Sailor Moon Aeons.
Book 2: Rebirth.
Act 6: Queen of Darkness.
Episode 94: Fanmageddon.

By Razor Knight
Last update: May 12, 2015
Last edited: June 12, 2017

Mako walked into the classroom and sighed. "Yup, should have figured it would be just as bad here." The room was packed with students, and it was hard for Mako to tell where her friends were amidst that chaos. She had barely made it in time, herself, as everyone seemed to want to talk to one of the Senshi. But she had seen Karin and Chie using their airboards to avoid the interruptions, and had almost felt like slapping herself.

In any case, their classroom was a mess right now, even with her newfound strenght she would have a hard time getting through it, and... She didn't want to hurt any of them. Still... Yes, that could work. "Spark Orb."

The crowd let out screams of shock and fear as a sphere of electricity formed above the center of it. It wasn't hurting anyone, but the effect had been as intended. Mako looked at the crowd and shrugged. "You guys are in my way. Also, this is a school, not a fan club. If you don't mind, classes are about to start and I would like to have as normal a day as possible from now on."

"Hey, it's Sailor Jupiter!"

Mako sighed as part of the crowd advanced on her. "Damn it."

Haruna walked to her right then, and let out a growl. "I knew this was bound to happen." She looked at the crowd. "All right, students. I want everyone who is from this room sitting on their desks in ten seconds, and the rest of you, please return to your own classrooms." The crowd promptly ignored her, and Haruna growled even deeper.

Mako sighed. "On behalf of all my friends, I'm sorry about this."

Haruna shrugged at that. "A single student can be smart and respectful. A group of them can be sort of messy. A crowd this big may require extreme measures."

"What are you-"

Haruna took out a megaphone and smiled. "Okay, this is your last warning. If I don't see my classroom as it should be within the next minute, I'll suspend every non-Senshi person inside until the Senshi graduate."

Mako had to leap back to avoid the stampede of teenagers that followed. "... Wow. That was kinda awesome."

Usagi walked out of the classroom. "I uh... I'm sorry about all this mess."

Haruna smiled at her. "It's to be expected after what you kids did last night."

"The whole world is going crazy about it," Yukiko noted. "From what I've seen, there's going to be a large wave of tourists coming to Tokyo this next month, and I'm sure they won't care much about the scenery."

Terry shrugged. "It's not like they can force us to meet each and every fan that wants to meet us."

Usagi sighed at that. "Still... I didn't really think things would get this hectic."

Karin smiled. "Use your airboard to get home, Usagi."

"But there may be a crowd waiting there, what-"

"Use your weakest stun techniques on them, if needed," Ami said. The others looked at her and she nodded. "How do you think I got here before everyone else did?"

"That's my girl," Terry mused.

Haruna saw the class had settled down, and smiled. "Okay, time to start the class. Just because you save the world from evil on a daily basis, it doesn't mean I'll let you slack off here."

"Good," Usagi said, and some of her friends looked at her. "What? She's the first person I met today, not counting my friends or my family, who isn't trying to get my autograph or a piece of my pigtails. I'm glad at least one normal human can be near me and not treat me like I'm some movie celebrity."

"You're welcome," Haruna said, "now let's start..."

With school over for the day, Usagi had decided to check how things were in her house. And just as she had suspected, they weren't looking good. "Uh, hi."

The crowd of reporters and fans looked up. "She's here!"

Usagi leapt down from her board (a good thirty meters above the crowd) and, as she fell, she put up a transluscent barrier around her - one of the tricks she had learnt from the Demon Hunters in her short time as a 'normal' human. "Yes, I am here. I live here."

"We want to ask you some quest-"

Usagi shook her head. "I don't care."

"What?"

"I don't want to answer a thing. I don't need to. What we did, we did it so we didn't need to hide anymore, but you guys... You're making me want to go and hide again. Stop it."

"But our readers are curious about-"

"Am I going to have to do what Ami and Naru did? Knock people out to get them to stop hounding me? I get it, it's your job to be nosy, and those of you who aren't with the press are just nosy for free. Guess what, I also have a job, and one I don't get paid for. At times, it's almost enjoyable, but this isn't such a time. I should be getting ready to go save the city, after a tiring day at school, instead of wasting my time with you."

"You having a job is no excuse for being rude."

"Rude?" Usagi frowned. "Want to know what's rude? Hounding someone like this, someone who doesn't want, nor need, the fame she's got. I may answer your questions, one day, but it won't be like this. It will be when, and where, I want to. Now, you'll have to excuse me, but I want to check on my family."

Usagi walked to her house, and the crowd could see the barrier around her was gone, replaced by a barrier that covered all of the house. "That girl... Who does she think she is?"

The blond girl stopped and turned to the crowd. "The problem is not who I think I am, but who you thought I was. I'm not here to entertain you or be your friend, I'm here to protect you from things you can't protect yourselves from." As she walked in, she saw her mother staring at her. "Uh, hi mom."

"It's been a fun day for me," Ikuko said with a sigh. "What about you? I heard what you said outside, that was..."

"Rude? I know. I'm just... I was trapped by a crowd of students, in my own classroom."

Ikuko nodded. "But you're right about what you said. "

"And my friends must be going through the same kind of things right now. I feel bad about that, my own selfish-"

"Usagi, I must ask... Do your friends follow your every order without blinking?"

"I don't... Think I ever ordered any of them to do anything."

"So, you didn't force them into this. They agreed with you, some of them may even enjoy the attention they get."

"Guess you're right. I'll have to adapt, just as much as the world will have to."

"For what's worth, you know you have three fans here who won't nag you."

Usagi smiled. "Thanks. I need to go now, there's some more youma in the area-"

"It's okay. But will you go out there now? That crowd hasn't left yet."

Usagi nodded, then gave her mother a small, round device. "Here, if those guys try anything, or if they try messing with dad or Shingo, give Aiko a call, she'll send someone here."

"Okay. Who's Aiko?"

"Oh, never told you about her. You know about ChibiUsa, so... Well, Aiko is Ami's daughter."

"From the future?"

"No, she is... She was created by her, she's a computer program."

"That's strange even for your group."

"I guess. Anyhow, she's as human as any of us, thanks to my crystal's meddling. And she's one of the secrets we're still keeping, so-"

"I won't tell anyone," Ikuko said. "Not that anyone would believe it."

"You did."

"I'm getting used to strange things happening around you."

"Shingo already knows her." Usagi sensed something and flinched. "I'll tell you more later."

"So, are you going to brave the crowd?"

"Here's another thing you don't know about me, mom... Teleport."

Ikuko blinked as Usagi vanished. "What- She can do that?" If she could, though, why hadn't she just teleported in and out of the house, unnoticed? Perhaps, Ikuko thought, Usagi did enjoy the fame a bit, much despite herself.

Saturn walked out of the store and sighed. Of course there would be a crowd waiting. And Nemesis seemed to be trying to reason with it, to no avail. "Ugh, it's been less than one day, and it's already getting old."

"They'll run out of questions, eventually," Nemesis said.

"Sailor Saturn! You were awesome in there!"

Saturn smiled. "Thanks, just doing my job."

"Go out with me!" someone else shouted from the crowd.

Nemesis saw Saturn's mood darken and cringed. "Whoever said that... She's already got someone special."

"Damn..."

"Also, do you really know what a mess you would get yourself in?" Saturn said, giving the crowd a somewhat creepy, if friendly, smile. "Let me tell you how dating a Senshi goes: You get your dates interrupted by monsters attacking, sometimes they'll be attacking you, even. You have to live with the fact that any of us could die in a battle - and it may, one day, be permanent. And to top that, you may be the lucky one who gets to date someone who's no even from here, and then you have the joy of spending each single day hoping she was still here."

"Hotaru..."

Saturn looked at Nemesis sadly, then shrugged. "I'm... I'm fine. Let's go."

"You're not fine. Go back to the base and try to calm down."

"... Sorry."

Nemesis saw Saturn leave and turned to the crowd. "You..."

"It's her, huh? The one who was dating someone from... Elsewhere?"

"Yeah. Still, what she said is true. Frankly, dating a Senshi isn't all fun and games. And most of us are taken, so..." She shrugged. "Anyhow, I have to go, the city won't save itself."

Warwitch was also helping the Senshi when she could, and she was heading to the nearest youma group, when she saw Moon talking to a crowd. She decided to drop in, and smiled as the crowd stared at her. "Hi."

"Hey, it's Warwitch!"

"Why haven't you shown your true face yet?"

"I am not as super as the Senshi," Warwitch said, "and frankly, I don't envy them right now. Perhaps in the future I will follow their example, but I'm not ready right now."

Moon looked at Warwitch. "Can you get us out of here?"

"Sure. Sorry guys, but socials are done for the night. Witch Phase."

As they appeared a few blocks away from the crowd, on a rooftop, Moon smiled. "Thanks."

"No problem. It's been a mess for you, huh?"

"I don't regret what I did," Moon said.

"Are things as bad around your base?"

Moon chuckled. "We never told anyone where that base was. They may figure it out eventually, but for now, we're safe."

"Aiko's a bit annoyed, says she wants to be famous too."

"I'm sure it's just a Phase she's going through," Moon said, keeping a straight face.

"... You're making puns now. I'm not sure if that's a good omen."

Suddenly, Dragon Earth leapt on the rooftop, and looked at them. "Hi."

"Why are you-"

"Fans. They may be trying to climb their way up here now."

Warwitch sighed. "I'll leave you two to face that one particular evil, then."

Moon saw Warwitch go, and shook her head.

"What?"

She looked at the Dragon. "She's... I think she still has a crush on me."

"Oh."

"You're not mad at her, are you?"

"I don't mind. You're quite good to the eye, after all, and I wouldn't be with you if I didn't know you have a lot of things one can get to like."

Moon smiled. "Likewise." She looked up to the sky for a second before turning to him. "I have another place to check and then I'll be done for the night."

"I'll help you with that, then, I was going back home when I was intercepted by those fans. I should remember to use my airboard to move around the city..."

"It will die out, eventually. I hope."

Warwitch was zooming through the sky at a quite dangerous speed. She knew what she had felt back then. Jealousy. But why? She thought she was over Usagi by now, she even had a girlfriend... And she was sure Usagi knew why she had left. Her friend was just too good at reading people. She stopped flying and looked down at the city. "Get a hold of yourself, Yuki. The past is the past, no need to bring it back."

'The past... Soon it will return...'

She looked around. No, it hadn't been a voice from the outside. It had been something inside her mind. Was it her own mind thinking that? Was it something else? She would have to ask the Hunters about it, maybe check with the Senshi if that failed.

'They will all fall, and I will be the one...'

"Get out of my head!" Warwitch snapped, resuming her flight, this time at a slower speed. "Damn it, what the heck was that about?"

"Have you finished your experiments?"

Onara smiled at 'A.' "Indeed, I can replicate her from the cells of her 'host.' However, she may be too dangerous to try brainwashing."

"Then don't."

"Is that wise?"

A turned to look at Rubeus. "It's a risk, but I would think I know enough about her. She is no loose cannon, and we are going to give her a second chance. She may be willing to play by our rules if we ask nicely enough."

"Or she may go off on her own and get killed."

"With the modifications I'm planning to add to her, she may be worth a try even if she does do that," Onara explained. "She may end up being the strongest foe the Senshi ever faced."

"Can't wait to see her back into the board. The game is, honestly, getting boring."

"I thought you would be glad the youma are back."

"They're as doomed as the old youma. I don't really care what happens to them. I just hope the two spawns of Beryl are good enough to take down a few Senshi before they get fried."

"We are running out of options, sister."

Goshenite nodded. "I know. We need to face the Senshi head on. On my own, Moon could have killed me, but if we fight them together..."

"Let's not underestimate the Senshi. They've kept themselves alive this long, and from what our spies showed us..."

"I know that. But we will have to fight them, sooner or later. Better make it sooner, while they still think they're winning the war."

A/N: For those who read Cyber Moon, that bit with Yukiko is no surprise. But the two new youma leaders... I'll just say I changed a thing or two about them, as their old powers seemed rather boring.