Chapter 22-Shooting Stars
One day, three new Sailor senshi arrived on Earth. With them, the greatest evil landed and seized the world in her hands. The storm arrived silently.
It was an ordinary night. Haruka and I went out on a date while Setsuna stayed home and babysat Hotaru. We went out for dinner and just cruised around in her car for hours. I remembered the sky was clear and how bright the moon shone that night.
Haruka sensed it first this time and slammed her foot on the brake. Dark energy was dispersing in the middle an empty playground. We transformed and ran to investigate. Someone moved inside a black telephone booth and disappeared. A woman, half kneeling in the sand, had a black diamond floating above her forehead. "Hideko Iwasaki!" I yelled as I recognized the woman. She was the next promising star in the Olympic swimming team.
The diamond started to disperse energy and Hideko-san was swallowed by black, thorny vines.
"Sailor Swimmer!" A monster emerged from the fold, complete with fish gills and fins. I gave the scouts a quick call while Uranus was throwing her attacks.
All of a sudden, the playground turned into a pool. The monster/giant fish dodged the attacks and slammed hard into Uranus. I started swimming toward it. "Wave attack!" The monster sent a tsunami after me. I took a big breath and braced myself for the impact. The undercurrent towed me down and continued to suck me downwards. How was this possible? The sandpit was only as deep as my ankles.
Then the water disappeared. The fish grew back its hands and legs. Before I could get my bearings, it ran toward me at top speed and grabbed my arms. The water reappeared and it continued to push me toward the depth. It was surprisingly strong. I sent out one shot of "deep submerge", but it fizzled into bubbles. The fish looked at me and grinned. My lungs started to burn, as I struggled to stay conscious.
"Star Serious Laser!" An unfamiliar voice called out and hit the fish, freeing its grasp. The water disappeared. I bent over coughing and gasping for breaths.
"Uranus!" An unconscious, bleeding Uranus lay over the edge of the sandpit. I raced over and checked her pulse. She was okay but badly concussed.
"Who are you?" I turned to see three tall figures.
"Penetrating the darkness of night. Streaking through the atmosphere. Resounding truth, we are three Sailor Starlights. Sailor Fighter, Sailor Maker, Sailor Healer. Now get out of our way. That phage needs to be taken care of."
"Wait. She was a human."
"Once the star seed is taken out and the human is turned into a phage, they cannot be saved. Now get out of my way." The leader of the group ordered.
"Bubble spray!" A thick fog enveloped the playground and the scouts landed, surrounding the Sailor Starlights. "Now, Sailor Moon," Mercury commanded.
Sailor Moon happily obliged. She turned the phage back into Hideko-san. She then turned toward us and gently approached the three strangers.
"Sorry, we arrived late. Thank you for saving Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus." Moon reached out her hand and smiled warmly at them. Worried, the scouts stepped closer to her, ready to block any attacks if this was a trap.
The leader didn't take Sailor Moon's hand. Instead, she coldly replied, "I hope we are not enemies." With that, they turned and left without another word.
Later that night, Ami and Mako helped me get Haruka home. I managed to drive us back in Haruka's car. Ami checked out her wounds and bandaged them. Haruka woke up that night and threw up. Usually graceful, she stumbled on every single step as she made her way to the bathroom. Hotaru offered to heal her but Haruka refused. Without knowing what the cost was for using healing powers, we forbade Hotaru from using it unless it was absolutely necessary.
The scouts came over the next day for a meeting. Usagi was downcast and worried. She recounted that it wasn't the first time she ran into them. She had fought a phage on her own and the Sailor starfighters had saved her too. Yet, they were willing to kill the human host and Sailor Moon had to stop them.
"How long ago was this, Usagi?" Furious, Rei interrogated. Apparently, she kept that as a secret from everyone.
"I just don't think they are bad. They saved me. They saved Michiru and Haruka last night. Maybe if we could just talk to them and let them know I can heal the phages."
"They are not from this solar system." Setsuna cut in. "In a sense, this is an invasion. They have no jurisdiction fighting here. We don't know their intentions. With those powers, they could do some serious damage."
Usagi looked so discouraged at that moment.
"I am sorry, Usagi. It is our job to protect you and to protect the world from outside intruders. Until we know more, we can't trust them." A very weak Haruka stumbled out of the bedroom. Hotaru was holding on to her and she looked at me apologetically. I asked her to make sure Papa stayed in bed. I guess Haruka was more stubborn.
Usagi rushed over to help. "Haruka-chan, go back to bed, please. Michiru-chan will be mad." She sent me a quick wink, followed by her usual laugh.
Her laughter eased the tension that was building in the room. She turned and addressed the rest of us. "Everyone, thank you. Thank you for looking out for me. I am sure they are friends. You will see." She flashed her warmest smile and patted Haruka gently on the back. Then she forcefully dragged Haruka back to bed, all the while saying, "I am the princess. You should listen to me. Do you know what happens when you don't listen to your princess? You will get very sick and then you can't fight anymore….."