SAILOR MOON: 1987
OBLIGATORY LEGALESE TIME: Okay, you know the drill. Something about Naoko Takeuchi originally creating Sailor Moon, and that I only own what I created, and this is an alternate universe version of Sailor Moon meant as a tribute, and I don't make a dime off this.
FULLERTON, CALIFORNIA
DECEMBER 20, 1986 8:20 PM
"Sailor Moon," Golden Hawk said, over her communicator.
"What is it?" Sailor Moon asked, when she reached where Golden Hawk was.
"How did you get here so quickly?" Golden Hawk asked.
"I was already with Sailor Mercury and Artemis," Sailor Moon said.
"The Guardian Princess of the Moon," Beryl said.
"I prefer to be called Sailor Moon," Sailor Moon said. "And who are you?"
"My name is Beryl," Beryl said. "I wish to atone, Princess, for what I stole from you."
"You didn't steal anything from me," Sailor Moon said. "And I'm not a princess, either. When I'm not Sailor Moon, I'm just an average, everyday teenage girl."
"In this lifetime, yes," Beryl said. "But there's more to you than even you know, Usagi Tsukino."
"The shit just hit the fan," Golden Hawk said into his communicator.
"You have me mistaken," Beryl said. "I'm not a threat."
"I know,' Golden Hawk said. "I just thought this was something the rest of my team should hear."
"Hear what?" Sailor Mars asked, as she arrived, accompanied by Sailor Venus, Sailor Mercury, and Sailor Jupiter, as well as Luna and Artemis.
"The true origin of the one called Sailor Moon," Beryl said.
EPISODE 10: THE TRUE ORIGIN OF SAILOR MOON
"What's there to tell?" Sailor Moon asked. "One day, I saw some kids mistreating a black cat, I stopped them, and the cat later gave me a brooch that gave me my Sailor Moon powers."
"There's a little more to it than that," Luna said.
"A long time ago," Beryl said, "the Moon was a paradise. A veritable Garden of Eden. A place of indescribable beauty, where the people lived in peace, under the benevolent rule of Queen Serenity. Although they lived in peace, the Moon was separate from Earth. However, the two kingdoms were to be joined, as Princess Serenity of the Moon was betrothed to Prince Endymion of Earth, their marriage would forever unite the two kingdoms. Unfortunately, that marriage never was to be. On the eve of the wedding that would forever unite Earth and the Moon, the Moon was invaded by the Dark Kingdom, in the name of their ruler, Metalia. She sent her four generals, the Four Lords of Hell, to lead the attack. Being sons of Satan himself, Metalia knew Nephrite, Kunzite, Jaedite, and Zoicite would have the full forces of Hell itself at their disposal. While the combined forces of Earth and the Moon fought valiantly, they were no match for the combined forces of the Dark Kingdom and Hell. Endymion fought especially valiantly, singlehandedly holding off the enemy long enough for Queen Serenity to use what was left of her life force to seal Metalia, the Four Lords of Hell, and the forces of both the Dark Kingdom and Hell, in another dimension. Now here's where I stole something from you, Sailor Moon. After the battle, I found Endymion, he was barely clinging to life. In my defense, both Endymion and I believed Princess Serenity had been killed in the battle, along with her closest friends, the Guardian Princesses of Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter. Assuming his betrothed deceased, I nursed Endymion back to health, and in the process, he and I fell in love, and were to marry. The day before our wedding, I learned that Princess Serenity had survived, and I gave Endymion a choice. I told him that Princess Serenity was alive, and even though I loved him, the choice between marrying her or me was up to him. He chose to marry me. I don't expect us to be best friends, all I ask is your forgiveness."
"I can't forgive you," Sailor Moon said. "Because you did nothing that needs to be forgiven. Sure, you fell in love and married my betrothed, but you thought I was dead at the time. In my book, that makes him fair game. But, if it makes you feel any better, I do forgive you."
"Thank you," Beryl said.
"There's still more to the story," Luna said. "Over time, the survivors of the war died off, until the last survivors were Princess Serenity, her Guardian Princesses, Beryl, Endymion, Artemis, and myself were left. I placed Artemis and myself in suspended animation, and allowed the rest to die, in order to be reborn when the time was right. Beryl was reborn first, followed by Endymion, and the Princesses. As for Golden Hawk, he was a happy accident, he has no formal connection to the Moon Kingdom. He just happened to be present during your first battle, and he took it upon himself to team up with us."
"That must be why I've always felt kind of like a mercenary," Golden Hawk said. "A hired gun, so to speak."
"I don't want to hear any more of this "hired gun" bullshit," Sailor Mars said, putting an arm around Golden Hawk's shoulders. "You're not a hired gun, or a mercenary, you're one of us."
"Sailor Mars is right," Luna said. "You might not be connected in any way with the Moon Kingdom outside of being one of Usagi Tsukino's closest friends, but you've been with us since the beginning."
"That's right," Sailor Moon said. "You made our fight your own. And you were there when we destroyed Jaedite."
"Jaedite's dead?" Beryl asked, her eyes lighting up.
"Good and dead," Sailor Moon said. "We destroyed him a few weeks ago."
"We sent his ass on a one-way trip back to Hell," Golden Hawk said.
"That's good news," Tuxedo Mask said. "That's one less enemy we'll have when the final battle occurs."
"And now for how I intend to atone for stealing your betrothed," Beryl said.
"Like I said before," Sailor Moon said, "technically, you didn't steal Endymion. He might have been my betrothed, but when the two of you fell in love, you both believed I was dead."
"Still," Beryl said, materializing a short pink rod, topped with a gold crescent moon, "This will help you in your search for the Legendary Silver Millennium Crystal."
"What is that?" Sailor Moon asked.
"This is the Moon Stick," Beryl said. "To keep the Legendary Silver Millennium Crystal out of the hands of evil, Queen Serenity split it into seven rainbow crystals. In each crystal, she sealed one of the Dark Kingdom's fiercest warriors. Removing the crystal from each recipient's heart will cause the person to transform into one of the Seven Great Beasts. When the person is transformed, point the Moon Stick at it, and say "Moon Healing Escalation!", and the person will be returned to normal."
"That's good," Sailor Moon said. "I don't want to have to harm innocent people."
"Anyways," Golden Hawk said, "Looks like the shipment at the museum is going on without a hitch. "I'm going back to the roof of Rutebagorz, to keep an eye on things, anyone who wants to join me is invited. If you don't want to stay, keep your eyes on your communicator, anything can happen."
Golden Hawk went back to his observation post, accompanied by Sailor Mercury and Sailor Venus, along with Artemis. "Believe you me," Golden Hawk said, "I hope that little story Beryl told was the most exciting thing that happens tonight."
"This doesn't sound like all that exciting of an evening," Sailor Venus said. "And not my idea of how a superhero would spend an evening."
"Trust me," Golden Hawk said. "I spent a few Saturday nights up on a rooftop, just observing things. Sounds pretty boring, doesn't it?"
"Pretty much," Artemis said.
"How do you stand the excitement?" Sailor Mercury asked, sarcastically.
About an hour after Golden Hawk, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Venus, and Artemis arrived back on the rooftop, they finished up the unloading of the jewels. "Guess that's it," Golden Hawk said. "I'm about ready to head on home and call it a night. I'm going to grab some In N Out on the way home, anyone want anything, it's my treat."
"I could go for a burger," Sailor Mercury said.
"Any chance of getting mine to go?" Sailor Venus asked.
"I have a feeling I won't be welcome in there," Artemis said.
"I was going to get it to go anyways," Golden Hawk said.
THE NEXT MORNING, USAGI'S BEDROOM
"I just talked to John," Usagi said to Luna. "he said that other than the story Beryl told last night was pretty uneventful."
"That's good," Luna said. "I talked to Artemis, he said that the one thing John was hoping for was a slow and quiet night."
"I don't blame him," Usagi said. "John said the one thing he especially didn't want was to be in a situation where he would have to kill someone. I'm especially glad he didn't have to kill that Tuxedo Mask guy, he's kind of cute."
"You realize he's married," Luna said.
"I guess you're right," Usagi said. "There's a lot more to a guy than looks. Take John McCoy, for example. He's not exactly a hunk, but I can totally see myself growing old with him. Of course, I'm not exactly drop-dead gorgeous myself. I'm a bit on the short side, my nose is a little too small for my face, and I probably could stand to lose a few pounds."
"I have it on good authority John doesn't think that at all," Luna said. "I've talked to him a time or two, he said that there may be other girls who may be prettier on the outside, but on the inside, you're the most beautiful girl he's ever met. He said you have a very big heart, a kind and generous heart. He loves you, Usagi Tsukino."
UNTIL NEXT TIME...
OUR NEXT EPISODE: HOW JOHN MET USAGI