Sailor Moon Married Life Chapter 12 Moon Storm Risen! Part 4: Serena's Vengeance "I'm going to get that bastard," swore Serena, "And when I do, if he's dared to harm one hair on her head, I'll make him wish that he'd never been born," her voice was low and sharp, "Amy-chan, do you have a lock on his location?" Darien grasped Serena's hand tighter. He knew what Serena was capable of doing in defense of her children. She would absorb threats to her own person without complaint, but threatening those that she loved was, to her, far, far worse. "Yes, Sailor Moon." "Good. I'm taking Mina, Darien, and Lita, we're going to hunt down that bastard and kill him." "We're coming with you," said Pluto. Sailor Mars limped up to the other Senshi. "Sailor Moon, I'm coming too." Sailor Moon instinctively threaded her arm around Mars' back to support her injured friend. "Rei, you shouldn't have come - you're hurt and we're going to have enough trouble as it is defeating Roxix." "Serena, I'm one of your royal guard, and one of the Sailor Senshi, and if you don't let me come along, than so help me I'll never forgive you." Sailor Jupiter took over carrying Sailor Mars for Serena, and the smaller girl grinned and impulsively hugged Rei. Heather tugged on Serena's wing. "Yeah?" "Serena, why don't I just heal Rei's leg?" Serena and Rei looked at one another, then Darien, then Lita, then the four of them blinked, simultaneously smacked their foreheads and groaned. Heather healed her friend's leg and then Rei disintegrated the cast. "Good as new," she crowed, absolutely delighted. In the Negaverse's Dark Kingdom Castle, Prince Roxix prepared to infect Serena's infant daughter with the dark energy of the Negaverse. The child began to scream as she felt the dark lord's evil start to encroach on her. What perfect irony, he thought, using the child of the Moon Queen to ensure her downfall. Suddenly, an image appeared on the baby's forehead and Roxix laughed loud and long. The symbol of Earth - even better irony than he thought: the child would eventually become Sailor Earth! That idiot Agate hadn't even been able to lay a curse correctly! * * * (Forty-five years before the end of the Silver Millennium) General Agate was commanding a small troop of youma just south of the city of Serenity - why was that name so damned common on the Moon, anyway? She was running a simple recon operation. A youma ran to her and snapped to a hasty approximation of attention. "Ma'am, the Sailor Senshi have discovered us and are on their way in!" "Damn! Ready the defenses!" The first attack line, she knew, would be the Senshi's three finest fighters: Sailors Earth, Moon, and Mars. Following them would be the next three, the ones who fought with body as well as powers - Jupiter, Venus, Uranus, and Neptune, followed by the ones who fought primarily with their minds: Mercury, Saturn and Pluto. "Earth Cyclonic Winds, Crush!" Sailor Earth, a young woman with piercing blue eyes, long, windswept black hair and a green-and-gold fuku, unleashed her attack, one of the most powerful available to the Senshi. "Rainbow Moon Heart Ache!" Sailor Moon's amazingly long silver-violet pigtails flowed away from her in some supernatural wind as she aimed her Heart Moon Scepter at the troops. On any other woman, the hairstyle would have looked slightly ridiculous. On Queen Serenity, it was a regal sight. "BURNING MANDALA!" Sailor Mars' short black hair nearly stood on its ends as she created her awesome attack. The Rainbow Moon attack destroyed one youma, the Earth and Mars attacks combined, the winds of Earth fanning the flames of Mars to an even greater heat and power, transforming Sailor Mars' attack into a magical firebomb of incredible power. Agate watched incredulously as the flaming rings smashed into her ranks and killed seven of her best soldiers. Three remained of her troop of eleven youma - it was time for retreat. Sailor Earth repeated her attack, and the cyclone-blast hit Agate full-force. Only by sheer force of a General's greater stamina did she survive. "Sailor Earth, I curse you to never bear a daughter to carry on in your tradition!" With that, she disappeared. Sailor Earth stopped in shock. Part of the power of the royal families of Humanity came in the fact that they were the keepers and guardians of their worlds' Star Seeds, magical crystals which bore the power of the ancient stars. In shock, she transformed back into her normal form, Earth Queen Sibyl. Sailor Moon reverted to Queen Serenity and took Sibyl's arm. "Sibyl, I'm so sorry. I should have had that General before she had the chance to utter a word. "Don't be silly, Serenity," added Sailor Mars, Queen Nami. "There was nothing you or Sibyl could possibly have done to prevent that. Besides, she only said that Sibyl will never bear a daughter, right?" "But Nami, a man can't possibly be a Senshi. . . right?" Queen Nami of Mars, the foremost mystic in the solar system, merely smiled enigmatically at her longtime friend. * * * An evil smile crossed Roxix's face. Queen Metallia spoke to him in his mind. "So wonderful, My Prince, to have a Sailor Senshi of our very own. Make her one of us." It was then that the Sailor Senshi decided to make their appearance. Sailor Pluto grabbed Irene from Prince Roxix and bashed the Dark Prince over the head with the Time Key for good measure, then Sailor Mars hit him with a Flame Sniper. "That's for your General breaking my leg, NegaJerk!" shouted Rei. Sailor Moon growled to Roxix, "Now it ends. You have threatened my family and friends, and abducted my daughter, and for that, I will NOT forgive you. You are DEAD. In the name of Earth, the Moon and all the universe, and of love and justice, I will punish you." Royal Sailor Moon became Neo-Queen Serenity and prepared to do battle with her monstrous foe. Like his mother before him, Roxix had managed to become one with Queen Metallia, becoming massively more dangerous. Like his mother, he would eventually be subsumed by Queen Metallia, but until then his powers would be magnified a hundred-fold, until they could combat directly the powers of Sailor Moon. "I thought you were rotting in Hades, Metallia," said Serenity, contemptuously, "Their standards must have gotten too high for you to stay there. Did they come up with a dress code?" "I escaped from that dreary dimension with the help of the dear Prince Roxix, and I will now defeat you and establish my rule in your pathetic world. I will plunge it into a millennium of darkness from which it will never recover." "No, Metallia - the two of us have dueled before and we both know which of us must inevitably be the victor. We will finish this, now." Roxix's voice was hideous, a mixture of his own voice, Metallia's and Beryl's, as he said, "My dear, you took the words directly from my own mouth." The opening phase of their fight was swift and savage, with both combatants displaying a preternatural ability for swordsmanship. Serenity locked blades with Roxix/Metallia and lashed out with her foot, catching the evil being in the groin. Her contact was far less solid than it should have been, though, as Roxix's body began to warp into an appropriate vessel for the evil queen. His darkly handsome visage was quickly becoming like Beryl's had been when Serena had last seen the dark queen. . . as Metallia wiped out all remaining vestiges of Roxix. Gathering her bravado, Serenity managed to sneer, "Your fashion sense is as poor as it always was, Metallia." "My dark servant. . . Such a useful tool, but one which has now outlived its usefulness, and like any such tool, I have discarded it. I now have my own body again, Serenity. It was I who allowed Beryl to be destroyed, because I knew that I would survive the loss and grow stronger. You cannot defeat me, ever." Neo-Queen Serenity was thrust back by the Evil Queen, and Metallia was about to attack her when a rose flew from nowhere and detonated directly between them. Darien grinned at his love and gave her a thumbs-up gesture. Suddenly, the Light Queen's angrily distorted face became smooth, placid, as Metallia recoiled. In a carrying voice, she commanded, "Now, my friends! Help me to defeat this evil!" "Mercury Eternal Power!" "Venus Eternal Power!" "Selene Crystal Power!" "Moon Crystal Power!" "Mars Eternal Power!" "Jupiter Eternal Power!" "Saturn Crystal Power!" "Uranus Crystal Power!" "Neptune Crystal Power!" "Pluto Crystal Power!" Metallia slammed into the energy of all the planets and the future Moon, then she heard Neo-Queen Serenity shout, "Cosmic Moon Powers, Unite!" The energy streams merged into the Silver Imperium Crystal and it glowed bright violet. Serenity's voice assumed a `still waters run deep' tone as she said, "Eternal Universe Powers, help me to defeat this monster." She was wrapped in energy and became Royal Sailor Moon again, but a Royal Sailor Moon that was glowing with excess energy. Metallia was blown clear across the chamber, and barely managed to avoid being flung all the way into the far wall of the room, as Zoisite had six years earlier. Another person materialized next to Royal Sailor Moon: The Golden Senshi, Sailor Galaxia. The defender of the Galaxy. The last time Serena had seen Galaxia, the Golden Senshi had left Earth to rebuild the galaxy she had destroyed. "Sailor Moon?" "Yes, Sailor Galaxia?" "Allow me to help you to defeat Queen Metallia." "Your help is appreciated, Sailor Galaxia." The two turned once more to face Queen Metallia, who had grown to obscene proportions. She was now fully transformed from the Dark Prince into a thirty-foot-tall woman. "Well, at least we know she doesn't have any problems with her ego," quipped Galaxia. "We'd better kill her quickly, Galaxia, I'm having a hard time holding all this energy in." Sailor Moon's body was beginning to attenuate with all the energy it had absorbed. "Give me some of that energy, Sailor Moon, and you'll have less of a hard time maintaining a solid state." She obliged her new ally, and her body stabilized. "NOW," shouted Galaxia, "Hit her with everything you've got! Cosmic Galaxy Power!" "Cosmic Moon Power!" The two Senshi chorused, "Ultimate Galaxy Powers, DESTROY!!!" Metallia took the blast full-on. Her facial features melted away, unto the last vestiges of humanity (or whatever passed for it, in Metallia's case). Her clothes burned away, body blackened and distorted into a parody of a woman. But at the end, she was still standing. "No," cried Sailor Moon, "We hit her with everything we had and she's still standing!" "No," said Tuxedo Mask, coming to the side of his wife, "there's one more thing we haven't tried yet." The most powerful warrior in the galaxy watched as the Queen of the known universe and her husband kissed tenderly, then parted once more. As they did, Sailor Moon saw him draw from a coat pocket what looked like a golden counterpart to her Silver Crystal. "Remember this?" Sailor Moon caught the devious, knowing look in his eyes nodded fiercely. The two held up their gems in their outside hands, their inside hands lovingly holding one another. "Cosmic Earth Power!" "Cosmic Moon Power!" "We call on the powers of justice and love to defeat this monster. Demon spirit we know thee well, so heed our words. . ." "Go back to Cleveland," quipped Sailor Moon. Without a further word, the power of their eternal love, which had countless times before proven stronger than death, traced a glowing path from their hearts to their joined hands and blazed through Metallia. The Evil Queen's voice sounded like a choir of demons sustaining a group of minor chords as the bright, wonderful energy coursed through her, causing her to vaporize like all hateful spirits once exposed to love. Possibly for the first time ever, a rainbow glowed in the sky over NegaEarth. This was not, after all, the beginning of the end. It was the end of the beginning. "Now, let's go home," said Serena. As soon as the thirteen Senshi and Tuxedo Mask re-entered the Chiba home, with little Irene held securely and stirring lightly in Pluto's arms, they wandered to various horizontal surfaces, powered down and immediately were unconscious where they lay, the Inners laying claim to the sofas and the two recliners, and Reenie simply scooting over in her large bed to allow Sailor Saturn to put out her sleeping bag there and have a soft place to sleep. Sailor Uranus lay down on her back on the floor and became Alex, eyes sagging shut. Sailor Neptune took a light blanket from Sailor Moon and draped it over Alex, then took one, lay down with her head pillowed on her lover's chest, spread the blanket over herself and powered down, immediately falling asleep herself, but almost as quickly, Michelle rolled until she was curled directly against Alex's body, somehow spinning her blanket into a nearly-perfect cocoon about herself. Sailor Moon took her daughter from Sailor Pluto, who gratefully sank to the floor with a pillow and blanket where she stood and powered down. Even the ten-thousand-year-old Senshi was no match for the massive fatigue that had overcome her. Sailor Moon put her daughter to bed and then climbed into bed herself next to Darien, who like the others had fallen asleep the moment he had powered down. Even as Sailor Moon, she felt exhaustion wash over her like a tide, and she was barely conscious long enough to pull the covers up over her body and power down. Finally, after everybody else was asleep, Sailor Galaxia finally allowed herself to transform into her own unpowered form and much to her surprise, her legs collapsed under her weight. She thought, *It can't possibly do too much harm to take a short nap before I leave Earth again. . . Yeah, that's the ticket. . . Carpet feels nice, anyway. . . She didn't notice that she had been standing right next to where Alex and Michelle were lying. During the night, a gentle rain fell in Tokyo. As the droplets fell on the windowpanes of the Chiba home, Serena's arms gently encircled Darien's waist and she molded her small body against his back. Alex found her blanket stolen by her impromptu bunkmate, only to find another wrapped about her lover. In her sleep, she pulled Michelle closer to her, the two pillowing their heads on one another's arms. Lita dreamt that she held Ken, her eternal love, in her arms as she had done just two days ago, a lifetime's separation after the events of the past day, and Mina's dreams were full of happy images of her and Kevin. As Tokyo slept, so did the universe's greatest protectors. Galaxia was utterly surprised when she awoke at 8:30 the next morning, curled up next to Alex and Michelle. She smelled food, but that was unimportant - she was right next to the two Sailor Senshi who were least likely to forgive her mistakes. "Now what are you doing here, 'Galaxia-sama?'" Alex's tone carried more than a hint of menace. Galaxia looked about for her transformation pen in case she needed to transform and defend herself. The last thing she wanted to do was have to fight these two powerful Senshi when she was powered-down. Michelle thought, *Let's see, what would be the best way to keep Alex from killing Galaxia,* laughed, and said, "Well, love, looks like Galaxia was just reacting to the fact that you're too hot for words." Galaxia and Alex shared an Utterly Shocked Look as the others sniggered at the comment. Even Serena, coming out of the kitchen with about three feet of wet hair trailing from the huge bath towel on her head and an enticingly aromatic pot of coffee in one hand and a HUGE bottle of pancake syrup in the other, laughed. Darien trailed behind her carrying a large serving platter stacked with food and wearing an apron that read, "Hail to the Chef," and Reenie and Heather brought up the end of this train, carrying plates and utensils. Serena called out, "Breakfast is in five minutes," triggering a mad rush on the bathroom. Galaxia asked, "Serena, we're about the same size, would it bother you terribly if I borrowed some clothes?" "Not a bit, Galaxia." When Alex finally got out of the bathroom, she saw Galaxia walk out of the master bedroom wearing a loose-fitting pair of blue jeans and a T-shirt that bore the likeness of Super Sailor Moon, with her strawberry-blonde hair tumbling loose to the middle of her back. Heather and Reenie were wearing nightgown-sized T-shirts that had identical images of Bugs Bunny on them. Over waffles and bacon, Galaxia asked Darien, "What was that Golden Crystal, anyway?" "Oh, this? Just a piece of yellow iron pyrite I found in the US that bore a serious resemblance to the Silver Crystal. I put it in my tuxedo's coat pocket and forgot about it until yesterday. Americans call it `fool's gold.' It sure fooled Metallia - The real Golden Crystal's out there somewhere, but she didn't know I didn't have it, and she was prepared for a Crystal attack, not an attack using the one power we hadn't hit her with yet." "Galaxia," said Serena, "You'll be welcome back here any time you need to come back. I wouldn't have beaten Metallia if you hadn't been here." "Why?" "Because we wouldn't have figured out that it was a problem with the cosmic moon power attack, which she was ready for, otherwise. The only reason why Darien figured it out was the fact that the Solar cosmic powers and the Galactic cosmic powers had almost identical energies, because they drew power from our Star Seeds." "So if you used a power which focused through the Star Seed, but didn't use its power directly. . ." Galaxia shook her head admiringly at Serena and Darien. "That was one hell of an idea." "What happened to Chibi-Chibi?" "I wish I could say that she's still alive, but she was only the physical manifestation of my Star Seed. When it merged again with me, which was necessary else, I would die, the same as any other Senshi without her Star Seed, she disappeared. But she's still alive, within my heart, and who knows, someday she may live again, as my daughter and heir to the powers of Sailor Galaxia. If and when that does happen, I'll come back here and make sure that the next Soldier of the Galaxy gets taught by the best." The husbands of the Inners began arriving: first Chad and Ken, then Greg. Rei grabbed Chad and kissed him passionately as Ken and Lita somehow managed to defy all known laws of physics and sit more or less side-by-side in the same chair! Greg kissed Amy's blue hair and held her like he had the other night: as if she would crumble to dust the moment he let go. "I was afraid that you wouldn't come back, darling." "We almost didn't. Serena saved us all, again," replied Amy. Hours passed quickly as the women and men talked. Noon came and went and Galaxia began to talk of leaving, only to be drawn back into the circle of the other Senshi by a laughing Alex. Food was ordered and the group sat around for another meal, stuffing themselves with pizza, breadsticks, and wings. Finally, sometime after dinner, she finally got her foot out the door. "I have to thank you all for your hospitality, but I must be going. For what it's worth, I'm glad that I have friends like you and the Senshi, Serena." "Any time, Galaxia." The Soldier of the Galaxy vanished in a ball of golden light. Ending Theme: "The Power of Love," sung by Jennifer Cihi >From "Sailor Moon and the Scouts: Lunarock" "There comes a time When you face the toughest of fights, Searching for a sign, Lost in the darkest of nights. The wind blows so cold, Standing alone, before the battle's begun. But deep in your soul, the future unfolds, As bright as the rays of the sun! You've got to believe In the power of love. You've got to believe In the power of love! The power of love! Blazing emotion Is a light that glows from your heart. It's a chain reaction, And nothing will keep us apart, Stand by my side, There's nothing to hide, Together we'll fight to the end. Take hold of my hand, And you'll understand, What it truly means to be friends! You've got to believe, (You've got to believe) In the power of love! You've got to believe, (You've got to believe) In the power of love! It gives meaning to each moment, It's what our hearts are all made of! You've got to believe, (You've got to believe) In the power of love. (Power of love) The power of love (The power of love) You've got to believe (You've got to believe) In the power of love! You've got to believe (You've got to believe) In the power of love! It gives meaning to each moment, It's what our hearts are all made of, (just look inside) You've got to believe (You've got to believe) In the power of love, In the power of love, In the power of love. Author's Notes (the long form): ------------------------------- Wow! What a long, wild, weird and strange trip this fanfic has been! There have been times I've thought I'd never get it done. And after the struggle with Chapter 10, and then the problems with the power outage, my disk drive, and other, more personal problems, you know how true that statement is. First and foremost, I'd like to thank the one person who has never stopped believing that I could finish this fanfic and see it all the way through, my honorary onee-chan, a wonderful writer, Sailor Mac. The Sailor Mac shrine is open again after having been dumped from GeoCities. That is MASSIVELY unfair, by the way. Hentai Otaku writes stuff that's really, really explicit and has not one little bit of romance, and his site is on GeoCities, yet the Sailor Mac shrine got closed down! The "Curse of Sailor Earth" bit, as some of you may have surmised, was inspired by Sailor Mac's story "From the Moon to the Earth." It was Sailor Mac who suggested that Irene might be the inheritor of the Earth Star Seed. I liked the idea and her method of bringing it about, so I used it. I guarantee that there will be no Sailor Sun. Why? Simple: To quote They Might Be Giants: "The Sun is a mass of incandescent gas/A gigantic nuclear furnace, Where hydrogen is built into helium/At a temperature of millions of degrees." Mega-thanks go to everybody who's written to me to let me know they liked the story. It's thanks to you that I was able to keep the enthusiasm to finish it! I'm sorry the production schedule's been so spotty over the summer for both this and "Rock Seven," but you know how it is. All of the characters in this fanfic that don't belong to Naoko-sama or TOEI, those being: Prince Roxix, Quartzite/Imbrium/Sailor Selene, Kevin Pierce, Coprolite, Agate and Obsidian, are mine. And let me make it official: NOBODY who was killed during this fanfic is EVER coming back (not in one of my stories, anyway!). As far as the Sailor Moon Futures universe is concerned, Metallia is now officially deceased, as are Roxix and Coprolite. Special thanks go out to: "Tuxedo" Will Wolfshohl, Audrey "Sailor November" Burkhimer, MJ_Tsukino, Michael "Cape-Mike" Stancel, Alys "Sailor Mercurio" Avalos, Scott Weisenmeyer, Jendra, Jen Wand, Pandora "Pandora-sama" Waldron, Artemis & Luna, Michelle "Lady M. Harris" Harris, Michael "Susano" Surbrook and many, many more. Special inspirational thanks go to: "Tuxedo" Will, a whole slew of Sailors (Mac, November, Mercurio, Spell-Check (a.k.a. Pandora-sama) and, of course, Moon, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Venus, Pluto, Uranus, Neptune, Saturn and Younger Moon, but no thanks to Chibi-Chibi-Moon, Star Fighter, Star Healer and Star Maker!), Lady M. Harris, Lady Jupiter, and the rest of the usual cast of screwballs. Extra-special musical thanks goes to the *STELLAR* Jennifer Cihi. And finally, this chapter is specially dedicated to the lady without whom none of this would have been, that wonderful, specially talented young woman to whom we all owe a great debt of gratitude for creating such *FABULOUS* characters to watch, read and write, Naoko Takeuchi. We love you, Naoko! Fin. (c) 1998 Mark A. Berger