Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Moon, Mercury, and Manchester ❯ The Run-Up ( Chapter 4 )

Author's Note: A kind reminder that American names are used in this story (Amy is Ami, Serena is Usagi, Raye is Rei, Lita is Makoto, and Mina is Minako).

 

The next day, Friday, we boarded a passenger jet to London, with Amy buying her ticket with some money that our travel office had given her. We had already caught a break-literally-ahead of the upcoming match because the guys didn't have to play a league match over the weekend, meaning we had more time to prepare for Juventus and the Negaverse showdown.

 

Friday was basically just traveling to London and checking into the Savoy, in Covent Garden on the northern bank of the Thames only two blocks or so from Trafalgar Square. Until, that is, we had a team dinner of fish and chips. In order for us to remain inconspicuous and deter suspicions that Amy was no ordinary friend of ours, we had split up into groups and gotten the fish and chips at various restaurants around the area before we met back at the lobby.

It was a bit of a strange sight, all of us hanging around the lobby, chatting over that British delicacy. For my part, I enjoyed it, and we were able to talk as a bunch of friends and have some light moments, including when Amy asked before she touched her fish and chips, "This isn't yellow-tailed tuna, is it?"

"I don't think so, Amy." Gary said. "If it is, though, we can switch." He showed Amy his unwrapped stuff, revealing that he hadn't touched it yet.

"Thanks, Gary." Amy said, smiling.

"No problem, Amy." Gary said, grinning back.

 

We began practices at Wembley on Saturday, keeping everything behind closed doors.

"Well, time to prepare for war." I said as we suited up in the locker room. "Wonder what Amy's doing today." I added, pensively.

"She should be here any minute now just as soon as she gets her gear." Ryan said.

"What?" I asked. "What are you talking about?"

"She asked me last night if she could suit up and practice with us, and I answered, 'Why not?' I then talked to the manager (Coach Ferguson) and he said yes, too."

"Did you say Amy's going to practice with us, Giggsy?" Gary asked.

"Absolutely!" Ryan said.

The place began to bubble with anticipation. I could hear snatches of conversation, saying,

"I wonder how good she is."

"Wonder what position she plays."

"She looked like a good player at Old Trafford, so she's got to be good. How many lasses can score from 20 meters while wearing heels?"

Just then, Amy walked in carrying a Manchester United duffel bag with Rio and Ole at her heels.

"Good morning, everybody!" She said cheerfully, dropping the duffel bag onto a nearby bench.

"You're practicing with us?" I asked, still shocked as the others returned her greeting.

"Yeah." She answered, still smiling as she turned to me. "I figured we needed to keep the team loose, so me being there would allow us to have fun while preparing while helping me get some endurance for the upcoming fight."

"Great idea! Thanks a lot for wanting to do this!" I said enthusiastically.

"You're welcome. I wonder what Wembley looks like from the field." Amy answered.

Once all the guys, myself included, had suited up (my outfit was black wind pants and a black United windbreaker, while my shoes were blue Mercurial Vapor Nike IDs with my name on them), we looked at Amy.

"Why aren't you suiting up yet?" Phillip asked.

"She's a girl who's got to use a men's locker room, for heaven's sake!" Rio roared at him.

"You're right." Roy said. "Okay, lads, everybody out-and don't even think of turning your heads!"

I laughed at the thought of professional soccer players turning around and trying to spy on Amy while she was changing.

We lined the tunnel until she came out. Finally, she stepped out-and made some of us whistle. She was wearing a white United short-sleeved shirt and black Japanese gym class briefs with socks, shinguards, and Adidas Predator shoes. It looked a lot like a Japanese gym uniform, only she was wearing a white United shirt, soccer cleats, and shinguards.

"Are you guys ready to start warming up?" Amy asked.

"Uh, we might be a while because some of the fellas are still looking you up and down." I answered earnestly, grinning and laughing slightly. Some of the guys were still doing just that, including Rio, who remarked, "Blimey, she really does look good in soccer gear!"

"Yes indeed, Rio, but this is not the time for that." David said. Rio quickly backed off and got into practice mode with the rest of us.

 

In order to prepare for the battle, we went through scrimmages after our normal scrimmages. In these added scrimmages, those who would be our lead fighters went up against other players and tried to score as many goals as possible over a given span. It was a grind that left us tired, but we didn't feel all the heat because Amy was doing the workouts and training with us.

 

When we scrimmaged, it was something of an odd sight-a girl running around in Japanese gym class briefs and a United training shirt against some of our best players-and these were and are some of the best in the world-during practice and holding her own-and then some.

Amy can play any position on the field, but she performs the best at defender or midfielder. She especially shines when she is put on the wing, because her athleticism—particularly, I think, her swimming skill—lends her the speed to keep up with United players-and we were supposed to be the best team in the speedy English Premier League! Whether she was matched against Ryan, David, Mickael Silvestre, or Gary, she could run with them on offense or defense and more often than not stop the move in progress or beat them one-on-one. In soccer terms, she's a female combination of Roberto Carlos and Luis Figo because she can make an impact offensively or defensively with a mix of unerring, fluid technique and expert instinct. What made her even deadlier was that when she was scrimmaging against us, she picked up moves as if she was Brazilian, Argentinean, or French.

In our very first scrimmage, she got the ball out on the right against Ryan, who got into a defensive stance. Amy quickly flashed a right-left double stepover that faked him out, sent him the wrong way for a split second, and provided all the time Amy needed to streak past him as we yelled, groaned, "ooh"ed, and "aah"ed.

"Oh, man!" I said, clutching my head slightly. "Ryan, you got schooled!"

"More like Giggsy got freezerburn!" David said. I found myself laughing harder with the others, even Ryan, when I got David's reference to Amy's powers at Sailor Mercury. That term immediately ended up sticking with us: if Amy beat you with a move, you weren't "burned," you were "freezerburned." Over the next several days, the list of Amy's victims grew-and her methods became even nastier. She nutmegged Rio that day, flicked it over Roy the next day (even he laughed at getting schooled by Amy), and scored on Fabien Barthez off an amazing right-footed volley that same day.

 

That Monday, David walked in holding a piece of folded-up fabric.

"Look at this!" He said in a semi-disgusted tone, and he flipped it open.

It was a dual-team souvenir scarf for the upcoming match. On the left side, which had a red background, was a United emblem with the blue Mercury sign to its left. Underneath that was "Manchester United FC" and underneath that was "Guardians of Mercury". On the right side, which had a black background, was a Juventus emblem with a yellow crescent moon to the right of it. Underneath that was "Juventus FC" and underneath that was "Guardians of the Moon". In the middle was the Moon Pendant design set over the European Club Champions' Cup (the Champions League trophy) and at the top was "UEFA Champions League Semifinal 1st Leg-The Sailor Scout Derby" and underneath the cup was "Wembley Stadium, London, 9 April 2003".

I felt a streak of pride at the realization that we, Sailor Mercury's friends, were getting to play Juventus, Sailor Moon's friends, but it was immediately stifled by realization that we would have to fight together.

"Oh, no." I said. "God, we don't need this." I said. Some of the others were also saying things in the vein of, "Oh, sod it!" Not soon after, Amy showed up.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"Some people are getting almost too enthusiastic over the match tomorrow." David said. He showed her the scarf.

Amy made no effort to conceal a frown. She said mildly but meaningfully, "Could I see it, please?"

David handed it over to her, and she tossed it in the trash can in the corner of the room in a manner that told us she was ticked off slightly to say the least at the way the match was being promoted as a battle between her and Serena. It was startling because it was the first time we'd ever seen Amy even slightly mad when she wasn't Sailor Mercury.

She then turned back to David while she worked her face as if to avoid losing it. "How's the team been reacting to the hype over the Juventus match?" She asked.

"Well, Manchester United-Juventus has always been something of a rivalry, but this time, we aren't looking ahead to the match as we are to the battle." David replied truthfully. "Though we are excited at playing a Juventus that's getting help from Serena." He added with a cautious grin.

"That's okay." Amy said, starting to grin again. "It's okay if this remains a friendly competition, and don't get me wrong, I'd like to see you guys beat Juventus and I'd like to measure the job I'm doing with you against the job Serena's doing with Juventus, but the last thing we want this to be is a grudge match because then we won't be able to fight as efficiently."

 

Luckily, she only had to make a few nudges like that to keep us in line. I don't know what we would have done without Amy-not only as Sailor Mercury, but as a friend. If God had sent an angel down to Earth to help us out, then Amy was that angel. As Wednesday approached, Amy made friends with many of us-basically, the whole lot of us fell over her. She became more than our protector-she also became an advisor, a training partner, and a pretty girl who would give you an encouraging smile when times got rough. As it turns out, she had to cheer up basically everybody at some time or another, but she handled it all admirably. Her task was made easier by the fact that all of us found it easy to confide our fears to her because she was so good at dissipating them.

 

"Becks was right-she's really good at loosening a lad up!" Paul told me.

"Who needed her help just a moment ago?" I asked.

"Ole." He answered. "He was getting a case of pre-match butterflies."

"What did she tell him?" I asked.

"She gave him this really caring look and said, 'I'm sure you didn't use up all your magic in Barcelona four years ago, so don't worry about it too much.' He started grinning at her."

 

Aside from scrimmaging and practicing with us, Amy also helped outline our formation and lineups for when we would team up with Sailor Moon and Juventus.

"Serena says Juventus has added Marco Di Vaio, Paolo Montero, Mauro Camoranesi, and Gianluca Zambrotta to their 'starters' for the battle." She told us during a break when we were gathered around her. "So we have six forwards, ten midfielders, and five defenders. What we'll do is have in only one more player than the Negaverse has defenders-like if they have five, we'll have six, and if they have ten, we'll have eleven."

She then ran through our roles.

"Let's start from the front. Ruud, can you play on the right?" Amy asked.

"Yes, Amy. I sometimes do that for Holland when Patrick (Kluivert, then of Barcelona) is in for us."

"Okay, you do that if the left side is filled up. Ole, we may be stacked up with our forwards, but Coach Ferguson tells me you can play the right of midfield. Can you do that if we have a bunch of strikers in there?"

"Absolutely." Ole replied.

"Ryan, Serena thinks-and I agree with her on this-that Juventus lacks a good player that will stick to left midfielder throughout the fight. You don't have a problem with that, do you?" She added, grinning.

"Definitely not." Ryan said, grinning back.

"I thought so. Nicky, what midfield role do you prefer?"

"Defensive holding." Nicky answered.

"What do you mean by defensive holding?" Amy asked.

"I stay behind say, Giggsy, Keano, Carlo, Scholesy, and Becks-still in midfield but not quite a defender." Nicky explained.

"Great." Amy said. "Okay, you get that. Roy, I'm told you play as a defender sometimes."

"Yeah, I do." Roy said, talking as if Amy was the United captain instead of him (such was the way we all respected her.) "Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, and I do admit I prefer midfield."

"Okay, you'll play in the center, then. Paul, can you do the same?"

"I can do that, and I can move to the hole behind our strikers if Carlo or Nedved can't be in."

"Excellent!" She said. "And Becks...Mauro prefers the right wing, so if he's in, you're playing in the center."

"Great!" David said fervently. I had known for a while about his desire to play in the center since he'd explained it to me before the match against Real Madrid.

"Okay! Carlo-" She began.

"I like playing attacking midfielder in the center, but I can definitely drop back with the rest if Pavel wants to go in the hole." I said briskly.

Amy grinned. "And Phillip..." She said, putting her hand to her mouth. "Would you rather be a midfielder or defender?"

"I can do either, so I'm sure I can plug any gaps there if we get them." He said confidently.

"Great. And Rio and Gary both stay at the back. Now, Gary, I hear that Lilian may switch between a central defender and a right-wing defender, so you guys will be interchangeables, okay?"

"Right." They said.

On Tuesday, I found myself first facing Amy and then playing alongside her. When she was playing as a central midfielder and trying to run the ball out of her team's penalty area, I got in front of her to keep the pressure on. She flashed the left-right stepover again, but I didn't bite right away. When she motioned towards my left (her right) after the move, I went for the ball, but Amy suddenly made this amazingly fluid transition right into a spin move and flicked the ball around my right with her heel before racing upfield.

"Oh, darn!" I yelled playfully, grinning in spite of the fact that I'd gotten schooled as the groans, yells, "ooh"s and "aah"s echoed around Wembley again.

"Pick up your marking, lads! She's gotten Carlo now!" Ryan yelled, still chuckling a bit.

Later on, Amy was playing alongside me, Rio, David, Ryan, and Paul in a small-scale scrimmage. I found myself on the edge of the penalty area with Phillip on me. Amy was playing defensive midfield and had Roy marking her, so she was lurking behind me while Roy tried lending a body on her. Without warning, she made a run forward and opened up some room on Roy. I was and am nowhere near as good of a passer as David is, but I could do a good one-two or play a through ball into open space. Amy feinted right and flashed past Roy to the left, and I hit her with a perfect through ball inside the penalty area that she stuck home with a one-touch shot as the others cheered.

 

Soon after that, practice ended, and I started walking off the pitch with a grin on my face and Ryan beside me. Soon, though, Ryan jolted me with a sensitive question.

"Do you fancy Amy?" Ryan asked.

"What?" I asked him, not sure if I'd heard him right and feeling slightly startled.

“Do you fancy Amy?" Ryan asked again, a mischievous smile on his face.

I stopped dead for a minute and began to think. "Uh..." I said, my face starting to turn red slightly.

By now, some others had crowded around me, and I blushed even more before calming down enough to think, Well, man, you do like her a lot because you've got some stuff in common with her and she's beautiful and she's smart and she's caring and she's brave...

I looked up at them. "I think so."

David pounded me on the back, much to my surprise. "Why wouldn't you? You're smart like she is, you're as shy when talking about girls as she is when she talks about lads..."

"For all the world, you two could be related!" Ryan said.

Hmm... I thought. When Ryan joked about me possibly being related to Amy, I had a momentary vision of myself as a boy colonel leading my regiment in a military parade on Mercury and waving at Princess Ame (Author's note: Aside from Princess Serenity, I don't know what the others' princess names are).

"Now that would be crazy." I said, fervently.

"Not as crazy as it would be if she fancies you too, Carlo." Rio cracked.

Everyone laughed, including me. "Oh, come off it!" I yelled playfully, laughing and grinning at that thought, but adding. "With all she's got, she's got to have a boyfriend back home already."

"Oy, pipe down!" Gary hissed. "Look!"

Amy had turned around in the tunnel and was looking at us with a curious look. As I saw the others around me grin somewhat innocently, I found myself yelling, "Hey, nice move today!" I also found myself grinning sincerely.

Amy winked at me and called back, "Thanks! Nice pass today!" She was smiling with her mouth open by now, which I consider her prettiest smile. She then turned again and was off down the tunnel.

 

"Oh, my giddy aunt." Gary said tremulously. "She does fancy you!"

"Oh, stop it." I said dismissively.

"I'm serious! She probably even fancies doing something with you tonight!" He insisted.

"Even if she really liked me back, would she want to date me right before you-know-what tomorrow night?" I asked.

"I think you'd be surprised, mate." Paul said.

"Is this what you guys did to David when he started seeing Victoria?" I asked, almost in a snapping tone.

"Yes!" He fired back. David gave him a look, and Gary looked at him and said, "I was joking!" David started to grin, and Gary turned back to me and said, "No, we didn't bother him about it that much, but did you expect all of us to be quiet when Becks admitted he fancied a Spice Girl, for heaven's sake?" Gary asked.

 

That night, I sat in my room thinking about the upcoming match-and the battle that would follow. I was still a little stressed, but I thought, Well, you can't say you and the others haven't done everything you can to prepare for that fight. Then I thought, Are we really going to win tomorrow night? A firm voice seemed to rise up and say, Remember that feeling you had at Old Trafford that night? You knew as well as anyone that Sailor Mercury wasn't going to let you lose. Just believe in yourself and your teammates!

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

“So, how about that walk?” Amy asked. She was dressed in a dark blue pleated skirt with a yellow blouse, slim red tie, and those oxfords (with no socks again.)

“Sure.” I said, remembering how I'd agreed to take the walk in Manchester.

I immediately found myself loosening up because I was now getting nervous over screwing myself up in front of her-which was less trivial than having a bad performance tomorrow, though not by much. But hanging around her is always fun, because when I'm with Amy, I'm not a kid prodigy playing with Manchester United, but rather just a kid who got to live a dream by meeting her and having chats with her. What made things even crazier was that I had her as a fan. Maybe that's what you need to keep a relationship going-mutual respect.

While we were in the hall, we passed Rio and Gary.

"Enjoy your date!" Rio said, grinning and chuckling.

"This is not a God-darn date!" I said, in an annoyed but also playful tone.

"Well, consider it practice." Amy said. "I'm a little shy around guys, too."

"I've heard." I said.

"Oh." Gary said. "Oy, Amy, take care of Carlo, okay?"

 

One more thing I like about London is that it's like Los Angeles or New York: There's so many famous people in town that you can get some time to yourself. I like the opportunity to be in the spotlight, but I don't like an autograph book in my face sixteen hours a day. Because I was getting to chill out-with Amy, no less (no pun intended)-I felt almost as loose as if there was no fight the next evening.

“So, what's your birthday?” Amy asked as we stepped outside the Savoy.

“January 14th.” I answered as we turned right and began walking.

“Hey, you're a Capricorn, just like Serena!” Amy said. “Of course, I don't go for horoscopes that much, but I can't help noticing. Where were you born?”

“Manhattan.” I said. “Mom and Dad say I was born with snow on the ground.”

“I like that sign.” Amy said. “My mom told me once that snow on the ground at birth can mark trustworthy people. What else do you do besides soccer?”

“I'm with the Math Academic Team back at Reynolds.” I said.

“Math?” Amy replied. “My favorite subject! What course are you finishing?”

“Honors Algebra II.” I answered.

“And your grades?”

“I'm an A/B student, but I get straight A's every now and then.” I replied. “Of course, I'm prepared to bet you could ace AP Calculus already…”

“Many people tell me I could do something like that, but it still sounds tough.” Amy replied. “So we're also both big-city people-you're from New York, and I'm from Tokyo.”

“I guess you could say that.” I said. “I've always liked visiting a metropolis.”

“Why?” Amy asked. “Because of the liveliness?”

“Lord yes.” I said.

“Me too, though I don't like to stay downtown all the time.” She replied. “Say, you're from Manhattan…where were you on September 11?”

“I'd just put my stuff down in French.” I said. “I remember looking up at the TV, seeing the World Trade Center burning, and saying `Oh, my God!'” My face clouded for a minute as I remembered the shock and the dreadful sensation that had made me feel as if I'd lost my innocence.

“Well, it was even more of a bad wakeup call because it was the day after my birthday.” Amy said. “I was thankful nobody I knew was hurt, but I was sad over what Americans were going through for the next few months.”

 

"Thanks." I said, knowing Amy was the sort of person who would be so sincere that you couldn't help wanting to talk a bit more.

 

“And you're also shy around the opposite gender, like I am!” She said, seeking to change the subject.

“Yeah…” I said, shifting uncomfortably and appreciating the tactic. “It was just this thing I saw in middle school that preached abstinence. Right then, I made up my mind not to get in too deep too fast with a girl, so I've been hesitant to decide about who I really like and I also get as sheepish around girls when I think they're flirting with me as you do around boys from what I've heard.”

“Yeah, well, it's almost unnatural, isn't it?” Amy asked. “I mean, we both are smart big-city people who like math and are shy around relationships-”

“Oh, yeah.” I said, chuckling. “Not to mention both teased at times because of that intelligence, from what I've heard. Ryan was just joking around with me today about you and I possibly being related because of all these similarities. Frankly, though, I think having a past life as a colonel in an army on Mercury is a bit off the chart for me.”

“No, you've got a lot of me in you, but you've got traces of my friends as well, so if you were related to any of us, it would be complex and not that direct.” She said. “I mean, you've got a bit of Serena in being able to lead in high-pressure situations even if you're a bit aloof, a bit of Raye and Lita in that you can get emotional, and you enjoy the spotlight like Mina does." She paused, then added, "Oh, speaking of Mina, I forgot to tell you...we just got a third in Europe with Arsenal Ladies."

 

"What?" I asked, bewildered. "I didn't hear anything about a fight involving Arsenal Ladies! What happened?"

"She was in London last week and there was an attack during a practice session. It was easier to hush up, which we wanted to do to keep the guys focused on the task at hand. She's with the team in Frankfurt now for their match against Frankfurt tomorrow night."

"Wow..." I said, whistling at the thought of it.

 

We kept walking and talking for a while, now about less important subjects again,laughing and grinning in all the right places.

“Have you eaten yet?” Amy asked.

“Uh, no. I wasn't exactly hungry when we got out. Guess I could something to keep my strength up for tomorrow.”

“Okay, let's go see if there's a good restaurant around here.”

We had hardly walked two blocks when I spotted a good-looking sandwich bar. Suddenly remembering what her favorite food was, I pointed.

 

Within ten minutes, I was talking to Amy over a roast beef sandwich on my side and a turkey sandwich on Amy's. She had a bottle of iced tea, while I had a can of Pepsi open. After some more conversation, it was getting evident that this "practice date" was off the chart. Soon, though, Amy looked at me and asked, "Can I tell you something?"

"Sure." I said earnestly, putting down my Pepsi and listening intently.

 

"I haven't told anyone else about this, but this has been a learning experience for me, too." She said.

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, as you know, most of the time, I only have to play a supporting role when I'm with Serena and the other Scouts. This particular adventure—working with Manchester United—is the first time I've had to take charge while on my own. I really have to admit I was a little scared when I arrived in England about not being a good leader, but I'm thankful that hasn't been true so far because you guys have been so receptive and cooperative." She finished.

"Well, perhaps more than anything, you decided to get out there at Old Trafford and be the first to fight when you knew you might not get any help-when you knew you might be fighting a battle you couldn't win, for all the world-to save us and our fans! I'm not even a Reynolds captain, but I know that only people who can lead have that quality in them. I'm pretty sure a leader needs to show he or she is willing to take one for the team before the team will take one for the leader. You've also stuck to your guns—you've been a great friend to me, David, Ryan, Paul, and the rest of the guys, and you've never asked us to do something we knew we couldn't do. I mean, look at the meeting the night that Serena fought alongside Juventus in Barcelona! And look at the way you went over our roles yesterday! That's why we're all going to be behind you and Serena tomorrow night." I said meaningfully

"Thanks, Carlo." She told me.

"No problem." I said.

"I'll tell you, out of all the things I thought would happen, I never thought I would meet someone who knew about us."

"Well, I guess if you keep working hard, good things like that happen. And if it's working hard at keeping the peace, you're bound to get big breaks every so often. I'm just so darn glad that big break was us." I said.

"So, how did you hear about me, Serena, and the others?" Amy asked.

"My cousin in Guam told me about you guys (Author's Note: I use that term loosely in real life) when I was ten. She'd found out through the grapevine about you and she's a big admirer of yours-or she was the last time I bumped into her-and I've been a fan of yours, Serena's, Raye's, Lita's, and Mina's ever since. You know what the first story she told me was?"

"What?" She asked curiously.

"Your first fight." I revealed.

"Oh, what a coincidence!" Amy replied.

"I'll say." I said. "I started taking a liking to you especially because from what I heard, you began to remind me an awful lot about me-like you said, not the best out there but the smartest and therefore often the trump card."

"You like to bring your mind into play, don't you?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, because any sport is high-speed chess to an extent." I replied. "You saw the match against Real last week—the reason I made that pass back to David is because he's like, the best long passer in the world, so he had much more of a chance of hitting Ryan than I did." I paused momentarily and added, "But sometimes I second-guess and/or doubt myself, and when that happens, I can be almost a pedestrian talent sometimes. How do you draw the line between prudence and speed when it comes to thinking something through?"

 

Amy paused for a minute, evidently thinking hard. Then she turned back to me and said meaningfully, "I say it's great to think about what you're doing next. But when the enemy's right in front of you, there's no room for uncertainty or doubt. Your heart's got to be the only part of your body speaking, saying, 'I can do this!'"

 

"That's right." Someone said behind me in a British accent.

Startled, we whipped around to find the English delegation to United-David, Gary, Paul, Phillip, Rio, and Nicky-behind us. Apparently, they'd snuck up behind us and had done a bit of eavesdropping on us, if only for a moment.

"Whoa! What—oh, hey, guys!" I said, grinning in spite of the initial shock and slight annoyment at having our privacy disturbed.

"Hi, guys." Amy said, smiling at them as they grinned back at us and sat down at the same table as us. I looked at Amy with a lingering grin.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Thank God I ordered Pepsi tonight instead of Coke." I said. Amy looked at David, understood, and started laughing. As it turns out, David and the others had already eaten, so they just ordered some coffee to go and walked with us to nearby Swan Lake. It felt incredibly calming to be with Amy, David, and the others at that tranquil spot as we watched some ripples in the lake and the passing boats.

 

"How are you guys feeling about having to fight at home?" Amy asked David and company.

"Well, Amy, I'm very patriotic, which means I'm a proud Englishman and a proud captain of our national side. And if I know anything or learned anything from the night we volunteered, the lads and I are going to be raring to go." David said with a glint in his eye.

"I don't doubt it." Amy said fervently.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say your performance is going to matter more than the performance of the other players-not including the Scouts, I mean-before it's all over.' I said just as ardently.

"Whose performance is going to matter more?" Paul asked, puzzled.

"Yours, Paul-I mean how well you, David, Gary, Phillip, Nicky, and Rio do."

"I have a feeling it might be that way." Amy said.

"Me too. I'm by no means psychic, but me too." I said.

"Yeah...but tomorrow, we'll have to go to war for England, Amy, Serena, and the others to win." Rio said.

"Isn't that what the mindset is every time you pull on that Three Lions shirt-that you're going to war?" I asked.

"Oh, yes." Gary said. "You do remember that it's a friendly competition, but nothing brings your best out of you like the knowledge that your country and the hopes of your fans and loved ones live and die by your performance and the performance of your mates."

 

"I heard Juventus is the best team in Italy." Amy said. "Is that true?"

"In a sense, yes." Paul said. "It's certainly the most storied. They're the last Serie A club to win the Champions League, which they did against Ajax in Rome on a penalty shootout."

"And they certainly did have a claim to being the best club in the world for some time." David said. "In addition to Del Piero, Juve boasted Davids, Filippo Inzaghi, Zinedine Zidane, and some other stars of the time."

"Since then, they've lost Inzaghi to Milan and Zidane to Real Madrid, but they've brought in the likes of Nedved and Thuram, and their less prolific players are also known for playing hard until knocked out for the count." Gary added.

"Of course, the Italian press, which is totally behind them for this match, is crowing that Juventus is going to win because they have Serena." I made my best effort to pronounce Italian, adding, "'la capitana delles soldatas carinas,' they called her—Italian for 'captain of the pretty soldiers.'"

"You won't believe how much they've warmed to Sailor Moon." Rio said, nodding. "The rumor is that there's a proposal circulating among the Juventus fans to make Sailor Moon their patron Scout."

"I know we need to stand together, but I can't help thinking about that faceoff against Juventus. It almost seems fitting-us, Manchester United, the best team in classy, good-mannered England and the best at the vibrant English style and the friends of a Scout with athleticism and class reminiscent of the English, against Juventus, a team that has aggressiveness and fighting spirit to reflect that of Serena, who's got vivacity to rival Italian vivacity." I said.

"Well, after what Amy said, I'll be glad that we get to fight alongside them." Rio said.

 

About ten minutes later,we were locked in conversation about strategy when we noticed Amy was yawning.

"You all right, Amy?" Phillip asked.

"Yeah...just tired." Amy said.

“Let's get her up to her room, lads.” David said. "And let's get some rest...because we do go to war tomorrow." He finished meaningfully.

 

In the next chapter: "Meeting Sailor Moon: God Save The Queen (Of The Moon Kingdom)":

The faceoffs you've been waiting for! First, Manchester United takes on Juventus in the Champions League semifinal 1st leg at Wembley, and then the two unite to back Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury as the final showdown with the Negaverse kicks off after full time. How will the Scouts blend their efforts and the efforts that their friends can offer? And players transform! Who will it be and who will they become?