My sincere apologies to those who may have seen all 4 (5?) seasons of Sailor
Moon, as this may seem rather different from what it is supposed to be. I
haven't seen any of the eps past middle of second season. The naming
conventions are strictly NA, as I couldn't understand a word of the Japanese
version anyway, and I certainly don't know about Japanese naming conventions.
I would like to assure others that I did not filk this idea from anyone (save,
of course, the original S.M.) and you would probably not like to know where I
did get it from. Also, if it's familiar to you, that's because I posted it on an old, not very popular, now defunct fanfic site a few years ago. That said, on
with the story.
P.S. - I wrote this in MS Word, imported it to OpenOffice, then exported it as a Text file, so it may not look to hot on the formatting.
Sailor Moon Warped
Retro
Sarin woke with a shout and hopped out of bed. Once again his mom spoke calmly
through his panicked gasps between bites of a piece of toast. Yes, he was late.
No, the alarm did go off. Yes, she had tried to wake him several times. And he
better not forget his lunch. Cloths hastily thrown on and lunch and books
grabbed on the way out the door, Sarin took off down the street.
After running for about half a mile, the young fourteen-year old was forced to
slow down and walk before his side burst in pain. His head slumped down just
enough for his five foot long ponytail dragged on the ground behind him. Some
of his teachers had griped about the unusual hair, but since it wasn't against
the school dress code, they couldn't do anything about it, and they eventually
even accepted it.
As he walked by a parking lot, he heard some anxious voices. When he turned to
look, he saw three boys harassing a black cat. Being naturally kind hearted,
Sarin charged into the parking lot. "Hey, leave that cat alone!" he
shouted.
One of the boys looked up, "Whu-oh! Lets get outa here!" He grabbed his
friends and took off through an alley.
"Man, what major creeps!" muttered Sarin as he leaned down to check the cat.
The cat was medium sized, and now that he looked closely, Sarin could see a
slightly navy blue luster to the coat. The cat was a male, he noticed. The
boys didn't seem to have done any harm, save for a small bandage on the cats
forehead. "Well, lets get that thing off of you," he said to the cat, quite
sure it couldn't understand him. Knowing the bandage would stick to the cats
hair, Sarin peeled off the bandage as quickly as possible to keep the cats
pain to a minimum. It yowled and jumped away anyway, but stopped and turned to
face him. As the cat watched him, he could see the small mark the bandage was
covering up. It looked like a small crescent moon on it's side. "Interesting
bald spot," he remarked, and with that, the cat darted away.
Suddenly, Sarin realized the time. "Oh, no! I'm going to be late!" he
gasped.
Artimis watched the boy run off to school from underneath a nearby car. He was
beginning to grow desperate in his search, but in this boy he felt potential.
It wasn't an immediate recognition though, so he would have to do more
surveillance before approaching the boy, but he better find out for sure soon.
He had received word from Central that the Negaverse was preparing it's first
strike.
Suddenly, Artimis heard a bass rumble that quickly sunk to sub-sonic volume.
Fearing a preemptive attack from the Negaverse, he dashed out from under the
car. He nearly stumbled straight into a Negavortex of incredible power.
Quickly backing up underneath the car again, he stood back and watched.
>From the Negavortex dropped two beings, their forms indistinct and fuzzy at
first, but solidifying as he watched. They both seemed to be unconscious,
though he couldn't be sure just yet, and with the Negaverse, one could never
be sure.
The larger of the two seemed to be a young woman with extensively long pony
tails. She looked vaguely familiar, and she wore the school uniform of the
nearby school. The smaller of the two interested him most. It was a cat, a
black cat with a small crescent moon on it's forehead. What made him take
especial attention was the cat looked exactly like him! The only discernible
difference at this distance was the cat was female, and perhaps a bit older.
The cat gave a low moan, and Artimis settled back to watch.
----------
Luna woke slowly, the pounding in her head making it hard to think. The world
around her slowly came into focus. Her surroundings looked vaguely familiar,
but she couldn't quite place it.
"What an uncomfortable place to take a nap," she muttered, "Oh, it's
Serina. Serina!" She gasped as she took in the full situation. She was
lying on Serina who was passed out in a parking lot. Why a parking lot? And
why did it look familiar, as though she had been here before? No time to
ponderit now, she had to wake Serina and get her bearings.
----------
Sarin skulked in the hall as he listened to Ms. Haruna's lecture for the day.
"Why do I have to be stuck out in the hall for being late? It's not my
fault, it's the stupid clocks fault!" A sudden grumble from his stomach
made him stop. "Hmmm, no matter! I'll just eat my lunch early! That'll
pass the time quickly."
As he sat munching on his unscheduled brunch, he failed to notice the shadowy
form of Ms. Haruna creeping up to the door behind him. Suddenly, the door
burst open, slamming into Sarin's back and making him spill his food all over
the floor. "So this is what you do with your time! No wonder your marks are so
low!" she pushed their most recent test into Sarin's face, a large 30
written in heavy red marker glaring off the page, "I expect your mother is not
going to be too pleased with this!" "You...you're not going to tell my mother,
are you?" he said in a shaky voice, just before he broke out in tears.
----------
Serina and Luna were walking through town more than a little befuddled.
Everything was familiar. This was the town they lived in, it had the same
skyline, the same radio tower, the same shops. But it was different. There
were people neither of them recognized, the face on the television screens in
the shops was not the newscaster they were familiar with, and most importantly,
they could not seem to get a hold of the other Sailor Scouts. Luna could tell
Serina was on the verge of another whining attack, and Luna didn't want to
draw attention, so she steered Serina into a darkened alleyway between two
small shops.
"Serina, you have got to get a hold of yourself! Try your communicator
again!"
"Oh, Luna, it doesn't work!" Serina whined, breaking into frustrated
tears, "It's like the Scouts aren't even there!"
"Well, perhaps it's broken! Let me take a look at it." Serina put the
communicator down in front of Luna. Not having any sophisticated tools with
which to open the communicator, she began pulling it open with her claws.
Meanwhile, Serina was entertaining herself with her surroundings. She made
occasional remarks about the filthiness one finds with alleys and generally
made a nuisance of herself.
She found a newspaper, and hoping it had the comics in it, picked it up to leaf
through it. She stopped short when she found something that she was eminently
familiar with, but it was also totally alien to her.
"Luna, look at this!" she showed the front page of the paper to the cat.
Luna looked at it with curiosity, "So baseball scores are up. So what?"
Serina gasped in exasperation, "No, no, down in the corner!"
Luna obligingly lowered her gaze to a story that had been given about five
inches of space on the lower left hand corner of the front page. It was a
small headline, referring readers to the entertainment section of the paper.
"Sailor V video game to be released in the US," Luna read, "Really, Serina!
This is no time to be thinking about video games."
"No, look at the picture!" Serina had raised her voice to shouting level, as if
that would make the problem go away. Luna sighed and glanced at the picture.
She did a double-take, and then a triple-take as she realized what she was
seeing.
Just below the headline was a picture of a Sailor V poster. It had the usual
billing, pictures of various monsters, average video game fare. What caught
her eyes was the picture of Sailor V, or Sailor Venus as Luna knew her. In the
picture, instead of a cheery young woman with a bow in her hair, it was a
dashing young man with long, free flowing blond hair that reminded her vaguely
of the defeated General of the Negaverse Malachite. Most of the outfit was
exactly like they had come to expect, though there were differences. Instead
of a skirt, there was orange pants that extended clear down to his ankles, and
white stirrups hooked under the heels of a pair of dress shoes. The man was
wearing an orange mask that wrapped tightly about his face, giving him a
somewhat chiseled look. His long sleeves tucked into the tops of his gloves,
and instead of a bow, blue cross-stripping slashed down from under the sailors
collar and tucked into the waist of a belt whose buckle was a yellow disk.
"Something really weird is going on here!" said Serina.
"Most definitely!" said Luna.
----------
Sarin sat in the school yard with Melvin, sulking as he usually did after
having one of his whining fits.
"Man, I tell you Mel, I'd make a terrible super-hero. Every time I get into
a tense situation, I bust out into tears! It sucks, and it's not very manly
either."
Melvin smiled his usual knowing smile and sighed, "Oh, Sarin," he began,
"Maybe if you tried a little harder on your studies, the teacher and your
parents wouldn't be so hard on you." Melvin ran a hand through his red
hair, and dispite his advice, Melvin was thankful that he didn't have a nerdy
study habits and geeky glasses like...
"HEY, YOU GUYS, GUESS WHAT?" a nasal feminine voice interrupted her
thoughts.
"Uch, hello Molly." groaned Sarin.
Speak of the devil and guess what you get, Melvin thought.
"Hi, Sarin," she said in that annoyingly affectionate voice that she used
when talking with Sarin, "Guess what? I got a 95 on the test, my mom's
gonna kill me! Though I have to admit that I didn't try very hard, I thought
I'd be like Sarin to see if it made me more popular."
Sarin practically tackled Molly. "And just what is that supposed to mean?
Are you saying I'm lazy?"
"Hey, calm down Sarin. It's not like she stole something or anything! Oh,
speaking of stealing, did you hear that Sailor V busted that hardware thief the
other night?" said Melvin, trying to change the subject.
"Sailor V? Who's that?"
"Oh, come on Sarin," Molly practically hollered, "Sailor V is only the
hottest new super-hero! He goes around catching criminals! Everyone want's
to be like Sailor V!"
"Yea, well," started Sarin, "I can understand why someone would want to
steal hardware. Especially RAM. Anything to make a computer run faster!"
Melvin sighed, "Sarin, do you even know what RAM means?"
Sarin, caught in his ignorance, giggled and stammered senselessly. Molly,
disgusted with this "guy stuff," walked off dismissing Sarin and Melvin as
she went.
"Well, my father is having a sale on all his computer stuff, he wants me to
help him out after school." remarked Melvin.
"Really? Your father is having a sale? As in cheap? Let's go! Sales on
computers don't last forever!"
----------
With the realization that reality was not what it use to be, Serina began seeing
the city around them in a new light. Now that they knew what to look for, they
began seeing similarities between the people here and the people the knew.
Serina kept pointing out people that she recognized, and Luna began looking for
those who were "altered," though at this point Luna was willing to bet they
were the ones altered, not those around them.
The two of them were still in the same alleyway, Serina growing impatient with
Luna at the length of time it was taking with the communicator.
Luna started suddenly, "I have something!" she exclaimed, "It's on an
odd frequency, but it is definitely a signal."
Luna made a slight adjustment, and the signal came in clearly. "...Artemis,
you know you are not supposed to call on an uncoded frequency." It was
Luna's voice! In monotone and barely recognizable, but it was definitely
Luna.
"I know I'm not supposed to call! But this could be an emergency! Earlier
a girl and a cat, a TALKING cat, came through what looked like a nega-portal.
I've been monitoring them, but they haven't made any hostile moves.
Central, what is going on?"
There was a pause in the radio traffic, giving Serina another chance to talk,
"What? Luna, I thought you said Artemis WAS central? Why would he be calling
central? And who's the girl and cat he's talking about?"
"Quiet Serina!" hissed Luna, "The pair he's talking about is us!"
"Huh?" said Serina.
"Artemis, are you sure it was a nega-portal? We are reading nothing on the
monitors here."
Luna was no longer paying attention to the communication, instead, she was
looking for a likely place for a cat to hide nearby.
"Yes, I'm sure it was a nega-portal! I nearly walked into the thing!
Central, I need to know what's going on? That cat looks EXACTLY LIKE ME! Do
you *read* central?"
Luna's eye's wandered out of the alley to the alley across the street, where she
saw a tail poking out from behind a corner, twitching in agitation.
"Serina, come on!"
----------
"Listen, *CENTRAL*! I don't know what you have that passes for brains on
your end, but I suggest you get off it and USE..." Artemis looked up and
stopped suddenly.
"Artemis? Is everything all right?" said the near monotone of Central.
"Let me get back to you on that Central, we have a development."
Artemis shut of the link and stared into his own face.
"Perhaps you might explain what we're doing here?" said the female cat.
"Yea, we don't enjoy being in the dark." said the girl with the ponytails.
----------
Across town, another nega-portal opened in a dark alley. Through it stepped a
black boot, followed by a black clad leg. Following that came the rest of a
tall, dark haired man. He squinted at the extraordinarily bright light and
pulled a pair of sunglasses from his pocket. He pulled out a small device,
turned it on, and began tracking the source of a disturbance.
----------
"The Imperium Silver Crystal, where is it?"
"I do not know my queen, we have not been able to find it." said the blond
woman.
Queen Beryl grimaced at the report from her general Janite, "This is to be
expected I suppose. Very well, carry on with the plan. I expect that human
energy soon." Janite nodded and disappeared.
Another figure faded out of the shadows. "The crystal will not be found
until the Rainbow Crystals are collected."
"You have said as much before. So far, your predictions have yet to bear
fruit. I will wait until one of them does, and then we will see who knows more
about running the affairs of the Negaverse."
The figure nodded and disappeared.
----------
"Dad, I'd like you to meet Sarin," Melvin said in his slight New York
accent, "Sarin, meet my father."
"So," said the man, "You're a friend of Melvin's huh? Here to buy
some CD-ROM's?"
"Heh, heh, I couldn't afford it, sir. Not with my allowance."
The man seemed to push in without making a move, "Oh, come now. For a friend
of Melvin's I think I can make a bargain. Take this CD-ROM," he pulled out
a professional suite applications package. He immediately proceeded to unwrap
it and display the reflective side to Sarin. "I think I can give this to you
for," Sarin dreaded any price Melvin's father might name, as the price for
the package was well over five hundred dollars, "Thirty dollars!"
Both Sarin and Melvin's eyes nearly bulged from their sockets.
"THIRTY DOLLARS?" came a shout from across the store. Suddenly, both Melvin
and Sarin found themselves shoved out of the building as men in business suits
crowded in to take advantage of the offer.
"Wow, that's not like my father, he usually doesn't give away something
like that."
Sarin only barely heard Melvin, "Oh, it doesn't matter," he said
dejectedly, "I couldn't even afford the thirty dollars. And since I got a
thirty on the test, I know my dad's not going to buy me anything." Sarin
sighed heavily, "Oh well, might as well go home, one can only put off the
inevitable for so long."
"Yea, see you later Sarin." smiled Melvin as he proceeded to push his way
back into his fathers shop.
----------
"So, your not from the Negaverse?" Artemis said.
"Most definitely not! And I can't tell you how much of a relief it is to
find out you aren't either." Luna said with a smile.
"Hey, you two, look at this!" interrupted Serina.
The two black cats poked their heads out to see what Serina was looking at.
Both their heads fell in disappointment as they saw a Sailor V poster.
"Serina, honestly," said Luna, "We already saw that poster this
morning!"
"Not the poster Luna, down there, that guy!"
Luna saw a fourteen year old boy walking down the street. He was wearing a
school uniform and had the longest hair Luna had ever seen on a boy in her
life! It was done up in a very familiar ponytail, and from this angle she
couldn't quite see the back of his head, but she was willing to bet there was a
quaint little ball at the base of the tail. He looked so much like Serina! He
was muttering to himself, probably about the paper he was holding. Finally, he
crumpled it up and tossed it behind him. The trio heard the next few lines
distinctly.
"Ow, that hurt meatball head!"
The boy snapped around to face the source of the voice. Sure enough, he had a
meatball at the base of his ponytail. The sarcastic remark had come from a
young woman of medium height in clothing that was all the rage with the college
crowd. She opened up the crumpled paper and took a look at the top. "Boy,
meatball head, you should really study more! This score is horrible."
The boy fumed for a moment and snatched the test back, "I just wasn't trying
very hard, and it's none of your business anyway, so leave me alone!" The
boy began tromping in their direction, and the young woman walked off down a
side street.
As Sarin stormed by the alley, the trio faded into the shadows. When Luna
looked up, Serina had that look of agitation on her face as if she were trying
to keep her teeth from flying out of her mouth and the veins in her forehead
from bursting. "Serina, what's wrong?"
She whimpered for a moment, Luna was used to this so sat back to wait for an
answer. Artemis was not, however, and he was feeling stressed out at the
moment, and wasn't in the mood for a flighty girl to hold up his
investigation. "Well, spit it out, we haven't got all day!"
Luna gasped in exasperation. "Now you've done it!" she said, just before
Serina started wailing like a fire engine.
----------
The man in black fiddled with the device. Odd, he thought, now there appear to
be two signals. He shrugged and continued following the original signal.
----------
"I'm home, mystery date! How are you feeling?" said Donna as she closed
the door. That kid with the test paper nagged at her mind, like she needed
something from him, but what would she need from a kid like him?
A low moan issued from the bedroom, interrupting her thoughts, "Not too good,
I still can't remember much. My name...that I know! It's Darien..." the
young man trailed off.
"Well, what else?" said Donna as she sat down next to him. He was
shirtless, and only wearing a meager pair of her fathers pajamas. One of the
few items she still had from her parents.
"Well, it's the strangest thing, but I feel like I know you." he said,
looking into her eyes. They were the deepest hazel, just like hers...
She lost herself in them as they leaned forward and kissed each other
passionately.
----------
"All right, Serina, I'm sorry, now will you tell us what's wrong?" said
Artemis, trying desperately to hide the angst in his voice so the flake
wouldn't start crying again.
"Th...That's how me and Darien met." Serina stammered.
Both cats stared at Serina in shock, though both for different reasons.
"THAT'S what that entire scene was about? Some guy you met?"
Luna interrupted in Serina's defense, "Darien is the Prince of Earth."
"Prince of Earth? Earth had a princess...Oh." said Artemis, remembering
their discussion earlier. He had nearly forgot that the couple with him
weren't even from his dimension.
A crackle of static interrupted their conversation, "Th...Sailor Ven...all
scouts! Plea...eport, someth...wrong and I thi..k I have the answer.
Scout...ome in!"
"The communicator!" said Luna. "Mina is trying to use the communicator,
but it's still tuned to Artemis' frequency!"
"I'm on it!" said Serina. Changing the frequencies was something that she did
remember from what Ami had taught her about electronics. She had hoped she
could use it to pick up Darien?s brain waves and see what he wanted in his
destiny woman, but found out otherwise once she had worked through all of Ami?s
technobabble.
Serina set the frequency back to what the scouts used, and began
broadcasting. "Min...Sailor Venus, this is Sailor Moon, Im here, where are
you?"
Mina appeared on the tiny screen in her Sailor Venus guise. "Sailor Moon, get
down to the radio tower right away, we have to regroup!"
"The radio tower? I don't know how to get down there! Why don't we just go
to the temple?" asked Serina.
"Because I haven't been able to get a hold of Sailor Mars, so I don't know
if it's all right to go there yet...tell you what, meet me at the mall."
"The mall? I can do that! Meet you there." she said in a bright voice, ever
hopeful for the chance to shop.
"I'm coming too!" said Artemis.
"NO!" shouted Luna, "You have a job to do!"
Artemis stared at her in confusion.
"Sarin?" prompted Luna.
"Oh, right!" said Artemis as he took off in the direction of the boy.
Serina and Luna watched him run down the street. "Why'd you do that?"
asked Serina, just as confused as Artemis was.
"Do you remember how we didn't know Central was Artemis until after Darien
was kidnapped?"
"Yea..."
"Well, if Artemis finds out that Luna is Central now, it could really mess up
this dimensions destiny!"
"Huh? But he already knows about you!"
"THIS dimensions Luna, Serina! Now come on, we've got to get to the mall!"
----------
Sarin tip toed into the house and down the hall, and almost made it to his
room when he heard the voice he was hoping to avoid indefinitely.
"Hello, sweetie! How was your day?"
Sarin stood ramrod straight and squeaked out, "Oh, just fine mom." He gave a
nervous laugh, as though it would help to alleviate the storm he saw brewing.
"Molly told me you got your test scores back today. Well, how did my star
student do?" Why did she have to sound so happy?
Sarin meekly handed over the test.
----------
"AND I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU BACK HERE UNTIL YOU'VE STUDIED AT THE LIBRARY
FOR A FEW HOURS!" came at Sarin's swiftly retreating back.
----------
Melvin was working quietly in the back room of his fathers store. He had
tuned out the noise from the front of the store that was made by his fathers
unusual fire-sale prices.
He didn't notice that the noise had died down suddenly for several minutes.
Finally, his attention began to wander and he only heard his fathers voice from
the front room
Melvin peaked around the corner and into the front room.
"Oh, all this energy! The general will be pleased." his father smiled as he
pried a CD out of a customers hand, purple luminescence billowing out like steam
from it.
Melvin gasped, and his father turned to him with a malicious look on his face.
----------
Damnit, a THIRD signal! How many disturbances can one dimension possibly
have? thought the man in black.
----------
Serina, Mina, Luna, and Artemis, the white one, sat on a bench outside the mall.
None of them spoke, none of them needed to. They had all figured out the same
thing, that they were in an alternate universe, they had met their counterparts,
and there was no way back, and they had no idea how they got there.
So preoccupied were they in their funk, they didn't notice the subtle shifting
of shadows in the fading light of day.
----------
Five bloody damned signals! thought the man in black, I don't think I
can...wait a minute.
The two new signals he recognized. In fact, he had used them to monitor
movements in his home dimension.
Rogue Negaverse minions!
----------
Sarin was mumbling in his sleep as Artemis hopped on the bed from the
window sill. The slight shake on the bed woke Sarin with a start. He looked
to the head of his bed to see the black cat he had rescued that morning. "Oh,
hello!" he said with a smile, "Your that cat with the bald spot."
"It's not a bald spot." said Artemis.
Sarin let out a yelp and did his best to hide himself in the side of his bed,
and yet still keep an eye on the cat at the same time. "Oh my goodness! A
cat that talks, this cant be real, I must be dreaming!"
"This is not a dream Sarin, we have serious business to discuss."
Sarin had evidently forgotten to breath, his face was turning a brilliant shade
of blue. "Sarin, you've stopped breathing." said Artemis. Please tell me that
this kid won't be as flighty as Serina, he thought.
Suddenly, Sarin shook it off, stood up, and declared, "Well, since I'm
dreaming, I'd better get back in bed. That is where I do all my best
dreaming." He threw back the covers, dumping Artemis on the ground in the
process. Digging himself in under the covers, he laid face down and pulled his
pillow over his head and made loud snoring noises.
Artemis thought back to his encounter with Serina and the similarity between her
and the boy in front of him. I have the scary feeling Ill be putting up with
this sort of behavior for some time. he thought. Artemis hopped up on the bed
with Sarin. "Sarin, this is not a dream. I really need you to pay
attention."
"Nope, not listening. This is my dream."
Artemis took a deep breath to calm his nerves. "Sarin, you may not
have noticed," you're to much of a flake to notice, thought Artemis, "But many
strange events are happening all over the city! The enemy is moving, and
we've got to move against them."
Sarin didn't move.
Drawing another slow breath, Artemis jumped up.
Feeling the cat jump off the bed, Sarin momentarily thought that his dream had
ended and he could get back to his normal routine, like weaseling out of
homework and ducking away from Molly in the schoolyard. Before he could
entertain such thoughts, a small object landed on his back, just before the cat
landed on the bed again.
"Huh?" he said as he squirmed around to look at the object.
It was a belt buckle, one in the shape of a crescent moon.
----------
Sailor Moon was down, several bruises marking her face and a severe gash in her
side. Sailor Venus stood protectively over Sailor Moon as the two cats did
their best to help Serina.
The two negaverse minions resembled horrible facsimiles of women. Both
wore dresses made of visually repelling fabric draped loosely over their gaunt
frames. The eyes were the worst, oversized and evil, they blasted beams of
nega-power, while not strong enough to kill, certainly caught them off guard
long enough to hurt Serina quite a lot before she could transform into Sailor
Moon.
Sailor Venus concentrated briefly, "Venus Love and Beauty Shock!"
She blew a kiss, resulting in an etheric heart appearing in her hand,
swung around in a wide arc, the heart multiplying itself as she went, then swung
the collected energy like she was skipping a rock at the negaverse monster
before her. The monster barely had time to scream before the Love and Beauty
Shock tore through its abdomen, blasting it's substance to nothing. A small
black marble hung in mid-air where the monster used to be, then smashed to bits
as gravity took hold and it fell to the sidewalk.
Sailor Venus smiled bitterly, "It worked for one of you, it'll work for the
other one." She turned around to face the other nega-monster. "Venus Love
and Beauty Shock!" she exclaimed triumphantly.
The ball of energy streaked towards it's target. When it hit, a brief explosion
lit the area. Venus stood triumphantly as the smoke cleared.
The nega-monster was still standing, and it had changed! Instead of
falling loosely over its shoulders, the monsters dress stood more defined,
having higher shoulders and a brooch sitting in the middle of it's chest. The
dress fit the form of the monster better as well, revealing a nightmarish figure
with disdended ribs and an underfed torso. Sailor Venus watched in horror as
the monster blew a kiss, saying "Venus Love and Beauty Shock, Smash!"
----------
Sarin began fiddling with his new belt buckle. "Cool!" he kept muttering
under his breath. Artemis was beginning to despise that word.
"Sarin, as Sailor Moon, you have to fight the negaverse... Sarin, pay
attention. You must begin searching for the other Sailor Scouts. They will
help you find the Moon Prince, who is the only one who has the power to stop the
negaverse and Queen Beryl."
Sarin was presently attempting to attach the buckle to his school belt.
He looked at Artemis, "Hmm? Were you saying something?"
"Agh!" spouted Artemis, "Never mind, just say 'Moon Prism Power.'"
Sarin put on his belt and looked questioningly at the talking cat, "Moon
Prism Power?"
Suddenly, everything went white. Sarin was blinded, and when he opened his
eyes, his body was changing.
----------
The world seemed to move in slow motion as Sailor Venus watched her own attack
hurtle back at her. Suddenly, she heard a mans voice."Shadow Wall Raise!"
Suddenly, a wall of pure blackness rose between Venus and the charging energy
weapon. As the Love and Beauty Shock hit the Shadow Wall, the wall shattered
like glass, but not before absorbing the energy of the Love and Beauty Shock.
Before either Venus or the monster could do anything, the same voice rang
out again. "Shadow Lance!" A beam of darkness came from a balcony on the side
of the courtyard, piercing the nega-monster through the chest. Instead of
exploding, however, the monster imploded. The beam of darkness sucked up its
essence and drew it back to the wielder of the Shadow Lance. Soon, all that was
left of the monster was a small black marble, which exploded in the air. Even
the shards of the marble weren't spared, they to were drawn into the beam.
Sailor Venus turned to the source of the beam. She saw a man dressed entirely
in black with a cape and wide brimmed hat. For a moment, Sailor Venus thought
it was Tuxedo Mask, but the strangers hat was not the stovepipe hat that was
Tuxedo Masks usual fare. She saw that it was not a cane he was carrying, but a
long metal spear. He had white skin and black hair that seemed to absorb the
light around him, and no mask whatsoever. Before Venus could thank the man, he
faded into the shadows and disappeared.
----------
Sarin looked into the mirror. A straight metal headband with a small gem set in
the middle graced his forehead. A sailors collar wrapped around his shoulders,
and a turtleneck around his neck. A long sleeved white shirt fitted tightly
over his torso, the sleeves covered just below the elbows by a pair of white
gloves with red jewels mounted on the backs of his hands. Blue fabric crossed
his chest, tucking into his belt just above the crescent moon buckle. Long blue
pants rolled down his lower legs, tucking into a pair of red knee-high boots.
On the back of his head, his signature puff of hair had a small red cap on it.
"Cool!" Sarin exclamed as he admired his new look, "I really like this
dream!"
Before Artemis could refute Sarin again, a voice echoed lightly in their
ears. "Help! Someone help me, my fathers gone crazy!"
Sarin gasped, "That's Melvin!"
"That's right," said Artemis, "He needs your help."
"What, my help? I can't do anything to help him..."
"Yes you can," snapped Artemis, "You're Sailor Moon, champion of Justice!"
"Er, whatever you say..." Sarin said, "How do I get there?"
Artemis closed his eyes and counted slowly to ten.
----------
"Are you OK Serina?" said Mina. They had both transformed back to their
everyday selves, and Mina was helping Serina up to a bench.
"Ooooh, it hurts." was all she muttered in response.
Mina performed some rudimentary first aid, all the while murmuring
encouragements to Serina.
After a while, the four sat on their bench in silence again. They were all
still shocked at their current predicament.
Serina began thinking about the encounter between her male counterpart and the
young woman, who was apparently Dariens counterpart. Why does that make me
think I'm forgetting something? She asked herself, What happened five years
ago that makes me think I'm forgetting something? Five years ago, Luna had
given her the brooch that would transform her into Sailor Moon. What else was
she forgetting?
Luna, who was sitting on Serina's lap, was thinking along similar lines. She
was sure there was something she had neglected to tell her counterpart, but
couldn't quite remember...
"The store!" they both exclaimed. As one, they dashed off into the night.
Artemis and Mina watched the backs of their friends as they ran off.
"Where do you suppose they're off to?" queried Artemis.
Mina shrugged her shoulders, "They got some urge to shop?"
----------
Melvin struggled against the grip of the thing that had taken his fathers
place. He began to feel his life force slip away, and the world began to fade
in and out.
Suddenly, Melvin heard a triumphant voice yell, "Hey, you! Yea, you, the one
with the bad hair. Leave him alone!"
Melvin struggled to get a look at the source of the voice, but before he could
see who it was, he lost the ability to focus, and slumped in the monsters grip.
Sarin still didn't know what he was doing. He was certainly not the one to be
standing in the doorway, and when the monster turned it's head the full way
around without moving a muscle on it's body, Sarin's legs began to quake.
"And just who do you think you are?" said the monster.
"Uhm, uh, er," Sarin stammered, momentarily forgetting what to say.
Suddenly, he heard a voice near his feet. It was Artemis prompting him, "Sarin,
you are Sailor Moon, you fight for justice!"
"Huh? Oh, yea." He turned back to the monster, "I am Sailor Moon, I fight
for justice! I shall right wrongs and triumph over evil, and that means you!"
"Cute speech," said the monster. It let go of Melvin, who fell to the floor,
gasping for breath. It then turned to face Sarin, or rather, Sailor
Moon. "Lets see how well you fight for justice." It said, as it snapped a
CD out of it's sorry excuse for a sport coat. Before Sailor Moon could begin
to wonder what the CD was for, the monster flung the CD like a Frisbee. It
stopped just short of the new Scout, back peddled it's course a few feet, and
began to glow.
Artemis looked at the CD, curious to see what the Negaverse might have up its
sleeve. Then he noticed where it was hovering.
"Sailor Moon!" he gasped, "The people, he's brainwashing the people!"
Before Artemis could finish the sentence, the CD exploded in a burst of purple
light, showering the collapsed men with purple sparkles.
Sarin wasn't sure what had made him lose his resolve first, the exploding CD,
the monster, or the zombies that were now advancing on him. He began to back
away slowly, than more quickly until his back hit one of the cement pillars
that held the superstructure of the building up. The zombies kept creeping
forward, and Sarin, not having anywhere else to go, slid down the pillar until
he was a fearful mass shivering on the floor.
Suddenly, a vibrant red rose shot down from one of the windows, slicing into
the monsters cheek and disrupting its hold on the brainwashed people.
All of the beings in the room that still had their free will with them looked to
the source of the rose.
A woman in a ballroom gown stood in the picture window, a mask over her eyes and
a fan in one hand and a rose in the other. A cloak fastened around her neck
billowed gently in some slight wind.
"I am Cinderella Mask," said the woman, "Sailor Moon, have faith in
yourself!"
----------
Darien stood on a rooftop, almost casually watching the young woman in the
sailor suit run frantically down the street.
Earlier that night, Donna, evidently thinking him asleep, sneaked out of the
apartment. What was curious was she slunk out of the door to the balcony. When
he went out to see where she was going, the young woman had disappeared.
Without even questioning his natural impulse to leap out onto the rooftops,
he did so, with such grace and skill that he surprised himself. He noticed
signs of Donnas passing that he knew an ordinary human could not notice.
After about ten minutes, he lost the trail. Before he could turn around and
return to the apartment, however, he heard another young woman yelling
something, and saw some flashes of light in an alleyway two buildings down. By
the time he got there, the flashes had stopped, and he saw a familiar young
woman standing in the street below.
He couldn't recall how he knew who she was, but the sense that he knew her was
there, so he followed her, in hopes that she might trigger some memory from
before.
Before what? He had asked that question of himself many times. But for now, he
had to figure out who he was, and his best hope yet had been sighting the young
woman.
He grew slightly concerned as she charged into a small shopping center, fearing
he might lose her, but forgot his concern as he saw her headed for the computer
store.
----------
Sarin was usually a crybaby. He never could face up to one of his teachers
when they chewed him up about poor grades. However, whenever a beautiful woman
was around, he tried to look as good as he could, and that meant swallowing his
fear.
When Sarin was faced off against the monster and it's brainwashed minions, he
would have simply given himself over without a fight.
That was before the knockout named Cinderella Mask arrived.
He stood up and crossed his arms in front of his face, the way he had seen
a boxer do once when he was trying to block a punch. He couldnt stop shivering
though. He told his muscles to move, but they wouldn't. Finally, when one of
the zombies was about to grab him, one of the jewels on his hand mounts flashed.
Then the other flashed. Sarin felt the hand mounts start vibrating, and
suddenly waves of energy pulsed from the jewels throughout the room. The
zombies started dropping like flies, and the monster started screaming in agony.
"What the..?" Sarin stared at his handiwork in surprise.
"Sailor Moon," he heard from his feet, "You've got them distracted, use
your tiara!"
"What's a tiara?"
"Your headband."
Sarin looked down at Artemis, "What am I going to do with it? Throw it at
them?"
"Precisely!" smiled Artemis.
Sarin now knew that not only was he nuts, but the black cat was also.
----------
Serina and Luna stopped just outside the store.
"Oh no," gasped Serina, "That boy's gonna be clobbered!" Serina charged
forward, about to save her counterpart. She nearly fell when one of her feet
wouldn't follow the other. She looked down to see Luna gripping Serina's
boot heel with her teeth. "Luna, what are you doing?"
"Serina, he has to do this himself!" Luna said, letting Serina go. "Remember
when you did this?"
"Yea, and I almost got killed!"
"But you didn't! You found the strength inside yourself, and that's what
young Sarin needs to do as well."
Serina leaned against a cement pillar and watched the fight continue.
----------
"Now," said Artemis, "Say Moon Tiara Magic!"
"Moon Tiara Magic!" Sarin watched in amazement as the metallic headband
flashed white and turned into a brilliant shining disk. It dislodged itself
from his fingers and hovered over his hand.
"Now throw it!" said Artemis.
Sarin heaved the disk at the monster, now standing alone amidst the fallen
bodies of the brainwashed people. The disk sliced into the monster, cutting it
in two. The two halves of the monster crumbled to dust before they could fall
to the ground.
The disk came back to Sarin's hands, then turned back into a tiara, which spun
itself out and landed gently in his hand.
"Very good Sailor Moon!" said Cinderella Mask, "Remember this night." She
said as she jumped out the window and disappeared into the night.
Sarin stood looking at the window for a moment. Then he heard another woman's
voice, "Yea, as if you could forget it." He turned to see a woman in a
similar outfit as his own, except she was wearing a skirt, had a brooch instead
of a belt buckle, and her tiara came to a point in the center of her forehead.
She also had two five foot long ponytails and two odango on either side of her
head. Standing next to her was a black cat, and for a moment he thought it was
Artemis, but Artemis was standing right next to him.
"Hello Sailor Moon," said the other black cat in an obviously female voice,
"My name is Luna, and this," it, she, nodded her head to indicate the woman,
"is...Sailor Moon."
----------
Darien went back to the apartment after it became apparent he wouldn't find time
to meet with the mystery girl, besides, he had another mystery to solve.
"Hey, mystery date, what are you doing up?" came a voice from the bedroom
doorway.
Perhaps he could solve the other mystery right now.
"Looking for you actually." He said nonchalantly.
"Hmm? Oh, I just needed to step out for some air." She returned just as
casually.
Hmm, fine, thought Darien, I'll have to keep an eye on you.
He groaned and leaned forward onto a chair, "I'd better get to bed," he
lied, "I'm not feeling too hot."
----------
Mina mumbled something about letting her sleep more, and slapped her hand over
her eyes as sunlight hit them. She tried to roll over, but fell off her bed
onto...
Grass?
She awoke quite suddenly, looking into the face of a concerned park worker. He
had dark hair under his tan cap, and sunglasses of the most curious make.
Oh yea, she thought, We slept in the park last night because we couldn't find
anywhere else...OH, my back is hating me for lying on that park bench.
"Are you OK?" he asked. He looked familiar to her, probably had a counterpart
in her home dimension.
"Huh? Oh, yes. Say, have you seen my cat?" she said as she looked around
for Artemis.
"Is he white with a funny looking bald spot on his head?" asked the dark
haired man.
"Yea, that's the one!"
"Hmmm, shouldn't have let him out without a collar on," the man picked up
an animal cage containing a rather vicious sounding creature, "Federal law
requires that all animals be collared with identifier tags, or we send them to
the pound." The man popped open the door to the cage, and unceremoniously
dumped out a snarling white ball of fur.
"Artemis!" said Mina, scooping up the white cat. "Did you cause that man
any trouble?"
"Ha!," guffawed the man, "You mean aside from giving me bloody hands and
using me as a scratching post? Nah, no problem."
"Well, thank you." she said, blushing in embarrasment.
"Don't mention it." he said, "Say, is your friend going to be as difficult
to wake as you?" He pointed to the sleeping form of Serina, lying stretched
out on a park bench.
"Oh her? She'll be much harder to wake up, trust me! Say," she said,
noticing Luna wasn't with Serina, "You wouldn't happen to have a black cat
in one of those cages, would you?"
"You have two cats?" said the man as he looked over the rims of his
sunglasses.
"No, no. The other cat belongs to her."
"I see," he said, grabbing a second case from a cart nearby, "This one gave
me a lot less fuss than yours did." He set the case on the ground and opened
the door. Luna sat, flicking her tail and looking less than pleased to be in a
cage. "Why were you two sleeping in the park?"
Mina stammered as she struggled to remember the story she and Serina made up the
night before, "I, uh, well, that is we...We just got into town yesterday, and,
uhm, and our car and purses and bags were all stolen. The police, uh, the
police are looking for the thieves, but dont know when they'll find them.
Heh, heh heh..." she trailed off in an embarrassed giggle.
Not appearing to have believed any of it, he surprised Mina by saying,
"Well, tell you what. Ive been needing an assistant or two, and they'd have to
live here in the park offices. You'd get a park uniform, free meals, and you'd
be paid by the hour, so your cats wouldn't go hungry. What do you think?"
He started to gently shake Serina.
"Sounds great!" said Mina. If she had to sleep on that bench another night,
her various body parts would rebel against her.
----------
"What did you say his name was Melvin?" said one of the other boys in class.
"Sailor Moon," said Melvin, "He was cool! He saved me and my dad's shop,
he even helped the other people in the store by unbrainwashing them!"
"Stupid," said one of the boys behind Melvin, "There's no such word as
unbrainwashing!"
"Don't call him stupid!" came another boy in Melvin's defense, "Sailor
Moon saved my dad!"
Before they could continue the debate, Sarin's groan cut through the bickering,
"Would you please be quiet? I didn't get much sleep last night."
----------
The End...Or Is It?
did remember from what Ami had taught her about electronics. She had hoped she
could use it to pick up Darien's brain waves and see what he wanted in his
destiny woman, but found out otherwise once she had worked through all of
Ami's technobabble.