Sailor Moon Aeons.
Book 2: Rebirth.
Act 4: Death Busters.
Episode 76: Peace, or as close to it as we can get.

By Razor Knight
Last update: January 27, 2014
Last edited: June 10, 2017

Hotaru walked in, and noticed only a handful of her friends were inside the base. A whole week had passed since the Pharaoh was defeated, and she and the others had decided to enjoy peace, while it lasted.

In the center of the arena, right now, Dragon Mercury was fighting Moon. Or, actually, it was more him trying to hit her, and her dodging effortlessly. "Well, that's a sight to see."

"I wonder if his ego will survive this battle," Ami mused from the side.

Hotaru saw ChibiMoon was training alone in the other side of the room. She walked to her and noticed she was using her Earth powers as well. "Isn't that dangerous?"

"It is, but I still need to get used to this form. I'll take a risk so it won't be as risky later on."

"That sounds-"

Suddenly, the ground shook, and both girls looked at the center of the arena. Dragon Mercury was standing there, with a rather shocked face, while Moon was a meter away from him, her right fist in a small crater left after her blow.

"What attack was that?" Hotaru asked.

Moon blinked and stood up. "Uh, I just tried to punch him..."

Dragon Mercury flinched. "I was never so glad to be good at dodging."

"Guess I should train on my own," Moon suggested.

Dragon Mercury smiled. "Go ahead, attack me again."

"But-"

"Trust me."

"Okay!" Moon swung her fist at Dragon Mercury, who instead of dodging, caught her fist with his left hand. The force of the blow made him stagger back, but he managed to resist. "Wow."

"Your physical power is much higher than mine now," the Dragon explained, "but I still know how to minimize the damage." He then flinched and held his arm. "It still hurts a bit, though."

Uranus and Neptune had been talking to Aiko, but had decided to see what all the fuss was about. Uranus had caught enough of it to know. "Training against someone stronger than us can only help us. We've trained with Pluto, and we both knew she could have knocked us out cold in a second if she wished to."

Moon nodded. "I get it. You're saying that, when training with those not at my level, I should actually hold back."

"Reckless training only brings pain," Dragon Mercury said, then added "yeah, that's another Hakko quote."

Uranus looked at Neptune, who nodded. "Moon... Usagi, we have a request."

"You don't need to be so formal," Moon noted.

"Sorry," Neptune said. "Anyhow, we would like to have a fight against you."

Uranus nodded. "We think we can accept you as a leader, but... I wouldn't accept orders from someone who can't defeat me in a fight."

"I don't think I've seen Usagi ordering any of us," Dragon Mercury noted. "She mostly suggests things."

Moon smiled. "Still, I can accept your request, but with two conditions."

Neptune smiled back. "Tell us what they are, then."

"First, we fight without powers," Moon said, "and I want to face you both at the same time."

ChibiMoon frowned. "Are you sure about that?"

Uranus shook her head. "Fighting us both would hardly be fair."

"If that's what you think, then I'll have to pass," Moon said.

Hotaru smiled. "You two should accept her terms."

Neptune sighed. "You've known her for longer than us, so... Okay, let's try that."

Everyone transformed to normal, and those not fighting moved outside the arena, knowing it would be an interesting fight.

ChibiUsa sighed. "Hope she knows what she's doing."

Terry smiled. "We've all trained a lot, and Usagi once asked me what to do in case she would end up facing more than one foe without her powers."

Hotaru nodded. "So, Terry basically beat her around, helped by someone else, until she learnt what she wanted to learn."

"Someone else?" ChibiUsa asked.

"Yeah, that would be... Me," Ami admitted.

The fight had already started, and Haruka hadn't wasted a second, going all-out and trying to punch Usagi down. Usagi managed to dodge all the attacks, quickly ducking as Haruka tried once more, punching her leg and making her stagger back. She sensed something and rolled to the side just as Michiru tried to kick her from behind.

"We taught her a little too well," Terry noted.

"Her dodging is naturally good," Ami said, "but getting used to dodge more than one opponent at once was hard, even for her."

ChibiUsa was quite surprised at how her mother was fighting right now. "But she's only dodging."

"It's her best combat skill," Hotaru said. "And dodging takes less energy than attacking, she can let them tire themselves down, and then start attacking."

Usagi, however, wasn't planning that. She kept on dodging, and studying the way her two foes moved.

Haruka suddenly stopped and leapt away. "Why..."

Usagi saw Michiru also back away. "What's wrong?"

"Why aren't you fighting back?"

"This is how I fight. If you think you've seen enough, then we can stop right now."

"I'm not done yet," Haruka snapped and rushed forwards, going for a kick. Usagi smiled and caught her leg, making her fall on her butt. "Damn it..."

Usagi knew Michiru was trying to sneak on her from behind, but she could use that to win. She just needed to do something she had learnt from watching others do it. "I thought so, you're too tired to go on," she said, looking at Haruka. "Why don't you take a break, let your friend try for a while."

"Don't mess with me!" Haruka shouted, and stood up quickly, trying to punch Usagi's stomach. However, the blonde moved out of the way, and Haruka saw Michiru, who had been about to punch Usagi's back. Both girls realized their error, but it was too late to stop their attack.

ChibiUsa saw the two fall on their back, and Usagi staring at them. "Wow, that was awesome."

Haruka staggered up, looking at Usagi, and then nodded at Michiru, who had also stood up. They both smiled and kneeled before Usagi. "Nobody had ever tricked us like that," Haruka admitted.

"We accept defeat, Sailor Moon."

Usagi sighed. "Ugh, I told you you don't need to be so..."

"Old habits, hard to get rid of," Haruka mused as the two stood up.

"It's the first time I see someone win a fight without attacking, though," Michiru noted.

"To win a battle without fighting, that's the essence of strategy," Terry commented.

"Hakko?" Hotaru asked.

"No, an ancient strategist said that one."

Aiko looked up. "Strange. There's something powerful near Mugen Gakuen."

"Can you identify it?"

"Will try." Aiko nodded after a few seconds. "It's a daimon, but it's much stronger than any Daimon I have in my database."

"Call everyone and tell them to go there," Usagi said, "we shouldn't understimate it, even if it's a single monster."

ChibiUsa smiled. "I hope it's not just a weak bug."

"Oh crap," Aiko muttered. "There's more daimons there now.

"I thought they were all gone," Hotaru noted, then flinched. "Shit, we have to go there now."

"What-"

"No time, just hurry," Hotaru said, interrupting Terry.

Aiko looked up. "I've called Kage here, just wait for him."

"Good thinking, as usual," Usagi said with a smile.

A couple minutes later, Moon and the others appeared near the now demolished academy building, and what they saw caused most of them to stare in shock. "Wait, where did these many bugs come from?"

Saturn looked at the crowd, and noticed several of their friends had already engaged the enemy. "Since Mistress Nine took over my mind, some of her memories remain. I know those twin Witches were planning on creating a daimon with the ability to create more daimons."

Dragon Mercury looked at the crowd. "So, let me guess, they did finish that project?"

"Apparently, they did, but they never told Nine about it," Saturn admitted.

Moon looked at the center of the enemy army. "I'll risk guessing that guy's the leader," she said pointing at the large daimon standing there. "... A truck?" No doubt about it, the huge daimon looked like a humanoid truck, and it was shouting orders at the others.

"Where's Megatron when you need him?" Dragon Sun mused.

"Let's finish this quick. Moonlight Flash!"

The attack shot straight at the truck monster - or was it 'monster truck'? - but a group of daimon jumped in its path, blocking it even at the cost of their own lives.

"Moon Cosmic Wave! Cosmic Wave!" Again, the attacks were blocked. "Cosmic-" Moon fell to one knee. "Damn it."

The large daimon finally noticed them. "Oh, I was waiting for you. You're the one who destroyed our leader, and our god."

Moon frowned. "So, you're going to take revenge, make us pay for-"

The daimon shook its head. "Oh, nothing like that. I thank you for getting rid of those pests. See, they made me a bit too smart, I hated them, but they didn't kill me, just threw me into a cage and decided to only use me as a last resort. Without the Pharaoh and those moronic women, I can take over this world!"

"Well, so you're not doing this for revenge," Mercury said, "but you still plan on fighting us."

"That's obvious. You won't let me take over the world, and I will not let you stop me now that I'm finally free. Soon, the Earth will kneel before Daiking!"

ChibiMoon laughed, so the others turned to look at her. "Uh, sorry. It's just that I missed the first Big Boss fight because of those Witches... So I'm glad to be able to have some fun now."

The Daimon looked at her. "Hmph, if your mother failed, so will you."

"She only failed because your spawns kept getting in the way," ChibiMoon noted. "Hotaru?"

Saturn scanned the area and nodded. "I think I can handle this."

"What are those two planning?" Dragon Mercury pondered. Had they practiced something on their own?

The Death Senshi rose her glaive as ChibiMoon's suit turned into her dual suit. "Saturn..."

"Moon..."

"... Death Hand..."

"... Pink Sugar Heart..."

"... Hold!"

"... Crusher!"

Daiking looked up and sighed in defeat. "I really wanted to rule the world..."

The group watched in awe as countless skeletal hands rose from the ground, pinning all the daimon in place. A second later, a pink stone heart fell on the large daimon, crushing it. As the main daimon died, the rest of the daimon turned back to the objects they were before.

ChibiMoon smiled. "Yeah, I killed a boss!"

"Boss?" Jupiter mused. "You're talking like this is some videogame."

Saturn took ChibiMoon's hand. "Well done."

Moon stared at them. "You two, holding hands..."

Saturn smiled. "Don't you and Mamoru hold hands, too?"

Moon nodded. "Yeah, it just surprised me for a second." She smiled after she said that. "But you know, I'm glad you found someone you can be happy with, Hotaru."

"A couple years ago, I didn't even understand what was so great about friendship and love, but now-"

"Ugh, you talk too much," ChibiMoon said and kissed her.

Dragon Mercury chuckled. "She's quite shameless, isn't she?"

ChibiMoon broke the kiss and shrugged. "Back home, every non-Senshi treats me like an untouchable, sacred thing. Guess I'm too used to not being frowned at no matter what I did."

"Oh, so you're a spoiled Princess, then," Saturn mused.

"Guilty as charged."

"Perhaps I'll cure that flaw."

ChibiMoon smiled at that. "It's not a flaw, it's a trait."

She woke up not really knowing where she was. The last sensation she could remember was falling, and then- She thought she would die, after hitting the ground, but... Some sort of dark room, that's what she could see as she opened her eyes. She tried to sit up, but her body wasn't responding. "Damn, what the hell-"

"Don't move, Kaorinite, you're much less of a mess than you were when we brough you here, but you're still recovering."

That was a female voice, but who was it? "Where am I?"

"You're in a place where no Senshi will ever find you."

Senshi. Those damn brats, as soon as she recovered she would go back- "Wait... How long have I been out?"

"Unfortunately, it was long enough for your faction to be defeated."

Shit, that had to be a lie. Reaching out with her senses, however, Kaorinite realized the truth. None of the Witches remained. She was the only one. "Damn it..."

"I know what you're thinking. You want to recover so you go and kill the Senshi. I, however, am okay with waiting."

"Waiting? What for?"

"I'm gathering warriors, people who have reasons to hate the Senshi but have failed defeating them in the past. That's right, even I failed, back then..."

Kaorinite frowned. If the other Witches were defeated, that meant the Senshi had their Messiah. She knew going against that person would be hopeless. "So, I suppose you have a plan?"

"You suppose right. Once you recover, I'll introduce you to the rest of the crew, and discuss my plan with you. For the time being, however, you must rest."

Kaorinite smiled as the woman left the room. She had been sure, back when she was falling, that she would die there and then. But she would have another chance, in the future, to defeat those brats. And she would make Uranus and Neptune suffer the most, for messing with her plans so many times.

A/N: Edited episodes 73 and 75 with a small correction. Nothing scene-changing, just used the wrong attack name a few times.