Sailor Moon was originally created by Naoko Takeuchi, while Golden Hawk was created by me, although his secret identity was created by Jerry and Sharon Logue. This series takes place in a real place, Orange County, California, during the 1980s. While I strive to make this series as accurate as possible, I have made some changes for artistic purposes.

Meet Serena Campbell, a typical all-American girl. Blonde hair, blue eyes, a little on the short side. She's very pretty, even though she sometimes thinks her nose is a little small for her face, and she sometimes wishes she was a couple inches taller. She has family and friends, people who love her, and people she loves. She sort of somewhat had a boyfriend, well, he's a boy, and he's her friend. And now, he's her boyfriend for real. And now, they just defeated Draevyn and Morrigan. They won the battle, but they suspect the war is far from over. And one of their own has made an important decision...

CHAPTER 13: JERRY'S DECISION

SEPTEMBER 13, 1986

THE BUNKER, RAE HINKLEY'S HOUSE, PLACENTIA, CALIFORNIA

9:30 AM

"I guess we can get this meeting started," Mina Nani said, as she and her cat Artemis entered the converted fallout shelter the Sailor Soldiers used as a headquarters. "Looks like everyone's here."

"Not exactly," Amy Anderson said. "Where's Jerry?"

"I'm here," a projection of Jerry Logue said. He was wearing his Golden Hawk costume, sans mask.

"That still creeps me out when you do that," Rae Hinkley said.

"I'm sorry," Jerry said. "But since your parents don't allow you to have boys down here, this is the only way I can attend meetings."

"Where exactly are you, anyways?" Amy asked.

"Right now, I'm at my mom's," Jerry said.

"He goes to his mom's pretty much every weekend," Serena Campbell said.

"Anyways," Jerry said, "there's something I wanted to talk about."

"What's up?" Serena asked.

"I'm quitting the team," Jerry said.

"I hope it's not because you don't think you're good enough," Luna, Serena's cat, said. "Don't forget, Draevyn's one of the finest swordsmen in the universe. You're one of the few to as much as land a glancing blow on him, and you not only defeated him, but decapitated him in open battle."

"That's not it," Jerry said.

"If you think you've done your fair share," Artemis said, "we'll give you a medal and a gold watch."

"That's not it, either," Jerry said. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I'll always be there for you, all you'll ever need to do is call. Thing is, I can't shake this feeling that I'm not really a part of the team."

"Bullshit!" Serena said. "You've always been there for us. In fact, you've pretty much taken it upon yourself to lead the team."

"But I'm not really one of you," Jerry said. "You all got your powers from wherever you got it from, I have the unrelated ability to tap into an alien dimension, and our paths just happened to cross. And since Sailor Moon just happens to be my best friend, I couldn't not be there for her. That wouldn't be cricket."

"I won't argue with you being my best friend," Serena said. "My parents, especially my mom, treat you like their own son. I mean, how many times has my mom invited you over for breakfast and refused to take no for an answer? But as for not being one of us, you've been part of this team since the beginning."

"Is that why your headquarters is someplace I'm not allowed simply because of what the Good Lord chose to equip me with between my legs?" Jerry asked.

"That's not fair," Rae said.

"I know, and I'm sorry for saying that," Jerry said. "I realize those are your parents' rules, and I'm not asking you to ask them to make an exception. But that's not why I'm leaving. It's because I can't help but feel like an outsider sometimes."

"You feel like an outsider?" Amy asked. "Don't forget, I'm a year behind all of you in school. While you're all walking across that stage, accepting your diplomas, I'll still have another year to go."

"And until a couple years ago," Lissa King said, "i was living in Northern California. I've been going to El Dorado as long as you and Serena, but I still feel sometimes like an outsider."

"I've been going to public school for a week," Rae said. "Before that, I was educated exclusively at Catholic schools."

"I've only been on the Mainland for a couple months myself," Mina said. "Remember, I was born and raised in Hawaii."

"And I like oldies music," Serena said. "Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, the Beatles, Ricky Nelson, all of them."

"So in a way, each of us is an outsider," Rae said.

"Besides," Serena said, "we need you."

"I'll always be there for you," Jerry said. "All you ever have to do is call. But at least for now, I want to be more an ally than a full-fledged teammate."

"You'll still be one of us," Serena said.

"I appreciate that," Jerry said, as his projection disappeared.

"I think we need to put it to a vote," Mina said.

"No," Luna said. "Jerry made this decision, it's his decision to make."

"Even if some of us think the real reason he made it is complete bullshit," Serena said.

"You know him better than any of us," Amy said. "Enlighten us."

"It's the fact that Rae's parents won't let her have any boys down here," Serena said. "I don't know how I know, but that bothers him more than he lets on."

"I didn't even think of that when I offered the Bunker as a headquarters," Rae said.

Later that afternoon, Jerry was at Ribo's Ice Cream, where he was enjoying a sundae made with peanut butter chocolate, mint chip, and hot fudge. As Jerry was finishing up, a rough-looking young man entered. There was something about the man that caused Jerry's gut to tell him the man was bad news, despite being the same age as him. More than likely, it was the handgun the man had tucked into the waistband of his jeans. As the man approached the counter, Jerry tossed his trash in the trash can, and transformed into Golden Hawk without anyone noticing. "Welcome to Ribo's," the teenage girl behind the counter said. "What can I get for you today?"

"I'll have a scoop of butter pecan and a scoop of rocky road," the man said, taking the gun from the waistband of his jeans and pointing it at the girl. "And all your fucking money."

"Please don't hurt me," the girl said. "I'm only 16, I'm too young to die."

"You really don't want to do this," Golden Hawk said. He was standing behind the man, his staff turned into the handle of a laser sword, He was holding the handle with the blade emitter pointing up, and pointed at the man's genitals, his thumb on the activation stud.

"And why not?" the man asked.

"Because if you don't put your gun on the counter by the time I count to five," Golden Hawk said, "I press this little button here, and you can kiss your dick and balls goodbye."

"You're joking," the man said.

"One," Golden Hawk said. "Two."

"I still think you're bluffing," the man said.

"Three," Golden Hawk said. "Four."

The man realized Golden Hawk was serious, so he placed his gun on the counter. As he did, the girl grabbed his gun, using a napkin to avoid leaving fingerprints on it, and was already on the phone to the police, who showed up a minute later, by which time, Golden Hawk produced a zip tie, and bound the man's hands behind his back.

Next morning, Jerry went to Yum Yum Donuts, where he got himself a maple bar, a devil's food with nuts, and a cup of coffee. As he sat down, Serena came in, slightly upset, got herself an apple fritter and a cup of coffee, and sat at the table where Jerry was sitting. "What was that little stunt you pulled yesterday?" Serena asked.

"What stunt?" Jerry asked.

"At the ice cream place yesterday," Serena said.

"How did you find out about that?" Jerry asked.

"I have my ways," Serena said. "You should have called us, we're a team, we look out for each other."

"First of all," Jerry said, "I'm no longer a member of the team, at least not officially. Second, I was afraid that if I called you girls in, the situation would escalate, and since I'm guessing this was the first time Tammy stared down the business end of a Saturday Night Special, she was scared enough as it was. I wanted to de-escalate the situation, and if that didn't work, and the shit did end up hitting the fan, and it got too much for me to handle by myself, I would have called you girls. Fortunately for everyone involved, I was able to get him to surrender pretty quickly."

"What did you do?" Serena asked.

"I just threatened to turn my laser sword on," Jerry said.

"Who did he think you are, Darth Vader?" Serena asked.

"It was where I had it pointed," Jerry said. "Right between the legs, if I had turned it on, he would have lost his genitalia. I guess he figured that since he was 16, spending the next 6 months at Fred C. Nelles with his manhood intact is better than spending the rest of his life in prison as a eunuch."

"So does this mean you're going solo?" Serena asked.

"I'll be there whenever you need me," Jerry said. "And I'll call you if I need you, but yeah, I'm going solo. But don't think for one second we're not friends, you'll always be my best friend."

"At the end of the day," Serena said, "that's all I care about."

À SUIVRE...

À SUIVRE...