Sorry this is a day late, but I'm quitting smoking and not really on the ball this week. Send any comments to me and I'll be sure Ben gets them.
------------------------------------
[SM] Nuke'em'TillTheyGlow!!
&&&[Begin Chapter 2]
Terra was sleeping soundly when she heard a doorbell. She
awoke with a start, then looked at the clock.
According to it, she had just under two minutes to make it
to school.
She was a blur getting ready; it took her approximately four
seconds. She then rushed downstairs, grabbed her lunch, said goodbye
to her parents, and rushed out the door.
"She seems quite full of energy this morning," Terra's father
noted, impressed at his daughter's speed. "Has something... happened
to her recently?"
"She's been off fighting evil," Kasumi said happily.
Terra's father thought about it for a moment, then nodded.
"Yes... That would explain it."
---
When Serena woke up that morning, her clock said that she
was going to be late. She attributed it to setting clock ahead.
She would have stayed in bed had Luna not gotten her up. She also
remembered that she had to meet Terra this morning, so she went to
her house.
Ten seconds after she rang the doorbell, Terra ran out at an
incredible speed, grabbed her by the arm and rushed off towards
school.
This would not be a very abnormal experience for Serena had
she not been flying behind a running Terra.
Terra was, however, running at just under mach one, was
leaping over buildings to find shortcuts, and Serena WAS hanging in
the air behind her as she ran.
Therefore, as one might guess, Serena's mind was whirling as
this happened. Anyone else who saw this dismissed it as a figment of
their imagination.
Terra, on the other hand, was so concentrated on getting to
school on time that she didn't notice that she was, for all
intents and purposes, breaking the laws of physics. Not to mention
the speed limit. And, after studious avoidance of potential property
damage, they had arrived at school... with a minute to spare.
"How... how did you do that?" Serena asked, recovering from
the shock of the acceleration and deceleration. She suddenly
wondered if Terra would mind doing it again. It was better than a
roller coaster ride.
"I don't know... All of the sudden, I... could," Terra replied
thoughtfully, in a very nice, sweet tone. "You know, I couldn't do
that until this morning... Maybe it has something to do with the
'Sailor Senshi' thing..."
"Oh, could be, could be," Arby said, climbing out of Terra's
lunch.
"WHAT'S THAT?!" Serena shouted, backing off in horror.
"What? Oh, him. He's an ArbyFish," Terra said cheerfully.
"He's the one who showed up and asked me to help last night."
"In-deed!" the green and white ArbyFish confirmed.
Serena facefaulted.
"Oh my," Terra said, surprised at the blonde girl's reaction.
"Well, he's the one that gave me a pendant and told me to say a
phrase..."
Serena pulled herself off the ground. "Oh... so, he's kinda
like Luna, then?" she asked, calming down.
"Luna?" Terra asked.
"My cat," Serena responded.
"Luna's awake?" Arby asked hopefully. Serena nodded. "'Scuse
me, gotta go make a mushroom deliv'ry."
The ArbyFish flew off.
Serena and Terra looked at each other and shrugged, continuing
their walk to school.
"By the way, what was he doing in your lunch?" Serena asked.
"Sleeping... I think. You'll have to ask him to be certain.
To be honest, I haven't the foggiest idea," the cheerful redhead
replied, still smiling. Then the bell rang. "Oh my!"
"Oh no, we're still late!"
"But if we're late, then why are there so many people walking
around?"
Serena thought about it. "Oh! That was the FIRST bell. We
still have five minutes."
Terra smiled... even more deeply than before. "Good. Being
late would be delinquency. My mother would _kill_ me if I was late
for school."
Serena raised an eyebrow, completely unable to visualize the
concept. "YOUR mother?"
Terra nodded, smiling. "Figuratively speaking, of course."
---
That particular morning, Luna had been following Serena and
discussing possible past-life identities of the Starlight Knight
and Tuxedo Mask, and later how to search for the Moon Princess.
Luna's memory was a tad fuzzy on the subject because of light
brain damage incurred by the long wait in cryo-freeze, but she
didn't know that. She did, however, remember the personality of the
Moon Princess.
When Luna elaborated on this, Serena said that it sounded a
lot like Terra, whom she had become familiar with while showing
her around.
The mooncat had then followed Serena to Terra's house, where
Serena had rung the doorbell and been snatched by what was, from
Luna's perspective, a red, white, and blue blur.
Luna had then tried to follow the remaining dust trail, but
a minute later, she had become buried in a pile of mushrooms that
had been dropped on her.
"'Ello. 'Ow are you?" Luna heard a voice with an odd accent
say. Dread instantly began to creep into her mind.
<Oh no, it couldn't be,> Luna thought in terror as she emerged
from the pile, finally seeing the fluttering green seal. "ARBY?!"
she shouted in complete and utter shock and disbelief.
"I'm back!" Arby said happily.
"No! I refuse to believe that this is happening!" Luna said,
closing her eyes and covering her ears as best she could, humming
loudly. All at once, memories of Arby came cascading back:
memories of a genetic experiment gone horribly wrong...
###[Flashback]
"I'm glad you could all be here to witness this momentous
occasion," the Mercurian scientist said. "I would also like to
thank and acknowledge the presence of Queen Serenity, who had
assisted us in funding this project, First Advisor Luna, for the
donation of her DNA for this experiment, and the many scientists
who worked on this project." Each nodded at their acknowledgment.
The observers were behind a thick pane of plexiglass, and
the scientists were communicating via microphone.
There was an interesting thing about the Silver Millennium:
Nearly everybody used magic. It was the most powerful, most useful,
and most available source of power in the solar system... for those
that could use it.
Those that couldn't had to stick to banging rocks together to
light their fires, and could forget about doing anything really
impressive like teleporting or spontaneously turning into a giant,
fifty meter tall destructive cloud with a snap of their fingers.
At the dawn of the Silver Millennium, many of the native
Mercurians were not very adept at magic, and eventually tired of
having to bash rocks together and having to trade mined mineral
deposits for vital materials that the planet could not produce on
its own. Capitalism? Maybe, but having to constantly purchase and
replace magical airstones to keep from suffocating on the
atmosphere-devoid planet was a bit much.
When the prices for food and life-support escalated, it was
finally decided that this would no longer be tolerated. The
Mercurian government sent a message to the worlds it traded
with, saying that it wouldn't take this anymore, and would find a
non-magical way to do things... or die trying.
The other worlds that Mercury traded with (mainly Venus and
the Moon) were somewhat shocked at the declaration, and replied
that it was a futile effort; technology simply wasn't that advanced.
They added that they would have ships standing by to resupply them,
should they suddenly decide to change their mind at the last minute.
At that time, the of people Mercury were renowned for their
lack of power and ingenuity. And so, it came as a great surprise
when they, after only two months' work, developed hydroponics and
terraforming, along with several other unexpected technologies.
A couple economic collapses later, Mercury was the most
advanced world in the solar system (with the possible exception
of Pluto... no telling with that planet, though). But in order
to fully explore-
[GET ON WITH IT!!!]
Sorry, sorry! Where was I? Oh yeah... The science project...
"As you know, this is our first step in being able to repair
errors in the genetic structure and even repair an entire being
from something as small as a single cell," another scientist
continued. "Using this technology, terminally ill patients could
be restored from nothing more than their genetic samples," she
clasped her hands together before finishing, "Well, this is it,
the moment of truth."
She and other workers on the project began the final parts
of the experiment.
The genetic sample was placed into the main unit. The main
unit was essentially a large cylindrical tank filled with the
proper chemicals. People began working at their various stations.
They stopped, and a sense of completion was near.
One scientist off to the left noticed something odd about a
steel plate cover of the main unit. He called over his supervisor.
They removed the plate and looked in.
The two gasped and turned around, shocked at what they had
just seen. One slammed his fist down on a button.
*WOOOP!*WOOOP!* Alarms sounded.
[WARNING! DANGER LEVEL CODE: WILL ROBINSON! ALL MUST
EVACUATE NOW!] a slightly digitized voice said in an urgent tone.
Everyone hurried out of the affected area. They could see the
beginnings of a dark green smoke forming in the lab as something
began forcing its way out of the tank. It jarred repeatedly, huge
dents appearing in the surface.
[DANGER: WILL ROBINSON! DANGER!]
As the last person left, the tank ripped open.
Smoke poured from the container, obscuring the shape that left
it. The fifteen-inch-thick steel blast doors slammed closed.
The former observers went quickly to find whatever cover
they could when the lab guards and the Queen's Sailor Senshi came
forward to combat what horrors could have been created in the lab.
"I'm truly sorry," the head scientist said to Queen Serenity,
preparing for imminent destruction at the hands (Or, more likely:
CLAWS) of the failed experiment.
The steel doors began to glow a bright red.
The Sailor Senshi took ready defensive positions.
The door shattered inward in a flash of fire, sparks, and
smoke.
When the smoke cleared, the doorway was empty... or so everyone
thought until Luna picked up the terrifying, oh so terrifying words:
"'Ello! 'Ow are you?"
Luna screamed.
###[End Flashback]
<It was a frightening experience,> Luna thought grimly. It
had been the result of sabotage by an unknown party. The project was
scrapped soon afterwards, since nobody wanted to risk a repeat
incident.
Later, she had apologized to what had called itself the
'ArbyFish' for overreacting and taken it upon herself to try to
train him to become a royal advisor as she had. She thought it
wouldn't be THAT much trouble to teach him.
She was wrong.
"Mushroom for the teacher?" Arby asked, overjoyed at finding
his mentor.
"Um, no, thanks. Perhaps later," Luna said, lightly frightened,
scrambling out of the pile and continuing to try to get to Serena.
"'Ey, wait! I'm not through with you yet," Arby said,
fluttering after the dark-furred cat.
---
Atomic Starlight Knight had just finished the final touches
on what he euphemistically called "The First Harbringer of Total
Destruction." Forty tons of Slice-em Dice-em Nuke-Em-Till-They-
Glow power.
<Yes, an excellent level-one sparring partner for my
reincarnation,> he thought.
<Isn't this a little.. excessive?> he responded in an uneasy
mental tone.
<Nah, I watched Dragon Ball Z yesterday. This kind of thing
is routine.>
<Ah, so when will the 50g training begin?> he considered
sarcastically.
<As soon as I get the room set up,> he thought seriously.
<Oooookay. If you say so...>
<Well, get cracking!>
<Yeah, maybe we can blow something up!>
<Later, later. In just a few minutes...>
<But I want to blow something up now!>
<Yeah!>
<Not yet!>
<But I want to blow something up now!> the personality in
question insisted annoyingly.
*WHAM!* "Shut up, shut up! Everyone just SHUT UP!!" He yelled,
pounding on his head.
Yes, there would be explosions today. He had called ahead and
contracted for the removal of an old warehouse district. Nobody lived
there. He had checked twice. The entire area was condemned and slated
for demolition. Hey, public service AND random destruction of property
for no apparent reason. Can't beat that.
He really wouldn't ask anyone but himself to fight this thing.
And so he would. With that in mind, he and his creation teleported to
the area and began to set things up.
---
Back at school, Terra had just finished an exam, with half
an hour to spare. She turned in her work and took out her SciFi
novel and began to read. Then the intercom sparked to life.
[Terra Incognito, please report to the parking lot,] the
intercom crackled.
Terra looked to the teacher, who shrugged, then to Serena,
who was agonizing over one of the test questions.
<1)Hat is to foot as ____ is to ____.
a)cat::rat
b)car::tire
c)lap::race
d)boot::head>
Serena couldn't find a relation.
So, Terra packed up her book and went to the parking lot.
When she got there, she didn't see anyone. After about half
a minute, she turned around to go back in.
Then she was grabbed from behind...
---
Terra found herself in a completely different area. There
were abandoned, boarded up buildings all over the place. She
turned to look at who had taken her.
He looked like a shadow. And by a shadow, I mean that he was
mostly invisible, and she wasn't entirely sure it was a he. It
could have easily been, but she wasn't *sure*.
"Why am I here?" Terra asked, as nicely as she could given
the shock factor. But she was good at asking nicely, regardless of
the situation.
"Many have asked that question... Nobody really knows,
although many believe that-" The shadow said in a dry voice until
being cut off by Terra.
"No, why am I here NOW?" Terra clarified.
"Oh. I thought you wanted a philosophical discussion... Ah,
well... You're here until you beat THAT," the shadow replied,
pointing behind Terra. She turned around to see a hulking blue piece
of evil-looking machinery flexing its three-foot razor-sharp claws
and rotating its gatling-gun style weaponry. It had an evil gleam in
its red, roving eye-light. She turned back to the shadow.
"That?" Terra asked, wide-eyed.
"That," the shadow confirmed.
"Okay..." Terra began uneasily, turning towards the robot.
"Begin," the shadow said before waving goodbye and disappearing
entirely. Terra turned back to the robot, feeling more than a little
worried. She kept smiling, of course, albeit nervously.
It lept at her, gatling-energy canons blazing, claws fully
extended. Massive property damage ensued.
Terra, using her recently advanced capabilities, acted on
impulse and jumped out of the way.
The 'mech landed and turned toward her, guns still blazing.
It launched a missile.
Terra jumped on top of the missile, then used it as a
springboard to hop behind the robot. The missile exploded,
destroying about half a block. The robot turned around, decimating
another few buildings as Terra dodged once again.
Things proceeded in much the same manner for about three
minutes. Terra would dodge, and the robot would blow things up.
Occasionally, the robot would get a shot in, knocking Terra
through a building or two, yet she remained relatively unscathed.
Looking around at the destruction, Terra decided that this
had to end, one way or another. She jumped at the robot, kicking
its arm hard enough to dislodge it. The arm clattered loudly to
the ground.
"Oh my... Are you okay?" Terra asked, a little worried about
the damage. The robot looked at the arm on the ground, then turned
to Terra, nodded, then gave a sort of a "thumbs up" sign with its
claws and continued fighting.
It scored a hit and knocked her down. Terra got up and
brushed herself off.
"I've had quite enough of you!" She said sternly.
Terra, now in her equivalent of a killing rage, which would
be slight annoyance for nearly any other being, lept upwards,
grabbed its other arm, and executed a total body flip on the robot,
which crashed to the ground on its back. The other arm broke loose.
The robot got up.
"Are you beaten yet?" Terra asked nicely.
['TIS BUT A SCRATCH,] the robot said in its digitized voice.
"A scratch?! Your arms are off!" Terra said incredulously,
yet apologetically.
[I'VE HAD WORSE. COME ON, YA PANSY,] it said, kicking Terra
into another building, collapsing it entirely.
Terra climbed out of the rubble, looking slightly disheveled.
The robot kicked her again, sending her back a few yards,
her feet digging into the pavement.
"Stop that, please," Terra said calmly.
[CHICKEN!] it taunted.
"I'll have your leg," Terra said.
[YEAH, RIGHT!]
Terra dove straight at the leg, shearing it off with a swift
kick. The robot now hopped up and down on its remaining leg.
[I'M INVINCIBLE!]
"You're a looney," Terra said, coming to that conclusion
through extrapolation.
It kept hopping toward her.
She tapped lightly on the knee-joint.
Its leg collapsed out from under it. The robot fell face
down into the asphalt.
[Alright, we'll call it a draw,] it said grudgingly.
Terra began to walk off to look for the shadow. The shadow
appeared behind her, grabbing her and disappearing.
[Oh, I see. Runnin' away eh? COME BACK AND GET WHAT'S COMIN'
TO YA!] the robot boomed from its prone position on the road.
[I'll bite your legs off!]
---
Walking back into the classroom, looking as beat up as she
did, yet still having a completely happy expression, Terra couldn't
help but notice the questioning stares of the students that were
looking up from their tests at her.
"What happened, Terra?" Serena asked, "It looks like you got
into a wrestling match with a lawnmower and lost."
"No, actually," Terra said, calmly shaking her head,
brushing back a stray lock of red hair.
"What happened?" Ms. Haruna asked with concern.
Terra shrugged.
"What?" Melvin pressed. The rest of the class was obviously
waiting in suspense for the answer.
"I won," she replied in a nonchalant manner, returning to her
desk, calmly taking out her book and resuming.
A mass facefault ensued.
---
<Now, THAT was fun,> Atomic Starlight Knight thought as he
picked up the battered remains of the robot. The area slated for
demolition had been almost completely cleared by the fighting.
<I haven't been able to knock down that much since... well,
since the first time I entered this system.>
<Ah, yes, those were the days...>
--
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
" I am the Pretty Sailor Suited Commando Sailor Moon, in the name of
the moon I'm gonna decorate the landscape with your innards!"
The youma looked decidedly nervous <Since when does Sailor Moon wear
ammo bandoliers? > it thought <And is that a tattoo of a globe and anchor?>
"Mars! Hose 'em!" Sailor Moon barked in a gravelly Eastwood-esque voice
"Got it." Sailor Mars replied grimly.
"Napalm Stream!" Mars shouted as she activated her mystic flame-thrower.
The youma screamed in soul-wrenching agony as the white-hot mystic napalm
enveloped it's misshapen form. <They never told me the Sailors were this...
militant!> it wailed internally as it's nerves were seared.
[Now Sailor Moon! Finish it off!] Luna's voice rang out over the Tac-Net
"Affirmative" The Moon Princess bit off as she readied the Cutie Moon Autocannon
"Moon Autocannon Burst!"
*BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM *BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM*
"YOU try fighting Cthulu, Dillhole! He'll kick your ass,
THEN he'll redecorate!" --Beavis