Chapter 5: The Senshi's Fear
Three months had passed in the time chamber since the senshi first entered. Usagi and her friends have become more accustomed to their new powers. The girls could summon powerful, basic attacks with their perspective element tied to their individual energies. Mercury was able to freeze and destroy the targets that the chamber manifested. Rei burned away any part of said targets that wasn't destroyed. Makoto's electricity shocked her targets into exploding while her ki disintegrated the rest. Minako and Usagi's blast were the most like normal ki blast, though their light energy radiated from each blast.
Piccolo had the girls stop for the moment. The five senshi gathered around their teacher, and each gave them their undivided attention. Yes, even Usagi was listening intently, after all she felt she needed to get stronger not just for herself, but for everyone.
"Ok Sailor Guardians, listen up. All of you are getting much better at using your energy. Pretty soon it will be time to have you tie your energies to the attack that Gohan showed you prior to entering. Can anyone tell me what the name of that attack was," Piccolo said.
"The Masenko," Ami answered.
'Damn it Ami, I was going to say that,' Usagi huffed mentally.
"Yes Ami. Though I will have you go through an exercise tomorrow. For it to work I will have you go around 40 meters away from the chamber door. This place can mess with your head, but I feel it's necessary. It will put you face to face with your worst fears. Every warrior must face his or her fear eventually. This exercise will begin tomorrow. I want you girls to get cleaned up, eat a good dinner, and have a good rest. You will need it," Piccolo said sternly.
The kitchen inside the room was busy as Makoto was cooking the evening meal. The four senshi were gathering ingredients for the young cook. Chopping up onions and other veggies was nothing new for the tallest of the senshi. The girl then put them in the pot and put in curry powder along with various spices.
The girls waited as the curry simmered over the stove. Makoto had Ami check the rice cooker and the bluenette confirmed that the timer hadn't finished. The fragrant smell of the chicken curry reached the nose of Usagi, who felt hungrier by the second.
"My belly's growling," Usagi complained.
"It will be ready soon Usagi, I promise," Makoto said nervously.
"You can't rush good food Usagi," Rei pointed out.
"But it smells sooo goood!" Usagi said, her hunger sometimes overriding her good sense.
"I agree with Usagi….these workouts from Piccolo just makes a girl hungry," Minako pointed out.
"It'll be ready in good time. You have to let the flavors simmer into the ingredients. Otherwise, you can't be sure it's the best it could be," Makoto pointed out.
Feeling defeated, Usagi leaned against the kitchen wall. The evening meal cooking on the stove was tempting her and the girls even more as the smells permeated the air. Soon enough however, the curry and the rice were ready to be served.
The girls arranged the table in quick order. The glasses were set for their beverages and the plates were sparkling clean as Makoto put the curry, rice, and various vegetables in large serving bowls. Passing the food around to make sure they had plenty to eat, the young students began to eat their meal in earnest. Usagi especially as she gobbled down her meal, as she tended to be the hungriest of the bunch.
Piccolo decided to just watch the young ladies instead of train like he did literally every day while the girls rested. The namek was disgusted with the way Usagi ate at first, but then the display did remind him of the five saiyans. He couldn't help but think about how Goku, Gohan, Goten, Trunks and even Vegeta would consume large amounts of food at a similar speed to the young reincarnation of the Moon Princess.
The namek noticed something about the girls. Piccolo saw that Makoto was looking toward him and motioning him to come and sit at the table with them. Not responding, he watched as the tallest girl excused herself and made her way toward him.
"Would you like to join us Mr. Piccolo?" Makoto asked.
"Well...I don't eat food very much," Piccolo reasoned.
"I know, but Gohan told me once that sometimes you do eat with him. He said it was rare, but you always liked Chi-chi's cooking," Makoto replied.
"Well….Usagi always brags about how good you are at it….I guess I'll do it," Piccolo said.
The teacher joined his students in eating their evening meal. Piccolo took a modest amount of the curry, rice and the various vegetables. The namek couldn't believe the flavors that crossed his tongue. The fragrance of the curry spices hitting his nose actually helped in the taste of the food. He felt the heat, but also felt the marriage of flavors that only a cook with skill could achieve. The namek might only eat on occasion, but he did like good cooking when he did.
"I might just eat more often," Piccolo said.
The stoic warrior found enjoyment in his students company. Their improvement made him truly proud, though he almost never showed it. Teaching new people was it's own reward as he felt that he had improved as a teacher. At least he didn't throw those girls at a small plateau like he did his first student.
The next day, Usagi and crew were the 40 meters away from the chamber that Piccolo had instructed. The mist that tends to envelop the area the further away from the door they were covered the girls, making it seem like they were separated. The girls screamed the names of the other girls, but none of them could hear each other.
Ami looked around and all of the sudden water began surrounding her. A vortex of water seemingly came out of nowhere and enveloped her completely. At first, the senshi of ice felt that she was drowning, only to discover that she could breathe just fine. That sensation was not the one that was the worst for her.
Inside the water vortex, she saw what looked like a hospital. Doctors surrounded her, all glaring at her like she had done something terribly wrong. Many men and women stood over in their white coats as they seemed to tower over the bluenette.
One that stood above all others however was a woman with the same color hair as her. Ami paled when she viewed this woman and her scowl. She shivered slightly as she looked upon the frightening visage of the female who seemed to be very important to Ms. Ami Mizuno.
"Ami, I'm really disappointed in you!" exclaimed the older woman.
"Mother, I..." Ami managed to get out through her fear.
"I send you to medical school. You pass with flying colors….only for you to get a B in anatomy! How in the world can you be a good doctor if you can't get an A+ in what a doctor should know inside and out!" The girl shouted.
"But..." Ami managed to squeeze out.
"Disgraceful...it's like you don't know the aorta from the left ventricle," one of the old man doctors pointed out.
"Or you might replace someone's kneecap for an elbow joint," a younger doctor chimed in.
"Or put the kidneys where the liver belongs," a younger female nurse said with sadistic glee.
Ami shut her eyes as the voices rang in her head. It was as if her own fears of failure were trying to shut down her normally analytical mind. As their voices hammered on into her brain, she managed to peak out of one of her eyes and saw an image of herself. The visage of Ami Mizuno in the uniform of Sailor Mercury had a look of determination as it stood beside her alterego.
The bluenette saw this image of herself and took a deep breath. The voices that were trying to discourage her were slowly unveiled to be what she should have known all along. The girl now knew that these sounds weren't real, but her own thoughts made into a convincing mirage.
"All of you will be quiet," Ami said with an uncharacteristic amount of assertiveness from the normally much meeker girl.
"How dare you talk back to your mother!" the illusion said as she went to slap her, only to pass through Ami's face.
"You are not my mother. She's at a hospital in the other dimension. All of you are nothing but images in my mind," Ami said before she screamed her way out of the vortex.
All of the illusions disappeared. Ami looked over toward the last one, the clone of herself. The Sailor Mercury mirage simple smiled before she disappeared.
Rei felt she was all alone. The girl walked around the expanse, and hollered out for the girls. No answer came from her friends as the mist obscured everything, even the sounds of their voices. The raven haired miko stood silent for a few minutes and tried to collect her thoughts.
However, there would be no time as a torrent of fire came toward the senshi. The girl flew into the air and dodged the aggressive flame, only for it to follow her with even more determination. The fire seemed to be like a predator, trying to catch her. Moments later, the red and orange flame struck Rei and threatened to consume her. Flames were on her Piccolo inspired dogi and spread quickly. She felt the searing pain of those flames, only to discover that there was no smell to her burning flesh. Rei discovered after a few minutes that despite the fire being all around her, she was in fact not burning at all.
Surrounded by the false flames, images came up of herself and what one would say was a handsome young man. She felt that she knew this tall, dark haired stranger only to not be able to place where she met him. A figure in the distance was across from her and the man. Fear and anger rose up inside young Rei as she looked upon the older man in the suit.
"Rei, this man is to be your husband yes?" questioned the elder one.
The raven-haired girl just stood silent. She knew that no response she gave would ever be considered by this man across from her.
"You are my daughter Rei. Your so-called gifts are an embarrassment. It would be best to marry this man and make yourself a wife. Perhaps your "visions" will go away while you are in wedded bliss," pointed out the man who apparently is Mr. Hino.
"My darling Rei, our marriage may be your only ticket to happiness," said the younger, handsome man in an almost authoritative tone.
The voices of the two men rang in her head, causing her to put both hands upon her ears. Try as she might, the lectures from her father and this strange man that could be anyone couldn't help but be heard by her.
Another image appeared beside Rei. This was someone who looked just like her, but with her Sailor Mars uniform instead of her training gi. This image was something that helped Rei as she began to shut out the two voices. Her father and the man were still throwing out various taunts, telling her that she wasn't good enough and her only chance was marriage. Rei felt a rage and a determination build up inside of her.
A loud scream came out of her, causing the two men to fall silent. The two of them froze in fear as Rei stopped her scream and glared at the two men. Rei's father and this man, who could be any man, were in a standoff with the Miko.
"Father, I do not care about marriage. There might be a day where I change my mind, but it's not today. You were never there for me, because you were too busy chasing political power! You were embarrassed by my gifts, so you know what...you can continue being ashamed because I'm not giving them up!
As for you….I have no idea who you are! I wouldn't have a man order me around! Don't you know the woman runs the household, you idiot! I would have a much better man who understands me, if I were to be with one at all! Both of you can get out!" shouted Rei.
The mirages disappeared, leaving only Sailor Mars. Mars smiled at her other self and like the other mirages, she vanished.
Makoto walked into the expanse, not seeing her friends. The tall girl hollered out their names, hoping that she would be heard. The silence that she received was not comforting for her at all. The white void seemingly sent a chill up the spine of the young brunette.
`As if it were meant to be, dark clouds were over the girl's head. Thunder could be heard as a massive thunderhead appeared high in the sky, directly over her head. The girl could not tell the height of the formation from where she was, but it did cover a very wide area, as if it reached the very edges of this dimension. Lightning bolts gathered together and sent a white beam made entirely out of said bolts down upon Makoto.
The young girl could feel her nerves and her entire body convulse as the electricity coursed through her. The torrent of pain and shock seemed never ending as she felt she was being electrocuted. As this was going on though, she noticed something. Nothing of her body had caught fire or exploded. As she began to come back to her senses, the lightning stopped electrocuting her. It was still surrounding her, but it was as if it's very power had been taken away. The girl then looked over and saw a boy standing across from her. The teen boy was a few inches shorter than her and had a smile on his face. The boy walked up to Makoto, who started experiencing positive feelings toward him.
The brunette looked upon the young man, her heart aflutter with what one would call 'lovey-dovey' feelings. A lunchbox appeared in her hands, as if it was to be presented to this boy. The brown haired male reached out to the gift and placed his hands upon the box.
All of the sudden a wicked grin appeared on his face. The young boy sneered at the taller girl, as if she were nothing to him all of the sudden. The boy snatched the lunchbox and threw it to the ground. Food laid all over the spot as the bento was broken into pieces. Makoto was horrified at this reaction to her gesture.
"Why should I accept a gift from a giant freak like you!" shouted the boy.
"Giant...freak..." Makoto sputtered out.
"Yes you giant imbecile! You are too tall for me! No boy will ever want you!" sneered the boy.
Tears streamed down her face. This boy that she apparently knew from her old school was really cruel. Two boys, each one shorter than the both of them and one of them was seemingly a dwarf, appeared out of nowhere to help the cruel boy.
"Giant angry woman!" one shouted.
"Too tall freak!" a second one blared out.
"Please don't eat me!" the dwarf said while making a puppy dog eyed look.
Makoto was beside herself as she continued to cry. This girl was tough, but she knew that she was also sensitive to hurtful comments at times. A lot of times, her fist was what did the talking about people who taunted her in such a brutal fashion.
A small hand tapped the sobbing Makoto on her skirt. The girl looked down and saw a familiar little boy with hair that stuck out in all directions. A smile appeared on his face as she looked at him through the tears.
"Goten?" Makoto asked in surprise.
"Yup, it's me...are those boys making you cry?" Goten asked.
Makoto nodded in response. Just then another figure appeared beside Makoto's little buddy. It was her in the costume of Sailor Jupiter. The senshi looked stern at her counterpart, which did bring up a slight sensation of fear in the tallest of the girls.
"Goten looks up to you. He wouldn't want to see you cry because of a bunch of jerks now would he," Jupiter said.
Makoto shook her head and took a deep breath. She glared at the trio of boys, with Goten standing beside her. The boy mirrored the stern look of the girl as the two of them put their fist into their hands, a sign that they were ready to fight.
"You boys can't keep me down. I'm going to have my own shop one day. And if I find a man, he won't be an idiot like you three!" Makoto shouted.
Before anything could happen however, the mirage dissipated. Makoto, just like the other girls, looked over at her counterpart. Sailor Jupiter and Goten simply smiled before disappearing into nothingness.
Minako walked all around the expanse. The girl could not find her friends, just like the other senshi. The blonde haired woman looked into the nothingness and all that could be seen was a white void. The senshi's leader wrapped her arms around herself, the silence putting her in extreme discomfort.
Just then a golden light appeared. The light was small and floated right in front of Minako. Unlike the other three senshi however, this element wasn't hostile at all towards her. Minako reached out and touched the light. The radiance of the sphere grew exponentially, surprising her. After a few moments, the light burst forth and transformed itself into human shapes. These two shapes were familiar to her, causing the young girl to give pause. The silver haired, bronzed man that appeared in front of her was indeed the image of Kunzite. His pale blue eyes gazed into Minako's darker shade of blue. The other was a silver-haired woman with a hairstyle eerily similar to Usagi. Minako recognized her as the Moon Queen from over 1000 years ago.
The girl who had the powers of Sailor Venus froze in place, not knowing what to do next. As far as she knew, Kunzite was but a spirit nowadays and the elder Moon Queen had finally passed on into Other World. Both figures stood neutral for quite a while, not giving anything of their feelings or anything of note, which made Minako more and more nervous.
"You will never find love," Kunzite stated as if he were saying hello.
"You are truly incompetent as a leader," Queen Serenity said in an uncharacteristically spiteful tone.
Minako went from frozen to melancholy. Both of those simple statements seemingly cut into the girl's emotions. Tears streamed down her face as she was reminded of the event that happened over 1000 years ago, when the old Moon Kingdom and the Silver Millennium Palace fell to destruction. That old memory of Metallia tearing the kingdom asunder as the Soldiers of Earth and the Dark Kingdom overran the Moon Kingdom forces.
"You failed the Princess 1000 years ago and you will fail her again," Queen Serenity said in again an uncharacteristic tone.
"No she won't!" another figure cut in.
The three of them turned around and saw three more figures behind Minako. One was Sailor Venus, basically Minako in her normal senshi uniform. The other was a white cat that had served as Minako's friend and guardian for the past year and a half. The third shocked Minako much more than the other two. It looked like another version of Queen Serenity, the image matching the other Queen Serenity perfectly.
The three figures all of the sudden appeared beside Minako. Artemis sat on the shoulder of Sailor Venus and hissed at Kunzite and the other Queen Serenity. The second Queen was on the other side of Minako, looking ready to defend her from both the mirror image of herself and Kunzite.
"Minako, I was never that spiteful to you. I never blamed you for what happened to our kingdom. Surely you know that, my dear Sailor Venus," Queen Serenity said in her more natural tone.
"And besides, you will find love. It might take a while, but you will get there," Sailor Venus said to Minako.
"You are a capable leader. You successfully fooled the Dark Kingdom before the Princess revealed herself. You've gotten this far with your friends during Piccolo's training. Heck, you even got Usagi to train with all of you. I'd say you are capable of leadership to say the least," Artemis said to Minako.
Minako steeled herself against what she finally saw as two mirages. One of her lover, and the other of a false queen. The girl glared at the two of them with steely determination as she clenched her fist.
"Begone shadows of my past. Queen Serenity would never speak to me that way. And besides, we avenged the Moon Kingdom not too long ago. You idiots don't know anything," Minako said to the images.
The two mirages simply disappeared. Minako looked at both sides. First at the smiling Artemis and Sailor Venus, who disappeared only seconds after. Then at the other side at a smiling Queen Serenity. The queen vanished, and Minako soon saw nothingness once again.
Usagi searched around the expanse for her friends, just like her fellow senshi. Like the others though, she could not find them as she called out their names. The girl stood still for a moment, a feeling of failure and sadness washing over her. The girl took a deep breath before going further into the white void to continue her search.
A silver light appeared in the sky. Usagi looked up and saw the light was barely visible against the totally white sky. The light came closer at a fast rate of speed however and struck Usagi before she could react. The dumpling-haired girl screamed as the light appeared to cover her entire body. After a few moments, the pain subsided while the light was still all over her.
All of the sudden, a figure appeared before her. This figure was a woman with long, dark blue hair and a housedress on with a white apron. Usagi smiled as she knew the figure instantly.
"Mom?" Usagi said.
The figure whipped around and had a sour look on her face. Usagi's mom held a white piece of paper in her hand with red marks all over. She stormed angrily at the odango haired girl and stopped just a few inches from Usagi's face.
"Usagi! You brought home another bad paper! This is a zero...a zero for Kami's sake!" Ikuko screamed out.
"Mom! I'm sorry!" Usagi said as she cried her usual tears.
"Usagi! You can't seem to do anything right!" Ikuko shouted.
Then another girl appeared beside her mother. The girl had short, blond hair and a body hugging outfit. Usagi recognized that girl instantly.
"Erasa..." Usagi said.
"Oh Usagi, what does Gohan see in you. When he could be with a girl like me," said Erasa with a wink before protruding her chest out, as if to say her breasts were better.
Usagi growled at Erasa and tightened her fist. Ikuko tried screaming more sayings about her grades, but none of that was getting through to the odango haired teen at the moment. Though she had never known Erasa to try and break her and Gohan up, her jealously of Erasa's looks came through in spades.
Just then another girl appeared with black hair in pigtails. The girl was wearing loose clothing, in contrast to Erasa's body hugging outfit. The raven haired girl stood between Usagi and the short haired girl, as if to stop them from attacking each other.
"Videl," Usagi said.
"Why would he be with you Erasa….when he could be with me," Videl proclaimed.
Usagi was truly pissed off at that time. Sure, Videl never did anything to try and break her and Gohan up, but thoughts of jealousy were in her mind nonetheless. Usagi charged at both Videl and Erasa, only to pass through both of them. The two older teenage girls then both looked at the bewildered Usagi with a sadistic smile on their faces.
"Was that supposed to do something?" taunted Videl.
"Yeah, you think Gohan's girlfriend would learn how to control herself," Erasa said in a mocking manner.
Usagi wanted to charge again, but she remembered something. A saying that Piccolo told her and the group about the chamber.
'This chamber will play tricks on your mind. You must focus!' Usagi remembered Piccolo say.
Usagi stood still and focused. It wasn't long until another figure appeared, this time beside her. It was none other than Usagi, in the form of Sailor Moon. Moon stood beside Usagi, a look of determination on her face.
"Why should you care what those girls think?" Moon asked.
"But Sailor Moon," Usagi said.
"It only matters what you and Gohan think," Moon explained to Usagi.
"Why, she's nothing without him," Videl said, cutting into the conversation.
Usagi paused at that moment. She couldn't believe what the mirage version of Videl had said. Before she dwelt on that moment too long however, four more figures popped up into view.
"She would still be Sailor Moon!" the blue haired figure that was Sailor Mercury replied.
"She would be our leader!" Sailor Mars proclaimed.
"She would be our princess!" Sailor Jupiter said.
"She would be our friend!" heralded Sailor Venus.
Usagi smiled at her friends. More and more it did become clear to her that this was her own mind playing out in front of her. The senshi, and her alter ego have become a part of her makeup in their relatively short time together.
"She would still be strong," said another figure.
Usagi's turned her head suddenly toward the voice and she gasped. A mirage version of Gohan appeared between the senshi and the older teenagers. The illusion smiled at the odango haired real girl before he continued.
"She would still be Usagi Tsukino. That's all that matters. Nobody can take that away, least of all me. Am I right?" Gohan stated.
Usagi nodded at the response.
All of the sudden, the entire mirage disappeared. Usagi looked around for a few moments, and found a small shape directly behind where she was standing. The girl ran toward that shape, faster than she knew she could go toward that dot. Before she even knew it she was at the building which served as the door between Earth and this alternate dimension. Piccolo looked mildly surprised while the other girls jaws were as wide open as they came.
"Usagi….when did you get so fast?" Piccolo asked.
Usagi couldn't believe it. Had her speed improved at such a rate and she didn't know it. The girl couldn't come up with the words to describe what she did. Usagi wound up laughing sheepishly and rubbing the back of her head, just like Gohan did when he felt slightly nervous.
The girls joined Usagi and they went into the building for their evening ritual of cleanup and dinner. One thing is for sure, these Sailor Senshi were improving at a rate that surprised them most of all. Training it seems, was paying off.
A/N: Finally done. Took a little longer than expected. I might be able to write the next chapter a little faster, though I can't promise anything. Please Read, Review, Favorite and Follow.