
"Yeah, he won't be coming back. Let's take that helmet off him. Damn, what is it with this city and vigilantes? I mean, I appreciate the help, and I know we're stretched out and ill-equipped, but…"
"Look out!" The figure whirled into action, slicing at Toha's legs with a blade. Usagi fired on instinct, hitting it dead-center, point-blank in the head. Toha leaped away a few nanoseconds too late and collapsed on the ground, his legs bleeding badly. He growled and hissed, far too close to his partner to risk another shot. The armored man shoved Usagi away, took one long look at Toha, and slowly lifted him up off the ground.
"No," it whispered, its voice hollow and mechanical, like ice scraping against metal, "you are not the one. Be gone from here." It threw Toha aside, shooting a ray of pure energy at its legs. The wound healed but the shock remained; Toha gawked as the creature turned around, a hole still in its front plating, and resumed its task. He fired again, hitting it in the back, forcing it to stumble.
"Tsukino!"
"Here," she called, rising slowly. She dusted herself off and put her gun to the creature's head again, but it dissipated into the air, the glow fading until there was nothing left but a scorched mark. "What on Earth was that thing, anyway?"
"Dunno, but at least we got it." In response, two more armored glowing people dropped down from the sky, swords stretching out from their wrists. Toha swallowed and reloaded. "Looks like it had friends. Well, at least we know it ain't indestructible, but I think we're gonna need something a lot more powerful to take these guys out."
"You mean like a tank?" she winced. Toha snorted, but jerked to full alert as he heard a loud squealing sound. A large news van was careening towards them; he grabbed his partner and dove out of the way. One of the glowing armored creatures leaped to safety, but the other wasn't so fortunate, and was struck directly with the van. Before Usagi or Toha could react, the doors opened, pouring out a reporter, a cameraman, and…
"Asagiri?!"
"Whew-wee, he's not getting up, is he? Oh, crap, wait, he is! What're these things made out of, Toha?"
"No idea, but one of em' took two deer slugs before we brought em' down. What the hell is the press doing here, anyway?"
"They're wartime correspondents, Toha; they've been in worse situations. You've got backup coming, so try and hold them off until then. The real question is, what's a pencil-pushing rookie doing here?" He pointed and glared at where Usagi used to be, then heard a shriek and a loud crack from behind. The armored man that had escaped the van had snuck up behind him with a sword, and Usagi had swept in with a powerful blow to its neck.
"This pencil-pushing rookie just saved you, Asagiri! Where's the other one?"
"Here," it whispered, towering behind her. Usagi shivered with fear, slowly turning around with a ghastly expression. Terror turned into desperation; she whirled around and let him have it with a strong kick to the gut, followed by four shots. Toha and Asagiri were stunned, to say the least. They always thought of their coworker as another lazy, inept, loud, annoying…well, they were right, but they never expected THIS!
"Damn, girl!" Toha laughed. "Why didn't you tell me you took karate?"
"Aikido and kendo, actually. A friend at Hikawa temple taught me."
"Sign me up, then!" he exclaimed. Toha was abruptly grasped by the first armored man, while the second recovered and plowed its way through Asagiri. Its sword met the man's throat, and dark eyes bored through his skull into his psyche.
"Not this one, either." It raised its weapon and was about to strike, but Usagi grabbed his arm and bent it backwards, breaking the bone with a sickening crunch. She pounded its neck again, much harder this time, forcing it to dissolve into nothingness as its predecessor had. Asagiri coughed as she helped him stand, but managed to express his thanks.
"We gotta save Toha!" he spat.
"We gotta get those news reporters out of here," she said.
"We gotta make sweeps for this!" the reporter exclaimed.
"Save Toha first!" Toha growled. He elbowed his aggressor and threw him, but was pulled down with him and wrestled to the ground. Toha grabbed him by the helmet and twisted with all his might, breaking the creature's neck; it dissolved, and four more emerged from the sky to replace him. Asagiri helped Toha stand, and together the five of them stared down the threat with intense trepidation.
"Backup here yet?" Toha gasped. Asagiri grimaced.
"You want Hayashida to save the day?"
"Hell, I'll take her!" Hayashida definitely arrived, but there were more officers with her: eight other cars came squealing down the road, loaded with armed officers and SWAT members. Usagi took this time to seclude herself, and gave Rei a quick text message. She didn't like civilians like the press in situations like this, but thanks to their presence, Sailor Mars would see everything and show up to level the playing field. Rei responded with a brief "be there soon", punctuating with the planetary symbol for Mars— now all Usagi needed was an excuse to leave. She saw her chance as a tear gas canister flipped across the streets and burst: into the alley, up the fire escape, bracing herself against an emergency exit wall, clutching her brooch.
"It's time," she said. Usagi Tsukino was lost and forgotten to the world: now only Sailor Moon emerged. She ran to the edge of the roof, touched her tiara, threw it, slicing three of the four creatures in half, caught it as it hurled back, and announced herself to the bewildered people below.
"Good people of our beloved planet Earth, this is no longer your fight, for I am Sailor Moon, guardian of all things just and true! Find a safe place immediately— "
"It's that woman again!" she heard Toha shouting. Asagiri groaned.
"Another vigilante? What is with this city?!"
"That's what I said, man!"
"Um, guys," Sailor Moon murmured, "you, uh, totally ruined my entrance there. Never mind! I've come here to save you!" She let out a powerful battle-cry and leaped from the building, landing gracefully between the officers and the armored man. It was the first time multiple people got a close look at their savior, but they had to savor it, because she was on the move in no time, fighting the armored creature. Despite wearing such heavy-looking protection, the bright being moved fast, and was able to block, counter, and parry Sailor Moon's blows fairly well. Her arms and feet were a blur, though, and soon she launched a bone-shattering roundhouse right to its chest, sending the man flying. She laughed quietly to herself as the armored creature dissolved— and then the wind picked up, fluttering her short skirt. Blood spurt from Asagiri's nose; the cameraman stared in rapture; Toha at least had the decency to cover his eyes. Sailor Moon shrieked and put her leg down, blushing furiously.
Ten years later, and stuff like this still happens!
The situation became dire again as eight more of the armored men sprang out of the sky. Sailor Moon urged the police officers to run and engaged herself with the closest flash of light. Two of them surrounded her as she was fighting, clinging to her arms and holding her down. The one she had been fighting gave her two blows to the abdomen for her troubles, and clasped her jaw in his gauntlet, eyes like drills.
"Yes," he hissed, "this is the one. We have no business with the others."
"You got that right," she snarled, struggling to free herself. "Let them go. I'm the one you want."
"How right you are, moon-sailor." The glowing men leaped high into the air, away from the police, deep in the heart of the city where nobody would disturb their battle. They took Sailor Moon with them, and threw her to the ground as they descended. She did not get up.
"Fortune may favor the servants now and then, but only the masters may truly match against us. Prove yourself worthy, or die." She felt herself being picked up and shoved. Sailor Moon regained her balance, wiped the dirt off her face, and glared with righteous indignation.
"Who do you think you're dealing with, buster?"
"We presume nothing. The once and future master of this world, and the master of your soul, has sent us to determine if you are Apkallu or not. We are but soldiers of the stars. It is your identity we seek to obtain."
Sailor Moon spat, standing fully erect again. It had been far too long since she had an honest excuse for genuine hatred. "And for that, you killed those people?"
"The Apkallu would commend our actions. Thieves should not be suffered life."
"No," she snarled, "you shouldn't. In the name of the Moon…in the name of all the worlds, of all the stars in the heavens…I will punish you." She announced it with such cold fury that anyone who was watching her would not recognize her for the happy-go-lucky sprite she normally behaved as. This was a Sailor Moon whose very ideals had been violated by those who would claim to act on behalf of justice— a Sailor Moon fighting back against the worst form of corruption possible.
Out came the scepter, and with a single sweeping flash, a ray of pulsation power shot out, obliterating all eight of the star-soldiers at the same time. Twelve leaped down from the sky, no more concerned for their lost companions than of the ruination and death they caused. Their sole purpose would be to put Sailor Moon through the ultimate crucible, and they were willing to go to any lengths to accomplish this. She was undeterred by their attempts.
"So is that the way you wanna fight? Good! That's fine by me! One at a time or all at once, I'll take out every last one of you!" Twelve more erupted— not from the air but from the ground, puncturing holes in the asphalt as they surrounded the heroine and piled on top of her. Sailor Moon broke free with a blood-curdling cry, amplified by the orbs embedded in her hair, lashing out at everything that moved. A roundhouse kick shattered the helmet of one; a knee to the guts bowled another one over, and an elbow to his neck shattered the spine. Three attacked at once, hitting hard; she whipped her tiara out, slicing their heads off. Whatever these radiant creatures were, they certainly weren't human: every one she defeated melted into the air, leaving only a scorched mark behind.
Sailor Moon found herself tumbling as her legs were kicked out underneath her. She was quickly chained up and dragged around the streets, but she lashed out, cutting the chains with her scepter, breaking free, sweeping with her legs, tripping five of the armored creatures. Her scepter flashed again— they were history. Ten more came out of the sky; she pummeled two but was hopelessly outnumbered. One more was added to the fray: she broke free of their clutches, slapping them with her weapon, screaming so they would be repulsed by the amplification, whirling to face this latest addition—
"WHOA! Rei!"
Sailor Mars grinned back at her. "Am I late?"
"No," she exclaimed giddily, "you're actually right on time! GET DOWN!" Gasping, she shoved Sailor Mars' head down, just in time to avoid a sword thrust. She punched her enemy, sending him reeling back. Sailor Mars slowly rose again.
"Thanks. Ack, your turn!" Mars pushed Moon down, sending a fireball at an approaching man, melting the body armor to his skin. He wailed and flailed helplessly for awhile before succumbing, leaving Mars and Moon to touch their forearms together in camaraderie.
"We make a great team!"
"Hell yeah! Now let's kick some ass!" Bolstered by Rei's appearance and excitement, Sailor Moon found her second wind and plowed into the enemy hoard. What was once a small force of fifteen or sixteen became a sizeable number of thirty, then fifty, then seventy. The armored men continued to multiply, erupting out of nowhere whenever one of their own fell. Singularly, they were not terribly difficult to take down, but in mass numbers, even the likes of the Sailor Senshi would be in danger. For the moment, though, Moon and Mars fought back-to-back, lashing out with fire and light as much as they did with crippling blows. Sailor Mars was much more adept at hand-to-hand combat than Sailor Moon (after all, Rei had been her instructor), and was able to destroy many of the armored creatures with her strength and finesse. But when mass numbers of them started to crowd her, she would match their blinding glow with her own, and show them the true fury of fire.
After sending a white-hot bolt of searing heat through the crowd (and grinning with perverse satisfaction as it pierced through the mass), Sailor Mars heard a scream, and turned to see Sailor Moon under attack. Her defenses were lowering; the scope of the battle was taking its toll on her. She had been fighting long before Rei had showed up, and fought well, destroying countless numbers of these star-soldiers— but even the Senshi had their limits, and Sailor Moon was reaching hers. Her clothes were shredded and torn, her skin bruised, purple, swollen, and bloody; her hair was askew, her legs shaky, her arms heavy as lead. A failed defensive maneuver opened her for attack, and she was slashed on the arms and chest. Sailor Mars called out in terror but was overwhelmed as a dozen enemies surrounded her. The flames burst bright, clearing a path, but still more surrounded her, keeping her from reaching her friend's side.
"SAILOR MOON!" She lashed out at anything that stood in her way, suddenly getting the wind knocked out of her as one of the armored men kneed her in the belly. While she was bowled over, another one stabbed her with its sword; she yanked herself away but not fast enough to completely avoid it, and was cut deeply. She sent a ring of flames his way, encircling him and the others who had attacked her, tightening it until it snapped their bodies in twain. The attack distracted her long enough for a stray kick to land on her head, sending her flying away. She felt someone catch her, the strong arms of a friend pushed beyond human (or superhuman) endurance, and together they stood in the eye of the proverbial storm. Mars and Moon, bloody and beaten and exhausted from the long fight, were surrounded on all sides by countless shining soldiers.
"Is there an infinite supply of them?" Mars heaved. Moon squinted through black eyes.
"I don't see any more coming out. These must be the last of them."
"For now," Mars added grimly. "So all we have to do is wipe the floor with these clowns, and we'll be home free. Should be easy!" She was out of breath just by speaking, and her hands trembled uncontrollably as she touched her lifelong friend on the shoulder. "Think we can hold out?"
"I hope so; we're the only ones here. I'd give anything to have Mako or Ami to be here, though. We never were very strong unless all five of us— "
"But that doesn't change anything now, Usagi! We'll have to make do until they can decide that on their own." Sailor Mars knew that, in spite of her bravado and the brave face she was putting on, the chances of victory, even survival, were bleak. True, there were no more reinforcements coming in, but the long fight had drained them, and there was still a considerable crowd yet to be conquered. In their present condition, they might have been able to handle ten more, at best— but after that, well…
Sailor Moon took a deep, cleansing breath, and braced herself for the worst. "Rei…just in case we don't make it…"
"Don't say that, Usagi. We've been through worse and we've always come out of it in one piece. There were just…more of us in those cases."
"I know. But…if we don't…I just want to say that it's been an honor to fight by your side." Sailor Moon was smiling, weak though she was, hopeless as the situation seemed. Sailor Mars smiled back, amazed at the amount of strength she could draw from the other woman. No way would she have fared half as well as this if Sailor Moon hadn't been at her side. Not even a fraction.
"Likewise. I wouldn't trade this moment for anything." Mars winked, and together they dove into the fray. They were gorgeous, electric, a flurry of motion, a whirlwind of grace, an amalgam of sanctimonious fire, an echelon of power, an unstoppable force of righteous fiery indignation and heavenly judgment against the wicked, a duo yet a single unit, two individuals so drastically different that only in unison could they achieve something greater than the sum of their selves, Beauty personified…
Beauty utterly defeated by heartless uniformity.
Moon and Mars were sprawled out on the ground, the fullest measure of their selves spent, nothing but the minute distance between them, bridged painfully as they reached for each other. They had performed admirably but it was more than both of them could hope to accomplish. It was time to pay the ultimate price for their heroism.
"Wow…some of this pain, I don't even think people have names for yet." Sailor Moon laughed helplessly as Sailor Mars struggled to rise. They were in terrible shape, and the only consolation was that they would meet the end together. Their hands touched. Sailor Mars looked into the eyes of the person she loved most in the world.
"Say…Usagi…I know we said we'd make it out of here…but even I'm wrong sometimes. So let me just get something off my chest before we go down in a blaze of glory."
"The only thing that'll be blazing is these guys, thanks to you!" she coughed. Sailor Mars chuckled feebly.
"That's sweet of you to say, but we both know… Anyway, Usagi…I just wanted to tell you…I've alw— "
"MOVE!" With all the strength left in her, and probably more than she could afford, Sailor Moon grabbed her friend and rolled aside as a large column of searing light shot out, leveling more than a fourth of the enemies surrounding them. Once the world stopped spinning and she regained her senses, Sailor Mars sat up, eyes wide and mouth open.
"What the hell was that?"
"HEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYY YOOOOOOOOOUUUUU GUUUUUUYYYYYYYYS!" A voice yawped at them from one of the tallest buildings, belonging to a figure profiled against the slowly setting sun. Moon and Mars were instantly drawn to it, as were the star-soldiers, and the women felt wonderful chills crawl across their skin as they saw the very last person they expected.
"It's…"
"That's right! Sailor Venus to the rescue!" The long-limbed avatar of love stood triumphant atop the building, her golden hair billowing majestically, her index and middle fingers making her trademark "V" sign over her eyes in a salute— and if that weren't cheesy enough, she even had a boom box next to her, playing a stirring swashbuckler's song, the likes of which Erich Korngold himself would be proud of.
"Minako!" Words could not describe the rapture Mars and Moon felt upon seeing their long-absent friend again, especially now, when they had teetered so close to the edge of defeat. Sailor Venus winked at them, flung herself off the building, landed on a street lamp, twirled around the extending bar like a gymnast, and made a perfect landing, glowing with unmistakable joy.
"Did you miss me?"
"Yeah, but now's not the time for theatrics, Mina!" Sailor Mars screamed. "Help us out, will ya!"
"With pleasure! For my opening number, I'm going to debut a special concoction I've been developing for a long time! Brace yourselves, everyone: this one's gonna be HUGE!" Sailor Venus roared as she gathered power, and even the army of glowing soldiers winced as a bright light surrounded her, pulsating and shimmering with radiant effervescence. The ground trembled, the heavens clapped thunder, glass windows shattered— and still Venus's strength grew, massing an enormous orange sphere that grew even bigger with each passing moment. Moon and Mars were already clearing out by that time, because whatever this new attack was, Venus hadn't been exaggerating.
"Okay, it's ready!" she exclaimed, bracing herself for a powerful thrust. "And heeeeeeeeeeeere…it…coooooooooooooooooooooomes!" With an earth-shattering cry, Sailor Venus amassed the gargantuan ball of energy, raised her leg, drew back, and with all her might…
Hurled it into the sky, where it disappeared harmlessly into the atmosphere.
There was a long, and understandably awkward, pause.
Nothing happened.
Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars glanced up at the sky, then at Sailor Venus, then at their enemies— then at the sky, and at Venus again.
Nothing was happening.
"Um, Mina? I, uh, think you threw it in the wrong direction."
Sailor Venus stood still, gazing at the dusky heavens, a glint of satisfaction in her eyes and a smirk on her lips. One could even hear her chuckling.
"Minako, did you just waste all that energy on— "
"Okay, you two, get near me! It's about to start!"
"What's about to…" Bewildered as they were beaten, Moon and Mars couldn't help but wonder if their friend had lost her sanity in the long years since they had last seen her— but a cursory glimpse skyward showed them that she wasn't fooling around. Both women picked themselves up and rushed to Sailor Venus's side, just in time to avoid the first of the falling rays of light. She erected a sturdy orange barrier around them and stood triumphant and the heavens poured down a rain of light-arrows, piercing the massed army with countless barbs. The horde was perforated in less than a minute, and vanished without a trace shortly after, but the rain of energy still didn't stop until every last one was a distant memory. Once the shower ended, Venus removed her barrier and laughed triumphantly.
"Hahahahahaa! Evildoers beware, for such is your fate! Mwahahahahahahaaa!"
"Just what in the heck was that, Mina?" Sailor Moon said. Venus winked at her.
"My new attack! I call it the Venus Shooting Star! Pretty effective, huh?"
"I'll say! That was unbelievable!"
"That's one way of describing it," Rei grumbled. "Only someone like you would actually bother naming her attacks! It's just like that stupid anime they made of us!"
"Oh, come on, Rei, I think it's a cool name! And I happened to like that anime!"
"Oh, whatever." Despite all of this, Sailor Mars was the first to embrace her long-absent friend, even going so far as to weep. She didn't need to say anything; Venus understood what she felt. Of course, Sailor Moon made plain her feelings, jumping up and down and screaming and hugging and smiling and laughing and asking a million questions at once. For the first time in years, all five of the Sailor Senshi were in the same country together. Things were finally returning to normal again.
"Wait a second, Minako," Rei said as they discarded their Senshi personas. "I thought you were in Brazil or something. How'd you manage to convince your manager to drop your schedule and bring you back to Japan?"
"Oh, that?" she laughed, rubbing the back of her head bashfully. "Well, uh, it's kind of a long story. I didn't ask them to let me come here so much as…erm, quit."
"What! You mean you're…"
"Yep! I'm unemployed! So, ah, which one of you two is looking for a roommate?"
Yes, things were definitely returning to normal…
Author's note:
Erich Korngold was a composer for many swashbuckling movies, including The Adventures of Robin Hood, Captain Blood, and The Sea Hawk. Personally, I feel that Minako is by far the one most likely to 1: bring her own soundtrack to fights, 2: have it be a rousing, heroic one, and 3: as Rei said, actually name (and even call out the names of) her attacks, whereas everyone else simply uses their elemental gifts to versatile, but unnamed, results. I mean, how effective would it be if Ami, for example, actually screamed "Shine Aqua Illusion" right before her attack? The bad guys would know about it and prepare for it. The Senshi wouldn't do something so silly, but Minako might.