"Rei," a softly crying Sailor Moon whispered to herself, holding the mask and hat in her arms. 'I can't believe it,' Usagi thought dazedly. 'How could I have not seen it before now? Why was I so blind?' she asked. Ami and Makoto, in their new sailor costumes, stood nearby looking uncomfortable, unsure what to do. Once she had cried herself out, Sailor Moon rose slowly, wiping her tears from her face with a determined expression on her face. Mercury spoke softly, touching the blue visor across her eyes "I tracked it's progress into low orbit on my visor." Ami looked a little scared, as if the real danger involved in being a heroine had only just begun to dawn on her. Jupiter put her arm around her shoulder, "Good work." Makoto then smiled down at Ami comfortingly. She looked over to Sailor Moon, "Are we going after her?" "Yes," Sailor Moon said firmly, standing up straight with newly renewed determination. "But how I don't know," Usagi admitted softly. Before anyone could say anything else, a figure walked out of the shadows. "There may be a way," Sailor V said calmly, the two cats cradled in her arms. She smiled over at Ami and Makoto, "Glad to have you here, Mercury and Jupiter. It's good to see you, again." Sailor Moon glared angrily at the slightly surprised Sailor V, barking out "Where were you? We could have been killed!" "I'm sorry," Sailor V said quietly in apology, "I was on my way here when a playground full of children was attacked by one of the monsters." Sailor Moon calmed down a bit, nodding, "Understood." She slumped a bit, then revived, asking "What do you mean, there may be a way?" Rei's eyes slowly opened, and she groaned at the stab of pain from the back of her head. A soft voice said "Ah, at last. I'm glad to see you're awake. I'm very sorry about my servant, she is a little over enthusiastic." Rei gasped, floating in a odd, thick liquid sealed within a clear crystal capsule. Somehow, she could breathe easily, and her whole body tingled strangely. A young man walked into her line of sight, a complete stranger to her, and yet, somehow, he seemed oddly familiar, as if she had known him before. His skin was pale green, and his hair was blue, with two pink tufts on each side of his face. His clothing was all black, edged in gold, with a flower on his breast. "Who are you? Where have you taken me?" Rei asked him angrily. He sighed softly as he said, "I had hoped that part of you might recognize me. This is my home," he said, gesturing around the plant covered grounds, "and I am Fiore." "Let me go!" Rei angrily growled, and she began to punch weakly at the walls surrounding her so completely. Fiore sighed, and tapped the glass once, "Sleep." Rei's eyes closed, and she floated peacefully in the thick fluid. "Do you think your beloved's spirit is within her?" the Kisenian flower asked him quietly, gazing at the floating girl with jealousy in her eyes. "It's strange," Fiore admitted. "Instead of the two spirits I expected to find, there are three within her. The fluid of the healing chamber will awaken all those forces, and I will see if Mamoru's spirit is there." Sailor Moon looked at Sailor V in minor disbelief, along with Mercury and Jupiter. "There is no way," she said firmly. "Sailor V, we can't bring two amateurs into this kind of fight," she said intensely, adding, "It would be totally irresponsible." "We can't teleport after Rei without them," Sailor V said firmly. "It may not even work with four, but we've got to try." "Sailor Moon," Ami said to her gently, "we're already involved. Both I and Makoto have been targets of the negative forces, and we've had to just stand on the sidelines while you and Sailor V protected us. Usagi," she started, then blushed. "You know?" Sailor Moon said to her in surprise. "From the start," Makoto said softly, nodding in agreement. "You need us, Sailor Moon. We can help!" She clenched her fists, and lightning arced around them. "Let us help you both," Ami said softly. Sailor Moon sighed, obviously torn, but finally she nodded. She turned to Sailor V and asked, "How do we make this work?" "Form a circle, hold hands!" Luna instructed. "And sing Kumbaya?" Sailor V asked softly. Artemis shot her a look and she shrugged, "Sorry, couldn't resist." "Focus," Artemis urged them. "Reach deep within yourselves," he said to Ami and Makoto, "find in there what inspired you to fight by Sailor Moon and Sailor V's side, your Senshi nature, and bring it to the surface!" The cats looked on in awe as they all began to glow, and then, strangely, the flickering form of a fifth sailor appeared in their midst, glowing blood red. As the moon emerged from behind clouds, the colors began to rise, reaching upwards, shining brighter and brighter. Loose rocks and stones began to rise from the ground, driven up into the air by the incredible forces. "Sailor..." Artemis started. "... Teleport!" Luna finished. The energy flared, and the Scouts disappeared, only to reappear in space. They traveled by instinct, Sailor Mercury guiding them to the asteroid. As the neared, it unfolded itself open, revealing fields of flower like plants. They tried to come in for a landing, but instead they rammed into the ground. They leaped clear, Sailor V landing gracefully. Mercury and Jupiter staggered a bit, but managed good landings. And Sailor Moon hit the ground on her butt. "Oww!" Sailor Moon groaned, rubbing her sore bottom even as she climbed to her feet. She and the others gazed around them in wonder, as Mercury activated her visor and began to scan their surroundings. "There," Mercury exclaimed, and zoomed in on a circle of standing stones in the distance. In the center of the ring, Rei floated in the crystal chamber, unconscious. "Rei's over there," Mercury said, pointing towards her. "Rei!" Sailor Moon cried out and moved to run over to her, before Sailor V stepped in front of her to stop her. "Be careful," Jupiter cautioned, "it may be a trap!" "Don't be worried about that." Fiore said, rising up from the ground covered in his flowers. They fell away, revealing his serious expression. "I never imagined you could follow my servant," he admitted. "I underestimated you." he said grimly, adding "I am Fiore." "Give our friend back!" Sailor Moon cried angrily. "Maybe I will," Fiore said calmly, "but not now. This asteroid," he said, gesturing around him, "will pass very near the Earth soon. When it does, my plants will release all their seeds on to the world below, transforming all plant life there." "That would destroy our world," Sailor V said to him softly. "Kill every living thing and wipe out all of humanity!" "Good," Fiore answered her coldly. "The one I loved died on that world, so it's inhabitants must pay," he said furiously, eyes glowing red. He shook himself, and turned to walk away. "Venus love-me chain!" Sailor V cried, and her golden heart chain lashed out to try to encircle him! But he stopped it with a gesture, disappearing! "Deal with them," he said, as he faded away. "What did he mean by that?" Sailor Moon asked, surprised. Ami activated her visor, and gasped softly. As the other scouts turned to her, she declared "We're surrounded!" They turned back outward, but saw nothing, looking around wildly even as Ami continued "My god, there's so many..." "Where?" Sailor V said angrily, then her eyes widened as she looked down at the plant covered fields. "Could it be?" They heard soft laughter, then out of the plants a female form appeared, blue skinned with purple hair. Then five, then twenty, until they were surrounded by them. Ami shut her visor down, her eyes wide with shock and fear. "Sailor Moon," Sailor V said crisply, getting their attention and distracting them from their nearly overwhelming fear, "you must cleanse this asteroid with Moon Princess Halation! Jupiter, Mercury and I will cover you!" Rei watched the army of plant creatures advance, and groaned in frustration! She didn't know who the two new scouts were, but even they wouldn't be enough to win! As she frantically beat at the wall, she thought 'My friends are going to die and there's nothing I can do!' "Don't give up," a young man's voice said to her firmly. Rei felt him, more than saw him, a young man standing beside her dressed in black, dark haired and intense. "There is a power within you, that can defeat him!" "Who are you?" Rei asked surprised. "Mamoru, or his spirit, anyway," the young man said with a sad smile. "You were destined to be Sailor Mars, Rei Hino, a defender and champion of Sailor Moon, until that destiny was taken from you by the negaverse. I, also, was meant to protect Sailor Moon, but was slain before I even met her. Together, we may yet save her," Mamoru finished. Rei felt power flow through her, his power, unlocked somehow by Mamoru's spirit, and another power as well! The fire of Mars was hers again, as well as the strength of a prince of Earth. She raised her fist and struck just once, and her prison shattered. "Fiore!" she cried, and charged towards the battle. Sailor Moon groaned softly, swinging her scepter and destroying another dozen creatures. There seemed to be no end to them! Sailor V blasted away, Mercury freezing anyone who got too close, and Jupiter throwing out powerful bolts of lightning, but it seemed to do little good. They just kept on coming! "They will destroy many of our plants," Fiore said calmly, floating above the battle "but they will fall first." Before he could say anymore, he was knocked from the sky, sent rolling among the flowers. "You?!" he said surprised. A maskless Rei Hino said to him softly, "Please, stop this, Fiore! Mamoru wouldn't have wanted this." "Don't say his name!" Fiore roared out angrily. Rei looked into his eyes and realized that he was lost, lost to his grief and his madness, and for a moment she felt terribly sorry for him. But just for a moment. She left him standing there and leapt over to Sailor Moon's side. "Sailor Moon!" Rei said to her firmly, "I think, if I combine my gift with yours, we can end this! Will you help?" Sailor Moon looked into Rei's eyes with absolute and total trust as she answered "Yes!" She raised her scepter above her into the air, instinctively, and cried out "Moon Princess Halation!" Rei lifted her hands around Sailor Moon's on the scepter, and for just a moment, she was dressed in a red sailor fuku just like Sailor Moon's. "Fire Soul!" she cried, and a wave of golden fire arced outward from them! Fiore cried out in pain and horror as it washed over him, consuming both him and his flowers, racing onward from the two of them until it covered the entire asteroid! In moments, only bare rock remained. As the flames died down, Mercury activated her visor, scanning. "The plants have been destroyed," she sighed, relieved. Suddenly, the ground shakes beneath them! "The asteroid is moving away from the Earth," Mercury reported, "and the atmosphere is going!" "Kisenian must have been maintaining it for Fiore," Rei said softly, her tuxedo back in place. 'The fire's gone again,' she thought to herself, then she smiled a bit as she felt something stir within her, 'well, mostly gone.' "We've got to teleport!" Sailor V cried, even as she and the other Senshi instinctively moved to Sailor Moon's side. "But we're exhausted!" Jupiter said. "It was hard enough just getting here!" Sailor Moon looked at Rei and smiled, "But this time we're five." "I'm not Sailor Mars anymore," Rei said, shaking her head. "I think that was a one time only return. But I'll help however I can." They gathered into a circle again, focusing their will and strength together, until they suddenly disappeared form the barren rock. Back on Earth, they returned to where they started out from. "Hey," Sailor V said, surprised. "I wonder where Luna and Artemis got to?" Back at their apartment, Natsuna looked down at the sleeping Luna and the two kittens laying beside her in wonder. "What are you two planning to name them?" she asked Artemis. "One is going to be Diana," the white cat answered her quietly so as to not disturb Luna, nodding to the sleeping little gray ball of fluff curled up beside her. The other kitten is, surprisingly, a bright pink and is full of energy as it playfully tugs on one of Artemis' ears. "And she's going to be Serena." he said, wincing at an extra strong tug. Elsewhere, a little boy lies on his side, curled into a ball as he cries softly. "I'm all alone," Fiore said softly, weeping gently. A hand rests on his shoulder and his face lights up, as Mamoru says "Neither of us are alone, anymore." Fiore gets up eagerly, smiling happily, as is Mamoru. The two little boys slowly walk away together, holding each other's hands. Usagi stopped, and grinned cheerfully as she looked down at the paper. "Five heroes!" the headline read, and the picture below was of the four Sailors and Tuxedo Mask. She didn't need to buy it, Minako had already bought and framed one for Natsuna's 'Sailor V' wall at work. Introducing Minako and Natsuna formally to the others had been a little awkward, Ami and Makoto were a little angry Usagi had kept them from meeting before now, but things were working out. The city was quiet, and there were no new problems on the horizon. Hidden in the shadows, three figures silently watched her walk away. Once she was far enough away, the shorter, sandy hared one asked the other two "Did they win, then?" She reached up and ran her hand through her hair, giving it a messy, boyish look. "Of course, Haruka," the woman with the longest hair answered her coolly. She was taller than the other two by a little, and seemed older, somehow. "They're victory wasn't that certain, Setsuna," the third girl said. She pushed her green hair back, "So, we weren't needed this time?" A young woman walking by smiled suggestively at Haruka, and Michiru took her arm possesively. "Maybe not, Michiru, but I suspect we will be meeting them soon." Setsuna said with a smile. "Again," she added quietly.
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