Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Sailor X ❯ SX9: A Moon Princess is Born ( Chapter 9 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Sailor X #9 A Moon Princess Is Born

By: John Brengman

PROLOGUE

"With one command, the professor spread his essence out over the
millions of years, from the death of the first dinosaur species to the
death of the last."

Most of the girls looked at Vanessa with faces ranging from amazement
to shock to horror. Sandra simply smiled faintly, having heard this
story before.

"So that's why the Eye of Time was built," Victoria mused. All of the
girls knew what the Eye looked like. It was a large circular disk
which sat upon an ornately-decorated metal tripod. A metal arm
extended up and over the disk from the tripod. At the end of the arm
was a large crystal. The surface of the disk looked like a huge
starfield which was divided up into small squares which curved around
the disk. To use the Eye, one simply moved the crystal, which served
as a pointer, over the desired square. Each square was a different
area of time, or a different place.

If a time or place wasn't on the disk, a side control panel could be
used to give the Eye more information.

It had been decided soon after the discovery of how Rachel had become
Sailor Mercury that any other questions should be answered. These
sessions, which took place in Sandra's sitting room had almost turned
into a game, with each person asking one question. Cass had asked
about the "strange record-player in the room where the Timegate is."
The next question came to Sandra: "How hard was it for you to become
Sailor Moon?" This came from Brandy, who was busy combing her long
golden-blonde hair as she sat

cross-legged on the floor.

"Well," Sandra said. "Becoming Sailor Moon was the easy part because
of my mother. Becoming a

Sailor in general...that was hard."

"Why?" Cass inquired.

"Try telling an eleven-year old that her destiny is to fight evil, and
you'll get one of two responses," Sandra replied. "The kid will either
think `Cool!' or be completely terrified. I leaned more toward the
`Cool!' until after the first couple weeks. I had not fought any real
evil, and what I did fight was in the training room. Mother had to
straighten me out..."

* * *

The Luna Foundation April 14, 2011

Training Room

The Moon Wand skidded across the floor as the holographic images faded
into nothingness and somewhere in the distance, a computer voice
intoned, "Sailor Moon has been killed." The door to the control room
opened and Neo-Queen Serenity and Luna emerged into the training room.
The computer announced the results of the latest test again.

"I'd say so," Luna growled. "She just stood there shouting at the
monster to stop!"

"I will handle this," Serenity said coldly.

"What" Luna asked. "Why?"

Serenity stopped and fixated on Luna with an angry glare. "Does my
first battle bring back any fond memories for you?"

Luna's reply was stifled by a screamed: "Mom! This is too hard!"
Sandra ran over to her mother and hugged her. "I can't do this." Luna
had to content herself with retrieving the Moon Wand.

"You CAN do it, Sandra," Serenity replied. "It takes time, but you can
do it."

"I don't want to!" Came the shouted response. "I don't want to play
this game anymore."

"It's not a game," Serenity said, trying to maintain her calm. "You
can take your time and work at it."

"I don't want to do it this way!" Sandra shouted. "You did this the
easy way!"

That did it.

"You think so?" Serenity asked. Her right hand glowed slightly as she
touched her daughter on the shoulder. Sandra slumped into her arms,
unconscious. Luna approached. "What did you do?" she asked.

"You remember my first battle?" Serenity asked. "She's going to get to
re-live it. She won't be able to interact, but she'll see and feel
every minute."

"May I ask why?

"She thinks that being a Sailor is going to be easy. This should teach
her otherwise."

"Yes," Luna replied, "and guess who gets to give her the lesson."

Serenity groaned with realization. "There has to be a down side to
everything."

Sailor Moon #1: A Moon Star Is Born

Based on anime by

Naoko Takeuchi

"A thousand years ago, our moon was home to a

great civilization ruled by Queen Serenity. Everything

was peaceful until the arrival of the evil Queen Beryl.

To conquer the moon, Queen Beryl released the awesome

power of the Negaforce. Although her world was destroyed,

Queen Serenity's last hope was the power of the Imperium

Silver Crystal and the Moon Wand. Frozen in moon beam

Crystals, the Queen sent the Princess and the children of the

moon to the future on Earth. Their memories lost to them all,

the Queen's cat advisors, Luna and Artemis, must find the

Princess so she will at last be safe.

And so, our story begins..."

- Narrator, Episode 1

Serena's House 8:17 am

Serena shot out of her bed with an anguished scream as her alarm clock
rang. "Oh no! I'm late for school again!" With that, she hurriedly
dressed and rushed down the stairs past the kitchen and into the
bathroom where she hurriedly started to brush her teeth.

"Mother, why didn't you wake me up in time for the first bell?" Serena
asked.

Ikuko Tsukino didn't look up from the papers she was reading on the
kitchen table. She'd been through this before. With a slight sigh, she
replied, "I did, Serena darling, three times, and each time you said
you were getting up right away."

"And you believed me?" Serena rushed out of the bathroom and headed
for the front door.

"Serena!" Ikuko called as she heard her daughter near the door.

"I've gotta go!"

Holding up a pink-decorated lunchbag, Ikuko replied, "Aren't you
forgetting something, dear?"

"What?" A face appeared in the doorway. "Hmm. Oh yeah."

With lunchbag and schoolbooks, Serena bolted out the front door with a
shouted "Bye mom! See ya after school!"

Serena stifled a yawn as she ran down the street near her school. As
fatigue caught up with her, she slowed.

"I'm so sleepy," she moaned. "Why can't today be Saturday?"

As she got to the entrance to a parking lot, Serena was distracted by
three young boys in the lot. The sat hunched over something...

"Hold it still, I want to feel its tongue!" One of the other boys,
wearing a blue cap, tugged viciously on the subject of this torture.
The cat yelped in pain.

Serena heard this and with a gasp, turned toward the lot. "Hey!" She
yelled as she ran toward the group.

"Stop it! Leave that cat alone!" The three young thugs made a hasty
retreat at the sight of the older girl bearing down on them.

"Rotten brats!" Serena shouted after them. Turning her attention to
the cat, she knelt down to pick it up. "You poor thing," she murmured,
"did those creepy kids hurt you, kitty?" The only reaction she got
from the cat was a struggle as it seemed to try to get away and pull a
bandage from its forehead.

"You're okay," Serena said as she put the cat in her lap, "but how
`bout I take this bandage off of you?"

Pulling slowly on the bandage, which still elicited a yowl from the
cat, Serena revealed a gold crescent moon in the middle of the car's
forehead.

"Huh?" A startled Serena asked. "Is that a crescent moon?" Before she
could investigate further, the cat leaped from her arms to the top of
her head, and from there to the roof of a nearby car. It turned then
and

approached Serena, its whiskers bristling.

Serena, now quite spooked, backed up a step, stammering "N..Nice
kitty.."

"This girl," Luna said to herself. "I sense something!"

At that moment, Serena remembered the time and dashed off with a
shouted: "Oh great, now I'm really late!"

Luna stood atop the car roof and watched her go. "Could she be the
one?" She silently wondered.

==> SM <==

Crossroads Junior High

Picking at her lunch with a pair of chopsticks, Serena quipped, "Hey!
Did ya hear there's a new `Sailor V' video game out? I saw it on TV."

A stern Ms. Haruna approached carrying a sheet of paper. "Serena," she
growled. "you need more studying, and less TV. There isn't any excuse
for failing this exam!"

Serena gasped. "I failed? How can that be?" Yet, the big red,
underlined 30 seemed to glare back at her.

Haruna continued. "Have your mother sign this and return it to me."

==> SM <==

The Schoolyard

Molly stood and watched as Serena moped on the sidewalk. "Aww chill
out, Serena, it's just one lousy test. It's not like it's the end of
the world or something."

An unconvinced Serena replied, "You don't get it, Molly. If my mom
finds out I flunked that test, she'll ground me and cut my allowance,
and I won't get to play the new `Sailor V' game." Molly's response was
cut off when a shorter kid with what could best be described as
unkempt hair and wire-rimmed glasses

approached.

"Hey Serena," Melvin said. "I heard about your test. Want me to be
your tutor?"

"About as much as a toothache," came the murmured response.

"You're such a dweeb, Melvin. She doesn't need a tutor," Molly said.
"She needs a trip to the mall to get her mind off this." A burst of
inspiration hit the young red-head. "Tell you mom you're at my house
studying!"

An incredulous Melvin interrupted. "You're going shopping? What's more
important than your grades?" He held up his algebra test. In the upper
corner was a large red 95. "Look," he said. "I didn't study and I only
got a 95. How will I ever be able to explain this to my parents?"

"Do we care?" Molly quipped.

Another wail erupted from Serena, followed by a whined "Maybe he's
right.."

"What?" We're going shopping," Molly insisted. "By the time you get
home, your mom will have forgotten all about that dumb test."

Serena looked up at her friend. "Do you really think so?"

"I know so, " Molly replied. "I saw some major-awesome boots on sale."
This brought a smile to Serena's face, and she chimed in: "We can get
ice-cream!"

"Then shop some more!" Molly continued.

"Can we look for some earrings?" Serena asked.

"Good idea," Molly replied. "We can go to my mom's jewelry store.
She's got some major-cool stuff, I mean wicked-cool."
"I could use some new pink berets for my hair," Serena mused. A
frustrated Melvin could only stand and watch these two girls plan how
to thwart the education system for the afternoon.

"Oh, she's got all kinds of great things!" Molly exclaimed. "You've
gotta see it! It'll blow you away! Diamonds, rubies, emeralds, all
kinds of stuff! Even some rhinestones!"

That really caught Serena's attention. Her eyes lit up. "Rhinestones?
I love them!"

"She's got lots of them, and in lots of colors!"

"Pink? And purple?"

"Oh, like for sure!"
"Alright! What are we waiting for..let's go!" With that, the two girls
started off down the street, leaving

Melvin behind to stare after them.

"Hehe...Serena," he said as the girls walked into the distance. "Heh
heh. Beautiful...but a shop-aholic."

==> SM <==

The Throneroom

Queen Beryl's Castle

A pale light floated from the holders in this room where light seemed
to wish to flee. A huge hideous face

with long sharp teeth protruded from the wall above the stone throne.
The throne itself was carved into a platform which branched out to
both sides of it. The floor was pitch black, dimly reflecting the
light.

A slender woman with flowing red hair sat upon the throne, her hands
flowing over a scrying orb in front of her. She was not
alone...shadowy figures lurked around the edges of the throne room.
They kept back, as if they were afraid of the light...or the being
that occupied the throne.

Queen Beryl's voice rang out with purpose and authority. "The oracles
says it's time to attack the other dimension, to unleash the power of
the Negaforce."

A chorus of "Yess..." came from the gathered shadow-figures. "Yess!"

"But to do so," Beryl said as her hands continued to dance over the
orb, "I shall require energy, yes, a great deal of energy." There was
a slight pause, then: "We shall get it from the planet, Earth.

So Jedite, present yourself and tell me of your progress there."

A soft-spoken voice replied from the darkness: "Yes, Queen Beryl." A
blue green haze appeared at the far end of the throne room. When it
cleared, a thin, blonde man with short, slightly curly hair appeared.
He wore a black military-like uniform with a thin red trim.

With a slight bow, Jedite began his report. "As we speak, my servant
Morga is on the other side, preparing to gather energy. The humans are
weak and helpless, and they will yield to our will and then nothing
will stand in the way of the great Negaforce."

"Do not fail me, Jedite," Beryl warned calmly. "I need their energy."

"Yes, my queen," Jedite replied with a slight nod.

==> SM <==

OSA-P Jewelry Store

"Come on in!" A voice boomed over the throng gathered both inside and
outside the jewelry store. "Everyone's welcome. Make me an offer!"

Inside the crowded store, people browsed the jewelry cases and tried
on necklaces and rings. Serena and Molly entered the store and saw two
customers enthralled with the necklaces they were trying on.

Serena looked over at her friend. "Molly," she said. "What's going
on?"

Before Molly could come up with an answer, her mother raised the
megaphone to her mouth and continued. "Welcome ladies! Here's your
chance to own diamonds, sapphires, emeralds..."

All of this seemed too weird for the two girls.

"I don't get it," Molly said worriedly. "My mom's sure acting
strange."

"Yeah," Serena agreed. "What'd she put in her coffee this morning?"

"...today only, everything in the store is ninety percent off! Please
feel free to try out anything."

Ms. Baker walked toward a small clear area near the center of the
room, a slight wicked grin crossing her face. She looked around at the
crowds with satisfaction, and she chuckled to herself.

"...and surrender your frantic energy to Queen Beryl and the
Negaforce!" As she looked, the agent of evil could see a slight glow
glimmering from the jewelry being worn by most of the people in the
store. Slowly, silently, the necklaces, pendants, and rings began to
siphon energy from their wearers.

"For I am Morga, loyal disciple to the Negaverse, and my jewels will
drain away ALL your energy!" The siphoned energy was fed into one of
Morga's ear rings...

...In the Negaverse, Jedite reached out his right hand and the
collected energies swirled as they appeared over his palm.

"You have done well, Morga," he informed his accomplice. "So much
greed. So much energy! Queen Beryl will be most pleased! Feed the
Negaforce, foolish humans! Queen Beryl will soon triumph! Prepare them
Morga, for her triumphant arrival!" Then Jedite laughed an evil laugh
which carried across the dimensional barrier to his servant.

"With pleasure," Morga replied softly. Her interlude was interrupted
by Molly's call: "Momma?"

She quickly gathered herself and turned. "Oh Molly, what a surprise."

Not noticing her mother's strange behavior, Molly said "Serena and I
came to see some"

"Rhinestone jewelry!" Serena shouted eagerly.

Ms. Baker scoffed cheerfully. "Rhinestones! Hah! Don't be silly now,
girls! Help yourselves to some diamonds instead! There are plenty to
go around!"

"Diamonds?" Serena managed to get out through her glee.

"Why yes," Ms. Baker continued. "Any friend of Molly's deserves
nothing but the best!"

To Serena, this was if she had stepped off the street directly into
Heaven. "I can't believe this," she quivered. "I totally can't believe
this!"

Stepping behind a case, Ms. Baker pulled out a small box. A ring
glistened from its perch within the box.

"Here Serena," she said. "Would you like to try on this ring?"

Serena leaned forward to gaze at the ring. " Wow! Would I?" She asked
rhetorically.

"It's a flawless twenty-carat diamond," Ms. Baker said. "For you, ten
dollars!"

This announcement caught the attention of everyone in the store. Both
Molly and Serena managed to gasp "Twenty carats, ten dollars!" before
they were bulldozed out of the way by an overweight woman who shouted
"MINE!" about a second before she was joined at the counter by all of
the other customers, who started fighting each other to get to the
front of the crowd.

Molly and Serena managed to crawl out from the raging crowd and they
headed to the door.

"Serena, this is way weird," Molly said worriedly.

"What's up with your mom, Molly?" Serena asked. "I've never seen her
like this before."

"I don't know," Molly half-whispered., "but I'm worried."

Clasping her books in front of her, Serena glanced at the ceiling and
mused, "This place is totally whacko, Molly. What's going on?"

Molly gasped as she saw that her friend was about to leave. "Where are
ya going?"

"I think I'll take a nap before showing my mom my grades," came the
reply which was then followed by a yawn.

Molly gave up. "Okay, see you tomorrow, Serena."

As Serena walked through the sliding glass doors of the jewelry store,
shouts of "Give it to me!" "Mine!"

and "No!" could be heard from the crowd that was still pressed at the
jewelry case. Serena turned right and headed away.

Three steps later, she stopped as her plan unraveled. "Oh no," she
thought as she pulled her test from her pocket. "How can I tell mom I
flunked another test?"

A sudden rush of anger flashed through her and Serena yelled "How can
I show her this thing!" With that, she crumpled the paper up and
tossed it back over her shoulder. The paper sailed through the air and
bounced off another person who protested: "Hey, watch it,
Meatball-head!"

"Huh?" Serena said startled. "Oh, sorry." She turned to see a tall,
lanky guy with short jet-black hair retrieving her test paper. He
straightened it out and scanned it. "A thirty," he remarked wryly.
"Admirable!" He lowered the paper, ignoring Serena's yelp of protest.
From behind black sunglasses, the man continued. "Are you stupid or
just incredibly lazy?"

Serena rushed up to the man in a huff. "How dare you!" She ripped the
paper from his hands with a shouted: ""Give me that!" Turning around,
she stormed off murmuring under her breath. "Hmmph! The nerve of that
guy! What a total jerk, calling me a meatball-head!" She paused to
sneak a glance back at the

mysterious guy. "Still...he sure is cute."

Darien pulled his sunglasses off his face and his cobalt-blue eyes
stared at Serena as she walked away. His eyes narrowed slightly.
"...something about that girl..." He thought.

==> SM <==

Crown Game Video Arcade

Serena walked past the arcade with its huge sidewalk poster, then
backtracked when she saw its subject. She stared at the poster with
envy.

"Ohhh," she thought aloud. "The new `Sailor V' video game." The poster
showed a masked girl in a form-fitting uniform and short dress in the
upper left corner. The young blonde warrior had struck a fighting
stance with one hand flashing her trademark V sign. Bad guys who
looked like Mafia thugs dominated the remainder of the poster.

"Ahh," Serena thought as she gazed at Sailor V. She crouched down to
get a better view.

"I wish I could be like Sailor V," Serena thought. "She's so beautiful
and smart. Something exciting's always happening in her life..not like
mine."

Luna silently observed Serena from behind a nearby sign.

"Who am I kidding?" Serena continued to think aloud as she gazed from
the poster to her rumpled test. "I'll never be like Sailor V...not
with grades like this... Mom's gonna blow a gasket when she sees
this..."

Standing suddenly, Serena let the pain of her present problem wash
over her. "Awgh! Ohhh! What am I going to dooooo..." She cried. Taking
deep breaths, Serena turned again toward home, sobbing with each step.

Luna emerged from behind the sign she had hidden behind and watched as
the young girl walked down the street.

"I can't believe it," Luna said to herself with amazement. "This
crybaby, she's the one?"

==> SM <==

Serena's House

Serena slipped quietly through the front door of her house, but was
met there by her mother, who immediately inquired about the subject
Serena had been dreading all day.

"So, how did you do on yesterday's algebra test?"

Feigning ignorance, Serena replied, "Test? In algebra?"

"You know," Ikuko said. "The one you were studying for the other night
with Melvin. You two were up so late at the library...."

Serena started to panic...there was no way she was going to get out of
this one.

"...Melvin's mom said he got a ninety-five, and they are very
disappointed."

Serena perked up as if suddenly remembering. "Oh yeah! That ..heh
heh.. algebra test...Well, ah see."

Seeing her daughter was stalling, Ikuko pressed the attack. "Serena?
Come on, tell me. How did you do?"

"Well, I...you see, it's like this....I uhm well..."

Ikuko held out her hand. "Let me see."

A long pause followed, then with a gulp, Serena handed her mother the
test with a resigned "Okay..."

"Thirty!" Ikuko growled as she waved a spatula she had in her right
hand. "You said you studied! You know what you need to do?"

Serena shrunk away. "No..."

Ikuko chased her daughter out the front door with the shouted: "Go
back to the library to study for the next algebra test!" With that,
she slammed the front door behind Serena, who turned and pleaded:
"Mother, noooo! Please! It's too late in the afternoon to study..."
and the rest was virtually swallowed in another round of whining.

==> SM <==

OSA-P Jewelry Store

At the still-packed jewelry store, Morga's plan began to take effect,
and one-by-one, the customers began to drop as their lifeforce was
drained away.

"Something's wrong," one woman said as she sank to her knees. "I feel
very strange." Her ring and the pendant on her necklace both were
glowing noticeably. Behind her, another woman collapsed onto the floor
with a groan.

Elsewhere in the store, the overweight woman who had led the stampede
to claim the diamond offered to Serena was also feeling the effects of
Morga's tainted jewels. With a groaned: "Oh, mercy me, I feel as if
I'm going to faint..." she crashed to the floor, her necklaces and
jewelry cascading around her.

The scene continued as Molly entered the room. She surveyed the scene
and found no reasonable explanation for what was happening.

"Momma," she said. "I'm scared. What's happening to all of your
customers?" No answer was forthcoming from the statuesque figure
standing beside one of the jewelry cases near the far side of the
room, facing away from Molly.

"Momma?"

Morga let out an evil laugh.

Momma!"

Then, without moving her body, Morga turned her head to face Molly.
With a flush of evil on her face, Morga laughed again and said: "I'm
not your mother, Molly dear!"

Molly covered her mouth to squelch a scream.

==> SM <==

Serena's House

"Studying so hard is very, very tiring," Serena murmured as she tried
to make herself comfortable on her bed. "All those books, all those
words... It can't be too good for a person. How does Melvin do it?"
She turned onto her side, closing her eyes... "Oh I so sleepy, so
tired...oh sleep..." And with a yawn, Serena drifted off...

The window opened with a creaking sound and a slight breeze blew in. A
shadow drifted across Serena's back, seemed about to run as she
stirred, then continued its approach.

The wind caught the window and slammed it shut with a clatter that
awoke Serena. "Huh?" Then she looked over and saw the cat she had
rescued earlier standing on her bed behind her.

Serena jumped up with a shrieked: "You scared me! What are you doing
here?"

Then a rather unexpected thing happened: the cat spoke.

"Why Serena," Luna said. "I came to see you, of course, who else?"

Serena jumped to the side of the bed, attempting to hide from what
obviously was a monster. Only her head could be seen above the sheets
as she muttered, "A talking cat! Oh men, I have been studying too
hard."

Luna cleared her throat, then continued. "My name is Luna, and I have
been searching for you for a very long time."

Serena was so startled and scared that she couldn't make a coherent
response.

"You are the chosen one," Luna continued. "and I have been sent here
to guide you on the path to your ultimate destiny. I wasn't sure if
you were the one the first time we met, but I've been watching you,
and now I absolutely know that you are...the Sailor Scout of the
moon!"

Luna slowly walked toward Serena, who then threw her head into the bed
covers. "I am hallucinating!"

"No you're not, Serena. You are Sailor Moon and your friend Molly's in
big trouble." Luna put her front paws on Serena's head and nudged her.
"You have got to help her!"

Seeing that that tactic wasn't working, Luna stood back. "You don't
believe me?" She said. "Well, alright then, I'll prove it to you."
With that, Luna jumped into the air. After doing a somersault, she
landed back on the bed. A small golden pendant-like object fell on the
bed in front of her. The front of its case was decorated by a large
pink circle on one side, and an engraved crescent moon on the other.

Curiosity got the best of Serena, who opened one eye to gaze at the
shiny object. "What is that?" She asked with a slight bit of
hesitation, as if it might bite her.

The announcement: "It's a special locket just for you," brought Serena
around. "Wow", she said as she picked it up and studied it closer.
"For me? It's beautiful!"

With a giggle, Serena got up and headed to her dresser. "How should I
wear it, on my school uniform or..."

Luna interrupted this with: "Serena, it's not just a piece of jewelry!
Listen to me."

Serena had already pinned the locket onto her school shirt and was
appraising her appearance as Luna tried to get her attention. "Do you
hear what I'm saying?"

It didn't appear so.

"Sailor Moon, sworn to defend the princess of the Moon!" Luna jumped
to Serena's dresser. "Powerful evil forces have appeared here on
Earth, and that special locket can help you fight them. "

Still no effect.

"You are Sailor Moon, and you must fight evil when it confronts you!
You must not be afraid!"

Being afraid was the farthest thing from Serena's mind at the moment.
A smile appeared on her face as she seemed to spend about two seconds
pondering what Luna had said.

"Yeah right, just like Sailor V," was her response.

"This is no joke, Serena," Luna said patiently. "Do you hear me, this
is your destiny."

"My destiny? I must be dreaming."

"It's no dream. I'll prove it, Serena. Just repeat after me: Moon
Prism Power!"

Still not grasping the gravity of the situation, Serena saluted Luna.
"Okay," she quipped.

Raising her hand into the air, Serena yelled, "MOON PRISM POWER!" and
began her first transformation into her heroine alter-ego.

Luna sat and watched this.

After the transformation was completed, Serena quickly noticed her
Sailor uniform. "Ahh!" She gasped. "What happened? This dream is
getting weirder and weirder! I'll never study that hard again. I want
to play Sailor V video games! I don't want to listen..."
Any further hysterics were cut off by the echoing sound of Molly's
voice...coming from somewhere...*

"Help me! Please help me! ...Somebody please help me!" She then
screamed a loud scream that seemed to get Sailor Moon's attention.

"That's Molly." Sailor Moon said.

"That's right," Luna replied. "She's in big trouble."

"Yeah," Sailor Moon protested. "But what can I do to help? You keep
forgetting I'm just a kid."

"You are Sailor Moon," Luna replied. "You will know what to do when
you look into your heart. Believe in yourself."

Sailor Moon wasn't sure she liked that advice.

==> SM <==

OSA-P Jewelry Store

"Oooooo...somebody please help me!!" came Molly's tortured shout from
within the store. She was struggling against Morga. The evil monster
held the red-haired girl by the neck and was trying to choke her.

As Molly struggled, Morga gloated. "There's no one to help you now,
little girl!"

Molly struggled to get out another call for help as Morga laughed
another evil laugh at Molly's helplessness....then shed her disguise.
Her skin shifted into a mottled brownish hue, and a dark red
cross-like ark appeared on her forehead. Her eyes became red and
sunken and the skin withered away from her eye sockets. Her hands
became coarse and bony...her fingers became claws.

Ignoring the screams of her victim, Morga continued to gloat. "Soon
you and your kind will cease to exist, once Queen Beryl unleashes the
Negaforce she will destroy you all."

"Let her go!"

Morga turned toward the sound of the new intruder. "What's that?"

A form stood in the entrance to the store, framed by the night sky and
the city lights. "I said, let her go."

Still holding Molly, the villain scoffed. "And who are you?"
Sailor Moon was caught off-guard by this, and stammered,
"Well...uhh..ahh..my name is.." Then she calmed, as if inspiration had
struck. "I am Sailor Moon, the champion of justice. And I say, on
behalf of the Moon, I shall right wrongs and triumph over evil." As
she finished the pose that went along with these particular phrases,
an angry-looking Sailor Moon said, "and that means you!"

Morga was unimpressed. "Sailor Moon? Never heard of you, and I'm sure
I never will again!" The monster rose her hands and shouted, "arise my
children and serve the great power that is the Negaverse!" As Sailor
Moon watched, the patrons of the store arose with a collective moan.
They all had blank, lifeless stares, and they moved forward like
zombies.

Sailor Moon backed up as the crowd of zombies approached. "Luna," she
half-pleaded. "Help me.. I don't know what to do." The overweight
woman-turned-zombie and several others hurled themselves at Sailor
Moon, who barely managed to dodge each of them.

Sailor Moon landed roughly on the floor near some of the stone pillars
which supported the building. An attack by Morga slammed Sailor Moon
against one of the pillars with a thud.

A near-panicked Sailor Moon stared with a glazed look at the floor.
"Oww. That hurt. I don't want to do this anymore."

Luna slipped up to Sailor Moon from behind the pillar. "Sailor Moon,
what are you doing? You must fight this evil monster, or the whole
universe could cease to exist."

As if hearing Luna's prediction of doom, Morga floated up to the
ceiling on the far side of the room and let out a blood-curdling
laugh.

Sailor Moon could not be moved. This was NOT a video game... "I don't
want to play this game anymore," she wailed. "Enough! I want to go
home!"

"Fine!" Morga shouted menacingly. "I'll send you away for good!" With
a growl, she shot her clawed hand out and down toward the
near-paralyzed Sailor.

The claws descended rapidly, and Sailor Moon could see their razor
sharpness...

Luna gasped as she sensed Sailor Moon's impending doom.

Sailor Moon screamed in terror.

With a flash of light, the claw that was meant to end Sailor Moon's
life was deflected. Instead, a few feet in front of her, a single red
rose protruded from the floor.

Glancing in the direction of this latest disturbance, Morga saw a
thin, black-haired guy dressed in a black and white tuxedo, wearing a
top-hat, and a cape. He stood in an open window near the ceiling.

"Now who might you be?"

The man replied. "I am Tuxedo Mask! Sailor Moon, look into your heart
and find the warrior within you.

It is your destiny."

Sailor Moon was still not ready to deal with everything that had
happened to her. "But I don't want to be a warrior..." and she then
broke down into nearly-uncontrolled crying....that was somehow
amplified across the store. The zombies started to fall to the floor
as Morga shouted in pain.

"Stop that hideous crying!" The villain screamed.

Seeing the opening, Luna poked out from behind the pillar. "Sailor
Moon," she said. "Quickly, throw your tiara, and then say: `Moon Tiara
Magic.'"

"Wha...what good is that gonna do?" Sailor Moon stammered. Luna's
"Just do it!" knifed through Sailor Moon and she flinched.

However, the order had been given. Reaching to her forehead, Sailor
Moon pulled her tiara from her forehead. "MOON TIARA MAGIC!"

The tiara sailed through the air at the villain, who realized too late
that indeed the young girl she faced was about to defeat her. Morga's
screams mingled with a flash of light as the magic of the tiara
consumed her. As the zombie slaves fell again to the floor, Sailor
Moon stepped forward to look at the results of her tiara's attack. "I
did that?" she managed to gasp.

The villain shouted, "I shall return!" then dissolved into a pile of
dust.

In the Nageverse, Jedite watched as the energy in his palm pulsed
brightly.

"What?" He stammered. "The energy..." The glowing energy vanished,
leaving him alone in the darkness. A grim look crossed his face.

"Someone will pay dearly for this!"

As Sailor Moon walked up to examine the dust that was Morga, it
flickered and disappeared.

Before she could wonder what happen, Tuxedo Mask spoke: "You have done
well, Sailor Moon, and now Molly's mother and all the other women are
free. Others will test you.. Do not be afraid." As he turned to leave,
Tuxedo Mask said, "I will fight with you."

Uncertain of what condition her new companion was in, Luna approached.
"Are you alright, Sailor Moon," she said. "Speak to me."

Sailor Moon was in a daze however... "What a hunky guy..." was her
only response.

==> SM <==

Crossroads Junior High

"Serena, you're not going to believe this," Molly happily chattered.
"but my mom and I had the strangest dream last night..that we were
attacked by this hideous monster and that this beautiful warrior named
Sailor Moon saved us!"

The girl standing next to Molly looked over. "What? Are you kidding? I
had the same dream!"

Another girl chimed in. "Yeah! Me too!"

Molly gasped as she mulled this over. "That's weird. Very weird.
Serena, isn't that the weirdest?"

Serena sat at her desk, her head covered by her arms.

"Serena?"

Serena tiredly looked up. Hey you guys, could you please keep it down?
I was up late last night, and I just need a little bit more sleep."
With a yawn, Serena settled back into her arms and murmured, "Good
night..."

EPILOGUE

The Luna Foundation April 14, 2011

Medical Center

"Mother," Sandra muttered as she awoke.

"I am here, darling." Queen Serenity replied.

When the girl tried to push herself to a sitting position, a gentle
but firm hand prevented it. "Just rest now," Serenity said.

"What happened to me?" Sandra asked.

"You made a mistake," Serenity replied simply. "You told me that I got
to be a Sailor by taking the easy way. I hope you have seen that you
were wrong." Serenity paused for a second, as if weighing her words.
"It was a lot of hard work to become a good Sailor, and although it
was probably necessary, I still haven't quite forgiven Luna for what
she put me through in the beginning."

"I'm sorry, mother." Sandra said. "I didn't mean it. I was just
frightened and mad."

"I know." Serenity replied softly. "I was too...many times. What is
important is that you have as much time as you need to grow into the
Sailor powers...to learn to use them....and to claim your own role in
the Moon Kingdom.

I will be here to help you. So will Luna and Artemis, and the elder
Sailors if they have the time."

Neo-Queen Serenity reached over and took her daughter's hand. "No
matter what," she said. "You will never have to go through this
alone."

FINI

FOOTNOTES

* The screaming that Sailor Moon heard from Molly, and the
amplification of her wailing was done by a

portion of her uniform (the red bulbs in her hair) Yet, because this
is the only time this power is used, I

did not see the need to go into any depth of detail with it. Rather, I
wrote it in as mysteriously as it

seemed to Sailor Moon at the time...

Fanfic ©1999 - John Brengman and Artemis Publishing

Sailor X series inspired by Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon,

© 1992 by Toei Animation Co Ltd. and based on Kodansha's

manga production of "Sailor Moon", written by Naoko Takeuchi

This fanfic is freely distributed. Release date: January 11, 1999