Ari SAILOR MOON 2050 Disclaimers: You know who Sailor Moon belongs too. =====CHAPTER 1: THE NEW CHALLANGES===== "So I am Sailor Moon..." Robert said to himself. "That's right," Saint Serena said. It seems that Robert, Vi- cki, Jessica, Tom, and Nina were ready to become Sailor Scouts/Knights. Or are they? "But just a moment," Saint Raye said. "If you think that you are just gonna go out there cold turkey and tangle with the Negaverse, well then, it just doesn't work that way. Your great power is matched only by your inexperience." "Well I can understand that," Tom, the new Sailor Knight from Venus said, to the murmured agreements of the others. "Right," Saint Amy said. "So long before you were chosen, we have set up training grounds, catered to eliminate your individual weaknesses. Are you up to it?" "You never said anything about this going to be easy," Robert said. "I don't know about the rest of the Sailors, but I like challan- ges. Gimme everything you've got!" "Good. Your mind is at attention," Saint Lita said. "You're ready for anything!" "Like Raye said," Saint Serena explained, "your only drawback is inexperience. But in time, you will ascend to far greater pow- ers...you will someday be even stronger than I was at your age. The forms you are in now are 'Scouts' for the ladies, and 'Knights' for Robert and Tom. As your skill increases, you will be granted more pow- ers. You will eventually become ranks of 'Soldier' and later 'Super Soldiers' - Vicki, Jessica, and Nina - and 'Warriors' and then 'Horse- men' - Robert and Tom. "Does that mean there's gonna be two more boys that'll be our allies?" Robert asked. "He's gotta point," Tom said. "You can go back as far to foot- ball to professional wrestling, to the Bible, and there's always been *four* horsemen." Saint Mina was the first to speak up. "Most likely," she said, "and thanks for making that point. We'll just have to wait and see." Serena pointed at the end of the temple - which they learned was called Temple of the Planets - where 12 doors, each marked with the symbol of their corresponding planet, were standing. Only the symbols of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and a crescent moon on the center, were lit up, signifying the only active sailors. "Go now to your individual training grounds," she explained. "When you leave, you will be stronger than you were before you entered. Face your fears...and conquer them." The Sailors walked across the white marbled floor, bathed in light, and headed over to the doors. With one final look back, they entered their corresponding areas.... It looked like a giant chessboard. When Robert opened the door, he walked onto a balcony which had two staircases leading down to the main floor, composed of alternating black and white tiles, on either end. The other end of the room mir- rored his end. He walked down the one staircase and out into the mid- dle of the room. Robert looked to his right: it apparently had no end to how far it went. He looked to his left: same thing. He also noticed that a weight had been taken off his shoulders ...literally. The armor had been instead changed back into a standard sailor scarf. "Man," Sailor Moon said. "What is this place?" he heard Saint Serena say. "What is my weakness?" A tall mirror formed in the middle of the room. He went to the mirror and looked at it, to find his reflection staring back at him. "So what's that mean?" When Robert looked at the mirror again, he saw his reflection, but the mirror was gone. His reflection punched him, knocking him down. "Yeow!" Sailor Moon shouted. He looked up at his reflection, which was exactly the same, except for his sleeveless shirt and gloves, which were black instead of white. "What the-?" Saint Serena said. He got to his knees and realized this wasn't going to be easy... CHUNNNnng! Tom, the sailor knight Sailor Venus, snapped his head back be- hind him as iron bars slid in the path of the door behind him. There was no escape from his challange. But where was he? All he saw was a bleakly lit room with seve- ral obstacles here and there. "Okay," he said, no emotion in his tone, "let's get right to the point: where am I?" He ruffled his scarf waiting for an answer. he heard Saint Mina say. At this, Tom carefully examined the course: first, there was a narrow walkway, possibly booby-trapped, a bunch of narrow wooden poles sticking from a pit, and a wall of fire in a hole in a wall, and a deep pit sitting right in front of it. "What do I do?" He then saw a hole appear in the floor, and a marble pillar with a small glass of water on it rose out of it. "Sounds simple enough," he said as he grabbed the glass with his left hand and started down the narrow pathway. The first step he took, the floor gave way slightly, and arrows started flying all over. He ducked each of them, but nearly panicked when the water started to slosh gently. Shocked, he covered the cup with his right hand, and walked slowly across the narrow path. The next part was the poles. Several dozen poles stook up at Sailor Venus through a hole in the floor. On the other side, he could see the hole in the wall, shielded with fire. He looked down the hole. "Yeah," Tom said, unimpressed. "Real funny, Mina!" He pulled a silver dollar out of his pocket, and flicked it off his thumb down in the hole. As it tumbled end over end downward, he put his hand to his ear, leaned forward and waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. And kept waiting. About a minute later, and he was still wait- ing. His cocky grin was now a nervous smirk. It seems as if there is no bottom. "O...kay...." When Vicki stepped through her door, she found herself standing literally on a cloud. A bridge extended forever in front of her. Saint Raye's voice echoed. A pause. "Hmph, some challange," she said as she started across. Vicki took about five steps and nearly fell into endlessness. she heard Raye say as she regained her balance. She stared outward at the bridge, wondering if whether or not the next step would fling her into oblivion.... Nina and Jessica opened their doors at the same time...to find they were standing next to each other in a vast cave. They both gasped in shock but were silenced by the voices of their patron saints. "Alright," Nina said, "what's the deal?" they could hear Saint Lita say. "Being trapped in this stinking cave?" Jessica said. Saint Amy said. Saint Lita pointed out. The two saints had worked together for this one; they knew that Jessica - an semi-anitsocial gen- ius - and Nina - a total fashion queen - are total opposites and that there would be friction between them. It's perfect.... ...Later, as they spelunked deep within the cave, the two polar opposites had managed to solve several puzzles, although without some reluctance. They cleared beds of spikes. They shifted giant boulders. They even cooled off a giant sea of lava and fended off all the evils of the cave. As the two new Scouts spent more time with each other, they learned to tolerate each other. Then, there was one last puzzle to solve. Six buttons - each with a different Roman numeral on them - lay imbedded within a solid rock wall, the absolute last part of the cave. The two just stared at them for a while, thinking what to do. "What do you think?" Nina, Sailor Jupiter, asked. After giving it a lot of thought, Jessica, Sailor Mercury, said "The two numbers have to be pressed at the same time in sequence." At that, the two got in position. "Ready?" "Ready." "Now!" First, the two "I" buttons were pressed, sinking into the solid rock. Then the two "II" panels. As the two "III" buttons were depressed, the rock rumbled out loud. Mercury grabbed Jupiter and ran out of its way, just as the wall exploded. The debris settled and the smoke cleared, revealing the images of Saint Lita and Saint Amy. "Congratulations!" Saint Amy said. "You have completed the test!" "Um, thanks," Nina said. "Gee," Saint Lita started, "I thought you'd be a little more enthused than that. You certainly have proved a lot to us!" "We have?" they asked, a little surprised. "You have," Amy said. "There was a reason we chose you two to be Sailors. You are very talented, but we noticed that your personal interests would cause friction. This cave was our design." As she said that, the image of the cave faded away, and Nina and Jessica noticed they were in the main hall of the Temple of the Planets. Saints Amy and Lita were standing before them, dressed in their usual white gowns. "Was this an illusion?" Jessica asked. "No it was a real test," Lita said. "And now we have something to give you two." First, there was the new Sailor Jupiter, Nina. Her guardian saint raised her arms, causing a bright green light to emulate from her. When the light stopped, a green charm with a gold lightning bolt hovered in front of her. "Take it," Lita said. But when she touched it with her finger, it disappeared. She gave off a green glow for a moment and stopped. "What happened?" "Your physical capabilities have been enhanced," Saint Lita ex- plained, "and I gave you your first attack. It's called Jupiter Thun- der Crash. It will serve you well. Go on, give it a try." Sailor Jupiter turned around, and tried her new attack. She took a deep breath and said "Jupiter thunder...CRASH!!!" The lightning first coarsed through her body, and shot out in a flurry in front of her. "Wow!" Her ponytail draped in her face. "Pretty cool, huh?" Saint Amy said. "And now you, Jessica." "What do I get?" Jessica asked, pushing her brown hair out of her eyes. "Well, you are the intelligence of the bunch - but don't take that as a knock at your friends." "I don't." "You're the brains, just like me. And such, you'll need this." She opened her hand, her palm faced up, and a bubble flew from her hand slowly and floated to Jessica. She opened her hands, and the bubble popped, making a palm-top computer appear. "This is your Mercury Com- puter. It is a very versitale object, which will aid you on and off the battlefield." She opened the computer, and it sprang to life. "Cool!" As she fiddled with some of its functions, and an image of her appeared, bubbles shooting from her outstretched hands, engulfing the battlefield in fog. "Did you get that?" Saint Amy asked. She nodded. "That is one of your real powers: Mercury Bubble Blast. It is designed to confuse your enemies. And when you do that, you can turn on your 3D scanner to see through the mess. The switch is in your left earring." As she touched her earring, a light blue visor appeared over her eyes.... So there she stood. And she had a very difficult decision to make. Five feet in front of Vicki, Sailor Mars, there was another cloud, with a red door bearing the symbol of Mars standing there, and the rest of the bridge. On her left, a length of cloud about 10 feet long jutted out in back of her. On her right, a cloud had formed an alternative bridge instead of the one in front of her. This was a tough spot to be in. Where should she go? Left, and hope that an invisible section of bridge is there? Right, and trust the cloud? Or center, and risk falling forever? Either way, she couldn't make a mistake. So she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and sprinted for- ward and leapt across the rest of the bridge. She landed safely on the cloud. When she looked at the bridge again, its real course appeared. If she went left, she would've made it safely across. Then she heard someone say "Nice job, Vicki!" Vicki turned around, and Saint Raye was there, and she was so shocked to see her, she nearly fell off. But Raye grabbed her just in time. "Hey, careful now! I'm so glad you made it." "Me too." She looked around. "So...what's this about?" "Step this way." Raye opened the door, and they were back in the Temple of the Planets. "You have proved yourself as a Sailor. I wouldn't have chosen you if I didn't put all my faith into you. Now I want to give you this." Saint Raye raised her arms, and a small fire burned on the floor between her and Vicki. Then, an ember jumped from the fire and at Vicki. When she caught it, it disappeared in her hands. "That small flame you caught is your special attack: Mars Fire Ignite. Your enemies won't stand a chance against you." "Thanks." With that, Vicki turned around, put her hands toge- ther, and shouted "Mars fire...IGNITE!!!" A fireball spiraled out of her fingertips and across the room to the delighted laughter of Saint Raye. Meanwhile, Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Mercury, Saint Lita and Saint Amy were watching on. "Finally got your power, eh Vick?" Jessica asked. "Yeah," Vicki said. "You too?" She noticed Jessica was still wearing her 3D scanner, which she promptly turned off. "So who we waiting for now?" Saint Lita asked. "Tom and Rob," they answered. "Think they had as much fun as we did Jess?" Nina asked. "We'll just have to wait and see." Now that the southpaw had cleared the bottomless pit, Tom was faced with what to do next. There was nothing left except but the hole in the wall, shielded with fire, and a glass of holy water. "So what do I do from here?" he asked, hoping to get Saint Mina to respond. he could hear her say. "Just behind the - wait a second!" Tom looked at the cup, and the wall of fire. Then the cup. Then the fire. Then the cup. Then, it fell into place. Tom flung the glass at the wall of fire, and it shattered on the ledge, putting out the fire. When the smoke cleared, a gun - possibly a 9mm, yet it looked like it was made out of two crescent moons - lay on the ledge. He reached over the pit, and grabbed the gun. And promptly disappeared. When he next noticed, he was in the Temple of the Planets, and standing right in front of Saint Mina. "Glad you made it back," the saint said. "You completed the test." "Great," Tom said, "but what is THIS thing?!" He flashed the gun at Saint Mina. "Remember that you and Robert bear the powers that once belon- ged to, and were made for, girls?" she explained. He nodded. "Well, the uniforms weren't the only thing modified for you two. This is your Venus Crescent Pistol." "What does it do?" "Back in my day, I fired beams out of my fingers. You, on the other hand, will use this. With each depression the trigger, it fires a crescent beam. Hold the trigger down for a few moments, and you can powerup the beam to about ten times its normal power." "Awesome," Tom said to himself. He heard a noise behind him, and he turned around and saw several targets set up. He drew his gun, and fired a series of beams, taking out the targets. But when he went to the final target, it wouldn't go down no matter how many shots he fired. So he charged the gun, and fired a beam the size of a basket- ball. That got it down. "So how does it feel?" Saint Mina asked. "Feels great!" Tom said. "I like it!" "Now we just gotta wait for Robert to get done. He should be coming back any minute now...." The thud of a body hitting a wall echoed through the chamber. Robert had been battling Shadow Sailor Moon for some time now. And things were going back and forth. Even though he had taken quite a few shots of his own, he did dish it back, only with each hit on the shadow, it disintegrated in pain, and a new image appeared behind him and attacked. Now the battle was winding down. Robert had been thrown by Shadow Sailor Moon into one of the flights of steps. When he got up, he jumped at the shadow and planted his right cowboy boot in his face, causing the shadow to shatter into glass. Then another Shadow Sailor Moon ran toward him from behind, but Robert was ready for him. There were three shadows that attacked him previously, and with each one, he dispatched them more easily. The fourth one was the most viscious to date. The Shadow punched him several times and then kicked him in the stomach. Robert retaliated with a Luthes Press, punching Shadow Sailor Moon repeatedly from being straddled across his chest. When he punched him off, Robert's bandana fell off. "Man," Robert said. "You're tough!" He then grabbed his ban- dana off the floor, when he found it was glowing. When it stopped glowing, it was instead a gold boomerang bent on a 100 degree angle, a diamond-shaped ruby in the center, and a sapphire band in the middle of each side. Looking at the boomerang, something clicked inside his head. He didn't know what it was, but somehow, he knew how to use the weapon. "Alright you fake asshole," Robert shouted as he got to his feet. "Get ready to be moondust!" He wound up with the boomerang. "Moon boomerang...MAGIC!!!" The boomerang took off, looking like a glowing gold, red and blue disc, finding its mark ture in the chest of Shadow Sailor Moon. The shadow gave off a scream, and disintegrated. The boomerang returned to Robert's hand. But then he looked at the boomerang again. "Hey, how'd this happen?" He looked over at the opposite balcony, where Saint Serena was standing. Robert ran over to where she was standing. "What do you mean?" "Congratulations!" Saint Serena said. "You have overcome your darkside and are on your way to true power. That boomerang of yours will be your weapon for now. When you need to use it, simply take off your bandana and let it fly! See why I made you leader of the Sailors, Robert?" "Thank you," he said, falling to one knee. "Arise, Robert," Serena commanded. "I know how much you hate formalities and upper classes and worshipping, I don't expect - or re- quire you - to worship any of us. We are your friends." Robert rose to his feet, as Saint Serena opened the door to the Temple. "Now come along; we're waiting for you." TEMPLE OF THE PLANETS The five Sailors assembled before their patron saints. "Every- one," Saint Serena started, "you stand on the brink of a new era. In the coming years, you will face unimaginable evils. Will any of them be easy? No. I can guarantee this though. With the powers of friend- ship...trust...and especially love...you will be able to conquer any obstacle in your path." A specially-designed communicator - redesigned to look like a pager - was given to each of the Sailors. "Go, now, to your own plane. Remember, we will always be watching you!" After she was done speaking, they were engulfed in the same light that brought them to Heaven. =====TO BE CONTINUED=====