I've tried to make this alt mostly consistent with the anime (aside from the one change that makes it an alt). Manga continuity bits will be added, but only when they don't contradict the anime. Sailor Moon: Strategy and Tactics by Ken Arromdee Chapter 1 Brain and Brain, What Is Brain Boy, what a *mess*! Usagi had just met Ami, and then Ami turned out to be Sailor Mercury. That was really pretty cool. But then the cram school was trashed. Usagi was glad that she wasn't the one who would have to clean that mess up. "That's why I don't go to cram school", said Usagi, indicating the disheveled post-battle state of the room. "You don't go to cram school because you don't want to be attacked by monsters?" wondered Ami. "Ah, eh. No, I mean because it's so draining. Even if there aren't any monsters it's as hard on the students as if there were!" From the look on Ami's face, Usagi wondered if Ami didn't think she was making sense. She dismissed the thought; it really wasn't any different a look from the ones Naru gave her sometimes. And Naru was a good friend, right? * * * * * The next morning, Usagi was still in bed. Not that that didn't happen often, but it wasn't a school day; she and Ami were planning to go shopping. It would be the first time they'd have ever gone shopping together. "Wake up, Usagi!" said Luna, her voice barely making its way to Usagi's consciousness. "Mmmmmmf" muttered Usagi. It was so early, and the pillow was nice and soft. Maybe she could just keep her eyes closed a little longer and rest.... Luna trotted over to Usagi's ear and yelled as loudly as a cat could. "Wake up Usagi!" The teen screamed, shot up a meter into the air and fell back down onto her bed. Her head landed on the pillow again (squashing one odango) and her blanket fell into exactly the position it was in before. Within a few seconds she was asleep again. "Usagi, we should be going", said Ami's voice. "We're supposed to be shopping today." At the sound of the word 'shopping', Usagi stirred and got up. "Hello... Ami", she said after a yawn, "I didn't know you know how to pick locks..." "Luna let me in" replied Ami. She pointed to Usagi's head and added "By the way your hair's flat." Usagi felt around. "It is!" she said, touching a half-unravelled odango. "It really isn't smart to sleep like that", said Luna. "Ami probably never has hair problems like you do." "That's because she doesn't have hair like that..." said Usagi, looking at Ami. It occurred to Usagi that Ami had two choices. Take Usagi's side or take Luna's side. Whose side would her new friend take? Usagi suspected that it would be Luna's side, but hoped against hope that it would be hers. For once, something that Usagi hoped for had happened. "Luna", said Ami, "if she takes out the odango at night she has to fix them every morning. If she doesn't, she fixes them when they get ruined or when she comes out of the shower. It's once a day either way, so she doesn't lose anything by not taking them out." Luna grumbled. Usagi beamed; Ami would be a really good friend, she thought, from what little she had seen of her. Never mind asking for help on exams, *that* was why it was a good idea to be friends with a genius. And suddenly an idea occurred to Usagi. That wasn't as unusual event as some people would think--even Usagi sometimes got ideas--but this one would eventually make a far bigger difference in everyone's lives than anyone could possibly have suspected at the time. "Ami, you're smart..." she said. "I've never had a really really smart friend. Could you do me a favor?" It never occurred to Ami not to trust Usagi. "All right", she agreed. "Okay, Ami... if I say something dumb or do something dumb, could you tell me? If I got to be smarter like you I could talk back to Luna better too." Ami giggled. "What a silly idea. You're you. You don't need to be like me, you just need to wake up earlier, get better grades, not eat your lunch during class, and use some common sense." Usagi got ready to yell. She just met Ami but surely Ami was a good enough person that she could handle a little yelling, right? But wait... didn't Ami just do what Usagi had asked her? Usagi wanted Ami to tell her when she did something dumb. And it was pretty stupid to do all the things Ami just mentioned. She always knew she was a little lazy, but it was so much easier not to really try to change. But if she tried just a little bit, for the next week or so.... * * * * * Huffing and puffing, Usagi ran into the classroom a minute before the ringing of the bell. Ami, who of course had already been there for fifteen minutes, greeted her with a smile. "That's good, Usagi!" she said. "You're really getting better." "Really?" said Usagi. A piece of toast dropped to the floor from her mouth as she spoke. "Yes. You got here just barely before the start of class. You've obviously been running, and you didn't have time to eat, but you did have enough time to make the toast. And drink the orange juice that's still in your breath. You must have gotten up ten minutes earlier than usual, compared to what everyone tells me about how you usually arrive." "I guess I'll never be like you, Ami." "It's all right", interjected Naru. "Everybody's a different person. Some things are just harder for some people to do than others. Maybe if you try really hard you can find something that you can be smart at." Usagi wondered. Throughout the day, she tried thinking of what she could. If Ami could be smart, so could she. Her thoughts went mostly to her job as Sailor Moon and what she could do to make it easier, shorter, and less troublesome to her free time. It occupied her thoughts until class let out. She ended up having to stay after school when Miss Haruna chastized her for the eighth time for not paying attention to the lessons. * * * * * "I have some ideas!" explained Usagi to Luna. "What?" She lifted the cat up by the neck, so she could talk to her face to face, and said "I have some ideas!" "Prt mr drwn" gasped out Luna, clawing at Usagi, who dropped the angry feline. "Now", said Luna, "what are those ideas?" "I wrote a whole bunch of things on paper when I got home that might make it easier to be Sailor Moon so it doesn't have to take so much time!" exclaimed Usagi. She handed Luna a notebook. "Ami said it's called brainstorming. You think of a whole lot of ideas without thinking of what's wrong with them, and maybe one of them will work." Luna pawed through the pages of the notebook and read. "I will pay attention during class. I will pay attention during class. I will pay attention during class...." "Not that one!" Usagi turned a few pages and showed Luna the right one. Luna began to read. "'Send in Godzilla against the monsters.' Umm, Usagi..." "I know it's a bad idea because Godzilla's a movie! But you're supposed to have some bad ideas in this." "'Make me a magic item that lets me get a bigger allowance'. Usagi, I can't do that." "It was worth a try." "'Check and see if Mamoru is really Tuxedo Mask. He has the same height, same hair, same voice, and we never see them both around at the same time.' Usagi, where are you getting these ideas? Do you know what the odds are that out of the millions of people in the city you should happen to know Tuxedo Mask?" "It can't be any worse than the odds of being in the same place as all the monsters!" "'Look up in the phone book all the people whose names start with the kanji for the planets.' Why would anyone want to do that?" "Oh, I didn't write the reason. That's because they might be the other Sailor Senshi. It works for me and Ami, maybe there are others." "'Tell me everything you remember about the moon princess so I can look for her.' All right, you have one. But I don't think it'll help. 'Give me all my magic items now instead of waiting for when you think I need them'. Usagi, why would I do that?" "Because it makes sense! You could have given me my pen right at the start instead of waiting...." "But there's hardly anything left. Just the moon stick." "The moon stick?" "Anyway, Usagi, somehow I don't think this is going to work." "I bet Ami thinks some of these ideas are pretty smart." "You're no Ami, Usagi. Even if you are Sailor Moon." * * * * * The next weekend, Usagi and Ami went shopping again. At least, they did until Ami pulled Usagi over towards a store. "There's a bookstore over here", said Ami. "I almost forgot... there were a lot of things I wanted to buy there. Why don't you come with me?" "But we're shopping!" replied Usagi. "Why do you want to go to a bookstore?" "To shop for books?" Usagi thought about it a bit and realized that it *was* possible to shop for books, after all, even though it wasn't what she usually thought of as shopping. Oh, well, everyone has their little quirks. She could still come along with Ami and get some manga. Usagi and Ami laughed a little when they each discovered what the other had bought. Their purses were running low by then, but maybe, Usagi wondered, there was still someplace they could go... "There!" She pointed to a store that was announcing its opening. "What?" wondered Ami. "That store over there!" "What?" wondered Ami. "That store over there!" "What?" wondered Ami yet again. Usagi wondered herself why Ami couldn't figure out what she meant. She wasn't being *that* unclear. "That store! It's a new store, they're selling clocks. Maybe they have some kind of opening sale. We could buy something then! And get rid of a youma too...." Luna whispered, as loudly as a talking cat could whisper, "Usagi! You can't go looking for youmas everywhere." "But I'm trying to think about things. I don't want to miss any youmas and have to fight them later when they get really strong and hurt me a lot." "If you're going to think about something, there's always your schoolwork. Besides, why would there be a youma here?" "Well, umm... Luna, that fortune telling place was new. Nobody ever heard of it. It had a youma in it. That new radio program had Jadeite and a youma. That health club that we *never* heard about before had a youma. So did the pet shop with the Chanels and so did the Crystal Seminar. Luna, every time there's been a new store around it had a youma! There has to be some reason. Maybe the bad guys need a lot of money for something, so they keep opening stores." "Maybe the schoolwork is a better idea, Usagi. If they're opening stores to get money, where would they get the money to open the stores?" "Ami!" Ami would support her, wouldn't she? "Ami-chan, why can't we go in there and look for a youma before buying anything? It wouldn't hurt, would it?" "Not much..." said Ami. "It's still the silliest idea I ever heard", said Luna. "Besides, neither of you have any special ability to detect youmas...." Usagi stopped walking and a grin appeared on her face. She glanced at Ami and then looked directly at the cat. Not seeing any movement from Ami, she glanced over again at her. Somehow, Ami caught what what she was intending and when she looked at the cat a second time, so did Ami. At the grin on Usagi's face and the supporting smile on Ami's, Luna began to turn and run. "Not so fast!" said Usagi, grabbing Luna into her arms. "When we found Ami, you said you could sense energy. You thought it was Ami but it was the youma. All you have to do is feel for youmas again!" The cat tried to tiptoe into a position that would let her leap off of Usagi. Not this time. Usagi held the cat back and said "You're scared! That's what it means to be a scaredy-cat!" Luna let out what sounded like a sigh; Usagi wondered what that meant. Of course her joke was pretty funny, so could the cat be losing her sense of humor? "What would I be scared of?" "You're scared I'm right. You're scared that you won't be able to tell me what to do if I know it better than you." "That's ridiculous. If you feel that strongly about it, let's go." Usagi was happy. This was a lot of fun. She just hoped Luna wouldn't think Usagi was picking on her too much. * * * * * Ami and Usagi, holding the cat, entered the new clock store. "So do you sense anything?" whispered Usagi to the black bundle in her arms. "As a matter of fact, I do. There's some kind of evil energy in all these clocks and that woman over there is a youma." "Are you just saying that because I asked you to look, or is it real, Luna?" "Usagi, you're right! You made a lucky guess and you're right. Does that satisfy you? Now, we'd better go attack her." "Wait", said Ami. "Just a moment. I think she is going to leave." "So? We can chase her!" "If you're going to do a sneak attack on a youma", said Luna, "do it right". To Usagi, it didn't sound like Luna's usual kind of advice at all. She wondered if maybe Luna was trying to think of things Usagi couldn't think of so she could keep telling Usagi what to do. "Now, go outside and transform", whispered the cat. "Then come back and attack just before the youma opens that door...." The two girls quickly left. From outside could be heard the sounds "Moon Prism Power, Make Up!" and "Mercury Power, Make Up!" and a moment later, the Senshi arrived. The youma was still nowhere to be seen. Sailor Moon twiddled her thumbs while Mercury watched the door. As soon as footsteps could be heard, Sailor Mercury began her attack. "Shabon...." and the door flew open at exactly the moment Mercury uttered the last syllable. "Spray!" Fortunately, it was indeed the youma, who didn't see the attack coming at all. It hit the youma dead center, instantly freezing it solid with a very surprised look on its face. Usagi caught her breath and threw her tiara at it. "Moon Tiara Action!" she yelled heartily, and smashed the youma into bits. The world wavered around everyone. Sailor Moon looked around, and saw only a vacant space where the store once was. Sailor Mercury and Luna were with her, as well as a zillion confused customers. "We did it!" yelled Sailor Moon. "Now I can go home and do my homework", said Ami. "I never will understand smart people", replied Usagi.