Chapter 7: The Courage of Sailor Pluto

"Uhhh..." ChibiUsa's vision was fuzzy and distorted as she came to her senses. That shot from Tridyx had felt like an anvil colliding with her soft jaw. She was amazed that she was even waking up at all after a blow like that. Suddenly, as her glassy eyes cleared up, she found herself surrounded in a glowing dome of purple light. It was then that she knew what had kept her alive.

"Hotaru!" She called out to her friend, who was standing several feet away, gazing up at a taller skyscraper where the monstrous alien was floating.

The small soldier of death turned and smiled thankfully to see that her close confidant was okay. "ChibiUsa! Thank goodness, my healing worked just in time. Hold on for a second."

She raised her glaive into the air and gradually lowered it, and the force field began to fade and finally vanished as its tip touched the ground. ChibiUsa, in the midst of finding herself and Hotaru alive, rushed over and hugged her best friend briefly.

"Thanks a lot, Hotaru," ChibiUsa said. "If you hadn't healed me, I don't know what could've happened."

"Don't mention it," She nodded in return. "But things have taken some terrible turns since you fell unconscious..."

"What do you mean?" ChibiMoon's smile faded as Saturn's face turned solemn. Then, the soldier of death motioned over to a freshly obliterated area several meters away, and ChibiMoon's small heart suddenly collapsed at what she saw - the scorched corpses of Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Venus were laying in the rubble, the possessed love chains still around them. Not one breath was coming from their lungs. "Oh, no.........How did it happen?"

"I'm sorry, ChibiUsa, I couldn't do anything without endangering their lives. Believe me, if I could've given my life to save theirs, I would have. They were so intent on keeping you safe though...they told me not to interfere until you were healed and protected inside the Silence Wall...By then it was too late..."

ChibiMoon said nothing for a moment, and she lowered her head and clutched her fists, trying not to let tears seep out. Even after her healing and re-awakening, she felt as if parts of her still remained in that void between dead and alive. She hadn't been there to protect her guardians...and her friends...She hadn't even been there to say good-bye to them as they passed into the Great Beyond.

"Why..." She muttered to herself as she dropped to her knees. A few drops leaked from her eyes and onto the dry ground as she clutched with rage at the small piles of dirt covering the pavement. "...Mommy, why is this happening to us...we've been through too much to suffer like this......"

She felt Hotaru's comforting hand on her shoulder and looked up at her best friend with an empty face, one that was searching for answers to those disparaging questions. Hotaru extended her arms and offered ChibiUsa a comforting and consoling embrace, which the disheartened princess was more than willing to accept.

ChibiUsa then took notice of the floating Tridyx, who had apparently disregarded both of them and was facing toward one of the intact buildings.

"How have you managed to stay alive since Makoto and Minako were killed? You were the only one left," She wondered as she eyed the monster with suspicion. He wasn't just floating around leisurely - he was eyeing something with a heightened sense of caution, more than he had shown throughout the entire ordeal.

"Setsuna-mama came back to help us!" Sailor Saturn replied. "She's up on the roof with Haruka-papa, and they're both ready to fight that demon together!"

"Sailor Pluto's here?!" ChibiUsa's cheeriness was boosted dramatically with that piece of good news. She'd been worried about her mentor ever since she'd disappeared after the palace ambush. She'd feared the worst for her life, but here she was now, and with Sailor Uranus by her side, perhaps they stood a chance to win against the maniacal barbarian after all - they always seemed more powerful when working as a team. "That's wonderful, thank goodness she's alive...but why aren't they attacking yet? And why is that monster waiting so long?"

"I think they're talking about something up there..." Saturn squinted to see over the top of the building, but it was difficult to make out anything with the amount of darkness in the air. "But we'll just have to wait and see what happens. We may or may not have to help out depending on what Setsuna may tell us."

"In any case, I'm more than ready..." ChibiUsa steadied herself, trying to recharge her energy that was lost when she was knocked out. "And if I get my shot, this fiend's going to wish he had never laid a hand on my friends!"
* * *

"You WHAT??!!" Pluto felt her stomach begin to cave in as Haruka's inquisitive gaze suddenly exploded into an infuriated glare. She didn't expect the obstinate Sailor Soldier's views on outside interference to change with the introduction of the Z Warriors into the war despite the dismal situation, and her instincts had proved her right yet again.

Nevertheless, Sailor Pluto tried to deal with Sailor Uranus's anger calmly, which was another war in itself.

"Haruka, please let me explain--"

"Explain what?! Setsuna, after everything we've been through, how could you do something like this, especially with your knowledge?!" She shouted at her. "From what you say, these guys are as strong as the monsters we're battling now, and who knows what they'll do now that they're here! You've endangered us even more than we already are by telling such powerful strangers of Earth's past about us and this war!"

"Haruka, you're over exaggerating what I'm trying to--"

"Over exaggerating?!" Haruka's tempest of a tantrum was far from over, and Sailor Pluto found herself absorbing every last bit of it like a small child being scolded by a parent. She didn't like the sickening taste that was creeping into her mouth either - the last thing they needed right now was the disintegration of their trust in each other. "Things weren't complicated enough with these powerful warriors attacking us, and now you bring in total strangers that could easily turn on us! Setsuna...you've betrayed us...how could you..."

"Haruka, stop it!" Sailor Pluto finally brought herself to raise her voice to her longtime friend as the berating began to escalate. "Do you think that these considerations didn't run through my mind when I was devising this plan? I knew you and the others would react this way, and that was one reason the queen and I didn't mention it to any of you."

Haruka - who had turned her head away in anger and disgust a few moments ago - whirled it back in Setsuna's direction with surprise playing across her face. "The queen knew...?"

"It was her idea all along. She discovered the existence of such warriors while researching the Old Era. They helped to defend the Earth long before we ever existed, and they've had their fair share of demons as evil as the ones we've fought. I was entrusted with the task of bringing these warriors to the future so they could help us battle these demons. With the help of two of our Special Forces members, we managed to send a temporal probe back to their era, where a message from the queen informed them of the situation."

Sailor Uranus arched an eyebrow. "And how do you know that they received the message? Earth is a vast place, and even our most sophisticated temporal probes can't track an intended receiver."

"It's quite simple," Setsuna continued, watching Haruka's wonder and resentment increase with every word. "I have a longtime friend that is living during that era. He happens to be the mentor of these Z Warriors. He promised me that he would help them reach here once they got our distress call. He also assured me that they could be trusted to help us once they arrive. But we knew better than to tell any of you it. Besides your obvious resentment to the plan, even I had my own doubts, and I didn't want to get any of
your hopes up."

Sailor Uranus was incredulous at first, pacing around the rooftop with bitterness obviously swelling up in her chest. After a few moments, she shook her head as the realization sunk in.

"I should've guessed that the queen was somehow involved in this," She admitted with her hands clasped behind her head. "She's always been so incredibly naive when it came to dealings with unknown forces, even if they had potential to seal our fate like these 'Z Warriors.' Though I never would've expected you to go along with such a scheme, Setsuna, especially with the danger someone like you could foresee in a foolhardy plan like this one."

"Haruka, as much as it may hurt your pride, we were choice less," She argued with a slight shake of her head. "Even you have to admit that with the losses we've sustained and the failure of the energy shield, we were on our last legs. You've witnessed the deaths of four of our beloved friends - and four of the most powerful fighters on the planet - at the hands of one of their lesser commanders, haven't you?"

Sailor Uranus was silent for a moment, prompting Sailor Pluto to continue.

"Haruka, you know that I feel the same way about assistance from foreign warriors as you do, and until now, I've felt confident that we could beat back these monsters with our power alone. But after witnessing the deaths of so many of our friends and the failure of our protective energy shield, I had to admit to myself that such a possibility no longer existed. Despite going against our views on accepting outside help, I knew that if I did not, I would be failing my first duty as a Sailor Soldier and guardian of time: to protect and preserve life on this beautiful planet. That's why I decided on accepting help from the Z Warriors. Please understand, Haruka..."

Sailor Uranus didn't respond, much to Setsuna's expectations given her knowledge of the Outer leader's pride. Instead, Haruka just walked toward the edge of the building, where the monstrous alien assassin was sizing up the newest challenge with peaked interest. His smug grin was almost more than Setsuna could bear.

"...When this is all over, we'll deal with this issue in private. And if your 'saviors' show up, I'll fight with them since my queen has faith in them, however misguided her assumptions may be. But until this is resolved, I'll fight alongside you for the sake of this planet only. Don't expect me to assist someone who would risk the existence of our world on a whim."

Setsuna couldn't say that she wasn't expecting that kind of response - when Haruka got angry, especially about the level of the playing field, she really let all of her rage flow out like a waterfall, and judging from the stern look of iron in her noble eyes, Setsuna knew that she had spoken one hundred percent true when she had practically said that Sailor Pluto was expendable. Aside from Michiru and Hotaru, Haruka cared for the planet and the queen more than anything else, and for someone of Sailor Pluto's dedication to the planet and protecting its people to invite unknowns into the equation was on the same grounds as treason in Haruka's mind. Setsuna figured that the only reason that Haruka hadn't attacked her was the fact that the queen had played a hand in the plan from the beginning. She only wished that the headstrong Outer Soldier could understand that her intentions were pure and not misguided...

"Excuse me," The monstrous behemoth chimed in as both Outer Soldiers approached the edge of the rooftop. "I'm sorry to interrupt a spirited conversation, ladies, but I've still got a busy schedule ahead of me. I can't be wasting my time floating here while you two pixies discuss a futile strategy."

"I'm afraid you're taking our powers more lightly than you should be," Despite the alien's constant taunting, Sailor Pluto's voice maintained a calm and even ominous whisper. However, the fact that the alien titan wasn't fighting alone didn't help improve her confidence: two more aliens - one of them a large humanoid insect and the other a slender, magma-skinned female with an inferno blazing in her narrow eyes - were floating up to a nearby rooftop from their previous positions on the ground to get a closer look at the new participant in the fight. She saw the female mutter something to the insectoid, and Setsuna suddenly felt her caution rise a notch as she noticed the bug-like monster nod in response.

Finding her attention drifting away from the present situation, Sailor Pluto returned her gaze to the current threat. "We're not like the other Sailor Soldiers you've done battle with: protecting this planet is foremost above everything else, and trust me when I say that we can attain new heights of power when backed against a wall."

"Heh, I don't doubt it," The titan snorted as he clicked the black-tinted eyepiece on his left eye. With her slit-eyed gaze, Sailor Pluto could make up several digits blipping across the visor, although it was in a language unknown to her. The report had obviously given the alien commander something to think about, as his large eyes grew a bit wide in amused astonishment. "Ah, how interesting. You're the strongest out of all of the Sailor Soldiers that I've dealt with today, congratulations. You will be an interesting one to play with, although I can't say the same for your tenacious friend - I've already dealt with the extent of her power in previous rounds, and she is of no consequence to this fight."

"Don't be so sure of yourself, Tridyx..." Haruka cupped her hands together, and in a flash of gold light, a jeweled scimitar sparkling with Sailor Uranus's familiar aura appeared from the light, encased in a thin bubble. The princess of Uranus penetrated the layer of fluid and gripped the pearl white handle of the elegant blade and pointed its razor sharp blade at the intrigued Tridyx. "Our powers and tricks run much deeper than you may think. It'll take more than one shot to kill us!"

Sailor Pluto clutched the garnet staff and primed it with her energy. "You've come to this beautiful planet and cursed it with your powers of death and chaos. This world is a place where love and peace should bloom, and we won't let you take it away for your own greed!"

"Love? Peace? Hah!" Tridyx laughed aloud as he uncrossed his arms and floated a little bit closer to the two poised Sailor Soldiers. The chilly night wind began to pick up, blowing the bristles of his thin mustache across his wide upper lip. "I don't know what in the world you two are preaching about, but such concepts are meaningless where I come from."

Pluto drew back slightly as the alien closed the distance, still as nonchalant as before.

"You Earthlings are so naive and innocent," Tridyx chuckled. "On this private utopia away from the mainstream galaxy, you've managed to live danger-free with those foolish idealisms. Allow me to be the first one to bring you up to speed on the current state of the universe."

Sailor Pluto listened as the alien spoke - and she saw Haruka lowering her Space Sword slightly in her own sense of cautious attention.

"You see, where I come from are the core planets of the universe. Dynasty-status industries and the most elite armies ever molded dominate those worlds. Behind these huge empires are the most powerful and intelligent beings ever spawned into this reality. Power and the prospect of gaining more of it are the new driving motivations in the universe, and conquest is the ultimate aspiration in life for people like my associates and me. The weak and pathetic are dominated by the strong and ambitious, just as the evolution of our common universe dictated during its conception. You, Sailor Soldiers, are relics of a long-forgotten past where chivalry and honor were actually worth something to a warrior's soul. It's those qualities that make you the weak fighters that you are."

"From the tainted disgusting filth your soul possesses, I feel sorry for the people out on those planets trying to survive under your twisted minds," Uranus fired back.

"Heh, such aggression," Tridyx continued. "You're probably the closest one of the bunch to what we are in terms of fighting passion, though you fight for the wrong goals and reasons. Such petty frailties like 'love' and 'peace' mean absolutely nothing in this modern universe! Planets such as this one can be traded or destroyed at the swift movement of a hand. Fighting for such obsolete concepts on the behalf of one frail rock is a waste of material, just like this puny planet is."

"Shut up!" Sailor Uranus's temper was about to rupture from the waves of energy that Sailor Pluto could sense pulsing from her body. "I've had about enough of your mouth!"

Before Sailor Pluto could react, Sailor Uranus sprung from her defensive stance, sailing forward with her Space Sword pulled back and ready to slash at the poised alien, who seemed none too impressed by her rage filled valor.

"You never give up, do you?" He shook his head disdainfully. "But I like your tenacity - it can be appreciated even more when other challenges are so few and far between."

Uranus shrugged off the alien's taunting, her skin tightening and her arms tensing as she utilized all of her physical power to bring the jeweled sword down with a tremendous arcing swing aimed at the center of the demon's skull. The saber left gold energy after-images as it descended upon the monster with incredible velocity.

"Haruka, look out!" Pluto called out from the ledge. Though Sailor Uranus's vengeful swing seemed virtually impossible to dodge from the current position that the commander was in, the crafty alien somehow managed to sidestep it, much of the energy used in the swing instead flowing out of the blade as it came down at the bottom of its arc and bouncing harmlessly off of Tridyx's shoulder.

"Ah..." Tridyx smirked as he outstretched his limbs, basking in the volatile energy discharge as if he was bathing in sunlight. "It feels so warm...quite refreshing after this brisk evening."

Sailor Uranus responded by clenching her teeth and quickly generating more of her energy into the sword.

"Why, you...!" she took another swipe at Tridyx's jaw from her position, only to be frustrated by the demon again as he deftly tilted backward, the sharp blade coming dangerously close to stinging the tip of his nose.

"Is that the best you've got?!" Tridyx laughed aloud as he concentrated more black energy into his armored fists.

"Haruka...!!" Sailor Pluto bounded into the air, trying to use her power to stay afloat on the gusty wind and the thick smog that was still pouring out of the burning buildings. She bolted toward the dueling enemies as quick as she could - Sailor Uranus's rage had begun to take over her instincts, blinding her to the alien's furtive attempts to store more energy for a fatal blow.

"Dead Scream..." the whisper was low, nearly inaudible, but the reaction caused by her staff certainly wasn't, as a misty purple storm cloud materialized around Sailor Pluto's body, adding more sparking electrical power to the shining garnet at the tip of her ornamental staff. As she gave the staff direction, the energy gathered in a sphere of light purple energy that fired like a comet toward the gigantic Tridyx.

But unfortunately, the attack hadn't been able to get off in time to stop the beast from striking. He jammed an energized fist into Haruka's gut, knocking the wind of the Outer Soldier and forcing her to cough up small amounts of spittle. From the sickening crack that resulted from the strike, Setsuna knew that several of Sailor Uranus's ribs were shattered by the move. While she was stunned, Tridyx capitalized by folding his huge fists and slamming Haruka in the back like a sledgehammer, causing the wounded soldier to plummet downward and slam into the ground onto the shattered ribs.

"Curses..." Sailor Pluto responded by pumping more electrical power from her to staff toward the
whizzing energy ball, energizing it with an even greater source that was coming straight from Setsuna's emotions and heart, a power she chose not to expose too often because it revealed too much of her true strengths to her enemies. But this time, she didn't care: the planet was on the verge of destruction, and with Haruka down, their chances of surviving this battle alone were looking more dimmer by the second. Besides, nobody could hurt one of her closest friends without paying a dear price. With all the extra energy pumped into the orb, it took twice its form as it had before.

The alien took notice of the power ball after watching Sailor Uranus strike the ground with a solid thud.

"What's this?!" Unlike the barrage with the Space Sword, Tridyx looked almost in shock that Setsuna could generate so much energy into one sphere, something the other Sailor Soldiers could not do earlier as it seemed. "Her battle power's risen to 10000! Impossible from the reading I got earlier!!"

He apparently underestimated the incoming speed of the orb as he barely managed to hold up his hands to catch the projectile, more crackling black thunder sparking across his trim, cut muscles as he expended more energy to keep the volatile orb from breaking through his defenses and utterly vaporizing him.

Setsuna kept her staff trained in the direction of the Dead Scream sphere, her very life force flowing in the form of purple energy wisps into the gradually growing sphere; the build-up was definitely having some kind of an effect, as the perspiration dripping down the side of Tridyx's bald head was beginning to increase along with the strain on his face and the amount of energy he was expending.

"For my queen...and my planet..." She cut her eyes into slits and bore her glower into the alien's labored expression. "I'll eradicate you!"

The energy being concentrated into the orb reached its peak, and Sailor Pluto funneled one last quick burst in, causing the sphere to erupt in a terrific explosion that scattered purple light all over the battlefield and momentarily deafening Sailor Pluto as she shielded her eyes from the glaring burst of light.

When the bright dazzling effect finally died down, Sailor Pluto looked back at the source of the explosion, where the smog from the blast was still coating much of the area. She lowered herself onto the building, trying to reach her senses past the interference of the explosion to lay her mind on the life force of the monster, if any was still remaining.

"Setsuna-mama," Her train of thought was broken as she heard the quiet voice of Sailor Saturn chiming in behind her. Sailor Pluto looked down to see the timid young Sailor Soldier and the princess - both battered and bruised but still with child-like sparkles in their large eyes - standing next to her and gazing at the same area in awe - the energized Dead Scream had caused much more of an impact than even she had expected. The buildings that were close to the blast impact had been partially vaporized. Sailor Saturn was staring at the decimation in silent awe. "You did it! I've never seen you so enraged like you were during the attack, why didn't you ever use that kind of power before?"

"Emotion can be a dangerous weapon, Hotaru," she patted the small child on the head. "As guardian of time, alone in the void for so long, my emotions have become somewhat dormant with my constant vigil, but as I began to fight alongside of Sailor Moon, I realized what kind of power those emotions contained; they somehow increased my power whenever I called them forth. Because of my...inexperience with such things, I try not to bring them out in my fighting unless it is absolutely called for."

"Oh, no!" ChibiUsa dashed forward and gapped out over the concrete ledge of the rooftop and gasped at the sight below. Setsuna peered down and saw the disheveled Sailor Uranus sprawled out along the jagged remains of the street, gasping for air and clutching her ribs as she struggled to move. The internal injuries must've been worse then Pluto thought - Sailor Uranus couldn't find the strength to stand. The Space Sword was laying several feet away, and despite her injuries, Setsuna saw that Haruka was crawling toward it, even across the spiked rocks along the path.

"Such devotion to keep fighting," She muttered to herself. "How stubborn can she be sometimes? Hotaru, I hate asking this after all we've been through, but--"

"Yes," she nodded immediately as she took up her glaive. "I'll hurry down and heal her right away."

She lifted herself into the air with her remaining spark of energy - Setsuna could tell by her shaky hovering that she was almost out of power from all the fighting she'd evidently been doing - and floated down toward her injured ally as Setsuna looked over ChibiUsa.

"You seem to have survived quite well up to this point, Small Lady," she smiled as she wiped some dirt off of the princess's face. "But I'm glad to see that you've taken such a strong concern for the welfare
of this planet. I'm very proud of you."

"Thank you," she returned with a bright cheery nod. "But where were you, Puu? I was getting really worried when even I couldn't find you around the palace after the ambush."

Setsuna's smile began to fade as she sighed. The enigmatic time guardian had never considered how ChibiUsa would react to her summoning of the Z Warriors into the battle. Part of Haruka - in her effort to help train ChibiUsa into a more powerful soldier - had rubbed off on the young princess in terms of trusting foreign warriors, and it had improved ChibiUsa's sense of caution to more than a few iotas of her mother, who believed that good existed in all creatures, no matter how much evil they committed or how suspicious they seemed.

Still, there was really no harm in telling her about her secretive actions now - she'd find out from Haruka sooner or later, and knowing the Outer Soldier's notorious way of over-exaggerating the negative aspects of most possible threats, Setsuna would've rather told her about the Z Warriors and Kami herself.

"Well, Small Lady," she began after taking in a huge gulp of air. "What I've done is--"

A sudden explosion from off to the right shattered the peaceful moment, throwing Sailor Pluto and Sailor ChibiMoon backward into the air. Setsuna banged into the rigid concrete barrier of the rooftop, and the impact jarred her spine, sending shock all throughout her body and nearly sending the guardian of time into unconsciousness as her vision blurred over. As she raised her head in confusion - having lost track of ChibiMoon - she shook her head, trying to clear the fuzziness in her sight. She'd lost her staff over the side of the building when she'd hit the barrier, and she couldn't even think clearly enough to call it back with her thoughts. Whatever had caused the explosion was close by - she could feel an increase in the amount of hostile, unstable energy emanating in the atmosphere.

"So the other two have decided to enter the fray, have they..." she ventured. With the death of their comrade, the remaining two commanders must've surely been enraged to execute a sneak attack that strong. Of course, if the two others were anything like the giant Tridyx, they'd probably be more powerful than he had been. And they outnumbered her what more.

After moments of trying to clear her vision, blurs formulated into solid objects, and the ringing in her ears had begun to soften. Sailor Pluto breathed a sigh of relief when she saw ChibiUsa lying on the ground, bruised and disoriented, but unharmed. What cancelled the relief was the sudden upsurge of
energy that flooded her senses from several yards in front of her, off the side of the building.

"No...!!!!" She gasped as she spotted the monstrous Tridyx floating within a black sphere of crackling lightning energy, hellish rage burning through his eyes and absolute reckless abandonment piercing his insane, maddened visage. Aside from the fact that his armor had been cracked and scorched from the explosion, the Dead Scream blast had hardly even damaged the brute much to Setsuna's chagrin. Instead, it had seemed to only erase his arrogance and replace it with animalistic fury.

"Impossible...I've never unleashed an attack that strong before...can these demons be killed at all...??" For once, Sailor Pluto found herself speechless. She'd thought for sure that the Dead Scream would've annihilated the beast. Any other creature would be nothing but dust by now.

Suddenly, as his blazing glower turned in her direction, Setsuna saw Tridyx raise one sparking, outstretched palm and felt him begin to gather more storming energy from his reserves. She gasped in near panic - she'd seen what happened when those mercenaries began charging energy into their hand before, and she wasn't about to go up in smoke like many of their Special Forces members had. As quickly as she could, she lifted the dazed ChibiUsa off of the ground and bounded into air as a tremendous explosion of gold energy ripped into the roof of the building, tearing the entire top of the building to shreds in its wake. The powerful blast singed Setsuna's back and legs lightly as the guardian of time plummeted to the ground while tightly clutching ChibiUsa against her chest.

"Puu!!" She heard ChibiUsa cry as the two plunged down toward the ground with increasing velocity.

"Hang on tight!" She replied to the panicking princess as she extended one hand into the air while keeping the other clamped around the princess's waist like a vice. Like a dog to its master, the garnet staff returned from its resting-place at the foot of the dissected building and darted into Setsuna's outstretched palm. As she felt the cold metal meet her gloved hand, Sailor Pluto swept it over the space below them, creating an crescent arching platform of purple energy that pushed upwardly on them, slowing their rapid plunge into a level, calm descent. Setsuna lightly touched to the ground as she thanked her power for saving both of their lives for the moment. She set ChibiUsa down, and the princess immediately fell to the ground, her knees shaky and rubbery after the sudden plummet as well as Tridyx's energy attack.

"Are you okay, Small Lady?" Setsuna knelt down to check the woozy girl. Her eyes were a bit glazed over and her expression was disoriented and perplexed, but after several long moments of waiting, Sailor Pluto was glad to see that ChibiUsa could stand and support her weight.

"Yes, thanks to you, Puu," she hugged the time guardian tightly. Sailor Pluto gladly returned the embrace, basking in the warm glow of the moment as the only comfort allowed to them since Setsuna could remember. As ChibiUsa's hold grew slightly tighter, Sailor Pluto knew that from inside the princess's heart, where she kept track of the debts that she owed the time guardian, another entry had been made. Setsuna would never ask for those debts to be repaid either - it was her mission to protect the royal family, and besides, she was always willing to sacrifice herself for someone she loved.

"S...set...suna...mama..." The warm glow flowing through Setsuna's tired body was frozen over in an instant as she felt her heart nearly drop to her feet. Resting her battered, burned body against the building was Sailor Saturn with a faint, distant look in her weary eyes. "Please...help me..."

ChibiUsa must've heard her best friend's voice, for she immediately dropped away from Setsuna and whirled around. As her eyes came to rest on Hotaru's razed, crippled form, her pupils began to tear up and her knees and arms suddenly began to quiver.

It then hit Setsuna as to what happened: the first energy concussion wave - the one that had catapulted her into the railing of the building rooftop - had been from an apparent energy beam that Tridyx had fired at Sailor Saturn as she was floating down to heal Sailor Uranus. The attack had obviously connected in full force - Sailor Pluto started to curse herself for being so careless. She hadn't even completely checked to see whether or not the monster was dead before sending Sailor Saturn off into the combat zone by herself. Now, thanks to her rare moment of naive thinking, her surrogate daughter was dying, and very painfully.

"Hotaru!!" ChibiUsa screamed in terror as she rushed over to help her fallen friend.

Too quickly for caution's sake, Sailor Pluto hurried over to Hotaru to check on her condition, praying with all the might remaining in her soul that the Z Warriors would come through...

* * *

"Z Warriors...?" Sailor Neptune's grip on the gold-handled mirror began to tighten, her mind suddenly seeing events before them at a whole new level. What had previously been a struggle between the Sailor Soldiers and foreign mercenaries - one that the former was decidedly losing from the state of the previous battle - had now escalated into an inter-temporal war that was seeing new players entering into the game. Though Sailor Neptune was initially appalled by Setsuna's little secret as much as her counter-part was, she'd quickly resigned some of that disgust after the elusive time guardian had revealed the queen's role in formulating the plan. Though Michiru was well aware of the queen's often-naive way of thinking, there seemed to be a small twinkle of merit in this plan that the rage-blinded Haruka couldn't sense. The risk...the resources needed...the sacrifice of Setsuna and the two Special Forces members that had been in on the plan...it didn't add up. Not even Serenity would gamble on such an attempt if it were on blind luck alone...

"But there's only one way to find out..." Sailor Neptune - using the power she'd regained during her rest - managed to steady herself on her feet and charge the power of her senses into her Aqua Mirror. She held up the jeweled talisman one more time, stretching the mystical device's power to locate the mysterious entities known as the Z Warriors. If she remembered Setsuna's timeline of events, they'd surely be somewhere on the planet by now.

She closed her eyes and let her consciousness drift away into the black void before her. All around her, the echoing clashes of conflicting energy began to ring softly through her ears, the loudest of which was the climatic battle occurring to the South near the palace. But those energy signatures meant nothing - she'd felt what seemed like thousands upon thousands of violent energy clashes since the aliens first laid hold to Earth.

Suddenly, as she focused her psychic reach off into the distant north, an extremely powerful upsurge of energy bombarded her mind, causing Michiru to gasp out in pain and immediately break her psychic outreach. She fell to her knees as the shock of the power surge caused her head to slightly throb. Looking down at the aqua mirror in her hand, Sailor Neptune arched an eyebrow in utter astonishment at what the crystal glass was picturing.

She saw the decimated countryside of Crystal Tokyo in the background of the small mirror and a small figure was shooting across the landscape like a bullet, waves of pure power flowing off of him in enormous quantities.

"What in the world...??" Sailor Neptune squinted to get a better look at the tiny form. Underneath the layers of pure white energy, the princess of Neptune managed to make out the body of a young boy with long scruffy black hair and donning a purple karate gi with a thick white collar. A firm, determined gaze was fixed on his eyes, and from the tremendous amounts of power flowing out of him, he was speeding across the countryside at full speed.

"The energy..." she muttered to herself as she admired the rigid resolve fixed in the boy's eyes. "It's unlike anything I've ever felt before. It's volatile, nearly violent...how could a child his age possess this much power...could this boy be one of Setsuna's Z Warriors?!"

The idea would've been laughable if Michiru hadn't been witnessing the boy's incredible energy before her very eyes. Besides, ChibiUsa and Hotaru had already proved that size and age didn't make a difference when it came down to a serious fight. And from his unique form of power - different from all of the enemy soldiers they'd encountered up until now - that caused him to jet across the sky with blinding speed, Michiru was absolutely certain that the strange young boy was one of the Z Warriors.

"My goodness..." she gasped as the realization sunk in. If the speed with which the child was approaching the battlefield was any indication of how much power he possessed in an actual battle, then things could've taken an infinite number of twists if he and his allies ever reached the palace battle. And that wasn't a good sign as far as she was concerned. Despite the queen's trust in the Z Warriors and their colorful history, there certainly was no guarantee that they would fight on their side, and even with Setsuna's promises and Serenity's faith, Michiru wasn't ready to take the chance, especially with the critical situation at hand.

Besides, several questions still remained: where were the other Z Warriors, and hadn't Setsuna picked up on the boy's proximity to the battle yet?

Sailor Neptune turned her eyes back toward the horizon of scorched earth and crumbling buildings in the direction of the palace, which looked like nothing more than a sparkling crystal star in the background. The fighting had experienced a few lulls, but several waves of vicious power as well as a few visible explosions hadn't eased Michiru's mind about the current state of Haruka and the others.

Her frown increased even more as she realized that despite his incredible speed, the boy wasn't going to reach the palace in time to stop the onslaught of the aliens from killing whomever was remaining there. No matter what intentions he had, the boy was still a way off from her position, let alone the palace.

Michiru was suddenly finding herself in a stalemate about what to do, with even her experienced instincts indecisive on which direction to turn. To remain on the building was to prompt a meeting with the strange child and either face his wrath or gain his friendship. With her weakened state, she wasn't too comfortable with the option, but there was only one other choice remaining.

"To go to the palace," she said aloud. "And face the aliens alongside Setsuna and Haruka..."

Neither choice was promising, but amidst her wavering state of mind, one thing was clear to Sailor Neptune.

"My friends mean much more to me than a would-be ally," she muttered to herself as she willed herself into the air. "I must go and fight with them. I'd rather die fighting than stand here doing nothing but watch my family suffer. And if I don't come back to you alive, Haruka...then all I can do is ask for your
forgiveness...and wait for you on the other side..."

Pulling together her partially renewed energy, Sailor Neptune leapt into the air and sped off toward the battlefield where the fight was still raging in full force. Though her decreased energy wouldn't allow her to perform on her optimistic level of power and skill, it certainly paid to try. Besides, with all of the powers of the Outer Soldiers there, the mighty giant Tridyx would have his work cut out for him.

"Haruka would kill me if she knew I was thinking like this," she pondered to herself as she considered the strategy running through her mind. Even though Sailor Uranus always stated - even to a degree of vehemence - that the mission always came before their own lives, Michiru knew her much better than that: Haruka would gladly take a fatal blow before any of them would, even if it meant losing the fight. Hopefully, her objections to Michiru putting herself in harms way would be short-lived in favor of survival. "Forgive me, Haruka, but we have no choice remaining at this point...I can't promise victory, but if we must die, we'll do it together!"



* * *

"Not much longer..." Gohan muttered as he sped across the cloudy night sky. Using whatever he could muster to increase his flight speed had certainly paid off - the palace wasn't much farther now, and any hostile kis nearby weren't nearly fast enough to catch him. He'd be there shortly at his current rate of speed, but Gohan couldn't afford to let up - every second counted if those Sailor Soldiers were to live. The enormous kis that he was sensing ahead were still thriving, but the smaller pure kis of the Sailor Soldiers seemed to be weakening at a rapid rate, and Gohan's keen instincts could only detect five of them remaining.

"That's not good..." he murmured to himself. "Kami told us that there were ten Sailor Soldiers in all...and if two were already dead, and I'm only sensing five now..."

Just when Gohan thought he was using all of his energy, he managed to pump more power into his body, sending him rocketing across the black sky with even more speed than ever before. Ever since his mind had fallen on the fates of the Namekians that were killed by Frieza - not to mention his helplessness against the murderers - he had sworn that he wouldn't let those princesses experience the same awful fate.

"Just a little longer!" He called out ahead, even though he knew that the Sailor Soldiers couldn't hear him. "Please, stay alive for a few minutes more! I'll be there soon!"

* * *

"Hotaru, please hang on!" ChibiUsa lifted the body of her friend off of the grass and laid her against the side of the building, gripping her hand tightly for support. Her entire body had been completely burned, with her exposed skin smoking heavily and a faint glassy look in her dark eyes. Her clothes were scorched black in several areas. The Outer Soldier of Destruction was breathing heavily, gasping for air through what had to be burnt lungs from the extent of her injuries. "What in the world happened?!"

"I'm sorry, ChibiMoon," Sailor Pluto lowered her head. "I overestimated the power of my Dead Scream attack, and I thought for certain that the alien had been destroyed. Forgive me, Hotaru, it's my fault that you were nearly killed..."

"Setsuna-mama...ChibiUsa..." Hotaru's voice came out of her mouth coarse and low, and from the way she winced, ChibiMoon could tell that talking through her charred throat and lungs was only increasing her agony even more. "Please...don't...blame......"

Hotaru's head suddenly dropped, and her body slumped down on the building's side. ChibiMoon's breath suddenly drew in sharply; she felt her hand beginning to tremble, almost violently. Looking at her best friend's motionless face, ChibiMoon felt her eyes begin to tear up, and she felt her strong emotional wall against the aliens' actions beginning to break down. Until now, she'd wanted to maintain composure during the fight; she didn't want to let the constant taunting and ferocious strength of the aliens get into her head, but as her eyes kept staring at the silent picture before her - the body of one of the closest people in her life, the person she had shared timeless experiences with in the past and present - she suddenly didn't care anymore.

"NO!!" She released the built-up frustration in a powerful scream of rage, feeling whatever power she had left in her body exploding around her. She felt incredible; every cell in her body felt charged with the violent torrent of emotion. She looked back up toward the floating menace, who was still enveloped in a purple field of energy and casting down a glower of anger and intrigue.

"Huh?" The cracked eyepiece on his face suddenly beeped. "Her battle power's skyrocketing! How could this be, I nearly killed her only a short time ago!!"

"Small Lady...?" Sailor Pluto spoke softly to her, apparently as surprised as Tridyx was about the princess's sudden increase in power and anger. The change was evident as she glimpsed at the radiant light emitting from a tiny crescent moon that had suddenly materialized on her forehead. "What has happened to you...?"

"Puu..." ChibiMoon didn't take her eyes off of Tridyx, her anger increasing even more with every second her eyes spent on the alien's monstrous form. "It's my turn to protect you now. This demon's gone too far in attacking Hotaru and killing the others. Look after Sailor Uranus while I take care of this monster!!"

"ChibiMoon, don't!!" Sailor Pluto's warning came too late - ChibiMoon had already used her sudden increase in energy to propel herself into the air toward Tridyx, who seemed to welcome the challenge.

"Yes, that's it!" He cackled as he rocketed down toward her in a blazing trail of purple energy. "Come straight for me, brat, straight toward your demise!!"

* * *

"No, what are you doing?!" Sailor Pluto called after Sailor ChibiMoon, trying to snap her out of her raging state of mind. But her efforts were futile - ChibiMoon was already speeding toward Tridyx at top speed, and not even the time guardian's words of logic could slow her down. This wasn't good at all - even with her titanic power surge, she was still no match for Tridyx's raw brute strength. "I've got to--"

Before she could fly up after Sailor ChibiMoon, Sailor Pluto felt a sudden twinge of energy behind her. She whirled around and saw Hotaru's small hand beginning to move. A few rasping coughs escaped her mouth as her eyes came back into focus for a brief instant.

"Hotaru!" Sailor Pluto was immediately over at the young girl's side, gently squeezing her hand to show her that somebody was close by. "Say something! Can you still hear me?"

"Set...suna...mama..." She muttered with a small smile. "Am...I...alive...?"

"Yes, Hotaru, please hold on!" She tried to console the injured Hotaru, who - even with her regained consciousness - wouldn't be around much longer with the extent of her injuries. "It must be your healing powers, they're keeping you alive by a thread..."

"Lucky me," she attempted to chuckle, but instead winced once again as the internal burns stung her again. Lifting her weary eyes toward the sky, she gasped as she witnessed ChibiUsa's sheer display of rage propelling her in the direction of the monstrous Tridyx. "No...!! What is she thinking?! I've got to help her!!"

Setsuna latched onto Hotaru's shoulder as the young Sailor Soldier attempted to use her last remaining ounce of will power to stand up. The time soldier loosened her grip on the young girl as Hotaru again cringed from the pressure being applied to her exposed burnt flesh.

"Don't, Hotaru, please!" Setsuna rested Sailor Saturn against the building as the girl clenched her teeth, still in pain after Setsuna had grasped her scorched skin. "Forgive me, but you know full well that you're in no condition to fight anymore. Just stay here and rest for now. I'll fight with the princess in your place."

"But...Setsuna-mama, she's doing this because of me...I have to--"

"Hotaru..." Setsuna bent down and looked into the distant purple eyes of Sailor Saturn. "Don't blame yourself for what kind of danger ChibiUsa has put herself in. This wasn't just because you were hurt, or because the Sailor Soldiers were killed, but - as I have always feared over the battles I have seen her fight - the true horrors of war have finally pierced her innocent mind."

"What do you mean?" Hotaru rasped. "ChibiUsa has fought in the past on numerous occasions, why would you say she isn't used to the concept of battle?"

"She has experienced many trials over her short life," Setsuna agreed. "And I have always been proud of her ability to keep her pure, innocent soul throughout her tenure as Sailor ChibiMoon. But not even I have been through a period of decimation as tragic as this war has been. The destruction of our entire army, the slaughter of innocent civilians, the kidnapping of her mother, and now the valiant deaths of her closest friends, who've been the only family she has ever known. Even though everything seemed fine on the surface, I've known her too long to know that something wasn't right inside."

"...So, you think she's finally snapped??" Hotaru ventured. "Oh, no..."

"I know it's our mission to protect the royalty, and in the absence of the queen, ChibiUsa's life is first and foremost, Sailor Saturn," Sailor Pluto continued. "But my emotions will fight this battle, not my logic. I promise on my life that ChibiUsa will stay alive, and I'll pay them back for you, Haruka, and everyone else."

"Setsuna-mama..." Hotaru gripped the time soldier's hand and squeezed it hard, smiling warmly through all of the pain that was encompassing her body. "...Thank you...come back to us alive..."

Sailor Pluto returned the tender gesture to her surrogate daughter before standing and running off to the edge of street, eyeing the two combatants as they began to clash. Tridyx was firing energized fists in ChibiMoon's direction, but to Sailor Pluto's surprise, the young princess managed to duck and weave in between each individual swipe while still maintaining an offensive level of energy.

"Her emotional outburst has propelled her to a new level of ferocity..." Pluto marveled. "But I fear it is only emotion that is driving her, and even her huge heart can't hold out forever...But how can I get in between those two without getting the princess hurt...?"

It would've been a tight fit - the two combatants were so close together that attacking head on could've left the princess open to attack, and another Dead Scream had potential to strike ChibiUsa if circumstances allowed it.

"Hah! You're not bad for someone who's lost her mind!" Tridyx mocked the princess as she ducked out of the way of another roundhouse punch. "But let's see if you can handle this!!"

Tridyx pulled back one of his meaty fists and charged a ball of gold energy in his hand.

"ChibiUsa!! Look out!!" Sailor Pluto called out to the princess.

Tridyx released the orb of energy from his palm toward Sailor ChibiMoon, who - much to the surprise of Sailor Pluto - didn't try to dodge the projectile. Instead, she held up her hands and caught the ball of energy in mid-air, causing her body to shoot backward because of the high force. Sailor Pluto watched with anxiety as Sailor ChibiMoon applied her own counter-force to the pulsing orb.

"Huh?!" Tridyx looked taken aback that the small girl had caught the sphere. So tremendous was his surprise that he didn't have time to react when ChibiMoon forced the energy ball right back at him with even greater speed than before! The ball spiraled through the air and struck the titanic mercenary in the chest. Instead of exploding, the orb propelled Tridyx backward through the air, and Sailor Pluto watched in awe as Tridyx punched through the wall of another multiple-story skyscraper. The volatile ball of energy finally picked its time to explode inside the confines of the structure. A gold explosion shattered the atmosphere and caused the once-rigid crystal building to explode from the inside, scattering crystal shards and metal scrap all over the already-ravaged streets below. The remains of the building caved in, burying the titan beneath the jagged crystal mesh.

"My gosh..." Sailor Pluto was astonished as Sailor ChibiMoon's show of force. She gazed skyward at the princess, and - as she had expected - a tiny gold crescent moon was glowing on her forehead, emitting bright pure rays of light and energy. "So, just like in the twentieth century, she's released that awesome energy of hers...I had no idea that so much dormant power was inside of her...it's seemingly even greater than the energy I have..."

Sailor Uranus - who was still lying on the ground with her own internal injuries - gazed up at her princess in her own mute astonishment.

"No..." she rasped as she coughed up small trails of blood. "She can't defeat him...not even with that level of attack...I can still sense...his life force..."

As Sailor ChibiMoon floated closer to the wrecked building, the ruins suddenly erupted like a volcano, sending even more pieces of debris flying outward in all directions.

"Princess, look out!!" Sailor Pluto called out to her as she spotted a shard of metal sailing in Sailor ChibiMoon's direction.

But it was too late - ChibiMoon was ill prepared for the sudden outburst by Tridyx and wasn't able to dodge the metal slate in time. The hard surface slammed into her small body, sending her plummeting to the surface below, about twenty feet away from where Sailor Pluto was standing. Now, the princess was pinned in between the street and the gigantic slab of metal, unable to move.

"How much does it take to kill this fiend...?" Sailor Pluto clutched her staff again as the smoke from the most recent explosion began to clear. As she expected, Tridyx was up once again - alive and well. What heightened Sailor Pluto's caution another notch was the eerie calm that was frozen on his face, which was totally different from the cannibal-like wrath he had put forth from previous skirmishes. "Something's not right...I have to protect the princess before he goes on another rampage!"

The monster gazed over in the direction of Sailor ChibiMoon, who was struggling to free herself from the metal shard that was holding her down. She was having no such luck - the huge shard must've weighed at least twice as much as she did, and a lot of the adrenaline from her previous outburst was beginning to wear off with her struggle; the tiny gold moon that once sparkled so brightly on her forehead had completely dissipated after she was hit by the slab.

"My lip..." Tridyx muttered with an ominous tone. He wiped his bottom lip off with his bulky hand, and without a single word or even the slightest breath, he stared at the fresh red fluid staining his black gauntlet. The wind brushed past his massive form, causing a few of the blood droplets to get caught in its current and fly off of his hand onto the ground. More of the red fluid began emerging from the broken lip, and this time, Tridyx licked some of it away with his tongue. He looked up from his hand and turned his eerie, menacing expression toward the princess. The girl's sudden burst of anger had died with her current predicament, and the spine-chilling glower that was on Tridyx's bloodied face seemed only to instill more fear into ChibiMoon's paralyzed body. "You...You've caused me to bleed, princess...no one has ever done that to me...you...you little witch!! I've had enough of you, now die!!!"

Tridyx's rage seemed to dissolve into his seemingly limitless supply of energy, for Sailor Pluto felt her bones begin to tremble and her blood beginning to freeze in shock at the greatest upsurge of energy demonstrated by Tridyx yet. Unlike the skirmish with Sailor Uranus or even the energy beam attack that nearly vaporized Sailor Pluto and Sailor ChibiMoon on the roof of the crystal skyscraper, this new fearsome energy build-up was concentrating itself throughout Tridyx's entire body, whereas the previous assaults had been nothing but short bursts of power that were stored within single maneuvers.

"He's truly gone over the edge now..." Sailor Pluto frowned. She had already thought she'd seen nearly all of the monster's incredible energy put forth in the battle, but from the insane levels of power growing in his body now, she'd been dead wrong. Even now, the nerves in her body were nearly paralyzed by the immense waves of power radiating from him.

The crescendo of the build-up was achieved when a fierce aura of black energy caused Tridyx's hand to literally burst into shadowy flames. The alien commander didn't even seem to feel any pain from the inferno engulfing his hand; if anything, the pain was merely fueling his insatiable anger even more, causing the frightful glare enveloping his tense visage to increase ten fold.

"DIE!!!" He bellowed out as he pulled back his muscular, fiery arm and focused all of his energy into the center of his palm. Some of the unstable energy exploded around them, sending out volts of black thunder in all directions that stung at Setsuna's exposed skin. Sailor Pluto drew in her breath sharply - the demon was about to unleash Hell itself upon the prone ChibiUsa, whose small face and dark red eyes seemed consumed with fear, paralyzing every last cell in her body as she stared at the cold unfeeling face of Death.

As Setsuna Meioh witnessed the princess's expression, knowing that she was about to meet the same fate as her beloved companions and friends, something snapped. All of a sudden, images from the past arose like ghosts from the grave inside her turbulent soul. She saw Small Lady's smiling image before her during the happiest times in the young princess's life. Her delightful surprise at her birthday...her innocent laugh as she joked around with the other Sailor Soldiers...even a picture of the rejoicing sparkle in ChibiUsa's eyes when Sailor Pluto arrived at the battlefield played back in her memory. Inside Setsuna's skull, as soft as a spring breeze yet resounding enough to drown out the awful screeching of energy that reverberated from Tridyx, Setsuna heard the familiar sounds of sweet, pure laughter...ChibiUsa's laughter. The princess had been her happiest whenever Setsuna had heard the melodic sound coming from Small Lady...and the time guardian always remembered that most of those such occasions were when she was around her. The final thought that flashed through her mind as she gazed at the pure sight of terror in the young princess's face was the final words she had said to her before taking her life in her hands against Tridyx.

Puu...it's my turn to protect you now.

Setsuna held her emotion back, something she'd done throughout her entire lifetime, though it was far more difficult to suppress it this time. Yet even through it all, she knew what had to be done.

"Small Lady..." she whispered. "Thank you for everything...please forgive me for what I must do."

Without any hope of a quick Dead Scream attack having a chance of piercing the fierce onslaught of energy or trying to execute a Time Stop in such a critical time-frame, Setsuna Meioh knew that she had only one option left if she wanted to save Small Lady.

Relinquishing her hold on her garnet staff, Setsuna plunged forward through the black energy storm, not even acknowledging the pain that the violent thunderbolts were causing to her body. ChibiUsa's body was only several feet away, but as Tridyx's final strike came closer to fruition, the final strides seemed like miles.

"Small Lady...I shall leave you with one last memory..."

* * *

Sailor ChibiMoon couldn't move, couldn't lift her legs to get away from Tridyx's line of fire. The weight of the slab pinning her body as well as the sheer panic elevating in her system each second she stared into the black fire that would serve to be her end.

She couldn't believe it was ending this way...after all of the battles, all of the victories and setbacks and all of the motivation, here she was about ready to join Ami, Rei, Makoto, and Minako in the Great Beyond, dying a meaningless death against a foe that had spat in their faces up until the bitter end. Even with a few short spurts of offense, the mighty giant had barely been scarred in the long run, and her recent outburst of energy seemed only to trigger the bomb's explosion.

"Got to keep trying...!!" Sailor ChibiMoon pushed up with her arms harder, trying desperately to free herself from the slab of metal. But her efforts were futile, as the brunt of the energy that had once been concentrated into Tridyx's hand was being shot into the air by the titanic beast in her direction. As her eyes met the malevolent purple aura of the incoming energy beam, she knew there was no escape for her.

Suddenly, as ChibiMoon felt her life coming to an end, a tall form darted in front of the beam's path, totally shielding her from the awesome force approaching. As taken aback from the arrival of the unknown as ChibiUsa was, the princess's heart almost stopped when she squinted through the bright purple glare approaching them and she noticed the Sailor Soldier fuku and the long, green-shaded hair.

"Puu, no!! Get out of here!!!" She screamed over the torrent of energy. But the time guardian didn't listen, didn't even utter a response to the princess she was saving. She extended her arms horizontally - she was practically offered herself to the depths of Hell and didn't care one bit. "Setsuna, NO!!!"

The next sound ChibiUsa heard was a long resounding scream from Setsuna Meioh as the beam from Tridyx impacted her in full force, tearing into her very soul with its frightening power.

She wasn't sure what caused it, whether it be some leftover impact of the beam or the agonizing pain from hearing Setsuna screaming, but the next thing ChibiUsa knew, she was blacking out.

* * *

Piccolo's senses suddenly went off, causing the Namek to heighten his speed toward the palace area.

"Krillin..." He looked back toward his human comrade with trepidation. Krillin returned the uncertain look and nodded his head. He'd obviously felt the large explosion of ki energy several miles ahead of them. Piccolo turned his gaze back to the scene in front of him. The ruination of the crystal structures that once made up the city below them was getting worse with every passing mile - what had once been merely cracks and smoldering floors on the exquisite creations of magic and technology had turned into total decimation, complete with large crystal shards and scraps of burning metal adorning the crater-laden highways and streets below them. They had to be getting to close to the palace now, and not a moment too soon.

"One of those pure kis is starting to fade after that explosion," Piccolo said to Krillin after scanning ahead a small way.

"Oh, no! We'd better move it before it completely extinguishes!" Krillin kicked in more of his energy, and Piccolo was quick to do the same. It was bad enough that at least two of the princesses were dead, but if they weren't quick, another would follow suit.

* * *

She didn't know how much time had passed before she regained consciousness. All Sailor ChibiMoon knew was that she was free from the imprisonment of the metal slab - apparently the force of Tridyx's beam had lifted the heavy projectile off of---

"Oh, no......." She lifted her weary head up to a heartbreaking sight. Several feet away from her, lying prone in a barren crater, Sailor Pluto was barely breathing. The beam had completely ripped through her, tearing her clothes in a few spots and scarring her whole body with burns. The slow rise and fall of her chest was a good sign, however, and ChibiMoon was quick to scurry over to her mentor's side and check on her condition. Setsuna's face was tired, worn, and bruised, but she still managed to force a smile upon seeing that ChibiUsa was okay.

"Puu..." She said as she looked down into Sailor Pluto's tired eyes. Not much of a sparkle remained in her pupils, and her gaze was getting faster and more distant by the second. As painful as it was to admit it, ChibiUsa knew the horrible truth: Setsuna was dying, and with the extent of her injuries, Death was quickly stealing her soul with each passing moment. "Why...why did you have to protect me...??"

"Forgive me, Small Lady..." The time guardian replied in a weak murmur. "...But I could never allow myself to live if I were to let you die...you see... somehow...I knew that this would happen someday...that I would end my long existence...by your side...protecting you..."

ChibiUsa began to choke up at the sight of the dying Sailor Pluto, and tears finally broke the barrier of her eyes as what remained of her broken heart began crumbling into dust.

"No...please don't cry, Small Lady...there's no need for tears..." Sailor Pluto lifted one maimed arm and took the princess's small, trembling hand. "Facing this undesirable fate now...doesn't bring sorrow to my soul...for as long as you are alive and safe...until our hope appears...I can rest in peace..."

ChibiUsa squeezed Setsuna's warm hand tightly, causing the time guardian's smile to bloom even more. For some reason the cryptic words held no meaning for the princess. The dim glimmer in Setsuna's eyes was the only picture occupying her thoughts.

"Small Lady...how much you have grown these past months...Looking back at you before your training, at the small innocent child...who didn't know the horrors of battle... I see that you've changed so much since then...I'm so proud of you, Small Lady...Thank you...for everything...I was happier...in the short time I spent by your side...than the eternity I spent...guarding Time's gates..."

ChibiUsa felt the grasp of Setsuna's hand beginning to slip as her final ounces of strength faded.

"Puu..." ChibiUsa's voice cracked in between sobs. "No...Please...don't go..."

With one last breath, Setsuna Meioh uttered one last phrase to the princess.

"Good...bye...Small Lady..." she gently whispered. "Please...don't...die......"

As Setsuna's eyes closed for the last time, her head slumped down to one side; a single gray tear trickled down her face. The soft winds swept across the desolate street, carrying that last living part of Sailor Pluto with it.

ChibiUsa felt the support of her knees giving way, and she collapsed onto the lifeless body of her surrogate mother, not caring about the aliens, not caring about exposing her fragile emotional state to the enemies, not caring about anything anymore. As the tears silently flowed from her eyes, memories from everything flooded back into her thoughts: the deaths of her beloved friends seemed even much more of a loss with the death of Sailor Pluto. Now more than ever, ChibiUsa felt like she had died along with them. Her spirit's refusal to depart her body was Hell's own slap in the face, a sentence for her to continue to bear witness to the horrible destruction of her home and friends up until the planet was nothing but a corpse-infested wasteland.

No curse could've ever been so dreadfully cruel.

* * *

Infernia floated over toward Tridyx with an annoyed expression on her face. She couldn't fathom how the giant had lost control of his temper so easily. Had it not been for the sacrifice of the taller Sailor Soldier, the princess would've been nothing but black dust, and her chance at the ultimate satisfaction of victory would've been denied thanks to her underling's incompetence.

"What do you think, captain?" Tridyx's arrogance was restored as he gazed with immense fulfillment at the sobbing princess. Though Infernia couldn't hear any sounds coming from the motionless princess, it wasn't too hard to tell that she was crying with more pain and agony than she had ever experienced in her life. Judging from the last conversation before her death, the Sailor Soldier that had saved the princess from Tridyx's energy blast had apparently been closer to her than all of the others that had fought in the battle. The princess seemed as emotionally distraught as she would be if she witnessed the death of her own mother. "How do you like my handiwork? It felt so refreshing to release all of my anger at once - it truly made up for all of the day's frustrations."

"Perhaps for you," Infernia flashed a small glare over toward him. "But you should be grateful that the other Sailor Soldier took the hit for her princess, Tridyx. Don't you remember our little deal that we made before the battle began?"

Tridyx's smile faded, the command to kill all of the Sailor Soldiers except the princess evidently reentering his thick skull. He took a nervous step backward as Infernia's fiery glare continued to pierce his eyes.

"Err...uhh...forgive me, captain," he stammered as he held up his hands. "I guess I...err...got carried away there for a moment. Uhh...the princess is all yours! I don't think anything in the way at this point."

Infernia returned her gaze toward the princess, who still had not moved since the passing of her friend.

"Very well, Tridyx," she replied with the same tone of iron in her voice. "I'll forgive you this time, but one more slip-up like the one you nearly committed, and you shall burn along with the rest of them! But, I guess as long as I keep the honor of inserting the final blade into the heart of this pathetic planet, I can live with it."

"But, captain," Tridyx cleared his throat. "I thought you wanted to save her for the queen. You wanted to burn the entire family alive before Serenity's own eyes."

"True," Infernia licked her lips as she gazed around at the survivors of the battle. The tan solider that had challenged Tridyx several times was still trying to force herself to her feet against the weight of her injuries, and from the nearly ferocious glower in her face, she had not been too pleased with the death of another of her comrades. The child Sailor Soldier that Tridyx had blind-sided wasn't faring too well either. Her burns were beginning to catch up to her, and the recent death of the tall Sailor Soldier that had nearly beaten Tridyx had left her in shock. Silent tears rolled down her cheeks as she stared blankly at the body of the dead woman. To Infernia's vengeful mind, it was the perfect setting for the final climatic scene in the war. "But in light of recent events, I think it would be most appropriate for the cherished, beloved princess to meet her end before the ones who were so bent on protecting her most. Why wait for Serenity's reaction - she will respond to a charred skeleton just as well. Before you finish off these Sailor Soldiers, I will plunge the final stake into their hearts by incinerating their princess while they lie helpless and dying. It wil make their trip to Hell so much more enjoyable..."

"You certainly take pleasure in the suffering of your enemies, captain," Tridyx laughed aloud. "I could never compare to your perception of true and total victory. To you, death is merely the lowest form of misery."

"Thank you," Infernia stepped toward the princess, but not before her gold-tinted scouter blipped, registering a low power touching down a short distance away. "What's this...?"

She and Tridyx turned around and spotted another Sailor Soldier touching down near them. At first, she assumed it was yet another new addition to the bothersome team, but it was actually the one with the sea-green hair that had experienced an energy loss shortly after her arrival on the battlefield.

"Ah, so nice that she saved us the trouble of looking for her," Tridyx smirked, cracking his knuckles as he sized up the new arrival. "I owe her one for putting me through that wall!"

The maiden gazed around in horror at the devastation, not expecting the situation to be quite so grim. Her eyes traveled to the individually wounded Sailor Soldiers, and her body seemed to tense in utter rage as her finally landed on the disheveled princess and the body of the her rescuer.

Infernia let out a cocky chuckle as she called over to her. "What's the matter? Is it so shocking that your foolish friends have been beaten and broken? It's such a shame that you weren't here to see as my good friend Tridyx cut them down one by one!"

"...I don't care how you did it! All I know is that you've hurt the ones most precious to me, and I can never forgive you!" The taunt was enough to trigger a small energy build-up in the Sailor Soldier. A small aqua-colored orb emerged in one of her open palms. "Neptune Deep---"

Before she managed to release her attack, Infernia smiled approvingly as Zebus sped in behind her and latched onto her arms, holding them tightly with his scaly, muscular limbs.

"Huh, too bad. Good work, Zebus," Infernia nodded as she calmly sauntered over to them. The Sailor Soldier attempted to struggle against the insectoid's vice-like grip, but Zebus's size and leverage was more than enough to hold her in place. Infernia chuckled as she snatched the Sailor Soldier's chin with one gloved hand and spat into her face. She held the Sailor Soldier's head in place and snickered as she stared at the green-haired fighter's incensed expression.

"You should be grateful for being allowed to live," she said. "You've been given the honor of watching your princess die before your very eyes. But don't worry, you and your pathetic friends will be quick to follow. Though all of you made valiant efforts, I'm afraid that the fate of this planet wil be sealed when the last of you is eliminated!"

"You monster...!!" The Sailor Soldier hissed as she clenched her teeth in rage. "Somehow, we'll find some way to defeat you, I swear it!"

Infernia dropped the girl's head and turned in the princess's direction. The small girl was still motionless, keeled over before the dead body of her savior. In her disheveled state, there would be no problem whatsoever in disposing of her. It almost disappointed Infernia - the princess had been more than a scrapper throughout the battle and it would be a little unsatisfactory if she would submit to Death so easily.

Nevertheless, Infernia stepped in her direction, but before she got too far, she shot one last cocky glance back toward the Sailor Soldier in Zebus's grip.

"Even in defeat, you Sailor Soldiers spout such silly nonsense," She shook her head. "But with your frail powers, I suppose all you can fight with is words. Now, as I have done with countless planets in the past, I will attain the ultimate satisfaction over this world by reducing its most beloved treasure into a pile of ash. I do hope that you enjoy the grand finale of our show!"

She stepped leisurely away from the infuriated Sailor Soldier, who was still safely secure within Zebus's grasp, and meandered across the ruined street toward the princess. Along the way, she passed the Sailor Soldier that Tridyx had effectively pounded into the ground earlier. She was still fighting against the weight of her injuries that held her down to the ground. Though her efforts seemed forceful, Infernia could tell by the absurd shape of her spine that Tridyx's recent barrage on the Sailor Soldier had shattered the lower portion of her spine. Despite any efforts whatsoever, she wouldn't be standing again, let alone fighting. As she flashed Infernia a seething glare, the captain kicked a small cluster of pebbles and dirt into her face.

"Your friend is quite the feisty one," she mocked the Sailor Soldier as she spat down upon her broken body. "However, she has sealed her own fate by returning here thinking she could match powers with us. But I'll be sure to test the limits of such fierce tenacity before letting her expire."

"You damn animal..." she responded vehemently. "If you so much as touch a hair on Michiru's shoulder, then so help me, I'll..."

"You'll what?" Infernia interrupted with a mirthful chortle as she stepped on the Sailor Soldier's neck, causing her to gasp for air. "Hmm...I've got it now. I'll make this an enjoyable experience for you. Since the arrival of you and your private band of Sailor Soldiers managed to hamper our plans significantly, you'll be the last one that I finish off, just so you can witness the deaths of the two children and your fiery ally. For someone with such strong feelings toward all of these fools, it'll be such a fond memory to reflect upon on your trip to Hell!"

Infernia kicked the wounded Sailor Soldier in the jaw, sending her tumbling away a few feet in the opposite direction. Brushing a bit of her gold hair away from her face, Infernia finished her trek across the ravaged warzone, stopping in front of the crumpled body of the princess. As Infernia's shadow fell over the small girl, her head raised up to stare into her blazing red eyes, fear and panic playing across her damp face and seizing control of her large red eyes.

"Well, well, such a saddening site," Infernia snickered as she kicked the dead body of the Sailor Soldier away with her boot, sending it flying into a nearby wall. "Ah, owing somebody a life debt must be such a disheartening predicament. I would know - I owe somebody a life debt myself, although I must say--" Before the princess could react, Infernia's hand shot out and snagged her small neck and wrapped all the way around it like a vine. Lifting the child into the air, she tightened her hold on her neck, forcing a few slight rasps out of her throat. Looking into the princess's crestfallen expression, Infernia was quite satisfied - there never was quite a moment like the one preceding an enemy's demise, especially at her hands. Such a moment like this would live on her memory for a long time, as would the moments when Serenity and Endymion would witness the charred, skeletal remains of their beloved daughter and break down, much like the princess had after she was saved by her ally. "--while gaining my life debt earned me a 'partnership' with the greatest genius and leader that the mercenary world has ever known, yours has merely earned you a more painful death at my own hands. I truly hope that all of your friends are watching this from Hell, because as your flesh burns into nothingness, the existence of your world will die in the same blazing recesses of fire!"

Focusing some of her power into her free hand, Infernia easily burned away the glove surrounding it. Her immeasurable joy took the form of a widening smile as Infernia reached her bare hand toward the face of Earth's princess, molten heat already bubbling across the pores of her skin.

"Mommy..." she heard the princess whisper into the night air. "Forgive me...I failed, we all failed..."

"Too true," Infernia laughed aloud. "Don't worry, when all of you are in Hell together, you can apologize straight to her face!"

Suddenly, as Infernia was about to deliver the fatal touch, a single shout rang out through the air from a short distance, stopping her thrust.

"Masenko....HAA!!!"

From the eastward direction, a fierce red-orange beam of energy materialized in the sky and launched downward at her at an incredible speed. The width of it was abnormal; what was more, she hadn't even detected any powers great enough to create such a massive energy discharge!

"How...?!?" Infernia had no time for words of surprise; she found herself narrowly avoiding the beam's impact as she leapt high into the air. The beam's golden explosion on the ground still managed to singe her legs slightly, sending shock up and down her nervous system. The sudden jolt of pain caused her to relinquish her hold upon the princess. The small child went sailing through the air and plummeted toward the ground at an alarming rate of speed.

"ChibiUsa, NO!!!" The green-haired Sailor Soldier cried out as Zebus - though surprised as Infernia was about the sudden ambush from the air - retained his strong hold over her, preventing her from rushing forward to break the princess's fall. With the child's energy at a weak point and her spirit practically broken, such a fall could've ended her life just as easily as Infernia's chosen form of execution.

All of a sudden, as the princess's head was inches away from shattering on the craggy asphalt, her
body suddenly shot skyward once again, as if propelled by an invisible energy or a powerful gust of wind from below. Infernia was flabbergasted.

"Wait...that was no form of magic like the Sailor Soldiers used..." She gasped as her scouter went off, registering a small ki source that was propelling the princess away from danger. "It's super speed...!! But how could it be?! No member of the Crystal Tokyo Special Forces could possibly..."

Just out of impulse and a bit of paranoia, Infernia's eyes shot down to the ground, but she still spotted all of the Sailor Soldiers where she had left them, and if they had killed five, and if she excluded Serenity - who had once been Sailor Moon - all of them were accounted for.

"But if it wasn't even a Sailor Soldier's power..." Infernia mused as she watched the princess's body disappear into the smoke created by the red-orange beam. "Then who on this planet could possibly...?"

As if on cue, her question was answered as an abrupt concussion wave of ki energy pierced the curtain of smog, causing it to dissipate into the cold night air. The mystery concealed behind the curtain was revealed to Infernia's curious eyes.

And she couldn't believe what she saw.

* * *

Sailor Neptune opened her eyes after shielding them from the sudden shock wave of energy that had poured onto her and the surrounding area like a hurricane. And although the insectoid monster's grasp on her was as iron-tight as ever, the sight Neptune saw floating amidst the starry backdrop was enough to turn her whole world upside-down.

The princess was floating silently in the air, held securely in the arms of a small boy. The boy was donning a purple karate gi with a snow-white collar. His round hair was covered with long, shaggy black hair and his eyes projected a solid steel aura of power and determination as he faced all three aliens without any fear whatsoever.

"It's him..." Neptune muttered to herself, remembering the image her mirror had shown her. "Setsuna, you were right...your Z Warriors...have finally come..."