Story 1
A Beautiful Transformation? The Journey and Growth of the Crybaby Usagi
The shining sun was high in the sky above Tokyo's Juban District in Japan, as many people went to and fro about their various activities in the city. In Juban Park, Usagi and Chibiusa Tsukino were both looking at their new transformation brooches that Pegasus had gifted them after their previous battles with the Amazon Trio and their Lemures. At their side were Riku and Sora, two Keyblade wielders who along with their friends, were known as the Guardians of Kingdom Hearts, and the knights of Sailor Moon. Alongside the two of them were the six children of Sora Lucis Caelum: Skylight Lucis Caelum, Serlena Lucis Caelum, Scarlet Rose Lucis Caelum, Ivory Schnee Lucis Caelum, Verona Belladonna Lucis Caelum, and Rei Xiao Long, Lucis Caelum, all from an alternate future where Sora and his friends met them during their visit to Bayonetta's world. Today, Usagi and Chibiusa showed them their new brooches.
"I'm so happy with my new brooch," smiled Usagi.
"Heh, me too, Usagi," replied Sora.
"And I'm excited that I get to be a full fledged pretty guardian and not just a trainee," said Chibiusa.
"Well, while you may have a ways to go, Chibiusa, both Usagi and Mamoru's future selves would be proud of you," replied Riku, making the pinkette smile at him.
"You really think so, Big Brother Riku?" asked Chibiusa.
"Yeah... actually, I do. You've improved since our battle with the Death Busters, and became friends with someone who is very much like Xion. Hotaru Tomoe, daughter of Keiko and Souichi Tomoe. They were lost in darkness once, but thanks to Sailor Moon's iron will, she brought them back to the light, vanquished Pharaoh 90, and showed Haruka and Michiru the error of their ways," smiled Riku.
"She did?" Chibiusa asked again.
"Yeah… she certainly did. You fell into darkness as I once did, but both Usagi and Mamoru were able to save you before it destroyed you, just like how Sora saved me from the darkness. And now, you've become more mature and wiser, than even we could imagine," replied Riku.
"Thank you, Big Brother Riku," smiled Chibiusa.
Riku nodded, his blue-green eyes meeting Chibiusa's red eyes, as they smiled at each other.
"But now, a new threat has emerged, and we have to be prepared for it. But if we aren't, these new guys will use our weakness to infight with each other to their advantage, and take away everything that we hold most dear to our hearts forevermore," warned Riku, his brow furrowing with determination.
"I know what you mean, Riku. The memory of Sephiroth trying to cut me and Rei down while we were having a heated debacle still haunts me to this very day. However, the same can be said for my Birthday being ruined by Kaolinite, which led to Sora transforming into Vanitas when his anger just erupted like a volcano," said Usagi.
"Wait, Sora transformed into Vanitas?" asked Chibiusa.
"I'm afraid so, Chibiusa. It was before you came to our side as Sailor Chibi Moon, the next generation of Pretty Guardian of Love and Justice, fighting on behalf of the future moon to defeat the darkness that dared to take what you held most dear to your heart…" explained Sora.
Chibiusa listened intently to Sora's story, about how on the day of Usagi's birth, Kaolinite sent a Daimon to take her heart-crystal, and encased Mamoru in ice, leading to his lust for revenge, granting Vanitas a chance to break free, and how he threatened to turn the both of them into Heartless, after grinding the Silver Crystal into dust. He even told her about how he was able to uncover Minako's facade thanks to her usage of the Usagi's Transformation Pen, leading to her becoming Sailor Venus and keep Vanitas on his toes, while Haruka and Michiru fought Kaolinite, Maleficent, Pete, and Mortimer at Tokyo Tower as Sailors Uranus and Neptune. He then explained how Sailor Moon directed her anger at the Daimon that hurt her and Mamoru, and how Ami tried to reach out to his heart as Sailor Mercury by reminding him of how his family was there for him, causing the spirit of Queen Serenity to enter his heart, and change him back to normal so that he could defeat Kaolinite with the support of his friends with relative ease, barely giving Kaolinite time to react to his assault, and defeat her with Usagi's help. Finally he soon told her about how ashamed he was for letting Kaolinite ruin Usagi's birthday, and for letting the darkness overtake his heart, and how she had every right to condemn him for his actions, only for Usagi to give him a comforting hug and tell him that he shouldn't be ashamed of letting Vanitas break free again, which slowly started to cheer him up, until he decided to unveil the perfect gift which was a song called "Love Will Find a Way," which Minako happily agreed to sing as a duet after turning into Sailor Venus, which made Usagi so happy that she wept tears of joy.
"Aw, I sure would like to hear a song on my birthday," sighed Chibiusa.
"Hey, that's a great idea, Chibiusa. Maybe later, when our friends aren't busy dealing with the bad guys, Sora can ask them to plan a special birthday for the both of us," smiled Usagi.
"Usagi, I'm legitimately surprised to hear you say that to Chibiusa. Normally the two of you would just have at it with each other, but there are times when you agree on one thing you both have in common, which is keeping those you cherish safe from those who have darkness on their side," said Luna.
"Yeah, but, When you mentioned how you turned into Vanitas after Kaolinite hurt Usagi and Mamo, it scared me. It scared me so bad that it brought back those painful memories of how I became Black Lady," admitted the pinkette.
"But thanks to Sailor Mercury and Queen Serenity's spirit, Sora was able to come back to his senses, and even defeated Kaolinite, little sister," said Riku.
"And if these new bad guys are planning on taking over this world or destroying it, we'll rise to their challenge!" declared Sora.
"The others being chosen as Guardians make sense, but why choose a crybaby like Usagi as the leader?" asked Chibiusa.
"Excellent question, I used to ask myself the very same thing in the early days," replied Luna, ignoring Usagi's complaints.
"Luna!" groaned Usagi.
"Oh hey, can you please tell me about Usagi's life before I came here? You know, stuff like how she became Sailor Moon in the very beginning," suggested Chibiusa.
"I'd like to hear it too," added Sora.
Riku, Skylight, Serlena, Scarlet, Ivory, Verona, and Rei nodded in agreement.
"Ah, let's see, as I recall," began Luna, as Usagi's protests fell on deaf ears.
"Sorry Usagi, but Chibiusa's been curious about your previous adventures," said Sora.
"It all started, when Usagi failed miserably on another one of her tests," explained Luna.
"Okay, look, I was having a bad day, which was made even weirder by a talking cat!" Usagi said, butting in.
"Hey, who's the storyteller here, you or Luna?" asked Rei, placing her fist into her opened palm.
"Okay, okay, you've made your point," cried Usagi, as she got back into her place.
"Thank you, Rei," said Luna.
She began telling them about how she and Usagi met, and how she became Sailor Moon, Pretty Guardian of Love and Justice, and how she had to deal with a string of supernatural events that were happening across her hometown, and how Luna was tasked with finding the Guardians to undertake this mission to battle the darkness, as well as another mission. Then Luna told them about how Usagi had to confront the Dark Kingdom which was lead by Queen Beryl, who sent dark creatures to attack them one after another, and how Sephiroth, Maleficent, and Pete were helping her with another slew of dark creatures called Heartless, that had a strong connection to the darkness, and relied mostly on instinct. It was a difficult time for her, but thanks to the arrival of her friends, Ami Mizuno, Rei Hino, Makoto Kino, and Minako Aino, they became Sailor Guardians as well.
"But, you know, it wasn't easy at first, since none of them took to being a Guardian very seriously," mused Usagi.
"That was you, Usagi!" her friends said to her.
"D'oh! Agh! This is why I don't like doing recap shows!" she complained.
However, Usagi was able to count on Tuxedo Mask to give her helpful advice, and was quite mysterious in his own way, and had a reason for being secretive. Especially when everyone learned that the caped crusader was really Mamoru Chiba as well as Prince Endymion, Princess Serenity's lover from long ago, but was reborn thanks to Queen Serenity's powers, only to suffer amnesia after a nasty accident that cost his parents their lives, in which Sora felt sympathetic towards him, making Usagi surprised, but made Chibiusa happy to know that Mamoru had people he could rely on for guidance. But one fateful night, after Zoisite seriously wounded Mamoru, Usagi's tears revealed the Silver Crystal, and that the princess had been right in front of them this entire time. It was during the early years that the world was taken over by the Dark Kingdom, and began launching an all out offensive that ravaged the land, which Sora saw during his trek through the illusory world Queen Serenity transported him into, as the terrible tragedy occured, resulting in the death of countless lives, until he witnessed a miracle, where the Queen used the last remnants of her power, to transport everyone to be reborn as normal human beings, and live their lives until the great war would begin again.
"But during that time, Queen Serenity named me and my friends, Sailor Moon's knights, and we promised that no matter what happened, we'd still fight the darkness with all our hearts, until the task was complete. We prepared ourselves for the final confrontation with Queen Beryl, but our victory came at a great cost. Ami, Rei, Minako, and Makoto were defeated by the DD Girls, but not before they destroyed them as well, making both Me and Usagi heartbroken. But eventually, their spirits along with Master Eraqus told us that darkness wins by making us think we are weak. In the end, we still had one more task to complete, the end of Queen Beryl who fused with Metalia after we saved Mamoru from the darkness that was poisoning his heart. Thankfully, during our confrontation with that evil witch, our friends lent us our power, and together we brought Queen Beryl to her demise, but the girl's memories were sealed away after Beryl fell," explained Sora, remembering their final confrontation with Beryl Metalia.
"Usagi, that was amazing," commented Chibiusa.
"Not to brag or anything, but I was pretty awesome," replied Usagi.
"Yeah... even after that confrontation, you proved to everyone that your heart was far stronger than the Crystal," said Riku.
"Wow, that's one of the nicest things you've ever said to me, Riku. But, why are you being so humble around me? I like getting credit, but at the same time, it's a bit better to share it with the people I cherish with all my heart," sniffed Usagi.
"Still, despite that immaturity, we had a tough battle ahead when the Black Moon Clan arrived to rewrite history, and become the Arbiters of their fate, which is where we first met you, Chibiusa," replied Sora.
"Oh yeah, that's right, Sora," Chibiusa said with a hint of realization.
"Yep, and without any warning," replied Usagi who remembered what transpired after the clash with the Dark Kingdom.
"Back then, the future world was being attacked by the Black Moon. In order to save your mother, Neo-Queen Serenity, you came from the future to take Usagi's Silver Crystal. Right, Chibiusa?" said Artemis.
"Yeah, I thought that the Silver Crystal of the future had vanished because of me," replied Chibiusa.
"Yeah. How could I forget?" mused Riku.
"And worst of all, you listened to the lies that Wiseman told you about how you were cast aside, hated, and forgotten by those you considered your family, leading to you becoming just like what Riku was back then," added Sora.
"But thanks to the power of everyone's love, we were able to defeat the Death Phantom," said Usagi.
"That includes me too," piped in Chibiusa.
"And then you arrived as Sailor Chibi Moon to help us battle the dreaded Death Busters. However, we bore witness to a terrible scene, the extraction of your heart-crystal that led to Hotaru becoming Mistress 9, servant of Pharaoh 90," said Sora, remembering what happened at Mugen Academy.
"But Hotaru gave Chibiusa her heart back, and with Sora and Sailor Moon's help, along with our own hearts, was able to vanquish Pharaoh 90 without any unnecessary sacrifices. Because they believed in second chances," added Riku.
"That was also a tough battle, wasn't it?" replied Artemis.
"It was," sighed Luna.
But then something clicked in her mind.
"Oh, now that I think about it, what are Haruka and Michiru doing right now?" she asked.
Usagi, Chibiusa, Sora, and Riku looked at each other.
"Well, knowing those two, I'd say they've learned from their previous failures, and have become part of our hearts as well. But at the same time, I finally met someone who likes a friendly competition to see who's the better warrior," smirked Sora.
"Oh yeah, you and Haruka became friendly rivals," muttered Usagi.