“Come on. Come on, just a little more!” Ami coaxed, concentrating on pouring all the energy she could into her task, sweat dripping down her face from the effort. She kept her eyes on the power gauge read-out, if only to avoid looking in Rei’s direction. The girl’s skin was noticeably red and issuing smoke.

“Ami?”

"Jupiter!” said Ami, clearly startled by the unexpected guest standing in the doorway of her lab, worried about what it could mean. “Err, well done, you got most of them. Check the computer for the remaining enemies’ locations and head back out.”

“Ami, what is this?” said Makoto.

"Makoto, please, can’t you see that I’m busy?”

“So, what Minako told me was true? You’re trying to… And you’re using Rei?”

“I went through all this with Minako!" Ami barked.

“I knew... I knew something wasn't right. What are you doing to her?”

"She's fine! I'm just borrowing her power—"

“She looks like she’s burning, Ami!” Makoto yelled, horror-stricken as she moved across the lab, then pausing when she noticed the open container housing the cryo chamber. She caught a glimpse of what lay inside. "How is this possible? We buried her!"

"That’s immaterial. The important thing is that I can bring her back. I've almost harnessed enough power to do it!"

Jupiter furrowed her brow. "You're a monster!” she declared.

Ami tutted loudly and shook her head angrily. "Why don't either of you understand what I'm trying to do here? The world needs Usagi! I’m doing this for everyone!"

“If that were true you would have told us what you were planning! You’re doing this for yourself!"

"Don’t act like you’ve never wished for Usagi back, Makoto! I can make it happen. I promise you I can do this, and things will go back to the way they used to be. Don't you want that?”

"Of course, but at what cost? Look at what you’re doing to Rei! Look at what you're doing to yourself! What would Usagi say if she could see you now?"

A brief look of guilt on Ami’s pained face turned to one of pleading. "Makoto, please,” Ami spoke more softly than before. “When Usagi died…I died too. I've spent the last 5 years waiting for the opportunity to make up for my failure. I have to save her this time!"

With tears in her eyes, Makoto responded, "You can’t save her now any more than you could have back then, Ami. She’s already gone. You’ve got to let her go.”

Ami’s eyes watered too, and her bottom lip began to quiver, but then the lab computer announced, “Optimal power level achieved,” and erased her moment of hesitance.

Summoning the last of her strength, she turned her attention back to the shining pedestal, and called out, “Please! Revive your fallen master! Revive our fallen friend! Moon Crystal Power!”

The Silver Crystal’s shape suddenly changed, unfurling like a blooming flower, and the room was bathed in its blinding light.

Makoto clenched her fists tightly as she willed herself to do what she knew was needed. “I'm sorry, Ami, but Usagi wouldn't want this. Not this way," she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Makoto, what are you doing? STOP!”

“Supreme Thunder!"

Sailor Jupiter’s lightning was blocked by Ami’s hidden barriers, so she continued the attack, targeting every machine in sight. They began to short-circuit and even explode. Eventually, the barrier generator was struck, causing the flickering protective walls to disappear, and Jupiter redirected her attack at the pedestal device and chamber.

"Mako, NOOOOOOO!” Ami screamed. Then, with everything she had, she fired a stream of icy water at Sailor Jupiter.

The green guardian was blasted off her feet, the back of her head colliding with Ami’s computer. The water rapidly froze over Jupiter’s chest, pinning the knocked-out girl to the machine. However, the blue guardian’s watery attack had acted as a perfect conductor, electrifying her in the process.

"No… Usagi..." Mercury mouthed silently. She fell to her knees, then onto her stomach as the last of the Silver Crystal’s light faded and her vision dimmed. Before everything went black, she perceived a red flash, no doubt indicating that Sailor Mars’ transformation had disappeared. This time, it really was over. Once again, she had failed Usagi.

Luna sat alone on Makoto’s balcony, her tail curled tightly around her, watching for any sign of the Sailor Soldiers on the horizon. She was sure she had seen evidence of Venus and Jupiter’s powers in the sky, but it had been a while since then, and afterward, she had sensed a strange amalgamation of powerful energy.

It didn’t feel malevolent in nature, but the fact that she could sense it at such a distance made her worry that a dangerous opponent may have appeared. What if the girls were hurt? There were so many enemies, after all. Should she try to help them? Could she help them?

“Oh, Artemis,” she despaired. “I don’t know what to do. Please find the others and come back soon.”

Five minutes or so passed without incident, when out of the blue, Luna hunched over in pain. In the next moment, she cried out as the crescent moon patch on her forehead began to shine brilliantly. The black cat curled up into a ball as the luminescence spread over her entire body, and she whispered feebly, “U-Usagi?” Then, as suddenly as it had appeared, the light vanished, along with Luna.

The damaged machinery of Ami’s laboratory continued to crackle and burn, gradually filling the hidden space with fumes. The unconscious forms of Ami, Makoto, and Rei remained ignorant of the rising danger. They were equally unaware of what was transpiring inside the now deactivated cryo chamber. Beyond the small panel of glass on its cover, the blue eyes of its occupant had opened.

The girl didn’t understand the sight before her. From her vantage point, she saw only a square of orange and gray haze. Everything outside of the square was dark. Attempting to reach a hand to it, she found that the darkness was cramped and cold to the touch. Feeling the space with her hands and legs, she quickly realized she was trapped.

Her breath became sharp as she clawed at her confines and called out wordlessly. She started hyperventilating. Then, as her panic peaked, she experienced an odd sensation and for an instant, her skin seemed to glow. At the same time, the top of her metallic prison was inexplicably blown off its hinges, and the girl was assaulted with sound and air.

She shot upright and tried to take in her surroundings. A deafening alarm rang out as intermittent bangs and pops sounded all around her. The air was warmer now. Stiflingly so, and smoky, presumably due to the fires on every side of her. Just where was this? How did she get here?

The girl pulled herself to a standing position, her eyes darting all over. She wasn’t alone. There were other girls present. They weren’t moving, though. There was one on the floor near her, one on a table, and another stuck to a sparking machine, somehow frozen to its surface.

There was something familiar about the girls. Women, really. Familiar, yet worryingly different from the images flashing in her mind’s eye. They were not the people she knew. They were too old, and their hair was different. Who were they? Who was she, for that matter? She clutched her head and shook it vigorously. This was a dangerous place. She needed to get somewhere safe.

The girl spotted a door, climbed out of the cold box, and ran to it, her impossibly long pigtails and flowy white dress trailing her. She burst through the door and quickly closed it. Startled when the door melted into nothingness, she moved to the windows of the small room. Her jaw dropped as she took in the view. The city below was ablaze. Was she… Was she in Hell?

Suddenly, the girl lurched with fright and whipped around. She thought she had seen a sailor-suited woman with blonde pigtails standing behind her. On turning back, she placed a hand on the glass. It was a moment before she understood it was her reflection. There was no sailor suit now, though, and her hair wasn’t the same yellow-ish color. She took a handful of it between her fingers. It was platinum blonde. Almost silver. Had she imagined it?

It happened again. A second visage appeared in the glass. There was no man behind her, though. So, who was the man in the window?

“Well, this is a surprise, I must say,” said the man.

The glass shattered. The girl screamed out and covered her face as she stumbled backward. The grey-haired, besuited young man was not a reflection. He was standing in the sky!

“You’re supposed to be dead. How did you come to be here, Princess? Where is the Silver Crystal? I know it’s close. I’ve sensed its power. Answer me!” Alexandri commanded as he landed in the office and advanced on the cowering girl. When she merely shook her head in terror, tears streaming down her face, he reached out and grabbed the girl by the wrist. “Never mind. The king will have questions. I’m taking you home.”

She let out a gurgled cry and tried to pull her arm away, then, as it had inside the metal container, a white light radiated from her skin, and the man was propelled from the room at incredible speed.

The girl got to her feet and cautiously moved to the window, where she observed the building opposite. Beyond another smashed pane, she could make out people tending to the unmoving man. More than ever, she felt compelled to seek safety.

In the next moment, silvery feathers sprouted from her back until a large pair of wings took shape. Still acting on instinct, the girl casually fell headfirst from the office window. After a second or two, the great wings unfurled, and she flew upward into the night.

Alexandri fell out of a portal and onto the stone floor of King Tanzan’s throne room. His shoulder was dislocated, and his leg was broken, but they were of little consequence. He had to report what he had witnessed.

The king dropped his goblet of wine and ran to his warrior’s side. “Healers! Healers, get in here! Do you have it, Alexandri? Do you have the crystal?”

“No, My Lord, but I observed, as you ordered, and there is something that you must know!”

“What is it? Did one of the others get the crystal?”

“No, My Lord. The others are dead.”

“Dead? How? Why haven’t you got the crystal?” the king pressed, attempting to restrain his displeasure.

“There are more of them, My Lord. More Sailor Soldiers. At least one more, maybe others, and someone else. Someone you must know about.”

“What? Who?”

“Your daughter, My Lord!”

“My daughter? You saw Natsuki?” the king asked in bewilderment before giving way to his rage. “What in blazes are you talking about, Alexandri? You know she’s in no fit state to be going anywhere!”

“No, My Lord, not Princess Natsuki. Princess Serenity! Princess Serenity is alive!”

The cold night air stung the angelic girl’s eyes as she soared over the burning city, so she closed them tightly. She didn’t need to see right now. Somehow, she knew which direction would lead her to safety, as if she were being pulled by a magnet. After gliding on her immense wings for a few more minutes, she began to descend toward the foot of a tall building.

The moment her bare feet touched the ground, the wings on her back vanished in a rain of feathers, and she broke into a run, into the building and up its many stairs. Not stopping to take a breath, she climbed ever upward until she reached the correct floor and dashed down its hall, where she came to a halt outside her safe place. She caught her breath, then rapped on its yellow door until it opened.

An attractive, red-haired young woman answered, “Yes? Can I help you?”

Something wasn’t right. This was the place. The girl was sure of it. But this wasn’t right. “Ma-Mamoru…” she whispered breathlessly.

The woman raised an eyebrow suspiciously before grinning, putting her hands on her hips, and playfully calling, “Darling! There’s a girl at the door for you.”

“A girl at the door for me? That sounds interesting!” a man responded jovially as he appeared from his kitchen, wiping a plate with a dishtowel. “Oh, it’s not Makoto asking about that lost Tupperware container again, is it? Because if it is—”

*Smash*

Upon spotting the girl standing in his doorway, Mamoru Chiba had frozen like a deer in headlights, and the plate in his hand had tumbled from his grip.

“Darling, what’s the matter?” the woman said with concern, looking from the wide-eyed man to the stranger. “Mamoru, what is it? Who is she?”

Darling? Why was this woman calling him “Darling”? Usagi Tsukino’s eyes darted from the woman’s hand, where a silver band rested on her ring finger, to her former fiancée’s, where a matching band could be seen on his. No. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right at all.

His face white with shock, Mamoru shook his head ever so slightly as he breathed a single, barely audible word, “Usako?”

THE END — TO BE CONTINUED?