Sailor Moon Aeons.
Book 2: Rebirth.
Act 2: Dark Moon Rising.
Episode 36: Rubeus.

By Razor Knight
Last update: April 13, 2013
Last edited: May 30, 2017

"I'm pretty sure I know who she is."

"Really, do tell."

Usagi smiled as she listened to her friends. Umino and Naru were still in a gray area, but Usagi knew Naru would eventually tell him what she felt. Or perhaps Umino would? No, he was too busy with conspiracies and bugs. And speaking of conspiracies...

"I tell you, I'm quite sure I know who Sailor Moon is."

Usagi stared at him. "You do?"

"Yeah, she's clumsy but cares about her friends, and she's popular. It has to be Chie Wanako."

"Who are you calling clumsy?"

Usagi saw Chie walk in. "Don't mind him, he's just weird like that."

Chie nodded at that, and then went to talk to Karin, who was standing near the window.

"Crazy theories aside," Naru said, "I'm sure if the Senshi wanted their identities to be easily known, they would leave clues behind. Right, Hokuge?"

Yukiko nodded. "Yeah. I still have no idea who they may be," she lied.

Usagi looked at Karin and Chie. "Those two..."

"What about them?" Naru asked.

"I'm pretty sure they want to be more than friends."

"That would be surprising, since Chie's always chasing after guys."

"Gender's not important for some of us," Yukiko noted.

"Do you really mean that, or is it just an act?"

Yukiko stared at Naru for a few seconds, then leaned very close to her. "Why, want to find out?"

Usagi saw Naru's face was beet red as Yukiko returned to her seat. "Yuki..."

"Don't worry, I'm not going to steal anyone's girlfriend, or boyfriend, but that doesn't mean I can't tease."

"You sound like me, only female," Terry commented.

"Cute, she just needs a few billion dollars and a lot of horrible jokes and she'll be a Terry-ette," Mako noted.

Yukiko was right, Usagi thought, they could be quite a weird group.

"Rubeus, Wiseman said there's a chance we could lose the war. We need that rabbit dead, yesterday."

Rubeus looked at the woman in the screen and nodded. "I know that, Esmeraude. Tell the Prince we'll have good news soon."

"You better hurry, Dimando's not happy about this delay in his plans."

The man turned to his soldiers as the screen went black. "It's time to attack."

"We will leave no Senshi standing," Beruche said.

Rubeus smiled humorlessly. "Don't mind if I remain skeptical of that until I see it happen."

Hakko was surprised about what had happened, but he had several theories for it. The Senshi had, in one week, shown an improvement which would take months to a normal human. Perhaps it was that they weren't normal humans, or that a part of the training they had in their past lives was still there.

If they kept training at their current speed, they would be up to his own level of skill in less than a decade. Considering their physical and magical power seemed to increase exponentially with each new upgrade (if his sources could be trusted, and since one source was a Senshi, he knew they could,) then they would be the strongest beings on Earth.

Terry had, meanwhile, won a mock battle, but he was a bit upset at his foe. "Come on, Karin, you weren't even trying."

"Sorry, it's just... I don't like lying to Chie. I never did before, why start now?"

Usagi had been practicing her aim, but stopped as she heard that. "Do you trust her? Do you think she can keep it a secret if you tell her?"

"Yes, she's good at keeping secrets," Karin said.

"You could tell her, but some enemies could try getting that information from her."

"I'll risk that, I don't like lying to her."

Hotaru landed on her back near them. "Okay, that's enough getting kicked around for me."

Kage smiled as he helped her back up. "Your endurance is improving."

"You know the saying," Minako said, "endurance is a bliss."

"That's just... Ugh, nevermind." Karin muttered.

"Even if she messed it up, it makes sense," Hotaru noted.

"Well, it shouldn't," Karin said.

Terry chuckled, then looked at Hakko, who was seemingly meditating. "Hey, Kyo."

"What is it?" The man said without opening his eyes.

"That trick you did that day... Back then I didn't have enough data to figure it out, but... It's not just a sword skill, right?"

"That day?" Hakko opened his eyes and nodded. "You mean what I did to those two Generals. Yeah, I'm not a Demon Hunter by title, but I have learnt a few tricks from my sister and others."

Kage looked at Terry. "What trick is he talking about?"

"The Alphard. I only wanted to disable them, so I used a four-headed version."

"Wow, I didn't know anyone other than mom could use that one," Kage said.

"Okay, what are you boys talking about?" Usagi asked.

Terry sighed. "I almost got killed the day Hana died, but Hakko got there in time to stop Luminite and Aurite from finishing the job. He did something to them, and they couldn't move after he did it. I didn't quite get to see what he did."

"I could repeat it, but I'll need a target," Hakko noted. "Don't worry, it won't hurt."

Usagi saw nobody was moving, so she walked to Hakko. "It won't be permanent, right?"

"No, don't worry. It can be reverted easily."

"Then go ahead."

"Rabbit, you're too brave for your own good sometimes."

"Guess you're a bad influence," Usagi said, smiling at Terry. She turned back to Hakko and nodded. "I'm ready."

"Okay, then transform."

Usagi did as instructed, and looked at Hakko. "Now what?"

Hakko hissed by, and Moon caught a glimpse of what he did, he poked both her arms with his fingers. She felt a stinging pain in her arms for a second, but she didn't feel anything else afterwards.

"That's a two-headed Alphard, the shortest version."

Moon frowned. "... I don't get what's so amazing about it."

"You don't? Try to use your magic."

"Moon..." She gasped as she couldn't move her arms. "Okay, now I think I get it."

Ami had been silently watching, but she had also scanned Moon. "He somehow cut the link between your arms and your brain. The damage isn't permanent and the effect will be gone in minutes, hours at most, but in a battle, it could be deadly."

"It has been proven to be deadly, even in this simple form."

"Why 'Alphard', though?" Ami said, then smiled. "Oh, I get it. An alpha Hydra."

"Ever used the nine-headed version?" Kage asked.

"Never had a reason to," Hakko said, "but I know how to do it."

"The more heads, the stronger the effect?"

"Not really," Hakko said, "the 'heads' are the points affected by it. Four heads to disable arms and legs, six heads to disable voice and hearing, eight will leave someone blind and disable their sense of tact."

"And the ninth?"

"It stops the target's heart," Hakko said, then smiled. "Anyhow, stand still."

"Wha-" Moon started, but Hakko run past her again before she could complete her question. She again felt a sting in her arms, and rose one up, sighing in relief. "You know, we could use something like that."

"You're ten years too early to learn that, and I don't mean it as an insult," Hakko said.

"So the trick you did when I tried my Fire Soul on you..." Rei guessed.

Hakko nodded. "I'm no magician, but I learnt to manipulate magic thrown at me. Again, you've got a lot to learn before you can try doing that."

"Oh shit."

Usagi looked at Terry. "What's wrong?"

"This," Terry said, pushing a few keys in the console. The large monitor lit up, showing a large object floating above Tokyo. At first sight it looked like a crystaline formation, but metal could be seen in some parts of it. "Either the Ginga remembered where they had parked their spaceship, or that's our four friends' toy."

"Yay, my first battle," Karin said, not sounding too happy.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to being kicked around by evil beings eventually," Hotaru said.

"... I feared someone would say that."

"And as expected, the ship's heading straight to Usagi's house," Terry muttered. "Time to go kick some evil aliens around."

As the group appeared, they could see things were, relatively, under control. Warwitch and two of the Huntresses were trading elemental attacks with Petz and Karaberas, while Ail and Ann kept Beruche busy, and ChibiUsa was chasing Cooan around with a chainsaw which looked too heavy for someone her size to swing around like she was.

"Okay, maybe we should just watch the show?" Dragon Sun joked.

"Double Flight!"

The attack knocked Petz and Karaberas straight into a large wall of flames Warwitch had just summoned.

"Guess that answers your question," Saturn noted.

Mira appeared near them, along with the few missing Senshi. "This looks fun."

Petz looked around and smiled. "Okay, they're all here. Time to start the show."

Cooan smiled. "About time." She vanished and appeared right next to her sisters, who gathered as their foes surrounded them. "Like shooting fish in a barrel."

"Except you are the fish," Jupiter said.

"Not quite. Dark Pyre!"

"Dark Freeze!"

"Dark Storm!"

Petz hit the three massive magic blasts with her whip, and then started spinning it over her head. "Dark Torment!"

A dome-shaped wave of darkness shot out in all directions, hitting everyone around the four sisters. Moon protected ChibiUsa with her body, and as she looked around, she noticed most of her friends were knocked out. "You fiends, I don't care how much you try, you're not getting her."

Cooan laughed. "We told you before, you're weak. You cannot beat us. Now give us that rabbit if you want to live, kid."

"I told you already, I'm not a kid!"

Petz blinked in shock. Moon had rushed in fast, and leveled Cooan with a jab. She then kicked Beruche in the chest, knocking her down as well, and the elbow to the stomach she gave Karaberas next looked rather painful. Petz managed to phase out of the way as Moon tried to hit her, but still, she had to admit Moon's attack had been rather impressive. "Hmph, credit where credit's due, but all I have to do is keep my distance and-"

"Dust Storm!"

Petz was hit by a wave of dust and small pebbles. While not enough to cause harm to her, it had still blinded her for a moment, and she saw Moon had taken that moment to move. "Huh? Where are-"

"Double Flight!"

The attack came from above, sending Petz down to the ground. Earth frowned as the four women staggered up. "They're stubborn, aren't they?"

"Burning Soul!"

"Snow Spray!"

"Supreme Thunder Dragon!"

"Twilight V-Laser!"

"Shadow Core."

"Grim Wave."

After the attacks, the four women weren't quite fit to fight anymore. "This isn't possible, how can these kids be so strong, the others were-"

"I knew you would fail. Still, you tired them down, and that was my plan from the start."

Petz looked up at the man who had just appeared near them. "Rubeus?"

"Esmeraude wants you back in the battlefield, there's some pests out there who are too hard to kill."

The four women glared at the Senshi, and then vanished. Moon stared at the man. "Who are you?"

"I'm Rubeus, one of the strongest warriors of the Dark Moon."

Mercury had taken her time scanning him, and cringed. "He's stronger than the four Ayakashi combined."

ChibiUsa was staring at the man, and Moon saw she looked quite frightened. "What's wrong?"

The small girl had seen this man before, back home. He was strong, too strong! She couldn't stay there, that man would hurt them all to get to her.

"ChibiUsa!"

Mars turned and saw the small girl running away. "Moon, go after her."

"But this man..."

"We'll take care of him," Dragon Earth said, "but it could all be a trap. We don't know if the Ayakashi are still out there."

"Guys, please be careful," Moon said before dashing away.

"Hmph, a bunch of weak Senshi? You have no hope of defeating-"

"But maybe we can help. Wrath of Ares."

"Fist of Zeus."

"Hades Mist."

"North Wind."

The Senshi stared at the attacks in awe. A large wave of flames hit Rubeus, followed by a barrage of lightning bolts. Before he could recover, a cloud of poison surrounded him, along with a freezing cold wind gust. To finish things off, two large energy balls hit him from the sides, causing a small explosion. But the man stood through it all, and smiled as the attacks ended. "The Senshi have a slight chance of defeating me, but low class mages like you? Don't make me laugh."

"Okay then, guess we'll have to hit you with all we've got," Mars snapped.

Rubeus laughed. "I know better than letting you try. Ruby Flash."

Moon found ChibiUsa close to the base. The girl sure could run, she mused for a second, before her mind told her she had more important things to worry about. "Hey, why did you run?"

"I... I thought he would follow me. I don't want him to hurt anyone."

"I already told you before, we'll protect you."

"Not from him. You don't know how strong he-"

Moon suddenly turned around as the sky lit up. "What was that?"

"Rubeus, he..." ChibiUsa started sobbing. "They should have run too, he's too strong."

"I have to go help them," Moon said. "Come with me, but stay hidden."

"No, if you go there, you'll get hurt too."

"I promised you I would protect you, and I never break a promise."

ChibiUsa looked at Moon. Perhaps she could defeat him, after all. "Sorry for running away."

"Don't worry about that, let's go back so I can kick that man's rear."

Sailor Pluto stood on top of a building, and at first sight, it would seem she was just staring at the horizon. But Pluto had learnt to use senses other than the five normal humans knew about. And what she saw was both reassuring and upsetting. This was a turning point in the current war, and it all came up to whether Moon could defeat her current foe or not. Still, this meant she would soon join the battle, at least for a while.

The Senshi still didn't know what they were facing, but that was about to change. There were things they needed to learn about ChibiUsa's home, and about their own destiny, in order to defeat the Dark Moon for good.

When Moon got to where she had last seen her friends, she noticed most of them were missing. "What happened here?"

Warwitch was the only one still relatively in one piece, but Moon guessed that was due to her healing spells. "Usagi, that guy was too strong. He shot some kind of light wave at us, knocked us all out. I think he took everyone else with him."

Moon could see the strange spaceship in the distance. "I can guess that's where he is."

Suddenly, an image appeared in the sky, it was Rubeus' face. Moon couldn't help but get a feeling of deja-vu when she stared up at the sky. "Sailor Moon, I have your friends with me. They're alive, but that can change. If you want to see your friends again, bring me the Princess, but don't bring any of your allies with you."

Warwitch was sure she had never seen Moon's face like that, it was clear she was fighting to keep her anger at bay. "Usagi, we'll he-"

"Didn't you hear him, Yuki?" Moon snapped, then sighed. "Sorry, I... He said I couldn't bring any ally with me. As much as I would like you to help me, that man could kill the others if I don't follow his terms."

"He may still kill them if-"

"Please, don't insist. Get the others to a safe place, and tell them what's going on. If I fail..."

"You won't. You're Sailor Moon."

Moon smiled. "You may be right. Still, if we don't come back, take care of this world for me, okay?"

"It's a promise." Warwitch saw Moon walk away, and noticed the others were waking up. "Welcome back."

"Ugh. What did we miss?" Calisto asked.

"Consciousness," Warwitch said with a smile.

"Nag off."

Mira looked around and frowned. "Where are the Senshi?"

"That Rubeus guy captured them, and then threatened to kill them unless Moon went there with her 'cousin,' alone."

"Damn, we have to-"

Warwitch shook her head. "We have to stay here and trust Moon. Rubeus said if anyone else went there, he would kill the others."

Circe frowned for a second, then smiled. "I don't think we need to worry about them, then. Rubeus' plan may look good, but he should have captured Moon too."

"How can you be so sure she'll win?" Ail asked.

"Because I've known Usagi for a while. If you fight her alone, you may win, but if you threaten someone she cares about, you're screwed."

A/N: About Karin and Chie, I'll only say most Cyber Moon couples will stay the same in Aeons.

As for Minako and her proverb-mangling skills... I happen to have a rather large book of proverbs, and finding ways to include them in the story at all the wrong times is actually fun. You know the saying, "a mangled proverb a day keeps the badfics away." Hey, I'm pretty sure that's how it goes. ;)