Wonder Woman + Sailor Moon - "Under the Eye of Planet X"

Chapter 2

Rei was far from the top student in her class, but she wasn't a slacker, either. She scored average to above in most subjects, always turned in homework on time, and boasted a near-perfect attendance record; which was why it was strange that at eight fifteen on a weekday she was not at school, but at the Hikawa Shrine, where she served as a trainee priestess.

She raced to the temple, kicked away her shoes at the entrance and, still in her school uniform, made her way to the altar.

It was there she found Yuichiro, the scruffy haired apprentice, still lighting incense as part of his own ritual. Rei ignored him and his surprise, and threw herself into prayer.

"Hey, uh, Rei? Shouldn't you be in school?"

The girl did not deign to answer. Time was precious, and a wave of malevolence was mounting the likes of which she'd never felt. If that weren't reason enough to cut class, then what was?

Rei chanted an ancient prayer, and centred her body around the words. Her breathing slowed, as did her thoughts and the beating of her heart. Her chi flowed without obstruction, giving her sight into the world unseen; a sense dismissed as superstition by some, but had served her well for all her days.

Yuichiro knew better than to bother her, or to question her uncanny instinct. Calling Rei out was the fast track to being cursed, or worse, scolded by the girl's grandfather. He knelt beside her, a respectable distance away, and started his own prayer.

It wasn't long before visions of malevolence ran through her. Chaos, darkness, and destruction! Ash and decay consuming all in their reach, looming over the precipice of tomorrow.

Rei's eyes snapped open. "I've got to warn Usagi!"

Usagi, princess of the Moon Kingdom, and the one called Sailor Moon. It was a fact she sometimes forgot under the guise of a crybaby. And yet there was nobody she trusted more to cradle the world. Few hearts were ever so giving. If that didn't inspire loyalty, then nothing would.

"Usagi?" Yuichiro shook himself from a trance. "Your friend with the blond hair who mixes up her proverbs?"

"No, that's Mina," Rei said. "Usagi's the one with dumplings on her head." She smirked. It wasn't her joke, but it was still funny.

She raced into the courtyard and activated her communicator watch.

She signaled Usagi first. No answer. Then a second time. No answer.

Ami, Mina, and Mako were also out of reach.

"Come on..."

Rei fought to collect herself. Evil wouldn't wait until after school. Someone had to warn Sailor Moon!

There was only one place left to turn. Rei scrolled her phone, and paused at the name. She hesitated for a moment, taken by a flash by her former feelings for the boy. Though their romance was a thing of the past, Mamoru Chiba was no less an ally of the Sailor Guardians.

* * * *

Dread weighed on Usagi until she could no longer sit upright. Was it really the influence of Planet X, or the all-too-earthly state of her grades bringing her down? Whatever it was thickened the air.

Of all her subjects, English was her worst - one of the worst. Why did it matter so much, anyway? English was a weird language. The words didn't make sense, and neither did the sentence structure. Then there was that strange alphabet with unpronounceable letters. How was anyone supposed to understand?

Naru browsed over her homework. She seemed to understand just fine. "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog," she said, enunciating every word.