[FFML] [Fusion][Sailor Moon] MMSS 3 - The First Mission

[StudioPC]

I'd like to thank everyone who sent me C&C on this so far. I hope this  
continues to live up (or at least fuels your nightmares) to your  
expectations.

Disclaimer: No money is being made from this and no such intent should  
be inferred.

--------------

Beryl caressed the telescope in her war room. It was an ornate device,  
long and spindly. It had belonged to Beryl's mentor, Rita and she'd  
taken it after Rita had slipped and fallen down an old lift shaft.  
Strangely, the safety fields hadn't been working that day.

Very, very sad.

Beryl turned from it and gazed at the massive mirror on the wall.

With but a thought, the mirror seemed to ripple and then showed an  
arial view of Tokyo. Station A-10 was somewhere under the city, and  
with it, Artemis.

Beryl's lips curled back from her teeth in a snarl. Artemis. She hated  
him almost as much as Serenity. It was because of him that she didn't  
have the Morphing Wands. Because of him, she'd spent centuries locked  
away in a prison. A prison that had turned out to be right next to an  
old R&D lab. Completely out of date, of course, but usable.

Now she had not only the lab, but the prison's occupants had sworn  
their loyalty to her. Loyalty which was as fleeting as the wind, but  
again, would suffice. It was hardly the battalion of mecha armor with  
a carrier division and the full company of youma she'd had when she'd  
tried to take the throne from Serenity, but she would make do.

She crossed her arms and frowned at the mirror. Making do. Disgusting  
thought, but now was not a time to be shy.  She turned away from the  
mirror and smiled at her generals. Jadeite the Tracker, Nephrite the  
Engineer, Zoisite the Spy, and Kunzite the Warrior.

All High Mages, all hers.

She smiled again. First, Artemis, then Serenity, and then, she would  
have the Imperium.

And then . . . then she would be God.

---------------------------------

Usagi chewed on her pencil and thought about alcohol.

Not for her, of course. Quite frankly, the smell turned her stomach.  
No, she wanted to give it to Rei. Give a lot of it to Rei, then tie  
her to chair, shave off all her hair, and take lots and lots of  
photos. Maybe even a few movies.

Rei loved her hair.

Usagi pictured a bald Rei and stifled a giggle.

Her watch beeped.

---------------------------------------

Artemis whirled in relief at the sound of the teleport.

"Yo." Makoto said. Ami looked nervous.

It was just the two of them.

"Where's-"

"They aint comin," Makoto said. She glanced at her wrist. "Gotta be  
back in twenty or my cake is ruined, though." Artemis stared at her  
blankly. "Home Ec. Teacher's chill."

"Li-librar-ry," Ami supplied. "I . . . I spend a lot of time there."  
She bit her lower lip.

"But . . . but the signal! All five communicators should have gone off."

"Yeah," Makoto nodded. "They got Kamahura this hour and you gotta  
raise your hand to ask permission to sneeze. Dude's got total jones  
for control."

"Ai yi yi yi," Artemis moaned. He understood immediately. The watches  
go off, this Kamahura hands out a punishment. Blast, he had totally  
overlooked the fact that they'd recruited schoolgirls. Their time was  
not their own. If Beryl caught onto this . . .

"A silent function and some pre-planning will serve us well for next  
time," Serenity broke in. "Artemis, retrieve the other Senshi and  
rendezvous at the mall. In the meantime, Makoto, Ami, observe the  
viewing globe."

"Of course, my Queen." Artemis bowed and vanished. Makoto and Ami  
peered at the glass sphere. In it, a swarm of rocklike creatures  
rampaged through a mall, smashing anything they could lay their hands  
on.

"Golems," Serenity said. "Faux elementals, probably made out of  
Moonrock. Beryl must have found a weapons lab."

"Th-there's a lot of them," Ami observed.

"Yes, but what they have in numbers, they lack in vunerability,"  
Serenity replied. The upside down crescent moons on their chest is the  
binding rune. Any blunt force strike to that spot will break the  
binding."

"Cool." Makoto reached down the front of her school blouse and  
produced her Morphing Wand. Ami stared at her and Makoto shrugged.  
"Safest place for it. Sailor Senshi Green. Make-Up." There was a flash  
of green light and Makoto was gone.

Ami fumbled her wand out of her pocket, realized she was holding it  
wrong and corrected her grip.

"You're holding it upside down," Serenity said gently.

Ami blushed bright red.

--------------------------

Artemis' original plan had been to simply walk in under the guise of a  
visiting parent or some other official, collect the girls, leave  
dopplegangers in their place, and teleport out.

However, a quick telepathic scan and survey of the school's perimeter  
put paid to that idea very quickly. Cameras guarded the gates and the  
grounds were watched. Worse, someone had sanctified several of the oak  
trees on the grounds, preventing the use of any kind of magical  
obfuscation and Artemis had neither the time, nor tools to construct  
counter-wards. Pausing at the gate under the pretense of lighting a  
cigarette, Artemis considered the gate itself. Not quite cold iron,  
but close enough. He could blast his way in, of but any true High Mage  
abhorred brute force. Especially on innocents.

He could talk his way in, but that would take time and he had wasted  
too much already. He looked around and his eyes fell on an office  
building across the street. A tall office building that offered a line  
of sight to the roof.

That would do nicely.

-----------------------------

Makoto materialized in the middle of the mall. She was clad in a green  
and white armored bodysuit with helmet that completely covered her  
from head to toe. She cocked her head as knowledge manifested in her  
mind. How to use her powers, how to fight. Not that she really needed  
the second part, though it was a form she'd never seen before.

Her communicator chimed. "Makoto, this is Serenity. Ami . . .will be  
along presently, and Artemis has run into an obstacle or two, in his  
words. For the moment, you are on your own."

"Righteous," Makoto replied. Reaching over each shoulder, she drew the  
twin power axes.

---------------------------------

Serenity was honest enough with herself to admit that she rather  
enjoyed being a giant holographic head, but, she was also a  
mother . . . had been a mother, rather,  and Ami was triggering her  
maternal instinct.

Abandoning the head projection, she re-cast her image as a full body  
image and clothed it in a white robe.

Ami sat on the floor of the control platform, knees pulled up to her  
chest and shoulders shaking.

"Ami?" Serenity asked, crouching next to her.

"I-I'm sorry!"

"Sorry for what?"

"I s-said I would fight and then I fumbled and you h-had to correct me  
and --"

"Ami!" Serenity said, more sharply then she'd intended. "Ami, do you  
know anything about color and the emotional spectrum?"

"Of course. Psychologists have studied it. Yellow is known to --"

"Ami," Serenity said and cut her off with a raised hand. "The wand's  
colors reflect certain personality traits. I was a Senshi once, too."

"Y-you were?"

"Yes, in fact, I was the Blue Senshi, just like you. But then, I grew,  
and matured and my color changed. When I assumed the throne, I had  
been the Red Senshi for . . . well, a long time."

Ami met Serenity's eyes. "B-but Rei is nothing like you!"

Serenity smiled, pleased that Ami had already worked out at least some  
of the connection between color and inner nature. In fact, she . . .  
Serenity pushed that thought aside for later. "Red and Yellow are the  
colors of passion. But Red is the color for passion of the Spirit and  
that is not always the brash and reckless type. You are Blue, the  
power of the Mind. Your intellect is your power, more then any of the  
other girls. In a way, you have an even more powerful spirit then Rei."

"R-really?" Ami asked.

"Really," Serenity confirmed. "You have your Destiny, but it is  
largely unformed, like clay. You must mold it into something that is  
yours. Something that fits you." Serenity laid her hand over Ami's.  
"This is your tool for molding that destiny, but so is your mind, and  
most importantly, your heart. But, you must claim that right to mold  
it, or it will mold you." She smiled. "Does that help?"

Ami looked up at her, then down at the wand in her hand. "I-I th-th- 
think so."

Serenity nodded and stood. "It might help if you claimed it out loud."

"S-s-sailor Senshi Blue, M-m-make-up?"

-----------------------------------

The rescue went almost as planned. Artemis turned into a bird and  
glided to the school roof in a parabolic arc. Now shielded from the  
wards, he cast a spell on himself to encourage people to pay him no  
mind and headed downstairs, following the faint energy of the wands.

The halls were empty, though he passed a few students. One or two gave  
him a curious glance before losing interest and he made a note of it.  
When they were done with Beryl, he would have to rebuild the High  
Mages and he would need recruits with strong magical potential. Anyone  
who could pierce his spell at all, much less be curious, had that sort  
of potential.

He may even have to rebuild them just to defeat her. His smile was  
grim as he considered the mental image of the Senshi backed by a fully  
realized legion of High Mages. Oh yes, that was a pleasant thought.

He found Minako, Usagi, and Rei in a classroom. They were standing as  
a small man in a starched shirt and tie lectured them on their  
failings, which were legion, apparently. Artemis found himself both  
vaguely horrified and very impressed by the man. Really. He had no  
idea that the fact that Rei's socks were of light cotton meant that  
she was unloved and was doomed to thankless employment in the fast  
food industry. Fascinating, absolutely fascinating.

He flicked a finger and the man froze in mid-tirade. "I thought  
perhaps you would all care for a little break," he said and they  
turned, smiling broadly.

"Artemis!" Usagi crowed.

"Trouble?" Rei asked.

"Beryl is attacking a shopping mall," Artemis replied. "Are you ready?"

"What about Kahamura?" Minako asked. "Are you going to leave him like  
that?"

"Will you?" Usagi added. "Please?"

"That would be bad for all concerned," Artemis replied and cast a very  
complicated spell. With a flash of light, three more people appeared  
the in the room. The newcomers were exact duplicates of Usagi, Rei,  
and Minako.

"The Hell?" Rei asked.

"Dopplegangers," Artemis replied. "Think of them as little bits of you  
given form." He addressed the dopplegangers directly. "Finish out the  
school day and stick to routine whenever possible. As soon as you  
leave school, head  directly to the station for reintegration."

The Dopplegangers nodded.

Artemis nodded and then spoke again. "No side trips, and stay in  
character." The dopplegangers all frowned at that, but nodded again.

"Stay in character?" Rei asked as they retrieved their wands and the  
dopplegangers took their positions.

Artemis nodded. "Dopplegangers may be bits of you, but its the bits  
you can do without. Unless you give them specific instructions, they  
get up to mischief that you have to pay for." He looked them over.  
"Ready?" They nodded and he turned away from them. "Then it's morphin  
time. Sailor Senshi Black, make-up!"

"Sailor Senshi White, make-up!"

"Sailor Senshi Red, make up!"

"Sailor Senshi Yellow, make-up!"

They vanished in pillars of light and Kamahura resumed his tirade, not  
even realizing what had happened.

------------------------

They materialized in a cave of ice, weapons deployed. Artemis and Rei  
had staffs, Usagi a sword, and Minako a chain whip that crackled with  
energy.

"Where are we?" Usagi asked, "I thought you said they were attacking  
the mall."

"A mall, meatball head," Rei corrected and Usagi snarled. "And look  
around you. This is a mall. It's just been covered with ice."

"Yo!" They turned to see Makoto, already out of her Senshi costume,  
sitting on a bench, drinking tea from a cup and her feet up on a very  
large box. Ami was curled up next to her, shaking as she  
hyperventilated into a paper bag.

"Are you both all right?" Artemis asked.

"What happened?" Minako asked, touching an ice covered tea cart and  
then jumping backwards as it collapsed and shattered into pieces.

"Ami got mad," Makoto replied. "It was awesome." Everyone looked at  
Ami, who tried to curl up into an even smaller ball. "Mall's gonna  
need a plumber, though."

Artemis raised his staff, banishing most of the ice, and Usagi inhaled  
noisily.

". . . holy . . . crap . . ." she breathed.

The mall hadn't just been damaged, it had been torn up by a deranged  
tornado. Water pipes reared upwards from cracks the floor, the central  
fountain had been smashed into dust, and storefront displays had been  
ripped up and tossed carelessly aside. Several pipes hung out of the  
walls and there was nothing but a hole where the bathrooms had been.  
The air carried the faint scent of raw sewage and ozone.

"She did this," Rei asked in disbelief, pointing at Ami, who squeaked  
out an apology. "Her? By getting mad? Her?"

"She is the Senshi of water," Artemis said, "and most people  
underestimate water's power."

"She got mad enough to do this though?" Rei was still shaking her head  
in disbelief.

"Really mad," Makoto said. "Dunno what the cat chick said to her, but  
it must have been bad."

"What cat chick?" Rei demanded.

"In here," Makoto said, using her heel to tap the box she had her feet  
up on. "Ami bounced her off the roof and then she bounced off the  
floor when she landed."

"And you stuck her in a cardboard box?" Rei asked wearily.

"Tied her up with duct tape first. Aint stupid."

" . . . Duct tape." Rei repeated. "You amaze me, Kino."

"Thanks." Makoto looked down as her other watch beeped. "Dudes, I  
gotta amscray back to Home Ec. Cake's almost done."

"Of course," Artemis said weakly. "Could you teleport to the Command  
Center with Ami first, and tell Serenity what happened? We'll be along  
shortly."

"Right on," Makoto said, pulling Ami upright. There was a flash of  
light, and they were gone.

Artemis raised his hand and slammed the butt of his staff into the  
floor three times. On the third time, there was a blinding flash.

When it cleared. the mall was still a wreck, but it was a different  
kind of wreck. The pipes no longer stuck out of the walls and floors  
and the destruction was more evenly spread.

"That should keep the police busy looking for more  mundane  
explanations," Artemis said. "Teleport back to the Command Center. You  
can't leave until your dopplegangers show up, so you might as well."

They dutifully complied, though not without a protest from Usagi.  
Artemis looked around. All this with just the water in the mall's  
pipes. Something would have to be done about Ami and soon. Her power  
was incredible, but her temper made her easy prey.

He nodded and cast the teleport spell, the mall vanishing to be  
replaced by the control room. Waving his staff, Artemis levitated the  
box into the air and powered down from Senshi mode. "Ami, you had best  
get back to school before you're missed."

"I'm never missed," Ami murmured, too quiet for anyone to hear. She  
nodded and vanished.

Artemis looked at the remaining girls. "As for you three . . ." He  
trailed off as he realized he had no idea how to keep three teenage  
girls entertained.  "Um . . ."

A glowing orb appeared. "Ladies. come with me," it said in Serenity's  
voice. "Artemis, Take our guest to her quarters."

----------------

Both of Artemis' eyebrows rose up as he peered inside the box. Inside  
was a veritable duct tape mummy, with only a beaky nose poking out and  
surrounded by packing peanuts.

"At least she's thorough," Artemis murmured. "I suppose that's  
something." Nonetheless, he wondered why he had skipped Divination at  
the Academy. Knowing about the girls a head of time would have been  
nice. 'Ah, but where's the fun in that?' said a voice that sounded  
suspiciously like his younger self.

Setting up a containment field, he banished box and tape. Both his  
eyebrows promptly rose up, disappeared into his hairline and stopped  
somewhere around the back of his head.

It was a man, with long black hair, makeup, and wearing a skimpy  
yellow top and shorts with suspenders. His feet were clad in thigh  
high stockings and cat like ears poked out of his hair. He was also a  
Chomirite, the race that had inspired the human myth of the centaur.

High Mage Displince kept Artemis' expression neutral, but he was going  
to have to speak with Makoto about her sense of humor.