Sailor Moon Aeons.
Book 2: Rebirth.
Act 7: The Senshi of Chaos.
Episode 99: Legendary Senshi.

By Razor Knight
Last update: June 8, 2015
Last edited: June 12, 2017

"So, here we are," Terry commented, looking around the room. "If we keep on getting allies, we'll need a bigger base."

Usagi smiled at Luna. "I think you have a lot of things to explain."

Luna nodded. "This new enemy will be more dangerous than anything you've faced thus far. I only heard of such an ability in legends, legends which were already old and mostly forgotten in Silver Milennium. Also... The enemy Usagi faced, and who turned Yukiko into a 'fake Senshi' mentioned Galaxia."

Ami paled. "Shit."

Luna wasn't amused at all by Ami's reaction, because she knew its cause. "I can guess you read about her."

"Yes," Ami said, "she was one of the first Senshi, and possibly the most powerful Senshi ever born. She supposedly died fighting a strong enemy known as Chaos."

Luna smiled. "That's the official version, but the legend I read... This creature, Chaos, erased mankind from many worlds, including the Earth, but Galaxia defeated it. Or so she thought. Chaos needed a host, and after its previous host was destroyed, it used Galaxia's rage and despair against her, taking over her and destroying her very soul. However, Galaxia's last act before being erased was to teleport to a very distant galaxy, buying this galaxy time, hoping by the time Chaos returned there would be Senshi here who could destroy it for good."

"Wait, how long has it been since that happened?"

"A few million years," Luna explained.

"So basically, you're telling us there's a group of Senshi who shrug Moon's attack off, turn anyone they target into a fake Senshi who can kick Moon's rear, and are being lead by an immortal, evil Senshi who may possibly outpower us all combined?"

Luna looked at Minako. "That's right."

Artemis saw Minako's worried face and smiled. "We have faith in you, guys."

Shade nodded. "And we don't even know if it's the same Galaxia. It could be someone using that legend to scare potential enemies away."

"Well, I hope that's the case."

Usagi frowned. "Guys, what if she's supposedly invincible? Fighting isn't the only way to fix things. She's a Senshi, perhaps..."

"Sailor Galaxia is gone," Luna said, "what's left is a soul-less puppet."

"Can you be sure of that?"

Luna stared at Usagi for a few seconds before shaking her head. "No, all I have are legends."

Usagi nodded. "So, perhaps there is a way to win without killing her. But guys, don't underestimate the fake Senshi. I did, and it almost got me killed, again."

"Any of you could be a target. The 'seed' Usagi saw coming out of Yukiko is called a Star Seed. It's basically a representation of your soul, in a much more complete sense than the 'Heart Crystals' were. Also, unlike the crystals, you won't die from having that seed removed, unless it's destroyed. I'm not sure what the enemy is after, but-"

"The Golden Seed."

Shade looked at Ami. "What is that?"

Ami had been busily browsing her computer's archives while listening to the cats, and she had found something the trio didn't seem to know about. "It's an old legend, that one Senshi of each system, of each generation, has a Golden Seed, a special seed."

"When Yuki's seed showed up, that woman said it was 'a dud,'" Usagi noted. "Perhaps they're looking for that golden one."

Terry turned to Luna. "Say, just out of curiosity, what 'level' was Galaxia supposedly at?"

"It can't be classified, much like with every Serenity we know of - A level beyond Holy, sometimes called "Aeon." But what makes her different to every other 'Aeon' Senshi we know of, is the source of her power."

Ami flinched at that. "I had thought about this. If Senshi are named after the thing they take their power from, then she has... The power of a whole galaxy."

"Crap, that's just-"

Usagi looked at her friends in turns. "We shouldn't give up before we try. That's not how a Senshi should be."

"You're right," Rei said, "it's not like any of our wars have been easy. We'll find a way to beat that Galaxia woman."

Next morning, Usagi was greeted by a familiar sight - the school's entrance was completely blocked by a crowd of students, mostly females. "Eh... It was today?"

"Sure was," Rei said with a smirk.

"So those three are coming to our school," Usagi said, looking up at Rei.

Rei leapt off her airboard and shrugged. "Brings back memories, huh?"

"You're talking like it happened years ago."

"Ugh, I should have known this would happen."

Usagi heard Hotaru's voice, then heard screams coming from the crowd and saw some students running away. She could see the reason as the crowd dispersed: Several skeletal arms had risen from the ground. "Hotaru..."

"What? They were in my way, and those are not meant to harm, just hold."

"Still, that's not nice," Usagi said. "Effective, but not nice."

"I'm not nice to those I consider annoyances."

"I thank you for dispersing the crowd, however, it was not needed."

Hotaru looked at the guy who had just spoken. Brown hair, tied in a long ponytail which almost brushed the ground. One of the three people responsible for that mess. "I didn't do it for you."

"Thank you anyways," the guy said, then looked at her. "You know, it's a rare sight to see a girl who's not interested in us."

"No offense, but you're just musicians. Me and my friends, we save the world a few times per year. Sorry if I'm not impressed by your popularity."

The black-haired guy smirked at that. "I like girls who see beyond the surface."

Hotaru sighed. "Sorry, I'm taken."

"From what I heard, that's true for all of you."

"Seiya, we should head for the classroom, the bell's about to ring."

Seiya, the black-haired guy, smiled. "Sure, we don't have anything better to do now that the fans were scared off."

Hotaru saw them walk in and sighed as she saw the way the other two girls were looking at her. "I know, I know, perhaps I could have been a bit nicer to them."

"I'm sure they know why you're so grim nowadays."

"The whole damn world knows," Hotaru said. "But... I don't think any of them really understands."

Usagi smiled at that. "I don't think anyone went through what you're-"

Hotaru shrugged. "I'll get over it, eventually."

As the three reached their classroom, however, Hotaru felt her mood darken again. "Damn, they're in our group?"

Mako walked out of the crowd and smiled at them. "We're lucky, huh?"

"Your definition of luck worries me," Hotaru said.

Haruna walked in right then, and let out a very loud growl. "Not this again. Okay students, whoever is not from this class, leave, whoever is, please return to your seats. If that isn't done by the next minute, I'll suspend everyone until I feel like they've learnt the lesson."

Just like months before, the crowd quickly left the classroom. "How do you do that?"

Haruna smiled. "It's a talent you're born with, much like your powers."

"Hey, it's Sailor Moon!"

Usagi saw a group of kids run her way and let out a short sigh. "Guess that's me."

"Can you show us your suit?"

Usagi smiled. "Sure. Moon Cosmic Power!"

"Whoa..."

"Cute."

Naru walked by and chuckled. "It never gets old, huh?"

Moon smiled at her. "I guess." She turned back to normal (causing some of the children to complain) and walked to her friend. "Haven't seen you much outside the base or school."

"Sorry about that, I'm just- Trying to learn all I can so I can run the store when I'm older."

Usagi noticed the children had left - a part of her liked the attention, and she knew it - then nodded at her friend. "You know, I kind of envy you. Heck, most of you guys already know what you'll do -"

"You'll be a queen someday, what are you complaining about?"

"Yeah, but what about before that?"

"I'm not sure even those who could answer that will."

"Ugh, right. I guess I'll have to figure it out on my own."

Naru was about to say something else, but then saw someone else walking to them. "Hey, Umino!"

Umino smiled at them. "Hi girls, what's up?"

Usagi saw something and flinched. "Umino, watch out!"

Umino turned around and shot a yellow energy beam at the white-haired woman, who just stood there, smiling coldly at him. "... Well crap, she's as strong as you said."

The woman did the same she had done with Yukiko, and again, the seed that came out was a dull brown. "Damn it, another failure."

Usagi saw the woman turn to leave, and growled. "Hey, stay and fight!"

Her foe turned to her, laughing. "Fool, I could kill you in one hit if I wanted, but my boss would kill me if I did."

Naru noticed Umino was wrapped in darkness. "Then what if one of those fakes you create-"

"That's just a side effect, anyone with magic could turn into a better version of themselves when their souls are removed. We can't stop it, and we've been told those of your level should have no trouble fighting them."

And with that, the woman was gone. Naru, or rather Nemesis, looked at Umino and flinched. "What the heck..."

Umino's outfit looked like a cross between a karate gi and a Senshi outfit, and Nemesis recognized it. "Ryu Hoshi, really?"

"I am Dragon Gamer."

Moon frowned. "Not going to let you get the upper hand. Cosmic Flash!"

A small blast shot at the Dragon, who smiled. "Hadoken!"

Nemesis saw the two blast cancel each other and frowned. "Damn it. Shadow Surge."

The Dragon used a huge sword to split the beam in half. "If this is all you got, then you'll never def-"

Moon blinked in awe. One moment the Dragon had been gloating, the next he was flying sideways. As the enemy crashed into a car, Moon turned to the newcomer. "Uh, thanks."

Jupiter looked at the Dragon as Nemesis returned his seed to him. "I didn't hit him too hard, did I?"

Umino woke up and flinched. "I feel like a pack of koopas run over me."

Jupiter sighed. "Sorry, that was me."

"Well, it worked, so I won't complain," Umino said. "Naru, are you free right now?"

Nemesis smiled. "Yeah. Let's go home."

Moon watched the couple walk away then noticed someone was walking to them. "Uh..."

The woman looked at the car that had been hit during the battle - its driver side was quite wrecked. "Hey, who's going to pay for this?"

Jupiter flinched. "Damn, I'm sorry, we-"

"I don't care if you kids are saving the world, you can't just-"

Suddenly, another figure appeared near them. "I'll take care of that, or rather, dad will."

Moon blinked in shock. "Phase?"

"I was watching your battle."

"When did you learn how to teleport?"

"Warwitch taught me," Phase said, "anyhow..." She turned to look at the wrecked car's owner. "Apologies for the inconvenience our battle has caused you. I've already contacted someone and a brand new car will be arriving here in a few minutes."

"That's-" The woman was both relieved and surprised. "You'll replace it, just like that?"

"It's our fault it was damaged," Jupiter said. She looked at Phase and sighed. "Tell Terry I'm sorry, too."

"I don't think he'll mind," Phase admitted.

"Phase, you don't mind if we leave, right?"

"Go ahead, I'll stay here until the car arrives."

"Teleport."

The woman smiled. "You don't have to-"

"I just want to make sure they got the model right," Phase said as Moon and Jupiter vanished.

As Moon appeared in the base, she saw someone there, and gasped. "Aiko? But-"

Aiko smiled. "I have more than one 'copy' of my body."

Jupiter looked at her. "Getting an army ready to take over the world, huh?"

Aiko chuckled. "With you guys around, that would be both pointless and painful."

"Where are Ami and Terry? I thought they would be-"

"I'm... Also with them, right now. Yuki's mom has been curious about my parents, so..."

"I can bet that will be interesting."

"I hope it goes well," Aiko noted, "but best laid plans..."

Yukiko sighed. She could guess this would be harder than fighting evil aliens, in a way. Still, it had to be done. "Mom, are you home?"

Her mother walked out of the kitchen, and smiled. "I see you brought some friends home..."

"Miss Fuyuko," Aiko said, going with the plan they had prepared, "there's something you should know about your daughter and me."

The woman noticed how serious Aiko's tone was. "... I'm listening."

Yukiko knew some things were better shown than told, so she decided to explain herself with actions. She closed her eyes, calling on the few spells she used to 'transform' and when she opened them, it was Warwitch standing there, not Yukiko. "I'm sorry I've kept this a secret from you, but-"

Fuyuko looked at Warwitch. "You're Warwitch? You-" only then she remembered who the other two teens, who had been silent through all this, were. "Oh, you two are Senshi, but what-"

"We'll explain that soon, but you should listen to your daughter," Ami said.

"Mom, you must have seen the news. It may be hard to accept, but I've been doing this since I was fourteen. Heck, I've helped the Senshi fight things I would have run away from before I found out about-"

"Are you a Senshi too?"

Warwitch shook her head. "No, I'm... I got my magic from another source. What's important is, I met Aiko thanks to these powers, and I met a lot of good friends too."

Aiko sighed as the woman looked at her. "Before you ask, I'm not a Senshi."

"What are you, then? Or am I wrong in assuming you're not a normal human?"

Aiko smiled as her arm turned into a sword. "Some wouldn't even consider me human."

The woman gasped. "What-"

And that's when Ami decided to talk. "Yukiko told us you wanted to meet Aiko's parents. See, a few years ago, we decided we needed a base from which to watch over the city. We created a program to run that base, an Artificial Intelligence system that could operate all the scanners and other things we needed without us having to keep an eye on them constantly. Said AI was, due to an unexpected, and hard to explain, external factor, able to gain self-awareness and, eventually, become more human than we could have dreamed of. Human enough to fool normal humans into thinking she's no different from them."

The woman looked at Aiko. Aiko. Of course, so she was... "So she's... A program?"

"The technical term would be 'cyborg' since my 'soul' is as human as yours, Fuyuko," Aiko said, then noticed the older woman looking at Ami and Terry in turns, and smiled. "You're as smart as your daughter, so you must already be guessing it. They both created me, coded my original program, so I consider them - no, they are my parents."

Fuyuko sat on a chair and sighed. "This is... Too many things are not as I thought they were."

"Mom, we-"

"Yuki, you're still my daughter, and Aiko... I don't care how she started, I don't care what she is, I've seen the way you two look at each other and I would be a horrible mother if I did something to get between you. I just... Need some time to sort through all this."

Ami smiled. "We understand. Not the first time we've had to tell others who we are."

Fuyuko smiled back at her. "When we moved to this city, all Yukiko talked about was the Senshi. Heck, she's still like that."

"Some of us weren't quite okay with her... Enthusiasm," Terry admitted, "but she's friendly and she is willing to protect what she loves. She's a lot like us, even if her powers are different."

"Well, I guess I wanted to meet Aiko's parents, and I did, even though I wasn't ready for all the extra details," Fuyuko admitted. "Just out of curiosity, where is this... Base of yours?"

"Why?"

"I'm not going to tell anyone, I'm just curious... Let's say some of Yukiko's enthusiasm has rubbed unto me."

Aiko smiled. "We'll show you, but not right now."

"Why?"

"A black, plateless van parking right next to one of the city's largest banks," Aiko said.

Warwitch sighed. "What about the others?"

"Nova's taking care of a meth lab, Ail and Ann are dealing with a gang near our school."

Yukiko looked at her mother. "Well, I guess I'll go have fun for a while."

Aiko nodded and her 'Phase' outfit formed over her normal clothing. "Let's go. Teleport."

Terry looked at Fuyuko. "You've honestly taken all this better than we thought you would."

"Maybe it just hasn't hit me yet," Fuyuko admitted. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"How do you deal with being... With having to fight those creatures, risking your lives... I want to undestand why Yuki does it."

"We were born with these powers," Ami said, "we can't simply stop being Senshi. There's no off button for this," and to drive her point home, she summoned a small ball of ice, letting it hover on her open hand for a few seconds before dismissing it. "Having these powers and not using them would be a waste, heck, when there's peace we all feel a bit restless. I guess Yukiko may be the same, she has powers and she feels like not using them is a waste, and if she can use them to help those who can't fight, then it's good that she has those powers, don't you think?"

Fuyuko smiled. "I guess I can only be proud of her, I thought she didn't know what to do with her life, but she's already doing something so selfless..."

Terry nodded. "Well, if you excuse us, we're going back to see if there's anything out there causing trouble."

Fuyuko saw the two teenagers walk out the door and sighed. Her confusion was mostly gone, so she could honestly say she was proud of her daughter. And Yukiko's childhood fantasies of being a heroine had been more likely to happen than she had thought back then.

A/N: It's the return of the dumbly named fake Senshi. This is going to be fun.