Third times the charm, they always say. Apparently, they're right. I'm feeling pretty charmed right now, atleast as charmed as Texas state law allows. Anyway, I bid thee welcome to the next exciting episode of those lovely young girls in excitingly short skirts. But, may yee be warned of several things: Dub names are being used with gratutious malpractice. Original characters destroying and frightening all sorts of things. This story is rated PG, because, well, it's not cute enough to be G. And last of all, your comments on this story are highly explosive and should be handled by a pro. Fortunately, I'm a pro, so send them on over before someone gets hurt! With that done, now it's that time again. It's dedication time, and this part is dedicated to DDFA for making me feel comfortable with my weirdness. Thanks for the drapes DDFA, they are gorgeous! -------------------------------------------------------- Terrible Things to Waste Part 3: Inquiry The sun slowly crept over the horizon, as Tracer passed by shops crammed together along the street. His long black bangs shielded his face from the incoming rays of the sun, as well as the bustling crowd of people off to work. He needed to concentrate on his main objective. He was the hunter and the Society was his prey, but the trail was cold. To pick it up, he needed to think like his quarry, anticipate their movements. Once he knew what they were after, he'd have a place to start. What would his prey want from this dimension? Perhaps they wanted the power he could sense residing within this time stream. The scent wasn't obvious when he first arrived, but slowly his senses caught it. He compared the feeling to reaching into a well and any beings who could reach its depths would have to be very powerful indeed. Tracer had a feeling that if he could find these beings, his prey wouldn't be too far behind. It was strange, really, Tracer never had any sensitivity to power like this before, but now he could 'smell' its odor around him. Tracer knew it had to be the sword. It already saved him from the grips of death itself, gave him visions when needed, and, now, his new found sensitivity. Tracer could see the pattern, the sword was slowly bestowing him new abilities. Given the power of the sword, the possiblities were endless. Oh, he could taste the sweetness of his revenge against Halebit. Unfortunately, Tracer's unfamiliarity with the dimension's history posed the biggest obstacle to his revenge. "Damn my luck," he cursed quietly. Before Tracer could sulk further, something caught the corner of his eye. He whirled around to behold a newspaper being displayed within the protective casing of steel. Tracer inspected a slot where one would have to deposit coins to gain access to the paper within. Tracer, unfortunately, lacked the proper coins to get a paper. Tracer growled to himself at his predicament and pondered a solution. A moment later, the man smirked. "I'm a genius," Tracer breathed to himself while flexing his right hand. The action caused the lower part of his right arm became engulfed in a silver liquid. It spread to cover his hand and extended past his hand to come to a sharp point at each finger tip. The man took his index finger and inserted it into the slot. Getting no results after a minute or so of prodding, Tracer impatiently jabbed three of the sharp fingers into the crevice of the door. He ripped open the box, snatched a newspaper, and casually walked away from the scene of the crime. After getting safe distance away, Tracer read the headline that first caught his eye: "Where Are They Now? An Update on the Mysteriously Heroic Sailor Scouts." The picture underneath, though, not the headline, had drawn his attention. The picture featured a girl wearing a tiara and a skimpy dress with a particular hair style that stood out in his mind. The two pig tails of hair jutting out of her head resembled a style of the woman in his vision that led him to this dimension. The picture resurrected Tracer's memory of the vision. He remembered her elegant beauty, especially her large, expressive, and lovely blue eyes that reminded him of. . . of. . . Tracer shook his head and reminded himself he had to figure out what Halebit wanted with these Scouts. Suddenly, one historical term stood out in his mind. "The Silver Crystal," he whispered to himself. Tracer scanned the article: ". . .The Scouts have made numerous appearances around the city stopping crimes and defeating monsters. The Juuban district of Tokyo that used to be a hotbed for Sailor sightings, nowadays has been lucky to hear one dramatic speech . . . " Tracer dropped the paper. The hunt had recommenced. ----------------------------------------------------------------- The early morning light filtered through the blinds of Victoria's bedroom window. The young child rubbed her eyes and welcomed the new day with ambivalence. She really didn't want to leave the comfort of her bed, but, then again, she didn't want to miss the morning cartoons. Slowly, the frail child crawled out of bed and stretched life into her limbs. The electrifying sensation of circulation forcibly squeezed her large violet eyes shut, while making her hold her breath. She had always loved stretching, especially in the morning. It gave her an opportunity to feel alive, to feel good. She enveloped herself in the sensation as long as she stand before relaxing limbs with a huff. Upon opening her eyes, she noticed her dark hair hanging over her eyes. She moved to run her hand through her hair to clear her view, when she noticed her small hand. She stared at it wondering just how much power that hand possessed. She knew this hand could breath life into the dying, but could it bring about the final silence of death? She sometimes had nightmares where she lost control of her power and everyone she ever loved, everything she ever cared for would be obliterated. After the first such nightmare, she vowed that she would never lose control to insure the safety of her friends and that her nightmares ended with her waking up. Harmless nightmares. Victoria giggled. Yes, that's all they were, harmless nightmares. The child giggled once more and threw her hands to her sides, she wondered if there was going to be pancakes for breakfast. Victoria could smell a strong scent of something sweet being cooked down the hall. Letting her nose lead the way, Victoria wondered out of her room towards the kitchen. The closer she got to the kitchen, the more her nose twitched at the scent. As she crossed the living room toward the kitchen, the small child closed her eyes relishing the fragrance. Once Victoria could feel the cool tile of the kitchen under her feet, her eyes fluttered open. "Eeep!" she yelped as she nearly jumped out of her skin. A tall stranger with long blond hair stood over the stove, eyeing the cuisine cooking on a skillet. The yelp caused the stranger to whisk around. "Huh? Wha-?" The stranger caught a glimpse of a small figure rushing out of the kitchen, "Who's there?" As Victoria rushed down the hall, she pondered the situation. She knew that they were not expecting company last night and she had no idea what this stranger was doing here. Perhaps she was a homeless person who had snuck in that morning to use their kitchen. Whatever the case, the stranger had seen her. Victoria quickly ducked into the master bedroom where she could see the continuous contour of two bodies laying on the bed. Victoria shook the closer of the two bodies, "Wake up, wake up! There's a strange lady in our house!" "Whaa?" One of the bodies underneath the sheets groaned. "There's a strange lady in the kitchen!" Victoria whispered as she eyed the doorway. The grouchy Erica casted the sheets aside as she drearily sat up, "A burglar?" "I think so," Victoria replied sheepishly. "Alright, then, I'll throw out this strange lad-" As Erica began to get up, her memory of last night's events reemerged. The dinner, the Time Guardian's arrival, and their conversation with the blonde woman. "Waitaminute." Suddenly, the blonde stranger entered the room, causing Victoria to yelp once more and jump to Erica's side. The stranger's apprehension manifested itself in her smile as Erica eyed her suspiciously. "So you're the one scaring Vicky, huh?" Cindy smiled weakly in reply, "I'm sorry, really, I didn't mean-" "Don't." Erica raised her hand. "You don't have to apologize," Erica's lips curled to a coy smile, "I understand, Cindy." The blond sighed as Erica crept out of bed. Victoria shadowed Erica, staring at this stranger, Cindy, who smiled back in return. Erica's nose soured as a foul smell hit her senses, "Is something burning?" Cindy's eyes shot open, "Oh, my Lord! They're burning!" Running out of the bedroom, Cindy rushed to the rescue the remnants of breakfast. Erica followed the panicked blonde to the kitchen streaming a steady strings of black smoke. Within the kitchen, Erica found Cindy desperately trying to extinguish the smoldering food upon the skillet. Erica stifled a laugh before coming to Cindy's aid and put out breakfast. "What's going on?" A tired voice yawned from across the kitchen causing Cindy to freeze. Erica turned slightly toward her partner with the disheveled green hair, snickering, "Oh, Cindy and I were just putting the finishing touches on breakfast, that's all, Miche." By now, Cindy's face burned with embarrassment, unable to believe her bad luck. First, she had scared the child and, now, she had ruined breakfast. The morning couldn't have gotten off to a worst start. She had to alleviate all of this somehow. Cindy quickly whisked around and bowed apologetically, "I am truly sorry for all trouble I have caused. I'll clean this up immediately." The weary Michelle smiled, "Cindy, it's okay. We'll help clean this up." Cindy felt her embarrassment drain from her face, and lifted her head. As she lifted her head, Cindy caught sight of the small child clutching Michelle's leg. Cindy smiled gingerly at the child as she knelt down and offered her hand, "Um, hello. I'm Cindy. And you are?" Michelle looked down at the child, replying, "She's Victoria. We adopted her a few years ago." Cindy gazed at Victoria, trying to seem as disarming as possible, "I see. So are you always this shy?" Victoria nodded as Michelle smiled, "Not always, but it takes her awhile to warm up to people sometimes." "Alright," Cindy punctuated as she sprang to her feet, "I think I should start cleaning up the mess I made." Abruptly, the kitchen became engulfed in crimson light, and as the light faded Victoria whispered; "Pluto." Cindy found herself staring into the stern visage of the Time Guardian, "You're presence is requested, Traveller." "Wh-" Cindy uttered, before vanishing in a flash of crimson. ----------------------------------------------------------------- The morning sun welcomed three girls as they entered the grounds of the Cherry Hill Temple. The tallest of the three looked down the street, "She's late." "Yes, she's very late," her friend added as she checked the tray she held, "And the cookies are getting cold." The third girl quietly nodded and joined the tall brunette in her gaze down the street. A stiff breeze blew as they all stood there, waiting for their friend. After a few minutes, the third girl could see a figure in the distance rushing towards them, "There she is." The brunette folded her arms as their tardy friend joined the group, "Man, you're late again. I thought you promised to get better at this?" "Geez, this is really bad habit you've gotten yourself into," the other commented as she carefully steadied her tray as she straighten the red ribbon in her hair. "Yeah. What kept you, Amy?" Serena turned to their exhausted blue haired friend. Amy took a moment to recover her breath and huffed, "Sorry, I'm late, you guys. I was talking with Greg this morning, and - " Instantly, the three girls had huge grins pasted on their faces. Amy quickly went silent realizing her mistake, but it was too late. The brunette nudged Amy in the side and chimed, "It's getting pretty hot between the two of you, huh?" "Well, uh, not really, Lita - " The blonde girl next to Serena moved to the other side of Amy and spoke with a tone of controversy, "So have you guys kissed yet?" Amy's face turned to a dark shade of red as she squeaked, "Mina! Uh, um, let's not keep Raye waiting." "She's right you guys," Serena urged much to Amy's comfort, "You know how Raye gets when you keep her waiting too long." The girls standing on either side of Amy shrugged to each other in agreement. The last thing they wanted to be welcomed with was one of Raye's tirades. As the girls approached the temple, Amy noticed something amiss. "Serena, where's Darien?" Serena's expression hardened subtly, "He's in Osaka." "Since when?" Amy coughed. "He called this morning." Serena's voice rung with disappointment, "Apparently they needed his help with some lab experiment or something." "Did you tell him about our situation?" Amy incredulously inquired. "Yes, he said he would try to hurry back here," Serena kept her eyes fixed on the temple entrance. The four girls entered the temple in silence. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "And she convinced Sailor Pluto to keep the Traveller here," Luna internally cringed as Raye's eyes grew larger, and her scowl grew deeper. Luna felt the young priestess was taking the news better than she had expected, but couldn't help but notice the whiteness of Raye's knuckles as she gripped her ceremonial white robes tighter. The black feline looked for some support from the young girl seated next to her on the floor of Raye's bedroom. "But Puu said she would take her somewhere safe," Reenie's attempt at calming the raven haired priestess failed. "So you're telling me," Raye's temples throbbed as she spoke each word, "Serena had promised a total stranger to protect her, even against the advice of Pluto?" The other two glanced at each before answering in unison, "Well, yes." Raye began to implement her deep breathing exercises to alleviate her urge to scream. She knew that Luna and Reenie did not deserve her venting, they were only the messengers. No it was Serena that deserved this venting. That ditz had finally outstepped her bounds as the leader of the Scouts because some stranger had a sob story. Raye chastised herself for ever believing that naive nincompoop could responsibly make the right decisions as their leader. She felt like such a fool. She felt so. . . so. . . betrayed. "Hello Raye, how are you?" Amy's voice made Raye aware of the four girls in her bedroom. "Fine, considering we're starting late. . . *again*," the young priestess growled. The tardy streak Amy ran lately irritated Raye almost as much as Serena's dubiousness. Amy's tardiness especially irritated Raye, considering Amy always used to be early to these meeting. Amy lowered her head in shame and spoke softly, "I am really sorry." Serena piped in, "Raye, give her a break, I mean she was talking to her boyfriend." Amy's face reddened as did Raye's but for differing reasons. The priestess got right in Serena's face, her brow arched down, "Listen, Meatball-head, I wasn't getting after her about her talking to Greg, I'm getting after her about delaying our meetings." Serena narrowed her eyes, but spoke in a calm and tempered tone, "Raye, just give her a break." Serena's calmness fueled Raye's temper further, but before she could explode the tall brunette interrupted Raye's impending tantrum. "Alright. Enough with the fighting, we have some serious business we have to get down to." Her stern tone was punctuated by her imposing stance. "Fine, Lita. Let's get going," Raye grumbled as the others sat in a circle near Raye's bed. As Luna coughed trying to get the meeting started, a white blur streaked from the rafters directing its course with the black cat. Unfortunately, poor aiming caused the white blur to narrowly miss Serena's head. Finally, the white mass tumbled upon the floor until it lost its momentum. The group whirled around to see a white, male cat with a crescent shaped mark on his forehead laying upside-down on the floor. As the cat tried to regain his sense of balance, the blonde girl shook her head and giggled; "Nice try Artemis. However, you missed Luna by about three feet." The white cat managed to grin at his blonde owner, "Keeping in practice, the enemy can strike when you least expect!" The other talking cat groaned, "I believe you need practice on cutting down on catnip, Artemis." Her partner's unbroken grin was his only response. The blonde girl giggled once more as she gingerly set down her tray of cookies in the middle of the circle, "Okay who wants cookies! They're fresh from the oven!" "Thanks Mina!" Reenie hopped to her feet and picked up a cookie, "I hope these are as good as the last batch!" Usually the girls would cautiously approach anything that Mina would make, but under with the proper instruction from someone experienced, Mina had proven she could cook. Everyone quickly dug into the pile of cookies and took one giant bite out their sugar enriched treat. But once the taste settled onto their tongues everyone spit it out. "Man, Mina what happened?" Raye garble in-between coughs. The blonde girl was lost for an explaination, "I followed Lita's recipe exactly as it said, like she told me to." The dumbfounded Mina produced the list out of her pocket, which Raye quickly snatched. Raye read over the ingredients carefully and remarked, "Mina, which sugar did you put in the mix?" "Of course, I put in the white stuff in the can with the 'S' on it. . ." Mina replied. Amy interrupted her before she got any further, "You know, Mina, salt is also white like sugar." "-And the sugar at home is marked 'Sugar,'" the white cat added. Mina opened her mouth as she realized she had lost all her wind in her retort. She bowed her head in embarrassment, "Oh. Heh, heh, sorry." "Can we start now?" Luna's impatient tone made the girls put down their cookies, "Anyway, as I was telling Raye earlier, this time traveler, Cindy, has asked us for our help, and Serena convinced Pluto to let her stay here, promising her our services." "Yeah, without our consent." Raye shot in, causing Serena to frown slightly. Luna continued, "And Serena wanted to know what you thought of all this before she proceeded further." "I, for one, would like to talk to this 'Cindy' woman, before I can trust her." Raye spouted insolently as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.. "I must agree with Raye on this one, Serena," Amy declared, "It would be wise to let us question her to come to any absolute decision." The other girls nodded in approval at this and Raye smiled smugly at Serena. Serena had resisted bringing Cindy before the Scouts since it would involve Pluto. Serena shivered at the memory of Pluto's penetrating stare. Yet, Serena knew that her actions were futile, the others were still too skeptical of her judgment. Serena sighed in defeat and turned to Reenie. "Reenie, will you please call Pluto on your Luna-P, and ask her to bring Cindy here at our request." Serena calmly ordered the child. All the girls gapped in shock, Serena was actually going to order Pluto, the oldest and wisest Scout of them all, to bring the Traveller here. They all believed that the events of last night had to be a fluke because Pluto never conceded to anyone's demands. Reenie hesitantly picked up a round black ball, closely resembling a cat's head, and pressed a sequence of buttons on the eyes, nose, and mouth. Taking a moment for the Luna-P to compute, an image of Pluto's face appeared in its mouth. "Yes, Small Lady?" The Time Guardian asked with restrained irritation. Reenie detected the irritation in Pluto's voice, making her slightly uncomfortable, "Uh, Serena, by the other Scouts request, um, would like you to bring Cindy here. . . Please?" Pluto felt a tinge of frustration cross her brow. She did not have to comply, but she did not want to risk discrediting her reputation with Serena of the future, the Neo-Queen. Curse that Traveller, she couldn't see pass the present with her here. She wouldn't lose face, though, if the other girls' ridicule would change Serena's decision. A slight smile almost cracked Pluto's lips, "As the Queen wishes." Instantly, the image in the mouth went blank, and Pluto appeared before the group with the blonde Traveller. The other girls gasped in unison at her sudden appearance, and smiled nervously. The blonde, just now figuring what happened, smiled back. "Uh, hi. It's nice to finally meet you all," the Traveller stammered, "You must be the Sailor Scouts, right?" "Yup, that's who we are. Uh, and hi to you too. I suppose." Mina's eyes darted around at the other girls, who were still trying to find words to say. "Sooo," Mina leaned forward, "Do ya wanna a cookie? Freshly made this morning by yours truly." As the others were about to warn Cindy, someone approached the door of Raye's room. "Hey, Raye, are you in there!" Came a young male voice, as the panel door slid open. "Oh, no it's Chad!" Raye exclaimed as she leaped at the door slamming it shut. "Raye!" Chad yelped in surprise, "What was that for?" Raye held the door closed, desperately trying to think of an excuse. She couldn't let him see Pluto or the woman or he'd surely blabber it to the newspaper people who were here a few days ago. "We're talking about private things, Chad. You know, girl stuff," she shouted sternly through the door, "So buzz off!" Chad stepped back from the door, and frowned. Now he had to sweep the grounds by himself. He started to walk away as he muttered under his breath, "Isn't it a little early to be that time of the month again?" THWAT! The bristles of a broom responded by striking Chad on the back of his head. He spun around to be met with a glowering Raye holding a broom posed to strike again. "Be glad there aren't any mallets handy," she growled and she slammed the door once more. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Back inside Raye's room, the girls pondered questions to ask the blonde Traveller. "So how is it possible for you to travel through time?" Lita asked cautiously. Cindy smiled as she answered the question, "I'm not sure, exactly. Legend goes that something my people called the Genesis Accident ripped a hole through time and space causing all the survivors to - " Amy's loud gasp stopped Cindy in mid-sentence. Amy had taken her time to discreetly scan the Traveller with her ever trusty compact computer. It fascinated Amy what she could make that small thing do, from scanning whole wide areas to detecting when danger was near. What it was detecting from Cindy disturbed her greatly. "What is it Amy?" Serena responded. Amy brought her eyes to the Traveller and pointed with a quivering finger, "She inorganic!" "English, Amy, English!" Raye shouted. "She's 55% metal!" Amy exclaimed. Now everyone threw a suspicious gaze at the blonde Traveller. She stood firm against their stares, and fought off the feeling that the Time Guardian cracked a smile at her predicament. "Calm down, I was going to explain that. As a result of the Genesis Accident, we were blessed with dimensional traveling, but we were cursed with mercury. You see, all descendants of those survivors have the same condition, their blood slowly turns to mercury. Many generations died of blood poisoning." "So how did you guys survive?" Reenie slid closer in earnest. The Traveller smiled softly at the young child and continued, "One man pioneered a science that used tiny machines that would run off the mercury in our blood, and it helped our vital organs to function. Bio-technology." "So little machines are running your heart?" Mina nibbled on one of her cookies. Cindy nodded. "Interesting." Amy tapped her chin thoughtfully. Cindy smiled, as well as Serena. Raye frowned. Lita broke the momentary silence, "Who is it that's trying to kill you?" "The Counsule. A group of five elders that have been supressing my people, " Cindy inwardly sneered as she pondered a moment, "They sent two of their Timelords, or soldiers, here to this dimension, their names are Malance and his superior Halebit." "I see. How do we know you're not in league with them?" Raye eyed the woman suspiciously, "I mean, how come you know so much about us?" Cindy stiffened before forcing a smile, "I know so much about all of you because I was an historian before I joined the Society." Raye narrowed her eyes, "So that means the guys who followed you here probably know about us too. You've put us all in danger by coming here." "No I haven't! I came to this dimension because I studied it's history in great deal. On top of that, it's not even enough. I mean, I still don't know your real names, and the names I do know are wrong anyway," Cindy fought back the tears, "The last thing I wanted to do was put anyone in harms way." Raye crossed her arms, unimpressed, "That's exactly what you've done." Cindy was speechless, she never wanted that. She only wanted their support, not their lives. She had idolized them in her youth when she studied history in school. She was an inconvenience to them, they hated her. She could feel the tears roll down her cheeks. 'By the Lords, don't let them see me like this.' Cindy hid her face in her hands. "Listen Raye," Serena stood before Raye, "You have gone too far this time. This woman has genuinely gone through a lot. She has seen her everyone she ever loved die before her eyes, and has been forced to fight a losing battle since. She has experienced a great deal of anguish and all you can do is dig the knife in deeper. Can't you feel her pain? Can't you feel some sympathy in your heart?" Serena peered into Raye's eyes. "I can." Raye couldn't find the words to reply, and neither could any of the others. Pluto sensed the power emanating from Serena's crystal. She looked closely at the crystal situated in Serena's brooch that hung from the collar of her shirt. The crystal Serena possessed was one of the most powerful relics on Earth, and the source of her abilities as Sailor Moon. She noticed Serena's Silver Crystal reacting to her emotional outpour. They had to be very strong emotions to spawn such a reaction. Pluto frowned, things were not going according to plan. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Chad rubbed the back of his head, and shuddered at the thought of Raye chasing after him with a huge mallet around the shrine. Chad found a broom and reluctantly started to sweep around the shrine without giving it much more thought. Yet, it made him wonder why Raye treated him so rudely in front of her friends. In fact, by her own private confessions, told him she really liked having him around. She acted so strangely at times, but Chad just shrugged it off as one of those 'women things.' Chad continued to sweep, unaware of a tall, dark stranger standing at the temple's entrance-- that is, until he ran into him. Chad, jolted back to reality, found himself looking at the back of the stranger. "Uh, very sorry, sir," Chad mumbled in haste as he apologetically brushed the wrinkled material of the stranger's dusty trenchcoat, "Would you like a charm or a fire reading?" The stranger turned around, giving Chad a good look at the vertical scar along the right side of his face. He stared intently at Chad's face, making the young man incredibly nervous. The stranger's intense stare penetrated the thick brown hair covering the upper half of Chad's face. The stranger smirked at the young man's squirming; "Nah. Just scouting around. Taking my time." 'The scent is strongest here, there's no denying it,' the stranger's lips curled to a slight smile, 'Soon, so very soon now.' Tracer patted his sword hidden underneath his trenchcoat that, unbeknownst to him, glowed with intensity. -End of Part 3- Author Notes: Special thanks go to, as always, David Johnston, my in-the-closet fan for pre-reading this. Lord Talon, for suggesting the Artemis intro scene. Erin Ellis for giving this the nitpicking it deserved, and pointing out 75% is a lot. And Doug Whiddon, because I forgot to thank for pre-reading earlier parts. And to all of you fans. I know you're out there, but you can't hide forever. I know where you, uh, um, I know where you, you, you, read, yeah. Ummm, yeah. All original characters are owned and copyrighted by Bastion (c)1999. And Sailor Moon is owned by Naoko Takeuchi and in America by DIC. Thanks for reading, and please come again. Bastion bastion@ix.netcom.com