As they finished their food and the plates were taken away, Mamoru's eyes suddenly focused on the newspaper article Midori had been reading before he sat down, the title and content of which he had obscured throughout their time in the booth in one fashion or another in a manner that made it seem inconsequential; however, as Mamoru's eyes briefly glimpsed the title, his mind changed. "Midori," he asked carefully, not immediately wanting to jump to the conclusion that Midori had been actively keeping secrets again, "What newspaper is that?"

He saw Hanada's eyes shift warningly towards Midori before the lights went out. As the hum of electricity died, so too did the voices in the café, until, all at once, the thrum of curiosity tinged with fear turned the restaurant to a quiet frenzy of whispers. Immediately Mamoru assumed the worst, but hesitated momentarily, having caught a snippet of conversation, "Was a blackout scheduled?" "It'd make sense, right? Based on what happened last week?" "But they didn't release such a statement…" Without needing to wait or ask, Hanada moved to let him out, and the four of them made their way through the darkness of the Crown Fruit Parlor towards the street, their feet guided by memory alone. Hanada led the way, and after just a few encounters with the other patrons, they managed to leave, spilling out into the street to find themselves in a loose crowd that stared in every direction, the people mumbling to each other, trying to find out what happened. Unlike last time, there was no full moon to aide them; only the faint stars.

They spread out, each looking up in a different direction, trying to catch sight of the telltale glow of Venus. Mamoru's section was dark and desolate, but while he moved to rejoin Hanada he kept his eyes peeled, just in case, part of him daring to hope that Venus would surface and would bring Usagi with her. "Nothing," he reported, his findings echoed by his friend and, moments later, by Midori and Moegi.

"Could it really just be a blackout then?" Midori asked aloud, his stance relaxing, but his shoulders still tense as his eyes shifted over the crowd warily. "Chiba, the crystal…" Midori started uncomfortably, "is it…?"

Guessing what he meant, Mamoru nodded curtly and replied, "Always." The crystal was always with him; he found he felt incredibly uncomfortable without it on his person, like he was constantly forgetting something urgent, like he had left the stove on or the door unlocked or had left his homework at the public library; it made him anxious. So the Golden Crystal, the most powerful weapon in their arsenal, the supposed carrier of his very soul, was in the front left pants pocket of his school uniform. Not exactly glorious, but it worked. Midori nodded at the reply, understanding, and stepped forward a touch, facing down the street, his eyes to the sky.

Mamoru crouched down and pretended to tie his shoe, masking his true intention as he laid his palm to the ground and sent out a single pulse in an attempt to locate Venus, were she even there. In his mind's eye buildings faded as the energy rushed past, a hundred thousand white lights springing into existence, each belonging to a citizen of Tokyo; however, other than the greens and blue glow of his guardians surrounding him, there seemed to be no sign of – wait. He sent out another pulse, directing the majority of the energy towards the strange singularity downtown, but while he came up empty, he tried again, as something didn't feel quite right. A third and fourth time followed as he increased the frequency of the signal until, at least, There – he caught it. The tail end of a saturated orange-yellow glow. Venus. "She's here," he said quietly, a warning as he sent out other pulses, trying to figure out what was going on; one time she'd be there, the next she wouldn't – it was as though she were… teleporting.

He stood to find himself partially surrounded, each of his friends having taken a direction to scan as they waited for more information. "It looks like she's teleporting; I couldn't tell where she was heading but she was never in one place for too—"

"GET DOWN!" Hanada cried, turning to barrel him over as a bright light streaked past them; just as quickly as he was down, Hanada was back up and Midori took Mamoru's arm to pull him to his feet as Moegi yelled for the crowd to run and find cover, but his voice was lost in the cacophony of screams that echoed about the streets as chaos broke loose. Four, five – ten beams of light sailed down from the sky, each striking a target and knocking the person to the ground; breaking free of Midori's grasp, Mamoru dashed over to the closest victim, calling the Golden Crystal's healing powers to bear as he fell to his knees and turned the girl over, fearing it would be too late. What was the Moon Kingdom's game, harming innocents like this?! But as he turned the girl over and felt the life beating faintly within her, he realized that the game hadn't changed, but Venus's beams had.

"She's taking their energy!" he cried, his voice straining to carry over the roaring sound, "Kings! Transform!" Pushing himself back away from her, Mamoru tried to concentrate on his powers and transform instantaneously, but with more beams landing by the second, people dodging, screaming, crying, he eventually gave up, needing to be ready faster, and yelled the phrase aloud, "Pyrite Power, Transform!"

"Jadeite Power, Transform!"

"Zoisite Power, Transform!"

"Nephrite Power, Transform!"

Cloaked in their garb of the past, filled with strength and power, the four of them raced through the crowd, eyes up and searching for their enemy. Already East King's lightning-infused stone knuckles had come to bear; with a powerful thrust, he lunged off the ground and launched himself into the air, his boot catching on the side of a building to propel him upwards, his cape helping him to soar impossibly high, but by the time East reached their enemy's level there was no one there to meet him. "Left!" Hanada yelled, and Mamoru turned quickly, a rose on his fingertips and sailing skyward towards the yellow-garbed senshi as she bombarded the fleeing crowd with more energy-sapping beams, but before his rose could strike the target, she had disappeared yet again, her manic laughter echoing behind her.

"We need an advantage!" South shouted angrily, dodging around and over collapsed citizens.

"Rooftop!" North replied sharply, and the three of them joined East on the roof in a few short jumps. Venus reappeared and Mamoru threw another rose at her, this one laced with a bit of Golden Crystal energy. It hit, grazing off of her thigh as she twisted away. Her blue eyes sending him a hateful glare, she teleported away again, reappearing father down the street and raining down laser blasts on the confused populace. Surprised at her choice to run instead of fight, they gave chase, racing from rooftop to rooftop after her. He threw attacks after her as he could but she was too quick and anticipating; none struck. The toll was rising – if she got away, the energy she gathered would be an incredible boost to her cause, and an incredible loss to Tokyo and its people.

With a kick of speed he pushed forward, launching over alleys and connecting streets and finally gaining on her, his thoughts turning from the good of the world to the good of one – what had they done with Usagi? Each step was a kick forward, his legs propelling him such that each step was a leap closer to an answer, the thoughts he had kept bottled tightly threatening to spill: was she alright? What were they doing to her? Was she punished for dropping the gems? Were they taking care of her? Had she somehow managed to escape? … had her life energy been sacrificed to their queen? "Venus!" he yelled, the command to stop clear in his voice as he threw another rose at her, his eyes dangerous as he prepared another – he would have his answers!

She dodged the flower and was immediately on top of him, her gloved hand slamming closed on his throat as the force of her blow pushed them both backwards. His back hit the concrete roof roughly, and in the moments he spent in helplessness, the breath knocked completely out of him, she leaned close, her face inches from his with her golden hair falling around them like a curtain, her constricted blue eyes staring at him eerily. Her voice unlike that of a week ago, she hissed, "Where is the Golden Crystal?" Gritting his teeth he glared up at her and recognized that something was off about the girl – there was no cold calculation in those eyes, no hate-filled passion or heartbroken pain, just crazed obsession that seemed to increase at every moment; her tiara, too, was missing; in its place her forehead was marked with a symbol, a circle atop a cross, pulsating with an orange glow. Her lips pursing unhappily at his apparent hesitation, she pressed harder into his neck, crushing his windpipe. Willing his muscles to answer him, he tried to throw her away, but knew he wasn't quick enough when he felt the icy grip of her heart chain wrap itself around his leg and the uncomfortable pull began in his body as his energy slowly drained away. Finally his lungs started again, and in the first moment he pulled in as much air as he could around her vice-like grip. "Where is the Golden Crystal?!" she repeated, her eyes narrowing further, her pupils smaller than he could have believed possible.

"Whe—" he stared answering, but with his Adam's apple caught beneath her grip he choked on his words. Her scowl deepening, she leaned closer as though to hear him better, her grip lessening marginally; this was his chance. "Where is Usagi!?" he countered, forcing his voice to work as he brought his right hand to bear and threw Golden Crystal energy at her. She was thrown backwards off of him, her chain ripping and tearing as it left with her, gouging his leg deeply, but he had no time to properly heal it. He rolled to his feet, favoring the leg, and quickly turned a rose into his sword. Holding it at the ready, he stood, prepared, as she picked herself up off the ground, visibly snarling. She whipped her chain around and he waited, wondering suddenly if the Crystal could combat lasers.

He never got to find out.

As the chain of interlocking hearts streaked towards him he threw up his sword as a shield, but before the attack could hit the chain was caught by a whip of malleable ice and jerked to the side. The force of the pull put her off balance, but for only a split second as she dropped the chain and pointed her index finger towards him. This action, too, was stopped abruptly as three fiery knives streaked through the air towards her, one piercing through the back of her hand. With a cry of rage she reached to remove it, ducking and rolling away as East King rushed her, his fist pulled back and ready. When he missed the King jumped out of sight and Venus had the split-second chance to pull at the metallic object, both of her gloves singed and burning as South's powerful fire spread. She managed to dislodge the blade only to have a handful more streaking towards her – she rolled to get out of their path and then looked straight up and lunged away as East King came down fist-first onto the rooftop where she would have been, but while she missed the brunt force of his attack, the shockwave sent her flying backwards, right through the tip of West King's sword.

The joint attack by his guardians was as quick as it was brutal, but still the battle wasn't over. Mamoru's eyes never left Venus, hoping to find some resemblance of humanity, some change in her, but even as her body staggered at the shock of impalement, the mark on her forehead blazed and her eyes never changed, her pupils pinpricks and expression manic and crazed. What had happened to her? 'Is your love so fickle, Prince?' she had so softly demanded before, but now… 'Where is the Golden Crystal?!' Putting a hand on his wound he healed quickly, then stepped forward to approach her, both North and South Kings appearing slightly ahead and to the side of him, their weapons at the ready as they provided an escort towards the senshi that clung to life.

"Give me the Crystal!" she cried angrily. He tried not to pay attention to the trickle of blood running from her mouth down her chin, or the dark spot spreading quickly through the white leotard of her uniform, but the details stuck with him. The senshi were no different than they. Though they allied with darkness they were still just flesh and blood. If only they could be redeemed.

"Is Jewel Tiara still alive? Where are you keeping her?" West King demanded, his voice solemn and threatening. He held her in place with his forearm around her shoulders, keeping her impaled on his curved scimitar. The move was calculating and cold, but the choice of question caught Mamoru off guard; West King had always seemed so intent on the greater mission, and yet now, with their first and possibly only chance to interrogate the enemy, he was instead asking the question Mamoru most wanted to know, rather than the one that would mean most to their knowledge of the events transpiring in Elysion.

"Do you really want to know?" she returned, her tone changing, growing softer while her eyes remained as hard as ever. She tilted her head back towards West King, reaching up with one burned and bloody glove to place her hand comfortingly on his elbow, index finger tracing up his arm; it was odd, almost like a lover's caress. Something was definitely wrong – she could still be dangerous but Kobai seemed oblivious. Behind them cement crumbled as East King pulled himself out of the hole he had created. The distraction almost covered her words, "Shall I take you to see, my Evening Star?"

"West!" North shouted a warning, stepping forward in an attempt to break Kobai of whatever trance she had him in. At hearing his voice Venus snarled again, her index finger glowing as she prepared to fire, but West King was already reacting. Gripping her tightly, he pulled his weapon to the side, and she screamed, "For My Queen!" before erupting into light. Mamoru covered his eyes hastily, his cape appearing to counteract the massive shockwave that burst forth from her destruction. They all slid backwards over the pavement, but in the rush of wind that barraged him, he thought he heard her true voice softly whisper, "Serenity."

When it was all over he opened his eyes to see her Power Gem hovering in place, its inner light harsh compared to the softer glows the other gems had emitted. West King, his expression pained but resolved, reached out and took the stone in hand. He gasped in unexpected pain, his hand quickly releasing, but with determination he forced his gloves to close around it.

"West?" East asked hesitantly.

"It burns," West commented quietly.

Beryl, flitting in from behind a stairwell on the rooftop, hovered before West, her hands reaching out to take it from him. "You were enemies; your kunzite energy is fighting her Venus energies," she said softly, but matter-of-factly. "Here, let me hold it for you, it won't harm me."

All eyes on her, South was the one to ask, "Why wouldn't it harm you?" his voice hinting at the sudden knot of suspicion they all felt. She herself had just said that Venus's enemies, or the enemies of the Moon Kingdom, could not hold it. But then, Mamoru wondered, glancing away from them all, what did that say of Usagi?

Without taking her eyes off of West's, Beryl replied, "I don't have a soul anymore, so her energies will not conflict with mine. Let me take this from you, Kunzite."

She had no soul? Mamoru's attention snapped back, staring at the small fairy with the long wavy hair; no soul? Was that the price she had paid to survive the fall of the Golden Kingdom? Kunzite – West King – shook his head negatively. Still looking at the jewel in his hand, he asked of Mamoru, "Jewel Tiara's belt is still in your apartment?" Mamoru nodded, and West continued, "The belt must have some sort of containment function; we'll store it in there for now." He then sharply turned away from them, walking forward towards their destination, the arm that gripped the stone visibly trembling despite West's attempts; but it was his choice, so Mamoru didn't try to dissuade him.

They all fell in behind him, jumping from the battle-torn rooftop onto another, and another, running through the city, their eyes glancing down to the streets to gauge the amount of destruction Sailor Venus had wrought. The pavement was pock-marked with small craters, but most of the people were slowly picking themselves up, looking around confused, but safe. Helios joined them not long after. "I was able to release most of the energy before it left," Helios stated, coasting along beside them, "but some… might not make it."

They all stopped, staring at Helios and the implications of his words – some might not make it? People would die as a result of this attack? Citizen casualties… "Couldn't Chiba –" South stopped, glancing over at Mamoru through his red mask, "I mean, if he wanted to, couldn't he heal them?" Mamoru looked to Helios for the answer; if he could do something, he would. It was his fault all of this happened, and no one deserved to die because of him. Not again, he thought automatically, forcing down remembered images of Serenity's sacrifice and the emotions that he had yet to deal with. Even now, just the whisper of her memory threatened to undue him. He forced it down, concentrating on the Pegasus and the present.

"He could, but the ambulances are already being sent out; by the time we separated the unconscious from the awakening, it'd be too late."

"Unless we found what hospital they're all being sent to," Hanada commented, "In a situation like this, they'd probably gather those with similar symptoms to the same place. We could find that place, get in, heal them and leave."

"You think they'd let him leave?" West commented condescendingly, his hand tight on the crystal as he stared at them all openly.

"Yeah," East commented, his brown brows knitting together in agreement with Kobai, "Guy comes in, mysteriously waves his hands over people, they wake up, and you think they'll just let him walk out? You're dreaming. They'd want to study him or dissect him or something."

"I won't let people die for this." Mamoru stated with finality, ignoring the confliction on Moegi's face, or the gradual acceptance on Hanada's. He would heal them. He was responsible for them anyway, right? And who says he'd get caught – he shouldn't have to hover over people to heal them; he could act like a visitor. Maybe just sending out a steady flow of power would work. Before anyone else could speak up, he stated, "Whether you approve or not, I'm going."

"I don't approve, but if you're going I'm going with you," Midori stated, his arms crossed in annoyance and his mouth set in a scowl. "Someone's going to have to break you out of whatever science lab they stick you in."

"They'd have to go through us first," South shrugged cockily, "And I like those odds."

Mamoru nodded, appreciating the support. He turned to Hanada for a suggestion of which hospital to visit first, but found the blond looking to their fourth, his expression hard to read. Kobai wasn't looking at them, instead his gaze moving through the buildings towards the rising moon. Beryl flittered beside him, her small voice barely carrying across the ten foot distance between them; that the crystal was hurting Kobai had slipped Mamoru's mind, and while they might not be on the best of terms at the moment, West had tried to find out about Usagi's predicament, and West was fighting for him. They'd just have to split up. Turning to North, South, and East, he quickly split the group into two teams. "You three figure out the situation with the people – once you find out which hospital they're grouping them into, send a message over the communicator and I'll meet you there. Helios," he added, looking to the hovering Pegasus, "Monitor energy signals; if someone's energy gets too low…"

"I'll keep an eye out," Helios replied, then disappeared.

"West, let's go," he finished, then led the caped King and the fairy Beryl, on to his apartment and Jewel Tiara's belt as North, East, and South got organized. As they got out of earshot, Mamoru slowed to run beside Kobai, at first keeping deliberately silent. Kobai, the Evening Star, West King, Kunzite; from what memories he allowed through from the past, he knew that they had been close back then. Like brothers. But now… Kobai had willingly withheld the truth. He was cold, he was calculating, he was stand-offish, and yet earlier he had wasted a chance in an attempt to help Mamoru, and only Mamoru. "Why did you do it?" he asked at last, keeping his eyes forward. He was still angry, but more willing now to listen to reason.

"Do what?" Kobai answered monotonously.

Any number of things, really. Mamoru chose the first, "Hide my identity."

He scoffed, "To keep you safe. To throw off the Dark Kingdom. It was never supposed to happen that way; if you were to awaken we had hoped it would have been after the Moon Kingdom had been dealt with. It was all for you, and, according to Midori, it was what you had intended as well."

Mamoru nodded, but did not comment.

"I regret what happened to Tsukino Usagi; I operated without enough information. If I had known she were Jewel Tiara I—"

"Wouldn't have let her anywhere near me?" Mamoru finished bitterly, remembering the distaste Kobai and Beryl had for Usagi's alter-ego.

"Truthfully, yes," Kobai replied, "but we didn't know who she was or what she was after –"

"I knew!" Mamoru interjected angrily, stopping suddenly. Kobai skidded to a halt and faced him. "If you had listened you would have known, too! But right from the beginning you and Beryl had been against her – she didn't know who she was or her part in this – she was alone and had no one helping her or showing her the way, but she wanted to help us! She was as much against the Moon Kingdom as we were, and she didn't have history fueling her fire! She despised them for how they treated people – Jewel Tiara fought for justice, and you treated her like a spy for the enemy. If you had only trusted me –"

"Trusted you?!" Kobai spat, his anger bubbling over at last, "Endymion, my life is for you! Since you were born I have been protecting you, watching over you, learning and growing with you – you are like a brother to me! And so I, more than anyone, know of your weakness for her! You gave your heart to her and some of your sense along with it! You destroyed our world for her! So if the Moon Kingdom wanted to send a spy to unravel us, to steal the Golden Crystal and kill you, who better than a doppelganger of the Moon Princess? Who better to gain your trust and mislead you? So forgive me for not trusting you then! I said before that I regret that I was wrong, and I am truly sorry for the loss of Tsukino Usagi, for you, for her family, for the world, but I do not regret my mistrust towards your judgment of her!

"I did what I did to try to keep you safe." Kobai finished, his silver eyes hard as he stared out from behind his mask. "I will never regret any action taken in that spirit."

They faced off against each other for moments more, Mamoru seeing the reason in Kobai's words, unwilling to fully accept the apology hidden there. Yet he broke the stare first. He nodded once, walking forward again, "Let's go." They fell into step as they jumped away, nearing Mamoru's apartment. Kobai was right – from his perspective, everything he had done was an attempt to shield and protect Mamoru, but he didn't need that anymore. He was fully capable of making decisions for himself, and as they landed on his rooftop he told him as much. "I deserve a hand in my own fate. Keep me informed from now on, got it?"

Kobai nodded and they powered down, then went through the open stairwell and down the few flights to Mamoru's apartment. Once there, Mamoru found Jewel Tiara's belt and laid it out on the table. Kobai held the gem above the belt to one side of the gems already present and a spot opened for it, as though it knew what was going on and was ready to accept the gem. Holding it for a moment longer than what Mamoru thought was necessary, Kobai finally pressed the gem into the waiting space and stood back. Now that all four gems were together, it was easy to see that the Venus crystal was different from the others – its energies more violent, its inner shine more saturated.

"What do you think that means?" Mamoru asked, motioning for Kobai's hand as he watched the lights dance within the pyramidal crystals.

Kobai offered up his burned and blistered appendage and shrugged. Beryl, who had stayed absolutely silent throughout their trip, seemed to have no answer as well. "More powerful, perhaps?" she offered.

"But if they are the power gems of the planets, shouldn't Jupiter's be strongest based on size?" Mamoru asked, already nearly finished with healing Kobai's hand.

Beryl shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not sure."

At that moment, both Mamoru and Kobai's watches went off in an alarm. They both twitched the hands to noon and Hanada's face appeared. "We found it."

Author's Note!

Hey guys! Sorry it took so long between updates. ^^' You see, that hospital thing wasn't planned but then Helios was all "AHAHA I SAID IT NOW DEAL WITH THAT!" and I was all 'But Venus's crystal! Kunzite's hand!" but did he listen? No. He was a complete stubborn donkus. XD BUT IT WORKED OUT WONDERFULLY AHAHAHA WAIT FOR NEXT CHAPTER~

I had this huge author's note all written out but then as I hit 'save' the power went off. u.u I answered questions from the reviews, too (BTW THANK YOU FOR REVIEWS! They keep me going~) But, in general, ^.^ most questions will be answered once they get to Elysion! (Sorry in advance; a lot of Elysion time will be AHA! THE BACKSTORY IS FINALLY REVEALED!) ^^'

Oh! But one question by Artemis Moon Maiden was about their names! I, unfortunately, am super not good at Japanese, and didn't want to make something about their direction (haha, that'd be terrible now that West and East swapped XD), so instead I went for colors! Each King's last name is a traditional Japanese color based on their gemstone ^^

Kobai = Pink (Kunzite)

Hanada = Blue (Zoisite)

Moegi = Green (Jadeite)

Midori = Green (Nephrite)

Eventually I might give them first names XD

THANK YOU FOR READING! :D I'm so sorry it took over a month to update! (Please forgive me!)

-Kyralih