Disclaimer: Sailor Moon is the creation of Naoko Takeuchi, the concept 
of Spider-Man by Stan Lee. Related characters and concepts by Marvel 
Comics. No money is being made from this and no such intent is to be 
inferred.


"No . . ." Usagi backed away. "No."

"Oh yes, Usagi. It's me. Your dear cousin, Naru, come to say hello."

"No . . ." Usagi shook her head vehemently. "This isn't real. You're 
some kind of fake."

Naru walked towards them, matching Usagi for each step that the blonde 
took backwards. "A fake? That's it? Where's the Tsukino wit we all know 
and love? Where's the insults and that tireless self-confidence?" The 
brown-haired girl's smile was sadistic. "Everyone told you, Usagi. One 
of these days, you'll mess up. One of these days, all your screwing 
around is going backfire. Well today's the day. I'm the enemy, Usagi. 
Been the enemy for months now."

"No . . ."

"No, no, no, no. God, Usagi, its like a broken record. Here I am, set 
to gloat and sneer, and you're hanging from the arms of your friends 
like a limp dishrag and possessing a one word vocabulary. How pathetic 
is that?"

"Why, Naru?" Ami demanded. "Why betray us like this? What did Beryl 
offer you?"

"Recognition," Naru said, spreading her hands. "Recognition for my 
brains and my skills instead of being Usagi's second pair of hands. It 
should have been me! Me! For the past three years, Ami, its all Usagi. 
All these obscure references, intricate pranks, everything has to have 
a message. God, its like she's some kind of social crusader sometimes. 
Not that it wasn't fun, but we always had to do her ideas, her way of 
doing things. I made them work, Ami. I took most of the risks and what 
did I get? NOTHING and I'm tired of it! So I went to work for Beryl. I 
get recognition and she doesn't give a damn how I do it."

"We have to get Usagi out of here," Flash whispered. "Take her and 
climb a wall. You're the fastest, and don't have to transform, get her 
someplace safe. I'll cover you." Flash shoved Usagi at Ami and then 
took out her wand. "Jupiter Power, MAKE UP!" Lightning flashed and 
thunder roared and Jupiter thrust out her hand. "SUPREME THUNDER!"

"Lightning," Naru sneered as the bolt spattered harmlessly against some 
invisible wall. "Against someone with powers of magnetism? Please." She 
gestured and Jupiter suddenly found herself hanging in mid-hair by her 
chest. Usagi fell and hit the sidewalk and Ami floated down to hover 
next to Jupiter.

"Under-wire?" Jupiter asked and Ami blushed.

"Aunt Mai said I had too."

"Figures, fucked over by our underwear."

They felt themselves spinning until they were looking at Naru upside 
down. "Ah," Naru gloated, "The joys of being a B cup."

Jupiter scowled. "Look, I ain't no damn conversationalist. You gonna 
finish us off, get on with it."

"Oh, I suppose. Its no fun since Usagi is a blob on the sidewalk." Naru 
raised her hand and at that moment, something huge and green dropped 
out of the sky and Ami felt herself bouncing and skidding on the 
sidewalk.

Blackness fell.

---------

Ami awoke in a dark room. As her eyes quickly adjusted, she realized 
that she was back in Banterman's Operating Room. Nearby, Usagi and 
Flash lay on cots.

'How did we get back here?' Ami wondered. She slid off her cot and 
padded softly out of the room. The hallway was darkened save for light 
from a door at the other end. She moved closer and heard voices 
speaking in English.

'The wall,' Mercury said and Ami scaled the wall, crawling over to the 
doorframe and eased herself down until her eyes cleared the top.

The room was some kind of office. Banterman sat behind a massive desk 
while Veronica was perched at the desk's edge. On a small sofa, two men 
sat side by side. One was big and burly with an eye patch over one eye. 
An unlit cigar was clamped between his teeth and he held a beer. The 
other man was whiplash lean, with dark hair that was flicked with gray 
and a pencil thin mustache. He wore dark blue slacks and a long sleeved 
shirt. A tie and suit jacket, along with a hat and a dark green coat 
hung on a rack. He wore gloves and held a glass of wine. He looked 
familiar. Ami was sure she'd seen him before.

"Banner, are you telling me Sailor Moon is heir apparent to the company 
that right now, is all that's keeping Japan from economic collapse? And 
that she's a raving loony?"

"She is not the heir, Nick," the slender man said. "Japanese 
inheritance laws are different, much different than in America. Given 
that Kenji Tsukino is something of a conservative, Ms Tsukino's younger 
brother is far more likely to inherit their father's empire."

Nick glared at the slender man. "And I suppose you're going to tell me 
that she's not a raving loony either?"

"I've read the file, Nick," the slender man replied. "I was quite 
impressed that your agents even included her sizes, right down to her 
underwear."

"Strange, I don't got time for your intellectual snideness," Banterman 
interrupted. "You and Fury can argue later."

"What's the matter, Bruce?" Fury said. "I thought you liked Japan."

Banterman scowled. "Not when S.H.I.E.L.D. shanghaied me into it. Let me 
remind you, Fury, I'm only here because you promised to get Ross and 
his goons off my back for good and to get me a full pardon."

"Bruce and I want to be left alone," Veronica interjected. "No army, no 
S.H.I.E.L.D, and no nosy government watchdogs. We want to be ourselves, 
under our real names, and left alone."

"A Delta is never alone," Strange murmured and sipped his wine. "Reed, 
Tony, Charlie, and I are always with you."

"Don't pull the frat mysticism crap with me, Strange," Banterman 
snapped, jabbing a thick finger at Strange. "It's been too damn long 
since Delta House for that too work."

"Worth a try," Strange said with a shrug. "What makes you so sure 
Tsukino is Sailor Moon?" Veronica slid off the desk and handed Strange 
a file, who set aside the wine and opened the folder. "By the Moons of 
Maggorath," Strange gasped out a moment later. "You think she 
deliberately did this?"

"Not to herself," Banterman said. "But she let it happen and then came 
to me, just to see if the stories were true. It's the only thing I can 
think of that makes any sense."

Fury took the file from Strange, whose face was pale and had taken his 
glass of wine in shaking hands. "May Allora's hands preserve us," he 
said softly.

"Maybe it's some kind of psych thing. Schizophrenia or something," Fury 
growled. "Kid's got moxie. Hell, if her Daddy doesn't want her, I'll 
take her. S.H.E.I.L.D. could use someone with this much ice in their 
veins."

"Your empathy overwhelms me, Nicolas," Strange said acidly. "Do try to 
rein in your compassion."

Fury shrugged. "I'm a simple man, Strange," he said. "I didn't get to 
where I am by holding hands and singing Kumbya."

Strange paced, looking agitated. "This isn't right, this isn't what I 
foresaw."

"What did you forsee?" Banterman snapped, resting both elbows on the 
desk.

"Yeah, Strange," Fury said. "Why don't you drop the mystic crap and 
play it straight. You said the fate of the world was at stake, and that 
we needed Banner to pull it off. Richards and Stark both vouched for 
you, which is the only reason I agreed to this cockamamie scheme."

Strange sighed. "Gentlemen . . . Nick, Bruce, neither one of you are 
men of faith and what I have to say sounds bizarre enough to me . . . I 
can only tell you what I know, not if it's true . . . I choose to 
believe it is. Will you accept that?

Fury cracked open another beer and Banterman leaned back in his chair. 
"All right, Stephen," he said. "Let's hear it."

Strange stood in the middle of the room. "Does the term Antediluvian 
mean anything to you?"

Fury stared blankly, and Banterman's face scrunched up in thought. It 
was Veronica who answered. "Isn't it . . . I mean, it refers to the 
'first civilization'? The one before the Mayans and Egyptians, and the 
like?"

"Close enough. Persia, Lemuria, Atlantis, what we know today as China 
and Egypt, all came from the Kingdom of Usaga, which built it's capital 
in what we now know as Antartica some eighty thousand to a hundred 
thousand years ago.  According to my research, the Usagans tamed the 
continent, which was far more tropical back then and built a 
civilization of which even the Shi'ar and the Kree would be envious. 
Eventually, they made it to the moon through a series of . . . warp 
gates would be the best term, and from there, the rest of the solar 
system. This began what would be known as the Silver Millennium, under 
the guidance of the Queen, who ruled from a great palace on the moon 
known as the Moon Kingdom. From what I've been able to determine, the 
Moon Kingdom had split from Usaga by that point, though they remained 
friends."

"Hold up," Fury said. "You trying to tell me there's people on the 
moon?"

"No. Humans have no presence on the moon. The Silver Millennium was 
just that. A Millennium. It, along with Lemuria and Atlantis were 
destroyed in the Fall."

"And the Fall was because . . ." Banner pressed.

"She's called Metallia. Supposedly she had another name before her 
exile, but I  don't know what it was. What I do know is that she craved 
Usaga's power and seduced one of it's nobles, Beryl by name, into 
darkness. Beryl, a tactical genius, smashed the other great 
civilizations of the age and sent the survivors scattering. Lemuria, 
built in a volcanic crater, was buried, Atlantis, sunk. Persia, Egypt, 
China, forced to flee to Mesopotamia, to attempt to rebuild."

"Which is why we call Mesopotamia the cradle of civilization," Banner 
finished.

"Right," Strange said. "Beryl then turned her attention to her homeland 
and the Moon Kingdom. She undermined Usaga and corrupted four of the 
Moon Kingdom's high command. They, in turn, let her forces through the 
warp gates . . ."

"And the Moon Kingdom fell," Veronica said.

"Yes," Strange said. "It fell, taking Beryl and her forces with it. But 
before they did, the Queen of the Moon Kingdom worked one last . . . 
spell, you could say and banished Metallia, without her, there was 
nothing." Strange took a deep breath. "Here on Earth, the survivors had 
their own troubles and the need for history fell by the wayside. Within 
centuries, only legends remained."

"Then how do you know what happened?" Banner demanded.

"The few survivors of Atlantis and Lemuria banded together and kept the 
secrets and skills alive, passing them from generation to generation. 
Then En Sabah Nur came, and with him the Second Rising."

"Which is?" Fury asked.

"Every Usagan had certain superhuman abilities. Some were minor, others 
major. Some sort of evolutionary jump brought on by either their 
technology or skill with magic."

"Oh, shit, you're talking about mutants," Banner growled.

Strange nodded. "Nur was the first, but there are others, more all the 
time. For whatever reason, Usaga is being reborn and the Moon Princess 
can't be far behind. The Moon Kingdom was born from Usaga, after all."

"You think Tsukino is the key," Fury mused.

"Now that we know her name, yes. Usagi Tsukino means 'Rabbit in the 
Moon', for starters. There is also the fact that she is Sailor Moon. 
The Moon Kingdom which was born from the Usagans. Usaga, Usagi. She's 
searching for the Moon Princess. Do you see, Nick? Too many 
similarities. Sailor Moon is the key to the whole thing. She may even 
be the Moon Princess."

"And just what is so blasted special about this Moon Princess?" Fury 
demanded.

"According to the records, the Moon Princess was a 'High Evolutionary'; 
A very rare breed of Usagan with almost unlimited power and ability. It 
is said that the Lemurians cast auguries and found that the Moon 
Princess would be reborn and reclaim her birthright."

Banner steepled his fingers on the desk. "I don't think I like where 
this is going, Stephen," he growled. "You're saying that this Moon 
Princess, whoever she is, is going to take over the world, whether we 
like it or not?"

"Or at least the moon," Strange deadpanned. "Possibly Antarctica as 
well." When the other two men glared at him, Strange waved a hand. 
"Forgive me, I tend to let my questionable sense of humor get away from 
me." He took a deep breath. "What I've been able to find suggests that 
the Moon Princess was as fair and just as any monarch could hope to be. 
Humanity could do worse."

"And?" Banner asked.

"The portents and signs are unmistakable. En Sabah Nur is stirring, 
Sailor Moon has appeared, and more and more Mutants appear daily. He 
can read the same signs I have and the Moon Princess will be far too 
tempting for Nur to resist. If we're lucky, he'll simply try to kill 
her. One High Evolutionary against another. If she wins, we'd be well 
rid of Nur. If he wins, he'll return to his lair to recover and we can 
deal with him while he's helpless."

Strange fell silent and remained so until Fury spoke. "And if we're 
unlucky?"

"He'll try to win her over to his side. Become her mentor and lead her 
down the dark path. We are talking about the two most powerful beings 
on the planet, Gentlemen, I don't have to tell you what their working 
together would entail." He faced Banner. "Which brings us to you, 
Bruce."

"Me?"

"You're not a High Evolutionary, but you are the only other person 
possibly capable of standing against them. If she goes rogue, you're 
our only hope."

-Steve "Komodo" T.
http://www.geocities.com/studio_pc_hub/


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