Sailor Moon stood at the base of the smoking crater that Sailor Mercury had pointed out hours ago… when she was still alive. She stared up at the top of the crater, at the violet plume of smoke rising into the sky, gathering up her resolve and courage for the final battle.
“This is it,” she murmured to herself as the cold Arctic wind blew her hair and Sailor uniform, “the Dark Kingdom’s stronghold.
“Ami-chan, Rei-chan, Mako-chan, Minako-chan, Ryo-kun…. I’ll fight to the very end!”
From within the Dark Kingdom stronghold, Beryl sat on her throne and gazed through her crystal ball at Sailor Moon, who was still standing outside. “So… you’ve arrived, little girl….” Her sinister grin widened.
“Welcome to Hell.”
Behind her, a red ball of light rushed toward Sailor Moon, engulfing her and carrying her, screaming, into the Dark Kingdom stronghold. The light emerged from within the floor and lifted her a couple of feet into the air before disappearing. Once the light vanished, Sailor Moon was dropped rudely to the floor below with a loud thud.
“I bid you welcome, Princess,” a voice called from within the darkness as she pushed herself up from the ground. “I am delighted to see that you have found your way here at last.” Some of the darkness crept away from Beryl, revealing only most of her left side and the crystal rod and ball she held in her left hand. The right side of her was still shrouded in shadow. “I commend you.”
“Queen Beryl!” Sailor Moon exclaimed.
“Indeed, I am Queen Beryl,” she replied as the rest of the shadow covering her vanished… revealing Endymion kneeling at Beryl’s feet and kissing her right hand. Sailor Moon gasped in shock at the sight. “Endymion…. The Princess…. Kill her!”
At the order, Endymion’s eyes snapped open. “As you wish,” he replied as he rose to his feet and turned his empty gaze toward Sailor Moon. He leaped into the air, drawing his sword in midair, and came down above her. She dived out of the way moments before his sword struck the floor where she used to be. Endymion glanced over to his left, watching as Sailor Moon rolled away, then got to her knees and brought out her Crescent Moon Wand.
“Moon healing escalation!” she shouted as she aimed her healing light at Endymion. As the light flowed around him, he just stared blankly at Sailor Moon while the healing light had no effect on him.
“You’re just wasting your time,” Beryl told her. Sailor Moon’s eyes widened in surprise as she realized that her powers were not affecting him. “Even with the aid of the Silver Crystal, your powers are too immature to drive out Queen Metallia’s dark energy from him. Stop this foolishness! Submit and surrender the Silver Crystal!”
As Sailor Moon continued her efforts to heal Endymion, he leaped into the air again. He landed behind her and swung his sword, striking her in the shoulder and knocking away her wand as she fell back down to the floor a few feet away.
Endymion lowered his sword and turned toward her. “Sailor Moon…,” he said in a flat, emotionless voice as a black rose appeared in his left hand. “Die.” He tossed the rose at her with a single flick of his hand. Sailor Moon watched as the black rose tumbled through the air toward her, wondering why he didn’t fling it like he normally did as Tuxedo Kamen, when the rose burst into many green vines that rapidly encircled her, then closed in until she was bound with her hands at her sides by the green vines. The moment the black roses appeared on the vines that bound her, she was shocked by a large wave of dark energy, causing her to scream out loud. She could hear Beryl laughing at her as the sting of the black roses continued, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the one standing before her, gazing at her with those cold, emotionless eyes.
“Mamoru-san…,” she called out weakly as she fought the pain, her eyes locked onto Endymion’s, hoping that she could find a way to reach the man she loved; the one that called her, ‘Meatball-head’…. Another scream was ripped from her throat as the pain increased, then suddenly ceased, allowing her to slump to the floor in a motionless heap.
As Sailor Moon lay weakly on the floor, Endymion slowly strode up to her. “Mamoru-san…,” she called out again, but still received no answer.
Endymion stood over her for a short moment, just staring down at her. Then, he suddenly kicked her in the side. Sailor Moon gave a sharp yelp as she landed on her back a few feet away from where she was standing before. He strode over to her again, but this time he knelt down near Sailor Moon’s head, grabbing her by the neck and lifting her up into the air. As he held her by her neck, a light began to glow from his hand. As the light grew in intensity, black arcs of dark energy began to flow around her, making her scream out loud again. Sailor Moon held onto his hand with both of her hands in order to pull herself up and keep herself from being strangled, but she couldn’t remove his hand from around her neck. As the pain went on, Endymion continued to stare at Sailor Moon with his emotionless gaze.
“Soon the Sun will be completely consumed by blackness,” Beryl said as she laughed at Sailor Moon’s torture. “Queen Metallia will be revived!” She watched Sailor Moon suffer for a while longer as a malicious grin slowly crossed her face. “Enough, Endymion.”
At Beryl’s order, Endymion ceased his attack and flung Sailor Moon aside as if she were a rag doll. She hit the floor hard and skidded for a couple of feet on her face.
“The Princess’s head…. Remove it!” Beryl ordered again. As Beryl gave her order, Sailor Moon reached out with her right hand, trying to grab the Crescent Moon Wand, which was lying a few inches away from her hand.
“That is futile!” Beryl remarked as Endymion stood over Sailor Moon with his sword ready at his side. He then lifted the blade up with both hands and prepared to bring it down on her neck.
“Queen Metallia’s revival will soon be completed,” Beryl continued. “The moment her dark energy fills this world, the Silver Crystal will provide her with all the energy she’ll need. All of your efforts have been in vain.”
At that moment, Sailor Moon’s eyes widened in shock. Images of all five of her friends, who had each given their lives for her to get here, flashed through her mind. Her right hand clenched into a fist and her expression turned resolute. She would not let her friends’ sacrifice be in vain!
As Endymion was about to bring his sword down on her neck and cut off her head, the stone on her tiara began to shine with a bright light. She quickly removed her tiara and flung it at him. The moment it left her hand, it changed into a disc, as it always did, and flew straight for his chest. Endymion gasped as the tiara struck and remained stationary as long as Sailor Moon kept her arm directed at his chest. Sailor Moon’s expression turned from surprise to regretful remorse, but she didn’t stop.
Endymion took a step back, dropping his sword to his side, then fell down on his side. The tiara slowed in its spin, then fell to the floor with a light clink. Sailor Moon breathed heavily, both tired and relieved that she wasn’t dead. She lowered her arm and sat up, glancing down at Endymion’s prone form in front of her. His eyes were still open and were still as emotionless as before.
Suddenly, Endymion’s eyes took on a wild look as he began to get to his feet, while groaning and breathing heavily. His left arm was wrapped around his chest, favoring his injury, as he tried to stand up straight.
“Dark energy runs deep in Endymion’s veins,” Beryl told her. “Your feeble power cannot defeat it.”
“Stop…,” Sailor Moon begged of Endymion.
“Sailor Moon…,” Endymion gasped in a raspy voice as he grasped his sword’s hilt with both hands and turned toward her.
“Stop!” she begged again.
“DIE!!!” Endymion screamed as he lifted his sword over his head in order to cleave her in half.
“STOP!!!” Sailor Moon screamed as she quickly brought out her star locket and opened it, holding it out in front of her as it played its soothingly soft melody. Endymion halted the sword over his head as he stared down at the locket in her hands.
“Please, remember…,” she said softly, staring sadly, yet lovingly into Endymion’s eyes. “I am Serenity. Your love from long, long ago…. Princess Serenity of the Moon Kingdom.”
“Nemesis of the Dark Kingdom…,” Endymion said stubbornly. “Die!”
“You are only being influenced by the evil energy,” Sailor Moon told him as she held out the star locket in front of her. “Please return to your normal self. I won’t…. I will not fight you anymore.” Endymion lowered his sword as he gave Sailor Moon a bewildered look. “Please?” she urged as she raised her locket further toward him. He slowly lifted his left hand and touched the locket.
A bright light began to flow throughout Endymion’s body as he touched the locket. “What’s happening?!?” Beryl shouted as she held up an arm to block the light from her eyes. He began to scream as the light began to burst through his body….
Images began to flash through Endymion’s mind: him standing below a balcony, speaking to his beloved above him; him watching as one of the most annoying girls he had ever had the misfortune of knowing stuck her tongue out at him; him and his beloved, stumbling backward after she had accidentally tripped over her fancy, extra-long ball gown; him as he was just about to kiss his beloved….
“Who… am I?” he asked himself. It was him, or rather a younger him; the boy who had awakened in a hospital bed with a hospital gown and a bandage wrapped around his head. “I can’t remember anything!” he cried, putting both hands on his head in apprehension. “I’m all alone!” The young boy began to cry.
“You’re not alone,” a gentle voice told him. The young boy stopped crying and lowered his arms as he glanced to his left. Standing there was a familiar-looking young blonde girl. Her blonde hair was done up in a pair of twin ponytails that went down past her waist, with a pair of buns at the base of her ponytails. Her serene, gentle face was smiling down at him, making him feel less frightened. “I’m here,” Usagi told him.
Now Mamoru was his real age, but still wearing the hospital gown and the bandage, but now his size instead of the young boy’s.
“It’s all right,” Usagi told him as she took his left hand in both of hers and knelt down at the side of the bed. “You’re not alone.”
The light slowly began to fade from Mamoru’s body until it vanished altogether. Sailor Moon lowered her arm, which she raised to shield her eyes from the blinding light, and glanced at him. The sword fell from his hand and hit the floor with a loud clinking sound as he slowly fell to his knees. He fell down in Sailor Moon’s direction, so she didn’t have to move when he fell down to his knees in front of her.
“Mamoru-san!” Sailor Moon shouted concernedly as she reached out to keep him from falling any further.
“Usagi…,” Mamoru murmured weakly, causing Sailor Moon to gasp in shock at hearing him speak her name again. A red rose fell from within his cape and landed down on top of his sword. “Thank you,” he said softly as he gazed into her eyes.
Sailor Moon’s expression turned to one of joyous relief. “Mamoru-san…,” she said as she hugged him. “I’m so glad.”
Beryl’s eyes began to flash fiercely as she scowled angrily at them. “How dare you, Princess!” she whispered heatedly as she began to form a large black crystal between her hands. “Again, you try to steal him away from me…. You’ll pay for this!” she screamed. Mamoru and Sailor Moon turned to see Beryl hurl her giant black crystal at them. Mamoru countered by flinging a rose at the crystal. The rose broke through the crystal, shattering it, and continued until it struck Beryl in the chest. He grabbed Sailor Moon and pulled her down to the floor, covering her body with his in order to protect her from the approaching black crystal shards. All of the shards passed safely overhead… except one, which struck him in the back, making him gasp in pain and Sailor Moon gasp in fear.
“Mamoru-san!” she cried out in fright.
Beryl turned toward Mamoru, writhing in pain from the rose sticking out of her chest. “Endymion…. Why did you protect that girl?” she asked faintly. “If you had married me, you would have ruled the world!” A light cracking sound caused her to glance down at her own chest, which was beginning to crack around the rose stem. “Impossible!” she gasped in shock.
“Mamoru-san! Hang on!” Sailor Moon said worriedly as he lay motionless in her arms.
Beryl fell to her knees, holding herself up from the floor with one hand and clutching the rose in her chest with the other. “How…? How could this be happening to me?” she gasped incredulously. She glanced down at the rose, which was giving off some sort of white energy. “Energy?” she exclaimed, glancing up at Mamoru and Sailor Moon. “His feelings for that girl are destroying my body? I will not allow this!” she growled as she sank into the floor. “I will not allow this….”
“Mamoru-san!” Sailor Moon shouted, seeing that his breathing was beginning to lessen. “Mamoru-san!”
Mamoru slowly began to open his eyes and turn his head toward Sailor Moon. “Quickly…. You must get out of here…,” he whispered weakly, “…and then, find yourself a wonderful boyfriend….”
“But, Mamoru-san, you’re the best…,” Sailor Moon replied. Mamoru smiled at her, then went limp as the life left his body. Sailor Moon’s eyes went wide as she gasped in shock. Tears filled her eyes as she realized that her beloved Mamoru was dead. “Mamoru-san…,” she whispered as she gazed down at his closed eyes and still body. “Mamoru-san!!!”
She then began to cry harder than she had ever cried in her entire life.
Beryl weakly crawled toward the dark structure that held her master, Metallia. Her strength was rapidly leaving her and she didn’t have much time left before her body would crumble into so much dust.
“Queen Metallia…,” Beryl gasped, “I beg you, please lend me your power. The power to crush that loathsome child…. I beseech you!”
A wraith-like darkness appeared before Beryl, pulsating slowly and ominously. “VERY WELL…,” Metallia replied. “THE TIME HAS COME TO FILL ALL LIVING THINGS IN THE UNIVERSE WITH HATRED AND GREED! QUEEN BERYL, DESTROY EVERYTHING BUT YOURSELF AND MAKE THIS A WORLD OF DARKNESS!”
The dark structure shattered, allowing Metallia’s energy form to float out into the room. Beryl gasped in surprise as she saw her master hovering over her, then screamed as the energy possessed her body.
Sailor Moon gently laid Mamoru’s body down on the floor, then closed her eyes and bent down to kiss him on the lips. Before she could kiss him, she stopped and opened her eyes, gazing down at his still, peaceful face.
“Forgive me…,” she whispered sadly to him. “I can’t kiss you…. Rei-chan, Ami-chan, Mako-chan, Minako-chan… they all died without kissing the boys they loved. So, I cannot allow myself that joy…. Forgive me, Mamoru-san….
“I can’t run away,” she told him as she got to her feet. “There’s still something I have to do. Watch me. I’m going to do it!”
She smiled at Mamoru once more, then turned and walked out of the room, leaving him behind while the place began to shake as if in an earthquake.
Outside the Dark Kingdom stronghold, the crater ceased blowing out its violet smoke. Nearby, ground and ice cracked as a black fog burst out in a huge column from underground, creating a miniature-sized crater next to the original one. The dark fog coalesced into a raging, black tornado, as bolts of black energy flashed around it.
As the tornadic black winds settled, a dark bloom rose from within the ground. It grew to an enormous height and width, then opened, revealing a transformed Queen Beryl. Her blood red hair was now a pale blue-green and her skin turned a ghostly blue. A black stone rested in the center of her forehead. “At last, the dark energy is within me,” Beryl said, laughing as she spread her arms wide open in exaltation. “The world is mine to rule!”
Far off into the distance, a single figure strode determinately toward Beryl, a resolute expression on her face.
“So, you’ve come, Princess,” Beryl said with a sneer on her face as she glanced behind her at the approaching figure. She then turned to face her enemy with an arrogant smile on her face.
Sailor Moon continued to approach Beryl, then halted at a short distance away, staring unflinchingly at her.
“This time you will surely die,” Beryl said confidently as she generated a huge amount of dark energy between her hands and raised them overhead. “Princess…. Die!” she screamed and flung the blast at Sailor Moon.
Sailor Moon didn’t even blink as the blast struck, creating a huge pillar of crystal, just like when the other Sailor Scouts died, right where she was standing. Suddenly, the peak of the crystal pillar burst and flattened into a sort of platform, with a strikingly familiar figure standing in the center.
Beryl’s eyes widened in shock as she recognized the Moon Princess, Serenity, standing calmly at the center of the crystal platform, eyes closed and holding the Crescent Moon Wand in front of her.
Dark clouds began to swirl around over the city of Tokyo. People stopped in the streets, or looked out of windows, staring at the strange, foreboding sight. Power began to fail, and a citywide blackout ensued.
At Usagi’s house, the entire Tsukino family gathered near a window, watching the sky turn completely black. Up on the roof, Luna and Artemis watched the sky in great despair.
“It’s the end…,” Artemis murmured quietly. “The end of the world has come. Queen Metallia’s dark energy has been released!”
Luna closed her eyes in anguish, turned and ran. Artemis quickly darted forward and cut her off.
“Hold it, Luna!” he said sternly.
“How can you say that?” she demanded worriedly. “We have to get to the D-point!”
“It’s no use!” he replied fatalistically. “There is nothing more we can do.”
“I know that…,” she said, tears forming in her eyes. “But, if we let this go on, Usagi-chan….” She closed her eyes again, trying in vain to banish the image in her mind, but failed. “She might release the full power of the Silver Crystal and she’ll die! Just like Queen Serenity!”
“Yes, but…,” he began, turning away and staring out toward the rest of the city, “…that may be the only way the world can be saved.”
“Don’t do it, Usagi-chan!” she cried out urgently. “Don’t release the Silver Crystal’s power! If you do that, you’ll die!”
For a few tense moments, both Queen Beryl and Princess Serenity stood stationary, neither one moving. Serenity’s eyes remained closed as Beryl glared balefully at the tiny Moon Princess, who was just about the size of her little finger in comparison to her new height.
Serenity opened her eyes, breaking the still calm, and raised the Crescent Moon wand over her head with both hands. As if her movement was a signal, Beryl generated more dark energy between her hands. Serenity gathered all her strength and will, and even her own life energy, into the wand and crystal in her hands and shouted the three words that would bring forth the full power of the Silver Crystal; the same three words that stopped Beryl before at the Moon Kingdom and cost Queen Serenity her life….
“Moon healing escalation!”
A pure, resplendent, white light issued forth from the wand as Beryl flung her dark energy at Serenity. The light and darkness clashed between them, as the light served as a protective barrier around Serenity, as well as a purifying force made to stop Beryl for good.
“Why?” Beryl asked as she struggled to gain the upper hand against Serenity. “Why do you continue to struggle against me? Even though you envision a beautiful future, you will soon know the truth! This world is foul and corrupt!”
“No,” Serenity replied, “I still believe.”
“In love? In friendship? In trust?” Beryl retorted and laughed mockingly.
“I believe in them!” Serenity countered fiercely. “I believe in the world that everyone tried to protect!”
“You fool! In this unrighteous world there is nothing to believe in,” Beryl shouted and increased the force of her attack, causing Serenity to be pushed back slightly. Parts of the crystal pillar were being slightly worn away by the force of the conflict between the power of the Silver Crystal and the power of the dark energy.
“Please…,” Serenity entreated, “I beg you, Silver Crystal…. The world that we all believed in… strengthen my belief in it even more!”
Memories of her friends and fellow Sailor Scouts flashed through her mind….
“It is better not to speak of love so lightly,” Ami told her once during school, then laughed cheerfully….
“You’re wrong!” Rei retorted defensively. “About Yuuichirou-kun and me.…”
“So what if he has a girlfriend?” Makoto replied once. “Just keep on trying!” She gave her a quick thumbs-up and a wink of confidence….
“It’s all right,” Minako said as she stared out into the ocean, watching the ship her friend Katrina was departing on disappear into the horizon. “As long as Alan and Katrina-oneesan are happy… that’s the best for me.…”
“It is time for me to start living again,” Ryoku said quietly as he gazed down at the headstone marking the grave of his first love; his eyes, expression and demeanor totally absent of the melancholy that surrounded him for most of the time she knew him. “For her sake as well as for mine.…”
“Everyone…,” Serenity whispered as tears streamed down her cheeks.
“The dark energy is stronger,” Beryl retorted. “The Silver Crystal cannot seal me away!” She once again increased the power of her dark attack, pushing Serenity even further to the brink of her limits.
“Everyone…,” she implored. “Lend me… your strength!”
Five ghostly hands suddenly appeared and, one by one, placed themselves on the Crescent Moon Wand with Serenity’s own hands. Behind her, the other five Sailor Scouts stood, Mercury and Mars to her right and Jupiter, Venus and Knight to her left, ready to join their power with her own.
“Mercury power!”
“Mars power!”
“Jupiter power!”
“Venus power!”
“Knight swords power!”
“Moon prism power!” Serenity shouted as all six of the Sailor Scouts’ powers converged into the Silver Crystal with a brilliant violet light.
“What…? What is this?!?” Beryl exclaimed as a pulsating sphere of flashing, violet, light energy issued forth from the crystal on the Crescent Moon Wand toward her, growing larger as it drew closer to her. She gasped as the sphere enveloped her hands, then screamed as the sphere began to engulf the rest of her.
Within seconds, Beryl was no more. Her energy completely spent, Serenity reverted back into Sailor Moon and collapsed onto the crystal platform floor. The wand fell from her hand and dropped onto the floor beside her. A contented smile was spread across her face as the realization that the long, long battle against the Dark Kingdom was at an end. Though the price astronomically high, it had been paid and peace could once again return.
“Everyone…,” Sailor Moon murmured weakly, turning her head to watch the giant sphere of light that she and the others create to defeat Beryl continue to grow in size, “…thank you.” The last of her strength gone, her head sank back down onto the floor and closed her eyes as she died.
The sphere of light continued to grow until it engulfed Sailor Moon, the Crescent Moon Wand and the entire crystal platform she rested on.
As the light engulfs the Silver Crystal, it can hear the last wishes and hopes of the one who gave her life energy to save the world she held dear. It continued to grow, but now it was following the wishes of the young girl who sacrificed everything she had to save everything she loved.
The light engulfed the entire Dark Kingdom stronghold and Mamoru’s body within, but the light did not stop there….
“I wake up in the morning, the white lace curtains swaying in the breeze.… My clock tells me that it’s 7:00.…”
…The light marches onward, taking in the lifeless form of Sailor Mars….
“…I hear my mother shout, ’If you sleep any longer, you’ll be late!’.…”
…Sailor Venus is the next one to be taken in by the light….
“…I nod off thinking, ‘Just let me sleep three more minutes.…’“
…The light continues to grow, gathering in Sailor Mercury’s motionless body….
“…I’m late, just like any other day. The teacher makes me stand out in the hall. I fail another test.…”
…Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Knight are the last two to be enveloped in the growing sphere of light. The light ceases to grow, but remains until the wish is complete….
“…On the way home from school, I eat crepes with my friends. A party dress decorating a shop window catches my eye....”
“Even the little things… they make me happy. It’s that.… That ordinary life that I want back.
“I want it back.…”
The light slowly began to fade away as everyone was taken back home. The wish was granted and peace returned to their lives once more.