Sailor Moon Aeons.
Book 2: Rebirth.
Act 5: Labyrinth of Mirrors.
Episode 88: Turning point.

By Razor Knight
Last update: March 30, 2015
Last edited: June 11, 2017

ChibiMoon looked at Zirconia as her transformation ended. Her suit was much like Sailor Moon's one, but with her own color scheme. She knew Zirconia had also felt it, upgrading to Cosmic had also made her 'Dream' powers, unexpectedly, stronger. "You don't look so sure of your victory anymore."

"Shut up. I'll still tear Helios out of you."

"You're quite a cute little lap dog, aren't you, Zirconia?"

The woman glared at her. "Shut up!"

"Helios told me all about you. How you were the leader of the Nightmare, before Neherenia took over. How you had to give up your position when Neherenia showed you she was out of your league. It must really suck to be you."

"SHUT UP!"

ChibiMoon saw the large, black energy beam coming her way, and used her new sword to deflect it. "A warrior who loses their temper so easily has already lost half the battle."

Zirconia growled at her. No, she couldn't let this kid get the upper hand. "What you say is true. I was once loyal to nobody but myself. I was once a proud leader. But all that's in the past, and looking back, what was waiting for me, for my group, was death. I don't regret letting Neherenia take over. She got rid of those pests, of most of them. Her sister was still too strong, but... If it had been me trying to fight, then I would not be here now."

"Okay then, I guess we'll just have to do this the fun way." She risked glancing at her friends, and saw they were trying to fight the other circus freaks. 'Trying' was the key word, as even her mother's new skill wasn't working - had those enemies powered up as well?

'I can sense it, they're overloaded with nightmare energy. Neherenia isn't pulling any punches.' ChibiMoon flinched. She was busy with Zirconia, but still, wasn't there any way to help them? She could see Helios' worried face in her mind. 'I could... I could help them, but I would have to leave your mind.'

'No, don't do that! I don't know if I can protect you if-'

She saw Helios smiling sadly. 'Being linked to someone's mind like this has its... Advantages. I was able to see your memories. I... I've seen enough of them to know how you would feel if any of them dies. And frankly, they've been risking their lives because of me. I can't let them die.'

'I can't let you risk yourself.'

'I'm sorry, ChibiUsa, but I have to. If you want to help me, fight Zirconia with all your might."

ChibiMoon looked at the evil woman. "I will."

Zirconia was quite shocked. This girl was strong. Too strong. If Neherenia was there, she would take care of this pest, but that wasn't yet a possibility. No, she couldn't give up. She felt a surge of energy and flinched, looking around. "What is... Helios? That bastard is-"

ChibiMoon rushed at Zirconia, slashing at her with her sword. "Your fight is with me!"

Zirconia smirked. "Very well, I'll defeat you, and then I'll help my soldiers beat Helios into submission."

"Not while I'm still alive, Zirconia."

"Good, I was worried you would give up too easily."

Saturn was, admittedly, worried. Most of her friends were out, and she had too little energy left to heal them. "These guys are tougher than I remember."

Moon glared at the Eyes and the four girls. They weren't attacking anymore, they were waiting. "Damn it, you evil creatures, I'm going to-" she stopped and looked around. "Wait, what's that?"

JunJun also felt it. "Oh, how nice of him..."

Helios appeared near the Senshi. "ChibiMoon can't win this fight alone, she needs you all. I will lend you my power so that you can defeat these underlings and help her destroy Zirconia."

"Why you!" VesVes snapped and shot her ball at Helios. Helios simply slapped it away. "Damn, seems like he's stronger than before."

Helios nodded. "I am. And you're about to face a whole lot of Dream Senshi." He summoned a crystal sword and smiled. "Time to fight back, Earth Senshi!"

Moon felt the change almost instantly, and she could sense her friends all standing up. "Amazing, this power feels... Not stronger than our own, but different."

Helios was now kneeling on the ground. "You can... You can defeat them, now. I'll help as soon as I recover."

"Blah blah blah, we'll still kill you," Fish Eye snapped, shooting a beam at her.

Moon punched the beam, blocking it with her own energy. "We're as strong as you now."

Tiger Eye took a step back. How was that possible? Even with the power Neherenia had given them, these Senshi were now as strong as them? "Damn it, this-"

CereCere chuckled. "We'll need help."

Hawk Eye nodded. "Power means nothing when numbers are in our favor."

Dragon Sun sighed. "That guy can't count."

Hawk Eye laughed. "Fool, we were saving this trick for a time like this!"

Mars saw the three Eyes's forms blur, and thought they were going to attack. Instead, several 'clones' of them appeared around them - there were easily thirty enemies now. "Credit where credit is due, that's a neat trick."

"Thanks. Ready to die, Senshi?"

VesVes looked at JunJun, who nodded. "Guys, take care of those losers. We'll be back soon!"

Fish Eye (all of them) laughed. "We don't need those girls. We'll destroy you all, Senshi!"

Moon shrugged. "Sorry if I'm not impressed, but many other villains have said similar things before, and, well, here we are."

"There's a first time for everything," Hawk Eye snapped.

The Senshi saw the Eyes all rushing at them. "Time to test our new power," Nemesis said. She shot a dark energy beam, which punched right through two of the clones. "If we knew which ones are the real ones..."

"That won't work," Fish Eye snapped, "our magic makes it so we're all the 'real ones' and we can bring in more of us to fight if you destroy enough of us."

"That ability sounds broken as hell," Dragon Mercury noted.

"A real warrior does not reveal his weakness," Tiger eye said.

"Fair enough, guess we'll have to test until we find it, then," the Dragon noted before shooting a spray of large ice lances, taking out many of the clones.

Mercury smiled. "They're much weaker than in their original form,"

"That's good, but there's a lot of them," Dragon Venus noted. As he said that, a couple dozen more clones appeared. "This is going to be a long day."

JunJun walked to Neherenia's mirror. "My Queen, we need more power to defeat those Senshi."

Neherenia glared at her. "You worthless-"

VesVes glared right back at her. "It's not our fault! That idiot Zirconia let Helios get away, and now he's given the Earth Senshi his power."

"So that's what I sensed," Neherenia said. "I also sensed the young Moon Senshi becoming stronger. She's the one that's most used to Helios' power, if she grows stronger than this, then she could be a real threat to us."

"She's already strong enough as is."

Neherenia considered her options, which were, she had to admit, rather limited. If she gave all her soldiers a boost, it might not be enough to turn the tables. However... She could still get what she wanted, without killing those Senshi, at least for the time being. "Even though I hated Nyx, I still have to admit I learnt a lot from her. I will give the Eyes and Zirconia a boost in power."

"Hey, why not us?" ParaPara asked.

"Because I know Helios is weak right now. The Eyes will keep those Senshi busy, and Zirconia, with my help, may be able to kill the young one. Either way, you will go and capture Helios, and bring him to me."

CereCere chuckled. "Oh, I know what you're planning. We get Helios, you get his energy, and once you're free-"

"I will show those Senshi that a Nightmare Senshi is much stronger than any Dream Senshi, or any other kind of Senshi in the universe. I will defeat them, so that Helios knows that he failed not once, but twice. And then, I will kill him as well."

Jupiter zapped a clone to dust, then ducked as another clone tried to tackle her, delivering a punch strong enough to send her assailant flying away. She then turned around, blocking a blast from yet another clone. "Hmph, these guys are fun to fight with."

"We can't waste time with them, we need to help Chibi," Saturn noted.

"I know, but-" Jupiter suddenly flinched. "Please tell me that doesn't mean what I think it does."

The clones' skins had gone pitch black, and they looked shadow-like. "Oh this is fun!" Fish Eye said, "this much power... I didn't know Neherenia still had energy to spare."

Moon saw the trio's clones vanish. "Huh, what happened?"

Tiger Eye rushed at Moon. "Fool, we don't need tricks to beat you down now."

Moon blocked the punch - or at least tried to. Tiger Eye's fist hit her arms and still knocked her back. "Damn... Guys, be careful, these guys are much stronger!"

Fish eye laughed. "That we are, and we're going to kill you all!" He looked to the side and smirked. So that was Neherenia's plan? That was good, they just had to keep these idiots busy, and they would win the war soon.

Helios opened his eyes and couldn't help but flinch. He was tied to a slab of stone, but it wasn't like the ones the Eyes used - this one was strong enough to stop him from escaping, and it was... Yes, it was draining his energy. "Damn it..."

"Oh, you're awake. I was fearing you would not wake up in time to see the beginning of the end, dear Helios."

Helios looked at the woman in the mirror. He could see several cracks in it. "Neherenia, you won't win."

The cracks grew longer, and the woman smiled. "I'm about to win. But still, I'll make you an offer, for old times' sake. Become one of my Circus soldiers, and I'll let you live."

"If you think I will agree to that, then you're more of a fool than I thought."

Neherenia saw a piece of the mirror fall to the ground and laughed evily. "You're right, that was foolish. I guess a part of me still hoped you would love me."

"You murdered all my friends, you killed your own sister in cold blood. Perhaps if I had met you before I met Nyx, I could have loved you, but... This monster you've become, I can feel nothing but pity for you."

"Pity? You would pity a goddess?" The woman snapped, just as the mirror fell down to pieces. She appeared right next to Helios and smiled. "I know you are connected to those Earthlings. That's good, because you'll be able to sense their deaths. I'll make sure to kill that pink-haired brat first, as slowly as painfully as I can."

Helios saw Neherenia vanish and glared at the now broken mirror. "Damn you, Neherenia!" He sighed. No, he wouldn't give up. He trusted these Senshi. They could win, even against Neherenia herself.

ChibiMoon dodged an energy blast and frowned. "Damn it, where did you get that power up from?"

"Neherenia thought I could use some help. Besides, kid, you shouldn't be one to talk."

ChibiMoon smirked. "Oh, right, I also powered up."

"Yeah, and now you see that it was all pointless."

"Was it? My friends can still win against those idiots, and I..."

"You're going to die."

"No, I'm not, because you're forgetting something about me, something your soldiers should have warned you about."

"... I-"

ChibiMoon wasn't in the mood for more gloating from her foe. "Earth Cosmic Power!" True, no other Talisman had appeared, but that had a very simple explanation: Her new sword was a fusion of the two Talismans she possessed.

Zirconia saw the girl's suit had changed slightly, with grey instead of white, and she was now holding two swords, one was pink, the other grey. "A simple upgrade will not save you, kid!"

"You either can't sense my energy, or are too busy hearing yourself talk to see it. Allow me to demonstrate. Lunar Heart Eclipse!"

Zirconia saw the girl swiftly rise her swords, and saw a huge boulder form above her. "What is-" The boulder took the shape of a heart, and then shoot straight at her, knocking her through a couple buildings before vanishing. "Damn it, how can this kid be..."

"I've had enough of you, Zirconia. I'm going to get rid of you, then your soldiers will-" ChibiMoon stopped and looked to the side. "Helios?"

Zirconia smirked and rushed at ChibiMoon. "Die, you bitch!"

ChibiMoon turned to see Zirconia rushing at her, but then saw the short woman stop and look down. She saw the woman rise from the ground, but it wasn't her doing - A key-like blade was sticking out of her chest. "Pluto?"

Sailor Pluto glared at Zirconia's back. "Don't call the Princess that. Endless Dream."

ChibiMoon sighed as Zirconia was blasted to dust by a wave of time magic. "Thanks."

"Helios gave me a part of his power as well."

"You could have helped him."

Pluto looked at ChibiMoon evenly as the younger girl glared at her. "Small Lady, you should know better than that. If he was in any real danger, I would have helped him. But to win this battle, we have to let Neherenia break free."

"Hmph. That's your excuse?"

"Usagi Tsukino, don't be a brat."

ChibiMoon's eyes widened. Pluto had never used her civilian name, much less her full name. "Wha-"

"Listen, you can be mad at me after this is over, but right now, you need to focus. Your friends need help, as Neherenia herself will-"

"Mom can defeat her."

Pluto shook her head. "She's got Dream powers, yes, but not like you. The only reason I overpowered Zirconia was that I- Well, you know."

ChibiMoon nodded. Obviously, Pluto's physical strength should be several magnitudes above that of any of them. "What will you do now?"

"I'll bring Helios back."

"Good luck."

"I won't need it," Pluto said, then vanished.

ChibiMoon sighed as her suit went back to normal, then felt a surge of energy. "Damn it, she's coming."

As Neherenia appeared, she saw her soldiers struggling against the Senshi. "Even with the power I gave you- Worthless, all of you!"

Moon glared at the woman. "You must be Queen Neherenia."

"And of course she's hot," Dragon Mercury said. "Why the hell do all female evil bosses have to be hot?"

"Terry, get serious!" Mercury hissed.

"Sorry."

Neherenia sensed the four Amazons appear behind her, and smiled. "You're all weak, Senshi. Only one of you is worth my time. But that doesn't mean I'll let you live."

The Eyes and Amazons all fell on their knees, screaming in pain, but it only lasted for a second. As the pain passed, they stood up. The Eyes' bodies were back to normal, but they now had pitch black eyes, and so did the Amazons. "Now this is power! Time for you to DIE!"

A barrage of energy blasts hit the seven villains and knocked them back. "I'm sorry, but I won't let you idiots hurt my friends."

Saturn saw ChibiMoon was holding two swords now. "Wait, what happened to-"

"These are the true form of that sword I was using before. Don't worry, guys, I can defeat this boss, you take care of the underlings."

"Would you guys stop calling us that?" Fish Eye snapped.

"Oh, sorry, is 'lowly drones' a better term?" ChibiMoon mused.

Neherenia sighed. "Dumb girl, you really think you can defeat me?"

"Won't know until I try."

A/N: You guessed it right, it's time for another final fight.