First note: I am alive…and being crushed by overwhelming guilt (some of you guys have send me PMs to inquire about this) and destroyed by writer's block on everything but CMV scripts (A few friends and I recently started a cosplay group).

Second happier note, my book is available on amazon now for anyone curious about my non-fanfiction writing abilities.

Third note: School is kicking my ass this semester.

I apologize profusely for the lateness and shortness of this and dedicate this chapter to: gaia bloodborn, who gave me the kick I need to get back on track.

Last time in Distorted…

"Stop right there!" two familiar voices said.

Sailor Mars looked up. "That sounds like…"

"Serena!" Luna exclaimed.

"And Rini's with her!" Artemis added.

"I am Sailor Moon!"

"And I am Sailor Mini Moon!"

"In the name of the Moon! We will punish you!"

The daimon growled. "So, we meet at last, Sailor Moon."

Sailor Moon drew her scepter.

The daimon charged forward with teeth bared. Twirling the pink scepter Sailor Moon dodged the monster and turned to face it.

"Moon spiral heart attack!"

Shrieks filled the air as the monster dissolved. Sailor Moon lowered the scepter. Venus was suddenly hanging from the princess' neck as she held her tightly.

"We've been worried sick!"

"I know," Sailor Moon replied. "The Time Gate was a mess and Pluto…"

Sailor Moon suddenly caught sight of the older scout watching them.

"Pluto!" Rini shouted.

The guardian of time smiled as the small pink-haired child ran to her.

"I missed you!"

Sailor Pluto smiled. "Hello, Small Lady."

Sailor Moon took a hesitant step toward her. "But you…"

"Hey, Serena, where's Darien?" Jupiter suddenly asked.

The Moon Princess's eyes closed and she looked down.

"What happened?" Saturn asked. "Is he…"

"I don't know. Rini and I almost didn't get out."

"Rini's still here, that must mean he's alright," Mercury concluded.

Sailor Pluto cleared her throat to earn Sailor Moon's attention. "Princess, I need to speak with you. Perhaps you should call a scout meeting?"

Sailor Moon nodded. "Raye, can we go to the temple?"

"Yeah," Mars replied, sending a way glance toward the four outer scouts. "Let's go."

"You tried to kill each other?" Serena asked once Venus and Amara had finished their explanation of the past few days. "I told you to get along. That means help each other not start a civil war!"

The scouts exchanged guilt-filled glances and remained silent.

"I can't believe this," the princess murmured, leaning against the wall. "What do we know about the enemy?"

"Excuse the inner guardians and we will tell you," Amara said.

"No," Serena firmly replied. "We are not splitting up. We are all sailor scouts, and will work together. This enemy is powerful and we need to work together to destroy it. I've had enough of this inner scouts versus outer scouts business. Just because Queen Serenity allowed it, does not mean I will. We're stronger as one unit, we've proven this already. If you don't agree then I will dismiss you from your duties as a sailor scout."

Amara's eyes widened. "You can't do that."

"Serena, that's too harsh," Mina agreed.

"The two of you are the leaders of your respective groups. You should have come together and learned what you could about the enemy so that once I returned we could face them. Not only have you created a civil war amongst yourselves, but you've barely learned enough for us to do anything to stop the enemy yet. In times of dire need the sailor scouts fight as one unit. I don't know what memories you have of the Silver Millennium, but you surely remember some of the rules."

Looks of guilt and wariness were exchanged among the large group.

"Trista, Michelle, Hotaru, and I are enrolled in Mugen Academy," Amara informed her. "We believe that is their center of operations and wished to go with a direct invasion of their headquarters."

"We will report our findings to you," Michelle added.

"You will report them at the scout meetings, which we will be having daily until this enemy is defeated. While in the Time Gate Darien and I saw firsthand how dire this situation is."

"Where is Darien?" Hotaru interrupted.

Serena's gaze lowered, biting her lip against the threat of tears. "I don't know. We separated. Rini and I ran out and...Darien was trying to hold off the darkness so we could escape."

"He is not in the Time Gate," Trista said. "He left it shortly after you and Rini."

"So he's probably waiting for you back at your apartment," Raye offered. "Or he's looking for you. I bet he's already on his way over here."

"Rini would have disappeared if anything happened," Amy added.

Giving them a small smile, Serena nodded. "We can't do much else until more is known about the enemy." She turned to the outer scouts. "Make sure to take your communicators with you tomorrow, and call us if anything happens, especially if you need help."

"We will," Trista assured her.

"Can we go find Darien now?" Rini asked.

Darien groaned as he slowly reached up to clutch his throbbing head.

"How are you feeling?"

"Andrew?"

Darien opened his eyes to see his loyal generals circled around his couch.

"What happened?"

"You tell us," Ken said. "Mina called Andrew to ask us to find you."

"He called us and we came here to start looking," Chad continued, "and found you passed out inside the door."

"So we moved you here and tried to wake you up," Greg concluded.

Their prince eased himself up. "Serena?"

"She and Rini are fine," Andrew assured him. "Amara and Michelle are escorting them and Hotaru home as we speak."

Darien breathed a sigh of relief.

"Why don't you guys head home," Andrew suggested. "I'll wait here until the women of the house get back."

The other three shrugged and filed towards the door with goodbyes to their friends.

Andrew watched the door click closed and counted to ten before focusing his attention to Darien. He placed something in the latter's hand and sat next to him on the couch.

"Wanna explain this?"

"It's a ring," Darien stated, sliding the piece on.

"Darien," Andrew prompted.

"Serena and I ran into Queen Serenity," Darien explained. "She made us get married. Serena has a ring too. Queen Serenity gave them to us."

Andrew jumped to his feet. "You jerk! I was supposed to be your best man!"

Darien sent him an annoyed glare. "Serena and I didn't have a choice. Queen Serenity believes that this will strengthen our bond, and we'll need all the strength we can get against this foe. Don't worry, you'll still get your chance to be best man, if you still want it."

"You're going to get married again?"

"Do you really think Japan is going to accept a marriage that was not only overseen by someone who died thousands of years ago, but also took place in the moon kingdom?"

"Good point," Andrew said.

"Am I forgiven?"

Andrew grinned. "Yep."

"Good, then you'll understand that you can't tell anyone about this?"

"You can't keep this a secret. No one even knew about your engagement and now you're basically married and keeping that a secret."

"Serena wants to tell them about the wedding with Queen Serenity and she will probably wait until we're closer to an actual marriage. Or until someone else calls out the rings."

"Fine. You're secret's safe."

They glanced toward the door as a key slid into the lock.

"That's probably my cue to leave," Andrew said.

The door slid open and Amara entered. Before she could say anything Serena pushed past her to rush toward Darien. The prince smiled as the princess fell into his arms.

"I was worried," she said.

"I'm fine, Serena. Already healed and everything."

"We're supposed to stick together, idiot! That's the only way to defeat this enemy."

"I know. We'll get through this."

Trista stood back with a frown, the only one in the room who knew the coming doom.

I really forced this chapter and it has taken me several months to write. Please have patience with me as I continue this saga. I will probably end it within ten chapters so not too much longer. My goal is to have it finished by the end of the year, but we'll see where that goes… As always reviews are lovely, but I understand if updates are too few and far between to deserve them (or if this long-awaited chapter just sucks). I will try not to disappear for five months again! Next chapter: Hotaru finds herself in trouble, another scout is targeted, and does Rini know more than they realize about the threat?