Another day had passed since Kento and Sailor Venus
defeated Petrofina. It was early in the evening, and
Serena was sprawled out on the bed in the girls’
bedroom, taking a nap. The bedroom door slowly opened,
and Rini carefully slipped into the room, followed by
her hovering Luna Ball and Serena’s guardian cat,
Luna. “Serena?” Rini whispered loudly as she slowly
tiptoed to the bed, while Luna jumped on top of the
bed. Serena groaned slightly in her sleep as she
rolled around in the bed. “Come on, Serena!” Luna
shouted. “Get up, you lazy girl!” “Do I have to get up
now?” Serena complained as she slowly opened her eyes.
“I was having this wonderful dream where I was flying
high in the sky with Tuxedo Mask...”
“Well, we were just waking you up to let you know that
dinner was ready,” Rini interrupted. “Dinner’s ready?
Why didn’t you say so?” Serena exclaimed cheerfully as
she jumped out of bed and sped downstairs. “All that
poor girl thinks about is food,” Luna remarked,
shaking her head in disappointment as she and Rini
followed Serena downstairs. “Hey, Mia!” Serena greeted
the redhead young woman as she entered the kitchen.
“Hello, Serena,” Mia greeted as she ladled some stew
into a bowl. “Wow! That smells great!” Serena admitted
as she took in the delicious smell of Mia’s
home-cooked beef stew.
“Thanks, Serena,” Mia admitted as she handed the bowl
to Serena. “Be careful with it. It’s still hot.”
Serena nodded as she grabbed a spoon from the counter.
“I’m afraid you’ll have to eat in the living room,
Serena,” Mia reluctantly told the blonde pig-tailed
girl. “There’s no more room at the table.” “That’s
okay,” Serena replied. “I don’t mind eating by
myself.” “You won’t be eating by yourself,” Mia
revealed as Serena carefully walked to the kitchen
door leading to the living room, balancing the bowl of
stew with both hands. “Well, who else is in there?”
Serena asked curiously as she pushed the kitchen door
open with her foot.
Serena was a bit surprised when she saw Rowen sitting
on the couch. He was looking over some papers spread
out on the table, with his bowl set off to the side.
Rowen glanced up when Serena entered the living room.
“Hey, Serena,” Rowen greeted before he looked back
down at the papers spread out before him. “Hey,
Rowen,” Serena greeted as she sat down on the floor at
the opposite end of the table and placed her bowl of
stew on the table, being careful not to put it on any
of Rowen’s papers. Unfortunately, when she put her
bowl on the table, it created a gentle puff of air
that knocked some of Rowen’s papers off of the table.
“Oops! I’m so sorry, Rowen,” Serena apologized as she
crawled around the floor, picking up the papers.
“You don’t need to do that, Serena,” Rowen told her.
“Oh, don’t worry about it, Rowen,” Serena replied as
she reached for a paper underneath the table. “I just
gotta get one more...Oww!” “Are you all right?” Rowen
asked as Serena sat up and rubbed the small bump on
her head. “I’m okay. I just hit my head,” Serena
muttered. “Here you go, Rowen.” She handed the
slightly crumpled papers that she collected to Rowen.
“So...what are those for?” Serena asked curiously as
Rowen sorted through the papers she handed back to
him. “These papers are all astronomy maps,” Rowen
explained. “I’m trying to pinpoint the exact spot I
was found after our first encounter with Talpa, which
propelled me and the other Ronin Warriors to specific
locations all around Japan.”
“Okay, but how is that supposed to help us find the
Celestial Stone of Air?” Serena asked curiously.
“Well, you see, by some bizarre coincidence, the first
four Celestial Stones have been found in the precise
areas that Ryo, Sage, Cye, and Kento have been
discovered in after that first encounter with Talpa,”
Rowen explained. “Ryo was located in Mt. Fuji, Sage
was located in the Cave of the Pinnacles, Cye was
located in the Whirlpools of Naruto, and Kento was
located in the Throne of the Gods at Mt. Dojo National
Park. It makes logical sense that the Celestial Stone
of Air will be found where I was located: up in outer
space.” “Wow! Looks like we’re gonna have a problem
finding it,” Serena admitted. “Outer space is huge!”
“It sure is. Have you ever been up there yourself?”
Rowen asked curiously. “Well, actually, yeah,” Serena
confessed openly before she gently blew at a spoonful
of stew to cool it off before eating it. “Wow! This is
great!” she exclaimed as she continued eating her
stew. “I gotta talk Lita into getting the recipe for
this!” Just then, they Rowen and Serena heard the
kitchen door being opened. They looked up to see Rini,
Luna, and Artemis enter the room, followed by Mia, who
was carrying a small bowl of beef stew for Rini. “Here
you go, Rini,” Mia announced as she placed the small
bowl and a spoon on the table next to Serena’s bowl.
“Thank you, Mia,” Rini thanked her as she sat down on
the floor next to Serena. “I’ll get a bowl for you two
as well,” Mia told Luna and Artemis before she headed
back to the kitchen. “Thanks, Mia,” Artemis replied.
Luna jumped up on the couch next to Rowen and looked
at the papers spread out on the table in front of
them. “What are these astronomy maps for, Rowen?” Luna
asked curiously. “I’m trying to pinpoint my exact
location when I was in a state of suspended animation
after our first encounter with Talpa,” Rowen
explained. “I thought it might help us find the
Celestial Stone of Air.” “That sounds like an
excellent plan, Rowen,” Luna admitted. “Thank you,
Luna,” Rowen replied as he started to gather the
papers from the table.
“No offense, Rowen, but that sounds next to
impossible,” Artemis revealed. “Outer space is
enormous. How will you be able to find the Celestial
Stone of Air in such a seemingly endless void?” “Well,
my theory is that the Celestial Stone of Air is fixed
on the Earth’s gravitational pull and is caught in a
temporary orbit around our planet, similar to how our
global positioning satellites rotate around Earth,”
Rowen revealed. “If it was floating freely around our
solar system, that would pose a bit of a problem for
us.” “Not just to us, but also to Amethyst and Topaz,”
Rini muttered thoughtfully. “That’s exactly what I
theorized,” Rowen announced.
“Geez! You talk just like Amy, Rowen! It’s hard to
understand you,” Serena complained as she finished off
her bowl of beef stew. “Well, anyway,” Rowen
continued, “I plan on going to the outskirts of Toyama
with my telescope later tonight and try to spot this
Celestial Stone of Air. It’s supposed to be a clear
sky tonight, so if the Celestial Stone is up there,
I’ll find it.” “That sounds like a good idea,” Artemis
admitted. “Indeed, it does. And you’re going with him,
Serena!” Luna announced. “Aww! Do I have to?” Serena
whined. “Yes, you have to, Serena! The fate of the
world depends on it!” Luna shouted. “Fine, Luna. I’ll
go get my coat,” Serena mumbled as she got up and
headed upstairs.
As Serena walked up the stairs, Mia entered the living
room, carrying a shallow bowl of beef stew. “Here you
are, Luna and Artemis,” Mia announced as she set the
bowl on the floor for the two cats. “Thank you, Mia,”
Artemis replied. Mia nodded and then noticed that
Serena was no longer in the living room. “Where did
Serena go?” she asked curiously. “Upstairs to get her
coat,” Rini replied. “I guess Serena will be coming
with me. Do you have the keys to the jeep, Mia?” Rowen
asked as he stood up. “Here you are, Rowen,” Mia
replied as she handed Rowen her car keys.
“Thanks, Mia. We’ll be back later tonight, possibly
sooner if we can’t find that Celestial Stone of Air.”
Rowen headed to the staircase and shouted, “Come on,
Serena! Let’s go!” “Okay, just give me a minute!”
Serena shouted as she quickly ran downstairs, with her
long pale blue jacket draped over her arm. She
accidentally stepped on the trail of her jacket and
tripped. “Ahh!” Serena screamed as she fell down the
remaining stairs. Rowen reached out and managed to
catch her before she hit the floor. “Are you okay,
Serena?” Rini asked with concern. “Yeah, I think so,”
Serena gasped.
“Are you sure, Serena?” Mia asked. “Mm-hmm,” Serena
replied, nodding her head. “What’s going on?” Ryo
asked. Serena, Rowen, Mia, Rini, Luna, and Artemis
looked up and saw Ryo standing at the doorway leading
into the kitchen, along with Sage, Rae, and Amy. “We
heard Serena scream,” Sage added. “She’s all right,”
Rowen replied as he let go of Serena. “Serena just
tripped and fell down the stairs.” “That’s nothing
new,” Rae muttered sarcastically as she turned around
to head back to the dining room. Serena stuck her
tongue out at Rae’s back in response to her rude
remark.
“You sure you’re all right, Serena?” Amy asked
curiously. “Yeah, I’m fine. Don’t worry, Amy,” Serena
assured Amy as she put on her light blue jacket. “We
should get going, Serena,” Rowen interrupted as he
picked up a heavy black case, which contained his
telescope. “Okay, okay,” Serena complained as she
buttoned up her jacket and headed out of the door.
“Looks like you have a bit of a challenge with Serena
there, Rowen,” Sage remarked. “No kidding, Sage,”
Rowen muttered out loud. “Rowen, you mustn’t give up
on Serena so easily,” Amy told him.
“Well, I don’t know about this, Amy. Honestly, I’d
prefer it if you came with me instead of Serena,”
Rowen confessed. “You obviously understand this much
better than she does.” “Rowen, you know as well as I
do that you and Serena must work together to defeat
the creature from the Celestial Stone of Air, that is
if the creature emerges before you can get to it in
time,” Amy revealed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right,”
Rowen reluctantly admitted. “Come on, Rowen! I’m
getting cold out here!” Serena complained loudly from
outside. “Hold on, Serena, I’m coming,” Rowen shouted
as he headed for the front door...
“How much longer do we have to stay out here, Rowen?”
Serena asked as she pulled up the collar of her jacket
to help keep her neck warm. “Calm down, Serena. We
just got here five minutes ago,” Rowen replied calmly
as he removed his telescope from the carrying case and
started to set it up. Rowen and Serena were standing
on top of a tall hill overlooking the city of Toyama.
The night sky above them was peppered with many bright
stars. “There we are. All set,” Rowen announced as he
attached the telescope on top of the tripod. He peered
into the eyepiece and turned a knob on the side of the
telescope to adjust the view.
“Just a little bit more...Perfect!” Rowen announced.
He looked up at Serena, who was staring up at the
night sky. “Care to have a look, Serena?” Rowen asked.
“What?” Serena asked, who was a bit startled by
Rowen’s question. “Do you want to look through the
telescope?” Rowen repeated. “Umm…sure, I guess,”
Serena replied as she walked over to Rowen. She knelt
down at the telescope and peered through the eyepiece.
“Do you see anything out of the ordinary?” Rowen asked
as Serena continued to look at the sky with the
telescope. “Nope, just a bunch of stars,” Serena
revealed as she stepped away from the telescope.
“Let me check it out,” Rowen requested as he looked
through his telescope’s eyepiece. “Okay, Rowen,”
Serena replied as she backed away from the telescope.
She leaned her back against a nearby tree, while
gazing up at the star-filled sky above her head. “Do
you think we’ll be able to find it in time?” Serena
asked worriedly. “Don’t worry, Serena. I’m certain
that we’ll find the Celestial Stone of Air long before
that creature ever gets a chance to come out,” Rowen
replied as he slowly swung the telescope back and
forth. “I sure hope so, Rowen,” Serena murmured out
loud...
“Hmm...” Topaz murmured thoughtfully to himself. He
had been carefully watching Rowen and Serena through
his crystal ball ever since they left Mia’s house.
“Amethyst! You must see this!” Topaz shouted. “What is
it now, Topaz?” Amethyst asked wearily as she entered
the dark room. “It’s Rowen of Strata and Sailor Moon,
Amethyst. They’re searching for the Celestial Stone of
Air as we speak,” Topaz explained as he pointed at the
images of Rowen and Serena in his crystal ball. “Just
what we need,” Amethyst muttered angrily. “Is the
Celestial Stone of Air fully charged yet, Topaz?”
Topaz looked up from his crystal at the black metal
box attached to the wall. The first four bars were
completely filled with red, green, light blue, and
orange light. The last bar was almost completely
filled with dark blue light. “It will be very soon,
Amethyst,” Topaz revealed. “That’s good to hear,”
Amethyst admitted. “It doesn’t really matter, though.
Even if Rowen of Strata and Sailor Moon manage to find
the Celestial Stone of Air, they have no way of
getting to it.” Amethyst chuckled evilly as she
continued to watch the images of Rowen and Serena on
her brother’s crystal ball...
“Any luck, Rowen?” Serena asked curiously. “Nothing
yet, Serena,” Rowen replied, who was still looking
through the telescope. Serena let out a deep sigh as
she sat down on the ground. She looked up and stared
at the crescent moon glowing brightly in the dark sky.
“I wonder: what did it used to be like living in the
Moon Kingdom?” Serena wondered aloud. “What are you
talking about, Serena?” Rowen asked curiously as he
looked up from his telescope. “What Moon Kingdom?”
“Umm, well...a very long time ago, there used to be
this huge palace on the moon,” Serena explained while
pointing up at the crescent moon.
“A palace on the moon? Sounds like a fairy tale to
me,” Rowen muttered out loud. “It’s no fairy tale,
Rowen! It really did exist!” Serena insisted. “Okay,
if this ‘Moon Kingdom’ did exist at one time, then
what happened to it? And how do you know about it?”
Rowen asked. “The Moon Kingdom was destroyed by this
evil witch called Queen Beryl and her army,” Serena
explained. “I know about it because I used to live
there. Believe it or not, I was the princess of the
Moon Kingdom! When Queen Beryl attacked, my mother,
Queen Serenity, used the power of the Silver Emperium
Crystal to defeat her and to save me, along with the
rest of the Moon Kingdom. We were all reborn on Earth,
with no memories of our past lives at all.”
“If you didn’t have any memories of the Moon Kingdom,
then how did you find out about it?” Rowen asked
curiously as he sat down next to Serena, obviously
intrigued by her story. “Well, about a year or so ago,
from my time, that is, I found out from Luna that I
was Sailor Moon, defender of the Moon Kingdom. I
didn’t find out till later on that I was also the
princess of the Moon Kingdom. Anyway, the reason Luna
told me was because it turned out that Queen Beryl was
still alive and trying to take over Earth! Besides
having to fight those icky monsters she sent after me,
I had to find the rest of the Sailor Scouts, who are
also princesses of other planets. You can probably
figure that part out, Rowen!” “Yeah, that’s fairly
simple to figure out,” Rowen admitted.
“The five of us eventually defeated Queen Beryl for
good, but she wasn’t the only bad guy we had to
fight,” Serena continued. “There were also these two
aliens: Ann and Alan. They posed as students at my own
school during the day, but at night, they were zapping
energy from innocent people so they could keep their
Doom Tree alive.” “What’s a Doom Tree?” Rowen asked.
“The Doom Tree was this huge tree from another planet,
which provided Ann and Alan with energy. They had to
keep it alive with fresh energy from other people, or
they would die along with it,” Serena explained. “That
was similar to what Talpa was doing with the civilians
he had captured from Toyama, only he was feeding on
their fear and hatred,” Rowen revealed.
“Who’s this Talpa that you keep talking about, Rowen?”
Serena asked curiously. “Talpa was this evil spirit
from the Nether World that’s been around for over a
thousand years,” Rowen explained. “Talpa tried to take
over our world with his army of Dynasty Soldiers,
Nether Spirits, and his four Dark Warlords, who had
armor similar to our own. We found out later that all
nine armors were actually created from Talpa’s armor a
thousand years ago in an attempt to prevent Talpa from
reclaiming his armor. The five of us eventually
defeated Talpa once and for all, with the help of the
Dark Warlords, believe it or not.”
“Whoa!” Serena exclaimed slowly. “That must have been
hard.” “I’ll admit, it was extremely difficult to
defeat Talpa and his Evil Dynasty,” Rowen revealed.
“But no matter how difficult the battle became, none
of us ever gave up.” There was an awkward pause of
silence between the two young heroes. “Serena, I
recall that your friend, Sailor Pluto, mentioned
something about the Dark Moon family. What is that,
exactly?” “The Dark Moon family is this evil family
from the future,” Serena explained. “You can tell who
they are by the black crescent moons on their
foreheads, like with Amethyst and Topaz.” “So, are
Amethyst and Topaz from your time, Serena?” Rowen
asked curiously.
“Well, actually, they’re from the thirtieth century,”
Serena revealed, which caught Rowen off guard. “The
thirtieth century?” Rowen gasped loudly. “I thought
you and the other Scouts were from only ten years
ahead of our current time.” “Yeah, we are, Rowen.
Other members from the Dark Moon family went back in
time before to try and destroy us Sailor Scouts, but
they failed,” Serena explained. “We thought there were
only four of them, but it turned out that we were
wrong. There were two other members of the Dark Moon
family that we didn’t know about until now.” “I see,”
Rowen muttered out loud. “There’s just one thing that
I don’t understand, Serena. How does Rini fit into all
of this?”
Before Serena could say anything, she saw something
strange flash in the sky. “What was that?” she gasped.
“What is it, Serena? What did you see?” Rowen asked.
“Up there!” Serena shouted, pointing up at the moon.
“I think it’s the Air Stone!” Rowen looked up at the
area that Serena was pointing at and saw the
distinctive dot of dark blue light flashing in the
sky. “I believe you might be right, Serena,” Rowen
muttered thoughtfully as he and Serena stood up. “Just
give me a minute.” Rowen quickly ran over to his
telescope and swung it in the same area where Serena
spotted the dark blue light.
“Do you see it, Rowen?” Serena asked as Rowen peered
through the telescope’s eyepiece. “Hold on a second,
Serena,” Rowen replied as he focused the telescope on
the distinctive dot of dark blue light near the
crescent moon. He noticed that the dark blue light was
flashing on and off, like no star that he had ever
seen before. “There’s definitely something suspicious
about it,” Rowen revealed as he looked up from the
telescope. “This calls for further investigation.”
“You got a plan?” Serena asked. “Sure do, Serena,”
Rowen replied, “but we’ll both have to suit up first
before we do anything.”
“All right,” Serena replied as she reached for her
locket. “Moon Prism Power!” “That’s incredible!” Rowen
murmured to himself as he watched Serena transform
into Sailor Moon. “Well, what are you waiting for,
Rowen?” Sailor Moon asked curiously. “Aren’t you gonna
transform into your armor?” “Oh, right,” Rowen
stuttered as he pulled out the small crystal orb from
his pocket. “Armor of Strata! DAO INOCHI!” As soon as
Rowen finished transforming into his full dark blue
and white armor, Sailor Moon asked, “So, Rowen, how
are we going to get up there?”
“Like I said, I have a plan,” Rowen replied as he
looked up at the night sky. “You’ll have to hold on to
me, Sailor Moon.” “What for?” Sailor Moon asked. “Just
trust me on this, all right?” Rowen asked. “Okay,”
Sailor Moon hesitantly agreed as she wrapped her arms
around Rowen’s neck. “Hang on, Sailor Moon. Here we
go!” Rowen announced as he closed his eyes and
concentrated. “Life!” he thought as his kanji glowed
on his forehead. Sailor Moon was startled to see a
blue light radiate from Rowen’s armor, creating a
large hollow sphere of blue light around them. The
leader of the Sailor Scouts let out a frightened
little yell when the sphere of blue light suddenly
lifted her and Rowen up in the air.
“W-What’s going on?” Sailor Moon asked fearfully as
she held on tighter to Rowen. “There’s no need to
panic, Sailor Moon,” Rowen reassured her. “This shield
will take us right up to that Celestial Stone we’re
after.” “Okay. Sorry,” Sailor Moon apologized as she
loosened her grip. “I’ll admit, I wasn’t expecting
this from the leader of the Sailor Scouts,” Rowen
remarked with a quick laugh. “Okay, I know I’m not the
bravest warrior there is. It’s not like I ever asked
for this job, Rowen, but I guess you can’t fight your
destiny,” Sailor Moon replied. “That is true,” Rowen
admitted. “You can let go of me now. Trust me, you’re
not going to fall.”
“Well...okay, if you say so,” Sailor Moon agreed a bit
hesitantly as she slowly let go of Rowen. She was
relieved when she discovered that the hollow blue
sphere was supporting both of them. “Not to startle
you, Sailor Moon, but I’m going to speed up our ride
here,” Rowen announced. “At the rate we’re going now,
we’ll never reach that Celestial Stone in time. Brace
yourself!” Sailor Moon watched as Rowen pressed his
hands against the inner wall of the blue sphere,
closed his eyes, and concentrated. Sailor Moon was a
bit startled when the orb of blue light sped towards
the sky with increasing speed. She fell to the bottom
of the orb as it continued ascending rapidly toward
the endless regions of space.
“I don’t know if this is such a good idea, Rowen!”
Sailor Moon whimpered out loud as she struggled to sit
up on her knees. “Don’t give up, Sailor Moon!” a
familiar voice announced, catching Sailor Moon by
surprise. She looked up and gasped loudly out of
shock. Rowen was no longer standing inside of the orb
of blue light with her. Instead, there was a young man
dressed in a black tuxedo with a long flowing cape, a
white mask, a cane, and a matching top hat. “Tuxedo
Mask?” Sailor Moon whispered. “Are you okay, Sailor
Moon?” Rowen asked curiously. Sailor Moon shook her
head and looked up at Rowen, who had a puzzled
expression on his face. She then realized that she
only imagined seeing Tuxedo Mask.
“I’m so sorry, Rowen,” Sailor Moon apologized as her
face became red with embarrassment. “For a minute
there, I thought you were someone else.” “If you don’t
mind me asking, who is this Tuxedo Mask? A friend of
yours?” Rowen asked. “Not exactly...” Sailor Moon
trailed off. “Oh, I get it. Your relationship is a bit
more...personal than that, right?” Rowen realized.
“Yeah, I guess you can say that,” Sailor Moon replied.
Rowen looked back out at the seemingly endless black
void surrounding him and Sailor Moon. His blue eyes
focused on the dark blue dot of light in the distance.
“I see it, Sailor Moon!” Rowen announced.
“You do? Where?” Sailor Moon asked curiously as she
stood up. “Over there,” Rowen replied as he pointed at
the speck of dark blue light. “Do you see it?” “Yeah,
I see it, Rowen,” Sailor Moon admitted. “How are we
going to get it?” “Simple, Sailor Moon. I’m going to
reel it in,” Rowen explained as he took out his gold
bow and loaded it with one of his arrows. Sailor Moon
watched as Rowen took careful aim and fired his arrow
at the dark blue light in the distance. As the gold
arrow exited the shield of light surrounding Rowen and
Sailor Moon, it turned into a long stream of sparkling
gold powder. The stream of gold powder arched around
the spot of dark blue light, striking it and sending
it spiraling towards the two heroes.
“Here it comes,” Rowen told Sailor Moon as the ball of
dark blue light came closer to them. Rowen reached out
his arms and caught the large dark blue glass orb as
it entered the hollow orb that encased him and Sailor
Moon. “All right! We got the Air Stone!” Sailor Moon
cheered. “Now we just have to figure out a way to
destroy this thing before—” Rowen was interrupted as
the Celestial Stone of Air suddenly radiated a dark
blue glow. “What’s it doing, Rowen?” Sailor Moon
asked. “I wish I knew,” Rowen replied. He gasped when
the Celestial Stone of Air mysteriously floated out of
his hands and exited the shield projected by his
armor.
Rowen and Sailor Moon watched helplessly as the
Celestial Stone of Air emitted a nearly blinding dark
blue light. The two heroes had to shield their eyes
from the bright light. When they moved their hands
away from their eyes, Rowen and Sailor Moon gasped
when they saw that the Celestial Stone of Air was
gone. In its place was a creature bearing the symbol
of the Dark Moon family on her forehead. Her short
midnight blue hair was cut at a sharp angle, the tips
barely touching her pale white shoulders. She wore a
dark blue sleeveless dress with a short and unusually
wide skirt, long dark blue high-heel boots ending at
her knees, and matching fingerless gloves that ended
at her elbows.
“Oh, no! We’re too late!” Sailor Moon cried out.
“Thanks for stating the obvious, Sailor Moon,” the
creature retorted sarcastically as she stared
sinisterly at the two heroes with her dark blue eyes.
“Whoever you are, you’re going down with the rest of
them!” Rowen shouted as he fired one of his arrows at
the creature. When the arrow was just inches away from
striking her, to Rowen and Sailor Moon’s surprise, she
quickly moved out of the way with the speed of a
shooting star. “No way!” Sailor Moon gasped. “She’s
pretty fast!” Rowen reluctantly admitted.
“You two have only begun to witness the extent of my
powers!” the creature admitted as she lifted her hands
above her head. Rowen and Sailor Moon gasped when they
saw a meteor shower heading straight towards them.
“She’s sending those meteors right at us!” Rowen
shouted. “How astute of you, Rowen of Strata,” the
creature retorted. “By the way, I think it’s only fair
that you should know my name before your demise.” “How
generous of you,” Rowen retorted under his breath.
“The name is Astronema!” the creature admitted as the
meteors started to fly past her.
“Hold on, Sailor Moon! We’re gonna be in for a bumpy
ride!” Rowen warned Sailor Moon as they suddenly found
themselves in the center of the meteor shower. The
hollow sphere of dark blue light protecting the two
heroes was violently knocked back and forth like a
pinball as the huge chunks of floating rock struck it.
“I don’t know if I can take much more of this!” Sailor
Moon shouted as she got thrown into the side of the
shield once again, along with Rowen. “We have to get
out of here! Astronema’s too powerful up here in
space!” Rowen shouted. He quickly stood up and, with
his mind, directed the sphere of blue light back
towards Earth.
“You cannot escape me, Rowen of Strata and Sailor
Moon!” Astronema shouted as she gave chase. As Rowen
and Sailor Moon entered the Earth’s atmosphere, Sailor
Moon turned around and gasped loudly when she saw
Astronema slowly catching up with them. “She’s gaining
on us, Rowen!” Sailor Moon shouted. “I’m well aware of
that, Sailor Moon. Hang on!” Rowen warned her as he
caused the hollow sphere of blue light to speed up.
Suddenly, the shield shook violently, causing Sailor
Moon and Rowen to fall to their knees. “What was
that?” Sailor Moon asked nervously.
Rowen looked up and gasped when he saw Astronema
flying right next to them. “We got company!” Rowen
shouted as Astronema punched the shield hard, causing
it to shake violently once again. “What’s the matter,
you two? Afraid to fight me?” Astronema asked
sinisterly. “We’re not afraid of you, Astronema!”
Rowen shouted as he took out another arrow, placed it
in his bow, and aimed it straight at Astronema. “ARROW
SHOCK WAVE!” Astronema let out a startled scream as
the blast of gold energy struck her hard in the
stomach, propelling her far away from Rowen and Sailor
Moon. “You two haven’t seen the last of me!” Astronema
proclaimed.
“Now’s our chance!” Rowen announced as he directed the
sphere of blue light to the ground. “You ready to
fight back, Sailor Moon? You can bet that Astronema is
going to carry out her threat!” “Mm-hmm,” Sailor Moon
replied, nodding her head. Just then, the two heroes
landed on the same hill where they began their journey
into outer space. “Get ready! Here she comes!” Rowen
announced as he pointed at a speck of blue light
speeding towards them. Sailor Moon nodded as she took
out a dark pink scepter with a large red heart on top,
decorated with gold trim and a small gold crown. Rowen
also took out another one of his arrows and loaded it
into his bow as the sphere of light surrounding them
faded away.
“I shall finish you two off to please my masters!”
Astronema shouted as she flew in between them with
incredible speed. “How are we going to destroy her,
Rowen? She’s too fast!” Sailor Moon shouted. “We have
to make Astronema slow down so we can finish her off,”
Rowen revealed. “But how can we do that?” Sailor Moon
asked. “Leave that to me!” Rowen announced as he
rapidly fired several arrows at Astronema. Astronema
managed to avoid most of the flying arrows, but one of
them flew very close to her arm, leaving a long narrow
cut in her pale white flesh. “You will pay dearly for
that, Rowen of Strata!” Astronema muttered angrily as
she clutched at her injured arm.
“Sorry, but that’s not on the agenda tonight,
Astronema!” Rowen shouted as he continued firing his
arrows at Astronema. “Here’s your chance, Sailor Moon.
Get her while she’s distracted!” “Got it!” Sailor Moon
replied as she carefully watched Astronema, who was
distracted by Rowen’s arrows. “MOON SCEPTER
ELIMINATION!” Astronema was so busy avoiding the
barrage of gold arrows that she never noticed the
spiral of sparkling gold powder and blue rings heading
towards her until it was too late. She screamed loudly
out of pain as the spiral of energy struck her hard,
causing her to plummet to the ground.
Rowen and Sailor Moon watched as Astronema crashed
into the ground, leaving a large hole in the hill they
were standing on. “I think that did it,” Rowen
muttered thoughtfully as he looked at Sailor Moon. “No
way anyone could survive that fall.” “Except for
Astronema!” Sailor Moon shouted as she pointed at the
hole. Rowen turned around and gasped when he saw
Astronema slowly pulling herself out of the hole.
“Combining our attacks is the only way to get rid of
her forever. You ready, Sailor Moon?” Rowen asked.
“You bet I am!” Sailor Moon admitted. “Now! ARROW
SHOCK WAVE!” “MOON SCEPTER ELIMINATION!”
“NO!” Astronema screamed as the two attacks nailed her
head on. Rowen and Sailor Moon shielded their eyes
when Astronema suddenly became engulfed in a blinding
white light. When the two heroes looked back up where
Astronema was, they gasped when they saw her body
disintegrate into an explosion of gold stardust. “Yay!
We did it!” Sailor Moon cheered. “It’s all over,”
Rowen admitted proudly as he put away his bow. “That’s
what you think!” Rowen and Sailor Moon heard a
familiar voice shout. The two heroes looked up and
gasped loudly when they saw Topaz floating high above
their heads.
“You fools think you already won, but this battle is
far from over!” Topaz boasted as he stretched his arm
out in front of him over the indentation left in the
ground by Astronema. “No way!” Sailor Moon exclaimed
as she and Rowen watched the Celestial Stone of Air
float out of the hole. “How can that be? We destroyed
Astronema!” Rowen asked aloud. “Foolish mortal! You
can destroy the creatures from the Celestial Stones as
often as you wish, but that doesn’t mean the Celestial
Stones have been destroyed!” Topaz announced as the
Celestial Stone of Air landed in his hand.
“If that’s true, then that means...you have all five
Celestial Stones?” Rowen asked out of shock. “Indeed I
do, Rowen of Strata!” Topaz admitted as the four other
Celestial Stones mysteriously appeared and floated
above his head. “My sister and I now have the power to
destroy Crystal Tokyo once and for all, and there’s
nothing you puny Ronin Warriors and Sailor Scouts can
do about it!” Topaz let out a loud sinister laugh as
he disappeared, along with the five Celestial Stones.
“Oh, no!” Sailor Moon gasped. “We can’t let them
destroy Crystal Tokyo, Rowen!” “I know, Sailor Moon.
We need to get back to Mia’s and let the others know
what’s going on,” Rowen suggested. “Good idea, Rowen,”
Sailor Moon agreed as they quickly ran to Mia’s
jeep...TO BE CONTINUED
Go on to Part 07
Go Back to Part 05
Go Back to the RW/SM Crossover Fanfiction
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