Slowly, the pink-haired princess fell into a trance! In her dream-like state, Chibiusa threw and locked her kittens in a closet and only awoke to find herself in the Crystal Palace hallway on her way to the Throne Room! "How did I get here?" Chibiusa wondered aloud.
Looking around, Chibiusa could not locate her kittens; she called each of them, but no response! That was worrying. Even if she could have rallied her team, she did not need to worry about them. So even though a somehow hot and cold, almost scream-like foreboding feeling was flooding her body, Chibiusa walked right into the Throne Room...it looked normal.
"Princess Usagi Small Lady Serenity." Stepping out from behind the thrones is a dark, cloaked figure! From the sound of the voice and footsteps, Chibiusa could tell this mystery person was female, and she was wearing high-heeled boots.
"Who are you?!" Chibiusa demanded.
"The answer to that is...complicated. We'll address it soon, but we have something to discuss for now." Something about her voice sounded eerily familiar.
"How did Christen put it? Oh, yeah: Anytime someone says that, the appropriate response will probably be 'Hell, no!' from the smart people, who know only evil people say something like that!" Chibiusa liked remembering Christen's sassier remarks.
Sure, it was not always called for, but it could lighten a situation or distract people long enough to give the Senshi the element of surprise, which both had their uses, even making the villains laugh at their own theatrics at times.
"Trust me, all you need to know right now is I'm not your enemy, Chibiusa. Since when do you listen to Christen, anyway?" This odd female asked, surprised.
"Recently." Chibiusa shrugged.
"Whatever. What I want to talk about is...this." This mysterious woman summoned what was unmistakably the Silver Crystal!
Chibiusa gasped, "The Silver Crystal! How did you get that?! Did you do something to my mother?!"
"Enough questions! I'm simply giving you what should be rightfully yours. You are Neo-Sailor Moon, right?" This female asked, though she already knew the answer.
"Yes, but I have my own Pink Moon Crystal, so what should I do with the Silver Crystal?" Chibiusa questioned suspiciously.
"Your mother is no longer Sailor Moon, and you are no longer Chibi Moon. You've grown up. You should upgrade." This female stated with conviction.
"Oh, that's going a different direction. I thought-" Chibiusa was cut off.
"You thought I would tell you what to do with such power? No, I'd rather follow someone else willingly than a deluded tyrant pulling my strings." This female said in a malicious tone.
"What?!" Chibiusa shouted, her rose-colored eyes blazing in a fury at such an insult to her mom.
"You heard what I said." This female snapped.
"If you think that, you don't know my mom!" Chibiusa yelled.
"No? Then tell me this: How many times has she let the Earth and Moon suffer when she could have just whipped out the Silver Crystal and fixed it before people died?! How often has she put your life on the line to teach you? How many of her poor decisions backfired and pushed your friends to gamble their lives?!" This female got in Chibiusa's face, but the moon princess could still not reveal any features.
"Uh, I...I..." Chibiusa knew why Sailor Moon let things happen the way they did, but how could she begin to explain them to someone who saw them only as terrible things?
"That's not my point, though. I prefer not to waste time. So let's start with something more...direct: The Succubus. I know she couldn't just use the Silver Crystal, but I find it troubling that she sent you. A young, simple preteen at the time and ten other girls, including Princess Orca, on a mission to save the world from a demon with unbelievable powers and strength! Instead of sending the original Senshi or even lifting a finger to help you herself!" This female raised her head slightly, revealing her eyes to be the same shade of candy red as Chibiusa's!
"Well, OK. Um...she couldn't have known those demons could break out! Besides, even our mothers' powers combined didn't work so well. They lost pretty quickly." Chibiusa said; this is something everyone should know by now. Even Senshi doesn't get everything right the first time! Even if it is not their first time facing a threat, taking a chance is not 100% certain.
"No. I mean, throughout your time of peace. Make sure your Senshi are prepared. Train them and take down the Succubus when she reappears." This female elaborated.
"Are you sure that's a good idea? Even with the Silver Crystal, Sailor Moon and her Senshi still lost to the demons! What hope do you think even any Senshi would have? Facing the Succubus like that would have been like sending all the knights and horses you could find to face a dragon that would only feed it. My mom had the foresight not to allow so many pointless casualties." Chibiusa smiled, proud of her mom's wisdom.
"Oh, you underestimate the value of a good plan and some preparation. Of course, neo-Queen Serenity had 1000 years, but what puzzles me is she felt the need to keep it all a secret, even from you. Surely, you would have been able to evade so much of the danger had you been a little more prepared if she could have, at least, told you about it all first." This female said dryly.
"You sure that would have worked? I didn't want to deal with any of those things back then. If I had been told everything, I would never have learned what really pulled me through. Love, intelligence, passion, courage, perception, depth, balance, friendship dependency, clarity, hope, happiness, and even seriousness- as corny as that may sound." Chibiusa reminisced how much her teammates and half-sister had taught her.
"Is that your logic or your feeling telling you that? I agree that if you didn't learn those things like you claim, that would have jeopardized the whole thing." This female sounded bored.
"That's the point. We don't know what could have happened! But, as you said, my mother had 1000 years to make a plan, and she picked bringing the land and sea together. I admit it was a gamble that endangered all my friends and me, but it ultimately worked. So, I can't blame her for not knowing." Chibiusa concluded, beaming.
"I still believe it was too risky, but you're right about one thing. However, there are too many unknown variables. I'll concede the possibility that her not knowing you might have to deal with that, nothing more. Let us move on to Neo-Queen Serenity shoving her responsibilities onto you. The Skinwalkers? She sent nine girls off on a dangerous journey to shoo away a group of Skinwalkers trying to kill you!" This female yelled, apparently annoyed that her last attempt at convincing Chibusa her mom is cruel didn't go well.
"Only a small portion of that group was trying to kill us. The rest were just young and naive. If they were all of the same mindset, they could have outnumbered or killed us with their black magic. Luckily neither happened." Chibiusa laughed as this one was easy to explain.
"But Skinwalkers are dangerous! You knew it wasn't safe!" This female screamed.
"Uh...That's speciesist and racist. Saying all Skinwalkers are dangerous is also saying all Navajo are Skinwalkers. Sure, we didn't know much about Skinwalkers, but judging a whole race on the actions of a few is wow...just, wow..." Chibiusa felt like Christen was saying that, but her statement was true.
"Excuse you? I never said ALL Navajo are Skinwalkers. I apologize if it came across that way. Even so, Neo-Queen Serenity should have done this herself. She could have just Silver Crystal Ex Machina the Skinwalkers away." Unfortunately, this female would not shut up about the Silver Crystal!
"What? If mom dealt with every problem like that without due process, that's no better than her being a bully and tyrant. I thought you didn't want that?" Chibiusa questioned sharply.
"I was being figurative. She agreed to send you as the diplomat with cookies in this. Why not go herself?" This female made Chibiusa's idea of giving cookies to the Navajo sound stupid.
"Maybe I was busy with something else. She is the queen." Chibiusa rolled her eyes.
"Or maybe she didn't care enough. What about the Wendigos? Those almost made you into a Sailor Shish Kebab." This female did bring up a good point.
"I don't know. Maybe she didn't know they were there. I mean, they are described as the "perfect hunters." She doesn't know everything. But, look, neither of us is going any ground here. Let's move on." Chibiusa knew this female probably had more she could complain about.
"Fine." This female facepalmed. "Neo-Queen Serenity could be debatably innocent with those. However, why didn't she help you during the invasion of Koen? Surely, she could have accompanied you on your quest."
"How could she have helped? We were making diplomatic alliances at that time. My mother was light years away! Wait a minute! She did help me!" Chibiusa remembered the most crucial detail of why she had survived.
"How did she- Oh, yes. Your friends." This female gagged a bit.
"Exactly! Those invaders liked to corrupt people, even using manipulation of the truth. It isn't hard to assume they would try some twist on my friends and me, but Emily truly showed me what it means to be a Senshi. She was willing to sacrifice herself for us...and them." Chibiusa smiled warmly at the memory of how brave Emily had been.
"But how could she have known your friends-?" Chibiusa cut this woman off.
"She knows their mothers. So she paired me with them as she knew I would be safe." Chibiusa knew Neo-Queen Serenity entrusted her safety to her friends because they were just like their mothers.
"Or maybe she thinks heartbreak and corruption are dramatic. Ah, this is becoming frustrating—no solid proof of her guilt, but none of her innocence either. So, we need to look at something she was guilty of...How about Bigfoot? She knew he was out there, and she was right in the middle. Nevertheless, she sent only you and your friends to face him." This female rubbed her temples.
"Hold on. Mother didn't know he existed at first. No one did." Chibiusa threw out her arms to emphasize how this argument was not valid.
"Not my point. She sent you on a likely dangerous trip with just your friends and no Silver Crystal-esque backup, a bit of a lack of preparation on her part. Neo-Queen Serenity thought your adventure was worth risking an entire campground. There were other people there! Why did she not see the danger?" This female ranted.
"Um...because no one was in any real danger," Chibiusa said slowly, knowing this would take some explaining.
"Oh, I need to hear this." So, this female thinks she won the argument?
"Well, um...ah! My mom WAS there, so she would have helped at any time, like letting us take shelter in the RV! If things went sour, she sent the original Senshi with us. However, that means I would have never met Kousagi..." Chibiusa's earlier enthusiasm drained away.
While Neo-Queen Serenity was there and did her best to protect them, she still was not there to stop them from foolishly diving into a portal because some 14-year-old, pink-haired, rabbit-obsessed girl told you she's your sister in a parallel universe!
"In hindsight, Bigfoot was more of a nuisance than an actual threat. How disappointing..." This female did not like knowing her latest argument was not that good.
"You're agreeing with me?" Chibiusa would have been nicer when talking about Bigfoot. Regardless, she was surprised by this female, and she agreed on something.
"I'm not unreasonable. But I'm unsure what Bigfoot would do when I think about it. He's not interested in enslaved people or power. Please, he already has enough power and has done whatever he's wanted for years!"
"Huh, maybe he's tired of people coming into HIS forest and bothering him!" Chibiusa shouted in Bigfoit's defense.
"Possible. Still, Neo-Queen Serenity could have helped drive Bigfoot off when he first appeared." This female pointed out.
"Anyway, anytime I find myself in over my head, it is because I overestimated my abilities! Not my mother. Melaine, Queen Lilith, King Ragnarok, Keith, and Charlotte. All those dangers you mentioned. Mom didn't lift a finger to help me with them because I had my friends. I could never rise to her level if she swooped in and solved all my problems." Chibiusa remembered how her mother had taught her, "If I picked you up, then you would cry every time you needed something and never learn to try for yourself."
"I think your mistaking lazy neglect for parental love. Let's say you did ask for help. Do you really think she would have come for you?" This female questioned.
"One hundred percent," Chibiusa replied with confidence.
"I disagree. Remember, when you went to the past, she should have trusted her own daughter's that something was amiss, or were you just not that important to her?" This female questioned.
"Hey. That doesn't count. I barged in the middle of a kiss by falling from the sky! Then I demanded the Silver Crystal, pretended to shoot my mom, and ran off! I acted like an overly spoiled brat." Chibiusa stated, blushing a bit in embarrassment.
"Now you're being ridiculous! It shouldn't have mattered if no one had seen what you did. She still should have acknowledged you. All of the Earth and the Moon-" The red apple-eyed royal again cut off this female.
"My attitude didn't have anything to do with the threat! No one had even guessed the Black Moon Clan was active. All I cared about was I didn't want to lose my dad to a stupid, lazy crybaby!" Now, Chibiusa was ranting.
"You didn't go to either of your past parents because you thought they wouldn't believe you?"
"Yes. I never claimed to be perfect. I felt sad, angry, and alone, but I wasn't! Usagi was always looking out for me. It's not her fault if I forget that sometimes." Chibiusa began to tear up a little as memories flooded her mind.
"You have a way of blaming yourself for her failing. How can you possibly keep covering for her?!" This female sighed in exasperation.
"Do you know all the times I've been tricked?" Chibiusa began.
"Yes. Cruel and deceitful tricks, fitting of monsters." This female hissed.
"No. If you think about it, all those tricks forced me to do was think of what my mom would do in that situation. Speaking of that, maybe I should try that with Christen. I think she's rubbing off on me a bit too much." Right about now, Chibiusa missed her raven-haired teammate. Neo-Mars could be helpful in this situation.
"How does that excuse Usagi not trusting you?"
"Eventually, she did trust me when I started trusting her."
"Don't you see?! None of this would have happened if she just listened to you in the first place! She had no proof to treat you like an enemy!" This female boomed
"Friends forgive each other! They don't need proof to trust each other!" Chibiusa argued.
"You don't need proof? I've had enough of this. Do you know what you've proven at the end of all this?! Nothing, you haven't proven Neo-Queen Serenity's innocence. All you've done is present another possibility." This female grabbed Chibiusa by the neck and lifted her but was not choking her yet.
"Well, you haven't proven either!"
"You don't see the dangers of this mindset?! What you think is trust is, in actuality, a perilous blind faith!" This female cried incredulously.
"Well, with that attitude, how can you trust anyone?!"
"You are missing the point of what I'm saying! You need to take control of your own destiny! I can't let Neo-Queen Serenity keep influencing your decisions! You're not her pet! You need to make your own choices! It's the right thing to do. It's what you should do!" This female stamped her feet like an ill-tempered child.
"You want me to make my own decisions?! You want me to carve my own destiny?! Fine then!" Chibiusa smashed the Silver Crystal on the ground. It instantly crumpled into ashes. It was not real.
"What have you done...?" This female quivered.
"I chose. I chose her instead of you. I may forget this a lot and need to re-learn it constantly. Yet my friends are there for me when I need them, and guess what? My oldest friend is my mom! I will never, ever turn on her!" As Chibiusa vowed this, a bright white light filled the area, and Chibiusa's teammates, friends, and half-sister appeared!
"Everyone! I knew you would come for me!" Chibiusa hugged each of her trusted companions in turn, even Christen and Shadow.
"Of course, we did, Chibiusa. We'll never abandon you." Gracie giggled.
"Never hug me again," Christen warned.
"Noted. How did you find me?" Chibiusa asked.
"Comet and Asteroid were calling out, and Diana was crying from your locked closet. But, then, we heard you shouting." Crystal deadpanned as she was holding the three distraught kittens in her arms.
"Oh, my moon! I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me! I would never do that!"She grabs her kittens to kiss and cuddle them, pleading for forgiveness.
"We're just happy to see you back to normal, Chibiusa!" Diana sobbed as she and her siblings nuzzled the bubblegum-haired princess.
"Who is our mystery kidnapper?" Trisha's dark red eyes pierced into the female standing across from them, who looked displeased and hateful.
"I already figured that out," Chibiusa revealed.
"What? How?!" This female yelled in shock.
"Easy. I've considered this throughout our debate, and it could have been much better. I believed you when you told me you weren't an enemy because none of them could get into the Crystal Palace so easily. My moon mark would have protected me. None of them could have such knowledge about my adventures, or what goes on inside my head, even what matters most. So, the only thing that would make sense is, you're me."
"No, I'm nothing like you. I'm so much more than that. I'm who you should be! All you are now...it's wrong. How dare you continue to allow these fake friends to enslave you! All will be corrected now that I'm here. You will finally see how evil they all are!" This female removed the cloak to reveal a girl whose facial features resembled Chibiusa! Except her hair was a dusty pink and looked burned slightly. Moreover, she had bloody stitches down both sides of her body and looked like every villain they faced had conquered her.
"Crazy bitch, say what now?" Christen raised an eyebrow as she had no idea what was happening.
Ignoring Christen, Alternate Chibiusa addressed the real Chibiusa, "Let me ask you. Why do you think Neo-Queen Serenity made them Princesses of their respective planets without their permission? Entrusting powerful magic to eight mentally incompetent girls! Is she really that inconsiderate and stupid? She changed them forever without considering how they might have felt about the whole thing!"
"If you're looking for a brawl, I'll happily take you on!" Pissed, Ariel cracked her knuckles with sparks of electricity emitting from them.
"Oh, don't leave me out!" So Holly took out her Blade Blaster Bazooka.
"That won't be necessary, girls." Chibiusa smiled at everyone before addressing her alternate self, "We may look similar, but you aren't me. You have no control over what I feel. So what if my mom made us Princesses? We wouldn't have it any other way. Let me make this clear! I. Don't. Care."
"You...you...puppet! You should be angry! You should hate them! You don't deserve to be a princess! You don't deserve your powers! You don't deserve your friends! You don't deserve praise! I question things! I can see things for what they really are! Those friends will betray and die on you for Neo-Queen Serenity!" Alternate Chibiusa started to cry as she questioned everything she thought she knew.
Out of patience, as is often her way when she grows bored of something, Christen shoots a stream of fire, hitting the girl square in the chest. Instead of screaming in agony as most people do when being roasted alive, the girl just collapsed to the ground. Then, to their shock, she reverted to a normal, albeit burning, life-size doll!
"Wonder where she came from and who made her?" Star knelt to try and examine what was left of the doll. However, there wasn't much left. So nothing of it stayed around long enough for Star to study.
"I just want to go back to bed." Chibiusa sighed in exhaustion.
"Chibiusa, are you terrified we'll die on you?" Emily asked quietly.
"Sometimes. I feel I put you all in danger, and I feel I'm not a good leader and friend when I do." Chibiusa admitted.
"That's silly. Even if something happens to one of us, the others will always back us up. We don't hope to die, but if we do, we did it for our friend." Alexis put a reassuring hand on Chibiusa's shoulder. With tears in her eyes, Chibiusa nodded, and her friends walked her back to bed.
