Luna sighed. It was a beautiful night, but she
and Artemis weren’t out enjoying it as they wished. Instead, they were
sitting on Usagi’s roof, trying to figure out what the Dark Moon could
be after. “Normally, everybody seems to be after the Ginzuishu,” Artemis
remarked, “but that can’t be the case here. The Dark Moon has no use for
the silver crystal. I doubt that anyone there could wield it.”
“That’s true of all the Moon Kingdom artifacts,” Luna agreed. “I can’t
imagine what they would want. Could they be after something here on Earth?”
Artemis shook his head.
“They haven’t tried to bypass the Senshi at all. All their attacks seem
to have been calculated to draw the girls out. Whatever they want, they
have to go through the Senshi to get it.”
“Which brings us right back to Moon Kingdom stuff. That’s really the only
way that the girls differ from everyone else on Earth.”
“Well, that and Usagi’s klutziness,” Artemis grimaced. “But I can’t imagine
that would be an asset to anyone.” Sighing, the two cats sat back down
on the roof to think.
In a warehouse across town, the three Dark Moon
warriors faced the newest arrival. “Welcome to Earth, Sailor Dark Mars,”
Ilmenite smiled. Celestite decided to forgo the formality.
“Good to have you here, Mei-chan.” Meionite bowed to her princess.
“I am honored to help you destroy Sailor Moon, your highness. I bring with
me a gift from your mother, to help you. I give you the Dark Moon Scepter.”
Smiling wickedly, Celeste took the scepter from Meionite, holding it aloft.
“With this scepter, I will destroy Sailor Moon and all the Senshi, and
the Dark Moon Kingdom will reign supreme!”
Staring into the sacred fire, Rei frowned. Somewhere
in Tokyo, she could sense a great evil force, newly arrived. It was stronger
than any of the others she had sensed, and different somehow. She couldn’t
put her finger on the difference, though. Rising, she went to change into
street clothes. Someone had to check it out, and she was the best choice.
No sense putting anyone else in danger. Silently, she slipped out of the
shrine and headed downtown. Rei was so intent on following the trace of
evil that she almost knocked over a girl coming the other way. “Oh, I’m
sorry,” Rei apologized, looking up. Her breath caught as she realized that
the other looked exactly like her. “Do I know you? I’m Rei.” The other
girl’s mouth quirked.
“That’s interesting. I’m Mei. Nice to meet you.” Mei’s eyes narrowed as
she absorbed the other girl’s resemblance to herself. “Sailor Mars, I presume.”
“Sailor Dark Mars?” Rei returned coolly, keeping her emotions in check
with some effort.
“What do we do now? Do you want to fight in front of all these people?”
“There’s no reason for us to fight. If you’d just tell us what you want,
maybe we could reach an accommodation.”
“What we want is to destroy all of you. Of course, if you’d just surrender,
maybe we could skip all the unpleasantness.” Rei shook her head.
“I don’t think so. Sailor Senshi never surrender. If it’s a fight you want,
you’re going to get it.”
“So be it,” Mei hissed. “Dark Mars-”
“Mars Star-”
“Star Power-”
“Power-”
“Make-up!” both girls cried in unison. Ribbons of fire spun from their
wands, encasing both, and forming their Sailor fuku. Sailor Dark Mars wore
a fuku identical to that of Sailor Mars, except the bodysuit was black,
and the colors were dark and malevolent.
“I am Sailor Mars, champion of Justice! If you’re after a battle, you’ve
come to the right place! In the name of Mars, planet of War, I’ll punish
you!”
“I am Sailor Dark Mars, warrior of the Dark Moon. Those who stand in the
way of my goals will be swept aside like insects. In the name of the Dark
Moon, I will destroy you!” The citizenry, realizing that a full-scale Senshi
fight was in the offing, scattered like ants. Soon, there was no one left
on the street except for the two Senshi. “You can’t win, Mars,” Sailor
Dark Mars remarked, as the two began to circle. “The Dark Moon is far more
powerful than your pitiful team could ever be! Surrender now, and save
yourself the humiliation of defeat.”
“I will never desert my friends. You’re the one who’s going to lose. Fire-
SOUL!” A ball of flame went arcing towards its target. Sailor Dark Mars
ducked out of the way quickly.
“Hah! Where are your pitiful friends now? Dark Fire Soul!” A return ball
of flame screamed towards Sailor Mars, who narrowly managed to avoid it.
“My friends are always with me, and I can always count on them to give
me strength, even when they’re not there. Can you say the same?” Sailor
Dark Mars’ eyes flashed.
“Time to end this game. Dark Burning Mandala!”
“Burning Mandala!” The two fiery attacks hurtled towards each other, colliding
mid-air in an incredibly display of pyrotechnics. They raged against each
other for a moment, then burnt out, their energy spent.
“No more of these tricks!” a voice called from high above. “I am Sailor
Dark Moon!”
“And I am Sailor Dark Mercury!”
“In the name of the Dark Moon, we will destroy you!” they yelled, leaping
down to the street.
“Dark Shabon Spray!” Sailor Dark Mercury yelled. Instantly, the area was
filled with a dank mist, giving Sailor Dark Mars time to get out of the
way. Once she was clear, Sailor Dark Moon pulled out her Dark Moon Scepter.
“Goodbye, Sailor Mars,” she muttered. “Your interference in my affairs
has just come to an end. Dark Moon Princess Halation!” A beam of dark energy
left the scepter and launched itself at Sailor Mars, who was still searching
fruitlessly for her enemies.
“Moon Princess Halation!” Sailor Moon’s voice rang out. A second beam,
this one a brilliant white, slammed into the dark one, turning them both
into dust. Slowly, the mist from the Dark Shabon Spray lifted, revealing
Sailor Moon and the other Senshi standing close behind Sailor Mars. “I
am Sailor Moon, champion of justice! Those who try to destroy my friends
will pay the price! In the name of the moon, I’ll punish you!”
Sailor Dark Moon smirked. “Sailor Moon, how nice of you to come. It saves
me the trouble of hunting you down. Now, prepare to be destroyed. Dark
Moon Princess Halation!”
“Moon Princess Halation!” Each girl shot a beam from her scepter, the beams
meeting in mid-air. They pushed and pushed, but neither could gain any
ground. Finally, the two discontinued the beams.
“This isn’t the end, Sailor Moon,” Sailor Dark Moon warned. “We’ll be back!”
With that, the three Dark Senshi disappeared.
“Rei-chan, are you all right?” Sailor Mercury asked.
“Yeah, sure,” Sailor Mars replied carelessly. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Next time, don’t go running off alone like that,” Sailor Moon admonished
her. “You could have gotten hurt.”
“Don’t tell me what to do, odango atama. You wouldn’t have done any better.”
Sailor Moon responded to this with a loud raspberry, and the two were instantly
deep in a tongue war. The other Senshi sighed. It was going to be a long
evening.
Back in her room at home, Ami was making a few
adjustments on her communicator when it suddenly beeped and voices began
to come from it. “Princess Celestite to Dark Moon Command. Things are not
going well at all. That brat Sailor Moon has managed to evade us at every
turn. At this rate, we’ll never destroy her.”
“Princess, you must be strong. Only you can destroy Sailor Moon. I am sending
help. You will soon have Sailor Moon in the palm of your hand.” The transmission
ended there, but it was more than enough to make Ami’s blood run cold.
They were after Usagi? Suddenly, everything made a hideous kind of sense.
They weren’t after any of the artifacts that they couldn’t use, they simply
wanted to destroy Usagi. Swallowing hard, Ami stared at her communicator
for a long time, trying to figure out what to do.
Celestite smiled at the two new arrivals. “Taenite, Kainite, welcome. It is good to have you here. With the addition of Sailors Dark Venus and Dark Jupiter, we will certainly have the power to destroy Sailor Moon once and for all!”
On to Chapter Four: Combined Dark Senshi, Attack!
Back to Chapter Two: First of the Dark Senshi
Back to Sailor Moon
Back to the Castle
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