Chapter 17

Wake up.

Usagi was soaring through a sky filled with ramen and cake and Takoyaki and—

Daughter, wake up.

Usagi tried to ignore the voice. She knew that voice. Any time it spoke to her in dreams, bad things always followed. As if in agreement, her favorite treats began to pop like balloons all around her, even as she began to feel heavy.

Oh, no.

She struggled, in vain, to stay in the air, but it was too late. The treats disappeared and she was falling, falling, falling -

Usagi hit the floor with a heavy thud and groaned, sitting up and rubbing her aching back. It took her a minute to realize that she was not at home. Luna wasn't here. Mamo-chan definitely wasn't here. She was in a dimly lit, silent room with a bedraggled group of warriors trying to claw their way out of the Underworld.

She wanted to cry but bit her lip and stifled the urge.

"Tsukino. You ok?" She jumped when Shuu appeared beside her suddenly, but felt immediate relief that he was there. She nodded, rubbing an eye.

"Yeah, I guess I woke up," she whispered in reply. He nodded beside her.

"Why don't you try and get some more sleep?" he coaxed, gesturing towards the sofa she'd been laying on. Usagi paused, frowning as something flashed across her mind.

Daughter, it's coming.

The voice of Queen Serenity echoed across her thoughts and Usagi gasped, snapping her gaze up.

"Shuu—" she started.

Everything happened at once.

Somehow, Mars was suddenly awake, and before anyone else could react, she appeared in front of Usagi and Shuu, flames burning at her fingertips as she launched an attack that neutralized a blast from an unseen enemy.

Minako was next, rolling into a standing position and firing a barrage of orange light at an enemy she could barely see over Mars' shoulder, rewarded with an angry howl.

"Holy hell," Makoto muttered from behind Touma, but the bearer of Tenku was already on his feet, his stance protective as he put himself between Jupiter and whatever was happening in the center of the room. When the Senshi of Storms stood, her hair was a wild tousle around her head, but the green lightning flickering over her fingers and the hard expression in her green eyes proved she was more than awake.

The temperature dropped, making Usagi's breath huff out in vaporous clouds before they were all surrounded by a thick shell of ice.

"Did I block it?" Mercury sounded groggy, and she was panting, but silence echoed around them in the frigid cocoon.

"Whew!" Usagi was just breathing a sigh of relief when a startled noise emanated from Minako before Venus crashed to her rear on the ice.

"Ow…" the Senshi muttered, rubbing her behind. She flushed when Seiji offered her a hand up but didn't say anything as she stood. The ice around them began to crack ominously, and they all settled into battle-ready stances.

Usagi's stomach dropped into her feet as she took in the gravity of the situation. They couldn't even see this monster, but it could see them well enough to take shots at them. Both Mars and Venus' attacks had done very little damage, and the Senshi were all still exhausted. She knew she needed to go easy on the crystal, but right now they were surrounded, and they needed an escape.

She understood why no one wanted her to use her crystal, but wasn't it the same when the Senshi used their powers? She was determined, this time, to keep her friends – both new and old – safe. Usagi prepared herself, but waited for the right moment – when she had a clear shot and could do the most damage.

The ice began to break apart, falling aside as their assailant seemed to be attacking from all around them.

Her hair began to stand on end, but before she could object, a volley of lightning pushed out behind the disintegrating ice, heading in all directions. Another angry roar of pain reached their ears as it too dissipated, and Usagi felt hope at the sound. They could hit it. It could be hurt.

That meant it could be weakened, right?

"No more of that Jupiter. We need pinpoint accuracy or we're going to wear ourselves down with these broad attacks. It takes too much energy." Ami's logical tone centered Usagi, grounding her in the moment. Her Senshi were doing everything they could – she should do the same.

Shin suddenly tackled Rei to the ground and then Shuu was tackling Usagi. Without thinking, she clung to the shiny undergear on Shuu's shoulders as something dark and awful passed overhead, her belly turning in fear even as she knew she was going to have to do something about this. She just wished they could see the enemy. Or at least know where the attacks were coming from. She just needed to see her target. Why wasn't this monster showing its ugly face?

There was a shriek from Ami and then an angry growl from Ryo. Another volley of emerald green electricity bathed the room in a momentary eerie glow. Usagi looked around in the light, trying to pinpoint the monster from her position on the floor. She caught sight of it just as Jupiter's lightning hit it hard, lighting it up. Minako must have had the same idea, because an orange beam hit it with the force of a wrecking ball, blasting it back through the wall it had come in.

Usagi scrambled up in time to see both Seiji and Touma giving Venus and Jupiter dirty looks. While she was thrilled someone was looking out for her girls, she was behind Minako and Makoto on this one. If the Senshi had the ability to protect everyone, they would. She was sure the Troopers missed their armor, but while they didn't have it, the Senshi would do everything they could to keep them all safe.

That included her.

This time, when something huge and dark came barreling out of the hole in the wall, Usagi was ready. She framed her hands around the crystal and thrust it in front of her before anyone could object, casting them all in a brilliant white glow as she concentrated her energy on the oncoming attack. She heard her Senshi react, but it would be too late now to stop her.

The silver light of the crystal blasted its way through the barrage of darkness and straight towards the attack's origin. It took more effort than she was comfortable with for the crystal's energy to burn into the monster and destroy it from the inside out, but in reality it hardly took a moment. The demon's deep crimson skin cracked and the cracks began to glow as they spiderwebbed across the thing's grotesque body.

She was starting to feel the strain as it finally, finally gave in with a massive, gory explosion that covered the entire area with rotting, slimy bits of monster. Usagi wailed as they hit her, landing in her hair and on her skin. The light of the silver crystal cut off abruptly as the smell hit her full in the face and she gagged, turning green.

She heard the sounds of everyone else reacting to the scent even as they were plunged into total darkness, the torches extinguished in the room from the blast. Usagi did the best she could getting bits off her skin and clothes and hair, but after a moment the warm, humid air and total darkness started to make her skin crawl.

She didn't want to be here anymore.

She wanted to go home.

She wanted Mamo-chan.

She wanted her own bed in a safe place.

She wanted a bath.

Usagi heard Makoto groan from somewhere behind her and shook herself out of her slump. Her Senshi needed her. Their new friends probably did too. There wouldn't be any ramen or beds or baths or Mamo-chans until she got them all safely out of this place.

And that meant she had to be brave, even if it felt like they were sitting in the mouth of some giant monster right now. A warm gush of fetid air brushed over her neck and Usagi hunched her shoulders at the sensation. Suddenly, Shuu was beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders even as Rei appeared on her other side. The Senshi of Mars had a tiny flame burning over the palm of her hand, Usagi guessed to help with light, but she wanted to smother it so Rei could save her energy.

"We need to get out of here, now. It's not safe. We need to put as much distance as we can between us and the scene of the attack. The scent is going to draw other creatures to our location." Mars' words had an urgent undertone to them, and Usagi could hear everyone scrambling in the dark. There were gasps from Ami and Makoto and then they were on their way, moving as a pack through the hole the monster had smashed into the wall and out into a corridor lined with dim torches.

Rei extinguished her flame and they all moved silently down the hall, working quickly to put distance between themselves and the site of the attack. She'd felt refreshed when she'd woken up, but the exhaustion had seeped back in quickly and the running was going to wear her out, she could already tell.

Mars had taken point, Shin right beside her, followed by Touma and Makoto. The blue-haired warrior had the Senshi of Jupiter on his back, arms tucked around her legs and supporting her there as he hustled. Makoto didn't appear to be complaining – she was half asleep, and Usgai was really worried about her now.

Beside Usagi and Shuu, Ryo and Ami kept pace. Ami seemed to be limping and Ryo had one of her arms around his shoulders. Behind them, Minako and Seiji brought up the rear. The Senshi of Venus' face was grim, and she frequently cast looks behind them, keeping an eye out for any unseen enemies.

They were all silent, but judging by the looks thrown her way occasionally, she'd be getting a lot of lectures from everyone once they had the time and space. If it meant they were safe and whole, Usagi would happily endure those lectures. She didn't regret using the crystal and planned to use it again as soon as the need arose.

They didn't have any better plans right now. And she'd do everything to protect her friends.

Everything.