Chibiusa stood all by herself at the pier of Juuban Lake, of which was where she had first appeared. She was still in shock for what she had seen the other day, back when Usagi and the others transformed and, while she bore witness to them. The memory replayed over and over in her mind, but it was shocking to her.

"It's true. No matter how much I don't want to believe it, but it's true," Chibiusa murmured to herself. "Usagi is the legendary Guardian, Sailor Moon, and Harusuke, and the others are Sailor Guardians too."

She stood there for quite a while, contemplating what to do; she took off, leaving the pier and heading back to the Tsukino House.

Inside the UFO, Rubeus stared at Juuban below, brooding and ready to take matters into his own hands.

"This time for sure!" Rubeus said to himself. "Today, I will eliminate the Rabbit and take the Silver Crystal from this grotesque world!"

Then suddenly, there was the sound of laughter, which was something that belonged to an arrogant noblewoman. Rubeus, feeling startled, turned around in time to see all the mirrors that circled the center of the room glow green. Then they all began to shine brightly, each one releasing a beam of light towards the center of the room, the light being so bright that Rubeus had to shield his eyes. The light then faded away, revealing Esmeraude to be standing there.

Rubeus was surprised to see her. "E-Esmeraude?! Wh-what are you doing here?" he gasped.

"What's wrong, Rubeus? Aren't you glad to see me?" Esmeraude smirked as she walked over to him. As she did, she looked through the window towards the town of Juuban below. "So, this is Tokyo's Juuban district in the twentieth century? I find it a bit small and ugly to look at," she mused snootily. "It makes me wonder if I'll be alright working in a place such as this?"

Rubeus now felt puzzled. "Wait, what is that supposed to mean?" he asked.

Esmeraude pretended to be surprised. "Oh, my goodness. You don't know? Due to your repeated failures, Rubeus, you've been dismissed from your assignment of eliminating the Rabbit and seizing the Juuban District," she said coolly. "Starting tomorrow, I will be in charge."

"That's ridiculous!" Rubeus burst out. "Prince Demande would never abandon me and undermine my work like that!"

"I know. I was as surprised as you," Esmeraude said, continuing to feign surprise. "It just goes to show how bad your incompetence has been lately. To think that you have disappointed and angered the gentle prince to such a degree. Not only were you unable to capture a crystal point and convert it to Dark Power, but you also lost the Spectre Sisters, and you couldn't even find the Silver Crystal nor kill the Rabbit. It's a wonder how the prince has let you continue the way you have for so long. He even said that an incompetent man like you is no longer necessary for our clan."

Rubeus' hand balled into fists as he seethed in anger, glaring daggers at Esmeraude.

"You appear to be skeptical. If you don't believe me, you should go confirm it for yourself," went on Esmeraude. "That is if you've got the nerve to show your face to the prince in person. Anyway, I can take care of things from here. Good luck in trying to solve your little problems. Bye, now!"

And in a green flash of light, Esmeraude disappeared, leaving Rubeus alone, livid with frustration and desperation. However, despite Esmeraude's words, even Rubeus knew that there was no way that we would have the guts to speak to Prince Demande in person, so there was only one thing to do.

"Wiseman! Are you there?!" Rubeus demanded. "Show yourself right now!"

In the center of the room, a pillar of light shone, and the projection of the Wiseman appeared.

"You summoned me, Rubeus?" the Wiseman said.

"I need you to read my future!" Rubeus ordered. "I want to know the chances of my success in defeating Sailor Moon and the Guardians and killing the Rabbit!"

The Wiseman then summoned his crystal ball and waved his hands over it using his otherworldly powers.

"I foresee the Sailor Guardians captured and Sailor Moon coming to save them," said Rubeus. "You and Solaris will clash in a battle with fire and destruction, and when the battle is over, only one will be victorious."

Rubeus then smirked. "That's all I needed to hear, Wiseman. Thank you. Now, I can rest easy knowing that my victory is assured," he said. "If I can defeat Sailor Moon and the Guardians and eliminate the Rabbit, I'll appease the prince and restore my good name! And lucky for me, I already know where the Silver Crystal is."

Meanwhile, Usagi and Harusuke were racing home as fast as they could after school. They were running late for their daily meeting over at the Hikawa Shrine. Soon enough, they made it to the Tsukino house, and both came bursting through the door.

"We're home, Mom!" the Tsukino siblings said.

Ikuko peered out from the doorway of the kitchen. She was just about to greet her son and daughter, only to see the two rush upstairs.

"Hey, you two! What's the hurry?" Ikuko called.

"Sorry, Mom! We can't talk!" Harusuke said. "We're in a rush!"

As the two Tsukino siblings charged up the stairs, Chibiusa happened to be standing there, staring very intently at Usagi's brooch.

"Hey there, Chibiusa!" greeted Usagi as they went by her. "What's up?"

"Welcome back," Chibiusa greeted back.

Harusuke and Usagi rushed into their respective rooms and quickly changed into regular attire. When they got dressed, Usagi and Harusuke came running down the stairs putting on their shoes.

"Come on, Sis! We're going to be late for the meeting!" Harusuke urged. "You know how Luna and Rei get!"

"I know, I know!" Usagi groaned. "You act like I don't know that!"

The two of them put their shoes on, about to rush out the door when Ikuko called out to them.

"Usagi! Harusuke! Didn't you two have tests today?" Ikuko called.

"Yes, yes, but we can't talk about it right now, Mom!" Usagi said hurriedly. "Harusuke and I got stuff to do!"

"But don't worry! We'll talk about the tests when we get back!" Harusuke added. "See you, Mom!"

And Usagi and Harusuke left, leaving their baffled mother behind.

"Honestly, I just don't get those two," Ikuko complained. "It drives me insane, and here I was hoping that they would help me make these hotcakes."

At the very mention of hotcakes, Chibiusa couldn't help but feel interested, being the kid that she was. She then went into the kitchen, where Ikuko was busily pouring hotcake batter on the pan. Ikuko then took notice of Chibiusa.

"Oh, hello there, Chibiusa," Ikuko said. "I take it that you caught a whiff of today's snack? It's your favorite."

Chibiusa nodded with a smile. "Yes! It sure does smell yummy, Ikuko Mommy!" she said eagerly. Then she took notice of the large stack of hotcakes next to her. "But how come you're making so many of them?"

"Well, it's for just in case," Ikuko smiled. "Being the good mother that I am, I have a feeling Shingo, Usagi, and Harusuke are going to want some too."

"It must be hard being a mom," Chibiusa said. "I mean, you always think of Usagi and trying hard to do such nice things for her."

Ikuko's face lit up as she bent down, hugging Chibiusa. "That's true! You completely get it! However, there's a little bit more to it," she said. "It's nice to be appreciated, but that's what mothers do, even if they usually don't get a thank you. After all, it is our job to love our kids more than anyone and shower them with love and appreciation whenever we can."

Chibiusa was amazed. "Wow. Shower them with love and appreciation? That sounds nice."

Ikuko then stood up and turned back to the stove. "But there's something else I want to know, Chibiusa," she went on. "I love you as well, to the moon and back, and that will never change, okay?"

Chibiusa then smiled and answered with a nod feeling happy to hear those words.

At the Hikawa Shrine, inside of Rei's room, Usagi and Harusuke arrived, albeit a few minutes late, and Rei, as expected, was a bit cross.

"Usagi! Harusuke! Both of you are late!" Rei complained. "Can't you get through one day without being late!"

"Don't blame me," Harusuke said. "Usagi's the one that insisted I wait for her. Besides, at least we're all here."

Usagi then took notice of a large bowl of cookies on the table that made her mouth instantly water. "Wow! These look delicious! Can I try some?"

"Of course, you can," smiled Makoto. "I made them in Home Ec class, but I realized I made too many, so help yourself."

Usagi then began to chow down on the cookies one after the other.

"Take it easy, Sis!" chided Harusuke. "If you eat that fast, you're going to end up choking! Not to mention that you'll be stuffing yourself before dinner!"

"Anyway, let's get this meeting underway," Artemis said. "First things first, over the past few days, there has been a spike of confirmed UFO sightings."

"Do you think that they connect to the Black Moon Clan?" asked Ami.

"We can't say for sure, but it's quite alarming, to say the least," said Luna. "We have to make sure we stay on guard no matter what."

"Not only that, but the enemy is still after Chibiusa," added Minako. "Because of that, we can't take our eyes off her. She's our top priority."

"That's right!" agreed Usagi. "She desperately needs us because we're all she has! So we have to make sure that we protect her!"

"And whatever plan Rubeus has for us, we'll stop him no matter what!" Harusuke said. "We owe it to the Spectre Sisters for what he tried to do to them!"

Everyone else nodded in agreement. `

"Alright. Now there's something else we need to talk about," said Artemis. He then looked across to Harusuke. "Regarding that power, Harusuke used a while back."

Harusuke then remembered. "You mean when I somehow gained a guardian's abilities?"

"Oh yeah. That's right," said Makoto. "I've been curious about that too. Do you know anything about it, Artemis?"

"No. Neither Luna nor I haven't got a clue what that was," said Artemis. "However, based on what we've seen, it seems that whenever Harusuke as Solaris becomes connected to a particular guardian, he somehow gains that guardians' powers, including their attacks."

"Not to mention he can also use some supercharged attack, too," added Usagi. "But, I am curious. How were you able to do all of that in the first place, Harusuke?"

"I haven't got a clue, but I wish I knew, though," Harusuke replied. "That power was something else."

"I'll say," agreed Minako. "You not only were able to use Rei's powers as Sailor Mars, but you were also able to use Mako's as Sailor Jupiter too."

"Perhaps we're asking the wrong question," Ami suggested. "Rather than asking how Harusuke did what he did, we should be asking something else. Like why was he able to do what he did?"

"What do you mean, Ami?" wondered Makoto.

"She's saying that Harusuke should remember the reason his power activated in the first place," said Luna. "Well, Harusuke? What can you remember?"

Harusuke then thought back to his previous battles. "Let's see... At the time when it first happened, Koan was going berserk. She was practically going nuts, blasting fire everywhere. However, Rei wanted to save her because she and I knew how much she was suffering. I'll admit that I wasn't expecting it, but seeing Rei so desperate in wanting to help Koan made me want to help her too. Then the prism on my bracelet began to glow along with Rei, and then it changed to a red color with the symbol of Mars showing inside it. When that happened, I heard this strange voice."

"A voice?" puzzled Usagi.

"Yes. It told me that the power I discovered awakened due to my desire to help Rei," Harusuke went on. "It even told me what to say to activate it. The next thing, I felt more powerful and knew how to use Sailor Mars' moves. The same thing happened with Mako, except at the time, I wanted to protect her due to her injured leg no matter what.

"I felt the same way," added Makoto. "I wanted to help protect Harusuke despite my injury. Then I started to glow just like Mars."

"How interesting," hummed Luna thoughtfully. "It seems as though your bond with the Guardians made you stronger. Therefore, I say we refer to this power as a Unison Fusion."

"Unison Fusion?" Harusuke repeated. "It sounds a bit too obvious, but I suppose it'll have to do. Now all I'll need to do is master this power of mine. Hopefully, when I do, it'll give us the edge we need to beat Rubeus and the Black Moon Clan."

"I'm sure you will, Harusuke," Artemis said. "But until then, we must focus on protecting Chibiusa at any cost. Does everyone understand?"

"Yes," everyone said.

At the Tsukino house, Chibiusa was tip-toeing around entering Usagi's room. The room was in complete disarray, her clothes, pillows, and blankets sprawled around everywhere.

"Yuck! Look at this mess!" Chibiusa complained.

Then her eyes fell upon something that made her freeze in front of the doorway. On top of Usagi's bed was her school uniform, and still fastened on the bow, was Usagi's brooch. Chibiusa walked over to it until she stood a few feet away from it.

"There it is! The legendary Silver Crystal is inside there!" Chibiusa thought. "How could she be so careless?!"

Then Chibiusa had a thought. It was the perfect opportunity for her to take the Silver Crystal for herself and use it to save her mother in the future. However, as she reached out to take it, something inside of her made her hesitate, her hand hovering inches away from the brooch.

"What's the matter with me?" wondered Chibiusa to herself. "This is my chance. With this crystal, I can save Mommy. But Usagi is Sailor Moon. She saved me so many times, so maybe I should trust her with the crystal and let her use its power."

She then stepped back and was about to walk out of Usagi's room when she heard Usagi and Harusuke downstairs.

"Hey, Mom! We're home!" the Tsukino siblings called out.

"Welcome back, you two!" she heard Ikuko greet. "I made some delicious hot cakes for you two if you want some."

"No, thanks, Mom. We don't want any," Usagi said. "We've already stuffed ourselves with Mako's cookies."

"We've? You're the one who did the stuffing," Harusuke spoke. "Maybe if you hadn't been stuffing your face..."

Chibiusa was now cross. "Her Mom made those hotcakes just her!" she said indignantly. "Someone as ungrateful as her can't possibly be the legendary Guardian! I'm going to rescue my Mommy, after all!"

And not even thinking for a second about the consequences, Chibiusa snatched the brooch from Usagi's uniform and made her escape by opening the window and jumping out of it. Then, when she was safely on the ground, she took off running as fast as her legs could carry her.

"I hate her! I hate Usagi so much!" Chibiusa spoke bitterly. "I'll never trust that stupid Usagi!"

However, despite her saying all of that, somewhere in her heart, she knew what she did was wrong, and there was no going back from it.

At that same time, Usagi, Harusuke, and Luna came rushing up the stairs due to Usagi forgetting her brooch.

"Come on, Usagi. You need to get your act together," scolded Luna. "How could you forget your brooch of all things?!"

"I know, I know, I know!" Usagi cried. "You don't need to tell me!"

"Never mind that," Harusuke said. "Just hurry and get it so that we can get back to the others."

But when they got inside Usagi's room, upon seeing the school uniform on her bed, Usagi, Luna, and Harusuke were shocked to see that Usagi's brooch was no longer there.

"What?! It's not here!" Usagi cried shrilly.

"What do you mean it's not there?!" Luna cried. "Where'd it go?!"

Harusuke then noticed the open window and quickly realized what had happened, making his eyes go wide with disbelief.

"No! She couldn't have! She wouldn't have!" Harusuke gasped. "Chibiusa!"

"Yes, it couldn't have been anyone else!" Luna said. "She must have noticed you left it behind and took it so she could save her mother in the future! We've got to find her before the enemy notices her!"

Not wasting time, Usagi activated her communicator, contacting the other Guardians. After she connected with the other Guardians, she spoke urgently to them.

"Everyone! We've got a big problem!" It seems that Chibiusa took off with my brooch, and now we can't figure out where she is!"

"You're kidding!" Minako gasped from the communicator. "Don't worry. We'll all split up and find Chibiusa! We'll let you know if we find her!"

"While you guys are doing that, I'll see if I can find Chibiusa in the air," Harusuke said. "Let's hurry and find her before Rubeus does and before Chibiusa disappears into her own time!"

Usagi, Harusuke, and Luna quickly took off as fast as their legs could carry them.

Back inside the UFO, Rubeus was still standing by the window, gazing towards the ground below, waiting for his time to strike. Then suddenly, the projection of the Wiseman appeared once again.

"Rubeus, the time has come," the Wiseman said. "I can sense that the Rabbit is now in possession of the Silver Crystal."

"Is that true?" Rubeus spoke with a hint of surprise.

"Yes. The Rabbit will appear in the forest close to Juuban Park at dusk," the Wiseman went on. "Head northwest, Rubeus!"

"I shall then," Rubeus replied, a victorious smirk crossing his face. "Finally, my chance has arrived!"

Chibiusa now stood close by the river on the dock, ready to go back to the future, her key clenched tightly in her fist and Usagi's brooch in her shirt. The pinkette ordango was still feeling guilty, but she tried to push out that guilt by reminding herself what was necessary.

"Just hold on, Mommy," Chibiusa said to herself. "I'm coming back to the future to save you!" She raised her key in the air and evoked the spell to activate it. "O, Keeper of Time! Open the doors! Tear apart the heavens! And open the Door of Space and Time!"

Nothing happened, much to Chibiusa's disappointment and despair.

"What went wrong?" Chibiusa wondered. "Why didn't it work?" Her eyes began to fill with tears as she started to cry in frustration. "Please! Take me back to the future! I want to save my Mommy! ! !"

As she began to cry, her crescent moon mark once again appeared in the middle of her forehead glowing brightly, unleashing a bright pillar of light. At that moment, a shadow cast over Chibiusa, causing her to look up, and much to her horror, Chibiusa found herself staring face to face with Rubeus, who hovered before her wearing a murderous grin on his face.

"I found you at least, Rabbit!"

Chibiusa scrambled to get away as Rubeus pounced, unleashing a powerful blast from his hand, forcing Chibiusa to jump up and dodge. Wanting to protect her, Luna P shot straight at Rubeus, only for him to punch it out of the way. He then attacked Chibiusa again, but Solaris came shooting from above, his fist swinging forcing Rubeus to dodge. At the same time, the other guardians arrived too. Before Chibiusa could even think, Sailor Mars scooped her in her arms and carried her to safety. Rubeus saw this and pushed Solaris away, forcing him back.

"No, you don't!" Rubeus yelled. "You're not getting away!"

But as he shot towards Mars and Chibiusa, Mercury barred his way.

"MERCURY BUBBLE SPRAY!"

She unleashed a flurry of bubbles, causing the fog to spread everywhere, obscuring Rubeus' vision. At the same time, Sailor Jupiter, Venus, Mars, and Solaris all attacked at once.

"JUPITER SUPREME THUNDER!"

"MARS BURNING MANDALA!"

"VENUS LOVE-ME CHAIN!"

"SOLARIS SUNSHINE METEOR!"

All four of the attacks shot into the fog towards Rubeus, and before he could even counter, the attacks blasted right into him, creating a massive explosion that blew apart the pier. Everyone took off running, hoping that would be enough to slow down Rubeus at least. However, when the smoke cleared, Rubeus was unharmed, albeit a bit singed. He was now angrier than ever.

"Dammit! I won't let you get away, Rabbit!" Rubeus yelled as he held up his hands in the air. "Now, Droid! Hear me now! Go out and search for the Rabbit and the Silver Crystal, and don't let her escape!"

At his command from the shadows, several droids materialized forth, all screeching as they scattered around obeying their master's wish.

"You can run, and you can hide Rabbit, but I'll know the second you will try to return to the future," Rubeus spoke to himself. "And when that happens, I'll be ready."

Meanwhile, the Guardians continued to run with Chibiusa in tow.

"Do you think that we got him?" panted Solaris.

"I don't know, but I'm hoping we did," said Sailor Mars. "Chibiusa? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," replied Chibiusa. "You can put me down, Rei."

Sailor Mars and everyone else gasped and stopped running, staring at Chibiusa in surprise as Mars put her down.

Chibiusa then explained. "I know you who all of you are. I saw you all transform the other day."

Before anyone else could ask anything else, they all heard the sound of screeching, which made them jump. They looked behind them, and they saw a squad of Droids coming straight towards them.

"Oh, great! That's all we need!" Sailor Jupiter cried. "Rubeus must have sent those droids!"

"Solaris, take Chibiusa somewhere safe from danger!" Sailor Mercury said. "We'll take care of the droids!"

"Will do!" Solaris acknowledged.

The Guardian of the Sun took Chibiusa into his arms, and he, along with Luna P, took to the sky out of harm's way while the rest of the Guardians fended off the droids.

Soon enough, Solaris touched down on the ground in an alley in Downtown Juuban.

"We should be safe here for the time being," Solaris said as he put Chibiusa down. "Chibiusa, you doing alright?"

But Chibiusa turned around, facing away from Solaris with a huff. "I'm fine, and I appreciate you for saving me, Harusuke, but don't think I know what you're up to; you only rescued me because I have Usagi's brooch. The only reason why you brought me out here was so you could take it from me and scold me like I'm a baby!"

Solaris was silent for a brief moment, taken aback by this. "Well, I'd be lying if I said I didn't want the brooch back, but I'm not someone who would try and forcibly take something from a child. Besides, I came to protect you along with the rest of us because we were all worried about you, including Usagi."

"That's a lie!" Chibiusa pouted. "Why would that Usagi care? She's selfish, ungrateful, irresponsible, and does whatever she wants! She doesn't deserve this brooch!"

Solaris rose a brow. Then he began to chuckle, which surprised Chibiusa.

"What's so funny?!" Chibiusa demanded.

"Sorry, I shouldn't be laughing, but everything you said is true," Solaris chuckled. "That is Usagi to the letter." He then stopped. "And yet she's Sailor Moon, the champion of justice that everyone counts on, including all of us. I know that it seems hard to believe, and Usagi is as everything you say she is, but she has some good qualities that outweigh the negative stuff."

"How so?" Chibiusa asked.

Solaris was about to respond when he heard something that made him tense up. Immediately, he took Chibiusa into his arms and flew up until he was hovering. Chibiusa, at first, was confused, but soon she knew why. A squad of five droids searched the area from below, hissing as they tore through the trash cans.

"It's not safe here," Solaris said. "We need to find a place where those droids can't find you. And I think I have an idea of where to go."

"I'm not going back to Usagi's house," Chibiusa said automatically.

"I never said we were going there," Solaris said. "I've got somewhere else in mind."

In Downtown Juuban, Usagi and the girls all regrouped in the middle of the fountain monument.

"Did anyone find her yet?" Usagi asked.

"No luck so far," said Rei.

"The situation has gotten even worse than we thought," Ami spoke worriedly. "Now that Chibiusa has the Silver Crystal, she's in even more danger than ever, with Rubeus after her."

"It's not all that bad," Minako said. "Harusuke's with her, so I'm sure she's protected. I only hope that he's okay too."

At that moment, the clock began to strike, letting out a total of ten tolls, signaling the current time.

"Yikes, it's ten o'clock," murmured Minako.

"It's already past most children's bedtimes," Makoto said. "Poor Chibiusa must be exhausted."

Mamoru was walking home to his apartment room after returning from his day. He was looking forward to having a good night's rest when he found a surprise waiting for him. Standing in front of his door, while carrying Chibiusa in his arms, was Harusuke.

"Chibiusa? Harusuke?" Mamoru wondered. "What's going on here?"

Harusuke put a finger to his fingers, shushing. "I can explain later, but first, help me get Chibiusa inside. The poor girl's exhausted."

Mamoru then opened the door, and Harusuke gave him the sleeping Chibiusa. Then as Mamoru walked inside, Harusuke waited until Mamoru was inside. Then he activated his communicator, contacting Usagi and the others.

Explosions thundered throughout the landscape. Chibiusa was carried by Sailor Mars and Mercury from either side of her, while Sailor Jupiter and Venus covered the rear. As they ran, a squad of strange urchin-like ships flew from above, firing at the five with their lasers. Then just a blast was about to hit them; a warrior of golden armor flew in and blocked the laser taking out a few ships.

"Go! Now!" the golden warrior yelled. "Take Small Lady to safety!"

The Sailors continued to run as the golden warrior ordered, as he flew off to engage the enemy ships.

"Geez! The enemy won't stop chasing us!" cried Sailor Jupiter.

"Just focus on running for now!" Sailor Mercury shouted. "We don't stand a chance with their numbers, so we have to get out of here fast!"

"Don't worry; we're almost brought Small Lady to safety!" Sailor Mars yelled. "Keep running! Taiyou can't hold them off much longer!"

"Where's Sailor Moon when we need her?!" panted Sailor Venus. "If she were here, none of this would be happening!"

At that moment, a stray ship who managed to catch up to them fired a projectile at them, creating an explosion so powerful that the force sent them flying, and Chibiusa saw nothing but white as she lost consciousness.

Chibiusa slowly began to wake up from her nightmare, her eyes filled with tears, but as she did, the first thing that she saw was Mamoru's smiling face, which made her relieved.

"Mamo?" Chibiusa mumbled as she sat up, wiping her tears. "How did I...?"

Mamoru then took out a small puppet resembling his alter ego, Tuxedo Mask, which held a beautiful red rose.

"Don't worry. You're safe now. Uncle Harusuke brought you here," Mamoru spoke through the puppet. "Please don't cry. If you look so sad, even this rose will wilt." He then held out the rose. "Here. It's for you."

Chibiusa took the rose as she wiped her tears. "Thank you," she said gratefully.

"Now then, tell me, Chibiusa, were you having a bad dream?" Tuxedo Puppet Mask asked.

"Yes. I was," Chibiusa answered. "Say, Tuxedo Mask? Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, you can ask me anything," Tuxedo Puppet Mask replied kindly. "What is it?"

"I was wondering something about Sailor Moon," said Chibiusa. "Is she that strong?"

Mamoru then put the puppet down and smiled at Chibiusa warmly. "Yes, she is. Invincible."

At that moment, Chibiusa's tummy let out a slight growl, making her go as pink as her hair in embarrassment. Mamoru and Chibiusa then laughed.

"Wait here," Mamoru said. "I'll fix you something to eat. Any requests?"

"Hotcakes!" Chibiusa said eagerly.

Mamoru then went into the kitchen to get started on the hotcakes. No sooner than he did, the doorbell rang, and a familiar voice came from behind it.

"Mamo? Are you there? Is Chibiusa in there?"

Chibiusa gasped, for she knew that the voice belonged to Usagi. Immediately, she shot out from her bed and rapidly bounced Luna P launching her into the air, and in a puff of smoke, Luna P was now a backpack containing a parachute. As she ran towards the balcony putting on the parachute, Mamoru stepped out of the kitchen to answer the door, only to see Chibiusa standing outside. Before he had any chance to stop her, Chibiusa had jumped off, disappearing.

"CHIBIUSA!" Mamoru cried, racing towards the window, horrified.

Luckily, Chibiusa pulled the cord, deploying the parachute slowing down her descent as she slowly drifted. At that moment, Usagi, Harusuke, Luna, and Artemis came bursting through the door, rushing in.

"Mamo?! What's wrong?!" Usagi cried. "Where's Chibiusa?!"

"She just jumped off the balcony!" Mamoru cried, pointing.

Usagi, Harusuke, and the two cats looked down and saw Chibiusa.

"What the heck?!" Harusuke cried. "She's more slippery than an eel!"

"After her!" Usagi cried.

Soon enough, Chibiusa landed back onto the ground, right in the middle of Downtown Juuban, which was now desolate due to it being nightfall. Knowing that she didn't have much time left, Chibiusa took out her key again.

"This time, I'm going back to the future!" Chibiusa cried as she held it up.

The key then began to glow in a bright pink light that shot above her. The light then transformed into a large ring of pink fluff, releasing a strange beam of light that began to make Chibiusa and Luna P levitate upwards.

Chibiusa was overjoyed. "It's working!" she cried. "Now I can go back to Mommy!"

But Chibiusa was wrong. Right then, a beam of light from the sky shot down and blasted the portal, destroying it and causing Chibiusa to fall to the ground. Then from the clouds, an enormous object slowly descended, revealing itself, lights flashing and blinking, shining a light on Chibiusa as she lay dazed and confused.

It was the UFO belonging to Rubeus.

As Chibiusa looked up in terror, Rubeus appeared above her, letting out a laugh that seemed to echo throughout the city.

"Nice try, Rabbit, but no matter where you are, when you try to return to the future, you distort time and space," Rubeus cackled with triumph. "This ship has the power to detect that distortion and will always lead me there." He then raised his hands, preparing to attack. "Now, are you ready to die?"

"Not so fast, Rubeus! We won't let you do this!"

At that moment, Sailors Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, and Venus came to the rescue, standing bravely with Chibiusa, ready to protect her.

Rubeus then scowled. "Fine then! I'll eliminate you, Guardians, along with her!"

"That's what you think!" Sailor Jupiter yelled. "Don't mess with us!"

The four sailors then went on the attack unleashing their attacks simultaneously.

"MERCURY SHINE AQUA ILLUSION!"

"MARS BURNING MANDALA!"

"JUPITER SPARKLING WIDE PRESSURE!"

"VENUS LOVE-ME CHAIN!"

All four attacks blasted Rubeus, but they were not enough to damage him as he emerged unharmed.

"There's some powerful barrier around Rubeus!" Sailor Mercury cried. "Our attacks can't break through it!"

"Stop your useless resistance, and die!" Rubeus smirked as he unleashed a powerful blast of force at the girls.

The mere force alone was enough to send all the girls flying across the air. Luckily no one was hurt, at least for the time being.

"Chibiusa, you have to run away!" Sailor Mars cried. "Get out of here while you still can!"

"That's not going to happen!" Rubeus shouted. "No one is getting out of here!"

With a wave of his hand, he controlled the UFO to unleash a strange tractor beam that tore up the ground from the sheer power alone until it reached the Guardians, making them immobile and unable to move due to the force of gravity.

"This incredible energy from this beam is emanating from the UFO!" Sailor Mercury winced. "It's crushing us!"

"There's no way we can fight something this strong!" Sailor Mars said. "The only way to repel it is to combine our powers!"

"You mean our Planet Attack?!" grunted Sailor Venus. "There's no way we could!"

"We don't have enough power to use it!" Sailor Mercury cried. "We need Sailor Moon and Solaris!"

"We can do it!" insisted Sailor Mars. "We may not be able to help ourselves, but we have to save Chibiusa! Come on, girls!"

The four Sailors then struggled to their feet despite the tractor beam's gravity and got into a circle holding hands. They focused all of their power and their connection with each other.

"MERCURY STAR POWER!"

"MARS STAR POWER!"

"JUPITER STAR POWER!"

"VENUS STAR POWER!"

"SAILOR PLANET POWER!"

All four Guardians erupted in light, releasing a massive pillar that counteracted the tractor beam stopping its gravity.

"Chibiusa!" Sailor Mars yelled. "Hurry and save yourself now!"

But the pink ordango was frozen from, not only being scared to death but also stupified. At that moment, Usagi, Tuxedo Mask, and Solaris rushed onto the scene.

"Leave Chibiusa to me!" Tuxedo Mask cried as he scooped up, Chibiusa in his arms. "In the meantime, you guys hurry too!"

Tuxedo Mask then carried Chibiusa to safety while Solaris shot straight towards Rubeus.

"Rubeus! Let my friends go, right now!" Solaris yelled as he aimed with his hand. "SOLARIS NOVA FLARE!"

Solaris unleashed a powerful beam from his hand, hoping it would connect and force Rubeus to stop commanding the UFO, but to his shock, Rubeus remained unharmed due to the barrier. Solaris, growling in anger, then shot straight towards him, cocking back his fist for a punch.

"You want to play rough then?" Rubeus smirked. "Fine then! How about this?!"

Several strange rods then appeared from the spikes around the UFO, then all of them began to fire laser beams straight at Solaris, forcing the Guardian of the Sun to stop and fly out the way to dodge. However, the UFO continued to fire and blast its laser beams, going at such a fast rate that all Solaris could do was avoid them. Tuxedo Mask threw several roses to try and take out the lasers, but unfortunately, the lasers shot the roses, turning them into dust.

Rubeus then returned his attention to the four remaining guardians and, with a wave of his hand, made the UFO amp up the power of its beam, this time, it started sucking in the four Guardians in its light, drawing them closer to it.

"No! Girls!" Usagi cried.

"Hold on! I'm coming!" Solaris yelled as he flew to the rescue.

But then, the lasers fired at him once again, forcing him to try and dodge, once again. Then a laser shot Solaris' leg, making him let out a cry in pain. That was the opening Rubeus needed as the other lasers shot at him, some of them connecting and forcing him to plummet until he crashed into the ground. With no one else to help save them, Sailor Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, and Venus disappeared into the UFO, much to Usagi's horror.

Rubeus then laughed in triumph as his voice echoed throughout Juuban. "Listen up, Sailor Moon! I'll admit that you were wise not to show yourself, but your fellow Guardians and with Solaris incapacitated, there's nothing you can do on your own to save your beloved city. However, I'm willing to let you have time to think this over. Three hours from now, at three a.m., I will return, and I will expect you to surrender the Silver Crystal and the Rabbit to me. Make sure you make your mind!"

And with another victorious fit of laughter, Rubeus disappeared. The UFO rose into the sky, disappearing into the clouds out of sight. Then everything went silent. At this point, Usagi had begun to cry, shocked, and horrified as she glared at Chibiusa.

"Chibiusa, now you see what you did?!" Usagi wailed with fury. "Stupid, this is all your fault!"

Chibiusa said nothing, standing there feeling very remorseful.

"Usagi, please, this isn't the time to be yelling," Tuxedo Mask spoke gently. "We need to take Solaris and regroup for now. He's going to need treatment."

Usagi bitterly looked away, but she knew that Tuxedo Mask was correct, so she, along with Tuxedo Mask, helped Harusuke to his feet and carried him away. Chibiusa followed silently behind them as they did, not saying another word.

TO BE CONTINUED...