One by one, they appeared, one in front of each mirror, each staring out into the view overlooking the city of Tokyo. The single male turned around to face his four female companions as the interior suddenly became visible in the darkness, as if a soft light had been turned on.
“Rubeus-sama, is this the Juuban area of Tokyo?” the female wearing a pink pinstriped suit with a purple tutu and twin cat ear shapes in her dark hair asked.
“Yes,” the red-haired man nodded and glanced back over his shoulder at the view of Tokyo. “As I expected, the city does not seem to have developed yet.”
“Let’s find the Silver Crystal immediately and destroy it!” the woman suggested.
“Now, don’t be so impatient, Katsy,” Rubeus chided.
“But….”
“He’s right,” the woman with her frost-colored hair in a large braid and wearing what seemed to be a sky blue swimsuit and thigh-high boots added. “We could also conceivably find the Rabbit first and kill her.”
“That’s true,” he agreed with a small laugh. “All right, let’s find the Rabbit first and kill her.”
Above the skies of the Juuban ward of Tokyo, a large spiked, crystalline spacecraft hovered for only moments before vanishing from view.
Today was such a beautiful day. Underneath the blue sky, a gentle breeze caressing her face, surrounded by the calm waters of the pond in Sankaku Park, and in a rowboat with her beloved Mamoru…. She was in heaven. The times when she had struggled to revive his memories of her seemed an eternity away.
“Say, Mamo-chan, we’ll be together forever now, right?”
“Yes, we will, Usako.”
Usagi put her hands to her cheeks as she blushed. “Oh, this is the happiest moment of my life,” she sighed dreamily.
Mamoru smiled as he laughed. “You’re exaggerating a bit, Usako.”
After some time rowing around the pond, Mamoru brought the boat back to the pier and stepped out. “Here,” he said as he reached down to help her up to the pier. “Be careful.” Usagi stepped up to the pier, only to trip as she stepped up with her other foot, and stumble into Mamoru’s arms.
“Lucky…,” she murmured happily as she blushed, enjoying the feel of his arms around her. She looked up to see him smiling down at her and closed her eyes as they came together for a kiss.
In the middle of their kiss, something whopped Mamoru on the head and bounced onto the wooden pier below them. Although he didn’t break the kiss, he did sweatdrop at getting smacked in the head in such a slapstick manner. Curious, he opened one eye to see what had hit him.
It was a ball. A ball shaped like a cat’s head with an antenna. And the antenna was… blinking?
Above them, a small ring of clouds formed and exploded, startling the pair. What was even more startling was when a little girl fell on Usagi’s head, dropping her face-first to the ground, while Mamoru was knocked backward with the girl holding onto him.
“That hurt…,” Usagi muttered as she looked up from having her face planted on the pier. “What was that?” She froze as she saw the little girl clutching onto her boyfriend. “Who the hell are you? And what are you doing with my Mamo-chan?!?”
The little girl jerked back as if startled; the key around her neck falling out of her shirt. “Mamo-chan?” she murmured as if recognizing that name.
“Hey! Let go of Mamo-chan!” Usagi demanded.
The girl turned around to stare at Usagi, causing her to start in surprise. That pink-haired little girl with red eyes looked somewhat like herself.
“What…?” she gasped before recalling herself. “Where did you come from?”
The girl’s eyes narrowed coldly before she answered. “I’m… Usagi.”
“What?” Mamoru gasped in shock.
“Usagi?” Usagi repeated, surprised.
“And what is your name?” the younger Usagi asked as she stood up. “And why do you have the same hairstyle as me?”
“Now wait a minute!” Usagi exclaimed as she stood up as well. “This hairstyle is supposed to be Tsukino Usagi’s trademark!” she declared as she thumped her hand over her chest.
The girl’s eyes widened slightly. “You… are Tsukino Usagi?” Usagi’s expression turned leery, but the girl continued by pulling out a small handgun. Usagi stepped back, startled, but stumbled and fell back on her behind.
“If you are Tsukino Usagi…,” the girl continued and she stepped forward and put the gun up to Usagi’s forehead, “…then you have it, don’t you? The Silver Crystal. Now, hurry and give it to me.”
“Hey, some jokes just aren’t funny,” Mamoru said with a grin, hoping to reach the little girl. “That’s just a toy–”
“Don’t move!” the younger Usagi ordered, causing him to jerk back, his smile gone. “If you move, this girl will die.” Her gaze turned back toward Usagi. “Now, hand over the Silver Crystal.”
“What?” Usagi asked innocently and nervously. “What’s a Silver Crystal?”
The younger Usagi’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “It’s no use playing dumb. I already know you have the Silver Crystal.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Usagi insisted. “Even if you threaten me with that toy, if I don’t know, then I don’t know.”
“So, you’re going to insist on playing dumb,” the girl said quietly. “In that case….”
She pulled the tigger.
A loud bang startled several birds into taking flight, while Usagi slumped backward and fell to the ground.
“Usako!” Mamoru yelled, rushing past the girl still holding her gun pointed at Usagi and shoving her aside in his haste. However, once he reached Usagi’s side, he saw that there was a rubber dart with a plastic flower at the end stuck to her head and that she had just passed out from shock.
“What the…? It really was a toy, after all,” he said with relief. “Hey!” he said angrily as he turned toward the little girl. “You shouldn’t play games like–” He cut off when he realized that the girl was gone. “What…?”
“I’m home…,” Usagi sighed as she closed the door behind her and trudged upstairs. “What was with that little girl? And it was such a perfect date, all by ourselves….” With another sigh, she opened the door to her room and walked in.
And three seconds later, Usagi rocketed down the hall, and down the stairs, homing in on a certain younger brother of hers.
“Hey, Shingo!!!” she howled furiously when she found her target in the living room with her father. Kenji winced at the force of her yell, while Shingo plugged his ears with his fingers.
“What’s wrong, Usagi?” Kenji asked, putting down his newspaper and wondering why she was practically frothing at the mouth.
“Shingo, you…! You went in and messed up my room!” she yelled, causing Shingo to cover his ears.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” he shot back, not quite ready to remove his hands in case she started to yell again. Kenji just went back to reading his newspaper.
“Don’t deny it!” she pressed, but stopped when she saw a ball shaped like a cat’s head float toward Shingo. Her expression turned to one of confused disbelief when she saw that young girl from before come out from hiding behind Shingo.
“Why are you here?” she murmured almost to herself.
“Came from the sky?” Usagi repeated. After she had recovered from her scare, she sat down with Mamoru on one of the park benches and started discussing who that little girl could be.
“Yeah, that’s the only thing I can think of,” he continued contemplatively. “But there’s more than just that. She also knew about the Silver Crystal.”
The little girl… an enemy? She didn’t want to think that that little girl with her name could be an enemy, but how else could she know that she had the Silver Crystal?
“Mamo-chan.…”
“Don’t worry,” he replied as he turned to give her a confident, determined look. “I’ll be with you.”
“Your cousin, Usagi-chan, has come to stay with us,” Ikuko said cheerily behind her as she came into the room with a tray and cups of tea. She walked past her and started serving the tea, leaving Usagi slightly upset.
“Don’t be fooled! That girl isn’t even human!”
The whole family stared at her.
“Why are you saying such foolish things?” Kenji asked with an amused grin.
“Stupid Usagi says stupid things,” Shingo commented dryly.
“But we don’t even have any cousins!” Usagi insisted.
“Stupid Usagi, did you really become stupid?” Shingo asked in vexation, then brought out a photo album and set it in front of her. Usagi opened the album and stared.
Each picture was of her family and that little girl during what she assumed to be some holiday of sorts. But, she didn’t remember posing for any of these pictures.
“What’s… this?” she said as she continued to stare at the pictures.
“These are the pictures from when she was here at New Year’s, of course,” he replied condescendingly.
Usagi’s frustration finally snapped. “This is impossible!!!” she screamed.
“Usagi, calm down,” Ikuko said as she put a hand on Usagi’s shoulder.
“Usagi-oneesan is funny,” the younger Usagi said and smiled cutely.
Why you…! Usagi mentally seethed, clenching a fist. Acting so innocent! Her mental remonstrations ceased when she felt a slight nudge on her leg. She looked down to see Luna silently nodding her head toward the stairs. Usagi excused herself and made her way to the steps.
After retrieving a change of clothes, she went into the bathroom and drew a bath, mostly to relax herself after the events of today. A ruined date, a fake cousin trying to take her Silver Crystal… it was just one thing after another today!
“Just who the hell is that girl?” she muttered as she sat in the tub.
“Everything happened while I was gone for just a little bit,” Luna told her from outside the bathroom.
“She absolutely must have faked those photographs!” Usagi stated.
“Yes, and she must have used some sort of strange energy to hypnotize your family,” the black cat added.
“That girl knows about the Silver Crystal! Luna, what should I do?”
“We should just wait to see what she’ll do next,” Luna suggested.
“Honestly, Luna! We should do more than that!”
A few bubbles floated up and broke the surface of the water. Usagi glanced down at the water, curious. She didn’t… did she? Well, she was more relaxed now, so maybe…. To be certain, she sniffed around where the bubbles broke. Nothing. Then, what…?
That was when a certain cat-ball broke the surface of the water, followed by its pink-haired mistress.
“Give me the Silver Crystal!” she said as she turned around to face Usagi, the cat-ball still balancing on her head. Faced with the girl in tub with her – under different circumstances, she would wonder how the hell she managed to appear in the tub without her knowing (Through a closed door and entering the tub without being seen or making a noise? What was she? A ninja?) – she did the first thing that came to mind.
She screamed.
Luna had already burst into the bathroom and was now taking in the sight in front of her. The younger Usagi was struggling with the older, both splashing water everywhere.
“Well, it doesn’t appear like her life is in danger from that…,” Luna muttered dryly.
“You just have to be strong,” Luna said after hopping up and curling up next to Usagi, who had already slipped into bed.
“You’re right,” she replied with a cheery grin. “After all, Mamo-chan loves me!”
“Of course…,” Luna muttered, slightly vexed.
“Don’t worry,” Mamoru said as he gave her a charming smile. “I’ll be with you.”
“Mamo-chan…,” she sighed as she moved in for a kiss.…
…and found the younger Usagi’s face not ten centimeters away from her. Apparently, the young girl had managed to not only climb into her bed, but into her shirt as well. She could swear that this girl must have some ninja blood in her to pull this off.
“Where did you hide the Silver Crystal?”
And once again, she screamed. And at her mighty scream, Shingo and her parents all came out of their rooms to see what the hell was going on now.
In Usagi’s room, the elder had already leaped out of bed and was hopping around, struggling to extract the pink-haired menace from within the confines of her pajama shirt. The younger was trying to frisk the elder in search of the Silver Crystal, causing the elder’s cheeks to flush as the younger Usagi’s hands were roaming quite freely.
“Luna! Luna! Help!” Usagi shrieked as she flailed around.
“Give me the Silver Crystal!” the young girl demanded relentlessly.
Luna just stared and sweatdropped… until the girl’s cat-ball rolled toward her and bumped her halfway across the room.
Finally, Usagi managed to evict the unwanted double occupant of her shirt out onto her bed.
“OUT!!!” she screeched as loud as she could. “Get out of my room!!!”
“Usagi!”
Usagi froze at that voice. It was her mother. She glanced behind her to see her mother, her father and Shingo all standing in her doorway, staring reproachfully at her.
“Why are you so mean to her?” Ikuko continued, her arms folded.
“I’m not mean!” she retorted, her pajama top still askew from having tossed the young girl out of it. “She was….” She trailed off as she turned back to the girl and saw her eyes filling with tears.
“Oneesan, please don’t be so mean to me,” she said forlornly.
“Why you…!” Usagi growled under her breath as she clenched her hands into tight fists. The little girl crawled off of Usagi’s bed and ran over to Ikuko, who promptly picked her up.
“Usagi, she came to Tokyo all by herself because her parents couldn’t be with her,” Kenji stated firmly.
“She must be very lonely,” Ikuko added.
“You have to be nice to her, stupid Usagi!” Shingo added.
It was all she could do to keep from walking over to the nearest wall and banging her head against it in frustration. Instead, she just settled for turning around and stomping one foot into the floor.
Luna had been knocked out by the errant cat-ball and was unavailable for comment.
“Rubeus-sama, we’ve looked everywhere in the Juuban district, but we have yet to find the Rabbit,” Katsy reported as she and the other three women returned.
“So, you could not find her?” he replied.
“I’m sorry, we didn’t,” the frost-haired girl replied.
Rubeus snorted as a light suddenly glowed in the center of the room. A ghostly, cloaked form ascended from beneath the floor, its legs crossed beneath it and its hands calmly in its lap. Its face could not be seen from within its hood.
“Sorceror Wiseman-sama!” Katsy said, surprised to see him.
A crystal ball floated out from within the dark recesses of its robes. Wiseman began to wave his hands around the ball.
“The Silver Crystal is a stone that brings us trouble,” he elucidated. “As long as the Silver Crystal exists, we cannot destroy Crystal Tokyo.”
“Wiseman-sama, is the Silver Crystal really in the Juuban district?” the frost-haired girl asked.
“Yes, it is,” he confirmed. “Have faith in my divination.” And as suddenly as he appeared, he was gone.
“The Silver Crystal…,” Rubeus said, partly to himself. “I will find it and destroy it along with the Rabbit!” He grinned and laughed to himself in anticipation.
Rei closed her eyes, raised her hands, and concentrated on the photograph in front of her. Usagi was certain that it was a fake and she wanted to know if there was anything she could find out from it. So, she had brought the picture into the room containing the sacred fire and prepared to see what she could learn from it. She had already called Ryoku and the other girls, in case what she found did pertain to a new enemy, as Usagi was halfway convinced.
“Rin…. Pyou…. Tou…. Sha…. Kai…. Jin…. Retsu…. Sai…. Zen!” Her eyes opened suddenly. “I understand!”
“Eh?” the four girls gasped simultaneously.
“Well, what is it?” Ryoku asked.
“Is it, like we thought…?” Ami began.
“You sensed an evil aura from that photo, didn’t you?” Usagi asked.
Rei picked up the photograph and stared at her. “Usagi, you…,” she trailed off and stared down at the photograph, “…don’t look good in a kimono.”
And three seconds later, the mass facefault.
“Rei-chan! This is serious!” Usagi rebuked angrily.
“Sorry, sorry!” Rei apologized contritely. “To tell you the truth, I didn’t get any reaction from this picture.”
“Eh? Nothing?” Usagi asked, surprised.
As they continued to discuss the photograph, the young Usagi watched from outside from between the slightly opened crack of the sliding door. After hearing that they couldn’t sense anything from her photograph, she backed away from the door and leaned against the wall thoughtfully.
“Hmm… so, they are Tsukino Usagi’s friends,” she said thoughtfully to herself, then crossed her arms. “Then, she could’ve asked one of them to hold the Silver Crystal.”
She paused as she heard someone coming and quickly sat down, waiting to see who it was. It turned out to be a short, old man in priest robes carrying a tray with six teacups and a plate of dumplings. She waited while the elderly man walked by her, humming to himself. He didn’t go far before finally noticing her.
“Hey, cute little girl, what are you doing there all alone?” he asked.
In reply, she stood up and started bouncing her cat-ball like a basketball. “Luna Sphere, change!” she shouted as she let her cat-ball bounce high into the air. At the peak of the bounce, the Luna Sphere transformed in a puff of smoke into a baby bottle filled with a white liquid, which she easily caught.
During the change, Grandpa had set down the tray and sat down to watch. “Ah, that’s an interesting trick.” He blinked in surprise as she turned toward the tray and started squirting the contents of the bottle into the tea. “Ah! Hey, hey! This isn’t coffee! Don’t put milk in it!”
“This isn’t milk,” she replied.
“Eh?” he said, puzzled. Before he could say anything further, she shoved the nipple of the bottle into his mouth, causing him to topple backward. He was asleep before he hit the floorboards.
“I told you; it’s not milk,” she said again as she picked up the tray and walked off with it. “It’s a sleeping potion.” The bottle turned back into the Luna Sphere and took off after its mistress.
“How strange,” Usagi said as she held the photograph from before and stared down at it. The group had departed from the fire room and gathered around the table in Rei’s room, Usagi and Ryoku on one side, Minako and Ami on the other, Makoto sitting on Rei’s bed, and Rei at the other end. “So, you don’t feel any evil aura from this. Rei-chan, I didn’t know your psychic power was this unreliable.”
“What a rude thing to say!” she shot back.
“Usagi-chan, I think you’re worrying over nothing,” Minako said.
“Huh?”
“She’s right,” Makoto agreed. “We’ve solved some big problems, and you and Mamoru-san are together.”
“Since you have nothing to worry about, maybe you’re trying to find something new to worry about,” Rei remarked.
“No way!” Usagi disagreed.
“Oh?” Ryoku asked, raising an eyebrow. “So, you think we’re wrong, then?”
“Usagi-chan, we should worry about our real problem, instead,” Ami recommended.
“Real problem?” Usagi asked.
“Yes. A junior high student’s true calling. In other words, studying for entrance exams!”
And three seconds later, the other four girls let out a simultaneous sigh.
“Ami-chan, don’t bring everything back to reality,” Minako requested as she put a hand on her shoulder.
“Oh…,” Ami replied, her eyes wide in surprise at the response.
The sound of the door sliding open caught everyone’s attention. “Hi!” Grandpa called out cheerily. “What a lovely group of cute girls! Would any of you like to go on a date with me?”
“Hey,” Ryoku muttered tiredly over his shoulder. “Who’re you calling a cute girl?”
“Ah, so you’re here, too, Ryo-kun? Sorry.”
Ryoku sweatdropped. "Why do I have to be mistaken for a girl…?"
“Grandpa! What are you doing?” Rei said as she tried to shoo her grandfather away. “Go away.”
“Don’t be so mean,” he said as he set down his tray at the door. “Everyone, I brought your favorite sweet Juuban hot spring dumplings.”
“Yes, yes, thank you, Grandpa,” she said as she continued to try to shoo him away. “Just put them there and leave.”
“You’re so cold,” he complained as he stood up to leave. “I never expected to be treated so coldly by my own granddaughter at my age. I’m disappointed; it’s just so sad….”
Rei sweatdropped as she brought the tray inside and closed the door behind her. “Honestly, I’m the one with the grandfather who hits on girls, regardless of their age. I’m the one who’s disappointed here.”
“Yeah, honestly. How terrible,” Usagi agreed as she reached for a dumpling and started eating. Everyone else stared as she downed the first dumpling and reached for a second one. Then, a third one. By now, she finally noticed that everyone was staring at her. “What’s wrong?” she asked, oblivious. “Aren’t you going to eat?”
The group let out a collective sigh of exasperation. “Yes, yes…,” Rei replied.
Ryoku grabbed a dumpling before Usagi could grab another. “We would if you weren’t eating them all,” he remarked as he started to munch on it, while the others reached for their teacups and started to drink. Ryoku was about to reach for his own teacup when he saw the girls suddenly collapse.
“Huh?” he said as he got up to check on them.
“Eh? What happened to everyone, Ryo-kun?” Usagi asked as he moved from Rei to Ami. “Rei-chan?” she called out to the sleeping shrine maiden.
“Usagi-chan, they just seem to be asleep,” he pronounced after checking over Minako and Makoto. Both paused as they heard someone approaching Rei’s room. They exchanged glances and nodded.
The door opened, showing Grandpa’s face. “Ah! It looks like the sleeping potion worked!” he exclaimed as his head exploded, revealing the Luna Sphere. The door opened further, revealing the young Usagi holding the cat-ball in her left hand.
“Now, let’s find the Silver Crystal,” she said as she entered the room and headed toward the nearest sleeping body, which was Rei’s. The sound of the door closing shut made her halt and look behind her to see who had come in behind her, but she was already too late. Usagi had already snatched her up in one arm and held the other one ready. Ryoku was standing by the door, his arms folded and a cold expression on his face.
“Naughty girl!” Usagi chided. “We didn’t drink any tea!”
The pink-haired girl stared up at her, then at Ryoku. So, that’s why they aren’t asleep.…
“Sneaking a sleeping potion into everyone’s tea is very naughty,” Usagi continued. “You need to be spanked!” She followed with a quick swat on the girl’s bottom, causing her to gasp in pain. “Tell me who you are, where you’re from, and why you’re after the Silver Crystal!” She gave her another spank, but remained silent. Usagi followed with another one, this time causing her to cry out loud.
Ryoku’s cold demeanor started to thaw a little. “I don’t think she’s going to talk, Usagi-chan,” he said as he moved from the door to Usagi’s side.
“Even if you cry, I won’t forgive you!” Usagi stated and gave her another spank.
As the younger Usagi continued to cry, the symbol of a golden crescent moon lying on its side flickered into being on her forehead. The symbol began to emit a powerful light, startling both Usagi and Ryoku, who were not in a position to see the symbol on her forehead.
“W-what?” Usagi gasped as her hand stopped.
“What is this light?” Ryoku exclaimed as he moved to shield his eyes from the light’s intensity.
The light filled up the entire room and burst out into the sky above.
Meanwhile, Katsy was still out searching for the Rabbit. She had stopped at yet another playground and was examining the foreheads of all the young children there.
“What?”
”Who is this?”
The fact that all of the children had gathered around to gawk at the strangely dressed woman made her job all the more easier, but still….
In the middle of examining a young boy, she noticed that the children were now murmuring about some light in the sky. She wouldn’t have paid much attention to it, had she not felt the presence of a powerful energy surging just then. She stood and turned to see what had caught the youngsters’ attention.
“That’s…!” she gasped once she spotted the beam of golden light shooting into the sky.
In a moment of fright, Usagi had dropped the girl and backed away until she was leaning against the side of Rei’s bed as the girl cried and emitted that strange light from her forehead. Ryoku stood between the girl and Usagi, unsure of whether this young girl could be of any danger or not, but standing ready just in case.
Slowly, the light flickered, then vanished as the girl got her crying under control. Usagi leaned forward. “What did you–?” She cut off as she heard laughter coming from the now open doorway.
“I found you, Rabbit-chan,” Katsy said smugly. “I’ve searched very hard.” The little girl looked up to see who was talking to her, and began to cower in fright. “But now,” she began as she raised a hand toward her, “you’ll die very easily.”
“Wait a minute!” Usagi shouted as she stood up behind Ryoku. “Who in the world are you?”
“Me?” she asked as she glanced coolly over at her. “I’m the youngest of the four Ayakashi sisters, Katsy.”
“The four Kakashi sisters?”
Ryoku sweatdropped again. “No, Usagi-chan. Ayakashi.”
Usagi blinked. “Oh. Right.”
Katsy scowled lightly. “You are in my way,” she stated as she gathered energy for an attack. “I’ll kill you first!” She released a stream of blue fire at Usagi’s head, which she had managed to duck as Ryoku tackled her to the floor.
Usagi glanced up at the small blue bonfire that was now burning at where her head would have been moments ago. However, she also noticed that the fire was now burning the bookshelf which stored all of Rei’s prized manga. “Ah! Rei-chan’s manga!” she exclaimed as she grabbed a cushion and tried to smother the fire before any of the books could get burned.
Katsy grinned in satisfaction at seeing Usagi distracted, then turned back toward the little girl who was her main target. However, said girl had already dived through her legs and ran away as fast she could, carrying her Luna Sphere the entire way. “Damn!” she cursed and gave chase. “You’re not getting away!”
“Hey, you!” Usagi shouted after putting out the fire and dashing through the doorway with Ryoku right behind her. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I know a bad guy when I see one!” She glanced behind her. “Ryo-kun!”
Ryoku had already brought out his Knight Swords and nodded. “Ready.”
“All right, then,” she said as she lifted her brooch overhead. “Moon crystal power, make up!”
“Knight swords power!”
The two transformed and rushed to the aid of the little girl.
The younger Usagi had managed to dodge one attack after another, but this last burst of blue fire had almost killed her. The flames had licked around her arms and legs as she flew to the side, hitting the ground hard as she landed on her back.
“Quite impressive, hm?” Katsy asked as she strode toward the girl as she struggled to get up.
“Help me, Papa, Mama…,” she whispered as the symbol on her forehead flickered, and disappeared as she lost consciousness.
Katsy smirked and raised her hand again. “The final blow.”
“Stop!” two voices shouted in unison. Katsy started and turned to see who had interrupted her. “Who are you?”
“I’m the Sailor Warrior fighting for love and justice, Sailor Moon!” the female announced.
“Sailor Moon, is it?”
“And, Sailor Knight!” the male added.
“Crooked villain, threatening a child’s life! On behalf of the Moon, I’ll punish you!” Sailor Moon finished.
“Hmph. Cheeky girl,” Katsy snorted as she flung a stream of blue fire at the two Sailor Scouts. Sailor Moon and Knight quickly dove out of the way as the attack burned past them. Just as they were getting up off the ground, Katsy leapt up into the air, spreading both hands out to her sides.
“Dark Fire!” she shouted as a ball of blue fire appeared in front of her. Several balls of blue fire shot out from the larger one and rained down from above the two Sailor Scouts.
“Hot! Hot! Hot! Hot!” Sailor Moon yelled as she frantically dodged the fire blasts, while Knight tried to parry each one with his swords. Eventually, the balls of fire that hit the ground flared up to create a wall of blue fire between them and their enemy.
“No more!” Knight growled as he put away his swords and took aim. “Earth thrust!” The attack sailed over the wall, toward Katsy, but missed as she merely dropped down to the ground. “Earth thrust!” he shot again, but the attack was burned to ashes before it could pass through the wall of fire. Katsy grinned smugly at the two Scouts, then turned toward her target, who was on the same side of the wall of fire as she was.
The two Scouts looked around for some way to bypass the wall of fire. They noticed that the top of the wall that surrounded the entire shrine’s grounds was above the wall of fire. Immediately, the two leapt up to the top of the wall and ran across it.
Katsy stopped in front of the young Usagi and extended her hand toward her. “Burn to death, Rabbit.”
Just before the attack could be released, Sailor Moon leapt off the wall with Knight a moment behind her. Sailor Moon dove head-first toward Katsy with her arms crossed in front of her face. “Sailor body attack!”
Sailor Knight had executed a perfect flying kick aimed at his opponent’s head. “Sailor flying kick!”
The two attacks struck Katsy at the same time, Sailor Moon’s across her chin and Knight’s on her forehead. The combined attack knocked Katsy face-first onto the ground, as the two landed on the ground a short distance away. “Sailor double attack!” the two declared as they stood up and turned to face the enemy.
Katsy stood up and wiped some of the dirt from her face. “How dare you mark my face!” she snarled as she thrust her hand toward them. “Die!”
A red rose cut through the air, striking her hand, and struck the ground in front of her. “What’s this?” she yelled as she held her wounded hand and searched for her attacker.
“A burning flame of passion is noble and beautiful,” Tuxedo Kamen stated as he leapt down beside the pink-haired girl and picked her up. “But an evil flame that burns someone is ugly and horrifying.”
“Tuxedo Kamen-sama!” Sailor Moon exclaimed happily.
“I’ll burn you to death with the Rabbit!” Katsy bellowed as she spun to face her new opponent.
“I won’t let you!” Sailor Moon declared.
“What?!?”
Sailor Moon quickly brought out her Moon Scepter and prepared her attack. “Moon princess halation!” she shouted as she waved the scepter in front of her, firing a blast of white energy at Katsy.
“I did it!” she cheered as the attack struck and Katsy was gone.
“Sailor Moon!”
Sailor Moon jerked in surprise as she and Sailor Knight both whirled around to see Katsy kneeling on the roof of the shrine, her face a picture of rage. “It missed?” she said, shocked.
“She’s fast,” Knight muttered as he brought out his Knight Swords again.
“You will pay for this!” Katsy seethed and vanished.
“It seems like you have a new enemy now,” Tuxedo Kamen said as he approached the two Scouts.
“I’m sure she’s not the only one,” Knight remarked, putting away his swords and folding his arms.
“Thank you, Tuxedo Kamen-sama,” Sailor Moon said
Tuxedo Kamen glanced down at the girl in his arms. “For whatever reason, it appears that they want this girl’s life,” he said as she girl stirred in his arms. As he continued to stare at the girl, a vision began to fill his mind. A huge city… made of crystal? And a huge monolith-like structure at the center, which stood out as if it held great importance. There was… something within this huge crystal structure…. Something in the peak….
“Tuxedo Kamen-sama?”
He snapped back to reality at hearing Sailor Moon’s voice. The vision left him as quickly as it overcame him.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, concerned.
He glanced over at her for a moment. “No,” he said, finally. “Nothing.” He glanced down at the girl again. What was that vision?
So warm…, the girl mentally sighed as she smiled in her sleep. Just like Papa.…
“What? Sailor Moon?” Rubeus exclaimed after Katsy had returned and reported everything that had happened. She had immediately sat down in front of her mirror and began to apply make-up to repair the damages from her previous fight with the Sailor Scouts. Her three elder sisters had also returned and were all gathered around, listening.
“Yes, and another named Sailor Knight,” Katsy continued while she began to apply her eyeliner. “And there was also this awfully pretentious man named Tuxedo Kamen.”
“I see,” he replied. “So, they interfere in this world, too.” He shrugged. “But, it doesn’t matter. There was no mistake; the Rabbit is here.
“Sooner or later, we will find her and the Silver Crystal.”
“And we’ll destroy them all,” the frost-haired woman agreed.
Sailor Moon, Sailor Knight, I’ll pay you both back for marking my face.… Katsy mentally seethed as she continued to apply her eyeliner.
Later that evening, Usagi watched over the little pink-haired girl as she slept in her bed. There was a smile on her face as she noted how peaceful she looked. It was a far cry from how she was when awake, though.
“I see,” Luna said as she padded onto the bed. “It seems like she’s been through some tough and sad times.”
“Little Usagi-chan, if only you’d told me everything up front, I could’ve helped you,” Usagi said as she tucked the little girl in, then climbed into bed herself and turned off the light.
However, it wasn’t long before Usagi had tossed in her sleep… and threw one leg on top of Luna. Of course, that would’ve been bad enough, except that the younger Usagi, like her namesake, had also threw her leg over Usagi’s leg, adding to the weight on her back. And, to add insult to injury, the Luna Sphere decided to sit on her head.
Luna sighed. Great. Now I have two of them to deal with.…