Chapter 3 - Episode 2: A New Evil

Sailor Moon P
Episode 2: A New Evil

Olivia sat on the stairs outside Canon Elementary, waiting for the activity bus she would have to ride home to roll up to the curb. She was bent over a notebook where she was drawing a picture with a dull pencil. She threw her long golden hair out of the way of her sketch, and reached back to make sure her hair-bow was still straight. Her pencil, the wood scraping the paper as it moved, scratched out the shape of the head and upper body of a person. She creased her brow and focused her blue-hazel eyes on her work. Black hair emerged on the head and a diamond-shaped mask was drawn over the eyes. Olivia drew the arms and legs, which were a little stringy for a young man, but the best she could do. She colored black pants and a jacket on him, and drew a square cape down his back. All that was left was to put on the hat.
She balled herself up tighter, and her hair fell like a veil around her lap. The hat was a very delicate part of the drawing. She had to get it just right or else it would look stupid. She carefully scratched a line across the forehead, then extended another line to make the side of the top hat. Height was important as well. Too short would look dinky. Too tall would look awkward. She had to get it just right. As she carefully lengthened the line a little bit at a time, another girl walked up behind her.
“Hey, Olivia!”
“Ahh!” Olivia jumped and the pencil shot up and off the page. “Jessi! Look what you made me do!”
“Sorry.” Jessi said, sitting down next to her. Jessi’s hair was equally as long as Olivia’s, but thinner and reddish in color. The both of them had stayed after for art club. Jessi leaned over to see what Olivia had in her lap. “What’re you drawing?”
Olivia quickly and defensively pressed the drawing to her chest. “You can’t see it!”
“Oh, come on!” Jessi reached up to try to get the notebook away from her friend so that she could see. “You told me to ‘look what I made you do’, now what did I make you do!?!”
“No! It’s private!” Olivia cried, turning away to make grabbing more difficult for the other girl.
“What’s so private!?! Is it your booooooooooyfriend?”
“No it’s not!” Olivia answered, growing red from embarrassment.
“Ooooooh! Yes it is! You’re blushing!” Jessi teased. She made on lunge and got the notebook away from the blonde.
“No!” Olivia fretted, “Give it back!”
“What the heck is this?” Jessi asked, crinkling her nose. “The phantom of the opera?”
Olivia’s eyebrows leveled to form a critical, slightly offended expression. It was quickly replaced by cunning. “Yes. Now give it back.”
As Olivia took back and folded close the notebook, Jessi pointed past her toward the parking lot. “Hey, isn’t that your mom’s van?”
Olivia looked up and saw the slick, shiny, beige-colored minivan pull up in the parking lot. She recognized it immediately as her mother’s. “Yeah! It is!” She turned her blue eyes to look at Jessi. “D’you wanna ride?”
Jessi shrugged. “Sure, why not?” The two girls got up and trotted over to the tan-looking vehicle. Olivia's older sister Jennifer was in the front seat doing her homework.
Olivia leaned in Jennifer’s window to talk to her mom, but she couldn’t see because of her sister’s brunette head. The blonde reached into the window and shoved the elder back into the seat by her forehead. “Move your head.”
“Tch, don’t ask me!” Jennifer said, but she obeyed anyway and worked her calculator at arm’s length.
Olivia leaned into the window and called across to her mother.. “Hey, mom!?! Can we give Jessi a ride home?”
“I suppose, jump in.”
Olivia yanked open the sliding door and stepped aside so that Jessi could climb through, then piled in herself. Jennifer returned to being bent over her homework, trying hard to concentrate on math and sing along to the song on the radio at the same time.. Her mother looked at the two girls in the back in the rear-view mirror. “So, Olivia, how was art club?”
“It was okay.” The blonde answered, buckling her seatbelt. “We made Dalmatians out of clothespins.”
“That’s good. You had fun too, Jessi?”
“Yeah,” Jessi admitted. “Except my Dalmatian had too many spots, so now it’s a Zebra.”
“Hah!” Jennifer laughed. “How’d you manage that!?”
The van pulled out of the parking lot and took off down the road away from Canon Elementary school. Turning off onto a larger street, the car made a series of turns until they were waving their way through their own neighborhood. Olivia’s mother pulled up in front of Jessi’s house. The redhead drew open the door and hopped out “Thanks for the ride, Mrs. Miles.”
“Oh, it was no problem, Jessi.” The driver assured.
Jessi turned back to Olivia. “Hey, see you at the Strings concert tonight.”
“We have a concert!?!” Olivia cried, slapping her forehead. “Oh man! I completely forgot!”
“Don’t worry, I didn’t.” Her mother called back. It didn’t help Olivia’s mood.
“Well, seeya, thanks again.” Jessi said, shutting the door and excusing herself from the awkward situation.
Olivia sat, her hand still on her forehead. “A concert!?! Is my bass still at school!? No, it’s at home! Good! Bad? What was I going to do tonight!? SCIENCE PROJECT! Ungh! How am I going to get it all done!?”
“Well, you are going to have to, somehow.” Her mother said.
“Duh! But how!?” Olivia spat.
“Jennifer shook her head. “You sound pretty doomed, Olivia.”
“Grrr.” Olivia stared, menacingly at her older sister, but the brunette didn’t return the stare. The van headed around a couple more corners and down a street before arriving at their house. As soon as the parking break was on, Olivia’s bounded out of the car and was through the door into the house. She was confronted by her two large dogs who had been anticipating the family’s arrival from school. Gabe, the larger dog, a stringy, black and white greyhound mix, jumped up to get at Olivia’s face while the other, a brindle greyhound named Angel was pushed out of the way. Olivia shoved the younger dog away. “Out of my way Gabe, I got a lot to do!” She threw her sketching notebook on the kitchen counter and dropped her backpack on the parquet floor.
Jennifer and her mother came in with grocery bags and placed them on the counter. Olivia raced out of the room and down the hall. Jennifer cocked an eyebrow. “What’s with her?”
The fifth-grader ran back into the kitchen with a large piece of poster-board. She slammed it on the kitchen table and threw open the school closet in the wall behind her. “Mom!? Do we have any construction paper!?”
“I don’t think so.” Her mom answered. “Check downstairs.”
Olivia raced around the corner and down to the basement. “Please have some! Please!”
“I guess she’s got a lot to work on.” Jennifer observed with a shrug. She crashed on the couch and turned on the TV. “Too, bad, stinks to be her.”
Olivia rushed back up the stairs, her long hair flying out behind her. “There wasn’t any!! What am I going to do!?”
“Does this have to be done tomorrow?” Mrs. Miles asked while un-bagging groceries.
“No, Friday.” Olivia answered, panting. “But I have to write a paper tomorrow!”
“Now, don’t make yourself frustrated.” Her mother warned. “Just do what you can for now. Your concert isn’t until seven, you can get a lot done by then.”
“Oh, okay,” she said, unsure. “Is anyone using the computer? Can I type stuff?”
“Sure, go ahead.” Her mother said. Olivia rushed back to the computer room at the back of the house. As soon as she had disappeared, the telephone rang. Unfortunately Mrs. Miles’s hands were covered in raw chicken juice. “Jennifer? Can you get that?”
“Sure, Mom.” Jennifer got up off the couch and grabbed the phone. A young girl was on the other end.
“Hello, is this Olivia?”
“No, it’s Jennifer.”
“Oh! Hi Jennifer! It’s Raye!”
“Oh! Hi Raye! What’s up?”
“Nothing much. I was just calling to see if Olivia was coming over to my house tonight.”
Jennifer shook her head. “No, I don’t think she can tonight She’s got a Strings concert at seven.”
“A what?”
“A Strings concert. You know, like violins and cellos and stuff?”
“Oh! Orchestra? Does Olivia play?”
“Yeah, the bass.”
“Really? Cool. Well, it’s too bad she can’t come. Tell her ‘hi’ for me.”
“Okay, Raye, see you tomorrow at Sports Club.”
“Bye”
“Bye.” Jennifer docked the phone.
Her mom turned, “Who was it?”
“Raye, she’s one of the girls from that Sports Club we went to last night, she was calling for Olivia.” Jennifer headed out of the room. “I’m gonna go give her the message.” The brunette walked down the hall, her hazel-ish eyes on the floor. She turned the corner to find Olivia on the floor in front of the computer, jabbing madly at the start button.
“Work! You STUPID MACHINE!!!”
“Olivia!” Jennifer cried. “Don’t kill it!”
“But it won’t come on!” Olivia whined.
Jennifer leaned on the doorframe.. “Is the red light on down there?”
“Of course it’s on! It’s always on!” Olivia cried, but she bent her neck down to look anyway. “It’s not on.”
Jennifer smiled. “Hmph”
Olivia flipped the switch and the computer came to life. She shoved herself off the floor. “I would have figured it out sooner or later.”
“Later most likely.” Jennifer said, jesting-ly. “Anyway, that was Raye, you know, from Sports Club? Well, she wanted to know if you were coming over to her house today.”
Olivia smacked her face again. “DRAT! I was supposed to do that too! Man!”
“She seems to have really taken a shine to you. She didn’t invite me to her house.” Jennifer said, and then with a roll of her greenish eyes, she added, “of course, no one invites me anywhere.”
Olivia looked up at her sister, who was rather depressed at the idea of her little sister being liked more than she was. Olivia let out a sigh. If only she could tell Jennifer why she wasn’t invited. Raye was more than just an ordinary schoolgirl; she was the heroine for justice Sailor Mars. And Olivia was one of her crime-fighting fellows, Sailor Polaris. They were going to meet up with the other four Sailor Soldiers to talk about important Sailor Soldier Stuff. Jennifer couldn’t be included in a meeting like that, it would blow their secret! Olivia stood up, her spirits a little darkened as well. “Do you think I can still go?”
“Mom would never let you. Not with all the work you’re complaining about.”
“Aw!” Olivia slumped into the chair in front of the computer that was still booting up. She looked at the screen, then threw her pencil at it. “Stupid Science Project.”
“Plus I’ve already told her that you couldn’t go.” Jennifer said and excused herself. “Sorry.”
Olivia fumed.

* * *

Malachite, the silver haired general of Evil Queen Beryl’s Negaversian Army, stood in the grand hall of his mistress’s palace. He was in front of her throne, awaiting instruction, or punishment, whatever the case may be. He had a feeling that he was leaning more toward punishment on this occasion because he happened to have failed his last mission. As the case was, he not only had picked the wrong target for the last rainbow crystal carrier, he’d also burned down a house and driven out another Sailor Soldier. Yes, he was in for more than just a spanking.
“Malachite!”
“Yes, my queen!” He was nearly surprised at how quickly he’d responded to her voice, perhaps he was more nervous than he thought.
“Malachite,” Beryl said again, her deep voice was turse, and annoyed. “You are aware that you have failed me again.”
“Yes, my queen.”
“Are you aware that now, because of you, that Tuxedo Mask knows that there is one more Rainbow Crystal? Before this incident, he thought that between us, we had found them all. It was merely by chance that we found that there was an eight. Now our head start has been thwarted!” Her voice rose with aggression and her long auburn hair trembled as she moved hr head and shoulders.
Malachite braced himself for the worst. Th last time she had been this angry at a general, she’d killed him on the spot. Things were not looking good on his horizon. But Queen Beryl calmed herself down, which took a great deal of trouble. After a few minutes, she’d reached the level where she could just speak without screaming.
“We…will…try…a…new…approach.” Beryl panted. She cleared her throat. Malachite sighed silently, he was apparently off the hook for now. Beryl’s hand gestured in the darkness of her throne. It directed down beside her. “These are my heirs.” She announced. The two people on the floor stood. She directed the room to the young woman on her right. “This is my daughter, Chrysoberyl.”
Chrysoberyl stepped forward. She had auburn hair as well, but hers was long and straight. She wore a floor-length white-velvet gown, that changed to a gray-blue in the shadows. It was sleeveless, and low cut, with a choker made from the same material around her neck. Her eyes were dark and shallow. They were also hard, and the deepest of forest-greens. Although she was very beautiful, an evil way about her. She had, apparently, been well taught by her mother.
“You will know her as Pulsar. As in SAILOR Pulsar.” Beryl said. The crowd in the great hall clouded over in disbelief. “You all heard me right! She’s a Sailor Soldier, just like those Sailor Brats on Earth. And my daughter can do more damage to any of you than you can imagine by just saying two words! She will be your Queen someday!”
Pulsar made no motion apart from further slitting her shallow eyes. Beryl directed the attention to the man at her left. “This is Kyanite. Revere him. Obey him. He is in charge of my armed forces. He will lead our invasion of Earth as soon as we have all the Rainbow Crystals.”
Malachite took a start. That was to be his position! How could she strip him of his title!? Especially in favor of this Kyanite.
The man on Beryl’s left was of average height, and tan with combed back brownish hair. He wore a sleeveless navy-blue v-neck smock that flared up slightly at the shoulders. He had tight black pants that were tucked into his gray, deep-tread boots. Despite these features, however, was the fact that Kyanite had muscles bulging out from under his shirt and through his tight pants. In addition, his right eye was glazed over in blindness. This was the result of whatever had sliced the long, thin scar down his face. The scar started on his forehead, just below his hairline, traveled through the center of his blind eye and down onto his cheek, ending just an inch above the mouth.
All right, so perhaps he looked tough, but Malachite was seasoned! He’d been at the head of the army when the Negaverse conquered the moon! It was his rightful place! He decided to speak. “Queen Beryl! You said I was the one to lead your army!”
“If you recall, Malachite,” Beryl snapped, “you FAILED!” Malachite stepped back in disbelief. Beryl continued. “Kyanite will lead the army. He will be known as Captain Quasar. His is my son-in-law, and, not to mention, more qualified than you!”
Malachite hung his head, fuming in defeat.
Beryl spoke again. “Pulsar and Quasar have come up with a new plan. You are to have a new partner, Malachite, one that will make sure you get your work done.” She threw out her hand as if to brush him aside. “Begone.”
“yes…my queen.” Malachite bowed obediently, his eyebrow twitching in anger. He excused himself and fumed off to his quarters.

* * *

Olivia bustled down the hallway from the computer room, her humongus bass violin in arm. The instrument was so large, she had to press it against her body and support it with one leg to keep it from dragging the ground. The motion resulting from this position fit neatly into the definition of a hobble. Jennifer looked up from where she was stretched out on the couch. “D’you need some help, there?”
“Yeah!” Olivia called. “Could you open the garage door for me!?”
“Sure.” Jennifer jumped up and clogged her way to the laundry room to let Olivia out. The blond wobbled out into the garage and slid the bass into the van through the tailgate. She shut the hatch, and got in the back seat through the side door. Jennifer went back inside and passed her mother, who was on her way out to the car.
Mrs. Miles looked up and saw Olivia sitting, anxiously in the back. “Olivia!? Do you have everything you need?”
“Yes, Mom!”
“Have you eaten anything?”
“No, Mom, I don’t have time to eat!”
Her mother turned and headed back inside. “I’ll get something for you to eat on the way.” On her way in, she bumped into Jennifer, who was on her way back out with a notebook and her math homework.
Jennifer jumped in the car and took her normal seat. “So, are you nervous?”
“Yeah,” Olivia answered. “I barely practiced at all.”
“Maybe you should fix that for next time.” Jennifer suggested.
“Hah! Yeah right!” Olivia scoffed. Mrs. Miles came out of the house and climbed into the driver’s seat again. She tossed Olivia some cheese and a Jell-O-container with a spoon. Olivia caught the cheese and the spoon, but dropped the Jell-O. She laughed a little to herself, then reached down to get the fruit cup. “Thanks, Mom!”
The van pulled out of the driveway and was on the road again on its way to Canon. Down the road and through the system of turns and curves, the car went until it had pulled up at the front doors of the school. Olivia jumped out of the vehicle, ran around the back, retrieved the bass and prepared to hobble inside, but was intercepted by her mother. “Calm down, Olivia, you’ve got plenty of time.” She took the instrument from the eleven-year-old. “Let me take it in for you.”
Olivia set the bass down. “Thanks Mom.”
The family made their way inside. They were early enough not to have to worry about much of a crowd beside the players and their parents. They ran into Jessi and her mother just outside the cafeteria.
“Hi, Olivia!” Jessi called, running over. Her violin case beat off her thighs as she trotted along.
Olivia smiled. “Hi, Jessi, what’s new?”
“Nothing,” Jessi answered. “Have you been to the strings room yet?”
“No, Mom has my bass, we were on our way there.” Olivia answered.
“Do you wanna walk together?” Jessi asked. “I mean, without the adults.”
“Sure.” Olivia agreed. She walked back to where Jennifer and her mother stood. “Hey, Mom, you can go in, I can take care of it.”
“Are you sure?” Her mother asked.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Go on into the gym and save a place for Dad.” Olivia took up her bass and the other two left. Meanwhile, Jessi was having the same conversation with her mother.
“Just go in the gym and sit down, Mom, I’m gonna hang out with Olivia.”
“But Jezebel.” Her mother persisted, “what if you get lost?”
“Mom! It’s my SCHOOL! There are only, like, three hundred students that could fit in this place! I won’t get lost!”
“But, Jezebel, what if you are kidnapped?”
“Mother!” Jessi was growing impatient. “It’s right down the hall! I got there every Tuesday and Thursday! I’ll be fine! I’ll be with Olivia!”
“Well, alright, as long as you two stay together.”
“We will, Mom.” Jessi repeated, “Now go!”
Her mother took off in the direction Olivia’s had and Jessi became less annoyed. Olivia walked up behind the redhead. “Man, your Mom’s a little over-protective, isn’t she?”
Jessi flipped aside one of her long, straight bangs. “She doesn’t trust me with anything! She thinks that if she leaves me alone for two minutes, I’ll find some way to kill myself!” Jessi’s explanation left Olivia confused. Jessi summed it up by simply saying. “She’s paranoid.”
“Really.” Olivia said in mock skepticism. The two girls made it up the stairs and down the hall to the Strings room, Olivia hobbling the entire way. Once inside, they had to split up and join the rest of the fifth-grade Strings students tuning up. Jessi headed over to the other violins and Olivia set up by the cellos. The girl closest to her was a cello-player from a different class, but Olivia recognized her. Her name was Lynn, she was a quiet, self-contained girl with dirty-looking short brown hair and brown eyes. She was trying to tune her cello on her own. She’d pluck a sting, adjust the peg at the top of her instrument, and then pluck it again. As Olivia listened to her efforts, she could tell that she was only making it worse.
“Why can’t I do it!?!” Lynn said, sounding near tears.
“Why don’t you just wait for the teacher to help you tune it?” The boy next to her suggested, but Lynn ignored his advice.
“It’s hopeless! Why can’t I do anything right!?!”
‘She needs a vacation.’ Olivia thought.
Lynn crossed her arms and pouted, her lower lip quivering. “I’m useless! Why am I even here? All I want is to be good at something for once.”
Olivia rolled her eyes. ‘She needs a looooong vacation.’

* * *
Malachite stormed into his quarters. The iron-rod bay doors slammed open and slammed closed behind him as soon as he was through. One of the irregularly shaped colored glass panes shattered on impact. His girlfriend, who was waiting for him, jumped at the sound. “Ah! Malachite? What is it?”
He wasn’t paying attention, but answered her question in one rage-fueled scream. “Argh! How DARE she!?!”
“Malachite?” The other general, with long wavy orange hair stepped forward. “What did Beryl do?”
“The heathen witch! She’s disgraced me!” He pounded his fist on the table. The woman put her hands on his shoulders. Malachite was breathing hard and a vein was sticking out of his pale forehead.
“What did she do to you?”
“She’s destroyed me.” Malachite said, calmer. “Zoicite, she’s demoted me! I no longer lead her army! I’m no longer important! I’m dispensable!”
“Malachite,” Zoicite repeated, “if you are thinking what I think you are, it won’t happen.” Malachite avoided her gaze and bent over the table, one fist clenched. His navy cape hung irregularly down to one side. She leaned her face closer. “She can’t get rid of you! She just gave you this new job!” Zoicite turned her eyes down. Her heart was beating fast. She was scared that he was right, and dreaded the thought of losing him.
“She’s taken the first step, Zoicite,” Malachite announced, straightening up. Her hands fell from his shoulders. “If I screw up one more time, I’m finished.”
“No!” She stepped forward as if to throw her arms around him. “Malachite!”
He threw up a hand and kept her back. Her hands dropped to the sides of her navy and green general’s uniform. “I’m not down yet, Zoicite. Queen Beryl, in all her mercy,” his voice lacked gratitude and possessed a great deal of sarcasm, “has given me another chance.”
Zoicite brought her hands back up to clasp in front of her chest. Hope had emerged in her eyes.
Malachite was not hopeful at all. “She’s assigned me a new partner she says will make sure I do my job. I’ve become a nuisance to her. I was once a Great General! ARGH!” He’d driven himself back into rage.
Then, the door to his chambers opened. The iron hinges creaked.
Malachite heard it and snapped his head to side. “Who’s there!?”
“General Malachite?” A deep voice asked. The voice was full of confidence and cunning. It sounded as if there was nothing that could intimidate it. “I believe you were assigned to me.”
Malachite didn’t like the sound of that last remark at all. He whirled around. “I am assigned to no one! Show yourself!”
To the two generals’ surprise, the man who slinked around the corner on all fours was a cat. The cat had glowing yellow eyes that were slitted menacingly at it stared with utter supremacy around the room. It was deep navy blue; a much bluer navy than the grayish color of the generals’ uniforms. It sat down just inside the door and straightened up, displaying every muscle that rippled beneath its silk-like fine fur coat. On its forehead was a crescent moon that was deep burnt orange and inverted so that the points pointed toward his eyes. He twitched his tail and grinned at Malachite and Zoicite.
Malachite couldn’t believe his disgrace. “A CAT!?! Have I been reduced to this!?”
“Reduced is hardly the word you should be using.” The cat said, licking his paw and using it to slick back the fur on his flattened ears. “It should be an honor for you to be shadowing me. I am Garth the Midnight Cat, I was the magical feline who gave Captain Quasar his Sailor Powers.”
“Wait.” Zoicite interrupted. “Captain Quasar is a Sailor Soldier? I thought only women could…”
“You would.” Garth accused as he continued to groom. “you are all such simple-minded maggots.”
“How do you get away with such a bloated ego!?” Zoicite demanded.
“You are in no authority to be asking me that.” Garth said, he stood up and headed back out the door. “Come, maggot, we have work to do.”
Malachite knew that he was the ‘maggot’ the cat was referring to. He snarled and pulled his cape up over his shoulder. “If this is what I’ve become, then I truly am a maggot.”

* * *

Olivia and her Strings group had moved out onto the stage in the Canon Elementary gymnasium. She stood, in her white Canon Strings shirt and black pants, bow in hand. Her music was open in front of her on the stand she was sharing with the only other bass player in her group. She could see Jessi down with the violins and violas. Olivia looked out into the audience and saw her mother and sister sitting next to an open seat saved for her father. People were steadily trickling in through the door while the instructor/conductor was busy getting organized. Olivia looked over to the door to see if her father was coming in.
She saw, instead five girls entering. They were all middle-school aged and dressed in sailor-type uniforms. In the lead was a girl with long, black hair and violet-colored eyes. Olivia recognized her as Raye.
‘Raye!?! What is she doing here?’ Olivia thought. She ran her eye to the girls who were with her. They were exactly who she thought they’d be. There was blue-black haired, intelligent blue-eyed Amy. Then Lita came with green eyes and a brown ponytail. Then, last were the two blue-eyed blondes Mina and Serena. Mina had her long blonde hair pulled up in a big red bow. Serena’s was pulled up in two pigtail-like buns. It was Serena’s quick eye that spotted Olivia up on stage. She smiled and waved, frantically.
Olivia giggled and waved back.
Just then, Mrs. Wills, the Strings instructor, stood up and signaled that it was time for the program to start. Raye and her party, being the tail end of the guests, had to grab a seat in the back. Amy took up the program that was on her chair before sitting down and began to page through it. Mina plopped down next to her and folded her hands under her chin. “Aw! Isn’t it sweet? Out little baby Sailor Soldier playing her violin at her first recital!” She wiped her eyes. “Oh! I might cry!”
“I got news for you, Mina.” Lita said, across Amy. “First off, she’s not a baby, second, I doubt that this is her fist recital, and third, that’s one haunkin’ violin!”
“Well, maybe it’s not as sweet as it was at fist glance,” Mina admitted, returning to her motherly mood, “but she’s still our baby heroine for justice!”
Lita got motherly as well and sighed. “Aw, your right.”
Amy spoke. “This looks like it’s going to be a very entertaining performance.”
“What makes you say that?” Raye asked.
“Ew, it’s none of that boring Beethoven and Bach stuff is it!?” Serena asked with a whine.
“No, I don’t think that this orchestra is advanced enough for that.” Amy admitted. “But it does look like they will be playing some old favorites, ‘The Star Spangles Banner’, ‘When the Saints Come Marching in’, and ‘Turkey in the Straw’ just to name a few.”
“Well, you can’t beat ‘Turkey in the Straw’.” Lita joked.
The concert broke into its first piece. Olivia stood at the back of the stage playing the same three notes over and over.
...squeak, shriek, strum...squeak, shriek, strum...
‘This is boring,’ she thought. She took her eyes off the music, knowing that she had until the end of the page before her part changed. She saw Jessi struggling with the difficult violin music and decided that she was better off in bass clef than treble. Over in the corner, surrounded by cellos, the bass clef was mostly all she heard. The cellos’ part was a little more difficult than the bass, but not that much more. Above the sea of repetitive notes, Olivia could hear someone playing off-key.
Just as she suspected, it was Lynn, who couldn’t quite seem to get her notes right. She had her brow deeply furrowed and her teeth set in frustration, but she couldn’t get her instrument and her hands to cooperate. “Arg!”
‘Poor kid that must be hart to stand.’ Olivia thought as she repeated her same three notes. When the page ended, Olivia faced her own musical difficulties when she had to add an extra four notes to her routine, but that only lasted for two measures and then she was back to the same three notes again.
...squeak, shriek, strum...squeak, shriek, strum...
From within the column of cellos, Lynn made herself known with a misplaced flat and then a bow fumble that resulted in a deafening shriek. The sound caused a couple of the other instrument groups to cringe and miss notes. The result was a melee of sour notes and bad timing. Mrs. Wills attempted to regain composure and, after a few minutes, the piece finished up nicely.
That last screw up was apparently more than Lynn could handle. She threw down her bow and dropped her cello with a bang. Everyone in the bass section cringed, knowing the damage that could b done by throwing a large instrument down like that. Lynn didn’t care. She covered her face, ran off stage and out the side doors of he gymnasium. The audience was abuzz, but none got up. Mrs. Wills signaled for her assistant to go check on the troubled musician and continued with the program. Olivia shook her head, ‘She doesn’t need a vacation, she needs some emotional therapy.’ While Mrs. Wills was addressing the audience, Olivia turned the page of her music and prepared to perform her next set of three notes to accompany “When the Saints Come Marching In.”
The audience forgot about Lynn and returned to watching the concert.

* * *

Malachite and Garth left the realms of the negaverse through a black-hole-like portal. The general had no idea where the cat was leading him, but followed obediently, if not enthusiastically, anyway. The portal emptied them out on the cement of a crowded parking lot. It was late, and the clouds were covering the sky so that only a ghost of the moon was visible above them. Malachite looked around the sea of cars. There were trees and houses to his left. To the right was what looked like a soccer field and a swing set. Garth was headed forward toward a squat building with randomly placed, narrow windows. Malachite’s face creased with displeasure. “Cat! What are you doing!? You have brought us to a Children’s School!”
“I am aware of where we are, General.” Garth answered with a swish of his tail. His sleek fur was barely visible in the dark. “This is exactly were we are going to find the holder of the Crystal Fracture!”
“Crystal Fracture!?!” Malachite cried. “We are in search of the Rainbow Crystals! Don’t waste my time on some scavenger hunt for broken crystals! This is not what I’ve been assigned!”
“I don’t care what you were assigned.” Garth hissed, turning his surprisingly luminous yellow eyes toward his silver-haired accomplice. “I don’t take my orders from that witch Beryl. I have higher powers to serve.’
“What are you saying!?” Malachite fumed. He was furious at this animal that thought that he was better than both he and his queen. How was this defect supposed to make him do his job when he was neglecting his orders and leading him off on wild tangents. “Is this some elaborate plot to get me fired! We are supposed to be in search of the Rainbow Crystals!”
“Would you SHUT UP!?!” Garth roared. “I know what I am doing! I am the leader, you are the follower! Now stop questioning my actions and pay attention! If you have half a brain you might learn something!” The cat slit his eyes further and continued in the direction of the school, he snuffed. “maggots...”
Malachite pouted and followed. All he’d learned so far was that he was in very hot water. His life was at stake, and this pig-headed rat of a feline was keeping him from his duty, and most assuredly signing his death warrant. Oh, if Beryl were watching now, she’d be sharpening the sword that would pierce his heart the minute he found himself back in her great hall. This was rich.

* * *

“When the Saints Come Marching In” finished up without a hitch. It didn’t lack anything, even though it was missing a cello. Mrs. Wills turned to look at the gymnasium door that Lynn had disappeared through. Her assistant was trying to push it open, but apparently couldn’t. Mrs. Wills shook her head and took the microphone. “Next we are going to play an old favorite, “Turkey in the Straw” It is a tradition that we play this at the fall concert.”
“Hey, “Turkey in the Straw”!” Lita smiled, elbowing Raye in the side.
Raye looked from Mrs. Wills to the brunette’s face and rolled her eyes. “Lita, you’re an idiot.”
“What!?” Lita protested, but Raye was listening to the conductor.
“It is also a tradition for people to come up and dance during this song if they want to, so when we start up, feel free to jump up and do-si-do if you feel the urge.”
Jennifer leaned over to her mother. “Hah, yeah right.”
Lita’s eyes widened in delight. She turned back to Raye. “C’mon Raye! Lets go up and dance!”
“No!” Raye cried, her violet eyes springing open wider. “I’m not going to make a fool of myself in front of all these people!”
“Oh, Come ON! It’s gonna be fun!” Lita persisted, a childish grin on her face.
“I’ll do it, Lita!” Serena called across Mina and Amy.
“Me too!” Mina nodded.
“Okay, guys, let’s go do-si-do!” Lita cried, jumping up. She walked past Raye and bopped her in the head. “You’re gonna miss all the fun, you party pooper.”
“I’m not a party pooper!” Raye insisted. “I just don’t like to square-dance with the whole room watching me!”
Lita, Serena, and Mina made their way up front and the music started. Olivia’s face contorted in amusement. The three of them were the only people brave enough to actually get up and dance. Lita and Serena were partners, with big, strong, Lita as the leader. Mina contented herself with Irish-jigging and twirling fast enough to make her long blonde hair fly about behind her. Olivia shook her head, and turned her attention back to the music where her rarely varying notes were plotted for her to follow. She was so distracted by the three square dancers that she’d lost her place.

* * *

Garth passed up the front doors and headed around the back of the building. The lights in the classrooms were out, and being hidden from the house lights by the road made the night seem darker. Ahead, however, Malachite saw a door slam open. Light forced its way across the lawn after a young girl. She was apparently crying and slumped down against the door in a ball as soon as it was closed. Garth looked back over his shoulder at Malachite. “Wait here. Watch closely.”
Malachite crossed his arms and leaned one shoulder against the wall, smirking.
Garth approached the girl who was shaking with sobs and purred. The girl looked up, her dirty brown bangs wet from tears and her brown eyes red around the edges. Her lower lip quivered. “Wh-who is it!?”
“Prrrrrrrr….” Garth stepped his long lean body close enough to Lynn so that she could see him.
She brightened just fractionally. Seeing the cat had replaced her sobs with interest. “Kitty? What are you doing here, kitty?”
“Purr…” Garth rubbed the length of his body down her balled up leg and Lynn stroked him. Deeply and a bit airily he spoke to her. “…I’m here to help you, my child.”
“Y-you speak!” Lynn removed her hand, scared, her lip quivering again.
“Yes, I am here to help you with your problem…” Garth mewed. “…You feel broken? Incomplete? Do you feel like there is something missing in your life?”
“Um..” Lynn was still unsure about this talking cat, and her eyes stared, unblinking as it continued to rub up and down her leg.
“Tell me, child,” Garth said, with a purr, “what is the one thing you want in your life? What would make you whole?”
“Um..” Lynn bit her knuckle to stop her mouth from trembling. “I-I want to…”
“Yes?” Garth egged. “What would make you perfect?”
“I-“ Her mind was still soaked with the memory of her experience on the stage. She was a failure at music. All she wanted was to play something right. All she wanted was to be good at playing. That was what would make her whole. “I just want to do good at playing music. I want to be a part of an orchestra and play with a bunch of other people! I want to be good! I want to be the best! That’s what’d make me a perfect person! That’s what I need to make me whole!”
“Very well…” Garth said, a slight hint of cunning to his deep voice. “…then I am going to help you be the best.”
Malachite raised his eyebrows. ‘What is he doing?’
“You will!?” Lynn cried. “Really!?”
“Yes,“ Garth said. He ceased his rubbing and stepped back to meet her eyes. “Stand up.”
“What will you do, talking kitty?” Lynn asked, obeying. “How can a little cat make me the best at playing music?”
“This is how…” Garth started, he reached behind him into his sub-space pocket and produced a small black-velvet sack. The sack was tall enough to touch his chin and was tied with a brown piece of braided twine. Both Lynn and Malachite leaned forward to see as Garth undid the string and reached into the bag. He emerged with a short, dark blue wand in his teeth. The onlookers’ eyes widened. The bag vanished as Garth stepped forward and placed the wand at Lynn’s feet. The cat looked up at her. “Take this pen. It will solve all your problems.”
Lynn reached down and took the wand, which did resemble a pen with a dark blue body and black cap. On the top of the cap was an oval-shaped decoration. It had on it, a treble clef with a double-X running through it. The arms of another X protruded out the sides of the decoration. Lynn inspected it carefully. “What does it…” But then she stopped. Black fumes were coming out of the top of the pen. They surrounded her head and leaked inside through her eyes, nose, mouth and ears. Immediately she had the answer to her question, and to Garth’s satisfaction and Malachite’s surprise, she cried out.
“DARK PORRIMA!”

Lynn was consumed inside a black hemisphere of dark magic. From the walls of the sphere, ribbon-like tendrils shot and wrapped themselves around her. Her clothing vanished, and the ribbons covered her body in a rippling dark-blue coating. Lightning flashed briefly inside the dome, severing the ends of the ribbons from the walls. The mummy-like coating covered every inch of her, even her face and her mop of dirty-brown hair. Her eyes were invisible until lightning flashed again and electricity followed the moisture of her open eyes into their sockets. Her eyes were lit with white light from within. The electricity continued throughout her body and caused the ribbons to explode into frayed pieces from her. She was left in the uniform of a Sailor Soldier. Her skirt, collar, and choker were the same dark-blue as the ribbons, and even though her leotard and gloves were white, they had a tint of gray to them. The bows on her chest and at her back were both black. As soon as her transformation was complete, she opened her mouth and began a thunderous monologue. “I am dark Sailor Porrima! I am the product of lust! And desire! I will conquer, and emerge victorious! I will serve the ones who sent me and become the best in the process! I AM WHOLE!” At the last words, lighting shattered the dome, it broke open and released Sailor Porrima back into the real world, vanishing in the process.

Malachite’s jaw dropped. “What is this power you have, cat!?”
Garth ignored him as Sailor Porrima smiled down at him. He twitched his tail. “Very good. You have become whole with the help of my power. You now have the one thing you wanted, that you said would complete you. Now go in there and show them what you can do.”
“Right.” Porrima agreed. Her voice sounded like Lynn’s but the extra part that Garth had given her had affected her mind. She was hungry to prove herself. Porrima turned and headed inside the gymnasium again. Malachite dashed over.
“What was that!?” He demanded.
“Shush.” Garth warned him. “I didn’t tell you that you could speak.” Malachite looked indecent. Garth explained. “I told you that I was the one that gave Quasar his powers. That was how I did it. Except he was true. This girl is a mock soldier. I am using a combined excess of Quasar and Pulsar’s powers to fuel this transformation. It will not last long, only long enough to force out the Crystal Fracture.”
“What is this Fracture!?” Malachite demanded, blocking Garth’s path into the building. “Tell Me!”
“The fracture is why she’s not whole.” Garth explained, aggravated. “When I use my power to fill in that missing part, there is no room for the fracture within her anymore.” He tried to get around Malachite’s legs and into the door. “It takes a little while, but not long. Now get out of my way so that we don’t miss it!”
Malachite stepped inside, himself and Garth sprinted in after him. The audience had gotten to its feet at the sight of Porrima, they were confused and all speaking at once. The music stopped. Lita stopped in the middle of a promenade with Serena, and the blonde fell onto her face. Porrima grinned. “Oh, thank you for the standing ovation!” She reached out her hand and a violin appeared in it. The violin had the same symbol of a treble clef with a double X running through it carved into its surface.
Raye caught sight of Malachite entering with Garth and gasped. “Ahh! It’s the Negaverse! Everyone get out of here, now!”
The crowd didn’t need to be told twice. Immediately the throng took off toward the door, toppling chairs and shoving each other. Porrima put her instrument under her chin and set the bow. “No, you are not going anywhere! You need to stay and hear me play!” She strung the bow across the strings and began to play a fast tune with a skillful hand. Music wasn’t the only thing to come out of the violin, however. Once she began to play, a long, stringy, black treble staff rippled off the bridge and flew out to bind the audience in a tight lasso of dark magic. She sneered. “Hm, a captive audience, what I’ve always wanted.”
Mrs. Wills looked frantically to the students and waved them offstage. “Run, hurry!”
The Strings class dropped their instruments and ran out the stage entrance. Olivia was one of them. Lita, Serena, and Mina were lucky enough to escape the lasso by being close to the stage. They jumped up and followed the students and Mrs. Wills out of the gym. They saw Olivia’s thick blonde hair among the students up ahead of them. Another girl, with long red hair had sought her out, and they stepped apart from the running kids. Jessi grabbed Olivia’s arm. “Come on! We have to get out of here!”
“No! I’ve got to-“ Olivia tried to think of an excuse to get away and transform.
“There’s no time! We have to get out of here!” Jessi pleaded.
“Y-You go on! I’ll catch up!” Olivia finally said.
Jessi hesitated, but finally took off. “Okay, if you say so.”
Serena and the other two girls ran up and stopped beside Olivia. Olivia waved a hand and beckoned them up a short flight of stairs to the left. “Follow me!” Once up the stairs and around the corner, Olivia decided that it was safe to transform. “POLARIS POWER!”

Olivia’s transformation pen appeared in her hand. The eight-pointed star that was her symbol rose off the headpiece and spun through the air. A light blue power dome rose about her. Once inside, her hair and skin faded to a light, sparkling blue and the interior walls of the dome became background of pink, blue and white crystal. She put one hand to her hip, and held the pen up in the other. From the symbol swirled long currents of liquid. They stretched like sparkling tongues down around her and gathered at her feet, where they condensed into a tightly swirling whirlpool. She spun, her long hair the same color as her flesh, but her eyes still glowing their lively bright blue. She turned her back, and the whirlpool shot up from below like a gaping mouth, freezing her inside a concave column of ice. Her hair stood out about her hips, forming a solid veil that hid her body from view. Then a crack ripped across the smooth icy surface, and a sudden explosion blew the ice into fragments. Olivia was left as Sailor Polaris, dressed in cool light blue. Her boots reached up to her knees and ended in a white lined-point with a white diamond-shape at the top. She tossed her hair off her back and shards of splintered ice flew out of it. She turned and swished a frilly blue skirt that was attached to a white leotard, the skirt had a matching sailor’s collar that ended with a pink bow on her chest. She did not have a bow at her lower back, but had, instead, a blue bow clipped in her hair. With tiara, and choker, she posed with one leg up and a hand on her knee. The pose ended her transformation and the dome opened to release her into the real world again.

Mina, and Lita did the same, each brandishing their own wands with their own symbols on them. They chorused.
“VENUS POWER!”
“JUPITER POWER!”

Two more domes appeared around each girl. Lita’s was green and inside raged a fierce lightning storm. She twirled, her skin a collage of green, yellow and white, and her green eyes staring. Turning her back, the lightning condensed on her and filled the dome with white light. When the light faded, she was Sailor Jupiter, wearing green lace-up boots, a green skirt, collar and choker. Her bows, one on her chest and the other at her lower back, were both pink. She struck a pose, ended her transformation, and joined Polaris in the hallway.

Mina was encased in a dome of yellow. Her skin was orange and yellow, her blue eyes stood out like a banner in the swirl of magic. Her pen became the baton at the end of a starred ribbon. She twirled it a bit, but when she stopped, it twirled by itself, tracing a circle around her body. The stars on the ribbon exploded out and forced her hair up off her back. When they had vanished, she was dressed as Sailor Venus. Her outfit was no different than the others’ except that it was orange with a yellow bow on her chest and a blue one at her back. She posed and also emerged for the battle.

Serena looked around at the other soldiers and threw her hand out to the side. “Moon Prism…” She threw the same hand into the air “POWER!”

Sailor Moon’s dome was pink, and her transformation involved her magical brooch that she wore on her collar bow. Pink ribbons came from the brooch and tightened themselves around her. One by one, the elements of her uniform appeared from the ribbon; her white gloves, her red boots, her white leotard, with blue collar, and skirt. Her uniform also included a red choker and two red bows on her leotard. Once finished, she also broke free of her hemisphere.

“Well, that took forever.” Olivia snorted. “I mean, I know I’m new at this, but is there an easier way for us to transform without it taking so long?”
“Er…” Sailor Moon didn’t have an answer, and just stood with a clueless look on her face. “Um, let’s just get to work, okay?” The four Sailor Soldiers raced back into the gymnasium, where Sailor Porrima was busy “entertaining” her audience.
It was true that the Dark power had made her much better at playing. She was a musical genius. She attacked the violin with a complex symphony that required more skill and talent than the people had ever seen performed. As she played, large musical notes and symbols floated out of the violin and began to dance around the room. Malachite and Garth waited patiently by the door. “At the end of this piece.” Garth said. “Her power will be maximum at the end of the piece, and then we will have our Crystal Fragment.”
“You had better be right about this, cat.” Malachite muttered, under his breath.
“Oh, I’m right,” Garth snarled. “I know what I’m doing.”
“And Now!” Porrima announced. “The Final Movement!”
“STOP!”
Porrima paused, her bow still on the strings, and the music notes frozen in mid-air. “Who is it?! Who do you think you are? You are interrupting the greatest musician in the world!”
“I’ll tell you who I am!” Serena stepped onto the stage and pointed an accusing finger at Porrima. “I am a heroine for love and justice! A pretty Sailor! A Sailor Soldier! I am SAILOR MOON! And in the name of the moon….I am going to punish you!”
“Yeah!” Polaris added. “You must be a real jerk to mess up a kid’s concert! We don’t even play that good!”
“We are going to stop you from destroying the dreams and the beautiful music of these children!” Jupiter announced. “We are the Sailor Soldiers!”
“Hah!” Porrima laughed. “Beautiful music? Do you think that they can play better than me!?” Sailor Porrima threw herself into the last movement of her symphony, and music notes flew through the air, toward the four soldiers on the stage. Venus jumped aside.
“Crescent, BEAM!” She cried. She pointed a finger at the violin and a long orange laser shot out toward it. Porrima easily dodged it, and sent a whole note right at Venus. The blonde jumped it, but tripped over a music stand and landed on her face. “Ow.”
“Take this!” Porrima continued to play and sent a pair of eighth notes toward Venus. The two notes used their combined flag and bound her to the floor.
“Hey! No Fair!”
Amy screamed from in the crowd. “Sailor Venus!”
“I’ll take you!” Sailor Jupiter cried, she stepped up and a long metal rod grew out of her tiara. “Supreme…”
Porrima conjured up another treble staff and sent it Jupiter’s direction.
“THUNDER!” Lightning stretched out from Jupiter’s forehead and toward Porrima. It was caught, however, by the staff, that in turn, wrapped itself tightly around her arms. The staff was still charged by the lightning and electrocuted Jupiter on impact, forcing her out of the battle.
It was only Sailors Moon and Polaris left. Olivia looked over to the other soldier. “We’re dropping like flies, what do we do!?”
“Lets…um…”Moon thought quickly, “lets both attack her at the same time! We’ll see if that works.”
“Okay!” Polaris nodded. She stepped forward and threw her hands in the air. “North Star Power…NOW!”
“Moon Tiara ACTION!” Sailor Moon hurled a magical tiara/frisbee at Porrima, and Polaris let loose a spiraling blue icicle. Porrima’s music was starting to slow down as she approached the end of the song, but that didn’t stop her from conjuring up two quarter notes to bat the attacks out of the way. Moon had to dodge her own frisbee and Polaris slipped and fell as the ground beneath her became a slippery frozen slate.
“Aha! The big finale!” Porrima cried. She began to pelter the two Soldiers with projectile music notes as the finale ensued. Moon and Polaris had to cover their faces to shield from the bombardment. There was a roar of notes and a fantastic blast of music as the symphony wound down.
“This is it!” Garth yelled, excited. “This is it! The Crystal Fracture!”
Three notes and she had finished the piece. Several people in the crowd applauded as she bowed before them. Suddenly, however, her body froze. Her gloved hand dropped the violin and it clattered on the floor. She began to twitch and sweat, and her throat tightened. Unable to move a muscle, she wheezed and shook, her eyes bulging. There was a sound like ripping, and color began to drain from her face. Her dirty brown hair became dead and white. Her eyes drained as well. At the same time, there was a growing light underneath her choker. Her breathing became more and more forced and frightened. There was a disturbance in the air around her, and a rumbling noise that burst the light bulbs in the overhead lights. Polaris and Moon stood and stared, horrified.
“It’s happening! Her body is rejecting her Crystal Fracture! It is going to be ours!” Garth crowed, triumphantly. Malachite stood behind him, just as scared as the others in the room. His face bleached to a color near his hair.
Suddenly, Porrima’s throat developed a welt, and her body threw her head back for her, so that she stood frozen in place, staring at the ceiling. If she could have, she would have screamed, but breathing was such a forced labor that she couldn’t spare the breath. Suddenly, the light exploded out of her, emptying all of her color into the room along with white light. What didn’t come, however, was a crystal.
“So-so where is it?” Malachite asked, shakily as the light finished emptying out of Porrima’s body. The girl was plaster-stiff, frighteningly pale, and sick looking.
Garth stuttered. “It-its not there! What! How could it not be! She was broken!” Garth’s ears and Malachite’s cape ruffled widely as the white light and swirl of color dashed around the room like a hurricane-force wind.
“Well, now what do we do!?” Malachite demanded, holding his head to keep his long hair from flying in his face.
“Kill her!” Garth cried. “Kill her and let’s get out of here!”
“Right!” Malachite made a fist and pale blue energy grew around it. He wound up and prepared to launch it at the remains of Porrima. When a sharp red rose went whizzing by his head. “Wh-What was that!?”
From over by the main entrance, a tall man in a black tuxedo stood with another red rose at the ready. His long, billowing black and red cape was caught in Porrima’s draft and whipped around behind him. “What kind of an operation do you run, Malachite!? You give a girl everything she wants and then rob her of her life! And what is the purpose? Is there another Rainbow Crystal you’re after?”
“It’s you!” Malachite growled.
Moon’s eyes bulged and a giant, love-struck smile stretched across her face. “TUXEDO MASK!”
Polaris stared, trembling at the man with the black hair, diamond-shaped white mask, and top hat that was not too tall, and not too short…he was perfect. Her eyes swelled and became watery. “Tuxedo Mask…”
“Leave her alone, Malachite!” Tuxedo Mask ordered. “Or you are going to have to answer to me!”
“Like I’m afraid of you!?” Malachite yelled across the room. “You’re a wuss! And you can have this corpse of a girl! I’d like to see you fix her! And while you do that, I’ll be off looking for the last Rainbow Crystal! HA!” With a laugh, he and Garth bolted.
White light and color whooshed past and Tuxedo Mask reached up to keep his hat on. Sailor Moon called over. “What should we do!?”
“Use your Moon Wand! The Healing power!” Tuxedo Mask called over the queue. “Let’s hope it works.”
“Right!” Sailor Moon took the Crescent Moon Wand out of her subspace pocket and held it over her head. “Moon Healing, ACTIVATION!”
The lights on the wand sparkled and sent a flash of pure white healing magic across the room and into Porrima. It blew off her Dark Sailor Soldier uniform and knocked her to the floor. When the magic disappeared, a wind started up and the circling mass of light and color was sucked into her like a whirlpool. The strewn musical notes, and the staves holding Jupiter and the other people in the audience were sucked in as well. Pieces of glass from the shattered light bulbs and the paper programs that littered the floor were picked up and swirled around. Porrima’s body was refilled with her own essence and the whirlpool stopped. The sudden end to the swirling winds made Polaris, Moon, and Tuxedo Mask fall backwards. The strewn glass flew up and re-set itself in the hanging lights. The bulbs came back on. Everyone that was trapped together in the audience stood around, confused. Lynn lay unconscious on the floor of the gymnasium.
Sailor Polaris shook herself off and stood up, brushing a couple programs off her lap. She glanced around. Everyone seemed to be okay, Venus and Jupiter were up again, and Moon was making sure they were alright. Jennifer and her Mom were safe, she could see them in the audience. And the other two girls, Amy and Raye, were running up to see if everyone was alright. Who she didn’t see, however, was Tuxedo Mask. ‘Wh-where is he! I’ve got to find him!’ She shoved herself up and jumped off the stage, heading toward the exit. When she had burst through the doors and stood in the commons, she saw a black cape leave through the main door. She sprinted and caught up to him, smashing herself into the double-doors to open them. Impact threw her to the ground outside.
Tuxedo Mask turned. “Whoa! What?”
Polaris grinned a little stupidly and waved the tips of her fingers at him from the ground.
He shook his head, a smile on his face. A smooth, warm, smile. “Heh, heh, somehow I knew that it was you.” He walked over and helped her up off the concrete. “You okay?”
“Uh…uh..uh..yeah.” Polaris stammered, her face reddening.
“I’m glad.”
“You are?” She looked up into his face, which was a foot and a half from hers.
“Of course.” He grinned.
“Um..” She didn’t know why she felt like asking her next question, come to that, she didn’t even know why she was talking to him at all. “why?”
“Why?” Tuxedo Mask was a little startled. His eyebrows shot up. Somehow, the action was familiar to Polaris as she watched it. Tuxedo Mask rubbed the back of his neck with one gloved hand. “Uh, well, I don’t want you to be hurt.”
“Why?” Why was she asking him these stupid questions?
“Because you are special.”
“Why?” It was his eyes, it was something about his eyes.
His blue eyes could be seen through the lenses of his mask. They didn’t waver as he answered; “I don’t know why. You, you just are special to me for some reason.”
Those eyes were warm, inviting, familiar… “r-really?”
He nodded, then turned to leave. “Look after yourself, Polaris. You are the only Sailor Soldier who ever runs after me when I leave. I want to keep meeting like this for a long time.”
“O-Okay.” Polaris stammered. Tuxedo Mask tipped his hat and in a moment, he’d disappeared into the night. She stared after him, her mind racing, but her body too stunned to move. ‘Don’t let him leave! Make him stay. I want to stare into his eyes some more! I want to watch him smile…I want to see how he moves his hands when he talks, and how he stands while he listens. I want to see how he reacts to my questions. I have to make him come back! Ask ‘why’ again! That at least worked for a little while. Why do I feel this way?’ She blinked and realized that she couldn’t see him anymore. Tears welled up in her eyes. “Come back? Tuxedo Mask? Who are you? Why do I feel like we’ve met somewhere before?”
“HEY!” Polaris whirled around to face Sailor Moon, who’d arrived with the other four girls. Moon was looking particularly angry, her hair arching up from her head and her nostrils flaring. “What do you think you’re doing!?”
“I-Iwasa-I was just talking to-“
“You were talking to Tuxedo Mask!” Sailor Moon roared. “Don’t you know that He’s MINE!”
“Hey, he doesn’t have your name on him!” Polaris cried.
“I called dibs!” Moon shot back.
“That doesn’t count!” Polaris insisted. “I can talk to him if I want!”
Venus folded her hands under her chin again. “Aww, isn’t sweet? Our little baby Sailor Soldier has her first crush!”
Jupiter’s eyes got misty as she did the same. “Yeah.”
“It’s not my fault if he’s a cool guy!”
“He’s MINE I tell you! MINE! MINE! MINE!”
“Oh, whatever,” Polaris shook her head, then looked dreamily up at the cloud-covered sky. “You think what you want, Serena. He told me he thought I was special.”
“He did WHAT!”
She brought her hands up to her heart. “He told me he wants to see me again and again!”
“He did not!”
“He did to.” She sighed. “I have a feeling we were meant to be.”
“You lie!” Sailor Moon broke into tears. “Why can’t I be special!?!”
Everyone laughed at poor Sailor Moon, then Polaris put an arm around her back, and they both walked back into the school.

~To Be Continued~

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