Sailor Moon Aeons.
Book 2: Rebirth.
Act 3: War games.
Episode 57: Game City.

By Razor Knight
Last update: July 8, 2013
Last edited: June 3, 2017

It had been a surprise for most of them, but the 'break' from their current war came with a strange revelation. Usagi knew what Naru's face meant the moment her friend walked in. "So, what happened?"

"Umino wasn't at his house, either. His parents are worried sick about him, said last time they saw him was yesterday."

Usagi flinched. "Why would he be fighting us?"

"Perhaps he's been taken over by evil, like Black Lady was."

Usagi nodded at Terry. "I hope that's the case. We've been friends since we were in kinder, I just can't hurt him."

Aiko walked to them. "After analyzing the collected data, I estimate the chances for Umino Gurio to be Game Master are at ninety-six point five percent."

"Shit."

Terry knew what Naru was thinking, because he had recently gone through something similar. "He's strong, but not invincible. We just need to rough him up a bit and then bring him back to our side."

"That's a nice thought, but we'll need to train if we want to defeat him," Hotaru noted. "And we may have to kill him."

"There has to be another way."

The pale girl looked at Usagi. "I'm not saying we kill him without trying to bring him back, but things may not work out as-"

"It's pointless to argue," Terry said.

"What?"

"You should know Usagi by now, she won't even think about hurting her friends."

"Others, apparently, don't mind trying."

Terry chuckled at Rei's joke. Earth and Jupiter were using a quite strange training method, Earth summoned and threw head-sized rocks at Jupiter, and Jupiter broke them with either her lightning, or her fists. "Is it just me, or is Mako's strength improving?"

"That's a given," Ami said, "the more we use our powers, the better all our abilities will get."

"Hearing those theories is one thing, seeing them in action is another," Terry muttered. "Anyhow, what are you up to?"

"Just checking the base's computer." Ami looked at her computer and smiled. "Somehow, Aiko's code has changed."

"Changed?"

"Improved," Ami noted.

"We haven't touched it for weeks."

Ami nodded. "So my only guess is, it's changing itself."

"There is no data in my records of any change being made," Aiko commented.

"... So she's doing it subconsciously?" Rei asked. "Uh, if there is even such a thing as a subconscious mind in her."

"Should I run scans to locate the problem?" Aiko asked.

"That... No offense, but if my computer can't find any malicious code in you, then-"

"Understood. It's relatively safe to assume these code mutations are a good thing."

"We don't know what's causing them," Terry noted, "but something tells me we should wait and see."

Hakko walked in right then, and looked around. "Hmph, I see my students are taking things as seriously as usual."

"As a matter of fact," Usagi said, "I was waiting for you to arrive."

"Huh? And why is that?"

"I'm going to challenge Game Master to a fight when I see him next time."

"You are?" Most of her friends asked, in shock.

"Yes, I'll use his own ego against him, he hates being called a cheater, so..."

"She's going to put her own conditions. If she wins, Game Master's ego should lead him to stop his attacks."

Rei stared at Terry. "You knew about this?"

"She made me promise I wouldn't tell anyone else, not until she decided she really wanted to go ahead with that plan," Terry said.

Naru frowned. "But that's Umino we're talking about, you-"

"I will try to knock him out, and we can heal him back to normal after the fight's over."

"I don't like that. I don't want to see you get hurt, Usagi. Let us all help."

Hakko looked at Rei. "So, the one time she actually thinks like a leader would, you want to stop her?"

Usagi sighed. "Thanks, I guess?"

"However," Hakko said, "planning before a battle is one thing, but there could be things you're not taking into consideration."

"If Game Master does cheat during our fight," Usagi said, "I trust everyone will show him we don't like cheaters."

Hakko smiled. "Right. Are you ready for the next level of training?"

Usagi summoned her chakram and stood in a defensive pose. "I won't be sure until I try, will I?"

"That's the spirit, Tsukino."

Three days passed, and even though Usagi was tired from her training, she had to admit it had worked as expected. She wasn't even close to how Hakko fought (or even Terry) but if she had survived Hakko's training, she was sure the Game Master would be relatively easy to deal with.

What she was about to do, however, was on a whole different level. "Are you sure you want to do that?"

"Yes. I've known them for too long, and seeing them like this just... I need them to know Umino will be back, even if it means I have to tell them who I am." Naru looked at Usagi. "But you don't need to-"

"Umino's my friend, too. He may be weird but he's not a bad guy."

"Heh, I know that." Naru knocked on the door, and the two of them waited. Several seconds later, a woman opened the door, recognizing his son's two friends immediately. "Hello, miss Gurio."

"Hi, girls. Please, come in." Usagi noticed the woman's tone was somber.

Naru let out a small sigh. "I... I lied to you, the other day, when I said I didn't know where Umino was."

"You what?"

"There's a reason for her to hide the truth," Usagi explained, "she couldn't tell you until she was really sure-"

"Where is my son?"

"It will be hard to believe unless we explain something about us," Usagi said.

Naru decided it was a good time to drop the bomb. "What would you say if we told you we are Senshi?"

"I would tell you that you better have a way to demonstrate it, because I'm not in the mood for jokes."

"I thought you would say something like that," Naru admitted. "Nemesis Twilight Power!"

"Moon Star Power!"

The woman stared at the two girls as they transformed. It was shocking to know these two were Senshi, but she realized something else. They had said them being Senshi was related to where their son was, and she didn't want to think about how that could be possible. "Naru, you are..."

"Sailor Nemesis," Nemesis said. "I'm supposed to keep my identity a secret, but I couldn't tell you where Umino is without-"

"So, where is he?"

"You may have heard rumors of our group fighting enemies which look like creatures from videogames," Moon said, "a few days ago, we were facing their leader, and one of our allies used a very strong attack, one which sent him one week forwards in time."

"I saw a Senshi fighting some green-skinned man. But what does that have to do with Umino?"

"Game Master is out of reality for a week. And Umino is also nowhere to be found. We are quite certain that Umino is Game Master."

The woman sat on a couch and looked at Moon. "But he's not... He wouldn't do that kind of things."

"Something similar happened to one of our allies in the past," Moon explained, "I'm sure Umino's mind is being controlled by something, or someone. Next time we face him, we'll bring him back to our side."

"But you could hurt him... Or he could hurt you."

"I've been doing things I don't like for one year now," Moon said, "but we'll try our best, that's what I can say without lying."

"I won't let him get hurt, and I won't let him hurt anyone else," Nemesis said. "So just wait, in a few days your son will be back. It's a promise."

"One week passed. Game Master should be attacking today."

Usagi looked at Naru. "Are you okay?"

"I'm... Not sure. What if we have to kill him to stop him?"

"I could revive him," Hotaru said, then quickly added "but I know what you mean. If I revived him, he would still be evil."

"All I can say is, we'll try our best," Usagi said. "Don't look so grim, Umino wouldn't like it."

"And looking grim is my trademark," Hotaru added.

"You're making a joke, the end of the world must be close," Rei mused.

"Pluto warned me you all would affect me quite fast. I didn't quite believe it back then, but now I do."

"It's not a bad thing, you know?" Usagi noted.

"I know," Hotaru said, "but it's still surprising."

"Check mate."

Terry looked at Aiko, then at the virtual chess table floating in front of him. "I think we programed you a little too well."

"That's a given, I'm as good as you two could make me."

"... She's getting an ego now. Cute."

Aiko looked at Kage. "I suppose I should check my humor sub-routines again." She then looked up. "And speaking of things which are not amusing, Game Master's back."

Ami looked at the screen and her face lost color. "Fu- I mean, crap."

Terry knew the reason Ami had to catch herself. The whole map of Tokyo was covered by red spots. "I suppose that means we got to the last level."

"Not amusing," Usagi said, "people could get hurt out there."

"I sense a force of at least a hundred hunters out there," Aiko explained. "Unfortunately, even those numbers seem to be too few against this attack."

Naru stood up and scowled. "Okay, let's go find Umino and kick him until he stops being evil."

Once outside, the group saw things were worse than they thought. There were flying creatures and spaceships flying around, monsters from several games lurking in groups, and a dragon had decided to use the Tokyo Towers as its nest.

"This is too much to even joke about," Dragon Venus commented.

"Good," Mercury said, supressing a chuckle. "I suggest we split and search for Game Master, whoever finds him first can warn the others."

"Let's split in groups of two," Moon said. "And guys, finding Game Master is our priority, but we can't let these monsters hurt any civilians."

"Can't Aiko find him?"

Mercury shook her head. "It's not that simple, Mako. He may be blocking our scanners somehow."

"It's never easy for us, is it?" Venus muttered.

"The day we have an easy war, will be the day we know we've broken the universe for good," Mars joked.

Hakko had been walking to the dojo when the attack started, and like many other civilians, had been caught in the mess that followed. However, he was far from an innocent bystander, so the two enemies he was facing would be in for a little surprise.

"You're no Senshi, so just leave."

"Are you sure you want to ignore me? After all, I'm the one teaching the Senshi how to fight. I would think it would be wise for you both to leave." He looked at the two. Wearing what seemed like ninja suits, one was blue in some parts, the other had yellow details.

"Oh, I suppose we could do- Come here!"

Hakko saw something fly his way, and caught it effortlessly. "A chain kunai? Cheap tricks, as expected from cheap fighters."

The other man shot a ball of ice from his bare hands, something which Hakko was too used to seeing by now. He simply moved his free arm, slowly altering the ball's course, and sending it straight to the man who was still trying to pull the chain out of his hand. "Chill."

"Watch it, Sub-Zero!"

"Not my fault, that guy's full of tricks," the blue ninja noted.

"You don't know just how right you are," Hakko noticed casually, right before dashing forwards at an amazing speed. He stopped right before the two men, who fell to the ground limply. "I could kill you, but I'll leave that to the real heroes," he said before walking away, knowing the two men would be unable to move for the next few hours. And if things went as he expected, their summoner would be defeated far before then.

Venus looked at the trio blocking their way. She was sure she had seen them somewhere, but where?

"Sonic, huh? This will be fun."

Oh, there. "Isn't this guy super fast?"

"That I am!" Sonic snapped and started running in circles around them.

Dragon Venus smirked. "Time to show them books can be dangerous." He reached his hand forwards, and his book appeared in it, opening at a seemingly random page. "Slow. Greased Shoes. Arcana's Bind. Hold."

Sonic frowned as his speed was reduced to a crawl. "Hey, what the heck?"

A large flying ship appeared near them. "Damn it, I knew that blue buffoon wouldn't be able to handle this."

Dragon Venus looked at Robotnik. "Nice ride."

"Thanks, I built it myse- Stop trying to distract me, brat!"

"Four against two, this is going to be fun," Venus commented as Robotnik's ship aimed at them with its cannons.

"Make it fiiiiiiiiive!"

Venus wasn't quite ready for what had just happened. A pink blur hissed by, and Dragon Venus was knocked into a wall. As the newcomer stopped, she could see it was a pink hedgehog, similar to Sonic, but she was wearing a red dress and wielding a mallet larger than herself.

"Hi darling, sorry I'm late!"

Sonic sighed. "Ugh. I mean, uh, thanks for the help, Amy."

"Guys, our target's shining."

"You hurt him, so now I'll have to hurt you," Venus snapped. "Venus Star Power!"

"Uh oh."

Knuckles had been standing in the background, but rushed forwards as Venus transformed, jumping up to deliver one of his punches. However, he saw Venus smiling, and then she... Vanished? "Hey, what the crap- Urk."

Venus had knocked Knuckles away with a kick, and immediately wrapped her whip around him, stopping his 'flight.' The red echidna saw the Senshi had a wicked smile, and figured things were about to get painful. "One down. Venus Light Snap." She pulled the whip back, sending Knuckles spinning like a top, then snapped her whip forwards, shooting a ball of light which punched right through him.

Robotnik frowned. "Damn it, do I have to do everything myself?"

Venus saw the large ship shoot a missile at her, and dodged. For some reason, she was moving faster now, but she had no time to figure out why. She saw the missile correct its course, and a plan formed.

Tails tried to use his 'ball mode' on the incoming Senshi, but Venus was expecting that, and used her whip to knock the fox straight into the missile's path. "Oh fu-"

"Tails!"

"What do you know, the one time I'm not trying to kill them..." Robotnik mused.

Amy saw Sonic's body start shining, and smiled. "Dumb girl, you shouldn't have killed our friends!"

Venus leapt to the side as Amy tossed her mallet at her, and flinched as she saw it punch through three walls. "What's that thing made of?"

"Love and friendship."

"... Whatever. I can do that too!" Venus snapped, and tossed her whip at Amy.

The hedgehog was quite surprised, but managed to dodge... Only to have the whip curve impossibly and wrap around her. "Hey! I'm sorry, cutey, but I'm not into girls."

"Neither am I," Venus said. "Light Snap." She flinched as the light fried the pink hedgehog on the spot. True, they had hurt her guy, but she was not happy about killing, even if these were just summons.

Sonic was done transforming now, his skin golden and shining with energy, but turned as a shadow appeared over him. "Hmm... Okay, you can give it a try, fat guy."

Robotnik smiled as two large cannons popped out of his ship's sides. "Run, little Senshi, run!"

Venus was glad her speed let her run faster than the ship could turn, but she couldn't focus enough to shoot at it. And she was guessing Sonic was just waiting for the right moment to attack. However, she heard something that made her smile.

"Venus Star Power!"

"Oh fuck. Sonic, take care of the blonde joke, I'll take care of that guy."

"Sounds like a plan!" Sonic said and rushed forwards.

Dragon Venus knew that Venus would have a hard time fighting Sonic alone, so he had to get rid of the fat guy quick. He was surprised, though, that Venus had managed to kill most of them while he was out. But this wasn't the time nor the place to get sidetracked. He stared at the large ship (which had pulled a few extra guns out of itself) and sighed. "I can't waste time with you."

"Ditto," Robotnik said and opened fire with everything his ship had.

The Dragon looked at the incoming barrage dismissively. "Light Wall." A large 'wall' of light appeared from his book, stopping the barrage. "My turn. Venus..." He leapt up in the air, rising his sword above his head as he did. "... Dragon..." The ship turned to face him as he fell, but the Dragon knew it wouldn't make it in time. "... Light Sword!"

Venus and Sonic both looked up in shock and awe. A large wave of light had shot from the Dragon's sword as he swung it, cutting the ship (and Robotnik himself) in half. As the large vehicle exploded, the Dragon summoned his airboard, then frowned. "Crap, not much energy left."

"I'll take care of him, don't-"

"I can still help. Quicken. Thor's Might. Colossus Skin. Chrono's Shift."

Venus felt the change almost immediately. Her fight against the upgraded Sonic had been a losing one, but now she could see all his movements- Heck, it was like watching him move in slow motion.

Sonic didn't quite know what had hit him, a moment the blonde joke was there, the next he was lying on the ground, several meters away, and his mind told him even standing up would hurt. "Damn it... I won't give up. Game Master would blast me to dust if I did, anyhow."

Venus smiled. "I like your games. Too bad I have to defeat you to help my friends."

Sonic was slowly walking to her. "Do your worst."

"Okay. Star V-Laser!"

The attack was pretty much like her Twilight level one, but the beam was wider, and far stronger. Nothing was left of the hedgehog once it stopped.

"You okay?" Dragon Venus asked, seeing Venus was down to one knee.

"Got a bit bruised up by that guy, but I can still fight. What about you?"

"I have plenty of spells left, thanks to this," he said, looking at his book, "and heck, I'll punch galaxians to dust if I have to."

"Sounds like a plan," Venus said as she summoned her board. "Let's go."

A/N: There's a small surprise in next chapter for those who read Cyber Moon.

And yes, Aiko's a self-reprogramming AI, even though she's apparently doing it without realizing it. Dangerous in the wrong hands, and probably in the right hands, too. Don't worry, though, she's not named Skynet. Or Hal. Or Multi-Vac. Or Daneel.

As for the (fortunately) few complaints about "X days/weeks with no updates" I got, it's quite simple... I only write when I feel like writing. It just happens that I have 'sprees' where I do feel like writing a lot. But I've spent a whole year without updating anything before, and it could happen again.