Negaverse Rising

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Chapter 8
The Final Chapter

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* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ M O O N * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Serena was rocketed sickeningly high for a long time, never daring to look down; and then her perspective changed, where just staring 'up' at her sword meant she was hurtling down sickeningly fast. She brought the sword up over her head gently, flattening her direction but disturbingly not slowing her speed. When she opened her eyes against the winds, she was flying horizontally over the surface of the moonscape. She had expected the air to be sucked from her body, but surprisingly she felt just like she did on the earth, and wondered momentarily how that was possible.

She saw some deep pits and crevices, and wondered idly where she was supposed to be going. She flapped powerfully now to slow her speed, then landed awkwardly on the dustbowl. She looked around, dizzy with exhaustion and trying to catch her breath. Bent over; felt like puking. Looked up; around. Dark, gray moonscape. Felt guilty about a sudden impulse; an impulse she couldn't resist. Biting her lip, she took a small step and said out loud, "One - small - step - for - man..."

"Oh good LORD Serena—!"

Serena screamed, heart racing, and turned viciously on Luna, who was stuck in the train of her dress.

Luna continued, "..of all the TIMES to play a silly girl's game!" The cat huffed. Then looked up. "WELL CAN YOU HELP ME OUT OF THIS MESS?"

Serena hand was on her heart. "You're getting a cowbell," she grated as she pulled the cat out of her dress. "You're scared the daylights out of me, Luna!"

They heard a whipping sound behind them and both turned, Serena feeling and then seeing a black and white pulsating UFO flying at her face. Her instinct was to jump; instead, her right arm shot out, and another white sword landed hilt-first in the palm of her hand —with a black sword whipping violently around it.

"You have GOT to be kidding me," Serena said, holding the new white sword at arm's length.

And then the ground started shaking; she almost fell to her knees, but was scared of these new blades whipping dangerously in front of her. Luna was screaming something at her; Serena was just trying to not fall over.

"Stop the black sword—!" Luna managed to command over the rumbling sounds coming from the ground.

Swallowing, Serena pulled her left sword up under the right sword, hoping she could flick off Nephrite's angry-looking black sword and let it go hurtling off into space. Instead, the black sword now encompassed both white swords, and started spinning furiously around them both. Panicked, Serena tried to pull the two white swords apart; they felt nearly glued together.

"Pull them apart!" Luna insisted, stunned at the dangerous set of blades spinning violently around each other.

"I'm TRYING!" Serena gasped, her breathing labored as she fought the black sword. Her arms felt pained; and white light started shooting off the two swords ...the ground started shaking worse.

Then suddenly, the black sword fell to the ground uneventfully. Serena backed up a step, then the black sword seemed to bore a hole in the ground. The ground started sinking all around the sword; Serena instinctively flew up and back as the ground caved in, her swords spread as wide apart as possible to avoid more of that white flashing light. She landed back a few steps, then kept leaping back as the ground before her gave way more and more—

Nephrite popped up and out of the ground — out of the dark matter sword! — scaring the shit out of Serena! He ran directly at her, his dark matter sword fused into his hand as surely as the two white swords were now fused into her hands. She flew up and back at a maddening pace, trying to guess what her next move should even be.

"COME ON WITCH!" Nephrite said, shaking the atmosphere with the sound. "You wanted to JOIN the two FUCKING KINGDOMS! FINISH IT! PUT THIS ROCK IN THE EARTH!" He picked up incredible speed and flew directly into her, slashing her two white swords which she'd quickly crossed in front of her. Nephrite was immediately blasted backwards, flying heels over head far away. So far that she could barely see him.

She started freaking out; looked up at the earth. It seemed to be a long way away from her present position now, further away than when she first landed. About like what she'd seen in pictures of the earth from the moon. But she'd failed that part of science; cringed, wishing Prince 'Answers' Diamond was there to tell her what she needed to do to put the moon back in place!

The she stared in horror at the two swords. Breathing hard, cursing the day she was born, she said to the sky, "You've GOT to be kidding me. —two of the damned things? I can't even use the FIRST one!"

Luna ran up to her: "Serena, stop your whining! You handled that fairly well." She wasn't about to tell Serena that she feared Nephrite would run her through immediately. But she did say, "Keep watching your footwork; don't let him get you off-balance. If he trips you up, you're dead, so just stay on your feet." Luna screamed, "And what are you waiting for? GO GET HIM!"

Serena nodded and sheathed the new right-handed sword, pointed the remaining sword at the faraway Nephrite, then took off, wondering how a pregnant winged lady bolting across the surface of the moon must look to any astronomers out there. "NEPHRITE!" she yelled in warning, now flying sword-first towards the shitennou as he stood up.

But instead of trying to run him through, which she felt sure he'd easily block, Serena suddenly twisted the sword into the ground in front of Nephrite, spearing the ground, sending her flying over Nephrite. The shitennou slashed wildly over his head and connected with Serena's wing, sending a jolt of pain through her back and brain. She landed hard, but was facing him.

Nephrite ran at her and attacked with a fierce precision; as her primary sword parried his blow, she unsheathed her new sword, pulled it back, then stabbed forward, into his unprotected left side; felt the connection; saw his agonized face; heard him scream. —Serena was startled, —she had to bite back an effusive apology as she jerked her sword out of his side. In her hesitation, Nephrite quickly bolted up and ran away, grasping his side.

Serena, near tears, angry at herself for hesitating, turned and ran after him with great power, both swords now tucked under her arms and and pointing backwards to help her speed. She should have finished it; she stabbed him, hurt him; she was supposed to have finished it. He'd taken Lita; he'd hurt people; he'd attacked her after Demand brought him to Lita's. He tried to attack Darien! —And somehow the conjuring freak had MOVED THE MOON!

The moon had given her another sword; a sure sign she was supposed to use it.

Luna howled from behind her, "..WAIT UP SERENA!"

But Serena thought, Two swords - she was going to end this shit.

Nephrite ran for what felt to her like miles, to what originally looked like a small mountain, but which she saw now was a giant building ...a relic of a giant, regal building. As she closed in, she recognized it as THE giant building of her dreams from many months earlier, when the Black Moon brothers had invaded her mind and healed the breach left by Rei.

As she got closer still, the building got shinier. And as Serena's reality changed shape, she missed a step, then slowed to a walk, hyperventilating and starting to weep out of panic this time. She could now see brilliant colors emanating from the palace walls —colors she knew hadn't been there seconds before. She stopped, staring at the place in horror, LET GO of both swords and dropped to the ground, holding her head in her hands, not caring if the swords she didn't want decided to sweep up and behead her because she wasn't focused enough.

Luna slowed as well, taken aback by the sight of the former Silver Millennium castle come back to life so suddenly.

As the cat came upon a crying Serena, she intoned quietly, "It's like we've gone back into the past! Like we've just run straight back into the past" She almost felt like she could walk into that castle as see the former Queen Serenity, so many eons dead.

Serena turned her head away from the castle, and looked at the earth, the beautiful blue marble in the sky she loved so much. She asked Luna through confused tears, "Doesn't the earth look far enough away again?" Maybe they should just go home, if they'd done what Demand said she was supposed to do.

Luna looking at the Moon Kingdom's castle in full color, said, "This ...reconstruction is beyond what even your Silver Crystal could do. At least not without killing you." The ground even started sprouting color now, growing beautiful, long-extinct plants and trees, just as Luna remembered. Good Lord, Luna gasped silently; the moon had an atmosphere now! Luna wondered if this was some kind of mind trick; but Nephrite couldn't be that powerful. Finally, Luna said hollowly, "I'm at a loss. —But I guess we should press on. Find Nephrite..."

Serena wasn't listening; she watched curiously as the earth's north pole slowly twisted away from her, and Australia rotated into view. She knew the earth rotated all the time to make the hours. But she didn't know it rotated so fast! And as she stared, she realized that it couldn't rotate so fast. And she didn't that it rotate that way. "Luna? —Luna, something's happening...!"

Luna said, "Of course something's happening! The Moon Palace is back!" She turned back to Serena now, adding, "And look at your crystal! It's back to normal now, even in this transformation! Hours ago it was that future 'sliver of crystal' thing, that Demand said was your future crystal. But now—"

"Luna!" Serena said, standing suddenly to look at the earth, pointing at the planet with her sword. "No, I mean— it shouldn't be like that!" As Luna finally looked up, Serena's eyes grew wide. "Luna! I know Ami would probably be laughing at me now, but —I really don't think Japan should be that high up on the globe!" Beat. "You almost can't see it anymore!"

When Luna didn't say anything, but just stared at the earth, Serena continued, "I mean, ..it would be freezing all the time, right?"

—And THEN they heard a sonic boom so loud that Serena ripped her odangos off her head to stop the pain.

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Day 1, 4pm
D A M N A T I O N

The moment Serena took off, Tuxedo Mask was grabbed by Demand. Amid the wind-ravaged chaos of Tokyo, the Black Moon prince shoved Darien into the three remaining senshi, and reached out to Rubeus and Saphir as a car came crashing towards them.

And the whole group was instantly transported to a still, quiet cavern.

"What happened?" Sailor Mercury complained, shaken up. She looked around, asked, "Where are we?"

"You don't want to know," Demand said, escorting Darien over to a bank of computers whose monitors seemed to be on various points of the earth from outer space. He zoomed in on one of the scenes.

Sailor Venus followed them, and immediately exclaimed, "Oh, pretty! It's so colorful! —where is it?"

Tuxedo Mask froze. It was an ancient image, one he'd never seen in this lifetime, but knew very well. He said, "That's impossible!"

Demand nodded. "Quite." Then, to Saphir, he said, "I guess that means she was successful; we need visual confirmation."

Artemis jumped out of Sailor Venus' arms, realizing belatedly, "We're in the Negaverse!"

"Very observant," Rubeus sneered. "Demand, I say we get the hell out of here and take our chances back on NEMESIS." They stayed knowing they were within years of a very dangerous time, but expecting to have accomplished their goals well before the Calamity.

Sailor Mars stormed over to Demand and Tuxedo Mask, hissed, "WHY? Why are we in the freakin Negaverse?"

"Safety," Sailor Mercury answered loudly, pointing to Rubeus' monitor: "The moon is pulling out of the earth's atmosphere."

"Then we've got the visual," Demand said morosely, standing to see the monitor Ami was pointing at, ignoring Hino's tantrum. She'd learn soon enough why they'd taken cover in the Negaverse.

"Well, that's awesome!" Sailor Venus said with a large smile. "That must mean Serena did it!"

Rubeus growled "Stupid ditz" under his breath, but then bluntly agreed, "It's better than having the moon crash land on earth." Beat. "But the sudden entry and exit of a giant satellite should have quite devastating global consequences."

Sailor Mercury jumped at that — of course it would! — then exclaimed, "So we're hiding out in the Negaverse?" Rubeus glared at her with a wicked grin, making her nauseated. She turned away and looked to Demand or Saphir for answers.

"We can, and we must," Demand said firmly. He flicked the image on his monitor to a stock photo of the moon. "You can't save everybody, Ami. But you won't save anyone if you don't live through the initial shock wave, and we won't be useful if we don't understand the mechanics of what's going on." To Tuxedo Mask, he said, "This is the surface of the moon, an hour ago." Then he fast-forwarded the video to the present time, to the image Sailor Venus and Tuxedo Mask had initially seen. "And this is now. —completely unexpected!"

"Indeed," Saphir said, noting the odd phenomenon. "Another thing they left out of the history books."

Tuxedo Mask contemplated the moon coming to life; Serena being there. While the rest of them were hiding out in the Negaverse. "What's happening, Demand?"

Demand said, "Serena brought the moon to the earth."

"What?" Darien asked. "Bullshit! —How?"

Rubeus sneered, "Excellent question. Yes, Demand! HOW?" He, for one, had been caught completely off-guard; but Demand had warned him about it moments before it happened.

Demand looked at Tuxedo Mask and said, "You were there; you saw everything! —She threw away her ..her sword! The one she couldn't be rid of no matter how hard she tried?" He turned back to the monitors, started working the controls. "What did you EXPECT would happen—?"

"Thanks for informing us, Demand," Rubeus said wryly, walking over to the intelligent blue-haired one, about the only one in the room he could bear being around this instant.

"She still had her sword!" Tuxedo Mask argued.

"You saw a different one," Saphir said, zooming his bank of monitors in on Japan. He turned on them: "Japan's dark."

Ami glared at a blackened Tokyo, horror filling her soul: "It's 4 o'clock in the afternoon! There must be something wrong with your cameras!"

"They're not our cameras," Rubeus said smugly, "but we can vouch for them; our ship's in orbit near the satellite with this camera," he said, pointing at a monitor. "Which again, is where WE should be!"

Tuxedo Mask shouted to Demand over the growing muttering, "She even went to the moon POWERED by her sword! At your command!"

Rubeus yelled to Darien, "There are TWO swords, Chiba!" Damn the man was dense. "The one she's always had, and the one she spawns to take over the universe for selfish gain—" he coughed, then added, "I mean, 'and the other one'."

Demand rolled his eyes, "If you're going to tell them the mythologies, you have to stress that they're legends; most people don't believe them. Ancients made things up to explain the unexplainable." He pulled his camera away from the moon, and moved it to focus on the earth. It was taking time... He looked up at Tuxedo Mask, then said, "According to legend, Serenity lost her first sword in battle, but immediately spawned another. Later, she joined the Two Swords, and was able to halt the glaceriazation of your planet." He looked at his monitor, and added, as if an afterthought, "The earth's tilt has increased."

"That's IMPOSSIBLE!" Ami shouted, staring at an image of the earth that was now on all the monitors. They couldn't see the Asian continent from that angle, but they saw the Americas. North America was now centered over the equator. "—ohmigod and that's Siberia, north of America!"

The cameras blinked out, all at once; and they all crashed to the floor, along with any equipment that wasn't bolted down. And then they heard the earth groan.

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MOON CASTLE

Serena looked up into the gloriously-draped windows as she dashed towards the ancient palace, seeing nothing, but knowing that's where Nephrite was. Luna followed behind, tripping up occasionally with the surreal presence of the castle assaulting her eons-old memories.

"MS TSUKINO!" Nephrite called loudly. "I GIVE UP! I'm asking for TERMS!"

Serena sheathed her two swords as she ran into the palace, through the great room, then started up the ancient winding stairs going up to the next level. She knew the building well. It had been her home in another lifetime. It had been demolished to rubble, and slowly devolved to the moonscape that was in all the history books now — a dust bowl with a bunch of craters. It had remained a crater-ridden dirtball until about ten minutes earlier. Now it was different.

As she made her way quickly up the ever-winding stairs, she heard another shout: "Serena?" It was Lita.

Luna, on Serena's heels, asked, "What's LITA doing here?"

"I WAS WRONG TO ATTACK YOU!" Nephrite yelled out from somewhere above them. "I ASK FOR TERMS!"

Serena reached the top of the stairs and turned towards the voices. Ahead of her, Sailor Jupiter's head peeked out of a room at the end of the hall. "Serena, it's me. Please you have to listen to us—!"

"What did you DO?," Serena yelled, bolting to the room and rudely pushing past Lita, stopping only as Nephrite came into view.

Luna ran in and stood before Sailor Jupiter, saw Nephrite cowering in a corner. "What happened to you, Sailor Jupiter? You've thrown it all away for —him?"

Serena unsheathed both swords and pointed them at the maggot, cautiously approaching him. Breathing hard from the long run, she gasped out, "How'd you move the moon, Nephrite?"

The shitennou, stabbed, and knowing he was beaten, tossed his sword to the ground in front of him, giving up his only defense. The blade disappeared into it's hilt as Nephrite shook his head and said, "I didn't! I WOULDN'T!"

Lita agreed emphatically, moving protectively between Serena and Nephrite, holding up her hands as if to calm her friend: "Serena, we got SUCKED UP here! Nephrite would NEVER try to hurt his planet it's all he TALKS about—!"

Serena and Luna approached the pair. Serena angrily kicked the dark sword hilt away, and using the tips of her swords, moved Sailor Jupiter away from Nephrite; then slowly moved the swords towards Nephrite's neck. "The earth's flipped over on its side, Nephrite!" She glanced over at Sailor Jupiter, glaring with fury: "Want him to live? Start talking!"

"Flipped over?" Nephrite said, clearly alarmed. He glanced at the cat, who didn't seem to think the moon bitch was rattling insanities. "You mean it's off its axis?" He lurched suddenly, and made the egregious mistake of putting his hands to her swords to push them away, wanting to stand so he could go look, —and was cut severely and blasted back into the wall, screaming in pain.

Surprising even Serena; she quickly pulled her swords up and knelt down, shocked at the blood pouring out of his hands.

"Serena," Luna screamed, "Fix him! He needs to tell us what he did!"

Serena's eyes widened, but she reached out to touch Nephrite's leg —about as close to his wounds as she felt comfortable getting. As she touched him, she felt energy pour out of her fingers and blast into Nephrite's body. Her mouth dropped open in surprise as Nephrite bolted up, still glaring at his hands, screaming in horror.

Sailor Jupiter, thinking Serena had hurt Nephrite for the third time, lashed out at Serena with a thunder blast: "Get AWAY from him!"

—but the attack was turned back on the senshi and sent her flying backwards across the wall, into the next corner, knocked out.

Serena had felt something disturbing in Nephrite, and was drawn to continue the healing; she grabbed his arms and continued holding him ..healing him. Purifying him? she wondered. He convulsed loudly, screaming—

..then the dark matter sword hilt blasted across the room behind them. Nephrite fell to the floor, no longer moving.

Serena backed up; looked for Luna. Saw her tending to Lita, who had detransformed and was still passed out. "Luna I think I killed him!" she said, panicked.

Luna didn't leave Lita: "You purified him, Serena," she said hollowly. Without using a talisman of any sort, the cat thought to herself.

"Purified?" Serena asked, bending down to check Nephrite's pulse. Eh, he had a pulse. She started slapping him, trying to rouse him. "NEPHRITE! GET UP! —Luna," she said, disturbed, "I thought Chaos had been dispersed. What's there to purify?"

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Nephrite stirred. Opened his eyes. The Moon Bitch was staring at him, jarring him awake. He twisted his head and started throwing up.

That got the ditz away from him. She and that cat convened at the window, and Nephrite sat up. He'd lost his connection with the Dark Matter Sword, and that had hurt far worse than touching her white swords. Sure, the white swords had burned down into this soul mercilessly, but mainly they'd just cut his fingers off.

When the pregnant usurper of power touched him, though, to repair the physical damage she'd caused, she'd ripped half his soul from him, rending his bond with the Dark Matter Sword, suddenly and painfully. Nephrite could tell she didn't even know what she'd done to him; she probably just thought his fingers were back on, oh whoopie, she didn't have to live with that bit of guilt.

He glanced over at Lita, who'd stupidly tried to attack Serena and probably brought on the whole 'healing' thing. Lita was hovering over him now, as she always did. As she always had, even a thousand years earlier. He'd initially used those memories to stir her interest in him, but those memories were nothing but a boring dream to him. He could find women anywhere; this one was okay, but ultimately, she was a senshi — his greatest sworn enemy. And though he'd earned her sympathies and help, she constantly ended up causing him more grief than necessary.

He shook Lita off him and stood, strode to the window. It physically HURT to be without his connection to the sword—

Then he saw his planet, its axis toppled over, and fury took him. "What THE HELL did you DO NOW?" he demanded.

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Serena checked; the earth hadn't moved more, but Serena could see atmospheric activity that hadn't been there moments ago. Dust clouds and angry looking storms converging... Her head swimming with fear, she said, "We've got to do something!"

When Luna informed Nephrite that they knew he'd caused the disaster, the shitennou exclaimed, "I DIDN'T!" Then he pointed at Serena angrily: "SHE DID!"

Serena ignored his tone. Beside herself, she said, "Okay -how did *I* move the moon? How did YOU get here?"

Nephrite cringed. "That —that white sword of yours!" He paused, remembering the moment. "We ended up here because you threw that —thing at MY sword, which by the way completely ignores centuries-held traditions about what's fair in sword fighting!" He huffed angrily; the bitch was useless. Then he railed, "—and it TRAPPED my sword. The moon tried to pull it back ... we FELT the pull!"

Serena glared at him, asked wryly, "Why wouldn't you have just let the sword go, Nephrite?"

"I —I had JOINED with my sword." Was she really that dense, he wondered. "Your sword was fused to mine. Lita and I felt like we were being pulled apart! —Then ..whoosh, we ended up here! The moon CAPTURED your sword, and us along with it!" Beat. "YOU did this!"

"You ..you 'joined' with a sword?" Lita asked, stunned by this news.

"LOOK!" Serena shouted, grabbing Nephrite's head and pushing it up against the window with fury. "That's YOUR planet you want to protect from the likes of ME! RIGHT? —" And then she let go of him; realized he was telling the truth. His thoughts came blazing into her brain.

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Day 1, 6pm
EARTH

Tuxedo Mask worked feverishly at lifting rubble off the crushed victims in downtown Tokyo. Water had flooded the city from the calamity — a tsunami that had swept the world, or at least the East, during one of the many earthquakes of the past several hours.

Sailor Venus lifted the victims to a staging area planned by Ami, where the Black Moon Clan worked to heal injuries. It wasn't the only emergency triage available, as the city's planners had prepared well for tsunamis, but it was the only one with the special healers who were instantly healing crush survivors. And when word got out about the instant healers, people made pilgrimages to the Senshi triage en masse. All the senshi, Tuxedo Mask, and the Black Moon Clan had been working non-stop for hours.

Many others had joined their effort, and accepted first the example, and then the commands, of the dashing masked man who'd so often helped the Sailor Senshi battle off monsters. Now they weren't battling monsters; now they were battling the earth's upheaval, and nobody, not a one, knew when the disasters would calm. They were all battling to help each other live another day.

Sailor Mercury had launched into emergency planning the minute she accepted that the earth's axis had tilted —or rather, tilted MORE; and that Japan was probably now located where Siberia used to be. In the sub-arctic. She KNEW they wouldn't be able to stay in Japan; maybe the Siberians, if any lived, could migrate to Japan. But the Japanese would have to either learn to adapt to impossible cold, or they'd all have to migrate further south. Australia, maybe.

Already the air seemed colder, Sailor Mercury thought, even though her brain told her the atmosphere should have heated up considerably from the energy loosed by the earth's tilting. But she cursed herself for considering all this now; she shouldn't be focusing on anything but the immediate needs of this one city. Mercury worked with any and every hand she could find to set up triages, shelters; to find doctors, water, and hopefully soon, food. Luxuries not even the Senshi had been able to attain.

And she was starting to try to accumulate data about the earth's stability, not for the long-term, but just for the next few hours. The question now being asked by some of the city planners she'd dug out from the rubble was, if the island of Japan stayed afloat at all, should they stay in Japan, or try to ferry survivors to mainland China.

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M O O N

"I did this, Luna," Serena said, breathless. After she'd FELT Nephrite's thoughts, all at once, and could see the way he looked at her, and unfortunately the way he looked at Lita, she knew that the lout had no real information about why the earth had tilted, and that her releasing her sword to save Darien is exactly what Nephrite thought had brought down the moon.

She had stormed out of that room, and ran blindly to another set of rooms she knew well — those of her first mother, Queen Serenity, who now existed to her only as a mirage in her dreams. Luna had followed, and sat Serena down, and had a talk with her, finding out exactly what Nephrite had seen that day. Luna half-agreed with Nephrite's assessment: "Nephrite had nothing that could move the moon! The only thing that could generate that much power would be—" she broke off and glared at Serena's Silver Crystal. "But even that is impossible! You're still alive!"

Luna questioned Serena's original explanation of the white sword — that it was a pure star seed that she had used against Galaxia. "You have to ask yourself, why you would have that star seed NOW, Serena, if the sword was shattered, and the star seed returned? —I don't think you have the Sword of Sealing there!" Luna contended.

Serena looked closely at her swords, then asked, "So these are someone else's star seeds?"

Luna asked impatiently, "What would you be doing with someone else's star seed?" Luna had learned the story of Galaxia months ago, how a brilliant star seed had sought out the brightest star seed in the universe to defeat Chaos, which had been Serena's Silver Crystal. Luna hadn't even been aware that the Silver Crystal was in any way a star seed, but accepted the story without argument, and opted to just not the trust either the white sword itself, or Serena's unstable transformation.

Now the cat wondered if there was there another powerful being trying to use Serena in such a way? Frustrated, Luna asked, "There's nothing else you remember after Galaxia?"

"No," Serena said. "All my future 'memories' end with Galaxia, and being reunited with all of you." She smiled fondly at Luna. Then dropped her head into her hands, feeling like an abject failure. They weren't getting anywhere; the earth was in trouble. All she could do was sit there like a bump on a log.

Luna recalled again the time Queen Serenity opted to seal away the enemies: "Your mother had drawn so much power from the Silver Crystal, just to save you." She smiled, thinking of the woman's sacrifice. Then shrugged, "Of course, Demand said that you ..you dispersed the Silver Crystal to all souls, leaving only a sliver for yourself." But that sliver was gone now, replaced again by the original Silver Crystal. "—It's hard to imagine that dispersing the Silver Crystal wasn't an 'overuse' of the crystal."

"I don't have that memory," Serena said, "but at least it sounds nice." Most of her thoughts about her future self were still very negative.

"Your future self must have grown in power, far beyond what you mother could do." She couldn't believe it, but it had to be so. Luna walked over to the white swords Serena was absently inspecting, then looked up at Serena's crystal brooch. Paused. "Your mother was a very powerful woman, Serena, very wise in the use of the Silver Crystal." Then Luna casually touched one of the swords, no longer so scared it was a dangerous weapon that could instantly kill them all. Memories of the sword from the last few months came back to her, from the time it first appeared with Serena's new, unstable transformation, to now, when it had apparently duplicated itself after the original was 'retrieved' by the moon.

The sword wasn't hurting the cat at all; it emanated a warmth, and a light. Again Luna remembered how it had captured the Dark Matter sword just an hour or so earlier; and how it had appeared on the moon —flown to Serena, landing in the girl's right hand, and with the Dark Matter sword still captured.

Captured; as Queen Serenity had captured the Dark Kingdom in pieces of the Silver Crystal.

And a light came on.

"It's the Silver Crystal," Luna said, hollowly.

Serena looked down at her brooch: "Yeah, it came back today, with the dress."

"No—!" Luna said, excitedly. "No, Serena, what I'm saying is, THIS SWORD — IT'S your Silver Crystal! Don't you see—?"

Serena examined the sword thoughtfully.

"Serena, the Silver Crystal is so powerful that it KILLED Queen Serenity when she tried to draw too much power from it! But you — some version of you — you were apparently able to draw enough power from it to DISPERSE it to billions ...which should take considerably more power than what your mother used it for!"

Serena smiled, thinking Luna had finally lost it. "If it's the Silver Crystal, which was dispersed, did it ..un-disperse itself?" She then snorted a laugh.

"I'm not joking, Serena!" Luna chided. "Think about it! YOU said that someone's star seed turned itself into a sword; so why not your star seed? And look at what this thing has accomplished!"

Serena shivered, letting the sword's tip fall to the floor. "Oh yeah, it moved the moon and flipped the earth. —Lovely."

"Serena!" Luna spat. "If this is your star seed — your SOUL! — then the minute you released it, you..." The cat couldn't finish the thought; Serena wasn't dead! And people couldn't just use their star seeds as projectile weapons—

"That's when I got the dress," Serena said, somewhat absently. "And the shoes."

"Of course, maybe the moon thought you were dead! Maybe that's why it called the Silver Crystal back..."

Luna suggested that the Silver Crystal was so powerful that, after a completely selfless use of the crystal — the dispersal of the crystal to every soul — it hadn't diminished at all, as Demand had suggested, but just the opposite. It had grown in power! And when Serena again sacrificed it to save Darien from Nephrite's sword, it immediately replicated itself to protect Serena, while the moon claimed the original one.

Serena grew alarmed that she might spawn a third! so Luna quickly changed the subject.

Serena stood in front of her mother's mirror, where so much of her life had been started. She stared at herself. "So I finally get some clothes, but —the earth's upside down."

Luna glared. "It's not 'upside down', Serena. At best, it's tilted a bit on it's side."

"Like Uranus?" she asked, trying to remember which outer planet spun on its side, and which one was really windy.

But Luna was onto something else. Slowly, then increasing in pitch, she asked, "Serena? Serena, didn't Demand say that ..that the Neo-Queen PUSHED BACK an ice age?"

"Demand says a lot," Serena snapped, holding her dress out and doing a curtsy into the mirror.

"Serena, —Japan's really close to the arctic circle now."

"Uh, yeah! I'm the one who pointed that out!" She blinked back tears, blinked back reality. Serena thought about how cold it was north of Tokyo, up in Siberia. Where Tokyo was now. And she had something grinding on her spirit, telling her that the earth was in grave trouble, coming apart at the seams. So she focused on her dress. Curtsied again. Saw how the dress hid her pregnancy pretty well. Pretended everything was okay.

Luna scowled, "Would you stop playing, Serena! This situation is serious!"

Serena snapped, "I know that, Luna!" Then, turning away from the mirror in shame, she suddenly started crying. "I moved the moon, which tossed the earth like a salad! —and I'm afraid if I just go back, I might make the solar system crush in on itself!"

Luna jumped on the bed, ignoring Serena's tantrum, and looked out the window, excited now. "I wish Artemis were here... he could check me. —You'll have to do." She turned around. "You flew up here to retrieve your sword, and that satisfied the moon. It returned to its proper orbit, but that seems to have had a ..an effect on the earth. All we have to do is figure out how to correct that!"

Serena shook her head. "No. I know I can't just 'un-tilt' the earth! That was my first thought, but everything in me said that was the wrong thing to do!"

Luna nodded silently. "Okay. But surely you can help stabilize it." And then, "If you're really her now, you'd be able to..." letting the thought trail as her mind exploded with possibilities. "We need some help, Serena! I believe it's time to call the senshi!"

Serena's eyes grew wide when Luna ran out of the room with a curt 'be right back.' Serena looked into the mirror, smiled, and said, "I'm not 'her'. I'm ME!" and touched the Silver Crystal in her brooch to prove it.

.

.

.

Resurgence

When Luna came running back in the room, Sailor Jupiter in tow, Serena was kneeling on the floor by the mirror, sobbing. Luna said, "Serena! Would you get up—?"

Sailor Jupiter burst through the doors and ran to her friend. "I'm so sorry, Serena!" She dropped to her knees by Serena: "I swear, I didn't know he'd bonded with an evil sword! I didn't know! —I guess he was just trying to get stronger to, you know, battle Darien, and whoever else he thought was out to get him." Beat. "He probably didn't know what he'd bonded with! It came from Demand's ship, you know."

"Yeah I know," Serena said, sullenly, trying to pull herself together. "Rubeus used it the first night he attacked us." She bit her lip, staring at the floor, at her brooch. "Of course, Rubeus just USED it; he wasn't BONDED to it or anything."

Luna suddenly neared the girls, and hollowly demanded, "Leave us, Sailor Jupiter." Beat. "—I need a moment with Serena." Luna had noticed the Silver Crystal brooch laying on the floor beside Serena, the Silver Crystal swords perched in the corner of the room.

"No. I'm fine," Serena said, wiping her eyes, and reaching over to put her brooch back on. "Lita, stay. Please. I'm just being emotional—"

Sailor Jupiter hugged Serena fiercely, "Me, too! It's been a HORRIBLE day! But listen to me," she said, grabbing Serena's hand, looking into her eyes. "I was going to tell you that Nephrite and I were together. I swear! —he was so sure Darien would do ..well, exactly what Darien did! But I knew I could trust you! I hope you know that I'd never choose him over you!"

Serena stood up, straightening her dress. She held out her hands, and both swords jumped into them. Serena turned away from the mirror, hoping to never look into a mirror again, and idly sheathed one sword, leaving only one. The one she'd need for Lita.

Serena stared sullenly at her cat, who hadn't quite recovered, either.

Jupiter looked at Luna, then again at Serena. "What's wrong with you guys? —is it Nephrite?"

Luna said, "Sailor Jupiter, I want you to step back and let Serena try something." Luna figured if she were wrong, at least they wouldn't be losing a loyal Scout.

Then, Luna said, "Serena, we've got to try this. So please, carefully, —wield your sword."

Serena stared at Lita, knowing she had to do this with pure love. She remembered Lita's good days, her funny days, her most loyal days... she remembered times from another history, and how in another life she had wanted Lita to be Small Lady's aunt. And only then did she dare lift her sword towards Lita.

Lita's eyes grew wide. "Are you going to kill me?" she squealed nervously.

"Sailor Jupiter," Serena said formally, and then imagined Lita as a Princess of Jupiter.. "who has been gifted with powers over winds and storms, and who has faithfully served as a Sailor Senshi, protecting the Moon Kingdom in ancient history as well as now..." —then Serena's sword lurched forward and stabbed mightily at Jupiter's throat, scaring Serena as much as Lita. The sword BOLTED ON to Jupiter's choker, where an emerald crystal had grown, and shot bolts of white energy into the senshi.

Ç

Serena was held firmly in place, feeling not only Lita's energy growing, but her own. In her mind's eye she was flying high over the moon, speeding quickly over the earth and the moon, then higher yet, over the solar system, over the milky way. All the stars grew brighter, then EXPLODED with white light, nearly blinding her.

She closed her eyes and drew breath. When she opened them again, Sailor Jupiter was before her, staring through Serena at the wall, mouth ajar. After a few seconds, she focused on Serena, then said, "Wow... can you do that again?"

And then they all noticed it: Sailor Jupiter's clothes had changed in the details, and she was now holding an emerald green crystal-bearing rod with a symbol of Jupiter near the top. Sailor Jupiter scanned it closely. "Duuude!"

"It worked?!" Luna asked, truly surprised. It's not like they'd discussed anything in detail; Luna just knew that a future version of Serena would be the one to bestow power-ups on the senshi as needed. And it was needed now more than ever.

Serena's knees had buckled slightly when her sword let go of Lita, but Serena stood, then sheathed the sword. Serena licked her dry lips, wearily nodded, and asked, "Feel any different?"

Sailor Jupiter's eyes were wide; she lifted her arms, felt power coursing through them. Then she looked at Serena: "What ARE you?"

Luna said flatly, "It's a who; and SHE's Serena." Beat. "Sailor Jupiter, do you FEEL any different?"

"Well hell yeah!" Jupiter bolted out with a grin.

"Good," Serena said. "Because we're going to need your help. In a big way." Serena's mind was showing her Sailor Jupiter in the upcoming battle; not a battle against evil forces, but a battle to stabilize the earth.

As Sailor Jupiter ran to show off her new assets to her boyfriend, Luna asked Sailor Jupiter one more thing: "Sailor Jupiter, can you detransform first? —just to make sure we don't have any surprises later." The cat looked nervously at Serena, and added, "You know how Serena's.. 'transformation' ..wasn't very stable at first." The cat was dizzy with knowledge; Serena WASN'T Senshi anymore. "We just need to make sure you have some control over your new transformation "

Jupiter smiled, "Sure!" and detransformed with ease. "Thanks, Serena! I know you didn't have to trust me, but I'm so glad you did! I won't let you down!" Beat. "I think I'll go in to Nephrite like this, then transform, just to show him the difference!" And with that, Lita bolted out.

Serena said softly, after Lita left, "He won't like it." She sighed deeply, hating having Nephrite's thoughts anywhere in her brain. "He's repulsed by her transformation."

Luna looked at Serena. "I'm sorry, Serena."

.

.

.

.

Day 1, 7pm
Final Warning

Alarms sounded — another tsunami warning. Sailor Mercury couldn't go on. She couldn't leave; she wouldn't leave these people to certain death while she darted off to a safer continent. Her head dropped.

Her arm was grabbed; she was hurtling through the air. Then deposited onto a high pile of rubble that used to be a skyscraper. She turned, was blinded by the light. "Serena?" she asked the brilliant light.

Serena didn't talk; she drew her sword and aimed it at Sailor Mercury's neck. Mercury screamed as power coursed through her — through her Mercury crystal, she realized. Her visor disappeared, and was replaced by something new. Mercury's eyes opened wide as she was able to see the entire globe before her, as if she'd been bounced out into space. She looked up, and even though she could still feel Serena's hand on her arm, her brain told her she was soaring through space. She moved her head slightly, and her focus moved her blindingly fast to a a large, gaseous planet. She was able to make out detail on the surface of what she thought must be Jupiter—

"Ami!" Serena yelled, tugging her arm. "Stop playing around! I need you!"

When Ami blinked, she was just looking at the regular sky; she was back on the pile of rubble. "Woah, Serena! Where'd you get THESE?"

Serena responded: "We don't have time! You stop the tsunami; I've got to find Rei and Mina!"

And the light went dim again.

Sailor Mercury turned back towards the ocean, and fear struck her as she saw the system brewing through her new visor.

"C'mon, Ami!" Sailor Jupiter said with excited gusto. "You've got to tell me where to land an earth-shattering rumble!"

.

.

.

Day 1, 8pm
M A R S * P O W E R

Saphir sat at his console and aimed a few of his precious torpedoes: "Okay then, on my mark—"

Sailor Mars heard his mark, and from above what was now practically the North Pole, she blasted a Fire Mandala up UNDER the warheads that were flying towards Tokyo — the Soviet response to the Calamity, which the Soviets had so stupidly pinned down as emanating from the Japanese city. As her mandala blasted the warheads higher than their projected course—much higher, almost into orbit, Saphir fired on them.

It wasn't a perfect solution, but it was all they could devise with such short notice. Serena's power-up had left Sailor Mars with incredible attack power, which Serena claimed came from within Rei herself, the source of which Rei still questioned, but accepted loosely as being inherently hers. Serena had effectively 'woken up' her dormant powers, according to both Serena and Luna.

And Luna was right; in doing so, Rei's connection to the planets, particularly through her fires, was even more acute now. She and Serena both felt the danger coming from Moscow before the Americans had alerted Japan and threatened to counterstrike.

But Rei had been a bit harsh with Serena; she didn't much like surprises, and this one had come unbidden from SERENA and her terrible white sword. Rei had almost called her a witch; was glad she hadn't, since they'd all been walking on eggshells around Serena over the last few months. And because Rei knew what it felt like to be called a 'witch' — the connotation was evil, suggesting that the girl used powers that weren't hers and altered nature for fun.

Then Rei had seen Serena's hurt face, immediately after the power-up, and knew, Rei KNEW, Serena had heard the sentiment somehow. Rei knew she'd hurt Serena, yet again, and couldn't do anything about it. Except this — to be the best senshi she could, and hope Serena understood Rei's temperament enough to get over it.

"Let's go!"

Serena had just bolted up and grabbed the Martian senshi without even asking how the mission went. Sailor Mars felt sure that Serena had discerned exactly how successful the mission had been.

And now she was 'flying' —more like being dragged, she felt — to a destination unknown. And then the world disappeared. Her heart lurched; she felt like she'd swallowed her own lungs and couldn't breathe because her body was digesting itself. Somehow, she found it in her to scream—

Then the world spun back into view; Serena was ahead of Sailor Mars, beckoning her on. As Sailor Mars approached, Serena pointed: "Counterstrike—Saphir's on his way."

Sailor Mars reached out for Serena's arm this time, stopping her from bolting away again. Sucking in breath, she pointed at Serena with her gorgeous new fire rod and said, "What the hell was that? Where'd we go?"

.

Serena said, "I'm sorry Rei; we had to get down here faster—"

"HOW?" Rei screamed, demanding an explanation. "Felt like my insides were twisted out!"

Serena frowned sadly and shook her head: "I'm sorry, Rei. I don't know. I think we flew back in time a bit." All Serena knew was that she could feel the launch taking place, knew she didn't have enough time to stop it, and just WILLED there to be enough time to get Rei down there. The Silver Crystal made it so —though at great cost, she thought.

It was a price she'd already paid.

Serena watched Sailor Mars a few more seconds, suddenly filling with pride at the stamina of the Martian senshi as Sailor Mars started looking for the source of the warheads. In the last hour or so, Serena had dragged Rei all over the globe to deal with human-sourced calamities that were only adding to the earth's traumas. She had powered up all her senshi, but those gifts had been given for a reason, and she had to ask them for the near-impossible; use them to the point of cruelty.

She had also used Saphir for his spaceship and its weapons, although Darien had smartly tasked all the Black Moon Clan as healers for the local Tokyo crush victims. She would soon have to take another Black Moon brother from the healers; Ami was struggling with the city advisers about how exactly to go about ensuring that Japan stayed afloat. Ami had the smarts, and the data; the city planners had the more technical know-how; it should have been a marriage made in heaven. But but the two sides weren't meeting, and Ami couldn't stand up to them.

Serena had immediately considered asking Darien to be their go-between, but had burst into tears thinking about him her like this. She could hardly bear stupid Nephrite thinking she was a freak; and Rei, her best friend, had been repulsed by her as well. The thought of Darien being repulsed was too much to bear. And Darien had been so nice —Ami had told her his first task had been to find her family and get them to safety; and that he'd been slaving away ever since, rescuing enormous numbers of trapped people.

Luna had squawked that Serena didn't have time to feel sorry for herself.

Serena knew Luna was right, and had pulled herself together. As she did now, deciding quickly to ask Rubeus to work with Ami, though she knew Ami was terrified of the Red Prince. They were all terrified of something this night; Ami would have to deal with it.

.

.

Day 1, 8:30pm
SPURNED

Tuxedo Mask looked up at Serena, a definite ray of sunshine in this broken city. His heart filled with joy. He'd known she had been back for hours, but only through word-of-mouth. He was hurt that she couldn't make it to see him, but the sensible side of his brain told him she had bigger things to do first.

Serena pointed her swords at the rubble he was lifting, then lightly tapped her swords to the ugly, skeletal remains of the building which had trapped hundreds. She grabbed Tuxedo Mask as the rubble disintegrated into light ash out from under them, freeing anyone still alive, Serena hoped.

As she set him down, he grabbed for her — was shocked when she jumped away. Sailor Mars swooped down behind Serena almost immediately, and Serena grabbed the Martian senshi and jumped to a nearby structure. Tuxedo Mask yelled for her; she was gone.

He sat hard on the dusty ground as personnel ran by him, pulling survivors out of the light layer of ash. Then he heard a voice speaking to him.

"Mr. Chiba," Luna said, "You could use a rest. Serena's just got a lot to do—"

"She didn't even speak to me," he choked out. He looked at the cat. Demand had told him the myths about her swords; he hadn't believed, fully, until he saw the two swords with his own eyes.

Luna didn't answer immediately. Then, "She feels responsible for ..all this."

Tuxedo Mask grimaced. "It's Nephrite who's to blame." He knew what Demand had said about the 'thrown sword' — apparently a sacrifice that had called forth destruction, just for him. But ultimately he knew it was all due to Nephrite.

"You're both wrong," Luna said carefully. "This disaster was inevitable; unavoidable. Serena dispersed Chaos, Darien," she said, using his real name for the first time either could remember. "One day — if not today, another day — someone would have done something that required her to sacrifice her star seed, just like she did this afternoon."

Tuxedo Mask froze at the confirmation of Demand's stories. "But today, it was Nephrite," Tuxedo Mask said darkly, wiping off his pants and standing up.

"The point is, it was bound to happen. I didn't get a chance to tell her that earlier. She should know that."

Tuxedo Mask looked down at the cat. "Is she okay, Luna?"

"No, Mr. Chiba, she is not okay. She's holding her chin up, but she is not okay." Beat. "I think that's why she's been avoiding you. She's ashamed of her appearance—"

"So she IS avoiding me," Tuxedo Mask said, both angry and disappointed.

Luna nodded. "Her own senshi have treated her ..differently. You just saw her with Sailor Mars; Rei didn't take kindly to the power-up. She thought Serena was a witch."

"Rei called her a 'witch'?" Mask asked, surprised. Disgusted.

"Worse," Luna said. "Rei thought it. Serena heard the thought—something to do with her senshi bond, I suppose. Serena didn't confront Rei, of course, not during all this. Lita's the one who actually SAID something—"

"Lita's a traitor," Tuxedo Mask said. "Serena should have left that bitch on the moon."

"She needed Sailor Jupiter!" Luna said. "—but you're not understanding what I'm trying to tell you. When Serena broke Nephrite's bond with the Dark Matter Sword, his thoughts came to her mind. Nephrite doesn't believe senshi are even humans; and he thinks Serena is some kind of demon. Certainly not of this earth—"

"That's ridiculous!" Tuxedo Mask snapped. He looked at his own get-up: "I'M fully human, even though I may not look it right now." Beat. "But all this is just temporary, Luna. It's not who we really are—!"

Alarmed by his words, Luna argued, "You don't understand, Mr. Chiba! Something happened to her on the moon—"

Luna was interrupted by a giant fireball flying their way. It froze mid-air, and then burst into a thousand pieces, but the resulting hailstorm was hardly a joy for a small cat like Luna. Tuxedo Mask picked her up and tucked her into his cape, then took off running through the pelting melee.

.

.

.

Day 1, 10pm
CLASH

Adrenaline from the tsunami and the power-ups was still pushing through her veins, driving her near madness, long after the last tsunami wave was frozen by Sailor Mercury. Serena flew over the coast, looked around madly, and finally saw something: a cell tower falling over a residential district. She hoisted her right sword up and over her head, feeling it explode into action as its energy bolt met the fallen projectile and lifted it, suspending it in the air in a frozen column of clear crystal. Breathing harder still, Serena glared at the tower; the crystal column was now buried in the ground, the cell tower embedded high up, and it almost looked like it was designed that way. "Huh," she said, damned confused but happy the thing wasn't crushing people.

She speared down and darted towards the city, slowing only after she was downtown, amid destruction.

"SERENA!"

She spun mid-air, knowing the voice. Tuxedo Mask had rushed her, grabbed her right bicep and had her on a crumbling rooftop instantly; she blasted backwards away from him instinctively, holding her swords out beside her and over her head to control her backward momentum.

Tuxedo Mask's cane caught her by the ankle as she was about to take off, and he pulled her down sharply; she landed flat on her wings like a dead bird, went to bounce up, was crushed by his body. "SERENA!" he yelled into her face, far too loud for her close proximity, but desperately trying to reach her. "STOP!"

She closed her eyes, and after a few quiet seconds, she slammed her swords flat on the rooftop under her, propelling both herself and Tuxedo Mask up as the building changed under them, impossibly growing. In the air, she pushed him away and turned, even as he yelled, "NO! Come back to me—!"

She turned back around, feeling his cane extending to her again, and angrily slashed her sword at his cane. When her sword hit his cane, though, they were both suddenly captured in a field of white power that lit up the dark sky for miles. She was frozen, staring at him in shock, then watching his eyes grow in terror. Saw movement; they both watched as his cane exploded into a giant, curved golden sword, and then she saw his eyes wince with pain as the sword fused itself into his hand. When the energy field finally dissipated, they were on solid ground. She backed up slowly, as if in a daze, their swords still touching.

And a wall of crystal shot down into the ground from where their swords touched.

Tuxedo Mask was repulsed instantly; seeing Serena behind a crystal wall amid an apocalypse was just too close to the visions he'd suffered months earlier, which were still fresh in his mind. He instantly slashed his sword at the crystal wall with great might, shattering the wall. He then tried to drop the sword, but to his abject horror, it floated in his palm, exactly like Serena's sword had done in her hand during her training sessions.

He grabbed for Serena's hand, almost slashed at her face. Her sword whipped up to protect her —from him! He stepped back, distraught, and yelled: "This is what I saw in my visions, Serena!" He closed his eyes, gasping for air. All this time he'd been told those visions were wrong; now he knew better. This night, this very night, his vision would be realized. He was going to die in this destroyed world, and she would suffer complete loss, and there was nothing he could do to stop it now.

The ground suddenly heaved, groaned; Tuxedo Mask whipped around just in time to see the ground cave under Serena. She fell into blackness.

Horrified, Tuxedo Mask dove head-first after his falling white light. She fell faster; a frustrated Tuxedo Mask slashed at the air, and a large crystalline floor shot out and curved under his brilliant angel, effectively catching her.

She slowly stood on his candy-ribbon floor, just as he got near. She grabbed for his outstretched hand, just as the earth started shaking around them.

He looked at her and yelled, through pleading tears, "I love you Serena! I need more time!"

He moved to grab her close; they floated over his crystalline floor, breathing each other's air. They remained suspended like that for several seconds. He was entranced, even as the earth heaved and sighed; he moved to kiss her.

Serena wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him deeply. Her heart broke when he kissed her back, desperately sobbing against her mouth. She moved her hands soothingly over his arms, then onto his face, intending to push him away enough to tell him he was wrong, that everything would be okay. But he must have thought she was trying to break free again; he grabbed her hands, twisting them back and down, which actually sheathed her swords. He let go of the kiss then, gasping for air, and smiled at her slightly before kissing her again. He dove into her mouth again, and again, and she fought to keep up, getting lost in his soft, deep kisses.

He grabbed at her back recklessly, unknowingly ripping at her wings like he could pull them off, undress her. His hands moved to her dress, trying to rip it down, free her breasts. Serena tried to catch her breath; wanted to warn him that she couldn't detransform; she wasn't sure about the dress. But then his warm, wet mouth was over her breast, suckling furiously; she melted against him, held up only by his arm.

Tuxedo Mask had been happily surprised when her entire dress shimmered away at his touch; it was like an answer to a last prayer. He took it as a sign, and holding her with only one arm behind her back, he unzipped his pants, freeing himself as he took her breast in his mouth. As her wings batted down again to keep them afloat, he straightened and grabbed the back of her hair, kissed her deeply again, communicating his desire clearly.

Serena floated back in ecstasy at his touches, then joined him passionately when he pulled her head up to resume their kiss. She wrapped her arms back around his shoulders lazily as he heightened her every sense with his passionate desire, sighed audibly into his mouth as his hands went crazy over her body.

She realized she was entirely naked in his arms, and smiled against his desperate kisses, wondering how he did the things he did. Seconds later, she felt him pushing her legs apart, his throbbing member seeking entrance, and opened her eyes in surprise — he was fully dressed in all his Tuxedo Mask glory, right down to his mask and cape. Even that new curved sword of his was floating disconcertingly close to her stomach. She almost questioned her sanity, but then he kissed her deeply again, over and over, while his hands fell to her hips. She felt his arms clench, then her mind exploded when he suddenly thrust fully into her, sending them flying at the canyon wall.

Her wings pushed them back, and up; her breath caught. Still fully impaled by him, she opened her eyes and looked up. He was floating over her, and her bare legs were encircling him and floating up behind his cape. He grinned at her as he held her pelvis and started madly thrusting in and out of her, almost painfully crashing his clothed hips into her bare pelvic bones.

She reached up for his face; he loosed a hand from his mad grip on her hips, then pulled her head up to him, joining her in the kiss she required.

.

Sailor Mars had her back to the canyon, blushing redder than her outfit. She smiled at the engineer Sailor Mercury had brought along, but when he tried to peer into the canyon with the giant crystal floor flowing into it, Mars jumped in front of him. She looked awkwardly at Sailor Mercury, who was openly watching the scene below, open-mouthed. Angry.

The engineer finally said, "If I could just examine this material, here, while we wait for your ..'Princess' to finish—"

"Just hold your horses, buster," Sailor Mars said. She glanced backwards and down into the canyon —Lord help her Serena was entirely naked and Darien was fucking the living crap out of her. NOT the way to introduce city officials to the woman who would help keep Japan afloat —if the planners freakin approved the materials.

Sailor Mercury said, "If you give us just another minute, Sir, I'll let her know we're HERE!" She yelled again into the canyon: "SERENA TSUKINO!" Blushed as Rubeus walked up behind her and made a sound of approval at the scene below. Mercury looked up at the sky. HOW could this be her lot in life. A horny 'princess', her hornier baby daddy who couldn't even be bothered to take off his clothes, or use a bed! —and the cherry on top of it all: Mr. Evil being her partner in stabilizing a world that was, quite literally, FALLING APART at the SEAMS.

Sailor Mercury knew Serena hadn't MEANT any harm in that rash decision — Ami didn't have it in herself to battle with the city engineers who were advising her, and they couldn't let go of old techniques that wouldn't work anymore. They didn't quite trust the crystal beams Serena had been pinning into the earth's mantle. So Serena had taken Rubeus from the emergency triage and tasked him to be Mercury's henchman. Spokesperson, maybe. Ami figured Rubeus took the task so willingly because it made him physically ill to actually heal people.

Using her new visor, she focused on the canyon, looking for a way to 'gently remind' Serena and Darien that, hello, WORLD FREAKIN DISASTER going on.

.

Tuxedo Mask exploded massively into his blushing Serena, fighting to stay buried in her even though it was starting to hurt. He choked out, "I don't know, Serena —that thing you did up there," he gasped for breath in his delirium, "—this sword.. I think it powered me up a bit TOO much."

Serena hadn't spoken at all to him, either before their swords touched, or afterwards. And now she was shivering so violently that she wasn't sure she remembered how to speak. She licked her lips, which apparently was an invitation for Darien to kiss her. Heaving for breath, she gently put a hand on his face, DEFINITELY not wanting him to think she was pushing him away.

Tuxedo Mask said, "You feel so good, you always feel so good—" and his feet touched the crystal floor. His knees buckled, and he grabbed her and pulled her over him so she wouldn't hit the floor first. He landed easily on his back; her wings had again come into play to brace them from the fall. He laughed; he laughed, and when Serena looked down at his face, still in the afterglow of orgasm, all he could say was, "I love you so much."

Serena nodded. "Darien," she said, startled by how raspy and dry her voice sounded. "—what's happening, it isn't from your vision." She was startled by the sudden flare in his eyes, and added quickly, "I have a lot to tell you, but," she licked her lips, feeling positively parched. Swallowed hard. She usually needed a few HOURS for post-coital bliss, so trying to make sense a few SECONDS afterwards took her great effort. "—just don't worry about your vision. This whole... 'flipped earth' thing is bad enough," she added, still breathing heavily.

He reached up and grabbed her hand, now careful to use his left hand, the one without the sword. When she intertwined her fingers in his, he asked, "Why were you running from me, Sere? You know I'd never be repulsed by you."

"Luna told you," Serena said, somewhat relieved. Of course the cat had run its mouth. It was why Darien had made love to her like this. She pulled his hand to her lips, kissed it. "Lita and Rei didn't take it so well; I wasn't sure how you'd react—"

..just as Sailor Mercury landed and pointed her rod at them, her head was facing away. "We've got dignitaries from the city up there waiting for you." Beat. "Please tell me you still have your dress, Serena." It might just be Sailor Mercury's hangup, but she surely hoped Serena hadn't lost that part of her transformation.

Both Serena and Tuxedo Mask had bolted up when Mercury landed; Serena noticed that all Darien had to do was pull a zipper a few inches up. She GLARED at him.

"Oh!" he responded to Serena's glare, then quickly pulled her body into his and covered her with his cape.

"How'd you undress me?" Serena whispered furiously.

"I don't know!" he responded back in a hushed whisper. "I think I just pulled on it!" and he rubbed her chest like a genie lamp—

..just as Mercury dared to look. Sailor Mercury turned back around, "Oh COME ON you guys!" thinking they'd started making out again.

"We're trying!" Tuxedo Mask railed anxiously. "There had to be a trick to it—!"

"This is a nightmare!" Serena said hoarsely, but actually joined the effort to find a secret something that might get her dressed again. "DAMN why don't these things come with instruction manuals?"

As Darien lifted her arm out of the cape, thinking he'd at least drape that around her for now, his sword just happened to graze dangerously close to Serena's body —and her sword unsheathed itself to parry the accidental grazing, blasting him backwards several steps. The second her sword was in her hand, her dress and shoes reappeared.

"Oh!" Darien exclaimed. "—okay." He had a LOT to ask her about that sword later. He hoped there would BE a 'later'; that she was correct that his visions had been wrong.

"FINALLY!" Sailor Mercury spat, grabbing each one of them and taking off up the crystal flooring. She turned to Serena angrily and snapped, "I hope you know Rubeus got an eyeful." Beat. "And enjoyed it."

Tuxedo Mask grabbed Serena's hand, noting that while her primary sword was fused to her left hand, his was fused to his right, leaving their opposing hands free; he let go of Sailor Mercury's grasp and reached for Serena's hand. It was a silly thing to think, but the thought empowered him; they were meant to be like this. It felt right. Power once again coursed through his veins, if from himself or from her he didn't know, but he could have sworn he felt her spirit, and it lifted him up.

With a singular purpose, they left Sailor Mercury to run up the crystal floor, and took off high into the air.

.

.

.

Day 2, 2am
Temple

Sailor Mars carefully ignited her fires. It had taken time for the Dynamic Duo to get to her Shinto temple, even with her insistence that they NEEDED her fires to have a pulse on the world. All Sailor Mercury's visor did was show complicated measurements that nobody except Mercury and the city engineers could decipher. Sailor Mercury couldn't tell them where the planet felt endangered. But Rei's fires could do that.

"Get anything?" Lita asked, now cozy in a giant bathrobe, sitting in the replica of Rei's temple. "Like, where Nephrite is?"

Rei detransformed, then relaxed by her fires. She was strongly opposed to Serena's judgment that Nephrite couldn't hurt them. And quite frankly, she didn't care if he couldn't hurt them - he'd attacked them viciously and deserved to pay! And boy-crazy Lita was still asking after him.

"Rei?" Lita asked. Then, "You're not still mad at me—?"

"I'm not ready to deal with you yet," Rei said softly, then returned to focusing on her fires. The red crystal walls were casting an eerie glow alongside her fires, maybe even heightening the effect of feeling connected with the supernatural.

Lita rolled her eyes, got up, and dug around the boxes for something resembling a teapot. "I want some tea." Beat. "Serena's not mad at me."

Rei closed her eyes, stood up, and turned around. Smiled. "We've got more important things to worry about now," and she stalked over and held both hands out to the thinner part of the crystal walls that would eventually function as a window. "Like keeping the earth from falling apart."

"I know that," Lita spat. "I lost my home, too, Rei." Then, letting her emotions show, she suddenly cried, "—and probably Nephrite!" Nephrite had stared in absolute disgust at her new Sailor Jupiter powered-up transformation, and he'd begged off of providing assistance to the senshi, even in a bid to stabilize the planet.

When Lita had argued with Nephrite, even turned on him momentarily for being a coward, Nephrite had said some very hurtful things. Like all couples say when they're fighting, Lita was sure. Serena hadn't cared, though — she didn't want Nephrite's help if he wasn't willing to give it, and then she had quickly started the exodus from the moon. Lita had never had a chance really to apologize to Nephrite for some of the things they'd said to each other; she was anxious over him, now.

Rei stormed over to the boxes and found a teapot. She handed it to Lita and said, "If you really gave a rat's ass about Serena you would let go of your Nephrite fixation, like, yesterday."

Rei had tried to deal with the fact that, 24 hours earlier, the whole world was normal —until Nephrite attacked Serena. This idiot had bonded himself to a dark sword from the future to try to kill Serena. His completely sick ideologies about the purity of the earth had caused him to act against a positive force in the universe, and had, literally, turned the world on its side. —and Serena let him go free! Because she'd broken his bond to the evil sword, she didn't feel he was a danger any more than any other person on the planet.

Mina had warned Rei that Lita was still on the fence about Nephrite. She'd clearly been fooled by him, believing he had no desire to kill Serena, when in fact that was his only goal. Lita had had no clue that Nephrite had planted youma spirits in her furniture in preparation for discovery, or that he'd bonded himself to the Dark Matter sword. But even after all that, after the worst destruction the planet had ever seen, Lita was still willing to believe that Serena's purification had cleared up his 'disordered' thoughts.

Lita smiled. "Rei, Nephrite and *I* have history, just like Darien and Serena's! I can't just give up on that."

"Why do you believe a word he ever said, Lita?" Rei asked. "Mina warned me about all your 'true love from the Silver Millennium' argument. —It doesn't matter! In THIS millennium, he lied to you, tried to kill your friends, and ultimately *caused* worldwide destruction!" —Rei was near tears, and she was never near tears. But her tears weren't for the world; they were for Lita, who simply wasn't herself anymore, even though Serena had welcomed her back into the fold with open arms. Rei was still tempted to try to get through to her — she wanted to say that even at her worst, Serena never betrayed any of them in favor of Darien.

But she knew Lita was incapable of handling that reality.

.

.

.

Day 2 4am
RESPITE

Tuxedo Mask had secretly tucked a series of cavernous rooms deep in the crystal beams he and Serena erected around Tokyo. It had started out with one hollowed out column, primarily to see what he could do with his sword without her help, but he found the result so stunning, that soon an idea formed in his mind to carve out connecting "rooms" that could be used as a private shelter. With Serena distracted on her side of the walls by awed onlookers and demanding city engineers, Tuxedo Mask focused on what he hoped could be an inner sanctum for the Tsukinos and himself.

And when he'd finished the rooms, he told only Sailor Mercury the location, and asked Ami to help him get some provisions down there, explaining that he wanted the Tsukinos escorted to the rooms as soon as possible, and he'd bring Serena there for rest within the next few hours. The other senshi and their families would be staying either on Saphir's starship or at Rei's roughly-restored temple, but Tuxedo Mask wanted Serena to have her own place. After what they'd done for Tokyo overnight, he was sure it was a small thing to ask.

Serena and Tuxedo Mask had worked through the night finishing the necessary stabilizing beams and emergency structures throughout Japan. They would have much more work to do in the near future, as well. But for now, shelters were available, the earth had settled down some, and a temporary dome was over much of Tokyo until they could figure out how to insulate the city from a coming deep freeze.

And now it was time for rest.

And so at approximately 4am local time, 12 hours since the earth tilted, Tuxedo Mask was finally alone with Serena again, and grabbed her hand emphatically, pulling her to the next 'mission'.

The dazed superheroine shrugged as they approached: "Darien, this is where we started last night. Was there a problem?"

"There were some structural abnormalities," Tuxedo Mask said with a smile, then led her to the first of the magnificent crystal support beams they'd erected. Powered by her wings, he led them over winding staircases that went INTO the series of beams.

"Oh," she gasped, disappointed. "These aren't abnormalities, Darien; these are MAJOR screwups. —You don't think the rest of the beams have these holes in them, do you?" Her stomach churned at the idea of those politician people finding any kind of deviation from their plans. And she couldn't explain why these beams were so poorly constructed—

Tuxedo Mask moved his arm to her waist and they landed at a crossroads within the crystal. He pointed down one cavern, and said, "Your parents and Shingo are sleeping peacefully down this corridor, and you and I," he turned down the other path and pointed, "are this way."

Serena's eyes lit UP: "You're kidding me! —you did this?"

He smiled smugly at Serena as he escorted her down the corridors into their cavernous rooms, where even he was completely surprised at the job Ami had managed to get done. He'd known he had done a marvelous job on the walls and spaces — the Tsukinos were steps away, yet a world away at the same time; the ceilings felt limitless; and the small cove of white crystal that would serve as Serena's bedroom, their bedroom, was tucked safely away from all of this.

He had hoped for a few mattresses to sleep on; some blankets; a bit of food. Running water for plumbing, if Ami could manage it, but a few buckets of water would suffice, as well. But Ami had provided far more than that. There were full suites of furniture, luxurious fabrics, artwork, *books*, stores of food... electrical appliances whose power source he couldn't imagine.

He half-carried, half-flew her down to the cove he'd designated as their bedroom, whispering quietly, "Now, we rest."

Tuxedo Mask realized he was still exhilarated from his power-up — his sword she'd somehow gifted him by attacking his cane with her sword, when he was trying to stop her running. Which he still didn't understand, but whatever; he felt great! He knew Serena wasn't feeling as lively, but he attributed that to her being pregnant and needing some serious downtime.

He sat her gently on the bedding Ami had found; chuckled at Ami's work again — she must have raided an Arabian palace! The mattresses were more like enormous cushions of down; the linens like something for gods. Serena lay back, rubbing her belly, and looking up at him with a smile.

Tuxedo Mask chided her, "You can't rest like that, Sere." He stood up and detransformed, happy to get his civilian clothes back on, just so he could rip them off for a good night's rest. He opened the closet he'd built into the wall, beaming with pride at his own cleverness. Again, he was surprised by the luxurious robes he found therein. Like a grinning boy at Christmas, he grabbed both robes and started undressing, tossing Serena hers while he did so. In seconds, he was in his robe and landing on the bed. "Come on, Sere! Try this on!" he said, excitedly. "I've never FELT a material quite like this!" He wanted her to get hers on so he could rip it off.

She shook her head, trying to be happy that he was so elated, but aware now that he was expecting her to detransform. "I thought you talked to Luna," she said somberly.

Darien's mood sobered quickly at the mention of Space Cat. His blood ran cold when he saw her expression. "She told me the girls were sorta mean to you," he said.

Serena smelled the robe, tears forming in her eyes now. "Demand did this, you know." She looked at Darien. "It was very thoughtful."

Darien shrugged, just a little peeved. Of course Demand had done this; Ami delegated the task, but Demand probably took over the minute he learned this was all for Serena. The love — the abject, obvious care and thought into every detail — was far too romantic and personal to be from a busy, no-nonsense senshi trying to stabilize a planet.

"Serena," he asked, "What didn't Luna tell me?"

"I'm stuck like this, for one," Serena said, far more casually than she felt.

He physically startled —it had only been a month since Malachite had so seriously beaten her that she'd transformed and couldn't stay detransformed. "Serena, did Nephrite hurt you again?" He stood now, anxious, wondering if he could reach Demand on the ship.

She shook her head, muttered "No," and then added, "I guess I drew too much power from the Silver Crystal," and started whimpering against her best efforts. She bit her bottom lip. Then just said it. "Darien, I'm not a Sailor Senshi anymore. I can't detransform."

She tried to sit up —had to use the freakshow wings she hated to help her. She got her feet on the floor, sitting with her back to Darien, dying on the inside from his silence.

Darien watched her back, trying to take it in. Closed his mouth. "Are you ..sure?" he finally exclaimed.

"No. I'm not really sure about anything anymore," she said, more to the wall than to him. She reached behind her neck and unhooked her brooch, tossing it to what functioned as a side table. She absolutely knew she wouldn't detransform again; SHE was gone. Serena had blamed it on the moon, but Luna had insisted it had more to do with the power she'd drawn from the Silver Crystal.

Serena unsheathed her swords; let them ease to the floor. "I found out the hard way, when I tried to detransform on the moon," she broke off, blinking back tears. "It didn't work, of course." Beat. "Nothing at all worked."

When he didn't respond, at all, she removed her tiara and set it by the brooch. Then she pulled out her hairpins that held her odangos in place, and set the pins by the crown. She loosened her hair, finger-combed it. Feeling his disgust.

"Okay," he said, hoping she couldn't read his thoughts. 'His' Serena was gone; all that was left of her was ..the transformation. His mind raced back to Lita's yesterday, when she'd reappeared from the rubble, in a new dress and with her Silver Crystal in tact. He gasped, remembering the normal, clumsy, adorable girl he'd fallen in love with.

He stammered out, "Are you still —you?"

And when she quickly turned to face him, and he saw her tear-streaked face, he immediately kicked himself for asking such a brain-dead question. When she moved to stand, he bodily tackled her before she could run, sensing he'd never be able to catch her again if she got away.

She struggled against him, but he held her down, trying not to show surprise at her strength. It wasn't often he had struggled with her in her transformed state; but he'd NEVER done it as simply 'Darien'. He was afraid to speak, not wanting to say the wrong thing, but he did try to calm her: "Serena, wait..!" She wasn't calming down, so he crushed his whole body down against her, pinning her arms with his hands; her legs with his legs. When she quickly got an arm loose; he panicked and grabbed her dress —and was shocked when it shimmered away, like it had earlier that night.

Serena suddenly stopped struggling, and closed her eyes in shame. "Please get off me, Darien. I don't want to hurt you—"

He sat up, but still held her hands. Still stunned from the struggle, breathing hard, he looked her over, trying to think of the right thing to say. Her skin sparkled and glowed; her wings lay as flat against the bed as she could will them. The crescent moons on her forehead and stomach glowed brighter than ever. Even without her clothes and accouterments, she beamed and sparkled like a small sun.

She sniffed, trying to at least wipe her eyes and sit up, but he held her firm. And she didn't want to blast him away, hurt him. She looked away, pleaded, "Darien, I'm not even human anymore; just let me go!"

Darien's temper flared at that; he bent back over her and kissed her powerfully.

Serena felt the repulsion of Nephrite when he looked at Sailor Jupiter; saw herself through Nephrite's eyes — a DEMON BIRD who was trying to rule mankind. She twisted her face away from Darien, getting more upset as he tried to force his kisses on her.

Darien grasped her jaw and tried to kiss her again; she went stiff under him, then tried to ball herself up and push him off of her. He struggled more, growing angrier —at her, for spurning him. —at the universe, for trying to tear her away from him. He growled out angrily, "Don't DO this Serena!"

When she started crying, Darien stopped trying to kiss her, and instead pushed his hand between her legs. She was trying to clamp her legs shut, but he forced his hand through her legs, grabbed her, breathed a sigh of relief when he felt her warmth. He started kissing her neck as he pushed his finger into her, thumbing her outside, letting her warmth encompass his fingers.

Serena started sobbing, struggling harder to get up, even though he was over her body. Her head was so far over his shoulder than he could feel her teeth on his back. He kept pumping his finger into her, determined to change her sobs into something else. "That's it," he cooed against her skin, pulling her body back down under him. When he tried to kiss her again, Serena blindly got a hand up and around his neck; he had to pull his hand out of her to fight against her grip. He yelled her name through gritted teeth.

She stared at her hand, immediately releasing her death grip on his neck. He quickly grabbed her hand and pushed it back into the pillow, then crawled over her again. She started crying again; "I'm sorry-!"

"Me too," he mumbled, then kissed her face several times. "Just ..relax, okay?" He let go of her hand and quickly unbelted his robe, then tried to kiss her again. She was having none of it. He grabbed himself, willing his member harder, then he tried to push her legs apart again with his knee. Grew frustrated when she tried to roll over, stopping him. "RELAX!" he yelled nervously, pushing her back down. This time, when she startled at his harsh voice, he easily got his knees between her legs and quickly opened her legs.

She shook her head no, but he plunged deep inside her. Serena gasped at the invasion; she was still crying, trying to get up, so he put his hands on her hips and pushed into her hard again. "Kiss me, Serena," he demanded desperately, teeth resting against her face as he started thrusting into her. But she was inconsolable, still trying to push him away. His hands blindly snaked up her back, hitting her other-worldly wings, which he grabbed fitfully as he dipped down and tried to capture her mouth. Hurt because she was still struggling against him, Darien used a hand to better control her face, then plunged his tongue into her mouth.

Serena gasped for air as Darien took over her body completely, tangling his tongue with hers and thrusting into her depths with his raging manhood. Somehow Darien had splayed her legs wide open and pinned them down; she was helpless to stop these invasions without seriously hurting him; so she held herself still, tried to calm her crying. Soon she was helpless to stop herself from succumbing to the brutal invasions of her mouth and body; she soon realized she was kissing him back.

The minute she stopped struggling, Darien let go of the death grip on her jaw. She grabbed his arms and started kissing him back with fervor, and he nearly blacked out in relief, elated by her sudden change. He slowed his punishing thrusting, catching his breath, trying to come back to his senses. But the slower, deeper thrusts apparently drove her mad with desire — she began arching up into him wildly, sending sparks through his brain and desire through his groin.

He was mesmerized by her kisses, and kept plunging into her mouth with his tongue, over and over. When her channel started convulsing powerfully on him, he tried to slow his pace, desperately not wanting her to milk him dry so quickly. But as much as he'd overpowered her before, she was overpowering him now with her almost violent orgasm. His pace increased faster and faster in response to her, his body acting against his will; he almost angrily broke his kiss and gasped for breath as he fought to stop his own threatening orgasm. He wanted more time, wanted to ride this wave and drive her to another orgasm.

Serena reached up nervously and held his face, unable to control her body's convulsions, unsure why he'd stopped. Wanting him to kiss her again. He wouldn't even look at her. She said his name, needing him; then grabbed his hips, embedding her nails in his skin, encouraging him to make love to her.

Darien heard her beg for him; her muscles were still contracting powerfully on him, but he chanced a look at her. His jaw dropped in heated passion when he saw his sweaty, messy-haired pregnant nymph writhing under him, eyes wide with need. He grabbed her ass roughly and obliged her suddenly, forcing his way through her convulsing muscles with hard, deep strokes. Serena slapped a hand to his face and pulled him down, plundered his mouth with passion, groaning audibly into his soul.

.

He coughed, "You are bewitched." She was splayed out beside him, holding his hand, her leg draped across his. She merely turned her head when he spoke, glancing at him uncomprehending. He chuckled darkly, too exhausted to speak that second.

"I feel bewitched," she choked out, still shaking everywhere. She both wanted to be held, and wanted to be left alone, all at once, so she actually did feel bewitched. She figured that was just fine for the moment.

He licked his lips; sat up. Reached over and grabbed a bottle of water from the wet-bar, and drank deeply. He turned around and offered the bottle to Serena, whose eyes were wide open, staring at him. Darien startled when he saw her eyes, their normal deep blue even deeper now, with tiny, mesmerizing specks of light deep in the blue. As he stared, he could swear he was seeing entire solar systems in her eyes.

"You okay?" she asked lightly.

Darien shrugged. Looked out at their crystal room, which might not ever be lit up by natural light in their lifetimes, except for a few months in the winter. And then only dimly. He put the water down and lay back. "Of course not." A little angrily, he added, "How did you feel when you realized you couldn't be ..regular Serena again?"

She thought about that. But didn't respond. Her mind was mush.

Darien said, "I feel —loss."

"Yeah," she agreed quietly. That, and so much more. Loss of her body, for one. Loss of her ability to blend into the crowd. And then there was the overbearing guilt. And the feeling of unworthiness. There were so many other people that could probably use the Silver Crystal much better than she could. Ami, for one. Mina. But she cringed at the thought of Rei having that kind of power, though; her temper was too volatile for that.

"How could you expect to spring that on me and not expect me to —to mourn?"

Serena said, "It's been a hard day."

After a few more minutes, Darien asked, "How'd you turn my cane into that sword?"

"I don't know," she answered fitfully, again wondering how she was supposed to think clearly. "I wasn't expecting it. It's not like you're senshi or anything."

Darien glared at her; she glanced over at him and fought a giggle.

She straightened her grin. "We'll ask Luna, okay? —She said that everyone had a star seed, and that's what made us who we are. I guess you have that Tuxedo Mask thing going on." Serena looked around. "Darien? WHERE IS MY CAT?"

.

.

.

Saphir's Star Ship - Escape

"That was a very nice thing you did."

The large, beautiful man in white turned, taking in a weary Sailor Venus. She continued, "The Arabian quilts; the electricity from your own ship."

Demand shrugged, turned back to his laptop. "Ami said she needed some things; I picked them up." Beat. "No harm done."

"No," Sailor Venus agreed, taking the seat next to him. Spun around to face him, loving the chair. "No, it was a wonderful thing. Artemis informed me that Serena was no longer able to ...you know, change. —That she's permanently stuck like she is." She smiled. "I'm sure your gifts meant a lot to her."

"She won't know they're from me," Demand responded.

Venus sat up then, elbows on the desktop, staring at him. She propped her head in her hands. "You know, she's really, *really* into Darien."

Demand's jaw hardened. He closed his laptop and sat back. Somewhat amused, he said, "Yes, I'm aware of that. —Are you trying to defend her honor from the big bad Prince Diamond, sweet Mina?"

Venus shrugged. "Nope." Somewhat uncomfortably, she added, "I just don't get you. Talk about a glutton for punishment." She shrugged, smiled. "—and her. I can tell, she'd really lose it if she lost you."

Demand smiled. "You have nothing to fear, Mina. I'd never leave her."

"Yee-eah," Mina rolled her eyes, standing up. Serena couldn't have two true loves, but damn if this guy wasn't convincing. He was just so damned confident! She glanced back at him. "What about Nemesis?"

Demand said, "Serena wants to stabilize the earth as much as possible before embarking on Nemesis. And quite honestly, as 'cut off' as Nemesis is, it's in far better condition than Earth right now. I'm in no hurry."

"EXCUSE ME!" Ami burst in, grabbing Sailor Venus, gasping for air.

Venus startled, "—what are you doing here?"

She pulled Sailor Venus out of the ship's bridge: "Excuse us, we have a MAJOR DISASTER!" Ami screamed at Demand.

Ami pulled her into the corridor, looking madly about as she did so. Then she took off at quite a clip, dragging Venus behind her. When she finally found a room she felt was safe, she shoved Venus in, slamming the doors closed.

"Ami, what's WRONG?" Sailor Venus asked, looking around the room. "Where are we?"

"Torpedo bay," Ami said, tightening her robe. "I —I was at the temple and I was going to take a rest before —oh did I tell you the engineers want me to head up the Planning Commission now? anyway and I was celebrating that and GUESS WHAT HAPPENED?"

Venus detransformed and sat on one of Saphir's ..missiles, she supposed it was. "Ami, slow down. You had me thinking there was an emergency on planet!"

"THERE IS!" Ami squeaked.

Mina furrowed her brow. Ami was in her bathrobe; a planet-wide emergency would have warranted a transformation into her new Super Sailor Mercury self, not showing up on a spaceship in a bathrobe. "Okay," Mina smiled. "What's wrong?"

Ami nodded and rattled off, "I was just sitting there minding my own business getting ready to sleep but who would show up? At REI'S? You'll never believe— RUBEUS! In all his glorified evil looking like he was going to KILL me, which is how he always looks if you ask me, like he's going to kill—"

"AMI!" Mina shouted, pushing Ami down on a missile. She looked around, wondering if this room was safe. "Look, I know Rubeus has always made you a little nervous, but don't you think you're taking this 'Dr. Evil' thing a bit too far? They were all so helpful today!"

Ami's face went white. She bolted up: "Mina he came in and started talking about his day and telling me why they'd used the Negaverse like I would even care and then.. THEN? THEN! HE. ASKED. ME. To. eat. WITH. HIM!" Ami nodded, "Yes, PURE EVIL wanted me to go with him to I don't know probably To. HELL! and so I excused myself and left and got a shuttle up here where I HOPE I'm safe—"

Mina had started laughing, put a finger on Ami's mouth, shushing her. "You just left?"

"What'd you EXPECT me to do? I thought you were going to be some HELP!"

Mina laughed, not having understood HALF of what Ami had said. She shrugged. "You're the only one of us that Rubeus doesn't detest, Ami." Beat. "He respects your intelligence. Did you hear what he said to ME when the world spun off its axis? I mean hello, he called me a ditz! I agree he can be a little harsh."

"Harsh?" Ami asked. "HARSH? Mina do you know why he's such an expert with heart repairs? it's because he used to rewire people's hearts as a practical joke so their blood would pump into their lungs, I mean WHO DOES THAT?"

"Another life, Ami!" Mina said, rolling her eyes. "They were brainwashed by some bad guy; Demand thought that rape was a fine way to woo a girl, too."

"RUBEUS is still LIKE that!" Ami complained. "and I bet if I don't have dinner with him he'll eat my SOUL! —Oh Serena's going to have to reassign him. Maybe it IS a good time to get them back to Nemesis. I mean, we've GOT to do something!"

.

Demand said into his communicator, "Yes, she's here; she just ran onto the bridge and grabbed Sailor Venus." Then, "Really?" Demand stifled a smile. "Oh, I'm sure she'd LOVE the company. I'll transport you right up!"

He smiled, buzzed Mina. "Yes, dear, would you see that Ami's dressed forthwith." Beat. "It seems she has a date."

Luna licked her paw, then said, "You enjoy moving people around like pawns, don't you, Mr. Diamond?"

"I like to keep things interesting, cat. Absolutely," he smiled.

.

.

.

Day 2, 10am
Regrouping

Nephrite walked through the ruins of Tokyo, angry. The earth had stopped rumbling overnight; the waters had stopped coming. The buildings were still crushed though; there were dead people still littering the streets. He stopped, turned around in a circle. Yelled, "And where's the damned SUN!"

He kicked at rubble that used to be a street, trying to pick his way to his old — well, yesterday 'old' — manse in the middle of Tokyo, needing to find his star charts, salvage any equipment his could. Consult the stars. If he could just get the star charts, he might be able to relocate to a more stable continent on this planet and start over. If not a new continent, maybe even the moon, he allowed himself to believe —for a second. Then realized he'd rather go down with HIS ship than get stuck on Serena's hellish moon.

The moon witch hadn't punished him; she'd just let him go, thinking he was insignificant now.

Nephrite wondered if that weren't, indeed, the truth. When he'd left the planet with his sword and his woman earlier the day before, he had been Serena's equal. He could have taken her down; he KNEW it. And he wouldn't have stopped there! The Black Moon men she cherished so much would have been next. Followed by the rest of the Senshi, except maybe Lita. Maybe.

Even after she'd popped up in the moonscape, Nephrite was sure he could beat her. She was inexperienced with her blade; inexperienced with her demonic wings. And him being joined with his Dark Matter sword, he knew he could slice her to ribbons, as long as he stayed away from the kid she was carrying. He thought back to the previous month, when Malachite had snatched her up and they'd all started to pummel her to death. They had almost succeeded, too, until Malachite had landed a kick a bit too close to her womb. She had become that indestructible shiny thing then, and they hadn't been able to do more than tie the bitch up. It was only over the last month, as he'd consulted the stars, that he'd learned what he must do to kill her was to join his soul with the dark sword.

He had promised Lita he wouldn't harm the witch; he had planned to tell Lita that Serena attacked him, and he killed her in self-defense! But Serena had gotten the drop on him — bad luck on his part. And he'd taken off to the mountain cave where he'd hidden Lita, hoping to buy himself some time; regroup.

And that was when he'd realized he was beaten. As Serena had followed him, the stupid satellite of the earth CHOSE SIDES, and burst into life all around him. The cave with Lita in it became a magnificent room of a pure crystal palace —a replica of the Silver Millennium castle he remembered all too clearly. Every step the witch had taken after that detailed the castle more.

He gave up, and watched as the Moon Bitch melted down; surprised she had been the one who destroyed the earth.

And now, here he was. Watching as the Senshi changed the landscape of the ruined Japan. He hated them; he hated them all. Did they really believe that patching their glassy shit here and there would ever make the world the same as it had been before the moon bitch fucked it up? The Senshi were busily cleaning up their big messes now —he'd heard that the tsunami had been frozen mid-wave, such that there was a giant CURL in the ocean now.

But it was too late for his old plan. She'd broken his bond with the Dark Matter sword. He couldn't touch her. At least, not yet. His best bet was to get back to his star charts and plot a different course entirely.

He was knocked aside from behind as a girl ran past. She turned around without stopping, apologizing. Nephrite rolled his eyes, thinking about how he used to annihilate vermin like that.

As he walked on, though, the girl came back and asked if he were okay. He ignored her; he was Nephrite! Of course he was okay!

"No you're not," she insisted. "You're hurt. Your arm is bleeding!" As she fumbled around his jacket, announcing he was cut, she said, "Come on —I know where the healing triage is!"

Nephrite rolled his eyes, thinking no more healing for him, ever! But then the girl mentioned a star-faring trio of princes who could heal with their mind. "It's real quick, too —amazing to watch! This would be no problem for them!" Beat. "And I know the girls who set it all up! They went to school with me!"

This got Nephrite's attention; he formally introduced himself to the girl, who said her name was Molly. She went on to tell him how, before the earth tilted yesterday, she had been on the news telling them what she had seen at Lita's house. "I was there, Nephrite! I saw that house blow apart! —I feel like I ..I was part of HISTORY!" she blustered, smiling at him, even jumping up and down with his hand in hers.

"How are you so sure the worst is over, Molly?" he asked, strangely entranced by this little waif of a girl.

She gleamed at him. "What, did you MISS it? We were totally DOOMED! The world was falling apart, even with the Senshi's help. We all knew we were going to die; it was just a question of when." She smiled. "We couldn't even breathe the air! Hello! But then Serena came back. Things started getting better real fast! —Come ON! Where have you been? You weren't unconscious, were you?" she asked, starting to worry.

They had walked upon the ruins of his manse, and he stopped, explaining to her that down in that sinkhole was his means of communicating with the stars. If he could get to any of his controls, he'd be able to get a glimpse of what was REALLY happening in the universe as a whole, not just in this solar system, or on this planet. Didn't she understand that the Earth was powerful in the universe, and as such they were responsible to the universe as a whole?

Molly was frustrated that Nephrite didn't understand that his controls wouldn't help telescopes perched on destroyed mountaintops, but she felt strongly attached to this odd man. She opted to stay with him and help, but only if he'd let her bandage his arm, since he wouldn't get proper help from the Senshi's emergency triage.

.

.

.

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HOMEWORK

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"My name is Serena Chiba. I am a student of Ms. Haruna, a private employ of the
nation-state of Tokyo. :-) X:*p She is the best teacher in the world and I'm very
very very very very very !VERY! lucky to have her as my teacher, love Serena!"

.

That didn't seem right either. She dropped her head on her desk, started crying.

"Now, now," Luna cautioned. "Get that assignment finished, Serena, if you want to be able to get to the mall tonight!"

Luna jumped up on the glorious pink bed that the Tsukinos had custom-ordered for their daughter's housewarming. It looked like a large, pink crystal sleigh, devoid of a headboard or shelves which tended to make sleeping with extra appendages impossible. It did, however, have a magnificent canopy like Serena had always dreamed about, which hovered high over the bed so, again, her wings wouldn't be impeded by simple acts such as sitting up.

It was Luna's favorite bed of all, much to Mr. Chiba's consternation. But Luna thought that situation was coming along nicely. He'd learned to keep his face away from her fur while sleeping, and his presence no longer bothered her so much.

"But Luna, I don't LIKE writing assignments!" She stood and stretched her arms high over her head, letting her very swollen belly pop out. She relaxed, and rubbed her belly. "Besides, I don't want my kids reading this stuff one day."

"Leave out the porn," Artemis said, bored, licking his paws. He often visited with Luna on lazy afternoons like this; it was so nice to have some connection with prior activities, like nagging Serena to do stuff.

"Focus on the Calamity," Luna offered. Then, "You're not the only one having to try to write a life story that sounds impossible. Everyone in the world's story is much like that."

"Yeah right," Serena laughed wryly.

Rei walked in, smiling widely. "We're all meeting at the Temple before going to the mall! I was on my way! —Need a ride?" She knew Serena had been itching to get out and go shopping, and the newly rebuilt mall was just opening today.

Serena smiled, turned back to Luna. "LOVE to!" she said, then ran to hug Rei. "Lemme run it by the big guy so he won't blow his top hat."

.

"Well tell them it's untenable!" Darien barked, tossing the communique back to Demand.

"Hey hey, careful!" Demand said, turning around carefully as he held Chiba's bundle of joy. "You could have poked his eye out!"

Darien bristled, then turned back to his work. He was now a practicing intern, even though that sort of thing was going out of fashion thanks to the Black Moon Clan's enterprising ways. Even people who had been regular surgeons before the Calamity were moving into the Spiritual Mending field. Darien wasn't particularly against that kind of medicine, but he was determined to learn the old-fashioned way first. Finding the instructors was the biggest problem, not to mention the lack of universities worldwide. Some things hadn't recovered well after the Calamity, and education was certainly one of those things.

But right now, instead of studying, he was having to help deal with a diplomatic nightmare — the Americans still wanted to tilt the earth BACK, and Tokyo's president had just sent to the Chibas to request a formal feasibility study. The fourth such study done since the Calamity.

Nephrite was now some kind of official adviser to the Americans; and this missive was nothing more than yet another cheap shot at Serena and the Senshi by the biggest thorn in their collective side. Why Serena just didn't snap this guy's neck in half was beyond him.

"Daddy?"

Darien glanced down at Little Gent, tossed his pen aside. Shrugged. "You're bored?"

The kid giggled and ran out of the room —straight into his Mama. He giggled more as Serena reached down and picked him up.

"Serena!" Darien corrected firmly. "You can't do that!" He flashed over to his wife and grabbed the toddler up. To the little boy, Darien said, "Don't LET your mom pick you up like that, Little Gent!"

Demand said, "Bet Mom would like to hold little Andrew!" and sidled over to Serena, enjoying watching the infant coo for his mama. Enjoying Serena bending over to kiss her baby. Taken, as always, by the scent of her hair.

Serena took the baby from Demand, and spun around to Darien and Little Gent. "Mama's going to the mall! —I need some shoes, Darien, and Rei's here now to give me a ride."

Darien pressed his lips together, unbelieving. "You haven't had time to do your homework, Sere. Ms. Haruna threatened to QUIT this time if you didn't buckle down a bit more!"

In fact, Darien had had to bribe the bitch to continue tutoring Serena, even though Haruna got paid more than ANY teacher in Tokyo. Haruna knew how important Serena's education was, not only to the Tsukinos and himself, but also to the entire nation; the nation considered Serena, particularly, and the Senshi in general, a national treasure. But the wise leaders were definitely concerned about Nephrite's rhetoric against the 'Moon Princess' and her magical solders. So the pressure to educate them all was very intense. And Haruna had claimed the pressure to educate Serena was above and beyond the call of duty, especially when the girl wouldn't stop gestating long enough to get through a grade of school.

Serena had passed the tests to be in 11th grade this year, but she was definitely losing interest in certain subjects, and Haruna didn't want to face public scorn if Serena didn't get through the 11th grade.

Serena's chin started quivering, and Demand took that as a cue to leave the room. On his way out, he said, "I'll get on that missive to the Americans right away."

Serena started to cry. Little Gent kicked his dad to get down, and started to get upset as well. "Daddy, Mommy's cry!"

Darien held on to Gent and went to hug Serena with his free arm. Andrew cooed as Darien kissed Serena's forehead. "You always do this, Serena! But you're falling behind again." As she cried on his shoulder, he added, "You don't want Little Gent to catch up to you in school, do you?"

"But the mall just opened, Dare!" she cried. "EVERYBODY'S going! Even Mama and Shingo are there already! I'll finish up that stupid paper as soon as I get home I promise!"

"Tell you what," Darien said lightly into her hair. "You do ONE PAGE of that paper Haruna wants, and we'll all go. —One page!" Beat. "And none of those cutesy little drawings and ..smilies, or whatever it is you do that gets Haruna so upset."

"Me too, daddy? I want to go!" Little Gent said.

Darien sighed and nodded, then grinned wryly at Serena. Serena's fake tears went away, and she accepted the offer. She gave Darien a quick kiss, then said, "Let me go tell Rei we'll MEET 'em there." She held out her hand to Little Gent, "C'mon Gent, let's go say hi to Miss Rei!"

.

.

.

"My name is Serena Tsukino Chiba. I'm 17 years old, I'm married to a mean
homework nazi, and I have 2 babies. They are cute. Darien is very cute too
judging by the huge number of women who ask him out even though he's
**MARRIED** to **me**! which he'd better never forget, homework nazi.

"My BFF is Rei Hino ~ Sailor Mars! I don't think I can write much about her
because ..it's a state secret what she does. I'll leave it at 'war general'. :-)
She freaked me out really bad when she took a vow of celibacy last year in
order to satisfy some weirdo rule for Martian priestesses. I really wish she
wouldn't have done that because I personally love ...[THIS IS PORN, LADY
MOON! -ARTEMIS] but she is a good friend even if she's sworn off of boys.

Lita is my friend, too. I think she's the real reason Rei took her vows since
Lita gets ~so~ worked up over boys that she can't perform her duties well.

Three years ago Lita got upset about her ex-boyfriend, because she loves
him a lot, and she tried to send his g/f Molly to another planet. She got in
bad trouble and it almost started a war, because they live in America, and
Nephrite called it an act of war! Lita still wants him even though he really
doesn't even like her, plus he has Molly now. ..So that's why Rei swore off
men if you ask me! Lita's better now! She is still looking for a guy like her
ex-b/f, Nephrite,... even though he really wasn't all that great imo. :-X

Ami is my next BFF. She is a great guardian, never misses anything, and,
best of all! she just had a rockin' wedding to Prince Rubeus of Nemesis! I
say that makes her a Princess! (even though she was one before neway).
It took them a long time to admit they were together, much less go out or
get married! She claims he forced her into it on threat of death. But I don't
believe her. She fell for him hard when he worked so hard in the Calamity.

When we're not talking about the kiddos, or shopping, or doing fun stuff,
most of my friends and family are disagreeing with me about everything.
They want me to do things that I've learned shouldn't be done, no matter
how good it might sound. Like, moving all known criminals off the planet!
Or changing certain people's memories so they would be more pleasant.
It worries me that I agree more with Nephrite than I do my own friends 'n
family sometimes, but I do! I believe that those of us who happen to have
a strong star seed should be very careful how they draw upon that power."

XOXOXO!

-S

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.

.

The End.

/AN/

My overall idea was to explore the idea of Sailor Moon becoming Neo-Queen Serenity and starting to build Crystal Tokyo without crazy help from the future (no run-ins from their future selves and child). I figured the easiest way to do it was having this new reality be a result of the Galaxia ending; chaos was dispersed, but that had some unintended consequences.

I wanted to incorporate three ideas from canon: (1) the early age Serena becomes immortal (age 19 in the manga), (2) the loss of her senshi status, and (3) that enigmatic Silver Crystal that powers the whole entire series. The silver crystal was her mother's, and ChibiUsa's, and a prison for evil spirits — but it's Serena's star seed? Huh?

I used the early SM-R season so the characters would be unaware of the future, and as a way to give Endymion's stupid dream some actual purpose (I mean, ANYTHING would be better than "a test of their love". GMAB! Endy is IN the future —doesn't he KNOW the strength of their love?)

Oh, and "Negaverse Rising" meant both the BMC literally raising the trapped exiles from the Negaverse; and the physical location of the Negaverse moving to a more temperate location on the globe (due to the axis tilting).