The next day, no matter what the girls did, they could not locate Christen or Ariel! Finally, sailor Teleport did bring them to a cavernous mountain range. In the Command Center, the kittens tried to lead the girls through the treacherous peaks, but they could not get a message through. So, the girls had no choice but to turn back. Neo-Sailor Saturn and Neo-Sailor Pluto wanted to stay, but it was not safe if the others were not going to stay with them.
Back in the Navajo village, the Neo-Senshi's communicators started working again!
"Odd...Why wouldn't they work in the mountains?" Neo-Sailor Moon wondered.
"Princess Small Lady, what were you and your friends doing?!" A Navajo man called out, alarmed and running over.
Apparently, he knew Neo-Sailor Moon and Princess Small Lady are the same! Of course, Chibiusa never really considered that a secret worth keeping nowadays.
"A thousand and one apologies. Two of my Guardians went missing last night, and we believe they were abducted by a Skinwalker." Neo-Sailor Moon explained.
"Up there, Skinwalker's black magic is rampant. No technology will work on that land. Forgive me, but it might already be too late to save your friends." This man informed them.
"W-Why?" Neo-Sailor Moon asked, a tremble in her voice.
"They're either dead or defenders for the Skinwalkers now." The man shook his head sadly.
"No! Not Christen and Ariel! They are two of our strongest fighters!" Neo-Sailor Neptune yelled, but you could see the sorrowful tears building in her eyes.
"Alexis is right! Those two would never give in." Neo-Sailor Venus added, trying to make the young soldier feel better.
"I hope your right."Though he said this, the man sounded like he doubted it.
"Well, we know Christen and Ariel are somewhere in the mountains as our Sailor Teleport ability transported us there, but we were unable to traverse through it safely. Is there any way you can assist us with that?" Neo-Sailor Pluto questioned the man.
"Sorry, we do not willingly approach Skinwalker territory." The man walked away.
"He was lots of help." Neo-Sailor Uranus said sarcastically.
"Navajo religion is just different from our oath as Sailor Senshi." Jewel did not like Holly's cold attitude. Then again, she did not like the original Sailor Uranus.
"If only we knew someone who could control space and time: We could move through those mountain caves until we find the one we're looking for..." Queen Beryl trailed off suggestively, but everyone knew she is talking about Trisha.
"Why don't you just make it obvious and ask me?" Neo-Sailor Pluto growled coldly.
"I supposed one of you would think of it. I just voiced it sooner." Believe it or not, Queen Beryl IS helping!
"One of your keys should do the trick!" Neo-Sailor Moon chirped, ignoring reprimanding Queen Beryl for her snide attitude for now.
"Not alone. Jewel, could you and Selina help me?" Neo-Sailor Pluto turned to face the Dark Kingdom Princess.
Jewel nodded and used her staff to enable Selina to allow the Space-Time Key to use an ability similar to the Spectre Sister's (Koan, Berthier, Calaveras, and Petz) portal powers! Jumping in and out of the portals let the Neo-Sailor Senshi examine things that helped them piece together exactly what they were up against!
"Wait! Do you hear that?" Neo-Sailor Mercury asked
Everyone fell completely silent as they heard the clicking of heels. It sounded like Christen and Ariel's shoes, but, without further evidence, it could be anyone, really. Also, being a cave, the echoes and shadows made it impossible to tell where the sound was actually coming from!
If this is Christen or Ariel, this could be great, but if it is a Skinwalker, the girls needed to get out of here...NOW! As Neo-Sailor Pluto and Jewel/Selina prepared another portal, a bolt of lightning streaked into the cave, knocking the two girls apart and disrupting the portal!
"It's Ariel!" Neo-Sailor Saturn yelled in happiness.
"We haven't the time! The portal!" Queen Beryl screamed as the portal started glowing pink, spewing mist, and it felt cold near it!
Thanks to her senses, Neo-Sailor Pluto knew where this portal led, and, thinking they would be safe there, she grabbed and pushed her teammates, minus Christen and Ariel, into it! Slowly opening their eyes, the Neo-Sailor Senshi realized they were at the Gate of Space-Time and back in civilian from!
Trisha did a headcount, so to speak. Jewel assured her Elizabeth and Selina are with her. Thankfully, though saddened, everyone was accounted for and unharmed. However, Alexis began crying because Christen and Ariel had attacked them, meaning the Skinwalkers controlled them!
"We won't be able to get close this time." Jewel rubbed Selina a way to soothe the toy's exhaustion.
Though Selina is classified as a toy, she is really a magical sphere containing the spirits of fallen Sailor Moon villains Jewel had grown close to. They could do no more than communicating with her, but, sometimes, that was enough for the young Princess. Selina beeped to help Jewel with several things, such as if they were separated, Selina could track down and lead Jewel back home. Suddenly, Chibiusa had an idea and herded her team through the Space-Time Door and back to the Command Center.
"Ch-Chibiusa, what's with all the shoving?!" Jewel snapped.
"I have an idea on how to protect ourselves from unexpected attacks by Christen and Ariel. Selina can detect you if your lost, right? What if we used that to detect when Christen and Ariel are near? Comet, Asteroid, and Diana can help with that." Chibiusa's idea brought a grin to her friend's face!
Selina was not completely on board with this idea as she was not sure she should be operated on and bounced around agitated, beeping loudly in protest. However, the kittens could bestow a magical ability on her without even needing to touch her. Comet, Asteroid, and Diana's crescent moon marks glowed, and the tiny, light-up ball on the string protruding from the top of Selina's head lit up brightly!
"It worked!" Asteroid announced while the others cheered.
Now, they had a defensive plan, but what would they do for the offensive part, which is where they would actually have to save Christen and Ariel?