Chapter Text
The screams echoed from the plaza outside. Natsuki blanched, giving an apologetic look towards her new… acquaintances and dashed for the entrance. As she did she waved at the patrons of the Fruits Parlour who were beginning to panic, leaping from their seats and milling around. By the doorway she turned, allowing her ki senses to feel beyond the fragile barrier but there was nothing, a few people still evacuating but… wait. There was something there after all but she couldn’t read it properly, like static or an intricate thaumic mana construct designed to disrupt the passive senses of living beings.
She blinked. What exactly was she just thinking?
Right. She had a duty to these people. How could she…
She felt slimy and gross as an idea came to her.
‘I hate to use anything that bastard created but, just this once…’
“Everyone”, she yelled,expelling the word, lacing her vocals with Ki in a poor imitation of Genma’s ridiculous Yama-Sen-Ken Opening Move. The effect was still a thunderous shout that quickly silenced the room, as the untrained patrons felt their muscles lock under the impact of the roar. She blushed as all eyes trained on her.
She rallied and pointed to the door behind her. “I know you’re all tempted to rush out to see what’s going on, or to try and leave. I promise you we’ll be leaving right now ok, but through the back entrance via the fire escape. If you’re in need of help, please tell me or Motoki-senpai and we’ll get you out of here, even if need to carry you o-ourselves”
She gave a relieved smile as she saw a grim faced Motoki, returned from his office, already starting to usher people out through the back. She was sweating now, the number of eyes upon her making her feel like they could see through her, knew her and her failures. She shook her head and put on her best cute smile.
“Please follow Motoki-senpai and I’ll bring up the rear.”
With relative calm, the patrons began to move slowly. Motoki shot her a small smile for a moment and before too long they were all standing in the alleyway behind the Fruits Parlour/Crown Arcade building. Unazuki was also there directing the last of arcade goers and gave Natsuki and Matoki a thumbs up.
Looking around Natsuki felt her blood go cold. She grabbed Motoki by the arm.
“Motoki-senpai, Usagi and her friends, do you see them?”
Motoki looked alarmed. “I never saw them at all”, he said with concern shining in his eyes. “They were there, you’re sure?”
Natsuki nodded frantically
“Yes, I served them myself, I was talking to them just before the trouble started. They couldn’t have left through the front entrance, I blocked it the whole time. I just figured they moved with everyone else but I can’t remember seeing them either.”
Motoki drew himself up to his full height.
“Ok”, he said, “Y-you stay here. I’ll go back and try to find them” He was obviously trembling and Natsuki just knew she couldn’t let this kind man risk himself when there was a much better option.
Natsuki resigned herself at that moment. As Motoki took his first shaky step, her hand latched onto the back of his apron and yanked him back. It was just forceful enough to send the young man stumbling as Natsuki dashed past him and up the fire escape. As she did so she called out.
“I’ll do it, I’m faster and can hide better if I need to, call the police and get these people out of here Motoki-sempai, I’ll be out in a flash!”
She ignored Motoki’s calls after her as the back entrance door slammed shut behind her.
-:-
Mousse exited the building reluctantly. He felt bad as he left the building behind him to it's inevitable fate.Normally he would have unleashed the full might of the unbeatable Hidden Weapons style upon those ridiculous creatures, but his mission was too important.
He held his prize in both hands. She was beautiful. Creamy white fur with purple highlights along the ears, paws and tail.Shampoo would adore this and Mousse would tell her of the hardships he suffered to obtain it for her and she would fall into his arms in gratitude. Wrapped in his own fantasies, the myopic amazon failed to notice a young woman dash up the stairs and back into the building.
-:-
The Senshi had managed to use the moment when Natsuki had run for the front door, to creep into the staff room and hide behind a pile of extra building materials cluttering one corner. As the last of the patrons filed out, followed by Natsuki-chan, Usagi and the others grabbed their transformation items and spread out, before the front entrance.
“MOON PRISM POWER, MAKE UP!”
“MERCURY POWER, MAKE UP!”
“MARS POWER, MAKE UP!”
“JUPITER POWER, MAKE UP!”
“VENUS POWER, MAKE UP!”
-:-
Natsuki was only two steps inside the door when it hit her. Energy unlike anything she had ever felt before. Even Jusenkyo had been mild in comparison. She was mere steps away from a supernova of combined …
‘Forces, those which governed the universe, representative of life and emotion. She tasted a storm unceasing since the birth of the solar system and there, the purity of lifegiving water in all its forms. She was caressed by the ever hungering inferno that consumed all, even as it protected others with its warmth and light. Her heart swelled with the passion of emotion and understanding for others. And finally… it was there, that beautiful light in the ebon sky that called her home, its radiance beckoning but forever out of reach. She yearned for it. The emptiness and gnawing pain inside her even more apparent in the absence of such connections, of such bonds. She was broken and incomplete. She was half of a whole, in more ways than one. Where were her bonds now? She had had them once, she was sure but now she was sundered and cracked, by her own hand no less. She needed… She NEEDED… to feel whole once more.’
She stumbled and fell against the wall and something finally snapped within her. She opened her mouth and BREATHED .
-:-
Each of the Senshi felt it , their transformations flickered and fragmenting, great ribbons of light tearing away from their transformation items leaving them all feeling drained and exhausted. Finally, reluctantly, their uniforms settled around them as each struck their pose,
The warriors of love and justice looked around at each other in dismay.
“What the hell was that?” asked Jupiter, she looked terrified.
“I know what you mean”, Venus was frowning. “I almost lost it there, I was unaware our transformations could fail. I mean it's never happened to me and I was a Senshi long before any of you.”
Rei closed her eyes for a moment before they snapped back open. “I think whatever happened, we’ll have to focus on it later. There are at least three powerful dark signatures in the plaza outside and I can feel the presence of several people too, drained of energy. We have to hurry”, she said with a resigned weariness.
Venus and Jupiter signaled their agreement.
Meanwhile Mercury was leaning against Moon, who seemed to be in the best shape out of all of them.
“Hang in there Mercury-chan. Whatever that was, we can beat it ok, and we’ll need your help to figure it all out so you have to stay strong.”, said Moon, tears in her eyes. “We lost Mamo-chan already, We’re not losing anyone else.”.
Mercury looked up at her princess and whispered.
“N…Natsuki-san….”
Moon gave Mercury a wavering smile, meant to be inspiring and confident.
“Don’t worry Mercury-chan, she and all the others got out. They’re safe.”
“No… No M-Moon, Natsuki… sh-”
A child’s scream echoed through the Parlour and Moon’s attention was abruptly brought back to the situation at hand.
Handing Mercury to Jupiter, the blue-haired Senshi seemed to slowly be regaining the colour and some of her strength, Moon gestured to the door.
“Lets go”, she ordered and the Senshi rallied to her cry, following as Moon threw the door to the parlour open and took in the carnage beyond.
-:-
The sound of retreating figures echoed through to the back entrance.
She was frightened.
This wasn’t right.
It wasn’t right!
Already she could feel the well within her and it was draining, chords of energy moving along the mana pathways beneath her skin to circulate the life force and distribute it throughout her body. She was a wasted thing compared to in her prime but all that could be repaired once she …
Once she what?’
Her body felt off, not unfamiliar, just wrong.
She was Lo- no, that’s not right. Then did that mean she was Natsu.. No, that was more right but not correct either.
She shouldn’t be here. Not if they were here. It was the price…
The sounds and cries of battle reached her ears. And she could feel more powerful sources of energy. She needed more so badly. Her body was crying out for sustenance but she reeled her desires back and leashed them once more to her will. She could control herself, she was sure of it.
Why was she here? The memory, five girls. They were important.
Usagi-chan, she was still here somewhere with her friends, she had to hurry, she’d promised Motoki-Sempai.
She had come to get them to safety.
Usagi-chan!
Her dear Mena…
A true martial artist protects the weak, the only truth the bastard had ever taught her.
Was Mena in danger? No-one could be allowed to hurt her.
I have to move!
She had to find her.
She released the wall and wove a pattern with her hand from long ago. Trails of light followed her movements and she felt the construct snap into place.
Pain, concern, fear, anger,
Emotions crashed into her mind in quick succession as the link established. Standard defences but no mental handshake. It was like Mena was a child again. Why was this so easy? Who had trained her?
Panic.
She knew exactly where Mena was now, just beyond this hall. She began to run, ribbons of energy spiralling around her as she moved.
Determination, acceptance, terror
Not again, Never again.
Not again, Never again
Her mind blanked in a heady rush of mindless fury, eyes alight with the swirling energies of competing within, as she stoked the borrowed power within into a supernova that threatened to consume her, engulfing her form. She crashed through the doorway and fell, like a comet, as foul laughter filled the Plaza beyond.
-:-
-:-
Venus rocketed back, crashing into a convenience stand and pulled herself, panting, from the shattered remains.
She watched as Rei released a barrage of fiery rings at the pair of stone statues that had only recently been installed in a nearby fountain. Her Akuryo Taisan attack splashed against their stony carapaces, the heat of the flames lacking their usual brilliance. They barely left more than light singes on the rock. According to Ami, the statutes must have been switched secretly with Youma who had remained dormant, passively gathering energy from shoppers whenever they donated a coin to ‘charity’ by throwing it in the water below their plinth. Now they were running amuck, drawing in life force from people with abandon. They were also causing a lot of damage to the road and ground floor shops.
Leaping to the side as the scaled dragon statue charged her, Venus saw it crush what remained of the cart beneath its bulk, as she launched her own attack.
“Love Me Chain!”
The spiralling links of her glowing chain wrapped around the dragon before the creature shattered it with a growl.
“We need to regroup!”, she yelled as she landed next to Jupiter.
“We’ll hold them off.” Jupiter cried. “Get Moon and Mercury back here. Mars! You and me together. Ready?”
Mars kicked off the back of the second statue. This one was shaped like a tiger and was terrifyingly fast. The pressure of her kick crashed the statue to the floor for a second securing her some breathing space. Landing next to Jupiter she created another talisman.
“Ready.”, she said, “Combined attacks are the only thing that will halt these things, weakened as we are”
“Supreme Thunder!”
“Akuryo Taisan!”
-:-
-:-
Moon placed the child safely in her mothers arms.
“Thank you Sailor Moon”, cried the grateful woman as she gathered her daughter and dashed for the exit.
Moon smiled and looked over at Mercury who was finally back on her feet.
“Is that all of them?”, she asked hopefully.
Mercury frowned, checking her computer carefully. “It seems so.” she said hesitantly. “There was a life sign that vanished a moment ago but I assume that they left my range. It was back the way we came anyway so not in the thick of the fighting at least.”
Moon gave a sigh of relief which caught in her throat as Venus dashed towards them.
“Mars and Jupiter are holding the line but won’t be able to for much longer, Moon.” she said, her tone grim. She was battered and had several injuries causing her to clutch her side. Seeing their gaze she gestured back towards the conflict where flashes of lightning and fire could be seen. “The hell tiger caught me as I was trying to dash past. Come on girls!”
“Oh going so soon?”
A deep voice resonated through the air as a handsome man, with long grey hair and athletic build shimmered into view. A cruel cast to his features and a malicious gleam in his eyes offset his polite inquiry and Moon felt a chill shudder down her spine, even as Mercury and Venus took guard positions in front of her.
-:-
-:-
Kunzite could not believe his good fortune. He had only arrived to see to the fruition of one of his beloved Zoicite’s long term plans. It might gather some paltry amount of energy but he couldn’t bear to see his love’s work go to waste. Instead, the Senshi were being tossed around by Youma no more deadly than those they had defeated earlier under the command of Jaedite. Something had damaged or weakened them, their magical attacks were pitiful and their actions sluggish.
For a moment he jealously thought of Endymion. Was this his doing?
Well, no matter. It would be he who struck the final blow. He who secured the silver crystal and presented it to his queen, forever restoring his Monarch’s faith in him as her most powerful General.
Seeing the Senshi struggle to defend their princess as Moon clutched at her crystal pendant in fear, brought a foul joy to his heart. He would savour this.
-:-
Venus and Mercury were engulfed in twin blasts as Kunzite spread his arms wide. They were just too slow and too reluctant to dodge, knowing it would expose Moon to attack. Screams were silenced as both women were encased in pillars of ice, frozen and unable to act.
Moon dashed forwards, her fear forgotten in concern for her friends.
“Moon Tiara Boomerang!”
The golden disc of light rocketed from her hands as she launched her tiara at her foe. He looked at it contemptuously before batting it from the sky.
Landing he began to stalk towards her, blade appearing in a spiral of darkness to land in his right hand.
Moon tried again and again, launching attack after attack.
“Moon Tiara Boomerang!”
“Moon Tiara Boomerang!”
“Moon Tiara Boomerang!”
Each time Kunzite blocked her attempts with ridiculous ease. The last he actually caught with his free hand, looking at the tiara with amusement before crushing it. Then suddenly, he was directly in front of her, gripping her by the face.
As tears filled her eyes, Moon saw Kunzite give a cruel smirk before pulling back his blade. His voice when he spoke held a mocking tone.
“I really wish I had the opportunity to do this before that coward Endymion’s eyes, but no matter. I’ll settle for the look on his face when I present him with your head, little princess.”
He swung the blade forward, his cruel laughter giving away to a yell of triumph.
“And thus falls the Kingdom of Serenity at last. All hail Queen Beryl”
There was a flash of silver.
-:-
Mars and Jupiter stood surrounded by the remains of their foes, finally reduced to dust.
Mars turned and gripped Jupiter’s shoulder as she began to run desperately, dragging the taller Senshi with her as she saw Moon…Usagi, in the clutches of a dark general. She let out a wail of despair seeing the general, Kunzite raise his blade and then bring it down to shear Usagi, sweet, wonderful, annoying, beautiful Usagi’s head from her shoulders. Time seemed to slow.
Mako began to pull ahead of her, lightning wreathing her limbs as she pushed herself to move, subconsciously enhancing herself even further to save her princess. Rei’s princess. Her Usagi.
They wouldn’t make it.
They had failed.
There was a flash of silver.
-:-
She had shut her eyes, not wanting to see the blade that would take her life coming.
And yet she felt no pain. Only…warmth? Was she dead?
No.
Usagi could hear the crackle of lightning, the dissipating echoes of Rei-chan’s scream and the creaking of the ice as Ami and Minako struggled to free themselves. She was hearing her friends, she had to be alive.
There was also a definite absence of one noise. Kunzite was no longer laughing.
Moon opened her eyes.
Inches from her neck, Kunzite’s blade was halted in its tracks by a shimmering, hexagonal crystal of light, no larger than a handspan across.
Then she felt the warmth tighten and realised she was being held from behind, arms wrapped around her, hugging her gently.
Arms that seemed to flicker and shimmer, like they were coated in pearlescent flames.
-:-
Kunzite snarled and struck again, determined to not to be denied his prize. No matter how and where he struck the blow, interlocking plates of the same crystals manifested to deflect and deter his attack.
-:-
Mars and Jupiter arrived to see the frustrated general howl and launch a beam of darkness at Moon, only for it to crash against a spherical barrier that manifested itself all about her and shatter into a black mist. Such corrupted blast held no power over the layered construct that provided their Princess with sanctuary.
Together they quickly freed Mercury and Venus, their powers best suited to breaking them from their icy prison. Reunited they stared at the confrontation, gathering their strength, struck dumb by the waves of familiar power emanating from the newest arrival.
-:-
“Who are you!”, howled Kunzite at the glowing figure embracing his foe. “You protect the enemy of my sovereign. Declare yourself and prepare for your life, your very essence to be forfeit for this insult to Queen Beryl”
-:-
A soft humming filled Moon’s ears. The song was familiar. Memories of a workshop… a crystal brooch open on the table with various tools and devices attached by wires. She remembered raising small hands and a larger set answering her call, lifting her and placing her on their lap as she leant forward curiously to see what all the fuss was about.
Soft laughter and a warm embrace, arms around her as they were now.
“Mena, you like?
“What is it?” Moon whispered, echoing the words in her mind.
“A gift, my little Mena. Artume has been gone too long and I worry about her. This will help us keep her safe. Will you sit quietly with me while I finish it off? Then, maybe we can spend some time together in the gardens?
“Ok.” Moon whispered
“My darling Mena” said the voice, love and affection so rarely seen in public on full display.
The humming continued until Kunzite’s declaration made it halt abruptly.
-
-:-
“Beryl?”
With that single word a wave of pressure filled the Plaza and Kunzite experienced a moment of fear as he was forced to one knee by the pain and disgust lacing the word.
Each of the Senshi felt it too but the same energies that crushed Kunzite, bypassed them entirely.
The figure released Moon from its embrace and, suddenly, it was standing before her rather than behind. Unobscured they could see long sweeping skirts of billowing mana encased its torso. A mantle of silver flames was settled about its shoulders. It had a modest feminine form, with long flowing hair which shone like starlight.. All exposed skin was coated in layers of the same energy, including her face which was featureless except for vague hints of a mouth and nose. Her eyes were very visible as well. They were wide and shimmering orbs filled with many different colors swelling and breaking apart before rejoining, stared at Kunzite impassively as she raised an arm. Kunzite began to raise his own barrier.
Too slow
The lance of silver energy that erupted from the woman’s outstretched hand was almost impossible to follow. It crashed into Kunzite’s partially finished barrier, overwhelming it in seconds and smashing into the dark general’s shoulder. It drilled a neat hole through flesh and bone, blood evaporating as it hit, creating a super-heated haze of red in the air behind him.
Cursing, Kunzite teleported out of the way of a second blast before screaming as a third almost tore his left leg from his body.
Ami was typing on her computer rapidly, examining the energy readings. She looked up in wonder.
“She’s manipulating pure mana. She’s got so much control she doesn’t need to call out or structure her attacks like we do. It’s simple in structure and almost archaic, like a prototype to our own attack methods, but the power and speed of each attack is off the charts. Simultaneously she was able to predict where he would appear after he dodged her attack, like she was reading his energy signature and could track his every move.”
Minako looked worried, she was clutching her head.
Rei put a hand on her shoulder. “What is it?”
Minako shuddered.
“Something is very wrong. I can’t remember why though. My memories are spotty at the best of times but my every instinct is screaming right now”
“Mine too”, said Jupiter as she knelt beside Ami. She saw the Senshi of Water shivering pitifully and threw an arm around her shoulder. “But for now, she saved the princess and is stomping one of our most powerful enemies into the ground. Let's try and talk to her first before we leap in, guns blazing”
Mercury swore under her breath, the crudity of her words made Jupiter blush as the Mercury computer blared a warning.
“Moon”, she screamed out, “You need to stop her. Now”
The rest of the Senshi returned their attention to the battle in time to see Kunzite desperately drifting towards a portal to his left. His opponent, impassive as ever had gathered a spark of light before her that despite its size gave off an aura of pure destruction.
She raised a hand
She stopped .
-:-
Kunzite’s body was wracked with pain as he finally crossed the barrier of his portal back to the safety of the negaverse. He had made it back and felt some small relief. However he was not looking forward to facing his queen to report such a failure.
She would also be less than happy to hear the Senshi had a new ally, volatile as she might be. However…a small voice in his mind interrupted, there was always a chance that she could be turned to their cause. One such as her was unprecedented in this day and age and his Queen did so like acquiring new pets.
Oh yes, there was potential here. He could feel it.. He just hoped his Queen would see it that way too.
-:-
She felt the arms wrap around her… causing her to cease her extermination of the vermin seeking desperate escape to some pocket realm.
Instead she focused upon the tension around her shoulders, holding her. When did Mena get so very big? She and her guardians were growing too fast for her liking. She reached up and patted the arm awkwardly.
The world was spinning
She had used too much of her pitiful stores too fast.
Her vision blurred
Around her five beacons of life-giving mana beckoned to her.
No
No… she wouldn’t hurt anyone like that. She wasn’t some monster like the Panda or the old pervert. She was a good person, at least she had that much and Natsuki refused to give up on herself like everyone else except one other did.
No… she was nothing like those Terrans like Beryl, taking and taking and taking. She refused to fall to their level. She wanted people to have hope in people like her, it was her duty and, more importantly, it was what was right.
-:-
The Senshi gathered around the Princess as she held back the other woman from her attack. For a moment no-one dared to say a thing. Then the attack unravelled itself.
They watched cautiously as the woman hesitantly reached up to pat Moons’s arm.
As Venus stepped forward, the woman’s eyes snapped up from where Moon was embracing her and she looked at each of them in turn, a flash something deep and hungering showing from within that was quickly stilled. The rainbow nexus that covered her eyes receded to show crystal blue pupils beneath. She began to breathe heavily, her form flickering.
“Moon, step back”, called Venus.
Reluctantly, Moon released her grip on the woman, who staggered forward a few steps. Then energy encompassing her body receded, sinking into her skin as though being absorbed. Her waitress outfit and silver-marked hair quickly confirmed her identity to the other scouts. She pitched forwards with a pitiful whimper, but was caught by a pair of arms, outstretched and ready to catch her.
Moon yelped and pointed frantically at another person who had just appeared without warning. Rei and Makoto clutched each other and Ami held onto Venus for support.
Venus took it upon herself to take charge.
“And who are you?”, she asked the newcomer.
The woman stood, Natsuki cradled in her arms. She was tall, and regal looking. She had deep verdant locks that fell to her knees. Her Senshi uniform was black and white, decorated with deep maroon bows and a series of keys hanging around her waist from a chain. A staff adorned with garnets and key-like protrusions along its shaft, floated in the air behind her. Her crimson eyes were gentle as she gazed down at the girl in her arms and she turned her attention to Venus; they became no less gentle but within Venus could see iron at their very core. This was not someone to be trifled with.
“Sailor Pluto”, came the reply to her question. Pluto’s voice was elegant and soft, barely above a whisper.
Moon stepped forward, towards Pluto and Natuski, her face filled with concern and wonder.
“Is she ok?”, Moon asked. “You said your name is Sailor Pluto? Does that mean you are here to join us?”
Pluto shook her head.
“I wish I could, my princess, but there are more urgent matters at hand, and to answer your question… no, this girl is very much not ok. In fact, Sailor Moon, she should not be here at all. That she is and what she is, means that for us she could be either our greatest ally or spell doom for us all.
Jupiter ran her hands through her hair in frustration.
“Just tell us who she is!”, she demanded. “We have a right to know. Is she a Senshi too? I mean who's left… Neptune, Uranus…. Saturn?”
Pluto ignored Jupiter’s questions for a moment as Natsuki reached up and weakly patted Pluto’s cheek.
“No picking on… Saturn.. Sephie. W-we don’t like it She’s a s-sweet g-gir”
She slumped again, out cold, and Pluto sighed, gritting her teeth
“Always the hard way, fine then.”
She turned back to the Senshi
“She is, from what I can gather, the reincarnation of Losna Serenity, which should very much not be possible considering what she had to do in order to ensure your safe rebirth in the future. I.. I saw her sacrifice herself”
“And that means?”, asked Rei.
“Oh!”, exclaimed Mercury, eyes wide.
“She’s the Queen”, whispered Venus
Moon just stood there in shock.
“M-mother… you mean she’s alive?”
