Sailor Moon: Hero Unlimited Next! 3 – By DS Wynne
Disclaimer: "Sailor Moon", "Star Trek", "JLU" and other genres belong to their respective owners.
Note: This is a multi-genre story.
Part 3
"In the savage world of Skartaris, life is a constant struggle for survival. Here, beneath an unblinking orb of eternal sunlight, one simple law prevails: if you let your guard down for an instant you will soon be very dead."
A Skartarian saying.
3
Location: Skartaris, "The Hollow Earth".
"Yah!" said Sailor Moon, as she lunged forward with her sword. Her Sailor fuku was decked with breastplate armor, helmet (with nose guard and chrome feathers on both sides), gray cloak and shield. The tip of her blade plunged into the gullet of the latest attacker.
"Argh!" said the lizard man, as it fell to the ground.
The last of the attacker knelt on the ground, cow-towing.
"Please, mi' lady!" said the lizard man. "Spare my life!"
"I will spare thy life…to a take a message to thy demonic lord, Lord Deimos. Now, be off!"
"Th-thank you-!"
Usagi sighed, as she sheaths her sword. It was a fabled rune sword called "The Sword of Atlantis", which was powered by the combined donated fragments from the life forces of Persephone, Demeter and Hecate and forged in Atlantis by Lord Hermes Trismegistus (the avatar of Thoth and Hermes/Mercury). It was indestructible, was sharp enough to cleave atoms, and possessed a number of "gifts" that makes it a priceless artifact, including full sentience. Thus, Usagi called dubbed her sword with the name "Cynthia", which is one of numerous names that her cousin Lady Artemis, the "present" Olympian goddess of the Moon and hunt, has.
"Ah," 'Moon said to herself, as the godling stretched her limbs. "Surely, this day has been good."
"Usagi, if you can stop acting like a Norse goddess for a moment, can you help me with this fuselage?" Green Lantern says dryly.
"Yes, why are you talking that way?" STRIPE says, as the armored man began the repairs on the Javelin.
"Oh, just getting into character," 'Moon says, as she took off her helmet, and shook her hair back into its usual hairstyle. "So, what's the problem?"
"I need help reconnecting these wires."
"That's all?" "Moon says, as she takes out a capsule. "Here."
'Moon throws it down to the ground.
POP!
A small droid that looks like a trashcan with a dome on its head, and blue trim, appears. It then began to chirp.
"Hello, R2," Usagi says. "Go and help Green Lantern and STRIPE."
The droid chirps in response, and begins to assists the men.
"Wait a minute," STRIPE begins. "Is that…?"
"Don't bother asking," 'Lantern says. "I've stopped understanding my team-mate a LONG time ago."
"Look, I'm going to see how Kara is doing with her exercises. Ta!"
Usagi hops and skips to where Supergirl is sitting on a boulder, meditating. With her was Stargirl, who was floating on her star rod.
"This is amusing to watch," Stargirl smirks.
"Shut up!" Supergirl replied. "If this…weakness didn't get to me, we wouldn't be in this mess!"
"Hi, girls," Usagi said.
"Hey, Sailor Moon," Supergirl and Stargirl replies together.
"How's it going?"
"Bad," Supergirl says. "I can't seem to do that trick you mentioned."
"Well, I'm sure you'll get it right sooner or later. Come, while the guys repair the Javelin, let's go on a scouting mission."
"Yay!"
As Sailor Moon, Supergirl and Stargirl trudged through the forest, more lizard men attacked them. However…
"Leave the mother of my child alone!" said a man (whose long and beard was white) dressed a tiger-striped loincloth, wore a helmet with a pair of wings attached to the side of the head and had a sword strapped to his back, and a .44 revolver on his side. He then brought out both weapons, and attacked…along with his men.
"Morgan-san…" Usagi said wistfully.
"Wow," Stargirl says. "I never had a hunky guy fighting for me like a barbarian."
The fight, while brutal, was short-lived…more so when Green Lantern and STRIPE, who were searching for the women, came upon the scene.
Later, while on the way to Shamballa, the capital of Skartaris…
"Usagi," Travis Morgan, also known as "The Warlord", says. Travis was original a USAF reconnaissance pilot who had gotten trapped in the same effect that took down the Javelin to the Hollow Earth. Since the Hollow Earth existed in a separate time frame, Travis was older than he should have been. The same thing had happened to Usagi, when she found herself in the Hollow Earth, where she lived for a long time. "When you disappeared in Deimos' trap, I had thought that you were done for."
"I was actually recalled back to my proper time and place, Morgan-san," Usagi said. "I tried to find the 'Hollow Earth', but, as you know, it's always 'shifting'."
"Shifting?" Green Lantern asks.
"The Hollow Earth is actually a dimensional plane of the Earth itself. Think about it. How is it that this entire 'world' is able to support life, when, technically the depths alone would make things around uninhabitable?"
"Interesting…"
"Here we are," Morgan says.
"What…happened?" Usagi said, as she steps down from her steed. She was expecting the towering, crystalline spires of the city. Instead, she was seeing chard ruins. All the inhabitants dotted around the landscape in makeshift tents, all prepared to make a final stand.
"Deimos' doing," said a voice.
Usagi turned to see a silver-haired woman dressed like a sorceress (i.e. slinky dress and an ethereal aura).
"Hello, mother," said the woman.
"Cindy!"
"Aye," said the woman, as she hugged her mother. "My spell was successful in getting opening a gateway between this world and your world."
"That's how I was able to find you," Travis says.
Meanwhile…
"My goodness," Supergirl says, as she looks about. She hated feeling so powerless with so much suffering present."
Stargirl turns to STRIPE.
"We should do something."
"We will, we will."
"Usagi, come," Travis says. "Let us consult with the wise men…"
All went to the makeshift complex that the war council was headquartered in. Unfortunately, the closer the group got, the weaker Supergirl became.
"I…I don't feel so good…"
Just then, Usagi, who was feeling slightly weakened (thanks to the fact that she bore Kal-El's child at one point), realized something, just as the doors of the vault that houses both the war council and the artifact that allows the Hollow World to exist:
Kryptonite.
A large amount of Kryptonite, which was the size of a house, was the artifact that allows life to exist in the Hollow World. It was situated on a rune device that acts as a generator. That generator is what provides life throughout the entire realm.
"'Lantern!" Usagi yelled. "Cover Kara up!"
"On it!" 'Lantern replied, as he used his power ring to create a shield.
Usagi then closed the door to the vault.
"I'm sorry, Kara! I forgot about the kryptonite."
"You forgot!" Kara exclaimed.
"Yes."
"Oh."
After that fiasco, a war council was called into session, stating what to do next. According to the were-cats, who served as scouts and spies, Deimos had teamed up with outsiders, by summoning their help. When these outsiders were described, Usagi frowned.
"Those two sound familiar…" Usagi commented.
"They should be, because it sounds like this Deimos character summoned 'Silver Banshee' and 'Metallo'," 'Lantern says.
"Great," Supergirl says. "Just what I need: a villain who is a cyborg powered by Kryptonite!"
"Not to worry," Stargirl says, as she pats her rival on her shoulder. "I'll protect ya!"
"Grrrr!"
Soon after, it was learned Deimos, Silver Banshee (who sported a facial tattoo of a skull) and the super-powered Metallo charged into battle. STRIPE and 'Lantern would provide the heavy lifting, while Sailor Moon and Stargirl take point with the Warlord and his men.
"I hate being useless!" Supergirl laments, as she sits with Cindy, who was preparing to erect a defense barrier.
"Well, you can help protect me, while I do my thing," Cindy said, as she prepared her symbolism.
"I guess so…"
Outside…
"…And Deimos may take our lives, but he will never take our FREEDOM!" Sailor Moon roared, as she trotted back and forth on her stead.
"YAY!" yelled the assembled crowd.
"Remind me to take away her 'Braveheart' DVD," 'Lantern dryly.
"Yeah, you're right about THAT," STRIPE replies.
"People of Skartaris," the Warlord says, as he mounts his steed. "We ride to VICTORY!"
Soon, the battle was joined. The lizard-men charged forward. However, Sailor Moon's focus was the deadly Silver Banshee, whose scream literally sucked the life out of her victims.
"Now, feel mi wrath, Sailor Moon!" said the Scottish-born villain. "SKRREEEEEEEEEEEE!"
Sailor Moon felt her life slipping away, as she began to weaken. It was as if she was aging at a faster rate. Luckily, 'Moon had a trick up her sleeve.
"Oh yeah? Why don't YOU feel my wrath! Feel the wrath of the 'Lion's Roar'! YAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-!"
The "Lion's Roar" was an ancient Chinese martial arts technique that was specially tailored for the overbearing housewife. And the effect was comparable to Black Canary's "Sonic Cream" in some ways.
Anyway, 'Moon delivered a force that literally knocked 'Banshee's socks off…and blew her away.
"Aieeeeeeee-!"
"King Kong got nuthin' on me!"
'Lantern had sweat-drops from what he had just learned..
"…"
The battle turned around, even when Metallo had managed to make it to the kryptonite. He had managed to pierce Cindy's defensive grids, using the Teen Titan hero's "Sonic Blast" to do so. There was only Supergirl left.
"Feh," Metallo says, as he fake skin was peeling off. "You know that Kryptonians are vulnerability."
"It doesn't matter," Kara says, as she struggled to wield her sword. "I'll…stop you!"
Kara took a swing of her sword, and whacked away, only to be knocked back.
"Is that all that you got, little girl?"
"I…I…"
Believe in yourself…Huh? Kara thought to herself. What's that?
Kara, you are more than your powers. Believe that you can do this for the good of all.
How?
Focus your energies into a singular vision. A singular VISION…"Say good-bye, Supergirl!" Metallo says, as he charged towards Supergirl.
"NO!" Kara says, as a burst of heat left her eyes.
FWOOSH!
"Ahhhhhhh-!" Metallo yelled, as he was smashed into a wall.
"Did it…" Kara says, as she nearly collapsed, only to be caught by Stargirl.
"I got you," Stargirl says, as she caught Kara.
"Stargirl?"
"Yeah, it's me. Usagi sent me to help you."
"Ohhhhh…"
Thanks to the Warlord, Deimos was finally defeated in a one-on-one match. Green Lantern was able to secure the Silver Banshee, while STRIPE did the same to Metallo. Unfortunately, upon interrogation, both villains went catatonic upon being questioned. Sailor Moon said that somebody had placed mental conditions on the villains, conditions that would be hard to undo.
Later…
"Usagi, please stay," Morgan said, as he and Usagi had an intimate moment. "Be my queen."
"I…I can't Morgan-san," Usagi replied, as she looked away. "My place is on the outside. However, I wanted to give Cindy something to remember me by."
She then turned to her daughter. Usagi brought out her "Sword of Atlantis", and a cabbit egg.
"Cindy, meet 'Cynthia'. She has been by my side for many years. She is yours to help protect Skartaris. And this egg will hatch a companion for you to love, and to help you protect the realm."
"I…I thank you…Mother," the sorceress said, as she bowed and accepted the gifts.
Usagi then turned back to Travis Morgan, kissed him intimately, and ran off to join her comrades…
Once the repaired JLU Javelin was clear of the tunnel that led to the Hollow Earth, Usagi created a spell that strengthened the barriers between the two realms. She theorized that the reason Metallo and the Silver Banshee agreed to help Deimos take over Skartaris, was because of the kryptonite. Can't have that.
"Usagi?" Supergirl said, as she floated to Usagi's position (who was standing out in the cold, as she renewed the barriers). Supergirl was glad to have her full powers back.
"Yes, Kara?"
"Can you…teach me how to avoid utilize my powers better?"
"Sure."
And that was that.
Tbc.