Coming Up Next: The trinity returns to Azabu Juuban only to get roped into a strange game of hide-and-seek by a pink-haired girl with an uncanny resemblance to Usagi. However, this girl is actually being hunted by a new enemy while she's searching for a powerful crystal, and if things couldn't get any stranger, there's also another member of the Organization that's also after Chibiusa. Can the trinity keep Chibiusa safe while thwarting the Organization's plan at the same time?
For Today's World: We're returning to Sailor Moon R for today's venture, and though this one's going to be an original plot, it takes place after episode 62, "A Guardian's Friendship: Goodbye, Ami", where the Inner Guardians got their Star Power pens and new attacks.
Episode 16: Can't Fight the Moonlight
("Otome no Policy" by Yoko Ishida plays)
"Hey, is it just me, or do things seem awfully different here?" Maylin wondered once the trinity had disembarked in Azabu Juuban.
"Everything seems just like it was before," Haruka answered. The only notable difference that she could notice was that the Juuban Odysseia, the giant apartment complex where the Makai Tree had been housed, had been condemned after the top half of the building had been thoroughly wrecked during the Makai Tree's rampage.
"I don't know, I can sense something odd here," Sophia noted. "The energy in the air is quite different from when we fought the Makai Tree."
"Seems like poor Usagi and her friends can't really catch a break, can they?" Nick chuckled, just then noticing that Ellen looked slightly downcast. "H-Hey, you okay, Ellen?"
"I just don't know what Usagi's going to think of me," Ellen admitted. "Remember, I was helping out Queen Beryl last time we saw each other, and..."
"You were being influenced by Yaldabaoth, so you clearly weren't in your right mind," Maylin responded. "I know Usagi's dealt with that, considering Mamoru was possessed when we were there."
"Yeah, but what if she doesn't see it that way?" Ellen wondered.
"GET BACK HERE, YOU CHEEKY LITTLE SPOILED BRAT!"
That scream from Usagi surprised everyone, especially as a young girl no older than nine went running down the street right past them.
"Okay, not what I expected," Haruka admitted as Usagi ran up to them, clearly exhausted from chasing that little girl.
"Hey, did any of you see a little girl who looks kinda like me come running by here?" Usagi gasped as she tried to catch her breath. "Because she's dead freakin' meat once I get my hands on her!"
"Whoa, whoa, calm down, Usagi," Nick quipped. "What exactly is going on? You can probably guess that it's been a while for us."
"Well, to make a long story short," Usagi stated. "Just when I thought things were finally getting back to normal after that whole business with the Makai Tree, this weird little girl just pops up out of nowhere and starts digging her way into my life, making my entire family know her when I clearly don't, she's been a little brat without even bothering to tell me anything, and she's trying to take my Mamo-chan away from me, and even worse, HE BROKE UP WITH ME!"
Once Usagi was finished venting, she suddenly started crying, no doubt still upset over what Mamoru had said to her.
"Wait, wait, he dumped you?!" Maylin gasped. "For what?!"
"That's the worst part, I don't know why!" Usagi wailed. "He just came right the heck out of nowhere and said we couldn't be together because, and I quote, 'he doesn't love me anymore'! And he refuses to tell me why! ...was it something I did?!"
Before Usagi could start crying again, she was stopped and had to take a step backwards at the sheer unyielding rage in Maylin's eyes.
"Maylin?" Usagi asked.
"Uh-oh, I know that look," Haruka sighed.
All of a sudden, Maylin swiftly summoned Counterpoint to her hands.
"...that son of a bitch," Maylin growled as she started marching down the street, only to be just as quickly stopped by Haruka.
"Maylin, I know what you're thinking, and it's not worth it," Haruka stated.
"No, not this time, Haruka," Maylin snapped back. "I assume you remember what happened the last time I let something like this be. It did not end well."
Maylin glared down the street. "If I see Mamoru while we're here, he's going to get it," Maylin proclaimed. "It's bad enough that he decided to break up with you despite everything about your past lives, he won't even give you the time of day now?! Ooh, if I ever find him, he is in so much freakin' trouble..."
"Maybe until then, we should look for that girl Usagi was chasing," Sophia stated. "We wouldn't want her to get into trouble with the Heartless, despite how bratty she might actually be."
"Yeah, that sounds like an idea to me," Ellen quipped, only to then notice that Usagi was staring intently at her, as if trying to figure something out.
Ellen braced herself for what she just knew was coming next, only for Usagi to suddenly fling herself forward and hug her.
"It's so nice to finally meet you, Ellen!" Usagi laughed.
"W-Wait, Usagi, I thought you were mad at me," Ellen answered.
"Why would I be?" Usagi asked.
"In case you forgot, Usagi, I was helping Queen Beryl back at the Dark Kingdom!" Ellen shouted.
"Well, Nick told me that you were most likely being controlled by something," Usagi quipped. "And what do ya know, I was right!"
Ellen couldn't help but smile at Usagi's forwardness as she summoned Starlight to her hands, glad she never had to look at that super dull and colorless version that it had become during the crux of her time being controlled by Yaldabaoth.
"We'll go find that girl, okay?" Ellen stated.
"Please do," Usagi responded. "As much as she annoys me, I just... can't bring myself to hate her for some reason."
With that in mind, the trinity all headed off in the direction that the young girl had run towards, eventually finding her near what was left of the Juuban Odysseia. She was backing away from a group of Heartless consisting of Lance Soldiers and a strange new one.
This new Heartless had a spherical black with two beady yellow eyes on it and wore a conical green helmet with an angular antenna attached to its tip. The majority of its body was encased in a spherical suit of armor with eight conical black spikes spaced evenly over its surface, the armor primarily colored in shades of green with some yellow decorations on it, its thin arms jutting out of circular openings in the armor on either of its sides. Its spindly legs shared a large circular opening at the bottom of the armor, and the tips of its feet pointed upward. This creature had two Heartless emblems imprinted on its armor, one on the front and one on the back.
"Okay, who brought out the spike balls?" Nick wondered.
"These ones are Morning Stars," Haruka explained as the trinity summoned their keyblades for battle. "They like to spin around a lot and they're really hardy, but all that bulk makes them slow and easily to predict, so take advantage of that. Failing that, try and pick them off from long range."
"Sounds like my kind of opponent," Maylin quipped as she weaved to the side to avoid the strike of a Lance Soldier and cast a Blizzara spell into the nearest Morning Star, interrupting its spin.
While Ellen and Sophia went to work dealing with the Lance Soldiers, Nick faced down the other Morning Star as it twirled around and skidded towards him. Nick quickly raised Gilded Cage in a parrying motion to defend himself and send the Morning Star skidding a few feet back, after which he jumped after it to strike it a few times, noting that the Morning Star didn't flinch from any of those hits.
Naturally, the Morning Star took advantage of that and replaced its regular hands with spiked balls so it could hit Nick with a one-two punch that sent him stumbling backwards.
"Okay, so you're gonna be that jerk," Nick quipped.
As Sophia cast Kougaon to destroy two Lance Soldiers and the other Morning Star, the Morning Star that Nick was facing suddenly retracted its arms and leaped into the air, obviously attempting to crush Nick underneath it.
However, Nick was wise to that game and raised Gilded Cage to bunt the Morning Star back upwards, then leaped up to grab it and spike it into the ground like a volleyball, the resulting shockwave also destroying the two remaining Lance Soldiers.
Nick continued this relay until the Morning Star was vanquished as well.
"Well, that was fun," Nick chuckled before turning to the girl the Heartless had been cornering. "Are you doing okay?"
The girl in question appeared no older than nine, and had red eyes and pink hair wore in buns much like Usagi, but instead of the buns being round, they were elongated and styled to look like a rabbit's ears.
And much to his surprise, Nick realized that he'd seen this girl before, way back in Traverse Town after the first visit to Usagi's world.
"Hey, it's you!" Nick and the girl gasped at the same time.
"Wait, you know her, Nick?" Ellen asked, as she obviously hadn't been part of the group for their first adventure.
"Yeah, she showed up in Traverse Town after we helped Usagi destroy Queen Beryl and she gave me a keyblade," Nick answered. "And now that I can actually get a good look at her, she does look a lot like a younger Usagi."
"There's a reason for that, but I can't exactly tell you for safety reasons," the girl responded. "But for the sake of appearances, my name's Chibiusa. I came here because I'm searching for something."
That was when Nick recalled what Chibiusa had said to him back in Traverse Town.
"Oh, she's not dead, trust me. If she was dead, I wouldn't be here right now, if you catch my meaning."
Despite realizing what that probably meant, Nick decided to keep his mouth shut for Chibiusa's sake, especially if there was a new enemy about like Usagi had mentioned.
"What exactly are you searching for?" Maylin asked. "We might be able to help you find it."
"I'm searching for a powerful crystal," Chibiusa answered. "I need its power to head back to my actual home and save my mommy and daddy... but I haven't had any luck yet."
"Why don't we start searching around, then?" Sophia responded. "If you came here to find it, it can't be that hard to find."
Chibiusa nodded, now knowing she'd made the right choice in trusting them, especially considering how Usagi had been acting lately.
After about ten minutes of searching around the city, Chibiusa suddenly glanced towards the condemned Juuban Odysseia, having sensed a strange twinge of energy down that way.
When they reached the building, Chibiusa noticed a figure in a very familiar-looking black hood standing in front of the building.
"What, are you supposed to be the building security?" Chibiusa taunted.
"That's the Organization," Ellen proclaimed as the trinity summoned their keyblades. "You might wanna stand back and let us handle this one, Chibiusa."
Chibiusa nodded and ran off to the opposite street to take shelter behind an nearby street lamp, knowing that a fight was probably about to erupt.
"All right, you, out with it," Nick stated. "What's your business here?!"
No. 10 looked back at the Juuban Odysseia.
"The darkness of people's hearts," No. 10 proclaimed, casually juggling a quintet of silver crystals in her hands. "Drawn to these artifacts of great power."
Just then, a large Heartless materialized behind No. 10. This Heartless was a vaguely humanoid Heartless with an emaciated, legless and dark pink-skinned appearance with glowing yellow eyes surrounded by black rings, a head that resembled a human skill with a wide crest that resembled a headdress, two black angular curled horns sprouting from either side of its head, and a black and steel blue garment that covered its neck and shoulders with the Heartless emblem imprinted on the front of this garment. Its lower body was covered by a short black and steel blue skirt with white bandages wrapped around it, and it also wore black gauntlets decorated by jagged yellow and grey lines. It was also carrying a large black staff with a wide steel blue anchor-like blade on one end and a small angular heart-shaped one on the other end.
"And this Heartless, a veritable maelstrom of avarice," No. 10 chuckled. "I wonder... are they both worthy of serving Organization XIII?"
"Let me guess, you want us to answer you right now?" Maylin responded.
"Well, obviously," No. 10 quipped as she raised her hand, which caused the Grim Reaper to go on the offensive.
"Sorry, you wannabe death, we're not croaking today!" Ellen shouted as she rushed forward to strike at the Grim Reaper, leaving it wide open to a double strike from Nick and Sophia.
The Grim Reaper swung its pendulum sideways to try and knock its attackers away, but Sophia ducked under it and conjured Pandora to cast Kougaon on the Grim Reaper. Much to Sophia's surprise, this one blast seemed to be enough to defeat the Grim Reaper, sending it crashing through the door of the condemned building.
"...um, you might want to try again, lady, because that was pathetic," Maylin taunted. "That was easily the most pansy-ass Heartless I've seen yet!"
No. 10 reached back to pull her hood down, revealing a beautiful young girl with hip-length black hair and flat purple eyes.
"I wouldn't place too much stock in that confidence if I were you," Homura Akemi proclaimed as the crystals in her hand transformed into black, spiky crystals. After that, she threw one into the hole the Grim Reaper had made.
After a few seconds, the Grim Reaper flew back out of the building, now sporting a wilder and rotted appearance, with its ribs more clearly exposed and its clothing tattered, its skin now a light shade of pink and its clothing predominantly periwinkle and tan, the crest on its head gaining a heart-shaped hole in it and its pendulum blades becoming larger. The crystal that Homura had thrown was now larger and embedded in its head. Three small ghostly skulls the same color as the Grim Reaper's skin were now flying around it, each sporting glowing yellow eyes and Heartless emblems on their foreheads.
"After all... you may not like the consequences," Homura laughed as the Grim Reaper warped to right behind the trinity and swung its pendulum hard enough to unleash a wave of force that sent the trinity careening into the Juuban Odysseia.
Homura let out a laugh as the Grim Reaper slashed directly through the building with its pendulum staff, cleaving a straight line through it and causing what was left of the building to completely collapse in on itself, seemingly burying the trinity underneath the rubble.
Homura simply let out a chuckle before vanishing through a corridor of darkness, the Grim Reaper vanishing alongside her leaving a horrified Chibiusa to stare in shock at the remains of the building, wondering what exactly to do.
"I found you!"
Usagi finally caught up with Chibiusa, ready to give her a piece of her mind for what she'd done in the Tsukino household, only for her anger to vanish near-instantly at the sight of both an utterly destroyed Juuban Odysseia and a scared and crying Chibiusa.
"H-Hey, what the heck happened over here?" Usagi wondered.
"T-They were fighting a strange person in a black hood, but then they summoned this huge skeleton thing, tossed them into the building, and destroyed it with them still inside it!" Chibiusa wailed, clearly scared out of her mind. "I don't even know if they're still alive in there! For once, I wish I wasn't so powerless!"
Chibiusa naturally worried about what Usagi would do, considering what she'd caused back at the house, and so was quite surprised to see Usagi jog over and hug her tightly.
"Hey, I wouldn't worry about them too much," Usagi stated. "I know them, and they're all very strong. I don't think they'd be taken out so easily. But how about we get the others and see if we can find them?"
Chibiusa nodded as she and Usagi headed off to round up the other Sailor Guardians.
Meanwhile, far below the ground under what was left of the Juuban Odysseia, Maylin looked up to double-check and make sure her Reflect barrier was still standing, and much to her relief, it was.
"Holy crapbaskets, talk about a close shave," Maylin sighed in relief. "That witch seriously picked the 'screw you' option, didn't she?"
"Yeah, we were about to be literally buried alive," Ellen quipped. "Your reaction time is impeccable, Maylin."
"We've been literally buried before," Haruka admitted. "Our powers protected us, but it was still pretty uncomfortable."
"Okay, question," Nick asked. "How do we get out of here? Because it looks like the rest of that rubble's gonna fall on us the instant Maylin gets rid of the barrier."
"I think I can handle a little rubble," Maylin chuckled as she swung Counterpoint to dispel the Reflect barrier, which exploded outwards in a flash of silver lights that shredded most of the remaining rubble. Haruka swung Divewing to bat away any pieces that remained.
"Looks like everything else is fine," Sophia stated. "The building's pretty much done for, so..."
"We'd better get our butts out of here and find that lady before she causes more trouble," Nick stated.
As the trinity all began swinging their keyblades to cut their way back to the surface, Nick couldn't help but think about everything they'd been through on this adventure.
They were always just passing through each world. Nick often wondered if he'd ever see home again, and if he'd be able to enjoy it for more than a short time before the call of the worlds inevitably drove him back to adventure.
Make no mistake, he loved the adventure, the feeling of traveling to the different worlds and helping out wherever he could, but that didn't mean he wouldn't feel homesick after a while.
Just then, Haruka noticed something gleaming under a pile of rocks and dirt, sweeping it away with a swing from Counterpoint to reveal another summon charm lodged in the ground.
Nick pulled the summon charm out of the ground, noticing that it was imprinted with a bright blue square that held another smaller square with a line through it at the bottom of the first square.
When the trinity made it back to the surface and made their way out of the ruins of the building, they were suddenly confronted by a strange new Nobody.
This particular Nobody didn't seem to have an actual body, just appearing to be an animated set of clothing, consisting of a pink coat with very thin dark salmon-colored bell sleeves, those sleeves juggling dice and playing cards decorated with Nobody symbols, and either side of its long neck sporting a dark salmon colored spike like those on the Nobody logo, and the Nobody's 'head' had the same shape. Its lower body was a faded pink gown that widened near the base and was decorated by several small white Nobody logos, and long flat black feet.
The Gambler was also juggling a spiky black crystal much like the one that Homura had used to supercharge the Grim Reaper.
"I think we need to get that crystal and break it," Haruka quipped. "Call it a hunch."
Maylin quickly raised Counterpoint to launch a Thunder spell towards the Gambler, but it avoided the spell by separating the two halves of its 'body'.
"Okay, now you're just being rude!" Maylin shouted.
The Gambler brandished one of its playing cards before slashing it like a blade towards the trinity. Nick swung Gilded Cage out to parry the strike, only to then see that four larger cards had appeared behind the Gambler, and they were rotating between large Xs and Os. Moreover, the Gambler had stopped moving.
Realizing what he had to do, Nick studied the rapidly-changing cards until they started to slow down to a much easier pace after a couple seconds before pointing Gilded Cage towards the card with the O.
The cards stopped moving and the Gambler stumbled before dropping a small platter of synthesis items. Nick took that opportunity to swing Gilded Cage and clonk the Gambler over the head with it, and this allowed Sophia to uppercut it in half with Super Yo-Yo and finish it off.
The Gambler popped out of existence and dropped the crystal it had been holding.
"Allow me," Ellen quipped as she swung Starlight to break the crystal in half, the halves disintegrating soon after. "Three more to go."
"You sure?" Maylin wondered. "Who knows how many more she has?"
"I saw her juggling five of them before that Heartless attacked, and she used one of them to power it up," Ellen answered. "I think we've gotta break those other crystals so the Heartless can't keep making itself super-powerful. That might be the only way we're gonna beat it."
"We'd better find Usagi and let her know what's going on," Haruka stated.
On the way back to the Tsukino household, however, a large swarm of Heartless suddenly materialized around them, mostly consisting of Large Bodies and Fat Bandits along with some Morning Stars and Lance Soldiers.
"Can't we go one freakin' minute without you freak shows interrupting us?!" Maylin shouted.
Nick looked down at the summon charm in his free hand. "I think we should let our new buddy do some house cleaning, if you catch my drift," Nick chuckled.
"Sounds like a plan to me," Haruka quipped as she and Maylin were surrounded by silver light before vanishing from sight.
As the Heartless all approached, Nick raised the Axis Charm high above his head. "Give me strength!" Nick called out.
("Fantastic Dreamer" by Machico plays)
A large burst of water erupted from the Axis Charm and started spiraling around Nick like a tornado of water before focusing into a spout that flew around for a few seconds and eventually splashing into the ground. Another burst of water erupted upwards from that puddle to reveal Nick's newest summon ally.
She resembled a young adult woman with blue eyes, light blue waist-long hair partially tied into a loop with a spherical clip, a slim figure with ample breasts, long legs, and wide hips, wearing a sleeveless dark-blue feather dress with white trimmings, an extremely short dark blue miniskirt, a green bow around her chest with a blue gem in the middle, a translucent purple underskirt, detached white sleeves with blue and golden trimmings, and thigh-high blue heeled boots over white stockings with blue trimmings.
Aqua raised her hand to summon her scepter before turning back to smile at Nick.
"Don't worry your pretty little head off," Aqua proclaimed. "Your goddess is here to help!"
Nick couldn't help but chuckle at that. Even though she didn't look much like your typical goddess, Nick knew from experience that even young-looking figures like Eris could be hiding immense power.
Inwardly, Nick wondered why he'd thought of Eris just now, but put those thoughts behind him for the moment as the Heartless approached.
"back off, weirdoes! Only Kazuma gets to look at me like that!" Aqua proclaimed as she touched her forehead with both of her hands, causing her forehead to unleash a searing beam of light that obliterated a Large Body that had been approaching. Aqua turned her head around to sweep the beam across the area, dealing major damage to a bunch of Lance Soldiers as well.
One of the Fat Bandits attempted to lumber towards Nick while he was occupied and punch him from behind, but Aqua raised her hand and surrounded Nick with a magic circle that blocked the punch. Aqua then snapped her fingers and caused a flash of water to explode outwards, destroying the Fat Bandit and damaging a pair of Morning Stars as well.
A Lance Soldier attempted to strike at Nick from behind, only to hit a glow that was now surrounding Nick and take damage from it.
The remaining Large Bodies and Fat Bandits all approached in a circle, and Nick and Aqua both grinned at each other, knowing exactly what time it was.
Aqua made the first move, jumping into the air while Nick twirled around whacking the Heartless so they were all clumped together so that Aqua could entrap them all inside of a large magic circle.
Both Nick and Aqua started wailing on the magic circle with their respective weapons from multiple different angles for about five seconds, dealing damage with each hit.
For the final blow, Nick and Aqua momentarily dispelled their weapons before charging towards the magic circle, their right fists clenched and glowing with holy light.
"GOD'S REQUIEM!" Nick and Aqua proclaimed together as they both struck the magic circle with their glowing fists in a rather wicked double right hook. A second passed before the magic circle reacted and erupted into a gigantic flash of divine light that utterly obliterated every remaining Heartless trapped inside the circle.
Once the flash had cleared, Aqua flashed a peace sign to Nick, but before she returned to the Axis Charm, she remembered something.
"Hey, if you see Eris again... tell her I'm doin' all right, okay?" Aqua asked before her body turned into a collection of bubbles that absorbed themselves back into the Axis Charm.
"Wait, wait, hold on, how does she know Lady Eris?!" Maylin gasped once her and Haruka had returned.
"You know, now that I think about it, after we met Lady Eris way back at the beginning of this adventure, she told me something about what happened to her world and why she became a Keyblade Master," Nick responded. "She said that one of her fellow goddesses had managed to get her out of her world before it was annihilated by the Demon King. I'm willing to bet that Aqua was that goddess."
"Hopefully that means that Aqua's all right, wherever she is," Haruka stated. "Because it seems like these charms can summon people who are still around."
"All right, now that that's been taken care of, I think we'd better find those other crystals and bust 'em up before that Heartless can get its hands on them," Ellen proclaimed. "One powering it up was bad enough, and I'd rather not think of those implications if it gets its hands on the others."
With that in mind, the trinity began to scour Azabu Juuban for the three remaining dark crystals. They found one by the shopping district, one by the local park, and another by Juuban Middle School, each crystal being guarded by another Gambler.
By the time they were done, Usagi and Chibiusa had returned to the site of the Juuban Odysseia with the other Sailor Guardians.
"Looks like we've got 'em all," Haruka stated. "All that's left is the one that monster used to power up."
"See, Chibiusa, you didn't have to worry," Usagi chuckled. "These guys are way too tough to let a collapsing building take them out."
"I'll take that as a compliment," Nick quipped as Chibiusa walked up and handed him a glowing page, no doubt from the Pipo Storybook.
"So, where do you think this chick in the black hood is going to be?" Rei wondered.
"She'll probably be somewhere in town with her little pet," Maylin answered. "Organization XIII is after people's hearts, after all, so they're naturally going to flock to where there's lots of people. And what better place than a bustling metropolis like this?"
"Hey, I think I'm detecting a surge of evil energy," Ami stated, checking her mini-computer and zeroing in on their target. "It's coming from the school!"
"Right on target, it seems," Ellen responded. "Why don't we get our butts over there and end this?"
Everyone raced to the rooftop of Juuban Middle School, and even though Homura was nowhere to be seen, the Grim Reaper was waiting for them in its powered-up state.
"Looks like it's time to throw down, huh?" Makoto chuckled.
"Ready, everyone?!" Usagi proclaimed. The other Sailor Guardians nodded and brought out their Star Power Sticks, while Usagi reached for her Crystal Star brooch.
"Mercury Star Power..." Ami chanted.
"Mars Star Power..." Rei chanted.
"Jupiter Star Power..." Makoto chanted.
"Venus Star Power..." Minako chanted.
"Moon Crystal Power..." Usagi chanted.
"MAKE UP!" all five Sailor Guardians shouted together as they transformed.
Chibiusa had been surprised to find out that Usagi and her friends were the Sailor Guardians, sure, and even a little dismissive at the time, but she had quickly come around upon seeing how far they would go to protect her, despite her attitude.
"Looks like you all got an upgrade since the last time, huh?" Maylin chuckled.
"Here it comes!" Sailor Jupiter shouted as the Grim Reaper went on the offensive.
The Grim Reaper started by simply swinging its staff over and over again while occasionally warping around to avoid attacks. However, when Maylin managed to cut the Grim Reaper off so she could attack its body, she quickly found out that nothing she did had any effect on it.
"Wait, what the hell?!" Maylin gasped.
Nick switched his keyblade to Moon Scepter and swung to parry another strike from the Grim Reaper, only to find out that he couldn't actually hit it either.
"Something's not right here," Haruka noted. "It must have something to do with whatever that girl did to it!"
Just then, the Grim Reaper warped to directly in front of Chibiusa, knowing she was the only powerless one here, and raised its staff to strike her down.
Before any of the Sailor Guardians could react in time, though, Chibiusa let out a loud, fearful wail. This caused a bright crescent moon symbol to flare on her forehead and a bright pillar of light to erupt around her, throwing the Grim Reaper back and detaching the crystal embedded in its head.
Once the crystal was out, the Grim Reaper returned to its original form.
"...oh, I think I get it," Sailor Venus chuckled as she raised her hand. "Venus Love-Me Chain!"
Sailor Venus threw out a chain made of golden yellow hearts to lasso the crystal and start throwing it around, giving Nick ample opportunity to start striking at the Grim Reaper with Moon Scepter, glad to see that his attacks were actually connecting and doing damage now.
Eventually, the crystal broke free of the Love-Me Chain and re-embedded itself back into the Grim Reaper's head, causing it to transform back into its cursed form.
"That's it!" Sophia exclaimed. "We have to get the crystal out of its head and break that!"
"This one looks like it's gonna be a lot tougher than the others, though," Haruka noted.
"That's what you've got us for," Sailor Jupiter quipped as the Grim Reaper started moving towards Chibiusa again.
Sailor Jupiter took a step back, drawing her right hand out like she was about to pitch a baseball.
"Sparkling Wide Pressure!" Sailor Jupiter exclaimed as she threw a spherical bolt of electricity towards the crystal on the Grim Reaper's head. The attack connected and jarred the crystal, but didn't separate it from the head.
This only caused the Grim Reaper to focus its efforts on Sailor Jupiter instead, spinning its staff hard enough to create a whirlwind around it, with three evil spirits spinning around it as well.
When the attack ended, Maylin quickly cast a Thundara spell to keep it occupied, and then she noticed that even though her Thundara spell hadn't done any damage to the Grim Reaper, it did still affect it, as the Grim Reaper was now moving slowly as if it was fighting off paralysis.
"Ah, so magic still affects it even in its powered-up state," Maylin cackled, twirling Counterpoint. "Good to know."
Ellen leapfrogged off of Nick's shoulder to swing Starlight at the crystal while the Grim Reaper was still stunned, finally landing enough hits to dislodge it and return the Grim Reaper to normal.
"You all just hitting that crystal!" Sailor Mercury exclaimed. "We'll keep this thing busy!"
As the Grim Reaper tried to warp around and stay away from its attackers, Sailor Mercury twirled around a few times, a collection of water appearing above her head.
"Shine Aqua Illusion!" Sailor Mercury shouted as she threw the water burst towards the Grim Reaper, freezing it into a block of ice so that the trinity could continue attacking the crystal.
"Why won't you break, you stupid jewelry piece?!" Maylin shouted as she hit the crystal with a Blizzara spell, only for it to fly right back to the Grim Reaper and place itself back onto its head, shattering the ice and reverting it to its cursed form.
Suddenly, the Grim Reaper floated into the air, transformed into three gigantic ghostly skulls, and started stomping all over the school roof, creating shockwaves with each impact.
"Whoa, look out!" Sailor Moon exclaimed, flipping over one of the shockwaves to pick Chibiusa up and ferry her out of range of the attack.
"Got you now!" Sailor Mars proclaimed once the Grim Reaper had reformed. "Burning Mandala!"
Sailor Mars traced a large ring of fire with her right hand before absorbing that ring into her hands and firing out a barrage of smaller fire rings to batter the Grim Reaper, who started flailing around as if it were actually on fire.
Sophia summoned Pandora and cast Kougaon onto her keyblade to charge it up, then leaped towards the flailing Grim Reaper and struck the crystal in its head with Super Yo-Yo, unleashing a great burst of light that finally dislodged the crystal and returned the Grim Reaper to normal.
"Usagi, now's your chance!" Sailor Venus shouted.
"Roger that!" Sailor Moon responded as she brought out her Cutie Moon Rod, twirling it around a bit before aiming it towards the Grim Reaper. "Consider yourself moon dusted, mister skeleton boy! Moon Princess Halation!"
A barrage of sparkles and crescent moons shot out from the tip of the Cutie Moon Rod, breaking through and destroying the crystal once and for all and then blasting the Grim Reaper, causing it to fall to its non-existent knees.
Nick quickly raced over there and dealt the finishing blow by way of slashing Moon Scepter across its side. This caused the Grim Reaper to comically float back into the air before spinning around and crashing to the ground, its staff clonking itself on the head as it fell dead.
"Nice job, everyone!" Sailor Moon laughed.
"Um, Usagi?" Sailor Mars gasped.
The Grim Reaper dissolved into nothingness, though the energy heart that came from its remains floated into the waiting hand of Homura.
"Bravo, Nick. You truly are an asset to the cause," Homura chuckled before vanishing back into another corridor of darkness.
"Okay, who was that jerk?" Rei asked as the Sailor Guardians reverted to their normal selves.
"She's part of an Organization that's collecting people's hearts," Nick answered. "It's a pretty insane scheme they've got going, too. First, they release Heartless into different worlds, we fight and defeat those Heartless since we don't really have a choice, and then they get the hearts for their sinister plans. Ugh, we're never gonna stop them if this keeps up..."
"Then what's the plan?" Ami wondered.
"Simply put, we've gotta find their stronghold so we can finish them off once and for all," Nick responded. "I'd like to think we're making some progress on that front..."
"All right, Chibiusa, I've gotta know something," Usagi asked. "And please be honest with me, okay? After all, we just want to help you. Why, exactly, were you trying to take the Silver Crystal from me?"
Chibiusa was surprised to see Usagi so patient with her, despite everything that had already happened since she came here. Maybe she could trust her. ...she hoped.
"To make a long story short, I'm from somewhere far away," Chibiusa explained, deciding to keep the other half of her secret under wraps for a little longer. "I'm looking for the Silver Crystal because I know it has the power to help my mommy and daddy out, but now I'm stuck here."
Chibiusa looked over at Nick's keyblade. "I bet if I could use a keyblade like you, I might have the power to get back," Chibiusa sighed.
"I don't know if I'd recommend that, Chibiusa," Haruka admitted. "Not everyone can wield a keyblade, after all. You've gotta have a certain spark, and I'm not sure if there's an age limit on it."
"And most importantly, the life of keyblade wielders like us is actually pretty tough, despite the fact that we get to visit so many different worlds," Maylin answered. "Just the fact that we constantly get swarmed by the Heartless is bad enough, but add that to your duties as Sailor Guardians, and that's a bunch of pressure I'd never wish on anyone."
"We just do it because we're already doing it, and we don't know if there are any other keyblade wielders out there," Ellen stated.
"Well, why don't we help you find a way to head back to where you came from?" Makoto asked. "It can't be any harder than dealing with those jerks from the Black Moon, right?"
"You'd... you'd do that for me after what a jerk I've been?" Chibiusa wondered.
"Hey, you're really no more of a brat than I was at your age," Minako laughed.
"I'm... not so sure that's something to be proud of, Minako," Maylin sighed.
"If you had just told me why you needed the Silver Crystal, I would have helped you, you know," Usagi stated. "Obviously I couldn't just give the Silver Crystal away willy-nilly like that, but when we find a way to get back to your home, then I'll see if it can help you with your problem."
Despite her earlier worries, Chibiusa couldn't help but smile.
"And while you ladies brainstorm ideas on that, we're gonna hit the ol' dusty trail," Nick quipped. "After all, we've got to find the Organization before this all goes belly up."
"Well, just make sure you come and visit us again, okay?" Usagi laughed. "I've got this new recipe I've been meaning to try!"
"Usagi, cooking?" Rei chuckled. "That'll be the day."
Everybody, even Usagi, had a good laugh at that.
As the trinity headed out of Azabu Juuban so they could find a good spot to return to the Gummi Ship, Maylin noticed somebody walking by them.
Much to the others' surprise, Maylin immediately turned around and started marching towards Mamoru, as she'd promised to do.
"Oh, jeez, one of you had better stop her before he actually puts the guy in the hospital," Haruka sighed.
"On it," Nick and Ellen both proclaimed as they moved to grab Maylin.
"Um, can I help you?" Mamoru asked as Maylin approached him, only to see the unyielding rage in Maylin's expression.
"You're the one who's gonna need help when I'm done with you," Maylin growled.
"H-Hey, what's the big deal here?!" Mamoru gasped in surprise. "I didn't do anything, you're the one confronting me!"
"Oh, come off it with the 'I didn't do anything' bullshit," Maylin snarled as she summoned Counterpoint to her right hand. "Usagi told me how you just dumped her like a cheap spring dress, without even bothering to explain yourself!"
"Look, I have my reasons," Mamoru quipped.
"OH, REALLY?!" Maylin shrieked. "I'd love to hear your 'reasons' for stringing poor Usagi's heart along like that! She told us everything, you know. You've got some freakin' nerve playing with her feelings after everything she's already been through!"
Just as Maylin was actually about to swing Counterpoint and clock Mamoru in the head, Nick and Ellen jumped forward to grab her and hold her back.
"Maylin, it's not worth it," Nick proclaimed.
"Look, I wanna bean the jerk's head in, too, but will actually doing that solve anything at this point?" Ellen wondered.
Maylin struggled for a few seconds, then allowed herself to calm down before shooting Mamoru an angry glare.
"By the next time we're here, you had better get your crap together," Maylin growled. "Because next time, I won't play nice."
And with that settled, Haruka activated her wrist device to teleport the trinity back to the Gummi Ship, leaving Mamoru wondering what the heck had just happened.
"Wait, are we... on a stage?" Yumi asked once she and Nick had made it to the target location, and indeed, they were on a strange musical stage with an Arabian theme to it. Yumi had figured, considering she'd just run through a desert-themed program to get here, and each member of the Freaky Monkey Five they'd encountered so far was tied to the theme of the program before it.
"It's gotta be one of the gaudiest I've ever seen," Nick admitted.
Suddenly, the entire area darkened before shining a trio of spotlights on the main stage.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are proud to present, the lovely diva of the Freaky Monkey Five! Her gorgeous face is enough to drive any monkey wild with love! And now, without further ado, here she is for her first lead role in a musical performance... Monkey Pink!"
The spotlights joined together to reveal Monkey Pink herself, who was a pink-furred ape with big, girly eyes, blushing cheeks, and short blond hair that framed her face. She was wearing a modified Pipo Helmet resembled a pink, white and fuschia genie bottle with a pale pink silk ribbon flowing from the top and the alarm light near the bottom brim of it, a fuchsia tank top with sleeves below her shoulders with white accents and pale pink bracelets, a lavender vest with white detailing, a belt with a golden Specter buckle in the center, puffed pants with light pink rings on the bottom, and pale pink flats with green gems on the toe.
"Well, well, I didn't expect this to be a two-for-one show," Monkey Pink quipped. "You must be the ones who caught Yellow, right?"
"Maybe," Yumi taunted, readying her Stun Club as Nick summoned Zero/One to his hands.
"Well, yippee for you," Monkey Pink retorted, floating casually around the stage. "You probably think you're pretty good, huh?"
"I am a singer myself, to be fair," Yumi quipped.
"...but I'm sorry to have to be the one to tell you this, but there's only room for one mega-star at the top," Monkey Pink laughed.
"And let me guess, you think that's you?" Nick responded.
"I mean, look at me," Monkey Pink proclaimed, energy beginning to gather around her. "I can sing, I can dance, I can even act!"
"Um, I do all those things, too," Yumi cut in.
"And now, here we are, my very first musical," Monkey Pink laughed. "So just watch and learn, dearies, and know that you will never be as great and wonderful as me!"
"Okay, that spiel was old the first fifty times I heard it," Nick quipped. "Come on, Yumi, let's show her who the top dog really is."
"Gladly!" Yumi laughed as she and Nick both charged towards Monkey Pink.
"No jumping on stage, you silly!" Monkey Pink stated as she raised her wand to fire a beam of pink hearts that temporarily stunned Yumi so that a bunch of Teleborgs could move in and try to attack.
Nick took care of that, swinging Zero/One to cut down the Teleborgs and allow Yumi to regain her footing.
"It looks like we're not gonna be able to get up there unless we stop her from using that beam thing," Nick quipped as he continued to bat away more Teleborgs. "Any ideas on a distraction?"
"I think I've got just the thing," Yumi responded as she reached down to activate her Morph Gear. "Morph Gear Transform: Genie Dancer!"
A bright flash of neon-green light enveloped Yumi for a few seconds, and when it cleared, she was now wearing a red vest with pale yellow detailing and a pair of neon indigo puffed pants with white clothes tied to a gold belt around the top, white sandals with gold straps and ankles, a gold bangle bracelet, gold bangles below the shoulder, a gold choker, and a pair of gold earrings, along with an indigo-colored cap with white and gold accents and multiple blue gems.
A large genie figure also materialized behind her along with a pair of maracas in her hands.
"All right, let's boogie down," Yumi chuckled as she started shaking her maracas to make the genie wave its hands and cause music to start playing. All of the nearby Teleborgs started dancing to the jaunty tune, as did Monkey Pink.
Nick saw that as his opportunity to jump onto the stage, switch his keyblade to Reverberating Abyss, and start whacking Monkey Pink multiple times, eventually finishing with a Stride Break that caused Monkey Pink to go flying into the back of the stage, the light on her Pipo Helmet turning from blue to yellow.
"You... you haters are all alike," Monkey Pink snarled as she picked herself back up, her hair now spiky and standing on end and her eyes pure white with no pupils. "How dare you trample on my dreams?!"
"Oh, don't even play that card," Nick retorted as he tried to attack Monkey Pink again, only for her to teleport away and start throwing fireballs all across the arena.
Nick quickly cast a Reflect spell on Yumi to protect her from a trio of fireballs, since he'd pretty quickly picked up that Yumi's Genie Dancer form wasn't really suited for attacking, more so for utility and exploration.
The explosion of lights from the Reflect actually caught Monkey Pink in the middle of one of her teleports and threw her back, allowing Yumi to drop out of Genie Dancer form and go to town with her Stun Club, eventually dealing enough hits to make the light on Monkey Pink's helmet change from yellow to red.
"That's it," Monkey Pink snarled, the energy surrounding her intensifying. "Prepare to meet your maker!"
Monkey Pink raised her hands to telekinetically grab two large stone pillars and smash them into the stage floor repeatedly, causing shockwaves that forced Nick and Yumi to keep moving.
After a few more pillar smashes, Nick skidded to a stop and cast a Thunder spell to break through one of the pillars, shocking Monkey Pink enough for Yumi to get the drop on her and hit her with one last home-run swing from her Stun Club. This sent Monkey Pink flying backwards, crashing into the outer wall of the stage before collapsing in front of Nick and Yumi.
"So, then, are you finally ready to give up and admit that I'm a better star than you?" Yumi taunted.
"...give up? Me? You must be dreaming," Monkey Pink growled. "I'll never give up, you brat!"
"Just shut up and let me capture you!" Yumi shot back as she ran forward to strike, only for Monkey Pink to teleport away from the swing.
"I said, never!" Monkey Pink proclaimed. "I'm going to go find somewhere to train now, and when I'm done, I'll be back stronger than ever and you're going to regret it! You... you've destroyed my dreams of becoming a superstar... both of you will pay for this, I swear it!"
"However, before Monkey Pink could teleport away, she was surrounded by a clock face that sparkled before taking effect, completely freezing Monkey Pink in her place.
"Shouldn't have started monologuing," Nick chuckled. "All right, Yumi, she's all yours."
Yumi nodded and leaped forward to swing her Monkey Net and catch Monkey Pink. The instant Monkey Pink had been caught, the Specter TV satellite on top of the stage building fell to pieces and collapsed, indicating the end of broadcasts in this region.
"Whew, am I glad that's over," Yumi sighed. "That weirdo's singing was getting on my nerves."
"Is it me, or did she kinda sound like you?" Nick wondered.
Yumi couldn't help but ponder on that as they both warped back to the TV Station.
To be continued...
New summon acquired!
Aqua, Goddess of Water
Drive Gauge Points Required: 4
Anime of Origin: KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World! (2014)
Theme Song: "Fantastic Dreamer" by Machico
What They Do: Aqua specializes in passively supporting Nick with healing and protection befitting of a goddess while still dealing big damage to evil, unbound by the laws of her world. Every Heartless or Nobody killed while Aqua is active fills the Limit Gauge by 1/6th.
Summon Actions
Holy Aura: As long as Aqua is on the field, any enemy that is close enough to her will slowly take damage.
Healing Light: As long as Aqua is on the field, Nick will gradually recover health every two seconds.
Magic Circle: Press ] and Aqua will surround Nick with a magic circle that blocks attacks from all angles.
Water Surface Flash: After successfully blocking an attack with Magic Circle, press X to have Aqua unleash a burst of water around Nick to deal counter damage in a wide radius.
Resurrection: If Nick is defeated while Aqua is active, Aqua will revive him to full health once per summon.
Sacred Exorcism: When commanded by pressing /\, Aqua will fire a beam from her forehead and sweep it across the area of the targeted enemy, hitting anything else in its path. Does non-elemental damage and pierces defenses.
God's Requiem: [FINISHER: When the Limit Gauge is completely full, select God's Requiem on the Command Menu to have both Nick and Aqua surround all nearby enemies with a magic circle that stops them from moving before wailing on them with a series of strikes. Rapidly tap X to keep up the attack for as long as the Limit Gauge lasts. Press /\ again before the Limit Gauge runs out to finish with a double holy-powered right hook that instantly destroys any enemies trapped inside, while dealing an extra bar and a half of damage to bosses.
On the next episode...
Maylin: Hey, what's Brave Vesperia doing on that mountain?
Haruka: I think they finally found Judith.
Sophia: I sincerely hope they won't do anything rash when they do find her.
Maylin: Given what she's been doing lately, I can imagine some of them are probably mad at her.
Nick: I'm more worried about what the hell the Hunting Blades are doing here. Did they seriously learn nothing from what happened back at Nordopolica?!
Ellen: I'm sensing a strange energy somewhere on this mountain, too. If the Hunting Blades are up to no good, then we'd better get our butts over there and help Brave Vesperia out.
Nick: Couldn't have said it better myself, sweetheart. Looks like we're going mountain climbing next time on Kingdom Hearts: Key to Her Heart re:Verse II, "Our Principles"!
Nick, Maylin, Haruka, Ellen and Sophia: May your hearts be your guiding key!