Yes, this is the first story to get updated, mainly because it's had the shortest chapter to write. I'd like to thank the four people who reviewed for my first chapter. I hope that Chap 2 matches the apparently high stander it laid.
I don't own Sailor Moon, or anything else mentioned in this chapter. Especially not the Ace of Hearts list about Magical Girls.
"How is this possible? Morga should never have been destroyed by mere humans," Jadeite said to himself, teleporting away from the scene of his subordinate's defeat. After Morga had reported that she hadn't found any signs of magical crystals in the store, she'd asked for permission to launch an energy operation. He'd given it, applauding her dedication, and returned to the base to organize his other troops.
And he'd returned to find this…
Jadeite reappeared in the group of caves he had commandeered as his personal base. "Murid, Flau, Balm," he called, and the three youma he named assembled in front of him. "Morga is dead," he said without preamble.
"How is that possible?" Murid asked.
"Pathetic," Flau snarled, only for the other two youma to snarl at her. Flau was primarily a combat-specialist, and had little respect for youma who weren't, but she was also the lowest ranked of the three.
"General Jadeite, what happened?" Murid asked again.
"I am uncertain," he replied tersely. "There was a police presence, so I could not approach too closely. However, whoever it was that killed her must have acted quickly and with overwhelming force. It is also quite possible that they had detected her presence before and waited until I was absent to act. We may be facing a well-trained, well-informed force, or they may just have gotten lucky."
"That sounds alarmingly like Sailor V," Balm noted, and the other two looked over their shoulders. After all, there was a saying about speaking of the devil...
"I would like to offer my services to hunt them down," Flau said, shaking off the momentary flash of anxiety with anger. "They will find me a far harder foe than Morga."
"But a far stupider one, if you wish to face her head on," Balm objected. Flau lunged towards her, only for Jadeite to blast them both.
"Enough squabbling. Balm, we still believe V to be in America, messing with Nephrite, and her battles have tended to be flashier than this. Murid, Morga was your highest lieutenant, yes?"
"Yes General Jadeite," Murid said, bowing. "I will accept full responsibility for her death and failure, if you wish."
"No, that won't be necessary," Jadeite told her. "We are not yet in danger of falling below quota. Rather, I have called you three here to give assignments."
"Yes, sir," all three chorused.
"Murid, you are still assigned to the long-term operation in Dreamland we discussed. In the meanwhile I want you to also take over day-to-day operations among the troops, even if it means cutting back on your energy collected."
"Yes, sir," Murid responded. Flau snorted.
"General, I could manage the troops and collect energy without issue," the fighter claimed. "Just give me the chance to prove my worth and—" Flau trailed off as Jadeite raised a single finger for silence, the digit crackling with dark power.
"Blood-thirsty and ambitious, aren't you Flau? You'd do well with Zoicite, I don't doubt. No, I have a special assignment for you. I will personally lead an operation—the one Morga would have gone on next—in the hopes of drawing out Morga's killers. When they appear on the scene, you will aid me in crushing the life out of them."
The combat-youma smiled nastily. "It will be my pleasure, General."
"You wish for me to perform a short-term, loud operation, correct general?" Balm asked.
"Perceptive as always, Balm. Yes, I need a quick-and-sloppy stop-gap to make up for the energy Morga lost. I leave the details to you."
"I will not disappoint, sir," the fortune-teller promised.
"General, will you also be organizing the missions we had scheduled for the near future?" Murid asked.
"I will provide supervision where necessary," Jadeite informed her, "but overall I shall trust your judgment on the matter, Murid. Which troops were you thinking of using?"
"Derella, Garoben, and Kyurene," she explained quickly. "All three are skilled enough to masquerade as humans for long periods of time without drawing attention to themselves, and we have operations set up for their specific skill-sets." Jadeite frowned.
"Which operations?"
"Garoben shall gather energy from humans who expend effort in the bettering of their minds. Primarily this is the adolescent age group, so there is less likelihood of them noticing anything amiss, and they are often richer sources of energy than older targets."
"That is acceptable. Go on."
"Derella shall gather energy from humans who seek to better their bodies through the expending of physical effort. This is expected to leave humans exhausted, so no one will notice anything amiss, and any particularly rich sources she finds can be frozen in her stasis crystal for long-term draining."
"That may be a bit risky, if anyone notices people are going missing. Still, I'll consider it; Derella could easily cloud the mind of anyone who investigates too closely. And the last one?" Jadeite asked, his eyes distant as he thought.
"Kyurene will gather energy from humans who seek to increase their popularity and social status. Again, this is often younger humans, so fewer people will notice anything amiss."
"A good plan," Jadeite allowed, "but I have an operation in the works that is better suited for Kyurene's talents. You will have to use another operative."
"…I'm not certain we have another operative with her level of control over the human mind," Murid admitted, fiddling with her apple. "The only ones with that level of precision are myself, Morga, Kyurene, and Derella. Maybe…Derella's mission is not as mentally intensive, so would it be possible to switch her to Kyurene's assignment and use another youma in her place, General?"
"Give the assignment to Kyokudo," Jadeite ordered. "He's very physically oriented, so such an assignment should work well for him."
"As you will, General Jadite," Murid said. She bowed, and vanished into the labyrinth of caves. He turned away as well.
"Come Flau, we have sheep to shear."
"Are you okay, Usagi?" Toharu asked the blonde as she slipped into her seat a few minutes before the bell and slumped over.
"Just tired," Usagi answered. "I stayed up too late last night, listening to the radio. Hey, where's Naru? She normally beats me here."
"I'm not sure."
"I walked by her store on the way to school, and there was a police car parked in front of it. The place was ransacked! I bet that Rose Robber guy hit it and she's talking to the police," Sayuri told them.
You don't know the half of it, Usagi thought to herself. "Maybe, but then where's Umino?"
"No clue."
"Stand! Bow! Sit!" the class representative called as Ms. Haruna entered the room.
"Good morning everyone," the teacher said cheerfully.
I bet her date went well last night, several students thought, noting her cheerful smile. The dirtier-minded ones wondered how much sleep she'd had the previous night.
"Good morning Ms. Haruna," everyone chorused as she began calling role. Right when she called, "Mahera, Sayuri," the door swung open. Everyone turned to watch the unlucky student get reamed out. Usagi hoped it would be Naru, not that she wanted Naru to get in trouble, but that her friend was well enough to come to school. Instead it was a bedraggled Umino in the doorway.
"You're late," Ms. Haruna said sharply. The light shone eerily off of her glasses, and the poor nerd gulped.
"I, well, you see," Umino stuttered, about to be sent to the hall, when Usagi jumped to his rescue.
"Umino, were you checking that Naru wasn't hurt after meeting the Rose Robber? That's so sweet," she gushed with a bright smile.
"I—yes!" he yelped. "I saw her store got hit and I stopped to ask what happened. She's fine," he added, relieved to have been given an excuse. Ms. Haruna frowned, but sighed in acceptance.
"Very well, then," she said, clearly not believing his excuse, but unable to poke a hole in it, "since you were checking on the well-being of a classmate, I won't punish you today. But I expect you to bring her today's work, afterschool."
"Yes, Ms. Haruna," he sighed, relieved. Umino slipped into an empty seat, and a few minutes later a note fell onto his desk.
You owe me big. –Tsukiyomi. He recognized it as Usagi's handwriting, and the penname she used to keep from being found out if the teachers caught the note. He scribbled a reply.
I really was checking up on Naru! Scout's honor! He passed the note to the side, knowing it would find its way onto the blonde's desk. A few minutes later, it was back on his.
You're not a scout. What's more, her house isn't on your way to school, so unless you stopped by on the way just on the off-chance of seeing her when she should already have been in school…So, where were you really? –Tsukiyomi He sighed. Usagi knew him way too well. Of course, it was expected, since he'd known her and Naru since elementary school, and they'd known each other even longer.
Okay, I owe you. Thanks for the save. I wanted to go to the opening of a new Fortune Teller place this morning. I saw it on the way and wanted to check my fortune, but chickened out at the thought of cutting class and ran back. A little too late, I guess. Is Naru okay? He passed the note back when Ms. Haruna's back was turned, and got a fresh sheet of paper from Usagi a few minutes later.
I think she's fine, but I'm checking after school. You will be coming with me—Naru'll want to see you. Then I want to see this new fortune place. It sounds…interesting. As for owing me one, just remember you do, and I'll call it in later. –Tsukiyomi Umino just nodded to Usagi, balling up the note and shoving it in his pocket.
Usagi sat back in her desk and started taking notes. I wonder if he caught the hint, she wondered. She'd specifically included the 'Naru'll want to see you,' bit in the hopes that he'd finally get the hint that Naru liked him. Why her best friend was fond of the nerd Usagi didn't know, especially since the redhead's tastes usually went towards older—too much older—men.
But the lady-like redhead was one of two people in the world (Shingo being the second) whom Usagi wanted nothing but the best for, even at cost to herself. Naru was way out of Umino's usual dating league, but if the choice was Umino or an older man who probably wanted nothing good from her, then Usagi would do her d_ed best to stick her two oldest friends together at the mouth.
No matter how many people she had to blackmail, trick, and intimidate to do it.
"So who should I hunt down and kill?" Usagi asked as she and Umino walked into Naru's bedroom.
"Someone already beat you to it," the redhead replied wanly. "A superhero like Sailor V." Usagi wrapped her arms tightly around her friend.
"You saw Sailor V?" Umino yelped, and then winced when he got a good look at Naru. She was in bed, wearing a loose t-shirt and sweatpants, and her neck was a mass of bruises. Her eyes were red with large bags under them, her cheeks were wet and streaked, and her hair was a sweaty, bedraggled mess. "What happened to you?"
Umino followed Usagi's lead and pulled their friend into a group hug. She let out a strangled gasp and started shaking. Had her tears not already been spent, she would have started crying.
"I saw Sa-ailor V. Or s-someone like her…I don't r-really remember. They said that w-was normal—people blocked out b-bad m-memories." She broke off and Usagi pulled her closer.
"Shhh, we're here," the blonde whispered, slipping into the bed next to her. She began quietly humming a lullaby as her friend started shaking. Umino pulled away awkwardly, only for Usagi to glare at him. She jerked her head toward Naru again. He shakily nodded, stepped forward and re-initiated a hug.
"Thanks," Naru choked out after several minutes. "It means a lot…"
"You'd do the same thing for me. You did," Usagi responded bluntly.
"So…was it the Rose Robber?" Umino asked. He wilted under Usagi's glare, but Naru didn't break down.
"No. I said I saw Sailor V, right?"
"She did this to you?" Usagi asked, wondering if her friend was misremembering...Or if she really was possessed and spreading misinformation, which is what she'd do in the Dark Kingdom's place. If another youma had taken Naru's place, heads would roll, and the streets would run red-would run green with blood.
"No, one of the monsters she fights did. That thing was…like nothing else. Disgusting. Out of this world."
"But it's gone now, right?"
"I know what I saw!" Naru snapped, nearly shrieking. Had it been anyone else they would have gotten an equally snappy reply, if not an out-and-out slap, but it wasn't. It was Naru. So Usagi bit back harsh words and took a deep, calming breath.
"I believe you," she said through clenched teeth, and forcibly relaxed her jaw with another breath. "I'm not calling you crazy. I just meant if Sailor…V had killed the monster, or if it got away."
"It's dead," Naru said. "I saw it collapse into dust. I even saw the police take samples of the dust. They laughed when I told them it was a monster." Naru grit her teeth. "I know what I saw, and I saw a monster." She paused and then added on, "I'm not sure I saw Sailor V, though."
"You think it was another sailor?" Umino asked eagerly, pulling out a small notebook as he entered nerd-mode. Usagi glared at him, and rolled her eyes when he didn't notice. "There's long been a theory among fans that Sailor V is actually several different heroines, because of all the places she's shown up. She first appeared, people think, right here in Japan when she fought against an outbreak of odd activity over in Kyoto. The police couldn't do anything about the disappearances, but Sailor V solved them all!"
"Umino," Usagi interrupted, but he continued on.
"Then after a month, or some people say it's closer to six weeks, she began showing up in London, where she became famous enough that people even started making a movie about her! That's when the video games and light novels started showing up too. People think the author, M. Artemis, is actually Sailor V, but no one's ever found her to ask."
"Umino," the blonde interjected again, but stopped when she saw the small smile on Naru's face. Fine, if she likes it, let him rant.
"Not only that, but she's fought monsters in Greece and China, too, although it was only once each. And now she's showing up across America, maybe because they're filming her movie there. A lot of fans think that even she couldn't show up so many places, so it must actually be a lot of Sailor V's working in different places!" He stopped and looked confused as Naru started laughing, hard, until a tear or two worked its way down her cheeks.
"Oh, Umino," she choked out, "never change."
"Uh…okay? Ow!" He rubbed his head where Usagi had bopped him. "What was that for?"
"Having a nerd-gasm in public," she deadpanned, and Naru started laughing even harder, not calming down for several minutes. "Anyway, Naru, I came by because I was concerned about you, but Umino didn't."
"Huh?" he yelped, him and Naru looking confused. Just as Naru's face started switching to hurt at the implication that he hadn't wanted to see her, Usagi finished the thought.
"Umino was nice enough to volunteer to bring you all the work you missed today, and as a get-well-soon present, he's going to stay here another hour or two and help you get it all done, he told me." She winked suggestively, and Naru blushed lightly.
"But I—"
"Isn't that right?" Usagi asked him, her smile promising murder if he disagreed. And Umino knew that that might not be a turn of phrase-things had happened to some of their classmates in middle school. He swallowed hard.
"Um…yeah, that's right. But, Usagi, didn't you want to see that fortune-teller place?" He swallowed again as Usagi stood up and pushed him down onto the bed next to Naru.
"It's between your house and the school; I'll find it myself," she told him, twirling a lock of Naru's hair around her finger. "Who knows, maybe I'll ask where I can find Sailor V so I can thank her for saving me the trouble of tracking down that youma." Oh crud, please tell me they didn't notice that I knew what to call it. She stepped back and turned the doorknob.
"Moon," Naru corrected quietly. Usagi froze in the doorway and her head snapped back around. "I didn't see her face, but her hair was different, and she called herself Sailor Moon, not Sailor V."
"Moon. Got it. Right." Usagi relaxed, her identity (presumably—Naru might have been lying because Umino was around) safe, and headed down the steps, out the door, and toward the route Umino took to school. She fumbled in her bag for her cell phone, but something else buzzed first.
Since when do I have a pink hand-mirror? She wondered. That buzzes? On the back she noticed the same Crescent Moon pattern as was on her (magical transformation amulet disguised as a) brooch. She flipped open the compact, stepping into an alley and behind a dumpster, so no one in their right mind would spy on her. The screen winked on.
"Didn't I ask you to come home directly after school?" Luna asked snidely. "I still have things to talk to you about regarding your work as a senshi."
"I'm sorry," Usagi began politely, only for her face to get more and more plastic. "I was visiting Naru. You know, my best friend, who was attacked and almost killed by a youma last night.
"Whose life I only arrived just in time to save, along with the other dozen people in the shop, in spite of the fact that they, and I, had been doing almost nothing for most of the past hour before then.
"Whose life might have been lost if I hadn't realized something was up and dragged the secret of transforming out of you with an iron hook.
"Who just last night got introduced to a world most people don't know exist and is trying to cope without going crazy, and desperately needs support from her best friend. That Naru? Ring a bell, Luna?"
The cat had wilted lower and lower under Usagi's polite onslaught, and was looking rather guilty. "The operation wouldn't have been fatal for another hour or so, at the minimum. Gathering energy, especially that much, takes a lot of time," Luna objected weakly.
"Are you willing to bet your life on that, Luna? Because you bet hers. I'll be a senshi and I will destroy the youma, but I won't let it be all that I am. I will still spend time with my friends, I will still run track, and I will still act my age. Which is, in case you forgot, fifteen. Now, I've just dropped Naru's crush off with her and I'm going to check out something. I will be home in half an hour if nothing blows up, at which point we can talk either before or after I do my homework. Am I clear?"
"Yes," Luna said quietly, and then added, "I'm sorry, Sailor Moon."
"Prove it," Usagi snapped, and closed the compact. She dug out her cell phone a second later and cycled through the contacts. "Come on, pick up…Hey, Ichiro…Well, I heard about this new place, House of Fortune, and…you know where it is? Where? …Could you show me? You know, just the two of us? Good...I'll meet you there in five. Thanks!"
A few minutes later she found herself across the street from a gaudy shop with thick velvet drapes in the window and a neon sign proclaiming it the 'House of Fortune'.
"So this place just opened?" she asked the pimply otaku.
"Yeah, it's weird," Ichiro told her. "Yesterday I would have sworn that it was an empty building. This morning it was advertising its grand opening, and—" he swung his hand, indicating the line of people literally out the door. "Makes me wonder how accurate they are, but I usually use the old man if I feel like getting a fortune told."
"Old man?" Ichiro turned and indicated a robed figure sitting at a stand draped with purple cloth in the entrance of an alley behind them. Usagi blinked—she'd walked past him without noticing. The old man was eyeing the line despairingly, lacking any customers of his own. "The old guy's pretty accurate. Probably cheeper, too." A person walked out of the House of Fortune, allowing someone else to walk in, and a plan clicked together in Usagi's mind.
"Right!" she cried, smacking her fist into her open palm. "Comparison time! I'll go ask the old guy for a fortune, and you go get one from there, and we'll see whose is more accurate."
"Huh? Why do I have to go to the House of Fortune? The old guy is cheaper, and I'm saving up for a Jump membership!" Usagi turned the full force of her baby-blues on him, leaning in close enough that Ichiro could smell her shampoo.
"Pleeeeease?"
"I—I guess," he acceded weakly.
"Good boy," Usagi said, and pecked him on the lips. He blushed, and stumbled off to the line when Usagi pushed lightly. She turned and skipped over to the old man's table, gracing him with a bright smile. "Hi! You tell fortunes here, right?"
"That I do, miss," he chuckled. "Real ones, too. Not just the glamor and flash that's all the fad, these days."
"How much?" she asked, and handed him a few bills when he answered. He handed her a deck of tarot cards in return.
"Shuffle these, and deal out two face-down, next to each other. One represents your past, and one represents your present. Which is which?" Usagi decided that the one her right was the present, and he dealt out three more cards around it, changing it from a – pattern to a + pattern. "The one on the far side of the past card represents your distant future, while the two on the sides represent the near future. Now turn over the past card first."
"It looks like a…battlefield?" Usagi hazarded.
"Yes. It seems there was suffering and violence in your past. Would you say that's correct?" The old man looked up and choked when he saw that her face had gone blank and flat. She didn't answer the question, instead flipping up the center of the five-card cross, the present card, without prompting.
"What's this? A man pushing a boulder up a hill?"
"Daedalus. You have been burdened with a difficult task. There's something far more serious in your life than ordinary examinations and dating," he said shrewdly. There was a long silence as Usagi and he stared each other down.
"If you're the real deal," Usagi began, now believing that he was, "why are you telling fortunes in an alley? Couldn't you foretell lottery numbers and get rich, or at least advise politicians or something?"
"Because I can only foretell others' fortunes, and not my own," he said with a sad chuckle. "And because politicians tend to get uneasy over the possibility that someone knows more than them. They blamed me for bad news the first few times I worked in that business. After that, never again."
"If they're that stupid, they deserve whatever comes to them," Usagi said scornfully. "If I were a politician I'd hire every genuine fortuneteller I could get my hands on."
"Oh? Your fortune hasn't been the best thus far, and you didn't look too happy about it. What if the bad news gets worse?"
"Then I'll know something is coming and can batten down the hatches. Worst comes to worst, I write up a will and enjoy what time I have left." The fortuneteller leaned backwards, discomfited by the casual way in which she mentioned her own possible death.
"Well, I doubt it will be that bad," he said uneasily. "Turn up one of the other cards." Usagi flipped up one of the near future cards. "Someone important will soon arrive in your life. A new boyfriend perhaps?" He smiled weakly at her blank face as she flipped up the other near-future card.
"What's this one mean?" she asked calmly when he hesitated. "It doesn't look like death."
"Right-side up the weaver refers to a great creation or work of art. Upside-down, however…it means to warn you of a plot."
"A plot aimed at me?"
"I do not know. Are you the type to plot something?" Usagi smiled sweetly at the question and flipped up the last card. She blinked.
"Okay, this one might be death," she considered. "Does it mean that I don't have a future, or just that it's undecided?"
The card was blank.
"I've…this has never happened before," the fortune-teller admitted, examining the plain white cardstock of the card. He flipped it over, but the back was identical to the other cards in his deck. "How about you draw a new card, just to try?" Usagi flipped up the top card of the deck and raised her eyebrow.
It was blank as well.
"How is that possible?" the old man wheezed. He quickly rifled through his deck. Every card except for the four on the table were blank.
"Magic. Go figure," Usagi said with a shrug, trying to hide how anxious she suddenly felt. Knowing she should be grateful for the warning and actually doing it were two different things.
"I suppose," he said weakly. "It will take me a few days to get a new deck, though."
"Hey," Usagi argued defensively, not wanting to shell out even more money. "If you're not responsible for bad news then I'm not responsible for your deck."
"True, true. It's not your fault." He stood up and began picking up the cards. "If you'll excuse me, I believe I'll close shop early today."
"You need a freaking drink?" Usagi queried with a smile.
"Several," he replied seriously.
It was only a minute later that Ichiro walked out from his turn in the House of Fortune. "So how was it?"
"She was really hot," Ichiro babbled, and flushed when he realized what he just said. "I think her fortune was the real deal. I'll have to see if it comes true. Anyway, I'm heading home to catch Bleach."
"Hey, what did she say?" Usagi yelled after him, but he turned the corner. She frowned and debated chasing after him. I don't think he looked brainwashed, and he definitely wasn't drained from what I could see. Maybe this was a bust after all. I'll get Luna to check it out or something.
"That was Michiru Kaioh with a song from her most recent album, Ocean Lullabies. Up next we have a new song from The Wandering Stars, performed for the first time at their concert two days ago: The Lonely Comet." Music once more began to flow from the radio as Usagi's pencil scribbled across the paper.
"Hey Luna, is this the right spelling?"
"I really wouldn't know," the cat drawled, not even glancing at the piece of English homework. "Are you just about done yet?"
"This is the last bit…and done!" Usagi slipped the papers into a folder and shoved it in her backpack. "Alright, what did you want to talk about that has you in a huff?"
"I'm not that bad," Luna objected, rising off the bed and stretching. "I just want you to take your duties as Sailor Moon a little more seriously. Lives are at stake."
"Didn't we have this conversation earlier?" Usagi sighed and turned around to lock eyes with Luna. "I will take my duties seriously, but I won't be able to save people if I'm grounded for failing classes, or burned-out from not relaxing."
"I know, and I agree with that," Luna conceded. "But I don't think you need so much relaxation after only one day of being a senshi. If you'd come home we would have more time to discuss and to practice your senshi abilities."
"I wasn't just goofing off, I was investigating a possible draining operation," Usagi told her. Luna's tail stood straight up.
"And you couldn't have mentioned this sooner! Going in alone like that was very dangerous. What if it had been an ambush?"
"I was in no danger what-so-ever," Usagi assured her blithely. "There's this new place called the House of Fortune that showed up out of nowhere and became instantly popular. I thought it might be the Dark Kingdom."
"That does sound a little like them. So you patronized this place?"
"No, I sent one of my classmates in."
"You sent who! What if he'd been attacked? Weren't you upset that people were in danger last night, and now you're doing the same thing!"
"That was Naru, and this was Ichiro-I'm not as worried about him, and the possible operation is more important. When he came out he didn't looked drained or hypnotized, from what I could see, so I'm not sure. I figure you can check it out tonight while I check him out tomorrow, and if we see anything odd we'll look deeper."
"I can't say I approve of you using other innocents as test subjects...but was very proactive of you. I apologize," Luna said, impressed if a bit upset. "Now, what I wanted to discuss was basic information about the Dark Kingdom and the senshi, so you know what to expect."
"Start with the Dark Kingdom. Where do they come from, what do they want, etcetera," Usagi told her. "Here's what I know, so you can skip it. They're called the Dark Kingdom, they use monsters that used to be humans, they drain people's life-force, and the last time they got loose they destroyed this big kingdom in the past, and I have to stop it from happening again. That right?"
"Yes, that's about all that we covered yesterday," Luna agreed. "They have powerful magic and can disguise themselves as humans, as well as hypnotize humans to do their bidding. They drain people's life energy, but it takes a long time for them to drain all of it, which is fatal. Even a short time under the drain, however, is enough to render most people unconscious, so they cannot escape further draining."
"Why do they need life-energy? Do they eat it, or something?"
"I do not know," Luna admitted, "but if they want it then it is best we stop them from getting it, yes?"
"Yeah, you're right," Usagi said. "Now, am I working alone, or is there a group of people working in several different places to stop them?"
"Well, according to Central Control—"
"Central Control! You guys are organized enough to have something like that! Just how big is this organization?" Usagi asked, wondering at what resources she could call on. This had definite potential.
"Not big at all," Luna told her, crushing her hopes. "Central Control is my contact who suggested that I search in Tokyo, and provided me with some information I forgot. I'm not certain, but they are either a survivor of the genocide like myself, or an artificial intelligence on the Moon's main computers."
"Those still work?"
"They still work," Luna confirmed. "However, according to Central Control, the only other person fighting the Dark Kingdom is Sailor V, who has her hands full as it is."
"So we're waging a two-girl war against the guys who wiped out an entire civilization?" Usagi said skeptically.
"A rather dark perspective, but yes. It won't stay a two-person war once we find the other senshi, however."
"Just great," Usagi said thinking of all the problems involved. If I don't get some magical twisting of fate then we'll never find the others out of the billions of people around. "So, what didn't you tell me about being a senshi yesterday?"
Luna coughed. "I believe I covered most of it, and the rest won't be important until you are ready to ascend a level." Usagi frowned.
"You mentioned there were a bunch of levels to senshi power. What does that mean?"
"At the moment, you are a basic-class senshi," Luna told her. "This is the simplest and weakest level, where you can only use your powers as you received them, without any alterations, improvements, or control."
"I'd make a snarky comment, except I still kicked butt last night, so it's not too bad. I'm guessing higher levels are even better?"
"Yes. Basic level is just to get your body used to using and having senshi powers. It is like firing a gun. No matter how hard or gently you pull the trigger the bullet comes out with the same amount of force—al you can do is aim. Prism-class, however, is like swinging a sword. You can alter the speed, direction, and style of your attacks. In short, until you reach prism-class, you will be unable to improve as a senshi. It is the difference between a seed in a packet and a seed growing in the ground."
"And practicing my powers won't make me any better with them, but will let me level up quicker? How do I know when I can…you said ascend, right?"
"Yes, the term is ascend. And you will not, but I will, and I will use my powers to level you up."
Usagi frowned. "I can't do it myself?"
"It was meant as a safeguard. Senshi cannot improve past certain points without external help. It was to prevent senshi from becoming too powerful if they go rogue."
"But you said some of them could at a certain level?"
"Either Sacred- or Crystal- class. I forget exactly which. But if a senshi gets to that level they are either trusted enough that they don't need to be kept from going rogue, or so powerful that there wouldn't be much we could do to stop them if they did go rogue."
"And you can't level me up early?"
"Not without potentially killing you," Luna said darkly. Usagi winced and nodded.
"Message received. No short-cuts." D***it. "What are the other levels?"
Luna began to explain. "You begin at basic. When your powers begin to grow, you've reached prism level. When you can not only alter your spells, but the fields of energy that infuse you as a senshi, you have reached planet-class."
"How would I do that?"
"The most common example," Luna told her, "Is turning your disguise field on and off. But even then you still have certain limits. When you can surpass these limits and call upon more raw power than is usually safe for your body, you ascend to crisis class. It's called this because it is usually occurs during a time of crisis—a do-or-die situation."
"But isn't calling upon 'more raw power than is usually safe for your body' sort dangerous by definition?"
"Yes, which is why almost half of all senshi never go beyond crisis-class. They either die by calling on too much power, or they simply lack the drive to advance further."
"Ugh."
"My feelings exactly," Luna agreed. "Crisis-class calls upon your raw power through desperation and determination, tapping into that well unconsciously. Crystal-class requires you to do so consciously, and to control the power you call upon."
"Doesn't sound too bad."
"Half of all senshi never make it to crystal-class. Of the ones that do, almost two-thirds never make it beyond."
"Right, it's harder than it sounds. Sacred was after crystal, right?"
"Yes. Sacred, then star, and then eternal. Unfortunately, I cannot remember anything about these levels, having not been needed to assist once they ascended that far."
Usagi sighed and repeated what would surely become a common mantra. I will resist the urge to dropkick the obscenely cute and fuzzy whatsit which follows my party around. There's no telling what powers it has, and the last thing I need is for her to refuse to level me up.
"So we should try to get in some training tonight, right?" Usagi asked looking at her clock and then out the window.
"Yes, the park should be mostly empty at this time, leaving you and hour or two to practice."
"Can do," Usagi agreed.
"Moon Tiara Magic." A thick tree branch fell to the ground, cleanly severed. Usagi noted that it was cut, but not burned by the energy, as her tiara returned to her.
"Moon Tiara Magic." The glowing disc (it looked a lot like a frisbee, but Luna had forbidden her from using such a disrespectful name for it) arced out across the water, cutting nothing until it reached its distance limit and began to arc back. Usagi noted that the tiara had made it only halfway across the park's lake before turning back. While it had cut nothing originally, on its return trip it sliced apart another tree branch, meeting no visible resistance.
"Moon Tiara Magic." The tiara arced into a mass of bushes, severing a number of branches before returning to her.
"Moon...Tiara...Magic!" She simply looked at the glowing circle, satisfied with the fact that it had only activated on the third word, but that she felt felt it charging before that. Sailor Moon dispelled the energy and placed the tiara back on her head, then she slumped to the ground and dispelled her transformation.
"Okay, I have about ten of those in me before the exhaustion hits...lets assume I could do two more if I really had to," she muttered to herself, and yawned loudly. She'd saved testing her attack for its limits for last precisely because she suspected that it would leave her exhausted. that being said, she was proud of the specifics she had worked out.
One: Her attack didn't have an effective limit (she hadn't discovered it) on how many things it could cut through without losing power, but it did have a distance limit. If she had to eyeball it, she'd guess it was between eight and ten meters, at which point her tiara would turn around and home in on her. She could not control its direction once she threw it, even whether it turned around to the left or the right.
Two: She could not increase the distance her attack could travel no matter how hard she threw it; a flick of the wrist was as good as a full-body frisbee throw. However, if she moved after she threw the disk, it would home in on her new location instead of where she started, so she could aim it on the way back, to an extent. Unfortunately, if she ran too far it would run out of power and fall back to the ground.
Three: If she was not holding her tiara in one of her hands, she could not use the spell. If it was on the ground, she had to pick it up. If it was still on her head, she had to take it off. If it was dangling off of her foot, or on her arm like an elbow, it wouldn't work. And if one of her hands was near it (such as when it was resting on the ground) but not touching, she needed to touch it.
Four: The spell only activated once she had said all three words of the incantation in order (but not consecutively), with the intent of activating the spell. Saying "Tiara Magic Moon" would do nothing, but "Moon random stuff Tiara blah blah Magic," would activate the spell. There was not a word limit on how much she could say between the incantation's words, but there was a time limit of about seven seconds.
It wasn't everything she'd wanted to accomplish, but it was all that she'd be doing tonight, given how exhausted she was. At least, Usagi consoled herself, I also got to test out my fuku and transformation speed.
Her head was still a little too vulnerable for her comfort, but what tests she had dared to do (given what would happen if her protections failed during a test) suggested that anything powerful enough to kill her wouldn't be stopped by a helmet anyways. And besides, even if it was a good idea, she still had her pride. If her life wasn't in immediate danger, then she wouldn't swallow a pill as bitter as being seen in a fuku and bike helmet, never mind the pan lids on her knees.
As for her transformation speed, it appeared that Luna had been telling the truth when she called it almost instantaneous. She'd even jumped off of a tree branch in civilian guise, transformed mid-air, and been done before she hit the ground. Seeing Luna coming across the clearing, she stood up again and wearily transformed so that they could finally go home. She wanted to sleep, d***it!
At lunch the next day Usagi found a secluded corridor and pulled out her communicator.
"Luna? That House of Fortune place is definitely a draining operation."
"What! Are you sure?" the cat asked as her face appeared in the compact.
"Several of my classmates, including Ichiro, were acting really weird today. Really weird. Umino flipped Ms. Haruna's skirt and Ichiro came on to me."
"Came on to you?" Usagi rolled her eyes.
"Propositioned me for sexual favors, hit on me, tried to seduce me—that stuff."
"You're fourteen!" Luna yelped.
"Fifteen," Usagi corrected, "and I'm not getting that involved with a guy unless we've been dating at least year, period. I kneed him in the balls. Listen, I need you to come over here and tell me how much time they have so I know whether to smash the operation now or after school. Everyone is still walking around, but they don't exactly look healthy."
"I'll be right over," Luna promised. Three minutes later Usagi was eating lunch beneath a tree, having waved off the usual group that crowded around her, and Luna was perched in a branch above.
"This…this is very interesting," Luna mused. "I've heard about something like this from Central control when Sailor V was in America, but never on this scale."
"Look, are they in danger or not?"
"Not yet," Luna assured her. "They've been hypnotized, but there's a second spell on them that causes their energy levels to rise when they act out, so that the Dark Kingdom will get almost three times as much energy from a single person as usual. But the drain won't begin until they hit their peak energy levels this evening, I believe," Luna assured her.
"How did V handle it in America?"
"She didn't. This method is similar, but in America Sailor V fought individual people who had their energy levels brought up to ten or fifteen times as much by being possessed by a youma. This is multiple people under a single youma's thrall, all being raised two or three times."
"Do I have to worry about youma possessing people?"
"No, it's difficult to do, and the youma can be destroyed relatively easily," Luna assured her. "And everyone should be back to normal once you destroy this youma, so it can wait until this evening."
"I'm going to go sit with my friends then, Luna."
"I will see you after school, Usagi. I'm just going to check that this House of Fortune is what we're looking for." They both paused as suddenly an outcry came from across the field. Usagi looked up to see Umino leading a group of students in an assault on the teachers' lounge.
"Oh man, their gonna find themselves up the creek without a paddle when they wake up. I can't what to take pictures," Usagi snickered.
"Not everyone is as callous as you, at least," Luna said drily, and nodded towards a certain redhead. Usagi blew out a huff.
"Ruin my fun why don't you...Fine. I'm gonna go try to keep him from getting expelled," Usagi grumbled, seeing Naru looking on with horror.
"So…how are we going to do this?" Usagi wondered, staring at the House of Fortune from a nearby alley. "Do we know she hasn't set up a trap or anything inside? For that matter, is she inside?"
"The youma was inside when I checked earlier, and I haven't seen her come out," Luna told her. "Are you certain that you can't just walk in the front door?"
"I'm pretty sure the youma would see me coming from a mile away, and attack first. Or cut her losses and run. I'd rather get this done quickly and quietly. Are you sure there isn't a backdoor or side entrance?"
"I checked thoroughly this afternoon. Nothing," Luna repeated. "If you don't go in it may be too late. By my calculations they will reach their energy peak within ten minutes, if they haven't already, and then the youma will begin the drain."
"Fine, I get it," Usagi groused. "I'm just being cautious, okay?" She beat her head lightly against the brick wall, enjoying that it didn't really hurt. The magical protections on her fuku kept it from being damaged, even when she took off one of her gloves and used scissors on it, and slightly lesser protection extended to the rest of her.
Currently, she was in an alley down the street from the house of Fortune, waiting to smash her first operation that wasn't an emergency. "If I mess this up it could give the Dark Kingdom a huge opening," she muttered to Luna. "All I…wait."
People were stumbling down the street, converging on the House of Fortune. Usagi blinked, seeing Umino amid their ranks. Then she blinked again, surprised to see Ichiro there as well, given that he was still sporting the black eye and bloody nose she'd given him when he pulled her hair.
Hypnotized or not, some things you don't get away with, she thought to herself sourly, idly stroking one of her blonde streamers.
"Luna, I've got an idea. The Dark Kingdom won't recognize me, right?"
"No, they won't associate Usagi and Sailor Moon, nor will anyone else, thanks to your disguise field. What are you doing!" Usagi had stepped out of the alley and was casually walking towards the mob that was slowly entering the House of Fortune.
"If I lose the tiara and gems," she explained, her hand removing the objects in question, "I look like any other school girl, right? I'll just pretend to be one of the victims, walk in, and strike when the youma's back is turned."
"But," Luna tried to object, but Usagi had already slipped into the crowd. "Oh dear," Luna murmured, and began weaving her way through the throng of legs. Inside, the youma was addressing the group of victims.
"Come to me, my slaves," she crooned as they assembled into rank-and-file in front of her. "Come and give me all your energy, and I, Balm, shall bring glory to the Dark Kingdom. Come to me, in the name of our Great Ruler." Usagi stepped into the ranks, taking her place seamlessly among the group of victims. Her left hand held her hair-gems, and her right held her tiara. She slipped the metal disk behind her back and whispered the words of her incantation.
"Moon…Tiara…" She felt the energy begin to charge, but it didn't yet assume the glowing disk she attacked with. That would be a giveaway, and she wanted a clear shot before revealing herself. She froze as something touched her legs, and just barely glanced down, hoping the youma didn't notice.
It was Luna.
"I'll draw its attention," the cat whispered, almost drowned out by the youma's gloating to itself, and began moving to the far side of the room.
"I have predicted that an enemy shall come tonight, so let them come," Balm chuckled to itself. "I shall prove a stronger foe than Morga, and will return with their head to show my fellows."
"Oh, really?" Luna's voice called from the shadows.
"What!" the youma yelled just as Usagi whispered the final word of her chant.
"…Magic." The disk hummed to life in her hand.
"Foul denizen of the darkness, you shall be burnt away by the light of justice!" Luna's voice called from the shadows.
"Show yourself and die like the dog—" Balm began, turning away, and Usagi's hand whipped out. The spell hit Balm in the center of her back, and she dissolved into dust with barely a scream. Like puppets with their strings cut, the other victims fell to the ground, and most of the shop's decorations disappeared into dust.
"That went well," Moon said to herself.
"Indeed," said a voice from the rafters. Moon immediately threw herself to the side and prepared to fight, but Tuxedo Kamen made no move to attack. "A wise warrior may often succeed where a strong warrior fails, and you, Sailor Moon, have both qualities in abundance. Remember also that there are those who will help you in your fight, should you need it." He disappeared into the shadows.
Love interest. Almost definitely a love interest, Usagi thought to herself, resigned. And he's been a lot of help thus far.
"So Luna," Usagi began, back in bed that night, "is it just me, or did it sound like that youma knew I was coming?"
"Well, it's quite possible that they guessed whoever had stopped their jewelry operation would also target them this time," the cat suggested.
"Not just that. The whole fortuneteller schtick. Do you think that the youma saw me coming in the future or whatever? Can magic really see the future?"
"Well, it's a very imperfect art, but precognition is a well documented power that can be developed. Often most mid-level mages can achieve some level of it if they spend enough time and effort." Usagi's eyes had opened wide at the possibilities, especially as she had met someone like that earlier. To have it confirmed...the advantages and uses were almost endless.
"Luna…how could anyone ever lose with a power like that? Knowing what's coming gives you the chance to prepare for it, like studying for a pop-quiz." Luna gave her an odd look. "What I mean is: why didn't the Silver Millennium see the Dark Kingdom's attack coming?"
Luna sighed. "Well, the first thing you have to understand is that the future is never set in stone. So what you see might not come to be, or by seeing it you keep it from occurring. Prophecies are more like warning of what to look out for and avoid, or instructions on what to do to get a certain result."
"So no one saw the catastrophe that was the attack? Seriously?"
"People knew something bad was happening, or could happen, but we thought our actions were taken to prevent it." It was Usagi's turn to give Luna a questioning look. "We knew that there was the possibility of an attack coming from Earth, so we tried to forge closer relations to the planet so that we would be allies. Unfortunately, the attack didn't come from Earth's government, which was friendly with our own, but from dissidents upset by the Moon and Earth's growing connections."
"So by trying to avoid it, you just made it worse," Usagi commiserated. "I suppose it would have been out of the question to launch a pre-emptive strike so that Earth couldn't attack."
"And kill thousands of innocents who were in favor of joining with the Moon? Queen Serenity would have been disgusted by even the thought of it," Luna scolded.
"So by sparing thousands of another country's people, she killed millions of her own," Usagi counter-argued, before shaking her head and sighing. "Look, I don't want to have this argument at all. Let's go back to seeing the future. How would I learn how to do it? It would be really nice to know what curveballs the Dark Kingdom is going to throw at me."
"I couldn't tell you, since I don't know myself," Luna said. "I remember that meditation was a big part of it, and often they would be gazing into a medium such as fire, water, or a mirror, as though they were scrying, except, of course, they were looking through time instead of space."
"Scrying?"
"Magically observing a distant place," Luna explained. "It can be used to search for objects or people, but it is also a touch imprecise, and it can only observe what is occurring at the current moment. Also, no sound."
"Can you teach me how to do that?"
"I don't know how, either."
"Well," Usagi asked, exasperated, "what do you know?"
"Mind magic," Luna began, "which takes much more skill than I can easily teach you. Also, my style is unique to my species, and you're a human."
"Great," Usagi grumbled.
"Aside from that, most of my specialties are aimed toward technomancy, or at helping senshi develop their own abilities. And before you ask, your civilization doesn't have the requisite magical or mechanical development to make it particularly useful to you. All that would do me much good is to teach you to develop your senshi abilities, which I was doing anyway."
Usagi sighed in acceptance. "Fine, fine. So basically, I just have to keep using my powers?"
"For the moment, yes," Luna told her. "After you ascend to prism-class there will be much more I can begin teaching you, but for now you simply need to acclimate your body to senshi magic."
"Can do," she said, and lay back on her bed. Idly she turned on the radio. "I'll go practice after this, it's my favorite."
"Welcome to Mad Men's Music show," the radio blared. "Half an hour of non-stop music to suit your wildest, weirdest dreams. Before we begin, we'd like to ask you to show your support to a new radio program beginning tonight at 11:30 to midnight: Jade's Midnight Zero! They'll be accepting love letters from all over the country, and if yours is moving enough to be read aloud, you'll win a wonderful prize. So pour your hearts out, all you lovely ladies, and maybe Prince Charming will take the hint."
And that's a wrap. Review, and read my other stories as well, if they look appealing.