All standard disclaimers that I have already used so far with any of the various stories that I now have on will apply. For your information, all of the characters that you may not actually recognize well enough in this story are original characters of mine, unless otherwise stated, in fact. So please don't steal my original characters from this story or any others, for that matter.
Now without any further ado, let's get on with this story again, if that's all right with you here, readers. And I really hope that if you've read this series up to this point here, you've enjoyed what you've read of its story series so far. And this part of the story is actually going to be the sixth chapter of this second story here, in fact, readers. That's so that all of you people on who've followed the story and its related story series well enough, and often enough, will be able to eventually read the whole related series of stories here, of course. Please do read, review, and enjoy, if at all possible, quite naturally enough, for all the obvious reasons, readers!
Meeting the Menace
A The Chrysanthemum Chronicles Series Story
Somewhere In Yoshimo Toskukachi's House
Stramesville, Muramiskayo, Ozotov IV
September 12, 986
Meanwhile, while Darien was resting in the cabin he'd found to hide in for a while, several, if not all, of the Princesses currently with Queen Serenity, Luna, and Artemis in Stramesville woke up. Most likely all of them, of course. After they did so, Serena soon asked her mother, "Mom, how long do you think we'll be away from the Moon?" Of course, anyone who'd be a part of the conversation besides the twins would likely have to speak and sign whatever they'd say during it. For Destiny's benefit, whenever possible, they'd have to speak. While for Bethany's, they'd have to sign, for all the obvious reasons.
Serenity said, "I don't know. But if it's not for a while yet, Serena, I hope that Prince Raphael can hold down the fort well enough for at least long enough for us to get back there easily enough, if possible. You know I'd prefer us to all be on the Moon right now. But until we're there again, if we can ever be there again, we'll just have to do the best that we can while we're all away from it."
Raye said, "Queen Serenity, I hope we can get back there soon."
"Yes, I know that, Raye. But it looks like we won't be there for at least a little while. And it looks like we may have to fight other sentient beings for at least a while. Even though I know that you girls would all prefer not to have to fight anyone."
"Mom, I don't want to have to kill anyone, if I don't have to."
"I know that, Serena. But it looks like you'll have to, I think. I'm sure that everyone else here with us feels much the same way, if not entirely the same way, that you do about possibly having to do that. While you girls were all sleeping last night, I somehow detected beings from a very evil force in the Universe. They're apparently trying to break into this Cassini Galaxy that we're all in now. I somehow detected them with my Imperium Silver Crystal then. And I know that they know that they might have any number of foes in this Cassini Galaxy. That's from what I learned when I detected them with my Crystal. They've apparently also detected our general presences here in the Ozotovian solar system. That's if I'm not misinterpreting what my Crystal's told me so far about them all."
"Queen Serenity, how soon do you think we'll all have to fight?"
"I'd say as soon as they make planetfall here on this landmass of Ozotov IV, Lita. My Crystal seems to suggest that they might make planetfall on this world somewhere between here and Wembuto, Kuzaruno. And it seems that Darien's now on this world as well. Also from what my Crystal evidently also told me when it told me about that evil force that apparently detected us at least a little while ago, Lita."
"Darien's not on the Moon?"
"No, I'm afraid not, Serena. Nor is he on Earth."
"When did he leave Earth?"
"After several of you Princesses disappeared from wherever you were in our Moon Kingdom, especially you, Serena. I sent him a canister. And he came to the Moon as quickly as he could after receiving it."
"Why'd you do that?"
"Because I thought he might want to know what happened to you all, Serena. You do know that he cares at least a little for most, if not all, of us, don't you?"
"Yes, I suppose I do, Mom. I just wish, though, that you'd not contacted him for at least a while longer."
"I understand what you're saying, and what you're apparently not saying right now, Serena. But I felt that he had to know what'd most likely happened to you all while he was away from the Moon."
"Mom, if we actually do have to fight, do you think we'll be able to fight well enough for at least a little while?" signed Bethany.
"I think so, Bethany. But, of course, I can't tell you whether or not you'll be able to do that yet. Because I don't yet know if you'll be able to do that. However, if the beings from that evil force are as tough as my recent visions and/or dreams of them have been of them, then you all might have a great deal of trouble with them for at least a little while. I think this might be our first battle with beings from the evil force I've been trying to train you all to fight for at least the last few weeks, months, or years. Don't expect to win easily against them, everybody. For you probably won't, if my visions and/or dreams about them are accurate enough in their respective natures."
"I don't want to fight, Mom," said Serena, eventually.
"Serena, you may have no choice in the matter. So you might as well be ready to fight, if the need arises, as much as you possibly can be ready to fight against them. And unlike the robots, you all won't likely be able to deactivate them without destroying or killing them. Especially if they're all flesh-and-blood organisms of any possibly sentient kind. You'll likely have to fight to the death against them, if that's actually the case, if not possibly longer than that."
Destiny soon said, then, "Serena, I know you don't like fighting much, if you don't have to. But if you have to fight, you have to fight. I have no problem with fighting, if I have to. But I still don't like the idea of having to take another sentient being's life. Yes, I know that it might come down to the basis of me versus them. And who I want to survive more in this Universe. But I think, that if that turns out to be the case, it'd be better if they were to die than if I were to. I don't really want to die at their hands, if I can possibly avoid it. So if I have to fight them, then I'd rather see them all fall down and die than to see myself do the same thing. I'm sure everyone else here with us feels the same way, Serena. Right, Amy?"
Amy said, "Agreed, Destiny. We do what we can, Serena. But if it boils down to a choice that we can make about who dies in a fight between them and us, I'm certain that it'd be best if they did get killed by us, and not us by them. Sure, the chances of ultimate victory against them for us may not appear to be very good. At least not at the current time in each of our lives. But we have to at least try to beat them, and possibly kill them, if we have to face them in battle at least once in our lives."
Lita piped in, "We may die, or not, Serena. But we may still have to fight. And if that's the case, there's no sense in our not trying our best to defeat them, if and whenever that's the case, for us all. Sure, we may fall, or we may not. But in any case, we'll still have to try our best to defeat them all in battle, if and when we ever do face them in it. No matter what. I have no problem with falling in battle, if I somehow know that I tried my absolute best against them in the battle. But I still don't intend to fall in battle against them. For there are still way too many boys for me to chase in our Moon Kingdom. And I want to be able to do that for at least a while longer in my life. There's so much food that I still want to cook. And so many bargains that I think I'd love to hunt for, if possible."
"Mina, what about you?" asked Serena.
"I, for one, would really love to continue playing many sports, but especially volleyball. And I'd love to have many a chance to dance in the future, Serena. I'd also like to travel quite a bit in my life, and not just on the Moon or on Venus."
"Raye?"
"Well, Serena, I'd love to read a lot more comic books, meditate quite frequently, and to chase as many cute guys as I possibly can, for at least a little while. Especially Darien, of course."
"Even though he's MY honey?"
"Yes, Serena. Even if he may be your honey. Darien may be YOUR honey, as you say. But he still does often like spending time with me whenever possible. And if it means we have to kill other sentient beings, then we have to kill them, no matter what, if we possibly can, before they do the same to us at all. That's so that we can do whatever we possibly can do in the future. And no matter when we're ever able to do those things, if we're ever able to do them in it. Even if it's just chasing Darien, of course."
"Amy?"
"Reading, playing chess, studying, and swimming, whenever I possibly can, Serena, in the future. I don't have much time for a boyfriend at the current time. Not even the quite cute Greg that I met at the ball after the surprise birthday party we threw for Darien last month."
"You like Greg?"
"The truth, Serena?"
"Yes, Amy. The truth."
"He seems like a nice enough fellow, Serena. I don't know yet if he's potential boyfriend or husband material for me. But I do know that I'd probably not mind someday being married to him, if things worked out well enough in the meantime for both of us. I don't know enough about him to say more than that right now about him."
"Amy, how much do you think you'll have to know about him, in order to know whether he's the right guy for you to have as a boyfriend or husband someday in the future?"
"As much as possible, Serena."
"Everything, Amy?"
"If possible, Serena."
"Then there'll be no surprises that he'll be able to give you, if you know everything about him that it's possible for anyone except God to know about him, Amy."
"I understand that, Serena."
"Where's the challenge in that, then, Amy?"
"What do you mean, Serena?
"I'm saying this, Amy. If you know everything, then there's little or no challenge for you with him, most likely. And he probably won't be as interesting to you. At least, that's how it seems to me right now in my life. You see, I don't know everything possible about Darien that there's yet to know about him. At least from a mortal perspective, anyway. And I know that Raye doesn't either. We all have certain things we keep secret. If we knew them all, then I'm sure that we'd all get too bored with each other eventually. That's how come chasing cute guys like Darien's often so much fun for those of us who like often doing that sort of thing. Especially for Raye and me. You can't always put certain numbers and/or certain equations on or for a relationship. Most especially on friendship or love, for that matter. Some things just won't show up in any calculable equation. No matter how much you might possibly prefer otherwise."
"But wouldn't that often make things much easier to accept in a life, Serena? I mean, of course, if they all were part of a calculable equation?"
"Not always. Because you can't boil a life down to just numbers and equations, Amy. I can't do it, at least not when it comes to my friends and relatives. And I don't think you'll ever be able to do it either, if you haven't already. Which I'm sure is quite the case here. No matter how hard you try to do that, if you ever do."
"Serena, don't get me wrong, please. I understand what you're saying. But I still think that it's usually the best policy to know as much as possible about anyone that I ever come in contact with, once I make contact with them in my life, if possible. Even about my friends and my relatives, if and whenever it's possible for me to do that. I know it may not always seem fair to you all. But that's just the way I believe I feel about things right now in my life."
"Isn't that at least a little bit counterproductive, if you want to have friends that'll hopefully last you at least your whole life long, Amy?" asked Susan.
"I don't really know, Susan. I just know that I feel that way about such things right now in my life. I don't know why, but I just feel that way about them in my life. At least right now, anyway."
"How do you think that makes your friends and relatives feel, Amy, when they know that's true for you?"
"I'd suppose that they'd not like that, Hannah. But at least right now, that's just how things seem to be to me in my life."
"And don't you think that the Negaverse might possibly use that fact against you, at least, if not the rest of us, if they ever learn it, Amy?"
"I don't really know, Alexis. I can't always explain everything I'm feeling to my friends and relatives, or even to my most common associates. And if I were to try to do so, I'm afraid that it'd possibly cause me to lose the friendships I share with my friends. Of course, I don't want that to happen. But if I tell them all the time exactly how I feel in my life, I'm afraid that they might not want to be my friends anymore."
"Don't sell yourself short, Amy. I don't think you'll have to worry about that happening for any of us who you currently consider to be among your closest friends, if you were to do that. Sometimes honesty and truth are good things to have in a relationship with somebody else in your life. Especially if you consider them to be your friend, and vice versa, or you love them, and they love you," said Serena.
"Michelle, what do you think?"
"I'd have to agree with Moon Princess Serena here, Amy. Though I also have to admit that I don't know most of the rest of you here very well. I don't get back to the Moon very often, if at all, as you know. I usually find that I have to stay near or on Neptune or any of its currently inhabited moons. Especially since my older sister Princess Poruzuka is, I believe, still away from our own Moon Kingdom. They're currently on a mission with Hannah, Alexis, and Susan's sisters to another solar system in our own Milky Way Galaxy, if I remember things well enough right now, in fact."
"I don't like the idea of losing any of my friends, if I don't have to, Michelle."
"Nor do the rest of us, I'm sure, Amy. But you can only do what you can do in your life. And it's best not to worry about other things in your life, if you can possibly avoid it. If you do so, unexpected trouble may often snowball out of control for you in any related situation. And you might have other problems that you neither wanted, nor needed, to have in your life. Of course, I could always be wrong. But I'm just telling you what I believe I've learned so far in my life here in the known Universe, to at least some degree."
"Understood, Michelle."
Then before any of them said another word, they all heard a knock on the door of their room. Everyone except Bethany, of course. If and when they all did so, they all got quiet very quickly, for the obvious reasons. This they all did, except for Serenity, who asked, "Who's there?"
"Yoshimo, Serenity. That's who. I have to go elsewhere for a while. Do you think you all could watch my house and the area around it until I return from somewhere else, please?"
"Hold on a moment, please, Yoshimo, while I consult with all my companions."
"Granted. But don't take too long, for I need to be back here by nightfall, if possible, because a storm's supposed to come here by then, and I want to be safely home by then, if I possibly can be."
So Serenity quickly discussed the matter at whatever length was necessary for her to do so with all her current companions. Even Luna and Artemis. She soon answered his earlier question, "Sure, I think we can all do that. Will we have free rein in the house, and on the grounds of it?"
"I suppose that'd be acceptable. If I don't return by nightfall, batten down all the hatches to the best of your respective abilities, and don't let anyone into the house unless you know who they are well enough in your life. If the storm keeps me from returning here before nightfall, I'll likely go to one of my nearby shacks. Until I return, I don't want any of you to leave the house or the grounds of it, if you can all possibly avoid it somehow. That's mainly for your own safeties, if not for any other reasons whatsoever, in your life. For many reasons, which I can't all share with you all. At least not right now, anyway. When I return, look for a mostly red and black flag with white stars to be waving in an easterly direction of some sort from this house. I'll begin waving it when I first see this house after I cross the river near here again later on. I'll have to cross the Amazuru River to get to another place I have to go to in Muramiskayo now."
"Agreed," Serenity soon said to him.
"Good. Don't open the door to any strangers at all, no matter who they are. And I'll return as soon as I can. I have to visit some people who are currently hiding from the usurper and his supporters. And I don't know when I'll actually be able to get back here. If you need food, then you may eat whatever you find that's sufficiently edible for you to eat. If you need something to drink, there are two wells behind this house. Use the one that's closer to the back door of this house, and you'll probably feel better than you would if you use the other one. One well is usually used for natives of this planet who visit me here, and one is usually used for non-natives of this planet. Both have water in them. But the water in the one I'd prefer you to use water from will most likely taste better to you than the water in the other one."
"Understood. Anything else?"
"No. Not at the moment. If that changes, though, while I'm away, I'll send you at least one message via at least one pigeon that I've taken care of for many years of my life. They know where this house is. So if I have to send you a message while I'm away, they'll each come to the cages near my front door that I showed you as I was taking you to the room that you're all in now. Use the crystal I gave you to translate my messages, if you aren't able to translate them without using it."
Serenity and her companions soon left their room, once Yoshimo asked them to see him off. Of course, they all wished him quite well on his travels that day. And then, whenever they possibly could, they saw him off on them.
And once he was too far away from them for them to see him or hear him well enough, they all soon transformed into each of their own Scout states. That was if they even had any, of course. Of course, neither Luna nor Artemis were able to do that. But they were both still able to watch every single one of their humanoid companions do so here. Even the secondary Princesses of Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto did so.
Serenity, once she'd double-transformed herself into Sentinel Serenity, soon began assigning any number of her Scouts to various areas of the grounds and of the house, of course. And she didn't take long in doing that. For she didn't want to see Yoshimo's house or the grounds on which it stood unprotected any longer than she absolutely had to, if she could possibly keep that from happening.
She had Corona pair up with Eclipse, Mars with Mercury, Jupiter with Venus, Saturn Beta with Pluto Beta, Neptune Beta with Uranus Beta, and Moon with her. All while she also had the cats find somewhere to hide that was as safe as possible for them, at least. She had Saturn Beta and Pluto Beta cover the eastern side of the house, Neptune Beta and Uranus Beta the southern, Jupiter and Venus the western, and Mars and Mercury the northern. Then she had Corona and Eclipse rove around inside the house as often as they needed to. While she did that, she had Moon rove around with her farther away from the house than the pairs of Scouts who'd be covering all four sides of Yoshimo's house. That was so that if anybody got within half a mile of his house, they'd hopefully be able to detect them before they got too close to it to damage it at all. And if they detected any strangers anywhere near his house, they could warn the others as the need arose, by using their lockets to contact their fellow Scouts.
For inside their lockets, and the lockets of each of the other Scouts, there was a secret communications system that could be activated if they tapped their lockets in certain ways that'd activate that system. Periodically, they'd all have to tap their lockets in different rhythms, depending on the time of year for them in the Moon Kingdom, and depending on the current code phrase or word that was active for them when it came to such use of their lockets. Currently, the code phrase in question was "Panther Beta Circle Omicron." So that was the currently active code rhythm that they'd all have to use whenever each one or all of them even wanted to use the communications system deep inside each of their lockets to somehow communicate with other Scouts. Supposing, of course, that they were close enough to the Scouts that they wanted to contact in it somehow.
They couldn't likely get more than two Terran statute miles away from each other to use them, though, currently, due to their current situation, mainly because of the fact that they were all no longer on the Moon. At the current time, though, they'd all most likely have to maintain at least visual contact with at least one of their current companions in Stramesville, if not more. Especially because there was supposedly a storm that'd be heading their way before nightfall came to the Stramesville local area on Ozotov IV.
As they did so, Moon asked Sentinel Serenity, "Are you sure that other people will be able to protect each of our worlds during our current absence from them, Mom?"
"I hope so, Serena. But only time will tell if that'll ever be the case, Serena. I don't know most of them very well, of course. But for the ones that I do know well enough, I think that our worlds will be sufficiently safe from permanent harm, if they're protecting them. I think Junior Sailor Mercury Beta will be able to protect Mercury well enough, while we're away from the Moon Kingdom. But I don't know Chloe Anderson very well. She's Amy's younger sister."
"In our absence, then, who's likely protecting each of the other planets of our Moon Kingdom?"
"Well, Princess Bridget of Mars is likely protecting Mars as Junior Sailor Mars Beta. Princess Beatrice of Jupiter's likely doing the same for Jupiter as Junior Sailor Jupiter Beta. Princess Aurora of Venus is likely doing the same thing for Venus as Junior Sailor Venus Beta, in Mina's absence. Princess Dorothy of Neptune's likely protecting Neptune to the best of her abilities as Junior Sailor Neptune Gamma, in the absence of her older sisters Poruzuka and Michelle. I don't know which Princesses are protecting Pluto, Uranus, and Saturn, though, in the absence of their primary and secondary Princesses."
"Who are Princesses Bridget, Beatrice, and Aurora?"
"Princess Bridget is Raye's younger sister. Princess Beatrice is Lita's first cousin. Princess Aurora is Mina's younger sister."
"I see. And what do you know about all of them, Mom?"
"Not much, Serena. Not much at all. Only what I've heard about them, if I haven't seen such things from them in the past."
They talked a little while longer with each other as they patrolled sufficiently close to, yet also sufficiently away from, Yoshimo's house. They did this at least until Mina and Lita warned them of a possible disturbance to the west of the house and its grounds. So they then hurried back toward the house as quickly as they could. And they didn't waste any time arguing about doing so.
By the time they both got there, they saw several Scouts in the middle of a battle with a quite large dragon-like being that was about one hundred feet tall. The other Scouts had just begun fighting it after that being had come out from an underground tunnel it'd made up to about fifty yards from the nearest edge of the grounds on which Yoshimo's house currently stood. This monster's trunk was about twenty feet in diameter, and his tail was about forty feet long behind his back legs. By the time they both got there, he was quite effectively blocking Corona's Corona Ring Blast attacks at him. He was also doing the same for Mercury's Mini-Ice Bubbles, by periodically sending fire toward Corona and/or Mercury, whenever they tried to use either or both of those attacks against him.
He was having some trouble with Eclipse's Silent Shadow attacks, and a little trouble with Venus Chains from Venus. For Eclipse was making his shadow attack him while she sang to distract him from his shadow, and Venus was trying to trip him with her Venus Chains. His shadow was attacking him with various hand weapons that Jupiter had provided it with as soon as possible after she made contact with it. Lita often secretly carried certain hand weapons on her person whenever she was in her Scout state. And this was no exception to that fact. She provided his shadow with a pair of swords, an expandable shield, and several knives that had blades that looked like thunderbolts. Even though she never saw his face, when she actually did so. His shadow then hung the knives on his belt, for at least the time being, as his shadow's other hands also used the swords and shield to protect himself against his owner's attempts to repel his shadow's attacks.
Of course, the shadow tried to keep from being tripped by the Venus Chains from Venus. He was barely able to avoid being tripped by them. But he still managed to do that. He also ducked many fireballs from Mars and her Fire Catapult or Fire Catapults. And he also ducked several Mini-Moon Crystals from Moon. For he didn't want his head taken off by them, of course.
He attacked his owner with his swords until they broke apart buried about halfway in them. Then after that happened, he began using the knives that Jupiter had provided him with to fight his owner. He stuck several of the knives in as many of his owner's six eyes as he could, of course. He used other knives elsewhere against his owner, as much as he possibly could.
This he did until he was then killed by his owner. His owner pulled one of the knives out of one of his six eyes, and stabbed his own shadow with it until he was most certainly dead. He soon disappeared from view.
Then the enormous being began pulling other knives out of his eyes. And he began throwing them at several of the Scouts, mainly the Beta-level Scouts from Pluto, Uranus, Neptune, and Saturn. That was the case, of course, only if he could see them all well enough with the undamaged eyes that his shadow hadn't been able to stick knives in. Uranus Beta generated a large ball that looked a lot like a miniature version of Uranus, but one that was colored yellow instead of being colored a greenish color. This planet-like ball was much like ones that she might someday ever use in the future, or might not ever use someday. But only time would ever really tell if she'd ever use such a ball or balls in the future. In order to generate it, though, she had to say "Mini-World Shaking Blast." For those were the words that she'd have to say whenever she wanted to generate such a planet-like ball, at least as long as she was still a Junior Sailor Scout. Later, her phrase to do the same kind of thing in the future might change, if she ever somehow survived long enough to use it at least one time in the future. But for now, that phrase was her current phrase for using such a power of hers. She warned everyone else to stand back from her and the being as much as they could, if possible. For she really didn't want them to get hurt by her use of that power. So everyone that could back up from her and that being did so. But Neptune Beta couldn't. For she was quite near Yoshimo's house at the current time.
Neptune Beta dodged a blast of fire from the being. And then she generated a planet-like ball much like the one Uranus Beta had generated, but one that was of an aqua green color and made of water. It was about as large as the planet-like ball that Uranus Beta had generated, but not quite. She generated it by calling out, "Mini-Ball Deep Submerge." And after she did so, she aimed it at the being, but didn't yet release it at all. As soon as every single one of the other Scouts besides Uranus Beta and herself had cleared the area as much as possible, she prepared to throw the ball to the ground very quickly.
Then she nodded at Uranus Beta, who nodded back at her. That done, Uranus Beta threw her planet-like ball to the ground about ten to twenty yards in front of her, and about that far in front of the huge dragon-like being that she and Neptune Beta would now be attacking to the best of their respective abilities. As soon as Uranus Beta released her planet-like ball, Neptune Beta briefly wound up, and did the same. Both of their planet-like balls hit the ground about halfway between the dragon-like being and themselves. And they nearly collided with each other when they did so. Then the ground began to shake quite fiercely. That was due to the planet-like balls having just hit the ground in the aforementioned places near Yoshimo's house.
Each of the other Scouts had braced themselves against such a possibility. For all the other Scouts besides Neptune Beta and Uranus Beta had been told at quite considerable length about such powers that currently belonged to those two Scouts by Serenity at least once before, if not more than that. Even Luna and Artemis braced themselves as much as they possibly could, of course.
The balls collided with the ground, and the ground began to shake quite fiercely. So fiercely that it felt like a quake of some sort was now in progress near Yoshimo's house. It felt to everyone except Uranus Beta and Neptune Beta like a quake that might actually measure at least 6.0 on the Terran Richter scale that'd eventually be created in the future. If not even more powerful and stronger than that. For Neptune Beta and Uranus Beta, though, it was often quite different. For they were often quite immune to certain effects of their own attacks. And that was often quite true whenever they generated planet-like balls like they'd just generated all by themselves. For them, because of that fact, they didn't feel the ground shake under their feet.
Their balls hit the ground, which then shook quite violently. So violently that the dragon-like being's footing soon became quite unsteady. He began to wobble, especially when Venus eventually sent more Venus Chains his way, after Uranus Beta and Neptune Beta let her do so. And he soon tripped over such chains from Venus. He fell backwards, and back toward his recently-made tunnel, as he began to thrash about quite wildly not more than a few minutes later. Several salvos of Fireballs from Mars and her Fire Catapult or Fire Catapults soon began raining down on him, as he couldn't keep from being hit by them, due to his thrashing about. His thrashing about was quite pronounced. And the ground continued to shake because of it. Eclipse and everyone else besides Venus, Mars, Neptune Beta, and Uranus Beta began attacking him again just like they'd done before. If not also in other ways as well, for that matter.
Jupiter, for one, jumped on him as he thrashed about wildly. But only after she was secured via a rope to Sentinel Serenity. She began climbing up his sides by clawing her way up them from the ground, and by often grabbing any of his reachable scales as she did so. She was soon on his torso, and began collecting various weapons she'd lent temporarily to his shadow wherever it was possible for her to do that. Of course, while she did so, she often had to dodge at least one Fireball from Mars and her Fire Catapult or Fire Catapults. And she also often had to dodge Mini-Moon Crystals from Moon and Mini-Ice Bubbles from Mercury. She kept as secure a footing on him as possible while she was still on top of him. She eventually made her way to his neck and head. And she began whacking him on it as often as she could with all the weapons and martial arts techniques now at her disposal during the battle near Yoshimo's house. When she felt she'd done all she possibly could against him, she jumped off him and onto the ground. Then she waved at Corona, so that Corona would know that it was most likely time for her to attack the being with her Gavel Of Justice or with at least one Corona Ring Blast of hers. She hit the ground about ten seconds or so, at most, after she jumped off the being. And she hit the ground rolling clear of him in a forward roll with about one full twist. As soon as she was clear of him enough, Corona then went to work on him for quite a while here.
Corona bombarded him and bashed him as much as she could for at least a few minutes, until she began running out of power to do so. After which she withdrew for a while, quite naturally enough.
Mercury sent, at least dozens, if not at least hundreds, more Mini-Ice Bubbles his way. Even after she also climbed on him, much as Jupiter had earlier done, she still did so here, if possible. She climbed on him about a minute or so after Jupiter had. But by the time that Jupiter got all the way up to his torso, she was already on his right hip, also secured to Sentinel Serenity by the necessary rope. She tried not to hit Jupiter while she also sent a lot of Mini-Ice Bubbles his way. And while she did so, she also tried to keep from being hit by other Scouts' various attacks. Eventually, she felt she'd done all that she could against him for at least a while. So she too jumped off him in much the same way that Jupiter had earlier done. She jumped, and rolled clear of him just as soon as she landed on the ground in much the same way that Jupiter had also earlier done.
Eventually all the younger Scouts' various attacks began to lessen in average intensity for them all. And they all had to withdraw from the fight for at least a while. That left Sentinel Serenity the only one still fighting against him. But by then, he was nearly dead, from all the Scouts' attacks. She fought him for at least a few more minutes, all by herself, before she dropped back into her own first-power Scout state as Royal Sailor Serenity.
Then Royal Sailor Serenity used her own tiara several times as a combination boomerang and discus, so that she could finally kill him, in the very near future. As she did so, her tiara soon began severing various parts of him from his torso. Such as his legs, for instance. Yet no substance anyone could recognize as some sort of blood-like substance appeared whenever one of his limbs was severed from the rest of him. In fact, it wasn't even like oil that might at least occasionally show up anywhere on Terra in the Milky Way Galaxy's Sol system. They couldn't recognize that substance at all. But at least they all somehow knew that it was neither some sort of blood-like substance nor some sort of oil, no matter what it was. Eventually all his limbs were separated from the rest of his body. But he was still not dead. Even though his limbs were now quite separated from the rest of his body, due to Royal Sailor Serenity's use of her own tiara moments before.
Royal Sailor Serenity wondered why he wasn't dead yet. But only long enough for her to sever his head from his body, slice it open, and do the same for his torso. First she severed his head with a throw of her tiara. Then she sent her tiara flying toward his head in such a manner, and with quite a lot of force. She did that hoping that it'd slice his head open, pass through what might essentially be his brain, if he even had one, and destroy his brain by the simple act of her tiara passing through it. Her tiara returned again to her hand. She then made her tiara slice through his chest. She did that so that his heart-like organ and his lung-like organs were both exposed to the air quite a bit, in very short order. Then she sent her tiara through those three organs in such a manner that they'd also be destroyed by the simple act of her tiara passing through them as well. She did so only after she had all her companions get at least a hundred yards away from her. She did so as she then stood about two hundred yards away from him, and about a hundred yards closer to him than they were at that time, for that matter. She stood that far away from him once she realized that he'd probably explode somewhere within a blast radius of about a hundred or so yards from where his heart-like and lung-like organs were now located in his own body. One final time, then, she threw her tiara. And it soon sliced through those parts of him, just seconds after she began running away from him toward Yoshimo's house. As expected, he exploded within the aforementioned blast radius. But fortunately for them all, and for the grounds of Yoshimo's house, he was already at least another two to three hundred feet away from the nearest part of those grounds. Everyone, even the cats, covered their ears just before he exploded. Even Eclipse and Corona.
His explosion left a quite large crater near where he exploded. In fact, this crater was about 400 to 420 feet in average diameter. For related shock waves had caused quite a bit more of the surrounding terrain to shift positions in the area. However, it wasn't a crater that was a perfect circle in its shape. For hills between him and Yoshimo's house had absorbed or reflected quite a bit of force that'd just resulted from his own explosion. Which meant that Yoshimo's house and the grounds that it stood on nearby weren't adversely affected by his own explosion quite some distance away from both of them. But everything that'd been within the area of the crater was either killed or destroyed, of course. Whether plant, animal, or inanimate object, anything that'd been in that area was either destroyed or killed, as the case might be for such things.
He soon vanished from the sight of all his recent opponents. For his explosion had quite essentially reduced him and his bodily form to mere atoms with little or no cohesion whatsoever between them all. And so did anything else that'd actually been in the area of the brand-new crater. Whether they were plant, animal, or inanimate object, no matter what it was By the time that they'd all done so, then, the area of the new crater was totally devastated. And total desolation reigned within the entire area of the crater.
Eventually, Serenity let all her companions leave the area around Yoshimo's house where they'd all taken cover. And she led them all quite close to the crater, so that they could see it well enough. She eventually said, "Scouts, if anyone ever comes to bother us all on the Moon, then they may very well leave craters at least this large anywhere on the Moon's surface, if not larger. So you shouldn't be surprised at all if you ever see any craters larger than this on the Moon. Supposing, of course, that they ever come to it, and try to destroy us all on it."
"And what if they attack our respective planets, Royal Sailor Serenity?" asked Saturn Beta.
"Then, depending on the conditions that are prevailing on our respective planets, they may even leave craters at least a few miles, if not larger, on them. Especially on the larger worlds of our Moon Kingdom, Saturn Beta. They might even try to destroy our worlds with any number of weapons that they could also use to leave craters on our worlds, I believe. At least, I'd not put it past them to do such things, based on what my recent visions and/or dreams have been telling me of late."
"Do you think they'd do so to all our worlds, Royal Sailor Serenity?" asked Junior Sailor Neptune Beta.
"I believe that you can count on it, Neptune Beta. And I do mean really count on them doing so, if they ever do come to the inhabited worlds of our very own Moon Kingdom. And I don't think that we'll all be strong enough to stop them, if they ever enter our Moon Kingdom's territory in the Milky Way Galaxy's Sol system."
As soon as Serenity realized that there'd likely be no other beings bothering them for at least a while near Yoshimo's residence, she let all her Scouts power down, once they'd all gone back into his house. And after Luna and Artemis had gone back there as well. Once that was done, she transformed back out of her first-power Scout state as well. And she once again became just Queen Serenity of the Moon Kingdom, and nothing more, at the current time in her own mortal life.
I suppose that I'd better stop here now. For this will be where the next part of the story will take up from, in fact, readers. I hope that you have so far enjoyed the story, if you've gotten this far, and that you'll continue to read it, once I put more of it up here on I don't know how long it will take me to get each story in this series up fully on But it might take a while for each story in this series, just the same, readers. Until later, then, this is "The Universal Storyteller" signing off here. Happy reading, and God bless, and all that, of course, readers! Over and out!