Smiling contently, Ami continued to stare into the cryogenic chamber, the glass panel fogging up again from the cold air preserving her deceased friend’s body. This time tomorrow, Usagi would be smiling back at her.

She reflected on the long journey to this point. After making it so far, she had almost fallen at the final hurdle. Now, the finish line was within reach. Ami would finally be able to cut her bothersome long hair, which she had allowed to grow out as a constant reminder of her failure, and her mission to correct it.

Ami shook her head with mild amusement. To think, the worst night of their lives had begun with a party….

“Do you have any idea what this meeting is about?” Makoto asked as she sat down at the diner table across from Ami and Rei.

“No idea,” Rei answered. “Usagi’s message said she had something important to talk about, but that probably means there’s a new game at the arcade.”

“You don’t think that’s it, do you?” said Ami. “I’m supposed to be studying for an anatomy exam.”

“Oh, Ami…” said Makoto with a noiseless chuckle. “Ah, here’s Minako, maybe she knows what’s up.”

Minako entered the diner with a bounce in her step, her waist-length blonde hair trailing behind her. “Hey guys,” she greeted them, taking the seat next to Makoto with a suspicious grin across her face.

“What’s with you?” Rei asked, one eyebrow raised quizzically. “Do you know what Usagi wants to talk to us about?”

“No,” she replied coyly.

“You obviously know something,” Ami deduced.

“I have my suspicions…but I could be wrong, so I’m not saying anything.”

Makoto laughed dismissively and leaned back on her chair, but Rei leaned in. “Just tell us!” she prodded.

Minako silently shook her head with vigor.

“Come on, spill it!” Rei demanded.

“Nuh-uh,” said Minako simply, miming zipping her lips shut.

“Here’s Usagi now, we can hear it from her directly,” said Ami diplomatically.

Rei pouted, crossed her arms in a huff, and pointed her nose in the air as Usagi entered the diner wearing a pink summer dress and sneakers. She pulled a spare chair up to the four-seater table, sat down, and swept her lengthy pigtails over her shoulders, looking as fit to burst as Minako. “Hi, girls! Thank you for meeting with me. Sorry for the short notice.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Now tell us,” Minako said with barely contained glee.

“Yeah, get to it, dumpling head. What’s this all about?” questioned Rei impatiently.

“Well, I have some news,” Usagi explained, surprisingly unfazed by the hot-headed girl’s provocation.

Ami’s eyes darted downward, and she smiled knowingly.

Usagi beamed and held up her left hand, revealing a sparkling diamond on her ring finger. “Mamoru proposed!” she revealed.

No sooner than the words had left her mouth, Minako exploded, jumping out of her chair, and letting loose a deafening—and prolonged—scream of joy.

Alarmed by the sudden outburst, the other diner patrons turned in her direction but none of the girls noticed. Minako continued to jump up and down, taking Usagi’s hand in her own to admire the engagement ring, while Ami and Makoto excitedly offered their congratulations.

Rei, on the other hand, hadn’t moved or uttered a word, her arms still folded in a sulky manner. Her only reaction was dropping her jaw in apparent shock. After a few moments, the other girls turned to her expectantly.

“So, what do you think, Rei?” Usagi asked with a note of hesitation.

Rei composed herself and averted her eyes. “Well, you’re a little young to be getting married,” she began. Makoto and Minako frowned at this point and Ami cleared her throat, but Rei continued before they could object, and her tough visage broke into one of elation. “But I think it’s wonderful!”

A week later, Usagi and Mamoru’s engagement party took place at the Tsukino family house. Usagi’s father, Kenji Tsukino had originally objected to his daughter marrying at just barely eighteen years old. However, his wife, Ikuko had brought him around to the idea, reminding him how much he had always liked Mamoru on the occasions they had met while he and Usagi had been dating.

Usagi’s little brother, Shingo, had helped things along by asserting that a clumsy fool like his sister would need to marry a smart, polite, and grounded guy like Mamoru to get by in the world. Mr. Tsukino didn’t agree with this outright, of course, but he had to admit to himself that his precious daughter’s lack of poise or brains did worry him on occasion.

Then again, as he observed the smiling faces of the party guests packed into his living room, Kenji was reminded of Usagi’s impressive ability to surround herself with remarkable people who cared about her. With a suitable fiancée like Mamoru, and friends like these in her life, what was there to worry about?

“Quiet, everyone, they’re here!” Ikuko called out in a stage whisper. The room went silent and moments later, Usagi and Mamoru entered through the door. The room erupted with shouts of, “SURPRISE!”, and the stereo came to life.

After recovering from the shock, Usagi was—perhaps predictably—brought to tears. The living room and garden had been decorated with banners, balloons, and streamers, and were filled to the brim with her immediate and extended family and friends. Everybody she loved was in attendance.

This included her besties; Haruka, Michiru, Setsuna, and Hotaru; Naru, Umino, and her other school friends; Ami’s mother, Rei’s grandfather, and Minako’s parents; the four Ayakashi sisters; Matoki and Reika, Unazuki and Asanuma, and Mamoru’s university friends; and so many others.

With a lunar eclipse taking place, it seemed like the perfect night to mark the occasion. As it took place, the party guests gathered outside to observe it, and Mr. and Mrs. Tsukino initiated a champagne toast. During this, however, Rei had a dizzy spell.

“What’s the matter?” Makoto asked, noticing the raven-haired girl hold a hand to her forehead, and nudging her shoulder. “Too much champagne?”

“Of course not! You know I don’t drink,” she chastised.

“Then what?”

“I-I don’t know. Something… Something’s wrong,” she explained, the words coming to her automatically.

Across the party, Michiru had entered the living room with Haruka, Setsuna, and Hotaru in tow. “What is it?” Haruka asked in a serious tone.

Michiru retrieved a beautiful hand mirror from her purse and observed it shrewdly. The mirror’s surface shined briefly before the reflection became an image of a falling celestial object.

“A meteor?” Hotaru asked innocently.

“That’s no meteor,” Setsuna answered.

“An invader,” Michiru clarified.

Haruka bit her lip. “Why didn’t we sense them before now?” she questioned.

“Something about them…is obscuring my vision, but they’re coming now. We should go.”

“Have you seen something, Michiru?” asked Makoto as she entered the room and noticed the outers gathered around the prophetic Deep Sea Mirror of Sailor Neptune. “Rei’s sensed something too. She’s getting the others.”

“We can handle it. You all enjoy the party,” said Haruka.

“No way,” said Makoto. “There’s strength in numbers.”

“Fine. But the princess should stay,” Haruka suggested gruffly, turning to her partner for her opinion.

Michiru continued to gaze into her mirror, waving her free hand over its surface. “I don’t know, Haruka… I can’t get a clear picture, but I have a feeling of foreboding. The fact that Rei has detected something too gives me pause. Her precognitive ability is more attuned to negative vibrations. We might need the Silver Crystal.”

“We’ll go on ahead, Makoto,” Setsuna said softly yet decisively. “Catch up to us when you can.”

In the garden a few minutes later, the toasts had concluded, and dancing had resumed. Rei, Ami and Minako had joined Makoto in the living room and were now waiting on their leader to join them.

“I don’t like it, Usako. It’s been a long time since you’ve had to fight. Can’t the others handle it without you?” said Mamoru quietly, holding his bride-to-be close in his arms as they danced.

“We’re a team! What if they need me?”

“Then I’ll come with you!”

Usagi giggled and kissed her fiancée on the neck before whispering into his ear, “We can’t both slip out of our engagement party! How would that look? Besides, I’ll be fine, I’ll have all the girls with me. We’ll be back before you know it. If anyone asks, just say we had to use the bathroom or something.”

“What, all nine of you?”

Usagi swatted the man on the arm, and said, “You come up with something, then! Something clever.”

“Okay, but hurry back to me, Usako,” Mamoru agreed sulkily.

“I will, my love,” she responded, placing a hand on his cheek, and kissing him sweetly before heading inside.

“Usagi, where are you going?” Naru asked as Umino twirled her like a top.

“Can’t stop, I, erm, need the bathroom!” Usagi replied uncouthly over her shoulder.

Mamoru chuckled and clapped a hand to his forehead.

After leaving the house and finding a spot where they wouldn’t be observed, Usagi, Ami, Rei, Makoto, and Minako called upon the power of their respective planets and transformed with a spectrum of color. Following this, they joined hands and teleported to the location of the outer planet soldiers—a park on the outskirts of Tokyo.

The large meteor had already touched down. Despite colliding with Earth’s atmosphere, it showed no signs of damage from its descent. There wasn’t even an impact crater.

“Anything, Mercury?” Sailor Venus asked, observing the girl frowning as she punched buttons on her blue device.

“No. I’m not getting any readings.”

“Mars?” Venus followed up.

“I sense a presence… There’s something strange, chaotic about it.”

“What does that mean?” Sailor Saturn asked quietly.

As the meteor inexplicably began to open, Sailor Uranus responded, “I don’t know, but we’re about to find out. Everyone, spread out! We’ll take point!”

“Right!” the girls agreed in unison, and they spread across the grassy open space. The outer soldiers stood up front, brandishing their talismans, Neptune with her Deep Sea Mirror, Uranus with her Space Sword, Pluto with her Garnet Rod, and Saturn with her Silence Glaive. The others were spaced out in a row behind them, Mars and Mercury on either side of their angelic, winged leader, Sailor Moon.

A yellow substance began to ooze from a hole in the meteor. It continued to pour from the space rock for some time before forming into a large yellow being, vaguely shaped like a person.

“Mercury? Mars?” Venus repeated.

“Its genetic makeup is unlike anything I’ve ever seen,” Sailor Mercury remarked, her computer providing copious data now that the alien had emerged.

“We should attack,” said Mars with fear in her voice, gripping her head.

Sailor Moon was surprised by this response. She trusted the girl’s instincts, but they couldn’t just attack without provocation. “We can’t do that, it might be peaceful,” she asserted.

“This planet is inhabited. Leave at once!” Sailor Uranus ordered.

“We should attack,” Mars repeated.

After a few tense minutes, hazy images that seemed to transmit emotion began to play out in the soldiers’ minds. A planet dense in flora was being razed to the ground. Creatures that resembled the one before them were being slaughtered in their thousands.

“It’s communicating with us telepathically,” Ami explained.

Usagi futilely covered her hands over her eyes, trying to block the violent memories from flowing in.

The images continued. Soon, the aliens’ lush, green planet was reduced to ruins, and its inhabitants sent their queen away in the meteor-like ship. “Travel far,” a voice new to Earth’s complex language explained. “This planet. Nourishment. New home.”

“Rin, Pyou, Tou, Sha, Kai, Jin, Retsu, Zai, Zen! Akuryou Taisan!” Mars recited, holding a burned ofuda scroll before her, and the alien’s mental connection was broken. “Don’t be fooled! Her people were victimized, but she’s still an enemy. She was trying to hypnotize us!”

“Sailor Mars is correct,” said Sailor Neptune. “Now that she’s out of her ship, my mirror can see the truth. She intends to attack. Prepare yourselves!”

The Sailor Soldiers adopted fighting stances, all except for Sailor Moon, who was still confused by what the alien queen had shown them. Were the images and the emotions real, or were they just part of a deception?

“I’m sensing more of them! A lot more!” Mars warned.

Suddenly, the gelatinous mass swelled and tripled in size. Then, it appeared to vomit more yellow ooze, from which smaller versions of itself started to take shape. The Queen was not alone. Her many subjects resided within her strange body.

“She’s capable of rapid cell fusion and division,” Mercury surmised as she analyzed the alien’s genetic makeup on her computer. “Fascinating!”

“I think you mean, gross!” Jupiter corrected.

The pool of yellow bodies rose up, then surged across the park like a wave.

“Here they come! Let’s do it!” Uranus commanded, and the outer soldiers collectively unleashed their immensely powerful energy attacks. “World Shaker!”

“Deep Submerge!”

“Deathly Scream!”

“Final Judgment!”