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 Four
------------

Dracula gazed out the window at the sprawling city that stretched as 
far as the eye could see.  All who lived in this land, no the entire 
world, would soon become his willing slaves.  Either that, or he would 
be *very* well fed for centuries to come, depending upon how vigorously 
they chose to resist his control.

He looked over his shoulder at Death, who was making preparations for 
the ritual that would revive Shaft.

As Dracula continued to stare out the window, the image of Sailor Mars
appeared again.  Death looked up at it, then at Dracula.  Dracula 
nodded, and Death nodded in return.  He completed his preparations for 
the black ceremony that would resurrect the dark priest.  Then, leaving 
the ritual itself unfinished, Death left the room.

The ritual itself would take time to complete.  And Death had another 
task to attend to at the moment.

**********

People either screamed or stared in silent, open-mouthed horror at the 
sight looming before them.  A gargantuan sphere composed of rotting
corpses was floating through the city from the direction of the dark
castle.  As it traveled along, many of these corpses fell from the 
sphere and began to attack anything that moved.  Atop the hideous
thing, Death floated silently.

**********

"Guys, you'd better listen to this," said Rei as she carried a small 
radio out from Yuuichiro's room.  She hoped he wouldn't mind.  
Especially since he probably wouldn't even find out as he and her 
grandfather were off on a trip together.  She'd wanted to go but her 
grandfather had said it was a guy thing.  Shrugging to herself, she sat 
the radio on a table in the middle of the room and plugged it in.

"...don't quite know what to make of this!  A floating mass of dead
bodies is slowly moving down the street!" came a frantic voice from
the radio.

Minako quickly dropped the slice of pizza she had been about to eat.
"That's... lovely," she said, sticking her tongue out in disgust.

The radio continued, "Police are barricading the area and helping to 
evacuate those that have been attacked.  A dark robed figure atop the 
ball of bodies seems to be controlling it.  Where are the Sailor 
Senshi?  Maybe they can deal with this monster as they have in the 
past!"

"What is this thing?" said Usagi as she and the other senshi prepared
to transform.

"Granfalloon," said Alucard.  "I fought it during my search for 
Richter.  A particularly disturbing creature that uses the dead as a 
shield.  To fight this creature, we must first break away this shield 
to strike at the core of the creature."

"Ok, sounds simple enough," said Haruka, "let's go."  The others seemed
slightly less eager to fight corpses.

"Granfalloon is one thing," replied Grant, "but Death is a whole other 
kettle of fish."

Haruka started to say something again, but Alucard interrupted her, "I 
shall deal with him myself."

"Ok, then that leaves the dead thing for us, doesn't it?" said Usagi.
"Let's go, guys!"

-----

The sheer size of the creature was staggering.  Bodies were falling
from the core creature and, after dropping three or four stories, were
landing on roofs of buildings up to ten stories tall.

The senshi and the others stared at the thing and at the hundreds of 
dead bodies that were slowly making their way toward them.

Even Alucard was given momentary pause.  "Hmm, this creature is 
slightly larger than the Granfalloon that I fought before."  He began 
to scan the buildings for the best route to the top of the creature.  
Choosing his path, he began to ascend.  Within seconds, he was little 
more than a speck in the distance.

"How are we going to stop this thing?" said Sailor Venus, still stunned
by the huge size of the thing.

Tuxedo Kamen readied a rose and said, "Alucard said that the only way
to defeat this creature was to attack the core."

"But what about them?" said Jupiter, pointing to the army of bodies.

Jan called up his throwing dagger and said, "I'll try to hold them off 
as well as I can.  The rest of you go after the middle."  He turned 
toward the oncoming horde and thought to himself, "I hope my training 
pays off." He threw a dagger into one of the bodies.  Upon contact with 
the dagger, the body disappeared in a burst of flame.  Judging the 
effect satisfactory, he smiled grimly back at the others.

The others watched him doubtfully for a moment, but Jan wasn't done
yet.  He let out a yell and suddenly his arms were moving in a blur.
Daggers were flying from him as if he were firing them from a machine
gun.

However, even the dagger crash would not be enough to stop the rush
completely.

"Need some help?" Tuxedo Kamen asked rhetorically, moving next to Jan.  
With that, he tossed a rose at the wall of bodies moving forward to 
crush them.  Soon, he was throwing roses at almost the same rate that 
Jan was throwing his daggers.

"Good job, guys!" said Sailor Moon.  "Ok, let's break through that 
disgusting barrier and get rid of this thing once and for all.  
STARLIGHT HONEYMOON THERAPY KISS!!"

The creature howled in anger as the attack sliced off a portion of the 
wall of the dead that was protecting it.  The bodies fell from the 
wound and then began to attack the Senshi.  Through the hole in the 
barrier, a large tentacle was exposed.  On the end of this was a large 
bulb.  Suddenly, the bulb opened and a white hot beam of energy lanced 
out at the cause of its pain.

Sailor Moon saw it coming and leapt out of the way, but the sheer force 
of the blast striking the ground next to her sent her sprawling.

"Sailor Moon, are you all right?!" shouted Saturn, who rushed to her 
side.  She conjured up a wall of energy that blocked the next blast 
from the creature.

"Yeah," replied Sailor Moon, "just a little shaken.  Alucard didn't 
tell us it could do that!"  As she regained her feet, she saw that the 
others had succeeded in breaking off more of the evil barrier.  As more 
and more of the bodies were removed, more and more energy spitting 
tentacles were revealed.

Sailor Venus leapt aside in surprise as several bodies fell from above
and landed near her.  They had apparently leapt from the roofs of
buildings and had thus gotten past Jan and Tuxedo Kamen.  Before she
could react, the bodies exploded as lightning bolts slammed into them.
Venus turned and, expecting to see Sailor Jupiter, was surprised to
see Kara standing there pointing her staff towards her.  She grinned 
and gave the V hand sign to Kara, and Kara nodded back, smiling 
slightly from beneath her hood.  Then they both turned to rejoin in the 
attack on the body wall.

Finally, when enough of the bodies were destroyed, the vulnerable core 
of the Granfalloon was exposed.

Grant bounced against several walls in his attempt to reach the height 
of the core of the monster.  A gigantic eye opened on the core and 
stared at him.

"Big mistake," said Grant as he loosed a trio of throwing axes at the 
open eye.  The axes hit their mark and the creature writhed in agony.  
Weakened, it began to sink to the ground and within reach of the 
others.

The creature brought to bear all of its power on the senshi who had
gathered around Sailor Moon and Saturn.  The beams raced towards them 
only to cascade off of a Silence Wall at the last second.

While Sailor Saturn held back the energy beams of the Granfalloon, the 
others got into position to finish off the creature.

"VENUS LOVE AND BEAUTY SHOCK!!"

"JUPITER OAK EVOLUTION!!"

"SILVER MOON CRYSTAL POWER KISS!!"

"MERCURY AQUA RHAPSODY!!"

"MARS FLAME SNIPER!!"

"DEEP SUBMERGE!!"

"WORLD SHAKING!!"

"DEAD SCREAM!!"

"STAR SERIOUS LASER!!"

"STAR GENTLE UTERUS!!"

"STAR SENSITIVE INFERNO!!"

These attacks in combination with a stream of pure magical energy from 
Kara struck the creature dead center.  In the throes of death the 
Granfalloon began releasing vast amounts of energy.  Nearby buildings 
began to buckle beneath the strain.  Only Saturn's Silence Wall kept 
the senshi and their friends from feeling the force of the assault.

Finally, the creature hit the ground, causing minor tremors as it 
thrashed about.  It began to dissolve and was absorbed into the ground.  
Within minutes it, along with the entire horde of bodies that had been 
its shield, were gone completely.

Since it seemed the threat was gone, Sailor Saturn dissipated the 
Silence Wall.  Sailor Moon walked over to where Jan and Tuxedo Kamen 
were sitting back to back on the sidewalk.  They were exhausted from 
having to hold back the dead soldiers while the others dealt with the 
core creature.

"I guess that takes care of that," said Sailor Moon.  She helped Tuxedo 
Kamen to his feet while Sailor Jupiter did likewise for Jan.  They 
started back to Rei's shrine.

"Wait," said Jan, bringing them all to a halt, "where's Alucard?"

-----

Alucard stood on top of the closest building to Granfalloon that he 
could find.  He glanced downward and saw the senshi fighting the 
creature from below.  To him they looked like ants.  Looking upward, he 
saw him.

"Ah, Alucard," said Death from atop the large sphere of dead bodies.  
"Do be careful up here.  I would hate to see you fall."

"You must realize that you do not stand a chance against all of us," 
said Alucard.  He risked a glance downward, then returned his gaze to 
Death.  "Even now, your Granfalloon is on the verge of being destroyed 
as you stand there."

"Yes, this is a rather unreliable creature," said Death, floating down 
from the disintegrating Granfalloon to join Alucard on the rooftop.  
"But it was meant to be more of a distraction than anything serious.  
It will have served its purpose.  I must simply make sure that you are 
not able to interfere with my plan."

Suddenly, without warning, he let loose with a powerful fireball.  As
the fireball engulfed the surprised Alucard, Death glided down from the 
rooftop.

While not enough to really hurt him, the fireball did delay Alucard
enough for Death to leave him far behind.  When he had finally cleared
away the flames from himself, several minutes had passed.  He rushed to 
the edge of the roof and look over.  Death was nowhere to be seen.  In 
a column of light, he disappeared.

-----

Death floated slowly downward toward his prey.  He was in no hurry.  
The only being possibly capable of stopping him was Dracula's son, and 
he was currently in no condition to be a hindrance.

Belnades and DaNasty were of no consequence to Death.  They were merely
a nuisance to him.  Little more.

Belmont could prove a threat to him in the future, but as of yet he was 
untested in true battle, and only recently trained in the Belmont 
family arts.

These Sailor Senshi, however, proved an enigma to Death.  He sensed 
great power in them, yet there was much about them he would not be able 
to gauge without closer examination.  Soon, though, he would have ample 
opportunity to find out all of their secrets.  No wonder Dracula was so 
interested in them.

Seeing his quarry, he faded into the shadows and drew close to them.

Soon he was close enough to be able to grab his target and be gone 
before they could react, if he chose to.  However, Death was not one 
to hide from anyone.

Drawing back, he revealed himself to them.

He felt amusement as he watched the varied expressions on the faces of 
his victim and her companions.  Ranging from rage in the one he had 
toyed with earlier to... what was this?... fear?  And in the one that 
seemed to be the leader of the bunch as well.  Most interesting.

The aqua haired companion of the one whom he had injured earlier looked 
at him with a mixture of anger and concern.  These two were willing to 
die for each other.  Hmm, maybe he would grant them that very soon.

The tall girl with the brown ponytails was staring at him with fury.
She seemed almost ready to attack him as he merely floated there.  He
would have to keep his eye on her.

The girl with the red bow in her blonde hair watched him warily.  She 
could not have been able to hide her disgust at him even if she had 
wanted to.  He could also sense a trace of fear in her as well, though 
she covered it well.

The blue haired one didn't even look at him.  She was busy studying a
small computer, while one of the ones in black leather looked over her 
shoulder.  Ah, they were trying to probe him for weaknesses.  He let 
them probe him for a few seconds more before he cloaked himself in a 
field of darkness, making himself totally unreadable to them.  Ha, now 
they looked up at him.  He gazed at them for a second before turning 
his head slightly.

He regarded the other two in black leather.  These three were most
interesting indeed.  The one with the nearly white hair regarded him
almost haughtily, but Death knew that it was just a front.  The other
one took a protective stance behind the one he judged was the leader.

Next to her stood the boy in the tuxedo.  His expression was hidden
behind the mask he wore covering his eyes, but Death could see his
jaw set in determination.  He, too, took up a guarded position near 
the leader of the group.

The leader herself was an open book to Death.  Still, while she was
obviously afraid of him, he could sense near incalculable power from
within her.  He would have to be wary of her as well.

The tall one with the long green hair and her young companion with the 
glaive were the greatest mystery to him.  Their power rivaled that of
the leader.  The tall one's expression was unreadable while the smaller
girl looked at him with curiosity tinged with something darker.  Still, 
these two would prove an interesting challenge as well.  Senshi of 
Death indeed... he would test her abilities soon enough.

The face of Belnades was hidden behind the hood of the cloak she wore,
but Death could sense that she was very unsure of herself.  Until she
mastered her power, she would remain nothing more than a nuisance to
him.

Death barely deigned the pirate ghost a glance.  As he expected, a 
sideways grin was on DaNasty's face as he tossed a dagger up and down.  
Death regretted not taking his soul long ago, but his time would come 
very soon.

Belmont was something of an enigma to him as well.  While he had very 
little training or experience, Death judged that he would be a worthy 
foe indeed.  He noted the frown that the boy was wearing as he looked 
at Death.

And finally, there was quarry.  She was looking at him with a mixture
of anger and caution.  Death saw her ready one of the little ofuda that 
she had earlier used on Shaft.  Death laughed to himself.

Enough of this.  He raised his hand, stared directly at his victim and 
said, "I come for the one called Sailor Mars.  She will be coming with 
me."

Eyes glanced toward his prey, then back at him.

"Over my dead body," muttered the one with the ponytails.  So, she was
the first to challenge him.  He had expected the one he had toyed with 
to be the first to speak out.  He was sure that she hadn't expected him 
to hear though.  And he was also sure that had she thought about what 
she was saying, she would not have worded it quite that way.

Death struggled hard to keep from laughing.  Despite himself, he 
chuckled a little as he said, "You haven't, by any chance, forgotten to 
whom it is you happen to be speaking have you, girl?"

Without waiting for a reply, he clenched his raised hand into a fist.  
With satisfaction, he saw the girl's eyes widen then glaze over.  Her 
hands clutched at her chest as she sank to her knees.

Her companions were instantly in action.  His quarry threw her amusing 
little paper at him.  With his free hand, he caught it in mid air.  He 
studied it for a second before willing it to burst into flames.  With 
a wave of his hand he scattered the ashes to the winds.

A few of the others tried to attack him but he merely shrugged it off.
Seeing that it was useless, they rushed to their fallen comrade's side.

The girl with the computer performed a quick scan, then went pale.  All
eyes were on her as she said, "She's dead... Makoto is dead."  They
turned their eyes back to Death.

"As I have just demonstrated, all who oppose me will not survive.  Now, 
let us try this again.  I have come for the one called Sailor Mars."

Death noticed Belmont now had the Vampire Killer engulfed in white hot
flames.  Very powerful indeed.  With a near inhuman roar of rage, he
started to hurl himself at Death.

Suddenly, his quarry got in the way and put a restraining hand on young 
Belmont's chest.

"No," she said.  Turning to Death, she said, "All right.  I'll come
with you willingly."  Ignoring the looks of shock she received from
her friends, she continued, "But please... I know it is in your power 
to spare Makoto."

"And why should I?" said Death, amused.

"Take me instead," said his victim, stepping toward him.  "Trade my
life for hers.  It's me you seem to want not her."

"You are mine anyway," said Death.  "You are in no position whatsoever
to bargain."  His victim had no reply for this.

"But I am not without compassion, however slight it may be," said Death
after a few seconds of silence.  "If you come with me without further 
resistance, I will return life to her."

She nodded once and started toward him.

"No!" said the tuxedo-clad youth.  "I cannot just stand here and allow
this to happen!"  He blocked her path, turned and threw one of his 
roses at Death.  It was more in desperation rather than any real 
attempt to attack.

"Fool," said Death, unclenching his fist to catch the rose.  Upon
opening his hand, the girl on the ground gasped and sat up suddenly.

"Dracula was right," said Death, as he watched the rose blacken and
wither in his grasp.  "This will be easier than we first suspected."

While their attention was divided between his prey and the still 
gasping girl on the ground, Death swooped down and grabbed the one he 
had come for.  In a blink of an eye, both he and Sailor Mars were gone.

**********

"We can't just sit here like this!" wailed Usagi as she paced the room,
"We have to go save Rei right now!  Before..."  They had returned to 
Hikawa Shrine after what had happened.

"Calm down, Usagi," said Seiya.  "We can't do anything until we know 
for sure that Makoto is all right."

"But..." sniffled Usagi.

"He's right," said Mamoru.  "I hate this as much as you do, but we 
can't just rush blindly into this."

"But what will they do to Rei?" asked Minako.  She glanced at Alucard,
who was brooding in the corner of the room.

"Nothing will happen to her before tomorrow night, of that I am sure,"
said Alucard.  "It is nearing dawn.  If I know my father, he will sleep
all day today before awakening..."

"But why?" asked Haruka.  "What makes you so sure?"

"The ritual requires much stamina and patience," explained Alucard.  
"He will want to be well rested before such an undertaking.  Especially 
with such a strong subject as Rei."

"What are you talking about?" asked Yaten.  "What ritual?"

Grant, for once, was dead serious as he said, "The ritual of converting 
a mortal to vampire.  There is no other reason for his capturing one of 
you like this."

"Vampire?!" sniffled Usagi, on the verge of wailing again.

"Of course I have no intention of allowing my father to commit this 
dark act yet again," said Alucard, "but we cannot simply rush into 
Castlevania.  We must at least let your friend recover some."

"Yeah, being dead is not something one bounces back from like it was
nothing," said Grant, a margin of his usual humor returning.

"We've been dead before," said Hotaru quietly from the corner opposite 
Alucard.

With that statement silence fell on the room for a moment.  However, it
was broken with the arrival of the others from the adjacent room.

Usagi rushed over to Makoto, who was being helped into the room by Ami
and Jan.  They were followed by Michiru, Kara, Taiki, and Setsuna.

"Are you all right?" asked Usagi.

"I'm... as all right as one can be after being dead for a few minutes,"
said Makoto.  "That's an experience I don't care to repeat anytime 
soon."  She involuntarily shivered at the memory.  "I'm ready to go 
bust some heads though, if that's what you mean.  If it's okay with Dr. 
Mizuno here, that is."  She smiled at Ami.

Ami blushed slightly and said, "Well, I couldn't find anything wrong
with you.  That doesn't mean anything though.  That obviously couldn't
have been good for you."

"Well," said Makoto, "don't think I'm going to lay around here while
you guys go and have all the fun."

Ami shrugged and said, "There's nothing wrong as far as I can tell, so
I don't see any reason for you to stay behind."

"If it's all the same to you guys," said Makoto, "I'd just as soon go
ahead and get this whole business over and done with."  She looked from 
one set of eyes to another.

Usagi said, "I'm with you, but..."  She looked at Alucard.

Alucard regarded her silently for a moment, then nodded once.  "The 
longer we wait the more powerful my father gets.  And while I am sure 
my father will wait before he will begin the ritual, there is no 
guarantee that this is so."

"But you said..." began Seiya.

"What ritual?" asked Setsuna, though she was sure she already knew the
answer.

"He plans to turn your friend into a vampire," said Alucard.  He held
up a hand at the shocked protests of those who had not heard him say
this before.  "As I have already told the others, I plan to stop my
father before he can do this."

"The sooner the better then, right?" said Jan.  Everyone looked at him.
"Well, it's not just Rei that we have to save but my father and my
grandfather and all the others too."

"Then it's settled, isn't it?" said Usagi.  "I say we go now."

At that, all discussion ended as the group made ready to venture to
Castlevania.

**********

"My son sorely underestimates me," said Dracula as he watched the whole 
scene play out before him in the window.  "I have no intention of 
waiting until tomorrow at all."

He turned to Rei, who was chained to the wall behind him and was 
glaring at him.  Her expression was steel but Dracula could feel her 
terror.  It was as fragrant to him as perfume.

He moved toward her.  When he was standing a mere two inches away, he
stopped and watched her.  She started to turn her head away, but he
grabbed her chin with his hand.

"Come my dear," taunted Dracula.  "Why do you resist so?  I am about
to give you a most generous gift."

"I want nothing from you," Rei said as she struggled to free herself 
from his grasp.

Dracula regarded her for a moment more.  "Too bad," he said simply as 
he leaned forward, his suddenly bared fangs inching toward her exposed 
throat while he held her still.  Rei could do nothing but watch in 
silent horror.

-----

Death had finally put the finishing touches on Shaft.  The ritual had 
gone better than he had expected.  Shaft was nearly back to his old 
self once again.

"How are you feeling?" Death asked Shaft as he unbound the straps that 
had been restraining Shaft's body to the table.  Sometimes the ritual 
could get... quite ugly.

"I feel like tearing Alucard and his new friends limb from limb," 
snarled Shaft.

"You'll get your chance soon enough," assured Death, "they're on 
their way here as we speak."

"Oh good," said Shaft, grinding his right fist into his left palm.

They both looked up when blood curdling screams sounded from the
adjacent chamber.

"What's that?" asked Shaft, smiling.

"Hmm, seems your master is going to have a new pet soon," replied
Death.

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

TBC...