Chapter 17: Together
As Rei walked down the street with Jessica, she met up with Makoto, who had Kurumi with her.
"You're going to the Senshi Meeting at the palace too, right?" Rei asked conversationally.
"Yeah, and they'll all get to be my friends!" exclaimed Kurumi.
"Maybe they will. I would think that I'm friends with the other former Sailor Senshi too," agreed Makoto. That was certainly true; sometimes she wondered what would have become of her if she had never met Usagi on that fateful day the first Rainbow Crystal was discovered. Would she still be lonely, getting in trouble for fighting and pining after every boy that passed her way? Or would she find other friends, ones without superpowers.
"I think the Queen is going to give all of you magical communication devices so that you can contact the other Senshi when there's danger," said Rei as they started up the steps to the palace doors. The guards recognized Rei and Makoto easily and let them, Jessica, and Kurumi enter. Kurumi had to duck under the door, but the ceilings in the palace itself were as tall as the ones in her own house. She and Jessica took their seats in the large meeting hall. Not only were the other 14 new Senshi there, but the other 12 of the former Sailors were present, as well as Zelda, who was sitting in Parallax's lap. Diana the kitten was sitting by the Queen, smiling at the Senshi, though she seemed to be glaring at Zelda. Neo-Queen Serenity then stood up and walked to the podium.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are gathered here to welcome the new generation of Sailor Senshi to Crystal Tokyo. Ironically, this scene makes me remember two very hard times in my life. The first was when Nehelenia made her second attack on us, capturing Mamoru and thus indirectly threatening Small Lady's life. All through that time, we were able to set aside our differences and work together to cure Nehelenia of her evil. Not once did Haruka and Michiru tell us that it was a job for them alone, nor did we shun them or Hotaru, who had only recently been reborn. The second time was during the fight against Galaxia. This tale is a warning to all of you, to not let yourselves split into feuding groups as we did; the Starlights and Haruka's group did not trust each other. While I do not completely understand their reasons for joining Galaxia even now, I suspect that it may have been because of that rivalry. If we had fought together, even if it only gave Galaxia more Star Seeds, it would have at least been a moral victory. Remember that, Dessert Senshi, do not let feuding divide you." As the Queen finished her speech, she stepped back and let King Endymion take her place.
"Thus, in the spirit of encouraging teamwork, each of you shall receive a Sailor Senshi Communicator. You can use it to contact the entire group, or you can use it to talk to one person at a time. Sailor Moon and her friends had these when they were Senshi together, and it made things much easier," he said as Chibi-Usa handed the box of communicator watches to Galaxy, who was in the front row, so she could take hers out and then pass the box on down the line. Chibi-Usa was wearing hers, a pink one with a crescent moon on the top so that it was different from Bridget's plain pink communicator.
Outside the palace, the guards were surprised to see a swirling green light. The light materialized into the form of Fuu Hououji, clutching her white sword.
"Are you a Sailor Senshi?" one of the guards asked.
"No she's not, all the Senshi are in there! She looks like one of those Magic Knights that the Queen described," the other hissed back. In a sudden movement, with only a martial arts yell, Fuu swung her sword around, stabbing one of the guards. The other stared at her fallen comrade, then aimed her own sword at Fuu.
"Emerald Typhoon!" Fuu shouted, blowing the second guard aside. She ran past, heading for the meeting room. The second guard stood back up and tried to pursue her, but she slammed a door between them.
"Something's coming...one of the Magic Knights...an aura of wind..." mumbled Parallax fearfully.
"Yes, I sense it too," agreed Rei. Almost on cue, Fuu burst through the door. Several of the Senshi readied themselves to transform, but Neo-Queen Serenity stopped them.
"Please don't attack yet. She might be able to be healed of her evil energy, or convinced to leave us alone."
"But I don't sense any evil from her," protested Rei.
"Then don't attack her. You, green Magic Knight, why do you claim that we are the enemies? What made you want to attack us in the first place?" the Queen bravely asked, confident in her power of love.
"Because Clef told me you were evil, and he wouldn't lie to us! Also, one of you has secret information about our trials in Cephiro!" Fuu accused.
"That's because in our world, you and your friends are anime characters, and thus we didn't even know you were real until this whole battle started," blurted out Serena, "And I don't want to attack you! I think you lassies are good at heart, and there's probably someone disguised as Clef tricking you."
"Disguised as Clef? But who would do such a thing to us? I think you're just trying to trick me," Fuu retorted, her sword still pointed in attack mode.
"It might be the Sailor Senshi who attacked the Starlights," suggested Jessica. Murmurs of agreement rose up amongst the Senshi, especially the ones who had been there to see what had happened.
"Then what was that about trying to kill us?"
"Because I had a dream that if you were killed, you would go back to your world and be safe from the influence of that evil Sailor Senshi. And don't you DARE doubt my psychic dreams," growled Rei.
"I do dare to doubt you until I have proof," retorted Fuu.
"The only proof you need is that people like me, who have seen the show and like you, are willing to do such things to rescue you," Kurumi cried. Fuu was confused, she didn't know who to believe, and in the middle of it, a dark swirling cloud appeared. Chibi-Usa began screaming, clutching her father.
"It's that Senshi!" shouted Yaten. Indeed, it was the mysterious Senshi; this time she had Hikaru and Umi with her, as well as Mokona. They were both unconscious, though still alive. But she was in the guise of Clef
"What is going ON here?! Is that really you, Clef? Or are you an evil Sailor Senshi in disguise?" Fuu asked through holding back her tears. The Senshi disguised as Clef did not answer her, instead she waved her staff over the Senshi who were all gathered in the room. As the beam of light passed over them, they disappeared, except for Jessica and Kurumi. Then the Senshi shot another beam of light at a table and a Nintendo 64 system appeared, as well as 14 different TV screens. She then pointed her beam of energy at the Magic Knights, multiplying them each by 5. The 5 Hikarus disappeared, as well as the 5 Umis, but only 4 of the Fuu copies were gone, leaving the original behind. Then the Senshi pointed the beam of light at herself. She split into two, or rather, into her real form and Clef. Fuu rushed forward towards the one that looked like Clef, but it disappeared.
"So the Sailor Senshi were right," Fuu whispered.
"Caramel Power, Make Up!"
"Jellybean Prism Power, Make Up!" The Senshi turned around to see Kurumi and Jessica transform into their own Senshi outfits.
"We just can't have that," the Senshi said sweetly, and she shot her beam of light at them. A cage of light formed around each of them.
"That can't stop us! Crescent Beam!" shouted Sailor Caramel, but her beam bounced off of the walls of the cage, hitting her several times. She slumped to the floor, whimpering.
"Enough of this! Emerald Typhoon!" Fuu called, sending a gust of wind at the Senshi, who was blown into the chairs.
"Good show, Magic Knight," she said, using that same sweet tone of voice, and she hit Fuu with the beam, locking her into a cage too.
"W-what?! Why did you leave me and these two Senshi behind?!" Fuu exclaimed.
"Because I like you. You're unique, Fuu, since you keep your glasses when you're in your magic form. Most superheroes don't do that, at least the ones in the movies don't. As for the other Sailor Senshi, I think they can be my freak pets. They would make a perfect pair to take around; I could charge people to see them," the Senshi mused.
"What would you need with money if you've got such powerful magic?" asked Jessica. The Senshi stared at her for a moment, curious.
"Because I could do some good in the world with the money. Or maybe I just might like the sight of the gold and silver coins," the Senshi shrugged as she went over to her control panel to watch the show.