Author's Note: For the last several months, I've had the genuine pleasure of corresponding regularly with fellow Sailor Moon fan and writer, Sharon Williams who, if you're familiar with her work, had created her very own heroine, Tanya Cambridge, a.k.a. Sailor Sirius. After having created the enigmatic Talia Kirk, Sailor Vulcan, I got an idea for a story where she and Tanya get together for an adventure. After some skull sessions with Sharon to get the lowdown on Tanya, her history, personality and powers, I realized that I had something fun on my hands, thanks to the wonderfully divergent personalities these two girls have. And by throwing Serena into the mix, I came up with a wild and wooly tale of friendship, an old enemy raising new havoc and the complex dynamics of shopping. I hope you'll enjoy it. If you wish to comment on my story, either positively or negatively, don't hesitate to contact me at [email protected]. Sailor Moon and all related characters are the property of Takeuchi Naoko, Toei Animation and DIC. Sailor Sirius is the property of Sharon Williams. Any references to Vulcan are the province of Gene Roddenberry and Paramount Studios. So, please, don't sue me because I haven't any money. I do this strictly for entertainment purposes, not copyright infringement.
Girls Just Want To Have Fun
by Jeffrey C. Branch
Part One: Shopping Girls
Rating: PG-13
Tanya Cambridge was blessed with many admirable traits. Patience, however was not one of them.
Leaning against the front of an office building, her arms folded across her chest, Tanya was fuming. A petite and lovely girl with smooth, flawless chocolate skin, long, silken black hair that fell below her waist and large, dark and shining eyes, Tanya scowled as she checked her watch for the fifth time in as many minutes.
"So where the heck is this friend you want me to meet, Sere? She's ten minutes late!" Tanya grumbled. "You know I hate having my time wasted! Especially when there's a sale on jeans down at The Gap today!"
Serena Tsukino, standing next to Tanya also looked at her watch, the expression on the pretty blonde's face was one of concern. "I don't understand what could be keeping Tal. She's so punctual, I set my watch by her."
Tanya smirked. "Maybe your gal pal has some diva in her and likes being fashionably late."
"No, Tal's not like that. She hates to inconvenience anyone." Just then, a bus pulled up to the corner, the doors opened and a girl was first to step off. Spotting the girl, Serena smiled and waved to her. "Hey, Tal! Over here!"
Nodding, the girl walked over to where Serena and Tanya were. Talia Kirk was a girl who easily commanded attention. Tall and lithe with glossy, jet black hair styled in a short pageboy, long, perfectly trimmed bangs and piercing, cobalt blue eyes set into a richly exotic face with attractive Oriental features, Talia was elegant and incredibly beautiful. Even dressed in a plain red silk blouse, tailored black trousers and black penny loafers, Talia turned heads. Especially with her strikingly pointed ears which she recently decided to no longer conceal from the world.
"Greetings. I apologize for being late. Unfortunately, the bus I rode on was delayed by a traffic accident," said Talia, her voice perfectly modulated, her words clipped and precise like a Briton.
Serena dismissed Talia's explanation with a wave of her hand. "Don't worry about it. Tal, this is Tanya Cambridge. Ti, my friend, Talia Kirk."
Talia, her face an expressionless mask extended a hand to Tanya. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Tanya."
Tanya gulped as she shook Talia's hand and stared up at her. At slightly under five feet tall, Tanya, openly insecure about her height felt uncomfortable in the presence of Talia who towered head and shoulders over her.
"Likewise. Jeez! You're taller than I thought," said Tanya.
"And you are shorter in stature than I was led to believe," Talia replied.
Tanya's eyes narrowed to slits, her short temper simmering. She didn't like anyone making fun of her size. "Are you trying to be funny?"
Talia cocked an eyebrow from genuine puzzlement. "Funny? That would never occur to me. I do not have a sense of humor."
"Yeah, right," Tanya snorted. "Not much for smiling, are you?"
"It is not something I do regularly."
"No kidding. I think I'll call you stone face. It fits," said Tanya with a smirk. "Don't you worry about people staring at you funny because of your ears?"
"That is of no concern to me, Tanya. It is not a deformity, simply part of my physiology. I see no reason to hide my heritage," said Talia.
Tanya shook her head. "Boy, you sure do have guts. Sere told me you're an exchange student from the States on an extended visa. She also told me how you guys met back in the good old days."
"If you are referring to my time spent on the Moon, it was a very enjoyable experience." Talia's face then darkened. "The ending however left a great deal to be desired."
Silence suddenly dominated as Serena and Tanya knew what Talia was talking about. Their minds were reluctantly pulled back to the past and the tragic end to the Silver Millennium. Tanya, then Princess Tonicia Knightstar from the Sirius star system was on the Moon at a gala ball on the fateful night she, Serena, Prince Darien of Earth, the Royal Guard and Princess T'alya from the planet Vulcan all died when the forces of Queen Beryl invaded the Moon Kingdom, leaving it a shattered ruin. To varying degrees, they, and the other girls, reincarnated a thousand years later in the late 20th century lived with the emotional pain and the nightmares of their deaths daily but found their own ways of coping with the ramifications of having been resurrected.
"Okay! Okay! Enough with the gloomy memories!" said Serena. Stepping between the girls, she linked her arms with theirs and grinned from ear to ear. "It's Saturday, the weather's perfect, and I'm with two of my best friends in the whole wide world! Only one thing can make this even better!"
"Shopping!" cried an elated Tanya, thrusting a fist into the air. "And I just got my allowance! Let's hit the stores and go crazy!"
Talia shook her head. "I simply cannot understand the unbridled fervor females have for a pedestrian activity such as buying clothes."
Tanya smirked at the statuesque girl. "Like, d-uh! That's what makes us females, stone face. Other than boys, nothing is more fun for us than a knock-down, drag-out spending spree. Isn't that right, Sere?"
"You betcha! Why don't we hit The Gap first? I'd love to get my hands on some cool denim skirts!" said an eager Serena.
"Sounds great to me!" Then to Talia, Tanya said: "Let you hair down and go with the flow! Who knows? It might drag a smile out of your sour puss!"
Talia wore a skeptical expression. "I rather doubt that, Tanya. But, I am willing to keep an open mind."
The laboratory, pristine and modem buzzed with quiet activity.
High powered computers, spectronometers, centrifuges, microscopes and four tables loaded with beakers, bunsen burners and rows of test tubes, all bearing a thick, viscous, dark red liquid with a small, seed-like object at the bottom filled the large, well lit space. At the far end of the room was a huge, six foot tall rectangular box on broad, metal legs, made completely of steel with a door that had a glass port in the center and a row of lights over the door. The box was not unlike a microwave oven. In fact, it was referred to it as 'the oven'.
At one of the tables, three men, all in lab coats crowded around a fourth man, also in a lab coat who was bent over an electron microscope.
"Is the cell matrix and the nutrino count fully stable?" asked one man, a balding, heavy set African-American in thick lensed glasses. He removed a handerchief from his pocket and nervously wiped his sweaty brow.
The man at the microscope nodded.
"Excellent! That means the chemical process developed and matured two weeks sooner than we anticpated!" said another, a tall, reed thin man with light brown hair in a noticebly British accent. This man, with a hawk nose and slate gray eyes had an air of arrogance about him.
"Wow! That means our experiment's a success, dudes!" said the fourth, the youngest of the group, a lanky, disheveled redhead with a goatee. Sporting multiple piercings in his ears, faded jeans and Doc Maartens, he looked more like a leftover from the days of grunge than a scientist. "Way cool!"
"Don't jump to conclusions, Ramsey," cautioned the man at the microscope. He straightened up and faced his comrades. A native Japanese, he was the oldest of the group with neatly trimmed dark hair graying at the temples. "Still, we are much closer along with the experiment now than we were when I first uncovered the Professor's notes eight months ago."
"When can we be ready for the first test subject?" asked the Briton?
"Soon, Hawthorne, soon. We cannot afford to rush the test," said the Japanese man sternly. "Considering the power we are dealing with here, we don't have any room for mistakes. Just one could doom us all."
"If you're right, then we should conduct more simulations. I may be devoted to science, but I don't fancy dying for it," said the nervous black man.
"Bah! You've always been a gutless worrier, Bagwell!" Hawthorne snorted to his colleague, his voice dripping with scom. "The history of science has always involved risk. If risks weren't taken, man would never had broken the sound barrier, walked on the Moon or split the atom. We've already seen the enormous potential our process is capable of achieving! I say we must not delay in bringing our project to full fruition! Immortality is within our grasp!"
"Yo, Reg! Chill out, dude!" said Ramsey, the younger man. "Before you start writing your acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize, you'd better remember that what we're doing ain't exactly legal, or moral either."
"Scott's right. Those....things the Professor created allegedly killed people and transformed nearly half a square mile of uptown Tokyo into a lunar landscape after his school blew up," said Bagwell, the black man to Hawthorne. "If we're even half right about the information we gleaned from the man's notes, then the threat potential from this experiment is monstrous!"
"Yes, yes! I'm aware of that! But at the same time, we could be sitting on possibly the greatest ever invention that could better mankind!" Hawthorne countered with an ill-disguised fervor.
"Or the genetic equivilent of a hydrogen bomb if we lose control of it like he did." Bagwell turned to stare at the Japanese man. "Okada, you're the team leader since you uncovered the Professor's notes and his database. Knowing what we know, do we proceed?"
Okada rubbed his chin as he thought over his colleague's question. "We proceed. But cautiously," he said, looking directly at Hawthome as he said those words. "That I cannot stress enough. It is important we perfect the process. Scott, what of the armored containment system? Is it ready?"
Ramsey, the expert on robotics nodded. "You betcha. Once the seed's ready, we stick it in the tin can, heat it up in the oven, then send it to town."
Okada allowed himself a small grin. "Very good. Let's prepare a field test. Glory, or disaster awaits us."
"Hey, Sere! Do I look fat in this?" asked Tanya, modeling a denim jumper with a knee length, A-line skirt over a plain white t-shirt.
Serena smiled, then shook her head. "Not at all. What do you think, Tal?"
Talia, seated nearby was engrossed in a hardcover book she had brought along. She looked up with a puzzled expression. "I apologize, Serena. Did you ask me something?"
Scowling, Serena marched over to where Talia sat and look at the title of the book she was reading: 'Principles and Ethics in Modem Archaeology'. Serena gritted her teeth from frustration. "For Pete's sake! You're just as bad as Amy!" she snapped, snatching the book out of the hands of a surprised Talia. "We're supposed to be chilling out! Having fun! In other words----relaxing!"
Talia, perplexed, arched an eyebrow. "But, Serena. I am relaxing."
Serena rolled her eyes and handed Talia back her book. "I give up!" she grumbled. Tanya laughed like a hyena.
"Stone face, I'm beginning to like you. You're goofy," said the chocolate skinned beauty with a friendly smile.
Talia gave Tanya a puzzled look. "I should take that as a compliment?"
"Take it anyway you want. But, Sere's right, you gotta loosen up!"
For several moments, Talia contemplated what she was told. Then, she nodded and a trace of a smile curled her glossy pink lips. "Very well. I will take your advice and do just that....short stuff."
Hearing that, now it was Serena who broke out laughing while Tanya glared at the Vulcan girl.
"Ha, ha. Very funny....NOT!" Tanya shot back.
"Serena would disagree with you," Talia replied. She found she derived a small measure of enjoyment out of annoying Tanya. Why, she didn't quite know. Putting her book into her oversized shoulder bag, Talia decided to get into the spirit of things. "Tanya, if I may be so bold as to venture an opinion on your outfit, I have to say that it does not flatter you."
"Oh, really? What makes you say that?"
"The skirt is too long. A considerably shorter hemline would accenuate your legs and give you the illusion of added height," Talia explained.
Serena took a second, more critical look at Tanya's outfit. "Y'know, Ti, come to think of it, you would look better in a mini." Serena rushed over to a rack of jumpers, thumbed through it for a few moments, then pulled out one in black denim with a shorter skirt. "Here! Try this one."
Tanya stared at Talia as she accepted the outfit from Serena. "For a sphinx who called shopping a 'pedestrian activity', you know your stuff about fashion. How's that?"
"Mina was kind enough to educate me on the subject," Talia told her. "To quote something she said to me several months ago: 'You can't be a showstopper if you're standing backstage'. Incidentally, I recommend you pair that jumper with a red top. It would go much better with your coloring."
Wide eyed and slack jawed, Tanya stared at Serena who grinned and shrugged. "Damn! You are good!" she then said to Talia.
The Vulcan girl effected a slightly haughty expression. "Naturally."
Several minutes later, the threesome were out on the street, chatting happily to each other when Serena stopped in front of a dress store window display and gaped wide eyed at something she saw.
"Wow! Yo, guys! Take a look at this!" she said.
Tanya and Talia walked up to Serena and stared at what she saw in the storefront display, three mannikins, each wearing silk, knee length mandarin dresses. The one in the middle was a rich purple with gold brocade piping. Talia, her eyes wide, her mouth falling open stared intently at it.
"Oh, Tal! Those are just like the dresses you used to wear on the Moon! They're gorgeous!" said an awestruck Serena.
"Yeah! They are stylin' at that," said Tanya. Then, to Talia, she said, "Hey! I've got a mondo cool idea! Why don't you try one on?"
Talia balked, looking a little uncomfortable. "I....do not know. It has been a long time since I have worn a cheongsam. A thousand years to be precise. My taste in clothes has changed since then."
"Baloney! I saw how your eyes lit up when you looked at that display!" Serena countered. She grabbed Talia's hand and pulled her towards the door. Thanks to the telepathic link the girls shared whenever they held hands, Serena could feel Talia's nervousness. Serena couldn't help but smile at how her stoic alien friend had become more and more human. "My mind's made up, Talia! I wanna see you in one of those dresses! And I won't take 'no' for an answer!"
Giggling, Tanya got behind Talia and pushed her. "Yeah! This time, we can critique how you look, stone face! It'll be fun!"
With a sigh, Talia gave in to her friends. "For you, anyway."
"How do I look?" asked Talia several minutes later, stepping out of the changing room in the purple dress since it was her favorite color. The store also sold shoes, and Serena found a pair of spike heeled, gold metallic pumps in Talia's size to complete the outfit. Smiling, Serena sighed wistfully.
"Tal, you look sensational. I mean it, you take my breath away," she replied, her huge blue eyes twinkling.
Tanya nodded. "I second that, Sere. Girlfriend, if you don't buy that dress, I'll hound you 'til the day you die."
Talia turned around to look at herself in a floor length mirror. In spite of herself, Talia broke out in a wide smile, finding that she did like the way she looked. Then, with a sudden impulsiveness, Talia did a twirl, not unlike the way she spun when transforming into Sailor Vulcan. She even giggled, unable to take her eyes off her reflection as she struck a pose, then another, and another. Serena grinned, happy to see her friend enjoying herself.
"For a sphinx, Tal's sure having fun," Tanya whispered in Serena's ear. "You sure she's a Vulcan? A race that deep sixes emotions?"
"Only on the outside, Ti," Serena whispered back. "On the inside, where it really counts, she's just as warm, just as human as we are. That's why I love her so much."
Tanya grinned. "Yeah. Tal is pretty cool. Hey! Stone face! From all that vougeing, can we assume you like the dress?"
Talia stopped posing and gasped, having forgotten she wasn't alone. Her cheeks flushed a bright red from embarrasment. "I, er, um, yes! Yes, I do. It, er, flatters me considerably. I believe I will purchase it."
"Smart move, chick. No way were we gonna let you walk out of here without it!" said Serena. "Buy the pumps too. They match like a dream."
Talia, having composed herself, though with a considerable amount of effort nodded to Serena. "As you command, madam. Will you mention my, um, behavior to the others?"
A mischevious smile curled Serena's lips. "Well, if you spring for lunch, I might just be persuaded to keep my mouth shut."
"Agreed. I only hope I have sufficent funds to satisfy your appetite."
Okada, Hawthorne and Bagwell looked on intently as a mechanical hand, controlled by Ramsey carefully placed the glass enclosed seed pod into the open chest cavity of an android with a grayish, rubbery texture as it sat on a metal slab in front of the oven. The android had no facial features, save for a visor like attachment on it's head.
"Careful, boy! We don't want to lose the pod!" Hawthome growled.
"Chill out, Limey! I know what I'm doing!" Ramsey snapped back, annoyed at his concentration being disturbed.
Okada put a hand on Hawthome's shoulder. There were times when he had trouble putting up with the exasperating Briton. "Patience, Reginald. Allow Scott to do his job."
Bagwell, despite the air conditioning, moped his sweaty brow. "Yes. Let's get on with it. I only hope this works."
"Don't worry, homes. It will," said Ramsey with all the confidence of youth. He then went back to work, setting the pod into position in a recessed place in the machine's cavity. Once the pod was settled in, Ramsey removed the mechanical arm and pressed a button on his console that closed the double doors on the machine's chest.
"It's in!" said Ramsey. He then pulled a lever that opened the large door of the oven and the slab the android sat on was automatically wheeled into the oven via a conveyor. The door then slammed shut.
"How long with the activation sequence take?" asked Bagwell as Ramsey and Okada simultaneously worked a series of buttons and switches on the control panel.
"It shouldn't take long, Cletus. Perhaps no more than a minute or two," Okada replied. He then pressed a large green button in the center of the panel. "Now to learn if our months of hard work were a success, or a failure."
Through the window on the door of the oven, the interior lit up from a harsh, glaring yellowish light that was so bright, the four men were forced to turn away. That was accompanied by a whining noise not unlike a jet turbine engine that grew louder in volume until it reached an ear pounding roar while the row of lights above the door, all red at first changed in color from left to right to green. When the final light turned green, the drone subsided and the light inside the oven went out.
Okada checked his watch as he had been timing the process. "One minute fifty seconds. Excellent. Can we remove the test subject now, Scott?"
Ramsey was also checking his watch. "Give it another minute, boss. Once the temps inside cool down, the safety circuits'll kick in and the door opens automatically." He then grinned wickedly at Hawthorne. "Unless Reg wants to pry it open, seeing he's in a hurry and all. It's only hot enough in there to microwave you to a crisp."
The Briton nervously tugged at his collar and gulped. "No, no. I'll wait, young man. Gladly."
"Figured you would."
After a minute had passed, a mild beeping told the foursome that everything was complete. The door to the oven opened, releasing a huge plume of steam. Then the slab was rolled out and the scientists, walking up to the slab gasped at what they saw. The android, roughly the size of a full grown man before it went into the oven was now longer and wider than it once was. It had a bulging musculature not unlike a weightlifter while it's grayish color had been replaced by a more flesh-like hue. It's face was still featureless, but a tiny red light moved from left to right across it's visor. What amazed the scientists most of all was that the android's chest rose and fell like that of a human.
Hawthorne place the palm of his right hand on the chest of the android and quickly pulled away in shock. "Good Lord! The synthetic flesh, it's warm! And I felt a....a heartbeat! But how?"
"The unique alien properties of the seed adapted itself to the host container, mimicking that of a human," Okada explained. "It's DNA reconfigured the android chassis into that of a normal looking appearance, which was what we sought. The ability to camoflaugue itself while in the field."
"What about it's offensive and defensive capabilities?" Bagwell wanted to know. He couldn't help but feel frightened while in the presence of the thing. "We don't want this thing being destroyed or captured."
"Well, the tin can's strength, speed and durability is around fifty times that of a normal man. And the chassis is made of titanium, making it pretty damn tough," said Ramsey. He then motioned to the visor. "The laser emitter can shoot a beam that can slice through steel like the proverbial hot knife through butter. And the pod will give it even more power. At least that's the theory. I've only been able to simulate what our baby can do on the computer. What it'll do outside, you got me."
"And the collection equipment?" Hawthorne wanted to know.
Okada pointed at the android's chest and the large, lens like attachment on it. "The chest mounted collector will absorb the required energy source, storing same in specially designed containment cells. Thanks to micronization, it can hold twenty-five cells in a specially reinforced chamber in it's torso."
"I'm still not entirely comfortable with this, Okada," said Bagwell. "Even if the collection process works----and I have my doubts about that----there will be....collateral damage."
"Don't beat around the bloody bush, Bagwell! Let's call a spade a spade! Lives will probably be lost!" Hawthorne snapped. "But if the process works, the benefits this will bring to humanity as a whole will be without compare. Well worth a few deaths here and there."
Bagwell scowled at the Briton. "Your compassion is truly touching."
Hawthorne snorted. "Compassion is for weaklings. And I am not weak."
"Enough!" Okada ordered, and the two men fell silent. He then turned to Ramsey. "It's time for our field test, Scott. See to it the android is clothed, then send the machine on it's way. We'll monitor it's movements to make sure all goes according to plan. Understood?"
Ramsey grinned and gave Okada a thumbs up. "You got it, boss! This should be fun!"
Bagwell, looking disgusted, shook his head. "Fun is not what I would call this horror," he whispered.
The girls decided to have lunch at a Bistro style restuarant three blocks away from the dress shop they had left from.
While Talia, a vegetarian enjoyed a Chef's Salad and mineral water, Serena and Tanya wolfed down fat hamburgers, french fries drowned in catsup and soft drinks with an almost voracious glee. The Vulcan teenager cocked an eyebrow as she watched her friends eat.
"Pardon my curiosity, but are the two of you in a hurry?" she asked.
"Well, yeah!" said Serena between bites. "The sooner we finish eating, the sooner we can hit more stores! The shopping has only just begun!"
"You got that right, Sere!" said Tanya. She then took notice of what Talia ate. "Is that all you're having, stone face? Rabbit food?"
"If you are referring to my salad, yes," Talia replied. "Vulcans do not indulge in the consumption of animal flesh. It is....undignified."
Tanya paused in mid-chew to glare at Talia. "Are you saying I'm a slob?"
"Not at all. Just that your dietary habits are at best, questionable. Given the concerns over in Europe regarding Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, it would be prudent to exercise caution when it comes to eating animal products."
Serena, looking confused, stopped eating. "Bovine what?"
"Mad Cow Disease," grumbled Tanya. Serena gulped loudly and nervously put down the remainder of her burger. The ebony beauty then smirked at Talia. "Okay, Miss Rocket Scientist, two can play the ten dollar word game. How about the dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane on your precious salad?"
Serena became even more perplexed. "Dico....diclor....what?"
"DDT," Talia replied. "For your information, that particular pesticide had been banned in most developed countries, including Japan since the early portion of the 1970's."
"Yeah, but growers are still using bug killer to whack all those creepy crawlies that dig on fruits and veggies. Just think of those yummy chemicals you're chugging down!" Tanya countered wickedly.
"Guys," said Serena, feeling a little nauseous.
"You should not exaggerate, Tanya. Your risk of contracting viruses like salmonella from poorly prepared meats is considerably greater than mine from chemical poisoning."
"Guys," said Serena again, now annoyed.
"Is that so? Well, at least I don't have to worry about eating something a Dung Beetle used for a toilet! Yuck!"
"GUYS!" a furious Serena yelled at the top of her lungs.
Talia and Tanya turned to stare puzzledly at Serena. "Is something wrong, Serena?" the Vulcan girl asked in concern.
"You bet your pointed ears there is!" Serena snarled. "You and Tanya made me lose my appetite with all that stupid talk about bugs and pesticides and Bovine-whatchamacallit!"
The two girls looked at each, then at Serena. "My apologies for being inconsiderate," said Talia, the expression on her face close to one of shame.
Tanya, openly embarrassed, grinned sheepishly. "Sorry about that, kiddo. What a dopey thing for two fun loving teenagers to be rapping about."
Talia looked perplexed. "I was not aware that I loved fun."
"Oh, zip it, Kirk!" growled Tanya.
Looking momentarily panicked, Talia quickly stared down at her lap. "Is my fly open?"
"Forget it!" Tanya snapped, rolling her eyes. Serena giggled at the humorous by-play. She could tell that the arguing between Talia and Tanya was good natured and it pleased her to see the girls were bonding. Serena knew they were well on their way to becoming fast friends. That warmed her heart.
"Tell you what, Sere. I'll spring for dessert. Will that square things with you?" Tanya asked.
Serena grinned hungrily. "If it's ice cream, I'm in!"
"Cool!" Tanya then turned to Talia. She had quickly grown fond of the stoic girl. "How 'bout you, stone face? Do Vulcans like ice cream?"
Talia nodded. "Yes. My personal preference is chocolate fudge. I was introduced to it by Serena shortly after my arrival in Japan and have developed a.... passion for it."
Tanya laughed. "Well, what do you know? Our friendly neighborhood sphinx has a sweet tooth! Oh, Serena! This girl is incredible! I love her!"
"I am glad that I meet with your approval," Talia said dryly. Just then, a scream cut through the air, startling diners and passersby.
"What was that?" a nervous Serena asked.
"By all accounts, a scream. We should investigate," Talia replied calmly.
Serena and Tanya nodded. They, along with Talia knew that anywhere, at any time, they could be called upon to defend the people of Tokyo from evil. And it was a responsibility they took with deadly seriousness. As one, the three girls rose from their seats and rushed off to investigate.
Following Talia who, with her acute hearing had pinpointed the direction of the scream, the girls dashed around a comer and found themselves face to face with a grim and terrifying sight. In the small parking lot of an office building, a hulking, seven foot tall form in a trenchcoat, camouflage pants and combat boots stood over half a dozen people who lay unmoving on the ground while a overturned car burned nearby. The hulk didn't have a face, rather a large visor with a red light that moved back and forth across it's skull. People were mesmerized at it's appearance.
"That thing looks like major trouble!" said Serena.
Talia nodded. "I concur. We should find a secure place to transform. Our alter egos will be needed to combat this threat."
The girls bolted into a nearby alley. Talia and Tanya thrusted their right hands high while Serena opened her brooch.
"VULCAN STAR POWER!" shouted Talia, her fingernails turning a bright purple in color. Then her transformation pen appeared in her hand and a triangle of golden light shot down from it, enveloping Talia from head to toe who spun within it like a ballerina, her clothes morphing into the purple and violet uniform of Sailor Vulcan, the Scout of Order.
"SIRIUS STAR POWER!" yelled Tanya, her nails painted black while a white six pointed star materialized on her forehead along with the Sirius Emerald Star Stone. The stone then glowed from a dark blue light that swallowed Tanya, changing her clothing in bursts of tiny stars into the blue and black uniform of Sailor Sirius, the Scout of the Stars.
"MOON COSMIC POWER!" cried Serena, crimson bands of energy blossoming from the Imperium Silver Crystal in the brooch placed between her breasts. The bands lovingly embraced Serena's body, filling every cell with tremendous power while altering her clothes into the uniform of Sailor Moon, the Champion of Love and Justice, leader of the Sailor Scouts.
"Love your colors, Tal. You've got style," said a grinning Sirius after the transformations were complete. She openly admired the Vulcan Scout who stood a towering six feet tall in her spike heeled black boots. Sirius then cracked her black gloved knuckles. "Okay, girls, it's time to get busy!"
Moon nodded, her lovely face set in rock hard determination. "Roger that, Sirius! Let's waste that creep!"
Back in the parking lot, the hulk surveyed it's surroundings, onlookers staying a considerable distance away from the thing. According to the hulk's onboard computer, it had room for nineteen more modules. It's sensors prepared to acquire the next target when the sound of footsteps from behind made it pause. The hulk whirled around to see the three Scouts.
"Hey, you! Hold it!" Moon shouted, standing between her fellow warriors. "You've got no business endangering innocents....and ruining a girl's day of shopping! I'm Sailor Moon! I stand for love, and I stand for justice! In the name of the Moon, I shall punish you!"
"Better listen to her, pal, 'cause your days are numbered!" rumbled a scowling Sirius, striking a pose. "As the star that shines brightest in the heavens, I am Sailor Sirius, and you will be vanquished!"
"I recommend you surrender, or face the consequences," Vulcan said sharply, her arms akimbo. "Logic demands that evil such as your be dealt with, for I am Sailor Vulcan, and I will eliminate you!"
The hulk silently responded by releasing a powerful laser blast from it's visor, scattering the girls who just barely managed to dodge the beam which blasted a large, foot deep crater in the ground where the heroines had stood.
"How rude! The least that jerk could do before blasting away was give us some lame-ass comeback like all bad guys do!" grumbled Sirius.
"It does not appear to have a mouth to do so, Sailor Sirius," Vulcan calmly observed. "In my opinion, our adversary is a machine. An android."
"Wha-a-a-a-t? You mean to tell me I wasted a perfectly good battle speech on a robot?" said a shocked Moon. She then scowled at the robot and removed her tiara. "That really pisses me off! I'm personally gonna moondust that bucket of bolts! Moon Tiara... MAGIC!"
Moon, having willed her tiara into her powerful energy disc hurled at the android who fired it's laser. There was a thunderous explosion as the beam hit the disc and a huge flash of light that momentarily blinded everyone. When the light faded, the machine was still standing, but Moon's tiara was gone. The Sailor Scout leader was shocked.
"My tiara! What happened to my tiara?" she demanded.
"Evidently, the robot destroyed it," Vulcan said simply.
Sirius was stunned. "But....that's not possible!"
The robot ignored the girls and approached a suit clad man who lay frightened on the ground. The lens on the robot's chest glowed from a strange, black light, then a thin, ebony beam shot out from the lens, striking the man in the chest, causing him to scream from mortal agony. Vulcan and Sirius were startled at what they were seeing, but Moon, her eyes wide viewed the scene with a fast growing horror. She silently prayed she was wrong, but this looked to be something she had seen before. Both awake, and in her nightmares.
Suddenly, the man's scream's was cut short when his torso lit up like a star and a reddish, glowing, multi-pointed crystal was wrenched out and momentarily hovered in front of the robot before being pulled into the lens-like object. Like the robot's other six victims, the man lay still and unmoving.
"For the love of Allah," a horrified Sirius whispered.
"Incredible," said Vulcan.
Moon however was beside herself from panic. Eyes, wide she dropped trembling to her knees. "Oh, God! Oh, dear God! NO! It can't be! Not again! Not again!"
Sirius knelt by her friend, her face a study in deep concern. She had never seen Moon in such a state of naked terror before. "Snap out of it, Sailor Moon! What are you talking about?"
"That....that thing! Sirius, it's a heartsnatcher!"
NEXT: Working Girls