Disclaimer: My sincere gratitude to Takeuchi-sensei who created this wonderful world for us to dream in. respectful bow in the general direction of Japan As we all know, all rights belong to her. I hope you enjoy my portrayal of her creations.
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A/N - To avoid confusion, the 30th Century senshi will just be referred to by their planet name, while their counterparts from the 20th century will continue to be called Super Sailor X. Only Moon, Ceres, Juno, Pallas, Vesta, and Tuxedo Mask will be handled as in the past chapters. - Raya
The Sleeper
Chapter 16 – Nightmare Battle, Part II
Saturn floated deep within Lady's heart, surrounded by warmth, love, and rosy-pink light. "'I won't let them have you. I won't let them hurt you," she heard a voice vow quietly.
"ChibiUsa-chan?" She stirred slowly, beginning to become aware of her surroundings. "ChibiUsa-chan... What is going on?" She felt Lady's arms tighten around her, and looked up into her princess' face. The protectiveness and determination she saw there triggered a long-forgotten memory of the time she had held ChibiUsa-chan in just this way, and used all her strength to protect her from Mistress 9.
With the memory came understanding and sudden wakefulness. 'There is danger. I am needed.' She wrapped her arms tightly around Lady, making her princess start with surprise. She looked into Lady's eyes, and smiled, then drew her back up to the surface and conciousness.
"NOW!" they heard Empress Night yell. "I... I can't..," Usagi whispered. "Then she will die. Night FALL!"
Saturn and Lady both opened their 'eyes' wide as they felt the wave of energy headed toward them. Saturn ripped herself out of Lady's embrace, lifted the glaive which abruptly appeared in her hands, and flew up to meet the energy. Behind her, Lady reached out and yelled. "No....."
"NOOOOOOOO....." Usagi, Ikuko, Kenji, Shingo, and the senshi screamed in unison as the attack flew towards Lady's defenseless body. The Quartet leapt to absorb the blow. A bright flash of light made everyone wince and hide their faces. Sailor Pallas, Sailor Juno, Sailor Vesta, and Sailor Ceres collapsed to the sand in front of their princess and stared in surprise at the senshi standing protectively in front of them.
Her violet-grey eyes fixed themselves on Empress Night as the sea breeze ruffled her shoulder-length black hair, dark purple skirt, and dark orange bows. The sun glinted off the blade of her deadly looking glaive. "No-one harms my princess," she said coldly.
"Usagi-san!!! Look out!!!!" Super Sailor Neptune screamed as she saw King Muerte raise his hands. She and her companions leapt desperately to their feet, but stopped as a familiar young voice echoed across the beach. "Silent Wall!"
Super Sailor Saturn stepped up beside her comrades, her Silence Glaive held aggressively in front of her. "And no-one harms my queen," she added in her duplicate cold voice.
"Tw... Two of you?" Maat asked in shock, while her superiors looked back and forth between the Super Sailor Saturns in surprise. Super Sailor Pluto gasped, then planted her staff in the sand and closed her eyes in concentration. "No wonder the compass was acting so weird," Queen Yeti mumbled.
Empress Night shook herself. "No matter. Sister, I have come for you," she said to the Super Sailor Saturn standing in front of the senshi from the future. Saturn raised a dark eyebrow. "I do not know you," she replied. "I will not come with you."
"You will come," her dark haired adversary said coldly. "You will come, or I will destroy all of your friends." She turned and threw a ball of energy at the unprotected Tsukino's. Her cry of surprise blended with the senshi's scream of denial when the attack bounced back at her. "What????"
"You will not harm them," Neo-Queen Serenity said calmly, standing before her family with arms outstretched protectively. Ikuko, Kenji, and Shingo looked up at the white-haired woman in shock. Although they could not see her face, her voice was very familiar. Ikuko's eyes then flew towards her daughter. If possible, they would have widened more. Usagi stood protectively in front of Tuxedo Mask in a dress identical to the one the white haired woman was wearing. On her forehead, a crescent moon shone brightly.
Neo-Queen Serenity looked to her daughter and her former self, who were staring at her in shock. "Sailor Moon. Transform." "Mama..." Lady said in relief. "Neo-Queen Serenity..." Usagi said at the same time in shock. The two girls looked at each other, then nodded. "Right," they replied.
"Silver Moon Crystal Power..." "Moon Crisis Power...." "Make-UP!" In a swirling cloud of angel feathers, they worked their double transformation magic. "I am the pretty sailor suited Senshi of Love and Justice, Eternal Sailor Moon! In the Name of the Moon, I will punish you!" "Likewise, I am Super Sailor Moon. In the Name of the Future Moon, I will punish you!"
Although Shingo appeared to be shocked to have his newly found suspicions confirmed, Kenji and Ikuko did not appear to be as surprised. Their suspicions had formed long ago, and this confirmation almost seemed anticlimactic after watching the other girls transform and seeing Usagi in her queenly state.
"No matter how many of you there are, you will not defeat me!" Empress Night yelled. "Night FALL!" She threw the attack at Eternal Sailor Moon, who put her Moon Tier in front of her and blocked it.
"Sai... Sailor Moon?" Her heart lifted as she heard the voice behind her. "Tuxedo Mask-sama! You're all right!"
"You will not win," a determined voice called out across the sand. The 20th Century Senshi stared in surprise at their future selves who were standing behind the still oblivious Super Sailor Pluto. Venus looked towards their formers selves with a wry smile. "Sorry to send you such unwelcome guests."
"Yeah, well you owe us," Super Sailor Venus replied with an identical expression. "They completely ruined our day at the beach, and they made me miss seeing Takahiro Yamamoto and Daisuke Usami play beach volleyball!"
Venus's eyes opened wide. "Takahiro Yamamoto? And Daisuke Usami? No way!" She turned and glared at the enemy. "Now that's just completely unforgivable. You made me miss seeing the two best male volleyball players in 20th Century Japan???"
"Venus..." Jupiter said in an amused voice. "We have other things to worry about..." "Oh, right," she replied in an embarrassed tone.
Mercury caught Super Sailor Mercury's eye, made a circling motion with her right hand, then cupped her hands together in front of her as if she were holding something at chest height. Super Sailor Mercury's face creased in puzzlement for a moment, then cleared as she nodded her understanding.
"That's just scary," Mars whispered to Jupiter as they began to step up into position. "Yeah? Watch Uranus and Neptune..." Jupiter whispered back. The two Outer Senshi looked at their former selves a moment, then moved to get into their position. The two younger senshi moved to mirror them across the beach. "Yai. Even scarier," Mars whispered to herself. She shook her head as Super Sailor Venus, Super Sailor Mars, Super Sailor Jupiter, Saturn, and Super Sailor Saturn noticed the pattern and stepped to the proper places. Her eyes caught Super Sailor Mars' dark purple ones, and they shook their heads at each other in disbelief.
Quickly, the two groups of senshi surrounded everyone else on the beach, each facing her counterpart across the sands. Eternal Sailor Moon, Tuxedo Mask, Super Sailor Moon, and the Quartet looked around in confusion.
"Empress Night," Neo-Queen Serenity called. "You claim to be the older sister to the Princess of Destruction, Sailor Saturn. While none of us recognize you, it may be possible. Therefore, you are given a choice. Allow us to purge the evil from your hearts, or be banished from our system forever."
Empress Night gave Neo-Queen Serenity a haughty look. "You can't banish us. We will just return. And we WILL reclaim my sister for the Darkness."
Maat looked around, and decided that this position was not a good one to be in. She could better serve her Empress from outside the building circle of light. She began to change to her vaporous state, when Sailor Ceres' voice made her jerk around. "Oh no you don't," the pink haired senshi said with narrow eyes. "Guys... Surround her!" Her team quickly surrounded the wide-eyed woman, stretched their hands towards each other, and created a barrier she could not penetrate.
Neo-Queen Serenity looked at the girls in surprise, then gratitude. She then turned her attention back to Empress Night. Raising her Silver Crystal, she spoke again in her gentle voice. "One or the other. Be purged of the evil or be banished from this realm. Silver Crystal Power!"
Understanding flooded Eternal Sailor Moon's blue eyes and Super Sailor Moon's dark pink eyes as they noticed the balance around them. They looked at each other, nodded, then turned to face each other. They instinctively chose the side which more closely matched their power level. Thus, Eternal Sailor Moon faced her friends, while Super Sailor Moon faced the senshi from the 30th Century.
"Mercury Crystal Power," the two senshi of Mercury called. Mercury funneled her strength to Eternal Sailor Moon, while Super Sailor Mercury funneled her strength to Super Sailor Moon. "Mars Crystal Power." "Jupiter Crystal Power." "Venus Crystal Power." "Neptune Crystal Power." "Uranus Crystal Power." "Pluto Crystal Power." "Saturn Crystal Power." "Golden Crystal Power." "Moon Crystal Power." With this final cry, the two Moons funneled the gathered energy to Neo-Queen Serenity.
Light flooded the circle, shining brighter than the sun. Empress Night and her court cried out in pain. "It's too bright! Stop!!" screamed Queen Yeti. "Stop! Stop!!!" King Muerte cried in anguish. "It burns! Too much light!!" yelled King Arashi. Empress Night just screamed in pain.
The light, though still bright, mellowed and became softer. Ikuko gazed around in wonder. Somehow, it seemed still seemed brighter than the sun, but as soft and gentle as moonlight. She felt a sense of peace fill her heart, and as the light slowly died down around her, it continued to shine softly in her soul. As her eyes caught Kenji's then Shingo's, she realized that they had been affected in the same way. They shared a gentle smile, and reached out to hold hands.
After the light died out completely, they turned to look at where the enemy had stood. Laying in the sand, the Empress and her troops appeared to still be in pain, but their outfits had changed. The tarnish on the trim of the uniforms had vanished, leaving gently shining silver and gold in its wake. Empress Night's gown was still blood red, but now it sparkled gently as if covered in red glitter. Maat appeared unchanged, except for her face, which now looked gentler.
"Now what," Sailor Pallas asked a little uncertainly. "Now we take them home, and let them rest in darkness," Mercury responded. "The dark side of the moon should be a good place for them to recover."
Saturn shook her head. "They claimed to be relatives of mine. Titan Castle might be a better place for them to rest. I will stay with them for a while," she said softly.
"Neptune and I will join her," Uranus said in a sudden decision. "We can warn you if something goes wrong, and have a chance to catch up with our little Princess." She smiled at Saturn, who smiled back. "Whatever you say, Haruka-papa," she replied with twinkling eyes.
Neo-Queen Serenity smiled, and nodded her permission. "Then let us return," she said quietly. Her eyes drifted over to her family, and a shadow of longing crossed her face. As King Endymion put a hand on her shoulder, however, she turned to smile up at him. "Shall we?" she asked.
"Wait!" Super Sailor Moon cried suddenly. "What about Diana?" "We can't just leave her here!" Sailor Vesta agreed, as her friends nodded wide-eyed.
Neo-Queen Serenity eyed her daughter for a moment, then smiled. "You're right," she nodded. "We can't leave her here alone. You five can go and get her. We won't wait for you." She smiled at the girls and raised the staff which had appeared in her hand. "Farewell! See you soon!" In a flash, the senshi from the future and the unconscious enemy disappeared. As the flash faded, Eternal Sailor Moon and Super Sailor Moon heard Neo-Queen's voice whisper softly in their heads: 'Happy Birthday...'