I think I'm going to regret doing this.

The first chapter in a multi-chaptered fic.

Set after Stars, a old enemy has come forth with a new face. It's going to take all of the senshi, plus some old faces, to defeat it once and for all.


Sailor Moon could be forgiven for sometimes thinking that the whole world was against her. She'd died at least twice, lost everyone dear to her twice, and had fought and defeated Galaxia and Chaos. She felt that she deserved a little time to herself, to get her school and social (and love) life back on track. Was that too much to ask? Apparently, yes. Her relatively peaceful life had recently been disturbed by a bout of nightly attacks by bear-like monsters.

The one they were currently fighting was faster, larger and stronger than the others. It dodged Mars' Flame Sniper and Jupiter only just pulled Moon out of the way as it streaked over to Mercury. She managed to get an attack in, but it quickly shook it off, and raced over to Venus, who screamed and jumped into a nearby tree. The – thing – watched from below.

"Damn, that thing's fast," panted Sailor Mars as the others ran up to her. "Dumpling brains will never destroy it if it won't stay still."

"Don't call me dumpling brains!" Moon snapped.

"Not important right now," interjected Jupiter, before the two could get into an immature argument complete with sticking out tongues. "The problem is how we'll get that thing to stop."

"Love-Me Chain should work," said Mercury, her voice hesitant, "but Venus is up that tree. We need a distraction."

Almost before she was finished talking, a rose shot out from a tree next to them, and landed in the ground in front of the monster. It looked down, and quickly ripped it to shred. However, the time gained meant that Venus could make her way over to the group and begin her attack.

"Venus Love-Me Chain!"

A chain of golden energy wound its way around the body of the monster, tight and unyielding, trapping it completely. Sailor Moon grinned, and stepped forward to finish it off.

When asked later, Sailor Moon would only remember the snap of metal, the glimmer of a broken chain, and the flash of claws.

And then the pain.


Kami-sama was against him, Tuxedo Kamen was certain of it. He'd died twice, been alone for countless years, and his girlfriend was an agent of love and justice and seemed determined to get herself killed. Even now, she was being pulled out of the way of a slobbering, racing monster.

From his viewpoint in a tree, he could hear as the senshi discussed their plan. He heard his cue – a call for a distraction – and threw his rose. He didn't make a speech – he knew that there was no time, that the girls had to act quickly, or else their window of opportunity would be gone. Besides, the monster wasn't going to listen to anything he had to say.

He watched as Venus tied the monster up, and Sailor Moon stepped forward. He jumped down, confident in her ability, and sure the battle was all but over. Just as he touched the ground he heard her scream, a loud noise that echoed in the still air of the night. He stumbled forward, almost losing his balance. As he raised his head, he caught sights of Mercury's face, white and bloodless and terrified. Slowly, he turned around.

She was lying on the floor, clutching her side, legs pulled up, curled into a foetus position. The other senshi were watching her in shock. He gave a slight smile and shook his head. Honestly, he took his eyes off her for a second and she managed to hurt herself. This was what he was talking about – determined to kill herself. He started to walk forward; clearly the others weren't going to help her, and she wouldn't be able to get up by herself. He faltered slightly as he got closer. There was something staining her suit. Was that – blood?

He moved so fast that he reached her before the other girls; he fell to his knees beside her and stared in disbelief. There were three – holes – in her side, narrow and deep, around a centimetre apart from each other, the first under her ribcage, the last above her hip. It was hard to see under the blood.

Her eyes were shut and she didn't move. His heart hammered wildly in his chest. He puts his hands on her shoulders. "Sailor Moon." He said. "Sailor Moon!" When that didn't work- "Usako!"

Her eyes opened slowly, clouded with pain. "Mamo-chan?" She asked faintly. She tried to uncurl towards him, but she screamed again, and blacked out.

He looked helplessly at the girls massed around him. Out of the four, only Mercury looked as though she wasn't trying to keep her lunch down. Venus had turned away; Mars was crying silently. Mercury had her doctor face on.

He cleared his throat, but his voice still cracked when he spoke. "She needs a hospital." Mercury nodded sadly. He gestured to her outfit. "I can't take her as Eternal Sailor Moon, though."

Mars gulped back a few tears, and when she spoke her voice was thick. "Just – just take off her broach."

It was difficult to remove, but he managed it, and her clothes turned into a simple skirt and top in a flurry of feathers. Immediately the white cotton of her t-shirt began to stain crimson with blood. He de-transformed too, and took off his light jacket and pressed it against the wound in an attempt to stem the blood flow.

"We need an ambulance," he heard Mercury say behind him. It was as if she was speaking through water, muffled and quiet.

"There isn't a phone booth in this side of the park," said Jupiter, her voice desolate.

"This is why we need mobile phones." Venus gave a slightly hysterical giggle, as if all of this was too much on her.

Mamoru thought of his mobile lying on his bed at his flat and sighed. He gathered Usagi into his arms; jacket pressed between his stomach and her wound, and stood up. The senshi turned to look at him; eyes empty and yet full of emotion.

"I'll take her. We're close to the road here, and it'll be easy to get a taxi."

The girls nodded, but Jupiter asked "What will you tell them?"

He looked at the girl in his arms, at the lack of blood in her face, at the abundance of it on their bodies, and closed his eyes. "I'll say she was stabbed. It's true, in a manner of speaking." The tears were difficult to keep back, but he managed it. He opened them. "I'll ring you from the hospital. Try to act shocked. I'll need to know exactly what happened, but that can wait." The blood was beginning to show through his jacket. "I'll have to go." The girls nodded. He nodded back, feeling slightly like they were all nodding dogs, and then became sure that he may be cracking up slightly. He turned and ran towards the road.

The road was almost empty, but he knew of a taxi rank just down it. He stumbled along, going as fast as he could with Usagi in his arms and his shaking legs. There was only one taxi there. As he stumbled up the driver got out to open the door for them.

He placed Usagi down carefully on the leather back-seat, and got in next to her, pulling her back in his arms. The driver sat in his seat and peered into his rear view mirror at them. "She all right?" He asked, nodding towards the unconscious girl in his arms. He seemed more worried that she would throw up than anything else.

"She's been stabbed," gasped Mamoru, tired from the run and the fear. The driver's expression turned from disdain to shock and disbelief. "So could you step on it to the nearest hospital, please?"

The driver dutifully did so. Every red light made Mamoru's heart beat fast, every roundabout made it jump up to his throat and all the while he could feel the blood seeping out from under his jacket onto his shirt, staining it the same colour as Usagi's t-shirt. Blood had begun to drip down her legs. How much was on the outside now, rather than where it belonged? His eyes swam with tears. Her hands were like ice, lips blue, face pale. He pressed his forehead into her hair. "Please, Usako," he whispered, "please, don't leave me."

The journey took less than fifteen minutes – he checked his watch every few seconds – but that time was precious. Even paying his fare seemed to take too long. Paid, and satisfied that Mamoru seemed to know what he was doing, the taxi driver drove off. Mamoru got the feeling that he was a little freaked out by the girl in his arms. He hugged her closer and ran into the Accident and Emergency.

The room was practically empty, and the nurse on duty filing her nails. He screeched to a halt just in front of the desk. She barely even looked up. "Please," he gasped. "My girlfriend's been stabbed."

His words set off a flurry of movement. Doctors appeared from out of nowhere, took Usagi from him and wheeled her off. He followed. He watched from outside the room as they hooked her up to blood and various machines. He felt completely numb, as if this wasn't really happening to him. A doctor came up to him to ask for her name and address. They needed her parent's permission for the surgery. Mamoru gave them but didn't take his eyes of the frail girl on the bed. A nurse came up and tutted at him in a motherly fashion and led him to the waiting room. "Your girlfriend's very lucky," she said, and left him with a cup of coffee. He sat staring at it until long after it had turned cold.

She'd almost died, he thought. She still could. He'd always joked that she seemed to try to die in battles, but that was joking. He'd never believed it. It was just like that time with Fiore, but there was no way of bringing her back this time. If she died, she stayed dead, and that was that. A tear fell into his coffee.

Suddenly there was a commotion at the doors: Usagi's family came running in. Her mother and brother gave him off looks after them, wishing it was him who was going to see how she was. He was just about to get up to follow when two policemen approached him.

"Chiba Mamoru?" One asked. Mamoru nodded. "D.I Nakagawa," motioning to herself, "and D.I Takashi. We'd like you to come with us."

He looked over to where Usagi had been wheeled off. "But- but Usako-"

"Tsukino-san is safe. She is stable. We would just like to ask you a few questions."

He nodded, feeling numb and slightly less melancholy. He had expected this, the questions, but to be honest, he had thought they'd come after he'd managed to actually look up on the blonde girl himself. Still, it was nice to know she was alright – though the thought that that was a lie never left his mind.

He followed them to their car and blocked out most of the journey. He couldn't remember where they went or what was said: he just sat there, looking out the window, Usagi's bloodied body painted onto his eyelids.

The questioning room at Juban Police Station was not a particularly welcoming room – grey, with grey furniture, it's window with the peeling paint showing the black night outside. He sat on one of the black plastic chairs as D.I Nakagawa loaded in the tape.

"Interview started at 3.26am. Present are D.I Nakagawa, D.I Takashi and Chiba Mamoru." She said loudly. She raised her head to look him in the eye. "Now, Chiba-san. Why don't you tell us exactly what happened?"

Mamoru sighed and began to weave his story.