Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Missing Crystals ❯ Tropical Thunderstorm ( Chapter 4 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Well, I'm back at the keyboard for chapter four of my fanfic series,
Missing Crystals. I'm having real fun now, trying to figure out where in the
hell I'm going with this... I've already gotten an idea of what I'm going to do
after this series is over. I'm going to do a counter-part to the extraordinary
fanfic series by Eric "Greywolf" den Biesen and Douglas Helms and (to a lesser
extent) Will Wolfshohl, "Adventures of the Chibi-Scouts," called, "Life in a Big
World." Yeah, I'll come up with a better name when I can think of one myself.
It'll be about the adventures of the younger parts in the older Scouts' world.
I felt that was rather neglected, and it would involve some fairly interesting
situations. I only hope that I can make it as good as they did their series.
And if any of those three are reading this and have any
objections/suggestions/insults to fling my way (yeah, as if; I'm lucky if I get
five hits in as many months), then just use the E-mail addy at the end of each
chapter of this series.
Also, I'm going to try and finish off some MSTings that I've had sitting
around for a while. Like "Two Heads" and that big SPC bunch.
Anyway, I don't own Sailor Moon the series, or any of the characters from
the aforementioned series. I am, however, the person who came up with the
characters of Michael Cross/Sailor Europa and Jennifer Hino (who, sadly enough,
isn't in this series that much; what do you expect? the Scouts are traveling
across the globe). If you want to use them, just ask. Anyway, time to get on
with this.

Missing Crystals
Part 4: Tropical Thunderstorm

Serena dragged her pencil across her paper, trying in vain to remember
what she and Michael had gone over in class before the test. Amy hadn't been
willing to help her. "You should be more responsible with studying when we're
not doing Scout business," she had said. Serena didn't even know why she
bothered to ask these days; she always got the same answer. Michael was nice to
her, at least. He'd give her the basics that she needed to know and send her on
her merry way. Too bad she couldn't actually remember what he had told her.
"Time's up," Ms. Haruna said from her seat at the front of the class.
Serena's head fell to the desk. She had only done ten problems out of thirty!
"This is gonna hurt," Serena said to herself as she passed her paper up.
As she sat in her misery, the bell for lunch rang. She walked outside with her
lunch bag in hand to the place where she and the others usually ate and sat down
dejectedly to wait for them.
"So, Rena, how do you think you did?" Michael said, sitting down beside
her. "Did my little coach session help out any?" Amy sat down beside Serena,
leaving a space between her and Michael for Lita.
"I only answered a third of the questions," Serena sighed.
"You see, that's why I stopped helping her long ago," Amy said. "You just
end up confusing her more. She answers fewer questions when you try to help her
than she does without help."
"Ahhh, I'll keep that in mind for the future," Michael said.
"Come on, that's not always true!" Serena said. "Please help me!"
"We'll try helping you at our study sessions, but not just before class,"
Michael said. "Right, Ames?" Amy nodded in agreement.
"All right," Serena said, biting into her dessert. Lita sat walked up and
sat down in the spot Amy had left for her.
"Hey, guys! How's it going?" Lita said, opening her lunch-bag.
"Not very well," Serena said through a mouthful of cookie crumbs. "I just
bombed another test. And I could have sworn that I had studied hard enough..."
"Well, that's too bad," Lita said. "I just had to do a class assignment
with some guy who didn't want to do any of the work."
"Gods, I hate it when that happens," Michael said. "That used to happen
all the time when I was at my old school. I got mostly used to it after a
while, but it always left me wanting to strangle someone."
"Yeah, that's the American Public School system for you," Lita said.
"Well, it was hardly the school system that had the problem," Michael
said. "I'd say it was more the kids' fault. The schools can't control peoples'
minds, only what they learn. And I thought that they taught enough for my
liking."
"Funny, most of the Japanese kids that I know of who know anything about
the American school systems say that they're nothing compared to our own," Amy
said.
"Well, if you ask me, this school system isn't that good in that respect,"
Michael said. "I mean, they held me back because of age. Now, I already know
everything that I'm being taught."
"I'm surprised that they would do that," Amy said. "I would expect them
to move you to where your level of knowledge was appropriate." She paused,
grinning as she considered her own situation. "Anyway, I'd say that there's
probably something for you to learn in this grade, and they know it. I know
I've learned from everything we've done this year, even if I already knew it."
"I hate wasting time on easy crap. I mean, this algebra crap almost makes
me want to find Rubeus and take him on for a couple of rounds," Michael said.
"Well, you're going to have to get the chance," Luna said quietly from the
bushes.
"How long have you been there?" Michael asked.
"Just a few minutes. Long enough to hear about your test, Serena," Luna
said. "Your mother really won't like that, you know. I told you to study for
it when we got back the other night."
"But I did! I read over all of my notes a second time, just to make
sure!" Serena said.
"Serena, you don't take notes," Michael said. "I watch you during class,
and you scribble half the time and write notes to Molly the other half."
"Traitor," Serena mumbled under her breath as Luna gave her a nasty look
that promised a stern talking-to later.
"Look, we've got important business to tend do this afternoon," Luna said.
"This afternoon, we're going to have to go after two crystals at once."
"What, are two crystals in the same place?" Lita asked.
"No, we're splitting up into two groups: One to find Lita's crystal, and
the other to find Serena's," Luna said. "We were thinking of the teams going a
little something like Serena, Amy, and Raye looking for Serena's in Chicago and
Michael, Lita, and Mina looking for Lita's crystal in Nassau."
"How did that crystal get there, anyway?" Lita asked.
"We're not really sure," Luna said. "The best that we can think is that
it was placed there at the end of the Silver Millennium, found by the people and
brought to the surface. Frankly, we're surprised that it's still there after
such a long time. I'd have thought it sold off to some foreign country or
mounted and sold as jewelry. Something of the like."
"Well, let's not ask questions, shall we? We'll take our luck and work
with it," Michael said. He took another bite out of his tuna sandwich.
"Luna, have you thought through the time differences in these places?" Amy
asked. "If we leave here at 6:00 for Chicago and Nassau, then it'll be 4:00
a.m. and 5:00 a.m., respectively."
"Yes, Amy, you're right. We were planning on leaving later than that,"
Luna said. "You'd have to tell your parents that you're sleeping over at, say,
Lita's house for the night. I hate having you all lie to your parents, but
we'll have to to be able to do this mission."
"Well, how are we going to split into two groups if we have to do the
Scout Teleport to get there?" Lita asked.
"Well, since you're more powerful with the crystals, all six of you can
make it to Nassau, and three of you can make it to Chicago. Afterwards, Serena,
Amy, and Raye can teleport back to meet you at Nassau. Hopefully, you'll all
have the crystals, and by the time you get back, we'll try to have some idea of
how to get to Rubeus and take back Mina's crystal." The bell to end lunch rang.
"Great, and I haven't even had time to finish my lunch," Serena said. She
quickly shoved as much of what was left into her mouth as she could before
walking into class.
"Bye, Lita!" Michael said, walking to class.
"Later, Mike!" she returned.

After class, Michael waked towards home to get a nap. Halfway to his
house, Lita caught up with him.
"Hey, Michael!" she called out, running to catch him.
"Hi, Lita! What ya' need?" Michael asked.
"Well, I was wondering if you'd help me study," Lita said, half out of
breath. "I've got a test the day after tomorrow in science, and I needed a bit
of help studying."
"Sure, I can help you," Michael said. "So, why not ask Amy? Just out of
curiosity, I mean. It's not like I don't want to help you, or anything."
"She's busy tonight with homework and working out a few things for our
mission," Lita replied. "Besides, I figured that it might be better if I made
sure that you got out to the mission on time."
"Come on, have I ever been late before?" Michael asked.
"No, but how many missions have you been on?" Lita said, smiling.
"Oh, I'm hurt!" Michael said, holding his arm.
"Oh, hush and let's get going," Lita said. "I've got a lot of stuff to
cover and not much time to cover it in."
"What, I didn't tell you I've got a time machine at my place?" Michael
asked.
"Right," Lita said. "And I've got a plot of swamp land in Kyushu to sell
you."
"Is it cheap?" Michael asked. They walked to Michael's house for
studying. When they walked in the door, Michael's mom came to talk to them.
"Hey, mom," Michael said, trying to walk past her. It didn't work.
"Oh, hello, Michael! Who's this you've got with you?" she asked. "Might
this be the Mina you've been talking about?"
"No, actually, this is another of my friends, Lita," Michael said.
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Lita!" Michael's mom said. "I wish you had
told us that your friend was coming over, Michael. The house is a mess."
"Well, it was kind of a last minute thing for me, too," Michael said.
"Really, it's all right, Mrs. Cross," Lita said. "My own place is pretty
dirty."
"Trust me, whatever's the case in your apartment, I've got it beat in my
room alone," Michael said, showing her the way. He stayed behind to get some
snacks. "Now, I don't think I mentioned it, but Mina broke up with me the other
day. Yes, I should have mentioned it. My apologies. Now, I'm going to be
helping her to study some science for a while."
"All right, Michael," Mrs. Cross said. "Will your friend be staying for
dinner?"
"Actually, I need to ask you about that," Michael said. "The others and I
are going to be having a study session over at her place tonight. I'm wondering
if there'd be any problem with me going."
"Would any adults be there?" Mrs. Cross asked.
"Mrs. Hino, Raye's mom would be there," Michael replied.
"Well, all right. I'm all right with it, but you may want to make sure
it's all right with your father."
"I'll ask him a bit later," Michael said, taking the drinks and food into
his room. "Talk to you later, mom."

Lita walked into the room that Michael had directed her to. There was no
doubt that it was his. The posters of science fiction-type settings and the
computer that sat running on the desk across the room from the bed. Piles of
papers and magazines littered the floor beside the bed, which was unmade. The
computer didn't surprise her. He seemed like the sort of guy who'd have a
computer. She moved the mouse to wake it up. He had some writing on the screen
in English. She wished that she was up on her English class. Maybe she could
get him to help her with that, too. Just looking over the paragraph, she
noticed her name and some of the others. He must have been keeping a journal.
Reading a bit, she got that he was writing about his own feelings. It was
kind of odd, since he always seemed to be holding something back at school.
She decided to leave it alone. Michael probably wouldn't like it if he
found her looking through his journal. She sat down on the bed and waited for
him to walk in. She wondered what he was saying about her and the others.
After he had gotten a haircut a while back, she had begun to notice that he was
kind of cute. Not quite as cute as her old boyfriend, but still...
"Sorry to keep you waiting," Michael said, walking in. "Would you like a
little something to snack on?"
"Sure, Mike! Thanks!" Lita said. "I was getting a bit hungry."
"So, what are we working on?" Michael asked.
"Well, like I said, I've got some science to study for a test. We're
studying chemistry right now, so maybe you can help me. And I was thinking that
you might be able to help me a bit with my English."
"Yeah, I can help you with the English," Michael said. "And I'm not too
sure about the chemistry. I'll do what I can, but it's been a while since I
worked with chemistry."
"Funny, I thought it had been only a couple of days," Lita joked.
"What do you mean?" Michael asked, puzzled.
"I mean the chemistry between you and Mina," Lita replied, laying back on the bed.
"Ha! I'd prefer not to think about it," Michael said.
"So, what happened with you two, anyway?" Lita asked.
"Nothing big. The two of us just thought that it would be better if we
stopped going out," Michael said.
"Okay, I can see that," Lita said. "So, are you okay with the whole
thing? I mean, I remember when Darien broke up with Serena, and when she found
out that he couldn't remember her, and she was really crushed."
"No, I'm fine. I mean, Serena and I are different like that. It's not
like it didn't hurt, but I'll live," Michael said, grinning. Wow, he thought.
Lita cares about my feelings. Question is, was that from friendship? Yeah,
probably. He doubted that she felt that way quite yet. He'd take some more
time and see what he could work up.
"Well, that's good. I wouldn't want you pigging out all night long and
moping about all day like Serena," Lita said. Looking at him now, she noticed
that he was pretty cute when he smiled. She blushed a bit. Michael looked up,
noticed her blushing, and smiled. Lita looked down at her book. "So, should we
get started?" Lita asked.
"Yeah, sure," Michael said, turning the book right-side up.
"So, what's that on the computer?" Lita asked.
"Oh, it's nothing really interesting, just something I use to organize my
thoughts," Michael said. "I sometimes take some of the stuff I write in there
and use it to write stories."
"You write stories?" Lita asked.
"Yeah, just a little something for fun," Michael said. "Anyway, we should
be studying now. How about we work on the English first and the chemistry
later? Sound good?"
"Yeah, that's cool," Lita said.

"Hey, Mina! What's in the backpack?" Raye asked. They had all gathered
again at the Temple for the mission that night.
"Oh, nothing important," Mina said nervously. "Just a little something
for after we've finished our mission."
"Lemme guess, you brought a swimsuit and suntan lotion?" Raye asked. Mina
whistled innocently. "I wish I was staying in Nassau with you guys. But no,
I've got to go with Meatball head. Well, at least Amy'll be with us."
"You know, it's not like I'm completely useless, Raye," Serena said.
"Not at all! I'm sure you'd make a nice door-stop if we wanted you to,"
Raye teased.
"Oooh, Raye, you're mean! I'm not speaking to you for the rest of the
trip!" Serena said.
"Thanks for doing me a favor!" Raye exclaimed, sticking out her tongue.
"Hey! Then I'll just talk to you non-stop for the rest of the time,
brat!" Serena exclaimed, sticking out her own tongue.
"This is going to be real fun," Amy sighed. "You're sure that we can't
switch Michael with Raye on this one, Luna?"
"I think that it would work better this way," Luna said. "You're going to
be in the middle of Chicago, so Earth-powered attacks won't be too good of an
idea. Your ice and fire attacks are contained enough to minimize potential
damage." The staring match was ended when Michael and Lita walked up the steps
of the Temple, Lita carrying her books.
"Hey, guys, what took you so long?" Mina asked. "Not like we're trying to
get this over with or anything."
"Well, we would have been here quicker, but my mom held us up," Michael
said.
"Your mom held both of you up?" Raye asked.
"Yeah, she's always got to have all the information," Michael said.
"Then, we had to give Jennifer a call to make sure she knew what was going on.
You know, just a bunch of stuff."
"Michael, I've got a little something to give you," Luna said. She
produced from her subspace pocket a small device that she handed to Michael.
"This will help you to locate the crystal when you get there, since Amy will be
elsewhere."
"Thanks, Luna!" Michael said.
"So, are we ready to go?" Raye asked, taking out her transformation wand.
"You bet!" Serena said.
"Hey, is Darien coming with us?" Michael asked, looking around for their
tuxedoed companion.
"Did anybody tell him about the mission?" Lita asked. Everybody shook
their heads.
"Oh, well, his loss!" Michael said. They all walked into the back area to
transform. Michael held Mina back to talk to her. "Mina, do you think you
could put this in with your stuff?" He handed her his swimming trunks, a
blanket, and some sun screen.
"Sure, Mike!" Mina said, opening the backpack. The two rejoined the
others quickly, so as not to arouse any suspicion.
"Mercury Power Transformation!"
"Mars Power Transformation!"
"Jupiter Star Power!"
"Venus Star Power!"
"Europa Power Transformation!"
"Moon Crystal Power!"
As the light faded, the Scouts stood there, freezing as usual. They
gathered together quickly to perform the Scout Teleport. A few moments later,
they were gone. Luna and Artemis watched after them, then laid down to get some
sleep.

The sun shone down on the Sailor Scouts as they appeared in an alley of
the tropical port city of Nassau. The weather was considerably warmer than it
had been in Tokyo, much to the relief of the girls. Michael, Mina, and Lita
reverted and watched as Mercury, Moon, and Mars teleported to their own
destination.
"Great, they're gone!" Michael said. "Now, let's find this crystal quick
so that we can have some fun."
"Fun?" Lita asked. "Let me guess, you two brought swimming stuff for the
beach."
"Of course!" Mina said. "Would I pass up a chance to go to the beach and
miss out on the guys there? Never! I'd never deprive them of the chance to
meet me!"
"Funny, why doesn't that surprise me?" Michael asked, grinning. He took
out the locator that Luna had given him and turned it on. It indicated that the
crystal was about a mile north from where they were.
"All right, guys, let's go!" Michael said, leading the way. As they
walked along the strip of road, the small stalls of people selling things to
tourists drew Mina's attention constantly. The array of colorful jewelry and
novelty items were too much for her to resist. Unfortunately, she had a job to
do, and that took precedence over shopping. She'd have plenty of time for
shopping later on.
Michael walked along, periodically checking the locator to make sure he
was headed in the right way. He worked hard to ignore the vendors' cries for
business as he walked down the road. Eventually, in following the direction of
the crystal, he reached sand.
"Michael, I thought you said that we were coming to the beach after we
found the crystal," Lita said.
"I did. Apparently, the machine says differently," Michael replied.
"I wish the machine would stop tempting me," Mina said. She covered her
eyes to prevent her from seeing anything that would make her stray off from the
others. Lita grabbed on to an arm and lead her along the sandy stretch.
Michael turned and stopped at the edge of the water. "Okay, this is bad,"
Michael said. "It's out there somewhere." A pause fell over the group.
"So, anyone know how to scuba dive?" Mina asked. No one did. "Well, I
say we sit down, or lay down, for a while and think real hard."
"You know, guys, if I'm reading this right, the crystal's moving towards
us," Michael said, looking at the locator.
"That's odd, unless someone's gotten to it before us," Lita said. Michael
gave a start and strained to watch the horizon, seeing if he could see what was
moving the crystal. The only thing that he could see was a shark fin sticking
out of the water, moving towards the shore.
"Ummm, it looks like a shark's gotten it," Michael said. "But how?"
"Ten bucks says it's a droid," Lita said, bringing out her transformation
wand.
"That's a bet that I'm not making," Michael replied, taking out his
crystal. When the fin was ten yards away from the shore, the creature jumped
out of the water, flying through the air. The large shark-like creature with
arms and lands landed on the beach just behind them. In its hand was the
emerald that must have been Lita's crystal.
"That's what we're looking for," Lita said.
"Well, you're not getting it!" the Droid replied. "I'm Droid
Chondrichthes, and there's nothing you can do to stop me!" The droid pointed
her hand to the sky, and beams shot out of it in all directions. People began
to scatter, trying to avoid the shots from the droid's hand. As one person got
up to run, he was hit by a beam. All that remained of him was a large fish
laying on the beach.
"Oh, this'll be fun," Lita said. "Jupiter star power!"
"Europa power transformation!"
"Venus star power!"
"The beach is a place for relaxation and fun on a warm day!" Venus
exclaimed. "You have destroyed the tranquility with your frigid evil, and I
cannot forgive-!" she was silenced when a shot from the droid's hand hit her. A
fish stood in her place a moment later.
"Oh, you're gonna pay for that one, bitch!" Europa exclaimed, running
towards Chondrichthes. As he was about to kick her, she jumped high into the
air and threw sharks-teeth at him. "Now, Jupiter!" Europa called. He winced
and screamed as the sharks teeth cut him across the chest.
"Jupiter Thunderclap Zap!" Jupiter yelled out, sending a wave of
electricity through the body of the droid. As it wracked with pain, the crystal
fell to the ground, where Jupiter picked it up. "Jupiter Power Transformation!"
Jupiter stood a moment later, with silver armor studded with emeralds. She held
a sword, similar to Mars' own.
Chondrichthes threw sharks teeth at Jupiter, who deflected them with her
sword. The droid shot her fish beam at Jupiter. "Jupiter Shield Defend!" A
small shield appeared on her arm, sending the beam off in a different direction.
Unfortunately, it hit someone else.
"Sorry! I need more practice," Jupiter exclaimed, as if the fish could
understand her.
"Europa Earth Spike!" Europa yelled. The earth erupted from beneath
Chondrichthes, sending her flying through the sky. She looked back and shot a
beam at Europa. Europa jumped quickly out of the way and redirected some shards
of hard rock back at the droid. They hit her across the face, stunning her.
"Take her out, Jupiter!"
"Jupiter Sword, give me the power to destroy this evil," Jupiter said.
"Jupiter Holy Sword, SLASH!"
The sword flew around the droid a few times and slashed it in half. The
two halves fell to the ground and disappeared, leaving a small crystal that
turned black and disappeared. Michael reverted and ran to Venus, who laid
unconscious and returned to human form after the droid had been destroyed.
"Mina! Are you all right?!" he asked, sitting her up. He checked her
pulse and held his hand over her mouth to check for breathing. "Well, she's
alive. Lita, see if you can find some water to give her."
"Michael, we're on a beach," Lita said.
"Fresh water, Lita. For her to drink when she wakes up. I'd assume that
being a fish out of water can work up a thirst," Michael replied. Mina groaned
softly. "Mina, can you hear me?"
"Crap, that hurt," Mina groaned. "Why have I been the one who's been
picked on the past couple of days?"
"Darned if I know," Michael replied. "But we got Lita's crystal. Now,
for future reference, that's why I don't make speeches."
"Makes sense," Mina replied. She looked up and saw Michael's cut chest.
"Michael, you're hurt! Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Michael replied. "I just need a couple of bandages and a
quick rinse, and I'll be fine."
"It could be a while until we get those," Mina replied. "And you need
something right now. It looks like a pretty deep cut from where I am."
"Just something to cover it up," Michael objected. "It doesn't even
hurt!"
"The instant the others get here, we're going home to get some help," Lita
said. "I don't want you dropping dead on us from loss of blood. At any rate,
Michael, lay down until the others get here."
"Well, let me at least put some sunscreen on," Michael said. "The sun's
strong today."
Mina perked up at the reminder. "Hey, that's right! We've completed our
mission! I'm going to have some fun!" She stood up shakily to walk over to
where she had dropped her backpack.
"Mina, you need rest, too," Michael said. "You can barely stand, let
alone party on the beach."
"But the cute guys!" Mina insisted.
"If I may say so, I think you've got one right here," Michael replied.
"Where?" Mina joked, looking around. She staggered to her backpack and
sat down to open it.
"Mina, lay down," Lita said. "Just take a little nap. We finished this
mission so quickly that we'll probably have plenty of time left to have fun
before the others get here."
"Yeah, we all know how long it takes those three to get anything done,"
Michael said. "Well, excepting Amy."
"All right, just give me a couple of minutes," Mina said. She pulled out
her towel and laid it out. After applying sunscreen and changing into her
swimsuit in a nearby public bathroom (which she didn't at all think clean), she
laid out for a short nap.
Michael had sprawled out on a towel and applied lotion, as well. "So,
Lita, you're out of luck?"
"Well, I can lay out for a while with you guys," Lita replied. "I won't
be too bored."
"Yeah, join us," Michael said. "The beach isn't much fun without other
people around to enjoy it with."
"Well, you've got Mina," Lita said.
"It's nice to have as many friends around as possible," Michael replied.
Lita smiled and leaned over to hug Michael.
"Thanks. That's a nice thing to say, Mike," Lita replied. She sat down
between Michael and Mina to watch the scenery and enjoy the weather while they
waited for the others to get there. Just then, the communicator went off.

End Part 4

Well, that's all for this part. I hope you enjoyed it if you lasted
through the whole thing. Well, I'll be getting on with the next part of this.
It shouldn't last much longer, since I want to get on to other projects that
I've got planned. As usual, E-mail me at jmh6187@uncwil.edu. I'd appreciate
C&C, suggestions, but not flames.