Hello, again.  This is Jendra at Jendra@aol.com with part 2.  All disclaimers
still apply, except the one about no action.  There is action in this.  C & C
still very, very welcome.  If you want to know what happened in part one, 
read it.  Enjoy!

Sailor Moon Universal

Chapter 2:  Maturing?

Serena and Reenie set off for the temple once more.  Anyone watching would 
have noticed they walked a little closer together.  When they noticed the 
temple getting closer, they moved a little farther apart and grinned at each 
other.

Then it started.

"I still say Travis is your new boyfriend."  Reenie yelled as she suddenly 
raced towards the temple.

"He is not!  Get back here you little spore!  You're supposed to stay with 
me!"  shouted Serena as she chased after her.  

"Serena's got a new boyfriend!  Serena's got a new boyfriend!"  Reenie 
caroled to the other girls gathered in front of the temple.  "I even saw her 
hugging him!"  she announced.

"Come back here you little fungus!  He is not my boyfriend!"  Serena's 
annoyed voice followed soon after.

"Oh is he why you're late this time, Meatball Head?"  Raye asked 
sarcastically. "You called this meeting, the least you could do would be to 
show up on time." 

"I am not late!  I said to meet after dinner and we just got through. So 
there!"  Serena put up her nose and smirked.

Raye didn't hesitate.  "Well if you didn't eat enough to choke a horse, you 
could have been done and ready at the same time as the rest of us."  The 
other girls and two cats sighed.  They knew what was going to happen next.

"WAAH!  Why are you always so mean to me, Raye?  I had a really bad day."  
Serena's wail hit full swing as the cats covered their ears.

"Lower the decibals, Meatball Head!  If you went around hugging strange 
guys, your day couldn't have been that bad.  Of course it would have to be a 
strange guy, the boys that know you certainly wouldn't bother!"

"At least I have a guy to hug.  The only one you have is Chad, and you're 
too stuck up to hug him!"  And Serena stuck out her tongue as she got that 
dig in.

Raye immediately stuck out her tongue too and they got into a silent tongue 
war.  The others sighed once more, they were very used to these happenings.

Reenie decided to break it up.  "She hugged him because he was helping her 
with her homework and she got one right.  In fact, she did all her homework 
and he checked it and said she did it 'all' right."  Reenie laughed at the 
stares she was getting from the others.  She knew how they felt.  Serena 
actually doing her homework 'and' getting it right!  Unbelievable!

"No way!"  Raye yelled, breaking the tongue battle.  "I refuse to believe 
that you actually did your homework."

"It is a little difficult to imagine."  Amy agreed.

"That's wonderful, Serena, maybe your finally growing up."  That was Luna, 
the black cat was so surprised that she forgot Reenie wasn't supposed to 
know about her.

"It would be about time."  Raye commented.

"Raye,"  Mina exclaimed, "if Serena is actually starting to get interested 
in her schoolwork, we should encourage her."

"Guys," was Lita's addition to the conversation "that's all well and good, 
but I want to know what happened with Travis today."

Serena was laughing with Reenie at everyone's expression.  She calmed down 
to explain.  "He conned me into doing it.  It was not my first choice, but 
he's very good at simplifying things so I can understand.  Boy, is Miss 
Haruna gonna be surprised in the morning."

"Yeah, especially since you're gonna be on time for the first time in your 
life.  Get this everyone, Travis is coming by to pick her up and if she's 
not awake he's going to go up and pour water on her.  And Serena's father 
gave his permission."  Reenie gleefully told the others.  Raye, Mina and 
Lita burst into laughter at the thought.

Serena looked annoyed for a moment, then smiled.  "But Reenie, you sleep in 
the same bed as me.  That means you would get wet too."  Even Amy, Luna and 
Artemis couldn't help laughing.  It was obvious Reenie hadn't thought of 
that.

"Enough playing around girls,"  a male voice announced, "Serena must have 
had a reason for calling us together, and it was not to talk about her new 
boyfriend."

Serena's face lost all semblance of mirth.  "You're right Artemis.  I called 
this meeting to talk about my old boyfriend.  He

"Look Meatball Head," Raye interupted, "we're not going to help you get him 
back, so you don't even need to bother to ask.  If that's all, I need to get 
back to work."

"If you would listen, pyro," Serena shot back "you might learn something.  
Like the fact that I would have a hard time winning him back when I can't 
even see him.  He took a vacation, starting this morning and he doesn't know 
when he will be back.  And if you don't think that the fact that Tuxedo Mask 
isn't going to be around for awhile, important Scout business, then I guess 
I don't need to be here and you can get back to work.  Amy, Lita, I'll see 
you in the morning.  Come on, Reenie."

"Wait a minute."  Reenie cried running after Serena, "What did you do to 
him? I know it must be your fault he left.  If you weren't clinging to him 
all the time, he wouldn't have left.  Why couldn't you jus..."  was the last 
thing the people at the temple heard as the two girls left.

Unfortunately, it was not the last thing Serena heard.  Her face just got 
sadder and sadder as Reenie went on and on.  Finally, she did what she 
hadn't done in almost a week, she yelled at Reenie and meant it.  "Enough! I 
don't want to hear anymore about it.  Just go home fungus, I'm sure you're 
old enough to find your way there by yourself."  With that Serena turned 
and ran into the small playground they were just passing.  She turned 
quickly, but not before Reenie saw the tears running down her face.  

"I'm sorry, Serena, I didn't mean to make you cry."  Reenie whispered, then 
her face screwed up and she started running the other way, Luna Ball 
following after her, and tears pouring from her eyes.

"So, all alone little Rabbit?"  a sneering voice called down at her.

"Rubeus!  Ho..how did you find me?"  Reenie's trembling voice was clearly 
heard by the black cat behind her.  Luna had been following her two
charges back from the temple.  She had seen them split up and wanted to 
go to Serena but knew Reenie was the one most likely to get into trouble.  
As she heard Reenie's words, she turned and took off at full speed in the 
other direction.  She knew that the only chance Reenie had was her ability 
to find Serena in time.  She ran back to the playground where they had split 
up and started yelling.  "Serena!  Serena!  Where are you, Serena?"

"What do you want Luna?"  Serena's resigned voice came from the darkness 
beneath the trees.  "I suppose you're going to yell at me for leaving Reenie 
alone, right?"

"There's no time for that!  Rubeus has found Reenie again!"

"Where?"  Serena cried out as she started to run in the direction Luna had 
come from.  She pulled out her locket and yelled "MOON CRYSTAL POWER".  The 
transformation was over almost as fast as it started, but it was still too 
slow for Serena.  She knew it was her fault Reenie was all alone and her run 
got even faster as a bolt of white energy split the heavens.  "Reenie's 
energy!  She must be really scared."  She pulled out her communicator.  
"Everybody, Reenie's in trouble again, transform and get over here."

As she was putting up her communicator, she reached the clearing.  Rubeus 
was still gloating over the helpless child.  "So you think the Sailor Scouts 
will be here to save you, do you?  I really doubt they'll get here in time.  
Well it's time to go."  With that he floated down towards Reenie.

"Hold it right there, Negatrash," a voice called out from the darkness.  "I 
am Sailor Moon, Champion of Justice, and protector of innocents like this 
one.  In the name of the Moon, I Will Punish You!"  And as she spoke the 
last words, she jumped down in front of Reenie and pointed at Rubeus.

"Sailor Moon, you're here!"  Reenie cried as she ducked behind her savior.

"Of course I'm here.  I promised I always would be" she smiled as she spoke 
to the munchkin, then her voice got hard as she turned toward Rubeus.  "Why 
don't you just give it up?" she asked.  'The Sailor Scouts will never allow 
you to get your hands on her, and your assistants have returned to the side 
of good!  You're all alone, so just give up."

"Never!  I will never give up.  The Wiseman has entrusted the capture of the 
Rabbit to me and I will 'not' fail!"  Rubeus didn't notice Sailor Moon reach 
for her tiara and whisper the words "MOON TIARA"  Unfortunately before she 
finished, "Droid Robotica, come forth!"  As the Droid stepped forward, 
Rubeus laughed "Destroy this pathetic Sailor Scout and bring the Rabbit to 
me!"  With that Rubeus teleported back to his ship, hanging cloaked in the 
night sky and watched through a viewing portal.  

Sailor Moon changed her target as Rubeus left.  "MAGIC" she cried as the 
magical discus flew towards the unsuspecting droid.  Robotica seemed to be 
living metal.  Covered in a dull silver sheen, she looked extremely powerful.
An impression that was increased when red laser beams shot from her eyes, 
impacting the tiara in midflight and destroying it.

"Is that the best you can do?"  her cold voice asked unemotionally.  She 
started walking towards the two girls.

Sailor Moon stared in disbelief.  She was about to start running when she 
heard a sniffle behind her.  Her resolve firmed, but wavered as she saw 
Robotica's eyes turning in her direction.  She grabbed Reenie and threw them 
both in the opposite direction as the laser beams that had targeted them 
blew up the tree behind their last position.

Reenie looked up at Sailor Moon from where they lay in the dirt.  "Sailor 
Moon, your tiara is back," she said happily.

"Yeah, it always comes back," Sailor Moon fell silent as she rolled them to 
another position.  "I wonder...Reenie will you do me a favor?"  Reenie's 
earnest nod was all the answer she needed.  "I'm going to throw my tiara 
again.  As soon as I take it off, start counting.  I need to know how long 
it is until it reappears.  Can you do that?"

Reenie waited until they moved once more, the lasers impacting behind them.  
"Of course I can, I won't let you down!"

Sailor Moon reached for her tiara again.  "MOON TIARA MAGIC"  Halfway to the 
droid it was destroyed.  "How long Reenie?"  Saior Moon asked, conscious 
that she had not heard the little girl count.

Reenie gulped, "None, it never left your head!"

Sailor Moon stared down at Reenie, so shocked that they almost got hit by a 
laser beam, before she snapped out of it.  "So, I wonder how many it can 
hit."  Then she started throwing. "MOON TIARA MAGIC"  "MOON TIARA MAGIC"  
"MOON TIARA MAGIC"  disk after disk raced towards the droid.  It hit the 
first four but the fifth one got through, slicing its arm, the eighth one 
impacted its body and weakened it a little.  However, after ten attacks in 
a row, Sailor Moon didn't have the energy left to form another one.  The 
droid sensed this and started towards the helpless girls.  Sailor Moon did 
the only thing she could think of, she threw herself over Reenie and wailed. 
The droid stepped closer, "The Rabbit is mine.  The master will be pleased."

"MARS CELESTIAL FIRE SURROUND"  came from the darkness.  "JUPITER 
THUNDERCLAP ZAP"  followed immediately.  The voices were almost lost in the
roar as a stream of fire and a disk of lightning impacted the droid.

"Finish it Sailor Moon"  Mars cried out "What are you waiting for?"

"Right!"  Sailor Moon answered getting unsteadily to her feet. *I hope I 
have enough energy to do this* she thought hazily as she pulled out her 
scepter.  "MOON SCEPTER ELIMINATION"  and she sent the last of her energy 
at the droid. It collapsed into a pile of dust.  

"You saved me, Sailor Moon, thank you"  Reenie said as Sailor Moon quickly 
sat down in exhaustion.

"Thank 'you' Reenie for your help."  She looked away.  "I'm sorry I left you 
alone.  I

"You left her 'alone'! How could you?"  Mars' voice cut through their 
conversation like a knife.  "I thought even an airhead like you could be 
trusted to do something as simple as walking her home!"

"Yes, Sailor Moon," Sailor Mercury agreed, "that was very irresponsible of 
you."

"We did kind of expect better than that, Sailor Moon.  You knew that Rubeus 
was still after Reenie, why did you leave her alone?"  Sailor Jupiter said.  
That hurt a lot worse than Sailor Mars' words.  Jupiter was one of the 
people that could usually be counted on to back Sailor Moon no matter what.

"Look guys, give her a chance to explain, maybe she did have a good reason," 
Sailor Venus didn't really believe it, she knew their leader as well as the 
rest of them, but felt that somebody had to defuse the situation.  She got 
some unexpected help.

"Yes Sailor Moon, it was very irresponsible,"  Luna's voice was closely 
followed by her appearance.  "But, I would like to congratulate you.  You 
actually concieved and carried out a plan!"  To the other Scouts.  "She 
figured out that she could have more than one tiara in the air at a time.  
She sent so many at the droid that it couldn't compensate and several got 
through to hurt it."  The other Scouts looked on in disbelief.

"Very good, Sailor Moon, maybe you are maturing a little."  Mercury said.

"Not bad, Meatball Head, but maybe if you weren't so lazy you could have 
done some actual damage."  Mars' voice was still sarcastic.  "Look at you 
sitting on the ground like that.  Why don't you get up?  Your mother is 
going to be wondering where you are."

"Why are you always so mean to me?  You try thirteen full strength attacks 
in two minutes and we'll see how tired you are.  And it wasn't such a great 
plan Luna, it failed didn't it?"  Sailor Moon powered down and started 
stumbling home.

"Yeah, why are you always so mean to her?"  Reenie asked.  "She saved me 
again and it was my fault she left.  I didn't mean to hurt her like that,"  
she announced to the others as she ran to catch up to Serena.

"Maybe we were a little hard on her." Mercury agreed.  "I'm going to 
apologize in the morning."

"Me too," Jupiter agreed.  "Besides, I want to know if Travis can actually 
get her up on time!"  Everyone laughed as they split up to go home.

In a ship, orbiting above Tokyo, Rubeus watched as the scouts left the range 
of his vision.  He turned from the mirror where he had been watching the 
fight.  "So Sailor Moon and the Sailor Scouts don't always get along, huh?  
I wonder if that can be used to my advantage.  Tuxedo Mask didn't show up, 
either."  He turned to a summoning portal.  "Master" he called.  Soon a man 
dressed in a dark robe that covered all of him except the skeletal hands 
holding a globe appeared.

"What is it Rubeus?  Dare I hope you have captured the princess, or at least 
a crystal point."  The Wiseman's voice was deeper than what would be expected
from a person his seeming age.

"Unfortunately not, Wiseman.  I but called to tell you that your plan seems 
to be working.  Tuxedo Mask did not show up for the fight tonight.  Those 
dreams you have been sending him must have worked."

"Don't suppose.  If he doesn't show up within the next week, then you can 
suppose.  I am very happy that it seems to be working, however, that is not 
a good enough reason to summon me."  The Wiseman's eyes seemed to glow from 
beneath the hood.  "It is important that I am not distracted from the fight 
in the future."

"Indeed, Master, I did have another reason."  Rubeus's voice grew slightly 
afraid, he did not like asking favors.  "Watching the Scouts after they 
defeated my droid, I noticed that they seemed to fight often with Sailor 
Moon.  In fact, they were questioning her leadership ability.  I was 
wondering if you could place dreams in their minds that would make them 
doubt her even more.  If we could break up the Sailor Scouts they would be 
easily defeated."

The Wiseman seemed to think for a long moment.  "It sounds like a good plan. 
And it would not take much power."  He thought some more.  "Very well, it  
will take me about a week to craft the dreams.  Have a droid ready, a week 
from today, and I will give them the dreams as they fight.  I hope they 
dream well for the next few days.  Their dreams after that will certainly 
not be." Rubeus and the Wiseman laughed at the thought.  The Wiseman faded 
away until all that was left was the echo of his evil laughter.


The next morning at the Tsukino house

DING DONG!  The front doorbell rang at exactly seven o'clock.  Mrs. Tsukino 
opened the door.  Standing on the doorstep was a young man.  "Well, hello, 
you must be Travis." she said smiling.  "Serena said you would be coming by 
this morning, why don't you come in and I'll see if she's awake."

Travis smiled back at Serena's mother.  "Try telling her I decided to add 
some ice cubes to the water, just in case," he said grinning.  "That will 
probably get her up!"

"It might, indeed."  Mrs. Tsukino agreed.  She could tell that she would 
like this boy, even though she was a little surprised at how well he seemed 
to know her daughter.  She seated him on the couch as she went upstairs.  

Mr. Tsukino came into the room.  "So you're the young man who actually got 
my daughter to do her homework, hmm?  Why did you want her up so early?"

"Well sir," Travis said, with no hint of his usual joking manner, "I bet 
Serena that I could beat her on any game she chose at the arcade.  I won, 
and her forfeit is that she has to show me around town every afternoon this 
week. So I told her that her time was mine and not Miss Haruna's and I would 
be by to make sure she didn't have detention."

"Do you like my daughter, Travis?"  Mr. Tsukino asked, still serious, 
although he had smiled at Travis's explanation.

"She's a very nice girl and fun to be with,"  Travis answered carefully.  
"She's my first new friend in this town and at the moment I need 'friends'." 
He stressed the last word carefully and Mr. Tsukino understood.

"Yes," he agreed, "friends are always a nice thing to have."

From upstairs a voice was heard, it was a voice that had very rarely, if 
ever, been heard at this time of the morning. "ICE!  I'm up, I'm up!"

Five minutes later Serena came downstairs.  She glared at Travis.  "Are you 
happy now?  I'm up."  She stomped into the kitchen. 

"Hey," he answered, "think of it this way, at least you have time for 
breakfast."

"That's right, Serena" her mother calmly said "now sit down before it gets 
cold.  Travis would you like something to eat?"

"I don't want to impose."  Travis said declining.  Unfortunately his gesture 
was negated when his stomach grumbled.  Loudly.

"It won't be any imposition."  Serena's mother answered.  "It sounds like 
you need some food in you, didn't you eat before you came over here?"

"Um, no"  Travis mumbled "Ikndforslt"

"What was that,"  Serena's mother asked. "I couldn't quite hear you."

"I said, I kind of overslept."  Serena burst out laughing, spraying food 
over half the table.

"Serena please don't laugh with your mouth full."  Mrs. Tsukino corrected as 
she placed a plate full of food in front of Travis.  "I understand you just 
moved here, Travis, where from?"

Travis waited until he swallowed before answering.  "I lived in Virginia 
from the time I was two, but I was born here."

"Why did you move back?"  Travis was quiet for several seconds.

"My parents died in a terrorist attack in Iran and my new guardian lives 
here."

"Oh, I'm sorry Travis, I didn't mean to bring back bad memories."  Serena's 
mother looked embarrassed at having asked so sensative a question.

"Actually, I barely knew my parents, I was raised by the staff until I was 
five and then I went to boarding schools."  Travis hurriedly stuffed more 
food into his mouth.

"Boarding schools!  And so young too.  I guess you're parents were very busy 
people."  It was almost a question, but not quite, leaving it entirely up to 
Travis whether to answer or not.

"Father was a diplomat, he went all over the world.  However, it was made 
very clear to me when I was younger that even if they had lived in the U.S. 
I would still have been in the boarding schools."  At the expression on 
Travis's face, Mrs. Tsukino decided to stop asking questions.  Serena was 
not that sensitive.

"Why?"  Serena asked after swallowing her food.  Her mother tried to hush 
her but it was too late.

"Several reasons, I think."  Travis answered quietly, forgetting his 
breakfast for a moment.  "Number one, I'm adopted and they never let me 
forget that the only reason they adopted me was because Father needed an 
heir.  They said I should be thankful that they had taken me in and not to 
expect anything except a home and name from them, but that that should be 
enough for anyone."  He looked at his watch.  "We need to leave soon if we 
want to be at school on time," he said to Serena.

They both gave their attention to their food, and the rest of the family 
looked on in disbelief at the amount of food they could eat in five minutes. 
Sammy commented on it, "He can eat as much as Serena."

As they finished, Travis said "Go get your homework, Serena then we can go."

"Homework?  Where did I put my homework?  I've got to go look for it."  With 
that Serena ran upstairs and the sounds of a room being torn apart could be 
heard.  Travis shook his head and dropped it into his hands.  

Mrs. Tsukino laughed as she looked at Travis.  He looked like a picture of 
dejection.  "You get used to this if you spend much more time with her.  Be 
proud, you may not get her to school in time, but you 'were' able to get her 
to do her homework and wake up.  No one else has ever managed that much."  
Her voice got serious again, "I'm sorry she asked you to talk about your 
past.  She can be a little insensitive at times."

Travis smiled at Serena's mother.  "If I hadn't wanted to answer, I wouldn't 
have." he answered.  "Besides she talked about herself yesterday, it's only 
right I do the same.  I'll tell you the rest tomorrow morning, okay?"  

Just then Serena ran down the stairs with her homework clasped in her hands. 
She grabbed her lunch and Travis's hand as she ran through the kitchen.  
"ThanksforthedeliciousbreakfastMom.Gottogoorwe'llbelate."  And they ran out 
the door and down the street.


-------------------------
That's all for now.  What will the dreams be and will they work?  Find out in
chapter 3 Dreams and Disclosures

Talk to me people, what do you think?  Especially about the fighting, I know
it needs some work.  Help me out here.  E-mail suggestions to Jendra@aol.com