Return of the Past

Luna raced through the midnight-darkened streets at top speed, intent on her destination. She rounded corners so fast she almost lost her balance. The only thought in her mind was the need to hurry. She needed to get home. She needed to get to Usagi.

Usagi was fast asleep in bed, dreaming. Occasionally, she'd murmur something about Tuxedo Kamen and how she loved him, then sigh and go back to sleep.

The black cat ran up onto the walkway, then leapt up into the tree near Usagi's window, then from there to her bedroom window ledge. The window was kept open, in case Luna wanted to spend part of the night scouting the city for any signs of monster attacks, like she was doing tonight, and needed to get to Usagi in a hurry, like now.

"Usagi-chan, wake up!" Luna shouted from the window. "Emergency!"

"Tuxedo Kamen-sama, I love you!" Usagi murmured as she hugged her pillow.

"Usagi-chan!" Luna shouted again and leaped onto her bed. "Sailor Venus and Artemis have found a gateway into the Dark Kingdom's secret base!"

"Huh... WHAT?!?" Usagi exclaimed, pushing herself up off the bed.

"We've got to hurry! I've already contacted the others. They'll be waiting for us."

"Wait, Luna!" Usagi said as she got out of bed. "Where are we going?"

"No time," Luna replied. "Just follow me."

On the way to wherever Luna was leading her, Usagi transformed into Sailor Moon. When she finally reached her destination, she found that the gateway to the Dark Kingdom base was an ordinary-looking café.

After the last battle with Kunzite, the data Mercury collected from the gateway the silver-haired General created served as a guide to finding another gateway. It was especially useful, since they wouldn't be getting another chance to fool the Dark Kingdom into creating another gateway for them.

The café was empty, of course, since it was after closing hours. All six of the Sailor Scouts were gathered inside, in the back, staring at a dark portal just hovering beside the door to the storeroom.

"We've finally found it," Venus said, breaking the profound silence that had momentarily held everyone.

"Good work, Sailor Venus," Mars praised.

"It's amazing how something like this could go unnoticed for such a long time," Knight mused thoughtfully to himself.

"I suppose normal people aren't sensitive to the dark energies of things like this," Mars replied with a shrug. "I guess it appears invisible to everyone except us, who're used to dealing with things like this."

"So, are we just gonna stand here and stare at it?" Jupiter asked challengingly.

"Let's go!" Luna said as she and Artemis ran ahead into the portal.

The dark portal led into a rocky tunnel. Although there were no openings anywhere, the tunnel was lightly illuminated by some unknown source, probably from within the tunnel walls. The tunnel led to a slightly long vertical drop, which was no problem for the enhanced strength of the Scouts. The two cats merely ran quickly down the incredibly steep incline to the cavern floor below. Luna and Artemis landed first, with the others not far behind.

After the drop, Luna and Artemis scouted ahead while the Scouts advanced slowly and cautiously. Venus and Knight took point while the others followed. Knight held his swords at the ready as he and Venus moved cautiously forward, each taking one side of the cavern and watching the other carefully.

As the cavern slowly began to grow narrower, Venus and Knight both met in front of the thinnest point in the cavern and waited for the others to catch up. Venus watched the Scouts approach them as Knight kept an eye on the darkness ahead of them. For some reason, the illumination suddenly ceased beyond this point. That alone was reason enough for him to keep a close eye on it, should something try to attack from within the darkness.

When the rest of the Scouts joined Venus and Knight, they exchanged a look and nodded. Knight went ahead just as Venus gestured for the others to follow.

A long way ahead, Luna and Artemis stopped at a cat-sized tunnel in the side of the tunnel they had been running through.

"What's this?" Luna said to Artemis.

"Let's find out," Artemis suggested and jumped in with Luna right behind him.

The six Sailor Scouts ran down the dark corridor with Sailor Knight out in front, searching for any sign of attack. The other four Scouts ran in positions around Sailor Moon, so as to protect their leader in case of attack.

A pale green mist slowly began to approach them from ahead. "Energy?" Venus exclaimed as everyone stopped in their tracks. The mist began to converge into one spot, while discharging a gust of dark wind toward the Scouts. Everyone put up their arms to shield their eyes against the wind. Total darkness enveloped the entire area and Kunzite appeared from within the blackness.

"I'd like to show you all the way to the Dark Kingdom," Kunzite told them. "However, we have not prepared a reception for you. I would like to take you to a better place, instead."

"I'm sure you would," Jupiter retorted. "Supreme thunder!"

Kunzite quickly vanished from the place he was standing, just as the lightning bolt was about to hit. After the attack struck the tunnel wall, he reappeared back to where he was standing before.

"Sailor Moon, hand over the Silver Crystal peacefully and I'll spare your life!" he demanded impatiently as he held out his right hand.

"If you tell me what happened to Tuxedo Kamen-sama, I won't punish you!" Sailor Moon retorted, brandishing the Crescent Moon Wand.

"Spare me your impertinence!" he shouted as he waved his right arm irritably to his side. "I will throw you into the Dimension of Random Time!"

"Dimension of Random Time?" Sailor Moon repeated questioningly.

"It could be Prehistoric Africa, in which dinosaurs lived. Or it may be Europe during a violent war."

"You'd send me to such a crazy place?!?" Sailor Moon whined. "No way!!!"

Kunzite held his right hand, palm upward, in front of his face and placed his left hand perpendicular to his right. Darkness began to envelope his hands until he suddenly thrust both hands toward the Scouts, palms outward, causing a violet light to shoot out of his hands. Immediately, the others surrounded Sailor Moon, while Sailor Knight stood directly in the line of fire with both swords held defensively in front of him. The moment the blast hit Knight's swords, it exploded into a brilliant violet light that filled the tunnel. The force of the blast hurled all of the Scouts backward and ripped the Crescent Moon Wand from Sailor Moon's grasp.

"The Silver Crystal is mine!" Kunzite shouted as he lunged for the wand. An instant before he could grab the wand, the Silver Crystal flashed brightly and the wand spun around and smacked Kunzite on the hand with the handle. "Damn!" he growled as the wand disappeared along with the Scouts into the Dimension of Random Time.

The Crescent Moon Wand floated toward Sailor Moon and hovered beside her as everyone was hurled screaming through the dimension. The crystal on the wand flashed brightly and then went silent as the trip started to end.

The wand was the first thing to emerge. It landed on a stone marker with a soft clink and a little bounce. The Sailor Scouts were next; they landed in a small, dispersed group, each unconscious as they hit the ground.

Sailor Moon was the first one to awaken. She looked up at the ruins of some kind of ancient kingdom. There were broken pillars, crumbled and slanting arches, and devastated buildings everywhere. The ground was full of loose dirt and dust. If there were any wind here, it would cause a huge dust storm in a matter of minutes. The whole place gave her a feeling of emptiness, but strangely enough there was another sensation that these ruins gave her....

"Where...?" Sailor Moon began, getting to her feet. "Where are we? What is this place?"

"This is what is left of the once glorious Moon Kingdom, during the height of the Silver Millennium," a voice answered.

"Moon Kingdom?" she asked, looking around for the source of the voice she had heard. "Silver Millennium?" She could remember hearing something about it from Luna and Artemis, but....

A column of light suddenly appeared at the center of the stone marker above the Crescent Moon Wand. A ball of light appeared and descended down to where it was only a few feet above the ground, then grew until a miniature figure could be seen inside the glowing sphere.

The woman was wearing a white gown that seemed to flow down to her feet. Her transparent wings made her seem like an angel. Her hair was silver-white and was done in a style identical to Sailor Moon's. Also, on her forehead was a symbol that she recognized from Luna and Artemis: a golden crescent moon on its side with both points up.

"Who are you?" Sailor Moon asked.

"I bring you a message from the distant past," the ethereal woman told her. "I was the ruler of the Moon Kingdom, Queen Serenity. I am also your mother."

Sailor Moon was taken aback by that last statement. "You're my mother?" she exclaimed in shock. "I don't understand." By now, the rest of the Sailor Scouts had already awakened and were listening to the conversation with a keen interest.

"I awakened Luna and Artemis from their cold sleep and ordered them to contact you and to watch over you," Serenity explained as she descended to rest upon the stone marker on the ground. Sailor Moon knelt down along with her, so that she would remain at the same eye level as her. She raised her arms out to her sides, causing the marker to glow with a strong blue light. The Scouts watched in astonishment as the light grew to encompass not only them, but the entire area as well.

"We are of a race of humans who were born on the Moon and the other various planets," Serenity continued. The Scouts watched in complete amazement as images of the past were played out before them. "Our duty was to protect the 'Will of the Good', the Silver Crystal, which was passed down through the royal family of the Moon Kingdom for generations. Our mission was to protect the Earth and to help it better evolve.

"Remember the time when you lived as the Moon Princess. You often looked out at the beautiful blue Earth and longingly admired its green trees and blue oceans. But, that wasn't the only reason you stared at the Earth, for you had also found love there."

"Serenity," a voice called out to her. She looked down from the balcony towards the one who had called out to her. It was him, the one she had been waiting for.

"Endymion," she answered back. "Oh, finally you are here."

"I have bad news, Princess," Endymion said.

"You cannot come to the ball?" she asked, although she already suspected that it would be something worse than that. Oh, please let me be wrong....

"If it were only that, Serenity," he said, sadly. "Terrible things have happened on Earth. An evil tyrant named Queen Beryl has taken over there. She has corrupted many of my people by turning them into hideously deformed warriors loyal only to her.

"We were forced to fight our own people, Serenity," he said with a profound sadness in his voice.

"How terrible," she replied sadly, her heart broken at seeing her beloved in such emotional pain. "I'm sorry...."

"This Queen Beryl appeared out of nowhere. No one knows where she came from, and her warriors are incredibly strong. Perhaps even unbeatable."

Suddenly, some of the palace guards appeared, fully armed. "Who goes there?" one of them shouted.

Endymion turned towards them in surprise. "Listen," he said quickly to Serenity, "I'd better go." He then ran off in the opposite direction of the guards, who quickly ran after him.

"Endymion!" she called out as he ran off. "Oh, they must suspect everyone from Earth." Under the circumstances, I could understand, but they should know better than to suspect Endymion of being a spy. She glanced in the direction that Endymion and the guards ran down. I hope they don't catch him....

Luna and Artemis continued running full speed down the dark cavern. Occasionally, Luna would glance backwards to see if the others would catch up to them yet.

"I wonder what happened to everybody," she said worriedly without slowing down.

"Looks like it's up to us to find the Dark Kingdom's secret base," Artemis replied. Up ahead, a bright light could be seen, heralding the end of the tunnel. The two cats hurried out of the tunnel....

...and into a frozen wasteland.

A strong wind blew continuously, sending the falling snow blowing haphazardly all over the dark sky. The winds blew hard at the two cats, causing them to squint against the harsh cold.

"This is...," Luna began as she realized where they were.

"The Arctic!" Artemis concluded.

She quickly left the balcony and ran down the stairs, hoping to get to Endymion before the guards did. As she hurried down the stairs, a hand reached out to hers. "Princess, may I have this dance?" asked a voice similar to that of Endymion's. She turned to the speaker and saw him dressed in a black tuxedo and cape, and wearing a white mask that covered his eyes. "Could be our last one," he said.

"I'm so happy that you came back," she said, as he took her hand and drew her close to him.

"I needed to have one last dance with you," he said as he led her to the dance floor. They began to dance.

"I'm afraid that all of this will change, Serenity," he told her sadly. "Beryl's more dangerous than we all thought. She'll more than likely be setting her sights here very soon."

"The Moon?" she asked apprehensively.

"Yes," he replied grimly. "Beryl plans to take over the whole universe, and to do that, she must first conquer the Moon. You must prepare for the worst, Serenity."

She stopped dancing and leaned against him, absorbing the news. It was terrible news, indeed. She didn't know what to say. ''No wonder Mother never told me about this. She didn't want me to have to worry about it. She must've been too busy preparing for this to have anybody else tell me anyway. ''

''Why didn't he tell me this before? Was it because he didn't want me to worry, either? Maybe it was because he had hurried back to Earth the moment he heard that it was being threatened. Oh, this is just so terrible. His home has been taken from him and now my home is being threatened with destruction....''

"Your mother knows I'm not a spy," he said, interrupting her thoughts. She looked up at him. "She has asked me to help defend her kingdom," he said and drew her closer to him. They just stood there, both giving and receiving each other's support. Serenity felt as thought these were going to be the last moments of her life.

Perhaps they were.

"Oh, Endymion, I cannot believe this is happening," Serenity said sadly. They had left the ballroom and were on a different balcony from the one Serenity had left.

"Queen Beryl's relentless and she'll destroy absolutely everything that's in her way to get exactly what she wants," Endymion said, taking her hand in his. "I'll fight as hard as I can, but you must know I might not come back. I just hope you know how much you mean to me."

"Of course, I do, Endymion," she said as tears began to form in her eyes.

"You're in my heart, always," he said, gazing deeply into her eyes.

"And you will always be in mine," she answered.

Slowly, tenderly, they embraced and kissed. The tears that formed in her eyes slowly began to run down her cheeks.

The darkness that had emerged from the Earth was now rapidly beginning to close in on the Moon Palace. From this darkness, Queen Beryl's warriors were charging forward, roaring savagely.

Luna and Artemis ran through the ballroom sounding the call to arms. "We're under attack! We're under attack!" Luna shouted.

"Get ready for battle!" Artemis shouted. "We need everyone we can get to fight!"

Within moments, all of the people in the ballroom had vacated, off to find whatever they could use in defense of their kingdom and their home.

A dark black cloud spread throughout the clear starlit sky, blocking the perfect view of the Earth that was once one of the most treasured sights. An ominous and foreboding shadow began to cover the face of the Moon, where no such thing had any right to be. From out of the shadow, came the hordes of Queen Beryl's army.

As the Moon Kingdom's defense force battled Beryl's forces, the Sailor Scouts engaged in a battle with an enormous shadow-like monster.

"Shabon spray!"

"Fire soul!"

"Supreme thunder!"

"Crescent beam!"

"Earth thrust!"

The five attacks merged into one gigantic attack and hit the enormous form dead center. The giant creature was unharmed by the attack. In fact, it seemed to be amused.

"PATHETIC HUMANS!" the creature laughed in a hideously demonic voice, "I WILL DESTROY YOU!"

Screams were ripped from five separate throats as the Sailor Scouts were blasted several feet from where they were standing.

From atop the rubble, Beryl laughed while her warriors stormed the palace ruins. "Very soon, both the Earth and the Moon will be under my control!" she gloated. "I'll have Queen Serenity begging for mercy!" She raised her staff above her head, causing red energy bolts to shoot out from it. "No one can defeat the power of the Dark Kingdom! No one!" A bright explosion of energy emitted from her staff, wrecking the Moon Palace further. "The universe shall soon be mine!"

Serenity stood watching in horror as the palace crumbled around her. Her home was being destroyed before her distraught eyes. She devoutly hoped that Endymion was all right.

Suddenly, Beryl appeared above her. Serenity gasped, wide-eyed in fear. "Well, if it isn't the Moon Princess," she said mockingly. "I'll tear up your pretty little face!" She lunged at Serenity, claw-like fingernails extended.

Before she could reach her, a rose flew through the air, its stem striking Beryl's outstretched hand. Angrily, she turned towards the one who threw the rose.

"Beryl, if you lay a finger on her, I'll make you pay!" Endymion shouted angrily.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

"I am Prince Endymion, sworn to defend the Moon Kingdom against evil like you!" Endymion said, moving protectively between her and Serenity.

"Prince Endymion?" Beryl said. "From Earth? I've heard of you. You have great promise. You and that other prince, Prince Ryoku I believe his name was.

"Well, I can see why she'd hang on to you, but you're wasting your time with that twit. Why not join me, Endymion, and we'll rule the Dark Kingdom together," she said enticingly.

"I refuse, Beryl." he replied, his voice dripping with scorn. "There is no way that I'll join a repulsive, evil witch like you."

Beryl was infuriated. "Silence!" she screamed furiously. "You will die as well!"

A giant green bolt of dark energy flew out from the huge dark creature looming overhead. The energy bolt covered Endymion and Serenity, pulling him away from her.

"Endymion, what is happening?" she asked, anxiously.

"Run, Serenity!" he yelled as he was being pulled away. "Just run!"

"No, Endymion," she shouted, as she ran towards him. "I want to be with you!"

"No, you can't!" he shouted, still floating away from her. "Serenity, don't!"

Taking a running leap, she jumped towards him, each reaching out for the other. Slowly, the gap between them closed and they grasped each other's hand. Another green bolt blasted the two apart, each screaming for the other with their last breath.

Running towards her daughter, Queen Serenity, along with Luna and Artemis, arrived too late to save either Serenity or Endymion.

"Serenity! No!" she cried. "She's taken them both!"

Luna bowed her head and cried. "Oh, no! Not the princess!"

Beryl laughed maliciously. "They are dead, the fools. Thus is the fate of all who opposes me."

"No!" Queen Serenity fell to her knees in anguish. "Serenity! No, it can't be!" she sobbed quietly. "Don't worry, darling, I won't let it end this way," she said determinedly, as she brought out the Silver Crystal and attached it to the Crescent Moon Wand. "I won't let them take away your future!" A red flash came from the crystal.

"Queen Serenity," Luna said worriedly, tears still in her eyes, "if you use the Silver Crystal, you'll die."

"It's the only way, Luna," Queen Serenity said calmly. "I must sacrifice my kingdom if we're to regain our peace." Slowly, she stood and raised the wand over her head. "Moon healing, escalation!"

Light pulsed out from the crystal, spreading everywhere. "What is this?" Beryl exclaimed, flinching away from the energy radiating from the crystal. Glowing spheres of light hit the massive dark creature that loomed over the palace, breaking it up. The same energy also seemed to break up any who came from the Dark Kingdom. All over the Moon, and also the Earth, the warriors of the Dark Kingdom began to vanish. "You can't do this to me!" Beryl shrieked. "You haven't seen the last of me! I will return and the universe will belong to me!" All at once, anyone belonging to the Dark Kingdom disappeared.

Luna and Artemis trudged wearily through the snow. They had been walking for a long time in the cold with the Arctic winds battering against them, and now it was beginning to take its toll on them. Artemis's legs gave out from under him momentarily, causing him to fall to the snow.

"Artemis, hang in there!" Luna encouraged him.

"I'm okay," he replied determinedly. "What about you?"

"I'm fine. I cannot die until I find the secret base!" she answered back. Artemis stood up again and the two cats continued on their way.

As they crossed over another hill of snow, they found a huge crater ahead of them. It was radiating an extremely huge amount of dark energy; so much it was plainly visible from their vantage point. They hurried over to the edge of the crater and peered down inside. There was only darkness to be seen within the crater, but there was definitely more than that underneath the surface.

"That's...," Luna murmured in astonishment.

"We've found it!" Artemis declared. "We've finally found the entrance to the Dark Kingdom's secret base!"

"We've got to tell everybody!" Luna added as they turned to leave. Just as they were starting on their way, Kunzite appeared before them, his arms outstretched as if to block their passing.

"Too late," Kunzite said with a smug grin and a cold look in his eyes that matched their frigid surroundings.

"Your Majesty, you did it!" Luna exclaimed. "They're gone!"

"You beat them!" Artemis added.

Queen Serenity was lying on a broken pillar. "The Silver Crystal will bring peace if someone with a heart of good uses it," she said exhaustedly as she removed the Silver Crystal from the wand and held it out in front of her. "However, if someone with a heart of evil were to use it, it could turn into a horrendous weapon. And now, I must send them all to a new future on Earth." She flung her head aside, crying.

Luna was puzzled by the Queen's sadness. "But, you saved them. Why are you so sad?"

Queen Serenity stared blankly ahead at the stars. "Because none of them will remember anything about this time or this place. Nothing! And I'll never see my sweet daughter again. Or, you two, either." She slowly raised the empty wand. "But this is the only way for any of you to live on.

"I have managed to seal them off with the power of the Silver Crystal, but they may return again. Only those with royal blood can use the Crescent Moon Wand. You must entrust this to Princess Serenity should that time come.

"I have enough power left to send everything you'll need in the future to Earth. Serenity and the Sailor Scouts will need your help if the Dark Kingdom ever breaks free."

"Yes," Luna and Artemis replied in unison.

"All of you will be reborn on Earth," she continued, "with no memory of the Moon Kingdom whatsoever, but if evil forces should try to repeat what happened here, you two will know what to do." She raised the crystal into the air. "Now, farewell all of you, and good luck. Goodbye, Serenity. You are in my heart, always."

The Silver Crystal rose into the air. When it stopped, high into the sky, a bright flash lit the sky. Bright spheres of light rose from the ground into the air, each containing the spirits of the Sailor Scouts, Endymion, Serenity, and the rest of the Moon Kingdom, and headed for Earth.

Queen Serenity watched as everyone headed for Earth. She knew that she wouldn't be able to go with her daughter, so she would arrange it so that Serenity's father's sister and her family would take care of Serenity in her place. She knew that the Tsukino family would be the best choice for Serenity.

"Be happy," she said sadly. "On behalf of the Moon, you will be free again. Perhaps one day, Serenity, we'll meet again." She then collapsed and breathed her last. As her grip slackened, the Crescent Moon Wand fell to the ground.

"Queen Serenity!" Luna and Artemis exclaimed. The Crescent Moon Wand stopped before hitting the ground and flashed a brilliant white light. The two cat advisors were placed in stasis chambers, to awaken on Earth in the future.

As the last of the images of the past faded, the Sailor Scouts found themselves being hurled through the Dimension of Random Time again, this time opposite of the way they came. Once again, the Crescent Moon Wand was the first to reemerge, followed by all six Sailor Scouts at once. This time, they reemerged standing and conscious. As one, everyone opened their eyes, but they were all staring sadly down toward the ground.

"We were...," Sailor Moon began softly.

"...in the past," Jupiter added just as softly.

"We saw our past lives!" Venus whispered quietly.

"I understand now," Mars stated. "Why we're Sailor Scouts."

"We have an obligation to finish what we couldn't during our past lives," Knight said somberly.

"Agreed," Mercury added as the others nodded their agreement.

Sailor Moon knelt down to the ground and picked up the Crescent Moon Wand, holding to close to her cheek as a reminder of those past memories and of the mother she never knew until now. "Mother...," she whispered faintly to herself.

"Help!" came the sudden, urgent cries of Luna and Artemis. At once, everyone turned in the direction of the screams and started running.

Luna and Artemis had managed to escape back into the caverns, but they were followed by Kunzite, who was constantly firing blasts of violet boomerang-shaped light at them. He had fired yet another blast, which hit the ground directly underneath them and sent them crashing into the ground several feet away as the Scouts arrived on the scene.

"Luna!" Sailor Moon cried out worriedly.

"Artemis!" Venus cried out just as worriedly.

Luna was already unconscious and Artemis was just barely hanging on. "Sail... or...," Artemis began, but blacked out before he could finish speaking

"I will not let you harm anyone else!" Sailor Moon declared sternly as she and the other Scouts faced the silver-haired General.

"Sailor Moon?" Kunzite exclaimed in surprise. "Impossible. I sent you to the Dimension of Random Time!"

"The world doesn't always work the way you want it to," Jupiter replied.

"Thanks to you, we now have our memories from our past lives," Venus added.

"Let us say...," Mercury began, stepping forward and standing in a defensive stance.

"...thank you," Mars finished, also stepping forward and standing in a defensive stance.

"Please, allow us to repay you," Knight added, bringing out his swords and standing in an offensive fighting stance.

"Enough!" Kunzite growled angrily. "I will not be mocked by mere children!"

"I want Tuxedo Kamen-sama... no, Endymion-sama!" Sailor Moon shouted. "Set him free!"

Kunzite prepared another attack similar to the one that sent them into the Dimension of Random Time. "If you hand over the Silver Crystal, then I might return him to you," he told her and thrust both hands forward. This time, a dark black fog shot forth from his hands, totally covering the area in blackness. He then reached out at his sides and balled his hands into fists. Small violet arcs of energy crawled along his fists and gathered until they grew into a pair of violet, boomerang-like blades. Without warning, he flung them directly at Sailor Moon. Knight tried to knock away the blades, but they flew around his swords, dodging them. The blades struck Sailor Moon repeatedly, ripping up parts of her uniform and sending her reeling back into Venus's arms.

"Sailor Moon!" Venus shouted concernedly as she caught her leader.

"You're more of a snake than I thought!" Mercury condemned harshly.

"You'll pay for that!" Mars vowed angrily.

Kunzite grinned as his blades returned to his hands. "In my dimension, your attacks will not work," he informed them.

"Like hell, they won't!" Knight cried furiously and charged at him. Kunzite responded by flinging his blades again. Knight tried to dodge them, but the blades moved along with him and struck hard. He was knocked backwards, landing at the feet of the other Sailor Scouts.

"Sailor Knight!" Mercury exclaimed as she bent down to his side.

"I'm... all right," he reassured her as he got to his knees and then to his feet with her help.

Kunzite's blades once again returned to his hands. He flung them again, this time aiming for all of the Scouts at once. The blades struck fast and hard, ripping up parts of their uniforms as well.

"Everyone, combine your powers!" Venus shouted. "Protect Sailor Moon!" She handed Sailor Moon over to Knight and brought out her transformation pen as the others did the same.

"Venus power!" Venus shouted as she and the other Scouts raised their transformation pens together over Sailor Moon, who had now regained enough strength to stand by herself. Knight quickly raised both of his Knight Swords to join with the others' transformation pens.

"Mercury power!"

"Mars power!"

"Jupiter power!"

"Knight swords power!"

A column of brilliant white light shot up from the six transformation items and flowed down around the Sailor Scouts. Kunzite flung his blades at them again, each one striking the five Scouts surrounding Sailor Moon several times, bringing them sinking weakly to their knees, but still maintaining the light barrier surrounding Sailor Moon.

"Everyone!" Sailor Moon exclaimed concernedly. She then turned toward Kunzite and glared at him. "Kunzite!" she shouted as she left the column of light the Scouts were struggling to maintain. "Even if you offer us new ones, I won't forgive you for shredding up our clothes! On behalf of the Moon, I'll punish you!"

She raised the Crescent Moon Wand overhead. "Moon healing escalation!" she shouted, rotating the wand in a large circle in front of her, ending above her head. As she held the wand above her head, a white glow emanated from the wand and spread toward Kunzite.

Kunzite quickly cloaked himself with his cape before the light could reach him. "I am Kunzite, one of the Dark Kingdom's Four Generals!" he yelled furiously. "Your healing powers have no effect over me!" He combined his blades into one large version of itself and flung open his cape to throw it at Sailor Moon. She responded to his attack by swinging her wand at the boomerang-like blade and smashing it back toward its sender.

"What?!?" he gasped in shock and cloaked himself with his cape again. The blade returned and struck him in his chest. "Im... impossible...," he breathed as his strength rapidly left him. "By my own weapon....

"Zoisite...," he called out into the darkness. "The place where your soul resides.... TAKE ME THERE!!!" He reached out toward the heavens as his body slowly began to fade into light and vanish, leaving nothing.

The light from the Silver Crystal slowly began to subside as Sailor Moon lowered the Crescent Moon Wand to her side. Behind her, the column of light vanished and the other Scouts collapsed to the ground.

"Sailor Moon...," Luna said weakly as she and Artemis watched her. "Such awesome power!"

"More than ever before," Artemis added.

Sailor Moon rushed over to Luna and Artemis and picked up Luna. "Luna, are you all right?" she asked worriedly.

"Usagi-chan... no, Sailor Moon... no, Princess...," Luna corrected herself, "The Dark Kingdom's secret base is located in the Arctic at the North Pole's D-point."

"You must hurry!" Artemis urged, getting to his feet. "The sunspot is spreading! You have to attack it now!"

"Agreed," Sailor Moon replied grimly. "Soon, we will invade the Dark Kingdom." She got to her feet and glanced over her shoulders at the others, who had also gotten to their feet. "Right, everyone?"

"Right," came the unanimous reply.

"On behalf of the Moon...," Sailor Moon began resolutely.

"...we'll punish you!" all six Sailor Scouts declared firmly. There was no turning back now. The last battle with the Dark Kingdom was nigh and there was no more time to prepare.

It was time.