Kara woke up that morning with a headache that refused to go away. It hurt to try and move, and she wanted to just curl up in her cozy bed and cuddle with her stuffed rabbit. It was then that she found she couldn't budge. She couldn't even make her arms work.
Her green eyes snapped open and looked around desperately. This was Nightwind's penthouse, not even five miles from where she lived. How did she get here?
It slowly came back to her. Another fight with her parents. She had grabbed a change of clothes and ran out of the house and down the street to the store on the corner. She'd called Nightwind and must have passed out on the way here… no, that didn't seem right. Something about the park?
As she tried to force her arms and legs and even tail to respond to her mental commands there was a searing jolt of pain. She tried to scream, but that was when she realized that not even her voice would work.
"Are you awake?" Nightwind asked. Kara looked over to see her leaning over the table, smiling. There was smug satisfaction on her face and sadistic pleasure. It was in her eyes.
The memories exploded into Kara's brain in a single moment. Those eyes were the same, the very same...
"You're a hard little bitch to locate," Terra explained. "But it all worked out in the end for us. Don't worry, Sailor Neo Moon, if you do what I ask you'll die with relatively minor pain."
Fear coursed through Kara's body as she began to struggle again. Nothing would work right and she felt as though her knee was on fire. Nightwind ran a finger down her face and kept smiling.
"Get up."
The command seized her and in spite of what she was telling her body, it moved on its own and stood up. She felt her hand grip her transformation compact and hold it. More commands came without words and she found herself struggling to keep up with them. Her knee shrieked at her for the abuse, but there was nothing she could do to stop it.
"This is amazing. You're completely in my control." Nightwind held her hand out to offer a dark crystal to Kara. She reached to take it.
"Now, we're going to the hospital, and we're going to drain out every last drop of power in your little friend," she laughed. "And then, I'm going to finally kill you."
Kara made her way to the hospital with Nightwind, the entire ride there was spent answering questions she didn't want to answer. Why did she have a tail? What memories of her past did she have? Who were the other Neo Senshi? Where did Black Moon come from?
"Not that it matters. This is going to be so much fun," Nightwind commented. "I'll get to watch you slaughter your friends."
She parked and the command to enter the building and go to Keiko's room came. Kara had no choice and she felt her body move on its own. The people at the check in station knew her, and the process was simple. Just as always, she checked in to go visit her little friend and walked to the elevator.
'Keiko! Please, know that something's wrong! Call for a nurse! You have Aly's number, call it!' she shouted in her mind. The elevator closed behind her, but it kept pausing for other people. The longer it took, the more it broke down Kara's soul. The feeling of being controlled was… slimy.
The doors to her stop opened, and she was forced to walk on, pushing past nurses and doctors. The entire time she kept that crystal in the palm of her hand.
When one of the workers tried to make her stop to chastise her for her actions, she turned and punched. Her hand went through his gut and he fell to the ground. People began to shriek and run from it.
"Moons Light, Transform!"
The transformation caused an explosion to rock throughout the entire floor. Fire alarms went off as Kara tried desperately to force herself to turn around, to move her own hand, anything that would tell her she could break free. There was a moment that she thought it was possible, but it was no use. She raised her hand and watched as a ball of light flew forward and blew the door off its hinges. She could hear Keiko inside, screaming.
"Kara-chan," Keiko shouted, scooting up in her bed as Sailor Neo Moon walked into the hospital room. Smoke billowed in from outside. She held her weapon in her hand and did not so much as flinch as the glass in the large window blew out from an explosion that threw the girl from her bed. Her eyes were… strange. As though she had no soul.
Keiko coughed and whined from the pain of her I.V being torn from her arm. She froze as she heard the sound of humming and boots crunching on broken glass. Alarms were blaring, people screaming… when in through the door, behind Neo Moon, walked Sailor Earth, shouldering her sword, a demonic grin plastered on her face. She was singing.
Earth sneered and put a hand on Neo Moon's shoulder and pointed her sword at the child who was trying to stand up when her energy gave out. She was more terrified than she'd ever been.
"I need to forgive you, Jadeite. If you hadn't attacked that day we'd still be running in circles looking for this child," Earth said. "Now Kara, be a good girl and hold her!"
Neo Moon made a motion to rush her friend, which caused Keiko to scream. In an instant, the light was all gone from outside. Her eyes began to glow and her anger began to well up towards the evil woman in front of her, as she screamed at her to stop hurting Kara-chan.
"Such power!" Earth screamed, grinning as Keiko screamed. Shouts to get to her room could be heard from outside the door. Earth held her hand out and Dark energy shot forth, killing the would-be rescuers. Power from Keiko was being siphoned into the crystal, as Earth ordered Neo Moon to rush her again.
But something strange happened. Keiko's eyes were different somehow. Earth stopped smiling and looked confused, before striking Neo Moon and yelling for her to obey. Neo Moon raised her wand to strike, but turned at once to attack Earth! Free from her influence, Earth made to take control again, her sword struggling against the Star Wand that was holding it back.
"What trickery is this?" Earth shrieked, realizing she couldn't see into the girl's mind anymore. She had broken free! She was immune!
"I won't let you hurt anyone else!" Neo Moon shouted as she shoved Earth into the alcove that led to the door outside. She got between the two and Keiko. Earth staggered back in and went for her throat, raging for blood, when something caused her attack to go low. Neo Moon was struck in the side and fell to the ground. Keiko crawled over to her, looking terrified.
"What the hell?" Earth demanded. She looked down to see her blade being blocked by a young boy.
"I don't know who you are," he began in what Earth recognized to be Japanese "but you're not going to kill anyone!"
Her translator raced to decipher his speech but she was hit hard. The wall gave way to another room and part of the ceiling came down on her. Neo Moon's transformation reversed shortly before her friends showed up.
"Kara!" Black Moon ran over to her friend to check on her. She was bleeding heavily and her eyes were un-focusing. She would bleed out if nothing was done.
In a rage, Earth made it past the boy and grabbed Kara by the arm. The teen's shoulder dislocated with a hard, jerking motion. She didn't have time to do anything else, though, because the boy attacked again. He was just as strong as Neo Moon, if not stronger. He was much faster than she was, at least. Guardian thrust her spear out, nicking Earth's side and electrocuting her hard.
"Jadeite!" Earth grabbed him by the shirt and the both of them vanished through a dark corridor. Shouts could be heard from the other side of all the rubble. People were working to clear it all out.
"We have to go!" Epsilon warned. "We need to be out of here when they clear the rubble! They can help Kara!"
The boy was kneeling by the older girl and with a swift motion, he forced her shoulder back into place. She screamed at the pain, but it began to quickly subside. Keiko put her hands on Kara's wound and they began to glow softly. In seconds the wound was healed up.
"You go. I stay here," she urged in her broken English. She and the boy spoke for a few moments before he nodded. Even though he was slightly smaller than Kara and clearly younger, he was able to lift her up and walked to the blown out window. He motioned for the others to come to him and the followed, unwilling to trust Kara to a stranger.
They each took his hand and vanished before security forced their way in to rescue Keiko.
Kara sat in a chair in Karen's loft in the church. She was aching terribly and her mind was racing on how to explain to her parents what had happened. The boy sat there uncomfortably as though he weren't sure what to say. It was possible he didn't speak English.
"Are good?" Kara asked. It was one of the few phrases she could remember being taught by Keiko. The boy looked over and seemed a little stunned she could speak to him, but nodded.
"I have a passing knowledge in English," he explained. "You don't have to worry."
Kara nodded a little and looked back at the ground. Karen entered from the room that served as her bedroom and sat bandages down.
"I just got off the phone with your mom," she said. "I told her you were visiting Keiko at the hospital, but praise the Lord you were on the first floor when that explosion hit. Officially, you're hurt and were disoriented. Aly drove you here to let you rest."
Kara nodded. "Thanks for lying, Karen. I know it bothers you…"
"There are times that one does what is necessary," she said. "Don't worry about it."
"You're lying to your mom?" the boy asked. It stunned him.
"I can't tell her about being Sailor Neo Moon! She and daddy would flip out!" Kara winced and held her injured side. Even though Keiko healed the wound up, it still ached terribly. "They worry enough about me… I can't tell them I have to save the world."
She slumped down and groaned at the severe pain that shot through her midsection. She exhaled with a soft 'fuck' and didn't even flinch as Karen smacked her head for it.
"We don't use that filthy language in the Lord's House!" she reminded.
"Whatever."
"Well… if you're feeling better, I have a favor I want to ask you," the boy said. Kara looked over at him.
"With what?"
The boy inhaled and thought for a moment, gathering his thoughts. How to ask them? This was the best opportunity he'd had since all the shit started up. He couldn't lose this.
"I want you to come to Japan. You, and your friends who have those powers. I can train you to fight like I do, and you'll get stronger. I'm half Saiyan, you see, and-"
He droned on for a moment, about what being a Saiyan was and what it meant, but Karen and Kara said nothing. They knew what it was, but before Karen could say anything, her friend grabbed her by the arm as if to stop her from talking.
Kara was half Saiyan, too. Just like this boy.
"…so, I want you to come with me, to fight the Androids. If you do, I'll help you fight off that woman from the hospital," he concluded, looking at the older girls with hope in his eyes.
"You can help us fight Sailor Earth and the Dark Kingdom?"
"Yeah! So, will you help me?" he said, pleading.
"We don't even know your name, though. I'm Kara Staar, and this is Karen Arianne. The girls downstairs are Carolyn Megai and Alysse Raven. Who are you?"
"Oh. My name is Son Gohan."