Usagi panted as she ran through the pouring rain while clutching a flashlight against her chest to protect it from the downpour. It had only been a few minutes since Minako's phone call was cut off, which she guessed was due to a power outage and later confirmed through the news. She had meant to call Ami before running out, but her mind was too focused on Minako's safety. With all the recent events, she was deeply worried that something might come for Minako next and she didn't want to lose another friend.

By the time she got to Minako's house, she was soaked to the bone and her clothes were dripping wet, although the flashlight was still usable. Upon approaching the darkened house, she knocked on the door four times, but after two minutes without answer she tried it and found it locked. Desperate to find out what happened, Usagi looked around to make sure no one was near before she picked up a nearby rock and smashed one of the front windows in. She then carefully climbed in the newly made hole, only managing a few cuts on her leg before she was inside house. Usagi turned on her flashlight before carefully looking around the house, finding the main floor seemingly untouched as she investigated. "Minako?" Usagi called, then listened quietly for a response but finding none.

After a few more moments of searching, she heard something moving upstairs. Slowly, she approached the stairs and made her way up, unsure who or what was up there. Once she reach the top, she found Artemis' broken body and gasped. "Artemis!" she cried before running up and setting the flashlight down as she examined his body. The cat was indeed dead, his empty eyes still showing a faint bit of the fear he must've felt before his final moments. Tears streamed down Usagi's face as she hugged the cat's corpse. "Oh Artemis, who could've done this," she said before jumping as she heard something slam behind the door next to her. She put down the cat before picking up the flashlight and shining it at the slightly open door which she remembered led to Minako's room.

Usagi slowly opened the door to Minako's room, shining the flashlight around and seeing that it was a complete wreck. Shelves and furniture were broken and various objects scattered across the ground but before she could take in the destruction, she shined her flashlight on the bloated bat monster which had been hiding in a corner. The creature shrieked and writhed a little as the light hit its skin, causing it to fizzle and smoke before it quickly threw itself out of the window, smashing it. It then flew off into the storming night, leaving Usagi standing there, confused and terrified as she dropped to the ground.

She covered her face and cried into her hands as her mind tried to process what had happened and what she had seen. She had no clue what that thing was or what it could be and she feared what the answer maybe. As she dried her tears and looked up, she could see that the flashlight she had dropped was shining onto the corner the creature was hiding in and in that corner she found Minako.

"M-Minako?" Usagi said faintly as her heart raced and her body shook, she felt like she was going to throw up. Minako's clothes were torn and her legs and arms were bent and twisted at unnatural angles while her necked had been snapped to the right side and she could see some blood dripping out of her mouth, her face still frozen in horror. But what disturbed Usagi the most was the message carved into the flesh of Minako's bare back which read No Hope, with blood dripping down from each letter.

Usagi recoiled in fear, her breath quickening before she screamed and ran downstairs, unlocking and bursting out the door before running off into the night. The adrenaline Usagi felt was enough to carry her through the raging storm and all the way home where she then stormed past her mother and immediately took the phone, calling up the police.

"Police Department," the man on the other end of the line said after Usagi's call was transferred.

"Yes, I'd like to report a murder," she said, distraught.

"A murder? Ma'am where are you? Where's the victim? And who is it?" the man fired off as Usagi cried and sniffled a little.

Usagi's mother came up looking shocked but didn't say anything since Usagi was still on the phone. "Her name is Minako Aino and I'm at…" she gave hers and Minako's addresses.

"Got it, we'll send an officer over immediately, just stay where you are and keep everything shut," he replied after a few minutes before he hung up.

Usagi hung up the phone before turning to her mother who looked shocked and scared. "Usagi…what…happened…to…Minako?" she asked.

Usagi opened her mouth to explain, but the words simply would not come out. Her mind was still trying to process what had just happened and the emotional weight was just too much to bear. She could only walk up to her mother and hug her tightly while she cried into her chest, her mother only able to comfort her by stroking her hair. All she knew was that her daughter had come home dripping wet, had seen something horrible and that one of her friends was gone.

The officer arrived twenty minutes later and interviewed Usagi about what she saw while she cried into her mother. She told him about how she went over to Minako's because the line on her phone cut and she wanted to be sure she was ok, but when she got there, she found the power was out and her friend and her cat dead, though she left out the part where she encountered the monster. The officer wrote down everything she said before getting a call on the radio which confirmed her story. "Ma'am, I'd advise that you and your mother watch yourself for the next few days and that you keep the windows and doors locked at all times until we can solve this. I would also advise that you seek grief counseling. Call us if you see anything suspicious," he said in a mournful tone before he stood up and left. Usagi's mother locked the door behind them while Usagi ran upstairs and went to her room to cry into her pillow.

Ami sat in her on her bed in her quiet condo, reading The Book of Eibon and studying its spells and information while remaining ignorant of what had transpired. The spells contained within the book would be astounding to behold if not for her conflicting feelings and what they may bring; there were a variety of spells designed to contact or summon various deities along with some other spells, such as one that could create a blanket of mist, or another which could open portals to other worlds and dimensions whose prospects thrilled Ami yet at the same time terrified her. As she read on, she learned of other deities that were not mentioned in Unaussprechlichen Kulten such as Abhoth, Atlach-Nacha, and Yibb-Tsll. Though one deity in particular the piqued her interest and that was the deity Eibon primarily worshipped, Tsathoggua.

From what the text stated, Tsathoggua was apparently a toad-like entity that came down from Yuggoth but now sleeps in the darkness of N'kai, deep beneath Mount Voormithadreth on Hyperborea. He was sealed beneath N'kai along with his Formless Spawn after a conflict with a race of serpent people. Many spells contained within the book drew power from or were based around Tsathoggua, such as a spell to summon and control his kin.

Eventually, the headaches and dizziness that came from reading the eldritch lore became too much for Ami and she shut the book. Looking at the clock, she saw it was 10:44 PM. She had school tomorrow, but before she went to bed, she locked her windows, her front door and her bedroom door, hoping to keep the Mi-Go out before she climbed into bed and slept under the covers.

She woke to find herself facing the Faceless Man once more, upon which she shrieked and closed her eyes, turning away. "Leave me alone! I don't want anything to do with you anymore!" she yelled as she curled up like a scared, impotent child.

The Faceless Man spoke in his collective voice, "The final tome shall be delivered and then you will be free," which caused Ami to at least stand up and face him, but she would not look at him.

"R-Really? One more and that's it?" she said weakly beneath her fear.

"Yes," he said simply before he raised his hand, the glowing symbols encircling it again before he touched her forehead and everything disappeared a flash.

Ami gasped and panted as she sat up in her bed, her heart pounding in her chest. "Final tome? Free?" she asked herself before looking at the clock and seeing that it was 4:44AM. Knowing that the book would be there by now, she carefully got out of bed and quietly made her way to the front door. She jumped at the thump that was usually made when the box was dropped off. She then slowly opened the door and looked at the large box which had the expected writing on it before she picked it up, finding it a little heavy. Out of curiosity, Ami looked down the hall to see if she could catch a glimpse of the box's courier, only to catch a glimpse of a Mi-Go before it quickly scuttled out of sight.

Ami gasped deeply as she took the box in and shut the door, locking it and hoping that the Mi-Go did not see or hear her before she ran to her room and locked the door. Ami turned on her desk light before tearing open the box and taking out the huge ancient brown tome and setting it on her desk, the adrenaline pumping through her body and the curiosity and fear flowing through her mind wiping sleep from her eyes. She desperately wanted to read this tome and learn its contents, hoping that it'd have some way of ending this nightmare.

The first top of the first page read Al Azif by Abdul Alhazred, written in a large font, and though oddly it was in English, but below the words was a quote that was clearly written in Arabic:

أن لم يمت والتي يمكن الأبدية يكذب

ومع الدهر غريب حتى الموت قد يموت

Ami then rubbed her eyes before reading the Arabic quote again, though this time she could understand it. It read:

That is not dead which can eternal lie.

And with strange aeons even death may die.

The quote sent a chill down Ami's spine. She wasn't quite sure what it meant, but something in the very back of her mind told her that it was not something good. Ami then began to read and never stopped; for four hours she read the huge tome, each and every page, down to the last period. She ignored the headaches and dizziness that were coming from reading the eldritch tome, even when she blacked out for a moment, she persisted. Finally, she stopped about halfway through the book and leaned back, pushing her hands against her eyes as she giggled to herself. She could no longer think straight, her thoughts were nothing but random, sporadic and nonsensical gibberish combined with what she had learned from the tomes. She now knew much, much more about the world and even the cosmos, she knew that the Great Old Ones were the true masters of the cosmos and that humanity was but a speck to be controlled and destroyed. Her fear was now completely gone, replaced by a mad lust for knowledge, she wanted to know everything about this new cosmic landscape and she knew just how to do it. The book had mentioned how the Mi-Go were willing to give journeys across the Universe to those who desired it.

Suddenly, she began to hear the buzzing of the Mi-Go approaching her, it was distant and faint but she could hear it clearly. Instead of her usual fearful reaction, she stood up and jumped with joy, glad that they had chosen her and glad that she would leave this worthless shell. She took out a piece of paper and jotted down a quick note as the buzzing drew closer and closer. She heard her front door open despite knowing she had locked it, though she thought they might've had a device for it.

The buzzing drew closer and closer as she unlocked her door and waited for the Mi-Go to come and take her away from this world. It wasn't long before the infernal buzzing was right outside her door, the knob slowly turning and the door slowly opening to reveal the figure in all its glory. Ami smiled as she saw the creature she once feared. "I'm ready now, take me," she said calmly.

The next day, Usagi tried to call Ami before school but she did not get an answer and upon arriving at school, her friend was nowhere to be found. She went through the entire school day alone, depressed and worried, Rei and Minako were dead, Makoto was broken and insane, and now Ami was missing, which caused Usagi to imagine the worst. All Usagi could do throughout the day was look down and think about the cruel fate that had befallen her and her friends along with the creeping terror at what forces caused it.

After school, Usagi decided to go to Ami's home and see what was going on with her, fearing the worst. Upon arriving at the entrance to the building, she slowly ascended the stairs and found Ami's condo before knocking on the door. Usagi waited about four minutes without a response before knocking on the door harder and trying the knob only to find that it was unlocked. "Hello? Ami? Are you here?" she called as she slowly entered her condo and looked around, finding the place seemingly untouched.

She carefully made her way to Ami's room and opened the door before looking around and then screaming. Usagi found Ami lying on her bed with her scalp and skullcap removed and her pillow drenched in blood, but what disturbed her even more was Ami's expression; it was a peaceful smile. Usagi froze in terror while she screamed until she lost control and fell to the floor, vomiting onto it. Once she regained most of her senses she quickly stood up and went to the kitchen, grabbing the phone and calling the police. Usagi waited at the building's entrance for the police to arrive, she sat on the steps with her face buried in her hands as she cried her eyes out, her friends were now truly gone.

The police arrived an hour later, one officer staying behind with Usagi while the other two rushed upstairs to Ami's condo to investigate. The officer tried to comfort Usagi and get her to talk. "It's going to be ok, we're here to help, can you tell me what happened?" the officer asked before Usagi barely managed to recount what had happened and also what happened to her other friends. "My God, you poor thing, is there any way I can help?" the officer offered, it was the only thing he could really do.

"J-Just…find who did it…" she managed to say before she continued crying.

Two minutes later the two officers returned. "Call the paramedics and forensics; also, tell the investigators to look out for a missing brain. We're dealing with a real psycho here," the first officer told the third, which only made Usagi cry harder.

The first officer went back to the car to make the call while the second and third stayed behind to watch Usagi. "Um…miss, would you happened to be named Usagi?" the second officer asked.

Usagi looked up and nodded. "Y-Yes…why?" she asked in a quavering tone.

"Well, we found a note addressed to you and someone named Minako from the victim," he said before handing her the note which Usagi quickly took. The note read:

Dear Usagi and Minako,

Well it seems my time has come; I'm going off to explore the cosmic boundaries of the Universe while this tiny world comes to an end. I regret that you cannot come with me, but just know that I am safe and that I will still remember you as my best of friends, along with Rei and Makoto. Good-bye forever.

Love,

Ami Mizuno

Usagi's heart pounded in her chest as she dropped the note on the ground before dropping into a fetal position and bawling. Ami had left her all alone and she sounded almost happy about it, like she didn't even care about what she and Minako might've thought. The third officer, upon seeing her reaction, helped her up and took her to his car before asking her where she lived, which Usagi scarcely was able to say. The officer then took her home and explained what had happened to Usagi's mother before helping take Usagi inside and resting her on the couch.

After the officer left, Usagi's mother sat next to her and hugged her tightly while stroking her hair. "My poor baby…" she said as she too started to cry with her daughter.

Usagi's father returned home from work twenty minutes later and, upon approaching the house, found an envelope sticking out of his mailbox. He took the envelope out and opened it, revealing a letter and something else that greatly excited him. The guys at work had been talking about it a lot and saying how unusual it was and how interesting it would be to go, but now he was invited to go for free and, better yet, there were enough for his whole family to go.

Usagi's father walked through the door and found his wife and daughter sitting on the couch, Usagi resting on her mother's lap and still crying. "What happened?" Usagi's father asked, his wife looking up at him.

"Another one of her friends…passed away" she said mournfully while he looked down.

"I see. That's very tragic," he looked down but then looked up again, "but I think what we should do right now is go out and take her mind off of it," he said.

His wife looked confused. "Go out? Where?" she asked.

Usagi's father smiled. "To that new opera that everyone's talking about," he said before he held up four tickets to Massa di Requiem per Shuggay.

Usagi put on a fake smile as she and her family walked into Yoyogi Park to see the opera during the clear, starry night. It was bad enough that her friends were killed by the cult, but now she was forcing herself to watch their opera just to rub salt in the wound; the only reason she was even here was so she could confront the cult leader if and when he made an appearance. Her family had dressed up nicely along with everyone else who was filing into the park and sitting in the seats arranged at the amphitheater.

Once all were seated, the Black Man came up on stage and began to speak. "Thank you all for coming to our production of Massa di Requiem per Shuggay. We hope you enjoy the presentation and get a little bit more insight," he said before leaving to the sound of applause. Usagi clenched her fist in anger but, strangely, found that she could not get up nor look away from the amphitheater. She struggled to make herself move, but it just wouldn't happen; all she could do was watch the opera.

The first act of the opera opened up on an alien world known as Shaggai which was inhabited by the Shan and dotted with their grey cone cities. The Shan were a race of insect people who worshipped a god named Azathoth which sent a chill down Usagi's spine as she recognized that name from the Black Man's speech when she and her friends fought him, but another thing that frightened her was the fact that the Shan were played by the creatures she saw in the Brotherhood's hideout. The act itself went into depth about their planet and how they worshipped Azathoth by sacrificing slave races while also telling of how Azathoth was the center of all that is and ever will be. The end of the act told of a mysterious crimson globe that forced the Shan to leave their home and destroyed their planet.

The second act was primarily about the Shan wandering the Universe in search of a new place to call home. During their ventures they stopped at planets such as Xiclotl, Thuggon, and L'gy'hx but found none of them to be suitable, instead merely taking slaves from them. It was at this point Usagi began to hear some very odd sounds, sounds which caused her body to shiver and her heart to quicken, but she couldn't quite tell where they were coming from or really how to describe it.

Before the third act could begin, the Black Man appeared onstage and smiled at the audience. "Before we begin our final act, there is something that I've been dying to show all of you," he said before all the lights on the amphitheater went out and focused on a curtain that parted to show Usagi's friends hanging on meat hooks by their shoulders. "Behold, your fallen guardians!" he gloated as the audience could only stare in disbelief, some whispering among themselves while others screamed and cried but they all could not look away.

"This is what has become of your Sailor Senshi; nothing but broken corpses!" he said as he walked past each one of the bodies. Rei's body had a bloody stump where her head should've been and the rest of her body was covered in a yellowish-green goo that seemed to eat at her clothes and skin. Next was Makoto who did not seem to be dead, but her eyes had heavy rings beneath them and a blank, distant stare. After her was Minako's broken, twisted body with her face still showing the same terrified look that Usagi saw when she first found her. Finally, there was Ami's body which still had the top of her head removed and clearly showed that her brain was gone. "So, as you can see, you have no protectors, no defense, and no hope," the Black Man said in a smug, triumphant tone.

At that moment Usagi's terror was washed away by a boiling sea of rage which was just enough to allow her to break away from the Black Man's power and reach for the wand in her purse. "Moon Prism Power! Make Up!" she cried as she transformed into Sailor Moon in a flash.

The Black Man shielded his eyes for a moment before seeing Sailor Moon in the audience running towards the stage. "Ah, Sailor Moon, I was wondering when you would get here," he said as she jumped onto the stage.

"This is it Nyarlathotep! This is where it all ends!" she shouted while he laughed.

"Do you really think you can-"

Before the Black Man could finish, Sailor Moon pointed her rod at him and cried, "Moon Princess Halation!" before it shot a beam of light that hit the Black Man and disintegrated his left arm and shoulder along with a portion of his face, causing him to cry out in agony.

"Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh! You whore! I will teach you your place in this world!" he shouted as he pointed at her and spoke something incomprehensible, but before Sailor Moon could respond, she screamed as the arm holding her rod painfully shriveled into a useless appendage. "There how does that feel?" he shouted before saying another incomprehensible phrase, causing invisible razors to cut up Sailor Moon's body yet not kill her while she cried the whole time.

Sailor Moon lay injured as the Black Man walked up to her. "Look on the bright side, at least you have a front row seat," he said as she noticed that his "wound" was nothing but a black void from which a long gangly hand and a large tentacle with a slit emerged, causing her to scream and for him to laugh. "Now you know at least a fraction of what your friend saw," he said in a warped voice. In an attempt to comprehend the horror protruding from Nyarlathotep, Sailor Moon's mind simply froze, paralyzed by fear.

Nyarlathotep then turned to face the audience, whose faces mirrored that of Sailor Moon. "Well, seeing as how this little whore ruined the fun, I guess we'll just have to skip to the end," he said in his warped voice as all the Mi-Go and cult members came up on stage and gathered around Nyarlathotep. They began chanting in unison "Xltcrit qyp'lrs ghthoka tzeclyp Azathoth n'rzdeli xv'urzoc n'kfid vonox zxqytq!"

As they invoked the incantation, the sky became completely black. A colossal figure emerged from the blackness, taking up the entire sky, and Sailor Moon, along with the rest of humanity, had only but a moment to gaze upon the horror that is Azathoth before the world was consumed by a maelstrom of madness and death.