Sailor Moon Aeons.
Book 3: Crystal City.
Act 1: Generations.
Episode 5: How to train your Senshi.
By Razor Knight
Last update: February 24, 2019
"... So from now on, you'll have a new training partner."
Younger Mars looked at the boy. "You're finally a Senshi. Nice."
Takamaru smiled. "Thanks."
Moon saw him turn into his Dragon form and nodded. "Let me see what you can do, Younger Dragon Saturn."
"That's a mouthful," the boy said. "Bone cage."
Younger Venus realized the attack had been aimed at her as long bones appeared around her, encasing her. "Oh, nice."
"That cage will drain your mana if you try to break free," the Dragon warned.
"Thanks for the warning," Venus said, "but don't underestimate the difference between a Planet and a Guardian Senshi."
Younger Mars saw the boy's face as Venus punched her way out of his cage. "It's still an impressive technique, but it was rude of you to target her outside a training battle, so... I'll have to kick you around for a while."
The Dragon smirked. "I can't wait to see how strong a Guardian Senshi is."
Mars chuckled. "Then you may be in for a surprise. Mars Eternal Power."
Elder Saturn was also there as a mentor today, and was surprised to see that. "She's not even sixteen and already an Eternal Senshi."
"You guys slacked off too much," Moon teased. She wasn't worried about the power difference, Hisako had never let power go to her head while training.
The Dragon was about to say something, but noticed someone was very impressed about Mars' new suit. "Uh, is she okay?"
Mars looked at Venus, whose face was red. "Hikaru, not now."
"Sorry," Venus said, looking away. "Too cute..."
"Oh, I get it," the boy said. "You two are like Aiko and Yuki."
Venus nodded. "Well, I am."
He looked at Mars. "And you don't mind?"
Mars sighed. "Not really. It was a bit annoying at first, but I'm used to it."
Moon walked to them. "Okay, enough chatting. Since today is Takamaru's first training, I'll leave him to the one who knows the most about his power."
Saturn smiled. "That's why I'm here."
Moon turned to Venus. "Since you probably won't stop staring if I make you fight her, and I want to see what she can do, how about you both try fighting me?"
"I, uh... Okay."
Saturn looked at the Dragon as Moon went a bit further out of the city to train the others. "You know, your father's quite good as a Saturn Senshi too."
"He is?"
"But there are parts of these powers he never really used. He's more interested in the fighting side of them."
"Are Senshi powers used for something else?"
Saturn smiled. "Yeah. For example, I can see the soul of others, and in yours I see you're hiding something."
The Dragon was actually surprised. "I'm-"
"Don't bother. Are you scared of it?"
"No, but mom told me it's dangerous to use them both a lot."
"I've lived with one like you for a long time. Don't worry, I know when to stop a fight."
The Dragon nodded. "Okay, then... Mercury Dragon Power!"
Meanwhile, Moon was looking at Mars and Venus, who were down on their knees. She didn't need to attack, as they always tired themselves down trying to hit her. "You two should know you can't win like that."
Venus growled. "But I don't get it. We're fighting as hard as we can, and yet we've never been able to hit you."
"I've already taught you there is more to battles than shooting at things or punching things. You need to have a plan, to cover each other's weaknesses, not just attack at the same time."
"But in a real fight, we won't have time to think up a plan."
"That's right, Hisa. So you need to learn to 'read' each other's mind."
"Uh, that isn't-"
"I don't mean it literally. I think... Well, you two are close. You may or may not become something else, but your connection is there." She saw them staring blankly at her and sighed. "Guess I'll have to show, not tell. Mother, you can stop hiding now."
Serenity appeared near her, noticing the two Youngers near her didn't look surprised. Apparently, they were used to her 'not being' there watching them train. "What can I help you with?"
"Serenity..."
The Queen looked at the two young girls. "Girls, it's just me, aunt Usagi."
Hisako smiled. "Uh, yeah. Sorry."
Moon turned to the side. "Hey, Hotaru!"
Saturn was pretty much just dodging as the Dragon tried to hit her, but looked at her. "What?"
"Let's give the kids a show of how teamwork looks."
Saturn smiled as she noticed Serenity was there. "Sure." She then noticed the Dragon was staring at her. "What?"
"You just kept dodging my punches while talking to her."
"That's what happens when you train seriously for a long time."
"Cool."
Venus and Mars walked to the Dragon as Moon and Saturn talked to Serenity. "This should be fun to watch."
The boy frowned. "How is that training, though?"
Mars smiled. "Mom told me she had learnt many things from watching the others train."
Serenity walked away from the two mentors. "Are you sure that's how you want to do it?"
Moon nodded. "No weapons, no magic. It's been a while since either of us fought you, mom, and I hope we can surprise you."
"It's time to show her even her dodging isn't perfect."
Serenity smirked. "This sounds like fun."
The three Youngers gasped as Serenity made the first move, dashing forwards at a speed that was close to a short-range teleport. She nodded as Moon caught her fist, then kicked back to stop Saturn, who had predicted her first move.
The fight was amazing, and also intimidating to watch, even for the two who had been training for longer. But both Hisako and Hikaru slowly understood what Moon meant. There were no wasted punches, no random kicks. It was almost like a dance, the two Senshi seemed to know exactly what the other would do next, and Serenity had slowly gone from just dodging, to trying to hit them as she realized how good a team they were.
Serenity suddenly leapt away from them, and laughed. "This is fun, but I won't lose."
Moon smirked. "You will."
Saturn rushed forwards, going for a punch to the stomach. Serenity blocked that, and knew Moon was probably going to try and... Wait, Moon was not moving? Saturn used the second of hesitation to kick her leg, causing her to stumble forwards. Moon rushed in as well, going for a kick, but Serenity grabbed her leg and knocked her down. She then sensed something and barely dodged aside as Saturn tried to punch her back. But that caused her to lose her grip on her other foe, who kicked her side, making her fall sideways.
Serenity stood up and chuckled. "Nice. But I'm not done yet."
Moon once again rushed in, going for a jab, but Serenity grabbed her arm, knocking her down. But that's when she understood their plan, as Saturn had rushed in right behind Moon, virtually invisible until it was too late to dodge.
Serenity sat up, her head ringing from the kick she had taken for her error. "You two have really improved. I yield."
"That was awesome."
Moon smiled, seeing the three Youngers walk to them. "You get what I mean now, right?"
Venus nodded. "I think I get it. But you two weren't even looking at each other most of the time. Even in that last attack... How did you know you had to 'shadow' Usagi?"
"We've been together for a long time. We know what the other can and can't do, and we can guess each other's moves. It's gotten to a point where we could fight each other for two hours without getting hit once."
Moon smiled. "It's almost like we unconsciously read each other's minds. I didn't 'know' she would do that, but I still kept a straight line to help her stay behind me, without thinking. And somehow, she 'knew' I would do that."
Serenity looked at them. "I'm a bit envious of you. Mamoru and I haven't reached that level of instinctive fighting yet."
"Well, compared to us, you train way too little with him. But you both are busy running the city nowadays, so... Leave the front line fighting to us, unless we really need your-"
Saturn frowned. "Stop. You should know your mother can't agree to that."
"That's true. I'm not just Queen Serenity. I'm Sailor Moon. I can't just turn my warrior instincts off."
"Sorry. I gotta admit that it's hard to remember that at times. I didn't think this city would be dull and boring from day one."
"You look like you're having fun while training them," Saturn noted.
"Yeah, I... That's one reason I wanted to do it."
Dragon Saturn sighed. He was bored, but they wouldn't stop talking. 'Bone Cage.'
Moon looked at the Dragon as bones surrounded her. "... Really? You love surprise attacks, don't you?"
"Taka, that's rude," Venus said, "and you know she's a Holy Senshi, and dual just like you? You can't win."
Moon looked at him. "It's not bad, Terry is the same. That desire to challenge any foe no matter how strong... I can respect it."
"Uh, thanks."
"But your 'cage' has a major flaw. Want me to show you?"
The Dragon blinked at that. "A flaw? What is it?"
"This cage absorbs mana, and I'm sure it sends it to you. Against enemies around your level, it could be useful, as you can recharge while leaving them weakened. But if the difference in power is higher, it could be bad for you."
"Why? Mana is mana, I would still get the same results."
Moon grabbed one of the bones forming the 'cage' and smiled. "No Senshi can hold an unlimited quantity of mana, we all have limits to how much we can gather before it's dangerous. Here, let me show you."
Mars saw the cage lit up, and then heard the Dragon yelp in pain, and fall to the ground face-first. "Hey, what-"
"That won't kill him, but hopefully he'll understand how nasty mana overload can be."
"So you just did that to educate him," Saturn said, with a face that made it clear she knew it was, at most, a partial truth.
"Well, I also hate being caught off guard. So yeah, he pissed me off a bit."
"That's what I figured."
The Dragon staggered up. "Ow. Okay, lesson learnt, don't make the Elders angry."
"I'm technically a Younger, but yes, you shouldn't try to sneak up on those who have decades of training on you. See, first day of training, and he's already learning important lessons."
Serenity shook her head at that. "Sometimes, you remind me of Hakko."
"Only a few years until that thing gets to our system."
Aiko nodded. "We'll stop it."
Yukiko smiled. "Yeah, you will."
"Don't say that. I didn't marry a weakling. I married the strongest non-Senshi mage on Earth. You could make Galaxia break a sweat."
"... Sorry. Anyhow, I'm going to go see Usagi tonight. The older one."
"Huh? Did she summon you?"
"No. I just decided that I do want to spend eternity with you."
Aiko hugged her. "I'll go with you. Fubuki was going to dad's house after school anyways."
Serenity listened to Yukiko's request. "Yes, I can do that. Hana was also interested in immortality and I was happy to grant that wish. However, just like I warned her... This isn't true immortality. You just won't die of old age."
"I know that."
"Good, and also... This isn't something I can take away later on. So I need to ask you... Are you sure about this?"
"I was aware of death since I was a child. Dad died when I was five, and I know mom tried her best to look happy, but I know she missed him. She still does... It's not death that I fear, but leaving Aiko behind. If I die fighting something, protecting what I care about, then so be it, but I don't want to let time be what defeats me."
Serenity smiled sadly. "Wow, that was..."
Aiko noticed a tear running down the Queen's cheek. "Usagi?"
"I'm fine, a 'yes' could have been enough for me but... Yukiko, I hope you two live a very long life, together."
"So?"
Serenity smiled. "It's done."
"Just like that?"
"You won't feel different at all right now, but in two or three centuries, you'll know it worked."
"Thanks. We're always asking you for favors, kinda makes me feel-"
"I don't need anything. Seeing my friends happy is enough. And also... Yuki, it's not just Aiko who would miss you if you were gone."
"... Guess you're right."
Serenity looked out the window. "We have visitors."
"What?"
"A small army of aliens. Not here to make friends."
"Are they strong?"
"Not really. Weaker than a Planet Senshi."
"Well, then-"
Serenity made a 'screen' appear floating im mid air. "Chibi?"
"Mother, those aliens that just arrived... Can I ask you to leave them to us?"
"You could kill them by glaring at them."
"Yes, so let me rephrase that. I want to use them as a test for the Youngers. Their parents are okay with that."
Serenity considered it for a minute. If their parents saw no problem with that... Neither Hisako nor Hikaru were kids, they had trained for years. And Takamaru was young, but he had been training for a few months now. "I see no problem with that request. Tell them I said good luck."
"Will do."
Younger Venus had never seen so many creatures in one place before. The aliens were tall, muscular and red. They only looked human in the way they stood on their legs, as they had four arms, no nose, and a small, lipless mouth. One of them, whose armor was more adorned than the others, was shouting at them in its own language. "Should we call Aunt Ami?"
Moon shrugged. "No, mom already told me they are here to invade. They may think this is the capital of our world."
"Are you sure we can take on so many of them?"
"You won't need to. I'll be the 'tank' for this one."
"Tank?"
"It's an old term from games. Let's just say I'll be a decoy and keep most of them focused on me, and you can take care of the rest."
Mars and Venus nodded. "Right."
Moon smiled humorlessly as she walked forwards. Sure, they had trained for this, as far as fighting went, they were ready. But this would be their first battle, and they would have to kill many of these aliens. That's her other reason to be there, to see their reaction, and help if things got messy. She still remembered her first real kill. Sure, it had been one of those 'Gale' creeps, but even then, she froze when she realized she had ended a life.
Many of the aliens saw her advancing and rose their weapons. She glared at them as she let her full power flare. She knew they would not understand her words, so she simply run to them.
Dragon Saturn gasped as Moon was hit by at least a hundred beams. "Moon!"
Moon looked back as the aliens got ready to attack again, and she was quite unharmed. "They can't hurt me," she said, with noticeable disappointment in her voice, "but be careful, if you get hit a few times, they could knock any of you out."
The Dragon nodded. "Got it." He summoned his swords and looked at the aliens. "Can't let her get all the fun. Twilight Requiem."
Venus saw a large ghost pass through several aliens, but saw the Dragon was staring at them in shock as they fell to the ground, dead. "Taka, focus!"
"Uh, yeah. I just-"
Mars frowned. "Talk later, fight now."
Moon heard that and sighed. Hisako had seen death, quite close, at a very young age. Maybe that made it easier for her to deal with it. In any case, the trio fought hard, and the army of a few thousands had been reduced to a very small group of quite scared aliens in less than one hour. Moon wasn't even fighting now, these kids, no, these Senshi needed no babysitting in a fight.
"Can't they see they're losing?" The Dragon muttered. He had kept fighting despite his initial shock, but Moon guessed he was keeping it bottled up, for when he went back home. Not a bad idea, since he still had to make it through the battle.
Mars frowned. "Maybe they're too proud to admit defeat."
Venus noticed something. The one with the different armor was still around, and still shouting orders. "If you kill the ant queen, the other ants will not know what to do."
Mars knew what her friend meant as she saw her run straight at the group, dodging their shots. "Always showing off..."
Venus leapt over one of the soldiers, jumping straight at the 'boss,' who barely dodged her. "Good reflexes." She summoned her talisman - a spear - and tried again. This time, she managed to stab through the creature, who smiled despite the pain. "I win."
"Sh'ja gla'she."
Venus didn't know what the alien meant, but saw him holding a small ball. It had a display with strange symbols, which got smaller and then vanished, one by one. Almost like-
Mars was fighting a trio of aliens, but she heard the explosion, and saw her friend lying on the ground, near the source. She could be hurt, or worse. "Hikaru!"
Moon heard the shout and winced. Mars was cutting through any alien unfortunate enough to be standing in her path, with just her bare hands. But most aliens were already retreating, so Venus had been right - their leader's death had broken these soldiers' will to fight. "Hisa, calm down!"
Mars had already reached her friend. "Hikaru, no..."
Moon appeared near them and grimaced before quickly summoning her communicator. "Hotaru, Venus is down."
Saturn appeared next to Moon, wasting no time on socials as she started healing her. "She's barely alive. What happened?"
"The leader of those aliens had a bomb of some sort with him. Might have used it to try and knock her out, but it destroyed him."
Venus woke up in time to hear that last part. "I had already stabbed him through. That was a suicide attack, not an escape tactic."
Mars stared at her sternly. "You idiot, what were you thinking?"
"We won, didn't-"
"Shut up!" Mars shouted. "You could have died! Why didn't you tell me your plan? Do you really need to show off like that?"
"I- Sorry." Venus staggered up. "Sorry I made you worry, Hisa."
Mars saw her friend was about to cry, and sighed. She couldn't stay mad at her. Soecially since she had been keeping something from her for a few days now, waiting for the right moment. She hugged her and then smiled at her. "Anyone would get worried seeing the one they love getting hurt."
As they broke the hug, Venus stood frozen there as Mars looked at her. "Hisa, did you just say-"
Mars interrupted her with a soft kiss on the lips. "That maybe did turn into a yes after all."
Venus hugged her, then saw Moon and Saturn were staring at them. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, but we still need to go report the results to the Queen once you're done."
Mars sighed. "Do we really have to go?"
"Well-"
"Chibi, let's leave them alone for now. I'm sure the Queen will understand their reason to breach protocol."
"Good point, it's not like mom follows protocol a lot."
Dragon Saturn blinked. "What about me?"
"Go back home, Ami must be worried sick."
"Okay." He turned to his two friends. "You look cute together."
Mars blushed as Dragon Saturn left. "That kid is too smart for his age."
Moon nodded. "Anyhow, we'll leave you alone. Have fun."
"We will."
Saturn blinked at Venus' words. "Yeah, try not to have too much fun."
A/N: They don't make alien invasion fleets like they used to.
The title? I regret nothing.
