Cyber Moon: Crystal.

Act 1: Crystal City.

Episode 4: The evil within.

By Razor Knight

Last update: November 24, 2008

"I think Serenity is right."

"I'm still not so sure about..."

Ami looked at her daughter and frowned. She had listened to her story, and almost immediately guessed who Aiko's crush was. She was a bit surprised at knowing Aiko was attracted to girls, though, and she couldn't blame her father's genes on this one. "Listen, just sitting there and doing nothing about it won't solve anything."

Aiko looked down. "I know, but what if..."

"Stop worrying about that. The only way you have to know for sure is to go for it."

Takamaru was listening to everything from his room. It was useless for them to speak in a low voice, anyhow, since his senses were way sharper than those of a normal human, and could hear whispers from one block away, even at his young age. That was how he knew many of his classmates considered him a freak. They whispered amongst themselves, thinking he couldn't hear them. But he wasn't letting that bother him. Let them call him a freak today, because in a few years they would be bowing to his power.

For a minute, he pondered if he should spend more time with his sister, to try and win her trust, but then shrugged that thought off. That thing wasn't even human, how could his parents call 'it' their daughter? He didn't really need anyone else, human or not.

"I am, once again, extremely bored."

Hotaru looked up from the newspaper she was reading and smiled. "Time for another world tour?"

"Maybe, but we've found nothing challenging out there, either."

"Hmm, Haruka and Michiru are doing it again."

"What are they up to?"

Hotaru looked at the front page. Of course, news about Senshi, either inside or outside Crystal Tokyo, were always there. "I had heard the rumors, they apparently trained a group of Senshi in South America, the so-called Zodiac Senshi, but then they moved north. And right now, they're often seen with a group of Lesser Senshi in the United States."

"You know, their idea is good," ChibiUsa admitted. "We can't be everywhere."

"Yeah, but those... Those pseudo-Senshi aren't immortal."

"If they use mana right, they will get extended lifespans," ChibiUsa noted, "nothing close to us, but they could get up to a couple hundred years."

"I didn't know that."

ChibiUsa looked at the article again, then smiled. "Now that's interesting."

"What is?"

ChibiUsa pointed at a smaller article on the front page of the newspaper. "Ares 23, second shuttle to land on Mars with a crew. It's going there next month."

"Hmph, what's so interesting about..."

"What they're doing is quite pointless. Or, at least, they're going at it the wrong way."

"I don't follow."

"And you're the daughter of a scientist?" ChibiUsa teased. "See, their whole terraforming project. They don't need to use their costy artifacts for it."

"You think the artifacts that were in Mars during Silver Millenium... "

"Unless they were somehow destroyed," ChibiUsa said, "they should still be there, dormant and waiting to be awakened when the mana flow of their worlds is restored."

"Can't we just jump there and see for ourselves?"

"I asked Pluto about that already. We could get there, but with the capped mana in Mars, we wouldn't be able to 'aim' our landing. We could end up appearing inside a mountain or something worse."

"Not a nice way to die," Hotaru admitted. "So, are you planning on going there using the 'slug express'?"

"I'll have to talk to my mother about this, but I'm sure trying to uncap those wells will be interesting."

"Count me in."

"Hmph. I would try and tell you that it's dangerous and that you shouldn't tag along, but I know I can't leave you alone for two seconds."

"Ditto," Hotaru said with a smile.

She wasn't really paying attention to the street, since she had no destination in mind. The city of Crystal Tokyo was quite large, and it was quite easy to just walk around like this, enjoying the day. However, she had other things in her mind right now. Fate was a strange thing, she would've never imagined the one she liked could also be interested.

And she knew her mother was right, she was worrying too much. Despite her origins, she was as human as she could ever hope to be. In fact, unless told otherwise, most people would never guess she wasn't human. Most citizens knew about her, who and what she was, but that didn't worry her. She had gotten some strange looks while walking around the city at first, but over time, the fascination with her (as well as all the other members of Crystal Tokyo's royalty,) had dulled down into quiet respect.

But even thought she hadn't thought about a target for her walk, her feet apparently had a mind of their own, or maybe her stomach, as she had ended up in Kino's Bar. And she once again thought fate was a strange thing. She had not hoped to find her while walking around, in fact she had hoped to not find her. But Yuki was apparently a fan of Mako's cooking as well.

"Good morning, Aiko."

"Good morning." Aiko looked at the woman. She was looking at her as if she was trying to guess her thoughts. "Something wrong?"

"I've never been able to sense your presence, that's all. And I'll never figure out why."

"Maybe it's because I'm not..."

"Human," the other woman said, turning to the food she had been eating before the computer girl appeared. "My definition of human is quite broad, in fact. I think even Usagi herself wouldn't be considered human by the standard definition."

"That's true," Aiko admitted.

"Care for something to eat?" The woman said, then frowned. "Heh, never thought about this. Do you eat at all?"

"I don't really need to," Aiko said, "but I like to eat anyhow... And I've found ways to process the food into mana."

"Heh, I guess that's what we mages do."

"Yukiko, listen, I..."

"Haven't heard anyone using my full name for many years," Yuki said with a smile as Aiko sat down across the table. She then looked down at the salad in front of her. "I don't know how Mako does it, but I've never eaten anything better than what she cooks."

"Thanks for the compliment."

Yuki looked up at Makoto, who was standing near them. "How do you manage to be here, what with your position as the city's Commander?" True, Mako's main and older restaurant was usually not as empty as it was now. It was also the third time she had seen Mako around this month, and while she had to admit the other cooks weren't bad, she liked Mako's own dishes better.

"You kidding me?" Mako laughed. "Our army isn't really needed inside the city, and I leave Seia the task of sending troops to other countries when they're needed."

"How's Rakurai doing?" Aiko asked, curiosity picking up at the mention of that name.

"Oh, she's one cranky old woman," Mako said, "always trying to get me to stop 'wasting time' here. Anyways, what are you going to order?"

Aiko smiled. "Surprise me."

"Yeah, I should've guessed," Mako said, "I'll be back in a few minutes, you two don't have too much fun out here."

Aiko frowned at that, then looked at Yuki as Mako walked into the restaurant. "I didn't think I would find you so easily, but the truth is, I have something to tell you."

Yuki looked at her and gave her a small smile. "You don't need to say a thing."

"Wha... Did Serenity tell you?"

"No. But she had me intrigued, and I figured you were the only girl around that..."

"There's also Kyma," Aiko noted.

"Bah, I'm not into catgirls," Yuki noted, causing the other woman to laugh. "Let's just follow our hearts and see where that leads us."

"Our hearts," Aiko mused. "Never said I had one."

"Figuratively speaking, then, you have one."

"Hah, I knew it."

Aiko saw Mako walking to them with a couple dishes. "Knew what?"

"Or at least, suspected it," Mako admitted. "Don't mind this old woman."

"Something strange to say for someone who looks like she's just out of college."

"... Right," Mako smiled at them. "I'll leave you two alone so you can enjoy your date."

"Date..." Aiko blushed.

"You can blush. That's cute." Yuki said.

"I guess I programmed some things a bit too well," Aiko admitted.

Yuki laughed. Yeah, Usagi had been right, she really needed a change in her life, and said change had just presented itself to her.

"I don't think the time's right yet."

"But we could really use something like that. Overpopulation is getting out of hands, and..."

"It's not something we need to carry on to another world," Serenity said. "Endymion is right, we can't give the human race another planet to live in yet. Not until they actually start acting like one race."

ChibiUsa shook her head. "It's useless to speak with you."

"But I do see their point."

"You too, Hotaru?"

Hotaru shrugged. "You know, mankind's not different from some aliens we've fought. They only look for personal gain, or to be left alone and live in peace, not minding the suffering of others."

"That's human nature," ChibiUsa said, "it's pointless to try and change that which defines us."

"It would only be pointless if we didn't try," Serenity said.

"Hmph. All right, I will not bring up that idea again, until you deem it worth considering, mother."

Hotaru saw her friend walk out of the meeting room and let out a long sigh. "Don't mind her, she just got too ahead of herself with this idea."

Serenity nodded. "The time will come when we can restore the mana flow of all planets, but right now, it wouldn't be a good idea."

Endymion looked to the small image of Mars in one monitor. The red planet, he wondered how it had looked back then? He had never visited that world in his past life. "Wonder what it will do to the other Senshi."

Hotaru had been about to leave, but stopped. "What do you mean..."

"Haven't you noticed something about ChibiUsa?"

Hotaru couldn't really tell what the two meant. "Something? I don't know what you're saying."

"She must be feeling it too, and be upset that she's not able to give it an use," Serenity said. "See, there's a difference between the Senshi of the Moon and the others. One I only discovered after what I did with this planet."

"... Restoring the mana flow..."

"Even though Karin doesn't use her powers much, she must've felt it too," Endymion said, "a world with its mana flow blocked also weakens their Senshi. We can't gather large quantities of mana as fast as we'd sometimes wish to, and the only time that was possible was when Sailor Mars was filled with rage and despair. But nowadays, both me and Karin can use our powers faster than anyone. If we were still actively fighting enemies, we could show you what that means in action."

"... I've already seen it," Hotaru said, "I didn't realize it at the time, I couldn't really put a finger on it, but ChibiUsa doesn't seem to tire down at all, even using high level attacks."

Serenity nodded. "That's right. The Moon Senshi don't take their mana from the Moon only."

"So that's why..." Hotaru frowned. "So what, she wants to get more power?"

"I don't think that's her only reason," Serenity said, "I'm sure Setsuna told her about this, or she figured it out on her own. But if, for example, she uncapped Mars' wells, then the three Mars Senshi around would be stronger."

"I see, it's that again."

Serenity noticed Hotaru's grim face. "You have to understand her... "

"I do, but I would rather see her forget about that issue already. "

"I don't think she ever will," Endymion admitted, "but don't let that bother you too much. You need to be by her side in times like these."

Hotaru nodded and then bowed to the two. "I understand, and I will not let her become one gloomy old woman. Not over something that's a thousand years away from us."

Serenity blinked as Hotaru vanished. "That went better than I thought."

"Maybe we're doing the wrong thing here?"

"Mamoru, don't you know our daughter?"

Endymion smiled. "Of course I do... If she really thought it was the right thing to do, then she wouldn't have bothered asking for permission at all."

Years passed by really fast, Mars realized. She was now watching her daughter train the two younger Senshi. Her daughter, Hisako, was now twenty-five years old. Which made Rei herself... Bah. She had heard Setsuna say it once, but only now she understood, age was quite a meaningless concept for someone who lived for too long.

Either that, or she didn't want to remember how old she really was.

"Fire Fangs!"

Rei smiled. Her daughter had hit Eternal level last year, but that attack of hers... A large tiger-like fire construct which chased her foes around. "Hisa, don't overdo it." It was their first training, after all, and Rei didn't want the two young Senshi to get hurt.

"Mom, he was the one telling me to fight at full power."

Her two foes were only at Twilight level, but one of them was actually smiling. That kid, for some reason he always gave the same friendly smile to everyone, and yet... It was a smile that looked fake to her. Or maybe it was all in her mind. He had started off being quite an isolated kid, but in the last few years, he had changed, and was quite friendly with others.

"Let's see what that cat can do," the young Dragon Saturn said, "Hail Requiem."

A blast of ice came from underneath the construct, knocking it up. The fiery tiger, however, wasn't too affected by it, and landed on its feet meters away from the two, snarling at them. "You shouldn't make her angry, you know?" Younger Mars teased.

"So I shouldn't," the Dragon said with a smile. "It's my one flaw, you know, I'm always thrilled to take on enemies stronger than me. An even battle would be a disappointment."

Hikaru, who was watching the 'show' along with Rei and Ami, sighed. "That kid's insane."

"Not really, his father also seemed to like it better when the fight wasn't easy."

Younger Lilith decided to stop watching and gave it a try. "Trick Shot."

Even though the blast was quite small, the construct reacted to it by leaping up. It seemed to smile as the blast missed its mark, then saw the ground where the blast had hit split, and a large water blast shooting up.

"Sorry, I should've said 'River Rage' there," Dragon Saturn noted.

"You two make a good team," Mars said.

Dragon Saturn nodded, noticing the construct was gone. "Yeah, when I heard her using that attack, I planned ahead, and decided to add my own 'trick' to hers."

"You're quite smart," Lilith said.

"Tell me something I don't know," Dragon Saturn teased. "So, Mars, shall we continue?"

"That trick was quite good," Mars admitted, "but you don't know all of my tricks yet."

"That's true, and I'm glad I finally got to fight you. I was a bit disappointed that you stopped at Guardian level, but then I heard you getting past that level and I just couldn't wait to face you."

Lilith sighed. "There he goes again."

"Hmph. Sorry that I enjoy battles, even if they're just training ones."

Ami nodded. "However, you shouldn't take your eyes off your enemy. "

"What do you mean, she's right in front of-- Oof!"

Lilith looked at the scene in shock for a few seconds, then started laughing. Hisako's fire construct hadn't vanished, it had actually used the hole her attack had created to sneak behind them, and had jumped out of the ground when Hisako gave it a mental command. However, the tiger was right now sitting on top of Dragon Saturn's back, and licking its front left paw as if it wasn't worried about its prey escaping.

"I think you've got a lot to learn about battles. Even if they're just training battles, leave your guard down for a second, and you could lose."

Dragon Saturn smiled at Mars. "I see... And you're right. Now could you get this stray cat off me?"

Mars banished her summon and then sighed. "Want to keep on fighting?"

"No, I see I will need to train a lot before I can hope to win," Dragon Saturn said, "still, it was a fun battle."

Ami smiled, her son had changed quite a lot the last few years. She still remembered how unfriendly he had been when he was younger, to the point she had almost lost all hopes for him to become more... Human.

Hikaru walked to the 'arena' as the two younger Senshi left. This 'arena' was created with the same technology (or magitek as some people called it,) as the shield around the city. No attacks could pass through its walls, so there was no risk of damaging the city while fighting. "Hey, Hisako, what about a one on one?"

"Hmph, want to get thrashed again?"

Hikaru smiled. "Don't get cocky, old lady, because I've got a surprise for you. Venus Light Power!"

"Oh..." Mars smiled at the new Eternal Senshi. "About time, you weakling."

Venus chuckled. "Let's see if you can beat me this time."

Takamaru had turned back to normal, and watched the fight as he thought about what he had learnt. He had underestimated those two, they weren't stupid, although their strategies weren't anything he could fall for twice. He had to train, to become stronger. With this new attitude of his, he was sure he would get what he wanted from them. He knew it from the way everyone looked at him nowadays, they all thought he had changed.

For beings who considered themselves the strongest warriors on Earth, they sure were a bunch of gullible fools.

Later on, everyone had left the training place, leaving Hisako and Hikaru alone. Hikaru knew this was the perfect chance for her. But she had been avoiding this for years now.

"What do you think of the newbies?"

That took her out of her brooding. "Tsuki's powers are quite special. As for that boy, do you realize how strong he could be if he got to our level?"

"I asked mom about that a couple years ago. She said that he can, in theory, have at least three times the power of a Senshi of the same level. More if angered. And unlike his father, he doesn't tire out fast while using both powers."

"It's a good thing he's on our side, then," Hikaru noted. She then looked at Hisako and blushed. "Damn..."

"What's wrong?"

"I've... I've been wanting to tell you something for years."

After almost two minutes of silence, Hisako groaned. "So, what is it?"

"It's not easy for me to say it," Hikaru admitted.

Somehow, Hisako guessed what her friend meant. "Hikaru, I..."

"I like you, not just as a friend," Hikaru said, then froze. There, she had said it, now it was only a matter of what her friend would say.

Hisako looked away. "I've suspected that for a while. I had dreaded that was the case, Hikaru."

"D... Dreaded?"

Hisako turned back to look at her and smiled. "I like you too, but... Not the same way you like me. You're someone special to me, but..."

"Stop," Hikaru said, her tone rather cold. "I get it."

"I don't want you to be mad at me, though, just..."

"I can't be mad at you," Hikaru said, fighting back tears, "but I'm angry at myself, I should have seen it, that you didn't feel the same way..."

Hisako saw her friend run off and sighed. She was quite worried about losing their friendship over this, but she was even more worried that she had hurt her friend. And didn't she feel something for her too? She had never given it any thoughts, after all.

"Miss Hino, we have high level energy readings near the city."

Rei looked at her communicator. The woman speaking through it was the one who was left in charge of things when Mars and Nova weren't around. "Saki, what is it exactly?"

"From the readings I'm seeing here, it's the young Venus. Should I send someone there to check on it?"

"No, I'm going there personally. I'll tell you if I need help." As Rei put her comm away, she noticed someone walking to her. "Hisa?"

"I'm going there, too, mom. After all, this is my fault."

"But you could get hurt, let me handle this and..."

"I'm not asking you to let me go," Hisako noted, "and if I get hurt, I suppose it's a fair trade."

"Just what happened, exactly?"

"I don't have time to explain," Hisako said, "but let's try to get her to cool down without hurting her."

"Yes, that was my intention too," Rei admitted. "Let's go."

Serenity frowned. "That much power..."

Artemis had became aware of the power spike seconds before even Serenity did. "That's Hikaru!"

"I know," Serenity said, "but Mars is going there. If she can't handle this, I'll go there personally."

"She didn't completely lose it," Luna noted, "she got out of the city before letting her rage take over."

Serenity nodded. "I don't know what caused this, but I trust Rei."

The two Mars appeared near Younger Venus, and saw things were worse than they thought. The girl's body was shining with light, and was standing in the middle of a mile-wide crater. She noticed them and glared at the young Mars. "Go away!"

"Girl, get a hold of yourself," Mars said, "I don't know what happened, but you could hurt yourself doing this."

"I can't hurt myself more than she hurt me."

Younger Mars sighed at that. "Hikaru, please..."

"Shut up!" Light energy blasted out of her, hitting the two Mars. The old one only staggered back, but the younger... Younger Venus saw her friend hit the ground meters away, and froze. She then fell to her knees and looked at the older Mars. "I... I didn't mean to... "

Despite what the girl had done, Mars' eyes weren't showing her rage or disappointment, only pity. "Hikaru, I went through something like that, once in the past. You weren't even born back then."

"You mean, when your husband..."

Rei nodded. "I lost control of my powers, and burnt down my whole house, and was close to burning the rest of the city down. But someone helped me control it."

"Is she..."

Mars noticed the girl's eyes were fixed on Younger Mars' body. "No, she's just out cold. Your blast was powerful, yes, but I could tell you were holding back."

"Holding back..."

Mars sighed and produced her comm. "Hotaru, you available?"

"I'm here," Saturn said appearing near her. "Shit, what's up with her?"

"Not sure," Mars said, "but heal her. She's used far more power than her body could handle."

Saturn nodded and walked to the girl, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Just relax, girl."

Mars shrugged, her eyes not leaving Hikaru's prone form. "What exactly happened with you?"

"I..." Venus blushed. "I can't tell you."

Mars frowned. "Now, girl, listen up. You're like a daughter to me, but you just hurt my daughter, and I don't know what put you in this state. I need to know."

Venus appeared right then, and needed only take a look around to realize things had been rough for a minute. "Darn, Hikaru, what happened to you?"

"I want to know, too."

"She's okay now," Saturn said. "Should I heal Hisako?"

"No, she's just knocked out," Mars said. "Now..."

"I'll take care of her," Venus said.

"Wait, mom," Younger Venus looked around. She had visibly calmed, her initial anger gone. "Aunt Rei deserves to know it too."

Saturn shrugged. "I'll move Hisako back to her house, then."

Venus nodded. "Okay then, let's go home, you've got some explaining to do."

"... And that's when I run off... I felt something inside me awaken, and I sensed just how much power I was building up. I feared I would release that inside the city, so I teleported out."

Minako sighed. "I'm glad you could at least keep a hint of sense, then. You could've killed hundreds with that."

"I know." Hikaru looked down. "She must hate me now."

"Hisako?" Rei sighed. She couldn't blame this girl for being hurt, true her 'trigger' hadn't been as 'bad' as what had happened to her, but it was still something she could sympathise with. "I don't think she will be mad at you... Even scared of you. She knows you weren't quite yourself when you hit her."

"But you two need to talk this out later on," Minako noted.

"What is there to talk about?" Hikaru said, "I love her, she doesn't. I can live with that."

"You can? That crater outside the city says otherwise," Minako noted.

"I..."

"Hikaru, you should know what Hisako thinks of you," Rei said, "you're like a younger sister to her, I doubt she's ever thought about you the way you..."

"A younger sister, huh?" Hikaru smiled for a second. "I've always seen her as an older sister."

"As I said, you two need to talk about it."

"I guess..."

"And get that gloomy face off," Minako said, "I don't think Hisa wants to see you like this."

"That's true," Hikaru said. "Think she's up already?"

"No idea," Rei admitted, "I'll go check on her."

"Hope you're not against..."

Ami shook her head. "Yuki, I'm okay with it. And even if I wasn't," she smiled at that, "Aiko's as stubborn as her father."

"Heh, a wonder genetics aren't involved in this."

"Maybe they... Are," Ami said, "but I was never able to find an explanation for how Aiko was born. And nowadays, I don't really care about it. I'm not about to dissect her."

"So, where is she right now?"

"Serenity wanted to talk to her, but she will be back soon."

"Then I'll wait for her, if you don't mind."

"Not at all."

"Tsuki, did you feel that power spike a few minutes ago?"

"Yes. You look happy."

Takamaru nodded. "It's amazing, such a power... I'm sure it was one of the old Senshi."

"But what were they fighting against?"

"Whatever it is, I'm sure it got fried," Takamaru said. "It's just awesome. We could get to that level, someday!"

"I don't really care. It's not like we have anything to fight against."

"You shouldn't think like that," Takamaru muttered, "something could show up, something so strong the old Senshi required out help to fight it."

"Hmph... I don't see how that could happen, but you've got a point," Tsuki said.

Takamaru smiled. True, he had mostly played along with her, making her think he was her friend. But that was before, since he was starting to feel something else about her. Friendship, perhaps? He couldn't tell, it wasn't like he had felt anything but hatred towards anyone before.

Maybe he could use her help. Once the two of them were at least at Eternal level, he would tell her what he was planning. And if she didn't agree, well... He would just have to get rid of her.

A/N: Hope having more than one Sailor/Dragon for each planet isn't getting too confusing. The new generation won't be limited to the few that are already around. And yeah, Takamaru's one sneaky little bastard. But the actual angsty part will be delayed until next episode (Changing things on the run? Me? Never!)

Also, keep in mind Takamaru and Tsuki are twelve years younger than Hisako. That makes the brat thirteen... And already at Twilight level.

DavisJes: Your guess was quite right. Kyma doesn't really need a lover. She was just curious about it and looking at it from the sidelines for a while.