Chapter 3: Searching for the White Rabbit

"Are you sure this is where the Droid and Sailor Moon were fighting," Sailor Mars asked Chibi-Usa, who had led the Senshi to the battle via a piggy back ride on Jupiter's back. The Senshi of Fire glanced around the park, but there didn't seem to be any traces of porn star reject Droids or their Princess.

The park was for the most part quiet, except for the chirping of some nearby birds. It was peaceful and beauty, yet something warned the miko that something wasn't right. Even before she had awakened as a Senshi, she had listened to that inner voice that had always guided her without fail. Her awakening as a Senshi had only explained why her ability to have visions was so well-developed. Mars was not only the planet of war and fire, but of prophecies as well.

"I'm positive," Chibi-Usa said, glancing around and looking slightly baffled. Being forced to mature quickly, so she could save her mother and protect the future by coming into the past, she had learned to be observant and pay attention to details. She was positively certain this was the spot where she had left Sailor Moon and the Droid to battle while she had went for the others. Yet while all the details she had remembered were here, there was no Droid or Sailor Moon to be found.

"Then where is she," Jupiter demanded, her voice held a sharpness that came from worry and fear for her friend. Usagi had been the first one to befriend her when she had first transferred to Juuban Junior High. While it had been the blonde's appreciation of food and hunger that had lured her to come near Makoto and her gourmet bento lunches, it was her pure heart that had seen past the tomboyish exterior to see the brunette's vulnerable and kind heart.

Because Usagi had taken the time to truly see her, the rest of their classmates had given a Makoto a chance too and she had never forgotten that kindness. It had only been an added bonus, in her mind, that her friend was also her Princess. True, Usagi didn't have the same grace that Serenity had, but the heart and soul of the woman was the same. Besides she figured that Usagi would eventually learn the grace as she grew older.

"This is the right spot," Mercury said, after scanning the area with her Mercury computer. "The scanner on my computer has picked up particles in the air that are identical to the residue that is left over whenever Sailor Moon destroys a Droid with her Moon Scepter."

"That explains what happened to the Droid, but now where Sailor Moon is," Venus said. "Where could she be? And why hasn't she contacted us? It's not like her to be forgetful about stuff that is this important. Mercury, can you find her?"

"I'm not sure. The computer's picking up her residual energy signature, but that's it," was her answer, which didn't reassure any of them.

"What do we now," Chibi-Usa asked.

"I guess we go check to see if she's at the shrine," Mars said. "We could have missed her while we hurried over here."

"And if she's not there," asked the little girl.

"I don't know."

A column of dark energy pulsed in front of the Wise Man; the vague outline of a woman's form was barely visible in all that darkness. The dark energy would erase any beautiful and good memories the woman had from her mind, while keeping those that could easily be tainted so that the memory of what was became something entirely different then its original form. The tainted memories would only serve to reinforce to the manipulation and brainwashing he had done to make her his tool.

He could only thank her foolish soulmate for having given him such an easy opening to gain control of her. 'I suppose I owe that idiot Diamund's obsession with Neo-Queen Serenity and Ruebus's failures to defeat Sailor Moon. Without either of them, who knows if I would have made the connection that Sailor Moon was the Queen's past self.'

And knowing who Neo-Queen Serenity had been in the past had given birth of a new plan in his mind. It had been fortunate that he had identified the younger version of the Queen and formed his plan just as her past self had been at her most vulnerable. He had no illusions that had the young woman not been suffering for complete heart break caused by her soulmate, he would not have had an easy time of capturing and gaining control of her as easily as he had. It would have probably taken hours of torture and manipulation until he had broken her down to the point where she would willing accept the energy of the Dark Crystal.

'It will not be long until this miserable planet is under my control. The Senshi will not be able to fight their precious Princess and risk harming her, but she will have no such qualms. I will have her destroy the Senshi and without them this planet will have no one to protect it. Once the Earth is mine, I will expand and control the entire universe.'

Delighted with his thoughts, the Wise Man laughed with wicked glee that was soon joined by a woman's laughter.

A day had passed since Usagi had last been seen.

The Senshi had returned to the Hikawa Shrine to discover that their hopes had been for naught since their leader was not there. They had questioned Yuuichirou and Rei's grandpa and learned that Usagi had not shown up and left after they had run off to the park to find her. Worried, the group had headed to the Tsukino residence to find that Usagi wasn't there either and unable to explain why they were concerned, there had been no way to tell their leader's mother that something was wrong. They had just barely been able to excuse themselves without alarming Tsukino Ikuko.

With no leads, they had all agreed to split up and search the city for the blonde's usual haunts with the hope that she was there, while Chibi-Usa had been left at the Tsukino house with strict instructions to stay home and contact them immediately when Usagi showed up. The key word had been 'when', since none wanted to think in the terms of 'if'; it was too scary to think otherwise.

By eight o'clock that evening, they had all received phone calls from Usagi's mom asking if they had seen the blonde. An hour later there had been more frantic phone calls from both of Usagi's parents, in which their responses had not changed, although now guilt ate away at them because they couldn't tell the Tsukinos that the last the time their daughter had been seen was while fighting an evil monster in defense of the Earth by their 'niece'.

No one had gotten much sleep that night, as worry and fear, had eaten away at all of them. Things hadn't gotten much better at school, particularly after Haruno-sensei had made an announcement in class about Usagi's disappearance and asking the students to report anything they knew. It wasn't surprising that the rest of the day had been rather somber and tense, since Usagi was a favorite among many because she of her sunny nature and compassionate heart. Naru had looked like she was ready to burst into tears at any moment; not surprising since as one of Usagi-chan's best friends she would have been gotten a call the previous night from the Tsukinos and thus be fully aware of the situation before the announcement. Rei and Minako's days weren't much better, particularly after Makoto and Ami had given them an update via their communicators.

By the time school ended, the girls had met up front of the Crown Game Center with Chibi-Usa and the felines; the game center had always been one of Usagi's favorite hang out spots when she wasn't with her friends or there was Senshi business to deal with. Even though it was a pipe dream, they had all hoped that the blonde would be inside playing one of the Sailor V games, but of course she wasn't.

"There has to be something we can do to find Usagi-chan," Makoto said, looking to any casual observer as if she was ready to pound some poor unfortunate into a mushy pulp of pain if they looked at her the wrong way. However, to those who knew her it was clear that she was just frustrated and stressed to her breaking point. She had always been physically stronger then others, which came from her Jovian origins, and because of who she was and how others had influenced her she had been taught to use that strength to help and protect others. Yet none of that strength was doing her any good right now to help one of the people who truly mattered to her.

"Perhaps…" Ami started to say hesitantly as if she wasn't sure of the reaction her suggestion would cause.

"Perhaps what," Minako questioned, a look in her eyes that said she might have an idea of what the other girl would say. Ami, by virtue of who she was as a person and being the Senshi of Wisdom and of Mercurian origin, was a genius capable of a level of analytical thinking that was sometimes beyond that of many people (well Umino and Reika-san seemed to hold their own pretty well against the blue-haired Senshi). But Minako didn't need analytical thinking or genius brain to have an inkling of what her blue-haired friend was considering. As the Senshi of Love, she had her own strengths which led her to same conclusion as Ami, albeit an entirely different route.

"Perhaps we should speak with Mamoru-san," Ami said. "Despite their break up, he has always shown up when Usagi-chan was in danger, which means whatever metaphysical bond that connects them is still in tact regardless of their current relationship. He might be able to use that connection to find Usagi-chan."

Rei and Makoto were silent as they considered Ami's words. Out of the group, the Senshi of Mars and Jupiter were the ones most likely to have a volatile reaction to the suggestion. Both were known to have hot tempers and developed shorter fuses under stressful conditions like the current situation. There was also the factor that like the other two less hot-tempered Senshi, they had a strong bond with Usagi, so the break up between their friend had its effects on them too.

While in some ways Usagi had physically voiced her turmoil and upset over the situation, she had never truly vented all of the pain she had felt. It wasn't that their Princess didn't trust them; it was just in Usagi's nature not to burden or bring pain onto others (except evil scum, but there was always an exception to a rule). They had all been aware that Usagi had held back and contained the worst of her pain to protect them. Yet they had all felt a bit of it to some extent, Rei moreso then the others due to her spiritual abilities.

Knowing how much Usagi was hurting without any reasonable explanation (not that any excuse Mamoru could make would have been reasonable for hurting someone they loved), hadn't made the Senshi feel very friendly towards the man, even if he did help them get out of jams with the Droids. So it was hardly a surprise that Ami was concerned about how those two friends would react to a suggestion of asking the man who hurt their dearest friend to help find her.

"Okay, so we use him, like the dog is he, to find Usagi," Rei said finally. She wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea, however she could see the logic in Ami's suggestion. Besides she wasn't going to turn down any idea to find her friend, even if meant using the one person who she'd rather skin alive or turn into Earth Prince flambé. She would use any means necessary to find her friend; well except hurting anyone because that would upset the blonde when they found her. Although hurting Mamoru wasn't exactly a bad idea either and what Usagi didn't know…

When Ami had suggested making use of Mamoru's ability to find Usagi, she had thought it would have been a simple solution to their dilemma. Hunt the man down, explain the situation, and then use him to find Usagi. Despite being a complete and utter ass, she didn't think he was without compassion and would have helped the Senshi. Of course, she realized now, in hindsight, that she forgotten to factor in the anger that her friends felt towards the man and how Usagi's presence leashed them for unleashing violence upon the one who had hurt her.

She also hadn't realized the extent of her anger towards the man or how little it would take to push her over the edge

It hadn't occurred to them until after their arrival, that the metaphysical bond between Usagi and Mamoru meant, that the man always knew when there was enemy activity as soon as Usagi began to transform. That didn't necessarily mean he arrived at the battle instantly; however even if appeared after they had defeated the current porn star reject, he still put in some kind of appearance. Yet Ami had found no hint of his energy on her computer scan yesterday when they had been searching for Usagi.

When Minako had explained the situation and then asked why he hadn't shown up, his answer had served as the last straw for Usagi's faithful Senshi. The answer that had been given was that like Rei, his ability to sense Usagi went more then feeling the tug of the Senshi of the Moon's power whenever she transformed, but to some extent feeling the same things that the miko felt.

Having had an encounter with Usagi earlier before the battle, Mamoru had used his power to block Usagi and the pain that had radiated through that connection. He had apparently been a little too successful since he had barely felt anything when Usagi had become Sailor Moon. When he had finally realized that her pain had replaced by the same sensation as when she went into battle, the feeling had already begun to fade away so he had thought her safe and his presence unnecessary.

Rei and Makoto had exploded at that, not that Minako had been exactly calm. But while they had yelled and intimidated the man, which had more to do with seeing smalls bolts of lightning dance down Mako-chan's arms and little sparks of fire in Rei's hair, there had been no violence up to that that point. Violence had only occurred after Ami had stepped forward and popped Mamoru in the jaw, holding her fist in the way that Makoto had taught her, and knocking him to the ground. The others had stared at with their jaws hanging, since Ami was the last person anyone expected to punch another person.

After that things went a bit downhill, although Ami was able to regain enough control to ensure that Mamoru wasn't hurt too badly. The fact that the man hadn't done anything to defend himself or fight back was very telling. In any case, once the Senshi had been able to 'vent' a bit, they refocused on the more important task of finding their friend. Problem was that their 'hound dog' had led them straight back to the spot where Chibi-Usa had the day before.

"Are you sure he's not broken?"

"Mako-chan, I told you that you hit him too hard."

"Actually, I'm pretty sure this time this is Ami's fault and not mine."

Mamoru shot them all an annoyed expression for discussing him like a kitchen appliance that wasn't capable of comprehending their words. "There is nothing wrong with me. Usagi's in the park. I'm positive of that."

"Then where is she, Tux Boy," Makoto demanded.

Mamoru knelt down, closing his eyes as he pressed a hand to the ground. As the Prince of Earth, he had a connection with the planet which he could use in various ways. In this case, he was using his connection to the Earth while focusing on the connection that bound him to Usagi to help him find her. No matter where she was, he would be able to find her; as long as she was on the planet.

"The lake," he said suddenly, his eyes opening. "I can sense her by the lake, but… it feels different somehow. I don't how to explain it, except something is off about her aura."

"We can worry about her aura later," Rei snapped. "Right now I just want to see if she's alright." She turned and ran towards the lake with the others hurrying after her. However, when they reached it, there wasn't a soul around."

"Ye-e-ah, he's definitely broke," Minako drawled, although even though her voice sounded like she was making light of the situation, the blonde was clearly upset that their plan to use Mamoru was failing horribly.

It was then they noticed that the park was eerily quite around them, which was stranger considering that the park usually had a good crowd at this time and the natural wildlife that resided within it. Suddenly they heard the silvery bell-like laugh of a woman; a laugh that sounded eerily familiar yet at the same time was off. They looked around until Chibi-Usa noticed and brought to their attention to black rose petals, swirling above the lake for a moment, before they formed an outline of a woman.

The petals suddenly dissipated to reveal a woman floating over the lake in their place. The woman wore a strapless black gown with a slit that rose up to mid-thigh. The dress had sweetheart neckline and its bodice appeared, even from the distance, to be crystallized. A transparent cape that looked as sheer and delicate as spider-silk was attached to the back of the dress, dancing in the air thanks to a breeze. She wore black high heels, with heels that looked as sharp and thin as ice picks and the trademark black crystal earrings of the Black Moon clan dangled from her ears. Her hair was silvery white and pulled into the hairstyle that was unique to that of the Moon Kingdom's royal family.

The cerulean blue eyes that stared at them, which were as familiar to them as their own, were as cold as glaciers and hard as diamonds. There was absolutely no trace of any warmth or love in them, something that had ever happened before no matter how angry the owner of those eyes had been. Not even Queen Beryl had ever seen such eyes and that villainess had every reason to deserve them.

Upon the woman's forehead was, instead of the golden crescent moon of the royal Moon family, the inverted black crescent moon of of the Black Moon clan.

"Usagi," Luna cried, her voice filled with disbelief. "Is that you?"

"Usagi," the woman said with amusement "Yes, I was once called that when I so pathetically believed that love and friendship actually existed in this world. But I no longer go by that name anymore. My name is..."

She paused, her lips curved up into a sensual smile. An evil smile.

"Serenity, Queen of Nemesis."

Final Thought from Mamoru:
*grumbles* I told you I wasn't broken!

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Alright, I know so people are going, "But wasn't it Usagi who blocked out Mamo-chan during the battle?" and that is true. However, she wouldn't have blocked him quite so effectively unless he was trying to block his end. Thus the results we got.

Also I really, really, REALLY hope I gave a detailed enough description that everyone can see how evil Serenity appears. For further clarification, the idea of her dress comes from Elsa's dress from Disney's 'Frozen'. It's essentially the same dress with out the sleeves that Elsa's dress has.

I want to thank everyone who took the time to review or favorited this story in some way. It is greatly appreciated and brought a smile to my day. =)

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Disclaimer: I do not claim any rights to Sailor Moon or the characters associated with the anime/manga. Those rights belong to Takeuchi Naoko and anyone else she says has rights to it.