Once again, another fusion from the warped mind of the Scriviner! This one is comprised of two series whose fanfiction I generally delete on sight, even though I like both series. Bubble Gum Crisis and Sailor Moon. I only rarely find really good fanfics from either series, so it's understandable. I do hope however, you'll give this series a chance before consigning it to the trash bin. Once again, as with all my fanfics, my versions of the char's while sharing the same name (although not necessarily so in this one, I've got a good reason. No. Really) and worldview with the original character, may not exactly act the same, owing to differences in experience and upbringing.

Rights belong to the owners. Please no sue. No cash.

Prelude: Deal with the Devil

"So, Miss, I believe that concludes my proposal. Protection for my wife our daughter and myself. In return, ten million dollars to each of you and adaptive hardsuits so advanced that your competition will be left in the dirt. I hope this is satisfactory."

The setting was a kitchen in a cozy apartment, somewhere in Mega-Tokyo, 2016. It must've been a little past ten in the evening and the lights were turned down low, making it hard to see who was there, but two people were seated across the table.

The blonde woman sitting across from the man flashed him a grin, "Doctor, you have yourself a deal. When do we see these new hardsuits?"

The tall dark man returned her grin, "I've already transferred them to you and your three compatriots. They merely need to be activated."

The blonde's eyes narrowed, "You'd better not be trying to cheat us."

"Heaven forbid. My family is in dire need of your protection. I want you to be as prepared as possible against anything my enemies could try."

"Darling..?" a voice came tentatively from the entrance to the kitchen. The blonde's hand strayed down to her weapon before she realized that it was only the client's wife.

"Yes, dear?" The man asked turning to face the new woman.

A tall slender blonde woman in her mid-thirties walked into the darkened kitchen, holding a blonde three year old in her arms. The woman's hair was tied off into two pigtails, topped by a pair of buns. It had to be admitted it looked slightly odd, but she carried it with grace and poise.

The child was reaching her arms out quietly to the man, obviously asking for an embrace, "Little Bunny wouldn't go to sleep without a hug from her Papa." His wife replied.

The man's face softened for a brief instant as he stood up and took the child into his arms. He gave his wife a peck on the cheek. The little girl hugged the man's neck fiercely before consenting to be passed back to her mother.

He smiled wistfully as his wife carried his daughter out of the kitchen.

The blonde touched a finger to her ear as if listening to something. Here eyes widened mildly in surprise. "Doctor... you can forget about the ten million each." The blonde said cautiously after a moment.

"I beg your pardon?" the man asked, whirling to face the blonde.

"Well... my partners and I... we're sentimental about this sort of thing... The girls consulted among themselves and they say I can't charge you money for it. Give us the armor, and we'll take good care of you and your family. Free of charge."

"I... I must say, that's quite unexpected." The surprised man replied,

"Well, don't tell anyone though," the blonde grinned, "The Knight Sabers have a reputation to protect..."

The dream faded slowly as light began to filter into the richly appointed penthouse. A fit and slender man in his fifties stretched quietly as he stepped out of bed. His hair, once black, was now shot through with gray streaks. His face lined subtly by years of worry and regret. More years than he cared to remember. Now... no wife... no daughter... who would've believed that she would abandon him like that?

That was twenty years ago... even now he couldn't believe how naive he'd been. To have not given the designs for his nanotechnology immediately to New Moon Enterprises, had managed to actually delay the spread of his technology considerably. But now... his research from way back when had paid off... materials could be manufactured easily and for a fraction of the cost, cheap labor was now available in quantities unheard of. His Neuma, nanotechnological and biological constructs which could simulate the form and functions of humans without the attendant weaknesses.

He smiled to himself. He generally did when he thought about what he'd done. Neuma. A mild pun on the phrases 'New Man' and the Latin word, 'pneumas'. Which meant breath... the breath of life that he'd created. Admittedly, there seemed to be imperfections in their designs... but even those had been accounted for. Everything was going according to plan. Everything.

He looked out the huge picture window to admire the view. The entire skyline of Mega-Tokyo even in the red dawn light was dominated by New Moon Tower. A huge crystaline construct, covering two square kilometers worth of real estate and nearly a kilometer high, and still growing. Made possible through him. His smile broadened.

On the bed, a woman stirred softly, "Mamoru? Are you awake already?" She was an attractive red-head in her mid thirties, with pale, pale skin and sharp features. She wore a slightly sleepy smile, and obviously little else.

The man, Mamoru Chiba, faced the woman with a smile still on his lips, "You know I like to get an early start on the day, Regina."

The woman slowly maneuvered herself to sit up in the bed, yawning and stretching as she did so. Chiba watched appreciatively.

"But you're Director of Operations of New Moon Enterprises, surely you deserve to stay in bed a little more... after all," she grinned wickedly, "Didn't I tire you out enough last night?"

Mamoru laughed, "Is this a direct order from New Moon's Chairman of the Board?"

The woman nodded lazily, "Yes. Get back in bed, Chiba. Before I have security haul you in here."

"Ms. Beryl, you drive a hard bargain," Mamoru replied playfully as he slipped under the sheets again.

Operation One
Saber Moon: Activation

Morning. Elsewhere in Mega-Tokyo, the bedroom of a slightly more modest residence... a computer activated alarm blared 'Reveille' out at full volume. On screen, the time read 8:17 AM, while in the background, a graphic of a man with his trumpet who kept blowing and blowing and blowing... Just as it had for the past half hour.

The person the music had been intended for, slept blithely through it all. She was an attractive woman, easily in her early twenties, but her smooth face and slight figure could have passed for someone as young as sixteen. Her golden hair was cut almost brutally short, it was almost a man's haircut. She still slept in the same style of colorful though now somewhat abbreviated pajamas she'd worn as a child... the kind with the prints of the rabbits. This was part of the reason why her friends nicknamed her as they did. She shifted slightly in her sleep, the sheets slipping onto the floor.

The videophone, part and parcel of the computer terminal, began to ring. Obliviously, the woman slept through it all. After three rings, the answering machine program took over, placing the caller's face on the monitor, "Hello!?"

It was a pretty redheaded woman with green eyes. She blinked, looking as though she were searching the room. Finally, they seemed to focus on the bed, "Bunny!?! How can you still be asleep?!"

"Mgrphlag?" the girl sputtered from the bed, her pillow still half stuffed in her mouth.

"If you don't get a move on, Usagi Tsukino, you're going to be late. AGAIN!" The girl on the screen said with emphasis, "Haruna-sensei already said you'd be dropped from the class if you were late just one more time!"

The girl, shook her head clear as she slumped into a sitting position, "Don't worry about it, Naru... I set my alarm for seven o'clock, so... so... hey what's that noise..?" She said as she turned to face the monitor.

"I'm going to be LATE!!!!!" Usagi screamed, suddenly totally awake, and made a mad dash for her closet to pull out her clothes for the day.

From the screen, Naru shook her head. "My best friend. The flake. I'll hold a seat for you in class, Bunny."

"Thanks, Naru..!" Usagi called out behind her as Naru signed off.

Usagi drove her old car at breakneck speed down the streets of Mega-Tokyo... granted she was going considerably over the speed limit, but she had a good excuse... she was going to be late otherwise. Drivers ahead and behind her cursed and muttered darkly about women drivers... especially the other women drivers.

Her car jumped onto the curb as she swerved to avoid a black cat that crossed her car's path... "What a way to start the day." She muttered to herself. "How can it possibly get worse?!"

The cat calmly leapt on top of a convenient mailbox and watched idly as she speeded off... in the interests of foreshadowing, let's just say that this particular cat had a pretty good idea of how much worse her day was going to get.

Usagi slid the door open to her classroom at Juuban University with exaggerated caution. The teacher had her back turned to the class, and was writing something down on the board. Naru Osaka, Usagi's friend waved her over to the free seat next to her, the last remaining unoccupied seat in the room. None of the other students had noticed her.

She grinned and nodded to the redhead making her way stealthily towards the unoccupied seat, praying the whole while that Haruna-sensei didn't turn around. She would've made it unnoticed too if she hadn't slammed her hip loudly into the back of that chair, eliciting a pained yelp from her and causing her books and pens to tumble to the ground with a loud clatter.

"Ms. Tsukino!" the teacher growled out as she turned.

Usagi had managed to make it to class, precisely on time by her watch... unfortunately by the University's clock she was twelve minutes late.

"Er... hello... sensei..." Usagi replied meekly as she bowed, trying to make herself as small as possible.

The teacher, a rather attractive brunette woman with long wavy hair glared at her. "Take your seat... I was just thinking about giving a graded recitation... I do hope you're prepared." Haruna-sensei said with almost malicious glee.

The rest of the class greeted this with pained groans and dagger glances at Usagi who was doing her absolute best to become invisible.

Despite what it felt like to the students within, class did in fact only last three hours. The whole class had sweated bullets throughout the recitation, and there was a certain luke-warm comfort in the fact that Haruna- sensei seemed to be taking exceptional delight in making Usagi suffer, by calling on her repeatedly.

Class finally ended with a collective sigh of relief from the students. Usagi had her head on her desk and looked quite dejected...

Naru patted her head comfortingly, "Hey, you didn't do that badly..."

"I only managed to answer one question!" Usagi made a muffled exclaimation into her desk.

Naru looked as if she hated to bring the point up, "Um... didn't you miss all of them?"

Usagi looked up with a vague smile on her face, "Er... well, I got the one where she asked me my name..."

"Right." Naru tsked.

"You don't have to worry. She likes you. You got all of the easy questions." Usagi whined.

"Bunny... when you couldn't answer the last three questions she gave them to me."

"Oh. That's right."

Naru stood up, pulling Bunny to her feet, "Come on... otherwise we're going to be late for our Anthro 122 class..."

"I think I'm going to cut it..." Usagi mumbled slumping back onto the desk, "This day is sufficiently ruined... I'm thinking of going to a mall or something..."

The redhead sighed, "Why do you even bother enrolling when you don't bother passing your classes?"

"I don't get any money from my trust fund otherwise." Usagi mumbled.

"Right. I forgot..." Naru glanced at her watch and dashed off, "Well, I have to get going, see you!"

Usagi shifted uneasily in her car... it was one of those older models... somewhat clunky, but reliable. It didn't have quite as many automated conveniences as the really new models did, but it made up for it in style. And frankly she liked it like that. The sky was badly overcast and was doing a real number for her mood... it was practically as dark as night...

It was just her luck. Traffic was backed up through most of her route... the day had already gone badly enough and she wasn't in any mood for any more aggravation.

She decided after tense minutes of waiting in traffic to take a detour, one that she hoped would get her to the mall... where a sale awaited... some lunch... and an arcade... a place where she didn't have to think about how lousy her life was in general. She turned off the main road, entering into one of the back roads at a fairly high speed. She knew she was going just a bit over the limit, but that was okay... there didn't seem to be any cops around.

She came to a corner that another car, a reconditioned Bentley with two passengers, was also rounding, heading in the opposite direction... there was easily enough space for the two vehicles to have turned the corner with no difficulty. Except for three things. Usagi was speeding. The Bentley's driver was speeding. And then there was the black cat that jumped off the curb into Usagi's way... suffice to say that luck figured heavily into the events which transpired. Mostly bad.

"Owww..." Usagi muttered painfully pulling at the straps of her seatbelt. Her car had only very narrowly missed the other car, but had gone skidding all the way onto the curb. She glanced out the window and noted almost idly that the passenger side of her car was roughly six inches away from smashing into the window of a jewelry store.

Still stunned she turned to look in the direction of the other car, only to find a concerned male face staring at her through the window... it was a handsome face, the kind she could most certainly go for, short black hair framing strong features, dark eyes hidden behind mirror shades. He was also well dressed. Not rich... just tasteful. There was another man who was looking over the Bentley. Also handsome, with long light brown hair and tastefully dressed... but there was a certain... effeminate air to him. Both men looked to be in their late twenties...

"Are you okay?" the man asked.

"Um... yes. I think so..." Usagi replied uncertainly.

"Good." The man said. He took a deep breath his face contorting into a mask of fury, "What the HELL were you thinking, kid?!"

"What?! You were speeding! You nearly ran into ME!"

"I'm not the one who swerved into the other lane!" the man retorted.

The blonde sputtered, "Fine! Let's go find a cop and see what he has to say about this!"

"Lady, we are the cops!" the man replied, flashing an AD Police badge. "Detective Darien Chiba."

The other man, almost apologetically also flashed a badge. "I'm his partner. Detective Mason Satre. Everybody calls me Zowie."

"We are not trying to make friends, Zowie!" Mamoru snapped at his partner.

"Well, sorry." Zowie replied with a flip of his hair, returning to examining the car.

"Let's see your license." Darien snapped.

"But there was a cat!" Usagi said suddenly remembering, "Did I run over the cat?"

"What cat?"

"You know, Chiba, she might've hit her head or something." Zowie called out from the car without turning around.

"Did I hit the cat or not?!" Usagi asked again.

"Kid, the only cat I see is the one sleeping next to you." The black haired man pointed out.

Usagi blinked in surprise and stared at the black feline curled up on her passenger seat, "Wha... a... but... it was crossing the..."

"Your license?" Chiba persisted.

Usagi just couldn't deal with it any more... one thing after another after another... this was the final straw... it was just... too MUCH.

"I..." she sniffled, "But..."

Chiba managed to frown, "Wha--?" just before the dam burst.

No one should have to go through the aggravation she went through. Usagi started crying... loudly. "You're just some bully with a badge trying to harass me because you're a lousy driver!! Now you're picking on me because you can't drive worth shit and you're going to have me blamed so you don't have to get blamed and the cat WAS TOO crossing the street and I don't know what it's doing in my car and I don't care if you think you're soooo cool with your badge and your car and your shades but you're still just abusing your power and... you're probably thinking I'm going to go with you and do all sorts of bad kinky things for you just so I won't have this going on my record but think again cause I'm not going anywhere with you certainly NOT a motel so just forget about it you abusive... power hungry... Waaaaahhhhhh!!!"

Chiba took a step back, looking very embarrassed, "Geez, kid take it easy... I was just asking for your..." he didn't get to finish.

"... And I am not a kid! I am twenty three but don't think that just because I'm not jailbait is any reason..."

Chiba blushed and took another step back, "Hey... what're you..." sexual harassment charges were taken VERY seriously by the AD Police Chief. He looked around hurriedly, but there were apparently no witnesses besides Zowie.

Zowie stood up and called out again, "Chiba... you know, there isn't any damage at all..."

"That's not the issue! She's a menace!"

"I am NOT a menace you're the menace! Wahhhhh!"

"Miss... will you stop... cry... erhm..." Mamoru did his best to pacify the girl... unfortunately, she wasn't about to be stopped just like that.

"Unit 034, Unit 034 come in..." the radio in the Bentley crackled... Mason stuck his head into the car.

Mamoru's unsuccessful efforts to keep Usagi from crying were interrupted as Zowie poked his head back out of the vehicle, "Hey, Chiba... I just got a report, that rampaging Neuma is heading our way."

Chiba whirled to face his partner, "Where?!"

"Heading East on 57th Avenue, going about forty..!" Mason called back getting into the passenger's side of the car.

Mamoru turned to Usagi who had stopped crying and was looking at them both with a bit of mild confusion, "You..." he started to say, but her baffled and woebegone expression plus Mason's impatient shouts cut short anything else.

He ran back to the Bentley jumping into the driver's seat and slamming the door behind him. With a screech of the tires, the car peeled away from where it had stopped and disappeared around the curve.

Usagi dabbed ineffectually at her eyes with a hanky... she felt a little better... she always did after a good cry... it's just that it was so embarrassing breaking down like that in front of a policeman... he was kind of cute too...

"Good. They've left. We've got a lot to talk about." Said a warm female voice next to her.

Her eyes, still red and a little swollen from all of that crying widened... she turned towards the voice slowly, uncertain at what she would see... next to her... on the passenger's seat... the cat was there. It was looking... quite... intently at her.

"Did you just..?" Oh God, Usagi thought to herself... I've snapped. This is it. It's finally happened.

"Yes, I did talk." The cat said in the same tone. Now that it was closer, Usagi noticed that the cat has a tiny scar on it's forehead which looked remarkably like a crescent moon... how... odd...

She hadn't realized it but Usagi edged away from the cat, pressing herself against the car's door... "Heh... you talked."

The cat nodded, "Yes. My name is Luna and I need to speak to you, Usagi Tsukino."

"Luna... heh... moon... you've got a little crescent moon on your forehead... cute name... heh... oh God, a little talking moon cat..."

The cat somehow managed to get an impatient expression on her face, "Yes, yes, nice of you to notice... I don't have time for you to have a mental breakdown, Usagi. You have to listen, this is very important..."

The blonde covered her ears and shut her eyes, she murmured to herself over and over, "This is all just a dream... I have fallen asleep in class again and I am just having a nightmare..."

Luna impatiently hopped on top of Usagi's head shouted into one covered ear, "LOOK! I'm trying to tell you that people's lives are depending on this! Will you just listen up?!"

"People's lives?" Usagi asked, blinking her eyes open and looking up.

"New Moon Enterprises is planning on destroying this city and you're one of the few people who can stop them." The cat agreed.

"I'm what?" she asked in a flat dead tone, "If this is a joke it's a really bad one. New Moon is like the richest corporation on the planet why would they want to..?"

"I don't understand it myself, I was just programmed to look for you and four other people. You're supposed to be able to stop them." Luna replied, jumping off of her head.

"But that's insane! Wait... programmed? You're a robot?" Usagi looked relieved.

Luna nodded, "Sort of but not quite. I'm one of a very limited series of Neumas created in cat form."

"Wow..." Usagi's tone had shifted from horror to pleasant surprise as she began to stroke Luna's back, "You're so realistically built..."

Luna paused her speech momentarily to purr... she was enjoying the petting, but there was still business to conduct. She shook her head clear and tried to continue in a businesslike tone, "Will you just... pay attention?!"

"But you're so real!" Usagi whined.

"I am real! Will you just--" Luna suddenly cut herself off as she stared out the windshield.

Usagi also turned to look and she saw it... it was humanoid, but most certainly not human... even at the extreme distance, it gave the impression of size... and mass... it's skin looked like overlapping armored plates of gray metal... where it's right arm should have been was what appeared to be a machine gun... from it's shoulders were all sorts of strange metal protrusions and organic growths...

It's face was more a skull than anything else... the metal face, despite its seeming rigidity had an gave the impression of an expression of what could only be pure unbridled glee... and it ran... it's footsteps cracking the pavement, with every heavy, rapid, heart-rattling step... it closed the distance between the itself and Usagi's car with terrifying ease...

"My God what is that?!" Usagi shrieked...

"It's a Bu50 Combat Neuma! Get out of the car, now!" Luna screamed.

In a panic, Usagi hurled herself towards the passenger side door, she couldn't stand the thought of leaving through the driver side door... right into the path of that... that... thing. The door swung open, slamming into the shop's glass window. It shattered, showering woman and cat both with shards of glass... Usagi didn't mind ait all as she moved with frenzied determination to put as much distance between herself and the neuma...

She cast a last frightened glance through her windshield just before she stepped out... it had disappeared. Involuntarily she glanced up... and there it was... seeming to hang in the sky, caught in midleap by a flash of lightning with its gun arm trained on the car... she did not even hear it fire... her world exploded into pure pain.

Usagi was finally awakened by heat... she couldn't feel her legs...then again... those parts of her which she could feel were in terrible pain, so maybe it wasn't so bad... her left arm was pinned by something she couldn't see... all around her it was hot... infernally hot. She was on her stomach, she could tell that much... her back was awash with pain... and below her waist was nothing but a cool numbness... her chest felt as if it had been kicked... and there was a coppery taste in her mouth that wouldn't go away. She was sweating... it had to do with the heat... she was sure of it... she realized her eyes had tears in them again... it could've been from the pain... but it was just as likely from the smoke... yes. That WAS smoke... distantly she could hear the crackle of a fire...

"Usagi..." came the warm female voice again. There was soft breath against her ear... the feel of fur against one cheek... she screwed her eyes closed even tighter.

"Leave me alone..." she moaned... "Just leave me alone! You are not a talking cat and I am NOT here!"

"Usagi, your legs are pinned... and there's a fire... this store's on fire, Usagi. it hasn't reached the car's gas tank... yet... but it will... I'd hoped we'd been able to talk more first..." She was speaking slowly and carefully, almost as if to a willful child.

"Shut up!" Usagi tried to shout. She was crying again... she did her best to lash out with her free arm at the voice, but it was too much effort, and she hurt too much, "Just shut up leave me alone or go get help! It hurts..!"

"I'm trying to tell you... I can help you... all you have to do is say, 'Moon Activation'." The cat replied in a level tone.

"WHAT?! What the hell are you... Agh!" Usagi tried to turn in the direction of the voice, but the effort cost her... she licked her lips... trying to wet them... she knew whatever the coppery tasting stuff was, she was coughing it out... a bit of it was on her lips... she was sure... she could taste it...

"Just say 'Moon Activation'. It will all be okay... Hurry Usagi... the flames are nearly there... your blouse is on fire already..." There was a mild sense of urgency in the Luna's voice, but not much.

"Shut UP!" she said with difficulty... breathing was becoming harder...

"Say it!"

"Fine!" Usagi choked out, "Moon..." she coughed, as she felt a searing heat begin to burrow into her side, "...Activation." she finished weakly...

Luna stepped back with satisfaction as Usagi became bathed in a blinding pure white glow...

The Bentley roared down the street in hot pursuit of the Neuma... Darien was silently cursing himself, while Mason busied himself with contacting the other units to coordinate the search...

"Dammit... how can we lose it?!" Darien demanded through clenched teeth.

"Calm down... we'll find it again. No point having an aneurysm over it. I mean it's not like it can hide it's tracks all that well..."

"Oh shit!" Darien cried out as they speeded past the wrecked remains of that crazy girl's car... it was a total wreck... the building it was next to was already on fire and it was spreading...

"I hope she got out okay..." Zowie murmured.

"Me too..." Chiba muttered back, flooring the gas pedal, "Our first priority is finding that sucker fast so it won't hurt anyone else..."

"I'll call some units over to handle that fire..." Zowie replied.

Unnoticed by either was the powerful white light which emanating from the gutted remains of the building... overpowering even the light of the flames... overpowering even light of the explosion when the flames finally arrived at the gas tank.

Usagi's pain had receded to a dull throb then had finally disappeared... she felt a warm and pleasant sensation washing over her... she could even feel her toes now... she wasn't cold or hot or anything at all... merely protected... and comfortable... a light...

She eased her eyes open and she could see nothing but pure white all around her... by rights she should've been blinded, but she wasn't...

Within a matter of seconds... even that light had faded to the dancing cheery red of the flames all around her... she tried to move away in fear... but she felt no heat from them... just a slight warmth where they were closest to her... nothing more.

"What is--?" she began to ask, until she realized that she wasn't speaking with her voice... it was another woman's voice saying her words... a deeper voice... fuller.

She raised her hands in front of her realizing slowly that her body was encased in some sort of armor... white, trimmed in red and blue... she noticed with some surprise that it felt as if she wasn't wearing anything... it moved with her like a second skin... in front of her eyes, displays skimmed past in a confusing array... almost as if everything she focused her eyes on became a potential target... strangely enough it felt... comfortable. Almost as if she'd done this her whole life... which was impossible... she'd never seen anything like this outside of a video game... much less been inside one... ever.

Luna spoke to her from around the vicinity of her ankle, "It's your hardsuit."

"My what?!" Usagi asked, still getting used to her new voice.

"Armor. Protection."

"Um... I'm hearing voices..?" Usagi asked tentatively.

"Police band scanner," Luna replied... "We have to get that neuma that passed by here..."

"What?! Are you nuts?! That thing nearly killed me!"

"If it weren't for your hardsuit, you'd already be dead. And it's going to kill a lot of other people too unless you stop it. The AD Police can't handle a military neuma... let's go.

"I am NOT going after that thing!" Usagi cried stepping away from Luna crashing into... no... THROUGH... a wall.

"Look," Luna said, a mixture of impatience and anger on her feline face, "You are wearing a suit of powered combat armor. You have enough weapons on board to level a city block and enough protection to take everything a tank battalion can throw at you! You've got nothing to worry about!"

"I... I did... crash through that wall... it... it didn't hurt..."

"Precisely. Shall we go?"

"Only if you're sure I can handle it in this thing..."

"Absolutely certain." The cat replied. Admittedly she was mentally crossing fingers she didn't have... there wasn't time to teach Usagi anything.

This was simply a very weird dream Usagi told herself... either the last hallucinations of the dying... or bad pizza from last night... one way or another, this couldn't possibly be real. She had best play along and perhaps gain some measure of control over things... "How do we catch up with it?" Usagi asked finally as she got to her feet.

"We fly." Luna replied with a very feline smirk.

"... repeat, subject has doubled back on 59th and is now heading northwards..."

"That's behind us!" Darien spun the wheel, eliciting a shriek of protest from the Bentley as he forced the car to do a 180. Fortunately the police had already rerouted most of the traffic around the area, otherwise a collision would've been more than likely.

"It must've jumped onto a building and waited til we passed it..." Satre muttered.

"It's a combat model, I'm not surprised." Darien muttered back, "where the hell are the other units?!"

"It blockaded most of the other roads by blasting a couple of our cars."

"What about choppers?"

"It already shot down three... the other choppers have orders to steer clear."

"Dammit. No support whatsoever. I guess we do this alone."

"Darian... I just want you to know..." Mason started to say.

"What..?" the black haired man asked impatiently.

"If I buy it and you survive, you get my Playgirl collection."

"What the hell am I supposed to do with that?!" Chiba sputtered.

Mason laughed, "I don't know, but it'll keep your mind off of our impending doom."

"You don't have to be so cheerful about it."

"Why not?"

"Gotcha! There it is!"

They saw it running down the road away from them... they were closing and the neuma did not appear to have noticed them.

Mason reached behind him for the shotgun. This was like hunting an elephant with a fly swatter, but it was the best they had.

"What in the world is tha--?!"

From down the street a white blur, a woman's figure, winged, flying and screeching like a banshee rammed head on into the running neuma. Darien slammed the breaks, fighting to stop the car as it careened into the two.

Usagi screamed, it was a combination of exultation and fear as she flew down the street. Onboard systems corrected her flight, kept her level... she barely had to think about going in a direction and the armor would respond, like an extension of her own body. The radio yammered at her and kept telling her that the neuma was just up ahead and heading her way.

Luna was screaming as well. Yowled more accurately. She was mostly hanging on to the armor's back for dear life. "Usagi! Slow down!"

Usagi's response was a series of vowels screamed with a great deal of emotion as she rammed head long into the neuma.

It staggered back, it's arm grappling with the armored woman. She was mostly just stunned by the impact. Not hurt, just surprised... it was enough. Her wings unlocked and folded into her back once again as the neuma managed to lock an arm around her waist and begin to squeeze. Luna, quickly managed to jump off before she too could get caught.

"Luna!" Usagi cried out desperately as her readouts scrolled past her eyes... she didn't understand all of them, but she was getting the general impression that the stress levels at her waist were unacceptably high... "I thought you said I could handle this!"

In her panic, Usagi slammed an arm across the neuma's jaw. It's head snapped back, with a sick cracking noise as it slumped slightly. There was a brief moment of calm until Usagi realized that its grip hadn't slackened at all, but had tightened even more... it's head lolled uselessly, turning to face her... it's metallic leer, smacking dully against her faceplate. This close she couldn't help but hear the loud chittering sound it was making... which could only be described in the most generous of terms as laughter...

She screamed again, "Help!!!"

The rest of the cry was cut off as the Bentley crashed into the two of them. Both Usagi and the neuma were thrown clear, the car suffering the worst of the damage.

The neuma realizing that it was outnumbered turned it's gun arm on the car, its tenuously connected head bouncing across it's chest and shoulders... Zowie was a little faster than it was, managing to unload a shotgun round into its chest before it could shoot. It staggered back a step, chest caved in from the solid slug but took aim again. The bullets tore through the engine block with contemptous ease.

"Aw, cripes not my car!" Darien managed to shout as he jumped clear. Mason wasn't quite so lucky, a stray shot catching him in the leg, nearly blowing it off. With an odd sense of relief, Mason quickly passed out from the pain.

The neuma turned its attention back on the one in white...

Usagi screamed at Luna, "What do I do?!"

"There's no time to teach you to use the targeting system. Use your cannons!"

"What cannons?! Hurry up! That cop is hurt bad!"

"Say 'Pulse'!"

"Pulse!" Usagi cried out pointing her arms at the neuma, uncertain of what else to do.

There was a sudden sound like screaming that pitched itself higher and higher and higher... Darien covered his ears with his hands trying desperately to block out the sound which felt like an icepick being driven into his brain... around them, every window on the street cracked... then shattered, raining glass down. The neuma wasn't fairing any better... it staggered again... this time it fell back, the lenses which were it's eyes shattering into uselessness... it's body hammered by the sound.

Darien watched helplessly... his head still reeling from the vibration. He could barely think much less move... Whatever it was the woman in the armor was doing, she looked like she was winning.

"Yes!" Usagi cheered, "Take that you junk heap reject! This is so cool!"

"It's not over yet! It's still active!" Luna called out from the relative safety of a lamppost.

It struggled to its feet, firing wildly, shots crashing around Usagi and narrowly missing the two police officers... Usagi gave a disheartened cry as she ducked behind a trashcan. The creature continued to stagger about, it's head flopping uselessly, it's eyes gone... it's hearing shorted out... but it would heal... it knew it would... and when it did... someone was going to pay...

"How do I stop it?! How?!" Usagi whined, "Don't I have lasers or stuff like that? Even a sword or something?"

Luna counted to herself... she'd been in close enough proximity to the neuma for long enough for it to work... she shouted back to Usagi, "Call out 'Moon saber'!"

"A-a-alright..." Usagi said straightening up tentatively, "Moon..!" she began. Almost of its own accord, her right arm straightened itself locking and aiming at the neuma, there was a blossom of light appearing in her empty palm, a ball of energy... "...Saber!" she screamed completing the phrase... the blossom of light became a beam, a foot across, streaking towards the neuma. In it's confused, senseless state, it could do nothing to avoid the beam... it gave a final series of loud chittering cries as it's body began to break down... the scent of metal and meat burning and melting... it's skin charring into a gray powdery ash. The beam faded within a few seconds and the statue of ash that was once the neuma crumbled into a gray heap with little ceremony.

"That is so cool!" Usagi muttered to herself looking very impressed at her right arm. She looked up to the cat, "Luna, if I could've done that, why didn't you just tell me I could've blasted it like that right off?"

"Your armor needs to analyze its opponent first before it will work..."

"Oh."

"Let's get out of here. We can't afford for you to be seen."

"But what about those policemen?"

"They'll be fine... there's more units headed this way."

"Alright..." Usagi agreed as she lifted into the air... pausing only to pick up the cat. This was some sort of weird dream she told herself again... I'm almost going to feel sorry for when I wake up...

On the street Darien had finally managed to get to his feet. He watched the figure fly into the air a streak of white against the dark clouds... his ears were still ringing, "Did she say... Saber... Moon?" he muttered to himself, "This is going to look really weird on my report..."

With difficulty... he staggered to where his partner had collapsed...

"...and in other news today, a military neuma malfunctioned during a test at the New Moon Enterprises building. Reports indicate that there were no civilian casualties, but the property damage is rumored to be in the neighborhood of 500,000 Newyen... sources within the AD police claim that they received assistance in stopping the neuma, but no one is owning up to what form this assistance took precisely..."

Usagi blinked her eyes open slowly... she was in bed... at home... under the sheets... she could dimly hear the TV news yammering on in the living room... she slumped back in bed... it WAS nothing more than a funny dream. That would teach her to eat pizza more than three weeks in the fridge... she chuckled.

Her eyes narrowed slightly as she realized something... she lifted up her sheet and looked down... she was naked... she also knew she always made it a point to turn the TV off before she went to bed... that meant someone else was in here... her eyes widened, she couldn't possibly have taken someone home... could she? Did Naru take her drinking again?

The black cat with the crescent moon insignia stepped through the door and looked at her, "Oh good you're awake. There's a lot I still have to tell you."

Usagi recoiled wrapping the sheet tighter around herself... it wasn't a dream after all... "What more do you want?!"

"We still have to find the other Knight Sabers, Usagi... you'll have to help me."

End Operation 1
Saber Moon Activation

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