Nuke 'Em 'Til They Glow!! Chapter One

Title: Nuke 'em 'till they glow!!
Subject: [SM] [New Characters][Modified Timeline]

&&&[Begin Chapter 1.]

Chapter One: Let's take this space time error out on the road and
see who's boss!
Or... Just introduce the character. Or at least a part of it.

The Atomic Starlight Knight was having a boring day. There
hadn't been an outbreak of really nasty evil badness for... Well,
since that Moon Kingdom had that clash with the nega-something-
or-other. That was fun.

During the past couple of thousand years, life had gotten a
tad too tame. Sure, there was the occasional moderately evil
villain to secretly fight against... But nothing really serious.
Occasionally, he would, for example, sneak into some highly guarded
military installation, and, well, blow something up.

He really enjoyed blowing things up. In fact, he was the
embodiment of someone else's good natured extreme insanity and
deep desire to blow things up combined with the love of generally
wreaking havoc with evil... Not to mention the occasional practical
joke.

So, essentially, as far as he knew and cared, his job was
blowing things up. It was quite a fulfilling job, as a matter of
fact. Blasting evil into its component quarks was, quite possibly,
the most fun thing in the entire world. Unfortunately, it was rare
for something evil enough to pop up that required that level of
obliteration.

In the meantime, he would do something else; occupying his
time was the first and foremost thing he needed to accomplish.
Boredom was a dangerous thing; he might end up losing his mind.
That had happened a few times, but not for decades. So, he always
needed something to occupy his time; to give himself some sense
of purpose.

But today... there was nothing else to do. No evil to destroy,
no new types of explosives to try out... not even any material
science classes!

Why was this day so completely and utterly boring? It
was vacation. The Atomic Starlight Knight hated vacations. He
loved his job, but given the periodic nature of his job... He
spent most of his time on vacation.

Over the past millennia, he had picked up a great deal of
knowledge: about hurling explosive blasts, accelerated self-
healing, aura manipulation, energy duplication, and he could even
control his alternate personalities! What he most liked was his
energy duplication capabilities. He could draw upon the reserves he
kept around and copy something he encountered. It was exceptionally
fun when he nearly got struck by lightning; for a while, he started
doing "Thor" impressions...

He really had nothing better to do with his "life."

Under normal circumstances, when a spiritual embodiment of a
particular aspect of a personality is no longer needed for a task,
they will re-merge with whoever their personality had been
extracted from. However, that was not an option in this case. It
seems that Queen Serenity, at the fall of the Silver Millennium,
wished with the Imperium Silver Crystal [Or was that Ginzuishou? I
can never remember.] for her daughter and everyone else to have a
normal life.

Unfortunately, his original persona had not fit into this new
"normal" life. Not even a total memory erasure could have made it so.
And therefore, the magic of the Silver Crystal caused his original
persona to have the non-"normal" pieces removed, while whatever was
left got reincarnated. To top that off, he hadn't even found his
reincarnation yet, so he couldn't even check in to see how they were
doing.

<Wait... Why haven't I found my reincarnation yet?> he asked
himself.

<Could it be because... YOU HAVEN'T LOOKED?!> another part
of himself answered.

<Hmmm... Perhaps... maybe...>

<That's it! I'll look!>

<That's... BRILLIANT! But how?>

<Let's see... My existence constantly being DRAINED from
them... The psychic connection should lead me right to 'em... Unless
I have one of those Moon Princess protection plans installed to go
along with it.>

<Yup!>

<Okay, now, concentrate on yourself... Any connections to
anything?>

<Yeah... BESIDES THAT! I know I haven't eaten since lunch...
But that's beside the point! Try again. Don't call back until
you're sure.> A part of his mind took a nap.

A few minutes later, he was shocked awake by the rest of it.

<WAIT! Yes! That's it! I now know with ABSOLUTE certainty
who my reincarnation is!>

<Great! Now go find them!> Atomic Starlight Knight's mind
concluded. The search was on! He blasted off at top speed toward
the origin of his psychic link...

*WHAM* And slammed directly into a wall.

Peeling himself off, he turned toward a new destination, still
following the link. It was difficult, partially because this link
wasn't an active one, but mostly because there were too many things
to run into...

So, he walked.

Anticlimactic as it was, walking while watching where he was
going did reduce the frequency of impacts.

All through this, he kept invisible so people would not be
disturbed at a 6'6" guy in shining green camouflage armor with
combat boots crashing into walls left and right. He didn't bump
into things as a general rule... but desperate times call for
desperate measures! Several hours of this brought him to his
destination.

<There she is!> his mind cried out triumphantly.

<Alright, how is... Hey, back up. Did I just think what I
thought I thought?>

When the view clicked in, it consisted of two girls in school
uniforms who were walking to school. Apparently, vacation was not
in effect for junior high students. The girls were talking about
something or other.

<Yes, I did. My theory is that... after the fall of the Silver
Millennium, her leftover psychic residue, of which there was a lot,
made me. Basically, I'm the aspects of whatever didn't get taken
along.>

<Okay, I guess that explains it... Huh?!>

<Yeah, quiet. Let's have a look-see... Shall we?>

<Okay, let's see how she's doing. I wonder if this "normal"
thing has been as great as it's cracked up to be.>

<Yeah, let's go find out.>

The Atomic Starlight Knight went into clandestine operations
mode. Eavesdropping, if you will.

<Wait, is something wrong with that? Spying, I mean?>

<Why?>

<What's wrong with spying on one's own self?>

<...>

another part of his mind
called out hopefully.

<Yeah, me too!>

<Yeah, give me a chance!>

<No.>

*WHAM!*BAM!*WHACK!* "Shut up, shut up! Everyone JUST SHUT
UP!!!" Atomic Starlight Knight yelled while banging on his head as
hard as he could.

---

On this school day, which I think was a Tuesday, Molly had
found a new friend. She stood about 4'11" tall, had red hair in a
ponytail, and had an impossibly happy, yet vacuous expression ^_^.
Molly had just found out that the new girl had just moved in from
some other country.

"Really, Terra? What country are ya from?" Molly asked in
her familiar [to those who watch the NA dub] New Yorker accent.

"I'm from Ireland! Tee-hee!" Terra Incognito said in an
accent that wasn't even close to an Irish one, giggling, blissfully
ignorant of her surroundings. She giggled again for effect.

"Wow, Ireland! So ya like it 'ere?" Molly asked.

"Yeah! Everyone here is just soo nice and cute and funny!"
Terra said. She then went on to detail how she wanted to grow up
to be a big movie star in Hollywood and have people asking for her
autograph, have a cute boyfriend and such. Molly giggled at that.
Terra just smiled and swung her head side to side happily.

Someone out of view facefaulted.

"I can't wait 'till you meet Serena!" Molly said.

---

The Atomic Starlight Knight got back up from his impromptu
slamming into the ground and watched and listened to the rest of
the conversation in complete and utter disbelief.

<This is NORMAL?!> his mind asked incredulously.

"They... CUT OUT HER BRAIN!" he said to himself in horror.

<That's about the size of it. Who do you think you are?>

<Well, at least she's happy,> one voice in his mind commented.

<Yeah, but, LOOK AT HER! She's... how to put this nicely... a
complete and total zonked-out, mindless ditz!> another part replied.

<Well... Is there anything I can do about it?>

<Hmm... Maybe, just maybe, I might be able to do something,>
he replied thoughtfully.

<Excellent. Care to share it with the rest of the class...?>

<Good thinking!> his mind congratulated himself.

<Okay, if there are no complaints, I'm going to activate the
link and rectify the problem.>

<Wait!> some random personality called out in his mind.

<She's happy as she is!> that small part of his psyche
reasoned.

<Wait. I'm her. I'm not happy as she is. Therefore, she is
not happy as she is.>

<...Wah?>

<I'm not going to be satisfied having me running around
braindead. What do I have to think against that?!>

<Well.. see her? "Braindead" as you say she is, she's happy!
Look at it this way: She's me, and if she's happy, I'm happy, and
well, isn't happiness what everyone wants?>

<...>

<Okay. Alright. Fine! Just stop pouting. That really bugs me...
So, I'll watch her for a while, and if all seems well, I go as I have
before... and perhaps concoct some long, drawn-out plan to eventually
get to know myself... her... whatever better and find some gradual
way to reintegrate myself. If not, I activate the link. Agreed?>

Almost knocking him off his feet, a chorus of affirmative
replies echoed through the assorted net of constantly firing neurons,
or at least the magical equivalent thereof.

He slowly regained his balance. <Very well, then.>

***

"Jedite, come forth!" Queen Beryl commanded. A blonde man in a
grey general uniform appeared and bowed before her. "Is everything
ready?"

Jadeite looked annoyed at having his name mispronounced so
badly. "...Yes, Queen Beryl. It is ready. And, just in case someone
decides to try and stop the energy draining process, well, I have
made a special surprise," he said before adding, "It was a good
thing I decided to actually LOOK at my plans before implementing
them. I was able to see several weaknesses in the plan I otherwise
would not have."

"Excellent. Proceed, Jedite," Beryl replied.

Jadeite winced, then nodded and teleported away.

***

When they got to class, Terra was still happy as ever. They
had arrived about ten minutes early.

Serena ran in a few seconds after they took their seats.
"OhmygoshI'msorryI'msorryI'mlateMsHaruna!" she called, hurriedly
taking her seat. Everyone was quite surprised at this. As we all
know, Serena is typically a late arrival. [So why am I telling you
this? Just because I felt the need to... Thank you.]

"Wow, Serena! You're early today!" Molly noted, expressing
the obvious, of which Serena was not aware of. Ms. Haruna raised
an eyebrow.

"Are you feeling alright today?" Ms Haruna asked.

"Huh?" Serena said, confused.

"You made it a with a whole ten minutes to spare," Melvin said,
amazed.

"Wait a second... My clock said for sure that I was about
fifteen minutes late!" Serena said and paused before realizing
something, "Oh, I remember! I set my clock ahead!"

"See? I told you it would work!" Melvin said with great
enthusiasm.

Serena blinked. "Hey, you're right! It did!" she replied.
Before Melvin could start going on his usual offers to take her on
a date or some such thing, Molly interrupted.

"Serena, now that you're here, I'd like to introduce you to
Terra," Molly said, indicating the red-head. "She's come all the way
from Ireland to be here!"

"Wow! Cool. Ireland. So when did you get here?" Serena asked
Terra.

"A few days ago," the redheaded girl said happily.

"So, do you know your way around?" Serena asked. Terra
thought about it.

"Well?" Molly asked, waiting for an answer.

Terra slumped a little and frowned. "Not really," she said
dejectedly, looking on the verge of crying for some reason.

"Hey, it's okay," Serena said, trying to comfort the
suddenly sad girl, "we can show you around, right, Molly?"

"Right!" Molly said.

Terra instantly brightened at this. "Great!"

"I can help too. I can show you around the museums, and
maybe I could even show you around the research labs, not to
mention the-" Melvin said before being cut off by Serena and
Molly.

"Quiet, Melvin!"

The bell rang, signaling the beginning of class.

---

<So far, so good. She's made a couple of friends, and seems
to be adapting well... A tad weak in the mental and emotional
department, though,> Atomic Starlight Knight thought.

<Quiet, you!>

<Yes, or that.>

<Yeah, me too!>

<Alright, we'll blow something up, then have tea and
biscuits.>

<Oh, not biscuits.>

<Alright, not biscuits but let's->

*BAMBAMBAM!* "Shut up, shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!!!" A.S.K.
yelled, pounding on his head.

---

Being invisible does not shield your vocal output. That's
what soundproofing is for. Unfortunately, A.S.K. had not studied
that particular area of academia yet. That went a long way towards
explaining why everyone who was sleeping through class was
suddenly not. Everyone that was not sleeping just looked around
quizzically.

"Alright, who did that?!" Ms. Haruna asked, annoyed,
and turned toward the class. There were no responses. "Let's
continue, then." She went on to discuss the next lesson.

---

Serena and Molly were finished with school and were showing
Terra around. After having confirmed that they didn't need to be
home anytime soon, they showed her the arcade, the mall, a couple
other places, and finally Molly's mom's jewelry store.

During these activities, Terra had kept mostly quiet, but
when she spoke, it was stating the blatantly obvious in such a way
as to sound extremely deep, and that was the only thing which kept
A.S.K. from activating the link along the way.

"Oh, it must be a popular place," Terra said vacuously,
noting the many people clustered inside.

"Not really... but wait, something's happening," Molly
said, leading them inside. "Hey, mom, what's going on?"

Molly's mother jumped slightly in shock, then slowly turned
to face her daughter. "I'm... having a diamond sale!" she said with
a marginally malevolent smile.

---

A.S.K. was still following Terra as she went into the store.
He instantly perked up at something he sensed.

<Hello, is that EVIL I smell?> he thought as the prospect
of blowing something up would soon become an option. He shook the
feeling off as his jaw dropped when he saw Terra purchase a diamond.

<No, wai-> The thought was cut off as the link was finally
established. It was disappointing, really. Instead of a full-on
memory restoration, what he got was a few links to some various
portions of her mind.

<Aww, now look what'cha gone and did.... It's not even a
perfect link!>

<Uh, hey, what are you planning?> a still small voice that
A.S.K. never listened to anymore asked.

<What's that supposed to mean?> The small persona asked, then
gasped. <You can't be serious... WHAT ABOUT A NORMAL LIFE?! YOU'LL
RUIN HER HAPPINESS!>

<It's MY life, got it?!>

Pointedly pulling down his right lower eyelid, blowing a long,
loud rasberry at that voice, and shouting "BII-DAH!!!" at the top of
his lungs, the tall, green-armored knight set the link to MEGA-ULTRA
SUPER-PULSE MIGRAINE-SHOCKWAVE for fastest results.

---

"Thank you, Mrs-" Terra broke off, just as someone shouted
something very loud behind her. Before she could pick up the diamond
she had acquired, she got a major jolt to the brain as her I.Q.
suddenly shot up against its will. "ACK! MIGRAINE! Migraine! BAD
migraine! Ow... ow... ow..." She went down to her knees, holding
her head and wincing.

"Are you okay, Terra?" Serena asked, rather worried at her
new friend's behavior.

Terra looked up at the pigtailed blonde and smiled pleasantly.
"Oh, perfectly alright, except for the fact that my... {BZZT!}" Her
smile turned into an intense grimace as another mental shockwave hit
her. "BRAIN feels like it's about to {BZZT!} EXPLODE!" She paused
as there was a momentary break in the pain. "But... I really think
that I need to get home." She slowly stood up and brushed the dust
from the floor off her skirt.

"Can you make it home by yourself?" Molly asked.

"Well, maybe..." Terra said thoughtfully, and then held her
head in agony as the shocks resumed. "AAH! I don't think so!"

"I'll take you home!" Serena said quickly.

"Thanks," Terra said with a smile. Serena took the wincing
girl by the arm and led her out the door.

"Wait! You forgot your-" the shop owner urgently began to say
before Molly interrupted her.

"So, mom, what's with the sale?" the young girl asked, casually
glancing around at the few new people behind the counter, "And who's
the hired help? And why are there so many of them?"

---

A.S.K. was feeling a tad better. He was improving his own
intelligence. Now if he could only get himself... herself...
THEMSELVES to go and blow something up. Perhaps if they had
similar interests, he might be able to rejoin.

Now, after a great deal of inner conquest, he had devised a
plan for doing this: Training; lots and lots of heavy-duty martial
arts madness. If he somehow managed to get her to go into that, and
enjoy it to the right degree, then he would be even less necessary
than now, and would have a much greater chance at being able to
reintegrate.

But... In order to survive this rigorous training, Terra would
need a little... or a LOT more in the way of basic offensive and
defensive capabilities. There was a way for relatively fast, easy,
and reliable results... and for this purpose, he had awakened an old
friend; a true specialist in this area, from a small sleeping
capsule.

Come to think of it, two others appeared to have been opened
recently... One within the past few years, and another within the
past few days. But that's a discussion for a later date. First,
he'd have to adapt Terra to combat.

<I'm not going to turn me into some sort of mean, lean,
fighting machine, am I?>

<That's the plan.>

<Well, time's a-wastin'.>

<*Sniff* What are you _doing_ to her?! She deserves a
normal life; one away from fighting, away from->

*WHAM!*

"You know what to do, right?" Atomic Starlight Knight asked
the odd-looking moon-something, brushing off the annoying little
voice that kept trying to bug him.

"Roight," the creature said in an odd accent before fluttering
off, humming an innocent tune.

---

Terra thanked Serena and said goodbye once she got home. She
went directly to her room, jumping directly on her bed and
wrapping her pillow around her face, completely forgetting about
Tylenol and all other pain-relief medicines... which is really too
bad, because it actually would have helped her a great deal in this
instance.

"Mufflt UI WeuF of mffduff!!" she screamed into the pillow.

And then, suddenly, as if by magic, the throbbing stopped.
Terra stopped, put down her pillow, blinked, smiled, took a deep
breath, and then relaxed onto her bed.

Her first impulse was to try to take a nap to recover from
the experience, but dutifully remembering her homework, she sat up
and pulled it out.

She had the entire eight hours worth done in one. It wasn't
due until next Friday, and it was a Tuesday, but she just felt the
need to finish something.

"Aah. That's better." She was just getting relaxed again when a
small seal, about eleven inches in length, fluttered inside, using
its tail in much the same way as a hummingbird uses its wings. The
color scheme on the seal had green dominating on its back... It
kind of looked like camouflage, but only if you were in a snowy,
lush, green area. It had soft white fur where it wasn't green. It
also had a golden crescent mark on its forehead.

"'Ello. 'Ow are you?" the creature asked in a strange
European-Irish-Scottish-English sort of accent.

Terra blinked, then shrugged and responded. "Oh, just foin,
just foin now," she said, doing a perfect imitation of the creature's
accent.

The green and white creature looked impressed. "Not bad."

"Um, thanks."

"So, ya doin' foin, roight?"

Terra thought about it. "Well, I just got over a really
nasty headache, but I'm fine now... Except for the fact that now,
I seem to be hallucinating," she said sweetly. While her intelligence
and emotional strength had been improved, she was still as happy as
ever.

"Oh, a mushroom farma' too, eh?" the seal asked.

Terra raised an eyebrow. "No, I was actually referring to you."

"I'm not an 'allucination!" the odd... thing said indignantly.

"What are you, then?"

"I'm an ArbyFish!" it said, fluttering in the air for effect.

Terra frowned, processed this information, then returned to
her usual happy self. "An ArbyFish? How nice... What brings you
here?"

"Your 'elp. You see, there's evil. Evil's bad for me
mushrooms, ya see, so I gotta squish it. So, want ta 'elp?"

<What a nice little ArbyFish... or whatever it is,> Terra
thought, continuing to smile. "Of course I'll help you!"

Arby smiled back at her. "Roight. Now, use this." He made a
series of flying barrel-rolls, after which a pendant of some sort
dropped into Terra's hands.

Not knowing what else to do, she wore it. "What would you like
me to do now?" the redhead asked, again very nicely.

"Hmm?" Arby asked, looking up from his examination of the
pattern of the quilt on Terra's bed.

"Was there something you needed me to do?"

The small, green-patterned seal blinked. "Loike wot?"

Terra giggled at the creature. "Well, you did mention something
about evil and mushrooms..."

The ArbyFish smiled at that last part. "Ooooh. _That_. Wot I
think ya need ta do is... Well, I think ya need ta... I dunno." He
shrugged. "Oh, just say, 'Earth Power!' n' follow me."

"Okay," Terra replied, picking up a pencil and writing a
quick note to her parents.

"Come along, then," Arby pressed.

"Earth Power," Terra whispered sweetly.

And the transformation sequence began... Just as Terra's
mother walked in.

"Oh my," Kasumi Incognito said, raising a hand to her cheek in
shock.

The sequence continued. Sunlight gathered around Terra. A white
leotard with pink bows remained as the sunlight finished. A swirl of
autumn leaves came, forming the white, pink-rimmed gloves and pink
boots, then more leaves appeared, forming a pink mini-skirt. More
pink bows formed on the back. A glowing circle flashed on Terra's
forehead, sprouting a golden tiara with a heart-shaped pink jewel in
the center. Finally, she gave a smile, and the transformation
sequence was complete.

Waving to her mom, Terra left, following Arby.

"See you later!" the sailor-suited girl called back happily.

Kasumi almost frowned and picked up the note, which read,

"Mom, gone off to fight evil. Be back in a little while.
-Terra

P.S. Don't worry, okay?"

"Oh... oh my!" Kasumi said in surprise. She looked out the
window, watching her daughter rush off, and paused to consider the
implications of what had just occurred. Then, after a few moments,
she merely shrugged and smiled. "Well... As long as her homework is
finished..."

She went back to her work, humming a cheery tune. "I hope
that fuku is warm enough for her. It gets a bit chilly at night."

---

At the same time, Serena was receiving visitation by a
certain black cat...

"Wow, is this for me?" Serena asked, indicating the pendant.

"Yes," Luna replied.

Serena wasted no time in putting it on the bow of her school
uniform. "It's so pretty!"

"It's not just a piece of jewelry," Luna noted.

"What is it?" the blonde girl asked.

"It is something that will enable you to become Sailor Moon!"

"What's Sailor Moon?" Serena asked quizzically.

Luna sighed. "Just say, 'Moon Prism Power.'"

"Okay. MOON PRISM POWER!!"

What will henceforth and forever be known as a Standard Sailor
Moon Transformation Sequence(TM) occurred. Sailor Moon looked at
herself in a mirror. "Whoa! What's going on here?!"

"You are now the Sailor Scout of the Moon."

"Huh?"

Luna gave a summary of what she was supposed to do: fight evil,
find the other Sailor Scouts, find and protect the Moon Princess,
etc. A few seconds after that was finished, the jewel in Sailor
Moon's right "meatball" flashed.

{Help me!} an ethereal voice called.

"Hey," Sailor Moon said, "that sounds like Molly."

Luna gasped. "Your friend is in danger!" she exclaimed. "We
have to leave and help her. Now!"

"Uh, right!"

They left immediately for the jewelry store.

***

Jadeite held the glowing ball of accumulating energy...

***

Meanwhile, Molly was feeling extremely uneasy. Everyone who
had bought a diamond from the sale had collapsed.

"Mom, what's going on?!" Molly asked. She was shocked when
what once appeared to be her mother slowly changed into Morga, one
of Jadeite's youma. [for the sake of simplicity, let's just call
them "youma"]

"It's all very simple. I'm an evil vampire from the
Negaverse. I drain energy. I drained the energy of those you see
around you. And... YOU'RE NEXT, LITTLE GIRL!!" Morga said, taking
glee in Molly's horror, diving at her.

Molly dove out of the way. "Help!" she called out to the
'hired help,' who merely stood there and smiled. She tried to back
off, but was caught by the youma, who began draining her...

Then Sailor Earth stepped in.

"What am I supposed to do?" Sailor Earth whispered to Arby,
who was sitting on her shoulder.

"Hmm... Make a speech and stop 'em from drainin'," the seal
replied indifferently as he concentrated on balancing a mushroom
on his left fin. "Ya know... tell 'em why ya gonna blast 'em. Stuff
loike that."

"Well, alright," Earth whispered back, took a deep breath, and
then said in a commanding voice, "I am Sailor Earth, and you have
taken the life energy of many people. Diamonds are for use in jewelry
and drills, not for draining! On the behalf of the people of Earth,
you must be stopped!" She instantly felt a twinge of guilt for being
so pushy.

Morga stared, absently releasing Molly, who scrambled away.

"Ins-pa-rational!" Arby said with great enthusiasm.

Sailor Moon entered right then. "And, I am Sailor Moon!
Champion of justice. I... right wrongs and triumph over evil, and
that means you!"

Luna sighed at the speech, then perked up at the sight of
another Sailor Senshi. "Who is she?" she asked under her breath.
[I know. N.A. continuity... but I like Senshi better.]

"Get them!" Morga called out to her henchmen, previously the
several 'hired helpers.' They morphed into various creature/human
monstrosities.

The drained customers stood up, going after Sailor Earth,
followed by one of Morga's henchmen, chasing Sailor Earth out the
door.

Everyone who remained began attacking Sailor Moon.

"WAAAAAAHHHH!" Sailor Moon cried as she dodged a volley of
varied energy blasts, thorns, and other painful attacks.

"Sailor Moon! Take your tiara and throw it at them while
saying, 'Moon Tiara Magic!'" Luna cried out. Sailor Moon was too
occupied to do anything but dodge and panic.

"I don't like this game anymore!" Sailor Moon whined.

A whirling energy blast came from behind her, creating a
focused fireball upon impacting two of the youma, vaporizing them.
Everyone looked around.

"Oh, come on! You can take these things!" a voice called
out. Sailor Moon felt her confidence rising at this.

"NUCLEAR BOOT TO THE HEAD!!!" the voice yelled. A shadow
launched itself from behind Sailor Moon, its foot slamming into
the head of the youma closest to her, knocking it out cold. The
shadow rebounded from the kick, doing a quick spinning flip to
land beside Sailor Moon.

The shadow was revealed to be a tall man with short black hair,
wearing green armor with a sheathed sword and had a golden circlet
around his head. The circlet had a blue jewel at the forehead.

He smiled at her.

Sailor Moon sighed and went into her 'heart eyes' mode.

"Greetings. I'm the Starlight Knight. May I ask who you are?"
the man asked.

"Ser, er.. Sailor Moon," Sailor Moon said, transfixed by his
blue eyes. <On second thought, maybe this isn't that bad after all,>
she thought. The Starlight Knight quickly shook her hand.

"Wonderful to meet you, Sailor Moon," he said before a growl
attracted their attention again. "Shall we continue?" Sailor Moon
shook herself out of her daze and nodded, smiling.

The Starlight Knight unsheathed his sword and, giving a nod to
Sailor Moon, began combat with a heavily armored lobster-like youma.

"Sailor Moon!" Luna called out.

"What is it, Luna?" Sailor Moon replied. Luna then repeated
the instructions on the 'Moon Tiara Magic.'

"Moon Tiara Magic!" Sailor Moon called out, throwing the
glowing tiara. It flew into a youma, dusting it. "I got one!"

"Good work, but keep an eye out behind you!" Starlight
Knight said, hurling his sword past Sailor Moon...

And directly into a youma that was sneaking its way behind
her, disintegrating it.

Sailor Moon's tiara came back to her, and she caught it.

Starlight Knight, now lacking a weapon capable of fending
off the pincers from the youma, was dodging, but also seemed
to be enjoying the entire experience immensely.

"Moon Tiara Magic!"

The second throw obliterated the lobster... AND another youma
behind it. Starlight Knight felt the energy used in the tiara as
it passed by.

<Yikes! That girl's packing some power!> Starlight Knight
thought before considering something else, <Can I duplicate that
energy?> he asked himself. His mind responded affirmative. He
turned his head, smiled and nodded to Sailor Moon, who smiled in
return. He sensed something coming at him.

"Atomic Sucker Punch!" Starlight Knight yelled, and drove a
glowing, energy-enhanced fist directly into the face of an oncoming
youma, driving it back a few meters. He'd have gone for his sword,
but that was too far back, and behind Sailor Moon, so that wasn't
an option. He went for trying to duplicate Sailor Moon's attack.

He took off his circlet.

The green-armored knight held it, charging it with energy.

"Stellar Circlet Disintegration!" he called out, finding a
nifty new name for the attack he just mastered.

Then, he threw it.

Direct hit! The circlet tore through the youma he had been
fighting and disintegrated it. There were now only two youma left:
Morga, and a biker-type-guy with knives for arms. Starlight Knight
caught his circlet and put it back on. He found himself once more
beside Sailor Moon. He picked up his sword.

"I'll take the biker, you take the 'goldfish,'" he whispered
to Sailor Moon.

"Okay..." the blonde girl replied.

~Meanwhile~

"What would you like me to do now?" Sailor Earth asked Arby
happily, expertly dodging the youma's energy blasts in front of
the jewelry store while keeping the mind-controlled people from
getting hurt in the process.

"Oh, first, ya might loike ta stop the people from being
mind-controlled," Arby replied. "Ya know. Moight be a good idea.
Think a' somthn'."

"Alright," Sailor Earth replied, not knowing how, but somehow
analyzing the power that the transformation had given her before
deciding on a course of action.

"Earth Sunlight Happiness Purification!" she said, gathering
energy, then releasing it, causing the area to light up in a pure,
white glow. The youma cringed while the people sighed contentedly
and collapsed. (After the fight was over, they woke up feeling
like a million dollars. [I love you man!])

"Oh my!" Sailor Earth said in surprise, noting the effect.

"You'll pay for that!" the youma said, recovering from the
'attack,' if you could call it that.

"Good work. Now, watch out for the monsta'," Arby advised.
As soon as he did, Sailor Earth dodged another energy blast, only
to be caught by the youma. The beginnings of anxiety began to creep
up in her psyche. She kept smiling, of course. Maybe the big,
scary monster just needed a hug...

There was a red flash as a rose flew in and imbedded itself
in the asphalt between Sailor Earth and the youma. It released her
and backed off a bit.

A man in a black tuxedo came out of the shadows. He wore a top
hat and a white mask that covered his eyes. He also had an ornamental
cane to go with the ensemble.

"I am Tuxedo Mask. Believe in yourself, Sailor... Moon?"
Tuxedo Mask said, looking a tad quizzically at Sailor Earth.

The redhead shook her head. "Earth," she corrected.

The man shrugged. "Yes, so if you only believe in yourself,
you can do anything!"

"True enough," Sailor Earth said, smiling at Tuxedo Mask.

"So take out the monsta', then," Arby suggested. "Come along.
Can't be 'ere all noight. Got mushrooms ta tend to, ya know."

The monster in question was now advancing toward them.
Sailor Earth took action, an unknown reflex taking effect.

"Earth Thunderstorm!!!" she shouted. A cloud gathered in the
area. A wind blew into the youma. Multiple lightning strikes hit,
doing a nice job of electrocuting it. It crumbled into dust. Sailor
Earth gasped and held a hand to her cheek as she saw what happened.
"Oh my!"

"Good work, Sailor Earth!" Tuxedo Mask said, then left
mysteriously.

Sailor Earth looked over to the smoldering remains of the
youma, which quickly vanished. Arby fluttered over to sit on her
shoulder. "Not bad."

"Um... Arby? I just... What did I just do?"

The ArbyFish shrugged. "Ya blew 'em up. Don't worry 'bout it.
Probably woulda' eat'n sumbody 'er somethin'... Simply wouldn't
'a been propa', ya know."

The redhead blinked. "Oh. Okay." She looked at where she last
saw the tuxedoed man go. <What a nice man...> she thought, her mood
brightening.

~Back Inside~

Sailor Moon prepared to throw her tiara again. Starlight
Knight was preparing to pull out another weapon in his arsenal.

"Moon Tiara Magic!"

"Magical Ginzu Sword!" Starlight Knight called out, making a
second sword appear in his left hand. He held them together,
gathering a charge, then slashed the swords in the air, releasing
the charge at the knife-biker youma. It braced itself for
destruction.

Sailor Moon's tiara vaporized Morga.

Starlight Knight's attack merely impacted in the center of
the youma.

The youma, feeling that it wasn't destroyed, felt itself and
began to laugh at the knight... and then exploded in a brilliant
display of fireworks.

"Excellent work, Sailor Moon!" Starlight Knight said. He
waved goodbye and walked off, vanishing into the shadows.

***

The energy ball Jadeite held vanished. He looked more
annoyed than surprised.

***

Jadeite appeared in front of Sailor Moon. He was annoyed,
yet slightly surprised [Didn't I just say that?] at the defeat
of his plan. His entire task force had been obliterated!

Sailor Moon was surprised because she hadn't adapted fully
to the oddity of someone appearing out of nowhere.

"It's amazing that one such as you could be such an
annoyance. Don't worry, I will not underestimate you next time,"
Jadeite said, then disappeared.

---

<Wait... was that who I think it was?!> Atomic Starlight
Knight thought as he watched the scene. A.S.K. had activated his
invisibility as soon as he went into the shadows then doubled back
to check up on Sailor Moon.

<Alright! The Negaverse... Do you know what this means?!>

<Yeah! I'll get to test out that hardware I've got lying
around! Blow up evil fest! YEAH, BABY!!!>

<That's right... And guess what else I found?>

<What?>

A.S.K. smiled. This just kept getting better and better.

<Right.>

<YESSS!> Atomic Starlight Knight thought triumphantly.
He had always wanted to be able to teleport. Well, as long as he
could remember, right off hand.

He wasted no time in trying it by teleporting to what he
had designated as his home base. Due to its being located deep
within the atmosphere of Jupiter, he hadn't been able to go back
there for... quite some time now.

He hoped that his starship was still there.

---

On her way out, Sailor Moon had freed Molly's mother, and
given a dramatic goodbye before leaping off into the shadows. A
couple of leaps later, she slammed directly into Sailor Earth.

"Ow!" Sailor Moon said, being unceremoniously knocked to
the ground.

"Hmph," Sailor Earth exhaled, having the wind knocked out of
her as she was also pushed down.

They both got up and dusted themselves off, and then gasped
when they finally noticed each other.

"Hello," Sailor Earth said brightly.

"Hi!" Sailor Moon replied in a friendly manner.

"Weren't you back at the jewelry shop just a few minutes
ago?" Sailor Moon asked Sailor Earth.

"Yes! I was outside. I met someone nice... A man in a tuxedo!"

"I was fighting evil inside! The whole place was filled with
monsters! Someone in green armor helped me. We got _all_ of them!"
the blue-skirted warrior for love and justice said, sighing inwardly
at her memory of Starlight Knight. They then talked about more
details of the whole experience.

"So you're really Terra?" Sailor Moon asked, surprised.

"And you're really Serena?" Sailor Earth asked joyously.
They started a conversation about school, video games, etc.

Luna cleared her throat. "Perhaps we could continue this at
a later time," she said. "I need to discuss some things with Serena
now."

Sailor Moon and Sailor Earth looked at each other, then turned
back to the mooncat and nodded in agreement.

"How about you meet me before school?" Sailor Earth asked.

"Okay, I'll see you then!" Sailor Moon replied.

They then went their respective ways.

---

Before the Tuxedo Mask persona was completely submerged, he
had a thought. During the fight, he had felt as if who he had been
helping was not quite the right person... But he shook that off.
Who else would he have defended? At least now, he knew visually
who to look for when something like this happened. He would
remember that.

---

<MAN, what a workout!>

Back at his designated 'home base,' Atomic Starlight Knight
was reviewing what he had seen and was considering his options.
His starship was still there, and the automated systems had even
repaired the structural damage made from his first encounter with
this particular solar system. The repair systems had repainted it
chrome, but he didn't mind. He wasn't thinking about that right
now, anyway, so let's shelve that flashback for a later chapter.
Right now, he was thinking about Terra.

<Second: I know the Senshi are not entirely recognizable
from their normal selves when they're transformed... but I do not
remember Terra having her hair in that particular style.>

<Aw, come on! You've seen transformations do stranger things!>

<Yeah! Now quiet!>

<Okay... But why did Arby make her 'Sailor Moon,' in
particular?>

<Understood. Using the link, can I release some power into
her non-Senshi form?>

<Hmm... YES! I'll get on it!>

<Um, I beg to differ...>

<Indubitably.>

<NO! I say we should go with veritech fighters!>

<No! Weight training!>

<Let's do android combatants! I think Dr. Gero is->

<DON'T SEND IN THE CLOWNS!!!>

*WHAM!*WHAM!!*WHAAAAAAM!!!* "Shut up, shut up, shut up,
SHUT UP, EVERYONE JUST SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!!!"

The Atomic Starlight Knight stopped, having reached a state
of complete and total indecision. He shrugged. "Aw, well... I'll
think of something..."

&&&[End Chapter 1]

[Sailor Sez]

"Today, we learned that the shortest distance between two points is a
straight line."

"Heh. It's also the most painful, and therefore the best!!!"

"So remember: Always use the direct approach! Sailor Nuke sez...
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!"

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