android@texas.net (Andy Combs) The Sailor Moon Expanded Team presents: A tale of the Sailor Moon Expanded universe. Sailor Moon Dark War by Andy Combs Warning: As usual with my fic, there are adult themes. This is not a lemon, however. There's no actual nudity, no actual sex scenes, but still... If adult themes offend you, please don't read... Also note that despite the title, this is not darkfic. It is intended to be fairly standard Sailor Moon fare, set firmly in the Sailor Moon Expanded fanfiction universe. There will be frivolous humor mixed with serious super-heroing. At times there will be sappy romance, at others things will get deadly serious. In short, pretty much the same mix you get from the original Japanese SM TV show. Usagi sighed. Things rarely got any better than this. It was the longest period of peace they had had since that fateful day when Luna had found her. Six months had passed since the final battle with Galaxia. A whole six months with no youmas. No Cardians. No droids, diamons, lemures, or warped senshi popping out of the woodwork. Six months in which she had been able to almost forget that she was Sailor Moon. Heck, even the tabloids were starting to run "Whatever happened to..." stories about the Senshi, it had been so long since they had appeared regularly. The only thing that would have made the last six months better would have been if she hadn't had to spend it alone. Mamoru had been rescued. He had never made it to America last year, instead having been captured by Galaxia. But once back, he had insisted that he still had to go. He needed training that he could only get there. And so he had left once more after only a week with her. On the bright side, this separation was nothing like the previous. That time, she had written him regularly, but never gotten a response. She had had no way of knowing that he was Galaxia's prisoner the whole time. This time, however, his return letters had been frequent. And elegant. Mamoru tended to write poetically about how he missed her. Also, he called her at least once a week. They could never talk long, overseas calls were expensive, and he was on a tight budget, but it was enough. He was still there. He still loved her, and hadn't forgotten her, like she had feared last time. And best of all, he was coming back tomorrow for a full month of vacation. Usagi could hardly wait. She could almost feel him by her side already. His scent, wafting through her nose. The light touch of his lips on hers. The sensations as his hands gently caressed her... Usagi blinked. Where did that thought come from? Great. Next thing she knew, she would be dreaming him into her bed. That thought made her blush furiously. She knew that she would sleep with him someday. Chibi Usa was their daughter. There were certain things that had to happen for Chibi Usa to be created. She blushed even more. The thought of sleeping with him... the whole idea was at once enchanting, and terrifying. She sighed deeply. That was still a year or two off, though. She was seventeen now. She raised her hand to look at the ring sitting on one finger. An engagement ring. Before Mamoru left for America (the first time) he had given her the ring and asked her to marry him when she graduated from high school. Of course she had accepted. And before he left the second time he had repeated his promise to marry her. Usagi knew that if she wanted, she could probably take him to bed before they married. He would never ask himself. He was too much the gentleman. But she doubted he would say no if she was the one to ask. But she also knew she would never ask. That would cheapen their eventual marriage. So for now she would make herself be content with kissing him. And her fantasies of what it would someday be like when they were married. She sighed and looked out over the park. The sun was starting to dip low in the western sky. It was getting late. She probably should think about getting home. "Excuse me" piped a high voice from behind her. "But are you Tsukino Usagi?" She turned her head to look over her shoulder. There, just behind the park bench, stood a figure. It was a man. Perfectly proportioned, but only a foot and a half tall. He was dressed in a green suit, with a green tophat of the same style Mamoru wore as Tuxedo Mask. Curly yellow hair peeked out from under the hat, and he had a full beard of the same color. Usagi wasn't normally very knowledgeable about Western mythological figures, but after the pegasus had appeared, Ami had given the rest of them a crash course in such things. And so she could identify the figure standing there as a leprechaun. Usagi finally nodded in response to his question. "Splendid! Just the person I was looking for. You see, I have very important information I must impart to you. You, and your friends." "My... friends?" The leprechaun grinned, and reached within his coat, pulling out a small sphere. He lightly spun the sphere on one index finger. The sphere blurred, then a quick series of images appeared. In rapid succession the symbols for the Inner Senshi appeared. First the Moon, then the symbols for Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter all appeared. Then the leprechaun grabbed the sphere from the air and quickly replaced it in his pocket. "What??? How????" Usagi sputtered. "All will be answered, in time. For now, though, would you please gather your friends in your normal location? I will come by as soon as I am able." He turned to leave, but stopped. "Oh, and one other thing. Please have your cats be elsewhere. If they are anywhere nearby, I'm afraid I will not be able to visit you." He turned once more and took a couple of steps away. "Mr. Leprechaun?" He stopped. "Who...? What should I call you?" "Me?" He spun on his heels to face Usagi, a wide grin on his face. "I have many names. But for now, you can call me Macavity." He bowed deeply to her, and then was gone. One moment he was there, the next he had vanished. She looked around but there was no trace of him. She sighed. "So much for the peaceful times." Cue Moonlight Densetsu as the opening... Presenting Sailor Moon Dark War Episode One. Fleeting Peace. The room was dark. Two of the walls were actually full length windows. The glittering lights of Tokyo's nighttime skyline could be seen through them. The room was quite large. The large shadowy shape of a desk could be seen where the two windowed walls met. Silhouetted against one of the windows could be seen a figure, staring out across the city. There was a soft rush as air was shoved aside as a new figure arrived by teleportation. The arrival quickly knelt toward the original figure, and bowed its head. "I come as I have been called. How may I serve you?" In a melodic, baritone voice, the figure before the window spoke. "The reports show that everything is ready. This is correct?" "Yes, Chairman." The Chairman nodded. "Good. Very well. We've waited far too long as it is. Initiate Phase 1 at once. You are in charge for now. On you will hang the glory of success or the dishonor of failure." "As you command." He rose to his feet and, after bowing once more to the Chairman, teleported away. The Chairman returned his attention to the Tokyo skyline. "After all this time, it has finally begun." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- They were all gathered in the courtyard of Rei's shrine. This was not quite the homecoming Mamoru had been expecting. Usagi had met him at the airport as expected, but instead of being excited at seeing him, she was instead preoccupied with worry over the encounter the previous day. Usagi had set up a meeting at the shrine for shortly after his arrival time, and they had taken a cab straight here from the airport. In fact his bags still sat at the side of the courtyard. He hadn't brought all that much back as he was only supposed to be here for a month. If they had a new threat arising, on the other hand, he might have to rethink that. While on the way here Usagi had given him a brief rundown on what had happened the previous day. There wasn't that much to tell. If he hadn't fought demons of various types for the last several years, and even fought alongside a pegasus for a period of time, he might have been inclined to dismiss what she said. But whatever other faults she had, Usagi was no liar. If she said she saw a leprechaun, she saw a leprechaun. Mamoru listened with half an ear as Usagi told the other four about the encounter yesterday. Something seemed amiss. Then he realized that it was the absence of the Cats. As Macavity had requested, Usagi had insisted that they stay at home. Luna had apparently put up a fuss, but Usagi hadn't given in. But it was still unusual to see the five girls chatting spiritedly with the Cats nowhere around. "Macavity..." Ami was musing, as if trying to pull something out of her memory. She frowned. "I know I've heard that name before." Makoto gave her a strange look, then rolled her eyes, before turning to the other girls. "So when's he supposed to show up?" Usagi shook her head. "He didn't say. He just asked us to meet in our usual place. I'm pretty sure that meant here." Rei said "You sure he didn't mean the arcade? You sure spend enough time there..." "Rei-chan, you are so mean!" Usagi stuck her tongue out at Rei and yet another tongue war was on. Mamoru just shook his head in resignation. Some things never changed. A voice spoke from almost at Mamoru's ear. "And these are the ones who have saved the world so many times. Almost unbelievable." Mamoru turned and looked at the figure on his shoulder. He was just as Usagi had described him. "Macavity, I presume." Macavity dipped his head lightly. "That name serves as well as any." By now the girls had noticed the newcomer. All but Usagi were staring wide-eyed at him. Macavity hopped to the ground from Mamoru's shoulder. Mamoru frowned momentarily. He hadn't even felt Macavity standing there. Probably some sort of strange explanation like the leprechaun being more magical than physical, or some such. The Pegasus had turned out to not have any physical form, after all. Macavity turned to each of the girls in turn, bowing as he addressed each. "Lady Mercury. Mistress of the Mind." "Lady Venus. Goddess of the Heart." "Lady Mars. Guardian of the Soul." "Lady Jupiter. The Righteous Strength." "Lady Moon. The Peacemaker." and he finished with Mamoru himself... "And finally an unexpected surprise. Lord Earth. The Emerald thread that binds them all." He took a few steps backward so that he could see them all at once. "And then there's me. I have so many titles I couldn't begin to list them. Most would be meaningless to you anyway. But as I said, for now feel free to call me Macavity. That will suffice." He bowed deeply. Usagi had a faraway look. "Those titles you called us..." Macavity grinned, and continued on. "Needless to say, I'm well aware of who you people are, so please don't waste my time denying it. You are the ones called the Sailor Senshi. You have saved this world a number of times already. I'm afraid the time has come to ask you to do so once more." "I knew it." Usagi said. Macavity inclined his head towards her. "I'm sorry. I can see how much you are enjoying this time of peace, but there's not really any choice. The Dark Ones have come. They walk among you already. And you are the only ones with the strength to stand in opposition to them." "The Dark Ones?" asked Ami. Macavity nodded. "Like me, they have many names. Most would be meaningless in this age. 'Dark Ones' fits them as well as any other label might." Makoto struck a fist into the opposing palm a couple of times. "So another enemy lines up to be knocked down by the Senshi." Macavity shook his head. "Beware overconfidence. The Dark Ones are unlike any of the other enemies you have overcome. For one thing the Dark Ones are old. *Very* old. And they have the cunning and experience that comes with such age. "But perhaps more importantly, they hate. They hate humanity. Your previous enemies may have placed little value on human life, but the Dark Ones will actively seek to end such life. In the end it will be them or you. There can be no compromise with them." Usagi shuddered. Rei gave Macavity a hard look. "And how do you fit into all this?" "Mua? Would you believe I'm also a staunch defender of truth, justice, and the senshi way?" "No" Rei said. "You would be right. I'm not. I'm not really free to say what my place in the coming tapestry of events is. For now, let's just say that I have no more wish for the Dark Ones to succeed than you do. Beyond that..." A beeping sound was heard. Macavity frowned and reached into his suit, pulling out a large pocket watch, from which the beeping appeared to be coming. A quick tap on the single button on top of the watch caused the beeping to cease. Macavity then swung open the faceplate of the watch, and examined the insides. He nodded a couple of times at what he saw before snapping the watch shut. None of the others had been able to see inside the watch. The watch quickly vanished back within Macavity's clothes. "The Dark Ones are on the move. To a limited extent I am able to track the gates by which they enter and leave this world. Until now they have only been opening small gates. They have just opened a big one." "Where?" asked Mamoru? "In a park a couple of miles from here." He gave the name of the park. The girls nodded. "Let's go!" said Minako. "Venus Star Power..." "Mercury Star Power..." "Mars Star Power..." "Jupiter Star Power..." "Moon Eternal Power..." "MAKE UP!" -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The man watched as the chaos unfolded below him. In the middle of the park below him, a jagged hole seemed to hang in the air. Through this hole flowed a steady stream of misshapen beings. They were humanoid, but there the resemblance ended. These beings were all knobby joints and strangely angled limbs. All carried weapons, but they were as mismatched as the beings themselves. Knobby clubs and a few short spears. The man sighed. Of all the beings he had to work with, it had to be goblins. He had always hated the filthy creatures. But he couldn't deny they were perfect for the current mission. Perfect, because they were totally expendable. Goblins bred at an insane rate, and generally kept their populations down by fighting among themselves. Bringing a few of them to this world to die would be no loss. The goblins that poured from the hole in the middle of the air quickly spread out, seeking things to destroy. That was what they did best, after all. Most of the humans in the park had managed to flee when the invasion began. A few hadn't been so lucky, and had been clubbed into submission. He could see several lying about. From this distance he couldn't see if they were still alive, but he suspected they mostly were. Goblins liked to kill slowly and painfully. For now, they were just securing victims. The killing would come later. Now it was just a matter of waiting until the defenders of this world showed up. He didn't have to wait long. "Hey, Fang-face! Why don't you pick on someone who can fight back!" came a new voice. The goblins all turned toward the voice. The man shook his head at the goblins' stupidity if that was all it took for them to be distracted. "Disturbing a quiet day at the park is unforgivable! I'm the warrior of love and justice, Sailor Moon! In the name of the Moon, I will punish you!" Six figures stood at the entrance to the park. The man nodded. Those would be the so-called Inner Senshi and Tuxedo Mask. Since they had arrived they had examined all reports of this world's defenders. This was the most visible team. A smaller team of Sailor Senshi called the Outer Senshi was also reported to exist, as well as several independent heroes. The goblins roared in defiance and as a group turned to attack the Senshi. The Senshi waded into the goblins and the fight was on. The man rolled his eyes as it quickly became apparent how one-sided the fight was. The Senshi were not even using their magical attacks. They were going after the goblins hand to hand, and destroying them easily. He sighed. What good was this mission if he couldn't even force the Senshi to use their attacks? And then he spotted something that changed the situation totally. There was a seventh person fighting the goblins. This figure wasn't actually attacking them, but was no less effective. He would appear right in front of one goblin, taunting the goblin to attack. The goblin would do so without hesitation, at which point the figure would vanish, and the goblin would crash into one of his fellow, generally with disastrous consequences. This happened a number of times in rapid succession, proving that the figure was carefully calculating his appearances to cause such chaos. But it wasn't the way that the figure was attacking that was the problem, but the figure's identity. What in the hells was one of the Wee Folk doing here? That one of the Wee Folk was on this world, actively helping the Senshi, changed the situation dramatically. The man smiled evilly. This mission wasn't a wash after all. The whole situation had just gotten a whole lot more interesting. Enough for now. The goblins were not going to be giving him any more information on the Senshi. His eyes glowed momentarily, and the hole in the air suddenly winked out of existence stopping the flow of reinforcements. They had been worthless anyway. The Senshi were destroying the goblins faster than they could come through. The man spared no sympathy for the ones he was stranding in this world. They were only goblins, after all. Not worth his concern. His mind was already on the wording of the report he would give to the Chairman. This was certainly an unexpected turn of events. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Senshi finished off the rest of the creatures. Even given the sheer numbers of the enemy, it had been one of the easiest fights they had had in a long time. Even Sailor Moon had waded in physically once she saw how easily the others were dealing with the creatures. The key difference had been speed. The Senshi were so agile in comparison to the creatures that none of them had even come close to hitting the Senshi. And the Senshi were strong enough that a single punch or kick from a Senshi was generally enough to take one of the creatures out of the fight. Fortunately it appeared no one had been killed, though there were many bruises and a few broken limbs among those caught by the creatures. As was typical for enemies, these creatures disintegrated into piles of dust once defeated. The Senshi regrouped a little ways off after the last of the creatures was gone. Sailor Moon was bubbly. "Well, that was certainly easy. If they are all like that, we have nothing to fear from these Dark Ones." Macavity appeared, sitting on a nearby tree limb. "I have warned you against overconfidence. Those were the least of the Dark Ones you just fought. Frankly I'm surprised they even bothered sending them. Surely they would have realized how useless they would be." Sailor Moon stuck out her tongue at Macavity. "Spoil sport. We know they won't all be so easy, but let us enjoy our victory anyway." Macavity grinned. "I like your spirit, girl. Very well." He stood up on the branch. "Until next time, farewell." He vanished. Mamoru just watched the space where he had been. "I'd love to know how he does that." -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Two figures chatted in a darkened room. One, obviously a humanoid, had a female voice. She was seated on a chair before a table. The other, who's shape was hidden, could be recognized as Macavity by his voice. The voice came from a deep shadow on the table. The female spoke. "I'm sorry, Master, but I just don't like it. The Senshi are our allies. I just can't agree with deceiving them like this." "I know, but it's necessary. For more reasons than I can begin to describe, this is how it must be. We are playing a dangerous game here. You know as well as I do what is at stake." "Yes, but Master P..." Macavity interrupted. "No! Don't say that name. For now, and the foreseeable future I am Macavity." He stepped forward out of the shadow, the familiar leprechaun. "I am Macavity. And Serenity help us all if they find out otherwise." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The man knelt again in the high office as the Chairman read his report. The Chairman was pacing as he read. *Not* a good sign. Finally the Chairman spoke. His voice held his normal calm, despite the seriousness of his word. "This is most disturbing news. If one of the Wee Folk is helping these 'Sailor Senshi' then we must move cautiously indeed. Who knows what other assistance they could call upon?" The man nodded. "That is, indeed, the problem, sir." The Chairman appeared to reach a decision. "Very well. I'm placing Phase II on hold for now. We have been patient until now, we can be patient a bit longer. We cannot afford mistakes. You are to continue Phase I. We need to know everything about the local defenders before we begin any real moves." "Sir. About the quality of the forces available to me?" "Yes. I can see from your report how the goblins fared. But I still do not consider them totally useless for the coming projects. While the Senshi outclass them, they cannot afford to ignore them, either. And while they deal with the goblins, someone else can deal with them. And the goblins are the most expendable troop we have. We have more than enough to expend." The man nodded. "What you say makes sense, sir." "I will, however, authorize some of the better troops for you. But realize that anything made available to you at this stage will, by necessity, be expendable. Until we have reliable estimates of the capabilities of the enemies, and of any help on which they could call, placing essential units in opposition to them would be foolishness." He paused, looking out over the city. "One last thing. No matter how 'expendable' the troops you are given to work with, you yourself are anything but expendable. Remember that your mission is to gather information. If you can eliminate one or more of the defenders, that is fine, but don't risk yourself to achieve that. We have evidence that these defenders have eliminated several powerful opponents. They are not to be underestimated." "Yes, sir." "You may go. Luck be with you." "And with you, sir." The man rose, then vanished. "The Wee Folk, is it?" the Chairman mused to himself. End Sailor Moon Dark War 1 -- Alexander (Andy the Android) Combs android@texas.net Video Librarian, The Anime Club at the University of Texas RAAC Assistant Moderator Current Projects: Sailor Moon Expanded: Fanfiction shared universe. For details see: http://www.texas.net/~android/sme_main.html