A Different Introduction

          About an hour later, Erika was walking to her last class. She was lost in thought and really wasn't paying attention to what was going on around her. Her body aches were enough to keep her focused on moving one foot in front of the other without groaning. She was glad that Cynthia had offered to stay outside these last couple of days. There just wasn't any way she could have carried the feline in her bag. The halls were beginning to clear out now as people filed into their classrooms. Erika tried to speed up a little so she wouldn't be late. She glanced at her watch and stopped as she realized it had died. It still showed 12:30 as the time. Suddenly, Erika found herself falling forward from being slammed from behind. She hit the ground and looked up to see what had happened. A tall girl with long dark hair stood over her with a surprised look on her face.
          "Oh! I'm so sorry!!" I was hurrying so fast to class that I didn't see you. Are you okay?"
          Erika nodded and managed to squeak, "Yeah, I think so."
          "Here let me help you up," the girl held out her hand. Erika took it and grimaced as she was pulled to her feet.
          "You sure you're okay?" the girl had caught Erika's expression while she was helping her up. Erika plastered a cheesy grin on her face and nodded.
          "Okay, well, see you around," her dark brown waist-length hair flowed behind her as she hurried off to her class. The bell clanged and Erika found herself alone in the hallway as the last students slipped into their classes. Sighing, she slung her bag back over her shoulder and started hobbling towards class again.

          The two dark figures stared down at their feet. The vocal lashing they'd just been through was enough to make them hang their heads, not a common occurrence. Saphrina eyed the two misfits coldly and reconsidered her choice of accomplices. They had already been clumsy enough to be caught - but by who, they didn't know, they hadn't bothered to look. This was when the verbal abuse had become severe. One of them had paused just long enough to catch a glimpse of a shadow that looked like a girl with a tail. Then he had called the monster to attack and they'd both taken refuge in the dilapidated cabin Saphrina had chosen to use as their rendezvous. Hundreds of these abandoned structures were scattered through the region, so no one would be likely to suspect anything. But they had been given strict orders and had not carried out any of them yet. With Rubius bumbling around Tokyo, Saphrina was hoping to polish her image with Wiseman. He certainly didn't need - or want - two failing fools, and she knew even Wiseman had a limit to his patience.
          "Look at me," she ordered the two misfits. The boys reluctantly raised their heads. "I hope you'll realize what this has cost us - ALL of us. We have lost precious time and my foolish brother is still screwing up his part enough in Tokyo. If this is what I'm to expect every time you get caught or are cowardly enough to run from your inferiors, then I don't want to see either of you return. If you do, then I'll send you to Wiseman and he can deal with you." The two young men fidgeted visibly, which irritated her more, but also gave her a twinge of satisfaction - they were afraid. "Now get busy," Saphrina turned her back on them and walked slowly across the dark room. The two young men turned and teleported themselves outside the shack.
          "How could we have been so stupid?" the taller of the two grumbled. His brown hair hung carelessly in his eyes, even though the sides and back were cut short. His eyes were a strange violet color that almost seemed to glow in the dim moonlight, and a small silver ring sparkled in his left eyebrow. "You and I both know better than to run like cowards from the first sign of opposition. What happened to us!?" he clenched his fists. The other young man stood beside him with his hands shoved deeply into his pockets. His light green shoulder-length hair was pulled back into a ponytail at the base of his neck.
          "We were caught off guard," he justified. "We didn't expect to be confronted so soon." The first one growled a response and shot a glare at his companion. "Hey! How were we supposed to know!?" he defended himself.
          "You idiot, Rax! That's when we're supposed to be at our best! We are as useless as a set of lost keys if all we can do is turn our backs and run!" his violet eyes flashed in the late afternoon sun as he scowled at the underling next to him. He was no partner - only a coward who'd been drawn into this with promises of wealth and power. Fool.
          "Well then what do you propose we do Dain?" Rax spat. His question was met with an icy silence.

          "No way, Cynthia! I am way too sore to go out gallivanting tonight. Can't we wait until I can at least walk down the stairs without hugging the rail?" The white and tan cat regarded Erika coolly for a moment. This sympathy thing was starting to wear on her. She sighed.
          "Erika, I know how badly you hurt right now, but you must understand that evil doesn't wait for your stiff muscles to go away. They could attack anywhere at anytime and you need to be prepared! Your fighting skills especially need to be sharpened. You were almost killed the other night, and I can't afford to lose you."
          "What about the others that you keep mumbling about?" Erika was slumped in a chair in front of the evening news. She was putting on her best "I'm exhausted" face, even though the pain in her body was starting to subside.
          "They haven't been found yet!" Cynthia rolled her eyes - an unusual sight for a cat.
          "Well, I don't see you looking very hard," Erika smirked. This comment earned her a new scratch on her ankle. "Ow! Hey, if you keep that up I'll have you declawed!"
          "What's going on with you Erika? I thought you were excited about being one of the Sailor Senshi." Erika carefully pushed herself out of the chair and hobbled to the kitchen.
          "I was until that sparkly armored... whatever attacked me the other night. Honestly, I don't know that I want to deal with that stuff whenever I get the urge to dress in a skimpy outfit with purple boots," she scoffed. Cynthia hung her head and pawed the floor impatiently.
          "We've already had this conversation, Erika. You accepted the responsibility to help protect the Moon Princess over a thousand years ago!"
          "That was then!" Erika retorted. "Besides, you've never told me if the Moon Princess is even alive!"
          "She is! And she's leading the Senshi in Tokyo to victory over the evil that keeps attacking there!" Erika paused for a minute, her mind flying through everything she knew about the Tokyo Senshi.
          "You mean Sailor Moon is the Moon Princess!?" Erika walked back into the living room toward her chair with a handful of potato chips. Cynthia nodded. "Well, if she's in Tokyo leading the original Sailor Senshi, then what do you need me for?" she carefully lowered herself back into the chair.
          "Well, aside from the obvious incident the other night, I really don't know. I was just told to seek out the Starlight Senshi here in Hamburg."
          "We have a title!?" Erika chuckled through her mouthful. "Oh this just keeps getting better." Cynthia glowered.
          "Are you going to let me train you or not?" the feline snapped. Erika peered down at her as she licked the grease and salt from her fingers. Realizing that the cat was frustrated and tired of arguing, Erika decided to drop the argument and shrugged.
          "Yeah, fine. Let's go."
          "It's about time," Cynthia cheered. "Now we can finally get down to business."
          Erika slipped on her shoes and a jacket against the chill of the evening, and stepped outside. The cat followed her onto the small landing and rubbed against her legs.
          "Where to boss?" Erika glanced down at her small companion.
          "Follow me," Cynthia jumped down the steps and began to trot through the dusky street.

          "Mom, I'm going out!" Karin called as she stepped out of the front door. She waited a second for a response and swung the door shut when no one answered. She had found herself with nothing to do after her homework was done, and decided that TV was not the way she wanted to spend her evening. Brushing her long hair out of her face, Karin walked briskly out of the cul-de-sac where she lived. Losing herself in her thoughts, Karin let herself wander aimlessly through the familiar streets of her neighborhood. Cars full of teenagers cruised by with wild techno music hammering from the open windows, and shops were beginning to close. None of this bothered her, though, as she concentrated on the thoughts buzzing through her head.

          Erika and Cynthia stopped in a grassy square at the edge of town. The sun was down and most of the people had gone home. Cynthia hopped onto a bench sitting under some trees and made herself comfortable. Erika glanced around.
          "So, now what? I thought you were going to train me," she asked. The cat gazed at her calmly.
          "I am, but do you want to take the chance of someone seeing you transform?"
          Erika shrugged. "Well, no, I guess not."
          "Then we'll have to wait a few more minutes."
          "Okay, then at least explain to me what we're going to do."

          Karin looked up and found herself in a grassy square at the edge of town. She knew the square well and came here often when she wanted to be alone. The evening was getting darker and most people were gone. Karin found a quiet spot where she knew she wouldn't be bothered and sat down. She played with the zipper on her jacket as the last of the sunlight faded from the sky. Her thoughts continued to buzz through her head, refusing to let her have a completely restful moment.
          "I can't believe this university exam is only a year away... I wonder where I'll go... I wonder if I still need to study more for tomorrow... nah... I wonder what that weird feeling of dread was all about the other night... I hope that girl I ran into today is alright... I can't believe someone is still in the square now..." Karin turned around to peer through the bushes she was sitting among. The voices were coming from her right and sounded female. She looked harder and realized that one of the voices was the girl she'd run into in school with a white-ish cat - but who was she talking to?
          "That's odd, I've never seen her here before," she mumbled to herself. "Maybe I should go say hi." Karin stood up and brushed off the seat of her pants. The bushes around her created a tall hedge that she could just barely see over, but it was dark enough that she knew the girl wouldn't see her. She followed the hedge to one of the tall trees at the edge of the square and rounded the corner. She stopped for a moment wondering if maybe she'd scare the girl. In this moment of hesitation, though, Karin saw something she'd never forget. The small cat jumped from the bench and turned around in such a way that it looked like it might attack the girl. Then a voice said,
          "It's time!" Karin watched as the girl from school got up from the bench and punched her right fist into the air.
          "QUASAR LIGHT POWER!!"
          Karin found herself shielding her eyes from the brilliant light that suddenly twisted around and engulfed the girl. But she also found her curiosity getting the better of her and couldn't help but try to see what was happening. In the next second, the girl from school - or who had been - stood with her right fist in the air and her left fist on her hip in one of the strangest looking outfits Karin had ever seen. The boots on her feet and tiara wrapped around her forehead topped it off, and for a brief moment (very brief), Karin wondered if she might be some kind of strange exotic dancer.
          "Okay Cynthia, let's get started," the girl grinned.
          "Right. First I need to see..." the voice faded into the background as Karin suddenly realized that the CAT was talking. Shaking her head, she glanced back over to her spot in the bushes to see if maybe she'd fallen asleep, and this was all some kind of crazy dream. But the spot was empty, and the chill in the air let her know that she was indeed awake. Turning her attention back to the strange pair, she found the skimpy-suited ("is that a sailor outfit?") girl running around the square at full speed. Her posture was horrible, and her legs were flying in every direction, but she was fast. Karin couldn't stand to watch such awful technique, though, weird girl or not. Her personal training with running was repulsed with almost every step the girl took. Finally, when her patience couldn't stand it any longer, the girl collapsed.
          "I can't run anymore, Cynthia. I'm just too sore," she panted. Karin decided to make herself known. At least she could try to help out with the girl's running. She stepped out from the shadow of the hedge.
          "Sure you can," she piped. The girl and the cat both looked up in shock. "You just need to learn how to do it better."
          "Who are you?" the girl gasped from her hands and knees.
          "Karin Wallace," she smiled down and offered her hand to the sailor-suited runner. Cautiously, the girl took it and pulled herself up, Karin watched the same grimace of pain wash over her face as had earlier. "I take it you don't do a lot of running." The girl shook her head, her long braid bobbing up and down.
          "No, but lately some situations have come up that require me to." Karin nodded.
          "Yeah, that would probably explain why you were in so much pain when I helped you up earlier today," Karin grinned as the shock returned to the girl's face, which she tried to hide.
          "What do you mean?" the girl asked in surprise. Karin laughed.
          "I mean at school when I ran into you today." The girl glanced cautiously at the cat and then back to Karin.
          "You must have me mistaken for someone else," she chided. Karin shook her head.
          "Nope, not with that hair - and besides, I saw you change."

          Erika glanced back down at the Cynthia who was trying her best to play dumb, without much success.
          "How long have you been here, and just how much have you seen?"
          "Since sundown, and most of it. Why? What's the big secret?" Erika looked down at the cat hoping she'd step in. Instead, Cynthia started to bathe her face.
          "I'm not sure," Erika let out a nervous sigh and tried to smile. "I'm Sailor Quasar. It's nice to meet you."
          "Sailor?" Karin glanced over the odd outfit Erika was in and nodded. "Okay, I suppose that makes sense. Sailor... what?"
          "Quasar."
          "Quasar?"
          "Yeah, it's a long story..." Erika trailed off.
          "I'm sure," Karin laughed. "So, introduce me to your cat. I know she can talk too." Sailor Quasar's eyes glinted with mischievousness, and she scooped up the white-tan creature.
          "Cynthia, this is Karin, our spy," the cat looked blankly at Karin and started to struggle. "Oh give it up, she's heard you talking already." The cat stopped her struggle and hung her head.
          "Nice to meet you," she mumbled. Karin laughed.
          "What a trip! A talking cat!" she grinned.