On Today's Episode: It's not an easy job for a champion of love and justice, especially after your friends have just been killed by the Dark Kingdom's toughest soldiers. Thankfully, Sailor Moon won't be alone this time, as the trinity decides to help her defeat Queen Beryl and get her lover back, but what dastardly tricks does Queen Beryl have up her poofy sleeves, and what exactly is Ellen doing here, traipsing around like she thinks she can control the Heartless?
For Today's World: Today, we're going to one of my favorite anime ever, Sailor Moon. Specifically, we're adapting episode 46, the finale of the first anime series. And yes, we're going by the original series, not Crystal.
EDIT 2/6/23: Fixed some typos and an oops thanks to The Fabled Lonni (he has many names, apparently).
Episode 15: Finding Love By Moonlight
"Well, if this place don't beat all," Nick quipped once the trinity had disembarked in what appeared to be the freezing Arctic landscape. "...why am I not cold, despite all of the blizzard around us?"
"Magical clothes," Sophia giggled. "I thought of everything when I unlocked your potential."
"W-wait, Sophia, you gave Nick his keyblade?" Haruka wondered. "I never actually knew that."
"As I have stated to Nick, I still do not know how I did so, but I was able to bestow keyblades on both Nick and Marie, as well as their magical clothes," Sophia explained. "Perhaps I will know how when I recover my lost memories."
"And as for Haruka and I, who don't have those cool outfits, I've got this," Maylin quipped as she summoned Spellbinder to her hand. Concentrating for a few seconds, Maylin raised Spellbinder to the sky, then snapped it down, spawning a dual helix of red energy spheres around all three of them.
And, just like that, the party no longer felt the chill of the arctic air.
"Like it?" Maylin giggled. "It's my Maylin-patented 'Nul' spell series! Basically, Emperor Clow's taught me a lot of very useful magic spells, like this one. My 'Nul' series is actually dual-use, as not only does it provide temporary defense against the element of choice, it has environmental protection as well. For example, NulBlaze, which I just used, blocks fire spells and attacks, and also keeps you warm in any kind of bitter cold!"
"Maylin and I have had to use it a lot in some of the worlds we've visited," Haruka admitted. "Trust me on that one."
"Wait, wait, I think I see somebody up ahead," Nick quipped. "In fact, I see multiple people."
"...I do not detect any life signs from them," Sophia uttered.
"Ooh, that's not good," Maylin proclaimed. "Let's get moving!"
However, on the way to the scene, a group of Heartless spawned all around them. Most of them were Large Bodies and Soldiers, but there was a new type that resembled a humanoid with a tan body and large, orange and yellow wings on its back, wearing brown bracelets on each of its wrists, a skull on each of its shoulders, acting like a pauldron, navy blue pants with blue-white patches on the knees, and yellow and white striped boots, also sporting a gold choker and a black face with glowing yellow eyes partially obscured by a blue and white striped bandana.
"Flighty-looking thing," Nick quipped.
"That's an Aerial Viking," Haruka explained. "They're very aggressive and don't wait for you to get in close, so use magic to keep it steady."
Nick nodded, summoning Reverberating Abyss and casting Gravira to flatten a group of the Heartless and open some room to work. Maylin followed up by casting Thundara on the Large Bodies while Haruka moved to behind the Large Body and finished it off with an overhead chop.
The Aerial Viking started swiftly punching its way towards Nick after recovering, but Nick raised his keyblade to parry the attack, then hit it with a Fira spell right to its face, defeating it handily.
With the Large Bodies down, it was child's play to mop up the rest of the enemies, and after Sophia registered their data in the Gummiphone, the trinity made their way forward...
...only to find a gruesome scene waiting for them when they reached the nearby icy mountain.
Four teenage girls were lying there in the snow, their bodies all wounded in some form or fashion.
"Yikes," Haruka stated. "You think their hearts were taken?"
Maylin walked closer and took a good look. "No, their hearts haven't been taken," Maylin sighed. "They're straight-up dead."
"What the hell happened here?" Nick asked, looking around and seeing spots where there was no snow-covered ground, and many wrecked parts of the landscape. "It looks like there was some kind of battle around here."
That was when Nick noticed someone else walking slowly towards the rather ominous-looking palace in the distance. She appeared to be about the same age as the teenagers here in the snow, with long blonde hair tied up in buns and blue eyes, even wearing a similar sailor uniform of sorts.
"Where's she going?" Maylin wondered.
"Probably to her death, if she keeps this up," Haruka stated. "I'm pretty sure these girls were her friends, and I'm sensing an incredibly strong darkness coming from somewhere inside that palace."
"Well, then what are we standing around here for?" Nick proclaimed. "Let's go help her before she gets herself killed, too."
Nothing more needed to be said as the trinity raced towards the girl to stop her from doing something she'd regret.
"Hey, hey, hold up a minute!" Maylin called out. Naturally, Sailor Moon was immediately on the defensive, considering the horrific battle she'd somehow survived.
"H-How did the three of you get all the way out here?" Sailor Moon asked.
"I could ask you the same question, miss," Nick stated. "What happened here?"
Sailor Moon glanced back towards where they'd fought the DD Girls, still grieving the loss of her friends. "My friends... they all sacrificed their lives so I could get to Queen Beryl..." Sailor Moon gasped. "I can't let their sacrifices be in vain..."
"Then let us help you," Maylin responded. "We're pretty tough ourselves. Trust us."
Despite everything, Sailor Moon couldn't help but smile. At least now she wouldn't have to face Queen Beryl all by her lonesome.
Just then, a large bubble of dark red light surrounded all four heroes, and teleported them away before they could react. When they could see again, they were inside of Queen Beryl's secret lair.
"Okay, convenient?" Nick quipped.
"You've done well to make it this far. I commend you for that, princess."
Out of the shadows came a tall, imposing figure, quickly revealed to be none other than Queen Beryl herself.
"So, you're Queen Beryl?" Sailor Moon gasped.
"That's right, in the flesh," Queen Beryl chuckled. "And you, wielders of the keyblade, I've been expecting you as well."
"Wait, you know who we are?" Haruka stated.
"Oh, my, yes," Queen Beryl replied. "Your little friend here has told me so much about you."
A figure stepped out from behind Queen Beryl, and it turned out to be Ellen, still wielding her Starlight keyblade, though its colors now appeared more dull and faded.
"I didn't think you'd make it so soon, Nick," Ellen quipped. "Despite everything, it's good to see you again."
"Ellen, how did you get here?" Nick wondered.
"You're seriously still on about that?" Ellen stated, twirling Starlight in her hands. "You know, instead of worrying so much about me, you should be more worried..."
Ellen aimed Starlight towards Queen Beryl's throne, where a familiar girl could be seen resting. "...about her."
"M-Marie!" Nick exclaimed. To his surprise, though, Marie didn't react, still sitting half-slumped over in the throne with half-open eyes that looked dull and lost to the world.
"That's right, Nick," Ellen taunted. "While you were off gallivanting around the worlds, I finally found your sister. The person who's supposed to be the most important person in your life."
Nick quickly summoned his keyblade and prepared to charge in and attack, only for the shadows around Queen Beryl to recede and reveal a bunch of Aerial Vikings floating behind Ellen.
"W-what are those things?!" Sailor Moon gasped.
"Ellen, what's going on here?" Nick demanded. "Why the hell are you siding with the Heartless?!"
"Siding with them?" Ellen chuckled. "The Heartless obey me now, Nick. I have absolutely nothing left to fear."
Now Nick was deeply disturbed. That cold, sinister, careless glint in her eyes... that was nothing like the Ellen he knew.
"Don't be stupid," Nick shouted. "You know that they'll swallow your heart sooner or later if you keep this up!"
"Not a chance," Ellen countered. "I appreciate your concern, truly, but my heart's too strong for that. Speaking of which, I've learned some new tricks since last time. Watch this."
Ellen raised Starlight, and a shadowy figure resembling Nick appeared right in front of him.
"As for all of this, I think little miss lunar girl needs to be taught a painful lesson," Ellen quipped. "So how about we take you three to a place where you won't be a problem?"
Ellen raised Starlight again before snapping it down, causing Nick, Maylin and Haruka to vanish in a flare of darkness.
"That should be good enough," Ellen giggled. "Just remember to keep Nick away from Marie until our vessel's ready."
Her role done, Ellen waved Starlight and vanished as well.
"Little brat thinks she can order me around," Queen Beryl growled before disappearing as well. Sailor Moon quickly picked herself up and charged after where she believed Queen Beryl had gone, knowing her friends were counting on her, wherever they were now.
I can't stop now, Sailor Moon thought. Not after all of this!
"Well, this is a pickle," Maylin groaned as she continued to swing Spellbinder at the icy door to their 'prison'. "We need to get up there and help Sailor Moon before this gets ugly."
"As if it isn't ugly already?" Haruka quipped.
"Quiet in there," one of the youma guards proclaimed. "You're supposed to be prisoners, not chatterboxes."
In response, Nick just grinned before summoning Reverberating Abyss. "Well, maybe we're locksmiths instead," Nick chuckled before aiming his keyblade and firing a beam of light into the cell door's keyhole, immediately unlocking it and allowing the trinity to bust out and swiftly dispatch the youma.
"Okay, now that we have some room to talk," Maylin stated. "Was that actually Marie?"
"Yeah, that was her, no doubt about it," Nick responded. "But what happened to her? It's almost as if she... lost her heart..."
When the realization dawned on Nick, Maylin was immediately over there to hug Nick and prevent his mind from going down that train of thought.
"Hey, we'll get her back to normal," Maylin quipped. "I mean it, Nick. We just have to find whoever took her heart and smack them around a bit."
"Yeah, we didn't come all this way just to falter now," Haruka proclaimed.
"Yeah, you're right," Nick responded. "Let's get up there and knock some heads."
"Wait, so you're saying that the moon princess is not one of the chosen ones?" Queen Beryl asked, surprised to hear that news.
"Yeah, there's seven princesses, apparently, and Ichinose says that Usagi's not one of them," Ellen responded. "So... I guess that leaves you with free reign to do whatever you want with her."
"Even though I went through a lot of effort to draw her here?" Queen Beryl asked sarcastically, as she had always planned on killing Sailor Moon here, 'princess' or not. "And why those specific maidens? What is Ichinose really up to?"
"Honestly? Don't know, don't give a crap," Ellen responded. "As long as I can get Marie's heart back where it belongs, I couldn't care less, really."
"If you want my opinion, you're wasting your time," Queen Beryl proclaimed. "The Heartless have clearly devoured that girl's heart. I would wager that it's lost forever."
"No, I'll find her heart, no matter what it takes," Ellen responded.
A slashing sound came from the nearby hallway. Ellen glanced over to see Sailor Moon throwing her tiara like a magical frisbee to cut down swaths of both youma and Heartless.
"Well, she's definitely stubborn, isn't she?" Ellen sighed. "We need a little more time. And let's not forget Nick and his girls. That prison isn't going to hold them for very long, if it even does."
"I have more than enough foot soldiers to keep Sailor Moon busy until the true show is ready to begin," Queen Beryl laughed as she disappeared. "Let her come closer."
Ellen just shook her head and took off as well, just as Sailor Moon came skidding down the hallway, looking around to guess which way she had to go.
"Where are you, Beryl?!" Sailor Moon exclaimed. "I'm not letting you get away!"
"Need some help?" Nick asked as he, Maylin and Haruka approached from the west hallway.
"Thought crossed my mind," Sailor Moon chuckled. "Say, who was that girl who was with Queen Beryl, the one that brought all those monsters with her?"
"That was my girlfriend," Nick responded. "Or at least, she was. I have a feeling she's being controlled by someone that Beryl's working with, but we don't have time to pontificate. We've gotta catch up!"
However, more Aerial Vikings spawned around them.
"Oh, why don't you move it?!" Sailor Moon shouted as she jumped forward to kick an Aerial Viking into a nearby wall before using her Moon Tiara to cut through a few more. Now I'm really glad Mako-chan taught me some moves, Sailor Moon thought.
Maylin cast Thundara to dispatch a few more Aerial Vikings, and Haruka simply let a couple get closer to her before destroying them with a Windcutter.
From far away, Ellen was watching intently, knowing they needed just a little bit longer before she could head off to "there". Knowing just what to do, Ellen channeled the dark power that Ichinose had given her and aimed Starlight for where the trinity was fighting.
Just as Nick managed to spike an Aerial Viking into the ground, a pool of darkness formed in front of them.
"Um, I didn't do it," Maylin quipped.
A shadowy figure rose from the dark pool, eventually revealing itself to be a figure that looked exactly like Nick, only this duplicate's body was completely black and its eyes were the glowing yellow of a Heartless.
"All right, wasn't expecting that," Nick responded as he summoned Sonic Seven to his hands. Much to his shock, Anti-Nick summoned the same keyblade, only completely black.
Anti-Nick lunged forward with a thrusting stab that Nick countered with one of his own, allowing Maylin and Haruka to start ganging up on it, though it retaliated with a spinning slash reminiscent of Vortex to knock them both back.
"Nick, this thing's copying you!" Sailor Moon shouted as she threw her Moon Tiara at Anti-Nick, knocking it off balance.
"It's not doing a very good job of it," Nick responded as he waited for Anti-Nick to swing its keyblade before retaliating with a Blitz, a vicious jumping strike.
Anti-Nick recovered quickly before splitting itself into three different copies of itself.
"Oh, no, I am not playing whack-a-mole with you," Maylin taunted, raising Spellbinder to cast Thundara. The barrage of lightning bolts dissipated both copies and sent the actual Anti-Nick stumbling back.
Nick twirled Sonic Seven in his hand before lunging forward to smack Anti-Nick with a four-hit combo that ended in a fierce Ripple Drive, sending the dark doppelganger flying into the opposite wall before it exploded into wisps of darkness. When Anti-Nick had vanished, Nick's shadow returned to him.
"All right, that was an annoying little distraction," Haruka sighed. "Come on, we've still gotta go after Queen Beryl!"
But once they reached the arena where Queen Beryl was waiting for them, they saw someone else standing by Queen Beryl, kneeling at her feet and even kissing her hand.
"M-Mamo-chan?" Sailor Moon gasped. "Wh-what are you..."
"That girl is quite the troublesome little brat, honestly," Queen Beryl sighed. "She just took that other girl and ran off without even so much as saying goodbye."
"Where are they?!" Nick growled.
"She went to the ruins of Lost Jerusalem, where our leader Ichinose currently resides," Queen Beryl answered. "But you won't be going there anytime soon, especially not when you have an appointment with hell."
Queen Beryl turned towards the brainwashed Mamoru.
"Endymion?" Queen Beryl proclaimed. "Please eliminate the princess."
"As you wish, my queen," Mamoru responded in a dulled voice, indicating some kind of mind control.
"Oh, this can't be good," Nick quipped as Mamoru drew a very sharp-looking sword and charged forward to attack them.
Nick jumped away from Mamoru's first strike and countered with a Slapshot to stumble him. Mamoru recovered quickly and moved to slash at Sailor Moon, only for Maylin to swing Spellbinder downward and knock him back.
"Please, don't hurt him!" Sailor Moon shouted.
"Um, Usagi, he's currently trying to kill you!" Maylin shot back. "Save the sentiment for later!"
Haruka jumped over another sword swing and slammed Divine Rose into the ground upon landing, creating a small tremor that knocked Mamoru off-balance.
"You're mine!" Nick shouted as he rushed towards the stumbling Mamoru and lashed out with an Ars Arcanum.
A left-horizontal spiral slash, a right-horizontal flourish, a vertical uppercut, a downward spike, four left-to-right-to-left slashes, a diagonal uppercut, and a downward chop, Sonic Seven's blade leaving orange light trails with each movement Nick made.
An outward stab, a right-hand slice, two diagonal slashes in an X formation, a quick slap with the flat of the blade, and finally, Nick gripped his weapon tightly, leaping into the air and slicing downward with all the force of a crashing airliner, the final strike knocking Mamoru down instantly.
Mamoru got up pretty quickly, but now Nick could see a small keyhole of light on his chest.
"Got you!" Nick shouted, aiming Sonic Seven for Mamoru despite Sailor Moon's protests. Light shined around the keyblade's teeth before firing a beam of light into the keyhole and straight through Mamoru's body, expelling a small, gaseous creature with a jagged mouth made up of black, dark blue, and purple shadows, with glowing yellow eyes.
"Of course, it was a Possessor!" Maylin quipped as she moved in to slash the Possessor in half before it could re-possess Mamoru. "I really hate those things."
Mamoru fell to his knees, but thankfully, Sailor Moon was there to catch him before he could fall any further.
"U-Usagi?" Mamoru asked.
"Oh, Mamo-chan, you're back..." Sailor Moon sighed happily.
"Where did I go?" Mamoru quipped.
Sailor Moon chuckled before hugging Mamoru, happy he was back to normal now.
Queen Beryl couldn't believe what she was seeing, and boy, was she angry.
"You're going to pay for this, princess," Queen Beryl growled. "I cannot and will not forgive you for once again attempting to take Endymion away from me! He is mine and mine alone, but if I cannot have him..."
Turning towards Mamoru, Queen Beryl materialized a gigantic black icicle in her hands.
"...then nobody will!" Queen Beryl exclaimed as she threw the icicle towards Sailor Moon.
Mamoru acted swiftly, throwing a rose that pierced through the icicle, shattering it into shards, and went on to strike Queen Beryl in the chest, though the ice shards still stabbed into Mamoru's back.
"E-Endymion, why do you still choose to protect that useless little girl?" Queen Beryl gasped. "If you had stayed by my side, you could have been ruler of both the moon and the Earth!"
"Oh, what, you're salty that you have no idea what real love actually is?" Maylin taunted.
Queen Beryl fell to her knees, cracks spreading across her body from where Mamoru's rose had impaled her. "H-How? How is his rose able to defeat me so?!" Queen Beryl gasped. "Is it because of his love for that girl? That kind of energy that can even destroy me..."
While Sailor Moon was crying over Mamoru's death, the shadows in the room suddenly began to congregate around Queen Beryl.
"Um, should we be concerned about that?!" Haruka shouted.
"I'm sensing a lot of darkness approaching," Nick stated, switching his keyblade to Reverberating Abyss. "Stay on guard, you guys!"
"Q-Queen Metallia, please grant me your energy," Queen Beryl gasped. "Enough power to erase this pathetic princess and these meddlesome keyblade wielders... please, Metallia, I will do anything..."
"As you wish," a booming voice proclaimed. "The time has come to instill hatred and greed in all living things. Use my power to eliminate all who would stand in our way, and DROWN THIS ENTIRE EXISTENCE IN COMPLETE DARKNESS!"
Queen Beryl's body was surrounded by shadows before teleporting out of the area.
"Come on, let's go take that freak down," Maylin stated.
"B-But..." Sailor Moon cried.
"Usagi, we have to go," Nick proclaimed. "If you want to grieve for Mamoru, that's fine, but right now, I think your grief would be better used to destroy Queen Beryl for what she's done."
Sailor Moon stood up and nodded, clutching her Moon Stick tightly as she followed the trinity out of the ice palace and back into the Arctic landscape, where the transformed Queen Beryl awaited them. Both her skin and hair had turned green, she now had a jewel embedded in her forehead, and she was much larger than she had been before, no doubt due to channeling both Queen Metallia and the power of darkness.
"At last, all of the dark power is mine," Super Beryl laughed. "An age of darkness awaits you!"
"I believe the old saying is 'put up or shut up', Beryl," Maylin proclaimed.
"Let's see if you can back those words up," Haruka taunted.
"Usagi, we're not gonna kill-steal this one, but we're pretty sure you need some time to prepare yourself, right?" Nick asked, to which Sailor Moon nodded. "The girls and I are gonna fight this freak until you're ready, and when you are, do what you need to do to roast this hag."
"You dare mock me?!" Super Beryl exclaimed.
("Moonlight Densetsu" by DALI plays)
Super Beryl raised her hand, then snapped it down to call a barrage of dark lightning bolts that the trinity jumped around to avoid before moving in to attack.
Maylin cast Blizzara to knock away the tendrils of the strange mutant flower that Super Beryl was attached to so that Haruka could attack the flower's stem and see if that would get them anywhere.
"Fools," Super Beryl proclaimed. "You cannot hope to defeat me with such amateur tactics!"
Nick swiftly shut Super Beryl up by jumping onto a nearby rock and unleashing a Strike Raid, throwing Reverberating Abyss towards the jewel on Super Beryl's forehead and relishing in her screams of pain whenever he hit the jewel.
"You were saying?" Nick taunted.
"You will never best me!" Super Beryl shouted, snapping her hands down to cause a bunch of roots to pop up all over the battlefield.
One of the roots managed to grab Haruka by the leg, but Maylin quickly incinerated the root with a Fira spell before firing another one into Super Beryl's face.
While Super Beryl was distracted trying to grab Maylin and Haruka, Nick slipped in to start attacking the flower stem, eventually ravaging it with an Ars Arcanum that finally destroyed the stem and caused the flower to dissolve into little particles of darkness.
No longer connected to the flower, Super Beryl started floating around the snowy landscape, still dropping dark lightning bolts every couple of seconds.
"Such insolence," Super Beryl taunted. "Now suffer like the rest!"
Super Beryl raised both of her hands and shot a bunch of lightning bolts for the ice pillar where Sailor Moon was standing and preparing herself.
Maylin quickly raised Spellbinder to cast a brand new spell. "Force, know my plight! Release the light! REFLECT!"
A spherical glass-like barrier of light surrounded Sailor Moon, and when the dark lightning collided with the barrier, it exploded outwards, creating a bunch of flashing lights around Sailor Moon that sent the dark lightning flying right back to its progenitor.
Super Beryl gasped in surprise and recoiled from the lightning striking her instead.
"Nice one, Maylin!" Haruka proclaimed. "Was that a new spell?"
"A-yup!" Maylin giggled. "Reflect creates a barrier around my target, and if an enemy attacks the barrier, any damage they would have done gets sent back double!"
"Sounds very useful," Nick quipped.
"Do not think you have you won yet, you miserable wretches!" Super Beryl shouted as she thrust her palms forward to unleash frontal dark shockwaves, carving trenches in the snow as she did so.
Knowing they probably couldn't block or parry those shockwaves, the trinity started flanking Super Beryl so that her attention was split between them and not directed at Sailor Moon, who was starting to glow with a bright silver light.
"Hey, Nick, over here!" Maylin exclaimed. Nick ran over to Maylin, jumped into her arms, and readied his keyblade as she tossed him high into the air, straight for Super Beryl's face.
Not giving Super Beryl a moment to retaliate, Nick cracked the jewel in her head with a Hurricane Period, which seemed to do the trick and release a bunch of dark energy from the jewel in the process.
Super Beryl collapsed to her knees just as Sailor Moon began to float into the air, her dress completely changing into a white flowing gown with white shoulder pieces disconnected from her dress, an intricately decorated bodice with gold hoops, with the bust defined by a row of golden beads. Trailing at the back, was a white gauzy bow with long fluttery ribbons. She also wore golden spiral earrings and a golden beaded bracelet on her right wrist.
Princess Serenity raised the Moon Stick towards Super Beryl, the Silver Crystal glowing radiantly as she thought of her fallen friends.
"Please, my friends... wherever you are..." Princess Serenity proclaimed. "Lend me all the strength you can give me... so that I may vanquish this evil once and for all!"
To Princess Serenity's surprise, phantom images of the other four Sailor Senshi appeared behind her and placed their hands over hers.
"Ooh, this is gonna be good," Maylin quipped.
"Farewell, Queen Beryl!" Princess Serenity exclaimed, pink energy gathering into the Moon Stick and the Silver Crystal.
"MOON PRISM POWER!" five voices shouted out in perfect unison as the gathered energy exploded outwards from the Moon Stick in the form of a gigantic orb of pink light.
"N-No! This... this can't be!" Super Beryl shouted as the light eventually enveloped her and completely destroyed her, leaving absolutely nothing behind.
Once Queen Beryl was gone, however, Princess Serenity collapsed backwards, reverting back to Sailor Moon as she fell.
"Thank you... everyone..." were Sailor Moon's last words as the pink light began to grow brighter and brighter, eventually enveloping the entirely of the Dark Kingdom palace. When it finally cleared, the palace had vanished completely, as had the bodies of the other fallen Sailor Senshi and even Sailor Moon herself.
"...um, what just happened?" Maylin gasped once everything was calm and quiet again. "Where'd they all go?"
"She sacrificed her life," Nick stated. "Using the full power of the Silver Crystal must have been too much for her to handle. But at least she took Beryl and the Dark Kingdom down with her."
"Usagi seems like the kind of person who would willingly sacrifice herself if it meant keeping her friends safe," Haruka sighed. "She was a true hero after all."
Nick looked towards the spot where Super Beryl had been standing before getting obliterated, and noticed a glint in the snow. Jogging over to check it out, Nick saw both a small thumb drive and a violet summon gem lying there in the snow.
"Looks like we found another report," Nick quipped, picking up the thumb drive and pocketing the summon gem before reaching for his Gummiphone. "Sophia, can you play this for us?"
"Okay, I've got it," Sophia replied as Nick inserted the thumb drive. "Yaldabaoth's Report, number 9."
Simply astonishing! Today I had a guest from another world.
He is an emperor, and his vessel is built of the material that composed the meteors. He called the pieces "gummi blocks".
It seemed that my opening the door has opened a path to interworld travel.
We talked for countless hours, but one story in particular caught my interest: that of a key called the "keyblade". The keyblade is said to hold phenomenal power.
One legend says its wielder saved the world, while another says that he wrought chaos and ruin upon it.
I must know what this keyblade is. A key opens doors. It must be connected to the door I have opened.
"Wait, wait, so Yaldabaoth knows about the keyblade?" Maylin wondered. "Ooh, boy, this is getting sketchier by the second..."
"At least we're learning more about his experiments," Haruka answered. "Hopefully it won't be too much longer until we can find him."
Nick looked up into the sky, his mind wandering to the earlier confrontation, and how lifeless Marie looked.
Had she truly lost her heart?
Was this why Ellen had seemingly dived headfirst into the darkness? Did she believe that the power of darkness could save Marie?
"...will I ever see the you that I love again, Ellen?" Nick sighed.
Sophia looked at Nick sadly, still wishing she could hug him.
Suddenly, a bright light began to gather in the sky, eventually forming into a large keyhole. Nick raised Reverberating Abyss and fired a beam of light into the keyhole, sealing it off with a loud CLICK, but as the keyhole vanished, something fell out of it and into Maylin's hands.
"H-Hey, it's a gummi block," Maylin quipped. "Wait, this looks like the same Navi-G Piece we got from sealing Traverse Town's keyhole!"
"I wonder if that means that this is the other half of that one, like Captain Matthews told us," Haruka stated.
"Well, I guess we're heading back to Traverse Town, huh?" Nick responded.
After staying for a few moments to offer their prayers for the fallen Sailor Moon and her friends, Haruka activated her wrist device to teleport everyone back to the Gummi Ship.
Ellen stumbled back into the Grand Hall, clutching her chest and panting heavily due to over-exertion from the trip back here.
"You know how reckless it was to bring her here without at least using a vessel of some sort," Ichinose derided. "Remember what I said to you? Relying too much on your dark powers may end up costing you your heart."
"What else... was I supposed to do?" Ellen gasped. "Things... were going downhill real fast..."
All of a sudden, a loud shout from somewhere far away caught the attention of both Ellen and Ichinose.
"What the hell was that?" Ellen wondered.
"A castaway," Ichinose answered, a smile highlighting her expression. "Though her world was destroyed, her heart suffered no such fate. When we whisked the princess away from her hometown, she apparently followed us through sheer force of will. If you're worried, though, don't be. She is clearly no match for your power."
"Wait, my power?" Ellen asked.
"Of course, my dear, I'm referring to the amazing untapped power that still dwells within you," Ichinose chuckled, raising her hands. "Now, then, it's time you awakened this power, and come into your true potential."
Ellen's body was enveloped by an oppressive green aura of light, but if anything, she felt so much stronger now.
Soon, Marie, Ellen thought. Soon.
"Ah, home sweet home away from home," Maylin giggled once the trinity had returned to Traverse Town.
"It looks like there thankfully hasn't been any Heartless activity here in a while," Haruka quipped. "So we should be all right for now. Come on, let's head to the Accessory Shop."
"Um, excuse me?"
Nick looked ahead to the top of the staircase that led to the Accessory Shop, as standing at the top of the stairs was a young girl with pink hair tied in rabbit ear-shaped odango and vibrant red eyes.
"You know someone named Usagi, correct?" the girl asked.
"Um, yeah, we do, but she..." Nick sputtered.
"Oh, she's not dead, trust me," the girl quipped. "If she was dead, I wouldn't be here right now, if you catch my meaning."
The girl walked up and placed something in Nick's hand before walking away. "You don't have to worry about me, okay? I'll be fine," the girl stated. "I still have to find it before I can go back."
The girl vanished through the door to the Second District, leaving the trinity very confused.
"All right-y, then," Maylin quipped.
Nick looked down at what that girl had given him, and it appeared to be a keychain token shaped like Sailor Moon's transformation brooch. Nick summoned his keyblade, attached the token, and swung it through the air, the keyblade transforming mid-swing. This new weapon had a pink, heart-shaped handleguard, and the handle, blade and teeth all resembled Usagi's Moon Stick, Silver Crystal included. Appropriately, the words Moon Stick ran through Nick's head as he studied the weapon.
"Apparently, I got a new keyblade out of whatever that was," Nick stated.
"So, you finally found that other gummi block, huh?"
The trinity looked up to see Captain Matthews stepping out of the Accessory Shop.
"Yeah, it took us long enough, really," Maylin quipped.
"Well, then, I'll take it to your gummi ship and get it installed for you, free of charge," Matthews stated as Nick handed him the gummi block.
As Matthews walked off to install the Navi-Gummi, Nick glanced sadly up at the night sky, still wondering if he'd ever see Ellen or Marie again.
"Hey, Nick, you okay?" Haruka asked.
"Remember what we told ya when this whole shebang started?" Maylin quipped. "This boat runs on happy faces, after all. You just gotta smile!"
"How can you two be so cheerful despite the fact that there's still no sign of your missing emperor?" Nick countered. "Aren't you two worried about him?"
"Hey, we know Emperor Clow can take care of himself, eccentric as he is," Maylin answered.
"Besides, he told us to go out and find the key bearer, and lo, we found you," Haruka proclaimed. "So, as long as we stick together, everything will work out in the end. You just have to believe in yourself. Nothing more, nothing less."
Despite his own worries, Nick couldn't help but smile.
"I believe in you."
Before Nick could wonder where that voice had come from, light suddenly overwhelmed his vision, and when he could see again, he found himself standing in what appeared to be his grandmother's house, and sure enough, there she was, talking to a six-year-old Marie and a seven-year-old Nick.
"Grandma, grandma, tell us the story again!"
"Yeah, grandma, Marie really likes that story."
Their grandmother simply smiled before telling the story again.
"A long time ago, people lived in peace and harmony, bathed in the warmth of the precious light. Everyone loved the light. But, then people began to fight over the light. They wanted to keep it for themselves. And thus was darkness born in their hearts. That darkness spread swiftly, swallowing the light and many peoples' hearts along with it. The darkness consumed everything, and the world vanished. But small fragments of light survived in the hearts of children like you. With those lights, the children rebuilt the lost world. That's the world we live in now. But the true light still sleeps deep within the darkness. That's the reason the worlds are still scattered and divided from each other. But one day, a door to the innermost darkness will open and the true light will return to us. So listen well, my children. Even in the deepest of darkness, there will always be a light to guide you through it. If you believe in the light, the darkness will never defeat you. Your hearts will shine with its power and push the darkness away."
Before Nick could reach out to his younger self, however, another flash of light brought him back to Traverse Town.
"Hey, Nick, you okay?" Maylin asked.
"Oh, yeah, y-yeah, just thinking about something," Nick quipped.
"All right, your new Navi-Gummi is installed and ready to go," Matthews proclaimed after returning to the First District. "Here's the thing, though. I checked your scanners, and that world is absolutely crawling with Heartless. If I didn't know you'd be going regardless of what I say, I'd try to stop you. So, all I can say is be careful. That place looks like a death trap waiting to happen."
"That's never stopped us before, really," Haruka admitted.
As the trinity made their way to the Third District so they could unlock their new summon gem, Nick couldn't help but wonder what that vision had been about.
Marie? Nick thought. Were... was that you calling me?
"Ah, you found another summon gem, huh?" Dorothy giggled when the trinity came to the Mystic House. Dorothy brought out her grimoire and opened it, flipping its pages to the spell she wanted.
"Dream Magic: Spirit Reconfiguration!" Dorothy proclaimed, the pages of her grimoire glowing and surrounding the summon gem with a cloud of multi-colored magic. After a couple seconds, the cloud vanished, and the summon gem had transformed into a small orange crystal shaped like a magician's hat.
"I like the feel of this one," Dorothy quipped.
Naturally, when the trinity returned to the Third District, they were suddenly surrounded by a swarm of Large Bodies and Fat Bandits, along with a half-dozen Green Requiems.
"You know what time it is, girls?" Nick proclaimed, holding out his new summon stone.
"Oh, hell yes," Maylin and Haruka laughed.
Nick raised the Magicgleam to the sky, and Maylin and Haruka vanished from sight.
"Give me strength!" Nick proclaimed.
("Toki wo Koete" by Yasuko Matsuyuki plays)
The Magicgleam shined before expelling what appeared to be a magician's wand, and when Nick caught it in his free hand, it started firing off bursts of magic sparkles that coalesced into a large balloon. The balloon expanded rapidly before popping loudly to reveal Nick's newest ally.
She was a fourteen-year-old girl with blue eyes and long orange hair tied into a ponytail, and she was wearing a white sleeveless shirt, a black waistcoat, long black gloves, black tights and boots, a short pink skirt and a magician's hat. Overall, she looked every bit the magician she presented herself as.
Saint Tail did a cute pose before jumping to Nick's side. "Take your seats, everyone, the show is about to begin!" Saint Tail proclaimed.
One of the Large Bodies approached them, but Saint Tail raised her magician's cane and whacked it aside, then cast a magic spell on another Large Body, turning it into a small plushie that allowed Nick to easily dispatch it.
One of the Fat Bandits attempted to belly slide into Nick from behind, but Saint Tail blasted it with a barrage of magic spells that swiftly dispatched it.
Another Fat Bandit hit Nick with a fireball from behind, but magic sparkles surrounded Nick almost immediately after and healed whatever damage he'd taken from that hit.
Eventually, Nick decided that it was time for the grand finale. Saint Tail seemed to agree, as she raised her magician's cane, the jewel on its tip glowing brightly, then snapped it downwards, surrounding them with a shockwave of magic that trapped all of the remaining Heartless inside large boxes like magicians would use to "saw people in half".
And that's exactly what Nick did, jumping into the air and swinging Reverberating Abyss, unleashing a Saint Tail-enhanced storm of slashes that cut all of the boxes in half, vanquishing the remaining Heartless.
When the Third District was calm again, Saint Tail winked at Nick and tipped her hat to him. "Hope you enjoyed the show!" Saint Tail giggled before she disappeared in a burst of sparkles that reformed into the Magicgleam in his free hand.
"That was pretty cool," Maylin quipped once she and Haruka had reappeared. "I'd go to one of her magic shows."
"Well, it looks like all we can do now is head off to Lost Jerusalem," Nick stated.
"Wait, hold, on," Haruka responded, looking at her wrist device. "It looks like there's another tournament ready to go in Nordopolica. How about we give it a shot, just to make sure we're absolutely ready?"
"Yeah, Matthews said that Lost Jerusalem was teeming with Heartless, so any edge we can get would be a blessing," Nick quipped. "Let's get moving, then, shall we?"
The trinity headed back to the First District and back to the Gummi Ship so they could blast off for Nordopolica.
To be continued...
New keyblade acquired!
Moon Stick
Strength: 9
MP: +1
Recoil: 10
Critical Rate: x1.5
Critical Bonus: +4
Ability: Air Combo Boost
Description: A keyblade representing a passionate warrior who fights for love and justice. Raises max MP by 1, and enhances magic and summon power. Sometimes deals powerful critical blows. Increases the damage of the finishing move in the air relative to the number of hits in the combo.
New summon acquired!
Saint Tail, the Flighty Phantom Thief
MP Required: 4
Anime of Origin: Kaitou Saint Tail (1995)
Theme Song: "Toki wo Koete" by Yasuko Matsuyuki
Action: Saint Tail will generally attack enemies with either her magician's cane or various magic tricks.
Target an enemy with R1 and press [] to have Saint Tail fire multiple blasts of magic at the targeted enemy. This attack drains part of the Summon Gauge.
As long as Saint Tail is active, she will constantly heal HP and MP.
Every Heartless killed while Saint Tail is active fills the Charge Gauge by 1/6.
When Saint Tail's Charge Gauge is full, press /\ for the grand finale, trapping all nearby enemies inside a magician's box and allowing Nick to cut them all in half. One, two, three!
On the next episode...
Maylin: Well, well, ladies and peoples, it's time for our third tournament appearance!
Haruka: I wonder if we'll run into any more of the Phantom Thieves in this tournament...
Maylin: Ooh, it looks like Shion's entered the tournament, too! She really wants that rematch, apparently.
Nick: All right, then, if it's a rematch she wants, then it's a rematch she'll get, next time on Kingdom Hearts: Key to Her Heart re:Verse, "Strength of Heart"!
Nick, Maylin and Haruka: May your hearts be your guiding key!