If you wish to comment on my story, either positively or negatively, please contact me at treetop@voicenet.com. Sailor Moon and all related characters are the property of Takeuchi Naoko, Toei Animation and DIC. Sailor Sirius is the property of Sharon Williams. Any references to Vulcan are the province of Gene Roddenberry and Paramount Studios. So, please, don't sue me because I haven't any money. I do this strictly for entertainment purposes, not copyright infringement.
The Adventures of Talia and Tanya:
Volley Into Danger
by Jeffrey C. Branch
Chapter Two
Rating: PG
Sailor Sirius, Sailor Vulcan, Junko Sakurada and the five uniformed officer who accompanied her stared in shock at the seven foot tall, gray skinned creature with huge yellow eyes and four barreled gatling guns for forearms.
"You have got to be kidding me!" cried Sirius, her eyes wide. She turned to her stoic partner. "V-Girl! Is that what I think it is?"
Vulcan nodded. "It is indeed, Sailor Sirius. We are dealing with a youma."
"Just like the monster who went on a rampage at Budokan Hall over a month ago?" Junko asked.
"I believe so."
"Great! Just great!"
The creature trained its large, bulbous eyes on the group and smirked. "Surprise, humans! I am called Kaliber. It is so good to have fully awakened from my slumber so I can carry out my mission for the Negaverse."
"What mission are you referring to, might I ask?" Vulcan wanted to know.
His grin widening, Kaliber leveled his forearm weapons on the group and the barrels begun spinning. "To maim and kill of course!"
"Get down! Get down!" Sirius screamed. She, Vulcan and the cops barely had time to get to cover behind the squad cars before Kaliber opened fire. As an thunderous roar of gunfire filled the air, eerily glowing rounds punched holes into the three cars, demolishing them with frightening ease.
"This isn't working!" yelled Junko to Vulcan over the din. "Whatever that monster's using for bullets, they'll punch through these cars, then us!"
"I agree, Inspector. Sailor Sirius and I will attempt to rectify this situation." Her unearthly calm unfazed, Vulcan activated her wrist communicator. "Sirius. We must draw the attention of Kaliber away from the police before our shields are reduced to scrap metal."
"I'm all for that!" Sirius replied. "But the second we try to fight back, we'll become targets for that creepazoid! Got any ideas?"
Vulcan peered under the car and saw the monster's legs. "I believe I have. Be prepared to attack after I've staggered the creature."
"How?"
"Have faith. And be ready to act!" The Scout of Order placed the palms of her hands on the street, her fingers pointing in the direction of Kaliber and concentrated. "Vulcan Shockwave....STRIKE!"
Vulcan's sonic energy blast rippled along the ground, growing in strength and causing the effect she desired: a small but powerful land tremor that erupted under Kaliber, throwing him off his feet. Sirius, having seen the creature take its spill grinned as she moved out from cover. "Way to go, girlfriend! My turn! Sirius Infrared Laser....DISINTERGRATION!"
Before Kaliber could recover, the Star Scout struck, firing her deadly, ruby red laser beam at the creature's head. Her aim perfect, the beam blew a hole through its right eye with surgical precision. Kaliber screamed as brackish brain matter blossomed out the side of his skull.
"Bingo! Vulcan! Move in!" Sirius cried, a savage, hungry grin on her lips. She was eager to finish the kill. "Let's waste this sucker!"
Vulcan rushed at the creature from one side, Sirius from the other as it slowly regained its feet, a golf ball sized hole where its right eye used to be. A steaming, mud brown ichor poured down its face. Kaliber raised his arms and fired, but, half blinded, his aim was off, allowing the Scouts, moving in twin blurs to dodge the glowing rounds that chewed up the ground.
In a coordinated strike, Vulcan grabbed Kaliber's right forearm and bent it upwards in the middle, causing the creature to scream horribly as the barrels loudly snapped like human bones. At the same time, Sirius clutched the monster's left arm and did likewise. Without breaking stride, the Scouts delivered devastating twin uppercuts to Kaliber's jaw, sending the creature flying into the side of the building with bonecrushing force and it lay still on the ground. All was silent as Sirius and Vulcan approached the fallen youma.
"Maim this, chumpzilla!" yelled Sirius, flashing the middle finger of her right hand at the monster. "Don't be startin' nothin' you can't finish!"
Vulcan regarded her partner with slight disdain. "Really, Sailor Sirius. Must you be so vulgar?"
"Sorry about that. I got carried away," said Sirius with an embarrassed, red faced grin. "You know what they say: 'You can take the girl out of the 'hood, but you can't take the 'hood out of the girl'."
"I would not know about such things."
Junko, her gun drawn, cautiously approached the Scouts. She was stunned by the sheer and sudden ferocity of their counterattack. "Is it dead?"
"No, Inspector. However, Kaliber has been effectively....disarmed," Vulcan replied, staring down at the unmoving creature, dark brown ichor oozing from it's shattered forearms. The alien Scout then knelt beside the monster. "I shall endeavor to uncover whatever secrets he might have."
"Be careful," said Sirius, her face etched from worry. Ever since the failed attempt to shut down Seamus Duncan's mind three weeks ago, Sirius' insides always turned to ice whenever Vulcan performed a mind meld. The Star Scout hated for anything bad to happen to her best friend.
As Vulcan was about to place her index fingers on Kaliber's head, his remaining eye suddenly snapped open and, with a wave of his broken right arm, he pushed Vulcan away. The alien Scout rolled quickly to her feet and assumed a combat position, as did Sirius while Junko aimed her handgun right at the monster's head.
"Go ahead, scumbag! Make my day!" growled Sirius, her eyes locked on Kaliber as she pointed her index fingers at him in preparation of unleashing her gravity attack. "V-Girl! You okay?"
"I am uninjured," Vulcan replied.
"Not for long! I'll kill you all!" Kaliber snarled. He shakily aimed his damaged forearm weapons at the women and tried to fire. What happened instead was that his weapons violently exploded in his face with a bright, yellowish flash of light and smoke, accompanied by a loud, shrill scream of pain.
When the smoke faded, a horrific sight greeted the eyes of the Scouts and the cops. Kaliber lay moaning on the ground, his badly burned and smouldering face locked tight in a grimmace. His arms from just below the shoulder sockets were gone, blown off, leaving only jagged stumps of roasted flesh from which smoke poured from while his entire torso was scorched just as severely as his face. Sirius, feeling bile bubbling up in her throat turned away from the hideous sight. Even Junko, long used to seeing death in all its myriad forms in the course of her job felt her stomach lurch brutally.
Vulcan, unfazed, approached the wounded creature. It was impossible to perform a mind meld on Kaliber now, if he died during the process, her mind would be destroyed from the shock. "I fear you do not have long to live. Perhaps you could reveal who your master is and what deviltry he is planning before you expire."
Kaliber's lips parted and he let out a pain filled croak of a laugh. "Betray my master? To an inhuman bitch like you? Never! I am forever loyal to the Negaverse! So you might as well kill me!"
The Scout of Order, her face coldly impassive gave a slight shrug of her shoulders as she stepped back from the mortally wounded creature. "As you wish. Vulcan Shockwave....STRIKE!"
Vulcan's tightly aimed, point blank sonic blast reduced Kaliber to pulp. Seconds later, the smoking debris vanished, just like Siryn had a month ago. Sirius and Junko walked up to where Vulcan stood staring at the spot on the sidewalk where Kaliber had lain moments earlier.
"I don't think I'll ever get used to that," said Junko. She turned to Vulcan, her expression still as blank as ever. "Did he tell you anything before you blasted him to kingdom come?"
"No. But then, I did not expect him to," the alien Scout replied matter of factly. The death of an enemy didn't matter to her. "In the meantime, I would recommend that you study the weapon we confiscated from these hoodlums. It might reveal clues regarding its origin, and how it wound up here."
"I know what to do with captured weapons, thank you very much," Junko shot back sharply. At that moment, three more squad cars and a SWAT truck arrived on the scene. "You've done what you had to do, so get the hell out of here and let us do our job!"
Sirius fumed over how she and her partner were treated by Junko, despite having saved her life. The Star Scout was about to retort, but a squeeze of her shoulder by Vulcan told her not to.
"Very well. We shall leave, Inspector," said Vulcan. "Regardless of what you may think, we are not the enemy you believe us to be."
Junko, scowling, was unmoved. "Yes, you are."
As the Scouts left, a figure, hidden in shadow observed them from a nearby alley. The figure watched the battle between the Scouts and Kaliber with cold, calculating eyes and felt no pity for the youma when it was destroyed. The figure removed a cell phone from a jacket pocket and dialed a number.
"Kaliber's dead. Killed by Sirius and Vulcan," said the figure in a low voice that was decidedly female. "Unlike Sailor Moon and her friends, these two were exceptionally brutal, even savage, just like when they did away with Siryn. Also, the police have the weapon. Do you want me to retrieve it?"
There was silence for several seconds as the mystery woman listened to the person on the other end. "I understand. I'll leave them be. Are you still going through with your plan?"
More silence. "Very well. It's your play. I hope you succeed. Good luck." The woman then ended the call. After putting the phone back in her pocket, her eyes briefly glowed a bright yellow before she turned and left.
"Another youma? So soon after the incident with Siryn? That can't be good," said Marco, a handsome Golden Retriever who was Tanya's gaurdian.
"You can say that again," Tanya replied. Wearing a petal pink cotton nightgown, the pretty black girl lay on her stomach, her chin resting on her forearms at the foot of her bed. She craned her head to look behind her at Talia. "What do you think, Tal?"
"It would be difficult to venture a proper opinion without sufficient facts, Tanya," Talia replied. Dressed in royal blue, Chinese style silk pajamas, she sat in the lotus position at the head of Tanya's bed. With the girls scheduled to leave for the volleyball camp first thing Friday morning, Talia offered to sleep over so Tanya, as hard to awaken in the morning as Serena would be up in time to get ready for the trip.
"However, it is safe to assume that some new Negaverse plot is fomenting," the girl from Vulcan then added. "It is highly unlikely that one of the sleeper youmas would awaken for reasons other than a jewelry store hold up. I believe that weapon we confiscated may hold a clue."
"What sort of clue?" Marco asked.
"I went online before I came here and performed a search for new weaponry. Three weeks ago, two dozen of those grenade launchers were hijacked en route to Fort Benning in Georgia for testing by the Army." Talia then paused to gaze strongly at Tanya. "This particular item will be of considerable interest to you, Tanya. The company that manufactured those weapons was Van Buren Industries of Concord, Massachusetts."
Tanya's eyes widened. "Spirit of Allah! Cynthia's dad?"
Marco did a double take. "Ti! You knew about this?"
"Well, yeah! I know her dad runs a munitions company. Remember, I went to school with his kids. Van Buren's provided weaponry to the U.S. military for a quarter century. And not just to them either," Tanya explained. "Ten years ago, he was under suspicion of secretly selling arms to countries that sponsored terrorism, but no one could prove a blessed thing. Yet, those suspicions didn't hurt Van Buren in the wallet as his company's still raking in money."
"Hmm. One of Van Buren's stolen weapons, in the hands of a youma. And his daughter is in the country. I wonder if there's a connection," said Marco.
Tanya snorted derisively. "Connection? Get real, Marco! That spoiled brat wouldn't know which end of a gun to hold! Nor does she care to know! The only thing Cynthia cares about is Cynthia! There's no way she'd have anything to do with stolen weapons!"
"As far as you know. But it's been over two years since you last saw her. Things may have changed." Marco then looked at Talia. "I'm sure you agree with me, Talia."
Talia, her brows furrowed mulled over what she had heard, then slowly shook her head. "No, Marco. I do not. My initial impression of Cynthia this afternoon was of a petty, extremely self-absorbed individual. Such an individual would purposely shut herself off from situations that do not immediately concern her."
Tanya snorted. "You got that right. Cynthia's so full of herself, it isn't funny! She'd put Raye to shame when it comes to being an egotripper!"
"I suspected as much. You did reveal that Cynthia is considerably spoiled, reinforcing my profile of her. It would not surprise me if Cynthia has little to no empirical knowledge of what her father does for a living, other than his work provides her with the money to finance her lavish lifestyle."
Marco frowned. He hadn't expected Talia to disagree with him. He found that he didn't like it. "I see. Does your profile stem from logic?"
"Not entirely. I do not rely on logic for everything, Marco. Logic is only the beginning of wisdom, it is not the be all and end all when it comes to problem solving," Talia explained. "One must also rely in and trust instinct which is never entirely rational, but is often accurate. I trust Tanya's instincts wholeheartedly and believe without doubt or question that she is correct about Cynthia not being involved in this matter."
"Just like that?" Marco wanted know.
Talia nodded, her face set from conviction. "Yes. Just like that."
Tanya smiled fondly at her best friend. It warmed her heart to know Talia believed in her. Sitting up, she reached over and squeezed Talia's hand. "Thanks, Tal. Hearing that means a lot."
"You are my friend, Tanya. I will always trust in you."
"If you say so," Marco grumbled. He knew when he was outvoted. "In the meantime, do you think it's wise to leave town tomorrow after what happened this afternoon?"
"Why not? We don't know if this was an isolated incident or something else altogether. It wouldn't make sense to sit on our hands and wait for an attack that may, or may not happen," Tanya pointed out. "Besides, after three weeks ago. I need to get away from all this for awhile and have a little fun for a change. How 'bout you, girlfriend?"
"I also look forward to a getaway which would be beneficial to both the body, and the mind," Talia replied. "In addition to that, I am most eager to learn how to play volleyball. Having never indulged in athletic pursuits, I find it to be a most intriguing activity."
Tanya chuckled. "Intriguing activity? Jeez Louise! You make it sound like espionage or something! It's just a sport, Tal."
"True. But you have insisted I explore new things, therefore, my interest is greatly piqued." The Vulcan girl paused, and a sly smile curled her lips. "However, I must warn you that once I involve myself in an activity, I will pursue it with all my energy and determination. Do not be disappointed if I become more proficient at volleyball than you."
"Ooooh! Sounds like a challenge to me, sister!" said a smirking Tanya. "To quote a line from 'Top Gun', don't let your mouth write a check your body can't cash! Just wait until I get you on the court and show you a thing or two! In the meantime, let me introduce you to a brand new experience."
"And what might that be?"
Grinning evilly, Tanya picked up her pillow and whacked the unsuspecting Talia in the face with it. "The pillow fight! En garde!"
"Tanya, you have just made a terrible mistake. I shall make you regret your choice of combat," said Talia, barely able to keep from grinning as she picked up her pillow and returned the favor, almost knocking Tanya off the bed. The girls, breaking out in laughter proceeded to abuse each other with their fluffy weapons. Marco, watching them, rolled his eyes from annoyance.
"Teenagers," he grumbled before leaving the bedroom.
Junko, putting the finishing touches on her report about this afternoon's attempted jewelry store robbery had just finished her third cup of coffee in the last hour when a young, male uniformed officer walked up to her desk with several sheets of paper in his right hand. The nameplate over his left breast pocket read 'Konno'.
"Inspector Sakurada, here's the information on the weapon that was confiscated this afternoon," he said crisply, standing at attention.
"At ease, Aoki," said Junko. She took the papers from the patrolman and looked them over. What she read both intrigued, and worried her. "According to this, that weapon was some sort of high tech grenade launcher stolen from Van Buren Industries in the U.S. And that twenty-three more of them are missing, quite possibly in this country."
"Yes, ma'am. What's more, those goons brought in from the robbery this afternoon were Yakuza soldiers," said Konno. "If they've got those weapons, that spells nothing but trouble."
Junko nodded. "I couldn't agree more. Have any of them talked?"
Konno shook his head. "Negative, ma'am. They've clammed up tight. Par for the course with those gangsters. Inspector, there's something that may or may not be involved in those weapons."
Junko looked the young officer squarely in the eye. "I'm all ears, Aoki."
"Well, ma'am, I'm doing volunteer work for the high school volleyball camp that's being held out in the countryside this weekend with seminars being held by the U.S. and Japanese Olympic teams," Konno explained. "Kids from all over town are going to this camp. I was helping out with the registering this afternoon and noticed that two of entrants are Cynthia and Christopher Van Buren, the children of Edward Van Buren, the man who owns the munitions company those stolen weapons came from."
Hearing that, Junko arched an eyebrow. "Really? That's very interesting, Aoki. Very interesting indeed. When does this camp begin?"
"Everyone will be busing out to the camp tomorrow morning. It's being held at a lakeside vacation resort in Kitiyama, eighty miles north of Tokyo."
"Hmm. Stolen weapons find their way into Japan, followed by the kids of the weapons' maker. If that's a coincidence, then I'm Dirty Harry." Junko then fixed her eyes on Konno again. "Aoki, who's your watch commander?"
"Uh, Sargeant Urashima, ma'am. Is there a problem?"
"Not at all. I'm going to have you temporarily transferred to my department," said Junko, picking up the phone and dialing a number. "Ever gone undercover before?"
Konno's face was a study in confusion. "No, ma'am. I've only been on the force for two years."
"Well, you're about to get your first real taste of serious field work. Think you're up to it, son?"
Konno was nervous for a moment, then he set his face and nodded. "I am, Inspector. May I ask the nature of this assignment?"
Junko grinned slyly. "I'm sending you camping."
The sun was high in the sky late Friday morning as half a dozen intercity buses cruised past Tokyo's city limits as they headed north to the countryside.
Aboard the buses were six dozen students from high schools from all over the city along with chaparones and volunteers helping out at the volleyball camp. Everyone was eager to arrive at the camp for their weekend's worth of fun. Talia, Tanya and Maddie, on the third bus were no different as they chatted merrily with each other.
"So, how'd you guys hook up?" asked Maddie, leaning over the back of her seat to face Talia and Tanya who sat behind her.
"Well, a mutual friend introduced us two months ago," said Tanya, seated by the window. She turned to Talia and smiled warmly at her. "Tal and I hit it off from jump street, like we had known each other for years. And we've been best buds ever since. Isn't that right, stone face?"
Maddie gave Talia a quizzical look. "Stone face?"
"Tanya's nickname refers to my lack of facial expression which she equates to a statue, hence, 'stone face'," Talia replied matter of factly. Then, her bright blue eyes twinkled from an all too human mischief. "However, as I have been lead to understand, nicknames can work both ways. Would you not agree....short stuff?"
Tanya glared at Talia, not liking anyone to make fun of her height. "Hardy har har! You're just a barrel of laughs, Kirk!"
The Vulcan girl grinned, openly pleased. "Yes. I like to think so."
Maddie laughed out loud. "Oh, wow! You guys are so cool! No wonder you're best friends! You're perfect together!"
"Yeah, we sure are!" said a chuckling Tanya. She gave Talia a playful punch on her shoulder. "Tal and I may act like 'The Odd Couple', but we're closer than sisters and have lots of fun together!"
"I can tell! I'd love to hang out with you guys! That'd be too cool for words!" said a gleeful Maddie. "Not to kill the good mood, but I didn't see Cynthia in the parking lot before we left. You think she got cold feet?"
Talia, puzzled, cocked an eyebrow. "Cold feet? That sounds unlikely, Maddie. The weather is not that inclement."
"Stifle, doofus! 'Cold feet' means to get scared, to chicken out!" Tanya explained. Clearly, she needed to spend more quality time teaching Talia slang. "Knowing how stuck-up Cynthia is, I'll bet she's riding up to the camp in a limo so she can avoid rubbing shoulders with us lowbrow common folk. As much as she loves volleyball, there's no way she'd miss out on this gig!"
"Well, let her come! That means another chance for you to whip her butt!" Maddie proclaimed. "That would be so-oooooo cool!"
"Right on, sister!" said a smugly grinning Tanya, giving Maddie a high five. "Guys, something tells me this is gonna be a killer weekend! I can't wait for the good times to start!"
Talia nodded. She let her friend's enthusiasm wash over her, and she found its warmth pleasurable. "I concur."
Seated in the back row of the bus, Aoki Konno, wearing the light blue polo shirt and tan colored pants of a camp volunteer pretended to read a sports magazine as he listened to the conversation between the three girls. He too had wondered if anything happened to Cynthia Van Buren when he didn't see her or her brother at the staging area for the trip.
Guess I'll have to wait until I get to camp before I see the Van Buren kids, he thought. Then I'll find out what's going on with them.
Three hours later, the caravan of buses arrived at the Lake Kitiyama Resort where the volleyball camp would be held. At the main entrance to the resort was a huge, colorlful banner spread across the gate which read:
WELCOME TOKYO AREA HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL PLAYERS
Talia, having meditated during the latter portion of the trip turned to Tanya who was sound asleep, her head resting on the taller girl's shoulder, a peaceful little smile on her lips. The Vulcan girl gently nudged her partner to wake her. "Tanya. We have arrived."
"Mmmm. I do," Tanya whispered.
Talia cocked an eyebrow, puzzled as to what Tanya said. She nudged the pretty black girl a little harder. "Tanya. Wake up. We are here."
Tanya's eyes slowly fluttered open and she looked up at Talia. "Huh? What's up, Tal?"
"We have arrived at our destination," Talia replied.
"Great!" said Tanya, sitting up. After stretching like a cat, she looked sheepishly at her friend. "I'm sorry for leaning on you for the last two hours."
"It was three. I did not mind. You looked comfortable, so I let you sleep. I am curious about something. When I tried to wake you, you responded by saying 'I do'. May I ask what that was about?"
Tanya let out a blissful sigh. "I was having a dream where I married Yaten. The girls were all there, even Amara and Michelle, and you were my maid of honor. It was so beautiful! Say, do you ever think about marrying Seiya?"
Talia's face blanched and her eyes widened from shock. "Marriage? It has been barely a month since I first met Seiya, and we have dated only a handful of times. Such talk is highly illogical."
"Oh, really? I've seen those steamy, soap opera clinches you two have been in lately," said a smirking Tanya. "And the way you guys kiss! Whoa, mama! It would steam up my glasses if I wore 'em! I'd say you and Seiya are getting closer to the altar all the time!"
Despite her best effort, Talia cheeks flushed a bright red. "Tanya Cambridge, you are positively incorrigible."
The pretty black girl giggled delightedly. "Yeah! Ain't it cool?"
"Well, guys? What do you think?" asked a grinning Maddie, motioning with her arm at the resort. Situated near Lake Kitiyama, nestled among lush evergreen trees, the facility consisted of a sprawling, two story main lodge surrounded by rustic looking log cabins. Two dozen picnic tables sat fifty yards away from the edge of the lake, pristine, still and blue as a sapphire.
"Wow! It's beautiful!" Tanya gushed. "It's like a whole other world!"
"Yeah! I know! My parents and I vacationed here last summer and we loved it," Maddie explained. "What do you think, Tal?"
The Vulcan girl, looking about her was suitably impressed with the surroundings. "It is quite a serene and bucolic environment, easily conducive to rest, relaxation and recreation."
"In other words, it's cool!" said a smirking Tanya.
Talia nodded. "Yes. You would be correct."
"You guys are terrific!" said a laughing Maddie, stepping between the girls and linking her arms with theirs. "C'mon! Let's get checked in! The sooner we do that, the sooner we can start having fun!"
The girls, along with the large assemblage of teens walked into the main building, it's entry hall styled like a ski resort. In one corner of the hall were several tables where camp staff members were busy checking in the students and assigning their cabins for the weekend. The scene looked chaotic but was actually well under control.
"Hey, Maddie! Did you set us up together?" Tanya wanted to know.
Maddie nodded. "Yup! The three of us are all in the same cabin! Oh, man! This is gonna be too cool for words!"
"Undoubtedly," said Talia, a trace of a smile on her lips. She found Maddie just as charming as Tanya.
The girls were assigned to cabin number 13, immediately eliciting a round of jokes from Tanya and Maddie about bad luck and jinxes, something the more level headed Talia found to be illogical. Upon entering the cabin, the girls were impressed with its spaciousness, consisting of a living room area, a combination kitchen and dinette and two bedrooms with a pair of beds, dressers, closets and a full bathroom in each.
"Incredible! This is great!" said Tanya. "There's more space here than in my house back in Tokyo!"
"Hey! Look at that! Someone's beaten us here!" said Maddie, pointing at half a dozen black suitcases sitting by the door to one of the bedrooms which was closed. "I wonder who our roommate is?"
The girls heard the toilet flush inside the bedroom, followed by the sound of running water from the faucet. A few moments later, the door to the bedroom opened and Cynthia Van Buren stepped out.
TO BE CONTINUED