Sailor Moon Aeons.
Book 2: Rebirth.
Act 2: Dark Moon Rising.
Episode 34: Surprises.

By Razor Knight
Last update: April 8, 2013
Last edited: May 29, 2017

"We don't have much time left."

The girl looked at the tall tree and nodded. "We will have to risk attacking the Senshi."

"We could use the other group as a distraction, Ann."

Ann smiled at that. "True, those women seem to be attacking the Senshi, we could use that to our advantage."

Ail was smiling too, but suddenly frowned. "But what if one of them dies because of-"

"I would hate that, but it's a risk we must take. If the tree dies, we die with it."

She knew it would happen eventually, but it didn't make it any easier for her. Those two women were strong, and she was not as much of a help to the Senshi as she had hoped. Moon and the others, they were the real deal, she was just a fangirl in a silly outfit.

"You're better at it than I was when I started."

She wondered if that was true. No, it couldn't be, Moon was just trying to make her feel better.

Yukiko smiled as she saw Usagi walk by, but saw something else. A cat? "Huh, I didn't know she had a pet cat." She suddenly frowned and stared at the cat. Yes, she could see it, it had a crescent mark in its forehead, just like Sailor Moon's one.

...

Just like Sailor Moon's one?

"No, it can't be."

"Hi, Yuki."

She smiled at Usagi as the blonde waved at her. "Hi."

"Hey, I was going to Crown, want to tag along?"

Yukiko nodded. "Sure, let's go." She looked at the cat again. Yeah, the mark was there. She couldn't help but smile, when she moved to this area, she had dreamed about meeting the Senshi and becoming their friend, and now she knew one of them was her friend already. She understood Usagi had very good reasons to keep it a secret from her, but perhaps she could break the ice by telling her first. "I didn't know you had a pet."

Usagi looked down at Luna. "Her name's Luna."

"That's a strange mark she has," Yukiko said, "it's just like the one Sailor Moon's cat has."

Usagi stared at Yukiko. Luna had told her no normal human could see that mark, so that meant... "What- Who are you?"

Yukiko rose her hand, lightning dancing around it. "I wasn't sure about telling Sailor Moon who I was, but that was because I didn't know who she was."

"Warwitch," Luna said.

Yukiko smiled at Usagi. "I hope we can still be friends."

Usagi sighed. "Is every friend I make going to end up being a magician?"

Luna looked up at Yukiko. "What exactly are you?"

"I'm no Senshi, I don't know where my powers came from. I just found out I had them, and decided to use them to help the Senshi, to protect civilians."

"This is no game, Yukiko."

The girl stared at Luna. "I know that. I'm not doing it because it's fun, I'm doing it because having these powers and not using them to help others would be wrong."

"You didn't choose to be what you are, but you're not running away from it," Usagi said. She could understand what Yukiko was saying, because she felt the same way.

"And since I like to think I'm smart, I'll go and guess most of your friends are Senshi too."

"Good guess." Usagi looked at Luna again, then at Yukiko. "Hey, want to see our base?"

Yukiko stopped and stared at Usagi for a few seconds. "You have a base?"

"We must be quite good at stealth, if even our greatest fan doesn't know about it," Usagi mused.

Terry and Ami were inside the base, and they were both surprised to see Usagi walk in, along with someone else. "What is she doing here?"

Yukiko decided to answer that without words. In a blink, her normal clothes were replaced by those of Warwitch, and her hair turned purple, as did her eyes. "Surprise!"

Ami scanned her. "Quite a lot of magic power. Not as much as a Twilight Senshi, but close enough."

"So what are you, an alien, a Demon Hunter..."

"Neither," Warwitch said. "I thought I was a plain human girl until I moved here. A few days ago I was attacked by a monster, but I knocked it away with a jet of flames. That's when I found out about my powers."

"Can you use many elements?"

Warwitch smiled. "I've tested, and I know I can use fire, ice, wind, water, earth, darkness, light... And I can heal myself, as Usagi saw last time I helped her."

"Sounds a bit... Broken," Terry noted.

Ami had summoned her visor and was looking at Warwitch. "Her energy reserves are low, compared to us."

"And I have zero skills when it comes to fighting. The staff's just for shows."

"That's too bad," Terry said.

Warwitch noticed Terry's stare. "What?"

"You look cute with purple hair."

Usagi sighed. "Don't mind him, he flirts with anything female and humanoid."

Ami giggled at that. "That he does."

"And you don't mind?" Warwitch asked.

"I don't mind where his eyes are, because I know who his heart belongs to."

Hotaru walked in right then, and saw Warwitch talking to the others. "I see we have a security breach. Should I eliminate the threat?"

"She's Yukiko," Usagi explained.

"I see," Hotaru said, staring at the girl with a neutral face. "How do we know we can trust her?"

"I trust her, she's helped us fight-"

"You trust everyone, it must be a birth defect," Hotaru noted.

"I won't tell anyone about who you are," Warwitch said. "It would only complicate things for you."

"You better don't," Hotaru said.

"You sound serious and emotionless, and yet you care about your friends this much... You must be Saturn."

"She's done her homework," Hotaru noted with a sigh.

"She doesn't mean to sound hostile, it's just a birth defect," Usagi said to Warwitch, then winked at Hotaru.

"Good one," Hotaru muttered.

Usagi looked around. "So, where's everyone? Where's Hakko?"

"He was going to talk to his sister about something, and the others... Guess they took the day off."

"You two should go out on a date or something," Usagi commented.

Ami blushed slightly. "We could, but we were trying to finish something else right now."

"And that is..."

"Mercury Twilight Power!" After transforming, Mercury smiled as a couple tonfa appeared in her hands. "These."

"Tonfa?" Warwitch asked. "What's the deal with those weapons?"

"We're building them, weapons which can use our mana, and since Moon was able to create a new attack with hers, then-"

"You will get new attacks with those too?"

"But I thought Ami liked to stay in the background," Usagi noted.

"I will only use them for melee if I'm on my own and out of mana," Mercury said, "but they can also do this." As she said that, she aimed the upper side of one tonfa at the far wall, and a few ice balls shot from it. "See?"

"Just like your chakrams, these work as both long and short range weapons," Terry said.

"Alert. Evil entities located near the Tsukino residence."

"Close to my house? Damn..."

"But they're not attacking yet," Terry said. "Let's surprise them."

Usagi looked at Warwitch. "Can you take passengers?"

"Teleporting? I think I can handle one person, never tried."

"We'll catch up with you," Terry said.

Warwitch waited until Usagi transformed. "Let's go, then. Teleport."

Mako was, meanwhile, taking care of a different problem. She walked straight to the office, and entered it without knocking. "Hello."

"Mako, don't you ever knock?" Kino mused.

"Not in the mood for formalities. I just want you to know that you should pick your hounds better."

"Hounds, what do you-"

"You know what I mean. I saw a couple men following me, and I know I saw them inside this base before."

"That's- I'm just worried, you live in the area where all those attacks happen, and..."

"Uncle Taichi, you can't fool me. You suspect me of being one of the Senshi."

The man looked at his niece and then sighed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

"Just tell them not to follow me anymore, next time I could accidentally electrocute them."

Kino gasped at that. "You mean-"

"Jupiter Twilight Power!"

The man shook his head. "Mako, you do realize there's a cammera in here, right?"

Jupiter winced at that. "Damn, I-"

"Don't worry, recordings can be lost or replaced. Still, when did you become one of them?"

"Right after I was sent to that school. I didn't choose to be this, but-"

"Don't worry, other Senshi explained that to us already. Just be careful, okay?"

"I will." Jupiter sensed something and sighed. "Duty calls."

"Go, I'll take care of the cammeras."

"... Always fixing my screw-ups," Jupiter muttered, then turned back to normal. "Sorry."

"Don't be, I promised my sister that I would take care of you."

"Why aren't we attacking?"

Beruche sighed. "I told you. If we just walk to her, that brat's going to use her toy to keep us busy until the Senshi arrive. Attacking when your target is still unaware of you is the best-"

"Moon Double Flight!"

Warwitch chuckled as the two women were knocked down to the ground by the chakrams. "Yeah, surprise attacks are the best strategy."

Cooan stood up, glaring at Moon. "Damn it, you pests again?"

"I was about to ask the same thing," Moon said.

"Now, brother!"

Warwitch heard that and turned to the side, and saw a rather large energy ball heading straight for Moon. "Moon, watch out!"

Moon wasn't fast enough to move out of the way, but something stopped the blast. She was knocked down as Warwitch flew right at her, and as she stood up, she saw her friend wasn't looking good. "Warwitch, no..."

Cooan and Beruche walked to Moon, but the two aliens stood between them. "You two... Leave."

"No, you leave. We need this Senshi's energy, and we will fight you for it if-"

"Double Flight!"

The alien twins were sent flying up and straight into a wall. They sank to the ground, and Ann looked at Moon. "You are... Too strong for us."

Moon saw the twins vanish, but knew the other two were still there. The good thing was that they weren't trying to kill ChibiUsa, but on the other hand, they were focusing on her, and she knew she couldn't use her new attack again. "Because of you, my friend was hurt. I'm not going to forgive you!"

"Nice speech, kid, but you don't look like you can fight us anymore."

Moon glared at Beruche, then smiled. "I told you to stop calling me a kid. And I don't need to fight you."

"Snow Spray!"

"Grim Wave."

"Icycle Spray!"

The three attacks sent the two evil women sailing forwards, and Moon smiled as she punched them both straight in the face. "That's for Warwitch."

Beruche realized several things. She couldn't even stand up, her sister was out cold, and the Senshi all seemed ready to finish the job. Running away wasn't such a shameful thing in her mind at the time. "Damn brats."

Moon looked at Saturn. "Check on her, please."

Saturn leapt off Dragon Mercury's board and put a hand on Warwitch's forehead. "She's alive, but whatever hit her did a lot of damage. Don't worry, I can heal her, it will just take a while."

Moon looked at the others. "She took a shot for me. We tried to sneak up on the Ayakashi, and ended up being surprised by the other aliens. "

"Have they teamed up to fight us?"

"No, they wanted my energy, and were quite ready to face the Ayakashi to get it. But they got distracted so I knocked them away."

"And that's when we showed up," the Dragon guessed.

"Don't blame yourself, Moon," Mercury said, "we all make mistakes."

"But I don't want to see my friends getting hurt, I-"

"I really like that about you, Usagi."

Moon looked to the side and saw Warwitch was sitting on the ground, and Saturn was still healing her. "Yuki, I'm sorry, I..."

"It's okay, I was dumb enough to jump on that thing's path, after all."

"It would have hurt me a lot less than it did to you," Moon noted.

"I don't want to see my friends get hurt, either," Warwitch said, then looked at Saturn. "Thanks."

Saturn nodded. "I guess if you're willing to jump in to protect Moon like that, then I can trust you."

Moon noticed Warwitch staring at her in a strange way. "Yuki, what's wrong."

Dragon Mercury smiled. "I know that look, but I think you're a bit late, Warwitch."

Moon looked at him, then at Warwitch, who blushed. "You mean you..."

"I'm okay with just being your friend," Warwitch said, "it's already a lot more than I hoped for before I moved here."

Mercury caught what the others meant, and stared at Warwitch for a few seconds before smiling. "Jupiter and Mars don't have-"

"If those are who I'm guessing, then trying would get me electrocuted, or burnt to a crisp."

The Dragon chuckled. "It's a miracle I didn't end up like that."

Jupiter rushed in right then. "Uh, guess I'm late." She saw Warwitch there and frowned. "Hey, why is she still around?"

"She's Yukiko," Moon said.

Jupiter blinked at that. "I see. Anyhow, guys, the General knows who we are."

Mercury nodded. "There were a couple men following me around the last few days. It was rather easy to find out who they were using my computer."

"Curiosity killed the General," Saturn said.

Jupiter cracked her knuckles. "Don't even-"

"It was a joke," Saturn said.

Jupiter sighed. "Good, but you know, you, joking, out of character..."

"I get that a lot," Saturn admitted.

"If she sticks around, she'll turn into a human being sooner or later," Dragon Mercury joked.

"Either my understanding of humor is not as good as I thought, or your sense of humor reeks. And I'm pretty sure I understand how humor works," Saturn said.

"Are you guys always this weird?" Warwitch asked.

"The weirdness factor seems to multiply exponentially with every new member we get," Mercury admitted.

"Can't I tell them yet?"

"No, not yet, Small Lady. But they will need to know the truth soon."

ChibiUsa sighed. "Puu, I miss home."

"I know, but you must be strong. For your mother and her friends."

The girl smiled at her friend. "I will. And this wasn't bad, I got to meet Sailor Moon."

The woman smiled back at her. "Next time you see me, I'll tell them all they need to know to defeat this foe."

"I want to be as strong as Sailor Moon when I grow up," ChibiUsa said, then looked around. "Aww, she left."

As Ail and Ann reached their mansion, they saw there was someone there. Three intruders, and they knew they wouldn't be able to fight them in their current condition. They didn't even have energy left to teleport away. "Damn it... A trap."

Mira looked at Ann. "We're not here to fight, we're here to talk."

"Moon just gave us a nice beating, so I suppose we'll listen," Ail admitted.

"We know why you're draining humans," Circe explained, "we've seen your tree. Our guess is, you need to feed that tree in order to survive."

"Our energy comes from that tree," Ann explained, "if it dies, we will run out of energy."

"Starving to death," Calisto said, flinching. "The bad thing is, we can't let you drain civilians... And that tree seems to need a lot of energy, so giving you our own mana isn't going to work."

"If we could drain one of the Senshi..."

"We can't let you do that, either, and I suppose you already tried."

"Yes."

"You should talk to the Senshi. Show them that you're not evil."

"We already tried to hurt their leader and hurt one of her friends. I don't think-"

"Ail and Ann would get a harsh welcome, but perhaps Natsumi and Seijuro will have it easier."

Ann nodded at Mira. "Hope you're right about that."

"We know the Senshi, they don't shoot without listening, as long as you're also willing to talk."

Circe smiled. "And don't worry about your tree, we gave it some energy, should keep it going for a week."

"Thanks."

"No problem," Calisto noted. "A friendly warning, however, if you try anything funny, I will call a hundred mages like us and make sure your tree's ashes in the wind."

"We're no warriors," Ail said, "we just need a place to stay."

Mira nodded. "Good. Let's go, girls."

Ann sighed as the Hunters left. "So, this is it."

"We don't have a choice, the Senshi will be ready for us. We're lucky to be alive after Moon's attack, and I sensed the other Senshi are even stronger."

A/N: They don't make secret identities like they used to.

Ami's weapons are heavily based on the weapons used by Elie from Rave Master.