Sailor Elements - Chapter 8 Sailor Heart --------------------------------------------------------------------- Episode Title: "Water, water everywhere..." ______________________________________________________________________________ "Rain, rain, go away... come again another day..." Aqua, the 16 year old sister of Adrian was sitting on her bed gazing out the window at the rainstorms. It had been raining for the past few days, non-stop. As she read the garbage tabloids which seemed to connect these showers with those that plagued Noah and his ark, she wondered if there could really be something to them. She quickly dismissed the notion though, having read in the same rag earlier that there was a Frog-Boy on the loose again. Still, the rain did puzzle her. The others were in the family room watching a newscast they'd heard for the umpteenth time since the rains started. "The mysterious rains have been falling for a considerable amount of time. Back to you, Lisa. Thank you George. In other news, more and more people are appearing in area hospitals with the very same condition of exhaustion. Medical scientists are baffled at what could be causing such a..." "Turn it off, Flame... that TV weather guy has been saying the exact same thing over and over again." said a slightly annoyed Tara. "Don't you know that it's the announcer's job to be repetitive?" Aria quipped as she started to giggle. "I don't like it... it's way too coincidental. First the rains, and then all these exhaustion cases. Smells like the Negaverse to me." Poseidon was pacing. "Does it always have to be the Negaverse? I mean, can't it just be an amazing coincidence?" asked Aria in almost a whine. "You know better than that, Aria. When is it not the Negaverse that weird things happen? We've got to...." Poseidon quickly stopped as he saw Aqua come in out of the corner of his eye. "Hi everybody. What have y'all been doing?" "Just sittin' around chattin... Wanna join in?" Adrian loved to chat, even if it meant with his sisters. "Actually, I was going to the corner store for a few things. But first I had to come get my rain stuff." "I'll go with you." Flame was starting to get her rain clothes on too. "After all, I could use the walk. Haven't been outside for a while." Adrian took Flame aside and told her to be careful and to try not get wet, considering what they could be dealing with. Flame gave him a look of thankfulness for the concern and with that, Aqua and Flame were out the door. * * * Neflyte flew across the room and landed up against the wall, sitting down. Jadeite stood over him rubbing the fist that had just connected with Neflyte's jawbone. Jadeite was tired of Neflyte's bragging that he'd brought back the largest sum of energy ever collected. It ate away at Jadeite for a long time and Neflyte just kept pushing him. Neflyte rose and prepared to lunge at Jadeite when Queen Beryl's voice was heard. "Jadeite!! Report to my throne room immediately!" Neflyte quickly stopped his lunge when he saw Jadeite disappear. He'd figure out a way to get his revenge soon enough. He re-focused his thoughts and started to plan his next plot for collecting energy. "Jadeite, I want an outline of your latest plan to gather energy." Beryl was not happy. She still didn't have enough energy to break through to the universe and conquer it. "It's very simple, my queen. I've developed a chemical that looks, acts and for all intents and purposes is what the humans call water. But, I've also made it possible for it to absorb energy from the humans as well. As we speak, I've been sending it down on the Earth as rain. Energy is rapidly being collected. Once this rainmaker is done, we should have enough energy to last us for eternity." "Good. Let us hope that this time, you'll come back with energy, unlike your last futile attempt!" Beryl knew that reminding her warriors would give them an additional edge. She was indeed a master of "incentive". * * * "What's takin' you so long, Flame?" Aqua wanted to get out of the rain and back into her warm house. She'd quite had it being out in the rain. "Oh, nothing... I'm coming." Flame was collecting a rain sample so that Poseidon could examine it. "Well, hurry up!" Aqua was starting to get impatient. She also thought she felt a little tired too but she made no mention of it, equating it to staying up too late the night before reading comics. "Okay, okay... let's go." Once they got home, Aqua ran up to take a nap and Flame took her sample to Poseidon. After having Flame prepare a slide for his microscope, he placed the slide under the all-seeing lens. "Just as I thought. Tara, come take a look at this." Tara loved nature and frequently studied it on a manic scale, nearly paralleling a certain blue-haired genius with an I.Q. over 300. "Hmmm." Tara peered into the scope and studied the slide. "I can see the standard molecules that make up water, 2 hydrogen molecules mixed with the sole oxygen molecule, but there is something there that I can't identify." "That's right. You can't." Poseidon point out. "That's because it's not from Earth and I would wager that it isn't from this universe either." "So it IS the Negaverse!" Adrian could feel his hands clenching for some reason. "Any idea what this other thing is or what it does?" "Not as of yet" Tara spoke somewhat puzzled. "But I think we can deduce that it's some kind of energy sucker. That would explain the "coincidence" with the rain and the mass exhaustion cases." "Still," Poseidon added sadly, "I don't see a way that it can be neutralized. Besides, usually with the Negaverse, there's always someone who creates the evil. We've not seen our rain-maker yet." "And we probably won't until they have a good sized amount of energy." Flame was pacing trying to figure out some kind of plan. Aria was sitting and reading the newspaper. "Maybe this is it..." Aria loved it when she had ideas. "There's gonna be an outdoor concert, rain or shine, at the park this weekend. Surely they'll be sure to draw a lot of energy there. But even still, they might be canceled out if people keep rushing to the hospital." "Unless the people in charge are from the Negaverse." "Hey you guys!" Aqua came in and surprised them all. They all jumped when they heard her voice. She walked into the room and noticed the ad in the paper detailing about the concert. "Adrian, can we please go to that concert? I hear the music will be great." After a quick look at Poseidon, who's eyes were saying no, he turned to Aqua and said they would go. "Great!!! Thanks Adrian." and with that, she hugged him and ran off. Poseidon did not look pleased. "We're going? In that Nega-rain? Are you absolutely out of your mind?" "Wait a minute Poseidon.... I think I see where Adrian is going with this." Flame was smiling in spite of herself. Tara picked up on it too. "Yeah... that's a great idea. We'll go." "Have you all lost your marbles? If we go there, they'll get our energy too!" "But don't you see, Poseidon?" Aria realized. "If we go, we may be able to flush out our rain-maker." "But there is no way to be certain that you won't fall prey to the rain." "That's why we're hoping that you and Tara can come up with something to shield us from it." Adrian was in firm grasp of the situation. * * * "Your plan will fail, Jadeite. You will never collect as much energy as I have. Face it, I am your superior." "You're just jealous, Neflyte, that you didn't think of such a clever idea first. Excuse me, I've got energy to collect." Jadeite left Neflyte there gritting his teeth and seething with rage. "You will fall, I will see to that personally. Jadeite, you are mine. It may not be with this mission, but I will see you defeated at my hands!" * * * Concert day came, and as usual, it was raining as wet as ever. Still, the rain didn't keep the masses away from the stage at the park where the concert was supposed to take place. The band, called Youma, was offering a free concert to all of their fans, who, apparently, numbered in the thousands. The music started, and the people were dancing and singing along with the group. No one seemed to notice the rain falling harder than it had before. Beside the stage, and out of everyone's view, a small figure, made entirely out of water, appeared followed soon by Jadeite. "Liquidator!!! Do your thing to these pathetic human germs!" "If they think my rain will drain their energy, then they haven't checked out my totally relaxing mud bath!" And with that, Liquidator dissolved and absorbed into the ground, making it very muddy among the fans. Suddenly, people were being sucked down into the mud to their heads. Poseidon, Flame, Aria, Adrian and Flame managed to jump onto the stage after the band's members disolved. Aqua, wasn't so lucky. "HELP!" she was sinking fast, as her energy was being drained. Liquidator appeared and waved a watery finger at her. "Maybe I'll start with you first!" she laughed as her finger approached the struggling Aqua. Poseidon was watching all of this as the others were transforming and noticed the Water sign on Aqua's forehead! "Sailor Heart!" he cried. "You must rescue Aqua! I have to give her the power stick she'll need to become Sailor Water!!" "Hmmm... maybe a little Heart Acid will slow the wet one down. Heart! Acid! Burn!!" Releasing a stream of energy at Liquidator, he concentrated on stunning it enough so that it would move away. This would let the others get Aqua out of the muck. He was successful in that endeavor but failed to avoid being trapped himself. The others, still not knowing that Aqua was Sailor Water, left her with Poseidon to help Sailor Heart. "Let him go! Fire! Volcanos! Erupt!!" Sailor Fire was concentrating but the Liquidator simply conformed itself into a round shape with a hole in the middle allowing Sailor Fire's beam to pass right through. "Time to shake 'em up and let 'em roll." Sailor Earth was looking for her opportunity. She soon found it. "Earth! Tectonics! Rumble!!" The ground under the Liquidator began to quake and it released it's grip on Sailor Heart. It looked at Aqua and made a rush toward her to drain her energy all at once. Standing now, wondering why Poseidon was able to talk, Aqua held the powerstick in her hand and she shouted out the words the cat had said. "Water! Crystal Power!!" With that, a waterfall appeared and washed her Scout uniform onto her. "I am Sailor Water, champion of the open sea. On behalf of the Earth's water, you are washed up, Nega-sleaze! Water! TidalWave! Wipeout!!" A huge wave appeared and crashed on to the Liquidator. The impact of the wave along with the combination of Sailor Fire's power, sent the Nega-monster packing, as the heat of Sailor Fire evaporated both the Liquidator and Sailor Water's attack. "So, it seems you've won this battle Elemental wimps." Jadeite was gloating. "Soon we'll have enough energy to totally conquer this planet and you along with it. We will triumph. See you at your destruction!!!" He disappeared in a flash of light blinding all who were present. At once, the clouds dissipated and the sun came shining through drying up the rest of the energy-sucking water. "Hmmm... we will have to be ready for that day when they acquire enough power." Poseidon sighed. Still, he was happy for the way things had gone. They'd discovered their last Scout and maybe now they'd think that his big secret was that the whole family was made up of Elemental Scouts. He hoped they'd now stop prodding him for information. "Alright, Sailor Water!" the others were congratulating her on her victory. Soon, out of everyone's sight, they changed back into their normal selves and headed home. "So this was the reason for all the secrecy, right? You guys never fooled me for a minute." Aqua was admitting. "I knew there was something you all were hiding, but I couldn't quite place what it was. Granted, I never would have thought my whole family was made up of Elemental Scouts." "And we're glad that you're part of our team." Adrian was pleased with his youngest sister. He knew she'd make a fine and valuable addition to the Elemental Scouts.