"It just doesn't make sense," Mamoru said to Rei and Usagi.
"I believe the mom," Usagi said. She texted away on her phone as Yuriko's mother continued to wail on the sidewalk.
"Who are you texting?" Mamoru asked.
"Ami," she said. "To, uh… see if she has any ideas about the bus. She's so smart, you know. Maybe she knows of some space thing that would explain all this. You know, like some calculus or something."
*Trouble at Hikawa Shrine,* she texted instead. *Come blue.* She hoped Ami would understand that meant transformed, but didn't want to type that out… partly because she didn't want Mamoru asking questions if he saw the words, partly because it still all felt so surreal…
And just how was she supposed to transform? Rei and Mamoru were distracted with comforting Yuriko's mother, but Usagi couldn't just run away and disappear… Mamoru would worry too much.
Luna stared at her from the bus stop, no doubt wondering what was taking her so long to separate from the group to become Sailor Moon.
But all rational thought left her when Mamoru screamed.
Usagi spun on her heels to find him hunched over with his forehead on the ground and gripping his hip while he moaned in agony. Even Yuriko's mother stopped crying about her daughter and watched him wide-eyed in horror while backing away.
"Mamo-chan!" she cried, lunging for him. But before she could touch his shoulder, the air around him sparked and crackled and he was covered in black lightning.
"That's right, give me your power!" someone cried from above them.
A man with short blonde hair and a gray uniform cackled in the air. "You didn't sell nearly enough charms today, girl!" he chided to Rei. "But that's fine, this man has more than enough energy to make up for it."
The charm? Mamoru must have put the cursed thing in the pocket he was now gripping as he screamed. "What did you do to him!" she cried at Rei.
But if Rei heard her, she didn't show it. She was too busy pushing Yuriko's mother away. "Get out of here! Run!" she yelled, shepherding the woman down a nearby alley.
Mamoru lay panting on the ground, flinching from the lightning that still streaked across his body every few seconds.
Usagi had to transform, but it was still unsafe to do so in front of Rei and the new enemy.
She ran in the opposite direction Rei had gone with the mother. As soon as she rounded a corner, she transformed.
Sailor Moon peeked around the building. Luna watched Rei like a hawk. No doubt she was working with the blonde that now stood over Mamoru's body. He was barely breathing.
Sailor Moon panted, trying to keep her tears in check. Some were falling—there was nothing she could do to stop them all—but she wasn't going to sob. She wasn't going to make a scene. She was going to be brave, and she was going to save her Mamo. She swiped her glove across her eyes, drying the tears before jumping back out onto the street.
"Stop right there!" she commanded, though her voice cracked on "stop." "How dare you do… whatever you're doing to him!"
The blonde man laughed as he stood with Mamoru over his shoulder. "I'm stealing energy, and this man is chock full of it, so I'll be keeping him." A dark spot appeared in the air and swirled in small circles while getting bigger and bigger. Was that the portal Yuriko's mother saw the bus disappear into?!
The blonde kicked off the ground and levitated toward the black hole with Mamoru in his hold.
"I'll never let you!" she cried, running after him.
The blonde laughed. "And who are you to try and stop me, little girl?"
"I am Sailor Moon!" she cried. How dare this man call her a little girl? "I am the sailor-suited warrior who fights for love and justice, and in the name of the moon, I'll punish you!"
She would do more than punish. If he harmed Mamoru any more, she would obliterate.
"Sailor Moon, hm? So you're the gnat who destroyed my last minion. I am Jadeite, one of the Four Generals of the Dark Kingdom… and I'll take your energy, too."
Sailor Moon yelped as her feet left the ground and she went flying toward the black hole.
"No!" she cried, and for a moment, she stopped in mid-air. It was as if something anchored itself to her boot.
"I'm coming with you!" Rei cried with a vice grip on Sailor Moon's ankle. "I won't let him use my charms to harm more people! Let's make him pay!"
They sailed up toward Jadeite and the black hole together, though Sailor Moon wasn't happy to have Rei as a stowaway. "Get off me!" she shouted, trying to kick at the shrine maiden's fingers.
But before she could get Rei off of her, they passed into the black hole and everything went dark.
Sailor Moon shouted as she fell through the air and landed on something hard.
"OOF! Get off of me!" Rei shouted, shoving Sailor Moon onto her back.
"You're the one who held onto ME!" she whined, but as she looked up at where the sky used to be before she went into the black hole, she realized she had bigger problems than arguing with the girl who'd ogled her boyfriend.
They were in a blue cube with green orbs floating around the edges. Sailor Moon saw three busses in the distance, and every person she saw in the windows were asleep, including Mamoru in the back of the first bus. But where was Jadeite?
"Mamo-ch…" Sailor Moon couldn't reveal how close she was to Mamoru, or Rei would figure out who she was. "Mamoru!"
"Mamoru!" Rei echoed, taking a few steps closer to the bus than Sailor Moon was already. "I don't know where that girl went, but I'm here for you," she said.
"He'll be fine," Sailor Moon said flatly. "Why don't you go check out the other busses and see if anyone actually needs your help, yeah?"
Rei narrowed her eyes at Sailor Moon and clicked her tongue on her teeth. "You're right. I need to see if Yuriko is okay," she said before pushing her hair behind her shoulder and walking past the first bus.
She jumped when a harsh roar rang out from the last bus in the row.
The doors flew open, and out stumbled a bus driver who didn't walk quite right. She swayed on her feet and her neck jerked, throwing her further off balance. Her eyes glowed blood red.
"Ah!" Rei cried, taking a few steps back and reaching into her robe. She drew out a red and gold pen that looked similar to… Ami's transformation pen?
"Mars Power, Make Up?" Rei said while staring at it, and the girl was engulfed in flame.
When the flames died out, Sailor Moon saw a red-clad Sailor Soldier much like herself.
"You've got to be kidding me…" she grumbled under her breath. "Her, of all people?"
The bus driver roared again, launching at her while simultaneously morphing into a taller, hideous monster.
"Watch out, she's a youma!" Sailor Moon warned.
The new soldier ran back toward Sailor Moon. "A youma? I'm Sailor Mars? A cat spoke to me and gave me a pen, and told me to use it when there was trouble in here. I'm so confused…"
"Yeah, join the club," Sailor Moon said. She pinched her tiara and pulled it off her head. "We'll need to defeat her before we figure out how to get us all home. Follow my lead!" Whatever lead that was, she was only a few days old as a sailor soldier herself. "Moon Tiara Action!"
Sailor Moon launched her glowing tiara at the youma, who sidestepped it. She gasped as it came around and flew back, and the youma caught it in her hands. The glowing faded, leaving the monster holding nothing but a harmless golden headband.
"Your toys are no match for me, girl!" the youma cried in a hoarse voice. "Now, you will give me all your energy for our queen!"
"I don't think so!" Sailor Mars said. Flames were already shooting from her fingers before she brought them together. "Fire Soul!"
Sailor Moon winced as the heat from the massive fireball got a little too close before Sailor Mars launched it forward. The youma couldn't dodge in time, and it screamed as it burned away, leaving ashes and Sailor Moon's tiara in its wake. The tiara flew back to Sailor Moon, who caught it, cleaned it off, and put it back on.
"You could use some more experience, like me, but that was some good beginner's luck," Sailor Moon said to Sailor Mars. "That's one thing down… now to get us and everyone else out of here."
"Need a ride?"
Goosebumps rippled up and down Sailor Moon's skin. She would recognize the timbre of that male voice anywhere. She spun and smiled widely to find her hero in the driver's seat where the youma had first been.
"Tuxedo Mask!" she called. "Come on, Sailor Mars!"
"Wow, he's really cool!" she replied, beaming just as much as Sailor Moon was as they ran toward the bus.
It was already airborne with the other busses in tow by the time they reached it. Tuxedo Mask extended a hand to Sailor Moon first, who smirked as she took it and he hoisted her inside.
"The portal will close soon, we have to hurry," Tuxedo Mask said. "Are you okay?"
"I am now," she answered while he helped Sailor Mars inside as well. "Thank you for saving us."
"I'm the one who should be thanking you," he said, but before they could talk more or she could check on Mamoru, they entered the black hole and everything went dark again.
"Usagi! Usagi, wake up!"
Usagi groaned as she came to with Luna's paw batting her in the cheek. "Okay, okay! I'm up, Luna! Come on…" she grumbled. She pushed off the pavement to sit up and look around.
She was on the ground beside the three busses, which were all bustling with people getting on and off to fetch their loved ones. Rei sat beside her, glaring.
"You're Sailor Moon?" she hissed. "Oh, boy, the world is really in trouble then. And who are you with, Mamoru, or Tuxedo Mask?!"
"Mamoru!" Usagi and Luna said in unison. Usagi furrowed her brows as she looked at the cat. "Why, what's so bad about Tuxedo Mask?"
"We know nothing about him. He could be the enemy," Luna said.
"AND you can only choose one!" added Rei.
Usagi chewed her lip. She wanted to say, "Says who?!" but she knew Rei was right. It wasn't fair to Mamoru that she reacted so strongly toward Tuxedo Mask. Still… she didn't want Rei to have him.
Hopefully Tuxedo Mask would be smarter than that.
For now, Usagi had more important things to worry about… like how Mamoru was doing. She pushed to her feet, slipped past people coming in and out of the first bus, and scanned the inside for Mamoru.
The rest of the world fell away when she saw him.
He sat at the very back of the bus, still groggy as he quietly watched others reunite with their loved ones. Many of the passengers had been minors, and their parents each shrieked when they found their children. Mamoru must have watched a dozen parent-child reunions as he sat back there, each time reminding him that he had no parents of his own to come claim him.
So she would.
"Mamo-chan!" she cried, louder than any mother on the bus, and rushed toward him. He snapped to attention, barely having enough time to open his arms before she fell into them. She hugged him as tightly as she could, rubbing her head in his chest as she cried.
"I'm so relieved you're okay," she said.
Mamoru hugged her back in the tighter embrace he'd ever given her. "Now I am. Thank you for coming for me."
"Of course," she whispered. "I will always come for you."
He kissed her forehead. "What even happened?"
Usagi shook her head. "I'll explain on the way home. Come on, let's go. We can get more oyaku, and I'll even let you eat it all this time."
Thank you so much for reading! Your ratings and reviews keep me writing Sailor Moon fics. If you enjoy my stories, please consider checking out my original paranormal romance called THE DEMON KNIGHTS SERIES, starting with BOUND TO YOU, available now on Amazon!