Cyber Moon: Chronicles.
Act 4: Dark Moon Rising.
Episode 37: Mecha-Senshi?
By Razor Knight
Last update: August 27, 2007
"She looks really lonely," Usagi noted.
"Who?" Naru asked.
"Hotaru," Usagi said pointing at one of the other lunch tables. The dark-haired girl was sitting alone in a corner of the classroom.
"Maybe she wants to be alone," Mako said.
Usagi sighed. "Why would she want that?"
"Guess someone like you would never understand, Rabbit." Terry said seriously.
Usagi sighed again and looked out the window. Ami got a thoughtful look for a second, then looked at Terry. "Think that mantis was the last enemy we'll see?"
"Not likely," Terry said. "For starters, I bet there's more of its 'kin' out there."
"Hi guys!" Umino exclaimed popping in-between Ami and Terry.
"Target acquired. Initiate elimination protocol," Hotaru said in a cold, monotone voice from behind him, making him jump.
"How the heck do you do that?"
"Do what? I'm just deadly silent," Hotaru said keeping her neutral face, then walked back to her seat.
"Anyways," Umino muttered, "did you guys hear the news?"
Ami nodded. "A meteorite crashed in Juuban Park, but when the army went to investigate, it was gone."
"Think someone stole it?" Naru asked.
"What for?" Terry pondered.
"One of my sources said he saw a couple floating energy spheres flying over Juuban minutes after the crash," Umino noted. "Maybe the meteorite wasn't just a rock. It's weird, I think someone should investigate the matter further."
Ami and Terry looked at each other, and they knew they were thinking alike.
Just then, two more students walked in. Both had brown hair and eyes, were sligthly taller than the rest of the class, not counting Mako and Terry, and were chatting animously as they sat near Usagi and her friends.
"Natsumi and Seijuro Ginga," Umino said before anyone could ask. "Not a lot about them is known, but they are said to..."
Natsumi coughed a bit too loud. "We're here and we're hearing you, you know?"
Seijuro smiled. "Lots of pretty girls, I'm already liking this school." Natsumi glared at him for a second then shook her head.
"Tough luck, my friends are mostly taken," Terry said.
"And I'm not interested," Mako added.
"Uh... Same," Ami said shyly.
"A pity," Seijuro said. 'Humans are amusing,' he thought.
'Indeed,' he heard Natsumi's voice in his mind. 'It's a pity we'll probably have to drain them to survive.'
Mako crashed to the ground and flinched. Terry didn't laugh, his friends noticed he was quite serious when training. "You really need to learn how to use that sword, Mako."
"I could just punch things down like I always do," Mako said staggering up.
"What's the fun in that, when you can chop them to pieces?" Brad mused.
"Besides," Terry said, "the swords give you an upgrade in power. It'd be foolish not to use that advantage in combat."
"You have two swords, how come you're not stronger than us?" Naru asked.
"Easy, I'm the Mercury Dragon, Saturn is not my planet. While I know I could be stronger using it's power too, I'm not sure what would happen if I tried."
"Don't risk it."
Terry turned to see the three Mooncats standing near the practice mat. "Well, I was starting to wonder if you'd just vanished."
"We've been busy," Luna said. "We have some clues on that meteorite crash, and most likely we'll be facing a new alien enemy soon."
"'We'?" Terry muttered.
"We did our part, we're not the warriors," Artemis noted. "Anyhow, Luna's right, don't try to use both your Mercury and Saturn swords' powers... If you're not compatible with both, you'll be lucky to be alive afterwards."
Shade nodded. "I can remember one case of someone that tried, one of the Nemesis Dragons who tried to use the sword of his fallen love, the Mars Senshi of that epoque."
"And what happened?" Rei asked.
"He did gain access to Mars' power for a short time, more than enough to fry the enemy that had killed Sailor Mars. But he only lived long enough to see his enemy vanish, then fell to the ground and never stood up."
"I'll pass, then," Terry muttered.
Mako tried attacking while he was distracted, but Terry saw her coming and backstepped, tripping her with his sword and sending her crashing to the ground. "Ow."
"Predictable," Terry noted. "Though that was actually a good try."
The brown-haired girl growled and tossed the wooden sword at him like a spear. Terry dodged aside and turned, then gasped as he saw the sword stab into the wall. "That better?"
Terry blinked. "You're strong. And that's quite a way to use a sword. Maybe we should start calling you the Jupiter Kamen?"
Ami winced. "That was dangerous, what if he hadn't dodged?" She was working on the computer console, as a swarm of numbers and symbols kept on randomly appearing in the screen. "Well, I'm sure with a few weeks of work, we could come out with a pretty good AI for the base. "
"I'm glad you like messing with computers," Terry mused. "Two minds think better than one."
"One's Ami, the other is..?" Rei asked.
Terry was about to say something, when the base's alarms flared to life. "There we go again."
"Unknown entity detected near the Tokyo Tower," Ami said.
"That's a bit far from here."
"Hmmm... The scanners also pick up a second entity. Sailor Saturn. "
"Cool, let her handle that thing," Usagi said.
"We can't. She could need our help," Minako noted.
"If the scan's correct, she will," Terry said.
Usagi nodded. "Okay, let's go then, and I hope it's not another mantis."
Saturn looked at the creature waiting patiently from atop a nearby building. "I see whoever sent that robot wasn't happy with just one test."
The cyborg looked up. "So you decided to show up, Sailor Saturn."
A one-eyed visor slid down from Saturn's tiara. The cyborg was smarter than the first one she'd faced, and also stronger. "And you are?"
"Omega-2. The cyborg you and your friends fought before was the Omega-1."
"Friends?" Saturn shook her head. "Merely allies. In any case, let's end this quick. Death Bolt!"
"Death Bolt."
Saturn realized her mistake. There was a reason for her to like short battles, and that was because her energy reserves weren't high enough to stand more than a few minutes of combat. "I think we've reached a stalemate, however, I have an advantage over you."
"And that is?" The Omega asked.
"Numbers," Saturn said just as the Senshi reached the scene. "Took you long enough," she added turning to them.
"She's blunt. I like bluntness," Dragon Mercury commented.
"Be careful, my glaive's sharp and deadly," Saturn said as emotionlessly as usual.
The Dragon turned to look at the robot. "Okay, I'll bite. Let's see what that thing can do. Icycle Spray!"
"Icycle Spray."
"What the fuck?"
"I second that," Jupiter said.
"It's quite simple," Saturn said, "this 'Omega' creature somehow can replicate our attacks."
Mercury was scanning the creature, and stared at it in shock as the readings appeared in her visor. "That... It has our DNA!"
"DNwhat?" Moon asked.
"Whoever built it, used samples of our skin, blood, hair or whatever, to create a cyborg that..."
"Fire Soul."
Dragon Mercury dodged the fire blast. "... Can use our attacks."
"Who cares?" Venus said. "Let's see him handle this. Venus Twilight Power!"
The Omega stood there while Venus transformed. "I don't have your power in my database."
"Too bad for you, then. Venus Twilight V-Laser!"
The Omega staggered back as the blast hit. Saturn frowned. 'She's stronger than even me...'
Dragon Mercury charged at the robot as Venus kneeled on the ground, flinging one of the swords at it like Mako had tried on him before. "Hey robbie, dodge this!"
The Omega leapt aside as he saw he sword spearing towards him. He didn't, however, guess what the Dragon's strategy was, until he had been stabbed through by the sword. "Ow."
"This is when you die," Dragon Mercury noted.
"I'm a machine, kid. I don't have a heart. Supreme Thunder Dragon."
"No!" Mercury shouted. As the Dragon fell near her, she saw his sword bouncing and stopping next to her feet. "Terry..." she whispered.
Omega looked at Mercury. "Interesting, her power is..."
"Mercury Twilight Power!"
Saturn rose an eyebrow. 'Wonder what caused her upgrade?'
Before the cyborg could attack, Mercury was already summoning her new attack. "Mercury Snow Spray!" She moved just like when she used her Shabon Spray, but this time, a shower of ice and snow hit the cyborg, paralyzing it. "All... Yours, Moon," she said as she fell to her knees, her suit fading back to normal.
"Moon Tiara Boomerang!" The light disc hit the cyborg, and it exploded into a shower of metal and ice. "Guess we got him."
"That we... Did," Mercury said tiredly. She then walked to the Dragon and gasped as she scanned him. "Oh no..."
"What's wrong?" Jupiter asked.
"If we don't get him cured soon, he'll die." She sank to her knees again.
Saturn had been about to leave, but overheard what Mercury said. She phased near the fallen Dragon and looked at him. "I can help."
"How?" Mercury asked.
"I'm the Senshi of Death, but I can also give life," Saturn said in her usual monotone. She put a hand on the Dragon's chest. Her hand lit up, and for several seconds, the others could see energy flowing from her hand into his body. As the light faded, she stood up. "It's done."
"Wait," Moon said as Saturn stood up. "Who are you?"
"I already told you that."
"We could be friends," Moon said, "but you have to trust us."
"I don't need friends, just allies. It's got nothing to do with trust," Saturn said then vanished.
"Gee, what a cold-hearted bitch," Venus muttered.
"She..." Dragon Mercury said as he staggered up. "She healed me, she's not cold-hearted. But I don't think she wants us to know who she is, for whichever reasons she may have."
Moon sighed. "You girls keep on leveling up, and I'm still a weakling."
"You killed the monster, what are you complaining about?" Mars muttered.
"I don't know, I thought being the leader and all, I would be the first..."
"Saturn can keep her Twilight form longer than me," Venus said, "even though she looks physically weak. That must mean she's been a Twilight Senshi for longer than any of us."
"Your point being...?" Mars asked.
"I guess it's not about ranks or about who was a Senshi first. Both me and Mercury powered up in extreme situations."
"You mean we gotta risk our hides to power up?" Mars asked. "That's just great."
"Either that, or get your boyfriend beaten up," Venus joked.
"Mina!" Mercury hissed.
"Your second robot was a failure too."
The scientist nodded. "I must admit, I did not think those Senshi would power up. But we now know Saturn has joined them."
"Make the Omega the backup plan."
"Why?"
"I have the feeling our other soldier will cause a lot more damage just being there, than the Omega could ever cause with their magic. "
"I see your point. You have faced them directly before, though... Think her powers will be enough?"
"She's not a magician, her powers are different. If she takes the Senshi by surprise, they'll have no time to react before she gets them all."
"It will still take me a while to finish the adjustments."
"I know that. But something tells me the Senshi will be too busy fighting their newest foes, to bother looking for us."
"It's time we start gathering energy," Seijuro said.
"Yes, we must if we want to survive," Natsumi admitted. They were both sitting in a large room, but the place looked like it hadn't been cleaned or repaired for years. "Guess we should do something about this place first."
Seijuro nodded. "It'll only take a bit of energy. But what will we do about those 'Senshi'?"
"We can't hesitate if we want to survive. If they get in our way, we'll use our pets against them."
A/N: Ever heard about filler episodes? You can consider these two to be fifty percent filler.