It wasn't the best of plans, but they didn't have much of a choice: if Metallia was using Beryl as a new host, they had to break that connection before Metallia tried to strike the Crystal Palace again. At the same time, Metallia's henchmen were still attacking Crystal Tokyo, stealing energy and turning innocent people into creatures to further fill the army's ranks - meaning the timing of the next big attack could be sooner rather than later, and Neo-Queen Serenity wasn't fully recovered yet to defend against something like that. So, they had to find Beryl and stop the attacks, both of which seemed like an impossibility, especially considering the henchmen they'd be fighting had knocked their future selves into comas.

Their only consolation was in that they had the blessings of the Shitennou, whereas their future selves had not, so the enemies would not be expecting such a significant change, and, beyond that, the Senshi were recently awakened from their last transformations, so they wouldn't be as rusty as they might have been in this time. … assuming they had been rusty. And they had Cardinal King and Princess Sailor Moon with them, which…

Mamoru had to be there. He knew Beryl, he had helped Jewel Tiara snap out of it, he was experienced in fighting and could heal his teammates. He would be a target, but Usako would make a bigger one. Metallia was seeking revenge against Serenity, who was kept safe from her agents within the Crystal Palace; what would they do if they recognized her as being the same person in a younger form? Would they… but she wouldn't accept the idea of staying behind, and her attack had been what finished off the enemy in the Time Door dimension; they needed her, too.

It had taken some shuffling to figure out groups; the direction Beryl had taken was towards the first attack site, completely devoid of life, so they had to split into at least two teams if they were going to put a stop to the attacks on the surviving population and lead them back to the Crystal Palace. Despite the attack made by a 'citizen' before, he agreed with Usako in reopening the Palace to use as a shelter; now that they knew what could happen, they could figure out a screening process - the computer system was advanced enough to do practically anything, so scanning people as they approached for any sign of being a covert monster shouldn't be too difficult. As the High Priest led Mercury through the configuration, West called a meeting of the Kings in the nearby library; Princess Sailor Moon tagged along, so Venus accompanied them, too, as Mars made to reconvene with Jupiter and locate communicators for the mission.

The library meeting was more a quick summit to summarize what they knew about their new abilities and items and what they did not know, and then attempt to use whatever the library had on the Four Heavenly Kings to put the remaining pieces together; North quickly found a computer terminal and started typing immediately, making quick work of figuring out what shortcuts he could use to make the task faster.

"We've got upgraded armor we can call upon and new weapons that make use of an elemental affinity; South, were you granted any additional items or abilities?"

Yuu shook his head. "Just the halberd," he reported, "nothing more."

"Add in freaky insider information or whatever," East piped up, holding up one finger for each of the three lines of the defense he offered when practically everyone in the room groaned at him, "He knew we could contact Mamoru from the spaceship - or knew we could straight up teleport to him. He knew we could set up that barrier, and he knew we could give him our power at the end, there, too. And," he added, "he could have a heightened sense of smell."

"Nero," Yuu admonished in a complaint, but Mamoru was glad for what Nero had offered - he hadn't known about any of that - that it had been Yuu who initiated the teleport, at least, though he had known he initiated the barrier. He hadn't known about the power, either.

"Zochoten, Lord of the South: Catalyst of Spiritual Growth, Lord Who Expands," North read out from the screen, then turned, "Can you… grow?"

"Like the Hulk?!"

Yuu rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, "Not that I know of."

"It'd be cool, though."

"East -" West cut in to redirect Nero to where he intended, "Items or abilities?"

"Trident that can pull rock up to meet it," Nero stated, holding out his hand for the long black weapon to appear and immediately disappear, "a sword," he said, the implement appearing and disappearing, "and whatever this is." He held his hands a different way, and an instrument appeared - something old, like a guitar but with a flat top and a cutout design rather than a hole into the interior wooden chamber. Nero examined it, "I think he called it a lute? An enchanting lute?"

Kaito spoke from the computer, "Jikokuten, Lord of the East: Guardian of the Nation, Lord who Upholds the Realm." He spun in the chair to look at the lute before putting typing again. "The lute could be… there are some stories about it being able to put people to sleep? Or convert them."

"A brainwashing instrument of good? Like the pied piper?"

West held up a hand to stop him, "You can figure that out when you're fighting with the Sailor Guardians to stop the attacks and bring people back to the Palace."

East sobered and nodded, the lute disappearing. "Upholding the Realm and all," he commented and fell back into a seat, silent. Mamoru didn't like the idea of them splitting up, either, but they didn't have a choice if they wanted to succeed.

"I've got a gem that can let me see the truth in things," West announced, pulling the blue stone he had produced earlier on the rooftop back in Tokyo from a pouch on his belt. "I've also got a scroll and a writing brush, but without practice in calligraphy, I'm not sure how much use they'll be."

"Koumokuten, Lord of the West," Kaito supplied, "Punisher of Evil, Seeker of Enlightenment, Lord who Sees All. I think you're right about the calligraphy, but we can figure that out when all this is over." He typed a little more before turning around to share his own. "I have a spear that can freeze a target on contact, enhanced hearing, and this," he said, and opened his hand for a small pagoda to appear on his palm. "I was blessed by Tamonten, Lord of the North, Protector of the Righteous, Patron of Warriors, and Lord who Hears All. If this information is correct, this little thing can erase evil influences from otherwise innocent souls when it's opened."

Lord who hears all? Mamoru smiled; it explained how he knew when to duck earlier, and for someone who wanted to run a newspaper it could be very useful, patron of warriors or not. Protector of the righteous, for Khalid, too; it fit. Nero's, too - in his own way. And Yuu's… the catalyst of spiritual growth?

"The army -" Yuu breathed, straightening up from his lean against bookshelves. "You could cleanse them?" Catalyst or no, he had a pretty strong moral center, when he wasn't angling to win an argument.

"I think," Kaito said, backtracking, the miniature building disappearing. "Maybe."

But Yuu nodded against the hesitation, his voice assuring enough as to erase any question of the possibility from Mamoru's mind, if not anyone else's, "You can. You should go with them - you can save them before it's too late."

West nodded, "North and East with them; South, Cardinal and I will look for Beryl -"

"Mamoru?" East interrupted suddenly, though he had not stood; rather, his elbows were rested on his spread knees, his gloved hands clasped and hanging in the air. He stared down at his hands. "Did you get the armor upgrade?"

"I don't think so," he replied honestly, not wanting to hide anything about powersets from them. Some things that the Lord of the Center had said he would keep quiet for now, like about what's coming for them, but nothing that could lead to misunderstandings over expectations. "Taishakuten brought me back to life and let me transform, but he didn't mention any other abilities or skills -"

"Taishakuten, Lord of the Center," Kaito read aloud, "Commander of the Four Heavenly Kings, Defender of the Heavenly Kings and Humanity against all that is Evil -"

"His title isn't mine to have," Mamoru interrupted, recalling the spirit's words clearly, and not wanting to give them any ideas of grandeur that he didn't have. "I am to keep my title of King of the Cardinal Rose and retain my abilities, but he granted me nothing of his - just my life, and my ability to help protect everyone."

Kaito hummed in a way that suggested he wasn't convinced and turned back to the computer.

"So no armor," East repeated, for clarity.

"He wore robes," Mamoru replied definitively.

East nodded, pushed himself to his feet, and strode over to South, starting a quiet conversation and Mamoru wasn't exactly thrilled to see happening. He could watch his own back, and he could watch theirs, and he didn't like being thought of as a liability or someone that needed to be especially watched.

"Well," North said, standing from the computer to clap him on the shoulder, leading him out of the room behind West. "If you start to shoot lighting, or get a diamond mace that gives you foresight and immense power, ask me more."

East was paired with Mercury, Venus, and Princess Sailor Moon; North went with Mars and Jupiter. Each of them had use of a radio that fit into their right ear, activated by touch or verbal command, with semi-private channels so as not to overwhelm everyone with chatter. Everything streamed through the palace, where Helios coordinated things with the "ghost" of his future self. Using cameras, they'd be able to warn the teams of incoming threats and coordinate support should the need arise. Mamoru felt tentatively confident in that Mercury's computer and Mars's psychic abilities would warn them before Helios had to.

Standing just inside the door of the Crystal Palace, they wished each other luck, gave final in-person instructions and reminders, and prepared to leave. He trusted Khalid would take care of things for his team as, for those final minutes of preparation, his arms were full. Princess Sailor Moon held him tight; standing on her tiptoes with her arms wrapped around his shoulders, he was content to hold her for as long as she held him, her face buried in his neck and his heart in her hands. If he could have stopped time, he would have, even if just for another second of being with her like this, where it felt like just the two of them without anything to worry about. Her rhythmic breathing and the warmth of her against him comforted him like nothing else, though as he closed his eyes in her embrace he felt like he could easily fall asleep. And even though thinking about why he was so tired could have been terrifying in retrospect, he felt none of that distress within her embrace… but with a gentle call of his name it was over and she released him, the heels of her boots touching down on the crystalline floor with a sharp click as she took a step back, her hands trailing down his arms to clasp his hands. She smiled at him and heart thumped in his chest, demanding he do something, but East was suddenly there and her hands were gone from his.

"Don't worry, Mamo-chan," he teased, but while he continued in a teasing tone, the look Nero gave him as he spoke was a promise: "Usagi-chan is safe with me."

"She'd better be," South quipped, fiddling with his communicator with a frown.

"Please," East shot back, wrapping an arm around Usako's shoulders to lightly lead her towards the door, "Me, Mercury, Venus, and Princess Sailor Moon? These future freaks don't know what's about to hit them. Prepare to keep score, Nerd," he called, challenging North.

The blond rolled his eyes and let out a long-suffering sigh, pulling an elastic out from between his teeth as he retied his hair to keep it tighter to the back of his neck. He remarked flatly, "With as much as you showboat, we'll triple your numbers in half the time. Remember: first priority is to get the people back here, second is to defeat enemies. And don't do -" he cut himself off and changed conversational targets to Mercury, "Don't let him lead you into doing something stupid."

Mercury looked up at East with a hint of concern, and East opened his mouth to protest, but Jupiter clapped North on the back and lead him towards the door, saying, "With Venus on their team, there's no chance he'll lead them astray."

And, with that, the citizen recovery teams were gone; he returned the waves of goodbye, and as they disappeared he silently wished for their safe return. Khalid ran through the directions with them one last time, and then they, too, left, though at a run and in a different direction. Their feet ate through the city streets; while they preferred rooftops, the area of the city they ran towards was the one hit by the original fireball, and, with their prior experience with one of those scorched roofs, they decided to keep to ground level and open their senses to any sign of attack. When Beryl appeared on the recording and flew off she was hesitant and slow; while there was a chance she was long gone from the city, their cameras had lost her before she entered the blackened debris field, so there was also a chance she was still here. If Metallia was in full control it would have no reason to hesitate - it'd head right back to its base and start resting up, wouldn't it? So maybe Beryl had already wrested back control and just didn't know where to go? Else she was fighting it and could use the backup.

West slowed, Khalid holding up his arm to indicate they had arrived at the location where Beryl had last been seen, and Mamoru stopped, quietly catching his breath as he used his eyes and ears to pick up any indication that their fairy friend was still there. Psychometry would do him no good in this; Beryl had exchanged her soul to stay alive when the Golden Crystal had reset things, so she never showed up for him in his scans; they would first rely on standard senses and West's blue gem and hope the latter gave them more information than the former. The buildings surrounding them were somewhere between fine, scorched, and completely melted, creating long and disturbing shadows in the light of the setting sun wherein nothing beyond the lengthening shadows and the three of them moved.

"Beryl!" South cried, both a call to her and an exclamation for them and Mamoru turned quickly to see where he looked - "Wait!"South called, running between buildings towards the east, chasing the last light of day, and Mamoru ran after him -

"South!" West shouted in warning, and South pivoted in response, his forward foot sliding sideways as he spun to face north. He called up his halberd just in time for another weapon to come crashing down onto it. Mamoru jumped, his foot catching the side of the building to the south, and as he flew past them he threw a rose to distract their new opponent. Their enemy - a woman who looked only barely older than they - had silver hair separated into pigtails, the ends dyed deep red that grazed the top of her shoulders and a new cut across one cheek. She growled, blue eyes glaring into him, her grin immediately replaced with a scowl the moment his rose had sliced her, and she grunted and feinted back only to rush forward again to clang her polearm against the pole of South's halberd.

"Alnico!" Helios warned through their communicator, "She can magnetize metals - work her out into the open!"

Mamoru fixed his stance, faced his palm towards her, and sent out a burst of golden crystal energy to knock her back towards West and the more open street they had come from, but the moment she staggered back a few steps from the blow, South whirled his instrument around and tried to take her feet out from under her with the smaller pointed end. She tried to hop away from it, but her boots caught and she went down. In a continuance of the whirling motion, South had the ax-head of his weapon at her throat, and as she looked up at him, wide-eyed, he smoothly stepped closer to keep the upper hand. "Surrender," he ordered, his voice sharp-edged, "and we can help you."

She huffed a laugh, the shock moving through her, and tilted her head so that the edge of his blade barely touched the skin of her neck. Her expression - one of disdain-filled amusement, apathetic towards the danger posed to her - immediately changed and she twitched away from the halberd, a thin line of blood where the blade had been. The cut was shallow but reddening quickly, but it didn't seem life-threatening, so Mamoru stayed where he was, catching West's eyes on the other side of the engagement. South hadn't moved to cause any harm, and as she revealed the injury to him he kept still, moving only to repeat "Surrender."

She had no choice; her delay was wasting precious time. Mamoru looked back over his shoulder, towards where Yuu had been leading them, looking for any sign of the fairy in the fading light, and when he did, things erupted behind him. He turned, his arms raising instinctively to the sudden burst of motion as Alnico twisted and slammed her hands onto either side of the broad side of South's Halberd and kicked out at his feet simultaneously; he had to adjust, and as he did, she managed to push the head of the halberd aside to free her head and toss it; impossibly, it was yanked from South's grip and flew to stick to the wall of the nearest building. She continued her spinning motion, grabbed her polearm, and used it to get back to her feet before whipping it around to strike at South - he jumped back and Mamoru summoned and threw another rose, cutting into her upper arm to impede her -

"Endymion?"

He froze, her voice right behind him, and spun to face it - "Beryl?!" - but no one was there -

"It's about time!" Alnico complained snippily and he turned back to see fire lighting the shadows, as, beyond South, West engaged with the orange-haired man he recognized from the videos: Ferrocerium. Despite an attempt to lead his opponent back towards the open street, through explosions of fire sparked from Ferrocerium's weapon, West was being pushed towards them, finally jumping over Alnico to be by their sides as Alnico reached up to touch her neck - now swollen and bleeding. She grimaced and, with her taller ally by her side, renewed her attack, swinging her polearm around and South evaded, backing towards Mamoru.

With a touch and slight pull to each of their shoulders, West indicated a retreat, and they turned and ran for the clear end of the alley to find more room to face them. A burst of fresh air accompanied their escape from the narrow passage and they immediately spread out to face the threat; Mamoru stayed where he was, feet planted, and, squinting into the long shadows that steadily engulfed the alley, shot another burst of energy at the pair as they neared, knocking them further back into the passage before jumping back, giving his teammates better warning for when they surfaced.

"Did you see her?!" West called, his silver trident in one hand and scimitar in the other.

South, his right hand positioned towards the alley, was concentrating; his eyes flew open as the halberd Alnico had stuck to a wall shot through the air towards him. Landing in his grip as though it wanted to be there, he replied, "Yes. She's here!"

The pair burst out of the alley at running jumps, immediately moving in to engage in close combat, and he quickly summoned his sword to block Ferrocerium as the orange haired opponent lunged towards him. His hand solid against the flat of his blade, his enemy's weight crashed down against him and the air immediately exploded in his face. He flinched and grunted against it but held, pushing to redirect his opponent's weight and throw him off; he managed to sidestep and slip aside as the man crashed through. Slinging his sword aside to free his hand for an energy burst, he fired golden light after the quick-stepping form of Ferrocerium, knocking him off balance, and then the King of the South was there, decked in the upgraded armor he had worn on the rooftop in Tokyo: a black metal breastplate that hugged close to his body ending in tassets that followed the outside of his legs to his knees, black metallic boots, greaves, and forearm guards protecting his limbs; beneath all a red and gold dressing, loose pants, and long sleeves that moved like flames around his arms, following his movements but never interfering. A black helmet hid his blond hair, and a giant chakram of flame hovered behind him as he rushed in to take Mamoru's place against Ferrocerium, striking forward with his halberd to knock their enemy off balance. Ferrocerium struck the halberd and flame exploded, but South didn't react to it, pushing forward as though it had no effect to press his attack - an effect of Zochoten's armor?

Mamoru spun to find and support West; with his powerset being tied to metals, fighting against an opponent that could magnetize any metallic object she touched could prove difficult; however, as he pivoted towards the dueling pair, it was apparent his assistance was welcome but not necessary: West fought unarmed, dodging Alnico's attacks smoothly. As he stopped to summon a rose to throw as another distraction, Khalid reached for Alnico's polearm as it passed near his light blue lined half-cape, grabbed it, and pulled it to send her clumsily running forward, starting to trip over her own feet; he followed it with a tap to her back to send her sprawling and Mamoru prepared to throw the rose as she started back up to give Khalid another opportunity -

"Endymion?"

He twitched, mis-throwing the rose to glance her rather than strike Alnico full-on, and spun towards the remaining sunlight to see a tiny figure barely breaking a silhouette against the setting sun. He had recognized her voice before, and now - "Beryl!" he called, first in answer and then again in warning - "Beryl!" - as a figure detached itself from the building nearest her and cast a long shadow as it sprinted across the distance towards her. Blinking furiously to see through the bright light against the burning after-image of the sun, he ran to defend her, blindly throwing another rose towards the recalled path of the shadowy figure, hoping it would be enough to redirect its attention to him, at least long enough to let Beryl escape -

A blast struck him, sent him flying - he hit the pavement in a wet mess and rolled; groaning, he pushed himself onto his hands and knees and recalibrated, able to see Beryl apart from the sun now and the two figures that stood too near just beyond her, their stances offensive - with a grunt of effort he was back on his feet and running for her, a rose turning into his sword in his hand as he yelled, calling for them to get away from her, trying to refocus their attention on him. Beryl was a sorceress - everyone said that, but while he had faint memories of some acts from their past lives, in the present he hadn't seen anything like that from her. She could light candles. She could conjure tiny illusions to bait Nero. She was good with planning and timing, but she wasn't a fighter! And if she was holding off this Metallia thing, she didn't need to be afraid for her own safety on top of all that.

It worked - the pair of them focused on him, and as he threw out a burst of energy and dodged to the other side to both attack and avoid an attack, he tried to form a plan. Solder, the man with the dripping metallic features from earlier that day, had been struck by his energy attack and fell back, but Tethys - the tall feminine creature in blue with a mask for a face - simply readjusted and fired at him again. He jumped, aiming for the top of a lamp post, and conjured and threw another rose to distract them as he landed, checked his angle, took a breath and released it as he kicked himself off the perch with greater speed, sword pulled back, ready to be thrust towards Metallia's most loyal subject -

But she whipped around to see him, long blue hair fanning out behind her, and the eyes behind the mask glowed blue and, not even halfway through the distance, he slowed, the world around him suddenly denser, his vision compromised as the world seemed to shift, and as he realized what had happened he struggled not to gasp for breath. He stabbed forward with his sword, the movement slowed through the water, but the tip did not reach the sphere's perimeter. He dropped it, flattened his hands and fired, but the energy just rippled through the barrier, missing Tethys altogether, and while he had been thrown backward with the blast, the water pushed him back towards the center, fighting his every move. His chest burned. His earpiece crackled and Helios started talking in his ear, telling him to stay calm, that the others were coming -

His attention, though, was not on Helios, or West or South as they fought off their attackers to come to his aide. It wasn't on how stupid he had been to take on Tethys without knowing what she could do, or on Solder to keep an eye on what he was building. It was on Beryl. On how she flew towards Tethys, rather than taking the opportunity to escape. How she pulled hard on a lock of Tethys's hair, pointed to him, her voice garbled in his ears through the prison of water surrounding him. Tethys answered and Beryl flew still before she separated herself from the mask-faced creature, but rather than fly away, or going to help West, she hovered in space, and, enveloped in a deep red light, started to grow. From centimeters tall with dragonfly-like fairy wings, she became taller, the wings disappearing as her height increased to a meter and more, and soon her sandaled feet touched down on solid ground, as tall as the blue-haired creature beside her - as tall as she had been before the battle in Elysion. Pale hands outstretched towards him and the bubble surrounding him popped, water crashing to the ground all around him, restoring his hearing and letting him breathe, but he remained suspended in midair and he found he couldn't move: the water had slowed his motion, but now his limbs were completely paralyzed. Panic slowly edged its way in, creeping from the depths of his stomach - what was Beryl doing? She had saved him, hadn't she?

"We should leave," Tethys said, her arm across her chest in a salute as she tilted at the waist towards Beryl. Beryl barely glanced at her, showing neither malice nor acceptance, though she kept her arms out in front of her, controlling him.

"I can't move," he carefully admitted, forcing the words out through stiff lips and clenched jaw; did she realize that?

"Mamoru?!" Helios's voice called in his ear.

His heart skipped a beat as right before his eyes Beryl's irises changed color, orange-red taking over from the bottom up, chasing away the deep purple-grey color they had held in the past. He couldn't read her expression, her features smooth, until suddenly her dark brows knitted and her lips pouted in apology. His heart hammered in his chest - what was she going to do? - and then a scepter appeared between Beryl's hands and the orb in the center pulsated with light. As Beryl, Tethys and Solder resonated with the pulsations of the light, his body erupted in pins and needles, his breath leaving him, and just as a weapon hurled towards Beryl and Tethys, everything went black.