Hello Everyone!
If you have comments on the story please send them to me and I will
relay them to Ben with all
due speed.
As always, all of NETTG!!! that has been written to date is available
on my webpage at: http://members.tripod.com/DNyx/index.html
Now, on with the third of many weekly installments! ^_^
###
A solar system was the location of the main events. Its star
was nothing out of the ordinary. However, all of its planets were
inhabited to one degree or another. An amazing array of civilizations
were apparent, the most prominent centered around the third innermost
planet and its satellite.
Many powerful beings existed within this solar system, some
backed by the power of entire worlds, the Senshi. Not only this, but
also the ruler of the Moon, the third planet's satellite, held an
artifact that tapped into the fabric of reality itself: the Silver
Imperium Crystal.
It was the Silver Millennium at its highest, and the
inhabitants, when united, could ward off any threat that thought to
destroy it.
That is, provided they had advance warning and time to prepare.
But sometimes, they're just caught off guard...
Such was the case in this particular scenario, as a large
spherical object unobtrusively wound its way through the solar
system, going almost unnoticed until it intercepted the orbit of
Jupiter and plunged deep into the planet's thick atmosphere,
blackening a small portion of the gas giant as it did so.
This event was completely forgotten as the blemish disappeared,
and no one thought anything more of it.
Ten years after the sphere arrived, a large spacecraft emerged
from deep within Jupiter. Witnesses of its rising described it as
something from a nightmare. It was pure black, with a slightly
pointed ellipse at the front, connected to a sloped semi-cylindrical
body, which encased a yellow 'eye'. On the back, it had two struts
which connected to two cylinders, parts of which were glowing an
ominous blue.
The spacecraft reached escape velocity and headed straight
for Pluto. There, it destroyed several key buildings, throwing the
inhabitants into disarray, and its dark controller left its craft
and personally fought and incapacitated Sailors Uranus and Neptune.
Sailor Pluto managed to escape unharmed.
When the creature felt it had accomplished its goal there,
it chose Saturn as its next target, destroying the spaceports and
wreaking havoc on the population centers.
The local Senshi was home, however, and dealt a great deal
of damage to the spacecraft's shields, requiring the pilot to once
again exit its craft and personally deal with the Senshi. After a
long and drawn-out battle, Sailor Saturn was defeated.
After incapacitating all of the other powerful fighters it
could find, the horrible menace went for the Moon.
On its way, it encountered a fleet of ships sent to stop it.
Destroying or disabling every vessel it considered a threat,
the beast continued onward.
As it arrived, the ship proceeded to blast the capital city
to pieces, its dark controller intent on the obliteration of the
Lunar civilization.
However, the four inner Senshi were present to ward off this
threat, as was the Moon's queen. They were in no mood to just stand
by and let this happen.
...
"Moon Cosmic Power!" Queen Serenity intoned, holding aloft
the Imperium Silver Crystal, attached to the Crescent Moon Wand.
[Imperium Silver or Silver Imperium? Oh well, same thing. Or was
it the Ginzoushou? I can never remember...]
The Crystal's energy swept forward, shearing away the remnants
of the craft's shields, finally leaving it open to other attacks.
Queen Serenity nearly collapsed from the effort, but held onto the
Wand to shield the area from the energy discharges the craft kept
emitting. [Torpedoes and Phasers!]
"Looks like it's up to us now," Venus observed, as all the
Senshi began a combined attack whose call was drowned out as a
torpedo exploded nearby. Serenity could not hold the defense for
much longer and survive, but then she could not drop it and
survive much longer, either, come to think of it...
The combined powers forced their way to the craft, impacting
at an angle, tearing across the hull, ripping apart the front
section and throwing deep gashes along the rest. Using what was
left of its power, the craft turned and fired its engines, moving
into an orbit that would hopefully take it back to Jupiter, where
the home base rested.
All began to breathe a sigh of relief when they saw something
else coming.
From the shattered front of the vessel flew a dark shape. It
swooped toward the Senshi with a loud, enraged screech.
They ducked a snatch of its talons. It flew down and landed
in front of them, lashing out with its huge jaws, roaring
menacingly.
"Mercury Ice Storm!" Mercury said, creating a ferocious gust
of ice, encasing the monster in a glacier.
It broke free, shattering the ice as it began to glow with a
blue energy, growling as it created its own version of the ice
storm. High velocity blocks of ice hit Mercury repeatedly, knocking
her cold.
The remaining Senshi threw their attacks at once.
"Mars Celestial Fire, SURROUND!"
"Supreme Thunder DRAGON!"
"Venus Love Chain Entangle!"
The beast cried out in agony as the attacks struck home. It
instantly retaliated, unleashing enhanced versions of the original
attacks upon the senders. I'll skip the detail, but by the end, they
were effectively disabled for the time being.
It turned toward the only one remaining that was worth
fighting: The Queen.
Serenity was rapidly running out of options. She felt that
she needed to find some way of communicating with it; she had to
convince it to stop!
Enhancing any latent telepathy she may have possessed with the
Crystal, she attempted to contact the creature.
Acting on reflex, the creature copied the telepathic
connection, downloading information from the Queen and the Senshi's
minds. Soon, it was able to understand what was being said to it on
a mental level.
<Why are you doing this?> Serenity asked, keeping her mental
tone even.
The creature stopped. It was genuinely dumbfounded at the
question. It had, apparently, never felt the need to consider this.
The internal chaos and turmoil churned out a multitude of
answers on a low level. It smiled its fanged grin as it finally
came up with a definite answer.
<BECAUSE I ENJOY IT!!!> the beast returned triumphantly,
screeching and continuing to advance toward the Queen.
Serenity's expression darkened as she processed what it had
just communicated to her. Could this be true? A creature delighting
only in destruction? No other reason? She had to cut off this inner
philosophical debate, as the monster had seemed to have resolved
its confusion and was preparing another assault.
The Queen's available courses of action were once again
reduced. Grasping at an idea, she began to call upon another feature
of the Silver Imperium Crystal.
"Moon Crystal Healing!" Serenity shouted, holding the crystal
forward, attempting to cleanse the evil in the beast before her.
It stopped, writhing in agony as the magic did its work.
After a second of this, the chaotic nature of the creature's
thoughts calmed down significantly and it started to think
semi-coherently. In the next second, its thoughts went on an almost
overlapping analysis.
<Wait, why AM I doing this?!>
<You just said it. You enjoy it.>
<I checked the minds of the others. Why don't they enjoy it?>
A quick, yet absurdly extensive inner discussion followed.
<Oh... OOPS! Eh, heh, heh... Is my face red, or what?>
<Who'da thunk it...>
<You mean... they DON'T like being destroyed?>
<Not as much as I like destroyin' 'em...>
<What kind of life is that?!>
<Small, puny lifeforms...>
<Heh. I'm the most resilient thing they've ever fought!>
<Here's something interesting: Fashion Design!>
<Where's the fun in that?>
<Hmm... that's interesting.>
<They flog their young? Sheesh, and they think I'm barbaric...>
<Hey, I'm losing power here...>
<It has something to do with the crystal that... woman has.>
<Queen Serenity, ruler of the Moon Kingdom...
The most influencial force in the solar system...
Holder of the most powerful artifacts in the known galaxy...
Lots of trusted friends...
An all-in-all terrific person...>
<What's that?>
<That's who she and those girls... the Senshi think she is.>
<Oh. Nice record. She has a daughter, you know.>
<That's nice... Oh, she's a *CUTE* one, isn't she?>
<Queen Serenity likes to think so...>
<The princess is about nine right now, huh?>
<Isn't that sweet? Family groups, peace, love... and war!>
<Can't forget war! Destruction! YEAH!!>
For at least two more seconds, several encyclopedias' worth
of data, feelings, and beliefs were catalogued in the creature's
still-turbulent mind. It didn't know quite what to make of most
of it.
<Glass guitars?!>
<Neckties?!>
<What is the deal with the low-cut royal gowns!?!?!?!?!>
<Tuxedoes?!>
<How much wood COULD a wood-chuck chuck...>
<TOP HATS?!>
<o/When you're caught in a storm,
Hold your head up high!
And don't be afraid of the dark!\o>
<HIGH HEELS?!!?>
<o/Oh, I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts!\o>
<Collars?!>
<PORK is the other white meat!?>
<RED miniskirts?>
<A planet where APES evolved from MEN?!>
<Sailor suits...?>
<Bleu cheese?>
<Red-collared sailor suits WITH red miniskirts?!>
<o/I'm Serenity the Eighth, I am!\o>
<A red, tuxedo-style sailor-Senshi uniform with high heels!?>
<There was a Senshi from Venus, whose body->
<I do NOT care for these peoples' fashion sense...>
<A PRINCE who was born to be Queen!? What the...!?>
<Maybe if they forego the tiara and add bracelets...>
<But what does DANK really mean!?>
<The earrings HAVE to go...>
<Her mind was covered in CHOCOLATE!?>
<GREEN hair?! She has GREEN hair?! What's wrong with blue?>
Then, the destructive beast noted something...
<Look! The Senshi are up again.>
<And they look mad.>
<Wow, remember that last volley they sent?>
<Yeah, that was painful!>
<Must've been weakened by that bout with Saturn...>
<Saturn was nothing->
<-Right! It was the crystal that I...her...them...&#$%>
<It was the Ginzuishou's power...>
<...Which seems to have cut off most of mine.>
<My defenses are shot... It'll be at least an hour before->
<And the Senshi are charging up for another round!!!!>
Behind Queen Serenity, Sailors Mars, Venus, and Jupiter had
managed to stand. Mercury wasn't able to do much else than groan.
<Uh oh. I'm dead.>
<Got that right. I can't block a _gnat_, much less->
<Unless you find some way to convince them not to.>
<Is it too late for an apology?>
<Let's see... You caused destruction on a planetary scale,
inflicted huge casualties, wiped out their fleet, nearly killed
this particular group, and to top it off, you're a "big, scary
monster," to quote one of their thoughts. I don't think a simple
'sorry' would suffice.>
<Right. I checked. They want this threat GONE.>
<So, your point being? Oh, perhaps you're thinking that they
MIGHT not destroy me if they thought I didn't do it, at least not
of my own free will, and if I am no longer a threat?>
<That's the idea, but you're still a "big, scary monster.">
<Hey, if that's a problem, shapeshift.>
<Can I do that?>
<Yeah, but if you want them to not detect that you're really
a "big, scary monster," you'll have to lock yourself in for a
while, modify your aura, and act like a nice whatever-it-is you
shifted into.>
<Not to mention finding a plausible story to come up with.>
<Okay, I could probably deal with that, just check what I
know of them, and... Yeah. Could work.>
<Whatever you're going to do, do it now. They're closing in.>
Serenity hadn't noticed the Senshi moving, since she was
still concentrating on her attempt to purge the evil from the
monster.
The weakened Senshi desperately began to call upon their
powers, gathering together whatever energies they could for their
attacks against their foe.
"Jupiter Thunder, CRASH!"
"Venus Crescent Beam, SMASH!"
"Mars Fire, IGNITE!"
<Alright, shift and submerge!>
All attacks impacted on the creature, driving it down. Unable
to stop itself, it reflexively retaliated, creating duplicate
attacks, all slamming into the Senshi, taking them out before it
also went down.
The unexpected response caused a psychic shockwave that tore
through the beast's mind as it struggled to complete what it started.
As Serenity finished her act, the creature blurred and shifted
into a much smaller form.
Slumped on the ground before them was a young girl, perhaps
nine years old. She was wearing a green dress, had red hair, and
was very unconscious.
Serenity fell to her knees, breathing raggedly.
All of the inner Senshi survived, as did the Queen.
And so did the girl.
###
<That was fun,> Atomic Starlight Knight thought. It was the
first time he had ever been defeated. It was about time, too. The
'destroy everything' angle was getting REALLY old. It took him a
long time to get his mind back in order, but he did it, and now he
had something evil to fight. That was much more satisfying than
just 'everything.' Left a nice landscape behind, too.
He wasn't as powerful as he was before, but a challenge was
fun. He kinda missed his shapeshifting capabilities, though. The
"Moon Crystal Healing" had sapped his resources, completely
severing his link to his more powerful energy resources, and so he
couldn't exactly destroy a planet anymore. Another result of either
the Healing, or the informational discussion was that he really
didn't want to, either. Not an inhabited one, in any case.
Inanimate objects were fun to watch explode, but for some
reason, the wanton mass destruction of civilization just didn't
have the same satisfying effect it once did. He knew; he'd tried.
<Oh, well,> A.S.K. thought. He had learned to work limited and
on an energy budget a long time ago, and had since only stored
reserves for emergencies. About twenty thousand years worth of
emergency energy, actually, but oddly enough, he didn't feel like
bragging at this time. He didn't have much use for it, though, since
his knowledge of things to do with that energy had been severely
reduced somewhere during the end of the Silver Millennium.
He couldn't destroy civilizations... Well, he _could_, but
it just wouldn't be proper.
However, for now, blowing up evil was fine. Maybe he'd find
some use for that reserve sometime.
---
Luna had caught up to Serena and Terra, who looked a lot
better than when she had just fought the robot, not that Luna knew
about that.
It had taken Luna most of the day with Arby chasing her around,
but she made it. She fully intended to discuss the question as to
whether Terra was the Moon Princess or not.
Arby was still following, off on a rant about why you need to
stay away from mold.
"Oh, ya see, ya gotta 'void mold. Bad for ya mushrooms.
Mushrooms'd attempt ta foight it off, but it wouldn't work all that
well. But if ya've got mold, what ya need to do is fill up somethin'
loike eighty-BILLION gallons a' anti-mildew spray and throw it all
on the fire. The fire'll take out that mould roight noicely if ya
inject an anti-inflammatory inta' the mushroom's... ecosystem, and
then if ya poile on soma'ya green beans... Senzu beanz'll work out,
but the REAL powa' is in the GREEN beans... Truly magnificent
power, along with the mushrooms and devastatin' the' mold," Arby
rambled on intelligently.
"Serena, Terra!" Luna called to the girls.
"Oh, there you are, Luna. What is it?" Serena asked.
"We still need to find out about the Moon Princess," Luna
replied, happy to talk about something other than fungus.
"Oh, right! And you thought Terra might be it?" Serena
replied, remembering the earlier conversation.
"Actually, you did," Luna said.
"Oh yeah. Anyway," Serena said, turning to Terra, "do you
think you could be the reincarnation of a Princess that lived on the
Moon thousands of years ago?"
Terra blinked. She thought about it. "Hmm. Interesting. Moon
Princess," she contemplated, then frowned. "Doesn't ring a bell."
"Do you remember anything from the Silver Millennium? Dreams,
flashbacks, anything like that?" Luna asked.
"No, I'm sorry. I don't remember a thing about it," Terra
said supportively.
"Please try. It's very important," Luna said.
"No, it's just that, I *do* remember something about *A*
princess, but whenever I try to remember more, I hit a block, and
get a dull headache for a few minutes. Is there anything you could
do to help me remember if I was?" Terra asked.
The black mooncat thought for a second. "I do have telepathic
abilities... I could try to revive memories about that, if they
exist."
"Well, then, do it," Serena said.
"Are you ready?" Luna asked Terra.
The cheerful redhead nodded enthusiastically.
"Alright... Luna Mindmeld!" Luna said as she began the
telepathic connection.
...
The telepathic cat dove into Terra's mind, surprised to find
it neatly swept, dusted, looking as if nobody lived there until
recently, everything all wrapped in neat, pink little bows. She
did a quick mental scan, becoming extremely fascinated at finding
that the blur that took Serena earlier was Terra, and was also
quite surprised at finding out about the battle with the robot.
She shrugged those off, looking for Silver Millennium
memories, but the only thing she found was an unusual psychic
connection. Following that, she wandered into an extremely odd
place.
The best description for the mind Terra was linked to was...
a bachelor pad. Random articles of "clothing" strewn all over the
place, a stacked and numbered "can" collection, and about a thousand
"tenants."
Things got stranger when the destruction of many planets
were shown on a mental equivalent of a television set, put to the
music of the 1812 Overture. Encyclopedias were strewn across a
table, along with plausible plans for world domination that were
completely covered in coffee stains.
Philosophical discussions, political debates, sparring matches,
and wall-street stock markets were breaking out all over the place.
Luna was extremely confused. She searched for anything
recognizable. She found a dark, ominous presence, but it was
constantly being beaten up by several "people" at once.
Past that, there was a "photo album." Checking into that,
Luna found many recognizable snapshots of semi-familiar locations
from the Silver Millennium. There were also depictions of battles,
the final one of which involved Queen Serenity fighting Metallia.
Flipping through it mentally, Luna found groups of pictures
with two girls next to Queen Serenity. One she recognized as the Moon
Princess that she was looking for, but she wasn't able to make out
any other features for some reason. The other she instantly
recognized as Terra. The caption under the picture read from left
to right: Moon Princess, Queen Serenity, Moon Princess(adopted).
The name on the right was circled with black marker, with a
glowing "ME!" inscribed next to it.
Luna suddenly felt a jar to her consciousness. She turned
around to see huge knights attacking her with very large fish.
She pulled out as fast as she could. Each jar seemed to knock out
a memory of this particular experience.
...
"Luna, Luna? LUUUNAAA! Are you okay?" Serena was saying,
waving a hand in front of Luna's eyes. Luna shook herself awake
and looked at Terra, who was smiling pleasantly at being able to
help ^_^.
"What? Yes, Serena, I'm fine," Luna said, then turned to
Terra, "I lost part of what I found out along the way, but I'm
sure that you are a Moon Princess!"
"Cool! So she's the one I have to protect?" Serena asked.
"I said *A* Moon Princess. I'm almost certain that there is
another one," Luna replied, attempting to recall whatever she
could.
"Another princess?" Serena asked.
"Yes," Luna said. "One of them was adopted, I think."
"An *adopted* princess?" Serena asked, unsure of the concept.
"Yes, it was unusual... as were the circumstances concerning
her arrival to the Moon Kingdom," Luna said, attempting to recover
her own memory.
"What happened?" Serena asked.
Luna couldn't remember exactly right now. "I'll... tell you
later," she said, backing out of the conversation.
---
Later that night, Luna made a report to Central Control.
After the ridiculous password, she told what she had found.
"The adopted Moon Princess... This was unexpected. As was the
reappearance of Arby," Central Control said.
"Do you know who awakened him?" Luna asked.
"No. Report back when you have found more," Central Control
replied before shutting off communication.
"So what am I supposed to do now?" Luna asked rhetorically.
There was a click and a hum as a machine activated behind her.
"'Ello, sir, I am C-3PO, 'uman cyborg relations," an odd
voice said. Oh, come on! We all know that it's Arby by now, right?
Right. Luna turned to see Arby talking to a different machine.
"Password: I would very much like a piece of cheese," Arby
finished. "With gravy."
[My information: a mental scan was attempted. A defensive
retaliation incurred. The training is going well. What do you have
to report?] the machine intoned casually.
"Secn'd Control, got any more 'a those 'eavy, blunt objects?"
Arby asked anxiously.
[Arby! I told you to only contact me if you knew something I
didn't,] Second Control replied disapprovingly.
"Oh. Roight. But do ya 'ave any?" Arby asked.
Second Control sighed. [Sure, I'll send one right over. A
reminder: they are NOT used for crushing insects.]
"Oh, but I likes to! Gives 'em flava'!" Arby said pleadingly.
[What the... Oh, just forget it. Pick it up at the usual spot.
And before you ask, YES, I'll include the toothpicks,] Second Control
said before signing off.
"Thank you very much," Arby said, saluting.
"Arby?! Who was that, and what was that all about?" Luna
asked.
The ArbyFish turned around. "'Ello, Luna. That was Second
Control. 'E woke me up, and I just asked for a 'eavy, blunt object.
Gotta have blunt objects n' toothpicks, ya know. Heavy... blunt...
seals... toothpicks... sort a' a package deal when ya come to think
'bout it."
"W...why?!" Luna asked in complete confusion.
"Well, sum a' th' mushrooms are stagin' a revolt. Ya see, if
I club the mushrooms and feed 'em toothpicks, I don't 'ave to club
the seals," Arby said confidently.
Luna raised an eyebrow. "I see..." she said, constantly losing
confidence in her student's sanity... As if he had any in the first
place.
"Well, gotta go get back to work. Got mushrooms ta farm 'n
toothpicks ta manufact'r, ya know," Arby said before flying off.
Luna sighed in relief. "Perhaps one of these days I'll find out
what he's talking about," she said to herself, then reconsidered.
"Then again, maybe, just maybe, if I'm _very_ lucky, I'll never have
to..."
&&&[End Chapter 2.]
[Sailor Sez]
"Today, we learned that if a large, spherical object unobtrusively
enters
your kingdom..."
<Scene of a large, spherical object diving into Jupiter's atmosphere>
"...YOU SHOULD BLAST IT TO ATOMS, YEAH, BABY!!!!!"
<Scene of a dark creature blasting the Moon Kingdom>
"And never hold back! Sailor Nuke sez. BWAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAA!!!"
--
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
" I am the Pretty Sailor Suited Commando Sailor Moon, in the name of
the moon I'm gonna decorate the landscape with your innards!"
The youma looked decidedly nervous <Since when does Sailor Moon wear
ammo bandoliers? > it thought <And is that a tattoo of a globe and
anchor?>
"Mars! Hose 'em!" Sailor Moon barked in a gravelly Eastwood-esque voice
"Got it." Sailor Mars replied grimly.
"Napalm Stream!" Mars shouted as she activated her mystic
flame-thrower.
The youma screamed in soul-wrenching agony as the white-hot mystic
napalm
enveloped it's misshapen form. <They never told me the Sailors were
this...
militant!> it wailed internally as it's nerves were seared.
[Now Sailor Moon! Finish it off!] Luna's voice rang out over the Tac-Net
"Affirmative" The Moon Princess bit off as she readied the Cutie Moon
Autocannon
"Moon Autocannon Burst!"
*BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM *BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM*
"YOU try fighting Cthulu, Dillhole! He'll kick your ass,
THEN he'll redecorate!" --Beavis