Act one: Sailor Moon
Trunks sat at the kitchen counter, sipping at his coffee, listening with growing irritation to the alarm clock that blared for the fifth straight minute. The headline had caught his attention, and he was reading the article intently. It seemed there was a new super hero running around.
"This Sailor V person is amazing. A human who can do this kind of thing is pretty unusual…" he said to himself, setting the mug down, one that his daughter had made for him years ago, while in daycare. Speaking of the girl, he frowned at looked up at the ceiling.
"Get up!" he shouted, before flipping the page. The alarm finally ended and he sighed in relief. It wasn't long before the girl came down the stairs, yawning and trying to put her hair up.
"If you'd go to sleep at reasonable times on the weekends, I wouldn't have to yell."
"But I wanted to beat my high score in Sailor V," she said in her defense, straightening her shirt out.
"Yeah, and one of these days, father is going to demand I put my foot down on your training. When that day comes," he began, looking back at her "and it WILL come, I'd rather make the transition a little easier for me."
Serenity just gave an impish grin. "Don't worry, papa. I'm always good when 'jiisan demands it."
He didn't believe her, and he didn't argue.
"Hey, papa… can I have some money for the arcade? Goten-oji's coming by to take me there, but I'm… kind of out."
"You have a card in your name," he reminded, not looking up from getting the mug rinsed out.
"Yes. It's in MY name. I'm not going out under my real name, you know that."
Trunks groaned. This whole thing was annoying, but what could he do? Serenity couldn't have a real life if it got out who she was. Most would treat her like some kind of damn celebrity; others might not take her seriously.
"Fine. How much?" He reached to pull his wallet out, before yelling and having it wrestled away from him by the teen who was quicker than he liked to admit. She had the bill in hand and took off out the door, where he caught a glimpse of Goten. It was a team effort!
"Hey! Not fair!" he shouted in vain. Serenity – who went under the pseudo name of Bunny Tsukino whilst in public – was gone.
Goten walked with Bunny to the arcade. She was bouncing along, excited over the prospect of a new game to play.
"You think they'll have the new Sailor V game?" she wondered. Goten shrugged, not knowing.
"You keep up with that more than I do." He lazily glanced around, watching a girl with a bow in her hair walk out of the arcade. As he went to hold the door open for her, a group of kids in uniform walked past them. One of them, a girl with wavy, brown hair looked up to see her. She seemed confused to not see her in a school uniform.
"Hi there. What school are you from?" she wondered. Bunny froze for a moment or two, looking over to the small group standing there.
"Uh, school?"
"Yeah. You don't have a uniform on, classes would have just let out… did you skip?"
"She's gonna go to Mugen," Goten responded at once. Bunny wasn't a good liar, he knew that. He usually stepped in for her, which was most of the time. They glanced over at him. "They're starting up a martial arts program. Right now, she's homeschooled."
"Ooooh. That makes sense! You're gonna get into Mugen? Oh! I'm sorry for being rude, my name is Naru, this geek is Umino," she said, motioning to the boy with thick glasses "and these are some of my friends. We need to go study, and-"
"You look like Serenity Briefs," came the boy's voice. Umino pulled out a magazine that had a picture of her in it. Bunny worried he might be a fan.
"She's not Serenity Briefs, dummy!" Naru chided. "Serenity wears her hair really fancy, not in that style!"
Bunny nervously tugged a blonde pigtail as Goten finally shut the arcade door. That seemed to satisfy the boy, who nodded, putting it away. "Did you see the Tenkaichi Budokai, the one two years ago?"
Neither Goten nor Bunny said anything, they just nodded.
"She's the strongest person in the world, she threw Mister Satan out of the ring with one hand!" Umino began to ramble on and on, until Bunny stepped in to stop him.
"Uh… well, my name is Tsukino Bunny, I'm gonna hang out here for a while… wanna… come play Sailor V with me?" she asked. Goten knew how hard it was for her to make friends, she wasn't used to socializing like this, out of her element.
"I'd love to!" Naru said, until Umino stopped her.
"Your mom said straight to cram school and home, after that last test grade."
"Well if you hadn't BRAGGED about your A, we couldn't be doing this, WOULD WE?" Naru demanded, grabbing his ear and dragging him off. Goten laughed, ushering Bunny inside.
"Kids today."
Bunny giggled as well, before yelping, having run in to something tall. She was a little dazed, when she heard a voice saying "watch it, Odango!"
That sent a jolt through her. "Buns! BUNS! These are BUNS, NOT ODANGOS, YOU JERK!" Goten came to see what was wrong, only to see Bunny had run into a strange man, someone wearing formal attire. How could he stand to wear that monkey suit? He looked like a penguin. The man just smiled at the fact he'd made her mad and went about his business, looking to a jewelry store that was having a big sale.
A moment's thought passed and he looked back to the arcade, suddenly wanting to go back in and talk to that girl with the odango hairstyle, but shook the thought from his head.
'I can't concern myself with a familiar face. I have to find the Ginzuishou.'
"…and the nerve of that guy, just running in to me and then saying that about my hair, I don't believe him!" Bunny ranted on, causing Goten to laugh as she did. She only paused in her rantings of a mad woman to get game tokens with the money her father had given her. Motoki was on duty again, and Bunny had a crush on him.
Once the tokens were secure, she turned back to Goten, still fuming, though noticeably less now. Goten peered out the window, blinking as he saw a cat watching them. It was like it was staring right at them, and a moment later, it darted off. Weird.
"So, I'm about to lose two hours of my life again, right?" he asked. It was a question that fell upon deaf ears; Bunny was plastered to the new Sailor V game.
"That a 'yes', then?" Not bothering to wait on an answer, Goten went to play the crane game, cursing under his breath as he lost several times in a row.
The hours passed too quickly for Bunny and too slowly for Goten. When she ran out of tokens, still unable to beat the high score of some 'Aino3', she got up, announcing she wanted to leave. For someone not actually related to Bulma, the girl sure ACTED like her granddaughter.
"I want a nap," she realized, stretching to try and fight off the throes of sleep.
"I can take you back to your grandmother's, if you want. I need to meet Gohan there, anyway."
Bunny nodded a little, walking out of the arcade, waving a goodbye to Motoki and went to ramble on about something when she saw a little black cat. It was watching her, like it wanted to say something to her. That kind of creeped her out.
"Uh, Goten-oji? Is… is the kitty staring at us?" she asked in a whisper. He peered over, frowning.
"Shoo!" he said, motioning with his hand. The cat didn't bolt off at once. It made a step towards Bunny, before turning and going another way, its tail lazily waving behind it.
"I saw it outside the arcade watching us. I think it's a stray."
Bunny kept walking on, scratching the back of her head, Goten following after her. They talked the entire way, everything they could think of, from Bunny's new favorite movie plot to her latest test score.
"Gohan said you should do some more studying. This C average isn't cutting it, if you want in Mugen. You'll have to bring it up to a B, at the least," he warned. "There's a new cram school, called Crystal. If you go there, you'll probably be able to bring your grade up and shut him up."
"Aw, but then I can't hang out with you, Goten-oji!" Bunny announced, grabbing on to his arm. "Hey, hey, carry me!"
"You're heavy."
"Aw, you used to carry me everywhere!"
Goten just stared down at her. Oh, he wasn't REALLY her uncle, it was something Trunks got her to say, calling him her uncle. "When you were four. You're fourteen now. You're heavy."
Bunny just giggled, leaning her head on his shoulder as they entered the rear of Capsule Corporation. She had a bedroom here, and she'd been known to spend several days in a row here. She was SUPPOSED to train when she was here, as her grandfather refused, REFUSED to let her be weak. But she wasn't the best student, and she'd just try to hide most of the time. Why would she ever need to fight?
"How rude!" a female voice came, waking her at once. Sitting on the bed right next to her was that black cat! Bunny sighed a little and went to pet her, thinking for a moment, the cat had spoken.
"Wow...you scared me kitty. How'd you get that bald spot?" she wondered, running her thumb over it. The cat's fur stood on end, and it seemed offended. Bunny went to lift her up to put her outside the window once more.
"What a rude girl you are!" it announced. Bunny shrieked, dropping the cat and slapping her hands over her mouth. She looked to the door, worried someone would come running, but no one seemed to have heard her. "This isn't a bald spot, and my name is not 'Kitty'. My name is Luna, and I have been sent to find you, Serenity Briefs."
Bunny kept staring, her eyes wide. Her chest burned as she watched the talking cat, the diamond-shaped birthmark was burning, something it had never done before. It was as if she knew this cat from somewhere.
"Not a word of this to anyone, Serenity Briefs. Or would you prefer I call you by your other name, 'Bunny'? Not as though it matters, what DOES, however, is that I have been searching for you for many years. You see, I've been sent to… let's say 'awaken' you. It took me a long time, but I found the password."
Bunny kept staring, not sure if she was dreaming. Her chest tightened, the uncomfortable pain was her reality check. The cat, Luna, made a little motion with her head and a dull 'thud' was heard behind the teen. Turning, she saw a brooch laying on her pillow, sliding off it. Circular with four little gems sticking out the sides of it. Red, Green, Blue, Yellow… a crescent shape – a 'moon' if she recalled – and a teardrop under that. Everything was dulled, though, like it needed cleaning.
"That is what you're going to use to transform. My power isn't fully restored, and until we find the others, this is as far as you go. Your password is 'Moon Prism Power, Make-Up'!"
She didn't know what to do. She wanted to think it was a dream, praying for it to be a dream. If it was, it wouldn't hurt to try, would it?
She threw her hand into the air, calling out "Moon Prism Power, Make-Up!"
In seconds she had changed. Her clothing was different. She rushed to the mirror to see what had happened. A body suit, a short skirt, a sailor collar, long gloves, a tiara, gems clipped to her buns. There were wing clips in her hair, a bow with that broach clipped to it on her chest, big boots and a white mask on her eyes.
She looked down at the short skirt and her eyes bulged. "If I get caught in this, I'll be killed!"
Luna was less than impressed at her attitude. "Show spine! You are the warrior sworn to protect the princess!" the cat announced, moments before a loud yell came across the room. Bunny ripped the mask from her eyes as sound poured out from the gems in her buns.
She stared. That girl from earlier – her name was Naru, right? – was being attacked by something. Bunny recognized the place as being a high-end jewelry store she'd frequented before going by her 'new' name. Osa*P.
"Your friend is in danger, Bunny. You have to help her!"
With a nod, still not fully rooted in the concept that this was real, she opened the window to call out for Nimbus, needing a fast way to get there. Superheros didn't take the bus, after all.
Luna was on her head, biting down. "If you shout, someone might hear! You need to fly!"
"I can't!"
"You don't have your normal Ki energy! It has been altered to that of a Lunarian, which is what you were in your previous life! You have enough power; just use it to propel yourself forward!"
Bunny took Luna in her arms and after a shaky start, managed to lift herself into the air with a huge smile. "Luna, I'm flying! Just like papa! I'm finally able to fly!"
Luna didn't seem too thrilled with her ability and just held on. "Enjoy it while it lasts. As soon as you transform back, your Ki will revert back to its original state. This change will always occur during transformation," the feline explained. Bunny nodded and flew on, unknowingly being followed. Goten had spotted an oddly dressed girl, similar in style to Sailor V, fly overhead and decided to check it out.
'Who the hell is she? She looks familiar…'
"Where is it? Where is it? I must have it! The Ginzuishou!" the monster roared, looking to Naru who just cowered there, helplessly.
"I...I don't know what you're talking about!" Naru yelled. The monster tossed her to a corner before going back to raid the jewelry. She struck her head and began to cry from the pain.
On a window ledge, a man in a grey uniform with red trim, uncaring of the girl's pain, paced. He had a damaged blade at his side, a remnant of a fight from long ago. His thoughts were dark, if he couldn't find it this time, his queen would have his head. He tossed a ball of fire up and down in his head like a ball.
"Well?"
"I can't find it, lord Jadeite," it whined.
The ball of fire vanished and he rubbed his temples. If she hadn't betrayed them, they wouldn't be in this mess right now. Forty years of searching, lost. They'd had one, SHE had to go and kill her… they'd had the other, and THAT ONE was taken from them as well! And to make things worse, he'd chosen in a hurry, this store was targeted only because it was a good distance from the last place Sailor V had been seen.
She'd already done in one of his minions on her own.
"Keep looking! I want this place tore off its foundation if you have to!" he roared, throwing a new flame at the monster, which roared in agony from the abuse. "If we don't find it, it'll be YOUR head, not mine!"
Bunny was around the corner, peering in as she held Luna in her arms. The heat from the flames convinced her she wasn't dreaming. She didn't see Goten hiding, watching her…
"Luna, this's real," she whimpered, scooting back. Her chest burned and she winced from it. She didn't mention the pain, so Luna didn't even know it was there.
"This is your destiny, Bunny!" the furry guardian announced. Goten's jaw hit the floor. He had half a mind to go over and demand to know what was going on, but then… he'd have to explain he'd heard a cat giving her orders, and that wouldn't go well. Praying that Bunny had been trained enough to get out of this, he just listened and watched as Bunny jumped in through a window.
"Who's there?" Jadeite roared, drawing his weapon. He relaxed, though, when he saw her there. "No. You're not Sailor V."
"Who are you?" the monster demanded, moving closer to her.
For the longest time, Bunny didn't know what to say. Then, something came forward. It was as if someone else was speaking for her.
"I am the beautiful Sailor Suited warrior for Love and Justice who takes charge of the soul, I am Sailor Moon, and in place of the Moon, you'll be punished!" she announced.
'How the hell does she know what the Moon is?' Goten wondered, looking up at the sky, to see an unfamiliar sight. He'd never seen it, either, but he'd seen pictures, he'd heard stories. How was it possible for it to be there?
"I'm not afraid of a mere fairytale!" Jadeite announced, though he stepped back. He gave a command in an unknown language, and the monster lunged for Bunny – Sailor Moon? Goten's first instinct was to go in, but he was rooted to the spot.
Moon was thrown back, skinning her knee. Blood seeped down, staining the white boot.
"I-it isn't a dream… This is REAL! I wanna go home, I want my papa!" she shrieked, causing the gems in her hair amplifying the cries a thousand-fold. Glass shattered around her, and Goten clamped his hands to his sensitive ears. His cries of pain were masked by the monster.
"Sailor Moon, pull your tiara off!"
Moon looked at Luna, before doing as she was told. The moment it was free, it snapped into an oval shape. The cat went to say something else, but Moon acted on instinct.
"Moon Frisbee Action!"
The monster was sliced in half, her death cries masking Jadeites curses. He knocked the weapon away as it came for him and vanished in a portal of dark, swirling energy. Sailor Moon picked it up off the ground and put it back on, when something caught her ears.
"Good show, Sailor Moon."
She looked up to see a man standing there, wearing a tuxedo, his eyes covered. He looked familiar to her.
"If I know your name, it's only fair to tell you mine. I am Tuxedo Kamen, and I look forward to our next meeting." He bowed low, before leaving. She didn't have time to go after him, she stopped to see Goten standing there, looking at her as though she'd grown an extra head.
"So, Bunny. Do you want to tell your father? Or do I get to?" he demanded. Moon felt sick to her stomach.
"Goten-oji! No, don't tell papa!" He kept his stern look up, before reaching and putting his hand on her head, watching as the outfit she was wearing began to shimmer and sparkle, fading away. Luna hopped into her arms, and Goten teleported them both out of there before Naru could come to her senses.
"…six o'clock. In other news, it now seems that resident super heroine, Sailor V, has new help, in the form of a girl calling herself 'Sailor Moon'. Witnesses claim-"
Trunks flipped the television off. Bunny would have liked to have seen the broadcast, he was sure, but she was sleeping. She'd been caught up in that fight, and had been knocked out. He'd tried getting the security tapes of the fight, but they were missing.
"Well, that's certainly a new one. Wonder who they are?" he asked Goten, who was lying on the couch, trying to take a nap, letting his mind wander…
Thirteen years ago, Bunny had been left on Trunks' doorstep with a note. That note had been the one Luna had been looking for, and it had contained the password to transformation, in a line none of them had been able to read. But who had left it? They had so many possibilities; it hurt his head to think about it.
They had their work cut out for them.
