Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Missing Crystals ❯ The City of Lights ( Chapter 2 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Okay, well, at least I got to the second part of this fic this time
through. Probably because I've got nothing better to do with my time. Good ol'
college life. But then again, isn't that always how it goes?
Okay, I'll level with you. I don't own Sailor Moon or any of the
characters from the series. I created Michael Cross/Sailor Europa and Jennifer
Hino. I'm still trying to work out the nuances, so work with me. That's why
it's a work in progress.
Oh, well. If there's nothing else, then I'll get on with it. And yes, I
do know that there is no such thing as "Central Command." I'm just using
writer's prerogative. So there.

Missing Crystals
A Sailor Moon Original Flavor fic
By: M.H. Torringjan

Part 2: The City of Lights

Outside the Tiara Game Center, a crowd had gathered. The store had been
closed for the past two weeks for some changes. They had brought in a snack bar
and gotten rid of some of the older games. Some newer games also graced their
floor, adding to the clutter on the first floor. The second floor was still,
for the most part, empty. There was a pool table and a few games up there so
far. According to some messages left by the owners, some more games were to be
moved up there from downstairs. Jennifer really didn't want to do that.
The new games were not what interested the crowd outside, though. What
had brought the flocks of people to the arcade that day was the offer of free
snacks from the new snack bar for the first two hours that the arcade was open,
or until they ran out. With that many people, running out was a distinct
possibility, especially in two hours.
"Are we ready to open the doors?" Jennifer asked Andrew, who was
organizing everything behind the snack bar. The snack bar was located just to
the right of the stairway in the back of the room.
"I'm set," he said, closing the cash register. "Let 'em in!"
Jennifer opened the door, and the crowd of people rushed through, heading
straight for the snack bar. Andrew felt a tinge of fear pass through him as he
realized that most of the people were in a rush for first snacks.
He put out his hand and, with authority, exclaimed, "NO RUNNING!!!" The
crowd stood stark still, some people tripping over the others before drawing
themselves from their inertia-fueled craze.
For a moment, all action stopped inside the arcade. Everyone in the line
of people stared at Andrew. "Well, what are you waiting for? We've got food
here," Andrew said to the people. They cautiously rose and walked to the bar
and began ordering food.
At the door, Jennifer still stood, watching the chaos ensue. Andrew was
very good at what he did. Not surprising after how long he'd been doing it. Of
course, he'd be stopping soon. He was almost finished with his school, so he'd
be getting a real job the first chance he could. Jennifer thought about that
for a moment. "Maybe I should try getting a real job," she said to herself. "I
mean, I had one a month ago-" she stopped herself. "Oh, wait. Ten years ago.
I keep forgetting that I've been dead. Silly me. Well, at least I've been
moving on with my life."
Her thoughts were interrupted by two boys tipping the claw game in the
corner. They looked a bit young to not be at school. She went over to them and
said so. The two nervously left with discontented looks on their faces.
Jennifer looked around at the other people in the arcade. She realized that
most of them were school-aged. She couldn't tell all of them to leave, could
she? After all, it was hardly her business. As long as Raye didn't swagger in
when she was supposed to be at school. Or Lita, for that matter. Or any of the
others, come to think of it. Then, it'd be personal.
Jennifer decided to make the regular rounds, keep the peace for now. She
walked upstairs to where a few people were playing at the pool table. One of
the older men was smoking a cigarette. She asked him to take it outside, which
he did. Jennifer kept telling Andrew that they needed a "No Smoking" sign. She
frequently found people smoking upstairs, and it was annoying when she came
upstairs to clean out during the day.
A couple of hours later, she went downstairs to get some food from the
snack bar. They had run out of snacks earlier on, but Andrew had set some food
aside for both of them. Jennifer glanced up at the clock. It was about three
in the afternoon. The girls would be getting there soon, if she knew them. And
she thought that she knew Serena well enough to judge that Serena would be there
without fail whenever she got the chance.
Lita had mentioned that she wouldn't see much of them for the next couple
of days, since they were going to be searching for the crystals like the one
that Raye had needed. Well, she could manage on her own. Apparently, Michael
had gotten his last night, and he left alone in a huff.
Jennifer switched places with Andrew to tend the snack bar. She'd have to
stay there for the rest of the day. Of course, she only had a few hours before
she left. Serena, Amy, Lita, and Michael walked in as she was serving a tall,
burly man and the girl who was with him.
"Hi, guys! So, what brings you in here today? I thought that you were
going to be gone today," Jennifer said.
"Well, we're leaving in a while, but we thought that we should get some
food before we left," Amy replied.
"Yeah, who knows how long it'll be before we get an actual meal?" Serena
said, pulling out some money to see what she could get. She ordered a little
something to eat.
"And I was just making sure that you knew what was going on," Lita said.
"Well, you told me what was going on last night," Jennifer said, handing
Serena her food. "Don't worry about it, it's on me."
"Well, it was mostly so that Serena could get some food," Lita said. "Can
I have a soda?" Jennifer handed the drink to her.
As the girls took care of their snacks, Darien walked in and, noticing
them, snuck up behind them. He motioned to Jennifer to keep quiet, and stood
beside one of the games. He hadn't noticed Serena, who was out of his field of
vision from his hiding place. He stealthily snuck out and tapped Lita on the
shoulder. She gave a start and turned around, face to face with Darien.
"Hi, Darien!" Lita said.
Serena perked up at the name, swallowing the mouthful of food that she
had. "Oh, Darien!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm just here to play some games, grab a little snack," Darien replied,
grimacing as he realized that Serena was talking to him. "Nothing big."
"Look, Darien, I'm really sorry about whatever's happening with us,"
Serena said. "Please, I know you haven't told me before, but maybe now you can
at least tell me what happened."
"Serena, I'm sorry, but I can't say what happened," Darien said, moving to
walk away.
"Wait!" she exclaimed with tears in her eyes. Darien turned to look at
her. He had a pained look on his face, the same one she always saw when this
happened. "No, never mind, Darien." He walked away upstairs, leaving her
crying softly to herself.
This time had been no different from the others. They all began to sound
the same in her mind. Each refusal bruised her just as badly as the one before.
Something was wrong with the picture, though. Maybe it was the look on his face
that convinced her of the miniscule chance that she thought she had. She knew
that she would figure it out some day.
"You okay, Serena?" Michael asked.
"Yes, I'm alright," Serena said, wiping her eyes dry.
"Excuse me for a minute," Jennifer said, walking upstairs. She found
Darien and talked to him a bit. "Ummm, I don't think that we've formally met
yet. I'm Jennifer Hino, Raye's mother. You, I assume, are Darien."
"Yeah, that's me," Darien replied. "Nice to meet you. I've heard a lot
about you from the others."
"Yeah, that's nice. This isn't about formalities," Jennifer said. "Look,
I don't know exactly what's going on there, and I suppose it's really not my
business. I just really think that you should work things out with Serena."
"I really wish that I could," Darien said. "And I really don't appreciate
you butting into my personal matters. Now, if you would please be kind enough
to let me play some games, I'd be very grateful."
"Do you realize how much this hurts her?" Jennifer asked sternly.
"Do you realize how much this hurts me?" Darien retorted. Jennifer
stopped, thinking. "Well, that never occurred to you, did it? You think I like
doing that? Breaking her life in two? Destroying her dreams? I really don't.
However, that's how it's got to be. Now, if you'll excuse me, I don't feel like
playing video games any more."
Jennifer stood still as he walked back downstairs. As he walked toward
the door, Lita fell in with his steps. "Darien, we've got a mission tonight,"
she said. "You coming with us?"
"Probably a good idea," Darien replied, still walking. He could never
easily shake the pangs of sadness left from these sorts of episodes. "You never
know what could happen. Where we going?"
"We're going to Paris," she replied.
"You mean Paris-town?" Darien asked, disbelieving what he heard. There
wasn't even such a thing as Paris-town, but she couldn't mean-
"No, I mean Paris. As in Paris, France," she replied. Okay, so Darien
was wrong.
"Why? How? What did I miss?" he asked.
"Actually, not much," she replied. "Michael just got his crystal. We're
hoping that this one will be just as easy to get, but Luna and Artemis doubt
it."
"All right, I'm in," Darien replied. The others caught up to them, Serena
bringing Lita her drink.
"Come on, everybody, let's go to the Temple," Michael said. "We're
probably going to be late."
"Oh, it's no big deal," Amy said. "Paris is twelve hours different from
our time zone, so nothing much will really be happening until around about ten
o'clock our time."
"I guess that means we'll be getting home late," Lita said as they walked
towards the Temple.

"I wonder where everyone else is?" Mina commented, pacing back and forth
in front of the Temple.
"I don't know, but would you please stop pacing like that?" Raye replied.
A cold breeze blew past her, sending a chill down her spine. The thick, woolen
temple robe that she was wearing couldn't even keep her warm against the cold
wind that blew that afternoon. It was too bad that they wouldn't be going to
somewhere around the equator. She'd love a nice, warm, one-day vacation.
"I can't help it," Mina said. "I'm nervous, impatient, and most of all
cold, and this helps me warm up."
"I can't say I blame you," Raye said. "Look, why don't we go inside, I
mean, it's not like they're going to be here too soon. Besides, it's much
warmer in there than it is out here."
"I'm all for that," Mina agreed. The two stood up to walk inside, and
Luna and Artemis jumped down from the trees.
"Mind if we join you? We're freezing out here, too!" Luna asked. Artemis
demonstrably chattered his teeth.
"Of course you can come in," Raye said. "You think I'd leave you guys out
here to freeze?"
"Well, you never know," Luna said. Everyone went inside to the nearest
room, Raye's room, and sat down while Raye prepared some warm tea to drink.
"So, where is this crystal supposed to be?" Mina asked Luna.
"You know, I'm not really sure," Luna replied. "I haven't had a chance to
look at the program on Amy's computer to find out. We'll figure it out when we
get there, I guess. We are expecting some sort of resistance when we find it,
though, so it won't be a walk in the park, as such."
"Is it the Negaverse?" Mina asked.
"We're not really sure," Artemis replied. "We destroyed Rubeus, but that
doesn't mean that there aren't more lackies behind him. Then again, it could
just be regular security systems or guards. Who knows."
"Well, I'm sure that we'll find out soon enough," Raye said, walking in
with the tea. "And I'm sure that it's nothing that we can't handle with my
crystal and Michael's crystal." After a few minutes of tea sipping, Raye heard
the others calling for them outside the Temple. "Come on, let's get on with
this. The others are finally here." Mina and Raye finished their tea quickly
and went outside to meet the others.
"Hey, guys, where were you?" Mina said as they got outside. Everyone else
was there, even Darien.
"We made a quick stop," Michael replied. "We ready to go?"
"Yeah, we're ready when you all are," Raye said, taking out her crystal.
She needed an easy way to keep it, but she wasn't sure if it was a good idea to
put it on a necklace or a brooch. She was afraid that something would happen to
it if she put it in her pocket. She wished for the third time this week that
she had a subspace pocket like Luna and Artemis.
"Let's go around back so that we aren't seen or anything," Lita said,
leading the way.
"Mercury Star Power!"
"Mars Power Transformation!"
"Jupiter Star Power!"
"Venus Star Power!"
"Europa Power Transformation!"
"Moon Crystal Power!"
Darien took out a rose and sniffed it, casually transforming.
Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Europa stood and watched the girls as they shivered
in the cold afternoon air. Europa grinned a bit, watching them jump around to
maintain their body temperature.
"Shall we get going? Quickly?!" Moon implored the others. They agreed
and gathered around with the cats and Tuxedo Mask in the center.
"Scout Teleport!" they exclaimed, blinking out of sight.

The group reappeared on top of a building. The air was much warmer there,
and that was all that Serena cared about. The noises of traffic in the distance
drifted to the ears of the Scouts as they viewed their surroundings. People
were just getting up and going out to work.
"Okay, so we're here," Jupiter said. "Now, how do we get down from here?"
"And exactly where is 'here?'" Europa added.
"Well, my computer says that we're on the north side of Paris," Mercury
said.
"Well, that's helpful. Any more specific?" Jupiter asked, moving towards
the edges to find a way down.
"All that it says is 'On top of a building in the northern side of
Paris,'" Mercury replied.
"Oh, you're just joking," Mars commented, moving to another side of the
building, searching for a way down.
"No, that's really what it says," Mercury commented, tapping some more
buttons.
"Look, can we get down from here? I'm kind of nervous of heights,"
Europa asked.
"Yeah, we've got to get moving!" Tuxedo Mask exclaimed, jumping from the
rooftop to the small street. Europa moved around to the side where Tuxedo had
jumped down and found a viable way to get down. A rickety ladder of some sort
leaned up against the wall, which Europa cautiously climbed down. He was
quickly followed by the other Scouts, who were happy to get on the ground.
Looking around, they realized that they were getting weird looks from the
people who had seen them climb down. "You know, I think that we should de-
transform," Luna said quietly, motioning to a nearby alleyway. Everyone moved
towards it and reverted to their normal forms.
"Okay, now, do any of us know French?" Michael asked.
"Yeah, I know enough for us to survive," Mina replied.
"Survive, nothing!" Artemis interjected. "We're just here for enough time
to find the crystal and get out of here." He added a glare at Serena for
effect.
"All right, all right!" Serena said.
"Our first order of business is to get some money," Amy replied. "This
place is too big to walk the whole time and still get back in good time. We
don't even know where the crystal is."
"We can get some money exchanged at banks, metro stations, and other
places," Mina said. "We should be fine with however much money we have. Buses
and the subway doesn't cost that much."
"And what about food? I'd love a romantic dinner here," Serena pled.
"You mean romantic breakfast, and no, we can't do food," Luna said. "Now,
let's go and try to figure out where this thing is."
"Yeah, let's go," Michael said, leading the way.
"Where ya' going?" Serena asked, following him quickly.
"To find a newspaper," he replied coolly, walking on in the same
direction.
"Whatever for?" Luna asked, running quickly behind the two. Everyone else
followed quickly behind, wondering the same as Luna.
"With my crystal, the roaches were acting really weird. Something similar
may be going on with Amy's crystal, as well. The newspaper might say something
about that sort of thing," Michael replied.
"Good thinking, but there's two things," Mina said. Michael stopped and
turned around.
"And those are?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"We're still out of funds," Mina replied.
"Oh, I forgot to mention," Michael said, grinning. "I always keep some of
every type of money with me just in case of emergencies."
"Really?" Serena asked, amazed.
"No, not really," Michael replied. "But it would be helpful if I did,
wouldn't it?" Mina's reply was pulling out her wad of yen. She only had about
2,000 yen on her at the time.
Amy typed in her computer to get the conversion. "That'll get us around
about 120 francs," she reported after her computer had done the calculation. "A
newspaper can't cost more than a few francs, so we'll be fine for funding for a
while."
"And everyone's chipping in," Artemis said. "I don't want Mina being the
only one to shoulder the costs of these trips." The others went into their
pockets, producing 10000 yen total. Darien provided most of it, while Serena
didn't have any money on her.
"We should save most of this for our other trips," Luna said. "Two
hundred and forty francs will easily get us through this trip. Now, let's get
on with it."
They walked down the maze of streets towards the Seine river (according to
Amy's computer), hoping to find a bank fairly quickly. The sun began to rise at
the horizon. The number of people and cars around them increased slowly as they
moved closer to the river road by road. In the distance, Serena saw a white
palace on a hill.
"Oooo, what's that over there?" she asked, pointing to the object of her
wonder.
"That's called Sacre Coeur," Mina replied. "I doubt that we'll be going
over there. It's mostly a historical monument."
"But it's really pretty, and I'd love to see it up close!" Serena
continued. "Come on, Luna, Artemis! Don't we have time for just one sight?"
"You can see it from here, right?" Luna asked. Serena nodded. "Well,
that's your sight. Enjoy it while you can."
"Oooh, you're so mean!" Serena said, crossing her arms and walking quietly
along with them.
After a short while more of walking, Mina saw a money exchange across the
street from them. Waiting for the now-busy traffic to die down, she crossed the
street and exchanged their money for Francs. She was also able to find a map of
the transportation systems which might come in handy.
"Hey, Mina!" Michael exclaimed. "What was that other thing from earlier?"
he asked.
"Well, Amy's computer supposedly can tell us where these things are.
We're using it to find our leads."
"No! My idea's more efficient!" Michael exclaimed.
"Well, you need me for it to work!" Mina yelled back.
"Odd, I never saw this coming, the way they were acting to each other
yesterday," Lita commented quietly to Raye.
"I don't need you really! I could buy a dictionary!" Michael exclaimed
back.
"Guys, people are staring," Darien commented, moving towards them.
"That's it! Luna, give me 50 francs and let me go on my way! Anyone
who's with me come with me now," Michael said, extending his hand to the others.
"Michael, you're acting a bit odd," Luna commented. "Is everything all
right?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied, letting his hand drop. "So, is anyone with
me?" No one spoke or joined him. Darien moved towards him and pulled him
aside.
"It really does work better Mina's way," Darien commented. "Sometimes,
it's better to just go with them. They really do know a bit better than you.
They've been at it longer than you have."
"But my way's faster!" Michael retorted, confident of his judgment.
"Think for a second, Mike. It's not like odd occurrences are in short
supply in the world. Any one of them could have been caused by the crystal.
This basically guarantees that we'll get at least a certain lead to the crystal.
This way really is better from all the ways you look at it. Besides, even if
you go your separate way and find it first, something bad may happen to you, and
we won't be there to help you. You want that? We sure don't want you getting
hurt. That's why we go together. There's strength in numbers."
Michael stood silent for a moment. The girls waited for the two to finish
their little chat. Amy patiently typed away at her computer.
"The crystal is showing up somewhere inside the-" Amy stopped with a
shocked look on her face.
"Where is it, Amy?" Lita asked.
"It's in the Louvre," Amy replied.
"What's so bad about that?" Serena asked, turning her attention from the
discussion between Darien and Michael.
"Serena, do you know how large the Louvre is?" Raye asked. Serena shook
her head. "Gods, you're such an airhead. The Louvre is so large that it'd take
three days to look through the whole thing!"
"Come on! We just split up, and we should be fine!" Mina said.
"What happened the last time we split up?" Luna said, referring to the
mission in Rubeus' castle.
"Good point. But how do we figure this out in time? We've only got a few
more hours before we've got to go back!" Raye exclaimed.
"Well, first, let's get there. That should be good enough for now,"
Artemis commented. "Where's the nearest metro station, Mina?" Mina unfolded
her map of the metro routes.
"The closest one to us is the Place de Clichy," Mina replied. "We can get
to the Louvre with one rail change at the Champs-Elysees."
"Good, we'll go ahead and take that," Luna replied.
"Oh, wait! There's a faster bus route!" Mina exclaimed. It'll probably
be cheaper, too!"
"Okay, we'll take that, then," Luna said. Michael and Darien rejoined the
group. "Everyone here?"
"Not exactly," Lita commented, pointing to Serena, who was looking through
the window of a boulangerie and drooling.
"Oh, for Pete's sake, Serena, what is it now?" Luna asked.
"They've got chocolate-filled bread in there! And what luck, I'm just
getting hungry!" Serena exclaimed.
"Oh, you're always hungry!" Raye said.
"And frankly, I don't blame her," Mina commented. "I mean, you can't
fight on an empty stomach."
"Oh, alright," Luna said. "We'll stop for a little something to eat!"
Serena clapped excitedly and ran inside. Everyone else went inside and ordered
a little something while Luna and Artemis sat outside, watching the people walk
by. They saw a few other cats walk along the street, some of which cast passing
glances at the newcomers on their turf. Everyone else sat down at a bench
outside to eat their breakfast, and Michael walked down the street a bit and
purchased his newspaper.
"I thought that we had dissuaded you from that," Amy said, eating her
croissant. It was a bit bland, but not too bad. She watched as he glanced over
the paper, as if he could understand it.
"Hey! There's something here about the Louvre!" he exclaimed. "What does
it say?" he asked, handing the paper to Mina.
"It says that the Louvre's been taken over by the Security forces, and no
one has been allowed in for the past week," Mina replied. "They are releasing
no demands, and they've holed themselves up so that any attempts to retake the
place are foiled easily. None of the forces that have been sent in have
returned."
"Anyone else think this is the crystal's work?" Michael asked smugly.
"Yeah, probably so," Darien commented between bites of his own croissant.
The rest had chocolate-bread to tide them over. They quickly ate and prepared
to go.
"You're going to have to lead us, Mina," Artemis said. "We have no idea
where we're going."
"You know, I could always give you the map," Mina replied. "I'm really
just the translator. And I'm not even that good of one. I mean, my French is
so dusty that it'd make a maid sneeze."
"Don't worry about it," Artemis said. "Just try your best, and if all
else fails, they hopefully know Enlgish."

The bus was crowded. That was the only thought that went through all of
the Scouts' minds simultaneously as they rode towards the Louvre. The metro was
likely to be the same story, so no one was complaining. Then again, what good
would it have done?
Michael could smell the strong perfume that the woman next to him had put
on that morning. He was standing almost against the back of the bus, so it
would be tough to get off where they wanted to. Near the front, Serena, Mina
and Lita had found seats. He wished that he could have sat down, but *no*, they
had to get on in front of him and take up the last free seats. He was never
fast enough to get to any when people vacated them.
Amy looked around, trying to find the others. She couldn't see them at
all, being trapped between some really tall people. The bus was dark other than
when they passed by opened the door, turning on the lights.
Mina glanced at the route map to see how close they were to their stop.
"How much longer are we on here?" Serena, who was sitting next to Mina, asked.
"We've only got two more stops," Mina said. She tried refolding the map,
which didn't work very well, thanks to the closeness of the bus. Raye, who was
standing closest to the door, looked out the window. Outside of the bus,
mansions and monuments passed by quickly, and she began to wish along with
Serena that they could visit some of them. She had heard about the Louvre many
times, and wished that they could look at the masterpieces. She wished that
they could look at the Mona Lisa up close or get a picture of the Venus de Milo.
She was jarred from her thoughts as the bus stopped and Mina signaled all
of them to get off. As they descended from the vehicle, Serena tripped. Darien
caught her and set her straight on her feet. A short walk later, they could see
the glass pyramid entrance, which looked deserted.
"Where are they?" Mina asked.
"Maybe they're inside?" Lita suggested.
"I think you should go and transform before we go any further," Luna
suggested.
"Good idea," Amy said, looking around for a secreted place to transform.
"There's an empty alleyway over there." Amy pointed to a doorway on the
building near the fountains, which were turned off. They ran over to it
quickly, hoping to not draw any attention to them. On the way, Michael saw old
blood spattered on the pavement. His senses perked up, and he looked around.
He looked at a window in the building just in time to see a sniper point his gun
towards the running Scouts.
"Watch out!" he yelled, throwing himself forward and pushing Mina out of
the way of the shot. The other Scouts fell to the ground when they heard the
shot. Raye was way ahead of them. "Move! Let's get in there!"
"But they're shooting at us!" Serena exclaimed.
"No, *he* shot at us," Michael corrected. "It was a sniper. Snipers
don't shoot from the same place twice. It'll take him a while to get set up
again. Now, let's get in there!"
The group of people ran through the door and quickly took a place where
they couldn't be caught by any other snipers. "Michael, you saved me!" Mina
said, sitting down against the wall.
"Hey, what else could I do?" Michael replied.
"Well, I'm just surprised that you were able to see them in time to get to
me!" Mina said.
"Hey, it was nothing. Not bad for someone without sixth sense, though,"
Michael said with a grin. "Now, let's transform!" Everyone nodded.
"Mercury Star Power!"
"Mars Power Transformation!"
"Jupiter Star Power!"
"Venus Star Power!"
"Europa Power Transformation!"
"Moon Crystal Power!"
After everyone had transformed, they peeked out through the doorway. "No
good, I can't make out anything through the windows," Jupiter said, pulling her
head back inside. "Mercury, can you help us out here?"
"Okay, my computer says that there are roughly one-hundred people inside
stationed all around the area of the place. The crystal is located in the
Egyptian art section on the ground floor. Apparently, it was mistaken for a
fertility charm from Pharaonic Egypt. It's heavily guarded in just about all
the ways that we can get there," Mercury explained.
"Well, how are we supposed to get in there then?" Europa asked.
"Can we please bust our way in? It can't be too well guarded," Jupiter
said.
"If we were dealing with Nega-monsters and a regular old hide-out, I would
say that we could," Luna said. "However, we're dealing with normal human beings
and priceless works of art in the Louvre here. No, we cannot bust our way in."
"Well, how do we get in, then?" Europa asked.
"One of your powers, Europa, is a personal invisibility shield," Luna
said. "You go in before us and scout the area in front of us. We won't be able
to do this ourselves without being seen. So you must do it for us."
"Oh, sure! You come crawling back to me now! Where were you now when I
was offering my services? 'Oh, we should do it a different way!' 'This way is
better!'" Europa said.
"Europa! This is neither the time nor the place to be joking around!
These people have real guns! They can hurt us very badly! You can have your
moment on the stage later!" Luna was getting angry. She could see the problems
that Rigel had had with the boy. "Now, this personal cloaking field only lasts
for about ten minutes once it's activated, and you can only use it once per
transformation. You can't use any other powers while you're invisible. Make
sure that you step rightly and quickly."
"Now, before we get going, let me figure out how to get there best," Amy
said, typing away on the computer. She searched through the floor plan for the
quickest route to the crystal. "Okay, so we're going in through the pyramid to
the underground floor, going up the stairs to the ground floor, taking a right,
and then a left at the branch in the Greek and Roman antiques. If we follow it,
we'll reach where the crystal is."
"Now, all you call out is 'Europa Invisibility!'" Luna explained to
Europa. "Shall we?"
"All right," Europa said. "Europa Invisibility!" As the echo from the
inside of the hall faded, so did Europa. He walked into the courtyard towards
the glass pyramid. Mercury used her computer to try and pinpoint the position
of the sniper. Apparently, he had left his post momentarily. The other Scouts
walked cautiously into the courtyard, following a similar path as Europa.
Tuxedo Mask held a rose at the ready to throw at anyone not on their side.
Europa quietly descended the stopped escalator, glancing around only when
he reached the bottom. He saw no one anywhere near where he was, and moved on
to the next area. He ascended the stairway past the ticket booths, entering the
first gallery. He quietly peeked around the corner into a side room and saw a
guard. He didn't want this guy causing trouble. His hand balled into a fist,
he rushed towards the guard. The guard frantically looked around at hearing the
footsteps, just in time to present his chin to Europa. Europa applied a strong
uppercut to the guard, who reeled backwards. Europa grabbed him before he fell
into the painting and gently placed him on the ground.
From around the corner, Sailor Moon yelled out over a gun-shot. Europa
rushed from the room to see the Scouts hiding behind a column.
"What's up, girls?!" Europa asked, going back to them.
"You missed a guard," Venus replied.
"I don't see anyone," Europa commented.
"Yeah, neither did we," Jupiter said. "Mars saved us back there."
"All right, let me help you out," he said, walking towards where the
shooter was hiding. He saw the guard crouching behind a column of his own,
preparing to make his move on the Scouts.
Europa drew back and threw his fist just as the man ran out from his
hiding place. The punch missed, and the man collided with Europa, sending the
two to the ground, the guard on top of Europa. Europa grabbed the gun and
wrested it away from the guard, who was still trying to figure out why he had
fallen and why his gun had flown across the room. The guard jumped up and
backed quickly towards his gun. Michael threw himself towards the guard,
catching his legs and dropping him to the ground again. The guard hit Europa's
arms and wriggled his legs, trying to get free. Europa decided to let him go
and try again.
He rolled away and watched as the guard jumped to the shelter of the
nearest column. The guard crouched down, crossing himself. Europa jumped at
the guard, throwing another fist towards his face. This time it connected,
knocking the guard out.
"Gods, how do people do that?" Europa asked, rubbing his fist.
"Wimp," Tuxedo Mask chided.
"You're one to talk, Cane-boy," Europa returned. The Scouts heard
reinforcements from down the hall coming to back the guard up. "Oh, boy. Here
comes the cavalry. Let's get going."
"You've only got a few more minutes of invisibility, so you should stay
close to us," Amy said as they ran down the corridor. They ducked into the side
room where Europa had knocked out the first guard.
"You've been busy, haven't you?" Venus asked.
"Hey, I've got a job to do," Europa said. "Now, quiet down!" Europa
looked around. "Where are Luna and Artemis?"
"I didn't see where they've gotten to," Venus said. "We'll find 'em
later."
"Let me take care of them," Europa said. The guards passed by the room to
where they heard the commotion. After they passed by, the Scouts followed the
hallway down through the different exhibits. At the entranceway to the Egyptian
artifacts, three guards stood at the ready, waiting for the Scouts.
"Wait here. I'll take care of them," he said. He moved quietly to the
men and punched one of them, sending him to the ground. The two guards turned
and pointed their guns. Europa froze. He looked down and could see himself.
"Oh, crap," he said.
The guards started chattering away in French to each other. Europa tried
to think of how to get out of this. "Umm, excuse me?" he asked the guards. One
of them backhanded him.
"What are they saying, Venus?" Mercury asked.
"Darned if I know! They're talking too fast! I think they mentioned
something about a manager," Venus replied.
"There's always a higher-up, eh?" Mars said.
"Shouldn't we do something about Europa?" Jupiter asked.
"I guess so," Venus said. "Venus Love Chain Strike!" Two golden love
chains sprung from her hands towards the guards, who turned just in time to get
hit on the hands, making them drop the guns. Europa took that chance to punch
the one who had backhanded him. The other grabbed his arm and twisted it behind
his back, moving Europa around so that he was blocking the guard. Europa tried
flipping the guard, only to receive a knee in the back. Europa yelled out.
"Umm, can you guys do something for me here?" Europa called. Lita and
Mina rushed the guard, who moved backwards, dragging Europa with him. They
backed him into a corner with Europa as his human shield, him yelling all the
way in French. Europa gave a swift elbow to the gut of the guard, dropping him
to his knees. "Thanks, let's move quickly," Europa said as all of the Scouts
moved along.
They turned the corner and found the case that was supposed to hold the
crystal. It wasn't there.
"Oh, well, that's just damned peachy," Europa said. "What are we supposed
to do now? We've got to get out of here soon, we don't know where the crystal
is, and we've lost track of Luna and Artemis. This is great. Just friggin'
great."
"Europa, stop panicking," Tuxedo Mask said. "We can handle this.
Everybody check the other cases in here to see if it's anywhere else."
"What does it look like?" Moon asked.
"It looks like this," Mercury said, processing a picture on her computer.
It was a sapphire hung from a simple silver necklace and decorated with silver.
"It's not here," Jupiter said, glancing across the closest display case.
"Hey, check this one out, guys!" Moon exclaimed from a little further down
the hallway. "The glass is broken, and it looks like something's missing from
in here."
"Someone must have taken it," Mercury said. "Let me see if I can hone in
on its new location." She began typing away at the keyboard. The voices of
guards sounded from down the hallway.
"Think you could hurry up a bit?" Europa said. "We're on a bit of a tight
schedule here."
"No, I'm not getting anything new," Mercury said. "It says that it's
still around here somewhere.
"Scouts!" Luna called from further down the hallway. "We've got it!
Let's get out of here!" Artemis emerged, carrying the charm in his mouth.
"All right! Do we have room to do it in here?" Mars asked.
"We should go into the courtyard," Luna said. Mercury opened a window,
and they climbed out. They quickly formed a circle and chanted, "Scout
Teleport!"
A cold moment of between-ness later, they were back in the court-yard of
the Temple and in the cold again. Europa grinned as the others scampered for
someplace where they could revert safely. He casually joined Tuxedo Mask with
the girls and reverted. The sky-line was just beginning to darken.
"You know, that's why I like my outfit," Michael said, grinning.
"Oh, shut up," Mina said. "Can we get some sort of a new outfit,
Artemis?"
"Well, when you get your crystal, you get the new outfit," Artemis
replied.
"And even then, it's not much warmer," Raye said.
"Okay, so we're meeting back here tomorrow after school to go for Mina's
crystal," Luna said. "Try to get plenty of sleep. I'll make sure that Serena
does."
"See you tomorrow! Sleep well!" Lita said, walking towards her
apartment. Michael began to head towards his home.
"Hey, Michael!" Mina said, catching up to Michael. "Thanks for what you
did back there. I don't..."
"Hey, don't worry 'bout it! Did you think I'd let you get shot or
something? Now, let's just go on like it hadn't happened," Michael said. "I
don't want to think about what might have happened. I can't think of what the
Scouts would be like without any of us." Michael stopped and looked at her. "I
still have feelings for you, Mina. I just want you to be all right, so I'm glad
I'm there with you."
"Michael, thank you for the help. As long as we're friends, I'll be
happy," Mina said, hugging Michael. "Hey, I'll see you tomorrow!"
"Bye, Mina!" Michael said, going off towards his home. Mina turned down
the road towards her house. The street lights were just lighting up, showing
dimly against the pinkish afternoon sky. She looked at the skyline, lights just
showing across the landscape.
"Mina, don't worry about it," Artemis said. "You made the right choice.
Let's go home. You've got homework."

End Chapter 2

Okay, so I had a haff-WAFF ending. Sorry, but I'm going to have more WAFF
later. I'm trying to work on characterization and other stuff. I may even have
to extend the story a bit more. Oh, well. I'll be back next time. Hope you
enjoyed!

Contact me at: jmh6187@uncwil.edu.