Note: The character of ‘Deshi’ and ‘Denchu’ are the property of the Soldier page.
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Land of the Free, Chapter 4: Recruitment
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There’s a strange, yet dubious distinction about living in the last true refuge of humanity. For starters, most of the human species is gone, and is essentially endangered. Second, there is a good chance not everyone will be happy. Third, the city that houses the last remnants of the species could be crowded. Fourth, there is the very scary possibility that the forces that drove humanity to the brink of extinction could get in and finish the job. This is what Ash Ketchum, RPM Red Power Ranger—who had de-morphed, was showing newcomer Jimmy McAndrew. Well, the crowded and hopeless, part, anyway.
“Jeez, you’d find more cheer at a funeral,” Jimmy said to
himself as Ash showed him the slum area of
“They should be happy they’ve survived,” Ash said. “But due to the fact that not only have many of them lost loved ones, they may never see their homes again and are essentially stuck in a foreign land, the crowded conditions and the possibility they may meet their demise weighs heavily on their minds, they feel helpless, scared and depressed. Plus, this area is rife with disease. But don’t worry, you’ll be fine.”
“Holy shit,” Jimmy whispered to himself. He didn’t know about all this, not one bit. An older woman, wearing a sari staggered up to him, pleading in a foreign language. Jimmy could not understand what she was saying, and tried to get her off of him. Eventually he did, but the sight of the woman crying and pleading in her native language was enough to give Jimmy a nightmare tonight. “So what’s the point of this?” Jimmy asked.
“You’ll see,” Ash replied. Jimmy wasn’t too happy about Ash’s tight lips.
“You know, if you don’t tell me,” he began. “I might just reconsider this offer you’re giving me; especially since I don’t remember you being like this.”
“I’ve always been compassionate,” Ash said. “This is just the first time you’ve ever seen it.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Jimmy replied as he caught up with him. “What I meant is, I don’t remember you being this mature.”
“Like I said,” Ash replied. “Times have changed. I’m not that enthusiastic kid anymore. But this is enough. I can tell you’re not too crazy about staying here much longer.”
“You can say that again,” Jimmy replied. “I hate to say it, but let’s get out of here.”
“Fair enough,” Ash replied.
“I just hope the apocalypse hasn’t turned you into an asshole,” Jimmy said. Ash only stifled his laugh as the two left the slum area. It may not seem appropriate, but that’s what happened, anyway.
--
A while later, Ash showed Jimmy around the downtown area of
Cerulean—well,
“Well, not completely,” Ash said. “I’m just letting you know about the bad side.”
“And what does that have to do with your little offer?” Jimmy asked.
“You’ll see,” Ash said. “Like I was saying, most people try to live their lives as best they can; even the people originally from Cerulean who had to deal with the influx of refugees coming into their city.”
“So the city annexed Vermilion to handle the refugees?” Jimmy asked.
“Correct,” Ash replied. “As you can see, though, it didn’t work out too well. Much like the people in the slums, many of the citizens—not all, not doubt—are afraid of orc attacks. On occasion, the barrier—”
“Barrier?” Jimmy asked. “What barrier?”
“Oh, I forgot to mention,” Ash said. “Just before the orcs entered the city two years ago, Sailor Moon set up a barrier to protect the city using her Silver Crystal. Doing so cost her powers, though.”
“Sailor Moon?” Jimmy asked. “So did that sailor girl have anything to do with her?”
“Probably,” Ash said.
“So the barrier is a mile outside the city right?” Jimmy asked. “Because I think I felt traveling through it.”
“The barrier does its job to protect us… most of the time,” Ash said. “On occasion, it will fail and—what now?” He turned around to see Jimmy trying to comprehend just what Ash said.
“I’m sorry, but you said the barrier will fail on occasion,” he said. “Why does it fail? I though the Silver Crystal was all-powerful or something. How the hell can a barrier set up by the Silver Crystal fail!?”
“I don’t know why!” Ash replied with some anger on his tone. Jimmy recoiled, thinking he’d said something wrong. “Maybe the crystal’s powers were drained before the barrier was set up? All I know is that when the barrier fails, orcs will occasionally get in.”
“That’s not exactly good enough,” said Jimmy. “And how do the orcs get in if the dome is sealed?”
“They will force the gates open,” Ash replied. “One of our gates is still being repaired from an orc battering ram.”
“Yeesh,” said Jimmy. “Now that is
something I can believe.”
“And sometimes an infiltrator will lower the shields and open the gates,” Ash said. “That’s why you were arrested, because they thought you were an infiltrator--even though it still wasn’t justified.”
“The colonel said that if he found out who approved my arrest, heads were gonna roll,” said Jimmy. Then, he remembered what Ash said before. “Wait, infiltrators?”
“That’s what I just said,” said Ash. “They take the form of regular humans. They must have gotten in before the barrier went up at first. They also probably get it when the barrier fails. As you can guess, there have been some unfortunate instances of McCarthyism.”
“I’ll bet,” said Jimmy. “Have any been caught?”
“On occasion,” said Ash. “They’re usually caught in the act of lowering the city shields. Too bad the barrier is usually strong when they try that.”
“Dumbasses,” said Jimmy. It was then that he looked behind him. He noticed someone who seemed to be watching them. The person was a pretty boy with black hair. From what it seemed, he’d been following them for sometime. Either that or Jimmy was being paranoid. Jimmy tapped Ash’s shoulder and said, “Check out that guy behind us--the one with the black hair.”
Ash looked behind him, noticing the person Jimmy was talking about. He was looking to the left, as if he knew they knew he was following them. Ash’s face turned to one of concern. If that guy was listening in on the conversation, it would be possible he could expose their secret. Even worse, he could have been one of the infiltrators he had just been talking about with Jimmy. It was time for the two to take some evasive action. “On my signal,” he said. “We run.”
“Um, okay,” Jimmy said. Ash stayed silent for one minute. Jimmy glanced back, noticing the black-haired guy still following them. And from what it looked like, he was certainly watching them.
“Now,” Ash said. Just then, Ash and Jimmy broke into a run to evade the black-haired guy. Sure enough, he ran after them, trying to catch them. It confirmed the possibility that he was certainly following them. The two were bumping into people on the street, making it difficult to fully evade this guy. They had to take a detour, ducking into an alleyway while they were shielded by a wall of people. Their adrenaline faded, and they pressed their backs against the wall, hoping to not be noticed. It worked, and the black-haired guy ran past them. Ash sighed in relief, noting they had lost him.
He continued to run, trying to find the two. If not, his mission would be a failure. But this crowd was not helping, and the sheer volume of people was allowing his targets to escape. Finally, he reached a thin part of the crowd and found—nothing. He had failed. His superiors would not be pleased when they found out he had lost his targets. No matter, he’d find them again some day.
“I think we lost him,” said Ash.
“I wonder what his deal was,” Jimmy said as the two emerged from the alley.
“I think he might be an infiltrator,” Ash said. Jimmy looked at Ash with a worried look on his face. He didn’t seem to be too thrilled about being chased by an infiltrator. “Come on, let’s get out here before he gets back,” Ash said. If they went the same direction they were going earlier, they would have run into him again—so they went the opposite direction.
Trying to stay calm while there’s the possibility you’re
being followed is nerve-wracking. Jimmy was not paranoid in any way, but he felt
this is what it must feel like to be paranoid—even though he always taunted
paranoid people. Even worse, the man may have been an infiltrator. “So then,”
Ash said as he turned around. By now, they were sure they had lost the guy
following them. “Come to my condo tomorrow at
“How come?” Jimmy asked. “Is it—”
“No, no that,” Ash replied. “It has to do with my offer.”
“Oh,” said Jimmy. “So why go to your condo then?”
“You’ll see,” Ash replied. “Here’s the address.” He gave Jimmy a card, showing him the address for the condo Ash lived at. Now Jimmy would easily find this place. But, there was something else he needed to ask.
“Um, I don’t have a place to stay tonight, so if you wouldn’t mind—”
“Forget it,” Ash said, cutting him off. “I only have one bedroom in there. And the couch is no place to sleep.”
“Oh, shit,” said Jimmy. Well, tomorrow would be interesting, that’s for sure. And with this deal he had Ash were talking about, it was going to be even more interesting. But although they had ditched the gut following them earlier, there was someone else watching from the shadows…
--
The next day, around
Jimmy nervously knocked on the door of Ash Ketchum’s condominium. He wasn’t nervous when he woke up this morning, but now he could feel his stomach tied up in a constrictor knot. What was making him so nervous?
Ash, meanwhile, was calm as a lake on a clear summer day--comparatively speaking, of course. But, he was still calm when he heard the door knock. “That must be him,” he said as he got up from the kitchen table, Pikachu following closely. The door knocked again. “I’m coming!” He shouted as he went to the door. Once he opened it, he noticed Jimmy with a surprised look on his face, as if he wasn’t expecting Ash open the door as quickly as he did. “Welcome,” he said. “Come on in.”
Jimmy did so, taking off his cowboy hat that he was still wearing as well as his rocker jacket. “So how’d the night go?” Ash asked.
“Not bad,” said Jimmy. “The good Colonel let me sleep at a firehouse as a way of saying sorry.”
“Sounds good,” said Ash. “Did you get your car back?”
“No,” he replied with a sour look on his face. “If there’s a scratch on Ol’ Mike, I’m gonna kill someone.”
“Let’s not concentrate on that,” Ash said. He took Jimmy’s
jacket and cowboy hat and hung them up in his closet. He noticed Jimmy was
wearing a blue
“Yeah,” Jimmy replied. “Arthur isn’t too far from Champaign-Urbana, so my dad and I would go to Illini football and basketball games from time to time.”
“I see,” said Ash. “So I’m guessing you’re wondering what this is all about.”
“You’re damn right I am,” Jimmy replied. “What the hell is this about?”
“Okay, then,” said Ash. “What you are about see, no one has seen before--except me, of course.” He then gestured for Jimmy to come with him before coming to a door with a keypad on it. He made Jimmy turn around and then pressed a few buttons on the keypad before several green lights flashed, meaning he had gotten access. When he opened the door, he beckoned for Jimmy to follow him. What they saw next could only be summed up by Jimmy’s single, amazed word:
“Whoa.”
In front of him was a small area that looked like a storage area. It was mostly empty, save for a row of locker-like structures, which housed five strange-looking costumes. All five of them were in separate colors; red, blue, yellow, green and black. The room also had a few computers in it. Those computers showed images of strange-looking vehicles and weapons. Needless to say, Jimmy was impressed. “Where did all this stuff come from?” Jimmy asked.
“It came from me, monsieur.” A sudden voice came, scaring Jimmy. The young man shouted in surprise before looking at a screen. An eccentric-looking man with a white handlebar mustache and coke bottle eyeglasses appeared on screen. He was clearly older than Ash and Jimmy, probably close to 60. “Oh, moi défenses,” he said. Jimmy looked at the man in a confused manner. “Oh, I said, ‘I am sorry’.”
“Um, that’s okay,” Jimmy said. “Who are you?”
“My name is Professor Équipement-être-à-la-tête-de.” Jimmy looked confused.
“What?” He asked.
“Oh, I am sorry, monsieur,” he said. “But it is
French for ‘Gearhead’. Monsieur Ketchum just
refers to me as that, Professor Gearhead.”
“Oh, that’s nice,” said Jimmy. “So what’s this about?”
“Very well then,” he replied in his thick French accent. His image was replaced by a picture of a man wearing a robotic exoskeleton. “Four years ago, my colleagues and I were involved in a project developing exo-skeletal robotic suits to amplify human strength and speed. We were attempting to harness the human body’s natural electrical output to prolong the suit’s battery life when we had a breakthrough.” The image changed to that of a globe and a colored grid-like force surrounding the globe. “It was the discovery of a universal bio-electric field—and unseen energy grid that connects the life force of all living things. Manipulating this field led to unimagined advancements in technology. Including these,” The lockers on the other wall lit up, revealing the suits. Jimmy and Ash looked over at the wall. “… The Ranger Prototype Series Covert Infantry Bio-Suits.”
“Right,” said Jimmy, slightly unimpressed. “Because nothing says covert like bright Red, Blue, and Yellow spandex,” he said sarcastically. Professor Gearhead didn’t seem too happy. In fact, he lost it.
“ZAT EES NOT SPANDEX!!!” Professor Gearhead shouted, catching Jimmy slightly off guard.
“Sorry,” said Ash. “But Professor Gearhead can get pretty defensive if people call it spandex.”
“The material is a self-assembling nano-fiber formed with an inter-cellular sheet memory alloy,” said Professor Gearhead in matter-of-factly tone of voice.
“My mistake,” said Jimmy. “Now is that machine washable or dry-clean only?”
“You’ve seen this in action,” he said. “You know what it can do.”
“Oh, very nice,” said Jimmy. “So what does this have to do with me, again?”
“Jimmy,” Ash said. “I must admit. I need help.”
“That’s a strange thing to hear coming out of you,” said Jimmy. Ash continued on, ignoring him.
“I’m only one person. When I first came across this technology, I was unimpressed at first. But then I tried it and found out it was the best thing to happen to me since I got Pikachu. But that’s not the point. The point is I’m only one person trying to make a difference. You saw what happened yesterday. I could barely handle those orcs.” He walked up to Jimmy, getting close to his face. “I need more team members. I can’t do it alone forever; otherwise the orcs will overrun me and then the city.”
“Well then good luck,” Jimmy said as he walked past him. “But find someone else to be your next ‘ranger’. I’m not cut out to be your… whatever color it is you want me to be. I’m no hero.”
“You survived five months in the Wastes,” said Ash. “That’s pretty qualified, Jimmy. And I saw you fight yesterday. Sure, you’re a little sloppy, but that can be fixed.” He stood in front of Jimmy, blocking his exit from the room. “Please, Jimmy. Help me out. I can’t do this alone forever. I need help.”
“Like I said,” find it somewhere else,” Jimmy said as he pushed Ash aside. Ash had a desperate look on his face. Then he remembered the tour of the city yesterday.
“Do you remember that tour I gave you yesterday?” He said. That got Jimmy’s attention. Jimmy stopped, clearly listening. Ash smiled. Now was the time to make his move. “Do you know why I showed you all that? So that you’ll know what you’ll be fighting for.” He walked up to Jimmy. “We’re the last city on the face of the Earth. The last remnants of humanity save for those small towns, nomads and pirates you talked about. If we fall, the human species as a whole falls. Do you want to see that happen?” He could not see Jimmy’s face, but it was clear the Midwesterner was deep in thought. There were a few silent minutes, but they were not tense in the least, simply ones of thought. “Please, Jimmy,” he said. “Do it for them. Do it for the masses. For those people who have no hope. For those who lost it, for those who are looking for hope. Please.” It was then that Jimmy turned around. No longer did he have a cocky look on his face. It was now one of a hero. One that heroes have no matter what the situation they were in. As if he wanted to make a difference. At that point, Jimmy said,
“I’m in.” Ash smiled. His plan worked. Then Jimmy said, “Just one question: do I get to pick my own color?”
“Do I get to pick my own as well?” Another voice said coming from outside the room. The two turned around in surprise, caught off guard by the suddenness of said voice. For Ash, there was more of a sense of urgency, as the voice sounded familiar. He rushed into his living room to see—
“May!?” He said. “What are you doing here!?” Sure enough, there was his old friend May sitting on his couch, petting Pikachu. She looked at him with a smile. It was then that Ash realized the worst part. “Were you listening the whole time!?”
“Yep,” she said. “Including the ‘ZAT EES NOT SPANDEX’ part. That was funny!”
“It didn’t seem funny to me,” said Jimmy.
Ash, however, wasn’t thinking about the funny aspect, just what could happen if May exposed his secret. He had his face in his palm, thinking about what to do next. How was he going to keep her quiet? But there was also another question; how she knew about this. “How did you know?” He asked.
“I saw you transform in front of me yesterday,” she said. “And I overheard your conversation with Mr. McAndrew.” Ash silently groaned. When did she become nosy? “You know,” she said. “If you were trying to go for the gut with the ‘hopeless’ aspect, I suggest you try rewording what you said.”
“Just what is it that you want?” Ash asked.
“Me? Oh, let’s see here.” She put her index finger to her chin, as if deep in thought. But Ash could tell she was not really doing that. She already had a plan up her sleeve. “I want in. I want to be a Power Ranger.”
“For some reason, that was obvious,” Ash said. “So you’re blackmailing me?” He said that without even hearing what else she had to say.
“Pretty much, yeah,” she said. Ash rolled his eyes. He was clearly not pleased with the situation that May was presenting him with. But did he have any other choice?
“Professor Gearhead,” he said. “What do you think?”
“I saw the video of her fight with the orcs,” said Professor Gearhead. I think she can handle the suit, but she may need some tests to see if she can handle the suit.”
Ash stayed still for a few moments, thinking about the situation. There was a silence that lingered for a few minutes, which made May and Jimmy a little uneasy. Then, Ash looked up at May and said, “Do you think you can handle the suit?”
May smiled at Ash. “Of course I can,” she said.
“Saying you can is different from actually doing it,” said Ash.
“Ash, you saw me fight those orcs yesterday,” May said again. “I know I can handle that suit you talk about.”
“Do you want me to repeat myself?” Ash asked, his voice firm.
“No,” May replied, her voice just as firm. There was no way she was backing down, obviously; this should be obvious. “What do you want me to do?”
--
“Why did I have to ask?” May asked in between deep, exhausted breaths. No, you perverts, she did not do that. She and Jimmy had just gone through seven hours of vigorous and intense physical testing, which included some weight lifting, long distance running, which was pretty much half a marathon, reflex testing, and just about anything under the sun that anyone can think of. And yes, this was all done in seven hours. It may not seem like much to the reader, but to the two wanna-be Rangers, it felt like an eternity.
“Jesus,” said Jimmy, who was also out-of-breath. Both of them had collapsed on the floor of Ash’s condominium, both sweaty and beat. “I can barely move!”
“I can’t feel my legs!” May said. “Is this the physical test or did you turn into some kind of sadist, Ash?”
“That was what I had to deal with,” Ash said. “Of course, whether or not you’ve passed is another story. What do you think, Professor?”
“They seemed to be able to handle these situations,” Professor Gearhead said in response. “I believe these two are certainly worthy of the suits.”
“Yay,” Jimmy said weakly and sarcastically.
“Whoopee,” May said, also in the same manner. Both of them felt sore all over; literally all over, so there really wasn’t much to celebrate. They just hoped they wouldn’t die right then and there.
“I don’t think having them bond with their suits today would be a smart idea,” Professor Gearhead said. “We should wait until tomorrow when they are well-rested. Besides, I think they’re already asleep right now.”
“They are?” Ash asked. “How can you tell?”
“Because I can hear them snoring,” he said. Well, Ash did have to admit that Jimmy was snoring. “By the way, I know that he already denied it, but I scanned monsieur McAndrew for dark energy.”
“Did you find any?” Ash asked.
“No, I did not,” Professor Gearhead replied. “Monsieur McAndrew was telling the truth about not being an infiltrator. I also scanned Madame West. She’s also clear.”
“I just hope you’re going to share that scanner with the CDF,” Ash said.
“Non non non!” The professor shouted back. Ash rolled his eyes again. The professor’s stubbornness was going to kill everyone some day.
--
The next day…
Now May and Jimmy were fully rested from their tests the previous day. Of course, they were still sore in their arms, legs and chest. Yes, they were sore in their chest, but that’s not the point. They were now ready for the DNA bonding sequence with their new Ranger suits. They held their new Cell Shift Morphers in their right hands, ready to bond their DNA. They also held their Engine Cell morphing chips in their left hand. Ash stood in front of the two while Professor Gearhead watched on his screen. “DNA bonding sequence ready,” Professor Gearhead said.
“Are you two ready?” Ash asked.
“Ready,” Jimmy said.
“Ready,” said May.
“Engage!” Professor Gearhead said. The two inserted the chips into the Cell Shift Morphers and pressed a button on the morpher just above the keypad. The two were scanned by the morphers like a copy machine moving over them. Yes, that was a bad analogy. When the scan was finished, there was a flash of light that enveloped the two and when it faded, the two were left standing there in their new Ranger suits.
They were very much like Ash’s, except Jimmy’s was colored blue and May’s was yellow. The numbers were also different, with Jimmy’s suit symbol was a cross between a lion’s head and a numeral 2. May’s was similar, but a cross between a bear’s head and the numeral three. May’s suit also had a little skirt. The helmets were also different; with Jimmy’s helmet sporting a ‘mane’ on the crown and sides, with May’s having small (very small, almost unnoticeable) bear ears. The visor on Jimmy’s helmet was trapezoid-shaped save for a little indent in the middle for the ‘nose’ and May’s was oval-shaped, also with a ‘nose’.
“Whoa!” Jimmy said as he examined his suit. He held his hands up and clenched his fists in excitement saying, “This is awesome!”
“This feels amazing!” May said, also examining hers. “I can’t wait to put this thing to use!”
“You’ll get your chance, madame,” said Professor Gearhead. “Right now, there are no threats of any orc attacks.”
“Oh well,” said May. “That’s fine with me.”
“So what happens now?” Jimmy asked as he removed his helmet.
“Well we can’t go out and search for orcs,” said Ash. “We’ll have to wait until there is an orc attack. Also Jimmy and May, you must know this: You’re Power Rangers now. It is your job to protect this city. No matter what happens, you must remember: the people of this city depend upon you. Also, you cannot go back to the lives you led before.”
“Oh,” Jimmy said with a despondent tone. But then his next words surprised Ash. “Oh, well. At least it’s gonna be better than being a drifter out in the Wastes.”
“As long as the Midwesterner doesn’t get impatient,” May began. “We’ll be okay.”
--
At the former Cerulean Gym, Misty was having difficulty recruiting Deshi and Denchu to become Sailor Warriors. She had spent two days trying to get them to join her, but they wouldn’t do it. Apparently neither of them were interested in listening to her and would blow her off whenever she tried to explain the situation. What was worse was these two were freeloading off of her. Deshi, especially, since she had eaten all of Misty’s Oreos… cake… pizza… you get the point. Misty was getting impatient and she needed to convince these two to tell her the rest of the dream. But how was she going to do it? Well, she came up with the idea to get them to talk to her. They hadn’t really been talking much since they began living there, so she felt like making conversation… now. “Hey you two,” she said as they were watching TV.
“Hello,” said Deshi.
“Ugh,” Denchu grunted like a caveman.
“What are you two watching?” Misty asked, trying to make conversation; any kind of conversation. Both the girls wore her sisters’ old clothes. It was obvious, since they had come with only the t-shirt and jeans they were wearing for goodness-knows-how-long out in the Wastes.
“CNN,” said Deshi. “There’s nothing else on that’s any good.”
“Even though this is also bad,” said Denchu. “You’d think the last refuge of humanity would have something good on.”
“Except for reruns of old sitcoms?” Misty asked.
“They weren’t showing That ‘70s Show,” said Deshi. “I’d rather watch that.”
“I don’t think it’s on right now,” Misty said. “So what did you guys do before you got here?”
“Oh not much,” said Denchu. “We lived with a nomadic group for two years. Then we met Jimmy McAndrew and he drove us here, stopping at Area 51 along the way.”
“Jimmy McAndrew?” Misty asked. “Who’s he?”
“Some guy from
“So what else?” Misty asked. “What else did you do?”
“Hunted and gathered like primitive humans,” Denchu said. “And we stayed in an abandoned military base.”
“We also wondered,” Deshi said. “Why did Sailor Moon disappear after getting beat and why did all this happen after she was beaten? And how was she beaten? And how did the Silver Crystal lose its powers?”
Why Deshi said this, Misty did not know. But she smiled inside, knowing that she could now make her move to recruit the two of them. If these two were the next two Sailor Warriors, she could start here. “Well, it’s possible that whoever beat her and started this whole mess had some kind of weapon that weakened her, like Kryptonite.”
“Kryptonite?” Denchu asked. “How can that weaken her?”
“I think she means it as an example,” Deshi said. “Or an analogy.”
“I meant it as analogy,” said Misty. “But that’s my hypothesis on Sailor Moon’s defeat.”
“But what does her defeat have to do with our situation?” Deshi asked. “I still don’t get it.”
“Maybe it’s because with her out of the way whoever did this could run roughshod over the rest of the world?” Denchu asked.
“Well that I could sort of believe,” said Deshi. “But why did she disappear? Shouldn’t she have tried to do something anyway?”
“Well, if the drained power hypothesis is correct,” Misty began. “Then the fact she couldn’t do anything forced her into hiding. And maybe she was too ashamed to show her face after that.”
“But why would she?” Deshi asked. “She’s Sailor Moon! She should be more worried about the fate of the world than she does about her image.” Misty really didn’t have anything to say to that.
“I wonder if she regrets that,” Denchu said.
“Oh yes she does,” Misty said. Now she had not thought about that. That little sentence simply slipped out of her mouth… or did it? It certainly got Deshi and Denchu’s attention, as they were now looking at her with suspicious looks on their faces.
“Um, how did you know that?” Denchu asked. “Did you meet Sailor Moon or something?”
Misty had painted herself into the proverbial corner. She
had been hoping to get the girls to gradually realize that she was
“Well?” Deshi asked.
Misty knew it was time to come clean. Well, she had been getting impatient with them, anyway. “Do you two remember anything about a Sailor Warrior?” She asked.
“Yeah,” Deshi said. “She wore blue
and she called herself ‘
“And she had the dumbest intro imaginable,” Denchu said. “In the name of the seas…”
“…I shall punish you!” Deshi
finished. The two girls snickered at the silliness of
“That’s nice,” she said sarcastically. “Anything else?”
“I think that’s it,” said Deshi. “How did she become a Sailor Warrior? It thought they were gone.” This was harder than it should be.
“Well from what you say, they’re not,” said Misty. “There’s more than those original Sailor Warriors.”
“How do you know?” Denchu asked. “Oh wait, we just told you.”
“Not exactly,” Misty said. It was time to fess up and give
them clues to her identity. “There are five new Sailor Warriors. Their powers
are based on the elements; Water, Fire, Thunder, Flora and Darkness.
“How do you know this?” Denchu
asked. “How did—” Suddenly, it hit her. Yes, it was that easy. “You were
“I didn’t tell you because you weren’t interested!” Misty said. “I would try to tell you, but you never cared!”
“Well now you tell us!” Deshi said. Misty had to hold herself back from and outburst right there. They just didn’t get it!
“I said—oh, never mind!” She quickly gave up trying to explain her point. So, she decided to take a different approach. “So do you want to know how I know there’s four more Sailor Warriors to be found?” Misty asked.
“How do you know?” Deshi asked. “Did you actually talk to her?”
“Well, kind of,” Misty said. Deshi’s eyebrow raised a la Stephen Colbert. “I… met her in a dream.”
There was a silence that filled the room, with the exception of the TV. Deshi and Denchu stared at Misty as though she just admitted she had done something incredibly shocking that the incredibly stupid author can’t even come up with a good analogy. It was a few minutes before the two blondes began to snicker before breaking into full-blown laughter. Misty felt positively foolish right now and placed her face in her hands. Like it was said, there was no word to say how stupid she felt.
“A dream?” Deshi asked. “Who do you think you are, a cult leader?”
“I think you’re nuts,” said Denchu. “A dream? You have got to be kidding me! Well, this book is already a train wreck, so I guess I’ll hear your story.”
“You don’t have to insult it like this,” Misty said. “It’s not that bad.”
“If this was a book, then the writer’s an idiot,” Denchu said. “But like I said, I’ll hear your story.”
“Okay then,” said Misty. “In my dream, I’m on the moon,” she sat down, since she wasn’t going anywhere. “There’s this palace and a voice calls me to enter it. I follow it and find a room with five sphere-shaped gems. There, Princess Serenity herself met me.”
“Okay, I’ve had enough!” Denchu said as she got up from the couch. “I’m sorry Misty, but that’s just ridiculous, just like this story, if this happened to be one!”
“Sorry Misty,” said Deshi. “But it’s just silly.” She said this as she got up as well and she and Denchu left the room, leaving Misty alone and feeling stupid. Her plan to get the two girls to talk about their dream backfired and now all she could do stand there wondering if she made a mistake on the identity of the new Sailor Warriors.
“Marril!” At least her Marril wouldn’t go hard on her.
“Thanks Marril,” Misty said. “I just wish they would listen.”
Although Denchu had no interest in Misty’s story, Deshi felt bad about leaving while Misty was telling her story. It did, after all, seem to sound like her dream.
--
Later that night, the two free—sorry, guests—went to bed. They slept in Misty’s sisters’ old rooms, which Misty was using as guest rooms. And yes, they did wear her sisters’ old pajamas. The two were also too tired to have a conversation like they usually did before they arrived in Cerulean. Instead, the both of them just fell asleep… okay, so the ‘no conversation’ thing was stretching the truth. They did have a little exchange. “You know, I think it was rude to interrupt Misty,” Deshi said. “Maybe we should have listened. I mean, it did sound like ours.”
“I don’t care,” said Denchu. “I’m just not interested. Good night.”
“But Denchu—”
“I said good night!” Deshi groaned in exasperation. Denchu may have been her best friend, but she could be so damn stubborn sometimes. She had no other choice but to lay her head down and go to sleep.
She was awoken sometime later when she felt something step on to her legs. The things that were stepping on her felt small like a cat’s paws. Which is just what she saw when she woke up slowly and sat up; a black cat with red eyes and a gold crescent moon on its forehead; and it was staring at Deshi. “Oh hello kitty,” she said. The cat stayed silent. “What are you doing here? Are you lost?” Still, the cat stayed there, looking at her. She started to get a little uneasy with the cat staring at her. She glanced over to her left to see a white cat hop up on Denchu’s bed. It was then that she realized there was something different about that cat. But when she turned her head back to the black cat, there was a sudden flash of light coming from the cat’s crescent moon on its forehead.
The next thing she knew, she found herself in a great hall. Where, she did not know, but it seemed vaguely familiar. It was like a place she had been before. It was a grand hall, in an arch. The hall was made of pure white marble or whatever that was, and there were gold crescent moon symbols everywhere. What this had to do with the cat, she wasn’t sure. Speaking of which, she saw the black cat right in front of her. The cat stared at her for a few seconds before apparently gesturing to her to follow. “Wait, kitty!” She called as she ran after it.
The cat led her through the halls in a wild cat chase. Yes, that was a bad joke. Everytime she got close to the cat it would run off to some unknown place. She didn’t really get to see much of the building she was in, mainly since she was focused on the cat. That is, until, she came across a vast field of flowers. Her fixation on the cat was broken as soon as she saw it. There was every species of flower she could think of right in that garden. The sight of it all was made even more amazing when she looked up in the sky and noticed—
“Is that the Earth!?” She said to herself. It was then that it hit her that this was indeed not only the same dream or whatever it was that she had, but the one Misty had, as well. Deshi felt incredibly stupid. It was then she noticed the cat again, standing behind her. “Just take me to wherever you want me to go,” she said. The cat seemed to comply and seemed walked away from her while she followed the cat.
For goodness-knows-how-long Deshi followed the cat through the halls of the palace, wondering just where the cat was leading her. Instead of having to chase the cat, she was being led to wherever it wanted her to go. Judging from Misty’s dream, it was probably leading her to Princess Serenity herself or those five gems Misty was talking about.
Her question was partially answered when the cat lead her to a large door somewhere deep in the palace. Even though she didn’t know much about Misty’s dream since she didn’t hear all of it, she speculated this might be where the five elemental gems were.
Suddenly, she noticed another cat, this one white with green eyes. This must have been the cat that hopped up on Denchu’s bed walked past her and sat down next to the black cat in front of the door. It wasn’t too long before Denchu herself showed up. “I guess you’re going to be eating your own words now,” Deshi said.
“I guess I’ll have to eat them with salt and pepper then,” she replied. The cats turned to the door and the door itself opened with a loud creak. The cats then padded inside, and Deshi and Denchu followed the cats, since this was most likely where Misty said these gems were.
The room was mostly dark, save for a lone light shining from a skylight at the other end of the room. There was an altar in the distance, which they suspected may have been where the gems were. The cats seemed to confirm this, as they ran to the altar, so the two indeed followed them. When they reached the altar, Misty’s story was confirmed. Although in this case, there were four spherical gems. The one that was missing must have been Misty’s gem, since it was probably the Water gem. The ones left were apparently the Thunder, Fire, Flora and Darkness gems. Why they had a Darkness gem, neither of them knew. The cats leapt up onto the altar and perched themselves there. It must have been time for the two to pick their gems. “Well Deshi,” Denchu said. “Which one do you want?”
“Um,” she seemed to be unsure, which is probably justified since this is a life-changing decision. “I think I like the red one with the little flame thingy on it.”
“A ‘flame thingy’?” Denchu asked. “Well, I do like the one with the lightning bolt on it.”
“Well then, it’s decided,” Deshi said. “I’ll take the one with the flame on it, you’ll take the one with the lightning bolt on it.”
“Got it,” Denchu replied. The two grabbed the gems and prepared to lift them. “Are you ready?”
“Ready,” Deshi replied. “On the count of three, we both take them; one, two, THREE!” The two removed the gems at the exact same time.
Suddenly, the two were enveloped by two beams of light. The both of them felt an influx of energy that felt better than anything they had ever felt before. Soon, the light was gone. Expecting a change, they looked down to see…
“Holy shit!” Denchu said. She was wearing her new Sailor uniform, with a yellow color scheme. The ribbons were lighter yellow. Her boots were knee-high. Whether or not this was indeed a dream, she was very much starting to believe Misty’s story. She looked to her left to see… someone wearing a Sailor uniform as well, but with a red color scheme, and her ribbons were orange and had the same height boots as her. Whoever this girl was, she was… whatever the word was. “Who are you?” Denchu asked.
“I should be asking you the same thing,” the other girl said. “Where did Denchu go?”
Wait, what? “But, I’m Denchu!” She said. The other girl’s eyes widened.
“Denchu?”
She asked. “So if you’re Denchu, then, oh, I feel
ridiculous!”
“Don’t be,” a sudden voice said. The two new Sailor Warriors turned quickly to the right to see a girl wearing an ornate white gown and a familiar hairstyle approached them. You should know who this is by now.
“Who are you!” Denchu demanded. “And what do you want?”
“Denchu!” Deshi said. “I’m sorry, but she can be a little impatient.”
“I see,” Serenity said. “I also see you’ve met Luna and Artemis.” She walked over to the cats and stroked the black one. “They guided you here.”
“Much like they did with Misty I guess,” Deshi said. “By the way, we have some questions.”
“Like what?” Serenity asked.
“Well, like why you chickened out on humanity?” Denchu asked. The question did not make serenity happy. Of course, that’s not what Denchu wanted to do.
“I am not a coward,” Serenity said. “I was forced to essentially abdicate my position as Sailor Moon. Of course, this allowed a new generation of Sailor Warriors to come forward. And you two are part of that.”
“Wow, new Sailor Warriors,” Denchu said. “That’s original.”
Serenity of course, did not like it one bit. “The sarcasm is unnecessary,” she said. “Do you have any other questions?”
“How does your defeat have anything to do with our situation?” Deshi asked.
“Everything!” Serenity replied. “If I wasn’t defeated, you two wouldn’t be here.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Deshi replied. “I meant how does your defeat have anything to do with the apocaplyse?”
“You should have figured that out by now,” Serenity replied. “Because of that, I will not answer your question.”
“Then how were you defeated?” Denchu asked. “And how did the Silver Crystal get so weak?”
Serenity’s face went downcast immediately. “I… would rather not discuss it,” she said. Whatever it was, it must have been bad enough that she apparently had no intention of talking about. “Why don’t you ask another question?” She did have no intention to talk about it.
“Okay then,” Deshi said. “How do we transform?”
“That I can answer,” Serenity said. “In order to transform, you must wield your transformation stick and shout you’re the name of your element, followed by ‘power’ and ‘make-up’. When you do that, you will transform.”
“What about the red guy?” Denchu asked.
“You mean the Red Ranger?” Serenity asked. Denchu nodded in response. “I’m not sure about him.”
“Then what about those other two gems?” Deshi asked.
“That is part of your mission,” Serenity said. “You must find the last two Sailor Warriors.”
“That’s not as easy as it sounds,” said Denchu.
“I know,” said Serenity. “But I believe you can succeed.”
“So now what?” Deshi asked.
“All I ask is that you recite an oath of allegiance,” Serenity said. Deshi and Denchu seemed to balk at this part. They weren’t exactly crazy about swearing an oath of allegiance to her. “I am sorry,” Serenity said. “I suppose you are not comfortable with this prospect.”
“Yeah,” said Denchu. “But I suppose we could do it anyway.”
“Denchu, are you sure?” Deshi asked. “Because if we do—“
“We’ve already become Sailor Warriors, haven’t we?” Denchu asled. “We might as well do it.”
There were no other words spoken between them. The look on Denchu’s face told her best friend all she needed to know; that she had accepted her destiny and was embracing it like a lover. Deshi herself nodded, as she was ready to embrace her destiny as well. It was then the two knelt before Serenity. “We’re ready,” Deshi said.
Serenity nodded. “Then repeat after me. “I will.”
“I will,” they repeated in
unison.
“Do my best as a Sailor Warrior,”
“Do my best as a Sailor
Warrior,”
“To protect humanity and my
princess as best I can,”
“To protect humanity and my
princess as best I can,”
“As Sailor Thunder,”
“As Sailor Thunder,” Denchu said.
“As Sailor Fire,”
“As Sailor Fire,” Deshi said.
“I will do my duty until my
princess release me,”
“I will do my duty until my
princess release me,”
“Or until death take me,”
“Or until death… take me,”
“Rise Sailors Thunder and Fire,”
Serenity said. The two did so and bowed before Princess Serenity. Serenity
smiled, not because they were bowing, but for a different reason. Whatever
reason it was, it was known only to her. “I know you both will succeed. Make
Cerulean proud.”
“We will,” said Denchu.
“You can count on us,” Deshi replied. It was then that the scene disappeared,
replaced by blackness.
--
RING! RING! RING! The next thing Deshi heard was
the sounds of the alarm clock, which was probably more annoying than any alarm
clock she had heard before. Slowly, the room came into view, and she remembered
where she was. She was in Misty Waterflower’s gym,
and it seemed the morning sun was peaking into the room. A quick glance to her
left told her that Denchu was still asleep. “Man, what a dream,” Deshi
said as she sat up. The short-haired girl put her hand to her forehead; not
because she had a headache, but because she was trying to remember what
happened in that dream. “Oh wait, that’s right!” She had just remembered that
she had actually met Sailor Moon and apparently became a Sailor Warrior. But
now the real question was: did it really happen? Well, that cat she saw before
she had that dream might have been part of it.
Denchu meanwhile, did not believe one bit of the dream, and that
was that.
A few minutes later, both girls
came into the living room still wearing the pajamas that belonged to Misty’s sisters. Misty herself was sitting on the couch
watching TV. Of course, she noticed the two had come down the stairs and turned
around. “Good morning,” she said with a smile on her face. “Did you two sleep
well?” Her hair was down and apparently, she was still wearing her pajamas.
“Strange,” said Deshi. “We had the strangest dream ever.”
“What happened?” Misty asked.
“I’m not sure,” Deshi said. “But I think we’re Sailor Warriors now.”
“Oh really?” Misty asked. It was then that she stood up and walked over
to the two. The two then saw a pair of cats, one black and one white. And yes,
their jaws practically hit the floor.
“Those were the cats in my dream!”
Deshi said.
“The same with my
dream!” Denchu
shouted. “What’s going on?”
“Oh, so you already met them,” Misty
said. “The black one is named Luna. The white one is Artemis.”
“Oh, so you know their names?” Denchu asked sarcastically. “Did you find them or
something?”
“Actually, we told her.” Deshi and Denchu suddenly stopped
and stared at the cats with the most shocked looking faces imaginable.
“The
c-c-c-c-c-cat j-j-j-j-j-just t-t-t-t-t-t-TALKED!!!” Deshi stuttered. But a look on Misty’s face said something different. “Why aren’t you
surprised?”
“When you’ve seen the things I
have,” Misty said. “A talking cat really isn’t that surprising.”
“So what’s she here for?” Deshi asked, having calmed down a little.
“Artemis and I are here to advise
you,” Luna said. “Princess Serenity herself sent me. In fact, I’m an advisor to
her.”
“Serenity?” Deshi asked. “Does that mean…”
“Check your pocket,” Luna said.
The two immediately shoved their hands into their pajama pockets. Instantly,
they felt something in there and pulled them out. In their hands were two pen-like objects, each colored yellow and red; the yellow
one had a thunderbolt on it, and the red had a flame. Misty herself pulled hers
out, to show the girls. “You three are Sailor Warriors,” Luna said. “Your lives
will never be the same.”
“I think I figured that out by
now,” said Denchu.
“So what now?” Deshi asked.
“Now we have to not only protect
the city,” Misty began. “But we also have to find the last two Sailor
Warriors.”
“What about the Red Ranger?” Deshi asked. “Will he work with us?”
“I hope so,” Artemis said. “The
Red Ranger operates independently not only from us, but from the
“The
“When you said your oaths, you
swore allegiance to not only to Serenity, but to an ancient kingdom,” she said.
“A kingdom on the moon.”
“Oh, if only I was 21!” Denchu said. “I could get a drink!”
“Back to the Red Ranger,” Artemis
said. “He has his team to worry about. We hope he’ll work with us, but since he
and Misty got off to a bad start, we think he might not be too crazy about
working with us.”
“So we’re Sailor Warriors,” Denchu said. “Well, apart from the possibility we might get
killed, this doesn’t seem so bad.”
“I guess not,” said Misty.
“You three need to focus,” said
Luna. “The enemy could attack at any time, so be on guard.”
“Yeah, we know,” said Denchu. Luna nodded her head.
“Well, I guess I shouldn’t give
any more lectures,” Luna said. ‘But do you have any other questions?”
“Yeah, I have one,” Deshi said. “When do we get to see some action?”
--
End chapter
--
Again, if you have any questions,
feel free to contact me. But ask politely. Some of these questions, however,
will not be answered if they involve spoilers.
And sorry about the length, I just
got carried away. I’ll have the next chap up soon.