Sailor Moon Aeons.
Book 2: Rebirth.
Act 1: Dark Kingdom
Episode 6: Demon Hunters.

By Razor Knight
Last update: January 12, 2010
Last edited: May 23, 2017

Artemis was exploring the house, searching for something. Well, 'house' was a bit of an understatement, comparing the Diamond residence to Minako's house. He found it rather silly to have a house this large for only a dozen humans, but he couldn't shake the feeling there was something else about this house he wasn't seeing. Maybe it was just his mind being stubborn, but he could feel a hint of mana around him, a faint trace of magic.

His mind drifted as he walked the many corridors. There was something else bothering him. Demon Hunter Sigma. He had known what that meant for a while now, the Demon Hunters were a group of mages who dealt with evil beings, but he couldn't remember anything beyond that. Were they allies of the Senshi? Was this Sigma like them, or was he just using the name to deceive them? He couldn't be sure. Sigma seemed to always show up at the right time and place. Almost as if he knew what Kunzite was planning beforehand... Or maybe he was stalking Venus.

"There you are, Art."

Artemis saw Minako walk to him and smiled. She had been fighting Kunzite for a few months now, but outside the 'battlefield' she was still the same. Carefree, naive, somewhat lazy... But that didn't bother him now as much it had at first. After all, she was serious when it counted.

"Say, what do you think of Brad?"

That caught Artemis' attention. "Hmm? What about him?"

"I... I think I like him."

"You think that? From the way you act whenever he's around, you couldn't make it more obvious if you had a neon sign on your head that said 'I like Brad.'

"Hmph, fine, be that way. I was being serious, you know?"

Artemis saw Minako stomping off and sighed in defeat. "Wait, Mina... What did you mean?"

Minako stopped and turned, cooling down as she realized Artemis was interested in her theory. "You know... Sigma had this strange accent back in Tokyo, I couldn't really place it, but when he showed up here, he was speaking flawless English. I'm guessing he isn't Japanese."

The Mooncat stared at the girl in awe. "I... I hadn't noticed that."

"See, I can be smart too," Minako said and stuck her tongue out.

"I suppose you can, once in a while," Artemis admitted, prompting a glare from Minako. "What's that have to do with Brad?"

"Brad was in Tokyo, and left for England at the same time I did. And I somehow end up where he lives. And now Sigma seems to know exactly where Kunzite is attacking, haven't you noticed?"

"I have," Artemis said, almost certain of what the girl was thinking.

"I may be just making up stuff, but what if Brad is Sigma?"

"That would certainly explain a lot about this place," Artemis admitted.

"Huh? What about the place?"

"You know I can sense mana by now."

"Magic energy, yeah, you told me that."

"And I'm sensing some of it in this house. It's a little too much to be residual mana, like what I can sense all the time outside."

Minako scanned the corridor with her eyes and then looked at the cat. "You mean there's magicians in this house?"

"Maybe it's just Sigma," Artemis noted, "but we can't be sure. There's a slight chance Sigma is working for the Dark Kingdom."

"That can't be true. He's saved my life and yours several times."

"That he did. But why is he being so covert about this?"

"Maybe because he knows he's not supposed to know what he knows. You know the saying, if it's not fixed, don't break it."

Artemis blinked a few times before shaking his head. "It's 'if it's not broken, don't fix it,' Mina."

Minako waved his correction off. "Yeah, I guess you could say it that way, too."

"Firefly!"

Luminite saw the swarm of small fire bolts heading her way and laughed. "Really now, human... Is that all you can do?"

"I'm just the distraction, and guess what, you got distracted."

"Gale Shot!"

The concentrated 'bullet' of wind hit Luminite from the side, knocking her down. "Hmph, that brat again."

"Aqua Drop!"

Just as she was about to stand up, Luminite was knocked back down by a blast of water. This was looking bad, she couldn't take on three of these brats alone. Where the heck was Aurite?

"Grim Edge."

Aurite landed right besides Luminite, staggering up slowly. "Those brats are too strong. Retreat!"

Luminite found herself alone against the three Senshi and the magician, and sighed in defeat. "We'll kill you next time, kids."

Saturn looked at the spot where Luminite had been standing, her glaive still shining from the blast she was preparing. "I suppose this is our victory."

"They drained many civilians before we arrived."

Uranus turned to Pluto, who had just appeared near the others. "Can't be helped. We need to keep an eye on the city, next time we'll get them before they can even start gathering energy."

Pluto nodded. "We can't let them steal too much energy."

"Why did they only show up today? We've been here for a few weeks," the 'mage' said.

"They wanted to make sure the previous threat to their plans was gone."

"Can't we track them down?" Uranus asked. "If we knew where they attack from..."

"We can try," Pluto said, "I think Orion has a few ways to do it."

The mage, Orion, smiled at that. "Beholder."

The three Senshi looked at the small eye floating in front of him. "What is that thing?" Neptune asked.

"A spy spell. It can be used to look into a building before going in, or to track down someone... But for that, it needs to get their 'scent,' their magic aura," Orion explained.

"Demon Hunters are full of tricks," Saturn admitted.

Orion nodded at her. "But our spells are comparatively weak. You Senshi focus in one element, and thus can have spells far more powerful than any a Demon Hunter could use."

"Enough chatting," Neptune said, "the police should be here soon."

Pluto stood there for a minute as her protegees run out of the area. "A Demon Hunter has limited mana to work with," she said, mostly to herself, "but I wonder what a Demon Hunter who is also a Senshi could be able to do?"

"Hello, Minako."

"Good morning, miss Diamond."

The woman shook her head at that. "I've told you to call me Amber."

Minako smiled apologetically. "Sorry."

"If you're looking for Brad, he's in his 'training room' right now." Amber noticed the girl's cat staring at her and smiled. "I've said it before, but it's still true... You sure gave your pet a curious name."

Minako nodded. "Well, I like it, and think it fit him."

Amber looked out the window. "I see. Say, Minako... You like Brad, don't you?"

Minako blushed at that. "I..."

"I'll take that as a yes," Amber mused. "I think you're quite a nice girl, myself, and I know he likes you too."

"But he's much older than me..."

"Older? Three years is not that much, dear. My husband was nine years older than me."

"Oh, I didn't know... Wait, 'was'?"

"He died a few years ago," Amber said, her tone turning sad for a moment, "but don't worry about that right now. Brad will be happy to see you, I bet."

As soon as they were a safe distance away from the room, Minako looked at Artemis. "Why where you staring at her like that?"

"I had never been that close to that woman," Artemis explained. "The faint trace of mana I mentioned earlier..."

"It's coming from her, right?" Minako finished. "So that means..."

"She's a mage, but she's keeping her powers concealed. The trick's not perfect, or I wouldn't be able to sense anything at all."

"What about Brad?"

"Let's check on him," Artemis sugested, "nothing to lose, right?"

Minako didn't really hear him, but was heading to where Brad was right now. She had a lot of questions in her mind, and she wanted answers.

Brad was in the middle of sparring with one of his younger sisters when Minako walked in. From what she had heard, both Brad and his sister, Tia, were amateur martial artists, and that was why he had gone on a trip to Japan. "Mina, good morning."

"Morning," Minako said sharply.

"Tia, I think that'll be all for today's training."

The girl smiled at him. "Sure, I'll leave you two lovebirds alone."

Minako giggled as Brad glared at the girl's back. "Must be nice having siblings."

"Oh sure, it's wonderful," Brad said, his tone dripping sarcasm.

Minako looked at Artemis, who gave her a slight nod. She understood what he meant and turned serious. "Brad, I... I like you, but I don't think I can keep up with this charade anymore."

"Charade, what are you-"

"I know you know everything about me, Brad. Or should I call you Sigma?"

Brad stared at her for a few seconds, before he burst out laughing. Minako looked at Artemis in shock. Maybe they were wrong after all?

"This is just crazy... Mom was sure you two would never figure it out. Guess she underestimated you."

"Brad?"

"You got me, Mina. I know who you are, Sailor V, or rather, Sailor Venus. And of course I know about your guardian as well."

"Good," Artemis said, "I was rather tired of having to play the normal cat act all day long."

"Now, what was that about liking me?"

"I need to know what side you're on first."

"I'm a Demon Hunter. Doesn't that mean anything for you?"

"... Not really." Minako admitted. "See, I know I'm supposedly a reincarnated warrior from the past, but I have no memory of that time. And Art here, well, he doesn't remember much more than I do."

"Oh, so mom was right about that. And I think she can explain what our group's about far better than me."

Amber's face was neutral while Brad told her what had happened minutes earlier, but then she turned to Minako with a warm smile. "I must admit Brad is quite right, I underestimated your ability to sense magic."

"I was the one sensing your magic," Artemis said, "Minako worked on wild guessing alone."

"How come I can't sense her magic when she's not transformed?" Brad asked.

Artemis shrugged. "A Senshi's magic cloak is incredibly strong. That, and Minako here is just a Planet Senshi."

"Oh, I see. Do you really think that will be enough?"

"There are a few other Senshi out there, and more will be awakened sooner or later," Artemis explained, "and the enemy, well, they seem to have been out of action for too long, their power is far lower than it should be."

"I lucked out," Minako said with a smile. "But Art, what is that about Planet Senshi?"

"That's how the first, weakest form of a Senshi was called," Amber explained, surprising both Artemis and Minako. "If I am to take the legends I've heard about your kin literally, then your power will grow exponentially. Given enough combat experience and training, a Senshi could, in theory, destroy a planet."

Minako stared at Amber in shock. "You... You're kidding, right?"

"There was an old legend about the asteroid belt. It was, they say, formed by the final sacrifice of a Senshi, who chose to destroy the planet and herself, to stop a powerful evil from spreading across all the other planets."

"The more I know about these powers," Minako said, "the more I wonder if I'm really up to the task."

"You are," Brad said, "you may fight like a novice, but once that's fixed..."

"I need to ask this," Minako said, "is everyone in your family a magician?"

"Yes, each and every one of my children is part of the Demon Hunters. But there's other Demon Hunters beside us."

"Where?"

"We are the Europe branch," Brad explained, "but there's two other main groups, in Japan and the United States. There's also small groups in other places. Someone had to keep the Earth in one piece until the Senshi returned."

"I have a request," Amber said suddenly, "I've heard a lot about your power, but I have yet to see it myself."

Minako looked at Artemis, who nodded at her. "Okay, I don't see any harm in that, since you already know who I am." She took her transformation wand and smiled. "Venus Planet Power!"

As the transformation ended, Amber stared at the girl. "Amazing, your mana gathering ability is better than that of the best Demon Hunter I've known."

"From what I can recall, the Senshi were always that way," Artemis noted, "they passively drain mana from their surrounding, which makes it far easier to call on their spells during combat."

"And the higher their level, the higher their mana reserves get," Brad guessed.

"That's correct," Artemis admitted, "from what I remember, the Moon Princess, whom we are supposed to find, was one of the strongest Senshi ever born."

"But we have no idea who she is," Venus added.

"So, why are you here?" Brad asked.

"To trick a trickster," Venus said.

Amber rose an eye at that. "You mean..."

Artemis nodded. "Kunzite wanted to drag us all the way here so his allies would have free reign over Tokyo. But we already knew there were other Senshi around."

"Those Senshi have apparently moved to the States," Amber noted.

"Yes, but there's a new group in Tokyo," Artemis explained, "we just have to keep Kunzite here until the Tokyo group finds the Princess."

Usagi walked into the classroom and let out a relieved sigh. Miss Haruna wasn't there yet, so that meant she had managed to get there in time. "Whew..."

"Today's definitely a day for strange events," Umino commented as Usagi sat down.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you getting here before the teacher, for example," Umino explained.

"Hey, I'm not always late," Usagi noted.

"As a matter of fact..." Naru started, but then fell silent.

Usagi groaned in defeat. Umino was a pest, even though he was one of her best friends. "So, what else is 'strange' today?"

"Didn't hear the rumors?" Umino asked. "There's a new student in our class."

Usagi frowned. That was hardly enough to start any rumor. "And?"

"And he's the son of Zephyr Robotics' owner."

The blonde stared at Umino, the meaning of that name lost in her. "So?"

"You don't know about Zephyr? They're famous overseas. The family's quite wealthy, from what I know."

"I wonder what a rich boy's doing in our school?" Naru pondered.

"Is he cute?" Usagi asked.

Umino shrugged. "How would I know?" Right then, a boy walked in, seemingly upset. He was tall, and definitely not Japanese. "That must be him."

Usagi looked at him. Yeah, he was quite cute, but he'd look far better if he stopped scowling.

The boy sat down on the desk right behind Usagi's, which was the only one still not occupied. "What's with them, I'm no rockstar."

Umino smiled at that. "That's Japanese teenagers for you, Zephyr."

Terry was surprised that the other boy knew English. Sure, his accent was noticeable, but so was his in Japanese. "So they're just as crazy as the ones back home."

"Not all girls are like that," Usagi noticed.

"I suppose not," Terry said. So far, however, he had seen few girls in the building not swooning over him.

"My name's Usagi Tsukino," Usagi added.

"Rabbit huh? Amusing name."

"No, my name's Usagi."

"That 's what Rabbit means in English," Terry said.

"Why the constant scowl?" Naru asked, then noticed Umino flinching.

"That's something I'd rather not talk about with strangers."

"Huh?"

Terry didn't say anything else. Usagi was curious as to what had happened, but she decided against being pushy. She'd have to ask Umino about it later, since he apparently knew.

Venus looked around. "So, what now?" she had followed Amber outside the mansion, to the rather large backyard, but she wasn't sure what the woman wanted. Also, she had always wondered why the backyard had no flowers or plants, but something told her she was about to find out.

"I wanted to test just how much power you have in that form," Amber said, "and I know better than shooting magic inside the house, unlike some of my children," she looked at Tia as she said that, and the girl looked down at her own feet.

"But my attacks could hurt you."

"I'll take that risk," Amber said, "but don't think I'm defenseless. I taught Brad everything he knows, and there's still plenty of things I have to teach him."

"Mother, don't overdo it," Brad warned.

Amber smiled. "So, Sailor Venus, if you would kindly attack me..."

Venus looked at Brad. "Are you guys okay with this?"

Tia smiled. "I can't wait to see if Prime Huntress Hades can really fight against a Senshi."

"If Venus was at her strongest level, then I'm sure I wouldn't stand a chance," Amber admitted, "but this may be a different story."

Venus sighed. "Okay, if you insist... Crescent Beam!"

Amber smiled. "Shell." She looked as the beam bounced off the invisible barrier she had set, and then at Venus. "You didn't aim for any vital organ."

"I had no reason to."

"Let's see how you handle defense," Amber said. "Stone Arrow."

Venus didn't know where the attack was coming from, and thus had no time to dodge. However, she felt something hit her back, but it caused her no harm. "What..."

Amber laughed softly. "Legends are indeed right. That battle armor of yours is very strong."

Venus stared at her in confusion. "Armor?"

"Your Senshi suit," Brad explained. "It's imbued with an unknown spell, which greatly diminishes enemy attacks."

"Had your suit been just normal fabric, and had you been just a normal human," Tia added, "you would have been pierced through by that stone."

Venus paled. "Wow, you guys are that powerful?"

Artemis flinched. "But that attack only had about half the power of your Crescent Beam."

Venus made the connection quite fast. "I understand. I'm never going to use my attacks against a human being."

"There are other attacks you can use in such a situation" Amber explained, "but I'm no expert in Senshi magic. Besides, each Senshi has a different set of techniques, so only you would know the right words."

"I wish I could 'level up' already."

"Be patient," Brad said, "besides, what are you complaining about? You've been using magic for two months, and already have stronger attacks than me, and I've been using it for five years."

"Jealous?" Venus asked.

"Firewave."

Amber saw Venus get swallowed by a wave of flames, and looked at Brad. "That was quite rude, son."

Venus looked at her arms as the attack passed, and smiled. "Amazing."

"Thanks, I trained quite a bit to use that one," Brad said.

"No, I meant, it's amazing how I barely felt the heat."

Brad smirked. "Cute. Want to turn back to normal and try again?"

"No thanks, I'll pass."

"Hey, wait!"

Terry looked back and sighed. He had decided to walk back home to have some time to think, but apparently that was a moot point now. "What's the matter, Usagi?"

"My house's down this road, too," Usagi said.

"I see."

Usagi blinked. Terry was rather cold, but if what Umino had told her was true, then she could understand.

He noticed the way she was looking at him. "Let me guess, you heard the rumors?"

That took her out of her line of thought. "Yes, about your girlfriend..."

"So, you also want to know if I'm available?" he said, coldly.

Usagi stopped for a second, then glared at him. "I was actually worried about you, but if you're going to be a jerk, then see you at school."

Terry saw Usagi walk past him and sighed. Maybe this girl was just trying to be friendly, unlike most other girls at school, who either ignored him or tried to get a date from him. "Wait, Usagi."

"What?"

"You said you're worried about me? Why? You don't even know me."

"I just like helping others," Usagi said.

"I don't think you can help me, sorry."

Usagi sighed. "Yeah, I can't even imagine how that must feel. So, are the rumors true?"

"I don't know what the rumors are. My girlfriend was murdered, that's all."

Usagi bit her lip. Rumors said he was following her murderer, and that's why he moved to Tokyo, but rumors could often be misleading. "So, why come to Japan?"

"It's here."

"Huh?"

"Your house. That's your last name in the mailbox, isn't it?"

"Oh..." Usagi smiled as she realized he was right. "See you tomorrow, then."

"Sure, Rabbit."

Usagi watched him go and shook her head. What a weird guy. Cute, but weird.

"Jadeite, is your next plan ready?"

"Yes, my Queen. Humans seem to have a thing for unhealthy food, "fast food" as they call it, even though they know it may kill them. I've set up a place to sell that kind of food, and we will begin draining the customers today."

"I hope this isn't another failure, Jadeite. My patience's running short."

"I am aware of that," Jadeite said, "I shall not fail."

"Heard that before," Beryl noted as Jadeite vanished. One too many times.

Zero looked at the building from atop a tree. A normal fast food restaurant at first sight, but he was getting the same kind of energy readings the two women had. That meant either they were there, or one of their kin. He could just beat the crap out of whoever it was until they told him where Luminite was.

"It's time to-" He stopped as he recognized one of the customers. "That's Usagi? What is she..." He saw everyone inside the building was out cold, and Usagi was right now shouting something at the woman behind the counter. "So the youma are there." The woman turned into a creepy, blue creature whose armor was apparently made out of fries. "I'll give them points for originality," he added with a smirk.

"Moon Prism Power!"

Zero's eyes widened. The transformation took only a moment, but he knew who this was. He had seen the photos of this Senshi, Sailor Moon. Some said she was the strongest warrior of her group. However, seeing how all she was doing was dodging the enemy's attacks, he couldn't really tell if she was a warrior or just a scared girl.

Suddenly, a rose fled through the window, slicing the monster's side just as it was about to stab Moon through with her rather sharp-looking claws. Zero looked on as a man wearing a tuxedo and top hat (along with a cape,) gave a rather inconsequential speech about monsters having no right to feed on those who were feeding. However, during that speech, he noticed Moon had moved right behind the somehow distracted monster, and had taken her tiara off her head.

"Moon Tiara Action!"

Zero's mind was quite busy trying to process what had just happened. The tiara had lit up, and the girl (after a few spins) had tossed it right through the youma's chest. "I see, what she lacks in combat abilities, she makes up for in magic power."

The tuxedo man (who should be that "Tuxedo Kamen" he had heard about,) had vanished as soon as the monster died, and Zero could see Moon looking around the store then saying something to a cat. The strange thing was, the cat was apparently talking back, though he couldn't hear what they were saying.

The girl left after turning back to normal, along with the cat, and Zero was left with far more questions than before. He needed to keep an eye on Usagi, to see who the other Senshi were, and then...

And then, what? He wasn't sure of it. Usagi seemed to easily trust him as Terry, but would she be just as trusty towards Zero? He didn't know for sure, and after seeing what the girl could do, he wasn't sure he would survive if they took him for a youma. He had to earn their trust first.

A/N: I'm re-uploading all previous episodes along with this one, to fix several errors I (and some readers) noticed... And also, to add the "Act" name to them. For those wondering, unlike how Cyber Moon was set up, this "book" will cover only up to Galaxia's arc. But that doesn't meant the story will end there.

And I hope someone did catch the pun in the new name of Terry's father's company.

DavisJes: There is no Book 2. At least, not yet. I'll finish the first two books when I get inspired to write for them, since I'm planning to make the arcs set in the past a lot longer than in Cyber Moon Genesis.