Story: Love Pendant Usagi

Wound up spending most of the week on this one. Hope you all like it! This is probably one of those instances where using the filler probably would be of benefit to the thread.


This couldn’t be real. This had to be some kind of dream she was having, because something like this never ever ever happened in the real world. Only in dreams. Only in flights of fantasy could something like this happen to someone like her. Usagi rubbed at her eyes and stared at the evidence before her with renewed focus, almost as though she was desperately trying to disprove the evidence before her.

That evidence being a test paper with the number “80” written hesitantly over it, scribbled out, then written again with the words “See me after class” written underneath.

Out of the corner of her eye, Usagi caught sight of Naru peering curiously in her direction. She turned to look more obviously at her, and the redhead mouthed “Did it work?” Well. Usagi gave her the thumbs up on that one. Eighty? Her mom might faint and it was very likely Usagi herself might in a minute. She did feel awfully dizzy all of a sudden. The possibilities were endless. No more procrastination on her homework. Or any procrastination of, well, any kind! The sky was the limit, and the only thing standing in her way was the imagination of herself and Naru. Which - from what others repeatedly told her - was not going to be much of a problem.

And then Miss Haruna started on some topic or other, and Usagi’s attention crashed down to Earth like a falling star. She couldn’t not focus on the lesson. After all, she loved to study and an important - nay, essential - part to any studying was diligent notes to refer to later on. Her hand was a blur across the page, absorbing each detail of what Miss Haruna said onto the paper. Her handwriting wasn’t great, exactly, but she could read it and that’s what mattered! Though she did kind of wish that weird tingly sensation down her spine would stop distracting her and - She took a sharp intake of breath - Wow! What was that? If she hadn’t caught it in time, it would’ve caused a serious disruption in class! Which would have disturbed studying. Which she loved to do. Therefore she could not afford to cause a disruption in class, no matter how <i>good</i> she felt, and by all of the gods of all of the religions, she felt <i>good</i>.

All too soon and for the first time of her life Usagi felt regret that class was finished for the day. It took a lot of effort to get her hand to release the side of the desk and given the way she was feeling right now, walking might be a bit tricky. Whoo boy! That was wild!

“Are you feeling alright, Usagi? You seem to be sweating quite a bit.”

Usagi looked up at her teacher. Miss Haruna. It didn’t take much to spot the suspicion in her eyes or the slight tinge of hope and concern skirting around the sides. She hadn’t even heard the teacher approach. Usagi took a deep breath and nodded while wiping a bead of sweat from her forehead.

“I wanted to talk to you about this test,” Haruna said, tapping her fingers on it for emphasis. “This is a massive leap up in your usual scores, and I’m very proud of you. Really. I was just wondering what changed to prompt such a huge increase.”

“Oh, not much,” Usagi said. “I just… <i>studied</i>.” The word tripped over her lips, leaving a taste sweeter than honey that forced her to stop for a moment. “A lot harder for this one than I normally do. That’s all.”

“I see,” Miss Haruna said. “To be honest, I couldn’t believe you got such a high result the first time through.” She gave a weary sigh and shook her head. “I’m afraid that an anomaly like this requires me to check to make sure - Never mind, you’re not the sort to do that.”

Not the sort to what, exactly? Hold on. That look in her eye earlier… She couldn’t think… She couldn’t possibly think that! “I- I am not a… Not a cheater!” Usagi sniffed.

“No, I don’t think that you are,” Haruna <i>lied through her teeth</i>. Look at her, look at that body language. She thought Usagi did cheat, and hoped she’d give herself away. That cold, heartless… Ugh! If only she’d get herself a boyfriend already. “But I do need to make sure you really did earn it, unless someone else that doesn’t know you thinks it’s a bit strange. If you don’t want people to be suspicious about this, I’d suggest you keep up the good work for future tests.”

“Why bother? You’ll just think I’m cheating.”

She didn’t give her teacher any further time to mock her. Berate her. Belittle her. Oh, look at that, she’d picked up a few things from her studying after all. Usagi dashed out of the room and very nearly tripped right over Naru in the process.

“Hey, it’s alright,” Naru soothed. “We both know you earned that score! You just keep on getting them for other tests, and -”

“And what?” Usagi sniffed. She wiped a tear from her eye. Oh, stop it already! Not helping with the crybaby image here! “It won’t stop Mom from thinking the same!”

“Look, I know just the thing to take your mind off this. My mom’s store has a sale on at the moment. Come on, let’s go check out the bargains! It’ll take your mind off this. I’ll even let you use the pendant tonight if you like, no complaints or anything.”

Nothing like a good friend to catch you when you’re down. No support even compares. Yes, that did seem like exactly what she needed right now. Especially since it would give her a little time to put off talking to her mother about this stupid test. And to think she was so happy with the result! No, stop that. Go to Naru’s mom’s store. That would help take the edge off, help her relax, help get her a bit less panicked. Naru just had the best ideas sometimes.

<hr>

Naru had the worst ideas sometimes! What was with everybody at the store today? They were all dashing about, grabbing what they could like their lives depended on it. I mean, come on, it was nice and all… But it was just freaking jewelry! They were behaving like they’d all been lost in the desert for about six months, and only just now caught sight of a water bottle. There were probably stampedes less dangerous than this lot!

And none of this was particularly helped by the fact that every time one of them bumped into Usagi it made her feel so very, very dizzy. No. Not just dizzy. Nauseous. Like that one time she’d accidentally eaten those week-old candy bars she’d kept in her desk.

… She could really go for some candy right about now.

“Alright,” she mumbled to herself after being jostled for the twentieth time in ten seconds. “I’ve had enough of this… Let’s see what this baby can really do. They all love calming down and being orderly!”

Nothing happened for about half a minute, except Usagi being rather rudely jostled about in the crowd another fifty or so times. Then she slapped her own forehead. “Oh yeah. I switched it off earlier. Stupid dummy! On you go!”

A quick button press later and a whole lotta focus on making them love being calm and orderly later… The pendant heated up. Yes! That’s the ticket! Maybe she really could get out of this crowd intact after all, and maybe even get a good look at some of the stuff Naru’s mom was selling! Of course, this would only work on the people she could see, and getting the entire audience might be exhausting as all hell but -

The backblast knocked her flat on her ass and out of the door. Usagi stared at the pendant in mild shock. It seemed intact so far as she could tell… What the hell was that? It was like she’d just punched a wall and the wall punched back! Inside the store everyone was still going about their business, being all reckless and greedy and obsessed with getting the best bargains. And nowhere at all could Usagi see Naru. Shame, that. She’d hoped to at least say goodbye before heading home…

“Hey, do you plan on sitting there all day obstructing traffic? Or are you just so clumsy you need a helping hand getting back up?” A  hand appeared within Usagi’s peripheral vision, and she looked up towards the source. A rather handsome guy, all truth told. Damn, but he was a cutey. She took his hand and tried not to drool all over herself, even though she’d already apparently blown any possible attempt at a good first impression. “I was thinking the latter given your undignified exit just now. Are you alright? Didn’t break anything, did you, meatball head?”

Break anything? No, not on her body… But did she break the pendant? Oh. But she really hoped not. There were so many things she could use it for still. Her grip around it tightened and she looked up at this stranger with the -

What did he call her?

“What did you call me?”

“Bit slow on the uptake as well as clumsy,” the boy said. “Learning a bit more about you than I wanted, and… Hey, stop looking at me like that. Last thing I need is some clumsy chick making me burst into flames, and -”

The boy trailed off and rubbed the side of his head in confusion. Just as Usagi hoped he would. Oh, it was a little bit mean to do this, but she did need an emergency test subject and, well, he was kind of cute. It wasn’t like she couldn’t undo it at a moment’s whim anyway.

“So, what was your name again?” Usagi rashly said once the heat in the pendant died down.

“Mamoru,” the boy whispered. Oh, boy. She could almost see the love hearts in his eyes. “And yours?”

“Usagi Tsukino. I’m sorry, I interrupted you. You were in the middle of calling me a clumsy chick that was a bit slow on the uptake.”

“N-no, not at all!” he said, and she was having way too much fun with this for her own good. “I- I mean, I think clumsy girls are really kind of cute! And that hair suits you perfectly. It really brings out the - Brings out the intelligent gleam of your spectacular eyes.”

“Oh, you charmer,” Usagi giggled. It was kind of nice to have this guy be putty in her hands like this. She felt a strange tingle pass through her body, and made an important decision. Why not have a little fun with him? “Tell you what. How about we go out on a date?”

“Though I would move heaven and earth to make it happen, I do have a prior arrangement tonight,” Mamoru said, each word sounding like he was speaking them while chewing glass. “I apologise. But I do believe tomorrow night will be free.”

“Then it’s a date,” Usagi said, spinning around in place to hide the rather stupid-looking grin she knew she had to have on her face right now. Hah! Serves him right for making fun of her like that! “Be sure to wear your best tuxedo! ’Cause we’re gonna paint this town redder than it’s ever been! Be ready!”

Not skipping down the street was a simply impossible task right about this point. Oh, but this pendant really was going to make her life so much easier! Only thing was, why had it reacted that way when she’d tried to use it in the shop just now? Eh. Whatever. Probably wasn’t anything too serious. Maybe just because she’d tried using it on too many people all at once? That made sense. Couldn’t be anything else, really… Nothing to read too much meaning into, certainly.

<hr>

Soooo, turns out her mom actually did faint when she saw the test score. Huh. How about that? After moving her into a more comfortable position to wake up and probably faint a second time when she saw the test again, Usagi slipped upstairs to get a little <i>study</i> time done. After all that, she kind of earned a little reward for herself, and -

“Hello, Usagi. I’ve been looking for you for a long time.”

And hello, talking cat. Well. That would’ve maybe been a shock if not for the magical love-inducing pendant she’d discovered, and oh gosh, she just realised this was a talking black cat and it was here to take the pendant back to its master. Maybe even taking her soul along as well!

“You’ll never take it, servant of evil! Away with you!”

The cat - hey, that same one with the crescent moon on its forehead - merely tilted its head in an obvious attempt to trick Usagi into thinking it didn’t know what she was talking about, and said, “No, I’m certainly not a servant of evil. Not remotely. As I said, I’ve been looking for you for quite a long time, and - Please stop trying to climb out of the window, you’ll only hurt yourself! Listen for a moment! My name is Luna and I am here to guide you on your path towards destiny. You are the - I said stop trying to climb out that window! You are the Sailor Scout of the Moon. I wasn’t sure at first, but after watching you all day I’m pretty confident that you are.”

“You’re not here for my soul?” Usagi tentatively asked.

“Not at all,” Luna sighed. “Here. Take this locket and say the words ’Moon Prism Power Make Up’. Then you’ll see for yourself.”

“Moon Prism Power Make Up?” Usagi mumbled to herself as she picked up the second mysterious, magical piece of jewelry she’d encountered in a week. “What a weird thing to sa-a-a-aaaaay!”

Well, this was pretty magical, wasn’t it? Certainly in a whole other league to that pendant, but then again she could somehow feel that the intention behind this kind of magic was very, very different somehow to the sort she’d used for the last few days. What was this? Why did it feel so right? Why did it feel like she was slipping away into something tailor made for herself? In the blink of an eye it was over. Where once there stood Usagi Tsukino, there now stood Sailor Moon.

She looked at herself and had to suck in air in sharp intervals. Bright red boots, a golden tiara, some sort of white leotard with a bright blue skirt hugging her hips. Bit shorter than she might have liked, but hey, it did look kind of good on her.

And embedded on the leotard’s chest was a familiar-looking pendant, almost like it was sewn into the uniform itself just above her breasts. Usagi’s finger trailed around it, and for some reason it made her feel a little… odd.

<i>Always fantasised about being Sailor V’s sidekick… And how much fun it would have been to use the pendant to do that… Now you can have your cake and eat it too.</i>

“Sailor Moon, your friend Naru is in a great deal of trouble,” Luna said. Sure enough, the locket still within her hands showed this freaky image of Naru surrounded on all sides by the customers in the store and - what the hell was that even supposed to be? Fancy dress?

… Looking down at herself, Sailor Moon decided she was probably not in any position to criticise.

“Naru,” she whispered, completely unaware of either her finger tracing an outline on the pendant, or the way that Luna was staring up at her with suspicion in her eyes….

<hr>

This whole operation had gone off without a hitch. Just as she knew it would. The whole idea was flawless, really. Exploit a basic human weakness, and let them run themselves ragged with enough energy outpourings to fill her quota and then some. In this case it was simple greed and nothing more. Look at all those people flocking around, collapsed on the floor when their puny physical limitations finally caught hold. Such a pathetic bunch, these humans, so easily manipulated and so easily physically dominated.

“M-Mother, what’s wrong with you? Why are you acting this way?”

Case in point, this brat and her mother. Oh, it was a trivial matter to toss her in the cellar for a while. A little present to herself for a job inevitably being well done. After all, it wouldn’t spend any energy at all to torture these two wimps to death and even make it look like an accident.

“Somebody help me!” the brat cried out. Morga merely sneered.

“Foolish girl!” she cackled, picking her prey up by the neck. “Nobody can help you now!”

“Then I guess that makes me nobody,” said a voice from the door. Morga froze and hissed in frustration. So close to getting the chance to enjoy herself. Very well then. If a third human put themselves up for a little bit of torture and death alongside the other two, who was she to complain? Just so long as it didn’t get excessive; heck, she could maybe even pin the accident on this third individual if she was clever about it! Morga’s head swivelled around a full 180 degrees, and she stared at the intruder with malice and hatred burning in her eyes.

It was another girl, this one clad in some ridiculous uniform. She was leaning casually against the doorframe, with one of her legs raised so that her foot was resting upon the other side of it.

“Who are you?” Morga hissed, and she had to admit that she was genuinely curious about who would dare interrupt her in such a casual manner. This hubris deserved immediate punishment.

“I am Sailor Moon,” the intruder said without a trace of fear in her voice. “Champion of justice. I am here to right wrongs, and triumph over evil! I will open your heart, and show it the light of love!”

Love. Ha! What a foolish notion this girl was discussing. Love wasn’t real. It was a lie these stupid people told to themselves to make themselves feel better about lust and selfish desires. Morga had to admit this was rather amusing. She would enjoy breaking this vermin.

“Very well, Sailor Moon! Let us see how much your ideal of love can entertain me. Arise, my puppets! Bring me her heart. I’m feeling rather peckish.”

Ah, there it was. The satisfying “oh, shit” moment passing over this would-be do-gooder’s face when all the supposedly unconscious bodies rose back onto their feet and began to mindlessly shamble towards her. That’s right, would-be hero! That’s right, would-be guardian of justice! Feel the fear! Feel the rising terror as you realise your mistake in coming to this place. Now you shall share this brat’s fate, and you will be among the first of many humans to vanish as the Negaverse gains more and more power! Yes! Tremble as the hope flees your frail form!

“L-Luna, what do I do?” the supposed hero said to her cat. Ha! Madness setting in already? She knew little about the human world, it was true, but she knew that cats could certainly not speak!

Unfortunately her enjoyment of her human puppets tearing this foolish brat to shreds would have to wait. A single rose flew through the air and scratched her cheek, prompting Morga’s head to swivel around once again to stare up at another intruder. Oh, really now, it was just getting annoying at this point. “Who the hell are you supposed to be?” Morga snarled, drawing back her hand to fling it at this new pest. Even at this distance he wasn’t safe, and it was about time to demonstrate that fact. She sent her hand out as fast as a whip, and her arm extended all that distance in the blink of an eye. Except the man was not there when it arrived. He’d elegantly evaded her attempted strike, and even had the audacity to whack it with that little stick he was carrying!

“I am Tuxedo Mask,” the male nuisance said, leaning his cane into the back of Morga’s hand, which by the way hurt. A hell of a lot. “Sailor Moon, look into your heart and find the warrior within you. It is your destiny.”

“Well, that’s great advice and all, handsome,” Sailor Moon said, leaping just out of reach of some of her puppets. “But what I could really do with is some help getting rid of these guys!”

“Focus on your love for the human race,” Tuxedo Mask said. “That will guide you through the darkest of times. Love will see you through to the end. Every single time.”

Morga twisted around in an attempt to use her rubbery form to get a little tension under her arm, give her enough give to pull it right out from under that cane’s surprisingly effective pinning grip. Her gaze flicked back towards Sailor Moon, who had closed her eyes and had her hands over her heart. Accepted the inevitable had she? Well, if nothing else she could enjoy this, and it would let her focus on one thing at a time -

Magic. That was definitely magic at work here. It felt just like the push that had hit the store earlier today, but much stronger this time. No matter! It would be a simple matter for her to dispell it just as before, and -

“My hand!” she hissed. The tuxedo-clad fool had increased the pressure on her hand. Breaking her concentration through the pain, keeping her from fighting back effectively against this strange psychic wave. “Let me go, you worthless coward!”

Whatever reply this Tuxedo Mask clown had for her, she didn’t hear it. Something else took up her attention at that particular moment. A bright burst of energy from all around her, as the lust these people felt for the jewelry faded, faded, vanished, disappeared, was gone. The puppets had their strings cut, and as appropriate to this all fainted to the floor in a heap.

“That worked?” Sailor Moon said. “How about that. Maybe I can do this after all!”

“That is the spirit, Sailor Moon!” Tuxedo Mask said, just as Morga let out a terrible roar and wrenched her hand out from under his cane’s seemingly relentless grip. “Now there is but this one final adversary to face tonight!”

“Maybe so!” Morga snarled. “But I won’t go down nearly that easily! Take this!”

Once again her hand snaked out, but this time she sent both at once towards the sailor-fuku-wearing do-gooder. Annoyingly, she was able to leap out of the way of both. Even more annoyingly, she said, “Flexible, huh? I can work with this!”

“Stay still, you little - Aha! Got you this time!”

Indeed she had. Caught the little bitch’s leg. Now to reel her in, break her neck, and then she’d never have to hear that annoying, do-gooder voice with her stupid, vapid, pointless comments! This would be tremendous fun.

“Sailor Moon!” the cat yelled. Hang on. The cat could talk? “Use your tiara! Throw it at her and say ‘Moon Tiara Magic’!”

Morga chuckled to herself as her enemy did just that, throwing the piece of jewelery in a high arc towards her. Easy pickings for her other hand to knock the glowing white disc out of the air, and - In Beryll’s name! It burned! What magic was this?! If this had hit her body, it would have surely killed her on the spot! This little pest was more annoying than she first real-

“Moon Pendant Magic!”

This time there had been no other warning. This time, Morga found herself looking down at her chest in growing horror at the pendant that had been thrown directly onto her. She knew even without trying that it was affixed in place, that there would be no moving it, that she was already doomed. Her blood-coloured flesh took on a brighter complexion, more in line with her disguised form than her natural youma form. Pink and healthy and warm and human.

“No,” she whispered. “No!” she yelled. “No!” she screamed, clawing at her chest as the infestation, the corruption of her true form spread across her torso like a ravenous plague. But it was too late. She could feel it spreading even under her clothes. She craned her neck in an attempt to stall for time but it was no use. Her body was still flexible by any human standard, but no more than that. Not anymore. Like this, she was no use to her Queen. No use to the Negaverse. Useless. Weak. Pathetic. A fragile facsimile of her former greatness.

Morga crumpled to her knees and clasped her hands to her face. There was a peculiar feeling of dampness spreading down her face. An additional part of whatever spell Sailor Moon had afflicted her with? “What have you done to me?” she asked, wincing at how completely <i>human </i> she sounded. “What have you <b>done</b> to me?!”

Her attempt at attack failed rather spectacularly when Sailor Moon’s surprisingly strong hands gripped her wrists, and she felt herself being pulled into an embrace. Felt nice. Smelled good. “I gave you a gift,” Sailor Moon said, softly brushing Morga’s hair. Something about that tone of voice made Morga feel strange. Sort of nice. Her own arms encircled around Sailor Moon for reasons she couldn’t understand, at least not yet… But somehow she knew that understanding was coming right around the corner. It was like all she had to do was turn that corner and there it would be, a wonderful answer just for her…

Her grip around Sailor Moon tightened and her brow furrowed. This must be part of the spell. Making her feel as weak emotionally as she was physically. She would not turn the corner. She would remain where she was, she would fight this and retain usefulness to the Negaverse in some other way. She would -

Sailor Moon’s lips touched the top of Morga’s head, and in spite of herself she turned the corner. “The wonderful gift of love.”

<hr>

The next day was a slightly confusing one for Mrs Osaka. She’d had a terrifying nightmare of a terrible monster stealing her appearance and locking her away in the basement, which really did set her in an odd mood for the rest of the day. Especially with the way Naru kept on talking about someone called “Sailor Moon” and some other person called “Tuxedo Mask.” Nothing else for it, really. Clearly that meat they’d had last night had given them both weird dreams.

Then at the store she found a young woman excitedly dusting and cleaning and generally tidying up. All while singing some happy song to herself about someone fighting evil by moonlight and always being ready for a real fight. It was a little catchy, but she kept mumbling the words and giggling to herself, and besides which someone was in the store that wasn’t supposed to be in the store so Mrs Osaka had more important things to worry about than picking up the lyrics to a song.

“Ahem!” she very loudly coughed, causing the girl to very nearly jump out of her skin.

“Oh! Hello, Mrs Osaka!” the girl bowed. “Isn’t it a beautiful day today?”

She looked the intruder over, wondering what her deal was. She took a better look at her. Curly red hair, a smile that looked like it was about to split her head in two. Very slim and a bit taller than her apparent age would perhaps indicate. As for her face, well, the girl almost reminded Mrs Osaka of a younger version of herself.

“Who are you?” she asked. The girl simply tilted her head and there was a peculiar twinkle in her eye.

“Don’t be silly, Mrs Osaka!” the girl giggled. “My name is Morga, and you hired me yesterday to be your new sales assistant. Don’t you remember? You said my enthusiasm for jewelry was contagious, and that my boundless energy would make me an invaluable addition to the store.”

All of a sudden and for no reason she could discern, Mrs Osaka felt very… dizzy. Yes. Now that Morga mentioned it, she did remember hiring a new sales assistant yesterday. A very bright, enthusiastic, energetic young woman with a broad knowledge of jewelry. What’s more, she got on rather brilliantly with Naru, who shared her enthusiasm about some new superhero or other that was apparently running around. How could she forget something like that?