It was such a wonderful dream. She had finally married her beloved Mamo-chan and was walking down the aisle, arm in arm with her new husband amidst family, friends and other well-wishers. Here and there, bottles of champagne were uncorked with audible pops and flowing foam, some of it sprinkling her in the face as she passed by.
With a happy sigh, Usagi turned over in her bed and closed her eyes.
Wait a minute.
“What?!?” she exclaimed as she sat up straight and flung the covers off her legs as she turned on the lights.
“GEH!!!”
Luna winced, covering her ears at Usagi’s scream. “What’s wrong? What are you screaming about in the middle of the night?” she grumbled as she removed her paws and glanced over to see what Usagi was staring at. “EHH?!?”
Right in the middle of Usagi’s bed… was a dark, wet spot.
“Usagi-chan…,” Luna began in utter disbelief. “Don’t tell me… you….”
Small drops of sweat began to form on Usagi’s face as she continued to stare in disbelief at the offending stain.
“Usagi-chan, you’re in eighth grade, right?”
More staring.
“You’re in the eighth grade and you still w– w– w– wet your bed?”
More staring, however, her eyes were starting to take on a wild, almost crazed cast to them.
“Unbelievable!” Luna exclaimed. “How embarrassing!”
Usagi looked as if she were on the verge of a nervous breakdown. However, this was averted as she noticed her blanket starting to move on its own. The slight moaning that accompanied the blanket’s moving warranted looking into.
Peeling back the blanket, she discovered a still sleeping Chibiusa curled up underneath, complete with wet pajama bottom.
“CHIBIUSA!!!”
Rubeus folded his arms as he waited patiently. From the urgency of the summons, he expected the news to be of some great importance.
In the middle of the chamber of crystal and mirrors, a circle of light flashed into being on the floor. From within the circle, Wiseman rose from below the floor and came to a stop as he floated slightly less than a meter above the floor. From within his dark robes, his crystal ball floated out to where he could move his hands around it.
“I foresee…,” he began ominously. “When the sun rises and dawn approaches, in the area called Juuban, there will be a release of energy in the sky near a pedestrian bridge.”
“Near a pedestrian bridge in the Juuban area?” Rubeus repeated as one hand went to his chin broodingly. “And the source of the energy?”
“None other than the Rabbit.”
“Oh,” he remarked thoughtfully. “I will have the four Ayakashi sisters watch the area immediately.
“By the way, Wiseman, how are things over there?” he inquired curiously. “Has Crystal Tokyo fallen yet? Our clan should have most of Crystal Tokyo under control by now.”
“A strong energy is blocking us from one of the Crystal Points beneath the palace,” Wiseman replied.
“A strong energy? What is it?”
“The ones who released the energy and denied us entry were five warriors from Crystal Tokyo.”
“Even in this world, our plans have been compromised by these sailor warriors,” Rubeus mused. “Perhaps they are related somehow to the five warriors in Crystal Tokyo.”
“We must find the Silver Crystal as soon as possible and destroy it,” Wiseman said cautiously and vanished along with the circle of light.
Rubeus snorted and turned toward one of the mirrors surrounding the chamber. “Ayakashi sisters, I have orders for you. Show yourselves.”
Shingo laughed from his seat next to the glass sliding doors as his older sister dragged her futon out of the house in order to dry it out. “Even for stupid Usagi, wetting your bed in the eighth grade is really bad,” he teased derisively as she proceeded to hit the wet bedding with a small beater.
Usagi stomped over to her younger brother and stood with her hands on her hips in irritation. “Don’t say such awful things!” she retorted. “I did not wet my bed!”
“Then, why is your bed wet, stupid Usagi?”
“It was Chibiusa!”
“Oh, please! You’re going to blame it on a little kid?” he replied skeptically, causing Usagi to grow even more irate.
“Hey, you!” she yelled, upset.
The sound of the front door opening and closing drew their attention to where Chibiusa was now leaving the house while carrying her Luna Sphere in her arms.
“Chibiusa!” Usagi called out, stopping the young girl. Chibiusa simply stared at her for a few moments, then ran away.
“Hey!” Usagi shouted after her while shaking the beater in her hand at her. “Don’t run away!”
Too late. The little girl was already out of sight.
“What’s with her?!?” Usagi grumbled, then stomped back to her wet futon.
Sometime later, as she left her futon to air out, Luna joined her as she sat down on one of the small chain fences just outside of her home, next to the wall that partly enclosed her family’s house and property.
“She must have been lonely,” Luna said as she sat down.
“Lonely?”
“Yes. That’s why she snuck into your bed in the middle of the night.” Luna paused to sigh and wipe a tear from her eye. “And you had to be so harsh on her just because she wet your bed.”
“Who was it that was being harsh on me yesterday?” Usagi retorted flatly.
“Well, this and that are completely different,” she said quickly as she looked away.
Usagi’s eye twitched slightly.
“Anyway, find Chibiusa-chan quickly and apologize!” Luna told her.
“What? But I promised to go shopping with Rei-chan and everyone else today,” Usagi dithered.
“This is no time to be saying that!” Luna chided loudly, almost causing Usagi to fall off the chain from the force of her shout. “If we leave her alone, who knows when she’ll release another energy burst?”
“Okay, I got it,” Usagi nodded reluctantly.
“Then, let’s split up and look for her. Usagi-chan, you go the other way, all right?” the black cat suggested as she turned and took off in one direction.
As soon as Luna was out of sight, Usagi sighed in downtrodden defeat. Why was she always being forced to do these things? Especially when she already had plans for the day! It wasn’t fair.
“Why are you just sitting there?!?” Luna demanded as she appeared suddenly, almost causing Usagi to fall off the chain yet again.
In the middle of the eastern staircase leading up to one of the many pedestrian bridges in the downtown Azabu Juuban area, Chibiusa sat down in a huff as she cradled her Luna Sphere in her lap.
“So what?” she grumbled to herself. “I’m still a child. Of course, I’ll wet the bed once in a while.”
As she continued to stare down at the ground, she grew more and more despondent. A memory of the last time she had wet her bed played through her mind, as she recalled how her mother had wordlessly sat down beside her and consoled her. But that memory was from a long time ago.
“Mama…. Papa…,” she called out sadly as tears began to form in her eyes. “I want to go home.” Once again, she brought out the key that hung around her neck and stared at it.
“It is true that the key will allow you to travel through time, but it is dangerous to use it recklessly.”
Puu’s words echoed in her mind, reminding her of the dangers of using the key for selfish reasons. She knew that using the key now would be a bad decision and would likely put her in danger, but still….
“I want…,” she breathed as her hand clenched around the key and her Luna Sphere rolled off her lap and hit the ground.
“I still want to go home!” she shouted as she leaped to her feet and raised the key over her head.
A burst of violet energy illuminated the area around her and then concentrated itself onto the handle of the small key. The condensed globe of iridescent violet light slowly rose into the air where it burst into a swirling ring of pink clouds. As the cloud ring swirled, a column of soft light descended from the middle of the ring, bathing the young girl in its light as she slowly ascended into the air.
“I did it!” she cheered gleefully as she continued to rise skyward, along with her Luna Sphere.
However, halfway toward her goal, the cloud ring suddenly vanished, leaving Chibiusa to plummet the short distance back to the ground.
“Why?” she moaned as she carefully sat back up. The fall had been a short one, so she wasn’t as hurt as she would’ve been had she made it the rest of the way up, then fell.
“Why didn’t it work?” she cried as the tears began to fall. “I want to go back home to Mama!”
As she cried, once again, the crescent moon symbol appeared on her forehead, followed by an enormous column of energy shooting off from her into the air.
A short distance away, Luna spotted the huge column of energy that Chibiusa was radiating. “Ah! That’s Chibiusa-chan’s energy! She’s in trouble!” She quickly took off in the direction of the huge energy column.
As Chibiusa slowly began to get herself under control, the energy she was radiating slowly subsided, then dispersed. Once the energy was gone, the crescent moon symbol on her forehead also flickered and vanished.
“Well, well…,” someone’s voice said from below. The young girl gasped as she recognized Bertie watching her from the base of the stairs. “Did something sad happen, I wonder?” She laughed softly as she slowly ascended the stairs. “Rabbit-chan.”
In a panic, Chibiusa turned to run up the stairs, but stopped upon seeing Katsy standing at the top of the stairs, waiting. “No, Oneesama. I found her first.”
“Oh?” Bertie replied as she continued to advance toward Chibiusa. “I found her first.”
“So, the first one to reach the Rabbit…,” Kasty began as she descended the stairs toward Chibiusa.
“…and kill her…,” Bertie continued.
“…will be the winner,” Katsy concluded as the pair continued to close in on the young girl. However, as Bertie drew closer to her prey, she failed to notice that Chibiusa’s Luna Sphere had rolled underfoot. Once she stepped on the toy ball, her footing was lost and she quickly tumbled down the stairs.
“Ah… ouch…,” she moaned painfully and looked up in time to see Chibiusa run past, stepping on her back in the process. Her toy ball floated past a second later. “No way!”
“Serves you right, Oneesama!” Katsy laughed as she leaped down the stairs, landing right in Chibiusa’s path. “You’re not getting away,” she smirked triumphantly at the young girl. The young girl’s toy ball bounced up and attempted to smack her in the face, however, a simple backhand swatted the annoyance away.
“My Luna Sphere!” Chibiusa exclaimed as the ball bounced away.
Kasty turned back to the young girl, sure that all the distractions were taken care of. However, she had failed to take into account the black cat that had suddenly leapt at her from behind the young girl. The black cat went straight for Katsy’s face, which she desperately tried to defend. The effort knocked her off-balance and she fell over, allowing Chibiusa the opportunity to flee.
“Serves you right, Katsy,” Bertie laughed as she came across her younger sister. However, the older sister failed to notice the toy ball that was chasing after its mistress until it smacked her in the back of her head, knocking her onto the ground, face-first.
Katsy quickly swatted Luna away, knocking her into a nearby chain-link fence, and sat up along with her older sister. As one, both sisters whipped out their compacts and quickly started reapplying blush to their faces.
“You won’t get away with this, Rabbit!” both sisters growled as they finished and leapt away.
“Chibiusa-chan…,” Luna said worriedly as she lay on the ground, too battered to move.
“Usagi-chan sure is late,” Minako sighed as everyone waited for her at their designated meeting place. “What could be the reason?”
“Do you think something happened?” Makoto supposed.
“I bet she overslept, as usual,” Rei grumbled.
“Either way, we might as well wait a little longer,” Ryoku said as he pushed a button on the nearby vending machine after feeding it a few coins. “She did promise to meet us here, after all.” He knelt down to retrieve his drink. “Hey, do any of you want something to drink?”
“Oh! Luna!” Artemis suddenly gasped.
“Eh?” Everyone turned to see Luna hobbling over to them, her fur matted here and there with blood. At once, everyone rushed over to the wounded cat. Minako and Ami both knelt down; Minako to put down Artemis and Ami to pick up Luna and cradle her in her arms.
Ryoku pocketed his drink as he removed his gray shirt and started using it to clean some of the blood off Luna. “What happened, Luna?” he asked, concerned.
“It’s terrible,” she said weakly. “Chibiusa-chan is in trouble….”
“Was she attacked?” Rei inquired.
“Where did it happen?” Makoto inquired right behind her.
“Somewhere near the pedestrian bridge near Juuban Park,” Luna told them.
“This is bad!” Artemis exclaimed.
“Juuban Park?” Ryoku said, frowning as he gazed in the direction of the park. “That’s not too far from here.”
“Let’s hurry!” Minako said as she stood up. Ryoku nodded as he spread his shirt on the ground for Ami to put Luna on. “Artemis, take care of Luna!”
As Artemis gently licked Luna’s wounds to sterilize them, she looked up to see the group run off to save Chibiusa.
Usagi sighed once again as she continued to search for the elusive Chibiusa. She had been looking for quite a while now and she was sure that the others were starting to grow impatient waiting for her. Especially Rei. She would love nothing more than to go see her friends, but Luna would certainly get on her case if she didn’t find Chibiusa first.
As she approached a closed-off construction site, a hint of pink hair caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. “Oh! Chibiusa,” she said as she watched the little girl try to crawl through a little hole in the fence surrounding the construction site. “What’s she doing there?” Curious, she promptly started following the young girl.
Upon making her way into the construction site, Chibiusa looked around wildly for any signs of pursuit. Finding none, she started searching for a place to hide. Quickly, she ducked behind a pile of I-beams and sat down next to a divider. Unbeknownst to her, Usagi had squeezed her way between the pile of I-beams and the wall they were stacked next to. Upon spotting the small child, she quickly duck behind the other side of the divider before Chibiusa could spot her.
It annoys me a little, Usagi thought as she hid, but I guess I should apologize to her first. A soft sniffle was heard on the other side of the divider. She’s crying?
As a tear rolled down Chibiusa’s cheek, she pressed the nose on her Luna Sphere. The left eye warped and flickered as it illuminated and was replaced by a distorted image of a familiar person.
“Puu…,” Chibiusa said sadly.
“What’s wrong? You’re crying, aren’t you?”
“Puu….”
“You shouldn’t cry,” she admonished gently. “You’re a strong girl, aren’t you?”
“No, I’m scared, Puu!”
“Be brave. You have strong allies.”
Chibiusa hung her head slightly. “I don’t have anyone like that.”
What? Usagi wondered as she remained hidden. Is she talking to someone?
“Haven’t the Sailor Warriors always helped you in the past?”
“But, they’re much stronger,” Chibiusa replied. “Because they even made Mama…. My Mama….” Chibiusa began to visually shake as she remembered. “Look at what they did to her! Even Papa couldn’t beat them!”
“Don’t you remember when you were very young?” Puu asked impassively. “Don’t you remember those warriors who always looked after you in the future city? Those same warriors are still fighting to protect Crystal Tokyo. And so do the ones in the world you are in now.
“Believe in Sailor Moon and those warriors. I’m sure they will help you.” With that, Puu’s image disappeared and was replaced by the usual cat eye.
“Puu!” Chibiusa called out as she leaped to her feet and held the Luna Sphere close to her face. But the connection was already gone. “Puu….”
Behind the divider, Usagi quietly listened to Chibiusa crying as she mulled over what she overheard. So, that’s it. Those guys got Chibiusa’s mama.…
“I found you, Rabbit!”
Chibiusa froze as Katsy appeared before her. “Who would’ve thought that you’d be hiding here?” she gloated in triumph.
Usagi quietly got up and snuck back between the stack of I-beams and the wall. Chibiusa.… Once she felt she was under enough cover, she quickly brought out her brooch and thrust it into the air.
“Moon crystal power, make up!”
Chibiusa fearfully backed away from Kasty as the woman raised her hand, but found that she had nowhere to run as she backed into the divider.
“Die,” Katsy smirked victoriously.
“Hold it right there!”
“Sailor Moon!” she scowled as she spotted her foe standing atop the stack of I-beams behind her.
“You evil one, picking on a little girl who came from the future city all by herself!” Sailor Moon declared while posing. “On behalf on the Moon, I’ll punish you!”
Katsy smirked again as Sailor Moon jumped down in front of Chibiusa. “Impudent brat. Sisters!” she called out as she stepped back. Behind her, her three older sisters stepped out in a line.
“Eldest daughter, Prisma.”
“Second daughter, Avery.”
“Third daughter, Bertie.”
“Fourth daughter, Katsy.”
Sailor Moon held Chibiusa closer as she grew more nervous from the overwhelming odds against her.
“We are from…,” Prisma began.
“…the tenth planet…,” Avery continued.
“…the dark world…,” Bertie added.
“…Black Moon,” Katsy finished.
“The four Ayakashi sisters!” all four announced simultaneously.
Sailor Moon grimaced as she tried to figure out a way to defend the young girl in her arms from the four sisters. She was about to resign herself to fighting alone when the sounds of footsteps caught everyone’s attention.
At the entrance to the construction site, five figures purposefully advanced; resolution clear in their eyes.
“Sailor Mars!”
“Sailor Mercury!”
“Sailor Knight!”
“Sailor Jupiter!”
“Sailor Venus!”
“We have arrived!” all five announced at once.
“Everyone!” Sailor Moon called out in relief. Chibiusa merely watched from her position in Sailor Moon’s arms as the two groups faced off. Mars squared off against Katsy, while Mercury faced Bertie, Venus faced Avery, and Jupiter faced Prisma. Knight stood between Mercury and Venus, arms folded as he cautiously watched both the four sisters and Sailor Moon.
“Five against four hardly seems fair. Don’t you think so, sisters?” Avery mentioned as she brought out her whip.
“Yes, but I think I have the perfect Droid to take care of that boy,” Katsy replied with a sneer. “Droid Kenkaku! Come forth!”
A lithe figure dressed completely in black faded into view on the sisters’ side opposite of Sailor Knight. The Droid had a shock of white hair that flowed down his back, over a sword that was sheathed across his back. Around his neck was a necklace with a dark yellow gem with an upside-down crescent moon in the center.
“Kenkaku, take care of the boy,” Katsy ordered. The Droid nodded and drew his sword. Knight replied by flicking his wrist, bringing his transformation wand to hand. Another flick and the Star Sword’s blade appeared.
The stand-off held for a few moments more until the battle finally commenced in a violent explosion of movement.
Katsy released her Dark Fire attack, which Mars countered by unleashing her Burning Mandala. The attacks collided between them, resulting in a huge fireball blocking both their views.
Bertie gathered her Dark Water attack, swirling it around her before unleashing its full force at Sailor Mercury. Mercury barely managed to dodge the attack and countered with her Shine Aqua Illusion.
Avery’s whip snaked out as it struck, but it failed to hit Venus as she leapt away. Venus responded in kind with her Love-Me Chain, forcing Avery to leap away from her attack as well.
Prisma and Jupiter traded shots back and forth, Prisma with her Dark Thunder and Jupiter with her Sparkling Wide Pressure. As they fought lightning against thunder, the two occasionally closed in for hand-to-hand fighting.
Kenkaku proved to be a tough opponent as Knight had his hands full dodging and parrying his rapid slashing and thrown daggers. However, the Droid was having similar difficulty against Knight’s skill with his blade as well as evading his Avalanche Barrage.
While the battle raged on, Chibiusa continued to watch as Sailor Moon carefully guarded the young girl against any possible attack. Her eyes widened as she caught sight of an incoming attack and covered Chibiusa’s body with her own, taking the brunt of the attack with her unprotected back, the rest of it breaking up the concrete around them. Once the attack dissipated, Sailor Moon buckled, partly collapsing on top of Chibiusa.
All of the Sailor Scouts glanced toward their leader and saw her on her knees in a huge crater, barely being held up by Chibiusa. “Sailor Moon!” the young girl cried out worriedly.
“Let’s stop this game,” a voice stated as a red-haired figure appeared in the air above Sailor Moon and Chibiusa.
Sailor Moon turned her head toward the new arrival. “Who are you?”
“A member of the Black Moon family,” he replied, introducing himself, “Crimson Rubeus.”
“Why are you after this child?!?” she demanded as she held the cowering girl closer to her.
“Our mission is to change the future,” Rubeus told her. “In order to do so, that girl….” He paused only long enough to gather energy for another attack. “…must die.”
Chibiusa gasped as Rubeus flung another volley of miniature dark globes at her. Sailor Moon responded by picking up the little girl and leaping over the attack, landing a short distance away. However, Rubeus had already readied another attack and had flung it at her before she had a chance to leap away again. Chibiusa fearfully gripped onto Sailor Moon, quietly placing all her hopes into the one who was protecting her. The attack flung her into the air, causing her to shriek in pain before she smashed into the wall of the building under construction.
“Sailor Moon!” Chibiusa cried as she sat up amidst Rubeus’ cocky laughter and shook Sailor Moon’s motionless form. “Sailor Moon!”
Sailor Moon’s eyes opened and focused on Chibiusa’s face. You’re precocious… you like to play pranks… and you can be a horrid child… but.…
“Sailor Moon!” Chibiusa cried, tears pouring down her frightened face.
The truth is.…
Sailor Moon weakly reached one of her hands toward Chibiusa’s face to console her, but was interrupted as Rubeus descended and stopped in front of them, his arms folded with a smarmy look on his face.
“This is the end,” he said as he raised his hand.
“Not yet.”
His confident look dropped as Sailor Moon pushed herself up. “I will not die so easily,” she said as she stood up and gathered Chibiusa into her arms again. “I will protect this girl no matter what!”
As if to punctuate her statement, a single red rose cut through the air and stuck into the ground before Rubeus. The three looked up to see Tuxedo Kamen standing on top of a crane, his arm still extended from throwing the rose.
“I will not tolerate anyone who would threaten a young girl’s life,” he stated.
“What?!?” Rubeus snarled as he gathered energy for another attack. “Presumptuous fool!” He flung his attack at Tuxedo Kamen, but missed as he leapt over the blast and landed beside Sailor Moon and Chibiusa. He flung another blast at the group, which Tuxedo Kamen countered by flinging countless roses in its path.
“What?!?” he exclaimed as the roses collided with his dark globes, making them explode on impact between them. The resulting blast was too close and he was pushed back by the backlash.
Once the explosion died down, Tuxedo Kamen lowered the part of his cape he held protectively over Sailor Moon and Chibiusa. “Sailor Moon, you’re the only one who can protect this girl,” he said seriously. “Go.”
Sailor Moon smiled as she blushed. “Yes!” she nodded as she brought out her scepter. “Moon princess halation!” she shouted as she waved the scepter in front of her, firing a blast of white energy at Rubeus.
At the same time, Knight spotted the incoming attack as Kenkaku had closed in on him once again. As they crossed swords in an attempt to push the other back and knock him off balance, Knight fell backward causing the Droid to fall with him as he could not shift his balance in time. As soon as Knight hit the ground, he kicked Kenkaku off of him as hard as he could, aiming him at Rubeus in the process. The attack struck, shattering Kenkaku’s skin to pieces, leaving only his figure in crystal, which disintegrated into a pile of powder. The jewel on his necklace with the upside-down black crescent moon turned from a dark yellow into a dull lifeless gray.
“Rubeus-sama!” all four Ayakashi sisters exclaimed, seeing the attack impact with Kenkaku.
Rubeus reappeared in the air above where Kenkaku was destroyed. “Ayakashi sisters, retreat for now!” he ordered. The four sisters promptly vanished, leaving Rubeus as the last one remaining. “I’ll make sure you pay for this!” he exclaimed as he vanished as well.
“Hey, Chibiusa,” Sailor Moon urged the young child as Tuxedo Kamen and the rest of the Sailor Scouts gathered, wanting to make sure that Chibiusa was all right. “Please, tell me the truth. You came from the future, right? What is the tenth planet? What is the family of the dark world? Did they capture your Mama?” She stopped as Chibiusa turned to her with tears in her eyes.
“Sailor Moon!” she cried as she leapt and desperately embraced her. “My Mama…. Please save my Mama, Sailor Moon! Please save my Mama from those bad guys! Puu said that Sailor Moon and the Sailor Warriors would help me!
“Please… save my Mama….”
Tuxedo Kamen and the other Sailor Scouts quietly watched as Sailor Moon tried to soothe the crying girl.
“Chibiusa…,” Sailor Moon said as she gave the young girl a consoling hug.
Back in his chambers in the future, Wiseman broodingly consulted his crystal ball. Rubeus and the four Ayakashi sisters had failed, even though he had told them where and when to strike. It was annoying, but there would be other opportunities.
“Even a beautiful flower in bloom will die as time passes,” he said to himself. “As proud of their glory as they are, even Crystal Tokyo and the Rabbit’s mother will soon….”
He laughed knowingly to himself as the column in the middle of the chamber projected an image of the Queen of Crystal Tokyo.
To Chapter 65: A Dark Premonition