"Jupiter Oak Evolution!!" Jupiter paused as her attack destroyed the three vampires in her path. She glanced over at Venus. "I don't know why, but these youma are a lot weaker then the ones we've been fighting for the past few weeks."
She spared a thought toward Mars, Chibi-Moon and Uranus, who were working together in a similar fashion on the other side of the city, destroying the vampires and doing what they could for the victims. It had been decided when the five left Mamoru, Mercury, Neptune and Saturn at the Door of time that they would accomplish more in two teams. Jupiter had lost count of the vampires she and Venus had already killed, but she knew that there were hundreds more they couldn't get too. Tokyo was simply too big to cover with five Senshi.
"I know what you mean." Venus wiped a hand over her brow. The glove, soaked in sweat, blood and ichor, wouldn't absorb anymore; it simply left a dark smear above her eyebrows. Had this been a less serious occasion, Jupiter would have teased the blond about her less-then-perfect appearance. But now was definitely not the time for jest. "It's like they don't care about us any more. We don't worry them."
"Well, they're still in need of the energy they're stealing from humans." The auburn-tressed Amazon knelt by the youmas' latest two victims. "Look. These two aren't totally drained yet. They're still conscious. If you can call that conscious."
The two children stared up at her, glazed eyes begging her for comfort and answers. Venus picked the smaller of the two up and placed a finger over the bite on his neck to staunch the thin stream of blood. "Don't worry. I know it hurts, but you're going to be okay," she murmured to the little boy. She looked over at her partner, and rage sparked a fire deep in her blue eyes. To attack innocent children . . . "There's an emergency medical center two blocks from here. Let's get these two to safety."
***

"Pluto, where are we going?" Usagi wasn't sure how long she and the Guardian had been floating. She wasn't even sure whether time meant anything at all in this state.
It isn't much further. Once you know what you're doing, it will only take a moment's thought. For now, however, your mind isn't prepared or accustomed to the way, so we have to do this slowly.
"What way? And where are we going?"
I can't tell you until we get there. Your mind has to be totally open. Soon.
Usagi sighed. They had been following a faint stream of light for along time now. At first, she had been afraid to look away from the woman in front of her, worried that Pluto might disappear or something. But after a while, she had chanced a glance around. There were similar streams of light in all different colors leading in all different directions. Maybe the particular stream one followed depended on her particular mindset or something.
That's almost right. Your mind needs to be following a particular pattern to travel along these paths. But, as I said before, you don't yet know the pattern. So I'm keeping your mind blank and dragging you along behind me.
Oh. No wonder Pluto wouldn't tell her anything more. If she starting thinking about the wrong thing . . .
You might very well be transferred to a different path, and you'd be lost forever.
Well enough. Usagi gulped and fixed her eyes upon the glowing Guardian.
Any moment now- Suddenly, there was a flash of light. Usagi cried out and covered her eyes against the blinding flare, sure that she had done something wrong, that she was about to be lost for eternity.
There was a chuckle to her left, followed by the weight of a gloved hand. "You can open your eyes, Usagi. We're here."
She removed her hands and looked around in astonishment. They stood in an endless hallway. Down both sides of the hall ran doors of every shape and size, making her think of Alice in Wonderland. Then something struck her.
"Wait a sec. You're talking! I can hear your real voice, Pluto. Not just your mind." When she looked at her companion, Pluto stood before her. She was still glowing lightly, a soft white and emerald green, but her form was solid. "Oh, Pluto!" Usagi threw her arms around the older woman.
"This is a very powerful place, Usagi. All manner of things are possible here."
"Where are we?"
"It is . . . another version of the Door of Time. Instead of seeing one possibility at a time, this place allows you to see them all, spread out in front of you."
"But why is it so special? Why can't anyone else know about it?'
Pluto gestured, and two chairs appeared. One was clearly meant for Usagi; covered in ivory velvet, it was big and fluffy, just the way her favorite chair at home was. Pluto's was a more constrained emerald green armchair. "As I just said, the Hall is powerful in and of itself. It will take time for you to learn the uses of its power. In addition, there are doors that must never be opened. If the wrong person found his way here, there could be a catastrophe."
"Usagi flopped into her chair and nodded. "Okay, fine. Why are we here?" Her stomach growled.
Pluto simply smiled and gestured. A plate of cheese, crackers, fruit and chocolate appeared in the same manner of the chairs. She chose a small cluster of grapes before handing the platter to the little blond. "One of the doors I mentioned is one that may be entered by the Queen in times of absolute necessity. I judge that this is very much one of those times. I'll tell you now that I don't know anything more about it. I don't know which one it is, and I don't know how it may help you. All your mother told me was that you might one day be entered into the greatest battle of your life, and that you would then need to find and enter the door.
"Well, come on! How do I find it?! We need to find it now!" Usagi leapt from her seat. While she and Pluto were relaxing, her friends might be in very great danger! "Who knows what the others are facing right now! We have to help them."
"Calm down, Usagi. Remember where you are? We exist outside of time right now. It doesn't exist the way that the real world does. You have all the time in the world to find the door. Although I do suggest that you start now. There are new possible futures created every minute. The Hall goes infinitely."
"That I start? Aren't you coming?"
A sad smile appeared on Pluto's face. "I can't, Usagi. I'm not allowed to know the location of the door, nor what it does. While you have within you the power of your great family, the same power that controls this place, I do not. I can only stay here for short periods of time. I have to return to my earthly body soon."
Indeed, she was already fading from sight. "I need to travel back to my body before I am too weak to do so. I have to leave now."
"Pluto, no! Don't leave me here!"
"I have no choice." Pluto was growing more and more faint, and her voice was so hard to hear! "Please, Princess, do not fail us. Remember what you have to fight for, and remember the greatness of your family. Good luck. The Hall can be controlled by your mind alone, if you are strong enough. Believe in yourself, and believe in what you know to be true. And don't-"
Pluto was gone.
Usagi sighed and turned to look at the long line of doors. "Goes on eternally, huh? Guess I'd better start looking."
***

Mercury put down her laptop with a loud thud. "Ahh! I'm not getting anywhere with this.! There is not a single iota of helpful information more that I can get from this image!"
Artemis stretched from where he sat in Mercury's lap and looked over at the screen. "We only have three hours left."
"Tell us something we don't know." Mercury rubbed her eyes and looked over to Neptune and Mamoru. "Where are we so far?
Neptune answered. "You told us when it's going to happen and that Usagi's emitting levels of power that you can't begin to analyze. My mirror keeps showing the Door over and over. Saturn-"
"I'm still working on the Door. It's the key to all of this, I can feel it."
"Saturn." Mamoru stood up and joined the quiet Senshi before the door. "Can that thing show us where the vampires are coming from? It won't help us, but it might help the others. I just talked to Uranus, and they're running pretty low on energy. I don't they can keep fighting for long, but if we can track the source . . ."
"That I think I can do." She closed her eyes and concentrated on the Garnet Orb. The Door shimmered, then settled on a dark room. On one side, the entire city of Tokyo was visible through a portal. "They're in a dimension adjoining this one."
"Of course! That's how they move around so easily. Let's get the others back here." Mamoru bent over his communicator and contacted the two groups. "They're on their way."
The rest of the Senshi arrived within moments. Venus was limping and Chibi-Moon sported a roughly bandaged shoulder, but they seemed well enough, if exhausted. The idea of stopping their opponents at the source was enough to give them all new energy.
"Apparently, this is something like the Negaverse. It's an alternate dimension parallel to our own. They've been able to spy on our every move!"
Venus pushed herself up from where she leaned against Mars. "I guess the obvious next step is to plan an attack. We can't keep fighting off the vampires as they come at us. It's just too much of an effort. Luna, can we use the Sailor Teleport to get there?"
Luna shook her head, and her whiskers trembled. "No. You need Sailor Moon's strength to power the Teleport."
"We can use the Door." Everyone turned to look at Saturn, who still clasped Pluto's Orb near to her. She hadn't let the object out of her grasp from the moment it had appeared. "I can remember enough of what Pluto's said to open it. I just don't know how long I can keep it that way."
"Right. So who goes?" Mamoru stepped forward, but Uranus gestured in negation.
"No way. We need you here. You've got the strongest bond to Usagi, and the Door is our best link to her, right?" The rest of the Senshi nodded unwillingly. "We should also leave Saturn and Mercury here. We need them to keep with what they've been doing for the past few hours."
"But that only leaves six of us." Jupiter shook her head in disbelief. "There's no way we can take everything they've got with so few of us."
"I'll go." Mercury stepped forward. "Luna's just as smart as I am, and I'll leave the computer here. You're going to need every bit of power we've got, and unlike the rest of you, I'm at full strength. I haven't been fighting."
"We'll join you." After twining tails with Luna, Artemis and Diana padded forward and transformed into their human forms. "We both have power in this form, and we can fight. The more the merrier, right?"
Mamoru took a deep breath. "That's it, then. Just keep one thing in mind." He looked slowly from woman to woman, meeting their eyes, meeting and understanding the fears that were held therein.
"I know none of us wants to admit it, but Usagi's on their side now. At least her body is. You may have to fight her." He gulped, unable to admit even to himself the truth of what he was about to say.
"You may have to kill her."
***