Yes, yes, I've switched the names around. I've done that since Part 1. Oh, SM ends on Feb. 8, not January 18 (I forgot they skipped the Christmas week). ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Sailor Stars "Together Once More" by: Andre Garde (veritech@cryogen.com) Part Six: Resurrection Galaxia, the Golden Senshi, sat musing upon her throne. Gaseous red light illuminated her domain, creating a sullen, sombre, atmosphere. Shadows covered half of her form, evelopping her in their darkness. Just the way she liked it. Her laugh echoed throughout the vastness of the room. Set before her was a holographic recording, which replayed the most recent battle with the Sailor Senshi. It had taken the nine and some mysterious man in a cape and mask to beat the enemy this time, one Sailor Librarian. "They are formidable opponents, these Sailor Soldiers," she admitted. A senshi herself, she was accustomed to battle and warfare, things she had known since she was but a child. Now, at the age of conquest, Earth was ripe for the picking. And Galaxia was the one to do it. "Nyanko?" A figure moved in the shadows. "Hai, Galaxia-sama." It was dark, but Sailor Galaxia saw her bow with utmost respect. "Are you prepared to join the battle with Lead Crow and Aluminum Siren?" Sailor Tin Nyanko stepped into the red light, an evil smile on her face. "Just leave it to me, Galaxia-sama. I will destroy the Sailor Senshi even without Crow's or Siren's help." Galaxia smiled mockingly. "Don't be a fool, Nyanko. Your powers are nothing compared to the nine Sailor Senshi." Tin Nyanko was seething with rage, stepping closer to Galaxia's throne. "I'LL KILL THEM ALL! I SWEAR IT! THEY SHALL PERISH BY MY OWN HANDS!" Galaxia showed her a wave of dismissal. "Do not make promises you can't keep Nyanko. You are merely my newest creation, and only that. Do not forget that, anima-mate." She glared right at Tin Nyanko, who grudgingly nodded, albeit coldly. "Now," Galaxia continued, "what of the regeneration of Sailor Iron Mouse?" Nyanko's face of anger turned more into a look of disgust. She turned, nose up in the air and arms crossed. "86% complete. She'll regain con- sciousness within the hour, without her most recent memories of the Senshi of course." Galaxia smiled maliciously. "Excellent. With her re-entry into our ranks, they will be overwhelmed one by one." Tin Nyanko snarled. "We don't need her help! All she did was screw up! You killed her yourself! Or do you forget, master?" Galaxia leaned forward in her throne, throwing a vicious glance towards the anima-mate. "I did not ask for help!" Nyanko shouted. "Nor will it be given," Galaxia said calmly. "You are on your own, Tin Nyanko. Crow, Siren, nor Iron Mouse will fight for you. If you can't handle the task..." "I can handle it just fine! Besides, you're not doing too much, sitting on your throne all day. And you call yourself a leader? Bah!" She tossed an arrogant look Galaxia's way. "Someone's got to do something useful." Galaxia rose sharply from her throne. "INSOLENT WENCH!" she thundered. A wash of golden light crossed each of her dark eyes, as if they illuminated themselves. In an instant, the streaks of light were gone, replaced by the eerie blackness once again. Tin Nyanko braced herself. "Why do I have that sinking, queasy feeling all of a sudden?" Galaxia advanced down the steps leading to her throne, approaching Tin Nyanko ever so slowly. The anima-mate backed off in fear, perspiration and anxiety seeping through her body. "I could kill you where you stand," she said. But death wasn't on Galaxia's agenda today. Still... Tin Nyanko never saw it coming. Her, rather. With a speed that defied description, the Golden Senshi siezed Sailor Tin Nyanko by the throat and pinned her against a wall. Nyanko clutched at the golden-armoured fingers encircling her throat, cutting off the precious air supply to her body. She knew she would pass out soon, but not before Galaxia looked her straight into the eye. There might have been murder in those dark eyes, the color of the abyss itself. Her eyes were slits, glistening daggers poised to draw blood. But Galaxia threw Nyanko aside, leaving her gasping for lungfuls of air on the floor. "Do not test me again, Nyanko," Galaxia warned sternly. "Such an act would prove... costly." Nyanko couldn't speak, and only nodded. "Go. Join Lead Crow and Aluminum Siren. And bring me the right Star Seed!" Elevator doors appeared behind Sailor Tin Nyanko, and she stepped in. When the doors closed, they vanished from wherever they had come from. Galaxia returned to her throne, silently willing the image of the recording to be replayed yet again. This time, she zoomed in on the face of Eternal Sailor Moon. "Next time, Moon Child... you will die." -- "Nezu-san!" Sailor Aluminum Siren giggled with delight. "Has it been an hour already?" Nyanko thought. The air of boredom lingered about her like a fog to the floor. While Aluminum Siren and Iron Mouse conversed with themselves, Sailor Lead Crow and the newest anima-mate watched from the sidelines. Lead Crow walked up slowly behind Nyanko, who was sitting on a chair lazily. One of her arms leaned on a desk for support. "So," Lead Crow began, "it seems we're back at full strength." "Depends on whether you consider Iron Louse as part of the original equation," Nyanko replied sarcastically. Lead Crow frowned. "The four of us can do some damage to the Sailor Senshi. With our combined powers, they won't stand a chance against us. We're close to finding the true star seed, Nyanko. Galaxia won't let us botch it up now." Nyanko sighed. She had heard it all before. "When do I get a crack at them?" "You don't, we do. You're still a rookie, or do you forget?" She saw Tin Nyanko's look of dismay, and smiled. "You sit on the sidelines and take a few pointers from us, kiddo." "Give me a break, I'm ready to fight now!" "You're ready, when I say you're ready. Not until then. Got it?" Tin Nyanko nodded grudgingly. Satisfied, Lead Crow announced her master's intentions. "We let Siren and Nezu over there have their little happy hour. After that, we go hunting for a star seed." "Who's in the spotlight this time?" "Kyousuke Kasuga." Nyanko shrugged. "Never heard of him." "He's an esper," Crow replied. "Some high school kid with some pretty nifty ESP powers, or something like that. Galaxia-sama has had an eye on him for awhile. He might be the one." "I highly doubt it." It was Crow's turn to shrug. "Doesn't matter. Galaxia wants him, she gets him. The matter is closed. We go when I give the signal. Two booths." Sailor Tin Nyanko suddenly felt ill. "If I get stuck with the little pipsqueak, I'm going to have a very, bad, day." -- At the house of Usagi Tsukino, nine soldiers of the light sat in quiet silence. Everything was still, only the shifting of their eyes and the beating of their hearts gave any notion of movement. "This is the most heinous crime I've ever encountered," Rei Hino spoke softly. The impact of her words drove stakes through the very core of each member of the Sailor Team. "Yeah," Haruka Tenou added. "We gotta get the scumbag who did this." Everyone in the living room of the Tsukino household shifted uncomfortably. "Hey guys, I think I know who it is." It was Hotaru Tomoe that replied back. 16 sets of eyes focused in on the shortest girl in the room, awaiting her response. When the Messiah of Silence spoke, everybody listened. "It was Miss Scarlet, in the library, with the candlestick!" "What, no way!" Usagi wailed. She opened the brown envelope that con- tained the three missing cards. "Ha, ha!" she laughed triumphantly. "Forgot about good ol' Professor Plum, Hotaru-chan!" "Rats," she replied miserably. She threw down her cards on the table, the rest of the girls doing likewise. "Looks like Usagi takes the cake, she has the most wins so far." Apparently, the gamed called "Clue" was one of her fortes. "Oh, come on," Minako whined. "Two more games and I can tie her!" "Give it a rest," Usagi answered. "You can't beat me. And to think, before I was but the student, now I am the--" "Chibi-Chibi!" The girls jumped in surprise, even Setsuna. "Chibi-Chibi-chan, where'd you come from?" "Apparently the kitchen," Usagi responded quickly, launching herself at the cookies that the child with the heart-shaped odango brought. She ate swiftly and thoroughly, never missing a crumb. "That's not what I meant," Setsuna said. "We still don't know where the child is from." "True," Michiru began, "but she is rather cute." Chibi-Chibi took the compliment and smiled, serving the tray, half-full of cookies now, to the rest of the girls. Makoto leaned back and sighed on the couch she sat on. "Say, Usagi, where's Mamoru-san today? I thought you two stuck together like glue?" Mouth full of chocolate chip cookies, Usagi said "He's out with Seiya and the rest." "Seiya!?" Usagi was dumbfounded. "What?" "Minna-san!" The girls jumped in surprise yet again. "If I have to do that one more time," Rei grumbled. It was the cats. "Everyone, we've got a problem." Luna had a special way of capturing the attention of the Senshi, but she realized it wasn't the time to admire her skill. "What now?" Makoto asked quickly. "Or do I even have to ask?" Artemis answered her. "Lead Crow, Siren, and Iron Mouse is back!" "What did you say?" stammered Usagi. Luna continued for him. "Iron Mouse is back. I don't know why, but she's definitely back. And there's yet another Sailor named Tin Nyanko with them. They're attacking a high school, you must hurry!" For Haruka, this was too much to take in at once. "Everyone, transform now!" Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Venus, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Saturn... Crystal Power... Moon Eternal... "MAKE UP!" -- "AAAIIIIIIEEEEEE!!!" Kyousuke Kasuga howled in fear as he ran away from four oddly-dressed strangers. "Somebody help!" "Hmm..." Sailor Lead Crow murmured aloud. "His voice sounds familiar." "How pathetic," Sailor Tin Nyanko snarled. "I don't know, he looks kinda cute!" Sailor Iron Mouse giggled. Munching on some chips, Sailor Aluminum Siren put things back into perspective. "Crow-san, , , I think you should--" Lead Crow sighed. "Anima-mates, will you knock it off! We've got more important things to worry about than ogling at humans!" She turned to Tin Nyanko. "All right, rookie. You wanted a shot? This one's yours." She grinned evilly. "My pleasure." Nyanko raise her arms, making them parallel to each other, evenly spaced apart. In a flash, two golden streaks of energy launched themselves at Kyousuke's fast-moving body. The twin discharges encircled him, cutting off his escape, and eventually envelopped him in a wash of golden light. Kyousuke's star seed sprang forth from the flower atop his head. "Not bad, not bad..." Lead Crow began. Tin Nyanko smirked. The star seed turned black. "Not bad, HORRIBLE!" Crow threw a look of disgust at the newest anima- mate. Sailor Iron Mouse laughed mockingly. "What's the matter, kitty-cat? A little too much catnip before the big game?" Siren started giggling. "You little rat!" Nyanko snarled. "Why, I ought to..." "HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" "Damn, what now?" The four servants of the Golden Senshi turned to face the direction from which the voice came from. The Sailor Senshi had arrived. "Stealing the power of the shining star from an innocent high school--" Eternal Sailor Moon began her usual speech, but Nyanko was not in the mood. She wasted no time. "Shut up and fight!" She charged at the nine soldiers. "Hey, she can't do that, she can't, she can't, she CAN'T!!!" Sailor Moon wailed. Sailor Mars didn't have any patience either. "Oh, come off it you twit. Let's rumble!" The Sailor Team roared in determination, eager to do battle once more. "MARS... FLAME..." She couldn't finish summoning her attack, as Sailor Lead Crow had beaten her to the punch -- literally. A supercharged fist ran across Mars' cheek, sending her flying backward to the ground. The hallways were crammed with students screaming for each other to get out of the way in a hurry. No one wanted to be in the middle of the murderous crossfire. A World Shaking knocked Lead Crow to the ground as well. Mars had recovered, and joined Sailor Uranus in double-teaming Crow. Similarly, the Inner and Outer Senshi paired off against each anima-mate, leaving Eternal Sailor Moon to fend for herself against Sailor Esper, the converted Kyousuke Kasuga. She was doing fairly well considering her battle prowess, but not well enough. Soon, she was pinned against the wall by Sailor Esper, not a soldier available to help her. Mars gritted her teeth. And then she heard it. , . All the Sailor Senshi paused. "What the..." Lead Crow listened, the rest of the anima-mates looked around. , . , . Finger snapping. There could only be one source of those sounds. Senshi clad in black leather fukus. They had entered the game yet again. -- End of Part Six (Afterword) This was originally supposed to be an introductional chapter, where I would have a Part 6a and 6b, but it ended up being longer than I had initially envisioned, so I devoted it all to Part 6. I fooled around a bit with the anima-mates, making mention of Nyanko as Galaxia's "newest creation." It's safe for you to assume that Galaxia created the other anima-mates as well, in my fanfic only though. Treat the real anima-mates in Sailor Stars however NT treats them. A few instances of Kimagure Orange Road (KOR) in here. For those who don't know, the Japanese voice actor for Kasuga Kyousuke (I reversed his name in the story above) is Furuya Tohru. He is also the voice actor for Tuxedo Kamen (Tuxedo Mask). Hence, the pun when Lead Crow remarked how Kyousuke's voice sounded familiar. Andre Garde (a.k.a. Veritech) | Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Sailor Team HQ! veritech@cryogen.com | http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/5991 "Sailor Moon" character names et. al. are Copyright (C) Naoko Takeuchi, Toei Animation, and Kodansha. In other words, companies with big wallets and a collection of high-priced lawyers who aren't to be trifled with. The story is MINE, Copyright (C) 1996 ME, but everything else (the characters, the names) is theirs, theirs, theirs. Please don't sue me.