Sailor Moon Aeons.
Book 2: Rebirth.
Act 1: Dark Kingdom.
Episode 5: Nova.

By Razor Knight
Last update: January 4, 2010
Last update: May 22, 2017

Sailor V stood on top of a tall building, looking at the results of her last battle. She was getting better at this, true, but sometimes she wished she could deal with these monsters before they punched a few holes in the walls of whatever building they attacked. Of course, she knew several of those holes were from her own attack. A proof that she was getting better, as she wasn't limited to one or two shots per fight anymore.

"This youma was rather easy," she commented.

The cat sitting besides her nodded, "Sigma helped, and without Kunzite showing up, there was little chance of you losing."

"I'm getting better, right?"

"I'll admit you've come a long way from your first battle, but... You're quite not as skilled as you could be."

"I still kick Kunzite's rear whenever he shows up."

"Don't grow overconfident, Mina. If you do, you'll leave your guard down, and that could mean losing a fight."

"Yeah, I know. I'm not going to fail in my mission, don't worry."

Artemis gave her a short glare. "I wasn't talking about the mission. I don't want to see you get hurt, or worse."

V smiled at him. "Sorry, and... Thanks."

"Kunzite's just sent a report to us, Sailor V is in London."

"Good, that's one less problem to take care of," Beryl said, "but Aurite, I'm growing impatient about your group."

"We're going to take care of the two pseudo-warriors in New York today," Aurite said, "Luminite's preparing the stage for that."

The Queen nodded at that, then looked to the other General standing near her throne. "Jadeite, we cannot afford to stop our energy gathering operations in Tokyo. You will go there today and drain as much as you can from those disgusting humans."

"I have already located a place where I can gather a large quantity of energy," Jadeite explained.

"Go, and do not fail me," Beryl said before smiling evily. "Soon the Earth will belong to us youma, as it should."

The girl just stared at the cat as it spoke. It spoke, a cat! Of course, considering what the cat was saying, about her being some sort of warrior and having to look for a Princess, then the fact this cat spoke wasn't all that strange. However, the cat had stopped speaking, which meant she was supposed to say something.

"So I'm going to be a superheroine?"

"Usagi, this is no game, do you understand?"

"Of course I do, kitty."

"My name's Luna," the cat snapped.

A purple cat. From the Moon. And it had a name. Could things get any dumber? She hoped she would wake up from this dream already. "Luna, huh? That's a funny name."

Luna sighed and shook her head. "Okay..." a small, pink brooch appeared floating in front of her. "Hold that in your hand and say the words 'Moon Prism Power.'"

Usagi grabbed the brooch and looked at it. "That sounds like something a manga heroine would say."

"Manga?" Luna asked. "Just do as I told you."

"Hmph, fine, I'll do it, but only because I want to wake up from this stupid dream already. Moon Prism Power!"

Usagi's form was blurred by light as pink ribbons appeared out of thin air, wrapping around her body and forming a white leotard, blue collar and skirt, and red bows in the front and back of the suit. White gloves and red boots completed the attire, and as the light dimmed, Usagi looked at herself in the mirror. "Wow, this is cool!"

"As I thought, you are Sailor Moon."

"Sailor Moon?" Usagi repeated. For some reason, the name sounded vaguely familiar. "So, I can use magic now, right?"

Luna nodded. "Yes, you can." She stopped and looked out the window. "And you will have to use it sooner than I thought. An enemy's attacking."

"This late at night? Can't they wait until the morning?"

Luna sighed in defeat. "Usagi... No, Sailor Moon. Listen, as I told you before, the youma are evil creatures, and they are draining humans. We have to stop that from happening."

"What happens to those who get drained?"

"That depends, but if youma really want to, they can drain a person's life energy completely."

Sailor Moon paled at that. "They... Kill people?"

"Yes, and we're wasting time here talking while someone's being attacked. Let's go!"

"All right, you don't have to shout, Luna," Sailor Moon groaned as the two leapt out the window and dashed down the street.

In the other side of the planet, two other heroes were also searching for youma. After two hours of searching, however, they were quite ready to give up. "At least the weather's nice."

Nova smiled. "Yeah, it would suck to be searching for that woman under the rain." She stopped and looked around, until she got her bearings. "There she is. But she's not alone."

Zero looked down and saw what she meant. That white-haired woman was back, but there was another woman with her now. "Two for the price of one."

"You take care of the gold-haired one, I'll take care of our old friend," Nova said.

"Sounds like a plan."

To say that Naru Osaka was scared would have been a huge understatement. Her mother had turned into a monster, a monster with black, evil eyes and a sinister smile. No, this couldn't be her mother, her mother would never hurt her. Her mother would never try to choke her to death, which was just what this creature was seemingly trying to do. And she was feeling tired, sleepy, she knew it wouldn't be long until she just couldn't stay awake anymore.

"Stop it right there!"

Naru saw two shadows in the doorway. One was a small cat, the other, a girl. "Who..."

The monster's head turned (in a way a woman's head shouldn't be able to turn) and looked at the newcomer. "Who the darkness are you?"

Sailor Moon took a second to look at her surroundings. Dozens of unconscious women were scattered around the store, and they were all wearing at least one piece of jewelry. "Wow, I think I was lucky to not have enough money to buy one of those after all."

"I asked you something, brat," the monster snarled.

"My name is Sailor Moon, and for using beautiful jewelry for your evil goals, I will punish you!"

Luna saw Moon striking several poses as she went through that phrase, and sighed. "All that posing's not really needed, you know?"

"Magical girls always do it," Moon countered.

The creature growled at her. "Sailor Moon? One of the Sailor Senshi? That's quite convenient, since killing one of your kin will make me my master's favorite." As she said that, the women all around the store rose, their eyes glowing. "Kill her!"

Naru watched as Sailor Moon was chased around the store by the women. She had heard rumors of the Senshi, specially Sailor V, but they were supposedly brave, skilled warriors. This girl was quite the opposite of that. Still, she had saved her. "Get her, Sailor Moon!"

Moon heard that and stopped running. No, she couldn't be scared, not when her best friend was in danger. "Luna, how do I fight these women?"

"They're being controlled by the youma," Luna explained, "so if you kill it, they will stop." She noticed something out of the corner of her eye and turned in that direction. "Who is..."

Something shot by the youma's side, slicing her cheek. As the youma looked down, she saw it was a red rose, which had stabbed into the floor after hitting her. "What? Who are you?"

The man looked at her from the doorway. "Jewels should enhance a woman's beauty, not cloud her mind and make her act against her will. I cannot forgive someone like you."

The youma growled at him. "I'm going to destroy you, human!"

Luna smiled. "Moon, do it now, while she's distracted."

"Do what, punch her?"

"No, use your..." It was then that Luna realized she hadn't told Sailor Moon how to attack her enemies. Such a dumb mistake for her to make! But now wasn't really the time to be mentally slapping herself in the forehead. "Concentrate, Moon, and look for the words in your mind."

Moon noticed the women weren't attacking her, not since the youma had targeted the newcomer, who was fending her off with a cane. Maybe that creature needed to keep her focus in order to control them? It didn't matter, really, and it was giving her some time to figure out how to defeat her. She closed her eyes as told, but couldn't really understand what Luna was talking about. Search for words in her mind, what kind of words? She was about to ask Luna, but then found what she was looking for.

"I got it," Moon said as she pulled the tiara off her forehead. "Moon..." she started spinning as her tiara lit up, hovering a few inches above her hand. "... Tiara..." she spun a few more times before stopping and pulling her arm back, ready to toss her weapon. "... Action!"

The youma heard the last word clearly, but didn't have time to turn and see the projectile heading for her before it punched through her chest, and she screamed before turning to dust.

"I did it!" Moon shouted and leapt up in joy.

"Well done, Sailor Moon."

Moon looked at the mysterious man, who was walking to the door. "Wait, who are you?"

"You may call me Tuxedo Kamen. Until we meet again, Sailor Moon!"

"Wait!"

But it was already too late, as the man run out of the store and vanished from sight.

"Well done, Sailor Moon, I'm proud of..." Luna stopped as she saw the girl was paying no attention to her. Moon was just looking out the shop, smiling, and quite obviously thinking about that mysterious man. "Hey, snap out of it!"

"Sailor Moon?"

Moon heard Naru's voice and turned around. "Are you okay, Naru?"

Naru gasped at that. "How do you know my name?"

Moon flinched as she realized her mistake, but found a way out of it quickly enough. "We Senshi know everything."

Naru blinked at that for a few seconds. After seeing this girl kill a monster with some sort of light disc, she found it easy to believe that. "Thanks for saving me."

The blonde Senshi smiled. It felt good to be thanked, even though the fight had been scary.

"I... Can you help me look for my mother?"

Moon looked at Luna, who nodded. "Sure. We'll find her in no time, trust me."

"Are you sure this is the only way?"

"You must not interfere with today's battle."

Hakko looked at the woman, his face as unreadable as hers. "So you're asking me to let them be killed by those two?"

"I'm asking you to wait until I consider it safe for you to act, Kyo."

"Such a sacrifice, for what? For that illusion of yours?"

"I never thought I would see you mocking my mission, Master Hakko."

Hakko shook his head. "I apologize, Setsuna, I know I'm being selfish. It's just that I would rather not see any of them die."

Pluto nodded at him. "Trust me, if I didn't know what could happen if I stop this battle, I would stop it myself."

"It must be hard to stay sane, with such a burden on your shoulders."

"I'm a Senshi, Hakko. Honestly, I doubt any of us, past or future, could be really considered 'sane' by most standards."

Hakko smiled as he heard that. "I didn't know you could joke."

"I can, but I wasn't joking this time," Pluto said. "You should head there now, before it's too late. Farewell."

Hakko stood there for a second, as Pluto vanished, then stood up and run down the street, as fast as his feet could take him.

Usagi was back at home, quite aware her adventure had not been a dream. They had found Naru's mother locked up in the basement, had explained her what had happened in the shop, and left. It felt good being a heroine, but fighting that monster had been quite scary.

"We Senshi know everything, huh?"

Usagi stuck her tongue at Luna. "Hey, what else could I say? 'I'm Usagi'?"

"That's true. Your secret must not be known," Luna said, "as you saw today, the youma can disguise themselves as humans. Next one could be disguised as someone you know and trust."

"All right then, I don't really understand everything about what's going on, but I'll do my best!"

"That's the spirit, Usagi," Luna said.

"And if I keep on fighting those monsters, Tuxedo Kamen will show up again," Usagi added, with a silly smile as she stared out the window.

Luna shook her head. "Should have guessed that..."

The enemy's target had been a metro station. When the two heroes got in, they saw dozens of civilians spread around the area. "We apologize for interrupting your meal, ladies, but we must kindly ask you to stop attacking the citizens."

Aurite looked at Zero in an almost condescending way. "And we must kindly ask you to not intrude into our mission, unless you want to die, human."

'You know the plan,' Nova 'said' in Zero's mind.

And he did know the plan. He rushed forwards, jumping at Aurite and connecting with a kick to the stomach which dragged the General back several inches. "Uhm, you should be doubling over in pain right now," he commented.

"Don't think I'm weak like you, human," Aurite snapped. "I will play along, however."

"Go ahead, hit me," Zero snapped back.

Aurite let out a snarl and charged, swinging a magic-charged fist at Zero. The ninja, however dodged to the side, and Aurite's fist ended up hitting the wall behind him... And punching a hole into it. "You moved."

Zero flinched as he looked at the hole left by her fist. "And I'm damn glad I did."

Meanwhile, Luminite was wondering why Nova wasn't attacking. "Hey, what's the matter with you, girl? If you don't fight me, I'll help Aurite with that loser."

"That 'loser' run a sword through you," Nova said with a smile, "so I suppose your friend should be careful."

Luminite smiled back. "I'm not worried about her. I'll help her once I'm done with you!"

Nova saw Luminite run to her, but didn't move. She waited calmly, until the youma hit her invisible psi wall, and chuckled. "The fact you can't see my attack, doesn't mean I'm not attacking you. I thought you learnt that last time we fought."

"Damn you, girl, I'm going to..." Luminite started, then froze. No, this bitch was doing it again, her muscles weren't responding! "I'm... Not... Going to let you do that... Again."

Nova's smile turned mocking as she saw Luminite vanish. Just as planned. She heard the surprised yelp behind her, as an updraft blast of psi energy knocked Luminite back and away. "And I'm not going to let you do that again, either."

The General stood up and laughed. It wasn't a mocking laughter, she was genuinely amused by this. "Damn it, I never thought I would say this, but you're good, human. It's a pity we'll have to kill you and your friend. Aurite!"

Aurite had been waiting for that, her fight against this 'ninja' was just a game for her. "Got it," she shouted back, then turned to Zero. "I'm sorry, boy, but the game's over."

Zero pulled his swords out and smiled. "Let's do this."

"You'll do nothing," Aurite snapped, and a second later, two golden rings of energy shot from the ground, knocking Zero away. She saw the ninja fall unconscious and frowned. 'That should have killed him... Guess Kunzite's right, our lack of practice did make us weaker.'

Nova had seen that, and knew things were not going well for them. Terry was alive, yes, but if these two women defeated her, then everything was over. "You've hurt him."

"Yeah, that was the idea, girl."

"That was your last mistake," Nova said, her voice almost a growl, as her pupils went white, and her hands lit up.

"Okay, she didn't do that before," Luminite mused, waiting for her attack. She realized, a second too late, that the real attack wasn't coming from her hands. "Aurite, watch out!"

But Aurite was already down to her knees. What kind of magic was this? Wind? Gravity? No, this was something else, her mind was in pain, not her body. "What... Are you?"

"Wish I knew," Nova said, "all you need to know, is that I will not let you monsters hurt anyone else."

Luminite smiled. Nova was attacking them both, yes, but most of her rage seemed to be focused on Aurite. And while Luminite's mind was hurting quite a lot, she knew she had to deal with it, and to stay silent until she was ready. Question was, would Aurite stay conscious long enough for that?

"See, that magic of yours may be strong, and I admit it's dangerous, but my powers are a bit more direct. I don't need to damage the body at all. I can destroy your mind. I don't like to use this much power, but you... You deserve it, monster."

"Such a nice speech," Aurite said, noticing even speaking was hurting her, "but you forgot one little detail..."

"And that is?" Nova asked.

"Me," Luminite shouted from the side. Before Nova could turn to her, she had already shot a couple energy blasts, knocking Nova into a wall.

"Nova!"

Aurite looked to the side and sighed. "Oh great, the boy's up. Luminite, finish that bitch. I will deal with her boyfriend."

Zero staggered up. His whole body was aching, and he knew his arms were bleeding, but just looking at Nova was enough for him to keep on fighting. "Leave her alone!"

Aurite stood between him and Luminite. "You shouldn't have awakened, kid. Now you will see her die, and you will soon follow."

Zero put all his focus in Aurite. He dashed to her, and saw Aurite preparing to block his swords (with her bare hands) but he didn't unsheath them, instead tackling Aurite and knocking her back, straight into Luminite. As the two women fell, he run to check on Nova. "Hana?"

Nova was lying limp on the ground, a line of blood running down from her mouth. That barrage of attacks had been too much for her body, and she was still awake only because she didn't want to leave him alone against those two monsters. "Terry, I..."

"Die, human!"

Zero heard the shout, but as he turned, ready to block whatever they were throwing at him, he saw Aurite and Luminite fall to their knees. "What..."

"It seems I didn't make it in time," Hakko said as he walked past the two women, sheating his swords.

"Who the Darkness are you?" Aurite snapped.

"Someone who decided to come take a look at his student. You two should leave before I show you what I can do if I fight for real."

Luminite's eyes widened at that. Did he mean whatever he had hit them with moments ago was a weak attack? She didn't want to stay and learn what this human (if he was even human) could do. "Aurite, let's go."

"We have to make sure those two will not interfere," Aurite said.

"Don't worry, they won't stay in this country," Hakko said calmly.

"What do you mean we won't stay?" Zero snapped. He had no strength left to stand up, but he still tried to do just that.

"Zero, Nova needs you right now. I'll take care of those two," Hakko said.

Zero looked at him, then the two youma, and nodded. "I get it. Thanks."

Hakko walked to the two women. Humans or not, these women were built a lot like normal humans, so he knew what nerves to touch in order to make their limbs stop working. They were far from a threat right now, but he couldn't tell Terry that. "Your group's been mostly active in Japan, right?"

"We don't have to tell you anything, human."

"True, you don't. I already know many of the details. Whatever you're looking for, it's there, in Tokyo. The attacks here and in London are just distractions to make the Senshi split." He was saying all that not for the youma, but for Terry. "So you two don't need to worry about a thing. I'm sure if you go back there, my lstudent will follow you gladly."

Luminite frowned. "I suppose we should give our strategy some more thought."

Aurite nodded, still glaring at the man. "We will meet again, human, and next time you will die."

Hakko turned as the two women vanished. "Been there, heard that."

Zero had listened to all he had said, but his attention was mostly focused on Nova. "Hana, hang in there. We'll take you to a hospital, and..."

Nova smiled sadly. "I'm sorry, Terry, but I'm..."

"No! You have to get through this!"

Hakko looked at the two, then knelt besides Terry. "She's right, boy."

"Shut up."

"I underestimated them," Nova said, "they're strong. They're too strong for me."

"I'm going to kill them. Kill each and every one of them."

"If you go after them, you could die..."

"I'll make sure he doesn't," Hakko said.

"You can't stop me from going after them."

"I could, if I wanted to," Hakko noted.

"I wish I could help you," Nova said.

Terry removed his mask and looked at her "Hana, please..."

"I'm just glad... I met you."

He froze as he realized Hana wasn't breathing anymore. "Hana..."

Hakko idly noticed the girl's clothing had reverted to a normal outfit, and he also heard Terry's badly concealed sobs. He stood up and took a look around. There was more than enough evidence of the fight, so rumors were sure to spread. "Let's go."

"I want to stay here for a while," Terry said.

Hakko froze in his place for a second. He was sure he had never heard the boy sound so emotionless. Then again, he couldn't really blame him for that. "I will go and call some ambulances, the victims will surely need to be hospitalized."

Terry said nothing as the man left. Right now, he only cared about one of the victims. "I won't rest until that Luminite monster is dead, Hana."

Hakko put his swords down and nodded at his disciple. "You've improved."

"I guess I just needed the right motivation," Terry said with a scowl.

"She wouldn't like seeing you like this."

"I know."

"So, you're leaving for Japan tomorrow," Hakko said, "do you even know where to start searching?"

"Yes, the Senshi have been mostly spotted in Juuban, so my best guess would be going there."

"What about your father?"

"He doesn't fully agree with this, but I guess... He knows I can be stubborn."

"Just like his wife."

Terry smiled at that. "I guess that's true. Are you going to help me?"

"This is not my battle," Hakko said, "but I was planning on going back home in a few months."

Terry smiled. "I'll take that as a 'maybe,' then. Anything else I should know about these youma?"

"And why do you think I know anything about them?" Hakko asked, and kept his poker face for a minute as Terry glared at him. "I can tell you this much... You will be bringing a sword to a gunfight."

"I'm going to bring a few other things to that gunfight, actually," Terry said. "Can you teach me what you did... That day?"

The boy was still reliving that day in his mind, and Hakko knew it. "I wish I could, but you will need a lot of practice before you can even start understanding how I did it."

"Thought so," Terry said with a sigh.

"It's time for me to leave, so... Good luck, boy."

Terry waited until the man was several meters away before smiling. "See you soon, Kyo."

Hakko stopped and turned to him with a half smile. "That's Master Hakko for you, boy."

Terry nodded and walked back to the house. His smile vanished as he got close to it, and he felt those memories returning. He was sure they wouldn't leave until he did what he had to do, until Luminite was dead.

The dark gray cat watched her target. Yes, this was the one, one of the soldiers. She had to hurry and tell her about her mission, because youma were already active. They had to find the Princess before the youma did, and for that they would need all the Senshi they could gather.

A/N: In the original plans, there were going to be two chapters, first Hana's death, then Sailor Moon's awakening. However, they would run a bit too short for my liking if written as separate chapters, so I decided to fuse them into one.