Lunar Painting  -  A Sailor Moon / Castlevania Crossover

By Kane Magus -- aplummer@netmcr.com


Disclaimers:  The Sailor Moon universe and all characters in it was 
              created by Naoko Takeuchi and is copyrighted by Naoko
              Takeuchi, Kodansha, Toei, DiC and probably a lot more.

              The Castlevania universe and all characters in it was
              created by and is copyrighted by the nice folks at 
              Konami.

              Both are being used without permission or consent by this 
              author.  This author hopes they don't mind as this fan 
              fic was written purely for fun.

              And for the sake of this author's ego, which has swelled
              exponentially since he finally finished this blasted 
              thing (^_^), feel free to distribute this fic to anybody 
              and everybody you want.  But please, try not to make any 
              money off of it, because I sure know *I'm* not.


Chapter Two
-----------

"Come on, Usagi!  If you don't hurry up and get ready, you're going 
to be late!"  Luna yelled, struggling to be heard over the muffled 
screams coming from underneath Usagi's shirt.  It didn't help matters 
that Luna was also carrying Usagi's shoes in her mouth.

"Luna!" Usagi screamed as she tried to get the shirt over her head, 
"It's not even a school day!  Why do I have to get up so early on a 
day that I don't have to go to school?"

"Because you promised Mamoru you would go with him to the museum 
today!"  Luna tried to calm Usagi down as best as she could, but that 
was hard to do considering that Luna, too, was in a state of frenzy at 
the moment.  She dropped the shoes at Usagi's feet and leapt up onto 
the bed.  "He called just a few minutes ago and said he would be here 
soon with the others."

Usagi finally managed to get the shirt on correctly, and began to put 
on her shoes.  "Oooh, I didn't know he wanted to go this early in the 
morning!"

"Usagi," Luna said, pointing to an imaginary watch on her wrist, "it's 
10:45.  And I told you last night that he would be here around this 
time."

"I know what time it is!" Usagi said, starting to get worked up again, 
"Like I said, why'd we have to go so early in the morning?"

"Ooh, I give up," Luna sighed.  "You just better be thankful that he
went to get the others first instead of coming to get you.  See, he
even took into account that you'd probably oversleep, but you're
still going to be late after that."

About that time, the doorbell rang.

"Eeek!  It's them!  Luna, um, go stall them or something until I can 
get ready!"  Usagi began to frantically search for her purse.

"It's right there in the corner of the room," said Luna.  "You know.
Where it landed when you threw it at me last night after I told you 
Mamoru would be here about this time."

"I'm so sorry, Luna, I'll never be mean to you again if you'll just 
keep them all busy until I can get finished up here!"

"Yeah, right.  Okay, okay, I'll see what I can do, but I'm not going 
to make any promises."  Luna turned and headed downstairs.

"Usagi's not ready yet," Luna told the waiting group, after making 
sure that neither of Usagi's parents or her little brother were there.

"Hmmph, what else is new?" Rei said as she flopped down on the sofa.

"Well, you know Usagi," said Artemis as Minako, who was carrying him, 
Makoto and Ami also sat on the sofa.  "She and mornings just don't mix 
at all."

Mamoru started up the stairs.  "Don't worry, this won't take long," 
he said.  He disappeared over the top of the stairs.  Then those 
gathered below heard a loud knocking followed by a door opening and 
closing.

About a minute later, he came back down.  He was carrying a screaming 
Usagi over his shoulder.  "Come on, Usagi.  You look just fine," they 
heard him say over Usagi's loud protests.

He sat her down and turned to the rest of them.  "Now everybody's ready 
to go I guess?"

"We've been ready," said Rei.

"I guess I have no choice but to be ready now," said Usagi.  Her voice 
took on a cheerful tone that was obviously faked.  "Well, what are we 
all sitting around here for?  Let's go then."  She went out the door.  
The rest of them just shrugged and followed her.  The two moon cats 
watched as they got into Mamoru's car and then, after the car left, 
they sighed and went back inside.

---

They arrived at the museum about twenty minutes later, Usagi 
complaining and arguing with Rei the whole way.  It was mostly out of 
habit, though.  After talking with Mamoru and the others yesterday, 
even she had become increasingly interested in going to the museum.  
She just couldn't resist needling Rei at every possible opportunity, 
though.  Besides, she knew that deep down, Rei actually enjoyed it as 
much as she did.

Minako pointed and pressed her face to the window.  "Look," she said, 
"There's Seiya, Taiki, and Yaten!"

Makoto looked and said, "Hey, isn't that Haruka and Michiru with them?"

Mamoru found a parking place as close to the museum as he could.  As 
they all climbed out of the car, he noted, "Yeah, it seems they've 
been getting along great since Usagi stopped Galaxia and Chaos.  Seiya 
must have talked them into coming, I guess.  He was as eager to come 
as I was."

"Hey, Meatball Head!" Seiya yelled when he saw them.  Even though he 
was no longer trying to win Usagi over as a girlfriend, he still 
called her that.  He respected Usagi's relationship with Mamoru.  In 
fact, he and Mamoru had grown to be quite close friends.  They had a
lot in common it seemed.

Usagi grimaced but waved back.  When the two groups joined into one, 
Minako playfully said to Yaten, "Hey, so where's the huge mob of girls 
that usually follow you guys around?"

Instead of Yaten, Haruka answered, "Apparently they didn't want to see 
him in his natural habitat."  She was referring to the museum and the 
Vlad Tepes display inside.

"Ha ha very funny, Haruka," said Yaten flatly.  Turning back to Minako, 
he said, "I guess, since we aren't in the public eye as much anymore, 
all of our fans ditched us.  Oh well, as they say, 'That's showbiz'."

Minako winked at him.  "I wouldn't say you've lost *all* your fans.  
Isn't that right, Makoto?"

"Yeah, you still have us," Makoto said, grinning.  To prove their 
point, she and Minako both got Yaten between them and put an arm around 
him.  He began to blush a deep red, but he had a big grin on his face.  
The sight made everyone else crack up too.

"So are you two my, uh, escorts?" Yaten said mischievously.

Haruka put her hand to her mouth and coughed to stop herself from 
saying anything.  Yaten flashed her a dirty look.

"By the way," Ami asked Haruka and Michiru, "where's Hotaru and 
Setsuna?"

"Hotaru wasn't feeling well this morning," said Michiru, "so Setsuna 
decided to stay at home with her.  Hotaru said if she felt better, they 
may try to meet us later." 

Further discussion was halted when a man dressed in a expensive looking 
suit met them at the door of the museum.

"Are you here for the Vlad Tepes display?" he said.  When they nodded, 
he continued, "Wonderful.  My name is... Professor Shaft.  I am the 
caretaker for the exhibit, and the one leading the tour of the exhibit.  
As you can see, we are just about to start today's tour, which you may 
join if you desire."  He gestured toward a relatively large group of 
people standing just inside the entrance.

Mamoru glanced at Usagi and said, "Looks like we just made it in time 
then."

They went over and joined the other people who were going on the tour.

None of them noticed the strange look that Rei was giving Shaft.

---

"And this," Shaft said with an flourish, "is the centerpiece of the 
exhibit.  This is the resting place of the man behind all the 
stories."  He went on to relate various facts and myths about Vlad 
Tepes.

As he talked, Usagi stifled a yawn and thought to herself, "My, he's 
quite the story teller isn't he?"  Her wandering gaze came to rest on 
a large, almost life-like, statue of a figure in a black hooded robe 
that covered up everything but his face and hands.  He carried a long, 
deadly looking scythe.  The most remarkable thing about him was the 
fact that his face and hands were utterly devoid of skin or muscle or 
any kind of flesh.  It was a statue of Death.

"Ugh," she said, "What's that horrible thing doing here?"

Seiya noticed what she was looking at.  "Hmm, well, some myths of 
Dracula say that he was a close friend of the Grim Reaper himself."

"It sure fits in with the rest of the setting," Minako said in a less 
than enthusiastic tone of voice.  "Everything in this whole exhibit has 
been totally creepy."

"Don't worry," said Yaten, "I won't let any werewolves or vampires 
put the bite on you, Minako."

"Other than yourself you mean," Haruka quipped under her breath, just 
loud enough for him to hear.

"Hey, I heard that," Yaten said.

"Well, how would somebody become friends with Death," Makoto asked, 
genuinely curious, "I mean, assuming it was actually possible for Death 
to be alive, how would you go about meeting him and becoming his pal?"  
She afforded the statue another glance.  "Not that I would want to or 
anything."

"In other myths of Vlad Tepes, it was said that he practiced alchemy 
before his death.  Some have even said he practiced necromancy," Mamoru 
said.  "Maybe he used these powers to somehow meet and befriend Death."

Taiki looked bored.  "None of you actually believe all these myths, 
I hope.  As interesting as they may be, that's all they are.  Myths.  
Legends.  Stories.  Vampires don't really exist."

"Are you sure?" said Ami.  "As much as I would like to agree with you, 
there was that girl in Chibi-Usa's class that time..."

As they all discussed the probabilities of the existence of vampires, 
Michiru noticed that Rei had moved somewhat apart from the rest of 
them.  She also noticed that her eyes were glazed over, and she had a 
'lost-in-thought' expression on her face.  Michiru moved to stand 
beside Rei and said, "You've been awfully quiet today.  Is everything 
all right?  Rei?"

Rei blinked and looked up at Michiru as if she'd just noticed her 
standing there.  "Huh?  Uh, no, I'm all right.  It's just that ever 
since I've entered this building and met that man, Shaft, I've had 
this lingering feeling of darkness."

"Hmm," Michiru said, thoughtful, "do you think he's hiding something?"
She had brought forth her mirror while asking this.

Before Rei could answer, they heard Shaft address the tour, "Um, excuse 
me for a moment, would you please?  I've... just been informed of an 
emergency elsewhere in the museum that must be taken care of 
immediately.  I will return shortly."  With that, he left the group, 
heading toward the front entrance of the museum.

Michiru turned back to Rei.  "I don't know," Rei said in reply to 
Michiru's question, "I can't pinpoint anything, but there's definitely 
something not right about this whole place... that Shaft guy included."
Michiru looked into the mirror for a moment.  When she looked back up
at Rei, she nodded.  She had a grim expression on her face.

The rest of the group had noticed Michiru and Rei standing off to the 
side and came over to them.  Usagi, her voice filled with concern, 
said, "Rei, are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine, Usagi" Rei said.  "I just have a bad feeling about..."  
Suddenly, she clutched her hands to the sides of her head and dropped 
to her knees, moaning.

"Sudden... overwhelming evil..." was all they could make out.  Michiru
was staring intently into her mirror.

They dropped to her side.  Usagi put her arms around Rei's shoulders 
and tried to steady her.  She looked back up at the others and said, 
"Come on, we have to get her out of here!"

Just then, the lights dimmed, and all openings to the outside, 
including doors and windows, were mysteriously covered.

"What's going on here," Mamoru said as he kneeled down next to Usagi.

"Why I'll be glad to tell you," said a new, unearthly voice.  Everyone 
looked around to find the source.  What they saw shocked, and 
terrified, them.

The figure of Death that they had thought was just a statue was 
floating over the coffin of Vlad Tepes.  The bright unholy light in his 
eyes was the only illumination in the room.

"You are about to witness the end of your world as you know it," he 
said.  The coffin of Dracula began to glow brightly.  A fine mist began 
to seep through the seams of the coffin.  A low pitched rumble began 
to rock the building to its foundation.  As would be expected under 
the circumstances, all hell broke loose.  People began trying to find 
a way through the doors that seemed normal but just would not open for 
some reason.

Usagi looked at her friends as she rose to her feet.  "I may not 
understand what is going on here, but I know an enemy when I see one.  
Come on, guys!  Let's show this skeleton what we do to people who try 
to end the world!  MOON ETERNAL..."

"MERCURY CRYSTAL POWER..."

"JUPITER CRYSTAL POWER..."

"VENUS CRYSTAL POWER..."

"URANUS PLANET POWER..."

"NEPTUNE PLANET POWER..."

"FIGHTER STAR POWER..."

"MAKER STAR POWER..."

"HEALER STAR POWER..."

"MAKE UP!!!"

Under the cover of the darkness of the room, the senshi and Tuxedo 
Kamen transformed.  The darkness masked it from the eyes of the other 
people in the museum, who more than likely wouldn't have cared at the 
moment anyway.  They were too busy trying to force the doors open and 
fighting with each other to notice.

However not all of them had transformed.  Rei was still laying on the 
floor with her hands clutching her temples.  "Nooo..." she moaned, 
"don't attack... too much power... have to... get out of here... 
now..."

Death looked at them with interest.  "Hmm, most unexpected."

Sailor Uranus looked at Death with fury in her eyes.  "I don't know 
who you think you are, and frankly I don't care!  We've dealt with 
everyone else that has tried to bring ruin to the world, and we'll 
deal with you too!  WORLD SHAKING!!!"

The attack hit Death head on, and the brightness of it in the dark 
room blinded them momentarily.  When they could see again, they saw 
Death still floating there.  Now, however, he was surrounded by a dozen 
or more floating, spinning sickles.

"Impressive.  Worthless, but impressive.  I do not have time to play 
with you now, though.  I must prepare this place for the arrival of 
my..."  he looked thoughtful for a moment, "...pal, I think that was 
the word used."

Two of the sickles flew at Uranus at lightning speed.  She tried to 
dodge, but one of them hit her in the arm, the other in her side.  Both 
left deep, ugly wounds.  Uranus hit the ground hard.  To the shock of 
the other senshi, she didn't move after that.

Sailor Mercury and Sailor Neptune ran to her side.  Mercury checked 
for a pulse.  "She's still alive, just unconscious.  I think we should 
listen to Rei and get out of here."

Further conversation was interrupted when the wall next to them 
suddenly exploded inward.  Through the hole that was formed walked 
Sailor Pluto and Sailor Saturn.

Not wasting a second, Sailor Moon yelled to the cowering people, 
"Everyone, get out of here now!"  She turned to the rest of the senshi.  
"We have to protect them while they escape, but we also have to get 
Rei and Haruka out of here too!"

Tuxedo Kamen picked up the still moaning Rei and said, "I've got her!"

Sailor Star Healer and Sailor Neptune managed to get Uranus up between 
them.  "Let's get her out of here!" Star Healer yelled as they headed 
for the hole in the wall.

Suddenly, they noticed that Death was no longer alone.  Shaft had 
appeared at Death's side.  His suit had been discarded in favor of 
a purple hooded cloak.

While trying to usher the hysterical crowd out of the building, Sailor 
Moon overheard their ensuing conversation.

Death said, "Did you kill the descendant of Sypha?"

Shaft looked down and said, "I wasn't able to finish her because the 
master's son got in the way."

Death looked at Shaft for a moment, then said, "Alucard is already 
here then.  I sense that the Belmonts are on the move as well, but 
I have already dispatched servants to handle them.  I have no time to 
waste here, however.  Kill these fools as you see fit.  I must attend 
to Dracula."  With that, Death moved back to the coffin.  He erected 
some sort of black energy field around the coffin and himself that 
shielded both from view.

"Let's go, guys," Sailor Moon yelled to the others that had stayed 
behind with her.  She and the others brought up the rear of the group 
that fled through the hole in the wall. 

Shaft looked at the fleeing people and noticed the senshi.  "Hmm, seems 
I'll have some fun today, after all."  He began to float toward the 
hole that led outside as well.  The orbs circled around him furiously.

Meanwhile, the senshi had finally gotten everyone out of the museum.  
Sailor Star Healer and Sailor Mercury laid Uranus on a bench a little 
ways away from the museum.

Rei, still in Tuxedo Kamen's arms, seemed to be feeling better since 
leaving the confines of the dark museum.  "You know, as much as I'd 
like to stay in your arms, you can put me down now," she dryly said to 
a distracted Tuxedo Kamen, "I feel better."  When he did so, she also 
transformed.  "MARS CRYSTAL POWER MAKE UP!!!"  Again, no one noticed 
nor cared because they were too busy looking up at dark black clouds 
that had completely overcast the sky.

"Look up there!" one of the people in the crowd shouted as the police 
arrived to escort them away from the area.

With a deafening roar, a patch of air above the museum began to waver 
and crackle.  Slowly, a black mass appeared and began to materialize 
into the shape of a castle.  The castle was floating above the museum 
but began to slowly lower itself toward the museum. 

It was then that Shaft emerged from the hole in the museum wall.  
"Behold!" he yelled, making himself heard above the roar, "the 
emergence of Castlevania!  Soon this world will belong to my..."

"I don't think so!" yelled Sailor Moon in reply, "I hate having to 
fight like this all of the time, but if it means keeping the world 
safe from creeps like you, then I'll do it!  For love and justice, I 
am the pretty soldier Sailor Moon!  In the name of the moon, I will 
punish you!"

Shaft looked down at them from his vantage point, annoyed at having 
his own speech cut off by another.  "Let me see if I have this right," 
he said, "a bunch of kids in sailor suits and black leather and a guy 
in a tuxedo think that they have the power to defeat the great Shaft, 
head priest of the cult of Dracula?"

Sailor Mars, recovered fully, said, "I'll show you what power we 
have!"  She pulled out one of her ofuda and yelled, "Akuryou, Taisan!"  
She threw the ofuda at Shaft.  He reached out and caught it as it 
neared him.

"What sort of nonsense is..."  Shaft said as he examined the piece of 
paper.  Suddenly he froze in place.  "What is this!  I can't move!"

Sailor Mars then yelled, "MARS FLAME SNIPER!"  A bow and fiery arrow 
appeared in her hands.  She shot the arrow at Shaft, which missed all 
of his orbs that attempted to stop it and struck home.  Shaft lurched 
backwards and fell to the ground.  Unfortunately, the fire also burned 
up the ofuda he held in his hand.

"Such power," Shaft said as he looked at the senshi.  "Okay, now you've 
really annoyed me.  Werewolf!  Minotaur!  Gaibon!  Slogra!  I summon 
you forth to put an end to these fools that dared to strike me!"

Four points of light appeared high in the sky near the top of the 
castle.  Then they dropped down to Shaft's side and formed into 
monsters.

One of the lights formed into a blue humanoid wolf with a fiery red 
mane.  Another formed into a humanoid bull carrying a rather large axe.  
The third morphed into a large blue winged demon.  The last one changed 
into a humanoid creature with a skeletal body and a long beak-like 
head.  In this creature's hands was a large trident.

"Minions of darkness!  ATTACK!!"  Shaft shouted as he resumed his place 
floating high above them.

As the monsters began to advance on them, the senshi took up positions 
protecting Uranus.

The werewolf leapt with astounding agility at the closest target he 
saw.  Unfortunately for him, it happened to be Sailor Jupiter.  She 
grabbed the werewolf by the mane and, using its own momentum, slung 
it into a nearby wall.  As the werewolf lay stunned on the ground, 
Jupiter suddenly noticed a sharp pain in her arm.  She looked down 
and saw that the monster had left a deep gash in her arm.

"Jupiter, are you okay?" yelled Sailor Neptune, who was the closest 
to her.

"I'm all right," said Jupiter, shrugging off the blow, "it's just a 
scratch is all.  But let's finish this guy off before he can get back 
into it.  JUPITER OAK EVOLUTION!!"

"DEEP SUBMERGE!!" yelled Neptune.

"I'll help too," called Sailor Venus, "VENUS LOVE AND BEAUTY SHOCK!!"

The combination of charged leaves, tidal force waves, and glowing 
hearts were enough to finish the werewolf.  It howled in pain before 
melting into a glowing orb.  The orb flew up to join the others flying 
around Shaft.

The remaining three monsters approached more cautiously.  Apparently, 
the minotaur saw the three senshi as a good target himself.  He lowered 
his horned head and charged at them.

Neptune and Jupiter were able to move in time, but Venus wasn't as 
lucky.  The horns missed her but the sheer force of the attack sent 
her flying through the air.  Neptune and Jupiter rushed to her side 
to make sure she was all right.

"Hey, horn head!  Over here!" Tuxedo Kamen yelled.  He threw a barrage 
of roses at the minotaur.  Although all of them struck, they only 
served to anger the bull.  He turned and rushed at Tuxedo Kamen, 
meaning to trample him into the ground.  With a flourish of his cape, 
Tuxedo Kamen deftly leapt over the minotaur and out of the way.

The minotaur looked around and seeing Sailor Mercury as the next 
closest target, brought his axe down.  She dodged it easily, however, 
and the axe became lodged in the concrete sidewalk.  The beast 
struggled to dislodge his weapon.

"MERCURY AQUA RHAPSODY!!" yelled Sailor Mercury.  The attack hit the 
minotaur and washed him back into the other two oncoming monsters.  
They threw him off and back toward Mercury.

"I've got him!!" yelled Sailor Moon.  "SILVER MOON CRYSTAL POWER 
KISS!!"

The minotaur survived the attack for all of maybe one second before 
melting down into a pulsating orb.  It too joined the others around 
Shaft.

Gaibon and Slogra were the last two remaining monsters.  They looked 
at each other and, in unspoken agreement, attacked together.  Gaibon 
took to the air and picked Slogra up with his clawed feet.  He flew 
directly over the senshi and dropped Slogra.

Slogra, aiming his trident straight down, fell swiftly toward the 
senshi, Sailor Saturn in particular.

"SILENCE WALL!!" yelled Saturn as Slogra continued to fall toward her.  
Slogra hit the field that appeared in his path and bounced to the 
ground.  He roared in anger, pointed his trident at her and fired a 
series of fireballs from it.  All of them were absorbed by the shield.

Giving up on attacking Saturn, Slogra turned to Pluto who was nearby.  
He lowered his pointed beak, extended his trident at her, and began to 
rush her in a sudden burst of speed.

Pluto merely stood her ground as the creature approached her.  She 
whispered, "Dead Scream."  The power of the purple surge of energy 
slammed into the Slogra, knocking him from his feet.

Turning his back on Sailor Saturn turned out to be the Slogra's 
undoing.  As he got to his feet, he was still stunned.  Saturn simply 
walked up behind him and impaled him through the back with the Silence 
Glaive.  While the Glaive was inside of Slogra she sent a surge of 
energy into him.  The Slogra shrieked in agony, then he too melted down 
into another orb for Shaft.

Meanwhile, Gaibon was flying around, nimbly dodging roses that Tuxedo 
Kamen was throwing at him.  He opened his mouth and returned fire with 
a rapid stream of fireballs.  Tuxedo Kamen was hard pressed to dodge 
them or block them all with his cane.  One of them got through and 
knocked him to the ground.

The Sailor Star Lights appeared at Tuxedo Kamen's side and helped him 
to his feet.  "Let's show this thing what we're made of," said Sailor 
Star Fighter as they prepared to attack.  

"STAR SERIOUS LASER!!"

"STAR GENTLE UTERUS!!"

"STAR SENSITIVE INFERNO!!"

The three attacks, as well as several more roses from Tuxedo Kamen, 
found their mark.  The Gaibon was knocked to the ground.  He climbed 
to his feet and, with a howl of rage, began to change.  His color 
changed from blue to red.  He leapt back into the air and sent a solid 
stream of fire at Tuxedo Kamen and the Star Lights.

"I think all we did was piss it off," said Star Maker as they dodged 
the intense flames.

The Gaibon flew high into the air, only to drop to the ground seconds
later with such force that it caused a small earthquake.  As the senshi 
fell to the ground from the force of the quake, debris from a nearby 
building began to fall upon them.

"Earthquake, huh?" said Sailor Saturn.  She got to her feet using the 
Glaive for support.  She looked at the Gaibon for a moment, who was 
still on the ground, and yelled "SILENCE GLAIVE SURPRISE!!"  She 
dropped the end of the Glaive on the ground causing a wave of energy to 
fly from it with extreme force.  It all converged on the Gaibon, 
leaving destruction in its wake.  He tried to dodge but had nowhere to 
dodge.  Needless to say, he became yet another orb in Shaft's 
collection.

Shaft continued to float there watching the battle.  When all four of 
his monsters were defeated, he looked at the senshi.  All of them, 
including Venus who by then was back on her feet, showed no sign of 
being hurt too badly.  Even Uranus was awake and staring at Shaft 
defiantly.

"So you have some semblance of power after all.  You still have me to 
deal with, however."

"No, Shaft, it is you who must deal with *me*," said a deep voice 
from above the senshi and Shaft.

They all looked toward the source of the voice.  On the roof of one 
of the nearby buildings stood three beings.  One was a noble looking 
man wearing armor, and holding a sword and a shield.  To his left was 
a woman in a white hooded robe and carrying a wooden staff.  To his 
right was a man that looked somewhat like a pirate.  He had on ragged 
looking pants, and a bandanna wrapped around his head, but was wearing 
neither shirt nor shoes.  This man was absently tossing a dagger up 
and down.

Shaft looked from one to the other with apparent disinterest.  "Hmm, 
maybe now we can have round three Alucard.  I see you've brought that 
worthless Belnades girl.  And, pray tell, is that actually Grant 
DaNasty I see up there?  I thought the master took care of him long 
ago."
The pirate mumbled, "Heh, you should be so lucky."

"Luck has nothing to do with it, I'm afraid," Shaft said.  He had 
several dozen orbs floating around him by this time and all of them 
began to move at a increased pace.  "I suppose it is left to me to get 
rid of you all."

While watching this new development, Sailor Moon whispered to Tuxedo 
Kamen, "Alucard?  He's one of the people Shaft and that Grim Reaper guy 
were talking about awhile ago.  They said he was the son of Dracula...  
does that means he's also an enemy?"

"I don't know," replied Tuxedo Kamen, "but from what I see going on 
here I don't think so."

The one called Grant snorted at Shaft derisively, "You couldn't even 
beat Richter or Alucard when they were by themselves.  How do you 
possibly think you stand a chance against all of us together?  Seems 
to me like you and old Vlad bit off more than you could chew attacking
this place, what with those guys down there just making short work of
your four monsters."

"So they defeated them," Shaft replied.  "That means nothing to me.  
There's plenty more that are much stronger than those four... not 
that I will need any help to defeat you.  Enough chit chat!  Prepare 
to die, all of you!"

The orbs began to fly in all directions toward both the senshi and the 
three newcomers.  

"Heads up, guys!" yelled Sailor Star Fighter as she leapt over a flash 
of electricity that was arcing between two of the orbs headed for her.

Alucard, Kara, and Grant began to move.  Kara levitated and began to 
float to ground level.  Grant leapt from the roof and bounced from 
building to building until he reached the ground.  Alucard merely 
jumped and, after free-falling several stories, landed on his feet in 
front of Shaft.

"Shaft, you bastard, I will make you pay for what you've done," Alucard 
said as he brandished his sword and shield threateningly.

"I really don't think so, Alucard.  You see, when I last faced you, I 
was under strict orders from the master not to kill you in hopes that 
he could bring you back to him.  Now, however, I am under no such 
edict.  Oh, and do say hello to Maria for me when you meet her shortly 
in the hereafter.  Yahahahaha!!!" Shaft sent four of the orbs hurtling 
at Alucard, fire shooting from two of them and lightning arcing between 
the other two.

Alucard disappeared in a column of light.  The column of light then 
moved swiftly behind Shaft.  Alucard reappeared with his sword hand 
holding his cape open.  Two large, perfectly spherical, black and red 
balls of lava flew from his cape toward Shaft.

At the same moment, Grant leapt directly over top of Shaft.  He let fly 
with three daggers.  Kara sent shards of ice at the dark priest.  

Sailor Moon noticed their simultaneous attack and said, "I think that's 
our cue.  Okay, guys, let's hit him with everything we've got!!"

The senshi each cut loose with their most powerful attacks at Shaft.  
When the activity died down, all that was left of Shaft was a broken 
body lying moaning on the ground.

Alucard walked up to Shaft.  He looked down at him and said, "Now, I 
shall have my revenge for what you have done to my family."  Before 
anyone could stop him, or even say anything, Alucard plunged the sword 
deep into Shaft's chest.  He left the sword there for several seconds 
before pulling it out and sheathing it.  He then turned to face the 
shocked sailor senshi, ignoring the dead body of Shaft.

"It was unfortunate that you had to see that," he said.  "But what is 
done is done.  My name is Alucard.  When you overheard Shaft and Death, 
you heard correctly.  I am indeed the son of Dracula.  It is not, 
however, a relationship I am proud of.  Let me introduce you to my 
companions.  This is Kara Belnades."  He motioned to the woman in the 
cloak, who nodded.  "And this is Grant... DaNasty."  He apparently had 
trouble saying the last name.

"DaNasty?" said Sailor Moon.

Grant smiled and said, "Well, actually, my name is... was Danesti.  
However, when Dracula killed me and left me in this cursed form, I felt 
that name was more... um... appropriate?  It's something of a bitter 
inside joke.  That is what I go by now."

After Sailor Moon got over the surprise of talking with a man who 
claimed to be dead, she went on to introduce herself and her 
companions.  After that was over and done with, she looked at Alucard 
intently.  "Okay, now that we are all acquainted with one another, 
could you please explain to all of us just what in the world is going 
on here?"

Alucard said, "That is a long story I'm afraid.  But there's time for 
that later.  Your friend is injured."  He motioned to Sailor Uranus 
who, though no longer unconscious, was still lying on the bench while 
Mercury looked at her wounds.  

"Is there somewhere nearby that we can go to talk and get your friend 
treated?" Kara asked.

Mars nodded and said, "The shrine where I live is not too far from 
here."

Sailor Moon went to Tuxedo Kamen's side and said ruefully, "I guess
this means we're not going to the movies today after all, huh?"

Tuxedo Kamen smiled and shook his head as they gathered up Uranus and 
went to Hikawa Shrine.

---

"Most interesting.  It appears we have more than simply my son or the 
Belmonts to have to contend with this time," Dracula said as he watched 
the aftermath of the battle through a window inside of Castlevania.

"Worry not, my friend," said Death from behind him.  "I have sent 
servants to intercept the Belmonts.  As for Alucard's new allies, I 
have been watching them and I think I have already found a weakness 
that we can exploit."

"Their sense of loyalties to one another.  Yes I see that too.  We 
need but to capture one of them and bring her over to our side.  Then 
we will have a weapon that we can use against them.  A weapon that 
they will be loathe to retaliate against.  That girl who attacked 
Shaft to begin with, what was her name?" Dracula said as he watched 
Alucard, Grant, Kara, and the sailor senshi leave.

"Sailor Mars," Death answered.

"Sailor Mars.  Hino Rei.  She was able to give Shaft pause by herself 
with that little paper thing.  Also, she was able to sense our presence 
even before my awakening began.  Yes, she will do most nicely.  I want 
her brought here at the first possible opportunity."

"It is unfortunate what happened to Shaft," Death said, "as he was a 
valuable tool."

"Shaft was a fool," Dracula replied.  "He should not have done what 
he did to my son.  For that, he got what was coming to him.  My son 
may fight for the side of light, but Shaft pushed him too far.  You 
are right though, he was a valuable pawn.  But I'll have another to 
take his place soon enough."  An image of Sailor Mars shooting her 
fiery arrow into Shaft appeared in the window.

"Then again," Death said, "I am the Grim Reaper, after all.  I will
go and bring his body back up here and see what I can do with it."

Dracula smiled at his companion as he floated out of the window,
obscuring the image.

***************

TBC...