Here's chapter 17 of my Magical Boy Epic,the SM gender-bender. Enjoy!

Status:
 + Episode 18 is written
 + Episode 19,20,21,and 22 are NOT written yet
 + Episodes 23+ are written,except for the one where Malachite dies



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Cosmic Knight's Story

* Sailor Moon: Magical Boy Epic * [Need A Better Title]

Note: This is an ALTERNATE REALITY story,which sort of is a gender-bender with certain characters of "Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon" or,
since I am using the dub NA version,just Sailor Moon. ;) I've also
changed a few things in the plot. Don't worry,in no way have I changed 
the essence of the anime saga to alienate Moonie otaku...I hope!

Second Note: For those of you who are referring me to Chris Jones's 
fanfic,Sailor Moon Reversal,I KNOW ABOUT THE FANFIC! Don't tell me
about it anymore,okay? This story has very few connections to that
work,and if you don't know about the fanfic,go to Chris's site at:
http://cyberwheel.simplenet.com/fanfic and read it!

Disclaimers: In no way do I own any characters in Sailor Moon,nor do
I own any characters that make cheap cameos! While some of the people
are my creation,they still have similar traits to the Sailor Scouts
and friends you know,so I don't own those Scouts or friends. Naoko
and DiC do. Don't worry,I won't try to butcher this job like THEY did.

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Episode 17: Pretty as a Picture
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"ZOISITE!!"

The horde of Negaservants backed up in fear as Queen Beryl shouted out
Zoisite's name. They knew that their ruler only spoke in anger when she
was majorly pissed off. Zoisite appeared in his usual way and knelt.

"Thanks to you,our enemies each have a crystal!" hissed Beryl as she
rubbed her hands over her staff's orb. "I had such high hopes for you,
Zoisite. You were so promising,but now..." Her eyes glowed. "I am sure 
you'd be the first to agree that I found someone more competent."

"Please,my queen," begged Zoisite. "I may have messed up two times,but
give me another chance. I will succeed this time."

"Very well," said Beryl.

Zoisite raised his crystal and fired it. It showed the image of a young
girl wearing glasses and with a braid of brown hair.

"I'll get this crystal on my life," swore Zoisite.

"Skip the melodrama," said Beryl coldly. "I decide your fate,remember?"

~~~+~~~

"Lotus Mask,our enemy?" gasped Seth. He shook his head. "No way!"

"I am sure of it," said Luna. "Maybe she's not with the Negaverse,but
she is working to her own ends. Why would she want the Crystal?"

"You're just upset because I'm in love!" teased Seth.

"Hey,Seth!" said Mark as he arrived. "There you are. I have a surprise
for you. Come on!" He dragged Seth away and the Crescent Moon Wand flew
from his pack and almost landed in the river,but Luna grabbed it.

"Phew!" said Luna. "That was close! When will that boy ever learn?"

~~~+~~~

"THIS is the surprise?" asked Seth in disgust. They were at an art gallery. "Crummy old paintings done by eccentric artists? Bleh!"

"Come on,Seth!" teased Mark,nudging him in the arm. "This isn't so
dull. Look at this painting. It's called 'Portrait of a Moon Prince.'"

~Moon Prince?~ thought Seth,looking at the painting. It showed a young
man wearing silver armor,leaning on a tree. ~Hmmm...~

"Hi ho!" said Melody,jumping in. "Wanna know about the chemical composition of pain?" She got two big fists.

"Can it,Mel!" shouted Seth,rubbing his fist. ~Ouch,what does she eat?~

Mel got up and adjusted her glasses. "I heard that if you buy one of
these paintings,all your romantic dreams come true!"

The two boys went heart-eyed. "Oh boy! I'm gonna buy a ton!" said Seth.

"Hey,Seth," said Mark. "Look at this picture." It was a picture of a
black-haired lady. "Looks sort of like Darlene,huh?"

"Eh?" asked Seth,turning the picture. He then had a flashback - he was
kissing a beautiful princess. "Eh...yeah,sort of...who did this?"

"This is the painting of the artist," said Mark. "Her name's Lonnie
Lanai,and she's super-shy. She never comes to her own exhibitions."

Behind their backs,the girl which Zoisite had targeted was mumbling.
"Oh dear...I'm never gonna find my models..."

"It's a shame," said Mark. "I bet she's really sexy!"

"Maybe she's not like that," said Melody. "You know,she may be ugly."

The girl listened in and giggled.

"She could be a MAN,for all we know," said Seth. The girl snorted to
keep from breaking out into laughter. She sighed and left.

"Something up?" asked Mark.

"I think I saw this girl before," said Seth,rubbing his head.

~~~+~~~

Darlene stopped just outside of the art exhibit and saw the first
painting and gasped. "That picture...he looks familiar...! It's the
prince who is calling out to me in my dream!"

"Oof!" said the girl as she bumped into Darlene. Her glasses came off.

"Sorry," said Darlene,picking up her glasses and handing them to the
girl. The girl put them back on and then looked at Darlene.

"It's you! It's YOU!" she gasped. "I don't believe it!"

"Eh?" asked Darlene,confused.

Meanwhile,Mark spotted Darlene. "Hey,Seth,it's that girl you hate."

Seth turned to the window. "Yeah,that bitch,Darlene. Huh?" He saw the
other girl there. "Who's that she's talking to? I'm outta here."

Mark blinked. "What are you doing?"

"Going to find out who the girl is," said Seth,leaving.

"Bai bai,Seth!" shouted Melody.

"What a weirdo," muttered Mark.

"Yeah,but he's so cute!" teased Melody. "But strangely...I feel weird
about you,Mark. I dunno,maybe something...between us?"

"Don't think of it,dweebmeister," said Mark,turning his head.

Outside,the girl was giving Darlene a hard time. "Please pose for me."

"What sort of nut bar lesbo are you?" asked Darlene,getting confused.

Seth came out. "There you are,Darlene," he said. "Who's the girl?"

The girl turned and grabbed his arm! "You're perfect too!"

"Eh? Let go of me!" said Seth,yanking his arm free. "Look,I'm not that
kind of guy,you know?" He rubbed his arm.

"Oh sorry," said the girl,blushing. "I was rude. I know this is rather
brunt,but I need your help. I need two models for my painting."

"Models? Painting?" asked Seth in shock.

~~~+~~~

Well,needless to say,the two accepted and went to the girl's house.
"Good,you came," she said. "Please come in."

"Sure," said Darlene,entering.

Seth came in. "Whoa,talk about your garden-variety backyard!" The place
they had entered was a beautiful garden. "Looks surrealistic."

"Make yourselves at home," said the girl. "I'll make some coffee."

"I'm too young for coffee," said Seth. "Make me a cocoa."

"Okay," said the girl,who entered the kitchen.

"I can't stay for long," apologized Darlene. "I have to meet someone."

"Don't tell me that a GIRL like you would want to skip MODELING?" teased
Seth. "That's what all women love to do." He then saw some paintings.
"Hey,these paintings...these were at the gallery."

*CRASH!* The girl dropped a glass and came out. "So,you found out."

"Are you Lonnie Lanai?" asked Seth.

"My name's Peggy Jones,the name Lonnie Lanai is a psuedonym," she said.
"My first attempt to sell paintings was so-so,so I made up that name,
and now I am selling paintings very well."

"But that's lying to yourself," remarked Seth. "I mean,why would you
want to lie? Then nobody would know what your feelings are."

"Well,I'd love to use my own name," said Peggy with a sigh. "But I have
to sell my work so I can keep painting. I'm not glamorous enough to 
sell." She sat down at the canvas. "Now,please sit down over there."

"WHAT?!" asked Seth in shock. "Me...sit down next to HER?!" He pointed
at Darlene. "You wish! I'd rather die than be close to that jerk."

"My feelings exactly," muttered Darlen,closing her eyes. "Look,I've got
to leave,this is not my sort of thing."

"Please don't go!" begged Peggy. "I have this great idea for a painting,
but I need you as my models. Please stay a while,at least until I get
the preliminary sketch done,okay?"

Seth looked at her pleading face and sighed. "Okay,I can't refuse a
cute girl like you,but you had better sketch FAST." He sat down next
to Darlene and turned his head away so as not to look at Darlene.

Peggy began sketching quickly. Seth got bored as his eyes wandered
right into Darlene's face. He then had the flashback again. "Huh?"
~Why does Darlene remind me of that pricness in my visions?~

Darlene caught sight of his face. ~Seth looks...like the boy in my
dreams. But that's impossible,this ditz can't be...~

They saw each other looking into their eyes and quickly turned away,
blushing fiercely. ~What am I thinking?!~ they both thought.

~~~+~~~

"Oh! Man! Damnit!" moaned Luna,dragging the Crescent Moon Wand behind
her. "Stupid boy! When I find him,he's getting a piece of my mind!"

~~~+~~~

"You can move now," said Peggy. "I've gotten the basics down and only
need to do the finishing touches." She sketched some more.

"Can I see?" asked Seth,going up and looking over her shoulder. It 
showed a picture of a young prince kneeling and handing a beautiful
locket to a gorgeous princess under the crescent moon. "Beautiful!"

"I'm surprised you didn't act like a total moron the whole session,
nimbus-head," teased Darlene. Seth snorted in response.

"Dweeb!" said Seth. He looked at the paintings. Most of them seemed
to give him strange flashbacks about the Moon Prince. "Say,Peggy,how
do you make such beautiful pictures?"

"I think about love or happiness," said Peggy. "A lot of my ideas come
to me in my dreams. Then I try to make them into reality,with models."

"You are a talented artist," said Seth. "I suck major bad at art,but you
are super-cool! It's a shame that people don't know who you are."

"It's not important," said Peggy. "As long as I do well. People wouldn't
understand me anyways. You're lucky. You've got everything."

"Huh?" asked Seth. "Are you sure?"

"You are smart and handsome," said Peggy.

"Wow,that's a first," said Darlene. "Someone actually complimented you,
Seth. But Peggy's got the idea. If you push people away,you don't get
hurt. I think that all this romantic mush is just fluff."

"Hmph,what do you know,Darlene?" said Seth. He then saw a similar sketch
to the one that Peggy was doing and held it up. "Here,see if this won't
do anything to you,Miss Zero!" Darlene paled. "Hey,don't have a cow!"

"That's my favorite," said Peggy. "It's called 'Until We Meet Again.'
The prince is giving his love a beautiful locket to remind her of him."

"A Star Locket," said Seth. "Which plays beautiful music."

"But only for them," finished Darlene.

~~~+~~~

Zoisite appeared on top of a nearby construction site. "Ha ha ha! Soon,
Peggy Jones,you will be working for us. Ha ha ha." He vanished.

~~~+~~~

"Thanks for the dinner," said Seth,blushing. "Are you okay that I ate
the whole lemon meringue pie? I tend to do that."

"That's okay," said Peggy. "That's why I made it. I need to get to 
work on my painting anyways,so it'll round out my exhibit."

"I'm gonna be on display?!" asked Seth in awe. "Cool!"

They passed by a diner where two women were talking.

"Lonnie Lanai is the best!" said one woman.

"Yeah,and I bet she's even more beautiful in person," said the other.

"You know,they're right," said Seth. "You couldn't possible make art
THIS beautiful if you weren't glamorous enough. Don't be so hard on
yourself,Peggy. I bet everyone wants to see the real you."

"Really?" asked Peggy.

"Yep," said Seth. He kissed her hand. "Thanks for the meal,bye."

Peggy blushed a little,then thought. "Hmmm..."

~~~+~~~

"What a cool date I had with Peggy," thought Seth aloud.

"Ahem!" Luna came up. "Seth,I think you forget something."

"Eh?" said Seth. "What are you doing with my wand?"

Luna jumped off the wall. "You almost dropped it in the river!"

"Sorry," said Seth. "But I really don't care. It's too girly."

"SETH!" snarled Luna. "You know we need this wand to defeat the
Negaverse! You can't just throw it away like a broken toy!"

"Fine," muttered Seth,snagging the wand and pocketing it. "But once
the Negaverse is gone,I'm tossing this magical girl toy!" He left.

"Hmph," said Luna. "What a mean rude little boy."

~~~+~~~

Seth sighed as he stopped near Peggy's house. "Stupid cat. I can't
believe I have to hold this piece of girl junk." He held up the wand.

It began to blink. "Huh? There must another crystal nearby." He then
saw where he was. "Oh no...it can't be!"

~~~+~~~

"Who are you?" demanded Peggy,confronting Zoisite. "What do you want?"

"I want something you have," said Zoisite eagerly.

"You must be...one of those art thieves!" gasped Peggy. She took a firm
stance. "You can't have my paintings!"

Zoisite conjured the crystal. "Believe me,girl,your paintings are the
last things I want." He fired the energy into Peggy. "This will please
Queen Beryl." The green crystal appeared and Peggy turned into a winged
demoness. "Welcome,Veena,Shadow of the Negaverse."

"Heh heh heh," chuckled the now-transformed Peggy.

Seth crashed into the door. ~Oh no! Peggy's been corrupted!~ He tried
to open the door,but it was locked. "No!"

"Come on,Veena," said Zoisite as he and Veena vanished.

"Damn!" cried Seth. He saw them appear in the construction site. "Still
got some time." He activated his communicator. "Ren! Linus! Amos! This
is Seth! I need the Scouts ASAP! Got it?"

"Yep!" said the boys. "We're on our way!"

"MOON PRISM POWER!" shouted Seth. He spun about and became Sailor Moon.

~~~+~~~

"Too easy," laughed Zoisite.

"Hold it right there,son of a bitch!" shouted Seth.

"Damn,it's that stupid Sailor Moon," muttered Zoisite.

Seth leapt down. "I'm not letting you get away with this,Zoisite! Do
you hear me?! I am Sailor Moon,champion of justice! I will right wrongs
and triumph over evil,and that means you!"

"A picture's worth a thousand words," said Zoisite. "Veena,get rid of
this bastard." Veenus nodded and removed a feather from her wing.

"Oh no,not feathers," moaned Seth. "I'm ticklish!"

Veena tossed the feather into the air and Seth looked up to see it
draw a HUGE hunk of rock in the air. He gasped as it started to fall.
The only thing saving him from becoming Sailor Pat� was his own speed.

"Hurry up,Veena,before the others arrive," said Zoisite.

"Oh no! Oh no! Ah! Yikes!" cried Seth as more rocks landed on him.
Then he saw a huge rock coming down and no time to escape. "AAAAAH!"

*WHOOSH!* He was saved by Lotus Mask,who put him down lightly.

"Oh,you saved me again," sighed Seth dreamily.

Lotus Mask turned to Zoisite. "Gimme the crystal,Zoisite!"

"Fat chance,lotus girl," laughed Zoisite,running off.

Seth turned to Veena. "Peggy,it's me,Seth,remember? We had a date
where you gave me a tasty dinner and lemon meringue pie!"

Veena threw a giant snake at him!

"MARS FIRE SOUL!" The fireball blasted the snake.

"Guys!" said Seth as the other Scouts arrived. "Thank goodness!"

"We've got to heal her quickly," said Luna.

More boulders fell,but Jupiter fired his Storm Spiral and zapped Veena.

"I've got to see if Lotus Mask is okay," said Seth,running off.

~~~+~~~

"You're not getting away with that crystal!" shouted Lotus Mask.

"Too bad," said Zoisite. "ZOI!" He blinded Lotus Mask with petals,
then summoned an ice shard and threw it at her!

"NO!" cried Seth in horror. He flung his bandanna. "MOON BANDANNA MAGIC!" The magic disc shattered the crystal,but Zoisite escaped.

"Great,he got away with the Crystal," muttered Lotus Mask.

"Are you okay,Lotus Mask?" asked Seth.

"Yeah,but I lost the crystal," muttered Lotus Mask.

"Hey,it's just a gem," said Seth. Just then,the music box opened and
began to play. "Huh? Oh...it's playing."

"My box," said Lotus Mask in shock. "How did...I must have dropped it."

"You want it back?" asked Seth,handing it to her.

"Nah,you keep it," said Lotus Mask. "I'd probably lose it again."

"Thanks," said Seth. "By the way,do you know what happened to that
Rainbow Crystal at the graveyard." He then gasped as Lotus Mask showed
it. "You have it! Please give it to me. I'll take good care of it."

"I can't," said Lotus Mask,putting it away. "I need those crystals.
Just to warn you,I am going to try to get your crystal too."

"Then you're our enemy?" asked Seth in horror.

"No,but I need the Silver Moon Crystal,and these crystals are the key to getting it." She leapt off the girder and vanished.

"Whoa," said Lotus Mask. "She's so mean,like Darlene...huh?" He laughed.
"No way! That bitch can't be Lotus Mask!" He then remembered that the
others were fighting Veena. "Better go heal Peggy."

~~~+~~~

"MERCURY FREEZING MIST!"

The ice bubbles locked Veena in an icy cage the moment Sailor Moon
returned. "Hey guys,I see you have it in the bag."

"Yeah,but we need your wand," said Luna.

"Oh well,I guess this wand has to do the job," sighed Seth. He spun
it about his hand. "MOON HEALING ACTIVATION!"

"REFRESH!" shouted Veena as she became Peggy again.

"Let's go before she wakes up," said Linus. The Scouts left.

~~~+~~~

The next day,Darlene and Seth noticed that the gallery was closed. They
went inside and found Peggy putting up her paintings.

"Hi," she said.

"We were on our way to the studio,Peg,and we saw that the gallery was
closed," said Darlene. "So,what's the big deal?"

"I wanted to add a few paintings to the exhibit," said Peggy,unveiling
her latest work. It was a self-portrait.

"Whoa!" said Seth. "Wicked cool!"

"I did it after you talked to me,Seth," said Peggy. "From now on,Lonnie
Lanai is finished. I'll sign all the painting with MY name,so people 
will know who did them,the real me."

"That's great!" said Seth,hugging her. "You finally found the truth."

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