Sailor Moon Aeons.
Book 2: Rebirth.
Act 3: War games.
Episode 45: Nova 2.0

By Razor Knight
Last update: April 30, 2013
Last edited: May 31, 2017

"Eh, you can't transform again?"

ChibiUsa smiled. "It doesn't matter, I knew I could only use the crystal once."

The group was at the base, two days after their last battle, and they were shocked with the news. Still, Usagi nodded at the girl. "You know, I'm sure you will be a Senshi again, when you're older."

"Flame Sniper!"

"Light Buckler."

Mars smiled at Dragon Venus. "What do you think?"

"Those arrows don't look like a lot, actually."

Mars' smile turned devious as she summoned another arrow. "Oh, you're sure about that? Flame..."

Ami's eyes widened as the flame in Mars' hand grew bigger. "Rei, that's dangerous!"

"... Sniper!"

Dragon Venus looked at the man-sized arrow dismissively. "Fire is fire, magical or not. Tidal Wall."

Mars stared blankly as her arrow was absorbed by a large wall of water. "Okay, now that's a bit impressive."

"If I was just a Demon Hunter, that spell wouldn't have blocked your arrow. Good thing being a Senshi gives my spells quite a boost."

"Speaking of Demon Hunters, I haven't seen Emi and the others a lot lately."

"They're still training," Kage explained, "Demon Hunters have a harder time powering up than Senshi, and if I'm guessing right, the three of them are quite close to the top already. Once you learn all you can from others, what's left is teaching yourself new tricks. There's legends of Demon Hunters who grew to a level which would make most Senshi from the old era be impressed. But they're legends, we won't ever know if Merlin or Odin were really-"

"Wait a second," Terry said, "you mean the Merlin and Odin?"

"The legends around those two Hunters grew a lot. One of them was even turned into a god through those legends. But it's not strange at all," Brad said, "where do you think the names for the planets in our system came from?"

"Our Senshi forms were named after the planets, but I never thought about where the planets' names came from," Usagi admitted.

"That's because you already know, but haven't realized yet."

Hotaru looked at Kage. "Cute, you're talking like Pluto now."

Kage smiled. "It's quite simple. Senshi have existed for much longer than our current civilization. If legends are to be trusted, Senshi have seen mankind fall and rise back from its ashes three times, so the original names for the planets are unknown. But as far as modern astrology goes, we have reasons to believe romans took the names of their deities from ancient legends, legends which spoke about godlike beings who could control things like lightning, water, wind, fire, or even time and death..."

Usagi blinked a few times before nodding. "I get it. So the planets are named after us?"

"Maybe that was true for Silver Milenium too, but we'll never know."

"Oh guys, by the way, Ami and I have been working a lot lately-"

"Only working?" Rei asked, slyly.

"... None of your business," Terry muttered, "however, we've finished these." As he said that, a small swarm of airboards appeared around him. "One for each Senshi. You can practice using it in here, there's enough room to fly around, and not enough height to make falls dangerous."

"You forgot to make one for Small Lady."

"Uh, yeah, but I thought that she-" Terry stopped and looked to the side, then jumped in shock. "Damn, how did you get in here?"

"Intruder alert."

Pluto looked around, and the sirens fell silent. "I control time and space, do you think I will bother with checkpoints and security systems?"

"Good point."

"Puu!"

Pluto smiled as ChibiUsa run to her. "As promised, it is time."

ChibiUsa stopped and stared at Pluto. "I..."

Usagi smiled and walked to her. "Don't be sad, you will be with your mom again."

"We'll miss you, though," Mamoru said. He was glad he had decided to go to the base that day, even though he didn't feel like training.

ChibiUsa took Pluto's hand, but then looked at Usagi. "I want to see my mom in the future, but... I also have a mom here. I'll miss you, Usagi... I'll miss everyone."

"We'll see you in a thousand years," Terry said.

"You'll be seeing her again before you think," Pluto said, then vanished along with ChibiUsa.

"Uh, does she always do that?"

Hotaru looked at Usagi. "The whole 'make a cryptical remark before vanishing' thing? Yeah."

Darkness. That's the first thing she was aware of. She opened her eyes, and found herself staring at darkness. She could sense two beings near her. But she wasn't worried about them right now, or about how she could sense them. She had quickly became aware of something: She had been dead, and had somehow returned to life. Pieces of her memory were flashing through her mind, and she slowly started remembering everything. She was Hana Thompson, and she had been able to move objects with her mind since she was born, along with other, strange powers. She had created a second identity, Nova, with which she could fight criminals. But she wasn't alone, she could remember him now. Zero. More pieces fell into place, although some of them seemed to shimmer. It was hard to explain, and she was still too confused to try and make sense of it. However, now she remembered him. Zero. Her friend, her love, the one she trusted with her life... And yet he had, in the end, betrayed her, he helped the youma kill her.

One of the figures she had sensed walked into the light. Hana, or rather Nova (she now noticed the suit she was wearing, it seemed to be made of a rather strange material,) looked at him as she fought back tears. "Who are you?"

"First tell me who you are," the man said. He was tall and thin, his skin had a corpse-like tone, and his eyes hid behind black glasses, even though there was hardly any light in the room.

Still, Nova answered his question. "I am Nova."

"Only Nova?"

The girl nodded. "Hana is dead, Zero... Terry betrayed me, so I don't feel like I could be my old self anymore. But why did you-"

"Because he's still alive, and he's become a threat to the world."

Nova looked at the other figure. She (the voice seemed female, at least,) was hiding in the shadows, but Hana caught a glimpse of gold. Was it a piece of jewelry, her skin, her hair? She couldn't tell. "A threat? How so?"

"The youma were defeated, but Zero has joined a much stronger force. They call themselves Senshi, and are currently in Tokyo."

"I told you my name, so..."

"Oh, excuse our manners," the man said, "My name is Onara, and the mysterious lady over there is A."

"Only 'A'?"

"Let's just say I also have an identity to protect."

"Fair enough." Nova reached out with her senses, and gasped. She had a much better control than before, she could 'see' clearer now. "What is this..."

"We were too late to save your body," Onara explained, "but don't worry, the body you have right now is a hundred percent human, we just made some minor alterations so that you could control your powers much better."

"If Zero is allied to the Senshi, then I'll have to consider them my enemies. However... Why did you revive me?"

"Isn't it clear? We can't face the Senshi ourselves, so we thought reviving the strongest warrior we ever heard of would be a good idea."

"How are you sure I won't just fry your minds?"

"Because you owe us this second chance, and... Because we researched on you. You're no murderer, you don't kill remorselessly."

Nova laughed. "Can't say that's wrong. Okay, I will go now."

"We will be leaving the city," Onara warned, "the Senshi may be able to find us if we stay. We'll contact you once you're done defeating them."

"Good, this will be a challenge," Nova said, then vanished.

Onara turned to the other woman. "So, what do you think?"

"Your brainwashing seemed flawless. She really believes Zero betrayed and killed her."

"I prefer the term 'memory remodelation,'" Onara said. "There is a chance that she could bring her real memories back, but... She will be too busy killing Senshi to have time for that."

"Hope you're right. Let's leave, just in case she does. Her power is something else, I'm not sure Beryl would have stood a chance against it... Or the Wiseman, for that matter."

"Moon is, right now, technically stronger than either," Onara noted, "but Moon's major flaw is her kindness. She will hesitate to attack Nova. Most of the Senshi will. And even if they do attack, one of them will surely try to stop them. Their own morals will be their doom."

Back with the Senshi, the group had decided to try out their boards, so the room became noisier than usual pretty quickly. Hotaru knew she had to practice like the rest, but she was also feeling something... It was hard to explain, a feeling in the back of her mind which told her peace would be over soon.

Kage noticed Hotaru's mood, and walked to her. "Hey, there's a new horror movie, I heard it's quite good. It starts in a couple hours, but I thought you would like it."

"It's a date, then," Hotaru said with a smile. She would face the new enemy when it showed up, for the time being she was going to enjoy the moment.

"She likes horror movies, huh?" Terry mused. "Somehow fits her personality."

"Are you saying I'm scary?" Hotaru said, glaring at him.

"Ehh... Yeah."

"Thanks for the compliment," Hotaru said with a smile.

"... She can be quite hard to read, at times," Usagi said after Hotaru and Kage had left the room.

Terry nodded, "yeah, I don't-" He then sensed something and reached his arms out, catching a very surprised Rei as she fell down from her airboard. "Thank you for dropping by."

Rei leapt off Terry's arms and stared at him. "You didn't even look up, how-"

"A ninja never reveals his secrets."

"And a clown follows the same policy, right?" Karin said from above them.

Terry was still looking at Rei. "Something on your mind, Rei?"

"Huh? Why?"

"I was paying attention to all of you while you practiced, and you were the first to control your airboard. For you to fall off your board like that, it means something must be bothering you."

Rei looked down. "I've had a weird feeling since yesterday, and before coming to the base today, I asked the sacred fires about it."

"And what did it tell you?" Terry had heard about the fire from Rei and the others, and while not a religious person himself, he knew they had predicted things in the past. Whether godly or magical, they weren't a thing to overlook.

"They showed me images. A girl, a star, a man in a strange blue suit... And a figure using some kind of energy to destroy the city."

Ami thought about it for a minute, but finally sighed. "Guess we'll know what those mean whenever they decide to attack."

"Alert, an unknown entity has appeared nearby. Saturn and Dragon Sun are about to engage."

"Is the entity a magical being?" Ami asked. It was good that the computer could answer things like those without having to type in the question, it saved them time.

"Scanning... The entity seems to be using psycho-kinetic energy."

"Psychic energy..." Terry stared at the computer in shock. A star, a girl... And now this. It had to be a coincidence. It couldn't be her.

And yet, his mind kept running in circles around that idea. But even if it was her, if she was attacking her friends, he would have to knock some sense into her head.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Hotaru cringed. He had noticed, after all. "I feel something lurking," she said, "a new enemy will show up soon."

"You don't know just how right you are, Senshi."

Hotaru looked up at the figure. A woman, floating in mid-air, wearing a black, form-fitting suit (which reminded her of Zero's suit,) and a black mask over her eyes. "Who are you?"

"What? You mean Zero never mentioned me? Just like him to forget about me like that!"

Kage was knocked back by an unseen force, and stood up, wincing in pain. "I think we should change for the party," he said as he saw there were no civilians around.

"Saturn Twilight Power!"

"Sun Twilight Power!"

"Huh, what are you two supposed to be, an evil cheerleader and an evil clown?"

"Only Hotaru can call me a clown," Dragon sun snapped.

"Wait, Kage," Saturn said, finally realizing who this woman was.

"What? We have to beat her."

"But... That's Nova."

Sun looked up at the woman. True, Terry didn't talk about his late girlfriend that much, but he knew Saturn was right. "If she is, then two things are off. One, she's alive, and two, she's attacking us."

"I'm here to get my revenge."

Saturn looked up. "Revenge for what? We didn't do a thing to you."

"But Zero did. You can thank him for that in the afterlife, since he will be joining you two pretty soon."

Saturn was knocked back by another unseen blast. "Damn it, whether you're Nova or not, I can just let you shoot at me without fighting back."

"Good, I was starting to think you wouldn't be a challenge."

"So be it. Grim..."

"Hotaru, stop!"

Nova looked to the side, and saw a group of Senshi flying her way. The airboards they were using, they were just like Zero's one. And the one in blue, the one who had shouted at her. He was a Senshi too? "Zero?"

"Hana, why are you attacking them?" He wanted to ask something else, but first things first, he had to stop her from attacking the others.

"You dare asking why, after what you did?"

"Hana, I don't-"

"Stop using that name, Zero. Hana is dead. You killed her."

"What?" Moon stared at Dragon Mercury. "Terry, what's going on?"

"Play dumb all you want, I'll still kill you!"

Moon picked herself off the ground and looked around. The others were all standing up, but still... Nova's power was amazing, she had-

"I knew it," Dragon Mercury said, "you're holding back."

"Holding back?" Venus almost shouted. "You mean that blast right now, whatever it was, was weak?"

"If she really meant to kill us, we would be dead," the Dragon said, "Senshi or not, I know her true power is much stronger than this."

Nova had realized the same thing. Why couldn't she kill them? He had betrayed and killed her, so why- No, she knew why, he had told one of his allies to stop. He had stopped them from hurting her. But why?

"Hana, what did they do to you?"

"They? It was all you! You..."

"I was too weak to protect you, I had to watch you die. I cursed my own weakness for months, Hana. You should know how I feel about you."

Moon noticed Mercury looking at the Dragon in a strange way as he said that, but decided not to say a thing.

Nova stared at him. "I... I'll be back to kill you later, Zero!"

Saturn saw Nova vanish and growled. "What the hell's wrong with that girl?"

"I don't know," Dragon Mercury said, "let's go back to the base. I want to find her, wherever she is."

Again, Moon saw Mercury's strange stare, and flinched. Was Mercury jealous?

"She's nowhere to be found," Ami said.

Terry sighed. "Should have expected that. She knows how to hide her power."

"Terry..."

He looked at her, and finally realized something. "You're... Jealous."

Rei snorted. "I won't blame her, Nova showed up and you did talk a lot about her in the past..."

"But I moved on. I thought she wouldn't be back."

"Still, why is she acting like that?"

"Brainwashing," Hotaru said, "someone must have toyed with her mind, perhaps they even tried to change her memories."

Terry nodded. "If she really believes I killed her, then..."

"Moreso, she called us evil," Hotaru noted. "Whoever did it, put us as the bad guys."

"If she were so bent on getting revenge, wouldn't she attack again? She must know how to find you."

Terry smiled at Naru. "I'm sure she's able to 'see' where I am right now. And that may be just why she's not attacking."

"Huh?"

Hotaru knew what he meant. "She can sense us too, and she must know we're all in here."

"She's no fool, even with her power, if we all fight against her, then..." Terry suddenly looked down. "Damn. I don't think I can hurt her, actually."

Ami sighed. "Terry, we will help her."

Terry smiled at her. "You know, I can tell you're not okay with it. But trust me, I'm not doing this because I want to get my former girlfriend back." He noticed the others were all looking at him, and shrugged. "She was my best friend before she became something else. I still think about her as a friend, and I don't want any of my friends to suffer."

"Yeah, we know that about you," Mako admitted.

"And that's why... I'm going to go call her out."

"No!"

"Ami, she want to get revenge on me, if I could talk to her on my own, then perhaps I-"

"She could kill you."

"You don't know her power like I do. She would have killed us all earlier today if she was really meaning to. She may talk about revenge, but a part of her mind still doubts her goals. I think that may be the key to make her see the truth."

"I won't let you go out there alone."

"But Ami, I-"

"Terry, you know I love you, but I'm not going to change my mind about this."

Terry stared at her for a few seconds before sighing. "That was the first time you said it."

Ami noticed everyone was staring at them now, and blushed slightly. "I won't let you go out there alone."

"We'll all go," Usagi said, "we must-"

"Warning, unknown entity detected."

Usagi frowned. "Is it Nova again?"

"No, this creature's data does not match the data of any creature in the database."

"A new enemy?" Brad said.

"Damn, not now. We don't know when Nova could-"

"Rei, Naru, come with me," Usagi said.

"Huh? Why?"

"We'll take care of whoever that is. The rest of you, keep an eye out for Nova."

"She could attack you while you're fighting this new foe," Ami noted.

"I know, that's actually what I'm hoping."

Terry frowned as the three girls walked out of the room. "So, it's fine for them to go out there and risk their lives?"

"We'll help them if they need it," Hotaru said, "trust them."

"I do, I just don't want to see them get hurt."

"Neither does Usagi, and you know that. It's exactly why she's doing this."

"Brave to the point of recklessness," Ami said, "you're definitely a bad influence for her."

A/N: For those who read Cyber Moon, this arc will be a 'fusion' of two different arcs from that fic.

Writing about Nova trying to beat the Senshi around again feels a bit nostalgic... But it's also a challenge to try keeping the feel of the original plot points, while improving on them.