"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from Magic."
-Arthur C. Clarke
1000 years ago....
Serenity stood on the balcony overlooking the main Ballroom of the royal castle. In the language of the Humans, her name meant peace. She did not feel very peaceful. A woman dressed in fine robes and carrying a staff shaped as a key stepped up beside her. Her long, dark green hair swishing gently. The look on her face told the Queen all she needed to know.
"It's our own fault really." Serenity said softly.
"Your highness?" The other woman sounded confused. Which was rare for her.
"Beryl. All our military might went into defending ourselves against The Star Kingdom, or Jurai, or the Shrin, or the half dozen other races that want a piece of us." Her hands gripped the railing. "We were so busy mobilizing towards defending ourselves against an outside attack, that we gave no thought to an attack from inside. Now we pay the price."
The Green-haired woman only nodded. The queen turned her attention towards the outside balcony. There she could see her daughter Serena, and her boyfriend. A prince from Earth. He was a good man, and if it wasn't for Beryl, he could have ruled the Moon Kingdom. She walked to a Window, the green-haired woman following. Serenity studied the Earth. For a long moment, nothing was heard except for the sounds of the ball. Finally Serenity turned her head to look at the shadows. Where only a variety of Statues stood, half concealed in the gloom.
"Daffyd." She said quietly. One of the Statues moved.
"Yes." The voice sounded somewhat like a deep, metallic hiss.
"One Portal to Earth remains. You know what to do."
"Yes." Serenity walked back to the railing that overlooked the ballroom.
"We were stupid Setsuna. Now we pay the price."
"There is always hope that we will beat Beryl."
"True. But All the same, Daffyd will destroy all evidence on Earth that we ever existed. Nothing will remain of the Moon Kingdom save some tales of the Peace we had." She took a moment to compose herself. "Unless our spy lied to us, Beryl is almost here. You had better go."
"This plan depends entirely on your daughter." Setsuna said as she stepped back. "If she fails....."
"Help her not too."
"I will try." Energy began to crackle over Setsuna, then she seemed to glow from inside and there was a flare of green light. When it cleared, she was gone. Serenity stood there and waited. Her own death was imminent. She knew that. Peace would come to the Children of the Moon. Somehow.
Somewhere in the bowels of the Pentagon, 1981
"And you're sure that's what they told you?" The astronaut nodded.
"Yes Sir. We were told never to leave Earth Orbit again. The Moon, Mars, it's all off limits."
The Present
It has been a week since the battle at the archeological site and the appearance of the godlike child-woman Mirna. It is now almost fall, the weather has turned chilly and the senshi are bracing for winter....
To say that the appearance of the green haired woman was a surprise to the five girls and one boy who were gathered in the dorm room would be an understatement.
"Pluto!" Serena Tuzinko exclaimed. "Must you do that?" An enigmatic smile crossed the lips of the arrival.
"My Apologies Princess." She said as she bowed. "But a...problem has arisen." She gestured with the key shaped staff in her hand and the TV switched on, showing hordes of pig like brutes and monsters rampaging through Tokyo.
"Porcines." One of the girls muttered. She pushed her raven black hair out of her eyes.
"That is not all." Pluto said, gesturing again. The view on the TV changed to show a closer view of the monsters. They appeared to be crafted from the dreams and nightmares of the Japanese people. Youma, Aragami, and Oni's. The view changed again to show a white haired man, laughing loudly as Tokyo was devastated.
"Malachite." Snarled Lita Kino, a tall amazonian girl. She clenched her fists. "Why can't that son of a bitch bastard stay dead?"
"The view changed again to show Tokyo Tower. Two figures in armor, four women and long haired brown man were holding off the hordes, but it was obvious they were fighting a losing battle.
"Let me guess." The only male in the room, a brown haired young man stood. "Reinforcements are required and those reinforcements are us."
"Precisely. Shall we then?" A Green light flowed over all of them and they vanished.
"Conrad?" Shellie poked her head in the door. "Hey Conrad? Ya here?" Seeing that he wasn't, she went searching. The door was eventually closed by an errant breeze coming through the window.
By the time they had arrived and transformed, The Knight already had a plan.
"I have a plan." He said as they hunched in the shadow of a burnt out van.
"Really?" Mina asked acidly. "What does it involve? Downloading Al Gore's Personality into a youma and letting it bore the others to death?"
"Who's Al Gore?" Sailor Moon asked.
"American Vice President." Mars muttered. "Total bore."
"No." Said the knight. He paused. "That is a thought though." Mina looked sick.
"You said you had a plan." Mercury said. "Mind sharing it with us?"
"We rush 'em." The Knight said simply. "I'll take point and push our way to Tokyo Tower. Then we grab Neptune, Uranus, The Sisters, and Nephrite and go do something fairly permanent about Malachite."
"Funky." Mercury said as an Ice Spear appeared in each hand. "Let's do it."
"Funky?" Mina whispered to Sailor Moon as they stood. "Where did she pick that up?" Sailor Moon could only shrug. Mina sighed and hefted the bloodstained assault rifle she had found. Its owner had been nearby, but being dead, he hadn't needed it any more.
"Well come on you guys." With that, she stood and fired off several well placed bursts at a youma.
They arrived at Tokyo Tower battle worn and minus one.
"Stay down princess!" Uranus snapped, restraining Sailor Moon.
"But Mina is out there. We have to rescue her!"
"We can't" The knight said, slowly scanning the immediate area. "We still have the Negaverse forces to deal with." Sailor Moon nodded and allowed herself to be pulled down.
"So where are they?" Jupiter asked.
"Somewhere out there." Mercury murmured, "But they're staying under cover."
"That's not good." Mars said, peering around the pile of concrete they were using for cover. "They've never used guerrilla tactics before."
"No. They haven't...." Nephrite rubbed his chin. "I wonder...."
"Wonder what?" Uranus asked.
"Nothing." Nephrite waved his hand dismissivly. "Noth--Nothing at all."
"Uh-huh." Uranus didn't sound like she believed him.
Mina fumbled her way through the process of reloading the assault rifle. All those eighties movies her uncle loved so much had made it look so much easier then it actually was.
Deep down, part of her regretted giving up being Sailor Venus-She pushed that thought away. Sailor Venus had died with David, and as long as she drew breath, Mina was determined to see to it that Sailor Venus stayed dead.
Having finished reloading, she darted out of the alleyway and sprinted down to the next available cover, the burnt remains of a city bus and its occupants.
Peering around the wreckage's burnt out hulk, she could see Tokyo Tower rising in the distance.
Almost there, she thought, I'm almost there.
With that, she ran the short distance to the shadowed doorway and from there, back and forth across the street.
"Hello." The knight looked down to see the same childlike being from the dig.
"Hello."
"Are you fighting with more bad people?" She asked, tilting her head slightly.
"Yes. Would you like to help?" She nodded enthusiastically. "Alright." He pointed towards the buildings surrounding Tokyo Tower. "There's a bunch of bad people in those buildings. Make them leave."
"Okay." With that, she vanished.
"How can you do that?" Neptune demanded. "She's just a kid!"
"That 'kid' just teleported out of here. You weren't at the dig site, you didn't see what she did to the youma."
Mina crouched in the shadows of what had once been a bank. Across the square, she could see her friends, crouched behind a pile of concrete.
Almost there.
The minutes ticked by. Jupiter hated waiting. Her breath rasped inside her helmet and she amused herself by making small bolts of electricity jump between her fingers. Mars had her legs crossed, apparently meditating. Uranus and Neptune had their heads together. Nephrite and the four sisters had moved to another pile of concrete and steel girders that was nearby in the hopes that they could divide any attack and take the pressure off the other group. It would all be for naught if Malachite decided on an all out attack, but that wasn't his style according to Nephrite and the Senshi were willing to believe him.
For the moment anyway.
She looked over at Mercury, who was sculpting an ice statue of some guy in a robe with short white hair, a white, neatly trimmed beard and carried a sword.
"Who's that?" Sailor Moon asked, scooting over to Mercury.
"Just a guy from an American Movie." Mercury said absently. "Now lemme concentrate. She wiggled her fingers and the ice sculpture began to move, dueling with some invisible opponent.
"Wow." Sailor Moon breathed. "That is so cool Mercury."
"Yeah." Jupiter said. "How are you doing that?" Mercury shrugged.
"Adding and removing ice to change positions. Its easy if I don't think very hard about it." The ice sculpture suddenly paused, turned its head to look at something, and actually smile. Then the blade of its sword vanished as it collapsed, leaving only the robe. Sailor Moon applauded as Mercury let the sculpture evaporate.
"Could you do that on a larger scale?" Asked the Knight.
"Probably, if I was standing in water so I'd have a source of water to draw on. Why?"
"A thought I just had. If you could create a life-sized statue of-" The knight was cut off by a panicked shout from the buildings as Gorjira burst through the roof of one of the buildings, his tail battering the walls to rubble. He roared and exhaled, his radioactive breath battering the youma who were attempting to deal with this new arrival in their midst.
"Holy Mother of Crap." Jupiter breathed. "What the hell is that?!"
"I believe it is Gorjira, known to us Americans as Godzilla." The Knight deadpanned. "I could be wrong, of course."
"Well thanks for your expert opinion!" Uranus snapped. "I thought I was looking at Rodan!"
"No, Rodan was the giant-" Jupiter cut them both off with a few choice expletives.
"If you two are done." She said with patronizing sarcasm, "Do you think you might possibly help us with the giant lizard over there?" she indicated the rampaging Gorjira as she fixed them with a cold-eyed stare. "That is, if you can find the time."
"Ew." Sailor Moon whispered to Mercury. "I am so glad she's not looking at me like that." Mercury only nodded.
"So am I-huh?" Mercury gasped. Sailor Moon looked up to see Gorjira striding towards them, Mirna riding on his head and angry youma on their heels.
"Shit." Jupiter muttered and readied her Supreme Thunder Attack.
Somewhere in Napa Valley, CA, USA.....
"Dan, wouldja hurry up?"
"I'm trying!" Daniel Westlake hissed, fingers dancing on the palmtop computer's keyboard. "This isn't easy you know."
"Well hurry it up!" Jake Sampson snapped.
The two boys were crouched in the shadow of a bank ATM. Daniel, short, a bit stout, and his face obscured by the tinted goggles and ski mask. Upoun his knee sat a palmtop computer. A cable ran from it to a small credit card shaped device presently inserted into the ATM.
Their intentions were to transfer funds from one account to another account. Both belonging to the same person, one Mister Howard Mister, a Science Teacher with a tendency for overwhelming Anal Retentiveness. While the transfer wouldn't hurt him, it would bother the perfectionist and irritate him to no end.
Thus, the two, their faces covered by ski masks and tinted goggles and their hands covered by leather driving gloves, had snuck out in the middle of the night to engage in a bit of techno crime.
"I'm in."
"Wow." Jake said as he peered over his friend's shoulder. "They really don't pay teachers all that much do they."
"You should see what they paid Miss Haruna." Daniel said absently.
"Who?"
"Nothing." Daniel said, a little too quickly as he stood, quickly entered the commands and then logged out of the ATM.
"Come on!" Jake snapped, stuffing the computer and cable into his backpack and taking off at a dead run.
Daniel followed, running with that particular gait that belonged to those who had an artificial leg. "Supreme Thunder!" Jupiter yelled as the electricity flew from her hands to impact harmlessly against the tough skin of Gorjira's leg. The big lizard roared and turned his full attention towards the green armor clad Sailor Senshi.
"Oh Boy..."
Mina set herself and then leapt from cover and charged for her friends' position.
Almost there...
Gorjira tilted his massive head this way and that, trying to get a look at his attacker. Even though her armor was sealed, Jupiter swore she could smell his breath, hot and rancid, like week old spoiled meat, or was it her imagination?
What wasn't her imagination was the wind from his breath as he breathed out. It pushed against her, trying to knock her over. To stay upright, she was forced to lock the knee joints of her armor in place.
"This isn't good..." Mercury said softly.
"No Shit." Uranus agreed.
Charwar.......
She shows no fear. Seekay said, his voice, as always, cold and metallic. But then, those who settled on Jupiter's Moons were primarily Prince Calthar's personal guard and their families. Seekay, a huge figure wearing enveloping robes beneath a heavy, all-concealing cape and a hood that kept his face in the blackest shadow paused for a moment. Perhaps its time they learn...Yes. Seekay was silent for a moment and Bertie felt the tickle at the back of her head that signified telepathic activity. Tell Malachite to order the Youma to attack.
"Mirna!" Sailor Moon shouted as the Youma surged forward, a harsh cry of battle bursting forth from their throats. "Send those Youma away!"
"Okay." The Youma vanished in mid-attack. Mars exhaled the breath she had been holding without realizing it.
"Well that was anti-climatic." Uranus said acidly. "Now what about big and ugly?" She gestured at the crouching form of Gorjira who seemed a bit baffled at the disappearance of the Youma and kept looking behind him, trying to see where they went. The effect was ludicrous and Jupiter was grateful for her helmet and the cover it offered for the huge grin on her face.
"I'd feel better if I knew where those Youma are now." Mars said. "What if they're in Las Vegas or something?"
"And this is a problem how?" Mercury said as she stood. Mars shot her friend a look. The Senshi of water had changed a lot since her beating by Negaverse thugs. She claimed that it had opened her eyes and made her realize how precious life really was, but it went deeper then that.
There was something fundamentally different about her and for the life of her, Mars couldn't put her finger on it.
"Mirna honey?" Neptune said, looking up at the woman-child on Gorjira's head. "Where did you send the Youma?"
"Away." Mirna pulled a rubber washer from somewhere in her robes and popped it into her mouth and chewed it.
"Would you like to tell us where?" Mirna shook her head.
"Secret." She giggled and ate another rubber washer.
"We can keep secrets. Won't you please tell us?" Mirna shook her head. "No. Me keep Secrets like the Star Lady told me to." She nodded solemnly. "I do what she says." Neptune nodded as stepped back until she stood close to Uranus.
"Give me the rubber washers you had in your pocket." She hissed to her lover. Puzzled, Uranus did as she was bid and Neptune stepped back to Mirna. "Look." She held up one of the rubber washers. "I'll give you this if you come down from there." Mirna's eyes lit up and she slid to the ground holding out her hands.
"Here you go." Neptune handed her one of the larger washers which Mirna gulped down. "Now where did you send the youma?"
"The moon." Mirna said, snatching a rubber washer from Neptune's hand. Jupiter giggled at the thought of the Youma bouncing crazily around in the moon's low gravity.
"I'd like to see that. Youma in low gravity" She snickered.
"Okay." Mirna said as the air around her and the Senshi began to waver and crackle
"Hey look! Its Mina!" Sailor Moon pointed at the figure running across the square even as she, the Senshi, and Mirna wavered and vanished.
Mina couldn't believe her eyes as her friends vanished.
"NOOOOOO!" The cry of denial tore from her throat as she ran faster trying to catch them, even though in her heart she knew it was futile. "NOOOOO!" She howled again as the energy tornado exploded into existence around her and then she too was gone, leaving Nephrite, The Four Sisters and Gorjira to stare at each other.
"So now what?" Avery asked. Nobody answered her.
"It's beautiful." Neptune said softly.
"It doesn't look so bad from up here." Jupiter said softly. There was noises of agreement from the others as they watched the gentle curve of the earth rising above the moon's horizon.
"Okay." Everyone turned to look at Uranus. "We're here, so now now what?"
"I suppose we should try and figure out where on the moon we are, then figure out how to get back." Mars said.
"Well that's easy." Sailor Moon said. "We just ask--" She broke off. "Where is Mirna?" Uranus nudged Neptune.
"Maybe those Aliens you believe warned away the Apollo Astronauts got her." She snickered
"That's not funny." Neptune sounded hurt.
"Aliens?" Jupiter asked.
"Neptune likes to read conspiracy theories on the Web. One of her favorites says that the Apollo eleven Astronauts found aliens while exploring the moon's surface. Then there's the one about how we never made the Moon Landing at all..."
"Well that's all well and good," Jupiter said as they began to spread out, looking for some sign of their location. "But how do we know we're in the Sea of Tranquility?"
"Easy." The Crystal Knight's voice sounded haunted. "We take this flag and follow the path of their explorations." Everyone turned to look at the knight. In his hands he held a twisted metal pole. Dangling from one end was a twisted and torn, wire stiffend flag.
As the others stood in horror and shock, Mercury walked past the Knight.
"That's odd...." She said, crouching and examining the rock. "There's bootprints here." Standing, she paced off twenty steps. "If Neptune's right..." She looked around and then moved to her right. "Guys, come look at this." One by one, they walked to where the Senshi of Water stood.
"What did you find?" Mars asked.
"This." Mercury turned to show them that she was holding a piece of metal in her hands. Though blackend by intense heat, they could still make out the stenciled number 11 and the american flag. "This was blasted fairly recently." She said. "No more then a few hours ago."
"Sorry about that, I had to be sure my new toy worked." The Senshi spun. Standing behind them, surrounded by what appeared to be the same glowing aura that was protecting Sailor Moon was Sailor Star Fighter, Star Healer, and Star Maker. Mina lay still next to Star Healer and Star Maker, apparently unconsious. Jupiter's attention however, was focused on the large black gun in Star Fighter's hands. "Your highness," Star Fighter said with exaggerated politness. "By order of High Regent Elurius of The Star Kingdom of Traconus, I hereby place you and your friends under arrest." He smiled. "Please don't resist, I would rather not have to present dead bodies to the Regent."
1000 years ago....
Serenity stood on the balcony overlooking the main Ballroom of the royal castle. In the language of the Humans, her name meant peace. She did not feel very peaceful. A woman dressed in fine robes and carrying a staff shaped as a key stepped up beside her. Her long, dark green hair swishing gently. The look on her face told the Queen all she needed to know.
"It's our own fault really." Serenity said softly.
"Your highness?" The other woman sounded confused. Which was rare for her.
"Beryl. All our military might went into defending ourselves against The Star Kingdom, or Jurai, or the Shrin, or the half dozen other races that want a piece of us." Her hands gripped the railing. "We were so busy mobilizing towards defending ourselves against an outside attack, that we gave no thought to an attack from inside. Now we pay the price."
The Green-haired woman only nodded. The queen turned her attention towards the outside balcony. There she could see her daughter Serena, and her boyfriend. A prince from Earth. He was a good man, and if it wasn't for Beryl, he could have ruled the Moon Kingdom. She walked to a Window, the green-haired woman following. Serenity studied the Earth. For a long moment, nothing was heard except for the sounds of the ball. Finally Serenity turned her head to look at the shadows. Where only a variety of Statues stood, half concealed in the gloom.
"Daffyd." She said quietly. One of the Statues moved.
"Yes." The voice sounded somewhat like a deep, metallic hiss.
"One Portal to Earth remains. You know what to do."
"Yes." Serenity walked back to the railing that overlooked the ballroom.
"We were stupid Setsuna. Now we pay the price."
"There is always hope that we will beat Beryl."
"True. But All the same, Daffyd will destroy all evidence on Earth that we ever existed. Nothing will remain of the Moon Kingdom save some tales of the Peace we had." She took a moment to compose herself. "Unless our spy lied to us, Beryl is almost here. You had better go."
"This plan depends entirely on your daughter." Setsuna said as she stepped back. "If she fails....."
"Help her not too."
"I will try." Energy began to crackle over Setsuna, then she seemed to glow from inside and there was a flare of green light. When it cleared, she was gone. Serenity stood there and waited. Her own death was imminent. She knew that. Peace would come to the Children of the Moon. Somehow.
Somewhere in the bowels of the Pentagon, 1981
"And you're sure that's what they told you?" The astronaut nodded.
"Yes Sir. We were told never to leave Earth Orbit again. The Moon, Mars, it's all off limits."
The Present
It has been a week since the battle at the archeological site and the appearance of the godlike child-woman Mirna. It is now almost fall, the weather has turned chilly and the senshi are bracing for winter....
To say that the appearance of the green haired woman was a surprise to the five girls and one boy who were gathered in the dorm room would be an understatement.
"Pluto!" Serena Tuzinko exclaimed. "Must you do that?" An enigmatic smile crossed the lips of the arrival.
"My Apologies Princess." She said as she bowed. "But a...problem has arisen." She gestured with the key shaped staff in her hand and the TV switched on, showing hordes of pig like brutes and monsters rampaging through Tokyo.
"Porcines." One of the girls muttered. She pushed her raven black hair out of her eyes.
"That is not all." Pluto said, gesturing again. The view on the TV changed to show a closer view of the monsters. They appeared to be crafted from the dreams and nightmares of the Japanese people. Youma, Aragami, and Oni's. The view changed again to show a white haired man, laughing loudly as Tokyo was devastated.
"Malachite." Snarled Lita Kino, a tall amazonian girl. She clenched her fists. "Why can't that son of a bitch bastard stay dead?"
"The view changed again to show Tokyo Tower. Two figures in armor, four women and long haired brown man were holding off the hordes, but it was obvious they were fighting a losing battle.
"Let me guess." The only male in the room, a brown haired young man stood. "Reinforcements are required and those reinforcements are us."
"Precisely. Shall we then?" A Green light flowed over all of them and they vanished.
"Conrad?" Shellie poked her head in the door. "Hey Conrad? Ya here?" Seeing that he wasn't, she went searching. The door was eventually closed by an errant breeze coming through the window.
By the time they had arrived and transformed, The Knight already had a plan.
"I have a plan." He said as they hunched in the shadow of a burnt out van.
"Really?" Mina asked acidly. "What does it involve? Downloading Al Gore's Personality into a youma and letting it bore the others to death?"
"Who's Al Gore?" Sailor Moon asked.
"American Vice President." Mars muttered. "Total bore."
"No." Said the knight. He paused. "That is a thought though." Mina looked sick.
"You said you had a plan." Mercury said. "Mind sharing it with us?"
"We rush 'em." The Knight said simply. "I'll take point and push our way to Tokyo Tower. Then we grab Neptune, Uranus, The Sisters, and Nephrite and go do something fairly permanent about Malachite."
"Funky." Mercury said as an Ice Spear appeared in each hand. "Let's do it."
"Funky?" Mina whispered to Sailor Moon as they stood. "Where did she pick that up?" Sailor Moon could only shrug. Mina sighed and hefted the bloodstained assault rifle she had found. Its owner had been nearby, but being dead, he hadn't needed it any more.
"Well come on you guys." With that, she stood and fired off several well placed bursts at a youma.
They arrived at Tokyo Tower battle worn and minus one.
"Stay down princess!" Uranus snapped, restraining Sailor Moon.
"But Mina is out there. We have to rescue her!"
"We can't" The knight said, slowly scanning the immediate area. "We still have the Negaverse forces to deal with." Sailor Moon nodded and allowed herself to be pulled down.
"So where are they?" Jupiter asked.
"Somewhere out there." Mercury murmured, "But they're staying under cover."
"That's not good." Mars said, peering around the pile of concrete they were using for cover. "They've never used guerrilla tactics before."
"No. They haven't...." Nephrite rubbed his chin. "I wonder...."
"Wonder what?" Uranus asked.
"Nothing." Nephrite waved his hand dismissivly. "Noth--Nothing at all."
"Uh-huh." Uranus didn't sound like she believed him.
Mina fumbled her way through the process of reloading the assault rifle. All those eighties movies her uncle loved so much had made it look so much easier then it actually was.
Deep down, part of her regretted giving up being Sailor Venus-She pushed that thought away. Sailor Venus had died with David, and as long as she drew breath, Mina was determined to see to it that Sailor Venus stayed dead.
Having finished reloading, she darted out of the alleyway and sprinted down to the next available cover, the burnt remains of a city bus and its occupants.
Peering around the wreckage's burnt out hulk, she could see Tokyo Tower rising in the distance.
Almost there, she thought, I'm almost there.
With that, she ran the short distance to the shadowed doorway and from there, back and forth across the street.
"Hello." The knight looked down to see the same childlike being from the dig.
"Hello."
"Are you fighting with more bad people?" She asked, tilting her head slightly.
"Yes. Would you like to help?" She nodded enthusiastically. "Alright." He pointed towards the buildings surrounding Tokyo Tower. "There's a bunch of bad people in those buildings. Make them leave."
"Okay." With that, she vanished.
"How can you do that?" Neptune demanded. "She's just a kid!"
"That 'kid' just teleported out of here. You weren't at the dig site, you didn't see what she did to the youma."
Mina crouched in the shadows of what had once been a bank. Across the square, she could see her friends, crouched behind a pile of concrete.
Almost there.
The minutes ticked by. Jupiter hated waiting. Her breath rasped inside her helmet and she amused herself by making small bolts of electricity jump between her fingers. Mars had her legs crossed, apparently meditating. Uranus and Neptune had their heads together. Nephrite and the four sisters had moved to another pile of concrete and steel girders that was nearby in the hopes that they could divide any attack and take the pressure off the other group. It would all be for naught if Malachite decided on an all out attack, but that wasn't his style according to Nephrite and the Senshi were willing to believe him.
For the moment anyway.
She looked over at Mercury, who was sculpting an ice statue of some guy in a robe with short white hair, a white, neatly trimmed beard and carried a sword.
"Who's that?" Sailor Moon asked, scooting over to Mercury.
"Just a guy from an American Movie." Mercury said absently. "Now lemme concentrate. She wiggled her fingers and the ice sculpture began to move, dueling with some invisible opponent.
"Wow." Sailor Moon breathed. "That is so cool Mercury."
"Yeah." Jupiter said. "How are you doing that?" Mercury shrugged.
"Adding and removing ice to change positions. Its easy if I don't think very hard about it." The ice sculpture suddenly paused, turned its head to look at something, and actually smile. Then the blade of its sword vanished as it collapsed, leaving only the robe. Sailor Moon applauded as Mercury let the sculpture evaporate.
"Could you do that on a larger scale?" Asked the Knight.
"Probably, if I was standing in water so I'd have a source of water to draw on. Why?"
"A thought I just had. If you could create a life-sized statue of-" The knight was cut off by a panicked shout from the buildings as Gorjira burst through the roof of one of the buildings, his tail battering the walls to rubble. He roared and exhaled, his radioactive breath battering the youma who were attempting to deal with this new arrival in their midst.
"Holy Mother of Crap." Jupiter breathed. "What the hell is that?!"
"I believe it is Gorjira, known to us Americans as Godzilla." The Knight deadpanned. "I could be wrong, of course."
"Well thanks for your expert opinion!" Uranus snapped. "I thought I was looking at Rodan!"
"No, Rodan was the giant-" Jupiter cut them both off with a few choice expletives.
"If you two are done." She said with patronizing sarcasm, "Do you think you might possibly help us with the giant lizard over there?" she indicated the rampaging Gorjira as she fixed them with a cold-eyed stare. "That is, if you can find the time."
"Ew." Sailor Moon whispered to Mercury. "I am so glad she's not looking at me like that." Mercury only nodded.
"So am I-huh?" Mercury gasped. Sailor Moon looked up to see Gorjira striding towards them, Mirna riding on his head and angry youma on their heels.
"Shit." Jupiter muttered and readied her Supreme Thunder Attack.
Somewhere in Napa Valley, CA, USA.....
"Dan, wouldja hurry up?"
"I'm trying!" Daniel Westlake hissed, fingers dancing on the palmtop computer's keyboard. "This isn't easy you know."
"Well hurry it up!" Jake Sampson snapped.
The two boys were crouched in the shadow of a bank ATM. Daniel, short, a bit stout, and his face obscured by the tinted goggles and ski mask. Upoun his knee sat a palmtop computer. A cable ran from it to a small credit card shaped device presently inserted into the ATM.
Their intentions were to transfer funds from one account to another account. Both belonging to the same person, one Mister Howard Mister, a Science Teacher with a tendency for overwhelming Anal Retentiveness. While the transfer wouldn't hurt him, it would bother the perfectionist and irritate him to no end.
Thus, the two, their faces covered by ski masks and tinted goggles and their hands covered by leather driving gloves, had snuck out in the middle of the night to engage in a bit of techno crime.
"I'm in."
"Wow." Jake said as he peered over his friend's shoulder. "They really don't pay teachers all that much do they."
"You should see what they paid Miss Haruna." Daniel said absently.
"Who?"
"Nothing." Daniel said, a little too quickly as he stood, quickly entered the commands and then logged out of the ATM.
"Come on!" Jake snapped, stuffing the computer and cable into his backpack and taking off at a dead run.
Daniel followed, running with that particular gait that belonged to those who had an artificial leg. "Supreme Thunder!" Jupiter yelled as the electricity flew from her hands to impact harmlessly against the tough skin of Gorjira's leg. The big lizard roared and turned his full attention towards the green armor clad Sailor Senshi.
"Oh Boy..."
Mina set herself and then leapt from cover and charged for her friends' position.
Almost there...
Gorjira tilted his massive head this way and that, trying to get a look at his attacker. Even though her armor was sealed, Jupiter swore she could smell his breath, hot and rancid, like week old spoiled meat, or was it her imagination?
What wasn't her imagination was the wind from his breath as he breathed out. It pushed against her, trying to knock her over. To stay upright, she was forced to lock the knee joints of her armor in place.
"This isn't good..." Mercury said softly.
"No Shit." Uranus agreed.
Charwar.......
She shows no fear. Seekay said, his voice, as always, cold and metallic. But then, those who settled on Jupiter's Moons were primarily Prince Calthar's personal guard and their families. Seekay, a huge figure wearing enveloping robes beneath a heavy, all-concealing cape and a hood that kept his face in the blackest shadow paused for a moment. Perhaps its time they learn...Yes. Seekay was silent for a moment and Bertie felt the tickle at the back of her head that signified telepathic activity. Tell Malachite to order the Youma to attack.
"Mirna!" Sailor Moon shouted as the Youma surged forward, a harsh cry of battle bursting forth from their throats. "Send those Youma away!"
"Okay." The Youma vanished in mid-attack. Mars exhaled the breath she had been holding without realizing it.
"Well that was anti-climatic." Uranus said acidly. "Now what about big and ugly?" She gestured at the crouching form of Gorjira who seemed a bit baffled at the disappearance of the Youma and kept looking behind him, trying to see where they went. The effect was ludicrous and Jupiter was grateful for her helmet and the cover it offered for the huge grin on her face.
"I'd feel better if I knew where those Youma are now." Mars said. "What if they're in Las Vegas or something?"
"And this is a problem how?" Mercury said as she stood. Mars shot her friend a look. The Senshi of water had changed a lot since her beating by Negaverse thugs. She claimed that it had opened her eyes and made her realize how precious life really was, but it went deeper then that.
There was something fundamentally different about her and for the life of her, Mars couldn't put her finger on it.
"Mirna honey?" Neptune said, looking up at the woman-child on Gorjira's head. "Where did you send the Youma?"
"Away." Mirna pulled a rubber washer from somewhere in her robes and popped it into her mouth and chewed it.
"Would you like to tell us where?" Mirna shook her head.
"Secret." She giggled and ate another rubber washer.
"We can keep secrets. Won't you please tell us?" Mirna shook her head. "No. Me keep Secrets like the Star Lady told me to." She nodded solemnly. "I do what she says." Neptune nodded as stepped back until she stood close to Uranus.
"Give me the rubber washers you had in your pocket." She hissed to her lover. Puzzled, Uranus did as she was bid and Neptune stepped back to Mirna. "Look." She held up one of the rubber washers. "I'll give you this if you come down from there." Mirna's eyes lit up and she slid to the ground holding out her hands.
"Here you go." Neptune handed her one of the larger washers which Mirna gulped down. "Now where did you send the youma?"
"The moon." Mirna said, snatching a rubber washer from Neptune's hand. Jupiter giggled at the thought of the Youma bouncing crazily around in the moon's low gravity.
"I'd like to see that. Youma in low gravity" She snickered.
"Okay." Mirna said as the air around her and the Senshi began to waver and crackle
"Hey look! Its Mina!" Sailor Moon pointed at the figure running across the square even as she, the Senshi, and Mirna wavered and vanished.
Mina couldn't believe her eyes as her friends vanished.
"NOOOOOO!" The cry of denial tore from her throat as she ran faster trying to catch them, even though in her heart she knew it was futile. "NOOOOO!" She howled again as the energy tornado exploded into existence around her and then she too was gone, leaving Nephrite, The Four Sisters and Gorjira to stare at each other.
"So now what?" Avery asked. Nobody answered her.
"It's beautiful." Neptune said softly.
"It doesn't look so bad from up here." Jupiter said softly. There was noises of agreement from the others as they watched the gentle curve of the earth rising above the moon's horizon.
"Okay." Everyone turned to look at Uranus. "We're here, so now now what?"
"I suppose we should try and figure out where on the moon we are, then figure out how to get back." Mars said.
"Well that's easy." Sailor Moon said. "We just ask--" She broke off. "Where is Mirna?" Uranus nudged Neptune.
"Maybe those Aliens you believe warned away the Apollo Astronauts got her." She snickered
"That's not funny." Neptune sounded hurt.
"Aliens?" Jupiter asked.
"Neptune likes to read conspiracy theories on the Web. One of her favorites says that the Apollo eleven Astronauts found aliens while exploring the moon's surface. Then there's the one about how we never made the Moon Landing at all..."
"Well that's all well and good," Jupiter said as they began to spread out, looking for some sign of their location. "But how do we know we're in the Sea of Tranquility?"
"Easy." The Crystal Knight's voice sounded haunted. "We take this flag and follow the path of their explorations." Everyone turned to look at the knight. In his hands he held a twisted metal pole. Dangling from one end was a twisted and torn, wire stiffend flag.
As the others stood in horror and shock, Mercury walked past the Knight.
"That's odd...." She said, crouching and examining the rock. "There's bootprints here." Standing, she paced off twenty steps. "If Neptune's right..." She looked around and then moved to her right. "Guys, come look at this." One by one, they walked to where the Senshi of Water stood.
"What did you find?" Mars asked.
"This." Mercury turned to show them that she was holding a piece of metal in her hands. Though blackend by intense heat, they could still make out the stenciled number 11 and the american flag. "This was blasted fairly recently." She said. "No more then a few hours ago."
"Sorry about that, I had to be sure my new toy worked." The Senshi spun. Standing behind them, surrounded by what appeared to be the same glowing aura that was protecting Sailor Moon was Sailor Star Fighter, Star Healer, and Star Maker. Mina lay still next to Star Healer and Star Maker, apparently unconsious. Jupiter's attention however, was focused on the large black gun in Star Fighter's hands. "Your highness," Star Fighter said with exaggerated politness. "By order of High Regent Elurius of The Star Kingdom of Traconus, I hereby place you and your friends under arrest." He smiled. "Please don't resist, I would rather not have to present dead bodies to the Regent."