"Th-The Outer Guardians!" exclaimed Solaris in bewilderment. "I don't believe it!"
"Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and Saturn, too," Sailor Venus murmured as a tear of emotion fell down her cheek. "You're here."
"But... wasn't Saturn a baby the last time we saw her?" she inquired. "I'll say this much: she's gotten one doozy of a growth spurt."
Then, Sailor Venus suddenly remembered. "We need to let Sailor Moon know what's going on!" she cried. "She doesn't even know we're here!"
"Then, let's hurry and contact her!" urged Sailor Mercury.
Solaris immediately used his bracelet and tried to call Usagi. "Usagi? Usagi, this is Solaris. Do you copy?"
But all he could hear was the sound of white noise.
"Usagi, can you hear me?" Solaris tried again. "Please respond."
Again, there was no answer.
"It's no use, Solaris," said Sailor Uranus. "You won't be able to reach her right now."
"What do you mean by that?" asked Sailor Venus. "Do you have any idea why we can't?"
"And for that matter, what are you all doing here?" asked Sailor Mars. "Why have you come back to us after all this time?"
"We've received a sign about the prince and princess in trouble," replied Sailor Neptune. "And Specter brought us here."
Solaris and the Inner Guardians couldn't help but be shocked.
"That is the sole reason why we came back and reunited with you," added Sailor Pluto. "It is our fate to protect them at all costs. It's a destined path none of us can escape or avoid, but one we have to accept and overcome as we make way for our new destiny. That is our true duty as the eleven guardians."
"You know, a simple "we came to help" would have been more suitable instead of all the verbosity, Pluto," quipped Solaris.
"But what do you mean the prince and princess are in danger?!" asked Sailor Venus worriedly. "What's going to happen to them?!"
Just then, they were rudely interrupted by VesVes and Pallapalla leaping out from the jungle, each visibly cross and raring to fight.
"I'm sure there are a lot more questions that need answering," said Sailor Uranus as she summoned her Space Sword. "But first, we got to take care of business."
PallaPalla waved a hand with a finger pointed. "TAMA-ARARE!" she yelled out.
"TAMA-HAGANE!" VesVes shouted as she summoned a dagger and threw it.
At their commands, a shower of large boulders came falling, and the dagger multiplied into many. But Sailor Uranus and Neptune got ready with attacks of their own, Uranus holding up her sword high as a giant crimson sphere of energy came forth while Neptune held her arms above her head as a sea-green orb of water appeared in her hands.
"URANUS SPACE SWORD BLASTER!"
"NEPTUNE DEEP SUBMERGE!"
Sailor Uranus sliced her sword down as the crimson sphere exploded into multiple blades, each one shattering and destroying the daggers. Sailor Neptune launched her orb, sending it toward the boulders and destroying them upon contact, making water rain everywhere.
VesVes and PallaPalla could only glare as they fled back into the recesses of the jungle. The Guardians took this minute to regroup.
"As much as I hate to say this, Sailor Uranus is right," said Solaris. "We have to take care of one problem at a time. And our current problem is taking care of this whole mess. So here's what we'll do. Sailor Venus, you, Jupiter, Mars, and Mercury get to the dream mirrors and put them back in their proper homes. We can't afford to let any of them get gobbled up or destroyed."
Sailor Venus nodded. "Right. You got it."
Solaris turned to the Outer Guardians. "Since there's no way to use our communicators, does anyone know a way of trying to get into contact with the outside world?"
"Leave it to me," said Sailor Saturn. "I can use my powers to connect to the outside."
"Then, I'll leave it to you, Saturn," said Solaris. "Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, make sure you protect her and take down the Amazoness Quartet."
"And what about you?" asked Sailor Neptune. "What will you do?"
Before Solaris could answer, there was a roar of a battle cry as Tenebris exploded out from the bushes, gunning straight for Solaris, bringing down his sword with all of his might. Reacting immediately, Solaris brought up his blade just in time to block and push him back, sending him a reasonable distance away.
"I've got a fight of my own to deal with," Solaris responded, his eyes never leaving Tenebris.
Tenebris took a stance and brought up his sword and charged while Solaris did the same as the battle resumed.
Sailor Venus and the other Inner Guardians quickly rushed toward the stack of dream mirrors, and the unconscious citizens and the Outer Guardians surrounded Sailor Saturn. During this, Saturn got down on her knee and began focusing on her Silence Glave as it began to shine in a violet light.
Meanwhile, at the Tsukino house, Usagi lay in her bed, still coughing. At this point, it had grown worse, and Chibiusa, Luna, and Diana were growing worried.
"Usagi," Chibiusa spoke tentatively. "Your cough's gotten worse."
"I-I'm all right," Usagi rasped. "I just need some sleep."
But Chibiusa knew that this wouldn't be solved that way. "I'm going to give everyone a call!" she told Luna. "She's getting worse!"
She then started to dash out of the room when she heard a voice via telepathy.
"Small Lady…"
Upon hearing it, Chibiusa skidded to a stop, gasping in shock as the voice came again.
"Small Lady…"
Upon hearing it, Chibiusa instantly recognized who it was.
"That voice!" she cried out. "Could… could it be…?"
At the very same time, a pulse shot through Usagi as she sensed something, causing her to shoot up from her bed out of startlement as visions of the Outer Guardians flashed in her mind.
"This feeling! The Outer Guardians are fighting again! Everyone's back together!"
Chibiusa then rushed out of Usagi's room and headed straight to hers. When she entered, she saw the Deep Aqua Mirror on her desk. Its reflection was now shining brightly.
Chibiusa then looked into it, and when she did, the reflection showed an image of all the Outer Guardians as if it sensed their return as well. Chibiusa then remembered Pharoh-90's defeat and how Sailor Neptune gave her the mirror as a token of their promise to her back then. Her eyes began brimming with tears as she hugged the mirror to her chest.
"They came back!" Chibiusa murmured happily. "All four of them came back! Just like they promised!"
She then rushed back to Usagi's room.
"Usagi! The Outer Guardians are…!"
"I know," Usagi cut in. "I saw the four of them as well. Go, Chibiusa! I'll be right behind you! There's not a moment to lose!"
Chibiusa hesitated, but she knew Usagi was right, and she transformed.
"MOON CRISIS MAKE UP!"
Transformation Sequence: Chibiusa.
Chibiusa's Chibi Moon Compact opens, and her crystal inside begins to flash until it erupts with pink light. While enveloped in light with her compact affixed to the middle of her chest, pink ribbons made of light burst from her brooches, trailing and flapping in the wind similar to a cape. First, she turns around as they wrap around her, forming her leotard. Next, her skirt, boots, and ribbons materialized. Then, her tiara and other accessories appear. As she opens her eyes, her transformation now completed, she turns and strikes her signature pose while a pink moon with roses on the side appears in the background.
Super Sailor Chibimoon held up the mirror as it once again began to shine brightly.
"Deep Aqua Mirror!" she commanded. "Take me to Sailor Neptune!"
The object floated upwards from her hand. Then, it disappeared in a blip of light.
The little guardian then went over to the window, swinging it open.
"I'm heading out!" she told everyone as she jumped out the window and took off, flying as quickly as she could to where the mirror would lead her.
As she left, Usagi felt a pain run through her chest as she coughed again, but the ordango blonde bravely got out of bed, struggling as she tried to leave.
"Usag! You shouldn't be moving around!" Luna cried. "You need to rest!"
"I can't, Luna," winced Usagi. "I have to go. I need to go. The others need me!"
And before the black feline or her daughter could stop her, Usagi rushed out of the house and into the streets, determined to get her to comrades. But just as she did, she found someone else waiting for her, along with Artemis.
It was Mamoru.
"M-Mamo!" Usagi gasped. "Wh-What are you doing here?!"
"I heard you calling out to me," Mamoru replied. "And I came here as quick as I could!"
Usagi was overjoyed to see him, but as she tried reaching out to him, she felt another pang of pain shoot through her chest, causing her to falter before collapsing to her knees.
Mamoru was alarmed, recognizing the symptoms. "Usa! Don't tell me - has the curse gotten to you, too?!"
"It doesn't matter," Usagi firmly spoke as she got back up. "I have to go join the others. Something's about to happen, and I have to help them!"
"If that's the case, then we have to get over to the Dead Moon Circus tent!" said Artemis. "I haven't been able to get into contact with them, so we should hurry!"
And while managing to get back up, Usagi jogged ahead with Mamoru and the felines following in hot pursuit.
As she stood guard over Sailor Saturn as she, Uranus, and Pluto kept an eye out for their enemies, a brief blip of light suddenly flashed just in the corner of Sailor Neptune's eye, catching her attention. As soon as she saw it, her Deep Aqua Mirror appeared in her hands.
When Sailor Neptune caught it, the mirror then showed her an image of Super Sailor Chibi Moon flying towards their location. The Guardian of the Sea couldn't help but be grateful to have her talisman back, but she was also happy to see the little pink ordango.
"Small Lady…"
Sailor Saturn also opened her eyes as she stood up. "I've succeeded in contacting her," she reported to everyone.
"And based on your talisman returning to you, it looks like Small Lady's on her way, too," smiled Sailor Uranus. "Now we can take care of business."
Then, all four of the amazonesses each came dashing out of the jungle in a four-pronged attack. VesVes elegantly threw several daggers, JunJun gave a swift and powerful kick, firing a concussive shockwave, PallaPalla spiked a large ball, and CereCere released a blizzard of flower petals.
However, despite the surprise attack, the Outer Guardians, using their talismans, formed a barrier that shielded them from harm and repelled all of the attacks at once.
While this was happening, Sailor Venus, Jupiter, Mars, and Mercury were busy putting back the dream mirrors inside of the civilians as quickly and carefully as they could.
As for Solaris, he and Tenebris were still going at it, clashing with their swords while trying to land a blow and gain the advantage. But the two were evenly matched.
That was until Solaris swung his blade, and Tenebris bent his body backward to avoid it. The dark warrior then parried his sword and gave Solaris a mighty kick to the sternum. The force sent him skidding back until he stopped himself, bracing his feet.
"Come on, Solaris! Don't tell me this is all you have!" snarled Tenebris.
"Oh, please! I'm just getting warmed up!" Solaris shot back. "Uranus!"
At his shout, and in a flash of navy blue and silver, he changed to his Uranus form. Then, he shot forward at incredible speed and swung his blade. Tenebris brought up his sword to defend himself, but as he did, Solaris speed-blitzed with a combo of several slices and blows, each one making him stagger as he took damage until Solaris finished with a powerful kick to the chin.
Tenebris flew across the ground until he slammed back first into a tree, causing it to shudder from the impact as its leaves fell.
The dark warrior coughed as he got back up. "Wh-Where did that speed come from?!" he demanded while glaring at Solaris. "What is that power?!"
"A little something called Unison Fusion," Solaris replied. "What you're seeing now is my Uranus form, which increases my speed similar to hers. And that's not all."
He raised his sword, and a giant crimson sphere of energy conjured on the blade. However, the sphere quickly dissipated into the blade as it began to shine in the same color.
"SPACE SWORD BLASTER!"
With a mighty slice, as he brought down his sword, Solaris unleashed several crescent-shaped blades at Tenebris, which then turned into orbs of rings.
Tenebris's eyes went wide with shock before the attack bombarded him, each orb exploding on impact, resulting in an immense explosion that sent him flying and hitting the ground.
"Pluto!"
Solaris changed forms again, his suit changing maroon in color while the dot on his chest gained the Pluto symbol. Then, as soon as Tenebris got back up, he rapidly spun until he was encased in a tornado of energy that kept going as he stopped, holding out his sword and using it to control it.
"Now, CHRONOS TYPHOON!"
With a swing of his blade, Solaris sent the tornado of energy straight in Tenebris's direction, forcing the warrior to jump out of the way as it ripped across the ground, shooting past him. But due to its proximity, which was too close, the tornado swallowed him up, its powerful current sending him high into the air.
"Neptune!"
While jumping into the air, Solaris changed again, his armor turning sea-green, and the symbol of Neptune shone on his chest. Then, as Tenebris was spun around inside the Chronos Typhoon, he conjured a blue ball made of seawater and aimed carefully.
"DEEP SUBMERGE!"
He then launched it, blasting Tenebris and sending him straight into the ground in an explosion of water. As water rained down, Solaris landed back on the ground, reverting back to his standard form.
As he waited to see if his enemy had fallen from his assault, he saw Tenebris struggle as he slowly got up.
"Damn. Even after all of that, that guy's still getting up," Solaris murmured.
However, despite having taken a heavy amount of damage, Tenebris got back up on his feet. His armor was dented and cracked, and some darkness leaked out from his wounds as if he were bleeding. Even his visor showed damage, pieces of glass falling off of it, creating a hole.
In that hole, Solaris saw a single eye, an eye that had a slit while gleaming bright violet.
"Very interesting," Tenebris spoke as he cracked his neck. "Those attacks actually hurt. But this fight isn't over yet."
Then, as Solaris got ready to fight again, he heard Sailor Venus shout.
"Solaris! We've got all the dream mirrors back inside the citizens!" Sailor Venus shouted.
Solaris looked in their direction and saw that the pile of dream mirrors was gone, and all the people were sleeping peacefully, the color returning to their faces.
The Outer Guardians and the Amazonesses saw this, too.
"Damn it!" cursed VesVes.
"Now, it's time to put an end to this little show!" Sailor Neptune said. "Watch this!"
Her Deep Aqua Mirror began to shine as she held it up, aiming for above.
"NEPTUNE SUBMARINE REFLECTION!"
A massive torrent of seawater erupted forth as it washed away the illusion of the jungle and burst through the ceiling of the tent, obliterating it in its entirety. Everyone found themselves back in the outside world in the ruins of the destroyed circus tent. But as they looked around, they saw a startling sight up above them.
The sky had grown even murkier with dark gray clouds, and in the center of them was a giant black sphere that was eerily similar to the moon.
"Wh-What the heck is that thing?" Solaris wondered.
"It would appear that a dark moon now hangs above us," said Sailor Pluto. "No, it's more like a portal opened up, a malevolent one hidden by the darkness and from where nightmares are spilling forth."
"But we didn't see anything when we were inside the tent," murmured Sailor Venus.
"This is where all the nightmares have been coming from," said Sailor Uranus. "And they've been engulfing people, cities, the whole entire world."
"The planet has also been shrouded by an abnormal dark barrier," said Sailor Pluto. "It seems that the Dead Moon Circus's goal is to turn our planet into a world of death."
Super Sailor Chibi Moon was flying over building after building as she made her way. But as she flew, the air grew thicker, and it became so dark it was hard to see.
"The air seems to be getting denser," thought Super Sailor Chibi Moon. "And was the town always been so dark here?"
Just then, she heard a loud commotion coming from the ground below. And as she looked, she was horrified by what she saw.
The streets of Juuban were in chaos. People lay on the ground unconscious while others were rioting and fighting, stores were being raided, and rubbish lay everywhere.
"Wh-What is all of this?!" Super Sailor Chibi Moon gasped. "This isn't the Juuban I know!"
Super Sailor Chibi Moon wanted to stop the insanity, but she had to continue on.
She soon touched down and came to the area where Dead Moon Circus was located, which was now a complete wreck. The tiny little guardian also could see the black portal in the sky.
"Wh-What is that?" she couldn't help but wonder. "Some kind of dark moon? No… it's more like a black hole!"
Then, a hand gently touched her shoulder, causing her to jump. But when she looked back, she was relieved to see that hand belonged to Super Sailor Moon with Tuxedo Mask.
"Sailor Moon!" her daughter gasped thankfully.
Super Sailor Moon smiled, but then she looked up and saw Solaris and the other guardians. Needless to say, she was overjoyed to see them, as were Tuxedo Mask and Super Sailor Chibi Moon.
"Uranus! Neptune! Pluto! Saturn!" she cried out as she rushed over to them. "You're all here!"
They, along with Solaris and the others, were happy to see her, too. But their reunion was short-lived as a bright blue mass of darkness suddenly appeared from above, followed by a voice.
"Well, Well. Looks like my girls and knight are outnumbered and struggling," the voice said. "But now… playtime is over!"
From the mass, Zirconia emerged, much to the surprise of the Guardians and those of the Dead Moon Circus.
"I bid you welcome, Guardians," the old hag greeted. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Zirconia, Spirit Guide and loyal servant to Queen Nehelenia. I am well aware of who you all are and why you were reborn onto this planet, but I'm afraid you're all too late. This entire city is under our control, or to put it in simpler terms, this whole planet belongs to us! It was all too easy to infect this planet with nightmares like twisting a newborn's neck. It's honestly such a pity that this rock was so weak and unguarded."
At that moment, both Super Sailor Moon and Tuxedo began to cough, each one spitting up some black blood, which didn't go unnoticed by the other Guardians.
"Sailor Moon! Tuxedo Mask!" cried Sailor Uranus.
"Damn it!" cursed Solaris. "They've both gotten cursed!"
But Super Sailor Moon bravely glared at Zirconia. "You'll pay for this!" she spoke with conviction. "Trying to take over by taking advantage of people's vulnerabilities is unforgivable! I'll never forgive you for this!"
"Why should you care?" spat Zirconia. "The White Moon Kingdom has long been gone, and you should be gone along with it!" She held her staff in front of her, aiming in their direction as Zircon began to shine in an ominous blue glow. "And so, I exorcise you, cursed ones!"
"Watch out!" yelled Sailor Jupiter.
But her warning came too late, as an explosion of darkness erupted from the eyeball, its power sending shockwaves of wind buffeting around the area, forcing the Guardians to go on the defensive.
Then, Super Sailor Moon and Tuxedo suddenly lost their transformations, reverting back to their civilian forms. Not only that, but they rapidly began to regress in age until they were both children as they fell unconscious to the ground.
The Guardians were horrified as they rushed over to them while Zirconia cackled triumph.
In a fit of rage, Solaris set his sights on Zirconia and lunged straight for the witch.
"DAMN YOU!" he roared as he brought his sword back to slice her.
"Solaris, wait!" cried Sailor Mars.
But as he was about to swing, he was struck right in the stomach with a mighty kick, courtesy of Tenebris, who then proceeded to send him straight to the ground. As Solaris landed on his feet when he hit the ground, his anger was now directed at Tenebris.
"I've had just about enough of you!" he snarled.
"I told you this fight isn't over!" Tenebris snarled back.
He gripped his sword, drew a pentagram in the air, and crouched in a stance as a mirage of a pair of white wings briefly sprung out from his back. At the same time, Tenebris drew a circle with his sword as he also crotched, a pair of black wings briefly springing from his back.
"SOLARIS DAWNING PENTAGRAM SWORD!"
"TENEBRIS GLOAMING NIGHTMARE SWORD!"
As the two screamed out their attacks, they shot forward simultaneously and swung their blades with all their might. The collision exploded with an incredible explosion in a mix of violet and gold, causing everyone to shield their eyes as they stood their ground against the shockwave.
When the smoke cleared, both Solaris and Tenenbris were revealed to still be standing. But not long after that, Solaris fell to one knee, clutching his midsection in pain as some pieces of his armor crumbled off in that area and fresh blood seeped through it.
"No, Solaris!" cried Super Sailor Chibi Moon as she rushed over to help him.
Solaris struggled to get back up, fighting through the pain. But as he did, his whole body began to crackle and spark with strange black electricity as he let out a cry of pain and fell to his knee again.
"You're not the only one who's full of surprises," Tenebris spoke as he stood up. "My Gloaming Nightmare Sword is not only powerful, but upon contact, it can curse my target, inflicting even more damage. So I trust it must sting a little."
Solaris growled in anger as she tried using his sword to pull himself up but couldn't muster the strength. He collapsed to the ground, and his body continued to crackle and spark from the curse.
Zirconia laughed again. "Well done, Tenebris," she congratulated. "You do your master proud. May those fools suffer and struggle for their lives until they die!"
And with that, she disappeared into the air.
"No, this can't happen!" Super Sailor Chibi Moon spoke with determination. "I won't let it happen!"
Then, she and everyone heard the Amazoness Quartet laughing.
"Now this planet is ours now, thanks to Granny Zirconia," said VesVes. "Looks like they won't be able to protect this planet now that their precious friends are about to die."
The Guardians glared. Then, they all heard Zirconia's voice.
"Now, Girls! Tenebris!" she addressed her minions. "Retreat for now! It's time for our plan to reach it's next stage!"
"You heard the lady," said CereCere. "Let's go, everyone."
The Amazonessess and the dark knight all disappeared into the darkness. No sooner than when they left, Super Sailor Chibi Moon took off running after them, with Sailor Saturn following close behind them.
"Chibi Moon! Saturn! Wait!" cried Sailor Mercury. "We should stick together!"
But before they could pursue them, a blinding flash of light came, catching her and everyone's attention. From that light, Helios emerged in his pegasus form.
"Oh, no! I was too late!" Helios murmured.
"Helios!" gasped Sailor Jupiter.
The white horse inspected Usagi and Mamoru as both of their breathing grew labored and weak. Then, he saw Solaris as he lay on the ground as Sailor Pluto and Mars looked him over, who was also struggling to breathe.
"This is bad!" he spoke gravely. "All of their resiliences are diminishing! If nothing's done soon, their lives will be in danger!"
The red gem in the middle of his forehead began to shine as he spread his wings and his body illuminated in light. Then, as quickly as this happened, the horned-winged horse disappeared in a flurry of feathers. As his feathers fell, Usagi, Mamoru, and Solaris all began to glow in the same light before they also disappeared.
"They're gone!" gasped Sailor Uranus. "What happened to them?!"
None of the Guardians had an answer.