A New Dawn

Chapter Seven: Thunder

Natalie clutched her satchel to her chest as she walked home from her first day at her new school. She looked down at her shoes. She had talked to a very nice girl named Dia at lunch and secured her help for physics, which Natalie hated. Dia was obviously very smart, and the other kids kind of shunned her. They were alike in that respect. Natalie had pretended not to notice, but the other students were always whispering behind her back and pointing at the new girl in the strange uniform. She felt very lonely. She held her satchel tighter and began to walk faster. She ignored the screaming that was going on around her. They're screaming at me, probably, she thought. They're screaming and telling each other how tall I am and how dangerous I look, they're telling their children to stay away from me. They don't understand! They don't understand the pain that I feel, all crap I have been through in the past few weeks.

The screaming grew louder and people all around her began running in fright. They're running away from me, she moaned to herself. They're afraid of me. No wonder he doesn't love me...

"Natalie!! Get away from there!!" someone screamed at her. It sounded like Dia's voice, but when she turned around Natalie saw not Dia but a girl with blue hair in a sailor suit. The girl was pointing to something behind her.

Natalie turned around and stood within inches of the face of a very weird looking woman. Her skin was orange and covered with black stripes, and she was wearing a leopard skin bikini. Her hair was gold and and encircled her face like a lion's mane.

"What the--?!" Natalie screamed, dumbfounded.

"Don't mess with Felina! I bite!" the woman yelled. She raised her left hand and displayed a set of razor sharp claws. She lounged at Natalie and slashed one of the sleeves of her school uniform.

"Natalie, come on!" the blue-haired girl grabbed her hand and started to pull her away.

"No!!" Natalie cried and jerked her hand back. She turned to face the youma. "Look, you witch, I don't know what you think you're doing, but I have had one hell of a bad day and I'm tired of it!! I don't want have to put up with any shit from you!!" Natalie fired a right hook directly at the youma's jaw. She connected and Felina jumped back, holding her chin and howling in pain.

Sailor Mercury managed to grab Natalie by the waist and drag her, kicking and screaming, into the safety of an alley.

"Take over, Mars," she told her fellow senshi. Sailor Mars nodded and assumed her fighting stance.

Mercury held her friend firmly by the shoulders. "Natalie, calm down!"

"Who are you? and how do you know my name?" Natalie asked incredulously.

"I'm Sailor Mercury and--"

"Natalie, take this!" Luna emerged from behind a stack of boxes with green pen in her mouth.

"A talking cat! Now I must be hallucinating!"

"You are most certainly not hallucinating! Now hold this pen up and yell 'Jupiter Power!'" Luna replied.

"This is insane," Natalie mumbled under her breath. "Jupiter Power!"

Bolts of lighting came out of the pen and formed a sphere around her. She could feel herself growing stronger as the electrical energy swirled around her. Suddenly there was a bright flash of light, and her body absorbed all that energy, making her even stronger. She felt so good that she just had to pose.

"This has been one hell of a day!" she exclaimed. She touched her hair and realized that it was now in a ponytail instead of a French braid, but those two errant locks of hair were still present. She was wearing a sailor outfit similar to the two other girls', but the bows in front and in back were pink, and her skirt and sailor collar were green. "This is too weird!"

"Now get out there and fight!" Luna commanded.

"Yeah, I feel like kicking some youma butt!!" Sailor Jupiter yelled. She and Mercury emerged from the alley, ready to attack.

It was a good thing, too, because Sailor Mars was not doing very well against Felina. She had been able to dodge her fire, leaving her helpless. She was now kneeling on the ground, nursing a gash in her thigh.

"I could use some help, you guys!" she implored.

"Don't worry Mars! MERCURY BUBBLES BLAST!!" Mercury attacked.

"My turn now!" Jupiter said. "JUPITER..." An antenna rose out of her tiara. "THUNDER..." Natalie drew herself into a ball as lightning struck the antenna. "CRASH!!!" She flung the lightning blot directly at the youma, who was unable to dodge because she couldn't see in the fog.

When the bubbles cleared all that remained of Felina was a toasted leopard skin bikini.

"Welcome the team, Sailor Jupiter!" Mars said as she managed to stand up. Jupiter and Mercury got on either side of her to support her. The three of them walked to the fortune-telling shop, where they de-transformed.

"Dia! So it was you! I thought that that voice sounded familiar!" Natalie said, pointing at her friend. "So you're not just an ordinary, everyday super-genius?"

They laughed.

"My name's Estelle Delacroix," Estelle said, offering her hand.

"I don't think I've ever seen you before. Why don't you come to our school?" Natalie asked.

"My grandma home schools me," Estelle replied. "Plus, I have to work in the shop so much that I don't think I could manage a regular school schedule."

"Oh. Must be a drag."

"Not really. I actually kinda enjoy it."

Dia looked at her watch. "Wow, it's already almost seven o' clock. Do you guys want to go get something to eat?"

"I know what! You guys could come over to my place and I'll whip something up," Natalie suggested. "I love to cook."

"Great idea!" Dia and Estelle said in unison.

They laughed again and headed for Natalie's apartment.

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Queen Onyx smiled at her crystal ball as she watched the third scout battle her youma.

"At last, Sailor Jupiter!" she cackled. "Only one more senshi to go, and I will be able to complete the Circle!"

She arose from her throne and descended the steps that led to a glass casket. In it lay the cryogenically frozen body of Prince Endymion.

Onyx touched the glass over his lips. "So handsome," she whispered, tenderly caressing the glass. "And as soon as the Circle is completed, Queen Metallia will let me have you for my own! We shall rule Earth together, with you by my side as my king!"

"I don't mean to disturb you, my queen," a man said as he stepped up beside her. He had short, curly black hair and was wearing the gray uniform typical of Dark Kingdom generals.

"Go away, Rhionite!" Onyx huffed. "Leave us alone."

"But my queen, I believe that I can be of service to you," he explained.

"All right. But make it quick."

"I think it would speed the process of finding the next scout if I were to go to Earth and assist with the mission."

"What could you possibly do?"

"Well, I could disguise myself as a teenager and look for the fourth scout while trying to discover the true identities of the other three. I could be a lot more inconspicuous that any of your youmas."

Onyx stroked her pointed chin and considered what he had said. "Very well. You may go to Earth. I do expect, however, that you will report your progress on a regular basis. And you had better have progress to report!"

"Don't worry, my queen, I shall not fail you," he said, and bowed out.

"See now, my king, we shall be together very soon," Onyx cooed as she bent over and kissed the glass over Endymion.

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So what do you think of the scouts so far? E-mail me your feedback. Also, I'm going out of town for a couple of weeks so don't expect chapter eight to come very soon. I'm going to lacrosse camp and then on vacation with my family for a week. But I will be thinking of plenty of ideas for the next chapter, so stay tuned!!

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