Author's Note: Proceed with caution, the following chapter has content that may be upsetting to readers.


So what if people think I'm clumsy and a crybaby – it's no big deal. That doesn't bother me anymore.

But I won't stand for what those two-faced liars are saying about me, the Sailor senshi and the believers! Kidnapping kids to force them into a horrible plan is bad enough, but deliberately hurting the one you love for something out of their hands is completely unforgivable!

And I'm not going to take it lying down!


Sailor Mercury stared in surprise. This was a bizarre way to meet the man who invented the Eden formula.

"That's an awful long story, sir." Carefully, she held up her gloved hands to show she meant no harm before stepping out in full view. "Firstly, I apologize for entering your home like this – that one I confess to doing so in a blind escape. I am Sailor Mercury, one of the Sailor Senshi – as you probably can guess my friends and I had originally arrived for the Meeting of the witnesses both to listen and to protect those present."

Buck and Chloe Williams watched anxiously as Tsion Ben-Judah, who was just as astonished to see Sailor Mercury in Israel.

Chaim lowered the frying pan, looking at Sailor Mercury with critical eyes. "You?" He said rather skeptically. "You're the one of the presumed Moon alien everyone has got so worked up about?"

"Assuredly, I'm about as human as the rest of you." Sailor Mercury responded as she walked to a window. "It probably might not make sense now in rational terms, but hopefully it will eventually."

And she leapt out the open window, much to their shock. But when Chaim and Tsion went to the window to look, she was nowhere in sight. Only a far twinkling blue light fading away.

As it turned out, Jacov, Chaim Rosenzweig's driver had become a believer; later that night he was found in a bar, telling people that Jesus is Messiah much to his employer's befuddlement.

Back in the United States, Hattie Durham, now desperate to live only for the life of her child, is raced to a hospital, where they meet another believer named Leah Rose. She and Tribulation Force physician Floyd Charles try to deliver the baby, but after some work, the baby is stillborn. According to Floyd, Hattie had been poisoned by Carpathia, resulting in the death of her unborn child.


The others had watched it on television as had those back in the schoolhouse. Vicki switched the laptop to the sleep mode and sat back. "I wonder how Carpathia's going to work this to his advantage."

Conrad said. "I can't believe he lost his cool and cursed like that on live television."

"Can you imagine what the press will do with the water-to-blood thing?" Shelly said. "It's going to be plastered all over the headlines."

"Yes, but the publicity will make every-body want to watch," Rei points out.

"If they let them continue," Conrad said.

Vicki sighed. An idea had been brewing since the beginning of Tsion's message. "I think we should change our clocks to Jerusalem time."

"What for?" Shelly said.

"The all-day meetings will begin just after midnight," Vicki said. "I know it's the middle of the afternoon, but if we get some sleep now, we can get up and watch the whole thing live."

The kids all agreed to try it. Vicki went the kitchen to prepare what would be a midnight breakfast.

Conrad said, "I want to see what Carpathia says about all this."

Vicki looked in on Melinda. Her door was slightly open. Vicki knocked and entered. "What did you think?"

Melinda shrugged. "Interesting. I've never seen the potentate that upset."

"What about the rabbi?" Vicki said.

"I guess he made some sense. A lot more than that Peter guy. But there's a lot I don't understand."

"Like what?"

"The stuff about the sheep," Melinda

"You mean the lamb?"

"Whatever."

Vicki sat on the bed. She explained that Jesus was the Lamb of God. "In the days before Jesus, God asked for a sacrifice for sins. I don't understand everything about it, but basically the people had to take a perfect lamb, kill it, then sprinkle its blood on altar."

Melinda scowled. "That sounds weird. Why does God have to kill something? Can't he just look the other way?"

"The sacrifice reminded the people how bad sin is. Because God is holy, there has to be some kind of payment. That ceremony was sort of a picture of Jesus' sacrifice. He was the perfect Lamb who gave his life for us."

"I got it," Melinda said, "but I still think it's pretty weird."

Conrad knocked at the door. "You oughta come see this."

"We'll talk later," Vicki said.

The voice of Leon Fortunato echoed down the hall. "The supreme commander's introducing Nicolae," Conrad said.

"I don't believe this," Shelly groaned as Vicki came into the room. 'This is the ultimate setup guy."

"Isn't Fortunato the same guy visiting the school once-"

"When Usagi the klutz somehow dropped her body spray causing it to break and spray all over the room with Fortunato and half the homeroom still in it?" Rei asked with a wry smile. "Ami told us about it."

"Wait, what?" Conrad let out a half laugh.

Rei smirked at the memory. "Everyone had to run out, Fortunato was coughing up a storm in Italian, but the kicker is that he turned to Usagi and asked her plainly if she was trying to kill him with lavender fresh?"

Vicki giggled. "Seriously?"

Shelley starts laughing, and Darrion joins in. In spite of herself, Melinda let out a chuckle.

On the TV, Fortunato looked calm and collected. He said there were still pockets of resistance to the progress of the Global Community. "One of those movements revealed its true nature earlier this evening before the eyes of the world."

"Yeah, they turned his drinking water to blood," Darrion said. "His Excellency has the power to use extreme measures because of this action, but in the spirit of the new society he has built, His Excellency has a different response he wishes to share with you. Before he does that however, I would like to share a personal story."

"Uh-oh," Conrad said, "here it comes."

Fortunato told the world that after the earthquake, Nicolae Carpathia had raised him from the dead. He finished with, "And now, without further ado, your potentate and—may I say, my deity—His Excellency, Nicolae Carpathia."

"My deity?" Shelly said. "He thinks Carpathia's God?"

Rei and Minako scoffed, Hotaru rolled her eyes.

"Tsion said this would happen," Vicki reminded them.

Fortunato bowed deeply and tried to make way for Carpathia, but he stumbled on a light cord and tumbled out of range of the camera. The kids laughed. Carpathia seemed flustered by the distraction, then quickly recovered.

"Fellow citizens, I am certain that if you did not see what happened earlier this evening at Teddy Kollek Stadium in Jerusalem, you have by now heard about it. Let me briefly tell you my view of what occurred and outline my response. "One of my goals as a strong leader is tolerance. We can only truly be a global community by accepting our differences. It has been the clear wish of most of us that we break down walls and bring people together. Thus there is now one economy highlighted by one currency, no need for passports, one government, eventually one language, one system of measurement, and one religion." Carpathia described Enigma Babylon One World Faith, which brought different religions under one banner. "Your way may be the only way for you, and my way the only way for me, but all religions of the world have proved themselves able to live in harmony." Carpathia frowned. "All religions except one. You know the one. It is the sect that claims roots in historic Christianity. It holds that the vanishings of two and a half years ago were God's doing. Indeed, they say, Jesus blew a trumpet and took all his favorite people to heaven, leaving the rest of us lost sinners to suffer here on earth." Carpathia crossed his arms and squinted. "This is not the truth of Christianity as it was taught for centuries. That wonderful, peace-loving religion told of a God of love and of a man who was a teacher of morals. His example was to be followed in order for a person to one day reach eternal heaven by continually improving oneself…"

"This is ridiculous," Rei grumbled. "If we could reach heaven by improving ourselves, then why did Jesus have to die?"

Carpathia continued. "Following the disappearances that caused such great chaos in our world, some misguided people looked to the Christian Bible for an explanation. They created a belief that said the true church was taken away."

"You think people are actually buying this?" Darrion said.

Carpathia referred to the followers of Dr. Ben-Judah as a cult. "I come to you tonight from the very studio where Dr. Ben-Judah turned his back on his own religion. While in exile, he has managed to brainwash thou-sands who are desperate. Dr. Ben-Judah has used the Internet for his own gain, no doubt taking millions from his followers. He has invented an us-against-them war."

"He hasn't taken a penny," Vicki shouted.

"Here comes the payoff," Conrad said. "He's about to bring the hammer down."

Carpathia held up his hands in a gesture of peace. "In a spirit of acceptance, I gave my public promise for Dr. Ben-Judah's safety. I believed the only right thing to do was to encourage this mass meeting. I wanted his followers to join us. But the choice was theirs. I would not have forced them. "And how were my actions rewarded? Was I invited to the festivities? Allowed to bring a greeting or take part in any of the pageantry? No. I traveled to Israel at my own expense and dropped in to say a few words. "My supreme commander was met with the rudeness of utter silence. The most revered Supreme Pontiff Peter the Second was received in the same manner, even though he is a fellow clergyman. This was obviously a well-planned mass response."

He then accused Dr. Ben-Judah of controlling the minds of his audience. "I had the clear feeling that the crowd was with me. They wanted to welcome me. Dr. Ben-Judah somehow gave a signal to release an invisible dust or powder that instantly parched my throat and resulted in a powerful thirst. I should have been suspicious when I was immediately presented with a bottle from someone in the crowd. But as a trusting person, I assumed an unknown friend had come to my aid." Carpathia gritted his teeth. "I was am-bushed by a bottle of poisonous blood! It was such an obvious assassination attempt that I accused Dr. Ben-Judah right there. He had hidden in the crowd the two elderly lunatics from the Wailing Wall who have murdered several people. With hidden microphones turned louder than the one I was using, they shouted me down with threats. "My doctor says if I had swallowed what they gave me, I would have died instantly."

"He's faking it." Hotaru pursing her lips with disapproval.


Judd, Lionel, and Mr. Stein had fought their way through the crowd of frightened people to the safety of a nearby building. When the GC emergency vehicles left, the three headed for the gymnasium.

Usagi and the rest reassured them via communicator that they were alright. Judd was exhausted. He lay on his cot, listening to the prayers and conversation around him. Before he drifted off to sleep, Mr. Stein touched his shoulder and asked him to follow. "You'll want to see this."

A small group gathered around a television in an office near the front. Yitzhak sat with his feet on a desk. Judd recognized the man who had introduced Tsion onstage. His name was Daniel. Other members of the local commit-tee stared at Nicolae Carpathia on TV. Lionel brought Judd up to speed about Nicolae's speech. "He just said the assassination attempt is an act of high treason, punishable by death."

"Who are they going to execute, all of us?" Judd said. Lionel shrugged.

Carpathia clenched his jaw. "There is no doubt that this ugly incident was engineered and carried out by Dr. Ben-Judah. But as a man of my word, I plan to allow the meetings to continue for the next two nights. I will maintain my pledge of security and protection."

"We do not need either from you," Noah had muttered.

Carpathia continued. "Dr. Ben-Judah, however, shall be exiled again from Israel within twenty-four hours of the end of the meeting. As for the two who call themselves Eli and Moishe, let this serve as public notification to them as well. For the next forty-eight hours, they shall be restricted to the area near the Wailing Wall. They are not to leave that area for any purpose at any time. When the meetings in the stadium have concluded, Eli and Moishe must leave the Temple Mount area. Their appearance anywhere but near the Wailing Wall for forty-eight hours or their showing their faces anywhere in the world after that shall be considered reason to kill. Any Global Community officer or private citizen is authorized to shoot to kill."

Yitzhak shook his head. "You will not kill the Lord's anointed until the due time."

"I know you will agree," Carpathia concluded, "that this is a most generous response to an ugly attack. Thank you, my friends, and good night from Israel."

As the news anchor recapped the story, Yitzhak turned off the television. "God is at work, my friends. Now we must rest. The next two days are very important."

Mr. Stein followed Judd and Lionel to their cots. "Before you sleep, you must know what has happened. There was an attempt on Tsion's life tonight."

"What?" Judd said.

"Somehow Tsion and the others found out that the guards were preparing to attack."

Judd gasped. "The guard I met was probably after Tsion! I'm hoping to meet him before tomorrow night's session."

Lionel scowled. "I don't know if we should get that close to a GC guard."

Judd asked how Tsion got away. "He hid with Chloe in a utility room until a friend created a diversion with gunfire," Mr. Stein said.

"So that's where the shots came from," Judd said.

"Where are they now?"

"Tsion, Buck, and Chloe are staying at the Chaim Rosenzweig estate." Mr. Stein leaned close to the boys. "I am almost convinced I am a true witness of God. I am going to see Eli and Moishe now. I must talk to them." Judd sighed. "I can hardly keep my eyes open."

"I'll go," Lionel said. Mr. Stein smiled. "I would be honored to have you with me." He looked at Judd. "I may not be able to spend much time with you over the next two days. Drink in as much of the teaching as you can." Mr. Stein led them in a prayer.


Wow, it actually worked. With the senshi upgrade to Eternal, Minako was somehow able to reach Israel. And fortunately while everyone decided to sleep in a bit – she'll have to bring back supplies so as not to make Melinda suspicious.

However when she landed in Jerusalem, and changed back to civilian wear, she thought she took a wrong turn. Did she accidentally reach the slums or something?

Drunks staggered about the streets. Murky bars, shady-looking fortune-telling shops, questionable tattoo parlors, and strip clubs advertised in glaring lights. Then she remembered that the new religion Enigma Babylon welcomes any belief system. And as such, hedonism pleasures of the flesh is rampant. Whatever feels good.

Worse yet, people were becoming more entitled and self-serving every day.

Minako felt uneasy and hurried towards a path that would take her to the Wailing Wall. She didn't want to be in the dodgy places longer than she has to, it was far too risky for a lone teenage girl, even if she was a sailor senshi.

Finally when she reached the Wall, a GC guard was making an announcement. "Attention, ladies and gentlemen! I have been asked by the Global Community supreme commander to remind citizens of the proclamation from His Excellency, Potentate Nicolae Carpathia, that the two men you see before you are under house arrest. They are confined to this area until the end of the Meeting of the Witnesses Friday night. If they leave this area before that, any GC personnel or private citizen is within his rights to detain them by force, to wound them, or to kill them. Further, if they are seen anywhere, repeat, anywhere, following that time, they shall be put to death."

There was a huge crowd near the fence cheering wildly, laughed, and jeering at the witnesses. Eli and Moishe seemed not to notice the guard or those nearby who spat at them. Gigantic lights lit the area. The witnesses were bathed in a glaring spotlight, but they didn't squint or blink.

"I almost wish I had their composure." Minako muttered.

The crowd cheered when a man suggested he wanted to kill the witnesses. Barely moving his lips, Eli spoke at the top of his lungs. At the force of his voice, the crowd stumbled back. "Come nigh and question not this warning from the Lord of Hosts. He who would dare come against the appointed servants of the Most High God, the same shall surely die!"

When the crowd inched forward, taunting again, Eli erupted a second time. "Tempt not the chosen ones, for if you come against the voices crying in the wilderness, God himself, will consume your flesh!"

A man held up a high-powered rifle and laughed. The GC guards spoke to the man, but with the noise, Minako couldn't hear the words. Eli and Moishe disappeared behind the slope. Minako quickly followed, not wanting to lose sight of them.

Behind the GC guard spoke urgently. "Search the area behind the fence! If the two are not there, they are in violation of the potentate and may be shot!"

Finally Minako saw that the two were at the top of a knoll beside a lone olive tree. And then she heard a familiar voice a few feet away.

"Please," It sounded like Mr. Stein. "I am a Jew. I believe Jesus is the Messiah. Can I know if I am truly a witness of the Most High God?"

Moishe didn't speak but motioned someone to get behind a tree, he turned in Minako's direction urging her to do the same. He didn't need to tell her twice, because crowds were running up the hill, shouting murderous threats. Eli and Moishe spoke at the same time. They looked directly at Mr. Stein and said, "Harken unto us, servants of the Lord God Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth!" The witnesses were suddenly bathed in light, not from the news cameras or anything earthly, but from a heavenly glow.

The sight was awesome. Eli and Moishe warned the mob that they would be devoured by fire if they tried to hurt God's servants. "We have been granted the power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of our prophecy. Yea, we have power over waters to turn them to blood and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as we will.

"And what is our prophecy? That Jesus of Bethlehem, the son of the Virgin Mary, was in the beginning with God, and he was God, and he is God. Yea, he fulfilled all the prophecies of the coming Messiah, and he shall reign and rule now and forevermore, world without end, amen!"

The people ignored the warnings.

"It is ours to bring rain," the witnesses shouted. A freezing gush of water poured from the skies and drenched the ground.

"Yitzhak said it has not rained here in twenty-four months!" Mr. Stein said, shivering. The rain stopped a moment later.

"And it is ours to shut heaven for the days of our prophecy!" the witnesses proclaimed.

There were murmurs and threats from the crowd. They were a hundred yards away and tramping through the mud. The prophets stopped the crowd with their booming voices. Eli and Moishe spoke against the new temple. They called it blasphemy. "Your sacrifices of animal blood are a stench in the nostrils of your God! Turn from your wicked ways, O sinners! Advance not against the chosen ones whose time has not yet been accomplished!"

Two GC guards rushed up the hill, weapons raised. They slipped on the wet hillside and fell to the ground.

"Woe unto you who would dose your ears to the warnings of the chosen ones!" the witnesses shouted. "Flee to the caves to save yourselves! Your mission is doomed! Your bodies shall be consumed!"

The guards crawled on their bellies. The crowd shouted to the guards, "Kill them! Shoot them!" Gunfire exploded.

Minako yelped when a bullet left a gash in the tree just above – Lionel's head! The witnesses remained steady, unmoving, unhurt. They stood, still illuminated on the hill. The guards reloaded and fired again. Lionel and Mr. Stein huddled together.

Just as she was ready to transform, a flash of light and a whooshing sound surrounded them. The air was filled with an intense heat. The gunshots were replaced with a sizzling fire. When Minako looked down the hill she saw the two guards engulfed in flames. They had no time to react. Within seconds the white heat turned their rifles to puddles of boiling liquid and their bones to ash. The crowd fled, screaming, cursing, and crying. The witnesses were walking slowly down the hill toward the Wailing Wall.


That night, Usagi was on her knees, with her head bowed, in the garden of Gethsemane, crying as she thought about herself, her family and friends and their safety. She felt like the walls were closing in on all of them. More-so her and her Senshi comrades. Mio turned up alive in Israel and Usagi had been on the edge ever since. And for good reason, Mio knew she and her friends were the Sailor Guardians and could've exposed them on live TV that morning. But she didn't. Why hadn't she? Could she have hurt her head really badly in the earthquake/meteor shower and forgotten about it? She hoped that was the case, because it meant their loved-ones were not in danger. It was bad enough her brother had gotten caught in the crossfire and she didn't want her parents and other loved-ones to suffer on account of her. It was all too much.

That was why she came out here tonight. For this was the place the son of the most high had come to before he was arrested. From what she had read, he was very troubled like her and prayed to be spared from his death. Long story short, that didn't happen and he ended up having to go to the cross anyway. But in the end of his prayer, he boldly accepted his fate. She supposed she was just going to have to do the same thing. Not that she had a choice.

Usagi looked up at the night sky with her tear-stained face. "Lord high above...I know...it must be...as you will it. But please...don't let my friends and I be exposed as the Sailor Guardians. Stop this from happening. Spare us." She prayed as more tears ran down her face. "And...if you will it...sir...if you will it...your will...is mine." She said, finishing the prayer, accepting whatever outcome would result from this. The last thing she wanted was for her and her friends to be revealed as the Sailor Senshi. But if it had to come to it, it had to come to it.

"Usagi?" came a female voice from behind.

Usagi looked behind her and saw Minako, who must've gotten here somehow using her eternal form.

"You okay?" Minako asked.

"Minako." Usagi said before standing up and wiping the tears from her face. "What are you doing here?"

"Your friend who was helping other witnesses saw you leaving the university gym, so I decided to follow you." Minako answered as she walked up to Usagi. "Is everything alright?"

"Well...actually, Minako...no. I haven't been able to relax since...since...since..."

"Since the big reveal on the News about Mio being alive?" Minako asked, cutting Usagi off.

"Yeah. I mean...she knows we are the Sailor Guardians and could blow the whistle on us at any given time." Usagi said.

"Yeah, she could." Minako said glumly.

"But here's what I don't get. If she knows, why didn't she rat us out on live TV? Why did she stay out of the public eye for so long after the earthquake/meteor shower? Why hadn't she come after us or the Young Trib-Force?" Usagi said.

"I can think of only one or two options. Either she's waiting for the right moment to expose us to the world...or...she's found someone else to harass...as many stalkers tend to do." Minako said.

A gentle beam of silvery light then shined down from the moon, getting Usagi and Minako's attention, and the small hologram of Queen Serenity appeared before them.

"Good evening, Usagi...Minako." Queen Serenity greeted.

"Queen Serenity." Minako said.

"What are you doing here? Are you here about my prayer?" Usagi asked.

"Not exactly. I'm here because Heaven sent me to let you know that there is an assignment for you and Minako as Sailor Moon and Venus."

"What?" Usagi asked.

"An assignment?" Minako said.

"Yes. In this assignment, you will both learn about successful people, grief, secrets, those who envy the lives of the successful, and how all these things destroy families." Queen Serenity explained.

"What is this assignment?" Usagi asked.

"The assignment is in the U.S. in Gary, Indiana. You are to transform and teleport there to a hospital. There you will meet a woman, her husband, and their newly adopted son, but she will be with her sister at first. The couple's wedding is supposed to be here in Israel in the third temple." Queen Serenity said.

"We're gonna be helping a couple who's gonna be getting married? Awesome. Romance is my forte." Minako declared.

"They're already married, they're just renewing their vows." Queen Serenity said.

"Awww, that's so romantic. I love weddings." Usagi smiled.

"I agree. Weddings are a beautiful thing. But there are problems and a secret in this marriage...and they have to be resolved." Queen Serenity said.

"Problems? What kind of problems?" Usagi asked.

"Sorry. That is all I can tell you. You'll know for yourselves once you get to your destination. But the point here...is that those problems and that secret better go before that wedding happens, or the family this couple is trying to establish will begin to break piece by piece the moment they recite their wedding vows. For a house divided cannot stand." Queen Serenity said before disappearing along with the beam of light shining down from the moon.

There was a moment of silence. Usagi turned to face Minako. "You ready?"

"Yeah. Let's go." Minako said.

"Moon Eternal Power Make-up."

"Venus Eternal Power Make-up."

Usagi transformed into Eternal Sailor Moon and Minako turned into Eternal Sailor Venus. Sailor Moon and Venus joined hands, closed their eyes, and focused their thoughts on Gary, Indiana.

"Sailor Teleport." Sailor Moon and Venus said before they vanished.

Sailor Moon and Venus appeared outside a building in the middle of the night and looked at their surroundings.

"Where are we?" Sailor Moon asked.

"If I had to take a guess...I'd say we're in Gary, Indiana. And this is a hospital Queen Serenity was talking about. Come on, let's go in." Venus said before proceeding to head inside the building.

"Wait." Sailor Moon said, stopping Venus. "How can you be certain this is the Gary hospital?"

Venus pointed upward and Sailor Moon looked and saw the sign that read GARY HOSPITAL.

"Oh." Sailor Moon said, dumbfounded.

"Uh-huh." Venus said.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's hurry inside, shall we?" Sailor Moon said guiltily.

The Sailor Guardian duo ran up to the glass double-doors and they slid open, followed by both girls entering the hospital.

Inside the waiting-room of the hospital, everyone stopped what they were doing when they noticed Sailor Moon and Venus. All was now quiet in the room as all eyes focused on the two female Japanese teen super-heroes.

"Wow. This is awkward." Sailor Moon said nervously. She wasn't surprised by the reaction of the people in the room of this hospital. She, Venus and the rest of the Senshi weren't exactly the world's favorite people now, thanks to Carpathia and Mio slandering them and blaming them for the vanishings and all of the chaos that had befallen the planet.

"Just ignore them. Remember why we're here." Venus said.

"Right. Sorry." Sailor Moon said. "Now...where is that assignment Queen Serenity told us about?"

Sailor Venus then looked and spotted the back of two women sitting in two of the seats. One had blond shoulder-length hair and was holding a white rag on the back of her head with her right hand, and the other had long black hair that went past her left shoulder. They were the only ones sitting in the room, as well as the only two people who weren't staring at her and Sailor Moon because their backs were turned. "Hey...those two women look like they fit the bill?"

The two Sailor Guardians made their way over to where the two women were sitting and walked around the seats and stopped in front of the two women. Both women appeared to be in their 30s, the blond-haired woman had blue eyes and the black-haired woman had brown eyes and her black hair that went past her left shoulder was in a pony-tail.

"Excuse us." Sailor Moon said.

The two America women looked at the two teen Asian super-heroes, clearly stunned to see them up close and in person.

"It's you." The blond-haired woman said.

"Yes. We know. I am Sailor Moon and this is Sailor Venus. What are your names?"

"My name is Laura Carl." The American blond-haired woman said.

"And I'm Hilary Mill, her older sister." The black-haired woman added, eyeing them warily.

"Hilary and Laura. What wonderful names. What are you doing here at the hospital so late at night?" Venus said.

"Nothing serious, everything's okay." Laura assured.

"Uh, it's not okay. Can you excuse us?" Hilary said.

"Well, we could...but if we did, we wouldn't be doing our job. As you both likely know, Venus and I are super-heroes and our job is to help, protect and rescue people." Sailor Moon said.

"Laura...it's probably none of our business, but we need to ask anyway. What are you doing here at the hospital at this hour?" Sailor Venus said.

"It's funny, my-my husband and I just adopted a kid several weeks ago after the global earthquake/meteor shower, and I'm always tripping over his toys." Laura explained nervously.

"Laura...tell them the truth, tell them what Ron's doing to you." Hilary said sternly.

"Ron, who's Ron?" Venus questioned.

"My husband. The governor of Indiana." Laura answered.

"Your husband is the governor of Indiana?" Sailor Moon asked ins surprise.

Yeah. And he is a wonderful leader." Laura said.

"And a terrible husband." Hilary said.

"Hilary!" Laura gasped.

"What do you mean he's a terrible husband?" Venus asked.

"Look, we had a fight, okay, it's not a crime." said Laura defensively.

"It is if somebody gets hurt." Hilary said.

"Hilary, did you somehow get in contact with these two girls?" Laura asked her.

"No." Hilary answered.

"If you did, Ron's gonna..." Laura stopped herself.

"What? What will he do, Laura?" Sailor Moon asked gently. She had dreadful feeling in the pit of her stomach about where this is going.

Laura didn't say anything. "Hit you again?" Hilary said.

"What?!" Sailor Moon and Venus gasped. This woman's husband was hitting her? Why? What reason would he have to want to hurt someone do beautiful?

Laura didn't respond.

"Laura, you don't have to be afraid, tell us. What is going on?" Sailor Venus said.

"Promise me you won't say anything to anyone." Laura said.

"You can trust us, we know how to keep a secret." Sailor Moon assured.

"There have been some, uh...some changes in our lives and they've been a little rough on Ron and..." Laura stopped herself.

"And he hit you?" Venus asked.

"Sometimes he just gets so angry." Laura said.

"Sometimes?" Sailor Moon said.

"You mean he's actually hit you you before?" Sailor Venus asked, disgusted.

Laura didn't say anything. Not that she had to, her silence said it all.

"Oh, my moon." Sailor Moon said.

"I'll bet this isn't your first trip here, is it?" Venus guessed, looking grim.

Again, Laura didn't say anything.

"Laura...when did this start happening?" Venus asked.

Laura sighed. "About two years ago-before the disappearances-Ron and our 9-year old son, Parker, were out riding their bikes and a driver accidently hit and killed our son. Then after his funeral and burial...Ron was a mess. So was I."

Sailor Moon and Venus had sad expressions on their faces, clearly saddened by the story they had just heard. They felt really sorry for this poor woman and what she had gone through and was currently going through. First she lost her son and now her husband was abusing her over the loss. That was a lot for one person to deal with.

"And that's when he started hitting you?" Sailor Moon asked.

"...Yeah." Laura answered shamefully. "Parker's death hit him pretty hard. Sometimes I think it hit him harder than it hit me. They were so close as father and son. They did everything together. They sent to the movies, played sports, went camping during the summer, etc. Then when the disappearances happened, and we heard there were bodies missing from cemeteries, we had Parker's grave assumed...and when the grave-digger opened the coffin...he wasn't in it. I mean, the suit, socks, and shoes he was buried in were still there, but his body was gone. That really upset us. More-so Ron than me."

"Well, no wonder he's so angry, he doesn't have his son to spend time with anymore. And to add insult to injury, his son's body just disappeared from its grave. It explains a lot. It doesn't excuse it, but...still." Venus said. She knew the loss of a child was the most devastating in parenthood history. Parents weren't supposed to outlive their children, much less lose them at such a young age. It not only changed them, it demolished them. But that did not give this woman's husband the right to be putting his hands on her.

"Laura...Venus and our other comrades can help you...and your husband." Sailor Moon assured.

She wanted to say there were people who could help this woman and her husband, but all marriage counselors, grief counselors, therapists, and battered women shelters were most likely owned by the Global Community now, like everything else, and would very likely be on this woman's husband's side, since he was the governor of Indiana.

"Look, we're fine. Okay, we don't need anybody's help. Thank you." Laura attempted to dismiss them.

"What about your newly adopted son?" Venus asked.

"Ron never hurts him." Laura stated.

"Ah, that's nice, just you." Hilary said sarcastically.

"This is no time for sarcastic remarks, Hilary." Laura said.

"There you are." Came a male concerned voice.

Sailor Moon and Venus looked and saw a man in a suit, tie, and a closed red flower on the left side of his chest, run over to where Laura and Hilary were sitting from behind. He had brown hair and brown eyes.

"Hi, Ron." Laura said.

"Have they kept you waiting all this time?" Ron asked.

"A whole hour, as a matter of fact." Laura said.

"Oh, I swear, this town is falling apart. Well, I'm here now, baby, everything's gonna be okay." Ron said.

Sailor Venus just looked at the man with disgust, as she knew this man was just pretending. She had seen more than enough of Carpathia on TV to know when he was putting on an act, and this man was no different.

Sailor Moon, however, had clearly bought into the man's pretense, because she was smiling warmly at the scene.

"Thank you, Ron." Laura said.

"I'm so sorry you're hurt. Let's get you in there, alright? I'll have one of the doctors stitch the back of your head up right away. Everything's gonna be great." Ron said.

"I don't think so." Hilary said, with a disgusted expression on her face identical to Venus's.

"Look...tomorrow's our big day to finalize our son's adoption and renew our vows. Let's just get through this so we can all go home and rest. Alright? She's tired. We're all tired." Ron said.

"Listen to yourself! You're just full of reasons not to see this thing for what it really is, aren't you?!" Venus said to Ron, getting the American man's attention. How hadn't noticed her or Sailor Moon a minute ago was beyond her.

"Sailor Moon? Sailor Venus?" Ron said, just as surprised to see them.

"That's right, bub, I'm Sailor Venus, and this is Sailor Moon! On behalf of Heaven and the most high, we are here to help!"

"Uh, excuse me, Super-girls...but this a family matter-"

"Well, good, 'cause we're the Sailor Guardians, and helping the people of this planet is what we do!" Venus snapped, cutting Ron off.

"Well, right now my wife is hurt. And I think that takes priority." Ron said.

"I think so too, but a doctor is gonna stitch her up without your intervention!" Venus said. "Come on, Laura." She said as she helped Laura up and turned and walked off with her.

"Way to go, Venus." Sailor Moon said as she, Ron and Hilary watched Venus walk off with Laura.

"Wow. Talk about being snappy." Hilary said, staring wide-eyed.

Later, Venus and Laura came back out in the waiting-room, with the American woman leaning on the Japanese teen super-hero for support. After getting the back of Laura's head stitched up by a doctor, as well as having a private conversation with her about seeking help with her situation with her husband, Venus and Laura exited the doctor's room.

"I can walk, you know." Laura said.

"I know, I just wanna make sure you don't fall." Sailor Venus replied.

"Venus." came a female voice.

Sailor Venus and Laura stopped and looked to see Sailor Moon running towards them, with Ron and Hilary following her from behind. All three ran up to the Asian teenage girl and stopped in their tracks.

"Well, what's the verdict?" Sailor Moon asked.

"Are you alright, Laura?" Hilary asked.

"I'm fine. Nothing a good set of stitches couldn't fix." Laura assured.

"Great. Now let's get out of here and get back home and get some rest, we have a flight to catch and a wedding to attend in Israel tomorrow. Our own." Ron said.

The glass double-doors than slid open and in rushed Mio and a 12-year old boy. The boy had long brown neck-length hair and blue eyes.

"Governor Carl." Mio called while she and the boy were running towards the group.

Everyone looked to see Mio and the boy coming their way.

"Mio." Ron greeted with a nod.

"Jake." Laura said, referring to the 12-year old boy.

"Mio? Why is she here?" Sailor Moon thought. What was Mio doing here in the U.S.?

Mio and the boy known as Jake ran up to the group.

"Are you alright, Mrs. Carl?" Mio asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay." Laura said.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were at home, watching Jake." Ron said.

"Well, I was, but he was very worried about Mrs. Carl. As was I. So I made a deal with him. I figured that since we were both worried about her, we should come down here to the hospital and see how she was doing." Mio explained. "And from the looks of things, I'd say she's doing just fine."

"Excuse me. How do you all know Mio?" Sailor Moon asked.

"Miss Kuroki is my secretary. She's been working for me since the global earthquake/meteor shower several weeks ago. I needed someone to assist me at work, so Mr. Carpathia recommended her and assigned her to me. She'll also be accompanying us to Israel and will be singing at our wedding, as well as at our reception." Ron explained as if it were a simple business presentation. "And this is Jake, our newly adopted son."

Sailor Moon just looked at Mio. So Minako's second guess was valid. Mio had found someone else to harass. And it was the governor of Indiana and his wife. But what was the reason?

"Jake...aren't you gonna say hello to your mother?" Ron asked.

"Hi, Mom." Jake greeted.

"Hi, honey." Laura replied back.

"Come on. We'll stop by the Dairy Queen and I'll get us all some sundaes. How's that sound?" Ron said.

"Okay." Jake said, with a smile on his face.

"Sounds good to me." Mio added.

"Alright then, let's go." Ron said before he, Jake, Laura, Hilary and Mio walked off, heading for the glass double-doors.

"Ah, he's being so sweet." Sailor Moon said, referring to Ron, with a warm smile on her face.

"We're gonna let them walk out of here just like that?" Venus asked.

"He seemed like he was sorry, didn't you see how sorry he was?" Sailor Moon said.

"I see how sorry he is now. What about the next time?" Sailor Venus pointed out.

"There's not gonna be a next time. Not if I can help it. Also...I think I just found the real culprit behind all of this." Sailor Moon said.

At first she thought the governor was the one at fault for hurting his wife. But that had all changed now that Mio had shown her face and revealed that she had been working for this man since the global earthquake/meteor shower. And that was over several weeks ago. Laura was being physically abused by her husband. And the mastermind behind it all was Mio Kuroki. All she and Venus had to do was prove it.


The next day in Israel, Usagi stood in the garden of Gethsemane, trying to figure out a way to expose Mio's true intentions to the Carl family. But how was she supposed to do that when she didn't even know what Mio's motives were? Knowing she had ill will was one thing. Finding good, solid evidence to prove it...that was the downer. Thankfully, however, Usagi had shared this information with the others when she returned to Israel, and Buck and Ami we're currently doing online research on the governor, his wife, their adopted son, and Mio. She had also contacted the others back at the command center in Japan and asked her father-being that he was a journalist-and Luna to do some research on the couple, the boy and Mio as well, which they gladly agreed to do. Prayerfully, one of their groups would find something that could implicate Mio. Minako, meanwhile, had gone back to Chicago and rejoined her group and explained what she and Usagi's assignment was.

Usagi looked up at the bright blue sky. "I know what Minako and I are supposed to do. I know that our assignment is the governor of Indiana and his wife and that have to help save their marriage. And I know that Mio is partly causing the dysfunction in their family and that her intentions are bad...but how do we expose her intentions when we don't even know what they are? I'm not sure what to do. I'm confused. Give me a sign, please. Just give me one sign." She said, talking to God.

As if on cue, a familiar light shined down from the moon-which was barely visible, as it was day-and shined down in front of Usagi, with the small hologram of Queen Serenity appearing in front of her.

"Greetings, my beloved daughter. I take it you and Minako met the governor of Indiana, his wife, her sister and the boy they've adopted?" Queen Serenity said.

"Yeah, we did. And we saw Mio with them as well." Usagi said.

"Then you know what must be done." Queen Serenity said.

"Yes, I do. Minako and I have to save this couple's marriage and expose Mio's real intentions." Usagi said.

"There's more on the line here than just a crumbling marriage." Queen Serenity said.

"Right. This couple's salvation is in danger as well." Usagi said.

"Not just that. A young boy's future is at stake as well." Queen Serenity said.

"The Carls' adopted son?" Usagi asked.

"Correct. Now get a move on. Hilary is at the Gary basket-ball gym in need of some advice on her sister's situation, and Sailor Moon is just the one to give it to her. Heaven be with you." Queen Serenity said before disappearing, along with the light shining down from the faint moon in the daytime sky.

Usagi looked up at the sky. "I won't let you down." She said, speaking to God. "Moon Eternal Power Make-up!" The teenage-girl then transformed into Eternal Sailor Moon. She then clasped her hands together, closed her eyes, and focused her mind on the Gary basket-ball gym. "Sailor Teleport." She said before disappearing.

Sailor Moon appeared outside a building and she looked up at the title on the wall that read 'GARY BASKET-BALL GYM'. "Gary Basket-ball Gym". I'm at the right place alright." She looked at the double-doors of the building and saw that the right one was open, then she walked up to the open one and looked inside and saw Jake and his six teenage-boys playing basket-ball, with Hilary sitting on the bleachers, watching them, with her hair at her upper-back. Sailor Moon entered inside the building and walked over to the bleachers where Hilary was sitting.

"Hello." Sailor Moon greeted.

Hilary looked to see Sailor Moon. "Hi." Hilary greeted before picking up an open Popeyes' Chicken box on her left and placed it down beside her on her right, revealing fries, chicken-strips and butterfly fried shrimp. "Popeyes'? I bought it before Jake and I came here."

"Don't mind if I do." Sailor Moon said before sitting down by Hilary and picking up one of the fries and eating it. "Oh, it's so yummy." She said. Since the start of the apocalypse, Usagi had changed a lot these last two years, but the one thing that hadn't changed was her love for food. She guessed some things would never change. And she was glad they wouldn't. "You know...when Venus and I showed up at the hospital last night, I didn't think you or Laura would wanna talk to us"

"Why would you think that?" Hilary asked.

"Well, as you probably know, the Global Community has been making us and the rest of our friends out to be the bad guys and the source behind the disappearances and all of the disasters that have befallen the world. And I know you've probably seen and heard a lot of things on the News that appear to be valid and true." Sailor Moon explained. She wondered why this woman and her sister hadn't expressed hatred toward her and Venus when they saw them. The rest of the world had. Why hadn't they?

"I don't go by what others say about people. I like to get to know someone and find out for myself what that person is really like. The fact that you and your friend were willing to help my sister tells me that you are not the monsters the media is making you out to be." Hilary expressed.

"Thanks." Sailor Moon said, with a smile. She was glad to know that Hilary and her sister, Laura, hadn't bought into the fake News the media was airing about her and the rest of the Senshi. "Can I talk to you about your sister?"

"Laura doesn't really want me talking to strangers about her problem." Hilary said.

"Hiding a problem doesn't make it go away. As a matter of fact, keeping an ungly problem in the dark just makes it big and uglier." Sailor Moon said.

Hilary then pick up a chicken strip. "Laura and I use to talk about guys all the time when we were teenagers, what we would and wouldn't take from them. If they didn't do such and such when they said they would, they were gone. How could she have let it go so far?"

"This isn't some guy she's dating. She's married to the governor. They lost their son. Their only child, to be exact. It's very hard for a woman to ask for protection from her own husband. Especially when she knows that he's acting out of grief. What she needs now is to have you beside her, believing her, in her coner." Sailor Moon said.

Hilary took a bite of her chicken-strip and ate it. "You know...up until last night...I was kinda envious of Laura. Jealous, to be honest. I know I shouldn't have felt that way, but it's true. She had everything a woman would want. She was married to a loving man who later became the governor of an entire state...they had a kid together, a rich lifestyle. The perfect family. Or at least that's what I thought until last night. Don't get me wrong, I love my sister. I've always believed in her. I've always been in her corner. What hurts right now...is that she didn't tell me before this. She never called to tell me her son had died. I didn't even get the chance to go to his funeral and say goodbye. I mean, I deserved that much, he was my nephew. When I was at her house last night, she and Ron told me Parker was in boarding school in London, England. I only found out he was dead from Laura when I was driving her to the hospital."

"Well, she's told you the truth now. And she needs you beside her to take the next step." Sailor Moon said.

"Yeah, well...as far as I'm concerned, the next step is to kill him." Hilary said.

"What?" Sailor Moon asked in disbelief. Hilary wanted to kill the governor of Indiana? It was that serious? "You can't mean that."

Hilary ate the rest of her chicken-strips. "No. I'm just so angry."

"Anger is responsible for all of this. So if grief. And it doesn't solve anything. Facing the truth...and getting help...that's what your sister needs to do." Sailor Moon said.

"But if she won't listen, there's nothing I can do." Hilary said.

"There's always something you can do. You just have to wait for the right time." Sailor Moon said. "Hilary...you little sister might be all grown-up, but you can still stand up for her. If somebody is pushing her around and trying to intimidate her, don't let them do that. You should let them know they shouldn't be do that, you got it?"

"Yeah. I got it. Thanks for the advice. I really needed it." Hilary said.

"Don't mention it." Sailor Moon said.

"I just hope it's not too late. Ron has turned into a very scary person." Hilary said.

Sailor Moon stood up. "Sayonara." She said before turning and leaving out of the gym. Outside, she stopped, looked back at Hilary in the gym, and smiled. She was glad to be the voice of reason and encouragement in this situation. Yet at the same time, she couldn't help but feel bad for the governor's wife. Laura had already lost her son, she didn't want her marriage to her husband to end as well. But if it had to come to it, it had to it. Her communicator watch then rang and she answered it, revealing Luna on-screen. "Yeah, what's up?"

"Sailor Moon...come to the command center right away. I think we've found something you might be interested in." Luna said.

"I'm on my way." Sailor Moon said before turning off her watch. She then looked up at the sky, began flapping her wings, and flew off into the sky, followed by disappearing.


Sailor Moon stood in the command room of the command center with Luna, sitting on the stool, and Kenji, who had just finished telling her that they hadn't found anything incriminating on Mio when they searched her online GC file. Everyone one else who had stayed behind from Israel trip was also present in the room. Buck and Ami, who were on the middle round screen, had also shared the same thing with her.

"What? Are you serious? You didn't find anything on Mio?" Sailor Moon said.

"Not a thing. Other than the fact that her file said she's a teen pop singer, works for the Global Community, and is currently working for the governor of Indiana, there was nothing crooked found in it that showed any kind of past or current criminal activity." Luna said.

"That we know of." Sailor Moon said.

"We did, however, find a bus load of incriminating evidence in the Indiana governor's GC file." Kenji said.

"Yeah. We found the same evidence too." Buck added on-screen.

"Like what?" Sailor Moon said.

"Like the fact that he wasn't the governor of Indiana until after Carpathia came on the scene and that he made him governor after the vanishings." Buck said.

"We even found out something about the governor's wife. According to her online GC file, she's been in and out of the hospital several times these last two years since her 9-year old son's tragic death." Ami added.

"What?!" Sailor Moon gasped. So it was true. The governor of Indiana had been abusing his wife since the death of their son's death. Which she already knew from what Laura had told her and Venus, but she didn't think it was that bad.

"That means he's been hurting his wife since before the disappearances." Naru said.

"Oh, that poor woman . She's been through so much. First she loses her son and then her husband turns abusive? I don't know if I could endure all of that." Ikuko said, with a sad look on her face.

"I remember investigating the governor of Indiana regarding the rumors of him abusing his wife after their son's death three years weeks after the disappearances, but at that time that's all I thought they were. I thought they were true. I even did business with him on a few occasions and he seemed like such a decent guy." Kenji said. "I didn't think they were true at the time."

"Some people act one way out in public and another way at home." Ami said. " And here's another shocker: The governor of Indiana...was business partners with Terrel Blanka."

"Blanka? As in the GC soldier behind Camp One World and the other kids camps? The one who was killed?" Sailor Moon asked.

"The one and only. As we know, Blanka was killed shortly before we rescued Shingo and those other four kids from the summer camp. And now we've found out he was partners with the governor of Indiana. A coincidence? I hardly think so." Ami said.

"But if what you're saying is true, then-"

"Oh, it's true alright." Alex said, cutting Sailor Moon off. "The governor of Indiana made a few appearances with Mr. Blanka at Camp Utopia before it was destroyed in the earthquake/meteor shower in Canada."

"And now this Blanka guy is dead." Derek added. "Taken out by GC's secret assassins, I'll bet."

"Right after the destruction of Camp One World, to be exact." Gary said.

"And now there's no one to link the governor to the GC kids camps. Which means he more than likely ordered the execution of Blanka to assure his silence about the project." Zea said.

"Makes sense to me. I mean, I don't remember anything about Camp Utopia, but I do remember seeing the governor and Mr. Blanka at Camp One World once. Nice guy. Or at least that's what I thought anyway." Shingo said.

"If you think that's bad, wait'll you hear what we found out about the adopted son." Luna said.

"You found something out about the boy the governor and his wife adopted?" Sailor Moon asked.

"Boy, did we ever." Luna said. "His full name is Jake Kress McLead, he's 12 years old, he was born and raised in Wyoming, he was removed from his home by the GC, stayed at Camp Utopia until the earthquake/meteor shower, and was later adopted by the governor of Indiana."

"Jake McLead?!" Alex, Derek, Gary and Shingo gasped.

"That name mean something to you?" Artemis asked.

"Yeah. Jake was one of the kids we met at Camp Utopia before it was destroyed by the earthquake/meteor shower. Then one day he just up and disappeared at Camp One World. And when Derek, Gary, Shingo and I asked the staff what happened to Jake, they acted like he didn't exist. They didn't even have any record of him attending the camp. Now I know why." Alex said.

"But why be so secretive about his adoption? I mean...if he was adopted, all the staff had to do was say so. There was no reason for them to keep that a secret." Gary said.

"Unless..." Sailor Moon began.

"Huh?" Shingo and the other four kids said as they looked at Sailor Moon.

"Unless what?" Zea asked.

"Unless..." Sailor Moon repeated. Just then, the red lights in the buns of her hair started blinking. "Huh? What's going on?" She asked, confused. The lights in her hair had never done this before. Was this some kind of new ability?

"SHUT UP!" Came the screaming voice of Ron from the lights in the buns of Sailor Moon's hair.

"You no good-" began the voice of Hilary.

"WHO'S SIDE ARE YOU ON?!" Ron yelled, with the sound of punching being heard in the background.

"I'm on your side." Laura said cryingly.

"THAT'S RIGHT!" Ron screamed.

"What's happening? Who is that?" Ikuko asked.

"That sounds like the governor's wife. And it sounds like she's in trouble." Sailor Moon said.

"Her husband must be hurting her again." Mayumi said, with dread in her voice.

"Not on my watch!" Sailor Moon said.

"Be careful, Sailor Moon." Nehelenia said.

"Aren't I always?" Sailor Moon said. "Sailor Teleport!' She said before disappearing.


At the conference that same evening, Tsion tells the audience they are waiting for the next Trumpet Judgment, in which the sun, moon, and stars will darken by 1/3. He also explains that 3/4 of the population since the Rapture will die prior to the end of the Tribulation.

Noah had been escorting Makoto to the stadium for the rest of the meeting. The GC guards glared at all the believers even at foreigners. Ever since the witnesses countered against the guards that attacked first, things have gotten volatile.

In the process, they'd lost sight of Judd and Lionel. Now the news was saying that Rayford Steele has been killed.

But Setsuna told them that was not the case. However now Captain Steele and Buck Williams were wanted men. However, the Sailor senshi had to hurry Sailor Moon would need their help for what was come.


Back in the USA, Vicki awoke at 11 P.M. Midwest time. It was pitch-black outside, and there wasn't a sound in the rest of the house save for Rei and Hotaru making notes after talking to those in the Command Center. She went to the meeting room and searched the Web to find coverage of the all-day training.

It would begin at midnight her time. The numbers reported by the media were staggering. Twenty-five thousand had been in Teddy Kollek Stadium the night before. More than fifty thousand had gathered outside. Another report said the two preachers at the Wailing Wall had violated the potentate's directive. Five of the wanted Sailor Senshi had shown up. Two guards had been murdered trying to apprehend them and the preachers. Eyewitnesses on the Mount of Olives accused the two of hiding flamethrowers in their robes. The weapons had not been recovered, and the preachers were reported back in their usual spots. Vicki scoffed at the report and wondered what the true story was. She knew Sailor Moon had some kind of mission, she wondered if she and the Inner senshi were successful.

She opened her Bible and went through the passages Tsion had read during the first meeting. She wrote out a prayer in her notebook. "God, show us what you want us to do. I put myself, the Sailor senshi and all of the Young Trib Force in your hands. Amen."

Listening to the meeting the day before had given Vicki an idea. The evening sessions seemed mainly for encouragement, motivation, and Tsion's teaching. She could only imagine the feeling of worshiping God with thousands of other believers, hearing the words of their earthly leader firsthand. But the bulk of the training to evangelize the world would occur during the all-day sessions. Vicki and the others could memorize that teaching and train other kids. She quickly sketched out a plan of action. They would record the sessions onto the computer's hard drive, just as they were recording Tsion's messages. The kids would then write out the lessons in a way anyone could under-stand. At 11:30, Vicki set out the food and awakened the others. Conrad nodded when he heard Vicki's plan. 'This could help us answer some of the E-mail Tsion is getting from kids."

Charlie didn't entirely appear to grasp how to get the seal for God, but both Vicki and Hotaru were determined to keep trying.

Conrad rushed into the room. "You have to see this." He showed her and Rei an urgent E-mail on the screen.

"Is it from Judd or the others in Israel?" asked Rei.

Conrad shook his head. "This is really weird." Vicki scanned the message.

It simply said, Need to talk to Mark immediately. Let me know how I can find him. A friend. "Who could it be from?" Vicki said.

"Look at the return address," Conrad said. When they looked, both Vicki and Rei gasped. It was from a GC military post.

They tried to figure out who had written the E-mail and what they should do. As difficult as it was to put it out of their minds, they decided to leave the E-mail for the moment unanswered until after the Meeting of the Witnesses was over.


Sailor Moon appeared outside a large castle-like mansion and could hear frightful screams and angry yelling coming from inside. She knew the terror-filled screams were that of Laura and Hilary and that the angry shouting belonging to the governor of Indiana. This situation reminded her of the Benjida family massacre. She only hoped she hadn't gotten here too late and that she was still able to do something about it before it ended in homicides.

Wasting no time, Sailor Moon closed her eyes and vanished and then re-appeared in the big foyer of the home. The screams were even louder from the inside, making it easy for the teenage super-hero to find the exact location of the shouting. Sailor Moon ran off, following the noise, and rushed into the dining-room through the open double-doors where she saw a horrific sight. A long table was flipped over, dishes of food and broken fancy glasses of wine were all on the floor, a battered Laura was on the floor and an angry Ron, wearing a suit, was screaming while kicking her in the stomach repeatedly, and Hilary and Mio were standing several feet away, terrified.

"Get off of her!" Sailor Moon yelled as she ran up to Ron and grabbed ahold of him, only for him to turn around and push her onto the floor.

Ron turned back to Laura, snatched her up by the neck with his, and started strangling her with both hands. "I HATE YOU!" He screamed in anger.

"Stop it!" Hilary said as she ran toward Ron. "Ron, stop!" She said as she ran up to Ron and grabbed him. "Stop!"

Ron turned to Hilary and tackled her to the floor.

Sailor Moon got to her feet. "Laura, are you okay?" She asked as she ran up to the battered woman lying on the floor, getting down to her angle. "Where's Jake, where's Jake?"

Ron seized Sailor Moon by the neck, snatching her up off the floor, and punched her in the nose, making her fall back onto the floor.

"Oh, no!" Laura said as Hilary and Mio ran over to her and helped her to her feet, then the two women and Japanese teenage-girl took off running out of the dining-room, screaming, with Ron chasing after them.

Sailor Moon got back on her feet, with her nose bleeding from Ron's punch.

"COME OUT!" The voice of Ron screamed. "COME OUT!" He repeated, with the sound of him hitting something. "COME OUUUUUT! COME OUT!" He screamed before the banging continued.

Sailor Moon knew she had to stop this man fast. Otherwise he was going to wind out killing everyone in the house, including her. The blond teenage super-hero rushed out of the room and back into the foyer where she saw Ron hitting a door with a fire-poker, as well as heard the screams of Laura, Hilary and Mio coming from behind the door.

"Governor Carl!" Sailor Moon cried.

Ron continued attacking the door with the fire-poker as if he hadn't heard Sailor Moon.

"ENOUGH!" Sailor Moon shouted.

Ron turned to face Sailor Moon and stepped away from the now battered door, allowing Laura, Hilary and Mio to come out of what was clearly a closet. "You nosey little moon alien witch. Why are you here?" He demanded.

"I was hoping you'd ask that." Sailor Moon began. "How dare you do this to someone you're married to, claim to love, and want to renew you vows with! I've put with a lot of things these last two chaotic years as a super-hero, but if there's one thing I cannot and will not tolerate, it's a man hitting a woman! On behalf of Heaven and the most high, I am the pretty guardian who fights for love and for justice!" She said. "I am Sailor Moon, the champion of justice!" She stated, beginning her pose. "By the will of the most High God, all will be judged!" She said, finishing her pose.

"What are you doing here?! How did you even know where we live and that we were here?!" Ron demanded.

"It's thanks to the hair decorations in my hair buns. They let me know when someone is in trouble." Sailor Moon answered. Actually, this was the first time she received a distress call from the lights in her hair in ages, but there was no reason for this man to know that. "And from the looks of things, I'd say I showed up just in time."

"You better get out of here before I call the police on you for breaking and entering." Ron warned.

"Go right ahead and I'll tell them how you beat your wife, had countless children taken from their homes and drafted into your camps and how you had your partner, Commander Terrel Blanka, shot and killed." Sailor Moon challenged.

"What?!" Laura, Hilary and Mio gasped.

"I didn't kill him." Ron insisted.

"Is that right?" Sailor Moon asked.

"Yes." Ron answered.

"Then answer this question. What did you do the day after the great earthquake?" Sailor Moon said.

"I got on a plane to Israel, made reservations there for my and Laura's wedding at the temple, and then I came home three hours later." Ron said.

"The day after?" Sailor Moon asked.

"Yes, I just told you that." Ron said.

Sailor Moon giggled nervously. "Yes, of course. Governor Carl...have you ever flown to Israel before?"

"Yes." Ron answered.

"How many times would you say?" Sailor Moon asked.

"Since I was appointed governor of Indiana by Carpathia after the disappearances." Ron answered. "You do the math."

"You know, my comrades and I flew to Israel a couple of times. It was a wonderful trip. But let me tell you, the flight was looooooong. And those hours that were slowly ticking by as the plane made its way towards it's destination." Sailor Moon said.

"What does this have to do with anything?" Mio asked.

"Oh, I have a point, I promise." Sailor Moon said.

"Then make it." Mio said.

"Um...governor Carl, why is it that it took so long for our plane to get to Israel?" Sailor Moon asked.

"Cause it's a long flight." Ron answered.

"Exactly. Because isn't it true that a trip to Israel by plane is 13 hours and 58 minutes long?" Sailor Moon said.

"Ye-yes." Ron stammered nervously, no longer looking mad or scary. Now he just looked straight up nervous.

"And wouldn't somebody who's had countless trips to Israel by plane be well aware of this?" Sailor Moon asked.

"I-"

"And if in fact you were in Israel-which I suspect you weren't because your flight was only three hours long-wouldn't it have been difficult to schedule a flight to a country that's miles away from the U.S.?" Sailor Moon asked, cutting Ron off. "If in fact you had to get to Israel, you wouldn't have been able to get there by plane because all airports had cancelled all flights to distant countries due to the damage the Wrath of the Lamb had caused. Which would mean that you would've had to get to Israel by vehicle to make your story valid! Isn't that right, governor?!"

"We buried our son at nine?! Did you know that?! How would you feel if you buried a nine year old child?!" Ron yelled.

"You, however, were able to schedule a flight to Canada because it's three hours from the U.S. by plane. Which means you had plenty of time to illegally adopt Jake after the Earthquake, didn't you Governor Carl?! Before you had your partner, Blanka, shot." Sailor Moon said.

"I didn't wanna kill him! He was gonna tell the cops about my involvement in the GC camps Jake's secret adoption, so he gave me no other choice!" Ron yelled.

Everyone gasped.

"Oh, my moon." Sailor Moon said in disbelief. Had she just solved a mass child abduction case and a murder case all by herself?

"Oh, my moon." Laura said, stunned.

"Oh, my moon." Hilary repeated.

"Oh, my moon." Mio said.

"So that's why you did what you did? Why you took all those children away from their families? Because you wanted to adopt one of them because you missed your son?" Sailor Moon asked, with a sad expression on her face.

"Don't you dare look at me like you care!" Ron yelled.

"I'm sorry. I-I just can't imagine how you must have felt. Living with all grief and sadness." Sailor Moon said.

"Stop!" Ron said. "I don't want your pity. I want revenge."

"Who do you think you are?! You have no idea who you're messing with!" Sailor Moon said.

"Sure I do. I'm messing with a greedy, spoiled, entitled, bratty Princess from another planet who's just as bad as the Queen who destroyed her kingdom on the moon a thousand years ago." Ron said.

"What?! What did you just say to me?! No one compares me to Queen Beryl and gets away with it! Do I make myself clear?! She was an evil self-absorbed snake!" Sailor Moon said.

"Like you." Ron said.

Sailor Moon glared at Ron. "My past life has nothing to do with you!"

"Guess again. Your past life has everything to do with me." Ron said.

"What do you mean?" Sailor Moon asked.

"I mean I'm representing every single person who's life has been ripped apart by you and your super friends. And more importantly...I'm going to make sure you are never able to step on anyone ever again." Ron said.

"Get in line. I've had to listen to Carpathia bad-moth me and my friends on the News more than once." Sailor Moon said.

"You make me sick! You and your super friends!" Ron said.

"What did we do?!" Sailor Moon asked.

"You ruined my life!" Ron said before reaching inside his left pants pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper and unfolded it, revealing it to be a picture of himself, Laura and a 9-year old boy with dark brown hair and brown eyes. "This is all I have left of him now."

"What are you tal-" Sailor Moon stopped herself, realizing the identity of the boy in the photo. "Wait a second...is that-"

"That's right! The boy in this picture with me and my wife is our son, Parker!" Ron said. "Next to all his pictures, his grave was the only thing I had left of him! It was the only way I could still see him! But now I'll never see him again because you and your friends took him when the disappearances happened!"

"Ah." Sailor Moon said, staring wide-eyed.

"You did this to me! And your super friends are from the Moon Kingdom, so it's their fault too!" Ron said.

"That's not true." Sailor Moon said.

"It's time to pay for your crimes against the world...with your life." Ron said.

"That's not fair. My friends and I are innocent!" Sailor Moon protested. "What's happened in the world from the vanishing to now is awful, but don't blame me and my friends for that! We knew that Beryl was wrong for what she did! That's why we were made the guardians of Earth, so we can protect it and its people! Sorry, Governor Carl, but what happened to your son isn't our fault!"

"What do you know?!" Ron demanded.

"A lot! You may not know this, but my friends and I have lost loved ones also!" Sailor Moon said. She thought about Bruce, Amanda, Loretta, Ryan, Chaya and John and how sad she was when they all died. Even now just talking about it was painful. The only reason she hadn't gone mad with grief was because she had the satisfaction of knowing that they were all in Heaven, and not suffering everlasting torment in Hell like all of her past deceased/defeated enemies likely were.

"You poor thing." Ron stated sarcastically. "I'll bet you can't imagine what your life would be like if you had a child and lost them at a young age, now can you?"

Sailor Moon stared wide-eyed and stunned. "No. I can't." She said.

Her thoughts instantly went to Chibi-Usa. As stuck-up, snobbish and snooty as the little girl was, she couldn't imagine losing her at such a young age and having to bury her. Her motherly instincts wouldn't let her mind go there. It was too painful to think about.

"Take a look at yourself. Everything you have, came from your cursed Moon Kingdom. The costumes you wear, the powers you possess, the weapons you use, that same power took my son away!" Ron said. "Well, it's time to pay me back...with your life."

"Wait a sec, my friends and I are not the enemy! That horrible man is lying to you about us, just like he's lied to the rest of the world! Carpathia is a two-faced snake and what he's done to you is awful! And you deserve to know the truth!" Sailor Moon said.

"I already know the truth. You and your friends are responsible for everything that's happened to the world from the disappearances to now. That is all I need to know. Also...I don't really care for you breaking and entering into my home, interfering in my family affairs, and putting me on the spot like this. So why don't you just get out of here while you still can before I really lose my temper and teach you a lesson you'll never forget?" Ron said.

"Sorry. I can't do that. Not until I know for sure that Laura and Jake are safe." Sailor Moon said, digging her heels in.

"Well then, I guess I'll just have to re-educate you Ron style, now won't I?" Ron said.

"Please don't do this. I don't want to fight you." Sailor Moon said.

"Well, that's too bad. 'cause I really wanna fight you." Ron said.

"But I didn't come here to fight with you. I'm here to help you." Sailor Moon assured.

"When I turn your body over to the GC, you will help me. Just you wait." Ron said. "My son will have justice. I'm gonna get it for him...I'm gonna get it for his mother...and I'm gonna get it for me...if it's the last thing I do!"

"Look, I'm sorry I just barged in here un-announced, but..." Sailor Moon said as she walked up to Ron, who dropped the picture to the floor and placed the firepower in his left hand. "My friends and I aren't the enemy, we're just trying to help by sharing the truth with anyone who wants to hear it. That's why I'm here. To shed some light on the situation concerning the vanishings and there whereabouts of your so-" She was then backhanded across the face by Ron with his right hand, knocking her to the floor.

"TALK TOO MUCH!" Ron yelled.

Laura, Hilary and Mio all stared wide-eyed and in shock at what Ron had just done. Sailor Moon looked at Ron, holding her right cheek where Ron had hit her.

"Learn to shut your mouth." Ron said.

"How dare you!" Hilary said as she and Mio ran up to Ron and started hitting him.

Ron then pushed Hilary off of him and onto the floor, followed by doing the same to Mio.

"GET OFF ME!" Ron shouted. He turned to face Laura. "You. This is your fault!" The governor said before he rushed up to Laura and started hitting her with his right fist.

"I'm sorry, Ron, I won't do it again, just please stop hitting me!" Laura said cryingly as Ron kept punching her.

Sailor Moon got to her feet. "Aaaaaaahh!" She screamed as she rushed up to Ron from behind and jumped on his back.

In a brief struggle between him and Sailor Moon, Ron managed to throw her off of him and onto the floor. The mad man turned to Sailor Moon, who began to shuffle backwards as Ron walked up to her. "You think you're so tough, huh?! Little Miss Moon Princess!"

"Please stop this. I didn't come here to fight with you. I came to help save your marriage and stop your family from falling apart. You're in danger." Sailor Moon said.

"I'm in danger? Say it again. Say it again, huh? Say it again." Ron said before he kicked Sailor Moon in the mouth. "Say it again!" He said before he kicked her in the stomach. "Say it again!" He then started kicking her in the stomach repeatedly. "Say it again! Say it again! Say it again!" He said while kicking the teen super-hero in the stomach.

When Ron ceased his kicking, Sailor Moon attempted to crawl away, only for Ron to stomp on her back three times with his right foot.

"So much for saving my marriage and keeping my family from falling apart. You can't even save yourself. You might as well give up now while you can." Ron the raised the fire poker high above his head with both hands and prepared to bludgeon the girl with it.

"You're wrong! No matter how hard it is, you must never give up!" Came a female voice.

"That voice." Mio said, lying on the floor.

"Crescent beam!" Said Sailor Venus, firing her attack at Ron, hitting the fire poker and knocking it out of his hands and onto the floor.

"Who did that?!" Ron demanded.

"I did!" Said the voice of Venus.

Everyone looked to see a glowering Sailor Venus standing on one of the top floors by one of the railings of the stairs.

"Guardian Sailor Venus." Sailor Venus said. She then jumped off the floor over the rail and landed between a battered Sailor Moon and an angry Ron. "If you'll pardon the intrusion."

"Sailor Venus." Sailor Moon said weakly, with a smile on her face.

"You again. What are you doing here?" Ron said.

"This isn't right! A marriage is not about abuse, power and control and neither is leadership! On behalf of Heaven and the most High, I am the pretty guardian of love and beauty! I am Sailor Venus!" Venus said. "By the son of the most High God, all will be judged, and that means you!"

"How did you get into my house and how did you know where we live?!" Ron demanded.

"Easy, I used Sailor Teleport. And as for how I found this place, you can thank the jewel in my tiara for that. It lets me know when someone is in danger. And from the looks of things, I'd say it was right." Sailor Venus said. "Are you alright, Sailor Moon?"

Sailor Moon staggered to her feet. "Yeah. I'm okay." She said before going over to Venus and turning to face Ron.

"This place is so big, you could practically fall and hurt yourself in it." Ron said. "So you better be careful or you'll be next."

"Oh, yeah?!" Venus said.

"Governor Carl, I thought we had settled things at the hospital last night!" Sailor Moon said.

"You settled things with me? That's not how I remember it. According to my recollection, you just stood around while your friend here blew up at me and then escorted my wife to be stitched up." Ron said.

"Really?" Sailor Moon said.

"Come on. It's pointless to argue about it now. So why don't you beam yourself up out of here, Venus, with your mothership while you still can? I have a score to settle with your moon Princess." Ron said.

"Didn't I tell already you?! My friends and I are not responsible for the disappearances or the disastrous events that have happened in the world!" Sailor Moon said.

"Why don't you try telling that to my son?!" Ron said.

"That's not fair." Sailor Moon said.

"Well, life isn't fair. I learned that over two years ago when my son died. And I learned it even more after World War III and after the disasters. All of which were caused by the two of you and the rest of your friends. Well, now it's time for you to experience the pain that I felt, thanks to you and your alien moon race." Ron said.

Sailor Moon got it. This man had had a hard life since the death of his son. But she had heard enough.

"Oh, well. I should've expected hostels behavior like that from you, right? You are like the evil Queen Beryl." Ron said.

"Watch it! I have nothing in common with her! She was a viper!" Sailor Moon said.

"Takes one to know one. You're more alike than you think." Ron said. "And so are your friends and the rest of the world. Just face it. Until Carpathia came along and established the Global Community, this world wasn't fair and was full of hatred and greed. Unfortunately, I found that out the hard way when I lost my son. The same carelessness that took my son away from me is still alive today. And there's a little bit in everyone. But that's all gonna change...with some help from Carpathia and the GC. 'Cause we plan to do away with you and your friends and all who oppose the new world so we can rebuild this planet into the paradise it was always meant to be. There will be no such thing as the Sailor Senshi! And you and people like you will get what they deserve! An eternity six feet under where you can't hurt anyone ever again!"

"That's it. Jake is coming with us." Sailor Venus said crossly.

"Over my dead body." Ron said.

"Whatever it takes, if it comes it." Sailor Venus said. "Now, Laura...you have options. As the guardian of love and beauty...I say stay and work through this thing with your husband. But as a woman...I say leave. No man is worth getting abused. Loss or no loss. If someone needs help, and refuses to get it, there's nothing you can do to change that situation. Absolutely nothing. If I were you...I'd leave this guy...until he re-discovers what a man, a husband, and a father really is."

"Don't tell her that!" Ron said.

"What do you mean don't tell her that? You blame her for your son's death, don't you?" Venus asked.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I want her to go." Ron said.

"Okay, let me see if I understand this correctly. You wanna beat on your wife...you wanna dog her out, make her feel like she's nothing, but you don't want her to go nowhere. Something is wrong with you." Venus said.

"I made a mistake." Ron said.

"Wrong. You make a mistake once. And after that, it's the choice." Venus said.

"I thought you were still the man of Laura's dreams. And I wanted that for the both of you! And after all this stuff I've found out about you, I still don't think you're a bad guy! But Laura deserves more than what you've been giving her! And you know that!" Sailor Moon said. "I'm sorry, Governor Carl. Look...I honestly would love you and Laura come together as a married couple, reconcile with each other, and work this thing out, but my loyalty lies with the safety of others. "And I want to see them -both Laura and Jake- happy and safe and if that means without you, then that's just how it's gonna have to be."

"I wouldn't worry about that. It's your own lives you should be concerned about." Ron said. "This is it. And how appropriate. You're about to feel the very agony that my wife and I and the rest of the world felt at the hands of you two and the rest of your friends. Just like Beryl when she destroyed the Moon Kingdom with the assistance of Earth's human race.

"I told you! What has happened with the vanishing, the war and the disasters has nothing to do with me and my friends! Beryl was a witch, and we stooped to her level!" Sailor Moon said.

"Sailor Moon, stop. We don't have to defend ourselves to him." Sailor Venus said, placing a hand on her arm.

"Right you are. 'Cause nothing you can say that will convince me otherwise that you are an enemy. You two might wanna start saying your goodbyes, it all ends here right here. I've been waiting for this day for two years, and now it's here. You're nothing but a heartless tyrant, just like your enemy, Beryl! Why else would you do all of these horrific things to the world and use one of your so-called friends to protect yourself from me?!" Ron said. "Face it! You think it makes you strong when you cause hurt and misery to innocent people like my wife and me! Soon your kind and all the nay-sayers will be erased from the world!"

"But I thought those involved with the Global Community didn't believe in violence." Venus said pointedly.

"I don't." Ron said.

"That's a lie!" Sailor Venus said. "It seems to me that you, Carpathia and the Global Community plan to destroy me, my friends and every person who doesn't share the same lame ideas you do."

"You're wrong. We're saving Earth. 'Cause if monsters like you, and people who buy and support your beliefs, continue to exist, the whole world will crumble." Ron said.

"How nice of you." Venus said sarcastically. "But what if your son was still alive and by your side?"

"What's that?" Ron asked.

"Would you still try to wipe out those who don't share your ways and thoughts if that meant hurting him?" Sailor Moon asked. "What if he were one those who believed, would you go after him too?"

"How dare you!" Ron said. "It's your fault that he's gone!"

"Nice try. But don't you think it's time you accepted the truth?" Venus said.

"What truth?!" Ron asked. "You better explain yourself!"

"As a father...it was your duty to protect your son at all costs, and you failed, governor. Your son died because of you. Stop trying to blame everyone else." Sailor Venus said.

"THATS IT! YOU'RE BOTH GOING DOWN!" Ron screamed.

"You heard me! You just don't want to acknowledge the fact that it's your fault your son died, so you're taking it out on your wife and us and our friends! A bunch of teenage-girls and a woman! You're the biggest coward I've ever met in my life!" Sailor Venus snarled.

"You're wrong. I'm doing all of this to save humanity." Ron said.

"Come on. You're doing this 'cause you're too scared to face the truth." Venus said.

"Governor Carl, stop! What would your son think if he saw you acting like this?" Sailor Moon said, with a sad expression on her face. She hoped with all her heart that this man's son hadn't seen all of the awful things he'd done and was doing and that Heaven had spared him from seeing such things.

"You're just mad at yourself 'cause you let your son down." Sailor Venus said.

"Make up all the theories you want. It doesn't change what I know. And the fact is I know that you two and the rest of your friends are responsible for the vanishings, the war and the disasters." Ron said.

"It's not your fault you believe that." Sailor Moon said, with a sad expression on her face. The honeymoon staff then disappeared in front of her in a flash of pink light. "I'll change you back into the loving man you once were before your son died." The staff then started playing it's jingle music as it twirled around Sailor Moon before she grabbed it. "Starlight Honeymoon Therapy Kiss!" She raised the staff above her head with both hands and it fired it's attack at Ron, it hit him, and...nothing.

"Do you really think your little tricks can hurt me?" Ron asked, still the same bitter, angry man.

"What?!" Sailor Moon gasped.

"Not possible! It had no effect!" Venus added.

"But why?!" Sailor Moon asked. Why hadn't the honeymoon staff restored Ron to his former loving self? She was confused. It worked with Tin Nyanko.

But then again, it wouldn't be the first time the staff hadn't worked on someone. This reminded her of the time when she used the staff on Sailor Galaxia, only for its attack not to work. She wondered how the honeymoon staff was back in one piece. Last she checked, it had been broken into by Galaxia. Yet there it was, in one piece as if nothing had happened. How strange.

"Not all people are easy prey to your lies and magic tricks. And I'm one of them." Ron said.

"That's right, Ron. Don't be fooled by what they are saying." came a sultry female voice.

"Huh?" Sailor Moon said, with her eyes going wide.

"That voice." Venus said.

The red flower on the left side of Ron's suit opened up, revealing the Kisenian Blossom inside. "So...we meet again, Sailor Moon."

Both Sailor Venus and Sailor Moon were floored. "Kisenian Blossom? But you're-"

"Dead? Deceased?" Blossom asked, cutting Sailor Moon off. "A mere rumor spread throughout the universe, I'm afraid. Too bad for you it turned out not to be true."

"But how? How did you survive? I was there, I saw you die. Sailor Moon, the girls, Tuxedo Kamen, we were all there, we all saw you die!" Venus said.

"No, what you witnessed was another Kisenian flower's demise. After all, I'm not the only one in the universe. Well...I am now thanks to you and your friends. Lucky for me, however, I get to avenge their blood by destroying you." Blossom said.

Sailor Moon gazed at the small flower-like woman stunned. This couldn't be the same creature she and her friends had faced up in outer space when she was fourteen. That monster was dead and burning in Hell most likely. This had to be some kind of dark force at work. But that wasn't the case. And she knew it wasn't. This was another actual Kisenian Blossom. Now it all made sense why the governor was like he was toward his wife and why he had done all that other stuff. This flower creature had twisted his mind like it had with Fiore's. The only question was...how had he come into possession of it?

"Governor..." Blossom began. "don't let them fool you. Sailor Moon, Venus, and the rest of their friends are the masterminds behind all that happened from the disappearances to the war and all of the disasters that have befallen the Earth."

"That's right. I'm no fool." Ron said.

"Rest assured, governor...I shall lend you my power." Blossom said. "If you defeat Sailor Moon and Venus, the world will see you as a hero." She said as she exited the flower in her pink mist from and circled Ron like she did Fiore. Her mist form then merged with Ron, causing an explosion of red light with a scary face. When the explosion cleared, Sailor Moon and Venus saw a red glow of light around Ron's body.

Laura, Hilary and Mio, meanwhile, just looked on in shock at Ron, stunned and speechless.

Ron zoomed up to Sailor Moon and punched her in the stomach, followed by punching her in the chest, sending her flying and crashing up against the wall and then falling face-down onto the floor.

Venus then grabbed ahold of Ron and the two began to struggle, only for him to overpower her. "Get off me! Let me go!" She said as she struggled against Ron, to no avail.

Sailor Moon staggered to her feet and rushed up to Ron from behind and hit him with the honeymoon staff two times, making him let go of Venus. Ron swung around, smacking Sailor Moon in the face with the back of his right hand, knocking her to the floor. The honeymoon staff then disappeared in a flash of pink light.

"Sailor Moon!" Venus said.

Ron swung around and back fisted Venus in the mouth with his right fist, knocking her onto the floor on her back.

Hilary got up and charged at Ron, jumping on his back, only for him to turn around and toss her off of him, slamming her hard onto the floor.

Venus, with her mouth busted and bleeding, staggered to her feet. "Governor Carl!"

Ron turned to face Venus.

"I know that losing your son was a hard, crushing blow for you and your wife, but do you really think that this is what he would want you to become?" Venus said, attempting to reason with the mad, enraged governor.

"My son isn't here, so he can't tell me what he wants. And now thanks to you and your Moon alien friends, I can't even go to his grave to visit him because you took him away from me. You know...you really shouldn't have kids." Ron said.

"Oh, yeah?! Well, neither should you! You know, you're the governor of Indiana! You're supposed to be the leader of this state, not some shady, greedy, corrupt, evil person that belongs behind bars!" Venus said. "Venus Love And Beauty Shock!" She said, firing the attack at Blossom on the left side of Ron's suit, only for him to slap it back at her with the back of his right hand, and the attack hit her in the face, knocking her to the floor on her back.

"Ron, no!" Laura said.

Ron turned to face Laura and zoomed up to her and punched her in the stomach...then again...and again. Then he punched her so hard in the face and the force of the hit knocked her to the floor. "I'll teach you some respect!" He said as he took off his belt. He then began hitting Laura with it non-stop as she cried.

Venus stood to her feet and rushed up to Ron and grabbed him, only for him to turn around and punch her in the face, knocking her to the floor. He then started beating her with his belt non-stopped.

Sailor Moon stood up and ran up to Ron and grabbed him, but he punched her in the face, sending her flying back and landing on the floor on her back. Ron zoomed up to Sailor Moon, jumped on her, wrapped his belt around her neck, and began strangling her with it. Sailor Moon struggled to breath as she fought against Ron's grasp on her. This reminded her of the time when Zirconia strangled her during her second confrontation with Nehelenia when she was her enemy.

"I only had my son's grave to go to after he died! And you took that away from me!" Ron said, with his eyes big as saucers as he choked Sailor Moon.

Hilary got to her feet, got a hand-gun out of her right pants pocket, and pointed it at Ron. "Stop!" She shouted.

But Ron didn't listen. For he was blinded by his own rage and too busy choking Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon's blue eyes shot open, turning black and soulless.

Knowing that she had no other choice, Hilary fired the gun and shot Ron in the upper-back, making him stop strangling Sailor Moon. Ron stood up and staggered backwards away from Sailor Moon.

Sailor Moon removed the belt from around her neck and stood up, dropping it on the floor. She then transformed into Princess Sailor Moon and her sword appeared in her right hand.

Laura, Hilary and Mio stared wide-eyed at Sailor Moon, mind-blown by this instant change of wardrobe.

"Oh, no. Sailor Moon, don't!" Sailor Venus cried.

The Kisenian Blossom growled as her eyes glowed red with anger and rage.

"Say hi to your other flower friends, Blossom..." Princess Sailor Moon said before she aimed her sword at Blossom. "in Hell." She said before firing an attack with her sword.

The attack came towards Blossom, followed by it hitting her on the left side of Ron's suit, causing a more considerably small explosion. "AAAAAAAAAHHHH!" She screamed, now in flames from the attack, followed by falling off Ron's suit and onto the floor dead, then she disappeared in a puff of pink smoke.

Ron then stopped glowing red and fell to his knees, followed by falling face-down onto the floor.

Later, an ambulance and police cars were parked outside the governor's mansion after being called by a wounded Mio, with the cops and the paramedics inside the home, as well as the sky now covered with purple clouds, making it appear as though it were night time.

Inside the home, a now shirtless Ron groaned in pain as he was wheeled out of the home through the open double-doors on a gurney by two male paramedics, with a gray blanket covering him up to his hips.

"There you are." said a female officer as she handed the now bagged hand-gun to a male officer.

"I will, bye." Mio said on her cellphone before hanging up and putting it back in her purse. She then walked over to a battered Laura. "I just contacted the GC and informed them of Jake running away during the attack. They're going to start a community search for him right away. The ambulance will take you to the hospital with Governor Carl, unless, of course, you'd like to be part of the search."

"Is Jake ready for the wedding in Israel, we have to leave for the airport in 15 minutes." Laura said, stunned. She didn't seem to be all there.

Mio turned to one of the male paramedics. "Can you take care of Mrs. Carl and take her out to the ambulance? I think she's in shock."

"Of course. Right away." said the male paramedic. "Come on, Mrs. Carl." He said before leading Laura out of the home.

Meanwhile, Eternal Sailor Moon and Venus stood in the living-room together talking to Hillary.

"I'm really sorry about what happened here today." Sailor Moon apologized.

"So am I. All we wanted to do was help save your sister's marriage. We never intended for this to happen." Sailor Venus added.

"Ron was my best friend in college. Did you know that? Gary guy." Hilary said somberly.

"No, I-I didn't. I'm really sorry." Sailor Moon said. Know that this man who had been mistreating Laura was her husband was bad enough, but the fact that he had once been Hilary's friend made it even worse. It made her think about Mio and how she once thought they were such good friends. Now they were enemies. Had it really only been several weeks ago when they were hanging out with each other? It felt like a lifetime ago since the 6th seal disaster.

"We were just...talking. Just sitting at the table in the dining-room. Never shot a gun in my life." Hilary said.

"Please. Don't say anything else 'til you have a lawyer present." Sailor Venus instructed.

"I don't want a lawyer. Don't need one, I just...I had to stop him. I couldn't let him hurt her again. Or hurt the two of you or Jake or anyone else." Hilary said.

"Excuse me." came a female voice. Sailor Moon, Venus and Hilary looked to see the female officer walk up to them.

"I understand that it was you who fired the gun that shot the governor, according to Miss Kuroki's statement. Is that true?" The female officer questioned Hillary.

"Yes." Hillary answered.

"Then you're under arrest...for shooting the governor of Indiana. Please turn around." The female officer said.

"What?!" Sailor Moon gasped.

Hilary turned around and the female officer got out some handcuffs and cuffed Hilary's hands behind her back. "Sorry, my hands are still shivering from shock."

"These are your rights, ma'am. You have the right to remain silent." The female officer said.

"Are you serious?!" Venus asked.

"Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law." The female officer said as she led Hilary out of the living-room.

Sailor Moon and Venus ran after the female officer and Hilary and followed them outside where they stopped.

"It's gonna be alright, isn't it?" Hilary asked, looking back at Sailor Moon and Venus.

Sailor Moon and Venus didn't answer, for neither of them knew what to say. Laura then opened the left door to the back of the ambulance, with the male paramedic behind her. "Please don't turn on the siren, it'll wake up, Jake." She said as she turned to face the male paramedic.

"Yes, ma'am." The paramedic said before Laura got inside the ambulance, followed by the paramedic closing the door and then making his way to the front of the vehicle and getting in on the driver side and closing the door.

Sailor Moon and Venus just stared in sadness as the ambulance drove off, not sure what was going to happen next.


Back in the United States, in the schoolhouse hideout. When Vicki and Hotaru went to investigate a scratching that came from Melinda's room, they found a whining Phoenix, his snout and legs taped together.

Hotaru glowered at the open window. "She escaped."

"But where's she going?" Vicki shook her head.


At the hospital, Venus walked over to where Laura was sitting in one of the seats. She had decided to go to the hospital to be with Laura while Sailor Moon went down to the police station to be with Hilary. None of the doctors had offered first-aid to either her or Laura's injuries, which she thought wasn't fair. Herself she could understand, but...why not Laura? After all, she was the governor's wife and yet no treatment had been made to her battered face. Oh, but they were all over fixing up her husband, the governor, the man who did this to her. What a miscarriage of justice. But to give it that name would be like referring to justice in the present tense. Justice didn't exist anymore. There was only the law now.

"Laura...are you alright.?" Venus asked, with concern in her voice.

Laura didn't answer.

Venus walked over to a seat that was in front of Laura and sat down in it. "Are you feeling better?"

A male doctor then came into the waiting-room, wearing green scrubs, and Laura got up and went up to him.

"Hey." Laura greeted.

"Mrs. Carl...I just want you to know I'm doing everything I can for Governor Carl. We all are. How are you doing?" The doctor said.

"How serious is it?" Laura asked.

"It's pretty serious." The doctor said before leaving the waiting-room.

Laura then turned and went back over to where Venus was sitting.

"It's alright to cry if you want to, Laura." Venus said.

"Ron doesn't like it when I cry." Laura said.

"Well, it's seems to me Ron doesn't like anything. I mean, I know he's the governor of this state and all, but...that doesn't mean he's always right." Venus said. "How long are you gonna try to hide this secret?" She asked as Laura sat back down in her seat.

"Look, it's nothing, okay?" Laura said.

"And I suppose that bruised face of yours is nothing too?" Venus said.

"What matters right now is Ron." Laura said.

"What about you? When are you gonna start to count?" Venus asked.

"You're gonna report him to the GC, are you?" Laura asked. "He's-he's gone through so much since his son, Parker, died."

"Parker was your son too." Venus said.

"I know. That's why I understand what Ron is going through." Laura said.

"How long are you going to keep trying to protect him?" Venus asked.

"I love him, do you understand that? And he loves me." Laura said.

"What he does to you, Laura, is not love." Venus said.

"You sound like my sister." Laura said.

"Well, maybe it's time you start listening to her." Venus said, trying to get through to Laura.

Was this what marriage was now? Husbands beating their wives? Was abuse now love? This wasn't right. But the word normal had been redefined by a now evil, hateful world. Classmates had become enemies, neighbors turned into spies, where animals and parenthood was viewed as nuisances. And love and marriage were no exceptions.

Hilary sat alone at a table in the interrogation-room of the police station, waiting to be questioned by police. A buzzing noise was then heard, followed by the female officer from earlier opening the door on the other side, revealing Sailor Moon.

"Thanks." Sailor Moon said.

The female officer said nothing and just walked off. Sailor Moon looked at Hilary for a moment before entering inside the room and closing the door. Then she went over to the table where Hilary was sitting.

"Any news?" Hilary asked.

"Well, I haven't heard from Venus yet, so chances are he's still in surgery." Sailor Moon said.

"What choice did I have? He was out of control, he was gonna kill her and everyone else in the house." Hilary said.

"So you shot him?" Sailor Moon asked.

"I'm not sorry. Thank goodness you gave me the advice you did." Hilary said.

"What do you mean?" Sailor Moon asked.

"You told me I couldn't stand silently by and watch." Hilary answered.

Sailor Moon looked stunned and dumbfounded. Was this whole thing her fault? Had she unknowingly set this incident in motion? "I never meant for you to shoot him? What would you have done if you hadn't had a gun?"

"Watch you, my sister and everyone else die." Hilary stated.

Sailor Moon wasn't sure what to think. She knew that it wasn't right that Hilary chose to stop Ron the way she had by shooting him, yet at the same time, if she hadn't shot him, chances were everyone in the house would've been killed, including Hilary herself. But what she was most concerned about was the fact that she had cold-bloodedly ended the life of Kisenian Blossom without even giving it a first thought, much less a second one. The scary part was unlike those other two times...she actually remembered doing what she did. And worst of all...she wasn't sad or remorseful about it. That really scared her because that was how the people of Earth were now. Acting without thought or remorse. Was she becoming more and more like them?

At the hospital, Sailor Moon ran toward Venus from behind, who was walking down the hallway.

"Venus." Sailor Moon said as she ran up to Venus.

"I'm glad you're here, it's probably gonna be a long night." Venus said.

"Hilary thinks she did the right thing. And honestly...I don't know if she didn't." Sailor Moon said.

"The thing should've been done long ago. Long it became life and death." Venus said.

"We got here too late?" Sailor Moon asked.

"I don't know. I hope not." Venus said.


Vicki and Hotaru hurried to warn the others about Melinda's escape with Phoenix following. When Vicki entered, Darrion held up a hand.

"Just a minute," Vicki said, "I need to talk to you all."

"But something terrible's happened!" Darrion said.

Vicki yelled. "Please! Melinda's gone! She tied Phoenix up and left."

Conrad said, "How long ago?"

"I can't tell," Hotaru said. "Let's search the house and the woods."

"I'll check the shed for the motorcycle," Conrad said.

"Sorry, Darrion," Vicki said, "but this is important."

Darrion hung her head. "I thought you'd be concerned about Judd, Lionel, Mr. Stein and the Sailor senshi."

"What do you mean?"

"Shots were fired at the stadium."

Vicki put a hand over her mouth. "The GC's shooting at the witnesses?"

Darrion shook. "I'm scared, Vick."

"Judd and Lionel can take care of themselves, and as long the Sailor Senshi are with them they're always one step ahead. I know it." Vicki said, hugging Darrion.

The kids found no trace of Melinda in the house. Hotaru's communicator sounded off. "It's Minako." But the news left her cold. "What? Where, how?" She looked at the rest.

"What happened?" asked Darrion.

"Sailor Moon and Venus were on an assignment, but they were—I'm not sugar coating it: Beaten up. Mamoru and Seiya are on the warpath."

The youngsters were shocked. Hotaru however had to leave, she transformed into Eternal Sailor Saturn out of Charlie's sight, and asked Vicki to keep her informed about Melinda.

Conrad said, "At least she didn't take the last motorcycle. She has to be on foot."

Vicki looked at her watch. "Plenty of daylight left, but we have to spread out."

Conrad and Darrion roared off on the motorcycle toward the main road. The others split up on foot. Vicki prayed as she ran into the woods.

Not knowing that one of their comrades would find Melinda first.

To be continued…