WHEN HEROES COLLIDE, by Dreamcatcher
Part Four: A Day at the Beach

Another day has passed since the defeat of Electra. It
was about one o’clock in the afternoon, and Lita was
lying on the bed in the girls’ room. Her ankle was
wrapped in a cloth bandage, with a cold compress lying
on top of it. The door opened slowly and Lita looked
up to see Amy. She was carrying a tray with a
sandwich, a small bowl of soup, and a glass of orange
juice. “Hey, Amy,” Lita greeted as she carefully sat
up on the bed. “Here, Lita,” Amy replied as she
carefully set the tray on a small foldable table next
to the bed. “Cye made you some lunch.” “Tell him I
said ‘thanks,’ okay?” Lita asked. “Sure, no problem,”
Amy replied.

Amy removed the compress and carefully unwrapped the
bandage. As she examined Lita’s ankle, she asked, “How
is it?” “Well, the swelling has decreased
drastically,” Amy muttered. She looked up at Lita and
smiled. “Don’t worry, Lita. You should be completely
healed in a couple of days.” She rewrapped Lita’s
ankle with the bandage. “A couple of days?” Lita
complained. “Why not now? Just give me a crutch or
something. I hate lying around doing nothing!” “Well,
I suppose I could ask Mia if she has a crutch lying
around,” Amy muttered aloud. “I’ll be right back.”
Before she left the bedroom, Lita yelled, “Wait! Also
tell Rini that I’m sorry about her pocket tracer.”
“That wasn’t your fault, Lita, but I’ll give her the
message,” Amy assured her as she left the room.

As she climbed down the stairs, Amy called out, “Mia!
Could I speak with you for a moment?” “She’s not
here,” she heard Sage reply. “Mia went into town to
pick up some things.” Amy entered the living room and
saw Sage sitting on the couch. “How’s Lita doing?” he
asked with concern in his voice. “She’s doing just
fine,” Amy assured him. “Only problem is she’s been
complaining a lot lately.” “Complaining? About what?”
Sage asked as he got up from the couch. “Lita wants to
get up and walk around,” Amy replied. “She doesn’t
like to lay around and do nothing, unlike Serena.
That’s part of the reason why I was looking for Mia.”
“Maybe I can help you out, Amy. What do you need?”
Sage asked.

“Do you know where Mia would keep a crutch? That is,
if she had one,” Amy asked. Sage stood there in silent
thought for a few moments. He snapped his fingers as
an idea came to his head. “The basement!” Sage
exclaimed. “Mia keeps a lot of junk down there, and if
she has a crutch, it would be in there.” Sage walked
around the staircase and opened a door on the side of
the staircase. “Wait here. I’ll be right back,” he
told Amy as he turned on a light switch and walked
down a flight of old wooden stairs. Amy heard a series
of small crashes before she heard Sage yell, “I found
one!” Sage returned to the basement door and handed
Amy an antique wooden crutch. “Will this work?” he
asked. “Indeed, it will. Thanks, Sage,” Amy replied.
She noticed that Sage had a strange expression on his
face, one of depression and guilt.

“Is there something wrong, Sage?” she asked. “It’s my
fault,” Sage grumbled. “What’s your fault?” Amy asked
curiously. “It’s my fault that Lita got hurt.” Sage
returned to the living room and sat back down on the
couch, with Amy following behind. “Don’t be
ridiculous, Sage. No one’s to blame for Lita’s injury,
so stop blaming yourself.” “Yeah, but why did Lita lie
about it?” Sage asked, catching Amy by surprise. “She
lied to you?” “She told me that Electra missed her,
but the truth was she didn’t miss.” Sage buried his
face in his hands. “Sage, listen to me,” Amy started
as she took a seat next to him. “Lita’s the toughest
girl I know. The truth is, she can be a bit of a bully
at times. One thing Lita doesn’t like is admitting
that she needs help, or that she can’t do something on
her own.” Sage lifted his head and looked at Amy.

“That would explain why she lied about her ankle,” he
murmured, “and also why she refused to let me help
her.” Sage smiled a bit. “Thanks for the talk, Amy.
That helped out a lot.” “No problem, Sage,” Amy said
as she got up. “I’ll bring this up to Lita,” she
explained, indicating the crutch, “and I’ll be right
back down, if you wish to talk some more.” Amy headed
back to the staircase and started to walk up the
stairs. She stopped for a few moments to look out of
the window. “What a beautiful day!” she told herself.
“Perhaps I’ll get one of my books and read outside
later.” She was about to continue up the stairs when
something caught her eye. Cye was sitting against a
large oak tree. In his hand was a sketchpad, and he
was busy working on a drawing. Amy watched him for a
few more moments before she continued walking
upstairs...

Meanwhile, Cye was busy working on a drawing in his
sketchpad. He was so into his work that he didn’t
notice Amy approaching him, carrying a thick, heavy
book in her arms. “Mind if I sit here?” Amy asked.
Startled at first, Cye quickly closed his sketchpad
and replied a bit nervously, “S-sure, Amy.” She sat
down in the cool shade of the massive oak. She placed
the book in her lap and opened it up. “What are you
reading?” Cye asked. “ ‘Theories on Quantum Physics,’
” Amy replied without looking up from the book.
“Quantum Physics?” Cye thought. Amy continued reading
her book, so Cye carefully reopened his sketchpad and
continued working on his drawing. A few minutes of
silence followed.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what are you working
on?” Amy asked. “Just some sketches,” Cye answered
quickly. “Could I see them?” she asked. Cye hesitated
for a moment. “Umm...sure,” he finally agreed
reluctantly.  Cye handed the sketchpad to Amy. She
opened it up and the first drawing was of Sailor Moon.
“Wow! This is extraordinary work,” Amy exclaimed. Cye
blushed a bit from the comment. She turned the page,
and the next drawing was of Sailor Mars. As Amy
flipped the page over to a drawing of Sailor Jupiter,
she murmured, “Amazing!” She looked up at Cye and
smiled. “You’re really skilled at this, Cye. When did
you learn to draw like this?” “It just comes naturally
to me,” Cye admitted while Amy was admiring the sketch
of Sailor Venus.

Amy turned the page once again to reveal a drawing of
herself as Sailor Mercury. “I’m curious. Why did you
create these drawings of us?” she asked. “Well, I know
that you don’t plan on staying here for long,” Cye
explained. “You and the rest of the Sailor Scouts will
be returning home after you’re finished completing
your mission, right?” Amy nodded her head yes. “I
decided to create a bit of a memento, because I don’t
want to forget you girls. I hope there are no
objections to this.” “I don’t think anyone would
mind,” Amy admitted as she handed the sketchpad back
to Cye. “Some of them will actually be flattered that
you chose to do this.”

Cye turned red in the face. “Why are you blushing,
Cye?” Amy asked. “There’s no need to be embarrassed.”
As the redness faded from his face, Cye decided to
change the subject. “So, how’s Lita doing?” he asked.
“A lot better now,” Amy admitted. “By the way, she
wanted me to thank you for making her lunch.” “It’s no
big deal,” Cye replied. “I was more than happy to do
it.” “Hey, guys!” they heard Serena yell. Cye and Amy
stood up as Serena approached them, followed by Ryo,
Rae, Rowen, and Rini on White Blaze, with her Luna
Sphere hovering after her. “Hi, Serena,” Amy greeted
her. “Where have you been all morning?” “Ryo took us
to this old temple out in the woods,” Rini explained
as she got off of White Blaze. “It was really nice.”

“Where’s Kento?” Cye asked. “He went with Mia to pick
up some groceries,” Rowen explained. “That figures,”
Cye muttered. “Rini, Lita wanted me to tell you
something,” Amy announced. “What?” Rini asked. “She
wanted to apologize for what happened to your pocket
tracer.” Rini stood there silent for a moment, and
then she smiled. “Lita shouldn’t worry about that. I
can always make another one.” “You made that tracer,
Rini?” Ryo asked. “Yup, I did,” Rini admitted proudly.
“How did you manage to create this tracer?” Rowen
asked. “Just watch,” Rini announced as the Luna Sphere
landed in her hands. “LUNA SPHERE...KITTY MAGIC!” she
cried out as she threw the Luna Sphere into the air.
Instantly, a new tracer, identical to the first one,
landed in her hand.

Ryo, Cye, and Rowen were astonished beyond words as
Rini started to type furiously on the pocket tracer. A
few moments later, she announced, “Done!” Rini gasped
slightly when she looked at the screen. “What’s wrong,
Rini?” Cye asked. “The tracer picked up another
Celestial Stone,” Rini muttered as she handed the
tracer to Amy. As she looked over the small computer
screen, Amy noticed the flashing light blue blip and
the solid white blip. “This blue dot is the Celestial
Stone of Water. Right, Rini?” The little girl nodded
her head in approval. Amy pressed a button and a map
instantly appeared on the screen, with the two blips
still visible.  

“According to this map,” Amy explained, “the Water
Stone is located in a small bay approximately 250
miles southwest of Toyama.” Cye looked over Amy’s
shoulder at the map. “Looks like that Water Stone is
right outside Onaruto,” he muttered. Amy looked at
him. “You’re familiar with this area?” she asked. Cye
nodded his head yes. “We should get going, right
away.” Amy headed back to the house. “Why are you
going in the house, Amy?” Serena asked. “I have to get
my transformation wand, in case we run into any
trouble.” With that, Amy ran into the house. A few
minutes later, she left the house, with her
transformation wand in her hand. “Let’s go, Cye,” Amy
announced as she and Cye headed down the driveway
toward the main road...

A couple of hours later, Amy and Cye were standing on
the bridge overlooking the Great Whirlpools of Naruto.
Amy was looking at the scanner while Cye gazed down at
the whirlpools underneath them. “According to this,
the Water Stone should be right below us,” Amy
muttered out loud. She looked up at Cye, who, to her
surprise, was standing on the other side of the
guardrail. “Cye! What are you doing?” she exclaimed.

“Remember how you asked me earlier if I was familiar
with this area?” Cye asked. Amy slowly nodded her
head. “Well, during the battle with Talpa and the Evil
Dynasty, I’ve ended up in the whirlpools quite a few
times,” he explained. “You mean you’ve actually been
inside the whirlpools?” Amy asked as she looked over
the guardrail at the raging swirls of water. “How
could you possibly survive such an ordeal, Cye?”

“Because I was wearing this,” Cye replied. Amy looked
up at Cye and realized that he was wearing his
sub-armor. “I should be back in a few minutes,” he
explained. “If you wish, you can wait for me on the
beach over there.” Cye pointed at the stretch of sand
along the bank of Onaruto Bay. “All right,” Amy
agreed. “Be careful, Cye.” She stepped away from the
guardrail and started to head off of the bridge. Amy
turned around for a minute and watched Cye as he dove
off of the bridge into the cold water below...

Unbeknownst to both Cye and Amy, Topaz had been
watching them ever since they arrived in Onaruto.
“Amethyst!” he called out, without even looking up
from his crystal. A few moments later, Amethyst
entered the room. “What is it, Topaz?” she asked
wearily. “Sailor Mercury and Cye of Torrent have
apparently discovered the location of the Celestial
Stone of Water,” Topaz reported. “We can’t afford to
lose another one,” Amethyst muttered out loud. “What’s
the progress on the Celestial Stone of Water?” she
asked.

Topaz looked up from his crystal at a metal black box
attached to the wall. There were five bars, each lit
up. The first bar was completely red, the second one
was completely green, and the third was nearly
completely light blue. The remaining two bars were
partially filled with orange and dark blue light.
“Unfortunately, it’s not fully charged yet, Amethyst,”
he replied. “If that’s so, then create a diversion,
brother,” Amethyst remarked crudely as she left the
room.

“Yes, your majesty,” Topaz muttered mockingly under
his breath. He looked at the crystal, which showed Amy
standing on the beach. “This will be perfect,” he told
himself. Topaz lifted a leather pouch, opened it, and
pulled out a small handful of black sand. He sprinkled
the sand over his crystal ball. “This will take care
of Sailor Mercury and Cye of Torrent, for now,” Topaz
muttered. He chuckled evilly as he watched the image
of Amy...

Meanwhile, Amy was indeed standing on the beach,
waiting for Cye to emerge from the whirlpools with the
Water Stone. She was too busy staring out at the water
that she didn’t notice the grains of sparkling black
sand raining from the sky. The grains landed on the
beach and six small mounds rose out of the sand. The
mounds slowly took on humanoid shapes, but Amy never
noticed this. “What could be taking Cye so long?” she
asked herself.

Suddenly, Amy heard a strange noise behind her. She
turned around and gasped when she saw the sand
creatures heading towards her. “This must be Amethyst
and Topaz’s doing,” Amy muttered thoughtfully as she
brought out her transformation wand. “Mercury
Star—Ahh!” One of the sand creatures had knocked the
wand out of Amy’s hand before she could finish. The
wand flew in the air for a few moments and landed on
the beach a couple of yards away. Amy ran toward her
wand, but she was blocked off by two of the sand
creatures. “Where are you, Cye? I need your help,” Amy
thought as the six creatures surrounded her...

Meanwhile, Cye was swimming deeper into the dark, cold
waters of Onaruto Bay. He stopped for a few moments as
he watched an orca whale swim past him. Just then, Cye
spotted a small dot of light blue light shimmering
from the bottom of one of the whirlpools. “Could that
be it?” he asked himself as he continued his descent.
As Cye entered the whirlpool, his suspicions were
confirmed. Resting on the muddy bottom of the bay was
indeed a large light blue orb, which was still glowing
with a mysterious light blue light.

“That’s it! The Water Stone!” Cye thought
triumphantly. He landed on the bottom and picked up
the glass orb. He noticed that the light was
continually glowing brightly, then fading away, then
glowing again in a steady pattern. “Why would it be
doing this?” Cye asked himself as he carefully looked
over the orb in his hands. All of a sudden, Cye felt a
sharp pain in his head, causing him to drop the Water
Stone. As the orb slowly rolled away, Cye dropped to
his knees from the head-splitting pain.

It only lasted for a few seconds, but it felt like
minutes for Cye before the excrutiating pain finally
stopped. He remembered that the last time he had a
headache like this, one of his friends was in danger.
“Oh, no! Amy! She must be in trouble,” Cye thought. He
quickly looked around for the Water Stone, but it was
nowhere in sight. “I’ll have to worry ‘bout that
later,” he told himself as he headed back to the
surface as fast as he could...

Meanwhile, back on the beach, Amy was fighting off the
sand creatures as best as she could. “When the
opportunity arrives, I should thank Rae for those
self-defense lessons,” she reminded herself as she
ducked out of the way of one creature’s swinging arm.
Unfortunately, Amy wasn’t able to avoid the second
one. She got knocked down on the sandy beach. As she
struggled to sit up, Amy gasped when she saw one of
the sand creatures ready to attack her.

To Amy’s surprise, Cye appeared out of nowhere and
kicked the creature to the ground. “Are you all right,
Amy?” he asked as he helped her up. “I’m fine,” Amy
managed to get out. “If you were in trouble, why
didn’t you transform to Sailor Mercury?” Cye asked. “I
tried to, but one of those creatures knocked the wand
out of my hand,” Amy explained. Cye looked around the
beach and saw Amy’s transformation wand stuck in the
sand a couple of yards. “Don’t worry, Amy. I’ll get
it.”

Without hesitating, Cye ran as fast as he could toward
the wand. Two of the sand creatures tried to block his
way, but Cye ran straight through them, splitting both
of them in half. “Got it,” he muttered triumphantly as
he pulled the wand out of the sand. When Cye turned
around, he was shocked to see that the two sand
creatures that he split in half have multiplied into
four sand creatures. “Swell! Now there’s eight of
‘em,” he muttered nervously as the eight creatures
approached him.

“Amy, catch!” Cye shouted as he threw the
transformation wand over the creatures’ heads. Amy had
to stoop down a bit, but she managed to catch the wand
before it hit the sand. She noticed that the creatures
were slowly heading towards her. Amy had to act fast.
“Mercury Star Power!” she yelled, holding the wand in
the air. Almost instantly, Amy was transformed into
Sailor Mercury. “MERCURY ICE BUBBLES BLAST!” she
shouted. A thick fog quickly blanketed the beach,
freezing the sand creatures into ice sculptures. Cye
was astonished as the frozen sand creatures suddenly
crumbled into piles of slush and wet sand.

“That was incredible!” Cye exclaimed. “Thanks,” Sailor
Mercury replied. “I’ve been meaning to ask you, how
did you know I was in trouble, Cye?” she asked.
“Intuition,” Cye stated simply. “Anyway, did you get
the Water Stone?” Sailor Mercury asked. “Well, I had
it, but I dropped it and it rolled away,” he
reluctantly admitted. “Sorry.” “It’s okay, Cye. You
tried your best,” Sailor Mercury assured him. “But
now, ‘cause of me, that creature’s gonna pop out of
there any minute now...” Cye started to explain.

Before he could finish, there was a sudden explosion
out in the bay. Cye and Sailor Mercury gasped as a
massive spray of water flew up in the air. “This could
be it,” Cye muttered. “Armor of Torrent! DAO SHIN!” He
was instantly transformed into his full armor. “Don’t
think that armor of yours will save you and your
friends,” a female voice shouted from the column of
water. Cye and Sailor Mercury looked out at the bay.
From the spray of water emerged a creature from the
Dark Moon. Her long, wet, stringy light blue hair hung
around her pale face like fine seaweed. Her wet,
sleeveless light blue dress clung to her body. Her ice
blue eyes stared coldly at the Ronin Warrior and
Sailor Scout standing on the beach. A small evil smile
appeared on her face.

“That must be her!” Sailor Mercury exclaimed. “It’s
the creature from the Water Stone!” “Watch your
tongue, girl,” the creature replied coldly, her icy
stare fixed on Sailor Mercury. She raised her arm
above her head and a menacing fifteen-foot-tall wave
rose right in front of Cye and Sailor Mercury. “The
name is Seadra,” the creature remarked as she quickly
brought her arm down. Sailor Mercury and Cye gasped as
the towering tidal wave began to bear down on them.

“Sailor Mercury, hold your breath,” Cye shouted. “What
for?” Sailor Mercury asked. “Just do it!” Cye muttered
loudly between clenched teeth. Sailor Mercury quickly
drew in a deep breath. As the wall of water crashed
down on the two heroes, Seadra looked on with a small
smirk on her face. “No one could have survived that,
not even a Ronin Warrior and Sailor Scout,” she told
herself. Seadra was about to leave Onaruto Bay when
she turned around and gasped. “Impossible!” she
exclaimed. Standing on the beach was Cye and Sailor
Mercury, who were surrounded by a protective shield of
light blue light.

“Got a plan, Sailor Mercury?” Cye asked. “This shield
isn’t gonna last for much longer.” “Remember, Ryo and
Sailor Mars defeated Flarea by combining their
attacks, and Sage and Sailor Jupiter defeated Electra
in the same fashion,” Sailor Mercury reminded him. “By
combining our attacks, we should be successful in
defeating Seadra.” “Right, what you said,” Cye agreed.
“Ready?” he asked as he readied his trident. Sailor
Mercury nodded her head. “SUPER WAVE SMASHER!”
“MERCURY ICE BUBBLES BLAST!”

The combined attacks struck Seadra simultaneously,
causing her to plummet into the cold ocean water
below. “Looks like we got her,” Cye remarked. “Yeah,
looks like it,” Sailor Mercury muttered uncertainly,
her eyes concentrating on the very spot where Seadra
fell. “Is there something wrong?” Cye asked. “I just
have an uneasy feeling about this, Cye,” Sailor
Mercury explained. The two heroes suddenly heard a
noise. They looked out toward the bay and gasped.
Sailor Mercury’s suspicions were confirmed when Seadra
flew straight out of the water in the blink of an eye.

“Foolish ones! I cannot be defeated so easily!” Seadra
shouted infuriately. She lifted up both her arms and a
massive thirty-foot-tall wave rose out of the water,
heading straight for Cye and Sailor Mercury. “Run!”
Cye shouted. He and Sailor Mercury jumped out of the
way in opposite directions, narrowly avoiding Seadra’s
attack. Sailor Mercury landed face-first in the sand.
As she slowly stood up, she heard Cye yell, “Sailor
Mercury! Look out!” She turned around and gasped as
another menacing wave prepared to crash right on top
of her.

“I have to think of something fast!” Sailor Mercury
thought to herself. An idea quickly came to her, just
as the wave was about to bear down on her. “SHINE AQUA
ILLUSION!” Sailor Mercury shouted. Cye was astonished
beyond words as the Sailor Scout’s attack instantly
froze the entire tidal wave into a sheet of solid ice.
“Incredible!” he muttered to himself. As Cye joined
Sailor Mercury, he asked, “How come you didn’t use
that attack before? It’s obviously much more powerful
then that ‘Mercury Ice Bubbles’ attack you used
earlier.”

“Guess I should have thought of that earlier, huh?”
Sailor Mercury admitted. “Better late than never,” Cye
remarked. The two heroes looked up and saw Seadra
heading towards them. “Ready to give it another shot,
Sailor Mercury?” Cye asked as he once again readied
his trident. “I’m ready,” Sailor Mercury replied.
“Just hold on till she gets closer.” They stood by,
poised to attack, as Seadra steadily approached them.
“Steady,” Sailor Mercury warned Cye. “Now! SHINE AQUA
ILLUSION!” she shouted. “SUPER WAVE SMASHER!” Cye
shouted.

This time around, the two combined attacks struck
Seadra head-on. She let out a shrill scream as her
body turned into solid ice. Cye and Sailor Mercury
watched as Seadra’s frozen body plummeted like a rock
into the bay. The two heroes held their breath,
uncertain of whether or not they have succeeded.
Sailor Mercury touched her earring, causing her visor
to appear. She slowly turned her head back and forth,
carefully scanning the bay for any sign of Seadra.

“What’s the verdict?” Cye asked as Sailor Mercury
touched her earring again, causing the visor to
disappear. “As far as I can tell, Seadra is no longer
in Onaruto Bay,” Sailor Mercury explained. “Therefore,
we can safely conclude that the proper combination of
our attacks have led to her demise.” “So, to put it
simply, Seadra’s gone?” Cye asked. “Yes, Cye. She’s
gone,” Sailor Mercury confirmed. “Hey, Cye! Amy!” a
familiar voice shouted.

The two turned around and saw Kento, in his orange and
white sub-armor, running towards them. As he stopped
to catch his breath, Kento remarked, “Looks like I
missed the party!” “What are you doing here, Kento?”
Cye asked. “Mia and I were going across the bridge and
we saw what was going on down here,” Kento explained.
“I was gonna help you out, but it looks like you two
took care of everything by yourselves.”

“You bet we did,” Cye remarked as the three of them
walked down the beach toward the red jeep. “Did you
have any doubts in us?” “Me? No way!” Kento exclaimed,
grabbing his friend in a fake choker hold. “Why would
I doubt my best friend? Huh! Huh!” “Come on, Kento!
Knock it off!” Cye shouted as he managed to scramble
out of Kento’s grip. Sailor Mercury laughed over Cye
and Kento’s antics as they continued down the beach.

Unknown to the three heroes, there was something
unusual happening out in Onaruto Bay. A small patch of
water in between the whirlpools was bubbling.
Suddenly, a small spurt of water spitted out the Water
Stone into the air. The stone was caught by Topaz, who
was waiting for it to come out. He looked over at
Kento, Cye, and Sailor Mercury walking on the beach in
the distance and a small evil smile spread on his
face. “Enjoy your victory while you can,” he muttered.
“You have no idea what’s in store for you.” Topaz
chuckled sinisterly as he vanished, bringing the Water
Stone with him...TO BE CONTINUED