duelist story6

by rexrider99

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The last thing Cobalt saw before passing out were the retreating shadows and, concealed within them, a pair of glinting eyes and a glowing green scar.

The blackness wrapped around her, cutting off the rest of the world and smothering her in an inky blanket of nothingness.

In the darkness of her own mind, memory began to unspool like film off a reel.

"Do I look good enough yet?" young Cobalt asked.

Ytterbium's critical eye bored into her. Cobalt had done her best to emulate a human appearance, hiding her strange skin and her extra limbs. Despite this, the older youma's eyes flicked from spot to spot on Cobalt's body, quick to point out imperfections.

"Your skin is too pale. Also, humans don't have fangs," she said. She went on and on about the problems with the girl's disguise.

"How about now?"

"Close enough," Ytterbium finally acknowledged Cobalt's efforts. "Now Hurry. We won't have much time once we're there."

In a haze of shadow, she teleported the two of them to a small, quiet park in the middle of Tokyo. They faded into being in the darkness behind a small copse of trees.

Ytterbium's injury hadn't had time to become nearly so severe. Rather than radiating all her life energy away at once, Cobalt could watch it spark between her fingertips as it slowly dissipated. Occasionally, it would snake down her face, over her body, and then earth itself from her feet. Like this, Ytterbium could spend minutes... almost hours at a time in the outside world. After a few seconds, the visible discharge stopped, but Cobalt could still feel it coming off her.

"Ahhh..." Cobalt whispered as the shadows cleared around them. The sky was clear, bright and cool. A wealth of stars shone down on them and the moon, low on the horizon, cast an eerie yellow glow over the park. In the distance, she could see the beautifully back-lit Tokyo sky-line. Standing above all the other buildings was a wedge-shape tower. It glowed red and white, looking for all the world like an unearthly lace castle.

"Extravagance, gluttony, and greed," Ytterbium noted darkly. "This should all be ours!"

Cobalt nodded absently, hearing for the first time the sound of small children yelling and playing in the distance. The sound was dampened and filtered by the trees, but it was unmistakable. Curiously, she ran towards it.

"Where are you going?"

"Sound and--" Cobalt sniffed the air, her nose twitching like a cat's. "Food!"

As they approached the source of the sound, the twinkle of laughter and merriment was joined by the thumping of a drum and the strains of a minor key melody played on a flute.

"It's as good a place as any, I guess," Ytterbium noted.

Booths lined either side of a broad walk. Humans clad in robes and light clothes walked back and forth between them. They sang, played, ate, and enjoyed themselves. Here, children struggled futilely to scoop fish out of a small trough with tissue nets. There, a young couple stuffed cotton candy into each other's mouths. It was a cacophony of voices and discordant music, but it seemed magical to Cobalt's ears.

She had no words for what was going on. Only later would she learn what a 'festival' truly was.

Behind her, Ytterbium walked up to a noodle stand and bought several boxes of yakisoba with fake yen coins that had been pressed out of pure gold.

Carrying the food under one arm, she returned to Cobalt's side and placed her hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Do you see?" Ytterbium asked.

Cobalt saw perfectly well.

"Do you see the waste here? Do you see the injustice?" the youma demanded. "They play and laugh under and open sky while we starve and suffer in silence. It's not fair!"

"No, it isn't," Cobalt agreed, her nose full with the scents of fried food, candy, and ice cream.

"One day, this will all be ours," Ytterbium told her. "Do you see? Do you truly see?"

"Yes!" Cobalt assured her, her eyes locked on pretty faces, pretty clothes, and the stars above. "We'll *all* share in this," she said reverently. "I can see it now!"

What Cobalt saw and what Ytterbium wanted her to see were two entirely different things.

---------------------------------------- Hidden in Darkness

A Bishojou Senshi Sailor Moon fanstory

by Chris Jones

Chapter 6: The Neoqueen ----------------------------------------

The memory of that early fall evening faded in Cobalt's mind. Soon, there was nothing but inky darkness again. Cobalt felt nothing but a vague feeling of grief.

The darkness began to lighten. Her body was suffused with a quiet, warm glow. The warmth grew strong and stronger. It slowly enveloped her, suffusing her being. It began to flow down her throat. It coursed through her nostrils, through her airway and into her lungs. It flowed smoothly into every orifice and pore, gently healing, gently cleansing the darkness and pain away.

Cobalt was no longer floating. Instead she was being supported on a column of warmth. It held her up, righting her and helping her to stand up straight.

The glow forced the fatigue and soreness out of her body. In the distance, the same yellow moon seemed to rise up above unmoving treetops.

Indeed, rather than darkness, Cobalt now seemed to be surrounded by a strange golden landscape with ancient trees and sparkling rivers. It was airless and soundless, but strangely, Cobalt didn't seem to need to breathe. The glow was providing everything she needed. The youma stretched her limbs, all eight of them, loosening her muscles. It felt good to flex her claws and talons, especially after--

Memory began to course back. She had been injured in the fight with Silicon and Lead, who abducted Kaliborite. They were aided by...

Cobalt's eyes popped open. She was laying in the floor of her restaurant-- her very ruined and shattered restaurant. The Sailor Senshi were all around her. In fact, her head was laying in Sailor Moon's lap.

She sat up quickly, ignoring the dull ache in the side of her face where she had been blasted. The world started to spin, but she didn't care. There were more important things to worry about.

"Cobalt, you're going to hurt yourself!" Sailor Moon told her, trying to wrap her arms around the blue-haired woman's shoulders.

"It doesn't matter. They've destroyed it all," she cried, grief beginning to overwhelm her. "They killed Chalcedony, Amber, and Veritite! They destroyed the teleporters! Oh God, Sailor Moon, they've got Kelly and they took her back to the Dark Kingdom!"

Cobalt was rather surprised when the blonde grabbed her and forcefully embraced her, crushing Cobalt's face into her bosom.

"We'll get her back," Sailor Moon promised. "We'll do whatever it takes to get her back."

* * *

Because a significant portion of the police in Juuban district were busy helping the fire departments to control the three blazes that had 'mysteriously' almost simultaneous erupted in the district, it was no surprise when a lone officer stopped briefly into the destroyed restaurant to promise more policemen would along later to help with the damage and take statements.

Mamoru had already taken a confused, shaken, but unhurt Shingo back to his parents' house by that time, so the rest of the Sailor Senshi, Cobalt, Brookite, Jasper, and Achorite relocated to Mamoru and Usagi's apartment.

For a moment, Cobalt still felt buoyed up by Sailor Moon's words. She wondered what the blonde haired woman was going to do to help her recover the lost child.

That was when the argument started.

Haruka, the woman who was secretly Sailor Uranus, was quite edgy. She made the comment, "Maybe if you have people who don't want to come here, you should let them stay."

To which Brookite testily responded. "Thank you, but maybe some of us are tired of starving to death. I bet you've never had to deal with that, did you?"

Uranus, egged on by Brookite's anger, retorted, "No, I just have to deal with all the murdering youma scum you bring along with you."

After just a few seconds Minako and Makoto had to jump in between them to keep the increasingly vitriolic slurs from escalating into blows or worse.

Ami, having just de-transformed, was busy treating Achorite's torn sutures. She did her best to ignore the argument, as did Setsuuna and Hotaru, who were busy taking care of some small animals Cobalt didn't really recognize.

Cobalt's dark mood returned in full force. Kaliborite was gone, abducted by youma participating in a plot directed squarely at Cobalt's heart. The plotting youma were being assisted by another youma-- one who could teleport and fire powerful energy blasts.

The only other youma Cobalt knew who could teleport was-- No. That can't be it, she told herself firmly. She'd never do that to me. We both know how important this is-- was.

Was... The battle was over. Cobalt had failed. On the way over, Ami had shared her readings. As Sailor Mercury, she was actually on her way to the source of one of the explosions when Venus called for help. According to the data she showed Cobalt, the explosions had been massive, more massive than the simple, disposable teleportation portals could account for. When she saw the data, Cobalt knew that not only had the easily rebuilt devices been destroyed, but the real teleportation system in the Dark Kingdom had been decimated as well.

Cobalt and Ytterbium spent years building that system.

Black depression washed over her as she realized how much of her life's goals had suddenly become forevermore unreachable.

She slumped against the wall of the apartment, her mind running in circles. Her depression only worsened when she realized that Usagi and Rei were on the floor next to her, doing nothing to prevent the fight brewing across the room. Usagi was doing nothing to help her.

Across the room, a green-haired woman Cobalt didn't really know was sitting in a chair, her hands over her ears as Haruka and Brookite's argument escalated.

"Yeah, well at least my ancestors weren't demonic monsters!" Haruka screamed.

"Your ancestors banished *my* ancestors to a dimension of darkness!" Brookite shouted, railing against Minako, who was trying to hold her back.

"SHUT UP!" the green-haired woman, Michiru, if Cobalt recalled correctly, screamed. "Neither of you is making any sense!"

"This is pointless," Cobalt said emotionlessly. "I'm going," she announced, climbing back to her feet.

She was about to pull away, but there was a steel grip on her arm. It very nearly yanked her off her feet. Usagi, whom Cobalt thought was sulking, was standing behind her with a small smile on her face.

Funny, Cobalt though. Her arms and hands didn't look strong enough to stop Cobalt in her tracks like that.

"We're *all* going," she announced. "Brooke-chan, Akie's really not well enough to travel. Would you stay here and take care of her and Jasper while we all help Callie?"

Stunned by Usagi's sudden announcement, Brookite dropped her rhetoric and nodded dumbly.

Cobalt stared at the woman in shock.

"The only route we know to the Dark Kingdom was destroyed ten years ago," Usagi continued. "Are you ready to help us get there by other means?"

Cobalt couldn't help but nod.

"It will all be okay," Usagi told her. "I promise."

Hope began to flare up in Cobalt's heart once again.

How stupid I am, she told herself. This is Sailor Moon.

* * *

A few minutes later, Cobalt was standing on the roof of the building with nine Sailor Senshi, Tuxedo Kamen, and Usagi's black cat, which had followed them to the roof.

"You should really be downstairs with your kittens," Sailor Moon told the cat, petting her lovingly as the rest of them assembled in a loose circle.

With everything else that had happened, Cobalt decided she wasn't really surprised to hear a talking cat.

"You must be careful, Usagi," Luna replied, tears standing in her eyes. "I don't want my babies to grow up in a world without Sailor Moon."

"We'll all come back just fine," Sailor Moon assured her. "All of us. I promise."

"Are you ready, Sailor Moon?" Mercury asked.

The blonde woman nodded and stood up. She clasped Cobalt's right hand and led her into the circle.

"Listen, I know I can't teleport this many at once," she said weakly.

"Don't worry about it," Sailor Jupiter said, standing across from her, holding hands with Mars and Mercury. "You show us where to go, and we'll provide the power."

Sailor Moon nodded in agreement.

Someone grabbed Cobalt's left hand. She realized it was Sailor Uranus. The tall woman's face was green and her skin was twitching, but she gripped Cobalt's hand like a vice.

"Don't make me regret this," she whispered in a warning tone. "Don't hurt her."

"I'll try," Cobalt whispered back.

Haruka bit her lip, trying to keep the expression of disgust off her face. She turned her face towards the middle of the circle, which Cobalt realized was staring to glow with building energy.

"Mercury Star Power," Sailor Mercury said, from across the circle.

"Venus Star Power!"

Tuxedo Kamen didn't say anything, but he usually never did.

"Mars Star Power!"

"Jupiter Star Power!"

"Saturn Star Power!"

Cobalt realized that the shortest of the Sailor Senshi had a short loch of blonde hair attached to the crystalline ornament on her chest. She wondered what it signified.

"Uranus Star Power!"

"Neptune Star Power!"

"Pluto Star Power!"

Cobalt was beginning to feel really stupid for not saying anything by this point. She began her own preparations for teleportation, trying to ignore the massive buildup of energy all around her.

"MOON PRINCESS POWER!!" Sailor Moon cried, leading everyone else. "SAILOR TELEPORT!"

The world shattered and became a rainbow.

* * *

"YOU IDIOT!!" Ytterbium screamed, her voice echoing off the furthest reaches of the abandoned throne room.

Lead cowered in front of her, her arms wrapped protectively around Kaliborite, who was wailing loudly.

"I'm sorry!" Lead cried, tears streaking down her face. "I tried to do what was right. Shh..." she told Kaliborite. "It's okay. We'll protect you. I promise."

Kaliborite's wail of terror only became louder.

"Shut her up!" Ytterbium commanded, raising one fist.

"Shh!" Lead urged the child. "Be quiet, please! Everything's okay. You'll be okay."

Ytterbium clenched her fist, causing yellow lightning to arc down across Lead's body. Kaliborite spasmed in her arms and hung limply.

Across the room, Silicon's eyes widened in shock and horror.

"She's not dead, is she?"

Tears streaking down her face, Lead shook her head. "No. She's still breathing. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," she said more to Kaliborite than her comrades.

"Do you know what you've done?!" Ytterbium demanded.

Lead shook her head, cradling the limp girl to her breast.

"You've led them right to us. Cobalt will stop at nothing to get the brat back. If she's made friends with the Sailor Senshi..."

Ytterbium didn't even have to finish before Lead started wailing in despair.

"Don't make me knock you out too," the older youma threatened.

"Forgive me, Ytterbium. I'm just trying to do what I think is right!"

"Well, quit thinking!" her leader commanded. "You're not here to think. You're here to follow orders. You can do that, can't you?"

Lead nodded weakly. She had never seen Ytterbium so upset before. It really did seem like the world was ending when the person she depended on-- the person she thought was completely unshakable in her duty-- got so upset.

"I want everyone out of the corridors and away from the teleporters, and I want them out now!" Ytterbium commanded. "Cobalt's almost certainly already on her way. When she gets here, I don't want anyone else getting in the way."

Lead nodded and ran out of the throne-room still cradling Kaliborite to her chest.

"There's going to be a fight," Silicon said, her glass blade drawn.

"There is going to be a fight the likes of which we haven't seen in a decade," Ytterbium confirmed darkly. "When the time comes, *you* are my first line of defense. I can trust you, can't I, Silicon? You won't let me down like all the others have, will you?"

"No!" Silicon assured her. "I'll stop them... no matter what it takes."

"You know what to do," Ytterbium told her quietly. She turned and strode out of the room.

Silicon swung her sword through the air a few times, listening to it whistle as it passed by her. She did her best to keep the uncertainty off her face.

"Lead was wrong to disobey Ytterbium," she said out loud. "I won't fail you!"

* * *

In the disorienting rainbow that was a Sailor Teleport, Cobalt realized that which she called teleporting and what the Sailors called a teleport were two very different things. She could feel some vague attachment between them, but it was like scrabbling to hold on to the edge of a cliff. It was a supreme effort for both her and the Sailor Senshi to maintain any kind of contact.

Eventually, after Cobalt felt herself pass into far reaches of the Dark Kingdom, she lost her grip. She couldn't really see the Sailors as they pulled away, but the rainbow glow around her became dimmer and dimmer as they lost contact.

She tried to reestablish contact with them, desperately trying to link back up, but the glow was gone as if it had never been.

Off balance and disoriented, Cobalt materialized half inside a wall in the room she used to call home in the Dark Palace. The stone wall cracked and shattered around her, the flakes of marble and schist transforming into a voluminous mass of paper confetti which piled around her legs like fallen leaves.

"Stupid..." Cobalt gasped, trying to keep from falling on her knees with the effort she had just expended in the teleport.

She staggered, briefly tripping over her old cot. When she fell, she landed on the floor next to an oddly shaped sapphire. Exhausted, Cobalt's mind wandered for a few seconds. She thought back... back before Ytterbium had found her. Back before she even knew what she was. The sapphire, with eight irregularly spaced shafts, looked vaguely like a humanoid figure with four extra limbs to the child youma. She had picked it up off the ground and treated it like a doll. Until Cobalt learned that she could trust some of the others, it was the only friend she had.

She reached out and touched the sapphire fondly. It no longer had the face or the warm, caring expression that her mind's eye tried impose on it. It was just a lifeless hunk of crystal. That didn't mean she couldn't remember confiding to it when she was scared or hungry.

Suddenly, an image of tiny Kaliborite clutching her stuffed bear to her chest swam before Cobalt's eyes.

"No time for this," she muttered, crawling to her feet. She kissed the cold surface of the crystal once before putting it down on her cot. With that, her blouse and jeans faded into the grey uniform she wore as a general of the Dark Kingdom.

"Some general I am," she muttered, running out of the room and down the long hallway that twisted through the Dark Palace. Her rank was a symbol, she realized now, and nothing more. It was a convenient way of getting the other youmas' attention when she needed it.

Cobalt didn't feel worthy at all of that attention. She couldn't manage to save any of her friends, and now Kelly was lost as well. She began to dread finding the girl. Would she be dead like the others were?

Eventually, Cobalt made her way to one of the main galleries. She was disturbed at how empty the place was. It was one of the few areas left where youma came together for comfort, or what little food and energy was smuggled back into the Dark Kingdom from earth.

On one side of the room, she saw why the room was abandoned. The teleporter-- Cobalt struggled to keep from screaming out loud at the sight-- the main body of the teleporter had exploded. There were bits of twisted metal and crystalline circuitry everywhere. Here and there, there were green and red blood stains where someone had been too close to the machine when it went up.

Cobalt shook, her fists clenched at her side. She could only assume that the other two teleporters had been destroyed as well. Her life's work... everything she had ever hoped to give to her people... everything she had ever wanted for herself was gone.

She heard the irregular footsteps before she saw the figure or heard the voice.

"Ytterbium," she called out.

The woman stepped into the room, her eyes glinting like diamonds and the scar on her face almost incandescent.

"Cobalt," Ytterbium replied, a harsh edge in her voice.

"It got away from me," Cobalt said quietly. "I was trying to hard to stay on top of everything and... and... I was betrayed."

"I know. It's hard to deal with," Ytterbium said, stepping closer to her student with her slow, limping gait.

Cobalt strode closer to the wreckage of the teleportation device. "I'm still trying to figure out what to do next," she said. "They took Kelly. I have to find her. I also have to figure out why someone would do this to me."

"We'll start again," Ytterbium said. "And this time we'll do things right."

"You really think we can start again?" Cobalt asked, her back turned to her mentor.

Silently, Ytterbium pulled a long, sinisterly sharp blade out of her robes. It was carved out of a single shaft of obsidian, almost invisible in the darkness of the gallery.

She shifted her weight over her good leg and leaned forward.

"It's all over," Cobalt said, her head down and her shoulders bent.

"It's not too late to make things right," Ytterbium disagreed. She leapt...

And was met with one of Cobalt's crystalline bombs as her victim whipped around. It shook in her face, ready to explode.

"Why?!" Cobalt demanded angrily, her jaw clenched. "Why did you do it? Why did you destroy everything we've worked so hard for?!"

Ytterbium leapt back, knife still in hand.

"Because you're weak, Cobalt! I showed you our glorious future, but you decided to give it all away. Humans!" she spat the word like it was an oath. "I'd rather see every youma here die than let you turn them all into humans! I never should have let you lead. It should have been me! Do you hear me?! IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME!!"

Yellow sparks crawling over her face from her scar, Ytterbium lunged to attack.

* * *

"We've lost Cobalt," Sailor Mercury said as the other Sailors and Tuxedo Kamen settled down in a rough circle in distant reaches of the dark cavern. The only light was a vaguely greenish glow that seemed more to cast shadows than actually illuminate anything.

Sailor Moon stumbled on the rocky ground in the darkness and fell, landing on her bottom with a soft "Owie."

"Can you scan for her?" Tuxedo Kamen suggested, leaning down to help Sailor Moon up.

Mercury shook her head. "No, there's too much..." she looked carefully at the display on her computer and grimaced. "Space is distorted here. Badly."

"I seem to remember something about that."

Mercury picked up a small pebble off the uneven cavern floor and threw it as hard as she could away from the group. A few seconds later, everyone heard a small clatter from the other direction as the stone hit and rolled to a stop... against Sailor Uranus's leg.

"Uhmm..." the short-haired Sailor murmured, her eyes wide at the strange phenomenon.

"That was grade-A creepy," Sailor Jupiter agreed.

"Space and time flow chaotically here," Sailor Pluto noted. "We should hold hands so that we're not separated."

Mercury nodded in agreement. "The Dark Kingdom really is its own pocket dimension, completely separate from our world. It's amazing that it doesn't implode in on itself."

"It becomes much more normal as you get closer to the center," Tuxedo Kamen assured the group. "At least it does if my memory's working right."

Carefully, slowly so as not to lose anyone, the sailors walked in a rough line, hand in hand, towards the glow on the horizon. They stumbled frequently over the jagged terrain, but Sailor Pluto with her staff and Sailor Saturn with her glaive did their best to steady the group and provide anchorage.

As they got closer and closer to the light, the rocky terrain gave way to broken sheets of flat obsidian blocks. There were sparse breaks in the rock that were filled with soil. One or two were even furrowed, as if someone had tried to plant a garden. No plants grew, however. As they got close to one of the furrowed patches, they could see why. The dirt was thick with chunks of quartz, salt, and broken- up gemstones. A few feet away, they could see a pile of large gemstones that had been sifted out of the soil. What would be a priceless treasure on Earth was seen an impediment to life here in the darkness.

"So much time wasted," Tuxedo Kamen growled angrily, his fist tightening around Sailor Moon's.

"It wouldn't matter anyway," Sailor Jupiter said. "The soil is dead. Nothing can grow there anyway."

"It has no nitrogen compounds or bacteria," Mercury confirmed. "A truckload of mulch would do wonders for this place, but you'd also need sunlight."

More signs of meager life were evident as they got closer to the center of the Dark Kingdom. Here, a lean-to had been built out of sheets of slate and ruined lumber. There, a series of pens, cages, and hutches of some kind had been burned to char and ash.

"The slave pens," Tuxedo Kamen noted darkly

"Is it any wonder they torched it?" Sailor Mars stated absently, her demeanor growing more and more agitated.

As they approached the pens, the Sailors could see the source of the green glow. Behind the pens was a long, rutted field. High mounds of soil were positioned around the field in short, regular intervals. On top of most mounds mushrooms, fungus, mold, and lichen grew thickly. Due to the lack of sunlight, the field of dimly-glowing fungus was not broken at all by weed or grass.

No one spoke as they walked past the little cemetery, but tears were coursing down Sailor Moon's and Tuxedo Kamen's faces.

"There's a spring near the palace," Tuxedo Kamen said when the strange-looking rocky citadel became visible. "There'll almost certainly be some life there."

As more and more of the Dark Palace became visible, the Sailors all tried to keep from shuddering in revulsion. It looked like a natural feature of the place... a huge conglomerate of ruby, quartz, and granite that joined the top of the cavern with the bottom. It was probably originally only vaguely skull-shaped, but centuries of carving under the direction of Beryl and her Generals had heightened the similarity to a human skull. With thick veins of copper and ruby roping down from the front of the edifice, the citadel's 'eye sockets' looked like they were crying tears of blood.

As they came nearer the palace, newer additions could be seen. There was a small shanty-town set up around the front entrance. Indeed, even a few youma could be seen moving around in the maze of boxes, crates, and stone shacks that had been set up. Here and there, children played in a quiet, somber sort of way. There was a quiet desperation to the place. Everyone they could see who had a face recognizable as human looked half-crazed with hunger.

On one wall of the palace above the bulk of the village, an unknown graffiti artist had painted 'Deliver Me From Torment'.

Sailor Moon looked away, unable to stand the sight.

"They drink out of this?" Sailor Neptune asked in disgust.

The others turned around to see what she was pointing at. It was a small crack in the ground overgrown by fungus and rot. What looked vaguely like a rat crawled up out of the crack while they were watching. If it was a rat, it was hideously deformed. It had only strange bulges on its skull instead of eyes and dozens of small, vestigial legs along its sides. It was covered in cancers and boils and was audibly wheezing.

"Are there any other sources of water?" Sailor Mercury asked, scanning the small cesspool. "There are an entire chemical factory's worth of pollutants in there."

Tuxedo Mask shook his head sickly. "Maybe they're purifying it somehow. Maybe Cobalt has been sending water back through their teleporters. I dunno," he admitted, swallowing.

"I did this," Sailor Moon said quietly tears still rolling down her face. "This is all my fault. I doomed these people to slow death."

"No, Usagi!" Sailor Mars told her. "You mustn't think that! You did what had to be done. These people are Beryl's and Metallia's victims. Not yours."

"It's just like Cobalt said. While I was busy playing in the sunlight, everyone here was suffering."

"We'll make it right, Sailor Moon," Sailor Saturn said. She knelt down next to the polluted spring and held out one hand. The cancerous-looking mold around the pool melted away in favor of large, wet-looking mushrooms. The acidic chemical reek slowly faded, replaced by the sharp tang of metal and sulfur.

"It's purified now," the young Sailor Senshi said.

"But for how long?" Sailor Moon asked in despair.

Grimly, she stood and turned back towards the palace.

To the Sailor's surprise, something was happening. The youma were running away from the shanty-town in all directions. A few even ran close to them before shying away and running out into the darkness.

"What's wrong?" Sailor Jupiter yelled. "What happened? Why are they running?"

The answer was soon evident. In the middle of the village, a huge shape had arisen. It tottered slowly, kicking down a shack accidentally, and lumbered forward towards the sailors.

"This would be the welcome wagon," Sailor Venus noted dryly.

"I don't want to fight them," Sailor Moon said.

"We must defend ourselves!" Uranus cried in response. "We can't just lay down and die! What about..." she swallowed back her bile. "What about Cobalt and Kaliborite?"

Sailor Moon nodded. She reached behind her and pulled out her wand. It lengthened in her grip until it was taller than she was. On one end of the scepter was a golden crescent which encircled a crystalline orb. On the other was a pommel-stone shaped like a fully- bloomed rose.

In the distance, the Sailors could see the behemoth approaching them. As it got closer they could see that it was some sort of automaton or a golem carved out of solid quartz. In front of it, carrying a long, glass sword, was what appeared to be a young woman with curly black hair.

Sailor Moon stepped forward, holding her scepter aloft.

"We came here to rescue our friend," she announced loudly. "We came here for love and justice, but we will stay here to fight evil and hatred. I'm Sailor Moon, and unless you allow us to pass peacefully, I will punish you in the name of the Moon."

Silicon hesitated for a split second. Then, a sneer of anger growing on her face, she leveled her sword at the assembled Sailor Senshi.

"ATTACK!"

* * *

"You murdered them!" Cobalt screamed, throwing her attack at Ytterbium. "I trusted you, and you KILLED THEM!"

"And I'll kill you, too," Ytterbium growled, fading out the way of Cobalt's attack. The shadows from her teleport obscured Cobalt's vision for a second.

Knowing what she was up against, the blue-haired woman dropped and rolled.

"METASPIKE!" she called out, launching another attack straight up.

She was almost shocked when Ytterbium fell over backwards as she rematerialized, desperate to get out of the way of Cobalt's attack. Her obsidian knife went spinning into the nearby wreckage.

Cobalt rolled to her feet, brining another one of her crystalline bombs to bear.

"You think that will stop me?" Ytterbium asked derisively, her chest heaving. She staggered to her feet, favoring her good leg. She lunged again, almost blurring in midair.

Cobalt dodged, but held back her attack. She was rapidly getting winded herself. "Why? Why did you do it?" she demanded again in an almost petulant tone. "I thought you wanted--"

"You don't know anything!" Ytterbium screamed. "You think I wanted to live as some human's lapdog? You think I wanted to be beholden to the Sailor Senshi for the rest of my life? You had the chance to enslave them all and you blew it, Cobalt!"

"When the hell did we decide to enslave anybody?!" Cobalt asked, backing away from her former mentor defensively. "I never wanted that. I didn't think you did, either."

"We should have invaded as a conquering army," Ytterbium said advancing menacingly, one fist held high in the air, "With me in charge so you couldn't ruin things! We should have had an eternal empire on Earth, but you were too much of a coward to seize the opportunity when you had it in your hands."

"You want to become another Beryl!" Cobalt accused, tears running down her face.

"I would have been ten times the queen Beryl was!" Ytterbium shouted. "Twenty times! A hundred times. This--" she jerked a thumb at the scar on her face-- "was the only thing keeping me from it. I could have ruled Earth *and* the Dark Kingdom!"

"You used me!" Cobalt screamed. "You used me, and when I did what I thought was right, you decided to throw me away like the doll I was."

"That's right," Ytterbium said, her eyes wide and staring. A fleck of spittle hung at the corner of her mouth. "And now, you're a liability to me. You're doing more harm than good, Cobalt. For that..."

Cobalt tried to dodge, but Ytterbium had her fixed in her sights. She swung her fist down. Rather than the broad wave of power that caught Cobalt last time and knocked her out, this beam of energy was tightly focused. It hit Cobalt in the chest0 just below her collar, piercing her through.

Cobalt fell back, gasping... trying to take a breath that would not come. She collapsed on the floor, the front of her uniform slowly turning green. She reached up to Ytterbium.

"Good bye, Cobalt. Now I'm going to go clean up the mess you made."

"No..." Cobalt managed to croak out as Ytterbium turned her back and limped out of the gallery.

It was too late.

* * *

"VENUS SPOTLIGHT!"

"JUPITER FLUX TUBE!"

"Dead Scream..." Sailor Pluto whispered, adding her attack to those of her allies as the quartz golem attacked.

Tuxedo Kamen was using his cane to duel Silicon. He tried using it both like a rapier and a staff, but when it hit the youma's glass sword, it wouldn't shatter. The youma's unbreakable sword was balanced by her lack of skill with it. She could use it to slash and hack, but had no concept of finesse. By the same token, however, she seemed tireless. She attacked so rapidly and wildly that Tuxedo Kamen could not get an opening to use one of his other attacks.

"MARS SPIRIT-- ACK!" Sailor Mars cried, pinned down by a spray of glass shards from the golem's fist. She managed to keep from getting seriously lacerated, but she was now very firmly attached to the ground in front of the Dark Palace, held in place by the long, needle-like shards of glass that had penetrated her costume. Larger chunks of glass held her arms and legs down like weighted shackels.

"SINGULARITY RIBBON!" Sailor Saturn cried out, angling her glaive at the monster's huge fist. Ribbons shot in every direction, entangling and crushing the quartz golem's arm. Even as powerful as the attack was, however, it was simply too limited in range to use on the whole monster. The arm she attacked was slowly imploded, torn off the golem's body. The creature didn't even seem to notice. It lashed out with one of it's tree-trunk feet and kicked Saturn to one side. Stunned, she lay where she landed.

"Sailor Saturn!" Sailor Moon cried out as she ran over to the girl. "No!"

"USAGI!" Rei screamed from her prone position. "Watch your back!"

"WORLD SHAKING!" Uranus cried, throwing her attack at the golem.

"DEEP SUBMERGE!" Neptune followed, finally managing to distract the monster from Sailor Moon as she knelt over Saturn's prone form.

"The vibrations hurt it," Sailor Mercury announced, her computer out as she worked her way towards Sailor Mars. She moved slowly, picking her way carefully over the dangerous terrain and dodging flying glass.

Sailor Neptune ran towards the golem, preparing another attack while Venus, Jupiter, and Pluto readied to combine their attacks again behind her.

She lifted her arms to release her power, but the quartz golem seemed to know what she had planned. It lunged, almost falling forward, reaching out to slam her aside.

Neptune flew over the heads of the other Sailors, landing in a crumpled heap behind them.

"Michiru! NO!" Uranus cried. She pulled out the Space Sword and leapt for the monster. "SPACE SWORD BLASTER!" she cried, jamming the sword directly into its torso.

She was thrown back by the explosion from her attack, but she landed rolling. She came to a rest against Usagi and Hotaru, who was just coming out of her daze.

"USAGI!" Rei screamed futilely as the monster, seemingly more enraged than injured, lashed out at the three of them. She began to struggle to free herself. Mercury was just not going to make it to her in time. "USAGI! NO!"

As the monster swung its massive fist at Sailor Moon and Uranus, Sailor Mars winked out of existence, leaving the cut and torn shreds of her costume behind. In a red, crescent flash, she teleported back in just in time and in the right place to shield an unprepared Sailor Moon from a killing blow.

The monster's fist smacked against her naked body with a thudding, meaty sound. Incredibly, Mars did not go flying. Instead, she clung to the monster's fist.

"MARS SPIRIT FLARE!" she cried, spitting blood as she was swung up into the air.

The golem erupted into flame. It's arm melted away in seconds. Unprotected by her costume, Sailor Mars was peppered with drops of molten quartz. She fell to the ground near Sailor Moon, smoking.

"Rei-chan! NO!"

"Hah..." Sailor Mars coughed, blood running freely from her mouth and her nose. She smiled. "I was... hahah... there for you... *cough*... when... when you needed me."

"NO!" Sailor Moon cried as Sailor Mars' eyes rolled up in the back of her head. She clenched the woman's tortured body to her own, heedless to the gagging stench of burnt flesh or hair.

"I can help her," Saturn said, still a little stunned. "But I can't do it alone. Please, help me Sailor Moon."

Nodding, the blonde woman grasped Saturn's hand. The three of them began to glow white.

The were also completely vulnerable. Despite losing both arms, the monstrosity still seemed to want to attack them. Already stunned by Mars's sacrifice, Tuxedo Kamen dodged away from Silicon and leapt in between Sailor Moon, Saturn, and Mars. He raised his cane. When the monster raised his foot to stomp them, it halted against an invisible barrier that seemed to spread out from the cane.

"Protect everyone else!" Tuxedo Kamen commanded Sailor Uranus through clenched teeth as he fought off the dismembered golem's attack.

Nodding. Uranus dragged herself to her feet, and launched her self at Silicon.

"I'm your enemy!" she shouted angrily as Silicon tried to dodge past her and attack Tuxedo Kamen. "Fight me!"

"Fine!" Silicon shouted, lashing out at Uranus with her blade.

Wildly she swung, forcing Uranus to parry with the Space Sword. She seemed completely unaffected by the protracted fight. Uranus, on the other hand, was still seeing double from being hit so soundly. Only her superior skill saved her from being sliced to ribbons.

"Stop this!" Uranus commanded when she finally managed to lock swords. "We never came here to hurt anyone."

"You'll never fool me," Silicon growled. "Your kind lives to murder and destroy!"

Uranus was stunned by the youma's words. She didn't block when Silicon kicked her in the gut, forcing them apart. She almost didn't roll out of the way when the youma lunged at her.

"That's not true!" Uranus cried, flipping to her feet. She parried another few blows from Silicon, but was driven back by the youma's vicious blows. Her head was spinning and she was tiring badly.

"You think I don't know you're a monster?" Silicon accused, scoring a slashing hit on Uranus' arm.

Still staring incredulously at the youma, Uranus clutched her arm, her sword hanging limply.

"It's not true," she cried. "I'm not a killer!"

"I won't rest until you and everything you stand for is dead," Silicon said, lunging, her sword angled directly for Sailor Uranus' heart. "I will protect my people from you!"

The sword never hit its target.

Silicon stumbled to a halt, looking down at her own chest. The Space Sword was lodged in it, buried up to the hilt.

She opened her mouth to cry out, but the only thing that came out was viscous green blood.

Uranus' injured arm fell to her side. It had taken everything she had to throw the blade. She collapsed to her knees, tears running down her face and mingling with blood.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

Silicon fell forward, clawing her way towards Uranus. She vomited more blood and began to shudder. She reached out to the woman with a clawed hand.

"I'm sorry!" Uranus bawled, grabbing the youma's hand. "I didn't want to kill you. I'm so sorry!" she screamed.

Silicon's arm went limp. He eyes rolled up in the back of her head, which drooped. The only thing holding her body up was the hilt of the Space Sword.

Uranus leaned over the body and wept, both for the person she had just killed, and for herself. She didn't notice the explosion behind her or hear the rush of ice and lightning. She didn't hear the shouting or the screaming.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry this had to happen," Sailor Uranus said, turning the youma's body over and staring into its sightless eyes. "I didn't want this. I'll protect your people. I promise! I promise!" she shouted again.

Grimly, she put her hand on the hilt of the Space Sword and pulled it free with her injured arm. She gently laid Silicon's still body down on the ground and reached down to close its eyes.

She stood, her fuku stained red with her own blood and green with Silicon's. When she turned, nine pairs of eyes looked on.

Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Neptune were closest to her. Neptune's face was bruised, and she was bleeding pretty freely from one nostril, but her eyes were alert and sharp. Her eyes mirrored the grief and horror Uranus felt. Behind the two of them, Sailor Venus, Pluto, and Mercury stood, pain, sympathy, but no pity on their faces. Behind them, a pile of shattered quartz attested to what they had just accomplished.

To one side, Tuxedo Kamen was helping to support Sailor Saturn, who was all but completely exhausted from her efforts. Sailor Mars, naked, but wrapped in Tuxedo Kamen's cloak, leaned against Sailor Moon. Her burns were gone, but she still looked utterly drained.

In Sailor Moon's eyes...

"I'm sorry, Usagi," Uranus bawled. "I didn't want her to die. I tried! I tried so hard to keep from killing her!"

Neptune and Jupiter lurched forward, each of them wrapping their arms around the distraught woman.

Uranus felt comfort, but no solace from the dual embrace. The two who held her had no power to forgive her for what she had just done. The only one who could do that was lying dead, behind her.

Slowly, her own body exhausted, Sailor Moon helped Mars to lean against Mercury. She stepped towards Uranus and knelt in front of her. She pulled the blond woman into her own embrace, crushing the woman's head into her bosom.

When Uranus looked up, it wasn't Sailor Moon or even Usagi's eyes she saw staring down at her.

"This is the true nature of your power and responsibility," Sailor Moon said quietly, running her fingers through Uranus's hair. "This is the burden you alone are suited to bear," she explained, tears beginning to run down her cheeks. "My heart is broken because you have to bear this. I want to wash the blood away and make it so this never happened, but I can't. All I can do is give you my love and the knowledge that you did the best you could in a horrible situation. I love you, Haruka. You did the right thing. You protected us all."

Haruka's eyes clothes and her mouth opened in a wordless wail. She bawled incoherently into Serenity's chest, her eyes and nose running. All the time she was screaming, Sailor Moon held her close, whispering words of comfort and forgiveness.

"Now, Sailor Uranus, we have much left to do," her princess said as if she were addressing a small child. "Do you have the strength to help me?"

Wordlessly, Uranus nodded. She stood weakly, but resolutely, the bloody Space Sword held firmly at her side.

"Let's go help Cobalt save Kaliborite," Sailor Moon commanded.

The ten battle-weary warriors ran as fast as they could through the shanty-town and into the Dark Palace.

"I've got a lock on Cobalt!" Mercury announced after they had cleared the main entrance. "She's a hundred feet ahead and to our left, and thirty feet up."

"The galleries," Tuxedo Kamen said. "This way," he indicated, leading the group up a damaged staircase. "Hurry!"

* * *

By the time, Cobalt heard footsteps, she wasn't sure if she was alive or dead. A bright light seemed to be stretching out all around her. In the distance, she could see some of the children she had lived with in the pens, but who had been killed or drained to death by the olders. Nearer, she could see Chalcedony and the others who had been killed on Earth. Closer still, she could see Graphite, Germanium, and Silicon, who stared at her apologetically.

"What happened to her?" Sailor Moon screamed.

"Her lungs have filled with blood," Mercury said. "She's dying! We have to save her!"

Closer even than the Graphite, Germanium, or Silicon, Sailor Moon's face stared lovingly down at her.

"I can't help her," Saturn said. "Even if I had the strength left, my power would roast her alive."

"She can drain one of us," Sailor Mars exclaimed. "She's done it before."

Everyone around Cobalt was happy and smiling. No one was afraid or hungry.

"Cobalt," Sailor Moon commanded. "You have to drain my energy to heal yourself. Cobalt! Cobalt! Can you hear me?"

There was no pain here. There was only love, laughter and light. Still, something felt wrong. Something felt unfinished. Something nagged at the back of Cobalt's mind.

"She doesn't have the strength left," Tuxedo Mask said.

"COBALT! TAKE MY ENERGY!" Sailor Moon screamed, lifting the woman's head.

With one bloody hand and a smile on her face, Cobalt reached up to Sailor Moon's cheek and brushed it lightly.

"Sailor Moon," she said, the wound in her chest whistling loudly. "Usagi... the children... you must protect..."

Cobalt's hand fell against Sailor Moon's chest, leaving a long smear of blood against the white fabric of the woman's bodysuit. Her gaze drifted and fixed permanently on something that no one else could see.

Smiling, in the presence of someone she loved, General Cobalt of the Dark Kingdom died.

"COBALT!" Sailor Moon screamed. "WAKE UP, COBALT! WAKE UP!"

"Usako," Tuxedo Kamen said kneeling down beside her.

Control over her body gone, Cobalt's corpse reverted to its true appearance. Instead of two arms and two legs, she now had eight limbs, each more like a bird's talon than a human appendage. Her uniform faded, leaving her clad in the tatters of a blouse and a pair of jeans, ripped apart by the extra limbs. Her skin turned blue and translucent. All the Sailors could see the shapes of her internal organs where her clothes no longer covered her. Worse, they could see her lungs, one punctured, both full of dark blood.

"Wake up, Cobalt!" Sailor Moon shouted again. "Wake up! We haven't found Kelly yet. We can't do it without you. Wake up!"

"Usako... let her go," Tuxedo Kamen urged his lover.

"COBALT! DON'T DO THIS!" the blonde woman screamed.

Uranus, her own grief still fresh, knelt down and wrapped her arms around the crying woman.

"Usagi," Sailor Mars said, "She's dead."

"No," Sailor Moon cried. "No! I won't allow it!"

'Usako, please," Tuxedo Kamen begged. "Please--"

"No! I won't stand for it! Too many people have died today. No more! Do you hear me!"

Everyone in the room gasped as her hand went to her chest. She came away with the Silver Crystal, which she held in one hand like a torch. Indeed, the white glow illuminated the dim room like a bonfire.

"Usako! No! You'll kill yourself!"

"I don't care," Sailor Moon stated as she stood, her words coming from between clenched teeth. Cobalt's dripping corpse began to float in front of her. "If I had to give my life away a thousand times, I would."

Her costume dissolved, leaving her momentarily nude. Her body was wreathed in light. Out of nothingness, a translucent white gown materialized around her, doing more to make her seem like an ethereal spirit than it did to hide her nakedness. Her tiara dissolved, replaced by a glowing crescent mark on her forehead.

Princess Serenity raised her other hand, holding the Silver Crystal high in the air above Cobalt's body. A whirlwind began to twist around them.

"This will not stand," she proclaimed in a screaming voice. "If I have to turn the world inside out, I will!"

His face resolute, Tuxedo Kamen relaxed his shoulders. His mask dissolved away, as did his tuxedo and the rest of his clothing. Seconds later, he was clad in black crystalline armor. His hair whipping around him, he drew his sword and touched its tip to the Silver Crystal.

"Please. everyone, lend us your power!"

Uranus nodded and grabbed his hand. Her costume dissolved away and reformed, more elegant than ever before. The fabric of her bow became translucent and shimmering, as did her skirt. The blood was gone from her hands, but the glove on her left hand was now and forevermore darkly stained with green and red. Sailor Uranus was wreathed in yellow flame. Neptune grabbed her lover's hand, as did Jupiter. Both underwent similar transformations. Both started to glow as well, feeding as much power as they could into Princess Serenity and the Silver Crystal. Sailor Saturn and Sailor Venus were next, joined quickly by Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars. The cloak Mars was hiding behind whipped away in the wind to be replaced with a new costume like the others.

Finally, Sailor Pluto strode up to Princess Serenity and placed her staff against the Silver Crystal, undergoing the new transformation herself.

"Do with us as you will, my queen!" she shouted.

Serenity nodded and gestured toward the youma general's body.

"WAKE UP, COBALT!" she screamed.

Cobalt's body was wreathed in white flame. It was lifted aloft by Serenity's will and power.

Somewhere... in a place of happiness and comfort, Cobalt heard Serenity's voice.

"WAKE UP, COBALT!"

"Why? I have no real power. I can't hope to stand up to her like you can," Cobalt answered sadly. "You don't need me."

"I need you more than you could ever imagine. Serve me," Serenity offered her. "Accept the destiny I have for you. Together, we'll save them all. We'll protect all the children... all of them."

Cobalt didn't answer.

"Will you serve me?"

"I would throw my life away a thousand times if that's what I had to do to save them," Cobalt agreed. "Yes, I will serve you."

Her own words slammed into her like a lightning bolt. Forcefully jerked out of the happiness and warmth, she found herself strangely alert and aware, if incredibly overwhelmed. She could feel the power pouring into her. It was like electricity crawling up and down her spine.

This, she realized, was the light of the Moon.

It bore into her, melting and reforming her. It refracted through every organ, muscle, and nerve. It purified her. It changed her. She could feel her body becoming something new... something it had never been before.

The light bore her up, turning her body so that it hung upright. The blood and fluid that had filled her lungs was expelled, both from her mouth and nostrils and from the wound in her chest. It vaporized as it flew away from her. Strangely, it didn't burn her when it did.

More and more, Cobalt could feel the power creeping through her extremities. It leapt from nerve to nerve... from cell to cell, subtly altering every fiber of her being. Every part of her was being healed, recreated, and enchanted by the light.

Those around her could see that Cobalt's body was surrounded by swirling lights. Rays of energy shone off her translucent flesh, illuminating the room around them. Her wounds healed before their eyes and the evidence of her death disappeared as if it had never been.

The shreds of clothing on her body dissolved away, absorbed by the light. In their place, new garments began to appear. Boots covered her clawed feet. Fingerless gloves appeared over each of her six taloned hands. A short, pleated skirt appeared around her waist. Her translucent blue flesh was left bare from the waist up, simply because no bodysuit could hope to accommodate all six of her arms. Her breasts were partially hidden by a shimmering, transparent bow and a crescent moon carved from indigo-tinted glass. A silver tiara punctuated with a perfect heart-shaped sapphire crossed her brow.

The Sailor Senshi looked on in awe and wonder. Her expression intense, but unreadable, Princess Serenity stood before Cobalt, her arms still outstretched. Energy poured out of her, spiraling into the transformed woman's body. Finally, she raised her hands, releasing Cobalt. The Silver Crystal faded in brightness, but didn't leave Serenity's hand.

Slowly, Cobalt settled to the ground, her body in a kneeling position. She was surrounded by a firey, multi-colored aura. Each Sailor could feel her own power, transformed and amplified by the Silver Crystal, resonating in Cobalt's body. Each of them knew. Each of them understood.

"Arise, Sailor Metal Kingdom!" Serenity commanded the new warrior, her voice low, but urgent. "Arise and join us!"

The Sailor Senshi had gained a new sister, created in part from their own life-energies.

The multi-colored fire around her cooling to a dark indigo, Sailor Metal Kingdom opened her eyes. Her violet-blue orbs locked with Serenity's piercing blue irises. She stared expectantly at the woman who had just done the impossible... who had just reached behind the veil of death and returned with life.

"Will you help us, Sailor Metal Kingdom?" Serenity asked her.

"I will," the youma-turned-Sailor Senshi replied, her eyes taking in the expressions of awe and love all around her. "But I want what you promised me in return."

Princess Serenity nodded, her exultant expression almost eager. "We will start here," she said.

Prince Endymion and the other Sailor Senshi had backed away from the pair, not really understanding what was happening or what Serenity had planned. When Sailor Moon glanced lovingly at Sailor Saturn, however, the girl knew what was expected of her.

The smallest, youngest, and most deadly of the Sailor Senshi turned her face to the heavens. She opened her mouth... and began to sing.

It was a wordless song, but it was full of yearning and hope. The crystal-clear tones of her voice echoed in the ears those around her with the promise of salvation, healing, and life in the face of certain torment and despair.

Sailor Venus raised her voice next, as did Sailor Mars. Both were experienced singers, but neither needed any words to express what they felt. Venus's song spoke of joy and confidence, while Mars's song spoke of love and undying devotion.

My voice isn't really good enough for this, Uranus thought as the song began to rise around her. Tears began to course down her face. I'm a killer, not a singer. Even if I was, I don't deserve to partake in this.

Serenity caught her sad gaze. In a second, Sailor Uranus knew the truth of the matter. Regardless of what she felt-- regardless of the horrible responsibilities and burdens that had been placed upon her-- she was more precious to those around her than their own lives. It was a bitter, humbling realization, but one she could no longer ignore.

With one hand, she raised the Space Sword into the air. It lengthened, its curved shape twisting in new directions. It narrowed in places and grew wider in others. Six strings of wound, coiled platinum erupted from the hilt of the transformed sword and snaked down the length of the growing instrument. They attached themselves to the tip of the sword, which by now had widened into a curved edge. They were pulled taught by the convolutions, twanging slightly over the raised frets that had grown in the sword's surface.

The talisman of Uranus, the Space Sword, was for the moment no longer a killing weapon. It was a musical instrument ready to add her feelings to those around her.

She lowered it and brought her fingers down across the strings, adding a saw-toothed, bittersweet counterpoint to the joyful song around her. The chord of Uranus spoke of the dreadful burden she bore so that the light might shine from others. It also held the hope that enough of the light might be reflected from her so that she too could shine.

A similar transformation was happening to Neptune's talisman, the Deep Aqua Mirror. It too lengthened slightly. More noticeably, it grew thicker in the middle, bulging in front and in back. Like the Space Sword, it too grew platinum strings. Neptune placed the modified talisman under her chin. In her other hand a bow formed of liquid water coalesced. She lifted it and drew it softly across the strings. Neptune's vibrato trilling was a song of forgiveness, acceptance, and understanding.

Next to Serenity, Endymion turned his face towards the heavens and began to sign a hymn of patience and power, his deep baritone voice providing guidance and rhythm for the others to follow.

Mercury was the next to sing, her high, clear voice illuminating the others and bringing them together. Jupiter was after her. Still wordlessly, she sang of beloved duty and self-sacrifice in the name of love.

The last to sing was Pluto. Unlike the others, she only sang in a whisper. Out of the entire chorus, hers was the only song that used words. They were in a language long since dead, but the Sailors and Endymion knew what they meant-- 'Love', 'Justice', 'Hope', 'Joy', and 'Peace'.

"Now, Sailor Metal Kingdom," Serenity spoke once again, holding her Silver Crystal aloft once more. It glowed with the power that everyone was pouring into it with their hearts and their voices. "Lead us to where the promise will be fulfilled."

Sailor Metal Kingdom nodded and turned. She strode from the gallery, the assembled Sailor Senshi following behind her.

In their wake, what few youma there were left in the palace came out of their hiding to see the commotion or to listen to the song more clearly. Most of them had never heard music before, let alone music that contained such joy and hope.

Adults and children alike began to follow the Sailor Senshi as they worked their way deeper into the heart of the Dark Palace. Some were whispering quietly, trying to figure out what was going on. Some of the children began to sign along.

All the while, the power built. It was almost impossible to look at Princess Serenity directly. She and the Silver Crystal were glowing with nova brightness. Every voice that followed her only added to the energy she was carrying. The Dark Palace, darker and darker towards its center, was being more brightly illuminated than it ever had in its entire history.

After some time, the growing group passed through a large, round chamber illuminated only by a glowing crystal-- Beryl's ruined throne room. Endymion had been here many times before. Serenity, as Sailor Moon, had only been once.

"This time," she whispered, "I've come not to destroy, but to heal," she said in a whisper voice.

Everyone around her heard what she said, even over the continuing song.

On the other side of the throne room, behind the destroyed remains of Beryl's throne, was a long hallway.

At the end of that hallway, with Kaliborite still clutched to her chest, Lead stood. Her face was twisted in horror and shame.

Princess Serenity and Sailor Metal Kingdom strode forward. Sailor Metal Kingdom extended her hand towards Lead, not raised to attack, but open in beseechment.

"Lead, give Kelly back to me. This has gone on long enough."

"I can't!" Lead wailed, sweat standing her her face. "Ytterbium said that you would destroy us. You've even turned into a Sailor!"

"Ytterbium lied to you, Lead," Sailor Metal Kingdom told her former ally. "I can't promise things will always be the same, but I will always do my best to protect you. I'll always protect the children as best I can. Sailor Moon has come here to help me do that."

"You're lying!" Lead disagreed, tightening her embrace around Kaliborite's unconscious form. "I don't know who to believe any more!"

"You don't have to believe," Princess Serenity told her, smiling honestly. "I'm not here to hurt anyone. Kelly-chan?" she said.

The little girl's eyes flicked open. She blinked several times and turned her head towards Princess Serenity and the Sailors. To her odd form of vision, it looked like a host of glowing angels had descended.

"Bunny!" Kaliborite shouted, wriggling out of Lead's grip. She scrambled on the stone floor and ran over to Princess Serenity, who greeted her with open arms.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Kaliborite nodded, reaching out a hand to touch Sailor Metal Kingdom's face. "I was so afraid. Everyone was yelling and screaming."

"It's okay now. Everything will be just fine," Serenity assured her. She turned her face back to Lead. "Will you come with us?" she asked.

Lead held her hands to her face in horror, shaking her head back and forth. She cowered before her enemies, paralyzed with fear.

Sailor Venus knelt down to her and reached out a hand. She grabbed Lead's hand and pulled her to her feet.

"Sailor Moon has never done wrong by me ever before," she said, momentarily breaking out of her song. "She won't hurt you, I promise."

Their way now clear, Sailor Metal Kingdom threw open the doors at the end of the hallway.

Endymion also remembered this room. This was the very core of the Dark Palace. It was where he had been brought when he had been wounded and captured by the Zoicite. It was where his humanity had been stripped away from him by Beryl and Metallia.

Above was the inverted glass dome where Metallia's essence had lain dormant for thousands of years, awaiting her rebirth and subsequent death at the hands of Sailor Moon. Below were dozens of crystal biers like those where Endymion had been held prisoner during his magical brainwashing. These had been mostly pushed aside. Now, in the center of what had once been a horrible torture chamber, a science lab had been assembled.

The space was mostly taken up by various crystalline devices and apparatus of unknown purpose or function. The central bulk of it was composed of several large metal cylinders. They were batteries, Princess Serenity realized, for the storage of the life energy Cobalt and her peers were exporting from Earth.

One of those cylinders had been torn open. Glowing energy was pouring out of it like wine from a cask. Underneath the flow of energy, a single naked figure kneeled, drinking the energy like water.

"Ytterbium," Sailor Metal Kingdom uttered darkly.

Indeed, the energy flowed into Ytterbium's mouth, nose, and eyes. It soaked into her skin, even the long scar on her face. She glowed with the life-energy she was ingesting. She fairly vibrated with unreleased power.

Apparently so caught up in her exultation that she didn't hear the doors slam open behind her or the Sailor Senshi's song of power, she turned only upon hearing her own name.

Her eyes were wide and dilated. Her nostrils flared. Spittle gathered at the corners of her mouth as she breathed her deep, heaving breaths. Her apparent age and lame leg had been wiped away by the energy she had consumed. She looked young, strong, and dangerously powerful.

"You're dead, Cobalt!" she shouted, her voice distorted by the crackling life energy that escaped her mouth when she spoke. "I killed you!"

"Sailor Moon brought me back," Sailor Metal Kingdom said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Now we're going to set things right."

"You think you can stand against me?" Ytterbium shouted. "You think you can withstand my power? You think you can take away what's rightfully mine?!"

"It was never yours to begin with," Sailor Metal Kingdom replied sadly. "You're insane, Ytterbium. The power has made you crazy. Give this up."

Ytterbium never answered. She raised her fist, golden energy arcing up her arm and coalescing around her extended fingers. The various youma who had followed the Sailors this far began to scream and run away in fear.

The other Sailors rushed forward, ready to respond to Ytterbium's threatening actions, but Princess Serenity held up her hand.

Sailor Metal Kingdom stepped in front of her new queen and raised her hands, palms out.

"METAL KINGDOM SEPARATION!" she cried, her own hands glowing with blue power.

Ytterbium's force beam, hundreds of times more powerful than the one that had earlier taken Cobalt's life, slammed into Sailor Metal Kingdom... and reflected against the glowing blue barrier between the power-crazed youma and everyone else. It impacted the ceiling above and behind Ytterbium, where it melted through with a roaring sound. Molten stone and fragments of metal shrapnel exploded all around Ytterbium, but she didn't care, ignoring the burns she was receiving. She fired another blast of energy at the Sailors, which was just as forcefully returned as the last one, along with all the chunks of glowing rock and metal. Ytterbium fired again. This time, the angle of her blast as it reflected against Metal Kingdom's impenetrable shield caused it to tear through the other batteries. Liquid energy poured all over, reacting violently with the molten stone.

Ytterbium fired again, almost up against Metal Kingdom's shield. This blast reflected back into her own body, tearing her arm off. The burning piece of bone and meat flew back and sunk into the violent turmoil of energy and liquid rock. It began to sizzle.

No sound coming from her mouth, Ytterbium dropped to her knees, clutching at the gaping wound in the side of her torso. Instead of blood, the energy she had taken into her body began to flow out of her devastated shoulder, running down her side like burning oil.

When it was obvious that Ytterbium could attack no more, Metal Kingdom dropped her shield.

"Now, Princess!" Endymion called out. Around them the song swelled to a crescendo.

Serenity turned to her newest senshi and spoke quietly. "You know this will change everything, don't you?"

The youma nodded, at once looking strangely alien with her six arms and her translucent blue skin but entirely appropriate in her modified sailor fuku.

"It's what I want," she said, the light of the Silver Crystal glinting off her face and her torso. "It's the only thing I've ever wanted."

Princess Serenity raised the crystal once more, all the accumulated light and energy flowing out of it in one massive explosion of power. The dome above, where Metallia had once cast her baleful eye on her subjects, was shattered and disintegrated. The empty rooms and chambers above that were similarly destroyed. The beam of power continued on until it hit the very edge of the Dark Kingdom's warped reality. Once there, it began to radiate outwards.

Inside the chamber where Princess Serenity and the others stood, the liquid energy that had been spilled began to flow upwards, slowly joining with the column of light.

It was here that the first rays of energy began to break off from the main column. Some of them hit the youma that were watching the fight between the Sailors and Ytterbium. Instead of hurting them, the youma found themselves strangely refreshed. Some of them, those who could not ingest solid food, felt a new sensation as the light subtly altered them-- the hunger of an empty stomach. The light healed them and made them whole where they had once been injured or crippled. Old scars disappeared. Cancers and lesions evaporated away.

One streamer of light impacted Ytterbium square in the chest. She too was healed. A new arm faded back into place where her old arm had been torn out of its socket. The burns she had taken when the rock exploded around her healed. The old scar on her face, the reason she could only travel to Earth for minutes or seconds at a time, closed. Within seconds, it was as if she had never been injured.

Outside the Dark Palace, rays of light began to rain down from the column of white fire, raking through the shanty-town outside the palace like hailstones. Everywhere they hit, someone was healed. Deformities and mutilations were erased.

Some distance away from the palace, near the remains of the quartz golem, a ray hit Silicon's dead body. It too began to heal. The wound in her chest from Sailor Uranus's Space Sword began to close. After a few seconds, Silicon sat up, blinking in confusion. She stared at the strange white light in fear and disbelief, trying to figure out what had happened to her.

From where she was laying, she could see the spear of light reaching up, changing everything. Every part of the Dark Kingdom began to shake, from the far reaches where twisted space and time distorted the vary rocks, to the center, the Dark Palace itself. Pieces of the palace began to come loose, cascading in rock slides that fell up, towards the disturbance, rather than down into the huddled masses waiting fearfully below.

A great lurch was felt by everyone in the Dark Kingdom, as if the whole thing had somehow started to move.

Inside the central chamber of the Dark Palace, the Sailor Senshi and everyone else watched the sky-- the roof of the immense cavern that formed the Dark Kingdom-- with growing trepidation. It was trembling violently.

Neither Princess Serenity, who was still at the core of the light, nor Sailor Metal Kingdom showed any fear at all. Both wore expectant, exultant expressions.

To everyone's horror, the first piece of the ceiling of the cavern broke loose. To everyone's shock, rather than falling down upon them, it fell upwards, toward the shaft of light. It fragmented as it moved.

Behind the chunk of disintegrating rock... outside the Dark Kingdom... a starry sky shone down. A crescent moon rose overhead, shining its light down into the cavern for the very first time.

"I thought you said this was a pocket dimension," Jupiter shouted to Mercury over the roar of Serenity's alteration.

"It was! She's done something to space and time," the short- haired sailor exclaimed, staring intently at her computer. "We're back on Earth... somehow... I don't understand what's happening!" she shouted in excitement. "This is incredible!"

More and more of the ceiling of the cavern began to dissolve away in huge chunks. More and more of the starry, moon-lit sky shone in from above. Soon there was a hole almost a kilometer wide between Earth and the formerly Dark Kingdom.

Slowly, Sailor Moon, no longer Princess Serenity, dimmed back down into reality. She slumped, totally exhausted. With the help of Sailor Metal Kingdom, she only barely managed to stay upright, but kept a smile on her face. Sailor Mars and Tuxedo Kamen ran to her side to help her. As the last flickers of the column of light faded, the light from outside the immense hole began to filter in. Those inside the Dark Kingdom could see what was for them the unfamiliar shape of the Tokyo skyline. In the distance, the Tokyo Tower glowed red and white, welcoming the city's newest inhabitants.

"It is done," Sailor Moon said to Sailor Metal Kingdom.

The newest Sailor Senshi collapsed to her knees and grabbed Sailor Moon with all six hands. She began to cry loudly and thankfully into her queen's skirt. After a few seconds, her transformation reversed itself. It was no longer Sailor Metal Kingdom, but Cobalt crying against Sailor Moon, her normal human guise reasserting itself.

"Where are we?" Kaliborite asked, staring up in wonder

"We're home," Cobalt said, tears of joy running freely down her face. "Now and forever."

----------

EPILOGUE:

It rained gemstones in Tokyo for three solid days.

What was once the Dark Kingdom had 'intersected' with Earth in the approximate location of the Infinity district, the sea reclamation project that had been abandoned due to the destruction of the Infinity Academy. There had been some attempts by the city to build a park there, but the land had proved far too unstable to make any lasting construction.

When the ceiling of the Dark Kingdom disintegrated, creating a huge, pit-like opening in the center of the district, the gemstones buried in the rocks were flung for miles. They rained down like hail all over the Tokyo Metropolitan area. Traffic was halted in several districts. Ships in the bay eventually had to resort to shoveling the priceless diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and sapphires that fell on their decks into the water lest they be swamped.

For a moment, Tokyo's citizens became the richest people on the planet. Then, understandably, all the financial markets crashed.

The first human investigators who descended into the remains of the Dark Kingdom found not only precious gemstones by the truckload, but also an incredible volume of precious and semi- precious metals. Gold, silver, copper, platinum, and even iridium were suddenly available by the ton. Once word of the discovery leaked from the military team that had been sent to 'secure' the strange phenomenon, world currency prices plummeted. The financial world was in chaos and was not likely to restabilize for some time to come.

Even more upsetting was the sudden influx of youma into the city of Tokyo. While a great number of them could alter their appearance like Cobalt and Achorite, a significant number could not. Some had semi-human appearances, but not all. The city was suddenly awash in aliens-- far too many for even the most serious government efforts to control-- all of whom were looking for food and a comfortable place to sleep. After exploring the city, many of them returned to the pit that lead into their old kingdom and more familiar surroundings.

On the fourth day after the event, Rabbit Room was back on the air. Bunny, Kitty, and Princess Puppy all made a great deal out of their 'new guests'. Youma children, both in and out of human disguise, were part of her audience that day. As Bunny, Usagi spoke at great length on the importance of welcoming the new arrivals to the city and making them feel welcome no matter what they might look like.

For the most part, everyone, human children and adults alike, seemed to be paying attention to her.

That afternoon, Ami, Rei, Cobalt, Achorite and Brookite sat in Usagi and Mamoru's apartment watching hour one-oh-three of the non-stop cable news coverage of the incredible event. Achorite lay on Mamoru's couch, careful not to disturb her injured abdomen. She simply hadn't been able to relocate back to the restaurant yet due to the impassible streets.

Nearby, Japser and Kaliborite gleefully cuddled the two newborn kittens under Luna's watchful eye.

Mamoru, Usagi, Minako, and Makoto stepped into the apartment, carrying several boxes of takeout food from Makoto's restaurant.

"Dinner!" Rei exclaimed eagerly.

"Yeah," Makoto noted. "I'm just not going to be able to open the restaurant again for a few days. None of my staff can get to work. A couple are in walking distance, but..."

As everyone took off their shoes as they stepped into the apartment, they were careful to shake them out over a small bowl Mamoru left next to the door. After four days, it was brimming full of raw gemstones.

"I hope nobody minds spaghetti," Usagi said. "I was really hungry for it, so Makoto said she would make some, but I tried to help, and I accidentally made way too much and--"

"Spaghetti," Brookite urged Jasper and Kaliborite, trying to tear their attention away from the kittens.

"They'll be okay," Usagi said. "We'll warm some back up for them when they come around."

"So, Ami," Minako asked. "Did you ever figure out what happened?"

"Roughly," the doctor said. "I've narrowed it down to three possibilities, all of which require that the pocket dimension around the Dark Kingdom shifted along either seven or ten spatio-temporal axes on a tangent to our own dimension..."

As they began to serve dinner, everyone's eyes glazed over at Ami's intensely scientific explanation for the newest addition to the Tokyo metropolitan area. Usagi shrugged in confusion. Even though she had been responsible for what had happened, she didn't understand how it happened any better than anyone else.

"By the way," Mamoru said. "We bumped into Haruka and Michiru on our way back. That's why it took so long. They're planning on going away for a bit. I think they've got some things to work out between them."

"That's good," Rei answered.

Makoto did her best to suppress an evil grin. As soon as she managed to get her restaurant open, she was going to leave her assistant manager in charge and join the two on what promised to be a very interesting island vacation. There was a lot that needed to be said and worked out between the three of them. Despite the heartache that was bound to involve, Makoto couldn't help but look forward to it.

"Have you heard from Hotaru or Setsuuna again yet?" she asked Rei, trying to cover the expression on her face.

Rei shook her head. "Not a peep."

"I think someone may have heard from Hotaru," Usagi supplied in a secretive sing-song tone. "Shingo-kun was in very nervous mood when I went to check on him yesterday. I think somebody's got a da-a- ate!" she exclaimed, stretching the word out into three syllables.

"So, how is your friend?" Mamoru asked Cobalt as they began to eat in a desperate attempt to change the subject.

"Ytterbium? She's... kinda messed up still," the woman said sadly after finishing a bite of pasta. "I think she went crazy when things didn't work out like she wanted them to. I think she's suicidal. I know I wasn't the only one she betrayed. There are probably a lot of people looking to get back at her right now or even worse. I talked to Silicon and Lead yesterday. They're planning on taking her somewhere where she can't hurt herself or anyone else."

"I hope she heals one day," Usagi said seriously.

"Now you tell me something," Cobalt said. "Now that... what happened... has happened..." She shuddered, realizing that she now knew what it meant to die. Like some of the others in the room, the rest of the Sailor Senshi, she had been killed and then been brought back by one who loved her more than her own life. She clenched her eyes shut, trying to put the enormity of the situation behind her. "Where do we go from here?" she asked after a few seconds. "This is different than I ever thought it would be. I think everyone's really confused right now. If nothing else, I don't know how everyone is going to react to undisguised youma walking the streets and living in the same town."

"We'll adjust," Rei assured her, "Just like you will. It will be hard, and it will take a long time, but people will get used to it after a while."

"My mother's hospital has already opened a wing for youma children," Ami added. "After helping Akie, she's the world's foremost-- and only-- expert on youma physiology."

Usagi smiled. "See? Everything really will be okay," she told Cobalt. "One day... one day soon, Tokyo will be a city of crystal and light." She grinned and shook a stray diamond out of her hair. "You've done a lot to help us get there. I hope you'll stay with us and keep helping us because, I promise you, it only gets better from here."

Cobalt grinned and nodded. She would follow Sailor Moon for as long as she could. _ _ _

THE END

Sailor Metal Kingdom Says:

"Sailor Moon and her friends belong to Naoko Takeuchi. They were used in 'Hidden in Darkness without permission. Me, Akie, Kelly, Brooke and all my friends belong to Mister Jones. He says that we can show up in other people's stories if we want to. Mister Jones also said that since he had been gotten onto in the past for asking for fanart that he wasn't going to this time. Well... I will! I want fanart! I want pictures of *me*! HAHAHA! I'm Sailor Metal Kingdom now, and I *deserve* fanart! BWHAHAHAHA!"

(Achorite and Sailor Moon drag Sailor Metal Kingdom offstage. Sailor Mercury walks up and replaces her.)

Sailor Mercury Says:

"This and all previous chapters of 'Sailor Moon: Hidden in Darkness' are available at the author's website along with all his other stories:



Thank you for reading. I and the other Sailor Senshi hoped you enjoyed reading. Author's notes and a few short omake will be available in the next post. See you next time!"