Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Moon Princess in Gotham ❯ Shocking New Senshi and An Amazing Amazon Appear ( Chapter 10 )

I do not own Batman or any of the related characters. They are the property of D.C. comics and Warner Bros. entertainment. I also don't own Sailor Moon-and if you thought I did, you belong in Arkham Asylum with those people who keep thinking they see Jesus or the Virgin Mary in their food.

 

Chapter Nine: A Shocking New Senshi and An Amazing Amazon appear.

“Oh no!” Serena cried as she ran as fast as she could. Alfred had been driving her and her brother to school and had just pulled up to Crossroads Elementary to let Dick off when the Bentley's left rear tire hit a rusted nail. Even though her own school wasn't far away, Serena knew she wouldn't make it in time.

She had just rounded the corner when she ran into someone. “I'm sorry,” she said, then noticed suddenly noticed the person she had run into was a very rough-looking young man with two even rougher looking companions.

“You're sorry, you say?” the first man said. “Well how about apologizing-by giving us your lunch money!”

“Now hold it right there!” Serena looked behind her and saw a tall brunette with her hair done up in a high ponytail standing right behind her. “Just leave this young lady alone, will you?” she called out.

One of the other hoodlums said, “Oh yeah? And what if we don't wanna?”

“Then I'll do this!” The girl grabbed the first one by the collar and flipped him over her shoulder. “Then this!” She stomped his face into the sidewalk. “And this!” She brought her knee up across the guy's face, and then dropped him to the ground.

The other two couldn't take anymore, they turned and ran at the sight of their friend getting beat up. The girl suddenly looked at her watch. “Oh no I'm late she cried as she picked up her schoolbag and ran off.

Serena picked up her own bag and ran. She actually had a valid excuse this time, so maybe she wouldn't get in trouble.

 

“I see you're still busy with the computer, Master Bruce,” Alfred said as he walked up to his employer carrying a tray with Bruce's lunch. “I've made Chicken Lao Mien witch broccoli and carrots.”

“I'll eat it later,” Bruce said. Alfred placed the tray on a table nearby and walked over to Bruce's side.

“He glanced at the blurred images on the computer screen. “Are you still trying to learn the identities of those Sailor girls, sir?”

“Sailor Senshii. At least that's what Dick told me they call themselves,” Bruce said. “All these images here are from special micro-video cameras in my cowl. I've checked and double-checked them, and they are in perfect working order. The pictures of most other people are perfectly clear. Yet all the pictures of the girls are blurred.” He switched two different images, one black and white, and the other gray with red at the top. “These are of Tuxedo Mask and that Nephrite person. And they're blurred as well.”

Alfred leaned closer to the computer screen. “That yellow and red blur over there-is that Robin?”

Bruce focused on the image Alfred mentioned and enlarged several times. “Alfred you're right!” Bruce leaned back in his chair and rubbed his chin. “I completely missed that. It must be that mask they gave him. Something about it deliberately distorts and blurs camera images to prevent identification.”

The billionaire CEO/philanthropist/detective/vigilante looked at his manservant. “Senshii is Japanese for soldiers or warriors, and Sailor Mars uses Japanese Shinto spirit wards. But she's about the only one who looks even remotely Japanese, and none of the Japanese legends and folklore I've researched mention anything remotely resembling these girls.”

Now Bruce closed his eyes, as if deep in thought. “I have a connection to them now with Dick acting as a go-between. And he knows who they are but unless it's absolutely necessary I won't make him go back on his promise not to tell anyone. And I promised Sailor Moon I wouldn't place a tracking device on her.” Now he actually chuckled. “Clark calls me the world's greatest detective, yet the more clues I find the more bewildered I am.”

Before Alfred turned to head back to the mansion, he said, “I must also remind, sir, that you are invited to the wedding of Maria Giano and Pino Luciani Friday evening. Will you be attending, or shall I call and say you declined?”

Bruce thought for a moment. He had nothing against the couple-both were fairly decent enough, save that Maria Giano was the daughter of one of the late Carmine Falcone's lieutenants, while Luciani's uncle was the third level mob boss in Metropolis. “Tell them I won't be able to make the ceremony, but I should make the reception.”

“Very good sir. Will Miss Miouh be accompanying you?”

“Yes Alfred.”

“Will Master Dick and Miss Serena also be attending?”

“Serena won't, she already has plans for this Friday.” Bruce punched several keys on the computer. “But I have some plans for Dick on the occasion.”

 

Serena walked to the cafeteria as slow as she could. Despite the handwritten note from Alfred explaining why she was late, and him actually coming in to school as soon as he got the tire fixed to vouch for her, she still got detention.

Miss Haruna sure can be unfair, Serena thought. She just hoped Bruce wouldn't get angry about it. She didn't think he would; her guardian was usually fair with her most of the time.

She just came up to the study/detention hall when all of a sudden she bumped into Melvin. “Don't tell me you've got detention!” she exclaimed. Melvin wasn't just a top student; he was also a major kiss up to the teachers and faculty. Him getting detention was as likely as her making straight A's.

“Oh no Serena, I'm just here to help out in the principle's office,” Melvin said. “But you may want to be careful when you go in. She's in there.”

Serena looked through the door window. Inside was the girl she'd seen earlier!

“That girl's major trouble,” Melvin continued. “I hear she was kicked out of her old school for fighting! And she got detention on her very first day here!”

Serena just went inside and sat down next to the girl. There was no one else besides them in the room, and the detention monitor hadn't shown up yet.

“Hi there,” she said carefully. “My name's Serena. What's yours?”

The brunette smiled at her. “Lita. Lita Montoya.” She looked quizzically at Serena. “So they got you too, huh?”

“Yeah they did.” Serena suddenly noticed the rose earrings Lita wore. “Say, where did you get those earrings at?

“Oh, these?” Lita fingered her left earlobe. “These were my Mom's.” Sudden her face fell a little. “She gave them to me about six months ago, right before she and Dad died in a plane crash.”

 

“Yenngh!” Nephrite grunted as he dodged the youma's fist, then landed an uppercut. Before the youma could recover, Nephrite kneed it in the chin, and then chopped it behind the neck. Thrusting his right leg between it's own, the General sent the youma, which looked like a reptilian minotaur with a crocodile's tail, crashing into it's face.

Nephrite smiled in triumph just when he heard the sound of hands clapping just above his head. Sure enough, floating above him in his mansion's gymnasium was Zoicite.

“Bravo,” the ponytailed general laughed. “The Alitaur is one of the toughest youma we've got. What a pity you can't do as well against the Batman.”

“I would have finished him off,” Nephrite snarled defensively, “if not for that young partner of his and the Flash!”

“Of the Flash, I can see him K.O.ing you,” Zoicite laughed, “but I've had spies in that ally, and by their reports, that boy dodged and evaded your blast so easily!”

Spies? The only living things in that ally besides him, Batman, Robin and the Flash could have been rats or stray cats-or youma disguised as them. That would be just like her, Nephrite thought. How fitting.

“You underestimate ordinary humans too much,” he added. “The Batman is about as able a hand to hand fighter as they come, and that boy has the quickest reflexes of any I've ever seen. Until you've come up against them yourself, do not speak to me like that!”

 

Darien Shields guided the crane machine's arm to the Zorro figurine. “Carefully,” he said as the claw opened and went down, “Good, good. Blast!” The Zorro figure slipped through the claws and fell back into the pile.

“Boy, Darien,” Andrew said as he came up to his friend and classmate, “last time you were here it was the Shadow figure you were going for, last week it was Solomon Kane, and before it was a Van Helsing.”

Darien looked at Andrew. “Let's just say I have a thing for dark superheroes.”

Andrew suddenly noticed something. “Say, where'd you get that shiner?”

“Would you believe a sixth grader gave it to me?”

Andrew blinked. “A sixth grader did that to you?”

Darien nodded. “I'm working as this rich guy Bruce Wayne's gardener right now. You know that girl Serena's his ward?” Seeing Andrew nod, Darien went on, “Well, I'm working there, and I have this little argument with Serena and her brother comes up. I call him a shrimp, and next thing I know, I'm lying in the bushes with the crap beaten out of me! He isn't any stronger than you'd expect a 12 year old to be, but he sure can move fast!”

“Oh. Serena's brother Dick.” Andrew chuckled. “I can believe that. I was walking by the elementary school the other day, and I saw him playing basketball with his classmates. Even though he was the shortest kid there he practically owned the court!”

 

“No kidding?” Lita asked as she and Serena walked to the Crown Arcade. “You're a professional clown?

“Yup,” Serena said. “On weekends me and my friend Molly Baker help cheer up sick people as Moonbunny and Dottie Sparks at the Thomas Wayne Memorial Clinic-and sometimes we perform at homeless shelters and charity benefits Bruce hosts.”

“Must help save him money on entertainment,” Lita chuckled. “I'd like to see you sometime.”

They walked into the Arcade and saw Darien talking with Andrew. “Oh, hi Serena!” Andrew said cheerfully.

“Hi Andrew!” Serena said cheerfully, and then glowered when she saw Darien.

Darien smirked. “Hello, Meatball Head.”

“You can't call me that! You'll get fired!”

“As long as I'm not on the job and we're not at Wayne Manor, I can call you anything I like, Meatball Head.”

“C'mon Lita, “Serena turned and had to tug Lita, who seemed glued into place for a second.

“Darien!” Andrew reproached his friend. “Serena's a nice girl. Why do you have to be so mean to her?”

Darien shrugged. “I don't know. It just comes out whenever I see her.”

Serena dragged her friend, who was still looking at Andrew. “That boy, Andrew,” Lita said, in a voice that seemed far away, “he's so handsome.”

“Lita! What are you saying?” Serena asked. Andrew's mine!

“He looks just like my old boyfriend.”

Serena suddenly looked around, hoping to get Lita's mind off of Andrew. “Say, do you like video games?”

“Oh?” Lita was brought out of dreamland. “Oh sure, as long as there's lots of action.”

She quickly went over to a nearby Sailor V game. She began to play. “Oh no you don't!” the athletic brunette cried. “Ah hah! No no. Yes. NO!” Sailor V just got zapped and GAME OVER blinked across the video screen. “This thing is rigged!”

“Oh, Serena.” Serena looked and saw Raye and Amy holding Luna right behind her.

“Hi guys,” Serena said. Lita got up from her game and looked at the two girls. “I'd like you to meet my new friend Lita.”

Raye walked up to Serena. “We were supposed to meet at the shrine to study, but you haven't showed up! We even called Mr. Wayne before we came here.”

Serena blushed. “Yeah, well, I kinda had detention, then I met Lita, and we-.”

“You should have come to the shrine right after you got out!” Raye roared.

“Boy are you two good friends.” Lita chuckled.

Both girls looked at her, puzzled. “What are you saying?” Serena asked.

“All we ever do is fight,” added Raye.

“Yep. Just like sisters.” Lita smiled. She walked over and scratched Luna's chin. “And who are you?”

“Oh, that's my cat Luna.” Serena said, then added when she saw Luna purr, “She must like you a lot, because most of the time, she's not that friendly.”

“I should have known I'd find you here.” Serena turned and saw her brother staring at her.

Dick pointed at Amy and Raye. “Those two called Bruce, and he called me on my cell phone. Bruce wants you to come home now.”

Serena's shoulders slumped. “I've got to go,” she said and she walked out of the arcade.

Lita walked out with her and Dick. “I've got to go to. My sister Renee's going to get worried if I'm not home by six.”

Dick was talking on his cell phone. He closed it and placed it in his pocket. “Alfred's to be coming by to pick you up.” He walked off a few steps, and then looked back at his sister. “I got pulled out of a basketball game to look for you. Thanks a lot, Meatball Head.”

“That little-!” Lita ran after Dick, who suddenly stopped and leaped into the air. “Huh?” Lita stopped.

“Right behind you.”

Lita turned and saw Dick smiling at her. “You little twerp!” she cried as she rushed at the sixth grader, “I'll teach you to be mean to your sister!”

Lita punched at Dick, who ducked, then leaped over her high kick. How does he do that? Lita thought, Can he read my moves? “Okay, no more Miss Nice Lady!” She attacked Dick again, who just dodged and swerved with her every move.

The sixth-grader leaped over Lita's kick, then flipped over backwards. Too fast for Lita to see, he caught her neck with his feet and with a backwards somersault, sent her flying into the bushes on the side.

Groggily, Lita opened her eyes to see Dick smirking over her. “I could do worse, but I don't like to hurt people more than they deserve.” Whistling off key, he walked away.

Serena and Amy ran over to Lita. “You aren't hurt, are you?” Serena asked.

Lita shook her head as she got to her feet. “Just my pride.” She looked in the direction Dick had gone. “How'd he move so fast? My sensei in karate class can't move like that.”

“You shouldn't feel too bad,” Amy put in. “Serena's brother trained as a circus acrobat almost since he could walk; it's given him much better than average reflexes and agility. At the age of eight he even mastered the triple somersault. That's difficult even for the best of them to do. Sometimes, I've read, he occasionally managed a quadruple.”

Lita continued staring where Dick had walked. “No wonder I couldn't lay a hand on him.”

 

Nephrite sat in the chapel room, again deep in meditation. “Show, me, oh stars,” he said, “reveal to me a person more than human, whose energy will please the queen.”

The black void again formed and another image showed. This one was a young twenty something woman with thick black hair and wearing a uniform similar to the Sailor Senshii, minus the skirt and decorated with stars, stripes, and a bright golden WW insignia.

“Yes,” Nephrite smiled. “This one should be much easier than the earlier two.”

 

“You hate these things, don't you?”

“Huh?” Bruce looked at Trista, who was leaning on his arm. For the occasion, she was wearing a shimmering green gown that was a shade lighter than her hair, which was done up in a full formal bun. The ruby earrings she wore sparkled and matched her eyes. “How'd you guess?”

Trista smiled. “Call it woman's intuition, Bruce. Your palms are sweaty, you've done no more than make polite gestures to any of the other guests, and those handsome eyes of yours have a look that say's `get me out of here!'”

Bruce chuckled; he wasn't used to someone doing detective work on him. “Am I that transparent?”

Trista nodded. “Don't worry. I don't really care for these society things either.” She looked around at everyone who was gathered at the Iceberg Lounge for the Luciani-Giano wedding reception. The bride was dancing with her new husband; the bride's mother with the bride's kid brother, and the father of the bride was standing back in a corner, watching as he was talking with the groom's uncle.

“Ah, Mister Wayne,” a short, fat man with a long nose and monocle clad in a tuxedo and top hat came waddling up to Bruce and Trista.

“Mr. Cobblepot.” Bruce did his very best to hide his dislike of the Iceberg Lounge's proprietor-and failed.

“And this must be Miss Trista Miouh.” The man otherwise known as the Penguin took Trista's gloved hand and kissed it. Seeing Bruce's angry glare, he whispered, “He still holds a grudge against me because of a small incident a couple of years ago.”

Oswald Cobblepot waddled away to greet more of the wedding guests, when the dance floor was opened to all couples. Bruce and Trista walked out with the others and began to dance.

“That `small incident' he was talking about-what was it?” Trista asked Bruce.

“He stole experimental insecticide from one of my labs and threatened to poison the city's water supply.”

They continued dancing for several minutes, when a soprano voice spoke up behind Bruce. “Pardon me,” Bruce looked behind and saw a tall woman with wavy black hair wearing a short black dress and silvery bracelets that stretched from her wrist to her elbows, “may I cut in?”

Bruce blinked. “Diana?”

“You're Diana?” Trista asked. “Won-?”

The woman nodded. “Yes that's me. Didn't recognize me without the leotard and tiara, did you?”

Trista looked at Bruce, then Diana. “I-I know you used to date, but seeing you here in the flesh-it just makes it seem more real!”

Diana rolled up her eyes. “I get that a lot.” She smiled at Trista. “Don't worry, I'm not trying to get him back. But I might suggest you be careful with him.”

Trista smiled coyly. “Don't worry about me. I know all about his reputation, and I went into this with both eyes open.”

Diana moved her eyes to Bruce. “With this boy, you need a third eye.”

Trista stepped aside and Bruce and Diana danced. “So tell me, Diana,” Bruce said, “what brings you to this occasion?”

“Etta Candy, a close friend of mine,” Diana said, “was roommates with the bride in college. Her boyfriend in the Air Force has flight duty tonight, so she invited me. And,” Diana's voice, “I wanted to see you again. To say I'm sorry.”

“Sorry?” Bruce's voice sounded genuinely puzzled. “For what?”

“For breaking it off with you the way I did.” Now Diana's voice went a couple of octaves lower. “I thought at the time you were just using me, like with those other women. But now I realize that many of them were gold-diggers after your money, and those who weren't-,” now she actually blushed, “let's just say I've learned a few things about women in the Patriarchs' world that challenge a lot of traditional Amazon assumptions.”

“I perfectly understand why you felt-.”

Diana placed a finger over Bruce's mouth. “Don't say anything. You're very honest for someone who leads your kind of life, Bruce Wayne, but I can tell when you're lying or about to lie. All I want to say is I hurt you, and for what it's worth, again, I'm sorry.”

“Mr. Wayne?” A waitress, a very short but buxom blonde, tapped Bruce on the shoulder. “Excuse me, but there's a telephone call for you.”

Bruce looked at Diana. “I'm sorry, but I've got to go.”

Bruce followed the waitress away from the dance floor and down a nearby hallway. As soon as they were out of sight, Bruce asked, “What did you find out?”

“As I was serving their drinks, I heard the father of the bride say he'd be sending his `little falcons,' out to the `occidental point' tomorrow night.”

Bruce nodded; he'd have to check `little falcons' reference, but he was almost certain `occidental point' meant West Corner harbor on the Gotham river docks. “Thank you, I needed to hear that.”

Now the waitress looked Bruce square in the eye and said in Dick Grayson's voice, “Tell me again, why do I have to dress like THIS? It's bad enough being dressed like a girl, but these boobs and hips and skimpy outfit-I keep getting hit on and swatted on the behind!”

It was all Bruce could do to keep from laughing; he was glad he kept up a thorough check on all the Penguin's employees. “This place doesn't have any male employees you could easily pass for. Elaine Winslow is about your size and she doesn't socialize much with her co-workers, so you could go through unnoticed this way. And she should be pleased enough with the second $32000 I'm leaving in her apartment so she won't ask any questions.” He cocked an eyebrow. “Maybe next time you'll think before you beat up the gardener just because he insulted you.”

“Am I interrupting anything?” The two both turned and saw Diana at the end of the hallway. She looked at Dick in his waitress disguise. “You must be that `Boy' Wonder I've been hearing about.”

Dick's face turned crimson. “I don't normally dress like this.”

Diana smiled. “I'm sure you don't.”

The three went back to the wedding reception. Bruce took Trista and they began dancing again. Diana just joined her friend Etta and walked over to the wedding cake, when all of a sudden one of the wedding guests bumped into her.

“Excuse me,” the man said. He was rather handsome, with long red hair that swept across his shoulders. “I'm just clumsy today.”

“Don't worry about it.”

The man looked carefully at Diana. “You're Diana, Princess of Themyscaria? Wonder Woman?”

Diana nodded. “Yes, but I'm trying to keep a low profile here tonight.”

“I understand.” The man put his hand forward. “Please, shut allow me to shake your hand.”

As Diana put her hand in both of Maxfeild Stanton's, the handsome stranger discreetly placed something on her right bracelet.

 

It was lunchtime at Crossroads Junior High. Because it was such a nice day, all the students were allowed to go outside to eat.

Serena was sitting back and talking with her new friend Lita. “You truly are a wonderful cook, Lita!” Serena said as she downed the third muffin Lita offered her.

“Thanks.” Lita's face softened. “I've had a lot of practice-since Mom and Dad-,”

Lita's face clouded up; Serena, remembering how it had been for her that night her parent fell to their deaths placed a hand on her shoulder. “I'm sorry,” the brunette went on. “Ever since, it's just been so hard on me and my sister-Renee's a cop and works the night beat, so I have to do the cooking myself. And I don't even get to see her that often.”

“Pardon me.” The two girls looked up and saw Amy standing there. “Serena, could you come with me. I need to talk with you.”

Serena got up and walked with Amy over to the track field. “What is it, Amy?” Serena asked.

“Just about your brother,” Amy said. “How good an acrobat would you say he is?”

“Oh that?” Serena asked. “Dick's one of the best! I mean you saw how good he was at that ceremony party for the hospital wing, didn't you?”

Amy smiled. “He's a real Boy Wonder, wouldn't you say?”

“Of course-even if he's a real jerk to go along with it.”

“One could almost say he can fly like a Robin.”

“You might say-wait a minute!” Serena wasn't the brightest girl in school, but she could put two and two together-as long as they were laid out on the table in front of her. “What are you getting at?”

“Only that your brother is Robin,” Amy said. “It did take me awhile to figure it out. First, when I saw him that night when I first became Sailor Mercury-it would take someone with the reflexes of a circus acrobat to dodge the youma's blows like that. I still didn't suspect anything, and then I saw Dick at the hospital wing event you mentioned. His suit and the ease with which he was able to do those aerial somersaults got me thinking. But the lynchpin was when I saw him and that new girl Lita. He didn't just dodge her-the way he grabbed her by the neck with his feet and threw her can't be standard circus acrobatics. He must really have been trained to fight. But by who and why?

“Then when I was working on our utility belts, and I realized it would take a lot of money to make the kind of gadgets Batman uses-Bruce Wayne's kind of money.” An air of triumph came over Amy's face. “It's all so simple, once you fit the pieces of the puzzle together.”

Now Serena hung her head. Even though she knew Bruce was Batman, she rarely thought about it-Batman seemed so cold and distant while Bruce was warm-hearted and open, it was just hard to think of them as the same person. And Dick acted pretty much the same even when he was Robin. “Promise you won't tell anyone?”

“Does Mr. Wayne know about us?”

“No-at least Dick tells me he hasn't told Bruce, and while he's a major pain and a jerk, he's never lied to me.”

“True but he may figure it out, if he hasn't already.” Now Amy actually laughed. “People were always telling me how smart I was. I thought no, I'm not that smart, I just study real hard. And now here I've just figured out what the entire media, police department and the criminal underworld would all be dying to know!”

 

“Are you sure this is it?” Robin asked as he and Batman looked down at West Corner harbor.

Batman nodded. “Occidental means West or western, and I cross referenced `little falcons' with West Corner back at the Cave. A ship is scheduled to come in tonight called the Peregrinito. Spanish for `little pilgrim,' or a reference to the pilgrim falcon or peregrine.”

Robin touched the side of his mask, activating its telescopic capabilities. As he looked closer he said, “I think I recognize some of those guys from the night before.” He scowled at the memory; one of the men unloading the crates had actually hit on him.

“Can you see what they're unloading?” Batman asked.

“Wait a minute,” Robin said while he adjusted his masks sensors. “Yes, it looks like some kind of assault rifle. I can't make out what kind.”

That was all that Batman needed to know. Legitimate firearms dealers waited until the cargo was in their stores before inspecting. Which meant…

Batman took a grapnel from his utility belt and fired. “C'mon Robin,” he said as he swung down. Robin took out his own grapnel and quickly followed suit.

 

Bruno Romero smiled as he got his hands on the rifle. “Nice. Old Man Giano's certainly going to be pleased with these babies.”

The crewman from the Peregrinito nodded in agreement. “Fifty round magazine, .308 caliber, full automatic-can't buy that at your local gun store, can you?”

Suddenly they heard a small ting-ting sound at their feet. Romero looked down when all of a sudden a bright light flashed in his face.

A gloved fist slammed into Romero's face. “Running guns into Gotham, are we, Bruno?” A harsh voice whispered into his ear.

“It's the Batman!” one of the accomplices cried out. “Get him!”

Two of them had just pulled out pistols when each felt a steel heel at the crown of their skulls. “And what am I, chopped liver?”

The Boy Wonder grabbed their guns and threw them aside, then leaped on top of a pile of crates. Other men started shooting at him, and he jumped down to the other side. He threw a smoke bomb over the crates and set his mask on infrared.

Before the smoke cleared, Robin ran out and quickly hit each man in the solar plexus. Before any could recover, he slammed a board into their faces.

Batman fought with the Peregrinito's crewman. He just managed to knock him out, when suddenly a bullet pierced his shoulder from behind. He turned and saw another sailor pointing one of the assault rifles at him.

Robin looked down at the incapacitated gangsters, pleased with himself. He managed to disarm and take them out without any help from his mentor.

“Look here, Boy Wonder.” Robin turned and saw a sailor holding Batman at gunpoint, and the Dark Knight himself was clutching a wounded shoulder. “Have a good look at me, Boy Wonder,” the man laughed. “I'm going to be famous-the man who killed Batman!”

All of a sudden the rifle was yanked out of the sailor's hands. He, Batman, and Robin looked up and saw a woman clad in a red white and blue leotard and wearing a golden tiara and silver bracelets. “Wonder Woman!” Robin smiled in relief.

The Amazon Princess hovered in the air, the rifle dangling from her lasso. “Looks like you're not going to be so famous after all,” she smiled down at the sailor.

After they tied up the sailors and bound the incapacitated gangsters, Batman put his hand to Wonder Woman. “Normally I don't like others interfering in Gotham, but thanks, Diana.”

Wonder Woman took it. “ I know what kind of person Maria Giano's father is, and I overheard you two talking, so I figured I might as well investigate for myself.” She smiled warmly. “Maybe you won't be so reluctant to accept help when you need it next time.”

Out of nowhere bright light flooded the docks. Bullets came flying out at the three. “Get behind the crates!” Wonder Woman told Batman and Robin.

 

Serena and Lita were walking home from the Crown Arcade. Both of them had just blown a month's allowance on the Sailor V game with neither getting anywhere near a high score. “I tell you, that thing is rigged.” Lita said out loud.

They were near the docks when all of a sudden they heard gunfire. “What's that?” Serena cried.

“I'm going to check it out.” Lita raced of for the docks.

“No Lita, you shouldn't-!” Serena followed her friend into an alleyway between two buildings. At the other end, they saw several men shooting at a stack of crates, then a woman in a red, yellow and blue leotard fly up from behind the stack, deflecting the bullets with her bracelets.

“Th-that's Wonder Woman!” Lita called out. She turned to Serena. “I'm going to help her!”

“No Lita!” Serena cried after as her friend ran at the gunmen. “You can't-!”

“But you can!”

Serena turned and saw Luna had come up from behind her. “Where did you come from?”

“No time to explain now!” Luna said. She'd been on her way to Central Control when she heard the gunfire and decided to investigate. “It's time for Sailor Moon!”

“MOON PRISM POWER MAKE UP!

 

Nephrite smiled as he watched Wonder Woman deflect and dodge his men's bullets. He'd overheard Giovanni Giano and Salvatore Luciani discuss what they were planning, and knew that sort of thing would attract Wonder Woman. Finding the men who would go in and shoot up the place had been easy enough. They didn't even know why they were doing it, only that they had been paid and that they were to shoot at Wonder Woman. The Amazon was building up a lot of energy-just as he wanted.

“ALL RIGHT YOU!” Now Nephrite looked down from his building perch and saw a teenaged girl attack his gunmen!

 

Lita creeped up behind one of the gunmen with a two-by-four. Quickly, before he noticed anything, she brought it crashing down on his skill. Not looking to see if he went down, she bashed in the man next to him.

Another of the gunmen saw Lita. He turned his weapon on her, and suddenly it was knocked out of his hands.

The gunman turned, and saw a teenage blonde girl in a mini-skirt jump out at him and slam the heel of her boot into his face.

Blast! Nephrite thought. She would interfere. The a few of his gunmen began turning away from Wonder Woman and fired at Sailor Moon. If I want something done right, I'll have to do it myself.

He jumped off the roof and floated up in the air. “All right, Wonder Woman! Now fight me.”

Wonder Woman looked at the General. “I don't know who you are, but if it's a fight you want, I'm ready!”

Robin looked up from behind the crates. Wonder Woman had told him and Batman to stay behind them while she distracted the gunmen's fire. Now he saw the gunmen fighting not just Wonder Woman, but also Sailor Moon and that friend of Serena's from the arcade!

He looked at Batman, who was still clutching his wound. “Stay here. I'm going to try to distract them even more.”

“Robin-.”

“No.” Now Robin's voice took an authoritive tone. “You're wounded and should try anything until at least Alfred's had a look at it!” Without further word, he jumped up and ran out towards Lita.

 

Lita had just karate-kicked the gun of another man's hands when she felt herself pulled down to the ground-right before assault-rifle bullet chewed up the wall where her head had been.

“Who are-?” She blinked when she saw the stranger's masked face. “Robin? The Boy Wonder?”

“Yeah, that's me. Now let's get you out of here. You shouldn't be here!”

“Yes she should!” The two looked and saw Luna had come up behind them.

“Hey!” Lita shouted, “how come you can talk!”

“No time for that now!” Luna said. “I just saw-!”

Before the cat could finish, something rumbled through the sky. They looked up and saw Wonder Woman had just sent Nephrite into the side of a ship. The Amazon flew down to where the General landed. Her eyes were blazing, and the coiled serpent Nephrite had placed on her bracelet was glowing red-gold. “WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS!” she bellowed.

Her energy is rising to its peak, Nephrite thought, now!

Red-gold light flared from Wonder Woman's bracelet. It wrapped around her, forming a cocoon around the Amazon Princess.

“Oh boy.” Sailor Moon moaned

“He must have done to her what he did to Superman and the Flash,” Robin whispered.

“Ha ha ha,” Nephrite laughed. “Now, Sailor Moon,” he said as he looked at the Senshii, “you are about to meet your worst nightmare!” The light around Wonder Woman faded. She lay at the ground and standing over her, dressed in a black leather halter-top and mini skirt with a yellow-interior black cape, was a woman who looked like she could have been Wonder Woman's twin. “Meet Superwoman!”

“Ha, ha. I'll get you, Sailor Brat!” Superwoman cackled. She took a yellow lasso that was strapped to her side and whipped it out at the Sailor Senshi. Sailor Moon leaped out of the way just before it landed.

“Sailor Moon Kick!” she cried as she jumped at Superwoman and thrust her heel forward. Superwoman's lasso grabbed her around the heel.

“Take this, silly girl!” Superwoman slammed Sailor Moon against a ship, than against the dockyard floor.

I should have known Meatball Head would mess this up, Robin thought. He leaped out and threw his bolos at the youma.

“Here!” Luna leaped up and did a back flip into the air. “Take this.”

Lita held the green pen-like object. “What is this?”

“You, like Sailor Moon, are one of the Sailor Senshii. Now hold it and say “Jupiter Power Make-Up!”

Lita held up the Jupiter pen. “JUPITER POWER MAKE-UP!”

“What!” Superwoman shrieked when bolos suddenly wrapped around her, pinning her arms to her torso. Suddenly Robin slammed his heel into her face then leaped backwards.

“You little brat!” Superwoman broke the bolos. “Did you think your little toy could hold me?”

No, but it bought me some time, Robin thought. He saw the youma twirled her lasso above her head-with his sister still on the other end!

He jumped up just as Superwoman whipped her lasso at him. He grabbed Sailor Moon-and took the full force as they crashed against the side of a building. “Can't you get that thing off?” he asked.

“No,” she said. The were almost pulled off from the ground again when they heard the words “JUPITER THUNDER CRASH!”

Robin and Sailor Moon both looked up and saw a brunette with a high ponytail wearing a green and pink variation of the Senshii uniform facing Superwoman. “JUPITER THUNDER CRASH!” she cried out, and lightning burst forth from her fingertips.

Sailor Moon blinked. “That-that's Lita!”

Robin looked through his mask. “So it is. Guess she's one of you too.” He turned to his sister. “Better use your Frisbee of Death on that thing.”

“Right.” Sailor Moon grabbed the tiara from her head. “MOON TIARA ACTION!” The golden disk of light shot forth and slashed through Superwoman, and the youma dissolved into glittering dust.

 

“THAT GIRL!” Nephrite raised his hands, preparing for a big energy ball to blast at Sailor Moon and the others-.

And nothing happened.

Nephrite tried again, but nothing would form. He tried to float, but his feet remained on solid ground.

“You've failed Queen Beryl for the last time, Nephrite!” Nephrite looked up and saw Zoicite floating above him. “After you last stunt, she decided she'd give you one more chance and you blew it! So now your powers are all gone and you're just a normal human!”

Sirens blared off in the distance. Zoicite smirked at Nephrite. “Looks like the police are coming. I'd love to see you explain all this to them, but I have a Silver Imperial Crystal to look for. HAHAHAHAHA!” and she vanished in a flurry of cherry blossoms.

 

“So Batman doesn't know who we are, but Robin does?” Lita asked Serena and Amy the Monday during lunchtime.

“Yes, that is correct.” Amy said. “He acts as sort of a go between for us and Batman. He won't tell us who he is either or who Batman is.”

“Well, I hope we see him again soon,” Lita said after taking a spoonful of pudding. “I'd love to see if he could arrange for Batman to teach me to fight like he does. Then I'd really be able to nail that smart-alecky brother of yours, Serena!” Serena nodded, and smiled at the though of Lita beating up Dick. “And Robin's so cute. He looks just like my old boyfriend!”

Serena and Amy looked at each other and face-faulted.

 

Bruce ran through the files of the Bat Computer. He was so caught up in his work he didn't notice Alfred come up to him. “Still trying to learn the identity of those girls, sir?”

Bruce nodded. “There's a new one. Sailor Jupiter, Dick told me her name was.” He flexed his shoulder. “Thanks for getting that bullet out of my shoulder.”

“It was only a flesh wound sir. I'm just glad you stayed out of the fight afterwards.”

“How's Diana?” Right after Sailor Moon had finished of the Superwoman youma, Batman had summoned a nearby Bat-boat that took him, Robin, and Wonder Woman to the Bat Cave.

“She should be coming to soon enough and she doesn't look to have a concussion.” Alfred's lips stretched up into a small smile. “Those women on Themyscaria are toughly built, if I may say so.”

“I've known that as long as I've known Diana.” Bruce kept going through the images. “Look what the cameras in my cowl picked up.”

“My word.” Alfred said. The image was of a rather pretty looking athletic brunette holding up something. Lightning emanated from the object and surrounded the girl-and when it cleared, a fuzzy white, green and pink blur stood in her place.

“Whatever it is that causes cameras to blur their images only works after their transformed. I've deduced it must either be sorcery, or sufficiently advanced technology.”

“To paraphrase Arthur C. Clarke, the two are indistinguishable.” Alfred said.

“I was to far away to hear exactly what was said. But at least of been able to identify the girl.” The computer rewound the image back to just before the transformation. The image enlarged, and then an identical picture appeared along with several written paragraphs. “Miss Lita Montoya. Officer Renee Montoya's sister.”

 

“So I'm finished, am I?” Nephrite smiled to himself. Right after the police arrived he'd been arrested. He told the police and the human courts the truth, and they hadn't believed any of it. Just like he expected. A dosage of sodium pentithol and a lie detector test had confirmed to them that he at least believed what he was saying was true. So Nephrite, known to the human bureaucracy as Maxfeild Stanton, had been declared insane and interred at Arkham Asylum.

“Finished, am I?” Nephrite said aloud. He glanced out of his cell, and the various lunatics and freaks with which he now shared residence. He still knew much in the way of magic and sorcery that was unconnected with the powers Queen Beryl had given to him. And he knew, despite all the tight security, that escapes were not infrequent from Arkham. Soon, he would escape, and have his revenge. On Zoicite. On Sailor Moon. On Batman. On everyone.

“Soon,” he said. “Oh yes, very soon.”

End of Chapter Nine

Okay, so now Nephrite's now in the loony bin. A few chapters from now he will escape, and be teaming up with another escapee from Arkham. Who do you think it should be? (And don't say the Penguin, because right now he runs the Iceberg Lounge and he's never been to Arkham. Of all of Batman's major enemies, he's considered the token non-lunatic)

The Rainbow Crystal arc starts in the next chapter, and the carrier's someone from the GCPD. Who do you think it is?”

And how do you think Lita will act when she realizes that Dick Grayson and Robin are the same person-and that she's been mooning over a guy almost two years younger than her?”

Omake:

Dr. Leslie Tompkins backed away at the sight of the creature. “What-what do you want?”

The creature that looked like the offspring of Waylon Jones with a pit bull held up a hand, revealing a black star shaped mark on her palm. “I want nothing,” the daimon said, “except your pure heart!”

“Dr. Leslie!” Rini cried out.