"Choices: 
                             Naru Osaka"

                                  a 
                           crossover story 
                              involving

                  _The Adventures of Zaxxon Hunter_
                                 and
                            _Sailor Moon_

                                 by 
                            Shaule Sachs

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Version 0.1
     Jan 16, 1999

Author's Notes:

     (1)  "Sailor Moon" and characters do not belong to me and are
          used solely for the enjoyment of its fans.

     (2)  Zaxxon Hunter, Highlords of Atlantis, and Primes are the
          original material created by Shaule Sachs. 
          Please do NOT use without permission or acknowledgment.

     (3)  Conventions that shall be used....
          Words that are italic will be between // //. 
          Words that are bold will be between * *. 
          Thoughts will be italicized.

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	Once more, Naru Osaka was fleeing for her life. A youma had
appeared not a meter from where she was standing not a moment ago. As
soon as she saw the youma, she began to scream and ran away. The
youma began chasing her.
	"Why me?" Naru asked rhetorically to the world at large.
	She just ran as fast as she could. Not caring where she went,
just so long as it was away from the youma. A few moments later, she
saw the Sailor Senshi. She ran towards them. It was then that she noticed
that they were in a park. She ran passed the Sailor Senshi into the
park's wood, for protection. Not that she didn't think that the Sailor
Senshi couldn't stopped the youma. Okay, technically it wasn't a
'youma' per say, meaning a 'monster' from the Negaverse, since the
Sailor Senshi had stopped them. But Naru called any monster that the
Senshi fought a youma. She wasn't going to stick around to discover
what the 'correct' term was.
	Once 'safely' behind a tree, she asked again, "Why do these
things keep happening to me? Why me?"
	"Why not you?" a male voice asked back.
	"Who?" Naru replied, surprised. She thought that she was alone in
the woods. She saw a gaijin man standing behind her. Although, she
couldn't decided if in fact he was a foreigner. She thought he looked
old since his hair was white, but he had a 'young-looking' face, and
his hair was naturally white, not gray of old age. She was struck by
his brownish eyes...  that had that look some people had, whose that
had seen too much. The man was tall. She estimated his height maybe a
little less than two meters tall. He looked very fit, able to deal
within anything that could happen -- be it something needing to be
carried, something to be fixed, or a youma attack.
	The man looked embarrassed for a moment, then said in perfect
Japanese, "How rude of me. I should introduce myself... I have many
names.... But, you can call me, Zaxxon, if you wish."
	He seeing that Naru was slightly embarrassed that he was being
informal by giving his first name only, he added, "Sorry, I don't have
a 'family' name..."
	With slight reluctance Naru replied, "Good afternoon,
Zaxxon-san....  I'm Osaka Naru."
	"And a good afternoon to you too, Miss Osaka," Zaxxon returned.
	There was a loud explosion causing Naru to turn around and viewed
the battle. The youma was using a large sword that Naru didn't notice
before. Using the sword, the youma was able to block the Senshi's
attacks and was holding its own against them. 
	Zaxxon sighed and stated, "It's sad. After everything that they've
been through, that they're not going to survive this battle..."
	"Nani?" Naru exclaimed. "The Sailor Senshi always win..."
	"Not this time, I'm afraid," Zaxxon replied in a sad voice.
	"Why?" she asked.
	Zaxxon pointed towards the battle field. The Sailor Senshi were
losing... Sailors Mercury and Saturn laid motionless on the ground to
the left and a way from the youma. Sailors Mars, Jupiter, and Uranus
were a bloody mess with various cuts all over their bodies. Sailors
Venus and Pluto, barely able to stand, stood defiantly between the
youma and a crying Sailor Moon, who was sitting in the dirt with a
still Tuxedo Kamen in her arms. Sailor Neptune laid by the youma's
feet, as she tried to get up, the youma stabbed her with its sword.
Uranus screamed and charged wildly at the youma. Only to be cut down
with the same sword that stabbed her lover. 

	Naru could only stare as the Senshi fell one by one. She turned
to Zaxxon and said, "*You* have to do *something*?"
	With a sad smile, he replied, "Sure... *I* can *destroy* the
monster attacking the Sailor Senshi quite easily..."
	"Then do so!" Naru screamed.
	"But," Zaxxon began, "In doing so, I will also destroy the entire
Universe as well..."
	"Nani!?!?!" exclaimed Naru. She took a few steps away from him.
	Zaxxon shrugged and said, "Such is my power... my nature... Now,
you see my problem?"
	"But," Naru said over and over again.
	Naru noticed a flash came from the battle field. She turned as
saw the Senshi still fighting the youma. But she noticed that instead
of Sailors Venus and Pluto protecting a sitting Sailor Moon with
Tuxedo Kamen in her arms, Tuxedo Kamen was holding a pale Sailor Moon
in his arms, with Sailors Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto leading guard.
Sailors Mars, Mercury, Saturn, and Uranus were obvious down and out.
	In surprise, Naru whispered, "Huh?"
	"Sailor Pluto used her powers to go back in Time and warned the
Senshi's of their fate," Zaxxon replied sadly. "As you see, even
forewarned, the Sailor Senshi are still faring poorly."
	There was a series of flashes.
	Zaxxon explained, "Each flash you, Naru, see represents Sailor
Pluto's jumping backwards in Time.. Each time, Sailor Pluto goes back
in Time, she changes something different, in a vain attempt to change
the outcome of this battle..."
	Naru saw more flashes.
	Between flashes, she saw the Sailor Senshi "changed" between
flashes. Sailor Venus's "uniform" changed from her usual outfit, to
something similar to Jupiter's, then to something like Mars, and
then back to her usual outfit. Sailor Mars's hair went from black, to
blonde, to red, and back to black. Sailor Jupiter went from tall, to
short, to fat, and back to tall. Sailor Mercury went from a blue-haired
girl, to a black-hair guy, to a bandana-wearing martial artist, and
back to a blue-haired girl. It became obvious to Naru that Sailor Pluto
even tried using different people as the Senshi. But, equally obvious
was the fact that it didn't make a difference.
	Then there was a huge flash that lasted longer than the others.
Naru could see there were more people on the battle field beside the
nine Sailor Senshi and Tuxedo Kamen fighting and more on the ground.
There was a good-looking boy wearing a red Chinese silk outfit
striking out at the youma with his hands and feet like some martial
artist out of myth. There was another good-looking boy wearing a white
robe with a sword whose blade seemed to be made out of light with
wings, also made out of light, coming out of his back. The two boys
seemed to be the only ones holding their own against the youma until
the youma's eyes narrowed and grabbed Sailor Pluto.
	There was another flash and Naru screamed.


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	There was nothing.
	Literal nothing. 
	The lack of anything.
	No matter which direction Naru looked... 
	There was nothing.
	No trees.
	No sky.
	No clouds.
	No ground.
	Nothing.
	Except herself.
	Herself standing... floating... in a void.
	A void of nothingness.
	Naru knew she should feel something... sorrow, anger, fear...
	But, she felt calm.
	In a monotone voice, she asked, "What happened? Why aren't I dead
too?"
	A sigh seemed to surround her. From all around her, she heard
Zaxxon say, "I destroyed your Universe..."
	"Nani?" Naru stated in a flat voice. "Where are you?"
	To her right, at least, she thought of it as her right, Zaxxon
appeared and said, "You really need a focal point to deal with things,
don't you..."
	Zaxxon sighed again and muttered to himself, "Humans..."
	Out loud, Zaxxon said, "Did you wonder why the Senshi had so much
trouble with that youma?"
	"Well..." Naru began and then shrugged.
	"That youma was intelligent," Zaxxon stated. "It studied the
Senshi since their first appearance...  Letting others test the
Senshi... Noting their strengths and weaknesses... Learning their
abilities... How they worked and how they fought.
	"It used that information against the Senshi. Not only that, but
the youma could duplicate the Senshi's powers. So basically, the
Senshi were fighting themselves... an evil version of themselves all
rolled up into a single being.
	"Sailor Pluto finally realized this... So she did the only thing
she could... she got *outside* help."
	"'Outside help?'" Naru questioned.
	"As in outside your Universe," Zaxxon replied. "And the Senshi
and those others might have defeated the youma until the youma
started to duplicate the others' powers and realized that there is
more to the Cosmos than just your Universe...
	"After duplicating all those heroes and heroines' powers, that
youma represented a threat to the Multiverse... Maybe even to the
Omniverse..."
	Zaxxon shook his head and said, "That couldn't be... So I
destroyed your Universe, so the Multiverse could live..."
	"But," Naru asked, "Why did you do that in the beginning?"
	A sad smile appeared on Zaxxon's face as he said, "Naru-san, look
around you, above you, and below you. What do you see?"
	After doing so, Naru replied, "Nothing..."
	"Right," Zaxxon said. "Nothing... My powers are such that not
only did I destroy your Universe at that moment, but your Universe no
longer exists."
	"Nani?" Naru asked calmly. She was puzzled. She should be
screaming now, but, she wasn't.
	"Your Universe no longer exists," Zaxxon stated. He shrugged and
said, "From the moment before your Universe existed to the //actual//
end of your Universe... I've wiped it all away. Not a single quark
remains... Not from the 'Big Bang' or from the 'Big Crunch.' You are
all that remains from your Universe."
	"But," Naru was literally out of her depth at this moment.
	"Why did I save you and not the others?" Zaxxon asked the
question that Naru was thinking. "To show you what is at stake... and
a chance to talk..."
	"Talk?" Naru asked surprised.
	"Actually, to propose a deal... to be accurate," Zaxxon stated.
	"Deal? What deal?" Naru replied.
	"As I said, I couldn't for all my power save the Senshi without
destroying the Universe," Zaxxon stated. "But... I can give you the
power do so... To be my foci within your Universe."
	"Huh?" Naru was confused.
	"It's a question of scale," Zaxxon explained. "To me, your
Universe is just one small speck... One of literally an infinite
number of Universes that make up the Multiverse. The all the related
Multiverse, together, make up the various Omniverses, from which the
Cosmos is made up of."
	"Huh?" Naru was even greater confused now.
	"Let's just say, the Cosmos is a very big place, where someplace,
somehow, anything is possible," Zaxxon stated.
	Feeling small, Naru just replied, "Okay."

	All of a sudden, Naru found herself back where she was. She saw
herself run passed the Sailor Senshi. Her other-self was heading right
at her. 
	Then everything, the Sailor Senshi, the youma, and her
other-self, froze.
	"Here's the deal," Zaxxon stated. "Now, I can't condense my power
to only affect one World, especially a single being on that World. But
I can leave behind a 'drop' of my power... Which someone, such as
yourself, could draw upon over a period of time.
	"While this drop of power can be compared to a single raindrop
to an ocean, in other words, meaningless -- to me. It would make
you one of the most powerful being in your Universe, maybe in your
entire Multiverse, in fact..."
	"Is it enough to save the Sailor Senshi and World?" Naru asked.
That's all that mattered after all.
	"Yes. But, Power requires a price," Zaxxon replied.
	"Price?" Naru inquired. "What price must I pay to save the Sailor
Senshi... my friends... everything?"
	"'They' say 'power corrupts.' But that's not necessarily true,"
Zaxxon explained. "It depends on one's definition of power and some
other factors.... But, Power does change a person...
	"Power, especially what I'm offering to you... While I can't
explain it in your language, in terms you would understand. The least
of the price is that you will different... Set apart from everything,
everyone else... There will be people who will fear you regardless if
desire that fear or not. And of course, the responsibility to use your
power wisely... correctly...
	"In order to save the Sailor Senshi... Are you prepared to live
your life out... alone? To deal with your failures... along with your
successes?"
	In a quiet voice, Naru Osaka made a decision and said, "Yes."
	In an equally quiet voice, the reply came, "So be it."

	"That's it?" Naru asked in surprise as she and her other-self
combined. "I don't feel any different."
	The Universe and Zaxxon sighed.


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	"We're in trouble here," Venus said as she saw Mercury, Saturn,
and Tuxedo Kamen go down. The others were cut up pretty badly. Sailor
Moon ran to Tuxedo Kamen. Venus and Pluto moved to protect the
Princess.
	Sailor Pluto shook her head and kept muttering, "This shouldn't
be happening."
	Uranus looked at Neptune and said, "This is the end, Love... It's
been fun..."
	Then there was a very loud rumbling of thunder and a shout, "By
the North Wind! This shall not be!"
	A brown blur passed the Senshi and struck the youma. The youma
went flying into orbit.
	Where the youma once stood unaffected by the Senshi's powers,
stood a young woman.
	"She's beautiful," Uranus stated in awe. Neptune snorted.
	"Wow," both Jupiter and Venus added.
	The Sailor Senshi looked at their savior. She stood at two
meters, even, and a tan that seemed to cover her entire body. Which
couldn't be said of her outfit, which only covered the essentials.
Even then, the outfit emphasized more than it concealed. Jupiter noted
that the young woman's chest was larger than hers.
	"What the?!?!" exclaimed both Mars and a recovering Mercury as
they noted the young woman's pointy ears and thin body.
	"Oooo... an elf!" Sailor Moon shouted. "She looks just like
'Kitakaze, Elven Warrior Princess,' from 'Kamikaze' manga!"
	Kitakaze looked at Sailor Moon, and exclaimed a very musical
voice, "Usagi! You're Sailor Moon?"
	Kitakaze shook her head as if to clear it and pointed her finger
at Sailor Saturn. A blue flame leaped from her outstretched hand and
engulfed Saturn.
	"Why you!" Mars exclaimed as she advanced towards Kitakaze as she
said, "Mars Flame Sniper!"
	A fire arrow flies from Sailor Mars towards Kitakaze, who sticks
out her hand as if motioning for Mars to stop. The fire arrow
disappears upon contact with Kitakaze. Mars stopped running and blinked
in surprise.
	"I need to finish what I started," Kitakaze stated as she jumped
into the air and flew off.
	"Kitakaze," Sailor Moon called out to stop Kitakaze, but by the
time she finished her name, Kitakaze was out of sight. To herself, she
muttered, "What about Saturn-chan?"
	"What about me?" Sailor Saturn asked, puzzled.
	Upon seeing Saturn restored to health, all the Senshi hugged her.

[=== End ===]

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