The Terran Rangers/The Spectrum Force/Sailor Moon - The Preliminaries Volume 5 by Heather Ray (warren buffett book recommendations TXT) 📕

speed, spinning around Makoto's tall form and turning her into Sailor Jupiter, with a green and white uniform, pink bow, white gloves, ankle high green boots, and a gold tiara.

"Venus Star Power!" cried Minako. At her command, a wide continuous beam of yellow light sprang from the star, and whipped through the air around the blonde defender of Venus. Then, the beam of light twirled around her body, bathing her in yellow light. The light converted her clothes into the uniform of Sailor Venus, complete with white and orange sailor suit, white gloves, a blue bow, orange pumps, and a gold tiara upon her brow.

"Moon Crystal Power!" cried Usagi, holding her locket into the air. The locket opened, revealing a clear gem about the size of a golf ball call the Silver Imperium Crystal. She placed the locket on the center of her chest, and ribbons of pink light stretched from the crystal. At the same time, a pair of white wings appeared on her back. The wings then vanished in a shower of white feathers, and the feathers mixed with the light, donning the Moon Princess in a blue and white sailor uniform, with a red bow, white gloves, gold tiara, and red knee-high boots. Once the five girls were transformed into the Sailor Scouts, they ran towards downtown Tokyo, where they saw a twelve car pile-up, and there was a streak of blue fire stretching along the road.

"Wow," said Makoto. "What a mess!"

"Yeah," said Raye. "That ice fire is Catsey's signature."

"Those sisters really wanted that gold," said Minako. "Look at all the damage they caused!"

"Well, let's follow the fire trail!" suggested Usagi. "It'll lead us right to them!"

"Of course it will," sighed Raye. "I'ts a trap, Meatball Head."

"Don't call me that, Raye!" shrieked Usagi, "I think I deserve some respect from you, Mars! After all, I'm the champion of justice!"

"I'll respect you when you earn it," said Raye, rolling her eyes. Then, a small white cat ran towards the girls from the street.

"Girls," he said, "hurry up! Birdie, Avery, Prisma, and Catsey are just down this street, peeling the armored truck like an apple!"

"We're on it!" said Amy, "Lead the way, Artemis!"

The five girls followed the little white cat down the street, where they found the armored truck lying on its side with a huge, gaping hole in the reinforced steel.

"Looks like the four sisters got what they wanted," said Makoto, leaping onto the armored car and peering into the hole. "But I can't understand why they'd want a ton of gold!"

"Well," said a voice from above, "maybe we need that gold to cast a powerful spell. Or something like that."

The Sailor Scouts looked up and saw a tall young woman in a pale blue leotard with spike heeled boots and a long white braid flung over her shoulder. The woman giggled and descended to the ground.

"Hello, Sailors," she said, "I was wondering how long it'd take you to find us. If it were up to me, we'd have left ages ago! But no, Catsey's the oldest, so she gets to make the decisions."

"So, what're you doing here alone, Birdie?" asked Sailor Jupiter, "Did your older sisters abandon you?"

"No," said Birdie, snapping her fingers, "they're right here."

Three other women appeared in flashes of black light -- one was dressed in green shirt and leather skirt, with her dark green hair was pulled into a French twist; another wore her purple hair curly and long, with the exception of two cones of hair on the top of her head. Her outfit was lavender spandex, with a feathery purple tutu. The third wore a yellow and orange short dress, and her brown hair was styled in a bun. The four sisters formed a square around the Sailor Scouts.

"I'm impressed," said Prisma, adjusting the pins holding her green hair. "It only took you half an hour to find us."

"If you knew what was good for ya, you would've gone back to the Negaverse!" yelled Sailor Venus. "Now you face the Sailor Scouts!"

"We're the champions of justice!" cried Sailor Moon. "We will right wrongs, and triumph over evil! And that means YOU!!"

The four sisters laughed hysterically at Sailor Moon, much to her consternation.

"You've got to be kidding!" gasped Catsey, composing herself and tossing her purple locks over her shoulder. "Maybe some of my Ice Fire will humble you a bit, Moon Twit!"

Catsey thrust her hand towards Sailor Moon, and a wide stream of blue flames flew from her palm. Sailor Moon shrieked as Sailor Mars pushed the Moon Princess out of harm's way.

"Mars Fire IGNITE

!!" she cried, clasping her hands together. She pointed her index fingers out at the stream of Ice Fire, and her own red flames poured from her fingertips, holding back the blue fire.

"I'll take her, Sis!" cried Prisma. "Let's see how she likes my Dark Lightning!"

Prisma leapt into the air, landing only feet behind Sailor Mars. Before any of the other scouts could respond, she sent a bolt of murky black lightning in Mars' direction. Raye could sense the oncoming attack, and just barely managed to dodge the bolt, letting it fly into the eldest evil sister.

"ARRGH!!"

shrieked Catsey, crumpling to the ground. Avery and Birdie gasped.

"Nice move, Prisma!" yelled Avery. "You missed Mars horribly."

"Now!" cried Sailor Jupiter. "While they're distracted! AMY

!!"

"I'm on it!" said the blue Sailor Scout, "Mercury Bubbles BLAST

!"

A blue sphere appeared between Sailor Mercury's hands, and she threw it at the four sisters. The sphere exploded into a massive, dense misty cloud of bubbles, blocking the sisters' sight.

"This isn't going well!" said Birdie. "Let's scram!"

"Oh, no you don't!" yelled Sailor Venus, "Venus Love Chain ENCIRCLE

!!"

A chain of heart shaped links flew from Sailor Venus' index finger, grabbing Birdie's waist.

"I'll take care of this, Sister," said Avery, snapping her own whip, "Venus is mine!"

Avery leapt into the air, and landed near Sailor Venus, who was struggling to keep a hold of Birdie. She then swung the whip, striking the Love Scout in the knee. Venus released her Love Chain, and Birdie and Avery joined Catsey and Prisma.

"Let's go," said Prisma, helping Catsey walk into a portal. Birdie and Avery leapt in just as the portal closed.

"Rats!" yelled Makoto angrily, "They're gone!"

"Yeah," said Sailor Moon, "and they got away with the gold."

"Guys," said Raye quietly, rubbing her temples and closing her eyes, "I sense danger."

"But the bad guys made a break for it," said Minako, hobbling over to her friends. "Shouldn't we be getting back to school?"

"No," said Raye seriously, "I sense danger. I know it."

"Raye's sixth sense has never been wrong before," said Amy. "Can you pinpoint its location?"

Raye opened her eyes and pointed upwards. Suddenly, the wind picked up, and a portal appeared in the sky where Raye had just pointed.

"Are they coming back?" asked Sailor Moon, looking at the fire scout. Sailor Mars stared at the mysterious hole in the sky.

"I sense far greater danger than I did when those weird sisters were around," she said quietly, her long, ebony hair blowing violently in the strong wind. "It's a different kind of evil than the Negamoon, guys."

"If that's true, then we're dealing with an entirely different enemy," said Sailor Mercury, "I'd better scan it with my data computer."

A small blue computer about the size of a calculator appeared in her hand, and Amy began scanning the hole in the sky. As she did so, the hole increased in size, and the winds became increasingly fierce. Suddenly, Sailor Jupiter was picked up off the ground.

"Hey!" she shrieked. "What's going on?! Guys, HELP

!!"

"Lita!" cried Sailor Venus. "Hang on! Venus Love Chain ENCIRCLE

!!"

The chain of hearts once again appeared at the love scout's command, and one end grasped the ankle of Sailor Jupiter. The other end held onto a tree, and the other scouts all clung to the chain, trying to pull their teammate down.

"This is so strange," said Amy. "Why is Makoto the only one being affected by this strange wind? Why aren't we all being pulled into the vortex?"

"We've got to pull harder!" yelled Sailor Mars, "I think the Love Chain is weakening!"

Then, Raye lost her footing, and she too sailed into the overcast sky, headed toward the vortex.

"Oh, no!" cried Sailor Moon, "RAYE!!"

"I'll get her!" called Sailor Jupiter from above, reaching out her hand. She managed to grasp Sailor Mars by the wrist, and the two girls dangled from the Love Chain helplessly.

"I...I can't hold the Love Chain together for much longer!" shrieked Sailor Venus. "The strain..."

"Maybe we can close the portal!" said Sailor Moon, pulling a long, ruby scepter from thin air, "Moon Scepter ELIMINATION

!!"

Numerous ribbons of red light poured from the tip of the scepter, entering the vortex. However, instead of collapsing the vortex, they bounced off the surface, sending the energy beams flying back down to Earth.

"Duck!" shrieked Sailor Moon, as she, Sailor Mercury, and Sailor Venus all hit the ground to avoid the energy beams. Venus lost her concentration, and the Love Chain shattered, allowing Lita and Raye to fly helplessly into the vortex. Once Sailor Jupiter passed through the portal, the winds died down, the vortex vanished, and everything was as it should be. Amy and Mina rose to their feet, brushing the dirt from their uniforms. Sailor Moon, however, rose to her knees, and covered her face with her gloved hands, dropping her scepter.

"This is all my fault!" she sobbed. "If I didn't try the Moon Scepter--"

"Serena," said Minakop softly, kneeling beside the Moon Princess, "this is by no means your fault. There was no way you could've known the energy from your scepter would have no effect."

"This is extremely strange, guys," said Amy, punching buttons on her small computer, "There is absolutely no trace of Raye or Makoto. It's as if they... ceased to exist."

"Oh no..." whispered Sailor Moon. "You don't mean..."

"I don't really know what that means, Serena. But nothing's showing up on my computer. Let me run a full sweep with my computer."

"Wait," said Minako, standing up, "did you figure out the nature of that portal?"

"Well, not exactly, but there is a residual energy from that portal. It doesn't lead to our friends, and there's no way I can open it for transit."

"Do you think you can send a signal through? Maybe they'll be able to contact us with their communicators!"

"That's not very likely," said Amy, "but I'll send a beacon through the portal. But like I said, that portal doesn't lead to anyplace in particular. Its as if there were two portals, one opening up a hole in space-time, and the other one creating a passage through space-time. It's a very strange concept..."

"Just give it a try," said Usagi.