Blinded By Revenge

by darkpower

When Rubeus reappears and nearly kills Usagi's family, Usagi is given a chance to quell her mysterious boredom and depression of a "normal life". But it's more personal than she had ever hoped for. It reveals a dark and violent side of Usagi no one knew existed; one that scares both the Sailors and a foreign exchange student that claims to be Usagi's brother from the Moon.

6. Razor's Edge

BLINDED BY REVENGE
CHAPTER 6
Razor's Edge

Written by Darkpower
Rating: 14 (Dialogue, Violence, Language)

---

He tried to get some sleep. He really did try. However, he found it impossible. Kage could only stare out of the Shrine window, looking at the morning sun beginning to rise. All that he could think about was what had happened the night before. His sister, Usagi, had thrown her Moon Locket on the table and said that she could not continue under the present circumstances. He never knew his sister for being a quitter. He did know, however, that she was an emotional wreck. It was obvious who was to blame for the turmoil that had befallen her recently-Rubeus-but he knew she blamed herself for all of it, though he couldn't for the life of him understand why.

He looked to the other Sailors, the ones who had now accepted him as one of their own, as Sailor Vulture. They were asleep, or at least that was what it looked like to him. He wondered if they were only keeping their eyes closed because they knew he was still wide awake, or if they even cared. If it wasn't for that mind meld to show them the memories that were hidden within them, he would still be an unknown, newbie kid that had some weird powers of a bird which often resembled evil and death.

Kage looked over all the girls, and then his eyes shifted towards Ami. The girl who had been stuck in Rubeus' escape pod with a self-destruct mechanism in place. Ami was the girl who had gone off on Usagi, and could have consequently made Usagi's decision to take a break that much easier. He didn't know what was said in her room last night, but he did know that it had to have been devastating for his sister to hear.

Ami was also the girl who opened her eyes shortly after Kage looked at her. "W-Who's there?"

"Hmm?" Kage asked.

"K-Kage," she answered groggily.

"Can't get to sleep, either?" Kage crawled closer to Ami and sat beside her, his back onto the wall and his knees raised.

"Been in and out of sleep."

Kage sighed. He didn't know if he should ask her anything right now. She had it rough yesterday, and she seemed as though she was coming out of sleep right now. She was probably in no position to answer any questions.

"Did you get any sleep, Kage?"

"No...been trying everything, but it's not helping. Been so worried about her."

Ami sat up from the floor where all the Sailors had made their beds for the night. "She surprised me. I didn't think she would do something like that, though I can understand why."

"I can't. She was never known as someone who would give up like that. She was so brave during all those fights with Rubeus, and I know she wants his head and all. Why just throw it all away now at the worst possible time?"

Ami was now the one who was sighing, heavily. She sat up with her back against the same wall Kage was leaning on. "It's probably my fault she's gone."

"What did you say to her?" The opportunity to ask presented itself. Lucky break for him.

"Say? More like yell without me thinking! I heard all of you guys talking, trying to contact me while I was in the pod, but when I spoke, no one was listening or able to hear me. It was like everyone was ignoring me. I hated that feeling, and I thought it was Usagi's fault because she asked me to investigate."

"I see. You could hear us but we couldn't hear you. There was so much static on our communicators that we couldn't see or hear anything at all."

"I even called Mamoru, but I got no answer. I was living a nightmare, Kage. I never want to go through that again."

"Danger comes with the game, though, Ami. None of us can expect to be Sailors and not run into any bumps along the road, but I get your point. I didn't know you could hear us, either. I wish we had investigated further when we found nothing but static the first time."

"I know that now. I didn't know that she was having panic attacks, though. I actually had the nerve to say in the pod that she deserved what Rubeus did to her family. I had to bite my tongue before it came out. I didn't think."

"Yeah, that isn't like you. It was because you were in the confines of the pod, and you felt helpless so you thought of any release you could to combat or find a reason for the helplessness. You know you're in danger, but you can't do anything about it."

"Y—you're not angry that I would say those things, though? You're not blaming me for Usagi walking out on us?"

"No, I'm not. From what I've seen from you, Ami, you're a kind person who cares so much for people. The fact that you feel so bad about something that no one else could hear besides you shows how gentle you are and how much you pride yourself on not making mistakes. Hell, I haven't even heard you swear yet."

Ami giggled slightly. "Why is that so surprising to you?"

"It's not, really. It's just something I'm not used to. Everyone I've been around seems to cuss like..." he paused, then said, "well, sailors." They both laughed at the obvious pun.

"Got a way with words, don't you?"

"Yeah. You'd be surprised at some of the things that have come out of my mouth, believe me."

She smiled and sighed, "Thanks, Kage. I needed that."

"No problem." He sighed, looking out at the window again.

"The hell's all that racket?" they suddenly heard Rei say. Kage and Ami both looked over to see Rei waking up, more than likely due to the conversation being held.

"Rei." Ami smiled. "I didn't know we were that loud."

"No, you weren't. I was just trying to get back to sleep when I heard you two talking about Usagi and cursing."

"Yeah," Kage answered. "Ami was scared that she made Usagi quit."

Rei's eyes widened. "No, you didn't, Ami. She isn't quitting, either. She wants to regain her sense of judgment and character, and the only way she believes she can do that is to take away the temptation to use that power until she's ready to face him again."

Kage nodded and sighed. "I wish there was something I could say to her to help her out."

"I don't think Ami's words, whatever they might've been, made Usagi decide on it. It was everything else that she has gone through."

Kage stood up and walked into the hallway.

"Where are you going?" Ami asked.

"To get dressed. I don't think the school will be closed for any more than a few days."

"My god," Rei gasped softly, "and I don't know where Usagi went to. We won't know if she is actually going to go or not. I tried to stop her from going the day after her family was attacked. She said she had the feeling that she would miss something very important if she didn't go that day. In fact," Rei added, "I think that was the day she met you, Kage."

Kage stopped in his tracks, recalling the entire situation with him slipping that note in class, Usagi nearly choking him to death, and not believing a word about him being her brother. That was in the past, of course, but he couldn't help but believe that there was some other force at work. Maybe she was lying about not having any memory of him before the mind meld.

"She'll probably go, actually," Kage answered. "The way you've described her fascination with letting school be an escape from her problems could hold true now. Hopefully I can talk to her then, where she has no choice but to speak to me." He then made his way towards the bathroom for a shower.

"Ami," Rei said once Kage was out of the room, "the past is the past. You can't let what you've said bring you down. As I've tried to tell Usagi, it's important to learn from the mistakes you made, and to never make them again."

"Rei, I'm sorry, but it's something that I would have to talk to Usagi about before I could forgive myself for what I said."

"Do you forgive her?"

"Of course. She never did anything wrong."

'If only you saw her in the pyramid,' Rei thought, 'you wouldn't think that.'

-xXXXx-

Rubeus was throwing anything that he could find that wasn't nailed down into the walls, doors, and windows, not caring if they broke. He was angry and then some. Through his entire tantrum, he also felt a sharp pain on his face. That scar that Sailor Moon made indeed hadn't gone away. He was a magical being, but that didn't necessarily mean he healed any better than a normal human. The cut had stopped bleeding, thought, and that was one of the few good points he could think of when it came to the scar.

A few minutes after throwing anything he could find at everything he could reach. Rubeus had vented long enough. Well, not quite, as he then punched a nearby wooden wall several times inside the small, one room cabin.

"Damn it!" Rubeus yelled. "Every single time, she's able to one up me! It can't be possible! My face is ruined! Completely ruined because of that meatball headed blond bitch! I'll get you yet, Sailor Moon!" He stopped punching the wall, breathing heavily. "No matter, though. You had no idea I was still there when your brother said that the Hizrounswa wasn't there anymore!"

His anger turned quickly to wonder. "But if the crystal wasn't there, who has it now?"

He walked downstairs into the basement of the cabin, where Ikuko was still tied to the pipe. She had heeded the warning well and hardly moved. In fact, as Rubeus looked towards her, she had fallen asleep.

"Hey, sleepy eyes, wake up!" he yelled in Ikuko's ear. It startled her, making her wake up easily and immediately.

"What now?" Ikuko weakly said.

Rubeus chuckled as he skipped and jumped around the bound Ikuko. "What now? What now? Oh, you are a trip to talk to, aren't you?" He stopped hopping around her and got right into her face, pointing to the scar. "See this face? See it? That, is what's now! Your daughter caused this! She took her tiara, and aimed right for me. Not only is this face forever ruined now, but I also lost quite a few pints in the process! But, I suppose being the Mother of the Damn Year that you are, you would condone it, correct?"

Ikuko smiled at his misfortune. "You know she isn't one to take things lightly!"

"I know she isn't, miss! Where the hell have you been? Oh, wait, I know where you've been! You've been blind! Not being able to see the truth about her! She was about to kill me with that tiara, dear mother! How does that make you feel to know that you mothered a damn cold-blooded murderer?"

"You should be grateful that I'm tied to this thing, or else I would've helped her, Rubeus!"

"Yeah," Rubeus said, turning his back to her and walking to the table in the center of the basement, "I guess you're right. You would be so vicious. I mean, look what you've raised. She had to have learned her violent tendencies from somewhere, right?"

"I didn't teach her to be violent, mind you? But if that's how she feels about you, then I can't help that."

Rubeus ignored her words, looking at the pages of the book that told of the Hizrounswa. "You're somewhere in this world, you stupid crystal!"

"How do you even know it exists?"

"The gods hid it there. I know it. It's not even there anymore. Someone was able to circumvent all of the gods' defenses to get to the crystal. Whoever did that must've been a stinkin' genius."

"You don't think it's her brother that has it anymore?"

"No, he insists he doesn't-" Rubeus paused. "Wait a minute, why do you even care? Why am I even talking to you at all? You're my toy, and that's all that there is to it!"

"I might as well make the most of it, right, Rubeus? My daughter completely has your number!"

"Right, right, and you know what happens if something were to happen to you, right?"

Ikuko rolled her eyes. "My son dies, I know, you don't have to tell me. Not like he's exactly a cakewalk to deal with, anyway."

"Like your daughter's any better, miss! How many tests has she probably flunked because of her being Sailor Moon, huh?"

"What business is that to you?"

"It's Usagi, the Queen of Boneheads! You don't think she'd pick her other life over her family life?"

"If she really was a bonehead, she would have never given you that pretty scar on your face! Looks nice on you, actually!"

Rubeus had enough after that remark. He ran over to Ikuko and slapped her across the face once more. However, this time, Ikuko braced herself. She knew what she was getting herself into, and she halfway smiled as she was being hit.

"Now, shut up! The crystal is on this Earth somewhere, and if Kage doesn't have it, nor do the gods, it had to have been someone else! Something like that doesn't just vanish!"

Ikuko, however, looked right in his eyes and smiled. "If that's the hardest you can hit me, then you have no chance against my daughter. I'd hate to see how you can find your own sanity at that rate, let alone the crystal!"

Rubeus was about to really let her have it. He didn't even know where this new attitude in Ikuko was coming from. Wasn't it just yesterday that she was scared out of her wits? Now she was back talking him and enjoying the fact that she could get under his skin.

"What's with you?" Rubeus screamed. "Why aren't you scared anymore?"

"Because I've figured you out, Rubeus. Normally someone who's captured would have their mouth taped shut. You didn't do that to me, so you obviously wanted me to keep you company. And you want me as your little ace in the hole, so as long as you have to find the crystal and as long as you want to make the Sailors look for whatever this thing is, you need me alive. If I die, then yeah, my son would die, not that Usagi would just let you commit to that without a fight anyway. But you wouldn't have any way to make the Sailors get it for you. Which means, no Ikuko, no Hizrounswa! With that scar on your face, I can see that my daughter can take you on, and that must mean that if you tried to kill my son, she would take you out first. Which means, all I would have to do is to let you kill me, or kill myself, and you would be out of options."

Rubeus couldn't believe this. Ikuko was getting on his last nerve, but she did have a point. Usagi had become a basket case as of late, and he would also be outnumbered, as well. Being able to kill her son wasn't guaranteed, and her death would mean there was no reason for the Sailors to find the Hizrounswa.

Ikuko smiled as Rubeus became flustered with the sudden realization. "I know you want to, Rubeus! Look at you, all flustered and hot headed! Go ahead, big man! You think you're so tough! Go ahead and kill me! Get it over with! You know I'm right! You're having a hell of a time with her! How can you expect her to let you kill my son if you tried, and how can you expect to win over her?"

"You shut the hell up!"

"No, Rubeus, you can't shut me up because you need me! C'mon, Rubeus, I'm begging you! Shoot me, damn it!" Rubeus responded by putting both of his hands onto her throat. "Oh, so you're going to choke me, is that it? Is that all you got? How about that shot to the heart you said you would give me if any of her friends moved in the hospital! You really think a macho man like you is going to be all big and tough with just choking me to death? Ha, you haven't even tightened your grip enough to even start cutting off the air from my lungs!"

'What is this? What is she trying to do? Could it be my scar that's making her see weakness in me?'

"I'm going to ask you one more time and then I'm really gonna be pissed! Kill me, Rubeus! Do your worst! Shoot me, strangle me, dismember me, do something! Goddamn it, do anything you want to do to me, you sick, sorry, disgusting, ugly little piece of shit!"

She fired a huge wad of spit right into Rubeus' face. Rubeus relinquished the hold in order to wipe the saliva from his eyes and cheek. His anger was building rapidly, but he knew that was exactly what she was trying to get him to do. He was at a loss to know what the point of all of this was. This sweet, innocent mother was firing off threat after idle threat, and trying to insult him to the point of no return. His fist balled up tightly, and he had every intention on punching this woman in the mouth, several times. However, something was stopping him. Maybe Rubeus actually did have a conscious, or maybe he knew that Ikuko was right and that she was sacrificing herself in order to keep him from getting the crystal. Whatever the reason, he wrestled with the decision several times over in a matter of seconds.

"And you know what will happen if you tape my mouth shut! I'll just try to kill myself, and that also means no crystal! What are you gonna do, Rubeus? You didn't think I was that willing to make you suffer, now did you?"

Rubeus hissed, trying to think of something to say to this woman. Finally, he just growled loudly and disappeared. Ikuko was laughing up a storm, but at the same time, she was somewhat confused. She didn't know where she was getting this newfound bravery, either. But one thing was for sure: she liked it!

-xXXXx-

Rubeus reappeared in Juuban Park, where he immediately punched the bark of a tree.

"Damn it! Why was she doing that? She has no idea what I'm capable of! She doesn't know what she's getting her family into! That bitch suddenly became so brave and feisty!"

After another punch to the bark, however, Rubeus suddenly had a thought race through his mind that made him stop stiff. "She's right, though. If she dies, then I have no other way to force the Sailors to find the Hizrounswa for me. I can't kill her, or at least not until I get the crystal. She had to have seen the scar and thought that she could've had a chance to get to me. Maybe I can use that."

He smiled evilly as he disappeared once more.

-xXXXx-

"So you're Usagi's brother? Wow, I couldn't have guessed it in a million years." Miss Haruna was shocked by what Kage told her right before class started.

"Yeah," Kage answered, "it caught Usagi off guard, too. She didn't know she had one herself."

"But how are you American while she's Japanese?"

Kage wasn't expecting that question. He had to think of some story rather quickly, and he knew it would be a rather ridiculous story no matter what he chose to say to her. He would have to let Usagi know what he was about to tell his teacher as soon as he could to not get any inconsistencies.

"My mother was in a long distance relationship with an American army lieutenant," he said, hoping she would buy it, "and when she gave birth to me, sadly, she didn't have enough money at the time to take care of me, so she let my father have sole custody of me until she could get back onto her feet. Apparently she did that, but I came here with that knowledge in the hopes that I could find out why she didn't even contact me or tell me she was still alive."

"I see. But would that make you a half-brother?"

"She's a full sister to me, Miss Haruna. Really all that matters. I would like to be known as such, if you don't mind."

"Of course I don't mind, Kage Tsukino. I do feel for you, though! Having your mother need to give you up and then just forget you existed? Wow, I can't imagine how that must've been for you to handle."

"Well, it was the story I was told by my father, at least. I was still a baby when she made that decision."

"Hopefully, you'll be able to find out what happened and get some answers."

"Thanks, Miss Haruna." He then took his seat as class began, proud of his quick thinking. However, he looked to his left to find something missing: his sister.

Haruna saw the same thing five minutes later. Though she knew that Usagi was often late, she was never this late. "Kage?"

"Yes, Miss Haruna?"

"Speaking of your sister, where is she?"

"I wish I knew. She's been a wreck ever since the attack on her family. I think she's just taking that grievance day I was telling her she should take." Hopefully she would buy that lie, too. She sounded gullible enough, at least to him.

"I'll wait a few moments before I mark her as absent for the day. She's always had a knack for being late."

'I don't think she'll get her detention slip this time, though.' Kage thought.

-xXXXx-

Usagi was actually in the most interesting of places: still on the roof of the apartment building that she was on last night to get some peace and quiet. She had stayed on the rooftop all night, falling asleep on the cold concrete. The morning sun didn't even wake her up until a few minutes after nine, when she finally opened her eyes to see a glaring yellow dot aiming right for her. She went from sleepy to squinting in less than a second, holding her hand to her eyes to block out the sun.

She raised her head to see the sky as blue as could be. She knew it was school day, but she could've cared less about that right now. She had a lot that she knew she had to do. The first thing she wanted to do was to see Shingo once more. According to Doctor Mesta, he was supposed to be released from the intensive care unit last night, but her emotions and her activities had kept her from seeing him when he was first released. Hopefully nothing had happened to him between when she had learned about the good fortune and now.

Usagi rose to her feet, using her hand to massage the kinks in the back of her neck. It was one of the few times that she didn't have a pillow under her, and it was the only time that she slept on her back.

"Wh-What time is it?" Usagi asked herself. "Did I really-?" She looked over the railing to see the world below. Cars were speeding along the roads, people in three piece suits, dresses, and with briefcases in their hands were walking along the sidewalks. The sound of drills being used for construction were heard along with the honking of car horns and birds chirping, and the wind was blowing her pigtails far into the distance. She closed her eyes to absorb the sights and sounds. She knew she couldn't stay on the roof forever if she wanted to resolve anything, but for the moment, she was trying to enjoy this peace.

'Don't worry, mother,' she thought, 'I'm not going to rest until you're home.'

-xXXXx-

"She wasn't at school at all," Kage told the Sailors outside the Shrine, sitting on the porch.

"Yeah, now she takes the grievance day," Rei snarled. "Though I can understand it. She doesn't want to be bothered right now, and I guess school's one of the bothers."

"Hey Mina," Makoto asked, "wasn't it you who once said that Usagi wasn't one of the people who wanted to be alone when they're upset?"

"Yeah, I remember saying that when Tuxedo Mask was taken by the Dark Kingdom. She was so distraught then."

"Then why the sudden change of attitude? Why is it that she's now wanting to be alone? She didn't even want Mamoru to be there."

"It's was because I said a lot of things that I shouldn't have," Ami answered. "I told her that I hated her because of what happened to me in the escape pod."

"Do you?" Rei asked.

"No, I don't. It was the craziness of being in that place that was talking. Of course I forgive her, and I would do anything for her."

"Mamoru only disappeared on us and then was brainwashed," Artemis added. "This time, she actually saw Rubeus try to torture her psyche."

"What she did back in the pyramid scared me." Minako sighed. "I think that is the reason why she needed this time. To calm herself."

"That's bothering me, but for a different reason," Kage said. "Even if she did go through with it, even if we did let her, isn't Rubeus more resistant to stuff like that? Wouldn't a stab in his throat not kill him?"

"He's got magical powers, yes," Luna answered, "as well as an extended lifespan. But from what I've seen, if anyone would want to kill him like that, he would be like a normal human. If you got him in the right place, he could still die in a matter of seconds."

"I wouldn't want to find out either way," Makoto added. "That was..."

Kage suddenly heard a loud beeping sound on his Vulture communicator. When he picked it up, he saw Mamoru on the other end. "Hey, Mamoru! What's up, man?"

"Have you seen Usagi anywhere?" Mamoru asked.

"No," Rei answered. "She wasn't at school, and she hasn't been here today."

"I wanted to let her know that they did take Shingo out of the ICU. He's still hooked to machines, but it's only for monitoring things, not to keep him alive anymore. He sounds like he'll do fine, actually."

"That's a relief," Minako sighed heavily.

"Mamoru," Rei continued, "Usagi wanted to be alone. She's been temperamental lately, and she wanted to have time to regain her composure before she resumed her Sailor duties. We have her Moon Locket right now, so it's safe."

Mamoru's eyes widened. "My god! And Rubeus is still looking for the Hizrounswa!"

Kage's hand came up to his head, gasping loudly. "Ah, shit! All this stuff with Usagi needing a hiatus and I completely forgot about that half of it."

"Why? Something new happen?"

"I think we can-," Rei began to say.

She was stopped by Kage, however. "No, I think he should know. Mamoru, we found where the Hizrounswa was kept in the pyramid, but it was a weird sight. There was no crystal."

"My god!" Mamoru gasped. "Does Rubeus have it, then?"

"No! I know he doesn't. He's been flaunting all his so-called accomplishments. We would've never heard the end of it if he had it. We think someone managed to sneak in past the gods somehow and snatch it away without alerting them."

"Didn't make any sense to me," Rei added. "That place was guarded by the gods like no one's business. How anyone could not even get a peep out of them and nab that crystal is beyond me."

"Have to keep looking," Mamoru answered. "Rubeus is going to keep trying to find it."

"So will we!" Kage exclaimed.

"I'm worried, though," Luna chimed in. "If it wasn't in the pyramid that we all thought it would be in, and Rubeus doesn't have it, and if we don't have it, then who does?"

"Yeah," Makoto agreed. "Who else would've wanted it?"

"The Dark Kingdom, I remember, wanted me to keep an eye out for it," Mamoru answered. "But that was some time ago and, thankfully, they never got their hands on it."

However, while the rest of the Sailors were talking, Kage suddenly remembered the hieroglyphic that he had seen right below the hole that the Hizrounswa should've been in: the vulture. The very sight of it on the wall gave him chills when he first laid his eyes on it. He was looking all around at the Sailors, breathing a bit heavier, and then blurted out, "Uh, Mamoru. I'm sorry, can we call you back? I don't feel so good."

Mamoru was a bit puzzled. "Something wrong?"

"Yeah, something I thought about just scared me. To death."

"You can tell us, Kage."

"Yeah, you can," Rei agreed. "We're your friends now, remember?"

Makoto nodded and smiled. "I'm not wanting to kick down your teeth anymore, if that was what you were worried about."

"No! That's not it!" Kage tried to control his breathing. "It's just that I saw a hieroglyphic of a vulture right above that hole. It can't be just a coincidence that it was there."

"That must be why Rubeus thinks you have it," Mamoru answered. "Vultures were protectors to the gods. That and the book did say something about the gods needing to protect the nest like a vulture. Would make sense." He paused, then said, "Kage, you have no relation to the crystal, trust me."

Kage showed signs of an extremely small smile. "It's just that I had this freaky thought of if I actually did have the Hizrounswa's powers. I even had the weirdest thought that I might have been the Hizrounswa. Maybe I really died when I crashed and only have a memory when I'm really a crystal disguised as a human."

"Wow, Kage," Artemis laughed, "you don't fool around with your wild thoughts, do you?"

"You being a crystal?" Rei asked. "I would hope not. Forgive me, but that is really ridiculous to think."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Kage sighed in relief. "I guess my sister's absence is making me think all sorts of weird things."

Rei walked over to Kage and put an arm around him. "Don't worry, bud. We know you miss her. We all do."

"I miss her, too," Mamoru admitted. "I wish she was here right now. I need to hear her voice again."

"Mamoru, I'm serious this time: I'm going to call you back later on, alright?"

"Now what?"

"I'm worried about her. Really worried. I'm going to look for her." Before any of the other Sailors could react, he closed his communicator and walked down to the steps. Within seconds, he was gone.

"Oh no," Rei gasped. "He's making a terrible mistake." She began to race after him, hoping to catch him in time. However, before she ran down the stairs, she turned around to face the others. "Well, are you guys coming or not?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Rei heard the others shout in unison as they followed Rei down the steps.

However, before doing so, Ami went back into the Shrine and grabbed the Moon Locket. She didn't want to forget to guard it in case Rubeus knew they had left.

-xXXXx-

The sun was beginning to set. Usagi had been walking all over the place all day long. To the Crown Arcade, to which she only looked inside to see Andrew doing his daily work. She was half tempted to go inside, but decided against it. She then walked to Downtown Tokyo, staring up at the Tokyo Tower. The huge communication tower always fascinated her with how tall it was and how important its function was. She had always wanted to go into it and look at the city from up at the higher deck of the tower. Today was not the day, though. She even went to her school. It was closed by now, and all that was left were the workers that were trying their hardest to finish up the wiring for the future computer lab. She wondered if they would have to close the school a few other days because of the project, but then again, why did she care at this point?

Finally, she passed by a small set of apartments. The two story building had white paneling and doors, and stretched half a block long. She remembered who lived in one of the apartments: Miss Haruna. She would've been scolded to hell and back by her for skipping school if she knocked on the door for her company. She thought about doing just that, however, and a few moments more was all she needed to decide to walk to the front door of apartment 4B and knock. She recognized Miss Haruna's car sitting in the street, so she knew she was home. Would she catch her at a bad time, though? Would she get detention the next day for whatever the reason would be?

"Just a moment," Usagi heard a familiar voice ring out. She had some time to run. This was time that she really couldn't afford to waste, although she didn't see this as time wasted. She was always offered Haruna's ear if she needed it, and this was one of those times. Haruna was the only person who didn't know what had gone on with Usagi the past week.

Suddenly, the door opened, and Miss Haruna was staring right into the eyes of a very distraught young girl. "Usagi? Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah, I think so," Usagi answered, nervously looking around. "Can I...umm...come in for a moment?"

Haruna smiled, "Sure, of course. Come in." She moved out of the way.

As she walked in, Usagi couldn't help but be amazed at how spacious this apartment was. It felt more like a town house than an apartment. There was a staircase that led upstairs to her right as she came in the door, which was carpeted with a soft blue fabric like the rest of her living room. A leather couch and loveseat were on the nearest white wall of the living room, and a small television in an oak entertainment stand sat on the opposite wall. Across the room was a sliding door that led to a patio, and a kitchen to the right of the sliding door. A table sat in between the kitchen counter and the opposite wall, just a few feet shy of the sliding door.

Usagi replaced her street shoes with the blue slippers that Haruna had at the front door as her teacher closed the door behind them. "Have a seat and let me know what's on your mind."

Usagi sat on the leather couch and put her hands on her knees as she looked into Haruna's eyes. Those eyes were warm and inviting, one of the few times Usagi had seen her like that. It was also one of the few times she had seen Haruna in an outfit other than what she wore to school. She was in a pink t-shirt with blue slacks, and Usagi really wanted to know where she had bought the outfit, though that could wait.

As Haruna sat down beside Usagi and folded her black-socked feet under her knees on the couch, she studied Usagi's posture, telling that she was nervous and confused at the same time. "Usagi, you can tell me."

"I don't know, Miss Haruna."

"Is this why you weren't at school today?"

Usagi nodded. "Yeah. I...well.." She tried to find the words to describe what she was feeling in a way that wouldn't reveal her Sailor business to her teacher. "Have you ever been in a moment in your life where you find out that you're capable of doing things to people you've never thought you could do?"

"You mean like screaming at someone when you never screamed at anyone in your life?"

"Yeah! Exactly! I know who tried to kill my family, and I have the resources and the power to make sure he knows how I feel about what he did. It's just the length I wanted to go...Haruna, I wanted to kill him. I almost killed the man that nearly killed my little brother."

Haruna widened her eyes. 'Oh, my god!' She bit her tongue, however, to vocalize anything as she let her pupil continue.

"My friends had to stop me. Thing is, I'm so scared about what I could do to someone. I never knew I was able to even think of killing anyone, much less capable of...oh God, Miss Haruna." Usagi's eyes began to water. She tried to fight them from flowing, but Haruna saw her try.

"Usagi, don't fight it. You don't have to here."

Usagi wiped away a single tear from her cheek. "I didn't even know I was capable of this kind of anger. I don't know what to do."

"Everyone is capable of it, and everyone has a breaking point. The difference is where the line is. Some people can take a lot before they get to this point. I've had students that always resorted to violence to solve their problems. You've always kept your anger at a minimum. You've been angry, but you've always had a way to cope with it so you use it as a positive. That has always been one of the things I've been so proud of you for, Usagi. Even with how often you've been late and how often I got you for it, you were never angry for very long, and you've always forgave me and always cared about me. In a way, I don't want to see you go after this year. I already miss you."

"I don't want to disappoint you now, Miss Haruna. I need the ability to control it."

Haruna nodded. "You want to know something I don't think anyone else has ever known about me?"

"Sure!"

Haruna blushed. "Well, I have this guilty pleasure of reading comic books."

"No way! Rei has the same hobby."

"Probably not as obsessive as I've been. I collect books from all over the world. No one has ever seen them, and I don't think I'll ever show anyone. Anyway, there was one American comic book I remember reading that had a very good quote that I think applies to you, since you told me you have some power to do something about the shooter. I think...yeah, the quote was 'With great power, comes great responsibility.' You have power right now, but at the same time, you have to know where and when to use it, and how you use it. The decisions you make with that power will greatly affect not only your life, but the lives of so many others that you might not even realize you touch."

"Sounds like my problem. I have this power, but I've lost control of it. He's kidnapped my mother now."

"What the...?"

"He's been taunting me, too. He knows a lot about me, and he's trying to get me to snap. He put his hands on her, tried to kill her, hurt her, and all with me staring right at him."

Haruna had to fight to stop from vomiting. "This guy really needs to go to jail."

"Good news is that Shingo was going to be taken out of the ICU, but I haven't been able to visit there yet. I went to sleep on a rooftop of an apartment building. I had to get away from it all for a moment."

"Usagi," Miss Haruna said, "if you need my help, you know where to find me. You can trust me." Usagi nodded. "Remember, he's only trying to get at you. Don't let him win."

Miss Haruna followed by wrapping her arms around Usagi, who returned the favor with a bit of sniffling to hold back the tears.

"Thanks, Miss Haruna."

Haruna looked into Usagi's eyes, which were now a bit brighter. "Please, if you come to visit me again, call me Sakurada."

Usagi nodded with a smile. "Thanks, Saku!"

"I think your brother needs to see that smiling face of yours. We all miss that side of you, and I think you need some good news right now."

Usagi sat up and opened the door, putting her street shoes back on.

Haruna rose to her feet soon after to see her out. "Remember, Usagi. With great power, comes great responsibility."

"What comic is that from, anyway?"

"Can't remember. I know it was about this superhero that had the powers of a spider or something like that. I'd have to read them again. I have too many to remember everything about every one of them."

Usagi smiled. "Your secret's safe with me, Saku!" She headed out the door and closed it behind her, Haruna sighing as her pupil left.

"I'll pray for you, Usagi. I don't think I would be able to follow that advice if I were you. I don't know how you do it."

Outside, however, Usagi's hands were tightly balled up. "Great power. Great responsibility. I should tell Rubeus that. Maybe that's what I'm doing. Depending too much on Sailor Moon to fight Usagi's problems. I think I know what I have to do now."

-xXXXx-

The sun was barely peeking out of the hills, the mixture of day and night creating an awesome reddish-orange sky across Tokyo. It was a sky that meant calm seas the next day, and Usagi hoped things would be calm from here on.

She had every intention to go to the hospital to see Shingo and Mamoru. However, before she did, she wanted to look at the house one last time. It was the scene of the crime, and she thought that in order to calm her mind, she would have to remind herself of what had happened. She would also have to do the one thing she was able to do for anyone else who crossed her: forgive them. She was even able to do so for Queen Beryl, even though Beryl never had a chance to be told that or to realize it. She had yet to forgive Rubeus, and though she knew it would be so hard to do because of how personal the war between the two had gotten, there had to be some way to be able to forgive him. It would've given her an edge to go into a fight against him with a clear mind. She had never held a grudge in her life before now, and to her, it was time to let go of this one.

As she was walking to the house, Rubeus saw her, but he didn't confront her yet. He was in the air in between two buildings on the opposite side of the street, watching her every move. "So, you're returning to where I laid waste to your life, are you, Sailor Moon?"

He was studying her as she was walking, when he noticed something different about her: the Moon Locket. It was gone.

"Did she lose it? Did they demote her? My god, it finally happened. I knew Rei would sooner or later come through for me. The leader has been voted out of office. Ha, ha! Now, Usagi, let's see how good you are without Sailor Moon." He disappeared into thin air.

Usagi shortly thereafter got to the archway that led into the yard. The house, still with no signs that anything was done to secure the inside, was still sporting the cracked windows and broken door. At least now Usagi didn't have to hear the glass that she did the last few times she entered this house she now walked into. The blood that was on the walls was beginning to wear, a few plates had fallen and broke on the floor since the last time she was in here, and a few doors upstairs were still broken, as well. Without question, it was as horrific as it was when she had first found her house in this condition.

She walked upstairs and looked throughout the bedrooms. She noticed Shingo's room still opened, and the picture she was looking at before was now gone. 'Kage must've took it with him.'

She also looked in her own room. Surprisingly, it was spared. The alarm clock that she had bought was still working, and it was playing. She would never know how she hadn't heard it before when she was in here to look through the house the first time. The American music station was playing a rock song, though now the song she was hearing fit: Collective Soul's "The World I Know". Yes, the more she looked through this house and thought of her life recently, she knew for a fact that this was indeed the world she knew, or at least what she knew now. She looked at herself in the mirror and studied her eyes. They were eyes that were scarred, and told the story of an emotionally decimated young girl.

As she turned off the radio and unset the alarm (not until the song was over, though), Usagi exited her room and walked right into her parents' bedroom. Blood was on the walls of this bedroom, too. She didn't know how she had missed it. The mirror to her left was broken, though she could still see herself in it, despite the cracks. Once more, she looked at herself, and then to the place on the floor where she had found her mother tending to her father. She could only remember the horror and panic she had felt that night. The huge red splotch on the floor (how had she not seen that, either?) only angered her more. She turned around to look at herself in the mirror. She could feel it again. She knew she had come here to try to get over it. She thought that maybe being exposed to the scene would force her anger, and she could find a way to control it long enough to be able to forgive. It was a technique she had learned back in elementary school's health class: exposure to what made you angry will force you to accept the reality of the situation and help the anger subside to a more bearable level. That was how she was able to forgive so many people in the past. However, it wasn't working this time. Her quivering lips that she saw in the mirror only proved that more.

She responded by taking the small dresser and throwing it onto the ground with a roar, the dresser banging loudly on the floor. She barely got out of its way, but she only collapsed to her knees and cried.

"I'm sorry, Saku!" Usagi cried. "I can't! I can't do it! I can't forgive him! Not now! He's gone too far now!" She then grabbed one of her father's two aluminum baseball bats from the corner of the room and began to swing at anything she saw. The wall, the bedposts, the bed itself, the tipped-over dresser, even the stand-alone mirror. She was shedding tears uncontrollably, and she couldn't care less about how enraged she became at this point. The dresser became damaged to the point that a small hole was made on the back of it.

She would have continued had it not been for what that hole exposed. Inside one of the drawers was something she had never used before, though she knew how to use it: a nine-millimeter, black Baby Eagle semi-automatic pistol, complete with two magazines. She didn't know that they had this gun in the house. Maybe her mother never had a chance to get to it, much like she suspected her father never having the chance to get to the baseball bats before Rubeus struck him. She dropped the bat and reached into the hole to pull out the pistol plus the two magazines. She could tell from the weight of the magazines that they had yet to be used. Now if she could only remember how to fit the magazine into the pistol. She slid it into the base of the gun slowly, making sure it didn't go off while she was loading as she didn't know if the safety was on or off yet. She heard a loud click telling her that the Eagle was loaded, and she pulled down on the back latch. Safety was on, now off, and she pointed it at the bare wall.

Something happened in her mind as she put her finger to the trigger. The pistol was a perfect fit in her hands. She knew how to handle it, she knew what to do with it, and she knew how to use it. Did she have to use something like this on the Moon, perhaps? Did Kage once show her how to use a gun before he left her? Whatever the reason, it just came to her like second nature. Her other hand steadied the trigger hand, and she pulled back. A loud gunshot filled the room, and a bullet hole was now in the wall. If anyone heard the gunshot outside, they didn't react to it (maybe her parents were right: sound didn't travel well in the house, and were nearly, if not completely, muted from the outside). Nonetheless, she knew she could work a gun, and realizing that, she grinned evilly. Could something so simple kill a man that used magic and showed a ton of resistance to her Sailor Moon magic? It was a question she was more than willing to answer.

She quickly put the safety back on, concealed the gun and the spare magazine into her blouse and headed outside, where the night sky was taking over Juuban. She hadn't but taken a few steps when she saw Rubeus appear right in front of her.

"So, Usagi, you came back!" Rubeus smirked. "I didn't think you had the nerve!"

"I thought I could forgive you for what you did to me! I know I can't now! You're the biggest coward I've ever met!'

"Oh really? On the contrary, it's me who's been trying to find you, but you are one tough girl to track!"

Usagi's eyes narrowed. "You know where to find me! Don't try to say that I've run away from you for a second!"

"But you have! Or at least it looks that way from what's missing!"

Usagi didn't finch to him mentioning the absence of her Moon Locket, which surprised Rubeus.

"What, you're not mad that Rei took your spot?"

"She never did, you bastard!"

"Well then, let's prove it! I want you to come to the hills at midnight! No later! Bring your friends with you! Your brother, your boyfriend, whoever you want! We'll see what happened to your friends!"

Usagi smirked. This was her chance. 'With great power, comes great responsibility!'

"I'll do you one better, Rubeus! I'll come alone! But let's make a deal on this! We don't use any powers! You don't use your magic or your powers, and I won't use the Silver Crystal! We settle this, the only way we can! I want a true fight! Don't worry about hitting a woman! Oh, I'll fight back, believe me! I want to make you bleed!"

'Is she mad? The Queen of the Earth never knew how to throw a punch, let alone get into a fist fight! She can't be serious!' Rubeus, despite his doubts, smirked. "If that's what you want, then that's what you will get!"

"If you use your powers once, the deal is off, and I'll use something I never thought I would have to use!"

"Fine! See you at midnight!" Rubeus disappeared, leaving Usagi to think about what she had just proposed.

'That's a good boy, Rubeus! Just like I wanted you to.' Usagi began to run as fast as she could towards the hospital.

-xXXXx-

Mamoru was worried sick. The risk of Rubeus getting his hand on the Hizrounswa was one thing, but Usagi's disappearance was another story. He paced back and forth several times in the cafeteria of the hospital, wondering if he should've went looking for his girlfriend, as well. He hadn't heard anything from anyone yet, and he wasn't too happy with that.

However, just a minute after ten, he heard a voice that was music to his ears: "Hi, Mamoru!"

Mamoru looked back to see that Usagi was standing at the doorway into the cafeteria. He rushed over to her and kissed her on the lips, though the kiss was much shorter than he would've liked it to be.

"Usagi, where the hell have you been?"

"Taking care of some business! There's something I need to talk to you about, but I want to see Shingo first!"

Mamoru wanted to talk to Usagi, but that could wait if she wanted to put her family first. "Sure, they have him upstairs in the second room to the left. He's a bit weak, though, so don't worry if he's not talking very well."

"I'll take that over him not talking to me at all."

"C'mon." Usagi followed Mamoru as he walked her to the elevator.

-xXXXx-

Kage hoped that no one was going to be able to stop him from trying to find Usagi. That was the easy part. The hard part was actually finding his sister. He had been searching the entire day, all over Tokyo and the outskirts. However, he couldn't find a trace of her anywhere. Not even a clue.

The only places where he didn't look were the hospital and her house. He knew where her house was now: he had followed her there earlier in the week. He couldn't for the life of him know why she would go there instead of the hospital to visit Shingo, and he wanted to make sure the hospital was the last place he looked. That way, he could at least inform Mamoru that he couldn't find her. He was much closer to her house right now, anyway.

As he looked through the archway and then the door, he saw the same things Usagi had seen in the house earlier in the day. The glass was in such tiny pieces by now that it couldn't crumble anymore.

"Usagi! Are you in here?" Kage got no answer. He looked though the living room and in the kitchen. Anywhere that she could logically be hiding from him, he looked through. When he knew no one was downstairs, he focused on the second floor.

That was when he saw something peculiar: the door to her room was opened. Her bed looked very comfortable to him, and he was trying as hard as he could not to lie in it and go to sleep. The search was more important to him, and he might have had the break he was looking for: this door was not opened when he was in here last, and he had exited the house after Usagi that day. He was sure of it.

He also looked on her dresser, taking notice of the numerous bunny decorations on her blankets and all around the room.

"She remembered what I used to call her when we were kids. She hated when I called her bunny, though."

He walked out of her room and looked to the end of the hallway. The door of the master bedroom was also opened. 'She was here, or at least she stopped here at some point today.'

He entered the room, however, to see the aftermath of Usagi's rage. The dresser was tipped over with a hole in it, the stand-alone mirror was broken in several places, and the bedposts were chipped. One of the baseball bats was out in the middle of the floor right by the dresser, giving Kage the discreet evidence of just what happened there.

"Usagi, it's not anger anymore. It's pure rage."

He strained his muscles in order to return the dresser upright, but he was able to finally get it back on its four feet. If he had looked just a few inches to his left, he would've caught the bullet hole that Usagi made. Instead, he dismissed the possibility that Usagi was currently in the house. That left the hospital as the only other place he didn't check yet. He went downstairs and out the door.

-xXXXx-

"Shingo!" Usagi quietly called out to her brother as she walked over to him and hugged him lightly. It was a dimly-lit room, with only a few lamps providing the illumination. The walls were covered in white wallpaper. He was in a standard hospital bed with a few needles in him to monitor him.

"Hi, Usagi," a weak Shingo answered.

"Shingo, I'm sorry I wasn't there to do anything about it."

"No, Usagi...don't be...sorry. I...was...blindsided..."

Usagi looked to Mamoru who was waiting for her beyond the door frame before looking back. "We'll get him, Shingo!"

"Are...you...Sailor..."

Usagi was a bit shocked about the question, though she tried to keep her gasping at a bare minimal. "Listen, Shingo, I..."

"I'm...not...mad at...you...I...want you to...be...Sailor Moon."

Usagi sighed. "I...I didn't want you to be angry. I want my family to trust me with their lives."

"Are you?"

She had enough of hiding the truth from him as she gave a hard nod with a smile.

"Usagi...Sailor Moon...thank you...for everything." Shingo could not talk anymore as he fell asleep right after.

Usagi smiled and tucked him in. "Get some rest, bud. You deserve it." She paced backwards to the door frame, where Mamoru waited. "Mamoru, I need to talk to you alone."

Mamoru's stomach turned. He was scared at what this would be about, and thought about it as they made their way back to the first floor and into the cafeteria.

Usagi closed the doors behind them and turned towards her boyfriend who was standing in the middle of the room with his back to her. "Mamoru, I know I haven't been that much of a girlfriend to you lately."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't! Please don't! You know damn well what I mean! Ever since Rubeus attacked my family, I've asked you to stay here in case he showed up here. I didn't want you to try to save me as Tuxedo Mask or anything like that. I know how much it's killing you to have to stay here."

"Usagi, it's no problem."

"Bullshit, Mamoru! I can hear the disdain in your voice. You're angry at me! Hell, you even have your back to me when you're talking right now! You want so much to be by my side, yet I don't let you. You're respecting my wishes, but you're finding it tough to just be someone that sits around waiting for his girl to come back home."

"Well, I am a bit upset." Mamoru turned around and looked Usagi in the eyes. "But it's only because I can't stand to see anything happen to you. I don't want you to make a mistake, or to wind up dead. I never want to see that happen."

"It won't. Trust me, it won't."

"How can I be sure of that, though? Usagi, I wanted to hear your voice again, I wanted to feel you, look at you again. My god, Usagi, everyone says that separation brings people closer together. It's doing that for me, and I was already aching for you."

Usagi shook her head, however. "Then I know it would hurt more when I'm not here. I feel as though we're doing the same thing that we did when your future-self gave us that test of our love, only this time, I'm the one rejecting you. I can't stand hurting you, Mamoru. I'm just so lost, and I really don't know what to do about it."

"Let me help you, then!"

"No, I can't!"

"Why not?"

"Rubeus challenged me to a fight in the Tokyo Hills at midnight, and I've accepted."

"Usagi, no! You can't! You're giving him what he wants!"

"Not exactly, Mamoru! I gave him an ultimatum of my own! We fight with our fists this time. I won't transform, he doesn't use his power!"

The more Usagi explained this plan, the more Mamoru's fear built. "How do you know that he's not going to use his power? And I've never seen you throw a punch for as long as I can remember! He can't be trusted!"

"I will be able, or else, he's going to see the real Usagi Tsukino!" It was then that she reached to her waist and pulled out the Eagle that she had concealed. The shock that came over Mamoru was without a rival.

"My god! How did you get this past all the security?"

"Shhh! Keep it down!" Usagi put the gun away back where she had it hidden.

"But you..."

"It'll only be for an emergency. I don't know if Rubeus can even die from a gunshot wound."

"He might if you shoot him in the correct part, and because he's not in his home time, he might be weakened. But still, Usagi, this is crossing the line! I don't think I can approve of this!"

"Which is why I had to talk to you! I know how much I mean to you! I want you to be happy, and I can tell you're not!"

"Definitely not now with that gun in your possession."

"I'm giving you a chance right now, Mamoru!"

"For what?"

Usagi turned her back to Mamoru. "To say it's over!"

Mamoru paced back a few steps in shock. "What?"

"That's all you have to do, Mamoru! I'll be sad, and I probably won't like it, but I want you to be happy, and if I can't be there for you when you need me, then I would rather you be happy with someone else than be miserable with me going psycho."

Mamoru could feel a slight shortness of breath. There was no way he could possibly say that to his best friend, especially now. However, he did feel unhappy about her neglecting him. He felt as though he was losing her to rage. He didn't feel good thinking about that with all the near deaths that had occurred this week, but he couldn't help but feel left out of her life recently.

"All you have to do is say it, and I'll be out of your life forever. I won't cry, I won't whine, I won't run away from the problem, and I won't yell or be angry. But I need you to make a decision soon, because no matter what, I am going to face Rubeus at midnight."

"Usagi, I-I can't do that. You're too important to me."

"You can't decide?"

"No, I can't leave you, I don't want to leave you, and I don't want it to be over. I love you, Usagi. I miss you so much. You have no idea how much it pains me to not be able to hear your voice, or to see that cheery, festive side of you that I fell in love with. It's not protecting your family that I'm having a problem with. I'll do anything to protect your family, and you know that. It's just being separated from you for so long, and seeing this dark side that no one knew existed within you. I feel so helpless, I want to just go out there and give you the support I think you really deserve to have. I want to be the one that fights for you. I should be the one going into a fist fight with Rubeus, not you."

Usagi turned around to eye Mamoru. "I understand what you mean. I miss you so much, and it pains me to be away from you, too."

"Then let me come with you, Usagi."

"No, Mamoru. As much as I know you want to, I can't let you!"

"Why not, Usagi?"

"Because...this is personal now! If it was Sailor business, if it was a normal rescue, or saving the world, or protecting crystals, then I would want you there. But this is personal."

"He wants the Hizrounswa, too, you know! It is about a crystal!"

"Yeah, and we'll find it. But this is also very personal. I've said it so many times: no one messes with my family. I need to do this, and I need you to protect my family here, one last time. I swear to you, this will end one way or another tonight. I have to do this my way now, and this is the only other way. I know you don't like it, and neither do I, but my mind's made up."

"I would be lying if I said I liked it, but if that's what you feel you have to do, then I can't stop you from going out there. Well, maybe I can, but I know how you are. I won't get in your way."

"Thanks, Mamoru. I promise, I will return. And I promise, that when this is over, I'll make it all up to you. You have no idea how much of a help you are to me, and how much this means to me. I wish it didn't have to come to this."

Mamoru took a few deep breaths before wrapping his arms around Usagi. She returned the favor, though her eyes told that she had other things on her mind. The two looked into each other's eyes and shared a deep kiss, one that Mamoru did not know if he would ever get another chance to have. He felt sick to his stomach, though he knew that Usagi's mind was impossible to change once it was made up.

"Usagi, whatever you do, though," Mamoru pleaded after the kiss, "please don't use that gun for anything. Throw that away, it's not for you."

"I can't guarantee that, but it's only as a last resort. I promise, I won't use it for anything but that. I'll be back." Usagi hesitated to leave him, slowly walking to the door and never taking her eyes off of him before she exited the cafeteria.

Usagi made sure that no one was looking before she walked to a janitor's area of the hospital. She had kept the door into the area unlocked. How was it unlocked in the first place? The same reason as how she was able to get a gun into the hospital unnoticed: there was a doorway outside through the janitor's storage area. It was a service door for deliveries and emergencies, one of the few exits that didn't have a metal detector. She had entered through the door, and she made sure she would be able to exit the same way.

She put her hands into her jacket pockets and, without another look back at the hospital, began walking at a steady pace through a long but narrow alley. She needed to quickly get out of the hospital before anyone became suspicious of her. Once she was a few miles away, she finally stopped and looked back.

'I can't promise that I won't use this cursed thing, Mamoru,' she thought while looking at the black weapon. 'But if I have to, I will. Like I said, this is personal. I can't have anyone else involved. Rubeus will pay with his life.' She once more tucked the gun underneath her blouse and began walking towards the hills.

-xXXXx-

Mamoru was still in the cafeteria, nervously twiddling his fingers, elbows on his knees as he sat on one of the couches. He didn't know what to do, or what to think anymore. He was reassured about Usagi's love for him, but the recent discovery of her intentions still bothered him. And that gun! What strength he had had to muster so he didn't rip that thing right from her hands. He didn't know if she knew how to handle it, much less use it. He prayed that he would never have to find out if she could.

About ten minutes after Usagi left, he heard the cafeteria door swing open again. When Mamoru looked up this time, he was hoping it would be Usagi coming to her senses. Instead, it was Kage. It was indeed some good news. Maybe Kage could succeed where Mamoru couldn't.

"She isn't here, Kage," Mamoru said, rising to his feet. "At least not anymore."

"She was here, then?"

"Yeah. I know where she went to, though."

"She was at the house; that I know. Things were different from when I last saw them."

"She came here just ten minutes ago to see Shingo and to let me know that she was going to the Tokyo Hills to face Rubeus."

Kage gasped. "What?"

"She told me it was personal and that she had to do this alone. She also told me she requested him to not use any powers, and that she wasn't going to use her Sailor powers."

"She can't without going back and getting her Moon Locket from the Shrine."

"Actually, we have it," the two suddenly heard Rei proclaim. Kage turned around to see his other four friends standing in the door frame. Ami was holding up the Locket to where they could clearly see it.

"We were chasing you around all day, Kage," Luna said. "You're not that easy to find, either."

"Guys, I'm glad you're here," Mamoru smiled.

"We heard all of it," Minako answered. "She's headed to the Tokyo Hills to face Rubeus in a fist fight to the death."

"Where is Tokyo Hills, anyway?" Kage asked.

"It's a bit out of the way, but wouldn't take too long to drive to. She's headed there on foot, though, which means it might take a bit of time. We could still catch her."

"She wanted me to stay here and make sure he doesn't attack here again," Mamoru stated, "but I don't think he would pass up such an opportunity."

"Security won't be able to stop him, either," Kage added. "Where's Shingo now? I know that was her biggest concern."

"Upstairs, second room out from the elevator. Can't miss it. He fell asleep when Usagi saw him."

Kage didn't waste any time as he rushed out of the cafeteria and frantically pressed on the elevator button. Mamoru eyes narrowed as he raced after him, though he couldn't catch him before the elevator closed. He could see Kage within just before. He didn't want Kage to wake Shingo up. Thus, he pushed the button for the other elevator.

"Wait here, we'll be back!" Mamoru heard the other elevator open and entered, hoping to catch Kage before he woke Shingo, though he didn't think Kage would be that careless.

"We've heard that line way too many times this week!" Luna said.

"What are you up to, Usagi?" Rei asked, sighing nervously.

Upstairs, Kage had quietly entered Shingo's room. He saw Usagi's younger brother sleeping soundly, hooked up to I.V.s and monitors. He heard Mamoru following him just as quietly.

"Told you he was asleep, Kage," he scolded.

"I know, I'm not wanting to wake him. I just..." Kage sighed. "I don't want to see anything happen to him anymore, either. There has to be a way we can make sure that he's alright and you can come with us to help Usagi and give her back her Moon Locket. Even if she wanted to, she couldn't change to Sailor Moon without-."

"W—Who's there?" they heard a weak voice whisper.

"Shingo," Kage answered. "I'm sorry we woke you."

"No...you didn't...couldn't stay...asleep." Shingo looked to Kage. "Who...who are you?"

Kage approached the bed. "My name's Kage Tsukino. I'm Usagi's big brother."

"We...didn't know of...a big brother."

"It's a long story, Shingo. One I'll tell you later. But all you have to know is that if you trust Usagi, you can trust me." Shingo nodded as Kage continued, "Did you hear any of what we said about Usagi?"

"About the...Moon...yes...I already know...she's Sailor...Moon."

"You do?" Kage looked to Mamoru.

"Yes. She let him know, though I had a feeling he did before."

"Are you...Sailor Moon's...brother...too?"

"Yeah, bud. I can protect her. Mamoru's been staying here and keeping you safe from that bad man that did this to you."

Shingo looked over slowly towards Mamoru and smiled at him. "Thank...you...Mamoru. It means...so much to...me."

"No problem, man," Mamoru answered with a smile. 'I didn't know you would say that, Shingo. You don't know how much I had to hear that.'

"Shingo," Kage continued, "we can stay here and keep an eye on you if you want. Usagi's going to face the bad man, but she doesn't have what she needs to face him. We were going to go get it to her, but we didn't want to leave you here unprotected."

"I...I can...manage...this feeling just...sucks...that's all...go ahead...Mamoru...help her."

"Well," Kage sighed, "just to be on the safe side." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small silver device that had a red button on it and presented it to Shingo. "This is a warner device. I bought a few while trying to look for Usagi in the Tokyo Tower. I registered it with my communicator. If he comes back to try to get you again, push this button, and I'll get here as soon as I can. I promise you, Shingo, none of us will let him hurt you ever again." He laid it on the table next to the bed, Mamoru eying the device strangely.

Shingo didn't care how it was supposed to work, though. "Alright...thank you...K—Kage."

Kage nodded. "No problem. Take it easy now." Shingo smiled and turned his head back, trying to get some more sleep. Kage walked out and to the elevator, Mamoru following him.

"What was that thing?" Mamoru asked as Kage pushed the down button for the elevator.

"It's a pager of some sorts I found at one of the stores there. I was able to put it so that it would alert my Vulture communicator if he presses it." As they got into the elevator, Kage looked to see Mamoru hanging his head. "Listen, man, don't fret. We'll get Usagi back, believe me."

"You have no idea, Kage! I'm worried I'll never see her again!"

"I do know how you feel, Mamoru! I haven't seen her since I left the Moon Kingdom. I've always wanted to see her again!"

"I'm sorry," Mamoru answered with a sigh. "I'm not used to her having a brother yet."

The elevator doors slid open, and they saw that the others were waiting for them.

"Will he be alright with you coming with us, Mamoru?" Luna asked.

Mamoru smiled as his head rose. "Yeah, he'll be fine."

"He's got a way to contact us if anything happens, God forbid," Kage added.

"We can take my car," Mamoru proclaimed. "She's probably there by now." He made a conscious decision to bite his tongue for now about Usagi carrying a gun. He didn't want them being more worried than they already were, though he hoped they would never get to know of the added element.

"We don't have much time," Rei concluded. "C'mon." The group followed Kage, Mamoru, and Rei out of the hospital.

-xXXXx-

Usagi was quick in getting to the highest point on the Tokyo Hills. It was surprising to her how fast she got there, as it would've normally taken her a few hours. However, it took her the remainder of the allotted time that she was given to arrive, as it was nearing midnight, the time when she expected Rubeus to appear on the grassy hilltop. She stood right in front of a tall oak tree, her fists tightly clenched.

"All right, Rubeus!" she screamed. "I'm here, and I'm ready! Come out and fight, you coward!"

"Right on schedule," she heard Rubeus answer, and he appeared in front of her, about five feet away, arms crossed, and floating down to the ground. "I didn't think you would show up." Once his feet touched the ground, he let his arms fall to his sides, his narrow eyes glaring at the daring girl.

"C'mon, Rubeus! You've been all talk and no action! You were able to hit my mother, so I know you're cowardly enough to hit a girl, so I'll have no problem getting you to fight me, will I?" Usagi finished by taking her hands to her huge ordangos that were in her hair and pulling out the pins that held them in place, throwing them away. This made her silky blond hair flow freely, straight down to her knees. She then took off her jacket and threw it over towards one of the trees. All the while, her eyes were locked dead on Rubeus.

"Damn, girl!" Rubeus gasped upon seeing Usagi remove her trademark hairstyle. "You really are serious about this! You do want me to end your life tonight! If that's what you want, then how could I resist?"

He charged at her, pulling his fist back, and threw a huge punch. Usagi, however, ducked underneath it and turned around to see him stop and swivel back himself. She greeted him with two straight punches, one from the left and one from the right, right in the mouth. The second punch made Rubeus have to take a few steps back to regain his balance, but Usagi wasn't about to let him recover. She spun around and landed her foot into the back of his head, sending him face first into the ground. Rubeus didn't stay there for long, using his arms to lift himself back up to his feet, punching her dead in the mouth. Usagi answered with a backhanded punch that made Rubeus have to use a nearby tree to keep his balance. He stopped there for a few seconds in shock.

"What's the matter, Rubeus, had enough?"

'The hell did she learn all of this?' Rubeus thought. He turned to face her. "Not in the slightest!"

He fired another straight punch right near her left eye, and he followed up with a side kick to her gut that sent her to the ground on her back. Usagi looked to see Rubeus jump up and try to impale his foot into her chest. She rolled out of the way quickly and countered with a low sweep that knocked Rubeus' feet from under him. He was only on his back for a second, as he quickly jumped up and backhanded Usagi in the teeth twice before kneeing her in the gut and uppercutting her in the chin, sending her into an opposite oak tree. Rubeus approached her and kneed her twice, punched her in the lips, and then backhanded her once more. The final backhand sent her to the soil, on her side. Usagi could feel the dirt begin to stick to her skin, and she could also feel a few drops of blood escape her mouth.

Neither Usagi nor Rubeus noticed that at this time, Mamoru's car pulled up on a nearby street. Mamoru, Kage, the four girls and the two cats all got out of the car at the same time and raced to where the fight was taking place. It was Mamoru who first saw Usagi on the ground and in trouble.

"Usagi!" he yelled.

"Mamoru, don't!" Kage ordered, holding him up from rushing in.

Mamoru stopped trying, though he looked at Kage angrily. "Why not?"

"One, this is her fight, and two, Rubeus is injured, too. I think she knew she would be hit."

"Yeah, I agree with him, Mamoru," Luna nodded. "I have to admit, she's taking it to him."

Rubeus, however, was oblivious to the group, continuing to tower over Usagi. "Who's calling the shots now, eh?"

Usagi only growled and shot back to her feet, quickly kicking Rubeus in the stomach before throwing punch after punch: one to his ribs, one to his gut, one towards his chin, one to the eye, and a last delivered to the nose after she paused for a second. He got knocked back quite a few paces following the last hit.

"Holy geezus!" Ami gasped. "I didn't know she could do that!"

"Me either," Rei agreed.

"She never did this on the Moon," Luna stated. "She was taught never to resort to this type of violence."

Kage hung his head, however. "No, Queen Serenity never taught her this. I, on the other hand, may have had something to do with this. I always got into fights on the Moon, and knew how to win them. She always wanted to have some of the knowledge that I had of melee combat."

Rubeus had the same thoughts that the girls did. 'This can't be. Neo-Queen Serenity was never known to even throw a punch.' He felt the blood escape his own body, his lip cut severely following the flurry of punches he had received.

As Usagi tried to continue her assault, Rubeus countered with another backhand to her other eye, and then a few punches to the mouth. This opened up her cut further, with blood escaping more violently. Usagi put a hand to her lip and then studied how much blood she was losing, turning her head towards her attacker coldly and with malice, gritting her teeth.

"C'mon, Usagi," Kage whispered with a bright grin. "Show him what you can do!"

Usagi backhanded Rubeus with the same hand she had examined her cut with, kneed and kicked him in the gut, and then sent a barrage of punches to his head in various areas. She lost count halfway through, nor did she care where they landed at this point. After about twenty or so punches, she jumped up and kicked Rubeus square in the mouth, sending him colliding back first with one of the trees. She had aimed to knee him once more, but he caught her leg and punched her in the gut. She doubled over, allowing Rubeus to get a punch in on her throat. The hit made it harder for her to breath, and he capitalized on the opportunity by grabbing her by the neck and throwing her onto the tree, choking her violently.

"Time to die, Sailor Moon!"

"Not quite yet!" She first kicked him high in the mouth, and followed up by a hard head butt to his temple. This made him let her go, and as she fought to regain breath, she backhanded him one more time. She took a couple more deep breaths, though she was tightening up her fists while she was inhaling. She saw Rubeus try to grab her again, but this time, she ducked underneath his lunge and elbowed him in the back of the neck. As she heard Rubeus grunt in pain, she knelt down and punched his tail bone dead on. He collapsed onto the ground as a result with Usagi towering over him.

"I think her fighting skill is more of you and me, Kage," Makoto said.

"Not like that, though," he answered. "This isn't anger. It's rage."

'She knew how to fight! How can this be? Serenity was never known to-' Rubeus' eyes widened. 'Unless what I did-!'

His thoughts were interrupted by Usagi pulling on his hair to drag him back to his feet. "I'm ending this right now!"

'Yes, Sailor Moon. You are right! This must end, now!'

Usagi forced him to turn around to face him. However, as she was ready to deliver a straight punch to his heart, Rubeus fired a double-shot beam as quickly as he could, hitting Usagi in the chest, almost at her heart. There was the deal-breaker Usagi was hoping he would not resort to, and the shot rang echoes in the ears of those looking on.

"That wasn't part of the plan, was it, Mamoru?" Kage asked.

"I knew it," Mamoru growled. "He wasn't about to just not use his powers!"

"Well, Usagi, how do you feel now, huh?" Rubeus yelled, pacing over to the fallen body that was trying to embrace the pain. "I realized that I may have changed a few things that I didn't really want to change!"

"He's such a coward," Rei gritted through her teeth.

"It's an emergency, too," Mamoru added.

It was his addition that made Kage turn to him. "What do you mean?"

Mamoru was trying not to worry him anymore than he already was by not talking about the gun that Usagi possessed. He tried as hard as he could to bite his tongue and not say anything.

"Mamoru!" Kage yelled, clenching his fist. "Is there something you're not telling me? What do you mean by it's an emergency?"

He was interrupted by Rubeus continuing his spiel. "I wouldn't want to be your friends when they find your mangled body on this hill. I wouldn't want to know what kind of anguish they would feel seeing their so-called leader dead with her blood spilled all over the grass and the trees. You have any idea how much pain and suffering you've put me through? You're the one that lost me my position in the Black Moon Family, you're the one that caused my ship to go down, and you're the one that changed everything about me forever! It would be a damn honor to kill you and watch you squirm until you die!"

He readied another double-shot beam. At point blank range, and without her Silver Crystal protecting her, it would nearly, if not completely, kill her instantly. Usagi could hear him prepare it for use, and she knew what she had to do to counter. She had prayed coming here that she would never need to use it, but desperate times called for desperate measures. She reached towards her waist, knowing what she carried.

"What the hell are you doing, Usagi?" Kage pleaded. "Roll out of there! Now!"

Rubeus laughed and yelled, "Time to die, Sai-!"

That's all he was able to get out. The second he was ready to stretch his arms to fire the beam, Usagi had pulled out her piece and aimed it right at Rubeus, taking off the safety. Her body was shaking, especially the hand that held the handgun. Her stare was frighteningly cold and narrow, and her teeth were clenched as she continued to shake.

"Oh, my god!" Luna gasped.

"You can't be serious!" Minako cried. "Does she-?"

"She can't!" Makoto trembled. "She's never used that before, has she, Kage?"

"No, not that I can remember! I remember some of the guards during the Silver Millennium having laser pistols that were developed by the Mercury Kingdom for years as a protective measure, but I've never seen her use one!"

Rubeus' body froze stiff and his jaw dropped. He began to back up, the beam dissipating out of his hands as Usagi slowly and methodically rose to her feet. "Usagi, what are you doing?"

"Something I should've done a long time ago, Rubeus!" she growled. She slowly paced towards Rubeus, matching every step until his back was against the tree. Usagi never took her dead stare off of him as she pinned him with the barrel of the pistol.

"Usagi, please don't do it!" Ami breathed. "You're too good for this!"

"Can she kill him with that thing?" Artemis frantically asked.

"Like I said," Luna answered, "if she aimed correctly, it might. The way he froze when she brandished the gun scared me, too."

"What's wrong, Rubeus?" Usagi continued. "All that inhuman power that you have, all those years you lived on Nemesis, and you're scared at a measly gun? Why is that, Rubeus? Maybe because you know that I can still kill you with one! Single! Bullet!" She pressed the barrel into his rib-cage, and then trailed it to his heart.

"Mamoru," Kage growled. "You knew about this, did you?"

Mamoru paused, and then sighed. "I'm sorry, Kage. I didn't want you to be scared for her any more than you were. I had hoped that he would never give her a reason to use it, and you would never know that she had the intentions."

"I would want to know anyway, man! If she fires that gun, it's on your conscious."

"I know, Kage! I'm sorry!"

"What are we waiting for, guys?" Makoto exclaimed. "We can stop her ourse-"

"No!" Kage yelled. "Too risky! She's already past her breaking point! Anything we do might make her lose it and fire! We can't give her any other reason to fire that thing! Let her get this anger out! As long as she keeps talking, she gives herself more time to think about this!"

"You tried to take Mamoru from me!" Usagi growled. "You tried to take Shingo from me! You took my mother from me! You nearly took one of my best friends from me, and you tried to take Kage from me! You've done whatever you could do to torture me! You're the one person who's been able to make me do things I never thought I had the capacity to do!"

"You brought it on yourself, Usagi!" Rubeus cried out. "You and your disgusting daughter tore apart my ship and-!"

He was interrupted by a loud gunshot onto the tree, extremely close to his temple. His eyes caught Usagi's finger having pulled back on the trigger, and it made him freeze stiff. His eyes nearly bugged out, and his breaths shortened and quickened.

"What's wrong? Did I cut it too close for you?" Usagi began to shed tears uncontrollably. "I'm through playing these goddamn games with you! I'm going to ask you one time, and then I'm pulling this damn thing, and a bullet is going through your damn skull! Where's! My! MOTHER?"

"Go to hell, Sailor bitch!"

She answered by pulling the trigger again, this time on the other side with the same proximity. She then shoved the barrel as hard as she could onto the center of his forehead. "WHERE IS SHE?"

"Holy shit!" Kage gasped loudly, breathing nervously and grabbing his head.

"You sure you're right about staying here?" Minako asked. "She's scaring me again!"

"Yes, though you don't know how much I'm fighting to follow my own damn advice!"

Rubeus could feel the cold, hard metal that made up the barrel of the piece piercing his forehead. He was trying as hard as he could to keep from showing fear. Could he really be killed by a bullet? Did he want to find out? Maybe he could at least buy himself some time, but it was then that he came up with what he thought was a brilliant idea. It would at least keep her from answering his own questions.

"ALRIGHT, USAGI!" Rubeus screamed. "You win!"

"What?" Kage gasped.

"I didn't know you were this determined to find her! I didn't know how much she meant to you!" Rubeus did at least one good thing from this talk: Usagi backed up with the gun a few steps, though it was still pointed at him. "I—I still want that crystal, but she's too much of a hassle for me to keep anyway! Would be such a lost cause, and I don't want to die tonight!"

Usagi was still in tears, her hands trembling, but her mind was with a newfound hope. Maybe it was her gun that had finally made Rubeus wake up.

"Come here tomorrow at noon, without the locket! I'll have her here, waiting to be reunited with you! Let me live, and it will happen, but if you kill me, you'll never find out where she is!"

She took two more steps back, Rubeus able to breathe a bit easier. A few seconds later, he disappeared in front of her eyes, even though she still held the gun straight at his previous location. It only took five more seconds before she dropped the gun on the ground and collapsed to her knees. She covered her face with her hands while she yelled, screamed, and cried out to anyone that could be near.

"Usagi!" Kage and Mamoru both yelled out as they made a beeline for Usagi, the rest of the group following without hesitation. Kage got to her first, kneeling to her.

"Shhh," Kage breathed softly, wrapping his arms around her. "We're here. You don't have to go through this alone."

"My love," Mamoru added, kneeling to her, as well. "I'm sorry! I should've know it was coming to this earlier."

"I-," Usagi began, taking her hands off her face. "I never want to handle anything like that again. I don't know what possessed me to-."

"Don't worry, Usagi," Kage interrupted. "It's over now. You got him to give up."

"I hate to be a bearer of bad news right now, Kage," Luna objected, "but we know how Rubeus is!"

"Yeah," Rei agreed. "He's such a coward that he might be leading us to a trap even now."

"Then we'll all be here tomorrow," Kage nodded. "If it is a trap, he won't be able to catch us in it."

"I'll be there for you, too, Usagi," Mamoru smiled.

"Thank you, all of you," Usagi answered. "I don't know where I would be without any of you."

-xXXXx-

The group had returned to the Shrine to get some sleep, or try to at least.

Usagi, however, couldn't rest. She was only focused on one thing: noon tomorrow. She was outside, leaning against the tallest oak tree, staring at the full moon as it was beginning to set. She sighed deeply, tears escaping her eyes, though not as many as before.

"Usagi, you need some sleep for tomorrow," she heard someone say from the Shrine door. She turned around to see Kage coming down the patio steps and walking over to her.

"So do you, bro!"

"Sleep's been the only thing I've done lately. I can live without it."

Usagi lifted herself off the tree and looked into her brother's eyes. "I'm sorry I put all of you through this. I worried every last one of you and made you think I was quitting the Guardians."

"You don't have to apologize."

"Yeah, I do. Especially to you, Kage. The first time I met you in school, I almost choked you, and thought you were lying to me about being my brother. Hell, even when we did that mind meld, I still didn't have the feelings come back to me. I didn't want you to think that I hated you because I knew you remembered me and you and I being so close to each other. But now, I know you are my brother, and I remember now how close we were."

"What made you remember?"

"When you saved us from the pod explosion. I thought I was going to lose you. I don't know what it was about you sacrificing yourself to save us made me remember, but it did."

Kage hung his head and sighed. "Then I should apologize. I didn't know you-."

"You saved Ami's life. You saved my life-all of our lives. That's all the apology I need. That's just how we were back then. We looked out for each other. I was never able to scream or curse or yell at anyone, or hit anyone. I could never get angry because I was the Princess. Royalty never became vicious, she said. But you let me be angry, you lent your ear when I needed to scream out or to be someone that my mother never knew I could be. I think it's your presence that is reminding me that it's okay to be angry, and to let it out."

"Yeah, Usagi," he answered, coming closer to his sister. "It's not healthy to keep all of that anger in."

"But I never felt like that before. I almost slit his throat in the pyramid, then I almost shot him in the head tonight. What's happening to me, Kage? I knew you let me be angry, but not like this."

"What you're experiencing is rage. You've let your anger cloud your judgment. You want revenge for the things that he has done to you."

"But so many people have done me wrong over the years, and I never acted out like this."

"No one has ever dared to harm the people you love like Rubeus has. You've never experienced personal tragedy before, and you didn't know how to handle it. Believe me, Usagi, everyone has a dark side. You've never shown it to any of us before, or even to yourself. You've always been forgiving and kind and loyal, and when someone like you has to show their dark side, that part of them is more unstable than someone who usually does show it."

"I don't like it, though, Kage. I don't like this side of me."

"No one likes it when they have to show their dark side. I never enjoyed it when I had to, I know that. The secret is in how to control it so it doesn't become a detriment to you. It's in how you handle it that makes you stronger."

Usagi sighed happily, and turned back to the moon. "I think you're right."

Kage wrapped one of his arms around Usagi. "Come in and get some sleep. You'll need it, trust me."

"I'll try, bro. Thanks. And Kage?"

"What?"

"I love you. Please, don't ever leave me again!"

"I won't, sis. I promise you I won't. I love you so much." Kage kissed her on the forehead as he led her back inside.

-xXXXx-

It was eleven in the morning. The sun was shining bright on Juuban, and for Usagi, it was nearly the zero hour. She did get some sleep, if only a little bit. She didn't care how much she had at this point, though. All she cared about was what would happen at noon, assuming Rubeus wasn't just saying something to get out of Usagi shooting him in the head.

She had waited at the top of the steps going down to the street, staring beyond the buildings it seemed. 'You better not be lying to me, Rubeus!'

"Usagi, I'll take you and your friends up to the hill," she heard Mamoru call out behind her. "It'll be faster if I drive you than if you walk."

Usagi turned on her heels. "Thanks. I'm so nervous and so happy at the same time." She turned her head slightly. "Though I would be lying if I said I wasn't doubtful that Rubeus would be a man of his word like we all think he will be this time."

"I'll tear him apart myself if he isn't!"

"So will we!" they both heard Makoto yell out. The rest of her best friends were all coming outside to meet the two as they flanked Mamoru as quickly as they could.

"Yeah, we'll show them why you never mess with the Sailor Guardians!" Rei proclaimed.

"Love and justice will conquer a lying man!" Minako shouted.

"No one will ever take advantage of your kindness again!" Ami smiled, showing Usagi of her forgiveness.

"We'll all make sure he's true to his word, sis!" Kage finished.

Usagi nodded happily. "Thank you, all of-!"

She was interrupted by a loud siren going off. It was coming from Kage's communicator. He knew there was only one way the communicator could make that noise: the device that he gave Shingo last night!

"The hell's that?" Rei asked.

"It's my communicator. It's the way I gave Shingo a way to contact us if—."

"Oh, for the love of God, no!" Usagi panicked.

"Usagi, listen to me!" Kage yelled quickly, rushing to her and putting his hands on her shoulders. "You've got an obligation to fulfill! I'll go check this out for you this time! If it's Rubeus, then he won't be expecting me to come to his aid and I'll have the advantage of surprise! He would want you, and it may be just a distraction to make him not have to choke up his end of the bargain!" He then turned to the rest of the group. "All of you, go ahead and get your asses to Tokyo Hill! I'll meet all of you up there once I check this out! Do not miss this opportunity!"

"Right!" the other Sailors said in unison.

"Thanks, bro! I hope Shingo's alright!"

"He will be, sis! Gotta go! No time to waste!" He raced down the steps and towards the hospital.

"What are we waiting for?" Artemis asked.

"I'll keep a hold of your Moon Locket for you," Rei added. "That way, Rubeus won't know we have a backup plan just in case he goes back on that word."

"Thanks, Rei," Usagi nodded. "Oh, speaking of other's possessions, Ami, I think this belongs to you. I forgot I had it." She reached into her jacket pocket to reveal Ami's Mercomp computer, the same one that she had recovered from the escape pod. "I remembered I had it earlier yesterday."

Ami smiled as Usagi handed back the computer to her. "Thanks, Usagi!" She secretly hoped that it still had the data she downloaded from the pod a few days ago.

"Okay, let's not waste any more time! Let's get your mother back, Usagi!" Luna proclaimed. Usagi nodded before rushing down the steps towards Mamoru's car.

-xXXXx-

As the others stood back, Usagi stepped to the front of her pack. The part of the Tokyo Hills that they were now on were more of plains than hills. It was the flattest part of the area, with very few trees in the way to let the sun shine brightly on the scene, and fresh grass being blown in different directions by the wind. To Usagi, it made the perfect scene for what she hoped was about to happen, as the clock had hit noon. She stood straight and ready with her eyes locked right in front of her. This was Tokyo Hills, where he said he would be. She only hoped her brother was able to take care of whatever trouble was going on at the hospital. She trusted him with her life now, and that helped her more than anyone could have imagined.

She stayed quiet during the entire time she stood there, and for thirty more seconds, she waited for him to show up with her mother. She was about to yell out when she heard Rubeus say, "You came, Usagi!"

"You didn't think I would?"

Rubeus appeared from behind one of the only three trees that stood in this part of the hills. "As you know, Usagi, I'm a man of my word."

"Bullshit, Rubeus!" Makoto objected. "You said you would go down with your ship and you didn't! You too much of a slimy coward! How can we expect you to hold true to your word now?"

"Because I just did!"

Usagi couldn't believe her eyes. Rubeus directed someone from behind the same huge tree in which he came out of, and he proved to be truthful, judging by who was there: Ikuko Tsukino.

"I told you I would deliver her to you, to be reunited. She was a thorn in my side, so why should I keep someone as bait when she is going to put me in a tough spot?"

It looked as though Ikuko had been knocked around a few times. She had a slightly black eye and a few bruises on her chin and temple, but other than that, she seemed to be all right to Usagi. Her eyes watered and her smile shone brightly, and she began to run up to her, Rubeus taking a few steps back from what could've been a very heart-warming reunion. However, just as Usagi was about to wrap her arms around her mother, her greatest nightmare came true: Ikuko's smile disappeared, her hand reeled back with a tight fist, and she swung her hardest right at Usagi's face. It collided dead on with her jaw, and Usagi dropped like a dead fly onto the ground.

"WHAT THE HELL?" Luna screamed.

"No!" Minako gasped. "After all of this-no!"

Ikuko's face told the entire story to Usagi. Her stare towards her daughter was cold and malicious, and Usagi knew there was nothing except evil intentions in the woman's mind. Her tears of joy suddenly became tears of sorrow.

"Oh yeah, Usagi," Rubeus laughed evilly, "I almost forgot to mention something about your mother: she isn't too happy with you right now! In fact, I think she might be so willing to just kill you right here!"

"No, mother! My god, no!"

---

I hope you enjoyed the cliffhanger, and I hope you come back for chapter 7, which will probably be the final chapter of this story, but it won't be the end of the saga, as the next entry into the Silver Project Saga will begin where this story leaves off. Believe me, this will just be the beginning.

Good night and good luck