Sailor Moon/ Wonder Woman crossover fic
Hey guyz! I'll be posting up my two Batgirl reviews soon, it took me a while to get in the right state of mind to write again. Speaking of which, just in time for my 3000th post on Tumblr (yeah uh Tumblr is addictive if you guys didn't know) I FINALLY finished the first chapter of my Sailor Moon/Wonder Woman crossover fic I've been talking about forever. Yeah, in my defense I did at least two drafts so...
Basically, Sailor Moon and Wonder Woman crossover when WW's villian Dr. Poison comes to Japan to reawaken one of her old experiments with one of the Senshis former scientist villains, Professor Tomoe (who is also Sailor Saturn's dad, it's complicated). I am probably going to mess up so badly on the Japanese culture stuff, especially since I put honorifics in the dialogue (I'll probably just drop that later, now that I've established who everyone is to each other) but I'm tryin', just tell me what I do wrong, I've never ficced anime before.
As for the continuities here, Sailor Moon's side of it is set a few months after the last season of the anime, and mostly follows anime continuity, though I'll probably include a few manga elements in the characterization and whatnot because I DO WHAT I WANT. Wonder Woman somewhere between the end of Gail's run but before the reboot nonsense. Once again, I DO WHAT I WANT.
Anyway, this chapter was originally going to end at a more climactic point, but it was too long already and I need to publish this part so I feel motivated to do the rest. Here's the fanfiction.net link, which should be live soon.
Usagi Tsukino was in a good mood. Some might say this was something that went without saying, since the odango haired girl was known for her cheery disposition, but in honesty, she hadn't felt completely at peace since the middle of seventh grade , when a talking cat and ominous mission had entered her life.
But the city of Tokyo had been free of energy draining monsters the past few months, and when the city was happy, Usagi was happy. The worst she'd had to stop was a bank robbery she'd happened upon, and that had been scary because of their knives and angry glares, but she hadn't even gotten to finish her speech before they'd dropped them and surrendered. Rei had laughed at them for being "intimidated", but Usagi thought it was nice they'd seen the error of their ways so quickly.
It wouldn't last forever, Usagi knew that. She was, as Rei had once put it, "completely foolish, unbelievably ditzy, and a real pain to take care of-but not stupid" . A new enemy always came along, fresh pain was always there to experienced- she had a strange and confusing future awaiting her where the world would have to be reborn and she would have to be the one to deliver it, to mother it…a duty, a destiny, an inescapable fate. But for now…
Usagi crossed her ankles and sighed happily as the sunlight reflected from the window warmed her face- for now the peace of the world hummed through her ears, her friends were close and safe and whole and she had no current mission except to be Usagi Tsukino, lazy and happy high school student.
"Usagi-chan," a voice sighed in her ear, familiar and sweet even when exasperated. "You spaced out for the whole period?"
"Hmmm?" Usagi turned to glance at Ami, who was standing with her hands on her hip as the classroom around them began to empty. "I was just enjoying the pretty day, Ami-chan!"
"You enjoy life more when you pay attention to your studies," Ami said sagely.
"I don't think I could enjoy it any more than I do," Usagi grinned. "And besides, I have Ami-chan's notes!"
"Maybe I shouldn't share my notes, so you can apply yourself a bit more," Ami gripped her notebook as she said it, looking a little uncertain.
"But surely Ami-chan wouldn't do that, being such a naturally helpful person!"
Ami scowled at her, but the sides of her mouth threatened to quiver into a smile. Ami could never stay mad at anyone for more than five seconds, no matter how hard she tried to keep it up. The expression was so endearingly familiar that Usagi couldn't help but laugh, jumping up and catching her friend in a spinning hug before she began to drag her out of the classroom. "Let's enjoy ourselves for real!"
Ami resigned herself to being dragged down the hall. Mako hailed them heartily when they reached her classroom, thundering towards them with enthusiasm that matched Usagi's. Minako bounded out a little late at the school entrance, nearly bowling them all over as she babbled about the unfairness of being kept back in class and she couldn't help it if she was tired from all this overwork and sleep was important for an active girl! They all headed over to the arcade to meet Rei as usual, after patiently listening to Ami's perfunctory complaint that they should be studying.
The girls spotted Rei, as imperious as ever, tapping her foot by the colorful sign of the arcade entrance. They moved through the crowded street, Mako serving as their masthead and guide since people tended to move aside more quickly for her than they did for the smaller girls. This didn't work quite as well as usual though as two rambunctious men not only failed to avoid her, but crashed right into her.
"Excuse me," Mako said immediately with a slight bow.
"Geez, we get flattened by a damn Amazon," one of the guys snickered, ignoring her apology as the wended around her.
"It's a shame, she'd be cute if she were a little smaller," they heard the other one say as the two retreated.
"Those pigs!" Minako snapped, whipping around to shake her fist at their retreating backs. "I oughta give them the love-love smackdown!"
"Hey, come back here and apologize to Mako-chan!" Usagi called, her pigtails practically bristling. "That's not how you talk to a nice girl! You call yourselves men?"
"They ought to be ashamed!" Ami chimed in as the retreating duo laughed and ignored Usagi and Minako's incensed cries. "Don't listen to them, Mako-chan."
"I'd be willing to curse them for you," Rei said calmly, having approached as she witnessed the scene. "It would break my rules, but I'd think they'd count as evil spirits in need of cleansing."
"Or we could hold them down and you could hit them!" interjected Minako, sounding a tad too enthusiastic at the idea.
"Guys, I'm used to it," Mako laughed. "If I beat up everyone who made comments like that, I'd be brawling with a quarter of Japan. I'd rather use that energy for baking or preserving the peace. There's no need to bother with them, it's not worth it."
"You're telling the truth?" Usagi asked worriedly. "I know you can be very sensitive about these sorts of comments."
"Listen, I've accepted that not many guys go for this," Makoto sighed. "It's okay."
"It's their loss, Mako-chan," Ami said severely, while Mina and Usagi gave twin nods of agreement.
"Men aren't worth it except to boss around or have some fun with anyway," Rei shrugged.
"Don't give up! Fight on and someone will see your glory!" Usagi cried
"It's all right. I'd like to find love, sure, but I do just fine without men in my life. I've got you guys to take care of. I guess it's just meant to be this way with all the others, because of who I am. Now come on, I want to kill some things in video games. Or get killed, more likely…" she heaved another sigh and entered the arcade ahead of them.
"Is she really going to be all right…" Ami trailed off.
"Take care of us? What is she, our mother?" Mina asked.
"You know Makoto. If those punks had insulted of threaten any of us, or tried to pick a fight, she'd have thrown them into a wall. But she'll let herself be insulted..."
"Well, let's get her to have some fun and forget all this," Usagi interrupted Rei, grabbing Mina's hand to drag her into the arcade. "Everything will be fine, you'll see!"
Ami made to follow the other two, but Rei pulled tugged on her sleeve.
"Rei-chan?"
Rei pulled Ami conspiratorially to the side. "I'm worried about Usagi lately."
"I agree she needs to study more, but you know how she is, she'll pull it together at the last minute so she can move up with her friends…"
"Not that," Rei rolled her eyes. "I mean, I think she's still a bit shaken after…everything that happened."
"With Galaxia?" Ami asked, and got a curt nod in response. She glanced through the window at her friend, who was pounding away at the game machine. "She seems like her usual cheerful self."
"Normally that would be enough, except she's recently proven she'll cover her troubles with a smile and keep things from us," Rei snapped, putting her hands on her hips, miffed at the very thought.
"Ah. She didn't tell us when she thought Mamoru-san had abandoned her, that's true," Ami said thoughtfully. "But…I mean, we've been through a similar sort of thing before, and we're all okay now, after all."
"She did take a while to recover the last time this sort of thing happened, though," Rei reminded Ami. "She nearly lost her powers for good, and was very dramatic about us not pushing ourselves. But this time's a bit different. There's the whole issue with Mamoru-san being gone so long, and she truly was more willing to believe he'd forgotten her rather than had an accident happen…It was like she really lost everything.." Rei crossed her arms, chewing her lip.
Ami examined Rei critically. "Are you sure you're not the one who's upset by what happened?"
"Of course not, I can handle it. But Usagi takes thinks so personally and to heart-! Thinking Mamoru-san would ever abandon her-that anyone could ever- she's so emotionally fragile!" Rei slapped her hand, letting out a grunt of exasperation. "I try to toughen her up and get her to gain some faith in her strength but-"
"Oh, is that what you've been doing?"
Rei narrowed her eyes. "Ami-chan…"
Ami put her hand on Rei's shoulder. "I understand. You're probably right. I think perhaps would to be to ask Mamoru-san to talk to Usagi-chan about what happened. I think that will be a big part of it."
"Okay, so you can ask him-"
"Shouldn't you be the one to talk to him? You two used to date, after all, you know him best."
"That was years ago, and he basically ignored me while I followed him around!"
"See, you know him well," Ami said, turning away with a smile.
"You're the one who talks about…math and things with him!"
"Our relationship is academic. If we're discussing matters of the heart, it should be you."
"Usagi said he flirted with you once, clearly you are very close-" Rei stalked after Ami into the shop.
"This is the same Usagi-chan who thinks he flirts with his daughter from the future, correct?"
"Yes, well-"
"Rei-chan, don't be so concerned. Mamoru-san is the easily intimidated type, you'll steamroller right over him."
"What is that supposed to-"
"Good luck, anyway! Hmmm, I think I'm going to top the high score today!"
"Ami-chan!"
Rei knocked on Mamoru's door, cursing to herself. Trying to outsmart Ami was a futile effort after all, she should have picked Mako or Minako to confide in.
Mamoru opened the door, looking taken aback to see Rei standing there alone.
"I need to talk to you about Usagi," she said abruptly before he could speak.
"Come on in."
Rei sat down on Mamoru's couch, rejecting his offers of refreshment. She smoothed her skirt nervously as he sat down opposite her, looking curious. It was pretty awkward, though being one of Usagi's best friends meant seeing Mamoru pretty much every day, it was always in group settings. The last time she had been alone with him was…that time she had accidentally seen him naked. Okay, never mind. Best to just spit it out.
"I'm concerned about Usagi," she said in a rush.
"Did she eat an entire ice cream cone in half a minute again? Because I told her that was-
"No! Well, yes, actually, but I wasn't supposed to tell you- I mean, I'm concerned about her emotional state after everything."
"After everything?"
Rei gritted her teeth. Two minutes in and he was already trying her patience. But she couldn't smack him on the head, he wasn't Usagi.
"After you being murdered and the universe being nearly destroyed, do you remember that?" she snapped.
Mamoru blinked at her, looking taken aback. Honestly, what was with everyone?
"But…Usako seems fine. And I'm fine. And the universe is fine," Mamoru said slowly, as if he was going through a checklist. "I know it was very hard for her, but, she's- you know," he shrugged, as if it defied description.
"Right," Rei kneaded her forehead. "Look, I don't want to talk to you all alone about this anymore than you want me here, but the fact is you're completely clueless to what went on while you were gone." She pointed at him in an almost accusatory fashion. "You need to get your facts straight! A lot happened."
Mamoru looked at her quizzically. "Does this have anything to do with that Kou Seiya person?"
Rei was thrown for a second.
"What?"
"Are you saying that…when I was gone…they…or something…?" Mamoru was now focusing on his knees, his face flushed. "I mean…I trust Usako, so I was sure nothing had happened, it's just I could tell...Seiya really was uh…after her…right?
"
"Oh," Rei stumbled. Was THAT what he was worried about? "I guess you could say…yes, Seiya was pursuing her pretty hard, but honestly, I think Usagi barely noticed, or she didn't really give it much thought. She was always completely focused on loving you." Rei took a deep breath. This was the perfect opening. "I think that was part of the problem though. Seiya did once say something about how she didn't think Usagi should be with someone who made her so sad."
"Sad?" Mamoru squinted at her.
"When you didn't write back to her, it was terrible for Usagi. She thought you'd forgotten about her."
"Forgotten?" Mamoru repeated as if he'd never heard the word before. It was almost hard to be mad at someone so clueless, but then again, that had never stopped Rei with Usagi. She was truly dealing with a perfect couple here, except it was a couple of idiots.
Rei sighed and shrugged helplessly, rolling her eyes up to the ceiling. "I think part of it was she wanted to believe that rather than think something really awful had happened to you…you know, like what actually had happened. And that's why she kept it from us you weren't writing back as well. But the part I want you to know about is how easily she was able to make herself believe you'd forgotten about her." She met his eyes again, leaning forward.
"Well, I don't know how she could even think I'd ever do something like that," Mamoru mumbled, his eyes creased in confusion
.
"Yeah, because it's not like you've ever gone out of your way to convince her you could hurt her and forget about her!" the sharp response came out before she could stop it.
There had been a couple times during that period Rei had barely restrained herself from breaking into Mamoru's place and slapping him silly, and it looked like a little of that protective resentment had unknowingly remained. It hit Mamoru full force, and his whole face turned beet red. Rei felt herself flush a little too as he stammered "That…that wasn't…"
"Look, I'm not here to yell at you or blame you for anything- it's all your business. I know you've been through a lot too. But my business is protecting Usagi, and I can tell she's…that this has all really been so hard on her. It all came really close to breaking her, and however she acts, I don't think she's completely over it…and I can't let anything happen to her. I can't. So, as much as I don't want to interfere with your private matters-believe me, I don't-, I really needed you to know what she went through so you can talk to her about it…and work it out so she feels…better. She went through so much by herself, and she's not going to want to upset you with what she felt, but I'm not ever going to let her be alone again," She finished her speech in a stumbling stream of words, focusing hard on the wall above Mamoru's head so she didn't have to look at his reaction.
She took a deep breath at the end of this confession and jumped up from the couch, balling the sides of her skirt up in her firsts, she gave Mamoru a jerky bow. "I apologize for intruding and thank you for your time. I will go now. Please talk to Usagi."
She turned to the door, still not really looking at Mamoru, and she almost managed to make it out of the room before his strained voice reached her. "It's just…Usako's always been so open about everything…"
She turned to see that Mamoru had stood up, and looked pleading rather than angry. The tension in her shoulders loosened slightly.
"It's hard to believe a girl like that can hide anything, but we learned the hard way she'll hide her hurt so as not bother others. I think some of us know what's that like," she gave him a half smile, and he gave a slow nod in response.
"You really look out for her in everything, don't you?"
"Well, it's not like she can look after herself at all!" Rei snorted.
This did make his mouth tilt upwards, a little. "And yet you two are always arguing."
Rei put her hands on her hips. "I think you know as well as I do that it's too much fun to tease her."
"I can't argue with that," Mamoru held the door open for Rei, and after the appropriate formal goodbye, she departed. As soon as she was out of earshot, she heaved a huge sigh and stopped to get her bearings, balancing herself with a hand on the wall. At least it was over now. She didn't like discussing feelings and all that any more than Mamoru did, but after all, she had a job to do. Just like with Usagi and Seiya, she had to be the magical fortune teller getting these idiots to understand…what was the world coming to?
Suddenly a chill ran down Rei's spine. She whipped around, half expecting to see a monster standing in the apartment hallway.
Something was coming. This was the chill of a coming battle, a premonition she had gotten intimately familiar with as a Sailor Senshi.
"Oh no," she muttered, clutching at her face. "Please no. We really don't need this right now. Please, just leave us in peace for a little while longer…"
But she knew nobody was going to listen.
"Please, stop hurting yourself"
The woman looked up at Diana, her eyes wet and unfocused. Her stomach was bleeding where she had taken the knife to it, though fortunately none of the wounds looked particularly deep.
"You..." the woman muttered, looking down into Wonder Woman's blue eyes and then down and the wrist Diana had caught fast. And then, quicker than anyone could have thought possible, the woman flipped the shard of knife she held and plunged it into Diana's hand that held her wrist. "You did this to me!"
Wonder Woman didn't even flinch, but carefully prized the woman's fingers apart until she was forced to drop the knife. As soon as she did, the Amazon's wound healed instantly.
"I'm going to restrain you for now," Diana informed her calmly, taking out her lasso. "It won't hurt."
The woman didn't look at her as she gently wound the golden rope around, but instead continued to rant at the air as she shook with messy, choking sobs. "Y-you! All these years you pretended you knew me! Some stupid privileged white lady telling me women could be free! That I should be like HER! Because I wasn't good enough! Like you could understand us! B-but I see through you now! You're just another tool for them! T-trying to keep the rest of us down so you can be on top! You're the worst of them! The worst! " Her voice has reached a fever pitch now. "I'd rather kill myself than let you hurt me with your lies!"
Diana's voice betrayed a hint of tiredness as she responded. "I'm very sorry if I've made you feel that way. I never intended to hurt anyone, and I never told anyone they had to be like me. My only goal has been to help. But you should not hurt yourself because you feel hurt by me. You are too valuable for that." As she finished winding the lasso, she trailed off from the calm, well-worn speech and her face briefly seemed to collapse in on itself. She slammed her hand down at the ground, glaring at the wound golden rope, her teeth gritted. "Why isn't it working?" escaped a strained whisper.
"It's not working because we speak the truth," a soft voice spoke from the darkest corner of the courtyard.
Diana whipped to the left to see a woman standing, her black hair in a messy bun, her clothes torn and bloody, her smile vacant as her eyes burned with hatred. She held a silver box. "And the truth is that the women of this world would be better off without you in it."
"Please, don't hurt yourself," Diana began, tensed to act if the woman showed any sign of wanting to self harm.
"Oh, don't worry, I'm a bit more practical than her," the woman responded, and she dropped the silver box. "Hurting you is more important."
The box exploded into a dark shape with red eyes and looming claws that bore down on Diana immediately.
Diana could not get a better view of what sort of monster was pinning her down as she desperately warded off it's gnashing teeth with her crossed bracers. But she could hear the woman's voice as she fought for her life. "A little something we developed in my lab to use against supervillians. I'd say you qualify."
Diana jerked her bracer upward so hard the beast had to let go lest it risk breaking its jaw, and she rolled out from under it. The thing appeared to really be all darkness and red eyes, and aside from the lethal teeth and claw, completely made from some intangible shadow like substance that emanated a force that pinned her down. But any concern about the creature attacking her vanished when she saw the woman who had released it now had a gun to her own head.
"Of course, now that's out of the way, I can do this," she said. "You made me hate myself so much, after all…"
"No!" Diana lunged toward the woman as fast as the speed of Hermes could take her, but she was suddenly once more smothered in awful darkness; the creature's claws raking her neck. She could not see the woman anymore, but she heard the shot ring out clearly, and she screamed for the life she hadn't been able to save as hot breath and fangs forced her to the pavement…
Etta whirled around at the telltale sound of her friend fluttering in from the sky and whipping into the room through the window.
"Diana! Sorry to invade your apartment, but I wanted to-Why are you covered in blood?" Etta cut herself off, noticing the superhero was dripping unpleasantly as she touched down.
"When am I not covered in blood these days?" Diana sighed, running her fingers through her hair despite her soaked hands, her eyes unfocused.
"Whoa. That sounded pretty grim and gloomy and unDianaish." Etta sat down on the couch. "What's up? You can tell me while you wash up."
"I apologize. It's been very…hectic these past few weeks. It was merely a hard won fight, don't worry yourself. I can tell you have something to share with me." She looked at Etta eagerly, and then frowned when her friend continued to scrutinize. "Really, I'm fine."
"You remain the world's most awful liar. I've read the news, Di. The anti- Wonder Woman riots and…all the women…But you know as well as I do it has to be some form of mass hypnosis or magic or…something's controlling these women's minds."
Diana shook her head wearily. "No. I used the lasso on them to no effect. And I didn't sense any magic working on them."
"Then it's tricky, but you have to know that all these women wouldn't just suddenly turn on you. Have you got your JLA buddies working on it?"
Diana nodded again, slowly, not really focusing on Etta, who was now perching at the edge of the couch, her eyes narrowed at her best friend.
"Okay, seriously. Tell me what happened. What's with the blood, and how did things get worse?"
Diana sank into the chair, putting her head in her hands. "A woman named Sarah Jacobson shot herself on my account. I was unable to save her because she had unleashed one of her lab creations on me- I eventually slaughtered it with its own claws, hence the-" she gestured at her blood drenched form. "There have been other suicides I was unable to stop in time too. And women shooting each other to get my attention… all with clean records, no prior problems…and even the ones I've restrained are still…they've hurt themselves, they have to be in custody and nobody can guess why they blame me... I've been with the authorities trying desperately to figure out how to prevent further bloodshed...whether it's my presence that makes this city particularly vulnerable...
"You can't take it to heart, Di. It's not your fault."
"But…if the lasso didn't work on them…it means they must believe what they're saying. There must be truth to it," Diana took her tiara off and stared at it. "It's not as if I can contest some of what was said. That I cannot fully comprehend every woman's position and culture. That I come from a position of privilege in their culture in several matters, from the color of my skin to my class- I do not represent all women, I never claimed too, but the media…and some said the fact that I came to America first and have a base there shows my true values, that my standard has contributed to body shame in their culture-they truly believed I contributed to their oppression, made them hate themselves- innumerable women-it was the truth-"
"Whoa, whoa." Etta held up her hands. "Look, honey, you know as well as anyone people can resent you. Yours truly was insanely jealous at one point in time and occasionally still is-"
"I'm not ashamed of my body," Diana muttered. "But I don't want it to be another tool for Patriarch's-"
"Diana, all that matters it that I know you're a good person and you're really trying your best for women, for equality, for everyone. People will have resentment, it's what makes them human, like your little sulkfest here makes you human. And the fact that you make mistakes, even with your grand mission, also makes you human. All that matters is you are genuine and always trying to do better. Lots of people have privilege, and no one can understand everyone. This isn't about you. You'll get through this."
"I know," Diana said, not quite meeting Etta's eye. She was still focused on that golden rope on her hip. "But the lasso…"
"Okay, look," Etta said abruptly, going over to her friend and shaking her shoulder. "I have something that will help. Dr. Poison's escaped from jail."
Diana's head snapped up, and she stared at her friend, bemused.
"That was supposed to help?
"No, but the good news is I figured out where she's headed- turns out it's her home country. Cellmate says she's been muttering in her sleep about a Tomoe in Tokyo." Etta handed over the file. "Got checkmate to look it up. There's a Professor Tomoe she worked with at one point in arcanobiology. He's been linked to some pretty nasty incidents too- a huge, almost catastrophic disaster at his university a few years back. Local heroes even had to get involved. He's been inactive since then, though. He was also involved in a lab accident that nearly killed his daughter and there's some weird stuff going on there- suffice to say she isn't even living with him right now. Whatever Poison wants with this guy, it can't be good, he has mad scientist written all over him even if he's gone all quiet now."
Wonder Woman examined the file, her brow furrowed. "The disaster at the university- it says the Sailor Soilders were involved?"
"Yeah, they're basically Tokyo's protectors. Teenagers, but pretty damn powerful. Those girls have saved the world about as much as any JLA bigwig.'
"Yes, I've heard of them," Wonder Woman looked thoughtfully at the file. "Do you think it would be…intruding on their territory to go after Poison?"
She really was a little rattled by all these women coming after her. "She's your villain. I don't see why they wouldn't appreciate some extra help. They're a friendly bunch by all accounts."
Diana still looked a bit unsure.
"Look, I thought this would help you out because it's an opportunity for you to get away like the police told you to and do something constructive- you've got the best minds working on this anti-you epidemic, and you'll do the opposite of help by sticking around. The…hate virus or whatever hasn't spread outside the Eastern US. Helping in Japan is the best alternative."
"And…" Diana said slowly, squinting at the papers. "It may not be a coincidence Dr. Poison escaped around the time this epidemic started."
"Attagirl! It could help you get to the bottom of all this!" Etta thumped her friend on the back.
"Very well," Diana cracked a slight smile. "I'll familiarize myself with Tomoe and the Sailor Team, as it's likely I'll run into both. I have been wanting to meet those girls for a while, they've done some admirable work."
"I'm sure they'd love to meet you as well."
Diana frowned. "Unless the epidemic spreads overseas. Then we might have trouble cooperating."
That won't happen," Etta said firmly, gripping Di's hand. "Why don't you just go get a shower so you can take off soon? Oh, and if you find one of those funky anime statues of yourself while you're over there, you gotta get me one."
Diana gave a small laugh. "All right. " She got up and headed for the bathroom, but turned around before entering. "…Thank you, Etta. I know I've dealt with worse crises…but this is just…hitting me hard." She glanced down at the blood on your hands. "But you are right, sulking solves nothing. So, thank you."
"No problem. We're all rootin' for ya. Never forget that."
Etta's smile faded a bit as Diana closed the door. Checkmate was buzzing updates into the phone in her hand, saying the anti-Wonder Woman female sentiment was spreading faster than ever- everyone in America would likely be infected in a matter of days. "Don't forget it…even if the rest of us do…."
Basically, Sailor Moon and Wonder Woman crossover when WW's villian Dr. Poison comes to Japan to reawaken one of her old experiments with one of the Senshis former scientist villains, Professor Tomoe (who is also Sailor Saturn's dad, it's complicated). I am probably going to mess up so badly on the Japanese culture stuff, especially since I put honorifics in the dialogue (I'll probably just drop that later, now that I've established who everyone is to each other) but I'm tryin', just tell me what I do wrong, I've never ficced anime before.
As for the continuities here, Sailor Moon's side of it is set a few months after the last season of the anime, and mostly follows anime continuity, though I'll probably include a few manga elements in the characterization and whatnot because I DO WHAT I WANT. Wonder Woman somewhere between the end of Gail's run but before the reboot nonsense. Once again, I DO WHAT I WANT.
Anyway, this chapter was originally going to end at a more climactic point, but it was too long already and I need to publish this part so I feel motivated to do the rest. Here's the fanfiction.net link, which should be live soon.
Usagi Tsukino was in a good mood. Some might say this was something that went without saying, since the odango haired girl was known for her cheery disposition, but in honesty, she hadn't felt completely at peace since the middle of seventh grade , when a talking cat and ominous mission had entered her life.
But the city of Tokyo had been free of energy draining monsters the past few months, and when the city was happy, Usagi was happy. The worst she'd had to stop was a bank robbery she'd happened upon, and that had been scary because of their knives and angry glares, but she hadn't even gotten to finish her speech before they'd dropped them and surrendered. Rei had laughed at them for being "intimidated", but Usagi thought it was nice they'd seen the error of their ways so quickly.
It wouldn't last forever, Usagi knew that. She was, as Rei had once put it, "completely foolish, unbelievably ditzy, and a real pain to take care of-but not stupid" . A new enemy always came along, fresh pain was always there to experienced- she had a strange and confusing future awaiting her where the world would have to be reborn and she would have to be the one to deliver it, to mother it…a duty, a destiny, an inescapable fate. But for now…
Usagi crossed her ankles and sighed happily as the sunlight reflected from the window warmed her face- for now the peace of the world hummed through her ears, her friends were close and safe and whole and she had no current mission except to be Usagi Tsukino, lazy and happy high school student.
"Usagi-chan," a voice sighed in her ear, familiar and sweet even when exasperated. "You spaced out for the whole period?"
"Hmmm?" Usagi turned to glance at Ami, who was standing with her hands on her hip as the classroom around them began to empty. "I was just enjoying the pretty day, Ami-chan!"
"You enjoy life more when you pay attention to your studies," Ami said sagely.
"I don't think I could enjoy it any more than I do," Usagi grinned. "And besides, I have Ami-chan's notes!"
"Maybe I shouldn't share my notes, so you can apply yourself a bit more," Ami gripped her notebook as she said it, looking a little uncertain.
"But surely Ami-chan wouldn't do that, being such a naturally helpful person!"
Ami scowled at her, but the sides of her mouth threatened to quiver into a smile. Ami could never stay mad at anyone for more than five seconds, no matter how hard she tried to keep it up. The expression was so endearingly familiar that Usagi couldn't help but laugh, jumping up and catching her friend in a spinning hug before she began to drag her out of the classroom. "Let's enjoy ourselves for real!"
Ami resigned herself to being dragged down the hall. Mako hailed them heartily when they reached her classroom, thundering towards them with enthusiasm that matched Usagi's. Minako bounded out a little late at the school entrance, nearly bowling them all over as she babbled about the unfairness of being kept back in class and she couldn't help it if she was tired from all this overwork and sleep was important for an active girl! They all headed over to the arcade to meet Rei as usual, after patiently listening to Ami's perfunctory complaint that they should be studying.
The girls spotted Rei, as imperious as ever, tapping her foot by the colorful sign of the arcade entrance. They moved through the crowded street, Mako serving as their masthead and guide since people tended to move aside more quickly for her than they did for the smaller girls. This didn't work quite as well as usual though as two rambunctious men not only failed to avoid her, but crashed right into her.
"Excuse me," Mako said immediately with a slight bow.
"Geez, we get flattened by a damn Amazon," one of the guys snickered, ignoring her apology as the wended around her.
"It's a shame, she'd be cute if she were a little smaller," they heard the other one say as the two retreated.
"Those pigs!" Minako snapped, whipping around to shake her fist at their retreating backs. "I oughta give them the love-love smackdown!"
"Hey, come back here and apologize to Mako-chan!" Usagi called, her pigtails practically bristling. "That's not how you talk to a nice girl! You call yourselves men?"
"They ought to be ashamed!" Ami chimed in as the retreating duo laughed and ignored Usagi and Minako's incensed cries. "Don't listen to them, Mako-chan."
"I'd be willing to curse them for you," Rei said calmly, having approached as she witnessed the scene. "It would break my rules, but I'd think they'd count as evil spirits in need of cleansing."
"Or we could hold them down and you could hit them!" interjected Minako, sounding a tad too enthusiastic at the idea.
"Guys, I'm used to it," Mako laughed. "If I beat up everyone who made comments like that, I'd be brawling with a quarter of Japan. I'd rather use that energy for baking or preserving the peace. There's no need to bother with them, it's not worth it."
"You're telling the truth?" Usagi asked worriedly. "I know you can be very sensitive about these sorts of comments."
"Listen, I've accepted that not many guys go for this," Makoto sighed. "It's okay."
"It's their loss, Mako-chan," Ami said severely, while Mina and Usagi gave twin nods of agreement.
"Men aren't worth it except to boss around or have some fun with anyway," Rei shrugged.
"Don't give up! Fight on and someone will see your glory!" Usagi cried
"It's all right. I'd like to find love, sure, but I do just fine without men in my life. I've got you guys to take care of. I guess it's just meant to be this way with all the others, because of who I am. Now come on, I want to kill some things in video games. Or get killed, more likely…" she heaved another sigh and entered the arcade ahead of them.
"Is she really going to be all right…" Ami trailed off.
"Take care of us? What is she, our mother?" Mina asked.
"You know Makoto. If those punks had insulted of threaten any of us, or tried to pick a fight, she'd have thrown them into a wall. But she'll let herself be insulted..."
"Well, let's get her to have some fun and forget all this," Usagi interrupted Rei, grabbing Mina's hand to drag her into the arcade. "Everything will be fine, you'll see!"
Ami made to follow the other two, but Rei pulled tugged on her sleeve.
"Rei-chan?"
Rei pulled Ami conspiratorially to the side. "I'm worried about Usagi lately."
"I agree she needs to study more, but you know how she is, she'll pull it together at the last minute so she can move up with her friends…"
"Not that," Rei rolled her eyes. "I mean, I think she's still a bit shaken after…everything that happened."
"With Galaxia?" Ami asked, and got a curt nod in response. She glanced through the window at her friend, who was pounding away at the game machine. "She seems like her usual cheerful self."
"Normally that would be enough, except she's recently proven she'll cover her troubles with a smile and keep things from us," Rei snapped, putting her hands on her hips, miffed at the very thought.
"Ah. She didn't tell us when she thought Mamoru-san had abandoned her, that's true," Ami said thoughtfully. "But…I mean, we've been through a similar sort of thing before, and we're all okay now, after all."
"She did take a while to recover the last time this sort of thing happened, though," Rei reminded Ami. "She nearly lost her powers for good, and was very dramatic about us not pushing ourselves. But this time's a bit different. There's the whole issue with Mamoru-san being gone so long, and she truly was more willing to believe he'd forgotten her rather than had an accident happen…It was like she really lost everything.." Rei crossed her arms, chewing her lip.
Ami examined Rei critically. "Are you sure you're not the one who's upset by what happened?"
"Of course not, I can handle it. But Usagi takes thinks so personally and to heart-! Thinking Mamoru-san would ever abandon her-that anyone could ever- she's so emotionally fragile!" Rei slapped her hand, letting out a grunt of exasperation. "I try to toughen her up and get her to gain some faith in her strength but-"
"Oh, is that what you've been doing?"
Rei narrowed her eyes. "Ami-chan…"
Ami put her hand on Rei's shoulder. "I understand. You're probably right. I think perhaps would to be to ask Mamoru-san to talk to Usagi-chan about what happened. I think that will be a big part of it."
"Okay, so you can ask him-"
"Shouldn't you be the one to talk to him? You two used to date, after all, you know him best."
"That was years ago, and he basically ignored me while I followed him around!"
"See, you know him well," Ami said, turning away with a smile.
"You're the one who talks about…math and things with him!"
"Our relationship is academic. If we're discussing matters of the heart, it should be you."
"Usagi said he flirted with you once, clearly you are very close-" Rei stalked after Ami into the shop.
"This is the same Usagi-chan who thinks he flirts with his daughter from the future, correct?"
"Yes, well-"
"Rei-chan, don't be so concerned. Mamoru-san is the easily intimidated type, you'll steamroller right over him."
"What is that supposed to-"
"Good luck, anyway! Hmmm, I think I'm going to top the high score today!"
"Ami-chan!"
Rei knocked on Mamoru's door, cursing to herself. Trying to outsmart Ami was a futile effort after all, she should have picked Mako or Minako to confide in.
Mamoru opened the door, looking taken aback to see Rei standing there alone.
"I need to talk to you about Usagi," she said abruptly before he could speak.
"Come on in."
Rei sat down on Mamoru's couch, rejecting his offers of refreshment. She smoothed her skirt nervously as he sat down opposite her, looking curious. It was pretty awkward, though being one of Usagi's best friends meant seeing Mamoru pretty much every day, it was always in group settings. The last time she had been alone with him was…that time she had accidentally seen him naked. Okay, never mind. Best to just spit it out.
"I'm concerned about Usagi," she said in a rush.
"Did she eat an entire ice cream cone in half a minute again? Because I told her that was-
"No! Well, yes, actually, but I wasn't supposed to tell you- I mean, I'm concerned about her emotional state after everything."
"After everything?"
Rei gritted her teeth. Two minutes in and he was already trying her patience. But she couldn't smack him on the head, he wasn't Usagi.
"After you being murdered and the universe being nearly destroyed, do you remember that?" she snapped.
Mamoru blinked at her, looking taken aback. Honestly, what was with everyone?
"But…Usako seems fine. And I'm fine. And the universe is fine," Mamoru said slowly, as if he was going through a checklist. "I know it was very hard for her, but, she's- you know," he shrugged, as if it defied description.
"Right," Rei kneaded her forehead. "Look, I don't want to talk to you all alone about this anymore than you want me here, but the fact is you're completely clueless to what went on while you were gone." She pointed at him in an almost accusatory fashion. "You need to get your facts straight! A lot happened."
Mamoru looked at her quizzically. "Does this have anything to do with that Kou Seiya person?"
Rei was thrown for a second.
"What?"
"Are you saying that…when I was gone…they…or something…?" Mamoru was now focusing on his knees, his face flushed. "I mean…I trust Usako, so I was sure nothing had happened, it's just I could tell...Seiya really was uh…after her…right?
"
"Oh," Rei stumbled. Was THAT what he was worried about? "I guess you could say…yes, Seiya was pursuing her pretty hard, but honestly, I think Usagi barely noticed, or she didn't really give it much thought. She was always completely focused on loving you." Rei took a deep breath. This was the perfect opening. "I think that was part of the problem though. Seiya did once say something about how she didn't think Usagi should be with someone who made her so sad."
"Sad?" Mamoru squinted at her.
"When you didn't write back to her, it was terrible for Usagi. She thought you'd forgotten about her."
"Forgotten?" Mamoru repeated as if he'd never heard the word before. It was almost hard to be mad at someone so clueless, but then again, that had never stopped Rei with Usagi. She was truly dealing with a perfect couple here, except it was a couple of idiots.
Rei sighed and shrugged helplessly, rolling her eyes up to the ceiling. "I think part of it was she wanted to believe that rather than think something really awful had happened to you…you know, like what actually had happened. And that's why she kept it from us you weren't writing back as well. But the part I want you to know about is how easily she was able to make herself believe you'd forgotten about her." She met his eyes again, leaning forward.
"Well, I don't know how she could even think I'd ever do something like that," Mamoru mumbled, his eyes creased in confusion
.
"Yeah, because it's not like you've ever gone out of your way to convince her you could hurt her and forget about her!" the sharp response came out before she could stop it.
There had been a couple times during that period Rei had barely restrained herself from breaking into Mamoru's place and slapping him silly, and it looked like a little of that protective resentment had unknowingly remained. It hit Mamoru full force, and his whole face turned beet red. Rei felt herself flush a little too as he stammered "That…that wasn't…"
"Look, I'm not here to yell at you or blame you for anything- it's all your business. I know you've been through a lot too. But my business is protecting Usagi, and I can tell she's…that this has all really been so hard on her. It all came really close to breaking her, and however she acts, I don't think she's completely over it…and I can't let anything happen to her. I can't. So, as much as I don't want to interfere with your private matters-believe me, I don't-, I really needed you to know what she went through so you can talk to her about it…and work it out so she feels…better. She went through so much by herself, and she's not going to want to upset you with what she felt, but I'm not ever going to let her be alone again," She finished her speech in a stumbling stream of words, focusing hard on the wall above Mamoru's head so she didn't have to look at his reaction.
She took a deep breath at the end of this confession and jumped up from the couch, balling the sides of her skirt up in her firsts, she gave Mamoru a jerky bow. "I apologize for intruding and thank you for your time. I will go now. Please talk to Usagi."
She turned to the door, still not really looking at Mamoru, and she almost managed to make it out of the room before his strained voice reached her. "It's just…Usako's always been so open about everything…"
She turned to see that Mamoru had stood up, and looked pleading rather than angry. The tension in her shoulders loosened slightly.
"It's hard to believe a girl like that can hide anything, but we learned the hard way she'll hide her hurt so as not bother others. I think some of us know what's that like," she gave him a half smile, and he gave a slow nod in response.
"You really look out for her in everything, don't you?"
"Well, it's not like she can look after herself at all!" Rei snorted.
This did make his mouth tilt upwards, a little. "And yet you two are always arguing."
Rei put her hands on her hips. "I think you know as well as I do that it's too much fun to tease her."
"I can't argue with that," Mamoru held the door open for Rei, and after the appropriate formal goodbye, she departed. As soon as she was out of earshot, she heaved a huge sigh and stopped to get her bearings, balancing herself with a hand on the wall. At least it was over now. She didn't like discussing feelings and all that any more than Mamoru did, but after all, she had a job to do. Just like with Usagi and Seiya, she had to be the magical fortune teller getting these idiots to understand…what was the world coming to?
Suddenly a chill ran down Rei's spine. She whipped around, half expecting to see a monster standing in the apartment hallway.
Something was coming. This was the chill of a coming battle, a premonition she had gotten intimately familiar with as a Sailor Senshi.
"Oh no," she muttered, clutching at her face. "Please no. We really don't need this right now. Please, just leave us in peace for a little while longer…"
But she knew nobody was going to listen.
"Please, stop hurting yourself"
The woman looked up at Diana, her eyes wet and unfocused. Her stomach was bleeding where she had taken the knife to it, though fortunately none of the wounds looked particularly deep.
"You..." the woman muttered, looking down into Wonder Woman's blue eyes and then down and the wrist Diana had caught fast. And then, quicker than anyone could have thought possible, the woman flipped the shard of knife she held and plunged it into Diana's hand that held her wrist. "You did this to me!"
Wonder Woman didn't even flinch, but carefully prized the woman's fingers apart until she was forced to drop the knife. As soon as she did, the Amazon's wound healed instantly.
"I'm going to restrain you for now," Diana informed her calmly, taking out her lasso. "It won't hurt."
The woman didn't look at her as she gently wound the golden rope around, but instead continued to rant at the air as she shook with messy, choking sobs. "Y-you! All these years you pretended you knew me! Some stupid privileged white lady telling me women could be free! That I should be like HER! Because I wasn't good enough! Like you could understand us! B-but I see through you now! You're just another tool for them! T-trying to keep the rest of us down so you can be on top! You're the worst of them! The worst! " Her voice has reached a fever pitch now. "I'd rather kill myself than let you hurt me with your lies!"
Diana's voice betrayed a hint of tiredness as she responded. "I'm very sorry if I've made you feel that way. I never intended to hurt anyone, and I never told anyone they had to be like me. My only goal has been to help. But you should not hurt yourself because you feel hurt by me. You are too valuable for that." As she finished winding the lasso, she trailed off from the calm, well-worn speech and her face briefly seemed to collapse in on itself. She slammed her hand down at the ground, glaring at the wound golden rope, her teeth gritted. "Why isn't it working?" escaped a strained whisper.
"It's not working because we speak the truth," a soft voice spoke from the darkest corner of the courtyard.
Diana whipped to the left to see a woman standing, her black hair in a messy bun, her clothes torn and bloody, her smile vacant as her eyes burned with hatred. She held a silver box. "And the truth is that the women of this world would be better off without you in it."
"Please, don't hurt yourself," Diana began, tensed to act if the woman showed any sign of wanting to self harm.
"Oh, don't worry, I'm a bit more practical than her," the woman responded, and she dropped the silver box. "Hurting you is more important."
The box exploded into a dark shape with red eyes and looming claws that bore down on Diana immediately.
Diana could not get a better view of what sort of monster was pinning her down as she desperately warded off it's gnashing teeth with her crossed bracers. But she could hear the woman's voice as she fought for her life. "A little something we developed in my lab to use against supervillians. I'd say you qualify."
Diana jerked her bracer upward so hard the beast had to let go lest it risk breaking its jaw, and she rolled out from under it. The thing appeared to really be all darkness and red eyes, and aside from the lethal teeth and claw, completely made from some intangible shadow like substance that emanated a force that pinned her down. But any concern about the creature attacking her vanished when she saw the woman who had released it now had a gun to her own head.
"Of course, now that's out of the way, I can do this," she said. "You made me hate myself so much, after all…"
"No!" Diana lunged toward the woman as fast as the speed of Hermes could take her, but she was suddenly once more smothered in awful darkness; the creature's claws raking her neck. She could not see the woman anymore, but she heard the shot ring out clearly, and she screamed for the life she hadn't been able to save as hot breath and fangs forced her to the pavement…
Etta whirled around at the telltale sound of her friend fluttering in from the sky and whipping into the room through the window.
"Diana! Sorry to invade your apartment, but I wanted to-Why are you covered in blood?" Etta cut herself off, noticing the superhero was dripping unpleasantly as she touched down.
"When am I not covered in blood these days?" Diana sighed, running her fingers through her hair despite her soaked hands, her eyes unfocused.
"Whoa. That sounded pretty grim and gloomy and unDianaish." Etta sat down on the couch. "What's up? You can tell me while you wash up."
"I apologize. It's been very…hectic these past few weeks. It was merely a hard won fight, don't worry yourself. I can tell you have something to share with me." She looked at Etta eagerly, and then frowned when her friend continued to scrutinize. "Really, I'm fine."
"You remain the world's most awful liar. I've read the news, Di. The anti- Wonder Woman riots and…all the women…But you know as well as I do it has to be some form of mass hypnosis or magic or…something's controlling these women's minds."
Diana shook her head wearily. "No. I used the lasso on them to no effect. And I didn't sense any magic working on them."
"Then it's tricky, but you have to know that all these women wouldn't just suddenly turn on you. Have you got your JLA buddies working on it?"
Diana nodded again, slowly, not really focusing on Etta, who was now perching at the edge of the couch, her eyes narrowed at her best friend.
"Okay, seriously. Tell me what happened. What's with the blood, and how did things get worse?"
Diana sank into the chair, putting her head in her hands. "A woman named Sarah Jacobson shot herself on my account. I was unable to save her because she had unleashed one of her lab creations on me- I eventually slaughtered it with its own claws, hence the-" she gestured at her blood drenched form. "There have been other suicides I was unable to stop in time too. And women shooting each other to get my attention… all with clean records, no prior problems…and even the ones I've restrained are still…they've hurt themselves, they have to be in custody and nobody can guess why they blame me... I've been with the authorities trying desperately to figure out how to prevent further bloodshed...whether it's my presence that makes this city particularly vulnerable...
"You can't take it to heart, Di. It's not your fault."
"But…if the lasso didn't work on them…it means they must believe what they're saying. There must be truth to it," Diana took her tiara off and stared at it. "It's not as if I can contest some of what was said. That I cannot fully comprehend every woman's position and culture. That I come from a position of privilege in their culture in several matters, from the color of my skin to my class- I do not represent all women, I never claimed too, but the media…and some said the fact that I came to America first and have a base there shows my true values, that my standard has contributed to body shame in their culture-they truly believed I contributed to their oppression, made them hate themselves- innumerable women-it was the truth-"
"Whoa, whoa." Etta held up her hands. "Look, honey, you know as well as anyone people can resent you. Yours truly was insanely jealous at one point in time and occasionally still is-"
"I'm not ashamed of my body," Diana muttered. "But I don't want it to be another tool for Patriarch's-"
"Diana, all that matters it that I know you're a good person and you're really trying your best for women, for equality, for everyone. People will have resentment, it's what makes them human, like your little sulkfest here makes you human. And the fact that you make mistakes, even with your grand mission, also makes you human. All that matters is you are genuine and always trying to do better. Lots of people have privilege, and no one can understand everyone. This isn't about you. You'll get through this."
"I know," Diana said, not quite meeting Etta's eye. She was still focused on that golden rope on her hip. "But the lasso…"
"Okay, look," Etta said abruptly, going over to her friend and shaking her shoulder. "I have something that will help. Dr. Poison's escaped from jail."
Diana's head snapped up, and she stared at her friend, bemused.
"That was supposed to help?
"No, but the good news is I figured out where she's headed- turns out it's her home country. Cellmate says she's been muttering in her sleep about a Tomoe in Tokyo." Etta handed over the file. "Got checkmate to look it up. There's a Professor Tomoe she worked with at one point in arcanobiology. He's been linked to some pretty nasty incidents too- a huge, almost catastrophic disaster at his university a few years back. Local heroes even had to get involved. He's been inactive since then, though. He was also involved in a lab accident that nearly killed his daughter and there's some weird stuff going on there- suffice to say she isn't even living with him right now. Whatever Poison wants with this guy, it can't be good, he has mad scientist written all over him even if he's gone all quiet now."
Wonder Woman examined the file, her brow furrowed. "The disaster at the university- it says the Sailor Soilders were involved?"
"Yeah, they're basically Tokyo's protectors. Teenagers, but pretty damn powerful. Those girls have saved the world about as much as any JLA bigwig.'
"Yes, I've heard of them," Wonder Woman looked thoughtfully at the file. "Do you think it would be…intruding on their territory to go after Poison?"
She really was a little rattled by all these women coming after her. "She's your villain. I don't see why they wouldn't appreciate some extra help. They're a friendly bunch by all accounts."
Diana still looked a bit unsure.
"Look, I thought this would help you out because it's an opportunity for you to get away like the police told you to and do something constructive- you've got the best minds working on this anti-you epidemic, and you'll do the opposite of help by sticking around. The…hate virus or whatever hasn't spread outside the Eastern US. Helping in Japan is the best alternative."
"And…" Diana said slowly, squinting at the papers. "It may not be a coincidence Dr. Poison escaped around the time this epidemic started."
"Attagirl! It could help you get to the bottom of all this!" Etta thumped her friend on the back.
"Very well," Diana cracked a slight smile. "I'll familiarize myself with Tomoe and the Sailor Team, as it's likely I'll run into both. I have been wanting to meet those girls for a while, they've done some admirable work."
"I'm sure they'd love to meet you as well."
Diana frowned. "Unless the epidemic spreads overseas. Then we might have trouble cooperating."
That won't happen," Etta said firmly, gripping Di's hand. "Why don't you just go get a shower so you can take off soon? Oh, and if you find one of those funky anime statues of yourself while you're over there, you gotta get me one."
Diana gave a small laugh. "All right. " She got up and headed for the bathroom, but turned around before entering. "…Thank you, Etta. I know I've dealt with worse crises…but this is just…hitting me hard." She glanced down at the blood on your hands. "But you are right, sulking solves nothing. So, thank you."
"No problem. We're all rootin' for ya. Never forget that."
Etta's smile faded a bit as Diana closed the door. Checkmate was buzzing updates into the phone in her hand, saying the anti-Wonder Woman female sentiment was spreading faster than ever- everyone in America would likely be infected in a matter of days. "Don't forget it…even if the rest of us do…."