“Look at all of this!” Celestite smiled. “It’s so much like home!” She
gestured sweepingly to the streets of Tokyo around them.
Ilmenite nodded. “Yes, but it feels a little different. I don’t know, lighter
somehow. Still, it’s similar enough that the Neo-Queen shouldn’t be too
hard to locate.”
Celestite grinned. “We have plenty of time for that. Come on, let’s go
for a walk! I want to see more of Tokyo!” She latched onto his arm and
began to pull him along. Ilmenite laughed.
“Okay, but we are not going to the mall! I barely have enough Earth money
to cover our stay here!” Laughing and teasing, the two Dark Moon children
headed off into the city.
“Tsukino Usagi, if you do not put that manga down this instant, I’ll-
I’ll feed you to the sacred fire!” Usagi looked up from the comic book
she was reading to see Hino Rei, dressed in her usual hakama, frowning
down at her.
“Oh, Rei, you’re so mean!” Usagi wailed, tears springing to her eyes.
“I just wanted to read the comic!”
“Oh, quit whining, you baby. Help me clean up this mess!” As Usagi reluctantly
got up to do so, Luna, Usagi’s black guardian cat, ran in, extremely out
of breath. Artemis, her white companion, quickly followed.
“Usagi! Rei!” Luna cried. “We have a problem. Evil forces have been detected
on Earth, here in Tokyo! I’m afraid the Sailor Senshi will be needed once
again!”
“Ohhh, Luna,” Usagi whined, “do we have to? We just got done with Ail and
Ann, and I’m tired. Can’t somebody else do it?” Rei bopped her on the head.
“Usagi no baka! It’s our responsibility! Luna, what’s up?”
“Nothing good, I’m afraid,” Luna replied grimly. “Earth has been visited
by the Dark Moon Kingdom!” Usagi, interested despite herself, leaned forward.
“Dark Moon Kingdom? Luna, what’s that?” Luna took a deep breath.
“Years and years ago, back in the Silver Millennium, Queen Serenity’s astronomers
discovered a warped and twisted version of the true Moon Kingdom. This
Dark Moon Kingdom ruled a Solar System, much like our own. The Dark Moon
Kingdom was and is ruled by an evil woman by the name of Dark Queen Selenitite,
the exact image of our Queen. She has a daughter by the name of Princess
Celestite. Queen Serenity had always hoped to someday liberate the planets
of that system from the sway of the Dark Moon Kingdom, but before she could,
Beryl and Metallia attacked, and, well, you know the rest.”
“Do we know what they’re after?” Rei asked.
“Unfortunately, no. We have no idea, and now I can’t even trace them. I
don’t like this, girls. I don’t like this at all.”
Mizuno Ami sighed. In a fit of weakness, she had agreed to walk home
from school with Usagi, and now she was regretting it. Usagi had taken
off for the arcade in such a rush that Ami had completely lost sight of
her. If she put the same energy into school as she puts into video games
and flirting, Ami couldn’t help thinking to herself, she’d improve so much
that Haruna-sensei would have a fit. Sighing again, she headed off to the
arcade. A little farther down the street, she saw a familiar pair of blonde
odangos moving through the crowd. “Usagi!” she cried, moving to catch up.
The girl in front of her, however, ignored her. “Usagi!” Ami called, getting
exasperated. Finally she caught up with the girl and laid her hand on her
shoulder.
The girl whirled and stared at Ami in utter confusion. “Excuse me, do I
know you?” she asked politely.
“Usagi-chan, it’s me, Ami.”
“I’m sorry, my name’s Celeste. I don’t know anyone named Usagi or Ami.
You must have made a mistake.” Ami could see now that she had. Despite
the incredible resemblance between Usagi and Celeste, no one could ever
mix them up for long. Something in their eyes was extremely different.
“I’m sorry,” Ami apologized. “You look a lot like my friend Usagi. Sorry
to have bothered you.” Smiling, Ami headed towards the arcade, where she
found a mesmerized Usagi hunched over the newest Sailor V game.
“What was all that about?” Ilmenite asked, coming back from the window
he’d been examining. “That girl, Ami, mistook me for her friend Usagi.
We look a lot alike, apparently.” Ilmenite cocked an eyebrow.
“Remember what your mother said, that Neo-Queen Serenity would have your
face?”
“Of course!” She whirled and took his hands. “Usagi must be the girl who
will become Neo-Queen Serenity! Which means that she’s also Sailor Moon!”
“Hmm,” Ilmenite mused. “Did you notice that Ami girl looked a lot like
Amo-chan back home?” Celestite nodded.
“Yes, I did. She must be a Senshi, too. Well, if these girls are Sailor
Senshi, I think I know how to draw them out. Here’s what we do. I’ll transform
into Sailor Dark Moon, and make a spectacle of myself. That will certainly
draw Sailor Moon to confront me. Then I can take her out. If I have any
trouble, you transform and help me, all right?” Ilmenite nodded.
“All right, but you be careful. Sailor Moon can’t be too inept, or she
never would have survived this long.” Celestite kissed him on the cheek.
“I’ll be careful.” Adjusting the brooch she wore on the front of her shirt,
she stuck one hand up in the air and yelled, “Dark Moon Power, Make-up!”
Strange ribbons of black light shot out of her brooch, wrapping around
her and forming into a Sailor fuku. The fuku seemed a great deal like Sailor
Moon’s, only the body suit was black, the boots and bow were blue, and
the skirt was dark red. A dark blue jewel was set into the center of the
tiara. “All right. Time to take on Sailor Moon,” she grinned, and headed
into town.
Usagi, with Luna at her heels, was just entering the public park when
Sailor Dark Moon appeared. “Hello there, Usagi,” sneered the newcomer.
“It’s nice to meet you at last.” Usagi, as was usual when she was confronted
with danger, panicked.
“Luna! I’m being attacked by an evil Sailor Senshi!”
“Last time I checked, you were a Sailor Senshi as well,” the cat pointed
out dryly. “Transform!”
“Oh yeah, right. Moon Crystal Power, Make-up!” Light shot out of the Ginzuishu
set in Usagi’s transformation brooch, and in a matter of seconds, she was
Sailor Moon. “You may look like me, but you’re really just a cheap impostor!
Why don’t you go back where you came from? I am Sailor Moon, fighter for
love and justice! In the name of the Moon, I will punish you!”
“I have the power of the Dark Moon behind me! You will fall before me,
Sailor Moon! I am Sailor Dark Moon, and in the name of the Dark Moon, I
will destroy you!” The two Sailors, identical in so many ways, faced off
against each other, eyes shooting daggers. Then, in a blinding movement,
Sailor Dark Moon attacked. Through a flurry of lightning punches and kicks,
two things became clear. One, Sailor Dark Moon was an excellent warrior.
Two, Sailor Moon was severely outclassed. Finally, Sailor Moon hit the
ground hard. Sailor Dark Moon readied a final strike, to ensure that she
would not rise again.
“You put up a valiant effort, Sailor Moon. Pathetic, but courageous nonetheless.
You never had a chance, you know. I have all the power of the Dark Moon
on my side. You- have a pussycat.”
Suddenly, the words “Fire- SOUL!” split
the air, along with a stream of fire that nearly singed the odangos off
Sailor Dark Moon. Standing at the entrance to the park were the other Senshi.
“Lay off our friend, impostor!” Sailor Mars called.
“Or we’ll kick your butt back to the Dark Moon!” added Sailor Jupiter.
Sailor Mercury then chimed in with “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll
leave right now!”
“We’re the Sailor Senshi!” finished Sailor Venus. “And
you are toast!”
Painfully, Sailor Moon pulled herself up off the ground to stand with her
friends. “I don’t just have a pussycat, witch. I also have my friends to
stand with me, while you’re all alone.”
“Not quite,” a familiar voice replied. Suddenly, a male figure appeared.
Sailor Moon would have thought it was Tuxedo Kamen, except that his mask
and tie were black, not white.
“Who are you?” Sailor Jupiter asked.
“I am Tuxedo Dark Kamen, protector
to the princess of the Dark Moon. You Senshi are going to have to face
me, as well.”
“If we have to, then we will,” Sailor Mars shot back. “Come on, Sailors,
let’s take these two out. BURNING MANDALA!” Sailor Mars hurled her fire
attack at Tuxedo Dark Kamen, and the battle was on. Tuxedo Dark Kamen dodged
Mars’s shot with ease, hurling a rose black as night at her. Sailor Mercury
attacked with her Shine Aqua Illusion, but Sailor Dark Moon responded with
her Dark Tiara Attack. The fight raged on, but due to superior numbers,
the Senshi finally managed to carry the day. Sensing that they would not
win the fight, Tuxedo Dark Kamen and Sailor Dark Moon disappeared, melting
back into the shadows of the trees.
“They’re gone,” Sailor Venus sighed.
“Good riddance,” snorted Sailor Jupiter.
“Unfortunately, girls, I don’t think we’ve heard the last of them. You
will all have to be on your guard in the future,” Luna cautioned them.
“That was fun,” Celestite snapped, massaging muscles that were sore
from the fight.
“No kidding.” Ilmenite rubbed his jaw. “Sailor Jupiter has one heck of
a right hook.” Sighing, Celestite pulled a communicator out of her pocket.
“This is Princess Celestite to Dark Moon Command. We need some help. Send
us the Dark Senshi.”
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