Standard disclaimer - I don't own Sailor Moon, or its characters. All OCs are mine.

Minako blinked. She was sitting on her bed, at home. Her head felt strangely heavy and her left shoulder ached…but she couldn't remember why.

"Mina…is something the matter?"

"I'm not sure, Artemis" she said with a frown. "I could've sworn I was…."

"Mina?" He waited patiently for her response.

Where had she been? What had she been doing? It felt like it was right there, right in the back of her mind…but it was no use; she couldn't remember. Oh, well. It couldn't have been very important, then. "It's nothing. I must have been daydreaming or something."

"It happens," he chuckled. "You always did have an active imagination." He dropped down off the bed and headed for the wardrobe. "So…it's your big date with Corey tonight, right? Figured out what you're going to wear?"

"No, I…I must've forgotten." That's right. Her date with Corey. She'd been looking forward to this all week. How could she have forgotten about it?

"Well, you'd better hurry. You don't want to be late."

"Right…" She winced as she pushed off the bed to stand, pain shooting through her left shoulder. Why did it hurt so much? Had she hurt it playing volleyball? That had to be it. Minako shook her head as she looked through her wardrobe. She couldn't think about anything except this date; it was probably just nerves. She came upon a nice, simple orange sundress, with white floral patterns, and held it up against herself. "What do you think of this one, Arty? It's cute, right?"

"Maybe you could pick something a little…spicier? Show off a little more skin?" Artemis suggested.

"What?" she shot back, blushing. "If anything you're usually telling me to cover up!"

"Well, I know you really like this guy," the cat winked. "I just don't want to see you get hurt again. I mean, come on…it's not like he's going to stick around for the intellectual conversation, right?"

She frowned. "What…?"

"Let's be honest, Mina. You're not particularly smart. You're shallow, materialistic...even your friends think you're borderline crazy. He's interested in you for the exact same reason guys always are. Because you're pretty." He shook his head sadly. "I'm not trying to hurt your feelings, Mina, I'm just being realistic, because I know how much you like Corey. You've got to do something different this time, to keep him from leaving. I think you know what I mean."

His wink was somehow different than usual…there was cruelty behind it. She knew exactly what he meant, and that was…not something she had ever expected to hear him suggest. And creepy, for that matter. Artemis, telling her to…do that? There was something very wrong here. And yet, despite her misgivings, Minako felt a pang of genuine pain in her chest. These weren't just random observations he was making. These were her private fears…the ones she kept hidden deep down inside, that she never let anyone else see. Hearing them thrown at her was unsettling. "Artemis…why are you saying these things?"

"Because someone needs to tell you, Mina," he sneered. "God knows you're too stupid to work it out for yourself! You always act so bright and cheerful, but deep down inside you're just a sad, frightened little girl, desperately afraid of being alone. Running from guy to guy, dream to dream, doomed to an eternity without love! Just like Ace told you all those years ago!"

Minako could feel tears welling up in her eyes at the mention of Ace's name. "Stop it…" Something was wrong. She shouldn't be here. Not to mention Artemis' behaviour. Come to think of it, he wasn't behaving much like Artemis at all. Was it because…he wasn't really Artemis? Her head started to hurt. There was something she had to do…something important. A crow? At the shrine? Why had she just thought of that?

"What's the matter, Minako? Does the truth hurt?" His tone was becoming nastier by the minute. "How's this for the truth! Nobody could ever truly love you! Your only redeeming quality is how well you fill out a dress!"

That sealed it. This wasn't Artemis. It couldn't be. Sure, he could be tough on her, and maybe a little overprotective sometimes, but this? No, he could never be this cruel.

Minako felt her pain fade, replaced with anger. This wasn't real. "I don't know who you are, but how dare you toy with an innocent girl's fears like this?!" She glanced down at her clenched fist. "While some of these things may be true, my Artemis would never just come out and say them!" A little guilt crept in, as she thought of him. "Sure, maybe I'm a little too hard on him sometimes, when he's really just looking out for me, but I know he loves me!"

He laughed mockingly. "Nobody loves you, Minako, and nobody ever will! Ace didn't love you, Alan didn't love, you, Motoki didn't love you, and Corey won't love you!" He grinned wildly. "In fact, you really have nothing left to live for. No hope at all. You should just kill yourself now. Put yourself out of everyone else's misery!"

She scoffed. "Oh, wow! If I didn't know you were a fake before then that would have done it!" She got right in his face. "You may not be Artemis, but right now you look like him, and I know for a fact that he hates this!" She reached forward and flicked him on the nose. Her sense of victory quickly evaporated. It was replaced by fear as his face collapsed like a broken window, revealing a featureless black void. One of Terror's Constructs! She retreated quickly, until her back pressed against the wall.

"You're pathetic, Minako," it crowed. "He'll never love you!"

Pain exploded from her left shoulder, and she glanced down at it. She was now dressed as Sailor Venus, black bandages wrapped around her shoulder. Usagi! She'd been hurt diving to save Usagi! At the Skytree! She'd fallen backwards through a wall and lost consciousness! Determination set in. She didn't have time for this nonsense; Rei was in trouble! The Construct advanced on her slowly, its face a featureless mockery of Artemis. How dare it use her friend against her like this?!

"Sorry, Arty," she said sweetly, pointing her index finger right at the Construct's forehead.

"Crescent Beam!"

The world fell apart around her.

"Venus! Wake up!"

She groaned, waving whoever it was away with her good arm. "Five more minutes…"

"Minako!"

She opened her eyes slowly, smiling as she saw see a familiar face. "Usagi!"

"You're back!"

Venus sat up and Sailor Moon immediately wrapped her up in a hug. Her shoulder protested the contact but she dealt with it, lifting her good arm and placing it around Usagi's back. After her little journey to…wherever that had been, she needed a good hug. "I'm glad we were able to find you too, Usagi."

"Mercury says we somehow fell into some sort of…reality pocket?"

"Pocket reality," Mercury corrected idly, her visor down. "I'm reading several of them in the vicinity – now that I can see them, we should be able to avoid them."

"Great, 'cause I don't want to find myself in one of those," Jupiter observed.

Mamoru glanced down at Venus and Moon. "Seeing the way those two looked after reappearing, I'd agree."

"What did you see?" Moon asked Venus quietly, her chin resting on her right shoulder.

Minako relived her illusion with a shudder. "Something way too close to reality for my liking…let's just leave it at that."

"Okay." Moon reluctantly released her and helped her to her feet.

"Now we just need to find Corey."

Mercury opened her computer, frowning. "I'm sorry, Venus…I don't see any trace of him."

"But you didn't see Sailor Moon or Sailor Venus until they reappeared either," Jupiter pointed out.

"No…I didn't."

Moon sighed, and shared a knowing look with Minako. "Wherever he is, we can't help him. He has to face this alone."

Corey opened his eyes.

He was standing in a vast, circular room. His sword was in his hand, but he wasn't wearing his armour. How strange. A glowing chunk of crystal stood in the centre of the chamber, a dangerous looking sword embedded in the floor before it. He peered at it carefully. Was that…stone? A stone sword? He'd never seen anything like that before. His head felt heavy, like he was waking from a deep sleep. How had he gotten here?

"Corey…please…"

He turned to see Usagi standing behind him. She was dressed in a beautiful white gown, with gold trim. Was this…Princess Serenity? It had to be. But why did she seem so afraid?

"Usagi?" He stepped towards her.

"Please…please don't do this!"

He glanced down, realising his sword was raised, pointed towards her. He took another step forward, and another. No matter how much he tried, his body wouldn't stop. What was happening? Why couldn't he control himself?

"I trust you…" she whispered.

Oh, no. He had a terrible idea of what was about to happen, but he couldn't stop himself. "Please! Selene, god, anybody! Stop this!"

His blade pierced her chest with almost no effort at all. Crimson droplets landed on his face and chest. Usagi's eyes widened in pain, before locking on his own; he saw hurt and confusion staring back at him. His sword slipped free from her chest, and she toppled backwards, collapsing to the floor.

"No! Usagi!" What had he done? Why had he done it? Why couldn't he stop himself?

His eyes locked on her crumpled form, her white dress now stained crimson. His sword fell from his hand, hitting the floor with a dull clang. He screamed in pain and frustration, falling forward onto his hands and knees, looking around the chamber; there were more bodies hanging from the walls. The Senshi, his family, Minako…all dead. He'd done this. It was his fault. He'd killed them. Murdered them. Betrayed them!

"No…" he breathed. He felt dizzy. "I wouldn't…" Hot tears slowly fell down his cheeks. Right at this moment, he felt completely alone.

"I warned you to keep your distance…but you just wouldn't listen."

He looked up to see Titus sitting beside Usagi's body. Why was he suddenly here?

"Titus…" he whispered. "This can't be real..."

"Poor Usagi here would beg to differ. Minako too."

Something was wrong. Why this room, strange yet familiar at the same time? Why was Titus here? Why was he focusing on Usagi and Minako over everyone else? The fog was beginning to lift.

"No." He had to calm down, think things over. "No, I reject this. Just like I reject my betrayal of Queen Serenity."

"Oh?" the cat asked sarcastically. "Did you somehow recover your memories when I wasn't looking?"

"No, but Selene, she said..." Only a fool trusts blindly. Is that what he'd been doing just now? Trusting blindly? His hand drifted down to his pocket, searching for a familiar chain.

"Selene said what?" Titus mocked. "She told you what you needed to hear, Corey, to get your head back on straight and focused!" He looked around at the bodies on the walls. "Well...she tried. You failed."

"No," Corey repeated, fishing the compass out of his pocket. It was spinning in circles again. "You're lying. None of this is real. Not the bodies, not this room. Not even you."

Titus scoffed. "That compass is broken. How you can be sure?"

"Broken?" He stared down at it. "Yes…that's what I thought at first, too. It was doing the exact same thing earlier, when we were attacked in…the stairwell!" The stairwell...at Tokyo Skytree. Terror had Rei, and they were trying to get to her. How had he forgotten that?

"Only it's not broken. It's trying to warn me, just like it was before, only I didn't understand. It's not spinning in circles randomly. It's telling me there's evil all around me!" He looked up at the 'cat', shaking his head. "This is all just an illusion. You're playing on my fears! Are you trying to drain me? Or is this some kind of game to you, meant to keep me distracted?"

"Corey..." Titus began, growing annoyed.

"Oh, shut up! You're not real! Let me talk to the man in charge already!"

Titus' fur slowly melted away, replaced with a feline-shaped Construct that rapidly grew in size, until it towered over him.

"That's a neat trick, but you screwed up! If you could hurt me in here, you wouldn't have wasted all this time with stupid tricks. You would have just killed me!" He stepped forward and got right up close to the Construct, face to featureless face. "Now, I'll repeat myself...let me talk to your boss!"

The Construct stared at him silently for several seconds, before blinking out of existence. A slow clap commenced behind him.

"Very perceptive...Justice."

Corey turned, finding Terror standing behind him. "Oh, so I've graduated from Pretender, have I?"

"Indeed. I've been having an interesting talk with Sailor Mars…about rebirth."

He ignored the taunt. "So, she's still alive, then?" That was the first bit of good news they'd had since they got here.

"But of course! She has a much greater destiny before her than simple death," Terror chuckled. "My lord Revenant is almost here...and he needs a body. Sailor Mars' unique…talents…make her an ideal candidate."

"Son of a bitch," Corey breathed. "That's why you took her!"

"Of course," Terror laughed. "Why else would I waste my time?"

"To set a trap for us, you moron!" Corey retorted. "That's what we figured, anyway!"

"Careful, Justice," Terror warned him. "We're having a nice, civil conversation…we wouldn't want to do anything to spoil that, would we?" He shrugged casually. "To your point, it has worked out rather well, I admit. Lord Revenant gets his body, and I get revenge on Serenity - through her daughter. Two birds with one stone." He pointed at Corey and chuckled. "Getting to kill you again is just a bonus."

What did he mean by that? "Again?"

"Yes...I think I'm going to enjoy it even more than the last time!" His eyes gleamed red behind his helmet. "I'm curious, though…have you worked out who I am yet? I've given you plenty of hints…"

Corey finally understood. The familiar armour, Terror's knowledge of Justice's past, Selene's warning about Titus and his lies...there were only two people Terror could be.

"Are you Honour or Faith?"

"Ah...you've finally put it all together. Good…that makes this all the more entertaining…brother." He performed a sweeping bow. "Justice and Faith…reunited at last. I'm getting tingles."

Rei was still alive, and he now knew Terror's true identity. Pretty successful talk. "Cut the crap. You've told me everything I needed to know, which means this little chat's just about run its course. How about you let me out of here now so I can come upstairs and kick your ass?"

"This new you certainly doesn't lack for confidence," Terror laughed, "as foolish as it may be." He shook his head slowly. "I think I'll leave you exactly where you are for now…I wouldn't want you spoiling the fun for your friends."

He blinked out of existence, leaving Corey alone. Everything was gone, except the room...this oddly familiar room. He'd knew he'd never been here…but still he recognised it. Was this a memory from his past, slipping through Titus' block? Perhaps. It didn't really matter right now. He had to escape it and find his way back to the others. He considered his options. How? There was nobody to fight, no visible doors in or out. He looked down at his sword, then up at the massive crystal structure in the centre of the chamber.

He bent to pick up his sword. "When in doubt, start breaking things. Time to find the others!"

With a slash of his sword, he sent a crescent blade of energy flying into the tower. It cracked, and exploded in a blinding white flash of light.

"Corey!"

He opened his eyes to see Venus, Moon and the others crouching beside him.

"We found you!" Venus said, leaning down and hugging him without a thought. He locked up for a moment, but quickly relaxed and gently put his arm around her back. It felt nice. His only regret was he couldn't actually feel through his armour.

"Yeah, you did," he replied, returning her smile. The image of her bloodied corpse popped into his mind for a brief moment, before he could suppress it. No. That would never happen. Never.

"You saw things too?" Usagi asked, her expression suggesting she knew the answer already.

"Yeah," he replied, giving Mamoru a friendly nod. "But once I realised it was all an illusion, I was able take control, to a degree. I called Terror out."

"You spoke with him?" Jupiter asked, sounding suspicious.

"Yeah," he admitted. Gently prying himself lose from Venus' grip, he sat up slowly. How long would he have to put up with this suspicion? As long as it took, he decided. Repairing that rift continued now. They had every right to know what he'd learned. "He used to be the Guardian Knight of Faith…my former comrade."

"What!?" Venus was shocked.

"How is that possible?" Jupiter demanded.

Mercury's response was a bit more scientific. "That makes him more than a thousand year old…"

"Well, I don't understand the logistics involved, but it's him. He admitted it." Justice looked around. "Incidentally, he wants to kill me. And Usagi."

"What did I ever do to him?" Usagi sputtered, looking worried.

"Nothing. You're just paying your mother's debt, in his eyes."

"Oh…" She looked distraught.

"We won't let him hurt you, Usagi," Mercury assured her.

Venus flashed a grin. "No chance."

"Wait a minute," Jupiter interrupted, looking right at Corey. "He wants to kill you? His old running buddy. Why?"

"I don't know," Corey admitted. "I'd tell you I was right all along, and I didn't betray anybody…but I can't prove that."

"No," Jupiter said flatly. "You can't." She looked at the floor and fidgeted. "But…I'll admit, it's starting to look that way."

The others began talking amongst themselves, about their next move. Venus remained with him, however. She placed her hand gently on his forearm. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he said with a nod. "I'm fine. It just seems like every time I get some answers, they only lead to more questions."

"You'll work everything out in the end," Venus said softly. "I know it."

"Thanks, Minako."

Sailor Mercury's computer emitted a sudden frantic beeping. She dropped her visor again and stared at it, her eyes widening in surprise.

"Mercury?" Sailor Moon asked nervously.

The blue-haired Senshi looked up, definitely worried. "There's some kind of powerful force approaching the tower from above! Whatever it is, it's strong!"

"Shit!" Corey swore. "It's the Revenant Knight! He's coming to take over Rei's body!"

"What?" Moon wailed. "Why didn't you say so before? We've gotta get to her now!"

"But how?" Jupiter demanded. "Every time we try the stairs, something bad happens. Terror's got traps all over the place!"

Mamoru looked at the elevator doors thoughtfully. "Sailor Mercury…you said the elevator was trapped, right?"

"Yes. The cables had been altered somehow."

"What about the shaft itself?"

Corey groaned. "I know what you're thinking, Top Hat, but we'll be awfully exposed if something bad goes down in there."

Venus stared at the doors for a moment, before groaning loudly. "Oh, crap."

"What'd I miss?" Sailor Moon asked, confused.

"We're going up the shaft," Corey muttered.

She stared at Mamoru for a moment, considering it, then nodded. "It's a good plan. We have to take the risk. Rei's up there, with Terror. If this 'Revenant Knight' is here too, then she's in serious trouble!"

"You're right," Jupiter agreed. "We have to try." She shot Venus an apologetic look. "No offense, Venus, but you don't exactly look like you're up to the climb."

"I…" She bowed her head. "You're right. I'm not. I'll…have to stay here."

"No, you won't." All eyes turned to Justice. "I'm not leaving you down here by yourself. It's not safe." He turned his back to her and dropped to one knee. "Climb on."

He could hear the doubt in her voice. "Are you sure?"

"Positive. Come on, Minako, you're tiny; I'm already carrying all this armour. I'll barely notice you."

She sighed. "Alright…if you think so." She gingerly climbed onto his back, wrapping her good arm around his shoulders. "Okay…I think I'm good."

Sailor Moon seemed uncertain. "Venus…"

"Usagi." Corey shook his head. "She's safer with us than she'd be trying to get out on her own."

"Just don't drop me," Venus ordered.

"Oh, ye of little faith," he muttered in English.

She tapped him on the top of his helmet and replied in kind. "I speak perfect English, remember?"

"…damn it."

Jupiter stepped forward and began trying to pry the doors apart. Mamoru stepped in to give her a hand, and slowly but surely they opened.

"Wow…" Sailor Moon said, stepping forward and looking down. "That's a long way to fall…"

"You'll be fine, Usako," Tuxedo Kamen smiled. "If you do fall, I'll be there to catch you."

"Mamo-chan," she whispered, blushing slightly.

"Less chatting, more climbing!" Jupiter snapped, reaching into the shaft and feeling for the emergency ladder. She gripped it and swung out over the void, landing on one of the rungs. "Let's go save Rei!"

Sailor Moon followed, with Mamoru close behind. Mercury went next, followed by Justice, Venus riding on his back. He made the mistake of looking up as he grabbed for the next rung and caught an eyeful of Sailor Mercury's backside. His head snapped back down immediately, focusing on the ladder in front of him. He felt his cheeks grow hot as he realised for the first time that their skirts really didn't cover a whole lot. Especially from this angle.

Venus bopped him on the head for a second time. "I saw that! Eyes front, mister!"

Corey sighed quietly. He was beginning to develop a lot more sympathy for Artemis.

AN: Well, there it is. This one took a lot of work to get the flow just right, so I hope you enjoyed it! Things are heating up now, on the way to the big finale! More to come shortly.