This was a decent start. I hope you are all enjoyed the prologue and it had wet your appetite for more. The first chapter to a new story is always the worst to write.

Now, onward to the story.

Chapter 1: Rebelling

Endymion frowned as he read the latest report. Unrest within Crystal Tokyo had gotten worst over the last couple months. The rebel forces were growing stronger and were hitting more government factories. At this rate, the entire city would be in danger.

Serenity sighed as she looked at her husband's face. "More bad news?

The royal couple was retired to their quarters for the evening. Even though they had enough long day tomorrow, given the state of affairs within the kingdom, neither one of them could sleep.

"I'm afraid so, love," Endymion said as he ran a hand through his hair. "The rebels attacked another factory and stole several high powered rifles and body armor. These people are preparing for war."

"I told you that we shouldn't produce those things," Serenity said with some heat. "How can we claim to be a peaceful society if we produce weapons?"

"A weapon can be use to protect, Usako," Endymion said calmly, using his old pet name for her. "Guns are not just use for murder and war."

"I know that," Serenity huffed. "Still, they're just too dangerous. Even with all the soldiers we've posted at those factories, the rebels are still able to bypass them." She began to rub her eyes. "How many?"

Endymion looked away from his wife. "Twenty. Two soldiers and eighteen rebels."

"Oh lord," Serenity whispered as she tried to keep herself from crying. She had felt their deaths. She had felt their auras disappear from this plane, leaving an emptiness inside her heart.

Endymion immediately walked over to his wife and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. He knew that the death of anyone weighed heavily on her. The Silver Crystal gave her the curse of feeling death. At times, he wanted to shatter the Silver Crystal for given his love so much pain on top of all that great power.

"Why, why are they doing this?" Serenity asked for the twentieth time that day. "Why can't we solve this peacefully? Why does everything have to end in violence?"

"We've been through this," Endymion muttered as he pulled Serenity closer to him. He nuzzled his face into her soft hair. "The rebels don't want peace. They see Crystal Tokyo, as well as you, as an abomination. To them, you are a tyrant trying to take over Earth and bend the people to your will."

"I never wanted to rule anyone," Serenity argued, fighting back tears. "All I ever wanted was to live a normal life. I didn't want to build a new Silver Millennium."

"I know love, but they don't see it that way," Endymion said. "With your power, you could easily take over the planet and no one would be able to stop you. Everyone knows that, which is why they fear you. They don't believe that someone with your kind of power can remain pure and uncorrupted."

"Maybe they are right," Serenity muttered as she looked at her hand.

Since becoming one with the Silver Crystal, she now had an ethereal glow around her body. It made her seem more than human to the point that the citizens of Crystal Tokyo did not see her as one of them. To them, she was a goddess that had hailed from the heavens to save them from the Second Ice Age. After nearly five years of using her powers to help restore the Earth the people of Japan began to see her as their messiah. They all but demanded she lead them to the point that they were willing to burn down their own government.

Once she had taken the reigns of government in her home country, other nations practically begged to join. They were mostly countries whose governments were killed off from either the Second Ice Age or by their own people during the riots. Before she knew what had happened, the Empire of Crystal Tokyo was born. It was hard to believe that was nearly two-hundred years ago.

"If it was any other person, I would agree," Endymion said. "But I know your heart, Usako. You are the purest and kindest person I know. The Silver Crystal may have given you great power, but it is your heart that controls it. It is that heart that is needed to run this country. You may not have wanted to rule, but the people could not have chosen a better leader."

Serenity said nothing for a moment. "Obviously, not all people agree."

"There will always be dissent. Not everyone will agree or like what you are doing. That is the price of a free society," Endymion said as he squeezed Serenity gently. "But what these rebels are doing is wrong. To have their way, they are willing to kill innocent people and trampled the rights of others."

Serenity sighed. "I know. I just can't help feeling that this is all my fault."

Endymion chuckled. "That's because you have a good heart and don't want others to be unhappy."

They stood in silence for a moment as they enjoyed each others' presence.

"I wish we could find the rebellion leaders," Serenity suddenly said. "If we could locate the ones behind all of this, maybe we could find a way to end this without anyone else getting killed. Has Ami found anything?"

"Nothing so far," Endymion said sadly. "Whoever their leaders are, they are crafty. They all seem to love hiding in the shadows and use Triten to act as their voice."

Serenity nodded.

Triten was the rebelling de-facto public speaker and the face of the rebelling to the common folk. He had traveled all over the world attempting to get people to turn against Serenity and Crystal Tokyo. It was through him that the rebelling had gotten so large within such a short amount of time. The man was gifted with a golden tongue. Haruka and Michiru had, in secret, heard several of his speeches. From what they've told everyone, he had even them convinced in some moments.

"We could probably find their leaders if we take Haruka's suggestion," Endymion stated.

"Absolutely not!" Serenity exclaimed, turning towards her husband. "Even if Triten speaks for the rebels, he has committed no crime. We can't just arrest the man."

"And I'm afraid that's what they are counting on," Endymion said grimly. "Making any kind of move against Triten would invite suspicion and bolster their cause."

Serenity sighed again. "I hope Ami finds something soon."

Serenity's body suddenly became rigid as if she was struck by lightning.

Endymion knew that shudder all too well. "Another attack?"

Serenity suddenly nodded.

"They are becoming bolder if they're willing to attack so soon after a weapons raid," Endymion said as he stood up. "I will get the senshi on it."

Sailor Mars and Jupiter were the first at the scene. Half the block was on fire and gunfire echoed through the night's air. The area being attacked was a popular market and trade district not far from the Crystal Palace. Given that it was so late at night the market was mostly empty, except for a few tourists and businessmen. Nonetheless, the area was perfect to cause civilian causalities, as well as cripple the Crystal Tokyo's market.

"Die, die sheep of the witch queen!" one of the rebels yelled as she shot several people at point-blank range. Chaos was erupting everywhere as people attempted to escape the killing spree.

"Stop right there!" Jupiter ordered as she took a battle stance. "You guys have caused enough trouble."

"Look, the attack dogs of witch queen are here," one of the rebels sneered.

"Burn in hell in filthy aliens!" another rebel yelled as he opened fired on the two Sailor Senshi.

Mars and Jupiter both easily dodged the sloppy gunfire.

"Fire Soul!" Mars yelled as a giant fireball struck one of the guns, causing the attacker to scream in pain as he dropped his weapon. Mars then ran in and kneed the rebel hard in the gut.

"You..." one of the rebels started as he pointed his laser rifle at Mars.

"Sparkling Wide Pressure!" Jupiter screamed.

The second attacker seized up as lightning ran through his body. He then collapsed into a heap onto the street.

"Watch your back, Sailor Mars," Jupiter warned.

"Hey, I saw that guy coming," Mars argued.

Jupiter smirked at her teammate. "Sure you did."

Before they could argue further, several more rebels approached them.

"You may be endowed with unholy powers, but we have righteousness on our side," one the rebels said.

Mars crossed her arms. "And how righteous is it to murder innocent people?"

"Those who blindly serve that tyrant called a goddess are not innocent," the man spat. "They all deserved to die with the devil they serve."

"So because you don't agree with how these people chose to live, you judge their lives as worthless," Mars said, not even bothering to hide her disgust. "Yeah, righteous indeed."

"What would you understand!?" the man yelled. "You're not even human."

"Get off your high horse," Jupiter said. "We may have powers, but we were born and raises as humans no differently than any of you."

"I bet you don't even remember what it's like to be human, given that the witch queen has given you immortality," one rebel countered.

Jupiter sighed. "This is getting us nowhere."

"There's no point reasoning with fools," Mars stated coldly.

Before the rebels could open fire on them, a cold mist suddenly impended their sight.

"The hell!?" one of them yelled.

"Venus Love and Beauty Shock!" Venus yelled as a wave of energy knocked several rebels off their feet.

Mars and Jupiter took this as their cue to move in. Within a span of a few minutes, the remaining rebel forces were subdued.

"Well, that wasn't too bad," Venus said as she handcuffed the final rebel.

Mercury sighed as she surveyed the damage. "No one was killed, thankfully. Still, a lot of people were injured."

The sirens of the medical vans could be heard in the distance.

"Hey, we take our victories, no matter how small they are," Venus said as she stood up. Several of the Crystal Tokyo's polices came and took a way the rebel.

"This isn't the end!" the rebel yelled defiantly. "This city will continue to bleed until Serenity is no more! The rebellions will never die!"

He was loaded into a van the doors were quickly closed.

"I don't get these rebels," Jupiter said as the van drove a way. "On one hand they go around trying to win hearts and minds, and then turn around and try to kill everyone."

"It is a two part strategy," Mercury said. "They paint Serenity as a tyrant that must be overthrown to the other nations to get them to go to war with Crystal Tokyo. Here, they cause discord and chaos to make people blame the violence on Serenity, hoping to cause a civil war."

"So, they weaken us from both without and within," Mars simplified.

Mercury nodded.

"Dammit, there must be a way to put an end to this!" Jupiter cussed as she slammed her fists together. "So many people have already died needlessly."

"There are ways, but I doubt Serenity would do them," Venus said darkly.

"If she did, then she would be the tyrant they painted her to be," Mars stated grimly.

"Damn if you did and damn from without," Venus said sadly.

The other Sailor Senshi looked at Venus liked she had grown a second head.

"I think you mean, damned if you do and damned if you don't," Jupiter corrected.

Venus gave a small shrugged. "Same thing."

"We should return to the palace," Mercury advised. "The police and medical teams can handle the rest."

They all nodded as the headed back to give their report to Serenity and Endymion.

As soon as the senshi returned to the palace, Endymion immediately called a meeting. In less than an hour, all the senshi, save for Pluto, and the cats were gathered in the main conference room. Serenity sat next to her husband at the head of the table while her Guardian Senshi sat on the right side of her. The Outers were on her left. The cats sat on the table on both sides of the king and queen.

"We have picked up twenty-two rebels who attacked the trade area," Mercury informed her monarchs. "All of them have sustained minor injures during their battle with us, but there was nothing serious."

Serenity nodded. "It's good to know that you were able stop them without hurting them too much."

"We're not getting anywhere by just capturing all these small fries," Uranus said harshly. "We need to take out the head."

"I have been wondering, would this rebelling really end if their leaders were disable?" Mercury questioned. "If they truly believe Serenity to be evil, they may continue to fight."

"You give these rebels too much credit," Uranus said as she folded her arms. "The rebels are like a pack of wolves. They follow the stronger and they would fold once their alpha is gone."

"You sound like this rebelling isn't grass-root," Endymion noted.

"There are many within the rebelling who truly believe in its cause," Neptune said. "For the ones who actually control the rebellions, however, this is nothing more than a power grab."

"From the information we were able to gather, the ringleaders of the rebellions are descendants of former government officials, businessmen, noblemen," Saturn continued. "These are people who lost power and money after the Second Ice Age."

"In other words, the heart of this rebelling are a bunch disgruntled brats who are sore at Serenity for taking power away from their families," Mars summarized.

"Sums it up nicely," Uranus said.

"Even so, there is legitimate hatred and fear among those who are against Serenity and all of us," Mercury said. "We cannot dismiss those people just because their leaders are using them for selfish ends."

"True, but if we can show the true colors of the rebellions, the movement will fall apart," Neptune said. "As for the hatred and fear, I'm afraid that is par the course of being human."

Luna nodded solemnly. "Sadly true. This same admonitory has existed since the time of the Silver Millennium. Terrans have always been suspicious and fearful of the people of the moon. Part of it was jealousy over the Lunarian's long lifespan, but most of the distrust came from fear of Queen Serenity's power."

"Although Queen Serenity tried to be benign to the people of Earth, they still saw her as a dispassionate god," Artemis explained further. "It was this open hostility that made the Earth forbidden to anyone within the Silver Alliance."

Endymion shook his head. "My memories of the Silver Millennium are faint, but I do remember how much the moon was hated among some people, especially the noble class. That was how Metallica was able to influence the people of Earth to attack the moon."

"And history repeats itself," Jupiter said bitterly. "It's like we've learned nothing in over a thousand years."

"Maybe...maybe if I did step down this violence will stop," Serenity suggested.

"You can't be serious!" Mars exclaimed. "You're seriously considering bowing down to a bunch of terrorists!"

"If it will save people..." Serenity started to say.

"You are just the symptom of the problem, Your Majesty," Neptune interrupted. "Stepping down may curb some of the violence, but it won't stop it. The people who run the rebelling are a greedy, self-serving bunch and they won't stop with just gaining the throne of Crystal Tokyo."

Uranus nodded. Her eyes began to narrow in anger. "Besides, we can't encourage this kind of violence by giving into their demands."

"Then what are we to do!?" Serenity asked desperately. "How do we find the leaders of the rebellion and expose them? While we sit here, more people are going to die."

"I have an idea," Venus suddenly spoke up.

Everyone turned to face her.

"Why do I have a feeling it's going to be a dumb idea," Mars asked herself.

"What is your plan, Venus?" Endymion asked, ignoring Mars.

"I will infiltrate them," Venus stated.

"WHAT!?" several people in the room exclaimed.

"Are you crazy!?" Mars yelled. "You think they would allow a senshi to join them!?"

Venus folded her arms and glared at Mars in annoyance. "They won't know that I'm a senshi, Mars."

"She has a point," Uranus said after some thought. "From the information we've gathered, no one within the rebelling knows our true identities. It helps that Endymion had our civilian records sealed when he created the Crystal Tokyo's database."

"It's still too risky," Mars insisted. "Do you know what they will do to her if they learn who she is?"

"Hang me by my thumbs and beat me like a piñata," Venus suggested with humor.

"That's not funny, Minako!" Artemis yelled, not bothering to hide his fear.

Serenity shook her head. "I can't let you do this."

"As you said, Serenity, we need to find these people," Venus said. "The holding cell within the Crystal Palace is already nearly full with just the fodder of this rebelling. We need to get to the head to end this."

"I know..." Serenity started to say.

"You forget, I was Sailor V long before any of you knew who you were," Venus said with a wide smile. "Next to Uranus, Neptune, and probably Pluto, I'm have the most experience in stealth."

"That is true," Neptune said.

"Sailor V wasn't experienced in stealth," Artemis muttered, remembering all their misadventures together in London.

Venus glared at her cat. "Be quiet."

"Then one of us should go with you," Jupiter insisted. "I mean, we can't just send you in there alone."

"I'll go with her," Uranus volunteered without a moment of hesitation. "I know the rebels the best."

Serenity did not like any of this, but she could think of nothing to say to stop them.

"There are a lot of risks involved in this," Endymion said in deep concern. "If they do catch you, they will attempt to gather any information from you. You know what that entails."

"I'm well trained to handle torture," Uranus said dismissively. "With the stuff I've been through in my life, there is nothing those rebels can do to me."

Venus nodded in agreement. "As the leader of the Guardian Senshi who protected the Moon Princess and now the Neo-Queen Serenity, I would hang myself by my own love-chain before I betray any of you."

"Don't say that," Serenity grasped.

"It's true," Venus said as her eyes softened. "Even if I weren't a senshi, I would never betray a dear friend even if it meant torture and death. All I ask is for you is to trust me."

Serenity stared at Venus and then at Uranus. She wanted to say no. She wanted to yell at both of them for being so casual about risking their lives. She had already seen them die twice in one lifetime. She didn't even want to think what those rebels would do to them if they were caught.

At the same time, however, she knew she had no choice. People were dying because of her. As the ruler of Crystal Tokyo, it was her duty to protect the people of her kingdom. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't be selfish little Usagi anymore.

She looked towards her husband and knew he was thinking the same thing.

"Permission granted," Endymion said. "If you feel at any time that your identities are in danger of being revealed, I want you abort. Also, do not take any unnecessary risks."

"Got it, Your Majesty," Uranus said as he gave a bow to both Serenity and Endymion. "Venus and me will leave first thing in the morning."

Venus blew a kiss towards Serenity. "Leave it to us."

Venus and Uranus then left the room to make the proper arrangements.

"I hope I didn't send them both to their deaths," Serenity whispered.

"You have to have fate in them," Luna said as she turned towards her queen. "They're both strong and I'm certain that they can pull this off."

"Minako," Artemis whispered in worry.

Serenity bowed her head in a silent prayer. She prayed that this could all be resolved without further bloodshed.

The plot has begun.

Until next time.