Hello you all, Alito here.
So this was a story that actually came to my mind when I saw this really cute fan art that someone made of Superman and Sailor Moon at an ice cream parlor, and I just thought, "I have to do it!" so here's what came out of that.
You'll have to excuse some minor spelling errors and all, and if there's any problems with spelling or punctuation, please let me know in the reviews. I read all my reviews by the way.
So to get the gist of the crossovers, the version of Sailor Moon I'm using is the anime version of it, with some things thrown in from the manga and even the live action adaptation. it's more or less a mix of the mediums.
Meanwhile, the version of Superman I'm using is a mix of canons from The Christopher Reeves Superman, the animated series, CW Supergirl's Superman, comics, and the DCEU Superman.
For anyone curious as to what picture I'm talking about that inspired this story, check out the artist Tumblr tiggersmoke.
DISCLIAMER: I OWN NOTHING. Superman and Sailor Moon belong to their respected creators and NOT ME. Please support these characters and their official releases.
Chapter 1: Heroes Collide
That beeping-the one we all dread to have to hear every morning. Our bodies ache, we get that groggy feeling once our eyes open, and the worst of it all—it never feels like enough sleep.
And so the day begins for a this young man who tapped his alarm clock, and slowly rose up onto his bed. He gave a long-winded yawn as he stretched his arms high into the air. That groggy feeling was taking over him once he wiped his face with his hands. All he really wanted to do was climb back into bed, but the sounds of his boss raging on about him being late echoed through his skull. And so, out of the bed he went, and dragging his feet towards the bathroom to take a warm shower.
The young man arrived in kitchen kitchen dressed in pleated shirt with a tie, a baggy jacket over it, and a grey pants with loafers. He took a look in the mirror that hung on the wall next to the stove to see his black, short hair brushed well, and a pair of glasses sat on the bridge of his nose the brought attention to his sky blue eyes.
A big smile couldn't help but appear onto his face-one of excitement for today.
"Hello, my name is Clark Kent...no, no, that was awful..." He rehearsed with bows. "Hi there! Names Clark. Clark Kent...definitely not...*ahem* Good morning, Mr. Yamazaki. My name is Clark Joseph Kent. I'm from the Daily Planet stationed in Metropolis in the US. It's an honor to be here...yeah, that one's good."
He checked his watch to see he needed to pick up the pace a bit. Nothing wrong with getting a light breakfast in before departing. He looked on the food chart calendar that he brought from home on the fridge.
"Pancakes today." He said happily. "Perfect."
Clark reached into his pantry and took out a bowl, and a spatula. He then went to his fridge to see he was actually low on food at the moment. With his reporter's salary, that was to be expected.
He grabbed the pancake batter, milk, and the last bit of butter he had. Once it was all laid out on the table, was ready to get started.
"Let's see...my last record was 30 seconds..." Clark said as he removed his glasses. "...let's go for 20."
Almost within seconds, Clark had moved beyond human speed as he prepared his breakfast. To anyone else, he figured he looked as if he were being Fast-forwarded on a television. Once he had gotten the pancake batter onto the stove, rather then using the stove itself, he settled for starring at the bottom of the skillet instead.
To only add to the unnatural talents of this man, he then shot a small, concentrated aura of pure , burning energy from his eyes to cook the pancakes faster. He paused to flip them over before doing it again. Once he felt they were done, his eyes returned to normal, and his glasses were put back on.
"29 seconds." Clark said happily. "New record."
Clark took a look outside his window and saw, not the tall concrete jungle that was Metropolis, but instead saw a small town in a district of Tokyo, Japan. A new day was certainly dawning, as the light from the sun hit Clark over the horizon. It was just the bath he needed to start a new day in a new country all together.
"Alright!" Clark said to himself.
Clark's new commute began by running out of his apartment, and through a small, residential town district somewhere in Tokyo. He didn't notice it while arriving last night by plane, but the town was brimming with advertisements to stores, restaurants, and all types of shopping centers. It was just as commercialized as Lois said it was. It definitely wasn't any Metropolis or Gotham, but there was definitely a cleaner charm to the city that it had all its own. The people seemed to be ones that were in their own business. Most were business men and women, while others were either elderly people in old kimonos strolling about, or high school students on their way to school.
Clark wondered if there was a chance he'd be able to fit in. He had dealt with how moving Metropolis can be when he was just a mild-mannered reporter for the Daily Planet, but this place was a whole new ballgame in Clark's court. He'd rather just try and blend in with the background there so as to not bring any unnecessary attention to himself. Of course, that wasn't an easy thing to do considering his identity. But Clark figured as long he he kept his feet to the ground, then no one would be too suspicious of him.
Upon turning on the corner of a sidewalk, Clark came to a complete stop once he happened to come upon the sight of a bunch of children huddled around something; laughing as they were. At first Clark assumed it was just children being children with some toys or playing cards. However that changed when he heard the screeching cries of, what appeared to be, a black cat.
Clark put his glasses down a bit, and used his magnified vision to see from the far distance what was happening. To his surprise, he saw that the kids were bullying the poor, defenseless kitten by poking it or roughing it up with sticks.
Clark was appalled at the very sight of it. He was just about to make his way over there, and give the boys a stern scolding.
"Hey! You three!"
The boys reacted to the sound of the young girl's voice, and high-tailed it outta there once she came running towards them. The boys scampered off, while the object of their bullying laid there, almost motionless. Clark was relieved as he had already used his X-ray vision to see the cat's little heart was still beating.
Coming to the cat's aid was a young high school girl in a school uniform. The most peculiar thing about this girl was her long blonde hair formed into two pigtails. Clark figured she must have dyed it that color. However, the blue eyes were also unique compared to others with just brown or black eyes in Japan.
"What's with them? Honestly!" The young girl sighed.
"Is it gonna be alright?"
She was a bit startled as she turned around to see Clark standing over her. She was put off by the foreigner since there weren't many that come into the small town. If anything, he was the first one she'd ever seen outside of a magazine or TV. She felt a good first impression was key.
"O-Oh, yeah, I think it'll be alright...!" She said, cradling the cat as she stood up.
"That's a relief." Clark smiled.
Suddenly, the cat had become restless in the girl's arms as it cried and kept scratching at its forehead. To both their surprise, it was a band aid that the cat was reaching for.
"Now how'd that get on its forehead?" Clark wondered.
"Those boys must've done it." The twin-tailed girl figured. "I guess you want me to take it off, huh lil kitty? It does look cute though..."
The girl slowly ripped off the bandage on its forehead, and under it revealed something even more peculiar; the cat had a crescent moon emblem on it that was a bright yellow. Clark saw this as strange; it wasn't everyday that a cat would have such an odd emblem on their foreheads. He immediately felt something was odd about the cat.
"A bald spot?" The blonde girl figured.
Suddenly, the cat leaped from the girl's arms and landed onto one of the parked cars. It stood there, almost motionlessly, starring down the blonde girl with intent eyes. It appeared she was just as confused as Clark was, so it didn't seem like she knew it before today. Still, Clark found it strange how it just stood there, and starred at the young girl.
However, the stare down was interrupted by the sound of a bell ringing far off in the distance.
"Ack! Oh, no! The bell!" The girl yelled frantically. "I gotta go! See ya, Mister! Take care of the kitty for me!"
Before Clark could say anything, the young girl ran off down the street towards where the bell rang from. The thought of running late began to worry even Clark as he checked his watch for the time. If push came to shove, he'd have to use the other way to work to be on time.
Before he took off as well, he gave one last look towards the cat, only to have found it had already ran off. Clark looked around, but saw no sight of the black feline anywhere.
"So much for taking care of it..." Clark muttered to himself while adjusting his glasses. "I wonder where it—wait, what time is it?"
He pulled back his sleeve and looked at his wrist watch—His eyes grew wide with fear.
"Uh oh..."
The hustle and bustle of this little district in Tokyo was further improved once a new building had been established in the middle of the town. It stood with its own unique air about it, that made it stand out from all the others. Possibly due to the giant brass globe at the very top of it that read 'Daily Planet' in building itself stood at whopping 12 stories high with a style of 'East meets West' architecture of a United States skyscraper, mixed with the roof of an old Japanese structure, with a finish of the brass globe at the top.
It was inside where Clark hurried out of a packed elevator, while fumbling for his things that fell out of his arms. He double checked his watch and saw how late on time he really was due to his watch actually being broken the whole time. He had to run past people just to get into the office, and dropped a few of his papers along the way.
Once he finally got into the office, he had to stop to look around first. He was surprised by the sight of such a well-furbished, and overtly dignified business being run in such a large office space. There were no newspapers lying over the cubicles, no yelling from across the room. Just a quiet, and organized workings of many employees who all did their job with little to no hassle. There was a group who handled the typing, while another was responsible for transporting printed press to the public. They even had employees who worked on their online presence through social media. On his right, Clark could see a good view of the city outside, as the sun's natural light illuminated in the room to make it feel brighter and warmer then what it already was. And what really topped it off, was the brass sphere that stood at the very far back of the office; it was the Daily Planet's globe, but its title was in Japanese.
"Kent-san!"
Clark was startled by the loud voice call him from across the room. Everyone in the office went silent as some looked at Clark, and then looked over towards the approaching, older man walking towards him. He looked in his late 50's or 60's by the looks of his grey hair, and wrinkles all over his face. He was dressed in a dark grey suit that looked lighter in the sun.
Once he was within a few steps from Clark, it was apparent that he had to look down at the old man, given that he reached up to Clark's chin. However his expression was as sharp as an eagles with those piercing brown eyes behind his glasses.
"You must be Clark Kent." The man said in a calm, husky voice. "White-san has told me much about you."
"U-Um yes!" Clark said nervously. "Please excuse me for being late! I-I was caught up in traffic and I just...! Well, I know traffic is no excuse since I should've woken up earlier, b-but I was still very tired from my plane ride here from last night, and I wasn't able to sleep very soundly...! A-Although, I don't think 3 minutes is considered—"
"—ten."
Clark's words came to a sputtering halt. "W-Wha...?"
"I specifically recalled that you were to arrive first thing in the morning at 7:00 AM on the dot. You were ten minutes late to your first day on the job." He said sternly.
"O-Oh, I'm sorry, sir...! I-I promise you that I'll do better next time!"
"I'm afraid there won't be a next time."
Clark's heart sank the moment he heard those words. They were the most painful words he'd have to hear from his boss. He dreaded being fired from the Daily Planet every time he came in late back home, and now it had become a reality in the form of another boss in a foreign country. He felt devastated as he cast his head down in shame and was just about to turn on his heel, out of the door.
Before Clark could even leave however, he had come to a complete halt the moment he heard a light chuckle coming from behind him. It wasn't one of mocking, but a more mischievous one. He was caught off guard to see that it came from the stone-faced elderly man, whose expression changed into a more light-hearted smile.
"Oh, Kent-san, you can relax, I was only kidding." He said, wiping the tears from his eyes.
"Y-you were...?" Clark said.
"But of course. I wouldn't just up n' fire someone so quickly without getting to know a lil bit more about 'em." He said, "Besides, White-san has told me all about you; He says you have a habit of being late at times, but your reporting skills are second to none."
"He did...? I-I mean I wouldn't go that far—N-Not to say I'm am amateur or anything...!" Clark said with a nervous smile.
"Thooough, the reporter known as Lois Lane would've been a much preferable candidate for the foreign exchange..." the old man contemplated. He then turned back at Clark with a big smile on his face. "But I suppose you'll have to do."
"Um...thanks...I think..." Clark said with uncertainty.
The old man held his hand out to Clark with his best smile and those piercing eyes now more humble and kind. "Welp, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Yamazaki Hioshi. Welcome to The Daily Planet Japan."
Clark quickly shook Mr. Yamazaki's hand graciously with his own goofy smile to give. "I-It's honor to be here, sir! O-Oh, right, you're suppose to bow here...!" He gave a small bow to him, as Mr. Yamazaki did the same.
"Well then, allow me to give you a small tour of our facility. I think you'll find we do things a little bit different then what you're use to overseas."
"Of course." Clark nodded.
Yamazaki strolled off with Clark following closely behind. As they walked through the cubicles, he couldn't help but use his super hearing to see just what the gossip was about him, and maybe some other things floating around in the office.
The first were a bunch of older gentlemen huddled at a water cooler:
"So that's the new guy, huh? Looks about in his early 30's. practically a kid."
"Yeah, but I heard he's one of the American branch's best reporters."
"That clumsy brat? I'm sure they're just givin' him pity or somethin'."
Clark figured that would be the first thing he'd have to hear. He felt a need to really prove them wrong, and show them just how great of a reporter he was hailed for. Though, not try too hard. He still had an identity to uphold after all.
He turned his attention towards another group of guys who looked quite intimidating with their sour expressions pointed directly at him:
"So that's him? What a wimp."
"I bet I could just blow on him, and he'd fall right over."
"If he thinks he can just waltz on in and make all of us look bad, he's got another thing comin'."
"You ain't gettin' nothing from us, American."
Of course, it wouldn't be customary without the 'ol rush the new guy plan brewing in the wind. He hoped it was all in his head, but rarely is it ever him overthinking it; both in and out of disguise.
He then heard a huddle of women speaking among themselves; some his age, others older:
"That's him? He seems a lil useless, wouldn't you say?"
"I dunno. I think the clutz type is cute in a guy."
"Seriously? I mean, he's no Takizawa Hideaki, but..."
"You girls are crazy, he's probably just some creep who came here to oogle over the cute high school girls like all the other foreigners here."
"You're probably right. Let's just keep our distance for now."
Sadly, he had a feeling this would be the case. Truth be told, he had no desire for female company at all. He just wanted to work, while traveling to see other parts of the world...at least that's what he would tell people if they asked.
Then, there came the more intriguing bit of discussion coming from a group of men and women discussing something in private:
"Hey, did you hear? Sailor V struck again."
"Yeah, I did! She's been out and about for a while now!"
"They say she's working with the elite investigate police department, and even stopped a string a jewelry heist!"
"Wow! She's somethin'! I hear she does it all at night so as to not be seen."
Hey, hey, speakin' of superheroes, I hear the new guy whose here came from metropolis. Y'know; where THE Superman is."
"Seriously?-! I GOTTA ask 'em some questions!"
"Kyaaa~ He is such a hunk! What I wouldn't give to be able to interview him in a more private setting~"
"I'd love to see him and Sailor V work together. Wouldn't that be one for the papers."
Sailor V—Clark remembered doing a bit of digging on that name while on his way to Tokyo by plane. She was a crime fighting vigilante with a flair for the theatrics; almost like a certain rich boy he knew back in Gotham. She's had quite the reputation—not only in Tokyo, but all across Japan. She's even made a little attention overseas. Some in Metropolis have even made comparisons with Superman. As flattered as Clark, was, he didn't want there to be competition for whose the better hero. He was just impressed to see a young woman take a stance against crime. Since she's apparently working with the proper authorities, Clark figured he didn't need to worry too much about her. Still, he couldn't help be be curious as to who this 'Sailor V' truly was.
"...Clark-san!"
Clark's attention turned back to Mr. Yamazaki, who seemed a bit worried for him.
"O-Oh, sorry, sir...!" Clark apologized.
"Are you alright? Don't let their starring eyes get'cha down too much..."
"Oh, no, I was just, y'know, taking in this office...It really is something."
"Hmph. Well, I wouldn't want to brag, buuut, yes, we are quite the establishment." He said with a proud smile. "Come; let me show you more of our branch."
Meanwhile, somewhere in the deepest, and darkest crevices of the blizzarding North Pole, there sat a domain that seemed almost separated from the rest of the world. It gave off a haunting presence to anyone who dared to stand before it. Inside, it was practically another dimension from Earth that was was surrounded in darkness and vein-like decor. The entire fortress was filled hundreds of devoted minions; both big and small, who were just as menacing as the last. They all stood attentively towards the woman who sat in her devilish throne, gazing into the crystal ball that was her staff.
"Yes...it appears he has another identity to uphold." The woman said, "Clark Kent—a feeble name that does not deserve to be a part of such a magnificent being...no matter." Without averting her gaze from the crystal ball, she turned her attention to her minions. "Have we made progress upon locating the legendary Silver Crystal?"
"NO, YOUR HIGHNESS..."
A disappointed sigh escaped from her lips. "As I feared. We must always be reminded that the Silver Crystal is the only means that our Queen may rise again. Until then, we will continue to provide human souls for her nourishment. Ask for the Superman, he might prove to be a pivotal asset to our goal."
Suddenly, a small burst of flames appeared before the woman's presence. The flame quickly dissipated, and from it appeared a single young man. He had blond, ruffled hair and was dressed in a black suit. He flaunted an air of superiority over the other minions that made him stand out among them all.
"Queen Beryl." The man said with a humble bow.
"Jedite." The Queen replied. "To what do I owe this meeting?"
"Please, your highness, If I may be so humble as to ask that I take on the honor of accepting this mission." Jedite requested. "As we speak, my monster, Morga, is prepared to gather hundreds of human souls. She will not fail you."
Queen Beryl gave a humorous chuckle. "You seem confident in her abilities...very well then. Go, Jedite. May she not fail me."
Jedite gave one last bow with a conniving smirk. "Yes, your highness."
"Good. In the meantime, I have my own matters to attend to." Queen Beryl said with a wicked grin. "It is time to see just what this 'Superman' can do."
"A wasted effort."
Suddenly, all eyes had turned towards the origin of the voice that came from above. It lingered in the shadows of the area like a ghost. It instilled fear in most of the minion's hearts, except Jedite, who was only mildly cautious. Queen Beryl looked up as well with disinterest in what would dare to try and attack her. Instead, she welcomed it with the smile of a challenge brewing.
There, from above that slowly descended from the shadows, was a being that transcended all naturalism that had been established to the other beings of the area. His imposing, human-like body was encased in metal with neon purple veins going through it. His back sprang six metal tentacles with sharp claws at the end of them to scan every single living being in the room. His skin was a sickly green, while his forehead donned an insignia of an upside down pyramid using three orbs hat connected to one another. And finally, his eyes glowed with a haunting stare of absolute superiority over those who opposed him.
He had finally touched the ground, as it irrupted into a string of veins under the ground that glowed through its surface. It looked like data routes that coursed through the entire area. All were caught by surprise, except Queen Beryl, who kept herself calm through out.
Once the being had finished his scan of the entire place, the lights slowly faded, and his tendrils subsided onto his back once more.
"Fascinating." The green-skinned being said. "Your entire base of operation is the center of its own energy-based panel, used to convert the positive energies of the human's essence as a key component of restoration of your queen. Such folly in your achievements of rebirth."
"And just who might you be?" Jedite challenged.
"Stand down, Jedite." Queen Beryl announced. "He is an alley to our cause."
"'Alley' is an non-factual perception based only on your own desires for my aid." The being said as it turned to face the Queen. "I have no interest in playing into your hand. I need only to be an observer in the pursuit of knowledge about this 'Queen Metalia' that you all worship."
"But of course." Queen Beryl agreed. "So long as you keep on our side, I shall provide you with all the knowledge you could ever want of our glorious queen."
"Then we are at an agreement." The being said. "As of today, I, Brainiac, shall align myself in a temporary pack to your kingdom."
A wicked grin formed on Beryl's lips. "That's just what I want to hear."
Clark had finally finished, what felt like, a long day filled with typing, proof-reading, and a heavy dose of cheap criticism at every turn from other co-workers. Unfortunately he knew that was only a taste of what was to come for the rest of his time in Tokyo. Despite that, he did enjoy being in a new environment of reporting. It gave him a feeling of reinvention—like he could create a new reputation here, as oppose to being the clumsy, wimpy Kansas boy that he's known for back home.
As he made his commute back to his apartment, Clark found himself, once again, passing by the shopping district of Juban. Just as it was this morning, it was drowned in stores, markets, and other forms of advertisement. Clark thought about maybe picking up a souvenir for for Lois on his way back.
However, that suggestion was immediately thrown out once he saw the huge crowd of people gathering near the jewelry store. It was a majority of women from working, to housewives, to even school girls. All of them seemed allured by the multitude of jewelry that the store had to offer. Clark could barely see into the store with so many women inside.
Just as he was about to walk away, Clark happened to notice a lone girl leaving the shop. To his surprise, it turned out to be the same young school girl with the blond pigtails. She seemed disappointed about something—which Clark figured was due to her not having money for anything in the store. He'd known that look well; it was the same look he always had when his reporter's salary wasn't paying enough, and that new bike with custom wheels was calling his name. Sure he could fly, but that didn't mean he couldn't commit to the secret identity.
She gave a gloomy sigh as she looked at a piece of paper that Clark assumed was part of her disdain. "If only I'd studied a little harder..."
Clark felt sorry for the poor girl, and wanted to at least cheer her up a bit.
"Y'know, math was never my strong suit." Clark said.
the girl looked up to see Clark, who gave her a humble smile in the hopes that she wasn't too down.
"Hey, I remember you..." She said with a little more pep in her tone, "Yeah, you're that guy—the one from this morning. Was the kitty alright?"
"Don't worry, I'm sure the cat is fine now thanks to you." Clark said.
"I see. Well at least that's some good news." The girl said happily. "Hmmm, say, are you new around here? I've never seen you before today."
"Oh, yes, I am." Clark nodded. "I came here just last night from Metropolis."
"Metropolis...I know that place!" She said with a brightness in her eyes. "That's where Superman is! Man he's soooo cool! The way he flies around in the sky and kicks the bad guys' butts is so awesome! Did you ever meet him?-!"
"I...have met with him on occasions."
"Kyaaaa~ That's so cool! I wish I could meet him!" She said cheerfully. "I heard people have seen him in Tokyo today! What a coincidence, right?"
"Naw, not really. In fact, I was sent here from my newspaper company to report on him being here." Clark lied with strong convincing.
"Wow, a newspaper company? I didn't think news papers were still a thing since they're so outdated." The girl said, "I mean, there is the internet nowadays."
"True, but most people in Metropolis love the classics."
"Huh. And to think, I thought only my folks still read newspapers." the pig-tailed girl said. "Ugh, speaking of my folks..."
She took one more look at the paper she had in her hand and sighed depressingly again. Clark happened to peek, and saw that it was actually an English test with a very low grade on it. He couldn't help feel a sting in his own gut once he saw it.
"Um...well...there's always next time." Clark assured her. It naturally failed.
"Aaaguh! I hate this stupid test!" The pig-tailed girl exclaimed.
She balled up the paper and threw it over her head. Clark's eyes followed the paper, and watched it fall right onto a stranger's head. The stranger grabbed it just as it fell, and unraveled it for himself.
"Hey! Watch where you throw your garbage, bun head!"
The girl quickly turned around with an apologetic expression. "O-Oh, sorry!"
The stranger who grabbed it was a young man who looked about in his late teens with black short hair, and a pair of shades. He was dressed in rather expensive clothes—or at least expensive compared to the shabby clothes Clark was wearing. The blond girl reacted with fearful squeal as she saw the young man actually read her failed test paper.
"Wow~ 30%?" He said with a mocking tone. "You really should consider studying a lil harder next time, Bun head."
"Augh! I—W-Well, that's none of your business!" The blond girl said as she snatched the paper out of his hand. "Jerk!"
The blond stormed off from the two men without even saying a word to Clark, and walked away in a huffy mood. Clark was a bit disappointed that he couldn't at least give her a little bit of encouragement to lesson her problem. Teenagers were difficult to handle, whether they have superpowers like him or not, it seemed. He barely had enough control with Conner, let alone a regular girl.
He looked back at the young man, to see that he had turned his attention towards the jewelry store in front of him. He removed his sunglasses to reveal his blue eyes that seemed so focused on the place as if it were a television. Clark wondered just what was it about the seemingly normal jewelry store that had him so infatuated with it? His hero instincts kicked into high gear and possessed him to investigate.
"Fondness for jewelry?" Clark asked.
The young man turned his gaze towards Clark. He didn't seem too happy about the reporter's presence by the intense stare he was giving. It wasn't enough to turn Clark away though. He'd experienced worse glares from tougher foes. The young man eyed Clark up and down before breaking off in a small chuckle to himself. Clark was confused by this, until the young man just starred at him with a sly grin.
"Well well, funny to be meeting you here of all places."
"Um...excuse me?"
"Gotta say; nice disguise." The boy mentioned. "Bad posture, large baggy clothes to hide your body, wimpy voice, and I would assume a klutzy personality to boot."
Clark rose a brow. He could tell where this was leading, but wanted to make sure it was actually going the route he speculated it was before revealing anything.
Clark laughed nervously. "I-I'm not quite following what you're—"
"Oh spare me the act." The young man grew closer to speak to him in a low voice. "I know it's really you...Superman."
As he feared, Clark had been discovered. He didn't bother trying to present himself as the hunched over wimp that he'd been portraying for the longest time. He stood up straight, and puffed out his chest, while looking down at the young man with arms crossed.
"Who are you?" Clark asked with his authoritative voice.
"Wow...you really know how to switch at the drop of a hat." the young man said, "But you can relax; you're secrets safe with me. Also I'm not your enemy."
"Y'know, most people who say they're not my enemy, usually end up proving themselves wrong."
"Then you can count me as the exception." The young man said, "My name is Mamoru, Mamoru Chiba."
"For the sake of my cover, you will refer to me as Clark Kent." Clark stated.
"Deal." Mamoru nodded with a hand to offer.
Clark shook on it, and dropped the authoritative demeanor for a more engaging one to allow a sense of comfort. This seemed to work as Mamoru began to loosen up a bit. Clark saw his fist were clenched in his pocket, and his teeth were gritted.
"Anyway, why are you starring at this jewelry store?" Clark asked.
"Huh? I...actually don't know." Mamoru said, looking back at the store. "Just something about this place...it doesn't feel quite right."
"What do you mean?"
"I can't quite put my finger on it, but...it feels off to me."
"Off—how?"
"Well..."
"—Hang on, ladies and gentlemen, it appears we're getting word of a Breaking News report happening right as we speak!"
Clark and Mamoru's attention immediately turned towards the jumbo screen that was playing on one of the buildings.
"It appears that a plane is currently hurdling into the Eastern outskirts of Tokyo. Here's all we know at this time; there are about 50 to 60 passengers about the burning craft. There are no further details but keep it here, as we continue to update you on the very latest!"
Clark turned his eyes towards the East. He could practically hear the engines bursting into flames from his position. Yet, he couldn't hear a single voice in the plane itself. Regardless, the plane could hear people out there in the East, and that was reason enough.
"I'll be right back." He told Mamoru, before running off into the nearest, empty alleyway.
Mamoru stood there for a moment to watch him go, before strolling away. There was no way he was going to wait there for him. He had other business he needed to attend to.
Clark appeared through the smog from one of the manhole covers, and deeper into the empty alley. Once far enough away from wandering eyes, he began to undress himself of his civilian clothing—from his shoes to his glasses—at an almost impossible speed.
What was left on him was his signature blue, full-body suit that showed off his muscular physique. He also had a pair of red boots, a gold design around his waist to form a belt, and a large red and yellow crest on his symbol that resembled a stylized 'S'. Meanwhile his long red cape flowed gracefully in the wind as he stood there in all his majesty.
The Man of Steel—Superman.
He bent at the knees to gather momentum in his legs, as the ground under him began to blow smoke around his body. Then the ground shattered into cracks as he leaped off of it and soared high into the air like a jet across the skies. He had flown through the clouds at unbelievable speed, all while breaking through the sound barrier with ease. The world seemed to have move in slow motion while he flew at top speed across the blue sky.
He tried to hear for the sounds of people screaming, but there was nothing but silence. However, he did smell the stench of smoke slowly approaching. Superman picked up his speed and soared beyond the capable abilities of even the fastest man-made jet; practically breaking the sound barrier in his wake.
Before long, he had seen something slowly descending towards the ground with flames burning one of its wings and black smoke flowing in its wake. Upon closer look, he realized it was the plane slowly spiraling out of control. Once again, he heard no sounds of screaming civilians. However, he did hear the rapid beating of a single heart from inside it. Could it have been a passenger or the pilot? There was no time to ask.
Superman first needed to get the plane to a stable position before stopping it entirely. The Man of Steel flew right towards the burning wing and took hold of its scorching metal like it was nothing. From there, he pulled hard on to it in keeping it from spiraling out of control. It took a considerable amount of his own strength then he thought it would, but he nonetheless found it within himself to stop the plane from spinning into the Earth's atmosphere, and had kept it on a stable track to nose dive into the Earth.
Once he was able to get it stable, Superman released the wing, and flew alongside it. He took a deep breath, and blew a mist of pure ice that had been able to cool down the fire and freeze the wing into an ice sickle. From there, he took flight towards the front of the falling aircraft.
Once he was farthest away from it quickly approaching him, he stopped and held himself in the air to prepare for the plane to fall right towards him.
Superman took a deep breath before he opened his arms wide and braced for impact. Just as he feared, the plane had slammed right at him like a massive wall and pushed him back with intense force. The wind around him blew the very wind out of him, but still he held the plane, as the ground quickly approached him. The heat of the plane's metal, and the intense pressure was enough to have Clark's arm writhing in absolute agony.
But still, with all his superhuman might, The Man of Steel pushed against the force of the falling plane, and had begun to slow it's dangerous decent down. As it had slowly begun to reach the very edge of the Earth, Superman had given one last push that made a large crater in it's nose.
Finally, the plane had come to a slow, heavy stop as The man in blue was able to successfully hold it in the air, before clutching at its sides, and letting it gently fall onto the ground with a loud thud.
Clark took an exhausted exhale of breath before letting go of the plane levitating onto the bridge of the plane's nose to greet the pilots; To his surprise, there wasn't anyone even in the pilot chairs. However, he could still hear that single heartbeat inside the plane.
Superman flew over towards the main door, and ripped it right off its hinges. The moment his foot touched the inside of the plane, he immediately felt an unrelenting chill overcome him—brimming with a sensation of dread and evil that he hadn't felt in a long while Nevertheless he stepped further inside.
Besides it being dark due to all the windows being closed, there was nothing truly out of the ordinary. The only other bother was how empty it was...that is, except for the sole person who Clark immediately noticed was sitting in the far back. Due to how dark the inside of the plane was, he could only make out a shadow sitting in the inside seat of the plane.
"Excuse me." Superman called. "Are you alright?"
The figure let out a low chuckle that Superman heard loud and clear.
"Yes...I'm quite well." Said a calm, female voice. "All thanks to your valiant effort."
Superman was confused for a moment. He was just about to approach the woman, when all of a sudden, every single window in the plane shot up and brought a blinding light into the darkness. It had bothered Superman's eyes for a moment, before he was able to see again.
He was finally able to see the lone woman sitting in her seat at the very back of the plane. It was a woman with long, wavy red hair, and pale skin. She wore a simple, dark purple dress that went to her neck and a black background. She made note of her armlets and bracelet as she simply sat back with her chin resting on her wrist; looking out of her window in contemplation. She also made note of the strange horns coming from her shoulders. But what stood out most was the crest on her forehead in the form of a black boomerang.
She traced her dull orange eyes towards Superman, and finally turned his way.
"So you are him; the fabled Man of Steel." The woman said with a devilish smile. "How I've longed to meet you."
"I'm flattered." Superman nodded. "However I'd appreciated it more if you tell me why you're the only one on this plane."
The woman slowly rose from her chair, and sauntered out of her row. She now stood before Superman, a distance away from him, yet he couldn't help but feel an uneasiness from her.
"This was but one of my many test." She said almost humbly. "I merely wanted to see for myself if the words about you proved true."
"Well, I hope I didn't disappoint." Superman humored.
"Far from it." She admitted.
"Be that as it may, I'm afraid I can't let this go unnoticed." Superman stated with his arms crossed. "Someone could've gotten hurt, and for that, I'm afraid you're going to have to come with me."
"Oh, there won't be a need for that. I will let myself out, thank you very much." She said with a wicked smile. "I look forward to seeing what you have to offer to us. Farewell."
Suddenly, the woman had begun to be submerged in a form of distortion that was making her body fade into an invisible mist that had started from her feet and was quickly working its way up to the rest of her body.
"Wait!" Superman called. He levitated off the ground and quickly flew over towards her, but by the time he had gotten close enough, the woman had vanished. He attempted to use his X-ray vision to see if there was anything left of her, but was fruitless. She really was gone.
Clark was left there, alone in the empty plane; just as confused as could be. Could it have been possible that one single woman was able to lift a plane so effortlessly into the air, just to crash it? how did she do it would be the follow up question? The third was the obvious who was she? and the last left to question as to what other test did she have in mind? Too many questions spiraling in his mind, and none of them with answers.
"I think it's time I get some answers around here..." Clark said to himself.
The afternoon had slowly turned to night with the stars and the moon illuminating the never-sleeping Juban district of Tokyo. Even on a weeknight, there were still plenty of people out and about with the desire to literally 'shop till they drop' coursing through them.
Deep in one of the many alleyways of the town, a lone cat scurried on through the dark shadows; seemingly in search of something important due to how quickly it ran. When it came to towering obstacles, it simply leaped off the balls of its feet and scaled the concrete walls until it was scurrying across the rooftops.
It was just about to leap off of one of the buildings onto the neighboring ones, when all of a sudden, the black cat found itself landing right into the arms of a man who was suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
The cat looked up at this new set of arms and saw that it was none other then the Superman; smiling down back at it.
"Not so fast, little one." Superman said to it. "I don't think the 'nine lives' thing is meant to be taken so literally."
The Man of Steel slowly descended back onto the rooftop that the cat leaped off of, and placed the cat back on the ground. It turned to face Superman with those big red eyes, and sat there—starring at him. Superman returned the stare for a few moments, before he put on a smile that one would wear upon finding out a secret.
"You're not much for words, are you?"
For a moment the cat tilted its head to the side in confusion.
"Come on, I know you can talk." Superman said, "I can see your voice box; it's...peculiar looking for a normal cat."
The black cat's big red eyes widened, before it gave up the charade with a defeated sigh.
"It appears I have been discovered." The cat said with the voice of a woman's. "As expected from the Man of Steel. Or should I say Clark Kent?"
"You've been spying on me." Superman said with arms crossed.
"More or less~" She said with a sky grin that only a sneaky cat could produce.
"Then I take it you're the one who sent the message to the fortress."
"Ah, so you did receive it."
"It wasn't exactly hard to miss. You did appear out of nowhere through a hologram. Took me by surprise." Superman admitted, "So that beautiful woman I saw in the yellow dress, and black long hair was you, right?"
"Oh, stop it, you're making me blush~" Luna said bashfully. "But yes, that was me. Allow me the pleasure of introducing myself; my name is Luna. I am, what you might call, a guardian."
"A guardian of...?"
"You'll see soon enough." She answered. "Before that, I'm surprised that you came here on such short notice."
"Actually, I just got lucky." Superman admitted. "I'm really here for a foreign exchange program. Your message's timing just so happen to correlate with my arrival."
"I see. How fortunate for me." Luna said, "But I assume you have a few questions that have less to do with a tour of the town, correct?"
Superman nodded as he took a knee to the kitten and leaned in close. "Earlier today, there was a plane that was hurdling towards the East of Tokyo. When I stopped it, there was a woman inside who said she would put me through test."
A grave look appeared on Luna's face. Superman was surprised that she even had the ability to make facial expressions as a cat. She was taken into deep thought to gather her thoughts for a moment, before coming to a conclusion.
"Okay...Here's the gist of it all." Luna explained. "You see, there have been strange occurrences that have been happening in this small town; things far too great for even the police can handle. I believe an unparalleled threat has begun to try and take hold of this city from the shadows. If nothing is done soon...well, I fear to really think about it..."
"And that's why you called me." Superman said. "Do you happen to know what this threat is?"
"I already have an good guess as to who; they call themselves 'The Dark Kingdom'."
"The Dark Kingdom?" Clark repeated. "Their name certainly paints an awful picture, but this is the first time I've heard of them."
"That's not too surprising. They've been dormant for centuries; unseen by the eyes of neither human or otherworldly."
"Until today, I take it?"
"Precisely." Luna nodded, "I can't say much as of right now, but all I can do is ask of you to take up a small request for me."
"Well well it's not everyday I get to work with a talking kitten." Clark smiled. "Before I agree, what is this small request you need?"
"I'm glad you asked. It happens to correlate with my being a guardian..." Luna looked around to make sure no one was listening. Superman followed out of confusion before settling his eyes back on her. "I...need you to watch after that girl you met earlier."
Clark looked at the cat as if she had said something odd—which wasn't too hard to do, all things coincidences just don't seem to stop for the Man of Steel. First a coincidence occurs with the message from Luna matching at the perfect time with Clark being sent overseas to where she wanted to meet him. Then, he's asked to watch over a girl whom he met by accident by a cat he also met on accident. He was beginning to wonder whether or not this really was all just coincidences, or something more.
"Um...why her?" Clark asked.
"Let's just say that she's been...chosen." Luna begrudgingly admitted.
"Chosen for what?"
"Again, I can't say much as of right now, but I only ask of you to take care of her, and make sure she doesn't cause too much trouble."
"Isn't that suppose to be your job as a so-called guardian?" Clark pointed out a sly smirk. "Just saying."
"Ha ha, very funny..." She said with a deadpan tone. "Unfortunately there's only so much I can do in this form right now, so I won't of much help to her. That's where you come in."
"So that's all?" Clark questioned. "Watch over that young girl, while protecting this part of Tokyo?"
"Precisely." Luna nodded. "So...will you help us?"
There was no need to second guess himself; of course he would help anyway he could, however Clark wasn't gullible—he knew there was more happening here then what Luna was telling him. For now, he wanted to know as much as he could about this 'Dark Kingdom' as soon as possible. He wondered if the others knew anything about them? Maybe Diana or Arthur have any history about them. Or perhaps Bruce has already gotten a lead on them before anyone else? He'd have to wait and contact them tonight. Until then, he figured he might as well put himself to good use in Tokyo. He's yet to actually stay in Japan, rather then swoop by, save lives, then leave again.
"I'll gladly help in any way I can." Clark stated with an honest smile.
"Perfect!" Luna said happily. "I'll be sure to let you know if there's more that needs to be done. If you'll excuse me, I need to visit somebody. It's time she knew who she really was."
Luna took off past Superman, and stood on the edge of the rooftop. He was about to instinctively go after her, but remembered she was no ordinary cat, who probably leaped farther bounds then that.
She gave one last look over her shoulders with a mysterious smile to leave off with; "Until we meet again, Superman."
The black cat leaped off of the roof and disappeared into the shadows of the alleyways below. There was still the trace of her heart beat so he was happy she was alive down there.
Clark took a moment and put all this new information together with everything else he's learned so far; mysterious woman with great power, a talking guardian cat, a young girl with a destiny, and this Dark Kingdom trying to cause havoc in this, otherwise, harmless little district in Tokyo. He wondered if he hadn't stumbled into a sort of civil war between two groups? He could at least see who the bad guys were this time, but that didn't mean the good guys are any trustworthy people either.
Clark had very little choice in the matter. What came first was protecting the citizens of Tokyo, and everything else a forethought...or at least his job came to a close second. Now all that was left to do was wait until something occurred. He thought about following the cat to the girl, but realized that would probably startle her. What was there left to—
"HELP! Please someone help me—I-I don't know what's happening—what is this...I feel so strange—please help me, mom and dad—mom, what're you doing to me?-!"
A multitude of voices rang through his head from a quarter mile away from his location. They all called out in dire need of rescue.
"They're playing my song." Clark said. He leaped off the roof and swooped over towards the origin of the screaming occurred. As he flew closer, he began to hear something else with the screaming; an odd wiring noise that resembled miniature gears grinding in a hollow shell. They rubbed against a ridged surface that resembled something that he'd hear from Bruce's grapnel gun, only thicker and with a distinctive zipping noise to it.
Whatever it was, Clark didn't want to waste time wondering. He kicked it into high gear, and soared across the city. Judging from the sounds of those multiple metal wires shooting out, coupled with the screams of civilian women, his only hope was that it wasn't what he feared it would be.
Her vision began to fade the tighter it gripped. She had begun to lose all feeling in her throat with no way for air to come out. She wanted to do everything in her power to fight back against this creature, but deep down, she couldn't. Despite this...thing strangling her, she couldn't bare to lay a hand on her dear mother. There was just no way. As so, the young girl continued to endure the pain, while begging for her own life.
In the corner of her eye, she could see the many other woman and girls who had filled her shop earlier—they were almost motionless as they sat huddled together in a small pile, while three of the most strangest things she'd ever seen kept circling them with their palms open and scanners examining them.
They had the stature of a human man, but...they looked absolutely terrifying. Their bodies were a combination of just thin organs like intestine, veins and of the like, wrapped in strange armor and metal. Their heads were nothing but skulls that had been stabbed with many needles connected to the back of their necks. But what really chilled her to the bone were those glowing, lifeless eyes they had.
Her attention was brought back to her current situation when she felt the grip tighten.
"P-Please...! Mom, stop...!" The girl said with a hoarse voice. "W-Why...?-! I don't...u-understand...!"
The mother, a spitting image of her daughter, only chuckled to herself. "You stupid girl...I'm not your mother."
The girl struggled to keep her eyes focused long enough to see who this person is if it wasn't her own mother. Suddenly, the woman had slowly mutated into something unrecognizable; a grotesque, and wrinkly old witch of a woman, whose eyes grew yellow pupils and black sclera. Her face contorted into a long, toothy grin that would even make the Joker jealous. Her hair was as wild and black as her dress, compared to her so-called 'daughter's' short, copper hair in a bow. And finally, a massive scar of an old gash had been permanently left on her forehead. Her long, bony hands continued to close in on her windpipes and only grew tighter as the girl looked at her in horror.
"Your mother is in the basement." The witch said in a harsh voice. "And once I've finished killing you, She'll be next! You'll both meet each other in the otherworld!"
"I don't think so."
Suddenly, the shoe was on the other foot, as the witch felt her own neck being grabbed from behind. What followed was her arm being broken by, what felt like, a boulder hit it in point blank range. She howled viciously as she dropped the weakened, unconscious girl. She was promptly caught before hitting the ground, and was placed in a safer location behind the counter.
Once she was out of the way, the Man of Steel levitated into the air to look over the enemies that have revealed themselves to him.
"So that was the wiring I heard." Superman said, looking at the robots. "Those are Brainiac's drones. So he's involved in all this. This just makes things worse..."
Superman eyed the witch again, who was groaning in agony as she popped her arm back into place with ease. He figured a light punch on the arm wasn't enough.
"You...! Queen Beryl has told me about you...!" The witch exclaimed.
"Queen Beryl...?" Superman pondered. "I wonder...is that the name of the woman from the plane?" He looked back at the witch. "That aside, you should surrender now. If I won't stop you, Brainiac will do worse."
"Be that as it may, you're too late!" She said with an evil grin. "As we speak, those brainless women have already been drained of enough energy to feed The Great Ruler!"
"Great ruler, huh? A nickle for everytime I heard that one..." Superman mumbled.
"It is only a matter of inevitability before you too surrender yourself to her almighty power!" The witch threatened. "The sky will grow dark, the seas will rise, fire will spread across the planet, and the universe will finally belong to is no one who can stop us. Not even you."
Superman's lips couldn't help but grow into a cheeky smile. "You must be new to the planet. Allow me to show you just who I am."
The witch had heard enough, and looked over towards the three robot minions.
"Destroy him!" She ordered. "Make it hurt."
The Brainiac bots turned their attention towards Superman in the air. Two of them used their first attack by shooting their wires towards the Man of Steel in the calculated percentage of hitting him. Naturally those proved false. Superman took hold of both of them mid-shot, and held onto them so tight that they began to crack.
With a cocky smirk on his face, he pulled one of the claws towards him, thus sending one of the minions his way. Once close enough, he let go of its wire, and dealt a devastating punch right into its bony cheek with enough force to create its own shock wave, and sent the creature flying right into the wall.
He brought the second one over with both hands, and clasped his hands together to finish it with a double axe handle punch straight into the ground. The impact had created a crater in the robot's wake, as it practically shattered once it hit.
The third robot planted its feet into the ground with wires coming from its legs. It opened its arms wide, as they revealed to have strange circular vents going across them. It's mouth unhinged to reveal another vent that was lodged in its throat. Superman braced for what he knew would come next.
A wave of pressure from its sonic emitters hit the Man of Steel with a heavy dose of sensory overload. It was intense enough to get him out of the air and back onto the ground to cover his ears. Though it didn't hurt him as intensely as he expected, his hearing, vision, and all other heightened senses were being turned to a level that struck agony into Superman. He was going to bleed if he didn't stop it quickly.
As such, Clark looked into the eye of the storm. His eyes began to glow a hue of red, before emitting thick beams of intense heat from his eyes, that burned through the sonic emitters and burn through the last robot left standing like a hot knife on butter. He took a deep breath as his senses quickly returned back to normal.
He turned his attention back towards the witch, who stood there—dumbfounded at how easily her three new minions were dispatched.
"So then, anymore subordinates for me to get rid of, or are you ready to surrender peacefully?" Superman asked.
"Heh, so you're not as bad as I thought you'd be..." She said, "But I doubt someone as noble as you would lack a conscience." She rose her arms into the air as she faced the unconscious women on the floor. "Now rise, my vessels who have given your energy to the Great Ruler! Awaken!"
The moment she said that, the woman had all begun to rise to their feet and faced Superman with the same, glowing eyes. This was clearly a trance, but Clark wondered if it was from the witches own abilities, or the work of Brainiac? Since now wasn't the time to tell, he focused on how he was go about defeating these possessed women. Never mind chivalry, he needed to worry about how much he needed to hold back so as to not seriously harm them.
"Well, this just became a hassle..." Superman said to himself.
Meanwhile, the witch behind the army of women began cackling as she sent them marching towards the Man of Steel. He prepared to face off the hoard with as little strength as possible.
"That's enough, you witch!"
The voice of a young girl had come from the entrance of the jewelry store. Both the witch and Superman's eyes centered towards the door; there stood a lone girl who looked to be in her early teens.
"It's the girl from earlier..." Superman said with a confused look on his face. "But...what is she wearing?"
The blond, pig-tailed girl was now dressed in a rather strange outfit;
It resembled a Japanese sailor school uniform but of a white leotard with a blue collar of three stripes on it, a red neckband with a crescent moon on the front, white shoulder pads, white long gloves, gold earrings with crescent moons, and red circular hairpieces in the balls of her pigtails. On her forehead is a golden tiara with a red gem in its center, while a brooch was worn on the red bow of her chest that seemed to be made of actual gold. On her lower half was an unusually short blue skirt, a red bow on the back of the waist, and a pair of red, knee-high boots.
"Oookay...?" Superman said to himself with even more confusion.
"And just who the hell are you?" The witch asked with Superman silently agreeing. "If you're here to stop me, then you're only wasting your—"
"KYAAAAA~ Oh my gosh!"
The young girl ran right past the witch with a shove, and through the army of women like their were made of paper, just for her to stop right in front of a startled Superman with whimsical eyes that sparkles in those blue orbs of hers. The goofy smile only added to the fangirling she was doing.
"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" She exclaimed in excitement. "Y-You're really him! You're THE Superman! I-I don't know what to say! Ican'tbelieveIactuallygettoseeyouinpersonI'vealwayswantedtomeetyou orsolongit'ssocoolthatIgettoseeyouhereandnowtslikeadreamcometrue! Its so great to meet you!" She finished all of that with a hand held out for him to shake.
"Um...yes, uh, likewise..." Superman said with a nervous smile as she shook her hand. "I assume you must be...Sailor V?"
"Eh? Sailor V?" The girl wondered.
Just then, the witch had risen off of the ground and roared a shriek that hurt both Superman and the sailor heroine's ears.
"You! How dare you shove me like that?-!" She yelled bitterly. "Just who the hell do you think you are?-!"
"Oh, me? I'm, uh...O-Oh, yeah...!"
The pig-tailed girl suddenly got into stance as she faced the witch. "I am the Pretty Guardian, who fights for love and for justice!" She stood in her signature pose with determination in her eyes. "I am Sailor Moon! And now in the name of the moon, I will punish you~"
...
...
...
"...um...what?" Superman questioned.
Just as the moment passed, the girl named Sailor Moon's face immediately grew a beet red as she began to feel the full extent of embarrassment for not only doing that ridiculous pose, but also doing it in front of her idol.
"P-Please forget everything you just saw...okay?" She pleaded timidly towards Superman.
"O-Oh, of course..." Superman agreed.
"AAAAUGH! Enough of this foolishness! You think those stupid catchphrases are enough to stop me?-! In your dreams, little girl!" The witch exclaimed. "Now my minions; destroy them!"
The possessed women all regrouped and slowly moved in on the both of them like a mob. Their eyes glowed with an almost yellow hue the closer they stepped in unison. Superman had already scanned their brains for any abnormalities; nothing that belonged to Brainiac, but their was a strange mist that completely submerged their brains in a billow of smoke.
"Oh no...!" Sailor Moon panicked. "N-Now what do we do...?"
"Sailor Moon, watch out!"
Sailor Moon reacted by narrowly jumping out of the way of one of the women jumping towards her. She continued this by dodging at the right time to avoid attacks.
Meanwhile, Superman opted to take them head on. They would come running at him with little strategy or tactics, and allowed Superman to get behind them to give them a light chop to the neck. It was enough to at least put them in an unconscious state. But with one he took down, another bunch came right behind that one. It almost felt never ending with how many kept coming at them. Superman had to be extra careful not to hurt them.
At one point, Sailor Moon had narrowly escaped being stabbed by a broken glass bottle, that shattered upon hitting the ground. Sailor Moon fell back and was against the wall with barely any will or strength to stand up right away.
"Ah! I'm bleeding!" She cried at the sight of her scrapped knee. "I don't like this...!"
"Sailor Moon!" Superman called. He tried to go towards her, but was overwhelmed by the possessed women, who all came running towards him. He began to realize that even the ones he previously knocked out were getting back up again.
Meanwhile from behind the front desk, a familiar black cat came running towards her aid.
"Sailor Moon, what're you doing?" Luna whispered. "You need to fight back too! Superman can only do so much against humans! You have to attack and defeat them and that monster!"
Sailor Moon took one good look at the monster floating above the scene with that cackling laugh of hers. that coupled with seeing Superman having a difficult time with the possessed women only added to the fear that was slowly settling inside of her. She felt as though she was way over her head to even come to the jewelry store like this. She had only recently gotten the weird school costume a few minutes ago, and now she was expected to fight? That was asking way to much from a fourteen-year-old girl so suddenly. Sailor Moon began to tear up and tremble against the wall.
"B-But...But I...!" She uttered on the verge of tears. "I can't...I just...!"
"Eugh! Sailor Moon!"
The pig-tailed girl turned her attention back towards the Man of Steel, who had successfully gotten the possessed women off of him without harming them too badly. He flew towards Sailor Moon and took a knee by her side.
"Are you alright?" Superman asked with his most comforting tone.
"U-Um...Yes..." She nodded.
"So, this is what you're a guardian for?" Superman said to Luna.
"Hey, cut me some slack; I never said she'd be 100% prepared for everything!"
"W-What?-! You just thought throwing me into all of this was okay?-! And now, because of that, I...I...!" She could barely form the words without letting the tears fall down her rosy cheeks. "I-I can't do this...this is too scary...! I don't even know how to use these powers...! I don't know anything about what's happening to me...! I-I just—"
"Shhhh, it's alright." Superman assured her. "Here's what I need you to do, okay?"
"O-Okay..." She sniffed.
"Just close your eyes...focus on me."
"But...!"
"Don't worry. Just close your eyes."
"O-Okay..." Sailor Moon mumbled. She did as he said and closed her eyes.
"Now...focus on my voice." Clark told her in a calming voice. "Pretend its an island...out in the ocean...can you see it? When you can, swim towards it."
Sailor Moon grew calm. her mind had suddenly blocked out all other noises. She felt as though there was no immediate danger surrounding her. Sailor Moon began to see something appear within her mind. She envisioned his voice as an actual island; one that had everything she could ever hope for—there was sweets, jewelry, a new outfit, and...something else...something she'd never seen before. It glowed so brightly, and yet, it didn't blind her. Instead, it seemed to grow closer. The closer it got, the clearer it became. She reached out for it, and almost felt its warm sensation in the palm of her hand.
It was so close...so close...so—
Without warning, Sailor Moon was brought back to reality by the sound of something hitting the wall beside her. It revealed to be Superman, who had been pushed back by the floating witch, with her hands glowing in white flames. It didn't seem to affect Superman that badly as he brushed it off like it was nothing.
"Sailor Moon, are you okay?" Superman asked.
"Y-Yes but...I-I...!" Sailor Moon tried to explain what she saw, but couldn't coherently form it into words. "I-I don't know..."
"AGH! Enough prattling about! Its time I finish you both!"
The witch's arms grew to unbelievable length as it came rushing for the two with the creaking sound of a tree. Superman was prepared to incinerate the arm with his heat vision if he had to, while Sailor Moon braced herself for the worst.
Just as the arm came within inches of attacking them, it suddenly stopped dead in its tracks. What stopped it? Nothing more then a single red rose that shot into the floor.
"A rose...?" Superman said in disbelief.
All eyes, including Superman, Luna, and Sailor Moon's, shot towards an opening in one of the high balcony of the store. It was there that a mysterious fellow stood in all his pride.
A young man dressed in a white dress shirt and bow tie, over a white vest and a black tuxedo with white gloves. What added to the look was a pair of white gloves, a flowing black and red cape, a black top hat, and a white domino mask.
"Another one? Who are you suppose to be?-!" The witch demanded.
"I am known as Tuxedo Mask." The man said.
Superman side-eyed Sailor Moon out of curiosity. "Friend of yours?"
"No...?" She said at first.
"Sailor Moon..."
"...Maybe...?" She said with a confused look on her face.
"...you have to remember that crying isn't going to solve any of your problems."
"Y-Yeah, maybe not, but...! But...!" Sailor Moon began to doubt herself again. "I don't think I can..."
She suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked to see it belonged to Superman, who was by her side.
"You can do this, Sailor Moon." Superman said. "I know it must be hard to have to go through this with no real understanding of the outcome, but trust me; I know what it's like. Sometimes you just gotta take a leap of faith. Trust part comes later."
"Leap of faith..."
Sailor Moon could see the confidence in Superman's eyes. He truly believed that she had what it took to do something about all this. But why did he trust her so much? If it were him, he could take all these ladies down without a sweat, so why did he want her to do it? To prove herself? What was there to prove? So many questions floated around her head that she couldn't make sense of which one she needed to focus on.
Instead, she did what Superman said and wiped the tears from her eyes. If the Man of Steel had faith in her to do what was needed, then so did she.
"Right!" Sailor Moon said boldly. She stood back up to face the flying witch; though still scared, she wanted to show that she had what it took to take that leap of faith by herself. "I'm ready!"
"Now that sounds like a hero." Superman said. "Since we got that outta the way..."
Superman stood in front of Sailor Moon and planted his feet to the ground. Coming at him was a hoard of possessed women who had broken glass and other makeshift weapons in hand. The Man of Steel opened his hands wide just as they were close enough to them. Once the time was right, Superman clapped his hands together, and sent a shock wave through the jewelry store, that not only did the windows shatter, but it was even accompanied with the sound of a lightning strike. The clap was effective enough as the possessed women all suddenly fell to the floor; both unconscious or exhausted from their energy being drained.
"W-What...?-! No!" The witch yelled.
"You could've done that earlier, y'know..." Sailor Moon mentioned.
"True...but then you wouldn't have learned a lesson." Superman noted.
"You bet she wouldn't have." Luna agreed. "Now, Sailor Moon, use your tiara and yell 'Moon Tiara Action!'"
"W-Wha...? Why would I wanna do that?" Sailor Moon said with doubt. "What's gonna happen—"
"Just do it already!" Luna yelled.
"Okay, okay!"
Sailor Moon reached for her tiara; it glowed as bright as the actual moon and was removed from her head like magic. The tiara then became a glowing disk that levitated off of the prints of her fingers.
"Moon Tiara! Action!" Sailor Moon called.
She gracefully tossed the tiara towards the floating witch like a Frisbee and watched in glow brighter, and brighter by the second. Its heat was far too intense for the witch to take as it began to slowly incinerate her into dust from toe to head. She let out a shrill scream, before finally dissipating into a pile of dust on the red carpet below. Before she vanished completely, all of the souls that she had taken, swam back into the many unconscious women.
Sailor Moon called her tiara back to her; it returned to be a normal golden headpiece that instantly went back to her forehead.
"Whoa...! That...was...AWESOME!" Sailor Moon cheered. "I actually did it!"
"Yes, you did..." Superman agreed. "See? All it took was a little effort and believing in—"
"Well done, Sailor Moon."
Sailor Moon's attention turned upward towards the mysterious Tuxedo Mask, who was just about to disappear out of the balcony window, and into the night.
"My work here is done. I will not soon forget this night."
"But you didn't do anything..." Superman mumbled.
Without another word, the mysterious Tuxedo mask leaps from the balcony with his cape masking his exit and goes into the starry moonlight, with rose petals in his wake to remember him by.
"Well, he's...theatrical." Superman said. For a moment the image of his companion in Gotham popped into his head.
"Yes, well, he is right." Luna said, "You did good, Sailor Moon...Sailor Moon?"
Sailor Moon was far too distracted with hearts in her eyes to even begin to hear what they were saying. She couldn't help but go red in the face at the mere memory of the handsome Tuxedo Mask, who inspired her to stand up and fight off those possessed women, and defeat the evil witch...despite the fact that Superman did all that. Even still, she was immediately smitten by him, with daydreams of romance and white horses fluttering her thoughts.
"He's soooo cute~" Sailor Moon swooned.
A collective sigh arose from both Superman and Luna.
Suddenly, just beyond the distance, Superman could hear the sounds of sirens approaching not too far from the store.
"I think our work here is done as well." Superman suggested. "The police are on their way."
"AH! Oh no! I won't be able to get out of here in time! Oh, Mom's gonna kill me if I get arrested!" Sailor Moon exclaimed.
Superman didn't want this young girl getting into trouble, however the police would want to know whose responsible for saving these women. He doubted the police would believe that an evil witch knocked out all these women and used them as possessed dolls. Ironic they would believe a flying alien man exist but not witches. wouldn't be the first time.
Superman offered his hand to Sailor Moon, who looked at it first, then up at the smiling boy in blue.
"Come on." Superman said, "A good job deserves a reward."
"Huh? A Reward?"
"Here ya are! One triple-flavored, whip cream surprise with a waffle cone and choco stix~"
The ice cream sundae was even better then she had originally imagined it. She was practically drooling at the sight of the delicacy. She never did have it in her to buy one, because she feared it would get in the way of her diet. However, she felt this was an exception. Besides, she was invited by the great Superman, so who was she to deny. She was just happy that she got to go to her favorite ice cream parlor tonight. She also fortunate that it was nearly empty too with only about 1 or 2 other customers in, and only one server. She was also lucky they allowed small pets into the ice cream parlor. Luna was all tuckered out from today and decided to sleep on Sailor Moon's lap.
"Itadakimaaasu~ " She said gleefully. She took her first bite into the ice cream, and immediately lit up light a Christmas tree. "Mmmm! It's so good~ I could practically die eating this~"
"Heh, yes, well let's try to not let that happen." Clark said, eating his own sundae with a spoon.
"Oh, what's that you got on yours?" Sailor Moon asked.
"This? Just a lil something I usually got back in Kansas." Superman said, "It's called The Rocky Mountain; three scoops of caremel under whip cream, nuts, and two bananas with cherrys on top."
"Sounds yummy...wait...you said your from Kansas?" Sailor Moon asked. "Where's that?"
"It's in the States." Superman answered. "I had my fondest memories there. It's where I was born."
"Wow. So you were born here on Earth?"
"Not...exactly." Superman explained. "I was found in Kansas. I'm actually not even from this planet."
"Oh, right! I heard about that from my friends at sc—I-I mean, from citizens across the city!" She quickly corrected. "They say that you're actually a scary alien who came from another planet in order to destroy us all..."
"Did they...?"
"Yeah. They said those red eyes of yours are just itching to burn people, and that you pretend to be hopeful; even though you have the power to destroy any and everything in your path. They said you're just a monster..."
Of course that was to be expected. Not much has changed since then it seemed.
He remembered those first two years. He remembered them all too well. He recalled the struggles of trying to be accepted by humanity and help them to understand that he was no threat. Despite all his efforts of helping people, and doing the right thing, they still judged him as either a god pretending to be human, or a dangerous alien who would one day kill them all. Sure there were a small portion who didn't think the way others did back then, but...it was always the loudest voices that reached the farthest.
All he wanted to do was protect the world. Instead he was further rejected by it, simply for being different. He had lost hope back then; not only in humanity, but in himself, and was simply saving people because of some semblance of still wanting to do the right thing. Deep down, he felt it was more of on obligation that he put on himself—to hold the world on his shoulders, the bear the curse of humanity, and to see the fall of man no matter how hard he tried. After a while, it almost felt meaningless, like the anxiety of it all was too much for just him to bare. There were times where he felt like giving up...to put an end to Superman...
But...
"...but...I don't think that's true."
Superman looked back at Sailor Moon, as she stared into her sundae.
"I don't think you're a monster..." She said. "I think you're just as good as anyone. I think when something bad happens, you're the first to want to make it right. When someone needs help, you want to do your best to help them. When everything seems scary and dark...you give it light."
She turned her blue eyes towards the Man of Steel and with a bright smile on her face, she completely threw Superman into an emotional loop.
"That's what makes you so cool, Superman. When things look bad, you still have hope that everything will turn out okay. Yeah, bad stuff will happen, and yeah, it won't all be good...but at least you still have hope that it will be better...and maybe...I can be like that too...with these new powers I have, maybe, just maybe...I can be Hopeful too."
And just like that, there it was. There was the small glimmer of light that shinned through the dark. He had almost forgotten about it those first few years of being Superman; lost in his own grief and the rejection man threw at him...until he met Lois. Then he remembered his mother, his father, Jimmy, Mr. White, and so many others. He remembered Krypton, his real parents, his loved ones, all of them. They were that small glimmer of light that lit the way through so much of the grimdark. Of course that darkness didn't go away, but...it got easier to see the light.
Now here he was, many years later, able to save the defenseless, beat all odds, prevent catastrophes to the best of his abilities, and finally do what he had always promised both his human parents, and Kryptonian parents that he would strive towards.
He had finally become hope. And now with Sailor Moon...it felt that much brighter.
"You will."
Sailor Moon looked into Superman's eyes and saw such sincerity in them, that told her he meant it.
"You'll give the people of this city an ideal to strive towards...they'll race behind you...stumble...fall...but in time, they'll join you in the Moon...in time..." He offered a fist to her with a bright smile on his face, "...you'll help them all accomplish wonders. Can you do that for me, Sailor Moon?"
Sailor Moon didn't know what to say. Thank him? Tell him he's the real hero? or keep eating? Either way, she couldn't keep the big, goofy smile off of her face. She felt lighter then she ever had before. It was like all her woes were washed away. She didn't even care about the 30% on her test, or whatever new monsters would come. She felt ready to take on the world, just like Superman.
She clenched her fist and pressed it onto Superman's.
"You bet." She said happily. "We both can."