[ ] Act 20 - Nemesis / Complications Originally appeared in Nakayoshi, October and November 1993. Translated by Alex Glover. Version 1.01, 7.96. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Usagi's body stays frozen as she slowly starts to fade away. "Sailor Moon!?" Mamoru rushes forward. "Sailor Moon!!" She vanishes entirely. Prince Diamaund and the Wiseman disappear with her. The moon rod falls to the floor. "Usako!!" Minako drops to her knees. "Oh my god...! Sailor Moon! Noooo! Sailor Moon!!" Chibi-Usa stares at the rod. "Sailor Moon!" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The air is filled with darkness. "Where am I?" Two people appear in the distance. A man with short, dark hair embraces a woman with two ponytails flowing from pointed balls of hair. "Mamo-chan?" The woman looks back. "Chibi-Usa?" Usagi runs toward them. "Wait!" The two people run away from her. "Where are you going? Don't leave me!" Usagi opens her eyes. She sits up on the ground. "My head hurts... What happened to me...?" She sees herself wearing an elegant white dress. "What... What am I wearing!? My brooch!" She looks around for it and finds it on the floor next to her. She stands up. "Where is this?" She sees the image of a woman being projected above a stone pedestal. "Is that me?" She walks up to it. "No... Neo-Queen Selenity?" "I find that hologram pleasing." Usagi turns around and sees Diamaund. "I'm glad you've come to the castle of the Black Moon on our planet Nemesis, Sailor Moon- no, the future Neo-Queen Selenity. That is a more suitable name for you. I am Prince Diamaund, of the Black Moon. I want to talk with you. Have a seat." He motions with his hand and Usagi falls back onto a chair. He sits on a stone pedestal. "My attack fully used the power of the Evil Black Crystal. You woke up quickly. As expected, your body is influenced by the Mystical Silver Crystal. But, this planet might be tough on that body." "Oh no..." Usagi thinks. "This... is Nemesis?" She looks at the man. "You're the one who attacked Crystal Tokyo! Diamaund!" "Yes," he says. "I wanted to show you that the Mystical Silver Crystal isn't the only thing that carries immense strength. The fantasy world of long life and infinite power... Our planet Earth... We didn't like it." Diamaund stands with Safir, Rubeus, and Esmeraude. They stare at the sparkling Crystal Palace. The Wiseman appears. "Young traitors," he says. "If you desire power, go to Nemesis. If you want to have everything... Get the Evil Black Crystal." "We took the Evil Black Crystal and put it to use," Diamaund continues. "The planet turned into a planet of death. It had power far beyond our expectations. We were fed up with the influence of the Moon Kingdom. We wanted nothing to do with that Earth. We would create a new Earth. To the past, before the Moon Kingdom's influence started. We went to the past. We would rewrite history. That is our magnificent Replay operation. The recreation of history." Usagi gasps. "The recreation of history!?" "Long life and peace are deceptive. With the Mystical Silver Crystal, the people don't age. That's blasphemy toward god. Their bodies must die. We will repeat the fight of the past, and return to our correct history." "You're crazy!" Usagi says. "Go to the past and start history over again!? That's insane!" "All time and space is merely energy," says Diamaund. "The all-powerful planet of the Evil Black Crystal. If we control the still unknown power of the planet, and the crystal, we will be able to take all the planets, all the dimensions of the universe. That the Mystical Silver Crystal came first means nothing. This has a larger power. And that beautiful planet will be ours." A large explosion blasts in the city of Crystal Tokyo. Toxic gas fills the air. People on the streets begin to choke. They fall to the ground, coughing. A young girl cries. "You noisy brat!" Two hands wrap around the girl's neck. The skin on her body dissolves. The queen rushes out. "Small Lady!?" "I saw her then. A woman like I couldn't even have dreamed of. She lived in the palace, and so I had never seen her before. An almighty goddess. Neo-Queen Selenity. Such a beautiful queen. But she despised me. She thought I wasn't even human. Her eyes rejected me." Neo-Queen Selenity stares defiantly at Diamaund. A mark on his forehead glows. A beam of light shoots at the queen. She falls back, and is shielded in a mass of crystal. "That was the first time I saw that terrible power. The power of the Mystical Silver Crystal. Then the queen was taken back into the palace. Since then, I haven't been able to forget those eyes. I wanted to meet her again, and make her kneel before me. And I got her. In any form, at last, I have her." He approaches Usagi and holds her head. "Those eyes. The beautiful ruler of the beautiful planet, Neo-Queen Selenity." Usagi's eyes widen as he kisses her deeply. She shoves him away. "No!!" She grabs her brooch. "Moon Crystal Power! Make Up!!" Diamaund laughs as nothing happens. "I can't transform!?" "This planet is imbued with the energy of the Evil Black Crystal," says Safir. "It absorbs all kinds of power, and turns them into nothingness. Even the power of the Mystical Silver Crystal." "You are free to wander around the palace," says Rubeus. "Sailor Moon, this is your eternal resting place. Ahaha!" "They're all crazy!" Usagi thinks. "They aren't human... They're demons!" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The body of Neo-Queen Selenity lies in a crystal tomb. "Who is that? Something is disturbing my sleep... Intense fury and spite... Fierce desire... My precious ones... are in danger!" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- King Endymion's head jerks back. "King?" He looks around. "...It's nothing." He turns back to the large viewscreen with Minako and Mamoru. "Nemesis has disappeared from its orbit again. But even though we can't see it, it's still releasing strong negative energy." "It disappeared..." says Mamoru. "The Evil Black Crystal is distorting space?" Luna types into the computer. "There's radiation from line X... The orbit of Nemesis is sucking in gases and light. It's just like a black hole." "A black hole..." says the king. "The end of a star. Nemesis is a planet of unstable growth. But, still, like a black hole, it takes in surrounding gases and light while it grows. Since the Black Moon captured that planet, its activity has been rapidly increasing. It's dangerous." "King!" Mamoru says. "Sailor Moon, and Mars, Jupiter, and Mercury are on that planet! We have to save them at once!" "I know," he says. "We have to find a way to get there. The Evil Black Crystal draws and distorts all the energy around it. Such a terrible stone... The polar opposite of the Mystical Silver Crystal. A horrible planet... Nemesis." "We can only rescue them with the power of the Mystical Silver Crystal," says Minako. "But without Neo-Queen Selenity or Sailor Moon, we can't use it. What can we do?" "Chibi-Usa," Luna says. "Since Chibi-Usa is the daughter of Neo-Queen Selenity, she should be able to use the crystal. She carries the blood of the Silver Millennium, so she must..." King Endymion looks down. "Small Lady has no power. How old do you think she is? She may not look it, but she's nine hundred years old." "Nine hundred!?" "Yes... One day, she suddenly just stopped growing. She never acquired any power, or the ability to transform. She was born as a new child of Earth, carrying the blood of the Silver Millennium. We don't fully understand her." "But if Small Lady doesn't carry any power," Minako says, "and she's Neo-Queen Selenity's successor to be the next queen..." "No," says the king. "It will definitely awaken! It will be her mission to protect this planet." "King," says Luna. "How long has this dispute with the Black Moon been going on? When did they first appear?" "Once... Centuries ago... In Earth's most beautiful and peaceful Crystal Tokyo. He brought crime and slaughter. The leader appeared... The insane ruler, Phantom. A black crescent moon mark adorned his forehead. The defender of the until-then quiet Crystal Tokyo, Neo-Queen Selenity, rose up against him. She captured him and banished him to Nemesis. Then she blocked the planet off. Peace soon returned, and in time people forgot. Then the traitors appeared and declared themselves the Black Moon. They said they would kill the Moon Kingdom." "The same black moon mark on their foreheads..." says Luna. "Are they the descendants of Phantom?" "They don't have the system of long life. Phantom was buried centuries before, so we don't know whether they are or not..." Mamoru sees the moon rod lying on the floor. He picks it up. "It's cracked..." he thinks as he looks at it. He closes his eyes and looks down. "We made it together... The rod... The mark of the queen...! I swore that I'd protect her. Usako! I will rescue you! Usako!!" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Mamo-chan!?" Usagi sits up in her bed. "Must have imagined it... Mamo-chan... Venus... I'm too far away for their voices to reach me. I'm scared... I can't even transform. I'm really alone..." Tears streak from her eyes. "Someone besides Mamo-chan kissed me. Oh, Mamo-chan... I might never see you again... When I was fighting, I was only worried about Chibi-Usa and Mamo-chan. I wasn't paying attention... And now I could be dying. Damnit, Usagi, open your eyes. But, now... It's too late... I can't transform or use my power. What about my mission... Will somebody tell me what to do? I don't want to die here!" "Princess Selenity, remember..." Usagi sees an image of her mother, Queen Selenity. "The Mystical Silver Crystal depends on your spirit." "Did my heart make that illusion...?" Usagi thinks. "Every time Mamo-chan took care of Chibi-Usa, I felt uneasy. I had no confidence. I forgot my believing heart. Is that why I couldn't use my power? "I'm the next queen. Neo-Queen Selenity. I will protect Earth, and everyone!" "Save my mother!" Chibi-Usa cried. "I want to give you my strength," said King Endymion. "Sailor Moon!" the girls say. "Usagi!" "Usako... I'm always thinking of you." "I'm not alone," Usagi says. "I'm not alone. Believe, Usagi, in your power. I have to act now. I must find Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter. They have to be on Nemesis. Mercury! Mars! Jupiter!" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ami, Rei, and Makoto lie in darkness. They slowly open their eyes. Jupiter sits up, holding her head. "Sailor Moon...?" She sees Rei. "Mars?" "Jupiter!?" calls Ami. "Mercury?" says Rei. "Everyone!?" Rei gets up. "We're..." "Our transformations reverted...!?" Makoto says. "Where are we?" says Ami. They all gasp suddenly as they see a pile of rotting corpses in the corner of the room. "They're dead... They're all dead!" They turn away in disgust. "They look like monsters..." They look around and see rocks lining the walls, all in darkness. "Are we in a cave?" says Rei. "How did we get here?" "Let's get out of here," Makoto says, "and talk later. I heard Usagi's voice inside my head." "I heard it too," says Ami. "Is she nearby!?" Makoto raises her hand. "Jupiter Star Power!" "Mercury Star Power!" "Mars Star Power!" They remain still in their ordinary clothes. "We can't transform!?" The eyes in one of the corpses begin to glow. Gas fills the room. "What the-!?" says Makoto. "Intense strength... It's taking my power!" The girls collapse on the ground. Makoto gasps as she slips out of consciousness. "Sailor Moon!" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Usagi's head jerks up. "Mercury, Mars, Jupiter!? Did I just get some reaction from them!?" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Wiseman laughs. "Heh heh... Sailor Mars, Mercury, and Jupiter. I no longer have any use for you. In that stone prison, the Room of Darkness, you will shrivel up and rot away." His eyes glow brightly. The face of Chibi-Usa appears in his crystal ball. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chibi-Usa wanders through the streets. "I went to the past from the 30th century," she thinks. "And I first met Usagi and Mamo-chan..." "Hey Luna-P, is she my mother from long ago? The legendary Sailor Moon?" "She was flaky, and she got yelled at a lot... Just like me. That was fun... And now it'll never be like that again... Sailor Moon was never beaten was any enemy." "Why?" she asks. "She has a strong heart, and amazing friends, and she carries a matchless power." "I don't have any power... Even though I'm her daughter." "She doesn't have the forehead mark of the Silver Millennium!" "She's going to be short forever!" "She's nothing like the queen." "Hey!" the boy calls. "Come on, show me your power! Like the queen!" Chibi-Usa runs away, crying. - "Small Lady, long ago, the queen was a crybaby too. Small Lady... Someday that name will change to beautiful lady. You are very important to the queen. You're her daughter." "But I don't even look like my mom. I'll never be a lady like her. I can't be that good... My wondrous mom. My loving dad. She's most important to him." "Don't you know?" says the kid. "You're not the queen's real kid. That's what everyone says." "You're a fake princess!" "No!" she cries. "I'm my mom and dad's kid!" "Then how come she never takes care of you?" She looks down. "My mom's busy..." "If you're the princess, then you can use the Mystical Silver Crystal. Hmph. I bet you've never even seen the crystal! Why don't you show it to us. Otherwise, you're just a liar like I thought." - Chibi-Usa peers into the room. The Mystical Silver Crystal sits in a glass case in the center of the room. She picks up the Luna-P ball and throws it at the case. The glass shatters. She holds the crystal. "This... is the Mystical Silver Crystal." "Small Lady?" Chibi-Usa rushes behind the wall. Neo-Queen Selenity sees the shattered glass. She gasps as she notices the crystal missing. "Small Lady!?" Chibi-Usa cowers in fear. A noise sounds in the distance outside the palace. A storm blows through the air. Chibi-Usa gets up. "What? What's happening? Mom!? Mom, where are you!?" A large explosion blasts in the city of Crystal Tokyo. Toxic gas fills the air. People on the streets begin to choke. They fall to the ground, coughing. A young girl cries. The queen rushes out of the palace. "Small Lady!?" Chibi-Usa runs up and sees the queen fall back, held in a mass of crystal. She gasps. "Mom!!" "It's my fault," she says, tears in her eyes. "If I hadn't taken the Mystical Silver Crystal, Mom would..." Luna-P bounces on the floor. "Abracadabra... Pon." Chibi-Usa looks up. "Abracadabra... Pon." "Those are the magic words that will raise your spirits, Small Lady," said Sailor Pluto. "Don't cry." "Pluto..." Chibi-Usa holds the ball. "I'll go to her. She's my only friend." She walks through the halls of the palace. "Deep in the palace... The very deepest part... At the end of the deepest hallway... I found the door. It opened to my touch. It was so light..." Chibi-Usa comes upon a large door. She pushes on the door, and it slides open. Sailor Pluto stands inside, holding a long staff. She kneels down. "Greetings, Small Lady." "You know me?" Chibi-Usa asks. "Only kindred of the Silver Millennium can come to this place. My name is Sailor Pluto. I am the guardian of this door. You and the queen are two peas in a pod. Surely, you'll become a beautiful lady too." "She was the first one besides mom and dad to say that." "Whenever you're sad, say 'Abracadabra.' That magic word will make you happy." "Abracadabra?" says Chibi-Usa. "Pon!" Pluto points her staff out and flowers appear from nowhere, filling the air. "Wow! That's great!" She looks at the staff. "Pluto, what is that?" "It's my garnet rod," she says. "My mom had one too," says Chibi-Usa. "A wondrous rod. With that moon rod, she controlled the Mystical Silver Crystal... and brought miracles." "That will become your duty soon," Pluto says. "You're the queen's daughter." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I thought for sure she'd come here," says King Endymion. "Don't worry, King," says Sailor Pluto. "She'll turn up. The princess will be all right. Besides, Luna-P is with her." "I suppose. Pluto, Sailor Moon has also been taken by the enemies. The situation is very grave. Please lend your strength to Tuxedo Kamen and Sailor Venus. I'm depending on you." "Yes, King." She smiles. "Of course." Chibi-Usa watches the two in the distance. "Pluto?" she thinks. "This is the first time I've seen her looking so happy. The Pluto I know always looked a little depressed." Pluto smiles. "This is the first time you've come here to visit me." "She only smiled around me..." She looks down. "Now there's nowhere for me to go..." The key on her necklace drops to the ground. Pluto turns around as the king leaves. "Small Lady?" She picks up the key. "This is... the space-time key I gave to Small Lady!? Oh no! Small Lady!!" - Chibi-Usa runs through the black space, with Luna-P following close behind her. "I've gone so far... Where am I? It's dark, and cold... I'm always running through time and space... This is scary. I should go back." She feels her neck, where the silver crystal hangs alone. "The key... It's gone!? Where did I lose it!?" A dark, cloaked figure appears before her, sitting behind a crystal ball. "Well..." he says. "Look who's come all the way out here... Seems you're lost." "Who are you?" Chibi-Usa asks. "The cloaked spirit of darkness... Without saying farewell to your world, you can't come here to the end of the earth. Awaken your knowledge!" A glowing crescent moon mark appears on Chibi-Usa's forehead. "I am what you have been seeking... I need you... Come with me." He holds out his hand. "Come..." She slowly reaches for it. "Take my hand, and come with me." - The key begins to glow in Pluto's hands. "Small Lady!?" she calls. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chibi-Usa takes the Wiseman's hand. A blinding burst of light flashes in the darkness. Pluto stares in horror. "That storm...!? I have to stand guard. I must call for order! Nothing like this has happened before. Chaos is storming... Small Lady!? Something's happened to Small Lady!! I can feel... danger... danger... King Endymion!!" She falls to the ground. The garnet rod hits the floor next to her. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "This is an amazing library," says Minako. "You must have every book here." The king briefly sees a vision of the frozen queen. "What...!?" he thinks. "I felt something in my chest." Mamoru looks up from the book in his hands. "King?" "I'm going to see Pluto," he says. "I have a bad feeling." Mamoru feels a sensation. "Oh no!" he thinks. "Something's happened to Chibi-Usa!!" "I'll go with you, King," he calls. "Wait for me!" says Minako. "You stay here, Venus," the king says. "We'll be back soon." She watches the two caped men leave. "Oh, jeez. I never get to do anything! Man... This isn't fair!" "Venus," calls Luna. "Look, we've found something." She sits at the computer with Artemis. "It's a file on the incident in question." She reads from the screen: "'Death Phantom. Among the highest class of criminals of the past. Has these special abilities: death hands and evil vision.' According to the records, he destroyed Crystal Tokyo all by himself. He made it like a city of crime. He brought it to ruin. It was a terrible time. The enemy was human, but with his special powers, the queen couldn't kill him. So she banished him to the most distant planet of the solar system. He was sent to the cursed planet, Nemesis. From then on, nobody was allowed to approach that planet." "The constant disasters..." Artemis says. "The fights we lost... They were all caused by that cursed planet, Nemesis." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- King Endymion approaches the space-time door. Strong winds blow through the air. He sees the fallen guardian. "Pluto!?" He runs over to her. "Are you all right?" "King," says Mamoru. "This storm... What happened!?" "King," Pluto says. "Small Lady... She dropped her key. I saw her vanish in the distance." "Chibi-Usa!?" Mamoru thinks. "This storm came from the direction she was in. Something happened to her. For a moment, I felt a strong reaction... She went through some kind of change. The change created this storm in space-time." "Chibi-Usa vanished on the other side of this storm..." says Mamoru. He runs off into the storm. "Tuxedo Kamen!?" Pluto calls. "Stop! With the key gone, you shouldn't go there! Come back! Tuxedo Kamen!" "Chibi-Usa!!" he yells. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Was that really them?" Usagi thinks. "Mars... Mercury... Jupiter... I'm sure I felt something from them. But in a moment, it was gone. I feel something evil..." She wanders around the palace. "The Black Moon's castle is like a maze... I walk around and around, and everywhere looks the same. Where are they!? Where? They have to be in this castle. What am I going to do..." She leans against a wall, next to a door. "I've only been walking for a little while, but I'm getting so weak..." She hears voices coming from the other side of the door. "People talking...?" "What's wrong with our prince?" asks Rubeus. "And where he put the future Neo-Queen Selenity? We should put the place to good use. It's full of the power of the Evil Black Crystal. Bodies don't last long in there. Are the three soldiers still alive?" "We only captured them to lure in Sailor Moon," says Safir. "We no longer need them. We'll leave them in the Room of Darkness, where they'll just rot away. "They're alive!?" Usagi thinks. "The Room of Darkness!? They took the others... to get me!?" "Nobody wants to get near that underground prison," says Safir. "I know..." says Rubeus. "It has no doorways. Its inhabitants ceased to be people of this world long ago... All that remains are gruesome corpses. Anything can happen in there. That place is most unpleasant. We should deal with it quickly. What are you afraid of? I don't know what happened in the past, but the tales say the prison was used." "This planet is dangerous," Safir says. "It feels like its intentions are changing. We can control here, but... We might only be pawns..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Usagi lies on the floor. "They're in the underground prison... The Room of Darkness..." She drifts off to sleep. Diamaund enters the room and picks her up in his arms. - Mamoru runs through the storm in the darkness. - Diamaund sets her down on a bed. "Mamo-chan..." she mumbles. - Mamoru calls out, "Chibi-Usa!!" He holds the moon rod in his hand. - "Mamo-chan!?" Diamaund slaps her across the face. He stares at his hand in shock. Usagi sits up, holding her brooch. "Don't touch me...!" "Hold yourself together, Usagi," she thinks. "If you ever want to see him again, you can't die here!" "Where are my friends!?" she says. "Where's the underground prison!?" "They're pretty," says Diamaund. "But they're no longer alive." "They are alive!" Usagi shouts. "I'll find them!" She runs away. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Safir stands outside in a circle of stone pillars. In the center is a glowing black beam of light, rising into the sky. "Veneti. Aquatiki." Two amorphous figures appear in the black pillar of light. They address him. "Safir-sama." "You have been using large amounts of energy to make finished droids," he says. "The droids are good. Your plans have never failed us." Usagi rushes out of the castle and stops as she sees Safir standing before the stream of light. "What is that...!?" Safir turns around. "Hello, future Neo-Queen Selenity. The beautiful ruler... You've come to the core of Nemesis, the reactor of the Evil Black Crystal." "The Evil Black Crystal's reactor!?" "This reactor is the only release of the power coming from the inside of this planet. You, too, have come from here to this planet. This is where we sent off the droids to the past, for our project." Usagi gasps. "Their project to change history..." she thinks. "Breathtaking, isn't it? The power of the Evil Black Crystal. But it's like we're sitting on dynamite. It's growing... Upsetting the balance of this planet. It's dangerous. My brothers don't understand. Time travel, and making droids, takes huge amounts of energy. We're putting a lot of strain on the fusion reactor, using all that energy. We don't know what kind of effect that has. This planet is like my brother. He's ruinous. His plans always went wrong. He put the Evil Black Crystal into Earth, and made it a planet of death. That wasn't part of the plan. I'd like to let you go... Then he appeared before us. The Wiseman. He guided us. I wonder if that's what he came to do. On this cursed planet, it takes in light and energy, and turns it into negative energy. That stone distorts time and space..." "The time when we will take everything is coming," Diamaund says. "That's correct," says the Wiseman. "Not just that beautiful planet, but the entire universe will be ours. The only possible obstacle is the one with the Mystical Silver Crystal. That is the only thing that can equal the power of our Evil Black Crystal. Crush it! Erase it from that world!" "The Mystical Silver Crystal... I want to see it. Something that carries that much power. If I attack that planet, the queen will surely show up with it!" "Brother?" calls Safir. "We haven't seen the full power of the Evil Black Crystal yet. This would be a fine opportunity to test it." Usagi gasps. She fingers her brooch in her hands. "My brother was taken over... By this planet, and the Evil Black Crystal. Now no one can stop him. We will proceed with the Replay operation, to the Earth of the past. We'll start to change the path of history. Then when we warp back to the 30th century, disturbances will start to occur. We're in danger... Us. This planet, Nemesis. Earth. Everything." He looks up at Usagi. "You won't repeat this to anyone." "Repeat this...? Me? What do you mean!?" "Veneti. Aquatiki." The two spirits swirl around Usagi. She looks at them in surprise. They throw her back, and she crashes to the ground. Safir bends down over her, and places his hands around her neck. "The truth will be that the unbeatable soldier Sailor Moon died. Heh heh... From here, we'll go to the Earth of the past, and recreate history. We'll return to a new future. We don't know what'll become of the earth or this planet! Or you! It's your fault my brother's acting strangely. It's your fault everything's gone wrong!" He takes a large, sharp black crystal. "You awful woman! The existence of you and your Mystical Silver Crystal have upset history." He holds the crystal high above his head. "Die!!" "An awful woman!?" Usagi thinks. "Me!?" Her hand clutches the brooch at her side. "It's all the fault of my existence!?" Minako and Mamoru look up. The crystal holding Neo-Queen Selenity flashes. The brooch glows brightly as Safir holds Usagi on the ground. "What!?" Safir says. "That light...!!" Diamaund and Rubeus turn around. "Usako!?" calls Mamoru. "This...!" says the Wiseman. "This light is running through the division of space-time! This light's so strong!!" "That's right, Wiseman. This is surely the power of the Mystical Silver Crystal." A shadowy woman with two ponytails falling from pointed balls of hair stands behind him. "If you leave Nemesis, I'm going with you." Usagi stands up, holding her glowing brooch. The two spirits scream and they dissipate into nothingness. "I don't believe it," she says. "The power it had lost! If I do it now, here!" "This reactor is the only release of the power coming from the inside of this planet." "I can transform!! Moon Crystal Power! Make Up!!" Usagi becomes Sailor Moon before the three of the Black Moon. "She transformed!?" says Diamaund. "Damnit!!" Usagi senses her friends nearby. "Where are they...?" She feels around on the floor. "Where is the Room of Darkness? Deep, deep... At the bottom... The very bottom. There they are!" The three are unconscious on the floor of the cavern. "Mars! Mercury! Jupiter! Wake up!" She presses her hand to the ground. "Wake up!" The ground rips apart before her. The girls open their eyes. "Sailor Moon!?" They look around. "Sailor Moon!? Where are you!?" "Mars!" she calls. "Mercury! Jupiter!" They get up. "Her power reached down here. Sailor Moon's power! What happened!?" The eyes on a corpse begin to glow, again filling the room with gas. "Sailor Moon!" calls Rei. "Where are you!? We can't transform here!" Ami moans, and sways to the side. Makoto catches her. "Stay with us, Ami!" "You can transform!" Usagi tells them. "I'll help you. Do it! Now!" "Jupiter Star Power!" "Mercury Star Power!" "Mars Star Power!" "Make Up!!" The three soldiers burst above ground, joining Usagi. "Sailor Moon!?" Minako says on Earth. "Mars! Mercury! Jupiter!" "I don't believe it," says Rubeus. "They have the kind of power to do this..." Diamaund says. "Wiseman!" The hooded figure appears. "I'm here, Prince. I am here. Heh heh..." Blackness begins to grow out behind him. "What the-!?" Rubeus says. "That massive black shadow!? Wiseman!?" "Heh heh... That Mystical Silver Crystal has awesome power. It crosses time and space. I can use it to increase the negative energy, and free the power of the Evil Black Crystal." "Amazing power," says Diamaund. "Everyone's after it. That's sure to cause fighting and misfortune." "No!" says Usagi. "The Mystical Silver Crystal protects peace! It brings love and tranquility! I won't accept your distorted wisdom, and your evil plots! There will be no fighting. Everyone will live in peace!" The crescent moon appears on her forehead beneath her tiara. "Open your eyes! You're misusing the Evil Black Crystal. The way you're using it is wrong!" The image of the queen shines behind her. "Sailor Moon!?" the others say. "No... That's... Neo-Queen Selenity!?" "Love and tranquility is a fantasy," Diamaund says. "Since you have the Mystical Silver Crystal, you cause hate and delusions. That crystal is the source of all misfortune. Isn't that right, Wiseman?" "Certainly..." the Wiseman says. His eyes shine out from under his hood. "Heh heh... It brings misfortune. All the power hidden in that stone... I will take that power. I won't be swayed by your words. Prince! Kill them!!" "You won't beat us!" says Usagi. The castle begins to shake. Stone crumbles from the walls and ceiling. Pillars collapse. Rubeus looks around. "Oh- If I stay here, I'll die!" He gets up and starts to get out. "Rubeus?" calls Safir. "Running away!?" says the Wiseman. Rubeus turns around. "I don't want to die here, like a dog." The shadowy woman appears through the darkness behind the Wiseman. "Coward." Rubeus gasps. "What!? Who's that!? That black shadow... You're not going to convince me! What have you been using us for all this time? Show me who you really are, Wiseman!!" "You damn fool." A long arm snakes out from the Wiseman, grabbing Rubeus around the neck. "Prince!" Rubeus calls. Rubeus screams as his body catches fire. His skin burns off, followed by his bones. The shadowed woman chuckles as she fades away. "Everyone!" says Usagi. "Gather your strength! We've got to get out of here." "Sailor Moon!" Ami says. "That's impossible! How could we!?" "Pluto!" Usagi holds up a glowing key. "I call on all my power! Pluto! Show us the way!!" Diamaund's eyes glow, along with the mark on his forehead. "You won't get away from me!" The girls see a flash of light as they vanish from the Black Moon. Diamaund gasps. "Brother!!" Safir calls from the shaking castle. It crumbles to the ground. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Looks like Sailor Moon has escaped from this planet," says the Wiseman. "That's frightful power..." The woman stands behind him. He watches Mamoru in his crystal ball. "But, together with the Mystical Silver Crystal, you'll be back here again. Heh heh heh..." The woman smiles. - "Chibi-Usa!!" Mamoru calls as he runs through the storm in the land between time and space. "Chibi-Usa!! Where are you!? I'm here! Answer me! Chibi-Usa!" He clutches the moon rod. "Usako... Lend me strength. Chibi-Usa, where are you!? Chibi-Usa...! Usako...!" "This way... This way..." The shadowed woman appears before him, a black moon on her forehead. "Hey, here I am." She holds out her hand. "Come on, this way..." The moon rod glows as he takes her hand. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- King Endymion, Pluto, and Minako stare into the darkness. "Sailor Moon!" Minako calls. Pluto's rod glows. "Pluto!" Usagi, Ami, Rei, and Makoto appear. "Venus!" "Sailor Moon! Mars! Mercury! Jupiter!" "Venus!" Usagi says. "Neo-Queen Selenity gave me amazing power! It helped us get back!" "You're here!" Minako says. "The queen's power...!?" says the king. Usagi feels the power of the moon rod. "Tuxedo Kamen and... Chibi-Usa... Where are they!?" "Sailor Moon," says Pluto. "Chibi-Usa disappeared... Beyond time and space..." Usagi's face pales. "Then Tuxedo Kamen went after her, into the space-time storm..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Original manga copyright © 1993 Takeuchi Naoko. English translation copyright © 1996 Alex Glover. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sailor Moon Translations | Sailor Moon Volume 6