Heroes of the Multiverse

by Ari Rockefeller

 

 

Usual disclaimers apply.  These characters do no belong to me.

 

 

 

 

            Tokyo—a bustling megalopolis and the largest city in the land of the rising sun.  In this universe, where our story continues, the city possesses nearly 10 million people, while its metropolitan area boasts an additional 20 million people, making it the largest metropolitan in this world, at least.  While there is (theoretically) a Tokyo for each Earth-like world throughout the infinite universes, they all seem to have one thing in common.  Many more times than the city would like to remember, Tokyo has been under attack by a wide variety of fiends, robots, giant reptiles, giant robots, and other evildoers, especially in the recent few decades.  There is a particular need for heroes in this city, and each Tokyo has its own form of saviors.

 

            This particular Tokyo was defended by a handful of young ladies clad in outfits similar to those of traditional Japanese schoolgirls.  Their magical powers are steeped in millennia-old traditions and originated in a lifetime long before the modern era.  There are ten members of this group, one representing each planet of the Sol system and one for Earth’s moon.  Collectively, they are known as the Sailor Soldiers.

 

            Sailor Moon is the leader of the Sailor Soldiers—the woman was the princess of the Moon Kingdom a millennium ago, and the woman who will be queen of the Earth in the distant future.  Her primary support comes in the form of her friends, Raye, Amy, Lita and Mina—Sailor Mars, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Jupiter, and Sailor Venus, respectively.  Raye is a Shinto priest who serves the Hikawa shrine on the outskirts of Tokyo.  She’s the only Soldier who possesses fire-related magic and attacks.  Amy is a super-genius who wields ice and water in battle.  Lita is physically the biggest and strongest of the Soldiers, and uses earthen magic and lightning to protect world.  Mina can be as big a ditz as Serena sometimes, but none doubt her skills as a soldier…after all, she was doing this long before any of the other Soldiers were (in this time, anyway) as Sailor V.

 

            Currently, the five were gathered inside Hikawa temple, discussing their plans for the near future wile Raye was performing a fire reading.  Their two advisors were there, leading the meeting.  Luna and Artemis, a black female cat and a white male cat, respectively, once served as advisors to Queen Serenity during the Silver Millennium, and in this day and age, serve Serena and her fellow scouts.  Morale was at an all-time low for the Soldiers, especially for Serena.  It had been weeks since Dark Kingdom forces abducted her husband, Tuxedo Mask.  Since that time, her life had come apart at the seams.  One was the world to the other, their lives incomplete without them being together.  Since his disappearance, Serena has been in a permanently melancholy, and her life was slowly turning into a living hell.  Her gloomy mood was affecting her friends as well.  They could only be fortunate knowing that the Dark Kingdom had attacked only twice since Darien’s disappearance, which is a blessing in disguise; had they kept up their offensive on the Sailor Soldiers, Serena would’ve crumbled under the pressure long ago.

 

            The fire Raye was conducting her ritual over died down, and she turned around to face her friends.  All eyes were on her, Serena’s the most distraught and attentive.  “What did you see?” she asked, a bit of anguish in her voice.

 

            “Well…” Raye started, taking a deep breath, “I saw him.”  Serena leaned forward, while everyone else paid close attention.  “He wasn’t anywhere in the Dark Kingdom, though.  He was…on a different plane.”

 

            “A different plane?” Amy asked.

 

            “Do you mean he’s…” Serena whimpered, praying she wouldn’t give the answer she thought she was going to get.

 

            “No, he’s not dead,” Raye interrupted.  “Darien has slipped into another dimension, but not the Dark Kingdom.  I saw him, and two others—a man bout his age and a boy of about twelve.  Then…they disappeared.”  She looked over her friends, and the two cat advisors.  “The vision ends there.”

 

            Silence fell over the group for a few moments as they tried to comprehend this vision.  “What does it mean?” Lita asked.  “They didn’t get killed…wherever they just were, did they?”

 

            “No, they’re alright, from what I can gather.  But wherever they’re headed, they won’t be there for long.  It’s almost as if they’re moving from one dimension to another.”

 

            “Like parallel universes?” Serena asked.

 

            “Yes, something like that.”

 

            “Are you saying,” Mina started, “that there are more dimensions than just the two we know about?  That there’s a bunch of different universes stacked one on top of another?”

 

            “I never said that,” Raye interrupted.  “Besides, can you prove any of what you just said?”

 

            “Somehow, that notion doesn’t seem as farfetched as you may think,” the black cat guardian Luna said.  She walked up to Raye and sat down a few (cat) paces before her.  “While I doubt the existence of numerous other dimensions like Mina suggested, we can confirm that ours is not the only one.”

 

            “This still doesn’t explain where Darien is,” Amy added, “and it doesn’t bring him any closer to home.”

 

            “Our answers aren’t just going to fall out of the sky,” the white cat guardian Artemis added.  “Plus, your magical capabilities aren’t nearly enough to move from one dimension to another in rapid succession.  Hell, it takes a combined effort from all five of you to pull off a decent teleport.”  Artemis stopped, noticing all eyes in the room were fixed upon him.  “Um…not that that’s anything against you girls, of course.”  He chuckled nervously, inwardly bracing for whatever was about to crash down upon him.

 

            Of course, answers never come from the sky…the sky is much, much to subtle.  No, they are delivered through other, more creative means.

 

            While the sound of the fabric of the universe being torn open was audible from inside the temple, neither Serena nor any of her friends saw a bluish-green circular portal open up about twenty feet above the road outside the temple grounds.  A car was ejected from that selfsame portal, and it sailed through the air a good fifteen yards before it flopped onto the road.  All four tires exploded on impact, making steering very difficult.  The car took a sharp left, intending to enter the Hikawa temple grounds in a rather peaceable manner.  However, with the compromised steering, the strange car’s entrance was hostile at best.  It took a sharp, hairpin turn, clipping the wrought iron fence around the property, knocking it over, and doing nearly a complete 360-degree turn, riding on the rims by the time it came to a stop.

 

            Serena, her friends, and the two cat advisors bolted for the courtyard the second they heard the car slam into the fence.  Among the general anxiety and confusion felt by the group, Raye exhibited a unique (i.e. no one else was feeling) emotion—anger.  This was still her temple, her property (it belongs to her grandfather, but it’s close enough as far as she’s concerned).  She wasn’t about to sit idly by and watch some hotrod smash through temple property and get away with it.  She was about to storm up to the driver and slap the shit out of them, when she suddenly heard the voices of the people inside.  The driver’s door opened, and he slowly got out, looking upset.  As the conversation progressed, the other two passengers exited the vehicle.

 

            “Aw, jeez,” Darien said, surveying the smashed fence.  “This is not good…Raye’s gonna kill us all.”

 

            “Oh, yeah!” Goku shouted, a chuckle under his breath, “and you complain about my driving!  Ha!  Just what do you call that, Darien?”

 

            “You want to go for a ninety-mile-an-hour joyride through downtown Tokyo, be my guest!  Just leave me out of it this time!”

 

            Meanwhile, Ash exited the car and took a few steps away, trying to shut out the pointless bickering by his cohorts.  His eyes were shut tight in an attempt to drown out their loud voices.  They weren’t angry, they were just loud…but that was enough for the boy.  For Ash, it was a conditioned response; their arguing reminded him too much of how his parents used to fight, up until the day his father left him and his mother.  Pikachu was clutched in his crossed arms, looking around cautiously at the strange new world he and his master had been delivered into.  Ash eventually opened his eyes, and his attention was drawn upward to the sakura trees in full bloom.  Their bright pink petals were beautiful to look at; a site that Ash had never seen back home, and not anywhere on his journey.  Combined with the sunset in the background, it made for a very beautiful scene.  He could look at them all day if he was able to, especially if his attention wouldn’t be so obtusely wretched away from this natural beauty.

 

            “Uh…” Darien started, a jumble of thoughts in his head.  So how does one go about explaining what part of reality they’ve been in after they were abducted by sinister forces hell-bent on killing him, wiping out life on his home world and conquering their universe?  “Honey, I’m…home?”

 

            Well, it was a start.  Not even Darien would be able to take this situation with such casualness and flippancy, like it occurred on a daily basis in his home world.  A feeling of relief drifted through him as he saw his wife run at him, intent on a typical tackle-hug.  Even after all these years, whenever she would meet him after a significant absence, she always charged at him and hugged him, just another way of showing her love for him.  However, this wasn’t something he was fully expecting.

 

            Instead of the standard glomp Darien was used to, the ecstatic Serena leveled Darien with an all-out spear tackle.  Every other eye was as wide as a dinner plate at Serena’s actions and the loud crashing sound she made upon impact.  She sat there, straddling his waist and her hands pressing down on his chest, all her weight forward as she jabbered quickly (almost incoherently) at her husband and how glad she was to see him.

 

            Eventually the prattling stopped, and by that time everyone gathered around to see why the two had suddenly quieted down.  Serena’s mouth was firmly attached to Darien’s, and they were kissing each other for all they were worth.  Raye’s expression quickly turned into one of annoyance, and she cleared her throat in an effort to get their attention.  When that didn’t work, Raye kicked Serena in the leg…not too hard, but unlike before this time was enough to get her attention.

 

            “Raye!” Serena whined, sitting up on Darien.  “That hurt!”

 

            “It was either that or a fire extinguisher.”  Darien pulled himself to his feet, his arm still around Serena.  “Well, Tux Boy, I’d say some explanations are in order.  First of all…” she looked at Goku and Ash, who were still staring in wonder, “who are the gaijin?”

 

            Everyone else’s eyes suddenly became drawn to the large, muscular foreigner in the orange and blue karate gi.  The girls took in his muscular physique and were awe-struck by this strange man.  “Well,” Darien started, “this gentlemen here asked me to be part of a superhero organization he’s recently started.  His name is Goku.”

 

            Goku barely got the chance to say hi.  Serena, Amy, Lita and Mina instantly crowded around him, blathering rapidly about how big and strong and gorgeous he was.  Goku was shocked at the sudden attention these fangirls were giving him.  His arms instinctively went above his head, almost trying to pull himself above this sea of attention, like he was about to drown.  He suddenly became worried that his clothes would be torn to shreds.

 

            “He’s married,” Darien and Raye stated, just loud enough to be heard over the loud rambling.  Said rambling ceased and desisted immediately, and there was an awkward silence as the four girls and Goku stared at each other in silence.  As quickly as they clamored around him they sulked off, over-exaggerating their let-down by slumping forward as they shambled away, muttering their discontent under their breath.

 

            A large sweatdrop formed atop Goku’s head.

 

            Ash watched the scene take place with a curious look on his face.  O…kay… he thought, watching the scene unfold before him.  He suddenly felt out of place among all the adults, as no one around seemed even remotely his age.  That is until…Ash’s attention was suddenly grabbed by something large and pink.  Said large pink object was in fact…hair…hair that was done up in similar buns as that Serena girl’s, only they were conic as opposed to a circular shape.  She was shorter than Ash, and a bit younger, he could assume.  Her arms were folded and she didn’t look too pleased at the moment.  She looked like a younger version of Serena; only her eyes were a deep red.  The girl looked to be about ten.

 

            “And who are you?” she asked, slightly annoyed.  “Are you part of this ‘superhero’ group or something?”

 

            Ash set Pikachu down at his feet, never taking his eyes off the girl.  He stammered a bit at first, trying to find the right words to say.  Finally, he got his thoughts in order.  “Indeed I am,” he said, extending his hand for a possible handshake, “my name is Ash Ketchum.  I’m a Pokémon Master!”

 

            “Uh-huh,” Reenie said, her arms still folded across her chest, “but who would want a kid like you playing hero?”

 

            Ash drew his hand back, suddenly feeling stupid for holding it out that long and not getting what he was expecting.  “What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked, annoyed, when her words fully registered with him.  “Are you saying that I don’t have what it takes?”

 

            Reenie stood sidelong to Ash, her arms still folded.  “What I’m saying is that that Goku guy must be pretty desperate if he has to have you as one of his so-called ‘heroes’.”

 

            “Hey, I don’t see you as part of our team!  Now what does that tell you?”

 

            “It doesn’t tell me anything.”  She faced forward, and leaned forward so that she was right in Ash’s face.  “And besides, none of you know what you’re doing.  I’m a hell of a lot stronger than you could ever hope to be!”

 

            “Care to test that theory?!” Ash retorted, leaning forward, his fist clenched.  Pikachu yelped in support of his trainer, striking the same pose with electricity crackling off his cheeks.  They were right up in each other’s face, growling loudly and ready to tear each other to pieces, given the proper provocation.

 

            Such provocation wouldn’t come.  “Now, now, kids,” Goku said, gently pushing the two kids apart.  Ash and Reenie looked up at the large Saiyan warrior, who looked at them with a slight smile and a nervous chuckle.  “No need to get off on the wrong foot, you know.  I mean, we’re all friends here, right?”  Ash and Reenie glared up at Goku simultaneously, causing him to flinch nervously.  His smile became even more strained, and he scratched the back of his head.  He looked over his shoulder and noticed Serena and Darien were looking at him, a distance away.  “Oh, they’re fine,” he said to them, “they’re getting along just great!”

 

            The children glanced at the parents, then at each other.  With a “Humph!” Ash and Reenie turned their back to one another, their arms folded.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER II

HOME IS WHERE THE HERO IS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            “See?!  I was right!”

 

            Once everyone was introduced to one another, Goku, Ash, Darien, and the rest of the Sailor Soldiers gathered in the main room of the temple.  The gaijin were introduced to Luna and Artemis, the feline advisors of the Soldiers.  After they got acquainted, it was Luna and Artemis who were surprised, when they learned that neither Goku nor Ash were strangers to talking cats.  Goku knew two in his home world—Puar, a shapeshifting cat who rolled with a friend of his, and Korin, a cat guardian just below his own planet’s guardian.  Ash, of course, saw Meowth practically every day of his life.

 

            They settled down, and the gaijin explained where they came from, while Darien gave a decent explanation as to how their universe worked…and that there are endless amounts of parallel dimensions like their own.  The comic book and cartoon characters of their world were real, living beings in their own dimensions.  As they explained, people who “created” those characters in fact had at least a subliminal connection with those words, and just happened to be good artists, writers, or the like.

 

            “Fine, fine,” Raye said, trying to calm Mina down.  “You were right about there being tons of different parallel universes.  Now would you come off it, please?”

 

            Mina sat back, Raye’s attitude not fazing her.  Since she had a small reputation as being an airhead, Mina took pride in being proven right, no matter how important the matter at hand was.

 

            “You’ve been gone for nearly an entire month,” Luna said.  “I don’t want to imagine what kind of torture the Dark Kingdom subjected you to in that time.”

 

            “Needless to say, it was awful…” Darien lamented.  “It was a wonder I could make it out of there alive, never mind maintaining my sanity.  Thinking of Serena was probably the only thing that kept me from giving in this time.”  Serena was sitting next to Darien, and her hand discretely sought out his, their fingers entwining.

 

            “‘This time’?” Ash echoed.  “You were like that before?”

 

            “Indeed.  It had not been the first time the Dark Kingdom had taken me prisoner.  The first time…I had been manipulated into fighting the Soldiers…against my own free will, obviously.  This time, I would sooner have died than let Beryl use me to advance her own twisted schemes.”  He sighed, and then looked up at the ceiling.  He stared upward as he continued his story.  “After a while, everything just seemed to mesh together.  I lost all sense of the concept of time, and by the time I did escape, I didn’t know if it had been a day or a week.”

 

            “So how did you end up in the Multiverse, Darien?” Lita asked.

 

            “You know, I’m not all that sure myself, really.  One minute I’m flying over a sea of lava with bloodthirsty youma breathing down my back, the next I’m in this huge city that makes Tokyo look like small town Americana.”

 

            “How big of a city is it?” asked Mina.

 

            “A hundred million people.”  The girls’ eyes went wide.  “Yeah, I couldn’t believe it myself.”

 

            “Whole countries aren’t that populated!” Ash chimed in.

 

            “Pikachu!” {“It’s mind-boggling!”} Pikachu piped.

 

            “I know,” Amy added, “the entire nation of Japan in this dimension has a population of about 125 million.  I would love to know how a single city is capable of housing that many people.  I’m sure it must be quite inhospitable, right?”

 

            “It’s the size of Delaware,” Darien answered, “and…it’s the cleanest city I’ve ever been to in my life.  Other than that, I’m not really sure.”

 

            “Man, I would love to visit this Multiverse you’re talking about,” Lita added.  She leaned over and nudged Ash with her elbow a few times.  “Bet you a guy like you must have all the girls swooning, ne, Mr. Pokémon Master?”  Reenie rolled her eyes at Lita’s remark, but kept her comments to herself. 

 

            “Uh…heh, heh…” Ash chuckled nervously, a sweatdrop forming on top of his hat, “well, you see, I haven’t actually been to the Multiverse yet,” he started, “we came here first because Darien insisted we stop here first.”

 

            “You can’t blame me, can you?” Darien put in, “It’s been nearly a month since we last saw each other.”

 

            Raye’s gaze drifted towards the window, where she noticed the sun had gone down considerably.  “It’s getting late,” she said.  “Perhaps we should call it a night.”

 

            “You’re right,” Darien agreed, Serena and him rising to their feet.  The others followed suit, and the happy couple headed for the doors.  They conferred something with Reenie quickly before turning to Raye.  “You wouldn’t mind watching Reenie tonight, would you?”

 

            “Oh sure, Darien,” she answered, her eyes narrowing slightly, “that is, of course, if you’re going to pay for the fence you smashed into on your way over here…”

 

            “Well sure, why wouldn’t I?  Hell, I was worried you were gonna put my head through the windshield when I got out of the car.”  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Goku and Ash talking to some of the other Soldiers.  Darien momentarily forgot about where they would stay the night.  “Um, do you think you could give those two a place to stay tonight as well?”

 

            “Fine.  But this shrine isn’t exactly a hotel, you know.”

 

            “So, uh, where are we gonna stay tonight?” Goku said as he came over to Darien and Raye.  “We crashing at your place tonight, Darien?”

 

            “Actually, Raye here has offered to put you and Ash up at the temple for the night,” he said, eliciting a stern look from Raye in the process.  “Plus, Reenie is staying here tonight as well.”

 

            Goku looked a bit disappointed.  “What’s wrong with your place?” he asked, his head tilted to the side.  “Why can’t we stay there tonight?”

 

            Darien gawked at Goku in an appalled fashion, full of disbelief.  He couldn’t believe what he just asked.  You mean to tell me that you don’t know why I’d want to be alone with Serena considering this is, oh…the first time we’ve seen each other in almost a month?! he thought.  Eventually, he noticed, Goku got the point, as noted by Goku’s “Ohhhhhhh…” in acknowledgement.

 

            “Yeah.”

 

            Everyone said their goodbyes to one another, leaving Raye, Reenie, Goku and Ash at the temple that night.  No one was about ready to turn in just yet, which was just fine with Raye.  She was a bit of a night owl herself, and didn’t mind her guests (well, maybe not so much her younger guests) staying up a little later.

 

            After seeing Reenie to her room, she ventured over to Goku and Ash’s room to see that they were all settled in.  Neither one of them was in the room, much to Raye’s surprise.  She then heard noises coming from the courtyard.  Hurrying out there, she found Goku and Ash standing around, talking, with Ash brandishing five small objects in his hands.  She approached slowly as their conversation became audible.

 

            “I haven’t had any of my Pokémon out since I came to this new universe,” Ash said, motioning to the five Pokéballs he held in his arms.

 

            “Are all of them like Pikachu?” Goku asked.

 

            “Well, not exactly.  There’s nearly 300 different species of Pokémon classified into nearly twenty types.  And new Pokémon are being discovered each and every day.”

 

            Goku bent over at the waist, his eyes fixed on the red and white spherical devices in his hands.  “And they’re contained in those things?”

 

            “Yeah.  A Pokémon trainer is only allowed to carry six Pokémon.  And…” Ash reached up and scratched the side of Pikachu’s head, causing him to chirp in delight.  “…some Pokémon don’t always stay in their Pokéball.  Like Pikachu here.  When I first got him, he didn’t want any part of the Pokéball, did you buddy?”

 

            “Pika pi ka!” {“Not in the least!”} Pikachu replied.

 

            Ash took a step back from Goku, and threw his arms in the air, flinging the Pokéballs upward.  “Okay guys, come on out!”

 

            All five balls resounded with a loud pop as they snapped open, releasing the individual creature inside.  The lights took a unique form and solidified, and before the two gaijin were the rest of Ash’s Pokémon team.  One of the Pokémon was a red-orange dragon with large wings and a flame that burned on the end of its tail.  It roared loudly as it found it released from its storage space.  The second was a beige creature with a long, thick neck and a round head, its body decorated with various leaf-life appendages.  There was a giant among the Pokémon there, a large thing with a wide, fat body and thick, truck tire-like paws.  It usually spent most of its time sleeping—about twenty hours a day.  Not all of Ash’s Pokémon were huge.  Two of Ash’s Pokémon were the same size of Pikachu, but just as powerful.  One was, simply, a blue bipedal turtle, which packed a curious pair of black sunglasses.  The other was an owl a little taller than Pikachu, with gold feathers all over its body and red feathers on its wings.

 

            “Say hello to my other Pokémon, Goku.”  He pointed to each one as he called out its name.  “Charizard, Bayleef, Snorlax, Squirtle, and Noctowl.  Say hello, everyone!”  The Pokémon responded in what could best be understood as “hello” in its own individual call.

 

            A sudden scream caught the attention of the Pokémon and their trainer.  Goku, Ash and all his Pokémon looked over to see the temple priestess staring with her mouth opened wide in shock.  She only saw these strange beasts in the manga Serena would sometimes bring to the meetings.  Never in a million years would she imagine that those things would be real!  And here they were, standing right in front of her!  Living, breathing (fire, perhaps?), looking at her funny…

 

            “Raye,” Ash said, snatching her attention, “if you think they’re gonna cause trouble, I can put them back.”

 

            “What…what…” Raye stammered, “what are those things?”

 

            “They’re Pokémon, of course!”  Ash’s Bayleef walked away from the rest of the group and up to Raye.  It stopped a few feet in front of her, smiling and looking at the girl with its bright, wide eyes.

 

            “Bay, bay!” {“Hello!”} Bayleef cooed.

 

            “Don’t worry, Bayleef won’t bite,” Ash said, laughing lightly.  “You can pet her if you want.”

 

            Needless to say, Raye was apprehensive about touching the strange beast that continued to stare and smile at her.  She was never really fond of animals of this world – save the two crows that accompanied her around the temple – let alone these strange beasts from a world that she believed to be a fantasy world up until today.  But it couldn’t be all that bad, could it?  Raye could tell the difference between a friendly smile and a sadistic or evil smile from a mile away.  This was definitely one of the former.

 

            Her arm slowly extended, and her hand touched the top of Bayleef’s head.  The creature did not recoil, but closed its eyes and leaned into Raye as she rubbed her head.  She was pleasantly relieved; Raye was almost certain this thing would try something on her, like biting her or slamming that big head of hers into her.

 

            “See?  She’s harmless unless I really need her to be,” Ash said, walking up next to Bayleef.

 

            “When you need her to be?” Raye asked, unsure what the boy meant.

 

            “Well, in my world, not everyone uses Pokémon solely for battling in tournament and such.  There’s organizations out there that want to rule my world using Pokémon, lies, deceit, and other foul methods to get their way.  One of those groups is called Team Rocket, and two of their agents have been following me and my friends since day one of my Pokémon journey.”

 

            “What do they want of yours that’s so special?” Goku asked.  By now he had left the other Pokémon where and joined Ash and Raye.

 

            “Pikachu, apparently.  They tend to go after any Pokémon they set their eyes on, but they’ve come after my Pikachu more than any of my other Pokémon.”  Ash turned his head to look at Pikachu, who was seated atop his left shoulder.  “We’ve destroyed every last device they ever came at us with and they keep coming back again and again.  They’ve been after Pikachu for years now, but they’ll never take him from me.  Isn’t that right, buddy?”

 

            “Pika, pika!” {“They’ll never take me alive!”} Pikachu yelled.

 

            “Who are those two?” asked Raye.

 

            “A girl named Jessie, and a guy named James.  I’ve known those two just as long as I’ve known my friends Brock and Misty, really.  And really…they’re not all that bad.  I think that of all they’ve done to us, it hasn’t all been personal.  I can think of more than a few times when we’ve teamed up against some bigger issue.  Deep down, if they really had an alternative, I don’t think they’d be part of Team Rocket if they didn’t have to.  They’re just…doing their job.”  Ash’s hand found his wrist, and he looked down to find he didn’t wear a watch.  “Hey, what time is it?”

 

            “Around 10:00,” Raye said, looking at her watch.  “We’ve got some time, guys.  I’d like to hear more about your world, Ash…

 

 

* * * * *

 

 

            The three of them continued to talk for about a half hour before retiring to their respective rooms that night.  Raye learned some interesting things about Ash’s home dimension, while gaining some kind of insight as to how her own world worked.  For starters, everything, and indeed everything in “the Pokémon World” used Pokémon in one matter or another.  They were used in or for virtually all occupations and were in all but a handful of homes in the world.  Pokémon were used in construction, fire and rescue, and even in some restaurants.  Even Ash’s mother had a Pokémon butler in her home.  Raye found it odd that Ash dropped out of school in fifth grade so he could pursue a Pokémon journey, even though Ash persisted that such wasn’t uncommon in his world.  Ash had also never heard of Tokyo or Japan until today, save from hearing the name mentioned in a few cartoons (Ash left out the parts where said cartoons would often show Tokyo being obliterated).

 

            Everyone at Hikawa temple was sleeping peacefully (Goku’s thunderous snoring notwithstanding).  Raye went to bed knowing her friends were also sleeping peacefully, except for Serena and Darien, who were probably doing anything but sleeping.  The two little rabbits are probably fucking one another’s brains out, Raye thought.  She was the last of the temple inhabitants to fall asleep, and she did so believing the city would be safe for one more night.

 

            Around 1:00 AM, Raye stirred in her sleep, her body peeled from its restful state after feeling a disturbance in the air around the city.  “Bad vibes”, she had always called it.  She sat up in her bed, trying to calm her breathing so she can focus on the negative forces she was feeling.

 

            Usually these feelings led to a single Dark Kingdom minion who was attacking their world.  However, it wasn’t just one.  There were several.  And their numbers were growing fast.

 

            She suddenly snapped around, and barely jumped out of the way of a dark, shadowy humanoid demon busting through the outer wall of her bedroom.  She enacted her transformation sequence when she rolled as she landed, and stood up in her full Sailor Mars attire.

 

            Getting back to her feet, Raye concentrated, then sent a ball of fire at the youma.  It was a direct hit, but after convulsing for a few moments the fire disappeared doing little damage to the monster.  She tried channeling her fire magic again, but before she could complete the spell the youma slashed at her with its shadowy arms, forcing her to jump out of the way.  The demon would’ve renewed and continued its attack, however, a blinding ray of white light pierced through her bedroom and out the hole the youma made as it entered, vaporizing it.  With a surprised gasp, Raye looked to her bedroom door for an answer.  Goku was standing there in a fighting stance, his right arm extended with his hand opened.  He had fired a ki bolt at the youma, blasting it away to nothing.

 

            “Goku?” Raye asked, startled.  “Thanks.”

 

            “Don’t mention it,” he answered.  He was still clad in his bedclothes, but that made little difference when saving one’s life.  “Where did this thing come from?”

 

            “I don’t know.  Something tells me that there’re more of those things, all over the city.  We’ve got to alert—”

 

            They were interrupted by a beeping.  Raye pulled her communicator off of her nightstand and was greeted with Amy’s image.  “What is it, Sailor Mercury?” she asked.

 

            “Mars,” she started, “I was just attacked by two shadow youma.”

 

            “You too?  The same thing just attacked the temple.  Goku and I were able to put a stop to it, though.  I fear there may be a lot more of those things all over the city.”

 

            “We need to contact the others and put a stop to these demons,” Goku said.  “How fast can they get here?”

 

            “A few minutes, tops,” Raye added.

 

            Rapid footsteps could be heard from the hallway, and they grew louder as their source grew closers.  “What’s going on?” Ash said, storming into Raye’s room.  He was dressed in the same full hakama Raye had given him, consisting of a white top and dark green pants, which he quickly grew fond of once he tried it on.  Pikachu was on his right shoulder, just as determined as his trainer.

 

            “Trouble all over the city, Ash,” Goku said.  “Think you’re up for it, kid?”

 

            “I’m ready whenever you are!” Ash shouted, clutching his fist.

 

            “Pika!” {“Let’s roll!”} Pikachu added.

 

            “Get all your Pokémon together and meet us out in the courtyard,” Raye ordered, “but only if you’ve got the stomach for it.  We may not be all grouped together tonight, so be careful!”

 

            Ash nodded, and ran back to his room, Pikachu still on his shoulder.  He quickly retrieved the five Pokéballs he carried with him, more excited than he’s ever been in his life.  Wow, he thought, this is awesome!  This’ll be our first mission as heroes!  I can’t wait!

 

 

* * * * *

 

 

            The other Sailor Soldiers met outside the temple, just as Raye said.  Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask were the last to arrive, and judging by the panicked expressions on their flushed faces it was easy to figure out what they were doing when they got the call.  Each individual reported his or her own incidents involving the shadow-like youma.  Goku took the time to fly above the city, making note of dozens of these walking shadow demons.

 

            “How many did you see, Goku?” Sailor Moon asked.

 

            “A lot,” he answered simply.  “The whole city’s crawling with those things.”

            “They have to be coming from somewhere, though,” Sailor Mercury added.

 

            “Perhaps if we find where these things are coming from and destroy it, we’ll put a stop to them all at one,” Tuxedo Mask said.  “Or, at least, cut off their power source and make them easier to take out.”

 

            “Either way, there’s about eleventy billion of those youma all over the city,” Sailor Mars started, “and they’ll all be gunning for you now that you two are back in the city.”  She looked at Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask.  “You two should be extremely careful.”

 

            “How should we go about this?” Sailor Jupiter asked.

 

            “How’s this sound,” Goku started, “Darien and I will look for whatever is creating these things, while the rest of you hunt down and destroy the shadow creatures before they start attacking civilians.  Chances are they may start going after them to draw you guys out anyway.”

 

            “What are we gonna be looking for, anyway?” Ash asked, nervous and on edge.

 

            “Don’t know.  But I’m sure we’ll know it when we see it.  Anyway…” Goku’s ki flared up around him, generating a shield like white fire.  “Let’s do this!”

 

            “Yeah!”

 

            Sailor Moon, Mars, Mercury, Venus and Jupiter departed for the inner city on foot, searching for more of these demons.  Goku, Tuxedo Mask and Ash were left in the courtyard of the temple, Goku’s ki still burning around them.

 

            “Ash, you’re with us on this one,” Goku stated, “so try and keep up.  Let’s ride!”  Goku and Tuxedo Mask jumped up and took off, flying down a street that ran parallel to the temple grounds at blinding speed, unintentionally leaving Ash behind.

 

            “Hey, wait!” Ash called, running to the end of the block, waving his arms.  When he got to the corner, he put his arms down and sighed, his anxiety and excitement replaced by dejection.  “I…can’t fly…remember?”  His mind turned over the word fly several times before it finally clicked within him.  He snapped his fingers and reached for one of his Pokéballs.  He wore his own Pokéball belt around his waist despite the large, pleated hakama pants, three balls on one hip, two on the other; the sixth was the one his Pikachu would’ve occupied provided he had a ball of his own.  “Charizard, I choose you!”  Ash flung the ball into the street, releasing the red-orange dragon Pokémon from its ball.

 

            “Grrr?” {“You rang?”} Charizard grumbled.

 

            “Charizard,” Ash started, “we got an important mission to take care of, and we need to hit the skies as soon as possible!”

 

            “Char,” {“Understood,”} the dragon barked in acknowledgment.  He leaned forward, stretching his neck out and folding his wings flat, allowing Ash to climb onto his back.  He seated himself between where his wings jutted from his back, and held on tightly to the dragon’s neck.  Despite his hard grip, he knew Charizard and his thick neck wouldn’t be hindered in the least.

 

            “Now, let’s fly!”  Charizard flapped his large wings, carrying him and his trainer (and his Pikachu) into the night sky.  But they would not be alone.

 

            Unbeknownst to Ash and his Charizard, they were being followed by a young girl a little younger than he.  She had pink hair and burning red eyes—eyes that burned with anger.

 

            “I can’t believe this!” Reenie shouted, initiating her own transformation sequence.  As the magical energy washed over her, she stood in her full Neo-Sailor Moon attire.  “First mommy and daddy ditch me at the temple, and then they don’t even bother to wake me up when the city’s under attack!  No one leaves Neo-Sailor Moon behind and gets away with it!”  Briefly, she assessed her situation.  Her sister Sailor Soldiers, her father and the gaijin man had already departed to fight off the Dark Kingdom’s newest line of youma.  If she would get a piece of the action, she’d have to use the boy and is…pet dragon? to do it.

 

            Before the boy and his dragon got too far, Reenie ran as fast as her powers-enhanced body would take her.  She was able to clear the fence around the temple grounds in a single bound, but found that as she gave chase, she had to use cars and other objects as stepping-stones to reach Ash and his dragon as they ascended.  Giving one final jump, she reached her arms out and grabbed onto the dragon’s hind leg.

 

            Up top, Ash felt Charizard drop altitude briefly before leveling out.  “Charizard?” Ash asked, “What was that?”

 

            “Grarrr…” {“We have company,”} Charizard answered.  Ash looked over his shoulder to find a girl hanging from Charizard’s back leg.  It was that same girl with the pink hair that chewed him out earlier that day!

 

            “Reenie?” Ash asked.  “Reenie?!  What are you doing here?”  Ash started getting angry, seeing how this was neither the time nor the place to deal with this kind of nonsense.

 

            “My friends didn’t bother waking me up,” she explained, “and the city’s in danger!  It’s my duty as a Sailor Soldier to help out!”  She lost her grip for a moment, and she let out a scream, fearful of falling to what could easily be her death on the city streets below.  “Help me, please!”

 

            “Charizard, can you reach down and grab her?” The dragon tried to reach his small arms down to his leg, attempting to pull Neo-Moon up into his arms.  Though he tried shifting his leg forward to bring her closer, he didn’t get any results.

 

            “Grrr…” {“Negative…”} he answered.  Reenie responded with a scream as she was now hanging on with one arm.

 

            “Set down on that building right there, Charizard!”  The dragon complied, and they paused to readjust themselves.  Once Neo-Moon was safe and Charizard had landed, Ash directed Reenie to get on the dragon’s back behind him and hold on.  One she was secure, they picked up on Goku and Tuxedo Mask’s trail and gave chase.

 

            Reenie was feeling better as she clung to Charizard’s back, but not much.  The idea of flying on the back of a beast that was mythical in her day and age didn’t sit well with her.  She whimpered slightly as she held her arms tightly around Ash’s waist, resting her head against his back.  Ash blushed, overcome with a strange feeling he couldn’t pinpoint.  Never had Misty clung to him like this…at least without suddenly realizing whom she was grabbing on to and releasing him suddenly.

 

            He could deal with this later.  Charizard picked up speed as they flew about looking for Goku.

 

 

* * * * *

 

 

            As expected, there were many of the shadow youma around, coming at a rate of about one per city block.  Despite each Soldier being overwhelmed as they split up, each was confident in her own abilities.  They would survive this night, no matter what it took.

 

            Lita Kino, Sailor Jupiter, is clearly the most athletic and (physically) strongest of the five Inner Soldiers.  When she battles the forces of the Dark Kingdom, she has no qualms with going toe-to-toe with the youma in question and using her earth-based magic as a last resort, as opposed to relying purely on her magic.  In fact, she loves bringing the fight to them.

 

            Three of these shadow youma confronted her first, but Lita was ready for them.  She dodged a series of slashes from these demons, retaliating with punches and kicks of her own.  Years of training in Kempo karate and her confidence in her abilities therein also drove her to fight with her body instead of her magic.  She would be better off fighting with her earth- and lightning-based attacks, because as she soon discovered, her attacks passed right through them.  Where she struck the creatures, their forms fizzled like television static at the point of impact.  She gasped, realizing her attacks had no effect.

 

            One of the youma wrapped its appendage around Lita, and then flung her halfway down the block.  There were few civilians around save for a stray drunkard who weren’t really paying attention to her plight.  She quickly brought herself to her feet, seeing the group of shadow youma attacking her doubled to six.  Lita wondered if her friends were going through similar situations.

 

            If I take them all on at once, she thought, they’ll kill me for sure.  I’ve got to isolate these things and take them down one by one.  With that thought in her mind, she made her move.  Jupiter summoned her magical powers, a small antenna extending from the center of her tiara.

 

             “Jupiter…thunderclap…ZAP!”  She lobbed a concentrated ball of lightning the size of a bowling ball at the first youma, causing it to scream in pain just before it disintegrated.  When the other five continued pursuit, and she ran until she led the group into a small alley.  She knocked over whatever was in her way in order to slow the youma down.  She bought herself some more time by busting down a boarded-up doorway, disappearing into a dank, decrepit old building.  The only light came from windows that were either partially boarded up or broken.  Lita leaned forward, her hands on her knees, catching her breath.

 

            She looked outside the broken window, seeing a few more youma looking around, stalking the area.  They were there but a second, not noticing her apparently, before stalking off.  Her reprieve lasted not much longer, however.  Sailor Jupiter turned around, and saw the five she ditched earlier as well as four more staring her down.  Lita had her back to the wall with no immediate escape route.

 

            “Hmmm…” she murmured.  She was once again outnumbered, but being with her back against the wall made her angry.  With a loud roar, she flung her arms around herself, her fingers stretched out.  Lightning pulsed out of her fingers and struck each of the creatures, paralyzing them.  Their forms were wrapped in small trails of electricity as they remain frozen in place.

 

            Lita quickly decided she wanted no part of this ongoing battle.  Making a hasty escape, she dashed towards the window and jumped out into the street below in a hale of glass shards.

 

            One she was clear of any danger, Sailor Jupiter produced her communicator.  “Are the rest of you having the same trouble as I am?” she said into the device.

 

 

* * * * *

 

 

            “I hope you’re having a blast tonight, Jupiter,” Mina answered.  “Mars and Mercury are here with me watching the paint dry.”  She, of course, was being highly sarcastic, as the three Soldiers were confronting a slightly larger group of youma and fairing only slightly better.  Individually it took several magic attacks to bring down one youma.  When two Soldiers concentrated their attacks, however, it made them easier to destroy.

 

            The three of them were taking on the Dark Kingdom forces at a construction site.  The building in question was only partially started, a skeleton of steel standing roughly 20 stories tall.  A lot of the supports and makeshift platforms were destroyed during the fight.  While the Soldiers slowly felt fatigue coming on as the fight progressed, the indispensable shadow youma were constantly refreshed.

 

            “There’s no end to these things!” Venus shouted, just as she pierced the head of one youma with her Crescent Beam, destroying it.

 

            “Hold together,” Mars shouted.  She sent another volley of fire at another youma, causing it to disintegrate upon contact.  However, the trouble wasn’t passed yet.  A few embers from what was left of the demon floated away and landed on a discolored area on the ground.  The discolored area formed a burning trail to several steel drums of (apparently) a highly flammable liquid.  Upon impact, the containers exploded violently, sending flames everywhere.  The youma horde closed in on the Soldiers.

 

            Backed into a corner, Mercury, Venus and Mars made their stand.  The heat from the fire made them sweat and made their vision blurry.  Through the roaring flames, the demons were cut down in a hale of magical fire, beams of light and freezing bubbles.

 

            “Come on,” Mars said after the last youma was destroyed.  “Let’s get out of here and find the others before more of those things show up.”

 

            “I’ll put out the fire,” Mercury declared.  She conjured up a volley of fog-producing bubbles, which doused the flames and shrouded the area in a fine mist.  “We can’t stay here very long.  This whole city is crawling with those things.  Do you think the others are fairing any better than we are?”

 

            “I doubt it,” Venus answered.  “If they were victorious by now, these things would’ve stopped coming about, right—Mars, behind you!”

 

            Mars gasped and turned on her heel to see a stray shadow youma leap at her, limbs ready to tear the soldier of the planet Mars to pieces.  Before it could do so, however, it was destroyed.

 

            The girls only saw for an instant what destroyed the youma.  It was a magically charged object, looking like a disc of pure light.  They recognized the object and the attack immediately—a tiara!  It had flown at the youma like a boomerang, returning to where it was thrown after it connected.  Mars, Mercury and Venus watched as Sailor Moon, who was standing at the entrance of the lot, caught the disc.  It reverted back to a tiara as she put it back on.

 

            “Sailor Moon!” the Soldiers shouted as they ran toward their leader.  Sailor Jupiter was with her, as they had rendezvoused before heading for the disturbance in this construction site.

 

            “Is everyone alright?” she asked.

 

            “We’re fine,” Mars answered, “but we’re starting to get worn out.  There’s no end to these things.”

 

            “How many are left?” Jupiter asked.  Mercury activated her scanner, and was looking around the area.  In her view she saw dozens of yellow blips indicating the location of a shadow youma.

 

            “Way too many!” Mercury answered, deactivating her scanner.  “There’s a decent chance that if we stay and fight them all at once, we could be killed!”

 

            “Perhaps we should take our leave here,” Sailor Moon said.  “Let’s find the source of these things and destroy it as quickly as possible before the whole country is overrun by the Dark Kingdom!”  They fled the construction site, a horde of shadow youma starting to close in on them.  Mars laid down a wall of fire to slow up the assault, while the five of them followed Serena, who was going on her mental link with Darien alone.

 

 

* * * * *

 

 

            As the Soldiers dealt with the Dark Kingdom forces in their own way, the problem of destroying their foothold in this world still loomed.

 

            A lifetime of martial arts training has given Goku advanced senses and heightened perception, which he normally uses to sense a person’s ki or “power level”.  Here, he was using it to find the source of the shadow youma, and leading his friends right to it.

 

            One of his friends, at least. 

 

            “Is this the thing that’s causing all the mess?” Goku asked, his eyes fixed on the geyser of black energy spewing forth from a hole in the ground.

 

            “Seems that way,” Tuxedo Mask answered, “but there should be enough between the three of us to destroy it.  Right…” Tuxedo Mask looked around for the kid, but didn’t find him.  “…Ash?”

 

            “Huh?” Goku looked at the Earth soldier.  A moment later, his eyes also started to roam around, looking for the young Pokémon master.

 

Wherever they went in this world, Goku could sense Tuxedo Mask’s presence a half step behind him, but Ash was another story.  Every creature has a ki; some are stronger than others for any number of reasons.  Being from a world that is neither constantly plagued by otherworldly beings hell-bent on conquering the universe or top-heavy with magical properties, the boy had no real need to be gifted with excessive physical or magical strength.  Thus, his underdeveloped ki gave of a very, very faint signal.  To Goku, it was no higher than some of the normal people of his world.  And when he was next to someone like Tuxedo Mask, the weaker signal would simply go unnoticed.

 

            Therefore, when the two heroes landed a distance away from the source of the shadow youma and didn’t find their young contemporary, they were a bit surprised.

 

            “Goku…” Tuxedo Mask started, “what’s the main thing that you and I can do yet Ash can’t?”

 

            “Um,” Goku mumbled, cocking his head to the side and rubbing his chin, “transform into a more powerful form?”

 

            “Besides that.”

 

            “Fight demons like this on a regular basis?”

 

            “No…”

 

            “Then…I don’t know…what?”

 

            “Fly.”  Tuxedo Mask leaned forward.  “Ash can’t fly on his own.  He needs to use one of his Pokémon to do so, and not even those can keep up with us, really.”

 

            “Of course.  Why didn’t I think of that?”

 

            “Couldn’t you sense him?”

 

            “Well, his ki is so…weak.  Yours isn’t too spectacular either, but as strong as your magical powers are, I couldn’t sense him.”

 

            “Well, I’m sure he’ll find his way here soon regardless.”  Tuxedo Mask and Goku returned their attention to the black geyser on the other side of the small park.  “Our fight with this thing is bound to draw some attention.”

 

            The demonic fountain flared up, and started changing.  It was no longer spewing out shadow demons, but mutated into one itself.  Unlike the grunts that were running around the city causing havoc, this one was much larger and stronger.  It was easily three times as tall as Goku – but stood slumped over most of the time – and twice as muscular.  This one had four arms as opposed to two, each with four long, dark claws on the end.  It had the face of a devil with burning red eyes.  When it roared, the inside of its mouth was just as red.

 

            Not waiting to see what kind of destruction it could create next, Goku made his move.  His ki flared up as he flew at the youma like a bullet, a fist cocked back and ready to come crashing down on its skull.  However, he flew right through the demon, fist and all.  He shouted as he threw the punch, and found himself hovering a few feet off the ground, his arm extended.  He knew that you’re supposed to “punch through your target”, but this was absurd.

 

            “Huh?” Goku huffed.  He looked back over his shoulder, and saw the youma looking back at him, a bit angrier than before.

 

            “I don’t think physical attacks are going to work, Goku!” Tuxedo Mask shouted.

 

            “Then you try something!” he shouted.  The youma rushed at Goku, swinging its two right arms at the large man.  Much like its own attacker, the attack went right through its intended target.  But instead of reappearing where he originally was, Goku appeared behind the youma, equidistant from it and Tuxedo Mask.  As Goku predicted, the creature lunged at him again, and Goku jumped straight up into the air.  Tuxedo Mask saw Goku’s plan, and was ready for it.  He clenched his fist, and a rose appeared between each finger.  Before the demon could react, the Earth soldier’s arm lashed out, sending the four roses flying at it like magical bullets.

 

            Their hopes dropped slightly as the roses connected with a force field that the youma projected a few feet from itself.  Energy crackled around the roses before they disintegrated.

 

            “What?” Tuxedo Mask gasped.

 

            “Nothing happened?” Goku said, returning to the ground next to Tuxedo Mask.  “Well that sucks.  How do we destroy this thing?”

 

            “Perhaps we’re going about this the wrong way…”

 

            The youma stood up straight and threw its arms out, emitting a yell that made the ground shake underneath them.  Goku assumed a defensive stance while Darien’s hand searched for the hem of his cape, intending to use it as a shield.  The gust from this thing’s shout threatened to knock the heroes off their feet if it wasn’t stopped.  Thankfully, a face full of fire would do.

 

            “What the…?”

 

            Goku and Tuxedo Mask looked up to see a red-orange dragon with a burning tail breathing fire down on the youma.  On its back were two children—both of which they recognized.

 

            “Charizard!  Keep up the Flamethrower attacks!”

 

            Just as Tuxedo Mask suggested, Ash had used one of his Pokémon to fly himself into battle.  But what was Reenie doing with him?  Shouldn’t she and the other Soldiers be combing the city for youma?  “Well…” he started, “that’s one way of going about it…”

 

            “Ash!” Goku shouted, “That thing’s more powerful than it looks!  What’re you doing?!”

 

            “Earning my stripes!” Ash shouted back.  “Charizard, try another Flamethrower!”  The dragon obeyed, bellowing loudly and spewing another torrent of fire from its mouth.  The same magical shield that protected it from the magical roses also shielded it from the flames.  However, Ash wasn’t about to admit he couldn’t beat it just yet.  Charizard, with Ash and Neo-Sailor Moon in tow, continued the assault as per his master’s wishes.  The dragon bobbed and weaved around its slow moving claw swipes, retaliating with a futile burst of fire every now and then.  The youma only grew angrier at not being able to swat this puny little fly.

 

            “Ash, it’s not working!” Neo-Moon coaxed.

 

            “Pikachu!” {“She’s right, Ash!”} Pikachu said.

 

            “I’m not giving up yet,” he shot back.  “Charizard!  Fire Spin!”

 

            “Graaaa!” {“Understood!”} it called back.  The fire that erupted from its mouth when it roared out was more intense this time, and it encircled the youma.  Charizard didn’t circle the creature, however, but was hovering in place as the flames grew higher and higher.

 

            This idiot, Neo-Moon thought, he’s going to get himself killed!  Well, I’m not having any part of it!  Reenie turned and jumped off of Charizard’s back, landing on her feet on the ground.  Charizard’s altitude picked up slightly, throwing off his concentration.

 

            “Grrr?” {“What?”} he grumbled, noticing the small weight coming off his back.  This lapse made the dragon stop his attack long enough for the youma to extinguish the flames and swing its top-right arm at the dragon and its master.  Ash was unseated from Charizard and slammed back first into a large tree.  He wailed out in pain as he hit first the tree and then the ground, pain shaking him like none he ever felt before.  Pikachu, having landed in a large, leafy tree branch, merely regained his footing and ran down to his trainer’s side.  Charizard took a more sharp angle to the ground, skidding a good distance before laying on one side, his body trembling and his eyes shut tight in pain.

 

            None of Ash’s allies had the chance to check on him or help him to his feet.  They were too busy being interrupted by a little girl with some big words.

 

            “No one hurts my friends and gets away with it!”  Defiantly, she marched from where she landed until she was but a few meters away from the demon.  “Your kind are all the same—attacking our world and tormenting innocent civilians…and in the dead of night, too!  You cowards!”  As she spoke, her body moved in strange (at least to the gaijin) ways, emphasizing her spiel with curious poses.  “I am Neo-Sailor Moon, the next generation of Sailor Soldier!  And by the power given unto me by the Earth and the Moon, I will punish you!”

 

            Silence fell over the battleground.  Goku and Tuxedo Mask stood there, staring blankly, while Ash managed to pull himself to his feet, just as confused.  He was the first person she saw after giving her speech, and didn’t take too kindly to his confused expression.

 

            “What?” she shouted.  “What is that look for?”

 

            “Do you really have to shout at the thing like that?” Ash asked, rubbing his back.

 

            “Every Soldier does it!  My mom especially!”  She glared hard at him.  “Why, you got a problem with it?”

 

            Ash cringed; her look could’ve turned him to stone.  “Well, no…it’s just that the last time I heard a battle speech like that, Samuel L. Jackson got eaten by a shark.”

 

            Reenie, Goku and Tuxedo Mask all facevaulted.

 

            “Can we stay on topic here?” Neo-Moon barked.  “We need to think of a way to stop this thing, and your little fire fighting clearly wasn’t it!”

 

            “Well if fire won’t work, I’ve got something else that might!”  Ash turned and pointed at the youma, Pikachu running up to Ash’s hand perched and ready to jump at a moment’s notice.  He knew this routine like the back of his hand.  “Pikachu!” he shouted, “Let ‘em have it with a thunder bolt attack!”

 

            Pikachu jumped off Ash’s outstretched hand towards the youma, electricity sparking from his red cheeks.  He hung in mid-air as he yellow electricity shot out at the demon.  Unfortunately, it was just as ineffective as Charizard’s fire attacks were.  Ash and Pikachu gasped as the same shield that deflected the fire made Pikachu’s lightning dissipate.  Before they could react otherwise, the youma slashed at Pikachu, knocking him aside.

 

            “Pikachu!” Ash shouted, sprinting towards his star Pokémon.  He cradled the wounded Pokémon in his arms, trying hard to keep his tears from leaking out.  He hated to see any of his Pokémon injured at all, let alone as brutally as that thing did to Pikachu.  Ash failed to notice that the youma turned it attention to him and his wounded Pikachu.  It wasn’t until it fired a ball of dark energy out of its mouth did Ash take notice.

 

            Ash threw up one arm to defend himself, not noticing something…peculiar about him.  As his arm arced outward and upward, there was a brief moment when Ash’s arm was extended straight, his hand opened wide.  There was a flash of bright yellow, followed by sounds that static like electricity crackling.  Ash’s energy met the youma’s, sending it harmlessly out of the way.  His arm was supposed to shield his head from the attack

 

            The boy did a double take.  He looked at his hand in surprise.  What just happened?  Did that come from me? 

 

            “What happened?”  Goku froze in place as the energy was deflected, not expecting Ash’s reaction any more than Ash did.  He planned to dash in as fast as his body would take him, grab the two of them and get out of there before the boy was blown to hell.  He skidded to a halt when the attack did nothing.

 

            “I don’t know!” Ash answered.  The youma renewed its attack, and Goku dashed at Ash, grabbed him, and reappeared back with Darien and Reenie.  The explosion kicked up a good amount of dust and left a nice big hole in the ground.

 

            “Did you try and electrocute that thing?” Tuxedo Mask asked.

 

            “Look, I don’t know what that was!” Ash said, putting up his hands in defense.  “I’m just as freaked out by it as much as you are!”

            Unbeknownst to the heroes, the youma began to melt into the ground.  Being a shadow demon, it could easily move about any shadow without being detected.  It used this trick to appear right behind the four heroes.  Reenie shrieked in surprise just before the four were snatched up in its surprisingly tight grip.

 

            More dark energy surged through its body and into the heroes.  They screamed out as the pain drilled through their bodies.

 

            Ash and Reenie were the only two with at least one arm free.  She managed to grab her wand and pointed it at the demon.  “Pink…sugar…” she grunted as the pain started to overwhelm her, “…heart…attack!”  A stream of pink wire-frame hearts blasted harmlessly against the demon’s body.  It didn’t notice the attack, just kept up its own.  However, what they found strange was that there was no force field to defend the attack.

 

            The youma whipped the arm clenching Neo-Sailor Moon around, eventually letting her go, her body skidding into the ground.

 

            “Reenie!” Tuxedo Mask shouted.  He screamed loudly as more dark energy flew down the youma’s arm and into him.

 

            Ash was trying valiantly to pry himself from the demon’s grip, the black energy ravaging him and the grip making it hard for him to breathe.  He struggled, pushing down on its claw-like hand with both hands.  “Let me go!” he grunted.  “Stupid demon!”  His entire body arched backward as he tried futilely to escape.  “Put…me…down!”  As he struggled, his hands glowed with yellow energy.  Ash was too close for the demon to put up a defense, and it screamed as yellow electricity ravaged it briefly.  Even Goku and Tuxedo Mask felt it just before they were dropped.

 

            He did it again, Goku thought.  But how is he doing that?

 

            Despite the renewed grip and energy flux, Ash’s ears pricked as he heard Pikachu call out to him.  Ash thought up a brilliant (for him, anyway) idea.  “Pikachu!  Use your thunder…” the mouse Pokémon started to build its electrical strength even before Ash could finish the command, “…on me!”

 

            Pikachu’s cheeks stopped crackling.  “Pi ka?” {“What?”} it called.

 

            “You heard me, Pikachu!  Hit me with your strongest thunder attack!”  The boy looked right in the mouse’s eyes.  “Do it!”

 

            Pikachu shrugged.  It wasn’t like Ash to deliberately want to be on the other end of his electricity.  He had shocked Ash on many occasions, and gradually, especially as of recently, Ash was affected by the shocks less and less.  He silently hoped Ash would forgive him.

 

            “Pi…ka…CHUUUUUUUUUU!!!!”

 

            A wave of yellow electricity shot from Pikachu and into Ash.  Ash was minimally hurt by the impact; in fact, it felt pleasant compared to the black magic the youma was churning out.  The youma wailed in agony, its entire body turning yellow from the attack.  Its prey slipped from its grasp, leaving itself wide open.

 

            Goku came down like a meteor, having jumped straight up in the air only to come crashing down on its head with a technique every Saiyan used—a double axe handle smash.  The youma was leveled, and after stomping on it a few times for good measure, rushed over to check on Ash.  “Are you alright?” he asked, noticing Ash looked right as rain, like nothing happened.  “That couldn’t have been safe!  How are you not dead?”

 

            “Oh, come on,” Ash laughed, “I’m fine.  Like Misty said once…” his voice became higher than normal, “‘Ash has been shocked by Pikachu so many times he practically runs on electricity!’”

 

            Runs on electricity? Goku thought.  That could explain a lot.  “Hey, why don’t you two do the honors?” Goku shouted as Tuxedo Mask returned with Neo-Sailor Moon.

 

            “What do you say, honey?” Tuxedo Mask asked.

 

            “Yeah!  Let’s turn this thing into moon dust!” she answered.  She stood in front of him, their bodies in the same stances, their hands folded in front of them.  Two of Tuxedo Mask’s fingers were extended, while Reenie held her wand tightly in her hands.  The pink heart-shaped crystal began to glow as Tuxedo Mask added his powers to her own.  They were as still as statues until they released their attack.

 

            “Earth…brilliant…eradication!”  The crystal rod fired a wide beam of like that pulsed pink and white.  It engulfed the weakened youma, and its form disappeared with a wail.  An eerie calm fell over the park as peace returned.

 

            “We did it, daddy!” Reenie shouted, turning around to embrace the Earth soldier.  She laughed heartily as he picked the girl up in her arms.

 

 

* * * * *

 

 

            “Well girls, it was nice knowing you,” Sailor Mars lamented.

 

            Backed into a corner, the Sailor Soldiers were staring down an army of shadow youma ready to tear them to shreds.  They formed a semicircle around the girls leaving a few yards between them and the girls.  Regardless, they were ready to destroy them all or die trying.

 

            However, their stand would not happen.  The Sailor Soldiers were surprised but relieved with the site before them.  The hundreds of shadow youma that were chasing them down were dissolving right before their eyes!  Their forms melted away with not much more than a whimper.  For a few moments the Sailor Solders stood in the street, wondering why this was happening.

 

            “Looks like Tuxedo Mask pulled through,” Sailor Moon said in an elated tone.

 

            Sailor Venus let out a groan and leaned forward, her hands on her knees.  “Thank the gods,” she grumbled.  “I was getting tired of just running around.”

 

 

* * * * *

 

 

            At noon the next day, everyone was gathered in the courtyard of the temple.  Despite the chaos of the night before, everyone was fairly well rested and ready to face another day.

 

            Goku’s car was repaired and fully charged up.  Today, he, Tuxedo Mask and Ash were on their way back to the Multiverse to gather more heroes to their cause.

 

            “You sure you don’t want to come with us?” Goku asked.

 

            “Perhaps another time, Goku,” Serena said.

 

            “But you five would be a great addition—” Ash said.

 

            “I understand your concern, but I just figured that…well, since I’m the leader of my own group of superheroes, I didn’t want to move in on your territory.  You know how it is, don’t you?”

 

            “Uh, I guess…” Ash scratched his head under his cap.

 

            “Don’t worry about it, kid,” Tuxedo Mask added.  “We can travel between the Multiverse and this world any time we need to.  Should we need the extra muscle, you’ll be the first ones we look up.”

 

            “Well, I must say,” Goku added, “this universe is fortunate to have people like you and your friends defending it, Sailor Moon.  Your group is a real asset.”

 

            “Thanks, Goku,” she answered.

 

            Goku smiled, then looked to his friends.  “Well, we must be going.”  Goku fished for the keys to the car, and pressed the button on the keychain.  The engine started up, and after another press, the jacks underneath raised the back half of the car.  The car was quickly building speed so that they could get in and take off.

 

            “I’m keeping the hakama!” Ash shouted.  Raye didn’t give much of a response; she wasn’t about to argue with people who were seconds away from blasting out of the universe.

 

            “Goodbye everybody!” Goku shouted, grinning wildly and waving goodbye.

 

            “Goodbye!” the girls responded, waving.  The doors shut, the jacks snapped back into place, and the car shot forth like a bullet.  It disappeared from the universe just as it exited the temple grounds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TO BE CONTINUED…………………