[FFML] Behind Her Masks (Sailor Moon AU)

[John Biles]

I thought I had posted this but it's not in the archive, so...  Same
continuity as the previous one I posted.

Behind Her Masks

A Sailor Moon AU short story



By John Biles



*********************



        o/~ Fighting Evil by Moonlight

        o/~ Winning Love by Daylight



        Osaka Minako jammed out to the Sailor S theme song as the credit
sequence played.  Her living room was full of boys and girls from her
school assembled to watch the new episode.  She had the best TV of all of
them and the most space and she’d talked her Mom into it, so they didn’t
have to try and fit into Umino’s living room this time, which was roughly
the size of Minako’s living room table.   Which right now was off in
Minako’s room, to make space here.



        To her surprise and pleasure, big sister Unazuki now walked in,
looking tired and still in her uniform from the Crown Arcade and Coffee
Shop, where she worked.  “Hey, Minako, I made it.  Mom let me off early.”



        “Yay!  Sit by me!”  She cleared space for Unazuki to plop down
beside her.  “Any news of your brother?” Minako whispered.



        Unazuki sighed as the first commercial sequence began. “No, Mamoru
is still missing.  I haven’t seen that damn woman since the day he went out
with her and never came back.”



        “How’s Motoki?” Minako asked softly, feeling terrible for her big
sister; they weren’t really related, but Unazuki had always been a big
sister to her.  And Mamoru like a big brother, even if he liked flowers
more than people sometimes.



        “Motoki looks for him every night but if he’s alive, I doubt he’s
out on the streets,” Unazuki said, sighing.  “But since Motoki doesn’t have
any parents, I guess he can do that.”



        “Doesn’t he live at an orphanage?  No curfew?” Minako asked,
feeling jealous.  Her mom wanted her home by nine unless she spent the
night with friends or her volleyball team.



        “He cruises around with Ten’ou-san in his car, trying to find him,”
Unazuki said.  She rubbed her forehead.  “I don’t know how Ten’ou-san gets
to drive.”



        “Didn’t he live in America for a while?  I think you can drive at
like twelve there,” Minako said.



        “I hope not,” Unazuki said, laughing, then sighing.



        “He has an international driver’s license; his dad wants him  to be
a race car driver like him,” Umino said.  “But I don’t think he’s all that
interested, but hey, rich family and all that.” He shook his head.  “Good
luck finding him, Unazuki-san.”



        “Thanks,” Unazuki said softly.  “Is his hair naturally green or
does he dye it?”



        “Natural,” Umino said.



        Minako wondered how Umino found all this stuff out but he was the
one-stop gossip shop, it seemed.



        But now the show started and she gave it her full attention.



******************



*        The episode started with Sailor S at her typewriter in her public
identity; every episode started with her typing up a news story and then
you found out the truth behind it as the show went along.  Tanaka Kanako
was a redhead in her twenties, just out of college and starting her first
job.   *



*        “Tanaka-san, you busy tonight?” one of her co-workers asked; just
about every episode started with Kobayashi Jin flirting with her.  *



*        “I’m sorry, I have a lead to follow up once I write this up,” she
told him apologetically.  “But you have fun with everyone tonight.”*



*        “Oh man, you need to loosen up a little,” he said, leaning on her
desk.  “You never have any fun.”*



*        “The truth never takes time off,” Kanako said, pushing her tightly
bound hair back into place as it tried to slip.  “But thank you for
asking.”*



*        “Damn.  One day, I will get you to have some fun,” he said,
shaking a fist and walking off, sighing.*



*        Kanako winked at the viewers and thought, ‘it would only put them
in danger if I came with everyone; you never know when SEARRS will
strike.’  The thought was, of course, a voice-over.*



***************



        “More wine!” one of her father’s guests shouted.  Aino  Naru ran
over and poured a glass of wine for the man.  Fridays were the worst, as
instead of going out drinking and coming home for dinner late but alone,
her parents brought all their co-workers home for a giant party on Friday
night and Naru had to waitress it, even though legally, she couldn’t drink
anything herself.



        “Naru-chaaaaan,” one of the guests shouted and she cringed.  It was
Osakabe Hayao, one of her father’s co-workers, who was a good twenty-five
years older than her but looked at her in ways she did not want someone
that age looking at her.



        To her surprise, he was holding a folded 1000 yen note.  To her not
surprise and extreme frustration, he then tried to slide it into her
blouse; this failed because he was drunk and her blouse buttoned in the
back with a round collar which came up under her chin.  And she had an
apron on over that; the note fell down inside it.  “You’re getting so big,
Naru-chan,” he said and she fought the urge to slap him.  But it would
cause trouble for her parents and maybe give away her secret.



        It might well maim him for life; she struggled to control her
strength now.  Even normally, she was so strong.



        “Mama is calling me,” she lied and ran off to give her mother some
more wine.



        “Just slap him if he gets too fresh,” her mother told her and Naru
started. “I’m not blind, but we have to put up with the trash as well as
the diamonds,” she whispered to Naru.  “But when you’re pretty, every man
thinks he can have you.  You have to learn how to use that against them.”



        Naru shivered.  She wasn’t pretty.  Not like this.  With her
disguise pen, she could be beautiful but…  Osakabe was just a drunk dirty
old man.



        And she didn’t WANT to have to learn how to put up with people like
him.



********************



*        Tanaka Kanako studied the inventory list; it was clear someone had
stolen hundreds of refrigerators from the warehouse.  But *why?  “Why would
someone steal the refrigerators and not the TVs or stoves?” she asked the
clerk she was talking to.*



*        “We have no idea; the security tapes all turn staticky, something
knocked out the night guards and then they were gone,” the clerk said,
sighing.  “You can hear laughter sometimes, though.”*



*        Kanako listened carefully.  She knew that laughter.  It was the
insidious Dr. Zachariah Searrs!  He must be up to something, possibly
involving his trained rats!*



*        She would have to come back tonight and investigate!*



****************



        Artemis leaped to another rooftop, trying to follow his senses.  But
the city was so full of horrible smells it made it hard to smell magic.  But
there was something… something around here…



        Power.



        Could it be the Silver Crystal?  It wasn’t really their mission to
find it, but they kept encountering Youma looking for it.  Or it could be
another one of the Senshi… it was Luna’s job to find them, but it wouldn’t
hurt if he found another one to help Naru.



        Especially if it was Mercury, because that would make things so
much quicker.  This city was so *huge*.  They had thought Serenity City a
great city… this city had over twenty times as many people!



        Some of the Outer Colonies had less people than this city!



        The power… getting closer…



        It was a girl!  About Naru’s age, walking along with a brown haired
teenage boy who was maybe… two or three years older than her.  He wore a
fancy suit and she wore a rather cheaper blue dress, though clearly she had
tried to dress up and had painted her face in that weird way human women
did.  She was actually taller than him and very skinny with short black
hair except for two trailing pony-tails.  She had power.  Not as much as a
Senshi, but definitely power.  He, on the other hand, was totally normal to
Artemis’ senses.



        “I guess it’s just us, Sanjouin-san,” the girl said to him.  “I
tried setting up Naru-chan and Tsukamoto-san, but Naru has to work for her
parents tonight and Tsukamoto-san couldn’t find another date.”  She sighed.
“I hardly get to see Naru-chan any more.”



        “Your desire to help her speaks well of you, Hanajima-san,”
Sanjouin said warmly, taking her hand.  “We should hurry or we will miss
our dinner reservations.”



        They began running along together and Artemis followed them, trying
to figure out if the girl was someone he should know or not.  She had power
but not enough to be a Senshi, but maybe she was someone else from the Moon
Kingdom?



        But she seemed so normal and he got caught and thrown out of the
restaurant by its management, so he decided to go search some more.  If she
knew Naru, he would see her again.  I can ask Naru about her, he realized.



        Later, when the party is over.



        He returned to searching the streets for some kind of clue, praying
for good luck.



*****************



*        “I followed the smell of rat to his lair,” Justice said proudly;
he was Sailor S’ magical cat ally, green with a yellow scales of justice on
his forehead.  “Follow me, Sailor S!”*



*        They ran through the streets to an abandoned warehouse.  But there
were lights inside it.  Climbing the side, they peeked in a window; they
could see Dr. Zachariah Searrs hard at work building a giant robot out of
refrigerator parts.*



*        “He’ll freeze the city solid,” Sailor S said, gasping.  “We have
to stop him.”*



*        “I’ll distract him while you slip in and get in position,” Justice
said; Sailor S nodded and Justice jumped down to the ground and circled
around to the front door, willing to do anything to give Sailor S a chance
to strike by surprise.*



*        Which was good because just inside, he was pulled into a net and
dangled from the ceiling.*



*        “Hah!  I have you this time Sailor… it’s just the stupid cat!” Dr.
Zachariah said angrily, his mullet bobbing about as his head shook in rage.*



*        Sailor S, now in the window looked down and voiceover-thought, ‘Oh
no, they have Justice!  Whatever will I do?’*



*        And then they went to commercial on this cliffhanger.*



************************



        “Oh gods and goddesses, he’s got Justice captive!” Minako said in a
panic as if she was THERE and Sailor S to worry about it.



        “Hey, Umino, is your girlfriend going to make it?” Unazuki asked
him.



        “She’s not my girlfriend,” Umino said frantically. “I mean… I
wouldn’t say no but…”  He laughed nervously.  “She’s even more of a
studymaniac than I am…”



        “Who cares about imaginary girlfriends?  Justice is caught in a
TRAP,” Minako said frantically.



        “I can tell you how it ends,” Urawa Ryo said to them.



        “NO SPOILERS!” Minako said, covering her ears.



        “I’m curious to meet her,” Unazuki said.  “But she never comes to
the arcade with you.”



        And then, to their surprise, an alarm went off. “Is that the fire
alarm?” Umino asked.



        Minako’s eyes widened.  “Everyone stay in the room!”



        She fled into the hallway, dialing frantically.  Her mother
answered.  “I’m sorry, honey, I set off the alarm by accident while locking
up.”



        Minako gave a huge sigh of relief.  Okay.  She’d been worried a
burglar was threatening her mother, but it was just going to be fine.



*********************



        Artemis sniffed the air.  YOUMA.  This time it wouldn’t be some
young girl in love!  He followed the trail to the front door of Osaka
Jewellers and frowned.  Could this thing be after the Silver Moon Crystal?
But would it be in some random jewelry store?  But both the Masked Phantom
and some of the youma seemed to think so.



        So he crept in the front door, keeping alert for trouble.  A net
nearly scooped him up but he leaped lithely to one side.  “You won’t catch
me THAT easily!”



        There was no one here but an elegant redhead in a purple dress.  She
was probably beautiful to a human but Artemis found it hard to tell
sometimes.  No sign of a youma.



        Until she extended her arms like bungie cords and grabbed him.
“Zoicite
warned me you’d come sniffing around!”



        Dammit, she IS the youma in disguise,” Artemis thought in
frustration.  He could see the real jeweler knocked out under the counter,
out of sight.



        Okay, I blew this one, he thought.   I should have called Naru
right away.   But he’d feared it would be like the time he’d mistaken a bum
for a youma.



        “Perfect, now I can use you as bait,” the youma cackled.



        Uh oh.



********************



*        “Stop your caterwauling, it’s HORRIBLE,” Dr. Zachariah said,
trying to cover his ears; his rats fled, wailing, unable to deal with the
horrible sound of Justice trying to sing.*



*        This gave Sailor S the cover she needed to slip down and sabotage
the robot.  Then she revealed herself.  “Hah!  I’ve come to stop you and
your evil plans!”*



*        “FREEZO, DESTROY HER!” Dr. Zachariah said.*



*        Instead, ice flew in all directions, pelting the rats, Dr.
Zachariah, Sailor S, and even Justice in his net.  Freezo, a humanoid made
out of refrigerators, began flailing about and stumbling as Sailor S now
ran over and blasted the top of the net, freeing Justice, who began chasing
the rats as they fled the ice.*



*        “Freezo, obey…”  Chunks of ice now smashed the remote control and
Dr. Zachariah cursed and fled as Sailor S and Justice fled with him; the
building froze over and Dr. Zachariah cursed. *



*        “This is all YOUR fault, Sailor S!!!,” he shouted, running for his
helicopter.*



*        She was about to chase him down when two kids screamed; they were
about to be trapped by falling ice and Sailor S ran to save them, lifting
one and blasting the ice before it could hit the other.  “Kids, you should
always stay out of combat zones,” she said sternly.*



*        “But we heard you were here!  We’re in your fanclub!” one of them
said.*



*        “It’s good to look up to someone but you shouldn’t take it too
far,” Sailor S said.  “Now I will…”*



*        But the helicopter had now taken Dr. Zachariah away and she shook
a fist at it.*



*        She would catch him next time, but saving innocents had to come
first.*



*********************



        The only good thing about the heavy drinking of everyone at the
party was that they began falling asleep or stumbling home long before
midnight, to Naru’s relief.  Even if it meant having to see a half-dozen or
more people on the floor in the morning.



        She slipped off to check in with Artemis, summoning her
communicator.  But he didn’t answer, which worried her; it might mean he
was just in a public place, but…



        She couldn’t slip off now, not until everyone was down for the
count.  So instead, she would just worry a lot.



        Keeping her cover and not getting grounded by her parents had to
come first, at least if she wasn’t SURE Artemis was in trouble.



***********************



        “I’ll be downstairs doing some special work,” Minako’s mother said
to everyone.  “Don’t forget, you need to go to bed by eleven, Minako.  I’ll
need your help tomorrow.”



        “Okay, Mom,” Minako said.  “Let’s vote on something we can watch
which I recorded.”  Her DVR had huge memory and she had every episode
recorded.



        A lively debate now erupted.  Minako sighed; the guy she had
invited hadn’t come and neither had Umino’s girlfriend that neither of them
could admit to.



        With my luck, they’re out dating each other, Minako thought.



**********************



        “I hate to call you in on a Friday night, but something’s gone
wrong with my car,” Ten’ou Michiru said to Kino Ami, who was halfway inside
the engine, being held up by Chiba Motoki as she worked.  They were parked
where she’d broken down.



        “Don’t worry, I can fix it,” Ami said to her.  “You need to learn
to do this yourself.”



        “I’m only a driver because Father made me,” Ten’ou said, leaning
against the passenger’s side door and staring at the nearby shops.  “I
don’t even like cars.”



        “I envy you for having a Father to make you do things,” Chiba
mumbled, and Ten’ou Michiru winced, her short-cropped green hair bobbing
about.  Ami sighed but kept working.



        “Okay, done,” Ami said.  “Next time, I will walk you through this,
because if you don’t take proper care of your car, next time, you may
explode, taking Chiba-san with you.”



        “I take proper care, but I don’t do a full safety inspection every
time I drive around town,” Ten’ou protested.  “And Dad pays you to do this.”



        I am *so* late, Ami thought, trying to decide if she should go at
all.  Being late was so embarrassing.  “You owe me a ride where I was
going.”



        “Hop in,” Chiba said, shutting the hood.



        They were soon on their way.



****************



*        “Kenji!” Sailor S shouted frantically; her boyfriend of the week
was dangling over a pit full of angry, mutated cats.  Justice stared into
the pit in horror.  *



*        Slender, dark-haired Kenji tried to get free.  “You’ll pay for
this, Dr. Searrs!” Dr. Jedediah Searrs was up in his control room.  *



*        “Oh, I think Sailor S will pay.  Give me your Transformation Mask,
or else your boyfriend becomes catfood!,” Dr. Jedediah said, laughing
maniacally.*



        *Whatever would she do when the show returned from the commercial
break?*



****************



        “You made it!” Umino said excitedly to the new arrival, Kino Ami.



        “Glad you came!,” Minako said, excited. “I don’t suppose you saw
Kyousuke on the way here?”  He wasn’t answering his phone, either.



        “I… didn’t see him,” Kino Ami said, not looking directly at Minako.
“How are you, Umino?”



        “I’m great.  I got your text,” he told her.  “Man, I envy Ten’ou
her driver’s license.”



        “If you took care of it like your bike, it would just break,” Kino
said wearily and someone shouted, “BURN,” and she turned red.  “I just…
Machines have to be taken care of or they malfunction and people get hurt.”
She licked her lips.  “Is your leg okay?”



        “Healing nicely, thanks to you and Mizuno-san.  I saved you a
seat!” he said eagerly.



        “Thanks,” she said and came over, then began fussing over his leg.



        “So you didn’t see him?” Minako asked Kino again.



        “I didn’t see him with another girl at all,” Kino said as she
pulled Umino’s left leg over and began studying the bandages.



        Minako slumped in her chair.  Stood up again.  If I was Sailor S,
this would NEVER happen.  Why did love have to be so *complicated*?



*****************



        Naru’s mother and two of her girlfriends refused to pass out or go
home and the hour was getting late and Naru was starting to fret to death.  She
simply put down a twelve pack.  “This will do you, I am going to my room to
do homework.”



        “Dammit, this isn’t Shiner Bock,” Megumi said.



        Naru did not care or know what Shiner Bock was or why Megumi whined
about it when rather drunk.



        “Goodnight, dear.  I’ll do breakfast,” Naru’s mother lied.  She
wouldn’t wake until noon, Naru knew.



        Then she went to her room; her body was tingling in anticipation,
knowing what was coming.  She took out her communicator and activated the
disguise app, then whispered, “Solar Power, Makeup.”



        Her clothing dissolved into light and her body changed, growing
taller, older, more mature, her hair tumbling down her back and her limbs
longer and stronger.  The light reformed into a white uniform with a red
skirt and yellow bow.  A red mask formed, hiding her eyes and the lenses
providing her combat information.  She struck a pose, then leaped out the
window to go search for Artemis.  Also, it was time to call her police
ally, Inspector Ito.



        Hopefully, he might know something.



******************



        Inspector Ito was close to twice her age, but still unmarried,
available and someone Sailor S knew she should NOT think about at all.  But
she couldn’t help it, as he was handsome and friendly and kind and the best
adult or man she knew (who was human; Artemis was a good cat, but he was a
CAT).  She leaned against his patrol car and tried to show a winning smile.
“Hey, Inspector, can you help a girl out?”  She’d learned that line from
one of her mother’s girlfriends.



        “Always, Sailor S,” he said; Ito Keiichi had short black hair and a
wonderful smile.  “Unfortunately, unless you want to help with a drug bust,
there’s no sign of the Masked Phantom or any other menace you normally
handle.”  He sighed.  “I had to stop two teenagers getting naked in a park,
and I have to tell you, that was VERY embarrassing.”



        “Teenagers do the craziest things,” Sailor S said, shaking her
head, as if she wasn’t one.  “I remember one time, when I was in college, I
got so drunk I tried to climb the statue at the center of campus and then I
got *stuck*.”  This happened to another of her mother’s girlfriends.



        He looked around, then whispered to her, “That happened at my
campus so often, the tour guides mentioned it.”



        They both laughed loudly, then he said, “You could cruise around
with me, in case of trouble.”



        I shouldn’t, she thought.



        She would have, anyway, but she *had* to find Artemis.  “Artemis
hasn’t called in for hours.”



        “He may have gotten caught by another fishmonger,” Ito said,
sighing.



        “I gave him money,” Sailor S said.  She had a large allowance; her
parents’ double income made her family well-off, even if they blew so much
of it on booze and parties.



        “I’ll call you with the special phone if I see him, a youma, or the
Masked Phantom.  I thought… I thought I did see him but that turned out to
be another teenager and his girlfriend.”  Ito shook his head.  “I… hey, our
squad’s going to Disco Moebius if you want to come, next Friday.  We get it
off for some reason.  Our schedules are done with astrology, I think.”



        She wanted to go but her parents would have a party…  “I may have
commitments,” she said.  I shouldn’t go, she thought.  He’s too old for me.



        But he really liked her, she could tell.  But she had to hide her
secret…  “I’ll call you,” she said.  But probably… aaargh.



        She couldn’t date anyone her own age… most of them weren’t worth
dating and she had to hide so much.  But if he found out the truth…



        Why did love have to be so *complicated*?



****************



        “One more episode,” Minako said urgently.



        “We have to go while I can still bike,” Umino said, yawning; he and
Kino were the last two of her guests, but Minako wasn’t tired and didn’t
want to watch the show alone.  It was more fun with people.



        “We already stayed through just one more,” Kino said, yawning.  “And
I can’t ride your bike with you, it’s not safe.”



        “You can borrow mine,” Minako said.  “And bring it back tomorrow.”



        Minako soon got a lecture on properly oiling her gears regularly.



*******************



        Sailor S decided she and Artemis were going to need tracking
devices, so she didn’t have to wander endlessly if he was in trouble.  In
fact, she might have wandered forever, but then her communicator rang; it
was a red haired youma with yellow skin in a fancy dress; she could see
Artemis behind the youma.  “I have your little friend.  You can come down
to Osaka Jewellers or you can bid him farewell forever, Sailor S.”



        She must have gotten his communicator somehow.



        “Don’t come, it’s a trap!” Artemis shouted.



        She wouldn’t have abandoned him anyway but now she really couldn’t.
He was always watching out for her all he could.



        “I’m going to make you regret this,” she said angrily to the youma,
and then the youma hung up.



        She was on her way.



*****************



        Sailor S was just outside Osaka Jewellers, casing the joint, when
she got a text from her friend Kaori.  ‘I had a wonderful date, you should
have come!  Tsukamoto-san was very disappointed, but Sanjouin-san was a
perfect gentleman.  But I had to come home early because Mom is paranoid.’



        She sighed; she wished she could spend more time with Kaori, but…
she was so busy.  At least her Mom cares, she thought.



        And then a window opened on the second story and a blonde girl
looked RIGHT AT HER.  “Holy mackerel, it’s Sailor S!”



        Frantically, she put a finger to her mouth and the girl nodded,
doing the same, then gestured with a ‘come here’.



        The girl lived over the place… if I can slip in from behind…



        She leaped across the street to the window, tumbling into the room.
She whispered, “There’s a youma downstairs; is there a back way into the
store from above?”



        The blonde girl whispered, “Yes, it goes down from the living…”  Her
eyes widened. “Mom is downstairs, working.”  She shivered with this
realization.  “You have to save Mom,” she said frantically.



        Sailor S covered her lips.  “We have to be very quiet.  Show me the
way down, then come back to your room and hide.”



        “I can fight!,” the girl said frantically.  “Let me help you.  Mom’s
in trouble.”



        “It’s too dangerous.  Leave this to the professionals,” Sailor S
said.



        “But…”



        Sailor S shook her head.  “Youma are too dangerous.”



        The girl slumped and then showed her the way down and gave her the
door code.  Sailor S crept down and entered the code, then cracked the door
open, which led into the workshop.  There was a redhaired woman here; her
hair was shorter than Sailor S but rather curly and she wore an elegant
black and yellow dress.  Like the one the youma… it had taken her place but
needed her alive to keep her shape.  This kind could, for a time, take the
form of anyone it drained of energy; to keep the form, you had to keep them
alive.



        She gave a sigh of relief; she’d feared the mother might be dead.



        Peeking out onto the sales floor, she saw TWO youma, one of them a
giant spider lurking over the front door, the other one mimicking the
captive in the workshop.  She’d resumed a human form.  And hanging in
webbing from the ceiling was Artemis.



        She paused and now took the sleeping woman in the workroom back up
the stairs to safety, just to be sure.  Then she stopped on the stairs and
called Inspector Ito.  She had a plan and prayed it would work.



********************



        Hagaz paced, waiting for Sailor S to come fall into her trap.  Come
on, come on…



        “Police!  Are you okay, we got a report of the Masked Phantom
showing up here!” a man shouted.



        Time to top off on an idiot mortal, she thought. She could use more
energy.  So she walked over and opened the door.  “Hello, officer,” she
said, purring.  “Hmm, what brings two handsome men to my door.”  She
reached down and undid a button on her dress. “My, it’s so hot tonight.”



        The two cops at the door both stared at her, just like she wanted.  The
one in front said, “We had a report of the Masked Phantom, ma’am,” he said
nervously but kept glancing at her chest, just as she wanted.  Human men
were so stupid.



        “Oh my, I didn’t call one in but maybe we should go search,
together, while your friend stands guard?” she purred.



        Then she realized a cat was hanging from the ceiling and if he saw
it… well, he might not fall for her routine.  So she got closer, touching
his shoulders.  “I’d feel safer with a big strong man.”



        The man was about to speak and his friend elbowed him, grinning.  The
man gulped, then said, “It would be my pleasure, ma’am.”



        This would be easy, as long as the spider stayed hidden; the man
did not look up, or stop her putting an arm around him, leading him around
one side so he wouldn’t see the dangling cat.  It was going smoothly,
smoothly…



        And then a laser cut the webs, freeing Artemis and Sailor S was up
on the sales counter.  “Sailor S is here to save the day!  You won’t get
away with this, YOUMA!”



        So she grabbed the cop, claws to his throat as she transformed.  “Back
off or he gets it!”



        “You weren’t supposed to *come in*,” Sailor S said. “I just needed
a distraction!”



        “I was trying to distract her!” the cop said frantically.



        “Arachne, devour them!” the youma shouted to her minion.



        But as it leaped at Sailor S, a cane suddenly extended across the
room, hitting its carapace and knocking it sideways into the wall.  The
Masked Phantom had arrived, clad in an elegant tuxedo with hat, his face
half hidden by a white half-mask but his long wavy brown hair flowed down
freely from his hat.



        “I’ll deal with the spider while you deal with the cop!” the Masked
Phantom announced.



        Sailor S turned a little red, then said, “Let go of Inspector Ito
or you will regret it!”



        “Turn back to normal or he dies,” she said, while Inspector Ito
stood very still; still, she felt more anger than fear from him.  She was
surprised; most humans were cattle and sheep.



        But he might have a little wolf in him.



        “Take her down, whatever happens to me,” he said determinedly.



        “I can’t let her kill you!” Sailor S said, looking shocked.



        “To be the hand of the law is always to risk death for the good of
others,” Inspector Ito said loudly.



        Stupidly noble sentiments but she couldn’t let him talk Sailor S
into shooting her anyway.  “Last chance, back off or I drain him dry.”
Draining him some shut him up so he couldn’t talk S into shooting at her.



        And then she took a volleyball to the face.  She lost her grip and
fell down and Ito stumbled over her and fell down too.



        “That’s for what you did to my… THAT INNOCENT WOMAN WHOSE FORM YOU
STOLE!” Minako shouted angrily, now striking the same pose as Sailor S on
the counter, but she was wearing a volleyball team uniform now.  And a
Sailor S mask from the merchandising and a cowboy hat.  “I am the Masked
Volleyballer and you will pay for your crimes!”  She struck Sailor S’
victory pose from the cartoons.



        Sailor S looked like she might fall off the counter in shock but
recovered.  “I told you to stay in your ROOM!”



        “It’s less of a disguise if it has your team name and your number
on it,” Artemis said, sounding amused.



        “Pay no attention to the cat!” the girl said and now spiked another
volleyball, which took the spider in one of its eyes; it stumbled and now
the Masked Phantom swept its legs and knocked it down, though it rolled
away from his followup.



        The other cop was calling for backup.



        “Ito-san, get her out of here!” Sailor S said, then did a flying
kick at Hagaz; they began dueling around the room, boots vs. claws.



        “Hey, I am HELPING!” the Masked Volleyballer said as Inspector Ito
crawled towards her.



        “She’s smart… do what she says… can’t stand up, dammit,” he said,
legs wobbling. “I hate…. Youma…”



        “We hate you weaklings too!” Hagaz shouted. “Dammit, Arachne, stop
playing around!”  She kicked the volleyball which hit her at the Masked
Volleyballer but said would-be heroine now returned it with vigor and it
took her in the face AGAIN, enabling Sailor S to kick her in the chest and
knock her into the wall.



        “Arachne, kill that stupid kid!” Hagaz shouted, only to take *yet
another* volleyball in the face.



        Arachne now leaped at the kid, seizing her and wrapping her in
webs, even as the Masked Phantom tried and failed to stop her jump.  “She’s
*full of energy*.   I’m going to drain her dry!”



        “No, deal with the Masked Phantom!” Hagaz shouted, barely dodging
another kick from Sailor S.



        Instead, Arachne began draining the kid dry of energy while the
Masked Phantom began pounding on her with his cane, denting her carapace
but she was lost in a feeding frenzy.  Even Artemis chewing on her wasn’t
enough to get her attention.  Partly because he couldn’t do much
damage.  Stupid
petty youma, Hagaz thought.  “If you keep attacking me, the kid will die,”
she snarled at Sailor S.



        “Phantom, switch foes with me!” Sailor S said.



        He leaped at Hagaz, keeping her at length with his cane, while
Sailor S now shouted, “CRESCENT LIGHT RAY!”  The first shot took off
Arachne’s remaining legs; the second killed her; energy rushed out of her
and now the Masked Volleyballer and Ito both stood up.



        “Damn you all!” Hagaz shouted.  “DIE DIE DIE!”



        Pelted with volleyballs by Ito and the Masked Volleyballer,
however, and under fire from Sailor S and being whacked at by the Masked
Phantom, she came apart, perishing in a hail of everything.



***************



        “We won!  We won!  We… all of Mom’s display cases are broken and
now we all will die,” the Masked Volleyballer said, shouting first with
enthusiasm, then with panic.



        “Where are you getting all those volleyballs from?” Sailor S asked.



        It turned out to be a large bag of them behind the counter and
there were also actually basket and soccerballs in the mix.  “I love
sports,” the Masked Volleyballer confessed.



        Then her mother came stumbling out, half-asleep.  “What is all
this….”  Her jaw dropped.



        “Fair lady, I fear we have devastated your shop in an effort to
stop a foul monster,” the Masked Phantom said.  “And now I must bid you all
goodday!  The stars tell me I have done my duty this night and now I must
go!  Sailor S, you remain a beautiful and graceful warrior!  Fair Lady
Osaka, I hope this will compensate you for the damages!”  He tossed a
wrapped package to her and then fled out the front door, jumping over the
officer just outside the door, who was on his phone.



        “Dammit, come back here!  Takashi, chase him!” Ito shouted to the
other officer, who ran after him.



        “I must be dreaming…” the Masked Volleyballer’s mother said weakly.



        “Wow, I’m tired,” the Masked Volleyballer mumbled.



        “I have to go, but you’ll handle this, won’t you, Ito-san?” Sailor
S asked him.



        “Wait, I want to be your assistant!” the Masked Volleyballer
shouted frantically.



        “I already have one,” Sailor S said, picking up Artemis.



        “I can be a catgirl if you need me to!” the Masked Volleyballer
said frantically.



        Inspector Ito began trying to explain everything to the Masked
Volleyballer’s mother.  “To start with, he probably just threw you stolen
goods…”



        “You should be glad you can have a normal life with a mother who
loves you!” Sailor S shouted.  And then she fled out the door as well.



        “No, wait….” the Masked Volleyballer shouted after her, but it was
too late.



*******************



        The Masked Phantom was gone but Sailor S was used to that.  And
really, all he’d done this time was to help out.  Had the stars really sent
him to help her?  He didn’t know.



        Then he remembered him saying, “Sailor S, you remain a beautiful
and graceful warrior!”  She smiled a little, and sent Ito a thank you text
as well.



        “Artemis, are you okay?”



        “Kind of weak, but I’m good,” he said, riding on her shoulders.  “We
need a way to find each other.  I’ll see if I can invent something.”  He
sighed.  “I need to make a new communicator; mine got stolen by the youma
and then blew up with it.”



        “Well, we have lots of money from my show,” Sailor S said.  She
would easily afford college now… if she could avoid still being at war when
college came around…  “We should probably see about giving some to that
poor family.”  She felt bad about laying waste to the shop and more so
because that foolish kid had shoved herself into the middle of everything.



        But hopefully, the Osakas would never encounter monsters again.



****************



        Minako had been grounded forever *again* for having gone downstairs
after being told not to by someone her mother assumed worked for the police.
Minako was sure Sailor S worked *with* the police, anyway.



        But her mother always relented in a week or two.  So here she was,
sweeping up glass again late at night.  But she’d done that too.



        I met Sailor S, she thought.  Everyone will be SO JEALOUS.



        Next time, I’ll find a way to impress her, though man, she’s a hard
sell, Minako thought.  But I heroically fought monsters and lived to tell
the tale.  YEAH.



        She yawned.  I guess this is what being energy drained feels like,
she thought.  I’m so tired.



        Then she thought about what happened to her mother and she
stumbled, staggering over to lean on the wall.  That thing could have
killed her mother.  I’d be an orphan like Chiba-san, she thought.



        Man, he’s so cute but I don’t want to be an orphan, Minako thought.
She could have died.



        And then she started crying and her mother came over to hold her
tightly.



        “Let’s go to bed; we can finish in the morning,” her mother said
softly.



        “I couldn’t stand to lose you,” Minako said weakly.



        “Neither could I.  If you had died, I wouldn’t be able to go on.  So
*please* don’t get involved in this kind of thing again,” her mother said
urgently.



        Not until I can make a better disguise, Minako thought.  But she
was meant for greater things than just floor-sweeping. She could feel it in
her gut.



********************



        Naru was asleep and Artemis was curled up by her but couldn’t sleep.
There had been something about those two girls he’d seen tonight.  Some
kind of power… could they both be reincarnated Senshi?  Or was there some
other source of power?  Earth Kingdom people?  Maybe from one of the other
planets?



        Or was it something else?  He would send the info to Luna; it was
his and Sailor S’ job to draw the enemy’s fire while she assembled the
other Senshi and found the Moon Princess but it was already taking a toll
on Naru.



        And he hated to see it.  Felt terrible for bringing her into this.  She
ought to be free to enjoy her youth.  But she was the one.  Their destiny
was set.



        But it was so hard on her.  And Luna wasn’t making any progress.  But
maybe what they saw today would help her.



        He just wished he could do more but he couldn’t even remember how
to take a human form.  He’d lost a lot in all those years of sleep.



        But she wouldn’t give up, whatever might happen.



        She was so young and yet so strong and responsible.  He was proud
of her.



        Just hurry, Luna, he thought.  While there is still time.



The End
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