Author's Notes:
Hello, I am a new SM fanfic author here, and this is my first story to be posted here. Fanfare* ^_^ Ahem - here's a little warning for you readers. Behold, I've written a CHIBIUSA fanfiction! Oops, there go my prospective fans. Ah, well. This story takes place during an early Sailor Moon SuperS period in an ALTERNATIVE REALITY mode (that means quite a few scenes here got rewritten!) Okay, just because it is mostly about ChibiUsa, please don't bite my head off!! :)
Oh, yeah, and it is rated PG.
If you have any comments or complaints, e-mail them to:
jellicatso@yahoo.com (T.J. Layh...the BIG ChibiUsa fan!)
Thanks, minna.
Disclaimer: I wrote this fanfic just for the fun of it. I do not own Sailor Moon, Sailor Senshi, and all terms, names etc., associated with this or other series - they are copyrighted by Naoko Takeuchi, DiC, Disney, Bandai, Toei Animation, Kodansha, and... uhh, other big companies, I think. (Just how many owned Sailor Moon, I wonder?? @_@)
Anyway...bring your popcorn, sit down and enjoy!
THE GIRL AND THE BLACK QUEEN
By Redcatso (T.J. Layh)
Part one
It was one warm, sunny afternoon and children were sitting scattered around the hill overlooking the placid lake in the middle of the Juuban Shizenkoren Park, developing their budding artistic skills by painting the scenery. At the top of the hill a little pink-haired girl with a painter's beret perched on her head was seated under a tree, dipping her brush in a small can of paint then paused to frown slightly at the picture she had made. Somehow she was not quite satisfied with it.
Their art teacher, Miss Morino, had told the children to paint what they see, and she had done just that - she painted a scenery of a simmering lake surrounded by several trees beneath the rolling hills she saw in front of her. Even so, she felt that was not enough.
< What would make it look more interesting? > she wondered. Then she had a bright idea. < Of course! Why not put Pegasus in there, too? > Happily, she bent over the canvas and diligently added a white winged horse, grazing near the lake among the trees. She was so engrossed in her artwork that she did not hear one of her classmates coming up behind her.
"Are you done with painting, eh, ChibiUsa-chan?"
ChibiUsa jumped a little and looked up from her canvas. "Hey, Momoko-chan! You finished already?" she said with a smile at her best friend standing next to her, a slightly older girl with purple hair done up in a bun. "I'm almost done, though."
Momoko took one look at Chibiusa's face and blinked. "Nani?" She looked strangely at her, then shrugged. "Oh, Never mind." She bent down and peered over ChibiUsa's shoulder to study the canvas critically. "Whoa, that is really good, ChibiUsa-chan!"
ChibiUsa shrugged noncommittally. "Well...it's okay, I need to work on it some more....” she said modestly.
"Oh, come on, you did a good job! ChibiUsa-chan, I think you will become the greatest artist in Japan!" Momoko cried, clapping her hands in delight.
Blushing a little, ChibiUsa chuckled. "If you say so, then call me Madam Painter!"
The purple-haired girl giggled. "Ah...so that is why you are wearing plastic glasses and a fake mustache, ne? Nice beret, though!" She straightened up and looked around idly. "It seems that our classmates are about done with their paintings."
Indeed, both the girls could see the other children were already beginning to wander around, showing each other their canvas and chatting animatedly.
"I wonder how Kyusuke is doing with his painting?" Momoko wondered.
Both the girls turned and looked down the hill at their classmate and their best friend - a young, green-haired boy sitting in the grass. He was working diligently over his canvas with his tongue sticking out from the side of his mouth in concentration.
"Still busy, huh," ChibiUsa observed.
"I bet he's only just starting," Momoko said with a smirk.
One of the young boys came running up to Kyusuke and whispered into his ear. The green-haired boy grimaced, laid down the canvas and went scurrying up the hill toward the girls.
"Hey, ChibiUsa-chan and Momo-chan!" Kyusuke called loudly, "Have you heard what happened to Shingo this morning?"
< Uh-oh! > ChibiUsa thought as she and Momoko exchanged apprehensive glances, then back at Kyusuke. "Don't tell me," the pink-haired girl said with some trepidation, "He got in yet another fight, right, Kyusuke-kun?"
"Yeah!"
"Oh, no! Not again," Momoko groaned. She shook her head and made tsk-tsking noises. "Third time in a week, no less!"
"That is not all!" Kyusuke exclaimed, "He even got a detention, too!"
"A detention!" ChibiUsa and Momoko gasped.
Kyusuke nodded vigorously. "Big time!"
Momoko narrowed her eyes. "Wait a second. Tell me, Kyusuke-kun," The purple-haired girl demanded, pointing down the hill at the retreating figure of a boy who had whispered to Kyusuke earlier, "How did he know all about it?"
"He told me he saw with his own eyes Shingo fighting with other boys between classes," Kyusuke answered, "And then the teacher caught Shingo, yelled 'detention,' and hauled him off to the principal's office!"
Momoko looked at ChibiUsa sympathetically. "Hoo boy. That sounds serious. What will your mother do about your brother, ChibiUsa-chan?"
With a somewhat worried expression on her face, ChibiUsa heaved a deep sigh. < Ikuko-mama's not going to like it one bit! > "I can guess. She'll probably ground him for a month, perhaps two, tops!"
"Oh, no!" Momoko said, looking a little upset, "And we have been planning to go to the Virtual Reality Theater next weekend, the four of us! It just will not be fun being there without him!"
"I think someone got a crush on Shingo!" Kyusuke snickered.
THWACK!
"Ouch! You don't have to hit me, Momoko!" Kyusuke grumbled, rubbing his smarting head. Now that he had delivered the dire news, he took a moment to have a closer look at ChibiUsa. He did a double take; "Chibiusa-chan, what's this - fake mustache and glasses?"
"She's the Madam Painter, mind you!" Momoko declared proudly. "Take a look at her painting, what do you think of this? ChibiUsa-chan, show him your canvas!"
"Well, I'm just about done with my painting," ChibiUsa replied, holding up the canvas for the boy to see.
"Hmm... It look O.K. to me, I guess, ChibiUsa-chan," Kyusuke observed, shrugging indifferently.
"O.K?" Momoko rounded on him. "What you mean, 'O.K.'? As in boring?" she demanded, her eyes flashing in defense of her best friend. "All right, buster, let's see *your* painting then!"
"Uh-huh! No way!" Kyusuke threw up his hands and stepped back nervously.
"Come on, lemme see it!" Momoko cried, darting over to his canvas lying nearby. The boy let out a panicky shout, scurried to grab his canvas and was about to run away with it. The purple-haired girl, however, beat him to it and yanked it out of his hands.
"Aha! I got it!" Momoko crowed, holding Kyusuke's canvas high in gleeful triumph. She ran off to a safe distance before Kyusuke would tackle her, and stopped long enough to take one look at it. "Hey, you haven't even halfway done yet! How shoddy- I'm gotta tell Miss Morino-sensi on you!"
"Noooo!" Kyusuke howled.
They made quite a scene, arguing and engaging in a fierce tug-o-war with the canvas so noisy that the other children turned their heads around to gawk and the harried Miss Morino came hurrying over to see what the fuss was all about.
ChibiUsa sighed again and shook her head with a small smile. Good old Momoko and Kyusuke, bickering as usual. She looked down at her painting. < Momoko-chan says it's good, but...> she thought to herself, < I think perhaps I should paint a sun rising, it would look better...> But then she frowned worriedly as she thought of her adoptive brother, Shingo. < Oh, Woodhead. What are we going to do with you? >
"ChibiUsa-chan," Usagi said, glancing at her future daughter and noticing her preoccupied expression. "What's the matter?" It was late in the afternoon, and Ikuko had sent them out on an errand as soon as the girls got home from school, and they were on their way back home carrying grocery bags. When ChibiUsa didn't reply, Usagi raised her eyebrows in mock consternation. "I hope it wasn't something baka I said to your art teacher!"
"Oh, no, it's not that, Onee-san," ChibiUsa said quickly. She stopped walking briefly to get a better grip on a rather heavy bag. "Um...I was just thinking about my art class and our trip to the park today." < On other hand, I hope Miss Morino is all right. >
They had ran into ChibiUsa's art teacher outside the grocery store (in Usagi's case literally) and had a nice, if rather brief chat with her. However, the frazzled, exhausted woman with sad, distant expression on her face had excused herself rather abruptly, citing some errands she needed to run. Then she took herself away, and that was that.
"Well, ChibiUsa-chan," Usagi said after a while, "Hope it was fun at the park, ne? Or is it something else that's bothering you?"
ChibiUsa hesitated. "Well, not really." < I'm still worried about Shingo, though. > She looked up at Usagi and shrugged as best as she could while still keeping a grip on the bag. "Well... sort of. It's about Shingo."
"Shingo?" Usagi frowned slightly. "What did he do?"
"Well," ChibiUsa said slowly. "He got into trouble today. Again."
"Oh," Usagi said. She grimaced and shook her head in exasperation. "I can't believe it. Mom's not gotta like it!"
"That's what I thought, too!" ChibiUsa agreed. "Oops!" The grocery bag had slipped through her hands and fell to the cement sidewalk. "Oh, no!"
"ChibiUsa-chan! Be careful!" Usagi exclaimed.
"Gomen, Onee-san," ChibiUsa said, flustered. < Baka me! I'm just as clumsy as Usagi is! >
"Okay, Onee-san," ChibiUsa said.
As the girls proceeded to gather up the grocery bags a Familiar red car drove by, slowed and pulled up next to the curb. A dark-haired handsome young man wearing a pair of shades rolled down the window poked his head out and flashed a dazzling smile.
"Ohayo, girls. You two want a ride?"
"Mamo-chan!" the girls cried happily. Mamoru chuckled, stepped out to and give each girl a kiss - Usagi on the lips, and ChibiUsa on the top of her head. Then he took notice of their heavy bags and held out his hands. "Can I help you with the bags?" he offered.
"You really are my prince!" the grateful odango-haired girls chorused with huge smiles. "And just in time, too!" Usagi added, batting her eyes at him adoringly.
In no time the bags were safely put away inside the truck. Mamoru dusted his hands off and announced, "All done!"
"Oh, Arigato, Mamo-chan!" Usagi beamed. "You're such a big help to us. Thank you so much!"
"Arigato, Mamo-chan!" ChibiUsa echoed, throwing her arms enthusiastically around Mamoru's legs.
"Hey!" Usagi fumed, "He is my boyfriend, so keep your hands off him!"
ChibiUsa stuck her tongue out at her and unclasped her arms from her future father's legs.
"Mamo-chan," Usagi asked, looking at him curiously, "What brought you here?"
"Well, Usako, I'm just on my way to see Motoki and noticed two poor damsels in distress, and thought I'd stop to help out," Mamoru answered with an amused smile. He leaned against his car, "And besides, I promised I would help you any way I can, and so I did! And I will keep on helping out as long as you need it!" He paused and regarded both Usagis thoughtfully. "Tell me, how are you doing...both of you?"
"We're doing just fine, Mamo-chan!" Usagi said cheerfully.
ChibiUsa grinned and nodded vigorously in agreement.
"No, I mean, HOW are you doing? You know what I mean."
The girls glanced at each other, suddenly sobered. "Well... I guess we are doing okay so far," Usagi admitted at length. "I think."
Mamoru nodded his blue eyes full of compassion. "I see. It's been several months since your father passed away, isn't it? How's your mother holding up? I believe you told me she's working full time."
"Hai, and not only that, she's going to get a second job this week, so she had to be very busy," Usagi affirmed. "She doesn't talk much about Dad nowadays, but I can tell she misses him a great deal." She paused, her eyes brimming. "To tell you the truth, I miss Dad also."
"Me, too," ChibiUsa said sadly.
"Come here," Mamoru said. He put his arm around each Usagi in a tight, consoling hug. "Well, that's why I am here for you. Whenever you need help or something, you can call on me!" He glanced down at the girls and smiled warmly again.
"Okay, girls?"
"Hai, Mamo-chan," the Usagis said in unison, each leaning against the young man with a small sigh. Mamoru let them hug him for a few seconds longer, then disengaged himself gently from their arms.
"Here, I'll take you home, girls." He walked around to the passager's side of his car and opened the door to reveal an inviting plush front seat. He bowed gallantly; "Ladies first."
ChibiUsa looked at Usagi and a slow, mischievous grin grew over her face. "I'm going in first!" she announced, and sprinted for the seat.
"Oh no, you don't!" Usagi exclaimed in mock annoyance and promptly raced after her, "I got dibs on it!"
As the girls were busy vying with each other over the prized seat while the sweat dropping Mamoru looked on, a terrified scream rang out from some distance away. Usagi and ChibiUsa twirled around with a gasp while Mamoru's head whipped around.
"Someone is in trouble!" the older girl cried.
"We better go investigate it!" ChibiUsa said urgently.
"You two go ahead, and I'll join you in a minute!" Mamoru instructed, waving them away.
"Hai!" With that, the girls dashed off in the direction toward the sound of the victim in distress.
"Beautiful. Just beautiful. But," The tall muscular blonde man in his yellow and black striped tights withdrew his head from a floating dream mirror and frowned, "it's still just another blank one! For all that it's so beautiful, Pegasus is NOT in it!"
Scowling with deep disappointment, he stepped back and let the dream mirror dissipated away. The owner of the mirror, a disheveled woman shackled to the board, stopped screaming and slumped back, unconscious. "Well, you should at least pay attention to the handsome guy such as me. Too bad. Now I have to kill you and get rid of your mirror. So long!"
"Tiger Eye!"
"Miss Morino-sensi!"
"There they are," the blonde man muttered to himself and turned around to see the two Senshi, one taller and another shorter, standing at some distance away glaring coldly at him. "So, we met again," he smirked. "My, my, such pests that you are!"
Sailor Moon did not answer him. Instead, she pointed at the woman on the board and declared loudly, "This is the all-the-time, year-around teacher, thinking of her beloved pupils and is a friend of all children!"
"And you're the bad man who attacked our teacher!" Chibi Moon shouted, her eyes flickering anxiously toward the still unconscious Miss Morino.
"We're agents of Love and Justice..." Sailor Moon intoned as she went into her usual introductory posturing.
"...Pretty Sailor Senshi..." Chibi Moon said, posing likewise.
"Sailor Moon and Sailor Chibi Moon, in the name of the Moon, we will punish you!" they finished with a flourish.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm bored stiff already!" Tiger-Eye snorted, tossing his head arrogantly. "I was just waiting for you, Sailor Senshi!" With a sneer he pulled the whip out of thin air and lashed out at them.
*Crack! *
"Hey, that's not very nice!" Sailor Moon yelled as she and Chibi Moon jumped out of the way just in nick of time.
"How quick," Tiger-Eye observed sardonically. "But can you be any faster?" With that, he pulled out a handful of long deadly daggers and tossed them, one by one, in rapid succession.
It was amazing how narrowly Sailor Moon and Chibi Moon, running around and wailing in terror, escaped being skewered by a hair's breadth. And it was good thing that the bystanders, as soon as they saw what was happening, had panicked and ran for their lives and thus were out of danger.
"Not bad," Tiger-Eye said in a mocking voice, "But I still have few more surprises in store just for you. You just wait and see!" He was about to go into yet another new attack mode when an angry male voice bellowed down seemingly out of nowhere, "Stop it!"
"Nani?" Tiger-Eye said, and before he could react, a familiar figure in dark tuxedo and top hat leaped down from the top of the brick wall and slammed into him, pinning him to the wall with his cane.
"Attacking those ladies...you have no shame!" the young masked man said in a hard voice to the glowering Tiger-Eye, "I won't forgive you! You will not get away with it this time!"
Sailor Moon and Chibi Moon turned around and pressed their clasped hands to their chests in adoration. "Tuxedo Kamen-sama!" they chorused happily.
"Sailor Chibi Moon, now is your chance!" Tuxedo Kamen called to the little girl.
"Hai!" Chibi Moon dropped to her knees and clutched her hands together in a prayerful gesture. "Please, Pegasus, protect our dreams!" Filled with determination she stood up, pulled Crystal Calliope out and waved it about, crying, "Tinkle Yell!"
There was a mysterious but beautiful light blossoming in the sky and a majestic winged horse could be seen materializing out of it, his head tossing proudly.
"Great, my plan is working," Tiger-Eye gloated under his breath. Then in a loud voice he called, "Now, come out my Lemure, Hebihanabiko-chan! Here's your chance to do your job!"
A thin, wraith-like figure detached itself from Tiger Eye's shadow on the wall and solidified into a pale woman with short blond hair with a cruel smile and a cold, penetrating eyes that seemed to miss nothing. She quickly surveyed the sky and took off straight into the air, speeding headlong toward the unsuspecting winged horse.
"Nani?!" Tuxedo Kamen stepped back, startled by the sudden appearance of the new Lemure.
With a snarl Tiger-Eye slammed his fist into the tuxedoed man's stomach and followed up with a brutal backhanded blow to the head. Tuxedo Kamen, caught off guard, fell to the sidewalk with a loud groan. In a flash Tiger-Eye took off without a backward look.
"Tuxedo Kamen-sama!" Sailor Moon cried, deeply distressed.
"Hebihanabiko-chan! You know what to do. I'll be waiting for you later on," Tiger-Eye called out to the flying Lemure, "And don't forget to finish the damned Senshi and that masked man off for me!" With that he summoned down a burning ring of fire, dived through it and vanished.
"Hai, my master!" Hebihanabiko answered, grinning evilly.
And without another word Lemure slammed into Pegasus. A brilliant flash of light caused the sky to turn eerie, sinister blue-black. The winged horse neighed loudly in pain, and thrashed around in mid-air frantically but the Lemure had already dug her claws deep in his body and would not be shaken off. Quickly, she was absorbed bodily into his large frame, and Pegasus slowly turned into a frozen statue. There he floated half hidden among clouds, encased in a thick layer of dusky crystal with his head held high as though in despair.
"What in the world...?" Sailor Moon asked, baffled and rather frightened as she stared transfixed at the strange sight. She shivered, ran to the masked man, and put her arms around him. "Tuxedo Kama-sama, are you all right?"
"I think so," Tuxedo Kama murmured. With the help of Sailor Moon, he rose from the sidewalk and rubbed his bruised jaw gingerly. He looked over Sailor Moon's shoulder and his brows wrinkled. "Chibi Moon?" he said in a concerned tone, "Daijobu?"
"What?" Sailor Moon quickly turned and saw Chibi Moon standing there as though she too had turned into a statue with Crystal Calliope still held over her head. Then Chibi Moon's wide, staring eyes went blank and the bell fell from her nerveless fingers as she slumped without a word to the ground.
"Chibi Moon!" Horrified, Sailor Moon rushed to her future daughter's side, took the little girl by shoulders and shook her frantically. "Chibi Moon, wake up! Chibi Moon...oh, Kami-sama, say something, please!"
Tuxedo Kamen came running up, now deeply alarmed. "What happened!"
"Tuxedo Kamen-sama, There is something wrong with her!" Sailor Moon wailed, "She won't wake up!"
Tuxedo Kamen grimaced, and dropped to his knees beside the little girl. "Chibi Moon, can you hear me? Come on, wake up!" he said, patting her cheek anxiously.
There was no response whatsoever. Chibi Moon lay limp like a rag doll in their arms. Quickly Sailor Moon laid her head against the child's chest and could hear the heart beating regularly and felt the chest rose and fall normally. But when the older Senshi looked down at Chibi Moon's face again, the reddish-brown eyes were still wide, but dull and unseeing. Trembling, Sailor Moon looked imploringly at Tuxedo Kamen.
The masked man in tuxedo looked back at her and shook his head helplessly, his eyes filled with anguish.
Sailor Moon began to sob. She gathered the child in her arms and began to rock forth and back. "Chibi Moon...ChibiUsa ... Oh, Kami-sama, no!"
*** To Be Continued! (Sorry to leave you with a cliffhanger! ^^;;) ***
Author's notes:
I know I am not the best writer, and sometimes my grammar can get really bad. Send comments to jellicatso@yahoo.com and tell me what you think of this so far, along with all the suggestions you can give to improve this developing story. I'll appreciate it! ^_^ Thanks!
