Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Sailor Moon Giga ❯ Episode 2: Praetor Nagash’s Ambition ( Chapter 2 )

Here we go Ladies and Gents, here's where the action starts, and I've changed my author name.

Credit goes to my friends Janneia and Starlus for their respective scenes that they wrote.

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon, the anime is property of Naoko Takeuchi, but I do own The Skull Empire and anything to do with it as well as the plot of this fan fic.

 

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Episode 2: Praetor Nagash's Ambition

 

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---Tokyo, Japan---

 

Everything is peaceful in the city of Tokyo. The birds are singing; the wind is nothing but a calm breeze and…

 

“I'm going to be soooooooooooo late.”

 

A familiar teenaged blonde female is running down the streets of Tokyo. Serena Tsukino is running as fast as she can to school with a piece of toast in her mouth. Luna, her cat is chasing after her with Serena's lunch bag in her mouth.

 

“Slow down, you've forgot your lunch.”

 

Serena suddenly stops as something assaults her senses and she looks to the sky. Luna sees this and stops about two feet from Serena.

 

“Serena, what's wrong?” asked Luna

 

“I don't know, but I feel as if someone is watching us,” Serena replies.

 

---The Citadel ---

 

Inside the Control Room, Nagash watches Tokyo from the screen on his desk, while Decoe and Bocoe stand to either side, in front of him.

 

“Conquering this puny planet will be a picnic; as an appetiser, I'll conquer this city first.” says Nagash with a smirk.

 

“Which Skull Bot will you use, Praetor?” asks Decoe, whilst bringing Nagash a deck of cards on a tray.

 

“No one should be able to destroy any of the Skull Bots,” states Bocoe. “Even the oldest ones you have.”

 

Nagash takes the deck of the Skull Bots cards and flicks them through between his hands so that he can see them all and smirks.

 

“Which one, which one?” Nagash says, still with a smirk pasted on his features. This quickly turns into a frown. Bringing his hand to cup his face and holding the cards in his other hand, he ponders still. “Mmmm… which one will it be?”

 

Nagash then gets up from his chair and walks to the computer console behind his desk. He inserts the cards into a holder that closes after the cards are placed within. He presses a few buttons on the console and it offers a card. Nagash takes the card and looks at it to reveal the chosen Skull Bot. It has well-built legs, a superb built body with missile ports and missiles for hands with a lone lens for its eye.

 

“Missile Wrist, Bingo!”

 

---High School---

 

“Then the next thing I knew was that I thought someone was watching me,” explains Serena to her friends.

 

“Strange,” replies Amy “The same thing happened to me.”

 

“Me too; we're going to have to see Raye and Mina if this happened to them as well.” Lita states.

 

“You don't think that there's a new enemy, do you?” asks Serena.

 

“Let's hope that's not the case, but if it is then we'll be ready.” declares Lita.

 

“I hope we haven't gone too rusty after our battle against the Death Busters,” remarks Amy.

 

“I hope not!” says Serena as she takes her timetable out of her pocket. She looks at it before squealing.

 

“Serena, what's wrong?” asks Amy.

 

“I have Mr Floodgate for Science next,” she says as sweat drops appears on both Amy and Lita's foreheads.

 

“Who's Mr Floodgate?” queries Lita.

 

“Only the most big nosed, boring and mean science teacher is this school!”

 

“I'm not mean, I'm nice.”

 

The 3 girls turn around to see a tall, but plump man with short hair. He is wearing glasses; a blue shirt and grey tie with a light blazer and trousers.

 

“H-Hello Mr F-Floodg-gate...” says a very nervous Serena.

 

“I'll be seeing you in Science, Serena.” After he says this, Mr Floodgate turns around and leaves.

 

“I'm going to be in detention for sure!” wails Serena as yet another sweat drop appears on Amy and Lita's foreheads.

 

---The Beach---

 

Some citizens are having fun at the beach by playing volleyball, surfing or sun bathing; a group of adults play a game of volley ball while a sunbather looks up from reading a magazine to see a shadow in the sea -- close to the beach.

 

One of the volleyballs is knocked astray right over this shadow in the water; a female goes over to collect it.

 

“Aww… You hit it too hard…” she complains as she reaches for the ball but this shadow rises suddenly. Everyone turns to see the Skull Bot, Missile Wrist, who now has water dripping off of his armoured shell. The volleyball that was to be retrieved is flung into the air.

 

The female looks at the Skull Bot in complete shock. It is only when the volleyball lands on her head that she returns to reality. She blinks, and then screams.

 

Missile Wrist begins to attack the beach huts using his Missile Arms. These are missiles attached to a wire, allowing for return. These are making people run for their lives; cars explode as Missile Wrist hits them. It walks onto the beach and promptly resumes firing with his missiles. Some people remain behind to get a first hand glance at the events while Praetor Nagash appears in the Skull Mobile. This is a small craft, which has half a sphere with a laser port at the front. It also sports three missile ports to the either side of it; two wings stick out of either side of the craft with a tail at the back. Lastly, a spike pokes out of the bottom of the Mobile. Inside the craft is a console with control sticks; these are used to steer and are attached to a minute computer screen.

 

“Go on, Missile Wrist, show more of the brute strength characteristic of the mighty Skull Empire!” orders Nagash, who is overseeing the destruction being caused.

 

---Junior High School---

 

In the Science lab, Mr Floodgate, is giving a lecture on Fleming's Left Hand rule.

 

“This is a rule for working out the direction of the force when a current is at right angles to a magnetic field. Now would anyone like demonstrate how the Rule is used, hmmm?” asks Mr Floodgate searching the room for anyone who wasn't paying attention, only to see Serena asleep at her desk.

 

“Serena...”

 

Serena keeps Z'ing away.

 

“Serena...”

 

She stays asleep as Mr Floodgate begins to approach her, like Jaws. Soon enough, he gets right next to her ear and…

 

“WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”

 

Serena's head shoots straight up from her desk. She is now standing up with her eyes wide open like a bug.

 

“Now that you're fully awake Serena, can you demonstrate to us how the Fleming's Left Hand rule is used?” asks Mr Floodgate, giving Serena one of his bug eyed stares.

 

“Well… I… I… don't know.” Said Serena very nervously

 

“That's all right, because you'll be able to write an essay for me about how it is used in… Detention. Oh, and you can sit down now.”

 

Serena sits down as Mr Floodgate walks away.

 

“He's sooooooooooo mean.” whimpers Serena very quietly.

 

“I'm not mean, I'm nice.” remarks Mr Floodgate as he walks away to the front of the classroom.

 

---City---

 

Missile Wrist continues to rampage through the streets of Tokyo with Nagash following close by in the Skull Mobile. The Police are making themselves useful in constructing a blockage.

 

“Hold it! If you don't stop we'll open fire!” demands a Police Officer through a megaphone.

 

Missile Wrist ignores the demanding officer and carries on advancing.

 

“FIRE!!” Orders the same Officer as the armed Police start firing at Missile Wrist. However, due to the primitive artillery, they are not causing any damage. Nagash meanwhile, holds his head in the Skull Mobile, getting rather bored at the attempts aimed at stopping him.

 

“Such pitiful resistance, I expected much more.”

 

One of the S.W.A.T. Teams uses a flamethrower on Missile Wrist. This causes it to erupt in flames and this also seems to shut it down.

 

“We did it!” exclaims the Officer.

 

The fire extinguishes suddenly and Missile Wrist leans forward, unharmed from the fiery attack. Nagash lowers the Skull Mobile in front of the Skull Bot.

 

“Fools, do you think those weapons are strong enough? And who's the one giving the orders?” demands the smirking Nagash.

 

“It's me...” replies the Officer meekly.

 

“Well then, Missile Wrist, feel free to use him as an example.” says Nagash, retreating back to his previous flying position above the Skull Bot.

 

Missile Wrist takes aims with his arm and…

 

---Later ---

 

At a café, Amy, Mina, Lita and Raye are discussing the recent events of late.

 

“So far it's happened to Serena and Lita, and I. Have the both of you experienced this feeling today?” asks Amy.

 

“It has, but when it hit you, did you feel that something bad is happening or is going to happen?” asks Mina.

 

“It has,” answers Lita. “Raye, have you noticed anything strange in your fire readings lately?”

 

“I have, but it was only yesterday that it happened.” says Raye

 

///Flashback///

 

Raye was kneeling in front of the great fire alone. Her eyes were closed and when she opened her eyes, she sensed bad vibes, emanating from another presence

 

. \\\End Flashback\\\

 

`I felt as though someone was spying on me. I looked around when something made me look closer into the fire. I saw a person in it. He had his back to me, and he was wearing a long black cloak and he had long blonde hair. It appeared that he lifted a mask to his face to place it on himself. From what I could see, it covered the top half of his face. The next thing I saw was him turning around, seemingly to look at me. While I was focussing on seeing his face, he raised his arm. And all I saw after that was darkness...my guess is that he used some kind of energy or force to make me lose consciousness. He seemed secretive, somehow.”

 

Just as Raye finished explaining what happened to her yesterday, thumping sounds were heard. It was so strong that the water in a glass was beginning to ripple.

 

The four of them take a look at the glass of water to see it rippling after each successive thump. As each thump grows louder, they turn to see Missile Wrist standing in front of a bank. Nagash is flying above the Skull Bot.

 

A person is walking towards the bank's exit, and as the doors slides open, he spots Missile Wrist and immediately starts to panic. As the Skull Bot head butts his way into the bank and breaking the entrance while he's at it, people are running for their lives in every which direction, heading for cover. Meanwhile, Missile Wrist makes his way into the very centre of the bank.

 

Nagash is able to see the inside of the bank through Missile Wrist's point of view. He sees people running away and even one person being carried away.

 

“Missile Wrist, head to the roof top. We'll be able to do more damage from up there.” Nagash orders as he begins rising to the roof of the building in the Skull Mobile.

 

“Roger.” The Skull Bot quickly complies. It aims one of its arms upwards and opens fire. His arm goes through the centre of the bank. When Nagash reaches the roof, police cars can be seen to surround the entrance of the Bank.

 

“OHOHOHOHOHOHOHO...” laughs Nagash, “Just like an observation window, eh?”

 

Nagash turns to see Missile Wrist's arm come out the building; it grapples itself to the top of the building using one of the side missile arms.

 

“Proceeding to the upper structural surface.”

 

Missile Wrist begins to ascend through the various thirty floors of the bank, creating explosions whilst damaging the outer structure. Eventually, he makes it to the roof. This causes the police below to stare in shock and the Chief of Police very scared.

 

“Well, now is a good time as any, so I think it's time to start with my greeting.” Nagash says smirking. He presses a button n the Skull Mobile; a miniature camera pops out in the Skull Mobile. This allows him to appear all over the city, overriding all the channels on TVs, screens on buildings and holographic screens. These programs end abruptly as the face of Praetor Nagash appears all over the Earth.

 

“Everyone, listen up and pay careful attention to what I am about to say,” he begins. “My name is Praetor Nagash -- the true form of a warlord genius. At this current moment in time, I hope you can all stand as witnesses via my imperial network, because from this moment on, this planet is under the rule of the mighty Skull Empire!” he decrees. “OHOHOHOHO.”

 

---Elsewhere---

 

`What the?!' thinks Darien a couple of seconds after Nagash makes his announcement.

 

`Another enemy?' he thinks while rushing out of his apartment as fast as he could `How do they keep popping up?'

 

Just before he exits the building, he transforms and takes on the form of Tuxedo Mask. He then proceeds to exit the building.

 

“Stop it right there!” yells two robotic voices, as Decoe and Bocoe teleport in on the scene.

 

“Who are you?” demands Tuxedo Mask holding his baton out.

 

“I'm Decoe,” states the taller robot.

 

“And I'm Bocoe.” asserts the shorter robot.

 

“We serve the great Praetor Nagash and the Skull Empire!” they say in unison.

 

“You're some of his cronies then?” asks Tuxedo Mask, raising an eyebrow.

 

“That word doesn't compute,” said Decoe scratching his metal head.

 

“Same here, perhaps the Praetor forgot to import that word into our vocabulary when he created us?” adds Bocoe.

 

“Perhaps the Praetor didn't import many of these species' vocabularies into our own?”

 

A sweat drop appears on Tuxedo Mask's head as the two Skull Bots carries on talking about vocabularies.

 

`Maybe I should leave,' thinks Tuxedo Mask. He leaves the two Skull Bots to their conversations, taking an exit to the left. Before long, the two Skull Bots notice Tuxedo Mask's absence and give chase.

 

---Meanwhile ---

 

“Is that robot yours!?” demands the Police Chief

 

“That is correct.” affirms Nagash

 

“Then hurry up and get your robot out of the way! It could hit a plane!”

 

Nagash looks at the Police Chief, apparently bewildered at what he has just been asked. `That imbecile doesn't realise who he's messing with!'

 

The Praetor is becoming very annoyed. “Then surrender the city to me!” shouts he.

 

“What? What do you mean by that?”

 

Nagash gets his fingers ready into a clicking position “This is what I mean.” he says as he clicks his fingers. This makes Missile Wrist fire his right missile at a police car and destroying it. This in turn, covers the Police in soot, as Missile Wrist retracts its missile back into its arm, reloading it.

 

“Hand over the city!”

 

“I'm done here... Get the mayor…” whimpers a very scared Police Chief.

 

“Then… your mayor will be… ME!”

 

---Meanwhile---

 

“This looks like the place”, declares Mina, casting a swift glance all around.

 

What is left of the once proud building lies strewn all over the area, with some pieces of debris still falling.

 

“You think?” replies Raye half-heartedly; her yes darting a sideways slant towards Mina.

 

Another boom shakes the place as they continue to approach the building. More debris rains down. Lita grabs her transformation pen and is about to transform, but is prevented from doing so quickly by Amy.

 

“Wait,” she says; ushering the Scouts to an area underneath a fallen metal pipe. “It's far too dangerous to transform out there, we'd be too vulnerable in being hit with something. We need somewhere sheltered. Somewhere concealed,” she decides.

 

Raye stops her suddenly.

 

“Shhh,” she insists, “I can hear talking.”

 

“…chance do you think you have? I can wipe out this entire puny planet in a matter of mere minutes, but for my…. entertainment…. I'd like to….” He slows to a stop. There is a moment of eerie, still silence, as if the debris decided to suddenly stop falling. As though everyone in the surrounding area had suddenly ceased to exist. The voice also stops for a few seconds.

 

“What the…” was all Mina managed before something grabbed her arm.

 

“Sssh!” hushes Rini; it turns out that she is the person who was sneaking about and who took hold of Mina. “He'll hear you!”

 

“Rini!” Mina scolds, not exactly expecting Rini to be here, “I thought you were going somewhere that wasn't here!” She glares at the little pink-haired girl, who has just crossed her arms and is sticking her nose up, clearly in defiance.

 

“I was keeping an eye on you,” she replies curtly.

 

“You mean spying on us?” suggests Mina in an angry whisper, even looking more cross than previously. Rini snorts and sticks her nose up even higher.

 

“Gee, I wonder where she could have got such a silly idea like that from,” Raye breaks in, half sarcastically while eyeballing Mina.

 

Mina goes red and sinks into shadow.

 

“Show yourselves!” comes the sudden demand from the top of the devastated building. All at once, the scouts realise that not only had Nagash probably sensed them during his previous speech, but now, he had heard them as well.

 

They all look at one another.

 

“Time to do what we came here to do,” says Lita, with her transformation pen in hand again.

 

“I know you are there… down there below…” the voice of Nagash continues from above, “I can sense your presence, your… energies…” his words soon slow to a methodical crawl once more.

 

Rini grabs Lita's pen this time as the rest of the scouts took hold of their own.

 

“But don't you think we should go get Serena?” she pleads, “I know she's a ditz and all but she is Sailor Moon.”

 

“She's with Darien, Rini, you know that!” comes Raye's quick reply, “Let them have their time; we can take care of this creep ourselves!” Rini nodded in reluctant agreement.

 

“I'm waiting….” comes the taunt from above.

 

“Let's do this!” cries Lita as she and the other scouts thrust their pens in the air in unison.

 

---Meanwhile---

 

Nagash`s attention changes as he sees the Mayor coming to the area.

 

“Eh? What is your decision!?” Nagash is currently very smug.

 

“Praetor Nagash! We shall not be ordered around by you!” replies the Mayor through a megaphone.

 

“Wrong answer!” says Nagash, while he clicks his fingers. Missile Wrist fires its missile into another nearby building. This time, blowing a hole into it; spreading dust everywhere. This has the effect of making everyone in the area either very worried or scared.

 

“How's that? Have I changed your mind?”

 

The Mayor stands still completely covered in dust from head to toe. The Mayor's eyes are wide open as he says, “That's actually the decision of our leader, the Prime Minister.”

 

Nagash face falls as he is starting to get beyond annoyed “Missile Wrist, be thorough with the destruction of--!”

 

“SHINE AQUA ILLUSION!”

 

“BURNING MANDALA!”

 

“SPARKLING WIDE PRESSURE!”

 

“VENUS LOVE-ME CHAIN!”

 

“What the?!” says Nagash, as he turns his head and sees the attacks heading straight towards him. “Gahhhhhhhhhh!” yelps Nagash as he ducks quickly and lowers the Skull Mobile, just in time as the attacks go over him. He then looks over at his attackers.

 

“Who dares attack me? Identify yourselves?” demands a rather peeved off Nagash.

 

“We are the Sailor Soldiers. Douse yourself in water and repent!”

 

“In the name of the planet Mars, I will punish you!”

 

“And in the name of planet Jupiter, I will punish you!”

 

“Sailor Venus...strutting on stage!”

 

“And I am the little sailor-suited pretty soldier in training Sailor Mini Moon! In the name of the future moon, I will punish you!” said Sailor Mini Moon

 

“Ah... so you finally decided to come out of hiding, eh?” says Nagash as he stands up in the Skull Mobile with his head down, chuckling quietly as he brings his face up to reveal yet another smirk. “Well, well. It's about time,” He turns his head towards the Skull Bot. “Missile Wrist, a new plan is in order. Get rid of these pests and make them wish they never spied on me.”

 

“Acknowledged.” Missile Wrist complies as he raises both of his arms and begins firing his missiles.

 

---Elsewhere---

 

“Where's an ice pack when you need one?” moans Serena, as her hand is hurting from all the writing she had to do.

 

“When will you learn not to fall asleep in class while one of the meanest teachers is giving a lecture?” rebukes Luna.

 

“But Luna, it's so boring having to listen to him go on and on about that scientific gobbledegook.”

 

Serena has finished her detention and is walking in the streets with Luna. Out of the blue, they see a large crowd congregating in front of a convenience store watching the TV's on display.

 

“Serena, I think you better check what this is about.” Suggests Luna.

 

Serena carefully makes her way to the front of the crowd, only to see a pre-recorded message being shown from Nagash.

 

“OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!” laughed Nagash just before the camera changes to see the Sailor Soldiers not faring too well against Missile Wrist's onslaught of missile barrages with his missile hands.

 

`The guys, they're going to need my help!' thinks Serena as she runs off leaving Luna behind.

 

`Nagash… I feel like I know him from somewhere, but I can't remember where,' thinks Luna as she turns to see that Serena has already left. “Serena, wait!” shouts Luna leaving the crowd feeling bewildered, because they do not know where the voice had come from.

 

---Meanwhile---

 

“CRESCENT BEAM SHOWER!”

 

The beam travels from Sailor Venus' fingers towards the Skull Bot, but when it hit Missile Wrist, it didn't even make an impact upon its armour, rather it bounced straight off.

 

“Don't worry Venus, we'll just have to try harder. BURNING MANDALA!”

 

“THUNDER DRAGON!”

 

“VENUS LOVE-ME CHAIN!”

 

“Not even a scratch!” exclaims Sailor Mercury. “But how is that possible?”

 

Nagash lowers the Skull Mobile down so that it is beside Missile Wrist. He stands.

 

“You fools! You can't possibly destroy Missile Wrist in anyway; my Skull Bots have no weaknesses! This is due to their polycarbide armour -- one of the strongest, yet rarest materials in the entire universe.”

 

“How do we bust it open then?” asks Sailor Jupiter.

 

“Well it's easy… but I'm not telling you, OHOHOHOHOHOHO!” laughs Nagash.

 

Mercury looks up at Nagash defiantly. `Everything has a weakness,' she reasons. `And Nagash himself has said that this robot is easily defeated...the only thing left is seek out its Achilles' heel.' She takes her mini laptop computer and starts analysing the Skull Bot. Mars spies Mercury typing away.

 

“Good thinking, Mercury. We'll try to hold that `thing' off while you find an opening. Jupiter! Venus! Let's go! If we attack it together, we might make a dent!”

 

Jupiter and Venus acknowledge Mars' suggestion. “Good thinking!”

 

“Ok...MARS SNAKE FIRE!”

 

“VENUS WINK SWORD!”

 

“SUPREME THUNDER!”

 

“Darn, it's still not working!” says Mars, somewhat dejectedly.

 

“OHOHOHO...weren't you weaklings listening to what I said? My Skull Bots have no weaknesses, and Missile Wrist here is no different! Try what you like, but you will never defeat it!”

 

“And it's too fast...” agrees Jupiter.

 

Nagash looks at the scene below him. `This isn't as interesting as I thought it would be, considering...' he thinks.

 

Mercury looks up from the screen to see her fellow Sailor Soldiers feeling pretty down and out. `If we can't match its speed...all we have to do, is to force it to match our speed ranges.' She ponders.

 

“SHABON SPRAY!”

 

Venus, Mars and Jupiter turn around to see Mercury obscuring the enemies' sight. They take a slight breather.

 

“So, Mercury. Did you find any weaknesses we can exploit?”

 

“I'm sorry, but the technology is beyond myself and the computer's capabilities. The only thing we can really do is to try to wear the robot out, which I highly doubt is possible.”

 

“Wait a second...that Nagash guy, he controls Missile Wrist or whatever-the-thing's-name-is, right? What if we try to take him out instead?”

 

“Yes, it appears so. But, I think that he himself is quite the formidable foe.”

 

“We have to try, right?”

 

As the Shabon Spray clears, the Sailor Soldiers prepare to attack Nagash instead, while trying to avoid Missile Wrist.

 

Sailor Mars takes aim at the Skull Mobile. “MARS SNAKE FIRE!”

 

However, Nagash has already predicted the Sailor Soldiers' next move.

“Nice try, but you'll have to try harder if you want any hope of defeating me!”

 

As Mars' attack fly at Nagash, he is unusually calm. At the precise moment the attack reaches him, he reverses her attack and makes it his own. Smirking at the Sailor Mars below him, he adds a little more to the attack. He pauses then releases the Dark Fireball. Sailor Mars is helpless below and there is little she can do to avoid the attack.

 

“Argh!” She screams at the Dark Fireball hits her and she collapses. The Dark energy has made her lose much of her energy. She slumps.

 

“Sailor Mars! No!!” Jupiter whirls around to see a fatigued and injured Mars. “I'll show you...THUNDER DRAGON!!”

 

“No, Jupiter! Don't!” Mars screeches out a warning but it is too late. Jupiter's attack has almost reached Nagash and there is nothing that will stop it.

 

This causes Nagash to smirk even wider. `How pathetic. When will they learn?' He is still calm when the attack reaches him. This time, instead of reversing the attack immediately, he decides to save it for later. What he doesn't see coming, as he is momentarily distracted, is an incoming kick from Jupiter, trying to knock him out of the Skull Mobile. `What the...?!' He abandons his previous plan and uses the Dark Lightning against Jupiter. At such close range, Jupiter is hit instantaneously and at point blank. She falls gracefully from the air in what seems like an eternity.

 

“Jupiter!!” Venus runs to the fallen Jupiter. “Why you...Nagash...” Venus is looking very angry. But before she can do anything, Nagash has decided to eliminate her for the time being also with a simple blast from his fingertips. A scream escapes Venus' lips as she is thrown back from the force of the blast. Her back hits the remnants of a building and it collapses on her.

 

Mercury looks at her fallen comrades. `How...how could we...I...let this happen?' she muses. Sailor Mini Moon is nowhere to be seen. It appears that Mercury is all alone on the battlefield. Mars is the only Sailor Soldier remaining still conscious, but she is struggling frantically to keep it.

 

`I might as well finish poor little Mercury off now. The faster they are out of here, the better,' he deems. `Then I'll finish the little annoying Mini Moon.' He gets out of the Skull Mobile and walks towards the frightened Mercury. He throws his cloak back to reveal a sword with a demonic-looking skull at one end of the handle with wings on the other end of the handle where the blade starts, in his hand. He raises it and strikes the ground. A shockwave results and it hits Mercury. It paralyses Mercury and she collapses.

 

“Oh Mini Moon...come out, come out wherever you are...” he taunts. Receiving no reply and not sensing any conflicting energies, he decides to end it all. “It's time for the big `au revoir'!”

 

“Hold it, Skull-Face.”

 

“SKULL-FACE!? Who dares to insult me?” demands Nagash turning around to face the person who insulted him.

 

“Attacking a city on a peaceful day, disturbing people's lives for your selfish ambitions on top of that, is something that I can't forgive. I am the sailor-suited pretty soldier Sailor Moon! In the name of the moon, I will punish you!

 

“So, a new player enters the fray.” voices Nagash as he slowly regains him composure. “Deal with her swiftly.”

 

“Roger.” affirms Missile Wrist as he faces Sailor Moon with both Missile arms in firing position.

 

“Aren't you going to give me a chance to move?” asks Sailor Moon anxiously.

 

“Let me think about that for a second… FIRE.”

 

Missile Wrist begins another Missile barrage but this time it is aimed at Sailor Moon. Nagash flies away a bit so that he can survey the area.

 

“I like what I'm seeing.”

 

Sailor Moon has just noticed the absence of the Sailor Soldiers.

“You guys...where are you all?”

 

“Sailor Moon, we're all over here.”

 

“Sailor Mars?” she is very worried as the voice she heard was very weak. She takes a closer look at the surroundings. She sees a broken Jupiter, a paralysed Mercury, and Venus' legs sticking out from underneath a heap of rubble. She gasps.

 

“MOON HEALING ESCALATION!”

 

The power from the Silver Crystal emanates from her brooch and it heals all the Sailor Soldiers. The four of them rush over to Venus' side and commence removing all the debris, so as to free Venus from her rocky prison.

 

“I'm all right. Seriously. And thank you for freeing me.”

 

The other soldiers smile at Venus. They still do not know where Mini Moon is.

 

Nagash, on the other hand has finished his surveying of the landscape. Back on the battlefield, turns to face his Skull Bot. “Missile Wrist, just take care of these fools anyway you like… just make it quick.”

 

Upon hearing this, the Sailor Soldiers become very afraid. They wait, expecting the imminent end.

 

“He's getting ready to finish us off,” Venus whispers.

 

“This is the end, isn't it? We haven't found any weak spots...” replies Mercury.

 

“But we're the Sailor Soldiers. We can't give up!” remarks Sailor Moon.

 

“We'll fight, to the very end.” agrees Mars.

 

Missile Wrist, meanwhile prepares to attack. A figure appears on a nearby rooftop.

 

“Do not lose hope, Sailor Soldiers!”

 

“Huh? Who is...?”

 

It is Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Mini Moon is with him. The Sailor Soldiers look up in the direction of the voice. They see Tuxedo Mask and Mini Moon. It appears that Mini Moon had run off and took Tuxedo Mask directly to the scene. Tuxedo Mask speaks.

 

“So, you are the new threat to the peace of this planet. If you think you will be able to conquer this planet easily, you are gravely mistaken.”

 

`Yet another weakling who thinks he can defeat me at my own game. At least the pace is picking up a bit,' Nagash contemplates.

 

Tuxedo Mask attacks Nagash. He jumps off the roof and produces his baton. He uses it in an attempt to disable Nagash. He is not fast enough however. Nagash blocks Tuxedo Mask with his Sword of Darkness.

 

“Is that the best you can do, Mask-boy?” Nagash jeers.

 

“Is that the best you can do, Skull-face?” Tuxedo Mask retorts.

 

Nagash scoffs. Tuxedo Mask strikes again. Nagash parries. The two are locked in combat, with Tuxedo Mask on the offensive and Nagash on the defensive, for the moment being. Whatever the attacks Tuxedo Mask launches, Nagash easily manages to match move for move. Due to the strength of Tuxedo Mask's blows, he is tiring fast. Before long, his blows become slower and weaker in strength. It is the moment Nagash has been waiting for.

 

During a momentary lapse in Tuxedo Mask's concentration and attacks, Nagash takes the opportunity to strike. He cuts, fast, deadly and with much precision. The cut slices Tuxedo Mask's baton into two. It falls to the ground, in pieces, useless. Nagash tightens his grip on his sword's handle and hilt and rams his elbow into Tuxedo Mask's stomach. He falls.

 

“Now that everyone is present and still, please allow me to introduce myself. I am Praetor Nagash, Imperial Ruler of the Skull Empire and soon, the future ruler of this universe” decrees Nagash before continuing “Now that the introductions are finished, let's get down to business once again, En guard!”

 

The Sailor Soldiers assume defensive stances in readiness for Nagash to make his move. They are in a close-knit formation, presenting a smaller target.

 

`Right where I want them.' thinks Nagash as a small but contented smirk slowly forms on his face.

 

“What is he waiting for?” whispers Sailor Mars.

 

Just as someone is about to reply, twin lasers shoot suddenly straight at them, making them break their stances and having to duck out of the way. Not giving any chance for a breather, Nagash strikes the sword's blade onto the floor, sending shockwaves across it.

 

Pain shoots through the bodies of the various people below. They groan and get up, carefully.

 

“It's now or never...we have to attack him, somehow. We can't take much more of this, we've lost much energy,” Jupiter whispers to the others. The others nod in agreement.

 

“However, I think we should get rid of that robot first. Its size makes it more of a threat at the moment.” Mercury argues.

 

“Tuxedo Mask and I will try to distract that thing and maybe a joint attack from the rest of you?” Sailor Moon asserts.

 

“That seems to be a good plan,” affirms Mini Moon.

 

“Are you ready, Sailor Moon?” Tuxedo Mask asks. Sailor Moon nods.

 

Missile Wrist attacks. A missile is veering towards Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask. It misses, but as Missile Wrist prepares to retract its missile arm, the two of them jump in unison onto them.

 

“MOON SPIRAL HEART ATTACK!”

 

Of course, this attack has no physical effect on Missile Wrist. However, it is powerful enough to alert Missile Wrist that the two of them are on its arms. It aims for the nuisance...they are able to avoid it in time, but Missile Wrist in the process has put one of its arms out of commission.

 

“WHAT?!” Nagash said as he watched utterly shocked at the loss of the arm on Missile Wrist.

 

“So...it can be its own worse enemy,” observes Mercury. “Its armour makes it invincible, but now that we have an outlet on Missile Wrist to concentrate our attacks on, it should go down in a matter of mere moments.”

 

“Ready?” -- "Ready!”

 

“SAILOR PLANET ATTACK!!”

 

The powerful attack is aimed at Missile Wrist's missing arm joint. It penetrates Missile Wrist's circuits, destroying it from within. The sheer force of the combined attack also has the effect of blowing the Skull Bot sky high. It also explodes.

 

“Yes! We did it!” The Sailor Soldiers below rejoice. Nagash is feeling severely irritated at this point.

 

“How dare they--”

 

Now that the Skull Bot has been destroyed, the Sailors focus on defeating Nagash.

 

“MOON SPIRAL HEART ATTACK!”

 

“PINK SUGAR HEART ATTACK!”

 

The attacks fly toward Nagash with great force, only to be halted in its tracks by Nagash's Sword of Darkness, which disintegrates it.

 

“I am not as weak as my creation that you destroyed. You have yet to taste my true power!” he scoffs at the Sailors' pathetic attempt to defeat him.

 

“Bu-But how?” whispers Sailor Moon, holding her ground, “When is he going to end this and leave?”

 

“When I say it does, that's when,” Nagash whispers back, “Now for the final touch.”

 

Nagash's sword disappears from his hands only to have a Staff appear in its place. This Staff is a cross without the top middle column but instead, with two spikes sticking out for about 10 centimetres from the middle. This has a metal eye in the centre of the cross.

 

“Now feel the power of my Bedlam Staff!” yells Nagash as a Dark Lightning bolt appears in the centre of the two spikes. Nagash brings this over his head as he spins it; he then stops it so that the staff's end is pointing at Sailor Moon and was about to throw the front of the staff forward when…

 

“Praetor, can we ask a question?” Decoe and Bocoe are both coming out of a lift, running towards Nagash.

 

“Spill it.” demands Nagash.

 

“We have nothing to spill, Praetor” Decoe answers.

 

“It's a human euphemism,” counters Nagash, rolling his eyes under his mask.

 

“What's an euphemism?” asks Bocoe.

 

Nagash's Bedlam Staff disappears as his cloak returns to its initial position.

 

“Why do I have to work with total-” fumes Nagash to himself before turning around to face Sailor Moon “We'll settle this at another time.” he announces, before turning around and walking to the Skull Mobile with Decoe and Bocoe.

 

Nagash gets into the Skull Mobile and sits at the controls while Decoe and Bocoe stand to either side of him.

 

“Until next time,” spits Nagash as he turns the Skull Mobile around and flies away from the building in the direction of his base.

 

Sailor Moon goes down to her knees with her face showing she is in complete shock. It is also at this precise moment that Luna and Artemis come out of the lift.

 

“How can this be possible?” observes Artemis in shock, at the sight of what was in front of him.

 

“Nagash is more familiar then I thought… but where have I heard his voice from?” Luna mutters to herself.

 

---Later in the Citadel---

 

Nagash sits in his chair while viewing the monitors that he choose the Skull Bot from, Decoe and Bocoe however, are standing to either side of him with their heads lowered.

 

“Can't the either of you follow an order without screwing it up?” reprimands a displeased Nagash.

 

“We're sorry Praetor, but none of this would have happened if you'd programmed the human vocabularies and wise cracks into us” replies the Skull Bots in unison.

 

“The Free Will program in you both seems to be more complicated then I originally thought. No matter, I shall update your databases.” said Nagash, not losing his anger; knowing that it was his fault “Those fools might have destroyed my Skull Bot but they have only experienced a mere portion of my power.”

 

“Will this mean that you will use a more powerful Skull Bot next time, sir?” inquires Decoe.

 

“I will, but for the moment being; leave me be because I'd like to think to myself in private.”

 

“Yes Praetor.” As Decoe and Bocoe comply with their leaving, Nagash presses a button. This causes a picture to appear on all screens, which is of him and a shaded female kissing each other.

 

“I will avenge you, my beloved wife. The Sailor Soldiers will feel our VENGENCE!!!” vows Nagash as he clenches his fist.

 

---()---

 

Please review and tell me of you thoughts of the fic.

 

Sorry about the long chapter by the way, I needed to have all the subscriptions and battles in this chapter, next chapter will be much shorter… hopefully.