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Three Waves of Destruction
Wave One
Chapter Four: The First Battle in a Long War
By SSJ Vegeta
 SenshiB@aol.com
 Dr. Tomoe ran to get the phone, tripping a bit as he ambled along. When he got to the living room, where the phone was located, he saw the frail form of his daughter, talking into the phone. Hotaru turned to face him, extending her hand to him, offering the phone that was in her small hand. He took the phone and brought it to his ear.
 “Hello?” he said into the phone, rather shakily.
 “Professor Tomoe? This is Miran, of Miran Industies,” a suave voice said. “We are expecting you to bring the prototype you promised by tomorrow evening. We are investing a large sum into this prototype of your, Professor, we expect results,” The phone line on the other end made the telltale ‘click’ of hanging up. Dr. Tomoe did the same. Hotaru looked at him with questioning eyes.
 “I have to go and finish my experiments,” he said to her flatly, already starting off to his laboratory.
 “You made the call?” the master asked his apprentice.
 “Yes,” came his reply. He was no longer using his suave voice, and had reverted back to using his natural voice- a mysterious and evil voice.
 “Good. Tomoe’s generator is perfect for our plans.” the master rumbled, “According to all of my research, a large amount of fusion energy, combined with Negative force, can propel a being into hyperspace, where my ultimate creation, Mistress Nine, is locked away,”
 “Do we really need Mistress Nine’s…talents?” the apprentice asked his all-knowing master.
 “Yes. To get to the Holy Grail, we need Mistress Nine and her minions. I prepared her well for the mission, do not doubt that. Soon, very soon, all our work and toil will bear fruit.”
 “But what if Tomoe’s generator fails?” the apprentice prompted.
 “It matters not if it cannot achieve light speed, as Tomoe has indicated. As long as it can generate a large amount of fusion energy, I can augment the energy with Negative force. The two differing energies will cause an explosion that will create a rift in space; a rift that leads directly into hyperspace.
 “And to Mistress Nine,” the apprentice grumbled, not at all pleased with the idea of unleashing a demon like Mistress Nine upon the Universe.

 Hotaru went down the stairs into the basement, her father’s makeshift laboratory. He father was busily scribbling notes into a notebook. He was leaning over a small black box. The square box was no bigger than twelve inches high, and was only a foot long on all four of its sides.
 “Father?” she asked softly. She felt small beads of sweat form on her forehead. It was humid in the laboratory.
 “Hotaru,” Tomoe said, not looking at his daughter, “How many times do I have to tell you? Please stay out of the basement! There are too many things down here that are dangerous if you do not know how to handle them! Please, leave so I can go and finish my work,”
 Hotaru was shocked that her father had spoken to her so harshly. He never did that before. Hotaru’s head sagged to her chest, and she said, “I’m going to the library. I’ll be back before dinner,” Then she turned and she left the house, slamming the front door behind her.

 “Send down a monster, apprentice. The master ordered. The apprentice fell back on his heels, shocked. The master never sends down a monster, or even gets directly involved in a conflict, unless he has a good reason or something to gain from the intrusion.
 Seeing his apprentice hesitate, the master elaborated, “I wish to study what kind of powers the Sailor Scouts have achieved since Wiseman’s destruction. I also want to see if the appearance of a monster will force the two mysterious Sailor Scouts out into the open. And I want to see how good this Guardian is,”
 Smiling, the apprentice threw his hands up into the air, energy jumping up and down his arms. Black bolts of lightning arced from his fingers and crashed onto the dark floor. The energy exploded as it hit the floor, smoke filling the room and blocking the apprentice’s vision.
 Then the smoke cleared.
 A man-sized monster stood before the apprentice. It had huge, corded muscles, jet-black skin made from the darkest onyx, and was covered from head to toe in razor sharp spikes. Those spikes had tiny, equally sharp needles poking out of the main spike. Its head was round; it had no mouth, nose, or ears to speak of. The only features it had were its two glowing red eyes and the crown of spikes sticking out of its head. A huge, three foot long horn poked straight into the air, coming out of the top of the monster’s head.
 “Masenko, go and destroy the Sailor Scouts,” the apprentice ordered, waving a hand. The monster bowed before the apprentice, turned, and flicked a finger, energy jumping from its finger to the ground, creating a swirling white portal. The creature jumped into the portal and the swirling vortex closed.
 “You do know that Masenko will surely be destroyed by the Scouts,” the master stated.
 “I know,” the apprentice replied, “But I couldn’t exactly tell Masenko to ‘go and find the Scouts, then die at their hands’ now could I?”
 The master laughed, his bellowing roar causing the very stones that made the wall rumble and shake.

 Hotaru slowly and silently made her way to the library. It wasn’t too far from her house, but her frail body couldn’t take a simple walk to a library that was ten blocks down the street. When she got there, she was panting, trying to catch her breath. Hotaru tiredly pushed through the revolving glass doors of the library and walked in. She wandered through the aisles of books, picked a few, and sat down in a chair in front of a wooden table located in a remote part of the library’s lobby.
 That’s when she noticed a slender girl wearing a blue sweater standing in front of an aisle, browsing the selves for an interesting book to read. She recognized the black-haired girl as one of Serena’s friends. She saw her with Serena and a tall brunette often. Hotaru recalled the girl’s name as Amy. The super-smart girl whose only rival was Greg, a shy,but intelligent, boy who many at her school thought was Amy’s boyfriend, despite the protests from both Amy and Greg.
 Amy also recognized the frail girl and moved over to her table, politely asking if she could sit with her. Hotaru nodded and Amy sat down in a chair opposite Hotaru.
 “Come to the library often?” Amy asked the pale girl.
 “Yes,” Hotaru replied.
 “Me too,”

 A flash of light erupted in the middle of the busy street in front of the library. The bright light solidified into the spike-covered Masenko. Several cars swerved out of the way, crashing into other cars and into fire hydrants and streetlights. The panicked occupants exited their cars and ran as fast as they could in the opposite direction of Masenko, who had started to rip up the pavement with his spikes.
 “Bring me the Sailor Scouts!” Masenko roared, his astonishingly loud voice shattering the windows of cars as well as the glass windows and the door of the library.
 
 “What the…?” Any started. Fragments of shattered glass flew inward, one rather large piece missing Amy by a hairsbreadth. Hotaru ducked as another shard of glass ripped by, imbedding itself into the wall above Hotaru’s head.
 Amy and Hotaru, both curious about what was going on, ran to the broken window and got their answer.

 Masenko ripped a streetlight right out of the ground, tossing the length of steel and electrical wires into a nearby car. The car was heavily dented by the sudden increase in weight. The spiked monster charged into a car that was only a few feet away from it, and tore the vehicle into tiny bits of scrap metal.
 Amy couldn’t stand to see the devastation and ran from the window, leaving a stunned Hotaru watching in wide-eyed horror at the carnage. Amy ran behind an aisle, where no one could see her, pulled a blue crystalline stick from her pocket, held the stick into the air, and called out, “Mercury Star Power!”
 Amy was bathed in a bluish light, strands of blue silken ribbons flying out of her stick, wrapping about her slender form, tightening and morphing into a body suit, gloves, and blue boots. A blue short skirt attached itself to the body suit, and a blue choker/collar, matching earrings, and gold tiara with a blue gem set in the middle completed the outfit.
 Sailor Mercury pulled out a blue minicomputer from her body suit. She pressed a few buttons on the computer’s keypad, getting a scanned reading from the monster. Then she pressed another button- this one letting her communicate to her friends without using her communicator.
 “Guys,” she said urgently into the minicomputer, “meet me at the library! A monster is tearing the street right outside! Someone might get hurt! Hurry!” Closing the computer and slipping it into her body suit, Sailor Mercury stepped out of the aisle, taking a stealthier exit, avoiding Hotaru and the few patrons still inside the library. She crept to a broken window, punched out the remaining glass shards, and jumped out through the window, landing in a dead run.
 
 Lita, excited at the prospect of a fight, jumped up and down, full of energy. She was headed for the arcade when she got Amy’s message. She abruptly changed her destination and dove into a side alley. She pulled a green stick from her pocket, yelling, “Jupiter Star Power!”
 Green ribbons flashed out of her power stick, the ribbons wrapping around her tall form. In an instant, Sailor Jupiter was prepared for a fight.

 Raye and Mina, headed to the mall for a shopping spree, also got Amy’s message, hid behind a large tree, pulled out their respective power sticks, and transformed.
 “Mars Star Power!”
 “Venus Star Power!”
 The two girls, wrapped in red and gold ribbons respectively, felt their transformation taking place even though they had their eyes closed for most of the duration. Sailor Mars and Sailor Venus rushed out from their hiding place behind the tree and ran for the library.

 Serena, who was at home sleeping, was abruptly awaken from a pleasant dream about Darien by Luna, who was holding her communicator in her mouth. Amy’s voice could be heard throught the communicator, “…meet me at the library! A monster is tearing up the street right outside!”
 Rini was also in the room, a worried expression on her face.
 Serena yawned, got out of her bed, grabbed her brooch, raised the pink brooch into the air and said, “Moon Crystal Power!”

 Masenko was just skewered his latest car, a red Corvette Stingray. He spotted Sailor Mercury charging right at him, and he almost laughed as he saw the blue-suited girl ran at him as if she were a tank or something. Mercury stopped abruptly, however, and that was Masenko’s first clue to what was going on.
 Sailor Mercury, spinning around, a blue ball of water and ice in her hand, yelled, “Shine Aqua Illusion!” throwing the water and ice ball as she said the words.
 Masenko jumped to the side, the Aqua Illusion attack hitting a car that Masenko was standing in front of, and subsequently blowing the car up into little pieces. The spiked monster did not get away from the Aqua Illusion attack, however, as it grabbed one of the spikes on its shoulder, the spike’s tip frozen solid where it was grazed by the attack.
 “Damn,” he muttered, “That kid has spunk,”
 The Aqua Illusion attack came at him again, but this time, he was ready for it. Instead of dodging the attack, Masenko punched at it. The monster’s fist went numb from the chilling cold almost instantly, but the deed had been done.
The Aqua Illusion had been deflected back at Sailor Mercury in one punch.
 Sailor Mercury went into a split, her legs spreading wide apart and her body going straight down. The desperate, and painful, maneuver brought her body down low enough so that the Aqua Illusion attack sailed over her head and crashed into a tree, blowing the tree up after freezing it.
 “Not so strong without your friends, eh?” Masenko taunted, watching Mercury slowly get up from her delicate position, “You should be a gymnast with moves like that,” the monster roared, causing a pained Mercury to blush.
 Mercury grunted away the pain in her waist and legs and activated her visor.
 “He’s very strong,” Mercury muttered, reading her visor’s scans, “but not very coordinated,”
 Masenko charged Mercury, moving quite fast, but obviously not going for finesse as he dug his spiky feet into the ground with her long stride. Mercury jumped to the side at the last possible minute, a blast of pain from her legs and waist, which hadn’t fully recovered from her desperate dodge, caused her to land incorrectly- her feet weren’t in the right position and she fell to the ground hard.
 Masenko was standing right in front of her now, his spiky fist positioned to drive a particularly large spike into her head. Mercury closed her eyes, waiting for the killing blow.
 It never came.
 Perplexed, Sailor Mercury opened her eyes and saw that Masenko had been knocked back. Her gaze shifted to a thin, long gash on the monster’s chest. She followed that gash and realized that one of Tuxedo Mask’s roses was imbedded into the ground. She stood up and looked around for Tuxedo Mask. Another rose sliced yet another gash on Masenko’s chest, and Mercury followed the line of the throw and saw Tuxedo Mask standing the roof of the library. The other Sailor Scouts and the two cats were standing on the roof beside Tuxedo Mask as well.
 Sailor Mars collected a vast amount of fire around her, forming a circle of fireballs. “Mars Celestial Fire Surround!” she screamed, the fireballs turning into glowing yellow disks of flame that zipped here and there, each taking its own individual path toward the monster. Each disk burned into Masenko’s chest, causing the monster to reel back and scream in agony.
 “How dare you devastate the peaceful lives of the innocent,” Sailor Moon declared, “For that, I, Sailor Moon, will punish you!”
 Masenko, not impressed, leaped at the Scouts on the roof.
 In sheer terror at the ominous sight of the spiked monster heading their way, Sailor Jupiter gathered a ball of electricity in her hand. “Jupiter Thunder Clap Zap!” she yelled, throwing the electrical ball at the monster. The ball connected and exploded on contact, sending the monster crashing into the ground.
 The Scouts, cats, and black-caped companion all jumped down to the ground and rushed to Sailor Mercury.
 “I’m alright,” Mercury assured her worried friends as they helped her up. “Really, I’m alright, just a little banged up, but no worse for wear. That monster is strong,”
 “We figured,” Tuxedo Mask said lightly, “just take a look around at the damage,”
 Mercury managed a soft chuckle, “Yeah, well, while he may be stronger than us, he is not very agile. We can use that to our advantage.”
 Luna, however, was too preoccupied at looking at a stunned Hotaru, who was still watching the fight from the library window.
 She looks familiar, the black cat thought, Where have I seen her before?
 At that instant, Hotaru’s forehead began to glow a bright purple…the symbol of the planet of Saturn flashed on her forehead.
 “Sailor Saturn!” Luna screeched out loud, causing Artemis and the other’s to look at Luna.
 “What’s wrong, Luna?” asked Mars.
 “That girl…” Luna said, pointing with her paw at Hotaru.
 “Oh, her? That’s Hotaru Tomoe, the new girl at school,” Jupiter said, recognizing the pale girl.
 “That’s not just a new girl at school, Jupiter,” Artemis said, taking a good, hard look at Hotaru and recognizing her in a single moment. “That’s the Sailor of Rebirth, Sailor Saturn. Look at her forehead,”
 The others looked at Hotaru’s forehead and saw the symbol that was glowing there.
 Hotaru saw them looking at her, and backed away from the window, not realizing that her forehead was glowing.
 “I got to give her the transformation wand!” Luna cried, running as fast as she could to the library. She jumped up onto the window sill, jumped onto Hotaru’s shoulder, and, before the frightened girl could throw her off, said in her ear, “Hotaru, you are Sailor Saturn! Take this wand and say ‘Saturn Planet Power’, do it!” Luna backflipped off of the girl’s shoulder, a flash of light trailing her. Another flash of light followed, and then a purple stick fell into Hotaru’s hand.
 Hotaru looked at the stick, and hesitated for just a second, before raising the stick into the air and saying, “SATURN PLANET POWER!"