/^\ __________________/ \__________________ / \ / \ / ____ _ __ ____ \ / /___ / \/ / /__ \ / ____/ ailor / / oon /____ ternity \ \ / \ A series by Lucas Bates / \ Based on the show by Naoko Takeuchi / \ / \__________________ __________________/ \ / \ / /--------------------------\ / EPISODE 1: \ < > \ The Encounter / \--------------------------/ -**- They existed in a different reality. One different from the one we know so well. They were the opposites. Like looking in a mirror, and finding the world on the other side is the exact opposite. The blonde-haired ruler sat on her throne, and nodded. One left to send a surprise to that other reality. The invasion had begun. -**- Michiru Kaiou finished her violin solo. The audience applauded her fine playing. She didn't have to play at this charity performance, but Michiru thought that playing would help some needy families. It was more or less a talent show, but she wasn't in it for a prize. Truth be told, there was a large audience for the show. A few other people had been up performing songs, and so on. Some more were going to tell jokes and do some magic tricks. Michiru took a bow and stepped off the stage. Behind the curtains, she laid her violin in its case on a table. Haruka Ten'ou stepped up behind her without her knowing, and placed her hands across Michiru's eyes. "Guess who!" "Hmm... It wouldn't be Usagi-chan, would it?" Michiru decided to have a little fun with Haruka. Haruka removed her hands, and Michiru turned around. "Usagi-chan?" Haruka asked. Michiru merely gave her a smile. Haruka shook her head. "Go back to your seat, Haruka-san. There's not much left to the show." Haruka was wearing a shirt and tie, and dress pants. Michiru herself had chosen a blue dress. "What's left to watch? I already saw what I wanted to see." Michiru turned Haruka around, and gave her a little shove. "Get back to your seat before I have to beat up on you." "You wouldn't do that to me, would you?" "Try me, Haruka." Michiru was wearing a deadpan expression. Haruka grinned, and said, "All right, all right. I'll go back. Good luck!" -**- Usagi Tsukino was getting bored. Some of these performances were getting rather boring. Michiru had already played her piece, and so far had gotten the most applause. She looked around at some of her companions. Ami Mizuno had secretly brought a book with her so she could read in between performances, and was now reading; Rei Hino had her arms across her chest and was watching intently; Makoto Kino and Minako Aino were having quiet debates in between performances on some odd topic; Haruka Ten'ou had just gone backstage to see Michiru, and was now returning; Setsuna Meiou was talking with Chibi-Usa. The MC came back to the mike to announce yet another performer, someone who was going to do a comedy routine. It wasn't half bad. Some of the jokes pulled a couple of laughs from Ami. The rest of the crowd kind of liked it too. The MC returned to announce a performer for the last time. This was the magic act, Usagi figured. His performance lasted about 10 minutes. It wasn't too bad, either. He did a card trick, and did a disappearing trick. The crowd rather enjoyed it. FInally, the MC came onto the stage to announce the winner. He brought all of the contestants out onto the stage. "We would like to thank everyone who entered. It was a great evening. Give them a hand!" The audience applauded as all of the contestants bowed. The emcee took an envelope from the judges. "The winner for this year's talent show is... Michiru Kaiou!" Michiru stepped forward, and took another bow. The emcee gave her a trophy, and her prize, a gift certificate at a local mall. As the show finished, people began leaving the auditorium. Usagi and the others waited in the lobby for their friend. About ten minutes later, Michiru came out. All of them congratulated her. Michiru thanked them. As the group of nine left the lobby, Setsuna made a suggestion. "Why don't we all go out for dinner to celebrate Michiru-san's victory?" "Sounds great!" Agreed Usagi, who was more or less a walking bottomless pit. She rarely refused food. The large group walked down the street. It wasn't too late at night, so there were still lots of people walking around. They had turned onto the street where the restaurant they were going to was. Suddenly, Rei stopped. Everyone turned to look at her. Her eyes were darting around suspiciously. "There's something not quite right..." A very loud noise forced everyone to cover their ears. From out of nowhere, a very odd-looking monster appeared in the middle of the street. What was most odd-looking about it was the fact that it looked like Siamese twins. The thing started lashing out with little whips. They wrapped around people on the street and started glowing. "It's draining their energy!" Ami said. "I think we should do something about this, don't you?" Makoto asked the rest of them. They all nodded. They hid their things in a nearby alley. The thing was pretty much a youma. It turned around, and noticed them. That was when the Senshi transformed. Ami thrust her hand up in the air. "Mercury Star Power, Make Up!" Blue lights colored her fingers as she grabbed her transformation wand. "Mars Star Power, Make Up!" "Jupiter Star Power, Make Up!" "Venus Star Power, Make Up!" Once the Inner Senshi had transformed, the Outer Senshi took it upon themselves the transform. Haruka went first. "Uranus Planet Power, Make Up!" When she said "up", she grabbed the wand which was floating in the air. "Neptune Planet Power, Make Up!" "Pluto Planet Power, Make Up!" Then Chibi-Usa and Usagi had their turn. "Moon Prism Power, Make Up!" "Moon Cosmic Power, Make Up!" With all of the Senshi transformed, the youma seemed genuinely shocked. "Stop *right* there!" Sailor Moon yelled. "These people are not here to be drained of their energy! You're in for it now!" It released the whip-like things that were around the people. "I am the soldier for love and justice, Sailor Moon!" The rest of the Senshi introduced themselves. The youma only responded by splitting in two. Then the part that was missing on each half grew back. The youma did this a few times, until there were more of it than there were Senshi. The Sailor Senshi took a defensive stance. The youmas charged them. Sailor Mercury held her gloved hands out in front of her. "Bubble... SPRAY!!" Thousands of bubbles flew forth from Sailor Mercury. The bubbles made most of the youmas stop. The rest seemed unaffected. Sailor Chibi-Moon whipped out her wand. "Pink...Sugar...Heart...ATTACK!" Pink sugar hearts flew around the youmas that weren't stopped by Mercury's bubbles. Their arms flailed about in front of them, trying to stop the sugar. Sailor Pluto took advantage of the distraction. She held the Time Staff in the air. "Dead Scream." she said quietly. A ball of energy formed on the end of her staff, and shot towards the youmas affected by Chibi- Moon's pink hearts. They disappeared in a large flash of light. Sailor Mercury saw that the other youmas were breaking free. "Be careful everyone! They're waving off the bubbles!" Sailor Uranus held her hand in the air is if to grab something. A yellow globe of light formed around her hand. She shouted "World Shaking!" and thrust the ball of light into the ground. It flew at the youmas, and they too disappeared. "Let the power of fire get these things!" Sailor Mars said. "Burning... Mandala!" Small rings of fire shot from her hands and hit some of the still-multiplying youmas. Sailor Neptune held her hands above her head. Water was flowing around her. "Deep Submerge!" A ball of blue light struck most of the monsters. "Sparkling Wide Pressure!" Sailor Jupiter threw a small disc of electricity at the monsters. It enveloped them, and knocked them to the ground. Sailor Venus held her arm in front of her and took advantage of the monsters' temporary situation. "Crescent...Beam!!" The beam hit all of the youmas that were on the ground, and some more. "Time to finish these things off once and for all." Sailor Moon yelled. "Moon...Spiral...Heart...ATTACK!" She held the wand above her head, and long threads with hearts on them emanated from the wand. Unfortunately for the multiple monsters, they got in the way of the threads. One by one, they were crushed by large hearts. Each one writhed and exploded in smoke. They were gone. The street was still awfully quiet. The Senshi looked around, but saw no movement whatsoever. The people who had the energy drained from them still weren't moving. Something didn't seem right. A light appeared in the darkness. It was a few metres in front of the Senshi. Throught the small light, they could make out a pair of eyes. Ami pulled out her computer, and analyzed this odd phenomena. It began to speak. "Greetings, Sailor Senshi of the planet Earth," a female voice began. "I see you were able to defeat Split Personalities. No small feat, mind you." "Who are you?" Rei demanded. "You will find out in all due time, I'm afraid. Because you responded to the threat provided by Split Personalities, we were able to lock onto your energy signals much more easily." Flashes of light emanated from the "portal" where the eyes seemed to be. Everyone but Chibi-Usa transformed back to their normal selves. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a brand new planet and dimension to take over. See you later..." The eyes disappeared, leaving everyone in a very confused state. "What was that all about?" a mystefied Mako asked. "I wish I knew." Setsuna replied. The Senshi stared at the empty part of the street where the eyes had once been, and wondered what they had gotten into. -**- To be continued in Episode 2: The Revelation.