Cyber Moon: Crystal.

Act 1: Crystal City.

Episode 5: Training and trials.

By Razor Knight

Last update: November 30, 2008

"May I come in?"

"Sure."

They had been avoiding each other for two days now, but Hikaru had finally decided it was useless to run away from this mess. It would only hurt their friendship in the end. As she walked into the room, she saw Hisako sitting there, staring at her. "I'm Sorry."

"Sorry for what?" Hisako asked.

"Well, I hurt you back there."

"Maybe I deserved it," Hisako admitted, "and it was nothing compared to..."

"That's not your fault," Hikaru noted, "I guess I'll just have to get used to the idea."

"You know, I've been giving it some thought. What I said then is true, you're my best friend, but I never saw anything else in you. "

"And you're like an older sister to me, even now," Hikaru said.

"But you didn't just fall in love with me overnight."

"Heh, that's true."

"Now listen, Hikaru. Don't think of what I said before as a 'no' but as a 'maybe.'"

Hikaru smiled happily. "That is..."

"I don't want to lose you as a friend, but I also don't know if I'll ever feel that way for you."

"A 'maybe,' huh? I can wait. We're not getting any older."

"Isn't that true?" Hisako smiled. True, she still looked like she was in her late teens, aging was already slowing down for her.

"How are things going in the utopia, sir?"

Terry smiled. "Pretty utopic."

"Eeeh. I see your sense of humor hasn't improved one bit."

"That's true, Sam. But at least it didn't get worse, either."

"Would that even be possible?"

"Doubt it," Terry admitted. "Is dad around?"

Jack walked in right then. He looked at his son and sighed. "Must be nice to don't get old and ugly, huh?"

"I'm looking forwards to spending a thousand years in Boringsville," Terry said, "though don't tell Usagi or Ami I said that."

"You were getting used to the fighting, huh?"

"Yeah, but I really can't complain."

"Maybe I can create an army of super-robots and send them to shoot at that shield of yours."

Terry chuckled. "I'll tell Serenity about that."

"I wasn't serious."

"Yeah, but our younger members need the training."

"How's Takamaru doing?"

"He's doing fine, he's a lot more sociable than he was years ago. I may be jumping to conclusions, but I think he may start dating someone soon."

"So things are going to be peaceful for a while."

"Yeah, most likely." Though he knew all too well that the Universe seemed to have a dreadful sense of humor, and saying something like that could very well bring forth an alien invasion fleet or two.

"Pluto, I need to speak to you."

To most other members of the Crystal Tokyo royalty, it would've been strange to just call out a name and expect the person to appear before them. However, Pluto was already used to this, Serenity had done it several times in the past, and she had heed her call except for the two times when she had been busy with something else.

And so, Sailor Pluto appeared before her Queen, bowing to her. "What do you need, Serenity?"

"I know you can see hints of the future, and I've become aware of something about one of the younger Senshi. I haven't told anyone else yet, though, but..."

"My position forces me to tell you to wait, to not tell anyone about it," Pluto said.

"Can't you look at it from another perspective?"

Pluto let out a long sigh. "Yes. That child will create chaos, and it's possible he gets out of hands pretty soon. As Sailor Pluto, I say you shouldn't tell anyone. But as a friend, I suppose the child's parents deserve to know the truth."

"Maybe if we act now, we can steer him off the dangerous path he's on."

"But he could still stay the same," Pluto noted.

"I'll take the risk. Now all I need to figure out is how to tell her about this."

"If there's nothing else you wanted to ask me..."

"How's the little one?"

Pluto smiled. "Why, Serenity, we shouldn't be speaking about someone who doesn't exist."

"Tell her I said hi."

Pluto nodded. "Of course."

Ami was quite curious about what the Queen wanted. It wasn't often at all that Serenity asked her to come speak to her in private. At least, not with the tone she had used. She sounded dead serious, and worried about whatever she was going to tell her about.

She walked past the guards who stood in front of the throne room's large crystal doors. Guard duty there was both a honor and a quite boring job, she realized as she nodded to the two men. As she entered the room, she saw it was empty, not counting the Queen. "Serenity, what is it you wanted to..."

"Ami, this is difficult for me to say, and I know you will have a hard time believing it, so..."

"You're too serious today."

"Because this is a serious matter," Serenity admitted. "Listen, Ami, lately I've become aware of something I sense in your son."

Ami was now quite worried, and it showed. "What's wrong with Takamaru?"

"You know I can sense evil in creatures of most races I've met. And your son, he's got a bit too much of that."

"Your mind must be tricking you."

Serenity sighed. "I feared this. Ami, I'm not saying your son is evil. But there's something in him that's making him steer into that path. He needs help."

"This can't be. He's smart. He's kind. He's friendly, he..."

"He's our son, so we need to help him."

"Terry, when did you..."

"Serenity already explained it to me, and I had almost the same reaction you're having," Terry admitted, "but we can't ignore this. You know Usagi would never lie about something this serious."

Ami looked at him and her eyes widened. "That's true. Serenity, sorry about..."

"Don't worry. Now go, Takamaru needs you both."

He should've known this would happen. "But mom, I'm not evil, I just like to fight, what's wrong with that?"

"You're not telling us the truth. There must be something you hate, and it's better to do something about it than to keep all your anger inside."

"What I hate..." Takamaru frowned. He was cornered, that old hag Serenity had seen through his deception. He couldn't lie, but he also didn't care right now. "I hate the people of this city, only living safely because the Senshi are around. They're weak, they're useless, they..."

"They're human, just like us," Ami said. "Not every human is going to be able to throw elemental attacks like we do, but that's what we're here for, to protect them."

"And another thing I don't like... Why are you just staying at that power? See, I don't understand that. I've always wanted to be the smartest, the strongest, always thought that was my destiny."

"If you want to become stronger, we can help you," Terry said.

Ami looked at Takamaru with a quite serious face for a few seconds. "Do you really hate us?"

Takamaru frowned. "No. I didn't like that you decided to stay at that level, but..."

Ami smiled. "It's not that we decided to stay at this level, Taka. There's no higher level than this."

Takamaru looked at his mother and gasped. "But then what about the power spike I felt..."

"If you mean what happened a few days ago, then that's nothing you can consciously reach."

Terry nodded. "That... A Senshi needs to feel a rage so strong, they aren't able to control their power anymore. They let loose an incredible power, but they are likely to die after using it."

"In short, with that much power, my body wouldn't resist it," Takamaru guessed. "But then, who did..."

"That was Hikaru, fortunately Saturn and Mars were around and they brought her back to her senses."

"Gee, I miss all the action," Takamaru muttered.

"Be glad you did. Someone at your level, being hit by a Senshi in that state, would be dead before they realized what happened."

Takamaru nodded, but his mind was already thinking about what he had been told. So he had been wrong, there was a limit for their power, and he could get there with their help. "What about Serenity?"

"Her power's out of our reach," Ami admitted. "She's not like the other Senshi. If you're thinking about fighting her..."

"... What, you mean she knows how to fight too?"

"She's saved the world many times in the past, in fact she first saved the world when she was not much older than you. Though she was weaker than you are now. Also, our last big enemy killed us all, and she brought us back."

"Wow... Then she's really powerful."

"Maybe we'll get you to the palace to visit her."

Takamaru smiled. "Aren't you afraid I would try something?"

"We just told you about that enemy we fought last... She didn't kill her, she just took all her powers from her."

"So she can..."

"She could do the same to you, yes, if you don't behave."

Takamaru flinched. That woman was truly powerful. He had never really seen Serenity, only on TV, and he had always thought she was some relic who just sat around and did nothing at all. "So I guess I should apologize for fooling you."

"Apologize with actions, not words," Terry noted, "you're a smart one, I'm sure you'll know what to do from now on."

The boy smiled. Yes, he was bored of being alone, he was bored of trying to push his limits on his own. And the alternative didn't sound too good, being left without any powers wasn't something he wanted to try.

"I would've liked to see the past, you know..."

"You mean Silver Millenium?"

"Of course. I can't help but wonder what life was like back then."

"Much like today."

Yukiko frowned. "How do you know, the others told you?"

Aiko smirked. "No, I can access mom's computer, so I've read much of the things it has on Silver Millenium and the times before that."

"Never seen you read anything."

Aiko sighed. "See, one of the bad things about being what I am... I can read and memorize data faster than any human ever could. I can't read books at the speed I would normally, because I would be passing the pages so fast I'd destroy them."

"Wow. The more I know about you..."

"The freakier I seem?"

"Not at all," Yuki said, leaning to Aiko. She stopped, though, and looked around. "Okay, you two, you should know I can 'see' you behind that tree."

"Gah, didn't think she would find out if we lowered our power," Hikaru said as she and Hisako walked out from their hiding spot behind a tree.

"Eavesdropping isn't nice," Aiko said, "I'll have to punish you."

Hikaru laughed at that. "But you've got no powers of your own, ri... " She stopped as Aiko's hands lit up. "Eeeh... Should I run now?"

"I may never need to use it, but I've got a built-in mana blaster. Fortunately for you, I'm in a good mood."

Hisako groaned and dragged Hikaru away. "Sorry 'bout that, she's as much of an airhead as her mother was in the past."

Yuki smiled as Aiko turned back to her. "Built-in mana blaster, huh?"

"Just one more thing to add to my charm."

Ami looked at Terry and smiled. "Now, let's do this."

"Right," Terry summoned his sword, Frostbite and looke at Ami. "Anytime you're ready."

Ami summoned her glove and visor and nodded. "Go ahead."

Terry's sword vanished and he looked at Ami. "Found what you were looking for?"

Ami looked at the data in her computer and smiled. "Sure did. Now I know for sure there's no such thing as a 'pocket dimension' for us to put all our things into."

Terry was surprised at that. "Then where do they go?"

"They go nowhere, they just change." She looked at a monitor in the far side of the wall. "I suppose I should have seen this before, but never really took my time to consider just what happened to those objects."

"Care telling me?"

"It's easy to explain. They become pure mana, and are always near us."

"Now that's a hell of a theory."

"I've got enough data to back it up," Ami said pointing at her computer glove.

"Now I wonder what's the speed of mana."

"Speed of..." Ami was, for once, lost.

"Dad's old teleportation devices never got out of the development phase. There were some complications, besides, you know, thunderstorms."

Ami nodded. "Yeah, I do remember that."

"But what if we could turn matter into mana, then direct it to somewhere else, and then revert the process?"

"Guess we just found something to do while we wait for the next alien starfleet."

Terry chuckled. "Anyway, should I get Aiko to help us?"

Ami nodded. "Hope she's not busy."

Terry smiled at her. "Our little girl's grown up, huh?"

Ami looked at her computer again and paled. "Oh crap."

"What's wrong?" Terry asked, but then looked through the window and saw a black dome, miles away from them. "Damn, she's doing it again!"

But the dome was gone as soon as it had appeared. "Let's check on her," Ami said.

Terry nodded. "Right, something's got the be quite wrong for her to lose control."

When the two Mercuries reached their target, they noticed there was more people around than they expected. "Serenity?"

Ami noticed Saturn was healing Shingo, who looked quite beaten up, and Serenity was sitting besides Hana, who was crying and not looking up at them. "What happened here?"

"Her parents," Serenity started, but Hana put a hand in front of her to stop her.

"They're both... Dead," Hana said, looking up at Terry. "From what I was told, someone broke into the mansion, but dad tried to resist, and..."

Terry looked to the side and grimaced. Shingo looked like he had been too close when her rage exploded. "What happened to..."

"That's my fault," Hana said, "I couldn't control my rage, not this time. I almost killed him."

Serenity sighed. "And that's why I'm here... I had no choice but to take her powers from her."

Terry paled. "Well, that's... You can, uhm, give them back?"

Serenity nodded. "I don't really 'take' anything, but I simply block her access to them. However, I don't think it's..."

"You can leave them like this, for all I care."

"But..."

"Shut up, Terry. What good are these powers? I couldn't save my parents, and I almost kill Shingo. I'm better off without them."

"I understand you're scared right now, but..."

"Scared, yeah. Scared that I'll go back to New York and kill every single criminal there, since I don't really know who did it."

"I can help with that."

Hana heard Shingo's weak voice and turned to him. "Shingo, I'm sorry about..."

"Don't worry. I suppose if I was in your place, I wouldn't have it easy controlling myself, either."

"I'm going to go back there for the funeral," Hana said, "and I'm not sure when I'll be back."

"Don't go on a vendetta or anything, Hana."

Hana glared at Terry. "Of course I won't. I'm not stupid enough to go and try to fight anyone powerless."

"I've unlocked your powers already," Serenity said.

Hana hadn't noticed, but she could sense Serenity was right. "Huh? Why?"

"Because I trust you."

"But I'm going back there, I could just do what I said before..."

"That's up to you," Serenity noted, "just don't regret what you do later on."

Hana turned to the side and frowned. "Eh, the house is..." She was sure she had wrecked it completely, but there it was, apparently in one piece. "Thanks for everything."

"I don't like to see my friends hurt," Serenity said.

Hana nodded, but a part of her mind was already waging an inner war. Only twice in the past she had killed criminals, and both times were accidental, as her psi shield had bounced the bullets back at them. She couldn't kill humans deliberately, even for revenge. She would have to find out just the one responsible for her parents' deaths, and make him pay. She would make sure he rot in jail for the rest of his (or her) life.

But, also, she was afraid of what she'd actually do once she found that person. If anger got the best of her, then there wouldn't be enough left of him to fill a spoon.

"Why do I have to tag along?"

Younger Venus chuckled. "Don't be a cranky old woman, Hisa."

The four Younger Senshi were right now standing outside the throne room's doors. Serenity had called them all upon hearing Ami's request. "I wonder what she looks like in person," Lilith pondered.

"We're about to find out," Dragon Saturn noted.

"You're no fun."

"You may enter," one of the two guards said upon 'hearing' the mental command from Serenity herself. The doors opened, and the four Senshi walked in.

The two youngest Senshi looked around the room in awe. It wasbigger than it seemed from the outside, big enough to throw a party in, actually. However, their attention was drawn to the woman sitting on the throne in the far side of the room.

Even the two older Senshi had a hard time not being intimidated by her right now. They had seen her several times before, since she often visited their parents, but she never left her power like this, uncloaked. If mana had weight, they would have been crushed by the mana she was surrounded by.

"You're scaring them."

The four looked to the side, noticing the small black cat standing near the throne. The distraction wasn't quite accidental, and it was effective. When they turned back to the Queen, the intimidating aura around her was almost completely gone.

"I thought cutting my power down by half would be enough," Serenity said to Luna apologetically.

"H- Half?" Dragon Saturn almost shouted.

Serenity smiled at him. "Yes, what you sensed was only fifty percent of my real magic power."

Lilith sighed. "That was scary."

Serenity rose an eyebrow at that. "So I take it your parents never showed you their true level."

Mars groaned. "If you're done scarying off the kids..."

Serenity gave her a meaningful look. "Sometimes, Hisa, you remind me of your mother when she was younger."

"Wait, you mean our parents are also..."

Serenity looked at Takamaru. "Ami is capable of using an attack that will freeze any water inside an enemy in a split second. Even though it's a melee attack, it was still quite an incredible skill."

"Mom... Can do that?" The young Dragon blinked.

"And your father, well... If he were to use his dual powers, I suppose he could get close to my full power," Serenity continued. "In fact, Princess Serenity, my dear daughter, is incredibly close to my own power, even now."

"So many strong people..." Dragon Saturn said. "I have a request."

"Wait, you're not going to..." Mars muttered.

"Serenity, I would like to face you in battle."

Serenity smiled. "You should know it will be useless."

"It won't," Dragon Saturn said, "I need to know just how strong I can hope to be."

"Then you'll face me."

They all turned to the person who had just appeared in the throne room. There was no confusing her, even for those who had never seen her personally. "Princess..." Mars said.

"Hisako, don't be so formal," ChibiUsa said, "after all, we're both from the same generation." She noticed Takamaru looking at her and smiled as she let her full power flare. "I can sympathise with you, since I was also born a warrior. However, if I were to fight for real, you would be lucky if you even saw the first movement at all. "

"Hmph, I won't believe that until I see it."

"Very well..." ChibiUsa looked at the Queen. "May I...?"

Serenity smiled. "Always stealing my spotlight, daughter. But go right ahead, I don't mind."

"The truth is, mom, I've kept on training by myself."

"Hmm? Now you got me interested too," Serenity mused.

"I can't take all the kids there so I guess they're going to miss this short fight."

Serenity smiled. "Is Pluto aware of this?"

"Of course."

"Then she won't mind me tagging along," Serenity said.

Luna blinked as the others vanished. "Still the same old Usagi after all."

"Whoa, where are we?"

Mars looked around. "Mom told me about this. This is the time tunnel which connects past, present and future."

"That's correct," Serenity said. "This brings back memories."

"And not all of them good," ChibiUsa said, "In any case, while we're here, I don't have to worry about letting my power flare. Moon Holy Power!"

Dragon Saturn flinched, this woman's power had gone further up as she transformed. Did that mean Serenity's power was also not at its real peak right now?

"The face you're making, boy, it's nice. It'd be sad to enter battle with someone who doesn't know he's out of his league."

Dragon Saturn frowned. "Even then, even if my enemy's stronger, I won't give up."

ChibiMoon vanished, appearing right behind him. "Yes, that's how a Senshi should think."

The Dragon dodged her sword slash, but he then realized something. She was holding back. "Won't you fight me for real?"

"Don't be stubborn," ChibiMoon said. "If one of my full-power blasts hit you, I would have to go call Hotaru to bring you back."

"Hmph. Well then, let's see if I can still beat you," Dragon Saturn said.

"You're holding back too."

Dragon Saturn looked at Serenity. "What..."

"I can 'see' things that others wouldn't understand even if I tried to explain. Twilight isn't your real power level."

"I'm surprised you knew that," Dragon Saturn said, "but it's fine. Saturn Star Power!"

"Still not enough," ChibiMoon snapped then vanished.

"Not going to fall for the same trick twice!" the Dragon said and turned back, already slashing down at his foe. However, ChibiMoon was ready and blocked his sword with her own.

"I knew you wouldn't," ChibiMoon said then punched his chest. A wave of energy shot into his body, knocking him off.

"Thought you weren't going to fight for real." Venus noted.

"That was only strong enough to knock him out," ChibiUsa said, then gave a small leap to the side, barely dodging the sword slash that followed. She saw Dragon Saturn standing there and frowned. "How did you..." She looked at the Dragon on the ground and saw his body was now transluscent. "A fake..."

"Surprised you, didn't I?" Dragon Saturn noted. "I've also finally figured out how to fire those attacks without voicing them out."

"Hah, nice," ChibiMoon said as the two circled each other, waiting for the right time to attack. "Took us old girls a while to figure that one out."

Dragon Saturn smiled. "True, and you should also realize you're underestimating me."

"Watch out!" Venus said as she realized what the boy meant.

ChibiMoon felt the stab and grimaced. "Ugh... Damn it."

The Dragon smirked from behind her, as the one in front of her vanished. "See, you keep on underestimating me."

His foe chuckled. "And you too." 'Heartbeat Wall.'

"What the..." Dragon Saturn looked around in shock. He was trapped in some kind of pink-hued forcefield. "Hey, what did you do?"

"A heart?" Lilith asked.

"Yes, that's the shape of most of her attacks," Serenity said, "but if you think they're weak because of their shape, then you'll really end up regretting it when fighting her." But, she had used that attack without touching her foe this time. So, that's what she had learnt from her training?

"You should never consider the battle won with just one stab," ChibiMoon said as a glaive appeared in her hands.

"What's she going to do with that?" Venus asked.

"That's Hotaru's glaive," Mars noted. "How can she..."

"Oh, that's what she meant, then," Serenity said with a chuckle.

The Dragon punched the heart several times, but realized the wall wasn't giving in. "I suppose I won't be getting out of this. I give up."

"Good," ChibiUsa said and pushed the sword out of her side. "Even if I planned it, it still hurts a damn lot." She looked at 'her' glaive and smiled. "As for the training I talked about... Saturn Healing Stream!"

Serenity saw the glaive shine, and a beam washed over ChibiMoon. The sword wound closed in a few seconds, and ChibiMoon made it vanish. "Isn't doing that dangerous?"

"I can't use all of Saturn's powers," ChibiMoon said, "but I can heal myself or others almost as well as her now."

"..." Dragon Saturn flinched. So he wasn't the only one using dual powers. "Hey, mind getting me out of here?"

ChibiMoon smiled. "Of course." The heart vanished and she looked around. "It's all because of this place, too."

Serenity sighed. "I guessed that. I've sensed you and Hotaru entering this place several times in the past few days."

"A few days for you, a few months for us," ChibiMoon noted with a wink.

The Dragon gasped. "Hold it, but... You mean you're training here?"

"Yes, but it's an exception to the rule. Nobody's allowed in here unless Pluto herself says so."

"Hmmm... That's a bit unfair, don't you think?"

"I suppose. But tell you what, I'll help you training too. It'll stop me from being bored out of my mind until the next alien fleet arrives."

Serenity looked at the boy. The evil in him was almost gone now. He had realized there was no need to hate and fight those who could help him be stronger. That spark of evil was not gone for good, but then again, even Serenity herself had a bit of evil inside. What mattered was never letting it take control.

It had been one fortunate coincidence, she knew that, but a part of her still wished things had worked differently. She had been busy for a while, 'asking' around for information on the murderer, but once she finally got his identity, she was also told she had been too late to get her revenge.

"Maybe I should thank them."

Shingo frowned. "Hana, you..."

"I know, those mages are criminals as well, but they killed that bastard."

"Along with fifty other civilians," Shingo noted.

"Right," Nova said. "Wait right here, if any of them tries to get away, you know what to do."

Shingo smiled as Nova vanished, and summoned his sword. "Sure do."

The fight itself took only a couple minutes, and not many of the mages made it out of it alive. As Nova looked at the now wrecked building, she sighed. "Okay, I'm done with this issue."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm not going to be okay for quite some time, but..." she leaned on Shingo's shoulder. "Let's go back home."

Shingo put an arm around her and sighed. "Wish I could help you more. "

"Just being with me is enough," Nova said. "Even after I almost..."

"Don't worry about that, I knew the risks, and I was ready for them. "

"I still see darkness in his future. There's a chance that he..."

"Setsuna, I know that, but if the darkness inside him is a trouble, then wouldn't it be the same for everyone else?"

"Serenity, I don't..."

"My daughter's teaching him now. If he tries anything funny, I'm sure she will be able to knock him back to his senses."

"That's true," Pluto said. "I will still keep an eye on him."

"Me too."

"So, you're going to train the brats?"

ChibiUsa nodded. "Want to tag along?"

Hotaru chuckled. "That could be fun. I can teach that kid what death magic looks when used correctly."

"He knows a trick you never used, though."

"Oh? Now that I have to see."

"Full control over ice and death magic... That kid's really something. He could become stronger than most of the old Senshi."

"Even me?"

"Even... No, not quite like me, or mom."

"Yeah, well, you two cheat."

"I'm going to have to punish you for saying that."

"Oh? I thought you weren't into that kind of stuff."

"..." ChibiUsa shook her head and giggled. "And here I was trying to sound menacing..."

"You would be menacing if you weren't a rabbit," Hotaru teased.

"Oh, now you've done it," ChibiUsa muttered.

"You know, this place's really something. We've really gone ballistic on each other here, and its walls don't even dent."

"Not even Puu or Ami are sure exactly what the walls are made of," ChibiUsa said looking around, "but it's a good thing we can come to train here for as long as we want."

"If we keep coming here, though, you'll end up being older than your mother."

"Hah, now that's one funny paradox."

"Oh, you two are around. I thought I wouldn't find anyone here today. "

The two turned to the voice. "I suppose you're 'her,' right?"

"Name's Saki," the woman said. "And I suppose there's no harm in showing myself, since you already know about me."

A/N: I don't really think it's hard to know who that woman is... If you use your imagination.

As for Takamaru, you haven't really seen the last of him yet. His life will be an eventful one, indeed.