Insomnia had struck again.

Serena shivered and pulled her knees up under her chin. She perched on her window seat restlessly, staring out into the moonlit night. Her golden hair spilled down her shoulders, pooling at her feet. An endless litany of worries flitted through her mind, totally banishing any thoughts of sleep.

I can't let Cassie do this alone... my future is at stake -- Rini's future... there must be some way for me to help her... somehow... No solution seemed to present itself, and Serena continued to gaze sightlessly into the night.

Across the city, Darien lay awake as well, staring at the ceiling above his bed. Serena will want to help any way she can, he mused thoughtfully. That's just her nature. And I agree with her. The horror on Cassie's face when she first faced Spirit... He shuddered convulsively, some deep inner part of him recognizing and empathizing with the abject terror he had seen on Andromeda's face. That's the look of someone who believes she's lost everything... he thought, closing his eyes to suppress a surge of bitterness. But she hasn't. She still has her friends -- and Peter. We've just got to help her remember that.

In his own apartment, Peter sat upright in an armchair in his living room, absently tossing a baseball into the air and catching it. He was clearing his mind, mentally preparing himself for the battle ahead. A clear image of Cassie formed in his mind, blocking out all doubts. Her red-gold hair whipped around her face, and her green eyes sparkled as she laughed at some unheard joke. The merriment subsided, and her features relaxed into a gentle smile. Peter's breathing slowed and the baseball rolled away from his fingers, forgotten. Another image formed in Peter's mind, a dark, forboding figure, looming over Cassie's right shoulder. Spirit's visage took shape slowly, and Cassie's smile became hard and determined. Lost in his meditations, Peter held the dual image in his mind: a reminder of whom he was fighting -- and what he was fighting for.

Cassie stood silently in the doorway to her father's bedroom, watching him sleep. He was so different from her previous father -- yet it hurt her terribly to think that something might happen to him. A single tear trailed down her cheek, dying on her chin, and she passed a hand over her eyes quickly. She could not -- would not -- let Earth suffer the same fate as the Star Empire. She would NOT allow Sean Starr to fall into the same ruin as the Star Empress and her husband. If she had to set the heavens themselves into pure Chaos, she would. But Spirit would be defeated.

It was sunrise before any of them slept.

The darkness in the throne room of the Star Empire was oppressive. Spirit's ragged breathing echoed painfully from the stark sandstone walls, and the four Elementals shifted uncomfortably.

"Curse them," Spirit spat. "I almost had her. Those blasted sailor senshi didn't stand a chance. And then that little Earthborn brat interfered. Where did he learn to control heartfire like that? The little parasite shouldn't be so strong with it, not at his tender age." Spirit was hunched over in the Star Empress' throne, clutching his ribs with a grimace.

"I shall need time to recuperate," he mused bitterly. "I will have to depend on you incompetants to occupy the senshi until I can prepare a little... surprise for them."

Blaze stepped forward, doubt evident in his glowing orange eyes. All the Elementals were shaken by their master's condition; they had thought him invincible.

"Master, I had noticed a pattern in the senshi's activities," Blaze said, struggling to keep the panic out of his voice.

Spirit's cold red eyes shifted to fix on the Fire Elemental. He did not speak, and Blaze suppressed a spasm of alarm.

"The senshis' life energy seems to hover in the vicinity of the Hikawa Shrine. If I were to attack the temple, perhaps that would draw them out. If we cannot determine their identities, at least we can narrow down our choices." Blaze bit his lip uncertainly.

The silence was heavy for a long moment before Spirit spoke. "Go then," he said tiredly. "I weary of these shameful games. Don't fail me, Fiery One, or you will face my wrath."

The threat hung ominously as the air shimmered, and Blaze disappeared.

Lita winced as Raye slammed a fist irritably into the steps of the Hikawa Shrine. The girls were gathered around, listening somberly.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I don't understand it, the Great Fire has never been so utterly unhelpful before," Raye fumed.

"Aw, c'mon Raye, it's not your fault." Mina tried to console the raven-haired priestess. "I mean, isn't that a little far for the fire to see? Sensing things in our own world is one thing, but in the sealed off Star Empire -- well, that's a whole new can of bugs."

"Worms," Amy corrected absently. "And Mina's right, we don't know the physical connections between our world and the Star Empire. The Star Empire completely severed all ties between the two, and that just might be what's interfering with your visions."

"But the seal's breaking up!" Raye insisted. "I should be able to see something."

"Not necessarily," Cassie spoke up from her spot on the grass. "If Spirit remained on the base planet, Cepheus, there are certain spatial anomalies that make communication difficult. A nebula cluster and a small supernova, I believe." She shrugged. "I don't know if that has anything to do with it, but I do know that getting messages to and from the planet was extremely complicated, and if your sensory powers work similarly, Spirit might be cut off from us as long as he stays put."

"Fine with me," muttered Serena. She caught herself and blushed. "I mean, if he would just go away and leave us alone, we wouldn't be in this mess in the first place. Cassie could clean up the Star Empire and be done with it, no fuss, no muss."

Peter shook his head. "Spirit's not giving up. Something's seriously screwed him up -- some imbalance in the Elements or something. If we don't straighten this out soon, the universe could revert back to Chaos, as it was before the Elementals brought Order. I don't think any of us would like that very much."

"I sure wouldn't," Darien said wryly. "Being reduced to my component atoms sounds pretty painful, if you ask me."

Serena's chin rose defiantly. "Well, then, we'll just have to show this Spirit fella who's boss. Kick him around a bit, make him cry, then throw in a little Silver Crystal magic." She glanced at Cassie. "And, uh, Star Sapphire power, too."

Cassie sighed. "It won't be quite that easy. But I'm glad you're all willing to help."

"You kidding?" Lita answered with a wink. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

Amy was the first to notice something amiss. She sat straight up, her blue eyes wide with alarm.

"Uh... you guys? Do you smell smoke?"

"Smoke?" Raye bolted upright, sniffing the air tentatively. "Kami-sama..." She tore off, running full tilt toward the private quarters of the temple. "Grandpa!" she yelled frantically. A column of dark smoke billowed up from behind the building, and Raye plunged inside.

The other girls had rushed to follow, pulled to an abrupt stop as a new figure emerged from the now-visible flames. Blaze cackled madly as he jerked a struggling Raye along by her hair, arms firmly pinned behind her.

Cassie separated herself from the others quickly, pulling Amy and Lita along. The three girls held a whispered conference, and melted back into the foliage.

"Well, an audience. How lovely," sneered Blaze, catching sight of the rest of the group. "I don't suppose you youngsters would know the whereabouts of a certain team of goody-goody sailor soldiers, would you?"

"Whoa boy," Mina muttered under her breath. "This can't be good."

"Aw, c'mon, Red, you can do better than that."

Blaze whirled around, outraged, and found himself facing down Jupiter, Mercury, and Andromeda. Jupiter had her arms crossed in front of her, and she smirked. "I mean, surely we rate better than a simple 'goody-goody.' I've heard better insults from mere youma."

With a roar, Blaze released Raye and flung her at the three senshi. Mercury caught the girl deftly and steered her back toward the others. "Transform," she whispered. "I think we're gonna need some help here." With a slight nod, Raye disappeared behind the temple, dragging Mina, Serena, and Darien with her.

Blaze's orange eyes were fixed firmly on Andromeda. "What did you do? Master Spirit is invincible -- how could you manage to stand against him like that?" He spat derisively on the ground, hatred flickering in his gaze. "I'll kill you for what you've done to Master Spirit, little princess."

"Cassiopeia did not inflict the heartfire wounds on your master, Blaze," Peter corrected softly, stepping out of the shadows. "I did. The Empress-Heir finished the job with the Star Sapphire."

"Then you will die as well!" raged Blaze. "You are both responsible for his condition, and it cannot be allowed!"

"Next time we'll finish the job for good, Elemental," Andromeda answered coldly. "I'll rein in the power of the Sapphire no longer if Spirit does not abandon his foolish plans. We will defeat him -- completely."

Blaze shrieked in outrage and flung a blast of white-hot fire at them. The three senshi and Peter managed to leap aside before it hit, but it struck the already burning temple behind them. The flames intensified, and Mercury gave a cry of alarm.

"Rei's home!" she gasped. Instantly, Mercury flung one arm above her head. "Shine Aqua Illusion!"

The column of water doused the conjured flames, and a thick layer of steam rose from the extinguished fire. Blaze lost sight of the senshi and screamed in frustration.

"I can't fight him myself," Mercury panted, finding Andromeda in the midst of the steam. "I can only counteract him. You're supposed to fight fire with fire --"

Something clicked in Andromeda's mind. "Of course..." she murmured.

"I'll tear you all apart," Blaze raged, thrashing out blindly. The steam began to disappate, and the senshi knew that they were losing their cover.

"You will NOT harm this place any longer." Mars' voice was a welcome sound, and Andromeda turned to look at Mars, Moon, and Tuxedo Mask. Mars' eyes lingered on the charred temple building for a moment before turning to face Blaze. The Elemental took a startled step back from the fury in her gaze.

"This place is sacred -- how dare you profane it with your presence?" Mars took a step forward and began gathering her attack.

"Burning..."

[Focus all your power!] Andromeda called out to her, mentally and aloud. She began to gather her own strength as well, preparing to use her most devestating -- and most difficult -- attack.

"...Mandala!" The rings of fire shot forward, and Andromeda released her energy with a strained whisper.

"Super Nova Implosion..."

A thousand tiny pinpoints of light shot from Andromeda outstretched fingers, intertwining with Mars' fire. The strength of the attack increased a hundredfold, and the force with which it struck stunned all the senshi.

"No!" shrieked Blaze. "You can't destroy me... you can't..."

The fiery energy engulfing Blaze contracted, and with a final wail of terror, he vanished.

Andromeda dropped to her knees, shaking, and Peter knelt worriedly at her side. The other senshi exchanged astonished glances.

"Umm... what just happened here?" Venus asked quizzically.

"Yeah, and why wasn't I in on it?"Moon spoke up, sounding vaguely irritated.

"Cass used her final attack," Peter explained. "The most powerful cosmic force in the universe is a super nova -- she harnessed the energy to bolster Mars' Mandala attack. It essentially boosted Mars' power."

"I heard you in my head," Mars mused, puzzled. "Are you telepathic or something?"

"No, not really," Andromeda answered. "It's more of a senshi link that I take advantage of. During important battles, in a pinch, I can throw thoughts at each of you. It's not a constant thing, though -- I've only known one senshi who was fully telepathic -- a Gate Senshi, I believe, but that was a long time ago."

"So we did it, right? Blaze is toast?" Jupiter asked.

"Yes and no," Andromeda answered, dropping her transformation and returning to her normal form. "He's not dead, just -- umm, I'm not sure how to explain it, exactly. Neutralized. It's not like the seal I placed on the Star Empire, it's more like taking away his physical body and forcing him to exist in a state where he can cause no harm. I can't actually kill him, because that would upset the balance of the Elements in this world. And Chaos may be able to find a foothold, if that happens."

"So you just killed his body, to avoid further complications in the future?" Amy questioned as the others detransformed.

Cassie nodded. "As it is, I'm not sure what kind of effect this may have on the balance of the Universe -- the Elementals brought Order to the Universe, and without them, Chaos would return. I just hope that I haven't made a terrible mistake..."

"Of course not," Darien reassured her. "You did what you had to do."

Despite their assurances, Cassie shivered uncontrollably.