Sailor Moon Aeons.
Book 2: Rebirth.
Act 1: Dark Kingdom.
Episode 9: Airport showdown.

By Razor Knight
Last update: March 24, 2010
Last edited: May 24, 2017

Jadeite was, to put it shortly, upset. The Queen had been rather clear about what she though of his success rate so far. He could still hear her in his mind, telling him that this was the last chance he would get. He had to find a way to eliminate the Senshi for good. Maybe he could ask Aurite for help and...

No, he had messed up on his own, and he would fix his past errors on his own too. Aurite would get her turn later on, but for the moment she was busy keeping Pluto's pets in check. But the question was, how to deal with the Senshi? Maybe if he could lure them to a trap, a place where no interference from that Tuxedo Kamen guy was possible... Yes, that was it! He wouldn't fail again. He couldn't fail.

"So your friend lives in a temple?"

Usagi nodded. "Yeah, she's a priestess."

Usagi and Terry were heading for the temple, with Luna tagging along. The cat suddenly looked back and said "is it just me, or are those girls following us?"

Terry took a quick glance back. At least twenty girls were walking in the same direction as them, half a block behind them, keeping their distance. He had noticed them a while back, but thought they would give up and leave eventually. "They're annoying."

"You've got quite a fan club, Terry," Luna mused.

"Not amusing," he muttered, then looked at Usagi, "you two go ahead, I'll take care of them."

"I'll wait."

"Fine," Terry said and turned around, walking to the small crowd. "Did you ladies lose something, or is stalking a national sport here in Japan?"

"We mean no harm, Terry," a red-haired girl said.

"Only my friends call me by my first name," Terry noted.

"Hey, what's the matter," another girl asked, "afraid we'll do something to your girlfriend?"

Usagi winced as she heard that. It really was a rude thing to say to him.

Terry glared at the girl for a few seconds before turning around. "I don't think you can do a thing to my girlfriend, since she's been dead for a while now. And I'm not looking for a 'replacement' so you better stop following me around."

"Hey, no fair, you're always talking to that Tsukino girl," someone in the crowd said.

"Leave. Now."

The redhead looked at Terry. He had his back turned to them, so she couldn't see his face, but somehow, she could feel the anger in his voice. "Let's go."

"But Chie..."

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't want someone I like hating me," the girl said, then started walking away. The others watched her for a few seconds before following her.

Usagi walked to Terry, noticing his eyes were still closed. "Are you okay?"

He opened his eyes and left out a long sigh. "As long as they stop doing that, I'll be fine," he said.

"You don't look okay."

Terry looked at the cat. "I don't think I'll ever be- Do you know how it feels to lose someone you care about?"

"I do," Luna said.

Usagi looked down at Luna in shock. "Say what? What do you mean you do?"

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"Aww, come on..."

"Cut it off, Usagi," Luna muttered.

"Fine, be that way."

Terry looked at them with a half-smile. "You two sure get along."

"Feeling better?"

"A bit. Let's go to that temple."

"Think those girls will keep on stalking you?" Usagi asked.

Terry could see she was genuinely worried about him. "I don't know. Their 'leader' apparently understood what I was trying to tell them." He paused as they all started walking again, then smiled. "But don't worry about me. I have a bit of a training fighting crowds, even unarmed."

"Guess we should worry about them, then," Luna muttered.

As they reached the temple, they could see Rei talking to someone. Someone Terry knew was one of Usagi's friend. So that meant she was the third 'Tokyo Senshi' he had heard about.

Rei noticed the trio walking to them "Usagi, what are you up to?"

"Just wanted to show Terry this place," Usagi said. "Terry, this is Ami Mizuno."

"Nice to meet you," Ami said.

Terry smiled at her. "Likewise."

"Welcome to the Hikawa Temple," Rei said politely.

"Hikawa?" Terry repeated, "it's somehow fitting for the Senshi of fire to be living in a river of fire."

Ami blinked at that. "Oh, is he...?"

Usagi nodded. "Yes, he's Zero."

"I've heard about what happened," Ami started.

Terry waved his hand dismissively. "If you're going to lecture me, then don't bother."

Ami looked down. "That was not it at all." She looked at him. "I may not share your goal, but if you're an ally, then we'll help you."

"I see," Terry smiled, "but I have two goals right now. First one's to deal with Luminite, but I'm also interested in bringing those youma down."

"I don't think we need another rookie," Rei noted.

"I may not be able to go around shooting fire beams, but I've trained martial arts since I was a kid."

"From what Usagi told me, you can use swords," Ami commented.

"Yes, I was trained by the best my father could find. If I go by Hakko's own words, he may one of the top five in the world."

"Hakko..." Rei blinked at that, "would that be Kyo Hakko?"

"You know him?" Terry asked in surprise.

"He's one of my grandfather's friends. If he's trained you, then you may be good enough."

"Good to know I've got your approval," Terry muttered, his tone as sarcastic as Rei's was at times.

"Hey now, don't fight, we're all in the same team."

"Usagi's right," Luna agreed.

"Wasn't trying to pick up a fight," Rei said.

"Same here. I don't like arguing with cute girls."

Rei stared at him for a few seconds before shaking her head. If what he said was true, and Hakko had really been his trainer, then she knew he could be a good fighter. And if he was good at close range, that meant he could keep the youma busy while they shot them down.

Luna suddenly sensed something, and looked up. "What the heck is that?"

Rei also looked up and recognized the man immediately. "That's Jadeite."

"Senshi," Jadeite's image said, "I'm tired of your meddling, so let's settle this once and for all. Come to the Tokyo Airport in one hour. If you don't," the image then shifted to a view of Tokyo in flames, "this is what I'll do to your city."

Usagi's skin lost a few tones as the image vanished. "He can't do that, right?"

"We've managed to stop him from draining a lot of energy, most of the time," Luna noted, "but I don't know about the other areas."

"It has to be a bluff," Terry said.

"It's obviously a trap," Rei added.

"I agree," Ami said, "he wants us to play right into his hand."

Usagi shook her head. "You know, guys, I don't like fighting, I really don't. But if that man's threatening to kill so many people just to get us, then... I guess we'll have to go there and fight him."

Luna was quite surprised. Usagi could be quite lazy, naive and clueless, but she was selfless and, in her own way, brave when it counted.

"I'll help," Terry said, and pressed a button on his wrist watch, then waited for a few seconds before speaking at it. "Hey Sam, know where the Hikawa temple is?"

"Yes," a voice said from the watch, "I suppose you want me to bring you a change of clothes?"

"And bring me my toys, too. We're going to have a party at the airport."

"Understood, sir. I don't think anyone in the city missed that invitation."

"Hey, what's that watch's brand?" Usagi asked looking at the watch curiously.

"One of Zephyr's recent inventions, modified by me," Terry said proudly, "it lets me call home, through a secret frequency only my butler knows of."

"Modified, you said?" Rei asked.

"Yeah, I messed with it a bit and made it able to track down magic."

"You did that on your own?" Ami asked.

"Not really, the watch already was a scanner, it could scan for radiation, heat and other things, but it only gave me an 'unknown energy' reading when I scanned the youma. I figured if I isolated that kind of energy, the watch would be able to tell me when one was near. A lucky guess."

"But to make those modifications, you..."

Terry shrugged, "Both my parents liked robotics and gadgets, so I'll blame genetics on that." Right then, everyone could hear a car stopping near the shrine. "That must be Sam. I'll be right back, you girls go get changed for the party too."

When the Senshi got close enough to the airport, they saw the army and police had gathered around it. A black dome covered the building, effectively stopping anyone from entering or leaving. "Okay Sam, I'll call you to pick us up when we're done."

"Be careful, sir."

"Aren't I always?"

"Not really, that's why I'm telling you that."

"You know, I think this is the first time I've heard of the police getting there before the Senshi did," Mars commented as they all walked to the airport.

"We should thank your friend Jadeite for that," Zero noted.

"I'm planning to do just that," Mars said with a frown.

As they got close to the airport, a woman walked to them. She was, from what Zero could tell by looking at her suit, a lieutenant. "Senshi, I need to talk to you."

"Not right now," Mars said.

Rakurai looked at the three in turns. "I was ordered to bring one of you to my base for interrogation."

"That will have to wait," Mercury countered.

"But..."

"Listen, we have to go in there and fight our enemy. After this is done, we'll listen to what you have to say." After saying that, Moon walked past the woman, followed by the others.

The three Senshi (and the guy who was with them, whom Saiko had ignored until now,) all walked to the dome. The blue-haired Senshi said something to the others, which she couldn't hear from where she was, and then a hole opened in the dome. The four walked through it after staring at it doubtfully for a few seconds, and the dome closed shut once again.

"Oh, this is just great."

"Should we open fire, Lieutenant?"

She turned to the soldier and shook her head. "We already tried before. Whatever that barrier's made of, it doesn't seem to be affected by our weapons."

Someone else watched the scene from a safe distance, but one of them wasn't okay with just watching. "We should go help them."

"We were told only to observe the battles. We don't know how many enemies are in there, or how to break through that dome."

"It doesn't feel right to just sit around doing nothing, Mira."

"I know." Mira took a few seconds to consider their options. "Technically, we can't observe the battle since the black dome's blocking our line of sight."

The other figure smiled. "That's more like it."

"Circe, Calisto, let's go."

The Senshi were quite shocked at what they saw inside the airport terminal. There were dozens of civilians scattered around the building, all unconscious. It was obvious Jadeite had drained them nearly to death. "If they don't get medical attention soon..." Mercury commented.

Zero pressed a button in the side of his watch. "Hey Sam, are there any ambulances out there?"

"A few, sir," Samuel's voice replied from the watch.

"We'll need a lot of them."

"I'll see what I can do about it, sir."

"That's good and all, but where's our 'friend' Jadeite?" Mars pondered.

"Come outside, the party can't start without you," Jadeite's voice echoed through the building.

"Wow, he's one lame strategist," Zero commented.

"Why?" Moon asked.

"If he fought us inside instead of out in the open, he would have us worry about all the people scattered around," he noted.

"And he wouldn't have such handicap," Mercury added.

"Well, I'm not going to complain if the enemy's being fair for once," Mars said as the five run out of the building.

Outside, they could see Jadeite floating calmly, waiting for them. There was a thin black aura around him, which was definitely not a good sign.

"He must be powering himself up with the energy he absorbed," Luna explained.

"That's a rather good guess, stray cat," Jadeite said with a mocking smile. "I was already beyond your power before, so now, I'm invincible!"

"Fire Soul!"

Jadeite punched straight into the attack, getting no visible damage from it. "Hmph. I'm not going to waste my energy fighting weak little girls. I'll let my soldiers do it instead."

"Soldiers? What soldiers?" Moon asked.

Suddenly, a dozen creatures rose from underneath the ground. They were apparently made of sand, and they all glared at the Senshi with green, glowing eyes.

"I guess he meant those soldiers," Zero noted. He rushed at one and slashed through it with his swords. The creature didn't seem to notice the attack at all, and they all started crawling towards the Senshi. "Go ahead, ignore the sidekick," he muttered. Though, he realized, in this case, that might be a good thing.

He looked up at Jadeite as the three girls were surrounded by those sand creatures. "So, you're good against ranged attacks, but what about good old swords?"

Jadeite calmly floated down and stared at him dismissively. "You must be that Zero kid I've heard about."

"I'm famous, huh?" Zero mused.

"Not really. I only heard about you from Luminite, she was saying something about you not being worth killing."

Zero growled at those words, but somehow managed to keep his cool. "Are you going to keep talking bullshit, or are you going to fight?"

Jadeite summoned a crystal sword. "I suppose roughing you up before I kill your friends will keep me entertained."

"Inferno!"

A jet of fire shot from Calisto's gloved hand, impacting the dome's wall, but it caused no damage. "It's not working."

"We have to get in there," Circe said with a frown.

"And what are you going to do, help your youma friend?"

The three turned at the voice, and saw a girl standing there. She was wearing a Sailor Senshi outfit, but with black bows, black skirt and black boots. Her red hair was adorned by another bow, also black. "That suit..." Mira whispered.

"Sailor Nemesis?" Calisto asked in shock.

"Interesting, you know my name," Nemesis noted.

A gray cat rushed in "Nemesis, wait, those are not youma!"

"Are you sure, Shade?"

"Of course we're not youma. We're Demon Hunters," Mira explained.

"Didn't think your kin would still be around in this era," Shade said, "but still, getting through that one may not be possible." She walked to the dome and put a paw in it, closing her eyes. "As I feared. Planet Senshi attacks won't break through this, and as for Demon Hunter magic... Nothing short of a Demon Sword would pierce a hole in it."

"Great," Mira muttered, "none of us is skilled enough to use that kind of magic."

"What about all our attacks combined?" Nemesis asked.

"That might work," Shade said.

"Worth a try," Mira said, "and it'll be an honor to work with a Senshi."

"Thanks, I guess," Nemesis said. "Ready?"

"Inferno!" Calisto called out, shooting another stream of fire at the dome.

"Blizzard!"

"Spark!"

A blast of ice and a lightning bolt shot to the dome along with the fire.

Nemesis reached her hand up, above her head, and a small, black ball formed on it. "Nemesis..." She then rose her other hand, grabbing the dark ball with both, and spinning a few times as she lowered her arms. "... Dark..." She suddenly stopped, the ball shooting forwards towards the black dome. "...Core!"

The dome vanished as the three attacks hit. Mira stared at the spot she had aimed for in shock. "That went a little too well."

Shade looked at Nemesis. "Jadeite is gone."

Nemesis looked to the airport and sighed. "There goes my first real battle, huh?"

Mira shook her head. "There's more Generals out there. Nemesis, I have something to ask of you."

"What is it?"

"Don't tell the other Senshi about us."

"Why the stealth?"

"Orders from above," Mira said. "I'm sure next time we meet, I'll be able to explain it to you."

"Right. I won't tell the others, don't worry," Nemesis said.

Mira nodded. "Goodbye. Teleport!"

As the trio vanished, Nemesis looked at Shade. "Hey, why don't I have something like that?"

"You're a few levels too low for teleporting," Shade said, "but don't worry about that. Let's go back home."

Nemesis looked back and saw the three Senshi and the 'ninja' walking away. The guy seemed to be in a pretty bad shape, so she could guess the fight hadn't been an easy one. But, for some reason, she felt like she knew them. "Yeah, you're right. Let's go."

Tuxedo Kamen was also watching the three Senshi leave. He arrived too late to the scene, and didn't find a way to get in... For a few minutes, he had been worried, but now he saw these girls could fight their own battles after all.

Minutes earlier, the three Senshi were doing what they did best: Dodging as the sand monsters kept on shooting sand at them. "This is annoying," Mars said, "we need a plan."

Mercury nodded, "I would scan those creatures, but I can't do that and dodge at the same time."

Moon was hit by a ball of sand and landed in a heap. "Oww... I like snowball fights, but this is just stupid." She glared at the creatures for a few seconds. "Hey, wait a minute... Glass is just overheated sand, right? Then Mars can deal with them!"

"Amazing," Mars said.

"What, amazing I came up with a plan?" Moon asked.

"No, amazing you knew about how glass is made," Mars said with a mocking smile.

"Why you..." Moon started, but was reminded of their foes as a blast of sand hit her head. "Hey!"

Mars sighed and shook her head. "Okay, here goes nothing. Fire Soul!"

The fire beam washed over one of the creatures, and as the fire dimmed, everyone could see it had turned into a glass statue.

"It worked!"

Mercury nodded. "Good thinking, Moon."

Mars wasn't about to admit it out loud, but she agreed with Mercury. "Fire Soul!"

A minute later, the Senshi were surrounded by glass statues. Mars was kneeling on the ground, as using her attack so many times in a row had left her out of energy.

"Now, let's go help Zero and..." Mercury started, but stopped as Zero fell to the ground in front of them. His suit was cut in several places, and he didn't look like he could do as much as standing up.

"Zero!" Moon gasped and looked at Jadeite, who was floating towards them. "Why you... For hurting one of my friends, I won't forgive you!"

Jadeite laughed at that. "It's all his own fault. He should know better than playing hero." He saw the three girls charging up for an attack and smiled. Yes, he would let them tire themselves out and then kill them. Of course, a direct hit by those blasts would hurt, but as long as he was able to use an invisible barrier, as he had done when Mars attacked, then...

He couldn't finish that thought, as something hit him from behind. He turned to see some kind of black board floating there, but was swiftly reminded of his other foes as their three attacks hit him from behind.

The Senshi walked to Jadeite, who was trying to stagger up "weak little girls, huh?" Mars snapped.

Jadeite glared at her. "You stupid brat, I'm going to..." Suddenly, his body became transluscent, and he gasped. "Beryl... No, wait, I can still beat them!"

Moon blinked as Jadeite vanished. "Where did he go?"

"I guess his boss didn't like his lame performance."

They turned to see Zero staggering up. "Are you okay?" Moon asked.

"I'll live," Zero said, then looked up at the board still floating above them. "Guess dad's timing for sending me that thing was perfect."

"What is it?" Mars asked.

"An airboard."

"How does it work?" Luna asked. She didn't detect any magic in that floating board, but then again, she hadn't expected to detect any.

"Hey, you girls aren't telling me how your magic works, so I won't tell you about my airboard."

"In short, you have no idea how it works," Mars guessed.

"That, too," Zero said with a smile. "Okay, let's get the heck out of here."

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Jadeite hurt my ego, mostly," Zero noted as they all walked out of the airport, "all those years training with swords are useless when your enemy can shoot energy blasts at you."

"Well, there's a saying about bringing a sword to a gunfight, right?"

Zero shrugged at that "Been there..."

"Senshi, what just happened in there?"

Mercury saw Rakurai walking their way and smiled politely. "We defeated the enemy, but the people in there needs medical assistence."

"I'll see to that," Saiko said, "but I still need one of you to come with me."

"We've just been through a though battle," Mars noted, "and I don't know about the others, but I have sand in places I would rather not think about, so..." the other two girls nodded at that, while the guy let out a chuckle, which earned him a glare from Mars.

Saiko looked at the three girls. They were a bit bruised and seemingly tired, that much was true. And if they didn't want to go with her, what could she do? These three had apparently eliminated someone who could create a dome she was sure not even a tank's cannon would break through. "Okay, I understand," she said, and gave Moon a small card. "Here's the address of our base, please go there as soon as you can."

Zero looked at the card. "I know where that place is."

"I'm curious, who exactly are you?" Saiko asked the ninja.

"I'm just a sidekick," Zero said with a shrug.

"Now, if we're done with the questions..."

Rakurai nodded at that, and watched as the girls turned to leave. She had no doubts now about what side they were on, but there were still one too many questions left to ask.

The building was abandoned now, but it had once been a cram school. A cram school used by evil creatures to gather energy for their own goals. But right now, the building only had one person inside. And that person was looking for things left in the aftermath of the battle fought within those walls. He had already found such items elsewhere. The scanner he held pointed him to the back of the teacher's desk, and he smiled. Yes, there it was, a single blue hair. He put it inside a plastic bag and walked out of the classroom.

It was a pity some of his targets were outside the country, but if he was guessing right, then they would eventually move to Tokyo. And he would be waiting for them, for his masterpiece would only be complete when all pieces fell into place.

A/N: Re-uploaded chapter eight with one "minor" change. If you're wondering who this "Saiko" is, it's ol'good "Seia," she just got a name change to keep up with the name puns (also, "Seia" doesn't fit her character.) If anyone's curious and can't find out on their own, I'll explain what Saiko Rakurai stands for.

Linata/X0001: A part of the delay in last chapter was because of that. Terry shouldn't have been around in the last version, though, now that I can compare both, at least from my point of view.

It's just one of many things I wanted to "correct" from Cyber Moon.