And, now that the editing is done, have a new chapter. :D I'm not going to set myself limits or times for this story any more - I've shown ample times in the past that that won't work. Instead, I'll write until I feel the chapter needs to break and then I'll post. Some chapters may be short, some long, but hopefully they'll all be at least half way decent!

Thanks once again to those who've stuck by me this far, seriously it boggles my mind every time I see a familiar name pop up! I'd assumed everyone would have given up on me by now. And welcome to the new readers as well, if you've read this far then you too are awesome. Rock on.

The not too distant future

"How is he?" Mamoru asked, lowering himself to the ground and wincing.

"He's been better," Kunzite rumbled, "but he will recover. Pluto should arrive any moment now, I believe."

Naturally, Sailor Pluto chose that exact moment to step out from amidst the trees. "Your first day went remarkably well," she said coolly.

"Really? This was a good day?" Jadeite groused. She smirked slightly, but did not reply.

"Do you believe you could return directly to this point from Earth now?" she asked.

"Probably," Mamoru replied, "Though really you'd have to ask Nephrite, he got us here."

"I can bring us back to this spot now, my lord," Nephrite said instantly.

"Mamoru is fine," he said quickly before he got any further. "Does this mean we can go back to the apartment?"

"It does. But remember my warning."

"Yeah, we got it. We won't go outside unless we have to."

And Sailor Pluto was gone.

When they got back, Kunzite helped the limping Zoisite into his room while Mamoru and Nephrite investigated the kitchen. Jadeite flopped down onto one of the sofas and clicked on the television.

"…although the exact cause of the building's destruction still remains unverified, we can exclusively reveal high quality footage placing the sailor senshi at the scene of the destruction that occurred almost three weeks ago."

"Guys," Jadeite shouted, "Guys, you're gonna want to see this."

"What is it?" Mamoru asked, moving closer. The image on the screen changed to show a battlefield. There was no other word for it. They saw daimons, hundreds of them – maybe even thousands. They were contained within a shield with four walls, each a different colour. Blue, red, green and yellow.

"The guardian senshi," Jadeite muttered. "They are… were holding them inside."

The screen returned to the reporter. "Indications seem to suggest that, whatever happened within Mugen Academy, the Sailor Senshi yet again emerged victorious. There is, however, no telling what this means in the long run. Now at last there is high quality footage of one of the senshi – Sailor Mars, in action. Again they saw the battlefield, watching as Rei blasted daimons left right and centre, creating the space she needed to set up the shield. None of them spoke as they watched, and they didn't register a word that the reporter said over the top of it.

"It was necessary," Setsuna said from behind them. None of them were surprised by her presence.

"How does it work?" Mamoru asked finally. "I can watch this, and you tell me that they won, but how does that make any sense?"

"I have transported you to a thread of time in which the Sailor Senshi are indeed victorious in their battle at Mugen Academy," Setsuna said eventually. "Should they fail, this timeline will warp, and the true timeline will reassert itself."

"So if they lose, we disappear?" Nephrite asked.

"You are not directly from this place. The timeline would shift around you until I reintegrate you with your old lives. Currently you are detached – free agents, if you will."

"I don't like the games you play, Sailor Pluto," Kunzite said sternly. "They are vastly outnumbered on that field. They needed support."

"If they had your support now then victory would have been no easier. The only difference made would be that Sailor Moon would gather her strength in a different manner. In this timeline, Sailor Moon has become self-sufficient – she powers herself, she does not rely on others. This is not her greatest strength. Serenity always has been and always will be at her strongest when she accepts the help given by her soldiers. This is what I need to trigger in the fight at Mugen Academy."

"And if it doesn't work?" Mamoru ask. "What if they defeat the death busters without Usagi using their strength?"

Pluto did not answer. "Time runs parallel with my existence," she said instead, "And the present, by that calculation, is precisely one month ago. They have the time and the will to beat the death busters. I will be there to aid them in this quest." She strode across the room to a calendar pinned to the wall.

"On this day," she said, pointing, "you must reunite with the senshi and defeat your enemy."

"Oh joy," Jadeite muttered, "a deadline. Just what I always wanted.

Present day

"You're not coming again?" Usagi asked, shovelling her breakfast down between words. "What is it that's keeping you so busy?"

"I said I had choir didn't I?" Chibiusa replied irritably.

"Every day this week?" Usagi set down her bowl and picked up a glass of juice, downing it in a single gulp. "Mama, is there any more?" she asked in her best wheedling voice.

"Usagi, you've had two bowls already," Ikuko laughed.

"It's all this fighting for love and justice," Usagi replied gravely, "I need my fuel." Ikuko's face softened and she scooped another helping of rice porridge. Usagi set about it with gusto, still peering at Chibiusa over the rim of the bowl.

"So spill," she said through a mouthful of rice, "What is it keeping you so busy?"

"Leave her be Usagi," Ikuko scolded, "Do you have a competition coming up?" she asked Chibiusa.

"Yeah, just a small one though," Chibiusa replied, nodding vigorously.

"When is it?" Ikuko asked, "We should get tickets!"

"I think it's sold out already," Chibiusa said quickly. Usagi's eyes narrowed.

8888888

"You want me to track her down?" Ami asked, blinking in surprise.

"Yep. She says she stays at school late, but I don't believe her. I want to know where she's been going the past couple of weeks."

"So you want me to check where she's been going after school?"

"That about sums it up, yeah."

"That… that's a little intrusive Usagi," Ami said gently.

"I'm just curious is all," Usagi huffed, slouching back in her chair. And she could be doing something dangerous, Eclipse said. What if she were visiting Hotaru Tomoe? We still don't know quite what's going on with the girl's father.

"And she could be visiting Hotaru," Usagi said to Ami, giving the same justification Eclipse just had. "We need to be sure she's safe."

"Well… alright," Ami said finally, "But if she's anywhere other than the Tomoe household you should respect her privacy."

"Yep, will do. All about privacy here."

"Of course."

"I knew it!" Usagi exclaimed. She, Ami and Rei were standing outside the building to which Ami had tracked Chibiusa. The name on the mail slot read Tomoe.

"There are three people inside," Ami said after a moment. "One of the readings is odd though."

"There's a dark presence in that house," Rei said softly. Her hands tightened on the handles of Ami's chair, the knuckles turning white.

"That may be what I'm sensing," Ami nodded, chewing on her lip.

"Shall we go in?" Usagi asked.

"And say what?" Rei retorted.

"That we're there to collect Chibiusa of course," Usagi replied, rolling her eyes.

"We really should get her out of there," Ami agreed, "Whatever is in there, it's extraordinarily powerful."

"One a scale of one to ten, ten being the silver crystal, where does it rate?" Usagi asked.

"Umm… according to the console and compared to the current power level of the crystal?" Usagi nodded. "Eleven."

"Oh."

"How is that even possible?" Rei asked.

"Well the crystal isn't as strong at the moment as it has been in the past," Ami said, tapping a few keys on the console, "And…" she stopped, frowning down at the screen.

"What is it?" Usagi asked.

"The console… it's recorded this signal before, but it won't let me access the data. It's restricted by a password."

"A password? Has that ever happened before?"

"No." Ami shook her head, staring down at the screen. "Still, that means it must have encountered this power before during the Silver Millenium. We should ask Luna, she may know what it is – or she may know the password."

"Ok, good plan. But first we get Chibiusa out of there," Usagi said.

"And how are you gonna do that?" Rei asked sardonically.

"Like this." Usagi clicked a button on her communicator and waited. A moment later, the screen fizzed to life and Chibiusa was visible. "Chibiusa hurry," Usagi exclaimed, "There's a daimon attacking the supermarket and we need your help!"

"I'm on my way!" Chibiusa exclaimed before the screen went black. Usagi smiled smugly.

It was my idea, Eclipse groused.

And therefore, by your own logic, it was my idea. We are, apparently, the same person after all.

Eclipse didn't have a response to that.

A moment later Chibiusa bounded through the front door, bag banging against her back as she ran. She almost ran straight past them, but Usagi caught her arm, forcing her to spin and face them.

"Not so fast," she said grimly.

"I… what?"

"I asked you to stay away from Hotaru Tomoe, Chibiusa," Usagi said softly, "We still don't know what she is, or what her father is up to."

"But…" Chibiusa began.

"No buts," Usagi interrupted. "Come on, we're going home."

"Her heart Crystal is unusually strong," Tomoe said thoughtfully, bending down to exam the apparatus sitting before him on the table. "I believe that it would by itself be enough to waken the Dark Messiah."

"And the Purity Chalice? The Grail?"

"The Messiah will reclaim it in order to bring Pharaoh 90 through into this galaxy," he replied. "Once she is awake, the sailor senshi will be of little consequence. This is your mission now Viluy. Obtain that girls pure heart."

"Yes, Professor. Consider it done."