SAILOR MOON: 1987
Q: DID I CREATE SAILOR MOON? A: NO, NAOKO TAKEUCHI DID
EPISODE 24: THE FINAL BATTLE
ORANGEFAIR PLAZA, FULLERTON, CALIFORNIA
JANUARY 30, 1987 3:00 PM
"Someone take a knee!" Golden Hawk said. Sailor Venus got down on one knee, and Golden Hawk got a running start, and vaulted off her shoulders, unsheathing his tonfas, channeling energy through them, firing them at Kunzite. As he flew toward Kunzite, Golden Hawk used one of his tonfas as a brace, and delivered a forearm shiver to Kunzite's face, sending him down. "Quick, before he can get up!" he said.
"Moon Ultimate Helation!" Sailor Moon said, firing a beam of pure white energy at Kunzite, which destroyed him.
"You may have won this battle," a voice came from nowhere, "but you will lose the war."
"Metalia," Luna said. "I know that voice anywhere."
"I managed to pinpoint where it came from," Sailor Mercury said.
"How did you manage that?" Golden Hawk asked.
"My visor has a HUD," Sailor Mercury said.
"What is a HUD?" Sailor Jupiter asked.
"Heads Up Display," Golden Hawk said.
"It allows me to see things besides what's right in front of my eyes," Sailor Mercury said.
"What she said," Golden Hawk said. "My cousin Scott is an F-16 pilot in the Air Force. He says that it's really helpful whenever you get into a dogfight."
"And I used it to pinpoint where Metalia is located," Sailor Mercury said. "She's in the Himalayas. We can get there by Sailor Teleport."
"Great," Golden Hawk said. "Let's go get some winter clothes and do a Sailor Teleport."
"There's just one little problem," Luna said. "Golden Hawk, I'm sorry, but you're going to have to sit this one out."
"Say what?" Golden Hawk asked. "The girls are going to be in the middle of the scrap, and I have to stay home?"
"Unfortunately," Artemis said, "for some reason, Sailor Teleport can only be done by females. If it makes you feel better, that means I'll be staying behind myself."
"Besides," Luna said, "This is their fight, I can't ask you to join in."
"What if I want to get into the scrap?" Golden Hawk asked.
"I'm sorry," Luna said.
"Someone needs to stay home to hold the fort," Sailor Jupiter said, hugging Golden Hawk.
"I'll be back in time for our next lesson," Sailor Mercury said, hugging Golden Hawk."
"Take good care of Artemis until I get back," Sailor Venus said, hugging Golden Hawk.
"Don't forget you and I have a song to write," Sailor Mars said, hugging Golden Hawk.
"I love you," Golden Hawk said to Sailor Moon, as he removed his mask.
"I know," Sailor Moon said, kissing Golden Hawk.
"Take this," Golden Hawk said, handing Sailor Moon his staff. "You can change it into any weapon you can think of. Just tell the staff what you want it to be. And in case you run into any of the forces of Hell, it has been blessed."
"Thank you," Sailor Moon said. "And when we get out of this, I want to go to Disneyland."
"What do you want to ride first?" Golden Hawk asked. "Space Mountain or Haunted Mansion?"
"I want to ride that new Star Wars ride," Sailor Moon said.
Several minutes later, John returned home, and was met as he entered the front door by Naoko Mizuno, Ami Andersen's mother. "Do you know where my daughter is?" Naoko asked.
"She and the other Sailor Soldiers are about to do a Sailor Teleport to Nepal," John said. "They're going to take it to the being responsible for everything, the reason the girls became Sailor Soldiers in the first place. And before anyone asks why I'm back home and not getting in the scrap with them, Sailor Teleport doesn't work on anything with a Y chromosome. And unfortunately, if I tried to teleport to Nepal, I wouldn't survive the trip, and if I did, I wouldn't be able to find the girls, I can no longer sense their auras."
"It's just as good," Caryn Frehley-McCoy said. "Someone will need to stay behind to watch the home front."
"I have that covered," John said.
Gregory Wolf answered the phone on the second ring. "Hello John," he said.
"How did you know it was me?" John asked.
"My precognitive abilities, remember?" Gregory said. "Ami and the rest of the Sailor Soldiers are in Nepal, taking the battle to Metalia, and they left you behind to hold the fort, right?"
"Pretty much," John said.
"And you want me to use my precognitive abilities to let you know what happens before it does, am I correct?" Gregory asked.
"Exactly," John said. "Way I figure it, having you do this will be better than me knocking myself out looking for trouble, and also, with your help, I can be there before it goes down. I know you have a crush on Ami, and even though she did go on a couple dates with Chris Forney, they just didn't click. You do this for me, I'll tell Ami you helped us out. Anyways, do you have access to a CB?"
"Yeah," Gregory said. I come into the Saturday Night Social Club on occasion, my handle is Lobo the Oracle."
"That's you?" John asked. "Anyways, I'm Gōrudenhōku."
"Japanese for Golden Hawk," Gregory said.
"Yeah," John said. "You sense anything, I'll be on channel 27."
"You don't have to ask me twice," Gregory said. "Besides, doing this is my way of helping get back at Metalia for what she did to me."
Meanwhile, the Sailor Soldiers went to Hillcrest Park, to do a Sailor Teleport. "Right here," Sailor Mercury said, pointing to a flagpole in the part of the park that faced Harbor Boulevard. "That flagpole is a nexus point, we can do a Sailor Teleport from there."
"And that will be our point of return as well," Luna said.
"I'll mentally send you the coordinates," Sailor Mercury said. "Everybody needs to focus on them."
"Right," Sailor Moon said.
The Sailor Soldiers stood around the flagpole, and joined hands, as Luna took her place on Sailor Moon's shoulders. Sailor Mercury sent each Soldier the coordinates to where Metalia was, and each Soldier focused on them. "Sailor Teleport!" they all said in unison, before disappearing.
NEPAL, THE BASE OF MOUNT EVEREST
"When Golden Hawk mentioned packing winter clothes," Sailor Jupiter said, "I don't think he was kidding."
"You got that right," Sailor Venus said. "If he was here, he'd be freezing his balls off by now."
"Girls," Luna said. "Focus on the mission at hand."
"Says the only one of us wearing a fur coat," Sailor Jupiter said.
"If you're freezing," Sailor Mars said, harmlessly surrounding the girls with fire, "Why didn't you just say so?"
"Because none of us were aware you could do that," Sailor Moon said,
"What Sailor Moon said," Luna said.
"That cave," Sailor Mercury said, pointing to a cave just north of their position. "That's where Metalia is."
""Doesn't seem to be that far," Sailor Venus said.
"And it doesn't look like the cave is going to come to us," Sailor Moon said. "So let's start walking."
Ten minutes later, they reached the mouth of the cave, and entered. Once they entered, they were surprised to learn that the interior was warm and cozy, so Sailor Mars removed the flames she surrounded her and the others with. "Welcome to my parlor, as the spider said to the flies," Metalia said, from somewhere in the cave. "You girls have what people on Earth call "pluck", it's a shame none of you will ever leave this cave, dead or alive."
"I don't think so," Sailor Moon said. "Soon, you'll be dead, and I'll be kicking it in the Happiest Place on Earth with my boyfriend."
"You honestly think I would leave myself unguarded?" Metalia asked. "You might have destroyed Jaedite, Zoicite, Nephrite, and Kunzite, but I have the full forces of Hell at my disposal."
Soon, the girls were surrounded by more demons than any of them knew existed. "Looks like the shit really did hit the fan," Sailor Mercury said.
"I got this," Sailor Moon said, transforming Golden Hawk's staff into a fire hose
"A fire hose?" Luna asked. "We're up against the full forces of Hell, and all you can think of is a fire hose?"
"I have to agree with your feline companion," Metalia said. "A fire hose isn't going to do you any good."
"Just trust me on this one," Sailor Moon said, shooting a blast of water at the nearest demon, who screamed in pain as it disintegrated.
"Only one way water can destroy a demon like that," Sailor Mars said.
"Holy water," Sailor Moon said, spraying water at the demons, who disintegrated when the holy water touched them. "This hose is hooked up to a large enough supply of holy water to take out every demon in Hell. That, and the fact I made it out of Golden Hawk's staff, which, I might remind you, is blessed."
"I underestimated you," Luna said, as the last of the demons fell. "And I'm the one who chose you to be Sailor Moon."
"I hate to admit it," Metalia said, "but that was impressive."
"And highly effective," Sailor Jupiter said.
"But now that you vanquished all the demons from Hell," Metalia said. "it's time to face the wrath of the Daughters of Darkness."
Four beautiful, yet demonic, women appeared out of nowhere. "We'll take care of the Bad News Babes," Sailor Mars said. "You just go after Metalia."
"Right," Sailor Moon said.
"If we don't make it," Sailor Mercury said, "don't let us sacrifice our lives in vain."
"I won't," Sailor Moon said, transforming the fire hose back into a staff, and attaching it to her back.
The first of the Sailor Soldiers to fall was Sailor Jupiter. She engaged one of the Daughters of Darkness, using all her attacks, weakening her. However, her opponent also managed to land attacks of her own, weakening Sailor Jupiter. Finally, Sailor Jupiter grabbed her opponent by the throat. "Ride the Lightning!" Sailor Jupiter said, calling a large and powerful lightning bolt from the heavens, causing the Daughter of Darkness to be fatally electrocuted. However, in her weakened state, the intensity of the lightning bolt Sailor Jupiter used proved fatal to herself as well.
Meanwhile, as Sailor Moon made her way to where Metalia was, she sensed Sailor Jupiter's death. "Mary Ann," Sailor Moon said, as a tear ran down her cheek.
"At least I took that bitch down with me," Sailor Jupiter said.
Next, Sailor Venus took on another of the Daughters of Darkness. "Venus Love-Me Chain!" she said, throwing her chain at her opponent. The Daughter of Darkness grabbed the chain, and caused it to momentarily glow a dark blue. "Venus Crescent Beam!" Sailor Venus said, once she got her chain back. She fired a beam of energy at her opponent, and was knocked back by the impact of her attack hitting its mark.
"I forgot to mention something," the Daughter of Darkness said. "I used your chain to link us. Any attack you use on me, you'll also be using on yourself."
"I wonder if that works both ways," Sailor Venus said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" her opponent asked.
"This," Sailor Venus said, balling her right hand into a fist, with index finger extended. She then pointed her finger between her eyes, and stuck the middle finger of her left hand up at her opponent. "Venus Crescent Beam, Kiss!" she said, using her attack to blow her brains out. As her attack killed her, her opponent's head exploded, as if shot with a high powered gun from close range.
"Mina," Sailor Moon said, as she sensed Sailor Venus's death.
"Good will always prevail," Sailor Venus said, "Because evil is stupid."
One of the remaining Daughters of Darkness engaged Sailor Mars by throwing a fireball at her. "That's how you want to play, huh?" Sailor Mars said. "In that case, time for me to fight fire with fire. Mars Flame Sniper!" she said, forming a flaming bow, and shooting arrows made of fire at her opponent. The two of them engaged in combat, using various flame based attacks. Finally, Sailor Mars had enough. "I don't care if this kills me," she said, grabbing her opponent in a full Nelson. "As long as I take you with me. Mars Ultimate Immolation!" The two of them were surrounded by fire, burning them both alive.
"Rae," Sailor Moon said, sensing Sailor Mars's death.
"She learned the hard way," Sailor Mars said, "you play with fire, you get burned."
"I may not be the most powerful of the Sailor Soldiers," Sailor Mercury said to herself, "but that doesn't mean I won't go down fighting."
"Mercury Bubble Spray!" Sailor Mercury said, attacking the final Daughter of Darkness with bubbles.
"Is that all you got?" the Daughter of Darkness asked. "Bubbles?"
"Mercury Hailstorm Barrage!" Sailor Mercury said, hitting her opponent with hailstones. "Is that better?" she asked, sarcastically.
"Much," her opponent said, firing a blast of energy.
"Mercury Ice Spear!" Sailor Mercury said, forming a spear of ice, and throwing it at her opponent. Both attacks hit their targets at the same moment, and both proved fatal to their intended targets.
"Ami," Sailor Moon said, sensing Sailor Mercury's death.
"Remember what I said," Sailor Mercury said. "Don't let us have died in vain."
"I won't," Sailor Moon said, reaching the chamber where Metalia was located.
"So we finally meet face to face," Metalia said. She was about 50 feet tall, was constructed of blue energy, and bore a slight resemblance to the Master Computer Program from TRON, but with a red 8 pointed star between her eyes. Metalia fired energy beams from her eyes, which Sailor Moon managed to avoid. Sailor Moon than unhooked Golden Hawk's staff from her back, and transformed it into a laser sword with a blue blade. Metalia fired more energy beams, Sailor Moon used her laser sword to deflect them.
Meanwhile, back in Orange County, John and Artemis were monitoring John's communicator, as well as his CB radio. "Lobo the Oracle to Gōrudenhōku," Gregory said over the CB.
"This is Gōrudenhōku," John said.
"I have some important information to pass on," Gregory said. "I stretched out my mind, monitoring for anything wrong, and somehow, I managed to briefly make mental contact with Metalia. I managed to break it before she noticed I was in her head, but I did learn something extremely important, and I need you to pass it on to Sailor Moon. I need you to tell her that I found Metalia's weak spot, it's the star between her eyes."
"Star between her eyes is her weak spot," John said. "Got it, and thanks. Gōrudenhōku out."
"Lobo the Oracle out," Gregory said.
"Bugs Bunny, this is Big Bird," John said into his communicator. No answer. "Big Bird to Bugs Bunny, come in."
"They might be somewhere where their communicators can't get a signal," Artemis said. "Either that, or they turned their communicators off."
"Why the fuck would they turn their communicators off?" John asked.
"Because I'm afraid you would zero in on the signal and join us," Luna said to John telepathically.
"Is there any way you can relay a message to Sailor Moon for me?" John asked, telepathically.
"I can do better," Luna said. "I can link the two of you telepathically. Unfortunately, I can only hold the connection for a few seconds, so say what you have to say fast."
"Sailor Moon," John said to her telepathically. "Pay close attention to what I'm about to tell you, because I only have time to say it once. Metalia has a weak spot, it's the star between her eyes."
"Star between her eyes," Sailor Moon said to John, telepathically. "Got it."
"Thank goodness I was able to relay the information in time," John said to Artemis, as the telepathic link between him and Sailor Moon was broken.
Meanwhile, back in Nepal, Sailor Moon was busy fending off Metalia's attacks. "Great," Sailor Moon said to herself. "Now I know how to defeat Metalia. Now it's just a matter of being able to get in a shot."
"Much as I enjoy toying with you," Metalia said, "You should know that I will eventually kill you."
"Not if I kill you first," Sailor Moon said.
"Delusions of grandeur," Metalia said. "How quaint."
"You won't be saying that once I destroy you," Sailor Moon said, evading a series of blasts, taking cover behind a large rock.
"I must have overestimated you," Metalia said. "Hiding when the going gets rough."
"I'm not hiding," Sailor Moon said, as she transformed her laser sword back into Golden Hawk's staff, and combining it with her Moon Stick.
"If you're not hiding," Metalia said, "what are you doing?"
"Taking a moment to catch my breath," Sailor Moon said, emerging from behind the rock she took refuge behind. "And also preparing to destroy you," she added, holding the weapon she made by combining her Moon Stick with Golden Hawk's staff. She took aim, and fired a beam of pure white light at the star between Metalia's eyes.
"That's it," the voice of Ami Andersen said, as Sailor Moon felt Sailor Mercury's hand grab her weapon.
"You got it," the voice of Rae Hinowski said, as Sailor Moon felt Sailor Mars's hand grab her weapon.
"We may be dead, but we're still with you," the voice of Mina Webb said, as Sailor Moon felt Sailor Venus's hand grab her weapon.
"You can't get rid of us that easily," the voice of Mary Ann Kino said, as Sailor Moon felt Sailor Jupiter's hand grab her weapon.
"You owe me a Mickey Mouse pancake when we go to Disneyland tomorrow," Golden Hawk said, as he appeared from nowhere, grabbing the weapon Sailor Moon made from her Moon Stick and his staff, and channeling his power through it, combining with the light from the Legendary Silver Millennium Crystal. "Now don't let up until Metalia's good and dead."
"Noooo!" Metalia screamed, as she realized what was happening. "This can't be happening."
"But it is," Golden Hawk said, as he and Sailor Moon channeled more energy through the weapon, overloading Metalia with the power of good."
"Know that you have done what countless have tried over the eons," Metalia said, conceding defeat. "You have not only defeated me, you have destroyed..."
"Look out!" Golden Hawk said, as he dropped to the ground, taking Sailor Moon with him, shielding her with his own body, as Metalia exploded.
"We did it," Sailor Moon said, as Metalia was destroyed beyond comprehension. "We destroyed Metalia."
"We rid the Universe of her evil," Golden Hawk said.
"But at what cost?" Sailor Moon asked. "Rae, Mina, Ami, Mary Ann, they were all killed. Now that I think about it, John, what are you doing here, anyways?"
"I teleported him here," Artemis said. "I just had to wait for Luna to give me the signal."
"Why not bring me in for the whole scrap, instead of just the knockout?" Golden Hawk asked.
"Luna and I apologize for the deception," Artemis said. "We always intended for you to join Sailor Moon in the final destruction of Metalia."
"But we couldn't risk you being killed before we needed you," Luna said. "Usagi's love was enough to bring you back from the dead once, we didn't know if she could bring you back again."
"I understand why you did that," Golden Hawk said. "It's just like the last game of the season, we're going in 14-1, with home field advantage through the playoffs, and our last game is against a team who couldn't get a win if K-Mart was having a Blue Light Special on wins. The game doesn't mean anything, so the coach benches me because he doesn't want to risk me getting injured, to insure I'm healthy for the playoffs."
"Not the analogy I would use," Luna said. "But it works."
"But if he were here from the get-go," Sailor Moon said, "maybe the other girls would still be alive."
"To paraphrase Mark Twain," Ami Andersen said, as she, Mina Webb, Rae Hinowski, and Mary Ann Kino entered the main chamber, "Reports of our demise have been slightly exaggerated."
"You're all alive!" Sailor Moon said, as she transformed back to Usagi Tsukino.
"Why wouldn't we be?" Rae asked.
"You were all killed," Golden Hawk said, transforming back to John McCoy.
"I felt you all die," Usagi said.
"Let's just say we got better," Mary Ann said.
"When Metalia was destroyed," Mina said, "the energy wave brought us back to life."
"I don't know about anyone else," John said, "but I think we should be getting back home sometime soon."
"Everyone meet back at headquarters once we get back to town," Rae said.
"John and I will be there," Artemis said, as the two of them teleported out.
"Let's go home, girls," Luna said, as she, Usagi, Ami, Rae, Mina, and Mary Ann teleported out.
15 MINUTES LATER, SAILOR SOLDIER HEADQUARTERS
"I would like to call this meeting to order," Luna said. "The first order of business, we not only defeated Metalia, but destroyed her. Because she is no longer a threat, Artemis and I hereby officially relieve all of you of your obligation to serve as Sailor Soldiers."
"As much as I enjoyed being a superhero," Usagi said, removing her brooch and setting it on the table in the middle of the room, "I just want to live a normal life. I mean, as normal as life gets when you have a talking cat."
"I'd like to live a normal life myself," Ami Andersen said, placing her transformation pen on the table.
"As much as I enjoyed staring death in the face alongside my best friend," Rae Hinowski said, placing her transformation pen on the table, "I want to be a normal teenage girl again."
"Ditto," Mina Webb said, placing her transformation pen on the table.
"I've been Sailor Jupiter pretty much since I first moved here from Stockton," Mary Ann Kino said. "I'd kind of like to just be Mary Ann Kino for a while."
"I guess that makes it unanimous," John McCoy said. "Don't get me wrong, I enjoy being Golden Hawk, and I've been at it a bit longer than any of you, but when you've gone up against the forces of Hell itself, muggers, rapists, bank robbers, and your garden variety street thugs are a bit boring. Of course, there is the stuff I do for the homeless, but I can do that just as effectively as John McCoy. But I will say this, one day, the world may once again need Golden Hawk, Sailor Moon, and the Sailor soldiers, but until that day comes, I think we should just be John McCoy, Usagi Tsukino, Ami Andersen, Rae Hinowski, Mina Webb, and Mary Ann Kino."
"And even though we're no longer superheroes," Usagi said, "we're still friends."
"You got that right," John said. "That goes for all of us, human or feline."
"Even if I treat you like my kittens every once in a while," Luna said.
"And Mina, you'll come and visit me every once in a while, won't you?" Artemis asked.
"Of course," Mina said.
"I thought Artemis was your cat," Mary Ann said.
"My grandma's moving in with us next week," Mina said, "and she's allergic to cats, and since Rae's mom is also allergic to cats, John's family agreed to adopt him. Besides, John and Artemis are almost like brothers."
"You would expect the only males on the team to get along," Ami said.
"Anyways," Usagi said, "John and I are going to Disneyland tomorrow, and I want to get a manicure, and since I'm wearing sandals tomorrow, I also want to get a pedicure."
CODA
DISNEYLAND, ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA
JANUARY 31, 1987 8:00 AM
Usagi Tsukino and John McCoy stood at the rope set up at the end of Main Street, USA, as the pre-recorded spiel announced the beginning of the Park's operating day, and the cast member removed the rope keeping guests on Main Street. It was a sunny day, with temperatures expected to be in the mid 70s. John was wearing a blue and white striped short sleeved button-down shirt over a blue T-shirt, blue jeans pegged at the ankles, and white Converse All Star Chuck Taylor high tops, while Usagi was wearing an off-white sweater worn off the shoulders, black miniskirt hemmed just above the knees, wide brown leather belt worn over her sweater, and brown leather sandals, a French manicure on her fingers, and bright red polish on her toenails. As the spiel reminded guests to walk, not run, to their first attraction, John and Usagi walked towards Tomorrowland, and got in line for the Park's newest attraction, Star Tours, a simulator ride based on Star Wars. They only had a 10 minute wait, and after the ride, they held hands as they walked to the other side of the park, where they would have Mickey Mouse pancakes at the River Bell Terrace restaurant in Frontierland. As they got their meals(Mickey Mouse pancakes, bacon, orange juice, and coffee), they sat at an outside table, where they could watch the traffic on the Rivers of America. As John poured syrup on his pancake, he kissed Usagi. "Welcome to the first day of the rest of our lives," John said.
UNTIL NEXT TIME...
OUR NEXT EPISODE: NORMAL LIFE