Super Sailor Moon or not, getting punched through a cement wall at Mach 1 isn’t pleasant. 

I wasn’t able to follow the actual event, but was left to reconstruct why I was laying into a long furrow carved into the dirt which led to a hole in the side of the STAR Labs building where Flash was visible standing with his fist outstretched.

But I was alive. It was like I had gotten punched and hit the ground, hard, according to my pain receptors. But I’d taken hits before and knew how to get up from them. My upgraded powers were still working to protect me.

Now that I was outside, I was able to see the full scope of the battlefield. And it was clear that we were losing. Liv and Poison Ivy were encased in ice at the hands of a tall, pale skinned woman with snowy white hair and icy blue eyes.

Rita and Autumn were pinned down by a man with sunglasses, a long coat and with some kind of gauntlets on his hands, emitting a cone of vibrating waves to keep them at bay.

And what looked to be another Flash, save that he was younger and wore a yellow outfit, was looming over a collapsed Beast Boy. Kid Flash?

They looked to have kicked our asses already, by outside observers. The blighted battlefield was torn apart from their fighting, with plants, scorch marks, craters and debris. 

But as I got to my feet, I could see in everyone’s eyes the real truth. This fight was far from over. None of us were ready to get up. 

In spite of the power I wielded, I needed to be smart.

 Now was the time for strategy. Flash was the unstoppable force to my unmovable object at this point. I couldn’t hope to easily land a hit on Flash if he didn’t want me to. And the fact that there was Flash and Kid Flash at the same time made a straight on fight more daunting. Speed was quite literally on their side.

But, as I looked down at my hands, burning with energy, I could see that I was a threat that they couldn’t ignore. I had to keep their attention long enough to let my allies get back in the fight.

I reached into my pockets and pulled out what I thought was my moon stick.

Only to find that it was no longer the pink crescent moon wand anymore, but was something much more substantial. 

I had seen the Moon Kaleidoscope in action in the hands of Nao during our training together, and now I found the same weapon in my own hands. It had the heft of a sword, with the handle guard and “blade” which was just a blunted bat-like shape. It was pink, and shaped like a strange combination of sword, scepter and key. From what I had remembered, the Moon Kaleidoscope was a gift from Sailor Moon to Chibi Moon as a means of bonding to one another.

And now, I could feel my bond solidify with those around me. I was their leader and I would do anything to protect them.

“MOON GORGEOUS MEDITATION!” I shouted leveling the end of the Kaleidoscope at Flash.

A burst of technicolor shards exploded out of the end of the Kaleidoscope, and despite his visible attempt to evade them, Flash didn’t prepare for the fragments of psychedelic color to converge on him in a crash of energy.

He was thrown backwards and slammed into the far wall of the chemical treatment room. And being of one mind, Flash’s allies converged on me, now seeing me as the biggest threat on the battlefield.

The speedster, who I assumed to be his young protege, blurred towards me, and while he was certainly fast, he wasn’t quite faster than the speed of thought.

“MOON TWILIGHT ILLUMINATION!” I shouted, willing a silvery moonlight barrier around myself.

With a sickening slam of his body impacting on the silvery barrier, Kid Flash flattened himself against the solid magical barrier at top speed, making a grunt of pain as he slid against the shimmering shield and sank to the ground in a daze.

Lastly, there was the Ice Woman and Vibe Man whose true cape names I didn’t know off the top of my head. The man brought forward his gauntlets and shot a burst of vibrational energy at me, rattling my shield, my body and the very air around me.

I felt my own energy attempting to lessen the impact, but it was certainly disorienting having my inner ears jiggled with the vibrations. I had to make a conscious effort just to remain upright and center my next attack.

“MOON TIARA MAGIC!” I cried, hurling my tiara at them. It ignited, shattering through my shield and exploded into the Vibe Man, knocking him back with an explosion of white light. The Ice Woman took advantage of my temporary shieldlessness as she encased me in a burst of icy wind, which congealed the very air into a frozen sheen of ice which crawled over me.

While my power shielded me from the worst of it, it was bitter cold. I tried to break out of it, but even as I struggled, the cold sapped my strength and redoubled itself every time I was able to make some kind of progress over the ice.

But just before the frost could climb up my body and threaten to encase me entirely, a loud and clear voice shouted out,

“MARS BLAZING FIRESTORM!” 

A cyclone of fire burst out of the chemical processing area and onto the battlefield, with Maya following it, her hands outstretched. The heat immediately cracked and melted the ice covering me and drove the Ice Woman back in alarm.

“VENUS CRASHING POWERSLAM!”

Having leaped off of Autumn as the wolf-girl had begun to charge at the attackers, Rita flew through the air and crashed into the Vibe Man as he struggled to get to his feet. Suffused in bright orange energy, Rita knocked the Vibe Man back into the dirt with a burst of power which cratered the ground around them.

Without giving him time to recover, Rita effortlessly hauled the man into the air, roaring furiously. 

Kid Flash, shaking his head, tried to get back to his feet to aid the others. But, as they rode a wave of water on a board of ice, Lani zoomed out of the hole in the chemical processing area and onto the field of battle, bringing up a trail of ice along with their wake.

“MERCURY SURGING WAVE!”

Their board curved around Kid Flash, quickly enough to even give the speedster a run for his money. He tried to escape, but found that his footing wasn’t quite up to building speed as Lani’s board bloomed crystalline ice at his feet and denied him traction.

Lani’s ice board curved around in a tight circle and encased Kid Flash in a shining transparent sphere of thick ice, encasing him.

“Enough!” shouted Flash, stumbling out of the building. In his arms, he held Harley Quinn squirming in a headlock. “GIVE UP! Now!”

“LET ME GO, FUCKHEAD!” shouted Harley, writhing in his grip. She kept trying to aim attacks at him in her struggling, but he casually blurred out of the way as he focused all of his rage on me.

He was worse for the wear from my attack, his suit scorched with holes and charred from the impact of magical energy. The mouth visible underneath his mask was twisted in a furious scowl. 

I was just about ready to inflict all manner of harm on him to free Harley, but thorned vines burst out of the ground and began to lash at Flash at all angles.

“LET GO OF MY GIRLFRIEND!’ roared Ivy, leaping down from the roof, with a wave of plant-horrors at her back.

Flash was forced to get out of the way, but as he did so, Harley’s writhing tripped him up, causing him to faceplant, allowing Harley to get free. Harley wasted no time in kicking Flash in the head while she had the opportunity, and Ivy’s plants immediately caught up with Flash and wreathed him in thorns, poisons and who knew what else.

Flash exploded in a burst of lightning energy, tearing the vines apart in a blur and slamming Harley to the ground. The lightning in his wake tore over the field, tossing Ivy backwards, shattering Kid Flash’s icy prison and bringing him to a stop right in front of me. 

With his hand vibrating inside my chest.

It was a very uncomfortable feeling, to say the least. Like a swarm of tiny, invisible bees were nestled in that little sliver of my body where his hand, wrist and upper arm intersected with my chest. I could feel my very heart beating as it overlaid with his hand.

I froze.

Behind him, Kid Flash, grateful to be free, zoomed past Lani, knocking them senseless in a blur of motion. He briefly took stock of the battlefield, but was interrupted in that process by the sudden appearance of a giant, green poisonous snake leaping out of the grass and catching him flat footed as it wrapped around him and sank its teeth into him. Apparently, Beast Boy had found the right time to strike and had re-incapacitated Kid Flash.

But my attention was still completely absorbed by the fact that the Flash literally held my beating heart in his hands. I didn’t move. I didn’t blink. I froze as a hot, sickening fear washed over me. I’d been faced with death before, sure, but never this intimately. 

“Listen here, bitch,” hissed Flash, his hot breath washing over my face, “I’m done playing nice here. You are the bad guys. You destroyed my company and millions of dollars of property. I don’t care what excuses you have made for yourselves, the law is on MY side. You are NOT judge and jury, Moon girl. You have officially made yourselves villains… and you… need to… know that…”

Flash squirmed uncomfortably, as if feeling a chill or shiver.

“You’re not going to… OW!”

He swatted at his leg, in irritation. Then cried out again as he slapped at his upper thigh. “WHAT THE HELL?!”

He shrieked in pain as he crossed his legs and covered his junk, stepping away from me. With a flash of insight, I realized what had happened. Autumn was nowhere to be seen, but if Flash’s reaction was any indicator, she had shrunk herself down and was wreaking havoc at a miniscule scale.

Flash blurred his entire body, similarly to how he had phased an arm through my chest, and I spotted a tiny speck grow into a full-sized wolf as Autumn tried to get her footing.

Flash’s ire turned to her as he raised a hand to attack her. I knew I wasn’t going to be fast enough to save her, but thankfully something else immediately distracted Flash from his attack.

Behind us, the entire STAR Labs building erupted in a fiery explosion. Or, rather, implosion, as the building collapsed inward on itself in a shockwave of collapsing air. Dust flew upwards and the deafening sound of collapsing concrete and steel rattled our senses.

And, flying out of the dust cloud in a silver streak, was Riley, with Liv in tow, hanging onto him as they rushed out of the debris.

And straight at Flash.

Flash was apparently too stunned by the destruction of his building and so he didn’t quite have the energy to get out of the way of Riley’s Ironweld suit unleashing a barrage of high energy particle beams. He was knocked backwards, and sprawled over, but only for an instant as he leaped back to his feet in a split-second.

“YOU FUCKING TRAITOR!” Flash roared at Riley, “YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!”

“Consider this my resignation, asshole!” shouted Riley as the rockets in his feet propelled him overhead.

Liv dropped from above and with her fist crackling with lightning, she used the weight of her fall to drive a punch into the ground, which exploded with a zort of electrical energy. The Flash dodged the initial attack, but was unable to avoid the shockwave that came after, as Liv snarled,

“JUPITER THUNDERSTRIKE FIST!”

The electrical energy surged through Flash’s body and knocked him over, this time, without allowing him to get up.

“Sorry I’m late,” said Liv, grinning, “Had to help the nerd with getting the building exploded. He needed a power source and I was happy to provide it. Glad to see you left enough asses for me to kick, Princess.”

“Eh, it’s fine,” I said, pointing my Kaleidoscope at Flash, “I think we can pretty much declare that we’ve won at this point.”

I looked around us. The STAR Labs building had been utterly leveled, and thankfully without any casualties. Kid Flash was moaning on the ground nearby as Beast Boy had turned himself into an elephant and was now pinning the poisoned superhero to the ground. The Ice Woman had been knocked unconscious by Harley’s hammer and was being restrained by Poison Ivy’s vines. And Vibe Man was being held in Autumn’s now-massive maw and being shaken every time he tried to escape.

The Sailor Scouts and Riley, centered around Flash, ready to strike if he so much as blinked. “It’s over, Flash,” I said, scowling at him, “You aren’t going to poison this place anymore.”

Flash chuckled as he looked up at me. “You think you’ve won? You’re a villain now, Moon Bitch. All of you are! You just attacked a member of the Justice League!”

Liv glanced around. “So what?”

“You and your little accessories are going to be hunted for the rest of your lives!” he cackled, punctuated with a cough.

The others looked at me nervously.

I shook my head. “You have no proof. All of the STAR Labs employees are on the other side, and none of them have seen us. It’s your word against ours, for one. And for another point, nobody is going to give you any kind of credibility when they see what you’ve done to this place…” I gestured to the surrounding destruction.

“Ha…” said Flash, still coughing, “You just don’t get it do you? I’m the hero!” He cupped his hands around his mouth, “HELP! I’M OVER HERE!”

Alarmed, I tried to look around for any other allies. Only when I saw a shadow cast over us did I realize how screwed we were.

I thought he would be bigger in person. 

He was maybe a few inches taller than me, but was far more thickly built. The sheer weight of his presence made me feel like I was shrinking like Autumn. His cape spread out in all directions, wavering in the faint breeze carried by the wind. His thick arms were crossed over his chest, but the “S” emblem underneath couldn’t be mistaken for anything else. His dark hair held close to his head, save for a singular curl of hair right above his forehead. His vibrantly blue eyes burned with quiet anger, but his face remained calm and dispassionate.

I swallowed. Hard. Because this fight had now become officially unwinnable. Superman had literally descended from the heavens like an angel and made it clear that any further fighting wasn’t going to go anywhere. Winning against Flash had been like facing a dragon… a team effort.

Facing Superman was like throwing down with God.

Hey, said some insane part of my brain, you are Super Sailor Moon, for fuck’s sake. You could probably take him…

I shook my head, holding up my hands above my head. This was a man who was on par with Flash in terms of speed and could bench press an aircraft carrier. Superman was out of our ability to fight. Even if I might have stood a chance, the others absolutely did not.

I opened my mouth to speak, but Flash was unsurprisingly faster. 

“Better late than never, Supes,” croaked Flash, “Look at what they did…” He swept a hand around him.

“Ex-cuse me?!” I shouted, rounding on Flash with indignation, “You-!”

Superman held out a finger in front of me, thick like a sausage. I knew all too well that he could flick my head into the consistency of jelly with that single finger.

“Can you move?” asked Superman, his gaze still on Flash.

“Ugh… no…” he said, wincing, “Blondie and her goons jumped me…”

“ARE YOU KIDDI-” I began, before Superman shook his finger at me again, sternly.

“Wonder Woman is coming up the rear with Green Arrow,” he said, sighing, hiking his thumb over his shoulder. I peered over to follow it, and realized that in the cracked muddy flats of the clearing around us, there was a visible whirlwind of dust being kicked up. At first, I could find no source for it, but as I looked closer, I saw a doorway of light… a hatch of some sort, open into the air. And then I remembered which member of the Justice League had a signature vehicle, that was an invisible plane.

Wonder Woman bounded over the distance towards us. She was a little taller than Superman and her muscles were clearly defined on her tanned skin as her arms and legs jutted out of her uniform, an armored leotard with an armor-plated skirt. At her hip there was the lasso belted to her waist and over her back, a sword and shield. She was beautiful, but her horror at seeing Flash made it unlikely that she would be friendly to us. I saw her gaze meet mine for a moment, and there was nothing behind her blue eyes but disgust. She swept her gaze away from us, her long black hair shifting in the wind.

Green Arrow, not blessed with Superman or Wonder Woman’s powers, was the last to arrive, and despite his shock, he actually seemed to be the only person present to meet my gaze as a person.

I sighed in relief. “Green Arrow, please-”

Superman shook his finger at me for the third time. “Quiet,” he barked sternly. It wasn’t cruel, but it was with authority. Like a father.

“We have no desire to hear the words of criminals,” said Wonder Woman fiercely, still not meeting my gaze, “Especially one who attacked one of our own.”

I stood up straight. Something had finally snapped inside me. I was not about to let them ignore us any longer. If they wanted to call themselves the Justice League then it was time they acted the part. I took in a deep breath and bellowed out the words as the feelings of injustice burst out of my chest like a broken dam.

“FUCK YOU!”

We had done all of this work to save people. To save the natural beauty of this world. We had won against all odds. We had done it all without anyone getting seriously hurt. And now they were just going to ignore us and treat us like children?

Fuck. That.

 I was beyond fear as I stepped into a haze of burning indignation. In response, they all stared at me in shock.

“SHUT THE FUCK UP! I don’t care what you say or what you do to me, but I’m going to talk and you’d better fucking listen!” I said, shoving Superman’s hand out of my face. I was surprised to see it move, but clearly he hadn’t been expecting me to do that. I hadn’t either. By the wide eyed stares of all those around me, nobody expected me to do this. I didn’t know what the consequences would be, but I was beyond caring at this point. “You wanna call me a criminal? Fine… go ahead… but either you listen to me or just kill me now!”

This caught their attention. Wonder Woman took a step back, looking at me in surprise. Green Arrow broke into a smile. Superman’s features creased into a frown.

“That’s not how we do things,” he said, shaking his head. “But-”

“Then, listen,” I insisted, “Holy shit, do you even know who I am?”

Superman’s frown deepened, and Green Arrow strode closer. “Uh… if I can cut in,” Arrow said, “I guess now is the time to introduce Sailor Moon and her team.”

Superman cast out a gaze at the others. All of them seemed frozen in shock, looking to me nervously for direction. I saw Liv’s gaze harden towards them, before looking at me questioningly. She was asking if we should fight. I shook my head.

“You’re her?” asked Superman, eyes wide. “But why-”

“Because all of this… the poisoned air, ground and water, was caused by Flash,” I said sternly, stabbing an accusing finger at him. “And the law was simply not up to the task of holding him accountable. I don’t care how STAR Labs intended to clean up this mess or whatever kind of justifications they’ve pulled out of their asses… nobody has the right to do this. Look at how much shit they’ve dumped into this place! This is wrong! We had to stop it! And if you punish us for it, you will be just as guilty as Flash.”

Superman looked down at Flash, his frown deepening. Flash scowled.

“Are you kidding me?” the speedster exclaimed, “You’re not seriously buying this, are you? Look at them! Poison Ivy? Harley Quinn?” He indicated the two of them who were huddled together, each protecting the other. “They’re CRIMINALS! You’re taking their word over me?!”

“Beast Boy is one of your own,” I said, frowning, as I indicated the green boy, who was hiding nervously next to Autumn. “And besides, are you honestly telling me that Poison Ivy would do something like this to a forest preserve?!”

Superman sighed, pausing for a moment before speaking again. “Look… Miss Moon, I won’t say that your hearts aren’t in the right place but-”

“But nothing!” I snapped, clenching my fists, “Don’t you dare make excuses for this! I don’t care what Flash was doing… the price cannot be… this…”

I reached down and grabbed a handful of dirt, picking it up and shoved it into the Man of Steel’s chest. The stain adhered over his S-shaped logo. “How long will the earth be poisoned? How many animals and plants have died to pay for STAR Lab’s bottom line? How do you even know nobody has already gotten sick? From a nature walk or a STAR Labs worker on his break? Do you know how long it’s going to be until this shit sinks into the groundwater and starts killing people for real? What possible justification could you have to ignore this?”

Superman took a step back, looking around nervously. “The law-”

“We are superheroes,” I snapped, stepping into his face. “Not super cops. Not super lawyers. Not super legislators. Super heroes. Look around you… nobody was killed or seriously hurt. The only damage has been to the building, STAR Labs’ bottom line and Flash’s bloated ego. The real casualty you need to consider is the reputation of your stupid League… because I refuse to believe that you are okay with this!”

Superman turned to Flash, a pained look on his face. “You told me you were taking care of this, Flash… This doesn’t look “under control” from where I’m standing…”

“We were going to go public with the new compound by the end of the month. The money we would have made would have covered the cleanup costs and then some,” he replied coldly, “Doesn’t matter now that she’s ruined everything… this is her fault.”

“Whatever lies you wanna tell yourself,” I spat at him, “won’t change the fact that you poisoned the earth for profit. You saw this beautiful natural wonder and destroyed it for your own selfishness.”

“Supes,” said Green Arrow, his voice stern, “She’s right. You know she is. This is out of control. We should have taken a closer look into this.”

Wonder Woman looked out around her in horror as she finally took in the scope of damage Flash and STAR Labs had caused. “Merciful Hera… STAR Labs did this?!” She scowled at Flash, “We trusted you, Flash… you told us that we didn’t need to worry. You lied to us.”

Flash didn’t reply as he met her gaze. No guilt. No hesitation. Just cold frustration.

“What’s it going to be?” I asked, raising an eyebrow as I held my gaze on Superman.

He snorted. “I… I can see why Batman likes you.”

I beamed. I was seeing the parallel. Even if our aesthetics were night and day, we fought for what was right. Not what was easy.

“Superman, you can’t be serious!” whined Flash, struggling to get to his feet. “She did all this and you’re just going to let her and her friends walk away?”

“You sent us a message that you were under attack by villains, Flash,” said Superman, through clenched teeth. “Right now, I only see one villain. Someone who used a state park as his own dumping ground to make a quick buck. Someone who clearly hadn’t told the truth about his business dealings. And someone who put the image of the entire Justice League in jeopardy.”

“‘Image’” he spat derisively, “What use is ‘image’ compared to raw, unfettered power? The entire League is nothing but cowards, resting on their laurels when the strength to rule is right there for the taking! Covered by your flimsy ‘morality’!”

The voice which escaped from the man before us was not the same that had been used before. It was snarling, hateful and poisonous like the chemical slurry that had poisoned the ground beneath us. Superman’s eyes narrowed as he considered the man dressed as Flash in a new light.

“Mr. Thawne,” said Superman coolly. “Fancy seeing you here. That’s an impressive disguise you’re wearing. I don’t suppose you could tell me where the real Flash is, would you?”

His face went empty of all emotion. In one moment, he went completely still as a statue. The next, he was gone. In a flash of light and lightning, he had disappeared from sight.

“Uh… what just happened?!” I said, blinking in awe as things had clearly happened without my understanding. 

“That… was not Flash,” intoned Superman, shaking his head. “I can’t believe we didn’t notice it sooner. That was Reverse Flash… also known as Doctor Zoom. Another speedster with a burning hatred of Flash. I would wager that at some point he swapped places with our Flash to ruin his reputation and formulate something to increase his speed using STAR Labs as a basis for it. We have a mess to clean up.”

Superman turned back to me. He offered a hand. Warily, I shook it, and was gratified to find that he took care not to crush my carpal bones into a fine dust.

“Thank you, Sailor Moon. And all the rest of you. You really stepped up when we needed you.” he nodded back towards Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn. “I know that you girls tend to play things fast and loose with laws and safety, but I appreciate that nobody got seriously hurt.”

Ivy shrugged and Harley gave Superman a withering glare, but they seemed to take the compliment in stride.

“Beast Boy,” said Superman, hovering over to approach him as the green boy stood next to Autumn. “I owe you an apology. I’m sorry that I didn’t take your objections seriously. You and the rest of the Titans have proved yourselves time and time again and I should have given your claims against STAR Labs more weight. Can you forgive me?”

“I guess,” sighed Beast Boy, still clearly wounded. He gave a curious look down to Autumn who pawed nervously at the ground. He barked out something and Autumn turned back to him to yip something in reply. Beast Boy nodded.

“My girl Wolfspaw wants the League to start getting properly involved in environmental protection. Gaia’s Avengers shouldn’t have to keep cleaning up these messes because it’s politically inconvenient,” he gestured around us, “It’s kind of a bad look.”

Superman nodded, solemnly. “I’ll present it at the next meeting. We clearly can’t keep sitting on the sidelines. You have my word. We’ll step up our efforts. For what it’s worth, I would be more than willing to offer Gaia’s Avengers formally recognized association status with the League in the meantime. Let you do the work you’ve been doing with our resources to back you up.”

Autumn barked and shook her head.

“Nah,” said Beast Boy, crossing his arms over his chest. “I think we’ll stick to being independent. You have some housecleaning to do first, Superman.”

Superman nodded and turned over to me. “I would offer the same to you and your… um…” he gestured uncertainly to us.

“Sailor Guardians,” I said, nodding in acknowledgement, “And…”

I considered it. League sponsorship would certainly open a number of doors for us. It could get us resources we wouldn’t have access to otherwise.

But… as I looked around us, I saw the damage that occurred because the League had been blinded by its own politics and had played favorites. The only reason this had been fixed was because we weren’t beholden to League power structures.

“I don’t think I can accept,” I said, shaking my head, “I think the League would only make our jobs more difficult. Maybe later and maybe after you take a good hard look at your affairs. You missed an infiltrator into your midst… people could have been seriously hurt.” I shot a glare down the direction that not-Flash had escaped. “Maybe someday we could join you… but not now. Not like this.”

“That’s… fair,” Superman gave a heavy sigh and an even weightier nod, “I won’t lie. It’s… difficult sometimes. I envy you girls for being able to follow your hearts like this.”

“It… has its drawbacks,” I conceded, “I feel like I’m just juggling landmines all the time and only just making it all up as I go along. I’ve been doing the hero thing since high school and I still have no idea what I’m doing.”

He placed a hand on my shoulder, smiling. “Honestly? I get the same feeling sometimes. The only thing you can do is your best, Sailor Moon.”

I smiled in spite of myself, unable to meet his gaze as I felt a flush in my cheeks. He really was everyone’s dad, wasn’t he? Certainly, better than my own, at any rate…

I peered over at the remainder of team Flash, talking amongst themselves, sagging in disappointment as they realized they had been duped. I could only shake my head at them. “I don’t understand why they didn’t stop him… or realize that their boss had been swapped.”

“It’s easy to… get sucked into running the business and the allure of success, I think,” sighed Superman, “I imagine that Zoom kept making more and more compromises for profit and shareholders, telling the people that trusted him that it would all work itself out in the end.” He shook his head. “You have to remember, it’s not always a ghost, or curse, doppelganger or alien brain parasite when someone goes bad. Sometimes people just lose sight of themselves.”

I swallowed hard, briefly reminded of my stint as Cross.

Assuming that I wouldn’t have gotten myself killed… if I was still wearing the Cross mantle, how much of a darker place would I have ended up in compared to where I was now? Would my anti-heroic tendencies have moved me into the direction of short-sightedness?

“Superman,” called out Wonder Woman, approaching from behind. “I have checked the bystanders. Nobody was injured. We should pursue the fraud.”

Superman nodded. “Right.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. In spite of everything that went wrong, the fact that the innocent people didn’t have to pay the price for our freewheeling was the best possible outcome.

The amazon peered at me sheepishly. “Queen Serenity,” she said, bowing slightly, “Please forgive me for my initial reaction. You have shown yourself to be a more valiant and noble warrior than I gave you credit for.”

“Oh!” I said, blushing, “No no no… I’m not…uh… the Queen is… not me. I mean, she gave these powers to me, but I’m not her.”

She looked at me curiously. “But you are dressed in the ceremonial battle garb of the Lunar Matriarch. I recognize it from the The Tragedy of the Silver Millennium from the Themysciran archives.”

“Look,” I sighed, getting annoyed at all the people who couldn’t understand the situation and requiring me to repeat the same story over and over again, “Sailor Moon… the original… Queen Serenity… retired. Her daughter is carrying on her official duties as official moon princess back in Japan. I mean, those duties are mostly kicking ass or whatever, but as for me? I’m not a princess. I’m not royalty. I’m just some dumbass who got handed a piece of magical costume jewelry and told to be Sailor Moon. And all I can do is make the best of it.”

She smiled at me warmly. “Nothing happens by accident, Sailor Moon,” she said, reaching out to clasp my hands. “Let no one tell you otherwise, you have the heart of an amazon.”

My brain went fuzzy and my little bisexual heart began to pound in my chest. I could only stare in a sort of silent panic as I felt my hands warmed by her own. They were so strong and her arms were so thick… holy shit she was beautiful.

“T-thank you, ma’am,” I squeaked, feeling my cheeks burn like molten magma. I saw her wink at me mischievously as she stepped away from me, which caused my brain to effectively shut down for a moment.

“She’s something, isn’t she?” chirped Green Arrow, nudging me in the ribs as he jerked me back into reality.. 

I jerked back to reality, a little annoyed that I was no longer lost in some fairly intense fantasies. I eyed Green Arrow, crossing my arms defensively. “Y- yeah…”

“Hey…” he said, more seriously. “Good job out there. You really stepped up. Did Supes offer you a job for the League?” 

“Association status,” I said, frowning faintly as I saw Superman take to the air, “I’m not sure if I did the right thing by turning him down. I mean… being tied to the League is when you become a real hero, right?”

“Of course not. Even though I joined, the rest of Team Arrow didn’t. And you’d better believe they’re all still heroes.You’re a hero because of what you do, Sailor Moon,” said Green Lantern sharply. “Not because of any kind of membership card.”

“Mmm…” I said softly, “I guess… I kind of lost track of when I went from being a clueless dumbass to being a real hero. It kind of snuck up on me and I’m still having some trouble figuring out when things changed.”

He stood quietly there for a moment, pensive. After a brief moment, he sighed, shaking his head with a faint chuckle. “I mean… you shouldn’t sell yourself short. Even when you were just some kid in high school, you still stepped up to the plate. You had a promising start.”

My eyes widened as I turned to look at him. How did he… “Wait… you knew that I… I was…?!” I couldn’t finish the sentence. Cross was gone, and I refused to let his name pass my lips again.

“You’re Jared’s friend, right?” he said, looking down at me with an apologetic grin. “I mean… it’s not exactly rocket science. You and the wolfboy-”

“Girl,” I insisted clearly.

“Girl, sorry,” he said without missing a beat, “Along with the psychic, the golden child and the nerd…” He gestured to Riley who seemed to be having a very pointed conversation with the rest of team Flash. It ended with him tossing his name badge on the ground, showing that Riley was no longer an employee of STAR Labs. “It’s not every day when six kids from the burbs take down a corrupt insurance conglomerate.”

I frowned. “I suppose there’s no point in denying who I was.”

“Not judging,” said Green Arrow, holding up his hands, “Like, seriously, good on you. But I’m just saying I remember your little squad. It was damn impressive what you kids did.”

I blinked. “I… guess…” It felt like a lifetime ago. I wasn’t sure if I could even take credit. Was that person the same person I was now? Truly?

“I really wanted to scoop you up along with Jared,” he said, smirking. “Get you onto Team Arrow and everything.”

My jaw dropped. “Wait… what?!” I choked, shaking my head. “Hold up, a-are you serious?!”

“Are you kidding me?” he said, matter-of-factly. “Of course! Holy shit, kid, you were damned good at what you did! I saw the fight footage and everything! You had some serious moves, even without powers!”

I gaped, unable to grasp this reveal. “Then… why didn’t you…?” I asked, uncertainly looking into his eyes for any kind of clue or reason for my rejection.

“Batman, actually,” he said, scratching at his head, “He saw you on my shortlist and he told me to drop you.”

My stomach dropped. “B-Batman took me off the list to join the League?”

“Yeah…” he said, apologetically. “Said that you ‘weren’t ready yet’ or something. I couldn’t figure out why he was so damn pushy about it. I guess…” He clicked his tongue. “I guess he knew something we didn’t. Clearly worked out for you in the end…”

“I… guess…” I said, hugging myself a little tighter. What the hell had Batman known that I didn’t? He couldn’t have known that I was transgender, could he?

“Sailor Moon,” said Liv, putting a hand on my shoulder. She hiked her thumb behind her, “We’re heading out. Looks like everything’s wrapped up and I’m fucking starving.”

“Right,” I said, nodding, “Thanks, Jupiter.” I turned back to Green Arrow, “Um… thanks for letting me know.”

“Seriously, don’t worry about it,” he said, offering a hand, “I don’t think that even Batman could have predicted that you would have gotten this far. You earned that power and don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise.”

I was surprised to find that in the form of Super Sailor Moon, Green Arrow’s grip was much softer. If anything, he winced a little as we traded handshakes. 

“Th-thanks,” I said, smiling, “And give Jared my best.”

He shook his hand slightly and gave me a thumbs-up, “Got it. You take care of yourself, okay?”

I nodded in reply and Green Arrow waved as he boarded the Invisible Jet alongside Wonder Woman.

As I returned to the rest of the Sailor Guardians, I saw that Harley Quinn was still taking selfies with all of them and the moment she became aware of my return, she all but put me in a chokehold to drag me into the shot of her smartphone.

“You were AMAZING!” she squealed, snapping photos of us, with me looking visibly uncomfortable in her tight grip. “You were all like ZAP! And POW! And ‘In the name of the Moon!’ and all that shit! OH MY GAWD!” She shoved me out of her grip, allowing me a brief window of breathing as I massaged at my neck.

“...Can you please say the line, though? Pleeeeeeeeease?!” insisted Harley, her eyes wide.

I sighed, reminding myself that this woman was more than capable of violence and displeasing her was probably ill-advised. Besides, she had helped…

“Oh-okay,” I wheezed, nodding as I caught my breath and drew up to my full height.

“Yes, yes, YES!” she shrieked in excitement as she leveled her phone to record me. “Okay, okay, okay… and… GO!”

I took a deep breath and tried to get myself into the appropriate level of hamminess.

“STOP RIGHT THERE!” I declared, pointing at her, as I went through the Sailor Moon poses for her speech. “I AM THE SAILOR GUARDIAN OF LOVE AND JUSTICE! AND IN THE NAME OF THE MOON, I WILL PUNISH YOU!”

“Ohgodyespunishmemommy…” mumbled Harley, her face dreamlike and distant.

“...Uh…” I said, blushing nervously at her reaction.

“Ooooookay, we’re going now…” sighed Ivy, physically dragging her away from me. She gave me a faint smile, “Hey, thanks for all this, Sailor Moon. Not just for playing into Harley’s weird fantasies, but…” She nodded in approval, “Actually being a hero. You really give a shit… and that means a lot.”

It was… a little disorienting to be receiving praise from Superman one moment and Poison Ivy the next. I knew that she and Harley had a… significant body count, but there was no denying that they weren’t heroes… at least in this context.

“Can I ask a question?” I said, uncertainty creeping into my voice. I had to remind myself that Ivy and Harley were more than capable of adding me to their body counts if they wanted to. “Uh… you two really don’t seem like villains to me… but you’ve killed people, too. I just… I’m not expecting you both to become heroes or anything… but you don’t need to be bad guys either.”

Ivy nodded, frowning slightly. “If you can believe it… I’m a little embarrassed for how I used to be back in the old days. I assumed that all humanity was shit and there wasn’t anything redeemable about it. I just saw it as ‘weeding’ the garden of the Earth.” She put an arm around Harley and drew her close. “But… she showed me that there were some people who were worth keeping around… and the more I’ve opened myself up to that idea, the more I can see the good in other people.” She nodded to me in approval.

“It’s important to remember,” said Harley, her voice suddenly less manic and more serious. It was professional, even. “That humanity is a complex animal pulled in countless directions from social and psychological pressures. To declare the conceptions of “good” and “evil” in an absolute binary would erase this complexity and risks painting with an overly-broad brush. I, like Ivy and others, have engaged in wanton murder, mayhem and destruction, but this was from a normalization of those actions in my immediate environment and from my…” she swallowed, nervously, “unhealthy relationship attachments. Nevertheless, violence and even murder can, in their own right, be a greater moral good when applied judiciously and where appropriate. Corrupt executives and politicians and crime lords may be utterly beyond the reach of redemption and legal accountability… To allow them to run unchecked is an evil unto itself. While we may hold to the axiom that ‘all murder is evil’ you might need to consider things in the context of the Trolley Problem, for instance-”

“Babe,” sighed Ivy, nudging her in the ribs. “You’re doing it again.”

“Oopsie!” said Harley, transforming back to her manic grin, “Sorry, that psychology doctorate just pops up in the weirdest places, you know?”

“Uh… right,” I said, nodding uncertainly. 

“Let’s go, Harls,” sighed Ivy, attempting to drag her away.

“Do we have to?!” whined Harley, looking at me insistently. “I mean… I want to hang out with Sailor Moon some more!”

“For what it’s worth, we live in the same city,” I said diplomatically, “We’ll definitely run into each other again.”

Probably in the middle of a crime. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that idea, but I tried to smile behind the words anyway.

“Oh yeah!” she said, cheerfully, “Okay! I’ll hit you up sometime! We can have a girls night! Rob some banks! Eat some ice cream! Have an orgy-”

Ivy slapped her hand over her mouth as she continued to drag Harley into the woods, waving as they departed. I sighed a breath of relief as soon as she was out of eyeshot.

“Hey,” said Beast Boy, waving as he and Autumn, now returned to her clothed human form, approached.

“Hey yourself,” I said, smiling at the two of them.

“Thanks,” said Beast Boy, offering a handshake, “Couldn’t have done it without you all. Uh… I don’t know how Nightwing and Cyborg are going to take all this, but I should get back to the Teen Titans and see how much trouble I’m in.”

“For what it’s worth, tell him it was mostly my idea,” I replied, smiling, “I… I think being on a first name basis with Batwoman gives me some kind of credibility with the big boss.”

Beast Boy’s eyebrows rose.

Autumn ran forward and wrapped me into a big hug which I eagerly returned, “Thank you so much, Serena,” she whispered into my ear. I could feel the wetness of her tears against my cheeks, but I could also see that she was smiling so hard it looked like it hurt. “I… I needed this. I… I know that this is going to be hard… but I know that you did it… and I think I can do this too.”

“I know you can,” I said, putting my hands on her shoulders as I took a step back, staring into her eyes. I eyed Rita, behind me. “I’ll give Sailor Venus your contact info. She can walk you through the less magical steps of transition. But I want you to know that, no matter what, you are still a girl and you are Autumn.” I pressed a light kiss on her forehead. “You got this, little sister.”

She wiped her tears from her eyes and nodded. “I’ll call later.” She looked back to Beast Boy who changed into a large, still green, winged bird. Autumn mounted up onto him and waved to us as Beast Boy took to the skies, flying around us into a circle and off into the distance.

Lastly, Riley, who had been politely waiting his turn, approached us. “Thanks… I mean… we seriously saved the day… and I guess I’m not working for a monster anymore.” I took his hand and shook it, as delicately as I could manage. He glared dejectedly at the remains of the STAR Labs facility. “I mean… I don’t know how I’m going to find any work after this, but-”

“Mercury Labs,” I said, without hesitation, “Contact Doctor Izumi Hisakawa. Drop my name. I can guarantee she’ll get you a job in a heartbeat.”

Riley blinked in surprise for a moment before nodding, “She’s… on the level?”

“As level as you can be, being a corporate CEO,” I said, shrugging, “She’s one of us and she can be trusted.”

Riley cracked a smile, “Cool… T-thanks. Just… try to keep in touch this time, okay, Serena?”

“Will do,” I said, snapping off a salute.

He nodded and, with a flash of light, blasted off into the sky.

I turned back to my team, all of them watching me expectantly. “Okay everyone, I think we should…”

I lost my train of thought as a wave of dizziness washed over me. In a flash of light, my Super Sailor Moon transformation wore off and reverted me to my usual Sailor Moon look.

The wave of energy leaving me causing me a moment of nauseating vertigo and sent me tumbling forward.

They all caught me. 

Looking up at all of them, Lani, Rita, Maya and Liv, all of them from different walks of life but united by the common purpose of justice and love… I knew that I made the right choice.

I didn’t need a League. I had a family.

“L-let’s go home,” I said, smiling up at them.