Story: Tainted Cube: Sailor Harem

Here it is, and I hope you enjoy it!


Of all the people to acquire a piece of the cube, Ataru Moroboshi was by some margin the most well attuned to its perverted nature. That boy held little self restraint when it came to the opposite sex. Deep down at the core he was a sort of kind of maybe if you squint a little bit decent person maybe, but that boy had some serious flaws. Kind of hard to blame him in a way. The universe took great delight in taking a dump all over him from a great height, and was particularly inventive about it as well.

He had but a single lifelong dream, which he would often visualise as a sort of payback for all the bullshit he regularly had to put up with. He wanted a harem. He wanted girls, girls, girls. All madly in love with him, him and him and not one of them particularly minding if they shared or not. It is this writer’s opinion that this sounds quite the exhausting prospect, but Ataru was nothing if not full of life and energy. If anyone could keep up with a collection of girls, well, he’d be somewhere in the list for certain.

It’s a funny thing, really. Almost all seven of the others would in some way acquire a sort of harem. They would gather girls around them who would fall madly, insanely in love with them, with the obvious problem being that they would each want their man all to themselves. Some of these harems were overt, others were a little more subtle, but they almost universally had one in some form or other…

So Usagi Tsukino, the one and only girl of the whole lot of them, would be the one to get that little universal and historical revision, now wouldn’t she?

<hr>
In a time long ago, in a kingdom dead for eons, there was a castle. Within this castle there were many bedrooms, four of which were unoccupied by habit even though they still did have people that theoretically were supposed to sleep in the beds within. Not a single one did, typically, but the rooms were there just in case they were needed.

It was far more normal to find the four intended occupants of those rooms sleeping somewhere quite different entirely. Within a fifth bedroom which had a particularly large bed and soundproofed walls. This was a room befitting a princess. The princess of the Moon had a rather peculiar habit of sleeping in the nude, and without bedclothes. This was not to say that she was by any means cold. After all, the similarly naked forms of four other girls, each clinging to her and to each other made it quite certain that none of them felt the remotest chill. Indeed, it was more usual to find them drenched in sweat than shivering.

These four were in a sense her bodyguards, and they took their job titles a little more seriously than perhaps originally envisioned. Each of them had taken the duty quite stoically at first, a responsibility to be maintained for the good of all… But none of them had even dreamed that their charge had such a naturally seductive nature. None of them could have dreamed that they would all fall head over heels in love with her, one by one, and find themselves unable to resist the call to her bed.

None of them could have dreamed this would be how it would turn out. Now none of them could imagine otherwise.

Yet that day would inevitably come. Nothing truly lasts forever.

In this case the end came about when that beautiful princess met a man every bit as charming and charismatic as herself. The two swept each othet off their feet, leaving the two of them tumbling about atop one another on more than just a few occasions. This may lead one to conclude that the girls all grew jealous of the attention the princess was giving this man, yet it was a peculiar matter. None did at all. All truth told, they were very happy for their beloved princess. None of them had ever seen her so happy, and besides which, they too enjoyed his company.

No, they were not the inevitable cause of this magnificent kingdom’s collapse, though in truth this relationship did sow the seeds of jealousy. Her name was Beryl and, blinded by her adoration for that man, she sold her soul to ruinous powers and turned against the very place she once called home…

But that was a long time ago and the people involved are long since dead. What concern have we of such matters in the here and now?
<hr>
It had seemed like such a good idea at the time. Really. It had. Lose a little weight, get a little exercise done, head into a strange and mysterious pod to facilitate both. Seemed perfectly sensible to her. Right? In they went, out they came, feeling like they’d run a marathon. Must’ve worked. Right? They could come back tomorrow and do it again until they were healthy.

Especially if it meant seeing that cute guy running the place each visit. That was something Naru could certainly do with!

… Except it wasn’t quite that neat and not nearly that tidy. No. Of course it wasn’t. By sheer chance Naru happened to overhear that same owner when she was late one day, saying something to the effect of: “That’s right, foolish human girls! Feed the Negaverse all your youthful energy! Feed it! Feed it more!”

… Which was right about the time she tried to run and he in turn tried to tear her head clean from her shoulders. The only reason she was even still alive was something hitting the handsome creep right in the face at the last possible moment.

“Not so fast!” a voice declared, prompting Naru to turn around to behold an angel come down from heaven. Her personal guardian angel, because nothing on earth could be that beautiful. Sure, the sailor fuku was a bit of an odd dress choice, and there was something oddly familiar about the hairstyle, but right about now Naru was more than a little bit desperate for help no matter who it comes from.

“I am Sailor Moon, Champion of Justice! I right wrongs, and triumph over evil! In the name of the Moon, I will punish you.”

The owner leaped past Naru to attack Sailor Moon, and Naru remembered to breathe in again. Breathe in! The other trainers swarmed towards Sailor Moon, blocking off the exit… while leaving the way back down to the pods clear. Heart pounding in her chest, Naru backed off the way she’d come and was downstairs letting out the other girls and Miss Haruna. If Sailor Moon could fight, then so could she in her own small way!

<hr>
How does this keep happening to her? This must be the third time this week she’d run into something like this. First that weird dream at the shop, then the gym, now this contest was going loopy. It was like she couldn’t stop herself from singing and dancing, like her competitive spirit was being driven through the roof and oh! But her muscles felt like they were being pulled out of her body! She was barely able to sneak a look at the girl next to her and could see tears forming in her eyes. They were all being affected just the same way!

“The curtain is closed on this bogus competition! Give those people back their energy!”

That voice! She recognised that voice! That was -

“I’m Sailor Moon, champion of justice! On behalf of the Moon, I right wrongs and triumph over evil! That means you!”

Elation! Pure elation in the form of a sailor fuku-wearing guardian angel! Naru could swear she was feeling drool forming around her mouth at the sight of the cute girl in the tiny skirt that kept on saving her life, but - Ugh! Stupid dance routine! It was keeping her from seeing the fight! All she knew was that the presenter had turned into some kinda glassy monster and seemed to be spewing something weird out of her mouth that Sailor Moon was having a hell of a time dodging.

“Oh no, she got me! I can’t move!” Sailor Moon yelled. Not entirely an encouraging sound under the circumstances. Look, some of the others were even starting to pass out, but were still performing where they slept! What a terrible spell to be under! Come to think of it, Naru was starting to fade as well, but she couldn’t just give in now. Not when Sailor Moon needed help! She just had to work out some way to get to her, help her somehow. She would get free and then she’d say something like -

“You must believe in yourself, Sailor Moon!”

Yes, just like that except way less masculine. Where did that voice come from anyway? Naru was having a hard time seeing much as it was. So where did -

“Moon Tiara Magic!”

There was a blinding flash of light, and suddenly everyone was sprawled out on the floor gasping for breath. No sign of the monster. No sign of Sailor Moon. No sign of much of anything at all, really.

“What happened?” Umino asked, scratching his head in confusion.

“What a weird dream, huh?” Naru replied. She staggered onto shaky legs and stumbled towards the exit, not particularly wanting to deal with the fallout of all this. To her great surprise she found Usagi leaning against a lamppost outside, obviously waiting for her in a surprising act of patience.

“Naru! How did it go? I tried to come visit, but they wouldn’t let me in!”

Whatever answer she might have concocted didn’t come out. All she did was collapse against her best friend and cry. Usagi didn’t ask any questions, a fact that Naru was extremely grateful about. She didn’t even know how she would begin to answer them.
<hr>
It was that same night and Naru couldn’t sleep a wink. The same images kept flashing through her mind time and time again. A girl her own age wearing a mostly blue and white sailor fuku. Gorgeous. Brave. Not the fake kind of brave either. The kind where she was clearly scared, but fought anyway. Fought to protect people. Fought to protect her.

A fist made a futile thump against her pillow. No good taking it out on that. If anything it was her own unconscious mind that kept throwing images of that hero her way, keeping her awake. For whatever reason she felt ungodly warm. It was like sleeping in a sauna tonight for some reason! The night air didn’t seem particularly hot or anything; in point of fact, the only hot thing she’d really noticed were her own idle thoughts about -

No, no, no! Don’t think like that! It’s just, you know, a typical response to being repeatedly rescued by someone from mortal danger, the kind of thing you see on television all the time. Naru twisted and turned around to lie on her back, staring up at the ceiling. She needed to empty her mind. That was the ticket. Yeah. She’d stare at the tiny little bumps on the ceiling and try to do a little impromptu meditation. Yeah. That’d send her to sleep. Or she’d start seeing images in the bumps, like… Over there was a dog. And there was a star. And there was Naru with her face buried underneath Sailor Moon’s skirt, and there was -

“Ah!” Naru gasped, suddenly realising that her traitorous hand had somehow managed to creep down her body, crawling close against her skin until it found its way underneath the waistband on her pyjama trousers. This was not a particularly dignified or useful position to get some sleep in, so she tried to make a simple request for the hand to extract itself from that location post haste.

The immediate response was “Nah, like it here.”

The point was rather hard to argue. Particularly when her index finger moved just <i>so</i> and brushed up against - ooh! - that! Do it again! Better still, add another finger, the one was just too slender to get anything really done here.

And that’s how Naru found herself lying on her side furiously pumping two fingers inside herself while chewing on the thumb of her other hand. It was the only way she could think of not to scream the name of her hero and bring the roof down on her head in the process.

<hr>
It was not so much that the room itself was dark, per se, and more as if light scurried away from it as fast as its considerable speed could manage. To describe the room as malevolent did it a disservice. It would be far more apt to describe malevolence as this room.

Within this gloomy chamber there were two figures. The first was a woman with flowing red hair and an orange tint to her eyes. Her skin was pale, almost to the point of appearing green. In her own way and in her own time, this woman might have appeared quite beautiful. Might have. If not for that pesky hint of pure, unrelenting evil oozing from every pore of her very being. Long pointed ears, angular face that naturally rested into a prideful smirk. Yes. She could have been beautiful, really she could have been, if she hadn’t been so dead set on being the living embodiment of a young witch stereotype.

Her name was Queen Beryl, and she was Not Pleased with the handsome young man standing in front of her.

“Another failure, Jadeite?” Beryl said, not even deigning to raise her head from the crystal in front of her. “This simply will not do at all. Assuming you still intend to redeem yourself, you absolutely must do something about this Sailor Moon.

“Or better yet, discover the source of that mysterious energy. It has appeared once again, it seems. Have you found any trace of it?”

The blonde-haired young man known as Jadeite bowed stiffly, and issued his report. “Alas, my youma have found no trace, though we did also detect the burst of energy you just mentioned. After much discussion, we have realised that it is most certainly not the Silver Crystal, but something else of comparable power. While I have several working tirelessly to discover even the faintest thread to tug upon, I fear that this mystery will elude us for a while longer.

“In the meantime, I have discovered the means by which to harvest a new energy source. Many young students will do anything for scholastic accomplishment, providing us with a rich opportunity to drain them of energy.”

“That does sound promising. Carry on.”

“Forgive me, but there is one other matter that may be worth our attention. Though it may be a coincidence, any possible avenue of investigation should be considered if we are to locate the mysterious energy source.”

Beryl’s eyes flickered up towards Jadeite, and for the briefest moment he feared for his very existence. “You should have brought this up earlier,” Beryl said. “Speak.”

“We first detected the mysterious release during our attempt to feast upon the energy given by greedy jewel shoppers. Approximately a week has passed by since then, and in a peculiar coincidence there has been a common factor among most of the schemes I have enacted since then. A particular girl, who happens to be the daughter of the woman Morga was disguised as during the jewelry scheme.”

Beryl smiled triumphantly and, in a stroke of pure coincidence, several thousand mammals spontaneously stared due south in a state of abject terror. “Excellent work, Jadeite! Perhaps you are not quite the fool I thought you were! Have the girl under constant surveillance. A coincidence of this nature is too much for us to readily ignore!”

Jadeite gave another stiff bow. “I won’t fail you, my queen,” he said, and then turned smartly on his heels and strode out of the room.
<hr>
The corridors of this school were nothing remotely special by any means, and most of the students within were very typical Japanese youths. Some were a little smarter than the others, some were a little stupider. Some were a little prettier than others, some were a little uglier. Some had a boyfriend, others a girlfriend, others were too introverted to do much more than pine from afar.

And yet there was one student that stood above the others and did so like the most radiant beacon. It was not that she wanted the attention; far from it, in fact. She was a quiet girl and if anything that was her biggest problem. The other students heard things like “smartest student in the country,” and leaped to some rather inaccurate conclusions. “What’s the point in talking to her?” they would think. “She’s probably only interested in talking to other geniuses” or “Her hobbies are probably really boring” or “I bet she’s some kinda snob. She’d only make friends with me to poke a little fun at the stupid people.”

Except that these could not be further from the truth. Ami was not that cruel, not that desperate for minds alike to her own to communicate with. Any friend would do. Anyone willing to talk to her, make her laugh, maybe, just <i>talk</i> to her for a little bit. That would do nicely. Just about anyone would do, really. So long as they were decent people she really wouldn’t mind at all. She could easily become interested in almost any hobby, because there’s always something downright fascinating about any topic if you’re willing to take a deep enough look. And boy, Ami could certainly do that!

They just didn’t understand, and Ami wasn’t sure she could help them do so either. Even at her former school she couldn’t bring herself to make friends. No matter what she did or who she talked to, even those geniuses were envious of her for making them look bad. Now, that might sound a bit arrogant or conceited but it was the truth! She’d overheard them gossiping about her. It wasn’t really anything that could be taken out of context either. It’s difficult to grab the wrong end of the stick when the stick has “Mizuno is such an arrogant bitch. Always looking down on us like we’re ants, always making our grades look like shit.” engraved on it in big golden letters.

“You’re just jealous because she’s a brain,” a girl said a little in front of her.

“Yeah, now you look really dumb in comparison!” another said.

“Hehe, in truth I am looking forward to a scholastic challenge for once,” a boy with huge glasses replied to the two, brushing off their gentle prods at his ego.

“Maybe she’s not that special,” one of the girls said. “Maybe she got kicked out of her last school?”

Ami sighed. This was not going to be easy at all, was it? Maybe she really was better sticking with her books after all.

<hr>
On the other side of the scholastic scale, Usagi Tsukino was busy building a permanent residence. Those closest to her were currently working off the theory that if she concentrated on a single thing for more than ten minutes, her brain might leak out her ears. Her imagination was constantly on a sugar high, and it hadn’t exactly gotten all that less hyperactive upon learning that she was a Real Live Superhero that fought Real Live Monsters on a regular basis, and had regular run-ins with a Hot Love Interest on a regular basis. That sort of thing would turn even the most sluggish of thought into a wide-eyed dreamer overnight. In Usagi’s case it was a wonder she even reacted when people said her name.

Hell, these days she couldn’t even see a tuxedo go by without putting serious thought into finding a little private time.

Oh, now Usagi wasn’t usually one for lustful urges, instead favouring the more romantic side of things. She’d always wanted to be swept off her feet, carried off into the sunset on horseback by a dashing prince, been brought awake from some spell by a kiss, had her hair scaled to free her from a tower, etc.

Odd thing was, now that she had it… all she could think of doing was mounting him. Just locking the door, throwing him onto the bed and riding him until she fainted of exhaustion. Stuff dancing, stuff the flowers, stuff the sweet words and poetry; Usagi had needs and she had to have them filled.

So was it any wonder her revision went exactly nowhere and went there fast?

Now, she’s not exactly the smartest girl around, but Usagi is just about smart enough (just about) to engage in a little pattern recognition. So, she didn’t exactly let this idle - if embarrassing - alteration to her usual thought processes go without further consideration. She had been paying attention over the last week or so, and had come to some interesting conclusions. Particularly, for whatever reason, it appeared that each time she transformed either into Sailor Moon or used that transformation pen thingy Luna had given her, someone showed up with a comically large shot of adrenaline and injected it <i>right about</i> directly into her libido. The effect wasn’t really noticeable while transformed for some reason, but a little while after she’d transformed back to normal… Yeah, that was when it hit her. Pretty damn hard. Like a truck. It sort of made finding privacy when changing back even more important than it obviously was, because, hell, one day she might lose all sense of self control and that was not the kind of headline she was hoping Sailor Moon would wind up making.

It was getting so bad that she’d started Noticing girls as well as guys. It was kind of odd, really; she’d never thought so much about what it might be like to rest her head between an ample pair of breasts or perhaps lick cream off an erect nipple. Nor had the familiar curvaceous shape of the female form particularly fascinating her.

Take Naru, for instance. (God, yes, that would be so much fun!) The girl had such an aura of innocent helplessness that Usagi just wanted to hold her and tell her it would be alright.

“Hello, kitty! What are you doing here? My goodness, that’s a peculiar mark. However did you get that?”

… And then there was that new girl, bending over in the middle of the street right in front of her. After a moment committing the sight to memory, Usagi shook her head clear. Bad girl! Bad! No staring at the genius’s cute little butt, no matter how perfectly formed and enticing it might be - Stop that! Goodness, Usagi, this really is getting to you, isn’t it! Now, stop thinking about sex and get over there to talk to the genius talking to, playing with and stroking your pussy!

… Not helping!

<hr>
It was such a shame her apartment wouldn’t permit pets, it really was. A cute little cat like this would make for perfect companionship. Not to mention the perfect opportunity to discreetly study domesticated feline behaviour firsthand; but still, the companionship thing would be pretty fun as well. Cats wouldn’t judge or make jokes or talk about you behind your back. They wouldn’t think you were a snob or that you were looking down on them. If anything, they’d look down on you for not being a cat! This one did seem particularly intelligent, it must be said. Almost human-like in its expressiveness.

“Luna!” a voice behind her called. Ami turned around to see a girl from her class, the one with blonde hair tied up into a pair of buns on either side of her head. “Hi there! Sorry if my pussy… I mean, pussycat was disturbing you.”

“Not at all,” Ami replied, handing the little kitty back over to its owner. “It’s Usagi, right? I’m Ami. Pleased to meet you.”

The two of them began to walk down the street side by side. Well, wasn’t this pleasant? If nothing else Usagi didn’t seem all that intimidated or put off. Maybe the two of them could turn into really great friends? It would be nice to have someone to talk to…

“You want me to show you around?” Usagi asked. “I mean, if you’re new to the neighborhood, it might be nice to know where everything is, you know?”

“That would be helpful, thank you.” Ami smiled at her classmate. She seemed so charming and helpful, had an almost natural and effortless charisma about her that Ami couldn’t help but open up for her. “Where is the library?”

“Pft, why would you wanna know where that is?” Usagi chuckled to herself. “That’s such a boring place, you know?”

“Not really, not at all!” Ami said, surprising herself a little with how emotional that outburst was. “Whole worlds exist within books. You can use the words you’re reading to construct people and places within your own mind, explore fascinating thoughts and - And I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to raise my voice like that.”

“You raised your voice?” Usagi tilted her head and blinked at her in minor confusion. “Oh. I mean, it’s okay! I guess different people like different things, after all.”

“So… if you don’t like reading, what do you do in your spare time?”

It was a pretty valid question, really. Ami didn’t have much experience in other hobbies, but she was certainly eager to learn. While she loved getting lost in a good book there was only so much companionship she could extract from ink and paper. Someone like Usagi was just the sort she needed. Someone that wouldn’t treat her differently just because she happened to be a genius. Someone who would treat her as just another girl. A real friend. A real friend she could talk to with a genuine beautiful smile that Ami could stare at for hours at a time…

Suddenly Usagi started to giggle for no apparent reason, and said “Don’t be silly!”

“Huh? I’m sorry, did I say something strange?”

“Not you, not you! It’s my cat. Luna was just nibbling on my ear, is all. Ah! Here we go! This is more like it! This is where I like to hang out after school!”

Ami stared up at the sign hanging above her. The Game Center Crown. An arcade? Well, she’d never really played games like this before, but there was a first time for everything.
<hr>
Naru should be revising. Should be. The test was tomorrow and this was her final chance to get a spot of revision done. So she should be revising, but - Ugh! She got out of her seat and paced around the room, wringing her hands. Her anxious, tension-filled hands. It was a funny thing, really. Hands were such versatile parts of the body. Four fingers and a thumb on each with several joints permitting multiple possible variations of use. You can, say, push a button, grip a rope, hold a pencil, wave at someone across a crowded room.

Or you could strip off all your clothes, lie back and… Yeah. You can do that too. Naru let out a noise rather similar in tone to a strangled whimper and tried in vain not to finish the thought.

“What’s wrong with me today?” she asked nobody in particular. “It wasn’t so bad at school, but now- Ugh! I can’t sit still!”

Maybe it was because she wasn’t all alone at school. Maybe it was simply that the temptation wasn’t present because there were so many people all around her. Maybe it was because there was a greater presence of external stimulus distracting her from these dirty filthy perverted musings that made her feel so <i>naughty</i> like she should be <i>punished</i> and -

“Stop that! Get a hold of yourself!” Naru slapped her cheeks - the ones on her face, thankyouverymuch - and tried to concentrate on something else. Anything would do! Just stop thinking and fantasising about that luscious, long-legged temptress that keeps on saving your life!

Never before had the sound of a doorbell ringing so given the sensation of relief to anyone in the history of the world as it did to Naru at that moment in time. She skipped downstairs like she was possessed and almost threw the door open with the most genuine and heartfelt smile upon her face. A smile that widened just a little bit more when she found a (strangely familiar) handsome blonde-haired man standing on the other side.

“I do apologise for intruding, Miss Osaka, but I was wondering if you might be able to help me locate a misplaced item. Can I come in?”

“W-Well, what sort of item is it? I really shouldn’t let strangers into the house like this… So…”

The strange man laughed at some personal joke and shook his head as if admonishing her for some mistake. “Oh, my dear girl, you misunderstood me,” he said, pushing her back into the house with a tremendous, frightening strength. “That was a rhetorical question. Please sit down….”

<hr>
So this was an arcade? It was quite the experience. Each machine had rather obvious marketing gimmicks scrawled all over them, exciting names promising breathtaking adventure, brand names promising the opportunity to play as your favourite hero, all while emblazoned with colours and logos that stood out from the others in an attempt to persuade visitors to part ways with just a few dozen coins in exchange for a few minutes with this machine instead of the others.

A bit cynical to realise, but hey, that was just market forces at work. Gotta stand out from the competition and all that. Besides which, Usagi seemed to be -

“Booyah! New personal high score!”

- Enjoying herself quite a lot. Sure, she hadn’t even placed within the top twenty scores but she did say <i>personal</i> high score.

“Would you like to have a try?” Usagi asked all of a sudden, rising from her seat to make an offering gesture. “This is my favourite game.”

Ami didn’t even really hesitate in taking her up on that offer. “Well, I’ve never really played any of these before, but sure, why not?” It looked like fun, and there wasn’t really anything wrong in trying out new experiences like this. If she didn’t like it, well then, that was a learning experience in and of itself.

The controls flashed up on the screen. It seemed straightforward enough, and Ami’s brilliant memory almost casually filed it away for later use. Alright then. Time to get this game star-

“Since it’s your first time, I’ll give you a little advice,” Usagi suddenly said, leaning down to peer over Ami’s shoulder at the screen in front of them. “First thing, if you see a wall with a V on it, you can destroy it and -”

And all of a sudden Ami found herself hit by the strangest, most intoxicating aroma she’d ever experienced in her life. In an odd little quirk, it happened to remind Ami of several things. First and foremost the powerful connection between aroma and memory, but secondly…

It was indistinct, which was surprising given that her memory was usually pretty faultless. Either way, certain images did filter through. She could see the most beautiful sunrise that almost seemed to catch the sky itself alight. The effect was intensified by the refraction of light through the gentle fog and the reflection upon the surface of a frozen pond that lay in front of her. Ami found herself staring down at this wonder and shivered. Not due to the cold, though she should have considering her garments did not even begin to offer the minutest of protection from the elements. She never shivered due to the cold for she never felt it. Instead, her reaction was due to the figure skating on the pond below.

A lone female figure wrapped up much warmer than Ami was. A lone figure that was perhaps a little clumsy, but continuously picked herself back up again and again. Determined to get it right. Towards this figure Ami felt tremendous responsibility. To protect. To educate. She felt tremendous respect for this girl’s bravery and good nature. She felt something else as well that she knew she should not feel. A deep and abiding love that warmed the heart.

The figure lost control over herself and began to skate around with wildly flapping arms, and Ami leaped through the air in a manner quite impossible for the human body to accomplish. She arrived shortly in front of the figure, and was easily able to capture her in her arms.

“Are you safe?” Ami remembered asking, only now able to recall how similar this girl looked to Usagi.

“I am,” Usagi answered. “Thank you. Please, take this reward.”

The Usagi in her memory suddenly reached up and gave her a simple kiss on the lips. Just a peck and nothing more. The sensation lingered a moment and the two girls seperated just a fraction, enough to stare one another in the eyes from inches away… And then the two of them lunged for one another, full of hunger and passion, and the next parts of the memory were lost in a haze of wonder and sensation, only coming to an end when Usagi cradled the back of her head and said -

“Wow! Are you sure that was your first time?”

The silence was deafening, and Ami found her eyes focusing on an electronic screen directly in front of her. It featured a series of numbers, twenty in all, each with three letters next to them save the one at the very top which had but three blinking lines. For a moment something seemed quite peculiar, and Ami found herself straining her ears to determine what it was. But she couldn’t hear anything, so what was -

Oh, of course. She couldn’t hear anything.

Ami turned around to see that everyone in the entire arcade had stopped to watch her play. Appropriately enough she turned beet red on the spot. So many people watching her like that, and she didn’t even notice!

“Did - Did I do alright?” she asked, trying not to meet anyone’s eyes.

“Alright?! You maxed out the score!” Usagi whistled in disbelief. “Nobody’s ever gonna beat that. You are incredible!”

“Thanks, I-” Ami trailed off as her wandering vision happened to catch sight of a clock on the back wall. “ Wait… That can’t be the time, surely! Oh gosh, I’m sorry, I have to leave! I’ll be so terribly late! Thanks again, Usagi, I’d like to speak to you again tomorrow!”

Usagi watched the genius leave, gave a casual glance down at her cat and said “Okay, sure, she’s a little weird. But that doesn’t mean anything. Got it?!”

The cat merely scowled in response, and Usagi noticed that something had fallen on the ground. She picked it up, stared at it for a moment and soon found the name “Ami” written on it. “Must have fallen out of her bag,” Usagi said with a weary sigh. “I’d better get after her and give it back.”

<hr>
The compulsion was overwhelming this time. For reasons he could not hope to understand and a rationale that defied logic, Mamoru found himself staring at a particular building in rapt concentration. It was as though some unknown sense was flaring up deep within, warning him of danger. A cram school of all places. There was something intangible about it, something rotten in the air. A scent he could not smell, a certain kind of wrongness in the atmosphere.

Something within the building was the purest form of evil.

Mamoru sharply turned on his heels and stalked away before he could draw any attention to himself, but his gaze kept lingering over his shoulders at the malevolent feeling building behind him. There was little doubt in his mind that he would be returning later on to investigate this place. Just as he knew that there was something evil lurking within those walls, preying upon the innocent, he knew deep in his heart that he would meet -

He came to a complete stop and almost collapsed against a nearby wall. That girl. She haunted his every sleeping thought and so many of his waking ones. She was part of the answer to so many lingering questions about himself and his past, and yet he also knew that even were those suspicions not true he would ache to be near her with all of his being. To brush his hand against her face would be purest ecstasy. To hold her, bliss. To kiss her -

“Uh, mister? Are you alright?”

Mamoru blinked a deep set of blinks and felt the walls of reality come back around him. There was a boy staring up at him with concern in his eyes, but even so Mamoru felt wary. There was a stench of evil about him and - No!

He stumbled forward slightly, resting momentarily on the boy before righting himself with the help of the young student. “Thank you, it was just a brief dizzy spell,” Mamoru said. “Don’t worry, I think that’s the worst of it… I should be able to make it home by myself.”

“Are you sure? You seem pretty weak.”

“Quite certain. Thank you again!”

The boy shrugged and walked away, doubtless casting worried glances back at him as they went their separate ways. Once Mamoru was around the corner, he fell back against it, this time deliberately so that he could ensure nobody was watching him from behind… Check left, check right, nobody there. Only then did he retrieve the disc he had lifted from the boy’s pocket. A disc positively soaking in an evil aura. Well well then! Time to get his own computer out and see what exactly is going on in that cram school….

<hr>
Where the hell was this cram school supposed to be, anyway? Ugh. If not for the fact that Ami probably needed this thing back and quickly, Usagi would never go anywhere near the place. Too much school was bad for her. She knew it in her heart of hearts. After all, if she was supposed to be some kind of superhero why did she even need school?

“Be careful in there. It could be a trap,” Luna warned.

“Are you still on that? Get real! No way is Ami a baddie. If they were to send a spy or something, she wouldn’t stand out like some kinda super genius. You know?”

“So I see you’ve decided to add talking to yourself to your bad taste in hairstyles and lousy test scores. Quite the trilogy of errors!”

Ugh. Not this goon again! She’d been having such a great day, too. Now she had to visit a school after hours <i>and</i> deal with this immature idiot on top of everything else?

“I’ll trilogy you in a minute!” Usagi groused, continuing on her way. Just ignore him, don’t get dragged into another insult match. Wait. Did he just - “Did you just insult my hair?”

“My word, but it does take quite the while for the penny to drop in that empty little head of yours. And… My goodness, is that a computer disc? I should revise my opinion of you: Is actually intelligent enough to know how to turn a computer on.”

“Actually, if you absolutely must know, this belongs to a friend of mine. She left it in the arcade by accident, and I’m looking for her cram school so I can give it back.”

A peculiar dark look passed over the boy’s face for a moment, but just as soon as Usagi saw it he was back to that mocking grin. “I see. Well, I think I know the place you mean. I’m planning on dropping by in a little while. Would you like me to drop it off?”

“Not even! You’ll just lord it over me that you did me a favour. I’ll give it back personally, thank you very much.”

And off she stomped, whatever good mood set up by the course of the day ruined by that rude jerk. That idiotic insulter. That… That… Handsome hunk. Damn her libido! She risked a peek back past the corner she’d just stomped around and saw him standing in place, looking like he was either laughing or trying to catch his breath. Ooh! What was so damned funny about her, huh? If anyone around here was an enemy in disguise, he’d surely be it! That… That… Damned libido! Stop lusting after him! Focus focus focus!

“For a second there I thought he’d heard me,” Luna whispered. “Come on. There’s an electronics shop just across the street. We can at least check out what’s on that thing before giving it back.”

“Huh? You want me to invade my friend’s privacy? That doesn’t sound particularly heroic.”

“Don’t make me bite you.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

<hr>
Class today had been kind of odd for reasons Ami was having a lot of trouble putting her finger on. While it was true that she had forgotten her disc, that was entirely unrelated to the observation. Were the questions too easy? No, not particularly. No more than normal. Were they too challenging? Hardly. What was this peculiar feeling? Like a sensation of danger all around her. The air tasted of lethargy, and -

All of a sudden the door flew open, and a blonde woman in a white coat strode into the room full of purpose and focus. “Who is in charge around here?” she asked, scanning the room for any sign of the teacher. She wouldn’t find her, since she had stepped out for a few minutes.

“I am while the teacher is gone,” Ami said, standing up to take responsibility over the situation. “Is there some kind of emergency?” Which was one of the startling things about this particular genius. She was rather shy, she had difficulty relating to other people, but when responsibility fell upon her head she would not shirk it.

“I see,” the intruder said with an almost sad tone to her voice. “In which case, it’s time for you to meet Sailor Moon. Moon Prism Power!”

There was a flash of light that enveloped the woman completely, compelling Ami to shield her eyes… And yet for some peculiar reason that she could not hope to fathom, none of the other students so much as batted an eye. No response at all? But, light that bright should’ve induced a reflexive reaction, surely! In at least one of the other students, not just her. Ami crouched down beside the one boy sitting next to her staring mindlessly at the screen. She shook him, no response. Waved her hands in front of his face, only to have them batted away. Ami turned to look at the screen for a moment, and was overcome with the most terrible dizzy spell.

“What’s wrong with them?” she whispered. “It’s like they’ve been-”

“Brainwashed!” exclaimed a voice standing right behind her. Ami turned around to behold the sight of a young girl with an oddly familiar hairstyle. There were small tears forming in her eyes, which appeared to magnify the determination held within. “Give it up already, I know who you’re working for. Let these students go, and I’ll make it easy on you.”

“B-But I didn’t do this!” Ami exclaimed, backing away from the fuku-wearing stranger in terror. “How could I? W-Who are you?!”

“I am Sailor Moon! Champion of truth, and -”

The door opened once again, drawing the attention of both girls towards it. “Sorry I’m late!” one of the male students said; for some reason Ami never had the chance to learn his name. Or any of their names, come to think. How strange. “I lost my disc on the way over, and had to backtrack to try to find it. No luck, I’m afraid, so I’ll just have to do… without…”

He stopped mid-stride, turned back around and looked over Sailor Moon. He looked her up. He looked her down. He lingered both times on her bare legs a little longer than he perhaps should have.

“Ahem!” Sailor Moon coughed. “Brainwashed classmates? Energy-sapping computer? No, no, let’s all pause a minute to check out the Champion of Justice and her admittedly smoking hot bod. And they tell me I have lousy priorities! Ah, I mean! Depart, citizen. This place is not safe! Flee before this evil grabs your mind like it has theirs!”

“Ami, what’s all this ruckus? I just left you in charge for five minutes, and -” All eyes belonging to non-brainwashed persons fell upon the door once again, where the teacher had re-emerged. “And Sailor Moon comes to pay us a little visit. How <i>wonderful</i>!”

Right. So. In summary: She’d seen a woman that looked sort of like a school official transform into a sailor-fuku-wearing “Champion of Justice”, all her classmates were being hypnotized by their computers, and now her actual teacher had transformed into an honest to goodness (or should that be badness?) devil. You know the sort. Blood red skin, yellow eyes, fangs, the whole works.

There was but a single rational course of action available to her at this current time: Run. Run to the back of the classroom, stay down and -

And the boy wasn’t moving. He was rooted to the spot through sheer terror. Look at him, the way he’s shaking! He’s in more shock than Ami herself! It put herself at greater risk doing so, but… But she couldn’t dream of standing by like this. Not when he could so easily get hurt! Ami grabbed his hand and pulled him away with all of her adrenaline-boosted strength, pulling him down to duck underneath the desk. Alright. They just had to sit this out, while -

All of a sudden the other students rose to their feet, and the sound of dark laughter filled the room.

“What’s the matter, Sailor Moon? No good with numbers? I’m sure we can teach you how to calculate the odds, now can’t we, class?”

A quick peek around the corner revealed that the would-be hero was cornered, but she didn’t get the chance to look long before her wrists were seized by a zombified student, and both her and the boy were dragged to their feet.

“No! Let go of me! What’s going on here?!”

“Make him look at the screen already,” the monster ordered. “I don’t think I can take much more of his whining.”

The student did so, forcing him to stare right at the computer at the kind of distance that would surely play havoc on his eyesight. Ami could almost see his entire form slacken, and she knew that it would be her turn next. Sure enough, her head was being forced towards the screen, and no matter how she struggled one pair of hands were joined by another, and another, and all she could do was close her eyes. Even that wouldn’t be enough. No! Not like this! Not like-

“Huh? What is that mark?” the monster asked, and suddenly a single word alit Ami’s mind. Mercury. Roman messenger god. Toxic metallic element that is liquid at room temperature. Closest planet to the sun.

Her eyes flashed open, and a hand somehow pulled free of the students and snapped into the air just in time to catch something. Everything else came to her as naturally as solving quadratic equations. It wasn’t that the words had suddenly popped into her head. It was more like they always were there, but she simply didn’t know it until this very moment.

“Mercury Power!”

For a moment there was silence. Just a moment. Ami held the pen over her head and felt a stream of water pour out over her. It was cold, but yet she did not feel uncomfortable. It washed away her uniform and then changed into fabric that clung to her body like a leotard. The remaining water evaporated, and she was peripherally aware of a small puff of mist. Moreover, she somehow knew that the clothing she was wearing was just like Sailor Moon’s own attire.

“Well, who needs your energy anyway,” the teacher-turned-monster shrugged. “Get her, then tear her apart!”

Well, obviously. She was in the grip of hypnotised students right before she transformed, so… That did make a lot of sense. Fortunately this did not appear to be a tremendous hindrance after all, when something flew through the air and struck the computer screen in front of her, causing it to spark up and just for a moment the grip on these innocent souls to slacken. Not much of a distraction, but - a rose? How strange - it would suffice. All she needed was a moment to loosen her arms and cry out “Sabao Spray!”

After that it was simply a case of ducking and rolling out of their confused grasp. Just as she thought. They still had to rely on their senses to obey commands. A quick couple of repeats of the attack, and soon enough the entire room was filled with freezing fog.

“What is this?” the monster snarled. “It’s so cold in here all of a sudden! Where are you pests hiding!”

“Who’s hiding?” Sailor Moon said, rising out of the mists behind the monster with a firm grip on her tiara. “Turns out you’re no good with numbers either.”
<hr>
Ten minutes later on the cram school’s roof, there was the first meeting of the Sailor Senshi. Two of them for now. Though Luna promised that others would likely follow very soon.

“This is incredible,” Sailor Mercury said, staring in awe at whatever parts of herself she could see without a mirror’s aide. “I’ve never felt so… alive!”

“It’s so good to have some backup,” Sailor Moon said, stretching out her muscles in some rather distracting ways. “Just the last week was so difficult by myself. With backup things should get easier, you know?”

“Two flowers bloom tonight. One of the Moon, and the other Mercury.” Both girls spun around to see a man in a tuxedo wearing a mask and staring at them intently. “But I fear tonight’s work is not yet completed. Though we both uncovered this plot, I have reason to believe another is being formed elsewhere even as we speak.”
<hr>
Running got her exactly nowhere. Struggling didn’t help either. They were too strong, too fast, and enjoying any excuse they could get to demonstrate that simple fact to her over and over again.

“I told you, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” she lied. Oh, she remembered alright. She remembered the weird cube that Usagi found. She remembered all too well. But she’d be damned if she so easily gave up her friend!

“There is no trace of it within this building, but to be on the safe side…” the blonde man said with steepled hands. He leaned in closer and the shadows cast upon his face let free the inner evil she now knew he had within. “I think we’ll have you replaced with a youma. How does that sound, Miss Osaka?”

“Sounds pretty bad to me!” came a voice from the front door. Naru’s heart soared. Could it be? Could it really be her? “I am Sailor Moon, Champion of -”

“Yes, yes, I’ve heard your spiel before, Sailor Moon! I do not need to hear it again! But you need to hear this. I do not know how you found us, but take one single step inside this building and I’ll have her throat torn open. In fact, if you don’t surrender yourself immediately I think I’ll go ahead and do just that! And no fancy flower throwing from your boyfriend this time either! I know he’s somewhere around!”

Naru felt herself being lifted into the air by cold, strong hands. Oh no, don’t give in like this! You can’t just surrender to save her, not when so many others surely needed rescuing! Besides which, he wouldn’t keep his word. He’d put you at his mercy, then kill her anyway just to make a point!

“It seems like you didn’t get the memo, then!” Sailor Moon said.

“Memo? What memo might that be?”

In response, Sailor Moon jerked her thumb to the left. Naru turned to face that direction and felt her eyes go wide open. Another sailor-fuku-clad hero! Whatever this one was called gestured for Naru to be silent and she winked right back at the girl.

“How stupid do you think I am?”

“Stupid enough not to look. Sabao Spray!”

The sudden blast of cold mist was just enough of a distraction for Naru to pull herself free and dive blindly to the floor. She looked up at the stairs, where the second hero had emerged from. Incredible! She must have snuck in from upstairs, then crept down without making a sound! Wait… Without making a sound? But how could she do that? Unless…

“Curse you, Sailor Moon! Very well! We’ll meet again, you and your new ally! Next time you will not be so lucky!”

In a moment Sailor Moon was kneeling down next to Naru, while the other one checked her for injuries. “Are you okay?” Sailor Moon asked. “What did they want with you?”

“He was asking me about a peculiar item. Something that gave off a tremendous energy. Light, heat, anything like that. I pretended not to know what he meant, but… He obviously meant that cube. The one you found, Usagi.”

Sailor Moon was quiet for a few seconds longer than she probably meant to be. But it didn’t matter. Naru was already quite certain of the truth by now. “I don’t know what you, uh, mean, citi-”

“Don’t lie to me. We’ve been friends too long, and you’re terrible at it anyway. Here they come, asking about that cube you found, which you happened to find and lose just before Sailor Moon shows up. I should’ve seen it sooner. But it’s so stupid, really! Do you know what tipped me off in the end? That third step on the landing. It’s creaked since I was five. Any weight on it at all, and everyone in the house would know you were coming downstairs. So how did, um… Sorry, didn’t catch your name?”

“Sailor Mercury. Pleasure to meet you, and… Yes, I’m afraid you’re quite right. Sailor Moon did warn me not to step on it. Of course, we’ll have to ask you to keep this secret…”

Keep it secret, huh? Well, it wasn’t like she was angry or anything. Given what she’d seen of what their enemy could do, they could replace people with exact replicas. Usagi couldn’t risk telling anyone the truth just in case they were… But no, she’d never betray the secret. Not now that she knew. Not now that she knew and embraced her love for her best friend. Which is why she didn’t respond to Sailor Mercury’s request. All she did was encircle Sailor Moon’s back, pull herself close and see what happened.

So began a night that none of the three of them would ever forget.