Story Cyber Moon Genesis, Chronicles, Crystal and Travelers.

Kyouko Tsukino

Steampunker
This is the previous version of a story I've been writing and rewriting for decades. The latest, and most likely final version of it is Sailor Moon Aeons, already posted in this same section. Cyber Moon, while not as polished as Aeons, has one major advantage: It's a finished story. If you've read Aeons, some characters will sound familiar, but there are enough differences between both versions to make them both worth a read - some characters will appear at different parts of the story, some characters won't be around, there will be a few characters which were removed for Aeons...

But why post this, if it's a less perfect version of Aeons? Because Sailor Moon Aeons is both a rewrite and a sequel (in the form of a reboot) of this particular story: A major event in this story links this story to Aeons, and once you get to it, you will know which event it is, and why the link is important. But sorry, no spoilers.

Be warned, however: This story is the longest I've ever written, close to seven hundred thousand words. I'll post all four "Books" of the story in one single thread, unlike with Aeons - because it's a finished story and I don't want to clutter this part of the forums with more threads than needed.

Anyhow, let's wrap up the usual, boring writer's note and get on with the story.

Cyber Moon: Genesis

Cyber Moon: Genesis.
Episode 1: Escape.

By Razor Knight
Last update: September 10, 2005

-----​

'Another boring day at the mines,' the blonde woman thought with a heavy sigh as she grabbed her plasma drill and headed for her assigned spot. True, being a miner in a copper mine wasn't one of the best jobs for a human woman. The air always smelled strange, she was quite pale due to rarely ever seeing the Sun, and she had to go on drilling dully for hours and hours. But it wasn't like she had any saying in that. Humans had, dozens of generations ago, been a race of nomads, living in the third planet, the Earth as the Masters had named it. Then the Masters had come, taken over all the eleven planets, and enslaved them.

The woman, Lumina, started her plasma drill and saw it start digging into the rock. Not everything was bad, she had heard her mother's stories of the ancient nomads and their hunting expeditions... Humans of the past were little more than a few thousand hundreds... Nowadays, they were millions, and thanks to the technological and medical advances of the Masters, their lives were far better and longer than those of their ancestors.

There was something bothering her lately. Something in the back of her mind, telling her that her race didn't need these aliens to survive. That being a slave wasn't the only way to live. That these aliens weren't just gathering resources to improve their cities and strongholds. And that 'voice' had grown in volume and insistence as days passed. However, rebelling against the Masters was a stupid idea, one that, she knew, had cost many humans their lives in the past.

Her train of thoughts was interrupted as her plasma drill hit something. A diamond in a copper mine? She looked at the massive drill's data screen and frowned. 'What's this...' The drill's readings told her the object was metallic, however that had to be wrong. That plasma drill displayed it as 'unknown metal,' a thing she had never seen before, and the drill could cut through diamond in seconds, yet it had left no marks in the metal's surface.

'Whatever it is, it may be important,' Lumina thought with a smirk. Maybe important enough that the Masters would consider moving her to a better location, or even better, out of the mine. She used her drill skillfully to dig around the object, and as she set the massive artifact aside, she gasped. 'A sword?'

It wasn't the kind of swords she knew. The swords the Masters carried had plasma blades. She didn't think this weapon would be able to cut through anything, but the material had to be very resistant to stop a drill from piercing through it. Where had it come from? Who had created it? Was there another sentient race living in Venus she didn't know about?

"Hey you, what are you doing?"

'Great, just great.' Lumina saw the guard approaching her. True, there were just a few dozen guards in the mine, but they were more than enough to keep the few hundred humans in it from escaping. After all, the guards had plasma blades and guns, while all the miners could use were the heavy plasma drills.

"Why did you stop, human?"

She looked at the guard. Just like the rest of his race, this creature was almost seven feet tall, with four strong-looking arms and scaly red skin. Much like what humans called 'lizards,' the Masters were a race with enough physical strength to kill several humans in seconds. The guard's small, green eyes stared at her in a way that reminded her of a predator looking at its next meal. 'Way to go, Lumina, stop digging when you know there's a guard near...' Well, she would have to show one of them the sword anyways, so no time was better than this.

"I apologize for stopping, but I found this strange artifact, and my drill couldn't punch through it so I had to stop to get it off the way..." Picking up the sword from the hole she had dug, she showed it to the guard. Then it hit her, a wave of energy like nothing she had ever felt before. She was aware of the guard still standing in front of her, giving her an earful of his opinions on the 'useless sword' and her 'primitive species.' If only he knew how 'useless' this weapon really was.

The power emanating from it, she could feel it clearly. The sword had somehow triggered something in her mind. She felt her strength, speed and stamina increase with every second, and a voice whispered in her mind, telling her this was her chance to escape. "Escape..." She whispered.

"... And only a barbaric race like yours would... Hey, are you listening to me, slave?" The creature snapped finally realizing she was paying no attention to him. "You're really testing my patience," he added a few seconds later, and this time he got some muttering from the woman as an answer. "What did you say?"

"Venus Shining Star," Lumina said as she rose her right arm. A star-shaped blast of light shot from it, tearing through the creature's chest. "Huh, what did I...?" She blinked a few times, and then looked around. Bits of bluish blood and guts were splattered on the far wall of the tunnel, as the body of the creature that'd been speaking to her laid in front of her, obviously dead. She was still holding the strange sword in her left hand, and her right hand was shining. Shining? 'Escape...'

She could hear the voice in her head, as well as the shouts coming from both directions of the corridor she was in. 'This just keeps getting better and better,' she thought with a frown. What was that light blast she'd used? Whatever it was, she felt like the power had always been there, waiting for the right time for her to use it. And maybe that's exactly how things were. In any case, she needed to get out of the mine, as soon as possible. With a little luck, she'd find no resistance on her way out.

'Wishful thinking,' she snapped mentally at herself as she knew the Masters wouldn't just stand there and let her escape. 'Find... Others...' "Others?" Was she losing her mind from the power overload, or was it her subconscious trying to tell her something? Not like she had time to figure it out, she realized as she turned around a corner and saw a group of at least a dozen guards standing there, weapons ready to shoot her down. "Oh kh'lon."

"Stop right there, human!" One of the guards shouted. "This is your last chance. Return to your duties now and your punishment will be light." A tense, long, silent minute followed as the guards stared at her. Giving up and returning to mining? A few minutes ago she could have thought that was the wisest thing to do. Right now, she felt like nothing could really stop her. "Well, what's your choice, life or death?" Another guard asked, tired of waiting for her to speak.

Lumina tensed, and then she smiled as her inner voice spoke a few words to her. "Venus Shining Nova," she said in a low tone. In a matter of seconds, her body lit up with energy, which then blasted out in all directions, piercing through stone, metal and living tissue like they were all paper being burnt by a flame. In a second, the guards were nothing but piles of dust. Lumina, however, winced in pain and looked at her right arm. Blood?

Apparently, one of the guards had enough time to pull the trigger of his weapon before the blast turned him and his squad into dust, and the beam from his gun had pierced her arm. Blood was soaking her arm, and dripping down to the ground, but strangely enough, she didn't feel weakened by it. She didn't even feel as much pain as she supposed a wound like that would cause to her. After making sure no more guards were following her, she walked out of the tunnel and into a large cave.

If nothing else happened, she would be out of the mine in a couple minutes.

-----​

Mine guard duty was usually a boring job, but Jilehg didn't mind. She was one of the Masters, and even the lowest of the soldiers of her race was a hundred times better off than the humans. Right now there was a situation at the mine... A hoomahn that had apparently managed to kill a guard, and was being chased down by all the squad. Jilehg almost felt pity for the human woman. Almost. And speaking of human women... A blue-haired one was walking straight to her. Jilehg took a moment to look at her outfit: A blue fabric that covered all her body except for her head, no visible weapons or artifacts. What was a lone human, unarmed and stupidly dressed, doing walking straight to the mine? A lost miner, perhaps?

"Stop right there!" Jilehg shouted at the woman as she aimed her weapon at her in warning. It all happened too fast for her mind to register... The blue-haired hoomahn somehow managed to run the few dozen meters separating them in a second, then next thing she felt was a throbbing pain in her chest. Looking down, the guard could see an ice spike settled in a hole where her lungs should be. That was the last thing she ever saw.

The blue-haired woman frowned. She didn't like killing, but the Masters weren't a race that would listen to reason. 'It's not like I can just walk by and ask her to let me in to check on my readings, after all,' the woman mused.

Pausing for a second to check the guard's state, she decided she was dead enough, and prepared to enter the mine. However, something stopped her... A human blonde woman, around her age, with a sword in her left hand, and a badly bleeding right arm. "Who are you?" the miner asked tightening the hold on her sword. Two things were clear from her actions. One, she was weak from blood loss, and two, she was considering the blue-haired woman as her enemy. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you."

"Good," the blonde said, forcing a weak smile. "I've had enough of that already," the blonde said before falling to the ground face-first.

"Damn it," the other woman muttered before kneeling besides the blonde, producing a medical scanner out of thin air and using it to check on her. "Kh'lon, a few more minutes and I would have been too late, " she scolded herself, then concentrated. 'Cognisance here. I've found the one from Venus, but she's wounded and lost too much blood. Aejin, I need you to come here, now.'

'Understood,' a monotone voice said in her mind, 'I'm on my way.' Cognisance sighed and looked at the blonde.

The last Senshi, the last one she needed to find, if her guesses were right. But would she be up to the task they had before them?

Cyber Moon: Genesis.
Episode 2: Rebels.

By Razor Knight
Last update: September 14, 2005

-----​

First thing Lumina realized as consciousness returned, was that she felt like :red:.What had happened? The events of the last few minutes before she fainted were blurry, and the last things she remembered was a sword, and running... And a voice, a friendly voice, telling her she was safe.

From what her senses were telling her, she was now in a bed, and she could sense someone else in the room. "You're awake, at last." Lumina frowned. She hadn't realized she had moved. Deciding faking unconsciousness wasn't an option, she opened her eyes. After her sight recovered from the overload of lighting, she could take a good look at where she was. A room with white walls and ceiling... An infirmary? Was she still at the mine?

Looking at the only other occupant of the room, she saw it was a human woman around her age. Blue hair, blue eyes, wearing a full blue body suit of a strange material she didn't recognize. She remembered her. She remembered all that'd happened, now. Not that most of it made any sense to her.

"I remember seeing you, when I walked out of the mine," she said. "So, you brought me back in?" Her voice came out weak, faint, but that didn't surprise her, not after all the blood she'd left behind in the mine's many corridors.

The woman smiled. "Back in? You mean the mine? Not at all. We're right now in an underground base, in my world, Mercury."

'Underground base in Mercury?' Lumina frowned. "I have two questions."

"I'm sure you'll have a lot more later on. Anyways, tell me," the woman said. Her tone was friendly, yet she seemed to be studying the blonde, measuring her reactions.

"First is... Who are you?"

"My name is Cognisance, and I'm a Magician, like you."

"Second is... How long have I been out?"

"For almost two days. We were lucky Aejin was quick in healing you, or you wouldn't have survived for more than five minutes."

'Magician? Aejin?' She realized the woman, Cognisance, was right. Her answers had spawned even more questions in her mind.

Another woman walked into the room as the white sliding doors that Lumina hadn't noticed before opened. "I see she's finally awake," the newcomer said in a monotone voice.

"Hello Aejin. As you see, our 'patient' is feeling fine."

"Sort of," the blonde mused. "By the way, my name's Lumina."

"Lumina, huh... Fitting name for a Magician of light," Aejin commented.

Lumina took a second to look at her. Wearing a purple suit much like Cognisance's one, she had long, black hair and black eyes. Her skin, however, was one tone away from corpse-like. Her voice and face were unreadable, almost as if this woman had no feelings at all.

"Magician of light?" she asked, finally fed up with not knowing what they were talking about.

Cognisance nodded. "Magic... That's a word I created to define our power. There are no records of such a thing in the Masters' databases, or in our legends."

"You mean, like what I did inside the mine?"

"And what was it exactly?" Aejin asked, her tone as neutral as before.

"I remember finding a strange sword, and something stirred in my mind. Next I knew, I had blasted a guard out with a ray of light."

"That guard was the one that wounded you?"

"No. I tried to escape the mine, and a group of guards blocked my way. I used my... Magic, as you call it, to kill them, but one of the guards had time to shoot and that was what pierced my arm."

"Almost like Brisa's escape from the Uranus' weapon factory," Cognisance commented.

"So, who exactly are you, and what's with the suits?" The blonde asked.

"We are... We'll, someone can explain it better than me, and that someone's Serenity."

"Serenity?" The name sounded familiar. "I think I heard about her... She supposedly escaped a gold mine in the Moon, killing all guards and freeing all the slaves there."

"Amazing, we're famous," Aejin commented, without a hint of excitement in her voice.

"Anyways, I thought that was just a rumor, something invented by someone else, but... Is she real?"

"She's real, Lumina. And she's waiting to meet you," Cognisance said.

-----​

The Khtei frowned as he browsed through the reports. This was simply unbelievable. Several months ago, one of their Moon mines had seemingly suffered an attack. What had caused it, they couldn't tell. The security records of the mine had been erased, and no guard was left alive.

However, there was a clue on what had happened. There were no human corpses. Whatever had done that, it had a clear goal, one the Khtei despised. Freeing the humans? He couldn't think of anyone that would want that, other than the humans themselves. And humans held no power at all, so it had to be something else... Something alien. It had happened in several other places afterwards, but there had been no surviving soldiers to tell anyone what had happened.

But in this last breakout, things were different. One of Venus' copper mines had been attacked, but there was one guard that escaped the onslaught. While the Khtei did not agree with the guard's cowardly act of escaping the carnage, for once cowardice had a use. The soldier had written a detailed description of what he had heard through the communication channels, and what he had seen. Khtei was sure whatever had slaughtered the mine guards should be something powerful... But nothing could defeat their technology. In the end, they would destroy this threat like they destroyed many before in the other worlds they drained.

"It happened in less than one hour. First thing I heard were reports of a human worker being chased by guards... And also, that this female human had eliminated at least twenty guards."

A slave killing twenty guards? The Khtei smirked. It was simply impossible. He kept on reading, however, to try and figure out what had really happened.

"I remained in my post, and soon was called to chase her as well. However... We ended up facing something different. Three women, dressed in strange, plain outfits, holding metal-bladed swords. We were foolish enough to think we could defeat them. The mine's Tharlor was there, and warned them to put their weapons down and return to their work places."

The Tharlor... Or 'Overseer' in human language. There was one in each mine, and they were well trained and prepared for emergency situations. But those three slaves... Were they responsible for the slaughter?

"Next thing I knew, one of the slaves, a red-haired one, shot a fire blast from her... From her bare hand. The Tharlor was engulfed by the flames and, in a matter of seconds, turned into a pile of ashes. The second woman, a grey-haired one, shot water from her hand, crushing several of my squad into the cave's wall... I saw the third woman's hands crackling with lightning, and panicked. A lightning blast hit a soldier standing next to me... And it knocked me out as well..."

"They must have thought I was dead, because when I woke up, I saw all of the squad, their bodies lying around me. I checked on them... All of them, they were dead. The only thing I thought about was running away, it seemed like the most logical thing to do. And I don't regret it. I don't know who or what those humans were, but the ones we faced... They were cold, swift and lethal. They were Senshi."

The Khtei stopped at that last word for a few seconds. Senshi? That was, indeed, the word to describe what they'd done. In human language, Senshi would be translated as 'assassin,' and mercilessly killing over a hundred of his race in less than one hour surely made them Senshi scum in his mind.

He turned to the soldier waiting for his orders and frowned. "Tell the Khrall that I'll have my report ready on the Venusian’s mine affair in a couple hours... And make sure the soldier that wrote this report is punished for leaving his post."

Frowning, he looked back at the reports as his subordinate left the room. So the mystery had been partially solved. The humans had found a new, strange toy and were test-running it using his race as practice targets... And freeing a couple thousand slaves as well. But who gave them the ability to shoot electricity, water or fire without a visible weapon? He would find out, and would personally make sure they were destroyed.

-----​

Lumina looked around the corridor they were walking through, in awe. Sure, she knew the Masters had lights that made the interior of a cave look like daylight, but she never thought she would see one of them... Let alone a corridor filled with them, inside a human building. She was amazed at the suit they'd given her... An orange version of Cognisance and Aejin's ones, she felt like it enhanced her power, and it fit her body perfectly.

"What was this place exactly?" she asked breaking the silence.

"An abandoned base, built by the Masters when they first arrived," Aejin explained.

"Won't they know we're here?"

"Unlikely. We discovered Magic interferes with their scanning devices and recording systems. That's why we've been raiding factories and mines for several months now, and they have no idea who or what we are," Cognisance said.

"But what about the mine? I mean... I only killed a few guards."

"Don't worry about that. There were no guards left after we were done with that place. And all the miners have been recruited for our rebellion," Aejin said as she looked forwards to a large metal door. "Now, prepare to meet our leader."

Lumina gasped as the metal doors opened. Walking into the large room, she could see it looked the same as the corridor, white and brightly lit. However, here she could see at least a hundred humans working in several scanners and consoles. They all wore white uniforms, and none of them turned to look at them.

In the center of the room, she could see three women. To the left, a tall, red-haired, red eyed woman. The suit she was wearing was a red suit like the others... Looking at the workers in the background, she guessed these suits were reserved for magicians only.

The second woman was slightly shorter than the first. This meant she still towered over Lumina, not a hard thing to do, all things considered, as Venusians were never known for their outstanding height. This one had green hair, tied in a ponytail, and her green eyes stared defiantly at Lumina.

The third woman, the one in the center... Tall, thin, and blonde. Her hair was tied in twin pigtails that almost nicked the ground, and she wore a white suit, which contrasted with her hair and blue eyes, making her image almost impossible to miss. Lumina thought, for a second, that she saw a white aura around this woman. But as swiftly as it had appeared, the aura was gone.

"So... Is this the Venusian?" she asked, her voice soft and calm.

"Yes," Cognisance said, "she's the last one."

"Last one?" Lumina asked.

"What is your name?" the woman asked.

"Lumina."

"Pleased to meet you, Lumina. I'm Serenity, the first Magician, and the leader of this... No better way to say it, this rebellion."

"So the team is complete now," the redhead said.

"I... Have a lot of questions," Lumina commented.

"I know that. Let's go to the training area, and you'll meet the others. After that, you'll be told everything you need to know about our powers and our goals."

For some reason, Lumina felt like whatever she was getting into, it would change her life forever. 'Not that changing is a bad thing. I'd never thought about it, but being a slave for life isn't something I'd be if I had any saying in the matter.'

And thinking back on what she'd done at the mine, she had a chance to make a bigger, more permanent change. Maybe this whole rebellion idea wasn't a bad idea after all..

Cyber Moon: Genesis.
Episode 3: Serene Fury.

By Razor Knight
Last update: October 6, 2005

-----​

To say the practice area of the base was huge would be a big understatement. The room was so large she could barely see those training in the other side of it. However, the ones she could see were locked in several one-on-one sparring battles.

The two fighting nearest to the entrance were using swords, swords similar to the one she had. One of them was tall, with short grey hair and dark green eyes, and her suit was a bright shade of green. The other was short, with short black hair and light green eyes, and her suit was black.

"Those are Maria from Neptune and Shade from Nemesis. They're the last ones to join our rebellion, not counting you, and also, the ones that learnt faster than anyone else how to use their magic," Serenity explained. The red-haired woman who had walked along with them from the main hall, Pyrie, as she had introduced herself, snorted at that. For some reason, Lumina felt like she was even harder to befriend than Aejin.

"Neptune Torrent!" Maria shouted out as she leapt over Shade's head. way over her head, the blonde noticed. No wonder the hall was almost as tall as it was large. A column of water shot down from Maria's hands... No, from her body, as Shade looked up calmly.

"Nemesis Black Aura." In a blink, a black dome surrounded the Nemesian, deflecting Maria's attack. Shade grinned as she saw Maria was still airborne, and reached both hands out. "Nemesis Dark Shot!" A blast of darkness shot out from her hands and hit Maria square in the chest, sending her rolling back.

"Are they trying to kill each other?" the blonde asked.

Serenity smiled. "No. See, the suits we have protect us from magic, as well as from the energy weapons of the Masters. Our attacks can't really hurt us while training."

"Not a lot, anyways," Pyrie said with a frown. Lumina noticed she was looking at her left hand, which had a slight scar running from the top to the bottom. "Cognisance's Ice Spike," she added as she noticed Lumina staring at the scar.

"I see..."

"Okay ladies, stop your sparring and come meet our newest member," Serenity said. Her voice was as gentle and calm as always, yet it somehow carried along the room. A magic trick, perhaps?

One word from that statement brought a lot more questions to her mind... Ladies. She hadn't noticed it at first, but all the mages in the room were female. Was it just a coincidence?

"This is Lumina, from Venus," Serenity said once the others had gathered. Some of them looked at the newcomer with friendly smiles, others didn't seem too welcoming... And some didn't show any emotion at all.

"Welcome," said Maria, the one from Neptune. She didn't look like she had damaged anything but her pride when she got hit by Shade's blast.

One by one, the others introduced themselves. Claude from Jupiter, the tallest of them all, had green hair tied in a ponytail, and her eyes matched her eye color. Cerra, from Earth, had long, dark grey hair and matching eyes.

Brisa, from Uranus, had short red hair and dark red eyes. Chrome, from Pluto, was almost as cold-looking as Aejin, her hair a bright white shade of green, and her eyes purple. Mana from Lilith, with long blue hair and blue eyes, looked almost like Cognisance's twin. And finally, Aurora from the Sun, her hair was a strange gold-like shade of blonde, and her eyes matched it.

Once the introductions were done, Lumina looked at Serenity and frowned. "Cognisance told me you would be able to answer my questions... And I didn't have time to ask them all yet."

"I could tell you how we gathered. That would surely answer most of your questions..."

"And it's a fun tale to listen to," Pyrie added with dripping sarcasm.

"Please resume your training while I tell Lumina how our group started," Serenity said. It was just a suggestion, but the others apparently took it as an order, as they all went back to their practice battles.

Lumina stood there, waiting for Serenity to start. Serenity took a seat in a nearby bench, and pointed Lumina to a bench facing it. Lumina nodded and sat down, and the mage from the Moon started her story...

-----​

Serenity had been a slave for as long as she remembered. Humans were born that way, and she couldn't see a way to possibly change that. She didn't like it, it went against her nature to work for that race, the Masters. However, she'd seen others try to rebel against them, and fail.

Nowadays, Serenity downright hated the Masters. She had for a whole month. She'd seen her sister, Adeil, die in front of her eyes. Adeil was, much like her, not content with being a slave, and one of the guards had been about to whip an old man near the spot they were digging at... Adeil had used her plasma drill to drill a hole through the guard's head. Next thing Serenity knew, her sister had been shot down by several other guards.

'And no matter how hard I try, I can't stand being a slave. I don't want to end up like Adeil did, but still...'

She had been assigned to a new tunnel that week. It was amazing how fast their plasma drills and other tools could dig through rock, but what was the purpose of doing so? Why were the Masters so intent on gathering resources, be it water, minerals or food? Was that just for their cities?

Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard a weird noise. She didn't realize what it was at first, but then she saw the massive drill she was using shooting sparks from all sides. Instinctively, Serenity leapt away from it, and watched the tool explode.

'Damn great. I'm surely going to get a whipping for this,' the blonde thought with a frown. 'But... What could be strong enough to case the drill to blow up like that?'

"What was that noise? You, human, how did that happen?"

Serenity looked up at the guard and froze. This didn't look good, at all. "It... It hit something, I don't know what, and just exploded," she tried explaining.

"Lies," the guard spat, "there's nothing those drills can't cut through."

"I just found some--"

The guard slapped her, knocking her to the ground. She knew why, talking back to a guard wasn't allowed. But... The pain she felt from the slap was blocked by something else. A feeling there was something near that could help her out of this situation. And maybe...

"You stupid human. I remember your sister, she was a brat. Guess you're as tired of living as she was," the guard said with a condescending smile.

"Don't dare insulting..." Serenity said as she reached her hand to the hole the drill had been digging "my sister!" as the last word escaped her mouth, something flew off the hole and right to her hand. A sword. A metal-bladed sword.

"Huh? What's that?" the guard asked surprised. "Drop that thing, girl, or your punishment will be death."

It looked like a minute to her, but it only took a fraction of a second for her to feel the power in the sword, to hear the words in her mind, and to voice them out. "Moonlight Beam."

Serenity blinked. After she said those words, her free hand had lit up, then a beam had blasted through the guard's chest, and the creature fell backwards, dead. The beam had worked its way several meters into the rock wall, too, before it faded out. She stood up and looked around, worriedly. All that noise and light would surely attract more guards in.

But that was just one of the things in her mind. She examined the sword. The blade was of a strange, mirror-like metal, and the hilt was made out of a white mineral. Too advanced to be from her race, too primitive to be a creation of the Masters. But whatever it was, she felt like it'd given her the power to achieve her goal. Freedom.

It didn't take more than one minute before the other guards appeared. Twenty guards, half the mine's squad, were there aiming their plasma shooters at her. "Drop that weapon, human, and we'll spare your life," one of them said.

Serenity wasn't in the mood to argue, or to give up. Instead, she raised the sword and closed her eyes. She could hear the guards gasping at her actions. "What is she doing?" another guard asked.

"I don't know, but... What is that around her? Shoot her before--"

The guard never got to complete his order. "Moonlight Screen!" She heard a ripping noise, and the screams of the guards. When she opened her eyes, she saw there were no guards around... Only some charred and molten fragments of their guns remained.

Whatever this power she had now was, it was both exciting and frightening. And it had taken the Masters by surprise. Serenity sensed movement behind her and turned around, her mind ready to call upon her power again. However, she relaxed when she saw Arthun, one of the mine's elder workers, was there along with a small group of miners.

"Child, I don't know how you did what you did, but... It was amazing, "the man said, a hand on his chin.

Serenity nodded. "I don't know where my power comes from, but this... This sword seems to be the key to it," she said and showed it to the man.

Arthun reached for the sword, but jerked his hand back a second later, as if something unseen had slapped it away. "That hurt."

"What happened?" The blonde woman asked.

"The sword... It hit my hand with some invisible force as I tried to touch it," Arthus said.

"Strange, it does nothing to me," Serenity said. Not counting her newfound ability to vaporize a crowd in a split second, of course.

"Maybe," someone else said, "it can only used by her." Serenity turned to the man. Taller and younger than Arthus, he looked like he could've beaten one of the Masters barehanded, a task which was almost impossible for a human.

"That would explain why it reacts to my thoughts," she admitted.

"Thoughts? What do you mean?" Arthus asked.

"I can't explain it... But when the first guard attacked me, I was trying to find a way out of it, and the sword fled out from the hole it was in."

"Swords don't..." The man, Alathar said.

"I saw it happen, I was working fifty meters away from her," another, younger man said.

"The guards, they're all heading this way!" A girl shorter than Serenity, and also younger, said as she run towards them. A couple seconds later, they could hear the voices of the guards and their footsteps approaching from a side corridor.

"Everyone, stay behind me," Serenity said.

"One girl against all those guards? That's foolish. Luck won't shine on you trice," Alathar said skeptically.

"If you're not willing to fight them, I am. It's not foolishness. I'm tired of being a slave, and this sword's giving me the only chance I may ever have to fight the Masters."

"But our Masters will chase us!" an elderly woman said.

"Humans, get back to your assigned spots immediately," the Tharlor ordered.

'Now,' Serenity thought, her mind racing to plan on her next move. "Moonlight Screen!" Her attack took the guards completely by surprise, but the Tharlor, a warrior trained for real combat unlike his underlings, dodged the massive disc-shaped energy wall that shot out from the blonde's body.

"What was that?" The Tharlor said, hiding his confusion with a glare of defiance at Serenity. "This is your last chance, humans..."

"Take a look around, Tharlor," Alathar said. "This woman just eliminated all of your soldiers, and you're telling her to surrender?"

"I would rather say this is your last chance to surrender," Serenity said to the overseer. "I see no use in killing for the sake of killing, but if I'm forced to, I'll do it again."

The Tharlor looked around and paled. True, whatever that human had used on his soldiers, was frightening. But surrendering to them wasn't an option. If he fought, he was dead, if he didn't, he was dead. As things were, there was nothing to lose by trying.
"Die!"

"Moonlight Beam." Serenity's energy beam punched a hole through the Tharlor's armor and chest, drilling a head-sized hole in the wall behind him. As the alien's lifeless form fell to the ground, Serenity turned to the others. "Anyone here knows how to use a computer?"

"I do," one of the women said. "Why?"

"We need to see if they alerted the Moon's capital about this. If they did, we need to find somewhere to hide."


-----​

"And what happened next?" Lumina asked after Serenity fell silent.

"We found that, somehow, no computer system was working. Arthus figured my magic was responsible for it. We escaped the mine and after a bit of searching, found an abandoned base to hide in."

"When did Cognisance come into the picture?"

"She escaped from a factory in Mercury, and she figured a way to teleport."

"Like the Masters do?"

"Much like that, but using magic instead. We don't need teleportation platforms to go from one planet to the next, and that's a good tactical advantage."

"So... What are the plans from now on?"

"First," Serenity said, "you need to train... We all need to train. Our powers grow stronger with every single day that passes, but if we wait too long, the Masters might find a way to fight back our magic."

"Are you planning on freeing every planet one by one?" Lumina asked, trying to guess what agenda her 'leader' had.

"No, we wouldn't be able to hold them back once we free a planet. There are not many magicians, and not enough soldiers in our side."

"So the wisest thing to do," Cognisance said walking to them, "is to cut them from the root. The massive mother ship of the Masters, the place where the Khrall passes most of his time, is on the Moon. We're going to launch a full frontal assault on that ship and destroy it, along with anyone inside it."

"But... Attacking the mother ship would be suicidal," Lumina said.

"We're well aware of that. But it's the best plan we could come up with. Are you still willing to fight on our side, Lumina?"

"Of course I am," Lumina said. "It may be the only chance I'll have in my lifetime to do something other than mining."

"That's good to hear, Lumina of Venus," Cognisance said. "Now come with me, you need a crash course on combat."

Cyber Moon: Genesis.
Episode 4: Liberation Blues.

By Razor Knight
Last update: May 24, 2007

-----​

The scientist couldn't hide his fear as the Khrall walked through the door and into his laboratory. The leader was wearing the usual: A black suit that was half ways between battle armor and formal attire. The black cape trailing behind him, and helm covering all of his head but the face, made his presence downright intimidating.

"Is the project ready?" the Khrall simply said, not caring for formalities.

"I'm adjusting some of the AI's parameters, but they're a hundred percent operational."

"And you're confident they'll be enough to stop these... Rebels?"

"They are the same as a hundred soldiers, as far as combat abilities and resistance goes. Their AI is the best we ever had, and their armors are strengthened to withstand whatever power those rebels have."

"I'm not so sure about that. But it's better to send a machine to fight, than our own troops."

"As always, you're right, Khrall. We're not sure if they will be able to take on those rebel super humans, because we didn't have any to run our tests on."

The Khrall nodded. "I'm well aware of that handicap."

Suddenly, alarms went off, and the scientist gasped. The Khrall simply took a small communication artifact from his armor's side and turned it on. "What's the emergency?"

"The rebels are attacking, sir," an officer answered through the communicator.

"Didn't our scanners see them coming?"

"I can't understand it, sir. One moment there was nothing, the next they were all shooting at our main gate."

The Khrall turned to the scientist. "I think it's time to give your creations a field test. Send them to eliminate the rebels."

The scientist nodded and watched as his leader walked out the door. Those rebels were really stupid if they thought attacking their mothership was an option.

-----​

"Venus Shining Star!" Lumina stopped long enough to see her target fall back, and then turned in time to see another soldier charging at her. In a swift, calculated sword slash, the soldier's head went rolling down the corridor.

Two months ago, she had never touched a sword before, but after all the training she had gone through since she first met the other magicians, she was quite skilled with her weapon. The Masters trained their common soldiers for ranged combat only, confident in the power of their plasma guns. That was their first mistake. The second was, they didn't think the magic the rebels had was any rival for their technology.

"Mars Lava Inferno!"

Lumina heard the screams of soldiers as the corridor turned into a river of molten rock for a few seconds. The techniques used by each of the 'mages' in the rebel force were as varied as they could get. And all of them were equally deadly.

"Damn these Senshi. Retreat!" One of the soldiers shouted, and the squad fighting their group ran away.

"We beat them, at least for the time being," Cognisance said.

"He called us... Senshi?" Lumina asked in shock.

"From their point of view, we're assassins," Serenity said calmly. "But if we have to kill every single Master to get our freedom, so be it."

A few months ago, Lumina would've been against that statement. However, after Cognisance showed her what the Masters were really doing, she could only agree. After all, the Masters were a virus, a disease that spread out through the universe.

From what Lumina had read, they had once lived in a massive planet in the outskirts of the galaxy. The star their planet orbited died, and they moved out in three massive spaceships. Soon, they began their plans. They looked for solar systems with planets rich in minerals and resources, and drained the planets before moving to the next system. If there were any civilizations or primitive intelligent life forms there, they were used as slaves then left to an agonizing death in their depleted planets. So yes, Lumina agreed. It was about time someone paid the Masters back for the millions of lives they'd destroyed in their never-ending journey.

Her reverie was interrupted as she heard a shout from a side corridor. "Send in the Khr'Sed!"

Several seconds passed as the rebels stopped and waited. The sound of metal against metal echoed from the side corridor, almost like footsteps. Then, they saw them. Ten tall, compact lizard-like robots, obviously made to the image of the Masters, armed with cannon arms and plasma blades. Green crystals for eyes, no visible mouth, and their bodies seemed to be built to withstand heavy damage. That was something some of the Senshi were more than eager to test.

"Nemesis Dark Shot!"

"Jupiter Spark Blast!"

Lilith didn't shout out an attack name. She, like the others, didn't need to speak out her attack at all, but the others preferred to do so, as it gave the Masters something to fear besides the attack itself. However. Lilith's powers were... Different. A beam of darkness, an electric ball and an invisible wave that seemed to cause air itself to ripple rushed towards the robots. The darkness and electricity hit two of the robots, but the damage wasn't as heavy as expected. Lilith's power was, to put it simple, luck. She could have the worst luck befall her foes, or help her allies to get out of a dire situation. In this case, most of the robots' blades were shut down, and one of them had its plasma canon explode.

As for the two robots hit by the other two, one had its frontal plate caved in by Nemesis and Jupiter's combined power, but the other didn't even stagger back. The damaged robot fell to the ground, sparks coming out of its broken armor, but stood up and started shooting at the group, along with the other Khr'Sed. The Senshi dove out of the way, but some of their soldiers were hit.

"Lh'ar, they're tougher than we thought," Claude cursed out.

"Fire at will!" Serenity ordered. The rebels all fired their plasma weapons at the robots, but the Khr'Sed just stood there undamaged.

"Not even a scratch?" Arthus muttered.

"Arthus, leave these to us," Serenity ordered the man leading the rebel soldiers. He nodded and gave the orders, and the rebels backed away as the Senshi got ready to fight the robots. "Now girls... I guess this will be our first real challenge here."

Aejin frowned. "My power is useless against them. They're not living beings."

"We may need your power for something else," Serenity commented.

Aejin nodded and the others started charging for an attack. The Khr'Sed opened fire, but the Saturn Senshi was ready for it. "Saturn Spirit Shield."

A wall of bones rose in front of the group, blocking the barrage of plasma beams. As it vanished, the Khr'Sed could see the Senshi about to attack, but they had no time to counter.

"Moonlight Screen!"

"Mars Fire Cyclone!"

"Mercury Icicle Wave!"

"Jupiter Spark Blast!"

"Venus Morning Star!"

The other Senshi also shot, but for some reason, the attacks of the first five didn't act as expected. They fused into a thick, massive beam of multi-colored energy which washed over their targets, causing the damaged robot and another one that was standing too close to explode in a shower of sparks and metal shrapnel.

"What was that?" Serenity asked.

"No idea, but whatever it was, it worked," Cognisance admitted.

The remaining robots looked like they were about to attack, but instead started retreating. The Senshi frowned and started to chase after them, but a literal wave of soldiers blocked them.

"What now?" Mana, the Lilith Senshi, asked.

"We stick to the plan. We'll fight our way to the Khrall," Serenity said. "Arthus, we need backup!" she shouted back at the leader of the non-magician rebels.

-----​

"Can you explain what happened?" The Khrall asked, his voice a growl. He was in a really rotten mood after the news arrived about the ship's troops being overrun by the Senshi. Now the remaining Khr'Sed were standing near him, acting as guards.

The Khtei was as worried about the whole situation as his leader. "Zhiglon, our efforts to stop them are in vain. We've been able to kill several of the rebels, but not the magicians. Those... Senshi are seemingly immune to our weapons."

The Khrall frowned. The Khtei was the only member of his race that could refer to him using his real name. So that wasn't the problem, the problem was what he'd just said.

"Are you trying to tell me we can't win, Lhon?"

"Not without a plan."

"I have one. Stay here and destroy them all with our new machine soldiers."

"Zhiglon, you can't stay here. Those Senshi could be here any minute..."

The Khrall cut him off with a glare that seemed to drill through his skull. "Are you telling me to run away like a coward? I'm Zhiglon, the leader of this ship. I won't let them destroy it, even if it costs me my life."

The Khtei stared at him for a few seconds before nodding. "If that's your decision, then I'll help you face them."

"I have a little surprise for them, too, and these Khr'Sed will finish them," The Khrall commented looking at a screen on the far side of the room. "I just have to wait until they reach us to use it."

-----​

"That's the main reactor, the main power source of the ship," Cognisance said as the rebels stood a dozen meters away from a large metal door.

"If we set it to overload, we'll have enough time to run away, right?" Lumina asked.

"In theory," the blue-haired Mercurian said.

"Not like we could test it before coming here," Aejin added, with the same emotionless voice Lumina was used to hear from her.

Cognisance frowned as she noticed something. "Something's wrong... There are no guards in here."

"Maybe we already killed them all?" Claude pondered.

"No. This must be a trap," Aejin commented.

Cognisance frowned, and a bluish visor appeared over her eyes. Besides training, the Mercury Senshi had spent quite some time researching and inventing new magic-based artifacts, and one of her inventions was that visor, which was as advanced as the Masters' best computers. It took her only a few seconds to scan the wall they were facing, but it was a deadly delay. "Get down! There's cannons built into that wall!"

The wall hummed as at least twenty plasma cannons popped out of it, and fired at the group. The Senshi were fast enough to dodge them, but many of the soldiers didn't have the same luck. Serenity looked back and saw something she wasn't quite ready to see. "Arthus!"

The elder had been shot through by one of the cannons, and the wound on his chest was beyond healing. "Seems like I won't see the end of this battle," he said weakly, his breathing slow and weak.

Serenity looked at Aejin, who'd already moved to check on him. The Saturn Senshi shook her head as she turned to her. "Arthus, I swear I'll destroy this ship, no matter what it takes."

"I never doubted that," the old man said, then stopped breathing.

Serenity stood up, ignoring the cannons firing randomly down the corridor. She reached out her hands, and a fist-sized crystal appeared floating in front of them. She grabbed it, and those watching the scene saw some beams being stopped by an invisible barrier. "I... Understand," Serenity said and held the crystal with one hand, as she pointed her sword to the wallwith the other. "Moon Redemption Wave!"

Lumina gasped. True, her element was light, while Serenity's element was supposedly neutral. As in, pure magic. But the amount of magic she'd just used was enough to create a blinding, white wave of energy that punched through the weapon-packed wall as easily as a plasma drill would dig through a glass, and hit three of the remaining eight Khr'Sed, vaporizing them.

"Well, well... I see you humans are too stubborn," the Khrall said as he looked at the magicians, his eyes showing no emotion at all.

"The other robots are here," Claude noticed.

"And that's not all," the Khtei said. "All soldiers, report to the main reactor room."

In a matter of seconds, the only visible escape route was crowded by alien soldiers, and they kept on coming from the far side of the corridor. "We're surrounded!" one of the human soldiers said.

"This is your last chance," the Khrall said. "Surrender now and your lives will be spared."

Lumina frowned. Surrendering seemed like the wiser choice right now. But she knew the Khrall wasn't telling the truth. If they fought, they could end up dead, but if they gave up, they would be dead for sure.

But why was Serenity so silent?

Cyber Moon: Genesis.
Episode 5: Freedom, Hope and Destruction.

By Razor Knight
Last update: October 18, 2005

-----​

"This is your last chance. Surrender now and your lives will be spared."

The Khrall's words echoed in Serenity's mind. Was he so sure of his power over them, that he was trying to turn them back into mindless drones digging their own doom?

Power... What power did these Kh'Sun, the Masters have over humans? Fear? Fear of what? Of their advanced technology and plasma weapons? The group of human soldiers that were now aiming their own plasma guns at the crowd of Kh'Sun... There was fear there, but the fear of what the Masters would do to their planets was greater.

And that same fear gave them the determination to fight on. "You want us to surrender? Haven't you realized what kind of power you're fighting against?"

The Khrall snorted at that. "I know about your power, I've been watching you using it since you set a foot inside this ship. You're but a small pebble in the path of our survival, a pebble I intend to crush here and now." Behind him, the reactor grew brighter for a second, making the form of the Khrall look a lot more intimidating.

Serenity frowned. She could feel the crystal she had used to blast through the wall. One of the things the Senshi gained after their powers awakened was something not even Cognisance could explain. Items like the swords or their suits was stored somewhere until they mentally recalled them. With a mental command, the crystal was back. The five robots formed a barrier in front of their leader, but that was just going to help the Senshi of the Moon. "Moon Redemption Wave!"

It all took a split second. The energy wave blasted through the robots and the Khrall, leaving nothing but a pile of wrecked metal and ashes behind. But while that was in Serenity's plans, the other thing the energy wave hit was not. She stared for a second at the reactor, normally a glowing green tube of some strange alien mineral. Right now, it had a hole in its center, and its light was pulsating fast.

"That thing's going to blow!" Lumina shouted.

And they didn't have time to run, Serenity realized. She looked at her crystal again and sighed. "Senshi, we're getting out of here, but I need your help. Focus in my crystal, lend me your power!"

The others closed their eyes as the reactor's glow dimmed. A few seconds later, all the Senshi and humans in the room vanished, leaving a shocked Khtei to stare at the collapsing reactor.

He didn't even have enough time to get out of the room before it exploded.

-----​

Soldiers and Senshi appeared several miles away from the ship, just as the reactor exploded. The shockwave was strong enough to knock them to the ground, and as they stood up, they could see there was not much left of the alien ship.

"We did it," Claude said. Her ability to state the obvious was only shadowed by her combat skills, albeit barely.

"We had a lot of casualties back there, though," Lumina commented.

Aejin nodded, then, for once in a lifetime, smiled. "Look at it this way: We lost a couple dozen soldiers, but they've lost their only way out of our system, their leaders, and any hopes of defeating us.”

Serenity didn't find her statement funny, but it was true nonetheless. The structure of these Kh'Sun was much like that of an insect colony. Once you killed the Queen, the rest of them would eventually die. But in this case, they would need to speed up the process.

-----​

The girl sighed. The novel sure was good, and from what her mother had told her, it was historically accurate, as the writer had interviewed the Senshi themselves before writing it. But what was strange, was the way the First Senshi acted, so different from the ideals of her era's Senshi. Maybe it was because no generation after that first one had to fight for their freedom.

"Lady Hope, your mother is looking for you," a red-haired woman said as she entered the library. She was wearing a light blue robe, the usual attire of a Librarian.

"Tell her I'll be right there. Oh, and I'm going to keep this book until I finish it."

The woman nodded. "As usual, your literary tastes are excellent."

Hope sighed again as the woman walked out of the room, then stood up and grabbed the book. "I wonder what happened to Lilith," she pondered to herself as she walked out of the room. And so, she resumed her reading while she walked to the throne room.

-----​

The road to freedom wasn't one without obstacles. Two years passed before humans could finally rest assured the very last of the Kh'Sun were gone.

Or so they thought.

There had been an opposition against the new government imposed by the Senshi. The idea of being ruled was, in the mind of the humans, still too close to slavery. One of the meetings between the Senshi and those opposing their government had been the key to ending that dispute. One of the men from the 'Freedom Fighters' had proclaimed that the Senshi had only freed them from the Kh'Sun so they could rule in their place.

Serenity had stared at the man for a few seconds, and in an unnervingly calm tone, she'd stated "You say that, but I did not see you fighting along with us to free this system. Next time an alien race comes to enslave us, you can fight and then rule us. Until that day comes, you have no right to complain, Kh'lorn."

It was one of the few times anyone had heard the Queen curse out loud. But it was effective, as the man fell silent and soon enough the 'Freedom Fighters' were disbanded and forgotten.

Years passed without any major events, and the Senshi had married and were used to their new lives as rulers of the solar system. With the exception of the Senshi of Pluto. Her elements were time and space, and she had left for what she called the "Time Gate," a place only a few other Senshi had seen. She came back only when a spark of evil appeared, to either warn the others about it, or help them fight.

It was in one of her 'visits' that the Kh'Sun made a comeback, one that was both unexpected and deadly.

"Lady Chrone..." Pyrie said with a frown.

Chrone of Pluto didn't meet her gaze, instead staring out through one of the many, large windows of the Crystal Palace's throne room. "You're looking at me like I'm a messenger of doom."

"You were never one for socializing, Chrone," Pyrie stated.

Chrone turned to her, her face unreadable. "That much is true. Is Queen Serenity here?"

"Serenity called us all to a meeting, she said she had something to show us," Claude explained as she walked into the room. "Right now, she's talking to Cognisance. But if you're here..."

"This one situation may end up turning into a crisis. It could affect the whole solar system," Chrone said as the rest of the Senshi enter the throne room. There was one Senshi missing, and the others all looked at Chrone, who didn't say a word about it.

Cognisance and Serenity were the last two to walk in. Both had ominous looks in their faces. Cognisance was the first to speak. "There's a... Situation at Lilith. Actually, it's something very strange."

Serenity nodded. "Two hours ago, I received a call from Queen Mana. She said there was something strange going on in her planet, and that she was going to investigate. She also said if she didn't contact me in a few hours, I should be ready to send a team to investigate."

Cognisance sighed. "It's a good thing you told me about this before doing that..."

"What's going on in that planet?" Queen Lumina from Venus asked. "Where's Mana?"

"We don't know where she is, but what we do know is... We can't risk going to that planet," Serenity said.

"But..."

"Lumina, listen," Cognisance said, "there's a virus spreading through Lilith, and it's spreading faster than anything I've ever seen. I'm quite sure it was created using magic."

"The virus, from what we could scan from here, mutates any living organism, taking over it and controlling it," Serenity added.

"Then what about..."

"Mana could be infected, for all we know," Cognisance said.

Aejin grimaced. "I can... I can feel it. Lilith is covered with death from pole to pole."

"We should go and try to rescue the survivors," Claude said.

"And get infected as well?" Pyrie asked. "No thanks."

"We need time to find a cure for that virus," Cognisance added.

"It's no use," Chrone said. "I was too late to warn you. That virus... It could spread out to Jupiter and Mars, for starters."

"Are you sure of that?" Serenity asked.

"I saw that as one of the possible futures. In one week, it could take over all our system."

"We can't let that happen. One dead planet is more than enough," Shade said.

"But what can we do?" Lumina asked. The room fell silent for several minutes.

Aejin was the first one to speak. "I think I could solve this."

"How?" Claude asked.

"My own healing powers will make me immune to the virus, at least for a while. I'll try and find Mana, but if I can't..."

"Are you aware," Serenity warned, "that you may not get out of there alive?"

"I know that. But I have something to request from you."

"And that is?"

"Serenity, in case I fail, I may still have a chance to stop the virus before it spreads out. I ask your permission to use my full power as a last resort."

Serenity looked at her for a second, and then walked to the window, staring out at the forest surrounding the palace, then at the Earth, high in the sky. After a minute of silence, she turned to look at Aejin and nodded. "You have my permission."

"But that would mean..." Lumina started.

"I know that, Lumina," Serenity said. "But given the circumstances, there's no other way to solve this. However..." The Queen turned back to the Senshi of Saturn. "Aejin, tell me the truth. You aren't planning on coming back, are you?"

Aejin fell silent for a few seconds, then turned around and said. "Tell Erias to take care of our girl, or I'll come back to haunt him.”

Erias was Aejin's husband, Saturn's King. So now Serenity knew it, Aejin knew the chances of coming back were next to none. She paled as she saw Aejin walk out of the room. She was quite sure that would be the last time she would see her.

Cyber Moon: Genesis.
Episode 6: Meth'Lya.

By Razor Knight
Last update: October 26, 2005

-----​

When Aejin appeared in Lilith, she saw the situation was worse than she'd expected. Attuned as she was to life and death, she could feel the lost souls of thousands of living beings, trapped inside their mutated bodies...

Fear, confusion, anger... Aejin looked around. She'd teleported into a somewhat deserted area of one of the capital cities of Lilith. From her perch atop one of the highest buildings, she could see hundreds of ex-humans crawling, walking, and searching.

Searching... Aejin reached out once again with her senses. Only thing she could feel was death. She was the only living being in Lilith now. What could have caused this? Who could be twisted enough to create this abomination, a virus that destroyed the life of a planet in a matter of hours?

And speaking of the virus, the Senshi of Saturn was right now staring straight at it. A purplish fog, floating a few hundred meters away from where she was. Mana was gone. And in a minute, so would she. She couldn't risk going back now; she could be already infected without knowing it. There was only one thing she could do now.

She concentrated, and felt the energy from her own world, Saturn, rushing into her body. What she was about to do, would kill her, there was no doubt about that. But it would also destroy the virus. She wasn't doing it for those that had died in Lilith. She wasn't doing it for anyone else in the solar system. Except for two persons, the only two that mattered to her above everything else, even her life. Her husband and her daughter.

Looking around, she could see the purple fog was all around her now. Her body was way better at resisting any virus or infection than any other, mostly because of her attuning to life energy. She could also see some of the walking corpses had reached the top of the building, and were crawling all around her.

It was her last chance to do it. And the last time she would use her powers. As she prepared to unleash her ultimate attack, she looked around and frowned. "I never liked this planet, anyways."

Then, she unleashed her attack. She could feel the energy... The magic energy of a whole planet, rushing through her body, burning her from the inside. As she tried to control it, she uttered the three words that triggered it. "Death Reborn..."

For several minutes, a second sun could be seen from all the other planets and moons of the solar system.

-----​

"So that's what happened to Lilith... The asteroid belt is what remains of it?" Hope pondered, mostly to herself, as she walked through the corridor. She stopped in front of the massive sapphire-colored doors that lead to the throne room. The guards, clad in a bluish metal armor, bowed at her and opened the doors.

"High Librarian Hope, welcome," one of the Queen's advisors said as Hope walked in. Hope was used to the formal way everyone used to address her, but she didn't really like it. The throne room was as large as every other throne room she'd ever seen. And considering how close the rulers of each planet were (as most of them were former or active Senshi,) she had seen quite a few of them.

"You wanted to see me, mother?"

The Queen nodded. "Moment was here today. She said something strange is going on in one of Earth's kingdoms."

"I see," Hope said, still not understanding what it had to do with her.

"A few of the Senshi will go. Moment wanted to..."

"I wanted to know if you'd be interesting in that mission. After all, you've never been out in official Senshi business yet."

Hope looked at the green-haired woman standing next to the Queen, who hadn't been there a moment before. Tall, red-eyed and with a slightly tanned skin, she wore the uniform of the Senshi of Pluto, and held a long staff with her right hand. The design of the staff's top was like that of a heart, with a purple orb at the base.

"Well?"

The blue-haired girl frowned. Moment of Pluto was not a woman to bother with chitchatting. From the books she had read, that applied to all the former Sailor Pluto as well. Might have something to do with the 'Time Gate.' "I would like to know what our mission is first," she said.

Moment nodded. "There have been reports of necromancy in Arcana. We're going there to investigate."

Necromancers... Hope didn't like them at all. Sure, the Saturn Senshi used life energy to fight, but it wasn't for personal reasons. Necromancers often wanted fortune, glory and power, and used the life energy of others to obtain them. Even going as far as to reanimate soul-less corpses to do their dirty work. And Necromancers were, most of the time, too strong for groups like the Demon Hunters or the Guardians to handle. Hope could guess this was one of those times.

"Count me in. I can't sit around reading books all of my life, no matter how fun it is," Hope said with a smile.

Moment nodded. "Good. Now come with me, I'll introduce you to the rest of our group."

-----​

"Serenity, Lilith no longer exists," Cognisance said sadly.

"So many lives lost there. Was that the only way?" Serenity asked, trying to keep her own sadness in check.

"No known magic would be able to cure such a mutation," Cognisance said.

Claude walked into the room, her face pale. "Serenity... There's something else you should know."

"What is it?"

"Our radars detected a small spaceship leaving Lilith minutes before the explosion. It was heading to the Earth. And..."

"And?" Serenity asked.

"The ship's a Kh'Sun Revenant."

Revenants, the smaller combat ships of the Kh'Sun. But... "That can't be... We eliminated all of them," Serenity said.

"I would say we didn't," Cognisance commented, noticing the trace of bitterness in Serenity's voice.

"If we let whoever is piloting that ship escape, we could face a similar infection on Earth in a few hours," Claude stated.

"Then we can only do one thing... Gather the others and pinpoint the exact landing place of that Kh'Sun ship. We're going to stop that infection before it happens."

-----​

The creature hadn't bothered to hide; she was standing near her ship when the Senshi appeared. She was taller than the average Kh'Sun, and wearing black rags that had, months before, been a high commander's outfit. She didn't seem too shocked or worried about the Senshi being there.

"So, here you are, murderers. I knew you'd come, just like your stupid friend in Lilith."

The Senshi noticed her hands were glowing a sickly purple color. "Stop whatever you're doing, now," Serenity commanded.

"Sorry, but no. You killed my whole race, and I'm going to return the favor. And you better go back to your precious Moon if you want to live through the next hour."

"She's using the same kind of magic Saturn used. She's creating a viral code out of thin air," Cognisance said as she scanned the Kh'Sun.

"What's your name, monster?" Pyrie asked, resisting the urge to just blast her apart.

"If you must, you can call me Meth'Lya," the Kh'Sun said.

"Metallia? Such a silly name for someone that caused the destruction of a planet," Serenity mused.

"Says the one whose name is related to peace and calm... The same woman that led others to kill my whole race," Meth'Lya snapped back.

"I didn't kill your whole race. You're still alive."

"Came to fix that up?"

"That depends on what you plan to do from this point."

"I'm going to infect this whole useless planet, then move on to the next, until no hoomahns remain. And you, Senshi, will be my first target."

"Then, I'm going to stop you," Serenity said.

"Just try, little Queen," Meth'Lya snapped.

"Moonlight Screen!"

Meth'Lya raised her left hand, and Serenity's energy blast got deflected, turning a patch of the forest surrounding them to ashes.

"What the :red:?" Pyrie exclaimed.

"Hah. Your problem, little girls, is that you've never faced anyone that had the same powers you have. Ever since the day I heard of Serenity's escape from the mine, I did what no other Kh'Sun thought of... I studied your 'power' and learnt how to control magic. It wasn't an easy task, but as you could see, I'm as powerful as your leader, Senshi. Or even stronger."

"A Kh'Sun using magic. Now I've seen it all," Lumina muttered.

"And one more thing, kids. My virus has a cure. That's how I could keep it from infecting me. But of course, you Senshi were always trigger-happy. You just had to blow the planet to dust, instead of trying to find out a cure for the disease."

"That's a lie."

"It is? Keep thinking that, it'll make it easier for you when I release my virus!" she said and smirked as a purplish fog started surrounding her. "And it won't be long before that happens."

Serenity frowned. She wasn't eager to do it, but it was the only way she could see out of this. Her crystal appeared, once again, floating in front of her. She grabbed it and focused all the power she could into it. "Moon Redemption Wave!"

Meth'Lya raised her hand again to stop the attack, but a part of it pierced her shield, and hit the fog surrounding her. Its color changed from purple to black, and changed to a liquid-like state. "What is this?" the Kh'Sun muttered. The liquid surrounded her, pinning her arms to her sides and slowly crushing her. "No... This can't be... What've you done to it?" she snarled at Serenity, shock turning into anger.

Serenity returned the glare and then shrugged. "You did it to yourself, witch."

"No... I won't end like this. DIE!" Meth'Lya tried to unleash her energy, but the liquid around her absorbed it, glowing and throbbing for a few seconds. It then exploded, sending the Senshi crashing to the ground, and all that was left of the Kh'Sun magician was a column of smoke rising up from the spot she'd been standing on.

"Well, that solves this problem," Pyrie said.

Serenity nodded. "But the damage she's done, it can't be repaired.”

-----​

"What are you reading?"

Hope looked up at Moment, interrupting her reading. "It's a novel about the first Senshi. This Meth'Lya woman..."

Moment nodded. "She was the first necromancer. I can fill you into the details better than that book, because I've seen what happened. "

"So is it true?"

"That the Senshi of Pluto can see through time? We can see the past, and we can see several possible futures our actions could lead us to. "

"Amazing."

"It is."

The two of them were now walking through one of the many corridors in Mercury's palace, heading to the room where the others were waiting for them. Hope was as curious about the mission as she was about the past. But one thing at a time... "So... What about Serenity's crystal. Was its mystery ever solved?"

Moment frowned. "No. The Ginzuishou is an enigma on itself. Some have even suggested it's got a mind of its own."

"What do you think?"

"I'm no scientist. I don't dissect magic, I simply use it."

Hope chuckled at that. Moment wasn't as much of a gloomy, serious woman as others had told her she was, after all. She couldn't wait to meet the others.

Cyber Moon: Genesis.
Episode 7: The Wicked Witch of the West.

By Razor Knight
Last update: December 18, 2007

-----​

"So, this is the newbie?"

Hope took her time to examine the people in the room. Two of them were using the official Senshi outfit, there were two Demon Hunters as well, and a man that was wearing what looked like a gold shirt. For some reason, the man looked familiar to her, but she didn't quite recognize him.

"Firea, be nice," the tallest of the Senshi in the room (not counting Moment) snapped. She had long, brown hair tied in a high ponytail and green eyes, and her suit had green skin and pink bow. That outfit belonged to the Senshi of Jupiter, so Hope guessed she was the newest Sailor Jupiter.

"And who'll make me be nice, you, Lera?" the black-haired, purple-eyed Senshi in the red outfit snapped back. Sailor Mars, most likely.

"I will, if you don't show some respect," Moment said, her voice commanding. Firea shrunk back and nodded. "All right. Now that we're all paying attention, let me introduce High Librarian Hope, the new Sailor Mercury."

The others nodded at Hope. The man in the expensive-looking outfit was apparently staring at her, but she chose to ignore him. "I'm relatively new to this, but I've trained my powers long enough. I hope I'll be of help in this mission."

"What I don't get," Lera said, "is why we need three Senshi and two Demon Hunters for a diplomatic mission."

"Because, dear Lera," the man finally spoke up, "if my sources are right, this could turn into an all-out battle," he explained, his black eyes jumping from Senshi to Senshi, as if he was measuring their reaction.

"I don't know who your sources are, but I thought Beryl was one of the most respected Queens in the Earth Alliance," Firea commented.

The blonde-haired man smiled. "My sources are trustworthy. And also, Beryl's past is packed full of strange coincidences."

"Thanatos, I'd say we should wait until we talk to Beryl to pass judgment," Moment said calmly.

As she heard his name, she finally remembered who the man was. Zane Thanatos, a rich trader from Saturn. From what she'd heard, he had been born in Mercury, but his family had moved to the larger planet when he was on his early teens. Other than that, however, she didn't know much about the man. Nor she cared about finding out.

"If Necromancers are there, we need to get rid of them. With or without the Queen's approval," the male Demon Hunter, who was clad in blue, said in an equally calm tone.

"Staying here and chitchatting won't get anything solved," Firea muttered. "So let's go."

Hope could only agree. And also, she agreed with Thanatos. She'd read a bit on Beryl's past. Her mother died when she was only sixteen years old. Ten years later, her father and older brother had gone in a hunting trip to the Arcana woods, and were attacked by an unknown beast. After that, Beryl had been the only candidate left for the throne. And hence, the once Kingdom of Arcana became a Queendom. Too many coincidences in a row. She'd also heard rumors of Beryl's short romance with the Earth King, the King of Camelot, Halcyon. Halcyon had later on married the princess of one of the strongest kingdoms, to ensure the strength of Camelot in the Alliance. Those were unconfirmed rumors, but it was quite strange, as those rumors had started before her mother died.

"I agree with Lady Firea," Thanatos admitted. "The sooner we get to Arcana, the better."

"Why not just teleport there?" Lera asked.

"There's a lot of tension in the Earth Alliance right now. As things are, Senshi aren't welcome into most kingdoms. We can't just teleport in into any of them... Well, maybe to Camelot, but not to Arcana or the other kingdoms."

"So that is why Thanatos is here?" the female Demon Hunter, who wore a dark green suit, asked.

"Indeed. I can provide transportation in one of my biggest passenger ships."

"What's the catch?" the Hunter asked.

"No catch, dear Libra. I'm a close friend to Queen Serenity, and she was the one who asked me to take you there."

"The great Thanatos has a heart after all," Libra muttered.

"That hurts, you know. My ship could accidentally steer too strong and you could fall off," Thanatos said.

"That wouldn't surprise me," Libra said with a shrug.

"If you two lovebirds are done, let's just hit the road, shall we?" Lera snapped at them.

"What's up with those two?" Hope asked Moment in a low voice as they left the room.

"Libra is one of Thanatos' past lovers," Moment explained calmly.

"I see. I have one more question... Silly one, but my mother couldn't answer it."

"Must be hard to answer if the Sage Librarian, Queen Siela from Mercury doesn't know its answer..."

"Actually, she said she'd never searched for the answer herself. So... Why are our suits so... Revealing?"

Moment smiled. The girl had a point, the Sailor Senshi suits were basically a leg and sleeve-less body suit with a short skirt, knee-long boots and gloves and a metal tiara. The suit's form-hugging fabric left little to imagination, and their bare legs just added to that.

"Well, there was an inner war in the times of the sixth Serenity. The Senshi were still using the full body suits the first Senshi had used, but the Sailor Venus of that generation had a good idea: Most of the warring troops were male, and the Senshi were, at the time, all female, so she modified her suit to look like they do nowadays. The others imitated them, and the Senshi managed to stop the warring armies with almost no casualties on both sides."

"That's one way to use your body as a weapon, I'd say," Hope commented.

Moment nodded. And it'd worked several times after that, too.

"What about the Dragon Senshi? Why isn't there none in this era?"

"I'm not sure. Bad luck, I'd guess. The Dragon Swords, like the Ginzuishou, act in ways nobody understands."

"Dragon Swords?"

"That's the way the swords the First Senshi used have nowadays. And as you may know, they're still available for us to use, should the need arise. They may or may not choose an owner, and in this generation, so far, they've chosen none."

Hope sighed. She really hoped she'd never have a reason to use her Mercury Sword. But knowing how fate usually worked, she was sure she'd have to, sooner or later.

-----​

Hope couldn't help but gasp at the ship docked in the palace's spaceport. It was a good hundred meters wide and three hundred meters long, with windows covering most of its upper hull, and the words "S.S. Thalon" drawn on both sides. Even from afar she could also see several cannons on the front of the ship. Thanatos wasn't known for subtlety, and he wasn't taking any risks with space pirates.

"There you have it. Thalon, the second biggest ship in my fleet," Thanatos said.

Second biggest? "That ship's huge... Do you have a bigger passenger ship?" Thanatos shook his head. "My biggest ship's the Tiamat, a battleship."

Orion snorted. "I thought you were just a merchant."

"I am. But space pirates abound, so I always try to have a battleship following each of my passenger and cargo ones."

Which meant... Hope looked up and gasped again. There it was, the Tiamat. Almost doubled Thalon in size, and from what she could see with her visor, it had enough weapons in it to take on a small army of light fighter ships. "Amazing."

"Even bigger than the Cloudbuster," Lera commented.

"And it'll escort the Thalon to Arcana," Moment said.

"I'd think Beryl would be against that," Firea said.

Orion frowned. "Either she's acting like this so we won't suspect a thing, or she really doesn't have a thing to hide."

"We won't know until we get there," Lera pointed, "so let's get going."

-----​

The trip to Arcana was uneventful and quite boring. Hope picked up her book to read, but there wasn't anything else in it that was really worth reading. According to the novelist, the First Senshi had a relatively calm and happy life after those first years of freedom.

So now she was trying to focus on the mission. They were now walking through the corridor that led to the throne room. Beryl's castle was the most plain and dark she'd ever seen. Its walls were grey and stony, without the crystalline shine of other palaces and castles she'd visited before. Guards and maids went by showing the usual politeness she'd seen, but there was something strange in their eyes. Almost as if their free will was gone. She'd tried scanning them, and found no traces of mind-controlling or necromancer mana in them. Was it just her mind playing trick on her?

"Well, here we are," Moment said as they stood in front of a large, obsidian door. "Once we enter, let me do the talking."

"As you command," Orion said half-mockingly.

Thanatos didn't say a word, just nodded. Why was Moment bringing him along, she couldn't understand. Maybe to give them an 'outsider' opinion after the meeting was over.

As the group walked into the room, they saw it was just like every other corridor and room in the castle: Grey, gloomy, almost ominous. "Welcome to my castle," the woman sitting on the throne said politely.

Pluto nodded and game a small bow to her, the others followed suit. "Queen Beryl, you must be aware of our reason to ask for an audience..."

"I am," Beryl said, "and while my own sources haven't pinpointed the location of those necromancers, I know of their existence."

"We would request your permission to locate the source of that necromantic mana and destroy it," Orion said. "With the Senshi's aid, of course."

Beryl was deep in thought for a few minutes, and the others waited silently for her to speak. After what seemed like an hour, she finally spoke up. "I see no harm in letting you explore my Queendom. However, I must ask you to leave if you can't find a trace of those necromancers in one week."

"Agreed," Moment said. "We will tell you of any clues we may have by then. Now if you excuse us..."

Beryl nodded. "You may leave."

The room fell silent after the Senshi left and the door closed. Beryl closed her eyes and nodded. "They're gone. But they'll be back. "

A hissing, female voice could be heard from the shadows around her throne. "I have something prepared for them. The Senshi will be too busy chasing shadows to suspect anything about you."

"Good. In the meantime, Metallia... How are our spies?"

"Nobody suspects a thing. Stupid mages and Senshi, they don't know about my demonic energy yet. I just need to prepare a few more things and we'll be ready to attack."

"And then, finally, he will be mine."

"Indeed," Metallia said. 'And I will have my revenge upon mankind for destroying my race,' she thought.

Beryl. Such a fool. She had her eating from her hand, and all because of the promises she'd made to help her get the prince of Camelot, Edition. However, Metallia couldn't help but be grateful with her 'master.' It was her meddling with dark magic that had awakened her from her eternal slumber. It had been easy for her to corrupt her broken heart and her wicked soul, and now... Only a few more moves to make, and she'd be able to destroy mankind for good.

But first, she had to get rid of this era's Serenity, the only one that could challenge her power. Coincidentally, Beryl wanted the Moon Princess dead. Metallia would be glad to grant that wish to her, as long as she could also get rid of the mother in the process.

Cyber Moon: Genesis.
Episode 8: Cloak and Dagger.

By Razor Knight
Last update: November 11, 2005

-----​

One full week had passed, and the Senshi had failed locating the necromancers that supposedly had their base in Arcana. If they were hiding, they were doing it too well.

"It's no use," Firea said. "We've run out of time."

Orion nodded. "Agreed. No traces of dark mana anywhere."

"Then this mission was a failure," Lera muttered.

Moment frowned. "Not really."

"What do you mean?"

Hope nodded. "Moment's right. There's something definitely wrong with the peasants. Or even the soldiers and nobles we've seen while searching..."

Firea frowned. "I didn't feel a thing..."

Moment shrugged. "I don't think you could see it, even with your psychic skills. But maybe the magic we're looking for isn't... Necromancy."

"Wish you could've told us that before," Firea muttered.

"It's not demonic magic either," Orion added. "I've scanned for it and found no traces in the area."

"Then what is it?" Hope asked.

Whatever it was, they couldn't stay in Arcana any longer. She didn't like to admit it, but her first mission as a Senshi had been a failure.

-----​

The general looked at the forest looming all around them and a shiver went down his spine. There was something about this whole mission that he didn't like. "Prince Kaeil, are you sure about this?"

Kaeil was a tall, dangerous-looking man. His platinum-white hair and white pupils made him look almost ghastly. Still, he was a known strategist, even at his young age. "Indeed, General Slark. Beryl informed my father, the King, that she knew the necromancers' exact location inside this forest."

"But..."

"You will be soundly rewarded once this mission's over."

"Why not call the Senshi to deal with them?"

"That would be a nuissance for our kingdoms. We can deal with a small band of necromancers."

Slark nodded as his battalion kept advancing through the Twilight Forest. A forest shared by three kingdoms, and a place no man liked to explore due to it's dense foliage, which gave the forest it's name. Right now, they could barely see the trees in front of them. He was well aware the sun was shinning over the forest, but inside the forest, it looked like a moonless night.

Kaeil didn't understand. Why would they be afraid? They were the best of Mu's troops, possibly the best infantry group in the Earth. There were no wild animals, no armies, and no zombies that could scare them. And so, the squad marched forwards... To their doom, Kaeil thought as his eyes took on a golden hue.

Soon, liquid-like shadows jumped out of the ground, fusing with each one of the soldiers as they screamed and tried to shoot at them. Everyone but Kaeil was affected. Kaeil, the Prince of Mu, had weeks ago been taken over by one of those. The Youma. Metallia's spawns, and something no magic or technologic scanners could detect. The perfect soldiers, the perfect spies... Humans were so unaware of their existence, taking over the Earth would be fun. And the fun had just begun.

Kaeil's thoughts were interrupted by Beryl's voice. 'Kunzite, is the job done?'

'Indeed, my Queen. But... Won't the disappearance of this battalion lead my father to send a bigger army?'

'That's just what Metallia wants. Host-less youma are useless for battle, but they're also undetectable. I want you to go back to your Kingdom and fool your father into sending even more troops here. My youma will be waiting for that.' Kaeil simply nodded. "Father's waiting for his son Kaeil's safe return. Such an idiot... Kaeil doesn't exist now, only Kunzite." And Kunzite was just one of many spies Beryl had all around the Earth... And the solar system.

-----​

One full month since her first mission had passed, and High Librarian Hope couldn't help but thinking about Arcana. There was something there... She had never been a skeptical one, and given the range of magic-related things that still had no logical explanation, she could easily guess this was yet another thing mages and scientists couldn't explain.

The existence of an unknown form of magic energy would make anyone controlling it virtually undetectable. If such a being was hiding in Arcana, then someone had to try and find it. But she was well aware that chasing shadows wasn't a Senshi's job. If she wanted to act, she'd have to wait for it to make the first move.

"Lady Hope?"

Hope looked at the man sitting in front of her and could feel a blush forming. She had to stop brooding so much. "I'm sorry, Gurel, it's just..."

"Oh no, by all means, take your time. You are the only worthy opponent I've found here, not counting your mother, your father, and that merchant that visited us some time ago."

Hope looked at the chess board in front of her and frowned. Indeed, a worthy opponent. The board was down to three pieces for each color, and literally no way to set a trap up for the other. "Thanatos, huh? A pity I didn't know he could play chess, or I would have challenged him."

Gurel passed a hand through his short brown hair and smiled. "Maybe we should call this a draw."

"And where's the fun in that?" Hope asked as she moved her only knight to a new position. "Check."

Gurel frowned. "Yes, indeed, where's the fun in that?"

A young man wearing a light blue robe walked in. "I'm sorry to interrupt your chess game, but your mother wants to see you immediately, Hope."

Hope nodded to the man. "Right. I'll be there in a minute. I wanted to speak to her anyways." She turned to Gurel and sighed. "Guess we'll have to finish this game later."

"I'll be waiting for that," Gurel said as the princess left the room.

-----​

Queen Siela, the Sage Librarian, had visitors. Hope didn't find that strange at all. She did, however, feel a bit of curiosity as she saw all four visitors were clad in Senshi uniforms. She knew two of them, Mars and Jupiter, but the other two...

One had long, blonde hair and blue eyes, and her uniform had orange skirt and blue bow. She'd heard of her, Princess Aphrodite from Venus, Sailor Venus.

The other was tall, and had enough muscles in her to make her look like she could beat most male warriors Hope had met... Without using her Senshi powers. She had black hair and grey eyes, and her uniform had grey skirt and dark grey bow. Sailor Earth?

"Hello mother," Hope said as the others turned to look at her.

"Good day, daughter. These are..."

"The Inner Senshi, or most of them at least," Hope said. "No Sailor Moon?"

Firea nodded. "Queen Serenity is a busy woman, and her daughter is waiting for her eighteenth birthday to receive her own Ginzuishou.”

That was a lunar tradition, one Hope didn't quite understand. Moon Senshi were only allowed to use their powers after their eighteenth birthday.

Lera shrugged. "We're here because you and Pluto were right."

"What?" Hope was quite surprised by that statement. Did that mean...

Firea nodded. "Arcana's dropped the mask. Beryl has Kaeil, Zoel and Nereos as her army's Generals now."

"Kaeil betrayed Mu?" Hope asked. That couldn't be, she'd heard stories about Kaeil's unmatched love for his own kingdom.

"It's more complicated than that," Firea explained. "We're sure whatever was you noticed in Arcana, took over Kaeil and the others. The kingdoms of Mu, Xanadu and Atlantis are under Beryl's control now."

"The Earth's spiraling into a full-scale war," Sailor Earth said. "Beryl's army grows larger with every battle, and it's already taken over three kingdoms. We need to put an end to her madness."

"Serenity's worried about it. She's detected a magic that matches that of the Ginzuishou in Beryl."

A magic as strong as the Ginzuishou? Impossible. "What can we do about it?"

"We've been summoned to Queen Serenity's palace," Firea explained.

"All of the Neo Senshi?"

Venus nodded. "Yeah. See, the Princess' birthday is only one week away... Once she gets permission to use her Senshi powers, we'll be able to fight Beryl."

"I say screw it," Earth muttered.

"Karen?" Firea asked with a frown.

"I can't just sit around and let Beryl take over the Earth. My father and brother are getting ready for war, and I'm supposed to help them."

"Beryl's main target is not the Earth, but the Moon." Everyone turned to the voice. Sailor Pluto was standing there, looking as neutral as ever.

"Moment? We didn't hear you walk in," Venus said.

"Dear Aphrodite, you should know I don't need to walk somewhere to be there. Anyways... Karen, listen. Beryl won't stop with the Earth. She wants the Moon too, and possibly all the other planets."

"So, we let her run over the Earth, slaughter millions and take over Camelot, and then after she's done, we fight her on the Moon?" Karen asked. "Sorry, but I can't do that."

Moment nodded. "I understand that. There are three others that don't agree with Serenity's plan. You will find them in Camelot when you return to the Earth."

"So... Aren't you going to force me to go to the Moon?"

Pluto shook her head. "No. Serenity will understand."

"Then I think... We should all go there," Mars said.

"Firea?"

Hope nodded. "I agree. We could stop Beryl there and then, before it's too late."

Pluto opened her mouth to say something, but then sighed. "I see. I will send a message to Serenity, and I'll join you all in Camelot once I'm done." With that, she vanished.

"Okay then... Let's go to the Earth," Karen said. The others nodded.

"Good luck, daughter," Siela said. Hope smiled at her before vanishing. The Queen stood up and walked out of the room. Beryl... She remembered her as a child. Back then she looked innocent and calm. So different from the evil, power-thirsty woman she'd become.

-----​

Hope blinked and looked around. The castle of Camelot was much like her home in Mercury, but the throne room was much smaller. She could see four other Senshi in there, along with the king of Camelot, King Endymion, a tall, elderly man, and the prince, as tall and strong-looking as his sister Karen.

"Welcome back, Karen," the prince said.

Karen nodded to him, and then turned to the other Senshi. "Girls, this is Hope, the new Mercury."

"Good to have some reinforcements," the Senshi in dark blue skirt and yellow bow, Sailor Uranus, said, "but weren't you girls supposed to go to the Moon?"

"A good soldier doesn't only follow orders," Firea said. "We have a chance to stop Beryl here and now, let's not waste it."

"That's good to hear." This Senshi's suit was different, as it was completely black. Her short red hair was adorned with a black bow that had a skull-shaped brooch in its center. "Camelot's scouts last saw the Arcanian army about to cross the border between Lemuria and Tir Na Nog."

The king nodded. "They're drawing close. My army's ready..."

Firea shook her head. "We'll go alone. We can get there in a matter of seconds, and our attacks work better if there are no friendly armies in the zone, since we can use them to take down several enemies in one shot."

Endymion considered her words then nodded. "I understand. Good luck, Sailor Senshi."

"We'll need it," Firea said before they all closed their eyes and vanished.

Cyber Moon: Genesis.
Episode 9: The Ancient Art of War.

By Razor Knight
Last update: November 21, 2005

-----​

Sailor Mercury leapt aside as a blob of acid hissed by, barely missing her. She mentally summoned the strongest attack she had access to. "Mercury Ice Blast!"

The large ice blast that shot from her hands turned the monster she was facing into an ice statue, and sent it reeling backwards, knocking two other creatures to the ground. However, a tiger-like monster had seen the chance and was ready to slash at her with its claws.

"Mars Flaring Anger!"

Mercury heard a muffled scream behind her, and turned in time to see the tiger monster be literally vaporized by Mars' massive fire wave. Mars had a couple more years of training than her, and also a few more battles, so her attacks were stronger. But even though most of the team had reached Cosmic power levels, that didn't make the battle any easier. Mercury, Nemesis, Sun and Neptune, not being as good at melee as the other Senshi, had stood outside the combat area, throwing attacks in when possible. Things had complicated when a group of monsters had broken free from the battle, and decided to attack them.

Saturn was further back, and had shot a few energy blasts, but wasn't actively fighting. There was an obvious reason behind this. The princess of Saturn was known for her physical weakness. She had trained for melee combat, but her low endurance meant she had to conserve her energy more. On the other hand, her raw power was amazing, or so Hope had heard.

What the creatures they were fighting were, Hope wasn't sure. Apparently, Beryl could transform humans into these monsters... Just like Meth'Lya in that novel she'd read, but unlike those monsters, the ones they were facing now had self-awareness and intelligence.

"Uranus Gale Blade!"

"Jupiter Berserker Fury!"

The center of the battlefield was lit up by a quite large explosion. Indeed, some of the Senshi were way stronger than her, Hope thought with a chuckle. However, she saw Uranus and Jupiter be surrounded again, and prepared to help, along with the other 'long range' Senshi.

There was no need for that. Hope sensed movement behind her, and saw Saturn's suit had changed, and now had a pair of wings in her back... An Eternal Senshi? She had thought only Pluto had reached that level (not counting the older Senshi, who were all Eternal or above that.) Saturn glared at the army of monsters, and then raised her glaive. "Saturn... Death..." Energy gathered on her glaive's tip, and to Hope's shock, countless ghosts and spirits appeared swirling around it. "... Sickle!" Saturn threw her glaive into the mass of monsters as she shouted that, and as it hit the ground, it unleashed a massive wave of energy, as the army of ghosts drained the energy of any monster they saw.

When the attack ended, the numbers of the evil army had been reduced by one third. Hope was shocked and terrified. All that power, it was a good thing it'd been only used against evil. Saturn kneeled on the ground as her wings vanished, probably exhausted from using her attack. However, that attack had given them the advantage they needed to eliminate Beryl's army.

There was a part of her mind that told her some of the creatures she and the others were killing had once been humans. And to top that, the concept of killing living beings wasn't something she was happy with, she also knew right now this was the only choice. But even with their ranks reduced, the creatures were too many. Maybe she could give the others some tactical advantage. "Mercury Shabon Spray!"

True, that was her weakest attack. It hit a creature, only knocking it down, but not killing it. However, the secondary effect of the attack was what mattered. A dense mist fell in a quite large area around the impact point, and while it blinded the enemy, Mercury and her allies could see through it.

"Mars Flaring Anger!" A wave of flames washed over several creatures, and Mercury nodded. Now both the melee and long range Senshi had the advantage. It'd just be a matter of time, as long as she kept on using her spray technique...

"Pitiful, indeed. The mighty Senshi are just pitiful."

Mercury looked up at the man hovering over the brawl. "Prince Kaeil?"

"Kaeil?" The man asked with a chuckle that didn't sound friendly or amused at all, as he turned to look at Mercury. "Kaeil is how I was known before I saw the truth. Now, you may call me Kunzite, one of the Generals of Beryl's army." Kunzite? Strange name. However, Kunzite's power was amazingly high, stronger than an Eternal Senshi. "And by all means, don't bother trying to attack me. I'm here as a mere observer, that is, unless I am forced to fight."

Mercury looked at the others. One hit by Saturn's strongest attack would possibly hurt Kunzite. But Saturn wasn't still fully recovered and the others wouldn't possibly scratch him. From the look in their faces, they'd sensed his power level too.

It was right then that things went straight to hell. First signs of trouble were the battle drums and horns in the distance... The barbarians of Tir Na Nog and the royal Lemurian army were there, ready to face the enemy. For a moment, Mercury thought their problem was solved, since the joined armies were easily a thousand times more numerous than the monsters.

But Kunzite didn't seem to agree. He laughed. An evil, inhuman, bone-chilling laughter. Then his eyes went black for a second, and then a wave of energy shoot out... It was massive, and Mercury's readings said the wave would overpower even Pluto's strongest attack, yet it didn't touch any of the Senshi.

No, the wave wasn't aimed at the Senshi, but at the two incoming armies. Hope saw how the humans were struck by it, falling from their horses, twisting in agony as their form changed... It took nearly two minutes, and even the creatures that were fighting stopped to watch, laughing and cheering as the Senshi gathered and waited. Hope had a good guess on what was going on, and after those two seconds, she gasped in shock.

The former armies of Tir Na Nog and Lemuria... The former proud humans, ready to defend their countries from the wave of evil that was washing over the Earth... Were now a part of said wave. Kunzite had turned them all into monsters, and they were now advancing towards the Senshi.

"Retreat." Saturn simply said.

Mars frowned. "But we..."

"We have no chance to defeat them now."

"We can't just run away," Earth snapped.

Saturn took a few seconds to glower at her. Earth returned the favor. "Look, princess. I know this is your planet and I know you want to save it, but if we stay here, we'll die."

"I agree," Hope said. "Just look at them. There's possibly half a million monsters now, and we're all tired from the battle."

Earth looked back at the evil army, and then sighed. "You're right. Let's go to Camelot and see what we can do from there."

Kunzite laughed as he saw the Senshi vanish. "Stupid humans. Nothing can stop the youma." He then concentrated as his army advanced towards a nearby village. 'My Queen, the youma scared the Senshi away. I've also turned the armies of Tir and Lemuria to our side. '

'Excellent! Metallia will surely be pleased with this.'

Kunzite smiled. He could almost hear the excitement in Beryl's mental voice.

-----​

"Moment, if what you say is true..."

Pluto looked at Serenity's worried face and sighed. "My Queen, Beryl's army is almost unstoppable. Almost. They will come to the Moon after they're done with the Earth, I saw that as a quite possible future."

"Isn't there a way to stop them before they reach Camelot?"

"There is, but... In the best case scenario, most of our Senshi would die in that battle."

"What can we do then?" Serenity asked.

"I've already talked to the High Wizards and the Demon Hunters. They'll send their whole forces here to fight the enemy if they must. "

"Can you tell me when they'll get here?"

Pluto sighed. "You know as a Senshi, I can't..."

"And as a friend?"

Pluto sighed again. "Damn it, Serenity. You won't like it. You won't like it at all."

"I want to know. I want to be ready for it."

"... I understand. Most of my visions of the future indicate Beryl will choose an important day for her attempt to invade the Moon. Your daughter's birthday."

Serenity fell silent, taking in the information Moment had given her was true - And she had no reason to think it wasn't - then that'd be one birthday to remember. "Will we... Will we win?"

"Depends on what your concept of winning is," Moment said with a humorless smile.

"What do you mean?"

Moment frowned. Revealing the outcome of the battle to Serenity... Could she risk that? As a Senshi, her mind told her that there were too many risks, that endangering the timelines wasn't worth it. As a friend, however...

-----​

Orion frowned as he walked around the main Demon Hunters base, located in Camelot. He wasn't one to run away. He wasn't one to hide. And he wasn't sure why Moment had told him to stay out of it if Camelot was attacked... Or why he had promised to send all his Hunters to the Moon for Princess Serenity's birthday.

Maybe Moment knew that Beryl would take over Camelot no matter what. Maybe the best chances of defeating her and her army was to gather the Senshi, the Demon Hunters, the High Wizards and the Royal Guard of the Moon.

But getting a bit more help couldn't harm anyone, could it? Pushing a button in his video communicator, he nodded as he saw the familiar face of Zane Thanatos. "Orion? What's the matter, need some transportation again? You know my ships are always ready to help," the man said.

Orion shook his head. "Zane, old friend... This one favor's not for me. I need to know how many battle-capable ships you have."

"... That information will cost you," Thanatos joked.

"Drop the act, Zane. I really need to know, and I want to know if you'd manage to get them all to the Moon by the Princess' birthday. "

"This has to do with Beryl's invasion, doesn't it?"

"Indeed. I have a VERY reliable source in this."

"Moment, I can guess. Oh well... To tell you the truth, even my smallest cargo ship has a few cannons attached. The Tiamat... Given the element of surprise, it could turn a small army to dust."

"Good, but we're talking about a huge army here."

"Then, it'll surely be fun. If I get to use my babies Tiamat and Drakken for what they were built, I'm on it. If I also get to help stopping that Beryl wench, then I'll do it for free."

Orion's eyes widened. "... You're kidding. Right?"

"That :red:'s kind of killed the Earth's trading network. She owes me, and I'm going to make sure she doesn't get away with it."

"Oh, should've imagined it. Business."

Thanatos frowned. "Now that hurts. You think I'd just sit back and not have a part in saving the solar system? I may not be a hero, but I can sure help the heroes if they really need it."

"Gotcha. I guess I'll see you at the party."

"Most likely. Send my regards to Libra."

Orion nodded and cut the call. That was almost unexpected, but Thanatos was right. They couldn't let Beryl get away with what she'd done.

Cyber Moon: Genesis.
Episode 10: A Birthday At Silver Millennium's End.

By Razor Knight
Last update: November 28, 2005

-----​

"But I don't want to see him again," The fifteen years old princess said with a dramatic sigh.

Her mother smiled. "Eris, King Halcyon told me he's grown into a charming young man."

The princess snorted. Charming? Prince Endymion, the brat that had tried to set her hair aflame when they were kids? That'd be quite impossible.

Princess Serenity, also known as Eris, was waiting for the doors of the massive spaceship to open, along with her parents. "Their royal ship is amazing," King Eridon commented.

The Queen nodded. "Not as big as our Moonstar, but close."

Eris pouted. "Should we knock?"

As she said that, the circular door on the Gea opened, and three persons walked out of the ship. Two of them, the princess knew. The tall, willowy and wise-looking man was King Halcyon, the king of Camelot. To his right was a girl she'd never seen before. Almost as tall as Halcyon, with long black hair and black eyes, and looked strong enough to take on an army. Eris guessed this was Karen, Endymion's daughter and also the newest Sailor Earth. Walking by Halcyon's left side was...

It couldn't be. The tall, handsome young man with short black hair and black eyes couldn't be Endymion. The Princess couldn't believe her eyes.

'So he's handsome, but what about his personality?' her mind pondered.

"Welcome, King Halcyon," Eridon said.

"Serenity, Eridon, it's been a long time since our last visit," Halcyon said, then looked at the princess. "I see your daughter has grown into quite a beautiful young woman."

Eris' cheeks took on a pink hue, which deepened into almost red as she noticed the prince was staring at her.

"This is my daughter, Karen," Halcyon continued, "and you've already met Endymion years ago."

Karen respectfully bowed at them, and Endymion followed suit. However, the prince took Eris' hand with his and kissed its back. "It's nice to see you again, Princess."

The Princess smiled and nodded. "Been a while, Endymion."


-----​

'It's been almost one month since last time I saw him,' Eris thought as her mind returned to the present. Today was her eighteenth birthday, and the day she'd become a Sailor Senshi. She hoped Endymion could attend to the party, but she was also aware of the danger the Earth was in right now.

There was something strange about her parents, too. It's like they knew something very bad was going to happen, but they wouldn't tell her about it when she asked. 'I'm not a little girl anymore, they should tell me if something's wrong.' Eris thought with a frown. Specially since she was about to become the next Senshi leader.

"Princess Serenity, the Queen wants to speak with you."

Eris looked down at the creature that had just walked into her room. Luna, one of the Mooncats, the guardians of the Senshi. The first Mooncats didn't appear until the rule of the seventh Serenity, when a war against an evil, unnamed race had required more than the Senshi to control. The first Mooncat, Serene, had been imbued with the powers of the Moon and had helped the Senshi win that war. A few more Mooncats had been 'created' using the same methods afterwards. Luna herself was a descendant of that first Mooncat, Serene.

Eris frowned. "Mother? What does she want?"

"I don't know," Luna said as she headed for the door. "Lady Pluto's with her right now, I think this may have something to do with Beryl. "

'Moment is here? That can only mean things are about to get really complicated.' With a sigh, Princess Serenity walked out of her room, following Luna's lead.

-----​

"My Queen, we're ready for our final strike."

Beryl looked at Jadeite, formerly known as Prince Jakken of Ragnarok. Tall, with short blonde hair and blue eyes, he had a black aura around him. There were several other Generals now, along with her first and strongest, Kunzite. The strongest ones were the white-haired ex-prince Kunzite, the brown-haired, androgynous Zoicite, the tall and gloomy Nephrite, whose past human self was rumored to be in love with Princess Nadia from Nemesis. Along with Jadeite, they were Beryl's both left and right hands.

Then, there were other, weaker Generals. Luminite, the lady of white hair and pale skin, who looked almost like a walking, living ivory statue. Cardite, the grey-haired summoner who lacked strength in combat but could summon creatures to fight for her. Dexite, an ex-High Wizard, his looks and posture made him look like a brown haired walking corpse. And the last one...

The last one, Aurite. The woman of golden hair, eyes and skin. Born in the Sun capital Hades, she had studied both magic and melee, rapidly becoming Camelot's head General. She was the reason Beryl's troops were now standing a few miles away from Camelot itself. She was also, by Metallia's words, a wild card.

In the short time she'd been under Beryl's orders, her powers had grown from being as weak as those of a normal youma, to rivaling Kunzite's and Jadeite's own power. Beryl wasn't certain of her loyalties, but if Aurite became too powerful to control, Metallia would surely get rid of her in a blink.

The dark Queen looked around as she floated over the masses of youma. Youma. That's what Metallia called her creatures, demons born from the darkest emotions and the darkest magic. Creatures that could either fuse with humans, becoming a new, stronger entity, or just act on their own account.

"Queen Beryl, should we turn Camelot's forces to our side?"

Beryl shook her head slowly. "No need. I want to see how well our forces fare against the Earth's strongest army. If we can run over Camelot today, we'll conquer the Moon in no time."

She laughed. It'd be too easy, too. Despite being a few miles away from the fortified city, they hadn't been spotted yet. Metallia's power could render any means of magical or technological scanning useless, and she could even hide the thousands of youma from human eyes.

Taking over Camelot would be a child's play. Just like all the other Kingdoms she already controlled.

-----​

"Father, I need to go there."

One of the King's advisors, a small, bald man frowned. "You can't abandon the Kingdom in a time like this, Prince, it'd be..."

King Halcyon stopped his advisor with a wave of his hand. "You may be right, Zaren, but Endymion might get help for the incoming battle. "

Endymion nodded. "I know the Senshi, the High Mages and the Demon Hunters haven't answered yet to our request for help, but if I could go and speak to Serenity personally..."

"The Queen or the Princess?" Zaren asked idly.

"Silence, Zaren." Halcyon ordered. "Son, you may go. If you're needed back here, I'll let you know."

Endymion nodded. "Thanks, father."

Halcyon looked at Zaren as the Prince left the room. "I know one of his reasons to go to the Moon is the Princess' birthday, but I also know his loyalty to his country comes before his romance with her. "

Zaren nodded "I know, too. I just hope his journey isn't in vain."

-----​

When Eris left the throne room, her face was a few tones away from snow white. What her mother and Pluto had told her...

"There's really nothing we can do. If we help the Earth tonight, we'll leave the Moon unprotected. If we wait for Beryl's attack here, we won't win, but we can get something closer to a 'draw. '"

Pluto's words weren't the cheeriest ones, but given the situation... It wasn't good that she now knew what could happen in a few hours... No, what would happen, Pluto's predictions weren't known for failing. They would all die tonight. All her friends and her fellow Senshi.

Fellow Senshi... Eris looked at the small crystal she was holding in her left hand. She knew what it represented, and why her mother had given her the crystal now and not after her birthday party was over.

She wouldn't just stand there and watch the others fight. She could now fight along with them. But...

Why fight, when they already knew what the outcome would be?

Eris' mind knew the answer to that question. Because they were going to make Beryl regret ever fighting the Senshi, victorious or not.

-----​

Orion frowned as he inspected the quite large army they'd gathered. The Demon Hunters were there in full, along with the High Wizards. And floating up in the sky, a fleet consisting of Thanatos' strongest battleships and the Moon's own battleships was waiting.

Waiting. Orion hated that. He would rather just have things happen now than just wait for Beryl to show her ugly face. Too bad there was nothing he could do to rush things, as well as nothing he could do to stop the onslaught predicted by Pluto.

'But even if I die tonight, I'll be sure to take a lot of those monsters down with me.'

-----​

Halcyon frowned as he looked at the figures now kneeling before him. "What are you doing here?"

Sailor Nemesis smiled. "King Halcyon, we're here to help you defend your Kingdom."

"Is this Serenity's doing?"

"Serenity doesn't know," Neptune said. "We're loyal to her, but we can't just sit around in the Moon Kingdom and watch the Earth fall. We'll make whatever we can to stop Beryl here and now."

Cyber Moon: Genesis.
Episode 11: Fall of Camelot.

By Razor Knight
Last update: December 15, 2005

-----​

"Still no signs of the youma," Uranus said tiredly.

Neptune nodded. They'd been scanning the area around the city for hours, but hadn't found a thing. "How many of them do you think will come to attack?"

"Too many," Uranus muttered humorlessly. Neptune smiled at that.

"Think we'll live through this one?" Nemesis asked walking up to them.

"Not sure."

"I am." The others looked back to see Saturn standing there, looking as emotionless as always. "I can sense the creatures out there, the youma as they call themselves. There's hundreds of thousands of them. There is no way we can win against such odds."

Princess Karen nodded as she also approached the group. "I'm pretty sure we won't live through this. But I won't abandon my country... Or my father. I just hope Endymion comes back soon."

"His trip will be in vain," Saturn said. "Serenity's not going to send any help."

"How can you know that for sure?" Neptune asked.

"I know Pluto must've seen something go VERY wrong if they sent help here. Otherwise, Serenity wouldn't act so heartlessly."

"It's not a nice feeling to know you're fighting a losing battle," Neptune said with a heavy sigh.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you," Uranus said passing an arm over Neptune's shoulders. Neptune's cheeks took on a pink hue as she looked up at her and smiled.

The others laughed at that. Uranus and Neptune, outside the Senshi's circle, were rumored to be romantically involved. A thing that wasn't frowned upon, but also wasn't too common. Inside the Senshi's circle, their romance was well known.

"Beryl's army is coming!" came the shout of a guard from one of the watch towers. Looking westwards, the Senshi could see it was true.

"There must be at least a million youma!" Nemesis observed.

The Camelot army remained inside the castle, as did the Senshi. Archers, catapults and ballistas soon started hitting Beryl's minions with all they had. However, the youma army was soon clawing at the walls... Literally clawing, as some had claws long and strong enough to tear through stone and metal.

"This is bad," Earth said. "Our ranged weapons can't hit them down there."

"Then it's our turn," Uranus said. "Hurricane..." As she balled her fist, a breeze picked up. The wind all gathered around her fist, forming a small air vortex. "Punch!" She swung her fist forwards, the vortex shooting forwards, and increasing in size as it rushed at the crowd of youma. When it hit the ground, its size was easily that of a normal house, and it literally shredded two dozen creatures in a matter of seconds. "What are you waiting for?" she muttered looking at the others.

"Nemesis Endless Night!" The Senshi of Darkness shouted, and a massive black dome formed near the wall. Inside it, the cries of pain and curses of dozens of youma could be heard. When the dome vanished, the creatures trapped inside were already gone.

"We may not win, but we'll surely cut their numbers down," Neptune commented.

-----​

Beryl and her Generals were watching the battle, and realized the youma would not enter the city without taking heavy casualties. "My warriors, I think it's time you show me what you are really capable of," Beryl said turning to her minions.

The Generals all bowed to her then vanished. "They are strong... But shouldn't we use our other warriors instead?"

Beryl didn't need to turn to the voice to know who that was. She could almost feel Metallia's shapeless form behind her, staring at her with green, glowing eyes. "No. I'm saving them for a real emergency. If Serenity's Senshi are as strong as legends say, we may need them. But to beat the few Senshi who are here, and take over Camelot... There's no need to ruin the surprise yet."

"I hope you don't fail, Beryl. The Senshi are not a force to ignore. "

"I'm well aware of that. The Generals are far stronger than the Senshi."

"Agreed. A pity I can't go have fun myself, but I must save energy for the time I face Serenity. And so must you."

Beryl nodded. It would be foolish, indeed, to waste power in a weak, insignificant pack of humans and Senshi, when they would have to fight the Senshi Queen herself in a matter of hours.

-----​

Endymion bowed to the Queen and sighed. The party had already begun, but he was too busy worrying about his kingdom to enjoy it. "Your highness, I'm here to..."

Serenity nodded. "I know what you're going to ask. And I'm sorry to say I can't send anyone down to help now."

Endymion frowned. "I don't understand. You'll let thousands of humans die without sending any help?"

"Several Senshi ignored my words and have gone to the Earth to battle Beryl. I fear they'll perish along with anyone who opposes the evil Queen," Serenity explained.

Eris walked in and looked at the two other persons in the throne room. "Mother, our guests are wondering where you are," she said looking at her mother. She then turned to Endymion. "Good to see you again, Endymion." 'One last time...'

Endymion smiled at Eris, then turned back to the Queen. "If you're so sure Camelot will fall, what makes you think Silver Millenium won't?"

"Pluto saw we won't survive this. Either ways, thousands will die, maybe millions."

"Then why don't you fight them down there? Because Pluto told you to let Beryl run over Camelot?"

"No. Because if things go as I've planned, then Beryl won't win."

"She already won if you're resigning to fate."

"I'm not, I'm going to fight her with all I've got. We can't win, but I'll make sure she doesn't win, either."

Endymion sighed. So his trip to the Moon had been for nothing. He should be down there, fighting for Camelot. "I... Understand," he finally said, his voice sad and low.

Eris took his hand and smiled as he looked at her. "Endymion, would you dance with me tonight?"

'One last time...' Endymion thought as he nodded at her.

-----​

The city of Camelot wasn't unprepared for an attack such as this. While the soldiers and mages stood to fight off the invaders, the rest of the population had been evacuated through an underground tunnel which lead them far from the battlegrounds. The evacuation had ended just in time, too, as minutes later the youma had broken through one of the walls and into the city.

What had once been a commercial area of the city was now mostly destroyed, as the army of Camelot and the Senshi tried to resist the invading waves of creatures. Suddenly, a wave of ghastly figures appeared, swirling and circling the area and draining many youma off their energy.

Saturn stared coldly at the crowd of invaders as her 'pets' returned to her. The wraiths entered her body, but she didn't seem to notice, even though her suit glew white for a brief instant. "This is going better than I thought," she said mostly to herself. "These youma may be numerous, but they're also weak."

"Agreed, oh Lady of Death," a voice said mockingly from behind.

Saturn turned around and stared coldly at the blonde man standing there. "So Beryl's lapdogs have finally appeared," she stated in a monotone.

"Tsk, tsk... Girl, you shouldn't be so grim all the time."

"I would ruin my image if I wasn't, after all I'm the Grim Reaper. "

Jadeite laughed at that, then shot an energy blast. Saturn deflected it with her glaive as she stared around suspiciously. "Oh, don't worry, Saturn. I may be an evil minion, but there are still some things I retain, like honor. Youma won't come close to us while we fight."

"That's nice to know, but why are you here anyways?"

"You and your allies are taking a big bite on our troops. Beryl doesn't want to lose too many youma in this invasion, since we'll need them for the attack to Silver Millenium."

"Not that you'll live to see that happen," Saturn said as she swung her glaive to a battle-ready pose.

"Oh, but we're having so much fun talking..." Jadeite said with mock disappointment.

"Death Beam!" Saturn's glaive lit up for a second as a purplish blast of energy shot at Jadeite. The blonde General leapt aside and frowned.

"If you insist..." he muttered as he produced a sword. Saturn idly noticed its blade was actually a yellowish crystal, then dove aside as the General charged at her.

-----​

"Dark Star Reflection!"

Earth watched as Nemesis's hands lit up, just before a black energy wave shot out from them, vaporizing any evil creature on its path. She then turned to her own targets. "Elemental Rage!" An energy sphere formed around her left hand, sucking in dirt, rocks and leaves from the area around her. After a few seconds, she swung her fist forwards, causing the gathered energy and objects to shoot forwards as a beam. It did as much damage as Nemesis' attack, and she smirked as she scanned the area for more enemies.

That's when she saw the two figures floating up in the air. "Well, Nadia, I think we have Beryl's puppets to play with now."

Nemesis frowned as she looked up. The man to the left had brown hair tied up in a short ponytail and looked girly, but the one to the right...

"Neir?"

The man looked at her. "Indeed, that used to be my name. But now I'm Nephrite, one of Beryl's Generals."

Earth frowned and looked at Nemesis. This was not good, she knew Nadia and Neir were in love... But Neir, or Nephrite as he called himself now, didn't look like he had any emotions left. "Don't let your guard down, that's not Neir, just his body," she said.

Nemesis looked at her and sighed. "I... I know."

The other General floated down to the ground and smiled coldly at them. "Nephrite, you take care of the Nemesian. I'll take care of the Princess."

"You mean, I'll take care of you," Earth snapped.

"Funny, she's delirious," the man said. "Please call me Zoicite."

Earth just shrugged and produced a grey-hilted sword.

-----​

"Hurricane Punch!"

"Deep Ocean Pressure!"

The air vortex flew along with a thick beam of water, fusing with it and creating a twister of wind and water that shredded several dozen youma to pieces. Uranus and Neptune stood now in the middle of a large group of youma, back to back and ready to strike again.

However, the youma suddenly backed away. The Senshi both looked up to the sky and saw a couple human-looking figures staring down at them. "Who're those?" Uranus asked.

"Generals," Neptune said.

The white-haired man chuckled. "The strongest of them, too. I'm Kunzite, the strongest of Beryl's Generals."

"And my name," the woman floating besides him, who had long golden hair, golden eyes and even golden skin, said, "is Aurite."

Uranus frowned, while Neptune produced her own sword, an aquamarine-hilted one. "So, Beryl finally realized her weakly monsters aren't enough to defeat us."

"You could say that," Aurite said. "Then again, I think she actually wants to test us before we go for the real Senshi."

Uranus frowned as a blue-hilted sword appeared in her hand. "Gale Blade!"

Kunzite dove aside and laughed. "Guess you ticked them off, Aurite. "

"Too bad, that means I'll have to kill them."

-----​

Saturn leaned on her glaive for support and frowned. Jadeite was simply too fast, too strong for her. She'd tried almost everything, from melee to her attacks, but nothing seemed to weaken him. She'd hit him more than enough times, but Jadeite was playing with her.

Yes, that was it. He was tiring her down, and she'd quite fallen for it. She still had enough energy for her strongest attack, not counting the one her ancestor, Aejin, had used in the past. That attack was forbidden, and would do little good right now. But there was still another technique she'd never used before. And if she timed it right, it'd be more than enough to defeat Jadeite.

The blonde General was tired of waiting, so he started walking to her, sword ready. However, he stopped as he saw Saturn's eyes turn pitch black for a brief second. "What the..."

"Mess with Death and you'll meet your doom, fool. It's time to show you what the Senshi of Death can do." As she spoke, her glaive's blade grew gradually brighter, and by the time she'd stopped, glaring at Jadeite, the glaive's tip was bright enough to be blinding. "Saturn..." The usual group of wraiths appeared, but they weren't swirling around her glaive, and they were man-sized. Also, each of them carried a glaive like Saturn's, all shinning with light as hers was.

"... Grim..." The wraiths started screeching, and the few youma that were near the area stopped fighting and backed off in confusion. Jadeite also backed away unconsciously as the wraiths all fixed their eyeless sockets on him.

"Reaper!" Saturn shouted as she swung her glaive forwards, tip hitting the ground hard enough to crack it, and it released a massive purple beam of energy. It hit Jadeite, knocking him back a few meters. But that wasn't the real attack.

He realized what the wraiths were for a little too late, as they all passed by his side, slashing at him with their glaives. He blocked some of the attacks but most hit him. Before he could think of a way to counter, the wraiths all gathered and passed through his body, causing him to scream and fall to the ground face-first.

Saturn's face was paler than ever, but she smiled as she looked at Jadeite. "Heh... So much for the mighty Generals." Suddenly, Jadeite vanished. Saturn couldn't figure out what had happened, before she felt a blade strike her back. Her mouth filled with blood as she looked down at the blade's tip coming out of her chest. "This... Can't..."

Jadeite pulled the sword out of her body and laughed. "Stupid Senshi." He then stopped and coughed, spitting some blood. "That attack was too strong, though. If there had been any other Senshi helping her, I'd be dead by now."

The General looked around. Without a Senshi to baby-sit them, the soldiers of Camelot in the area were now being overrun by the youma. Once all the Senshi were dealt with, the army wouldn't have any hopes of winning this battle.

-----​

"Nemesis Endless Night!"

Nephrite formed an energy shield to block Nemesis' attack and laughed. "Don't fight, Nadia. You're making this harder for us both. "

"I won't give up."

"Too bad, I thought I could deal with you in a fast and painless way, " Nephrite said. "So be it, dear Nadia."

-----​

"Earth Dust Storm!"

Zoicite crashed through a wall, along with a wave of dirt and rocks. He stood up and growled, charging back at Earth. Earth dodged aside and delivered a knife hand to his neck, sending him slamming into another wall. "Why you, :red:..."

"Earth Dust Storm!"

Zoicite was pinned to the wall by the attack and fell down to his knees. "Damn it..."

"Tired?"

Zoicite looked up at her and smirked. "Not at all!" He aimed his palm at her so fast she didn't see the pinkish energy blast until it'd hit her, sending her flying back several meters.

The General smirked as he walked up to Earth, who was clutching her chest in pain and kneeling on the ground. "You Senshi are no rival for us. Though it's a pity you chose the wrong side, we could use minions as strong as you."

"Earth... Dust..."

"Die!"

Earth screamed as Zoicite shot another blast at her, but this time his hands lit up. She could feel the energy inside her, burning her from within. The torment only lasted a few seconds, and soon Earth's lifeless body fell to the ground in a heap.

"So easy it's not even fun," Zoicite muttered. "Now to wait for that weakling to get rid of his girlfriend."

-----​

Nemesis leaned on a wall and coughed. Neir... Nephrite was too strong, she just couldn't win this fight. Looking up at the Moon, she sighed. "We failed. Maybe Serenity was right, we should've waited for them at the Moon." Looking northwards, she could see the Camelot castle, wrecked and burning.

She knew Nephrite was looking at her, standing nearby. Why hadn't he attacked her yet? She had no energy left to fight, and he should know that...

"Nadia." Nemesis turned to look at Nephrite. He was smiling, but it was a sad smile... "I'm sorry." That's the last thing she heard before an energy beam hit her and she blacked out.

-----​

The two last Senshi on Earth weren't faring any better than their dead friends. In fact, they were both trying to recover as Kunzite and Aurite smiled triumphantly at them.

"Should we?" Aurite asked.

"No... It's not fun at all, they're not even trying."

Neptune glared at them. "Underestimating us isn't wise..."

"Why? You're not strong enough to defeat us," Aurite snapped.

"Alone, we aren't," Uranus said and closed her eyes. "Final..."

Neptune nodded as she also closed her eyes. "But together... Elemental..."

"What the..." Jadeite muttered as he saw the two Senshi's bodies blurred by spheres of their respective elements.

"Storm!" Both Senshi shouted at once. The water and wind gathered were released, forming a massive cone that knocked the two Generals away, destroying several youma that'd been standing on the attack's way.

"Did we kill them?" Neptune asked as she kneeled on the ground, exhausted.

A nearby building was blasted to dust by an energy wave, and the two Generals walked out of it. "No, you didn't," Kunzite said coldly.

Uranus frowned and lifted her sword. "If we have to die..."

"We'll die fighting," Neptune finished as they both run towards the Generals.

-----​

"It's done," Dexite said as he bowed in front of Beryl.

"That was faster than I expected," Beryl said amused as she looked at the now ruined Camelot. "Maybe we overestimated the Senshi. "

"We didn't," the shadow behind her hissed. "The strongest Senshi remain on the Moon, and we may need to fight them ourselves."

"So be it," Beryl said as she looked at the city. She could smell the death emanating from the buildings, and she loved that scent. "Nothing can stop us now. Nothing."

Cyber Moon: Genesis.
Episode 12: Endgames.

By Razor Knight
Last update: December 17, 2005

-----​

Orion frowned as he stared down at the large lake located several miles to the west of Silver Millenium. From his watch point on top of the highest tower of the Silver Palace, he could clearly see everything around it. If the youma were thinking on attacking tonight, he'd be able to see them coming.

He looked up at the Earth and sighed. If these creatures showed up, it'd mean they'd passed through Camelot. He'd tried to be optimistic about it, but there was little hope for the Moon if Camelot fell. Even though Serenity held the strongest weapon ever forged in her hands, Beryl somehow had enough power to counter her crystal.

The question was, how. Even the young genius Hope had no idea how Beryl had grew so powerful in such a short time. However, that was now quite a moot point, as the youma were surely going to visit the Moon soon.

"Sooner than expected," Orion muttered as he saw something to the east of the palace. Row after row of creatures were teleporting into the surface, each weirder than the last. He produced a small, round communicator and pushed the only button in it. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have visitors to the East."

"They're porting in from the south and north-west too," came Zane Thanatos' voice from the communicator. "I'm having my ships give them a warm welcome, but I'll surely need help here."

"Understood. We'll be out there in a minute." That was Sailor Mars' voice.

Orion put the communicator away and looked down to the ground. "Float." He said and leapt off the roof... Floating slowly down to ground level. The Demon Hunters were all there, waiting for him. "Libra, lead group one to the south. Leo, go with group two to the north-west and help Thanatos' battleships."

A man wearing a white robe, with white long hair and beard came walking to him. "The High Wizards are ready."

"Good. We'll need as many magicians as we can get once they get here. "

-----​

"Mother, what's going on?" Eris said as she walked into the throne room.

"Beryl's army is here. They're about to reach the city's outer walls. "

"Then I should go help."

"But..."

"The Senshi, the Hunters, the Wizards... Even Thanatos will be out there fighting those monsters. I can't just sit here and watch, mother."

"I... Understand. Just be careful, daughter."

Eris hugged her mother and smiled. "Don't worry, I'm not going to let them win without a fight."

Serenity watched silently as her daughter walked out of the room. "I won't sit here and watch, either... But first I have to let them come to us."

-----​

The Senshi stood on top of the city's outer wall, looking down at the incoming wave of youma. "That's amazing. There must be at least a million of them!" Jupiter observed.

"One million two hundred thousands, give or take a few thousands," Mercury corrected.

"Let's make that half a million," Venus said. "Crescent Beam!"

"..." Mars frowned at her as the thin light beam blasted through a few dozen creatures.

"What?"

"Good aim, but hitting them with our weakest attacks won't do."

Venus raised her hand, then shouted "Venus Light Comet!" A massive beam of light shot from her hand, forming a massive ball of light which shot forwards, crashing into the youma army and killing several hundreds of them instantly.

"Wow..." Hope said. Sure, she had been training to become stronger, but she hadn't still reached the power level the others had.

"Is that better?" Venus asked with a grin.

"Showoff," Mars muttered.

"Princess, what are you doing here?" Jupiter asked. The others turned to see Princess Serenity walking towards them.

"I'm here to help," Eris said.

Mars frowned. "But you won't get access to your powers until..."

"Moon Prism Power!"

The Senshi gasped as Eris turned into Sailor Moon, her version of the Senshi suit had blue skirt and red bow, along with red brooches for her hair buns and knee-long red boots. "... After your birthday, " Mars finished. "Never mind."

Moon shrugged. "My mother wanted me to help you fight tonight."

"I don't think sending a novice into the field will help..."

"Moon Tiara Action!" Moon reached for her tiara, which turned into a golden energy disk, then tossed it down at the incoming army. The tiara sliced through monster after monster as it fled away, then turned and sliced even more creatures as it fled back to Moon's awaiting hands. "Contrary to popular belief, I haven't just slacked around and gone to social meetings the last few years."

"Why is everyone out to contradict me tonight?" Mars muttered. Being the oldest of the Senshi, not counting Pluto or Saturn, she'd always acted like a leader in battle when the other two weren't around. 'And if Beryl's here, that means Saturn failed,' she thought with a grimace.

"Enough chatter, the uglies are coming our way," Jupiter noted. "Rolling Thunder!" The Senshi of Lightning swung her fists forwards as electricity gathered in them, creating a large energy disc that vaporized countless monsters.

"I agree," Moon said and produced her tiara once again.

-----​

A few miles to the south, a large fleet of spaceships were steadily decreasing the numbers of Beryl's army. It didn't help the monsters that the ships were too high to be shot from the ground, and that the few airborne youma that had teleported in had already been blasted out.

Thanatos watched the onslaught from his ship, the Tiamat. This was easier than he'd thought, and for a moment, he felt as if his ships were untouchable.

It only lasted a moment, though. "Captain, the Drake and Reaper are down!"

"What? Locate the attackers."

"Scanning... I see them. There's a group of humanoid youma down there, along with Beryl."

"Beryl herself?" That could be the only chance he'd have to take a shot at the evil Queen. "Fire at them with all we've got!"

-----​

Orion leapt away from a tiger-like monster, then stabbed through another creature. The tiger charged at him, but he was faster. "Ice Shot." As the creature turned into dust, an explosion rocked the area. "What the hell?"

He soon found the cause of the explosion. The fleet formed by Thanatos' spaceships and the Moon Royal Space Force were all shooting at one single point. "That :red: here?" Orion muttered. Indeed, Beryl was the target of the attacks. Lasers and missiles rained on the Queen and her Generals, but there was an energy shield around them, so none of the attacks could hit them.

A shadowy, shapeless creature stood behind Beryl, and it turned to stare at Orion for a second. The Demon Hunter felt like a sheep staring at a hungry wolf. However, he saw Beryl saying something, and the shadow turned away from him. A moment later, he saw the Generals shooting energy beams up at the fleet, tearing through several ships as easy as a sword would stab through flesh.

"Zane, I hope you'll be okay up there," Orion said before turning to the battle at hand.

-----​

"Captain, the Katana and the Argenta are down. The Firebrand and Silver are heavily damaged."

"Did we at least hit them?" Thanatos asked.

"Negative. Some kind of force field protects them."

"Leave them to the Senshi, then! Regroup and go north, to the other front!"

It was right then that the Tiamat was hit in its main reactor.

-----​

"Ship coming down, get out of the way!" One of the Hunters warned.

Orion looked up as he beheaded a crab-like monster. That is... The Tiamat? Damn it...'

There was nothing he could do about it, though, other than teleporting away from the impact point. He could see several other ships crashing down all around them, and sighed. So much for the air force.

-----​

"Stupid humans, did they really think those ships would be able to stop us?" Dexite asked amused.

Aurite frowned for a second, then looked at Beryl. "My Queen, our forces coming from the south are being attacked by a group of High Wizards and Demon Hunters. The north group's being slowed down by the Senshi themselves."

"High Wizards, huh? That's my specialty," Dexite said.

Beryl nodded. "Generals, destroy the humans attacking our forces."

"What about the Senshi?" Kunzite asked.

"No need to worry. I'm sending the Rainbow Youma to fight them."

"As you wish," Kunzite said. The Rainbow Youma... The only thing Kunzite knew that could defeat a General in a one-on-one battle. Even if the Senshi destroyed them, they would be able to injure them, making the Generals' job way easier.

"I'm going with the youma," Cardite said.

Beryl shook her head. "There's no need..."

"Your underling's right, Beryl," Metallia hissed. "She can use her power to retrieve the Rainbows before the Senshi destroy them. There's no need to waste such strong warriors if we can avoid it."

Beryl nodded. "Then it's decided. Let's end this battle now." As her Generals vanished, Beryl looked at the Silver Palace, several miles away. 'Little Senshi Queen, your time's up. Are you just going to hide and wait for us to come knocking at your door?'

-----​

"Ice Blast!"

The creature Mercury had targeted turned into an ice statue, the ice shards caused by the impact impaling several other monsters. Mercury turned around just in time to see a snakelike monster rushing at her, and used her sword to slice it in half. As much as she didn't like to fight this close to the monsters, it couldn't be helped.

The walls of the city still stood, and most of the civilians and the guests that had been there for the birthday party had been evacuated to Mars and Mercury, the nearest planets still not touched by Beryl's claws.

However, the situation for the Senshi wasn't looking good. There were still at least a million youma around them, and they'd been forced to fight them close as using their strongest attacks could end up damaging the walls.

"Berserker Fury!" Mercury could smell the ozone created by the attack as a monster was sent flying over her. She was about to attack another monster, when they all started backing away.

"What's going on?" Venus asked.

"Are they retreating?" Moon said.

Mercury scanned the area and saw them... Seven youma that were making their way through the crowd, their power levels insanely high. "Those seven..." She could also see a General with them. This could indeed mean trouble.

"Hey look, one of Beryl's lackeys is here," Mars said.

Cardite floated over the crowd, stopping a few meters away from the Senshi, as the seven youma stared at them. "My name's Cardite. But don't worry, as much as I'd love to beat you girls up right now, my Queen has sent me just as an observer."

"What do you mean?" Venus asked.

"Isn't it obvious? The seven Rainbow Youma will take care of you, pests."

"Don't bet on it," Mars snapped. "Okay girls, it's time to show this :red: what the Senshi can do!"

"Hah! Die like your weak friends in Camelot, most likely," Cardite snapped back.

"That's it, the :red:'s mine," Mars growled.

-----​

"Fire Sto--"

Orion gasped as a High Wizard was cut in mid-spell by a pink energy beam. "Damn it, they're too strong!"

"You just noticed that?" Zoicite mused. "Give up, weaklings, and we'll make your deaths swift."

"I'd rather die fighting," one of the Hunters snapped.

"So be it," Kunzite snapped and shot several energy blasts at the man, killing him instantly.

Orion frowned. Things weren't looking good for them. Half his group had already been destroyed by the Generals, and the youma now had the road free to attack the city. With only three hunters and seven wizards left, there wasn't much they could do. But they weren't about to give up yet.

"This is boring," Zoicite commented.

"I agree. Enough fooling around," Jadeite said.

Orion frowned. "Now!"

"Darek Aram Sou..." The wizards started chanting those three words, causing a large sphere of magic energy to appear in front of them. The hunters rushed forwards, hitting the sphere with their sword and causing it to explode into a rain of energy blasts.

"Nice try," Nephrite said as he formed an energy shield around his group, blocking the makeshift attack, "but not enough. Now DIE!"

Orion leapt aside dodging the barrage of energy beams and blasts the Generals started shooting. He heard several cries of pain behind him, and didn't need to turn around to know the others hadn't managed to move out of the way. "This isn't going as expected..."

"Pity, you're the only one left," Kunzite said as he gathered energy in his right hand. "Now--" A roaring noise could be heard, and Kunzite and the others turned around. "What in the Darkness is..."

All they could see was a single, small fighter ship heading their way, shooting lasers and missiles at them. The whole area was covered by dust and smoke, and as it cleared, two things could be seen. The hunter was gone, and the ship was nowhere to be seen.

"Damn, he escaped," Luminite muttered.

"Never mind that. Let's check on the Senshi and see if any of them survived."

-----​

"Light Comet!"

Venus' Light attack knocked the tiger-like youma back, but it just grunted and stood unhurt. "Is it just me, or they're too strong for us?" the blonde Senshi asked as she checked on her right arm. The scratch from the mantis-like monster had stopped bleeding now, but it still hurt.

"It's you," Mars muttered. She was now trying to punch the dinosaur-like youma to a pulp. Cardite hadn't been too eager to fight, and Mars had also realized they were outnumbered so there was no need to fight the General yet.

And Venus was partially right. While they had managed to knock down two out of the seven creatures, the Senshi were all tired from the battle, and, in Jupiter and Venus' case, they were also injured. Also, they weren't able to kill the creatures, as Cardite had trapped them within some kind of tarot cards.

Moon dove out of the way as the massive dragon youma charged at her. "Moon Cosmic Spiral!"

One thing she had to give the Princess, was that she learnt fast. In little over thirty minutes, she'd been able to summon her Cosmic level attacks. Not as strong as the others, but still enough to fight the creatures.

As the dragon-like monster hit the ground with a loud thud, Cardite produced another card, muttering something under her breath. Like the other two times, her card absorbed the monster, and she grinned.

"They're weaker than I thought."

The Senshi and Cardite turned to see Beryl and the rest of the Generals had arrived. "My Queen, I'm sorry, they are indeed weaker than the Senshi."

"It doesn't matter. Bring them all to me."

Cardite nodded and produced four more cards, absorbing the remaining four Rainbow Youma with them, then gave them to Beryl.

Beryl took the cards and closed her eyes for a few seconds before speaking again. "Seven souls create a new one. Bringer of death and destruction, come forth... Raishiku"

A black portal opened, and a massive, humanoid lizard appeared. Its arms and legs were as thick as a human body, and he looked like he could crush a normal human with little effort. "What is that thing?" Mercury asked.

"That's my strongest youma, the Shadow Youma, Raishiku," Metallia hissed. "And it'll be the last youma you'll ever fight, humans."

Raishiku took a step forwards, but before it could try and attack, a barrage of laser blasts hit it from the side. It growled and turned to its aggressor, the same fighter that'd attacked the Generals before.

"Who's in that ship? I thought they'd all been destroyed," Mars pondered.

Mercury scanned the ship as it flew by. "Thanatos is piloting the ship. And also..."

Before she could finish that sentence, a single figure fell from the ship towards Raishiku, slashing at it with a sword. The youma, however, knocked him far away and he crashed into a wall.

"Who was that?" Jupiter asked.

"Orion," Mercury said with a grimace. "This monster's simply too strong for any of them."

"But not for us," Mars said. "Mars Hell's Wrath!" Mars swung her fist forwards in the youma's direction, and a large beam of fire shot from her body, wrapping around the massive creature, and scorching the ground around it. The Senshi of Fire held the creature still for several seconds, but then she kneeled on the ground, panting. "Impossible..."

"Your weak attacks can't destroy him," Beryl said. "Give up now."

"Never," Mars said.

"All right. Raishiku, finish them!"

-----​

As he opened his eyes and tried to stand up, Orion tried to remember what had happened before he blacked out. He remembered the massive youma backhanding him and frowned. Two things were clear to him right now. One, he had been tossed a good three hundred meters away. And two, he couldn't feel or move his legs.

He realized he'd fallen in such a way, he could see what was going on back where the Senshi were. "Far eye. Far ear." He muttered, casting a couple spells that would allow him to see and hear what happened clearly. If he couldn't stand up and fight, he could at least watch the Senshi kick Beryl's ugly rear out of the Moon.

Strangely, there were no youma near the area. Looking to a side, he could see why: The whole army had finally broken into Silver Millenium, leaving behind the Senshi and the Generals. Amongst the crowd of human soldiers fighting the relentless wave of demons, there were two he could recognize. One was King Eridon, wearing a silver, shinning battle armor and holding the Moon Dragon Sword in his hand, along with a shield he'd never seen before. The other was Prince Endymion, who was actually slashing his way through the army of youma to get out of the city.

Turning back to the group fighting Beryl, Orion grimaced. Jupiter and Venus were down, while Mercury and Mars were standing between the Shadow Youma and Sailor Moon. Mars had several wounds in her arms and legs, and Mercury's visor was gone. That monster was stronger than anything he'd seen before, and he didn't keep his hopes too high for the Senshi. It was doubtful a couple injured Senshi and a novice, even if that novice was Sailor Moon, would be able to defeat that Shadow Youma.

-----​

"Now you see, Senshi, you have no way of winning," Beryl gloated.

"We won't give up. We'll take care of you then we'll destroy your mindless drones," Mars snapped.

"There's no way you can defeat our army of youma," Zoicite snapped back.

"When I said mindless drones, I meant you and your friends," Mars retorted with a half smile, causing Zoicite to growl at her.

"Enough!" Beryl said furiously. "Raishiku, destroy--"

Once again, Thanatos' fighter ship zoomed by, shooting at the Generals and Beryl. This time, however, Beryl shot a thin energy blast at it, and the ship exploded in mid-air.

"Damn it, Zane..." Orion muttered. There was simply no way his friend had made it out of that explosion alive.

Mercury glared at Beryl, then at the Shadow Youma. "Monsters, I won't let you win this! Mercury..."

"Wait..." Moon said.

"What?"

"We can defeat them... Together."

Mars nodded and concentrated. "Let's do it."

Moon closed her eyes and aimed her open palms at the monster. "Sailor... Starlight..."

Mars and Mercury also closed their eyes, and energy started flowing between them and Moon. "Stream..."

"Barrage!" the three shouted in unison. The visual effect of the attack was amazing, a steady stream of fire, ice and pure magic energy rushing at the Shadow Youma. Raishiku tried to slap the attack away, but it blasted through his arm and his chest, vaporizing him in seconds.

"We did it..." Mars said, exhausted.

Beryl frowned and shot two energy beams, and Moon gasped as they passed by her side, then her eyes widened as she realized what the targets were. Turning around, she could see both Mars and Mercury lying on the ground. "No..."

"Damn it, I wanted to have fun with them myself," Jadeite muttered.

"Quiet. Now, Princess, you may wonder why I haven't killed you along with them," Beryl said. "Truth is, I'm impressed. Unlike your cowardly mother, you've come out here to face us, even though you knew it was hopeless. I may not share your ideals, but I still respect that."

Moon frowned. Good, let her rant, the more the dark Queen spoke, the more time she'd have to recover and attack.

"It's sad, however, that I'll have to kill you as well. But I'm giving you one last chance to fight. You and me, with no interferences from either sides. What's your answer?"

"Here's your answer!"

Beryl turned to the side and gasped as something slashed at her. She made a show of screaming in pain as her left arm fell off, but then the arm rejoined her body and she laughed. "Well, well, the handsome prince comes to save the lady in distress."

"I'm going to kill you and your underlings," Endymion said as he glared at her, sword ready to attack again. His suit was covered by cuts and blood, but most of said blood wasn't his.

Beryl laughed, a humorless, deep laugh. "You, a little human, defeating me? Funny, that's what your father said before I destroyed him." Endymion's glare deepened as he charged at the Queen once again. "Generals!" she shouted in a commanding tone.

The Generals all rushed forwards as one, each materializing an energy sword, and they all slashed at Endymion. The prince tried to fight back but the barrage of attacks was too much for him to take.

-----​

"Serenity, are you sure? We could help out there," Luna said looking up at her Queen.

Serenity shook her head. "My daughter and the other Senshi will need someone to guide them."

"What do you mean?"

"Luna, you were there when Pluto came to talk to me. You know what she saw."

"I'll do as you wish, my Queen. But are you sure these containers are safe?" Luna looked at the small metal containers where two other Mooncats were already sleeping.

"They've been used a few times in the past," Serenity said.

"Only for a few centuries at most. We're talking about thousands of years."

"I know," Serenity said with a sigh. "There's a chance the tubes' energy won't last long enough for you to be there."

Luna sighed. "So it's either die here, or die there." She looked up at the Queen again. "I'll do it. I've always been a lucky Mooncat. "

Serenity chuckled at that. "Okay then, walk inside and I'll do the rest."

Luna walked into the tube, and a blue glass slid over its opening. "Goodbye, my Queen. It was an honor to serve you."

"Goodbye, Luna. Take care of my daughter."

"I will," Luna said. Serenity looked at the small keypad to the side of the tube and nodded, pressing a few buttons. When she was done, she backed away to look at the three Mooncats, now sleeping. "Luna, Artemis and Shade. It's a pity I couldn't bring any of the others here."

In that moment, a soldier walked into the room, kneeling before her. "Queen Serenity, I was sent here to give you this." He produced a silver-hilted sword and turned to leave. "There were too many of those creatures out there. There was nothing we could do to save him."

Serenity looked at the sword in her hands and her eyes watered. The Moon Dragon Sword was a gift from her to her husband after they married, and she knew she wouldn't be holding it unless he was... Wiping away the few tears that had rolled down her cheeks, she held the sword in one hand and walked out of the room.

It had gone too far. Now, it was time to show Beryl what she could do when angered.

-----​

"This is definitely rotten," Orion muttered as he saw Endymion's body fall to the ground. Looking back to the city, he gasped as he saw Serenity walking out and straight into the horde of youma. The monsters charged at her, but her body lit up with energy, and a sphere-shaped wave shoot out from her, growing at an amazing rate, and destroying any youma it touched. It took only a few seconds. When the wave dimmed, there were no youma left in the northern side of the city.

"Moon Silver Crystal Wave!"

Orion turned to the Princess. He'd almost forgotten about her, but he could see she was faring way better than he'd expected. She'd shot a massive energy beam at the Generals, knocking them all to the ground. With a bit of luck, those bastards would be dead. However, the Princess kneeled on the ground, panting exhausted. Orion knew why, the Senshi could be powerful and resistant, but they were still humans, and after all the battling they'd gone through in the last hour, it was only natural the Princess was tired.

"So, is that all you've got?" Beryl teased her. Moon glared at her, then stood up, producing a sword identical to her mother's one. "Oh dear, the kid's got a sword. Be careful with that thing, you could poke someone's eyes off."

"That's the idea," Moon snapped and charged at Beryl.

Beryl didn't move. She didn't need to. The shadowy creature that followed her everywhere shot forwards, passing right through Moon's body. There was no visible damage, but the Princess' eyes... Orion shivered. Lifeless, glazed over. Whatever that shadow had done, the Princess was now gone. Sailor Moon kneeled, dropping her sword, then fell face-first to the ground.

"BERYL!"

Both the evil Queen and Orion turned to see Serenity walking towards her. She was giving Beryl a cold glare, and looked like she could level a city on a whim right now. "Oh look, the coward finally decided to come out and play. Generals, take care of her!"

Serenity laughed humorlessly as the Generals stood up and faced her. "My daughter was able to knock them out, and you expect them to defeat me? Not only are you evil, but also delusional."

"The only delusional one here is you, Senshi Queen," the shadow hissed.

"What are you anyways, monster?"

"My name is... Metallia."

Orion frowned. Metallia? He'd read about her, the legends forged around the First Senshi... But was that really Meth'Lya?

"You see, for eons I remained imprisoned in a strange world, thanks to the first Senshi Queen's meddling. I was still a Kh'Sun back then, but the world changed me. Gave me power. I was finally able to break out thanks to a power-thirsty human woman. As you see, our combined power is simply unstoppable."

"So you, one of the Kh'Sun, yet you're helping a human? What'd the rest of your race think?"

"The rest of my race is dead, and I don't even belong to it anymore. I don't want to kill all humans, just those that turned me into this. And you're the last one."

Serenity smirked. There was another one, but she was already in a place Metallia had no way to reach. After all, someone had to remain and watch over the planet while the rest of them waited for the right time to be reborn. "You've killed my people, my allies, my friends... My family. If you think I'll just stand here and let you take over my planet, you're dead wrong."

Metallia hissed as Serenity's body lit up with energy. She could now see the Queen was holding a crystal in her free hand... A crystal she knew too well. "We have to destroy her, before she uses that."

Beryl nodded and shot a wave of dark energy at the Senshi Queen. Metallia added her own energy to the attack, but Serenity opened her eyes before it reached her. "Too late," She said as a wave of blinding light shot out from her sword and crystal, clashing with the dark wave.

Orion frowned. As a Demon Hunter, he'd been trained to detect magic, and use some basic spells. He could see the two waves clashing from where he was, but he also could feel something else. The mana ripple generated by the power battle was just... Impossible.

The battle itself lasted several minutes. Both Queens poured as much energy as they could into their spell, but even with Metallia's help, Beryl's wave kept on being forced back towards her. Orion could see the ground cracking with energy, the grass burning, the water of the lake boiling. Their battle was wrecking the Moon, and Orion idly pondered what it could be causing the other planets.

He heard Serenity curse, and saw her sword had shattered. Beryl smiled for a second, thinking she'd overpowered her, but then Serenity focused on her crystal, and the energy around her grew stronger. Orion could hardly see Serenity with that much light, but he could see Beryl and Metallia clearly. Beryl's face was a mixture of fear and disbelief, and Metallia's shadowy form was shimmering, as if something was banishing her.

Seconds later, both Beryl and Metallia vanished, along with the remaining youma and Generals. Serenity smiled for a few seconds, as her crystal's light grew weaker and weaker, then sat down on the ground.

"My Queen, no..." Orion whispered. Serenity turned to look at him, as if she'd heard him. Maybe she knew he was there from the start. The Queen's smile returned as she lied on the ground, then closed her eyes.

The Ginzuishou, the Silver Crystal, was now a dull grey color. Orion sighed, then noticed something else... The air felt lighter, and also colder. "What is going on..." He cursed as he tried to stand up and found out he was still unable to.

"Calm down, Orion."

Orion gasped at the voice, and turned to the side to see Serenity... Then he raised an eyebrow as he saw he could see the palace burning down through her. "Serenity?"

"Yes, it's me. At least the soul. I don't have much time left."

"What's happening?"

"Something I foresaw. With that much mana being poured out thanks to our fight, the Moon's balance is broken. Soon this world will be devoid of an atmosphere. The mana storm caused by our battle also hit the rest of the planets."

"What about the other planets?"

"The mana storm destroyed most computers and technologic devices in the solar system, and without them, there's only one planet that can still sustain life."

"The Earth... But then, everyone in the other planets..."

"They'll die in a few hours, days at most."

"Was there really nothing we could do to stop this?"

"Mankind is strong. We'll rise again and reach for the stars, and my daughter and the other Senshi will be there to see it."

"They'll be reborn?"

Serenity nodded. "That date is eons away."

"Too bad I won't be there to see it."

"You will. You and others like you. There are several souls I'm sending down to the Earth along with the Senshi. You will all be there to help them as well."

"But we won't remember this, will we?"

"Only if you want to," Serenity said.

"That's good. I won't remember how I failed tonight."

"Nobody failed. Beryl didn't win, and she will fail again in the future, if things go as planned. Farewell, Orion."

Orion sighed. "Farewell, Queen Serenity." The spirit vanished, and the Hunter tried once again to stand up. This time, he was able to stand up and walk around. He walked to where the Senshi had fought Beryl, and gasped as he saw the corpses weren't there. Looking at the city in the distance, he frowned. He really didn't want to see what was left of the city.

Looking at what remained of the battle, he could see another Ginzuishou, still white unlike Serenity's one... It was the Princess' crystal! The seven cards that had been used to gather the Rainbow Youma were scattered around it. As he looked at them, he saw the Ginzuishou glow for a second, and the figures drawn on the cards vanished. Then, the crystal shattered in seven pieces, and flew up, towards the Earth.

"Guess that's Serenity's last magic trick," he said shaking his head. He couldn't think of why the Queen would have the seven youma trapped in the fragments of her daughter's crystal, but then again, there was nobody around he could ask for an answer.

He felt tired, but not because of the battle. So much for walking around, he thought as he sat down on a rock. By now, he was barely able to breathe as the air was thin and the temperature matched that of the cold Earth winter. He knew he didn't have more than a couple minutes left before the Moon's atmosphere vanished completely.

"At least I'll get a second chance, someday."

-----​

Pluto turned away from the magic screens she had been using to see the events taking place on the Moon's surface. She regretted the fact she'd been ordered to stay out of the battle, but Serenity was right. Someone had to stay and make sure there was a planet the Senshi could revive on. All Pluto could do now was wait, and guard the Earth until the Senshi were reborn. "I just hope she was right, and Beryl's power is greatly weakened. Otherwise, the future is as doomed as the present was."

Waiting. That's something she could do, if the rewards were as good as she had seen.

Next up, Cyber Moon: Chronicles, the main part of the story.
 
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Cyber Moon: Chronicles

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 1: Gathering.
Episode 1: Rebirth.

By Razor Knight
Last update: January 19, 2006

-----​

The cat walked out of the abandoned building and looked around in awe. It was obvious he wasn't in the same place he'd been when he was put to sleep. From what the capsule had marked, he'd been asleep for over fifty thousand years. That would explain why his memory was blurry - he remembered what his mission was, but not much more.

There was only one reason for him to awaken: The enemy was back. He could sense the energy of Venus near and he knew the Senshi of Venus was close to where he was now. He looked back at the capsule and nodded; only ashes were left of it, at least it's self-destruction mechanism had worked well.

But now, he needed to find the Senshi of Venus and tell her about her mission, before the enemy got to her...

-----​

"Hey Minako!"

The blonde girl turned around at the voice. She saw a black-haired girl walking her way. "Hi Hikaru."

"What's up?" Hikaru asked, as she noticed Minako looked upset.

"Nothing," Minako said and looked back. "Damn, that cat.."

Hikaru turned to see a small white cat walking on a nearby wall, eyes fixed on Minako. "Aww, what a cute cat."

"It's been following me around all day. It followed me to school, and on my way back home, and now..." She realized something. "So, you going to cram school again?"

"Yeah. I was heading there right now. I guess I'll leave you and your stalker alone." Minako gave her a short, half-hearted glared as she walked off, chuckling.

However... Turning back, she saw the cat was still there. Since she'd stopped, the cat had stopped too. It leapt off the wall as he saw she wasn't moving, and walked up to her. "Okay cat, what do you want?" The blonde asked, her voice almost a growl.

She really didn't expect the cat to answer, but it did. "I'm here to tell you about your mission, Minako. And don't call me 'cat,' my name is Artemis."

"A... A talking cat?" Minako asked surprised as she knelt to stare at him. His fur was as white as snow, not counting the yellow crescent moon-shaped patch of fur in his forehead, right over his eyes.

"A Mooncat, actually," Artemis corrected.

"Oh, right. That makes a whole lot of sense, a talking cat from the Moon," Minako muttered.

"Minako, if you just listen..."

"Of course, I'll listen to you. And to the blue dancing flowers too, whenever they decide to show up," Minako ranted on.

'Blue dancing flowers?' Artemis thought with a frown. He didn't quite remember Sailor Venus's past self, but he was quite sure she wasn't as weird as Minako.

-----​

Several miles away from there, a green-haired woman in a grey business dress watched a thirteen years old boy walk past her. Indeed, he was one of them. She was aware of one of the Mooncats' capsules opening, but she wasn't worried about that. The Mooncats knew their mission, and so did she. If there was any hopes of stopping the youma, they had to find the Senshi.

The boy, Kage for what she'd been researching, looked normal enough. Short, black, spiky hair, brown eyes, wearing a blue shirt and jeans, he hadn't noticed the woman following him. In fact, nobody ever noticed her unless she wanted them to.

"It is time for you to awaken, Kage" the woman said before vanishing.

-----​

She wasn't sure how much time had passed since the last time she saw the Earth. A planet that had once been hers, now was overcrowded with humans. She had always, from that day so long ago, cursed Serenity's power. A power that had trapped her and her army in a place that was both unknown and dangerous.

Beryl frowned as she remembered the past. The first few hours had been hectic, first realizing Metallia was in a deep comatose state thanks to Serenity's power, which left Beryl herself almost powerless compared to the power she'd possessed only a few minutes before. Then, realizing their 'prison' was inhabited by creatures that made even youma look normal. Some were massive insects that seemed to have escaped from a fantasy tale, there were also plants that walked on their roots, and even some airborne plants.

The youma, however, had soon shown the native species not to mess with them. In the space of two hours, the few surviving youma had destroyed a few square miles worth of jungle. Upon realizing there was no way to go back to the Moon or the Earth, since Beryl herself couldn't sense either, and wasn't even sure they were even in the same Universe they were before, they started building a city.

It took them weeks to build a good enough defense wall so the ground predators wouldn't be able to enter the city. Took them months to build a city big enough to shadow even Beryl's birthplace, Arcana. They called it Dark Arcana, the Dark Kingdom.

But without Metallia's power, the few hundreds that survived the Silver Millennium attack were stuck in this new world. There were no stars in this new planet, a thick layer of black clouds was always there to stop the light from whatever star they were orbiting from touching the surface.

Some scientists had even theorized they were in a sub-dimension of their Universe, where their 'planet' was the only thing that existed, but that had been discarded. Until they tried to send a makeshift probe, five hundred years ago, to take a look at the area over the black clouds. It had found... Nothing. Outside their planet, which was actually far smaller than they'd first thought, there was simply nothing, not even radiation or heat readings. And a few miles over the clouds, the probe had vanished.

Whether or not there was something outside their planet, was now a moot point. After a few months of trial and error, Dark Kingdom's best mages and scientists had built a portal, a gateway to Earth. The portal opened into an island the humans called Japan, which was exactly where the Kingdom of Camelot was in the past.

According to the records the single probe they'd sent out had, time passed differently on Earth and in her world. The dark Queen was sure no more than three thousand years had passed since their arrival here, but on Earth, the records went back for over ten thousand years. Again, scientists had speculated, thanks to the probe's finding of what humans called a "museum," a place where pieces of their past were archived, that a good fifty thousand years had passed on Earth since the battle against Serenity.

Strangely, there were no records of Silver Millennium or any other city she knew, the probe had only found lore mentioning places like Mu or Tir Na Nog, but they were considered only legends. Legends she'd once conquered, and now she had a whole new world to take over.

-----​

Jadeite bowed slightly as the Queen walked towards him. "Queen Beryl, the scout is ready. We gave him a magic spell to look human to anyone around him."

"Good. Send him to Tokyo immediately," Beryl ordered. "And what about our other portals?"

"We could only locate two other points on Earth where magic is strong enough to sustain portals. One's in an island country known as England, and the other is in what humans call the United States."

"Stupid names," Beryl mused. "When are those portals going to be completed?"

"In a few weeks."

"Good. However, I don't think we'll need to use them."

"And why is that?"

"Because I can feel the Ginzuishou in Japan. But I feel it in several areas... Maybe Serenity broke it in pieces to stop anyone from using it. If we gather all the pieces, we could reform it and use it's power to awaken Metallia."

Jadeite nodded. "And with Metallia and the Ginzuishou in our hands, humans will be unable to stop us."

-----​

Kage frowned as he walked through the corridor leading to Takamura's office. On one hand, he had a chance to get out of the orphanage for good, but on the other hand... He wondered who would it be this time around.

The first two times he'd been adopted, he hadn't quite fit in. He'd ended up being returned to the orphanage, like a broken toy adults didn't want to play with anymore. He was really starting to wonder if he'd fit anywhere, but he didn't know his question was about to be answered.

As he walked into the office, he blinked. He'd expected to see a couple, but instead there was only a woman there, besides Kari Takamura, the orphanage's director. "Kage, this is Setsuna Meiou." He looked at the woman as Takamura introduced her. Green hair, purplish-red eyes. Her skin was tanned, and she was taller than most adults he'd met.

"Nice to meet you, Miss Meiou," Kage said politely.

"Hello, Kage," Setsuna said with a smile. "Takamura has told me a lot about you, but there's still a few things I want to ask you before I make my decision."

Kage smiled. "Go ahead."

-----​

"Okay, so let me see if I understood... I'm the reincarnation of an ancient warrior, and I'm supposed to help you find a princess before the evil youma start attacking," Minako said.

Artemis nodded. "Yes, that pretty much sums up what I told you." They were now in Minako's bedroom, as Artemis had said talking about her mission in public could be risky.

"The whole tale sounds insane. Then again, it's coming from a talking cat--"

"Mooncat," Artemis corrected.

"... Mooncat, so I think I'll bite."

"Does that mean you'll help me?"

"I suppose, it could be fun."

"Minako, this is serious."

"And why can't it be serious and fun at the same time?" Minako asked with a wink.

Artemis sighed. "Okay, this isn't quite what I expected, but I guess you--" He then stopped and looked around, as if he'd seen a ghost. "Oh no..."

"What?"

"The youma," Artemis said. "They're here already."

"You can feel them?"

Artemis nodded. "I can feel magic energy in a short range, which means the monster isn't too far from--" Right then, an explosion rocked the house. "-- Here."

Minako frowned. "Okay then... How do I use my powers?"

"You need to activate them first... Say the words 'Venus Planet Power' and see what happens."

"Venus Planet Power!" The blonde girl shouted. A blinding light surrounded her as her clothes were replaced by a Senshi outfit. A white leotard with a short orange skirt and blue bow, white elbow-long gloves and orange stiletto heeled shoes. "Wow... Cool outfit," she said as she looked at her new suit in the mirror.

"That's the Sailor Senshi's standard suit. Venus' color was always orange. Anyways, no time for chatter right now, Mina. Let's go."

"Mina?" Minako muttered. Then again, she found that she liked that nickname. "Wait..." She searched in her closet for something and smiled as she put a blue eye mask over her eyes. "Here, now nobody will recognize me."

"... Nobody would anyways," Artemis muttered. "That's why you transformed."

"Oh..." Minako said. "I'll keep the mask anyways. It looks mysterious."

"Whatever, let's just go," Artemis muttered.

-----​

Kron released his grip on the human and looked around. This was too easy, there was nothing these humans could do to stop him, and he was having quite a banquet with their life energy. He had been sent there to learn the human's language, and had sent all he learnt to Jadeite a few minutes ago.

Right now he was feeding before returning to the Kingdom. Youma, unlike humans, fed on life energy, so human food places were useless to him. Kron had been forced to hunt down his meal, so to speak. He located his next target and growled at the human, then chased after him. He stopped, however, when she saw a figure standing over a nearby rooftop "What the...?"

"Stop it right there, monster." Minako said as she leapt down to the ground.

"Who are you?" The youma asked.

"I'm Sailor V, and I'll punish you for hurting innocent people," Venus snapped at the monster.

"Sailor V?" Both Artemis and the youma exclaimed in surprise.

"I'll explain it later," Venus whispered to Artemis.

Kron shrugged "I just wanted to know so I can tell my master the name of my first Senshi kill." Saying that, she shot two small energy blasts at 'Sailor V.'

Venus dodged the blasts, which created two small holes on the wall behind her, and gasped. "Uhh... Artemis, how am I supposed to fightback?" She asked turning to the Mooncat nervously.

Artemis realized he hadn't told her how to use her powers and sighed. "Your weaker attack is the 'Crescent Beam,'" Artemis said. "Just aim your finger at the creature and say those words out loud."


Venus nodded "All right, here goes nothing." She put her hand in front of her, index finger aiming at the youma. "Crescent Beam!" Energy gathered on it, and a small laser beam shot forwards, blasting through the youma's chest. Kron gasped in shock then turned into dust.

"Well done, V," Artemis said.

"I did it!" Venus shouted, then looked around. The crowd was looking at her in awe, as ambulances arrived together with some patrol cars. "I guess it's better to leave before they start asking questions."

Artemis nodded "Right."

'Sailor V' picked the small cat up and leapt up to a nearby rooftop in a single jump. "Wow... I didn't know I could do that," she noticed.

"Your strength and agility are greatly improved when you transform," Artemis explained.

"Cool, maybe I could use this for Phys Ed," Venus commented.

Unfortunately, Artemis thought, her intelligence wasn't upgraded along with her other attributes.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 1: Gathering.
Episode 2: Orion.

By Razor Knight
Last update: January 19, 2006

-----​

"So, what do you think?"

Kage looked at the house in front of him... Well, the 'house' was twice the size of the orphanage he lived in, painted in a dull grey color. They'd have to drive quite a bit to get there, and Setsuna had been silent until now.

"I think I'm already liking it," Kage said.

Setsuna smiled. "Good. Let's go to the backyard first, I think you need to meet your new sisters."

Sisters? This woman had kids? That was strange, often it were couples that couldn't have kids that went to the orphanage. So far for what he'd seen, Setsuna had a dark green sports car, a large house, and children. What was next?

As they walked around the house, Kage realized it wasn't as big as it'd first seemed to be, but it was still quite large. And as they finally reached the backyard, he gasped.

A blonde-haired, tall boy and a girl with green hair were there, both had short hair and were wearing what looked like gym clothing. The boy had blue shorts and a loose blue t-shirt, and the girl was wearing a green leotard with green knee-long shorts over it.

As Kage watched, the two teens sparred. The boy swung his fist at the girl, who ducked under him and elbowed his stomach, then kicked his legs from under him, making him fall to the ground in a heap.

"Wow, if that's one of my sisters, I'm not messing with her," Kage commented, "but who's the boy, a neighbour?"

Setsuna chuckled. "No, that's your other sister."

Kage turned back to see his new sisters walking towards him, focusing on the blonde-haired girl. With her short hair and boyish clothing, it was easy to mistake her for a boy. "I see..."

"Girls, this is Kage. Kage, meet Haruka and Michiru."

Michiru, the green-haired girl, smiled at him. "Nice to meet you, Kage."

"A new punching bag, huh?" Haruka said snidely.

"From what I saw, you were the punching bag a moment ago," Kage commented. That caused Michiru to burst out laughing.

"Okay, girls, I'll give him a tour of our house while you change."

Kage couldn't help but staring as the two girls walked away. But was it just his imagination, or was Michiru leaning on Haruka as they walked into the house?

"Tell me when you're done staring," Setsuna said, causing the boy to blush.

"I wasn't..."

"Never mind," Setsuna said dismissively.

-----​

Minako's idea was, Artemis forced himself to admit, brilliant. The youma would be misguided by her 'disguise' and would be led to believe Sailor V was a new Senshi. Maybe he'd underestimated her intelligence.

"Maybe you're right," Artemis admitted as Minako finished her explanation. "Better yet, if you use a mask, not even the Generals would be able to recognize you."

Minako nodded "If they don't know I'm Venus, they'll probably underestimate my power."

"Just remember, until you can activate your stronger attacks, you must be careful."

"Come on, Art, I blasted that youma in one shot." Minako said.

"Art...?" Artemis muttered. "It was only luck. Next time they will be ready for your attack. And that youma wasn't as strong as it looked. Your Crescent Beam won't be enough to defeat the Generals, or other strong youma."

"Okay, I'll be careful." Minako said. Art was probably right, he was the one that knew about that kinda stuff, she'd just worry about pointing and blasting critters out. "But... Who are the Generals you speak of?"

"The strongest, most dangerous youma. They were the ones who killed most of the Senshi in the past, not counting the princess."

"So that princess must be pretty strong, right?"

"Yeah. If we're able to find her, we'll have this war half won."

-----​

"As you already know, our first scout's mission was a success, but he got killed on his way back," Jadeite explained Queen Beryl, who was sitting on her throne. Anyone looking at her would realize she wasn't quite sane. Otherwise, she wouldn't be able to sit on a throne that looked like a dragon's head about to eat the person sitting on it.

"No clues on who did it?" Beryl asked.

"The recording crystal we sent with Kron gave us a clue on that. He was attacked by someone called Sailor V."

"Sailor V?" Beryl asked. "I don't remember any Senshi called that in the past."

"That's why I'm going to send another scout now. He's been ordered to stir up problems and let Sailor V find him. Even if V kills him, we're sending an optical crystal with him this time, so we will be able to see how she looks like."

"Well thought, Jadeite. Send him to Tokyo immediately," Beryl ordered. Jadeite bowed to her and walked out of the throne room.

-----​

Kage had his doubts when he first walked into the house, but now they were mostly gone. There was something that still didn't fit the whole scene, why would a lone, rich woman like Setsuna want to adopt three teenagers? It was strange, too, both Michiru and Haruka were thirteen, just like him. And why had they been sparring in the backyard?

After dinner, Setsuna told him to stay around, that they needed to talk about something. So there he was, with his 'sisters' sitting besides him on the large grey couch of the living room. "So... I have a question," Kage said. "Do you girls do that sparring often?"

"That is somehow related to what I wanted to talk about," Setsuna said.

"Okay then, go ahead."

"Have you been having... Strange dreams lately?"

Strange dreams? How did she know? "My dreams are always strange," he admitted.

"Right. Any dreams involving a palace, monsters and women in strange outfits?"

Kage blinked in surprise. This was beyond strange. "Yes. I've been having that dream almost every night for the past month. What are you, some sort of psychic?"

"Yeah, you could say she can see the future," Haruka joked. Michiru gave her a soft punch in the ribs and she winced.

"Please describe your dream to me," Setsuna said.

"Why...?"

"You'll see, soon, but I need to know exactly what your dream's about," Setsuna explained. She needed to know what he remembered, to know just how much she'd have to tell him to remove Serenity's memory block.

"First thing I can remember is sitting on top of a building, watching a black wave come to me. Next I find myself in the middle of a battlefield, holding a sword, and I can see monsters and humans fighting everywhere. The monsters are strange, and don't seem to have a pattern to their looks. And then..."

Setsuna frowned as Kage stopped. "Then what?"

"Well, next thing I see is a battle between a giant monster and a few women in strange outfits... They look like cheerleaders, I think."

"Cheerleaders, huh?" Setsuna mused.

"Yeah... They keep on shooting energy blasts at the creature, and it kills a few of them before they can take it down. Then I see a woman in a black gown kill the rest of them. That's as far as I went, but each time I have that dream it gets more and more detailed."

"I see," Setsuna said and fell silent. Haruka and Michiru were looking at Kage, careful to not show any emotion.

"So... Why did you want to know about it?"

"Does the name Orion mean anything to you?"

"... Not really, it's just a constellation."

"I see... So you're not remembering enough yet."

"Remembering?"

Setsuna nodded. "What would you say if I told you what you're dreaming of actually happened?"

"I'd say you'd have to prove it," Kage said skeptically.

"Okay then..." Setsuna stood up and smiled. "Pluto Planet Power!"

Kage almost jumped behind the couch as a blinding light surrounded Setsuna. He turned to his 'sisters' and noticed they weren't surprised at all, then turned back as the light dimmed and died out. Setsuna was still standing there, only now she was wearing one of those cheerleader suits, with dark green skirt and violet bow. She was holding a long, silvery, key-shaped staff with her right hand. The staff's upper tip was heart-shaped, and had a crimson, fist-sized orb inside the heart.

"So, you believe me now?" Setsuna asked.

"I believe... I believe I've finally cracked. Yes. I must be lying inside a white comfy cell right now, with men in white prodding me."

Michiru laughed. "You sound almost like Haruka when Pluto showed us her transformation."

"Pluto?" Kage asked confusedly.

"That's me," Setsuna said. "Sailor Pluto, one of the Sailor Senshi."

"Sailor Senshi..." Kage muttered then winced. "I... I remember them, the Senshi. They were a group of warriors... The group I saw in my dream... And the woman in the black dress, that's Queen Beryl, their enemy."

Pluto nodded. "Yes, that's correct."

"And me... My name is... Was... Orion."

Pluto smiled. "I see you're remembering it all."

"Not really... I can only remember that night when Beryl attacked. But I wasn't one of the Senshi. Why are you telling all this to me?"

"If you were reborn along with us, then you're one of the new Senshi, Kage," Pluto explained.

"New Senshi... What's that mean?"

The green-haired Senshi sighed. "I'm not sure yet. I can't know for sure which Senshi you are."

"I can't be a Senshi. I don't look good wearing a skirt," Kage joked.

"It'd be worth a try," Haruka said teasingly.

"Haruka..." Michiru muttered.

"Girls, behave," Setsuna said sternly. "Kage, there were also male Senshi in the past, even though there were none amongst the ones that fought Beryl. But I knew some of the warriors that fought along with the Senshi that night would be revived, and would be chosen by the Dragon Swords to become Senshi as well."

"When do the hobbits and the One Ring come in?" Kage asked.

Michiru frowned. "What, don't you believe her?"

"I do. I'm just trying to step out of the edge of insanity."

Pluto sighed. "If they'd told me I'd have to deal with these kids, I'd just gone and died that night..." Kage blinked at Pluto, his face pale. "What's wrong?"

"Wait, you mean... How old are you?"

"Tsk, tsk, it's not nice to ask a lady her age," Haruka teased.

"By today's calendar, it's been fifty thousand years since the lunar city of Silver Millennium was destroyed, give or take a few thousand years."

Kage shook his head, then smiled. "For a fifty thousand years woman, you really look good."

Pluto sighed again. "Anyways, if you haven't figured it out yet, the whole adoption thing was a facade. I needed to be your legal tutor to keep in touch with you. I've got more than enough money to support us all, and you should focus in fighting the youma for the time being."

"Does that mean I don't have to go to school?" Kage asked.

"That means you have no excuse for missing school," Michiru said.

"Aww damn," Kage muttered.

Michiru frowned. "And speaking of the youma... I can feel one of them near."

Kage was, for the millionth time that night, confused. "One of them?"

Pluto nodded. "Michiru has weak psychic skills. She can sense evil beings, but only in short range."

"Oh... So you girls gonna go welcome it or what?"

"You'll come with us," Haruka said.

"Why? Zordon here didn't give me my watch and my Zord yet," Kage joked.

Pluto shook her head. "I swear, training rookies was much easier in Silver Millennium."

-----​

"This looks bad," Kage commented as he looked over the truck they were hiding behind, and saw the creature toss a mailbox at an incoming car.

The creature was at least two meters tall, humanoid, with blue scaly skin and vine-like black hair. His face was human enough, not counting his glowing yellow eyes. "Uglier than I imagined," Haruka commented.

"Well girls, this will be your first fight. If you have any problem, I'll be there to help," Setsuna said.

Michiru nodded. "Neptune Planet Power!"

"Uranus Planet Power!" Haruka shouted together with her.

Kage blinked as both transformed. Instead of light, water and air surrounded them. Maybe it was connected to the element they controlled? Just as he remembered from the past, Neptune wore a light green skirt with dark blue bow, while Uranus had blue skirt and yellow bow.

Both jumped at the monster as one. Neptune charged from the side, going for a flying kick, which the monster dodged by ducking. It was a mistake, since Uranus was also charging at him, and delivered a quite powerful jab to his skull, sending him staggering back.

"Who are you?" the youma asked in a growl-like voice.

"I'm the Senshi of the Sea, Sailor Neptune," Neptune said.

"And I'm the Senshi of Wind, Sailor Uranus," Uranus added.

"Funny, I came here looking for a Senshi and found two. Guess today's my lucky day."

"Lucky? I don't think so," Neptune snapped as she reached her hands out to the monster. "Neptune Aqua Blast!"

A spray of water shot from Neptune's outstretched hands, knocking the creature further back. Uranus took her chance to charge again, gathering energy in her right hand. "Uranus Gale Fist!"

This time, the monster was knocked to the ground. Neptune wasn't about to let it recover, so she leapt at it while summoning her attack again. "Aqua Blast!"

The youma, however, wasn't down yet. It moved aside, dodging the water blast, and leapt up grabbing the Senshi of Water by the neck. "Hahaha... Weaklings, you can't defeat me."

"Neptune!" Uranus said worriedly.

"Don't dare moving, or I'll break her neck," the creature said as he put more pressure on his hold, causing Neptune to yell in pain.

Kage had been watching the scene from his hiding spot, and turned to Setsuna worriedly. "Aren't you going to help them?"

"They can handle it," Setsuna said bluntly.

"Like hell they can, Michiru's about to get killed," Kage snapped. 'If only I had a way to help them...' He thought, then frowned... He could see it, the Sun... The cities floating around it, in the past, one of which had been his birthplace. The Sun... His former home. He felt a rush of power and blinked to clear his vision, then he saw it: A sword with a golden hilt floating in front of him. The Sun Dragon sword?

"Use it," Setsuna said. "It's yours."

Kage turned to look at her and saw she was smiling. He then turned back to the sword and grabbed it...

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 1: Gathering.
Episode 3: General Mayhem.

By Razor Knight
Last update: January 19, 2006

-----​

Neptune tried once again to free her neck from the monster's claws, but failed. It was simply impossible, the creature was stronger than she'd first thought, and she was running out of energy fast since she was unable to breath. She kicked the monster's side, trying to get him to let her go, but nothing happened. She blinked trying to focus her eyes, and saw a blur passing by, then she fell down.

When she recovered, she noticed the monster's hand was still around her neck, but it wasn't attached to him anymore. Looking to the side, she could see the creature clutching it's hand-less arm, and a figure standing a few meters away from it, wielding a sword that was right now dripping bluish blood. "Kage?"

The figure smiled at her. "Dragon Sun, I guess. Thank me later, we have to defeat this thing. The monster growled then screamed, the sound wave generated by his scream knocked his foes to the ground. "Talk about being noisy."

Uranus stood up first, and rushed at the youma, who dodged aside as she swung her fist at him, then elbowed her back, sending her crashing into a car.

Dragon Sun had already recovered, and saw an opening to attack. "Solar Bolt!" The youma howled in pain as a thin light beam punched through his shoulder, then knelt on the ground. "Gotcha!"

"Gotta work on your aim," Neptune teased, then kicked the creature to the ground. She put a hand on his forehead and smiled. "This is for trying to choke me, ugly. Aqua Blast!"

Uranus stood up just in time to see the monster's head exploding thanks to the water jet. "That was disgusting."

"But effective," Pluto added coming out from around the truck as the youma vanished. "That was good enough for a first battle, team."

"Yeah, thanks for the help," Dragon Sun muttered.

"Believe me, if I wanted to, I could destroy a few hundred of those monsters in one blast."

"... If that's true, why didn't you help Neptune?"

"Because you were the one that had to help her," Pluto said. As the Dragon looked at her in confusion, she shrugged. "What Neptune said back home is true, I can see the future. Or at least, I see flashes and images of it, sometimes I can see several different choices and their consequences."

"Can you see the winning lottery ticket?" the Dragon joked.

"Senshi powers are not to be used for personal gain," Pluto lectured.

"Then how did you get all that money?"

"That's a secret," Pluto said with a wink.

-----​

Once again, Jadeite was giving his Queen a briefing of the latest scouting mission.

"While Sailor V didn't show up yesterday, we were able to identify three more Senshi in Tokyo," Jadeite said.

"Three more?" Beryl asked surprised.

"They go by the names of Neptune, Uranus and Dragon Sun."

Beryl frowned. She remembered the first two, but the third? There was no Sailor Sun in Serenity's court, let alone a Dragon. "How did the scout fare?"

"The Senshi are seemingly weak, but I fear our youma, without Metallia's power, are weaker than them."

"That's bad. We need to find the Ginzuishou or find a way to awaken Metallia."

Kunzite walked out of the shadows and bowed to the Queen. "We could use Tokyo to feed Metallia."

Beryl frowned "How?"

"Humans are good energy sources, and Tokyo is full of them. With so much energy available, we could speed up Metallia's healing in a way we could've never dreamt of when we had no way to reach the Earth."

"How many of our soldiers can pass through the portal?" Beryl asked.

"Two at most, right now, and it needs a day or two to recharge. If we gather more energy, we could also upgrade the portals and send more soldiers through," Jadeite explained.

"I see... Dexite!"

The pale, corpse-like General walked out of the shadows and bowed to the Queen. "Yes, my Queen?"

"You will go along with Kunzite to the Earth, and try to gather as much energy as you can. If the Senshi show up, destroy them."

The two Generals bowed at her again then walked back into the shadows that surrounded the throne.

-----​

Minako had decided to go to the shopping mall near her house after school, as she'd thought it'd be fun. Just when she was heading for the entrance, she saw a strange man walking by her. He had white hair and black eyes, and his suit was like a formal army uniform, as white as his hair. "Weird..." Moments later, she saw the man rising his hands as he entered the building, and thin white energy beams shoot all around him. Every person being hit by those beams fell to the ground, unconscious.

The blonde dove into an antique shop and frowned as she hid behind the counter. 'Too bad Art is not around, I could use some help.' Then again, Artemis had just bossed her around in her first battle, she had been the one dealing with the monster. Even though this guy didn't look like a youma, she guessed some of them could disguise themselves as humans. 'Time for the mighty Sailor V to show up and save the day!'

Kunzite produced a black crystal and smiled coldly as black energy tendrils shot from it, absorbing the life energy of all the humans around him. The energy was being sent straight to a massive crystal in Metallia's chamber, back in the Dark Kingdom. A few moments more, and he'd drained all the energy these pitiful humans...

"Crescent Beam!"

The General blinked as the crystal was knocked off his hand by a light beam. It crashed into the far wall and smashed into thousands of small crystal shards. "Damn it, who..." He turned to see a girl in a Sailor Senshi outfit glaring at him from behind her blue mask. "Sailor V, I suppose."

"You're right, youma. I'm the one and only Sailor V, and I'm here to stop you from hurting the innocent!" V said as she put her hands on her hip.

Kunzite laughed. "Fool. I'm Kunzite, the strongest man in Beryl's army, and no weak Senshi will stop me."

"Crescent Beam!" Sailor V used her attack once more, but this time it bounced off an invisible forcefield around Kunzite. "What the..."

"You call that an attack?" Kunzite gloated. Actually, the attack had been pretty close to hitting him, and it was lucky he'd been able to summon a shield spell so quickly. In any case, it was time to deal with this pest. "Here, let me show you!" He rose his hand, and a white energy blast shot from it, hitting V in her chest and sending her crashing through the wall and back into the antique shop.

V tried to stand up, but fell back to the ground, wincing in pain. The energy blast had hurt quite a bit, and she'd also hit her leg hard when she landed after her unscheduled flight. "Damn..."

Kunzite walked over to her and grinned evilly "Really, I can't believe Kron would lose to you."

V tried to figure a way out of her predicament, and as she looked up she saw a chandelier hanging on the roof, just over Kunzite's head. A mischievous smile formed in her face despite the pain she was feeling. "I'm not beaten yet. Crescent Beam!"

Kunzite gasped as the attack hissed by just missing his face, then chuckled. "Missed me."

"Not really." V said and backed away just as the chandelier came crashing down on Kunzite. Kunzite staggered up dizzily and tossed the chandelier aside, then saw Sailor V was right in front of him, aiming her finger at his chest. "I'll give you one last chance to leave before I shoot you," she warned.

Kunzite glared at her. "Sailor V, this isn't over. I'll be back, and next time I'll defeat you for sure."

V sighed as Kunzite teleported out. That had been lucky, that Kunzite chickened out in the last second. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to defeat him next time. Her mind reminded her of the pain that was running up and down her leg, and she sat on the ground, panting.

Artemis walked in right then and looked around at the wreckage and humans lying on the ground all around the building. "What happened?" He asked.

"A guy named Kunzite knocked everyone in the mall out. I tried to fight him but I'm lucky to be alive." Minako said after transforming back to normal. It was then that she discovered her injuries didn't vanish when she turned normal, and they hurt a lot more, too. "I managed to scare him off but I don't know if I'll be able to do it next time."

Artemis sighed "That's not any guy... Kunzite was the strongest Dark Kingdom General. He's too dangerous for you to fight on your own."

"He said that when we were fighting, but I thought he was just bluffing." Minako noted.

"This could be bad for us... I just hope we find the other Senshi soon...." Artemis said. And they would also need the other Mooncats as well... If any of them was still alive.

-----​

Kage was walking home from school when he saw it: A man wearing a black military outfit, his skin a pale grey, and his hair dark grey and dirty-looking. It walked pass him without even noticing him, and for some reason, Kage felt he was dangerous.

And thus, he decided to follow the man, up to the office building a few blocks away from his house. The building had been bought by a foreign company weeks ago, from what Kage knew, so maybe this guy was a terrorist?

Then again, terrorists don't shoot energy tendrils that knock down everyone around them, the boy thought with a frown as he watched the man laugh evily amidst the dozens of bodies (corpses?) that laid all around the building.

Kage frowned. He had no time to go back home and warn the others about this. He had to face this guy alone. And untrained. And really, really hungry since he'd forgotten his lunchbox. Oh well, nobody said a hero's life was easy. Kage looked around to make sure there were no witnesses, then produced his sword from thin air.

That was one nice plus to being a Senshi, they all had what Setsuna called "pocket spaces" where they could keep their suits and weapons, and where they could, Kage had correctly guessed, keep other things they would find useful.

"Sun Dragon Power!"

Even though he'd transformed the day before, it was still amazing to see. Flames surrounded him, along with a bubble of something he could not identify, and they slowly closed in to him. However, he didn't feel any heat from the fire as the magic elements solidified, apparently forming his suit over his normal clothes.

Dragon Sun nodded to himself and run into the building, stepping behind a column. Fortunately, the corpse-like man hadn't noticed him, despite the fireworks. That gave him the element of surprise, or so he thought.

"Smells like Senshi," the man said. Dragon Sun stood behind the column, sword ready. He knew even though the man had somehow sensed him, he couldn't actually see him.

He produced a small, round stone, something he'd picked from the backyard back home and kept in his pocket space. Risking looking around the column, he saw the man was facing away from him, apparently trying to figure out where he was. Perfect.

The man turned to the sound of breaking glass, and walked away to investigate. Kage almost chuckled insanely at how easy the man had been to fool, but instead he charged out, ready to attack the man... And then he saw a fist-sized black crystal on the ground, something he hadn't noticed before. The crystal had black energy tendrils coming out of it, and they were seemingly absorbing the energy of everyone inside the building.

Whatever it was, it was bad. The Dragon swung his sword at the crystal, causing it to explode in a myriad of shards. That stopped the draining, but also gave out his exact location to the walking corpse.

"Well, well, young men these days have no respect for their elders."

"I need not respect an evil Lich like you," Dragon Sun snapped.

"Too bad, kid. You broke my crystal, now I'll break you."

"Stop using cliche lines or I'll have to really hurt you."

The man laughed. "Hurt me? Let's see you try."

Dragon Sun frowned and glared at his foe, then smirked. "You talk about respect, but you haven't introduced yourself yet."

"Why, silly me," the man said sarcastically. "My name's Dexite, one of Beryl's Generals."

A General? He remembered the Generals from his past life, yet he had never seen this one. Still, if he was one of Beryl's top minions, it could be a bit harder than he'd first thought to defeat him. The worst was, he hadn't thought about actually defeating him at all.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 1: Gathering.
Episode 4: Nova.

By Razor Knight
Last update: January 19, 2006

-----​

Dragon Sun crashed through a glass window and grunted. Nope, he had no way to beat this goon on his own. He backed away slowly as Dexite slowly, victoriously walked up to him. He was pretty sure he'd be dead before long, unless someone helped him. But that didn't mean he'd go down without a fight. "Solar Bolt!"

Dexite wasn't expecting him to have enough energy left to summon an attack, so this time around, the heat blast got him, knocking him back. "Oh dear, the dog can bite after all."

Dragon Sun smirked despite the pain. "I'd be careful not to leave my back open for attack if I were you."

Dexite laughed. "Please, that's the oldest trick in the book-"

"Crono Blast!"

The General was knocked to the ground by the unseen attack. He turned around and saw three more Senshi standing there. "Wait, there were supposed to be only three..." he muttered as he stood up.

"I'm not quite a social person," Pluto said. "I'm Sailor Pluto, Guardian of Time, and you better leave before I use a real attack on you."

"Hah!" Dexite said as he shot an energy blast at Pluto, but she used her staff to reflect it back at him, knocking him to the ground again. "What the Darkness?"

"Last warning," Pluto said, her voice cold and commanding.

"All right, time wench, I'm leaving your lap dragon alone for now, but I'll be back."

"So you will. I'll be waiting," Pluto said. Dexite said nothing more and simply vanished.

"That didn't go as I expected," Dragon Sun muttered as he stood up, slowly. Good, he thought, there's no broken bones.

Pluto tossed something at him and lowered her head. "Sorry."

"What's this?" Kage asked as he examined the item. A small cellphone-like device, with the Sun's astrological sign on it's front right over a small screen.

"That's a communicator, and I was going to give it to you today. Had I known Dexite would show up..."

"Don't worry," Kage said, "at least you were in time to save me from that creep."

"Yeah, but you'll all have to improve if you want to survive next time we face them," Pluto said.

"Won't you beat him around like you just did?"

"I scared him off. I can't kill them."

"Why?"

"Because you're the ones meant to defeat the youma. I'm just here to lead you in the right direction."

"So you're like those annoying sages that tell the hero where to go next in video-games?" Dragon Sun joked.

"You could say that," Pluto mused. "Then again, I just saved your life, so you should respect me if you want me to do it again in the future."

Dragon Sun frowned, but then saw Pluto was smirking at him and shook his head. "Great, I'm stuck in a D&D real life game, and the Dungeon Master's a sarcastic, cranky cheerleader," he muttered.

"What was that?" Pluto asked.

"Nothing," Dragon Sun said with a sigh.

-----​

The blonde-haired, tall teenager watched the buildings around him, waiting. The silence around him unsettled him. It was, to him, almost unnatural for his city to be this calm.

It was then his cellphone started ringing, and he pulled it out his jeans' side pocket. "Yes? Oh, hello hun... Yes, I'm just growing roots here at the library's roof. What? You serious? Don't start without me, hun, I'm on my way."

He looked around and soon found what he was looking for. He walked into the emergency exit to the library, and a few seconds later, he walked out again, this time wearing a black ninja suit. "Let's get this party started," he said as he leapt on a black surfboard and slid down the roof.... Floating away instead of falling down to the ground.

-----​

The thief was pleased. His gang had just performed an almost flawless crime. The bank was almost unguarded at that time of the day, as their scout had told them. It was easy to disarm the two guards inside, and the crowd had been smart enough not to try anything. Yes, the perfect crime, indeed... Not counting the fact the van they were going to use to escape was somehow on top of a tree, and their driver was nowhere to be seen.

"What the :red:?"

"Tsk, tsk, such manners in front of a lady." The girl standing over the van said calmly. The gang could see she was wearing a blue body suit and a blue mask over her eyes, her only visible feature was her long, black hair tied up in a high ponytail.

"I don't know how the :red: you put my van up there, but you better put it down again 'fore I shoot you."

"Oh dear, now I'm scared," she said as she floated down to the ground. The man glared at her and pulled the trigger, then gasped in shock as the bullet stopped a few inches away from her face. "Now, you shouldn't have done that, you know?"

"Why not?" the man asked, then heard his men grunt and yelp behind him. He turned to find them all lying on the ground, knocked out, and saw a black surfboard floating in mid-air, almost mocking him. "The :red:?"

He looked up and saw a figure standing on top of the bank's roof. A man wearing a black ninja suit with a black hood that covered everything but his mouth and chin, and holding a couple swords in his hands. "Could you please stop using the 'F' word? It's just not polite to do that in front of a lady."

"I'll say whatever the :red: I want. Get lost or die," he warned as he pointed his gun up at the ninja. That did it. He felt as if he was being held by the neck, then an unseen force sent him flying into a wall.

The girl frowned as she looked at the knocked out thieves. "And the cops have problems with them?" she asked as she floated up to where the ninja stood.

"Yeah well, you've got your powers, they have nothing but toy guns."

"One shot from one of them and you'd be gone," the girl noted sternly.

"I know that, but I have the mighty and beautiful Nova to keep that from happening."

The girl blushed. "Yeah, but..." Whatever she was going to say next was silenced as the guy kissed her. "Okay, I give up," she joked as they broke the kiss.

"Let's get out of here before the forces of law and order arrive, late as usual," the guy commented and leapt into his flying board.

"What's wrong, Zero, afraid of the cops?" Nova asked as she followed him. Unlike him, she was actually flying on her own.

Zero smiled as he looked back. "No, I'm afraid of what you could do to them if they piss you off."

They soon reached a large mansion in the outskirts of the city. "Okay, here we are," Zero said, then took off his hood.

"How do you manage to get all that into your hood?" Nova noticed as she saw the guy's long, blonde hair fall down his back, tied in the usual low ponytail she'd always seen him with.

The guy smiled at her as she took off her mask, looking into her blue eyes. "It's a natural talent, Hana, just like your powers."

"Mr. Zephyr, you're back."

The two teenagers turned to look at a tall, slim man wearing a grey formal suit. His hair was grey, and his eyes showed his age more than any other feature in him. "Hi Sam. Is dad home?"

"Unfortunately, sir, he left on a business trip to Chicago this morning. He won't be back for a couple days."

"I see... Anyway, I guess we should change back to our civilian clothes."

"That would be smart, sir. I just shot down a couple paparazzi that were lurking around the backyard," the man joked.

Terry followed his game. "Shot to kill?"

"Indeed. I never miss."

"Good. Anyway..." Terry turned to Hana. "Let's find a room to change in, hun."

"Two rooms, you mean."

"I don't think you mind me watching," Terry teased. Hana just rolled her eyes and walked into the mansion.

-----​

Terry was the son of Jack and Rose Zephyr, and had been, since birth, one of the richest kids in the planet. He'd never been too comfortable around other rich kids, though. The only true friend he had was Hana, a girl he'd met three years ago.

At first, he had dismissed her as another rich snob going to the private school he attended, but a few days after she'd moved into the city, he'd found her in quite a dire situation. Unlike him, she lived near the center of New York. The fact all kids in her neighbourhood thought she was a snob was bad enough. It didn't help her house was the largest in the area. So, that day, a small mob of bullies had chosen to pick on her once again.

Luck had played in her favor, as a certain blonde kid was passing by, on his way to his father's company's headquarters, and he had his butler, Samuel, stop the limo as he recognized the girl. "Hey, leave her alone!"

The tallest bully turned around, ready to snap back at him despite Terry was a good head taller than him. That's one thing he'd gotten from his mother, she was the tallest woman he knew. The whole group turned to him, but soon enough decided to ignore 'yet another rich kid.'

"I said leave her alone," Terry repeated as the 'boss' of the mob pushed Hana back again. The girl didn't look scared or threatened at all, she was holding her ground and glaring back at the other kids.

"Oh look, Richie Rich came to rescue his girlfriend," one of the kids commented. That caused a wave of laughter from the other kids.

Before the others could figure out how he'd done it, Terry had rushed in, grabbed the joker's arm and twisted it behind his back in a painful way. "You know, I don't know this girl, and I don't mind you making fun of me. But I hate bullies because they can't put a fight to go with their talk."

"Get him!" the 'boss' ordered.

Terry frowned as he released his catch, sending him staggering right into his first attacker's stomach. The secon kid that rushed him was greeted by a kick to the chest, and the three next got knocked down to the ground by a spin kick. He stood in a defensive pose as the others stopped in awe.

"Wow, Richie Rich knows Kung-Fu."

"Actually, that was Aikido," Terry corrected.

The girl had been left alone by now, since all the bullies had found a more interesting target. She didn't mind being out of the line of fire, but she was actually worried about her rescuer. Not that she needed to be rescued anyway.

"Did I tell you guys to stop? Punch this idiot down now!"

The kids all moved forwards to attack Terry as one. And they all hit an invisible wall as one, too. "What the hell?" one of them asked out loud.

Terry risked a glance to his side, and saw the girl's blue eyes were glowing. "What is...?"

Suddenly, he heard several exclamations of surprise and panic as the whole mob was tossed back several meters by an unseen force. The girl took a step forwards towards the crowd, and they all backed away. "Listen, idiots. I don't like you picking on me, but I'd played along because I didn't want to hurt you. You better walk away before I stop being nice."

The 'boss' still had some brawn left in him. "Does a small, weak girl like you really think there's a chance to beat us all?"

"I may be physically weak, but I don't need to use my muscles to give you a beating." To demonstrate her point, she used whatever power she had used before to send the tall kid crashing into a wall.

The formerly brave crowd finally got the message, and the girl chuckled as she saw them run off scared, their 'boss' trailing behind the others.

"That was amazing," Terry said.

The girl looked at him amused. "You're not freaked out like them?"

Terry shrugged. "No."

"Strange. You're the first person, not counting my parents, who doesn't just freak out and run away when they see me using my skills."

"I've never met a person with telekinetic powers, but I'm not freaked out, I'm impressed."

The girl smiled at him. "My name's Hana."

"Terry."

"Is that a nickname?"

"No, that's my name," Terry said. "See, I'm weird in my own way."

Hana laughed at that, then looked at the limousine. "I think your butler is waiting."

"Oh, yeah," Terry said looking back at his vehicle. "I'd almost forgotten about that. Well, Hana, I guess I'll see you at school."

Hana smiled and kissed him in the cheek. "Thanks."

"What for?"

"For helping me."

"You didn't need any help," Terry said matter-of-factually.

"It was still nice of you, Terry." Hana said with a smile. Terry blushed slightly at that and she chuckled again.


-----​

Terry's mind returned to the present. Since that day, Hana had been his best friend, and eventually she'd become his girlfriend. They liked to 'play superhero,' and a part of his mind kept on telling him something could go wrong in one of their superhero stunts, but Terry always dismissed that thought. He'd already lost his mother to a sea storm, and his father was always out because of business. Losing Hana was something he dreaded, something he'd never want to see happen.

But she was the strongest person he'd met. She had powers that let her fight armed men and shrug off their bullets, as she'd done earlier that day. She had real powers, unlike Terry. All he had was a flying board, a couple swords, and his training in martial arts.

"Thanks for helping me today," Hana said as she finished putting on a red t-shirt.

"You're welcome... But I didn't do much."

"You were there, that's more than enough for me," Hana said and hugged him. Terry smiled as she kissed him. He'd been there for her, just like she'd always been there for him. She was the best thing in his life right now, and he'd do anything to keep things the way they were.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 1: Gathering.
Episode 5: Luminite.

By Razor Knight
Last update: January 19, 2006

-----​

The small black cat stood on top of a house in the Juuban district. It was staring straight to another house, in a way that made it look almost like a feline spy. "It's her, I'm sure of that," the cat said in a female voice, then leapt off the roof.

-----​

"Sailor Pluto is a force to be reckoned with," Beryl said, "and that girl Sailor V is strong too. We need to proceed with our energy draining operation, but with those Senshi around, we'll have a hard time getting any energy at all."

"I have an idea," Kunzite said. "The London portal is ready, as well as the New York one. I'm going to lead Sailor V to England, to get her out of the way. And while I'm there, I can also try and gather more energy."

Dexite walked out of the shadows and bowed to Beryl. "That is a brilliant plan. With your permission, I'd like to mimic Kunzite's idea, and herd Pluto's group to New York. If we're lucky, we'll get both groups out of the way. However..."

"However?"

"I want Luminite as a backup. Should Pluto show up again, we need to be ready."

"Agreed," Beryl admitted. "Very well, put your plans in motion. Jadeite!"

The blonde general walked out of the shadows and bowed at her. "Yes?"

"You will be in charge of the energy draining operations."

"As you wish, I'll start immediately."

"No," Beryl said. "Wait until the Senshi are out of the way."

Jadeite nodded. "I won't disappoint you."

Beryl frowned as Jadeite walked back into the shadows. "You better not, Jadeite."

-----​

Luminite crossed her arms and frowned. "I'm not a low-class scout youma."

"I know that, Luminite, but we don't know if there's Senshi in New York. Sending a normal youma on a scouting mission would indeed result in a failure."

"I see.. Yes, you're right. If I find any Senshi there, I could surely kill them before they become a major issue."

"Be careful, though. They seem to be quite well-trained." Either that, or extremely lucky. Dexite wasn't quite sure which was the real reason for their victories against the youma.

Luminite nodded. "Don't worry, this will be no trouble for me."

-----​

"So, are you going to ask him about it?"

Terry sighed as Hana hugged him from behind. "All right, you win."

"You know I'm right. We could use that if we're going to keep on fighting crime."

Yes, she was right, Terry thought. After returning from his last trip, his father had shown him a new material his company was developing. Zephyr Corporation was one of the biggest AI and robotics companies in the world, and their products were bought for both civilian and military uses. This last invention, however, was classified. Nobody outside the scientists involved in the project and the few persons his father trusted with the secret, knew about it's existance.

When Terry had first seen it, it was nothing out of the ordinary for him. A black cube of a semi-solid substance, not too different from rubber. But then, his father showed him the records of several tests they'd already tried on the Element Zero, as the substance was called. Ironic, he thought, he had an element named after his alter ego.

From the temperature tests, it was obvious the Zero had problems with cold, but to compensate, it could resist high temperatures without letting the heat get through. But that wasn't it's most interesting trait.

There was one test that had really piqued his interest. They'd covered a glass panel with a thin layer of Zero, then shot a handgun at it. Not only was the Zero unscratched, but the glass itself had no signs of the impact.

It wasn't the first time Terry asked his father to "field test" one of his company's products. Terry's air board, as he called it, was a project Zephyr Corp. had been working on for years, looking for a way to apply anti-gravity to planes and helicopters. So far, the biggest item that had been successfully turned into an anti-gravity device, was Terry's board.

But the Zero... He wasn't sure his father would let him have samples of it. It was worth a try, though, as what Hana said was true: Such a substance turned into body armors would render bullets useless.

He picked up the phone and dialed a number, then sighed. "Hello Laura... Yes, I would like to speak with my father. Is he busy? ... Okay, I'll wait."

-----​

"Not a lot of activity today," Nova commented.

They were both now sitting on a relatively tall building, checking for any criminals they could find. Some would think they were playing heroes, but truth was, they both couldn't just slack around while crime rate in their city escalated daily. "Think Spider-man already took care of every criminal in the city?" Zero joked.

Nova chuckled. "That would be possible if he existed."

"Think I should go find some radioactive spider to get some real powers?"

"Other than your natural talent at being a joker?" Nova teased.

Zero chuckled. "Point." He then frowned. "Look at that..."

Nova looked in the direction Zero pointed and blinked. A woman with white hair and pale skin, dressed in a white military uniform, walked into a fast food restaurant. Seconds after she'd walked in, the two heroes could see tendrils of some sort of black energy lashing out of the building. "What the hell?"

"Should we go get her?" Zero asked.

"I don't know... She looks dangerous."

"So I can tell from her light show," Zero said. "Whatever she's doing in there, it can't be good."

"Still, we should wait."

"But..."

"Terry, trust me on this one."

"Okay."

And so, they sat to wait. It didn't take long. The woman walked out of the building and into a nearby alley, carrying a black crystal. "What's that thing?"

"Let's go ask her," Zero said. Both heroes fled down from the building and stood in front of the woman. "Well, hello there, snow white. What's that thing?"

"Who the heck are you?" the woman asked bluntly.

"I'm Zero and this is Nova, and we saw what you did in that building."

"What are you going to do about it?" the woman asked, amused. She wasn't too amused, however, when an unseen force grabbed her by the arm, causing her to drop the crystal, then rammed her face-first into a wall.

"Check that crystal," Nova said.

"I'll do better than that," Zero said and swung one of his swords at the crystal, splitting it in half.

"Damn you!" The woman shouted and shot an energy blast at Zero. The ninja got hit on his left arm, crashing sideways into the alley's brick wall and grunting as he fell to his knees. "I'll kill you for that, human!"

"No you won't," Nova said in a low growl, her eyes turning a bright blue. The woman tried to breath but felt as if a massive, strong hand was choking her.

"No human... Will... Defeat me," the woman said and rose her hand, gathering energy for another blast.

"No!" Zero shouted as he dove in the way of the attack, taking the blast on his chest. "That... Hurt..."

Nova's eyes turned a blinding blue as she glared at the woman. "Get out of here, or die."

The woman couldn't believe it. She, Luminite, was being choked to death by some sort of magician girl. And this time, she found her arms were pinned to her sides, too, so attacking her to break free was impossible. "This... Isn't over," she said then vanished.

Nova fell to her knees, the exhaustion of having to use so much of her power catching up with her. "That was... Close..."

Zero rose to a sitting position and sighed. "I knew you'd scare her off."

"Good, because I wouldn't be able to kill her if she'd decided to stay."

Zero flinched as he stood up, a jolt of pain running up and down his leg. "I... See."

"Let's get out of here before something else happens. Can you walk?"

"Barely," Zero said.

"Want me to carry you back home?" Nova joked.

"No, thanks," Zero muttered. "Besides, I don't need to walk," He added as he leapt on his flying board, flinching as his leg reminded him of the pain he was in.

"Let's go," Nova said and fled off. Zero smiled as he followed her.

-----​

Meanwhile, in a warehouse somewhere in Tokyo, a battle was about to begin. Artemis had seen Kunzite walking into that warehouse while scouting the city, and had told Minako about it. Minako had agreed to check the place after a bit of tugging by him. Okay, a lot of tugging. The Mooncat still wondered how the graceful, charming Princess Aphrodite had been reincarnated into this lazy, naive, air-headed girl. True, she had some redeeming qualities, like... Like... Nevermind.

"Stop it right there, Kunzite!"

Kunzite smirked to himself as he heard those words. Hook, line and sinker. "Sailor V, I knew you'd come to try and stop me... I'm sorry but you won't survive this battle. Bullior!"

A youma that looked like a humanoid bull with a Mohawk appeared behind Kunzite. It's skin and eyes were red, and it looked strong enough to ram through a metal wall. "Yes, Lord Kunzite?"

"Bullior, destroy Sailor V."

The bull nodded and charged at V. The Senshi screeched and leapt aside, barely dodging the charge. The creature tried again, but this time V leapt up and over the youma's head, and summoned her attack while airborne. "Crescent Beam!"

So much for it being strong, V thought as Bullior turned to dust. Kunzite, however, just laughed evilly as a white portal appeared behind him. "Well done, Sailor V. Unfortunately you're too late to stop me now. I'm going to try my luck elsewhere... A pity you'll never figure it out in time to stop me," as he said that, the white haired man walked through the portal, which vanished almost instantly.

"Damn... He escaped," V muttered. And that portal thing was a new trick, too...

"But what did he mean by 'try my luck elsewhere?" Artemis pondered as he walked out of his hiding place.

V looked around and spotted something. "Maybe there's your answer." Sitting on a table were a lot of books and magazines, all about England and London.

"Hmm... So he's going to London..." Artemis said. "But, this could also be a trap."

"What do you mean?" V asked.

"He could be just trying to get you out of Tokyo." Artemis said "Remember I told you there are other Generals."

"But what if he's really planning to invade England?"

Artemis looked around as he sensed something in his mind. "Wait here, I'll go check something out."

Minako watched him leave and frowned "What's up with him?" She then shrugged and walked out of the warehouse as well.

-----​

Artemis looked at the capsule remains and smiled "Well, seems like at least one of the other mooncats is still alive... Wonder who it is?" He then shrugged "Nevermind who it is, it'll find the other Senshi, and Minako can go to England to stop Kunzite."

-----​

"This is boring," Kage muttered.

"What, you love risking your neck fighting youma?" Haruka asked.

"No, I love kicking their rears. And ever since we scared that zombie-like General away, there's been no action."

"It's only been two days," Setsuna commented as she walked in. "Besides... I have something for you to see," she tossed a few foreign newspapers into the table and frowned.

"Hmmm..." Kage's english wasn't too fluent, but it was good enough to understand what Setsuna was talking about. "Monsters being spotted in New York. Weird."

"Not weird, youma," Setsuna corrected. "I've been exploring Tokyo lately, and I know there's at least one Senshi around other than us."

"Good, we could ask them to join us," Michiru said.

"No... We must trust they will be strong enough to take care of things around here. Because if Beryl's attacking New York and there's no Senshi there, then that city will be unprotected."

"Shouldn't the army or whatever take care of that?" Kage asked.

Setsuna shook her head. "Remember, what we're fighting isn't human. Bullets would do little against a normal youma, and most likely wouldn't even phase the Generals. Whoever tried to fight them without magic would be in for a rough battle, and one they most likely wouldn't win."

"Then we need to go there as soon as possible," Michiru said.

"I agree," Setsuna admitted. "However, I need to check on something before we cross the ocean..."

Kage blinked as Setsuna vanished. "Why does she always do that?"

"No idea," Haruka and Michiru muttered in unison.

-----​

"You mean you were defeated by two humans?" Beryl asked. Her upset was quite visible, and the crowd of youma standing in the darkness around her throne backed away cautiously. To misquote an old human saying, 'Hell hath no fury like a Dark Queen pissed off.'

Luminite shook her head. "They weren't normal humans. The female used... Some kind of strange magic. It was an invisible force, and she almost managed to choke me to death. And the guy... No normal human would take a full-power blast from me and survive, but he took two of them and was still alive, though he was injured."

"If they bleed, they can die," Dexite commented walking out of the shadows. "May I suggest something?"

"Go ahead," Beryl said.

"I've been studying the portals, and I've found out we could send three soldiers through using only a small ammount of extra energy."

Luminite nodded. "I think the only way to defeat those two would be having the advantage in numbers. If both were distracted by a youma each, I would have my hands free to kill them both."

Beryl fell silent as she considered the risks. She didn't want to use any more energy than needed, since their energy reserves were already low and the first few draining missions hadn't been quite successful. But, if Luminite eliminated those two, then there would be no distractions for them, and once the Senshi had been lured out of Tokyo, they could deal with them. "Okay," she finally said, "Take two youma and kill those two humans. Do not fail this time, Luminite."

"I won't," Luminite said. She couldn't afford to fail. She couldn't afford to let those two live after they'd humilliated her.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 1: Gathering.
Episode 6: Exodus.

By Razor Knight
Last update: January 19, 2006

-----​

Ever since he was kid, Terry had been trained in several forms of combat. He liked all kinds of melee, and was quite good in fencing. His father's money had gotten him the best teachers he could ask for, and he liked studying martial arts as much as he liked studying science. However, all that hadn't been any help in his last battle.

"Still thinking about that girl?" Hana asked as she leaned on his shoulder. "I'm feeling a bit jealous, you know..."

Terry chuckled. "Don't worry, I don't like Snow White types. Specially those that can shoot energy blasts off their hands."

"You think she's like me?" Hana asked.

"She has some kind of super power, that much is clear. But she isn't like you. She's evil."

"I'm worried about what she could do next time... I mean, you heard the news, the crowd at that restaurant was tired, sleepy, almost as if she'd drained their energy."

"Maybe she's some sort of vampire," Terry said. "I don't know. I think this requires some research!" He tried to stand up, but Hana grabbed his arm and pulled him back down. "Uhhh..."

"I can think of a lot of things funnier than researching on a sunday morning," Hana said with smile.

"Damn tease," Terry muttered and kissed her.

-----​

Samuel Krauss, also known as 'Sam,' opened the door and gave the man outside a smile. "Mr. Zephyr, it's good to see you."

The brown-haired man walked in. "Good morning, Sam. Is Terry home?"

"He is. His girlfriend's here too."

"Good, I wanted to show them something."

"I see... I will go see if they're not... Ahem... Busy right now, sir."

Jack chuckled at that, then sat on a couch and opened the small briefcase he was carrying with him. "I think he'll like this."

"Hello... Dad," Terry panted as he walked into the room, with Hana trailing behind him. Jack took his time to look at them. Hair messed up, trying to catch their breath, face heating up as they noticed his raised eyebrow. "Sparring..." Terry finally muttered. "We were sparring."

"That's what I guessed," Jack lied, shrugging. "Anyway, here's your new toy."

Terry frowned as his father tossed a small black cube at him. "It's ready?"

"Ready and tested for bugs. You'll be the first ones to field-test it."

"First ones?" Hana asked. Jack nodded and tossed her another cube.

"Well then, how are they activated?"

"With these," Jack said and stood up, giving them a pair of black wristwatches. "I think you can figure them out."

"Input code?" Hana muttered as she finished adjusting the watch around her wrist.

"They're set to activate with a certain chain of words, one you can set up yourselves."

"I see," Terry said. "Let's see... Something like... Zero Armor, Activate!"

Hana gasped as Terry's cube was seemingly absorbed by the watch, then a black liquid poured out of it, crawling over his body. His whole body was covered by it before it solidified, except for his mouth and chin. "Your suit doesn't look different."

Jack produced a handgun and shot a few times at Zero, causing Hana to jump in shock. The bullets fell harmlessly to the ground and he grinned. "The suit looks the same. The material, however, isn't quite the same."

"Hmmm..." Hana frowned then nodded and pressed a few buttons on her watch's small keyboard. "I got it. Nova Gear On!"

Zero smiled as the other cube mimicked what his suit had done, melting into Hana's watch then pouring out of it, forming a suit much like the one she had always used, only black. "So now you're 'Black Nova'?" he joked.

"Not funny," Nova muttered and looked at her watch. "Hmmm... Here." She pressed a few more buttons, and her suit turned blue.

"Congratulations, dad, you've just invented the Power Rangers' watches. Now where are our Zords?"

"They'll be out next month," Jack said sarcastically. "Anyways, you should go out and test them."

"Test them... Think there'll be some bafoons robbing a bank or something?" Zero pondered.

"Or maybe that white-haired witch will be back for another beating," Nova said.

"Dad, it's the temperature problem fixed?"

Jack sighed. "We tried. Low temperatures aren't a problem for the suit now, but... Direct contact with ice or electricity will affect the suit. If the exposure is longer than a second or two, your suits could even fade out. and be unusable for a few minutes."

"No ice-skating with them, then," Zero joked.

-----​

Minako had to admit, she was quite lucky despite her situation. True, she was in a strange country, chasing a man that could probably kick her around the city, and she still had to go to school.

On the other hand... Artemis was much smarter than she thought. He'd hacked the school's computers and, with a bit of work, had managed to get Minako included into a student interchange program. Minako had never been one to study, and even though she liked foreign languages, she didn't know a lot of English. She took a crash course the week before her trip to England, but all in all, she didn't really know more than the basics.

On the plane trip, however, she met a highschool student named Brad Diamond, who was going back home after two year of studying in Tokyo. His japanese was quite good, and he'd told her he knew what it was like to be in a new country. He'd been surprised, however, when she'd told him the address of her new house.

Coincidence or fate, one of Brad's sisters was selected for the interchange program, and Minako had been the one chosen to go to her house. So, she was staying in the Diamond house right now, a quite large house in the outskirts of London.

"I'm starting to wonder if Kunzite will ever show up," Minako muttered.

Artemis shrugged. "He will, sooner or later."

"Good, tell me when he does," Minako said as she walked to the door.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"Brad's going to give me a tour around the city."

Artemis shook his head. This wasn't, definitely, what he'd thought the Senshi Venus would be like.

-----​

"I don't get it. How is it that the forces of law and order are always late?" Zero muttered.

"Maybe they don't have flying boards or superpowers?" Nova mused.

"Bah. Let's get this over with."

The scene wasn't any different than the dozen other times they'd been there. A group of thugs, a jewelry, some innocent bystanders, and loot. However, this time they had even less of a chance to defeat the couple of heroes that were slowly floating down to them.

"Look boss, it's those superhero kids from the newspaper," one of the men said.

"Get them before they get close!" the one that looked like the mastermind of the group ordered. The gang opened fire on the two heroes, who shrugged the bullets off. "What the heck...?"

"They're invincible!" one of the thugs shouted. The group tried to run, but soon figured they were running in the same place, as if their shoes were greased.

"Drop the loot and we'll let you go," Nova said. The thieves complied. "Good," she said as she moved the bags of jewels and money back into the jewelry. "Now be good thieves and wait for the police to arrive."

"You said you would let us go," the boss said. "Aren't you good guys supposed to keep your word?"

"Who said I never lied?" Nova said with a shrug. Sirens could be heard in the background, and soon the area was surrounded by patrols and helicopters. "Okay, this is wrapped up, let's go."

"Freeze!" one of the officers said. From his looks, he was a high-rank officer, too.

Nova and Zero ignored that, and they fled off, with Zero shaking his head. "I didn't even get to show my ninja skills this time around."

"You mean you have skills?" Nova teased.

"Should we chase after them, captain?" The leader of the helicopter squad asked.

The captain sighed as he shook his head. "Let them go, it's not like we can arrest them for stopping a robbery."

-----​

"Well, that was fun. It's nice not fearing bullets anymore," Nova commented as the two fled over the city.

"Yeah, and let's see them try aiming for our heads," Zero joked. Despite what anyone would think at first glance, the Zero was covering all of their bodies. Thanks to Terry's toying around with his own watch, they'd discovered they could change parts of their suits to a different color, even transparent. Hana had laughed out loud as Terry's suit had taken on a rainbow-like color pattern, but he soon returned it to black.

"Hmmm... Guess who's back," Nova said pointing down. Black energy tendrils could be seen pouring out of a subway entrance, as people backed away from it.

"Let's drop by and say hi to her," Zero suggested.

"Okay," Nova agreed.

They both fled down and into the subway, dodging the tendrils that tried to attack them. Soon enough, they found 'snow white' standing in the center of a large number of unconscious civilians. "Well, well... What do you know, ninja boy and his girlfriend are back for another beating," she gloated.

"The way I remember it, we gave you a beating last time," Zero snapped.

"'We'? It was all your girlfriend, Mr. Black Ranger. You should let her fight alone, all you do is get in her way."

"I'm going to enjoy closing that pretty mouth of yours with my sword," Zero growled.

"Hah! That's funny. You kids think you will defeat me, Luminite, one of Beryl's Generals? I wasn't ready to fight you two last time, but this time around..."

"Blah blah blah. Shut up and fight, wench," Zero snapped.

"I don't need to. Icius, Thundius, come forth!"

As the snow-skinned woman said that, a couple creatures walked out of the shadows. One looked like a humanoid snowman, complete with a top hat and long nose. The other was a humanoid, female hawk, her wings had electric arcs running up and down through them.

"Ice and electricity," Zero muttered.

"Ironic, isn't it?" Nova mused.

"You call that irony, I'll call it dead monsters," Zero said.

"Don't worry, I won't try to get you while you fight my critters," Luminite said. "I want to see how you fare against youma. If you survive, you'll have to fight me."

Zero didn't say a word, just leapt at the snowman. He swung both swords at the creature, but it formed an ice shield, blocking him, then punched him out. Zero grunted as the point where the creature had hit him froze. "Damn it..."

Nova was, on the other hand, having little problem with her target. The hawkgirl tried to shoot electricity at her, but Nova had deflected it with a psychic blast, then started slamming the creature into every column and wall she could see.

Luminite frowned 'Just as I thought, the girl's the real fighter, the other kid's just a goon. He may be able to resist a youma's attack, but he can't fight back.' Her theory, however, wasn't a hundred percent true. She frowned as Zero managed to slice the youma's chest with his left sword, then rushed at the hawkgirl. "Two against one? I guess that's the way they like to fight," Luminite muttered. She then saw Zero turn and look past her, and heard a crash. Turning around, she saw the black board the ninja used to fly around, floating over the remains of her energy draining crystal. "Damn it, not again!"

"Touche!"

Luminite gasped as she felt the metal hitting through her. The ninja smiled at her coldly, then frowned as she smiled back. "Stupid kid. We youma aren't as weak as your species. You'll need more than stabbing me through my stomach to kill me." In fact, youma didn't even have a stomach, they just absorbed energy to live. "And I think that'll be your last mistake," she added as she put her hand on his chest.

The blast was strong enough to send the ninja crashing into the opposite wall, his body cracking it, but Luminite was momentarily confused... A blast like that should've pierced through him and splattered the wall with his organs, not just knocked him back. That distraction, however, was bad for her.

"Die!" Forgetting about the two youma she had been tossing around like rag dolls while Zero was busy, Nova focused all her power into Luminite. Her mind searched as she froze the evil woman in place, and finally found it, the woman's 'heart.' She saw the woman's fearful face as she focused in that point of her body, stopping it's activity. But she'd forgotten about the two other creatures in the subway.

She was swiftly reminded of them as a combined wave of ice and electricity hit her, and she yelled in pain. Her suit crackled with energy for a few seconds, parts of it blinking in and out. Her focus on Luminite was lost, and the youma General used this to tackle her, forming an energy blade in her right hand...

Zero woke up just in time to see it. The moment a part of Nova's suit vanished, Luminite run a white energy blade through her. "Hana!" the ninja shouted furiously as he stood up.

Luminite chuckled humorlessly as Nova fell to the ground, barely conscious. "See? You taught me that move, I'm a good student."

The two youma turned to face Zero, but they barely had time to see him coming at them. The ninja stopped near Luminite, the two creatures' heads rolling to her feet before they vanished. "You :red:... I won't let you live after this!"

The General smirked as the ninja rushed her. She sidestepped, barely missing the twin swords, then shot an energy blast at his back, sending him rolling on the ground and stopping near the human girl. "Sorry, kid, but you both needed to die today," she said. She looked at the girl, who was glaring at her, a thin line of blood running down her lips. The ninja, Zero, wasn't moving. Satisfied with her work, Luminite smiled coldly at the girl, then vanished.

"Terry... Terry, wake up," Nova whispered. "Please..."

Zero coughed and rose to a sitting position, then looked at her. "Hana... Hang in there, I'll take you to a hospital."

"Don't..." Nova said and smiled at him as he kneeled next to her. "It's too late."

"No..." Zero shook his head, fighting back the tears. He knew she was right, Nova was lying on a small pool of blood by now. "I'm sorry, I couldn't help you."

Nova sighed as her mask vanished. "We both knew this could happen. Terry..."

Zero pushed a button on his watch, and the hood covering his face was gone. "Yes?"

Hana leaned up, wincing at the pain in her chest, then kissed him. Terry noted the taste of blood in her lips, and a few tears run down his face. As they broke the kiss, Hana smiled at him. "I'm glad... I met you."

Terry froze as Hana stopped breathing. He then closed her eyes and stood up, wiping the tears that now rolled freely down his face. "Hana..." Luminite's mocking face crossed his mind for a second, and his sadness turned into anger. "I'll get her. No matter how long it takes me. I swear she'll die for what she did."

-----​

"The States are clear now, Dexite," Luminite said.

"Good. Now I can go have fun there," the corpse-like man commented.

"I already had mine," Luminite mused. She couldn't believe how easy it'd been to kill those two. And she couldn't wait to deal with the Senshi.

"One thing, though... Beryl thinks it's better that you stay as a backup, like the other Generals."

"I see... I have no problem with that."

-----​

"You coming, son?"

Terry looked at his father and shook his head. "I want to stay a while longer."

"Right. I'll be waiting in the car," Jack said and walked away.

'Hana Thompson - 1978 - 1992 - Beloved daughter.'

Terry looked at the white marble tombstone and sighed. "Hana... I can't believe it's been a week since you..." His eyes watered, and he shook his head. "Anyway... I'm going to Japan. I've been researching, and I know there's where those attacks started. There's a woman there, called Sailor V, who's been fighting those creatures. At least that's what the rumors over the internet say." He looked up for a second, then back to the grave. "Next time I come here, I hope it's after I find and kill that Luminite :red:."

He started walking away, then turned back. "I'll never forget you, Hana... Nova."

For a second, the breeze picked up around the grave, almost as if she was trying to say goodbye to him. As Terry walked away, the breeze died, and his sadness faded as well. For a second, he wondered if he would be able to find that Sailor V woman. Then he frowned. He would find her. He had to find someone who could help him fight against Luminite.

He needed to see her dead, both for Hana and for his own peace of mind.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 1: Gathering.
Episode 7: Mad Ninja Skills.

By Razor Knight
Last update: January 19, 2006

-----​

Usagi walked into the classroom, getting confused stares from most of her classmates. "The way they're looking at me, one would think it's the first time I make it here in time," she commented as she took her seat besides her childhood friends, Naru and Umino.

"Well," the nerdy-looking Umino said as he adjusted his inch-thick glasses, "it is the first time you make it in time."

The blonde frowned. Not her fault, at least not the last few weeks. If only the youma learnt to attack by daylight... "Hmph!"

"Have you heard the rumors?" One of the male classmates said walking by.

"Rumors?"

"About Sailor V," the boy said.

"What about her, Kai?" Umino asked the brown-haired boy.

"She... Was seen in London two days ago, fighting some monkey-like monster," Kai said.

"What? Why is she in London? She should be here, protecting her home," Umino said.

"Maybe because she knows the brave Sailor Moon is here to take care of things," Usagi commented.

"... Maybe," Kai said as he walked off. "But from what witnesses say, Moon acts quite non-bravely in battle."

Usagi glared daggers at the guy's back, then sighed. Not her fault, either, those youma were scary.

Fortunately for her, now she had Ami and Rei to help. True, she didn't get along with Rei, but when she needed her in the battlefield, Sailor Mars had always been a good sidekick. Though if Rei heard her calling her that, she'd throw a fit, and possibly a shoe or two, at her.

"Another, more relevant rumor," Umino said, "is about the son of a very important foreign millionaire being in Juuban."

"I know who you're talking about," Naru said. "Terry Zephyr, Jack Zephyr's son. He's handsome."

"Bah. Anyway, he's chosen a public school here, much to everyone's surprise."

"Here in Juuban? But the only public school in Juuban is..." Usagi started, then she heard shouts outside. 'Is a youma attacking the school?' she thought as she looked out the window, as did the rest of her class.

"Wow, look at that thing," Naru commented.

In fact, a long, black limousine had parked right outside the school, and a blonde-haired guy was making his way from it to the building, ignoring the female students' shouts, and the males' glares.

"They act like he's some kind celebrity," Umino muttered. "His father's the one with the money."

"Jealous?" Naru teased. "He's the heir, and he sure looks handsome."

"I don't get it, though, why does he look so... Gloomy?" Usagi asked.

"His girlfriend was killed a few days ago, and he was there when it happened," Umino said with a frown. "Rumors say it was a thief, in a subway station."

"Oh... That's sad," Usagi said.

"And here comes the king," Umino muttered as the blonde guy walked in. Usagi noticed he was almost as tall as most teachers. Most of the females in the room took a step forwards to him, but he cut them off with a cold stare. "Not a social person, I see."

Terry walked past them and sat behind Usagi. "Can't they leave me alone?" he muttered.

Umino was the only one with enough knowledge of English to understand him. "That's Japanese fangirls for you, Mr. Zephyr."

Terry was surprised by Umino's answer, mostly because he didn't think anyone would understand him. "I see. As scary as they are back in the States, then," he said in an almost flawless Japanese.

"Cheer up, I bet you'll get to like our group," Usagi said.

"I'd take upon that bet, but I left all my gold bars back home," Terry said with a shrug.

"You don't need to be so mean, you know. I won't bite," Usagi said.

"I'm not so sure about that, but seeing how you didn't try to pounce me yet, I guess I'll take the risk."

"Pounce you?" Usagi asked confusedly.

"Fan-girls, corridor, that's all I'm saying," Terry muttered. "So, what's your name?"

"Usagi Tsukino."

"Rabbit of the Moon?" Terry asked amused. "Well, nice to meet you, Rabbit."

"... My name's Usagi."

"That's what I said, Rabbit..," Terry said with a grin.

Usagi frowned at him for a second, then sighed. At least she'd got him to smile. Always a start.

-----​

Several minutes later, Haruna Sakurada walked into the classroom and nodded as she saw Terry. "So they weren't joking. Welcome to our school, Zephyr."

"Call me Terry... And the students out there gave me quite a welcoming riot earlier." That caused the class to start laughing, but Haruna cut them off with a few well placed glares.

"I see... Why don't you introduce yourself?"

"Let's see... I'm Terry Zephyr, the son of a millionaire, but that's common knowledge by now. I like studying, science, martial arts, swords, and girls," that last word caused a mass muttering from the classroom, which Haruna once again skillfully stopped. "My life's been pretty good so far, not counting my mother died four years ago, and my girlfriend died last week."

Usagi noticed he had a frown as he said that last part. The class fell silent, and Haruna sighed. "Sorry to hear that," she said.

"Don't worry, I'm not this moody all the time," Terry said with a forced smile.

"I hope so," Haruna said. "Anyways, it's time to start today's lecture..." Most of the class, not counting Umino and Terry, groaned at that.

-----​

With the first batch of Senshi out of the way, Beryl had hoped her Generals would get enough energy to awaken Metallia soon, but she was wrong. First Sailor Moon, then Mars and Mercury, had been foiling any plans Jadeite had to gather energy. To make things worse, the London and New York sides weren't making a lot of progress either.

"My Queen," Jadeite said, "my new plan is simple. People loves what they call 'fast food,' and they eat lots of it. I've opened a new fast food restaurants in Tokyo, and will drain energy off anyone who comes in."

"Won't the Senshi know what you're doing?" Beryl asked.

"I'm only going to drain a small part of energy off each customer. That way, we won't risk detection." If, Jadeite thought, Beryl was right and the Senshi could really scan for youma energy. He was still partial to sheer luck being the only thing responsible for his past failures.

"Very well, it sounds promising," Beryl admitted. "But don't fail again, Jadeite. My patience with you is running low." Jadeite bowed at her and walked back into the shadows.

-----​

"Hey Terry, where's the limo?"

Terry sighed as he turned back to see Usagi walking his way. "I wanted to walk home to clear my mind," he said. "You like following people around, or what?"

Usagi frowned. "My house's in that direction too."

Terry winced as Usagi started walking faster, passing him. "Wait, Usagi... I'm sorry."

Usagi looked back at him and nodded. "You look... Really downcast."

"I still can't stand knowing she won't be back."

"There's more to it than that, right?" Usagi asked. Even if most thought she was a naive, air-headed girl, she like to help others, whenever she could.

"... No," Terry lied. After several seconds of Usagi staring at him as they walked, he sighed. "Okay, yes. Can you keep a secret?"

"I sure can," Usagi said. Specially since she had a secret or two of her own she needed to keep.

Terry frowned for a second. Why trust this girl, he barely knew her... She could go gossip whatever he said to her friends and soon the whole school would know. No... There was something about her that just moved him to trust her. "You see, I was there when she got killed, and I saw who did it. That woman tried to kill me too."

"Woman?" Usagi asked.

"Never mind. Thing is, I made some research, and I know she's now here, in Tokyo. I came here, in part, because my city reminds me too much of Hana... But I also came here to search for her murderer."

"You'll turn her to the police?" Usagi asked. Terry just looked at her, but didn't answer. Usagi blinked as he started walking away. "Wait!"

"That's your house, it says so in the mailbox," Terry commented without looking back. Usagi watched him go and sighed before walking into her house.

-----​

Later that day, Usagi and Ami were at a new fast food restaurant that had opened that same day. Despite all appearances, even Usagi had figured it out. The youma had been too obvious in most of their plans. Opening a brand new business and selling really cheap, and whatever they sold drained people off their energy. Which didn't mean Usagi wasn't there for the food. If she could get food before the battle, it was all good.

There was someone else outside, leaning on a wall and staring right at the building they were in. 'I can't be wrong. There's youma in there... Hey, isn't that Usagi?' Terry frowned as he noticed the blonde inside the building. He could go in in his civilian form and somehow get her out before... His plan was cut off as Usagi stood up and walked out. He noticed her talking to a small black cat and frowned. 'Is that her pet?'

He pushed a button on his watch, careful not to be seen, and turned into Zero. The alley he was on helped his concealment, and he was able to see the blue-haired girl that was sitting next to her walking out and talking to her and her cat. Zero had to rub his eyes as he could see the cat moving it's lips. 'Not possible.... Though... With all I've seen lately, that cat talking wouldn't be strange for me.'

"Moon Prism Power!"

"Mercury Planet Power!"

Zero gasped and backed away involuntarily. The girls were surrounded by two spheres of blinding light, and he frowned. "Youma?" His guess was proven wrong, however, as the light faded and he could see the change in them. "Sailor V?" He almost shouted as he saw Moon, but then shook his head. No, the colors were different from the pictures of Sailor V he'd seen. Blue skirt, red knee-high boots, red elbow-long gloves, and red bow. It was still Usagi, he could see that.

Strange, though, since the rumors over the internet said V's face was blurry to anyone looking at her, and all pictures and videos taken of her also had her face blurred out. She had to admit, though, that their suits could be quite useful in combat, women's legs were powerful weapons of distraction after all.

Shaking his mind off all the hormone-induced thoughts, he focused in what they were doing. The two heroines had rushed into the building, and were now shouting something at the restaurant's staff. "Time to make my move," Zero said.

-----​

"May I serve you?" the woman behind the counter said politely.

"Drop the act, youma," Sailor Moon said. "We know what you are."

The woman frowned. "Very well, Senshi..." Her form changed, and she turned into a green-skinned creature with catlike eyes and bread buns for an armor. Moon and Mercury gasped as tendrils of energy shot off her body, draining everyone around. The youma then leapt over the counter and growled at the two Senshi.

Suddenly, a rose embedded itself on the counter, and the youma looked outside. Tuxedo Kamen was standing on a nearby tree, smiling at her. "Damn it, those glasses aren't cheap!" The creature snapped as she saw the hole in the glass where the rose had punched through it.

"You foul creatures are so easily distracted," Tuxedo Kamen mused.

"What do you..." The creature started then looked around. "Hey, where are my customers?"

"Out here, ugly," Sailor Moon shouted from outside the building.

The youma grunted and rushed out of the restaurant. Just as it was about to attack, a small metal ball rolled on the ground and stopped right in front of her. "What the...?"

Before she could finish the question, the ball exploded, releasing a foul-looking green gas. "I want a Youma and Cheese, thank you," a voice said from over the restaurant's roof.

"Who are you?" Tuxedo Kamen asked, as coughing could be heard from inside the gas cloud the stranger's attack had formed.

The man walked into the light and smirked. Black ninja suit with a hood that covered all his face but his mouth and chin, two swords resting on twin sheats behind his back, and a plain-looking black board floating besides him. "My name is Zero, and I'm here to take care of these youma."

"That's our job!" Sailor Moon said.

"Then I will help you. They owe me for something they did to me," Zero said, then grimaced as he realized he may be giving them one too many clues.

'Something they did to him...?' Moon thought. No, it couldn't be him... Right?

The gas cloud around the youma dimmed, and the creature looked up, growling furiously. "Stupid human!" she said as she leapt up.

"Now, Sailor Moon, it's your chance," Tuxedo Kamen said as the creature started trying to slash at Zero with her clawed hands... Claws that looked like fries, somehow fitting her theme.

"Wouldn't that be playing dirty?" Moon said.

"They drain innocents off their energy, and you worry about being a fair player?" Tuxedo asked with a frown.

Moon shrugged. "I don't like to cheat."

Tuxedo shook his head then shrugged. "Never mind that, I don't think our ninja friend needs help."

Moon and Mercury turned back to the battle, in time to see Zero taking a stab at the youma's legs and sending her crashing down to the ground. "And stay down!" he snapped.

"Damn... Stupid... Ninja..." The youma muttered as she tried to stand up.

"Moon Tiara Action!"

"And where's all the talk about playing fair now?" Mercury muttered as she narrowed her eyes and side-glanced at Moon.

"That was fair, she had enough time to get out of the way... I think," Moon said with a shrug.

"Where's Tuxedo Kamen?" Mercury asked as she noticed the caped hero was gone.

"Gone, as usual," Moon said with a sigh. She then noticed Zero had leapt off the roof and was standing in front of them. "You... Thanks for your help."

"My pleasure," Zero said. "After all, I think we're after the same goal."

"Not really," Moon said. "It was a youma, right?" Zero opened his mouth to say something, then closed it. "I know I'm not wrong. It's really you."

"I... Don't know what you mean," Zero said and started walking back to his flying board, which was waiting for him a few meters away.

"You do. You said they owe you for something they did... Was it a youma, the woman that killed your girlfriend?"

Zero said nothing, but walked into an alley, then motioned them to follow him.

"I can take it Mercury is your friend too?" Zero asked as the two Senshi walked to him.

"A very good friend," Moon said.

"Then I guess... Yes, you're right," Zero said, then his hood vanished. Moon gasped as she saw his face.

"I knew it!"

"You're that guy, Zephyr, right?" Mercury asked.

"Terry Zephyr, millionaire, swordsman, and recently, demon hunter," Zero said.

"You know Sailor Moon?" Mercury asked.

"I know Usagi, yes," Zero said. He smiled at Mercury's gasp. "Don't worry, I can keep a secret. And I guess since we're going against the same monsters, I'll help you."

"Good to know," Moon said.

"I only have one request."

"What is it?"

"If we ever face someone named Luminite, she's mine."

"Revenge is not a good thing to fight for," Mercury noted, putting all the pieces of the puzzle together.

"Revenge is the only thing I have to fight for after they took her away from me," Zero said with a frown, his mask reappearing over his face. "I guess I'll see you around, Rabbit." He said before leaping on his board and flying off.

"... Since when do you know Terry Zephyr?" Mercury asked.

"Since this morning, he just got transferred to our school."

"Oh... Didn't notice, I was busy studying" Mercury said.

Moon sighed. Ami and her books, she was sure that girl could study through an earthquake.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 1: Gathering.
Episode 8: Interview with the Mooncat.

By Razor Knight
Last update: December 28, 2005


-----​

"A burger youma?" Rei asked, not hiding her amusement.

"Yeah. Wasn't a hard battle, come to think about it," Usagi said.

Usagi had been in Rei's temple for a while, telling her about the new student, and how he'd helped them fight the youma. Rei had been surprised that a normal human was able to fight off a youma. Then again, from how Usagi described him, Terry wasn't quite normal.

"Hey look what I found here, a rabbit and a Miko."

Rei looked at the blonde-haired guy who was walking towards them, as Usagi gave him a short glare. His hair was long, tied up in a low ponytail that went down to his waist, and he was quite tall... Taller than most teens their age, actually. His face wasn't as grim and gloomy as Usagi'd told her, then again, she knew Usagi had a knack for exaggeration.

"Welcome to the Hikawa temple, my name's Rei Hino. You must be Terry Zephyr, right?"

"Yes, that's me," Terry said. "Usagi, is she...?"

Rei frowned. "I'm one of the group, yes. You must be the ninja."

"Zero," Terry said.

"Yeah, Usagi already gave me a lot of info on you and your background. I don't think revenge is a thing worth fighting for."

"I didn't ask your opinion," Terry said bluntly.

"There's a lot more in stake here," Rei retorted.

"I'm sure there is, but I wasn't informed yet. And I don't think we should be speaking about this out in the open."

Rei shrugged. "Let's go inside. I think we should call Luna, too."

"Luna?" Terry asked.

"That would be me," the black cat he'd seen the night before said as she leapt off one of the trees surrounding the temple area.

"So I wasn't crazy, you're a talking cat," Terry mused.

"Mooncat," Luna corrected.

"That's quite unbelievable. There's no atmosphere on the Moon," Terry noted as they entered the temple's building.

"Not in this era," Luna said.

"Okay..." Terry muttered as they reached a small room inside the shrine. "So, the cheerleaders squad's captain is a talking cat? When do the giant robots come in?"

"Cheerleaders?" Rei muttered. "I'll let you know, those suits are a lot more resistant than they look."

"I bet... From the rumors and news I've been researching, you girls can shoot out fire, ice, light and other things at your enemies."

Luna nodded. "Each Senshi controls one element."

"So it's Moon, Mercury... Rei is Sailor V?"

"V?" Mars mused. "Not a chance. I doubt she's a real Senshi, if she were she'd be helping us."

Terry shrugged. "V is taking care of things in England, and I know of another group fighting in the U.S... Though they only showed up after that day at the subway."

Rei looked at Terry and shook her head. "Must be hard on you, huh? I lost my mother when I was a little girl, too."

"And what about your father... If you don't mind me asking?"

"He's into politics, he never had time for his family," Rei said coldly.

Luna looked up at Terry. "Usagi told me about you and your girlfriend... But why were you two playing hero? It's not a thing a normal teenager should be doing."

"You mean we're not normal?" Usagi muttered shooting daggers at Luna. Rei chuckled.

Terry, on the other hand, was silent for a while. "You're right, Luna... It's not a thing a normal teenager should be doing," Terry said, then chuckled, "but I don't think either Hana or me were normal."

"Why?" Luna asked.

"Hana... She had... Powers. Not like the ones the Senshi or that Luminite freak have, but... She could move things with her mind from quite a distance."

"Telekinesis?" Rei asked.

Terry nodded. "And I... Well, I've always liked melee fighting, I've trained in martial arts since I was a kid, and also fencing. Two years ago, my father gave me a pair of ancient Katana swords, which I still use. And before that last battle against Luminite, he also gave us..."

"What?" Usagi asked.

"I don't know... I'm not supposed to show this to anyone."

"Not even your friends?" Usagi asked.

"Friends?" Terry mused.

"I'm your friend," Usagi said matter-of-factually.

"If she says she is, she is," Rei said with a chuckle.

Terry sighed. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt."

"So, you'll help us?"

Terry nodded. "I will... But if that Luminite girl shows up..."

"Terry..." Usagi said worried. "Don't dare doing something stupid."

"Like killing her?" Terry said coldly.

"Like getting yourself killed," Luna chided in. "You don't really know what you're fighting against."

"So I don't... I wasn't informed."

Luna sighed. "My memory's blurry about things in the past... All I can tell you is, the Senshi were warriors from a past time, from a kingdom of the Moon, a kingdom that was destroyed in a war against the youma. The same youma that now threaten to take over the Earth."

Terry shook his head. "So our only hope is a group of teenage girls dressed as cheerleaders? Excuse me if I'm a bit skeptical." That got him glares from Rei and Usagi, but he shrugged them off.

"They're stronger than they may look while in Senshi form," Luna said, "and also... There should be some male Senshi as well."

Terry flinched. "I don't like the mental image I just got." Males in short skirt and form-fitting leotards? He'd need to wash his brain to erase that image from his mind's eye.

Luna sighed. "You're weird. You'll fit right into the group."

-----​

"Ice cream?" Beryl asked amused.

"Yes, ice cream," Jadeite said.

"So those humans do eat insects?"

"... No, my Queen... Ice cream, not eyes cream. Anyway, my new plan is setting up an ice cream shop and, once it's packed with people, draining them all. My last plan didn't work, since apparently the Senshi can locate even the smallest bits of energy draining we do."

"Your opportunities are running low," Beryl said. "You've only brought back energy a few times, while Kunzite and Dexite always manage to gather energy. If you keep on failing, I'll replace you by a more competent General."

Jadeite bowed to her. "I understand. I won't fail this time."

-----​

Several hours later, Terry was sitting on a couch in his mansion, thinking about his meeting with the Senshi. 'Like getting yourself killed,' he thought. 'They're right...'

He really hadn't considered that. He was far from invincible. He had no idea what those youma had in stock for him... For them. He had no magic powers like the Senshi, he had no upgraded strength or agility... True, his suit gave him a hell of a resistance to damage, but... What if he had to face an ice or electric monster again? On his own, he was quite sure he'd end up dead.

In the end, he hadn't shown them his suit, or explained them what it was able to do. And so far, he only knew Moon used light-based attacks, or so it seemed. Luna hadn't been too impressed by his supposed skills, and really... Back in New York, Nova had been the main fighting force of the team. He was just a sidekick, someone that was there to save her from any danger she would be in.

'And I failed. If I fight along with the Senshi here... I wouldn't mind being their friend, but what if... What if I fail again? If one of them dies because of me?' And they'd been doing fine without him, for what he'd heard. He wasn't needed. He could pretty much pack up and return to-

He froze as Hana's face appeared in his mind, smiling at him.

No, he couldn't give up. If he didn't fight the youma, if he didn't help the Senshi stop them... If he just run home to hide, then he'd fail to her. He'd made a promise to her, and he wasn't backing away from it.

It was then his watch started beeping. After his first fight here, he'd been able to add a new function to his watch, it'd tell him if it detected one of those black crystals the youma used to drain energy, as long as it was inside the scanning range. 'Time to find out if I'm really up to the challenge,' he thought as he walked out of the mansion.

-----​

When Zero reached the crystal's location, he couldn't help but be amused by the scene. The Senshi were fighting a monster that looked like a ferret stuck into a strawberry ice cream cone. He had to give the youma points for originality.

However, things weren't too 'fun' for the Senshi, he noticed. Mars and Moon were pinned to a wall by a giant puddle of ice cream, and Mercury was the only one still fighting... Or actually, she seemed to be planning her next move.

"Bombs away!" He shouted as he dropped a couple metal spheres at the monster, with the expected results. As the monster was stuck into a greenish toxic cloud, Zero leapt off his board and looked at Mercury. "You okay?"

Mercury nodded. "What's in those spheres anyways?"

"A mix of hydrochloric acid, white pepper, Mexican chili peppers, and a few other things you just wouldn't like to be forced to breath," Zero said. "So... Need help here?"

Mercury shook her head. "See if you can find a way to free Moon and Mars."

Zero stood in front of the two Senshi trapped into the puddle. "Don't move," he said.

"What are you..." Moon started, then blinked as Zero produces his swords and slashed at the puddle around them. Both Senshi fell to the ground and gasped.

"Thanks," Mars said, then turned to the 'battle.'

The youma was just done coughing his lungs out, and had managed to walk out of the toxic cloud, only to be greeted by a rose striking the pavement in front of his feet. Looking up, the group could see Tuxedo Kamen standing on a lamppost. "How the heck does he get up there?" Zero muttered.

"Ice cream wasn't meant to be polluted by the likes of you," Tuxedo Kamen said glaring at the monster from behind his mask. "Sailor Moon, finish it!"

"Oh shut up!" the youma snapped and shot a green ball of ice cream at the caped hero, pinning him high on the side of a building.

"Tuxedo Kamen!" Moon shouted worriedly.

"Fire Soul!" Mars acted fast, shooting a ray of fire at the youma. It dodged, however, and countered with a few slimy yellow balls. "Oh heck, not again..."

Zero stood in front of the Senshi, and slashed at the incoming 'missiles' as fast and accurately as he could. He ended up covered in lemon cream, but the Senshi weren't too affected by the 'attack.' "This guy's a joke," he muttered.

"Moon Tiara Action!"

Zero blinked as the golden light disc hissed by his side, taking the youma off guard and blasting right through it. "What the..." he turned back to see the disc flying back to Moon's awaiting hands. She grabbed it and it turned back to normal, and she put it back around her forehead. "And I stand corrected... The destiny of the world is in the hands of Frisbee-tossing cheerleaders."

Mars put a finger on his chest and growled. "Stop calling us that."

Zero shrugged. "Only if you put that finger away, I don't want to get toasted."

Mars shook her head. "Jerk."

"Yeah, sometimes I'm like that," Zero admitted.

"Where's Tuxedo Kamen?" Moon asked.

Zero looked up at where the puddle the caped man had been trapped in was. There were no signs of the mad hatter there. "I take it he does that all the time?" He asked the Senshi. The three girls nodded. "Bah. The typical sidekick's 'vanishing after the battle's over so I can keep my identity a secret' act. So unoriginal..."

Moon shrugged. "All this fighting got me hungry. Who wants some ice cream?" She frowned at the shocked looks she got from her friends. "What?"

Zero chuckled. Maybe, after all, joining the Senshi was the right thing to do. Battles were anything but dull around them.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 1: Gathering.
Episode 9: Aces Up.

By Razor Knight
Last update: January 3, 2006

-----​

Dexite looked on as his youma faced the Senshi. He just had to find the right time to attack, and he would be able to take those two pests out.

His mind idly pondered where Dragon Sun and Sailor Pluto were. Unfortunately, he was about to find the answer to that.

"Crono Blast!" Pluto walked around Dexite as the General tried to stand up. "You know, maybe I should let you attack me first."

"That would be... Nice," Dexite muttered with a grunt. He then reached his hand forwards, summoning a white energy sword. "Now die."

Dexite lunged forwards, ready to stab through Pluto's chest, but the Time Senshi simply knocked the sword off with her staff, then rammed the lower end of it into his stomach. "No thanks, I like living."

"I bet you wouldn't beat me without your staff," Dexite gloated.

Pluto smiled coldly at him as her staff vanished. "I'll take up on that bet."

"Die!" Dexite snapped as he lunged forwards once again.

-----​

Neptune dove aside as an energy blast hissed by. She rolled on the ground, summoning her attack while she stood up. "Aqua Blast!" The rat-like monster leapt back, and Neptune smirked. "Gotcha."

Uranus was standing right behind the creature, and tackled it off the rooftop. "Sun, get him!" she shouted through her communicator.

Dragon Sun was waiting at ground level, and saw the small form of the falling monster as he looked up. "Wish me luck, if I miss I'll be hurting a lot," he said through the comm. Looking up again, he noticed the monster was falling faster than he'd thought. "Now or never... Solar Bolt!"

The heat blast hit it's mark, vaporizing the creature in mid-air, a good thirty meters above ground level. "Nice shot," Pluto said.

"And where were you all this time?" Dragon Sun asked turning to the Time Senshi.

"Keeping Dexite busy. He's quite fun to play with," Pluto mused.

-----​

Dexite slowly walked out of the portal and uttered some choice insults about Pluto's ancestors and her looks. The two female Generals standing near the portal smirked at him.

"I take it your mission was a failure?" Luminite mused.

"Not really... But Pluto's become a bother to me."

Cardite frowned. "It's bad we don't have the seven Rainbow Youma, if we could send the Shadow Youma to fight her, she'd be dealt with quite easily."

"Maybe, maybe not. For now, she's my problem, and I'll take care of her personally," Dexite said.

-----​

"This stinks," Minako muttered.

"That quite sums it up," Artemis agreed. True, in the last few weeks, things had been escalating. Kunzite was a dangerous foe, and he was always guarded by at least one youma. True, Venus had toasted all youma he'd sent after her, but last time she barely made it out of the fight alive. "We need some help."

"What about the Tokyo group? Or the ones in New York?" Minako asked.

"They have their hands full with their own battles," Artemis explained.

"Well then, I'll just have to become stronger!"

"You won't do that just slacking around all day," the Mooncat muttered.

A figure was hiding in the shadows outside the room, listening to the conversation. 'So she was right... Mina is V. Maybe it's time I use my training in something useful for a change.' Noticing the blonde moving for the door, the figure swiftly rushed down the corridor.

Minako frowned as she walked out of her room. Artemis could be quite a jerk sometimes. But he was right... If she couldn't get some help, she would need to improve her fighting skills. Though neither looked like a viable option right now.

At least, in the short time she'd been around, her English had improved a lot. Far from perfect yet, but she was actually putting some effort into it. Being so inmersed in her thoughts, she didn't see the tall guy staring at her, arms crossed, until he spoke.

"You look troubled, Mina."

Minako turned to the voice and smiled. "Hi Brad."

The black-haired guy smiled back. "Anything I can help you with?"

"Not really," Minako said.

Brad frowned. "I know what can cheer you up. Let's go to the arcades, my treat."

"Going out with your girlfriend again, brother?"

Minako and Brad both glared at the older girl with long, wavy black hair. "She's not my girlfriend, June."

"Says you," June said slyly.

Brad rolled his eyes and turned to Minako. "Don't mind her, Mina, she's a basketcase."

June chuckled as the couple walked out of the house, but then turned serious. 'Be careful, brother. If she is who mother says she is, then falling in love with her may be dangerous.'

-----​

Minako's mind returned to her fight against the youma as she walked besides Brad. After the first few attacks in Tokyo, Kunzite's style had changed when he moved here. He wasn't out looking for trouble, instead his youma were setting up stores with articles that drained human energy, or some other scheme involving a lot of people being knocked out and drained.

"You're awfully silent today," Brad commented.

The blonde sighed. She liked him. She didn't want to lie to him, but she had no choice.

"I understand," Brad said. "Whatever is bothering you, you can't talk about it, right?"

Minako nodded. "Sorry, I..."

"Don't worry. I know what it's like having a secret to keep," Brad admitted.

'Having a secret to keep?' Minako thought. "What do you..." A scream cut her question, and as the two turned to the source, they could see it'd come from a nearby park. It didn't take them long to locate the problem: A massive plant-like monster. In fact, it looked like... "A Venus flytrap?" the blonde muttered.

"We should try and stop them," Brad said.

"Huh? We?" Minako asked playing dumb.

Brad smiled at her. "Mina, you think you and your cat friend would be able to fool my clan for a minute? Fire."

Minako gasped. At Brad's last word, a ball of fire had appeared, hovering over his hand. She took a step back and looked at him in shock as the ball vanished. "Youma..."

Brad shook his head. "No, not at all. But I'm not a Senshi either."

"Then what..."

"No time to explain, we need to defeat that creature," Brad said and walked into an alley. "Come on!"

The blonde frowned. "But..."

"I know who you are, Sailor V," Brad said as Minako walked into the alley. "And I also know you must keep that secret as safe as possible. As I said, I have a secret of my own," he smirked as a white body suit complete with a white mask over his eyes and a cape trailing behind him replaced his normal clothing. "See?"

Minako blinked in disbelief. "I've read about you... Ace?"

Ace nodded "I'll tell you my story later, right now we have some weed to kill."

Minako sighed. "All right then... Venus Planet Power!"

"Just as I suspected, Sailor Venus," Ace said as Venus' transformation ended. "Why the mask?"

"Something I thought of to keep my identity hidden. And yeah I know about the disguise spell now, but I like the mask anyways."

"You look cute with it," Ace mused.

V blushed then shook her head. "Uhm... Let's go."

-----​

Karnhevor was almost ready to pack up and leave. It had been an easy mission, and luckily Sailor V hadn't shown up. In a few more seconds, he would be done with the draining and...

"Fire!"

The plant-like youma leapt sideways, barely dodging the fire blast. "Wow, V has a pet now."

"Better pet than salad," Ace snapped.

"If you want a fight, a fight you'll get," Karnhevor snapped. He had already sent the energy gathered so far, he'd drain the rest once he was done with the two Senshi... And maybe add V's energy as a boon.

V frowned. The monster was the most disgusting she'd seen, mostly a mass of vines with a big bulb-like head, adorned with two beady, black eyes. His mouth was massive, and filled with sharp-looking fangs. "If you're as strong as you're ugly, you may be a challenge for me."

The plant chuckled. "Try me."

"Crescent Beam!" V smiled as the beam shot at the monster... Then frowned as it bounced off it's skin. "What the hell?"

"My turn!" the youma shouted, reaching forwards with his vines. The two heroes dodged aside, and the white-suited mage took a shot at the creature.

"Lightning!"

Venus gasped as an arc of lightning shot from Brad... Ace's hands and struck the plant. Just like her own attack, it didn't affect the creature in the least. "It's skin is too hard."

"I noticed," Ace muttered. "Have any edged weapons?"

"No..." V said. "What about you?"

"I forgot mine back home," Ace admitted with a sigh.

The giant plant growled and, once again, lashed out with it's vines. "I got a plan!" Sailor V said as Ace leapt off the way. One of the vines wrapped around V's leg, and the plant rose her up over his bulb.

"I'm gonna eat you!" The plant gloated and opened it's mouth as the vine dragged the Senshi in.

"No, you won't!" V snapped. "Crescent Beam!"

This time, V aimed her attack into the plant youma's mouth, and he exploded loudly, showering the area with spots of green ooze. "Okay, so the plan was good," Ace admitted, "but next time, tell me what it is so I can get an umbrella." V looked at him, white suit covered in green goo, and laughed.

-----​

Several minutes later, Brad and Minako were sitting in a large room inside the Diamond mansion. From Brad's point of view, it was a bit small for a mansion, but from Minako's point of view, it was a bit too big for a house. Heck, most of her house back in Juuban would fit in the room they were in.

Minako looked at the two other women in the room. It was hard to believe they were what they said they were. Brad had given her the basic background: His family came from an ancient clan of Demon Hunters. From Artemis' input, the Demon Hunters existed back in her past life, but he didn't think there'd still be any of them after the eons that passed since that era.

"So you're the mighty Sailor Venus," June mused.

"That I've been told," Minako said shooting a side-glance at Artemis.

"Hard to believe, she looks weak," June commented.

"June..." Brad muttered.

"Not to be rude, but I have to agree," the black-haired, willowy woman sitting in front of them said.

"There's a... Seal in her memory," Artemis said. "Maybe Serenity knew they'd be untrained, so she didn't want them to have access to their highest attacks from the start."

"But why? I could use some stronger attacks when fighting Kunzite."

Artemis frowned. "Some of the Senshi's attacks were strong enough to blast a good section of a city if they missed their mark."

Minako's eyes widened as she remembered the last time her Crescent Beam had missed... She had wrecked the wall behind it, burying it. "Oh..."

The woman nodded. "I understand. Brad is the only one of my children with enough training to fight the youma, so he'll be helping you."

"I'll be glad to," Brad said.

"Love's in the air..." June muttered.

"Zap." In a second, Brad's hand charged with electricity, and he touched June's shoulder.

"Brad!" The woman warned as June was knocked unconscious.

"She asked for it, mom."

The woman shook her head. "Your powers are not to be used for fun."

Brad shrugged. "I'm pretty sure it wasn't fun for June."

Minako chuckled at that. Artemis noticed she was leaning on the older guy and shot her a questioning look. Minako winked at him, and the Mooncat sighed in defeat.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 1: Gathering.
Episode 10: Sailor Youma?

By Razor Knight
Last update: January 5, 2006

-----​

Terry sighed as he stared out into the distance. This was quite a good place to come when he needed to think. He had never seen any other students around here during lunch break- Until now.

"So here you are..."

He turned to look at the two girls, a smile forming for a second before he was back to stare out at the buildings. So Ami and Usagi had found his 'hiding' spot. Not like he wasn't expecting that to happen.

"See Ami, he's been like that all morning."

Terry turned to Usagi. "I'm always like this."

"That's a lie. You're a fun guy when you stop being so gloomy... And today's worse than usual."

Ami frowned. "What's wrong?"

Terry shook his head and turned back to stare out at the surrounding buildings. "Nothing."

Usagi wasn't letting the matter drop so easily. "Nothing? So you're worrying me over nothing?"

"Worrying you?" Terry asked turning back to look at her.

"You're my friend, Terry. I don't like seeing my friends like this."

"So I am..." Terry muttered. "Well, if you want to know that badly... Today's Hana's birthday."

Ami and Usagi both blinked and fell silent for a few seconds. Ami was the first to speak up. "Maybe we should leave you alone, then."

Terry smiled at her. "I don't mind the company."

"I bet she was a very nice girl," Usagi said.

Terry sighed. "Yes, she was. She couldn't stand seeing all those crimes being committed around our city and doing nothing, just like me... That's why we started fighting crime... It was dangerous, but also fun."

"Nova, right?" Ami asked. At Terry's questioning stare, she blushed. "I found info on Nova and Zero while searching for clues on the U.S. Senshi."

"I see... Yeah, that was her hero name." He looked at his watch and frowned. "Maybe it was a mistake."

"What was?" Ami asked.

"The day she died... We were using the Zero for the first time. It's quite an amazing substance, with a high resistance to physical attacks and even some elemental resistance, but it's too weak against ice or electricity."

Usagi blinked. "Isn't it a good thing to have against the youma?"

"Not that day," Terry said, his face turning sad again. "Luminite used two youma, one had ice powers and the other one had electric powers. I remember Hana saying it was ironic before we started fighting."

"Maybe you shouldn't be remembering those things, if they make you sad," Usagi said.

Terry shrugged. "Maybe. Thing is, you may need to know this in case we ever face a youma based in either ice or electricity."

"So, what exactly happened?" Ami asked. "If you don't mind telling us..."

"I don't. The fight was short, I remember trying to hit Luminite then getting knocked into a wall. Next thing I knew, I was looking on as Nova got hit by both youma, and her suit started failing."

"Failing?" Usagi asked.

"Yeah. Under the overload of ice and electricity, some parts of the suit started vanishing and reappearing. I stood up to try and help Hana, but before I could do anything, I saw Luminite stabbing Hana through with some kind of energy blade. I got enraged by that and killed both youma, but Luminite knocked me out. She must've thought she'd killed me, since she didn't stay to finish me off."

Ami sighed as Terry looked away. "I can't even imagine how that must feel."

Terry shrugged. "I just hope I get a rematch."

Usagi frowned. "Terry... If we ever face Luminite again, don't let anger get to you."

"I can't promise that," Terry muttered.

"But..."

"Usagi, don't insist," Ami said sternly.

"But Ami-"

"What would you do in his place and with your powers?" Ami asked.

"I- If the youma killed someone I cared for, someone I loved," Usagi said. "I suppose I wouldn't rest until I saw the last of them dead."

Terry looked at her and smiled. "That's exactly what I want. Luminite's just the one that killed Hana, but I'd love to get a chance to visit the one giving the orders in that army of freaks."

Usagi sighed. "I understand. Just be careful, even if Luminite shows up. I wouldn't like to lose one of my friends."

'Losing one of her friends...' Terry flinched. He knew exactly how that felt. "Okay, I can promise that."

-----​

"Jadeite, I won't tolerate your constant failures anymore. I'm giving you one last chance to gather energy or I'll replace you with one of the other Generals."

Jadeite bowed and smiled. "Don't worry, my Queen, this time I have a plan the Senshi won't be able to foil."

"That's what you said last ten times," Luminite commented from the shadows.

"Silence," Beryl snapped. "Very well, tell me what you're planning."

"A fake romantic cruise, it will attract humans and I can drag them off to the ocean before draining them. The Senshi will have no way to stop me."

"I've heard that before. Do not fail me," Beryl warned.

"I won't, my Queen," Jadeite said as he bowed again and vanished.

"Luminite, come forth," Beryl said.

"Your Highness?" Luminite asked as she walked out of the shadows.

"You do realize the name of that fighter helping the Senshi in the last few battles, right?"

Luminite nodded. "Zero. I thought I had eliminated him along with Nova."

"Next time, make sure he's dealt with."

"Next time?" Luminite asked.

"If Jadeite fails again, you may be his replacement."

Luminite smiled coldly. So she'd have a chance to correct her error, and to kill the Senshi. All she had to do was waiting until Jadeite failed. Because from his track record, it was highly likely that he'd fail once more.

-----​

"Hmm... Here it is," Terry noted looking at the small building.

"A romantic cruise?"

Terry turned to the voice. He'd seen the ad in a local newspaper, and had immediately guessed it had to be a youma scheme. Apparently, Rei had guessed the same. "Hi Rei. Considering taking a boyfriend along?"

"I don't have one, nor I want one," Rei said bluntly. "I'm just curious about this cruise being free."

"Smells like youma, doesn't it?" Terry asked.

"That's why I'm here, to find out," Rei said.

Terry shrugged and walked into the building. A minute later he walked out with four tickets. "There we go."

"Four tickets?" Rei asked amused.

"Sure. Usagi and Ami should tag along."

"Hogging the girls for yourself, aren't you?" Rei said slyly.

Terry shrugged again. "They're my friends, and I know they must be there if this is a youma thing."

"Can't take a joke..." Rei muttered.

Terry looked at her and smirked. "Of course, having the chance to be in a romantic cruise with three cute girls ain't something I'd pass on." Rei could, for a second, feel her cheeks turning a shade of red similar to her suit's skirt.

-----​

The two soldiers guarding the entrance gave a military salute as a reddish-pink haired woman walked towards them. She wore a green military uniform and black sunglasses. "Good morning, Lieutenant," one of the soldiers said politely.

"Good morning, soldier," the woman said and waited for the door to open.

"Lieutenant?" the other soldier whispered as the woman vanished behind the closing door.

The older soldier smirked. "You're too new to know about her, I guess. That's Lt. Colonel Rakurai, and she's second in charge here."

"Doesn't look too dangerous to me."

"Rookie, you've never seen her with a rocket launcher," the older soldier mused.

-----​

Rakurai walked into the large office and nodded at the older man sitting behind the only desk inside. "Good morning, General Kino."

"Lieutenant, our research confirmed most rumors regarding the Senshi."

"They're good girls then?"

"We could say that," Kino said. "I want further research. They've been spotted several times in the Juuban district, so that's where I'd suggest you start looking."

"Why did you choose me?" Rakurai asked.

"I'm going to go straight to the point. I want to talk to those Senshi personally, and I think you may be the only one of my soldiers that could get close enough to the Senshi to convince them to come here."

Rakurai sighed. "I see. All right, I'm going to fetch one of those girls and bring her here."

Kino frowned as the woman turned to leave. "One more thing, Seia." she turned to look at him. "Don't take any risks. The monsters they've been fighting are dangerous."

Rakurai nodded. "I know that, don't worry."

-----​

"I don't know how you guys managed to drag me here," Ami commented as she looked at the sea, "but the view's nice."

"Where's Usagi?" Terry asked.

"Inside, stuffing her face with food," Rei muttered.

"Being her usual self I take?" Terry asked.

"Yeah," Rei sighed. "Feels weird."

"What?"

"We're the only ones in this cruise that aren't snugging and kissing."

"Not quite a sight I want to behold right now," Terry admitted.

"Usagi told me about that..." Rei started, but Terry hold a hand up and shook his head.

"Please... Not another 'stop grieving and move on' rant, I'm getting a lot of those lately."

Rei shrugged. "I'm not like Usagi."

"That I noticed."

"However, I don't think you'd honor your friend by being so focused in revenge."

"Yeah, I was," Terry admitted.

"Was?"

The blonde nodded. "I've been thinking about it, and there's a lot of things I hadn't considered at first. This is not about Luminite anymore."

"Good," Rei said.

"Which doesn't mean I won't punch her face in if I ever see her again."

"I would, too," Rei admitted.

"Ladies and gentlemen," a voice said through the speakers around the deck, "please go to the party hall for a special show."

"That announcement has 'youma trap' written all over it," Ami, who'd been silently listening as Rei and Terry spoke, said.

"Yeah. Let's go find our fearless leader," Rei said sarcastically.

-----​

The ship's captain stood on the stage as the over two hundred people inside the room waited to see what the 'special show' was about. Usagi recognized the 'captain' almost immediately. "That's Jadeite."

Rei nodded. "I know. I'd recognize his ugly face anywhere."

"I take it you've seen him before?" Terry asked.

"He's the only 'General' we've seen so far," Usagi explained.

"Then this will be fun," Terry said.

"Why are we behind the table anyways?" Ami asked as she noticed the large table filled with food right in front of them.

"Still hungry?" Rei asked shooting Usagi a side-glance.

"Can it, Rei," Usagi muttered. "See, once he starts draining people, we can leap under this table and transform, then surprise him."

"... Wow. She's got a plan," Rei said. "We're doomed."

"And now, with no further delay, our special show," the captain said and walked off the stage.

"He's leaving," Usagi noticed.

"Too bad, I wanted to fire him," Rei muttered.

Terry frowned. "Too bad, my swords needed a sharpening."

"Look, that sailor girl..." Usagi said. A single woman dressed in a sailor outfit had walked into the stage after Jadeite left. She was looking at the crowd and smiling.

"A Sailor Youma?" Terry joked. The woman was a youma, indeed. Without a word, she morphed into a humanoid whose body seemed to be made entirely of water. "Well, at least it's not ice," Terry muttered as they all ducked behind the table. A split second later, the woman shot out black energy tendrils that knocked everyone else in the room unconscious.

"Moon Planet Power!"

"Mars Planet Power!"

"Mercury Planet Power!"

"Zero Armor, Activate!"

Mars smirked as Zero's armor poured out of Terry's watch and covered his body. "Looks like Venom."

Zero nodded, then stood up. "Hey look, it's Liquidator."

The three Senshi looked at him confusedly, along with the youma. "Liquiwhat?" Moon asked.

"Never mind," Zero muttered.

"Let's fry that thing," Mars said. "Fire Soul!"

The youma's body shimmered, a hole appearing in her midsection, and the fire blast passed through it, setting a part of the far wall on fire. "Missed me."

"Go and burn down the boat, will you?" Zero muttered.

"Wasn't expecting her to do that," Mars retorted.

"Let me try. Moon Tiara Action!" The youma dodged the attack in the same way she'd dodged Mars' one.

"Shabon Spray!"

"It tickles," the creature said as she absorbed the water blast. As the usual hail settled, she frowned. "Oh no you won't."

Mercury frowned as the creature absorbed the mist. "Wasn't expecting her to do that either."

"My turn!" the monster shouted and shot several thick beams of water at her foes.

The Senshi dodged. "Well, she can't hit us, but we can't hit her either," Moon said. "I hate this."

Zero frowned then smirked as he produced two metal spheres. "Here."

"What are these for?" Moon asked grabbing the weapons.

"As soon as I distract her, toss them at her."

"Gotcha," Moon said. "Be careful."

Zero nodded and rushed at the youma. She shot another water blast at him, but he dodged aside then slashed at her with his sword as he run by her side.

The youma chuckled as the sword sliced through nothing but air. "Nice try, but you guys simply can't hit me."

"You sure?" Zero asked with a smirk.

"What..." The youma couldn't finish her question, as the two metal spheres were thrown at her, getting stuck inside her watery body before exploding, releasing the gas.

Zero rushed back to the Senshi as the creature was stuck inside the customary green cloud. Mercury had her visor down and was frowning. "That thing's still alive."

"That gas is quite flammable," Zero commented.

Mars smiled deviously and nodded. "Fire Soul!"

Mercury and Moon gasped as the fire blast caused the greenish gas to ignite. A small explosion later, there were no traces of the youma anywhere. "What happened to it?" Moon asked.

"The explosion vaporized her," Mercury explained.

"Where's Jadeite?" Mars asked.

"I don't detect any other youma in the ship," Mercury commented.

"How will we get all them back to the shore?" Moon asked looking around at the unconscious crowd.

Zero frowned and pushed a button on his watch. "Sam, you there?"

"Good evening, sir, enjoying the cruise?" Samuel's voice asked through the watch's speakers.

"Not quite, it was what I thought. Listen, can you inform the coastguards about this ship? It's packed full of unconscious people."

"Will do at once, sir."

"Good," Zero said then turned to the others. "So, who wants to go for a swim?"

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 1: Gathering.
Episode 11: Airport showdown.

By Razor Knight
Last update: January 6, 2006

-----​

"You really disappoint me, Jadeite. Even with your so-called flawless cruise ship plan, the Senshi still managed to kill your soldier," Beryl said. "However, she gathered quite a good amount of energy, so I'm giving you one last chance. I don't care about energy this time, Jadeite, but I want you to at least kill one of the Senshi."

Jadeite nodded. "Understood. I've got the perfect plan this time..."

Beryl snorted. "I'm sure of that. Now go and destroy the Senshi." Jadeite bowed again then vanished. "Nephrite, Luminite!" The two Generals walked out of the shadows and bowed to the queen. "If Jadeite fails this time, you'll be the ones in charge of our Tokyo operations. Nephrite will gather energy, while Luminite searchs for the Ginzuishou."

"Understood," Nephrite said.

Luminite smirked. "I won't let the Senshi interfere with my mission."

-----​

Again, she was in a familiar place. But it was also a place she had never seen before. The screams and noises from the battle around her were too real for it to be just her imagination. The smell of smoke and blood... The ruined, burning castle in the distance... Camelot.

How did she know it's name? She couldn't tell. She'd been having the same dream for over a week, and every night she remembered something else. Once again she looked down, to see she was wearing a Sailor Senshi outfit. But that couldn't be. She wasn't a Senshi.

"Nadia..." She turned to the voice, and like all the other nights, she saw a brown-haired man looking at her, his face showing a hint of sadness, as did his voice. "I'm sorry." Last thing she saw were the man's hands glowing with energy.

-----​

Naru rose to a sitting position and looked around nervously. A dream... The same nightmare again. But what did it mean? "Me, a Senshi? That's just impossible."

"It's not as impossible as you think," a female voice said.

Naru tried to locate the source but couldn't see anyone else in the room. "Who's there?"

A grey cat leapt on her bed. Naru thought, at first, that it was just a normal cat, but then she saw the crescent moon-shaped patch of fur on it's forehead. "Just like Sailor Moon's cat," she whispered.

"Naru, what I'm about to tell you may be hard to believe, but it's the truth. There's a reason behind those nightmares you've been having lately..."

-----​

"..." Usagi looked at the paper in front of her and sighed. "Another 30."

"Maybe you should try... You know, studying?" Umino said.

"Can it," Usagi muttered.

"He's right, Rabbit," Terry said.

"Maybe you could help her," Naru commented.

"I think Ami would be a better choice there," Terry admitted. "I'm not as smart as her."

Usagi sighed again. "Guess I'll have to ask her."

"Bet Rei will have a fit if she finds out you want to study," Terry mused.

"I don't want to, but if I keep on getting bad grades, my parents will skin me alive," Usagi explained.

"They can't be that bad," Terry said.

"Yeah, they can," Usagi muttered.

-----​

"I can see your first try didn't go well," General Kino commented.

Seia Rakurai nodded. "The couples on the boat said a monster had attacked them before they passed out, but there was no trace of the creature. But there were burnt marks and other things indicating a battle."

"So the Senshi were there, then they magically disappeared?" Kino asked skeptically.

"Maybe not. Maybe they were with the crowd. I have no way to know that."

"Okay... Keep an eye on them, we really need to know what those monsters really are if we want to have a chance to defeat them."

-----​

"Yes, I can try helping you," Ami said.

"Thank you, Ami," Usagi said.

Terry smiled as Usagi hugged Ami, then turned serious. "I'd like to test this... Magic of yours, and see if I can find a way to replicate it technologically."

"Don't bother," Luna said walking out of her hideout.

"How do you do that?" Terry mused.

"Trade secret. Anyway, as I said, don't bother trying to replicate magic."

"Why not... It could only help the fight. And also, I've already seen the kind of magic the youma use, as well as the Senshi... Unknown, never classified, and seemingly comes out of nowhere."

"Actually, it comes from their guardian planets," Luna corrected.

Terry frowned. "They drain that energy directly from the other planets... Interesting."

"Could you get the 'Zero' to channel magic that way?" Ami asked following Terry's line of thought."

"I'll never know until I try."

"You'd be stronger than us if you did," Usagi said.

Luna shook her head. "Usagi, didn't you notice how much stronger you are in Senshi form?"

Usagi blinked. "Uh... Not really."

Terry shrugged. "I've heard some rumors about Sailor V being tossed through a brick wall and standing up to kick a youma's :red: afterwards."

"That most likely did happen," Luna said.

"I can get hit by bullets and not even feel it," Terry admitted, "but I think you girls may be strong enough to take a rocket blast and only suffer minor bruises."

"What's Jadeite doing up there?" Usagi asked as she looked up to the sky.

Indeed, they all could see an image of Jadeite's face up in the sky. "Must be magic," Luna said.

"Senshi," Jadeite's image said, "I'm tired of your interference. Meet me at the Tokyo Airport in one hour, or else..." the image shifted to a view of Tokyo burning in flames, "... This is what I'll do to your city."

Usagi gasped as the image vanished. "Could he burn the city?"

"Bull:red:. He can't be that strong," Terry muttered.

Ami produced her communicator. "Rei, did you see that?"

"Yes, I did," Rei said. "Are you guys anywhere near the shrine?"

Ami nodded. "We were walking that way. We'll meet you there in a few minutes."

Luna sighed. "He may not have the power to burn down the city, but maybe Beryl, his queen, does."

"We can't take risks then," Usagi said. "Let's get him."

Terry pushed a button on his watch and smirked. "I'll provide the transportation."

-----​

Half an hour later, a plate-less black car stopped near the airport. The Senshi leapt off it, followed by Zero, and the car drove off into the distance. "Remote controlled cars..." Mars mused. "Is your father a mad scientist?"

"I built that thing myself," Zero said. "Now THAT is amazing," he added pointing at the airport.

Indeed, the whole airport was surrounded by a black energy dome, and there were a few dozen police and military vehicles around it, trying to find a way to enter the building.

"Yeah," Moon said, "Amazing and scary, if he has enough power to make a dome like that..."

"No, I meant it's amazing the cops and military got here before the superheroes did," Zero explained.

Mars shook her head. "Stop the chitchat and let's go in."

"Halt!"

Mars looked at the reddish-pink haired woman dressed as a high rank military officer and frowned. "Out of our way."

Seia Rakurai frowned. "Senshi, my superior's ordered me to..."

"Whatever it is, it can wait," Mars snapped.

Seia growled. "Listen, kid. I've been ordered to bring one of you to my boss for interrogation, and I will do it, even if I have to do it by force."

Mars laughed at that. "Force... That's funny."

Seia just blinked as the Senshi walked by, followed by the black-suited man she'd heard was named Zero. "What the... You can't just set us aside as if we were useless!"

Zero turned to her and smiled. "Oh, but you pretty much are right now, soldier girl."

The Lieutenant just gasped and stood there as a small hole opened in the dome, and the Senshi walked in. "I can't believe they just shrugged me off."

"Orders, Lieutenant?" one of the soldiers asked.

"Bring me my rocket launcher." The soldier nodded and walked off, then came back several seconds later carrying a bulky, massive, red rocket launcher. "Let's see how that dome handles this!" She shouted and fired a rocket at the dome. It hit the wall and exploded, but the dome was unaffected.

"What the heck are you doing, Rakurai?" a police officer asked.

Seia looked at the man. Tall, thin, and brown-haired. He was the police equivalent to General Kino, but in this one matter he had no authority at all as long as she was there. "Cut it off, Kawada," she snapped at the older man. "At least I'm trying to find a way in, unlike you and your men just standing there and gawking."

"What's the problem, angry because those kids didn't notice you?" Kawada said.

Seia pointed her rocket launcher at him and smiled. "Please, give me a reason to fire. I beg you."

"I'll pass," Kawada muttered and walked off.

-----​

Inside the airport, meanwhile, the Senshi were trying to locate Jadeite. The area was filled with unconscious civlians, but for now there was nothing they could do to help them, other than defeating the General. "Hmm... From my visor's readings, he's standing over a hangar, outside," Mercury said.

"Let's go greet him," Mars said.

The group run out of the building, and saw Jadeite waiting for them. The blonde General floated down to the ground and smiled coldly at them. "Welcome, Senshi... To your funeral."

"Fire Soul!"

Jadeite Summoned a gray energy sword and parried the blast. "Tsk, tsk, Mars... Always the hothead."

Zero produced his swords and smirked. "I bet you can't defeat a master swordsman."

Jadeite shrugged. "I doubt I'd be able to. Luckily there's none here."

Moon gasped as Zero charged the General. "Wait!"

Mars put a hand on her shoulder. "Moon, let him try."

"But..."

"Mars is right," Mercury said. "If he's as good with swords as he said, he might win."

Jadeite's smile had, by now, vanished. What were those swords made of? His energy blade could cut through any known metal, yet Zero was madly swinging at him once and again, and his swords remained intact.

No, madly swinging wasn't the right term to use. He was fast, but Jadeite could also see he'd majorly underestimated the ninja. Using two swords gave him an advantage, true, but even then, Jadeite had trained to fight against dual wielders.

"What, giving up yet?" Zero snapped as Jadeite floated up and to a hangar's roof.

"Not quite," Jadeite said, "but I wanted to give your friends something to play with until I get rid of you." As he said that, several humanoid sand creatures popped out from the ground. "Have fun, girls!"

Mars frowned. "Enter the sandman..."

"Shabon Spray!" Mercury's attack hit one of the creatures, but it didn't look too affected by it. "They're strong."

"Fire Soul!"

The blast tore through one of the creatures' head, but the head reformed. "Just like that water freak."

Zero had, meanwhile, leapt into the roof and resumed his attack on Jadeite. The blonde General tried to kick his legs off balance, but Zero leapt up, slashing with both swords at Jadeite's blade, causing him to drop it. He then put a sword tip on Jadeite's chest and the other on his neck and smiled. "Any last words?"

Jadeite smiled back. "Yes. Bye." Before Zero could figure out what he meant, he shot an energy blast at point blank range, knocking the ninja off the roof.

"Zero!" Moon shouted as the ninja bounced on the ground a few meters away from her.

"I-- I'm fine," Zero said as he tried to stand up. All he could manage was to kneel on the ground. "Here... You know what to do with these."

Moon looked at the metal spheres then at the sand monsters surrounding them. "Yeah." She turned to Mars. "Ready?"

"Of course," Mars said with a smirk. Moon tossed the spheres at the sand creatures, and Mars pointed her finger at them. "Fire Soul!"

Jadeite gasped as his sand creatures rained all over the area. "Damn those Senshi..."

A rose struck the ground near him, and he looked up to the airport's roof. "And how the hell did you manage to get in?"

"That's for me to know and for you to guess," Tuxedo Kamen commented. "Though I'd try not getting distracted so easily if I were you," he added.

"Wha-" Jadeite started, then coughed as he was surrounded by a gas cloud. Next thing he knew, there was a shout of "Fire Soul!" and he was sent flying off the hangar by an explosion.

Zero smiled as Jadeite hit the ground near him. "Thanks for flying with Senshi Airlines. We hope you enjoyed your beating."

"Why you..." Jadeite snapped as he stood up, his suit singed and his skin bruised. He then noticed the Senshi were surrounding them, ready to attack at any movement he made. "Stupid kids, I'll..." He then frowned as he sensed Beryl's magic. "No! Wait, Beryl, I can still destroy them!"

Moon blinked as Jadeite vanished. "What was that about?"

"Looks like his boss didn't like his performance," Zero said standing up, then winced.

"Are you okay?" Mars asked.

"I'll live," Zero said. "Now let's get out of here before..."

The black dome around the airport vanished, and the Senshi idly noticed Tuxedo Kamen was also gone. Before they could mimic him, however, the 'soldier girl' came rushing in, aiming a massive rocket launcher at them.

"Freeze!"

"You just don't give up, do you?" Mars muttered.

"Listen kid, I don't have time for this. You will come with me, or else..." Seia blinked as the ninja seemingly turned into a blur, then she saw the pieces of her rocket launcher fall to the ground. "What. The. Hell?"

Zero was now standing next to her. "You could have asked nicely," he whispered to her. "We don't take bullying lightly as you may see."

Seia sighed. "Okay, let's try again. Senshi, my boss wants to ask you a few questions, so would you please come with me?"

"No," Moon said.

Seia sighed again. "Why?"

"We're just out of a fight, and a tough one at that," Mars said. "We really aren't in the mood to go through an interrogation."

"But..."

"Tell us where your boss is, and we'll go once we recover from this battle," Moon said.

Seia took out a small card off her pants' pocket and gave it to Moon. "Go westwards from Tokyo for a good ten miles, and you'll see a small bunker... That's the entrance to the base. Tell them Rakurai asked you to go, and if they don't believe you, show them that card."

"Bunker westwards..." Zero repeated. "I know where that is."

"Good," Seia said. "And... I Apologize for my rudeness."

"Me too," Mars said. Maybe this soldier girl wasn't that bad after all.

The black car stopped right outside the airport, and Zero nodded. "There's our vehicle. Let's go, girls."

Seia watched the Senshi get on the car and drive off. "This went easier than I thought it would."

Kawada came walking into the airport and chuckled as he saw the wrecked rocket launcher. "They broke your toy. Aren't you mad?"

"I can get another one," Seia said. "Now be useful for a change and call a few dozen ambulances, will you?"

"At once, 'boss,'" Kawada muttered and walked off.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 1: Gathering.
Episode 12: Nephrite.

By Razor Knight
Last update: January 13, 2006

-----​

As Terry walked into the classroom, some of his female classmates looked at him, but said nothing. "Amazing, you've gotten rid of your fan club already," Umino noted. "How did you do it?"

"I killed a few of them," Terry said keeping a straight face.

"... You're joking, right?" Naru asked.

"Of course I am... Or am I?" Terry said in an ominous tone. He then noticed Usagi dozing off on her desk. "What's up with her?"

"Mizuno has been helping her study, I think she's just tired," Naru explained.

Umino smirked. "Worried about your girlfriend, Zephyr?"

Terry frowned and grabbed Umino's shirt collar, pulling him closer over the desk and glaring at him. "I should be, she's been dead for a while. Usagi's just a friend." With that, he let Umino go and turned to glare at the blackboard.

"Sorry," Umino said with a wince as he straightened his shirt. "That was uncalled for."

"Apology accepted," Terry said without looking back at him.

Usagi woke up and looked around. "Class over yet?"

"It hasn't even started, Rabbit," Terry muttered.

"I wish you'd stop calling me that," Usagi said.

"Would you rather have me calling you airhead or slacker like Rei does?"

"... Never mind," Usagi muttered.

Just then, a teacher walked in. The class looked at him, confused. Tall, with brown hair that went down past his shoulders, glasses and wearing a whit shirt and black pants. "Good morning students... Your math teacher, Kazuna, got into a car accident last night and is recovering at the hospital. I'm her replacement, Nei Furita."

"Nei Furita..." Naru whispered. 'It can't be him,' she thought with a frown.

"You okay, Naru?" Umino asked. "You look like you just saw a ghost."

Naru shrugged. "Yeah, I'm fine." 'A ghost from the past,' she thought.

Nei looked at Naru and frowned. 'That girl... Her energy's quite high right now. I think I've just found my first target.'

-----​

"So they told you they would come here once they recovered?" Kino asked.

Seia nodded. "Yeah. The ninja guy said he knew where our base is."

"It's been three days since that battle at the airport," Kino noted.

"Maybe it takes them a while to recover. They fought off a monster that put a dome around the airport, I bet the battle wasn't easy at all."

"Well, we still need to talk to them. I hope they're not ignoring us."

A soldier walked in, his face unreadable. He gave the General a paper sheet, then saluted and walked out of the office. "What's that?" Seia asked as Kino frowned at the piece of paper.

"My niece Makoto... She got into another fight at school."

"Again?" Seia muttered.

Kino shrugged. "When I asked her about it, she just said 'the school's full of jerks.'"

"Been there," Seia mused. "Maybe you should try having her transferred to another school."

"Maybe," Kino said.

-----​

"Are you ready for this?" Nephrite asked. He was standing on top of a building near the Osa-P jewelry, with Luminite and a green mantis-like humanoid youma.

"Of course. I've sense a strange source of energy in that jewelry, maybe the Ginzuishou is there," Cardite said.

"Quite a coincidence," Nephrite said. "Cigale, drain the girl while Luminite searches for the Ginzuishou."

The mantis bowed to Nephrite. "As you command, master."

Luminite shrugged as Nephrite vanished. "Time to start the show."

-----​

Zero was, meanwhile, standing on a taller building, staring at the female General. "That :red:..." He frowned as he tried to control his rage. "Gotta warn the others."

"Fire Soul!"

"Or not," Zero muttered. "Good, they can take care of the mantis while I go visit an old friend..." With that, he leapt off the roof and headed to the battle.

-----​

A minute earlier, Usagi had been walking towards the Osa-P to visit Naru, when she saw them... An insect youma and a woman dressed much like Jadeite, only her suit was white. Naru walked out of the store right then, and the mantis attacked her.

Usagi produced her comm. "Girls, I need help. I'm at Osa-P and a youma's attacking Naru. There's also a female General here."

"Female General?" Ami asked, her face unreadable. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Rei, you there?" Usagi asked.

"Fire Soul!"

"Guess that answers my question," Usagi muttered. "Moon Prism Power!"

-----​

The mantis leapt back as the fire beam shot by. "Missed me."

Luminite walked out of the store, frowning. "Strange. The crystal wasn't there."

Naru was trying to figure out her next move. If only they moved Luminite out of the way, she could...

"Luminite!"

'Cue the ninja,' Naru thought with a smirk, then dashed into the store as Zero charged at Luminite. The female General produced a couple energy blades and blocked Zero's initial blow.

"Missed me, kid?"

"You have no idea," Zero growled, then tried to kick her legs off balance. Luminite leapt up and delivered a kick to his midsection, sending him staggering back.

"Ready to join your girlfriend, loser?" Luminite teased.

Zero growled, rage taking over his mind. He was aware of his friends friends having problems with the mantis creature, but they were Senshi. They'd manage. He had a score to settle with this :red:, and he intended to do it right then, right there.

Mercury arrived in time to see Zero renew his attack. It was amazing, the speed of his movements and his style. But she could guess who the woman was and why Zero was fighting her. "Zero, don't be foolish!"

"She's mine," Zero snapped without looking back as he blocked Luminite's swords.

"Moon Tiara Action!"

Mercury turned to the other battle and gasped. The creature was as strong as it was ugly, and had wrapped one of his massive pincers around Mars' waist. Moon had just used her tiara to free her, but the creature was unaffected by her magic. Things didn't look too good for the Senshi, indeed.

"Dark Bolt!"

A dark energy blast hit the mantis, causing it to stagger back and release Mars. The creature looked up and saw a Senshi standing on top of the Osa-P's roof, only her suit was different.

Mercury looked up too. The suit was completely black, with knee-high black boots and black gloves. "Who are you?"

"I'm the warrior of Darkness, Sailor Nemesis, and I'm here to destroy all evil," the new Senshi said.

The mantis chuckled evilly. "Well, I'm Cigale, and I'm going to snap your little bodies in half, Senshi."

Zero was still too busy to worry about new Senshi or big bad insects. Even with his sword skills, he was still on the losing side. Luminite was just too strong, and she wasn't even sweating yet. The ninja, on the other hand, was starting to feel the effects of exhaustion.

"Moon, watch out!" Mars shouted.

Zero risked looking back and gasped. The creature had caught Moon's arm with his pincer, and was reaching for her neck with the other one. 'The others can help her...' He thought.

"Dark Bolt!"

The creature slapped the attack away and again reached for Moon's neck. 'If I help her, Luminite'll escape,' Zero thought. He returned his attention to Luminite for a second, but his mind wouldn't let the matter drop. 'Quite a friend you are, you would rather get your revenge than save Usagi? You just love failing to your friends, don't you?' Zero winced at that.

"Tired yet?" Luminite teased.

Zero frowned and produced several metal spheres out of thin air. "Shut up, :red:," he said as he tossed the spheres at her and ran off.

"Hah!" Luminite said as she sliced the spheres open with her blades, then realized her mistake as she was trapped inside a thick cloud of rancid, unbreathable gas.

"Fire Soul!" Once again, the monster ignored the attack. "We have to do something!" Mars said. The creature had a pincer around Moon's neck and was slowly closing it, strangling her.

"There's nothing you can do, kids. My body's resistant to any kind of magic," the creature gloated.

"Resist this!"

The Senshi all gasped as Zero hissed by, slashing at the mantis' arms, causing them both to fall to the ground. The creature paled as he looked at the Senshi, then chuckled again. "Hahaha! Even without my arms, I'm still unbeatable."

"Who said I'm done with you?" Zero snapped as he leapt in front of the creature. The Senshi winced as he beheaded the mantis, walking back to the others with a shrug.

"Zero..." Moon said, "thanks for saving me."

"Could've saved her earlier," Mars snapped.

"Rei!"

Zero shook his head. "Moon... She's right."

The Senshi heard coughing and turned to see Luminite staggering towards them. "Stupid... Kids..."

"Leave now or die," Zero snapped.

Luminite frowned. True, she could barely breath, let alone fight them all at once. "Very well, this fight's yours, but the war's far from over!"

Zero turned back to Moon as Luminite vanished. "I'm sorry. I let anger control me and only cared about killing Luminite."

"Terry, it's okay-"

"It's not okay," Zero said. "I almost let that monster kill you."

"Stop whining," Mars snapped. The others turned to look at her in shock. "Zero, we all make mistakes, and I guess what matters is, you helped her in the end."

Zero sighed and started walking away. The others watched him go then looked around. "Wonder who Nemesis was," Moon pondered.

"I'm sure we'll see her again," Mercury commented.

Naru watched the scene from her bedroom, amused. "You can bet on that, Mercury," she whispered.

-----​

The man walked through a graveyard, inspecting each tombstone carefully. He was wearing a long, black trench coat and black hat, which hid his features from any accidental witness. He stopped in front of one of them, white marble, quite similar to many others he'd seen on his way there. It wasn't the tombstone what attracted the man, but who was buried inside. "Pieces of the puzzle, one by one I'm gathering them." He looked around before digging into his coat's pocket, producing a small insect-like robot. The robot fled down and dug into the grave's soil as the man waited.

"When my plan is ready, they won't know what hit them." The robotic insect fled out of the soil and into his hand, and the man put the small creature back into his pocket before walking away.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 1: Gathering.
Episode 13: Scorpion's Tail

By Razor Knight
Last update: January 19, 2006

-----​

"That didn't go as expected," Luminite muttered.

Nephrite and Luminite were in a large, dimly lit room somewhere in Beryl's castle. "Your youma drained that girl, so it wasn't a complete failure."

"However, I didn't find the Ginzuishou."

"Tokyo's a large city," Nephrite said. "It'd be quite remarkable if you found the Ginzuishou on your first attempt."

"So, who's our next target?"

"I haven't decided yet. But this time, I'll use one of my Zodiac youma," Nephrite said.

Luminite nodded. "Good. In the meantime, I can search for the crystal."

-----​

Terry frowned. He'd managed to get some images of Sailor Nemesis with his suit's built-in computer, but her face was blurred off them. Even stranger, when he tried to remember how she looked, her face was also impossible to visualize in his mind.

His allies... His friends were now at his mansion, as he'd called them to let them know some of his theories about the Dark Kingdom agenda and Sailor Nemesis.

"Not even the best image editing programs could make Nemesis' face look clear enough to identify," he said.

"That's a side-effect of Senshi magic," Luna said. "You will never be able to identify a Senshi's normal form."

"But I can see the others' faces when they transform," he noted.

"Because you saw them transforming," Luna said. "The spell protecting their identities is broken if the Senshi tell a person their true identity, or if a person sees them transform. But only for that person, the rest of the world will not be able to identify them."

"That's bad, then. We won't know who Nemesis is until she decides to tell us?" Rei asked.

"Most likely," Luna said. "Is that your only question?"

Terry shook his head. "No. There's also something... I've been researching on his past and found a lot of missing details."

"What's his name?" Luna asked.

"Furita... Nei Furita," Terry said.

"Nei..." Luna muttered, then her eyes widened. "Nephrite!"

"Yeah, I'd guessed that," Terry admitted. "So he's at our school looking for victims?"

"Since his monsters attacked Naru, we could assume that," Ami admitted.

"Too bad we can't ask him," Rei muttered.

Luna suddenly looked around as if she'd sensed something. "What the..."

Terry frowned. "What's wrong?" he asked as he saw Luna walking out of the room. "Curiosity killed the Mooncat," he joked.

"Funny," Luna muttered as she walked down the corridor, then entered one of the mansion's many rooms. "Here..."

Terry looked around. "Yeah, this is where I keep my collection. What's wrong with it?"

Luna looked around, as did the others. Weapons ranging from glaives to throwing stars to swords of several kinds. Luna walked to a couple familiar swords and frowned. "These are..."

"The twin Katanas I use as Zero, their name and weapon smith has been lost through the generations, but I know they belonged to an ancient clan of warriors."

"Well, you could say they belong to an ancient clan, yes," Luna said.

"What do you mean?" Ami asked.

"These are two of the Dragon Swords," Luna explained. One of them had a dark blue hilt, while the hilt of the other one was black. "The Mercury and Saturn Dragon Swords, actually."

"What are these 'Dragons'?" Terry asked.

"There were, in the past, male Senshi fighting along with the female ones. Although there were no Dragons during the last generation, the one that fought Beryl, the Dragon Swords were kept in a safe place, in case they chose a warrior."

"What you mean chose a warrior?" Rei asked.

"Much like the Sailor Senshi powers... The swords needed someone born in their house planet, and whose intentions were good."

"It'd be a bit hard to find someone born in Saturn or Mercury right now, though," Terry commented.

"Maybe, but their descendants could still be around."

"Isn't there a way I could activate them?" Terry asked.

"Did you ever feel something while holding those swords? Like the swords calling you, or a surge of energy?"

"No." Terry said.

"Then don't try it. The swords must choose you, and I don't know if either will."

"Maybe I can still use their power..."

Luna frowned. "All those who tried to in the past ended the same way... Energy overload resulting in their death."

"I think I'll forget about it," Terry said with a sigh.

"Maybe you'll be able to use them correctly someday," Luna said.

"Huh?"

"Don't worry about that for now," Luna said. "In any case, keep these swords safe, they may be useful to us someday."

"I will," Terry said, then shrugged. "Who wants something to eat?"

"You may regret asking that," Rei said nodding at Usagi.

"Hey!" Usagi snapped.

"Hey you, airhead," Rei muttered.

"We're in a room packed full of weapons, and I know how to use them. I'd advice you to stop before I'm forced to grab a mace and pummel you both quiet."

"... You're joking, right?" Usagi asked.

"Of course I am... Or am I?" Terry said in an ominous tone.

Luna frowned. "Forget the food. There's trouble, and near."

Rei nodded "I can sense them too."

"Oh well," Terry said. "Guess it's time to fool around with some youma again."

-----​

Nemesis looked down to the jewelry and frowned. "What's with them and jewelries?" she muttered.

"They must be searching for the Ginzuishou," the small grey cat besides her said.

"You think I'm up to the challenge?" The black-clad Senshi asked.

"Luminite's one of the Generals, but for what I can remember, she's one of the weakest. If you can't fight her, you won't be able to fight stronger ones, like Nephrite."

Nemesis frowned at that, but said nothing, just waited for the General to be distracted before she attacked.

-----​

"Hey, that guy's in our classroom," Zero noted.

Moon nodded. "That's Kai Rakurai."

"Rakurai?" Mars asked. "He's related to that army girl?"

"I don't know," Moon said. But we should save him."

The guy in question was now lying besides a tall, humanoid scorpion. The youma spotted the Senshi and growled. "You kids won't save him from me!"

"Shut up, Skorpicon, or whatever you're called," Zero muttered.

"My name's Spica, and I'm going to destroy you all!"

Zero produced his swords. "Let's see you try."

The Senshi frowned as Zero rushed at the scorpion. He tried a slash at the creature's chest, but was slapped away by one of his massive pincers.

"Hope the pincers don't become a habit," Moon said remembering their last battle.

"Zero, you okay?" Mercury asked.

"Been hit worse," Zero muttered standing up. "So I guess melee won't work here..."

"Haa!" Mars shouted as she leap-kicked the scorpion into a wall. "Were you saying?"

Spica growled at them then his tail rose up over his head, and started shooting small energy-charged needles. The Senshi dodged them, watching as they exploded against a wall, wrecking it.

"Shabon Spray!"

The scorpion was taken off-guard by the blast, and frowned as the area around him turned foggy. "Hey, stop hiding, Senshi!"

Zero frowned and slowly walked around the creature. He then charged from behind, ready to split him in half, but the youma leapt out of the way in the last second...

... Which put him right in front of Mars. "Fire Soul!"

"Guess he couldn't stand the heat," Zero commented as they watched the youma burn to ashes.

Kai stood up and blinked in disbelief. "Wow... So you guys really exist."

"Are you okay, Kai?" Moon asked.

"... How do you know my name?"

Moon blinked, out of ideas. She then shrugged. "We Senshi know everything."

Zero heard Mars mutter something about airheads and knowing nothing at all, and chuckled. "I think we should leave before the fangirls arrive."

"Wait... My sister was :red:ing about you guys. Something about you not keeping your word."

"..." Moon frowned. "True, we told her we'd go to her base."

"Now's as good a time as any," Zero said with a shrug.

-----​

"Gust!"

Kunzite grunted as he was slammed through a large window by the air blast. He stood up and glared at the white-clad man. "You foolish kid, I'm going to destroy you!"

Ace leapt out of the way of a large energy blast, then used his sword to deflect several smaller ones. The orange hilted sword had proven itself useful several times in the past, and while Ace on his own couldn't defeat Kunzite, he was quite a good distraction while the real powerhouse arrived. "Gust!"

Kunzite phased out of the way and chuckled. "Not going to get me again with that."

"How about... Crescent Beam!"

Kunzite turned back and backhanded the attack away. Actually, he'd used a shield spell around his hand to do that, but the Senshi and her mage friend didn't know that.

"Fireball!"

Kunzite punched the attack and shrugged. "You kids aren't a match for me."

V smirked. "So that's why we've been ruining your stupid plans for months?"

Kunzite was about to attack when he felt movement behind him, turning just in time to grab the incoming sword. It dug into his hand, but he smiled despite the pain. "Fool." He said before channeling his magic through the sword, zapping Ace and sending him rolling on the ground.

"Ace!" Venus shouted. The white-haired General turned to gloat at her, but saw her body surrounded by a thin aura of light. "That's it, bastard. You hurt him, and for that I won't let you get out of this battle unscratched," she said as she glared at him.

"Big words, but can you back them up?" Kunzite teased, resisting the urge to shiver at the amount of energy Sailor V was gathering.

V's glare deepened, and she aimed a finger at him. Kunzite didn't move, he knew he could deflect her Crescent Beam move easily. "This is for Ace," she said as she put her other hand in front of her finger, palm open and aiming at Kunzite. "Crescent... Barrage!"

The General was in awe at the new attack. Her normal laser beam channeled by her other hand, had grown in power and split into several dozens of needle-thin light blasts, which hit Kunzite even though he'd summoned an energy shield to stop it. Next thing he knew, he'd been knocked through a parked car, ending up with his back nailed into a tree.

"Now die, bastard," V growled as Kunzite tried to stand up. She aimed her hand at him again, but staggered. "No..."

Kunzite smiled despite being in a world of pain. It was really a good thing that V had no power left after that attack, because... He was in no shape to continue fighting. "You... Win this one, V," He said before vanishing.

V smiled for a second, then fainted. She felt arms around her, stopping her before she hit the ground, and looked up at Ace. "I thought..."

"I'll be fine," Ace said, "but you need to rest. Using that attack really drained you." V nodded and closed her eyes, her suit turning back to her civilian clothes. Ace sighed as he also returned to normal.

"I almost did it, huh?" Minako said weakly.

"We'll get him next time," Brad said. There was always a next time with these youma.
 
Last edited:
Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 1: Gathering.
Episode 14: Bull's Eye.

By Razor Knight
Last update: January 20, 2006

-----​

"Dark Bolt!"

Luminite grunted, falling to one knee. In the past, she could have beaten Nemesis easily, but without Metallia's power, the Senshi of Darkness was on the winning side. "This time you win, but I'll be back," she said before vanishing.

Nemesis leaned on a wall, exhausted. The battle hadn't been easy, but she'd scored a couple lucky shots. What mattered was, the evil woman hadn't found what she was looking for.

"Good job, Nemesis," the small gray cat said walking up to her.

"Sort of," Nemesis muttered. "Let's go home, Shade."

The Mooncat nodded. "Yeah, you'll need to rest and recover after that."

-----​

The two guards standing in front of the bunker's entrance frowned at the group of teenagers walking towards them. "You got the address wrong, the masquerade's two blocks down the street," the older guard joked.

Mars looked at him and frowned. "We're here to see Rakurai."

The guard nodded. "She told us about your group. You may pass."

As the Senshi walked through the door, the younger guard turned to the other one. "Wow... So they really do exist."

"Yeah, I find it hard to believe myself," the other admitted.

-----​

"Took you long enough."

Moon looked at Rakurai, who was wearing her usual military outfit, and shrugged. "We've been busy saving the city."

"So I've heard," Rakurai admitted. "In any case, follow me."

"Gotta admit the facade's good," Zero commented.

"Facade?"

"Yeah. Outside, anyone walking by sees only a small bunker. But the actual base is way bigger."

"That's the idea... Our branch of the army isn't quite known."

"Branch?" Mercury asked.

"You could say we're the Area 51 of Japan," the woman joked. "Anyway, here we are."

The Senshi walked through the door and into a large office. Inside were two men, one wearing a lab coat, with gray hair and glasses, and the other wearing an outfit much like Seia's.

"General Kino, Dr. Tomoe, these are the Sailor Senshi," Rakurai said.

Kino stood up. "It's good to finally know you. Though you don't look that dangerous in person."

"You should see them shooting fire blasts and slicing things to pieces," Rakurai muttered.

"Interesting..." The scientist, Tomoe, said as he produced what looked like a Ghost-busters' scanner.

"What's that thing?" Moon asked as he pointed the artifact at them.

"An energy scanner," Tomoe said. "And from it's readings... No, this thing must be malfunctioning."

"Why?" Mercury asked.

"The energy levels you have right now are too high for a human body to stand," he explained. "Well, except for the ninja, his energy is only a bit over normal levels."

"My name's Zero," the black-clad ninja said, "and I know what you mean. The Senshi are not quite normal humans, each of them seem to be attuned with a certain element."

"Interesting. So they are magicians," Tomoe said.

"Putting all science and magic talk aside," Kino said, "I wanted to talk to you because I have a few doubts about what we're facing."

"The youma," Mercury said, "are evil creatures, and their goal is taking over the planet."

"Why aren't there reports of their attacks all around the world, then?" Rakurai asked.

Mercury frowned. "That's something we don't know... But we're aware of youma being fought in the States and also in England."

"Being fought by who?" Kino asked.

"Sailor Senshi, like us," Mars said.

"Their main objective seems to be here," Mercury added. "We don't know what it is, though, but it's our mission to stop whatever they're planning."

"So the world's about to be invaded by monsters, and our only hope is a group of short-skirted teenage girls and a ninja," Rakurai muttered.

"You really shouldn't say that in front of them," Zero said. "I know at least one of them could turn you into an ash pile in seconds."

"What can we do to help?" Kino asked.

"Stay out of our way."

The group turned to stare at the black cat who'd just leapt on Moon's shoulder. "A talking cat?" Seia muttered.

"Mooncat," Luna corrected. "I'm Luna, and I'm the one that knows the most about youma and their plans."

"You could inform us," Zero muttered.

"Was going to," Luna snapped, "but you decided to come socialize with the army. In any case... I figured out what Luminite's up to."

"You did?" Moon asked.

Luna nodded. "I saw her fight Nemesis right outside a jewelry. She must be looking for the Ginzuishou."

"Silver Crystal?" Kino said. "I assume that's some sort of weapon?"

Luna nodded. "If we get it before they do, we could turn the tide to our favor. But if the youma get it first, their power will grow infinitely."

"What about the Princess?" Mars asked.

"No idea, that's what I was looking for when I saw Luminite and Nemesis fight."

"Nemesis? Is that another Senshi?" Rakurai guessed.

"Yes, but we don't know who she really is," Mercury admitted.

"Which takes me to the question... Who are you under those disguises?" Tomoe asked.

"We can't tell you," Moon said.

"Why?"

"Just... Don't ask," Moon said.

"I understand," Kino said. "You look young, not older than fifteen, I'd guess. If your true identities leaked out, you would have your normal lives disrupted."

"Don't they already?" Seia muttered.

Mars shrugged. "Not really. I guess... We adapted to this. It's almost as if we knew we were destined for this."

"You were," Luna said.

Kino frowned. "All that's good, but you can't tell us to stay out of the way. This is our city, and our job's defending it."

"Human weapons can't do much against youma," Luna said. "You'd need an entire battalion to take down a single youma, something Moon's done on her own, in the past months, several times."

Seia snorted. "Bull:red:. One rocket to the head and I bet any of those youma should be dust in the wind."

"You're welcome to try, but we're not here to babysit your toy soldiers," Zero said.

"What the... Who are you anyways?"

Moon stepped in front of Zero. "Zero, stop it." She then turned to Rakurai and sighed. "Zero's my ally and my friend, and while his words may be rude, he's right." She looked at the General. "Please, this is not because we want to take all the credit. Stay out of our battles, because those youma won't hesitate to kill anyone attacking them."

Luna blinked at Moon's words. Usagi could be quite selfish and naive, but she had moments like this one, where she showed just how much of the situation she understood.

Kino sighed and shook his head. "Right. We'll stay out of the way for the time being, but... I can't promise the same about the local police. And we'll start researching to build weapons that can destroy those monsters."

Luna rose an eyebrow. "That would be good. We may need your help, should the youma gather enough energy to start their invasion."

-----​

Next morning, Furita walked into the classroom, and cringed. He couldn't help but be disgusted by these inferior creatures, these humans. But he needed to keep his teacher act, since he'd sensed quite a lot of students who possessed a high level of life energy. He had gathered more energy in his two first attempts than Jadeite had in the month he had been in charge.

However, there was something bothering him. Nemesis. He needed to see her with his own eyes, to make sure it wasn't the same Nemesis he remembered... Sailor Nemesis, Princess Nadia.

He frowned as he looked at a boy with thick glasses. 'Gurio's energy is specially high today. Guess my youma will visit him later. And I'll be there in case Nemesis shows up.'

-----​

Usagi was walking home when she heard it. A girl's scream, and she sounded like Naru. Were the youma after her again?. Dashing down the street as fast as she could, she didn't see the guy turning around the corner until it was too late.

She did, however, feel the impact as she unwillingly tackled him. The guy staggered back, but Usagi wasn't as lucky, and fell on her butt. "Oh, it's you, Odango."

That jerk again? Usagi glared at the tall, black-haired guy as she stood up, then shrugged. "I don't have time for your insults," she said as she dashed off.

The guy watched her go with a smirk, then frowned. "Youma..." He walked into an alley, and seconds later, Tuxedo Kamen walked out of it.

-----​

By the time the blonde Senshi reached the scene, he could see things weren't looking good. A bull-like humanoid youma was holding Umino by the neck, as Naru tried to free him by kicking the monster.

"Naru, get out of here," Sailor Moon shouted.

Naru frowned. She couldn't let that creature get Umino, but she wasn't much of a help like this. "All right, I'll try getting some help," she said before dashing off.

After running for a few blocks, she finally found a place with no witnesses. She closed her eyes and shouted, "Nemesis Planet Power!" and the transformation begun. Darkness swirled around her body, slowly closing in on her, and forming her suit. "Now I'll show that bully not to mess with my friends," Sailor Nemesis muttered as she run back to the battle.

-----​

"Moon Tiara Action!"

The bull didn't move, and Moon cheered. However, before the weapon could hit, a hand snatched it off it's path. A brown-haired man dressed like a Dark Kingdom General. "Hmm... Interesting weapon, though quite weak."

Moon gasped. "Hey, give that thing back!"

"Okay," Nephrite said and tossed it back at Moon. She dove out of the way with a screech, then gasped as she saw it embedding itself into a wall. A rose hissed by and struck the ground in front of Nephrite. He looked up and frowned. "The Phantom of the Opera is here."

Tuxedo frowned and leapt down, trying to pummel the General with his cane. However, he forgot about the bull youma, but was reminded of him as he tackled the caped hero into a tree.

"That takes care of..." Nephrite started, then smirked as he saw three more figures coming his way. "Well, well, the whole freak show's here."

"You call us freaks? Don't you have a mirror?" Zero snapped as he floated into the scene, along with the rest of the Senshi team.

Mars frowned, not in the mood for taunting. "Fire Soul!"

"Dark Bolt!"

The Senshi gasped as Nemesis' attack cancelled Mars' one. Moon was just done tearing her tiara off the wall, and looked up at Nemesis. "Why did you do that?"

"Is she with the enemy?" Mercury pondered.

"It is really you..." Nephrite said.

Nemesis walked up to him. "Neir... Why are you doing this?"

"I'm not human anymore, Nadia," Nephrite said. "Youma once ruled over this planet, and we'll do it again."

The other Senshi moved, and Nemesis frowned. "Don't attack him."

"I don't think you're a real Senshi," Mars said. "You must be one of
them, in disguise."

"Me?" Nemesis chuckled. "I'm not. I bet you don't remember a thing about your past, do you?" Mars shook her head. "Well, I do. I remember Neir... Nephrite... We were in love back then, and I think he still feels the same way."

"I don't," Nephrite lied.

"If you didn't, you would've shot me while we spoke. I know you were never one for subtleties in combat," Nemesis commented.

"I..." Nephrite started, then shrugged. "Bullee, destroy the Senshi!"

Nemesis sighed as Nephrite vanished. Then she noticed the bull monster coming her way and shrugged. "Dark Bolt!"

The youma howled as he was sent flying back by the darkness blast. Zero frowned and used his board as a shield, stopping the bull's flight. "Moon..."

Moon nodded. "Moon Tiara Action!"

Mercury turned to glare at Nemesis. "You have a lot of explaining to do."

"I don't need to explain a thing to any of you. I love Nephrite, and I won't let you hurt him."

"If you get in our way again, I'm not going to hold back," Mars snapped.

"Neither will I," Nemesis said with a shrug, then leapt into a nearby rooftop.

"What a :red:," Mars muttered as the Senshi of Darkness vanished from view.

Zero frowned. "I wouldn't like to mess with her, though."

"why?"

"Her power level is almost as high as Moon's," he explained.

"... Aren't we all equally strong?" Mars asked.

Zero smiled. "Not really. Believe it or not, Moon's the strongest of you three, Mercury being the weaker... But that's only when it comes to magic. Mercury has brain power, and you have melee skills. However Nemesis... She's almost as strong as Moon, and that's not a good thing for us right now."

"Stronger or not, next time she gets in our way, I'm going to beat her senseless," Mars said then walked away.

"Maybe Nemesis was right," Moon said.

"What do you mean?" Mercury asked.

"Nephrite didn't blast her. He had plenty of time to do so, but he didn't do it... Maybe he does love her."

"Not like that changes a thing for us," Zero said. "We will still need to fight him again, and same with Luminite."

"... Where's Naru?"

Only then the group noticed Umino was up, though visibly tired after the draining. "Uhm... We told her to stay away from the scene," Moon said.

"Oh..." Umino sighed. "So you got rid of that bull freak. Thanks."

"Go look for her, she must be worried about you," Moon said.

Umino nodded and walked off. Zero frowned. "Is it just me..."

Moon chuckled. "They're pretty much a couple, even if neither will admit it."

Zero nodded, then looked in the direction Nemesis had run to. 'Even if she's a Senshi, Mars is right. She messes with us again, and she'll get hurt.'

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 1: Gathering.
Episode 15: Friend Or Foe?

By Razor Knight
Last update: January 25, 2006

-----​

"Gale Fist!"

The ant-like youma was blasted to pieces by the air attack, and Uranus turned to her side. Pluto was waiting for them to finish, her daily beating of Dexite already over, while Dragon Sun had turned to look at the wounded Neptune. "Are you okay, Michiru?" the blonde-haired Senshi asked.

"I'll live," Neptune said as sat on the ground, looking down at her bleeding leg.

"Want me to carry you home?" Sun joked. Uranus frowned at him then helped Neptune up, and the green-haired Senshi put an arm over her shoulder. Pluto walked to Dragon Sun as he watched them walk out of the building. "What did I say?" he muttered, then rose an eyebrow as he noticed Neptune was leaning on Uranus' shoulder.

"I thought you had noticed it already, Kage," Pluto said. "Those two have a... Special relationship."

Sun shrugged. "I suspected something like that," he admitted. "Where did you find those two, anyways?"

Pluto turned back to her civilian form and smiled. "I'll answer that later, first let's get Michiru to a hospital."

-----​

Setsuna patiently waited as she was shown several kids. True, she'd gone to that orphanage to adopt a couple kids, but she already knew which ones she wanted. The two she had sensed were the reincarnation of two of the Sailor Senshi.

And there they were. Walking side by side, the two ten years old girls looked up at her with a certain air of apathy. One of them had short blonde hair and blue eyes, wearing blue shorts and t-shirt, and the other had light green hair and blue eyes, her green summer dress a mix of patches and dirt. All in all neither looked too impressive. Unless you could sense their magic energy, a thing Setsuna was able to.

"These two," the woman said. "Are they good girls?"

The man in charge of the orphanage chuckled. "They've been in seven different foster houses each, escaped from six and were returned from the last, which adopted them both, after they beat up their step-brother."

"Kid was a pest," the blonde muttered.

Setsuna looked at her, and for a second she thought she saw a hint of pride in her eyes as she remembered their lattest foster family. "Well, I'm sure we can get along if we all try," she said. Not like their past selves were a hundred percent 'proper princesses' either, she mused to herself.

"You sure you don't want to see any other kid before making your choice?" the man asked.

"Yes, I'm sure," Setsuna said.

The man shrugged and went to look for the adoption papers. As long as the woman paid, he really had no complaints. He'd also get rid of those two boyish brats, at least for a while.


-----​

A couple hours later, the girls were sitting in a sofa inside Setsuna's house. She'd asked them several questions and the two girls had answered in an almost drone-like fashion. It was a given they had been asked the same questions in the past, and they were boring of answering them.

To put it simple, their parents had died in a fire, both girls lived in the same building back then, and neither had living relatives to take care of them. They seemed about to give up finding a new family, and Setsuna couldn't blame them from what they'd told her.

"I can see your lives have been pretty rough," she said. "I won't tell you I can make life easier for you, but I can make it more... Interesting."

The blonde, Haruka, frowned. "That's a first." The other girl, Michiru didn't comment on that.

Setsuna smiled. Time to drop the bomb. "So, have you two ever had strange dreams?"

"Define strange," Haruka said.

"Castles, monsters, two armies battling, and you in strange outfits," Setsuna said.

Michiru blinked in disbelief. "How do you know about those dreams?"

"I was there... Well, not literally, but I know that battle happened. What you dreamt of are your past lives."

"Bull:red:," Haruka muttered.

"Such language," Setsuna mused. "I know what to do to make you believe me," she stood up, her Garnet Staff appearing in her left hand, and closed her eyes. "Pluto Planet Power!"

As the transformation ended, she could see both girls were staring up at her in shock. "I know who you are!" Haruka said.

"You do?" Pluto asked. Could their memory really be restored so easily?

Haruka laughed. "Yeah. You're the Ghost of Christmas Past!"

Maybe not.


-----​

Naru frowned. It was too obvious, and she wasn't surprised at all when she figured out who Nei Furita was. Knowing who the Senshi were, on the other hand, wasn't as easy.

"What's on your mind?"

She turned back and saw Umino walking a few meters behind her. "Oh, hi Umino."

"Hi..." The boy waited for a few seconds before trying again. "Is it Furita?"

"What do you mean?" Naru asked.

"I've noticed how you stare at him, and he doesn't mind the attention. You've got a crush on him, don't you?"

Naru shrugged. "Why would you care?"

"Because I'm your friend. The guy's too old for you, and he's also a bit creepy."

If only you knew, Naru mused. "What's the matter, are you jealous?"

It was Umino's turn to shrug. "Why would I, it's not like I'm your boyfriend."

Naru stopped as Umino walked by, glaring at the boy's back as he walked away. True, he wasn't her boyfriend, and he didn't have a reason to be jealous. None at all. Then why had his words hit her like a slap to the face?

-----​

Meanwhile, a few blocks away, Usagi and Terry were inside Crown Arcades.

"So this is where you slack off?" Terry asked.

Usagi nodded. "You could say that. I come here often."

"And she always loses, no matter what she's playing."

Both turned to look at the tall, black-haired guy, and Usagi glared at him. "You again..."

"Yeah, it's nice to see you again, Odango," the guy said.

"Odango..." Terry said with a chuckle.

"Why can't you leave me alone?" Usagi muttered.

"I'm only here because my friend Motoki needed help," the guy said. "So, Odango, I'll leave you and your boyfriend alone."

"My name's Usagi!" the blonde shouted at the guy's back as he walked away. "And he's not my boyfriend!"

Terry noticed everyone was staring at them now, and shot glares around at the crowd, causing most of them to return to their games.

"Don't mind my brother, he's quite the jerk when he wants to be one."

Terry looked at the girl that had just walked to them. Taller than even him, with long, wavy black hair and brown eyes, and she looked tough enough to punch him out cold in a second. That wasn't stopping him from staring, though. "Hello... Karin, right?" Usagi asked.

The girl nodded. "Karin Chiba, and that guy you just sent off crying is Mamoru, my older brother." The girl then turned to Terry. "Hey million boy, put those eyes of yours back in their sockets, someone might step on them."

Terry shrugged. "I can't help but staring at cute girls. Take it as a compliment."

"I will, but my brother won't," Karin said before walking off.

"Place's full of weirdos," Terry muttered.

"You're right," Umino said somehow popping up in-between them.

"Stop doing that!" Usagi snapped.

"Agreed," Terry muttered.

"Anyways... Usagi, I wanted to talk to you..."

"About what?" Usagi asked the nerdy guy.

"Uh..."

"Let me guess, about Naru?" Terry asked.

"Yes. She's been acting weird lately."

"Weird?" Usagi asked.

"Can't quite put a finger in it, but... It all started when that Furita man showed up," Umino said. "I can tell she's got a crush on him, and I don't like it."

"Jealous?" Terry asked.

"Not at all. I just don't want one of my best friends to be hurt, I know that guy's up to something."

"Well, I'll talk to her and see what I can do," Usagi said.

"Thanks," Umino said and walked out of the building.

Terry frowned. He had quite a good guess on who Nemesis was now, but he would keep it to himself until he was a hundred percent sure.

"What was that?" Usagi asked as a scream could be heard outside.

"Someone must've seen Umino's face," Terry joked.

Usagi sighed. "Let's just go and see what the critter of the day is."

-----​

When Moon and Zero reached their goal, however, the scene wasn't quite what they had expected. Karin was standing in between her unconscious brother and a lion-like youma.

"I see a pattern here," Zero commented.

"Huh?"

"Scorpio, Taurus, now Leo... Anyways, think the girl needs help?"

Karin answered that as she rushed the lion, tackling it into a brick wall.

"Whoa. She's strong, no kidding," Moon said.

Karin looked back at them. "Guess I owe Chie an ice cream," she muttered under her breath. "I can pretty much keep this thing under control," she snapped back at them.

"Yes, but there's also me," Luminite said as she appeared in front of her.

"Listen, you can't fight these monsters on your own," Zero said.

"I was doing just that before you guys arrived," Karin muttered.

The lion laughed. "I was just toying with you, human. You'll be an extra for Nephrite!" With that, he charged at Karin...

... But the black-haired girl sidestepped and elbowed him in the back as he rushed by, sending him rolling towards the Senshi.

"Moon Tiara Action!"

Zero shrugged as the youma was vaporized. "May I...?"

Moon sighed. "Like I can talk you out of doing it."

"Agreed," Zero said then charged at Luminite.

"Not you again!" Luminite snapped as she parried Zero's slash with her energy blades.

"I'm not passing up the chance to make you pay for it, snow white."

"And I'm not passing up the chance to correct my mistake," Luminite retorted.

"Your only mistake..." Zero said, "was crossing me." With that, he left a half dozen spheres around Luminite and leapt away. "Say cough."

As Luminite coughed inside a gas cloud, the Senshi turned to Karin. "Take your brother somewhere safe, we'll take care of that woman," Moon said.

Karin nodded and dragged her brother away. The Senshi turned back to the battle to see Luminite still there, only now Nephrite was standing by her side. "We've had enough of you, Senshi."

Zero snorted at that. "And I've had enough of you freaks disrupting peace."

Nephrite chuckled as he produced a long, thin crystal sword. "Let's see what you can do."

"Gladly!" Zero snapped and rushed at him.

"Dark Bolt!"

Moon gasped as Zero was hit by an energy blast, then saw Nemesis leap down from a nearby rooftop. "He's mine," the Senshi of Darkness said.

Zero growled at her "That's it!"

Moon gasped as Zero rushed Nemesis, slashing and stabbing as the black-clad Senshi tried her best to dodge. "Zero, no!"

"Shut up," Zero shouted, coldly.

Moon was about to say something when she saw Luminite aiming her hand at Zero. "Oh no, you won't. Moon Tiara Action!"

Luminite screamed in pain as the tiara slapped her hand back. She growled then saw Mars and Mercury had just arrived. "Well damn..."

Nephrite shrugged. "Let's leave these kids to their games."

Luminite nodded. "We got some energy off this, so I agree."

Nemesis didn't notice the two Generals leaving, she didn't notice the other Senshi telling Zero to stop. She couldn't spare a second to think about anything but dodging the swords... True, Nemesis' magic power was high, but Zero didn't leave her a split second to breathe, let alone summon her attack. If this kept up... She leapt up dodging a sideways slash, then paled as she felt her back touching a brick wall. Zero put his sword right in front of her neck and chuckled.

"Zero, don't do it!" Moon pleaded.

"Do what?" Zero snapped as he stabbed with his swords, each to one side of Nemesis' head, inches away from her.

Nemesis fell to her knees, her face pale. "Why...?"

Zero shrugged. "Why? First, I'm not a murderer. Second, I think I'd act the same way you do if anyone was trying to harm someone I loved, even if that person was evil. And third... I'm not going to hurt one of my friends, Naru."

Nemesis' eyes widened. "What?"

"Naru?" Moon asked.

Nemesis gasped as Zero's helm vanished. "Terry? But..."

Moon sighed, and the three Senshi turned back to their normal forms. "I'd never imagine you were Nemesis."

Nemesis' suit vanished too, replaced by her civilian clothing. Naru, however, backed away as Terry took a step towards her. "No!"

Zero sighed. "I told you, I'm not going to hurt you."

"You looked quite eager to do so a minute ago," Usagi admitted.

"Not at all," Rei said. "Bet he was holding back."

Naru frowned. "Holding back?"

Terry chuckled. "You know, you were only able to dodge me because I wasn't fighting for real."

Naru could feel her face paling again. "I- I'm sorry I attacked you earlier, if I had known-"

"You didn't know," Terry said.

"Now what?" Naru asked. "I can't fight you guys... But..."

"Nephrite's evil," Rei said. "You should know he's probably not the same person you knew..."

"You're wrong," Moon said. "Nephrite didn't attack her today, just like last time."

"Listen, I'm going to try and talk to him. I know who he is passing as-"

"Nei Furita," Terry said.

Naru nodded. "I'm sure he'll listen to me."

"And if he doesn't?" Rei asked.

"If he doesn't- If the Neir I used to know is really gone, and Nephrite's truly evil, then I'll kill him myself."

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 1: Gathering.
Episode 16: The Lady Of Thunder.

By Razor Knight
Last update: February 25, 2006

-----​

"So Naru was Nemesis? That was unexpected."

Usagi nodded at Luna. She'd finished telling her about their latest encounter with Nephrite as they walked towards Terry's mansion. Naru had told them she'd introduce her Mooncat to them.

"Here we are," Luna commented. Usagi looked at the mansion. It was, indeed, the largest house she'd seen, large enough to have it's own zip code... Or three. She was about to press the intercom button when the large metal gate slid open.

"Seen you coming from a mile away," Terry's voice said through the intercom.

"That guy's got issues," Luna muttered as they walked into the front yard.

-----​

Luna blinked in disbelief as she saw the other Mooncat. "Shade?"

Shade nodded. "Good to see you again, Luna. I can see you've been busy."

Rei shrugged. "You guys should've come speak to us sooner."

Naru sighed. "Sorry, I guess I was too focused in Nephrite."

"I know how that goes," Terry admitted.

"How are you going to speak to him, though?" Ami asked the red-haired girl.

"Easy. Nemesis will pay Nei Furita a visit. I've been researching and know where his... Base is."

"We'll go with you," Usagi said.

Naru shook her head. "No. He won't hurt me, I'm sure of that."

Terry shrugged. "One thing I've noticed... You girls never train, do you?"

"Train? What for?" Usagi asked.

"Well, sure these youma are easy to beat, but we don't know if there's stronger ones out there," Terry said.

"There are," Shade said. "Luminite and Nephrite aren't the strongest Generals, and their troops aren't as dangerous as those of Zoicite or Kunzite, for example."

Terry nodded. "Really... We're having problems beating these goons. What will happen when the strongest ones come charging at us?"

"I don't think Ami or Usagi could be good at melee. No offense, girls," Rei said.

"You may be right," Terry admitted, "but that's not the only way to fight."

Usagi sighed. "I'm already busy enough with studying and fighting youma."

Terry smiled at her. "I know. But I also know training may make that last bit easier for you. Don't mind me, though, I'm just tossing ideas at you girls."

"The idea is good," Luna admitted, "but right now, we need to focus in fighting the youma whenever they show up."

Terry frowned. That wasn't the only idea he had to help them, but he was keeping all others for himself, until he saw a way to make them viable.

-----​

Next morning, Usagi walked into her classroom, to find most of her classmates already there. "Well, at least I didn't get here after miss Haruna."

Terry nodded as she sat down besides him. "Quite a feat, for what Umino's told me."

Usagi frowned at that, but then noticed a girl walking into the classroom. A girl she'd never seen before. She was quite tall, almost as tall as Terry, with brown hair tied in a high ponytail, and green eyes. The girl walked past them, frowning as she noticed Terry staring at her.

"Not a social person I suppose?" Terry asked turning around.

The girl had chosen a seat right behind Terry, and shrugged as he again stared. "You're supposing wrong, I just didn't feel like interrupting whatever you two were talking about."

Usagi smiled at her. "My name's Usagi Tsukino."

The girl nodded. "Makoto Kino. And I'm sure I know who you are," he added looking at Terry.

"Terry Zephyr," Terry said.

Usagi rose an eyebrow at that. 'Kino, like the general?'

"One would think the son of a millionaire would be able to find a private school to go to," Mako commented.

"I hate snobs," Terry said. "But why have you been transferred here anyways?"

"Let's just say I didn't like my old school a lot," Mako said.

"Gotcha."

"Stop staring," Mako muttered.

"I can't help but stare at beautiful young ladies," Terry explained.

Mako shrugged. "I can't help but beat up those who can't stop staring at me." Terry finally got the hint and turned around.

-----​

Later that day, Nei Furita was on the school's roof, looking down at the students in the patio. "Hmm... Don't see anyone special today," he commented to himself, not knowing he wasn't alone on the roof.

"You know, your disguise wouldn't fool me for a split second, Nephrite."

Furita turned around and frowned as he saw Nemesis standing there. "How did you...?"

"That's none of your business," Nemesis said. "Listen, while I do remember about you and me in the past... I also remember what you did to me. I loved you, Nephrite, and you killed me without hesitation."

"I didn't want to do it myself, but Beryl ordered me to."

"I see. So you're Beryl's pet."

"If I was, I wouldn't hold back fighting you," Furita said. "I still want to be by your side, but..."

Nemesis frowned. "The old Neir, the one I loved back then... I can see he's still in there, under that rotten youma surface."

"So what will you do? You can't change who I am now."

"Maybe. But I'd rather see you dead than letting you live on as Beryl's puppet."

"Are you threatening me?" Furita asked, amused.

"That's no threat," Nemesis said, "but a promise. I won't rest until I free you from your curse."

"You could do it, right here, right now," Furita noted.

"So I could..." Nemesis muttered and leapt off the roof. Furita considered chasing after her for a second, but then heard the bell ring and shrugged.

-----​

Makoto walked down the street, heading towards her house. Well, her uncle's house, actually. This wasn't the first time she switched schools, and she was sure it wouldn't be the last.

She stopped dead in her track as the windows of a shop she'd just passed by exploded outwards. "What the hell?" She risked looking inside, and gasped. There was a pale, white-haired woman in some sort of military uniform there, along with a creature that looked like a... Humanoid crab, complete with massive pincers. "These must be those creatures I heard rumors of," she whispered.

"Damn it, the Ginzuishou isn't here either!" the woman said furiously.

"Hey ugly!"

The woman turned around, along with the crab monster, and laughed at the teenager girl standing right outside the jewelry. "Stupid human kid, get lost before I'm forced to destroy you."

"I was talking to the crab, but you're ugly too," Makoto commented.

"... That's it, kid, you just lost your chance. Korabus, do your worst."

Makoto frowned as the monster charged out of the shop. She waited until it was close enough, and punched it in the stomach. The monster's strong exo-skeleton resisted the blow, but he staggered back. "Want more?"

The creature growled at her. "Humans aren't supposed to be that strong."

Makoto shrugged then dove aside, dodging the monster's pincer swipe. She kicked out from the ground, knocking the monster down, then stood up with a shrug. "I don't know what you're trying to do here, but you clearly suck at it."

Luminite was about to help Korabus, but as she walked out of the jewelry, she was literally tackled by Zero. "Damn it, not you again!"

"Funny, I was about to say the same thing," Zero snapped as he punched Luminite in the guts, making her stagger back.

Meanwhile, Moon, Mars and Nemesis were unsure of what to do. Makoto was still busily beating the monster around, and the crab didn't look like it had a chance to counter.

Luna leapt off a nearby tree and frowned. "I feel something strange in that girl."

"She's not a youma, since she's kicking that crab's rear," Nemesis commented.

Luna turned to see Mako elbowing the crab, and nodded. "Of course she's not a youma. But she won't be able to defeat that monster without your help."

Korabus finally got fed up with the human girl, and shot a blast of energy at her as she tried to tackle him again. Mako was sent flying a few meters back and fell painfully on her back. "Damn it... That hurt."

The crab tried to attack her, but stopped as the three Senshi stood in between him and his prey. "Get lost, kids," he warned.

"Dark Bolt!" the blast knocked the crab back, and Nemesis shrugged. "No, thanks, I think I'll stay here and kick you around."

Suddenly, there was an explosion sound and a choked gasp, and Mars went crashing to the ground as Zero's semi-conscious form fell on her. "What the-?"

Luminite smirked. "Tsk, tsk, stupid ninja boy shouldn't expect me to always let him win." Mars muttered some unladylike words as she got up, then tried a high kick to Luminite's head. "Please..." Luminite muttered as she grabbed Mars' leg, sending a wave of energy through her hand into her body.

Moon gasped as Mars screamed in pain. "Let her go!"

"Okay," Luminite said and tossed Mars like a rag doll, knocking Moon down to the ground.

Makoto frowned as she watched the scene. "I wish I could help them..."

"Maybe you can," Luna said.

Makoto looked at the cat and sighed. After fighting a crab monster and seeing the Senshi weren't just a myth, a talking cat didn't look as weird as it would if she'd seen it five minutes ago. "What do you mean?" she asked the cat.

"I sense it in you," Luna said, "you're one of them."

"Me, but..." Mako started.

"Don't you want to help them?" Luna asked.

"Yes, I think they need any help they can get."

"Then say the words 'Jupiter Planet Power' and you'll be able to help them."

Makoto frowned. The whole situation looked like something out of a superhero magazine. However, she made her mind as she saw Luminite shooting energy blasts at the three Senshi, who did their best to dodge. The crab-like creature stood near them, ready to use their distraction to his advantage.

"Jupiter Planet Power!"

Luminite turned as she heard that, and saw a woman standing there, her form blurred by the lightning rings that rotated around her. "What the hell? Not another one!"

"Fire Soul!"

Luminite turned her attention to the other Senshi. "Korabus, take care of them!"

Korabus moved to attack the Senshi, but never got the change. The new Senshi rushed at him, delivering a powerful blow with her right hand. Luminite gasped as she saw a crack on the crab's chest. The Senshi then punched the crab up with an uppercut, and prepared to finish it.

A small antenna grew out of her tiara, gathering electricity from the air around her. "Jupiter..." She crossed her arms in front of her chest in an X-shape, then swung both fists down and forwards, creating a massive lightning bolt that sped towards the airborne monster. "Supreme Thunder!"

The other Senshi gasped as the crab exploded in mid-air. "Wow..." Moon said. "I'd never thought you were one of us."

The new Senshi turned to face Luminite, ignoring Moon. "So, Snow White, still want to fight?"

Luminite chuckled. "I don't know where you came from, but I'm going to enjoy beating you down." She then sensed movement behind her and dodged aside, but she wasn't fast enough. A blade stuck out of her arm, and she yelped in pain.

"Gotcha." Zero muttered.

Luminite punched Zero in the chest with her good arm, sending him staggering back, then pulled the sword out of her arm. "Damn..."

"Supreme..." The new Senshi started.

"Screw this, I'm gone," Luminite muttered before vanishing.

Zero grabbed his sword as it fell to the ground. "Next time I'll aim for her neck."

The new Senshi frowned. "Okay, so... Who the hell are you all?"

Moon smiled at her. "Don't worry, Makoto."

"You know me?"

Moon nodded and her suit was replaced by her civilian clothes. "Of course."

"Tsukino?"

"Call me Usagi, all my friends do," Usagi said.

"Then... Call me Mako. Sailor Jupiter."

Zero came walking towards them and smirked at her. "You know, you look way better in that suit."

Jupiter frowned at him, then gasped as his 'mask' vanished. "Zephyr?"

"Guess we need to fill you in on what we're fighting against," Usagi said. "That is, if you want to be a part of our group."

Jupiter shrugged. "I guess- Those two looked like bullies, and I hate bullies." She noticed Zero still staring at her and frowned. "I thought I told you to stop that."

Zero took a step back as Jupiter's gloves cracked with electricity. "Okay, okay... Just keep the sparks away, my suit's allergic to them."

"So... Who's the leader?" Jupiter asked.

"Sailor Moon, technically," Luna said, "but I'm the one that knows the most about what we're facing." She then looked at Terry. "I think we should use your mansion as a meeting place from now on."

Zero shrugged. "Not like I have a lot of guests there all the time."

Mars turned to Nemesis. "So, how did your meeting with Nephrite go?"

"It was useless. He's Beryl's pet now," Nemesis said.

The group looked around, making sure there were no witnesses, then they all changed back to their civilian forms. Mako looked at Terry as his suit was 'absorbed' by his watch. "That's one weird way to change your outfit."

"Says the lady who changes amidst a sphere of lightning," Terry mused.

"Touche," Mako muttered.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 2: Rainbow Crystals.
Episode 17: Demons Within.

By Razor Knight
Last update: May 17, 2006

-----​

He looked around and frowned. Again, the same landscape. Gray, dull and deserted. Looking up, he could see something he was used to now. The Earth up in the sky, surrounded by stars. He knew where he was, but how could he be there? It defied all logic.

"Endymion..."

The name and the voice sounded familiar. He'd been having the same dream every night for a while, but he always woke up before seeing her face. Because it was clearly a woman's voice. So, he'd be waking up anytime now...

"Endymion, you must help me."

He turned around and took a step back. A figure stood there, floating a meter over the ground, and he could see the stars right behind her. Was this woman a ghost?

"Who are you?"

"That's not important. You have to help me. Gather the seven Rainbow Crystals and give them to the Moon Princess. If they fall in the wrong hands, the Earth will be doomed."

"The Moon Princess? Who is she?"

"You will know when the time's right," the woman said. "Help her. Help my daughter, Endymion."

-----​

Mamoru opened his eyes and sighed. That dream, what did it mean? His mission, just like his power, was a mistery to him. Crystals, princesses and demons... If he didn't know better, he'd say he was in a live version of Final Fantasy. His enemies, the youma, seemed to be always one step ahead, but he could use that fact to find those crystals easily. The Senshi, whoever they were, would take care of the youma, and he could focus in getting the crystals before either side did.

-----​

"Students, today we have a new student, transferred from the Mugen institute. Ryo, why don't you introduce yourself to the class?"

The boy was short, with short brown hair and eyes. He nodded to Haruna as he walked up to her desk, then turned to the class. "My name's Ryo Urawa, I've lived in several parts of the country in the last few years thanks to my father's job... And I hope I can make some friends here too."

"Nothing else to add?" Haruna asked.

Ryo shook his head. Nothing he'd want the class to know, at least.

-----​

Later that day, the group was meeting inside the Zephyr mansion.

"There's something about that Ryo guy..." Terry said. "For some reason, I don't like him."

"Jealous?" Mako asked.

"Of what?"

"I don't know. But he looks like my ex... Somehow."

"I think," Ami interjected. "From his records, he's quite smart, he's always been on top of his class despite switching schools once or twice a year."

"Still... Wonder if he's another one?" Naru mused.

"What do you mean?" Rei asked.

"Well, so far in our class, one of the transfer students ended up being a Senshi, and the other a ..." She looked at Terry. "Sidekick."

"Interesting theory," Ami admitted, "but lacks any real proof."

Rei nodded. "Question now is, what are Nephrite and Luminite planning next?"

"You guys stay here and figure it out, I'm going shopping," Usagi said.

"You could also try studying," Terry muttered.

"Done already," Usagi said.

"Amazing," Rei said. "Anyways, I guess I'll tag along. Need to buy a gift for grandfather, his birthday's next week."

"Count me in," Naru said.

"Me too... Nothing better to do," Mako admitted.

"I'll pass," Terry said. "I've been trying to figure out where that Ginzuishou is, I think I'm close to the answer."

"I'll stay too," Ami said.

Usagi frowned. "Ami?"

"Maybe we'll find something about that in my computer. Also, two brains think better than one."

"You're one, and the other one is...?" Rei muttered. That earned her a glare from Terry.

Usagi sighed. "Oh well... You'll miss the fun."

Ami smiled. "Research's fun too."

"Uhh... Suits you," Usagi muttered.

As the others left, Ami turned to Terry. "So, any theories about the Ginzuishou?"

Terry nodded. "I've got a few."

-----​

Zoicite bowed to Beryl. "My Queen, I've figured out why Nephrite and Luminite are having no luck in getting the pieces of the Ginzuishou."

Beryl nodded. "Interesting. I'm listening."

"The crystals aren't static. They've been moving around the city."

"How is that possible?"

Cardite walked out of the shadows. "We thought that was strange too. Our best guess is, the seven pieces of the Ginzuishou are hidden inside several human beings."

"I see..." Beryl fell silent for several minutes, considering the two Generals' discovery, and finally spoke up. "Very well. Nephrite and Luminite will continue draining energy when possible, but most of our attention must be focused in getting the Ginzuishou. Cardite, Zoicite, you'll be in charge of that from now on."

"Understood," Zoicite and Cardite both said and bowed before walking out of the light.

-----​

The girls stopped just outside of the mall's arcade, noticing a small crowd had gathered there. "Wonder what's going on," Usagi commented.

Mako noticed they were gathering around the crane machine and chuckled. "Crane Jou, most likely."

"Who?"

"Someone I met in my last school," Mako said. She then turned to the crowd. "Hey Jou!"

A teenage boy looked up from the center of the crowd. He was tall, with black hair and a geeky look. "Mako? Wow, been a while."

"Still emptying crane machines?" Mako asked as the boy walked to them. "Girls, this is Jou Kanzou. Jou, these are my friends from Juuban High."

"Nice to meet you," Jou said.

"Why 'Crane' Jou?" Rei asked?

Jou pointed back to the crane machine, visible now that the crowd had dispersed. The machine was empty, and a big bag full of dolls was sitting besides it. "That's why."

"Wow..." Usagi said. "That's a lot of plushies. What do you do with them?"

Jou shrugged and searched into the bag, producing several plushies. "I give them away, mostly. There you go, these dolls are the boom nowadays I guess."

"Well, we have to go do some more shopping," Mako said. "Take care, Jou."

"You too," Jou said as he waved at them, before grabbing the big bag of dolls and walking away.

Usagi looked at the stuffed, ugly Sailor Moon doll as they walked around and frowned. "Do I really look like this?"

"Fat and ugly? Yeah," Rei said.

"Yours looks like that too," Naru commented.

"Who cares, we have dolls based on us already," Mako said looking at her Sailor Jupiter doll.

As they were about to enter a store, they heard a scream, then people started screaming and running away. "Youma..." Naru said.

Usagi produced her communicator as they all hid inside the store. "Ami, Terry, we're at the mall, and-"

"We're on our way," Zero said through the comm. "I detected a massive energy reading there, and guessed what it was."

"Okay, we'll try to see what they're up to this time," Usagi said, then put the comm away. "Let's get them," she said to the others.

"She's being brave. We're doomed," Rei commented.

-----​

Zoicite looked at the boy, amused by his resistance. "You were fun to chase down, human, but this ends here."

"Who are you?" Jou asked glaring at the strange couple.

"We're youma, and you have something we need," Cardite said, then shot an energy blast at his chest, and a small transparent crystal popped out of it. Jou's eyes glazed over as he stood back up. "We have one," Cardite said as the crystal floated to her hand.

"Think fast!" Zero shouted as he tossed one of his metal spheres at Cardite, then snatched the crystal, before leaping away.

Cardite and Zoicite were surrounded by a cloud of gas just as the rest of the Senshi run to them. "Surrender now, youma!" Moon said.

"Hah!" Zoicite said as he used an energy blade to disperse the gas. "Senshi, you're no match for us!"

Zero looked at the two Generals. "Hmm... These two look cute, unlike that :red: Luminite..."

Mercury frowned. "Uh... The brown-haired one's male."

Zero looked at Zoicite and shook his head. "Okay. then. So, pretty boy, I see you've got a sword. Let's see if you can use it."

"You'll be surprised," Zoicite said.

"No, I won't," Zero snapped before leaping at him.

Cardite was looking at Jou, not really noticing the Senshi glaring at her. "Hmm... Interesting... So this is where they've been all this time..." She shot another beam at Jou, then smiled coldly at the Senshi. "As much as I'd like to take care of you personally, I think I'll watch this Rainbow Youma tear you to pieces instead."

"Rainbow Youma?" Mars repeated. For some reason, the name seemed familiar.

Jou howled in pain as energy leaked out of his body, then surrounded him like a cocoon. The energy slowly started changing him into a massive creature as the Senshi stood there, unsure of what to do.

Zoicite was, meanwhile, figuring Jadeite and Luminite were right. Zero wasn't a pushover in melee range, and if he allowed him to stay this close, the masked man would end up winning the fight. The General waited for the right moment to attack. As Zero swung again, he smirked. "Gotcha!"

Zero staggered back as Zoicite's free hand lit up with light, momentarily blinding him. "Damn cheater..."

"Sorry hun, I can't let you win so easily," Zoicite said.

"What the heck's that thing?"

Zero turned to Jupiter's voice, his sight finally clear enough to see what she meant. A two meters tall spider youma was staring at the Senshi hungrily. "I second that."

"Arakel, destroy them!" Cardite ordered. The spider sprung into action, charging at the Senshi who dove out of the way.

"We have to stop that thing," Mercury said.

"We can't hurt it... They turned that boy into this monster," Moon said.

Jupiter frowned. "I can't leave him like that. I won't kill him, but I sure can beat him down!"

As Jupiter charged, the arachnid youma let out a guttural laugh, then swung it's arms, webbing shooting out of them and covering Jupiter from head to toe.

"Jupiter!" Moon frowned and produced her tiara, then stopped. "I can't- I could kill him!"

"Then weaken him."

"Luna?" Moon turned to see the two Mooncats looking at them from inside a store. "What do you mean?"

"Moon, use your stardust technique, that will weaken the creature."

Moon nodded. "Here goes nothing... Moon Tiara... Stardust!"

The others gasped as they saw Moon's Tiara hover to the monster, golden dust falling off it as it circled the creature. Arakel howled then turned into Jou, who fell to the ground, unconscious.

"How could Arakel lose?" Zoicite asked his partner.

"The Rainbow Youma have been sleeping for eons. They'll be weak for a while, but..." She produced a blank card out of thin air and nodded. "Monster from Hell, one of seven, rest and recover within this card."

The Senshi gasped as the same energy as before leaked out of Jou and into the card. When that was done, the card had a drawing of Arakel in it. "Now, give us the crystal," Zoicite demanded.

"Want it, fight for it," Zero snapped.

Cardite frowned. "No need for that. We'll get it later. Let's go, Zoicite!"

Zoicite glared at Zero, then vanished along with Cardite.

Mercury went to check on Jou. "He's okay, they didn't even drain him... And I don't detect any youma energy in him."

"That's good," Jupiter said. The others gasped as they saw she was holding a mass of webbing in her hand. "They don't do spiderwebs like they used to," she added with a chuckle.

-----​

Tuxedo Kamen sighed as the Senshi walked out of the mall. True, he didn't get there in time to get the crystal, but at least, the youma didn't have it. That piece of the Ginzuishou was safe with them - For the time being.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 2: Rainbow Crystals.
Episode 18: Shard Hunters.

By Razor Knight
Last update: January 15, 2007

-----​

Terry held the crystal shard in his hand, looking at it for a few seconds before turning to Luna and Shade. "Okay kitties, I guess it's time for some more explaining from you."

Luna sighed, looking at the Senshi, now back to their civilian forms. "That crystal has the same energy readings as the Ginzuishou. However, it's too weak to be it."

Shade frowned. "Maybe it's a shard of the Ginzuishou."

"A shard?" Ami whispered and started typing in her computer.

"So you mean we need to gather all the shards?" Rei asked.

Shade nodded. "Yeah. Serenity must've split the crystal so it'd be harder for the youma to gather it. Once all the pieces are gathered, we'll be able to form the Ginzuishou."

"Seven pieces," Ami said.

"How do you know?" Luna asked.

"I scanned that shard and made a three-dimensional model of what the crystal would look like when complete. From my calculations, we need six more shards."

"And they're apparently inside humans," Mako said. "But what was that thing Jou turned into?"

"A Rainbow Youma," Luna said. "Monsters of nightmare, stronger than normal youma, in fact, almost as strong as a General."

"They didn't look that strong," Rei commented.

"They've been sleeping for eons, their power must be at their weakest," Shade explained. "But with those new Generals, Zoicite and Cardite around, the Rainbow Youma and also Nephrite and Luminite, I think you girls should be very careful from now on."

"Sure, forget about the sidekick," Terry muttered. "Here."

Usagi looked at the crystal and blinked. "Why?"

"You're the leader aren't you?" Terry said. "I'm sure you'll give this thing a better use than I can."

Luna nodded. "Even though that's only a shard of the Ginzuishou, I'm sure it could give a Senshi's power a significant boost."

"That's good news, but what if Moon isn't around?" Rei asked. "She's the only one that can do that healing trick."

Shade shook her head. "You all have minor spells, used to either paralyze weak creatures or to dispel dark magic. They won't affect normal youma or the Generals, but they're useful in cases like this."

"That's good to hear," Zero said. "I suppose spraying them with mace won't work. Maybe I'll use a big wooden mallet instead."

Luna shook her head. "Stop making fun of this issue."

"I'm not. I was just planning ahead, I may be 'lucky' enough to end up facing one of those Rainbow Youma alone."

"If that happens, just use those grenades of yours until the real fighters arrive," Shade said. "No offense," she rapidly added.

"None taken. I think you're right, but I'll have to upgrade my 'Chokers.'"

"Strange name for them," Ami said, "but fitting."

-----​

"So you were right," Nephrite said.

Zoicite nodded. "Yes, but with all the Senshi there, the Rainbow Youma will not have a chance to win."

"We'll need you to create a distraction, Nephrite," Cardite commented.

"Not yet, I haven't found anyone with large amounts of energy."

"I can attract some attention," Luminite admitted. "Wherever I go, that Zero kid seems to be there to bother me."

"And he's like that Tuxedo Kamen guy. If they both were out of the way, there would be less interference to our plans," Cardite added.

"I'll do my best to get rid of Zero, then," Luminite said.

Zoicite nodded again. "Good. I've already located another shard carrier."

-----​

Ami tried to focus on the book in front of her, but her mind kept on returning to the crystal shards. They could be inside anyone, and they didn't have a way to know who the carriers were, which meant they'd have to let the youma attack them. Also, the two new Generals were strong, if the other two were still around, things could get messy.

She felt weak. Compared to Moon, her battle power was ridiculously low. Rei and Mako had some combat skills, and Terry's skill was amazing in melee combat. Naru was, from her scanning, nearly as strong as Moon, and even Tuxedo Kamen was a better fighter than Sailor Mercury. She couldn't help but wonder why she was a part of the team.

"You're Mizuno, right?"

Ami's train of thoughts derailed as she looked up. The new student from Usagi's class, Urawa, was there, standing next to her table. "Yes, that's me. I've heard about you from my friends, Urawa."

Ryo looked at her book and frowned. "That's too advanced for our class, isn't it?"

"I... Like reading and learning new things."

Ryo nodded. "I see. So as I thought, you're the brains of the team."

"Team? What do you mean?"

Ryo sat on the chair opposite to hers, not saying a word for several seconds. Then, he looked around before returning his attention to her. "I know who you are, Sailor Mercury."

Ami sat there, her face unreadable, for a few seconds, before giggling. "Me, a Senshi? That's silly."

"Don't try denying it," Ryo said. "I can see the future. Well, not all of it, just some images and events. I had a vision the night before I was transferred here, Mizuno."

"What kind of vision?" Ami asked. She couldn't tell if he was telling the truth or not yet, and she wasn't about to admit she was Sailor Mercury if Urawa hadn't actually seen her transform.

"You and me speaking in a park, then some strange woman attacks and I transform into an insect-like monster. A youma, I think you were calling me that in the vision," he noticed Ami's nod and continued. "I saw you transform in my vision, Mizuno. I know I'm carrying one of those 'shards' you're looking for."

Ami gasped. "Urawa, that's no..."

"Don't try denying it, I know what I saw. My visions always come true."

The blue-haired teen sighed. "Okay, you know my secret. Now what?"

Ryo shrugged. "You seem friendly, and I may be staying here for longer than I first thought, so..." After that, he just stood there for a minute, silently looking at Ami.

"Are you asking me to be your friend?" Ami asked, her face again unreadable. Ryo had been quite straight before but now was acting different, and she couldn't help but wonder why.

"I'll be happy just being able to study with you, Mizuno," Ryo said, looking down at his shoes.

Ami smiled. "Call me Ami, all my friends do."

Ryo looked up and saw her smile, then sighed. "Then, call me Ryo."

"Deal," Ami said, her smile fading for a second as she saw a flicker of doubt in his eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Ryo said dismissively. "I've heard you're quite good at maths, and I'm stuck in this one problem..."

-----​

Usagi was, meanwhile, facing her worst enemy. A force so fearsome and merciless she knew the battle would be hard, but she was up to the challenge.

"Jump, you stupid thing!"

Motoki smiled as he watched Usagi play the Sailor V arcade and fare as badly as usual. "I think she'll never be able to beat that one."

"At least she's persistent."

Motoki turned to the side, and saw Mamoru standing there. "I thought you didn't like her," he commented, his voice low enough for Usagi not to hear him. Not that Usagi'd hear anyway, she was too focused in beating the game.

"I never said that, and... It's none of your business," Mamoru muttered.

"Darn thing!" Usagi snapped at the arcade as she lost her last life, then walked off.

"She's cute when she's angry," Mamoru said in a whisper. If Motoki heard, he didn't comment on it.

Just as Usagi was walking out of Crown, a couple figures appeared inside. Usagi saw them and run out to find a place to transform.

Cardite looked at Motoki, then noticed the crowd looking at her and Zoicite. "Boo."

Zoicite chuckled as the humans all run for the door screaming for help, then zapped them all, except for Motoki, who was their target, and Mamoru, who'd hid behind the counter. "Humans, so weak and harmless. At least they're good mana batteries."

Cardite nodded, then returned her attention to Motoki. "It's time for you to join us, Rainbow Youma."

"Wha-" Motoki started, but Cardite's blast interrupted him. He fell to the ground, a crystal shard floating off his body, then stood up as dark energy surrounded him, morphing him into something else.

Zoicite reached for the crystal, but a cane slapped his hand away. Before he could realize what had happened, Tuxedo Kamen kicked him, then grabbed the crystal. "Finders keepers, youma."

"You'll pay for that!" Zoicite snapped and charged at him, energy blade ready. Tuxedo blocked the sword with his cane and both glared at each other.

Cardite shrugged and turned to the creature. The transformation was almost complete now. If the Senshi interfered, she'd handle them.

-----​

"You sure about that?" Seia asked.

Kai nodded. "Yeah, from the rumors, the Senshi study at my school. At least some of them."

"I can't trust rumors without concrete proof," Seia said.

"Sis, you've got no clue on who they are anyway. I don't think checking the school would do any harm to your investigation."

Seia shrugged. "I guess..." She stopped as she looked at the arcade several meters ahead. "Something's wrong in there."

"How do you know?"

Just then, Tuxedo Kamen was sent flying out the front window. "A wild guess, but I think it was just proven true."

Kai frowned. "The Senshi will be here any minute."

Seia risked looking inside. Two creepy humans and a red-furred tiger-like monster standing amidst a carpet of unconscious victims. She reached down into her right boot and took a handgun from inside it. "Kai, call the General, tell him I may need reinforcements."

"What are you..." Kai started, then sighed as his sister leapt into the building, and several shots could be heard. "She's insane," he muttered as he walked into a nearby store looking for a phone.

-----​

Mars produced her comm and frowned. "Moon, where are you?"

"Rei, the youma are attacking Crown. They turned Motoki into one of those creatures, and..."

"We're facing Nephrite and Luminite here," Mars said. "But I think Mercury can help you."

Ami's face appeared in the communicator's screen. "I'll be right there, Usagi."

Moon nodded then put the comm away. It was then that she heard gunshots. "What's going on in there?"

-----​

Mars frowned. Things looked almost bad for them. She knew the victim from Usagi's class, her name was Karin. The girl trying to wake her up, however, was someone she hadn't seen before. Short red hair, blue eyes, average height, and also average built. "Girl, just get the heck out of here, we'll take care of the youma."

"I'm not leaving without Karin," the girl snapped.

Mars sighed in defeat and returned to the problem at hand. Zero was, as expected, trying to slice Luminite in half. Nemesis was keeping Nephrite distracted, so that left the youma to her and Jupiter. Problem was, the youma this time wasn't only one. "Gemini. I see Zero was right about the pattern."

Jupiter charged at one of the two almost identical creatures. They were humanoid, female, with long hair that was black in one side and red in the other, wearing suits and masks that matched their hair, but the colors were in opposite sides, as if one was a mirror image of the other. As the Lightning Senshi attacked, the other youma kicked her from behind, causing her to lose balance for a split second, and the one that she'd targeted punched her down.

"Fire Soul!" Mars frowned as both youma moved out of the way of her attack. They seemed to move almost as a single entity, coordinated and flawless.

"Heave ho! Pun intended."

Zero's shout caused the twin youma to look his way, and they noticed almost too late the air-bound Luminite. As the twins both leapt out of the way, Mars could see she was being dragged back by his air board, and also saw an opening to attack.

Jupiter also used the distraction in her favor, kicking the youma up, then aimed at her while electricity gathered in her tiara. "Supreme Thunder!"

"Fire Soul!"

The fire blast hit the other creature from behind, setting her on fire. Neither twin hit the ground, as they both vanished at the same time.

"Coordinated even to die. Showoffs," Jupiter muttered.

Luminite stood up, kicking the air board away, then grunted as the board fled back at her, smacking her face and sending her crashing back down. ":red:ing kid..."

"Just like playing an arcade," Zero teased.

Mars and Jupiter stood in front of Luminite, charging up their attacks. "Fire..."

"Screw this," Luminite said then vanished.

Nephrite had, after dodging one of Nemesis' energy blasts, noticed odds were highly against him, and vanished as well. "Damn coward," the Dark Senshi muttered.

"We'll get them someday," Zero said. He then noticed Karin was gone. "What the..."

Nemesis shrugged. "I saw Chie carrying Karin away while I fought Nephrite."

Mars frowned. "Her name's Chie, huh? She didn't seem strong enough to..."

"She's stronger than she looks," Nemesis said. "Anyway, think Moon still needs help?"

Zero leapt on his board and fled away. "I'm checking on her anyway."

-----​

Zoicite looked at the wound in his arm. It was simply impossible, that human girl had managed to hurt him while he was fighting the caped freak. "You :red:..."

Seia smirked, gun aimed at Zoicite's head. "Die."

This time, the shot bounced off an invisible barrier. "No thanks. Tigrel, get her!"

The massive red tiger snarled at Seia, and she shot at it. It didn't affect the creature much, other than slowing it down, and it leapt at her claws-first.

"Shabon Spray!"

The attack itself wasn't too hard on the tiger, but its aftermath caused the creature to stop and look around confusedly as mist filled the area. Seia took the chance to move out of the way, noticing the fog wasn't blocking her vision, as it apparently did with the enemy.

Moon had been trading blasts with Cardite, but the General had managed to dodge or deflect her tiara. As the mist fell, however, she saw an opening and used it. "Moon Tiara Action!"

Cardite yelped in pain as the Tiara hit her arm. "That's it. Tigrel, destroy her!"

Moon leapt out of the way as Tigrel charged straight at her. "How did you do that?"

"He may not see you, but he can still smell you," Cardite gloated.

Mercury frowned as she heard that, and slowly moved behind Moon as her friend readied her tiara. She had a plan which could just work if she timed her movements right. But first, she had to figure out what her stun attack was...

Tigrel snarled as he once again charged at Moon. This time, however, the Moon Senshi was ready. "Moon Tiara Stardust!" The tiara's dust managed to slow down Tigrel, but didn't stop his charge. He slashed down at Moon, but the blonde moved out of the way, and Tigrel found himself right in front of Sailor Mercury.

And with the worst timing, too, as Mercury had just managed to 'unlock' her own stun tech. "Shabon Stun!" A single water blast shot at the tiger, knocking him to the ground as his form reverted back to normal.

"Monster from Hell, one of seven, rest and recover within this card."

Moon and Mercury both turned just in time to see Cardite holding a card, Tigrel's form could be seen in it. The General chuckled coldly then vanished.

"Where did that phantom of the opera wannabe go?"

Only then did they remember Seia was still around. "I don't know, but he helped us by keeping Zoicite busy," Mercury said.

"He got the crystal, though." Moon commented.

Mercury frowned. Tuxedo Kamen had kept that crystal for himself? That was something she wasn't expecting. Maybe the caped sidekick had an agenda of his own.

Seia shrugged. "Well, at least I got a shot at one of those bastards. They were lucky I didn't have my launcher with me."

"I bet," Moon muttered. "In any case, we're out of here."

Seia shrugged as the two Senshi left. As she looked around, she frowned and produced a cellphone. "Seia here. Battle's over, send as many ambulances as you can get to my coordinates."

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 2: Rainbow Crystals.
Episode 19: Snakeskin.

By Razor Knight
Last update: January 15, 2007

-----​

"Are you okay?"

Terry stopped walking and looked at Mako. No, he wasn't okay, else he would've felt her approaching him. "Yeah."

"You don't look okay," Mako noted. "Specially since I've been walking besides you for the last three blocks and you didn't seem to notice."

Terry didn't say a thing as he resumed his walk. Mako walked besides him, waiting for him to speak. "I've been having nightmares lately, I'm running to Hana but can't reach her, no matter how fast I run. Wait, I never told you about her, did I?"

"The others told me about your girlfriend," Mako said. "My parents died when I was six, so I guess I... Know how that feels, losing someone you love."

Terry sighed. "Okay, steering off the sad topics... I've seen how you fight, you've got some skills there."

"Learnt them on my own," Mako explained, not wanting to push the matter further. "A girl's gotta defend herself. What about you, you seem to be better than me at melee."

"I had some of the best martial arts teachers money could buy," Terry said, "and that may sound a bit snobbish, I know. Not that it's any help against those monsters."

Mako chuckled. "You could build yourself some long range weapons, right?"

"I'm no inventor, I just use a few things from dad's company I consider useful. In any case, I'm happy just being there to help the real heroines."

"Think our fearsome leader will stop getting detention anytime soon?"

It was Terry's turn to laugh. "Who knows... At least now she's mostly late for school for studying. By the way, have you seen Ami lately?"

Mako nodded. "I've seen her at the library with Urawa, and also I saw her talking to him today during lunch break." She didn't miss the scowl in Terry's face. "Jealous?"

"Of what?"

She didn't, either, miss his tone. "Deja Vu," Mako muttered. "You like her, huh?"

"That's none of your business," Terry said.

Mako grinned. "So I'm right."

Terry looked at her, showing no emotion as he stopped walking and leaned back on a tree. "Even if I do, I don't want to tell her yet."

"Why not?"

"Until Luminite's dead, and Hana can rest in peace, I can't afford to fall for someone else. I don't think it'd be fair for her, or for Ami."

Mako shook her head and started walking away. "Bull:red:."

Terry didn't seem too surprised by her use of English. "It's how I feel about all this," he said as he followed her.

"I don't know why Ami's hanging out with Urawa, but you know, I agree with you. There's something wrong with that guy."

"And...?"

"And I think you should tell her. Let her know what you feel. It's only fair, I think."

Terry was silent for a whole block, then nodded. "You're right. But right now, you better walk away."

"Huh?" Mako blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I saw Furita looking at me earlier... He has a certain look I've noticed before, like a predator looking at their next meal."

"So he's after you today?"

Terry nodded. "Now go, find a place to transform, and come kick his rear."

"You're gonna let him drain you?"

"Not without a fight."

-----​

Naru sighed. Usagi was still the same, and there was some irony in the fact someone who saved lives in a regular basis getting detention for being late to class. The redhead had waited for her to get off detention, she was used to it, and knew Usagi hated walking home alone.

She froze as a man walked out of the building. He locked eyes with her for a moment, only to keep walking without giving it a second thought. "Nei..." The fact he hadn't seen through her disguise yet was almost disappointing to her. And no matter how hard she tried to hate Nephrite, she couldn't. She could pretend hating him all she wanted, but in the end, she knew she was still waiting for him to return to the path of light.

'Quite an amusing thing for the Senshi of Darkness to think,' she thought with a small smile. It was then that she heard a scream, and heard Usagi's voice. Something was wrong in there, and she had a good guess what could be going on.

Naru looked around to make sure nobody was around, then closed her eyes. "Nemesis Planet Power!"

As Sailor Nemesis run into the school, Nei Furita walked out from his hiding spot behind a tall tree. "I knew it, Nadia, I knew it was you," Nephrite whispered, then vanished.

-----​

Usagi leapt aside barely dodging the massive snakelike youma. She couldn't transform since Zoicite and Cardite were there, and she couldn't use her comm either. Haruna had been turned into that big ugly snake, and Usagi couldn't think of any way to beat her right now.

"Dark Bolt!"

The snake staggered back as the darkness blast hit. The three youma in the room turned to the door just in time to see Nemesis charging in. "Get lost, kid, your boyfriend isn't here," Zoicite snapped.

"Usagi, leave them to me," Nemesis said turning to the blonde and winking at her.

Usagi nodded and rushed out of the room. Nemesis turned back to her foes. "Since you mention Nephrite, I'm glad he's not here. I don't want to kill him, but with you two, I don't have such handicap."

Zoicite frowned. "Serpel, get her."

"Dumb name," Nemesis muttered then leapt out of the way as Serpel rushed past her and crashed through the wall. "Hey, no wrecking the school!"

"Moon Tiara Stardust!" Serpel staggered back as Moon rushed to her side. "I agree."

Serpel growled and charged at them again, but this time she was interrupted by a rose gliding from the side, slicing her cheek. She turned to the side and saw Tuxedo Kamen standing near the stairs. "Here, ugly, try hitting me."

Moon and Nemesis looked worriedly as the snake rushed at the caped man, who simply leapt out of the way, and the snake screeched as it fell downstairs, crashing through the wall and out of the building. "That's gotta hurt," Nemesis commented.

While the two Senshi leapt after the snake, Tuxedo charged at the Generals. Cardite moved out of the way and rushed after the Senshi, but Zoicite stood there, waiting for the caped hero to attack.

"Well?" the General asked after waiting for the hero's move for over one minute.

"After you, ladies first," Tuxedo taunted.

Zoicite charged up for an attack, but was stopped by an explosion that knocked him sideways into the wall. "Who the heck..."

Seia stood near the stairs, holding a still smoking missile launcher and grinning. "Guess the Senshi were right about you youma being tough, that blast should've torn you to pieces."

Tuxedo frowned as he noticed something, the explosion had caused Zoicite to drop the crystal he'd taken out of Serpel. The masked hero picked the crystal off the floor and chuckled. "Keep this up, Zoicite, and I'll have all the crystals in no time."

"Moon Tiara Stardust!"

Zoicite heard Cardite's chant and knew Serpel had been defeated. He stood up and glared at Tuxedo and Seia before vanishing.

"Guess this battle's over," Tuxedo said turning to Seia. "Thanks for the help, whoever you are."

"I'm an ally of the Senshi, just like you," Seia said, then stood there for a few seconds as Tuxedo simply turned and walked away. "Not the social kind, huh? I'll have to inform Kino about this, I guess."

-----​

While Moon and Nemesis took on Serpel, another battle was fought a few miles away from them. And this one wasn't going too well for the youma either, albeit for different reasons.

Jupiter was trying to get some help as she watched Terry take on Nephrite. "Come on, someone's got to be there..."

Rei's face appeared on the comm. "What's wrong, Jupiter?"

"Terry's Nephrite's next target. I'll try keeping that bastard busy, but..."

Rei nodded. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

Mercury's face appeared next. "I'm near, I'll reach you in a minute or two."

Nephrite parried a slash and frowned. The human had swords, and knew how to use them. He was too busy dodging the slashes to zap him out and drain him, and with Luminite gathering energy elsewhere, he was quite on his own.

And outnumbered, he thought as he saw Jupiter coming his way. "Damn it," Nephrite muttered, then an idea crossed his mind. He banished his own energy sword, then stopped the boy's slash with his hands, getting slight cuts in his palms, but also letting the boy open for an attack. "Gotcha," he said as he channeled energy through the swords, knocking the boy out cold.

"Terry!" Jupiter shouted, her voice almost a growl. "Okay bastard, you hurt him, so I'll have to hurt you."

Nephrite shrugged and snapped his finger. A monster rushed from around the corner, this time it was a fish-like creature. "Piskeh, take care of her while I drain this human."

"Supreme Thunder!" Jupiter thought attacking first was the best option, but she was quite wrong. The youma spit a jet of water straight at her, carrying her own attack's energy back and almost knocking her out with the electric backlash. "Ow, that hurt." She muttered. The fish started walking to her, but was greeted by a water blast that knocked him back.

Mercury rushed in, saw Terry lying on the ground unconscious, then glared at the fish youma. "Shabon Spray!"

Jupiter blinked as the fish staggered back. "How can that hurt him, he's a fish..."

"Shabon Spray!" The second blast of cold water knocked the fish down and near Nephrite.

"Wow, I see I'm not quite needed here," Mars commented as she finally reached the scene.

"Shabon Spray!" A fourth blast hit the fish as it tried to stand up, sending it flying straight into Nephrite who wasn't fast enough to dodge. "Shabon Spray!" The fifth blast knocked the fish and Nephrite into a wall, and Mercury fell to one knee. "Darn it... Jupiter, can you get them?"

Jupiter had just finished standing up, and was more than eager to zap that fish youma into oblivion. Also, she noticed what Mercury's strategy was. While Mercury wasn't strong enough to kill a youma even after all these attacks, she'd weakened and soaked it, and sent it crashing into Nephrite, which left both quite open for a shocking surprise. "Hell yeah," the brunette said before summoning her attack. "Supreme Thunder!"

One painful light show later, Nephrite was trying to get his bearings, and the fish youma was dust in the wind. He noticed the three Senshi walking to him and decided the best strategy was a retreat. "Not today, girls."

Mercury smiled as Nephrite vanished, then went to check on Terry. "We need to get an ambulance, and quick."

Jupiter nodded and turned back to her human form, then went to look for a phone. Mars stood there watching as Mercury knelt besides Terry. "He'll be okay. But Ami, weren't you with Urawa?"

Mercury shrugged. "Ryo warned me about this, that's why I got here so fast." At Mars' questioning stare, she added. "I'll explain that later, when Terry recovers."

Mars nodded. "Gotcha." As she looked around, she realized something was amiss. "Where was Luminite anyway?"

"I don't know," Mercury said and sighed as Mako rushed back in. "So?"

"Uncle Taichi said he'd send an ambulance here... And also told me something else."

"Uncle Taichi?" Mercury asked.

"General Taichi Kino, I supposed you'd guessed I was related to him."

"We did," Mars said. "What else did he tell you?"

"There was a youma attack a few miles away from here, in a movie theater. Everyone there was drained, and the army saw no signs of battle there for once."

Mars muttered some unladylike words and shook her head. "They attacked three places in one day."

"Divide and conquer," Mercury said. "They're getting smarter."

"Then we'll have to be smarter than them," Mako said.

Mercury nodded. "Leave that to me."

"I never saw you fight like that," Mars noticed. "You almost finished that fish on your own."

"A girl does anything to defend the one she loves, huh?" Mako commented.

Mercury blushed. "It's not that... I'd act the same way if any of you girls were drained and defenseless."

Mars shrugged. "I guess. Should we go before the ambulance shows up?"

"I'll stay and make sure he's okay," Mercury said turning to her human form, and Mars followed suit.

Mako chuckled. "You two are so alike..."

Ami rose an eyebrow but said nothing about it. Rei looked at Mako and nodded with a smile.

-----​

"Excellent job, Luminite," Beryl said. "And also you, Nephrite. You both got more than energy today to make up for your past failures."

Nephrite bowed to the Queen. "We're glad you liked our plan's results."

Beryl then turned to Zoicite and Cardite. "You two, however... You already lost three shards, I don't want any more failures."

Zoicite bowed to Beryl. "We won't fail again."

"How are things in the other two points?"

Kunzite and Dexite walked forwards. Kunzite spoke first. "My Queen, while I've gathered more energy than I expected so far, Sailor V keeps on disrupting my attacks. However, I'm making plans to destroy her along with her mage sidekick, so I'm sure you'll hear good news from me in a week or two."

"Did you figure out who she really is yet?"

Kunzite shook his head. "Not her human identity, or she'd be dead now. But it's quite obvious what her true Senshi identity is. In Tokyo you've got Moon, Mars, Mercury and Jupiter, but no..."

"Sailor Venus..." Beryl realized. "That's why she's been so much trouble. She was one of the strongest in the past."

Dexite frowned. "In my part of the world, things aren't going too well. Pluto's a formidable opponent, and my youma always end up facing her three pets. While I'm gathering energy, it's not as much as I'd expect from such a big country."

"If you need help, you know I'm not busy right now," Aurite said.

"Sure, forget about me," Jadeite muttered walking by. Aurite smiled at him.

Dexite frowned. "No. I'll do this on my own."

"Don't be a fool," Aurite said. "I could keep Pluto busy, with Jadeite's help, and you could take care of her pets. Once you crush them, I'm sure Pluto'll be easy to defeat."

Dexite smiled. "I see... Yes, that could work. I must return to the States now, but I'll think about your plan." Aurite simply nodded as Dexite vanished.

-----​

The figure typed a few commands into the computer console and waited. Indeed, his new weapon would be soon completed, but it'd also need a field test. And what better way to test it than using it against those who had, in a way, created it?

And while they were distracted fighting their enemy, he'd have more than enough time to finish his main project, and also work in a little bonus he knew one of them would just love to hear about.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 2: Rainbow Crystals.
Episode 20: Youzilla?

By Razor Knight
Last update: January 15, 2007

-----​

Ryo sat staring down at the ground, well aware that all the looks in the room were directed at him. Even the priestess' two crows seemed to stare at him from atop the tree they were perched on, outside. "Ami told me to come here," he said finally, "and I can guess why."

"She said you warned her about those youma attacking me yesterday," Terry explained. "Care to tell us how you knew about it?"

Ryo nodded. "It's been a few months now since this power started showing. I can see flashes and images of the future, and whatever I see, happens sooner or later."

Ami nodded. "He knows who we are, he knows about the youma, and also..."

Luna glared at Ryo. "I sense youma energy in him. Faint, but it's there."

"That's because I have one of the Rainbow Youma inside," Ryo explained. "I've seen the future, and I see Mercury fighting me. But my power's not something I can control, the images just come to me."

"I think we can trust you with our secret, if Ami trusts you," Usagi said.

Rei snorted. "You two have a birth defect, you trust everyone."

"If I were in your place, I wouldn't trust me, either," Ryo said
with a nod.

Rei frowned as the door slid open and looked at the tall, brown-haired man dressed in an outfit much like hers. "Yuichiro, I told you I didn't want any interruptions."

The man bowed slightly. "I'm sorry, but there's a woman outside in a military uniform who wants to speak to the priest. Since he left to run some errands, I thought you could speak to her instead."

"Can you describe her looks?" Rei asked, half-fearing the woman would have grey, or white, or even brown hair.

"She's a bit shorter than me, with reddish-pink hair, and has a jeep parked downstairs with a rocket launcher in it."

Mako chuckled. "That sounds like Rakurai."

Rei nodded as Yuichiro walked out of the room. "I'll go talk to her, you guys stay here."

"Why?" Usagi asked.

"If she sees all of us together, she may be able to make the connection," Rei said. "Though I didn't know grandfather knew her."

"Who's the guy, your new boyfriend?" Mako asked slyly.

Rei scowled at that. "Yuichiro Kumada, my grandfather hired him to help with temple duties." After saying that, she walked out of the room, not really in the mood for any other remark from her friends.

Ryo grunted and put a hand on his forehead. Ami looked at him worried. "What's wrong, Ryo?"

The boy frowned and looked at her. "I'm okay, but I had a vision. The woman outside will be attacked a few minutes after she leaves the temple."

"Then we should protect her," Moon said.

"Also, two other youma will attack a movie theater a few blocks from here," Ryo added.

"I'll stay with Rei and protect that woman," Mako said. "After all, she's almost part of my family."

Terry nodded. "Moon should stay too, the rest of us can go kick the other two Generals around."

"In any case, we still have to wait for Rakurai to be gone before we can leave," Ami said.

-----​

"Good morning," Rei said as she bowed to Seia. "How can I help you?"

"Isn't the priest here?" Seia asked.

"He's taking care of some business downtown. I'm his granddaughter, and I help him run this place," Rei explained.

Seia nodded. For some reason, she felt like she knew this girl, though she was sure she'd never seen her before. "Well, when he comes back, tell him General Kino wants to speak with him."

Rei bowed slightly as Seia left. She heard croaking and looked up to see her two crows standing on the temple's roof. "I know," she said in a low voice, "but I didn't know grandfather knew the General."

"Rei, Ryo had a vision, said Seia will be attacked after she left this place," Usagi said walking to her, along with Mako.

"Where are the others?"

"Went to stop the second attack Ryo saw," Mako commented. "And Ryo went home, said he wouldn't be of any help if he stayed around.

"Let's go in and change for the party, then," Rei suggested.

-----​

"This is just too easy," Luminite commented.

Nephrite just nodded. Their youma was almost done draining the humans inside the theater, and still no signs of the Senshi. They'd most likely miss this attack while busy fighting one of the Rainbow Youma. He tensed, however, as he sensed something. "I think they figured it out."

"Dark Bolt!"

Luminite dove aside barely missing the blast. She looked to the upper rows of seats and saw Mercury, Zero and Nemesis ready to fight. "Well, well, so they are smarter than we thought. Kabutel, get Mercury."

The youma, which looked like a female, humanoid, red scarab, charged at Mercury. "I'll take care of Nemesis," Nephrite said. "You get the swordsman."

"No need to tell me that," Luminite muttered.

Zero rushed at Luminite, who summoned a couple energy blades. They both grappled for a few seconds before backing away. Nemesis was, meanwhile, using Nephrite as a moving practice target, and the General was returning the favor.

As for Mercury, she had dodged the scarab's initial charge, and was now analyzing it with her visor as she kept her distance. "I see... Magic-resistant exoskeleton, which is also lighter than it looks giving you a good attack speed."

The scarab didn't bother answering, instead rushing at her again. Mercury leapt out of the way and chuckled. "What's so funny?" Kabutel snapped.

"Let me guess, you lack any long-range attacks?"

Mercury grinned mentally as the scarab growled at her. Yep, that was it's weak point. However, it was resistant to magic, and from her readings, would get no damage from her Shabon Spray attack.

She heard a grunt, and as she turned, saw Zero being kicked away by Luminite. Luckily the suit absorbed most of the damage, but the General was still strong enough to give Zero a hard time. Mercury leapt aside, once again, as the scarab tried tackling her. She needed to get rid of this bug so she could help Zero, but how...?

"Shabon Spray!" Her attack did nothing but enrage the scarab, but that was just what Mercury wanted. Maybe she could kill two birds with one stone, if her strategy worked as she planned.

Zero used his swords to parry Luminite's slash once more, and as they both backed away, he saw Mercury jumping over the female General. He instinctively leapt back knowing what would be chasing her, but Luminite didn't realize what was going on until the scarab had hit her dead on, knocking her into a wall.

"Uh... Oops?" Kabutel muttered, right before feeling a throbbing pain in its chest, and falling to its knees as Zero pulled his swords out.

"That was unexpected," Zero commented as the scarab vanished, looking at Mercury. "Thanks for the help."

Mercury was about to speak but then brought her arms up fast. "Shabon Spray!"

Luminite had been about to charge at Zero from behind, but Mercury's blast took her by surprise, sending her falling back down. "Damn that water Senshi..."

"Dark Bolt!"

Nephrite fell on Luminite as the female General tried to stand up. He grunted and shook his head to recover, and saw the two Senshi and the swordsman surrounding them. "I suggest a tactical retreat."

"Agreed," Luminite muttered as they both vanished.

"That was fast," Zero commented.

"Why not drag that bug to me, though?" Nemesis asked.

"Well, it was magic-resistant, so I thought the only way to get rid of it would be with melee weapons. Besides, I knew you could handle Nephrite on your own, and if you needed help, Zero would be able to get Nephrite distracted..."

Nemesis nodded as Mercury explained her strategy. That was just like Ami, she could be weak as a fighter, but her brains did more damage than her attacks. For some reason, however, Naru couldn't help but think there was something else she'd considered before planning her actions in the battle that had just ended, other than battle strategy.

-----​

The two Generals floated down as Seia glared at them. "Nice to see you again, army girl," Zoicite said, not sounding warm at all.

"Let me guess, you're going to turn me into a youma and use me to attack the Senshi?"

"As humans say, 'Bingo,'" Cardite said then shot an energy blast at Seia.

The woman wasn't about to go down so soon, and she leapt back, landing on her jeep. "We humans have another saying too..." she commented as she kneeleed to pick something off the back seat. "Suck my rockets!"

Cardite and Zoicite barely had time to dodge as the rockets hissed by. "Nice trick, girl, but you won't get us with those," Zoicite snapped.

'So I won't' Seia thought with a smirk. She fired two more rockets, one to each target, and as they got close to their mark, she pushed a concealed trigger in her launcher. The rockets exploded near the Generals rather than passing them, causing both youma to fall down to the ground, more out of surprise than pain.

"That's impossible... That human got us..." Zoicite muttered.

Cardite stood up and growled. "You want to play, human? Let's play cards." She produced a card off her suit's pocket and smirked. "Dorgon, I summon..."

"Fire Soul!"

Cardite blinked in disbelief as the card burnt to ashes in her hand. "Hey, that's cheating!"

"Supreme Thunder!" The electric blast knocked Cardite back down to the ground. "Are you okay, Lieutenant?" Jupiter asked.

Seia nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay, I had them under..." She stopped as a beam hit her from behind, and dropped to the ground.

"That's more like it," Zoicite snapped as he grabbed the crystal.

"This means trouble," Moon commented as Seia transformed.

"Think fast!" Tuxedo shouted as he leapt at Zoicite cane-first. The General quickly summoned a blade and parried his blow. "Damn it..."

Mars turned to look at Seia... Or rather, to the man-sized dinosaur she'd become. She had no clue what the dinosaur was, but she was quite sure it was a predator. "Uh... What now?"

"I'm open to suggestions," Moon muttered. She wished Mercury was around so she could figure a way out of this one.

Cardite laughed. "Zoicite, keep the caped freak busy. I'll help Saurel take care of these pests."

"Fire Soul!"

Cardite deflected the attack with one of her own blasts and frowned. "You asked for it, fire girl."

As Cardite took on Mars, the dinosaur youma screeched at the other two, then it's mouth lit up with energy.

"Supreme Thunder!"

The youma shot a fireball at the Senshi, cancelling Jupiter's attack. It then growled at Jupiter. "I think she didn't like that."

"That's Seia for you, always the same hothead," Jupiter muttered before leaping aside as the youma tried to tackle her.

"Moon Tiara... Stardust!"

Saurel turned to Moon as the dust hit, and snarled at her. "Moon, watch out!" Moon backed away as the dinosaur's mouth lit up again. It shot another fire blast, and Moon barely managed to dodge it.

"Shabon Spray!"

The water blast hit the creature along with a couple metal spheres, and the area around the foe was covered by both the magical mist and the unbreathable gas. "Who'd thought Seia would become a raptor..." Zero commented as the three other Senshi run to the battle.

"Dark Bolt!" Nemesis' attack sent Cardite skipping back. "Hi, youma scum."

"I take it Nephrite and Luminite failed," Cardite muttered as she stood up.

"Like that would be new for them," Zero snapped. "Now it's your turn."

"Saurel, get them!"

"Mars Soul... Embers!" Several small fire blasts shot from Mars' hands, hitting Saurel and knocking it out. "I don't think he's gonna help you."

Cardite growled at her, then chanted her usual spell and left after the card hard absorbed Saurel. Zoicite punched Tuxedo away then vanished as well. "Another day, another youma got his :red: kicked," Jupiter said with a smile.

Tuxedo stood up and shrugged before leaping away. Moon smiled as she watched him go. "Too bad the youma got the shard."

"We saved Seia," Zero said. "That's good enough."

-----​

The three Mooncats had watched the battle from atop a tree. "I'm quite sure he's one of them."

Artemis turned to Luna. "You mean...?"

The black cat nodded. "One of them showed up in the States, so I'm guessing we could have a few of them around."

"If he has any power," Shade commented, "it's still dormant. We won't know for sure until it awakens."

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 2: Rainbow Crystals.
Episode 21: Ice Power.

By Razor Knight
Last update: January 19, 2007

-----​

"I was told you wanted to see me."

Kino looked at the short, old man standing in front of his desk and nodded at him. "We've been trying to figure out who the Senshi really are, as well as their enemies, the youma. As I know from reports that several of the battles were quite close to your shrine, I thought you might have a clue on that."

"Not at all," Hino said, his face unreadable.

"We both know you're lying, old man. You've always boasted about your ability to sense things I wouldn't believe in, not for the fact I've seen them and talked to them."

"Listen, Taichi. I was your father's friend, and I think it's my responsibility to protect you now that he's gone. Don't try digging up the dirt, son, what you find could be something you'd rather not know about. Now if you excuse me, I've got something else to take care of. Farewell."

Kino didn't try stopping the man as he walked out of the office. "Well, that sure clears up a lot of doubts," he snapped at the closed door.

-----​

Usagi looked at Terry as she walked into the classroom, and knew something was bothering him. "What's wrong?"

"Fan girls," Terry muttered.

"Huh?"

"It's been going on for a while," Umino explained, "but only recently they started being really active. So, you finally faced them?"

Terry nodded. "And I'd rather be chased by one of those monsters that attack now and then. At least those drain you then leave." And, he thought, he could slice those monsters to bits and not get arrested for it.

"What happened?"

"They've followed me around, yesterday, and also today."

"Stalkers, huh?" Mako said as she walked into the classroom.

"Worse. Fans."

"Don't let it go to your head," Mako joked.

"I have other things to worry about," Terry said, "and that's exactly the problem."

"Terry!"

The girls turned to the voice, but all they saw was a blur heading straight for Terry's desk. As it stopped, they could see it was a quite tall, red-haired girl. Mako recognized her, it was Chie Wanako, the school's cheerleader squad's captain.

Terry looked at the girl for a moment before turning to Mako. "And as you see, some are just too annoying."

"I'm the founder and first member of your fan club, Terry," Chie said.

"Only my friends call me by my first name," Terry snapped bluntly.

"The girls want to know, do you have a girlfriend?"

Mako grimaced. Chie looked strong and all, but Terry seemed ready to fling her out the window. "No, he doesn't, in fact he lost his first love to a criminal only months ago."

Chie turned to Mako with a dismissive look. "I asked him."

"And she answered," Terry said. "Now, please leave."

Chie smiled. "Okay, since you asked nicely..."

Usagi shook her head as the redhead left. "Think they'll leave you alone?"

"I doubt it," Terry said.

-----​

"He's got fans?"

Usagi nodded. "Weird as it sounds."

"Jealous?" Mako asked.

"Of what?" Ami said. "He's just a friend."

Suddenly, Terry walked by. "Hi girls."

"What's..." Ami started, then blinked in disbelief as a dozen girls walked after Terry. "... the hurry?"

"They're a bit too extreme," Usagi noticed as Terry run in the opposite direction, with the girls chasing him.

"At least he's doing some exercise," Mako joked.

"Unless they catch up with him."

"Hi, Ryo," Ami said with a small smile.

"Hi. Ami, I just wanted to warn you, a certain professor's been staring at you today."

"Furita?" Usagi asked.

Ryo nodded. "I don't need my power to know he'll target you next."

"Thanks for the warning."

Right then, the 'fan club' run by, with their hair and uniforms adorned by spots of assorted colors. Terry walked by holding a toy gun, and smiled triumphantly. "And stay away from me!"

The principal's voice could be heard through the school's speakers seconds later. "Terry Zephyr, using a paint gun inside the school building isn't allowed. I'll let it pass this time."

"How did he know so fast?" Mako pondered.

"I have my means," the principal said.

"Weird," Usagi said.

"It is, isn't it?" the principal mused.

-----​

After school, things weren't much better. The group had decided to follow Ami, hoping to scare Nephrite away, but Terry's fan squad was following them as well.

":red:, I'm about ready to start slashing them to bits," Terry commented.

Mako looked back. A group of around twenty girls, following them at a short, yet safe distance. "I'll take care of this."

The 'fan club' stopped dead as Mako walked to them. "Hey you, out of the way."

"Make me," Mako snapped, cracking her knuckles, and trying to look as intimidating as she could.

Chie looked at the girl in an almost hateful way. She was sure they could probably win by numbers alone, but even Zephyr wasn't worth the injuries. "Okay, Kino, we get it. I think we'll leave now."

Mako stared at the 'fan girls' as they walked away. "That was almost too easy." Terry could only agree to that. But if they came back, he could possibly use his gas bombs and run.

"Hey!" The group turned to see Ryo walking their way. "Good thing I found you, guys."

"What's the problem?" Usagi asked.

"I had another vision. Today is Rei's grandfather's birthday, and the youma will pay a visit to him."

"Thought Ami was today's target..." Mako said, then flinched. "Hino's one of those super youma..."

Ryo nodded. "Yes. And from my vision, most of those you call 'Generals' will be there too... Only one will come to attack Ami."

Ami frowned. "Girls, go help Rei."

"But..." Usagi started.

"I'll protect her," Terry said. "I can handle Nephrite."

"He's right," Naru said.

"I still don't like this," Usagi commented.

"I can help, I think," Ryo said.

"You?" Mako asked.

"Fighting isn't the only way to help," Ryo said. "Just go help your friend, I'm sure Zephyr's good enough to protect Ami."

Usagi sighed. "Okay, you win."

Terry and Ami kept on walking, with Ryo walking a few steps behind them. He frowned as Nephrite appeared in front of the couple. 'If Zephyr tries to fight Nephrite, it won't do any good. He needs to get somewhere to transform.'

Terry, who had stood between Nephrite and Ami, was thinking the same way. "Get lost, monster."

Nephrite chuckled. "Humans are fun. How do you plan defending her from me?"

Ryo tossed a rock at Nephrite, getting his full attention. "Terry, go get some help."

"I won't leave her!" Terry said, then frowned. Right, so that was his plan... He had to admit Urawa wasn't that bad after all. But never outloud.

Ami sighed as Terry run off. Ryo's plan was good, Zero had way better chances to defeat Nephrite than Terry. She gasped, however, when Ryo took Terry's place, standing in-between the General and her. "Ryo?"

"I won't let him hurt my friend," Ryo said.

"That's amusing," Nephrite said, then shot an energy blast at Ryo, knocking him out. "Pitiful... Now where were we?"

"I think I was about to kick your :red:."

Nephrite turned to Zero, who was standing on a nearby tree, swords drawn. "Sorry kiddo, but Luminite's busy elsewhere today."

"That's just too bad, since I wanted to stab her through. Guess you'll have to be her substitute."

Nephrite shot another energy blast, and frowned as Zero leapt over it, falling at him with a drop kick. He jumped back barely missing the kick, then looked around and frowned. "Where the hell is the girl?"

Zero took the chance to slice Nephrite's leg. "You should worry less about her and more about your own life, idiot."

Nephrite growled at the ninja, then tackled him, grabbing him by the neck and lifting him off the ground. "Actually, I think I'll just drain you instead."

"Sore... Loser." Zero snapped.

Nephrite grinned. "On the other hand, I bet if I kill you, I'll piss Luminite off big time." He laughed as his hand started shinning, and energy started flowing into Zero's body.

"Shabon Spray!"

The General turned to Mercury. "That tickles. I don't know why you even try, you're the weakest Senshi."

"Shabon Spray!" Mercury repeated her attack, this time aiming it at Nephrite's arm. The General grunted as the blast forced him to release Zero, and she grinned. "I know I'm not a fighter, but I trust my friends to do the fighting for me when I'm out-powered."

Nephrite swiftly summoned an energy blade and stopped Zero's dual slash. He then punched the ninja in the ribs, strong enough to make him fly back a few meters.

Mercury frowned. At least she hadn't been drained, but now she had to find a way to beat Nephrite. Her magic wasn't good enough, and Zero's swords couldn't get past Nephrite's energy blades. If only they had something...

She remembered Luna saying one of Zero's sword was Mercury's sword. A plan formed in her head, a quite unlikely one, but it could just be good enough to work. "Shabon Spray!"

Nephrite chuckled as the blast hissed by. "Missed me."

"Wasn't aiming at you," Mercury said with a shrug.

Nephrite sensed movement behind him and turned, his blade ready to stop Zero's ones... But he gasped as he saw the sword coming at him. It was one of Zero's swords, but it was glowing an eerie cyan color. It slashed through his energy blade and left a deep wound in his shoulder. "How..."

Zero put his sword on Nephrite's forehead and glared at him. "My friend Nemesis thinks you're not completely evil, so I'll let you go this time."

Mercury sighed as Nephrite vanished. "Thanks..."

"I should be thanking you. Nephrite almost knocked me out... And it was you who beat him, Ami."

"I only acted on a wild guess."

"And it sure worked," Zero said looking at his sword. The glow pulsed for a few seconds, then the sword was back to normal. "Darn, I hoped it would stay that way."

"Let's go help the others."

"What about Urawa?" Zero asked.

"I'm... Fine," Ryo said as he stood up. "I wouldn't like to get blasted by that guy again, tho."

"I agree," Zero said. "Let's go."

Ryo sighed as Zero called his board, and both him and Mercury leapt on it, flying off towards the shrine. "Guess you can't fight destiny after all... At least I tried."

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 2: Rainbow Crystals.
Episode 22: Shrine Chaos.

By Razor Knight
Last update: January 19, 2007

-----​

Luminite leapt back as Jupiter tried to kick her, only to be greeted by a Dark Bolt from Nemesis. "Damn it, kid, why don't you go fight your boyfriend?"

"I don't need to, Zero is kicking his rear right now."

Tuxedo Kamen was keeping Zoicite busy, as usual, while Mars and Moon took on Cardite. Hino watched the scene with detached interest, but frowned as Mars was sent flying back by one of Cardite's blasts. "You okay, Rei?" He asked her in a low voice.

"You must be confusing me with someone else," Mars said trying to play dumb.

"Your disguise could've fooled me, but your spiritual energy grew a lot when you became a Senshi. I know it's you, Rei."

"You should get out of here," Mars said.

"I know what they want, I've heard some rumors... And I think I'm one of the targets, right?"

"Yes, that's why you must leave, before they get you."

"And they'll come back for me again and again until they get the monster in me to awaken," Hino said. "Sorry, but I can't let them destroy the temple... And I trust you to defeat them."

"But-"

"Hey, monster!"

Cardite turned away from Moon for a second, and saw the old man, Chamel's carrier, standing there glaring at her. "Foolish old man."

"No!" Even as she rushed forwards, she knew she was late. Cardite's blast hit her grandfather, and the shard that popped out of his body floated to the General's hands. "Fire Soul!"

Cardite leapt aside, feeling the heat from the fire blast brush her face. "Always the hothead."

"I may be, but you can't defeat me."

"So I can't..."

"Moon Tiara Action!"

Cardite winced as the Tiara hit her back. "So shameful, a Sailor Senshi using such cowardly methods?"

"You made it too easy for me," Moon snapped back.

"Too bad you won't get another chance," Cardite said as she floated up. Moon and Mars looked to Hino as his transformation ended, and saw he'd become a two meters tall humanoid chameleon. "Chamel, destroy those two!" Chamel growled and rushed at the two Senshi.

-----​

Jadeite grimaced as he saw Nephrite's wound. Thankfully, youma healed way faster than humans. Still, a wound like that should hurt like Darkness. "What happened to you?"

"Mercury, that's what happened," the brown-haired General muttered.

"Unless she got way stronger since last time I faced her, she couldn't have damaged you like that."

"It wasn't her, not directly... But that Zero kid, somehow his swords absorbed Mercury's attack and used the energy to slice through one of my energy blades."

"Sounds like they've gotten smarter," Jadeite said.

Aurite teleported into the room, taking a moment to look at Nephrite. "J, I detected a second shard at that shrine."

"What are the chances..." Nephrite muttered.

"And guess what's even weirder? Zero's the carrier."

"Think Zoicite and Cardite will figure that out?"

"They're too busy fighting to scan him."

"I think we should go and give the Senshi something to worry about, then," Jadeite suggested.

"I already told Beryl about my finding. She gave me permission to go to Tokyo and help the others."

-----​

Zero checked on the battlefield as he fled towards the shrine. Jupiter was trying to beat on Luminite, as that Tuxedo guy kept Zoicite busy. The other three Senshi were facing a strange reptilian youma, he could guess that was the shard's carrier. "Guess we got here just in time," he said as he leapt off his table, followed by Mercury.

"Mars Soul Embers!" Mars shot her attack at Chamel, but the creature leapt over it, vanishing while still airborne. "What? Where is..."

"Mars!" Moon shouted as Mars was sent flying into a tree by an unseen force. "What the hell... Wait, that thing's a chameleon..."

Cardite chuckled. "Amazing, you figured it out that fast... But that won't do you any good."

Nemesis looked around nervously. How were they supposed to hit something they couldn't see? "Show yourself, lizard!"

"Shabon Spray!"

Nemesis blinked as the attack hit something right in front of her. She could briefly see the outline of Chamel's body as it turned to Mercury with a snarl. "You can see it?"

Mercury had her visor down. "Infrared," she said. "Zero?"

"I see him," the ninja commented, "but I don't know if I'll be able to fight him alone."

"You're not alone," Mercury said with a smile.

"Good," Zero said and charged forwards, apparently with no target in mind. He slashed at the air a few times, then was knocked back by their invisible foe. "That hurt..."

Moon turned as two figures appeared in the battlefield. One was their old 'friend' Jadeite, but the other... "Who are you?"

"Name's Aurite, and I'm not here to fight you... Yet."

"Let's see if they can beat Chamel... There's no need to get Draguel yet if Chamel defeats them."

Jupiter knew she had to help the others. But she couldn't see a way to defeat Luminite, who was dodging all her punches and attacks.

"Think fast!"

Luminite fell back as a water jet hit her from the side, causing her to lose balance for a second. She turned to the new attacker and saw a guy wearing a robe similar to that of the Shinto priest they'd targeted this time. "Stupid move, human, you really thought a bit of water would defeat me?" she snarled as she stood up, her suit dripping water.

Yuichiro shook his head. "Not really, but water and electricity shouldn't mix."

"Supreme Thunder!"

Luminite realized a little too late what the human's plan was. She fell to the ground in a heap, standing up weakly and noticing Jupiter was preparing a second blast. "Not today, thunder girl."

As Luminite left, Jupiter turned to Yuichiro. "Thanks for the help."

The man shrugged. "Couldn't let them wreck the yard, I work hard to keep it in one piece."

Jadeite saw Zero taking on Chamel and noticed something interesting. Both swords were glowing blue, thanks to Mercury's use of her Shabon Spray magic on them. Also, the other three Senshi were still shooting at it, albeit blindly, and Jupiter was now rushing in to help. "Aura, I think we should turn the tide..."

"What are you guys up to?" Cardite asked.

"I found another carrier," Aurite said. "Look."

Zero dodged as Chamel tried a sideways slash with it's massive arm, then felt something hit him from the side. "What the heck..." He kneeled on the ground, dropping his swords, and clutching his chest.

"Zero!" Mercury growled as she looked up at Aurite, who was smirking at them. "If you hurt him, I'm going to kick that smile of yours away."

"I didn't really hurt him, but he'll hurt you in a minute," Aurite snapped.

"What does she..." Moon muttered then saw a shard float out of Zero's chest. "No!"

Aurite growled as Moon leapt for the shard, catching it before she could react. "Damn it kid, give me that!"

Moon smirked as the shard vanished. "Come and get it."

A blood-freezing howl caused everyone to turn to where Zero was. Standing in his place was a five meters tall, blue-scaled dragon. "Zero, no..." Mercury said.

"How are we going to fight that?" Jupiter asked with a wince.

"Good luck trying," Jadeite mused. "Draguel is the strongest of the seven Rainbow Youma."

"Any plans, Ami?" Moon asked.

"I... I don't know," Mercury said. "Sorry." She looked up at the dragon. For some reason, she couldn't even think about hurting him.

Nemesis aimed her hands at the dragon, but was knocked down to the ground by Chamel. "Oh this is just great," Nemesis snapped. "Shadow Heal!"

"Soul Embers!"

"Moon Tiara Stardust!"

Chamel howled as he reverted back to normal. Cardite captured the youma in one of her cards as Mars went to check on the carrier. "He's okay, just unconscious," she said.

Cardite chuckled. "Draguel, it's time for your first meal in eons."

The dragon howled again, stomping on the ground. The shock wave knocked all the Senshi off their feet. "This is going to reek," Jupiter muttered.

"Moon Tiara Action!" Moon's tiara bounced off the dragon's skin, and it turned to glare at her. "Uh... Hi?"

Draguel shot a stream of bluish flames at Moon, and the blonde Senshi screeched as she leapt out of the attack's path. The ground it hit didn't burn, but froze. "Weird," Jadeite commented.

"I don't remember Draguel being an ice dragon," Aurite admitted.

"Fire Soul!"

Draguel growled as the attack hit, and turned to Mars. The Fire Senshi glared at him and leapt up, using all her strength to kick the dragon's head. Draguel took the hit, however, and shot an ice wave at point blank.

"Mars!" The fire Senshi was knocked away and into the forest. Moon looked at the others. Jupiter and Nemesis were already charging at the creature even before Mars hit the ground. But Mercury wasn't moving, just looking up at the dragon. "Ami, what can we do to stop him?"

Mercury looked away from the dragon and shook her head. "I don't know- I don't want to hurt him."

"Supreme Thunder!"

"Dark Bolt!"

Another howl was heard, and Jupiter and Nemesis bounced on the ground near Moon. "They're winning," the blonde said. "I could use one of your plans right now."

"Sorry, I-" Mercury started. "Look out!"

Moon leapt aside, barely dodging the blast. It wasn't an icy wave this time, but some kind of black energy beam that caused the ground to crack as it touched it. "What's that?"

Jadeite rose an eyebrow. "Was that death energy?"

Aurite nodded as the dragon shot another wave, it hit a tree and the tree withered and rot instantly. "It is, but those aren't Draguel's powers."

A third blast was shot, and this time it hit it's mark. Moon fell to the ground and weakly tried to stand up. "Hmm... This battle's as good as done," Jadeite said. "Hey Zoi, let's get out of here, Draguel can handle the rest."

Zoicite dodged a cane swipe from his foe then teleported up to where the other Generals were. "I see... Yes, we don't need to stay here."

"I'll stay," Cardite said. "Who knows, they've turned the tide against us before."

"Have fun," Aurite said as all the Generals but Cardite vanished.

Moon stood up and glared at the dragon, then turned to Mercury. "Ami, snap out of it."

"But... I can't hurt him..."

"He'll kill us all if we don't find a way to stop him," Moon said.

"Usagi..."

They both heard the dragon's howl, and looked up in time to see Tuxedo Kamen leaping in the path of another death wave. The masked man fell to the ground with a loud thud, and Moon shivered. "This isn't..."

"We can't beat him," Mercury said hopelessly.

Moon shot a glare at the Ice Senshi. "You haven't even tried, Ami. Stop being a coward!"

Another wave shot from the dragon's mouth, and this time, the two Mooncats stood on its path, a faint glow surrounding them and blocking the blast. "Moon needs you, Mercury," Shade said.

Mercury blinked, Moon's word had taken her out of her gloom, and she realized she was right, she needed to get over her fear of hurting Terry and fight. "How did you do that?"

"We have a few hidden tricks," Luna said. "Listen, Ami, Moon alone can't defeat Draguel. We need you to make it out of this one alive."

Mercury nodded, and summoned her visor, trying to find a weak spot in Draguel's body. "No way."

The dragon snarled at her, but didn't attack. "Maybe Terry's still in there," Moon whispered.

"Shabon Spray!"

The attack hit the dragon, causing it to stagger back. It growled in surprise then shot another death blast at Mercury.

"No!"

Mercury gasped as Moon took the hit for her. "Usagi, why?"

Moon tried to stand up, but managed only to kneel on the ground and smile at her friend despite the pain. "Somehow, your attack did hurt him. It's all up to you, Ami."

Mercury glared up at the dragon. She knew Moon was right, but- Would her weak attack be enough to beat that Dragon before it knocked her out as well?

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 2: Rainbow Crystals.
Episode 23: Full Rainbow.

By Razor Knight
Last update: January 19, 2007

-----​

"Shabon Spray!"

Draguel growled again, but didn't attack. Cardite frowned as she looked around. The Senshi, except for Moon and Mercury, were all unconscious, and she figured it'd be a good time to get rid of them while Mercury was busy, and before Moon recovered.

Her plans were, however, ruined by a rocket exploding quite close to her head. As she picked herself off the ground, she could see Rakurai standing near the temple's stairs, aiming her launcher at her. "Move and die, freak show." Cardite frowned. As soon as she managed to make all her senses work again, she'd teach this human not to mess with her.

"Shabon Spray!" Mercury tried her attack again, but Draguel wasn't still down. She knew she was running out of power, but couldn't think of a way to stop the Rainbow Youma. "Shabon..."

Cardite nodded as Mercury staggered. "She's tired, Draguel, finish her before she recovers!" The dragon turned to the youma and growled at her. "What? You must not disobey me, weakling!"

Mercury looked up at the dragon, wondering just why he hadn't tried to attack her. "Zero?" Draguel turned to her and seemed ready to attack, but stopped and looked down at Mercury. "I don't want to hurt you, but I must if I want to return you to normal..."

Cardite chuckled. "You're out of power, girl. As for you, Draguel, I warned you not to disobey me..." She rushed forwards and kicked the dragon's head, her attack backed with magic, and sent him crashing down the stairs. "Now, little Mercury, I'll..." Cardite stopped as she realized Mercury had a thin bluish aura around her body. She shot an energy blast, not wanting Mercury to finish whatever she was doing, and chuckled.

The chuckle died, however, as the two Mooncats stopped her blast. "Mercury, don't give up yet," Shade said.

Mercury nodded, the aura around her vanishing. She could, however, feel the change, the words in her head she knew would help her defeat her foe. "Shabon Spray..." Mercury went through the motions of her attack, but held the water bubble in front of her for a second more before shooting it out. "Freezing!"

The water blast was slightly larger than her normal one, and was visibly colder, too. Cardite leapt out of the way, but something knocked her back into the attack's path. Moon looked up in shock at the same time Mercury did, as Draguel stood there after using his tail to help them defeat Cardite. "Terry..."

Seia aimed her weapon up at the dragon. "What the hell's that thing?"

"Zero," Moon said as she stood up. "Mercury, do you have energy left to heal him?"

Mercury sighed. "I'll try. Shabon Stun!"

Draguel made no move to dodge or block the attack, and his body shone as it was hit, before returning to his original form. Zero fainted, but someone caught him before he hit the ground. "Guess the battle's over," Jupiter said smiling at her friends.

"You okay?" Mercury asked.

"Yeah, the attack just knocked me out for a while, that's all."

They heard Cardite's chanting and turned to the General, but she just took a second to glare at them and vanished. Seia frowned. "Need an ambulance for your friend?"

Zero's eyes opened and he stood up slowly. "I'm fine... I wouldn't like to go through that again, though."

Seia shrugged. "Well then, I'll go report this mess to Kino."

"How did that happen?" Moon asked after Seia was out of the shrine's yard. "Why didn't Draguel attack Mercury?"

"I was still there, Moon," Zero explained. "But I couldn't control my actions at first. When I saw Mercury was the only one up against me, somehow I forced my.. Draguel's body to do what I wanted.

Luna sighed "Good thing this battle's over, it was a tough one."

Zero looked up and down at Mercury, and she blushed. "What are you doing?"

"Uh... Just getting a reading on your new power level." Zero said rapidly. From the looks Moon and Jupiter gave him, he could tell they weren't buying his half-truth.

"I thought it was only a new attack," Mercury admitted.

Zero shook his head. "From my readings, you're right now almost as strong as Moon, at least magic-wise."

Mars and Nemesis walked to them. "This place's a mess," the Fire Senshi muttered.

"So the only Rainbow Youma left is Urawa," Nemesis said. "And the youma said this was the strongest of them, so whatever he turns into, he'll be easier to beat than Draguel."

"Sometimes power isn't everything," Zero noted and smiled at Mercury.

Mars looked around worriedly. "Where's the priest?"

Yuichiro came walking out of the temple, followed by Hino. "I'm fine, don't worry about me, Senshi," he said winking at Mars.

"Good to know, sir," Mars said. "Okay guys, our job here's done, let's go."

"Who died and made her the leader?" Moon muttered as they all run out of the shrine.

-----​

"Ryo, wait!"

Ryo sighed. It'd been three days since the whole mess at the shrine, three days since he'd figured out he couldn't change what was going to happen, no matter what he did. "Hello, Ami."

Ami frowned at his slightly cold tone. "You've been avoiding me lately."

"I don't want to stand between you and Zephyr," Ryo said.

"Between me and..." Ami whispered. "There's nothing between us."

Ryo chuckled. "Not right now, I bet." He stopped as Ami's stare looked like it could've pierced through metal.

"There's something else, isn't there?" Ami said steering off the current topic.

Ryo nodded. "I saw more than I told you before, about the battle where I'll become one of those youma." Ami just listened, so he kept on talking as they walked. "I saw you fighting me on your own, and just when you were about to defeat me..."

"What?" Ami frowned as Ryo stopped and looked down. "What did you see?"

"If you fight me, my youma side will kill you," Ryo said. "That's why I've been avoiding you."

Ami let out a gasp. "But your visions... They could be wrong."

"They're never wrong," Ryo said. "Never."

"Future isn't set in stone," Ami said. "Back at the shrine, when Terry became Draguel... He attacked the others, but couldn't attack me. He said he was able to take control for a while."

"Yeah, well, I suppose that worked for you, because he..." Ryo stopped himself, as much as it was true, he knew Ami wouldn't admit it. "He cares about you."

"You do, too," Ami said. Ryo just stared at her in shock. "I- Can tell you wanted to be more than a friend to me, Ryo, And I-"

Ryo smiled at her. "I know, I'm the one who sees the future, remember?" That caused Ami to giggle, but Ryo turned serious. "My father's moving again tomorrow. I was thinking of telling you about that today, Ami."

"So it'll happen today?"

Ryo looked up and nodded. "And sooner than I thought, too."

Ami looked up as well, and saw Cardite sitting on a tree branch. "I-"

"Ami, go get some help," Ryo said.

Ami nodded and rushed into an alley. Cardite chuckled. "I'm not interested in her."

"I know," Ryo said. "Do it, youma."

Cardite frowned. "You're making it easy for me. Good." She shot an energy blast at Ryo, and he screamed as a crystal shard flew out of his body. "Good, now-"

"Shabon Spray!"

The attack surprised Cardite, and she cursed as Mercury leapt for the crystal, getting it before she could react. "Mercury. You're becoming quite a pest lately."

"Funny, I was about to say the same thing about you," Mercury said.

"If I were you, I'd run," Cardite suggested.

"Thanks, but I'll pass."

Cardite frowned. She could sense the energy in Mercury, after that upgrade at the shrine she was- Stronger than Moon? That could mean trouble for her, but luckily she had some cannon fodder to keep the Ice Senshi busy. "Rigale, destroy her!"

Mercury froze as she saw what Ryo had turned into. She remembered the first of those things, a green-skinned, human-sized mantis-like creature with massive pincers and large yellow eyes. And from the readings she was getting, this bug was also resistant to magic, just like the first one. "Ryo..."

Rigale screeched, a loud, high-pitched screech which caused the windows around them to vibrate. He then swung his scythes in front of him, shooting an X-shaped golden blast.

Mercury frowned. She had called the others, but they'd still take a while to get there. So, she had to either keep the bug busy, or defeat it. "Shabon Spray... Freezing!"

Rigale let the attack hit and screeched in a way that was too close to laughter. It then tried its blast again, and Mercury dodged once more.

Cardite chuckled. Indeed, Rigale wasn't as strong in attack as Draguel was, but he wasn't rebelling against her. From what Nephrite had told her, sometimes the carrier's feelings could interfere with the youma's labor, specially when strong feelings like love or hate were involved. So maybe that Zero guy was in love with Mercury, and that had saved her at the shrine.

This time, however, things were different. This time, Cardite wasn't going to just watch the show from the sidelines. "Think fast!" she shouted as she shot several energy blasts down to the Ice Senshi.

Mercury reacted fast enough to dodge the blasts, but they also distracted her from her other opponent. As she leapt aside, Rigale took the chance to tackle her, trapping her neck in one of his pincers. "Ryo... No..." Rigale didn't seem to recognize her, and started increasing the pressure on his hold. Mercury tried to kick him, but he grabbed her leg with his other pincer, and laughed again.

"Hey ugly, let her go now!"

Cardite frowned. That loser Zero was back, oh joy. She leapt off the tree and right in front of the ninja, glaring at him. "I won't let you interrupt them, kid."

"Well, that's just too bad," Zero snapped as he produced his two swords.

Cardite summoned an energy blade and laughed. "By the time you get past me, your girlfriend will already be dead."

Zero frowned. He knew she was right, if he tried to fight her... But he could use brain as much as brawn, and decided to show the card girl he was still full of tricks. "Hey :red:, fetch!" he snapped as he tossed one of his swords at her like a spear.

Cardite knocked the sword away with her own, but the split second she was distracted allowed Zero to rush at her. The grey-haired General fell to one knee as Zero scored a quite deep wound in her side. "I really hate you..."

Zero ignored the General, instead walking to Rigale. "Urawa, let her go now!"

Rigale turned to Zero, his hold on Mercury not lessening at all. "Mine..."

Mercury was still struggling to get free, when she heard that. Ryo was trying to fight the youma for control, maybe she could- "Ryo, if you don't stop this now, I will- Don't let your visions control you, please."

Rigale turned to Mercury, and she could see the creature's glare lessening for a moment, then he dropped her to the ground. The Ice Senshi coughed as she rubbed her throat, trying to recover from the choke hold.

"Not again!" Cardite snapped. "You kids are a real pest, but I'm going to get rid of you right here, right now!"

Zero flinched as Cardite started gathering energy, then smirked. "Watch out, behind you!"

Cardite chuckled. "You think I'll fall for-"

"Moon Tiara Action!"

Cardite cursed out loud as she was sent flying forwards, but her flight was stopped by Mercury's fist. "No way..."

Mercury glared at Cardite, ice energy gathering in her hands. "Chill."

"Moon Tiara Stardust!"

Rigale reverted back to Ryo, and the female General frowned. She swiftly used her chant, then glared up at Mercury. "You kids aren't bad fighters, I'll admit. Hope we can have more fun someday."

"Shabon Spray Freezing!"

Zero flinched. The attack had been a second too late, as Cardite was already gone when Mercury shot it, but it had left a thick layer of ice around Mercury's feet. "Ami?"

Mercury collapsed on Zero's arms, and he frowned. "Thanks, Terry."

Moon checked on Ryo and nodded. "He'll be okay. What about you, Ami?"

Mercury smiled tiredly. "I won't be able to shout for a while, I bet. Other than that, I'm okay."

"Too bad Cardite escaped," Zero said.

"I let her escape," Mercury said, "and I bet she knows it."

Moon chuckled. "You must be really tired, though."

Mercury looked at Moon then realized she was still leaning on Zero, and jumped away, blushing furiously. "Uh... Not really."

Moon smiled. She already knew what those two felt for each other, but with Ami's shyness and Terry's vendetta, she knew they'd probably need a bit of help to admit it.

-----​

Jadeite couldn't help but wince as Cardite appeared in the portal room, her glare daring anyone to speak. The lesser youma scientists operating the portal were smart enough to not make any questions. "Welcome back. Was the trip any good?"

"No. I almost had Mercury, I almost killed her, but Zero and that Moon wench interfered."

"Too bad."

"Mercury almost managed to blast me to dust, too. But... She let me escape."

Jadeite nodded. "Compassion... One of mankind's weaknesses."

Zoicite had been listening to them from a distance, and decided to speak up. "Now we have all seven Rainbow Youma. Once they recover, we can summon the Shadow Youma, but also-"

Jadeite nodded. "The Senshi and Tuxedo have shards of the Ginzuishou. We need to defeat them to get them back."

"I've been researching and comparing data," Zoicite said, "and from what I know, a few of the Senshi study at Juuban High."

"Interesting." Jadeite said. "We could attack them there, and make sure they have no way to transform."

Zoicite nodded. "But we need to plan the attack carefully. That way, there will be no way for them to escape death."

-----​

"So, you really are leaving."

Ryo nodded. "Sorry, Ami, but dad's work-"

Ami smiled "I understand."

"It's better this way," Ryo said. Ami hugged Ryo, and the boy blushed. "A-Ami?"

"Come visit us whenever you can, okay?" Ami said as she released him from the hug.

Ryo nodded. "I'll try. Goodbye, for now."

Ami smiled as Ryo walked away. "Goodbye, Ryo."

"He wasn't that bad after all. Well, except when he was trying to strangle you, but he wasn't quite himself that time."

Ami turned around to see Usagi and Terry walking her way. "You guys- You could've said bye to him too."

"Maybe," Terry said, "but I think he's right, it's better this way."

-----​

Finally, it was ready for testing. It was a pity he couldn't obtain some recent samples from the Ice Senshi, as her new power would indeed be a nice addition to his creation. He needed test subjects, however, and he knew just where to find them. Yes, things were about to become very interesting for the group of Senshi fighting in his city. Interesting and deadly.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 3: Dark Kingdom.
Episode 24: Grim Reaper.

By Razor Knight
Last update: January 19, 2007

-----​

"Mina, you really need to stop wasting so much time with that guy."

"It's not a waste," Minako muttered at the white cat. "I like him, he likes me- And also, half our dates end up with us facing Kunzite."

Artemis sighed. "Still, I don't think your parents would like the idea of you dating that guy."

"That guy's got a name," Minako snapped. "And my parents never really cared about me that much."

"That's a harsh thing to say about them, Mina."

Minako paled as she noticed Brad was leaning on the wall just outside her room. "Brad? You shouldn't eavesdrop."

"You start shouting at each other with your room's door open, and it'll just happen," Brad countered. "Be glad only me and mom can understand Japanese."

Artemis frowned and walked out of the room. Minako sighed. "Brad..."

"He really doesn't like me," Brad mused. "Can't blame him, I bet he sees you as a daughter more than as a protegee."

Minako rose an eyebrow. "He does?"

Brad shrugged. "A theory of mine. Anyway, still want to go out tonight?"

Minako smiled. "Of course."

-----​

Setsuna sighed as she waited outside the house. For a house bought on a scientist's salary, it was quite impressive, although not as large as her own house in Tokyo. She felt uneasy about leaving her 'children' alone, but she knew she had to act on her visions.

The door finally opened, and a man slightly shorter than her, but apparently older, stood there, looking at her through a pair of glasses. "Good morning, what can I do for you?"

"I have something to discuss with you, Dr. Tomoe, but it's better if we don't talk about it out in the open."

Tomoe shrugged. "Come on in, then. May I ask your name?"

"Setsuna Meiou," the green-haired woman said as they both sat on two couches set so they were facing each other. "At least that's my civilian name."

Civilian name? Tomoe was trying to figure out who this woman really was and why she was talking to him. "And what's your real name, then?"

Setsuna smiled for a split second before nodding. "You've been researching about the Senshi, right?"

Tomoe nodded slowly. "You know about them?"

"I am one of them," Setsuna said.

Tomoe shook his head. "That would kill one of my theories. You see, all the Senshi seen around the world looked like teenagers."

"I'm far from a teenager, I admit. Very far."

"You don't look that old. Maybe twenty five or so."

Setsuna chuckled. "What do you think about them?"

"From what we've researched and seen, human weaponry does next to nothing to those Youma creatures. Senshi on the other hand can vaporize them in one shot, five shots at most."

"You know, you're right. I'm an exception to the rule, simply because I'm not a reincarnated warrior like them. I never died in the first place."

Tomoe gasped. "How old are you, then?"

"It's not polite to ask a lady her age," Setsuna mused. "Let's just say I've seen how they built most of the seven wonders."

Tomoe sighed. "So... All the other Senshi will be teenagers." Setsuna nodded. "And you're here talking to me. I can guess why, but a part of me hopes my guess is wrong. Is she one of them?"

"That's quite hard to believe."

Setsuna turned to the monotone, female voice and saw a girl not older than fourteen standing on the doorway that lead to a dimly lit corridor. She was short, with short purplish-black hair and dark purple eyes, and her skin was a few tones away from white. She was staring at the green-haired woman with a neutral expression, as if she were trying to sense something in her.

"You're right, Hotaru," Setsuna said. "But I have ways to prove I'm telling the truth."

"I'd like to see it, then," Hotaru said. If she was surprised that the woman knew her name, she didn't show any signs of it.

Setsuna stood up and nodded as her staff appeared in her hand. "Pluto Planet Power!"

Hotaru didn't look impressed by the transformation at all. "I see. And you say I'm like you?"

Setsuna nodded. "Search in your mind, I'm sure you can feel the power." Hotaru closed her eyes for several seconds, and a symbol glowed white on her forehead as she opened them.

"That's Saturn's astrological symbol," Tomoe said.

"Indeed, she's Sailor Saturn," Pluto explained.

"Saturn Planet Power!"

As Hotaru shouted that, she reached her hand forwards, and a long, purple glaive appeared. The glaive's blade was silvery and shaped as a G, and as she grabbed the weapon, it started pouring a black mist. The mist covered Hotaru's body, slowly solidifying and turning a different color. As the last of the mist turned solid, Tomoe could see his daughter was wearing an outfit much like Pluto's one, only the collar, bow and skirt were dark purple, just like her knee-tall boots. Her outfit was completed by a tiara similar to Pluto's only the gemstone in it's center was purple.

"Welcome to the team," Pluto said with a smile.

"So, what happens from now on?" Tomoe asked.

"Your daughter's a Senshi, one of the defenders of the planet. She must help us fight the youma."

"You're one of the Senshi in the U.S., right?" Saturn asked.

Pluto nodded. "And if my visions were right, you'll be needed there, today."

"Wait a second, I-"

The green-haired Senshi's stare made Tomoe forget what he was going to say next. "Dr. Tomoe, I'll bring your daughter back unharmed."

"If you don't..."

"I will," Pluto said. "And also, I have a request from you. Everything you saw in this room must not be known outside it." She didn't wait for an answer, and Tomoe was left staring at the space the two Senshi had been standing on seconds earlier.

-----​

"My Queen, we're planning on launching a final strike on our other fronts," Kunzite explained.

Beryl nodded. "And how do you plan to do so?"

"I'm going to take my three strongest youma to London, they'll deal with the magician and Venus, or at least weaken them enough so I can finish them off."

"Good thinking. Dexite?"

"My personal troops were reduced drastically by those three Senshi, so I'm going to send my remaining troops to the States and finish the Senshi off once they're tired and weak."

"That many crossings will cost a lot of energy," Beryl noticed. "Energy we can't spare."

"I'm not going to fail," Dexite said, "and getting rid of those Senshi will pay off for the energy we will sacrifice."

"If you fail, don't bother coming back," Beryl warned icily.

"I understand, my Queen," Dexite said and bowed to her.

-----​

Pluto and Saturn appeared inside Setsuna's house, and the three other persons in the room looked at the newcomer with some interest. "Team, meet Hotaru Tomoe, Sailor Saturn."

"Welcome," Kage said.

"Nice suit," Michiru commented.

Haruka grinned. "Don't mind Michiru, she's a pervert."

"Hello," Saturn simply said, then closed her eyes, reverting back to her human form. "This place looks adequate for a group of 'heroes.'"

Kage frowned as Hotaru didn't seem to show any emotions. "Are you a robot or something?"

"Kage..." Michiru groaned.

"Not the first time someone asks me that," Hotaru admitted.

"Well, are you?" Kage insisted.

Hotaru looked at him with the same emotionless face she always had. "No."

Michiru clutched her head and sighed. "Let's leave all that for later, I'm sensing youma."

"Great," Kage muttered.

"Time for the Senshi of Death to rise," Hotaru commented.

"Senshi of Death?" Haruka asked in shock.

"Of Life and Death, actually," Pluto said. "In any case, let's get moving, team!"

-----​

"There they are," Neptune said.

"Five youma?" Sun muttered. "How are we supposed to fight them?"

"We'll manage," Uranus said.

"Hotaru, stay out of this one," Pluto said. The girl started to protest but she continued. "Your energy reserves are way lower than ours, you shouldn't fight for long time periods."

"Exactly why I'm gonna go first," Saturn said and vanished.

"What the hell?" Sun exclaimed.

"Apparently, she can teleport," Pluto mused.

"Why does the newbie get the cool skills?" Uranus muttered.

"Let's go help her," Sun said and run in before the others could stop him.

"Kids need to learn about following orders," Pluto muttered. "Go help them, I'm staying in case Dexite shows up."

"Saturn... Grim Edge!"

Sun gasped as Saturn swung her scythe forwards, and a death energy wave shot forwards, cutting one of the youma in half. He kicked one of the youma that got too close to the Death Senshi, then swiftly gathered energy. "Solar Bolt!"

"Thanks," Saturn said in her usual monotone, then turned to a third creature. "Grim Edge!" As the blast hit, Saturn fell to one knee. "Damn..."

"Gale Fist!"

"Aqua Blast!"

That took care of the two remaining creatures. "Well, this was just too easy," Sun commented.

"Fire Soul."

The attack took the Dragon Senshi off-guard, sending him down to the ground. The others looked up to see a metallic creature standing on top of a building. It was tall, with silvery metal skin and green robotic eyes. It had no mouth, but the rest of the creature looked human enough. "What the :red: is that thing?" Uranus muttered.

"New targets acquired. Begin elimination procedure," the creature droned.

"Hey, that thing acts just like you," Sun commented as he stood up.

Saturn shrugged. "Grim... Edge!"

"Crescent Beam."

The Senshi gasped as the attacks cancelled each other. "Pluto?"

Pluto was about to answer, but sensed movement behind her. She dove aside as a large energy blast hissed by. "Dexite," she muttered as she saw the pale General walk out from around a corner.

"Yeah, I missed you too," Dexite said. "But today, I'm not alone."

Pluto realized what he meant and leapt back, barely missing the two blasts coming from her sides. "Jadeite, Aurite," Pluto said. "I thought you were all too scared to come fight me."

Jadeite smirked. "Talk all you want, witch. Today's your last day."

"Three versus one is unfair," Pluto commented.

"Should we care?" Aurite snapped.

"Indeed, because it's unfair for you," Pluto snapped and rushed at her.

"We should go help Pluto," Sun commented.

"Gale Fist!"

"Gale Fist."

Uranus gasped as the creature used a replica of her attack. "No, really, what the hell is this thing?"

"Moon Tiara Action."

"Haruka, watch out!" Sun leapt to Uranus as an energy disc shot out of the robot's hands, knocking her out of the way, but getting hit by it. "That... Hurt.." he muttered as he tried to stand up and failed.

"Get that thing," Saturn said. "I'll heal him."

Neptune nodded as Saturn put a hand on Sun's back. Energy started pouring out of her hand and into his body. She turned to the creature, who was just standing there waiting for their next move. "Okay ugly, you hurt our friend."

Uranus nodded as she looked at her. For some reason, she'd always been able to know what Michiru was thinking, and that let them fight in a way most take years to perfect. "Let's show this copycat what real Senshi can do in battle. Uranus..."

"Neptune..."

"Twilight Power!"

Sun was already standing up as he heard the shout, and both him and Saturn turned to their two allies, who were wrapped in spheres of their elements. The spheres slowly fused with them, and the changes in their suits were quite noticeable. Both had their planets' symbols drawn on their suits' chests, translucent elbow pads, and the brooches in their bows changed, adding a pair of small feathery wings to the jewels. Also, They both noticed the upgrade had given them an energy boost, which was quite welcome as they would have to kick Dexite's :red: once they were done with the tin man.

As the light faded away, both upgraded Senshi glared at the creature.

"For disturbing peace..." Uranus said.

"... And using our own attacks..." Neptune continued.

"... We won't forgive you. Twilight Sailor Uranus..."

"... And Twilight Sailor Neptune..."

"... Will punish you!" Both finished.

"Why don't they just blast that tin can to pieces?" Saturn muttered. Sun couldn't help but agree, and also be amazed at Saturn's healing powers. He felt no traces of the pain he'd felt minutes ago, which was a good thing given the situation they were in.

"Uranus Storm Wave!"

"Neptune Aqua Pillar!"

A massive wind blast hit the creature, along with a column of water which shot right under it. It fell to one knee, sparks coming out of several cracks in it's metallic skin. "Mission failed, return to base."

"No you won't. Solar Bolt!"

"Grim Edge."

The two attacks hit the creature from the side, and it bounced on the ground once before exploding. "Bye, Mr. Robot," Kage mused.

"Let's help Pluto!" Neptune said.

Dexite appeared near them. "And who'll help you?"

Sun glared at the General. "Hi there, Snow White. Came to get your :red: kicked?"

The General smiled coldly as he materialized an energy blade. "Not before I slice you in half."

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 3: Dark Kingdom.
Episode 25: Exodus Again.

By Razor Knight
Last update: July 13, 2006

-----​

"Grim Edge!"

Dexite blocked the wave with his own energy blast, then blocked a slash from Sun with his sword. "Annoying little brats..."

"Aqua Pillar!"

"Storm Wave!"

The General staggered back as both attacks hit. A Twilight level attack wasn't enough to bring a General down, but it sure caused a lot of pain. "Okay kids, that's it!"

Saturn frowned. "His power's going up..."

"How do you know?" Uranus asked.

"Other than the thin black aura around him?" Sun muttered.

"That, and I can sense his energy," Saturn explained, her voice as unemotional as ever.

"Aqua Pillar!"

The pale man chuckled as the attack hit. It still hurt, but with the energy rush he was feeling, it didn't quite matter. "I'll show you real power!" As he shouted that, he punched the ground, creating a wave of energy that knocked the Senshi down to the ground.

-----​

Pluto frowned as she risked looking away from the two Generals she was facing. Dexite had somehow powered up, which meant even in Twilight level, her group would have quite a lot of trouble fighting him. She'd love to help them, but she wouldn't be able to until she'd beaten her own foes. "Tired yet?"

"Not a chance," Jadeite snapped as he charged at her, while Aurite gathered energy for an energy blast.

-----​

Upon knocking them all to the ground, the corpse-like man had taken on the two Twilight Senshi, and was right now fighting them both. Neptune was leaning on a wall, recovering her breath, while Uranus tried to resist Dexite's flurry of punches and kicks.

Sun frowned. He wanted to help, but he was quite out of energy, and the General was too strong. He looked up to see Pluto was still busy fighting two of those freaks, so there would be no help from her.

He looked at his two friends. Their new power was amazing, even though Dexite was still on the winning side. If only he could... He frowned as he felt something in his mind, then smirked. "Playtime's over, Dexite."

The General turned to him as he blocked one of Uranus' punches and laughed. "What could a weakling like you do against me?"

"This. Sun Twilight Power!"

Dexite leapt away from Uranus, taking his time to recover and wait for Sun's transformation to end. Flames had surrounded him as soon as he'd shouted out his transformation phrase, and were still swirling around him, though they kept on inching closer to his body. As the flames touched him, they vanished. The changes in his suit were quite a show. His formerly golden boots were now trimmed white, as were his gloves, and his sword had a longer hilt, which looked like a golden dragon with the sword's blade pouring out of it's mouth, it's wings were spread out and served as the sword's guard. And like the female Twilight Senshi, the planet's symbol was drawn on his suit's chest.

Sun didn't waste time with speeches, instead aiming his sword at his foe. "Sun Gravity..." The blade glowed white for a second before he tapped it on the ground, releasing an invisible energy wave. "Hold!"

Dexite gasped as the wave hit him, then laughed. "That didn't harm me in the least. You're still a weakling."

"And you're still brain-dead, if you can't figure out why that tech's name is 'Gravity Hold,'" Sun snapped.

As he tried to move, Dexite realized what Sun's 'attack' really did. "You brat, as soon as I get out of here I'm going to..."

"Problem is, you won't move unless I run out of power," Sun commented.

"Got any energy left?" Uranus asked.

Neptune shook her head. "I'm out of power."

Uranus frowned, then noticed Saturn wasn't moving. "What's the newbie doing?"

Saturn wasn't paying attention to them, instead trying to figure out how the others had powered up. She focused in that, leaving herself open for an attack, not that there was anyone around who'd be able to attack her right now. There, she knew what to do... "Saturn Twilight Power!"

"She learns fast," Neptune commented.

As her transformation ended, she stepped forwards, glaive aimed at Dexite. Her suit had suffered the same changes as Uranus and Neptune's, but the weapon was unchanged. "Time for the Senshi of Death to do her job," she said coldly.

"Hah! You can't defeat me, girl, I'm still stronger than you all!"

"You are not," Saturn snapped back. "You were dodging most of the blasts Uranus and Neptune shot at you, tiring them out until you could get them easily. You're as out of energy as any of us, but at least we don't try to bluff our way out of it."

Dexite glared at her. "Why you..."

"Let's see if you can resist one more strike," Saturn said as coldly as ever. "Keep in mind I most likely wouldn't be able to hit you if you weren't locked in Sun's attack... So I guess he's the one that defeated you, not me."

"I'll kill you, stupid ki..." Dexite's gloating was stopped by Sun, as he used his tech to slam the corpse-man through a brick wall.

"It's not just for keeping you in place, as you can see," the Dragon commented. "By the way Saturn, attack him before I run out of power, will you?"

"Was about to," Saturn muttered. "Saturn... Death Bolt!"

Uranus and Neptune gasped as a dark blast shot out of Saturn's glaive, piercing through the General's chest. Dexite didn't even have time to blink before vanishing. "She's strong..."

Saturn fell to her knees, dropping the glaive. "Tired..."

Sun leaned on a tree and sighed. "Finally, we got him."

"Well done, team," Pluto said as she walked to them.

"What happened to the other two?" Neptune asked.

"They vanished when they saw Dexite die," Pluto explained. "Guess they didn't want to take any risks."

"What happens now?" Uranus asked.

"I've been keeping an eye in Tokyo," Pluto said. "With the seven Rainbow Youma gathered, Beryl could summon the Shadow Youma to fight the Senshi there... Also, I know she'll want to focus her troops in that point, as the Tokyo Senshi have gathered most of the Ginzuishou shards."

"So, we go and help them?" Neptune asked.

"No. I've detected something else, an evil I can't yet identify, in Tokyo. It isn't anywhere near Juuban, so I could bet the Senshi there won't figure it out yet."

"You want us to go stop that evil?" Sun asked.

"No, just to investigate, and... Kage, Hotaru, you both need training, to improve your skills as much as Haruka and Michiru have the last few years."

"We were the ones killing Dexite," Saturn pointed.

"It was a team effort," Pluto said, "and you said it yourself, he was out of power by the time Sun got him."

Saturn frowned. "I see. So we're going to stay out of the Dark Kingdom battles from now on?"

Pluto nodded. "The Princess is already fighting against Beryl, even though for what I know, she still doesn't remember who she really is."

"How can you know that?" Sun asked.

"Because if the Princess had awakened, Beryl's Generals would already be dust in the wind. In any case, Haruka and Michiru will go to investigate this new evil, while you and Hotaru go back with me and train for future battles."

-----​

"Why does Kunzite always have to interrupt our dates?" V commented angrily.

"I don't know, but I think we should kick his rear once and for all."

V nodded at Ace, then looked around the wall they were hiding behind. Kunzite was searching the area, flanked by three cat-like youma. The only visible difference between the trio was their fur's color, it was red, blue and green respectively. "Here's the plan... I tackle Kunzite, you keep the youma busy until I'm done with him."

Ace nodded. "Be careful."

"You too."

Kunzite smirked as the two heroes came out of hiding. "Finally."

"What are you up to this time around, Kunzite?" Ace asked. "Didn't drain anyone, just scared them off. That's just not your style."

"I would use my style if I didn't intend for this to be our final battle."

V looked around. The shopping mall they were at was large, but it's emptiness, even at daylight, was unnerving. "Let's see who beats who, then."

Kunzite leapt away from V as she charged, and one of the youma, the green-furred one, tried to tackle her. "Not this time, you'll have to get past one of them to get me," the General noted.

V punched the cat away, pointing her finger at it. "Crescent Beam!"

The cat-like creature dove aside, but as it stood up, it was clear V hadn't shot to kill. The Senshi was now running in Kunzite's direction. "I'll get that Senshi :red:."

"Fireball!"

The fire blast knocked the cat to the ground. It stood up swiftly and noticed it's two lookalikes were also standing up. "Roshnyan, Azunyan, let's skin this little mouse alive."

The red-furred one nodded. "I like that plan, Vernyan."

Ace stood ready, waiting for their attack. As soon as they charged, he shouted "Teleport!" and the three youma ended up in a triple collision. "Didn't think you guys'd fall for that... You're quite stupid."

"And you're quite dead," the blue-furred cat snapped.

Ace dodged aside as it charged, slicing it's side with his sword. "Touche. Lightning!"

The other two cats flinched as their ally fell. "You killed Azunyan, we'll have to kill you," the red-furred one snapped.

Ace sighed as the cat run to him. "Shield." As the cat slammed head-first into an invisible barrier, he was already done casting another spell. "Ice."

Vernyan snarled at him. "You killed my brothers, human... That will be your last mistake."

Ace smirked. "Go ahead, try like your friends did."

Vernyan laughed at him. "Not yet..." The bodies of the other two cat youma vanished, leaving black energy orbs behind. Both orbs entered Vernyan's body and it howled as it morphed. The cat grew in size to almost three meters, and it's formerly green fur was now black. "Human, Prepare to face Aronyan."

"Name's ugly, but you're uglier," Ace muttered. "Fireball!" The attack bounced off the cat's skin. "Okay, you might just be a little hard to defeat," he muttered before leaping aside as the cat's massive claw fell to him.

Meanwhile, V was trying her best to beat Kunzite. The General was as fast as usual, and without Ace helping her, she couldn't find a way to defeat him. From what she could see as she risked looking to the side, Ace had his hands quite full right now, as the three youma had seemingly fused into a single, large cat.

"What's up, Venus, giving up yet?" Kunzite snapped.

"I'm not... What?"

"Sailor V doesn't exist, you're Venus. And you're going to die today."

"Just try," V snapped.

"Gladly," Kunzite snapped back. He started gathering energy and formed a shield to protect himself from V's attacks.

"Oh no, you won't!" V muttered. "Crescent Barrage!"

Kunzite cursed as his shield was hit dead-on by the laser rain, vanishing when the last few beams hit. A couple of them hit him, but that wasn't enough to bring him down. "Die, Venus!"

V gasped as a massive energy beam shot out of Kunzite's palms, then blinked as the attack didn't hit. Artemis was standing in front of her, a barely visible forcefield right in front of him. "Art?"

"It's good I decided to come check on you," Artemis said. "Tho I
don't think I'll be able to stop another blast like that."

Ace frowned. He had to help V, but he couldn't until he got rid of the cat youma. He had tried all of his spells, and his sword, but nothing had worked so far. Actually, all his spells but one... "Okay kitty, it's time for you to take a catnap."

"Stupid jokes won't save you," Aronyan snapped.

"I know, but this will..." Ace focused in his sword, and it lit up with energy. "Demon Sword!" He slashed at the cat with the charged sword, leaving a deep wound behind, and the wound also lit up with power. "And here's where I run," he muttered as he rushed away.

The cat youma had time for one last painful howl before the energy inside it overloaded it's body, causing it to explode. "That was overkill," Artemis noticed as the whole building started shaking and small fragments of the roof started raining on them.

Ace shrugged. "We... Need to get out of here," he said weakly.

Kunzite laughed. "You won't." He shot an energy wave, not directed at his foes, but at the building itself, then vanished.

-----​

As the General appeared outside the building, he couldn't help but smile as it collapsed. "How ironic... All these months trying to kill Venus, and what killed her was her sidekick's magic."

With one last look at the now wrecked building, Kunzite teleported back to the Dark Kingdom.

-----​

Minutes later, a rat was running over the pile of concrete and steel that had once been a shopping mall. It stopped on a large piece of wall and sniffed around, looking for something to eat. The rodent leapt off it's perch as it started moving, turning as the wall segment was sent flying away several meters, and coming face to face with an angry-looking white cat.

"Boo," the cat said, and the rat dashed off. "Well, this is really a mess."

Venus was checking the damage. A scar in her left leg, a wound near her right elbow, and her suit was a mess, and had cuts all over. "Ace?" she called out, not getting any answer. "Oh no..."

"Gust!" came the muffled shout from under a pile of assorted debris, which was all sent raining over the area as Ace weakly stood up. "Mina, I'm sorry."

"About what?" Venus asked.

"I almost kill us all," Ace noted.

"But now, Kunzite thinks we're dead," Artemis said, "and will surely tell that to the other Generals."

"And that's good because...?" Venus asked.

"If we stay in a low profile for a while, we could go help the Tokyo group when they need us, and surprise the youma."

"That's a plan," Ace said as he checked his own wounds. There was blood running down his right leg, a cut over his left eyebrow, and he could barely move his sword arm. "I think I'll need a few healing spells after this."

"What the hell was that?" Artemis asked. "I've never seen you use something as strong as that."

"It's one of the Demon Hunters' strongest spells, one that is better not to abuse, as it requires a lot of energy."

"You don't look tired," Venus said.

"I know... I added a drain spell to it, fed off that cat thing."

"A human draining a youma. Strange irony," Artemis muttered.

"So, off to Tokyo we go!" Venus said and walked away, not waiting for the others.

"Artemis?" Ace asked once Venus was out of hearing range.

"Yes?"

"I know you don't quite like me, and I'm not going to ask you to like me. But try not showing it so much in front of Mina."

Artemis shrugged. "Boy, it's not that I didn't like you, it's that I didn't think you were strong enough to protect Minako when she needed you to."

"You 'didn't'?" Ace noticed.

Artemis nodded. "In a way, you saved Minako back there. She was running out of energy, while Kunzite wasn't even sweating. And after that display of power you gave us..."

"So, friends?"

Artemis shrugged again. "Maybe. One thing though: You hurt Mina, I'll hurt you."

Ace nodded. "Fair enough, Art."

Artemis blinked. Everyone was calling him that lately, and the worst thing was, he was starting to like the nickname.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 3: Dark Kingdom.
Episode 26: Interlude.

By Razor Knight
Last update: January 22, 2007

-----​

The Tokyo Senshi were, once again, meeting at the Zephyr mansion, and Rei had just finished explaining them what she'd found out in their last battle.

"So your grandfather figured it out?"

Rei nodded at Ami's question. "Yeah. He said my energy's gone up a lot since I became a Senshi, but... I thought it'd only be detectable while we were in Senshi form?"

Terry produced a small camera off his pocket and shrugged. "Not quite... Let me show you what I know."

Usagi blinked as the camera lit up, projecting a three-dimensional image of some wrestler in the center of the table they were all sitting around. "Wow... Nice trick."

"You see, I've always liked melee combat, so I researched and found a scale that measures a fighter's overall abilities. A normal, untrained human like most of you were before the transformation, would go up to about three or four points in that scale."

Ami nodded. "I've seen that too." She noticed everyone looking at her and blushed. "I don't study all the time, you know... Anyway, the scale has the best fighters in the world going up to between ten and twenty points in that scale."

"Would that scale be able to measure those like us?" Naru asked.

"I've been working on that, girls," Terry said as the image changed to a miniature image of Sailor Moon. "She's the strongest I've seen, even though she has nearly no fighting skills. Her power in my scale would go up to a hundred."

"I bet I'm the weakest," Ami said.

"There's also me," Terry admitted. "But yeah, power-wise, before the upgrade, you were at eighty points, the lowest of all the Senshi I've been able to see in battle."

"And now?" Usagi asked.

"Her power's up to over two hundreds," Terry said. "My guess is, you all will upgrade like she did when you need it, and you'll all be above that."

"How much power do you have?" Mako asked.

"Keep in mind I have no magic or superhuman stats," Terry said. "When wearing my Zero armor, my power is around twenty five points."

"Weakling," Mako muttered.

"Without the armor, I go down to around... eleven points."

"Bull:red:," Rei said bluntly.

"We can fight if you want, no magic, no armor," Terry said. "The backyard has enough space for that, or we could go to one of the training rooms."

Rei chuckled. "I'll pass. I've seen you fight, and you most likely aren't bluffing."

"So, what's everyone doing later?" Usagi asked.

"I want to catch up on my reading," Ami said.

"We could go shopping, it'll be fun," Usagi insisted.

"No, thanks," Ami said.

"You miss it," Mako said. "Count me in."

"Me too," Naru said.

"I gotta help fixing the temple's yard," Rei said. "Our little battle there quite wrecked the place."

Terry shrugged. "I'm trying to research on the other Senshi groups. Also, the more I stay in here, the less I'll have to worry about the fangirls."

"Aw... Come on, we'll protect you," Usagi said.

"Oh, all right... But I'm bringing my shotgun just in case." The girls all looked at him in shock. "Joking."

-----​

And so, a short trip to the mall later, the group was now sitting on a bench and talking. "I still don't know what's so fun about all this."

Mako chuckled at Terry. "That's because you could buy the whole mall if you wanted to."

"Heh. In any case..."

"I sense a disturbance in the Force," Mako said.

"Hi guys!"

"Told ya," Mako muttered as Umino popped up from behind the bench.

Umino looked at Mako. "You should be careful, the fan girl squad is after you."

"What, they like girls now?" Usagi mused.

"No, but after she apparently chased them off, they figured she was his girlfriend."

Mako looked at Terry, then blushed. "He's not."

"I know," Umino said. "I saw them lurking the mall, too, so you should..."

"Terry!"

"You again?"

The crowd of girls was larger than last time, and was, again, lead by Chie. "We figured why Kino defended you the other day, but really, why are you dating that ox?"

"Ox? Why you little-" Mako muttered.

Terry walked up to Chie, his glare making her take a step back. "I'm not dating anyone, or want to date anyone right now, and that's because I'm still mourning my first love. Now, if you and your harpy squad could leave me alone, it would make things a damn lot easier for me."

There were murmurs in the crowd, but Chie silenced them with a quick glare back. "I see. Terry, I like you, we all do, but... This isn't helping the case, right?"

"If you mean chasing me around like a pack of cats running after a truck of tuna, then no."

"Then what, want us to stop being your fans?" one of the girls asked.

"I don't think he minds that," Naru said, "but the whole chasing him around the city is a bit too extreme."

Chie seemed deep in thought for a minute, then she turned to the crowd. "Okay girls, I guess we know what we have to do. Let's go back to the base."

Usagi walked to Terry as the fan girls left. "That's one crisis averted."

Terry nodded. "Let's go back to whatever we were doing."

Usagi looked at Terry. She knew him enough to know something was upsetting him, but what? She could only guess and wait for him to talk about it.

-----​

As usual, the youma Queen sat in her throne, surrounded by hundreds of assorted youma, who were careful not to step into the dim light surrounding the stony seat.

"Anything to report, Kunzite?"

Kunzite bowed to Beryl as he stepped out of the darkness. "In our last battle, we had different outcomes on both fronts. While I was able to kill Venus and her mage friend, Dexite failed, and from Jadeite's report, I fear there's yet another Senshi around."

"A Senshi strong enough to defeat Dexite? Who is she?"

"Saturn," Kunzite noted. "However, my spies in the States haven't shown any movements from the Senshi there since Dexite's death, and one of them mentioned the possibility they'd moved back to Japan."

"That could complicate things a lot," Beryl admitted. "We're having little luck defeating the Senshi in Tokyo, if the New York ones were to join them..."

"That's why I want to put my lattest plan into action. One that has been planned carefully, and will require the assistance of all my fellow Generals."

"And the plan is?" Beryl asked as Zoicite walked out of the shadows and stood besides the white-haired General.

"As I told the others some time ago," the androgynous General noted, "the Senshi are mostly seen in Juuban, so the best guess would be, that's where their headquarters are. We'll wait until all the students arrive at Juuban High and trap them all inside a force field." Beryl was about to say something, but stopped. "Once we get that, we'll threaten to kill all the students if the Senshi don't show themselves."

Jadeite stepped out of the darkness. "If they show themselves, we'll know who they are, and kill them. If they don't, we'll kill all the humans in the building, killing the Senshi as well."

Next to step into the light was Aurite. "While Kunzite and some others stay inside, I'll stay outside with the rest. That's in case some of the Senshi aren't inside the building when the dome's summoned."

Cardite followed. "We'll be able to enter or leave the dome in case things get too dangerous on either side, and that's what will give us the advantage."

"Of course, we'll get a few youma to help us," Nephrite added as he stood next to the others.

"It's a pity the Rainbow Youma aren't fully recovered," Luminite noted. "If we were able to use them, our victory would be assured."

Beryl gave them all a short, vague smile. "This time around, you seem to have all things considered... I expect results this time, as you'll be using a copious amount of energy. A failure will not be good for any of you."

"Understood," the seven Generals said in unison as they all bowed to their Queen.

-----​

Next morning, during lunch break, Chie was talking to her closest friend, Karin, about what'd happened at the mall the day before.

"So he told you to stay away?"

Chie nodded. "It's not fair. He has all those girls with him all the time..."

Karin smiled. "Chie, from what I've seen of them, they aren't chasing him around, they're his friends. Also, I know from a good source the whole issue with his girlfriend is true."

"I know that. But there has to be something else."

"There sure is," Karin said.

"What is it?" Chie asked, her interest piqued.

"I'll tell you, for a kiss," Karin noted, keeping a straight face.

"Uhh..." Chie blushed. "Don't joke like that, you dummy."

Karin laughed. "You're fun to tease. Anyway, I've heard his reasons to move so far away from home were not only to heal his heart, but also, to search for her murderer."

"So, what do you think I should do?"

"Maybe you should stop trying to be his girlfriend, and become his friend."

Chie nodded. "Thanks for the advice."

"That's what friends are for," Karin said as Chie walked away. That girl was a bit crazy, but they had been friends since they were in grade school. She wasn't bad once you got to know her, but... "Good luck, Chie."

-----​

Meanwhile, in a table not far from Karin's, another group was having lunch.

"- And he wanted to trade me his yacht for one of my swords."

Naru frowned at Terry. "You didn't?"

"I have ten boats like his, but only two swords of that kind."

"Quite a smart move," Naru said. "It'd be bad if you sold those swords before their power could be used for good."

"Hey girls!" Umino said as he somehow popped in-between Terry and Naru. Terry grabbed him by the collar and tossed him back. "What was that for?"

Terry shrugged. "Just stopping the girls from hitting you in the head. Brain damage seems to be severe enough already."

Umino ignored the verbal jab. "I just wanted to let you guys know I finally figured out who Sailor Moon is!"

"You did?" Usagi asked with a frown.

"Indeed. She dresses up like a cheerleader, is quite clumsy, and also popular."

"So?" Mako asked.

"So it's simple. Chie Wanako is popular, clumsy, and the captain of the school's cheer-leading squad. She's Sailor Moon!"

"Who are you calling clumsy?"

Umino turned around to see a pair of piercing blue eyes glaring at him. "Uh... Hi there, Chie."

Chie grabbed Umino by the collar as effortlessly as Terry had, and carried him out of the room. "She's stronger than she looks," the blonde commented.

"Aren't you gonna save him?" Mako asked amused.

Naru shrugged. "Chie's not gonna hurt him-"

"Not the face!" Umino's voice could be heard from the outside. Everyone in the room flinched.

"Much," Naru added rapidly.

"What the heck, a storm?" Usagi muttered walking to the window as the sky outside darkened. "Oh crap."

Terry looked outside and grimaced. There was a black wall around the school, from what he could see. Or rather, a perfect sphere surrounding the school, from what his watch's data told him. "This isn't good."

Naru nodded as four of the Generals materialized near them. "Not good at all."

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 3: Dark Kingdom.
Episode 27: Domes And Dragons.

By Razor Knight
Last update: January 22, 2007

-----​

"Meow!"

Rei looked outside, and saw Shade perched on a tall tree branch. The cats had never gone to her school before, so that meant something was happening. She walked out of the building, making sure nobody saw her. As everyone was having lunch, however, there just wasn't anyone outside to see her talk to the cat. "Hello, Shade."

"Rei, the Generals trapped the school building in a force-field. All the other Senshi are trapped inside."

The girl nodded and picked the cat up, rushing into an alley. Soon enough, Sailor Mars was running towards the Juuban High building, as fast as she could.

-----​

Mercury was almost glad she'd decided to stay in her classroom for a change. That saved her from being trapped like the others, with no way to transform. She knew on her own she had near zero chances to defeat all those Generals, so she had to find a way to take them out of the room.

Inside said room, the situation looked dire. Luminite, Jadeite and Nephrite were there, along with a white-haired General she'd never seen before, but for some reason looked eerily familiar. "Senshi, we know you're here. Transform and fight us, or we'll kill all the kids," the new General threatened.

Karin growled at Luminite's words. Kill them? Not without a fight. She leapt off the crowd, delivering a running jab to Luminite's midsection that caused the pale woman to stagger back. "Want more?"

Nephrite tried to backhand Karin, but she ducked and went for a punch to the jaw. Before she could connect, however, Jadeite zapped her down with an energy blast. "Humans, such a pest..."

"Karin!" Chie snarled at the Generals and rushed them, but the three dodged her charge. Nephrite knocked her down, and the three chuckled mockingly. "Bastards..."

Terry looked at his watch. Those two girls weren't normal, definitely. But he had no time to worry about his readings.

'I need to find a way out of this... But if transforming is the only way to save my friends, I'll do it.' Usagi thought with a frown.

"As soon as I distract them, find a way to sneak out of the room," Terry said.

"What are you planning?" Naru asked.

"You know me, I love getting hurt," Terry joked.

Before Terry could act, however, the door turned blue, along with a good section of the wall, and then was ripped off it's place. Everyone turned to see Mercury standing there.

"Oh my, look who's here," Luminite mocked.

"What's wrong, Ice girl, can't find your friends?" Jadeite added.

Terry smiled to himself. With the crowd distracted, he could put his alternate plan in action. He let several of his 'Chokers' roll under the Generals, and nodded at his friends.

When the Generals were able to see again, the crowd was gone. "What the Darkness? Oh, this is just great!" Kunzite snarled.

"They can't get out of the dome anyways," Luminite said. "Let's split and get them."

"Foolish," Jadeite said. "Don't split. The Senshi must've found a way to separate from their human friends and should be already done transforming. Let's search for them."

"Don't bother, we're here," Moon said as she and most of her group rushed into the room.

"Good," Luminite said. "Now we can get rid of you once and for all."

"Heard that before," Zero snapped as he charged at Luminite.

"Time to call for reinforcements," Jadeite said. A half dozen youma appeared, each uglier than the last.

"Girls, I'll take on those critters, you kill the uglier ones," Zero said.

"Be careful, everyone. We've never fought this many enemies at once," Mercury said.

-----​

"Karin, are you okay?"

Karin nodded as she leaned on a wall. "Yeah. Shouldn't have tried to fight them."

"Good thing the Senshi were around," Umino commented.

"Hey, where's Terry?" Chie asked.

"I saw them split from the crowd," Umino said. "They said something about calling the army."

"Where did the Senshi come from, though?" Karin pondered. "It most likely means they study here."

"Or that they have ways to enter those force fields," Umino noted. "In any case, let's wait for them to solve the problem."

-----​

Jadeite dodged to the side as Jupiter tried tackling him. "Not bad, thunder girl. I bet you'd do a lot better if you fought with your brain instead of your fists."

"My fists work for me, thank you," Jupiter muttered and charged again.

"So, Nephrite, what are you waiting for?" Nemesis snapped.

"We don't have to fight if you don't want to, Nadia."

"Sorry, but Nadia's dead, you killed her," Nemesis said. "Dark Bolt."

"Is she really?" Nephrite pondered as the energy blast hissed by, barely missing his head. He had made no move to dodge the attack. "I think you're still the same, and you can't quite hurt me."

"Shut up!" Nemesis growled and rushed at Nephrite. He sidestepped and punched her in the back, knocking her to the ground.

"Luckily I don't have such handicaps."

-----​

Zero back-flipped, narrowly missing a claw slash, and bounced off the wall, managing to punch his target away. 'Okay, maybe trying to fight this many youma wasn't a good idea.' He was knocked back by a jet of acid, luckily his suit's element regenerated faster than the acid acted.

Still, all he could do was dodge and keep them busy, that way his friends would have a fair fight against the Generals.

-----​

Kunzite was meanwhile fighting Moon. "You're the so-called leader? I can't believe Jadeite couldn't beat you."

Moon dodged as Kunzite shot an energy blast, and frowned. There had to be a way out of this mess, and preferably without thrashing the school. She idly wondered if Mars or Tuxedo Kamen had already found a way to get through the shield.

-----​

Mars looked at the black dome around the school with a frown. As if the dome wasn't enough trouble, there were three Generals outside. She had to find a way to get through both the dome and the idiots, and fast. "Looks like a challenge."

"Do you have a plan?" Luna asked.

"Not really," Mars said, then run to the dome. "Hey you, creeps!"

Aurite chuckled. "Ms. Fire brain is here. Was about time. Ready to die, girl?" the gold-haired General snapped.

"It doesn't matter, because I'm not going to die," Mars snapped back. "Fire Soul!"

Aurite punched the attack away. "Seriously... You girls are so weak."

Cardite produced a card and smiled, then blinked in disbelief as the card was stabbed through by a rose, ending up pinned to a tree. "Oh great, that's twice in a row..."

"What, no comments on my looks or skills?" Tuxedo asked as he leapt off the tree branch he'd been standing on.

"They speak for themselves," Cardite snapped.

"At least I'm not trying to beat opponents with trading cards," the masked man snapped back.

'I've got to help the others,' Mars thought as she dodged a barrage of energy blasts from Aurite. 'But how to get through that dome...' The answer came to her as she dodged again, and one of the blasts struck the dome, momentarily disrupting a small area of it. "Hah! You miss and miss again. Not that those weak blasts would be any problem for me, really."

"Shut up," Aurite snapped.

"I hit a nerve, huh? Sorry, freak show, but you're just too weak to fight me."

"Too weak?" Aurite growled. "Die!" She shot a massive energy blast at Mars, but the Fire Senshi dodged and rushed in as an entrance formed. "Oops."

"Who's the hothead now?" Mars shouted as the dome closed, and stuck her tongue out at Aurite.

"Well done, genius," Cardite snapped as she dodged Tuxedo's cane.

"Let's go in," Aurite said ignoring the jab. "All the Senshi are in there now, and these losers won't be able to follow us."

Tuxedo growled as the three Generals vanished. "Damn..."

A group of assorted military vehicles came rushing towards the dome. Seia leapt off a tank and frowned. "I don't like it when they use those," she commented.

"The Senshi are all in there," Tuxedo noted.

"I know. I'm here to try and free them," the pink-haired woman explained.

"With what?"

Seia produced a rocket launcher out of seemingly nowhere. "With this." She shot a rocket at the dome, it exploded filling the area with a bright light for several seconds. When the effect passed, however, the dome was still intact. ":red:. Tomoe needs to revise his numbers, this thing didn't work."

-----​

Zero was, he had to admit, out-powered. He had managed to take down two of the six youma, but the remaining ones were keeping their distance and shooting blast after blast at him. Well, at least there was no electric or ice youma in the mix.

"Fire Soul!"

The one youma that looked like a featherless bird turned into a pile of ashes almost instantly. "What took you so long?"

Mars frowned. "Had to get past the security guards outside."

Kunzite frowned as he saw Mars. "Pull back and regroup, everyone."

Mercury run to the others as the Generals all stopped attacking. "What are they up to?"

Mars shrugged. "I don't know, but they're visibly going all out this time."

The white-haired General smirked as the Senshi all gathered as well. "This Plan isn't working, so I suggest a different approach."

"Whatever you're going to do, get them now," Aurite said as she and the last two Generals appeared in the room. "The human army's out there trying to breach the dome."

"Why don't you just get that dome out of the way and let all the kids here go?" Zero asked.

Kunzite smiled at that. "That's actually a good idea, kid."

-----​

Tuxedo produced a rose and frowned. "Let's try this..."

Seia snickered. "What, you mean that rose's gonna destroy the dome, when that rocket couldn't even scratch it?"

Tuxedo shrugged and tossed the rose at the dome. As it struck, the dome vanished. "..."

Seia tossed her rocket launcher at her tank and growled. "What are those things made of?"

"Magic," Tuxedo simply said, then winced. "But I don't have time to chat. The Senshi need my help."

Seia watched as the masked man rushed towards the school. "Well, now we sit and wait as usual."

-----​

"Zero, next time you give the enemy an idea, I'm going to deep-freeze you," Mercury noted.

"Uh... Oops?" Zero muttered.

The others looked around them. A miniature version of the dome that had been around the building was now surrounding them. "Maybe we can dig our way out with our attacks?" Jupiter suggested.

Mercury shook her head as she scanned the dome's wall with her visor. "It's a spherical force-field. And also..."

"Enough of this. Moon Tiara Action!"

"Watch it, idiot!" Mars snapped as Moon's tiara bounced off the dome's wall and started bouncing around.

"... Our attacks will probably not be strong enough to destroy it," Mercury completed as Moon caught her tiara.

"So now what, we give up?" Nemesis muttered.

"That would be good," Kunzite admitted. "If you don't, you'll be destroyed anyways," he added as he snapped his fingers.

"The dome's shrinking!" Mercury noted.

"We can see that," Jupiter said. "And slowly, too..."

"I want to enjoy your deaths," Kunzite noted.

"It'd be better to kick your asses ourselves, but we're tired of you always managing to escape," Jadeite added.

"You are the ones always running away," Zero snapped.

"Say all you want, but this time around it's game over for you," Luminite said.

Mercury frowned. "Maybe not... Shabon Spray Freezing!"

The attack hit the dome wall and, for a split second, the wall shimmered. "Hah! Not enough." Kunzite snapped. 'Came too damn close to breaking the dome down, though.'

"Crescent Barrage!"

"Firestorm!"

One of the token youma was incinerated, while the other two were hit by a barrage of thin laser beams. The Generals turned to see three figures walking into the room. "You said you killed them," Aurite noticed.

"Sorry freaks, but you can't kill a Senshi just by dropping a building on her," Venus snapped as she pointed her finger at them. "But enough of that... Crescent Beam!"

Aurite swiftly formed a shield, but was still knocked back by the force of the attack. "Damn, she's strong."

"Destroy her!" Kunzite ordered.

"You may try, but you'll never beat me," Venus taunted.
 
Last edited:
Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 3: Dark Kingdom.
Episode 28: Luminite's Last Scene.


By Razor Knight
Last update: January 23, 2007

------​

Kunzite rushed forwards, trying to slash Venus in half, The other Generals took the chance to shoot energy blasts at their foe, and Kunzite leapt back, shooting a blast of his own for good measure.

"Fire Wall!"

Venus blinked as a wall of flames formed right in front of her, absorbing the blasts from her foes. "Thanks, Ace."

"V, you don't need to talk in English anymore," Ace noted.

"..." Venus grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, I'm too used to it..." Both the mage and the cat shook their heads at her.

"They're no pushovers," Jadeite commented.

"I know that. Let's get rid of them while the other Senshi are busy getting crushed," Kunzite suggested.

"Getting rid of me? Oh hohohoho!" Venus laughed.

"Why's she laughing like that?" Ace asked the cat.

"She's a basket case, that's why," Artemis muttered.

"Ahem... Crescent Barrage!"

The Generals all rose their shields, but they were all knocked back by the attack. The Senshi inside the dome all gasped at Venus' display of power."What the :red: was that?" Zero asked.

"An upgraded attack, just like my Freezing tech," Mercury explained, "but her power's higher than mine or Moon's..."

Moon frowned then nodded. "I'll get you out of here, guys," she said before closing her eyes.

"No time to sleep now, slacker," Mars snapped.

"Rei, for once in your life, shut the hell up," Zero snapped back. "Let her focus."

"We have no time for--"

"Mars, he's right," Nemesis said. "If that blonde out there can hit that hard, imagine what Moon could do."

Mars nodded. She hated to admit it, but it was a fact Moon was the strongest of them as far as raw magic power went. "We trust you, Usagi," she said almost in a whisper.

"I know," Moon said as she opened her eyes, a thin white aura surrounding her. "I pity them, they need to resort to this kind of tricks to win... But they fail, once again. Moon Tiara..."

"Hey, you already tried that," Jupiter noted.

"... Boomerang!"

"Huh?" Mars blinked as the tiara hissed by, inches away from her face. It struck the dome and popped it like a soap bubble. "It worked!"

"Well, damn it," Jadeite muttered. "Time to leave?"

"Don't be a coward," Luminite snapped. "Upgrade or not, we can still kill them all."

Kunzite nodded. "Agreed. Let's make this their final battle."

"Round two," Zero said as the Senshi all prepared to fight their foes.

------​

"We've already evacuated the school, and the surrounding buildings, just in case," Seia said.

"Good," Kino's voice said through the comm. "How's the situation with the Senshi?"

Seia looked at the building as she heard an explosion. A good section of the front wall had been just blasted to dust. "Getting worse. I think the youma are going all out."

"If things get too bad, retreat."

"Understood," Seia said and cut the call. "Come on, Senshi, I know you can do this."

------​

Things were even for both sides now, though most of the battle was a brawl. Venus and Ace had chosen Kunzite to fight, while Zero tried to finally get his revenge on Luminite, with Mercury helping him as much as she could. The white Mooncat watched the battle, not sure how to help his protegee.

"Artemis, is that really you?"

He smiled as Luna and Shade came walking to him. "Been a while, girls. A really long while."

"You think they need our help?" Shade asked.

"Maybe, maybe not," Artemis said. "But we'll have to trust them to win this one."

------​

"When will you realize you can't beat me?"

Zero frowned as Luminite dodged his slash, then slashed up to stop her attack. "Not on my own, agreed..."

"Shabon Spray Freezing!" Mercury shot her attack and knocked Luminite back, then fell to her knees. "Out of... Power."

Luminite parried Zero's slash once again and kicked him into a wall, then floated to where Mercury was. "I think this may look familiar to you, Zero..." She commented as she gathered energy, aiming at the Ice Senshi.

Mercury stood up slowly, and started gathering energy herself. However, she didn't have enough left to even use her normal attack. "No... I can't give up." She then saw something else, and rushed forwards.

"Die!" Zero snapped as he rushed at Luminite. The white-skinned General smirked as she turned to him, pointing her blast right at him. "Oh :red:..."

"Shabon Spray!" Mercury rushed in front of the attack, shooting her own to try and stop it. The blast was stronger than expected, however, and she was knocked back by it, rolling on the ground and stopping near the ninja.

"Mercury!" Zero knelt besides the Ice Senshi. "Hang in there..."

Mercury smiled weakly at him. "I'm... Fine. If that attack had hit you, you could've have died."

"Not like you fared any better," Luminite mocked. "That's what you get for helping him. He always lets his girlfriends get killed."

Zero stood up, and even though his eyes weren't visible, the General could feel the full force glare he was giving her. "Enough of you, Luminite. You're not leaving this place alive, even if I have to die to destroy you."

"Nice rant, ninja boy, but you don't have the power you need to destroy me. You never will."

Venus looked aside, forgetting for a moment about Kunzite, and frowned. Mercury was down, and the ninja guy was... Shining? "Ace, can you heal Mercury?"

Ace dodged Kunzite's energy blast and punched him in the gut. "I'm a bit busy here..."

Venus tackled Kunzite into a wall and kicked him where it hurt. "There. Now go help Mercury."

"Aye, sir," Ace said then rushed to the Ice Senshi. What he saw while he run, however, almost caused him to stop and run back.

Luminite was also backing away. Zero's suit was glowing blue, as were both his swords. "What in darkness..."

"You killed Nova, and now you hurt Mercury... You won't walk out of this one, Luminite."

"You keep talking, but what are you going to do? Poke me to death with your pretty swords?"

Zero looked at his right hand sword. "Maybe I will. Mercury Dragon Power!"

"Moon Tiara Boomerang!"

Aurite fell to one knee as the tiara hit her, wincing at the pain from the wound on her right arm. "This isn't working..."

"Crescent Barrage!"

"Fire Soul!"

"Supreme Thunder!"

"Dark Bolt!"

"Firespray!"

The rest of the Generals were all sent crashing to the ground. Jadeite stood up and considered the odds. They weren't looking any good. "Damn it... What in Darkness is going on?"

"It's not possible. They weren't this strong until Venus showed up," Zoicite commented.

"I'm not taking any risks," Kunzite said. "I'll take full responsibility, but I want no casualties. Retreat!"

Luminite frowned as she saw the other Generals vanishing. "Cowards..."

"Well guys, seems like there's only one left..." Mars said.

"That :red:'s mine," the new Senshi snapped. The others looked at him. His suit was pretty much the same as Zero's, only it was dark blue, and his head wasn't covered. Both his swords had a bluish hue now, and had the symbol of Mercury drawn on their hilts.

"Zero... Dragon Mercury, be careful," Moon said.

Luminite smirked. "So scary... Don't you realize, kid, that you're weaker than Mercury was before she got her upgrade?"

"Like I care," Dragon Mercury snapped and charged towards her.

"Hah!" Luminite leapt up and shot an energy blast while airborne. The Dragon knocked the attack away with one sword, and sliced her leg with the other. "Damn..." The General fell to the ground and winced as blood trickled down her leg.

"I don't need any magic to kill you, :red:."

"Tch. This wound's nothing!" Luminite snapped and formed two energy blades, slashing up at the Dragon. He blocked them both and leapt away. "Running are we?"

"I'm not like you, I don't run away. I'm just allergic to losers."

Luminite frowned then chuckled mockingly. "Says the one who let his beloved friend die."

"Why you..."

"Wait." Dragon Mercury turned at the voice, and saw Mercury standing besides him. "Don't let rage take over... You fight better when you focus."

The Dragon nodded. "You're right..."

Ace walked to the others. "This looks interesting."

"Can't I just blast that witch dead?" Venus asked.

"No," Mars said. "Luminite killed his girlfriend. He deserves to be the one killing her in return."

"Kid needs his new girlfriend to tell him what to do," Aurite taunted looking at Mercury. "Can't fight me on your own? It's not fair if you're going to be two against me."

"I stopped being fair the day you stabbed Nova through," Dragon Mercury snapped. "Icicle..." The tips of his sword were shrouded by a bluish mist, which slowly solidified into small ice shards. "Spray!"

Mercury had moved, while the Dragon and Luminite taunted each other, and had placed herself right behind Luminite. As she noticed Terry summoning her new attack, she guessed what the General was going to do to dodge, and guessed right.

Luminite floated up as the Dragon swung his swords, releasing a large beam of small, sharp ice shards. They looked like they'd hurt, if they'd hit their mark. "Hah! Missed me!"

"But I won't. Shabon Spray Freezing!" The General realized Mercury was behind her a second too late, and was sent falling forwards by her icy attack. She saw Dragon Mercury waiting for her, but had no way to stop.

"Touche." Dragon Mercury said coldly as he stabbed Luminite through.

"Still... Can't... Kill me," Luminite said wincing at the pain, and trying to focus enough to shoot one last blast.

The Dragon stabbed his second sword through her, this time coming close to her heart. "You know, you were right, I couldn't beat you on my own. So I'm glad I had someone I could trust by my side, unlike you."

"This... Isn't... Over," Luminite snapped trying to pry the swords off her chest.

"It is. Icicle Spray!"

The other Senshi gasped as Luminite was blasted to shreds by the attack, turning into dust before what was left of her could hit the ground. Mercury walked to the Dragon but stopped as she saw his face. "Terry?"

Dragon Mercury looked at the spot where Luminite had been a second ago, then at Mercury. "Sorry, I... Need to be alone."

Mercury turned to the others as the Dragon left. "Looks like this battle's over."

"What a mess," Nemesis noted.

Mars looked at the brand new Senshi around, noticing also that Tuxedo Kamen had left while Terry beat Luminite. "And you are...?"

"Sailor Venus," Venus said. "And this is Ace."

"Sure, forget about me," Artemis muttered.

"Oh, and that's my Mooncat, Artemis."

"So, the team's complete now," Moon said.

"We still haven't found the Princess," Luna said, "but we'll need the seven shards for that."

"I wouldn't worry," Mars said. "Even with Luminite gone, I bet the Generals will come back until they get the shards, or we kill them."

As the Senshi were leaving the building, they looked around at the damage. The front wall of the building was mostly gone, the lunch area was mostly a collection of burnt marks, craters and tables turned into splinters.

"Feels like home," Venus said.

"What do you mean?" Jupiter asked.

"Last time we fought Kunzite in London, he sort of dropped a mall on us," Ace commented.

------​

"Well, the battle's over," Seia said as she looked at the building from a safe distance.

"What about the school?" a bald, fat man asked. "Who'll pay for the damage those Senshi caused?"

"Most of the damage wasn't caused by the Senshi, Mr. Satou," Seia noted, "however, don't worry, the army will take care of the repair bill."

"How long will it take?" Principal Satou asked resignedly.

"I'd say two weeks, maybe three," Seia said. Satou promptly fainted.

"He took it quite well," Haruna muttered.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 3: Dark Kingdom.
Episode 29: The Calm Before the Storm.


By Razor Knight
Last update: February 5, 2007

------​

A few hours after the battle, the Senshi were all back to their human forms, and gathering at the Zephyr mansion. Minako and Brad were also there, and had just finished telling the others their story.

"So you were around before everyone else?" Usagi asked.

"As far as I know..." Minako admitted.

"There's also the U.S. group we heard about, but news about them stopped around one week ago," Brad commented. "Rumors I heard on the net point out they got rid of their enemies there, so they had no reason to stay. It makes sense, as the youma attacks in the States also stopped."

Luna nodded. "We don't really know who they are, or if they're coming here to help. However, the youma are focusing all their efforts here, so we should prepare for another battle like the one you fought today."

"Yay..." Usagi muttered. "This just gets funnier and funnier."

"You're being sarcastic," Luna said. "That's a bad omen."

"We need to polish our melee skills," Naru said, then looked at Rei and Mako. "Well, most of us, anyway."

"I could train you in that one field," Terry said. He wasn't still done dealing with his own thoughts, but he could put them aside for the time being.

"You?" Rei asked. "I doubt we could get good training out of someone who seems to love getting hurt."

Terry smirked as he leapt off the chair he was sitting on and swung his fist at Rei, stopping millimeters away from her face. "This is where you fall."

"Why didn't you dodge that?" Minako asked.

"I... I didn't have any time to react," Rei said. "Guess I underestimated your skills."

"You're not a bad fighter, Rei... But you rely on your magic too much. Same as everyone else."

"But where will we train... I mean, if we want to train our powers too," Naru pointed.

"That'd be tricky," Terry admitted. "Let me see what I can find."

------​

Back in the Dark Kingdom, meanwhile, Beryl was giving her Generals a death glare after hearing their report. "It's simply impossible," she said. "You've failed, all of you..."

"I gave the order to retreat..."

"Silence, Kunzite," the Queen snapped. "We also lost Luminite, which means we're weakened."

"That was her own fault," Nephrite pointed. "She was too obsessed with killing that ninja kid, and that obsession was her doom."

"Queen Beryl, I have a new plan," Aurite said.

"I'm listening."

"The Senshi seem to be stronger when grouped. A single Senshi hardly poses a threat, so if we could divide them..."

"And how exactly would we do that?" Beryl asked.

"Easy... We need to target several areas of the city, at the same time, and with enough distance between them, so whichever Senshi decides to go to a single area won't be able to get help from the others."

"There's more Senshi than Generals right now," Kunzite noted.

"I know. So, this time around we'll use more youma, to keep both Senshi and sidekicks entertained."

Beryl fell silent for a minute, before she nodded at Aurite. "I'll authorize the use of as much energy as you need for this. However... We're running out of time, Metallia needs to awaken soon, and for that, we need most of the energy we have. But if Metallia was to come out of her sleep now, she wouldn't be able to face the Senshi. We need to kill as many of them as possible, and get the rest of the Ginzuishou shards. Do not fail again."

"We won't," Aurite said.

"I heard that before," Beryl noted. "But make sure you've recovered from today's battle, I don't want any more casualties."

------​

Three days had passed since he'd gotten his revenge. He still had to help the others, but he wasn't in the mood to see them. So, he'd spent the last three days mostly in the mansion, thinking about the past and his future here in Japan.

"Well, well, look who's here..."

Terry looked up at his father from the chair he was sitting on. "Wow. You're not working, that's a rarity."

Jack ignored the jab. "Sam wanted me to check on you, said you were acting like the week after Hana died."

Terry looked down. "You know, I finally got my revenge. I killed the :red: who killed Hana."

"And you realized it won't solve a thing," Jack guessed.

Terry nodded. "Pretty much, killing her didn't bring Hana back. Also, now that I'm done with it... I still have all this rage inside, but don't know what to do with it. I'm scared I'll end up taking it out on my friends."

"Use it against those demons."

"I suppose I could do that."

"And, don't fear falling in love again," Jack said.

"Huh?"

"I've talked to your friends, too. One of them told me about you and Mizuno."

Terry scowled. "Mako..."

Jack laughed. "She also said you'd guess that."

"Ami... She's shy, smart, and nice, but she avoids anything related to love and romance, from what I've seen."

"Your mother had the same traits," Jack noted. "It took me a while to tell her, too."

Terry flinched. "I don't know, it's too soon, I mean, Hana..."

Jack shook his head. "That's good, keep on making excuses."

"I'm not."

"Yes, you are. Do you think Hana would like to see you like this, locked up inside and hiding from your feelings?"

Terry fell silent for a minute before answering. "I guess not."

"You've already dealt with that part of your past, son," Jack said as he walked out of the room. "Don't let it control you."

------​

"Your project was a failure."

The scientist looked at the woman almost dismissively. "It was not. I did not know of the Senshi's ability to upgrade their own power, and that caused my creature's destruction, but I have learnt something new. And frankly, my pets are easily replaceable. Only thing I need to build a new one is time."

"What about your other project?"

"Her body is ready, but her mind is... Rebellious. Quite a given, considering what her powers are."

"Be careful, I don't want her to go wild and turn against us."

"I wonder, though, what would your boss think if she knew what you are planning?"

"She won't ever know, she's too busy fighting a losing battle to bother checking our loyalty."

"You have done your part in that losing battle, right?"

The woman's glare seemed to pierce through his skull. "Careful, human. You know I could kill you on the spot if I wanted to."

"But you will not, as I am far more useful alive."

"That's true. Just try not to become more of an annoyance than you should."

The scientist turned back to his work as the woman left the room. Indeed, she was right, and he knew it. He'd have no way to escape should she decide to destroy him. But she was financing his experiments, and that was making the risks worth taking.

------​

Terry had decided to go for a walk, to clear his mind. However, he noticed someone following him, and his stalker kept on tracking him for several blocks. Finally, he stopped and turned to face a very surprised red-haired girl. "I thought I said I didn't want you doing that."

Chie grimaced. "Sorry, I just saw you and decided to tell you something, but you looked too... Downcast, so I wasn't sure it was a good time."

Terry's face took on a curious hint. "You could say that. What did you want to tell me?"

"I was wondering, I know we all acted a bit crazy the last few days, but... I don't want you to hate me for that. I was wondering if we could start from zero."

"Hate? Don't worry, I've taken care of the only person I hated."

Chie's eyes widened. "You mean you..."

"I know the rumors, and they're mostly right. But now that I'm done with that, I know it won't bring Hana back. 'Downcast' doesn't quite describe how I feel."

"You should tell your friends, if you haven't already. I'm sure they can find a way to keep you out of the gloom."

"Everyone tells me I need to get out of the gloom, but I like the gloom. It's a fun place to be in."

"That grim face doesn't suit you," Chie noted. "Besides, I don't think Mizuno likes the grim types."

Terry stared at her for a few seconds, then groaned. "Is it that obvious?"

"Not really. Remember I thought Kino was the one at first."

Terry laughed at that, then grimaced. "Well, I have to go now. Just remembered I left something important back at my house."

Chie looked at him as he hurriedly walked away, then started walking in the opposite direction. "Karin was right, no need to hurry things up. Now for..." She stopped as she saw a Senshi flying several meters over the buildings around her. "Strange, didn't know they could fly... On surfboards?"

------​

Dragon Mercury produced his communicator as he fled. "Guys, I'm picking up several signals. There's youma all around the city."

"I'm feeling them too," Mars said. "You got their location?"

The blonde nodded. "They're attacking at six different parts of the city, and each attack is far from the others."

"It's a trap. They want us to split and fight them," Ace said.

Mercury nodded. "I noticed something in our last battle. From the moment Venus showed up, we all had a small yet noticeable upgrade in our battle abilities, most likely meaning we fight better when grouped."

"They must've noticed it too," her male counterpart guessed. "So, what will we do?"

"We go, we fight them, and we make them run away," Moon said.

"Where's the old, scared Usagi?" Mars mused.

"I'm still scared, but I won't let them drain innocent people without a fight."

"You're a bad influence on her, Terry" Nemesis noted.

"Oh, so now it's my fault?" Dragon Mercury muttered.

Mars shook her head. "Let's just go before they get bored of waiting."

"Brad and me will get Kunzite," Venus said.

"I'll go get Zoicite," Mercury said.

The Dragon nodded. "I'll help you."

"I'll face Nephrite" Nemesis said. "I'll try talking some sense into his thick skull one last time."

Moon nodded. "Okay... Mars, get Jadeite. Jupiter, go for Cardite. I'll fight Aurite."

"Sounds fun," Mars muttered.

"You sure you can handle her?" Jupiter asked.

"Don't worry, I'll be okay," Moon said with a smile. 'I hope,'

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 3: Dark Kingdom.
Episode 30: Divide and Conquer.


By Razor Knight
Last update: February 5, 2007

------​

The mall had been packed full of humans when Kunzite attacked, hence he had a lot of energy to use. But the Senshi were taking their time getting there. He just wished he'd get to face the ones that had stopped his draining attempts so many times in the past.

"Hey there, albino roach."

And it seemed like he'd just got his wish, as he looked up at Venus and Ace standing on the metal fence of the second floor. "You kids should be careful, you could fall off."

"Nah, we're fine here," Ace mused.

"Not for long!" Kunzite shouted and released a barrage of energy blasts that destroyed most of the fence. Venus and Ace fell on their feet a good five meters below. "If you thought that was fun, wait until you see this... Dargoss, come forth!"

"What the heck is that?" Venus gasped as a black shadow-like creature walked out of a wall, it's bluish eyes glaring at them.

"I supposed you'd come fight me, so I'm prepared."

"That's funny... I'll take that thing down now. Crescent Barrage!"

Kunzite chuckled as the beam was absorbed by Dargoss. "You're really naive sometimes, Venus."

"I don't need to fight him..." Venus said looking at Ace.

"I thought about that too, so... Azalex!"

A spider-like youma crawled down from the third floor. "Human flesh tastes great," it announced.

"Damn, now what?"

Ace nodded. "I'll take on the shadow."

"No you won't!" the spider snapped and rushed to Ace. The white-clad hero leapt out of the way, but was ensnared by a web shot. "Little fly fell in my net..."

"Ace!" Venus was about to help him, but the shadow punched her into a wall. "That... Hurt."

Kunzite chuckled. "It's over, V. You have no way to fight me and my youma at the same time, and all your friends are too busy to help you."

Venus leapt aside as Kunzite shot an energy blast at her, then glared at him. "I won't know until I try, now will I?"

------​

Zoicite looked at the two Senshi flying his way with detached interest. Really, they were so easy to fool. In the highway he'd taken over, they'd have nothing to use against them... And a lot of humans they could accidentally kill were scattered around the area. The perfect scenario for the fight, really. "Welcome, kids."

"Look, it's Victor Victoria," Dragon Mercury commented. Mercury giggled at that as she leapt off the flying board.

"I was expecting more than one of you, so I'm ready for it. Youma, come forth!"

The Dragon flinched. One of the youma looked like a humanoid ice statue, while the other one was an orb of electricity. It was a good thing he wasn't wearing his Zero suit anymore. "Take care of the androgynous freak, I'll beat his pets," he said to Mercury.

"Well, well... Little Mercury wants to fight?" Zoicite teased.

"Shabon Spray Freezing!"

The General dodged the ice blast and frowned. "Gee, and here I thought you were the calm one."

"I don't like to fight, but I can't let you go after what you did here."

"Let's see what you can do, then," Zoicite snapped as his hands filled with energy.

------​

"Stop it right there!"

Aurite chuckled as she floated on the exact center of the football field. "I got lucky, I'll be the one killing the leader."

"You better leave before I hurt you."

Aurite shrugged. "You could possibly beat me in a fair fight, but... Who's fair?" Moon gasped as she saw a couple rock-like youma crawl out of the grass, both looked like armadillos with sharp stony claws. "And I won't just stand and watch you fall, either."

A rose hissed by, slicing Aurite's left cheek with it's stem before embedding itself into the goal post. "Three against one isn't fair, so let's make it even."

"You shouldn't have done that," Aurite snapped clutching her bleeding cheek. "Youma, destroy him!"

"No!" Moon turned as the youma run past her and tackled the caped hero, but she got knocked to the ground by an energy blast.

"Never give your back to me, idiot," Aurite snapped.

Moon glared up at Aurite and reached for her tiara. She had never liked fighting, but if the gold-skinned youma insisted, she would have to show her what she could do.

------​

Jupiter winced as she hid behind a parked car. Cardite wasn't playing soft, and had summoned a couple youma to help... As much as Jupiter liked to think her strength could beat anything, she could use one of Mercury's plans for this fight.

Problem was, she knew Mercury would have her hands full too. So it was all up to her own 'tactics.'

"Come out and play, Thunder girl," Cardite teased as she floated around a corner, followed by two fox-like, humanoid, white-furred youma.

"Fire!"

Jupiter gasped as Cardite and the youma were knocked back by several explosions. Looking at the far side of the street, she could see a missile truck, and her uncle standing right besides it.

":red:ing... Humans," Cardite muttered as she staggered up. She was promptly kicked away by Jupiter, and slammed into a tree. "I hate humans."

"Thanks for the help," Jupiter said to the army General.

"I'll keep the two underdogs busy," Kino said as he produced a futuristic-looking machine gun. "You go get the boss."

Jupiter cracked her knuckles. "That's what I intended to do from the start."

Cardite floated up and laughed despite the pain. "I'll have fun beating you, and then I'm going to kill that stupid human too."

------​

In a park far from there, Nemesis was right now facing Nephrite. "So, are you going to attack me?" the General asked.

"No, I want to try once again... Nephrite, please join me."

"Would you join my army?" Nephrite asked. At Nemesis' sad stare, he nodded. "I can't turn against my Queen, either... It's what I am now, I can't change."

"Then..." Nemesis rose her arm as energy gathered. She stopped, however, as Nephrite didn't move. "... Why?"

"I won't fight you, you won't fight me. We're clearly at a stalemate here."

"Dark Bolt!"

Nephrite smiled as the energy blast hissed by, missing him widely. "See, I told you. Maybe you should go help your friends..."

"And you'd follow me and attack them," Nemesis said. "No thanks, I'll stay here."

"As you wish," Nephrite nodded.

------​

Jadeite grunted as Mars kicked his side, but took the chance to grab her leg and toss her over a fence. "Stupid girl..." The sound of explosions distracted him as the insane army woman, who was always helping the Senshi lately, blasted one of his youma through a building. "Herken, stop fooling around and fini--"

Mars smirked as Jadeite went down to the ground, courtesy of a kick to the head. "Pay more attention to your actual foe, you're making this too easy for me."

Jadeite started gathering energy as he stood up. "You asked for it, Mars."

------​

"Crescent Barrage!" The shadowy youma stared at her as her attack was absorbed. "This is really not good..." Kunzite frowned as he waited for the right chance to strike, keeping an eye on the battle between Azalex and Ace as well.

Ace had solved his first problem with a fire spell, but he'd soon found his spells did nothing against the spider creature. He dodged yet another string shot, which was apparently the only attack the monster had, and turned to check how Venus was faring.

Venus wasn't doing good, as the shadow kept on charging at her, and was immune to her attacks. Things got worse when Kunzite decided to act, tackling her and pinning her against a wall, clutching her neck as he formed an energy sword.

Artemis jumped at Kunzite's face, slashing down before leaping away. The General staggered back as the pain made him drop Venus. He recovered sooner than expected, however, and shot a blast at the Mooncat, slamming him into the wall besides Venus, and leaving a large dent in it. "Stupid fleabag."

Ace dodged the spider once again just as Artemis got hit. He saw Kunzite heading for Venus again, who was still stunned by his previous attack, and something awakened in him. He turned in shock as the sword he had yet to unsheathe started shinning. "What the..."

Artemis recovered his senses as he felt a familiar energy. "How didn't I see that? Ace, that sword's a Dragon sword too!"

Ace turned to the cat and the words hit him. Just like Terry's sword! That meant he could... "Hey albino roach!"

Kunzite turned away from Venus and winced as he saw Ace had a white aura surrounding him. "That wasn't in the plan."

"Too bad for you, Snow White. Venus Dragon Power!" Ace's transformation was similar to Venus' one, only he ended up wearing an orange suit like the one Dragon Mercury used. "Let's do this quick. I'm Dragon Venus and I'm going to kick your :red:."

"Azalex, get rid of him," Kunzite ordered.

"Venus Light Sword Slash!" The Dragon sliced the air in front of him, creating a crescent-shaped blast that shot forwards, beheading the spider youma before it could dodge. "And you're next, Kunzite."

"You'll have to get through me first," Dargoss warned as he stood between his boss and the Dragon.

"Venus Light Sword Slash!"

Kunzite turned to Venus as the shadow absorbed Dragon Venus' attack. Venus was trying to stand up, so he simply kicked her back down. "Now that your boyfriend's busy, we can finally settle this. Ready to die?"

Venus looked up at him and smiled weakly. "Are you? Crescent Barrage!"

Dragon Venus turned away from his youma foe as a blinding flash lit the area. Venus had shot her attack, but not in the usual way... Kunzite was lying over a bench in a quite unnatural way, and Venus was just where she'd been a minute before, unmoving. "No..."

"You'll join her soon," Dargoss gloated.

"Light won't hurt you..." the Dragon noted, "so I'll have to try something else... Dark weaver!"

Dargoss chuckled as a blast of darkness hit him. "Hah! That didn't do any damage, in fact I feel stronger now..."

"That's the idea," the Dragon snapped and tackled Dargoss out of the building. "Darkness feeds on darkness, but magical creatures like you and me can't hold an infinite amount of energy."

"Do I care?" Dargoss snapped back.

"You should," Dragon Venus said as he leapt back into the building.

Dargoss growled and went after the Senshi, but realized he couldn't move. Tendrils of darkness were now lashing out of his body, binding him to the ground, and causing him pain like he'd never felt before.

Venus had meanwhile recovered and smiled as she saw the Dragon walk to her. "Where's that shadow youma?"

An explosion rocked the building, and Dragon Venus shrugged. "All over the place."

"And where's... Kunzite?"

Venus turned to see Artemis crawling to them, and noticed he was right. Kunzite was nowhere to be seen, but then again, after her attack, the General couldn't be in any shape to cause them more trouble. "He's gone," she said as she picked Artemis up. "Let's go help the others."

"Are you okay?" Artemis asked.

"I... I'm exhausted, but if we had this much trouble fighting a General, those who're facing them alone..."

Dragon Venus nodded. "Jupiter's point is the closest one."

"Let's start there, then."

------​

Dragon Mercury smirked as the ice youma exploded into a shower of icycles. "Okay, who's next?"

"Shabon Spray Freezing!"

Zoicite crashed down near the Dragon. "Stupid... Kids."

"Icicle Spray!"

"Not today," Zoicite muttered, vanishing a split second before the attack hit.

"Guess we made him run away."

"He was in no shape to fight," Mercury noted.

"Yeah... Didn't think you could fight like that. No offense."

"None taken," the Ice Senshi said. "I guess just because I don't like fighting, doesn't mean I can't do it. In any case, we have Mars' and Nemesis' points as the nearest ones..."

"You go help Rei, I'll help Naru," the Dragon suggested.

"Sounds like a plan," Mercury nodded.

------​

Jupiter winced as an energy blast nicked her left arm. "Damn it... Come down here so I can punch you!"

Cardite laughed coldly. "Pitiful. Your attacks aren't enough to hurt me, and you can't use your fists from down there."

The lightning Senshi turned as an explosion rocked the area, and saw her uncle had taken care of both youma. Whatever that machine gun was, it sure was useful. As she turned back, she noticed Cardite was floating between two buildings, and an idea formed in her mind. "Well... Maybe then I'll have to get up there somehow."

"I'd love to see you try," Cardite teased.

"Okay," Jupiter said and leapt to the building nearest to her. She kicked forwards, ricocheting off the wall and to the other building, and a second bounce got her up to her foe's height. Before the General could get out of her surprise, Jupiter punched her down to the ground. "And now..." she snapped as she started falling, aiming her legs at Cardite's chest.

"And now, you die," Cardite snapped, then shot an energy blast up. The airborne Senshi had no chance to dodge, and slammed into a building's side wall, falling a good ten meters down, unmoving. "Stupid girl, all brawl and no brain..."

Her musing was interrupted by a barrage of bullets that exploded all around her, knocking her down near Jupiter. "You youma tend to underestimate humans, and that's a mistake you always regret," Kino commented as he stood in front of the General, his weapons aimed at her head.

"And you humans tend to forget we have magic," Cardite said then vanished.

"What the..."

"Supreme Thunder!"

Kino turned back in time to see Cardite slam through a tree, her body cracking with electricity. He turned back and saw Jupiter standing there, her body surrounded by a thin white aura. "Thanks."

"You saved me too," Jupiter said. "Now leave that hag to me."

"Hah!" Cardite snapped, staggering up. "You still can only hit me by surprise, and I'm not falling for it again."

"So be it..." Jupiter said. "Jupiter... Supreme Thunder..." Electricity gathered in her antenna, just like in her normal attack, but it spread through all her body, creating arcs of lightning that shot out of her arms and legs constantly. "...Dragon!"

The new attack was quite a show, as all the gathered energy formed a sphere in front of Jupiter, which slowly turned into a dragon-shaped construct. "What is that thing?" Cardite said as she backed away in fear.

"Attack!" Jupiter shouted, and the electric dragon shot forwards, swirling around Cardite and zapping her several times before entering her body. The General gave a shriek as the electricity gathered released inside her, frying her almost instantly.

"Now, that's what I call an attack," Kino said.

"Smells like she's dead," Jupiter muttered, then fell to her knees.

"You okay?" Kino asked.

"I'm fine, just... Tired."

"Well, guess we're late."

Jupiter turned to see Venus and... A new Dragon, running to her. She turned to look at the now disappearing corpse of Cardite and shrugged. "You missed the show, but yeah, you're late. You killed your foe?"

"No... Kunzite escaped, though he was barely alive," the Dragon said.

"And you are?" Jupiter asked.

"Dragon Venus, formerly known as Ace," the Dragon announced proudly.

"Should we go help the others?" Venus asked.

"I'm too tired to be of any use," Jupiter said, "but you two should go if you still got some power left."

Venus nodded and the two Light Senshi left the scene. Kino turned to Jupiter and frowned. "You kids... Every time I turn my back on you, there's one or two new Senshi around. How do you do that?" Jupiter just shrugged.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 3: Dark Kingdom.
Episode 31: Moon Princess.

By Razor Knight
Last update: February 5, 2007

------​

Jadeite had to admit, Mars wasn't an easy target, even alone. She'd managed to keep him within melee range so far, completely ignoring the youma that were now busily trying to fight that stupid army girl. "You won't live through this battle," he gloated at the Fire Senshi.

"As long as you don't make it out either, I won't mind," Mars snapped back.

Jadeite was about to retort when an explosion knocked him down. As he staggered up, he noticed two things. One, Mars had been knocked down as well. And two, his youma were no more.

"Guess Tomoe's toys work," Seia commented out loud as she held her still smoking rocket launcher over her shoulder. Where the two youma minions had been, now was a small crater in the sidewalk. She turned to aim her weapon at Jadeite, then blinked as he vanished. "What..."

Jadeite reappeared right behind Seia, ready to attack. However, something unexpected stopped him. "Shabon Spray Freezing!"

Mars nodded at Mercury as Jadeite was knocked sideways. The Ice Senshi fell on her knees, most likely tired from her battle against Zoicite, and Mars frowned. With her actual power, she had little chances to defeat Jadeite, but...

Jadeite stood up and paled as he saw Mars' body was surrounded by a thin red aura. "Oh, not you too!" He charged at Mars, but was stopped as something heavy hit his head from the side, knocking him down yet again.

"As we say in the army... Stay down," Seia snapped, then looked at the broken launcher near Jadeite. "This guy's a blockhead, seriously."

Mercury looked at Mars with her visor. Her power was rising, and fast. "I can guess Jadeite will be in a world of pain soon," she commented.

Mars drew a circle in the air with her finger, and a fire ring appeared as it moved. "Let's see if you can take the heat, Jadeite. Mars... Fire Soul..." The ring grew thicker, slowly expanding into a man-sized fireball that hovered in front of Mars. She put her palm behind the ball and smiled coldly at the General. "... Bird! Attack!"

Jadeite almost fell back from the surprise, but decided he'd already been on the ground too much today. However, the attack was impressive, and the energy it radiated wasn't giving him much hopes of surviving. The fireball had turned into a car-sized flame bird, which was now flying towards him. "Not enough!" he snapped as he shot most of his energy at the bird, but the blast was ignored by the construct. "It's not..."

Mercury covered her eyes as the bird hit Jadeite with explosive results. As the light dimmed, she could see the General kneeling on the ground near the point he'd been hit, blood flowing out of his mouth. "She got him."

Jadeite looked up as Mars walked to him, and sighed. "At least... It wasn't that blonde airhead," he said, then fell to the ground, his body disintegrating fast.

"... Lame last words, seriously," Mars muttered.

Mercury and Seia walked to her as she fell to her knees. "That was quite a lot of firepower," Seia said. "Pun intended."

Mars chuckled at her, then turned to Mercury. "What about the others?"

"Most groups are already done fighting," Mercury noted looking at the data in her visor, "Moon and Nemesis are still fighting their foes."

"I'm too... Tired," Mars said, "but we have to go help Moon."

Mercury nodded. "Agreed."

"I'll take you there," Seia commented.

"Where did you get that weapon?"

"Tomoe's been busy lately," Seia explained. "He's insane, but also a genius."

------​

Beryl frowned as she looked at Zoicite. Kunzite had been a mess when he had returned from his mission, it was amazing he'd lived through whatever hit him. Zoicite was in a somehow better shape, having already undergone healing. "I want details. Are the Senshi dead?"

Zoicite shook his head. "They... Upgraded again. We lost Cardite and Jadeite."

"So only Aurite and Nephrite are left in the battlefield..."

"The other Senshi are far from those two points and they'll all be tired after their battles, however... Nephrite isn't fighting, from what my spy spell has shown me."

Beryl was surprised. "He's not?"

"It's happened before, remember his past human form was Nemesis' lover... I think some of that's resurfaced."

"If he doesn't kill her, he's a traitor. Go there, and kill them both if you need to."

"I'll be glad to," Zoicite said as he bowed and vanished.

Beryl frowned. Her Generals had proven themselves quite useless after all. Maybe she would have to unleash her best youma soon.

"We're ready whenever you want us to do it," a voice said from the shadows.

Beryl nodded, a smile creeping into her face. "Not yet, girls. Not yet..."

------​

Nemesis frowned. "This is getting tedious."

"Moon's the only one left fighting," Nephrite commented. "Shouldn't you go help her?"

"I think Aurite's the one that will need help," Nemesis snapped.

"A pity we can't make up our minds and fight, huh?" Nephrite mused.

"As much as I hate to admit it," Nemesis said, "I still love you. Even after your betrayal."

"The feeling's mutual," Nephrite said, "though it shouldn't be like this. I guess Metallia's power didn't turn me completely to the Darkness."

"What's stopping you from switching sides?"

"Frankly, energy," Nephrite said. "As a youma, I need life energy to live."

Nemesis frowned. "I'm a Senshi. I could spare some magic, if that's all you need to..." She gasped as something hit Nephrite from behind. As he fell to the ground face-first, Nemesis could see Zoicite standing there, his hand still shinning. "No..."

"Blah blah blah, all you lovebirds do is talk. See, there was an easy solution for your stupid problem after--"

Nemesis didn't really see the air board that had just struck Zoicite from behind, knocking him over Nephrite's body. She didn't hear what Dragon Mercury said, or what Zoicite snapped back. Her mind was clouded by something she had never felt before. Rage. And she knew exactly how to use it.

Dragon Mercury leapt back, dodging an energy ball, and Zoicite chuckled. "What's wrong ninja boy, tired already?"

"No, I just don't want to get hit by whatever Nemesis is preparing for you."

Zoicite turned to Nemesis and saw... To a normal human, it'd be downright frightening. To him, it was still quite disturbing to witness why Nemesis was called the Senshi of Darkness. A thick, black aura surrounded her, tendrils of it lashing out, as if looking for victims. "Not tod--"

"Gotcha!" Dragon Mercury shouted as his gas spheres exploded right under Zoicite, making him lose focus. "All yours, Nemesis."

Nemesis had her eyes set on the cloud, her glare would've been strong enough on its own to kill Zoicite right now. "Thanks," she said, her voice warm, then her face turned serious. "Nephrite was mine to love or to kill, Zoicite," she said, her tone dead cold. "But since you took that from me, you won't leave this place. Nemesis... Darkness..."

Dragon Mercury blinked in shock. The darkness around Nemesis had grown, and the tendrils were now at least one meter long, and still whipping all around her. "Amazing." He didn't need his visor to know her power had skyrocketed.

Zoicite blasted the cloud apart, and was about to snap something at the Dragon, but then paled. Looking at the darkness, he felt like quite the rabbit in the headlight. "Sorry, Kunzite, I failed..."

"Strike!" Nemesis finished. The dark energy rushed at the General, not as beams or blasts, but as shapeless threads. It ensnared Zoicite, turning into a cloud that covered him completely. As the cloud vanished, the General was nowhere to be seen.

"You... Got him?"

Nemesis felt very tired, but she ignored that as she knelt besides Nephrite. "Yes."

"Good... At least I didn't go unavenged," Nephrite said.

"Don't say that, you can recover..." Nemesis pleaded, her eyes watering.

"Don't worry, Naru," Nephrite said. Both Nemesis and the Dragon gasped at that. "I knew it, all along..."

"You didn't..."

"I didn't tell Beryl or the other Generals."

"Why? It would have helped your cause," the Dragon noted.

"My human side... Still feels something for her," Nephrite explained. He looked down and winced at the hole in his stomach, from the blood he was losing, he knew he didn't have much time left. "You were right, I could've lived off your energy. You were always the smart one in our couple."

Nemesis smiled at him, wiping her tears. "I won't forget you."

Nephrite smiled back. "I'm just... Glad I met you."

Dragon Mercury turned away as Nephrite closed his eyes and vanished. Nemesis sat there, crying, while he waited.

"Terry," Nemesis said after a few minutes, her voice shaky.

The Dragon turned back. "Naru?"

"Let's go."

"Are you okay?"

Nemesis' face turned sad for a second. "No, but Usagi still needs help. I'll have time to cry after we're done."

The Dragon nodded somberly as his flying board floated to them. "I know the feeling."

------​

Beryl frowned. Zoicite was dead, she could feel that... And so was Nephrite. Now she had only two Generals left, and one of them was badly wounded. But she wasn't worried, not yet. She had the seven Rainbow Youma, as well as her girls... And also, Raishiku.

The massive lizard-like youma stood in front of the Queen, his face unfazed by her power. "My Queen, I can feel my power's diminished. This long slumber must've..."

Beryl waved the explanations off. "You'll have time to recover, all I want you to do is kill the Moon Princess. The others, I can deal with."

"So, you already know who she is?" Raishiku asked.

"Not her human identity, but it's clear it's Sailor Moon."

------​

Moon dodged yet again as Aurite unleashed a barrage of energy blasts. "This is getting repetitive," she noted. The fight had moved outside the stadium, and she was now fighting Aurite in an usually busy area. Apparently, everyone had already heard of the battle and abandoned the zone, which was a good thing for Moon.

Aurite frowned. If not for the caped freak keeping her youma busy, she would've killed Moon easily. She risked looking at the two rocky creatures, and saw they were both trying to slash Tuxedo down. "I agree. Why don't you stand still so I..." She stopped as she sensed something. Beryl's message was short and clear, all the other Generals except for Kunzite were dead, and he wasn't in any shape to fight. "Impossible..."

"What is..." Moon started, the gasped as a couple missiles hissed by, knocking Aurite to the ground. She turned to see the rest of her group, except for Jupiter, rushing to help her. "Wow... You guys won?"

"We... Did," Nemesis said in a monotone. Moon looked at her and nodded knowingly.

"Always the same slacker, huh?" Mars teased.

Seia looked at Aurite and frowned. "Can you handle her?"

Venus nodded. "We'll take care of her, don't worry."

"I'd worry if the area hadn't been evacuated yet," Seia said mostly to herself as she walked away.

"Icicle Spray!"

"Light Sword Slash!"

Aurite cursed under her breath as her two youma were destroyed. "No way..."

"Give up, Aurite," Venus said. "You're the only one left."

Aurite chuckled. "That's bad, huh? Luckily, unlike the other Generals, I didn't waste my time following Beryl's orders blindly, and did some research of my own..."

Dragon Venus frowned as the two shards of the Ginzuishou the youma had appeared floating besides Aurite. "That looks bad."

Aurite whispered a few words, and the crystals shone for a few seconds before sending wide beams of energy straight into her body. "That looks worse," Dragon Mercury noted.

"Stop that," Mars warned.

The gold-haired General now had a thick dark aura around her. "I've learnt to use the crystal's power... Added to all the energy I've gathered today, it makes me way stronger than you all."

"Supreme Thunder Dragon!"

Aurite turned to see a dragon-shaped electric construct heading her way. "Cute, thunder girl got a pet," she said before blasting the dragon apart.

Jupiter fell to her knees. "Gee, she's no pushover."

"You okay?"

Jupiter nodded at Moon. "I'll live."

"You won't," Aurite snapped. "Now let me show you what power means. Die!"

A gold ring of energy shot out from Aurite's body, knocking all the Senshi to the ground. ":red:, that hurt," Dragon Mercury muttered.

"Let's show her," Moon said, "that no evil being can defeat us." The others nodded, getting what little energy they had left to fight and preparing to attack in unison.

Aurite laughed. "Stupid girl... Okay, kids, do your worst."

"Don't mind if we do... Moon Tiara Boomerang!"

"Mars Fire Soul Bird!"

"Mercury Shabon Spray Freezing!"

"Mercury Icicle Spray!"

"Jupiter Supreme Thunder Dragon!"

"Venus Crescent Barrage!"

"Venus Light Sword Slash!"

"Nemesis Darkness Strike!"

Aurite rose an energy shield, and most of the attacks bounced off it. However, Moon's tiara, along with Venus' barrage and Nemesis' dark energy punched through it, knocking the gold-skinned woman down yet again. "No damn way..."

"We can beat her," Moon said.

"You can't!" Aurite snapped and shot another energy ring.

"Is that... The best she has?" Jupiter asked as the group once again was knocked down.

"I hope so," Dragon Venus muttered weakly.

"And now, time to say goodbye, Senshi," Aurite mused as she gathered energy for one last attack.

Tuxedo Kamen rushed from the side, slamming his cane on Aurite's side with all his might. Aurite staggered for a second, but then turned to him and punched him in the guts, knocking him back several meters. He fell face-first with a grunt, and didn't move.

"Enough!"

Aurite turned to see Moon staggering up. "What is it with you, girl? Is your brain so disconnected to reality, that you just can't feel pain?"

Moon ignored the insult, smiling at her foe humorlessly. She was as tired as the others, but she could also feel something else, in the back of her mind. "If you want the Ginzuishou's power so much... I'll give it to you."

Aurite gasped as the two crystal shards appeared in front of her, floating to Moon's side. "What? How can you..."

The three Mooncats were watching the scene from atop a tree. "She's the one..." Luna said.

"We should've guessed it," Shade added.

"The Princess finally awakens," Artemis whispered.

Moon's friends had started staggering up as they felt Moon's energy rising. She now had five shards with her, and wind seemed to be ruffling her skirt and hair, even though there wasn't even a breeze in the area. She looked back at the fallen Tuxedo and smiled. "Your mission is complete, Endymion," she whispered as the last two shards fled to her side.

"What's going on?" Venus asked.

"She's Princess Serenity, the Moon Princess," Luna said as the cats joined the group.

"No! This can't be happening, not now..." Aurite muttered.

Moon smiled as the seven shards gathered, fusing into a fist-sized crystal. Her suit was replaced by a long, white silk gown, as Tuxedo Kamen's outfit changed too, his hat and mask vanishing as his suit turned into an uniform that somehow resembled the ones the Generals used. "You don't look so confident anymore," she said in a calm tone.

"Hah! I'll kill you, Princess, then your friends!" Aurite snapped, shooting a golden energy beam at her.

The Princess just stared at her as the beam hit an invisible barrier right in front of her. "Impressive, but useless. I'm not fond of fighting, but if I let you go you'll come back to hurt my friends."

Aurite glared at Serenity and produced a sword, charging straight at her with a battle cry.

"I expected that," Serenity said in the same calm tone, and unleashed her crystal's power. The energy wave it released knocked Aurite through several buildings, and the last one she pierced collapsed.

"No way she would survive that," Mars noted.

"Princess..." Luna and the other Mooncats bowed to Serenity.

"Stop that, Luna," Serenity said. "It's still me."

"Only stronger and prettier," Dragon Mercury commented.

"Thanks," Serenity said, then walked to the still unconscious Tuxedo. "Wake up, Endymion."

"What...?" Endymion stood up and looked at her. "I remember now. You're my Serenity..." Serenity smiled at him.

Serenity looked at the other Senshi. "Time for you to remember, too."

The two Dragons looked on as their friends were surrounded by a thin aura. "What's going on?" Dragon Venus asked.

"They're getting some of their memories back," Luna said.

"Good for them, but what about us?" Dragon Mercury muttered.

"We could fill you in with what we remember," Artemis said.

"That would be a start."

The girls all opened their eyes and looked at each other confusedly. "That was strange," Mars noted.

"But we remember now... At least, what happened that night," Jupiter said.

Serenity frowned. "I... Can't stay in this form for long. Guess my body's not adapted fully to my powers yet." Her gown reverted back to her Senshi suit and she fainted.

Tuxedo, who'd turned back to normal as well, caught her before she fell. "She'll be okay."

"Who are you anyways?" Artemis asked.

"An ally," Tuxedo said.

"Not what I meant," the Mooncat muttered.

"Is there anywhere we can go that's not so... Exposed?" the caped hero asked.

Moon opened her eyes and looked up at him, then blushed. "Uh..."

"Should we trust him?" Dragon Mercury asked.

"We're on the same side... And I've found the Princess now."

Moon shrugged. "What about the mansion? We can speak there."

The Ice Dragon frowned. "But..."

"I trust him," Moon said.

"Yeah, you've got that birth defect, you trust everyone," Mars muttered.

------​

"Sir, the Senshi took care of their enemies."

Kino looked up at Seia and nodded. "Good. Anything else to report?"

"No. We'll keep an eye in the city, just in case..."

------​

Pluto frowned as she felt the energy ripple. The Princess had finally awakened, so it wouldn't be long until the Dark Kingdom came to an end. She knew there were stronger foes out there, but if help was really needed, she had two soldiers to send to the front.

"What are you up to, Setsuna?"

Pluto looked at Kage, her face as unreadable as ever. "Our Princess is back. The Dark Kingdom will soon be gone."

"Won't we help?" Hotaru asked as she walked to them, in her usual monotone voice.

"They don't need your help now," Pluto said. "But it won't be long until you have to join them."

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 3: Dark Kingdom.
Episode 32: Prelude to Darkness.

By Razor Knight
Last update: February 6, 2007

------​

Tuxedo Kamen's true identity was, to say the least, a surprise for the Senshi. Usagi stared at him in shock. "You?"

"Well, ain't that a surprise?" Terry mused.

Mamoru shrugged. "I'm surprised about you too, Odango."

"Don't call me that," Usagi snapped. "Don't make fun of my hair."

"But it fits you," Mamoru said. "And I think that hairdo looks cute."

Rei chuckled as Usagi blushed. Terry looked at Naru, who was silently listening to the others, and frowned. "You okay?"

"I... I'll miss him, even though he was our enemy."

"He... Was our enemy," Terry said. "If he ever attacked you, it was only to keep the act. It's amazing Beryl and her minions bought it for so long."

"I think Terry must be the only one here that knows how you're feeling, but... We're all here for you, Naru," Usagi said.

"I know. Thanks, guys."

"We have the Ginzuishou, we know who the Princess is, and the only General left is Kunzite," Artemis noted. "I'd say we're on the winning side."

"They still have Metallia," Luna said. "And the seven Rainbow Youma. We can't let our guards down."

"Metallia?" Usagi asked. "If she's still around, wouldn't she come and beat us?"

"Queen Serenity put some extra info in our minds, though it was locked until you became the Princess again," Shade explained. "What you didn't see that night... Serenity herself fought Beryl and Metallia, and banished them both."

"Why not destroy her and save us the trouble?" Rei asked, then looked at Usagi. "Sorry, didn't mean to..."

"Just like you, I only have flashes of my past life, mostly centered in Endymion," Usagi said. "And I agree... The Queen could've destroyed all the youma easily."

Luna nodded. "But she had reasons to do what she did. One of them being that, despite all the pain and suffering the youma had caused, she couldn't fall to their level, she wouldn't become a genocide like them."

"And the others?" Mako asked.

"We don't know," Artemis said.

Shade nodded and continued her own story. "The magic shock wave was so strong it wrecked all the artifacts that kept most planets from returning to their original forms. Only the Earth was able to sustain life without them. And the Ginzuishou's power was so strong, it put Metallia into a comma, and she was also drained out of energy by the battle. As for the Earth, it was left with almost no magic, with only three zones of the planet being mana wells."

Ami nodded. "Japan, the States and England?"

Luna nodded. "Yes. Focusing in what are nowadays Tokyo, London and New York."

Terry frowned. "Makes sense... So any magic user would be attracted by them, either consciously or subconsciously."

"Tokyo seems to be the biggest mana well," Shade noted.

"Mana well?" Minako looked at the Mooncats with a blank face.

"You could consider them escape valves. Magic generates in the center of each planet and star, and it moves up to the surface slowly, but it must do so through certain 'escape valves.' If those valves were all closed, well... Think of the Earth as a balloon being filled constantly with magic..."

Terry flinched. "I see your point."

"So, to sum things up," Artemis added, "youma have been running low on energy for eons. They've been gathering lots of it since we started fighting them, but with a bit of luck, it's not enough to awaken Metallia."

"And... What if that thing does awaken?" Terry asked. From the Mooncats' story, she was strong enough to rival the Ginzuishou.

"We would be quite screwed," Artemis said. "Moon may have recovered her crystal, but she's... Untrained. As she said herself, her body's not used to the crystal's magic, hence she's weaker than she should be."

"So, where do we go to stop that from happening?" Minako asked.

"I'm working on that," Ami noted. She'd been typing commands into her computer for the last few minutes, trying to figure out the last pieces of the puzzle. She stopped typing suddenly, and gasped. "Uh... Terry, could you check this data, please?"

Terry took the computer and looked at it's screen. "Seems correct to me," he noted. "But really, the gateway is there?"

"Where?" Mako asked.

"From my analysis, the entrance to the Dark Kingdom is in the North Pole."

"Nice. How will we get there?" Rei asked.

"By plane?" Terry suggested.

"There's a faster way to go there," Shade said. "The Sailor Teleport."

"Say what?" Usagi muttered.

"Sailor Senshi could use a group teleport skill," Luna explained. "You can go anywhere you want with it, but you need several Sailors to power it up."

"So if we want to go to the North Pole, we just need to focus in that location?" Rei asked.

"Yeah."

"What about us?" Terry asked.

"You'll tag along, don't worry," Luna said.

"That's good and all," Usagi said, "but right now, we need to recover."

Rei nodded. "I agree, today's battle was too tough."

"Take a break," Artemis said. "Beryl's pretty much out of options now that most of her Generals are gone."

------​

As much as she hated admitting it, Usagi missed both school and fighting youma. A whole week had passed since the battle against the Generals, and she was downright bored. That was, partially, why she was at Crown right now. She also had guessed Terry would be there, since she hadn't found him in his 'small' house.

"Hey there, Rabbit."

"Good to see you're back to your normal self," Usagi muttered.

"Not really," Terry admitted, "but I'm trying not to think about it much. Speaking of which... How's Naru?"

"Haven't seen her much lately," Usagi noted. "I thought maybe she would be here?"

"She's not."

Usagi looked at Umino, who'd done his usual popping up between them. "You know, you're not surprising anymore."

"Eeh... In any case, do you guys know what happened to the Senshi? They're not showing up much anymore. And there's also no reports of monster attacks."

"You're the one with the rumors, if you don't know..."

Umino nodded at Terry. "You're right. Well, I'll go check on Naru."

"At least he's not saying I'm one of them anymore."

Usagi turned to Chie. "Yeah, I don't know why everyone thinks Sailor Moon is clumsy. She looks quite awesome to me."

"You ever seen her?" Chie asked.

"Uh... Yeah, I was around in practically all her battles."

Terry laughed at that. "You mean you run and hid while the monsters were around?"

"I did not," Usagi snapped.

Chie giggled. "As if anyone sane would stand against one of those monsters..."

"Why, am I insane then?"

Chie looked at Karin. "Maybe."

"How can someone so cute be so mean?" Karin mused.

"You taught me," Chie countered.

Terry stared at the two. 'Are these two... Nah, no way.'

"Karin, I thought you were going to the gym today."

Usagi looked at Mamoru and smiled. "Hi."

Karin grinned. "Hmm... You two aren't arguing anymore... Just what's going on here?"

"The youma kidnapped Usagi and replaced her with a youma clone," Terry joked.

"She looks as cute as the original," Mamoru noted.

Karin shook her head. "Whatever works."

Terry looked away from the group, and saw Luna standing outside. He walked to the window as Usagi noticed the cat too. "Hey, Rabbit, I thought you had to study?"

"No, I..." Usagi started, then caught the hint. "Oh, right. Mind walking home with me?"

Chie looked at them as they walked out of the building, her face unreadable. "Those two... Always together."

"Uh huh," Karin said, noticing her brother was nowhere to be seen. 'Weird.'

"I wonder if..." Chie started, then walked to the door.

"Chie, what are you up to?"

"I'm just going to make sure there's no other rivals around."

"Rivals?" Karin muttered. "Why is everyone around me insane?"

------​

"Are you sure, Luna?"

"I sure am. There will be an eclipse today."

Terry looked at his watch and pressed a few buttons. "Damn, that's right. So, you say that eclipse's bad?"

"The power of darkness will be greater during it. It's possible that Metallia could awaken, and feed on the darkness that it will cause."

"So, we gotta go there and kick her rear before the eclipse starts," Terry said. "Sounds easy."

Luna looked up at the sky, and the Moon could be seen slowly moving towards the Sun. "Our main problem will be time."

"I can see that," Terry said. "I don't think we have more than a couple hours before it happens."

Usagi nodded. "Let's tell the others. We have to go there and stop Beryl before it's too late."

As the trio run off, a very surprised redhead was staring in shock. "That's not possible..."

Karin looked at Chie. "I should've guessed it. Luna is Sailor Moon's cat, I don't know why I didn't realize she was also Usagi's cat."

"And that day at school, they weren't around while the Senshi fought those youma..."

Karin nodded. "Do we tell them?"

"They looked quite busy right now," Chie noted. "Let's wait for them to be back."

"Hey girls!"

"Stop that!" Both Chie and Karin pushed Umino back, sending the nerdy guy sliding on his back a few meters. "Weirdo," Karin muttered.

Umino smiled as the two girls walked off. 'Too bad I couldn't avoid that.'

------​

Several minutes later, all the Senshi were gathered at the mansion's backyard. "What's with those holes?" Brad asked looking at the few small holes spread through the backyard of the Zephyr mansion. They were hard to spot, hidden along the grass.

"That's the APSS, as Sam calls it," Terry explained.

"APSS?" Ami asked.

"Anti-Paparazzi Security System," Terry said and snapped his fingers. The holes all started cracking with electricity.

"Supreme Thunder?" Brad joked. The others all shook their heads at him.

"Isn't that a bit too extreme?" Mako asked.

"The shock's not lethal, and it's effective. Once the word spread about the mansion's security system, no reporter ever tried sneaking in to take pictures. Well, a few did, but they desisted once they woke up in a hospital bed."

Mako frowned. "Weird."

"What?"

"I can actually feel the electricity."

"You're the Senshi of Electricity, aren't you?" Terry noted.

"Well, yeah..."

"Okay, now how do we do that teleport thing?" Usagi asked steering into the real problem they were facing.

"Wow, you're eager to go there and fight the big bad boss?" Rei mused.

"No, but the sooner we get there, the sooner we can come back and slack off."

"... I had to ask," Rei muttered.

"Girls, form a circle and transform," Luna instructed. "The guys will have to transform too, and stand in the center of the circle."

As the others did as instructed, Artemis nodded. "Now, close your eyes, and concentrate in where you want to go, everyone."

"Girls, take each others hands and let the energy flow," Shade added.

After several seconds, Luna saw a thin white line around each Sailor. "It's working. When you're ready, you must call upon the technique out loud."

"Ready when you are, girls," Dragon Mercury said.

Moon nodded. "Let's do it."

"Sailor Teleport!"

The auras around the Senshi grew wider for a few seconds, then they all vanished, the magic shock wave ripping several chunks of grass and dirt off the lawn. "There they go," Artemis said.

"Good luck, Senshi," Luna said looking up to the sky.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 3: Dark Kingdom.
Episode 33: Knocking on Hell's Door.

By Razor Knight
Last update: February 6, 2007

------​

"I guess we didn't miss," Venus said looking around at the endless white plains.

"This is the North Pole," Jupiter noted. "Shouldn't we be freezing cold by now?"

Mercury shrugged. "Our suits protect us from extreme temperatures."

"So, where to now?" Mars asked.

"A few miles north, there's a cave entrance," Dragon Mercury explained. He was using his visor, which much like Mercury's one let him scan the sourroundings.

Mercury nodded. "The gateway to the Dark Kingdom is about two miles into that cavern."

"Let's hurry, then," Moon suggested.

"Lead the way, oh fearless leader," Dragon Mercury joked.

------​

Several minutes later, the Senshi were inside the cold, icy tunnel that would lead them to the Dark Kingdom. The tunnel was actually wide enough to fit several trucks running side to side. As the Senshi walked, the two Mercuries were scanning the area for enemies.

"Any welcome party around?" Mars asked.

Mercury shook her head. "Not ye-- Oh crap."

"What?" Nemesis asked.

"Oh crap," Dragon Mercury repeated.

"Whatever it is, they both agree," Dragon Venus mused.

"Oh crap," Mars muttered.

"Okay, this is getting silly," Moon complained. "What are you all oh-crapping about?"

"'Oh-crapping'?" Mars repeated. "I'm feeling several powerful entities ahead of us, they're all youma."

Mercury nodded. "They're no normal youma. Remember our friends the Rainbow Youma? They're all back."

"Yay," Venus said. "We'll get a rematch."

"We already did, kind of," Mars noted, "but they were weakened. I bet by now they've rested enough to kick our rears."

"Here they come," Mercury warned.

Dragon Venus shrugged. "There's seven of them and nine of us. This will be easy."

Draguel snarled at him, then shot a fire blast right over his head, which turned most of the icy wall behind him into water, which quickly froze as it touched the ground.

"Were you saying?" Tuxedo muttered.

"Okay guys, let's get them!" Moon said.

"She's acting like a leader," Mars muttered. "We're doomed."

------​

"They're where?" Kino asked, not sure he'd heard it right the first time.

"The north pole," Luna said. "It's the only place from where they can reach our enemies' world."

"Darn, just when we finally managed to get weapons that could hurt those youma," Seia mused.

"Can't be helped," Shade said. "Besides, Beryl must have a few youma there that are stronger than anything we've seen here."

"What if they can't win?" Kino asked.

"We'll know they lost when we see a legion of youma coming towards Tokyo," Luna said with a poker face.

"... Don't joke like that," Seia muttered.

"Wasn't joking," Luna said, her tone dead serious.

------​

Nemesis leapt back as Arakel tried to stab her with it's massive spider legs. However, the spider shot a string that wrapped around her waist. "Gotcha."

Nemesis smirked. "Actually, I got you. Darkness Strike!"

The spider was caught in the darkness wave, but could, before it hit, pull the string and send Nemesis flying into a stalagmite.

Moon gasped. "Naru!"

Nemesis tried to stand up but fell to the ground with a wince. "I'm okay, just... Hit my leg."

Draguel tried to blast Moon with a fireball, but she dodged leaping up. "Moon Tiara Boomerang!" The attack knocked Draguel back, but the dragon didn't look too affected otherwise. "I guess they're stronger than last time."

Jupiter and Mars were taking on Tigrel, but the feline youma wasn't an easy target either. It leapt over Mars and kicked her down, then blocked Jupiter's punch. It took the chance to slash at her, leaving four deep cuts on her forearm with it's claws.

"Time to die, zap-girl," the tiger snapped as it rose her clutching her neck.

"I... Agree," Jupiter snapped back. "Thunder Dragon!"

Mars couldn't help but feel sorry for the tiger, as it was almost instantly fried by the massive lightning construct. The energy back-lashed, however, sending Jupiter slamming into a wall. "Mako, you okay?"

Jupiter groaned then shook her head. "I'll need time to recover." Her arm was bleeding, but she quite didn't care right now, the pain from her back was blocking the pain from those slashes.

Moon looked around and felt a bit helpless. Things were complicated, with Naru and Mako out, their current battle would be hard. And she was sure this wasn't the only group Beryl had waiting for them. She looked up at the dragon youma as Dragon Mercury tried to slash its face and her face changed. No, she couldn't think about defeat, she wasn't going to let the youma win this time around.

------​

Kunzite frowned. He was fully recovered now, but he wouldn't rush into battle. From how things were looking, there would be several Senshi injured or dead before they reached the Dark Kingdom. He just had to wait and welcome whichever Senshi made it there himself.

A thought crossed his mind, and he smiled. "Venus, don't you dare losing before you get here. I want to be the one killing you and your stupid boy toy."

------​

"Fire Soul Bird!"

Venus gave Mars a thumbs up as Serpel was roasted by her attack. "Three down, four more to go."

The two Mercuries were taking on Chamel, as they were the only ones who could see through his camouflage. "Shabon Spray Freezing!"

Mercury's attack hit the chameleon dead on, and the Dragon leapt at it swords-first. "Icicle Spray!"

"They're not that tough," Tuxedo commented as the chameleon was shredded to pieces.

"Says you," both Jupiter and Nemesis snapped.

Dragon Venus frowned. "I can help you, girls."

"Good idea," Moon said as she dodged a blast from the dragon youma. "We may need their help."

"Heal!"

As her male counterpart healed her friends, Venus turned to the three remaining youma. Tuxedo and Mars were keeping the mantis busy, and Moon and Dragon Mercury did the same with Draguel. That left the speedy dinosaur youma to her and Mercury. "Ami?"

"I'm on it," Mercury said.

Good, all Minako had to do was to distract the dinosaur while Ami found a way to destroy it. "Hey Barney! Yes, I'm talking to you, ugly lizard. Come on, try to get me."

The youma growled at her and charged. Venus shot her attack at it, but it dodged to the left. Her second attack was dodged as the creature skidded to the right, and then it went back to the center.

Mercury watched the dinosaur's charge. Venus's second barrage was dodged the same way, and the blue-haired Senshi smiled to herself. Venus barely avoided being slashed in half, and she decided to test her theory. "If she's too hard to hit, why don't you try me?"

Saurel growled and charged at Mercury. Venus paled. "Ami!"

"I can handle this," Mercury said. "Shabon Spray!" She waited a split second and used her real attack aiming to the left. "Shabon Spray Freezing!" The dinosaur dodged straight into it, and staggered back. "Now, get him!"

"Crescent Barrage!"

The blast knocked the dinosaur to the ground, but it stood up. "Shabon Spray Freezing!"

"How did you guess where it was going to jump to?" Venus asked walking to the Ice Senshi as the monster vanished.

"I simply observed its pattern."

"And that's why you're the team's brains. Okay, you go help Usagi, I'll help Rei."

"You'll need someone with a sword to kill that mantis."

"I know, but same goes for that dragon," Venus said. "Once Terry's done beating that thing down, you two can beat the insect down too."

Mercury nodded. Minako wasn't as air-headed while fighting as she seemed most of the time.

------​

When Venus reached the mantis, she saw Mars and Tuxedo had forced it into a stalemate. "Need help?"

Rigale swung his scythes, creating a couple energy blasts. Venus leapt over them. "There's no way you idiots can win with your magic attacks."

"Crescent Barrage," was Venus' answer. However, the insect slapped the attack away. "Damn..."

Mars leapt from behind and kicked the mantis down. It fell into a puddle of water that had been created by her many attempts to kill the bug. "Hah! Try all you might, but..." He dodged Tuxedo and knocked him aside. "You won't defeat me."

Venus frowned. "You'll need someone with a sword to kill that mantis." Mercury's words were the key, she knew it, but just how... She looked at Dragon Venus, still busy healing Mako and Naru, and frowned. She was the Venus Senshi, maybe she could...

"Mina, what are you up to?" Mars asked as she saw Venus concentrating. A few seconds later, Dragon Venus' sword appeared floating in front of the blonde, who grabbed it. "Nice trick..."

Rigale chuckled. "Hah! What are you gonna do with that, girl, slash yourself?"

Venus rushed forwards, slashing sideways, and catching the mantis off-guard. As the insect staggered back looking at the wound on it's side, Mars kicked him from behind. "Thanks," Venus said as she made another sideways cut, way higher this time, and the mantis' head rolled on the ground.

"Since when do you know how to use a sword?" Mars asked.

"Brad gave me a few pointers in case I ever had to use one," Venus explained.

"Worked for that monster," Tuxedo noticed. "Now, let's help Moon and the others."

Venus shrugged "I'll go in a minute." She walked the opposite way, up to her counterpart and the two wounded friends. "Done with that yet?"

"Almost," Dragon Venus said. "Had fun with that sword?"

"You knew it was gone?"

"It's linked to me, hard not to notice it's gone."

"Well, I really needed it, but... Here."

The Dragon took the sword and smiled. "Guess that bit of training wasn't useless after all."

"Less talk and more healing," Jupiter muttered.

"If you weren't so careless, I wouldn't have to heal you."

"Touche."

------​

Moon leapt aside, dodging a fire blast that turned a section of the ground behind her into a water puddle. The youma wasn't quite hitting them, but no matter how many attacks they threw at it, it just shrugged them off.

"Fire Soul!"

Draguel countered Mars' blast with one of his own. "Okay, this is just annoying," Moon commented.

Dragon Mercury nodded. "And I'm fed up with this big lizard."

"What are you planning?" Mercury asked. 'Something that will involve him getting hurt, most likely,' she thought with a sigh.

"Simple, legendary dragons' skins were resistant to magic, not their stuffing."

Before anyone could figure out what he meant, he'd already rushed towards the massive youma, leaping up as it tried to fry him, and slashing downwards, leaving a visible wound near it's right arm. As the Ice Dragon fell, however, Draguel slapped him away, knocking him into a wall.

"Terry!" Mercury exclaimed worriedly.

Moon glared at the dragon youma. "You hurt him, I'll return the favor. Moon Tiara Boomerang!"

The others gasped as Moon's tiara dug into the wound, and the dragon's skin glew eerily for a few seconds before it let out a scream of agony and vanished. "Guess Terry's theory was right," Mars commented.

Mercury checked on her counterpart. "Terry, you okay?"

The Dragon opened one eye and smiled. "Yes, nothing like getting knocked into an icy wall to make me feel peachy."

Mercury sighed. "In any case, the portal's near, we should get through it soon, as the eclipse's almost here."

Moon nodded. "Let's go before..."

A loud growl could be heard, and a massive lizard-like youma appeared. Unlike the dragon, however, this one looked human-like. It looked at the Senshi and let out a guttural chuckle.

"... They send something else to greet us," Moon finished with a grimace.

Nemesis' eyes widened. "Girls, is that who I think it is?"

Mercury nodded. "I remember him, Raishiku."

The youma growled again. "That's right. I defeated you girls in the past, and I intend to do it again."

"He's got double Moon's power," Dragon Mercury noted as he tried to stand up, and failed miserably. "Ami... Here."

Mercury frowned as she took the Mercury Dragon sword. "I don't know how to use--" She stopped as she felt a wave of energy run through her body. "It still upgrades my own power?"

Venus nodded. "I felt the same when I used Brad's sword."

"Well, we're just done healing and we may have to get beaten up again," Jupiter muttered walking to the others.

Nemesis frowned. "Ugly thing."

Raishiku stood there, arms crossed and waiting. "It'd be too easy to blast you all while you talk, but it also wouldn't be fun at all."

Moon glared at him. "Moon Tiara Boomerang!"

Raishiku grabbed the tiara and examined it. "Hmm... This is really amusing. Is this what you call power?"

"Damn it, I'm not going to let that freak win," Mars growled. "Fire Soul Bird!"

"Supreme Thunder Dragon!"

Both constructs started circling Raishiku as the youma tried to knock them away. "Well, at least he's distracted," Nemesis noted.

"Brad, stand back," Venus said.

"What? I won't watch while you..." his counterpart's look stopped him. "Mina... Just be careful."

"What are you two up to?" Moon asked.

"Brad's the only one who can heal us. If he wastes power or gets injured himself, we'll be in trouble."

Mercury nodded. "Smart." He turned to Dragon Mercury. "Need help?"

"No, I'll just stay here until the pain knocks me out," the other Dragon muttered.

Moon turned back and dove aside as Mars' fiery construct was sent gliding at her. "Girls, your pets couldn't stop it."

"Let's just beat him senseless," Jupiter said, "if it's even a 'him.'"

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 3: Dark Kingdom.
Episode 34: Last Stand.


By Razor Knight
Last update: February 8, 2007

------​

"Any news on the Senshi?"

Seia shook her head. "Nothing yet, but our satellites are detecting large amounts of magic being used at the North Pole."

"Whatever they're fighting there, must be quite tough," Kino noted. "Think they'll win?"

"Why not, they always do."

"I hope you're right."

------​

"Darkness Strike!"

Raishiku growled as the attack hit. "Don't you see it's hopeless?"

"Fire Soul!"

"Shabon Spray Freezing!"

"Moon Tiara Boomerang!"

The first two attacks distracted the youma, and the third hit him, knocking him down to the ground. "So that's why he grabbed the tiara before," Mercury whispered.

Tuxedo was feeling pretty useless right now, even as a distraction. But what could he do, he was no Senshi...

"Moon Tiara Boomerang!"

Raishiku got hit again, but sent an energy blast at Moon, hitting her before going down. "Moon!" Mars shouted.

"I'm... I'm okay," Moon said as she staggered up.

The youma was about to attack again, but something hit his head. He turned and saw Tuxedo Kamen holding a rose and glaring at him. "You... You're the most useless of them all."

"I may be, but I'm also the Earth prince." The others gasped as a sword appeared floating in front of him. "Now let's see if you like this. Earth Dragon Power!"

Raishiku laughed. "No matter how many of you are there, you'll still die."

The new Dragon looked just like the other two, only his suit was completely grey. He didn't bother talking, instead he leapt at his foe as his sword lit up. "Earth Sword Blast!" A thin energy beam shot from the sword as he pointed it at the youma, punching a small hole near his right arm. "Gotcha."

"Still not enough."

Dragon Mercury stood up and growled. "I'm fed up with this bug. Let's shut him up for good."

Mercury nodded. "Try not getting hurt again."

The youma tried to slap the Dragon away as he jumped, but he used its arm for support, coming right in front of its head. "Icycle Spray!"

"Shabon Spray Freezing!"

Both attacks hit, and the youma staggered back. It recovered fast, however, and shot an energy beam off its mouth, which knocked the Dragon down and straight at Mercury. The beam didn't vanish, instead dragging them both back and slamming them both into the cave's wall.

"We have to stop him," Mars said.

"Let's do it," Jupiter nodded. "Supreme Thunder... Dragon!"

"Fire Soul... Bird!"

The two constructs fled at the youma, crashing into him with explosive results. Raishiku, however, staggered up after the light dimmed. "Stupid... Senshi... You can't..."

"Earth Sword Blast!"

Nemesis winced as she saw a hole between the youma's eyes. "That's gotta hurt."

"Im...Possible..." the creature whispered before slumping to the ground.

Dragon Earth went to check on the two Mercuries as Raishiku's body started disintegrating. "Guys, are you okay?"

Dragon Mercury sat on the ground and winced. "Not really."

"I think I'm out of the fight for now," Mercury noted. Her whole body was aching from the impact.

Dragon Venus sighed. "And here I go again. Heal!"

Venus shrugged. "Well, at least now we got rid of that monster. What could be worse than him?"

"I'm glad you asked, Venus," Kunzite said as he materialized near her.

"You again?" Jupiter muttered.

"I'm here to destroy you all," Kunzite warned.

"Let's beat him senseless so we can..."

Venus shook her head at Mars. "Girls, this goon's mine."

"But..."

The orange-skirted Senshi looked at Moon. "I'll take care of him, I'm used to beating him senseless. And in the meantime, you girls can rest and recover."

Dragon Venus tossed his sword at her. "In case you need it."

Venus nodded. "Don't worry, Brad, I can handle this."

The Dragon nodded. If she couldn't, he was ready to step in and knock the freak show around for her.

"This will be amusing, indeed, but I must warn you: I'm stronger than ever before," Kunzite gloated.

Venus held her sword with her right hand and smiled coldly at him. "That's good, our last battle will be something to remember."

------​

"I don't want to sound mean or anything," Karin said, "but I bet the Senshi have something to do with that."

Chie looked up at the sky and nodded. "Or maybe their enemies." Daylight was giving way to darkness as the Moon started to slowly cover the Sun. "It's weird, though, I had a crush on a Senshi and didn't know..."

"You sound like you're giving up..."

"Maybe I am. It's not like I can compete against Mizuno. She's smart and has those superpowers."

"And she's cute," Karin said.

"You like any of them?" Chie asked slyly.

"I'm not a 'first sight' person, and I haven't seen a lot of them other than at school or when they're slacking around in Crown."

"Should we tell them we know about them?"

"No need for that," Karin said. "If they don't want their secret to be known, then let's keep quiet about it."

"What are you planning?" Chie asked.

"Nothing," Karin lied.

------​

Venus blocked Kunzite's first strike with her sword, and both grappled. The rest of the Senshi watched the fight, but some weren't happy just watching.

"I think we should blast him down while he's distracted," Nemesis said.

"Naru, we let you have fun with Nephrite, this is Minako's battle."

The Darkness Senshi turned to Dragon Mercury, glaring at him for a second before nodding. "Guess you're right."

"Well guys, you both are ready," Dragon Venus said. "And Terry, can you try not getting knocked around like that? I'm running out of energy here."

"I wasn't the only one," the other Dragon muttered.

"Crescent Beam!"

Kunzite had barely dodged the blast, and it sliced his arm. "Damn it..."

"Did that hurt?" Venus teased. Kunzite growled and vanished.

"Huh? He left?"

Mercury shook her head at Jupiter's question. "Not likely."

Venus sensed something behind her and dove aside just as Kunzite tried to stab her. She kicked up as she fell, knocking his sword away. Kunzite vanished again, reappearing next to his sword and picking it up before glaring at Venus.

"You may be stronger, but not smarter," Venus said. "You tried to back-stab me a few times in London."

"So I did," Kunzite muttered. "Maybe it's time to stop fooling around."

"Oh crap," Mercury muttered.

"Not again..." Mars winced. "What's wrong now?"

"Kunzite's power is increasing. But the good news are, there's a group of youma coming this way, all as strong as him."

Dragon Venus frowned. "I'll help Mina... You guys punch whatever is coming our way senseless."

Venus was meanwhile waiting. Kunzite wasn't moving, but she could feel the energy he was gathering. "Gonna be done with that anytime soon, or should I just kill you?"

Kunzite chuckled coldly as his eyes turned pitch black. "I don't think you will as much as touch me, Venus."

Venus lunged forwards, slashing down at her foe. The white-haired General grabbed the sword as it descended on him and shot a wave of energy through it, knocking her down to the ground, and sending the Dragon sword flying away. "What the heck...?"

"Simple," Kunzite said, "My Queen is getting ready to awaken Metallia right now, but she told me to use all the extra energy we had to destroy your group."

"She must not trust you, as she's sending more monsters in," Moon pointed.

"Those are the Queen's spawns, and also her personal bodyguards. They may even be stronger than me, but I'm not worried about that. Now, Venus, ready to die?"

"Are you?" Venus snapped back.

"Light Sword Slash!"

Kunzite grunted as Dragon Venus slashed his back. Even with the extra power, the weakling had managed to hurt him. "Good, you want to die first."

"Just try."

Meanwhile, the others waited for the unknown youma to reach them. "Here they come..." Mercury said.

The creatures came into view. They were all female, humanoid, and had wings, but other than that, they didn't look too similar to each other. Their skin tones ranged from green to purple, and they all seemed strong enough to take on a few Senshi. "Well, well. these are the mighty Senshi?" the one with orange skin asked.

"They're just a bunch of kids," the one with green skin noted.

"Yeah, but remember what mother said, they're stronger than they look," a third one said.

"And two of them are facing father alone," the first one added.

"Father?" Mars noted.

"So Kunzite and Beryl... Ew," Moon muttered.

"Okay, let's see what these girls can do," Jupiter said. "Supreme Thunder Dragon!"

The dragon construct headed straight for the purple-skinned youma girl, but she simply kicked the dragon away. "Come on, you must have something better..."

"Fire Soul Bird!"

Mars' fire bird got knocked to the ground by the green-skinned youma. "This will be boring."

Mercury still had the Dragon sword, and wasn't about to stand there and watch. "Try this one then. Shabon Spray Freezing!"

The attack hit the blue-skinned one, sending her staggering back. "What was that?"

Dragon Mercury looked at Mercury. "The power boost is making your attacks stronger."

Mercury nodded. "Girls, focus. We can win if we work together."

"Darkness Strike!"

The attack hit the green youma and she frowned. "Mercury's stronger, but why?"

The blue one frowned. "No idea, Borax. Maybe it's the sword."

"Moon Tiara Boomerang!"

The purple-skinned youma leapt up and floated in mid-air. "That stupid thing won't ever--" Her gloating was cut short as the tiara hit her from behind, knocking her down with a thud.

"Darax, stop fooling around," the red youma snapped.

"Am not, Eirax" Darax snapped back. "Arax, should we use it yet?"

The blue-skinned one nodded. "It's the fastest way to get rid of them. DD Girls, get ready to strike."

"DD Girls?" Mars muttered as the five youma fled up and formed a circle in the air.

"Maybe it's their bra size," Dragon Mercury mused.

"Die, Senshi!" The five youma shouted and unleashed a large wave of energy over them. The cavern shook as the blast hit the ground, sending all the Senshi flying back.

"We got them," Borax said.

"But they're still alive," Arax noted.

"Good, we can torture them before killing them, right Cerax?" Darax mused.

Cerax, the one with orange skin, nodded, then smiled as she looked back at the Senshi. "Oh look, those two still want to play."

"Let's humor them," Eirax suggested.

"Our power's not enough," Mars said.

"But Mercury could hurt them..." Jupiter noted. She looked back and saw her friends were struggling to stand up. "And Venus seems stronger than us too."

"She is..." Mercury said weakly, "it's the swords."

Mars frowned and looked up. The five youma were waiting for them to attack, apparently they liked to play with their prey before killing them. "The swords... There's one for each planet, right?"

"I suppose," Dragon Mercury said, "that's what Luna said."

Jupiter nodded at Mars, and both stood there, concentrating for several seconds. By the time they were done, their friends were already up, albeit battered. Mercury gasped as two swords similar to those Terry, Mamoru and Brad had appeared in front of her two friends. Their hilts, however, were red and green, respectively. "Interesting..."

Arax paled. "Girls, hit them before they can attack!"

It was too late, however. Mars and Jupiter grabbed the swords and glared up at the airborne youma. "Mars Fire Soul Bird!"

"Jupiter Supreme Thunder Dragon!"

Both constructs fled up, and the youma tried to hit them. This time, however, they both wrapped around two of the DD Girls, knocking them down to the ground as they fried them with magic energy.

Borax backed away as the two vanished. "Damn it... They're too strong."

Arax looked down at the two Senshi who were now kneeling on the ground. "But they're out of energy now. Borax, Cerax, let's avenge our sisters!"

"Arax, behind you!" Borax shouted.

Dragon Earth had rushed past Mars and Jupiter while the three youma girls talked, leaping up and ricocheting off the cave's wall, and that had left him a few meters above Arax. By the time Borax's warning came, he had already stabbed her back. "Earth Sword Blast."

"No!" Cerax winced as Arax vanished. "Die, human!"

Moon had been about to attack the remaining youma, but she froze as Dragon Earth was knocked down to the ground by an energy blast. She then walked forwards, glaring up at the two evil beings. "Hey you!"

Borax looked down. "Guess she wants to die first."

"I'm not dying, none of my friends are. We will stop your Queen, whatever it takes."

"Brave words, girl, but you have no energy to back them up with," Cerax snapped.

Borax paled. "Wait, she... How did she do that?"

Mercury scanned Moon as she heard those words. True, Moon had been as out of power as the rest a moment ago, but now... She had more than enough power to take those two bird girls down. "It's amazing."

"You would never understand, youma," Moon snapped. "Moon Tiara Boomerang!"

Jupiter winced as she saw the tiara slice through both youma, and they fell to the ground. "Even without a sword, she's stronger than us."

"Mother... We failed you," Borax said before vanishing along with Cerax.

"Anyone's got any energy left to help Venus?" Mars asked looking back at her friends as Moon went to check on the fallen Dragon.

"Not a bit," Mercury said scanning the others. "We should rest if we want to stop Beryl. Problem is, the eclipse's almost here."

"Are you okay?"

The Dragon looked at Moon. "I'll live."

"Guys, stay here," Moon said turning to the others. "I'll go stop Beryl before she can summon Metallia."

"But..."

Moon shook her head at the Dragon. "I'll be fine, I'll call you if I can't handle her."

Mars stood up and sighed as Moon walked away. "How can she keep going?"

Dragon Mercury walked to her. "It's simple. She's stronger than us... But her strength isn't from magical power or raw physical force."

"Huh?"

"Rei, your attacks were stronger than Moon's," Mercury noted.

The Dragon nodded. "It's something simple. She's as out of energy as we are, but she's not giving up. Her will is what makes her stronger."

"I'm not giving up either," Mars muttered.

"Out of stubbornness, not will," Dragon Mercury noted.

"Then why stay here?" Mercury asked before Mars could snap at her male counterpart.

"She wants us to help Venus if things get dire... I guess she wants no casualties on our side," Dragon Earth said walking to the group.

"Doesn't look like those two need help," Jupiter commented.

"Go help Moon," Dragon Mercury said.

"But..."

"Mamoru, you think that Beryl will be any easier than these five :red:es from hell we just fought? Go help her or I'll knock you down and drag you there."

"You're right."

"Crescent Barrage!"

The group turned to the battle still raging as Dragon Earth followed Moon. Venus was jumping around, dodging Kunzite's blasts, as her male counterpart waited for the right time to attack. "Guess they have him under control."

Kunzite frowned. "Your friends killed my girls, I guess I underestimated your group."

"You youma always do," Venus snapped.

"Maybe we do. Time to end this."

Venus sighed as Kunzite vanished, and turned around to punch him. However, Kunzite wasn't there. "Wha--"

Kunzite appeared behind her and knocked her down with an energy blast, then materialized his sword. "I'm going to enjoy this..."

"Light Sword Slash!"

Kunzite flinched, but resisted the attack, turning and punching the Dragon in the face, and before he could react, knocked him away with an energy beam. "There, he won't be bothering us..." As he turned, he noticed two things. First, Venus was up again, and second, she was shining. From his past experiences, he knew it was never a good omen when a Senshi started shining. "Die, Venus!"

Venus leapt aside dodging the blast, and glared at Kunzite. She was tired and her whole body ached from the battle, but she wasn't going to let him live after he'd hurt Brad. "Sorry, but I'm not the one dying today. Venus Twilight Power!"

Kunzite backed away as a column of light surrounded her, much like when she transformed normally, but as the light dimmed, everyone could see her suit was different. She had Venus' symbol right under her front bow, and translucent elbow pads appeared over her shoulders. The small jewels in the center of her bow now had small feathery wings. "What the :red:?" Dragon Mercury muttered as he got a reading on her power.

"What's wrong?" Nemesis asked.

"Her power used to be around two hundred and forty before," Mercury commented, "but now it's near fifteen hundreds."

"Kunzite's fried," Mars mused.

The white-haired general had reached the same conclusion. He gathered all of his power and shot a wide energy beam. "Die!"

Venus stood through the beam, showing no damage as it ended. "I've already told you, it's not my turn today. I guess you'll be able to see your girls again."

"You can't defeat me."

Venus smiled coldly. Besides giving her a power boost, the transformation had also given her energy to make one more attack, and she knew it would be more than enough to bring the last General down. "Venus Twilight V-Laser!" She moved much like when she used her Crescent Beam, but the result was a way larger beam, which smashed into Kunzite dead on, crushing him into the far wall of the cavern. "Guess I could," she mused as Kunzite turned to dust.

Mercury checked on Dragon Venus. "He's okay, just unconscious."

Venus nodded. "Good, I..." She fell on her knees just then, her suit reverting back to normal. "Damn..."

"We have to go help Usagi," Mars said.

"Agreed," Mercury said. "But we're tired and out of energy, we won't be a lot of help..."

"Don't you give up on me, Ami," the Ice Dragon said.

"Am not, just stating the facts."

"I know that. I'm still going," Mars said. "I'll help Usagi even if I have to fight Metallia barehanded."

"Let's go," Dragon Venus said as he stood up.

"You're okay?" Venus asked.

"Not really, but I can't sleep with all the noise you kids are making."

Mercury looked around. "Okay, the portal is still open, what we'll find once we get there, I can't tell."

"Can't be worse than what we fought out here," Nemesis said.

"How can you be so sure?" Jupiter asked?

"Simple. Beryl knows the human armies stand no chance against her youma, but we could defeat her."

Mercury nodded. "Makes sense. Okay guys, let's go."

"Who died and made her the leader?" Mars muttered as the others followed the Ice Senshi's lead.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 3: Dark Kingdom.
Episode 35: Metallia.


By Razor Knight
Last update: February 8, 2007

------​

Moon wasn't sure where she was, but for what she could see, it was some kind of fortress or castle. However, it was devoid of living beings, and she was pretty much lost.

There was something else she always counted on, and was just why she hadn't turned around and returned to the portal. For some reason, she had often been able to be at hearing range when youma attacked, so she just had to trust her instincts. And said instincts led her to a large, black stone door. She pushed it open and walked into the room.

It was quite large, Moon guessed at least a hundred meters. The walls and floor were the same as everywhere in the building, grey, roughly finished and dull. Looking up to the roof, she could see a single light source pouring light right over the only furniture that she'd seen so far in her tour: A stony throne. The throne looked like a monster head, giving the sensation it'd eat whatever dared sitting on it. Moon pondered just how demented Beryl was, if she could stand sitting in such a throne.

"I suppose I should say something like 'welcome to my humble house,' but you, Moon Princess, aren't welcome here at all."

Moon turned to the voice. She remembered that voice, from her past. "Beryl," she growled as she came face to face with the pale-skinned youma queen.

"This is just perfect. I'll have a chance to kill you now, then I'll deal with the others."

"The Earth won't ever be yours."

"Right now, that's not my goal. I want to destroy those who killed my children."

"I won't let you do that, either."

Beryl laughed. "You really think you can defeat me?"

"Moon Tiara Boomerang!"

Beryl slapped the tiara away and frowned. "You're weak, indeed. However, I should thank you for one thing."

"And that is?" Moon asked. She knew she couldn't beat this enemy on her own, so she had to keep her talking until help arrived.

"You got rid of Aurite. I'm sure if she was left to roam, she would have become a threat to me. "

"Earth Sword Blast!"

Beryl growled as the attack hit, and turned to Dragon Earth. "You... You were a weakling too, in the past, and you still are. You'll always be a slave to your petty Moon Princess."

"Let's finish this," the Dragon snapped.

"I agree," Beryl said, then shot a darkness wave at both her foes. The two fell to the ground, unconscious, and she nodded as she walked away. "That will keep them from bothering me for now, but I'll need Metallia's power to win this battle."

------​

Several minutes later, the rest of the Senshi team were walking around the stony corridors of the castle. "Are we there yet?" Venus asked.

"Pretty close," Mercury said. "From the power readings I'm getting, either Usagi turned into the Moon Princess and is giving Beryl a, mind the pun, royal beating, or..."

"Beryl is calling her big bad demon friend," Dragon Venus guessed.

They reached the large stone doors and walked in. First thing visible to them was the throne, and also... "Usagi!"

Mercury checked on both fallen Senshi and sighed. "They're alive."

Moon groaned and stood up. "That was pathetic."

"What happened?" Dragon Venus asked as the Earth Dragon also stood up.

"Beryl knocked us both down in one hit," Dragon Earth explained.

"Why didn't she kill you?" Jupiter asked.

"Maybe she wanted to wait and kill us all in one blast," Mercury said.

"Don't joke," Mars muttered.

"Who's joking?" Mercury asked. "If the energy readings I'm getting are right, we better hurry and stop Beryl. This way."

"And again, I repeat... Who died and made her leader?"

"Leave that for later," Moon snapped. The others nodded and run after Mercury.

------​

"Finally, after all these eons..."

Beryl looked at the black, shapeless form floating a few meters away from her, its glowing yellow eyes seemed to pierce through her skull. "Metallia, I need your help to defeat the Senshi."

"Senshi... Yes, I can feel the Ginzuishou near."

"Give me power to defeat those humans."

"I don't think so."

"What? We made a pact, demon."

"And that pact led me to unconsciousness for a very long time. If Serenity's daughter is as strong as her mother, that could happen again. I'm not going to take risks."

"Fine then, I'll destroy them, then you," Beryl snapped.

"You will destroy them, indeed... At least your body will."

"What are you--" Beryl gasped as Metallia's misty form floated into her nose and mouth, then she screamed.

The Senshi walked in just as the last of Metallia was absorbed by the youma queen's body. "That's Beryl? She's not that ugly," Dragon Venus commented.

"Beryl is no more," the woman said, her voice deep and booming. "I am Metallia. And you, pitiful humans, will bow to me soon."

"Guys, let's give her all we have!" Moon said.

"I don't think so," Metallia snapped. Her body suddenly grew up to a looming thirty meters and she laughed as she looked down at her enemies.

"Berylzilla. Freaky," Dragon Venus muttered. The others glared at him. "Okay, I'll shut up."

"Die, Senshi!" Metallia growled and unleashed a wave of darkness. The Senshi were all knocked down to the ground by it, and the demoness laughed again.

Moon staggered up. "We... Won't lose."

"You already did, the moment I awakened," Metallia gloated.

Mercury looked up at 'Beryl' and gasped. "fifty thousand points. She's pretty much invincible."

Moon sighed. "She's not. I won't lose this battle."

"Why, want to go slack off?" Mars teased.

"Shut up," Moon snapped, and the others looked at her in shock. "You guys think I don't know what's at stake here? If we lose, the whole world's going to suffer. I can't let that happen."

"It's true," Mercury said. "We can't lose."

"Amusing," Metallia's voice boomed. "Are you kids so naive you don't see the reality of your defeat?"

Moon glared up at her, and the Ginzuishou appeared floating over her outstretched palm. Her suit changed into her princess gown and she held the crystal with both hands. "Moon Prism Power!"

Metallia didn't stand there and let the attack hit, instead unleashing a beam of darkness that clashed against the Princess' one. "Still useless, little Princess!"

------​

Kino was standing besides Seia and Tomoe, waiting for a report. "Well, this isn't good," the scientist said.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know what the Senshi are doing, but look at this."

The screen changed to a view of icy plains, and lightning was cracking around the area, seemingly focusing in one exact point. "What the hell's that?" Seia asked.

"That's raw magical energy, leaking out of the link between the Earth and wherever the Senshi are right now."

"And why is it... Leaking?"

"I guess they're throwing all they have at their foes right now, and their foes are countering."

"The numbers seem a bit... Low," Seia noted.

"That's just residual energy. The real output of energy could be a thousand times bigger."

Seia flinched. "Damn."

"What if the Senshi lose the battle?" Kino asked.

"Then you should ask your friends from the States to nuke the area and hope one of the bombs passes through."

------​

"Been a while, Moment."

Pluto smiled at Artemis. "I haven't been called that for eons. But I'm not here to socialize."

"What for, then?"

"I have little doubts on the outcome of this war. But it won't be the last enemy the Senshi must fight."

"When are your protegees going to show up?" Luna asked.

"They're almost ready to help," Pluto said, "but I have my doubts about teaming them with your group."

"They'll have to, eventually," Shade noted.

"I know, but one of my protegees isn't... Friendly."

"Usagi could befriend a rock," Luna muttered. "But have we found all of them?"

"No, there's at least one missing Senshi."

Artemis frowned. "You should know for sure."

"Nothing is certain with timelines," Pluto said. "However, I must leave now, my students need to be ready before they arrive."

"And who are 'they'?" Luna asked.

"You'll know that when the time's right," Pluto said before vanishing.

"Well, that helps a lot," Shade snapped at the now gone Senshi.

------​

Serenity staggered back as she struggled to keep her beam stable. After all the fighting and beating she'd been through, she was almost out of energy. But if she gave up, it would mean her friends' struggle had also been in vain. "Guys, I need your help. Lend me your power."

Mars nodded. "Let's do it. Mars Planet Power!"

"Mercury Planet Power!"

"Mercury Dragon Power!"

"Jupiter Planet Power!"

"Venus Twilight Power!"

"Venus Dragon Power!"

"Nemesis Planet Power!"

"Earth Dragon Power!"

Serenity smiled as a wave of energy started flowing from her friends and into her body, and Metallia's dark beam started to slowly shrink back. "This war ends now. Moon Prism Power!"

Metallia screamed as Serenity's beam blasted through hers, and washed over her massive body. The onslaught took several seconds, but in the end, the demon vanished. The Senshi were all wondering the same thing as they looked around. They weren't in the castle anymore, but in a scorched, icy valley.

"Well, that solves the issue of having to find a way back to Earth," Jupiter commented.

Mercury scanned around and frowned. "We are exactly where the portal was."

"What happened to it... Or to the cavern, for that matter?" Dragon Earth asked.

"The portal, no idea. The cavern... Maybe our little magic struggle destroyed it."

"That's good and all," Venus said, "but how the heck are we going to go back? I don't think we can pull that Sailor Teleport thing as low in energy as we are."

Dragon Mercury smirked. The light girl was right, he was barely standing after all that fighting, and he knew his friends were as tired as him, if not more. "Sam, you can pick us up now," he said talking into his communicator.

"I'll be there in a minute, sir," Samuel's voice said through the comm.

"What are you up to?" Dragon Venus asked.

"You guys want a vehicle to go back home... Ask and thou shalt receive." As he said that, a fair-sized plane descended near them.

"A VTOL plane?" Mercury asked admiring the vehicle.

"Don't drool, or your mouth will freeze," Mars joked.

Moon sighed. "Okay, let's get outta here before we start growing stalagmites."

"You know what those are?" Mars asked as the group entered the plane.

------​

A couple days passed and the group recovered from the battle. Most of them were at Crown, enjoying the peace they'd earned.

"So, where's Rabbit?" Terry asked as he played Street Fighter.

"Out with Mamoru," Ami said.

"Does he know what he's getting into?" Rei muttered.

"You could try to stop being mean to her for a day," Terry noted.

"But she makes it so easy..." Rei mused. Terry and Ami rolled their eyes at her.

"Hey, isn't that Mamoru's sister?" Mako said pointing at one of the arcades in the far side of the room.

Terry nodded. "Yeah, that's Karin. Why?"

"She sort of looks like my ex..."

Ami and Rei both stared at her wide-eyed. Terry chuckled. "If you mean she looks like a guy, I hope she doesn't hear you."

"She looks tough, but it's not like I'm a weakling," Mako noted.

"Agreed," Terry nodded.

------​

"Any news on the Senshi?"

Seia shook her head. "They did win that last battle, but after that, they haven't been seen anywhere."

"I suppose they have no reason to use their powers now. Think we'll see them again?"

"No idea. Let's wait and see if there's any other alien invasion fleet around."

------​

"So, I have to help them?" Hotaru asked.

Setsuna nodded. "Yes. They'll need help when the next wave arrives."

"I hope you realize I'm not a social person. Why not send Kage?"

"Kage will have to check on something I've sensed in China. And I'm not asking you to be their friend, just help them in battle."

"To that, I can agree," Hotaru said. Setsuna smiled, she was quite sure she would change her mind about being their friend before the dust settled.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 4: Dark Moon Rising.
Episode 36: Mantis Antics.


By Razor Knight
Last update: February 8, 2007

------​

Three weeks passed without any signs of evil, and the Senshi enjoyed their break from fighting. The school had been repaired, however, and it was time for their lives to fully return to normal.

"I don't get it. We defeated that demon, and still have to come to school?"

Terry smiled at Usagi. "Stop complaining, Rabbit, you were saying you missed school a few days ago."

"Hey guys!"

Terry grabbed Umino by the collar and put him in his seat. "There. Now be silent, mortal."

"That was uncalled for," Umino snapped.

"I stopped Usagi from hitting you in the head or shout in your ear. Remember what I said before, brain damage's critical in you."

The thick-glassed boy shrugged off the verbal jab. "Thanks, I guess."

Naru walked in next, along with Mako. "Nothing new, I can see. But be careful, Terry, or Ami will be jealous."

"And why would I be?" Ami asked popping right behind Naru.

"I see my ancient ninja secret tech's been copied," Umino mused.

"What are you doing here?" Naru asked.

"I was told this would be my group from now on," Ami explained. "Guess Terry's father has some influences."

"Nah, that was all me," Terry admitted. Just then, Minako walked in. "Yay, two airhead blondes for the price of one."

Minako glared at him for a second. "You're quite a jerk sometimes, you knew that?"

"I've been told so," Terry admitted.

Ami sat besides Terry and giggled. "Don't mind him. And it's good you're finally out of that scowling face, Terry."

Just then, another girl walked into the classroom. She was pale, with short purplish-black hair and matching eyes, and her face was neutral as she looked at the group. "Wonder who she is?" Naru pondered.

"Hotaru Tomoe, daughter of that mad scientist that works for the JDF. From what I heard, she's not too friendly."

"You got that right," Hotaru said from behind Umino.

"Eek! What the heck?"

"How did you do that?" Terry asked.

"You were all distracted," Hotaru said in her usual monotone.

"I don't think so," Terry insisted.

"Well, if I told you how I did it, I would have to kill you."

Terry smiled as Hotaru turned to return to her seat. "See, she's friendly. She's already joking with us."

"I never joke," Hotaru said. As she sat on her place, however, she frowned. That Zephyr guy wasn't as easy to fool as the others, so she had to be careful with him.

------​

Later that day, the group was walking down a quite packed street. "So, million boy, what are we here for?"

"Patience, earthling," Terry said.

"Just asking," Brad muttered.

"Here we are," Terry announced as they stopped in front of a martial arts dojo.

"Here? This is just a dojo."

"Well, I asked Sam to find a place where we could gather and train. This dojo was going bankrupt so the owner was easy to convince."

As they entered the dojo, they saw it was nothing special. "So, this is it?"

Terry smiled at Mako. "Not at all. Follow me." The group did as prompted, and they ended up in a small room in the back of the building. Terry touched a wall and whispered something, and a section of the wall slid sideways, revealing a hidden corridor.

"Cool, we're in the Men In Black headquarters," Brad joked.

They stopped in front of an elevator door. "I thought this was a one-story building," Usagi noted.

Terry smirked as they walked in. The elevator was large enough to fit at least a dozen people. "Never said we were going up," he commented as they started descending.

After a minute or so, the trip ended, and the doors opened to a very large room with several mats and benches. "What the hell is this?" Mako asked.

"This will be our meeting place, we can come here whenever we want to discuss Senshi matters, or train our powers and skills."

"But we already defeated the youma," Minako noted.

"True. But there has to be other evil beings out there," Terry said. "Never read any comics? It's rare that a group of heroes has only one nemesis."

"Well, we do have one," Rei said looking at Naru.

"Not what I meant," Terry muttered. "In any case... You're free to explore the room."

Mako went to one of the walls, several weights were perched in it. She grabbed one of the smaller, yet heavy-looking, ones and smiled. "Well, I think this place could be funnier than the gym I usually go to."

Brad walked to a weapon display in the far side of the room. He picked a wooden sword and smiled. "Seeing how some of the girls got swords now, I think they should train using them."

Terry nodded. "I agree. A weapon is only an advantage if you know how to use it. Otherwise, it hinders your movements, but don't worry, you'll have a real master here to teach you."

"Who?"

"Me."

"Hah!" Brad exclaimed. "I don't think you can teach them. I'm older than you, I bet I could beat you to a fight."

Terry grabbed one of the wooden swords. "Is that a challenge?"

"You bet."

The two walked to one of the mats. "Poor Terry, he's gonna get beaten," Minako said.

Ami smiled. "I think Terry will be fine."

"Stop defending him, you sound like his girlfriend," Mako noted.

"Uhh... I don't..." Ami blushed and fell silent.

Brad charged first, swinging down at Terry, who met his blow and responded with a kick to the knee. Brad staggered back and Terry took the chance to leap back, then charged. He tried a sideways slash, but Brad blocked it.

"They're both good," Mamoru said.

"What about you?" Usagi asked.

"I had never used a sword before our trip to the youma world," Mamoru admitted.

Terry rolled aside as Brad tried another downwards slash, kicking out and knocking his opponent off-balance. Brad fell back, but stood up fast enough to parry Terry's next slash. The two went on for a while, neither getting any hits in.

"Bah. I still don't see why we should waste time training," Usagi said.

"We barely made it out of our last battle," Ami noted. "I'm not ashamed to admit I have no melee skills whatsoever, but they can be useful sometimes. Besides, if we train we'll be stronger, and I guess we could even learn to control our magic better."

Minako nodded then smiled as she saw both swordsmen were kneeling on the ground. "Guess that was a draw."

"You bet," Terry muttered gasping for air.

"Could anyone detect us down here if we use our power?" Minako asked.

"Usagi could go into her Princess mode and start shooting energy blasts, and people up there wouldn't notice. This base is completely shielded from the outside world."

"Must have cost a damn lot of money," Brad noted.

"You call it that, I call it a few coins," Terry mused.

"Don't go snob on us," Rei groaned. "Hey Mina, what are you up to?"

Minako was looking around the room. "Just wanted to see one thing. Venus Twilight Power!" Nothing happened. "Huh?"

"Try transforming normally first," Brad suggested.

"Venus Planet Power! Venus Twilight Power!" This time, she turned into her Senshi form, then into her new form. "Cool. Good thing it wasn't a one-time power-up."

"But what's with the suit change and power difference?" Mako asked.

"When you girls used those swords, your power doubled. But Minako's power multiplied several times," Ami explained.

"Which means?"

"Don't you remember that last battle, first time we faced Beryl?" Ami asked.

Mako's eyes widened. "Oh, yeah... We were in a different 'level' back then. So that Twilight thing is a level up?"

Ami chuckled. "You could say that. From the transformation phrase, I guess we should call it the Twilight Senshi form."

"Twilight Venus..." Venus mused. "I like the name." Just then, her suit reverted to normal. "Darn..."

"Your body isn't adapted to that yet," Terry explained. "But I bet with time, you'll be able to hold it for as long as you need, or even transform directly. It's only a wild guess, though."

Suddenly, there was a beeping sound and Terry walked to one of the walls. "What's going on?" Usagi asked.

The wall opened as Terry walked to it, and a computer console appeared, complete with monitors. "I also installed a scanner."

Ami walked to the computer. "This computer looks amazing."

"Yes, but the AI is quite simple right now."

"I could help with that."

"I wouldn't mind the help."

"Get a room," Rei muttered.

Terry turned to the others. "Well, there's an alien form attacking Crown right now."

"Everything happens in Juuban," Mako muttered.

"Not really, but most of it will," Terry admitted. "At least statistically, that's the case."

"Cut the chatter and let's blast whatever is out there to dust," Usagi muttered.

"She's acting like a leader, we're doomed," Rei joked.

"You said that before," Naru noted.

"And it's still true."

------​

As the group reached their target, they could see the monster had made a nice work at wrecking the place. "Darn it, it's really going to suffer now," Moon said angrily.

Problem was what the creature attacking the place was. A grey-skinned mantis-like humanoid monster that had been relentlessly sending crescent-shaped energy blasts at the building until it saw the Senshi. "You'll be the ones suffering, Senshi. My name is Vigale and I'm going to avenge my kin."

"Just how many of these things are out there?" Mars asked.

"Must have escaped before we destroyed the portal," Mercury guessed.

"Hah! We're not youma, idiots. Let's see if you can make this battle fun."

"Can I?" Venus asked.

Mercury was scanning the monster, and nodded. "Believe it or not, that thing's just too strong for us. Only Venus or Moon could deal with it."

"Grim Edge!"

A dark energy blast came from behind the creature, knocking it to the ground. The Senshi saw a girl standing there, wearing a Twilight Senshi suit, only hers had dark purple where Venus' one had orange. She was holding a strange glaive, it's blade shape resembled a g letter.

The girl looked at the creature with a dismissive stare. "Creatures like you are hardly a challenge. Leave now before you regret it."

Vigale snorted. "Oh, I see... Sailor Saturn, I suppose?"

Saturn didn't look surprised at all. "That's me, yes. Ready to die?"

Vigale laughed as it shot a couple blasts at Saturn, but stopped as Saturn deflected them with her glaive. "Impressive."

"And that's not all. Challenging death itself wasn't wise, insect. Death Bolt!"

The second death energy blast was too fast for the mantis to dodge. It punched through its chest and Vigale looked down at the wound in shock before turning to dust.

"Wow, she's strong," Jupiter noted.

"She stole my kill," Venus complained.

"Who are you?" Moon asked.

"Sailor Saturn, that's my Senshi name, and that's all you need to know for now." After saying that, she vanished.

"What? She can teleport?" Nemesis asked.

Mercury nodded as she looked around. "She isn't anywhere near."

"So we have a new Senshi around, and she's already Twilight," Dragon Mercury commented. "Think the cats will know about her?"

"I'll ask Luna when I get home," Moon said.

"Saturn..." Nemesis said.

"The Senshi of Death, from what she said," Dragon Venus noted. "Creepy."

"Oh well, the enemy's gone, let's go back to the base," Moon said.

"'Base'?" Mars muttered.

"It's what it is, technically," Dragon Mercury admitted. "Should we go there through the sewers, through the back of the grocery next to it or... From the alley behind Crown?"

Jupiter's eyes widened. "You even had secret entrances built into that thing?"

The Dragon shrugged. "Thought it'd make it easier to go in and out unnoticed."

"Everyone inside Crown's unconscious," Mercury noted.

"We'll take care of that."

The group turned to Seia who came walking from one of the surrounding buildings. "Hey there, army girl."

Seia glared at Dragon Venus but said nothing about the nickname. "My brother was in that building, and he called me when that thing started attacking. I have a group of ambulances coming to pick the crowd up."

"Good, now if you excuse us, this was a hard battle so..."

Seia chuckled. "I watched the battle. You didn't do a thing, that Saturn girl killed the monster."

"Yay, we have witnesses." Mars muttered.

"Should we brainwash her, or just kill her?" Dragon Mercury joked.

"Let's do both," Jupiter suggested.

Seia shook her head as she walked away. "Teenagers."

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 4: Dark Moon Rising.
Episode 37: Mecha-Senshi?


By Razor Knight
Last update: February 8, 2007

------​

"She looks really lonely," Usagi noted.

"Who?" Naru asked.

"Hotaru," Usagi said pointing at one of the other lunch tables. The dark-haired girl was sitting alone in a corner of the classroom.

"Maybe she wants to be alone," Mako said.

Usagi sighed. "Why would she want that?"

"Guess someone like you would never understand, Rabbit." Terry said seriously.

Usagi sighed again and looked out the window. Ami got a thoughtful look for a second, then looked at Terry. "Think that mantis was the last enemy we'll see?"

"Not likely," Terry said. "For starters, I bet there's more of its 'kin' out there."

"Hi guys!" Umino exclaimed popping in-between Ami and Terry.

"Target acquired. Initiate elimination protocol," Hotaru said in a cold, monotone voice from behind him, making him jump.

"How the heck do you do that?"

"Do what? I'm just deadly silent," Hotaru said keeping her neutral face, then walked back to her seat.

"Anyways," Umino muttered, "did you guys hear the news?"

Ami nodded. "A meteorite crashed in Juuban Park, but when the army went to investigate, it was gone."

"Think someone stole it?" Naru asked.

"What for?" Terry pondered.

Umino shook his head. "One of my sources said he saw a couple floating energy spheres flying over Juuban minutes after the crash," Umino noted. "Maybe the meteorite wasn't just a rock. It's weird, I think someone should investigate the matter further." Ami and Terry looked at each other, and they knew they were thinking Ailke.

Just then, two more students walked in. Both had brown hair and eyes, were slightly taller than the rest of the class, not counting Mako and Terry, and were chatting as they sat near Usagi and her friends.

"Natsumi and Seijuro Ginga," Umino said before anyone could ask. "Not a lot about them is known, but they are said to..."

Natsumi coughed a bit too loud. "We're here, you know?"

Seijuro smiled. "Lots of pretty girls, I'm already liking this school." Natsumi glared at him for a second then shook her head.

"Tough luck, my friends are mostly taken," Terry said.

"And I'm not interested," Mako added.

"Uh... Same," Ami said shyly.

"A pity," Seijuro said. 'Humans are amusing,' he thought.

'Indeed,' he heard Natsumi's voice in his mind. 'It's a pity we'll probably have to drain them to survive.'

------​

Mako crashed to the ground and flinched. Terry didn't laugh, his friends noticed he was quite serious when training. "You really need to learn how to use that sword, Mako."

"I could just punch things down like I always do," Mako said staggering up.

"What's the fun in that, when you can chop them to pieces?" Brad mused.

"Besides," Terry said, "the swords give you an upgrade in power. It'd be foolish not to use that advantage in combat."

"You have two swords, how come you're not stronger than us?" Naru asked.

"Easy, I'm the Mercury Dragon, Saturn is not my planet. While I know I could be stronger using it's power too, I'm not sure what would happen if I tried."

"Don't risk it."

Terry turned to see the three Mooncats standing near the practice mat. "Well, I was starting to wonder if you had just vanished."

"We've been busy," Luna said. "We have some clues on that meteorite crash, and most likely we'll be facing a new Ailen enemy soon."

"'We'?" Terry muttered.

"We did our part, we're not the warriors," Artemis noted. "Anyhow, Luna's right, don't try to use both your Mercury and Saturn swords' powers... If you're not compatible with both, you'll be lucky to be alive afterwards."

Shade nodded. "I can remember one case of someone that tried, one of the Nemesis Dragons who tried to use the sword of his fallen love, the Mars Senshi of that era."

"And what happened?" Rei asked.

"He did gain access to Mars' power for a short time, more than enough to fry the enemy that had killed Sailor Mars. But he only lived long enough to see his enemy vanish, then fell to the ground and never stood up."

"I'll pass, then," Terry muttered.

Mako tried attacking while he was distracted, but Terry saw her coming and back-stepped, tripping her with his sword and sending her crashing to the ground. "Ow."

"Predictable," Terry noted. "Though that was actually a good try."

The brown-haired girl growled and tossed the wooden sword at him like a spear. Terry dodged aside and turned, then gasped as he saw the sword stab into the wall. "That better?"

Terry blinked. "You're strong. And that's quite a way to use a sword. Maybe we should start calling you the Jupiter Kamen?"

Ami winced. "That was dangerous, what if he hadn't dodged?" She was working on the computer console, as a swarm of numbers and symbols kept on randomly appearing in the screen. "Anyways, I'm sure with a few weeks of work, we could come out with a good AI for the base."

"I'm glad you like messing with computers," Terry mused. "Two minds think better than one."

"One's Ami, the other is..?" Rei asked.

Terry was about to say something, when the base's alarms flared to life. "There we go again."

"Unknown entity detected near the Tokyo Tower," Ami said.

"That's a bit far from here."

"Hmm... The scanners also pick up a second entity. Sailor Saturn."

"Cool, let her handle that thing," Usagi said.

"We can't. She could need our help," Minako noted.

"If the scan's correct, she will," Terry said.

Usagi nodded. "Okay, let's go then, and I hope it's not another mantis."

------​

Saturn looked at the creature waiting patiently from atop a nearby building. "I see whoever sent that robot wasn't happy with just one test."

The cyborg looked up. "So you decided to show up, Sailor Saturn."

A one-eyed visor slid down from Saturn's tiara. The cyborg was smarter than the first one she'd faced, and also stronger. "And you are?"

"Omega-2. The cyborg you and your friends fought before was the Omega-1."

"Friends?" Saturn shook her head. "Merely allies. In any case, let's end this quick. Death Bolt!"

"Death Bolt."

Saturn reAilzed her mistake. There was a reason for her to like short battles, and that was because her energy reserves weren't high enough to stand more than a few minutes of combat. "I think we've reached a stalemate, however, I have an advantage over you."

"And that is?" The Omega asked.

"Numbers," Saturn said just as the Senshi reached the scene. "Took you long enough," she added turning to them.

"She's blunt. I like bluntness," Dragon Mercury commented.

"Be careful, my glaive's sharp and deadly," Saturn said as emotionless as usual.

The Dragon turned to look at the robot. "Okay, I'll bite. Let's see what that thing can do. Icicle Spray!"

"Icicle Spray."

"What the :red:?"

"I second that," Jupiter said.

"It's quite simple," Saturn said, "this 'Omega' creature somehow can replicate our attacks."

Mercury was scanning the creature, and stared at it in shock as the readings appeared in her visor. "That... It has our DNA!"

"DNwhat?" Moon asked.

"Whoever built it, used samples of our skin, blood, hair or whatever, to create a cyborg that..."

"Fire Soul."

Dragon Mercury dodged the fire blast. "... Can use our attacks."

"Who cares?" Venus said. "Let's see him handle this. Venus Twilight Power!"

The Omega stood there while Venus transformed. "I don't have your power in my database."

"Too bad for you, then. Venus Twilight V-Laser!"

The Omega staggered back as the blast hit. Saturn frowned. 'She's stronger than even me...'

Dragon Mercury charged at the robot as Venus knelt on the ground, flinging one of the swords at it like Mako had tried on him before. "Hey robbie, dodge this!"

The Omega leapt aside as he saw he sword spearing towards him. He didn't, however, guess what the Dragon's strategy was, until he had been stabbed through by the sword. "Ow."

"This is when you die," Dragon Mercury noted.

"I'm a machine, kid. I don't have a heart. Supreme Thunder Dragon."

"No!" Mercury shouted. As the Dragon fell near her, she saw his sword bouncing and stopping next to her feet. "Terry..." she whispered.

Omega looked at Mercury. "Interesting, her power is..."

"Mercury Twilight Power!"

Saturn rose an eyebrow. 'Wonder what caused her upgrade?'

Before the cyborg could attack, Mercury was already summoning her new attack. "Mercury Snow Spray!" She moved just like when she used her Shabon Spray, but this time, a shower of ice and snow hit the cyborg, paralyzing it. "All... Yours, Moon," she said as she fell to her knees, her suit fading back to normal.

"Moon Tiara Boomerang!" The light disc hit the cyborg, and it exploded into a shower of metal and ice. "Guess we got him."

"That we... Did," Mercury said tiredly. She then walked to the Dragon and gasped as she scanned him. "Oh no..."

"What's wrong?" Jupiter asked.

"If we don't get him healed soon, he'll die." She sank to her knees again.

Saturn had been about to leave, but overheard what Mercury said. She phased near the fallen Dragon and looked at him. "I can help."

"How?" Mercury asked.

"I'm the Senshi of Death, but I can also give life," Saturn said in her usual monotone. She put a hand on the Dragon's chest. Her hand lit up, and for several seconds, the others could see energy flowing from her hand into his body. As the light faded, she stood up. "It's done."

"Wait," Moon said as Saturn stood up. "Who are you?"

"I already told you that."

"We could be friends," Moon said, "but you have to trust us."

"I don't need friends, just allies. It has nothing to do with trust," Saturn said then vanished.

"Gee, she's got a cold heart," Venus muttered.

"She..." Dragon Mercury said as he staggered up. "She healed me, she's not that bad. But I don't think she wants us to know who she is, for whichever reasons she may have."

Moon sighed. "You girls keep on leveling up, and I'm still a weakling."

"You killed the monster, what are you complaining about?" Mars muttered.

"I don't know, I thought being the leader and all, I would be the first..."

"Saturn can keep her Twilight form longer than me," Venus said, "even though she looks physically weak. That must mean she's been a Twilight Senshi for longer than any of us."

"Your point being...?" Mars asked.

"I guess it's not about ranks or about who was a Senshi first. Both me and Mercury powered up in extreme situations."

"You mean we gotta risk our hides to power up?" Mars asked. "That's just great."

"Either that, or get your boyfriend beaten up," Venus joked.

"Minako!" Mercury hissed.

------​

"Your second robot was a failure too."

The scientist nodded. "I must admit, I did not think those Senshi would power up. But we now know Saturn has joined them."

"Make the Omega the backup plan."

"Why?"

"I have the feeling our other soldier will cause a lot more damage just being there, than the Omega could ever cause with their magic."

"I see your point. You have faced them directly before, though... Think her powers will be enough?"

"She's not a magician, her powers are different. If she takes the Senshi by surprise, they'll have no time to react before she gets them all."

"It will still take me a while to finish the adjustments."

"I know that. But something tells me the Senshi will be too busy fighting their newest foes, to bother looking for us."

------​

"It's time we start gathering energy," Seijuro said.

"Yes, we must if we want to survive," Natsumi admitted. They were both sitting in a large room, but the place looked like it hadn't been cleaned or repaired for years. "Guess we should do something about this place first."

Seijuro nodded. "It'll only take a bit of energy. But what will we do about those 'Senshi'?"

"We can't hesitate if we want to survive. If they get in our way, we'll use our pets against them."

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 4: Dark Moon Rising.
Episode 38: Pink-Haired Mistery.


By Razor Knight
Last update: February 19, 2007

------​

The man looked at the four women in front of him. "Ayakashi, you know your mission."

One of them, who had black, short wavy hair and a strange, form-fitting pink suit, took a step forwards. "We've located the Princess. She's in Tokyo right now, as we thought."

"Well done, Cooan. Go there and kill the Rabbit, she's a threat to our master's plans."

"At once, Rubeus," Cooan said and vanished.

------​

Usagi was watching Mako and Rei play a fighting game, while Minako took a turn at beating the Sailor V arcade 'or die trying.' It was a good thing she wasn't the only bad player around anymore, but...

"Hey, Usagi!"

Her brooding interrupted, Usagi turned to the voice. "Hi, Karin."

Mamoru's sister walked to her. "You know what Mamoru's up to lately?"

"What do you mean?"

"He's been weird for months, disappearing suddenly without any explanation, leaving to 'meet some friends' I never see, and so on. I'm worried he's doing something dangerous."

'You don't know half of it,'[/i] Usagi mused to herself. "I don't know, but I'll try finding out what he's up to."

"Thanks," Karin said with a smile. She then turned to the other girls. "I see you're only missing the blonde joke today."

"Nah, she's right here," Rei noted.

"Can it, Rei," Usagi snapped.

"Terry and Ami were babbling about computers and stuff like that, then they left," Mako commented.

"Hey guys!" Umino said as he appeared between Mako and Karin. They both grabbed one of his arms and tossed him back. "You girls aren't nice."

"You think?" Karin mused. "That was nice, if I hit you like the others do you wouldn't be conscious to say whatever you were about to say."

"Uh... Never mind. I heard rumors of several spaceship sightings this week."

"There's usually a lot of those, mostly bull:red:," Karin noted.

"Strange thing is, all witnesses described the same thing, even though they were never in contact with each other."

"A coincidence, perhaps?" Rei pondered.

"With the Senshi around, I don't really think that's a coincidence," Umino admitted.

"What, think they got a new vehicle?"

"No, most likely those are their new enemies."

Mako and Rei looked at each other as Umino left. "Don't mind him, girls, Umino's always been weird like that," Usagi said. But maybe he was right, and that spaceship meant they'd have another evil force to worry about.

------​

"Strange..."

Ami looked up from her computer as Terry muttered something. "What's wrong?"

"The base's computer's detecting something, but it's energy's weak enough to be considered a threat."

"We should check it, just in case."

Terry nodded and his board appeared out of thin air. "I love these space pockets..."

"Can you make more of those?"

Terry looked back at Ami. "Possibly, the Zero is relatively easy to produce, once you know what it's components are. Why?"

"I was thinking, maybe the team could use those boards to save time."

"Good idea. I just gotta find a way to adapt them into my other project..."

Ami stopped and looked at him curiously. "What project?"

"You'll know about it soon."

"Keeping secrets from me, huh? I'll have to punish you."

"Is that a promise?" Terry asked as he leapt on his board. Ami just shook her head and leapt behind him.

------​

Usagi had left Crown a few minutes ago, and was now walking home, thinking about what Umino said earlier. That was the only reason she didn't notice someone was following her until her stalker decided to act. "Stop right there!"

The blonde looked at the little girl in front of her. She was eight at most, wearing a blue dress and with a hairdo similar to her own, albeit the buns were oval-shaped and the girl's hair was pink. But the strangest thing was, she was holding a gun. "Kid, put that thing away, you could hurt someone."

"Give me the Ginzuishou."

"Wha... Who are you?"

"My name's Usagi Tsukino, and I'm here to get the Ginzuishou."

'Usagi Tsukino?' Usagi was lost for words. This kid knew about her crystal and was trying to steal it from her. She was about to transform and call the others when she noticed a certain couple flying their way. "Hey guys, a little help here?"

The girl looked up at the two Mercuries and her eyes widened. As they both leapt off the board, she took a step back, her gun vanishing as if it had been just an illusion. "...Senshi?"

Dragon Mercury glared at the girl. "Even if you're just a kid, I don't like anyone threatening my friends."

Usagi saw the girl dashing away, and as the Dragon moved to chase her, she stopped him. "Let her go."

"What? But..."

"She's after my crystal, I don't know why, but... She'll probably be back."

Mercury nodded. "Be careful."

Usagi smiled. "I'll be. I'm going home, hopefully that girl won't be back for a while."

------​

Back at Crown, Natsumi and Seijuro were preparing their attack. 'This place's full of energy.'

'Let's start the draining.'

They walked out of the building, and suddenly, a flute could be heard. "Hey, what's that music?" Karin asked.

Before the others could answer, a humanoid bull crashed through the front wall, and started draining everyone. "I thought music soothed the beast, not angered it," Minako muttered.

"I don't like bullies," Karin said then charged at the creature. To everyone's surprise, she managed to dodge a jab from it, and kick it out the window.

Mako looked around and noticed everyone was knocked out. "Darn... Mina, Rei, go look for help."

"What about you?" Rei asked.

"Hey, if Karin can punch that bull's face in, so can I." Rei nodded and the girls dashed out the back door. As Mako turned back to the monster, she saw it was choking Karin. "What's with evil monsters and necks?" she muttered.

Karin tried to kick the creature, but she was rapidly running out of air. She saw something hitting the monster from the side, and fell on her butt. "Thanks..."

Mako nodded. "Are you okay?"

Karin stood up after recovering her breath, and kicked the bull, who was standing up, back down. "Takes more than a choke hold to beat me."

The creature was getting angrier by the second. Its masters had told it the only resistance it would find would be Senshi, but these two human girls were being an annoyance. It decided to stop playing soft, and use its real skills.

Karin and Mako dove aside as the bull shot energy beams from its eyes. "Laser eyes, so cliche," Mako muttered.

It decided to focus in one target only, and started shooting at Karin. The girl dodged as well as she could, but one of the creature's shots hit a parked car. The explosion was enough to knock Karin down, and as she stood up dizzily, the monster chuckled coldly.

Mako frowned. She couldn't stop the bull in her normal form, but transforming would mean... She saw its eyes light up with energy again, and took the risk. "Jupiter Planet Power!" She dove in front of Karin as another pair of energy beams fled her way, and summoned her attack. "Supreme Thunder!"

Jupiter's attack sent the bull flying back, but Jupiter herself was knocked to the ground by the monster's blast. Karin looked down at her and grimaced as she saw her suit was smoking near her left arm. "Thanks."

"I couldn't let you... Die," Jupiter said as she knelt on the ground. The monster hadn't been killed by her lightning blast, however, and was charging up for another blast, this time aimed at Jupiter. It never had the chance to shoot, though.

"Mars Fire Soul Bird!"

The bull vanished, and a blackened card was left in its place, turning to dust as it hit the ground. "Smells like steak," Karin said.

Jupiter winced as she stood up. "Those eye beams weren't soft at all."

"You okay, Mako?"

Venus and Mars both gasped at Karin's words. "She..."

Jupiter nodded. "Sorry, had to think fast and she was about to get pierced through by that bull. But... You didn't seem too surprised."

Karin smiled. "I've known for a while. Both me and Chie saw Usagi talking to her cat, a few weeks ago. It was right before that eclipse..."

"The day we fought Beryl," Jupiter noted to herself.

Mars groaned. "It's Usagi's fault, as usual."

"I'm not telling anyone, Rei."

"Good... Guess," Mars muttered.

"Easy one, as Mako sent you both for help."

"Okay, let's get out of here before..."

"Long time no see, Senshi."

"... Too late," Mars muttered as she saw Rakurai walking to them. "Late as usual, huh?"

"We didn't know how strong that monster was," Seia noted.

"It was quite a sissy, since I gave it a beating," Karin commented. "In any case, I'm outta here."

Seia rose an eyebrow as Karin left. "Who's that girl?"

"An innocent bystander, sort of," Mars simply said.

Venus produced her communicator. "Uh... Hi Moon. Where the heck were you guys?"

"We just fought an evil woman here," Moon explained. "Come to the base and I'll... Hey wait, where were you while we fought?"

"Fighting a bull monster that wrecked Crown."

"Again? Well, you'll tell us about it when you get here."

------​

Several minutes earlier, Usagi had walked into her house to be greeted by an unexpected visitor. "Hi, Usagi."

"You? What are you doing here?" The blonde almost snarled at the young girl.

"Usagi, that's your cousin, ChibiUsa," Ikuko Tsukino said.

"Cousin?" But how could that be, her parents had no siblings... She saw the girl was holding a black, ball-shaped artifact that looked like a cat head, and its eyes shone as she looked at her. "What did you do to them?"

The girl blinked at her. She couldn't use her magic in her? But that would mean she was... "Can you take me out for a walk?" Usagi nodded, giving the small girl a meaningful glare, and both walked out of the house.

When they were far enough, Usagi stopped, her glare not lessening at all. "Okay, first you point a gun at me, now you brainwash my parents... Who are you?"

"I already told you that," ChibiUsa said. "And I didn't brainwash anyone, I just inserted fake memories into their minds. It won't hurt them at all."

"Why are you doing this?"

"I need the Ginzuishou."

"I can't give it to you."

"Well, well, I guess finding you was easier than I thought."

Usagi turned to the voice and saw a woman wearing a strange pink suit. "Not another one..."

"Girl, just give me the rabbit and I'll let you go."

"The ra..." Usagi looked at ChibiUsa and saw her hiding behind her. "I don't think she wants to go with you."

"Last warning, human."

"Grim Edge."

Cooan leapt aside, barely missing the death blast. "Who the hell..." She looked up and saw Saturn standing on a rooftop. "Sailor Saturn, I suppose."

Saturn's face was as unemotional as ever. "That's true."

"I'll let you know, that attack wouldn't have harmed me at all."

"I guessed that. I just guessed someone who's dumb enough to dress like that would forget about her real target easily."

"What do you..." Cooan turned to see Usagi and ChibiUsa were gone. "Damn!"

"Grim Edge."

The second blast hit its mark, and Cooan staggered back. "Leave before you make me angry."

"I don't think so," Saturn said. At least, not while she still had energy left to fight.

Usagi was observing the battle from around the corner. "ChibiUsa... You should've told me someone was after you. I could've helped you."

"What-"

"I guess I'll have to return Saturn's favor. Moon Prism Power!"

ChibiUsa gasped as Usagi transformed. "You're Sailor Moon?" 'But that means she's... No, that can't be.'

Moon nodded. "Now excuse me while I go deal with that woman."

ChibiUsa watched the scene in awe. Moon used her tiara to knock Cooan down, and as she stood up she noticed two more Senshi were there, Sailor and Dragon Mercury.

"I'd love to stay and fight, kids, but I know when I'm outnumbered." And with that, Cooan vanished.

As the Senshi walked back to where the girl was, they noticed Saturn had left the scene, as usual. "So that woman was hunting her?" the Dragon asked.

"Her name's Cooan," ChibiUsa said, "she's trying to capture me."

"Who sent them?" Mercury asked.

"I can't tell you that, but they're evil."

"Okay, let's tell the others about this," Moon said as her communicator appeared out of thin air.

------​

Two figures walked out of the shadows. They were human-like, but their skin was a pale green color. Also, their hair color was quite unusual, the guy had blue hair with pink highlights, and the girl had pink hair with blue highlights. They were inside an abandoned house near Juuban, their base in their new planet, and their place to hide from humans.

The girl walked into a dark room and looked at the tree. The Makaijuu, the tree that kept them alive... And also, the tree that they had to feed with life energy. The girl had a quite large energy ball in her hand, and as she pressed her palm against the tree's trunk, the energy was absorbed by it. The tree instantly grew new leaves and looked healthier, but soon it withered again.

"It's not enough, Ail."

"Then we must gather more."

"What will we do about those Senshi?"

"We'll just use a stronger Cardian next time, Ann. We can't afford to fail."

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 4: Dark Moon Rising.
Episode 39: Icy Trouble.


By Razor Knight
Last update: February 24, 2007

------​

"Okay, here we are," Mako said as the last of the Senshi group walked into the base.

Usagi turned to the younger Usagi. "So, will you tell us what that woman wanted?"

ChibiUsa looked down. "I can't tell you all of it, but I can tell you who they are. The Black Moon Family is their name, and they want to take over the planet."

"And for some reason, you're important to them."

The girl nodded. "That's all I can tell you."

"I don't know, should we trust her?" Terry asked.

"She's just a little girl," Usagi said. "Besides, that woman was evil, I could tell."

Rei looked at the small girl and nodded. "And she's not evil, I can feel that."

"What happened at Crown?" Naru asked.

"The usual, a big bull monster appeared, we defeated it, Karin saw Mako transform..."

Mako nodded. "But she said she knew beforehand. She saw you and Ami talking to Luna during the eclipse."

"If you girls keep that up, the whole city will know in a few months," Terry noted.

"Maybe that would be a good thing," Usagi said.

"You sure? Think about something like my fan club, only city-sized, chasing you around all the time."

Usagi cringed. "Maybe it wouldn't be so good."

Just then, Karin and Mamoru walked in. "Hmm... Interesting place you've got," the girl said.

"Don't let the computer console fool you, this is just a normal gym."

Karin laughed. "Sure it is. So, where are the giant robots?"

"I'm working on them," Terry joked. He looked at his watch, then up and down at Karin. "I see..."

Ami rose any eyebrow "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, just... Her power's around seven."

Mako nodded. "Not surprising, I saw her fight and she's good."

Terry turned to the console and noticed something in one of the external cameras. "Chie?"

Karin chuckled. "She knows about you too, guys. She was with me when we saw Usagi talking to Luna."

Terry walked to a wall, tapped it, and a part of it slid sideways, revealing a hidden tunnel. "I'll be right back."

"So, you guys train here, or just slack around?" Karin asked as the wall sealed itself.

"We could be training," Mamoru said, "but the teacher just left the building."

"Did he leave before Terry?" Karin asked.

Rei laughed. "You beat me to it."

"Who's the pink-head?"

"Short story is, she's Usagi's cousin," Naru said.

"And long story?"

"Well..."

------​

"What are you up to?"

"Karin is inside, isn't she?"

Terry looked back at the dojo, visibly empty. "Of course not, the building's empty."

"So, you won't let me in."

"Didn't say that," Terry said. "Why are you here?"

"I was curious about this place."

Terry nodded. "No harm in letting you see the base, I guess."

The two walked behind the dojo. "So, are you out of the gloom now?" As Terry stopped and sighed, Chie grimaced. "Sorry, didn't mean to-"

"I'm not mourning Hana anymore, but I won't forget her, either."

Chie shook her head as Terry walked into a concealed hole in the wall. 'Great, had to ask that kind of thing. Just great.'

------​

As the two walked into the base, they saw their friends hadn't wasted any time. Karin was right now dodging as Rei tried to knock her down. "She's being chased by a girl, that's a new one," Chie commented. Terry looked at her with a smile, but said nothing.

Karin ducked as Rei went for a high kick, kicking out herself and knocking her other leg off balance, thus making her fall to the ground. Rei stood up and nodded. "You're good."

"You should still stay away from any monster," Terry noted. "I know some attacks we've been hit with would kill a normal human instantly."

"Wish I could be like you," Karin said.

"Worrying about monster attacks all the time, having your dates interrupted by some magic-throwing goon, and risking your life fighting things that you should be running away from?" Rei asked.

"When you put it that way, it doesn't sound so cool," Karin admitted. "But I've never liked bullies, even if they're the laser-throwing kind."

"Maybe Terry can lend you his suit," Mako joked.

"I'd rather not have my little sister running around fighting monsters," Mamoru noted.

"Spoilsport," Karin muttered.

------​

"Since your sister failed, I want you to go down there and deal with the Senshi and the Princess, Beruche."

Beruche looked up at the man, her blue eyes fixing in his face for only an instant before she nodded. "I'll take care of them."

The man chuckled as the gray-suited woman vanished. "I wonder how long the Princess can keep on running before we catch her?"

------​

Next morning after school, Usagi was walking home, thinking about her 'part-time job.' With Ami and Minako able to use that Twilight form, and Saturn being around, she felt pretty useless. "Maybe I should ask Luna about it."

"About what?"

Usagi stopped and looked down at Luna, who'd been following her unnoticed. "Uh... About that Twilight form. Why can Ami and Mina use it, but I can't?"

"From what I can remember, Senshi have two ways to gain new power levels. Either by months of combat training and discipline, something you girls don't quite have..."

"Won't say you're wrong," Usagi muttered.

"... Or, as shown several times before, sometimes, when you find yourselves in a no way out situation, you can force your body to use attacks stronger than those you currently have."

"So Mina and Ami were right, it was because of..."

"Of course, it's dangerous, as you'll be able to use that new attack once, at most, for several battles, until your body adapts to it."

"So that means Saturn is stronger than me?"

"Stronger than Minako and Ami, too," Luna said. "But from what I've seen and heard, she doesn't stay around too long. That may be because she can't hold her form for more than a few minutes."

"I feel so useless..."

"Don't," Luna said. "You're not useless. You're the leader."

"But why? I'm weak."

"Attack power isn't everything. All your friends met each other because of you, and you've pulled them through some rough battles just by refusing to give up when everyone else was ready to do just that."

"That's true, but-"

"Don't worry about being the weakest, I'm sure you'll reach the next level when the time's right."

"And I could help a bit."

The two turned to see Terry smiling at them. "Uhh... We didn't notice you following us."

"A Ninja is silent and deadly, a ninja is unseen, a ninja never reveals himself until the time's right."

"You're not a ninja," Luna muttered.

"That's besides the point. Anyway, Usagi, I have something for you. Here."

Usagi caught the small white disc Terry tossed at her. "A
Frisbee?"

"Not quite. That's the Cyberdisc, first of the Cyberweapons, a small project of mine to improve our Senshi powers."

Usagi looked at the small disc and nodded. "I can feel it... This thing can channel my energy."

"I thought it'd be only fitting that the first person to get one of those would be the leader."

"You don't know what kind of weapon to make for everyone else, do you?" Luna asked.

"That, too," Terry said. "Wait until you try that in battle, I'm sure you'll like it."

"And speaking of battling..." Luna looked away. "I feel something evil, and near."

"Near?" Usagi flinched. They were near her house by now, and she had the feeling that was exactly where the enemy was.

------​

ChibiUsa dashed out of the house and looked around. "Usagi's not home yet, this isn't good..."

A very angry Beruche walked out of the house, her hair and suit covered by purple goo. "You brat, I'm going to enjoy killing you."

"I don't see why. Purple's always an improvement."

The woman looked up to see Saturn standing on a rooftop. "How do you manage to be around whenever we show up?"

"I can smell a roach from a mile away."

ChibiUsa saw the woman distracted and took her chance. "Luna-P, change!" Her ball-shaped toy appeared, turning into a strange violet gun, and she grabbed it, shooting a jet of purple liquid at Beruche.

Beruche spat some of the liquid and growled. "Would you stop that?"

"Grim Edge."

Beruche leapt back, dodging the blast. "Nice try."

"Icycle Spray!"

The woman turned to the newcomers with a chuckle. "Ice magic. That's so going to hurt me."

"Death Bolt!"

Again, the woman dodged. "So, three weaklings against me? This will be fun."

"Moon Tiara Boomerang!"

Beruche punched the attack away. "Seriously, you're supposed to be Sailor Moon?"

"Use the disc," Dragon Mercury said.

Moon nodded and the small, white disc appeared floating right above her open palm. "Moon... Disc..." The weapon started shining just like her tiara did, and she grabbed it, feeding yet more energy into it as she reeled her arm back to throw it. "Spiral!"

Dragon Mercury used his visor to scan the disc as it fled forwards, in a spiral form, right to Beruche. "No way... It wasn't supposed to do that..."

Beruche laughed. "Another useless tech? Oh well..."

Saturn shook her head as Beruche prepared to punch the disc away. "Underestimating your enemy can be fatal."

Beruche flinched as the disc knocked her palm back, slicing her skin a bit, before continuing on it's spiral path and hitting her right in the stomach. A small energy explosion and a few meters away, she tried to stand up, wondering what had just happened.

"Guess we weren't so weak after all," Dragon Mercury noted. "Now, leave while you can."

"Fools should... Not leave the prey open for attack," Beruche said. "Dark Ice!"

Moon realized what the woman meant a bit too late, and watched as a dark, cold beam hissed by, heading straight for the little girl. "ChibiUsa!"

Saturn leapt in front of the girl, spinning her glaive fast to deflect the attack. "Not today, ice girl."

"Damn you..." Beruche stood up and considered her options. Three Senshi against her, and she was sure the rest of the crew would arrive soon. "You won this time, but I'll be back."

As Beruche vanished, Moon turned to Saturn with a smile, but it turned into a worried face as she saw Saturn's suit was stained with blood near the shoulder. "You're wounded."

"Don't worry about me," Saturn said. "If that attack had hit this girl, she'd be dead now."

"Thank you," ChibiUsa said.

Saturn nodded and put a hand in her shoulder, the wound closing in only a few seconds. "Goodbye."

"Gone again," Dragon Mercury said. "She's not too sociable."

Moon was looking at the disc. "I have questions about this weapon."

"Me too," Dragon Mercury said. "And a certain cat can answer them."

"Maybe I can," Luna said. "Let's go to your base and we'll talk there."

------​

Dragon Sun rushed past one of the creatures, slicing it's side and stopping only for a second to watch it fall. The other two creatures thought he was distracted, and attacked from behind.

"Gravity Hold." The Dragon turned around and saw the two roach-like monsters snarling and grunting at him. "Just because I'm not looking at you, doesn't mean I'm not aware of your presence. Let that be the last lesson you'll ever learn. Solar Bolt!"

These roaches, or Ank'ur as they called themselves, always attacked in a row formation, which too often made it easier for him to defeat them. As the two creatures fell, Sun turned to leave, only to stop as he saw the quite large crowd that had watched the battle.

"I've taken care of the problem, but I won't rest until I find their nest," he said before leaping up to a rooftop, and he vanished from view in only a few more leaps.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 4: Dark Moon Rising.
Episode 40: Secrets.


By Razor Knight
Last update: March 27, 2007

------​

"All right, ice boy, what was so important you had to call us all here?"

Terry ignored Brad's jab. "Just to show you what I've been working on lately."

"Working on?"

"I hear an echo," Terry said at Mako's question. "Yes, I've been working on something, so far I've only finished Moon's one, but I will create more of them for all the group."

"Air boards?" Ami guessed.

"That's gonna take me a while to finish," Terry admitted. "In any case, Usagi, care to show them your new toy?"

Usagi nodded and summoned her disc. "Here."

"Wow, a Frisbee. Never thought I'd see something like that," Rei said with fake surprise.

"Can I hit her with it?" Usagi asked.

"Nah... Aim for the far wall of the room. Use your normal attack first."

"You sure?"

Terry nodded. "The wall should resist. And if it doesn't, all you'll break will be rocks."

"Moon Prism Power!" After transforming, Moon grabbed her tiara. "Moon Tiara Action!"

"Two hundred and sixty points," Ami said as she looked at her computer. "Her power's increased a bit since last time I scanned her."

The tiara fled back to Moon's hands, leaving a small dent on the wall, and Moon prepared for the next test.

"Now use the Cyber Disc."

Moon smiled. "Here goes. Moon Disc Spiral!"

After the spiraling flight, and making a quite visible and large crack on the wall, the disc returned to Moon's hand. "So?" Terry asked.

Ami gasped. "That attack... Six hundred points."

"Big deal," Minako said. "My attack is way stronger. Even Mercury's one..."

"Disc Spiral!"

"Wha..."

"Disc Spiral!"

Rei's eyes widened. "She can use it several times in a row?"

"Yes, unlike the Twilight attacks that need time to get used to, the weapon just boosts her own attack power, without needing a lot more energy."

"That could, in some situations, make her technically stronger than me or Minako," Ami noted.

Terry looked at Luna and the other two Mooncats. "Have any idea why Moon got a new attack out of that, and not only a boost?"

"From what I recall, each new generation of Senshi had differences with the last," Luna said.

Artemis nodded. "Let's take the Mercury Senshi, for example. Most were calm, focused and liked to stay in the defensive, but the few Mercury Senshi that weren't that way had attacks that instantly froze their enemies, or even turned the area around them into icy fields."

"It also depends on how strong said Senshi was," Shade added. "If there was ever a mystery, was how these powers worked. I'm not surprised Moon's power changed with that disc."

"So, you mean we all will get new attacks?" Rei asked.

"That's a very good guess," Luna admitted.

"Cool. Where are our weapons?" Minako asked.

"I'm only starting the project, Moon's weapon's a bit of a beta test item. Also, I have no idea what kind of weapons you guys like."

"Good point," Rei said. "Well, if you ask, I took archery classes years ago. I think I could still use a bow."

Terry nodded. "Okay, anyone else?"

"I like staying in the defensive," Ami said, "so I'd want a weapon to help the others, rather than taking down foes."

Terry considered her words for a few seconds then nodded. "What about a net?"

Mako chuckled at the pun on Ami's name. "I have the sword, but I'm not really one to use weapons."

"I'll see what I can think of," Terry said. "Anyone else?"

"I've always liked whips," Minako said. She then blushed as the others looked at her questioningly. "As weapons, I mean," she corrected herself.

Naru had been thinking about what kind of weapon to use, and finally decided to speak up. "I would like something that can be used to both attack and keep enemies away. A spear, I guess."

Terry nodded. "So, what about you two, guys?"

Mamoru shook his head. "I've already got my sword, but could you make a shield that worked like that disc?"

"I'll never know until I try," Terry said. "What about the fellow rich bastard?"

Brad rose an eyebrow. "The shield idea is good."

Terry checked the list and smiled. "It will take me a while to build all these things, but you will like the results."

------​

"So Setsuna wasn't wrong. There's something strange in that building."

Haruka looked out the window. "And I bet our teachers have everything to do with it." She turned back to look at Michiru. "But I wonder why she sent us here. We could be helping the others right now."

"I'm sure they'll fight off any enemy that shows up. We should focus on defeating this one menace before it grows stronger."

"That, too. We could use their help."

"Just let it drop. Whatever they're facing, I bet it's way bigger than the Mugen Gakuen group. Otherwise, Pluto wouldn't have only two Senshi here."

"Guess you're right," Haruka said. "Think Mrs. Ruru would answer a few questions?"

"I don't think so. Let's just keep our eyes peeled for whatever
they're planning."

------​

"Oh, guys, I've also been thinking about telling uncle Taichi who I am."

Luna frowned at Mako. "It may not be a smart move."

"I trust him, and the army's kept civilians safe whenever possible," Usagi said. "I think we could use the help, too, as we're facing two separate enemy groups now."

Terry turned back to the console he was working on as it's screen lit up. "I guess they beat us to it, Mako. Mercury Dragon Power."

"Hey, what do you mean?" Mako asked.

"Hush," the Dragon said and looked at the monitor. "Hello there, General. What brings you and your secretary here?"

Kino's voice could be heard from the console, along with some random insults from a familiar voice. "You should work on your stealth, Senshi. However, I was almost thrown off by how empty this place is."

The Dragon turned back to his friends. "Should we let them in?"

"Usagi's the leader," Rei said.

Usagi nodded. "Do it."

"Yes sir," Dragon Mercury joked. "General, please follow the yellow brick road."

"His sense of humor makes no sense," Luna commented.

A minute later, the General and an angry-looking Seia walked out of the elevator. "Well look at this place."

"Tomoe would have throw a fit if he saw those computers," Seia commented.

"Hi, uncle," Mako said.

"You're one of them?"

"Yeah. You helped me beating that grey-haired freak show, remember?"

"Oh, that was you. It's good to see you're doing something useful with your free time."

Seia walked up to Dragon Mercury, and somehow managed to loom over him. "Listen, kid, I don't care who you are, you call me a secretary again and you'll be kissing a rocket."

Terry turned back to normal and nodded. "Wouldn't like to be the test subject for whatever rocket type Tomoe's researching right now."

"Now that's a surprise. Jack Zephyr's son, one of the Senshi?"

"That explains this base, though," Seia admitted.

"So... We've noticed the new aliens attacking seem to always show up in two places at the same time."

Usagi nodded at Kino. "That's because there's two separate forces."

"You owe Tomoe two hundred yens," Kino noticed.

Seia looked around, ignoring her boss. "So, what's this place for?"

"We gather here and wait for something to happen," Minako said.

"Sometimes we train, too," Naru added.

"No you don't, and I've been reminding you all about that constantly," Terry snapped.

"Just tell me you don't have giant robots hidden somewhere," Seia joked.

"No, I'm still building those," Terry said keeping a straight face.

"Good to see you're a serious group."

Kino nodded. "Okay, so now we know where to send the repair bills to. In any case, we have to go back to our own base before Tomoe wrecks it."

"He can't be that bad."

"You'd be surprised," Seia said before she and her 'boss' walked into the elevator.

------​

Hotaru sat with a bored face, watching people walk by. She wasn't a social person, but she also didn't like to stay home all day. However, today was a really boring day at the mall, she almost wished something would attack the building so she'd have something to do.

Her interest was piqued as a couple of familiar figures walked by. "The Ginga," she whispered. Though the way they were holding hands, she would think they were very close friends, not siblings.

She could, also, notice something else about them. They both were giving her mind alarm signals, and she was surprised she hadn't sensed their power before. Maybe at school they kept the power down, much like Senshi did when not transformed.

As the couple entered a shop, she could already guess who they were. "As the saying goes, be careful of what you wish," Hotaru scolded herself.

------​

"Guys, guess what?" Terry asked as he looked at the console.

"One of those alien critters is attacking somewhere."

"Good guess, Mako, but it's actually two spots in the city."

"Why would the Ayakashi attack?" Minako pondered. "We have their target right here."

"That may mean they can't detect this place, and want to lure us out."

"What Ami said," Terry mused. "The Ayakashi of the day is in a stadium, while there's another monster in a mall near here. Saturn's taking care of that one."

"She could still need help," Usagi said. "Let's split."

ChibiUsa looked around the base as the others left. She knew she was safe in there, even though she knew someone else was there as well. "Puu?"

Pluto appeared in front of the small girl. "Is there something wrong, Small Lady?"

"You didn't tell me who Usagi was. Why?"

The Time Senshi looked down at the girl and smiled. "So, you know?"

ChibiUsa nodded. "It's hard to believe, but then again, me being here is also incredible."

"I didn't tell you because you had to understand it on your own."

"That doesn't make sense, Puu."

"It will, someday. Trust me, Small Lady, I've seen it."

ChibiUsa blinked at that. "So, what do I do now?"

"Just don't tell them a thing. They must not know who you really are until she's ready for the trip."

"My lips are sealed," ChibiUsa said.

Pluto nodded. "I'll come back when the time is right."

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 4: Dark Moon Rising.
Episode 41: Nightshade.


By Razor Knight
Last update: April 27, 2007

------​

She knew someone, or something, was following her, and at first ignored it. Monsters didn't bother stalking people, and any of her friends would've called her name by now. Karin stopped walking, and looked back at the grey cat who had been following her for a few blocks, then shook her head. "You're one of those Mooncats, aren't you?"

Shade nodded. "I'm Shade, I'm Naru's guardian."

"Yeah, I've seen you around. So, what's the stalking for?"

"Stalking?" Shade muttered. "Mooncats can sense magical energy when it's close, and also feel when a human's got a certain kind of power..."

"Mamoru explained some of that to me," Karin said, wondering why the cat was telling her that. Then it hit her, harder than an energy blast. "No way."

The feline smiled. "It's a pity the memories of our past lives are blurry. I can now remember Endymion, the Prince of Earth, had a sister. Princess Karen."

Karin shook her head. "But I- Well, I've wanted to help him ever since I found out he was one of the Senshi, but- Me, one of them?"

"Look into your own mind, and you'll see the truth."

Karin felt something stirring in her. An energy rush, something she'd never felt before. Yes, Shade was right, she knew it now.

------​

Chie looked at the monster as it crawled around. A purple, bloated toad, it had drained everyone in the mall in a matter of minutes. She'd been lucky enough to find a hiding place, but she knew sooner or later it would find her.

Apparently it would be sooner, as the creature was now moving her way. She leaned into the bookcase she was using as a refuge, and whispered some choice curses as it started leaning back.

The bookcase fell into another one, which in turn toppled the next one, starting a domino effect, which ended in a quite ironic way, as the monster had enough time for a surprised croak before the last bookcase fell on it, trapping it underneath.

"That's what I call good luck," the girl whispered.

"Grim Edge."

The monster was destroyed by the attack, along with most of the books around it. "About time one of you showed up."

"Thank me later," Saturn snapped at the girl, "you should get out of here before the ones that sent that monster..."

Right then, a pink energy blast hissed by, exploding near Saturn and knocking her into the mess of books and wood created by her own attack. Ann walked in, looking quite angry. "That was one of my best Cardians, you know?"

"If that's one of your best, then I don't think we need to worry about you," Saturn noted. She looked at the alien girl, sensing something amiss. She leapt back just in time to dodge a blue energy blast. "I was wondering where the other one was."

"How did you know we were two?" Ann asked.

"I have my sources."

Chie had taken her time to hide behind a magazine display, and looked on as Saturn and the two aliens stood waiting for the right moment to attack.

------​

"Guess they knew we were coming."

Moon nodded at Nemesis' comment. Two women were standing in the parking lot right outside the stadium, dismissively looking at them. "I thought you kids were faster," one of them noted as the Senshi finally reached them.

"Weird, they're not inside the stadium, using the civilians as shields," Dragon Earth commented.

"Don't give them ideas," Jupiter said.

Petz chuckled. "Oh, don't worry. Those humans were useful for us already."

"What do you... Oh :red:."

Moon looked at Dragon Mercury. "What?"

Mars grimaced. "Their energy is... Amazingly high."

"They've drained everyone in that stadium," Mercury explained. "They must be using that energy themselves."

"Mercury, always the smart one in your group," Karaberas mused. "So, kids, are you ready to give us the Rabbit?"

"No. I don't care how much power you have, you won't defeat us," Moon snapped.

"Okay then. Dark Thunder!" A black electric arc shot from Petz' hands, knocking Moon back a few meters. "You're still standing? Impressive."

"Supreme Thunder Dragon!" Jupiter used her strongest attack, and smiled as Petz was slashed by the dragon several times. "Did that hurt?"

Petz slapped the dragon away, and it vanished. "Not in the least." Thanks mostly to the extra energy the two sisters had, but she wasn't about to give them such information.

Dragon Mercury rushed at the two women next, going for a different approach. Karaberas produced a whip as black as all the other Ayakashi's attacks, and wrapped it around his legs, making him fall. "Well, that didn't work as expected."

"You kids are pathetic. I don't know how Cooan and Beruche lost against you."

"Vine Whip!"

Everyone looked past the two Ayakashi, as Karaberas hit the ground hard, her legs trapped by some kind of vine. "Who is that?"

"A Senshi," Jupiter said.

"No, really?" Mars muttered.

"Sailor Earth," the girl said. Her suit was pretty much like the others, except her skirt, bows and boots were dark gray. "And you guys know me."

Karaberas growled as she tried to pry the vines off her legs. "Stupid copycat."

"We know her?" Moon pondered.

Dragon Mercury had, by now, sliced Karaberas' whip off his legs. He knew who Earth was, and from the look in Mercury and Dragon Earth's faces, they also did. "Okay, welcome to the team, sorry if we don't throw a welcome party right now."

Petz wasn't wasting time talking. "Dark Thunder!" However, she didn't expect the newcomer to leap over her attack. "What?"

"Earth Quake Punch!"

As Earth landed, she punched the ground with all her might, and the concrete in front of her was pushed up by an unseen wave, which headed straight for the oldest Ayakashi. "Dark Thunder!"

As expected, Karaberas' attack blocked Earth's one. But both she and her sister had almost forgotten the other Senshi. Unfortunately for them, the Senshi hadn't forgotten them.

"Disc Spiral!"

"Fire Soul Bird!"

"Shabon Spray Freezing!"

"Supreme Thunder Dragon!"

"Darkness Strike!"

"Icicle Spray!"

"Earth Sword Blast!"

However, the attacks did little more than knock the Ayakashi a few meters away. Petz stood up, while Karaberas resumed her tugging of vines. "Now, kids, that wasn't polite."

"Don't want us to do that, don't give us your back," Mars snapped.

Earth leapt over the women, landing right next to Dragon Earth. "Now I see this isn't all fun and games."

Mercury looked at the two women with her visor and sighed. "Well, I've got both good and bad news."

"Go ahead," Jupiter prodded.

"Good news are, their energy is not infinite. And they're getting hurt, but they heal with said energy."

"And the bad news?"

"We would need more power than we have as a group right now to beat them out of power."

"Good, I would be quite disappointed if things were easy for us," Mars muttered.

"It's time to stop playing with them, sister," Karaberas said as she blasted the vines to dust.

Petz nodded. "Dark Thunder!"

Karaberas swung her whip at the lightning arc, and her weapon absorbed it. She then lashed out at the Senshi, sending a wave of electricity that knocked all their foes down to the ground.

"That hurt," Mars said as she tried to stand up. Tried being the key word.

"I feel like someone threw a stadium's worth of energy at me," Jupiter commented, not feeling much better than the others.

Mercury managed to get a reading of the two evil women. "Their energy went down a lot with that stunt. We could beat them..."

"If we could stand up," Dragon Mercury noted.

Moon struggled to stand up. The pain from the electric shock was still very present in her mind, but she wasn't giving up. "They never understand, do they?"

Mars stood up and nodded at her. The rest of the group followed suit, fighting the pain. "Mercury, show them the door."

The Ice Senshi didn't need any prodding, as she was quite angry at the women for using their victims' energy against them. "Mercury Twilight Power!"

Petz chuckled. "Oh, that's funny. Think a little upgrade will beat us?"

"Mercury Snow Spray!" The attack did, indeed, send the two women crashing into the stadium's wall. But that was just the first part of her plan. "Your turn, Jupiter."

Jupiter nodded. "Supreme Thunder Dragon!"

"That looks painful," Earth noticed.

Mercury realized she hadn't turned back to normal yet. "I'm getting used to Twilight... Okay then... Snow Spray!"

"Dark Thunder!"

Petz' attack not only managed to knock Mercury's one back, but also showed them how bad it was to mix water and electricity. The group was, once again, knocked down.

":red:, that hurt."

Mercury ignored her male counterpart's language, and focused on their foes. "They... They're almost out of energy. If I could..." She tried to stand up, but only managed to kneel on the ground, her suit turning back to normal. "Not now, darn it."

Moon staggered up again, causing the two evil women to gasp. "How. How can you be standing?"

"Same could... Be asked about you," Moon snapped. "Disc Spiral!"

Karaberas used her whip to knock the disc away. "Not going to work."

Mercury smirked despite the pain. "Stop bluffing. You had to use up most of your remaining energy to stop that disc." Now, if Moon had any energy left...

The Ayakashi were thinking along the same lines. Fortunately for them, Moon fell on her back seconds after her attack was deflected. "Well, kids, I think we won this one. Now-" Nemesis was the reason Petz fell silent. Not because of the glare she was giving them as she stood up, but because of the black aura surrounding her. "I'd laugh at the irony if it wasn't about to kick our rears," she noted.


"Nemesis Twilight Power!" The aura around the Darkness Senshi engulfed her, turning into a black, misty bubble. As it dimmed, it was clear she was at Twilight level, as the usual changes could be seen in her suit. "You like to use darkness against others, let's see how you like it being used against you."

"How can she... She was out of power a moment ago," Karaberas said.

Moon smiled. "This battle is over."

"Nemesis... Nightshade!"

Petz stepped back in shock and fear as a large shadow fled out of Nemesis' body. She could've sworn the shadow had eyes. Empty, lifeless, glaring eyes. The shadow wrapped around the two, as it was easily twice as large as Jupiter and Mars' constructs, and the group could hear the screams of pain inside the dark dome.

The shadow was gone as swiftly as it had appeared, and what remained was two very beaten up women. Even if they had wanted to fight, that shadow had forced them to use all their remaining power just to stay conscious. "I'll get you for this," Petz snapped at Nemesis as the two women disappeared.

"Yay, we won," Earth said.

"If I could stand up, I'd be jumping in glee," Dragon Earth muttered.

Nemesis' suit went back to normal and she fell to her knees. "That shadow..."

"What's wrong?" Shade asked.

"The shadow, I channeled all my anger into it... It's like my darkest emotions created it."

"A Senshi's version of stress release," Dragon Mercury said.

"That's not funny. It creep me out."

"I wasn't trying to be funny," the Dragon admitted.

"I feel like I'm going to fall asleep right here, right now," Moon complained.

"For once, I'm not going to make a remark on that," Mars said.

"Let's just leave before the fans wake up," Jupiter said.

------​

Saturn dove to the side, barely missing the pink energy ball. Admittedly, the two aliens were weaker than her. But they kept on throwing energy blasts at her, making it hard for her to attack. And given her endurance wasn't good, she needed to find a way to end the battle, and fast.

She saw an opening as Ann charged up, and her brother was about to shoot one of his blue blasts. "Death Bolt."

Ann saw Ail fall to the ground and turned to give Saturn a death glare. Something Saturn didn't flinch at, but then again, she wasn't one to show emotions in combat. The blast she was gathering swiftly became a ball as tall as Saturn's glaive. Saturn trusted her skills, but really, if that ball hit her, she'd be in a world of pain, and she knew it.

Chie, meanwhile, was looking for a way to leave the mall without being spotted. She had managed to get close to the stairs, but just as she was about to take the risk and run downstairs, she spotted a small dog looking at her. "Uh, nice doggy?" The dog yapped at her, and she grimaced, then rushed down the stairs without looking back.

Chie's bad luck had, however, been good for Saturn. The noises distracted Ann, who briefly turned to check for attackers. The Death Senshi took the chance to throw her glaive at the energy ball the alien girl was holding over her head.

"What the heck?" Ann looked up as the ball started pulsing. The glaive had disrupted it, and it was about to blow on her face. "Fetch!" she shouted as she threw the unstable energy blast at her foe.

Or, at least, that's what she meant to do. There was a shout of "Twilight V-Laser," and next Ann knew, she saw the ball explode right in front of her face.

The two Venus rushed to check on Saturn. "You okay?"

"They're not that strong," Saturn said. "But the help is appreciated."

"Careful, don't turn human on us," Dragon Venus joked. If Saturn found his words fun, or annoying, would be hard to guess as she didn't even blink.

Ann stood up, her suit ragged, and her arm bleeding. She didn't say a thing, just shot a quick glare in Saturn's direction before vanishing along with Ail.

Venus's suit turned back to normal, and she pouted. "Damn, wish I could keep that form for longer."

"It takes some time to get used to it," Saturn said. "Goodbye."

Dragon Venus shook his head as Saturn vanished. "She needs to work on her social skills."

Venus just looked around. "This place must be cursed. It keeps on getting wrecked."

"Maybe it's because you girls come here often. Just like Crown. Maybe you just need to stop going to either place."

"Don't even joke about that," Venus said, her tone dead serious.

------​

Saturn appeared inside her bedroom. As soon as she took a step, her suit vanished, replaced by her usual clothing. "It's good the battle didn't last any longer."

But the battle was something she didn't expect. Her enemies... Ail and Ann, she knew since they'd used their names during the battle, weren't evil. She could see that in them. But why were they draining civilians? Maybe she should ask Ail and Ann, or rather Seijuro and Natsumi, what she couldn't answer herself.

------​

Chie was leaning on a wall a few blocks away from the mall. "Damn it, that was too close."

As she started walking away, she noticed someone walking her way. "Karin?" Karin looked like she was out of a fight. "What happened to you?"

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me."

"I technically killed a monster a few minutes ago, so I don't think you could go much weirder."

"You what?"

Chie smiled. "Well, you see, I was at the mall when this toad-like thing showed up, and..."

As the two walked away, Shade looked at them from the branch she used as a perch. "Not bad for her first battle."

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 4: Dark Moon Rising.
Episode 42: Burning Soul.


By Razor Knight
Last update: May 22, 2007

------​

Hotaru looked around the classroom. She knew who they were, even in civilian form. She also knew about Earth, even though she wasn't in the same group as them yet. She knew her place in the group. She was still an outsider, in both her human and Senshi form. And she liked being the outsider. That sometimes let her realize things the others didn't.

She stared at the 'twins' as they walked into the classroom. Natsumi and Seijuro Ginga. Or rather, Ail and Ann. She knew who they were, but why were they draining innocents? What did they need the energy for? She hadn't felt a trace of evil in them. So why-

"Hi, Hotaru."

Usagi's sudden appearance had surprised her, but she wouldn't let her know that. "Hello."

Her rather unemotional tone had always failed to scare the blonde away. "Always so grim, don't you ever smile?"

"Never found a reason to."

"That's a pity. I bet you'd look nicer if you smiled."

"Why aren't you with your friends?" Hotaru asked.

"I'm trying to be your friend," Usagi explained.

"I don't need friends."

"Everyone does," Usagi insisted.

"Just leave me alone, please." A bit of her irritation crept into her voice, even though she tried to sound as unemotional as always.

Usagi looked at Hotaru, but the pale girl didn't look at her, instead turning to look out the window. That had almost worked, at least she'd sounded a bit upset. But Usagi still didn't understand why Hotaru was so cold, so unfriendly, so like... No, that was just a coincidence.

Wasn't it?

------​

Several hours later, Hotaru was patiently waiting outside a certain mansion. A mansion that had been abandoned for years, until weeks ago, but was now restored. She saw Ail and Ann fly out of the building, and shook her head. "Those two should work on their stealth. But now, let's see what is it they're up to." In a blink, she was gone, and a second later, she appeared inside the house.

------​

Rei looked around the temple. Her chores were done for the day, so maybe she could go and see if any of the others were busy. "Yuichiro, I'm going out."

"Have fun, miss Rei." The man said politely.

She was about to tell him to drop the 'miss' for the hundredth time, but she saw someone walking up the stairs. "Oh, maybe I won't leave yet."

"Hi Rei."

Rei nodded at Usagi. "What brings you here?"

"Boredom, mostly," Usagi said. she'd brought ChibiUsa along, as it'd be a risk to leave her home with those women around. "Can we talk in private?"

Rei nodded. "Let's go into the temple." She spared Yuichiro a stare, and the man got what she meant. She didn't like to be bothered when she was with her friends, and he knew it.

Once they were in her room, Rei turned to Usagi. "So, what's the matter?"

"One of my classmates, Hotaru Tomoe..."

Rei had seen the girl before. Pale, unemotional, and from what she'd heard, not friendly. "I know her. Not too friendly, is she?"

"She's cold, unfriendly, pale... Doesn't that remind you of someone?"

ChibiUsa, who was listening to them, was one of the few people that knew who Saturn really was. Still, she listened on, as she knew it was better to not give any hints on her real origins.

Rei thought about it for a few seconds, before nodding. "Sailor Saturn."

"I'm going to ask her about it tomorrow."

Both felt their communicators in their minds, and reached out their hand, their communicators appearing out of thin air. The face in their screen wasn't something they expected to see. "Saturn?"

Saturn didn't seem surprised at all the faces she was seeing in her own screen. "Don't worry, I already knew who you all are. In any case, the aliens attacking Odaiba are mine."

"Who made you the leader?" Karin snapped. Rei blinked in surprise, she didn't know Karin had a comm too.

"Nobody. But I need to speak to those two alien 'twins.'"

"I don't trust you," Rei said.

"Guys, let's do as she says," Usagi suggested.

"Why?" Karin asked.

"I agree that she hasn't earned our trust yet," Usagi admitted, "but I'll have a talk with her soon about that."

"Whatever you say, boss," Brad said.

"Just tell us why, will you?" Usagi asked Saturn.

"I have my reasons to believe the two aliens aren't evil." Saturn said, "but I need to speak to them myself. Having a dozen Senshi around won't look too diplomatic."

"I see..." Rei frowned. "Guys, Moon's right. Let her talk to those two. And guys, come to the shrine as soon as possible, there might be some action here." After everyone agreed, Saturn's comm turned off. Usagi looked at Rei for a few seconds before the black-haired girl gave in. "What?"

"You said you didn't trust her."

"That's true. But I'm feeling an evil aura near, and we might need all the help we can get. So I'll let Saturn play with the other aliens."

The shrine was rocked by an explosion, and Usagi groaned. "Guess they won't give up."

"That wouldn't be fun at all," Rei noted as the two run out of the building.

------​

Ail and Ann had decided to try their luck in a fashion shop. As the two appeared, however, they saw Sailor Saturn waiting for them. And no victims anywhere. "How did you know?"

Saturn stared at Ann. "I've been watching you two, Ann... Or should I call you Natsumi?"

Ann glared at Saturn. "She knows..."

Ail looked around at the empty shop. "How did you do this?"

"I'm full of tricks. I'm not here to fight you two, so don't worry."

Ail nodded. "Then we're leaving."

Saturn didn't bother moving. "You shouldn't fight the Senshi. They're only fighting against you because they think you two are evil."

"We aren't evil, we are just survivors."

Their 'enemy' nodded. "I saw the tree you're hiding inside that mansion... It's not from the Earth, and it seems to be almost dead. I suppose it's linked to you somehow?"

Ann nodded. "If the Makaijuu dies, we'll die too. So we need to give it energy."

"I bet the Senshi could find a way around that," Saturn say.

Ail was confused by Saturn's words. "Why do you talk about Senshi like you're not one?"

"Because I'm not, at least not one of their group," Saturn said. "By the way, don't worry about not getting energy today. I gave it some energy myself, it should keep it alive for a few more days."

"Why did you do that?" Ann asked. What was the catch?

"Because I can sense you're not lying. You need that energy to survive. However, if you keep on draining civilians like you've been doing so far, I'll go there myself and chop that tree to logs."

Ail laughed humorlessly. "That's quite reassuring."

"How can we talk to the Senshi?"

"There's an evil group of women attacking constantly, if you can get there while they're around, you could talk to my allies. You could even help them."

The two aliens looked at each other, then back to Saturn. "I guess we'll talk to them. Thank you."

Saturn just nodded, then vanished. The two aliens took a second to look at each other, then also disappeared.

------​

"I am having problems with the project."

"Problems? Is she resisting?"

The scientist nodded. "Her powers are not easy to control. I do not think I could keep her in check if she had her full powers active."

"Find a way around that, Onara. I want her ready by the time the Senshi deal with their enemies."

"Maybe they will not. My sources showed me they had trouble fighting two of those women. And there seems to be four of them."

The woman nodded. "And from what we've seen, they're only the weakest of their race."

"Hopefully, we will not have to worry about the Senshi."

"But, if there's anything out there that can kill them, we should have means to fight it."

"Agreed, Lady-"

The woman glared at him, causing him to stop. "Don't use that name. I was never really one of them."

"Just like Nephrite?"

"Nephrite kept a bit of his humanity because of Nemesis, he had no ambition of his own. But me... I wanted what Beryl wanted, so I played along. But you know what happened to her and the others."

The scientist nodded. "That I do. It is a pity only one of you survived."

------​

"You two again?" Mars snapped.

"We could say the same thing," Beruche snapped back.

"Give us the Rabbit," Cooan prompted.

Mars saw Yuichiro lying unconscious near the building and glared at the two. "Leave or die."

"Dark Ice!"

The two Senshi leapt out of the way, and the attack froze the ground where they had been standing. "Moon Disc Spiral!"

"Dark Fire!" Cooan's attack deflected the disc. "That attack is useless." She then sensed some movement and turned around, just in time for her cheek to be sliced by a projectile. "What?"

Mars looked at the projectile. A rose, and it'd cracked the ground where it hit. "Back to his old tricks."

Dragon Earth landed right besides Moon. "They said your attack is useless."

Moon smiled. "They should know better."

Beruche realized what she meant a second before her sister did. That second, however, was what saved her from the disc. Cooan, however, was hit by the disc, the energy released caused a small explosion that sent her face-first to the ground.

Mars had observed it all in a mix of shock and surprise. Moon had been training on her own, apparently, since she'd learnt to control the disc. When Cooan had knocked it away, she had it fly around her target, and come from behind. Dragon Earth's rose stunt was merely a distraction for the real attack to work.

Cooan, however, wasn't too happy. "Stupid girl, now you'll be the first to die. Dark Fire!" Moon leapt aside, and Cooan chuckled. "Fool."

Dragon Earth grimaced as Moon was hit by the fire wave, which had corrected its course to catch up with her. "Moon!"

"Dark Ice!"

Mars looked back. Moon and her guy were out, so it left her to fight these two alone. Given how she fared the last few times she fought these women, she didn't think she could win. If only the rest of the group was here- No, they probably weren't close enough to get there in time. If she fell now, she knew the two would wreck the place looking for ChibiUsa. She had to protect her, to protect her 'leader,' to protect her grandfather who was probably sleeping through all this.

"Oh great," Beruche muttered. "Are you seeing what I see?"

Indeed, Cooan could see the ball of flames that had engulfed Mars. The fireworks lasted only a few seconds, and when they faded, Mars was obviously at Twilight level. "Not another one!"

"Dark Ice!"

Mars' fist was blurred by flames, and she used it to cancel Beruche's attack. "My turn. Mars..." She clapped her hands together, into a prayer, as fire started running up her arm into them.

"I'll get her," Cooan said. "Dark..."

"...Burning..." Mars closed her eyes, and the fire swirling around her hands vanished.

"Get her!"

"...Fire!"

"...Soul!"

As Mars shouted that last word, she opened her eyes, and a thin wave of fire shot forwards from her hands. It grew wider as it traveled, blasting Cooan's attack, and hit the two women, sending them skipping back and down the stony stairs.

The Fire Senshi run to check on the two, as her suit turned back to normal. Beruche was trying to stand up, but Cooan wasn't moving, and she could see her skin had been burnt. "You better leave before my friends arrive," she warned them.

Beruche glared at her, and both women vanished. As she went back to check on her friends, she saw Saturn sitting on the temple's roof. "I seem to be late to help."

"I scared them away," Mars said dismissively. She noticed Moon stirring and smiled. "Wake up, slacker."

Moon rose quickly and looked around. "What? Where are they?"

"I took care of them," Mars explained. "And now I can go Twilight too."

Moon looked up at the roof. "Oh, you helped?"

"No."

"You really should stop hiding, Hotaru."

Saturn, for the first time, let surprise creep into her face. She had expected Ami or Terry, or even Umino, to figure that out before Usagi. "Guess I should."

"You were right?" Mars asked.

The Death Senshi leapt off the roof, landing near the others as Dragon Earth finally woke up. "She is. If you want me to explain why I hid, we could go to your base."

"Damn, everyone knows about that base," Mars mused.

"Can't keep calling it secret when half Tokyo knows it's there, can we?" Dragon Earth mused.

Saturn flinched. "I've been transformed for too long. I'll meet you at the base."

Moon blinked as Saturn vanished. "She's strange."

"No, really?" Mars muttered.
 
Last edited:
Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 4: Dark Moon Rising.
Episode 43: Allies and Foes.


By Razor Knight
Last update: June 5, 2007

------​

Ami and Terry decided to stay in the base, as they saw everyone else was heading to the shrine to help Moon. They were working on the base's computer, trying to improve the scanner and adding other things to it. But also, Terry planned on telling Ami something else.

He would have told her, if he hadn't been hit by a wave of shyness. Something he wasn't used to. He was about to try again, when someone appeared in the base. Sailor Saturn? "What are you..."

"Moon and the others are on their way," Saturn explained. "They already know who I am."

"Hotaru Tomoe," Ami said.

"She is?" Terry asked.

Hotaru turned back to normal. "Yes, that's me. I should have expected the smartest Senshi to figure it out first."

"That explains your habit of sneaking up on people."

Hotaru phased to the other side of the base. "It sure does."

Mako, Minako and Naru walked out of the elevator. "Hey, Usagi told us they'd taken care of... What's she doing here?"

"She's Saturn," Ami said.

"She is?" The others asked.

"Is everyone coming here going to do that?" Hotaru asked.

"Most likely," Terry admitted.

"Why is it you're already in Twilight and can keep that form?" Minako asked.

"Training. Compared to how I was when I started, my endurance's much better. It's still not as good as I'd want it to be, but close."

"I keep telling these slackers to train," Terry noted. "They never listen."

The rest of the group walked in, and Usagi smiled at Hotaru. "Welcome to the team."

"I'm not part of the team," Hotaru said.

"You are. You're a Senshi like us," Usagi said.

"She's like us, only creepy," Minako commented.

"Thanks for the compliment," Hotaru said, her voice still unemotional.

"Maybe she's a robot," Karin said.

"Robots don't have a good track record as Senshi. I think you all remember the Omega."

Usagi nodded. "In any case... It's good to know who you are."

Hotaru looked around. "I see you have training equipment here. You should be using it."

"You won't know how good we are in combat until you try us," Mako said.

Hotaru's left eye was suddenly covered by a green visor. The glass was attached to a small, circular metal artifact, which fit her ear perfectly. "I can. And from what I'm getting, I could defeat you in a short battle, due to our power difference. But if you managed to keep me fighting long enough, you could defeat me."

"What's that thing?" Usagi asked.

"This is a scanning device based in Mercury's visor. Dad built it for me."

"Good to see I'm not the only mad scientist in town."

Ami chuckled at Terry's words, then turned serious. "So, you're done dealing with the other aliens?"

"You could say so. I think we'll know next time the Ayakashi attack."

------​

"I'm very disappointed at you all."

"It's not our fault, the Senshi-"

Rubeus interrupted her. "The Senshi were defeated by you before. It's amazing you're having so much trouble killing them now, as they should be extremely weak in this era."

"But they're not. They even look stronger than the ones-"

Rubeus glared at Petz, making her keep the rest of the excuses for herself. "That's impossible. It's a pity Cooan was wounded in your last attack, but I think the three of you will suffice. Get as much energy as you can before you face the Senshi. This will help."

Karaberas looked at the two humanoid creatures that had just appeared besides Rubeus. One was wearing a 'bunny' outfit, though her white skin made her look creepy, and the other one was wearing... Well, her body was covered by small, golden coins, and her skin was a matching gold color. "Droids? We can-"

"You've already proven you can't handle the Senshi alone, so Esmeraude sent me these two. Yariko and Damako, you will obey the Ayakashi's orders from now on."

The two 'women' turned to Rubeus. "Yes, Master Rubeus."

Rubeus chuckled evilly as the three women and two droids left. Indeed, the Senshi were in for a surprise.

------​

Hotaru took a quick glance around the classroom and shook her head slightly as she noticed a newcomer. "He works fast," she said to herself as she walked to her seat, which was quite near the one Karin Chiba had been assigned.

"That I do," Terry said, popping up right besides Hotaru's seat.

The girl didn't seem surprised at all. "Must be nice to have all that money."

"Maybe. But the one with the money's my father, I just spend it."

"Be careful, you almost act human."

Hotaru looked up at Mako. "Maybe. My mentor warned me if I joined your group you would affect me quite fast."

"And your mentor is..." Terry hinted.

"My mentor is someone that doesn't want to come out of the shadows yet."

Mako whistled. "She beat all other Mystery Senshi. She's got a Mystery Mentor."

"You know, we shouldn't talk about that here," Hotaru said. "Someone could overhear."

"Oh, don't worry about that," Mako said. "Half the class is us, and the other half either doesn't care or is too dumb to figure it out."

"Hey!" The 'other half' of the class snapped at her, then they all returned to their own idle chatting.

"See?" Mako muttered.

Hotaru saw two students walk in, and stared at them. The two Ginga looked at her and smiled.

"What was that about?" Usagi asked.

"Nothing," Hotaru lied. Though she wondered when the 'twins' would tell the others their secret.

------​

That night, Karin and Chie were heading for the movie theater, unaware of what was happening at their destination.

"Must be fun, being a Senshi," Chie said.

"Oh, it sure is. You get to be knocked down by energy waves, and feel the pain in ever muscle and bone of your body."

"I mean, other than that..."

"And have to be alert for enemies that could attack anywhere, anytime."

"Yeah, okay, so maybe it's not fun, but at least you get to fight back."

Karin smiled. "I won't lie, being able to kick those Ayakashi wraiths is fun, but I just wish they didn't kick back so hard."

They both stopped as the ground shook. An explosion, and quite near. "Let's go."

Karin looked at Chie. "I'm going, you're staying away."

"Hey, I technically killed a monster myself last time."

"So Saturn said, but I still don't think you should..." Karin threw her arms up in frustration. "Oh, never mind. I guess I'll just have to make sure you don't get hurt. Earth Planet Power!"

Chie watched as vines grew out of the ground, wrapping around Karin's body, and slowly turning into her Sailor outfit. "Wow..."

"What, are you going to make me a fan club now?"

Chie blushed. "Uh... Let's just go and see what happened."

Earth nodded. If they had wrecked the theater, they would get a nice beating.

------​

The evil trio was sitting on a jewelry's roof, looking extremely bored. "This was too easy. Humans are as helpless here as they were back home."

Beruche nodded. "Yeah, and those droids took all the fun from gathering energy."

"Sisters, fun's about to begin," Karaberas commented.

The other two could see what she meant, two groups of Senshi coming from both sides of the street. "About time."

"They've got two more now?" Jupiter asked.

"Those are cybernetic creatures. Robots, so to speak, but much more advanced than the Omega," Saturn lectured.

Mercury nodded. "They're weaker than the sisters, but still strong enough to fight us one on one."

"I'll take on the bunny," Earth said. "Since I've got less experience than you all, you should handle the witches."

Saturn nodded. "And I'll take care of the coin girl."

As their two newest members rushed the two cyborgs, the rest of the Senshi faced the three sisters. "Okay, I think you girls should give up now before we hurt you," Venus said.

The Ayakashi's bodies were suddenly surrounded by a bright aura. "We were about to say the same thing to you," Beruche noted. "Dark Ice!"

"Dark Thunder!"

Petz hit both attacks with her whip as they hissed by, causing them to merge. The wave crashed to the ground near the Senshi, showering them with charged, cold water. "It should be enough to make them run away."

------​

While the rest tried to recover from the shock, Saturn and Earth had their own troubles to take care of, as their opponents weren't any easier to defeat than the Ayakashi.

"Vine Whip!" Earth lashed out, but the bunny-suited woman leapt out of the way. "Hey, no dodging!" She charged at the woman, but got a leaping kick to the face as reward. "Okay, that does it."

"Foolish girl, you can't beat me."

Earth groaned. "Sure I can." She tackled the bunny into a clothing store, making sure her enemy got the worse of the landing. She then punched her in the face, but stood up clutching her hand. "Ow... What the heck?"

"My skin may look like flesh, but it's metallic."

"Okay," Earth said. "Earth Quake Punch!"

The bunny was sent flying outside, and hit by a military truck. As the truck stopped, Seia leapt out of it. "Guess old good roadkill works."

"It's not down yet," Earth said. "Thanks for the help, but I can handle this fight."

Saturn, meanwhile, was studying her opponent. Normally, she'd be attacking fast, but she wanted to see what these new creatures were capable of. "So, are you going to just stand there?"

"Not really," the woman said. "Eat coins!"

Saturn whirled her staff to deflect the coins, but cringed as she saw them slicing their way into the wall near her. A couple of them hit a car's tire, deflating it. "My turn. Death Bolt!"

Damako rolled out of the attack's way, and sent a bigger barrage of coins at Saturn. This time, one of the coins managed to slice her arm while she dove out of the way. "Gotcha!"

Saturn looked at her arm, the wound slowly, but steadily, closing itself. "No, you didn't."

"Earth Quake Punch!"

Earth smiled as the two Droids crashed to the ground. "We should stop wasting time and go help the others."

Saturn nodded. "Death Bolt." The blast hit the two Droids, who were trying to stand up, knocking them both back down. "Your turn."

"Earth Quake Punch!"

"Okay, that's it," Yariko snapped as she stood up. She then noticed Saturn wasn't anywhere near Earth. "Huh? Where's the other one?"

The answer came to her as she felt something stab through where her stomach would've been if she was human. She also noticed the glaive's point sticking out of her front was aiming for Damako. Then, she heard the last two words she'd ever hear.

"Death Bolt."

Earth walked to Saturn as the pale Senshi knelt on the ground. "You okay?"

Saturn nodded. "I used a lot of energy. Go help the others, I'll join you as soon as I can." Earth nodded and walked off. Saturn turned to the alley behind her and sighed. "You two could have helped us."

Ann walked out from the alley. "How did you..."

"I can feel your energy. Now, go help the others."

"Yes sir!"

Saturn stood up and groaned as she saw Seia walking to her. "What now?"

Seia had a girl with her, someone Saturn recognized as the school's cheerleader, Karin's friend. "This girl here was hiding nearby. You know her?"

"She's Earth's friend," Saturn said. "Though I should speak to the others about bringing pets to a battlefield..."

Chie glared at Saturn, to no effect. "Hey, I'm no pet. I beat one of those bugs on my own."

"It was all luck," Saturn said, "If you plan on watch our battles, stay out of the way."

"I was, until Tank Girl here dragged me out," Chie noted.

"Point taken," Saturn said.

"Tank Girl?" Seia muttered. She then looked at Saturn. "What are you doing here, anyway? The rest of the Senshi are all fighting those aliens..."

"I'm almost out of power, so I was trying to recover."

"Well, have fun with that," Seia said. "I'll go check how things look like there."

------​

Several blocks away, things didn't look any good. The three Ayakashi were laughing as the Senshi, in various states of consciousness, tried to stand up and fight.

"You know, I guess we didn't need Cooan here after all," Karaberas said.

"I guess. Let's finish these weaklings so we can go kill the others."

"I'll save you the problem," Earth said running straight to Beruche. "Earth Quake Punch!"

Beruche leapt back, thinking Earth was going to use it in its normal way, but instead, Earth kept running, and punched her straight in the chest.

Petz's eyes widened as she watched her sister fly into a building. "Impressive."

Karaberas glared at Earth. "You know, you're going to suffer for hitting our sister like that."

Before any of the two Ayakashi could move, however, two balls of energy, one pink, the other green, hit them and sent them staggering back. "Sorry we're late."

Earth looked at the two aliens "You?"

"Calm down, rock girl. We're here to help," Ann said.

"You're here to die," Karaberas snapped.

Ann smiled coldly as she started gathering energy. "Sorry, I didn't travel through half the galaxy to die thanks to a fashion-challenged weakling."

Ail was already gathering energy for another blast, but risked turning to the Senshi. "Senshi, just try to recover, we can handle these idiots."

Moon nodded. "Good to see you're on the right side of the battle."

Ail nodded at her, then turned back to the Ayakashi. "And this is when you run away before we blast you."

"Dark Tempest!"

Earth grimaced as Ail and Ann were hit by a massive hailstorm. "That must hurt."

Beruche staggered to where her sisters were. "Now, let's end this battle."

Moon stood up, glaring defiantly at them. "I agree."

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 4: Dark Moon Rising.
Episode 44: Tales of Another World.


By Razor Knight
Last update: June 12, 2007

------​

Mercury looked at the Ayakashi and smiled. "We can win this one."

"Can we?" Nemesis said.

"Yes. Beruche herself is almost out of power after that Tempest attack, and the other two are tired, even if they're not showing it."

"It'd be awesome if we weren't all beaten up," Dragon Venus commented.

Mercury nodded. "Time to try a different approach. Mercury Twilight Power!"

"I agree. Mars Twilight Power!"

"Venus Twilight Power!"

"Nemesis Twilight Power!"

"Sisters, let's kill those four, then the rest will be easy."

Petz nodded. "Go."

"Dark Ice!"

"Dark Thunder!"

Petz once again whipped the two attacks, charging them up and sending them sailing towards the Senshi.

"Burning Soul!"

"Snow Spray!"

"Nightshade!"

"Twilight V-Laser!"

The attacks clashed, the explosion sending both parties down to the ground. The Ayakashi stood up first, however, and saw the Senshi were back to their normal level. Petz smiled. "Hmm... I guess they're done for."

"So are you," Mercury said weakly.

"But you kids are worse off than us," Karaberas noticed. "We just need to finish you off."

"Moon Disc Spiral!" The attack hit the three Ayakashi, knocking them to the ground. "I won't give up."

"Too bad," Beruche said. "Now..."

"Death Bolt!"

Karaberas and Petz both grimaced. Beruche had been hit dead on by that attack, and was unconscious. "Damn, we forgot about that death :red:."

"Thanks for... The compliment," Saturn said falling to her knees. "I'd get you if I had any power left to attack."

"Good, now we can..." Petz stopped and growled in exasperation. "The pets want to save their masters, how cute."

"Hah hah, funny," Dragon Mercury said, then looked at Dragon Venus. Indeed, his scanner told him the Light Dragon's energy was rising as fast as his own. "Winter's here, harpies."

Beruche paled. "Oh :red:... His energy is..."

"Mercury Twilight Power!"

"Venus Twilight Power!"

The two Dragons were surrounded by tendrils of their elements, and their suits changed. Their boots were now trimmed white, as were their gloves, and the swords had a longer hilts, which looked like dragons with the swords' blades pouring out of their mouth, their wings were spread out and served as the sword's guard. And like the female Twilight Senshi, their planets symbols was drawn on their suits' chest.

Karaberas threw her arms up in frustration. ":red:, they did it again, didn't they?"

Dragon Mercury didn't bother talking, he simply reached for his two swords, then stabbed the ground with them, as energy covered his body, traveling through the sword and into the ground. "Mercury Ice Geyser!"

Dragon Venus started his own attack, holding his sword in a vertical position with his right hand, and put his left palm on the blade. "Venus Light Rain!"

Petz was sent flying up by an updraft column of cold water and ice shards, while Karaberas was knocked back by a swarm of needle-thin light beams. Both fell to the ground, knocked out, and the two Dragons fell to their knees. "We did it!" Moon said.

"I'd jump up and down in joy if I had any energy left," Saturn commented. "Good timing for powering up, though."

"Yeah, good... Timing," Moon admitted, the last part almost a whisper, as she noticed something amiss.

It all happened in a second, Beruche coming out of a shop she'd hid while the Senshi were distracted, but being knocked sideways by an explosion. "Gotcha."

Moon turned to Seia. "And speaking of timing..."

"Rockets still work, luckily," Seia commented as she walked to the Senshi. "You guys need a ride?"

"No thanks, we can limp back to the base," Dragon Mercury joked.

"I'll see you there," Saturn noted. "I'm too exhausted to keep my transformation up."

As Saturn vanished, Mars noticed something. "The Ayakashi are gone."

"That's too bad, I wanted them to stay and blast me some more," Earth muttered sarcastically.

Ail and Ann appeared near them. "We missed most of the fun," the male alien noticed.

"Okay, let's go to our base and we'll..." Moon started.

"Should we trust them?" Jupiter asked.

"You guys have a base?" Ail asked.

"They didn't know about it? Weird," Dragon Venus commented.

"I'm too tired for your antics," Seia muttered. "Let's go, my truck's parked nearby."

------​

When the others arrived, Hotaru was sitting in the center of the training area, looking as unemotional as ever. "About time."

"Sorry, we didn't come with built-in teleportation," Karin noted.

"That's true." She looked at the two aliens. "Still in disguise?"

"This is our normal form," Ann noted.

Hotaru blinked. "That's true, Natsumi."

"Huh? They're-." Usagi started, but Ann and Ail turning to their human forms stopped her. "Wow."

Ami smiled. "The transfer student theory's proven true once again."

"So, now is when you tell us exactly why you were draining civilians before," Terry prompted. He was quite wrecked after the battle, and he could guess the others were at least as tired as him.

Natsumi nodded. "We come from a planet near the center of our galaxy. Our species lived there peacefully for eons, until the star our planet orbited died. Our scientists were too late in figuring this event out, and thus not many of us made it out of our planet before it was all turned into a giant gasball. We don't know what happened to the other ships that left the planet, but we're lucky we found this planet to live in."

"That doesn't explain why you drain humans," Minako noted.

"We need no food or water to live. Back in our world, the Makaijuu were the only source of energy we needed."

"Makaijuu?"

"It's a tree," Hotaru said, "and from what I could see, it feeds on life energy."

"So, that tree keeps you alive?" Usagi said.

"We're linked to the Makaijuu," Seijuro said. "If it dies, so will we."

"And that's why we need to feed it with energy," Natsumi said.

"We can't let you do that," Usagi said. "You can't keep sending monsters to attack innocent people."

"We've found no way around that," Seijuro noted. "But if your group's got a solution, I'd love to hear it."

"We'll check on the Makaijuu tomorrow," Ami said. "I think between me and Terry, we can think of a solution for that problem."

------​

"You failed once more, it's simply unbelievable." Rubeus looked like he was ready to hurt someone, and unfortunately for the Ayakashi, they were the only ones around. Only thing stopping him was the fact they were more useful alive, but their failure the day before wasn't something he'd forget or forgive anytime soon.

"These Senshi keep on upgrading. We may be able to take on a few of them in Twilight form, but even with extra energy, their numbers are-"

"Of no consequence."

Rubeus turned to the voice that had interrupted Beruche's babbling. A woman came from the shadows, her hair eyes, and dress had green tints, contrasting with the reddish-pink fan she was holding in her right hand. "Esmeraude?"

"Been a while, Rubeus. Prince Dimando isn't happy with the delay, so he sent me here to give you a warning. The Wiseman tells us the war needs to be won soon, so we need you to kill the Princess as soon as possible."

"I understand," Rubeus said.

Esmeraude rose her hand, and a small, black orb appeared. "Here. This is for the Ayakashi, a gift from the Wiseman himself."

Petz took the orb in her hands, and could feel the dark energy flowing from it and into her body. "Amazing."

The other three Ayakashi got their turns absorbing the orb's power, and they all could feel the same. Their power had risen, almost as high as Rubeus' power level, and quite above the Senshi's.

"I can see from your looks, you know what to do with that power," Esmeraude said. "I'll be waiting for the report of your victory back home, Rubeus."

As Esmeraude vanished. Rubeus turned to his soldiers. He could feel the difference in their powers, too, and knew it meant their victory was close. "I don't think we need to kill the Senshi to get the Rabbit."

"What do you mean?"

"I have a plan that will force them to give us the Rabbit. Once we deal with her, the Senshi will only be a minor threat for our clan."

------​

"So, what do you think?"

Terry nodded. "Not as big as my own mansion, but still pretty large."

"Where's that tree of yours?" Minako asked. She didn't really understand why the whole group had to be there, since only Ami, Terry and possibly Hotaru could find a way to make those aliens stop draining people.

"It's in that room," Natsumi said pointing to a large metal door.

"A tree, inside a house?" Karin mused.

"It doesn't need light or water to survive," Seijuro explained.

As the door opened, Hotaru blinked. "It looks almost dead again. Strange."

"What do you mean?" Ami asked as she scanned the tree. Indeed, the tree seemed to feed on energy. Life energy, most likely.

"I transferred some of my life energy into it, a few days ago, and it seemed to change. It sure looked healthier."

Natsumi nodded. "Yeah, but it's been decaying again. I don't really know why the tree withers so fast."

Minako looked at the tree. Its wood was almost white, though she wasn't sure if that wasn't the tree's natural color. However, the few leaves it had, and its branches, looked dead. Curiosity got the best of her, and she put a hand on the tree's side. As she did, she felt a jolt, and drew the hand back rapidly. "Ow!"

"What happened?" Natsumi asked.

"I don't know, it felt strange when I touched that thing."

Ami smiled as she scanned the tree, noticing the readings were different. "Of course... Mina, you're a genius sometimes."

"I am?" Minako asked, blinking in confusion.

Terry reached for the tree, touching it, and nodded. "Sometimes it takes more than brains to figure things out. Curiosity and luck are also factors to consider." He winced. "This tree doesn't feed on life energy, it actually feeds on mana. It must have some way to turn mana into a form of energy your race can absorb." That last part was directed to Natsumi and Seijuro, as he withdrew his hand.

"Mana? What's mana?" Natsumi asked.

"A form of energy, I still can't fully understand it," Ami said, "but now we know why the tree's been decaying. This city, in fact, the whole planet, is a mana desert."

Brad nodded. "It takes a lot of training and effort to be able to cast a simple spell like the ones I used. Senshi are a different issue, though, and would explain why I was able to cast spells easier than my siblings."

Natsumi was, admittedly, lost. As were most of the Senshi, and her 'brother.' "What do you mean?"

"Senshi are mana batteries. We gather energy directly from our 'home' planets, and the environment, which then we can use for our attacks."

"That explains why the Makaijuu only reacts to us, then," Hotaru said. "It can feel our mana, and can also absorb it."

"Then what, are we going to have to feed the tree?" Mako asked. She wouldn't mind, but it still felt weird.

Ami shook her head. "There's another way. You should get this tree outside."

"But it doesn't need..." Seijuro started.

"I know. But its roots can't reach for the planet's inner mana in here. It needs soil to dig through."

"I'm lost," Minako admitted, "but at least I know I solved this problem."

"Yes, sometimes it takes an air head to solve such mysteries," Hotaru said, ignoring the ensuing glare from the blonde.

Natsumi smiled. "Thanks for the help, we wouldn't have guessed all this on our own."

"You don't need to thank us, just stop turning humans into raisins," Mako noted.

"Deal."

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 4: Dark Moon Rising.
Episode 45: Out-powered.


By Razor Knight
Last update: June 19, 2007

------​

"I've located their hive, but a frontal assault might be suicidal."

Kage and Setsuna were sitting in two wooden chairs inside his Hong Kong apartment. The room was, Setsuna noted, barely furnished, but that wasn't because Kage had no money to buy furniture. She'd made sure he would not run out of cash for a long time. It was just Kage's style, keeping things simple and focused.

"I thought about that," Setsuna admitted, back to the issue at hand. "I may be able to bring help."

"That would be nice. But I bet it won't be possible until the Tokyo mess is solved, right?"

"That's true," Setsuna admitted. "But you'll only have to wait for a few more weeks."

"After this is done, though, I want to join the Tokyo gang. I'm tired of fighting solo."

Setsuna smiled. "Oh, don't worry, you will join them soon."

Kage stood up and walked to the window, his gaze fixed on the setting sun. "Night's coming. Those insects love to hunt at night."

"Then have fun, I have to go check on your 'sisters' now."

Kage blinked as Setsuna vanished, then looked out the window again, where the sun was but a thin line in the horizon. "Time to play plague control again."

------​

It was just another calm afternoon at Crown Arcade, or so the Senshi thought. Truth was, the forces of evil were ready to attack, but in the meantime, the group was just having fun and relaxing. A few of them were training, something the leader of the group herself didn't still see as a need. Instead, she was more interested in having fun while her enemies licked their wounds.

"Hey, this game's easy."

Usagi stared in disbelief as ChibiUsa literally pounded the stuffing out of the Sailor V arcade. "That's just impossible."

"Not quite, so far you're the only one that stinks at that game."

Usagi looked up to glare at Mamoru. "Don't be a jerk."

"I'm just stating the facts," Mamoru said. "Maybe ChibiUsa had someone teach her how to play videogames."

'If only they knew,' ChibiUsa thought.

"They really look alike."

Naru turned to blink at Hotaru. "Um. Yes, they do."

"What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost," Hotaru noticed.

"Well, it's just that... You, here, it doesn't look quite fitting."

"I like to keep jocks and air heads away at school," Hotaru said, "but that doesn't mean I can't socialize every now and then."

"Hey girls!"

Hotaru glared at Umino. "Can I kill him?"

Naru chuckled. "No, I reserve that right."

Umino gulped. "You know, I wonder if the Senshi are near."

"Why?" Saturn asked, keeping her cool.

"Because I saw the UFO everyone at school's been talking about, hovering over a warehouse a few blocks from here."

Naru looked at Hotaru, then shrugged. "Well, I hope the Senshi take care of whatever is inside that UFO."

Hotaru stared at Umino. "You could've sneaked into the ship. After all, I'm sure they'd confuse you for one of their kind."

"Wow, I didn't know robots could joke," Umino said and walked off.

Hotaru looked at Naru. "If that guy wasn't your boyfriend, I would've sliced him long ago."

"Hey, he's not..."

"He isn't? Strange, but never mind that. We need to inform our fearless leader about that UFO."

Meanwhile, Usagi was still staring in disbelief as ChibiUsa survived stage after stage of the game she'd been unable to defeat. She saw Naru and Hotaru walking her way, and knew from their looks, there was trouble nearby. "Hi girls."

"Usagi, I would suggest you get your evil twin to a safe location, we've just been informed a certain group of women could show up anytime soon."

"Evil twin?" ChibiUsa muttered.

Usagi nodded. "Let's get out of here, then I'll call the others and tell them about..." She stopped as she saw the massive flying object floating right above Crown. "Oh dear..."

The group discretely walked to the alley besides Crown, where a section of the ground slid aside to reveal a secret tunnel. Or rather, a metallic slide. "I hate this one entrance," the blond commented.

"Oh come on, it's fun," Naru said.

"Slaying monsters would be defined as fun," Hotaru noted, supporting Usagi's opinion, "but sliding down a metallic duct is more in the side of annoying to me."

"Let's race!" ChibiUsa shouted and leapt into the hole.

"How does racing work with that thing?" Naru muttered.

"Usagi, don't give your evil twin any more sugar, please," Hotaru added.

Mamoru, who'd been silently listening to them, threw his arms up in frustration. "Girls, just jump in already. I don't think Motoki will like Crown being wrecked again."

"Good point," Usagi said before jumping in.

"I still think this entrance stinks," Hotaru noted before gingerly following her leader.

------​

At the base, meanwhile, Mako and Rei were facing in the 'arena,' waiting for the other to make a move. Terry was watching the fight, while Venus was practicing her aim with a small black circle drawn on the wall.

"Are you going to attack yet?" Rei teased her opponent.

"Please, be my guest," Mako countered.

"One of you better starts, or I'll kick you both out cold," Terry said.

"... You're on!" Rei said turning to face Terry.

Mako nodded. "Let's show him."

Just then, ChibiUsa fell out of one of the few holes in the wall of the room, straight into a tall pile of rubber mattresses, placed there strategically to prevent any harm to those choosing said alternate route.

"That was fun," the pink-haired girl commented as she walked out of the landing area, just in time for Usagi to land there.

"It wasn't that bad," Mamoru admitted after all of them had arrived.

"So, why did you drop by?" Terry asked.

"There's an UFO floating right over Crown," Hotaru explained, ignoring Terry's attempt at a pun. "My guess is, the Ayakashi are there, and are getting ready to attack."

Ami typed a few commands into the console she'd been working with and nodded. "The UFO is about one block wide. It looks like it could hold a few dozens of those cyborgs the Ayakashi used last time."

"That's bad," Naru said.

"I'm also picking five energy signatures inside that ship," Ami added. "All of them are higher than those of the Ayakashi."

"That's worse," Hotaru added.

Venus smiled. "We can get them, as long as they don't charge up."

Usagi noticed something, at almost the same time the others did. "Why are you using the Twilight form?"

"I can use it constantly now," Venus explained, "just like Hotaru."

"Good," Usagi said. "Okay guys, let's go back to Crown. Ami, contact the others and inform them of our situation. ChibiUsa can stay here, I think she'll be safer than anywhere."

As the others walked to the elevator, Mamoru looked at Usagi. "Are you okay?"

Usagi looked at the others and sighed. "Guys, go ahead, we'll be there in a minute." Once the doors closed, she turned to Mamoru. "I'm... I'm not a good fighter, everyone else is powering up, they've got Ami and Terry to be the brains of the group, I-"

"You feel weak, like there's no need for you to be fighting?" Mamoru asked, guessing what the problem was.

"Yes," Usagi said.

"I think you're the strongest of us all," Mamoru said. "It's been you that kept the group together until now, it's usually you the one to stand up and keep on fighting when everyone else, even me, is ready to give up."

"Mamoru..."

"I suppose if you really needed stronger attacks to defeat our enemies, you'd get them, so don't worry. Sooner or later, you'll power up, just like everyone else."

Usagi sighed. "You're right, it's kinda silly to worry about that."

Mamoru smiled. "I've felt that way too. And I bet Mako feels the same, even though she's not showing it. Karin's too new to even complain, but I bet she also worries about her powers not being enough to defeat our enemies."

Usagi nodded. "Let's go, the others may need help."

As the couple left, ChibiUsa smiled. "Puu, eavesdropping isn't nice."

Sailor Pluto appeared in the room, right besides ChibiUsa. "Small Lady, I sometimes think you're a bit too similar to your mother."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"It is," Pluto mused. "But you should go with them this time."

"What? I'm just a little girl," ChibiUsa said. "How can I be of any help to them?"

"If you go, you'll find out," Pluto said and vanished.

ChibiUsa stared at the spot where the Time Senshi had been standing. Of course, she was a bit scared of those evil women and their leader, but she trusted 'Puu,' as from what she'd seen so far, Pluto was never wrong when predicting future events.

------​

"So, are you all here yet?"

Moon glared at Beruche, who was sitting on top of a parked bus, as her three sisters stood around her. "We are, now shouldn't you leave?"

"Sorry, we're here to stay," Karaberas countered.

"Oh crap," Mercury said as she scanned the women. "Guys, their power is a bit over what it was last time."

"But how, they didn't drain anyone," Earth noted.

"Oh, didn't we tell you? We got an upgrade."

"Cute, now even villains power up before I do," Moon muttered. "Guys, let's..."

"Dark Inferno!"

"Dark Tempest!"

"Dark Pulse!"

"Dark Whip!"

"That's gonna hurt," Dragon Venus commented.

Suddenly, a barrier formed in front of the Senshi, deflecting the attacks. "What was that?"

ChibiUsa walked out of the shadows, a crescent moon sign shining on her forehead. "Leave them alone."

"My, look at the little Princess walking right into our trap," Karaberas mused.

The barrier faded, but ChibiUsa stood defiantly. "You won't hurt them, witches."

"Kid's got personality, unlike her mother," Cooan added.

ChibiUsa knew she had no power to stop the Ayakashi. She however knew how easily they could be distracted, and the Senshi also realized that. However, they weren't the only force in the area.

A barrage of attacks from the Senshi, along with two massive energy balls and a few hundred assorted missiles and bullets, all hit the Ayakashi at the same time. When the dust settled, the four women were barely conscious.

"So much for their upgrades," Dragon Mercury commented.

"Thanks for the help," Moon said looking up at Ail.

"Sure, forget about us," Seia's voice snapped from her tank.

Suddenly, Rubeus appeared in front of the four Ayakashi. "You idiots! I should've known you'd fail again. Dimando wants you to go home now."

"We-" Petz started.

"Save it for the Prince," Rubeus snapped. The four women nodded and vanished.

"Who's that?" Moon asked. ChibiUsa looked at her then took off running. "Wait!"

"Leave this goon to us," Dragon Earth said.

Moon nodded and run off after ChibiUsa. The others turned back to the red-haired man, who was laughing at them.

"Stupid kids, I don't need to worry about finding the Rabbit. Once I'm done with you, your brave leader will bring her to me herself."

"Nice plan, too bad we'll beat you down right here, right now," Mars snapped.

Mercury flinched as she scanned the newcomer. "His power is... More than the Ayakashi combined."

"So it'll be a hard fight," Dragon Venus said.

"What would be the fun if the fight was easy?" Jupiter mused.

Rubeus smiled coldly as the Senshi prepared to attack. "Foolish kids, it's a pity I can't kill you all yet..."

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 4: Dark Moon Rising.
Episode 46: Full Moon.

By Razor Knight
Last update: June 20, 2007

------​

The girl panted as she stopped running, then turned to see someone heading her way. "Usagi?"

"Why did you run away?" Moon asked, mildly upset. "That man could've killed you."

"Rubeus is too strong," ChibiUsa said. "I got scared."

"I can understand that," Moon said, "even I am scared of fighting sometimes." More like all the time, her inner voice said. She promptly told it to shut up.

ChibiUsa nodded. "Let's go back, they may..." Her words were muffled by an explosion, and her eyes widened.

Moon looked back to see a small area of the city shining for a few seconds. "That can't be good," she said. She picked ChibiUsa up and started running back. However, she stopped as she noticed Rubeus' face up in the sky. "Or that."

"Sailor Moon, I've got your friends here. I'm willing to trade, if you give me the Rabbit I'll release them."

As the face vanished, ChibiUsa looked at Moon. "I'm sorry, if I hadn't run away..."

Moon kept on walking. "If I hadn't chased you, he'd captured me too, then tracked you down. Don't worry, I won't let him hurt you, but I need to save my friends."

Ail and Ann appeared in front of Moon. "That was close."

"What happened?"

"That redhead shot an energy wave, it knocked everyone out, but when we woke up, he was gone, and so were the Senshi."

"Is anyone else hurt?"

"No, that wave was meant to knock everyone down, not to hurt us," Ail said. "We saw his message, though... What are you going to do?"

"I'm going into that ship and kicking his rear."

"We could help."

Moon frowned. "No, you stay here, I'll take care of this."

------​

Rubeus looked at the screen and smiled. Moon was there, with the Rabbit in her arms. "I thought she'd try to hide, but I see she values her friends' lives after all..."

"Hey, you freak, what's this about?"

Rubeus turned to meet Venus' glare. "Oh, you're awake."

The Senshi were all hanging on X-shaped metal structures, feet and hands tied by some sort of energy beams. Jupiter struggled against them, but to no avail. "What the heck?"

"Don't bother, physical strength won't break them, and I wouldn't try any magic if I were you..."

Venus aimed her fingers at him as much as the bonds allowed her to. "Lucky you're not us, pervert. Twilight V-Laser!"

Rubeus chuckled as Venus was hit by her own magic energy and cried out in pain. "As I said, I wouldn't do that, as those beams absorb any magic you try to use and bounce it back to you."

"Could've told me that bit along with the rest," Venus snapped.

"Oops," Rubeus said. "In any case, let's get your friend up here so she can surrender properly."

"She's so going to kick your :red:," Dragon Mercury commented.

Rubeus ignored that as he turned to the console, pressing a button and chuckling. "Welcome to my ship," he said as Moon and his true target appeared on the ship. "Now give me the Rabbit."

"If I give her up, you'll let my friends go, right?"

"You have my word."

Moon laughed at that, a mocking laughter. "I may be naive, but I'm not that stupid. If I give up, you're going to kill me, ChibiUsa, and my friends."

Rubeus growled at her. "If you don't, I'll do it anyways."

Moon put her 'cousin' down and glared at Rubeus. "I don't know if I can defeat you, but I'll try."

Rubeus didn't say a thing, instead he lunged at Moon, connecting with a left to her guts. Moon staggered back, and Rubeus laughed. "You're really pitiful, relying on only your magic to fight."

Moon tried to stand up, but something pulled her down. "What is..."

Rubeus smiled coldly at her. "I control gravity. I could kick you senseless, but it wouldn't be as fun as watching you get crushed by my power."

Meanwhile, ChibiUsa had scurried to the side, slowly walking around Rubeus. She reached the other Senshi and lowered her head. "All this, because of me..."

"Hey, don't worry," Mars whispered. "At least we're still alive. And I know Moon won't let us down."

"Can you free us?" Jupiter asked.

"Maybe that console controls these things too," Mercury noted. "I'd scan it, but my visor's not responding."

"Must be the blockers," Dragon Mercury said.

ChibiUsa walked to the console. "Maybe I can find a way to free you, guys."

Rubeus was still gloating, but Moon started to rise from the ground. "What? No, stay down!" He increased the power, sending Moon face-first to the floor. "There we go, now wait, your bones should break in a few more-" He gasped as Moon again stood up. "Impossible!"

Moon smiled despite the effort it took her to stay on her feet. "I don't know why you're after ChibiUsa, but I couldn't care less. You used my friends as bait to get her, and that's something I cannot forgive."

Rubeus took a step back. Moon's energy was rising, along with her power, something that was visible even without sensing her magic, as a white aura surrounded her. "A little power up won't save you," he gloated, trying to cover up the fact he could sense her energy surpassing his.

Moon glared at Rubeus, then blinked as a sword appeared in front of her. 'A Dragon Sword?' She looked at it: The hilt was white, and from the little she knew about swords, most of which she'd learnt out of hearing Terry talk about them, this was a longsword. She clasped her hands around the hilt, then a blinding light enveloped her.

"Moon Crystal Power!"

As the light faded, Rubeus flinched as he sensed her energy. Moon's suit was much like the other Senshi, but with an extra, transparent skirt below her blue one. The sword was also changed, looking like a silver dragon with the blade coming out of it's mouth.

Rubeus laughed evilly. "Even with that power, you cannot defeat me."

ChibiUsa had been busy trying to free the others, but no button seemed to work. Time for a different approach, she thought with a grin. "Luna P!" The sphere appeared floating in front of her, and ChibiUsa nodded. "Change!" The sphere turned into a massive metal mallet, though the girl held it effortlessly before slamming it down into the console.

Rubeus heard the slam and turned back to her. "What? No! What did you do, brat?"

Mercury smiled, now free from the beams, as were the others. "Rubeus' power is going down."

"He was feeding off the ship's power, somehow," Saturn added.

Dragon Mercury looked at Moon and whistled. "Nice, about two thousand points in our scale. Rubeus is right now down to a thousand, two hundred."

"Must be the sword," Mars commented, "they also gave us a bit more power."

"Should we help her?" Earth asked.

"No," Dragon Earth said, "I think she can take care of that one."

Moon looked at Rubeus, her face emotionless. "Last chance to leave."

Rubeus glared at her. "Not before you all die!" He shot an energy blast straight at Moon, and laughed.

Moon looked at the incoming blast dismissively. "Too bad. Moon Twilight..." She held her sword with one hand, shooting an energy blast straight into it, then pointed it at Rubeus. "Beam!" The sword lit up, and the energy gathered shot out as a beam, which punched through her foe's attack and knocked him straight into the console.

As soon as Rubeus hit the console, it exploded, and fire spread fast in all directions. "What now?" Venus asked.

"This thing's going to blow," Dragon Mercury said. "We need to get out."

Saturn looked out the only window in the room and shook her head. "Jumping out's not an option." They were high enough even a Senshi's body would not resist the landing.

"I got it," Moon said. "We'll use the Sailor Teleport."

"Sailor what?" Earth asked.

"Newbies," Mars muttered. "Just focus on Crown and let us do the rest."

Saturn considered her options then nodded. "I'll tag along. I don't think I can teleport that far on my own."

The Sailor Senshi all formed a circle, and Moon nodded. "ChibiUsa, guys, stand in the center of the circle, we'll get you out in no time."

Something else exploded, rocking the ship. "It's now or never," Dragon Earth said.

"Sailor Teleport!"

Rubeus was too weak to stop them, and watched helplessly as the Senshi left. His body was mostly burnt down, and he was sure the pain would knock him out before long. That was, if the ship didn't explode before that happened.

"You've got potential."

He didn't recognize the voice, but it was clearly female. Whoever it was, she was standing behind his field of view, and he could not force his head to turn. "Who-"

"It doesn't matter who I am, Rubeus, but I don't think it's your time yet. You want revenge, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Then, let's get out of here. We'll worry about you joining our small alliance later."

Rubeus decided against talking again, as the pain was unbearable. He felt the rush of teleportation, and was gone, along with whoever his rescuer was. A few seconds later, the ship's main engine exploded, starting a chain reaction that took out the whole vehicle.

------​

The Senshi appeared near Crown, to the surprise of the soldiers that were looking up at the pieces of the spaceship that were falling into the ocean. "Good to see you all back in one piece," Seia said.

Moon nodded, then looked at her own suit. "Weird, why am I still in this form?"

"No idea," both Mercuries said in unison.

"And why is her power that high? I mean, even with the sword, she..."

Dragon Mercury interrupted Venus. "She also has her Cyber Weapon."

"Speaking of which," Mars said, "we could've beaten these goons easier with those weapons."

"You would've beaten the Ayakashi senseless if you trained," Dragon Mercury countered, "but you do have a point. I'm almost done making those weapons, so you don't have to wait much longer."

"Don't worry, guys, if the Ayakashi show up, I'll protect you all," Moon said.

"Great, now we won't hear the end of this," Mars muttered.

"I saved your hide, so hush," Moon said.

"You two cut it out before I cut it myself," Saturn said, summoning her glaive for effect.

------​

"You know, I sometimes how they manage to beat their enemies," Shade commented. The mooncats were all looking at their protegees from atop Crown.

"Well, they're teenagers, they won't mature overnight just because the world's fate depends on them," Artemis said.

"They improved a lot," Luna said, "specially Usagi. Her old self would have run away from the UFO, but she faced the challenge head on."

"Wonder if the leaders of that Rubeus guy will show up anytime soon?"

"We can only hope the Senshi are ready for them, whenever they arrive."

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 4: Dark Moon Rising.
Episode 47: Green vs Green.


By Razor Knight
Last update: June 28, 2007

------​

Two days had passed since Rubeus' first and last attack, and the Senshi were glad to have a break from fighting. One of them, however, had been busy making preparations for two things. And he was right now alone at the base with the one person he needed to talk to.

Ami looked at the small sphere Terry was holding. "What's that?"

"A Cyber weapon, they basically work like my old Chokers."

"So, they're ready?" Instead of answering, Terry reached out his hand, a bluish net appearing on it. Ami took the net and examined it. "Interesting, I can feel it's attuned to my power."

"Working with magic is much more interesting than my tech gadgets," Terry admitted.

"Can I try it?"

Terry nodded, then his eyes locked with Ami's. "Listen, Ami, there's something else I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh? What is it?"

"Well, I..." Terry stopped. He was sure it had something to do with his genes, as he'd faced the same shy moments when trying to tell Hana the same. However, just like back then, the only way around this was just saying it. "... I like you, Ami."

"Oh." Ami blushed. She had a good guess what he meant, even though he hadn't quite said it yet. "As a friend, you mean?"

"No." He sighed, then looked at Ami. "It's silly, huh? I can slay monsters without sweating it, but when it comes to telling someone what I feel for them, I suck."

Ami chuckled despite herself. "I've known for a while."

"You did?"

She nodded. "You were leaving enough clues, Terry."

"So were you," Terry countered.

Ami's blush turned crimson. "I wasn't."

Right then, Usagi walked into the base, dragging ChibiUsa along as usual. "I knew I'd find you here, Terry. I've been thinking about it, and training would be..." She stopped as she noticed Ami was blushing. "Hey Ami, why is your face red?"

"Don't nag, rabbit," Terry said.

Despite how naive some people thought she was, Usagi was quite sharp when it came to certain things. "About time, you guys."

Ami smiled. "Thanks, I guess. Anyhow, it's time to try my weapon."

"She's got a weapon?" Usagi asked.

"Yeah, that's why I called you all here," Terry noted. "Though the others should be here by now."

"I wonder if..." Ami started, then nodded. "Mercury Twilight Power!"

"So that's three of us," Usagi said.

Mercury produced her net and frowned. "Now what should I aim for?"

"Mercury Dragon Power!"

Usagi saw the Dragon walk to the arena and blinked. "You sure that's safe?"

"I'm attuned to ice magic," he said. "And also, this is just a test."

Mercury closed her eyes and looked for the words in her mind. "There. Mercury Hail Snare!"

Dragon Mercury dodged as she tossed the net, which was charged up with energy. The floor where the net landed turned a bluish color, and he looked at Mercury. "Oops, I moved."

"Wimp," Usagi joked.

"Two point two thousands," Mercury said.

"I should try the disc then," Usagi said.

"My turn," Dragon Mercury said. "Mercury Twilight Power!" He produced a bomb and tossed it to a wall. "Dragon's Ice Breath!"

The bomb exploded, releasing a bluish gas. Usagi looked at it and then at the Dragon. "Cute, a cyan cloud. Big deal."

"Want to try sniffing it?" the Dragon countered. Just then, the elevator's door opened, and the rest of the Senshi walked out of it.

"Having fun without us?" Mako asked.

Dragon Mercury's suit went back to normal. "Sort of. I've finished your weapons, by the way."

ChibiUsa looked at Mercury's net. "That looks cool."

Dragon Mercury snapped his finger, and a small table appeared, with several weapons and shields resting on it. "Ta da!"

"Oh shut up, you're no magician, you're a Senshi," Karin said.

"And our attacks are...?"

"Magic," Karin muttered.

"I rest my case."

Mako grabbed a couple green gloves and examined them. "Those are for me?"

Dragon Mercury nodded. Rei had meanwhile picked up the red, string-less bow and was looking at it. "Where are the arrows? Or the string, for that matter?"

"Transform and you'll figure it out," the Dragon said. Actually, he had guessed most of their new attacks, but he wanted to see how many of them he'd guessed right.

"Mars Planet Power! Mars Twilight Power!" Once she'd transformed, Mars looked at the bow. A thin fire beam shot from the top to the bottom, forming a string, and Mars took an aiming stance. As she did, a fiery arrow appeared in her hand, and she used the bow to shoot it, just as she spoke out her new attack's name. "Flame Sniper!"

The arrow shot out, hitting the far wall and exploding on contact. "That's awesome," Mako said.

"We should learn how our new attacks work," Naru said, "in case those Ayakashi come back."

"They won't," ChibiUsa said.

"How do you know?" Ami asked.

"I can't tell you that," ChibiUsa noted.

"But I can."

Hotaru looked at the newcomer, who'd appeared in the arena, and nodded at her. "Hi, Pluto."

Pluto nodded back at her. "Hotaru, it's nice to see you're a part of their group now."

"You know her?" Usagi asked.

Pluto smiled at her. "I'm Sailor Pluto, the Guardian of Time, and I'm here to tell you all about the Black Moon Family."

"Black Moon Family would be whoever those Ayakashi and Rubeus are working for?"

"They're members of that clan, yes."

"You've lost even me," Hotaru said. "Why didn't you tell me about this?"

"Because the Pluto from this time doesn't know about it."

"Are we going back home, Puu?" ChibiUsa asked.

Pluto nodded. "And their questions will be answered there."

"We've got bigger troubles right now," Dragon Mercury said as the base's alarms started beeping. "A single alien entity, but stronger than even Rubeus."

"Same old, then," Mako said.

"You may need my help," Pluto said, "so I'm going with you."

Dragon Mercury looked up and down at her, which caused Mercury to give him a confused look. Then, she realized what he was doing, and scanned her as well. "Terry, are you getting the same readings I am?"

"I guess," he admitted. "Ten thousand points."

Mars looked at Pluto and then back at Moon. "How about she fights and we watch?"

"That won't do," Pluto said. "My power's only to be used when there's no other way to defeat an enemy. Go and entertain our guest, then I'll tell you how to get to Small Lady... ChibiUsa's city."

The Senshi nodded and left the base. "Ten thousand?" the pink-haired, young girl asked her friend.

"I'm keeping it at a level where they won't start wondering how I got so strong."

"Think they can defeat her?"

Pluto smiled at the girl. "You're smart for your age, Small Lady. But yes, I think they can defeat Esmeraude, if they don't overestimate their own power."

------​

As the heroes reached their goal, they saw Esmeraude floating in mid-air, fanning herself as she waited. "The Ayakashi were right," she commented, "you guys always take your time."

"Amazing, she's not attacking Crown, the temple, or one of our houses." Nemesis noted.

"Always a first," Jupiter said.

"Let's show her our new toys," Dragon Mercury said. "Mercury Twilight Power!" He stood there for a few seconds, but nothing happened. "Oh, right, I used that a few minutes ago."

"Can you still use the bombs?" Mercury asked.

He looked at the bombs and nodded. "Here goes nothing. Mercury Dragon's Mist!" A couple bombs fled at Esmeraude, who tried knocking them off, but they exploded near her, covering her immediate area with a bluish fog.

She didn't get what the fog was for, unless it was a distraction. As she tried to breathe, however, she finally realized its purpose. Her nose and lungs burnt with cold, and even though she wasn't going down from such a weak attack, it still hurt her enough to take her mind off the real problem.

"Flame Sniper!"

She felt a stinging on her arm as a flame bolt hit her. But she guessed that wasn't the last attack she'd receive, if she didn't get the upper hand, and fast.

"Enough!" she swung her fan around, cleaning the mist, and also
sending a crescent-shaped energy wave zooming towards her foes. The Senshi managed to dodge the blast, but she wasn't letting them go that easily. She waved her fan again and again, unleashing several waves in a rapid succession, knocking most Senshi out after just a few waves. "This was easier than expected."

Jupiter glared at the woman. With only she, Nemesis and Earth up, this wasn't looking good. Even with her 'weapons' she realized there was little chance to defeat this woman. If only she...

"Nemesis Nightmare Shot!" Nemesis stabbed her spear into the ground, unleashing a wave of dark energy bolts that knocked Esmeraude back.

"That actually tickled. Try this!" Esmeraude swung her fan forwards, but no wave came out. That was her plan, however, as the Senshi all leapt out of the way of the supposed wave. Jupiter had dove aside, while Earth and Nemesis had leapt up. "Got you, idiots," the woman snapped as she sent a wave at the airborne Senshi, knocking them back into a wall.

Jupiter growled. "Why you..."

"Do me a favor and stand still. It'll all be over in a second," Esmeraude taunted.

"Likewise," Jupiter said. An electric aura surrounded her, and she smiled mockingly at her enemy. "Jupiter Twilight Power!"

Esmeraude chuckled as Jupiter transformed. "That's not going to work, little girl."

"See if I care," Jupiter snapped as she run towards her foe, her new gloves crackling with energy. "Jupiter Supreme Thunder Dragon... Punch!"

Esmeraude had raised an energy barrier and waited, but that was not that good an idea after all. Jupiter hit the barrier instead of her, but a lightning construct shot out of her fist, at such a short distance Esmeraude could only stare at it as it passed right through her. The pain in her lungs from minutes ago was nothing compared to the one she was feeling now. She felt like a million volts.

Jupiter cursed, however, as her suit went back to normal. "Not now!"

Esmeraude recovered from the shock, and laughed. "Little girl, I told you to stay put. Now I'm gonna have to make you suffer."

Jupiter growled and charged again. "Jupiter Spark Barrage!" A swarm of small sparks shot from her gloves, striking Esmeraude, but the attack's level was clearly not the same as her previous one.

"Now you're just being stubborn, weakling. It's time for you and your friends to die."

"Did someone mention time?"

Esmeraude turned to the newcomer. The green suit, the staff, she knew that :red: all too well. "Pluto? What are you doing here?"

"Making sure you don't do something you'll regret."

"Hah!" Esmeraude swung her fan, hitting Pluto dead on. The Time Senshi, however, simply stood her ground. "What the... You weren't that strong before!"

"I was holding back last time," Pluto said. "Now begone. Pluto Time Storm!"

Jupiter gasped as Esmeraude vanished. "You killed her?"

"I'm not allowed to do that. I simply sent her back to her time."

"Whatever works," Jupiter said. "So, now what?"

"Now we wait for the others to wake up, then I'll send you where you need to be if you want to defeat the Black Moon."

Jupiter shook her head. "Has anyone ever told you you should stop talking in such a... Riddle-like way?"

Pluto nodded. "They tell me that all the time."

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 4: Dark Moon Rising.
Episode 48: Out Of Time.


By Razor Knight
Last update: June 29, 2007

------​

"Home sweet home."

Mako looked at Terry with some amusement. "This is just the base."

"Well, I've been spending so much time here lately, I consider it a second home."

"Are you really sure they're the same?" ChibiUsa asked Pluto.

"They are," Pluto said.

Usagi looked at the time Senshi. "So... We have a few questions."

"I expected that."

"First off, who are you?" Usagi asked.

"You already know. Sailor Pluto, the Senshi of Time."

"But what's your civilian name?"

Pluto gave Saturn a meaningful look, then looked at Usagi. "I've been in my post for so long, I have passed through many civilian names whenever I needed to interact with mankind."

"Way to not really answer us," Karin said.

Terry looked away from the console he'd started typing on and flinched. "Your power level is too high for a Twilight Senshi."

"That's because I'm not one. I've had roughly fifty thousand years to hone my skills, and I made sure I had time to train."

"She's the one that trained you, right?" Rei asked Hotaru.

"Not exactly," Hotaru said. "She's the same person, but I know she's not from our time."

"That's a good guess, Hotaru. I actually come from a thousand years into your future."

"Wait, does that mean..." Ami started. "You said you came here looking for ChibiUsa." Pluto nodded. "And ChibiUsa's looking for the Ginzuishou to help her defeat those Black Moon Family aliens." Another nod. "So, she's from the future?"

"But..." Usagi took a moment to let it sink. "Aren't there Senshi in the future too? I mean, you're here, so--"

"There are," Pluto said, "but they all have their hands full. We need your help to stop them."

Terry looked at Usagi, then at ChibiUsa, then shook his head. 'Now, that would explain a lot, but also, it's just impossible.'

"What's wrong?" Ami said noticing his staring.

"Nothing. So, how do we get there, in a blue box, in a modded car, or through a swirly portal?"

Pluto gave him a long, cold stare. "Same old Zephyr," she said mostly to herself. "I suppose it would be wise for you to rest for the day, as I would guess you'll need all your power for the mission."

------​

Esmeraude looked at the man sitting on the marble throne, who stared back at her. His gaze was almost unsettling, but she knew he was far from being angry. "Dimando, what do you think?"

"Pluto's interference is quite unlikely to happen again. I know what her plans are, however. The Wiseman supposed she could be trying to bring the Senshi from the past to our time. We can't let that happen."

"I'll stop them while they cross," Esmeraude said.

Dimando nodded. "Go."

As Esmeraude vanished, something shuffled in the shadows. "If she fails, I have an alternate plan," a voice said, coming from nowhere and everywhere at the same time.

"Whatever your plans are, just make sure she's not harmed."

"You shouldn't lose focus," the voice warned.

"I'm not. But I think turning her into my slave would be a fate worse than death."

------​

Usagi examined her surroundings. Indeed, this wasn't the base, but where were they now? It hadn't felt any different than when they used the teleport, but she wasn't sure they were on Earth anymore. "What is this place?"

"It would be hard to explain it with terms you could understand," Pluto admitted, "but consider this a place a pocket dimension, much like the Dark Kingdom was."

"Never thought a time tunnel would be so... Cave-like," Brad joked.

They were all walking through a large tunnel, with crystals of different colors sticking out of the floor and ceiling. "It's not a bad place, I guess," Minako admitted. "At least it's colorful."

"Aren't you a reborn Senshi, like us?" Ami asked.

Pluto shook her head. "I didn't die, like you did. I never took part in the battle against Beryl. I did, however, gather a secondary team which ended up fighting the youma in the United States."

"Too bad you didn't show up earlier," Terry said, his voice a lot colder than he intended it to sound.

"It was her destiny to die that day," Pluto said, her tone somber. "The only one to blame for that has already been dealt with, and you should know it. Sadly, it was the only way for you to meet with the others."

Terry grimaced, then looked at Ami for a second, before his face returned to normal. "You're right. And I guess... Moving to Tokyo had some perks."

Rei looked at Terry, then at Ami. "...Did I miss something?"

"Yeah, you did," Usagi said, giving her a mocking smile.

Ami cleared her throat a bit too loud to get their attention. "So, back to the important issues..."

Pluto looked ahead and smiled. "We're here."

There was a collective exclamation of awe as the others looked at the gate. Hotaru just smiled and said "been a while."

"You were here before?" Usagi asked. "What for?"

"Training," Terry guessed.

"Good guess," Pluto said. "I trained my protegees here, since I could get them to train here for months and then send them back to shortly after they left."

"So, we go through this and show up wherever you want to send us?" Mako guessed.

"No, you have to travel a bit more from here to reach your destination."

"What, not coming with us?" Rei asked.

"I seldom abandon this place, and you have a reliable guide with you."

The Senshi all looked at each other, then at ChibiUsa, who just smiled at them.

"She knows the way?"

Pluto nodded. "Stay together, the journey past this point is dangerous if you don't know exactly where you're going."

"Abandon all hope those who walk through this door," Terry said.

Pluto just stared at him. "Not amusing."

"Wasn't trying to joke," Terry admitted.

"We should transform before heading in," Hotaru noted. "Just in case something happens."

"What could happen here?" Brad pondered. "We're out of time."

"Stop the time jokes," Pluto said, letting a bit of coldness creep into her voice.

Usagi nodded "I agree, there's no time for joking right... Now. Oops."

------​

Several time jokes, I mean, several minutes later, the Senshi were walking through what looked like Tokyo's streets. "This is weird. Are we back home or what?" Venus asked.

"We're still in the tunnel," ChibiUsa said. "Follow me."

Nemesis blinked as the girl walked into the Osa-P. "Freaky." As they passed through, the scenery changed to a familiar place. "The school?"

"That's why Pluto told you not to split. It's hard to know your way around without a guide."

After a bit of walking through a corridor, which was at least a few miles long, ChibiUsa looked at one of the doors. "Here." She walked in, followed by the others, and looked around. "This place's spooky."

Moon looked around in shock. This place was grimly familiar to her. "This is... The Dark Kingdom?"

"Why the scenery cocktail?" Earth asked.

ChibiUsa stopped walking and looked around. "I'm not sure why, ask Pluto on our way back."

"Know what, I just realized we didn't tell the cats where we were going," Jupiter commented.

"What have they been up to lately anyways?" Dragon Venus asked.

"Beats me, Art is never home when I get back from school, I think I haven't seen him in several days."

"Hope they're okay," Moon said.

------​

The three Mooncats were standing on top of Crown, apparently waiting for something, or someone. "You think they'll be fine?"

"Pluto said the journey will be dangerous, but I trust the Senshi," Artemis said.

"So, you think we have a possible Senshi here?"

Luna nodded. "I've been watching her. She keeps on having these extremely lucky days, it's just too lucky to be humanly possible."

"So you mean she could be..."

Luna nodded at Shade. "Sailor Lilith."

"There she is," Artemis said. The three Mooncats gasped as the girl they'd been following around walked out of crown carrying a bag full of plushies. "Crane Jou, female version."

------​

The Senshi were, meanwhile, walking through the park. It was, clearly, exactly like the park they'd usually visited near Juuban, but they'd been walking through it for several miles. "So much for time traveling being fast," Jupiter muttered.

"We're almost there," ChibiUsa commented.

"Not if I can help it."

"You again?" Moon growled as she stood between ChibiUsa and the evil woman.

"This time there's no Pluto to save you," she said, then attacked with her fan blasts.

"Light Shield!" Dragon Venus summoned his shield, and a barrier of light appeared in front of the group, protecting them. "I've got her, now attack!"

"Takaiko, get them."

Before the Senshi could figure out what Esmeraude meant, an attack knocked them all to the ground. As they stood up, they could see a figure wearing a grim reaper costume, apparently female. "Hey, I'm the only grim reaper here, get lost," Saturn snapped.

"She made a joke, we're doomed," Jupiter commented.

"That creature isn't strong enough to pose a threat," Dragon Mercury said, "we can deal with her and Esmeraude at the same time."

Takaiko laughed. "Can you?" In a blink, she'd split into several clones of herself. "We think not."

"Oops," the Dragon muttered. "Okay, guess this will be an even battle."

Dragon Venus flinched. Esmeraude had kept the onslaught of energy blasts, and he was frankly struggling to keep his shield up. "Guys, hurry up beating that :red: so you can take care of this :red: too."

The Senshi all shot their attacks at the enemy, but the grim reapers just deflected them with their glaives. "Crap, now what?"

"Now we get physical," Dragon Mercury said, then charged into the crowd of enemies.

"I think that's not gonna work, either," Jupiter noticed as the Dragon was flung back to them. "You okay?"

"Been beaten down worse."

"Okay, time to show them our new toys," Moon said. "Moon Disc Spiral!"

"Mars Flame Sniper!"

"Mercury Hail Snare!"

"Jupiter Supreme Thunder Dragon Fist!"

"Venus..." Venus summoned her whip, which lit up with energy. "Whip Lash!" she snapped the whip in front of her, causing a swarm of thin whip-like energy beams to lash at her foes.

"Nemesis Nightmare Shot!"

"Earth..." Sailor Earth summoned her staff and swirled it vertically, causing a lot of dust and small rocks to gather in a circle in front of it, forming a small vortex. "Dust Storm!" She slammed the vortex with her staff, sending it speeding towards her foes.

"Earth Rock Rose!" A massive, stony rose appeared in front of Dragon Earth, shooting towards his targets and exploding upon contact.

"Mercury Dragon's Ice Breath!"

"Uh oh," the many clones of Takaiko said in unison just before the barrage of attacks hit. Once the dust settled, it was clear the menace had been neutralized.

Esmeraude laughed. "That worked just fine, you wasted energy destroying that drone, so..." She sent yet another fan wave, but this one was larger. It hit through the light shield, knocking all the Senshi down. "... It's time to die."

":red:... That hurt," Dragon Mercury muttered.

"So much for my shield," Dragon Venus said.

Moon winced in pain as she tried to stand up. She couldn't give up, if she did, this woman was going to kill them, and then she'd kill ChibiUsa. Somehow, Moon realized she hadn't seen ChibiUsa since Takaiko showed up, then she saw something coming from the side, and it was heading straight for Esmeraude.

"Leave them alone!"

Esmeraude didn't know what hit her, but the pain was quite clear, something had hit her side and knocked her against a tree. She staggered out of the indentation she'd made and searched for her foe. "What the hell?"

Moon was wondering the same thing. ChibiUsa had head-butted Esmeraude into a tree, and for a few seconds, she had a quite visible pink energy aura surrounding her. "ChibiUsa?"

ChibiUsa looked at Moon, then smiled. "Sometimes it's me who has to protect you."

For the millionth time, Moon was pondering who ChibiUsa really was. And, right now, she also wondered why her power seemed so familiar to her. She noticed the aura around the girl was gone, and felt her own energy raising. "We won't die here, not if I can help it. Moon Twilight Beam!"

Esmeraude's eyes widened. The Rabbit had given her power to Moon, somehow, and that made the beam shot at her look way larger. It hit her dead on and sent her crashing through several trees before she landed painfully on her side, rolled a few times on the dirt, and stopped. "This... Can't be..."

As she stood up, she saw the Senshi were all up and ready to kick :red:. And unfortunately for her, hers was the only one available for kicking. Considering her options, running away was the only one that looked viable. And that she did, not even bothering with a token villain speech.

"No fun, they don't even threaten to kill us next time anymore," Mars said.

Saturn looked at Dragon Mercury. "Is there any chance you can make me a weapon?"

"You already have one."

"Yeah, but..."

"I could upgrade your glaive," Dragon Mercury said, "once we get back home. But I'd need a few days to do it."

"As long as you give it back in one piece," Saturn warned.

"Deal."

ChibiUsa pointed at a small group of trees near them. "There, that's our way out of here."

"About time, I'm tired of walking," Moon said.

"It feels like we've been walking forever," Venus admitted.

"And we probably have," Dragon Mercury said. "We may have walked a few hundred, or a few thousand years."

ChibiUsa shook her head as she resumed walking. It was quite hard to believe, even for someone as young as her, that these were the same Senshi she'd always known.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 4: Dark Moon Rising.
Episode 49: Crystal Revelations.


By Razor Knight
Last update: June 30, 2007

------​

"This is your city?"

ChibiUsa looked at Jupiter. "It was quite pretty before the war."

The others looked around. Buildings were made of a strange, opaque crystal, but most of them were heavily damaged, and some were totally wrecked. "Where are the civilians?"

"Hiding," ChibiUsa said. "I know there's several underground shelters built under the city."

"Should teach them not to build their houses out of glass," Dragon Venus said.

"That's not amusing," the pink-haired girl snapped. "You can try punching one of those walls, I'm sure your Senshi strength will be too much for plain old glass to resist."

The Dragon shrugged and walked to one of the walls. "Looks like some weak crystal to me."

"Punch it," ChibiUsa said.

"Uh, Brad, I don't think..." Mercury started.

Dragon Venus slammed his fist into the glass with all his might. It didn't even crack. He stood there, staring at the glass with a bewildered look, for several seconds, unmoving. Then, he knelt on the ground and clutched his hand. ":red:, that hurt!"

"... you can break through that crystal, it's magically reinforced," Mercury finished.

ChibiUsa smiled. "It's a very strong material, infused with magic. At least that's what I was told, and also that not even a Senshi can break through it, not without some high level magic blast."

"Could've told me that," Dragon Venus said as he walked back to the group.

"Well, it'll teach you not to go by the first impression," Mars noted.

"So, where are we heading, anyways?" Nemesis asked.

Dragon Mercury looked around, then pointed at the large castle standing proudly and untouched over the wrecked buildings that surrounded it. "Since Pinky here's been called a Princess several times, I bet she lives at the castle."

"That's a pretty good guess."

They turned to the voice, and first thing they noticed was, the person standing near them was transparent. "Aah! A ghost!" Moon shouted. She then noticed who he looked like, and frowned. "Mamoru? But how can you be there and here?"

Dragon Earth looked at his 'clone.' He was wearing a strange outfit, much like the suits the Dark Kingdom Generals had used, but it also had a long cape. "That's because he's not me."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I am you," the figure said. "I'm King Endymion, ruler of this city. Now, it's not safe to stay out here, so let's head for the Crystal Palace."

"Wait, how--"

Endymion interrupted Moon as he started walking. "I'll answer your questions once we get there."

------​

"They're here."

Dimando nodded at Esmeraude. "This is the best scenario for us. They're in an unknown place, with no outside help. We can defeat them here and now. But first..."

Esmeraude looked at the prince. "Yes, cousin?"

"I need you to attack the Palace. While the Senshi are distracted, I'll capture their leader and turn her to our side."

"It is a good strategy," the man standing besides the throne said. He was quite the opposite from Dimando. Where Dimando's hair was white and waist-long, his was black and short. He wore a black suit contrasting Dimando's white one, and even his face and his manner of speaking were contrary to the Prince. It was quite surprising he was Dimando's brother, but Esmeraude had known them both since they were kids, and knew the brothers were always eager to help each other.

"Indeed it is, Saffir. I want you to go there too, but do not interfere unless Esmeraude can't handle the Senshi."

"To defeat them, she needs more power."

Esmeraude cringed at the hissing voice. That Wiseman freak, she wished Dimando would dispose of him, but the Prince insisted Wiseman was his best adviser and strategist. He had showed up overnight, that was truth, and was the one reason Esmeraude didn't trust him. But to be fair, his strategies and magic had lead them from the small wasteland their home world was, to the Earth they were so close to conquering.

"I must admit, the Senshi have grown in power," Dimando said. "And you'll have to face most of them. Given your previous results, I suppose Wiseman is right."

Esmeraude nodded. "A little more power can't hurt."

"So be it," Wiseman said. Black tendrils of energy shot from the shadows behind Dimando's throne, hitting Esmeraude and prompting a scream from her. After a few seconds, the assault was over, and the voice spoke again. "It is done."

"Are you okay, Esmeraude?" Dimando asked.

Esmeraude looked at him, her eyes glowing for a split second. "Never been better."

------​

Several minutes later, the group was walking through a crystalline corridor. "Well, we're inside the castle, so now tell us... Are you a ghost?"

Endymion kept on walking, not bothering to turn around. "No, I'm quite alive, but what you're seeing is just a magical projection."

Mercury and Dragon Mercury were both looking at ChibiUsa. "She can't be, can she?" the Dragon asked his female counterpart.

"I'm pretty sure she is," Mercury whispered.

"What are you two up to?" Moon asked.

"Endymion, let me ask you something. The Senshi from this time, are they a new generation?"

"Yes and no."

"Okay, that's not quite the answer I wanted. So, who's the Queen of this city?"

"Queen Serenity," Endymion said, still not stopping nor turning to them.

"I knew it."

"Knew what?" Moon asked Mercury.

"Come on, Usagi..." Dragon Mercury muttered. "ChibiUsa was born in this time. Endymion here says he's the same as your boyfriend, who if I understood the mooncats' ranting was Prince Endymion in his past life. And he's married to someone named Serenity. Your 'past' name was Princess Serenity."

"Oh." Moon took a few more steps, but soon it hit her, as it had hit the rest of the Senshi, who'd stopped walking several meters before. "What? You mean I'm still alive in this time?"

"All of you are," Endymion said, turning as he noticed his guests weren't moving. "But we're all a bit too busy right now to take care of the Black Moon Family, which is why we needed you or your Ginzuishou."

Mercury looked at ChibiUsa. "I still can't believe it, but I guess it's the truth. Is she a Princess?"

Endymion nodded. "She's Princess Serenity, my daughter."

Both Moon and Dragon Earth looked at each other, eyes wide. "What?"

ChibiUsa giggled. "Took you too long to figure it out."

"You knew all along?" Moon asked looking at the small girl. It was a lot to take, that she'd be a Queen in the future, and that the girl she'd been protecting, the one that had so unceremoniously sneaked into her life, was her future daughter. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You weren't supposed to know," ChibiUsa said. "At least that's what Puu said."

Mercury nodded. "Makes sense, knowing things about your future may cause you to act different and thus disrupt the timelines." She noticed the others were all looking at her and trailed off. "...Or at least that's what I know of the time-space theory."

"But if that's the case, why are we here?" Dragon Venus asked.

"Because you had to be brought here. There's things you must do in this era, in order to defeat the Black Moon." Endymion paused to look at ChibiUsa. If only he could tell her what was about to happen... But he couldn't.

"Where are we... The future 'we,' I mean," Nemesis asked.

"When the Black Moon first came, they seemed peaceful, we fell for their deception and then they struck... On the first battle, the Queen was heavily injured, and so was I. Also, the Ginzuishou vanished, and with that, the shield protecting the city was gone."

"It vanished?" Moon asked. "How?"

"We don't know yet," Endymion said, "but Pluto sent the Princess back in time to get the Senshi from the past, or at least their Ginzuishou. The Queen had used her own power to create a healing crystal that's encased her, while I am currently unable to walk."

"What about the others?" Jupiter asked.

A screen appeared in one of the walls. There was no monitor, no cables, it was clearly a magical device. The images showed Mars, Mercury, Jupiter and Venus sitting in a circle around some kind of generator. "What's that?"

"They've been using their energy to keep the shield up. Unfortunately, we couldn't spare any other Senshi, so the shield only covers the palace."

"And where's the rest of us?" Nemesis pressed.

The screen switched to a ruined city, with hundreds of robotic creatures fighting an army of humans. Nemesis, Earth and Saturn were there too, along with Dragons Mercury and Venus, and a group of Senshi they couldn't recognize.

"Those must be the New York Senshi," Dragon Mercury noted.

Saturn nodded, Haruka, Michiru and Kage were there, but what about the others? "Are the others the new generation Senshi?"

"Yes," Endymion said.

"So, where are you right now?"

The screen changed to a room elsewhere in the palace. Endymion was lying on some sort of bed with what looked like a medical scanner besides it, while a bit to his right was a human-sized crystal, transparent like a diamond, and inside, a woman was seemingly sleeping, her face like Usagi's, but her hair white.

"I still can't believe it," Moon said. "But tell me, how did the Ginzuishou from this time vanish?"

"As I said, we're not sure," Endymion said. "We were out of the city, defending it from the Nemesians' first strike," he stopped and winced as he saw Nemesis' face. "Unfortunately for you, Naru, these aliens come from Nemesis."

"I thought they had all died, like people in all the other planets,
when Beryl was sealed," Mercury said.

"They didn't, but they were set back to a sort of stone age. See, they came here in a diplomatic mission, so we learnt a lot about what had happened. Apparently, Nemesis is far enough so the mana capping wasn't complete. Most of the old Nemesians died when the planet cooled off, but they were used to low temperatures already, and learnt to use magic alone to control the elements."

"They developed new technology on their own from nothing?" Dragon Mercury asked.

Endymion nodded. "Took them a while, considering the environment there is hostile. But, you see, they knew the Earth had survived relatively well, and the new Nemesians always found it unfair humans could live on Earth without much struggling."

"So, they finally built some ships and came to conquer this planet," Mercury guessed. "In any case, back to the Ginzuishou..."

"We fought the Nemesian grunts and drones stopping them from entering the city, but soon the Black Moon Family itself showed up. Instead of splitting, they all focused their attacks on Serenity, and she was heavily wounded. She formed that crystal she's encased into to both prevent any further attack, and to have time to heal her own wounds."

"Didn't she have the Ginzuishou with her?" Moon asked. It would be only natural, as she would still need its power.

"She's developed such a strong bond with the crystal, she doesn't need to even have it near her to use its powers. It was being used as an energy source for the city's defense system and the shield around it, but then..."

"It's all my fault, I was so stupid..." ChibiUsa whispered, then started sobbing.

"Your fault?" Moon asked.

"I... Leave me alone!" The small girl didn't wait for a reply, she instead run away crying.

Endymion sighed. "She wanted to help her mother, so she went to get the Ginzuishou, as she was sure she could use it to heal her. However, as soon as she touched the crystal, it vanished."

"... That's impossible."

Endymion looked at Dragon Earth. "I doubted that too, but we've not felt the crystal's presence ever since that day. Apparently, she's been keeping her guilt inside until now."

"It wasn't her fault," Moon said. "She didn't know the crystal would vanish. I'm gonna go look for her." She didn't wait for her friends to agree or disagree with her, before rushing out of the room.

"Maternal instinct kicking in?" Mars asked.

"Bad timing for a joke," Dragon Venus said, then the palace rocked with an explosion. "What the hell?"

"Nemesians," Endymion said. "Esmeraude and Prince Saffir, and they're both outside the palace."

"Can they break through the shield?"

"I doubt that, unless they spend a few hours shooting at it."

"Why wait a few hours when we can kick their asses now?" Earth said.

Mercury nodded. "We should be careful, though. Moon's not with us, Saffir's power is unknown, and Esmeraude is already powerful enough to take on several of us at a time."

"In short, it'll be yet another battle," Jupiter said.

"... Yeah, I guess," Mercury admitted as they all walked out of the room.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 5: Black Lady.
Episode 50: Future Wars.


By Razor Knight
Last update: July 2, 2007

------​

ChibiUsa stared out at the wreck that most of the city had become. Her city, her friends and her parents, all affected by her stupid mistake. And as much as she wanted the Ginzuishou to return, it was gone. Now Usagi knew what she'd done, she surely thought she was stupid, too.

"Why are you crying, little girl?"

She looked to the side and saw a figure in a dark cloak, standing near her. "Who are you?"

"I'm a friend," the figure said. "Are you sad because everyone hates you?"

ChibiUsa nodded. "I want to make everything right, but I can't."

"I can help you," the figure said, "but you'll have to trust me."

ChibiUsa looked at the outstretched hand. Long, thin fingers with black nails. Something told her not to trust this stranger, but her mind was too clouded by fear and regret to resist his offer. After a few hesitant moments, she took her hand.

"Good, now come with me," the figure said. Then both of them were gone.

------​

Moon run as fast as she could through the corridors. ChibiUsa could never run as fast as she did in Senshi form, but the small girl had years of walking around the building on her side. Moon, on the other hand, was clueless on where to go. The building was, from her point of view, a giant maze.

She looked out one window and froze. ChibiUsa was talking to a creepy figure. She could swear the ragged robe's bottom moved on its own, creating the illusion of small tendrils of darkness. After a few seconds, ChibiUsa took the man's hand, then they both vanished.


"ChibiUsa!"

Moon leapt out to the garden, fortunately not many floors below. She was outside the shield, but that wasn't something that worried her right now. "What... Who was that man?"

"My adviser," Moon heard, before something hit her and she lost consciousness.

Dimando looked down at Moon, then at the point where ChibiUsa had been a few moments earlier. "I don't know what Wiseman plans to do with the Princess, but for now, I've got what I was looking for."

------​

The energy wave rushed by, barely missing her head. Mercury stood up from her crouching position and looked at the others. "Everyone okay?"

There was a collective nod, before they all leapt over another wave of energy. "This is getting annoying," Mars commented.

"I'm looking for weaknesses, but found none yet," Dragon Mercury said.

Saturn looked at their other foe. "What's he up to?"

"I'm merely an observer," Saffir said. "I won't fight unless I feel you're worth fighting with."

"What an ego," Jupiter said. "How about we start fighting back?"

The Senshi attacked as one, except for Saturn who watched and waited. As Esmeraude leapt over the barrage, she nodded. "There." She phased under her target, aiming her glaive up. "Death Bolt!"

Esmeraude phased as well, appearing just behind Saturn. "Fool."

"Yes, you are," Saturn said, dodging the fan slash. Before Esmeraude could figure things out, Saturn phased out of the way, and she was left to stare at the flame arrow shooting towards her.

The evil woman was hit and staggered back, then felt something cut her back and screamed. Saffir looked at the scene with mild interest, trying to decide wether or not he should interfere.

Saturn put her glaive on Esmeraude's throat and smiled, a freezing cold smile. "You lose. Death B--"

Mars gasped as Saturn was knocked into a wall by a dark blast. "Oh, I guess you want to fight now?"

Saffir smiled. "I don't need to. Esmeraude, stop playing and fight for real."

Esmeraude stood up and smiled, her eyes glowing green for a split second. "Sorry, I just wanted to play with them."

Dragon Earth winced. "No..."

"What's wrong?" Mercury asked.

"Something happened to Usagi," he said. "I don't know how I felt it, but-"

"Go help her," Dragon Mercury said. "We'll take care of these idiots."

Esmeraude laughed. "You? That's funny."

Saturn stood up slowly and winced. "Shut up and fight."

------​

Moon knew that, for some reason, she didn't want to wake up. But whatever had knocked her down, hadn't been enough to kill her, and that was a good thing. Wasn't it?

"Good, you're awake."

As her vision became clear, she saw who her captor was. A man with long, white hair, who was admittedly handsome, not that it would stop her from blasting him down, if only to kindly return his favor. "Who are you?"

"Prince Dimando, leader of the Black Moon, and ruler of Nemesis. As you may have been informed by now, I'm looking forwards to expand my domains."

"So you're the bastard who caused so much destruction?"

"Such harsh words from someone that will soon be my Queen..."

Moon tried to snap back at him, but something stopped her. She felt light-headed, her mind clouded... She stood there, eyes glazed, as Dimando walked to her. As he got too close, however, her eyes went back to normal. "No! Stay away!"

"What?" Impossible, he was sure her mind would be easy to control. Why was she resisting? It didn't matter, anyhow, he would just have to use more power.

------​

Dragon Earth looked at the building. The sign outside clearly stated this was the Nemesian embassy, but the building looked more like a military base. He could see light in one window of the topmost floor, and for some reason he knew that's where Usagi was. However, even with his Senshi strength, he could never leap those twenty floors up.

He couldn't give up now, being so close to rescuing her. "Earth Twilight Power!" As the transformation ended, the Dragon knew what to do. "Earth Rock Rose... Hold!" He tossed a rocky rose at the wall, but instead of exploding, it stabbed into the surface, then grew in size until it was big enough to support his weight. The Dragon set a few more roses up the wall, then started jumping up the makeshift platforms.

------​

Dimando smiled as he looked at his prisoner. Her eyes were empty, distant, and her face was calm. It had taken him more energy than he thought, but he finally had her under his control. "And now, my Queen..." he said as he leaned in to kiss her.

"Mamoru..." Moon whispered, her eyes returning to normal

"What? How can you resist?" Dimando snarled as Moon backed away from him.

"You may control my mind, but you'll never control my heart."

"I see. I'll have to see a way around that."

"I'll never be your slave. Moon Twilight Beam!"

Dimando simply slapped the beam to the side, and it drilled through a few walls before vanishing. "Interesting, your power is quite high. A pity it's not enough against me."

"You may be a prince, but you're not charming at all."

Dimando looked at the window, where Dragon Earth was standing. "Leave now and I won't kill you."

The Dragon motioned Moon to the window. "Sorry, Your Highness, but I'm taking her with me."

"I won't let you do that," Dimando snapped and shot an energy blast at them.

"Earth King's Shield!" Dragon Earth summoned his shield, which formed a massive wall of rocks in front of them. It stopped the blast, and put an obstacle in Dimando's path. "Let's go."

"What? But we're too high off the ground!"

"Trust me," the Dragon said before leaping out the window, dragging a not too eager Sailor Moon with him.

Dimando blasted a hole through the wall and frowned as he saw his prisoner was gone. Before he could give chase, however, he sensed something. "Wiseman... What's he up to this time?" He walked out of the room, his mind dismissing the thought of chasing Moon. After all, sooner or later, he would have her.

------​

"There's no doubt, I'm sensing Senshi energy in her," Luna said.

"Great, now she'll probably be a monster," Artemis mused.

"Hey, at least I got three Senshi, you slacker found two and didn't even know one of them was a Senshi."

"Stop acting like a married couple, you two," Shade pointed down the block as she said that, ignoring the twin glares from her feline friends. "Our target's escaping."

"Are you sure we need to bring her into the action now?" Artemis insisted as the three cats chased after their 'prey.'

"You know the legends about her powers. If she's not in control of them, she could hurt herself, or her friends."

------​

Saturn knocked an energy blast away with her glaive and looked at the others. "Any ideas?"

"She's too strong," Nemesis said. "We need to keep her busy until Moon returns."

"She's strong with those magic blasts," Saturn agreed, "but short range seems to be her weak spot."

Esmeraude sent a few more blasts, then frowned. "Dimando needs us."

Saffir nodded. "I'll go." He closed his eyes, and energy flowed from him to Esmeraude. "You stay here and finish those kids off."

The woman smiled as Saffir vanished. With that energy recharge, she was sure the Senshi would be an easy kill. They were tired, weak and...

They apparently didn't care if she was distracted or not, as she realized when a fist impacted her face. Before she could recover, someone kicked her back, followed by her arms being sliced by metal. Another kick, this time in her legs, sent her down to the ground. "Damn you, stupid kids!"

"You were right," Dragon Mercury admitted, "she sucks at melee."

"Only because you caught me off guard," Esmeraude snapped as she stood up and stood in a defensive pose.

Dragon Mercury smiled at her. "Trust me, I know when someone sucks at fighting."

Esmeraude glared at him then run forwards, her fan falling down at the Dragon. He blocked the fan with one sword, then tried to slash out with the other, but Esmeraude punched his hand, causing him to drop it. She smiled as that surprised the Dragon, and she punched him in the gut. "See, I'm not so bad."

The Dragon smiled as his air board hit Esmeraude square in the face, sending her reeling back. "Dragon's Ice Breath!"

"Let's get her!" Mercury said as Esmeraude was caught in the deadly cloud.

The wave of attacks hit the gas cloud from all directions, and the Senshi all fell to their knees. "We did it," Jupiter said.

As the cloud dimmed, however, they saw Esmeraude was still standing. Her dress was tattered and her skin cut in several places, but she still stood defiantly. "I won't give up until I defeat you all."

"Too bad. Moon Twilight Beam!"

Esmeraude's eyes widened as the moon beam struck, sending her flying back and straight to the palace's shield. As she hit it, the shield zapped her with energy, and she screamed in pain for a few seconds before she fell to the ground, her body vanishing slowly.

"About time you showed up," Mars said.

"Not in the mood," Moon snapped. As the others stared at her, she sighed. "They got ChibiUsa."

"Then we have to go rescue her," Saturn said.

"For that, you need to go back to your time."

Moon looked at Pluto. "You could've saved her."

"I'm only a player in this script," Pluto said, "you saw your future selves here. You may have noticed the difference in power."

Mercury nodded. "I couldn't get a reading on Queen Serenity."

"Which means...?" Jupiter pressed.

"Which means she's either got infinite power, or she's quite close to that," Saturn said.

"Then why... Why let the Nemesians hurt her?" Moon asked.

"You are the answer to that question," Pluto said. "You came here and saw all this happen, so you know how things have to be for the timelines to be kept in one piece."

"You mean ChibiUsa being captured was 'in the script' too?" Moon asked, her voice a bit shaky. "Sorry, but I don't like that. They could kill her, or..."

"They won't hurt her," Pluto said, "but in order to rescue her, you'll have to go back to your time."

Dragon Venus pointed at the surrounding city. "A change of scenery wouldn't be bad, I guess."

Pluto nodded. "Let's go, I'll guide you back to your time."

------​

Dimando stared at the woman in front of him in an almost dismissive way. She had long, pink hair tied up in a familiar way, her eyes were red and she was wearing a long, black dress with a slight pink hue. "Who is she?"

"The Black Lady," Wiseman said. For once, he wasn't hiding in the shadows, but instead standing right next to his creation.

"She looks strangely familiar," Saffir commented.

The robed man looked at Dimando. "I suppose you saw me capture the Princess. See, I just thought we should have a contingency plan, in case you couldn't bring the Queen to our side."

"You mean she's..."

"I was known as Princess Serenity," Black Lady said, "but now I serve the Black Moon."

"We could use her to eliminate the Senshi, and bring the Queen to our side," Wiseman suggested.

Dimando frowned. "No. Kill them all if you must. Sailor Moon killed Esmeraude and Rubeus, I can't let their deaths stay unavenged."

Wiseman's face was hidden by his robe's hood, but if anyone would've seen it, they'd see a cold smile creeping into it for a second. His scheme was working just as he wanted it to, and the Prince was playing along eagerly.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 5: Black Lady.
Episode 51: Pink Power.


By Razor Knight
Last update: July 6, 2007

------​

Two days passed since the Senshi returned from the future, and they'd taken the break to rest and prepare for their next battle. Some of them, however, had other things in their minds.

"You know, you look a lot more distracted than normal."

Usagi looked down at Luna, who'd been following her for two blocks now, without her noticing. "I'm worried about ChibiUsa, that's all."

"So, how was your trip?" Luna asked, trying to cheer her up.

Usagi looked at Luna. "Besides the fact I was told ChibiUsa is my future daughter, only to have her taken away by the enemy minutes later? Oh, it was fun, indeed. Specially being mind-controlled by that stupid prince."

"Sarcasm doesn't suit you."

"Don't ask dumb things, then." Usagi muttered. "What have you been up to lately, though?"

"I've been... Busy."

"Dating?"

Luna blushed. "No, of course not."

"Then what?"

"I can't tell you yet."

Usagi stopped in front of the 'base' and nodded. "Here we are."

"So, you kids are back to slacking there all day?"

------​

As they got inside, however, Luna's words were proven wrong. The arena was occupied by most of them, apparently testing their weapons out. Saturn sat near the arena, watching, as Terry and Ami worked on the computer. "Well, I see you're not slacking."

"You haven't trained yet," Saturn commented.

"I'm really not in the mood."

"I understand how you feel, but moping around won't bring her back," Saturn said.

"What are you, Rei's clone?" Usagi muttered.

"Not at all, I haven't used words like airhead or brat yet," Saturn mused. "But I suppose I shouldn't lecture you. Your attack did fry Esmeraude, I'm sure it'll be easy for you to defeat the other Black Moon warriors."

"I... I was lucky, that's all. In fact, Dimando slapped my attack away. I'm too weak to fight him."

"So what you're scared of, is not being able to rescue your daughter," Saturn said. "You need to be good at both ranged and melee combat to be a real warrior."

"But..."

"You have a sword, you only need to learn how to use it," Terry said.

Saturn nodded, then turned back to normal, her glaive vanishing. "By the way, Terry, the glaive modifications are good."

"You didn't test it," Terry noted.

"I don't need to fight with it to notice the difference," Hotaru said.

A blinding light covered the area, and as it dimmed, they all turned to the arena to see Venus standing there with a still shining whip, and all the other Senshi were scattered around the place. "Oops, I guess I overdid it."

Mars blinked a few times to recover her sight as she stood up. "You really know how to use a whip, huh?"

"I wonder just how she learnt," Earth commented glancing at Dragon Venus.

"My lips are sealed," Dragon Venus said.

"Okay guys, I'm gonna try and teach Usagi how to use a sword now."

"This is gonna be fun," Mars said.

"Don't be mean," Nemesis snapped.

"I'm not, but it'll surely remind me of the time I tried to learn how to use a sword. It wasn't pretty."

"Oh? Why?"

"Let's just say there's a reason I don't use my Dragon Sword in battle," Mars said.

"That's foolish," Saturn said, "those swords can give you a small power boost when you use them, but the boost is immense when you become attuned to them."

"How do you know that?" Jupiter asked.

"Pluto told me," Saturn said. "But I'm on the same train as you two, I wasn't born to use a sword, so I won't use one. I just hope Usagi learns, though... Her power is already above ours, with the swords' power added she could be an amazing fighter."

"This is Usagi we're talking about," Mars said. The others looked at her. "Yeah, I know, old habits."

------​

Luna had sneaked out of the base while the others were busy, and was now meeting with the other Mooncats. "So, how did it go?"

"Pluto agreed to train her, said it would be foolish to let her fight without full control of her powers."

"Even fully trained, she could..."

Artemis nodded. "I know the legends. Luck isn't a constant, but as long as she doesn't abuse her powers, she won't have them backfire."

"There she is."

A girl was walking to them, wearing a Senshi suit with brown skirt and bow.

"That was fast," Luna commented.

"Fast? I've been training with Dr. Who for two months now."

"Pluto won't like you calling her that," Artemis said, trying not to laugh.

"I know, that's why I do it."

"Did it really work?"

"Yeah, luck was on my side, I've already caught up with the others."

"Just don't abuse your powers," Shade said.

"I know, I know, Pluto gave me the uncle Ben rant already."

The three Mooncats looked at each other for a few seconds as the new Senshi turned back to normal and walked away. Luna spoke after a few seconds, her voice a whisper. "Why are all the Senshi insane?"

"You really think normal teenagers would be able to save the world daily?" Artemis noted.

"Good point."

------​

Wiseman was, meanwhile, explaining his new plan to Dimando and the remaining members of the Black Moon.

"There are several points of power in Crystal Tokyo which help the shield stay online. If we can corrupt those points, then we could finally take the palace and end this war."

"I'm aware of those points, but they're inside the shield," Dimando said.

"In our era, they're protected by the shield, but in the 20th century, they're unprotected, not counting the Senshi.

"Are we going to attack them?" Petz asked.

"You will take care of that. I'll send a distraction for the Senshi, to make sure they don't interfere."

------​

Usagi landed hard on the ground and grimaced. "Okay, enough training for now."

Terry smiled at her. "You have a long way to go before you can fight me. But at least, you got some of the basics now."

"I could just moonbeam you out of the base."

"Where's the sweet, friendly Usagi I like?"

"I'm still here, just in a sour mood."

"Cheer up, Rabbit."

Usagi glared at him then clutched the wooden sword she was still holding, then rushed at Terry, bringing the sword up as she reached him.

Terry, however, was ready for such an attack. He blocked her sword with his own, then tripped her, sending her face-first to the ground. "That was a nice try, but anger isn't the best weapon to bring to a battlefield."

Ami looked at the console as it started beeping. "There we go again."

"What's wrong?" Usagi asked as she stood up. "Black Moon?"

"Apparently," Ami said. "It's a new entity, I don't know who it is, but it's power is amazingly high."

"Must be Dimando," Usagi said. "Just who I need to kick around to feel better."

"Usagi in a fighting mood, now I've seen it all," Rei commented.

"Shut up and follow me."

"Yes sir!" Rei said giving Usagi a mocking bow.

------​

Several minutes later, the Senshi reached their goal. It was hard to miss, really, as the area was circled by military forces. "Well, there you are, Senshi."

"Leave this to us," Moon said.

"As usual," Seia noted. "This is strange, the woman didn't drain anyone, she just scared everyone out of the area."

"Let's get her," Moon said. It couldn't be Esmeraude, or one of the Ayakashi, so who was she?

A few blocks later, she got her answer. The woman had pink hair and a hairdo much like hers, which was strange enough, but there was something about her that she found familiar other than that. "Who... Who are you?"

"I'm the Black Lady, a soldier of the Black Moon Family."

Mercury was scanning the woman, and looked at Moon. "Moon, she is..."

"... ChibiUsa," Moon said. So that's why they wanted her?

"Senshi, prepare to die."

"Is she really the pinky?" Dragon Mercury said looking at their enemy. Staring, even.

"Terry..." Mercury said with a meaningful glare.

"Uh... Okay Moon, hurry up and knock her out."

"I can't," Moon whispered.

"What?"

"Sorry, guys, I can't fight against her."

Earth growled as Moon run away from the battle. "Hey, where are you going?"

"I can understand how she feels," Mars said.

"We have to knock her out to bring her back," Dragon Earth said, "even if I don't want to do it, it's the only way."

The Senshi tried a barrage of attacks, but Black Lady reflected them back. "Pitiful, I was told the Senshi were warriors, but all I see is weak kids."

"You still haven't fought me."

Black Lady looked up and laughed. "And who may you be?"

"Sailor Lilith," the newcomer announced from her spot on top of parked truck.

"Lilith? Was there a Lilith too?" Mars asked.

"Is that even a planet?" Jupiter added.

Lilith leapt off the truck, spinning in the air, and landed a few meters behind Black Lady. The woman snorted. "Nice, so you can do acrobatics, but can you fight?"

"I don't really need to fight, since luck's on my side."

Black Lady ignored her comment and prepared to shoot an energy blast, but something hit her, dragging her down the street for half a block.

Mercury scanned the truck that had knocked Black Lady down the block, and her eyes widened. "Somehow, the hand brake on that truck was released."

"That's just my luck," Lilith said as she walked to the others. She noticed Black Lady was walking her way, furious, and grimaced. "I thought she'd stay down with that. Oh well..."

Mars followed Lilith's line of sight, and saw a tree that looked old and withered. "What are you..."

"Watch this," Lilith said. As Black Lady reached the tree's proximity, it started leaning towards her, and before she knew it, she was stuck under it. "Oops, my bad," the new Senshi taunted.

After blasting the tree sky-high, Black Lady glared at the lucky Senshi. "That's it, I'm going to make sure your death is extra painful."

Lilith smiled. "Oh, but I'm not done with my lucky spree yet."

"Moon Twilight Beam!"

The attack hit its mark, and the pink-haired woman kissed the street once again. "Oh, I see the wimp is back."

Moon glared at her. "I was scared of hurting you, I admit it. But I won't let them use you anymore, ChibiUsa." She produced her disc and sighed. "Here goes nothing. Moon Twilight..." She tossed the disc, then repeated the motions of her first Twilight attack, but the beam struck the disc instead of her target. It lit up with energy, creating a crescent-shaped wave right in front of it. "Wave!"

Black Lady snorted. Big deal, she just had to phase out of the way, and that's what she did. As she reappeared floating in mid-air, however, the tree she'd sent flying up finally returned, knocking her straight into the disc's path.

Moon's eyes widened as the area was lit up for a second. "ChibiUsa..."

The woman was relatively conscious, and glared at Moon, who was walking to her. "Don't... Come any closer."

"I'm not going to let them control you anymore," Moon said.

"No!" Black Lady shouted, then her form changed. ChibiUsa looked at Moon and her eyes teared up. "Usagi..."

"Don't worry, it's okay now," Moon said.

"Sorry Your Highness, but this pawn is too important in my plans."

Moon paled as a figure appeared right behind ChibiUsa. She'd seen it before, it was the man who'd captured her daughter.

"Who are you?" Moon asked.

"I'd love to stay and chat, but I have some chaos to take care of," Wiseman said as he and ChibiUsa vanished.

"No!"

Dragon Earth hugged Moon. "We'll get her back, Usagi."

Mercury looked to one side and winced. "This was a trap."

"What do you mean?" Mars said.

"I'm detecting a source of energy elsewhere in the city... In two different points, actually."

"We need to check them out," Moon said. She was worried about ChibiUsa, but knew whatever the Nemesians were planning would eventually lead her to her daughter.

Nemesis looked around. "Hey, Lilith's gone. I didn't see that one coming."

"Mystery Senshi are so predictable..." Mars muttered.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 5: Black Lady.
Episode 52: Crystal Points.


By Razor Knight
Last update: July 6, 2007

------​

From what Seia could see, the Senshi were, as usual, having a hard time defeating their newest foe. Which meant, as she had figured out months ago, that they would soon find a way to overpower her and send her running home.

She was glad the Senshi took on fighting those monsters, that only left the army the evacuation of the zone in question, and the post-battle clean-up. Because, frankly, wherever the Senshi fought, there was a high chance of wrecked walls and private property burnt, dented or smashed to pieces.

It wasn't the best job ever, but someone had to clean up after the super heroes.

Her tank's comm signal disrupted her brooding. "What's the matter, Sir?"

"I assume the Senshi have things under control in your area," Kino said through the comm. "But there's trouble elsewhere."

"Well, the Senshi have their hands full right now," Seia said.

"That's bad. We detected four more energy signatures minutes ago, at two points of the city, but now there's six."

Seia was about to comment, but saw the flash of light resulting from Moon's last attack, and nodded. "I think the Senshi just dealt with their enemy here."

"Good, we'll need them to check those other groups out."

------​

Ann floated out of the way of a lightning blast and glared down at her foes. The Ayakashi were stronger than last time they fought them. Much stronger. But to her and her 'brother,' it was all a matter of gathering more energy than they normally did. They were living batteries, much like the Senshi, though their power didn't come from any planet, but from their tree.

The tricky part was, the two Ayakashi they were facing were sending beam after beam at them, and that was breaking their focus. They needed to find a way to solve this, or their foes would end up winning this battle.

And what, exactly, was that crystal they'd placed in the building? Why were they so intent on protecting it? It couldn't be good, but they couldn't get to the building to find out without fighting the Ayakashi.

"Where the heck are the Senshi anyway?" Ail said angrily.

Petz chuckled. "Don't count on them coming... Our leader sent them a special surprise that will keep them busy until it's too late."

"Well, ain't that nice?" Ann muttered.

And so, the target practice continued. If they couldn't defeat these two women, they could at least keep them busy until someone else could do it.

------​

The Senshi were now on a truck, heading for the closest of the two points under attack. "You need to hurry up and build those air boards," Venus said.

Dragon Mercury snorted. "Sorry, I was busy helping you girls save the world, and also making you those weapons."

"That doesn't sound like a good enough reason," Jupiter noted.

"Well, there's also the fact I built this thing a good five years ago, and I lost the blueprints."

"I could help you with that project," Mercury said.

"That would be great, we can figure it out faster that way," the Dragon admitted.

"And you two could spend some quality time together, too," Mars teased.

Mercury blushed. "Shut up."

"Guys, we should split," Moon said. "I bet there's two Ayakashi in each of these places."

"I like that plan," Mercury said, thankful for the topic switch. She produced her computer and typed a few commands. "Yes, there's two of them in each point, and the twins are in the one closer to us. But there's also two... Unknown energy signals, one in each spot."

"Maybe it's more of those 'Drones'?" Nemesis pondered.

"No, if they were, my computer would identify them. Whatever it is, it's something we've never seen before."

"Hey, can that computer play Doom?" Dragon Venus asked.

"As a matter of fact, yes, it can," Mercury said seriously. The others stared at her and she shrugged. "Come on, guys, I don't spend all my time either studying or fighting evil."

"Why don't I have a computer like that?" Dragon Mercury muttered.

"You can ask Luna that next time we see her," Moon said.

------​

"So, what do you think?"

Luna looked up at Lilith. "You did well."

"Yeah, but I wish I could be throwing laser beams around like the other Senshi do..."

"Only Venus does that, the others are different elements."

"Same difference."

"Just remember, don't abuse your power, it could turn against you."

"I know, I know..." Lilith muttered.

Shade shivered as if a cold air blast had hit her. "I'm sensing dark mana, all around this area."

Lilith smirked. "Whoever is behind that, today's not going to be their lucky day."

------​

Half the team was dropped near the first point, and as soon as they looked around, they saw things looked bad. Civilians were either throwing insults or fighting each other all around the area. "What the hell is going on here?" Dragon Venus asked.

Nemesis cringed. "I... I can feel a lot of dark energy. It's spreading all around us."

Saturn used her visor and nodded. "You're right, and it all seems to be leaking from that building."

"Dark Tempest!"

"Light Shield!"

The Senshi looked up as the icy wave was absorbed by the shield. "Oh, it's you," Saturn said dismissively.

"We won't let you destroy the Dark Crystal shard," Karaberas snapped from the rooftop she was on.

"That must be the thing behind this zone's riots," Nemesis said.

"And there may be another one in the other area," Venus guessed.

"Good guess, kid. We hoped Wiseman's new toy would keep you busy, but I guess you got lucky."

"Someone said luck?"

The two Ayakashi turned to see Lilith standing there. "You?"

"Skip the talking," Lilith snapped, but still didn't move. She was, after all, standing right in front of a big water tower, which would be her first weapon for this battle.

Beruche glared at her. "As you wish. Dark Tempest!"

Lilith leapt aside, and the attack missed her for a good two seconds. What it didn't miss, however, was the water tower's support beams, which were cut clean, causing it to fall into the roof.

"This will suck," Karaberas said before both sisters were knocked out of the roof by the massive water wave coming from the tank.

"That's what I call dumb luck," Dragon Venus commented. The Senshi all surrounded the Ayakashi and waited for their next move.

Karaberas smiled to herself. Stupid kids, so focused in fighting them, they were forgetting the Dark Crystal shard. It had already corrupted the area, but the more it stood, the more darkness it leaked out. "This isn't over yet, Senshi."

Saturn summoned her glaive. "I was waiting for a time to try this. Saturn..." Some kind of white, translucent energy started swirling around the glaive, and she pointed it forwards. "...Wraith's..." The energy took the shape of a ghastly female figure, its eyes blank and its face frozen in a scream of terror. "... Cry!" As she shouted that, the wraith shot out of the glaive with a high-pitched, blood-chilling wail, and started surrounding the two Ayakashi.

"What's... This?" Karaberas slowly knelt on the ground, her eyes showing confusion.

"My energy..." Beruche stammered as she also fell to her knees.

The wraith melted back into Saturn's glaive, and the Death Senshi's eyes went completely white for a split second. "Your energy? Not anymore," she said to the Ayakashi. "Surrender and we may let you leave."

Karaberas stood up despite her energy being almost gone. "I won't let you destroy the shard..."

Just then, there was a noise of shattering glass as something hit the ground near the building. Beruche looked at it in shock, hundreds of tiny, black pieces of crystal. "We forgot about that :red:..."

Lilith looked out the window of the tenth floor and gave them a fake apologetic look. "Oops, sorry, I dropped your pretty crystal. How dumb of me."

Karaberas sighed in defeat. "Next time, you won't get the shard."

Saturn looked up at Lilith and nodded. "Well done, newbie. It all went as planned."

Lilith leapt off the window, 'luckily' bouncing off a flag pole in the third floor, then landed right besides Saturn. "What plan?"

"Simple, once I knew you were up there, I figured you'd look for the crystal. So it was just a matter of stalling the two idiots until you broke it."

"Care telling us who you are?" Venus asked the newest Senshi.

"I can't do that yet," Lilith said, "but maybe after this war is over, I will."

------​

In another section of the city, the rest of the Senshi had arrived to see the area in a similar chaos. People throwing stones at windows, cars and even other civilians, and even the cops seemed to be under the effect of whatever was turning everyone insane.

"Uhm..." Moon turned to Seia. "Stay out of the area until we figure out what is affecting everyone."

Seia nodded. "It wouldn't do any good to you to have a few berserk tanks around."

"Actually we're worried about you trying to rocket us down," Jupiter teased.

"Hardy har har," Seia muttered. "Okay, we'll wait for your call, have fun."

Mercury ducked as a mailbox went flying by. "Oh, this will be lots of fun, indeed."

"Just stay together and use your healing magic on anyone coming too close," Moon said. "That should either heal them, or knock them out."

"Works for me," Dragon Mercury said.

------​

Several knocked out civilians later, they finally arrived the source of the problem. "Whatever is doing this, is inside that fast food place," Mercury said pointing at a building.

"Dark Inferno!"

"Dragon's Mist!" Dragon Mercury reacted fast, tossing a few bombs at the incoming attack, and the cold cancelled the fire blast. "Hi there, hothead, been a while."

Cooan snorted at him as the two Ayakashi stood between the building and their foes. "You will never get that shard."

"Shard?" Moon said. "Mercury, we need to know what we're facing here."

Mercury nodded. "I'm on it."

Ail and Ann floated to them. "Good to see you here, guys."

"Where were you?" Mars asked.

"Recovering our breath," Ann said. "We couldn't get past those two, so we decided to stall them."

"Dark Pulse!"

The Senshi were painfully reminded of their foes as their surroundings cracked with electricity. "Okay, :red:, you asked for it," Dragon Mercury snapped as he charged the two villains.

"Dark Inferno!"

Dragon Mercury leapt over the flames, landing foot-first on Cooan's face, then used the 'platform' to jump away just as a lightning blast hissed by.

"I'm going to skin you for this, ice brat!" Cooan snarled.

"Ohh... I'm scared, seriously," Dragon Mercury teased. He knew they could blast him away, but also, he was only distracting them.

Mercury had guessed his plan, and had slowly sneaked past the two women unnoticed. She walked into the building and looked at the small, black crystalline shard. "This is the source... But it's also absorbing energy?"

Outside, Jupiter looked at Earth and nodded. They both run to the distracted Ayakashi, not calling upon their attacks until they were a few feet away. "Supreme Thunder Dragon Punch!"

"Earth Quake Punch!"

Cooan was knocked down by Jupiter's punch, but Petz resisted Earth's attack. "Tsk, tsk, a little girl like you shouldn't interrupt adults when they're fighting. Dark Lightning!"

"Karin!" Dragon Earth growled as Earth landed near him. "I'll..."

"She's mine," Earth said as she stood up.

"But..."

Moon nodded. "Do it."

Earth summoned her staff as a white aura surrounded her. "Earth Twilight Power!"

"Aw, cute, the kid's got a new suit," Petz teased.

"Earth Vine Crush!" Earth shouted as she slammed her staff into the ground.

Petz instinctively leapt back, but no attack came. "Huh? What happens, kid, can't you even summon an attack right?"

"I did," Earth said. She raised her staff off the ground, and as she did, a dozen thick vines came out from the ground around Petz, ensnaring her and slowly crushing her.

"That attack's kinda... Kinky," Jupiter commented.

"Let's get out of here," Cooan said, realizing all odds were against them.

"We can't... We have to protect... The shard," Petz said with what little air she had left.

"Moon, target practice!" Mercury said as she run out of the building where the black crystal was, tossing it up in the air.

Moon summoned her disc. "Moon Disc Spiral!" The weapon cut through the shard, breaking it in a thousand pieces.

Cooan glared at the Senshi. "Next time, you won't live to tell the tale, Senshi."

"Blah blah blah," Dragon Mercury muttered as the two villains vanished.

"What was that crystal anyway?" Moon asked.

"We should head back to the base. I'll tell you all what I know about them," Mercury said.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 5: Black Lady.
Episode 53: Triple Trouble.


By Razor Knight
Last update: July 6, 2007

------​

"This is what I could see," Ami said. "Those crystals, whatever they are, are both generators of dark energy, and collectors."

"How does that work?" Karin asked.

"They send a small quantity of dark mana out, enough to cause a few civilians to start acting evilly. Then the crystal feeds on the dark energy generated by their emotions, and uses part of it to boost the power of their 'dark field.'"

"So it's a domino effect," Hotaru said. "The more people gets angry, the more they feed the crystal. The more the crystal is fed, the more it can darken their emotions. Once someone is affected, it's just a matter of time before everyone falls."

Ami nodded. "However, after the crystal's broken, its effect on people vanishes."

"That's good to know," Usagi said, "but we should be careful, we could end up having to fight a crowd of humans."

"We'll just have to knock them out until we solve the problem," Karin said.

"I like your style," Mako admitted. "So... Anyone's got any clues on who Lilith is?"

"No," Hotaru, Ami and Terry said in unison.

"She'll tell us sooner or later," Naru said. "But I gotta admit her powers are quite... Useful."

"But isn't manipulating luck a bit like cheating?" Usagi asked.

"As much as it is to generate fire, ice or big rocks out of thin air," Terry noted. "I bet she's got a limit to her powers, just like us."

------​

Chie walked down the street, with no real destination in mind. She was thinking about the last few months of her life, or last few days if she didn't count her trip to the Limbo. 'It's fun, but I think Pluto and the cats are making a big fuss over nothing. So what if I used my powers too much? What could happen?'

Just then, a truck rushed by, hitting a patch of water and soaking her.

"Oh, that." Chie muttered.

"Told you," Luna said.

Chie looked at the cat who was standing on a tree branch near her. "Bad luck to compensate for all the lucky sprees? I can take it."

"Don't be naive. The more you use your power, the more chances you have of them to backfire in combat. Always keep that in mind."

Chie cringed. It was one thing to have bad luck while she was just walking around, but she could see Luna's point. What if bad luck hit when she was fighting those Ayakashi? She could end up hurt, or worse. "I... I see. I'll be more careful. Still, the limit..."

"I know, sounds unfair, but you need to use your power better. Also, I thought Pluto had trained you to fight without it?"

"Sure did. I just don't think I'll try going melee on those elemental-throwing wenches."

"Chicken," Luna teased.

Chie walked away sulking, then turned to look at Luna. "Think fast."

Luna blinked in confusion before she noticed the branch was breaking. "Hey!" she managed to jump off the branch, but landed right in what was left of the water puddle. "..."

"Isn't that unlucky?" Chie mused as she walked around the corner.

Luna hopped to the sidewalk and shook most of the water off herself, then she heard a scream. She dashed around the corner to help Chie, but started laughing as she saw her.

The girl was, right now, covered in... Cake. "It's not funny!"

A few stories above, a man in a chef suit popped out of a window, looked down and grimaced. "Sorry miss, it slipped."

Chie didn't bother looking up, she just stormed back they way she came, picking up a still giggling Luna as she did. "Okay, I see your damn point already," Chie said. "These powers are starting to not look so great anymore."

"Just like Usagi or the others, all you need to do is learn to use them better," Luna said. "Either that, or improve your dodging," she added then started giggling again.

Chie unceremoniously released Luna from her hands, causing her to land in another small puddle of water. "Shut up."

"I thought you'd learnt not to abuse your luck?" Luna snapped, annoyed at once again being wet. She was, after all, a cat.

"That wasn't luck, I was quite aware of the water," Chie noted. "Don't blame your dumbness on luck."

"She's worse than Usagi was," Luna muttered as Chie walked away, then cringed. "Something must be wrong with the Universe."

------​

"You wanted to see me?"

Saffir nodded at his brother. "It's about the Wiseman."

"What about him?"

"I don't think he's doing this for our people."

"I don't follow," Dimando said. There was no reason to doubt the Wiseman, he'd helped them out of their dark world to the Earth, and helped them conquering most of the planet in only a few months.

"Think about it, brother. These Senshi we're fighting, they're the same from Crystal Tokyo."

"I know that."

"And Wiseman tells us the best way to destroy Crystal Tokyo is to corrupt those points."

"What do you..."

Saffir sighed in exasperation. Dimando was a military genius, but time traveling wasn't his field, at all. "If we corrupt those points, Crystal Tokyo will cease to exist in the future." He noticed his brother was staring at him, so he guessed he'd figured out most of what he was about to say. "If Crystal Tokyo isn't there in the future, then what have we been attacking the last few months? And if the Senshi of this era die, they won't exist in the future."

"Which means no Princess."

"Which means we never followed her to this time."

Dimando growled. "If what you're saying is true, then I need to talk to the Wiseman."

Saffir nodded as his brother left the room. He wasn't sure what that monster was planning, but whatever it was, he could guess it wouldn't be good for either sides of the war.

------​

Lunch time, the Senshi were sitting around the table, which kept on growing to fit the newcomers. "So, I estimate in a few weeks we'll all be able to stay in Twilight, and use more than one Twilight attack per day. Well, not counting the weapon ones."

Mako shrugged. "I like my weapon... Lets me feel what my attack does to my foes."

They felt silent as Chie walked by, until Karin spoke up. "Hi Chie."

"Hi Karin. Hi guys."

"So, any more culinary accidents happen?" Karin asked with a small smile.

"... Screw you." Chie said and walked off.

"Maybe I'd like that," Karin said, mostly to herself.

"What was that about?" Minako asked.

"I saw Chie yesterday when I was coming home from Crown, she... Best way to say it is, she looked like a cake."

"How did that happen?" Usagi asked.

"Well, she was walking around and someone dropped a cake from a third floor, I think that's how it went. She was :red:ing about her lousy luck since then."

"Lousy luck..." Ami said, her mind hitting sixth gear.

Terry looked at Ami as she fell silent. He knew her well enough to know whatever she was thinking about, she'd come up with some good results.

"Karin, you shouldn't make fun of her," Minako said. "It's not funny at all to have food thrown at your..." Just then, a handful of pasta landed on her head. "... Face," she finished. "Who did this?"

"Food war!" someone shouted, and soon the place was turned into a war zone, as food fled everywhere.

Ami's mind returned to reality as an orange bounced on her shoulder. "This is strange. I've never seen any food wars in this school."

Hotaru had her visor on, and looked around the room. "There's one of those dark crystals in this building."

Ami noticed everyone was too busy flinging food around to notice them, so she risked using her own visor. "That's right... But I'm getting another reading."

"Several blocks away from here," Hotaru said. "My best guess is, Crown is the place."

Ami nodded at that. "And also... Crap."

"What's wrong?"

"Black Lady is here," Ami said.

"Good, time to get ChibiUsa back," Usagi said. "Guys, split and break those crystals. Hotaru, come with me."

Hotaru nodded. "Sounds like fun."

------​

And so, while the others split to destroy the crystals, Moon and Saturn got to where Black Lady was. She was standing on the school's roof, arms crossed, and looked at them with a bored look. "About time, you've always been a slacker, Rabbit.

"Great, now she's calling me that..."

"Think fast!"

Black Lady leapt back, barely dodging Lilith's attack. "You again?"

"Yeah, I was about to say the same thing, pinky."

"There's no trees or trucks here," Black Lady mocked. "What are you going to do, roll a dice?"

Lilith shrugged and lunged forwards, hitting Black Lady in the face. "Don't think just because I'm not throwing energy beams around, I can't kick your :red:."

Black Lady countered by tackling Lilith into the wire fence surrounding the roof. "I'm going to enjoy killing you, lucky girl."

Moon and Saturn blinked as part of the fence fell off, causing Black Lady and her foe to fall down. As they looked down, they saw both fighters were struggling to stand up.

Black Lady stood up and saw three Senshi waiting for her. "I..."

"ChibiUsa, you don't have to do this."

"I don't?"

"No. What happened in the future isn't your fault. Please, don't let them control you."

"I..." Black Lady walked to Moon, her eyes watering. "Sorry about all this."

"It's okay..." Moon said.

Saturn growled and put her glaive's tip on Black Lady's throat. "Stand back."

"Saturn!" Moon warned.

"Moon, don't be stupid. She's not back to normal, she's still being controlled by the enemy."

Moon's eyes widened. "You... My daughter is there, I know that much," she said turning back to Black Lady, "but you're not her. How dare you playing with my feelings for her..."

Black Lady leapt away and chuckled evilly. "It's really not my fault you're so gullible, oh mighty Queen."

Moon frowned and rushed at Black Lady. She tried to punch her, but the woman deflected the hit and kicked her down. "How..."

"You're useless in melee, moon girl. And your attacks can't harm me after the upgrade Wiseman gave me."

"Who's that Wiseman?"

"You don't need to know, you're going to die right now," Black Lady snapped as her hands lit up.

Saturn had summoned her glaive before Moon attacked, and decided to use it. "Wraith's Cry!"

"Die!" Black Lady shouted as she unleashed her energy. She didn't realize Moon had summoned her disc until her blast hit it, bouncing back at her. From such a short distance, she had no way to dodge her own blast, or the death creature Saturn had summoned.

"Finally," Moon said as Black Lady fell. "I have to..."

Wiseman appeared in front of her, his red eyes glowing in anger. "Stupid Moon Queen, I thought my warrior could defeat you, but I see you're stronger than I expected. I guess I'll have to take care of you myself."

Moon glared at him. "You won't get her again!"

Wiseman laughed at that. "Too late." Black Lady vanished and he looked at Moon. As he did, however, he backed away. Moon had summoned her crystal, and it was shining with light. It hurt him, and caused him to scream, more out of surprise than pain, actually. "Damn you! It doesn't matter if you live, this little game is almost over, and I've already won!"

Saturn walked to Moon as the Wiseman vanished. "Are you okay?"

"You could've tried to attack him," Moon snapped. "Sorry, I..."

Saturn nodded. "I saw his power level, it's out of my league... Out of yours, even."

"For some reason, the Ginzuishou scared him off."

"Let's go see if the others need help," Saturn suggested.

------​

A figure had observed the battle from the shadows, and walked off as soon as it was over. Black Lady and Wiseman were both strange cases. The woman had an energy like that of Sailor Moon herself, and Wiseman... His readings were similar to those of a youma. It was time to go back to the base and let the good doctor figure things out for her.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 5: Black Lady.
Episode 54: Dark Showdown.


By Razor Knight
Last update: July 9, 2007

------​

"Wiseman!"

"Yes, my Prince?" the cloaked figure asked as he walked out of the shadows.

"I want to know what is it you're doing with those crystal points. The figures were all destroyed, but you don't seem to care."

"The damage to those points is already done. Four of them have fallen, and the fifth will soon follow."

"I've realized all this won't help my people. If this era's Senshi die, then our future will be changed."

"It will change for good, Prince," Wiseman said. "Trust me, have I ever failed you?"

Dimando turned away from the man, "I've seen your real intentions, Wiseman. I'll ask you to leave my castle once, before I force you out."

Wiseman looked at Dimando for a few seconds before nodding. "I see... I should've foreseen this, you are a smart young man after all. Very well, I shall leave this place, but should you interfere with my plans, I will have no mercy."

"The feeling is mutual," Dimando said.

Wiseman said no more, leaving the room and appearing in Black Lady's room. "We have to leave at once. Dimando has betrayed our cause."

"I could take care of him," Black Lady said.

"Even though you're powerful, I don't think you could. And I need that last crystal point to achieve my full power."

"Then I'll corrupt that last crystal."

Wiseman nodded. "I'll borrow some toys from Dimando, just in case the Senshi are foolish enough to interfere again."

------​

Luna watched Usagi sulking around her bedroom worriedly. "Usagi, you should be resting. We can't be sure when the Black Moon will attack again."

Usagi looked at the cat, her eyes showing worry. "I'm too worried about ChibiUsa to rest."

Luna decided against mentioning rest never being a difficult thing for Usagi before. "Worrying about her won't bring her back."

"You're right!" Usagi said. "I know what to do. Thanks, Luna."

Luna shook her head as Usagi darted out of the room. "Something tells me this can't end up well."

------​

Terry looked up from the blueprints of the air board he and Ami had been working on for a few days. "Sam?"

"Miss Tsukino is here to see you," Samuel said.

"That's strange," Ami said.

"Why?" Terry said after motioning Samuel to let his friend in.

"It's Sunday, and she's up at ten in the morning?"

"Now you're starting to sound like Rei," Terry mused.

Usagi walked in. "Oh, hi Ami. I was going to ask you next, so..." She then looked at her friends in turns. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

"We were just working on the air boards," Terry said. "So, what brings you here?"

"I was thinking maybe you could build some sort of device to track down Black Lady. I just want to get her back before she gets hurt."

Terry sighed. "There's a simple way to get her."

"Huh?"

"I've tracked the four points the Ayakashi attacked so far, and they're all a fixed distance to one another, with the exception of two, and the strange thing is, the distance between those two points is twice what it should be. I guessed there had to be another point between those two, and calculated its location."

"So, where's that fifth point?"

"You're standing on it."

"The mansion?" Usagi asked. At Terry's nod, she chuckled. "So it was a haunted mansion after all."

"I've improved my security system a bit," Terry said. "Should those Ayakashi show up, they'll get a warm welcome."

------​

Hours later, the group was meeting at the mansion. "Damn it, it's Sunday. Can't we rest once a week?"

Usagi glared at Brad. "Not until my daughter's safe."

Mamoru was looking at the holographic map of Tokyo with the five points marked, and lines between them forming a pentagon. "This is strange... Maybe it's not a pentagon, but a circle."

Terry nodded. "Let me see... There." As he typed commands in a console besides the map, the hologram changed, showing a circle. "Though I fail to see a difference."

"Hmm..." Mamoru looked at the central area of the 'circle' and rose an eyebrow. "Can you calculate the exact center of that circle?"

Terry did that, and smiled. "Done, but I don't know wh-:red:."

"What?" Ami asked.

"How didn't I see that? The Tokyo Tower is at the exact center of that circle."

"Thought so," Mamoru said. "Whatever the Black Moon is planning, it's going to happen at the tower."

Usagi hugged him. "You're so smart, that's why I like you."

"Only like?" Mamoru asked feigning disappointment.

Usagi smiled. "You know the answer to that."

An alarm cut through the tender moment. "What's that?" Rei asked.

"Security breach. Something's inside the mansion," Terry said. He typed a few more commands in the computer and cursed under his breath. "Black Lady, but she's not alone. And she brought one of those crystals, too."

"This time, I'll get her back no matter what," Usagi said.

------​

Black Lady looked at the crystal she'd just placed on a table. "This is it..." Once the last crystal did enough damage, the Wiseman would be able to make the final move to enshroud the Earth with darkness.

"ChibiUsa, stop this!"

Black Lady looked at Moon and the other Senshi, then at the modified drones the Wiseman had given her. "Destroy them."

The drones charged as one, knocking the Senshi out of the mansion through the wall. "Damn it, that's gonna cost me!" Dragon Mercury said before punching the drone that had tackled him down.

Black Lady watched amused as the Senshi fought. These drones had been infused with dark energy, which made them strong. And they had the numerical advantage too, to almost two to one.

"So, this is what Wiseman calls a warrior?"

Mars dodged a drone's jab and noticed the newcomers. "Damn it, the Ayakashi are here!"

Petz looked at the Senshi. "Don't worry, we're not here to fight, we're here to help."

Karaberas nodded. "Wiseman is a traitor, he never wanted to help us, he used us for his plans. Now it's time we pay him back destroying her sock puppet."

"No!"

Cooan glared at Moon. "Out of the way!"

Moon didn't move from where she was, standing between Black Lady and the four women. "I won't let you hurt my daughter."

Black Lady laughed. "Cute. But the :red: is right, out of my way!" She shot an energy blast at Moon, knocking her out of the mansion again.

"ChibiUsa... Why...?"

"You said it yourself, I'm not your daughter. She doesn't exist anymore."

"Dark Pulse!"

Black Lady turned to the Ayakashi as electricity crackled around her body. "I'm supposed to cry in pain now, ain't I?"

"She's powerful, gotta give her that," Beruche commented.

"I'm feeding off this crystal's darkness, as well as the main crystal. There's no way to stop me now, or to stop my master."

"Can't blame us for trying," Petz said. "Okay girls, time for our special surprise."

"I thought we were saving it for the Senshi," Cooan protested.

"Well, Dimando said we can't kill them, so let's kill this one instead."

Black Lady's hands lit up with energy, but she smiled as the four Ayakashi closed their eyes. "Oh, are you going to do some ultimate attack of sorts? Hurry up, I'm waiting."

The four sisters opened their eyes and attacked as one. "Black Moon Attack!"

Black Lady used the energy she'd been gathering to counter most of the attack's force. She was still sent reeling back, but laughed as her four foes fell to their knees. "And that idiot Sailor Moon was worried about you four hurting me. You're pathetic."

Petz staggered up and glared at the woman. She knew her energy was almost gone, and her sisters were in the same situation. But she couldn't give up, not until the Black Lady was gone. She couldn't fail Dimando.

The Senshi were just done destroying the last drone. It had been a hard fight, and they were all exhausted, but Moon herself had barely fought, instead focusing in the battle raging meters away from them. "ChibiUsa, don't do this."

Black Lady turned to her as Petz rushed forwards, gathering the last of her energy to form a lightning blade. "You're next, moon girl, so enjoy the show."

Petz stabbed through air, as Black Lady vanished. "What? Show yourself, coward!"

Her target appeared right behind her, clutching her neck and rising her off the ground. "I'm no coward, :red:. I guess it's only fitting I'm the one destroying you, after all, you were always trying to kill my former self, weren't you?"

"Dark Fire!"

Black Lady chuckled as the attack hit her harmlessly. "Still want to play? Good." She rose her free hand, making sure Petz was facing her sisters. "Die!" She shot a pink energy blast, causing a small explosion to start where the three Ayakashi were. When the light dimmed, there was nothing left of them. "And now..."

"I hope Dimando makes you suffer, you monster..."

"He won't," Black Lady said. Her hands shone with energy, which enveloped Petz. "The Black Moon has already played its part," she added as the energy started pulsing, then another explosion ensued.

Moon's eyes widened as she saw Petz was also gone. "She killed them."

"Now what?" Mars asked. She barely had energy to maybe summon one more of her attacks, and she wasn't sure it would do much good against Black Lady.

"Now, you die," Black Lady said, then frowned. "Or not. You're lucky, Senshi, the Wiseman needs me elsewhere."

As Black Lady teleported out of the scene, the Senshi all staggered up. "That :red: filled my mansion with holes," Dragon Mercury muttered.

"My daughter's still there," Moon said.

"If we can't bring her back, though..." Dragon Venus started.

"We have to do it," Moon said.

Mercury's scanner picked something, and she summoned her computer. A few commands later, her face was pale as snow. ":red:..."

"Ami's cussing, this must be really bad," Jupiter noted.

"It is," Mercury said. "The Tokyo Tower's trapped inside some sort of building-sized version of those crystals."

Moon walked to the mansion and grabbed the black crystal shard. "So that's what they were up to," she said as she crushed the crystal.

Dragon Mercury nodded. "The crystal is emanating dark energy. It will cover the whole city soon."

Venus looked up as the sky darkened. "Weather's so messed up..."

Moon summoned her communicator. "Seia, good to hear from you."

"I bet you already know, but there's a massive crystal all over..."

"The tower, we know," Moon said. "We'll need a transport, pick us up two blocks north from the Zephyr mansion."

Seia nodded. "On our way. This is another final battle, isn't it?"

"Yes," Moon said. "Whatever that monster's doing, it's not going to be good for the Earth."

"I guessed as much. Seia out."

"We really need those air boards," Earth commented.

"Well, if evil overladies stopped attacking here and there, I would have time to build them."

"Overladies?" Mercury mused.

Moon wasn't paying much attention to her friends. Her mind was set in one thing alone, getting ChibiUsa back.

------​

Black Lady teleported on top of the tower, which was now caged inside a massive black crystal. "You summoned me, master?"

Wiseman nodded. "The Senshi are not a threat right now, but the Black Moon is near, and I cannot afford to lose the Dark Crystal."

"You're wrong, we're already here," Dimando said as he and his brother appeared on the crystal spire.

"Good, now I can destroy two traitors in one shot," Wiseman gloated. "But don't worry, you'll be able to fight the Senshi in the afterlife, for they'll soon be joining you."

"You'll have to kill us first," Saffir snapped.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 5: Black Lady.
Episode 55: The Wiseman.


By Razor Knight
Last update: July 10, 2007

------​

Dimando glared at his former adviser. "This is your last chance to give up, Wiseman."

"Why should I when I'm this close to my goal?"

"Because we won't let you destroy this world," Saffir snapped.

"Is that so..." Wiseman mused, then looked past them, as if he'd seen something. "The Senshi... Those pests won't give up."

"Master, I will take care of them," Black Lady said. "They're weak after our last battle, finishing them off won't be a problem."

Wiseman nodded. "Go and destroy them, my girl."

Dimando cursed under his breath. "If she kills them, our future will be destroyed."

Wiseman laughed. "Oh, took you this long to figure it out?" The shadows covering his face was gone for a second, and the two princes could see a skeletal face with empty, glowing eye sockets. "Soon, the reign of the Death Phantom will begin."

"What are you?"

"I'm an immortal being," Wiseman said. "I've fed on the anger and rage of your planet for eons. But as you growth accustomed to the environment, all the rage, all the delicious suffering of your people slowly started to fade. I tried to start civil wars via manipulation, but couldn't."

"So, you used us, right from the start?"

"I needed those dark emotions to exist, Prince Dimando. It was nothing personal. Your anger was easy to exploit, your jealousy of the Earthlings was too good to pass. You had the means to bring me to this planet, and when you saw Crystal Tokyo, you saw an enemy. I saw a beacon of magic that could destroy me if left unchecked."

"Queen Serenity..." Dimando said.

"Indeed. My plan was to corrupt the Earth as I felt there was a relative peace, but with that city standing there, pure and bright, I couldn't do it."

"I don't understand," Saffir said. It wasn't that important for him to know all the story, but they had to stall him until the Senshi arrived. The Wiseman wasn't attacking, which meant he'd also felt their powers were even. "Why come back in time?"

"The Senshi of this time are weaker, and Crystal Tokyo is only an ordinary city. There's no shield stopping me from doing what I did... What you did."

"So, you'll corrupt the city, turn everyone in it evil, then what?"

"Then what?" Wiseman chuckled. "This crystal will grow stronger and stronger, feeding on the anger and hatred of the whole city, until its darkness covers the whole world. I won't need to feed in a few thousand years after I'm done here."

"So, Death Phantom, what shall we do now?"

"We wait," The monster said. "The more I stall you, the stronger I become, but the Senshi are still a menace to me."

"The Ginzuishou," Saffir realized. "That's what you're afraid of."

"That's true, but without a user, it becomes powerless. Once Black Lady kills Sailor Moon, this fight will be over for good."

------​

The army truck stopped as a figure appeared floating in its path. "Should we open fire?" Seia asked.

"No," Moon said, "there's no need to hurt her. Guys, stay here."

"But you..." Mars started.

"For once in your life, trust me," Moon snapped.

Mars nodded. "I always do."

Black Lady smiled as Moon walked out of the truck, alone. "How nice of you to make it easy for me."

"ChibiUsa, I know you're in there. I won't hurt you."

"Too bad I will," Black Lady snapped and shot a beam at her. The beam missed her head for millimeters. "How...?"

"Look," Jupiter said. "Her crystal's shining."

Moon had summoned her Ginzuishou, and was holding it with both hands, as she walked to her 'enemy.' "You keep blaming yourself for what happened in the future," she said, "and that's what helps Wiseman control you. What happened isn't your fault, you wanted to help."

Black Lady backed away as the crystal started glowing. "Stay away!"

"See, even I make mistakes, I let you down several times, I let that Wiseman monster get you once and again. But I don't blame you for what happened in the future. I don't blame you for not telling me the truth before. I'm sure... I'm sure Queen Serenity, in the future, still trusts you."

"How can she..." Black Lady said, "How can she trust me after I let everyone down? She must hate me!"

"She doesn't." Moon said. She was now only a few steps away from Black Lady, but the woman had stopped moving. "I know it because I'm her. I couldn't bring myself to hate you even after you turned evil."

"That's a lie!" Black Lady snapped.

Moon reached her hand forwards. "You know it's not. Stop worrying about what happened, if you want to correct your mistake, there's only one way."

Black Lady slowly reached her hand forwards, then stopped. "No, the Wiseman..."

"Wiseman's been using you, just like he used Dimando," Moon whispered. "Don't you see it? If I die, if this city falls, you will die too."

Black Lady's eyes flared with anger for a second, before she looked at Moon with a smile. "Mother..." She hugged Moon, and as she did, the crystal's energy washed over her. In a matter of seconds, she was back to her normal form, wearing the same dress she'd been wearing when the Wiseman captured her. "Usagi, I'm sorry..."

"It's okay," Moon said.

As the two got into the truck, Dragon Earth smiled. "Well done, Usagi."

"Where to now?" Seia asked.

"To the tower," Moon said.

"Shouldn't we leave Pinky in a safe place first?" Dragon Mercury asked.

"I need to be there," ChibiUsa said. "I want to see how Moon kicks that monster's :red:."

"Such language from a little girl," Nemesis commented.

"Maybe some of Black Lady remains," Mars joked.

------​

Saffir looked down the tower then back to his brother. "It's growing fast."

Wiseman could feel it, Black Lady was no more. And he could feel two beacons of energy coming his way. Two of them? That was impossible! "This has been really entertaining, kids, but it's time you join the rest of your clan in the afterlife."

Dimando saw Wiseman throwing a blast to him, and simply phased out of the way. However, the monster had foreseen this, and had shot a blast to the point where he was to reappear.

"Brother, watch out!"

Saffir's warning was late, but not his action. Dimando looked down at his brother as he laid on the crystal. "Saffir..."

"Don't let him kill... The Queen," Saffir said. "She's our only hope."

Dimando looked up at the robed man as his brother's body started vanishing. "I'm going to destroy you for this!"

Wiseman slapped the energy blast that Dimando threw his way, then laughed coldly. "You don't understand, Prince Dimando... You're a puppet, you always were." He floated to the edge of the tower and laughed again. "Now, if you excuse me, I have a few flies to swat away. You can stay here and watch as your future crumbles to dust."

Dimando thought something he hadn't considered yet. "But if the future is changed..."

"I am immune to time changes, to time magic, even. Why do you think Pluto hasn't come to fight me yet?"

Wiseman vanished, and Dimando looked down. There was a truck coming towards the tower, and he could feel a familiar presence in it. "Saffir, I won't let them die."

------​

Ann groaned as she sat on top of a building. "Damn it. I wish there was something we could do."

"Me too, but you felt their power. If we try to distract them, they will blast us to dust in a blink."

"Guess we'll also need to train if we want to keep up with the Senshi, huh?"

A smile appeared in Ail's face, one Ann knew was a playful one. "And what kind of training are you thinking about?"

"Not that kind, you pervert."

------​

The truck stopped as the Wiseman appeared a few meters away from the tower. "That monster..." Moon muttered.

"You know him?" Earth asked.

"That's the Wiseman," ChibiUsa said, "but that's only the name he's used to control Dimando's people. His original name was Death Phantom."

"How do you know?" Venus asked.

"I was his soldier for a while," ChibiUsa noted. It was almost too bad she had lost her power, because as Black Lady she was sure she would've kicked Phantom's rear, with a little help.

"Senshi, there is no point in struggling. The Earth is already mine, it's just a matter of time now."

"I only need one second to destroy you," Moon snapped.

"Oh, is that so?" the Phantom mused. "Why don't you try?"

"Moon Twilight Wave!"

Wiseman looked at the beam dismissively, and his skeletal hand lit up for a second as he reflected the beam back to his foe.

Moon wasn't expecting to have her own attack bounce back, and couldn't move out of the way. The beam hit something else, however, and Moon stared at the figure in shock.

"Ironic, isn't it?" Dimando said as he fell to his knees. "Been your enemy for so long, and yet I never thought I would be killed by your attacks..."

"Dimando, why..."

"Because my whole family is gone... But I don't blame you. It's up to you now, Serenity, destroy that monster. I've already paid the price for letting him use me."

"Oh, how touching," Death Phantom mused as Dimando's body vanished. "An enemy redeeming himself by saving his former rival. Really touching, but it's all for naught. You will all die in the end."

Moon glared at him. "No."

"What was that, little Queen?"

"We won't die here!" Moon reached up, summoning her crystal. Wiseman instinctively floated back, and she smiled. "Still not immune to this, are you? I'll make you pay for all the lives that were lost in your name, and also for turning my own daughter against me!"

"Go ahead and try, Moon Queen. I'm stronger than you now."

Moon's body shone with light, and the others all watched. "Her power shot up to three thousand," Mercury said.

"Moon... Twilight..." Moon summoned her disc and shot it forwards, then stared at her crystal, floating in front of her outstretched palms. "Storm!" She shot energy through the crystal, which helped the resulting beam grow in size. The beam hit the disc, and it absorbed all the power, speeding towards her foe.

"Idiot!" Wiseman snapped. He rose his hand and the disc stopped. "You can't win this fight!"

Moon struggled to make the disc move, but the monster was keeping it frozen. She was feeling the effects of this new attack already, and she knew her energy wouldn't last much longer.

Mercury cursed under her breath. "Moon's power is going down, fast. She's running out of energy."

"We need to help her!" Mars said.

Saturn looked around. "How? I can see none of us has any energy left to attack."

"Remember the North Pole," Mars said. "Well, you weren't there, but if we concentrate and think about it, we can give Moon what little energy we have left."

Seia cringed as she looked back, she could actually see the tendrils of white energy leaving the Senshi's bodies as they concentrated. "Hope they know what they're doing."

Moon felt a rush of energy and smiled. "Thanks, guys..." She whispered. She tried to move the disc again, but Wiseman wasn't giving up.

"Stupid little girl," the cloaked monster said. "I'm feeding off the anger and pain of your whole city. I have unlimited power at my disposal."

ChibiUsa watched the battle from only a few meters. She was afraid if she moved, she could distract Moon, or worse, she could attract the monster. She hated being helpless, that's what had caused this whole mess in the first place. She wished she had a way to help, but... She suddenly felt a rush of power, and looked down. The crystal, the Ginzuishou, was floating in front of her. She glanced at Moon, and knew it wasn't that Ginzuishou, so... The one from the future?

Dragon Mercury smiled. "Look, guys, guess she finally found what she'd been looking for."

"It was inside her all along?" Venus asked.

"Or in her own pocket dimension," Saturn said. "Doesn't really matter right now, but can she use it?"

ChibiUsa held the crystal in her hands and smiled. "It's worth a try. Moon Prism Power!"

Seia turned to the Senshi as ChibiUsa was surrounded by a bubble of pink light. "What the hell, is she one of you too?"

"We didn't know," Dragon Earth said.

Wiseman growled. "Her Senshi powers awakened... Too bad she'll never get to use them!" He shot an energy blast at the bubble, but it was deflected by an unseen force in the last second, and blasted a parked car sky high. "What? I cannot miss!"

"No matter how powerful you are, luck is still a :red: to you."

Dragon Earth looked at the newcomer. "I was wondering where she was."

The bubble vanished, and ChibiUsa stood there, glaring at the Wiseman. Her suit was identical to the first one Moon wore, only quite a few sizes smaller, and her skirt and boots were pink, while her bows were a much darker shade of that color. "You've caused us all much pain, Wiseman. It's time for you to deal with the consequences." She reached out her hands and closed her eyes. "Moon Prism Attack!"

A pink energy blast shot from the new Senshi's hands, hitting Wiseman dead on. It was, as anyone could guess, way too weak to cause any harm on itself, but it broke the monster's concentration for long enough to cause collateral damage.

Moon smiled as her disc got embedded in the Wiseman's skeletal chest. "Time's up, Wiseman."

"Not... Yet..." Wiseman snapped and started gathering energy.

The pink Senshi frowned. "Moon Prism Attack!"

This time, the blast was aimed at the disc, and as it hit, it caused it to dig deeper into the monster's chest. Moon shook her head. "Guess you need some help giving up. Moon Twilight Beam!"

As the beam hit the disc's border, it lit up with energy, causing the Wiseman to scream in pain, As the last of the beam was absorbed, the disc exploded, destroying its target completely. "We did it!" Venus cheered as the group leapt off the truck.

"'We?'" Moon muttered. "Just kidding, thanks for the help."

"So... You're a Senshi now," Jupiter said to the new Senshi. "Why the suit?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's pink."

"And what's wrong with pink?" The new Senshi asked.

"Uh... Nothing," Jupiter said. "So what should we call you, Sailor Half Moon?"

"Sailor ChibiMoon, actually," the pink Senshi said proudly.

"Hey, at least it wasn't 'Mini Moon,'" Mars joked.

Moon turned to Dragon Mercury. "Was my disc supposed to explode?"

"It's Zero," Dragon Mercury noted. "Just call it back."

Moon closed her eyes for a second, and the disc reformed in her hands. "Wow."

"So, what about that crys..." Earth started, but then the crystal surrounding the tower cracked into a thousand pieces, all of them vanishing before they touched the ground. "...tal? Never mind."

Lilith smiled. "Sorry I was a bit late."

"You're still here?" Mars asked.

"Gee, don't I feel loved," the Lucky Senshi muttered.

"Not what I meant," Mars said. "So... Who are you?"

Earth looked at Lilith and smiled. "You should tell them, Chie."

"Chie?" Moon asked.

"How did you know?" Lilith asked.

"We've been friends for years, I know when something's up with you."

Mercury chuckled. "I wonder if everyone at school is a Senshi..."

"That would be a mess," Venus commented as she tried to imagine an army of Senshi. "And boring."

Pluto appeared in front of them, and smiled as she saw ChibiMoon. "It all went as was meant to."

"Are you here to get ChibiUsa back?" Moon asked.

"Not yet," Pluto said. "Small Lady, I'll come back when it's time for you to return home."

"Wai.." ChibiMoon frowned as Pluto vanished. "I guess this means I'll stay a while longer."

Moon picked her up. "Let's go home, I think we deserve a break."

"We still have school to go to. We should've let them blast the school again," Venus commented.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 6: Ghosts And Memories.
Episode 56: Promises.


By Razor Knight
Last update: July 12, 2007

------​

"Mom, Karin is punching me again."

"No, I'm not!"

"Kids, please behave," their mother said. "We're almost back to Tokyo."

The boy, Mamoru, sat there, arms crossed, glaring at his sister. Karin was a pest, but he knew she was just playing. The girl stuck out her tongue at him, then smiled. He was about to say something when a noise made him freeze.


------​

Mamoru woke up and looked around. A nightmare, a memory from his past, but it was one that he thought he wouldn't have ever again.

He remembered that day. He barely remembered how his parents looked, even in his dream, he couldn't really see their faces. After that, he remembered waking up in the hospital, and they told him his parents were dead. His sister, however, was alive. They had lived with their aunt since then, until Mamoru was eighteen, when he decided to get a house of his own, with the money their parents had left them. Karin had tagged along, and that had been only a few months before Sailor Moon had appeared. In fact, he was sure V was already in the news by then.

But why was he remembering that day now?

"Thank you, Mamoru. I promise I'll bring you lots of flowers."

He stared at the darkness of his room in shock. He could hear those words as if they had been spoken now, but the memory was from years ago. "Fiore."

------​

Usagi rolled to the side as her enemy attacked. She then blocked the next slash, and tried to trip him. Her foe leapt away and waited. "So, what do you think?"

"You're improving," Terry admitted.

"Ami must be very good," Karin joked.

"Huh? Why?" Ami said looking up from the console she was, once again, working on.

"Bet you get lots of private lessons."

Ami blushed a deep red, so Terry walked out of the platform and stood by Karin's side. "I wish some girls started worrying about their own boyfriends, or lack of them."

Minako smiled. "He's right, at least Ami's got a boyfriend."

Karin sighed. "Okay, I give up. I'm not in the mood to argue over that."

"Huh? What happened?"

"Three days ago, Mamoru started having nightmares. Memories from our past, coming back to us. But the weird thing is, I'm having the same dreams he has."

"What about?" Rei asked.

"It's about the day our parents..." She looked down to the ground. "Damn, I'd think it would be easy to talk about it after all these years."

Usagi nodded. "Mamoru told me about it. Your parents died in a car crash, and you two survived."

Terry winced as he remembered waking up one day and finding out his mother was lost in the ocean. "I know that doesn't feel any good."

Karin sighed. "For Mamoru and I it was different. He told me he can't remember his life before the accident, and I.... I was only four back then. I don't really remember my parents."

Chie walked in just then. "This whole luck issue is looking less and less like a blessing."

"Had another bad luck episode?" Karin mused, her mood lightening quick. At her friend's nod, she laughed. "It would help if you stopped using your powers so much."

"Yeah, I don't understand people who use their special powers for something other than beating bad guys around," Brad said while juggling three fireballs.

"Showoff," Minako muttered.

"Let him be, it's not like he can hurt anyone with those weak spells," Rei teased.

Brad tossed the fireballs at her, and blinked as they hit her harmlessly. "Those were supposed to hurt. Explain?" He asked Ami.

"Now you're going to say I'm the resident expert in Senshi powers," Ami mused.

"You are," everyone else said in unison.

"I walked into that one," Ami muttered. "Anyhow, my theory? We're all adapting to our powers. I think fire won't harm Rei unless it's a lot of it, and fast."

"Cool, can I try my Inferno in you?"

Rei summoned her bow. "Okay, but then I get to try these on you."

"Now, kids, calm down," Terry said. "We're supposed to fight evil, not each other."

"It'd be good training, though," Minako said. "And maybe Rei can kick some sense into Brad's skull."

"Thanks, Mina, I love you too," Brad muttered.

"Unknown energy emissions detected near Shinjuku."

"What was that voice?" Mako asked looking around. The voice was female, but she couldn't tell where it came from.

"The base's computer," Terry said. "You think we just play around with it?"

"It'll make it easier to know what's going on, without having to actually type in it," Ami said. "We're going for an AI good enough to control the base's systems."

"You're not calling it HAL, are you?" Brad mused.

"Haven't thought a name for it yet," Terry admitted. "Computer, can you give us more details?"

"Alien lifeforms detected, structure similar to plants."

"Ail and Ann strike back?" Rei mused.

"No, the computer would tell us if they caused trouble. Not that they have a reason to," Ami noted.

"Shinjuku, though, it's gonna be a long walk," Usagi complained.

Terry smirked. "I was waiting for such a time to show you guys these..."

The group blinked as several air boards appeared, each matching the color of one of the Senshi. Moon sat on the white one and smiled. "So, how do we control them?"

"With your mind, just like the disc." Terry said. "Let's go out so you can test them."

------​

A few minutes later, the now airborne Senshi reached their destination. "And this is why lawnmowers were invented," Dragon Mercury commented as he looked down at the city. All around them, dozens, maybe even hundreds of flower-like monsters were lurking, apparently waiting for something.

Mercury looked at the creatures with her visor and shook her head. "After the youma and the drones, this looks wrong."

"Why?" Moon asked.

"Shabon Spray!"

The others watched Mercury's attack go, piercing trough several creatures before vanishing. The plants all looked around confused as the mist settled. "They're really weak," Mars said.

Dragon Mercury nodded. "But their numbers are the problem. We should only use low power attacks, and try to take them all out before we run out of energy."

Jupiter floated down and leapt off the table, punching one of the plants that crawled to her. The plant's head was sent flying off, and it vanished. "You use attacks, I'm going to have fun."

Earth also leapt down and joined the brawl. "There must be hundreds of them," Moon commented looking around.

"Four hundreds and fifty eight," Mercury said. "But they seem to be getting reinforcements constantly."

"Fire in the hole!" Something hit the crowd of plants, causing a small explosion, but it still killed a good number of plants. The Senshi looked north and saw Seia standing on top of a building, holding her trusty rocket launcher. "Hey, what do you know, that worked."

"What kind of rocket was that?" Dragon Mercury asked floating to her.

"One loaded with herbicide," Seia explained. "Senshi, try to find the source of these monsters, we'll keep them busy."

As if to put emphasis on her words, a swarm of tanks rolled in from all directions, surrounding the affected area. Moon turned to Mercury and nodded. "Ami, find what's causing all this."

"Girls, leave it to the army!" Nemesis shouted down at the two Senshi that were still brawling amidst the constant rain of tank shells.

"No way, this is fun!" Both Jupiter and Earth shouted in unison. They then blinked and looked at each other before resuming their weed control.

Mercury scanned the area, and pointed to a small park in the center of the plant army. "I can see a large object there, it has the same energy as the plants."

The Senshi floated over the plants, heading for the park. However, one of the creatures shot a vine up and wrapped it around Venus' leg. "Why you, pervert... Twilight V-Laser!"

The others covered their eyes as Venus' attack atomized the aggressor, along with a few dozen more monsters. Jupiter and Earth joined the others, and they finally reached the park.

"What's that thing?" Earth asked pointing at the massive rock resting in a hole in the far section of the park. "It's shaped like a seed!" Weird thing was, she could feel the rock's energy.

"It is a seed," Mercury said. "It's generating more and more of those plants with every second that passes."

Lilith looked around and spotted something. "Okay, leave this one to me."

Dragon Mercury looked at Lilith as she sped off. "Whatever she's going to do, I bet it'll be fun to watch."

The Senshi all turned to the seed. "Can we destroy it?"

"We may if we use all our power. But that would leave us open for an attack."

Suddenly, a rose struck one of the plants, killing it. Moon looked to the side and saw Dragon Earth standing on a lamppost. "Where have you been?"

"Trying to get past this army of weeds," the Dragon said.

"Here," Dragon Mercury said and summoned one more air board.

Dragon Earth leapt on it and floated to the others. "So, what is the plan for this one?"

"We still haven't decided," Mercury admitted.

"Incoming!"

The Senshi turned to Lilith's shout, and saw her hovering a large tanker truck. "What the heck?" Jupiter muttered.

"Is she going to run them over?" Moon asked.

Mercury looked at the truck. "No, that's liquid nitrogen."

"And?" Moon asked, still not aware of what Lilith's plan was.

Just then, the truck hit the seed head on, inertia causing it to fall on its side. The tank broke, soaking the seed, along with several of the plants, in its extremely cold contents.

"Nothing like winter to kill the weeds," Lilith mused.

"Why are the plants still moving?" Nemesis asked.

Mercury scanned the seed. "It's still emanating energy despite being frozen."

Mars summoned her bow. "What happens when you mix extreme cold with extreme heat?"

Mercury nodded. "That will work." She turned to the others. "Watch out, this can be huge."

"Flame Sniper!"

The fire arrow pierced into the seed, but it only managed to crack it a bit. "Damn, it's not working."

"Snow Spray!" Mercury's attack caused the seed to freeze even colder. "Now, Mars, your other attack!"

Mars nodded. "Burning Soul!"

This time, as the wave of fire hit the seed, it exploded, sending shards of icy rock in all directions. The Senshi dodged as well as they could, but as the attack passed, they saw the seed was gone, and so was the army of plants. "We did it!"

"Damn, we're late."

Moon looked at Ail and Ann as they floated to the park. "Know what those plants were?"

"No idea," Ail said, "we were coming here to destroy them."

Suddenly, a figure appeared in the battlefield. He looked around at the wrecked park and then up at the Senshi. "How dare you destroy my beautiful flowers?"

"Fiore?" Dragon Earth said, recognizing the man.

"You know him?" Moon asked.

"He looks like Ail and Ann," Jupiter noted. And he did, his skin and hair were green, as were his eyes. "A relative, perhaps?"

"Very funny. Maybe I should say you Earthlings all look the same to us?" Ann muttered.

"Good point."

The alien looked up as Dragon Earth descended. "Mamoru... It's good to see you again."

"Fiore, why are you attacking this city?"

Fiore took Mamoru's hands, causing the Senshi to gasp, and Moon to glare. "Don't you remember? I made a promise to you, and now I'm here to fulfill it."

"I'll bring you lots of flowers."

Dragon Earth shook his head as those words echoed through his mind. "Yes, I remember that, but... This?"

"I've found the most beautiful flower in the Universe," Fiore said. "Come with me, and I'll show you."

"Hey now," Moon snapped floating down to them. "Mamoru's mine."

Fiore looked at the girl and snorted. "Whoever you are, you better leave now, Earthling."

Moon pushed Dragon Earth back. "Who is this guy?"

The Dragon looked at her. Was she jealous? "This is Fiore, a very old friend."

Fiore's face turned dead serious. "Mamoru, come with me."

"Not before you explain why you were wrecking my home," Dragon Earth countered.

"I saw all this ugly stone and metal, and just wanted to return it all to nature," Fiore said. "Why do you humans insist in living like this?"

"You're not like this, Fiore. Not the Fiore I knew," Dragon Earth said. "What's happened to you?"

Fiore smiled. "You'll understand when you see the flower I brought."

"No! You won't take him away!" Moon snapped.

Fiore glared at Moon. "I see you need some help making up your mind, Mamoru," he said. Before anyone could react, he shot an energy blast at Moon, knocking her out. He then looked at Mamoru. "If you want to see this human girl again, come to me."

Dragon Earth stared in shock as Fiore vanished, taking Moon along. "No!"

A few more seeds appeared around the park, and soon the area was once again a sea of plant monsters. "That bastard got Moon..." Mars muttered. "We can't let him escape."

"We won't, but what about this?"

"Leave this crisis to us and the army," Ann said, "you go get your Princess back."

Dragon Earth nodded. "Okay guys, let's go to the base."

"Huh, why?"

"We need to figure out where Fiore is," Mamoru said, "and also, you need to know all I know about him."

------​

ChibiUsa had been watching TV, unaware of what was happening. She suddenly winced, however, and stood up. "Why didn't they tell me about that?"

"ChibiUsa, where are you going?" Ikuko asked as she walked out of the kitchen and noticed Usagi's 'cousin' was heading out.

"I'll be at the park," ChibiUsa said.

A block away, she produced her communicator. Luna hadn't been too surprised when she asked her for one, but ChibiUsa herself was surprised it was that easy for the Mooncats to summon those things. And where did they come from, anyway?

"ChibiUsa here. What's going on with those plants?"

"Come to the base, there's something you have to know."

She noticed Mercury's grim face and nodded. "I was heading that way, I'll be there in a few minutes."

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 6: Ghosts And Memories.
Episode 57: Kisenian's Curse.


By Razor Knight
Last update: July 12, 2007

------​

ChibiUsa wasn't too happy to hear the news. "So that monster took Usagi. It's easy, then. We need to go and get Usagi back."

"But I can't understand why Fiore is acting like that," Mamoru commented. "He's not evil, not the Fiore I remember, at least."

"Who is he, anyways?" Mako asked. "An old boyfriend?"

"What? No, we're just friends. I met him after the accident."

Karin nodded "I barely remember him, but yeah, I've seen him before."

"So, what's that about promises, flowers and all that stuff he said?" Rei asked.

"I'll tell you what happened back then," Mamoru said.

------​

Mamoru was alone, he realized that. He knew his sister was alive, but he hadn't seen her since the accident. In fact, he couldn't remember his parents, which made it a lot worse for him to know they were gone.

"Are you alone too?" Mamoru turned to his side. A sickly-looking kid was looking at him, smiling. "I know how bad it is to be alone in this world," the boy continued. "I'll be your friend."

Mamoru smiled. Yes, it'd be good to have a friend to talk to while he was in the hospital.


------​

"I didn't know what he really was," Mamoru said. "But he trusted me enough that he told me once we left the hospital. He had to leave the planet soon, he was looking for a home but couldn't stay on Earth for long, as the atmosphere here was weakening him."

"Why did he come back, then?" Rei asked.

------​

"Mamoru, I'll always remember you," Fiore said.

Mamoru smiled. Fiore had been a good friend, his first friend, and had always been there when he felt sad, to cheer him up. Now Fiore felt sad about leaving him, but Mamoru knew how to solve that. "Here."

Fiore looked at the red rose Mamoru was holding. "What's this?"

"A present," Mamoru said. "They're the prettiest flowers in this planet."

Fiore took the rose and then held Mamoru's hands. "Thank you... I didn't know getting a simple flower would make me so happy. I'll come back to Earth someday. I promise I'll bring you lots of flowers."


------​

"And that was the last time I saw him," Mamoru finished.

"His intentions might have been good back then, but his 'gifts' are trying to tear the city down to shreds," Brad commented.

"I know, and I'm going to clear things out when I see him."

Ami and Terry had been busily trying to locate Fiore. As they did, they both looked at each other in shock. "The comet..."

"What comet?" Chie asked.

"There's a comet that's been on the news, a new one," Ami said. "I dismissed it as just another comet, but look." A large section of the northern wall of the base slid down, revealing a large monitor. Noticing the stares from the other Senshi, she smiled. "We told you we've been busy lately."

Karin looked at the large screen as it showed the 'comet.' "That thing is also shaped like a seed."

"Where are those images coming from?" Brad asked.

"One of my father's satellites," Terry said. "Now let's zoom in..."

The image zoomed into the seed-like comet, showing Fiore looking down at a still unconscious Sailor Moon. "Usagi..."

"What's that thing behind him?" Mako asked.

Ami looked at the image. There was something in Fiore's back, a small purple flower. "I don't know, but it seems to be attached to Fiore."

"Well, we're back just in time," Luna said.

"You guys, stop disappearing on us, will you?" Minako muttered.

"We probably will, we don't have any other Senshi to find, and we don't know if there will be any more dragons," Artemis commented.

"In any case," Shade said, "There was a legend back in Queen Serenity's era, of an evil plant, the Kisenian Flower, that fed on planets. It sucked their energy dry then moved on to the next."

"It can't move on its own, so it uses other beings as its arms and legs."

Hotaru looked at the screen. "If that was the beautiful flower he was talking about, why didn't he show it to you when we faced him?"

Mako looked at the flower. It was, to her, quite ugly. "You call that thing beautiful?"

"It's pretty," Hotaru said, "in a creepy way. And well, you know me."

"So, Fiore is being controlled by that creature," Mamoru said. "Good, then all we have to do is go there and kill the weed."

Luna nodded. "If the other part of the legend is true, you better hurry."

"Huh?"

"Kisenian needs a host, but it slowly kills it. Maybe it plans to use Usagi as the next host. And once it takes control, if the flower dies, the host also dies."

"Then we need to get there as soon as possible," Mamoru said.

"How far can we teleport?" Terry asked. "Because that comet's still near Mars."

Ami looked at some numbers in the computer. "But it'll be here in about half an hour."

"What do you mean 'here'?" Minako asked.

"I mean it'll leave a nice big hole where our city is," Ami explained. "We need to either destroy it, or change its course."

"To answer your first question," Luna said, "Senshi of the past used the Sailor Teleport to jump from planet to planet. But it's risky to do so without Sailor Moon."

"Why?" Karin asked.

"The farther we travel, the more energy we use," Hotaru guessed. "Without her Ginzuishou to do most of the work, we could be too weak to fight once we get there."

"We need to rescue Usagi," Rei said, "we'll worry about fighting when we get there."

ChibiUsa frowned. "Maybe we could use my Ginzuishou instead."

"But you're too young, something like that could kill you," Hotaru noted.

"If we lose Usagi, I won't be born," ChibiUsa said. "I'm willing to take the risk."

Hotaru nodded. Like mother, like daughter, they could both seem naive and careless, but they were the bravest persons she'd ever met.

------​

Moon blinked a few times to let the dim light clear her vision. Her mind raced to remember all that had happened, and did so just as she looked up at the green-skinned alien.

"Oh, you don't need to be afraid, human," Fiore said.

"Where are we?"

Fiore pointed to the east, and as Moon looked that way, her heart sank. The Earth was but a small blue speck in space. "We'll be there in a few minutes, don't worry."

It took Moon a second to understand what he meant. "You're going to crash this into my planet? That could kill millions of people!"

"Your race cares not about forests and nature," Fiore said, "so it will be a fair punishment for their disrespect."

"I love your planet," a new voice said. Moon was shocked to see a small flower on Fiore's shoulder. Its roots were apparently bound to his skin. "It's so full of energy and life. It'll be the best meal in centuries."

"You fiend!" Moon snapped. "You're going to help this monster destroy my planet?"

Fiore laughed. "You think I care about humans? I'll save Mamoru, but the rest of you are doomed. You doomed yourselves, I saw it when I first visited this world."

"You'll let that monster destroy my planet? What good will that do?"

"Your planet's wild life is already doomed, it's just a matter of how long it'll take your race to finish the job. Besides, I never said I was an ecologist. I just want to show Mamoru the most beautiful flower in the universe."

"If you mean that one on your shoulder, then sorry, but it's butt ugly."

Fiore turned to the side and looked at Earth. "Mamoru's little sister, always a brat."

"Fiore, let her go," Dragon Earth said.

"Only if you come with me," Fiore offered. "We were destined to be together, Mamoru."

"Let my mom go, you bastard!" ChibiMoon snapped and started charging energy. "I'm..." She fell unconscious to the ground, however, before she could release it.

Mercury checked on her. "She's too tired after the teleport," she said, "but she'll be okay in a few minutes."

Kisenian growled. "Fiore, destroy them all. Keep your friend alive if you want, but kill the others!"

Dragon Earth summoned his shield. "I won't let you do that."

Fiore summoned a vine-like sword and glared at Mamoru. "That girl, she's controlling you. I'm back now, why do you insist in protecting her?"

"Don't you remember?" Dragon Earth said as their swords clashed. "I gave you a rose, a single rose."

"I know. What's that have to do with her?"

------​

"Why are you crying?"

Mamoru looked at the girl with the strange hairdo. It looked like she had two meatballs on top of her head, and that almost made him laugh. "My friend's leaving soon, and I can't do a thing about it," he explained.

The girl smiled at him and looked at the bouquet of roses she was holding. "Since today, I'm an older sister. My mother had a baby, and I brought these for her as a present. Here, it's a happy day for me today, and I want it to be happy for you too."

Mamoru looked at the offered rose for a few seconds before taking it. "Thank you."


------​

Dragon Earth turned to look at Moon. "Until today, I never realized who that little girl was. I gave you that rose as a sign of friendship, Fiore, but... I was destined to be with her, even before I was born."

Fiore looked at him, then at Moon. Kisenian took its chance to take control while Fiore was confused. "See, he betrayed you. He loves that human, not you. He deserves to die with the others."

"No!" Fiore clutched the small flower as if to strangle it. "I made a promise to him, and even if he doesn't feel what I feel I'll still keep my word!"

Kisenian growled. "What are you doing?"

Fiore struggled to rip the flower off him, but it was seemingly impossible. "Mamoru, please... Destroy this comet, destroy me. I never meant to hurt you, but this monster, it promised to help me in my search, and I let it control me."

"We can't do that," Moon said. "If you're still the same Mamoru remembers, then your heart is stronger than that flower's evil."

Fiore looked at Moon and smiled. "Now I see why you chose her." He summoned his sword and cut Kisenian off. "I... Sorry."

Dragon Earth paled as Fiore fell to the ground. "Is he..."

Mercury checked on him. "No, he's still alive."

Kisenian glared up at them. "Stupid humans, you think I need him? I'll take over one of you and then--"

"Moon Prism Attack!"

The others turned to see ChibiMoon standing up after blasting Kisenian to dust. "Good to have you back."

"She killed the bad guy," Jupiter noticed.

"She's Moon's daughter, after all," Saturn mused.

Moon turned to look at the Earth. "The comet, it's still heading for the Earth!"

"We could ask the army to nuke it, or something..." Jupiter suggested.

"You mean the Japanese army has nukes?" Dragon Mercury asked.

"No, but they have the U.S. Army's phone number."

"That wouldn't work," Mercury said. "The inertia will leave thousands of rocks to fall on that side of the planet. We could wreck Tokyo trying to save it."

Moon looked at her crystal as she summoned it. "I can change its course."

"But if you strain yourself, you could die," Mars said.

"Please, Rei," Moon smiled. "I've survived two evil super-beings, you really think a big rock will kill me?"

Fiore staggered up. "This is... All my fault."

"It was Kisenian's fault," Dragon Earth said, "but we dealt with it already. Trust Moon, I know she can save us."

The others nodded in agreement. Moon smiled. "I'll need your help, guys."

The Senshi concentrated, and Moon looked at the Earth as she held her crystal. "Please, Ginzuishou, help me save my world."

------​

The soldiers cheered as the plant monsters started turning into dust. Seia smiled, but the smile faded as she looked up. "Well, I don't think we can shoot that thing down."

"Or that we should," Ann added.

"The Senshi will solve this one," Ail said. "If they don't, I don't think there's anything we can do anyway."

"I like your optimism," Seia muttered.

------​

"Think they can destroy that comet?" Shade asked.

"I don't think they can, but maybe they can change its route."

"But Moon's power isn't enough for that," Luna said. "If she does that, she could die..."

"We'll have to wait and see, I suppose."

------​

Back at the comet, Fiore worriedly watched as Moon concentrated, and the ground shook with the crystal's power. He was both amazed and scared at how much power this female human had. She could've destroyed him anytime she wanted when he captured her, but she didn't.

It was all to clear to him now, he'd fooled himself into thinking Mamoru saw him as more than a friend. He'd found Kisenian in one of the planets he explored looking for a new home, and the plant had then corrupted his mind, slowly taking control of him.

He looked at the horizon. The Earth wasn't in the center anymore, it was slowly moving to one side. Kisenian's target was going to be missed completely, all thanks to these humans. It was then that he heard the exclamations. First there were cheers, then they sounded worried. He looked at Moon, who had fallen to the ground after her job was done, and understood why the others were sad.

"Usagi! Wake up!" Venus said.

"You liar, you said you wouldn't die!" Mars said as she knelt besides her fallen friend.

ChibiMoon was also in tears, and Dragon Earth was simply staring at Moon's body.

Fiore concentrated for a few seconds, and a flower appeared in his hand. "I think it was destiny that let me find this before I came back," he said. "This is the flower I wanted to give you, Mamoru. It is a strange and beautiful one, but also..."

Dragon Earth looked at the flower and saw it had nectar inside. "What is that?"

"It's got healing properties," Fiore said. "Give it to her, I guess it's only fitting, since the flower you gave me was hers."

The Dragon sipped some of the nectar, then kissed Moon. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes and looked around. "What... What happened?"

Fiore smiled. "You saved me, and I always return favors."

Nemesis looked at the Earth, already shrinking down behind them. "We should hurry, I don't know how far we can go with our teleport."

Fiore nodded. "Farewell, Senshi. Goodbye, Mamoru."

Dragon Earth smiled and gave the flower back to him. "Keep it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I already have my own perfect flower," as he said that, he looked at Moon, who smiled at him.

"Since it was my fault you had to come here, let me help you go back," Fiore said. "Maybe someday, I'll be back."

"Is that a promise?" Dragon Earth asked.

"Yes," Fiore said then closed his eyes. The Senshi were all surrounded by a white light for a few seconds, then vanished. He opened his eyes again and looked at the Earth, now only a small blue sphere up in the sky. "It's a promise."
 
Last edited:
Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 6: Ghosts And Memories.
Episode 58: A Bug's Life.


By Razor Knight
Last update: July 13, 2007

------​

Setsuna stood in front of the house, waiting. After several minutes, Hotaru walked out and looked at her. "It's strange or you to visit nowadays," the teenager noted.

The older woman nodded. "I know, but you should understand I barely have time for social visits."

"And the Senshi of Time joking is even stranger," Hotaru added.

"Kage needs your help," Setsuna said turning serious.

"Oh, I see. He can't get rid of a few roaches on his own?"

"They're more than 'a few,' and also... He found their nest."

"Why don't you call the others too?"

"You mean your friends?"

"No, I mean Uranus and Neptune."

Setsuna smiled as she realized Hotaru hadn't denied the 'friends' bit. "Well, they're busy right now. I may have to help them myself if things get out of control."

"I don't understand that... We could go and wipe the Infinity group out."

"For the moment, we're only watching them. I want to know what they're really after, and if we can stop them from getting it."

"Sounds fun," Hotaru said. "All right, I'll go help your 'son,' just need to tell my dad."

Setsuna nodded. "Won't tell your friends about it?"

"If I do, they'll want to tag along. Something tells me leaving Tokyo unprotected just to get rid of a minor pest would be bad."

------​

Meanwhile, back in the base, the rest of the group was taking a break from fighting.

"Okay, it's been officially one week since that mess at the comet," Terry said.

Mako and Karin were sparring, though they couldn't hit each other. "They're good," Rei commented.

Terry nodded. "Both think with their fists."

"That's not entirely true," Ami said.

The fighters ignored the others as they focused on winning. Karin tried a low kick, which Mako sidestepped. She tried to punch Karin down before she could stand, but Karin rolled to the side, then tripped Mako, who fell on top of her.

"Yeah, I can see what you mean now," Terry said.

"Way to make her fall for you, Karin," Chie joked.

Mako stood up quick, blushing. "Sorry."

"My fault," Karin said. 'Not bad, though,' she thought with a smile.

ChibiUsa was watching that all with some interest. It wasn't like she didn't know a few things the others didn't about themselves. She suddenly looked around. "Puu, stop hiding."

Pluto appeared besides her. "Small Lady, sometimes I wonder if you're too smart for your age."

Usagi looked at Pluto. "So, you came to get her?"

Pluto nodded. "Queen Serenity wants to see her daughter."

"Then I guess this is goodbye," ChibiUsa said. "I'll miss you, guys."

"You'll see us all in a few minutes," Rei noted.

"The old, boring you, yeah," ChibiUsa joked.

Usagi hugged ChibiUsa. "I'll miss you."

ChibiUsa walked to Pluto's side, then smiled. "Don't worry, you'll see me in a thousand years."

As both vanished, Usagi wiped off the tears that had started running down her cheeks and smiled. "Well, now we'll have to make sure this world stays in one piece until then."

Karin was standing besides Chie now, and was staring at her. "You had nothing to do with Mako falling on me, right?"

"Sometimes a little luck helps the indecisive," Chie whispered back.

------​

Kage smiled as he opened the door. "Hi Hotaru, good to see you again."

"Hello," Hotaru said. "So, this is your house?"

"Until I get rid of those bugs and go back to Tokyo."

"Not a lot of furniture."

"I only have what I use. So tell me, how's the Tokyo bunch?"

"They're a group of nutcases."

"So you fitted right in."

Hotaru chuckled at that, but stopped as Kage stared at her. "What?"

"You. Laughing. First time I see that."

"Setsuna was right about them, they can befriend you before you even know it happened."

Kage nodded. "In any case, I suppose you'll want to know all I've learnt from these insects."

"That would help the mission."

------​

Saturn had to admit Sun's research was good, and she'd learnt quite a bit about her enemies. The Ank'Ur were insectoids with good enough technology to travel through space, but apparently they dismissed magic completely. Their looks reminded her of roaches, but their social structure was close to bees. They had a main insect, their Lan, who controlled all other insects. If the Lan died, the Ank'Ur would go berserk and die in a matter of hours.

Problem was, Kage didn't know where the clones were inside the nest, and that's where Saturn's help was needed. "So, the nest is in that mount?" she asked her ally.

"The nest is the whole mount," Dragon Sun said.

"Nice, I'll have fun running around blindly, then."

"Yeah, but you've got a board to move through that nest."

"Good point. So, you go to the main boss, and I'll tell you when I'm done with the clones."

"Let the fun begin." Sun rushed forwards, right into the cave-like entrance to the nest, and sounds of battle could immediately be heard.

Saturn took the distraction to her advantage, sneaking into the nest and flying through the tunnels. They were big enough to fit several cars, but also seemed randomly cross one another. She summoned her visor and started scanning. There were three places with a high concentration of creatures. In one of them, there was one single entity with higher energy than the others, and Saturn guessed that was where the big boss was. The other area had several dozen creatures, most likely a 'residential' area.

The third area, however, was her target. Several energy signatures slightly higher than average, along with a few normal creatures. She supposed the clones, while dormant, would not have their full power, and the other creatures, they were most likely guards or nurses.

"Intruder!"

Saturn didn't understand what the creature had said, as their language was just a series of grunts and loose vowels. But she knew the monster she'd just crossed had called for help. Staying to fight wasn't an option, she needed to get rid of those clones before Sun was overrun by the guards.

As she sped down the tunnel, some sort of projectile hissed by from behind. She looked at the impact point and cringed. Some sort of sticky acid, it was eating the rocky walls like water on a sugar cube. "I see, so that's the ranged bugs Kage talked about..." She ignored them, as they couldn't keep up with her board, and finally reached her target.

"The intruder was heading this way"

"Yes, but most guards are taking care of another intruder near the entrance."

Saturn didn't know what the talk was about, but she also didn't mind interrupting them. "Wraith's Cry!"

One good thing about her attack, was that it was a ghost in all the sense of the word. It could attack through walls, and Saturn heard the screams of the insects inside as it drained them. As the wraith returned, Saturn sliced the room's door down. Door was a figure of speech, as it was actually some sticky substance sealing the chamber on the other side from the tunnel she was in.

Once inside, she checked for survivors. The insects in the room, both guards and clones, were very dead. "Saturn here. I took care of the clones, but I'll have to get through a wall of guards to get to their king."

"Same here," Dragon Sun's voice said from the comm. "Can you find a route to the room from where I am?"

Saturn smiled. In Tokyo, with Mercury doing all the tactics, she had rarely ever used her scanner for what it was meant, but here, she could test it to its fullest. "There's a tunnel a few hundred meters to your left, seems to be closed, most likely a cave-in. There's no guards in that one, as I guess they're not counting on anyone crossing it."

"Good, what about you?"

"The more of them I fight, the more energy I'll have," Saturn said. "Unless there's just too many of them. Why?"

"Check your data, I'm seeing a lot of guards running around besides the ones I'm facing. They're heading your way."

"Oh, that could be a mess," Saturn said. "I guess you're on your own until I get rid of them."

"I've been waiting to kick the main bug's :red: for a few months," Sun mused. "So don't worry, I'll get the job done."

------​

Usagi was at Crown, checking the newest arcade with her friends. "This is amazing. A Sailor Moon arcade?"

Minako looked at it. "We should try, I don't think it'll be harder than what we faced so far."

"Wow, they even got a Sailor Saturn," Rei noted. "And Earth."

Chie looked at the characters. "No Lilith, though."

And so, Usagi, Rei, Minako and Karin started a game, while the others watched. Chie noticed Mako paying more attention to one of the players than the game itself and smiled. "Should I be jealous?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Mako asked, playing dumb. She knew she'd been staring at Karin, but she didn't know why, and didn't think anyone would notice.

"Takes one of us to know one of us," Chie said, keeping her voice down so the others wouldn't hear.

Mako walked away from the group, and Chie followed her. "You mean you and Karin... But that can't be, you were chasing after Terry for a while, weren't you?"

"Yeah. It doesn't mean I don't also chase girls now and then."

Mako blushed. "I don't," she said and went back to look at the arcade the others were playing.

"That's what I used to say," Chie said to herself before joining the others.

"Anyone knows where Hotaru is?" Usagi asked. "She would probably like this game."

"Haven't seen her since yesterday," Rei said. "Damn it, Usagi, stop getting in the way of my fire!"

Usagi winced as the Sailor Moon in the screen was toasted by Mars' attack. "Oops."

------​

Saturn dove off her board to avoid a barrage of 'missiles' from the insects. "Spitting at a lady isn't right, guys," she snapped at them.

More and more insects came from the side tunnels, replacing the ones that fell with her attacks. Even though she recovered a bit of energy with every fallen foe, she was still running out of power. "Kage better gets rid of the main insect soon, or I'll end up turning into roach fodder."

------​

Dragon Sun walked into the room after blasting two insects off with his spells. Inside, he found a few dozen more bugs, along with one that was twice as large as the rest, and with a gold hue in its 'skin.'

"Well, well, you must be the Lan."

"You're brave, human, coming all the way here to attack me."

Sun smiled. "You've been trying to eat Chinese, and I don't mean the food. I'll give you one last chance to leave this world, or I'll have to get rid of you."

"Even if you kill me, there will be others taking my place."

"Not anymore," Sun said. "You may have been informed of another intruder..."

"Yes, that was a distraction for you to get here. My troops are taking care of that human right now."

"She's already taken care of your 'spare parts,' bug. And you're next."

"Is that true?" the Lan said turning to one of his underlings.

"The human woman was seen near the resurrection chamber, but we didn't think she..."

Sun winced as the Lan slapped the other insect's head off. "I take it you killed the messenger."

"It doesn't matter, human," the insect said, "because once I destroy you, I'll create more clones."

"Okay, Alien Queen, let's see what you can do."

The Lan growled and charged at Dragon Sun. His opponent simply leapt aside and attacked him before he could realize he'd missed.

"Solar Bolt!"

As soon as the Lan's body fell to the ground, a large hole decorating it's midsection, the other insects started screeching and attacking whatever they had near.

Some sword slashes later, Sun was running down one of the tunnels. "Hotaru, are you okay?"

Saturn's voice sounded almost cheerful in the comm. "This wasn't so hard. As soon as I get over the masses of insane bugs, I'll meet you at the entrance."

"Need help?"

"Not really, they don't fly and they are too out of it to even notice me."

------​

Several hours later, the two warriors were resting at Kage's apartment. "So, you're going back to Tokyo now?"

Hotaru nodded. "What about you?"

"I'm going, too. I can't wait to meet the others."

Hotaru looked out the window, to the setting sun. "Something tells me we'll need your help."

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 6: Ghosts And Memories.
Episode 59: Nova 2.0.


By Razor Knight
Last update: July 13, 2007

------​

Light was the first thing she felt as she recovered her senses. Was the light outside? No, not outside. She opened her eyes and stared up at the bright, gentle light coming from a large lamp. She was lying on some sort of table, an examination table, perhaps? But all that wasn't important now, not to her. She'd deal with it all once she figured out her most important doubt.

'Who am I?' Pieces, fragments of memory started pulling themselves together from the depths of her mind. 'Hana. Thompson. I am Hana Thompson,' she told herself. 'I am also Nova. How can that be? Because I have powers, and such powers are both a blessing and a curse. And I need to hide them from others.' That was Nova, a mask, a facade she used to be able to fight her enemies.

She sat up on her makeshift resting place, and looked around the room. Shadows, all around her, but she didn't mind them. Her suit was different. She remembered white, but this suit wasn't white. Black, covering all of her body like the other one did, but keeping her face uncovered. Her mask was gone... Mask. A flash of memory struck her. A man, a masked man, smiling at her.

Where was she? That question now had more importance than a minute ago. How had she ended there? Her mind refused to give her the answer. Maybe focusing in the only bit of her past that was clear enough... The man, that masked man. 'Zack? Zell? Zero?' Yes, Zero. That was his name. As she tried to remember who he was, some of her still reforming memory seemed to blur, to shift. Must be an effect of whatever happened to me, Nova told herself.

"You're awake. Good."

She looked to the side and saw two figures. One, an old man, wearing a white lab coat, and the signs of aging and balding were all too evident in his head and face. "Who are you?"

"First, who are you?"

"I'm Nova."

"Only Nova?" That was the second figure. A woman, who was purposefully staying out of the light. Nova could still see a hint of gold, but was it a jewel, her hair, or her skin? She couldn't really tell.

Her memories were, finally, falling into place. She could remember now... Zero. Her friend. Her ally. He had turned against her in the end, allied with someone else. Lum... Lumina... Luminite? Yes, that was the name. The name of the monster that had killed her, while Zero watched and smiled. She cringed at the thought. "Hana... Hana is dead. Hana died long ago. But... Why am I alive?"

"You are... Well, your body is a new one, adapted to your powers better than your former body was. You are still as human as you ever were, do not worry."

She stared at the scientist. He was right, she could feel her power was many times stronger than before. "What's there to stop me from frying your mind from the inside, same as your friend's, and leaving?"

"Gratitude," the woman said. "The one that killed you, Luminite, has already been dealt with. However, Zero's become stronger than before, and found stronger allies. Their kind of power, unfortunately, isn't something we can fight directly. But your psychic powers will be a new challenge for them."

"So, I'm supposed to go out there and fight Zero, and whoever he's allied with?"

"The Sailor Senshi," the scientist said. "You will find them to be very powerful, but they lack proper combat training."

"Then this will not be hard at all."

"You will not be alone. We will send several of our troopers there when the time is right," the man said.

Nova nodded. "Before I leave, may I ask your names?"

"My name is Onara, and this is my... Sponsor, A."

"A?" Nova smirked. "Very well, Onara and A. If you excuse me, I have some ghosts of the past to get rid of."

As Nova vanished, 'A' turned to Onara. "Are you sure she's loyal to us?"

"The altered memories I put in her mind will tell her that Zero is an enemy, not an ally. And she will not be looking for any of her real memories, she will be too busy killing the Senshi."

"Think she can manage?"

"You saw her power readings. She is not invincible, but the Senshi will need to kill her to stop her. And I know at least one of their group will not allow that to happen."

------​

Nova floated over the city. What city was this? From the look of it, she was in Japan. Tokyo, most likely. "Now, where are they?" She closed her eyes and mentally scanned miles upon miles of land. Several beacons of power immediately became 'visible' to her in her mind. They were all more or less in the same area of the city. And there were several who were grouped up. Which one was Zero? She couldn't tell. She'd have to go with wild guessing, maybe taking them out one by one.

She was sure she wasn't that cold-blooded before... But if these Senshi had allied with Zero, they were evil. They didn't deserve any mercy from her, Just like Zero and Luminite hadn't shown any mercy when she tried to stop their evil plans.

She could remember them clearly now. Luminite stabbing her through with an energy blade. Zero, standing next to her as she bled to death, and smiling. A mocking, cold smile.

She was sure she'd been dead for a while. So 'A' had a point, she was grateful for this second chance. And they had told her they could send help... A help she wasn't sure she'd really need, but if the Senshi could swarm on her she was sure the battle would turn hectic. So, back to the here and now, she mentally located the closest Senshi, and headed that way, careful to keep her own power cloaked, in case they had means to detect her.

------​

Mako was walking around the city, trying to clear her mind. It wasn't something easy for her, after several boyfriends, to accept she could have that kind of feelings for a girl too. She just couldn't see herself having that kind of feelings for someone of her same gender.

And still... She knew what she was feeling for Karin. Maybe she'd liked her from the start, since the first time she saw her, but now that Karin was within her circle of friends, the initial crush had evolved into something more.

Her friends. Thinking about them made her stop in her track. What would they think if they knew? Maybe they'd freak out, and she couldn't blame them. But she would have to tell them, sooner or later. That was, if she ever accepted the facts, something she was still uncertain of.

Her brooding was interrupted as something unseen hit her, knocking her down to the ground. "Who the heck?"

The woman floating a few meters above her laughed. "You are a Senshi? I was told you were powerful."

Mako looked around and saw nobody else in the area. "Strange... But lucky. Jupiter Twilight Power!"

"Cute suit you've got there. Are you supposed to be some kind of evil cheerleader?"

"Who are you?"

The woman took off the black mask covering her eyes. "Aw, you mean my dear Zero didn't tell you about me?"

Jupiter looked at her. She was about the same age as her, with black hair, and that suit looked way too similar to... Then she realized who this girl was. "Nova?"

"You win, girl. Here's your prize!"

Jupiter tried to dodge the attack, but it was hard to avoid something she couldn't see. She was sent staggering back and looked up to see Nova's surprised face. "Okay, attack me once, and I'll talk. Attack me twice, and you're going down."

Nova rose an eyebrow as she felt the electricity gathering around Jupiter's body. "Impressive."

"Supreme Thunder Dragon Punch!"

Nova saw Jupiter punch the air, and the energy she'd gathered turned into a large dragon. "Nice trick, thundergirl!" she said as she summoned a psi barrier. The dragon hit it dead on, vanishing, but some of the electricity still hit its mark. "Okay, so you are stronger than I thought. That's going to make it all the funnier for me."

"Shabon Spray!"

Nova looked around confusedly for a few seconds. "This mist, it's not natural."

"Hana?"

Nova looked down, using her powers to see through the mist. The man in the blue suit, staring up at her... "Zero?"

"This can't be, why... How did you revive?"

Mercury scanned her. "Impossible, her power is at least double what Moon has."

"She hits hard, too," Jupiter commented.

Dragon Mercury produced his communicator, and winced as all he got was static. "They're not working."

"Oh, that would be my fault too," Nova said. "After all, it wouldn't be fun if all your friends came before I kill you, Zero."

The Dragon's eyes widened. "Kill me? But..."

"Enough!" Nova concentrated and sent a psi wave at her foes. It hit them, knocking them all back. As they stood up, she froze. What had just happened? She had the chance to kill them, to kill Zero, why had she used so little energy?

"Whoever brought her back, also brainwashed her," Mercury guessed.

Dragon Mercury looked up. "Hana, please, remember who I am."

"I know who you are, you betrayed me and helped that :red: Luminite kill me," Nova snapped. "It's payback time."

"If you really wanted to kill me, you would've done it in your last attack," Dragon Mercury said. "I know your powers, and I know how strong you could be if you stop holding back."

"I..."

"Wraith's Cry!"

"Solar Bolt!"

Saturn and Dragon Sun both rushed to the others as Nova was knocked out of the sky. "I guess we're back just in time."

Dragon Mercury glared at her. "Idiot, don't hurt her!"

The Death Senshi was taken aback by his reaction. "What? She looked very eager to hurt you."

"She... She's Hana."

Saturn looked at the unconscious woman, then back at the Dragon. "Oh, I see... What's wrong with her?"

"I don't know, but we can..."

Mercury looked in the same direction he'd looked, and winced as she heard him curse. "She escaped."

"Let's gather everyone and tell them about this," Dragon Mercury said. "I don't want anyone to hurt her, but I don't want any of my friends to get hurt either."

"Terry, she might not be the same... Someone may be trying to fool you."

"Ami, I know that's Hana. She's the same, but someone made her believe I was responsible for her death. Not that she's far off from the truth."

Mercury leaned on him. "I know what she means for you, and I'll help you getting her back."

The Dragon blinked a few times. "I... I thought you would be jealous."

"I can't change what you feel for her," Mercury said. "But it also won't change what I feel for you."

------​

"So, A, she didn't succeed."

"Rubeus, I'm surprised you would call that a failure. After all, your underlings made a lot of tactical retreats, didn't they?"

"Point taken. Are you going to send your pets yet?"

"Oh, not just yet. Nova seems to be resting, preparing to attack again. Once she's distracted the Senshi, we'll send the Omega."

------​

A failure, that's what her first attack had been. And now they would know she was around, they would be waiting her next attack. They could even start looking for her and find her before she recovered.

She had underestimated them, that was clear. But also, she had failed killing Zero. Why? She had a clear shot, a chance to finish him, and yet she held back.

"I know how strong you could be if you stop holding back."

What did he mean? And also, she'd heard him scolding one of his allies for hitting her. Why was he so eager to let her live after what he'd done before?

She winced as a flashback run through her mind. Zero... No, Terry, standing near a tomb, crying. She remembered looking at the tomb, it was Terry's mother's graveyard. Yes, she could see it all as if it was happening again. They were ten and it was the day Terry's mother died in that sea storm. She could see Terry in her mind, turning to look at her and wiping his tears.

"I couldn't do a thing to save her, but I promise I'll never let you die."

Nova fell to the ground, clutching her head. The first flashback she'd got, the one with Zero smiling as he watched her die, came back. This time, however, he had his mask off, and was kneeling besides her, tears running down his eyes.

"No!"

She immediately regretted the outburst, as it unleashed a psi wave that knocked several cars away. And, she thought, it could also be a beacon for the Senshi to find her.

That memory... It couldn't be. She remembered Zero watching while Luminite killed her. But she also remembered him trying to save her, and then watching her die with a completely different face.

Which one was the true one? She couldn't tell, she wanted to believe the last one was the real one, but her mind was a mess. And the one thing Zero had been right about, was what she was dreading. If she let confusion control her, if she let her powers unleashed, it would be something she could regret for the rest of her life.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 6: Ghosts And Memories.
Episode 60: Confusion And Delusion


By Razor Knight
Last update: July 14, 2007

------​

Usagi listened to Terry's story, along with the others, but was quite shocked to know Hana was trying to kill him. She knew he sounded worried when he called them all to the base, but things were worse than she thought.

Minako finally asked what they all were wondering. "Are you really sure it's her?"

"Yes," Terry said. "It's like what happened with Black Lady, though, her power in her current state is amazing. And she's not reached her limits yet."

"I knocked her down easily," Hotaru commented.

"She was confused," Terry explained. "And I was, too. In the end, her last attack confirmed what I guessed."

"What do you mean?" Mako asked.

"Hana is holding back, she unconsciously stopped herself from killing me. Heck, if she had been fighting full power, Mako, I don't think we would have found you alive."

"That's nice to know," Mako muttered.

"You say that's not her full power," Hotaru said, "but I must admit I froze when I first scanned her. What would cause her full power to be unleashed?"

Kage, who'd been silently listening, nodded. "We should be prepared, just in case she decides to let her real powers out."

Terry nodded at him "I don't think we've been properly introduced."

Kage shrugged. "I'm Kage Hiyama, and I was taking care of some alien insects while you guys were busy here with the Death Phantom."

"Okay," Terry said. "Back to Nova, well... There's few things that could unleash her powers. Rage, confusion, or... Well, pleasure too."

"Huh?" Usagi blinked in confusion. "What do you mean by 'pleasure'?"

"Usagi, you should tell your parents to talk to you about the birds and the bees," Rei joked.

Ami looked at Terry, who nodded slowly. She then smiled. "Well, I don't think we need to worry about that last one, right Terry?"

Terry put an arm around her. "I don't think I ever saw you jealous. You're cute when you're like this."

Ami blushed. "I..."

Hotaru stood up and walked to the arena, not facing the others. "So, let's say she lets anger take over. Let's say she lets those false memories in her mind fool her. How do we stop her?"

"I only managed to stop her berserker state in the past, because she loved me enough to listen to my words. If that becomes a moot point, then..."

After almost one minute of silence, Hotaru turned to look at Terry. "Then we would have to kill her, right?"

Terry nodded somberly, then silently thought about the options.

"We need to get to her, to make her listen to reason," Usagi said.

"I don't like this. Even if it comes to it, we can't kill her," Minako said.

"If it's her or us..." Rei noted.

"She's human," Minako said. "I won't kill a human being."

Terry stood up and looked at the others in turns. "I'm going out there. It's me she wants, and by now she must have singled me out in her mind. I'll deal with her."

Ami stood up and glared at him. "What are you scared of? That I'm so jealous I'll kill her if she tries to hurt you?"

Terry smiled at her, a humorless smile. "No, I'm worried she'll kill you. I already lost her, I don't want to lose you too, Ami."

"You're not going alone," Usagi said. "I won't let you."

"I know you're the leader, but in this one, I won't..."

"I'm not saying that as a leader, I'm saying that as a friend. You're not going to go out there alone, to face that girl, even if I have to knock you out to stop you from going."

"We've been through worse," Rei said. "But only because we worked as a team."

Terry gave them a half smile. "You don't really know what you're up against."

"We know what you know," Hotaru said, "and I think I'm not the only one that thinks sitting here while that time bomb is out there ready to explode is what being a Senshi is about."

Terry looked at the others again. They were right, Hana was a bomb with a very short fuse right now. And for all he knew, she could explode just by looking at him again. "Okay, you win," he said at last.

"We won't win until this crisis is over," Mako said.

Terry waited as the others walked into the elevator. As Hotaru walked by, he put a hand on her shoulder. "I know her weak points... And I can't ask Moon this, so you're the only choice I have."

"Don't," Hotaru said.

"Please... If she does go insane, I won't be able to kill her myself."

"So, are you asking me this because you think I'm heartless?"

Terry lowered his sight. "No, because I wouldn't be brave enough to do it myself."

"There's always a way out, Terry," Hotaru said. "I know we can save Hana and us at the same time."

"I hope you're right," Terry said with a sigh.

------​

"Where are you going, A?"

"To put the next piece of this puzzle in place," A said turning to Rubeus. "Just in case Nova isn't strong enough to kill them."

Rubeus nodded. "Don't get a sunburn out there."

"Like I ever walk into daylight."

Rubeus turned as A left the room. While he knew his whole family was gone, he also knew A and Onara were right. Rushing in to attack the Senshi would be foolish, heck, Sailor Moon alone had beaten him last time, and she looked stronger now. He was, however, glad the scientist had been able to heal his burnt face and body. When the time came for him to face the Senshi once again, he wanted them to know who their executioner was.

------​

Nova had found an area of the city that was relatively empty. She needed to put her mind back in one piece, and knew if things went wrong...

Another image hit her. Waking up to look at Terry, who slept with a smile in his face. Her memories of that time were also memories of the second time she'd ever lost control of her power.

And not both times had been pleasant to her.

------​

She could feel the power rushing through her, coming out like a
tidal wave, sending cars and trees flying on its wake. Still, a boy
stood and looked at her, untouched by the onslaught.

"Hana, please, stop this."

Stop this? She couldn't. Her brother was gone, died in a car accident. An accident she could've stopped if she hadn't decided to stay home that day. As soon as she heard about it on the news, and recognized her brother's car, she'd run out of the house, as far as she could.

Then, her rage had exploded. But, even in this state, even with all the anger inside of her, she still couldn't hurt him. She could never hurt him, and she knew he wouldn't hurt her, either.

"I told you I'd protect you," Terry said. "And I will, even if it's from your own power." He stepped closer to her, and took her hand. "Stop now, Hana, before you do something you'll regret."


------​

It was like a dam closing, her powers had literally shut down, and she'd fallen unconscious. When she woke up and remembered the reason she'd exploded, she couldn't bring her full power back up, even if she tried.

But why... He was so kind to her, he loved her, why betray her like he did? Had he even betrayed her at all? The memories of her last few minutes of life came back, and both versions of her past clashed, as she fought to keep her emotions in check.

It was a losing battle. Her confusion was feeding her anger, but it wasn't anger directed at Zero anymore. She was angry at herself, for not being able to tell reality from lies in her mind. And, after a few minutes of struggle, it finally happened.

"Zero!" Nova shouted as she stood up, unleashing a psychic wave that turned the small park she was in into a windless tornado.

------​

"Major threat detected near Shibuya."

Terry looked at his watch and nodded. "It's her."

"You connected that thing to the base?"

"I'm not using it to keep the Zero suit anymore, so I thought I'd use it for something else."

Usagi nodded. "Let's go, we have someone to save."

------​

A looked at the nerdy-looking boy. "Do you understand your mission?"

The boy's figure shimmered as a black battle armor replaced his clothes, his face covered mostly by a matching black helm. "I understand, master."

"Good. Game Master, prepare for the war."

Game Master, the boy, nodded. "This will be a game the Senshi won't be able to beat."

------​

"I guess she did it," Dragon Sun noted.

Dragon Mercury looked at the wrecked park. ":red:, it's worse than last time."

"Wait!" Mercury shouted as the Dragon started floating towards the tornado. It was hard to see where it begun, but the air around the dark-clad woman shifted and waved like water.

"Don't worry, Ami, she won't hurt me."

"He's insane," Earth muttered. She could see the ground was cracked and dry, and there was no grass around the area. "And damn it, she's really powerful."

"Even stronger than the Wiseman," Saturn noted.

Dragon Mercury touched the outer wall of the psychic 'bubble' Nova had formed, and gave a relieved sigh as nothing happened. "Okay, here goes nothing." He fled right into the storm, but he felt no changes at all. "Hana!"

Nova looked at him. "Go away! This is all your fault!"

"If you wanted me to go away, I wouldn't be standing here now."

Despite her state, Nova could still figure he was right. "Leave me alone, Zero. Right now, I'm not sure what side of you is the real one."

"You mean you don't know who I am? The kid that would take the shots even when you didn't need any protection? The one that was always there for you, just like you were always there for me?"

Moon looked away from the two, and turned to Mercury, who was glaring at Nova. "Ami, are you okay?"

Nova looked at Mercury, then back at the man defying her powers. "I see... You love her, don't you?"

"Hana, you were dead for a long time. I mourned you for more than I had to, I even went as far as killing the one that killed you."

"You love her, don't you?" Nova repeated.

He nodded. "Yes."

"Then why bother trying to talk to me?"

"Because I don't want to lose any of my friends, Hana. And you're still that to me."

Nova's face lightened for a few seconds, then she was back to glare in Mercury's direction. "No! You were mine!"

Dragon Mercury had never seen one of Nova's attacks. Sure, he could remember feeling their effects, but she'd never shot anything that he could see with his bare eyes. Still, he watched in shock as a black spike shot at him, missing his head barely. Then he realized who the attack was meant for.

Mercury saw the blast coming her way, and realized she couldn't counter it. She dropped to the ground, hoping to miss it, but the attack corrected its trajectory.

"Ami, move!"

Nova's eyes widened. Zero's board was faster than she remembered, as he had managed to reach Mercury and knock her out of the way, taking the shot himself. "Terry!"

Saturn leapt down and checked on the fallen Dragon. "He's weak... It will take me a minute to heal him, if I even can." She then noticed Mercury's body was surrounded by a bluish aura. "Ami?"

Mercury said nothing but three words as she closed her eyes. "Mercury Star Power!"

Moon looked down at her friend and gasped. "I don't need any scanner to know what's going on."

A bubble of ice surrounded Mercury, vanishing seconds later. Her suit had changed slightly, with longer gloves and bows, and a transparent skirt under her normal blue one. She summoned her visor and looked at Nova. "Mercury Frozen Rage!"

Nova tried to stop the massive ice beam with her powers, but the beam didn't slow down. "Impossible!"

Moon started floating down to check on Terry as Mercury's attack sent Nova crashing down, but then saw Mercury summoning another attack. "Ami!"

"Mercury Snow Spray!"

"Stop it!"

Mercury ignored Moon's plea. "Mercury Snow Spray!"

Moon looked at Nova, and noticed she was quite beaten up, but still trying to stand up and fight. "Ami, don't do this."

"Mercury..."

"Ami, don't."

Mercury stopped gathering energy and turned, eyes open wide, to stare at Dragon Mercury. He was admittedly in no shape to fight, but was visibly better than last time she looked at him.

"She almost killed you," Mercury said.

"She's not in control right now. Would you have killed Black Lady if you had the chance?"

"No," Mercury said, then looked down. "Damn it, that was so stupid of me, acting so irrational..."

"Love does that to people," Moon said.

"Guys, hate to tell you this," Jupiter noted, "but she escaped, again."

"I hope she calms the heck down before she hurts someone else," Venus said.

Dragon Mercury stood up, slowly, and looked at Saturn. "Thanks for saving me, again."

"That's what friends do," Saturn said.

"Wow, she called someone a friend," Mars commented.

Mercury walked to her Dragon and hugged him. "For a moment there, I thought... I thought you would die."

"Takes one berserker to take down another," Earth commented. The others stared at her. "What? It's true!"

"So it is," Dragon Earth said. "By the way, why isn't Mercury going back to Twilight?"

"I don't know," Mercury admitted, "and right now, I don't care."

"Let's go back to the base," Moon said, "and try to find her before she does more damage to the city."

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 6: Ghosts And Memories.
Episode 61: Sacrifice.


By Razor Knight
Last update: July 14, 2007

------​

A was furious. "Onara, that girl's useless. She's too much of a wild card to trust her."

The scientist nodded. "I must admit I never expected her to come so close to recovering her true memories. However, she must not be very happy at how Mercury treated her."

"I don't care. She's weaker than I expected, and I don't want to take risks. Send our second player into the board now."

Onara nodded again. "Players, actually, but I have to time our moves right."

------​

Why did he want to save her? She couldn't understand, he saved her, and also Mercury, it made no sense.

'What doesn't make sense, is you trying to kill her.'

That was her own voice, she realized. It wasn't a lie, however, she had let first anger, then confusion and lastly jealousy control her actions. Mercury was quite close to finishing her, one more of those ice blasts and she would have died again.

And, from her point of view, she maybe deserved that. Once again, she saw the same scene at the subway, two overlapped memories. However, the one she had believed in at first, of Zero's betrayal, grew more and more distant. It was a lie. A lie from those two that had revived her. Now she saw it, they were using her all along. Revive something stronger than the Senshi, give it a reason to kill them, and then sit down and watch the carnage. But she had failed.

She also realized, as she scanned the city with her mind, they weren't anywhere near her anymore. They were gone. There was something else, though. She feared facing Terry again. She was sure she'd alienated herself in his eyes after what she did. And still, he had stopped Mercury from shooting that last attack.

"You can't let me die in peace, can you?" she mused. She could see where they were, all the Senshi, but she was sure appearing in their secret place would be quite unwise.

And, to be honest, she feared them now. Mercury had given her a very good reason for that.

------​

"I must admit, your newest attack looks pretty cool," Mako said. "Pun intended."

Ami smiled. "It does, doesn't it?" She turned to Terry. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Nothing a month of rest can't solve," Terry said, "but I can guess that's not going to happen."

Hotaru was using her one-eyed scanner to look at Ami. "Even in human form, your power raised a bit."

"It's just numbers," Karin said, "what matters is, Ami can now really kick some rears."

"So, what do you think?" Minako asked.

"About what?" Terry asked back.

"About Nova... Hana. Will she keep on wrecking things for naught?"

"I don't know," Terry said. "But seeing her in that state hurts more than that blast I took for Ami."

"It's a miracle you survived," Hotaru said, "she was going for the kill."

"Hostile creature detected near Juuban high."

"Eek, now she's gonna wreck the school?" Minako asked. "Wait, that's not so bad."

"Is the creature similar to someone in your database?" Ami asked. It was, admittedly, a good thing the computer could answer simple questions now, without needing to type commands into it.

"Structure similar to the Omega cyborgs."

"Oh well, it's time to..."

Ami pushed Terry down. "You're staying here, mister."

"What if Hana comes back?"

"We'll take care of her," Hotaru said.

"I don't think sitting here while some monster is out there ready to destroy the city is what being a Senshi is about."

Ami looked at Terry and then nodded. "Just be careful, okay?"

"Don't worry, I will. But I can't promise I won't jump in the way of that thing's attack."

------​

As they reached their target, they could see it was, no doubt, another Omega. "Whoever is sending these things, doesn't know when to give up," Dragon Venus commented.

"Too much of a coincidence, isn't it?" Lilith noted.

"What do you mean?"

"Someone decides to send one of these robots after we fought Nova twice."

Earth nodded. "Maybe this is the backup plan."

------​

Nova woke up with a start. She didn't know how long she'd been asleep, but she could feel a powerful new creature near. She knew what it was, most likely the 'help' Onara had mentioned.

She felt better already, she could go and... And what? The Senshi would think she was back for more, but even if they didn't... Could she really face Terry after what she'd almost done?

'You were never a coward, why start now?'

Again, her inner voice hit where it hurt. She wasn't one to run away, and still she'd done so twice, and was doing it again without even bothering to try. She had always been eager to stop criminals, to protect others from harm, and once again, she had a chance to do just that.

She didn't need to think about it anymore. In a blink, Nova was gone, dust and a few leaves raising off the ground as air rushed to occupy the vacuum she left.

------​

"Supreme Thunder Dragon Punch."

Jupiter leapt aside, barely missing the lightning construct. "Nothing's working!"

"Our Twilight attacks can't hurt it," Mercury said.

"What about your new one?"

"I can't summon it. Must need more energy than I have right now."

"Surrender now," the Omega said, "and your deaths will be quick."

Lilith looked up and smiled, the cyborg was standing in front of a cinema, and right under the marquee. "Gotcha."

The Senshi all winced as the marquee fell on their enemy. "That must hurt."

The Omega blasted the marquee to pieces and glared at Lilith. "I see you want to be the first one."

"Die!"

Dragon Mercury stared in shock as Nova appeared right in front of the cyborg, giving it a psi-charged punch that sent it staggering back. "Hana?"

Nova looked up at him. "We'll have to talk after this mess is over."

"Now where have I heard that before?" he mused looking at Mercury.

Nova also looked at Mercury and unconsciously backed away. "Uh..."

"Yes, we'll have to talk," Mercury simply said.

"Nova, you were supposed to help my masters, not betray them," the Omega said.

"I never agreed to that," Nova said, "and I'd rather be a traitor than stay in the side of evil."

"So be it. Moon Twilight Wave."

Nova summoned a barrier to stop the blast, but it punched through it, sending her flying back for almost one block. "Hana!"

Mercury looked at him and then at Moon. "I don't really have to tell you, do I?"

The aura around the Dragon made it quite clear. "Mercury Star Power!" A wall of ice surrounded him as he transformed, vanishing seconds later. His suit was still mostly the same, but with blue, metallic shoulder pads and knee pads. His swords both glowed light blue as he stepped forwards. "Hey tin man, don't hurt my friends."

Nova was trying to stand up, but stopped and smiled as she heard that. "Still the same old Terry."

"Mercury... Ice... Wyrm!"

Dragon Mercury tossed both his swords up, and they both were shrouded by energy. As it grew, it took the form of a reptile, a large, winged snake made of ice. The swords fell back to the Dragon's hands, and he pointed them at his foe. As he did, the massive ice construct fled forwards, smashing into his target and knocking it a few dozen meters back.

"That hurt," the Omega said as it stood up, "but it's not enough. Now, let's begin the executions..." It once again pointed its arms at Nova, who was in too much pain to move out of the way.

"That's enough," Saturn snapped and vanished.

"Snow Spr--" The cyborg looked down at the glaive sticking out of its chest. "Ow."

"Saturn Star Power!"

Omega tried to pry the glaive off its chest, but it wasn't moving. It watched helplessly as Saturn transformed, her new form similar to Mercury's, but with purple where blue should be. "Power increased to over three thousand points," the cyborg droned. "Oh well, it's time to run." He froze as he didn't teleport. "What?"

"That would be... My fault," Nova snapped from the ground.

Saturn looked at the Omega and smiled mockingly. "You don't have a soul, but I can still destroy you. Saturn..."

Omega looked down and saw the glaive's tip was glowing. It would surely mean the pain was about to start.

"... Death..." Saturn pulled her glaive off the cyborg's chest, then rose it. "... Scythe!" She brought the glaive down on her target, cutting right through it, then glared at it. "Goodbye."

The cyborg exploded, knocking Saturn slightly back, and the Senshi cheered. Dragon Mercury saw her kneel on the ground and smiled. "These new attacks are exhausting."

Nova staggered up and looked around. She was surprised to see that, of all the faces she was seeing, the least hostile one was Mercury's. "I would like to apologize for what I did. I am not your enemy, but seeing how things have changed," she looked at Dragon Mercury and then at Mercury as she said that, "I think I shouldn't..."

"Senshi, your time is up."

Nova cringed. Ten more Omega, seemingly weaker than the one that had just been destroyed, but both she and the Senshi were practically out of energy. "This is bad..."

Moon glared at the cyborgs. "I've been fighting for hours, so you really came at the worst time possible. Moon Twilight Storm!" The beam killed two of the ten cyborgs instantly, and damaged a third. Moon, however, fell to her knees. "I'm out of power, guys."

"Leave them to us," Dragon Sun said.

Nova watched as the Senshi fought. They were more, but they were also tired after all the fighting. And she was partially guilty of that, too. She had some energy left, but she didn't want to use it unless it was absolutely needed. After she'd used it, she'd be completely helpless.

And besides, the Senshi were doing fine. They were now down to five cyborgs. Four, she corrected herself as she saw one of the male Senshi behead one of the creatures.

She observed Dragon Mercury with a smile. He moved fast, even tired as he was, and managed to render one of the creature's limbs useless before he was knocked away by it. A second creature saw that, however, and saw the Dragon was too focused in his target.

Nova saw that and grimaced. The creature knocked the one Terry had called Jupiter away, then prepared to attack him. "No!"

"Death Bolt."

Dragon Mercury heard those words, and as he turned, he saw a figure standing in the attack's way. "Hana!"

Nova smiled despite the pain. "Don't worry, I..."

"Hush, girl, I can heal you," Saturn said.

"Wait," Nova said. "Terry, tell me... Is she a good girl?"

"Ami? She sure is," the Dragon said. "I love her as much as I love you."

The girl smiled at that. "Don't hate me for this..."

Dragon Mercury blinked as Nova vanished from his side. "Hana? What are you going to do?"

Nova was now floating over the battle, looking down at the Senshi. "Senshi, I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused."

Moon stood up and looked at the psychic. "Wait, what are you doing?"

Nova didn't answer. She was already concentrating, ignoring the pain from the death energy attack. In fact, she held onto that pain, transforming it in extra energy for what she was about to do. As she opened her eyes, both the Senshi and the cyborgs stopped fighting and looked up. A thin light seemed to emanate from her as she spoke "Goodbye, Terry..."

"No!"

Even as he said that, he knew he was late. Nova unleashed an energy wave stronger than anything he'd ever seen her shoot before. The energy washed over both Senshi and Cyborgs, but the Senshi were unharmed. The cyborgs, however, exploded after only a few seconds of weak resistance.

Nova fell down to the ground, her energy depleted. Dragon Mercury run and caught her, but he knew she was gone. Once again.

"Hana!"

Mercury watched in shock as Dragon Mercury stood there, holding Nova's body. She was dead, she had sacrificed herself.

Moon was thinking the same thing. In the end, Nova chose to save them, even if she had to die for it. She knew they couldn't have resisted much longer against those cyborgs, but there... There had to be another way out.

For the first time, she realized winning wasn't always worth the sacrifice.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 6: Ghosts And Memories.
Episode 62: Decisions.


By Razor Knight
Last update: July 16, 2007

------​

"I can't believe she did that," Rubeus growled. "We could've defeated those Senshi if she hadn't betrayed us."

"At least we do not have to worry about her," Onara said. "And we still have Game Master."

"He's a joke," Rubeus muttered.

'A' glared at him. "Are you saying my creation's a failure?"

"As a matter of fact, yes."

"Watch your words, Nemesian. I will not tolerate anyone doubting my actions."

"Suits you," Rubeus said after a minute, "but don't cry when the Senshi break your new toy."

Onara shook his head as Rubeus left the room. "I told you not to bother saving him."

"You too?" the woman snapped.

"Chill, lady. We need to cooperate to win this war."

------​

Dragon Mercury sighed as he let Nova's body in the ground. "I... Failed, again."

"Maybe I can..." Moon started. "I mean, this crystal of mine seems to pull out a lot of miracles."

The three Mooncats leapt off a nearby building and looked at Nova, then turned to Moon. "You can't," Luna said after a moment of thinking. "Not in your current level."

"But there must be something we can do!"

Saturn had been silently staring at Nova, and finally decided to speak up. "I can feel her soul."

"Couldn't you do that before?" Jupiter asked.

"Yes, but not after death," Saturn said.

"The Senshi of Saturn has powers over life and death," Shade said, "but I didn't think you would have that one power at such an early level."

"What power?" Moon asked.

Saturn looked at the cats, then back at Nova. "I've been able to heal for a while, but I never thought I would be able to do this."

As Saturn walked to Nova, Dragon Mercury frowned. "Okay, someone explain all this to me, because I'm lost, for once."

"Simple," Saturn said, "I can bring her back."

The Dragon's face lit up. "So she..."

Saturn put a hand on Nova's forehead, then winced. "Damn it."

"What?"

"Give me the Saturn sword."

Dragon Mercury did as told. "What are you..."

"My energy's low, so I'll need the small boost the sword gives."

The others waited as Saturn held the sword in one hand, placing the other on Nova's forehead again. Silence took over the scene, only broken by the sounds of the military keeping civilians out of the area.

Nova's body suddenly started shining, prompting gasps from most of the group. As it stopped, Saturn stood up, looking at Dragon Mercury. "It's done."

Mercury had her scanner down, and nodded as she looked at Nova. "Magic will never stop surprising me."

Nova's eyes opened and she sat up. "What... I'm alive?"

Dragon Mercury smiled at her. "Welcome back... Again."

"But how? I know I killed myself with that last attack." Nova stood up and looked around, she was clearly confused.

"That would be my fault," Saturn said. "But don't die again. I can only do that once per person."

"How do you know that?" Mercury asked. Saturn simply shrugged.

Nova looked at Mercury, and unconsciously backed away. "I... I can't stay here."

"Why not?" Moon asked. Surely someone with Nova's power would be very helpful for them.

"Because... Because of what I still feel for him."

"Hana, I..." Dragon Mercury started, but Nova rose her hand to stop him.

"I don't want to be the other girl. I don't want to stay around while you're dating someone else."

"But..." the Dragon started, but stopped as he saw Mercury's stare. "Ami?"

"You know I'm the rational one in this group," Mercury said, "and to me, it's all quite simple. You can't have two girlfriends, so you'll have to choose."

"If you put it that nicely..." the Dragon muttered.

"It's not something that can be decided in a blink," Saturn said.

"For me, it is," Dragon Mercury said, looking at Nova. "For years, you were my friend, my other half, my protector, too, even though I didn't realize that."

Mercury winced. "Terry..."

He turned to look at her. "But, I thought Hana was gone, forever. I couldn't bear the pain, at first, but finding new friends here in Tokyo made me slowly realize I couldn't stay in the past forever. In the end, I fell in love with one of them. You, Ami, are who I want to be with."

Nova looked away. "I..."

"As you said yourself, don't hate me for this," Dragon Mercury said. "I can't change how I feel for her, but I also want you to be my friend."

Nova stood there, staring at the Dragon for well over one minute. Some of the Senshi feared she'd go berserk again, but in the end, she just shook her head. "I don't know what I was hoping for, but yes, you're right. I won't hate you for this, Terry, but right now, I need to be alone."

Moon blinked as Nova vanished. "Hope she'll be fine."

"She will," Dragon Mercury said. "It's just all these changes in her life, must be hard to take."

Mercury smiled. "She's not a bad girl after all."

"Except when she's wrecking stuff, or wrecking us," Dragon Venus noted.

"Brad, your jokes are not welcome right now," Venus said.

"You were right," Dragon Sun said.

"See, I told you," Saturn replied.

"Right about what?" Moon asked the two.

"Nothing," both said in unison.

------​

Things were peaceful for a while, and the damage done to the city was repaired. Nova, or rather Hana, was now standing on top of a sky-scrapper, looking at the city. She had, for most of that last week, been on her own, but she also had tried to go back home, to her parents.

She had never seen either of them so happy. They didn't doubt her when she told them how she had been brought back, and told her they knew Zephyr had moved to Tokyo shortly after she died. There was a problem with her staying with her parents, though. It would be hard for her to reappear magically like that in public, without raising a lot of questions and rumors.

But all those were excuses. She'd realized after being home for one day, that she couldn't be there. She missed him. She couldn't stay away, even if it meant having to see him with that girl everyday. She cared about him too much to be a continent apart from him.

As her mind returned to the present, she summoned her suit. Despite being made by those evil beings, she still liked this black version better than her old one. She scanned the city quick and nodded. There was, indeed, something going on.

------​

The monster walked through the streets of the commercial area, causing humans all around him to run away screaming, or at the very least, to move out of his way. "These creatures are funny," he commented to nobody in particular, "but not what I'm looking for."

"If you're looking for a beating, you just got yourself one."

The mantis looked at the girl in front of him. She was wearing a form-fitting suit, but she was clearly not one of the Senshi. "Who are you human, and why are you defying me, the great Krigale?"

Nova stared at him for a few seconds before laughing. "No, seriously, that's your name?"

"Die!"

As the monster charged, Nova floated up, shooting a psi wave down that crushed the creature into a greenish puddle on the concrete. "He was weaker than I thought."

"They always are."

Nova turned to Dragon Mercury, who was smiling at her. "Terry..."

"So, are you visiting, or staying around?"

"I told you I needed time alone," Nova said, "but I realized I don't care if you are with Mercury. I'm happy for you, and besides, someone has to be here to protect you."

The Dragon laughed at that last bit. "Welcome to the team, then."

"Is there a way to meet them all? Specially Saturn, since I owe her this new chance."

"Yeah, they're all meeting at the base. Need a ride?"

"I know where it is."

"You..."

------​

"... Do?" Dragon Mercury looked around and blinked. They were inside the base, and from the looks of the others, they were as surprised as he was. "I recall having to hold your hand for that trick," he noticed.

"New body, new tricks," Nova joked. "Uh... Hello again, Senshi."

Usagi looked at her. "Welcome back."

Ami looked at Terry. "What happened to the Gale?"

"Gale?" Nova asked. "Oh, you mean that bug I crushed."

"They make them weaker and weaker every day," Rei commented.

Hana turned back to normal. "I want to apologize again for the mess I started. And I want to thank uhm... Saturn, for reviving me."

"That's me," Hotaru said. "Your apology is not needed, though. Your sacrifice showed us you're not an enemy."

Ami walked up to Hana and gave her a meaningful look. "What about you and Terry?"

"I'm ready to move on," Hana said, "but just like him, I don't want to stop being her friend."

"That's okay with me," Ami admitted.

"And besides, there's a lot of things I can tell you about him you possibly don't know," Hana added with a playful smile.

Ami blinked. "Oh, that would be interesting."

"You're so doomed," Brad commented.

"I have nothing to be ashamed of," Terry said.

'You sure about that?'

Terry flinched as he heard Hana's mental voice. "... Or maybe a few things."

"There's one thing you may have noticed about my powers," Hana said, "but I want to warn you just in case. They're never as strong as they were when I fought against you all, because I need to be under extreme circumstances to unleash it."

"That's a norm for us," Ami admitted. "We tend to go beyond our own limits when things get out of control."

"Like that... Ice beam," Hana said. The memory sent shivers through her body, but she covered that as much as she could. "Thing is, in my case, I can't quite control my power."

"You can. It's never hurt me," Terry said.

"Almost never," Ami said, "but I guess the one time it did, it was only because you insist in taking hits for others."

"Can't blame me for wanting to protect someone so cute," Terry said.

Hana smiled at them, then looked around. "So, what do you guys do here?"

"Train, slack off, train some more, slack off..." Brad commented.

"Hey, where's the newbie?" Mako asked.

"I'm here," Chie said.

"No, the other one."

"Kage has to meet someone today," Hotaru said. "He'll be here after he's done."

------​

Kage stood in front of a small house, looking around. This was a good neighbourhood, apparently, and calm enough for his liking. It was good to be back home, too, but he knew his life would never be the way it was when he was in the orphanage.

"So, having fun in Tokyo?"

Kage turned to Setsuna. "Hi 'mom.'"

Setsuna gave him a half-smile. "You know I'm not one for social meetings."

"Gee, can't have fun once in a while, Time Mistress? Anyhow, I was wondering about that Nova girl..."

"What about her?"

"Is she a danger to us? Will she become a powerful ally with time? Will she become yet another Senshi?"

"I can't answer those, except for the first one. She may be dangerous if she ever loses control again."

"Will enemies always be stronger than the ones before?"

Setsuna nodded at that. "In their own ways. Nova wasn't as powerful as the Wiseman, but the Senshi couldn't kill her. Wouldn't, even."

"I see. And lastly... Is there a Dragon Pluto?"

"Do you really think I have time for that, 'son?'"

"Good point," Kage said. "I don't suppose you can tell me what the next enemy will be, right?"

"Good guess," Setsuna said, then vanished.

"I hate when she does that," Kage muttered. Then again, that was most likely why she did it.

------​

Ami turned away from the console to see Hana and Terry having a practice fight. "Can't take my eyes off you for a second, huh?"

Terry dodged Hana's sword swing then countered with a jab to the stomach. "It's just friendly sparring."

Hana took the distraction to kick Terry out of the platform. "Yeah, friendly."

"That had to hurt," Rei commented. "But we should've known she would know how to use a sword."

Hana put the wooden sword back in its place, then nodded. "Terry's master taught me some tricks, and we trained a few times. But I never had a sword to use as Nova."

"What about a psi blade?" Usagi asked.

Hana looked at her, then concentrated, and a white blade appeared in her hand. "Never thought of that."

"Yeah, Usagi has her genius moments," Terry admitted.

"You were revived by the same people who sent those Omega creatures, right?" Hotaru asked.

"Yes."

"Do you know who, or where they are?"

Hana winced. "I can tell you there's one scientist in that group, and two more that didn't look human."

"Didn't you read their minds, or something?" Mako asked.

"I never do," Hana said. "But the man said he was called Onara."

"That freak?" Terry asked.

"You know him?"

"Yeah, he used to work for my father, years ago, researching genetics. He could also build robots in a blink, but he was a bit..."

"Eccentric?" Rei guessed.

"Insane," Terry corrected. "He tried to build a cyborg using cells from some of the best soldiers our army had, but well, dad never liked his company's creations being used for warfare."

"So he fired the man?" Mako asked.

"Of course. And well, that was the last time I ever heard about him. I never thought I would have Sai Onara as my enemy."

"You're joking, right?" Brad asked.

"What?"

"The name..."

"Yeah, I know, I think that's one of the reasons he's insane."

"Unfortunately," Hana said, "when I figured out that they had given me fake memories, I tried to get them, but they had left the city."

Terry nodded. "Onara was insane, not stupid. In any case, now we know what to expect."

------​

'One week passed since they let me into their group. I don't know what other enemies will show up, but I can bet life here won't be boring.'

She looked at the city. She was given a second chance, and she wasn't going to let it pass. Back home, the old Nova was the heroine, but only fought against the odd bank thieves and small-time criminals. Here, in Tokyo, from what the others had told her, was where all the action would pass.

The sound of sirens took her off her brooding, and as she looked down, she saw a few patrols chasing a van. Sure, she couldn't wait to see what enemies the future brought, but that didn't mean she would give up on her old habits.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 7: Game Master.
Episode 63: Game On.


By Razor Knight
Last update: July 19, 2007

------​

Hana looked around the classroom and smiled. About half of it were Senshi, and she could guess that was no coincidence. She had been given a seat near Terry, but that wasn't a problem for her.

"So, Hana, how does Tokyo look to you so far?"

"Quite a fun place," Hana said to Usagi. She hated to admit it, but Onara's plans had helped her more than she realized at first. She had never been good at languages, and yet here she was, with full understanding of Japanese. It felt like cheating, but she supposed that was how Onara worked.

"Ever had the feeling things are about to take a turn for the worse?" Mako commented.

"Considering our 'job,'" Minako said, "they always do."

"Your optimism is contagious," Karin joked.

------​

Game Master looked at his collection. His years of gaming had given him knowledge of all the heroes and villains of videogames, a knowledge he intended to use against the Senshi. And thanks to his 'master' he knew who they were. Most of his peers considered him a nerd, but he spent his fair share of time with videogames too.

He grabbed two cartridges and smiled as they lit up, then three figures appeared in the room.

"Lee brothers, welcome. You must find Makoto Kino and eliminate her before she transforms."

"We may need backup," Jimmy said.

"I know, that's why I've called some of your friends to help. They will be there as soon as you engage your target."

"That Makoto will never know what hit her."

As the Double Dragon teleported out, Game Master turned to his other summon. "Well, what are you looking at?" The big, yellow orb stared at him with those two small, beady black eyes until he threw his arms up in frustration. "Okay, I get it. Once you eliminate Usagi, I will call some ghosts for you to gnaw on." The yellow face smiled then vanished. Game Master simply shook his head and walked out of the room.

------​

Usagi sat in a bench, at the park, thinking about all that had happened in one month. One month since ChibiUsa returned to the future, and one eventful month, too. Nova had been on the news almost every day, as she apparently loved to hunt criminals. With her suit and her powers, she had an easy time catching them, too.

Luna had told her, when asked about it, that Senshi weren't supposed to do what Nova did. Usagi had to agree, since the only attack she had that wouldn't hurt a human was her old Stardust thing, and after facing a dark queen, a dark lady, a death lord, a berserker psychic, and driving a comet, Usagi was quite sure stopping bank robberies and other such things wouldn't pose a challenge to her.

Speaking of challenges, though, she saw one coming her way.

"What is that thing?"

"Monster!"

As expected, the few civilians at the park started running away. Usagi was too confused to be scared of the monster, actually. A man-sized, yellow sphere with two small, black eyes and a 'mouth' that seemed to almost split the sphere in half. No, seriously, was this some kind of joke? A Pacman? He was even kind of cute, not terrorizing.

"Okay, so maybe it's not harmless," Usagi said as Pac-Man chomped a big piece off a tree. It was hungry, and coming her way, so she decided to attack before it tried to bite her head off. "Moon Crystal Power! Moon Tiara Boomerang!"

Pac-Man stared blankly at the incoming projectile, then did the only rational thing it could. It ate the tiara.

"Hey, that's my tiara! Okay, now you've done it." Moon summoned her sword and run to the creature, slashing down at it. Pac-Man's skin was harder than expected, however, and the sword slid down harmlessly. "Uh oh..."

Moon leapt away, narrowly missing getting her arms cut off by the massive mouth. She took out her communicator, and frowned as it didn't work. "Great, they decide to break when I'm being chased by a giant Pac-Man. Nobody's going to believe this one."

The creature started to advance towards her once again, and Moon shook her head. "Enough of you. Moon Twilight Storm!" The creature ate the wave and blinked at her. "What? Not even that works?" It gave a sound like a whimper, then exploded, sending Moon flying back and out of the park. "Ow. I guess he bit off more than he could chew."

"Interesting. You seem to be stronger than I had anticipated."

Moon turned around and saw a man in a blue armor and helm, smiling at her. The armor seemed somehow familiar, thought she couldn't remember where she had seen it before. "Who are you?"

"I'm the Game Master, and what you faced is only the start of this game. A game I intend to win."

Moon blinked as the man vanished. "Okay, they're not going to believe that one, either." She picked up the tiara that had been left behind by the creature, and summoned her board.

------​

She was one of the first to admit she missed being a Senshi when things were peaceful. And this was, as far as Mako knew, one of such times. She liked cooking, but she also didn't like wasting ingredients, so right now, she didn't have much to do.

Going out was her one option, and now she was walking around with no destination in mind. Lately, she found herself unconsciously staring at girls as much as she stared at guys, but she still couldn't believe it.

"Hi, Mako."

Of course, she had one certain girl in her mind, and that was the strangest thing. She had always heard about opposites attracting, but this girl was so... Similar to her. Only difference she could think about was, she didn't seem to cook at all.

"Hello? Earth to Mako?"

"Huh?" Mako realized someone had been walking besides her, and blushed slightly as she realized who it was. "Hi, Karin... Sorry, I was distracted."

"Something on your mind?"

"Someone, actually," Mako said. If what Chie had said before was true, then Karin would be the least likely to freak out at the news. Still, she didn't want to say anything until she was sure.

"Is it a guy?" Karin asked. At Mako's blush she smiled. "Or a girl?"

"A girl," Mako said in a whisper.

"Nothing to be ashamed of," Karin admitted. She could almost guess who the girl was, but she played along.

"But... I've been looking at guys for a while. I can't like girls too."

Karin's smile widened. "Trust me, you can."

"I see..."

After a few minutes of silence, Karin smiled. "You know, I don't think any of your friends will freak out if you tell them."

"Really?"

"I don't think it's anything compared to fighting alien plants."

Mako chuckled at that. Karin had a good point. "I may look dumb for not making up my mind about it."

"Not at all, I didn't realize what my preferences were right away, either. It helped having someone around who shared them."

"Are you and Chie..."

Karin shook her head. "No. I've known her for so long, she's like a sister to me. I may tease her at times, but I don't think I could ever feel anything romantic for her."

"I just need to figure out how to tell this to that girl..."

"There's no need to rush," Karin said.

"Hey, the boss sent us for one girl, but there's two of them."

Mako looked ahead and saw two men staring at them. "Who the heck are you?"

"You mean you don't know us? We're famous, girl," Jimmy said.

"We are Billy and Jimmy Lee, the Double Dragons," Billy added.

"I don't think I've ever heard of you," Karin said.

"Nobody respects us," Jimmy muttered.

"Never mind that, let's beat them down."

Karin stared at them. "They're going to fight us?"

Mako smiled. "They don't know who they're facing."

"Oh, we do know, big bad Sailor Senshi," Billy said, "but you have honor, don't you?"

"I suppose," Karin muttered.

"Besides, we know you could kill us in a second if you transform," Jimmy added. "But would that be fun for you?"

Mako smiled. "I guess they have a point."

Karin nodded. "You get the blue one, I'll get the red one."

Mako rushed Billy, going for a jab, but the man dodged it, backhanding her and sending her to the ground. Karin had similar luck with her kick, so she was also knocked down.

"Who are these guys?" Mako muttered.

"The Double Dragon."

Karin looked up at Saturn. "You know them?"

"It will be hard to believe, but they're from a videogame."

"It sure is," Karin said. "See, there's weirder things than you-know-what," she said to Mako.

Mako nodded. "Want to join in?"

Saturn shook hear head. "I could kill them from up here, but I'm not too much of a challenge in my normal form. My endurance is still a problem to me."

Again, the two girls tried to fight, but they were both knocked back. "This isn't working."

"I think the only ones that could defeat them are... Themselves," Mako said.

Karin looked at her for a second then nodded. "Got it. Let's beat them."

Mako charged at her foe again, but stopped in the last second to dodge his kick. Karin did a similar thing with her opponent, and soon they were dodging while the Double Dragon tried to punch them out.

"You know, they're not that hard," Karin said.

"Yeah, they're so slow, I bet they can't even do a flying kick."

Both men glared at the girls, and both leapt up, going for a kick. As the two girls ducked, however, they realized their mistake, as both kicked each other down.

"Taunting still works on videogame characters," Karin mused.

Billy groaned. "Nice trick, girls, but I think it's time we stop playing nice. Get them!" Several men and women walked out of a side alley. "Let's see how you fight now."

"Wraith's Cry!"

Billy and Jimmy, who were just done standing up, watched in shock as the wraith drained all their henchmen. "What the heck! That's cheating!"

Saturn glared at Jimmy as the 'troops' vanished. "You were cheating too. And I think my friends agree."

"What do you..."

"Supreme Thunder Dragon Punch!"

"Earth Quake Punch!"

Saturn winced as the two men were sent crashing into a wall, vanishing before they hit the ground. "They're definitely weaker than I thought."

"We should tell the others," Jupiter said.

Saturn nodded. "Moon's called us to the base, I was heading that way when I sensed trouble."

"Huh? The coms didn't beep."

Another nod. "I noticed that. These goons must have some kind of blocker, I couldn't call anyone when I came near them."

"Who the heck sends videogame characters to fight, anyways?" Earth pondered. "If they're all this weak, it won't be a challenge."

"Maybe they're not," Saturn said, "maybe these were only scouts."

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 7: Game Master.
Episode 64: Puzzled.


By Razor Knight
Last update: July 20, 2007

------​

As Mako, Karin and Hotaru entered the base, they saw everyone was there already. "Are we late?"

"No, you're just in time," Terry said. "Usagi was telling us about her battle against Pacman."

Mako nodded. "I'd think that's impossible, but we're just done fighting the Double Dragon guys."

"Damn, I should've been there," Brad said.

"Why, wanted to fight them?" Karin asked.

"No, I wanted an autograph."

"I also saw the man behind these attacks," Usagi said. "He called himself Game Master and was wearing some kind of blue armor."

"Blue armor?" Terry asked. "With a helm?"

"Yeah."

Terry walked to the computer console and typed a few commands. In a few seconds, the options menu of a game appeared. "Is it like this one?"

"Yeah, but with a dark blue visor," Usagi said. "Who's that?"

"That's Rockman," Ami said. The others looked at her. "Who do you think installed that there?"

Karin looked at Mako, then at Chie. "Guys, I think we've kept something hidden for a while, and it's time we leave it out in the open."

Chie nodded. "I suppose keeping something like this hidden is silly."

"What do you mean?" Rei asked.

Mamoru smiled. "Oh, that."

Karin nodded. "Okay, let's see..."

------​

"Lieutenant, are these reports true?"

Seia nodded at Kino. "A few civilians witnessed the battle of Moon with what they describe as a big yellow head. Our scientists are quite positive it was actually a living Pac-Man."

"I must be too used to have the Senshi around," Kino said, "because otherwise I would be calling those scientists insane and firing them."

"Do you think we need to keep an eye on the city?"

"As always," Kino said. "Who knows, maybe next we'll have Donkey Kong hanging from the Tokyo Tower, tossing flaming barrels down."

------​

"So... You three like boys, right?" Usagi asked.

"Yeah," Karin said.

"But you also like girls," Rei noted.

"Yeah," Mako said.

"I don't see what the problem is," Minako said. "They say love is blind, after all."

Chie chuckled. "And sometimes blind and deaf, too."

"You knew about that?" Usagi asked Mamoru.

"Yeah... Well, not about Mako, but Karin and Chie told me months ago."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"You didn't ask," Mamoru said.

"So, Mako, have anyone in mind?" Rei asked.

"Uh, well..." Mako blushed.

"You don't need to say it if you don't want to," Karin said.

Mako finally got the hint. "So you know?"

Karin smiled. "Yeah, and I know the feeling's mutual."

"Huh? Who is it?" Minako asked.

"My lips are sealed," Karin said.

"Not fair," Minako said with a glare.

Usagi looked at Karin, then at Mako, then smiled. "I have a very good guess."

"Tell me," Minako said.

"Minako, you're really dense sometimes," Brad muttered.

"Hey!" Minako shouted at him.

"From the look in their faces, I think Rei and Ami also know," Terry said.

"Don't need a genius to know," Ami admitted.

Minako pouted. "Not fair, everyone knows but me."

"Well, Naru doesn't know either, or Hana, but that's because they're not here," Terry admitted. "And Hotaru, where's your boyfriend?"

Hotaru glared at Terry. "Kage is visiting a friend in China." After a few seconds of silence, she added "and he's not my boyfriend."

------​

The room was quiet, and the man looked at a couple swords hanging on the wall. He sensed movement behind him, but he didn't need to turn. He knew whoever it was, would know surprising him wasn't an option.

"Master Hakko."

The man nodded at Kage. "Welcome back, student. How is your mother?"

"Setsuna's fine," Kage said. "I came here because I found one of your old students in Tokyo. I thought you would want to know he's there."

Now the man turned to look at Kage. "Who is it?"

"Zephyr."

"And what's that kid doing so far from his home?"

"It is his home now," Kage said. "From what I could gather, he was there seeking revenge, but in the end he didn't go back to his country."

"Interesting. I will have to visit him."

"I bet he'll like to see you again."

"Maybe. Is he one of your kin?"

Kage turned around and stared at the man for a few seconds before nodding. "Yes, and there's several more like me there."

"Good to know, Tokyo's rumored to be a magnet for aliens. I wouldn't like going home and finding it ruined."

------​

"Sailor Moon fought Pac-Man?"

Usagi listened to his classmates. Sometimes it was really hard not telling them who she was.

"Yes, and from what I heard, she gave that thing a beating."

Umino was annoying at times, but he was also one of the biggest fans of her alter-ego. That made him quite okay to her.

"Also, Sailors Jupiter, Earth and Saturn were seen beating the crap out of the Double Dragon gang."

"Double Dragon? What's that?"

Umino frowned. "Hey, that's a good game. Whoever doesn't know it, should try it."

Though he was such a game nerd sometimes...

"What's on your mind?" Rei asked.

"Noth... Well, I was trying to figure out who the Game Master was."

"Leave that to the Mercuries," Rei said.

"Hey, I figured out some stuff they didn't," Usagi noted.

"That was just luck."

"Don't blame me," Chie joked.

Usagi went back to her thoughts. For some reason, she was sure she should know who Game Master was. But she couldn't quite tell yet.

------​

Nova glided through the sky, keeping an eye on the armored truck. Several patrols were also chasing it, but had failed knocking it out of the road. Also, in such a dense area, that would not be such a good idea.

She finally got tired of playing, and teleported right into the truck. The two men inside were out cold before they even realized she was there. As for the driver...

"What the :red:?" the thief snarled as he realized the vehicle had seemingly taken a life of its own. "Oh crap, must be that psycho :red:..."

"Name's Nova, or Mrs. Psycho :red: for you."

Before the man had time to turn to her, Nova had already knocked him out with a psi blast. She then stopped the truck and phased out of it. This had been quite easy, no gunshots involved or...

"Freeze!"

Nova turned to the officer with a smirk. "What? I'm a good girl."

"You're a vigilante, we don't need your kind," another officer said.

"Just like you don't need the Senshi to fight aliens," Nova said. "What will you do, anyway, shoot me?"

The man realized she had a point. He'd seen what bullets did to her on the news, absolutely nothing. Her suit seemed to be immune to projectiles, and she easily deflected or stopped any shot aimed at her head. "I still don't trust you."

Nova had floated off the van and was standing next to it, as some cops dragged the still unconscious thieves off the vehicle. "I don't really care if you trust me or..." She sensed something and dove aside, just in time to dodge a large, square-shaped block of stone. "What is..." Another block fell near the first one, this one shaped like an L. Nova looked up and saw several other blocks slowly moving down to the ground. "Guess the Senshi weren't imagining things after all."

She saw a young boy staring up in awe as one of the blocks fell to him. "Tetris... I like Tetris."

Nova focused on the block and grimaced as she realized she couldn't stop it, only slow it down slightly. "Kid, get out of that thing's way!"

"Snow Spray!"

The block was frozen solid, and Nova moved the boy out of the way with her powers seconds before it fell to the ground and shattered into smaller pieces. "This is just stupid."

"They're falling all over the place," Mercury said. "I'm trying to locate their source."

Nova nodded. "In the meantime, we need to stop them from crushing innocents."

Ail and Ann appeared next to Nova. "We can take care of that."

"Time to clear some lines."

------​

"General, you won't believe this," Seia said.

"If it's got something to do with the Senshi, I probably won't."

"There's a small spaceship in Odaiba, using some sort of metal sphere to hit buildings and cars."

"Damn it."

"Also, there's a giant, red sphere in Shibuya, bouncing around."

"What else?"

"And here in Minato, we have Tetris blocks falling off the sky."

"You were right, I don't believe all that. Are the Senshi aware of all that?"

"They were seen in all three places," Seia said. "We're evacuating those areas, just in case things get out of control."

------​

"Okay, what do we do with that thing?" Moon asked.

"Don't shoot it," Saturn said. "I know that game."

"Then what?" Venus asked.

Saturn looked up at the massive, red ball with her visor, and produced her glaive. "I've played this one. Moon, hit it with your disc, and get ready to hit the balls again."

"Balls?" Moon asked. At Saturn's nod, she just summoned her disc. "Moon Disc Spiral!"

As the ball was hit, it split into two balls exactly half the size of the original. "Now, Moon, hit them again!" Saturn said.

Moon focused in her disc, and it turned around, stabbing through both balls. They split again, and Moon smiled. "Oh, I get it." She kept on hitting the balls, that kept on splitting, until they were all gone. "Hey, I gotta check this game someday. It looks like fun."

Venus looked around at the crushed cars, and trees, and the damaged buildings. "This could have gone worse."

------​

Dragon Mercury leapt out of the way as the man-sized ball smashed into the ground. "Guess the ball itself can't be destroyed."

Mars shot an arrow at the ship, that was deftly dodged. "And that ship is hard to hit from down here."

The ship rushed for the ball, bouncing it back down to the ground. Dragon Mercury looked at it then smiled. "Oh, I got it."

"What, have a plan?"

"If things work like in the game, defeating that ship is easy," the Dragon said. "Mars, Jupiter, summon your pets and send them to circle the ship."

"Supreme Thunder Dragon!"

"Fire Soul Bird!"

The two summons started circling the ship, stopping its movements. As the ball went past the ship's line, the ship exploded. "It worked."

Mars frowned as the ship reappeared elsewhere. "Great, now what?"

"Now we do that two more times, I guess," the Dragon said with a grin.

------​

Nova floated down to Mercury and panted. "Ami, we can't keep holding them for much longer."

Mercury looked up, her visor giving her data as she analyzed the pieces. "I got it, I know where they're coming from."

As Mercury fled up, Nova followed her. They both ascended a few hundred meters, until they saw what Mercury had detected: A large, almost transparent portal. A block popped out of it and Nova shook her head. "Whoever is behind all these attacks, needs to get a life."

"Tetris is fun," Mercury said, "unless you have to deal with truck-sized blocks falling on you. Now let's see... Frozen Rage!"

The portal blinked a few times as it was hit, then vanished. "Guess
this is game over."

"I don't think so," Mercury said. "I could guess we'll keep on getting attacked until that Game Master man decides to come out and play."

------​

"No! All my pieces, destroyed!" Game Master shouted. "And I was having fun destroying the city, too!" He stood up and looked out the window. "Damn you all, Senshi, I will not play nice anymore."

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 7: Game Master.
Episode 65: Toads And Goblins.


By Razor Knight
Last update: July 24, 2007

------​

Game Master looked at the small army he'd summoned, and decided it would be enough to defeat the Senshi. "My minions, you will go and wreak havoc around the city. Today is Sunday, which means the Senshi will be slacking around and most likely unprepared."

"Brainsssssss..."

The villain groaned at the zombies, and turned to his other troops. "You two will go to the Hikawa shrine and kill Rei Hino."

"Like, easy, man."

"We'll kick her until she drops."

"Kick..."

"Right. Go and destroy the Senshi!"

After the troops vanished, Game Master hit her head against the nearest wall. "Why? Why must all videogame characters be idiots?"

------​

"You don't have any idea who this Game Master man may be, right Luna?"

"No," Luna said. "We tried to track him down, but there's no clues as to where he launches his attacks from."

"So, we..." Usagi stopped as someone knocked her door. "Yes?"

"Usagi, can I come in?"

Usagi looked at Luna, who was already in cat mode. "Sure."

Shingo walked in and looked at Luna. "We've had her around for a while, huh?"

"Meow."

"So, what are you up to?" Usagi asked her brother.

"It's funny, too, since she showed up about the same time Sailor Moon started fighting evil."

Usagi looked at Luna, who was blinking at the boy. Had he figured it out? "I don't know what you mean."

"I've seen Sailor Moon fight several times. And I've noticed three cats are usually seen talking to her and the other Senshi. Luna is one of them. Right Luna?"

"You've got quite an imagination, brat," Usagi mused.

"You think it's easy for me to accept a slacker like you is Sailor Moon?"

"Me? Sailor Moon?" Usagi laughed.

"It's pointless, Usagi," Luna said.

"So, I was right," Shingo mused.

"What now, brat?" Usagi muttered.

"Stop calling me that, for starters." Shingo said. "I know if the secret's known by everyone, you will have a hard time doing what you do."

Usagi smiled. For an eleven years old boy, Shingo was quite smart. "Yeah, that's why I can't tell everyone. Only a few know this."

"Well, sister, it's nice knowing you're not just wasting time all day. My sister, the heroine."

"Teamwork's what saves us," Usagi admitted. "But yep, so far I've been the one frying the big bad boss in the end."

"ChibiMoon killed Kisenian," Luna commented.

"Okay, most of the time."

"What's that noise?" Shingo asked.

Usagi listened and sighed. "Sounds like there's trouble out there."

"Have fun," Shingo said.

Usagi run outside and her jaw dropped. "This is..."

Luna leapt out the window and nodded. "Zombies."

"Let's call the others," Usagi said, then summoned her comm. She winced, however, as she saw the screen was blank. "Not now!"

"Nightmare Shot!"

"Guess some of the Senshi already knew about this mess."

Nemesis stopped her air board besides Usagi. "These creatures are all around the area. Go find somewhere to change."

Moon nodded. "Any idea how to get rid of them?"

"Saturn was going to call Mercury," Nemesis said.

------​

The Senshi of Death looked at the creatures underneath with a frown. Despite being videogame characters, these monsters were still undead, and as such, she wasn't afraid of them. She was sure she could defeat them easily. However, like with the Tetris pieces, there had to be a generator somewhere. She finally reached Ami's house, and noticed Mercury was on top of the building, scanning the area.

"If I didn't know better, I'd ask you if these are your pets."

Saturn gave her a small smile. "No. I assume these are from Ghosts and Goblins."

Mercury nodded. "Maybe. I've located their possible source."

"Tell me where."

Mercury summoned her own air board. "I'll tag along. Can't study with their moans and grunts."

------​

"Rei, there's a group of green gentlemen looking for you," Grandpa Hino said calmly.

Rei gave him a surprised stare, then sighed. "Should I use my other suit?"

"If they hit as hard as they seem to be able to, that would be wise."

"Okay, I'll see if I can make them leave the shrine."

The old man nodded. "Yes, repairing this place whenever those aliens come to play isn't cheap."

Rei walked out of the room and groaned. "Whoever they are, they're going to feel the heat. Mars Twilight Power!"

------​

"Light Whip Lash!"

Venus smiled as the ghosts were blasted through by her attack. It was the least they deserved for forcing her to work on a weekend. Her fighting had led her near Rei's shrine, and she was now trying to get there, to see if Rei was already fighting, or if she needed help.

"Fire Soul Bird!"

Okay, so Rei had apparently heard about the zombies.

"Like, not cool, babe!"

Venus stared confusedly as a trio of humanoid toads run by, followed closely by Mars' giant firebird. "Zombies, ghosts, and now giant toads. What's next?"

The toads stopped and turned to the bird. "Wait, what are we afraid of?"

"Big bird..." The tallest, and visibly dumbest, of the three mutants said.

The third toad smiled as his fist grew until it was as tall as the bird, then punched through it. "If you can't beat them, beat them."

"Like, that doesn't make sense."

"Sense..."

Venus forgot about the zombies, who were busy anyway since Jupiter and the twins were taking care of them in this area now. "Hey Rei, need help?"

"Sure do," Mars said, "my attacks don't work, and as you just saw, melee is their strong point."

"Light Whip Lash!"

The taller toad's boot grew several times its size, and he used it to kick Venus' beams away. "Senshi die now..."

Mars growled. "See, nothing's working. At least I got them away from the shrine."

Venus looked at the three toads and considered the options. Mercury and Saturn were, she'd been told, dealing with the zombies' source. The rest of the team was making sure no civilians were hurt by the creatures, so she and Mars would have to take care of these three.

"Moon Disc Spiral!"

Or maybe not. Moon fled towards the toads, and stood half a block away from them, sending her disc once and again to them. The toads, however, took turns to knock the disc away each time. "That won't work."

Mars smiled. "Actually, I think it will. Mars Flame Sniper!"

The big toad grunted as he saw one of his comrades fall. "Senshi kill friend. Senshi die now."

"Light Whip Lash!" A second toad fell, leaving only the big one. "Okay, who gets the big one?"

"Senshi... Die!" The toad shouted, then run at them, his fists growing as big as a truck. He hit Moon and Mars, knocking them both away. "Now orange Senshi's turn."

Venus glared at the toad. "I don't know what lame game you came from, but you're going straight back to it. Venus Star Power!"

"Shiny Senshi," the big toad droned.

Venus didn't bother making a speech as her transformation ended. "Venus Morning Star..." A ball of light appeared hovering meters above her, growing into a man-sized ball in a second. "Smash!" The light sphere rushed down, heading straight for the toad.

"Shiny!" the toad droned before the ball hit him, leaving nothing behind.

As Venus fell to her knees, the other Senshi staggered up. "Okay, here we go again," Moon muttered.

"What do you mean?" Mars asked.

"Everyone's powering up, and I'm left a weakling."

"The leader's the last one to power up, I guess," Mars noted.

"It's like we are the stars of a magical girl series," Venus commented.

"What?"

"Never mind," Minako said. "So, what about the zombies?"

The zombies, ghosts and other assorted monsters that had been lurking around all turned to stare at the Senshi. "Brains..."

"I had to ask..."

------​

Saturn swung her glaive, beheading the cyclops. "Damn it, there's a lot of monsters around."

"Just like in that game," Mercury said, "but we need to hurry, there's been enough civilians injured already."

Moon, who had tagged along after realizing fighting the monsters one by one was pretty much useless, frowned. "Won't they turn into zombies if they're bitten by them?"

"I don't think so," Saturn said. "These aren't real zombies."

"Good, one got a lucky shot at me," Moon said, showing them her arm, which had a few bite marks near the elbow.

"Hmm... Even without the scanner, I can tell you our target is there," Mercury said pointing south.

The other two Senshi looked in that direction, their eyes widening. "You have to be kidding..." Saturn muttered.

"A dragon?" Moon could remember the last time they fought one, and it wasn't a fun battle.

------​

Game Master sat on top of a tall building, surveying the damage. He could see the Senshi were reaching the mage, but he wasn't about to stop them. That would be cheating, after all, and he didn't like that.

"Seems like I found the big boss. Either that, or a quite good Rockman cosplayer."

The villain turned back and smiled. "Nova, or should I say Hana Thompson?"

"It's pretty obvious you know who we are," Nova said. "Why are you doing this?"

"I'm just like you, a pawn of A. Only I know I am one, and I have real power."

Nova summoned a blade. "I'll show you-"

Game Master laughed. "Please, spare me the cliche lines." He aimed his open palms at her and smiled. "Did you know there's a Dragon Ball game?" Nova put up a shield as she figured what he meant, but the energy wave still knocked through it, sending her flying off the rooftop. "Sidekicks, they always think they can do what the heroes do," he said as he teleported out of the area.

------​

The dragon tried to fire-blast Mercury, but she used her net to stop the attack. Moon was trying to cut the monster's skin with her sword, but that wasn't working. As for Saturn, her death magic seemed to be useless against the overgrown lizard. "Okay, nothing's working," she commented, "so what do we do?"

Mercury looked around and nodded. "There."

Moon followed her gaze and saw a small man in a black robe standing on a stadium's wall. "Who's that?"

"Final boss," Saturn said, "and we all know when you beat the final boss, the game's over."

"I'll keep this big guy busy," Mercury said, "you two go deal with that mage."

"We'll help."

Moon turned to see the rest of the team was flying to them. "Hey guys, why are you all here?"

"The army's got the crowd controlled," Dragon Sun said. "So, this Dragon is all the problem you have?"

"And that mage," Moon said. "I'll take care of him."

Saturn frowned as Moon left. "Why isn't it attacking?"

"Maybe it can't decide who of us will be tastier."

Lilith looked at the dragon and sighed. "Does it have any weakness?"

"Its scales make it immune to magic," Mercury said.

"Can't be immune to hits," Lilith said. She looked around and nodded. "Gotcha."

The others all winced as a large satellite dish that had been on top of a building right besides the dragon fell on its head, knocking it off. "That's what I call a lucky strike," Dragon Sun commented.

"So, what about the..."

"Twilight Storm!"

"... Mage?" Earth finished and shook her head as the mage was vaporized. "That works."

The monsters that had invaded Juuban vanished, and the Senshi cheered. Dragon Mercury noticed something coming their way and cursed. "Nova, are you okay?"

Nova looked quite beaten up, but her suit had absorbed most of the fall damage. "I'm stupid, I tried to fight that Game Master freak on my own."

"I can guess it didn't work."

"He's really strong," Nova explained. "And full of tricks."

"We'll get him sooner or later," Moon said, "but I hope it's sooner. His troops are harder to fend off each time."

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 7: Game Master.
Episode 66: Swords and Blasters.


By Razor Knight
Last update: July 31, 2007

-----​

She was the first to admit she really liked her 'job.' Sure, there were always risks when hunting down her prey, but that had been majorly reduced by her improved powers and her suit. Right now, she was enjoying the reward, as a group of people gathered around the wrecked car, staring at her. Despite the mask, and her powers, people didn't seem to fear her. Then again, they didn't fear the Senshi, and she was pretty sure any of them could level a building or three anytime.

As she got ready to make her usual vanishing act, something caught her eye. A man wearing a blue trench coat, his face was familiar to her. However, before she could go after him, he vanished into the crowd.

The man had been on his way to the Zephyr mansion, but he'd been a witness to the girl's superhero stunts. Her power was, admittedly, not something he'd like to test his skills against.

"So, it's you after all. I was beginning to wonder if we would see you again."

The man turned around. "Still playing hero, I see."

"It's no game. I take this seriously, specially after what happened."

The man nodded. "The news of your death reached me. I've been wandering around the world for a while, but I knew sooner or later I'd come back home."

"Kiyo Hakko, the wandering swordsman," the girl said.

"It's just Hakko for you, student."

Hana laughed at that. "Terry was your student, not me."

"Speaking of the fool, where is he?"

"You will find him in his mansion, if he's not elsewhere."

"Are you still close?"

"I'm still her friend," Hana said, "but things happened while I, well, wasn't breathing."

"I see, he moved on. Have you?"

"Yes."

Hakko studied her for a moment before shrugging. "Good to know. I think I'll head for the mansion and see if the fool is there."

Hana looked around and then shook her head. "He's not there. I can bring you to where he is."

"Just tell me, I'd rather..."

-----​

"... Walk."

The base was almost deserted, but the few teenagers that were there turned to look at the newcomer. "It's been a while, Hakko."

"You know him?" Ami asked Terry.

"Yeah. He's Kiyo Hakko, the man who taught me most of what I know about using swords to poke things."

"Nice to meet you," Ami said courteously.

Hakko nodded. "Likewise. I'm quite surprised at this. Hiyama never told me you had a secret lair."

"Hiyama?" Terry asked. "He was your student too?"

"Only for one year, while he was taking care of an insect infestation in China," Hakko noted. "Who's the leader of this Senshi group?"

"Why, me, of course," Terry said keeping a straight face.

"Bull:red:," Hakko said.

"Okay, so I'm not," Terry muttered. "Moon is the leader, but she's not here right now. So, what brings you here?"

"I'm checking on my old student, and also, I was starting to feel homesick."

Hotaru had been listening to the others while she trained with her glaive, but finally turned to the man as her one-eyed visor appeared. "I can see your power is beyond normal for a human," she said.

"Are you a psychic?" Hakko asked.

"No, I'm the daughter of a mad scientist," she said pointing at the visor. "So, you taught Terry how to use a sword? We could use someone like you here."

Hakko smiled. "I'll have to pass on that offer. I'm only staying in Tokyo for a few days."

"Too bad. Half our team has swords, but they don't know how to use them."

"The fool here's good enough," Hakko said, "he can teach you how to fight."

"I was trained by the Time Guardian herself," Hotaru said, "and I don't use swords, just this glaive."

"I never said I didn't know how to use one of those," Terry muttered.

"The fool's right," Hakko admitted.

"Why are you calling him 'fool'?" Ami asked, letting a bit of upset creep into her voice.

Hakko smiled. "I take it you're his new soulmate."

"I am," Ami said with a blush.

"If that's the case, he must have taken a shot or two for you already. That's why he's a fool."

"Protecting those one cares about isn't foolish," Hotaru noted.

"Protecting those who don't need protection is," Hakko countered. "What's on your mind?" he said turning to Hana, who'd sat down on one of the benchs as soon as they entered the room, and hadn't spoken one word since then.

"Nothing," Hana lied.

Terry looked at her, and she shrugged. He knew her well enough to know there was, indeed, something in her mind. But he would have to ask her about that later.

-----​

Game Master looked at the two cartridges in his hands and laughed. "If an army of monsters couldn't stop the Senshi, maybe these will. After all, they're both armies on their own."

As he resumed his evil laughter, there was a knock on the room's door. "Son, is everything okay?" a voice asked from the outside.

"Uh... Yes, mom, I'm just watching cartoons."

"Okay."

Game Master heard footsteps fading into the distance and sighed in relief. He would have to tune down the maniac laughter thing, otherwise his parents would sooner or later discover his little secret.

-----​

"Warning, unknown entities detected at Kita."

"Good thing we have the boards," Hotaru noted.

"Let's go," Ami said. "We'll call the others while we're heading there."

Hakko walked to the elevator. "I will be around for a few more days, I'll think about what you said," he looked at Hotaru. "After all, maybe leaving a fool to train you all isn't a good thing."

"Stop calling me that."

"I'll do when you stop being one," Hakko said and walked out.

Terry looked at Hana, then the others. "Okay, girls, we'll catch up with you in a minute."

Ami looked at him for a second before nodding. As the doors closed, he could see a bit of worry in her eyes.

"Okay, what's the problem?" Hana asked.

"You know you can't lie to me," Terry said. "You seem worried about something, can't you tell me what it is?"

"I don't want you to be angry at me."

"It can't be that bad," Terry said.

Hana fell silent for a moment then smiled. "I said I was ready to move on, but now I'm not so sure anymore."

Terry grimaced. "I don't want you to leave because of me."

"I'm not leaving, but I won't be around as much. It doesn't really help me when I see you and her together."

"I understand."

"You're not angry?"

"No," Terry said. "Will you help us today?"

Hana looked down. "Sorry."

Terry nodded. "Well then, I'll see you around."

Hana looked up as he walked into the elevator. She didn't know if she would ever be able to move on, but she knew who to blame for it. If she ever got to see Onara or his friends, she would make sure they felt her pain.

-----​

As they approached their goal, the group could see their enemy was both numerous and strange.

"Flying jellies?"

Dragon Mercury chuckled at Moon's question. "Metroids."

"Mewhats?"

"Never mind," the Dragon said. "They're weak to cold, but I bet most of our attacks can bring a lot of them down."

"I can see two stronger signals near," Saturn commented.

"I'll check that out," Moon said.

"I'll tag along," Saturn said.

Dragon Earth nodded. "Me too."

As the others got ready to fight, Dragon Sun came flying to them. "Am I late?"

"We were just starting."

"Wow, Metroids. I wonder if Samus is around?"

Mars shook her head. "I hate gamer talk."

"Talk later, these creatures aren't going to stand there and wait," Mercury said. "Mercury Snow Spray!"

"Mercury Icicle spray!"

The two attacks destroyed about half the Metroids around them, but there were many more floating around the district. "Okay, let's split," Earth said.

"Where's Lilith?"

"No idea," Earth said. "She should join in sooner or later, though."

-----​

Moon's group had meanwhile found the main attack force. Two figures standing on a rooftop, apparently waiting for them. The one to the left was a humanoid figure in an orange battle suit, with a blaster attached to its right arm and a red helm that made it look like the creature had no neck.

The one to the right, a black-clad, masked ninja. "That one's copying Zero," Dragon Earth mused.

"Know them, Saturn?"

"No idea," Saturn said. "I'm not a gamer. And I don't really care who they are, but how fast they can be destroyed."

"Three against two isn't fair," the ninja noted.

The other figure didn't speak, just started shooting energy beams at them.

Saturn deflected the beams coming her way with her glaive. "If those bugs we found first are Metroids, then this girl here must be Samus."

"Girl? Hard to tell with that armor," Moon commented.

Dragon Earth decided to try his luck against the ninja. "Rock Rose Hold!"

The ninja tried to slash the rose, but its petals closed around it. "Nice trick," he said as he tried to rip the stony flower off his sword's blade. "Time for a trick of mine. Shadows, attack!"

His shadow split in two, and both rose off the ground, turning into dark clones of the ninja. Both clones leapt up at the Dragon, drawing shadowy swords as they ascended.

However, before the shadows hit, they vanished. Dragon Earth looked down at the ninja and noticed the roof had caved in where the ninja had been standing. "Strange..."

"Not strange, lucky," Lilith said. Samus saw the new target and shot at her, but Lilith dodged it. The beam hit Saturn's glaive and bounced back, piercing a hole near Samus' feet. Before the bounty hunter could react, the roof also caved in, sending her falling down a couple floors.

"Okay, enough fooling around," Saturn said. "Wraith's Cry!" The wraith passed through the roof, returning a few seconds later to Saturn, who let a smile creep into her face briefly. "I think we're done here."

Seconds later, a basketball-sized orange sphere fled out of the building, and straight up to the Senshi. It left a couple fist-sized pellets behind before falling onto the roof.

"What are those things?"

Saturn looked at them with her visor. "Bombs!"

"Earth King's Shield!"

The barrier formed a split second before the bombs exploded, but their explosion still managed to knock the Senshi off their boards. Dragon Earth and Moon had their boards catch them, while Saturn jammed her glaive on the building's side to stop her own descent. Lilith, however, didn't reach fast enough, and plummeted down. Fortunately, or unfortunately, she fell into a passing garbage truck.

"I'd rather hit the ground," Saturn commented.

The orange ball expanded, turning back into Samus, who looked at the two still airborne Senshi. Her arm cannon started glowing white, and she pointed it up at them.

Before she could shoot, a figure leapt over the building, stopping in mid-air to glare at her. "Saturn Death Scythe!"

Lilith came flying back just in time to see Samus explode. "Okay, what's next?"

Moon looked back in the direction the other group was, and cringed. "What is that?"

"It's a... Metroid."

Saturn looked at the building-sized floating jellyfish. "A giant blob with dozens of tentacles. I don't know why, but I'm not too eager to get close to that creature."

-----​

Things had been quite controlled for the other group, until all Metroids decided to fuse into one giant jellyfish. Weird thing about it, was it didn't even move to attack, just floated there.

Dragon Mercury looked up at the jelly looming over them and then flinched. "I hope it doesn't want a hug."

"Flame Sniper!" The fire arrow hit the Metroid, but it didn't seem to notice.

Mercury scanned the creature and winced at the data she got. "Its skin is immune to magic."

Nemesis sent her spear flying at the monster, and it fled right past it, falling to the ground. "Well, weapons seem to pass through, but I don't think it's affected by them."

Dragon Mercury looked at the creature, then at Nemesis, then smiled. "Okay, maybe your weapons don't. Dragon's Ice Breath!" He tossed a half dozen spheres into the creature, and their gas was released inside it, causing it to freeze in seconds. It started falling down, however, and the Dragon cursed under his breath. "Oops."

"Oops? It's going to crush that building," Mars said.

"Moon Twilight Storm!" The attack caused the massive ice statue to explode, sending tiny ice shards flying all around. "Guess that ends this battle," she added.

"The battle is over, but the war's about to begin,"

"You again?" Moon snapped at the man standing on top of an antenna.

"That is the Game Master?" Dragon Venus asked. "A loon in a Rockman suit?"

"Laugh all you want, because next time, I'll be the one laughing."

"There he goes," Mars muttered as the villain vanished.

"Think he means what he says?" Moon pondered.

"Oh, come on... Next time he'll probably send the ducks from Duck Hunt," Dragon Sun mused.

-----​

Meanwhile, Haruka and Michiru were talking to Sailor Pluto.

"They're moving out. I think they may have located the Talismans."

"Then we'll have to stay alert," Michiru said, "If they attack, we need to make sure the other Senshi don't interfere."

"What about Saturn?"

"I'll talk to her," Pluto said, "I'm sure she'll help keep your identities unknown."

"Tell her to stay out of our way, too," Haruka said.

"I can't do that."

"Can't or won't?"

"Both," Pluto said. "Give the others a chance, they may be helpful."

"We can handle this on our own," Haruka said.

"Yeah. We've been dealing with those women for a long time."

Pluto nodded. Things were about to get interesting for the Senshi.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 7: Game Master.
Episode 67: Sailor Moon vs. Street Fighter.


By Razor Knight
Last update: August 24, 2007

-----​

Usagi followed her prey, as stealthily as possible. She smiled to herself as she kept up with the girl, who was seemingly distracted. Yeah, poor girl had no idea... Though Usagi herself had no idea why she was following the girl instead of just talking to her.

"You know, if you were going for a surprise attack, you should have remembered I can sense your power from miles away."

The blonde realized her prey wasn't where she had last seen her anymore, and turned to an amused face. "Uh... Hi, Hana."

"Why the stalking?"

"Sorry about that, but you seemed like you were doing a lot of thinking. I didn't want to interrupt you."

"Well, that's a moot point," Hana said. "So, was there anything you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Yeah. You haven't been at the gym for three days. What's wrong?"

"I'm not a Senshi."

"You're welcome there, though. Is there anything else bothering you?"

Hana let out a long sigh. "Yeah. I can't stay away from Terry, but at the same time, I still feel something for him. I can't ignore that, no matter how hard I try."

"Have you told him that?"

"Yes. I just don't want what happened before to happen again."

"Running away from your troubles isn't going to solve them."

"I'm not running away."

"You're avoiding them," Usagi said. "I think you need to talk to Ami, you could be her friend if you try."

"I'll try," Hana said, then chuckled. "Guess what they told me about you is right."

"What?"

"That you may look naive and air-headed, but you're quite good at helping people."

"Who said that?"

"Sorry, she said I had to keep it a secret."

Then it was most likely Rei, Usagi realized. "Never mind. Let's go."

"Where?"

"To the base, Terry told me to drop by later."

Hana nodded with a smile. Rei was right, in all she had said about Usagi.

-----​

Terry looked away from the two girls fighting as he heard a noise. "Hi, Hana. Thought you said you wanted to be alone."

"Blame Usagi," Hana said rapidly.

Mako and Karin walked out of the 'arena.' "That's enough training for us."

Terry nodded. "Well, now that we're all here, let me introduce you to someone..."

"Who? I don't see anyone," Usagi noted.

"Aiko, are you there?" Ami asked.

"Affirmative," a voice said from somewhere in the base.

"Aiko?" Rei asked. Just what were the two mad scientists up to now?

"Run Virtual Self program," Terry ordered.

A young girl appeared in the room, and everyone but Ami and Terry gasped. The girl had bluish-blonde hair and dark blue eyes, and her face seemed oddly familiar. She was wearing a knee-long blue dress, and, to make things weirder, she was quite transparent.

"Eek, a ghost!" Usagi shouted.

Terry laughed at that. "That's no ghost, that's Aiko."

"... You gotta be kidding," Brad muttered.

"I agree," Rei said.

"Hmm... That girl's face looks..." Naru said, then looked at Ami and Terry. "Like a mix of Terry and Ami's faces."

Usagi shrugged. "Well, they created her, so she's kinda their daughter."

"You're referring to that computer as a 'she'?" Rei noted.

Chie walked around the image. "And here I thought things couldn't get any weirder."

Terry shrugged. "We still have a lot to improve about her. She's lacking a lot of things, and not only in her utility programs..."

"What is it able to do?" Mamoru asked.

"My scanning covers most of the Tokyo city area, I also have full access to the base's security system, and can record your training to review your strong and weak points in case you..."

"Don't do that," Terry said.

"Is there a problem?"

Terry looked at Aiko. He knew it was just a projection, but it still felt weird not talking to her directly. "Yes. Don't answer questions not meant for you."

"Affirmative."

"And stop saying 'affirmative,'" Ami said.

"Okay."

"So it's a human-like Tamagotchi?" Brad asked.

"No, our goal is to create a fully sentient AI. One that has self-awareness and free will."

"You should've called her Hal."

"If I had feelings, I think I would be upset," Aiko said.

"My father told me about a similar project once," Hotaru said, "And he seemed pretty sure it would be impossible."

"A computer running on magic seemed impossible to me two years ago," Terry said.

"It runs on magic?" Rei asked.

"Yeah, just like Mercury's computer. Uses the air's mana to work, and... It absorbs a very small ammount of our own mana when we're around, and stores what she doesn't use in case she runs out of energy."

"Nice, a mana vampire."

Aiko looked at Hotaru. "A mana battery, actually, just like you all are."

Usagi stared at Aiko. "Well, she looks human, but still... She doesn't blink or breathe, and her face's emotionless."

"A lot like Hotaru when we first met her, huh?" Minako joked.

"Your sense of humor makes no sense," Hotaru muttered.

-----​

"You're running out of time."

"I'm aware of that," Game Master said to the woman. For some unknown reason, the woman that had 'recruited' him always stayed unseen. He wasn't one to bother asking why, specially considering the power he could feel in her. "I'm bringing the heavy weaponry."

"No more silly characters, I hope?"

"Oh no, this is a group that will surely hit the Senshi hard."

"Good. Remember, if you manage to kill one of them, I'll reward you greatly."

Game Master turned to leave as the woman disappeared, then turned around. Was there someone in the alley besides him? No, it was just his imagination.

As the villain walked away, Pluto watched him from atop a nearby building.

"Can't I join them yet?"

The Time Senshi turned to the voice in the shadows. "You know timelines must remain intact for your future to be preserved. Besides, you'll have an important role in their next war."

The other figure paused for a minute. "So I've heard. I guess I'll continue my training until I can join them."

Pluto nodded. "That you shall," she said, and both vanished.

-----​

Meanwhile, back at the base, the crowd had thinned visibly as most of the Senshi had decided to call it a day. Terry was working in the computer, or rather, Aiko's programming, while Ami and Hana talked in the far side of the large room.

"... And I figured staying away wouldn't help."

"I agree," Ami said. "It would do more bad than good. Our team could use someone with your powers, and you're not a bad person when you're not berserker."

"You don't know any unclaimed guys around, do you?"

Ami smiled. "Not really."

"Unclaimed, nice way to put it," Terry said walking to them. "There are several girls in the group who're not dating anyone, if that helps."

Hana laughed. "I'll stick to guys for now, thank you very much."

"For now?" Terry noted.

"Enemies detected," Aiko said.

"What's their location?"

A map of Tokyo appeared in the screen. Several red dots could be seen in several areas. "Guess they want us to split," Ami said.

"Given how spread-out the enemy forces are, that would be the best solution," Aiko said. "Besides, the energy readings I'm seeing aren't too high, a single Senshi should be able to handle each enemy."

Terry nodded at Aiko's explanation. "Then let's split. We'll tell the others about it while we go to the closest one."

Ami produced her communicator and sighed as all she got was static. "I think they already know."

-----​

Saturn looked down at the thin man in the flashy yellow shorts. "I was wondering when Game Master would use that game."

The man turned away from the car he was wrecking and smiled. "Here comes a new challenger..."

Saturn rolled her eyes at him. "As brainless as all the other game critters."

"Yoga Fire!"

The Death Senshi leapt off the roof, dodging the fireball. As she looked around, she noticed Dhalsim was nowhere to be seen. "Oh, I get it."

Dhalsim appeared just behind Saturn and smirked. "Yoga Flame!" As he shot the flame, however, he realized Saturn wasn't there anymore. He teleported just in time to dodge an energy blast, and frowned. "I see this will not be an easy battle."

"I agree."

-----​

Mako barely had time to dodge as the sumo wrestler jumped at her. "For something so fat, he sure moves fast."

"Who are you calling fat, girlie? Take this!" Honda snapped as he used his trademark hundred hands slap technique.

Mako was knocked back and landed painfully on her butt. She looked around, noticing all civilians had fled the area, and smiled. "Who are you calling 'girly,' freak? Jupiter Twilight Power!"

"Good, I was worried you would die without putting up a fight."

"Shut up and fight."

-----​

"Kiko-Ken!"

Venus reeled back as the attack hit her. "That hurts, but try this. Morning Star Smash!"

Chun-Li looked at the incoming attack and smiled. "Kiko-Sou!"

"Okay, so you can stop my attacks. Big deal."

"Round two?" Chun-Li asked.

Venus nodded. "Let's go."

-----​

"You're in troubles, little girl!"

Earth looked at the Russian wrestler and laughed. "I think you're the one in trouble. Earth Quake Punch!"

Zangief smirked as Earth rushed at him, then sidestepped her and grabbed her arm, using her own momentum to toss her up in the air. He then jumped up and clutched her face, sending her flying down head-first.

Earth stood up groggily and shook her head to recover her bearings. "Guess this will be fun after all."

"Sure will," Zangief said as he rushed her.

-----​

Lilith looked at the man in front of her with a smile. "Ever been told your hair looks stupid?"

"I have," Guile said, "and those who said it were in pain for quite some time afterwards."

"I'm not scared."

"You will be. Sonic Boom!"

Lilith looked at the incoming energy attack and smiled as it's trajectory changed, missing her completely. "You missed."

Guile's jaw dropped, but he quickly recovered. "Okay, so you can deflect missiles. Try this!" He rushed at her, going for a jab to the jaw, but just as he run, a breeze picked up, carrying an empty glass bottle right into his path. The man didn't see it, and tripped on it, flying over Lilith's head. "Damn it, how did you do that?"

"Luck's a :red:," Lilith noted, "and I can control her."

Guile stood up and smiled. "Then I think I'll enjoy beating two :red:es instead of one."

-----​

"Think those two will be any challenge?"

Kage looked at Brad and shrugged. "No idea." They'd both been in the same area when the enemy had shown up, and were right now looking on as Fei Long and Dee Jay kicked and punched cars to pieces. "I say we kick them down before they know we're here."

"Sound like a plan. Venus Twilight Power!"

"Sun Twilight Power!"

-----​

Cammy sulked through a quite packed area. People stared at her suit, but she didn't quite mind. However, she was tired of waiting for the Senshi to show up.

"Your cosplay sucks, girl."

Cammy looked at the dark-clad woman that had just appeared in her path. "Who are you?"

"Name's Nova."

"Well, I'm Cammy, and I'm here to fight the Senshi. You're not one of them, so just leave."

"The Senshi are my friends," Nova said, "so I think I'll have to stay."

"Suits you. Cannon Drill!"

Nova smiled as she shot a telekinetic blast. Cammy was sent flying over a car, landing in a quite painful way. "Oh, I know where you're from now."

"Good, now shut up and fight."

Nova floated up and glared at Cammy. "Okay."

-----​

Mars winced as she rubbed her leg. That man, whoever he was, wasn't a pushover. She could tell it was one of those videogame characters, but just what game was it?

Her opponent started walking to her, looming over her as he stopped. "Give up and I'll kill you quickly."

"Burning Soul!" The surprise attack worked, as it sent the tall man flying back several meters, and out of the temple grounds. "Good, now I can kick his :red: without worrying about the temple."

Thunder Hawk stood up just as Mars reached him. "I see, so you can put up a fight after all."

Mars smiled and produced her bow. "Let me show you."

-----​

"You know, I thought the plan was not getting involved."

Neptune leapt over an energy blast and looked at Uranus. "We can't let these two wreck our neighbourhood either."

Uranus dodged the claw-wielding man's leaping attack and grabbed him by the mask, tossing him into a trashcan. "Well, then I guess we should end this quick. World..." Uranus's fist lit up as she reeled it back, then she punched the ground with all her might. "...Shaking!" A blast of air shot forwards at ground level, hitting the can and sending it flying right into a brick wall. "Still alive?"

Vega crawled out of the wrecked can, his hair a display of garbage. "I'm going to slice you in half for that."

Meanwhile, Neptune turned to look at their other foe, Sagat. "For a videogame character, you're not too weak."

"And you haven't seen anything yet," Sagat said. "Tiger Knee!"

Neptune ducked as Sagat tried to knee her face, and summoned her new attack. "Deep Submerge!" A watery ball hit Sagat dead on, sending him down to the ground. "As a matter of fact, I've seen the game you're from, so I know what to expect."

Sagat stood up and charged at her again without a word.

-----​

"A boxer and an ugly moron," Dragon Mercury said. "Game Master must be running out of good troops."

The green creature jumped up in the air as he growled and grunted incoherently, while the boxer just glared at them.

"Blanka and Balrog, so the other enemies must be the rest of the Street Fighters," Ami noted. "I don't think I have enough melee skills to fight them."

"Then just blast that green thing from afar. I'll take care of Balrog."

"I like that plan," Mercury admitted. Blanka growled at her, and she shook her head. "Will all his minions be weird?"

"We're talking about videogame characters," Dragon Mercury noted.

Mercury nodded. "Was afraid you'd say that."

-----​

Dragon Earth tried to stab his foe, but the blond man leapt away. This wasn't the best date he'd been at, but at least they were having fun.

Moon was, meanwhile, trying to hit Ryu with her disc. The fighter simply kept on using his Hadoken technique to bounce the disc back, and the fight had turned into a contest to see who would tire down first.

Unknown to them all, Game Master was looking at this particular fight from atop a nearby building. "I don't think Moon can defeat Ryu, but just in case... You two go next."

"Those two losers will at least tire Sailor Moon down," one of the figures behind Game Master said.

"So it will be easy to finish her off," the other one added.

Game Master laughed. "Indeed... This is game over for the Senshi."

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 7: Game Master.
Episode 68: New Challengers.


By Razor Knight
Last update: August 30, 2007

-----​

"Sonic Boom!"

Lilith chuckled as the energy blast missed her. "I guess you're out of luck."

Guile looked around. It was clear what his enemy's powers were, and in the middle of a city, she had more than enough weapons available to defeat him. And also, his attacks, either melee or ranged, didn't work against her.

Lilith rose an eyebrow as Guile laughed. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing, but I would move if I were you."

Lilith looked up and saw a disc antenna falling towards her. ":red:." She leapt aside, barely missing being crushed under it, but that also let her open for an attack.

"Bad move. Sonic Boom!"

The lucky Senshi was sent crashing into a car and coughed as she tried to stand up. "Rotten luck..."

"Time to end this," Guile snapped as he prepared for another energy blast.

Lilith looked at him, a thin white aura around her. "I agree. Lilith Twilight Power!"

Guile's jaw dropped, he was sure whatever that Senshi was doing, it would mean pain was coming his way.

As the transformation ended, Lilith stared at Guile. "Hmm... Still no energy blasts to throw, too bad."

"Hah! And you can't use your luck powers. I win."

The lucky Senshi smiled at that. "That's where you're wrong."

Guile didn't really understand what she meant until the concrete around him cracked, sending him falling face-first into the foul-smelling sewer waters below. He recovered quick, however, and leapt back out, glaring at Lilith. "Luck or not, you're going down."

Lilith didn't bother answering, instead she rushed at Guile, delivering a powerful punch to his chest. Guile tried to kick her away, but slipped as his boots were still wet, and fell back. Lilith kicked him back up, sending him flying up and right towards an iron fence.

Guile was still stunned by the hits, but felt the pain of something drilling its way through his stomach all too well. "How..."

"Simple," Lilith said, "I know luck alone isn't enough to win, so I have some brawl to back it up." As Guile's body vanished, she walked away, wondering if the others had any trouble facing their opponents.

-----​

Nova's battle was almost too easy. Cammy couldn't really hit her as she constantly phased out of the way or knocked her away with psi blasts.

"It's a pity," Nova said, "but this battle's going to end now."

As Nova started gathering energy, Cammy smiled. "Not yet, girl. Time to play my triumph card."

Nova heard that at almost the same time she felt a pair of feet slamming into her back. She was sent staggering forwards and didn't have time to turn around before something else hit her, knocking her to the ground.

Cammy looked on as the twins Juni and Juli used Nova as a punching bag. After a minute of onslaught, the twins both kicked Nova up, and right to Cammy's location. Cammy leapt up, delivering a powerful kick that sent Nova crashing through a building.

"Well, she wasn't that hard," Juni said.

"Yeah, such a weakling," Juli agreed.

Cammy was about to say something, when she noticed a glow behind the building her foe had crashed into. "Girls, watch..." It was too late, as Nova appeared floating over the twins, shooting an invisible blast which sent them both flying up. The blond watched in shock as Juni and Juli were frozen in mid-air, then turned to glare at Nova. "Let them go!"

"As you wish," Nova said, and sent the two flying down, dragging Cammy with them. "And now, as I was saying before you cheated, this battle's going to end now." She aimed her hand at the trio of army girls, and the blast this time came from below them, cracking the concrete and vaporizing them.

As she got ready to leave, however, she remembered the crowd that had been watching the battle, from a safe distance. They started cheering at her, so she smiled and waved at them before leaving.

-----​

"Is everything okay out there?"

Seia looked at the General's face in her tank's screen. He seemed a bit worried, most likely about Mako. "Yes sir, Jupiter seems to have everything under control in this area."

"What about the others?"

"Reports indicate Lilith and Nova already took care of two other threats, but the rest of the Senshi are still fighting."

"Tell me if anything else happens," Kino said.

Seia opened her tank's hatch and looked out. She smiled as the fat sumo wrestler scrambled by, followed by a massive electric dragon. "I don't think these Street Fighter guys can stand against the Senshi," she said to herself. Just then, there was a zapping noise and the area right behind a building lit up. Jupiter walked out from around it and to Seia. "Done playing games?"

Jupiter shrugged. "They really look tougher in the games."

"Maybe because you use the same level of power in those. Whoever is using these game characters to fight, is quite desperate."

"Or insane," Jupiter noted, "or both."

-----​

As Zangief's body vanished, Earth sensed her communicator. "Huh? Aiko?"

"All the team's done with their fighting. Go to the place marked in this map as soon as possible, Moon may need your help."

Earth looked at the map shown in her comm and growled. "Gee, that's on the other side of the city."

-----​

As the other battles raged on, Moon and Dragon Earth faced a quite even battle. Difference was, the enemy didn't seem to run out of energy, no matter how many energy blasts they threw, but Moon and the Dragon were already feeling the exhaustion from the long battle.

After dodging a couple energy blasts, Moon decided to risk running out of juice, and summoned her crystal. "Moon Twilight Storm."

Ryu and Ken looked at the incoming attack and did their attack's movements in unison. "Hadoken!"

The two blasts seemed to fuse as they spun around each other, creating a massive blast that knocked the disc away, and hit both Moon and Dragon Earth, sending them crashing to the ground rather violently.

"I think it's time to get rid of them," Ryu said.

Ken nodded. "Let's do it, pal."

"Hadoken!"

"Hadoken!"

Again, the blast formed was quite large, but this time, something got in the way of it. "Death Scythe!"

Moon cringed as Saturn was knocked back by the explosion she had caused. "Are you okay?"

"Nothing I can't handle," Saturn said as she knelt on the ground. "But my fight with that freak Dhalsim drained me."

"Good, now we can kill three of them in one shot," Ken said.

"Nightmare Shot!"

Saturn looked up to see Bison, Akuma and Game Master fall off a quite tall building. "Heh. Guess that's where Nemesis was."

Game Master looked up at the building. "Damn it, I didn't think Senshi would do such dishonorable things."

Nemesis leapt off the building, landing quite near the others. "What can I say, I'm a Senshi of Darkness, shadows fit me better."

Ryu glared at the Senshi. "I'm growing tired of you kids. Hadoken!"

"Flame Sniper!"

The flame arrow destroyed Ryu's energy ball, and the villains looked on as the rest of the Senshi team reached their battleground. "Okay, this doesn't look so fun," Ken commented.

Ryu looked at Akuma and Bison. "Let's try a combo."

"The four of you together?" Game Master said. "That sounds like fun."

"Guys, attack them before they hit us," Mercury said.

"Too late," Ryu said. "Hadoken!"

"Hadoken!"

"Hadoken!"

"Psycho Crusher!"

The three energy balls fused with Bison's aura as he turned into a human missile. The explosion resulting from the impact sent most of the Senshi flying. Moon, Mars and Mercury were the only ones to stagger up, as the rest was in too much pain to move.

"I guess... These idiots aren't pushovers after all," Mars commented.

Mercury nodded. "Our attacks could work, but we are low in energy already."

Nova appeared in the scene just then. "Hmm, I see I got here right in time." She looked at Bison and smirked. "Oh, I just dealt with your girlfriend, I guess I'll have to take care of you too."

"Can she beat them all?" Moon asked as Nova started trading energy blasts with the villains.

"I don't think she can," Mars said, "but she's distracting them."

"Still, we may not be able to kill them all before we run out of energy," Mercury said.

Moon looked at her friends, then at the villains, and something in her mind clicked, a memory of the past. "What about the Stardust Stream attack?"

"The what?" Mars asked, then blinked. "Wait, I remember now. I don't know if we can use it at this level, but it's worth a try."

Mercury nodded, she could remember using that attack in the past as well. "Let's do it. Sailor... Her hands lit up as small ice crystals circled them, and she aimed at the enemy.

"Stardust..." Moon's hands also lit up, as well as her crystal.

"... Stream..." Mars said. Her hands were blurred by a bright red fire.

"Hit!" The three shouted in unison.

Bison heard the shout at the same time the others did, and turned just in time to see a massive, multi-colored energy beam coming their way. "I don't need psychic powers to foresee pain for us."

Nova reeled back in the air as the attack hit its mark, causing an explosion that left a neat, wide crater where the fighters had been. "Okay, it's official, I'm never messing with you girls."

Moon smiled then fell to her knees. "That was cool... But tiring."

"I agree," Mars said as she leaned on a wall.

"Fifteen thousand power units," Mercury said idly. "I wonder if our power even has a limit."

"I hope not," Earth said as she staggered up, "but I also hope I don't have to go blond to get stronger at some point." That caused the others to laugh despite their exhaustion.

"Guess what, Game Master escaped," Dragon Sun said. "Are villains always this predictable?"

"Yes, they are," Saturn said.

-----​

Neptune looked at the area around them. "Think we could've dealt with them without so much property damage?"

Uranus stared at the dented walls, crushed cars and toppled trees and nodded. "Probably, but it wouldn't have been fun."

"Point taken. Let's go home before those witches come to play."

-----​

Game Master sulked around his room. It just wasn't possible, how could the Senshi defeat such skilled fighters? He'd have to come up with a very good plan for next time. Maybe if he... Yes, that would be perfect.

As he laughed, there was a knock on his door. "Son, are you okay?"

"Uh... Yes mom, I just remembered a joke they told me once..."

As Game Master's mother walked back to the kitchen, she sighed. "I'm worried about him."

"Oh, let him be," Game Master's father said. "He's just playing games, it's not like he's trying to take over the world or something like that."

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 7: Game Master.
Episode 69: Game City.


By Razor Knight
Last update: September 15, 2007

-----​

Three days after the attack of the Street Fighters, some of the Senshi were at the base, resting while they could.

"Game Master's a joke."

Ami shook her head at Karin's statement. "That last battle wasn't so easy, at least for me."

"I know, but still... I don't think he'll get better."

"I hope he doesn't," Chie said.

"I wonder why he didn't use Mario, Sonic or Rockman yet," Terry said.

"Maybe he's saving the best for last," Rei said. "All villains we faced so far did that."

"The worse is, we don't know who he is," Usagi noted.

"Maybe he's an alien with no human identity?"

"Why the visor, then?"

Ami nodded at that, Usagi was making a very good point. "I've considered all options, and the Game Master must be someone who likes games a lot, with either enough money to build whatever is needed to bring those characters to life, or magical powers."

"You're the one," Brad joked pointing at Terry.

"I'm not... Or am I?" Terry said in an ominous voice.

"All jokes aside," Ami said, "I really have no clue who Game Master is."

"Guess we should wait, sooner or later we'll figure it out," Usagi said.

-----​

Things in Tokyo were quite calm, not counting the pyromaniac with the flamethrower that had robbed a bank and was, right now, fighting the police on his way out. "This is your last warning, put the money and your weapon down or else..." the warning was interrupted by a jet of flames that forced everyone to duck out of the way.

Nova had been watching the 'show' for the last minute or so, and had been about to give that freak a lesson, when something else caught her attention.

A group of strange airships were flying over the city, apparently in a dogfight. First thing she noticed about them was, they were shooting laser beams as they fled. Then she realized where she'd seen them before. "X-Wings? Tie Fighters?"

The flamethrower psycho turned to look at Nova. "Oh, look, it's the flying :red:."

"That's Miss Flying :red: for you," Nova said, still looking up, "and I don't have time for you right now, hothead."

"Like hell you-"

Nova saw one of the ships shooting at her, and phased out of the way. As she appeared in another rooftop, she could hear an explosion, and realized things were really heating up for the pyromaniac. The laser had probably pierced the fuel tanks, and that had explosive results for the one carrying them.

-----​

Watching his troops attack the city, Game Master couldn't help but laugh. "The Senshi are an army, so I guess I should stop sending small squads against them." He snapped his fingers, and a few dozen Koopas appeared. "Go, my monsters, and destroy Tokyo!"

-----​

"There, I think I'm done with the language upgrades," Ami announced. "Aiko?"

"Yes mom?"

Ami blushed. "Guess some quirks remain."

"That's no quirk, you are the one who created me."

"Her logic's flawless," Karin joked. "She really got some of your traits, huh?"

"Her talking will sound more human now."

"Acknowledged," Brad said in a robot-like voice.

Aiko suddenly looked up. "Game Master's attacking the city."

"What district?"

"They're all over the city," Aiko said. "I estimate a total of over nine hundred entities."

"That's a lot of videogame critters," Minako muttered. "Okay, I guess it's time to kick some pixels."

"Kick some..." Terry groaned. "Minako, Brad's influence is bad for you."

"She loves my bad puns," Brad said. "Or is it the wallet?"

"Come on, guys, we shouldn't let those critters cause any damage to the city," Minako said and rushed to the elevator.

"It's the wallet," Terry whispered with a grin. Brad just shrugged.

-----​

"You're firing at what?"

"X-Wings," Seia answered. "But we're outnumbered everywhere. There's a group of creatures at every part of the city right now."

"Where are the Senshi?" the General asked through the comm.

"Ice Wyrm!"

Seia looked up to the sky and saw a massive winged lizard gnawing on a Tie Bomber's metal. "They've just arrived, sir."

-----​

Earth, Lilith and Jupiter stared at the army they were facing incredulously. A group of trolls and goblins wielding massive clubs and axes wasn't something they saw everyday, but what actually surprised them was who the creature leading this attack was.

"Attack!" Link shouted as he charged the two Senshi.

"Great, an elven Robin Hood wannabe and his army of merry bugs," Earth muttered.

"They're outnumbering us five hundred to one."

"Love the odds," Lilith commented.

-----​

Venus and Dragon Venus were facing a similar situation, but in their case, the army they were facing was metallic. Dozens of robots shaped like bees, beetles and other animals, and a group of strange animals was apparently leading them.

"So, are those who I think they are?" Venus asked.

The Dragon nodded. "Sonic and friends. But I wonder where Robotnik is?"

Just then, an UFO-like ship appeared, filled with laser cannons and rockets. The bald man inside looked at the two Senshi and laughed tauntingly.

"Brad, shut it," Venus muttered.

"Charge!" Sonic shouted, and the robots all rushed to the two heroes.

-----​

Mars, Mercury and Saturn had, meanwhile, found a third group of creatures. It was quite an army of androids, lead by one they all knew.

"Are you ready to die, Senshi?" Rockman asked.

"Death? I can tell you a thing or two about it," Saturn said. "Skip the taunting and let's end this."

"Willybots, destroy them," Breakman ordered.

-----​

As all the battles raged on at ground level, some of the Senshi were keeping the spaceships flying around the city busy. It wasn't an easy task, as there were one too many spaceships, and not enough Senshi. Dragon Mercury looked on as his wyrm blasted a half dozen space invaders' ships to dust, then grimaced as a massive UFO floated his way.

"Phoenix?" Dragon Sun asked looking up at the ship.

"It wouldn't surprise me," Dragon Mercury noted. "I found Moon Cresta's ship a few minutes ago."

"It's like an old-school paradise."

"It would be, if these ships weren't bent on wrecking the city."

"And wrecking us, too."

Dragon Mercury turned to the voice and smiled. "Hi, Nova."

Bird-like spaceships started coming out of the large UFO, and lazily floated towards the trio. "Please..." Nova muttered and concentrated.

Sun flinched as he saw the ships explode. "That was fast."

The UFO dropped a few dozen more ships, and Dragon Mercury sighed.
"Guess this will take a while."

-----​

Moon stood up and shook her head to recover from the dizziness. As she did, she saw a few bomb-like creatures slowly walking to her. "I won't fail for that twice," she muttered. "Moon Tiara Action!" The tiara blasted the bombs, and she took the chance to look around the battlefield.

Nemesis and Dragon Earth were busy fighting the Koopas, who were admittedly too many for them. Meanwhile, Mario, Bowser and that green Mario guy watched the battle.

"Moon Disc Spiral!"

Bowser shot a flame blast from his mouth, knocking the disc away. "You can't hurt us, little girl."

"So you say..." She focused for a second, then smiled. "Let's see if you can handle this. Moon Twilight Storm!"

Yoshi, the green dinosaur Mario was riding, opened his mouth and ate the attack. Moon's eyebrow twitched as she tried to make sense of what had just happened.

"Mario's pet is hungry," Bowser said.

"Maybe we should-a let him eat-a fried Senshi?"

"Sounds fun," Luigi said. Both Mario brothers took fiery flowers from their pockets.

"Crap, this is bad," Moon noted.

"It's-a time to play!" Mario said as he shot a fireball at Moon. The other two followed suit, and soon they were using Moon as a practice target.

-----​

"Sir, things aren't looking good," Seia noted. "The Senshi are clearly outnumbered, and we're trying to help, but we need more troops."

"I'm sending all our men there," Kino said. "And the police forces are also going to help."

"About time they did something."

-----​

Game Master had observed all the battles, and knew his plan was working. The Senshi would, most likely, defeat this invasion fleet, but they would waste most of their energy doing so. So all he'd have to do was rush in and kill as many Senshi as possible before they recovered.

Yes, this time around, his plan was perfect. He would not... His mind was brusquely knocked off his brooding as he was knocked off his feet by an energy blast. Looking up, he could see the annoying alien twins floating there, smiling at him. "You pests, don't you know who I am?"

"Indeed," Ail said, "you're Rockman's dumber brother."

Game Master didn't bother snapping back, just shot a massive energy wave at them. As the wave passed, there was no traces of the alien twins. "Heheh... I didn't think they'd fall so fast."

"We didn't," Ann snapped from behind. "There's such a thing as short-range teleportation, you know?"

Game Master nodded. "Indeed... But I don't have time to play with you right now. Begone!"

As Game Master snapped his fingers, a few dozen assorted flying monsters appeared, rushing at the twins. The villain walked away as his pets dealt with the twins. "Now, let's see if any of the Senshi is still standing..."

-----​

"Burning Soul!"

The fire blast smashed into Iceman dead on, killing him instantly. Mars looked around and saw Mercury and Saturn both kneeling on the ground. True, Iceman was the last of the Willybots, but Rockman and his allies were now walking to them.

"Man, I hoped they'd have some energy left," Rockman complained.

"Just kill them and let's look for other Senshi to fight," Breakman said.

A small, round airship floated in, and a voice came from it. "You stupid robots, leave the Senshi to me!"

"No way, Willy."

"My robots did all the dirty work for you, blue moron."

"Wanna fight?" Rockman snapped as he pointed his blaster arm at Willy's ship.

Mars looked at Mercury and Saturn, but both shook their heads. She had little energy left to go, but she had to do something. It was clear once the smoke cleared in the argument Rockman and Willy were having, the winner would finish them off.

"... And besides you're a loser, you've always..."

"She's shining."

"Who?" Rockman asked Willy. Was this a distraction tactic?

"Sailor Mars," Breakman said. "She's shining."

Rockman risked turning around and saw that, indeed, Mars had a red aura around her. "Damn. This is all Willy's fault."

"Mars Star Power!"

"Guess this battle is over," Saturn commented.

"Damn it," Rockman muttered as his armor turned cyan. "Eat ice, magma breath!"

Mars looked at the incoming ice blast dismissively. "Fire..." Her hands were awash with flames, and she knelt, her palms touching the ground as she completed the phrase. "Tornado!"

Mercury had to admit, the attack was impressive. A small flame cone had appeared where Mars touched the ground, growing in size as it rushed forwards, soon becoming a large fire vortex that run over Rockman's attack, then did the same with him and his allies.

"Okay, that's dealt with, now..." Mars started but stopped as a familiar figure appeared in front of them. "You?"

Game Master chuckled. "You Senshi are so easy to fool. You and your friends are tired now, so I'll finish the job myself."

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 7: Game Master.
Episode 70: Level Up.


By Razor Knight
Last update: October 11, 2007

-----​

Everywhere he looked at, he could see a battle raging. It was both amazing and frightening, to see this many creatures flying, running or crawling around the city, and they were all from videogames.

But he knew better than exposing himself to their rage. For some reason, they hadn't caused much material damage other than setting a few cars and trees aflame in his area.

"Looks bad, doesn't it?" He asked turning to the only other living being in the room.

"I trust the Senshi to deal with this," the small creature said.

"Yeah, me too, Luna. After all, my sister's one of them."

Luna walked to the window and looked up at the sky. Dragon Sun was just done destroying a small group of Space Invaders ships, and was ascending to meet what seemed like spaceships out of Galaga. "I'm quite uneasy about this... Videogame characters shouldn't be so hard to beat."

"You don't play videogames a lot, do you Luna?"

Luna looked at Shingo. "I'm a cat, you know?"

"Yeah, I suppose paws would make playing games hard," Shingo said and turned back to staring out the window.

Luna walked out of the room and headed for the kitchen, but something made her stop dead in her track. She looked around and seeing Ms. Tsukino wasn't looking at her, she swiftly leapt out the window.

If what she'd felt was true, the Senshi would need her help this time.

-----​

Game Master stood waiting, arms crossed, for any of the Senshi to move. "Come on, girls, you can't all be that tired."

Mars didn't bother answering, instead rushing forwards to tackle him. Her opponent was ready for that, and leapt out of the way, shooting a small energy blast that hit her midsection, sending her crashing down to the ground face-first. That, however, left him open for an attack. "Grim Edge."

Game Master spun just in time to see the attack heading his way, and quickly summoned an energy shield. He kept an eye on both Mars and Saturn as he waited for their next move.

What he had failed to see, was that Mercury wasn't kneeling on the ground anymore, and had moved right behind him. "Hail Snare!"

Mars stood up just in time to see Game Master falling down, his armor going a deep cyan as ice started forming on it. "Nice going, Ami."

Mercury nodded. "The advantage of not being the fighty type, is that most enemies will tend to overlook my actions when in a brawl."

Game Master vanished from under the net, reappearing a few meters away. "I didn't think you had any energy left to go," he admitted. "But now, playtime is over, I'll..."

An unseen force hit him just as he was gloating, sending him skipping forwards. Before he could recover, he was hit with a greenish blast of water, which sent him rolling forwards a few meters.

"What was that?" Mars asked.

"There," Mercury said and pointed. Two figures could be seen in a nearby alley, their forms obscured by the shadows. The figures vanished into the shadows before she could get a reading of them, and he frowned. "Wonder who they were?"

"No idea," Saturn lied. Wind and water, it was obvious who they were, but she couldn't tell the others. Not yet, at least.

Game Master staggered up again. "Okay, if we're done with the backstabbing, then..."

This time, it was a golden energy beam that hit Game Master. As the Senshi turned, the three could see a dark-haired woman clad in a golden dress that somehow reminded them of the suits they wore. "It's Mystery Senshi Day or what?" Mars muttered.

The figure didn't bother answering, instead she rushed at Game Master and knocked him into a fountain, leaping up just in time to avoid the water herself. She landed on top of a liquor store, winked at the fallen villain, then dashed away.

"What the... I'm going to kill that :red:!" Game Master snarled, forgetting about the three Senshi, and fled after his newfound opponent.

"So... Now what?" Saturn asked.

"We leave before he remembers he was about to kill us," Mars said.

-----​

As he slashed a robot down, he risked looking to his side. Minako was doing the best she could to fight, but there were enough robots to keep them both busy, and Sonic's speed made it unlikely for them to hit him. And then, there were his allies to take care of as well.

Dragon Venus looked on as Venus barely dodged Sonic's rolling dash. She was agile, indeed, but... "Oh, I got it. Mina, here's some help. Swift!"

Venus felt something different in her body as magic surrounded her, but realized she didn't have time to figure out what the spell did. As she looked at Sonic's form rolling at her, however, she could actually see the hedgehog, as if he was moving at normal speed.

"Go Mina!" Dragon Venus cheered as Venus dodged Sonic's charge with a speed no human could reach, kicking the hedgehog away before he could react. Tails tried his best to help, but his speed was nothing compared to Venus now.

The Dragon saw Robotnik aiming his ship's cannons at Venus' general direction and grimaced. He had almost forgotten that fat bastard, but he was sure he could stop him from interfering. "Inferno!"

Tails turned and froze as he saw Robotnik's ship surrounded by flames. As the fire faded, the ship was just a pile of molten metal. "Guess the old man's a gonner."

"Twilight V-Laser!"

Sonic was once again going to attack Venus, but stopped in shock as he saw her attack smash through Tails' chest. As the two-tailed fox vanished, the hedgehog growled in anger.

"Oh crap," Dragon Venus muttered. "Mina, beat him before-"

The warning came late, as Sonic's fur became golden, his spikes grew larger, and he dashed at Venus once again. But this time, not even the Dragon's speed spell helped her dodge, and Sonic hit her several times before finishing his barrage with a kick to the chest that sent the Light Senshi smashing through a building.

"Why you..." Dragon Venus snapped. "Light Rain!"

Sonic dodged the attack and laughed. "Your attacks are too slow, kid."

As Sonic charged, the Dragon smirked. "I don't need to attack you. Light Shield!" Sonic smashed head-on into the shield, bouncing back as the Dragon prepared another attack.

"Morning Star Smash!"

Dragon Venus looked to the side as Sonic vanished. "Mina, are you okay?"

"I'm..." Venus started but then knelt on the ground, her suit reverting to a normal Senshi suit. "That barrage hurt more than I thought," she said.

"Okay, let me heal you."

"We don't have time for that, we have to help..." Venus started then coughed up some blood.

"You can't help anyone like that. Heal."

Venus sighed as Brad's spell slowly healed her body. "I should've known it would end like this, videogames always kick my rear."

-----​

Up in the sky, the battle was almost over, as not many enemy ships or aircrafts were left. "Think we can leave the rest to the army?" Dragon Mercury asked.

"Why, tired of playing already?" Dragon Sun asked back.

"No, but I want to check on Ami, they may need our help down there... Aren't you worried about Hotaru?"

"Why should I, she can take care of herself."

Ail appeared near them. "I've already talked to Rakurai. She said, and I quote, 'don't worry, we can take care of what's left in the sky. It's not like we're useless.'"

"I don't think they're useless," Dragon Sun said, "but they often, like the saying goes, bring a sword to a gunfight."

"Swords are useful in a gunfight, once you're out of ammo," Dragon Mercury countered.

Nova fled to them. "Leave your chatter for later, I'm detecting a massive energy beacon moving towards Moon's location."

"Big bad boss is coming out to play." Dragon Sun noted.

Nova nodded. "That sums it up."

-----​

Jupiter cartwheeled to dodge an axe, punching one of the creatures right through a parked car, then groaned. "I do love brawls, but just where are all these green things coming from?"

Earth was just done kicking a troll away, and she took a moment to catch her breath. "I don't know. Maybe if we had Mercury's scanning..."

Lilith looked up in time to see a couple arrows flying at her. Fortunately, a goblin was rushing at her just then, so she grabbed it and used it as a meat shield. "I love luck."

"Yeah, but that elf bastard is sniping us while we fight these monsters," Earth said.

Jupiter nodded. "Sooner or later, one of those arrows will hit its mark. We need to find a way to get rid of him and the monsters."

They had been, all the while, fighting the seemingly endless army of monsters. One of the creatures tried to chop at Jupiter, but she stopped the axe with her hands (it was a good thing the modified gloves were that strong,) then snatched it off the monster's hands and slashed it in half before it could figure out what was going on. She then tossed the axe at an incoming monster, its blade neatly cutting through its skull and killing it instantly.

Another creature came rushing at her, a large, fat orc. Jupiter simply kicked its groin, sending it barreling up and out of sight.

Again, a rain of arrows came from above. It came closer to hitting them, and the three Senshi gathered as the creatures advanced on them. "Damn, that guy's annoying."

"Maybe if we could bring him down to ground level..." Lilith noted.

Earth smirked. "That's a good plan." She rushed at the nearest goblin, grabbing its arm before it could dodge, and swung it up, smashing it into the wall near link. "Chie, a little luck would help."

Lilith nodded. "Gotcha." Earth used another 'goblin missile,' and this time, the goblin hit right below Link's position on the rooftop. The elf staggered as the roof started to cave in, and fell down a good five stories.

"That must hurt," Jupiter noted.

"It's not done yet... Thanks for the help, by the way."

"What do you-" Jupiter started, then saw the one orc she'd sent flying up coming back down, straight to where Link was. There was a loud boom as the creature hit the ground, raising a small cloud of dust and cracking the concrete near the landing spot. "Neat."

As the dust cleared, however, Link wasn't under the orc, but on top of its corpse. He didn't waste a second, using the three Senshi's surprise to his advantage. He shot several arrows at them, and both Lilith and Earth fell down.

Jupiter had been hit too, one arrow had struck her near her left shoulder, but as she looked back, she saw Earth and Lilith had been hit by several arrows each.

Link smiled triumphantly, until he noticed Jupiter's body shining. "They told me you weren't very bright, but now I see they were wrong," he mused.

Jupiter didn't bother answering, she pulled the arrow off as electric arcs encased her. "Jupiter Star Power!"

Link looked around and saw all his 'soldiers' cowering back. "What are you doing? Attack!"

"Wraith's Cry!"

As Saturn's attack drained all his troopers, Link realized he was clearly outnumbered. "Four to one is not fair."

"Says the one who was a hundred to one a minute ago," Saturn countered.

Mars started summoning her attack, but Mercury shook her head. "Rei, leave this one to Mako. I think she'll take care of him in a few seconds."

As if to confirm Mercury's words, Jupiter's transformation ended. The Lightning Senshi didn't stop to look at her new suit, instead rushing at Link.

Link reached for an arrow, but stopped as he saw Jupiter's body shine again. "What the-"

Jupiter leapt at Link with still a few dozen meters left, and as she did, electricity gathered around her, forming a sort of shield around her, shaped like a dragon's head. "Lightning Kick!"

The elf screamed in pain as the kick connected with his chest. The dragon head lunged forwards, as all the electric power in it was knocked into his body. He was gone even before Jupiter fell down from her kick, leaving the electric arcs to crack the concrete for a few second before they also vanished.

Jupiter turned back to see Saturn already taking care of Lilith and Earth, and sighed in relief. "Hey, are you two okay?"

"Yeah, luckily those arrows didn't hit any vital organs," Lilith noted.

"I just got a message from Aiko," Mercury said walking to the others, "every threat has been dealt with except for..."

"Let me guess, Usagi's not done with her foe yet?"

Mercury looked at Mars, amused. "How did you know?"

"Maybe because that's how it always goes," Mars said. "We go to help her, we get our rears kicked, then she powers up and saves the day."

"You say it like we are in some kind of kids' toon," Lilith mused.

"By the way, why did the orcs stop appearing?" Jupiter asked.

"No idea," Mercury admitted. "Maybe because you killed Link."

As the group walked away, Luna looked at them from atop a tree. "Sometimes it doesn't feel right lying to them."

"We're not lying, we're just not telling them the whole truth," Artemis said. "So, was it fun to use that power again?"

"Sort of... You should've seen Game Master's face when he lost me. It's easy to escape when they're looking for a human and they only find a cat."

"You could've defeated Game Master," Shade noted.

"But we can't return possessed creatures to normal," Artemis said. "She would need one of the Senshi for that, and would have to explain a thing or two... Or lie."

Luna nodded. "And as I said, I hate lying to them."

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 7: Game Master.
Episode 71: Boss Battle.


By Razor Knight
Last update: October 15, 2007

-----​

Nemesis was pretty sure that, after this battle was over, she would never touch a Mario game again. She'd been bitten, stomped on, and sent flying away by explosions more times than she could count already, and the army of Koopas just kept on attacking. And as far as she could tell, Mario and Luigi were shielded. Moon's attacks were absorbed by Yoshi whenever she used them, and the dinosaur had shown he could spit the blasts back at her on a whim. While the army of koopas wasn't strong on its own, it was also a never-ending flood, and she could see what they were trying to do.

A few fire blasts hissed by, missing her face by mere millimeters, and she once again focused in the battle. She leapt up, summoning her spear as she did. "Nightmare Shot!" The spear jammed into the concrete as she fell, releasing tendrils of darkness in all directions, and momentarily clearing the area of their minor problem.

She saw Bowser shoot a large fireball at Moon, which got dodged. Dragon Earth tried to rush at Bowser, only to get fire-blasted back by Mario and Luigi.

Moon glared at their foes, her body shining. "I'm tired of fighting stupid game characters," she snapped, "specially those who cheat. Moon Star Power!"

Luigi and Bowser backed away, but Mario laughed. "It's-a useless, girl. Yoshi will eat everything you shoot."

Moon's transformation had ended, and Nemesis noted it was similar to the others, not counting her boots, gloves and skirt, which were all white with blue trimming. She reached her left hand out, drawing a circle in the air with her index, and leaving a white ring behind. She then smiled as her right filled with energy. "Let's test that theory, Mario. Moonlight Flash!"

The Moon Senshi punched the center of the ring with her energy-charged fist, sending a semi sphere-shaped blast of energy forwards. Yoshi prepared to eat the blast, but Moon rose her left hand, and the attack mimicked her movement. As the blast hovered right above its target, Moon rapidly swung her hand down, bringing the blast down on a very confused Mario.

The explosion that ensued caused the three Senshi to cover their eyes, but as smoke cleared, there was nothing left of their enemies. "Okay, I guess that's it for this attack."

"Oh, but you're quite wrong there, Sailor Moon."

Moon looked up and saw Game Master floating over the scene. "You!"

"It's time for a boss fight," Game Master said. "Oh, look, the sidekicks are here."

"Come tell me that face to face, and I'll show you a side kick," Earth snapped.

Game Master snorted and looked at all the Senshi, who had finally arrived. "Save your insults, Earth." He then turned to Moon. "I'm here to challenge you, and you alone, to a fight."

Moon knew what his game was, he knew she was tired and wanted to take advantage of it. "What's the catch?"

"If I lose, I'll stop my attacks for good. But if you lose, I will keep on attacking... And today's battle will look small compared to what I have in stock for Tokyo."

"Don't do it, it's a trap," Mars said.

"I agree," Mercury nodded.

"I'll keep my word if I lose," Game Master said. "But if you don't trust your leader enough, then..."

"I'll do it," Moon said. "I'll fight you."

"She never listens..." Mars muttered.

"Okay, then it's settled. Ladies first," Game Master said.

Saturn smiled for a split second before summoning her glaive. "Wraith's Cry!" The attack, however, wasn't directed at Game Master. It run through all the Senshi before hitting Moon and vanishing.

"What was that for?" Earth muttered as she knelt on the ground.

Saturn pointed at Moon. "She needed a recharge." True, Moon's body was shining slightly, and she looked more than ready to kick Game Master's rear.

"Oh, that's nice," Game Master said as he floated down to the ground. "It doesn't matter, because my attacks are far stronger than yours." He turned to the others. "If any of you further helps her in any way, this fight will be forfeit and I'll resume my games."

"Moonlight Flash!"

Game Master wasn't expecting Moon to attack him while he was distracted, but reacted fast enough to summon an energy shield. As her attack hit, he reeled back, looking stunned. Moon summoned her sword, running to him and ready to slash him down. He, however, was faking it, and summoned a large gun, firing it before she could react. The bluish energy beam from the gun hit Moon, dragging her back and through a wall.

Nova appeared near the group, just as Moon rushed out of the wall, shooting a Twilight Beam attack at Game Master. "What are you guys up to?"

"The game freak challenged Moon to a fight," Mercury explained. "And said if she won, he'd stop attacking."

"Thing is, we can't help her," Saturn said.

The psychic stared at the battle for a few moments before nodding. "I can sense that man's power, and Moon is up to his level."

The battle continued, with both Moon and Game Master fighting almost evenly, though whenever Moon seemed to get the upper hand, Game Master would do something to even the odds. The fight lasted for several minutes, until a barrage of missiles hit the villain, sending him reeling back. "Hey, who did that?"

Jupiter produced her comm. "Seia, tell your troops to stop attacking."

"You sure you can handle him?"

"Yes."

Game Master frowned. "Okay, I'll let that one pass, but..." only then he noticed Moon had vanished while he was distracted. "Hide and seek, huh? I can play that too."

"Moon Twilight Wave!"

The attack came from above, knocking Game Master to the ground and visibly denting his armor. He stood up glaring at Moon, who was hovering over him in her airboard, and shoot a large, yellow energy beam at her.

"Kamehameha?" Dragon Venus pondered. The others ignored him as they kept their attention focused in the battle.

Moon leapt off her board, barely missing the beam. She landed right behind Game Master, bringing her sword up. The sword was blocked, however, by an energy blade summoned by the villain. "Well, well, never heard the saying 'don't bring a sword to a gunfight?'" he asked.

"I did," Moon said. "That's why I have this. Moon Tiara Boomerang!"

Game Master leapt away, deflecting the tiara with his sword. He'd seen that trick before, so he knocked the tiara away with an energy blast, before turning to Moon. "You're not that bad a fighter after all, Usagi."

Moon nodded. "And I'm not out of tricks yet. Moon Disc Spiral!"

Game Master used his sword to knock the attack away and laughed. "Please, once the surprise factor is gone, those attacks are quite usel-"

Moon looked on as her own tiara hit Game Master from behind, sending him staggering towards her. "Moonlight Flash!"

This time, the attack was at nearly point-blank, and sent his helm rolling away as it knocked him back. Nemesis was the first to find her voice as she stared at the face of their enemy. "Umino?"

Moon walked to Game Master, or rather Umino, her face showing shock and confusion. "It can't be..."

"Yes, it's me, Usagi," Umino said. "And now that you know who I am, I can't let you win this." He said that casually, almost taking Moon by surprise as he lunged forwards, slashing at her with his sword. Moon used her own to block it, but Game Master kicked her away and laughed. "Screw what I said before, you're nothing without your friends helping you."

Moon winced as she stood up. Once again, she found herself fighting someone she cared for, but this time around, she wouldn't run and hide. She knew the only way to stop him would be defeating him, and she intended to do just that.

Game Master smirked as Moon charged at him. "Always the heroine." He shot an energy blast at her, taking her off-guard, and then vanished. Before anyone could figure out what he was up to, he reappeared right behind her, stabbing through her with his energy blade. "But heroines can fall too."

"Usagi!" Dragon Earth didn't even wait to see her fall to the ground, he knew she was gone, and was already charging at her killer. He didn't mind who the boy was, he had killed her, and for that he would pay.

"Please..." Game Master said and shot an energy blast at him.

"Earth King's Shield!" The shield blocked the blast, and he slashed down at Game Master. The villain, however, phased out of the way and laughed. "Come back here!"

"Sorry, but you're not going to succeed in what your girlfriend failed. By the way, I hope you like my present."

Dragon Earth's mind registered what his foe had said, and looked down just in time to see a round, metallic object. A bomb like those a certain bounty hunter used, he realized a split second before it exploded.

Game Master laughed as the Dragon was knocked away. "Now, kids, this has been fun, but it's time to..." He frowned as he couldn't teleport. "What the hell?"

"That would be my fault," Nova noted. "I'm sorry, but you're not getting away this time."

"Okay, who will be the next to fall?" Game Master said, then saw a spear hitting the ground next to him. "Naru?"

Nemesis glared at him as she walked forwards. "You... You're not Umino. Whatever you are, you killed Usagi, and you won't get away with it. Nemesis Star Power!"

Dragon Earth was leaning on a wall, barely able to move. He smiled as Nemesis' body was shrouded by darkness. "Get him, Naru."

Game Master chuckled as the transformation ended. Her suit was completely black, just like in her previous forms, and even the transparent skirt under her normal one had a black hue. "Go ahead, Naru, I can take whatever you throw at me."

Nemesis' glare hadn't lessened at all, and she reached her hands forwards, dark energy immediately shrouding them. "Dark Fear!"

Game Master readied to block what he guessed was a beam or blast, but none came. After a few seconds of waiting, he smiled. "What's wrong, can't use your new power?"

"Not every attack's about shooting flashy beams around, Umino," Nemesis snapped, then her hands moved to face each other. As she did, dark energy shot from the ground, forming two man-sized, claw-like hands that clasped around Game Master as she clasped her own hands together. She pressed her hands closer, and Game Master screamed in pain. "Die!"

"Wait, Naru," Mars said. "Umino's still there."

Nemesis stopped her attack and turned to Mars, then gasped as she heard Game Master's body's thud. "No..."

Saturn was almost done resurrecting Moon, but looked away as she felt another death. She could also see Nemesis' energy raising. "Naru!"

Nemesis' eyes had taken a dark hue as she stared at Game Master's body, and as she turned, it was obvious she was trying to keep her emotions at bay. "What?"

"Calm down, I can revive him," Saturn said.

Nemesis fell on her knees, her eyes returning to normal. "It doesn't matter. I killed him."

Moon opened her eyes and rose to a sitting position. She immediately noticed Nemesis and gasped. "What happened?"

"Game Master killed you," Mars explained, "but Nemesis took care of him- A little too well."

Saturn rushed to Umino's side, noticing his armor was gone, leaving him in his normal attire. She closed her eyes and concentrated, searching for the soul that would still be near.

Moon knelt besides Nemesis and put an arm over her shoulders. "Naru, it's okay..."

"It's not. I killed him, I left darkness control me."

Nova could almost guess how the redhead felt right now. She remembered her own bruise with her own dark feelings, and it wasn't something she'd like to repeat. "It's over now."

Saturn fell on her back as Umino awakened. "Guys, if any of you is planning to die, you'll have to wait for a few hours." There wasn't any trace of humor in her voice, she was too tired to even try being sarcastic.

Umino walked to Nemesis and looked down at her. "Naru."

Nemesis looked up, a smile showing for a second before sadness returned. "Umino, I'm sorry, I-"

"No, I'm sorry. I let that thing control me, I was watching all of it, and I would have probably done the same in your place."

"It doesn't make it right." Nemesis said as she stood up.

Umino hugged her. "I don't blame you for what you did, Naru. Don't blame yourself. Learning from our mistakes is something we all must do."

Nemesis would, at any other time, have swiftly moved off his hug and probably been mad at him, but right now, she couldn't care less what the others would think. "I- I guess I can try to forgive myself."

"That's a good start," Saturn said, still lying on the ground.

"I can't believe you were Game Master," Jupiter said. "So, what now, you know who we are, right?"

"That's true, Mako, but I've known for a while. A few weeks before Venus joined you, I started suspecting something. And I saw you transform, Moon."

"You did?" Usagi said.

"Yes, but I also knew you didn't want your identities known. Don't worry, your secret's safe with me."

Nemesis took a step back and smiled at him. "So, back to normal."

"Or what we can call normal," Dragon Sun said. He then frowned. "You don't know who turned you into Game Master, do you?"

Umino shook his head. "No, she kept her identity a secret whenever she talked to me, I haven't even seen her face."

Dragon Mercury sighed. "I could bet a million or two that 'she' is allied with Onara."

-----​

Onara saw A walking back and forth and flinched. "I take it you're not happy with the results?"

"Not only that, but I feel the Mugen Gakuen group moving," A said. "And the creature inside Game Master was my last youma."

"I can make more of them. It'll take a while, but it's possible."

"Good, go ahead. I'm sure we'll need them someday."

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 8: Death Busters.
Episode 72: Cold Rising.

By Razor Knight
Last update: October 22, 2007

-----​

She was what one would call a colonizer. Her race was immune to cold, but heat, on the other hand, could kill them easily. Even being this close to such a small star was starting to make her feel uncomfortable. She had to focus, however, on her task. This planet, already a beautiful blue and white in some parts, was her next target. The Earth, as the sentient creatures in it called it, would soon become her new home.

"Beautiful, blue Earth, I'll make you even more beautiful, and then you will be mine..."

She watched as a swarm of ice shards shot from her comet, and straight to the Earth, then laughed sinisterly.

-----​

Usagi was at her bedroom, a bored look in her face. "Luna, you think the Game Master attack was the last we'll see of evil?"

"I'm not sure, I really hope so, but..."

"But?"

"I've got the feeling something is about to happen. Something evil approaches."

Right then, there was a knock on the door. "Usagi?"

It was Shingo's voice, Usagi noted. She looked at Luna, who had a funny face and shook her head. "Come in."

Shingo walked in. "Hey, Usako, you know Nova, right?"

"Yes, she's a friend," Usagi said. And in the few months since Game Master was defeated, she'd been the only one of her group of friends still actively fighting. Usagi always surprised herself when she thought how much she missed being Sailor Moon.

"Could you get me her autograph?"

"Why her autograph?" Usagi asked. "Why not mine?"

"You girls never sign autographs," Shingo pointed. "Though I can guess why. If you did it, fans wouldn't leave you alone."

"I don't think Hana minds the attention," Luna said. "She's more than happy to pose for the cameras."

"Hana? Cute name," Shingo said, then realized he'd said it out loud and blushed.

Usagi smiled. "Maybe I can introduce her to you. Wouldn't that be better than an autograph?"

"You can really do that?"

"As long as you behave," Usagi warned.

"I promise," Shingo agreed.

"Okay..." Usagi thought for a moment before nodding. "I know she's been in the base a lot lately. Maybe we'll find her there."

"And I finally get to know that base of yours," Shingo said.

-----​

Naru sat bored at the counter. Today had been quite a quiet day, and though she liked helping her mother at the jewelry, she also missed the action.

But deep in her mind, she dreaded having to fight again. Ever since Nephrite's death, she felt like she was always forcing her anger and sorrow down, and her Senshi form's element, darkness, made it harder on her. When Game Master killed Usagi, that had been the last straw, and she let her anger and pain flare for a while.

She couldn't afford to do that again, she knew the darkness she controlled as a Senshi could easily take over again, and she could end up hurting someone else, like she had hurt Umino.

However, fate wasn't a fair player, she realized as she heard noises outside the shop. Looking out, she saw something out of a nightmare: A white layer of ice slowly creeping forwards, and anything it touched became frozen solid, even animals and people.

"Mom, get out of here," Naru said as her mother joined her in watching the ice's advance.

"Naru, you go ahead, I'll close the store and follow you," her mother countered.

Naru sighed. "Okay, but hurry, the ice's going to be here soon."

She run out of the store as fast as she could, knowing her mother would be in danger, but also that Nemesis would be far better off against the ice. After transforming, she reached for her comm and groaned. "Great, no signal. Are they always going to have comm blockers?"

She sensed something and her eyes widened. As she looked down, she saw her feet surrounded by ice. She wasn't frozen, which was good, but the Osa-P was now a block of ice. "Mom..."

Feeling her anger rising, Nemesis looked for whatever was causing the freeze, though it was a difficult task for her, as her feet weren't used to ice. At least not this kind of ice, it looked unnaturally smooth, unnaturally crystal-like.

-----​

As Usagi walked in, followed by her brother and Luna, she smiled. The base was almost empty, as Dragon Venus and Venus were sparring, while Ami and Hana were chatting. "Hi guys."

Ami looked at Usagi. "Hi." She noticed Shingo and smiled. "I was wondering how long it would take for him to sneak in."

"I'm not sneaking in," Shingo said. "I asked Usagi about Nova, and..."

"And she told you you could meet her," Hana said, "or rather, me."

"Oh, you're- Uh- Hi," Shingo stammered.

"No need to be nervous," Hana mused. "I'm as human as you, not counting my psychic power."

Shingo frowned. "But how do I know you're the real..."

"Nova Armor On!"

It was, actually, the first time Usagi, or any of the others, had seen Nova transform. Just like with Zero's suit, a black liquid poured out of the bracelet in her right arm, covering all of her body and forming a black eye mask.

"My friends are never going to believe I met Nova."

Nova smiled at Shingo. "As long as my secret's safe..."

Shingo nodded. "I won't say a thing. I've been keeping Usagi's secret for a while now."

Luna looked around uneasily. "Aiko, can you do a scan of the city?"

Aiko appeared in the room and nodded. "Scanning... Several areas of the city seem to be shrouded in some kind of magic field. I can't get through."

"Use the satellites," Ami said.

"But dad said-"

"In this case, I don't think he'll mind," Ami noted.

Aiko nodded again and an overhead view of Tokyo appeared in the large screen behind her. The view zoomed in, soon making it clear almost half the city was covered in white patches of ice. "It seems to be ice. Magically created."

"Someone's freezing the city?" Minako asked. "Let's call the others."

Ami looked at her communicator and shook her head. "We're right under one of those ice layers, and it's blocking our signal."

"From how things look, I would guess they already know about it," Shingo said.

Usagi looked at the screen and grimaced. The city was rapidly being covered by ice, and they had no idea who was behind it. It would be another war, most likely. "Okay guys, let's go. Shingo, stay here."

Shingo nodded. "I'm not in the mood to play in the snow."

"There's no snow," Aiko noted, "only ice."

"It was just a figure of speech," Shingo muttered then saw the Senshi and Nova enter the elevator. "So, what's there to do in this place?"

"I have several videogames installed."

Shingo smiled. He'd been at the base for only a few minutes, but he already liked the place.

-----​

Nemesis looked at the item. A small ice shard, embedded into the concrete. As she was about to kick it, she noticed one of the ice creatures sneaking up on her. She stabbed her spear through the monster and then returned to her task. She gave the shard a mighty kick, and it shattered. As it did, the ice started melting away, and so did the icy monsters.

The Dark Senshi looked at them as they writhed in pain. They were seemingly female, made completely of ice, and looked like some kind of ballerinas. The name 'Ice Dancer' seemed to fit them well in her mind. It was then that she saw an explosion in the direction of the Hikawa Shrine. She was sure the others would need her help, and Rei was the closest one to her house.

Looking back at the store, she sighed in relief as she saw it was back to normal.

-----​

"General, the city is under attack."

Kino looked at the soldier and nodded. "What is it this time?"

"Ice creatures, sir. They're spreading ice all through Tokyo. There's also reports of other cities under attack in Europe, America and even Africa."

"We'll be the main target, most likely." He pressed a button in his desk. "All soldiers report to your squad leaders at once. This is not a drill, the city is under attack."

The soldier was already hurrying away, and Kino sighed. He sometimes wished he had known this would be the "alien gateway" before signing up for his job.

-----​

Jupiter picked the small shard and looked at it. "So much trouble for this thing?"

Earth looked on as Lilith dropped an ice-covered tree on a group of ice monsters, crushing them. "I say we break it now, worry about what it was later."

Jupiter crushed the shard in her hand. "I agree." She immediately noticed the ice retreating. "What do you know, it worked."

"Let's find the others," Lilith said.

"Still not working," Earth added looking at her comm.

"Then we'll have to do it the old way," Jupiter said as she summoned her board.

-----​

Dragon Mercury was angry. Really angry. He didn't mind ice at all, it was his element at all, but they'd turned his mansion into one massive ice cube, and that was enough to piss him off.

But also, as he'd found out quite soon, his elemental attacks, even the Ice Wyrm, were useless against these monsters. They seem to feed on the ice energy, rather than be harmed by it. So, he was forced to use his swords and his melee skills instead. Not that he didn't like a brawl, but he was growing tired of splitting ice girls in half.

"Crescent Beam!"

One of the creatures exploded as a light beam hit it. He turned to see Mercury, Moon, the two Venus and Nova flying over the horde of icy enemies. "What took you so long?"

"There's monsters like these all around the city," Moon said. "We've cleared the base, but I think taking care of the rest will not be easy."

"We need to regroup," the other Dragon added "With Mars or Sun with us we could surely clean up those shards easily."

"Shards?" Dragon Mercury asked as he leapt in his own board, noticing the monsters couldn't reach him if he floated high enough.

Mercury nodded. "There's small ice shards in the center of each of these ice layers. If they're destroyed, the monsters die. But my powers are useless."

"Same here," her male counterpart admitted. "Here."

As Mercury caught one of the swords, Dragon Venus gasped. "Does she know how to use one of those?"

"Terry's taught me enough," Mercury said. "I'm not one to be in the front line often, but he thought it would be useful for me in case something happens to him."

"Anyways, how can we regroup if we can't call the others?" Venus asked.

Dragon Mercury smiled. "Let me work on that. But get rid of the shard, I'd like my mansion back from the Ice Age."

"Ami?"

Mercury looked around and pointed. "That way."

Venus nodded and fled off. Several seconds later, there was a flash in the distance, and the ice started melting away. The creatures all fell to the ground, in visible pain.

"So..." Venus said as she flew back to the others, looking at the Ice Dragon.

"So, I've managed to override the magic aura they're using to block our communicators," Dragon Mercury said. "I don't know if it's coincidental or they actually wanted to block us."

"That doesn't matter," Moon said. "Call everyone and tell them to meet us here. We can plan our strategy better after we're regrouped."

Luna walked to them. "Senshi, I think I know what sent these shards here."

"You do?"

Luna nodded and pointed up. "Look."

They all looked up and gasped. A small, dark blue circle could be seen in the sky, it was as thin as a needle, but seemingly growing larger. "What the heck's that?" Dragon Venus asked.

"A comet," Mercury said. "Made entirely of ice. It's big enough to make a district-sized crater, too."

"Then we need to destroy it," Venus noted.

"I will not allow such thing to happen."

They turned to the cold, female voice and noticed two things. One, that the ice around the area had reappeared in a blink. And two, that the woman that had appeared as suddenly as the ice was just like the other creatures, but twice as tall, and wearing what could be described as a royal gown.

"Who, or what, are you?" Moon asked.

"I'm the Ice Queen Kaguya," the woman said, "and this world will be mine soon. But beings with your skills could be useful to me. Specially the two that control ice. You can join me, or you can die."

"We choose neither," Dragon Mercury snapped. "Leave our planet alone, ice witch."

"So be it," Kaguya said and rose her hand. Countless creatures rose from the ice itself and surrounded the Senshi.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 8: Death Busters.
Episode 73: Winter Fury.


By Razor Knight
Last update: November 1, 2007

-----​

Seia looked back and grimaced. The ice's speed wasn't enough to catch up with her tank, but she had been the only one to escape it. She looked at the screen as a very worried Kino appeared in it. "Sir, I'm sorry to say this, but all our ground vehicles are frozen. From what I saw, the Senshi are taking care of the problem."

"Return to the base."

"I'll be there in ten minutes. And the ice will be there in twelve, unless the Senshi win."

-----​

"The whole city's affected," Mercury said as she scanned the area with her visor. "But people frozen isn't dead, they're in some sort of cryogenic sleep."

"Food tastes better alive," Kaguya said.

"That's disgusting, but then again, your looks aren't any better."

Kaguya saw Saturn standing on top of a building and laughed. "Save your insults, Senshi. My ice may not be able to cover you as easily as the other humans, but it's only a matter of time before you freeze."

Nova appeared right then, along with the rest of the Senshi. "See, I told you I could do it."

"So that's where she'd gone," Venus commented.

Nova nodded. "I thought we would need to gather everyone fast." She then looked at Kaguya. "So, this is the boss, Mrs. Freeze?"

Kaguya frowned. "You... You're not a Senshi. How can you resist the cold?"

"I may not be a Senshi, but I've got my own kind of power," Nova said, then concentrated.

Kaguya felt the air around her grow hotter, and heavier, and immediately knew the cause. "You..."

Nova opened her eyes as she felt her limbs freeze. "Impressive, but can you freeze me before I kill you?"

The Senshi decided to help, and sent a barrage of attacks at the Ice Queen. The Queen was sent flying back by the onslaught, and crashed through a building before staggering up.

"Guess we got her attention," Jupiter commented.

"Nova, are you okay?"

Nova nodded at Mercury as the ice around her arms and legs started melting. "Nothing I can't handle." She then noticed her suit's arms and legs were starting to fade in and out. "Damn, forgot that."

Kaguya laughed. "Pitiful creatures, is that all your power?"

"Think that thing's got any melee skills?" Dragon Sun asked.

"Let's find out," Dragon Mercury said.

As the Dragons all charged as one, Kaguya looked at them dismissively. "I don't need to fight you, weaklings." She rose her hand, and a dozen ice dancers appeared. These ones, however, had swords, and their suits looked almost metallic.

While the Dragons engaged the new creatures, Moon turned to Mercury. "Got any idea how to defeat her?"

"Sorry, she doesn't seem to have any weak points," Mercury said.

Saturn, who was also scanning the creature, nodded. "She's right. This will pretty much be a power struggle."

"No, it won't," Kaguya snapped. "I'm tired of you, kids. Die!"

A large energy wave shot from the ice woman's body, freezing the Dragons instantly, but it bounced off an invisible barrier as it reached the girls. Nova fell to one knee and panted. "I'm out of juice."

"My attacks should be doing a lot of damage," Mars noted.

Mercury nodded. "Yes, but her body's so cold, not even fire can get to her."

"I'll offer you this once more," Kaguya said. "Join me, and you will live."

"And let you turn our world into an icy tomb? Never!" Moon snapped. She summoned her crystal, which started shining.

Kaguya's minions were destroyed by the crystal's energy, but the Queen herself didn't seem to notice. "Your will is strong," she said, "but you won't defeat me." She clapped her hands, and several icy columns rose from the ground, encasing all the Senshi. "It's done, this world is finally mine."

-----​

"We must help them," Artemis said. "I don't care if they figure out who we are, we can't just leave them frozen."

Luna nodded. "I guess we-" She stopped as a figure appeared in front of them. "Pluto?"

"They don't need your help this time," Pluto said.

"Are your protegees going to help them?"

"No. This is a war where only one element can win," Pluto said. "And I think things are about to get interesting."

As they turned to where the Queen was, the Mooncats could see one of the Dragons' icy prison shining.

-----​

Kaguya had also noticed that, and stared in shock as the ice column exploded outwards. "That's not possible. Nothing can escape my ice!"

"Ice is my element, :red:," Dragon Mercury snapped.

"I guess I'll have to kill you, then."

Another icy column cracked, and the Dragon smiled. "I suppose we'll see who's the real queen of ice."

Mercury looked around her as she walked out of the broken column. "Everyone..."

"Ami, I'll keep her busy, you find a way to stop her."

An icy blade formed in Kaguya's hands as the Dragon run to her. "Don't worry, you two will make a fine meal."

As the two fought, Mercury turned to look at her friends. All frozen, and her power would only help their prisons. She then realized something and her eyes widened. She summoned the Mercury Sword and looked at Moon. "I have to get her out of there."

Dragon Mercury, meanwhile, was struggling to keep up with the Queen. He was skilled, but the woman was over three meters tall, and her physical strength, despite how fragile she could seem, was beyond his own. He leapt away from her, and risked looking at Mercury. She was using his other sword to try and crack Moon's prison, but it was apparently hopeless.

Kaguya wasn't one for waiting, so she rushed in, tackling the Dragon while he was distracted. As both landed, however, she could feel something hitting her side. Looking down, she saw his sword embedded in her stomach. "Touche," the Dragon snapped.

"Cute, but it takes much more than that to kill me," Kaguya countered. She clutched his arms and smiled as he was, once again, encased in ice.

Mercury had given up on freeing Moon, and was scanning Kaguya when Terry was frozen. She saw the woman leisurely walking to her, and realized she was alone. Kaguya pulled the sword off her body and tossed it aside, and Mercury saw liquid slowly running down the woman's body. "Blood?" Then it hit her. The blood was liquid, despite being inside her cold body. "So, you're not invincible after all."

"I may not be invincible, little human, but you don't have the power to stop me."

Mercury smiled. "That's where you're wrong, Kaguya. We share the same element, but there's something you are lacking."

"And that is?" Kaguya asked. She was now only a meter away from Mercury, and more than ready to freeze the human for good.

"Your blood is not cold enough," Mercury said casually as she summoned her net. "And that is your weakness."

Kaguya rose her sword and smiled back at her. "Too bad you're going to die before you get to exploit it."

Mercury smiled again. "Not quite. Mercury Frost Web!"

Kaguya growled as Mercury's net expanded, wrapping around her and leaving her no room to move. She fell to the ground, glaring at her foe. "Stupid human, as soon as I break free, I'm going to run my blade through your heart!"

Mercury concentrated, aiming her hands at the wound in Kaguya's stomach. "For an ice queen, you're quite hot-headed. Let me cool you down. Mercury Frozen Rage!"

Kaguya screamed in pain as Mercury's beam hit her. She could feel her blood freezing, it was impossible, she couldn't be defeated by her own element, it wasn't fair! "Impossible..."

Mercury gave her a humorless smile. "I'm a Senshi, there's no impossibles for us."

Kaguya stared at her for a few seconds before she stopped moving, her whole body turning a deep blue color. Mercury looked around and saw the ice melting, freeing her friends.

"Mercury?"

"Wait, how- Moon, did you beat that ice with?"

Mercury smiled at Jupiter. "Actually, it was me."

"But... Your power was ice."

Moon smiled at Mercury. "It's good to know you guys can handle things even I can't."

Earth looked at Mercury in awe. "How did you do it?"

"Me and Terry, we both got out of those prisons. Terry was frozen again, but he managed to wound Kaguya."

"And?"

"And," Mercury continued, "she bled. Liquid, crystalline blood. I simply knocked her down and then froze her blood."

Mars cringed. "That's a nasty way to die."

Saturn was looking up, and Mercury did the same when she noticed it. "Guys, look!"

"The comet, it's shrinking?"

"Kaguya's magic was probably linked to it, just like it was linked to the ice she summoned," Mercury explained. "With her gone, the comet will soon melt down as well."

Nova, or rather Hana, sighed. "Well, this was fun, but I'll have to fix the suit now."

Dragon Mercury smiled. "I can fix it, I guess."

"I had almost forgotten how sensitive to ice and electricity it is."

Mercury looked around, noticing people was starting to come out of several buildings. "Guess we should continue this elsewhere."

"Don't look at me," Hana said, "I can't teleport without risking my secret."

"Hop in," Terry said as he summoned his board.

Hana looked at Mercury. "If she doesn't mind..."

"I don't," the Ice Senshi said.

-----​

As the Senshi left, Luna sighed. "Guess you were right, Pluto."

Artemis looked around. "She's gone. What a surprise."

"I'm impressed," Shade said. "Ami's grown into quite a warrior, despite herself."

"They all have," Artemis said. "Think this will be their last enemy?"

"It never is," Luna muttered.

-----​

And so, peace returned once again to Tokyo, but the Senshi knew it wouldn't last. They were enjoying the break, and their lives slowly returned to normal.

"Sir, there's a youngster here, he says he's one of your friends."

Terry looked away from the weapon racks he was inspecting and smiled at Samuel. "Who is it, Sam?"

Umino's head popped into view. "Your old friend, Umino," he said.

"Okay, you may leave," Terry said to his butler. He then looked at Umino, who was staring at the weapons in awe. "What are you up to?"

"I'll go straight to the point, I have a favor to ask of you."

"What kind of favor?"

"Well..."

-----​

"They're moving out."

"Then it's time for us to act."

"What about the others?"

"They wouldn't understand. We need those talismans, no matter what sacrifices we must make to get them."
 
Last edited:
Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 8: Death Busters.
Episode 74: Brand Old Senshi.


By Razor Knight
Last update: November 7, 2007

------​

Rei looked up at the sky. It had suddenly gone pitch black, making the street she was walking through look eerie. As she looked around, she saw people seemed to be frozen in place.

"Destiny can't be changed. The Silence is coming."

She looked up as she heard those words, and saw several shadows in the buildings around her. "Who are you?"

Instead of answering, one of the shadows shot something at her. She saw a diamond-like object fly out of her chest, then she fainted.

------​

Rei woke up with a start, sweat running down her face as she looked at her surroundings. "A nightmare," she whispered. But was it a nightmare, or something else? She'd have to check the fire later on, maybe she would find some answers to her questions.

------​

As soon as Usagi walked into the classroom, she noticed something. Karin and Chie were there, sitting near Mako. "Hey, what are you two doing here?"

"We got switched to this group," Karin said. "I wonder just how it happened," she added looking at Terry.

"Guilty as charged," Terry said.

"Who knows, if Senshi keep on crawling from under the woodwork, we could actually fill a group," Minako commented.

Just then, two new students walked in. A girl with short, wavy, light green hair, and a boy with blond hair, equally short.

"Hey, he kinda looks like my ex..." Mako commented.

"Should I be jealous?" Karin mused.

"Not bad at all," Minako admitted.

'If only they knew...' Hotaru mused.

Terry looked at the newcomers and nodded. "They're both pretty." The girls all looked at him confused. Except for Hotaru, who was staring at the two silently.

Just then, Haruna walked in. "Good morning, class... Today we've got four new students in our group. Two of them come from another group," she said looking at Chie and Karin, "but the other two are from a different district." She looked at the two new students. "Haruka Tenou and Michiru Kaiou, right?"

"That's us," the blond said.

"Why are you wearing that kind of clothes?"

"I like boyish clothes better," Haruka said.

"Wha... Haruka is a girl?" Minako exclaimed.

"My, my, Mina, I didn't know you were into girls," Chie teased.

"Am not," Minako muttered.

Haruna ignored the group's usual antics. "So, you girls studied at the Mugen Gakuen?"

"We did," Michiru said, "but we like this district better."

Hotaru stared at them and frowned. There was something different about them, but she couldn't tell what.

------​

Later that day, Rei was telling the others about her dream.

"Weird nightmares you have," Brad commented.

"That's the thing," Rei said, "I never have nightmares, but the few times I do, they predict things that will happen."

"The Silence is coming?" Usagi repeated. "What exactly is that 'Silence'?"

"It must have something to do with the object Rei saw just before waking up," Ami said, not taking her eyes off the book she was reading.

"Ami, we come here to train, not to study," Chie commented.

"You should be studying," Ami noted. "We'll be in high school next year, and it won't be easy."

Usagi would have argued that, but she knew Ami was right. However, right now, she was more worried about Rei's dream. "How many figures did you see?"

"I'm not sure. Half a dozen, at least."

"This year's General flavor," Naru mused.

"We should stay alert," Hotaru said. "If that premonition comes true, we may all be targeted."

------​

The woman looked at the two figures who always stood in the shadows, refusing to show their faces even to them, their followers. "Is it time?"

"Yes, it is. Kaorinite, you will..."

"... go and search for the Talismans. This is..."

"...your first target."

She had always wondered why they spoke like that, too, but had never dared asking. Looking at the picture, she nodded. "What about our former students?"

"I'm sure they'll try to get the Talismans..."

"...for themselves. Here."

The redhead looked at the egg that had appeared, hovering in front of her. "What is this?"

"A Daimon egg. Our master sent them to help our mission. These..."

"...creatures can fuse to objects and get the Talismans for us."

"I understand," Kaorinite said. "This world will soon belong to our Master."

------​

Rei sat in the fire reading room, concentrating. After several seconds, she finally asked what she wanted to know from it. "Sacred fire, please show me the face of our new enemy."

As she looked at the fire, she could see several images. Shapeless creatures crawling around the streets of Tokyo, the same figures she'd seen before, and a large building. As she looked on, the building's top exploded, and a massive creature loomed over the city. Through all the images, she saw four symbols in the back, one of them was a black crescent moon, which she knew was Nemesis' symbol, but the other three, she knew nothing about.

------​

Outside the shrine, meanwhile, Kaorinite appeared near a tree, making sure nobody was looking at her. She then reached out her hands, the egg appearing in them. "Now where should I..." she looked at a tall tree near the shrine and nodded. "That will be perfect." she pushed the egg against the tree, and it vanished inside. "This will surely be fun to watch," she mused as she teleported out.

A minute later, Rei walked out of the temple, looking around uneasily. "Strange. I could've sworn I heard voices out here." She then grimaced and looked at the tree. "This thing is full of evil energy!"

The three started shaking, and a pair of beady eyes appeared near its top, looking down at Rei. "Makuuji..."

"That can't be good," Rei muttered. "Mars Star Power!"

The tree towered over Mars. "Makuuji..."

"You said that already," Mars snapped. "Whatever you are, you're evil, and I won't let you crawl around my shrine. Mars Fire..."

"Makuuji!" the tree's eyes shone with light for a split second, then shot twin beams that hit Mars' chest, making her fall back. As she fell, she could see a small crystal coming out of her chest.

"Makuuji..." The tree said as it reached for the crystal.

"World Shaking!"

A wind blast knocked the tree back, and it looked up to see two figures standing on top of the shrine. "Makuuji!"

"What's going on here?"

The tree turned back to see Sailor Moon standing near the stairs, looking quite confused. "Makuuji!"

One of the figures took the distraction to get the crystal, and leapt back up. She then examined the object and frowned. "This is not a talisman."

"Too bad," the other one, who'd shot the blast, said.

Moon looked at the two, forgetting about the tree for a moment. They were both wearing Star level Senshi outfits, their colors were deep blue and light green, respectively. "Give that back!"

The blue-skirted Senshi looked at her almost condescendingly. "We have no use for this, so here."

Moon grabbed the crystal as they tossed it her way, then gasped as she saw them turning to leave. "Wait! What about the monster?"

"Our mission is to get the Talismans," the green-skirted Senshi said. "There's no talisman here, so we don't need to stay."

Moon glared at the two as they left, but was reminded of the tree monster's presence as it slapped her side with a branch. "Ow... Okay, let's make this quick. Moonlight Flash!"

"Makuuu..." the tree wailed as it was hit, then vanished.

"Guess they don't make monsters as tough as they did," Moon mused. She then looked at the crystal. "Whatever this is, Rei needs it."

She walked close to Mars and knelt, looking at the crystal. As she did, it moved to hover over Mars' chest, then vanished into her body. "Wh... What happened?"

Moon smiled as Mars woke up. "You were attacked, but I dealt with that tree. There were two more Senshi here, but they didn't stay and help."

"We should go ask Ami, she may find the answer to that."

"Or maybe Hotaru. I bet those two are the 'second team.'"

Mars stood up and winced. "Crap. I feel tired."

"Maybe you should stay and rest."

"No, I want to know what that crystal was, and if they could do the same again."

Moon nodded. "Let me call the others."

------​

And so, minutes later, the group was once again meeting at the base, Mooncats included. As Usagi finished her story, the others looked at Hotaru inquisitively.

"What?" Hotaru muttered.

"You know who those two are."

"Sailors Uranus and Neptune," Hotaru said. "But I only fought with them in one battle. If you want to know more, ask Kage."

Kage winced. He was never too talkative when around the others, and didn't quite feel the whole friendship thing had really washed over him yet. "Yes, I know who they are. But that's all I'm saying. You're not supposed to know it yet."

"Why are they so... Cold?" Usagi asked.

"They were never too friendly," Kage said, "and Pluto didn't tell me much about what they were doing in Japan. But I can bet those 'Talismans' are important to them and the enemy for a reason."

"Oh crap," Ami said.

The others turned to the Ice Senshi, who'd been typing in her computer since Usagi finished her story. "What's wrong?" Terry asked.

"Those 'Talismans' seem to be what was known as heart crystals back in Silver Millenium. They are, so to speak, a solid representation of the soul."

Rei flinched. "So, what if my crystal had been taken away?"

"A normal human who had their heart crystal taken out of their bodies could die in around five minutes. Senshi have more endurance, but I think you wouldn't have survived for more than fifteen minutes."

"Good to know," Rei muttered. "But wouldn't Hotaru revive me, in that case?"

"Revive someone without a soul?" Hotaru said. "You know what a zombie is, don't you?"

"So, let's make a wild guess," Kage said. "Maybe those 'Talismans' are special heart crystals."

"I have no data about that," Ami admitted.

"What about you?" Rei said turning to the Mooncats.

"We knew about the heart crystals, but not those Talismans."

Artemis nodded. "But I bet the enemy will only be after Senshi."

"Why?"

"Your heart crystals are special."

"Mana is stored in the soul," Brad said. "Or at least, that's what mom told me once."

"Since we're basically mana batteries, our crystals should be stronger than those of normal humans," Ami said.

"Kage, tell us who Uranus and Neptune are. We need to talk to them."

"I can't."

"But..."

Hotaru stood up and walked to Usagi, looking at her straight in the eyes. "If they cross the line, if they put any of us in danger over whatever they're after, I'm going to make them regret it."

Usagi frowned. "I won't let you resort to violence. They're Senshi too, they have to listen to reason."

"You got it wrong," Hotaru said. "I'm not asking for your permission. If they mess with my friends, Senshi or not, I'm not going to hold back."

As Hotaru left the base, Karin sighed. "Can't say I don't agree."

"Ami, can you try to find anything on those Talismans?"

Ami nodded. "I can try."

"Good," Usagi said. "If we can figure out what they're looking for, then maybe we can convince them to join us."

------​

Hotaru walked into her bedroom and grimaced as she saw who was waiting for her. "Hello, Setsuna."

Pluto looked at her, showing no emotion. "Hotaru, I want to know if what you said to your friends is true."

"Eavesdropping isn't polite."

"I'm serious," Pluto said.

"I'm serious too," Hotaru said, looking at the woman with as little emotion as the time guardian was showing. "I don't care what those two think, if thanks to their action, or inaction, one of my friends' life is at risk, I'm not holding back."

"So, you're going to fight them if needed?"

"If it comes to it, I'll kill them."

"I thought you had changed, Hotaru."

"I have. I cared about nobody but myself."

"Not what I meant." Pluto looked at the girl for a few more seconds before nodding. "But I can't say I wouldn't act the way you do. Just remember, despite what they may say or do, they're still Senshi."

"If you say so."

"Can't you trust your mentor's judgement?"

"I can. I don't trust their judgement."

Pluto let out a long sigh. "I give up."

Hotaru stared at the point Pluto had been standing in for several seconds before walking out of the room. Despite herself, she knew she was as reluctant to fight other Senshi as her friends were. But her words were true, she would not hesitate to fight them for her friends' sake.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 8: Death Busters.
Episode 75: Luck Of The Draw.


By Razor Knight
Last update: November 13, 2007

------​

"So that first target wasn't..."

"... a carrier. Nevertheless, we need to keep on..."

"... searching for the Talismans."

"What is the next target?" Kaorinite asked.

"This girl."

Kaorinite looked at the picture her two leaders handed her, and nodded. "This time, I'll make sure there's no interferences."

------​

"I'm starting to think it's impossible."

"Hmm?" Ami looked away from her book and saw Terry staring at the console. "What is?"

"Building a truly sentient computer. Aiko is close, but still not the same."

"You brainiacs and your computers..." Mako mused from the 'arena.'

"I frankly doubt they ever succeed," Hotaru admitted, "but if they do, it will be interesting to watch." She was getting ready to fight Mako, as she wanted to test her own endurance without her powers.

"Okay, this is as far as I can go with this program," Terry commented. "Aiko, are you there?"

"I'm here, father," Aiko said as she 'appeared' sitting in a bench near him, and staring at him with a smile.

"She's breathing, she's blinking, she has all the facial expressions of a human, she can keep an intelligent conversation... What's missing?" Ami pondered.

"A soul," Hotaru said looking at Aiko. "I can detect them, and I've felt it in those Omega tin men. The Omega, however, have a soul, but no real self-awareness."

Terry chuckled. "I'd love to know how to program a soul."

"No information on that here," Ami said looking at her computer.

"I'm pretty sure they didn't have AI programs back then," Terry said. "And if they did, maybe we're not supposed to know."

Mako looked at Hotaru. "So...?"

Hotaru nodded. "I'm ready."

Ami looked up from her book again as Mako charged. That kind of training was needed, she knew it, but she still didn't feel like she would need melee skills in battle, other than the pointers Terry gave her.

Hotaru ducked, dodging Mako's straight, then delivered a knife hand to her leg. Mako stumbled forwards, and Hotaru used that to her advantage, knocking her other leg off balance and bringing her down to the ground.

"Not bad," Mako said.

Hotaru nodded. "I told you, Pluto trained me. She knew if I only trained with my glaive I'd be rendered useless if they knocked it away from me."

Mako charged again, apparently going for a jab. Hotaru ducked like before, but realized her mistake as Mako kicked up. The kick connected, sending Hotaru skidding back. "What's wrong?"

Hotaru knelt on the ground and panted. "Tired."

"You really need to work on that endurance."

Mako turned to Terry. "Yeah, I guess she needs it."

"I can drain energy out of my foes, I really don't need high endurance."

"Good point, but what if you were forced to fight as a civilian?"

"Then I would have to make a strategic retreat," Hotaru admitted.

------​

"You will soon join them. Are you ready?"

"More than ready."

Pluto smiled at her protegee. She had improved a lot in the last few months of training, and she was sure her help would be very appreciated by the Senshi.

"Why can't I join them now, though?"

"Patience has never been your strong point," Pluto mused. "Your interference could affect the timelines."

"A mosquito flying by during a fight could affect the timelines," the other woman said. "Whoever built them was a rookie."

Pluto was going to comment on nobody building the Universe, or the limbo they were in right now, but then again, she could never be sure of that. "You've waited for half a year, waiting a few more days won't kill you."

"Says you."

------​

Chie was, meanwhile, walking with no real destination in mind. She was worried about the new enemy, and also about those two new Senshi. She didn't realize she'd walked past one of her friends until he spoke to her.

"You look troubled."

She stopped and looked back. Well, 'friend' was a bit of a loose term in this case, as the guy wasn't too friendly towards anyone in the group. "Hi Kage."

"Hi. So, what's the matter?"

Chie smirked. "You know, this is the first time we spoke outside the base, or a battle."

Kage nodded. "I'm not one for socializing, and I don't feel like befriending any of the other Senshi."

"Thought you and Hotaru were-"

"She's the only one I consider my friend, maybe it's because she used to be as cold and unfriendly as I still am."

Chie looked at him and smiled. "Why are you talking to me?"

"Have to start somewhere, I guess," Kage noted, "and the others are usually gathering, it's hard to speak to one of them at a time."

"I see."

"Though I gotta admit, this may be the first time I see you without your girlfriends."

"You mean Mako and Karin," Chie said. "They're on a date, I didn't want to spoil the mood."

"You know, I kinda envy you."

"Why?"

"Your powers. You're one of the two Senshi I know that can use them in civilian form."

"The other one being Dr. Who," Chie commented.

Kage laughed at that. "I bet she loves the nickname."

Chie blinked. It was the first time she'd heard him laugh. "You know, my powers aren't all that good. I mean, I have to keep them to the battlefield, otherwise they may backfire on me."

"The Mooncats explained that to me," Kage nodded. "Still, I would love to use gravity all the time, not only in my Senshi form."

Chie sensed something and turned around, just in time to see an energy blast coming her way. She smiled as the blast's trajectory curved out, missing her completely. "You missed."

"Kabudai!!!"

Kage looked at the monster. It looked like an overgrown beetle, only its 'skin' was green. "Too bad I left the insecticide home."

Chie shrugged. "If you can't spray them, crush them." As she spoke, a tree near the bug started toppling, but the bug noticed it in time and leapt aside. "Hey, I'm the lucky one here!"

"You're not!"

Kage flinched as he saw Chie being hit by an energy blast. He then looked at the crystal floating over her. "Gotcha!" Something knocked him back as he tried to grab the crystal. An air blast, he realized. "Uranus?"

The beetle's attempt at getting the crystal was rewarded by a water blast. Kaorinite looked at the two Senshi dismissively. "You two brats... I thought you had learnt your lesson last time."

"You witches were never good teachers, Miss Kaori," Neptune said.

Uranus tried to jump for the crystal, but Kage tackled her aside. "What are you doing?"

Kage smirked. "If you want that crystal, you'll have to get through me first. Sun Twilight Power!"

The beetle tried to leap at Dragon Sun while he was distracted, but the Dragon stabbed his sword back, ramming it through the monster. As it exploded, Uranus and him were both covered in a greenish goo. "Gross," Uranus muttered.

"Hey, at least your uniform matches your girlfriend's now," Sun snapped.

"World Shaking!"

"Solar Bolt!"

Sun's beam wasn't enough to stop the air blast, and he was sent rolling back. As he stood up, he saw Uranus examining the crystal. "Give it back!"

"In a moment, 'brother,'" Uranus snapped.

Kaorinite dodged Neptune's water blast for the tenth time and saw an opening as Uranus looked at the crystal. Jumping right over Neptune, she shot an energy blast at Uranus, knocking the prize off her hands.

Dragon Sun took the crystal and rushed to Chie's side. As the crystal was absorbed, he sighed in relief. "Leave now, before I'm forced to beat you down."

Kaorinite glared at him. "Do you realize what you've done?"

Uranus and Neptune looked at her. "Go ahead, blast her."

"Moon Twilight Storm!"

The blast knocked Kaorinite back a few dozen meters. Neptune and Uranus gasped as they saw the whole Senshi team there, ready to fight.

"Fire Soul Bird!"

"Supreme Thunder Dragon!"

As the two constructs hovered in front of the two rogue Senshi, Dragon Sun smirked. "I guess they want you to leave."

Uranus growled at the group. "You brats..."

Chie stood up and winced. "I feel like crap."

Neptune looked back and sighed. "Kaorinite left."

Mars glared at the two, her bird still blocking their way along with Jupiter's dragon. "Go ahead, try anything."

"I've got no time to waste with kids," Uranus snapped and started walking away. Neptune followed her.

"That was an easy fight," Jupiter commented.

"For you," Chie muttered.

"Was that redhead one of their 'Generals'?" Moon asked.

"I suppose," Dragon Sun said. "Why?"

"I was expecting them to be stronger than anything we've fought."

Mercury nodded. "Same here, but that woman's only as strong as Rubeus."

"So it's not that they're weak, but that we're strong," Mars mused.

"Our two dear friends, however, are at Star level," Saturn commented. "It's good that we're all at the same power, it's easier to scare them off."

"Think they'll come after me again?"

Dragon Sun shook his head. "No. Uranus had enough time to examine that crystal. If it really had been a Talisman, she'd fought for it, not walk away. And I bet that woman knows that too."

------​

Half a city away from there, a certain masked heroine was looking down at the city. It was a quiet day, not counting the foe the Senshi had just fought. An explosion caught her attention, and she saw four men leaving a bank, carrying large bags of money. "Time to play."

The man stopped running and glared at the woman who had appeared on top of their escape car. "Damn it, it's the psycho."

"I'll take those, gentlemen," Nova said and focused in the bags, sending them levitating up and out of the robbers' reach. "Now, how about you give up without a fight?" Gunshots were their reply, and Nova shook her head as they bounced off her suit. "You guys never learn, do you?" Before the four could do anything else, she shot a psi wave, knocking them all off.

"Hey, that was pretty neat."

Nova looked up and saw the alien 'twins' floating there. "What are you up to?"

"We were in the area and decided to watch the fireworks."

"Too bad it ended fast," Ann noted.

"Yeah, sometimes I wish this was more of a challenge," Nova admitted.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 8: Death Busters.
Episode 76: Fun And Games.


By Razor Knight
Last update: November 26, 2007

------​

Usagi had to admit that, despite the beating she got whenever she tried, it was still fun to play these games. And some of her friends came here often, despite their 'jobs' and their training. It was one of those times where she could almost pretend she led a normal life.

"You're never going to beat Ami, Usako."

Usagi looked at the score table as she, once again, lost. "I know that. I play this because I like it, not because I want to be the best."

"You can have fun and be the best, too. Just look at the top score."

Usagi nodded at that. Terry was right, Ami had only played this game twice, and both scores remained the highest. In fact, ever since she had beaten it, the game had became quite popular, but nobody got close to the one hundred thousand points (and then some) Ami had scored.

She realized something just then. "Where's Ami?"

"Studying," Terry said, looking at the Sailor V arcade and deciding against spending the next hour playing it. "I wanted to check on the rest of the gang, but so far, you're the only one I find that's not doing... Well, anything."

Usagi had known Terry for a while, and knew something was bothering him. "What's the problem?"

"No problem," Terry said, then motioned her to go outside.

Usagi followed him, and as they walked away from Crown, she decided to try again. "Come on, I know when something's nagging you."

"You're like the annoying sister I never had, sometimes, you know?" Terry mused. "See, I'm worried about this whole talisman issue. What if they come after Ami next?"

Usagi looked at Terry in shock. "I've seen you angry, even furious, I've seen you confused, but I don't think I ever saw you... Scared."

Terry stopped and leaned on a tree. "Can't say I'm not. What if I can't protect her? Or get that crystal back, if the enemy gets it?"

"In that case, it won't be like with Hana," Usagi said. "We won't be able to revive her. But, this could happen to anyone else."

"How can you be so calm about it?" Terry asked.

"By not thinking about it. By trusting the others."

"Aren't you scared about it?"

"Of course I am," Usagi said. "Don't you see... I'm not only scared of this enemy we're facing. After what happened with Game Master, I won't have a second chance. Not unless some alien comes riding an asteroid and brings some mean of resurrecting me. I'm scared of death as anyone else is, but I won't let that stop me from doing what's right."

"So..."

"Just trust us. Trust yourself. None of us will let anyone die if we can help it."

Terry nodded, and the two walked in silence for a while. He chuckled, breaking the silence, and Usagi looked at him questioningly. "It's funny. During our little trip to the future, there was something I didn't tell you, something about Queen Serenity."

"What is it?"

"You know, seeing your future form, the Queen of that utopia, she- You, looked so regal, so wise. So, I thought back then, not like you."

"... Gee, thanks."

"But after all the battles we've been through, I've come to realize something. And what you said today confirms it."

"Huh? What?"

"You've already got what it takes to be that Queen. There may be a thousand years span between both your forms, but I can see you're her."

"Should I feel jealous?"

Usagi smiled as Ami walked to them. "Not at all. He's a charmer, but I already got my own prince."

Ami smiled back. "What he said, though, is true. You're our leader for a reason, and it's got nothing to do with brains, or brawl, or skills."

"So... What are you up to?"

Ami looked at Terry. "I'm done studying, so how about we go to the base and see if Aiko's done some progress?"

Usagi tailed behind them, suddenly feeling a familiar presence. She couldn't quite tell what it was, but she was sure she'd sensed it before. Whatever it was, though, she could feel no malice in it.

------​

"Eavesdropping isn't nice, Princess."

ChibiUsa turned back to look at Pluto. "I'm just pondering why you brought me to this era if I can't join them."

"Not yet, at least. You can't let them know you're around, but..."

"That doesn't mean I can't help them, does it?" ChibiUsa said guessing Pluto's line of thought.

"You would do it even if I told you not to."

"Won't that affect the future?"

"No, as long as you don't let them see you."

"Them?"

"Any of them. The Senshi, the Death Busters, even the sidekicks."

ChibiUsa nodded again as she saw her mother's young self walk away. To the blonde, it hadn't been too long sice she last saw her, but to her, it had been years.

Or not, depending on what point of view she took. But as far as her mother's past self went, ChibiUsa hadn't seen her in years.

------​

Kaorinite looked at the picture. Naru Osaka, the one known as Sailor Nemesis. She was quite eager to tackle her and take that crystal, but for some reason... Naru wasn't alone, as a nerdy-looking guy was talking to her. Kaorinite and the others knew only the basics of the Senshi, what their human IDs were and such, but this kid, she had no idea. If she were to make a wild guess, from their body language, she would say they were in love.

Normally, Kaorinite would have just knocked the kid off and faced Naru, but something was triggering her mental alarms. Something about the guy, some sort of hidden power. So, she had decided to wait until he was gone.

But, seriously, how could humans go about talking about nothing at all for hours? It was annoying.

------​

Naru had a double view on what had happened weeks ago. Yes, the shadow of what she had done then would possibly be with her for her whole life, but also, thanks to what had happened, she realized she didn't want to keep on hiding her own feelings from herself anymore.

"What's in your mind?"

She looked at Umino and smiled. "Nothing important."

"Should we go home? I don't want your mother to be worried like she was last time."

"No, it's..." Naru started, then saw Kaorinite walking to her. "She's one of them."

Umino stood up and put himself between Kaorinite and Naru. "Naru, run."

Kaorinite chuckled and tossed an egg at the bench they had been sitting on. "Not so fast."

The bench morphed fast, growing a head on it's top as it grew metal wires off its sides, which held Naru in place before she could react.

"Now, kid, get out of the way."

"Never."

Kaorinite smirked. "Wrong answer." She shot an energy blast at him, but he did something with his arm, and the blast was reflected. "What the :red:?"

Naru was wondering the same thing, as she'd seen Umino's arm be covered by metal plating briefly. "Umino?"

"I was hoping I never had to use this, but if it's to protect you, then... Game Start!"

Despite herself, Naru felt a tinge of fear as she saw Umino's body covered by something similar to his Game Master armor. "No..."

Game Master turned to Naru. "Don't worry, I'm not evil. This is just something I asked a friend of us to build for me."

Kaorinite saw him distracted and chuckled. "Don't give me your back, kid. Die!"

Game Master moved (too fast to be seen) out of the way, and Kaorinite's blast hit the bench daimon, causing it to lose hold of Naru. "Thanks for the help, Umino, but I can handle this freak. Nemesis Star Power!"

"Fight the guy, I'll get the girl," Kaorinite ordered the daimon.

Game Master leapt back as the daimon attacked, then tackled it, knocking the creature into a tree. The daimon wasn't down yet, though, and stabbed forwards with its wires, scratching its foe's leg.

"This suit's made of Zero, it'll take more than scratching it to hurt me," Game Master gloated.

"World Shaking!"

"Deep Submerge!"

The first attack was meant for Nemesis, who was sent staggering back by the wind blast, and the second knocked Game Master to the ground. Kaorinite looked back to see the two rogue Senshi looking at her. "Thanks for the help, girls."

"We're not helping you out of charity," Uranus snapped.

"You're still helping her," Game Master snapped as he stood up. The daimon promptly tied him up in wires, rising him above the ground. "Oh, that's cute, but you're missing something." He vanished and appeared right behind the creature. "I can teleport."

Kaorinite turned away from Nemesis as an explosion knocked both off their feet. When the smoke cleared, she saw her daimon was no more, and that Game Master was getting ready to attack her. ":red:."

Uranus and Neptune leapt over her, and glared at Game Master. "Boy, leave now before you're hurt."

"Why are you doing this?"

Uranus snorted. "You wouldn't understand, so just leave."

"I won't let you hurt her."

"Our mission is to get those talismans before Kaorinite's group does," Neptune said, "even if that means sacrificing human lives."

"You're right, then, I don't understand you."

"Too bad," Uranus said. "World..."

"Deep..."

"Shaking!"

"Submerge!"

The water and wind mixed, creating a small water whirlpool. Game Master rose an energy shield to stop it, but only managed to slow it down. As he rolled on the ground, the rogues turned to see Kaorinite had finally taken the crystal out of Nemesis' chest.

"Hmm... Not a talisman, what a pity." She looked at it as her other hand lit up with light. "It will still mean one less Senshi to worry about." A white energy blast hit her, causing her to drop the crystal. She turned to the source, but saw nobody there. "What?"

Uranus had meanwhile picked the crystal, and tossed it at Game Master, who was standing up and glaring furiously at the three. "Here, kid, your girlfriend needs it."

Game Master took the crystal, his glare still furious. "This doesn't change a thing. You're still evil as far as I'm concerned."

"Let's go," Uranus said to Neptune, ignoring him. "Our job here's done."

Game Master knelt near Nemesis, putting the crystal back in her. As she opened her eyes, he smiled at her. "It's okay, I got rid of them."

"You did?"

Nemesis stood up and saw Moon and the two Mercuries walking to them. "Guess you're late, Usako."

"Nice suit," Dragon Mercury commented. "Wonder how he got it?"

Mercury smiled at him. "I saw the blueprints."

"Too much for that secret."

"What was that attack, Moon?" Game Master asked.

"Attack?"

"Sure. You hit Kaorinite during the fight."

"Uh... We just got here," Moon noted.

"Then who-"

Naru winced as she turned back to her normal form. "I don't care, I feel tired. Let's go."

As the two left the scene, Moon smiled. Naru was leaning on Umino, and she could guess it wasn't only out of weariness. "So, you built that suit for him?"

"This time around, yes," Dragon Mercury admitted. "Won't let him summon videogame characters, but he can use everything else the characters may have."

"So he could run at top speed, shoot energy blasts and have super strength?" Mercury asked.

"Yeah, but the energy in that suit isn't infinite. In fact he's relatively weaker than any of us."

Moon's mind was racing as the three left the park. What Umino said had, for some reason, left her wondering. Somehow, she could tell the presence she had felt earlier was related to that, but why?

It was, she suspected, something that would be revealed to her sooner or later. But was that a friend, a foe, or something neutral like the two rogues seemed to be?

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 8: Death Busters.
Episode 77: Thunderstruck.


By Razor Knight
Last update: November 30, 2007

------​

Onara looked at the dozen men, who in return looked at him, as if to read his intentions. "So, gentlemen, what is your decision?"

"You're leaving things out, but I suppose you don't want it to be too easy on us, now do you?"

"Despite her being a pest, she is the product of my work, in a way, since it is thanks to me that she is alive and fighting crime. While you could hold that against me, I would see that as unwise."

"A suit that resists bullets, even armor piercing ones, but falls to ice and lightning? Ridiculous."

"Unbelievable, I would say." Onara mused. "Almost as much as her ability to lift objects with her mind, knock anyone against a wall, or even... She could focus in your heart, and make it stop. But, she is a waste, since she is using all that to help people, rather than what I revived her for."

"So, if you can't have her power, you would rather let her die? Why not give us her real name, then?"

"My sponsors would not approve of it. And upon finding I did it, they would surely kill me, and you all."

"That's a lie," one of the men said and popped a gun out of his suit.

Onara simply looked at the man as he shot at him, the bullets harmlessly bouncing off his labcoat. He then reached his hand out, and an almost transparent tentacle whipped out, stabbing the offender through the chest.

As the other men all looked at him and the now dead attacker in turns, Onara simply cleaned the blood off his concealed armor and smiled at them. "I suppose nobody else wants to try their luck? Good." He turned to leave, but decided to leave an extra piece of information. "By the way, if I were you, I would really go for electricity. The suit may be equally weak to both that and ice, but the body behind is human, and I know Nova could withstand a little cold, but I am not sure what effect an electric overload may have in her body, or her mind."

------​

Usagi smiled as she walked into the base, where most of her friends were gathering. Minako was using the training arena, fighting against an imaginary foe as Ami used the computer to scan her.

"You know what month this is, right guys?"

"June," Rei said.

"Yeah, so we're only weeks away from my birthday."

"Yay," Rei muttered. "Yes, we know that."

"Well, good to know you're happy for me," Usagi muttered back.

"Don't mind Rei," Terry said. "I'm sure she was born scowling."

Minako stopped her imaginary battle and turned to Ami. "So, got the data you wanted yet?"

"This is strange. Aiko has no bugs, but this data has to be wrong, somehow."

Terry looked at the data and winced. "Twenty-five points? No way."

"I've run similar readings on the others while they trained," Aiko said appearing next to Ami. "And they all show a similar raise, though from what I saw it depends on how much they train and their current power level as a Senshi."

"And you didn't tell us because...?"

"You didn't ask," Aiko said.

"Computers," Rei muttered. "So, what do these numbers really tell us?"

"To put it short," Terry said, "right now, Minako's combat skills could overpower the best fighters in the world. As far as human fighters go, anyway."

"The readings also indicate a substantial raise in all cases from the time training became regular."

Usagi didn't quite get all of that, but she could understand the main point. "So, the more we fight and train, the stronger we'll be, even as humans?"

"Yes," Aiko said. "Given a few years of training, you could have more power than your first level Senshi transformations had, without even transforming."

"Amazing," Ami said. "But, Aiko, next time you notice something like this, please tell us right away."

"Yes, mom."

Rei chuckled as Aiko 'vanished.' "Strange, I really can't think about her as just a computer anymore."

"You don't call her 'it' anymore, either," Terry noticed. "So, guys, do you believe me now?"

"I guess all that talk about training wasn't just talk," Minako said. "So, Usagi, care for a fight?"

Usagi smiled. "Sounds like fun." She then winced. "Did I just say I thought fighting is fun?"

"Been around Terry and Brad too much, I guess," Minako joked as Usagi walked to the platform.

"And Kage, too," Rei said. "Wonder where he is?"

"Not too sociable, is he?" Terry mused.

"He just needs a bit of the Usagi treatment," Usagi said.

"Yeah, she could befriend a rock," Rei said. "And I say that as a good thing," she added.

"Ready?"

Usagi turned to look at Minako. "Let's go."

------​

Miles away from there, meanwhile, Karin and Mako were standing on top of a building, looking at the city below. "You were right, the view's nice from up here."

Karin smiled as Mako looked down. "Be careful, a fall from this high would be painful."

"I've been knocked off higher places and survived," Mako said. "So, how come you have a key of this building?"

"Oh, right, Chie never told you guys where she lives. We're standing a few meters above her appartment right now."

Mako nodded. It wasn't strange, after all, she didn't know most of the group's parents. "So, do you come here often?"

"Only when I want to be alone," Karin said, "but I guess I like it better when you're around."

Mako blushed at that. "You tell that to all the girls you date?"

"I guess I do, since you're the first," Karin mused.

Mako and Karin leaned to each other, but stopped as an energy blast hissed right over Mako's head. "Wonderful timing," Mako muttered.

Kaorinite laughed as she walked to them. "Oh, sorry, did I interrupt anything important?"

Mako glared at the woman. "Sure did. Jupiter Star Power!"

"Earth Twilight Power!"

"Up here you won't have anywhere to run, Jupiter. Your crystal's as good as mine!" Kaorinite gloated.

"Who's running? Lightning Kick!"

"Vine Crush!"

Jupiter's attack knocked Kaorinite back, and Earth's one trapped her, leaving her defenseless. "Hey, what's with the bondage?" Kaorinite snapped.

"Not my fault, it's not like I choose what my attacks look like," Earth noted.

"Okay, let's end this fast," Jupiter said. "Lightning..."

"World Shaking!"

The attack knocked Jupiter to the ground. Earth looked up to see the two rogues standing on top of the building's water tank. "You..."

"Out of the way," Uranus warned.

Earth stood between them and Jupiter. "No way you're hurting her."

Kaorinite blasted the vines trapping her with an energy burst, then smiled at Earth. "Little girl, you should heed my pawns' words."

"We're not your pawns," Uranus snapped.

Kaorinite shrugged and aimed her hand at Earth. Earth rushed forwards and went for a flying kick, but the redhead was faster. "Die! Huh?" Kaorinite said in disbelief as her attack missed, and was kicked off the roof by Earth.

"I knew all that noise had to be because of you, harpies."

Uranus and Neptune leapt down to the roof and looked at Lilith dismissively. "Luck is nothing against skill."

"You may be right," Lilith admitted, "and I don't want to trash my building, so..."

"Tough luck," Uranus snapped. "World Shaking!"

"Deep Submerge!"

Lilith leapt over both attacks, landing next to Earth. "I guess it's time to kick their rears."

Earth nodded and summoned her staff. "Dust Storm!"

Uranus and Neptune stood through the dirt wave, and Neptune glared at them. "You two don't stand a chance against us."

"We can always try." Lilith rushed at the two harpies, but Uranus sidestepped her, knocking her down. Neptune grabbed her wrist and knocked her out of the roof.

"As I was saying, you have no way to defeat us."

"Oh, the two brats are right, little rock girl."

Earth turned in time to see Kaorinite shoot a blast at Jupiter. The two rogues had distracted her! "Mako... No..."

Kaorinite looked at the crystal that floated out of Jupiter's chest and sighed. "Damn it, another dud." She clutched the crystal, ready to destroy it, but stopped as she saw Earth glowing. "Oh, not that again..."

"Earth Star Power!"

Uranus and Neptune both leapt over Kaorinite's head, using her distraction, and shot their attacks almost in unison. "World Shaking!"

"Deep Submerge!"

Kaorinite was knocked down again, but she stood glaring at the two rogues furiously. "Make up your :red:ing mind already, are you helping me, or these stupid kids?"

"Neither," Neptune said. "We're saving the world."

Whatever Kaorinite was about to say, was interrupted by an air board smacking her straight in the face. As Kaorinite went down, Lilith leapt back up to the roof. "That takes care of that :red:. Now..."

Uranus tossed the heart at Earth, who was glaring at her. "Here, give your girlfriend this."

Earth tossed the crystal to Lilith. "You do it, Chie."

"What about you?" Lilith asked.

"I'm going to beat these two."

"You wouldn't," Neptune said. "We helped you."

"Nature's Fury!" In a blink, a man-sized rock appeared in front of Earth, and she punched it with all her might. The rock shattered, and the shards all shot at the two rogues, along with an energy beam.

The blast knocked the two off the building, and though the fall hurt, they stood up ready to fight back. "That :red:..."

"That :red: is my friend."

Neptune turned around and saw the rest of the Senshi group were there, ready to fight. Earth, Lilith and Jupiter leapt off the roof, and the two rogues grimaced.

"What are you going to do, bully us?" Uranus snapped.

"Would be fair, as you and your friend Kaorinite keep on bullying us," Moon snapped back.

"We're not her allies," Neptune noted.

"You help her," Mars said, "and that, for me, is enough to make you our enemies."

"Guys, let's go."

Moon turned to Jupiter. "Mako?"

"They're not worth our time," Jupiter said. "And they could be useful in the future, distracting Kaorinite."

As the Senshi left, Uranus and Neptune also turned to leave. Saturn, however, appeared in front of them. "The others may agree with Jupiter, but I don't. I'll tell you what I told Pluto before. If any of my friends is hurt because of you, I'm going to kill you both."

Uranus met Saturn's cold gaze without effort. "Is that a threat?"

"A threat? No, it's a promise. Saving the world isn't worth anything if you stop being human for it."

Neptune looked at Uranus as Saturn vanished. "What's wrong with that kid?"

"I don't know, but she must be foolish to think she could beat us."

"Her friends could help her."

Uranus chuckled at that. "Are you serious? They're scared of killing a rat, they won't let her attack us like that."

Neptune nodded and followed Uranus as they walked away, but for some reason, she wasn't so sure Saturn's threat was that empty.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 8: Death Busters.
Episode 78: Daimon Beach.


By Razor Knight
Last update: December 3, 2007

------​

'They never learn, do they?'

The black-clad heroine watched with amusement as a small group of thugs walked out of a bank, waving their guns around at the crowd, and heading for their escape vehicle. It was showtime, once again.

"Damn it, it's Nova!"

The gang immediately aimed their guns at her. Nova smirked as she concentrated, disassembling the weapons before they could even shoot at her. "I would usually make this fun for me, but there's too much of a crowd here, so..."

Suddenly, a dozen electric arcs shot from the crowd around them, all concentrating on Nova's body. She screamed in pain as the lightning struck, and fell to the ground, panting heavily.

"Well, well, you never thought we would figure out your weakness, did you?"

The man that walked out of the crowd was tall, wearing a brown business suit, and his face was a display of scars. "Who are you?" she asked. She wasn't worried about the suit, since her mask wasn't a part of it, but still, electricity hurt her a lot, enough to keep her from using her powers. She just needed a few seconds more, though, and then she could try something.

"Let's just say I'm part of a group that doesn't want little girls ruining our business."

Nova stood up and glared at the man. In a second, she had all her power focused in his throat. However, her attack didn't last long, as the many henchmen the man had in the crowd all walked to her, shooting their electric weapons again. This time, however, they didn't stop shooting.

"So, heroine, how does it feel to be powerless? How does it feel to face something you can't ever hope to defeat?" the man snapped after he recovered his breath.

"How about you tell us?"

The man turned around and saw one of the Senshi there. Sailor Jupiter, from what he knew. "You, here? I thought you freaks only cared about alien invaders."

"Nova is a friend," Jupiter said, "and I'm not going to let you hurt her."

The gang all stopped their attack on Nova, instead focusing their blasts on Jupiter. It was, they soon realized, a foolish idea, as Jupiter's body absorbed all the electricity without any visible damage. "Hold your fire!" the boss ordered.

"Nova, can you give them a lift? I don't want to hurt any innocents."

Nova had recovered enough by then, and nodded. "Up they go!"

The man found himself lifted up to the air, along with the attackers. They all shot at Nova, but the arcs all turned in a different direction. As they followed their 'attack' they gasped as Jupiter absorbed them. ":red:, this isn't going as planned."

"Thanks, I can always use more power," Jupiter said. "Jupiter Stun Spark!"

True, that attack was meant for healing evil creatures, but with her current power level, it was the only attack that wouldn't kill a normal human, or at least injure them badly. It was still strong enough to knock anyone off, as she was demonstrating the aggressors.

Nova let the now unconscious gang fall down, and walked to Jupiter. "Thanks for the help."

"No problem," Jupiter said. "Think they'll be back for more?"

Hana lifted one of the guns with her psi skill and examined it. "If they do come back, I want to have a way to beat them."

"Maybe our resident bookworms will know," Jupiter said, then summoned her air board. As they fled out of the area, she smiled. "Oh, by the way, the group's going to the beach tomorrow, want to tag along?"

"I don't know, who else is going?"

"Everyone but Kage. I sometimes wonder about that guy..."

"Okay, I'll bite. Been a while since I took a break from my 'job.'"

------​

"Kaorinite, your failure to get the Talismans is..."

"... Not helping our mission. Remember we..."

"... Must have them ready before our master can..."

"... Come to this world."

Kaorinite bowed to them. "I have tried to find it, but it's hard to tell who the carriers are. Are you sure they're Senshi?"

"They're magical beings, that's..."

"... What we know. We will have to research on..."

"... The other magical beings in the city, and..."

"... Then you may attack them as well."

"So, who's the next target?"

"The genius girl, Ami Mizuno, she is..."

"... The brains of the team, if she doesn't..."

"... Have a Talisman, you must make sure her..."

"... Crystal is destroyed."

"I will not fail again," Kaorinite said.

As she vanished, the two figures kept staring at the place she'd been standing on. "We somehow..."

"... Doubt that."

------​

"I love Sundays," Chie commented. The group was riding a bus, heading for the beach. "Terry, your idea was great."

"Yeah, we'll get to look at cute girls in swimsuits," Karin mused.

"Now, now, I'm going to get jealous," Mako said. "So, how did you get this thing?"

"I bought it last year," Terry said. "I just hadn't used it yet."

"And you know how to drive it?"

Terry was, indeed, driving the bus as it sped through Tokyo's streets. "If it's got wheels, I can drive it."

"I don't know many normal kids our age who can drive a car, leave alone a bus," Rei commented.

"Normal? What's that?" Terry joked.

------​

As they reached the beach, everyone noticed something amiss. "Hey, there's nobody here," Usagi said.

"What, did you buy the beach too?" Mako asked the 'million man.'

"No," Terry said.

"Guess it's just our luck," Chie commented. The others looked at her. "What? I didn't do it."

"It's a pity, too," Brad said. "I was hoping to stare at some cute girls in swimsuits." He noticed all the girls in the group glaring at him. "What? Oh wait, I didn't..."

"Too late," Minako said with an evil smile.

------​

"Uh... Girls, I think we overdid it. Burying him in the sand like that isn't nice."

"Don't worry, Ami," Minako said. "After all, we only buried him up to his knees."

"I see that," Terry mused. Brad's legs could be seen coming up from a small sand mound. "But I think you should take him out of there."

A minute later, Brad was finally free of the sandy prison. In the meantime, Terry and Ami had walked off and were talking. "I thought you would be a lot more... Distracted," she said.

"Huh? Why?"

"Girls in such showy clothing," Ami mused. "You're a guy, after all."

"I've already looked at them," Terry said, "not gonna lie to you."

Ami chuckled. "And you can keep yourself in check around them?"

"Why do you think I wanted to walk away?" Terry said with a wink.

Ami chuckled again. "So, do you know how to swim?"

"I'm quite good at it, yes," Terry said.

"Hmm... I don't think you'll be able to keep up with me."

"Is that a challenge?"

Ami walked to the water and nodded. "I guess it is."

"Let's go, then."

------​

Meanwhile, most of the Senshi were just sitting and looking at the sea. Chie came walking to them with a white ball under her arm. "Say, girls, want to play some volleyball?"

"Where did you find that?" Mako asked.

"Near the water," Chie said. "A lucky find, I guess."

"Luck won't beat skills."

"Who said I don't have skills too?" Chie noted.

"Point. I saw a net around here," Mako said. "Let's go get it."

As she followed the others, Rei scanned the area with her eyes. For some reason, she felt as if something was lurking.

------​

"Hey, we're going to play some volleyball. Want to join in?"

Hotaru looked down from the rock she was on, and shook her head at Usagi. "No, I'm not too good at sports."

"What are you doing here anyway?"

"Enjoying the day," Hotaru said sharply. "Besides, I can feel something most of the girls won't notice."

Usagi guessed what she meant. "Damn, not here..."

"Unfortunately, yes. I think our friend Kaorinite and the two harpies will be around today."

"Well, that sure makes the day better," Usagi muttered.

"Sarcasm doesn't fit you."

"I know."

------​

Hana was, just like Hotaru and Rei, aware of the lurking enemy. "But where is she hiding..." Even reaching out with her powers, she couldn't see where the enemy was.

"She'll show up sooner or later."

Hana turned to see Mamoru walking her way. "Oh, you can feel evil too?"

"No, but when the three who can start acting like you are, I can guess something's up."

"Yes, I can feel one of those... Daimons. It's somewhere in the beach, but I can't see it, even with my power."

"I'm sure Kaorinite won't attack anyone who's grouped with many others," Mamoru said. "At least, that's what I would do if I were overpowered like she is."

"So you would attack someone who's far from the others?" Hana asked.

"Should I be jealous?"

Mamoru turned to see Usagi walking their way. "Hi Odango."

Usagi smiled at him. "What are you two up to?"

Hotaru appeared besides them, making Usagi jump. "Guys, I think I know who the target will be."

"Who?"

It was then that they heard an explosion in the water.

------​

Terry was swimming with Ami. Or, rather, trying to keep up with her. He was surprised she could swim that well, not that he was a good swimmer, but Ami was hard to keep up with. "Hey, Ami!"

"What's up?" Ami asked stopping to look at him. "Tired yet?"

"As a matter of fact," Terry said, "yes."

"We can go back if you want."

"Oh, but I wouldn't like your friends to interfere."

Before Ami could turn to the voice, she felt something hitting her back, then everything went black.

------​

"Girls, Ami's in troubles!"

The others stopped their match and turned as Usagi, or rather Sailor Moon, rushed to them. "Where's she?"

"There," Mako said as another explosion came from the sea. "Let's help her."

"Damn Kaorinite, she waited for them to be far enough..."

"She's not stupid, after all," Karin said.

"You kids are going nowhere."

Chie winced as Uranus and Neptune rushed at them. "We don't have time for these two."

"Leave them to me," Moon said.

"But..."

"I can manage," Moon said. "But I don't think Terry can beat Kaorinite alone."

As the others rushed away, Uranus smirked. "Pluto calls you Princess, but I'm not sure she's right. Someone who valuess a single life over the world doesn't deserve to be called a leader."

"I don't think you know what being a Senshi is about, then," Moon said.

"World Shaking!"

Moon staggered back as the attack hit. "I don't really want to fight you, but if you insist..."

------​

Dragon Mercury was really worried. He was surrounded by several jellyfish-like daimons, and Kaorinite was now looking at Ami's crystal, as she stood on top of one of the monsters. "Give that back, :red:!"

"Why should I? Even if it's not a talisman, it's still something dangerous. Or rather, the one carrying this is dangerous."

"Ice Wyrm!"

It was the only thing he could do while holding Ami above the water, and it apparently was good enough. Two of the jellyfishes were frozen solid by it, and Kaorinite growled at him. "Why you..."

"Lightning Kick!"

The attack took Kaorinite by surprise, and she was sent bouncing on the water, the electricity of Jupiter's attack zapping her with each bounce, until she landed in a heap on the beach. A barrage of attacks from the other Senshi took care of the jellyfishes.

Jupiter and the others floated on their air boards as they looked at the unconscious Ami. "Terry, is she okay?"

"Where's the crystal?" He asked.

"Damn," Jupiter muttered as she realized it had been knocked off Kaorinite's hand. "Sorry, I-"

"That was stupid, Mako. I would've liked to keep that crystal where I could see it."

"I said I'm sorry," Jupiter snapped back.

"That doesn't-"

"Terry, knock it off," Nova warned.

"But-"

Saturn looked down to the water and grimaced. "It's down there, right under us."

Jupiter leapt off her board and put her arm around Ami's waist. "Go get it."

Dragon Mercury nodded and swam down. After a few seconds, he resurfaced, the crystal in his hand. He put the crystal near Ami's chest and it went back into her body. "That was close..."

As Ami woke up, Jupiter smiled. "Welcome back."

"You can stop hugging her now," Earth said.

Jupiter blushed. "I wasn't-"

Dragon Mercury smiled. "Mako, I'm sorry about my outburst."

"Don't worry," Jupiter said.

"I think Kaorinite's much smarter than she seemed," Ami said. "Attacking us here was quite a good strategy."

"Where's Usagi?" Dragon Mercury asked.

A shout of "Moonlight Flash" could be heard from the beach as the area lit up. As the group rushed back to the shore, they could see Moon looming over a couple beaten-up Senshi.

"Guess she could beat them, after all."

Uranus stood up, wincing as she noticed a cut in her arm. "Impossible, we're as strong as you."

Moon smiled as the others reached the area. "You are, but your ways are wrong."

"Save us the lecture," Neptune snapped.

"Should we get them?" Mars asked.

Moon looked at the two rogues limping away. "No, let them go."

"How did you beat them, anyway?" Dragon Mercury asked.

"Easy, I began gathering energy for my attack since the fight started. That gave it a lot more power than it normally has."

Ami winced. "I feel like- Uh..."

"Like :red:?" Mako asked. "Yeah, having that crystal thing out isn't a nice experience."

"So, who wants to go for a swim?" Usagi asked. The others looked at her. "What?"

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 8: Death Busters.
Episode 79: Earthbound.


By Razor Knight
Last update: December 8, 2007

------​

The class was waiting for their history teacher, but were quite surprised to see the principal walking in instead. "Students, your History professor, Yamanachi, had to move out of the city for personal reasons. So from now on, your new professor will be..."

As the woman walked in, several of the students recognized her. 'Setsuna?' Uranus and Neptune thought.

"No way..." Hotaru said. Dragon Sun didn't say a thing, just looked at Setsuna questioningly.

"... Setsuna Meiou."

"Good morning, students. I hope we can get along, and I'm sure you'll find my class to be very interesting."

"History, interesting," Minako said. "I doubt it."

Setsuna ignored that as she turned to principal Sato. "I think I'll manage, they look like a good group."

As Sato left, Setsuna noticed the looks her former 'protegees' were giving her. "Okay, class, let's start today's lesson."

------​

"Kaorinite, your last battle showed us..."

"... That you alone can't beat the Senshi."

Kaorinite growled but kept her cool. "So, what's your plan this time?"

"You will attack..."

"... The one known as Sailor Earth, but..."

"... You won't go alone."

As the last word was spoken, Kaorinite saw someone teleporting right besides her. "You?"

"We redheads have to stand together," the other woman said.

"Eudial, you must create..."

"... A distraction. That way..."

"... The Senshi won't be able to save her friend."

"What about the two rogues?" Kaorinite asked.

"You can defeat them..."

"... If you stop underestimating them."

Kaorinite nodded, then turned to Eudial. "I'm counting on you to keep those kids busy."

"Of course. About time I got a share of the fun."

------​

After school, the Senshi were at their base. Well, some of them, as most of the group was taking a day off from training.

"That new teacher is good," Usagi noted. "She speaks of history almost as if she was there when things happened."

"Quite a fun thing to say, considering who she is," Ami said. "Right, Hotaru?"

"What do you mean?" Hotaru said, playing dumb.

"I've searched for clues on who our two rogues are," Ami said, "something you could tell us yourself, by the way,"

"That's not going to happen," Hotaru said.

"I know that. However, while searching for them, I found a bit of info on Sailor Pluto in my computer. She was called Princess Moment back then. Moment of Pluto."

"Setsuna Meiou... Meiou means Pluto," Terry said. "Moment of Pluto. It's so obvious, one could easily overlook it."

"I told her she needed to change her name to a less obvious one," Hotaru said. "I knew you would find out sooner or later. Didn't think it would be this soon."

"But I did." Everyone turned to the voice. Setsuna was standing there, looking at them with an unreadable face.

"So, I was right," Ami said.

Setsuna nodded. "Yes, I am Pluto. I really hope my girls aren't giving you much problem."

"Not at all, considering they help the enemy," Rei said.

"They can be a bit too idealistic," Setsuna admitted, "but they're the same as you. They're trying to save the world."

"Can you tell us what exactly are we searching for?"

"You have most of your facts right," Setsuna said. "However, all I can tell you right now is, the Talismans look different than normal crystals."

"Why is the enemy trying to keep the crystals, then?"

"They don't want to keep them, they want to destroy them."

"So they're trying to get rid of the enemy," Terry said. "Can't say it's a bad strategic move."

"It's strange seeing you out of your post for this long," Hotaru commented.

"I will be needed in the battle soon, and so will my newest trainee."

"Another Senshi?" Minako said.

"Ask no questions and I'll tell no lies."

"You could tell your other trainees to stop being stupid," Hotaru noted.

"Even if you don't want to admit it, in most of these battles, Uranus and Neptune have done more good than harm."

"I'm still going to kill them if they hurt my friends," Hotaru said, then looked at Usagi, "even though I know most won't approve my attitude."

Just then, Aiko 'appeared' near Ami. "I'm detecting an evil creature in Odaiba. From my scanning, it's someone with the same power levels as Kaorinite."

"Another 'General,'" Terry said.

"But why go there?" Ami pondered. "None of us is there right now."

"I guess we'll have to go and ask her," Usagi said. "Are you coming?"

Setsuna shook her head. "I have to go back to my post for now. I'll see you at school."

"Figures," Rei muttered.

"Then again, she could probably vaporize whoever this new witch is on the spot," Minako said, "and despite myself, I gotta say that wouldn't be fun for us."

------​

Mamoru was looking at a jewelry display case. So far, he hadn't seen anything he liked. It was almost amusing, how choosing a gift for her was much harder than choosing something for himself. But she was worth the time, and then some.

His musings were interrupted as he heard an explosion. Looking outside the shop, he saw Kaorinite was perched on the fence, and looking down at someone. "Okay, so I'm not the target," he noted. He saw people running for the nearest exit, and blended in with the crowd, looking for a place to transform.

------​

"Guys, this doesn't look good at all."

Mercury nodded at Venus' words as she scanned the building. "Everyone at that stadium is unconscious, and their crystals are gone."

Eudial appeared in front of the stadium. "Looks like I did get your attention, brats."

"Who are you?" Moon asked.

"I'm Eudial, second of the Witches Five, and I'm going to have fun killing you all."

Saturn winced as she scanned the woman. "She's absorbing the crystals' energy. Her power is skyrocketing."

"Won't that kill the victims?" Jupiter asked. She had seen the others heading to Odaiba and had tagged along, but something in her mind kept telling her that she should be elsewhere.

"No, but they will be extremely tired once they wake up," Mercury explained.

"They won't wake up," Eudial snapped. "Because you're not winning this one. Now, would you kids kindly get out of those boards?"

"Nah, I think we will shoot at you from up here," Dragon Venus said.

"Not likely," Eudial snapped, then produced a strange cannon out of thin air. "Die!"

The cannon shot an energy wave that knocked all the Senshi off their airboards. ":red:, the :red:'s got a BFG," Dragon Mercury said.

"BFwhat?" Moon asked as they all staggered up.

"Never mind," the Ice Dragon said. "I think we should try a group attack."

And so they did, but Eudial took the hit and laughed. The group tried again, and she again shrugged the attacks off.

"What? She can't be that strong!" Moon exclaimed.

"She isn't. It's the energy she absorbed."

Moon turned to see the three Mooncats there. "Luna, what are you doing here?"

"It's time for you to learn a new technique that will help you win this fight," Shade said.

"The Planet Attack," Artemis added.

"Planet Attack?" Mercury asked.

"Dunno what it is, but it sounds painful," Dragon Venus noted.

Eudial smirked. "I'll humor your pets." In a way, she was curious as to what the Senshi had in mind, but also, she knew she had to buy Kaorinite more time. "Show me what you can do, Senshi."

"So, what is it about?" Moon asked. She was curious, but she was also worried about the victims. If they didn't hurry, they could all die.

"The reason we hadn't told you this, is that your power wasn't high enough. It requires four or more Star level Senshi to work."

"Actually," Mercury said as she looked at her computer, "it requires four or more for the power to work, but one of them has to be a catalyst."

"What does that mean?" Moon asked.

"One of you has to work as the focus point for the attack," Artemis explained. "Preferably the strongest one."

Eudial yawned. "Come on, can't you kids hurry up?"

"What you have to do, is shoot your strongest attack at the catalyst," Luna explained. "And that warrior will be the one calling upon the Planet Attack."

"Sounds... Dangerous," Venus said, looking at Moon.

"Let's do it," Moon said.

"If it goes wrong, you could be hurt gravely," Shade noted. "You have to not only trust your own skill, but you have to trust those who will be targeting you as well."

"And I do," Moon said, looking at the others. "Guys, come on. We need to get those crystals back before it's too late."

The others nodded, and shot their attacks in unison, targeting Moon.

"Mars Fire Tornado!"

"Mercury Frozen Rage!"

"Mercury Ice Wyrm!"

"Jupiter Lightning Kick!" Jupiter didn't actually hit Moon, as she stopped in mid-jump, but the electricity still rushed fowards.

"Venus Morning Star Smash!"

"Venus Light Rain!"

"Saturn Death Scythe!" Saturn slammed her glaive into the ground, releasing a surge of power that hit Moon just as all the other attacks did.

Moon had timed it almost perfectly, and as the attacks hit her, she aimed her hands forwards. "Star... Planet... Attack!"

Eudial realized in that moment that she should have left the battlefield as soon as the attack was started, but it was now a bit too late. As she looked at the multi-colored, truck-sized energy beam coming her way, she could only hope the energy she'd gathered would be enough. She formed a shield with most of it, but the attack still blasted through, knocking her into the stadium's wall.

As Eudial fell face-first to the ground, Moon knelt and panted. "Did we kill her?"

"She's barely alive," Mercury said, then scanned Moon. "Damn."

"What?"

"Saturn, can you help her?"

"I feel fine," Moon said, then fell forwards.

Saturn knelt besides her and used her healing power. "I don't think we'll be using that attack often."

Luna nodded. "It's a risky technique, but you get a higher power output with the same attacks you normally use."

Mercury nodded. "Roughly fifty thousand points in our scale."

Mars tried to do the maths and whistled. "Twice what we would get separately. How is that possible?"

Luna looked at the still unconscious Moon and winced. "Well, the catalyst uses the pain caused by the attacks to boost her own power, channeling all the attacks into one single blast, as you saw."

"We're not using that thing again, then," Mars said. "I don't want Usagi to get hurt like that."

"Rei, it's not that bad." As Moon stood up, the others looked at her worriedly. "Guys, I'm okay. And I'm sure with a little practice, I could learn to minimize the pain."

"What do you mean, that we should go to the base and practice that?"

"No way," Dragon Mercury said. "With that much power, you would drill the wall and then a good mile of underground Tokyo before the attack stopped."

"Okay, so we won't get to practice it," Moon said. "But I wonder where Mamoru was?"

"Yeah, he should be here shouting at us for having you use that tech," Luna mused.

Moon summoned her comm and sighed. "I'll have ask him, I guess."

------​

Earth had been having fun at the mall minutes ago, but that wasn't the case anymore. She dodged an energy blast and turned to the palm-like daimon attacking her. "Your aiming sucks, you know?"

Kaorinite looked down at her from her perch. "Last time we fought, you went all kinky on me with that vine attack, but this time, I'm not going to let you do it again."

Earth smirked. "What, are you teasing me because you actually liked the attack?"

Kaorinite glared at her. "Daimon, get her."

"Earth Nature's Fury!" The attack ripped the monsters to pieces, and Earth turned to look at Kaorinite. "You're next."

Kaorinite's glare deepened, but then she smiled. "No, I think you are."

"What--"

"World Shaking!"

"Deep Submerge!"

The two blasts hit Earth, knocking her to the ground. Before she could stand up, Kaorinite leapt down and blasted her, getting her crystal. "Damn it, another fake."

"Rock Rose!"

The blast knocked the crystal off Kaorinite's hand. "Hey!"

Uranus picked the crystal up and put it near Earth, then nodded at the Dragon. "She's safe."

A pink energy beam hit Neptune, knocked her down. Uranus looked at the source and saw a figure hiding in the shadows. "Who are you?"

The figure didn't say a thing, but dashed away. "I'm okay, but who was that? Another enemy?"

"Let's find out," Uranus said. The two rogues run off, leaving Dragon Earth and the now awake Earth to take care of Kaorinite.

"So, what are you kids going to do?"

Dragon Earth glared at her. "Make sure you won't attack anyone else. Earth Star Power!"

"Saw that coming," Kaorinite muttered.

The transformation ended in a blink, and the now Star-level Dragon Earth started gathering energy.

"I'd love to stay and see what new tricks you have, but I gotta run, so..."

"Oh no, you won't," Earth snapped as her staff appeared in her hands. "Vine Crusher!"

"Eek... That again, you pervert!" Kaorinite shouted as the vines wrapped around her.

Unfortunately for her, Dragon Earth had finished gathering energy. "Stone..." A large rock appeared in front of him, just like with Earth's attack, but it rapidly took the form of a fist. "Jab!"

Earth smiled as her brother punched the large fist, sending it barreling towards Kaorinite, who could only stare at it in shock. As the attack hit, it dragged Kaorinite through the wall and out of the mall. "Nice."

Kaorinite tried to stand up, but fell back down with a grunt. "I... Hate these kids," she groaned before teleporting out.

Dragon Earth sensed something, and produced her communicator. "Usagi?"

"Where are you? We just fought one of the witches here, but she didn't target anyone."

"Kaorinite was here," he explained, "and she was targeting Karin."

Jupiter's voice was heard over the comm, shouting out a few insults Dragon Earth was surprised someone her age would know about. As her face showed up in the comm, she looked ready to punch something to dust. "Is she okay?"

"I'm fine, don't worry." Earth, who had by now summoned her own comm, said with a smile.

"I should've been there," Jupiter said.

"These women are smarter than we thought," Mercury admitted. "And we should be careful not to fall into this kind of traps again."

"Trap or not," Moon said, "there were civilians in danger here."

"I agree," Mars said. "If we hadn't stopped Eudial, she could've killed them."

Jupiter's face shown that, while she agreed, she still wasn't happy about not being there to help Karin. "Okay, we'll see you guys at the base."

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 8: Death Busters.
Episode 80: Dark Nova.


By Razor Knight
Last update: December 9, 2007

------​

As usual, Kaorinite was listening to her two leaders, but Eudial was with her now, also awaiting for their instructions."

"Even though your last..."

"... Target wasn't a carrier, we..."

"... Realized the Senshi are easier to deal with..."

"... If we attack more than one place at once."

"I really hope they don't do that attack again," Eudial commented. "I'm lucky to be standing here."

"We know. This time, you both will go and attack..."

"... Two possible carriers, who are often alone."

"I see... You think the Senshi will not be close enough to interfere?"

"We're counting on that, however..."

"... Do not underestimate the two rogues. And..."

"... If he or she is back, try to learn our hidden attacker's identity."

"Yes, whoever she is, she's attacking both us and the rogues, maybe we could ally with her."

"That's true, Kaorinite, but..."

"... If she refuses, destroy her."

------​

As Haruka and Michiru entered the classroom, they found a quite strange scene: Terry was building a pyramid using poker cards, while everyone waited, holding their breath. Terry put the last card and smiled proudly. "Got it."

Just then, Usagi came walking in, but tripped with a ruler someone had left lying on the floor and fell down. The pyramid wasn't shaken by the movement, however, and Terry smiled again. "Nothing can take my fortress down!" Those surrounding his seat all sighed in relief at the same time, causing the cards to go flying off the desk. "Eeeh... Except for a strong gust, I suppose."

"They're quite a weird group, aren't they?" Haruka said to Michiru.

"Sure are." It was hard for her to think they were the same they faced in battle.

Hotaru looked at them as she stood besides them. "He tried that three times before getting it right."

"No hostile remarks?" Haruka whispered.

"There's a time and place for everything," Hotaru whispered back, "and I think there's still time for you two to change your ways."

"We won't," Michiru said. "Our mission is more important than anything."

"You sound like me last year," Hotaru said. "A pity. Fortunately, I have friends now."

As Hotaru walked back to her seat, Haruka and Michiru looked at each other. Friends? They couldn't afford to befriend the others, if they did, they could be found out. And also, they knew three of them had the Talismans, so they would have to be sacrificed in the end.

------​

"What are you doing, Onara?"

The scientist turned to his 'sponsor.' "Simply looking over the data of the Senshi's last battle. Do you realize the power output that attack had?"

The woman nodded. "I do. But the drawback for them is, one of them ends up very weakened afterwards."

Onara shook his head. "Nothing training won't solve, and... That's what they've been doing at their base, I'm sure."

"You think they could master that move if they use it enough?"

"I don't just think they will, I'm sure of it. But also..."

"What?"

"Well, if I can decipher how the move works, I could add it to the Omega."

"Oh, I see. Yes, that is an excellent idea. Unlike the Senshi, we don't have to worry about the consequences of using that move."

------​

The truck turned fast, knocking a few parked cars into the sidewalk. The patrols chasing it tried to form a box around it, but the driver was apparently skilled enough to not fall for it. One of the police cars was sent rolling as the truck knocked them sideways, but was stopped by an unseen force.

"Guess the bait worked," the man driving the truck said as he looked at the rear view mirror. Nova was checking on the patrol as it slowly descended. "Guys, get your weapons ready, the psi :red: is here."

The truck made a quite sudden stop, forcing the patrols chasing it to make a quick turn. Several men rushed out of the vehicle, sporting cannon-like weapons, and started shooting them at the patrols. The electric arcs that shot from them caused most of the cars to explode, but, Nova noticed, all the cops inside them had managed to get away before that happened.

She floated down and stood on top of the truck. "So... You guys are back for more, right?"

"You're right, :red:, and this time there's no Senshi to help you," the driver snapped as he got out of his vehicle, aiming a gun like that the others had at her.

Nova sat down on the truck, looking at him with a mocking smile. "You robbed a bank just to catch my eye? I should feel honored, I guess."

"Shut up, girl, it's time to die!" As he said that, the man shot his weapon at Nova. The others mimicked him. However, all they hit was air, as Nova vanished before the beams touched her. "What the :red:?"

"Little advice, boys. Those weapons only work if I'm not aware you're going to use them," Nova said as she appeared right behind the driver. Before he could turn to get her, however, Nova psi-blasted him out cold.

His allies weren't going to stand there and let her hit them, however, and they all opened fire against her the moment their driver fell. Nova, once again, phased out of the way and stood on top of the truck. "Seriously, that kind of crap only works as a surprise attack," she said. She sensed something and turned around, but wasn't fast enough to dodge.

Eudial looked at Nova as she fell, her weapon still shining. "Indeed, surprise attacks are the key."

"Who's that redhead?"

"I don't know, but she just killed Nova."

Eudial smirked. "I didn't kill her... Yet," she checked the crystal that had popped out of Nova's body and frowned. "Damn, a dud. I thought I'd get lucky."

"Lady, we thank you for the help, but the :red:'s ours."

"Leave, you worthless earthlings," Eudial snapped at them.

"Oh, that's it, :red:," one of them snapped back. They all shot their weapons at her, but to their surprise, the red-haired woman wasn't even phased by the electricity.

Eudial summoned her gun and shot an energy wave, knocking the men off. She then grabbed their crystals and smiled as she absorbed them. "Okay, that was fun, but now..."

"Give those crystals back."

Eudial turned around and felt a tinge of fear as she saw the one who had spoken. Nova was awake, and floating over the truck, a thick dark aura around her. "What the silence is going on?"

Nova's eyes were glazed over, but other than that, she looked quite ready to fight. "I don't need a soul to kick your :red:," she said coldly.

"Hah!" Eudial shot another blast at Nova, but the aura around her blocked it. "Uh oh."

"My turn." The blast Nova released caused the truck both were standing on to explode, sending Eudial flying off, and forcing her to drop all the crystals. "And I'm not done yet."

"Nova!"

Turning around, she saw some of the Senshi were there. "Stand back, I'm going to kill that :red:."

"No, you aren't," Eudial said. "Ta-da!"

As Eudial vanished, Mercury looked at Nova. "Her power..."

"I can see that," Jupiter noted.

Nova looked at Dragon Mercury and growled. "I can't... Control..."

Dragon Mercury looked at the crystals Eudial had left. "Awesome, how will I know which one is the right one?"

Mercury summoned her computer. "Give me a minute..."

"We may not have a minute," Jupiter commented. The aura around Nova was wavering and spinning, almost as if it had a life of its own.

"Hurry," Nova said as she tried to keep her powers controlled.

Jupiter started gathering energy, and turned to look at Mercury again. "Come on, Ami, I don't want to have to hurt her."

Mercury nodded. "Just a few more... There!" She leapt off the board and picked one of the crystals up. "Fetch!"

Nova caught the crystal as Mercury tossed it up. As it went into her body, the black aura around her slowly dimmed. "Thank you, guys..."

Mercury smiled at her. "That's what friends are for."

"Cleanup time again," Luna said as she walked to them.

"We could have used your help a minute ago," Dragon Mercury noted.

"Sure, you try running half a mile on these short legs and let's see how long it takes you," Luna muttered.

Mercury smiled. It was good Luna was here, since in their last battle, Eudial had left many more heart crystals behind, and it was thanks to the Mooncats that they could return them all.

"Maybe we could just leave them there," Dragon Mercury said. "They're criminals, after all."

"But they're humans," Nova said, "and besides, death would be the easy way out, they're going to pass a nice few years in prison after this mess."

------​

Half a city away, a certain blond girl was taking a walk, thinking about how this new 'war' was developing. Sure, their enemies weren't hard to defeat, but they somehow managed to attack when there were few Senshi around to help. More so, she wasn't sure about the attack the Mooncats had taught them last time. Sure, it was stronger than anything she had ever tried, but it was also dangerous.

Also, she wished there was a way to talk to the two 'rogues,' to make them help the group rather than having to fight them constantly. But she couldn't as she didn't know who they were. And Hotaru wouldn't tell her, she had tried that several times already. Despite her curiosity, Usagi could respect Hotaru's decision. The other decision she'd made, however, was a bit unsettling. Would she go ahead and kill the two if one of her friends was hurt or killed?

"You look like there's a lot in your mind."

Usagi almost jumped at the voice. "Uh... Hi, Kage."

Kage nodded. "You look surprised."

"Well, you're not a... Social guy."

"That I'm not," Kage said. "I hate crowds."

"But?"

"But I am not a hermit."

Usagi smiled and started walking again. "Just like Hotaru, just need someone to help you out of that shell."

"I... Guess," Kage muttered as he followed her. "So, what were you brooding about?"

"This war, our enemies, the two 'rogues' as the others call them..."

"They're quite a handful, aren't they?"

"You know that better than me, I guess."

"I do. And I don't get why they are acting so... "

"I guess that's what happens when you only worry about saving the world," Usagi said.

Kage nodded. "They too need to come out of their shells."

Usagi looked at him. "What about you?"

"I'm not used to crowds, as I said..."

"Just go to Crown, or to the base, and try to talk to the others. I promise it won't hurt."

"But this will."

Usagi gasped as she saw something hit Kage. A daimon! "No!"

Kaorinite rushed at Usagi and kicked her in the gut. "Stay out of this, moon girl."

Usagi knelt on the ground and panted, trying to recover her breath. As she looked to the side, she could see the monster (which looked like a piece of fence with legs and arms) had taken Kage's crystal. "Give that..."

Kaorinite kicked her to the ground, then gathered energy. "Two for the price of one, am I not lucky?"

"World Shaking!"

"Deep Submerge!"

Kaorinite watched in shock as her daimon was blasted through by the two attacks. "Damn it!"

Neptune got the crystal and looked at it. "Not a talisman."

"There's not many more to go," Uranus commented.

Kaorinite shrugged and turned to Usagi... But she wasn't there anymore. "Where the..."

"Moonlight Flash!"

"She sure loves eating dirt," Uranus commented.

"Give me that crystal," Moon said.

"Here," Neptune said and tossed it at Moon.

"Damn you, kids..." Kaorinite snapped as she stood up. A pink energy blast shot from a nearby rooftop, knocking her back down. "Oh, not that again!"

Moon summoned her sword and glared at Kaorinite. "Leave."

Kaorinite glared back, but followed her suggestion as she saw Uranus and Neptune were also ready to fight.

"That was easy," Neptune commented.

Moon turned around, glaring at them for a moment, before she nodded. "Thanks for the help."

"We are human, despite what some of you guys may think," Uranus said, then both rogues walked away.

Moon put the crystal back in Kage's body and smiled as he woke up. "Welcome back."

"The others were right about it, I feel like crap right now."

Moon nodded at him, then looked up. Who was the one that kept helping them from the shadows? For some reason, she felt like she was going to find out soon.

------​

"It was good that he wasn't a carrier."

Michiru looked at Haruka. "But if he was, we would have to get the talisman, no matter what.."

"Yes, of course," Haruka said. "We can't let the enemy get them."

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 8: Death Busters.
Episode 81: Dragonheart.


By Razor Knight
Last update: December 10, 2007

------​

"We should see the bright side," Minako said. "There's not many of us who weren't attacked yet."

"On the other hand, it also means there's better chances that one of them is a 'carrier,'" Kage commented.

Ami nodded. "We have Brad, Terry, Usagi, Minako, Mamoru, Hotaru, and probably even Umino as targets."

"You're forgetting the rogues," Terry said.

"Wouldn't they know already?" Ami pondered.

"You're probably right," Terry admitted.

"Maybe we could help Kaorinite check them both," Hotaru said. "Just to be on the safe side."

"You just want to give them a beating," Kage mused.

"Can't say that's a lie. But what are you doing here anyway?"

"After I got attacked, I realized that... If Usagi hadn't been there to help, I would be dead now."

"So you decided to... Socialize."

"You could say that," Kage said. "But if it doesn't work, I'll blame Usagi for it."

"If she succeeded with Hotaru, she can do it with you too," Minako said.

"I'm right here, you know?" Usagi muttered. "But I'm glad you decided to join us."

Kage nodded. "So, do you guys really train here?"

"Not as much as I'd like them to," Terry said, "but they do."

"I would like to challenge Usagi then."

"Well, I'm not sure-" Usagi said.

"A fight, using our powers, first to be thrown out of the field or to be knocked out loses."

"You should try, Usagi," Rei said.

"Eh... I don't know."

"You have a sword, too," Kage said. "It would be fun to see how Hakko's best disciple trained you."

"I just gave her the basics," Terry said, "but it's not like she needs the sword to beat you."

Usagi shook her head. "Okay, let's do it."

Rei smirked. "Poor Kage."

"One beam and he's fried," Minako said.

"Sun Twilight Power!"

"Moon Star Power!"

Dragon Sun moved fast, summoning his sword as he run, and slashing down at his opponent. Moon rolled to the side, barely missing the slash, then smirked. "Moonlight Flash!"

The Dragon was faster than she expected, and managed to dodge the blast with a cartwheel. As he stood, he summoned his own attack. "Gravity Hold!"

Moon grimaced as she was knocked to her knees by the 'attack.' She had to think fast, otherwise the fight would be over. "I can't-"

"Solar Bolt!"

Moon closed her eyes, and the Ginzuishou appeared in front of her, creating a barrier that stopped the plasma blast. At the same time, the crystal also cancelled Sun's paralyzing technique, so she was able to move again. It all happened too fast, and the Dragon had no time to dodge this time as Moon leapt right over him. "Moonlight Flash!"

As soon as the Dragon hit the floor outside the training area, Hotaru vanished off where she was sitting, appearing right next to him. "Are you okay?"

"I'll live. I think," the Dragon muttered.

"As I said, she didn't need the sword to beat you," Terry said. "I've been around these girls long enough to know what each can and can't do."

Usagi smiled as she turned back to normal. "I could get used to this kind of training."

"I thought you didn't like fighting?"

"Not when my friends' lives are in danger, or when the world's sake is decided by the battle. I will still fight evil, but I don't have to like it."

"I don't think any of us does, deep inside," Rei admitted.

"I guess next time I'll choose someone who's closer to my own level," Kage commented. Moon's attack hadn't hit hard enough to cause any injury, but he could still feel his body protesting the beating.

------​

"We have a new..."

"... plan that will surely..."

"... fool the Senshi. It's obvious that they..."

"... would protect their city and the civilians..."

"... so if we attack the city, we'll lure them out."

"Sounds good," Eudial admitted, "but even surprise attacks don't seem to work on them."

"If we attack different areas..."

"... at the same time, they would be..."

"... forced to split. We'll send more daimons out than we've..."

"... ever sent before. These two are your targets, make..."

"... sure they don't live through this battle."

Kaorinite and Eudial looked at the two pictures and bowed to the two women, then vanished.

------​

"Are you sure about sending me out that day?"

"I know the date's important to you, but you know what will happen in this era," Pluto said.

"Her life is more important than any celebration. I'm not complaining, just wondering if I'm really needed."

"Your training is going well, but nothing beats real fighting."

"So I've heard. I just hope I don't end up being a liability for them."

------​

Later that day, Terry was at the mansion, keeping his mind busy with a sample of the Zero. "Maybe there is a way to make this thing resistant to electricity and ice, but..."

"Boys and their toys," Ami mused.

"Ami? I didn't know you were here."

"If I'm interrupting something..."

"You? Never," Terry said, "besides I could use some help with this thing."

"Is this Nova's suit?"

"No, just a copy."

"I see... You're worried about those electric weapons."

"You know about it?"

"She told me herself," Ami said.

"Well, it's not just for Hana, I mean... Our boards are made of the same substance."

"Wait, what about Mako's gloves?"

Terry's eyes widened. "Oh, that's true. But I used the same formula for the weapons and the board."

"Maybe something changed? I bet this suit here is based in your old suit."

Terry nodded. "Hadn't thought about that. What would I do without you?"

"Good question," Ami mused. "Terry, I..."

"What's wrong?" He asked, noticing her sudden mood swing.

"I came here because I have a bad feeling about today. Don't ask me how, but I'm quite sure you'll be attacked."

"I don't have to worry, then. If it happens, I know you will protect me."

Ami blushed. "I'll try." She almost jumped as he leaned close and kissed her.

Terry looked a her as he broke the kiss and chuckled. "You're redder than Rei's suit."

She looked up at him and smiled. True, they had been dating for a while, but she still couldn't help her shyness when it came to kissing and... Other things. Not that they had gone any further than kissing yet. Her blush renewed as she thought about it.

"You're cute when you blush, Ami."

"Only when I blush?"

"Do I really need to answer that?" Terry said with a wink.

"Aw, how romantic. Too bad I hate romance."

Terry looked at the woman that had just appeared in the room. "Kaorinite."

"Let's dance," Kaorinite said.

"Wait," Terry said. "Let's go outside."

"What for?"

"Even if you don't kill me, my dad will if I wreck the house again."

"Oh, alright," Kaorinite said. "I'll still kill you in the end."

As Kaorinite vanished, Ami looked at Terry. "What are you planning?"

"Let's go out so you'll see it," Terry said.

------​

Usagi was in her bedroom, reading a Sailor V manga (which, she had to admit, wasn't too far off from what Minako had told them she had faced while in England,) when she sensed something. As she summoned her comm, she could see Aiko's face in it. "What's the matter, Aiko?"

"There's daimons attacking several points of the city, they're knocking the civilians out and getting their crystals."

"Time to play, I guess."

"But I also detected the two women leading these attacks. They're now attacking dad and Brad."

"Are they alone?"

"Mom and Minako are with them."

"Then we... Will have to fight the daimons."

"Usagi, we need to help our friends too," Rei said.

"But all the people being attacked..."

"Daimons are a joke," Mako said, "but the two witches aren't easy to fight. Moreso if the two harpies show up."

"I agree," Hotaru said. "I will go help Terry."

"And I'll help Brad," Naru said.

Usagi nodded. "Okay, everyone else, let's split and stop those monsters."

------​

Minako was, right now, in an extremely sour mood. How did these bastards attack them at her house? She couldn't transform with her mother there, she just couldn't!

"Minako, who is that woman?"

Eudial laughed. "Aw, don't tell me your own mother doesn't know?"

"Mina, leave, I'll take care of her," Brad said.

"No you won't," Eudial snapped as she tossed an egg at the couch behind them. "And now..."

Minako growled as Eudial shot Brad. "Screw it, I don't care who sees me transform. Venus Star Power!"

Minako's mother backed away as she saw her daughter surrounded by light. "Minako?"

As the transformation ended, Venus looked at her mother. "I guess after this is over, we'll need to talk." She then turned to the attackers. "Give that crystal back."

"Oh, no, little girl, I'm going to destroy it."

"Why you-"

"Kiss your boyfriend goodbye, kid," Eudial snapped, but before she could crush the crystal, something hit her side. "What?"

Minako's mother stood glaring at the woman, holding a few dishes like the one she'd thrown at her. "You monster, leave my house now!"

Eudial aimed her cannon at the woman, but she was forgetting something. And that would be a painful mistake for her.

"Morning Star Smash!" Venus shouted out her attack louder than she really needed to, and the light blast knocked Eudial through the wall. ":red:- Sorry."

Her mother winced. "Don't worry."

Venus turned back to the daimon. "As for you," she summoned the Dragon sword, and stabbed through the creature with it. As the daimon turned back into a couch, she grinned. "No need to destroy the couch."

Eudial run back into the house, glaring daggers at Venus. "You little :red:, I'm going to kill you too!"

"World Shaking!" The attack came from the outside, and knocked the evil woman down to the ground. "You're not killing anyone today, Eudial," Uranus warned.

Eudial stood up, apparently still in a fighting mood, so Venus pressed the point. "Morning Star Smash!"

Thanks to the sword, the attack was almost twice larger than before, and as it hit, Eudial also realized it hurt twice as much. She hit the ground outside, bouncing in the pavement before stopping, and she stood up furiously. Or, actually, tried to, as she couldn't quite move a muscle.

"World Shaking!"

"Not today," Eudial snapped before teleporting out.

"I never thought I'd say this, but thanks for the help," Venus said looking at the rogue. "Where's the other one?"

"Your guy wasn't the only one being attacked," Uranus said. "And don't thank me, I'm just doing what's best for my mission."

"Keep telling yourself that," Venus said, "and you may end up believing it."

Uranus looked at Venus as she walked back into the house. "Weird girl," she muttered before leaving the scene.

Nemesis reached the area just then, and looked around. "Damn, I'm late." She rushed into Minako's house, wondering if her friends were okay after that battle.

------​

"This was the easiest battle ever for me," Dragon Sun commented.

Moon nodded as she looked at the others. They had gathered in the Tokyo Tower after the attackers were destroyed. "But there's too many crystals, not even the Mooncats will be able to work fast enough."

"They won't be needed."

Mars turned to look at Pluto, who had just appeared in front of them. "You could've helped us."

"You didn't need the help," Pluto said, "and I took care of what you couldn't."

"What about Terry and Brad?" Moon asked. She produced her comm and blinked. "Aiko?"

"Mom and Minako chased the witches away," the computer girl said. "But Minako had to transform in front of her mother."

"That's not bad news," Moon said.

"You never saw Minako's mother nervous," Jupiter muttered.

------​

Several minutes earlier, Kaorinite had been waiting for her prey to come out of the house. "Come on, kid, if you don't hurry I'll blast the whole damn house skyhigh."

The two Mercuries leapt out of a window on the second floor, and stood ready to fight. "Here we are."

"Okay, now I can destroy you both."

"Oh, didn't I tell you? I've been waiting to show one of you bad girls my garden."

Kaorinite frowned. "I'm not interested in flowers and plants."

"Maybe you'll like what lies underneath, then," the Dragon said as he smiled.

Several dozen turrets came out of the grass, all sporting assorted weaponry. "What the heck?"

"Say ow," Dragon Mercury said as the weapons all opened fire at the same time.

Kaorinite knelt on the ground and winced in pain. She was supposed to back-stab them, not all the way around! "Stupid kid..."

"Leave now or I'll shoot again."

"I don't... Think so!" She shouted the last part, as she summoned several daimon eggs, which fused with many of the turrets.

"Oh :red:," Dragon Mercury muttered. "Ami, get out of here!"

"Too late," Kaorinite snapped after releasing a second wave of eggs. The turrets had, by now, all been turned into spider-like, robotic gun platforms. "Fire!"

The two Mercuries were knocked back by the barrage, and as Dragon Mercury staggered up, he noticed Mercury wasn't moving. "Ami..." Something hit him, and he fell to the ground.

"Dumb little boy..." Kaorinite muttered as she walked up to him and picked up the crystal. "Not a talisman. Oh well..."

"Death Scythe!"

"Deep Submerge!"

The first attack knocked the crystal off her hands, while the second blasted the posessed turrets to dust. Saturn and Neptune both rushed at her, and she growled. "Damn you two!"

Saturn started swinging her glaive at the woman, while Neptune returned the crystal to the Dragon. "You're not leaving this place alive, witch," Saturn snapped.

"Hah!" Kaorinite rushed in as Saturn rose her glaive to attack, and punched her square in the face. "You little kids aren't going to-"

"Frozen Rage!"

Saturn and Neptune both gasped as they saw Kaorinite flying back, propelled by an ice blast, and slamming into the far wall of the mansion's backyard. "Okay, that takes care of her."

Mercury nodded. "Is he okay?"

Dragon Mercury stood up and smiled. "I'm fine. What about you?"

"I-" Mercury said, then fell unconscious.

Saturn rushed in to heal Mercury. "Nothing serious, but she strained herself with that last attack."

Neptune turned to see Kaorinite was gone, then turned back to see the Dragon standing in front of her. "What?"

"Thanks for helping me."

Neptune nodded. "Despite what some may think," she looked at Saturn, "we're not evil."

"Never said you were," Saturn said, "you're just acting like vultures."

Neptune shrugged and started walking away. "Say what you want, Hotaru, but we're not going to rest until our mission is complete."

Dragon Mercury smirked. "You two argue like sisters."

Saturn blinked at him. "Uh... Not quite."

Mercury opened her eyes and looked around. "What did I miss?"

"Consciousness," the Dragon joked.

"Guess having his crystal taken didn't improve his dumb jokes," Saturn muttered.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 8: Death Busters.
Episode 82: A Birthday From Hell.


By Razor Knight
Last update: December 10, 2007

------​

"Today, one of the Senshi is..."

"... celebrating her birthday. All her..."

"... Friends are gathered and waiting for her. You must go..."

"... and get her heart crystal. She's the leader of their..."

"... group, so we think she may..."

"... have one of the talismans."

Eudial nodded. "Are you sure she's alone?"

"There's only one..."

"... other Senshi with her. If he interferes..."

"... you're free to take his crystal too."

"Sounds fun," Kaorinite said. "Let's do it."

------​

Pluto smiled. "Are you ready?"

"Sure, but I still don't see how I can be more than a bother to these Witches."

"Trust yourself, Princess," another voice said.

Pluto looked at the second figure. "I take it your mother told you how important your duty is?"

"We've been through that rant a dozen times already," the figure said.

Pluto smiled. She knew they would not fail, at least not if things went as planned.

------​

"So, Mina, how did your mother take the news?"

"Quite good, considering I managed to blast a good piece of the front wall of our house," Minako said.

"You don't have to worry about keeping the secret from her, that's good, right?"

"I guess. Ami, does your mother know?"

"No, I only see her in the morning, her job's keeping her busy. I sometimes wish I could tell her."

"Hey you two, stop the yapping and start the helping."

"Mako, don't be an :red:," Karin said.

The Senshi were all at the base that day, getting everything ready for Usagi's birthday. Mamoru had taken Usagi for a walk, to keep the whole thing a surprise.

Shingo, the twins, Umino and Hana were also there, so the base was a bit more crowded than usual.

"Think she knows what we're doing here?" Luna asked.

"Nah, she's got no idea," Minako said.

------​

"Been a while since we could spend some time together."

Mamoru looked at Usagi and smiled. They were both sitting on a bench at the park, taking a break from the walking before returning to the base. "Sorry I can't spend more time with you, odango."

"Don't worry, I've been busy with school myself," Usagi said. "Think they're ready?"

"Hmm? Who?"

Usagi giggled. "They're setting up a surprise party for me, aren't they?"

Mamoru blinked in disbelief. "How did you...?"

"I know my friends," Usagi said.

"I don't think they're done yet," Mamoru said.

"So, where's your gift?"

"Back at the base," Mamoru said.

"Oh... I guess I can wait."

"But we can't."

Usagi looked at the two women that had just appeared in front of her and growled. "Not today..."

"It may be your birthday, Moon, but we'll get the presents," Eudial snapped and summoned her cannon. Before she got to shoot it, however, an energy blast knocked it off her hands. "Damn it, whoever that :red: is, I'm going to kill her!"

Kaorinite scowled as she saw her ally running off. "Damn it, stick to the plan!"

"Moon Star Power!"

"Earth Star Power!"

"Uh oh..."

"Moonlight Flash!"

"Earth Stone Jab!"

Kaorinite leapt aside, barely dodging both attacks. "Okay, this will be funnier than I thought."

Eudial came back just then, cursing under her breath. "Whoever that was, she escaped."

"Usagi, go."

"But..."

Dragon Earth summoned his sword and smiled. "I'm not going down without a fight. You need to warn the others about this, they'll beat them before they get to you."

Moon's eyes watered. "I'm not leaving you here..."

"If they get us both, we're dead," the Dragon said. "Just hurry up so you can get back before I'm done beating them to dust."

Eudial looked at Kaorinite as Moon summoned her board and fled away. "Wrong move, dustman."

Dragon Earth readied his sword. "You're probably right, but right now I don't care about myself."

"Brave last words," Eudial mused.

------​

Aiko looked to the elevator. "My scanners just picked up an energy spike."

"Meaning?" Minako asked.

Ami checked the computer. "Someone teleported... But I can't track them down now."

"I can't detect anything now," Aiko said.

"Maybe it was your imagination?" Minako asked.

"She's a... Computer. She's got no imagination," Terry said, then rapidly added "yet."

Rei winced. "Maybe the witches are out there, but hiding."

Just then, Moon rushed in. "Guys, I need your help. They are targeting me, but... Mamoru is keeping them busy."

"Not anymore," Aiko said. "That explains what I sensed."

Moon's eyes widened. "They got him?" No, he couldn't be dead, she was sure she'd know if that happened.

Aiko looked up to the roof and gasped. "You have to see this."

As the screen lit up, everyone could see Kaorinite's face, projected in the sky. "Well, that brings back memories," Rei commented. Maybe Kaorinite was Jadeite's cousin?

"Sailor Moon, I've got your guy here. If you don't come to the Tokyo Tower, I will kill him. Oh, and don't dare bringing any of your friends along."

As the face vanished, the others turned to their leader. Her face was a mix of anger and determination. "I'm going there."

"But... It's a trap," Rei said.

"I don't care!" Moon snapped. "He's in danger because of me, I can't let him die."

"Let us go with you, maybe..." Terry started.

"No. You heard her. I have to do this alone."

Ami nodded. "It's the only logical thing to do."

"I don't care about logic right now," Moon said as she walked into the elevator. "Don't worry, I'll bring him back, then we'll have a party."

Rei nodded. "Give them a beating for us, Usako."

Moon smiled at her as the doors closed. Aiko looked up again. "There's an energy barrier around Tokyo Tower. I guess the enemy's not taking any chances."

------​

"General, the Tokyo Tower is under attack."

Kino looked at Seia with a mix of amusement and shock. "Again?"

Tomoe walked in. "Sailor Moon is heading for that place. Alone."

"Why?"

"One of their enemies broadcasted a message for her, telling her to go there alone."

"Broadcast?"

"Yeah... Remember during the youma incidents, one of the 'leaders' did the same thing."

"It's most likely a trap," Seia said.

Tomoe nodded. "Yes, but we should stay out of this."

"Why?"

"From what I could hear, the enemy's got one of her friends as a hostage."

------​

Moon stood in front of the tower, glaring up at the top. "Okay, now what?" A section of the forcefield vanished, and she nodded. "Guess they know I'm here." Moon walked through the opening, but just as it was closing, Uranus and Neptune rushed in. "What? What are you two doing here?"

"Helping you," Uranus said.

Moon glared at her. "Didn't you hear the message? They'll kill him!"

"They said none of your friends had to tag along," Uranus said, "and we're not your friends."

"That's not amusing," Moon muttered.

"Not trying to be amusing," Uranus noted.

"I'm waiting for you, Sailor Moon," Kaorinite's voice said from all around them. "And don't worry, I was counting on these two tagging along. I'd watch my back if I were you."

Neptune shook her head. "Moon, don't listen to her, we'll help you rescuing him."

"Why? It's not your mission to do it."

"Yes, but he's not a carrier, or they wouldn't keep him alive."

Moon stared at her but said nothing. Maybe they were really doing the right thing, for a change.

An elevator came from the top and opened. "Well, it's time to start the party, I suppose," Uranus said.

Moon nodded. "My friends would say I'm being naive, but... I trust you." But I'll still watch my back, she thought to herself with a mental frown.

------​

"Uranus and Neptune are in the tower," Aiko said. "They're going up along with Moon."

"Damn, those two..." Rei said. "We have to go there!"

"And do what, get Mamoru killed?" Mako asked.

"The rogues are going to help Kaorinite," Rei said.

Hotaru grimaced. "No. Not this time."

"What?"

"Hotaru is right," Kage said. "I know them, I worked with them for quite a while."

"Still, I'm not staying here with my arms crossed," Rei said. "We need to be close to the tower, just in case."

"I agree," Terry said. "Trap or not, rogues or not, we can't abandon Usagi and Mamoru."

"Let's go, then," Hotaru said. "Even though I have the feeling we won't be needed."

------​

As Moon walked out of the elevator, she saw Mamoru lying on the ground, unconscious, and Kaorinite and Eudial waiting for her. "Welcome to your doom," Eudial said.

Uranus took a step forwards, but Moon stopped her with her arm. "Moon?"

"If I don't let them do this, they'll come back for me," Moon said.

"What are you..." Neptune started, then gasped. "But..."

"As I said before, I trust you. If I have one of those talismans, then... Just save Mamoru."

Kaorinite was quite surprised as Moon walked forwards. "What? You give up, just like that?"

"Go ahead," Moon said.

"Wait!" Uranus shouted. Neptune blocked her path. "Mi-- Neptune, what are you doing?"

"Remember the mission," Neptune said. "And also..." She didn't say a thing, but her eyes moved to a dark area of the floor they were in. Uranus looked in that direction and nodded.

Eudial laughed. "You're stupid, moon girl. Why run when you could've just stood still and save us the problem?"

"Because I thought weaklings like you wouldn't be a problem for him."

Kaorinite snarled at that and shot a blast at Moon, then grimaced as she saw the crystal. "What is that?"

Eudial covered her eyes. "So much light!"

"Is it a talisman?"

"It's not," Uranus said, "but the purest hearts shine the brighter."

Eudial grabbed the crystal and chuckled. "Too bad I'll have to destroy it."

"Sorry, but I'm not letting you do that. Moon Twilight Beam!"

Kaorinite gasped as Eudial was knocked into the far wall of the tower. "Who the heck...?"

"Moon Twilight Beam!" A second blast hit Eudial as she tried to stand up, and the villainess fell to the ground, unconscious.

Uranus and Neptune took the chance to attack Kaorinite. "World..."

"Deep..."

"Shaking!"

"Submerge!"

Both attacks merged, forming a small water vortex that hit the redhead dead on. The hit was strong enough to knock Kaorinite out of the tower through the window. "Did she survive?" Neptune asked.

Uranus looked out the window and saw Kaorinite's body at ground level. "She looks quite dead," she said with a smile.

Moon woke up and looked at the one that had attacked Eudial. "What... You, here?"

ChibiMoon smiled at her. "Been a while, Usagi."

Neptune looked around the tower. "Eudial escaped."

"Well, we got one of them, at least," Uranus said. She then turned to Moon. "Listen, I... Guess what you did today was brave."

Moon walked to Dragon Earth, picking the crystal that Kaorinite had dropped when she was blasted out of the tower. As the crystal returned to Mamoru's body, she turned to the two rogues. "See, we don't need to be enemies."

Neptune shook her head. "But we're not allies either. This time, we helped you, but we need to find those talismans, no matter what."

As the others walked into the elevator, Dragon Earth stood up. "Guess this time around I was the one rescued by you." He noticed the newcomer and smiled. "I didn't think I'll see you again."

"Puu sent me here to help," ChibiMoon said. "And I guess she was right, you needed my help this time."

"Were you the one..." Moon started.

"You mean all those blasts coming out of nowhere? Yeah, that was me."

"You look... Older," Mamoru noticed.

"I'm twelve," ChibiMoon said.

"But how, you were only..."

"Don't ask, timelines are too weird to explain easily."

"Guess we're late."

"ChibiUsa?"

"Wow..."

"Terry..."

Moon turned to the broken window and smiled. All her friends were there, and most were looking at ChibiMoon in either shock or confusion. Terry was, she noticed, staring at the pink-haired girl, and Ami was glaring daggers at him. "We're okay, guys," she said. "Now let's go back, I really want a party after all this mess."

------​

At ground level, meanwhile, Uranus and Neptune were walking away. Uranus suddenly stopped, looking around with a shocked face.

"What's wrong, Haruka?"

"Kaorinite... She should be right there," she said pointing at a bloody spot near them. A small crack could be seen, but nothing remained of Kaorinite.

"Maybe she vanished, like those youma did," Neptune said.

"We'll find out sooner or later, I suppose," Uranus said as they walked away.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 9: The Messiah.
Episode 83: Lighthearted.


By Razor Knight
Last update: December 11, 2007

------​

Half an hour had passed since the battle at the Tokyo Tower, and the Senshi were all back at the base. Usagi was just done opening her presents, and was now stuffing her mouth with food.

"Some things will never change," Rei said looking at their leader.

"You're more right than you think," ChibiUsa mused.

"So, why did they send you back?" Minako asked.

"I've been training for years, but everyone back home said I lacked any field experience. Since not much's happening in the future, Puu decided to bring me back here to help you."

"Time traveling is a mess," Mako noted. "You were just a little girl last time we saw you, and that was what, half a year ago?"

"Almost one year ago," Karin corrected. "But yeah, she should be what, nine by now?"

Usagi walked to them, leaving the food alone for a minute. "I know I should be freaked out, I have a daughter and she's only four years younger than me... But I'm not."

"If you look at the whole picture," Ami noted, "it's not weird. At least not weirder than the things we face almost daily."

Suddenly, the elevator's doors opened, and a purple Mooncat walked in. The cat was smaller than Luna and the others, but not by much. "Princess, that wasn't nice of you."

"Oh, Diana, good to see you again," ChibiUsa said dismissively.

"You had me walk for miles, kid. I'm not in the mood."

"You need the workout, slacking off at the palace made you quite fat."

"I'm not fat," the Mooncat snapped.

"Sorry to interrupt you," Terry said, "but who are you?"

"I'm Diana, Princess Serenity's guardian," the cat said proudly. "Though she can be quite a handful sometimes."

Minako looked at Diana, then at Artemis, then at Luna, then giggled. "Hah! I knew it."

"Knew what?" Artemis asked.

"To misquote an ancient, at least for my era, movie, 'Artemis, I am your daughter,'" Diana said with a wink.

"My... What?" Artemis said, then fainted.

"He took it quite well," Minako muttered.

"Hi, mom," Diana said looking at Luna. "and aunt Shade, too."

Luna looked at Diana and shook her head. "Okay, this is quite weird."

Artemis woke up and looked at Diana, then at Luna. "Hmm... I think I can get used to the idea."

"Artemis!" Luna hissed.

ChibiUsa sighed. "I don't know why Puu had to send you along. I'm not a little girl anymore."

"You behave like one most of the time," Diana countered.

"Don't they remind you of someone else?" Rei asked Ami.

Ami looked at Usagi, then at Luna, then nodded. "Luckily they grew out of that phase already."

------​

Next morning, the two Usagi were walking to school. "That was strange."

"What was?"

"The way my parents still think you're my cousin," Usagi noted. "You don't have that ball thing with you anymore, do you?"

"Yes, I do," ChibiUsa said. "But I don't use it that much now that I've got my powers."

Diana was walking besides them, and she started looking around. "I sense... Something evil lurking."

"Hey, wait for me!"

Usagi looked back and saw Shingo walking to them. "Thought you had left for school already."

Shingo shrugged. "Hey, how comes she's back?" he frowned. "And how is she older than last time?"

ChibiUsa looked at Usagi. "Uh..."

"Don't worry, he knows," Usagi said. "Shingo, ChibiUsa is- Well- My daughter, from the future."

"Oh, I see," Shingo said and kept on walking. The two Usagi stopped dead and stared at him. "What?"

"Aren't you freaked out?" ChibiUsa asked.

"My sister is Sailor Moon, the city gets attacked by aliens almost everyday, and a few months ago there were videogame characters running around. You being her daughter isn't that weird compared to all that, more so considering you look a lot like her. In fact, it explains a lot about your last visit."

------​

"I never thought the Senshi would be able to kill one of us."

"We greatly underestimated them, but..."

"... there aren't many Senshi left to..."

"... check. Mimette, come forth."

A woman with blond, wavy hair walked out of the shadows. She was wearing a lab coat and looked like a normal scientist. "I've been waiting for my chance to attack," the woman said. "And I'll make Uranus and Neptune pay for killing Kaorinite."

The figures nodded at her as one. "Go and attack Minako Aino, but..."

"... Wait until she's alone."

------​

Artemis looked at Minako and winced. She was watching TV, but kept on changing the channel every few seconds. He had been around her long enough to know that meant she was upset. "Minako?"

"What?" Minako said, her voice a growl.

"First off, chill," Artemis said, not letting her tone get to him.

Minako looked at the white cat and froze for a second. "I... Sorry, Art, I'm just in a rotten mood."

"I noticed," Artemis said. "Want to talk about it?"

"It's just the whole crystal thing. I wish they would come for me already. I'm tired of waiting for them."

"You should be careful what you wish," Artemis mused. "But seriously, I can understand how you feel."

Minako sighed. "I'm going out for a walk. Tell mom when she gets home, okay?"

Artemis nodded, and Minako left the room. He smirked as memories of how Minako's mother had reacted when he spoke to her for the first time came back to his mind. Even though several days had passed since then, Artemis was sure the woman was still more than a little freaked out at having a cat speak to her.

------​

"You wanted to see me?"

Hotaru looked up at the tall woman. "Yes. Why is Queen Serenity sending that kid here?"

"Don't underestimate the Princess," Setsuna said as she sat down on the couch next to Hotaru. "She's as strong as Sailor Moon was at her level. With time and training, she could be... Stronger than her mother."

"I'll take your word for that."

"You should consider her one of your friends. She's known you- The future you, for all her lifetime."

"But I barely know her," Hotaru said. "But you're right about something, I'll wait until I've seen enough of her before judging her."

"That's good," Setsuna said. "And you'll get to see a lot of her, indeed."

Hotaru was about to ask her what that last bit meant, but Setsuna vanished. "Go figures."

------​

"Hey, Mina."

Minako looked up as someone called her name. "Brad?"

"I was heading for your house," Brad said. "What are you doing?"

"Just... Walking, and trying to clear my mind," Minako said.

"Are you worried about the enemy?"

Minako nodded. "I'm sick of waiting for them to come after me, but at the same time, I'm scared... What if my crystal is one of those talismans? What if the villains get it?"

Brad put his arms around her and smiled. "I won't let that happen. They'll have to kill me to get your crystal, Mina."

Minako looked at him for a second, then kissed him. As she broke the kiss, however, she sensed something and turned to her right. "Well, was about time."

Brad summoned his sword and looked at the two women walking to them. "Don't dare coming any closer."

"Dumb boy, it's not like we need to be close to her to get what we want," Mimette said and reached her hand out, palm opened. A blast of light shot from it, but it didn't quite hit its mark. "What?"

"You will surely blame me, but I think it's just your sucky aim."

The two witches looked up and saw Sailor Lilith standing... On a power wire. "Oh, it's the lucky girl," Eudial said dismissively.

Minako and Brad had used the distraction to transform, and were now waiting for their foes' next move. Venus idly pondered where the two rogues were, but that was answered as the two rushed out from around the corner. "Look, Neptune, it's miss Mette."

"Maybe she run out of lab rats to torment."

Mimette looked at the two rogues and smiled. "You two weaklings are a minor nuisance to me."

"World Shaking!"

"Deep Submerge!"

Mimette let the attacks hit and chuckled. "Told you."

"Bet if Ami was here she'd say something like 'her power's up to the clouds," Dragon Venus mused.

"Eudial, take care of the light head," Mimette said.

Eudial nodded and turned as her ally started using the two rogues as practice targets. "I'm going to enjoy this."

Something, or rather someone, landed on top of Eudial's head, sending her crashing down to the ground. "Forgetting I'm around is stupid," Lilith commented.

Eudial stood up, faster than expected, and shot an energy blast at Lilith. The lucky Senshi moved out of the way, but the blast hit a car near her, and the resulting explosion sent her flying forwards. Eudial shot a second blast, this time knocking Lilith off. "That will take care of-" As she turned, she noticed the two Venus weren't around. "Hey, where are-"

"Morning Star Smash!"

The blast came from inside a grocery, and knocked Eudial into a wall. As she fell to the ground, the two Venus came walking out of it. "Guess we got her."

"'We'?" Venus muttered.

"You didn't." Before the two could realize what was going on, Eudial had leapt up, shooting at Venus while airborne. Venus gasped as she knelt on the ground, her eyes glazed over, then she collapsed. "Dumb kid, that lousy shot only tickled me."

Dragon Venus grabbed the crystal before Eudial could. "Hmm... We both know this isn't a talisman, so... Just leave before you piss me off."

Eudial laughed. "You, weakling? I'm not scared of you."

"You should be," Dragon Venus said as a white aura surrounded him. "You hurt my girl, and that may be your last mistake. Venus Star Power!"

Eudial checked her surroundings while the Dragon transformed. Mimette was still keeping the two brats busy, and Lilith was still knocked out. So, it was just a matter of killing the light goon and get their crystals.

The transformation ended, and Dragon Venus pointed his sword at her. "Prepare to die, witch."

"Name's Eudial, brat."

"Like I care. Venus Light..." his sword lit up, giving a blinding light as he rose it. "Geyser!" He rammed the sword into the ground, and for a second, nothing happened. Then, a column of light rose right under Eudial, knocking her back. "Gotcha."

"I'm not done with you," Eudial snapped as she slowly stood up.

"Neither am I. Lilith Star Power!"

Eudial looked at Dragon Venus, who was now kneeling on the ground, then at Lilith, who was undergoing a transformation. "Luck can't beat skills."

Dragon Venus nodded. "But she's got a bit of both." If he wasn't so tired from that light show, he'd save Lilith the trouble of beating her down, but... He looked at Venus and winced. "Damn, I almost forgot!"

Eudial was ignoring him, and smiled as Lilith's transformation ended. "So, little girl, what's it now, are you going to drop a plane on me or something?"

"I don't need to," Lilith said. Yes, she could feel it, something new in her. "Let's see how you like this. Hex Bolt!"

Eudial gasped as a white, fist-sized energy sphere shot from Lilith's outstretched hands, but noticed the power it had and smiled. "Please, weakling, don't even try," she snapped as she phased out of the attack's way. "And now..."

"And now you kiss the ground," Lilith said.

"Huh?" Eudial sensed something coming at her from the side, but didn't react fast enough to dodge the blast. "How did you..."

"You can call that a lucky shot," Lilith mused. "Hex Bolt!"

Eudial phased out again, but as she reappeared, she saw the blast correcting its course. "What the :red:?"

Dragon Venus chuckled as he saw Mimette being chased around by the energy blast. "Now that's a useful skill."

"But... Tiring," Lilith said as she fought to keep the attack going.

"Morning Star Smash!"

Eudial was knocked into a wall again, and grunted before collapsing. Mimette was apparently faring far better, as both Uranus and Neptune were kneeling on the ground, panting. She turned to the other battle and laughed. "I'll be with you in a minute, kids."

"Moon Twilight Beam!"

"Moonlight Flash!"

Eudial recovered her senses just in time to see Mimette land near her. She saw all the Senshi gathering and grimaced. "Guess it's time to run."

"Agreed," Mimette said, and both vanished.

"Took you guys long enough," Venus said as she saw the two Moons hovering over the sidewalk in their airboards.

"Aiko can't detect the witches, but she did detect your energy rising," Moon explained. "We were the closest to the area."

"I see," Venus said. "Well, at least now I don't have to worry about being attacked."

"Uranus and Neptune run away again," ChibiMoon noted.

"Never mind, they helped us," Dragon Venus said. "But... Don't you know who they are?"

ChibiMoon frowned. "I do. And I can't tell you, you're not supposed to know yet."

"Yay," Venus muttered.

Lilith sighed. "At least now I got an actual attack."

"You do?" Moon asked surprised.

ChibiMoon nodded. "She had a few, back home."

"Were you supposed to tell me that?" Lilith asked.

"If I ever say something you're not supposed to know, I can bet Pluto will come and drag me back to Crystal Tokyo by my pigtails," ChibiMoon joked.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 9: The Messiah.
Episode 84: Crystal Hunters.


By Razor Knight
Last update: December 12, 2007

------​

"Don't you guys train here?"

Usagi smiled at ChibiUsa. "Sometimes we do." It was one of those days when the base was almost empty. She looked at Ami and Terry, who were checking the computer again, and frowned. "Those two and their technological stuff..."

"Ami, are you sure about it?"

Ami nodded. "Yes, I found out when I came here today. Aiko?"

"Yes, mom?"

Usagi blinked. Aiko's normal dress had been replaced by a shorter, black one. "What's with the dress?"

"I like this one better," Aiko said.

Hotaru stared at the computer girl curiously. "Something's changed. She has a soul."

Ami nodded. "I don't know how it happened."

"It couldn't have happened overnight," Terry said. "Aiko, when did you, well, started feeling different?"

"I gained self-awareness yesterday, after your last battle."

"And you didn't tell us? Why?"

"I wanted to surprise you."

ChibiUsa walked to Aiko as Terry checked the computer again. "I never thought I would be here the day you, well, awakened."

"Know how it happened?" Terry asked. "I can find no clues here."

Ami had already summoned her own computer and was typing as fast as she could. "The crystal."

"Huh?"

"The crystal, or rather crystals," Ami said. "The Ginzuishou. Usagi's one caused this, but the process was sped up by ChibiUsa's one."

"Once again, magic kicks technology's :red:," Terry said.

"I think both were responsible, dad," Aiko said. "Without your programming and the computer, I wouldn't be here."

"Ami did most of the work there," Terry said.

Ami smiled. "Too bad she doesn't have a body."

"What about the Zero?" Usagi asked.

Terry looked at Usagi for a few seconds before laughing. "I hadn't thought about that."

"It's a good idea," Ami admitted.

"I hope it works, then I can be a 'material girl,'" Aiko said.

"Cute, she's got Terry's sense of humor," Hotaru muttered.

Terry looked at ChibiUsa. "You know, I haven't seen you fight yet."

"What, is that a challenge?"

"Oh, I don't know, I wouldn't like to hurt a little girl."

ChibiUsa summoned a sword. "Fair enough, I wouldn't like to hurt a big ego."

"She has a sword too?" Hotaru asked.

The pink-haired girl nodded. "And it's not the same Moon has. Don't ask how that's possible, though, not even Puu could tell me."

"So, are you ready, Rabbit?"

"Don't call me that."

"But it fits you more than your mother, what with your ear-shaped hair buns and all..." Terry stopped as something rose him up in the air. "What the heck?"

Hotaru noticed the girl's eyes were glowing red. "She's doing that?"

ChibiUsa nodded. "I have weak telekinetic powers. Something I found out while training, thanks to a certain psychic friend of yours."

Terry whistled. "You mean..."

"Oops?" ChibiUsa said. "Well, since Puu isn't standing next to me and glaring daggers, I suppose that information won't change the future."

"Cool. Now, care putting me down, Rabbit?"

ChibiUsa groaned. "You can be quite a jerk sometimes," she said before looking away. Terry fell to the ground with a thud.

"Ow. That's one useful skill you have," Terry admitted.

"Good. Now stop calling me that nickname or I'm going to use it again."

"As you wish... Pinky," Terry said with a half-smile. ChibiUsa shook her head and sighed in defeat.

------​

Naru was, once again, helping her mother at the jewelry, but things were rather calm that day. She smiled as Umino walked through the door. "Hi Umino."

Naru's mother looked at Naru. "There's no customers right now, so go ahead."

Umino looked at Naru, then frowned. "Can I talk to you in private?"

"What about?"

"It's about... Crystals," Umino said. Naru nodded at that and they both walked upstairs.

Naru's mother watched them leave, then turned as she saw a red-haired woman enter the shop. "Good afternoon, may I help you?"

The woman nodded as a weapon appeared in her hands. "Of course you can. Call your daughter and her guy down, or I'll shoot."

------​

Shingo was walking back home from school when he noticed something was happening at the museum. "Hey, isn't that-"

His question was answered as he saw the black-clad woman lift a car effortlessly. The men facing her shot some sort of lightning guns at her, but she phased out of the way. In the short time it took Shingo to get close to the battle, Nova had already taken care of all the attackers.

"Amazing."

Nova turned as she heard the familiar voice. "Oh, it's you."

A crowd had gathered around the area, now that the battle was over. "Didn't think you would remember me."

Nova smiled, then looked around. "I'll have to ask the Senshi how they manage not to attract crowds."

"Fighting creatures that could vaporize any normal human in a blink," Shingo said. Nova nodded, then blinked. As Shingo looked around, he noticed they were elsewhere. "How did you."

"It's one of my powers," Nova, or rather Hana, said.

"My friends still don't believe I know Nova. They won't believe this one, either."

"Just don't tell them who I am."

"Hey, I can keep the secret."

"Good, because if they found out, I would have to brainwash them. Or drop them off a building. Or both." At Shingo's shocked stare, she smiled. "Just kidding."

"Oh, I'm lucky, just a weak sidekick here."

Nova looked at the blond woman who had appeared near them. "Who are you?"

"Mimette, one of the Death Busters, and I'm here for the kid's crystal."

"You'll have to get through me first," Nova said.

"Good, I wanted to have some fun," Mimette snapped and shot an energy blast at Nova.

Nova rose a shield, but the blast hit right through it, knocking her down to the ground. "Damn..."

"Aw, done already? So pitiful," Mimette started, but gasped as something hit her, knocking her into a fashion store. She teleported back to where she had been standing, and glared at the now floating Nova. "What was that, :red:?"

"Psychic powers," Nova said, "and that was just a test."

"You're bluffing," Mimette snapped.

Nova looked at Shingo. "Don't worry, I won't let her get you."

Mimette shot another blast, but this time, Nova dodged it. She reappeared right in front of Mimette, punching her away. "As I thought, nill melee skills."

Mimette growled. "I don't need melee!" She unleashed an energy wave that knocked Nova down, and also hit Shingo. "As the human saying goes, two with one stone," she said as she grabbed the crystal. "Not a talisman, but if we kill Moon's brother, she will be broken."

"Excellent plan, but you bimbos should learn to stop talking to yourselves."

Mimette looked at Uranus. "I beat you and your girlfriend last time, what makes you think you can defeat me?"

"The fact you take things for granted," Uranus said.

"Huh?" Mimette stared at her confused, then felt something hit her back, and next thing she knew, Uranus had punched her straight in the nose.

Nova stood up and walked to Mimette. "I may not be a Senshi, but my powers are just as deadly when you underestimate them," she said as she glared at her.

Uranus saw Nova's eyes shine and winced. Whatever she was doing, it wouldn't be pretty. Turning to Mimette, she saw the blond scientist was actually showing fear in her face.

"What is..." Mimette gasped. She never thought Nova's powers would affect her like that. Her lungs weren't working, and she could feel Nova's focus moving to her heart. "Not today," she snapped weakly as she vanished.

"Damn," Nova muttered, then looked at Uranus. "The crystal."

Uranus nodded. "Here."

As she returned the crystal to Shingo, Nova turned to Uranus. "Thanks for the help."

"What are you?"

"You don't know?" Nova asked.

"I heard the rumors, and I've seen the news reports on you, but... What were you doing to Mimette?"

"I can stop someone's muscles from moving, even their lungs and heart," Nova explained. "But I need to focus completely in that person, and it takes a lot of energy to do it."

"Too bad you can't stop them from teleporting out of your reach, then," Uranus said.

Nova turned to Shingo as Uranus walked away. "Are you okay, Shingo?"

"I don't know, I feel like my whole body hurts."

"Let's get you checked, just in case," Nova said, and both vanished.

------​

"You think you're going to be attacked?"

Umino nodded. "I saw a red-haired woman following me around."

"Okay, then let's get out of here and look for the others," Naru said.

"Naru, I need help here."

"Customers?" Umino asked as they both left the room.

As soon as Naru walked downstairs, she realized she had walked right into a trap. "Eudial?"

"Hello there, girl. Don't worry, I'm not here to get you."

"Then it's me," Umino said. "Damn, I hate to be right."

"I knew I would have to eventually tell you this, mom," Naru said, "but I guess the time came before I thought."

"What do you mean?" her mother asked, staring at her in confusion.

Naru turned to Eudial. "You are either brave or stupid, to come attack us here. Either way, you're not going to leave this unscratched. Nemesis Star Power!"

"Naru?"

Nemesis smiled at her mother. "Yes, now get out of here, these women are dangerous."

"But-" the woman started, then gasped as Eudial shot at her.

"Mom!"

"But but but," Eudial muttered. "I hate humans, too curious for their own good."

Nemesis glared at her and charged, summoning her spear as she did. Eudial barely dodged the initial stab, but the darkness Senshi wasn't letting her go that easily, and her second stab got her arm. "Touche."

Eudial smirked. "Exactly." Before her foe could figure things out, she shot at her at point blank range. "Now, as for you, kid, I'll-" she noticed Umino had transformed and smirked. "Cute, you're up for a fight too."

Game Master said nothing, instead shooting an energy blast at her. Eudial phased out of the way, and he groaned. "Damn, we're wrecking this place."

"Too bad," Eudial snapped. "Try again?"

Game Master again shot at her, then turned around and shot another blast. He had guessed Eudial's next move right, and the redhead teleported right in front of the blast. "Game's on, harpy."

"Game's over," Eudial snapped as she phased out. Game Master again spun to face her, but realized his mistake a second too late. "Gotcha," Eudial said from the side, then shot her gun.

"Deep Submerge!"

The water blast knocked the cannon off Eudial's hand, and the redhead dove for it.

"Deep Submerge!"

The second blast knocked Eudial into a jewelry display, almost knocking her out. She staggered up, furious at the interruption. "Brat, I'm so going to enjoy killing you."

"Oh, I don't think you will be killing anyone after what's about to happen."

"Dark Fear!"

Eudial screamed in pain as a single, massive claw wrapped around her body. Neptune picked up the two crystals and returned them to their places, then nodded at Nemesis. "You sure have a lot of power."

Nemesis turned to her, her eyes pitch black. "You!"

Neptune noticed another claw rushing at her and leapt up, barely dodging it. "Hey, wait, I'm on your side!"

Nemesis wasn't listening, but she could see Eudial had left. She turned her attention fully to Neptune, who felt like quite the rabbit in the headlight for a few seconds, as both dark claws rushed at her.

"Naru, don't."

The Dark Senshi turned around, visibly relaxing as she saw her mother and Umino were okay, but the claws still got Neptune, and started to crush her. "She's not one of us."

"She is," Umino said. "Please, killing her won't do you any good."

"I-" Nemesis sank to her knees, and the claws vanished.

Neptune coughed as she tried to recover her breath. "What's your problem?"

Nemesis turned to glare at her. "I wonder the same about you and your girlfriend," she snapped.

Neptune was in no mood or shape to start another fight, so she simply turned and left.

"Naru..."

Nemesis looked at her mother. "Mom, I... Sorry for not telling you about this, but I thought you would be safe if you didn't know."

"Just how did you... Become one of them?"

"It's a long story," Nemesis said.

"I want to hear it," her mother said, "but first I'll have to call the insurance company."

------​

Nova and Shingo appeared in the base, and Usagi immediately noticed Shingo wasn't looking good. "Hey, what happened?"

"One of those women attacking your group targeted him," Nova explained. "We were both hit by an energy blast, and it knocked me out, so I think he may be badly injured."

Hotaru scanned Shingo. "Damn. He's heavily wounded, and from the little energy he's left I suppose he got his crystal taken."

Nova nodded and turned to Usagi as Hotaru started healing the boy. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect him better, but I didn't think those women would be that strong."

"It's okay," Usagi said. "But what was he doing with you?"

"He was around when I fought some thieves," Nova said, "and we ended up talking, but then that witch showed up."

Usagi nodded. "Well, guess I'll have to get him back home to rest."

"I'm okay," Shingo said as he stood up. "And it's not everyday that I get to be saved by a pretty girl."

"You're welcome," Nova said.

"Boy's growing up," Terry commented. Usagi rose an eyebrow at that, but said nothing.

ChibiUsa walked to the platform. "So, before all this, I was about to beat you down, Terry."

Terry walked to the platform too, but turned to Usagi. "Don't worry, I won't hit her too hard."

"Your mistake," ChibiUsa said as she rushed at him.

Usagi shook her head as she watched the two fight. Sometimes, her friends were quite a handful.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 9: The Messiah.
Episode 85: Death's Rage.


By Razor Knight
Last update: December 13, 2007

------​

The battle between ChibiUsa and Terry didn't last too long, and the result was just as everyone expected.

ChibiUsa staggered up and smiled. "I lasted longer than I thought I would."

"Not bad," Terry said, "but just like your mother, you are better at dodging than hitting at short range."

"I already knew that," ChibiUsa said.

Usagi turned away from the now finished battle and noticed Hotaru was deep in thought. "Something wrong?"

"Other than me being the last one that hasn't been targeted, no," Hotaru said.

"But what about Uranus and Neptune?" Usagi asked.

"It would be ironic," Hotaru admitted, "but I don't think they were dumb enough not to check it out."

"But they've always talked about talismans," Usagi said. "And the only Senshi left to check besides you are those two."

"You're forgetting about-" ChibiUsa started.

"About what?"

"I can't tell you," ChibiUsa said.

"Yeah, that helps," Hotaru muttered.

"Mom, I detected some activity at Naru's house. But it seems it's over."

"I'll go check," Usagi said.

"I should be home by now," Shingo said. "I'll tag along."

ChibiUsa said nothing, but followed the other two. As they left, Terry noticed Hana looking at Shingo and rose an eyebrow.

Hana turned to Aiko, who had been speaking to her for several minutes. "I guess a self-aware computer isn't that strange, considering I was dead for one year and brought back."

"I'm not sure I could go offline for that long and still be myself."

Hana grimaced at that. She hadn't been quite herself for a while after she revived, either, but not in the way Aiko meant.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, just- Remembering that isn't easy for me."

------​

Usagi and the others were walking silently as they headed for Osa-P, but the blond girl had something she needed to ask. "Shingo, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Do you like Hana?"

Shingo blushed, and ChibiUsa giggled. "There's your answer."

"But she-"

"What?"

"She's older than me."

"That runs in the family, from what I've heard," ChibiUsa said shooting Usagi a sideglance.

"You should talk to her," Usagi said. "Got nothing to lose, right?"

"Guess you're right," Shingo said, then stopped as Osa-P came into view. "Wow, guess those women aren't weak."

Naru was standing outside the jewelry, along with Umino. "One of the witches was here."

"We know, Aiko told us. Is your mother okay?"

Naru nodded. "Yes, but she saw me transform."

"If we keep that up, all the city will know," Usagi mused.

"Everyone knew back home," ChibiUsa said. The others stared at her. "No sense of humor."

"Do you girls have any idea where those women are attacking from?" Umino asked.

"No, we can't locate their base," Usagi said. "But sooner or later they'll come out of hiding."

"Hope we're ready for them when they do," Naru said, "because these new enemies aren't soft hitters."

------​

"Three talismans, three Senshi left to..."

"... check. I think we are..."

"... closer than we've ever been to our..."

"... goal. You two must go and..."

"... attack Sailor Saturn."

"What about the other two?"

"If you can, get them too, but..."

"... we can still attack them later. We have already alerted our fourth..."

"... Member, in case the Senshi try to interfere."

"We attack tomorrow," Eudial said to the two figures. "We need to recover from today's battles."

------​

Next morning, most of the group went to the base, as Terry and Ami had told them about Aiko. "I don't know, how can we know she's not just programmed better?" Karin asked.

Rei was staring at Aiko. "Computers don't have a soul, but she does."

"I'll take your word for that."

"Okay, so she's sentient, but isn't that going to mess her program?" Minako asked.

"No, the core program is still the same," Ami said. "It's hard to explain, but the changes she had aren't bad for her."

"I'm trying to find a way to get through whatever these Death Busters have used so far to avoid being detected," Aiko said.

Ami smiled at that. "And I didn't tell her to do that. She can take her own decisions, which could sometimes help us find things we wouldn't otherwise."

"And also, I'm trying to discover the true identities of Uranus and Neptune."

"I see," Brad said. "Hal, without the psycho part."

A gun turret popped up besides Brad. "Dad, can I shoot him?"

Terry chuckled. "He was joking, Aiko."

"I know," Aiko said and stuck her tongue out at Brad.

"Uh..." Brad looked at the turret as it sank back into the ground. "What was that?"

"The base's security system," Terry said. "I never got to use it."

"We could use that to practice," Rei said.

"And I could practice my aim," Aiko said. "I like the idea."

"I take back the 'without the psycho part' bit," Brad muttered.

------​

Hotaru was, meanwhile, walking around the city. She had no real destination in mind, and was actually avoiding crowds, as she was sure the enemy was already after her.

"What a coincidence, finding you here."

Hotaru didn't even bother looking at the guy as she walked by. "What's the matter, Kage?"

"I'm here to protect you."

"I don't need protection," Hotaru said.

"Maybe not from the enemy, but my dear 'sisters' are also following you."

"I don't need protection from them, either."

"Why didn't you stay with the others?"

"Because they'd fight to stop these women, and would end up being hurt."

"How noble."

"But also stupid."

Hotaru didn't even look at the two women before summoning her glaive. "Saturn Star Power!"

"Guess we're just in time."

Eudial flinched as she saw all the Senshi flying in. "Saw that coming. Teruru!"

Another woman showed up, she had green, long curly hair and was wearing a labcoat, just like Mimette. "I've been waiting for this, Senshi. Prepare to face your death."

Saturn had, meanwhile, tried to slash the two other women in half. They dodged and shot at her, but she teleported out of the way. "You can't hit me."

"So we can't," Eudial snapped and started shooting energy blasts at Saturn. The death Senshi phased out of the way. "Okay, she may be right about it."

"Moonlight Flash!"

Teruru smirked as a wall of vines rose in front of her, absorbing the attack. "And that's the strongest Senshi? I thought they would be a challenge."

"Hey, copycat, try this," Earth snapped. "Vine Crush!"

"You got her," Lilith said as vines wrapped around their green-haired foe.

"She didn't," the woman snapped. The vines all retreated, then shot at Earth, wrapping around her instead. "Now, little plant girl, you die."

A barrage of attacks from the other Senshi reminded her there were more enemies in the battlefield. Earth was freed from the crushing attack, and fell to her knees, panting to recover her breath.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, but how can we beat that woman?"

Teruru was about to attack again, but found herself unable to move. "What is-"

"Just stay there and let us do the rest," ChibiMoon said with a cold smile. Her eyes were glowing red, and she wasn't taking them off the evil woman.

"Okay guys, let's take her down then we can help-" Moon started.

"Deep Submerge!"

ChibiMoon was knocked forwards by the water blast, and she lost focus on Teruru. "Damn it."

"Consider this payback from the blasts you shot at us," Neptune said, then rushed past the others.

"Come back here, you moron!" ChibiMoon snapped.

"Sorry, but I don't have time to play with you, little girl."

------​

Saturn, meanwhile, was already starting to slow down. She knew she had to finish the fight quick, or she would run out of power. After dodging one of Mimette's blasts, she glared at her two foes and shouted "Wraith's Cry!"

"World Shaking!"

Saturn turned to the side as her attack was cancelled by Uranus' one. "You-"

"Deep Submerge!"

Neptune's attack came from behind, knocking Saturn forwards. Eudial saw her chance and aimed her gun at her prey. The blast hit Saturn dead on, knocking her down to the ground. As the crystal popped out, however, both the villains and the two rogues gasped. "Not a talisman either," Uranus said.

"Oh, it's okay," Mimette said as she walked past Saturn and grabbed the crystal. "We'll still eliminate one of th-Aargh!"

Neptune's eyes widened as she saw what had attacked Mimette. Saturn had left a quite deep cut in the woman's back with her glaive, and was now looking at them with glazed, cold eyes. "How can she be standing?"

Eudial aimed her cannon at Saturn, but just as she was about to fire, she noticed the Death Senshi was gone. She instinctively leapt aside, barely missing the glaive coming down on her. "You freak, how can you keep fighting?"

"I'm the Senshi of Death, and without this crystal, I'm dying," Saturn said coldly.

Eudial shot at her, but Saturn deflected the blast. "Why don't you put that thing back, then?"

"Because I'm stronger like this," Saturn said. "Death..." Energy gathered in the tip of Saturn's glaive as she rose it. "Ripple!" She slammed the glaive into the ground, and a wave of death energy shot out, knocking both Eudial and Mimette down.

"That's it," Eudial said. "We're out of here."

As Mimette and Eudial vanished, Saturn turned to Neptune and Uranus. "As for you two..."

------​

The Senshi had been trying to take Teruru down, but her defense was quite flawless, and she attacked relentlessly as well. Mercury noticed something and gasped. "Saturn..."

"What's..." Moon started, then looked to the place she'd last seen Saturn. She was there, but the two women were gone. Still, she was about to fight the two rogues. "No... We have to help."

"I think she can handle those two, if my readings are right," Mercury said.

"That's what I fear, Ami!" Moon said. "Remember what she said."

Teruru sent a swarm of vines and branches at the Senshi and laughed. "I would worry about myself if I were you, moongirl."

Moon glared at the woman. "I can't waste my time with you." She summoned her sword, and it immediately lit up with energy. She rushed at Teruru, who tried to stop her with her plant attacks, but she cut through the weed easily as she run. "Crescent Sword... Slash!" She didn't actually hit her foe, but stopped only inches away from her, slashing sideways with her sword. A crescent-shaped energy wave shot out, hitting Teruru square in the chest and leaving a quite visible wound before vanishing.

"This... Can't be," Teruru said.

Moon rose her sword and glared at her. "Leave or die." Teruru glared at her for a second before teleporting out. Moon turned to the other battle and saw things were quite bad.

------​

Neptune tried to kick Saturn, but was rewarded with a slash to the leg. As she fell down, Saturn kicked her away, then sensed something to her side. "Death Ripple."

Uranus was sent crashing through a wall, but staggered up. "You can't be that strong. World Shaking!"

Saturn let the attack hit and smiled coldly at her. "I can't? You two harpies have been close to causing the deaths of many of my friends. It's time for payback. Death..."

"No!"

"Usagi, out of my way!" Saturn snapped as Moon stood in front of her.

"Hotaru, don't do this. There's no need to kill them."

"Too bad, they chose to pick a fight with me."

"Look at them, they're barely standing," Moon said. "Please... Don't do it."

Saturn rose her glaive again. "Out of my way, now."

Moon summoned her sword and her crystal. "Don't make me do this."

"Why are you defending them?" Saturn snapped.

"Because they're Senshi too. I know they caused some trouble, but they also helped us. I wouldn't be here if they hadn't been there when Mamoru was captured."

Saturn looked past Moon and frowned. True, the two rogues were straining to stand, one more attack and they would die. Moon could take one of her shots and live, so what was stopping her?

"Hotaru, please," Moon insisted.

Saturn tossed her glaive aside and moved the crystal closer to her chest. As it was absorbed, Saturn's eyes returned to normal. "It's over."

Uranus was helping Neptune up and smiled at Moon. "I guess I should thank you."

Moon turned to look at her and shook her head. "I didn't do it for you. I did it for her."

As the two rogues limped away, the Senshi gathered. "Well, this was one fun battle, wasn't it?" Jupiter mused.

Saturn looked at Moon. "Thanks for stopping me, but it wasn't needed."

"Why, you weren't really going to kill them?" Moon asked.

"I was, but I would have revived them afterwards," Saturn said, keeping a straight face.

Moon stood frozen for a few seconds before sighing. "Hotaru, don't joke like that."

"Wasn't joking," Saturn said as she picked up her glaive.

Moon watched the two rogues leave. "So, after all these attacks, they were the ones."

Mercury nodded. "I wonder if they'll be eager to let the enemy check them."

"Something tells me we find out soon," Mars commented.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 9: The Messiah.
Episode 86: Talismans.


By Razor Knight
Last update: December 14, 2007

------​

"Think they will attack us soon?"

Haruka looked at Michiru. "Maybe. But the Senshi did a lot of damage to them yesterday."

"Saturn did a lot of damage to us."

Haruka nodded. "I'm not happy about the beating, but I guess we asked for it."

"They aren't such a bad group."

"We still need to complete our mission."

"Why didn't Setsuna tell us, though? Why make us fight through all that?"

"We grew stronger through all this, and so did the other Senshi," Haruka said.

"Not that it matters now," Michiru said.

"I trust Setsuna, and also... I trust Usagi, too. She stopped Saturn from killing us, after all."

"That she did. So, all we have to do is wait."

"Yeah, it's boring."

------​

"Haruka and Michiru didn't go to school today," Usagi said. "I think it's obvious who they are."

"Yes, they're the same I kicked around yesterday," Hotaru joked.

"Aiko, can you locate them?"

Aiko appeared in front of Usagi. "Yes, they're in a house in the southern part of Shinagawa."

"Why did you want to know?" Ami asked.

"Because now we can go and protect them. If the enemy can't get those talismans, then nothing will happen."

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you do that."

"Puu?"

Setsuna smiled at ChibiUsa, then looked at Usagi. "You can't interfere, not this time around."

"I won't let them die," Usagi said.

"I know that. But I can't let you stop the Death Busters this time."

"What, are you working for them now?" Rei snapped.

ChibiUsa glared at Rei. "Don't you dare..."

"Calm down, Princess. Fighting amongst us won't solve a thing. Usagi, the enemy needs those talismans, yes, but not for what you think."

"What is their goal, then?"

"If the talismans get to the one they call the Messiah of Silence, then the world as we know it will come to an end."

Ami typed a few commands in her computer and gasped. "There's also a Messiah of Light mentioned in the legend. The only creature with the power required to stop the coming of the Silence."

"What is that 'Silence'?" Rei asked.

"No clues on that. But I bet it's nothing good."

------​

"Haruka, look at this."

Haruka walked in and immediately noticed what her friend meant. Mimette's face was on the TV "There's nothing good on TV anymore," she mused.

"Uranus, Neptune, it is time for the Silence to come. We'll be waiting for you at the docks."

"Time to play?" Michiru asked. Haruka just nodded.

------​

"I still don't like this. I won't let them die just so that Messiah saves the world," Usagi said. "We've saved the world many times ourselves, we can do it again."

"Not with your current power level," Setsuna said.

"Mom, trust her."

Usagi looked at ChibiUsa. It was the first time she had called her 'mom' and not Usagi since she had returned. "I-"

"Or at least, trust me. I know Pluto better than any of you, even the two harp--rogues. And I know she wouldn't waste her time training those two for years just to watch them die."

Usagi nodded. "Okay, but we still need to protect them."

"I've detected two of the Death Busters in the seaport near Shinagawa," Aiko said. "And Uranus and Neptune are moving to them."

Setsuna turned into Pluto in a blink. "It's time, then. Call the others and tell them to come here."

"Why don't we tell them to go there instead?"

"It's faster this way," Pluto said.

------​

"Oh, there you are," Mimette mused. "What took you so long?"

"We don't fly like the other Senshi," Uranus snapped.

"So, girls, are you going to be good and let us blast you?"

Neptune smiled coldly. "No."

"Why? If you didn't want us to get you, you should've kept on hiding."

"We need those talismans to defeat you," Uranus said.

"But letting you get them would mean all our work was worth nothing."

"So, you're going to fight?" Eudial said. "So be it. Teruru!"

"I'm here, no need to shout" Teruru muttered as she appeared near the other two.

Uranus smiled at Neptune. "Time to play."

Neptune nodded and both started dodging as the three women kept on shooting at them.

------​

The Senshi were, meanwhile, finally gathered. "So, now what?" Jupiter asked.

"The enemy's engaged the two rogues," Aiko said.

Pluto looked around. "First time I try this with this many passengers," she said. "Get ready to fight, Senshi."

Before anyone could ask, they had all vanished. "Good luck," Aiko said then turned to 'look' at the screen. For a moment, she wondered if she had a heart crystal too, but dismissed the thought as fast as it had appeared.

------​

Uranus dodged Eudial's blast, but Teruru guessed her jump and shot at the point she landed on. As she fell back, the blond Senshi cursed. "This isn't easy."

"We need to resist," Neptune said as she leapt out of a blast's way.

"Crescent Sword Slash!"

The three women leapt back and stared at the energy wave in awe as it passed. "Damn it, the Senshi." Mimette muttered.

"Let's beat them," Moon said to the others.

"Wait!" Uranus said. "Let them take our crystals."

"But-"

Pluto nodded. "That was the plan all along."

"No! I can't let them die!"

Pluto looked at Moon. "No sacrifices will be made. Please, trust me."

Teruru laughed. "You weaklings want to fight?" She shot a few beams that made several thick vines grow up from the ground.

Pluto looked at the vines dismissively. "Chronos Typhoon." A large energy vortex shot out, and even though only Pluto could see it, everyone could see its effect. The vines were ripped off the ground and vanished in mid-air. Teruru herself was knocked back and sank to the ground. "We're not here to fight, at least not right now," Pluto warned, "so just do what you were going to before we arrived."

Uranus and Neptune were standing still, holding hands as they waited for the shot. "Moon, your group has told us several time we don't know what being a Senshi is about. But we do. A Senshi would sacrifice her own life if it helped saving the world."

"And we're going to do just that. But don't let the enemy get the talismans."

Eudial smirked. "Nice speech, but your time's up." She and Mimette shot energy beams at the two rogues, and saw crystals coming out of their backs. "Hey, those aren't talismans!"

Pluto smiled as the crystals started shining. Two items appeared next to them, a scimitar-like sword, and a hand mirror. "There they are."

Eudial and Mimette moved to get the talismans, but the two items moved out of their grasp. The crystals went back into the two fallen Senshi and they started stirring. "Hey, what's going on?" Mimette growled.

"I'm wondering the same thing," Moon said, then noticed the talismans started circling her. "What's this?"

"The Messiah," Pluto said.

"Huh, where?" Moon asked, then saw the orb in Pluto's staff glowing. "I don't get it."

As the orb floated away from her staff, Pluto smiled. "The three talismans are needed to awaken the Messiah."

"She's the one," Uranus said.

"Kill her before she transforms!" Teruru snapped and attacked.

The Senshi moved to cover Moon, but Pluto was faster. "Time Bomb!"

This time, the attack was quite visible, a black orb that didn't look that powerful. That was, until it stopped meters away from the three Death Busters, exploding with enough force to crack the walls of the warehouses around them.

Meanwhile, Moon was looking at the three talismans as they spun around her. "Uhm, so what should I do?"

"Concentrate and try to search inside of you. These three items are the key to a new power," Pluto explained.

Moon nodded and closed her eyes, while Pluto turned to look at the three witches. They were still stunned by her blast, so she turned to the others. "Once Moon's upgrade is complete, you will be able to access that level too, but you'll have to look for your own keys."

"What does that mean?" Jupiter asked.

Mercury, on the other hand, had no problem guessing. "A talisman for each of us?"

Pluto nodded. "But I can't help you with that."

Moon opened her eyes and looked at the three Death Busters. "I'll take care of you in a minute. Moon Cosmic Power!" As she said that, her crystal appeared in front of her, but a golden dust formed around it. As it solidified, everyone could see it had formed a brooch, with the crystal resting in its center. The brooch attached itself to Moon's bow, replacing the old one, and an aura of light surrounded her.

Not much changed as far as looks went, the only difference her suit had was the gloves and boots were much longer. "She got it. The Cosmic power level, she can destroy our enemies now."

Teruru snorted at Pluto's words. "I doubt that." She shot her vines at Moon and waited for the impact.

Moon simply rose her hand, a shield forming in front of it. "My turn. Moon Cosmic..." She rose her other hand, and aimed at the three witches, palms open. "... Retaliation!" As she shouted that, the crystal lit up with energy, which swiftly passed to her hands. In a blink, a light beam as tall as Moon herself rushed forwards.

":red:, I'm out of here," Teruru muttered before teleporting out.

The other two didn't have time to dodge, and the beam hit them both, the resulting explosion knocking everyone but Pluto and Moon down. As they stood up, they could see Mimette was trying to pick herself up, but Eudial was nowhere to be seen. "She got them!"

"Only Eudial," Moon said, then looked at Mimette. "But I can correct that."

"Thanks, I'll pass," Mimette said and vanished.

Mercury was staring at Moon, so Dragon Mercury smiled. "Should I be jealous?"

"Eh? No, it's nothing like that," Mercury said with a blush. "But- The last readings I got of her before this fight were near five thousand points."

"And now?" Mars asked.

"Her power is up to ten thousand points."

"No wonder Teruru run away, then," Jupiter mused.

"And she's not going back to Star, either," Dragon Mercury said. "It means the transformation is permanent."

"And tiring," Moon said. "I was bluffing with Mimette, I couldn't have used that attack twice, but luckily she bought it."

Pluto smiled. "As for the Talismans..." Her orb returned to her, while the sword went to Uranus, and the mirror to Neptune. "They are where they belong now."

Uranus looked at Pluto, then at the sword. "How do I use this?"

"You will know, when you need them," Pluto said. "Now, let's go back to the base."

"We're going home, if you don't mind," Neptune said.

"What, still planning to play the rogue parts?" Mars said.

"No, but we're too tired right now," Uranus explained.

"We'll see you at school, then," Moon said.

The rogues didn't answer, just walked away. Dragon Mercury looked a Pluto and nodded. "Take us back home, mighty Time Lady."

Pluto shook her head at him, but still did as requested.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 9: The Messiah.
Episode 87: Soul Of Darkness.


By Razor Knight
Last update: December 14, 2007

------​

After the battle, Pluto had vanished, only reappearing in her normal form to keep her teacher act. Haruka and Michiru hadn't gone to school, either being tired after the battle, or because they didn't want to face the other Senshi yet. As for the other Senshi, they were waiting, and training. Well, some of them were training, anyway.

Dragon Mercury looked at ChibiMoon as she got ready to fight. "Are you sure about it?"

"Yeah, don't worry. It's not like I never faced her before."

Saturn smiled. "Am I a good warrior in the future?"

"I don't really know, you weren't around much after the Dark Moon war. But the few times we trained, you won."

As the two started fighting, Usagi was trying to test something out. Rei was looking at her amusedly. "You'll break your hand."

Usagi looked at the single stone slab set between two of the benches and sighed. "Probably. But Hotaru can heal me, right?"

Terry nodded. "Go ahead, I want to see if your guess is right, too."

Usagi nodded and pulled her fist back, slamming it down into the slab with all her strength. For a second, nothing happened, then the slab fell down, split in half. "Wow."

"Amazing," Ami said. "Her physical strength, even in normal form, rose more than I expected."

"With some training, you could be kicking monsters around without transforming," Terry said, "though that would probably raise some questions."

"About the talismans," Ami said, "I found info in my computer, but apparently, there wasn't a set ritual or way to call upon them. And no clues on where they could be."

"If they work like the rest of our powers, we'll get them when we need them," Rei said.

"Wow, that kid sure can fight," Karin mused.

The others turned to the training battle. Saturn apparently had the upper hand, but ChibiMoon was dodging each and every slash of her glaive, and not using her own sword.

"How long can she keep on dodging?" Mako pondered.

"That must be her plan," Terry said. "We all know Hotaru tires pretty fast, so all Pinky has to do is resist for a while."

"Don't call me that," ChibiMoon snapped, momentarily forgetting about her battle. That earned her a small yet painful cut as Saturn didn't stop her attack soon enough. "Argh..."

"Uhm... Sorry," Saturn said. "But you shouldn't be distracted that easily."

ChibiMoon rushed forwards, taking her chance to tackle Saturn to the ground before she could again use her glaive. As the two landed, she put a finger in Saturn's forehead. "Game over."

Karin smiled at the image. "So, she likes to be on top, huh?"

The pink-haired Senshi blushed as she heard that. "Uh, no, that's not..." She had once again lost focus, and was knocked away by Saturn. "Damn."

Saturn was rapidly running out of power, so she decided to finish the fight fast. She used her glaive to swipe down at ChibiMoon's feet as she tried to stand up, sending her back down to the ground. Her rival wasn't giving up yet, and kicked out as she fell, causing Saturn to fall down on top of her. "Eeh..."

Karin laughed. "And that was a coincidence, too, I'm sure."

As both scrambled up, ChibiMoon sighed. "That training didn't go as planned."

"Or did it?" Karin teased.

Usagi frowned. "Karin, drop it."

"Whatever you say, boss."

Hotaru walked up to Karin. "I fight to become stronger, not to get a girlfriend."

"And you are stronger than I thought," ChibiUsa said. "Even with your low endurance, you're quite skilled with that glaive."

------​

"Even though the Messiah of Light awakened..."

"... we can still win this war. But our..."

"... Messiah, Mistress Nine, needs a host..."

"... to come to this world. You must..."

"... go and capture the one who's..."

"... attuned to darkness."

"What about the other Senshi?" Teruru asked.

"Don't worry, this time..."

"... we will fight them ourselves."

------​

As Hana walked in, Terry smiled. "Hey there, I've got something for you."

"Oh, are you done with it?"

Terry nodded. "Yeah. Uh... Where's your watch?"

Hana smiled. "Nova Armor On!" the Zero oozed out of her necklace, forming her armor in seconds.

"Wow..."

Hana held her hand out and her suit gathered in her open palm, forming a small black cube. "Here."

Ami decided to talk at last. "What are two up to?"

"I finally got a solution for the Zero's weakness to electricity." He took the cube and connected it to Aiko. "And I want to kill two birds with one stone. Aiko, try your new form."

As the cube seemingly vanished, Aiko appeared in front of the others, but not as a hologram. "Hey, it worked."

"Wow, she's got a solid body," Karin said. "Cute."

"Ahem..." Mako said and shot her a side glance.

"You're prettier," Karin added rapidly.

"Now run a strong electric charge through your body," Terry said.

"Won't that hurt her?" Usagi asked.

Aiko chuckled as her body crackled with energy. "Fortunately, or unfortunately, I don't get any sensory input from this artificial body."

Terry nodded. "Okay, can you give me the Zero back?"

"But I like this."

"I promise I'll give you more of it soon."

Aiko nodded and 'vanished' as the cube fell to the ground. Hana picked it up. "So, no more trouble with those electric guns?"

"Well, if you get a lot of electricity thrown at you too fast, it will still hurt," Terry corrected.

"Thanks," Hana said.

"What did you come here for, anyway?" Hotaru asked.

"Just curious as to what you guys were doing here."

ChibiUsa smirked. "I've always wanted to try this." Her eyes flashed red and she looked straight at Hana.

"Wha..." Hana stood frozen for a few seconds, but then smirked. "Interesting, weak psychic powers." The others looked at ChibiUsa, who was now unable to move. Hana turned around and walked to the elevator. "Maybe with some training you would be able to fight me."

ChibiUsa stood unmoving for a minute after Hana left. As she moved, she looked at the others. "She's too damn strong!"

"Thought you knew it," Terry said.

"Didn't think she would be so strong in this era."

Aiko appeared again, her body now back to its usual transparency. "I'm sensing Teruru and Mimette here in Juuban. They're attacking Naru and Umino."

Mako frowned. "Huh? What for?"

"Let's ask them," Usagi said.

------​

"... And yeah, they said they need another week to finish the repairs."

Umino looked at Naru and sighed. "Maybe I shouldn't have gone there. It's my fault your house got wrecked."

"Don't worry," Naru said. "It's those women's fault, and I would rather have a few holes in my house's front wall than losing you."

Umino blushed. "Thanks."

"You know, I'm wondering what the enemy will do now that we got all the Talismans."

"Oh, that's a funny question, dear Nemesis."

Naru glared at Teruru and Mimette. "What are you doing here?"

"We're here to get you," Teruru said. "So be a good girl and stand still."

"Nemesis Star Power!"

"Game Start!"

Teruru snorted. "Nice suit. Too bad I'll have to tear it apart."

Game Master smiled as vines rose form the ground. "Oh, so you like kinky games. Let's play, then." Metal claws grew on his gloves, and he used them to slash the vines down.

Meanwhile, Mimette was facing Nemesis. "So, shadow girl, are you going to attack?"

"No, I'm just stalling you," Nemesis said.

"Amusing, but I wouldn't count on your friends if I were you. Our leaders are keeping them busy as we speak."

------​

The Senshi had gathered and were now flying to help Nemesis. However, they all stopped as two women appeared floating in mid-air. They were almost identical, if not for the fact their form-fitting suits and their hair were colored different, blue and red respectively.

"More of them?" Jupiter said. "Out of our way, freaks."

"We are Cyprine and..."

"... Puchirol, the leaders of the Death Busters. We...

"... are not going to let you..."

"... pass. The one you call Nemesis is..."

"... the key to our victory. Surrender now and..."

"... you may live a little longer."

"What's with the dual talking?" Dragon Venus muttered.

"Never mind that, let's beat them," Moon said. "Cosmic Retaliation!"

The two women simply summoned long, bronze staffs and pointed them at the incoming attack, absorbing it. "You don't understand, do you? We..."

"... are nothing like the others, we're..."

"... invincible."

"Nobody is," Dragon Mercury snapped. "If long range doesn't work..."

Dragons Venus and Sun nodded. "Let's try melee."

The three Dragons rushed at the women, but they simply phased out of the way. "Not so invincible, are we?"

The blue-haired one laughed. "We are, because you..."

"... can't touch us."

"We can always try again."

Cyprine laughed again. "No, you can't." The two women pointed their staves forwards, shooting twin energy beams that knocked the three Dragons off their boards.

"That was Moon's attack," Mercury said as she scanned the two. "They can actually use our attacks against us."

"Oh, that's cute," Saturn said. "Let's see if they can handle me." She summoned her own scanner and smiled. "Here goes nothing!"

Saturn vanished, appearing right over the twins. The two women sensed her and phased out of the way, but Saturn followed them, appearing again over them. Mercury nodded at that. "They're distracted."

"Cosmic..." Moon started but fell on her knees. "Damn, can't use it again..."

"Stone Jab!"

Cyprine was just done dodging Saturn again, when she sensed something behind her. She wasn't fast enough, and the massive fist hit her, knocking her back. Puchirol realized Saturn was gone and looked around confused.

"Behind you, idiot."

Cyprine recovered just in time to see Puchirol be slashed by Saturn. "This isn't possible."

Puchirol struggled to keep floating, but the pain from the deep cut in her back was almost too much to bear. "We can't let them go, not until Nemesis is secured."

Cyprine stopped and rose her staff, blocking Saturn's slash, then kicked Saturn away. "But you need to heal."

Puchirol was going to complain, but then nodded. "You're right, let's go."

As the two vanished, Saturn appeared on her air board again. "That was weird."

"Girl, I've never seen you do that before," Dragon Mercury said. "You're better than me in aerial combat."

"We never had to fight in the air before," Saturn noted.

"But those two... They're really strong," Dragon Venus said. "Despite their apparent lack of melee skills."

"They stopped talking as one when the redhead was hurt," Mercury said, "and they also lost focus when Saturn started attacking them. They're a far cry away from being invincible."

Moon summoned her communicator. "What's the matter, Aiko?"

"Nemesis is gone."

"What do you mean gone?"

"I can't find her," Aiko said. "Also, Umino's energy is too low."

"Naru, no..."

Saturn frowned. "Where's Umino?"

"I'm sending you the coordinates," Aiko said.

Saturn looked at the map displayed in her visor. "Okay, let's check on him, he'll tell us what happened."

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 9: The Messiah.
Episode 88: The Last Crystal.


By Razor Knight
Last update: December 15, 2007

------​

Nemesis felt her consciousness returning and opened her eyes. She was in some sort of lab room, a large computer on the far end of it. As she looked around, she saw two identical women looking at her.

"Welcome back, Nemesis..."

"... you should feel honored, because..."

"... you are the key to our victory."

"What? I won't join you."

Cyprine turned to the shadows behind her. "She is ready, Mistress."

"Good," a voice said.

Nemesis tried to locate the source, and saw it was a large, shapeless cloud of darkness. "What is..." The darkness surrounded her, and she screamed.

"The true Messiah is..."

"... awakening. Our victory is just..."

"... a matter of time."

------​

Game Master woke up and looked at Saturn. "Ugh..." He felt like a truck had run over him, but he forgot his pain as he remembered what had happened minutes earlier. "Where is Naru?"

"They... Got her," Saturn said.

"Damn it. I tried to fight them, but they were too strong," Game Master commented. "Do you guys know where they are?"

"Not yet," Moon said, "but don't worry, we'll get her back."

"Let's go back to the base, we can plan our strategy from there," Dragon Mercury sugested.

------​

As Nemesis opened her eyes again, it was clear she wasn't the same person anymore. "I see... This body is powerful. You found a fitting host."

"Mistress..." Cyprine bowed to Nemesis. "We still need energy, the humans we were using as batteries won't give us all the power we need fast enough."

Nemesis smiled. "All we need is one crystal. A very powerful one."

"But we checked them all," Puchirol said. "We can't take them out again once they're returned."

"This mind I'm 'borrowing' tells me there's one last Senshi to check. A child that came from the future. Her soul is almost as strong as that of their leader."

"We could try and get it, but the Senshi are stronger than we thought."

"I wil lure them out," Nemesis said. "The Senshi will come to fight me, and you'll have a chance to attack while they're distracted."

Cyprine nodded. "It is time to introduce our last soldier, then."

------​

Back at the base, the Senshi were about to make an important discovery. "Guys, take a look at this," Mercury said as she typed a few keys in her computer. A building could be seen, surrounded by an energy field like the one that had appeared around the Tokyo Tower. Dozens of teenagers could be seen walking out of it, their eyes glazed and distant. "That's the Mugen Gakuen, a private school which was rumored to have an excellent staff of professors."

"Why are the students... Zombie-like?" Venus asked.

"The enemy seems to be feeding off the energy of those students."

"And I can guss that's where Nemesis is," Moon said. "We should go check it out."

"I'm detecting a large energy signature in the city, in the Koto district," Aiko said. "I can't scan the new creature, but its power levels are close to Sailor Moon's ones."

"Let's go, we can ask them about Naru once we're done beating them."

------​

"General, we detected an incredibly powerful creature in the city," Tomoe explained.

"That's old news," Kino noted.

"Yes, but... Well, it's hard to explain. Just get everyone in the district evacuated."

"It's that strong, huh?"

"Indeed. The Senshi are already on their way to fight it."

------​

As the heroes arrived, they could see a very familiar figure waiting for them. "Naru?"

Nemesis smiled coldly at Moon. "Naru is no more. I am Mistress Nine, the Messiah of Silence."

Teruru was standing next to her, the lab coat gone. The suit she was wearing was close to a Senshi's outfit, but black, and without gloves, tiara or bows. "What's with the cosplay?" Mars snapped.

The green-haired woman smiled. "The Mistress can kill you all, but I didn't want to be left out of the fun."

"Naru, don't do this," Moon said, trying to bring Naru back. "Please, wake up."

Nemesis smiled. "Dark Fear."

The others winced as Moon was trapped by the dark claws. "Get her!" Mars ordered. The Senshi all shot their attacks at her, but Nemesis laughed.

"You are just a bunch of kids, so pathetic." The claws around Moon vanished, and she smiled. "I don't want to kill her, but as for the rest of you..."

The Senshi all tensed, while Moon tried to recover from the crushing attack. "Guys, get Teruru," she said.

"What?"

"I'll take care of Nemesis, she's too strong for you," Moon said.

Mars smiled at her, then turned to the others. "You heard her, let's beat that :red:."

Just then, another woman appeared. This one had long, white hair and was wearing a suit similar to Teruru, only adding a strange blue hat to the setup. "Hey, Teruru, share the fun."

"Feel free to kill as many as you like, Viluy," Nemesis said, "but Moon is mine."

------​

The Mooncats were, meanwhile, observing the battle from a safe distance. "This looks worse than ever," Artemis said.

"Damn it, they have Naru working for them," Shade said. "I can't just stand here and watch."

Luna nodded. "Maybe we'll have to help them."

"Don't worry, they can win this battle."

Diana looked at the green-haired woman who had just appeared. "Puu... I mean, Pluto, what do you mean?"

"This battle is not what it looks like," Pluto said. "But while the enemy thinks the outcome of this battle will help them win this war, it will be just another step towards their destruction."

"Well, I just hope they can get Nemesis back."

"They will," Pluto said, "but not yet."

------​

The fight had complicated a lot for the Senshi. True, they had numbers on their side, but the enemies were strong. While the others fought, Nemesis had shot an energy wave, not only hitting Moon, but also knocking most of her friends out. "That was cheating," Moon snapped as she tried to recover her breath.

Nemesis smiled. "Okay, if you don't like that, let's play with our toys." She summoned her spear and thrust it straight at Moon's chest.

Moon dodged the stab with a back flip, managing to kick the spear off Nemesis' hands. She then summoned her sword, and charged at Nemesis. The Darkness Senshi leapt up, catching her spear in mid-jump, and sank down, aiming for Moon's head.

Moon used her sword to block the attack, then tried another slash. As Nemesis leapt back, she smiled. "I see... You can use that sword of yours after all."

------​

Viluy was, meanwhile, showing off her powers. She didn't fight, instead taking control of cars, TVs and whatever electronic device she could find in the surrounding stores. "This is almost boring."

"Then try fighting me!" Dragon Mercury snapped as he rushed at her.

Viluy teleported out of the way and sent a car rushing at him. "No thanks, I'm not interested."

"She's a real pain in the neck," Mercury said.

Dragon Mercury nodded. "Pinky, can you keep her busy?"

ChibiMoon dodged a toaster and shook her head. "No, she must know about me. I can't focus long enough to get her."

------​

Teruru was, meanwhile, fighting Mars and Earth. The fight was quite even, but Teruru knew her foes were tiring down. "This battle will be your last, Senshi."

Mars looked at the incoming plants and snorted. "Fire Tornado!" The blast burnt all the plants, but Teruru teleported out of the way. "You know, you bark loud, but you can't bite."

I don't need to, Teruru thought to herself. After all, this whole battle was just one big trap, and they had all fallen for it.

------​

ChibiMoon dodged a few keyboards as they fled by and winced. This was annoying, that Viluy girl wasn't giving them any time to attack. If she could focus for a few seconds, she could maybe... She sensed something and turned around, forgetting about Viluy, but her reaction wasn't fast enough. "Mimette..."

Dragon Mercury growled as Mimette got ChibiMoon's heart crystal. "Hey, give that back!"

"Not this time, hero boy," Mimette snapped. The crystal vanished and Mimette chuckled. "Aww, poor little girl, she's as good as dead."

"So are you," Dragon Mercury snapped and tossed a dozen of his trademark bombs at her. "Dragon's Ice Breath!"

"Everyone, retreat!" Nemesis shouted. "We got what we wanted."

As the evil women vanished, Moon immediately noticed what had happened. "ChibiUsa... Damn it..."

"Where's her crystal" Dragon Earth asked.

"Mimette took it and well, it vanished," Mercury said.

"I'm going to..." Moon started.

"No," Dragon Mercury said. "Don't waste your energy, she's mine."

Mimette was still trying to breath inside the cloud, and if she had been able to, she would have laughed. Him, defeat her? That was quite impossible a feat.

Mercury looked at Dragon Mercury and cringed. "Terry..."

Dragon Mercury nodded. "I know what I'm doing, Ami." He looked at his swords, and saw the Saturn sword was shining. "I think."

Moon looked at him, and somehow understood what was happening. "No, it's too risky."

"Rabbit, shut up," Terry said, then turned to see the blue cloud his foe was surrounded by was dimming. "It's now or never. Saturn Star Power!"

Saturn was checking on ChibiMoon, but she looked at the Dragon as she heard that. "He's going to kill himself," she muttered.

Moon turned to Saturn. "Can you heal her?"

Saturn winced. "I... I can't, not completely."

"Then, I'm..." Moon stopped as Dragon Mercury's transformation was complete. "Wow..."

Mercury gasped. ":red:..."

"Okay, Ami's cussing, this must be bad," Venus said. The rest of the Senshi had already recovered, and could see things were looking bad.

"His power is slightly above Moon's level," Mercury said. "But he's still at Star level."

"Using the two planet powers at once, how foolish."

"Or brave."

Mars looked at the Mooncats. "About time you showed up."

Diana looked at ChibiMoon's unconscious form. "Princess..."

Dragon Mercury, or rather Dragon Saturn, hadn't changed much, the only difference was his suit and swords were now a dark violet, like Saturn's skirts. "Time's up, witch."

Mimette was finally able to see, and what she saw, she didn't like. "What the heck..."

"Die. Saturn Skull Spell!"

Saturn was really impressed. The attack was, as the name implied, a giant skull, which appeared right in front of Dragon Saturn, and then shot forwards. Mimette jumped up to dodge it, but the skull corrected its course, hitting her and causing a quite large explosion.

Mimette fell to the ground near Dragon Saturn, but staggered up. "You... :red:ing kid, I'm going to... Kill you for this."

"No, you aren't," the Dragon said as he stabbed both swords through her. He pulled the swords off and turned, as Mimette fell to the ground, her body already vanishing. "Okay, that's done, now let's-" He fell to his knees and grunted. "Damn."

Mercury run to his side as he transformed back to his other Dragon form. "Terry, are you okay?"

"Tired," he said, "but never mind. How's ChibiUsa?"

Saturn winced. "I can't... Well, I may be able to keep her alive for a while if I focus completely in her. But without her crystal, I can't heal her completely."

Moon's eyes watered, but she wiped the tears off and nodded. "Then, let's get that crystal back."

"Moon, we need a plan," Mercury said. "We can't just run straight to them and hope to win."

Moon looked at her in a way that sent a chill down Mercury's spine. "You stay here and make plans if you want, Ami, but I don't have time to play. I'm going to save my daughter."

As Moon summoned her air board and fled away, Mars sighed. "I agree with her. We've made it through without a plan before, and right now, our time is rather limited."

Mercury nodded and summoned her board along with the others, then looked at Dragon Mercury. "Terry?"

"I'm staying. I'll protect these two, in case the witches want to play." At Mercury's stare, he smiled. "Truth is, I'm so tired after that stunt I pulled, I don't think I'll be of any use to you."

Saturn looked at him as the others flew away. "Okay, don't let anything come close to me," she said, "I need to focus in her completely, the slightest distraction may mean her death."

The Dragon nodded and looked on as both girls were surrounded by a thin white aura. Saturn wasn't even blinking anymore, so he was quite alone. Well, not considering the Mooncats.

"What's wrong?"

"You know, what you did was quite foolish," Luna scolded.

"Nothing happened, right?"

"But still-"

"It was just as dangerous as the Planet Attack," Dragon Mercury said.

"Why risk it, though? Moon could have beaten Mimette."

"Moon needs to conserve her energy for whoever the big boss is," Dragon Mercury said. "Because I doubt Nemesis is the boss."
 
Last edited:
Will start uploading episodes of this one as I edit them, instead of waiting to have enough text to reach the character limit.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 9: The Messiah.
Episode 89: Silence Coming.


By Razor Knight
Last update: December 15, 2007

------​

"The civilians near Mugen Gakuen has been evacuated, sir."

"Good. Head there with as many units as you can."

"Sir?"

"Just do it."

As Seia walked out of the room, a figure appeared behind Kino. "Not even the Senshi will be able to stop what's about to happen."

Kino turned to the green-haired Senshi. "You're Sailor Pluto, right? Mako told me about you."

Pluto nodded. "I'm just here to make sure destiny isn't changed."

"So, you like playing god? No offense intended."

"None taken," Pluto said. "And no, I'm no God, I'm just here to make sure she gets the job done."

"I see," Kino said, guessing what she meant. "Are you going to participate in this battle?"

"In a way, I am," Pluto said, then vanished.

"I see Mako was right about her weird exits, too," Kino muttered.

------​

"Another day, another energy dome," Dragon Venus said.

"Cosmic Retaliation!" The dome absorbed the blast, and Moon shrugged. "Worth a try."

"Mercury?" Mars said.

"I'm on it," Mercury said. She started looking at the data and nodded. "The shield isn't unbreakable, but it will need more energy than we have right now to break through."

"Maybe we can help."

Moon turned to see Ail, Ann, Nova and Game Master there. "Guys, this is dangerous, the enemy's too strong."

"What, you want us to cross our arms and let these goons take over the world?" Ann asked.

"I agree," Game Master said. "Besides, Naru is in there, I need to talk to her."

------​

"The Senshi are out there," Cyprine said.

"Teruru, Viluy, stay in here," Nemesis said. "You two, go out there and fight the Senshi. Don't hold back this time."

"What about you?"

"I need one more thing for the portal to open," Nemesis noted. "As soon as you two attack, I'll be able to get it."

"The human army is coming our way," Viluy commented.

"I sensed that," Nemesis said. "Release the daimons."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Even without possessing anything, they will be strong enough to keep their army at bay."

------​

"What's that?"

Mercury looked at the stream of purple, shapeless masses that were coming out of the building. "Daimons."

"Huh? They all look the same."

"That must be how they look without a host," Mercury explained. "That many of them, however, won't be easy to destroy."

Moon prepared to attack, but the daimons passed through the shield, and rushed past them. "What?"

Mercury looked at the swarm. "The army is heading this way. These daimons are going to intercept them."

"We must-"

Moon frowned. "Mako, we can't help them."

"But Usagi-"

"We need to get through this barrier," Moon said. "If we don't, my daughter will die."

Jupiter nodded. "Okay, then let's get- Oh, crap."

Mars also noticed the two new figures floating in front of the dome. "Oh great, look who's back."

Cyprine smiled. "I'm sorry, Senshi, but..."

"... this is as far as you'll go."

Moon glared at the two. "Out of my way!"

Mercury suddenly cursed under her breath. "Something is coming. Something powerful."

"Nemesis?" Moon asked. Right then, a black disc appeared near her. "Hey, what is that thing?"

"Some sort of portal," Mercury said. "Moon, get away from it!"

The warning came a bit too late, however, as a large dark claw flew from inside the portal, grabbing Moon and dragging her in before anyone could react.

"Moon!"

"Mars, calm down," Mercury said.

"I can't, they've got Moon. We have to rescue her!"

"I know, but first we have to find a way to beat those two."

Game Master sighed. "They don't mind us, they just want to fight the Senshi."

"What are you going to do?" Nova asked, then saw Game Master had vanished. "Where is-" She looked inside the shield, and saw Game Master was there, walking into the building.

"We have to help," Ail said.

Nova nodded. "Two against all of us, this will be an easy fight."

------​

In the other side of the building, meanwhile, Uranus and Neptune were looking at the barrier. "Okay, so how are we going to get in there?"

"Leave that to me," Pluto said, "but once inside, you'll be on your own."

"Just how we like it," Neptune said.

"Be careful, the two strongest Death Busters are there, along with their leader."

Uranus nodded. "Do it."

"Time Storm." Pluto shot her attack at the other two, and they vanished, reappearing seconds later inside the dome. "It's done. Good luck."

Uranus saw Pluto vanish and nodded. "We'll need it, I bet."

------​

The Senshi kept on attacking the twins, but nothing really worked. If they tried to go melee, the two phasd out of the way. And if they used their magic, they could catch the blasts and throw them back later. "Okay, Mercury, what's the plan?"

"Thought you didn't need one?" Mercury said.

"Not the time for sarcasm," Mars said. "There must be a way to hit them with our attacks."

Mercury summoned her computer. The Dragons were keeping the two women busy, or trying to, so she knew she had the time she needed to find their weakness. "This may take a while, but Rei-"

"What?"

"I'm sorry I didn't warn her sooner."

"We all make mistakes, Ami. We just need to find a way to rescue her."

------​

"Lieutenant, we've got visual contact with... Well, look at it yourself."

"I'm seeing them," Seia said. "Okay guys, fire at will. We can't let them past this point."

"You heard the boss," the soldier said through the intercom. "Let's get them!"

Seia looked at the incoming wave of creatures. "If anyone had told me, years ago, I would someday have to fight an army of goo monsters, I would've laughed it off." With a shrug, the girl leapt out of the truck she was driving, reaching for her rocket launcher. "Let's see if they can handle my rockets."

------​

Dragon Mercury suddenly looked around as his visor picked on some data. "What the hell..."

"What's wrong?" Luna asked. "Wait, I'm feeling it. A wave of dark energy, and it's near."

"I can't stay here, then."

"What about Saturn?"

"If I let whatever that is get here, Saturn will lose her focus," Dragon Mercury said. "Just stay here, kitties, I'm going to take care of it." Though, he thought as he summoned his board, if that thing got past the other Senshi, he would be in quite a lot of trouble.

------​

Uranus and Neptune were, meanwhile, walking through the corridors of Mugen Gakuen. "I bet they are at the lab."

"That place always gave me a bad feeling when we studied here," Neptune commented.

"You two were the worst students we ever had."

"That was because you couldn't teach us anything new," Uranus said.

Teruru smiled. "It's time for your graduation, girls."

------​

Usagi woke up and looked around. She had lost her transformation, somehow, but where was she? "Naru?"

"Oh, I see you're awake," Nemesis said turning away from the console she was operating. "I hope you will not mind, but I had to take that crystal of yours away. With your talisman and that crystal, I will finally be able to open the portal for my master."

"Naru, don't do this."

"Shut up, human. Naru doesn't exist anymore."

Usagi looked at Nemesis. If she could transform, she would try and heal her, but without the Ginzuishou, she was powerless.

"Naru, stop this."

Nemesis looked at Game Master, who had just walked in. "My, my, the knight in the shiny armor comes to rescue his damsel. I'm sorry, but she's not home anymore."

"That's a lie. I know you're still there, Naru. I can see it in your eyes."

"Ha! Nice joke," Nemesis said.

Game Master walked to her. "Naru, please, don't let it control you. I wouldn't stand losing you."

Nemesis' eyes changed as she winced. "Umino, I... Please, help me."

"Naru?"

"Damn... You :red:ing brat!" Nemesis snapped. "Die!"

Usagi watched helplessly as Nemesis shot a wide darkness blast, knocking Game Master out of the room through one of the walls. "No..."

"You should be happy, Sailor Moon. You're going to get first row seats for the end of the world."

Usagi knew she couldn't give up, even without her powers. There had to be something she could do. For her daughter, for Naru and for the rest of the world, she had to fight. But how?

------​

Neptune fell to her knees. "Damn it, they're too strong..."

"We can't give up. We have to stop Nemesis."

"You'll stop nothing, kids."

"This is your last day."

Neptune stood up slowly and then smiled. "We're not beaten yet. Haruka, can you feel it?"

Uranus nodded. "Yes..." The two talismans appeared in front of them, and they both grabbed them. "Uranus Cosmic Power!

"Neptune Cosmic Power!"

Viluy sighed. "Dumb kids, we'll still destroy them."

"Stop bluffing," Uranus snapped as the transformation ended. She pointed her sword at Viluy and smiled. "Uranus Wind Sword..."

Neptune put held mirror facing the two women. "Neptune Submarine..."

"Blast!"

"Reflection!"

A strong wind came from the sword, as a large wave of water shot from the mirror. Both attacks merged and hit their targets, sending them crashing to the end of the corridor.

"This can't be happening," Teruru said.

Uranus turned around. "You always underestimated your students. That was your main flaw." Villuy and Teruru both vanished, and the two rogues walked away.

------​

Dragon Mercury reached the army, and saw the monsters were quite under control. "Oh, I see I'm not needed here."

Seia looked up at him. "You could help us blast these things."

"I'll go to the source," the Dragon said. "I may be needed there."

"What were you doing back there, anyway?"

"Was out of power, but I'm not going to let that stop me from helping my friends."

------​

Outside the building, the Senshi were still trying to defeat the twins. Even Nova's power hadn't worked, as they could reflect even her psi attacks back.

"Got anything, Ami?"

"I'm waiting for someone," Mercury said.

"For who?"

Mercury summoned her communicator. "So?"

"The chances of success of that plan are up to sixty percent. If Moon was there, the chances would be way higher."

Mars heard Aiko's words and nodded. "I'll take the risk. What's the plan?"

"The Planet Attack may overload their weapons."

"But who will take the attacks?" Jupiter asked.

"I will," Mars said. "We need to get Moon out of there, and they're not the only ones in danger."

"If it goes wrong-"

"I know, but we don't have time to worry about that," Mars said, then spoke out loud. "Guys, let's show them our Planet Attack."

Cyprine laughed. "No matter what attack..."

"... You use, we can reflect it."

Just as they had once in the past, the Senshi all shot their attacks, focusing on Mars. Mars almost fell to her knees as the barrage hit, but then reached her hands out and smiled. "Star Planet Attack!"

Cyprine and Puchirol both used their staves to absorb the massive energy beam. "See, it was useless."

Mars fell to her knees, but laughed as the staves started cracking with energy. "Was it? I don't think so."

Puchirol's eyes widened as she looked at her staff. "Sister, this looks bad!"

"Impossible, they didn't have the power to-"

"We got them," Mercury said as the staves exploded.

"They're still alive," Venus noted.

Jupiter and Earth both rushed forwards, tackling the two women and slamming them into the force field. The energy of the force field back-lashed at them, sending them flying back, but the two villains took the worst of it.

"Nice move," Dragon Earth noted.

"Thanks, I try," Earth said as she stood up.

"This isn't..."

"... the end, we will..."

"... destroy you."

"Mars Fire Tornado!" Without their staves, the blast hit the two women dead on, pushing them against the forcefield. They both screamed as the energy from it run through their bodies, then the two fell to the ground, vanishing before they landed. "About time they shut up."

"Mars, are you okay?" Mercury asked.

"No," Mars said. "I feel like my body's about to shut down. But we don't have Saturn around, and we need to get Moon before-"

"Someone mentioned Saturn?"

"Terry, what are you doing here?" Mars said, then coughed some blood. ":red:."

Dragon Mercury sighed. "I knew you girls would need me."

Mercury's eyes widened "Wait, you can't use that again."

"Ami, don't worry."

"Of course I'll worry! You could die, you know, and-" Mercury stopped as the Dragon kissed her. "Please, don't do it."

Dragon Mercury sighed. "I have to. Saturn Star Power!"

Mars smiled at the Dragon as he used his healing skills on her. "Thanks for the help."

"What happened to you anyway?"

"The Planet Attack."

"Oh."

Mercury turned to the force field. "Now that we got rid of those two, I'll find a way to get through this."

------​

Uranus and Neptune were about to enter the lab, when someone blocked their path. "You?"

Game Master stood there, his face showing he was in a world of pain after Nemesis' attack. "You two? Why are you here?"

"We have to stop Nemesis. No matter what it takes," Neptune said.

"So, you're going to kill her," Game Master said. "I'm sorry, but that means you're not getting past this point."

Uranus produced her sword and glared at him. "We're stronger than before, kid. I could kill you in one shot."

"You'll be dead before that," Game Master snapped.

Suddenly, the ground started shaking. "No!"

Neptune nodded. "It's too late."

Game Master smiled. "Too bad, but I'm sure whatever is coming, Moon can handle it."

------​

Usagi saw the two crystals vanish, and the computer shot a large darkness beam up. "What happened?"

"The two crystals were consumed," Nemesis said. "They were the fuel I needed to bring my master to this world."

"No..." Usagi fell to her knees. She was aware her own Ginzuishou was gone, but what she really cared about was ChibiUsa's heart crystal. "No, it can't be gone."

"Cheer up, human. You'll be joining your friends in the afterlife."

"Wind Blast!"

"Submarine Reflection!"

Nemesis turned as the attacks hit. "You two, how did you get in here?"

"No way, she didn't even flinch," Neptune said.

"Die!" Nemesis snapped and shot a large darkness wave, knocking both rogues out of the room.

------​

Mercury looked at the large portal that had appeared on top of the building. "I can sense a powerful entity coming through that," she said.

"Let me guess, stronger than Moon?"

"Tenfold," Mercury said with a grimace.

Dragon Mercury fell to his knees. "Nice, some Metallia wannabe comes to visit and I'm out of juice."

Mars staggered up. "No matter how strong that thing is, we can't give up."

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 9: The Messiah.
Episode 90: The Pharaoh.


By Razor Knight
Last update: December 15, 2007

------​

Seia looked around and couldn't help but wonder about this enemy. How could something that was causing trouble to the Senshi have such weak underlings? It only took a tank shell or a rocket to take care of several of these monsters.

"Lieutenant, the creatures seem to be retreating."

Seia listened to the radio and smiled. "Let's chase them to the source. The Senshi may need our help."

"We've got some areal support coming," the soldier added.

"The more, the merrier."

------​

Luna frowned as Pluto appeared near them. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to help the Princess," Pluto said. "I fear her crystal won't be returned to her in time."

"No..."

Pluto smiled at Diana. "Don't worry, I knew this would happen, but I also know how to save her." She pointed her staff at Saturn and ChibiMoon and her face turned cold for a second. "Time Splitter!"

Artemis saw the two surrounded by a strange bubble, which wobbled and shook like some sort of dense liquid. "What did you do?"

"That bubble will make time inside run slower than outside, so they have more time now."

"Is it safe."

"Yes, of course, but my energy isn't infinite. Now it's all a matter of how long it takes them to defeat our enemy."

------​

"Naru, you have to stop this now!"

"Stop what? My master is coming, and there's no way you can defeat him."

"I will not give up," Usagi said, "there's always a way to win."

Uranus and Neptune limped back into the room. "You're so idealistic, so naive..."

Game Master turned to the two. "But she's beaten all the enemies she's faced, without losing her humanity. Maybe you two could learn from her."

"What's the use?" Neptune snapped, "it's over now. They won."

"No!" Usagi said. "I won't let them win."

Nemesis laughed. "Funny, girl, but you can't even transform, how will you defeat me?"

Usagi smiled. She had felt the Ginzuishou's energy for minutes, but at first she thought it was her mind playing tricks on her. But now she was sure it was real. "There's where you're wrong. I can transform." She reached out her hand, and the Ginzuishou appeared in it. "Moon Cosmic Power!"

Nemesis took a few steps back. "No, that can't be! The crystal was destroyed!"

"It can't be destroyed," Moon said. "Now it's time for you to leave my friend's body. Moon Sword Stardust!"

"What! No, you cannot destroy me, I am the Messiah, I am..." A black mist oozed out of Nemesis' body, and she fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Let's get out of here," Moon said to the others.

Uranus and Neptune followed Moon, flanked by Game Master. "Just in case you two try something funny," he said.

------​

Outside, the Senshi could see the swarm of daimons heading for them. "Great, now they come back to fight."

However, the creatures all leapt up into the air before reaching them, going for the portal. "Okay, that's strange."

"They're feeding energy to the creature," Mercury said. "Here it comes!"

Everyone looked up, and they could see a large, horned head with red eyes, shrouded in darkness. "Red eyes, how original," Mars muttered.

"Maybe we should try the Planet Attack again?" Lilith said.

"No, it won't work," Mercury explained. "That monster is too powerful, even for Moon. Maybe even for Pluto."

A swarm of missiles suddenly hit the large creature, causing a large explosion. As the smoke cleared, however, they could see the monster wasn't even scratched. "Seia?"

Seia leapt out of her truck. "I see this one's a big enemy."

Mercury nodded. "I don't think anything can stop that thing."

"I could call the U.S. guys and have them send a couple dozen nukes through the portal," Seia suggested.

Right then, the force field vanished. "What happened?" Venus asked.

"The energy that was used by that shield is being absorbed by the creature."

Moon and the others came walking out of the building. "Guys, I got Naru."

"What about the heart crystal?"

Moon concentrated and a crystal appeared. "Here... But we need to take care of that ugly thing."

"Not even the Planet Attack will kill that thing."

Dragon Mercury looked around. "But... That portal, is it magical?"

Nemesis woke up and noticed Game Master was holding her. "Uh... Hi Umino."

Game Master smiled. "Welcome back."

Mars looked up. "This is stupid. There has to be a way to destroy him!"

Nemesis winced. "My head... Guys, I know how. I was still around when my body was taken over. That portal is fueled by a large mana battery underneath the building, and the computer I was using is what created it. If we destroy the computer, then the portal will close."

"We better hurry," Mercury said looking up. The monster now had most of its torso outside, as well as one arm which ended in dangerous-looking claws. It was easily as large as the Tokyo Tower, and was now looking down at them. "I think he noticed us."

Moon looked up, then walked to the building. "Let's just blast that place sky-high."

"What about property damage?" Seia asked.

"Think about the damage that can do to the city," Dragon Mercury said pointing up at the monster.

"Pharaoh Ninety," Nemesis said. "That's how the creature that took over me called it."

"Dumb name," Lilith mused.

Moon looked at the building and sighed. "I need to go save my daughter, so let's make this quick. Moon Cosmic Retaliation!"

The beam tore into the building's front wall, and for a second, nothing happened. Then the whole building lit up with light, and exploded.

As the Senshi and their allies picked themselves off the ground, they could all notice something. "Look, the portal, it's closing!"

The monster had realized that too, and was trying to crawl back in. However, the portal closed a little too fast, and its head fell down into the flaming wreckage that had once been a building.

"Ouch." Ann said. "That's one nasty way to go."

"And here I thought using swords to behead monsters was fun," Dragon Mercury mused.

The head vanished seconds after the portal closed completely. Moon looked around and sighed. "This war's done, now let's go to my daughter."

"Let me save you time."

Moon looked at Pluto. "You could've helped."

"I did. You'll understand once we get there."

Nova smiled as Pluto and the Senshi vanished. "Okay, that's one more war we survive."

Seia looked at the Mugen Gakuen wreckage and smiled "I guess. They're getting better at fighting aliens."

"Not all aliens are evil," Ail noted.

"I know, just ninety-nine percent of them."

------​

As they appeared near the bubble, Moon gasped. "What is that?"

"A time disruption bubble," Mercury said before Pluto could explain it herself. She had her visor down and was looking at the numbers. "It's slowing down time for them."

"I had to use that," Pluto explained. "If time had been running normally for them, ChibiUsa would have died one hour ago."

"Can you turn it off?"

"Sure," Pluto said and snapped her fingers. As she did, the bubble vanished.

Moon walked to ChibiMoon and put the crystal near her. As it was absorbed, she noticed Saturn blinking. "Are you okay?"

Saturn shook her head and then grimaced. "I'm tired... Is she okay?"

ChibiMoon opened her eyes and sighed. "Define okay? I'm alive, if that's what you're asking."

Moon hugged her. "I was scared, for a while. I thought I wouldn't get you back."

Dragon Earth smiled, then turned to Pluto. "Thanks for the help."

"They aren't needed. I wouldn't let anything happen to her."

"You let her crystal be taken," Venus noted.

"Mina, stop," Moon said. She then looked at Uranus and Neptune. "What about you two?"

As Moon stood up, the two rogues knelt before her. "You taught us an important lesson today. You didn't give up, even when everything seemed lost. And in the end, you were right, there were no sacrifices."

"So, we owe you, and your group, an apology," Neptune added.

Moon looked at the others, who gave her a collective nod. "Apology accepted."

"That was almost too easy," Neptune said.

Mars smiled. "Well, as far as the grudges we could have against you go, I think Hotaru did all the fighting that was needed to make up for them."

Uranus nodded. "From now on, we won't be fighting as a separate force."

Moon frowned. "You know, I don't know much about you two. You're less sociable than even Hotaru used to be."

"You can always change that," Pluto said, "as long as you want to."

------​

"We will arrive our destination in a few days."

"Good. Do you think that planet will have some energy?"

"My Queen, that planet is full of energy for us to gather. You won't be disappointed."

"Excellent. This planet shall fall just like many did before." She could almost taste their energy, and it was making it hard for her to wait.

------​

Falling, that was the last sensation she remembered. As she opened her eyes, she could see a light on top of her. "Where am I?"

"Oh, you are awake. Welcome to our humble lair."

The woman sat on the bed she was lying on, and looked at the man. A human, old and not too nice to the eyes. "Who are you?"

"I need you to answer that first."

"I am Kaorinite, one of the Death Busters."

"Good, no amnesia from the fall. I must say I'm surprised you survived at all, but it put you out of action for a while."

"A while?"

"Yes. Unfortunately for you, the Sailor Senshi have defeated the one you worked for."

"What?"

"Calm down," a female voice said from the shadows. "We're giving you a new chance, but it will require much patience and planning, something your allies didn't show."

"Okay, I'll ask again, who are you?"

"You may call me A, and the man here's Onara. There's a third member in our group but he's doing some research elsewhere. See, we all have our reasons to hate the Senshi, and we're all working towards their destruction."

Destroying the ones that killed her allies? The ones that ruined the perfect world she had been promised? It was an offer she couldn't pass. "I'm in, then."

"Good," Onara said. "I will show you the rest of our lair, and I am sure you will soon become a useful member of our alliance."

"A dark alliance, huh?" Kaorinite mused.

A smiled. Dark Alliance? That sounded like a good name for their group.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 10: Cirque Du Lune.
Episode 91: Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This.


By Razor Knight
Last update: December 17, 2007

------​

"Usagi, wake up."

Usagi opened her eyes and stirred. "Luna? What's up?"

ChibiUsa was already up and dressed for school. "You were up all night studying again, weren't you?"

Usagi shrugged as she changed into her school uniform. For some reason, she couldn't remember what she had been doing the night before. "Maybe I was," she finally said with a smile.

------​

"So, how are things going at school?"

Usagi smiled. "I'm doing okay, mom."

"Just okay?" ChibiUsa mused.

"And what about your other hobbies?" Ikuko asked. "You know, saving the world and all that."

Usagi gasped. "You know?"

"Of course she knows," Luna said walking in. "She's known for a while."

Usagi blinked in confusion. "Uh... Well, I'm keeping the world in one piece."

"That's good," Ikuko said with a smile. "My daughter, the heroine."

Usagi smiled back, but something seemed amiss. Her mother knew about her? Why hadn't she told her before? But nonetheless, it was something she'd always wanted, to stop hiding her secret life from her parents.

------​

As she walked to her classroom, she noticed everyone looking at her. She finally reached her destination, and as she entered she noticed the others were all there. "Wonder why everyone was looking at me?" she commented.

"Like you don't know you're the most popular girl here," Naru mused.

"I am?"

"Huh? Usagi, are you sick or something?"

"No, it's just-" Usagi sighed. For some reason, she felt out of place, but why? Everything was perfect, she shouldn't be worrying over it.

------​

Several minutes later, the class had started, and Usagi had put her mind out of her earlier worries. Maybe finding out her mother knew about her Senshi self had shocked her more than she would admit, or maybe...

"Tsukino, I'm talking to you."

"Huh? Oh, sorry, miss Haruna."

"Never mind. Congratulations, you did really well."

Usagi looked at the paper. Last week's math test, and she'd gotten a perfect score. "Oh my."

"Another hundred percent?" Ami mused. "Usagi, keep that up and you'll get the same grades as me."

"And to think she used to be a slacker," Terry added. "Well done, Rabbit"

Life couldn't be more perfect, could it? But for some reason, a part of her mind kept telling her this was wrong. How could it be wrong?

------​

After school, she'd gone to the base, along with some of her friends. She had been surprised when Terry asked for a battle, but had agreed anyways. "So, with or without powers?"

"Without powers, of course," Terry said. "You would beat me down before I could blink with your powers on."

Something about those words rang another alarm in Usagi's mind, but she ignored it. "Okay, let's fight."

As usual, Terry attacked first, as Usagi was used to dodging and waiting. He went for a straight to the face, which Usagi dodged. Next he tried a side kick, which she leapt away from. His third move was a jab which was also dodged easily.

"Oh, come on. Fight for real, will you?"

"I am," Usagi said.

"Right," Terry muttered and went for a series of punches, which were all dodged by Usagi. He finished it, or tried to, with a knife hand to her neck, which was blocked. Before he could react, Usagi punched his guts with her free hand, then kicked him down. "Ow. Now that's better."

Usagi put a foot on Terry's chest and smiled. "Giving up?"

Terry grabbed her leg and forced it back as he stood up. "Not yet."

Usagi lost balance, but instead of falling, she rolled back, coming up quickly and jumping at Terry. Her foot hit his midsection, sending him flying back. "Wow."

Terry staggered up. "Damn. That Cosmic thing did make you stronger."

Usagi smiled. "I suppose."

"You win, Rabbit," he said with a wink.

Aiko appeared in the middle of the platform. "There's unknown alien creatures attacking Juuban."

"Gee, guess peace didn't last," Usagi muttered. "Let's go."

------​

As they reached their goal, Moon couldn't help but laugh. "What are those things?"

"They look like... Candies," Venus said.

"Jelly beans," Mercury corrected. She was scanning them with her visor. "They are made of all the ingredients normal jelly beans have."

"How can they be walking, then?" Jupiter asked.

"Magic, most likely," Dragon Earth said. "Let's get them before they wreck our city!"

Moon fled in along with the others, and saw everyone shooting their magic at the monsters. However, the candy creatures absorbed the attacks, and shot large blobs of jelly at them. Moon dodged, but as she turned back, she saw everyone had been pinned to the wall of a building. "Damn."

"Moon, they're more dangerous than we thought. Don't let their attacks hit you!"

Moon nodded at Mercury then turned around. "You evil creatures, even if you look delicious, you're full of evil. I'm going to destroy you!"

The monsters growled and shot at her. Moon dodged all the blobs, reaching out her hands as she called upon her magic. "Moon Cosmic Retaliation!"

As the beam hit, it caused a large explosion that wiped out all of the monsters. The Senshi got free of their bindings and rushed to Moon. "Hey, that was awesome," Venus said.

"I wish I could trade my luck for her skills," Lilith added.

"That was really great, Usagi," Mars said.

Moon frowned. Again, the alarms were ringing. What was going on? "Well, Rei, maybe you could learn a thing or two from me," she countered.

"Sure could," Mars admitted.

Hold on, what the heck? "What's the matter, out of sarcasm, magma breath?"

"Huh? What do you mean, Usagi?"

------​

Usagi woke up and looked around. She felt tired, but also... What the hell was that dream about? Her mother knowing about her identity, she could take. Getting a perfect score, well, someday she just might. Beating Terry in a fight? Not likely, but still, accidents happened. Destroying monsters the other couldn't even touch? She could do that, sometimes. But Rei not getting into an insult war with her? That had to be a dream.

So, now she was awake, which was good. Looking around the room, she could see ChibiUsa and the two Mooncats were still sleeping, and had faint green auras around them. "What is going on?"

------​

Elsewhere, a woman in a black gown was sitting in a throne, looking at a child-like creature who was kneeling before her. "What is the problem?"

"Your Highness, one of the humans woke up."

"What? How could she escape our dream spell?"

"We don't know yet."

"Send the Nightmares in," the woman said.

The creature nodded. "She will be back to sleep in no time, my Queen."

------​

Usagi gave up trying to wake the younger girl up. "Damn... They won't wake up. What can I do?" She summoned her communicator and tried to call the others, but got no answer. She was about to give up, when Aiko's face appeared in her screen. "Aiko, what's going on?"

"Good thing one of you is up," Aiko said. "Everyone in the city is asleep, but the state isn't natural."

"Damn it... Everyone?"

Aiko nodded. "And from what I can see through some satellites, the situation is the same worldwide. You may possibly be the only human awake right now."

"What about you?"

"I'm a computer. I don't sleep," Aiko said. "But how did you break the spell?"

"I... Well, something happened in the dream that seemed extremely out of place, and my mind did the rest. But I have no idea how to wake the others up. Maybe if Ami was here, she would..."

Aiko smiled. "You forget who created me?"

Usagi nodded. "Any ideas?"

"Well..." Aiko seemed deep in thought for a few seconds, which most likely meant she was running several simulations through her artificial brain, then she sighed. "I can't think of a logical solution to this, so maybe you could try the unknown."

"Huh?" Usagi felt as lost as when Ami started talking in scientific language.

"Your crystal is an unknown factor. Maybe it even helped you out of your dream," Aiko said, "but that wouldn't explain why your daughter isn't up too. Maybe you could use it to wake the others up?"

Usagi smiled. "Worth a try. Okay, I'll do that, you keep me informed if anything changes."

"Will do," Aiko said, then added "you just get mom and dad out of this mess."

Usagi nodded and cut the link, then turned to the sleeping girl. "I really hope this works." She summoned her crystal and looked at it. "Please, Ginzuishou, let me get my daughter out of that spell."

------​

She blinked and looked around. Where was she? The crystal-like buildings and the palace looming over everything gave her an answer. "Crystal Tokyo."

She saw ChibiUsa walking to her. Maybe if she could see what the dream was about, she could find a way to break the spell. She willed herself invisible (something she didn't even know she could in this dream world,) and followed the girl.

ChibiUsa was holding a paper, and Usagi could see it was a school test, with a perfect note. Well, she was similar to her, that she could see. Also, she saw all the boys (and some of the girls) turned to stare at her as she walked by. Usagi wasn't sure this was because of the dream, as it had been with her, or because it was just how things were in the future.

Suddenly, a monster showed up. A creature that stood taller than the buildings around it, with many yellow eyes, a mouth full of sharp fangs, and countless arms that ended in claw-like appendages. It looked like something Usagi wouldn't like to find anywhere.

"You ugly creature, blocking my way and causing trouble in my city! I will not forgive you!"

Usagi smiled as ChibiUsa transformed. Yep, just like in her own dream. The pink Senshi leapt at the monster, who tried to split her in half with her claws. The girl used said claws as platforms as she jumped up, higher than the monster itself was. She then summoned her sword and smiled victoriously. "Crescent Moon Slash!"

The crescent-shaped energy wave shot down, blasting through the creature and vaporizing it instantly. ChibiMoon summoned her air board as she fell, and descended slowly.

Okay, time to act, Usagi thought. "Well done, ChibiUsa."

ChibiMoon looked at her, confused. "Usagi? But how, this is Crystal Tokyo, you can't-" Then it sank. "This is a dream, isn't it?"

------​

Usagi blinked and looked down. ChibiUsa was staring back at her, still not conscious of what had happened. "Welcome back."

"What the heck was all that about?" ChibiUsa asked.

"Something put the whole planet to sleep," Usagi explained, "but I was able to wake up because my dream got too perfect to be true."

"Too perfect?"

"Rei was being extremely nice to me," Usagi said.

ChibiUsa smiled. "I see. So, what do we do now?"

"The Ginzuishou can get us into other people's dreams. If we wake up Ami and Terry, we can-" She stopped and summoned her communicator. "Yes?"

"Usagi, get out of there," Aiko said. "I sense a large group of creatures heading for your house."

"Let's fight them outside," ChibiUsa said. "Maybe we can get them to tell us who is behind this attack."

Usagi nodded and they both run out of the house, transforming as they did. When they looked at what was waiting for them, they both froze. "What?"

"Weird, the one time everyone else is sleeping, you're the ones awake."

The creature, whatever it was, looked like Mars. The other Senshi were also there, even clones of themselves. "Okay, we got out of dreamland just to get into nightmare land," ChibiMoon muttered. "I don't care if they look like my friends."

Moon nodded. "We have to defeat them."

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 10: Cirque Du Lune.
Episode 92: I Dream Of Chibi.


By Razor Knight
Last update: December 18, 2007

------​

As soon as the fight started, ChibiMoon could tell they were almost ignoring her. She had only five creatures (the ones that looked like the Dragons) fighting her, while the rest had gone for Moon.

She leapt back, dodging a slash from Dragon Mercury's clone, then ducked just in time to avoid being beheaded by Dragon Sun. Despite being copies, these guys were strong. Almost too strong for her.

Then it hit her. That was why they were mostly attacking Moon. They could sense her power was higher, way higher. ChibiMoon growled and summoned her sword. Dragon Mercury charged at her, and she blocked his slash, punching him in the gut. However, the other Dragons took the chance to strike, and she got a kick to the head, along with a slash to the arm.

This couldn't be, these copies were too strong! But she realized something, even with the power difference, Moon was probably in a way worse mess than she was. She couldn't give up, but she couldn't really fight with the handicap, either.

Moon back-flipped, summoning her sword as she sensed something coming from the side. She slashed out, turning to look as the creature was split in half. It was Saturn's clone, but as soon as she slashed it, the creature turned into a shapeless cloud, which then vanished.


It was then that she saw it. ChibiMoon, the real one, was shining. The creatures also noticed that and stopped, unsure of who to attack first. Moon took the chance to show them who the real danger was. "Moon Cosmic Retaliation!"

The blast destroyed most of the clones, leaving only Mars, Mercury and her own clone. But also, she was almost out of power now, and knew she couldn't shoot another blast like that without resting for a while.

ChibiMoon's transformation had ended by now, and the now Star level Senshi was looking at the Dragons. "I don't know where you goons came from, but I'm sending you right back. Moon Pink Sugar Heart ...!"

The Dragons laughed as they saw her summoning a pink heart. "Oh come on, what is that going to do to us?"

"Destroy you," ChibiMoon simply said, then completed her attack. "Smash!" The heart shot forwards, crashing through two of the Dragons before exploding. The explosion took out the rest of her foes, except for Dragon Earth. She rushed to where Moon was and smiled. "Guess we're almost done here."

Moon nodded, then looked at the four. Her clone wasn't moving, but the other three were walking to them, along with Dragon Earth. "Take care of Mamoru," she said, "I'll get the others."

"Are you sure?"

"I can handle it... But I could never hurt someone who looks like him."

ChibiMoon nodded and turned to the Dragon. "I can't fight you directly, and I'm almost out of power."

"So, are you giving up?"

ChibiMoon smiled. "Not a chance. Fetch!" She tossed her sword at him like a spear, and he leapt aside to dodge it. That was just what she was planning, however, as she took the chance to leap up and right over his head. "Pink Sugar Heart Smash!" As she landed, the creature vanished, and she picked up her sword. She looked at the other fight and saw things weren't easy for Moon. Even out of power, she still wanted to help, but how?

Moon dodged aside as Mercury's icy beam shot by. She then leapt over Mars as she tried to kick her down. It was then that she heard a battle cry, and saw ChibiMoon heading straight for her clone. "Wait!"

The clone laughed. "You're too weak for me, kid. Moonlight Flash!"

The blast knocked ChibiMoon back, and straight to the other two clones. Mars looked down in shock as the pink Senshi flew by, and saw a very deep cut on her side. "Damn it..."

Moon looked at ChibiMoon as Mars' clone vanished. "Are you okay?"

ChibiMoon gave her a thumbs up, then winced. "Not really, but that went just as planned."

Moon sighed and turned to the battle. Only two clones left, and possibly the most dangerous. "Okay, now..." If Mercury was here, she would surely have a plan. But she had to go with what she had, and while she wasn't as smart as Ami outside the battlefield, some of her makeshift strategies had worked fine in the past.

The clone smiled. "Don't daydream. Cosmic Retaliation!"

Moon chuckled. "Thanks." The crystal in her brooch shone with light as she slashed at the attack with her sword. The beam was reflected and hit Mercury, blasting her apart. "As for you..." Moon took her tiara off and smiled. "Moon Tiara Bomb!"

The clone prepared to stop the attack with her sword, but looked at the tiara confusedly as it bounced off and fell to the ground. She looked at Moon again, but saw she wasn't there anymore. "Where..." She felt an intense pain through her chest and screamed.

Moon was standing right behind her, she had used her tiara's fake attack as a distraction. "For a clone, you're really stupid. I never had an attack like that."

"I... See..." the clone said and vanished.

ChibiMoon had managed to stand up. "That was a fun battle, wasn't it?"

Moon nodded. "But we need to get the others. I'm out of power, and if more of these things come, we'll be in troubles."

------​

"My Queen, I'm sorry to inform you that the Nightmares failed."

"What? Impossible! Those were elite soldiers."

"The two humans are seemingly powerful. From what I can gather, they're called the Senshi. There's also others that woke up, and apparently they all belong to that group."

"Senshi?" The queen winced. She had seen some of them before, in other planets she attacked, and in their dreams, their power was immense. However, they weren't any danger to her while caught in her spell, but outside... "Very well, you and the other Fairies will go next. Don't let those two live!"

"But their energy..."

"I can't risk letting them live," the Queen said. "Destroy them all."

The creature bowed. "As you wish, Dream Queen Vadianne."

------​

As Moon and ChibiMoon walked to Ami's house, they found another group was also awake. "How did you..."

Uranus shrugged. "I don't know, really. I started feeling things were out of place, then Pluto woke me up."

"Same here," Neptune said.

"And I was at the Time Gate when they attacked." Pluto said, "I simply didn't fall asleep at all."

"So, the others are still out?" Neptune asked.

Moon nodded. "We were going to wake them up, then we're going to beat whoever is behind all this mess."

------​

Mercury scanned the creature and smiled. "I got it, guys. This monster is only weak to ice."

"Okay, Ami, get it!"

The Ice Senshi looked at the creature. A giant, hulking blob with many eyes. She shot her attack at it and turned away without even bothering, she knew the creature was as good as dead.

It finally clicked, all of it. Her parents were back together, everyone at school liked her, even Usagi understood what she was talking about even when she used words she knew were too complicated for her friend, and now this monster, which apparently only she could destroy? "This is just a dream."

"Sure is."

"Usagi?" Mercury said. "What's going on?"

"Wake up and I'll tell you."

------​

Mercury heard the explanation from Moon and Pluto, then thought about it all for a minute. "Well, there's two chances. They're either somewhere on Earth, or they are in orbit."

Moon smiled. "Start looking for them, meanwhile we'll wake up the others."

"I'll help," Pluto said.

"We'll stay with Mercury, just in case those things come back," Neptune noted.

------​

Rei couldn't be happier if she tried. Her parents were together, and she was living a somewhat normal life, even though the enemies kept on coming. But she could handle them, as she had shown in the last battle.

She saw someone walking to her and smiled. "Hi, Usagi." Usagi looked worried about something, but what?

"Rei, you have to wake up."

"Huh? Wake up?"

"Come on. You know this is a dream. You should know it by now."

Rei let the words sink in and winced. Yes, this was the life she had always wanted, but she knew reality wasn't like this. Her mother was dead, her father didn't even remember she existed, and... "No!"

------​

Moon looked at Rei as she woke up. "Rei, are you okay?"

Rei's eyes teared up. "No. Who did this, Usagi?"

"We still don't know. Rei, what-"

"You wouldn't understand," Rei said. "I thought I had buried those illusions long ago, but now I see they're still there. They'll never leave."

Moon nodded. She had seen a bit of the dream, and knew it seemed even more impossible than her own. And she could tell it was a lot more painful for her to wake out of it. "I'm sorry, I wish I could help you with that, but-"

"You took me out of there," Rei said, "and I thank you for that. But now, let's kill the bastards."

------​

While Moon was waking up her friends, ChibiMoon was doing the same with the other Senshi. So far, the dreams were either strange, or painful, for those dreaming them. Terry hadn't been too happy about his dream, where his mother was still alive, and she didn't need psychic powers to know he was all too eager to make some heads roll for that.

Right now, she was inside the dream of her last assigned Senshi, Saturn. The dream itself was quite the norm, Hotaru's mother was alive, her father wasn't so focused in his experiments, and she was able to fight closer to Moon's level. That was strange, all the other Senshi she'd took out of dreamland were always the strongest thing around, but apparently, Hotaru didn't care about being the best as much as the others did.

She had noticed, however, that her dream self and Hotaru were quite friendly. And after the battle she had witnessed, she saw them both heading for the mall. Did Hotaru, deep inside, have a crush on her? And more important to her, did she want Hotaru to have a crush on her? Her own mind answered that, and she wasn't sure she liked the answer.

Hotaru was talking to ChibiUsa, but stopped as she saw someone else appear. Another ChibiUsa? "Huh? What's going on?"

"Hotaru, this... I know you're enjoying this, but it's all a dream."

Hotaru looked at the dream ChibiUsa and then at the real one. "I see."

------​

As Hotaru woke up, she saw ChibiMoon looking at her. "About what you saw in there-"

"Don't worry about that now."

"On the other hand, I got to see my mother, even if it was just a dream. It hurts to know she's gone, but..."

ChibiMoon sighed as Hotaru's eyes watered. "Everyone fell into the same kind of dream. Apparently, whoever put us all to sleep, wanted us to never want to wake up."

"Who else was affected?"

"The rest of the world," ChibiMoon said. "By now, we should have all the Senshi up and ready to fight." She sensed something and summoned her communicator. "Mom?"

"I'm done here, what about you?"

"Yes, also done."

"Okay, gather at the base, Ami is trying to locate the enemy."

ChibiMoon put the comm away and looked at Hotaru, or rather Saturn. "I wanted to ask you something."

"About the dream?" Saturn asked. At ChibiMoon's nod, she sighed. "It was strange, I didn't realize I felt anything like that." She decided to be blunt. "I hope it won't freak you out."

The pink-haired Senshi smiled. "Crystal Tokyo's a lot more open about that than the people of this era. And I-"

"Don't say anything," Saturn said. "We need to take care of this mess, and also, I don't think we know each other enough yet."

ChibiMoon nodded. "You're right." She then added. "And don't worry, I won't tell anyone about that dream."

Saturn smiled. "Yes, that would be good."

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 10: Cirque Du Lune.
Episode 93: Dream Queen.


By Razor Knight
Last update: December 19, 2007

------​

"I've found them," Mercury said. "They're in a... Floating castle."

"Say what?"

"Aiko, can you show us the castle?" Dragon Mercury asked.

"Sure," Aiko said, and an image of a castle was shown in the base's main screen, floating near the Moon. "It seems to have an artificial atmosphere, similar to the Earth."

Mercury typed a few more commands into her computer and sighed. "And just as I suspected, there's a reason they're keeping everyone asleep. They are draining the energy generated by dreams."

"So it's yet another energy-thirsty overlord," Dragon Venus said.

Dragon Mercury snorted as the screen zoomed in to show a throne inside the castle, where a black-haired woman was sitting. "An overlady, as I thought."

"Dad, that's not even a word."

ChibiMoon looked at Pluto. "Okay, so all we have to do is go up there and beat that woman. You can get us there, right?"

"Yes," Pluto said, "is everyone ready?"

"Wait. I've just detected several creatures teleporting to Juuban."

Jupiter snorted. "Saving us time?"

"These creatures aren't powerful," Aiko said, "unless they're somehow masking their power."

"Considering the other creatures they sent, I don't think we will have any trouble with them," Moon noted.

"Let's hurry and get all this done with. I want to go back to sleep," Venus complained.

"You were all asleep for well over thirty-eight hours," Aiko said.

"That's Minako for you," Dragon Venus said.

"What do you mean?" Venus snapped, shooting a glare his way.

"Uh... Nothing."

------​

The three creatures waiting for the Senshi looked like children, but the way they looked at the Senshi made clear they weren't there to play games. "About time you appeared, Senshi."

"Aiko was right," Mercury said, "they're as weak as a youma."

"We may be, but we're not the ones doing the fighting here. Nightmares, come forth!"

Moon saw the shadow-like figures and nodded. "Just like the ones that attacked me and ChibiMoon."

Pluto blocked the others with her staff. "There's no time for this."

"But we have to fight them," Moon said.

"No, you have to fight their leader," Pluto said. "Don't worry about me, I'm not going to hold back this time."

"But how do we get there?" Venus asked.

"I can solve that. Time Storm!"

As the other Senshi vanished, the three creatures looked at Pluto. "Overconfidence is going to be your death," the only female one said.

Pluto let her full power flare, and smiled as the creatures and their summons backed away. "I've foreseen the result of this battle," she said, "and trust me, I will enjoy this."

------​

The others had, meanwhile, reached the floating castle. They were in a large room, and could see a woman sitting in a throne, looking at them dismissively. "You're the one draining innocents. Stop this now!"

The woman stood up and laughed. "Pitiful creature, you're in no condition to demand. I am Dream Queen Vadianne and I will not leave your world until it's fully drained."

"Why are you doing that anyway?" Jupiter asked.

"Simple, I need the energy of dreams to be eternally young and powerful. And nothing, not even a group like yours, will stop me."

"Moon Cosmic Retaliation!"

Vadianne let the attack hit and smiled. "Nice, the girl can fight."

The other Senshi shot their attacks at Vadianne, but she again didn't move as they hit. "No :red:, that woman's strong."

"And she's very evil," Mercury added.

"But looks damn good," Earth said. "What? She does."

Vadianne laughed. "I could just put you all back to sleep now, but I am bored after the long journey from the last planet I drained. So, please, do keep on with your useless attacks."

"Useless?" Moon groaned. "What an ego."

"What will we do?" Lilith asked. It wasn't as if luck would even be a factor in this one fight.

Mercury looked past the woman. "Guys, do you see that thing behind her?"

Dragon Mercury nodded. "Some sort of black orb."

"Maybe we should use the Planet Attack?" Dragon Sun suggested.

"Not going to work. That woman is as strong as the Death Busters' boss." She looked at the black orb behind Vadianne and frowned. "Maybe-"

As the Ice Senshi started typing in her computer, Vadianne looked at the others. "So, you kids are giving up already?"

Dragon Mercury smiled and summoned his swords. "How about some melee combat?"

Vadianne chuckled. "Be my guest."

"Don't mind if I am."

------​

Pluto looked around and nodded. "Okay, I'm done here."

"What are you?" the three creatures asked in unison.

"That isn't your concern," Pluto said. "Now leave, before I change my mind and send you to meet your 'Nightmares.'"

The creatures didn't have to be told twice, and they all teleported away. Pluto smiled and looked up to the sky. "Now it's time to join the real battle."

------​

Dragon Mercury panted as he leapt away from Vadianne, tired after attacking the woman relentlessly for several minutes. ":red:... This isn't working."

"You kids are foolish. There's no way you can defeat me."

Mercury smiled as she finally found what she had been looking for. "We can destroy her, but not directly."

Moon looked at the evil queen, then past her, and nodded. "I got it. Moon Cosmic Retaliation!"

Vadianne smiled as another attack headed her way, then gasped as it missed her. "No!"

The attack was, however, stopped by three figures appearing right in front of the orb. "You will not touch this, humans."

"Those three again?" Mars muttered.

"What I'm wondering is, if she isn't even scratched by our attacks, why doesn't she attack us?"

Vadianne laughed as she heard Venus' question. "Don't ask the question when you know you won't like the answer."

Moon saw Vadiane's three soldiers turning into energy orbs, and they all fused with the queen's body. "Uh... Ami?"

Mercury was already scanning the evil woman. "Her energy levels are rising."

Vadianne's gown was covered by a chest plate, gauntlets and metal knee covers, all as black as the gown itself. "You wanted me to attack you, and I like keeping my guests happy."

Venus winced. "Sorry I asked."

The Dream Queen shot an energy wave, knocking most of the group out. Moon, ChibiMoon and Saturn were the only ones who resisted the blast, but Saturn was leaning on her glaive for support.

"This looks bad," ChibiMoon said as she noticed the others were all out. She also noticed Pluto was gone, but where to?

Vadianne started charging up energy and laughed. "It's the end for you, Senshi."

ChibiMoon glared at the woman. "No, I won't give up."

Moon smiled. "True. We can still win."

Vadianne winced as she saw them summoning some kind of white discs. "Die!"

The second energy wave was stopped by Pluto, who created a shield around her staff. "Moon, do it now!"

Moon nodded and her disc lit up. "Double Moon..."

ChibiMoon mimicked her mother's move. "... Disc..."

"Spiral!" Both shouted in unison. The discs shot forwards, spiraling around each other, and leaving a trail of energy behind. They didn't hit Vadianne, however, instead correcting their course in the last second, and sailing past her.

"What? No! You stupid..." Vadiane's words were interrupted as the discs entered the black orb, which exploded in a thousand pieces. A large stream of energy shot from the orb, and into the Earth. "No... My precious... Dream energy, I..." As she spoke, Vadiane's body changed, and she aged countless years in a matter of seconds. "You stupid Senshi, I'm going to destroy you!"

Moon looked at ChibiMoon, who nodded at her. "I won't forgive someone who uses the dreams of people to hurt them."

Pluto smiled and stepped back as the two Moons started shining. "Do your best."

"Double Moon..." Moon shouted as she summoned her sword.

"Crescent..." Once again, ChibiMoon mimicked her move.

Both rushed forwards, gliding past Vadianne and slicing deep wounds in her sides. They then stopped as their swords started glowing, and both brought the swords down in a wide arc. "Slash!"

The result was an X-shaped blast, which cut through Vadianne's body effortlessly. The evil queen didn't even have time to scream before her body exploded.

"We did it," Moon said.

Pluto nodded, then saw the castle started shaking. "It's time to get out of here." The Senshi all vanished just as the castle started collapsing.

------​

Mars woke up and looked around. She saw the others stirring, but her surroundings had changed since she lost consciousness. "Huh? How did we get here?"

"I brought you here," Pluto said. "And don't worry, Vadiane's dead, the Double Moon did it."

"Double Moon?" Mars mused.

"A fitting name for them," Dragon Venus admitted.

"I take it you will all want to go to sleep now?" Pluto asked.

"No thanks, we've had enough of dreams and nightmares for the day," Moon said.

"People around the world started waking up as soon as the castle was gone," Aiko said as she appeared near Moon.

Saturn looked at the two Moons. "That last attack they used..."

"What about it?" ChibiMoon asked.

"You had three times Moon's power. Both of you."

"Wish I could've seen it," Dragon Mercury said.

"Go stand in the arena, we need a target," ChibiMoon joked.

"... I think I'll pass."

"This is one weird group," Uranus commented.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to them eventually," Saturn noted.

"Yes, you will be one of us soon," Dragon Venus said and cackled.

"... Why is he cackling?" Neptune asked.

"He's been around his insane girlfriend for too long," Saturn explained.

"Hey!" Venus snapped.

"I was just stating the facts," Saturn muttered.

Pluto shook her head as she returned to the Time Gate. She was sure she would never get used to their antics, no matter how many centuries she spent with them.

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 10: Cirque Du Lune.
Episode 94: Mirror, Mirror.


By Razor Knight
Last update: December 26, 2007

------​

ChibiUsa didn't know how many hours it was since she started walking around this place. But where was she? If she hadn't seen Vadianne die, she would think she was in another magic-induced dream. But no, this was just a white void, and the only sound she could hear was her own breath and her footsteps.

"Help me."

She looked around, trying to find the source of the voice. "Who are you?"

She was expecting many things to come out of the void surrounding her, but a horned pegasus wasn't one of them. Nonetheless, that was the creature that appeared, suddenly, besides her. "I am Helios. I come from a distant planet, a world that was taken over by the evil Neherenia."

"Where are we?"

"In your dreams," Helios explained.

"So you're... Inside my mind?"

"I need a place to hide," Helios said. "Neherenia's soldiers are in this world, and they will try to find me."

"I see... My friends aren't going to believe this."

"Please, don't tell anyone about me. Not yet."

------​

ChibiUsa woke up and looked around. Usagi was fast asleep, as were Luna and Diana. Had it all been just a dream? No, somehow, she could still feel Helios' presence. But she would do as he asked, she would keep the secret. After all, she was already keeping a good dozen secrets from the others.

But, next time she saw Helios, she would have to ask him a lot of things about this Neherenia person.

------​

A group of figures were looking at the city from atop a building, apparently searching for something. "So, this is the place."

"Zirconia says she can feel Helios in this city."

"Can't we just blast the whole city sky-high?"

"You girls, always so impulsive. We can't do that, not until we free our Queen from Helios' curse."

"What a nuisance."

"Don't worry, Zirconia gave us some targets. Apparently, there's beings with an outstanding power in this city, and Helios could be hiding in any of them."

"Good, I'll get the first target."

"Do it, Hawk Eye. And if you find Helios in her, kill her. Our dear king won't be able to escape in time if that happens.

------​

"School isn't so different from my era."

Usagi turned to the younger girl and smiled. "Good to hear."

"Of course, what they call history in my time, didn't still happen here."

"You're improving." The two turned to see Mamoru kneeling on the ground, as Terry walked to him.

"I'm not interested in becoming a first class swordsman," Mamoru said as he walked out of the arena, "but I want to learn how to use a sword, in case I need to protect Usagi."

Usagi smiled at that. "You're almost as good as me."

Terry laughed. "I only taught you the basics, Rabbit."

Aiko appeared near them, her ghastly self quickly becoming solid. "Maybe I'll be a better challenge for you. You programmed all you know about sword fighting in me."

"Not all I know," Terry said. "A master always has a few hidden techniques."

Usagi looked at Hotaru. "What's the matter?"

Hotaru gave her a neutral stare in return. "Why?"

"You are quite silent today."

"I'm just worried about a couple things. Nothing serious."

"Maybe a fight will take your mind off your troubles," ChibiUsa said.

"That's a possibility," Hotaru said. Though if what the pink-head was suggesting was fighting her, it wouldn't really help.

"Maybe she's worried about her boyfriend," Terry said. "He's not a sociable guy."

"He's not my boyfriend."

Terry smiled. "Then who is?"

"None of your business," Hotaru said, "we may be friends, but you sometimes are a bit too nosy for your own good."

ChibiUsa winced and clutched her head. "Ow."

"ChibiUsa?"

"I- I'm fine," the girl said. She had felt something in her mind, like a jolt of electricity. Maybe Helios was fooling around?

'They're here.'

"They're here." ChibiUsa repeated.

"What?"

"No time to explain," the girl said. "Something is attacking."

Aiko looked at the screen and nodded. "Unknown entities detected at Osa-P."

"Let's go, then," Usagi said. "Naru may need our help."

------​

Naru's day had been quite normal, until a green-haired man walked into the store. "Excuse me, sir, may I help you?"

"Oh, of course you can," the man said and snapped his fingers. A small creature that looked like a cross between a mole and a clown appeared next to him.

":red:, I knew it," Naru muttered. "I don't know what you're up to, but you'll have to catch me first!"

The mole-clown looked up at the man as Naru rushed out of the store. The man growled at it. "Who cares, don't let her escape!"

Once outside, Naru looked around to make sure nobody was looking. "Okay, it's time to start the show."

"I couldn't agree more," the man said and snapped his fingers. "One..." A flat stone wall appeared just behind Naru. "Two..." he snapped his fingers again, and some metal tapes shot from the wall, pinning the girl to the wall.

"Hey, what's the idea, you pervert!" Naru snapped.

"Three," the man simply said, and a small orb came out of Naru's forehead. It floated there for a few seconds, then turned into a large mirror.

"What is that..." Naru said looking at the mirror. The crystal gave no reflection whatsoever, staying an opaque white.

The man didn't bother answering. He just pushed his head into the mirror as if it was made of air. As he did that, Naru screamed in pain. "Let's see..." The man looked back out. "A pity, he isn't here."

"That-" Naru said, her eyes turning pitch black.

"Oh, I do know how that feels," the man said, "but don't worry, you'll die in a few seconds." The mole-clown was ready to jump at Naru's throat, but a bright disc split it in half before it could move. "What? Who did that?"

Moon glared at the man. "Let her go, now!"

"I'm not scared, human," the man said.

"Death Ripple!"

The attack hit, but the man didn't seem to notice. "I'll be nice this once and let you go," he warned.

"Not without Naru," Moon snapped.

"I see." the man said and snapped his fingers. Several orbs of light shot out from the ground and hit the Senshi, knocking them all down. "I'll stop being nice, then."

ChibiMoon could barely move, she knew the others, even Moon, were in a quite bad shape too, after that attack. "We have to defeat him."

'Let me help you. Search in your mind and you will find the way to defeat them.'

The girl smiled at the voice in her mind. She closed her eyes, noting the others were all struggling to get up and fight. For a few seconds, she felt nothing, then she felt the pain in her body vanish.

Moon noticed her daughter shining. "Cosmic already?"

Saturn was scanning her with her one-eyed visor and shook her head. "No, it's something else. I can't read her power."

ChibiMoon smiled as the light dimmed. "Hawk Eye, I'm not going to let you hurt my friends. Moon Dream Wave!"

The man was knocked back several meters by the resulting energy wave. "What? It's impossible!"

ChibiMoon didn't answer, just charged up for another attack. "Moon-"

"Sorry, show's been cancelled," Hawk Eye snapped, then vanished.

"Coward."

"Okay, you've got some explaining to do, girl," Dragon Mercury said.

"I..."

'We will need their help to defeat our enemies.'

ChibiMoon nodded. "I'll explain all I know, but it would be better if we gathered everyone."

Moon looked at Naru. "Are you okay?"

"No," Naru said. "I feel... Well, I don't know how to describe it, really. That man, he looked right into my mind."

Dragon Mercury groaned. "That is hectic. Hana explained me why she didn't use her mind-reading abilities, or even her telepathic ones. Well, she's spoken to me that way a few times in the past..."

Saturn nodded. "To be looking at your dreams and thoughts like that, without your consentment... It's like mental rape."

"You don't know half of it," Naru said. "So, ChibiUsa, whatever you know about these bastards, I'd love to hear it."

ChibiMoon smiled. "Don't worry, I'll tell you all I know." And, she guessed, Helios would fill in the blanks.

------​

"So, all you know is this Helios is using your mind as a hideout, and someone named Neherenia wants him for some reason he's not telling you?"

ChibiUsa nodded. "That sums it up."

"Hard to believe, we can't see Helios," Mako said.

Rei looked at ChibiUsa. "I wouldn't believe it, but I can sense two different auras in her. One of them is hard to spot, but it's there."

'I can't show myself to them in this plane,' Helios said in ChibiUsa's mind, 'if I did, Neherenia would detect me.'

"Helios says he can't show himself, or his enemies could find out where he is."

"I don't like this," Mako said. "If he want us to trust him, he needs to give us more than words."

"If this Helios creature is against the ones that attacked me," Naru said, "I'm not doubting his words."

"But..."

"Shut up," Naru snapped at Mako. "You don't know how it feels. And I hope we can stop them before anyone else has to go through the same thing."

"What I don't understand," Usagi said, "is why did he choose you?"

ChibiUsa waited for a few seconds, hearing the voice only she could hear, and nodded. "It's because of, he said, my hidden powers. And that my mind's power is stronger than that of normal humans."

"Her psi powers," Hotaru said. "Of course, I have those too, but my endurance isn't the best."

ChibiUsa winced. "Damn. He said Naru's case won't be the only one, and that we should be careful from now on. The enemy knows he's hiding in one of us, but can't identify us."

"You should stay out of the battles," Usagi said. "If they figure out you're the one, they'll attack you."

The younger girl smiled humorlessly. "You say that like I have an option. You saw it today, our Senshi powers don't cause any damage to the real enemy, even though they can destroy their underlings."

"What was that you used, then?"

"Helios' power. The only thing that can destroy Neherenia and her soldiers is the power of dreams. Our attacks won't work, like it or not."

'I need to rest, because in my last battle against Neherenia, I barely escaped alive. But once I've recovered, I'll try and pass this power to the others.'

"Good news," ChibiUsa said. "Helios needs time to recover from his last battle, then he may be able to give you all a part of his power."

"What I don't get," Karin said, "is why he can't fight them directly."

ChibiUsa smiled as she 'heard' Helios' answer. "Because the power of our hearts is stronger than even his own."

Naru looked at her suspiciously. "Isn't his presence there painful? I mean, that man only took a look at my mind and I couldn't bear the pain."

"He's not poking around my mind," ChibiUsa said. "He just responds to my questions, and stays out of my conscious mind."

"I'll search my computer's database on information about Neherenia or Helios," Ami said. "Maybe I'll find something that will tell us where they're attacking from."

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 10: Cirque Du Lune.
Episode 95: Eye Of The Tiger.


By Razor Knight
Last update: December 28, 2007

------​

Once again, Usagi was trying to beat her mightiest foe. And as expected, she wasn't having any luck with it.

"Move, you damn thing!"

"She's too stubborn for her own good," Ami sighed as she watched her friend play the Sailor V game for the tenth time that day.

"What happened to the Sailor Moon game?" Chie asked.

"It was too easy," Umino said walking to them, "I heard something about a sequel being released this year, but it isn't here yet."

"It can't be better than my game," Minako said, then looked around to make sure nobody had heard that.

Usagi groaned as she lost her last life. "Hey, five thousand points, I'm getting better at this."

"Keep that up and you may someday beat my score," Ami said.

Umino chuckled. "Maybe you should try Pac-Man."

"Huh? Why?"

"Well, Terry said you're good at dodging, and Pac-Man's all about dodging ghosts and eating stuff."

Usagi beamed. "Oh, I gotta try that."

------​

Elsewhere in the room, ChibiUsa was playing Bubble Bobble, and unlike her mother, she was giving the game a nice beating.

"Mind if I join in?"

She looked away from the screen for a second and smiled at Hotaru. "Not at all."

After a minute of playing, Hotaru smiled. "Wonder how someone with the gaming skills of Usagi spawned someone this good at games."

"Back home, we have versions of most of these games," ChibiUsa commented.

"Interesting," Hotaru said as her character was killed. "I'm not that good at them. Maybe you could teach me how you do it."

"Sure, just look at what I do and you'll learn in no time."

------​

Usagi's friends were quite surprised. "Chie, are you helping her?"

"No," Chie said.

"Yay, level five!"

"And she's lost no lives yet," Ami noted.

"I've created a monster," Umino mused. "Though I doubt she gets as far as I did. I once got to level five."

"Only?" The others asked in unison.

"Yes, but that was after getting to the hundredth level twice in a row."

"Oh," Ami turned her attention to the game. Really, Usagi had a natural skill for this one game, it was good to see the blond wasn't terrible at all games after all.

"Hey, isn't that ChibiUsa?"

Ami turned to the arcade Chie was pointing at and nodded. "Yeah, hard not to see her with that hairdo and her hair color."

"Wonder what Hotaru's doing playing with her?"

"Maybe she just wants to learn how to play," Ami said.

"Or maybe..." Chie started, but didn't complete the phrase.

Usagi looked at them, then at ChibiUsa and Hotaru, then shrugged. "I don't think either of them is into girls."

"Let's wait until we know for sure," Ami said, "besides, we've got bigger problems to worry about, like how to fight those villains."

"I still don't get how they're stronger than us," Usagi said, not taking her eyes off the screen. She was now about to reach the seventh level, and still had to lose a single life.

"I'm not sure they are," Ami said. "When I tried to scan them, I got no numbers off them."

"Which means?" Minako asked.

"Either they've got no power, they're masking it, or their power is something we've never seen before."

"Weird," Minako muttered. She then looked at the clock in one of the walls and groaned. "Darn, I forgot I'm supposed to meet Brad in twenty minutes."

"Have fun," Usagi said, still not looking away from the screen.

------​

ChibiUsa had been playing for about half an hour, when she suddenly winced and shook her head. Hotaru looked at her worried. "Are you okay?"

"The enemy, they're going to attack," ChibiUsa said.

Hotaru nodded. "Let's tell the others."

Umino saw them walking his way and smiled. "Hi there. Having fun?"

"The mirror freaks are back," ChibiUsa said.

"Maybe you should go there and deal with them," Chie said. "After all, the rest of us can't harm them."

Usagi turned away from the game. "Even if that's true, I'm not going to sit and wait."

"Let's go, then."

------​

Minako was heading to Brad's house when she noticed someone following her. A red-haired man in a business suit, and whenever she turned back he looked away and tried to look harmless. After several minutes of this, she finally decided to face her stalker. "Okay, who the heck are you and why are you following me?"

The man smiled. "I'm Tiger Eye, and if you don't know why I'm here, let me explain it in three easy steps. One... Two... Three." He snapped his fingers as he said that, and Minako ended tied up, like Naru had. "Now, let's see..."

As the man looked into the mirror, Minako winced in pain, then screamed. "You... Bastard..."

"Tsk, tsk, don't worry, the pain will be over soon."

"Your pain, on the other hand, is going to start soon."

Tiger Eye looked at the man hovering the scene and smirked. "One of those useless Senshi."

"I'll show you useless. Demon Sword!"

Minako looked up despite the pain, and saw Dragon Venus using a spell he had only used once in the past. He leapt off his board and straight at the man's head, but Tiger Eye simply grabbed the blade before it could hit him. The spell's energy backlashed and exploded, sending Dragon venus flying away.

"So pitiful..."

"Let my friend go, you freak!"

Tiger Eye turned and saw the pink-haired Senshi, along with a half dozen others, flying to him. He didn't care about the others, but that pink-haired one was the one who had defeated Hawk Eye. "You want her, you'll have to fight me. Lemures!"

A half dozen monkey-like creatures appeared, all dressed as jugglers. They started throwing knives at the Senshi, who split to fight them.

'Focus on Tiger Eye, if you beat him, the other creatures will flee.'

ChibiMoon gave a mental nod to Helios, then rushed at Tiger Eye. "Let's make this quick. Moon Dream Wave!"

Tiger Eye leapt over the attack, landing right next to ChibiMoon. He kicked her side, knocking her down to the ground, then summoned a knife and smirked. "This will be fun."

ChibiMoon stood up, summoning her own sword. "Sure will."

Saturn and the others had dealt with the monsters quite easily, she was wondering why they bothered summoning them at all. As she looked on, she saw ChibiMoon and the evil man fight. Tiger Eye's weapon was quite smaller, but his speed and strength made him visibly superior to his opponent.

She grimaced as she saw the man kick her friend's sword away, then he moved to stab her. Saturn vanished, appearing right in between the two fighters, and taking the hit for her. "Ugh..."

ChibiMoon winced as she saw Saturn fall to her knees. "Hotaru!"

"Get him," Saturn said.

"Moon Dream Wave!"

Tiger Eye's mind hadn't still figured how that purple-skirted Senshi had stopped his attack, but the pain from the energy blast did register quite clearly. As he landed, he noticed his Lemures were gone, and the Senshi were all ready to fight. "Show's over for the day, kids. We'll meet again."

ChibiMoon turned to look at Saturn, who was still clutching her stomach. "Hotaru, are you okay?"

"I'll live," Saturn said with a smile. "Healing powers are really useful."

"Thanks for the help," ChibiMoon said smiling back.

Minako came crawling to them. "That was fun."

Dragon Venus rushed in, looked around and fumed. "Damn, I wanted to get that freak for hurting Mina."

"Don't worry, you'll have another chance," ChibiMoon said. "I don't think they'll stop until they find Helios, or we kill them."

Mercury had her visor down and scowled. "It's annoying, I can't get a reading on them, or in that attack ChibiMoon uses."

"You'll figure that out sooner or later," Moon noted.

The Ice Senshi nodded. "I'll have to ask Terry to help."

------​

That night, ChibiUsa found herself in dreamland again. This time, however, she was wearing her Senshi outfit. "Helios?"

"I'm here," the pegasus said as he appeared near her. "Did you need to speak to me?"

"Sure do. Listen, I don't think I can keep on fighting those enemies on my own. If not for Hotaru, I could've been hurt badly today."

"I sense doubt in you when you think or speak of her. Why?"

"I feel we could be more than friends, but I'll have to go back home someday, and I won't find the same person I left here."

Helios thought about it for a while, and nodded in understanding. "I see... You're not from this time, if what I saw in your mind is true. Love is strong, it can conquer even time itself."

"I'm still not sure about it, but thanks for listening. About our enemy..."

"I have almost rested enough to give one of your friends my power."

"Mom is the strongest of the group right now."

"Then she will soon become a stronger warrior."

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 10: Cirque Du Lune.
Episode 96: Dude Looks Like A Lady.


By Razor Knight
Last update: January 1st, 2008

------​

"This stinks. We came here to socialize, and everyone else is off elsewhere."

Terry looked at Haruka and smiled. "That happens once in a while."

"I suppose there isn't anything to do here besides training?" Kage asked.

"You could try beating me at any of my built-in games," Aiko suggested.

"She's a wicked Tetris player," Terry noted. "However," he said turining to the two ex-rogues, "I would like to know what your fighting style is like, your weaknesses and strengths."

"You saw us fight before."

"Never in a situation where I could get all the data I wanted," Terry said.

"Point taken," Haruka said. "So, we fight against who?"

"Each other?"

"Hmmm... That would be an interesting battle," Michiru admitted.

As the two walked to the arena, Kage snorted. "I doubt you'll get any good data off that."

"Why?"

"I watched them train for months, and the more they trained- Well, you'll have to see it yourself."

Just then, Usagi walked out of the elevator. "Guys, have you seen ChibiUsa today?"

"No," Terry said while looking at the data the computer was displaying. "Haven't seen a lot of the girls, either, after school."

"Yeah, everyone's busy," Usagi muttered. "Guess I'll go see if Mamoru's doing anything today."

"You gotta be kidding me," Terry said, turning back to the fight.

Kage saw Usagi leave, then nodded as he also turned to the battle. "They can keep that up for hours."

Aiko looked at the two fighters and cocked her head to the side. "It's strange. They're either extremely skilled, or they can read each other's movement flawlessly."

Haruka and Michiru both stopped as they heard that. "A bit of both, I guess," the blond said.

"I see... So you're stronger when fighting together, because you can cover each other's weaknesses," Terry said. "You must have a strong bond if you can read each other's movement that well."

Haruka looked at Michiru and smiled. "We sure do."

"Still, that doesn't give me any good data. I guess we'll have to try something different." He walked to the platform then looked at Kage. "You want to play too?"

"Nah, I'll just watch while they kick your :red:."

Terry smiled. "Okay, now who's first?"

"Me," Haruka said as she rushed at Terry.

------​

Mamoru opened the door and smiled. "Hi, Usagi."

Usagi gave him a quick kiss on the lips and smiled back. "Are you busy?"

"Not right now," Mamoru said. "I'm done studying for the day."

"Same here," Usagi said. "Maybe we could go out for a walk?"

"Sounds great."

As they both walked into the elevator, Usagi realized something. "Where's Karin?"

"Out with Mako, as usual," Mamoru said. "My little sister grew up and I didn't realize it."

Usagi giggled. "So, where do you want to go?"

"There's a new restaurant a few blocks from here," Mamoru said. "And I've already checked, it's not a Dark Kingdom scheme." That caused Usagi to giggle again.

------​

"Our Queen isn't happy about our lack of sucess."

"I know that, Hawk Eye, but what can we really do about it? It's Zirconia who's giving us false leads."

"You shouldn't blame her, Tiger Eye. After all, not even Neherenia herself can tell where the Pegasus is hiding."

A new figure walked to the others, she had blue hair and eyes, and matching uniform.

"Fish Eye, you're going to try next. Be careful of that pink-haired Senshi, though."

"I can manage," Fish Eye said. She looked at the picture Hawk Eye gave her and smiled. "Yay, it's a guy. And he looks hot, too."

Hawk Eye smiled. "That's why you're taking care of this. I know your preferences."

"Wish me luck, then," Fish Eye said and vanished.

------​

Terry knelt on the ground and panted. "You two are good, no kidding."

"We were trained by someone who's been around for eons," Haruka noted. "I would think she had plenty of time to hone her combat skills."

"Their skill is higher than anyone in the group," Aiko said, "but that may be due to them being Cosmic level."

Michiru looked at Aiko. "I don't care how many times they explain it to me. You're still the strangest thing I've seen so far."

"Doesn't she go out?" Kage said. "I mean, now that she's got a body, she's not limited to this base, is she?"

"I am," Aiko said. "While I can act human enough, my real eyes are in this base. Outside I would be technically blind and deaf."

"I see," Kage said. "Sorry I asked."

"I don't really mind," Aiko said. "I have enough friends here."

"She's got a point," Haruka mused.

------​

Usagi and Mamoru were walking through the park, enjoying the moment. And Mamoru had to admit, even though Usagi could be childish sometimes, he enjoyed being with her. In fact, her child-like spirit was what he liked about her the most.

The blonde derailed his train of thoughts as she pulled him behind a tree. "Usako, what's up?"

"Shh. Look, over there..."

Mamoru looked in the direction Usagi pointed and gasped. "Those are ChibiUsa and-"

"Hotaru," Usagi completed.

"They're just talking," Mamoru noted.

"It's a date," Usagi said.

"How can you tell?" Mamoru muttered.

"I know about these things," Usagi said.

"Still, we shouldn't be eavesdroping."

"Oh, come on, they won't notice."

"Odango..."

"Fine, fine, let's go, then."

"Sorry, but you're not going anywhere."

"Who are you?" Usagi snapped at the girl.

"Name's Fish Eye, bimbo. But you're not my target, so-" She shot
an energy blast, knocking Usagi back several meters. "Now, hottie,
let's get started."

Mamoru frowned. "You hurt my girlfriend, so I'm not going to
hold back you, even if you're a girl."

Fish Eye giggled. "Darling, who ever said I'm a girl?" Before Mamoru could answer, Fish Eye started snapping 'her' fingers. "One... Two... Three. There we go, I like my guys tied up."

"Moon Cosmic Retaliation!"

Fish Eye turned to the side as Moon rushed in. "Funny, that tickles." He then looked into Mamoru's mirror and groaned. "Aww, no Helios in there. A pity."

Right then, ChibiMoon and Saturn rushed in. "Hey, leave him alone!"

Fish Eye stuck his tongue at the girls. "Make me."

"Moon Dream Wave!"

Fish Eye leapt over the blast, tackling ChibiMoon into a wall. He then clutched her neck and rose her off the ground. Saturn tried to knock him away, but Fish Eye used his free hand to blast Saturn down. "You little girl, are a real pest to us."

Moon panicked. She had to help her daughter, but how? Her powers didn't affect these aliens, and she could guess if she tried to go melee she wouldnt' suceed.

'If she dies, I'll die as well. Fortunately, I have enough energy to help you save her.'

Moon was confused for a second, then realized who the voice should be. "Helios?"

'Yes. Now look into your soul, find the new power I'm giving you.'

The blond Senshi closed her eyes for an instant, and could indeed feel the change. As she opened them, she knew exactly what to do. "Moon Dream Barrage!"

Fish Eye picked himself off the ground, not really sure what hit him, but knowing it hurt a damn lot. "Who the-"

"Moon Dream Wave!" ChibiMoon's attack knocked the villain further back, and she glared at her before vanishing. ChibiMoon rushed to Saturn's side. "Hotaru, are you okay?"

Saturn staggered up. "I'll live."

Moon smiled. "This power, it doesn't feel stronger than my Cosmic Senshi power, but still does its job."

Mamoru groaned as he walked to them. "Sorry, odango, but I'm going home. I don't feel quite lively after that."

Moon nodded. "Let's go, I'll take you home." She then turned to ChibiMoon, and looked at her. "ChibiUsa, I think we need to talk."

ChibiMoon looked at Saturn, then back at Moon. "What do you mean?"

Saturn smiled. "She knows." Moon nodded at that.

"Uh- But we aren't... We just-"

Moon smiled. "We'll talk later." She summoned her board and fled away, Mamoru standing right behind her on the airboard.

Saturn watched her go then shook her head. "She's too smart when it comes to some things." She then looked at ChibiMoon. "We aren't what, though?"

ChibiMoon blinked at her, then blushed. "We aren't... Dating. Right?"

"Depends on what you call dating. Terry and Ami seem to spend their dates fixing up computers or studying."

"You're winging it."

"I guess I am." She took a few seconds to think about it, then nodded. "As far as I'm concerned, this was the best date I ever had. Then again, it was the first one I ever had."

"Then we'll have to make the next one better," ChibiMoon said, then blushed as she hadn't meant to say that out loud.

Saturn smiled. "Now there's a plan."

------​

Half an hour later, Usagi was back at the base, and had just finished telling the others about Fish Eye, and her new power.

"It's strange," Aiko said, "but I didn't detect them."

"Every alien race out there's got radar shielding of some kind," Kage said. "Or at least, that's what I guess."

"At least now there's two of us that can fight them," Haruka said. "I hate feeling so useless."

"Don't worry, I'm sure Helios will give us all that power. If one of these villains is hard to fight, I don't know what could happen if all three attacked together."

"But- From what you told us, it's like they know ChibiMoon is the one that has Helios in her mind. Why don't they attack her directly?"

"They don't know who she is," Terry guessed.

"Yes, but-" Haruka pressed, "why don't they just use that mirror trick on her?"

"Maybe they can't do that while you're transformed," Aiko guessed, "that would explain why they don't just do the same with everyone else."

"That's a good theory," Usagi said, "it's worth a try, whenever they attack again."

Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 10: Cirque Du Lune.
Episode 97: Lights Up.


By Razor Knight
Last update: January 3, 2008

------​

As ChibiUsa walked into her room, she saw Usagi waiting for her. "... Hi."

"Had fun?"

"You're not mad at me, are you?"

"I'm a bit upset, yes, because you didn't tell me about it."

"Today was our first date, if you can call it that."

"So, you like her?"

ChibiUsa nodded "I told her today."

"I never thought you would fall for a girl," Usagi mused. "But I was wondering- What will happen when you get back to your time?"

"I don't know, but a friend told me that love can survive through time." She frowned. "But then again, Hotaru's future self was never too friendly towards me. She mostly seemed to avoid me."

"Maybe because she knew you had to come back here to fall in love with her," Usagi guessed.

"So, you're okay with it?"

Usagi smiled. "Yeah. Hotaru's a nice girl, she can sometimes be a bit of a psycho, but that's nothing to worry about."

"Interesting, this might well be the first case of a Moon Princess falling in love with a girl."

ChibiUsa looked down at Luna and Diana as they walked out from under the bed. "Diana, eavesdropping isn't nice."

"I'm supposed to be your guardian," Diana said, "and you never tell me where you're going."

"So what, I don't think Luna follows Usagi around all the time."

Luna sighed. "That's true, but we help when we can. We came here to tell you something about Helios, but we, well- we fell asleep waiting."

"What about him?"

"I remember a legend from Silver Millenium, about the dream mirrors. They were said to be windows to your mind, and that whoever controlled them would be able to control the mirror's owner."

"And?"

"Maybe they don't want to kill Helios," Usagi guessed. "Maybe they want to control him."

"Huh? But why?"

'Because I'm the only creature in the Universe with a power that opposes Neherenia's nightmare creatures. If she gets my power, she will be invincible.'

"Nevermind," ChibiUsa said. "Helios just answered that. She wants his power as it's the only power that can defeat her."

"Yeah, that would explain why they're looking for him," Luna said.

------​

"What are you kids fighting this time?"

"I'm not too sure," Mako admitted. "Some aliens that can look into our minds and are looking for another alien who's hiding in ChibiUsa's mind."

"Sounds normal for your group," Kino mused.

"The bad part is, our powers don't work against these aliens. Only Moon and ChibiMoon can fight them."

"But they don't attack normal humans, right?"

"No, they know who we are. Also, they don't cause much property damage."

"And we weren't able to detect them," Kino added. "We got word of their existance through some rumors one of my soldiers heard."

"Yeah, we can't track them down either. It's annoying."

"If you need help, call us."

Mako nodded. "Sure will. Maybe we could nuke them once we find their base," she joked.

------​

Next day, after school, Usagi walked through the city, with no true destination in mind. Luna followed her for a while, silently, but she finally decided to speak up.

"Are you really okay?"

"Hmm? About what?"

"You know what I mean. Are you worried their relationship won't work?"

"No, it's not that, it's just... Is she really the first?"

"What do you-" Luna started, then nodded. "I've never heard of a Serenity that had a romance, or married, with someone of the same gender."

"I'm actually worried about Hotaru. Does she realize after she's gone, she'll have to wait for her for a thousand years?"

"I'm willing to make that sacrifice."

Usagi looked ahead and saw Hotaru was leaning on a wall, arms crossed. "Hi."

"Hello, Usagi," Hotaru said. "I was looking for you."

"If it's about you and ChibiUsa, don't worry, I don't have a problem with it."

"But I do."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm worried about how we'll tell it to the others."

"They'll be surprised you have a romantic side, the other part won't really matter compared to that," Luna said.

"Luna..." Usagi muttered.

Hotaru laughed. "Guess she's got a point." Just then, they heard an explosion, and they saw a column of smoke nearby. "Duty calls."

Usagi nodded. "Let's go."

------​

Minutes earlier, Rei was at the fire reading room, trying to find answers to some questions she still had about the enemy. She focused in her questions, and as she opened her eyes, saw several images in the fire. A circus tent, a white-haired young man, and a woman trapped in a mirror. The man touched the mirror, and they switched places.

She could guess the man was Helios, and the woman was his enemy, Neherenia. But what about the tent?

A knock on the door interrupted her. "Yes?"

"Miss Rei, there's a strange man at the yard."

"Oh, I was wondering when they were going to attack me."

Rei walked out of the room, transforming before she reached the temple's front. "These are sacred grounds, and evil creatures like you aren't welcome."

Hawk Eye looked at Mars and smiled. "I knew sooner or later you kids would wise up."

Mars didn't answer, instead jumping at him, and kicking his head. Apparently, physical attacks could affect these aliens, as he was sent gliding down the stairs. The Fire Senshi followed the man down, taking aim and shooting her attack at point blank. "Fire Tornado!"

The villain staggered back, mostly out of surprise. "You :red:..."

"Why don't you just leave? You can't do your pretty mirror trick now, can you?"

Instead of answering, Hawk Eye rushed forwards, too fast for Mars to dodge. He punched her in the gut, and as she doubled in pain, he put a hand in her back. "It's showtime, firegirl." Energy shot out of his hand, rushing through Mars' body as she screamed in pain. When it was over, she was barely conscious.

And also, she noticed as she tried to recover her senses, she was back to her priestess robes. "No..."

"You put up a nice fight, girl."

"Why are you doing this?" Rei snapped. "You already know I'm not the one you're looking for."

"It's better to check, just in case," the man answered, "and also, it's payback for hitting me."

Rei felt waves of pain washing over her as Hawk Eye looked into her mirror. That, summed to the damage she got from his attack, was too much for her to handle, and she fainted.

"Aww... I wanted her to be awake when I killed her."

"You won't kill anyone."

Hawk Eye smiled at the newcomers. "Sailors Moon and Saturn. You're a little late, you know?" He snapped his fingers and the wall holding Rei, along with the mirror, vanished.

Saturn looked at Rei as she fell. "She's barely alive."

"You take care of her," Moon said. "I'll take care of this idiot."

Hawk Eye followed Saturn's path with his eyes as she run to Rei. "Oh, I can't let you do that." He charged up for an attack, but stopped as he felt something hit him. Looking down, he could see the tip of a sword coming out of his stomach. "Ow."

"I guess plain old magic swords do hurt you," Moon mused.

"You :red:..." Hawk Eye snapped, then shot a blast at Moon. Just like with Rei, it turned her back to normal. "And now..." He was in quite a lot of pain, true, but he was still going to kill this girl before leaving to heal.

His attack was interrupted as he felt something else cutting through the wound. As he looked back, he saw Saturn there, smiling coldly at him. "Leave now, or I'm going to make two of you." Hawk Eye glared at her, but then vanished. Saturn looked at Usagi, who was staggering up. "Are you okay?"

"Saturn, go help Rei!"

"I-" Saturn started, then nodded.

Usagi sighed in relief as Saturn started healing Rei. "Why? Why didn't you heal Rei first?"

"Remember, I can only revive you guys once. And you've already used that chance."

Rei opened her eyes and groaned. "I feel like :red:."

"You look worse," Usagi joked. "I suppose my guess that they couldn't get us once we transformed was wrong."

"Well, now we know," Rei said, then winced. "I feel like sleeping for a week."

------​

ChibiUsa was leaning on a wall, bored, while Diana stood on top of the wall, half-asleep. "I'm thoroughly bored."

"We could go to the arcades, or the base, or maybe look for Hotaru."

"No 'we' in that last case," ChibiUsa muttered.

"Hey, look at that, Mina. A pink cat and a pink rabbit."

ChibiUsa saw Brad and Minako walking her way. "Don't call me that."

"Oh. Didn't think you could speak English."

"She's a princess, she probably knows more languages than you. And I'm not pink, I'm purple."

Brad looked up at Diana. "Okay, I know when I'm beaten. At least I was beaten by a pretty girl."

"Should I be jealous?" Minako asked playfully.

"Don't worry, he's not my type," ChibiUsa said.

"But I'm sure I'm his type."

Before the girls could react, two blasts knocked them down. "Damn, caught by surprise..."

Brad turned to face Fish Eye, summoning his sword as he did. "You bastard!"

Fish Eye laughed softly as his target charged. "Foolish boy. One... Two... Three! There you go."

Brad groaned. "As soon as I get rid of these straps, I'm going to punch your face in."

"You meanie, would you really harm a cute little thing like me?"

"You're a guy, I don't care how pretty you think you are."

"Too bad then," Fish Eye snapped, then leaned into Brad's mirror. "No horsie here." Speaking of girls, the two that were with his target had vanished. "Uh, they run away? Too bad, I wanted to kill them too."

"Moon Dream Wave!"

Fish Eye backflipped, barely missing the blast. "You're slow, girl."

"Dream Wave!"

This time, the attack hit. Fish Eye was knocked back, but stood up furious. "I'm going to kill you for that, moron!"

"Dream..." ChibiMoon started, then winced. "Damn. Out of energy."

Venus saw Fish Eye smiling coldly and felt her heart sink. That guy was going to kill them, and then Brad would be next. 'Don't panic, I can give you the power you need to defeat him.'

It took her a moment to realize what the voice in her head was, then she nodded and concentrated. There it was, a new power! "Venus Light Dream Smash!"

ChibiMoon looked on as a large light beam shot forwards, knocking Fish Eye through a couple trees before fading. The villain wasn't in much of a shape to stand up and fight, so he instead decided to leave.

Brad limped to them. "Girls, are you okay?"

"Nevermind that, what about you?" Venus asked.

"I'm peachy, not counting the fact I feel like I need to rest for a month," Brad said.

"I can help you heal."

"I don't think I'll be getting a lot of rest, then," Brad muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," Brad said with a grin.
 
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