"Moon Tiara Action!"
"MuAhAhAhA, sAlIoR mOoN. YoU wIlL nEvEr DeFeAt Me LiKe ThAt! YoU aRe PaThEtIc!"
The dark-haired, pigtailed girl sighed and brushed her long bangs out of her face. How many times had she heard that speech? Thirty? Forty times? It got so old, especially when her adversaries could not meet the standards they tried to make her believe they met. Were all agents of evil this dimwitted? She had never encountered one without some sort of cheesy boast and ridiculous costume. Well, Mazendite and Kanzite had been more skilled than most of the youma she fought, but they had also been of higher rank.
"My goodness. That was quite an insult," a familiar voice commented airily from behind. "Are you going to let him talk to you that way, Sailor Moon?"
Yes, she'd had some help in that particular battle. Kanzite and Mazendite together had been a bit much for her undeveloped technique. Unfortunately, that had been the first and last time her helper had actually joined in a fight. She spun on her heels, hands on her hips. "Xeloru Chiballium! Why you sneaky little rascal..."
The lean figure in the tree smiled charmingly at her. "Oh, so we're using real names now? That's fine with me, Ame-chan. I don't much like being called Tuxedo Mazoku, anyway. My real name is just so much sexier." He looked down at his reflection in the creek below and grinned. "It fits with my godlike countenance, don't you think?"
The girl scowled. "Are you just going to sit there, or do you plan on actually helping me this time?"
Tuxedo Mazoku sniffed, feigning a hurt expression. "Why, Ame-chan! I'm appalled you think so little of me!"
"Yeah, whatever," Sailor Moon muttered. He wouldn't join in, she knew. He never did. The "mysterious" young man in the tuxedo showed up every time she fought, only to tease and bully her into winning. That's all he did, make obnoxious remarks and goad both her and the Enemy. Even the first time she had met him, when she had been crying and injured from her very first encounter with a youma, he joked and laughed at her misfortune. Sailor Moon scowled again. He wasn't much different as Xeloru, either.
"Ah," he was lamenting, placing a hand over his heart. "I do believe I'm a bit late today. I didn't even get to see you transform, Ame-chan!"
Not different at all. How annoying. And yet the girl knew she would not have grown so strong if he had not let her fight her own battles. If he had been dashing and debonair and had rushed in to save her every time, she would still be the same weak girl she was before she knew to be Sailor Moon.
"But I am getting a nice view from here. Turn around, would you? I like that side of you so much more."
"....oh, please. Get a dog or something."
"A little slow on the uptake there, Sailor Moon," he crooned from his branch, swinging one leg lazily and folding his arms behind his head.
She threw him a dirty glare and turned back to the battle at hand, noting that her opponent was staring off into space in a bored fashion. Taking a running start, she leapt up into the air and delivered a blow to his front. "Sailor Moon Kick!"
The youma was caught off-guard and staggered backwards, but was unharmed. "ThAt WaS pAtHeTiC, sAlIoR mOoN. PrEpArE tO dIe!!"
She nearly wasn't able to duck the attack, and cursed her slow body. Where the hell were Lina and Goutemis when she needed them? Guardian cats, yeah right. They spent more time guarding the refrigerator at home than they did her. Sailor Moon yelped as the youma, an ugly little thing with claws, jumped at her. She scrambled out of the way just in time. "Perhaps the Fist of Justice will teach you, monster!"
"That's Fist of Death, Ame-chan," Tuxedo Mazoku murmured from his perch.
She ignored him and continued. "For you see, I am the light that shines from the heavens! The light of Justice! Of burning Justice! And on behalf of the Moon, I will punish you!"
Up in his tree, Tuxedo Mazoku began to laugh. "The light of Justice? I'm sure you really intimidated him, Ame-chan. Ooh, the light of Justice. I know I'm scared."
Sailor Moon whirled around in irritation and stormed over to berate him. As we all know, she is a very clumsy girl. And in her rage, she managed to trip herself on those encumbering boots and ended up in the creek, wet as a sewer rat. "Xel!! You jerk! Look what you made me do!!"
"You would have done it sooner or later anyway."
The girl pulled herself out of the water, raven locks dripping. "Now see here..."
"See what?" The young man raised a hand to his forehead and peered down at her. "I was supposed to see a good fight, but it looks like that won't happen tonight."
She felt tears spring to her eyes, like so many of his comments had made happen. "If you're just going to sit there and insult me, why don't you leave?!"
"Because," he said, smiling. "You're too cute."
Sailor Moon blinked in surprise and stared up at him, doing a full-body blush. She was too shocked to see the youma coming up behind her, and barely felt anything as he slammed a fist into the back of her neck, bringing her body to the ground with a crash.
Tuxedo Mazoku brought a hand to his mouth. "Oops. Bad timing." He jumped down from the tree, cape flapping in the breeze, and landed lightly on his feet.
The youma eyed him carefully, not releasing the unconscious body he held. "I'm NoT gOiNg To HaVe To FiGhT yOu, ToO, aM i?"
A wicked smile crossed his features. "No," he said, and snapped his fingers. "You won't." The youma dropped like a fly and disappeared, destroyed.
Tuxedo Mazoku looked down at the girl at his feet, wondering what to do about this unanticipated situation. "Oh, well," he sighed and picked her up, cradling her small form against his. Her soft skin was very pale, her lips a deep crimson in comparison. He brushed a few dark strands out of her eyes and smiled suddenly. "I think I'm going to seduce her," he said to no one in particular.
Gomen ne sunao janakute. Yume no naka nara ieru. Shikou kairo wa. Shotto sunzen. Ima sugu aitai yo. Nakitaku naru yo na Moonlight. Denwa o. Dekinai. Midnight.
Midnight? Yes, that was the clock striking twelve...an unfamiliar grandfather clock that bonged loudly, awakening Usame Tsukino from her deep slumber. Groaning, she sat up and rubbed her neck ruefully. She had gotten hurt in the battle that night? How had she gotten home? Confused, the girl glanced down at herself and almost freaked out. When had she detransformed? More importantly, when had she removed her clothes?!
Ame looked frantically about, suddenly realizing that she was not at home, and not in her own bed. Which meant the large lump beside her under the covers could not possibly be her teddy bear Patches. What in the name of kami-sama was going on?? Her first instinct was to scream, but her throat was constricted and she could only make a few frightened gasps.
The lump next to her shifted suddenly and rolled over to face her. She found herself looking into the violet eyes of a very familiar (and very naked) young man. "You're finally awake," he purred.
Ame recognized him immediately. "Xel!!" She clutched the sheets to her, covering herself. "W-what am I doing here?!" she sputtered, eyes very wide.
He stared unnervingly at her, his purple hair spilling over his bare shoulders. "Your clothes were wet," he said simply. "I didn't want you to catch cold." His eyes took in her thin frame hungrily, seeming to look right through the sheets that covered her.
She drew back. "I suppose I should be thanking you for saving me, but this is uncalled for!"
"What is?" he murmured, shifting his body so that the girl got a good view of his lean torso.
Ame blushed and looked away. "I'd like to go home now."
"No, you don't."
"What?"
Xel suddenly moved closer to her, curling his body around hers. "You don't really want to leave."
She squirmed to get away, but she was already backed up against the wall. "What are you doing?!" she protested. "I'm just a little girl!"
The young man looked her up and down, and raised an eyebrow. "Not from what I can see."
"I'm only sixteen," she whimpered, pulling the sheet up to her chin.
"Old enough," he whispered, pressing close.
"Not to do this! Not with you!"
This time he pulled back. "Why not with me?"
Ame's face was very red. It was getting very difficult to come up with arguments while he was so close to her. He might be an annoying fruitcake, but she'd be damned if she didn't admit she'd always had a crush on him. "This is injust! It's not right!" she finally said. "I can't see any reason to do this!"
Xel watched her carefully, undaunted. "For comfort," he said. "For companionship."
"Those are not reason enough!"
"You don't like me?" he asked. "I most certainly like you."
She blushed deeper. "It's not like you've ever shown me any sort of affection before."
"No? Have I not trained you, made you strong? Have I not supervised your battles? Did I not save you from certain death?"
"But that was all for your own amusement," Ame murmured.
"Yes, that's true," he admitted. "You are very easy to provoke, my dear. But I would not have done it if I had not seen something likeable in you."
The girl looked away, and he could see the beginnings of tears sparkling in her blue eyes. "Likeable is not enough. Not for this."
Xel sighed. "Ame-chan, Ame-chan...don't you see? The two of us, we've already shared something that no one else in the world has. We're connected already, you and me."
"The cats know," she sniffled.
Xel began to laugh. "Even now you joke, like me," he said, smiling at her. His smile was hungry, so hungry...it scared her, but at the same time, she couldn't resist it. His eyes were hungry, too...but for something more than her confused mind could comprehend. She couldn't resist. She couldn't...
In a darkened room, many miles from where the young pair were, sat a well-dressed man wearing a mask over the lower half of his face. The man was called Zelmond, and he was the ruler of the magic-enhanced people who made up the Black Moon. His foot tapped absentmindedly to the soft guitar music that played from his chamber's sound system as he waited for his crystal ball to begin working.
He was looking for the girl he'd watched secretly for months, the little dark-haired one who would someday grow up to be the beautiful queen he so admired. That queen who chose another over him... He clenched his fists briefly. No matter. He could still watch her now, before all that.
The crystal ball was searching for her life energy; she had not stayed in her home that night. She must have gone to a friend's house. Zelmond smiled beneath his mask as the ball seemed to find her, and an image began to form within it. She was sitting up against a wall, a sheet wrapped around her. And with her... His smile suddenly dropped. No. It couldn't be.
But it was. That purple-haired fruitcake was practically feeling her up, cuddled against her in a particularly inappropriate way. No. They hadn't been this young when they'd...had they? Zelmond knew for a fact that they had not previously pursued this sort of relationship, and he felt a deep rage welling up in his chest. The fruitcake was going to seduce her right then and there, wasn't he. A child! She was so young!
He clenched his fists. There was no way he was going to let this happen. This was his chance to change what was to come. This was his chance to save her from the future, if the gods would allow it. And...perhaps his chance to win her over himself.
Through the maze of the astral plane he went, darting as fast as was humanly possible to reach the little apartment in Azabu. Through the twines of magic and portals of spirit, in and out, up and over. He was running, running to whisk his young love away from the arms of evil and into his own. She was better off with him. They were meant for each other. It was destiny, just she hadn't realized that yet.
Zelmond phazed into the darkness of the little apartment with rapidity, and his heart nearly broke from the sight that greeted him. No. He was too late. How could he be too late? He had timed it perfectly!! The man closed his eyes and turned away from the scene, devastated. He was too late.
He had already lost his love to Queen Zeryl's servant.