Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Moon, Mercury, and Manchester ❯ Meeting Sailor Moon: God Save The Queen (Of The Moon Kingdom) ( Chapter 5 )

UEFA Champions League Semifinal 1st Leg

Wembley Stadium (English National Stadium), London, England

Manchester United Vs. Juventus

 

The day of the match dawned overcast over London, though it was oddly enough slightly warm for Great Britain at the start of April.

 

Well, here goes, I thought. Tonight, you go to war for Amy and Serena.

 

We heard little from Amy before our bus pulled up outside Wembley less than three hours before kickoff except mostly a brief spiel from her at our last team meeting at the Savoy, where she had said with emphasis, “If you come with the intensity you displayed in Manchester, Queen Beryl should start saying her prayers. And just remember that together we'll be okay.”

 

I had spent some time before boarding the bus reading the papers to see what they were saying about me, United, Amy, Serena, and Juventus. Pretty much every paper by now, from the London Times to the Daily Mirror to Italy's La Reppublica, was hyping up the match as the showdown between the two Sailor Scout-associated teams. Some even were billing it as the real battle for No. 1 in Europe instead of the final.

 

I showed up for the ride to Wembley dressed very much like I was going to school—in khaki pants, dark gray Nike sneakers, white socks going up to my upper ankles, a red Ralph Lauren Polo long-sleeved shirt, and the red corduroy jacket (front open) plus a Cubs cap (I wore it because the C stood for Carlo, but I didn't think the Cubs were a bad team.)

 

Hardly anyone spoke as we got into the locker room and started getting our uniforms on. My personal kit consists of my Nike ID Mercurial Vapors, a long-sleeved No. 9 shirt, and slightly longer shorts than my teammates wore. Whereas my teammates wore shorts that left their kneecaps exposed, mine went down until about a third of my kneecaps were covered. Also, we had tried a change of name and number font by wearing uniforms with the Premiership name and number font instead of the Nike font against Real Madrid, and it had worked then, so we stuck with it for the match against Juventus. Towards the end, we started kicking balls about the room while still seated like we customarily did at Old Trafford before games there, and it seemed to allay some of our tension. By now, though, I was still feeling like I couldn't sit still from all my anxiety.

 

Coach Ferguson then called for silence and promptly got it as every eye in the room centered on him.

“No matter what you lads do out there against Juventus and the Negaverse, I want you to know that it has been my honor to be your manager now moreso than any other time in my career, including 1999. No matter what you do, I know you will make me, Amy, Serena, this club, the city of Manchester, your families, and your countries proud of you.” I noticed that he was careful to make eye contact with David as he said this, but I had no doubt that he was being sincere.

David, meanwhile, managed a grin. “Thanks.” Others quickly joined him in echoing their approval.

I suddenly felt ready to go. “Thanks, Coach.” I said, managing a grin of my own.

 

I don't remember much about the first half other than marveling at the level of enthusiasm from the fans when they cranked it up even more after kickoff. 3 quarters of the capacity crowd of 90,000 were filled with United fans in red, while the remaining quarter, located behind the Juventus goal, was composed of Bianconeri fans in black-and-white striped shirts. Quite a few were also sporting apparel, flags, and scarves linking the Scouts to one or both teams, much to my amusement, so I could see pictures of Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury mixed in with the United and Juve paraphernalia. It had been absolutely fascinating to find out over the past week just how many United and Juventus supporters were also admirers of Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury.

 

I simply closed my eyes and started praying Hail Mary after Hail Mary mixed in with prayers for courage and strength for when I was sent on and when we fought after the final whistle. Then I simply tried blocking everything out to ease my stress. My mother had called me the day of the match knowing it might be the last time she and Dad could talk to me. They had both wished me luck and reminded me to not spend all of my energy worrying. Both of them were as supportive as they have ever been: very. Mom sounded like she was on the verge of tears, and even Dad had to keep his voice steady. Both of them were proud, though, because they felt like they knew I wouldn't disappoint them or anyone on our side, and they let me know it.

 

Before I tell you about what happened after the half, a brief update on the situation around Europe. Our win over Real Madrid and Juventus' victory over Barcelona had helped take Spain's La Liga, ranked as the best league in Europe, out of the Champions League. The competition at the moment was probably best described as Manchester United against the best of Serie A. As it stood, we had to get past a Juventus that was hitting peak form with Serena's help (not that we didn't forget we were glad of it because we knew what was coming after the first leg was over) just to get to the finals. If we reached the finale, we would face the winner of the “Derby della Madonna”—the Milanese derby (intra-city showdown) between AC Milan and Internazionale (Inter) Milan. And one more back story to this match: before Filippo and I had come into the picture, Manchester United and Juventus had played twice in the second group stage. In those matches, David, Ryan, Ruud, and the others had won first 2-1 at Old Trafford and then 3-0 at Juventus' Stadio Delle Alpi (Stadium of the Alps, I think, is how that translates, though I could be wrong). This meant that we were even warier of Juve because we knew just how dangerous a revenge factor could be when going against them and then the Negaverse.

 

During the second half, I found myself tensing up a bit more as it was still scoreless. I couldn't really make out any weaknesses in the Juventus strategy as I continued to try to size them up while waiting to enter the fray. As we had suspected, they were fighting us the whole way thanks to their spirit augmented with Serena's help.

Then, in the 72nd minute, Coach Ferguson tapped me on the shoulder.

“Juventus's bringing on Dibari.” He said. “Are you ready?”

“Absolutely.” I said earnestly, as I had been looking forward to measuring myself against Filippo in particular as well as the rest of Juventus.

Three minutes later, Juventus won a throw-in inside our territory, and I looked up to see the numbers “9” and “18” on the electronic board on our sideline indicating that I was coming on for Paul. I didn't know whether to feel terrific over getting my loudest entrance cheer yet (not in the least because it was as if we were surrounded on all sides by a wall of sound) or tense over the upcoming fight.

 

Here were the lineups with 15 minutes to go:

 

Manchester United (4-4-2): Goalkeeper: Barthez. Defenders: O'Shea, Silvestre, Ferdinand, G. Neville. Midfielders (diamond): Keane (C), Giggs, Beckham, Santos. Forwards: Van Nistelrooy, Solskjaer.

 

Juventus (4-3-3): Goalkeeper: Buffon. Defenders: Ferrara, Montero, Tudor, Thuram. Midfielders (horizontal): Zambrotta, Nedved, Davids. Forwards: Dibari, Del Piero (C), Trezeguet.

 

By “diamond,” I mean that Roy was playing slightly defensive midfield while Ryan and David manned the left and right wings (respectively) and I took an attacking midfield position. And by “horizontal”, I mean that if you stood behind one of the goals, the three Juventus midfielders—Gianluca, Pavel, and Edgar, would be in a straight line from left to right.

 

About two minutes after I came on, Pavel shot it over towards Trezeguet, who headed it down towards the front door to the penalty area just as Filippo made a cut. I was in the area and was about to make an effort to stop him, but he turned so quickly and shot that I couldn't have held him up without fouling and possibly getting booked.

And one more problem: at the end of that turn, Filippo blasted a shot past Fabien into our top right corner to give Juventus the lead.

As I watched Filippo celebrate with Edgar and Pavel in front of the raucous Juventus quarter, I applauded him slightly, but of course I was a bit mad that we'd been second out of the blocks in that fashion. The other thing that that goal did, though, was take my mind (and I think some of my teammates' minds as well) off the battle, allowing us to focus fully on Juventus.

 

Having received a gut check, we stepped up our play and began to regain some ground, and about four minutes after Juventus scored first, Roy got right in Gianluca's way and mugged him with emphasis. He quickly shot it out to David, and I, seeing a chance to take Juventus by surprise, quickly yelled, “Over here, David!” and shot forward like Terrell Owens off a line of scrimmage just as I saw David hit a nice one across the field that I could latch onto. Paolo Montero and Igor Tudor tried blocking me out, but I ran right at them and then cut right and then around them to catch up to the pass, and then I collected it off my chest and rushed forward with only Gigi Buffon in my way.

Before I met Amy face to face, I would have been thinking, Okay, this is probably the best keeper in the world, so you better make this finish terrific. Now, though, after the talk Amy gave to me about not second-guessing myself too much, I was thinking, You've got this. Even if he's the best goalie in the world, he can't cover the top corner from where he's standing in the center.

The top right corner was where I wanted to hit it, and two seconds later I only missed it low by two feet—but still into the back of the net. Tie game.

I felt the shockwave of the United section's cheers slam into me as I passed Gigi and started running for the left corner flag with my arms out to my sides again and my voice roaring, “Oh, yeah, that's it!” with a broad smile on my face.

I made a turn back towards my teammates at the corner flag and found them absolutely jubilant.

“What an equalizer!” Roy yelled at me.

“Thanks! Nice pass, David!” I yelled back, high-fiving David.

“Thanks! Nice finish!” He finished, pointing at me with both hands in a sort of “recognize” gesture. I returned the display and then took my position again.

“All right, lads! 1-all!” Roy yelled, massaging his knuckles and putting his head down slightly.

 

Three minutes later, we looked to have everything going our way as I “posted up” on Pavel, shielding the ball from him with my back to him and backing him down. I then juked to my right with a fake flick and saw him hesitate, so I quickly darted around his other side with a spin to my right. I had a hunch that since I had scored once already, then the Juve defense would try to trap me if I tried to drive in.

Fine by me. I thought. Okay, here goes the old drive and dish…

It was as if I was Tony Parker driving the lane and drawing the defense before giving the perfect pass to Tim Duncan for him to slam home. When I spun away, the Juventus defense did indeed gravitate towards me because they knew I had a hot hand (or a hot foot for that matter) and wanted to shut me down. I still had enough time, though, to rifle a pass into the penalty area right at Ruud, who collected it and pulled off a textbook turn-and-shoot move across Gigi into the other bottom corner. 2-1!

The United section was going absolutely berserk by now over us giving a double whammy to take the lead, and the rest of us were absolutely fired up as Ruud pumped his fist energetically at the crowd.

 

Just as we were starting to breathe again, though, Juventus reached for that bit extra as Serena would have done as Sailor Moon. Edgar ran it right at us and held me off before dishing it crisply to Alessandro just two minutes later for him to fire home past Fabien, and it was tied just like that.

Maybe because we realized that the leader of the Sailor Scouts herself had brought even more fight out of Juve over the past week, I could start to see the first vestiges of doubt.

 

A minute later, Juventus kept pressing forward more than the typical Italian squad to say the least, and Juve managed to string together an incredible string of quick and touch passes that left us very vulnerable, ending with a kickout to Edgar, who steered a shot across goal past Fabien. It was now 3-2, and the Juventus section was smelling victory as we once had, and quite a few of us and our fans were left shellshocked at the absolute vivacity that the Bianconeri displayed.

I myself was slightly downcast over the realization of Oh, no, here they come now...

Not even Real Madrid had scared me like that. That was until David told me, "Just keep fighting hard. They may have a lot of spirit thanks to Serena, but we've got a lot of British bulldogs. We can do this!"

 

Behind me, I could see Rio scowl slightly in an intimidating gesture as if to say, "We're down but not out. Just try us!" I immediately took heart and then saw David give me a look that said in no uncertain terms, I want the ball!

And so with two minutes to go, we began our final push to swing the momentum back in our favor. Rio denied Alessandro a clincher with an emphatic header out of our box, and I won some open space with a couple of sidesteps and a nifty one-two from Ryan. I wasn't the only one who wanted the ball, so I took the liberty of running it hard upfield until I could spot David finally wearing down Gianluca enough to collect a pass. He cut inside, still running as hard as he could, and he and I executed a quick give-and-go that had him on the edge of the penalty area with a clear shot.

As I quickly crossed my fingers, David took one touch to control my return and then let fly. A second later, it had found Gigi's top right-hand corner. Tied again at 3-3!

"Yes! Oh, God, yes!" I roared as I chased David towards the left corner flag and then jumped up on top of his back to celebrate his equalizer. I was so happy that we had tied it almost at the buzzer and denied Juventus the chance to celebrate a win on our turf that I momentarily forgot about the upcoming fight. Soon, though, I heard the full-time whistle while we were still in the corner, and my stomach plummeted. It was judgement time.

 

Full-time normally meant “game over” and the end of the night. That night, though, we knew that wouldn't be the case, even though we knew there would be no extra time scheduled—against each other. I could see everyone staying put on the field.

 

Nicky had quickly shed his warmup jacket and joined us, carrying something shiny. As he approached, I realized that it was my silver and sapphire Mercury Student-Athlete Honor Award armband.

My soul seemed to steel itself resolutely as I saw him hold it out. "Here we go! Carlo, I think you ought to wear this."

"I will." I answered, with committed weight behind my voice. "Thanks, Nicky." When I accepted the armband from him, it was as if Sailor Mercury was speaking to me exactly as she had spoken to me at Old Trafford when I had first recieved it. Use your strengths, use your head, put your efforts where they will work best, and you'll be a winner. It was such that I found myselfrepeating firmly in my mind, I will.

Paul and Rio had rejoined us by now. David, with a fire still burning in his eyes, looked at them and Nicky meaningfully and said, "Remember, lads, this is war!"

They returned the look with the same fire, and I found myself giving them the thumbs-up and setting my jaw as we jogged back towards the center circle purposefully. Let's do this. They're ready to go right now. We're all ready to go right now. And yes, that does mean I'm ready to go right now. I thought.

The crowd was booing raucously, and I saw Queen Beryl up ahead speaking with a malicious smile on her face. Apparently, she was doing her share of pre-battle trash-talking.

 

"I won't lose to you and your powerless friends twice!" Beryl was saying with her shield already up. "The run stops here!"

“Powerless?” Sailor Moon asked, looking at the Juventus contingent, which had already assembled. “We'll see about that, Beryl! You better brace yourself! I thought you'd already know what they're capable of!”

“Yeah, take your best shot!” I yelled, and I almost rammed the armband up my left arm, prompting me to uncrumple my shirt. I very rarely talk anything close to smack, but right then and there seemed to be the time and place thanks to the Scouts' presence. For all the world, though, it was as if I was throwing down the gauntlet for all of Manchester United.

Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, and Beryl all looked at me. I glared at Beryl with a determined expression and finished unrumpling my uniform. I might as well have been rolling up my sleeves.

“Oh, you got one too?” Filippo asked, indicating my armband.

“Yeah.” I said, flashing a momentary grin as it occurred to me I wasn't the only kid who had been “decorated” after the quarterfinals. “Do you have yours ready?”

“Sure.” He said, and he pulled out a similar armband, but the book was replaced by a sword and the jeweled disc was topaz with a pearl-white crescent moon.

"Wait a minute...David Beckham?" Sailor Moon asked, her eyes widening as she saw David come up alongside me.

"Yes, Sailor Moon." David replied, grinning momentarily before saying, "Honored to meet you, but we've got to save the pleasantries for later."

"I know." Sailor Moon said. "Nice to have you along for the ride!"

 

And so it was game on.

 

At the start of the battle, wefielded Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, the two Davids (Beckham and Trezeguet), Alessandro, Roy, Rio, Lilian, and Ryan against Queen Beryl and seven demons.

We, and particularly Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury, did several key things early. First and foremost, Sailor Moon established herself as the same “guardian” presence that the Negaverse had seen and feared in Barcelona. That not only inspired the Juventus players, who were glad to see their friend making her mark again, but it also gave the United players, myself included, a much-welcomed morale boost and made us even more serious about not letting anyone clock her. Second, perhaps just as importantly, Sailor Mercury continued the great coaching act we'd first seen at Old Trafford. To my surprise, she'd even learned a bit of Italian at some time before the battle and was thus also able to communicate with Juventus more easily. And the crazy thing was that that mere use of Italian instead of English (though I know at least Edgar had good English) made Juve rally around her more readily as well. The crowd was now back to cheering at full volume, urging us on and giving us the energy to come out firing even after 90 minutes. Also, thanks to the crowd, each other, and particularly the Scouts, absolutely nobody was coming out scared. By the way, the battle never took up more than half the field, with the midfield line still the actual Wembley midfield line.

 

One more thing that happened, much to my shock, was that as the battle was raging and Filippo and I were resting next to each other, Filippo said, "Hey, nice pass." I had just slipped him a choice pass to him while he was open to slam home with a one-timer. What really shocked us, though, was that just after I said "Thanks," he said, "Hey, what's that glowing on your arm? Is that your armband?"

I looked at my left arm, and sure enough, a soft blue glow with fluctuating rays of light was pulsating from behind my armband. I quickly slid it off, and to my great amazement, the tiniest panel had slid away (it had been just silver before on the back) to reveal a small sapphire-blue orb. My eyes went suddenly wide as I realized its nature and power.

"Holy cats!" I found myself saying very briskly, a grin spreading over my face.

"What is it?" Filippo asked. He leaned in, saw it, and his eyes went wide. "Man, that's a beautiful gem! It can't be just another precious stone, though, can it?"

"Oh, no, Filippo, it's not." I said, smiling fully by now. "This is a Blue Rainbow Crystal!" When I had heard about the Scouts, I had also heard tales of the seven Rainbow Crystals, their ability to reveal Sailor Scouts' identities, and their immense powers, not in the least you-know-what with Sailor Moon and the Silver Imperium Crystal, which is a combination of all seven. I had often wondered what it would be like to possess one when I was younger, and so I found myself flushed with excitement. Then I suddenly realized Filippo might have one as well.

 

"Hey, Filippo, check yours!" I said. He quickly pulled off his own armband and checked behind it, and sure enough a panel had slid away behind his armband. In the meantime, wondering what would happen if I tried fusing it with my armband's jewel disc, I held the armband disc-up and placed the new Blue Rainbow Crystal onto the disc.

 

When I placed the blue Crystal onto the armband's sapphire circle, it made the surface ripple and then went under. After going under, I watched in fascination as the sapphire disc began to shimmer as if some power was being infused into it or unlocked from within it—or myself. A similar thing was happening when Filippo dropped his yellow Crystal into his own armband.

I suddenly found within the next two minutes when I came back on that I, to my amazement, was able to move more quickly, be even more effective with my jukes and shots, and more than anything think more clearly so that my instincts were sharpened, leading to improved passing and decision-making, among other things. Filippo was getting a similar enhancement as he was also faster and stronger, only in his instance he was playing with even more of the reckless abandon that is a trademark of champions.

 

Beryl was getting increasingly frustrated as time went on and she saw that we were starting to gain an upper hand. It got to the point that she dropped her shield to lash out at one of the particularly inept and fatigued defenders, and Ruud semi-inadvertently sent a shot that beaned her in the chin. Recognizing he'd hit her directly, he was even more pumped up—and so was the crowd. So was Sailor Mercury-for a different reason.

 

“Wait a minute!” She exclaimed, a trace of excitement in her voice.

“What?” I asked her eagerly, wondering what masterful strategy she had just thought up right then. After checking to see that we had the situation in hand for the moment, she nodded to me and we headed to the "sideline".

“Let's turn the tempo up.” Sailor Mercury explained, switching on her visor again. “Beryl's getting frustrated, so she's having to drop her guard to lash out at her own burned-out minions. Plus, I think that if we hit her directly, that shield is weakened even more. Did you notice how much more it was shaking after Ruud hit her directly?”

“Not really.” I said. “I guess there was too much going on out there for me to see.”

“That's okay.” Sailor Mercury replied, and she stowed her visor.

After the next minute or so, she and Sailor Moon called for some substitutions so that we were fielding Ruud, Alessandro, Filippo, Ryan, Edgar, myself, David, Rio, and Lillian in addition to the Scouts. The whole team on the field was now either fleet-footed or relentless or both at running, and all of us weren't afraid to take evasive action, so to speak, which made us even harder to stop and even more debilitating to opponents' will to fight. When I found I would be the guy to make the "restart" after we made our de facto line change, I felt another surge of excitement when I realized that as a midfield playmaker, it was as if I was the point guard helping run a relentless offense or a guy sitting at the controls of some military juggernaut.

 

“Okay, let's run them ragged!” I yelled at the others.

For the last eight minutes, we played faster even than many English teams would dare. Sailor Moon was constantly spurring us on and running alongside of us, shouting words of encouragement like “That's the spirit! Let's keep on moving the ball like that!” To add to the Negaverse's troubles, Rio and Edgar were getting especially physical, as they were not afraid to stiff-arm or otherwise lay out anyone who threatened to take possession. And if they did steal it, Lillian was turning in a classy performance in a “bodyguard” slot. If they wanted a piece of him, Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury were right there. If they wanted a piece of either of the Scouts, Lillian denied them to the point that the Negaverse was limited to only catching tiny bits of the Scouts—and scratch or no scratch on them, he was finding his range with sniping right-footed blasts as soon as he won the ball back.

 

That was an integral part of the strategy that Sailor Mercury had thought up for the battle so that both the United and Juventus players simply played according to their familiar styles, blending the speed and fury of the English style with the defensive prowess of the Italian style.

Nothing got our blood going, though, like the fact that the Scouts, and particularly Sailor Moon, insisted on spearheading most of our rushes on goal.

“We know you two are superb, but we also don't want you to get roughed up!” Roy said during a brief lull in the action after Sailor Moon had made a run off midfield to start and finish another one of our moves. “If you get put out of action, it's over!”

“Oh, what on earth, Roy.” Sailor Moon said dismissively with a wry grin. “Sailor Mercury and I have probably been having too much of a stretch without getting laid out anyway. If we keep playing fast, they won't be able to dent us, so just stay with us, okay? Besides, it's not like one tackle from one of them will drop either of us.”

“You got it!” Roy answered fervently. He had seemed particularly awed by Sailor Moon's leadership affinity over the past week ever since he'd seen her performance against the Negaverse in Barcelona. I think that was because he realized that she is as inspirational as he is, if not more, while she also doesn't have the abrasiveness that Roy sometimes had (thankfully, not while I was with the team), meaning she never lost because of a short temper.

 

It was certainly a good thing that Sailor Moon was waving Roy off because the way they were stoking our confidence was making us shoot harder, be more physical, and play faster without getting tired and was really spooking some of the demons out because they knew neither of the Scouts was afraid to lay out anyone who tried going after us with an attack or tackle.

On top of all that, with Filippo being even more bullish with his Yellow Rainbow Crystal and me being put into overdrive physically and mentally thanks to the Blue Rainbow Crystal, those demon defenders were chasing the ball as if they were chasing smoke as we made slicing runs and provided crisp passes. It got to the point that it was even fun to an extent towards the end. Even more fun abounded when I saw a chance to really break the Negaverse team's spirit—probably with the Blue Rainbow Crystal's help.

"Hey, can you guys go into that touch-passing mode we saw during the match?" I asked Alessandro.

He grinned and replied, "Absolutely. Just be ready if one of them is at you."

Thanks to the Blue Rainbow Crystal, I was, and I even took the liberty of flashing a backheel touch or two to demoralize our opponents even more.

 

Finally, after a total of twenty minutes, Ole, who had come on again, finished off another advance with a perfectly placed shot into one of the weak spots and sent one back to Alessandro, who shook his marker and hammered one off the front of Beryl's barrier, sending back a high rebound for Sailor Moon, who turned her back to the “goal,” jumped, and launched the best overhead bicycle kick I have seen in my life.

The shield collapsed as the bicycle kick hit to deafening cheers.

 

“We've got it!” Edgar roared. “Wait a minute…what's Sailor Moon doing?”

He was so curious that he slipped his trademark black visor up, much to my surprise, so that I could see his entire face. Sailor Moon had closed her eyes and was starting to rise into the air, revolving rapidly.

I was right next to him. “Oh, my God, I never thought I was going to see this in my lifetime!”

“What?” Filippo and Ole asked me together.

“She's transforming into her princess form!” I shouted.

“No way!” Filippo said.

“Yes way!” I yelled back. “Get a load of this!”

 

As we watched and the crowd began to murmur excitedly, her skirt opened like petals before it elongated, turned rum pink, and came back together again. The next thing we knew, I was beholding Princess Serenity as she slowly descended back onto the pitch.

“Dio mio.” Filippo managed to gasp, awestruck at her beauty in that form, not to mention a very regal air about her.

“Oh, my God.” I echoed in English.

 

By the time we managed to recover, Beryl was yelling, "Oh, ho, but now you know you can't go at me at full power without killing yourself!"

For all that I had heard about the Scouts, I had never heard this, and there was something in Beryl's voice that made me aware that she wasn't lying, making my heart sink. Princess Serenity, though, didn't break stride. “Wrong again, Beryl! No one dies today except you and your monsters!”

I didn't think that Beryl was going to be able to hold back Princess Serenity's blast at even slightly reduced power, but it turns out that that wasn't the case. Once the two blasts were unleashed once more and had connected with each other, the blast intersection point was quickly heading towards Queen Serenity, to our shock.

"This can't be happening!" Gianluca said in an Italian accent, giving voice to my thoughts and the thoughts of thousands of others. Screams of terror were starting to roll out of the crowd again.

"Wrong again!" Beryl was saying, a triumphant grin spreading over her face. "Down you go!"

"Not tonight!" Sailor Mercury yelled, and she shouted, "Mercury Star Power!"

"Yeah, that's it, Sailor Mercury!" Paul roared as rays of blue light emanated from Sailor Mercury's tiara before she sent the new resevoir of energy at Princess Serenity. The crowd gasped and a few raised cheers as they were hopeful that would stop Beryl's advance as we were, but amazingly, no luck. I grimaced as I realized how little power the Star Power maneuver could transfer since it was only Sailor Mercury performing it and not the whole Scout team. “That's not going to be good enough!” Ryan said, sounding panicked as he motioned towards Princess Serenity and looked at us. “Now what?”

Do something! I frantically thought. Then, suddenly, before I could think about anything else, I found myself yelling, “Star Power Support!”

I looked at the armband on my left arm and found the sapphire disc starting to pulsate brighter with dim rays of blue and white light emerging from it. Grabbing onto Sailor Mercury's arm, I found myself willing energy out of the surroundings, focusing it into the armband, and channeling it into Sailor Mercury, who relayed it to Princess Serenity. I could see Sailor Mercury flashing me a momentary glance and winking, making my mouth twitch in a very abbreviated grin.

Suddenly, I realized I hadn't had the only voice yelling. Filippo had also called it out and was funneling energy into his topaz armband as well (his armband was also pulsating.) He had one hand grasping Sailor Mercury's hand and the other one holding fiercely onto Princess Serenity's arm.

Ryan suddenly grabbed my arm.

“What are you doing?” I asked, almost angrily. With my concentration half-broken, I expected my armband to stop pulsating as it had before, but thankfully, I was wrong.

“Helping you to turn this blast away!” Ryan yelled back, and I saw Alessandro, Ciro, Gianluca, Marco, and Mauro all grab hold of Filippo.

 

Suddenly, I realized that Ryan knew what he was doing. “Thanks a lot!” I said earnestly. “You know what to do—will what you can through me into Sailor Mercury!”

I closed my eyes, not wanting to distract myself with the scene, and focused.

We are not going to lose tonight! We are not going to lose tonight! I thought with every bit of myself I could muster. I could feel myself concentrating so hard that I was shaking and could not hear the crowd.

Ryan then shook my arm. “Carlo, you can look! We stopped it!”

I opened my eyes, blinked once or twice, and looked and saw that we had indeed given Princess Serenity enough energy to put the blasts' intersection point back in the middle without overloading and having to sacrifice herself. The crowd was still on its feet and cheering in full voice once again.

 

“What a shame…” Beryl was saying. “You've only postponed your end, though! Here I come again—and this time, you won't be able to take it!”

“Not so fast, Beryl.” I heard another voice say mildly but firmly in an English accent. I jerked my head around to see David just to Princess Serenity's right (beside her right arm, I mean) with the ball trapped.

Princess Serenity turned her head to look at him, smiled, and said discreetly, “Are you ready?” David grinned slightly and nodded. It was as if he knew exactly what to do.

 

As I continued to watch, both of them closed their eyes and a sudden wind seemed to whip the grass around him and Princess Serenity as both of them concentrated especially hard. Come on, David, don't tell me you're scared of taking that shot… I thought. And come on, Princess Serenity, you can do this!...

As if she had been reading my mind, Sailor Mercury told me, “He's not getting scared, he's concentrating hard—and it's not about the shot yet! And Princess Serenity's concentrating on the same thing as he is!”

“What do you mean?” Edgar asked.

“I think something's about to happen that I haven't seen before from a non-Sailor Scout!” She said, looking slightly incredulous. “But then again, they did all talk about being ready to go and whip anyone who stood in their way—just like before they beat Argentina last year.” She said, her look of amazement changing into a smile.

 

Suddenly, another six Silver Imperium Crystals shot up into the air as the crowd managed a few gasps.

“Paul, Rio, Gary, Phillip, Nicky, over here, quick!” Princess Serenity said urgently.

I could see the crystals on a course for the English players, and I found myself frantically wondering what they would do to them once they hit.

Paul, Rio, and the others quickly took places beside the pair just as a crystal found each of them and David. A brilliant flash of white light lit up Wembley as the crystals made contact with David and company, while the crowd gasped. When it vanished, we were still unable to see them as they appeared to be figures of white light.

 

Suddenly, I saw the Three Lions emblem—the English national team emblem—flash across the field and then disappear as the crowd gasped even more and some raised ragged cheers. Then without warning, the same emblem appeared in color over the upper middle of each of the English players' chests. At that moment, it was like invisible hands were drawing on the uniforms, giving them a red St. George's Cross motif and then making numbers appear on the fronts of their shirts. Rushing to the back, I saw that their names and numbers had reappeared there too, only Paul's 18 had changed to an 8 (those changes were reflected on the front) and Rio's 6 had changed to a 5.

Oh, my God, I thought. It's like the English delegation's going through its own transformation sequence!

Before I could finish that thought, David and company became visible again.

The United section absolutely erupted, and the Juventus fans also raised cheers. The United section was louder, though, because the Silver Imperium Crystals had put David, Rio, Paul, Gary, Philip, and Nicky into their Team England uniforms, complete with World Cup winner's star on the right sleeve and Umbro uniform labels. David even had the red English captain's armband. What was more, though, was that a golden glow lingered about each of them, giving each of them a powerful aura and making them seem more like sentinels and knights than anything.

 

“Ing-er-lund, Ing-er-lund, Ing-er-lund, Ing-er-lund, Ing-er-lund, Ing-er-lund…” was the chant now ringing out at full blast from the United section. Queen Beryl was now looking over at David and company with a dumbstruck look on her face. “What the…”

 

David took his Predator-armored right foot off the ball and started backing up. Queen Beryl was unable to do a thing because she could only target Princess Serenity at the moment. The other English players inched forward slightly as he paused and looked up towards Queen Beryl again with an extremely determined look on his face. The crowd was simply deafening by now. Filippo and I, still tense, were now saying Hail Marys together while our teammates and Sailor Mercury looked on.

Everyone knew what was coming.

“Beckham's not going to miss this one.” I heard Pavel saying in his Eastern European accent next to me.

“Yeah, I think you could hardly ask for anyone better for this free kick.” I said, nodding and quickly but carefully choosing my words when I realized Alessandro—who isn't a bad free kick taker himself, don't get me wrong—was only feet away.

 

I had no doubt then and still do not to this day, though, that nobody in Wembley on our side—not my United teammates, not the Juventus players, not the fans, not Princess Serenity, not Sailor Mercury, certainly not me, and absolutely not David himself—wanted anyone else in the universe other than David Robert Joseph Beckham to take the free kick that might end the battle. Queen Beryl was still gaping slightly at him and his countrymen, even though she was holding Princess Serenity's blast at bay.

My breath suddenly caught in my throat as I watched David suddenly take his usual run-up to the ball and then hammer it. He hit it so hard that when it was launched into the air, it sounded like a Scud taking off and I have no doubt that even if it were in slow motion, it would still be moving like a shooting star. As we watched on breathlessly and he gave a perfect follow-through, the ball swerved left towards Beryl's head.

The next thing we all heard was a thunderous smack! Everyone—from David to Princess Serenity to Sailor Mercury to me to the fans—cheered as we realized David had scored a huge goal—and a huge hit. The next thing that we saw was Princess Serenity driving her light blast into Queen Beryl. When it hit, it looked like a gigantic flashbulb going off in Beryl's face and really did some damage to get everyone going even louder. Beryl was starting to plummet earthward by now. I felt my tensions lessen dramatically, as I had a big gut feeling that Queen Beryl had no answer to David and company adding their powers. Oh, yeah, they've got it!

 

And the amazing thing was that the England players weren't done yet—not by a long shot.

“Gaz, it's coming your way!” David roared as we saw the rebound come back.

“I'm all over it!” Gary shouted back.

The ball bounced once before Gary unleashed a wicked half-volley that caught Beryl in almost the same spot that David's free kick had hit. The rebound this time fell to his brother, and Phillip stuck it back emphatically at Beryl yet again with another hard upward shot. The carom was now especially high. The United section was becoming particularly raucous, and even the Juventus fans were starting to raise their voices as the English delegation began to dish it out.

“This one's mine!” Rio shouted as he picked up its flight. He quickly let out what sounded like a battle cry and leapt forward so high and so quickly that he was almost flying at Queen Beryl—something he wouldn't have been able to do in his normal state, athletic as he is. He locked onto the ball and absolutely launched a header into Queen Beryl's forehead, hitting her hard again with yet another head shot. It was simply one unbelievable sight after another from Princess Serenity and the English.

By now, the remaining demons had started to come to their senses and tried rushing at anyone who wanted to keep dishing it out. As if it would have made any difference. Nicky stiff-armed the one that tried rushing him before he stuck another half-volley right back into Beryl's mug before Paul got to the carom, juggled past a despairing demon's tackle, and fired a final volley into Beryl's chin.

 

By the end of the combo, every successive goal/hit was being greeted with a ground-shaking “Ole!” from the English fans, who kept up the noise as Queen Beryl hit the ground.

“Yeah! Oh, my God, how about that?” I asked, pounding Ryan on the back with a grin on my face.

“I know, that was brilliant!” Ryan said, smiling back earnestly. “I tell you, Carlo, you don't have to be English to know that Beryl made a fatal mistake in picking Wembley to attack.”

 

Beryl was a forlorn figure still on the ground by now, though she still managed to taunt us.

“You…haven't killed me…yet!” She managed to gasp with what little arrogance she still had left as I saw her spit out blood mixed with her saliva.

“Well, let's correct that, shall we?” David shouted in a much more aggressive voice than usual, startling me as I saw his eyes flash. He closed his eyes and yelled, “England Star Power!”

As we watched, amazed, the World Cup winner's star on his right sleeve began to glow and pulsate with the energy that he was gathering.

“Come on, lads!” David yelled at his compatriots and friends, looking at them with as much intensity as I have ever seen from him.

“Right!” Rio yelled, and he was next to yell, “England Star Power!”

His World Cup winner's star also began to glow and pulsate like David's. Gary and the others quickly joined in, and Princess Serenity was soon flanked by six Englishmen clad in their national team uniforms—six of the best England has to offer in David, Paul, Rio, Gary, Phillip, and Nicky, no less—all gathering whatever energy they could and adding it to her strength. Then I reasoned that if I could perform Star Power without transforming, then they ought to be able to perform it too when transformed. Still, it was yet another incredible sight to see, because if you told me that David and the others would transform into their national team “forms” and help swing the battle in our favor, I would have said, “That would be fitting, but I don't know about that.”

Then I remembered what Gary had said the previous night. “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.” It seemed to echo in my head.

 

All seven of them were in a line by now, with Princess Serenity in the center and the six English internationals flanking her three to either side of her with their arms either around each other's shoulders or around her shoulders.

 

“You're finished, Beryl!” She shouted. By now, we all could see the doubt in Beryl's eyes.

The tension was thickening again due to one more problem, though, as Roy told me.

“You think she's going to take us with her when she goes down?” He asked me, motioning toward Beryl.

“I hope to God not.” I said, quickly murmuring another Hail Mary. I searched myself for a gut feeling that we were going to go down and found to my relief that it wasn't there. "I don't think so-not with them around." I added, grinning as I pointed at Princess Serenity and Sailor Mercury.

 

Princess Serenity unleashed another light blast just as the English players transferred the energy they had gathered into her, and this time, Queen Beryl had no chance. I let out a cheer as it hit, but it was cut out a moment later by a piercing scream and a column of light such as I had never seen before radiating from Beryl. This time, I could see it was going to envelop us, so I ducked my head and squeezed my eyes shut. Even with my eyes closed, I could see an incredible brightness surrounding us.

That column, however, also eventually dissipated as I saw the burst die away from behind my eyelids. After I bumped my chin against myself and satisfied myself that I was still alive, I sighed with relief, then opened my eyes and let out an even biggersigh of relief as I saw the pitch and stadium unharmed. Suddenly, though, my eyes were riveted to a sight in front of me.

 

In front of us was a pile of bodies topped by the Team England players now back in their United uniforms. For one last terrifying instant, I thought they were dead, but my fears were soon thankfully allayed. As it turns out, at the bottom of the pile was Sailor Moon shielding David, who had been lying on his stomach on the field. Apparently, when Beryl had gone out with her bang, Sailor Moon, then in her princess form, had quickly moved to drive David to the ground and shield him while the others piled on top to protect Princess Serenity and their captain. The blast had also blown off both Sailor Scouts' tiaras.

 

When they got to their feet, we were hit with the incredible fact that our best-case scenario had become reality. We really had won—and everybody had survived to play another day. That last part was a particular relief because even though the Scouts had a reputation for not losing anyone during a fight, I knew that even this sort of war would make casualties very expectable.

The crowd noise started at panicked gasps and whispers before rising to elevating shouts and then finally to an absolutely uplifting crescendo of chants, cheers, and applause.

All the weight that had been loading me down over the past week suddenly disappeared, leaving me feeling as if I could have jumped in the air and stayed up for a minute—literally.

"We did it! We actually did it! We won!" Rio was roaring at the top of his lungs, leaning back slightly and pumping his fists.

"Whoo!" I yelled jubilantly. "That did it, ladies and gentlemen!"

"Excuse me, could I talk to you for a second?" Sailor Moon asked.

I turned to see who she was speaking to-and found myself jolted when I found her alone in the center circle looking right at me.

"Go on, Carlo!" Philip said.

"Uh..." I said for a minute, feeling increasingly nervous.

"Do I have to push you in there?" David asked.

"No. Absolutely not!" I said, and I grinned as I walked into the center circle.

 

"Carlo Santos, right?" She asked me.

"Yeah." I answered.

"Sailor Mercury tells me you're her opposite number at Manchester United in more ways than one." She said, grinning.

I grinned sheepishly and did a Bugs Bunny imitation, saying after chuckling, "I'm so unimportant."

She laughed and held out her hand. "Don't tell me that. Sailor Mercury made a very wise choice in telling you what makes her tick."

"I guess so." I said. "Thanks for everything you've done for us."

"No thanks needed, but you're welcome." She replied. "But I have to thank you too. Carlo, you have to remember you were the very first person in all of Europe without a gun to show you'd stand up for your family, friends, and supporters, and Sailor Mercury tells me you were also first from Man. United to answer the call for tonight. Do you see your armband?"

I looked down at my left arm, where the armband still sat, still shimmering. "Yeah." I said, grinning and looking up.

"You probably know that's where a captain's armband sometimes goes. I know you're not your team captain, but I like how you weren't scared to steer your team the right way when it had to make a turn. Because you did that, I'd like to say thanks, in the form of an old soccer gesture.”

With that, she did something I thought she'd never do at all, much less to me:

She put both hands on my head, bent it forward slightly, and kissed my forehead.

I couldn't help but break into a wide grin as I closed my eyes. Oh, my God, this is way too sweet and way too cool! I was screaming inside.

Time seemed to stand still at that moment—just me, a Manchester United midfielder clad in United's home red and white standing face to face with Sailor Moon as she kissed my forehead—and to think all of that was in the center circle at Wembley in front of about 90,000 people on their feet! Both of our uniforms were damp with sweat in a few places, but we had won and smiling faces surrounded us out on the pitch at Wembley. I even chuckled slightly as I heard some catcalls out of the United team.

“Yeah, Sailor Moon, let him have it!” Rio yelled, making me laugh.

Once we came apart, I said, hardly able to talk from a heavy case of shock, "Thanks a lot-again."

"You're welcome." She answered, still beaming. Then she held me by the shoulders at arm's length, looked at me meaningfully and said, "Don't be scared to lead when people need you to."

Just as I had digested Sailor Mercury's words of wisdom at Old Trafford, so I took Sailor Moon's advice to heart as well.

"I'll try not to be." I said earnestly.

"I know you won't on purpose." Sailor Moon replied. "Could I talk to Roy and Alessandro?"

 

"Sure." I said. I called their names and they were promptly next into the center circle as I stepped out and the crowd volume, which had seemed to dim while Sailor Moon had been talking to me, seemed to turn back up. I could hear her saying, "Great performances from you two-as if anyone except Queen Beryl would have expected anything less." All three of them chuckled and Roy and Alessandro said their share of thanks. I remember Roy was especially on her case again for her terrific leadership job.

She gave them the same kiss as she gave me and another armband each: for Roy, a gold armband laced with ruby strips around its circumference with a Manchester United emblem in gold and ruby, and for Alessandro, an onyx armband with pearl strips lacing it around its circumference with a Juventus emblem in onyx, pearl, and topaz.

 

"Your teams can hardly ask for anyone better to be their captains. Thank you so much." Then she turned to David and called, "Um, Becks, do you have a minute?" She then asked.

David promptly stepped into the center circle as Roy and Alessandro stepped out and patted him on the back as the crowd began to cheer again, especially the United section.

"Nice shot!" Sailor Moon said fervently, smiling at him enough to make your heart melt. "Not even that goal you had against Greece at Old Trafford beats that one!"

"Thanks a lot." David said, grinning.

"I'll tell you this, Becks: we all know you may be the world's best free-kick taker. As a matter of fact, I'm tempted to say you're the universe's best free-kick taker, but I personally think you won't score a more important goal than your last one tonight-but only if it wins England the World Cup. And speaking of England..." She smiled and then waved her scepter one more time, making a gold-and-ruby armband with an England emblem made from ruby, pearl, and onyx appear on his upper right arm. "For you, Becks, because you put your life on the line, got your countrymen to do the same, and stepped forward to serve queen and country when the time came."

"Thank you very much." David said. “But we weren't the lads who decided this result. You and Sailor Mercury are the women of this match because without you deciding to step in, protect us and our fans, support us, and fight alongside us. So speaking of queens…” His grin widened as he finished, “God save the Queen of Britain—and God save the Queen of the Moon Kingdom.”

I had no idea that David had an inkling of Sailor Moon's form of Neo-Queen Serenity, so I found my head spinning slightly.

"Oh, stop it." Sailor Moon replied. Both of them laughed before Sailor Moon administered that same kiss and then smiled at David, prompting him to grin back.

 

We clapped and cheered before Gary smiled broadly and began a new chant that seemingly the whole United team and section picked up on at once, myself included. “One David Beckham, there's only one David Beckham…”

 

Suddenly, we heard a lone click of a camera. Quickly turning to see what it was, we found that a lone photographer had been taking it all in after we'd beaten Beryl. Spotting us looking at him, he said timidly, “Excuse me, could we get a dual team photo with Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury in it?”

“Why not?” Sailor Moon asked.

“Yeah, why not?” Sailor Mercury said. “Okay, let's come in.” She and Sailor Moon began motioning towards us.

 

Within minutes, we were lined up in two ranks so that Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury stood in the center while the United players stood or crouched on Sailor Mercury's side and the Juventus players did the same on Sailor Moon's side. Everyone was either standing in the “at ease” position with hands behind the back or with arms around the shoulders of those alongside or crouching with one or no arms providing added support. By then, the photographers had turned out in force and the flashbulbs were going off like a firing squad to take the dual team photo, individual team photos with the Scouts, and photos of the Italian and English delegations with the Scouts. Needless to say, everyone was really smiling big-time. For up until about two minutes after we left the pitch that night, it was as if huge smiles were plastered on our faces and our fans' faces.

 

We then took not one but two victory laps, often pausing here and there to acknowledge each particular section. One of my most treasured photos from that night is a shot with Edgar to the left of Sailor Mercury yanking her hand into the air while she waves with her other hand. Sailor Moon is to her right, also waving energetically. Meanwhile, I'm on Sailor Moon's right, gesturing at Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury as if to say, “Give these girls a hand!” while David's leaping up on Sailor Moon's back with the famous new arch in the background to the left.

The whole crowd was still cheering and chanting at full volume as if it was the Champions League title game and both teams had won-and then some. The English fans were even more raucous after apparently overhearing David's accolade of “God save the Queen of Britain and God save the Queen of the Moon Kingdom” and were now blasting out their national anthem—both for Queen Elizabeth and Neo-Queen Serenity—with all the will and voice they could gather, especially when Sailor Moon passed in front of them:

 

God save our gracious Queen,

Long live our noble Queen,

God save the Queen!

Send her victorious,

Happy and glorious,

Long to reign over us,

God save the Queen!

 

Thy choicest gifts in store

On her be pleased to pour,

Long may she reign!

May she defend our laws

And ever give us cause

To sing with heart and voice,

“God save the Queen!”

 

Sailor Moon was really appreciating those renditions of “God Save The Queen” to the point of embarrassment at times, as I remember seeing her face almost going rose-red after the first round finished and pointing that out to my friends, much to our amusement.

“I can't believe this is happening.” She was telling Gary in an awed tone after waving at the United fans to acknowledge another round. “Sailor Mercury and I don't do our work in front of crowds that much, but I'm sure that even if we did, we'd still never expect anything as great as this!”

“Believe it, Sailor Moon.” Gary replied. “That's proof of what you've done. That's proof of how much you've won our hearts.”

Another song began to play in the background over the PA speakers. Turns out it was the Love to Infinity mix of German dance diva Karaja's “She Moves (La La La)”. Apparently, the Wembley sound crew thought it fit the Scouts very well.

 

She moves her body, moves her feet

She feels the rhythm like it is her heartbeat

Up and down, she jumps to the beat

Start dancing to the dream sound

 

At the start of the first victory lap, the PA announcer even yelled, “Ladies and gentlemen, let's give a hand for Juventus FC and company! A round of applause, please, for Ferrara, Montero, Thuram, Zambrotta, Nedved, Camoranesi, Davids, Trezeguet, Di Vaio, Dibari, Del Piero, and Sailor Moon!”

Everybody absolutely went off, and the Juventus section was, needless to say, the loudest. The Juventus players clapped their hands above their heads to acknowledge them while Sailor Moon waved frantically and blew a few kisses to the crowd while Sailor Mercury, the United players, and I happily joined in applauding Sailor Moon and the Bianconeri.

 

We move our body, move our feet

We feel the rhythm like it is our heartbeat

Up and down, we jump to the beat

We are living in a fantasy

And la la la, la la la la,

She goes la la la, la la la la

And la la la, la la la la,

She goes la la la, la la la la

 

 

The PA announcer then continued, “And let's also hear it for Manchester United FC and company! I give you Neville, Ferdinand, Neville, Butt, Santos, Giggs, Scholes, Van Nistelrooy, Solskjaer, Keane, Beckham, and Sailor Mercury!”

Wembley exploded all over again, this time with the United section leading the cheers as Sailor Mercury, my United teammates, and I took our turn in the spotlight and clapped our hands over our heads. Sailor Mercury was also waving energetically and bowing to the fans while I yelled, “Yeah! Thanks a lot, guys!”

 

It makes you crazy when she spins around

She throws you kisses, puts you in a spell bind

All the people gather around

Start dancing to the dream sound

 

Filippo was showing what looked like a professionally made white custom flag—apparently made by a fan—to the other Juventus players and was making them grin widely.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Check it out!” He said, and he turned the flag so that I could see it.

To the left of the flag's emblem was Sailor Moon's transformation pen silhouette, and her feet crossed a yellow crescent moon to the right of the emblem. Above that crossing point was located a Juventus emblem, with a thin oval with its long side vertical and a yellow outline encircling the three symbols. Above the oval was “Difenderes di Torino”, which is Italian for “Champions of Turin.” At the bottom was “Sailor Scouts—Juventus) and a line below that was “soldatos fino al fine”, which translates to “soldiers until the end.”

 

“Oy, Carlo, we've got one too!” Rio yelled, flashing another white flag with a different emblem in front of me.

The style was similar: The bottom of a blue Mercury sign crossed with the left tip of a yellow crescent moon, and above it was the Manchester United emblem with a white circle with a red border encircling the three symbols. Above it was “Guardians of Manchester” while at the bottom was “Sailor Scouts—Manchester United” and just a line below that was “Live For Love United.”

 

After those absolute scenes of euphoria, we headed back down the tunnel and into our dressing rooms. Just before Coach Ferguson was about to begin his postgame spiel, Serena and Amy walked into ourdressing roomlooking likean ordinary pair of Japanese tourists in jeans, long-sleeved shirts, jackets, and dual-team scarves. I sat up straight, wondering what sort of rave review was coming our way.

"Oh, Miss Tsukino, Miss Anderson, would you like to do the honors? I don't know if I can quite find the words at the moment." He said, giving a kindly grin to both of them.

Serena stepped forward, and all of us got quiet-as E. L. Konigsberg would have said, "Just. Like. That."

She smiled brightly at us before opening her mouth and saying loud and clear, "No mistake about it, you guys are going to walk away tonight heroes, every one of you." She pointed at each of us as she spoke to reinforce her point. And no mistake about it, Amy and I are as proud as we can be to get to fight alongside you and see you bite the bullet and come through. Competition titles may have to be defended, but nobody will be able to take away what you did tonight."

The room erupted as Serena smiled and clapped, and we allowed ourselves a round of applause amongst ourselves.

"Sir?" Serena asked, turning to Coach Ferguson.

"Well, team," He began, grinning broadly, "I can't tell you how proud you've made me as well. All I have to say is get out of here, celebrate a bit, and meet back here at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning for a debriefing."

 

Roy, who had been absent for a whilejumped into the center of the room, lugging a large ice-filled pail of what looked like beer. “You heard the man. Who's up for a bottle of Carlsberg?”

The players whooped and each of them, except David and me, got a bottle out of the bucket.

 

“Go for it, but be careful not to get smashed! We still have games to play!” I yelled, grinning and feeling thankful for the last fact. I don't plan on drinking much at all when I get older. “Do you have any soda, Roy?”

“Yes, I happen to have some.” He tossed Serena, Amy, David, and me a bottle of Pepsi each. “One of the lads I saw for the drinks told me you might be wanting this.”

The five of us looked at each other and grinned. The four of us with Pepsis each gratefully took a sip before I removed my shirt to reveal my undershirt and slumped against the lockers, drained but elated.

 

“David!” I heard a female voice shout in a British accent.

“Hey, who's…” I started to ask, then I heard David give a shout of delight.

"Victoria!"

The name hit that spot inside that makes one stand straight up, no matter how tired he or she is.

Serena recovered her voice first. "Posh! Oh, my gosh!" She and Amy exclaimed that last part together.

"No way!" I said, my mouth hanging open.

The next thing I knew, though, the former Victoria Adams (Posh Spice) was running into our dressing room and almost knocking David off his feet with a bear hug.

"Oh, my God!" I yelled. "Hey, look who's here?"

"What the—" Ryan said momentarily, and then upon seeing Victoria, he broke into a wide grin. "Oy, look who just arrived!"

A commotion for David and Victoria ensued, but Serena was able to rescue them when she approached them just a minute later.

 

“Uh, Becks, Posh…” Serena asked the two of them.

“Yes?” David and Victoria asked, looking up at her.

“Could I have your autographs?” Serena asked, still in a timid voice as she held out a notepad and a pen.

 

David and Victoria seemed surprised at having the girl who was really Sailor Moon and the Moon Kingdom Princess ask them for autographs as if she was just another ultra-shy female fan, but a smile broke out on their faces. “Sure, Serena.” He said, and he got the notepad and signed a page, then handed it back and asked, “Can I have yours and Amy's autographs?”

 

“Sure!” Serena and Amy said, likewise smiling at the thought that this was the Team England captain, the man of the hour, and perhaps the most popular athlete in the world asking them for autographs as he handed them his United jersey shirt. Once they had signed it, I asked David eagerly, “Could I see it?”

“Absolutely.” David said.

 

When he handed it to me, I took one look at it and said in a tremulous voice, “Oh, man!” Below the right edge of the Vodafone sponsor label, Serena and Amy had respectively signed David's jersey “Sailor Moon” and “Sailor Mercury” in neat cursive signatures.

“Do you mind if you and Amy sign mine, too?” I asked eagerly.

“Not a problem—if we could please have your autograph first.” Serena said, grinning.

“Definitely.” I replied, grinning.

Amy grinned back and asked, “Do you want us to sign in the same place?”

“Yes, please.” I said.

Once we had exchanged autographs, I folded my shirt especially carefully and then looked up to see Roy with a bottle of Carlsberg in one hand and his shirt in the other. “Could I have your autographs, too?” What's more, Ryan and Gary were standing right behind him.

“I had a feeling that was going to happen once you got up there!” I told Roy as a smile spread over my face.

Once I had also gotten David's and Victoria's autographs,Gary plopped down next to me and said, "I tell you, what a night, eh?"

"You got that right." I said fervently, taking another long sip of Pepsi.

"You know, I was the chap who was with David when he realized he really fancied Posh." He said.

"Really?" I asked, extremely interested. Suddenly reminded of Serena and Amy being beseiged by the rest of the United team, though, I changed my tone and said, "Probably not the time."

"Don't worry about it." He replied. "It's not as if the Negaverse will interrupt it, right?"

We both burst out laughing.

 

Our driver passed us copies of the London Times extra published right after the battle. The headlines were absolutely screaming:

 

Otherworldly!—United, Juventus, Sailor Scouts team up to sink Negaverse in colossal battle at Wembley

The Moon, Mercury, and Stars—Profiles of the 2 warrior princesses and 22 knights who were all that stood between us and annihilation

Smooth Sailing—United, Juventus players alike quick to praise Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury; Butt likens Sailor Moon to “a young Margaret Thatcher”

The Red Guard—Premiership well represented as United electrify England and put Beryl to the sword

Juventus' Gladiators—Battling Bianconeri do Turin, Serie A proud

The Lads Who Fought At Home—Three Lions regulars Becks, Scholes, Ferdinand, Butt, Nevilles deliver with England's fate resting on them

Men Among Boys—Former classmates Santos, Dibari produce key performances beyond their years

 

When I got back into my hotel room after fighting with the rest of the team through a madhouse reception in the lobby of the Savoy, I let myself fall on my back on the bed and just lay there for a minute or so just savoring the moment and letting it all soak in as cheers still sounded from outside. Then I flipped BBC News on, changed into my pajamas, and hit the sheets while seeing what people were saying about us.

Oh, man, what a night!

And the crazy thing was that even though the Negaverse threat had been blown away, the ride still wasn't over yet.

 

In the next chapter: “Kicking It & Silverware”

Why the extra crystals and the extra transformations? Whatever happened to Mina and Arsenal Ladies in Frankfurt? What else are the teams getting for their performance against the Negaverse? What does Serena think is the best way to lead? All is answered the day after the showdown as Carlo hangs out with Amy, Ryan, David, Serena, Filippo, Alessandro, Edgar, and a few others. Apparently, the Wembley victory wasn't the only win of its kind that night in Europe that was being celebrated as the teams get the results of the Frankfurt clash involving Sailor Venus and Arsenal Ladies. Translation: Mina, Leanne Champ, and Ellen Maggs enter the picture while Carlo is reunited with someone who has been his classmate since middle school. Also, the Scouts invite the teams to an awards ceremony at Buckingham Palace and FIFA announces big celebration plans.

 

Author's Soundtrack Suggestions:

 

Original Version (songs released before April/May 2003):

 

Lose Yourself (Theme From 8 Mile)—Eminem

“You better lose yourself in the music, the moment,

You want it—you better never let it go!

You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow,

This opportunity comes once in a lifetime, yo…”

From the soundtrack to 8 Mile. If this doesn't get you fired up for a big game, I don't know what does.

 

Brave, True, and Strong (Amy's Theme)—Artist unknown

“And the rest that I should ask

Only God can grant me:

To be brave, to be strong, to be true…”

This is from the 2002 World Cup album. I can easily see this as Amy's theme, as her volume of the Sailor Moon Scout Guide reveals her motto as “Be noble, be honest, be pure.”

 

Bringing The World Back Home (Serena's Theme)—Artist unknown

“If you got a dream, you won't dream alone,

`Cause we're in this together, whether we stand or fall,

Make it through the storm, then we'll overcome

And you know that I won't dream on my own, `cause we're bringing the world back home…”

This is also from the 2002 World Cup album. This is Serena's theme in my opinion because it talks about perseverance and “and just remember/when all hope is gone/the darkest hour is dark before dawn”, which I really think reflects Serena's personality.

 

She Moves (La La La—Love To Infinity Mix—Sailor Scout Theme)—Karaja

From the 2003 Ministry of Sound American annual, it has lyrics featured in this chapter.

 

Modern Version:

 

Virgo—Ludacris & Nas

“Baby girl, won't you come and hold my hand

Won't you come and chill out with the Virgo?

Hey, girl, just come and hold my hand

Won't you come and just chill with the Virgo…”

This is from Ludacris' 2004 album The Red Light District. Ever wonder what a moonie with a street attitude dreams of singing/rapping about Amy? Because she's touted by some as the quintessential Virgo, this is my guess.

 

(I Need A) Soldier (Sailor Scout Recruitment Call)—Destiny's Child featuring T.I & Lil' Wayne

“If your status ain't hood, I ain't checkin' for him,

Better be street if he lookin' at me

I need a soldier that ain't scared to stand up for me

And only carry big things if you know what I mean

As you may know, this is from Destiny's Child's 2004 smash reunion album Destiny Fulfilled. I can imagine this playing in the background in the scene where Amy's in the locker room with United just before Juventus has its first battle (see Chapter 3.)