For those who have missed the story so far, find it at
http://nidoking.anifics.com/Paradox.html
The sidestory begins at the bottom of the page. Shouldn't take long to
catch up. ^_^


The Fall of the Crystal Millennium
A General Time Paradox sidestory
Chapter 2: The Tree of Death

    The jungle was quiet. Deathly quiet, some might say, and they'd be
more correct than they realized. The usual background of insects
chirping and animals shuffling about on the forest floor had been absent
for several months, although not a single human had set foot in the
jungle in that time and lived to tell about it. Any sound made by the
trees that fell was a matter of philosophical debate.
    Then, abruptly, five pairs of feet appeared in the mess of dried
leaves that littered what was otherwise the largest clearing near the
northern edge of the island. The women stood in a circle, holding hands,
as the light that had accompanied their appearance faded, leaving only
the light of the setting sun filtering through the thick foliage to
illuminate them. They opened their eyes simultaneously as if they'd been
rehearsing the trivial motion for weeks and let their hands fall to
their sides.
    "Borneo," Jupiter observed darkly.
    Mercury nodded. "Indeed. I should have suspected from the beginning
that the Tree of Death would be here. This island is known for producing
some of the most unusual species ever seen on Earth. Especially
considering its size, only the Galapagos Islands can come close to
rivaling the amount of evidence of natural selection and -"
    Sailor Moon cut her off as she heard Mars gurgling. "Oh, no! Mars!"
    The Sailor Scout of Fire had covered her mouth as soon as they'd
arrived, and now failed to suppress a grimace as she swallowed the
contents of her bulging cheeks. "I'm all right," she groaned. "But the
aura of this place... it reeks. I don't know if I can take much more of
it."
    Venus pointed at the top of a nearby tree and took careful aim.
"VENUS BINDING HOLD!" she shouted. A thin beam of yellow energy
stretched from her finger to the leaves above, wrapped around one of
them, and carefully plucked it from the tree, then deposited it in her
hand.
    Mars gratefully took the leaf and let a tiny flame burst into life
on her fingertip. She traced the character for "clean" on its surface in
light ash and held it over her mouth. A few deep breaths brought the
color back to her face. "Thanks, Venus."
    Sailor Moon gulped. "The Tree of Death must be incredibly powerful.
Everyone be on your guard. Even if there are no people here for the
spores to infect, there are probably animals that have been infected...
and maybe other things that are under the Death Tree's control."
    The other Scouts nodded, and Mercury pointed toward the center of
the island. "The center of the miasma is there," she reported. "But it's
very thick even this far away, and closer to the tree...."
    Mars held her free hand out, creating a much larger fireball than
the last one. She took the lead, lighting their path into the deeper
jungle. The trees seemed to press in on them from all sides as they left
the stifling but relatively open clearing. If anything were to attack
them here, they'd be hard pressed to find room to maneuver.
    Jupiter's keen senses picked up the sound first. She stepped away
from the group and pointed her open palms into the darkness. "JUPITER
ELECTRIC WEB!" she shouted. Lightning arced from her hands, weaving
around the trees and forming a tight grid of deadly energy. There was a
series of pops as the swarm of insects that were closing in on them
fried and exploded. Jupiter kept the web up for a few more seconds of
silence before releasing her breath and heaving a satisfied sigh. "If
that's the most danger this place has got, we'll be in and out in no
time."
    "The insects aren't under the Tree of Death's control," said
Mercury. "They're merely being affected by its power and driven to
dangerous behavior. And the toxins they're producing are deadlier than
even a scorpion's venom."
    Venus shivered. "I know I wouldn't want an injection of evil power."
    Mercury stiffened and spun around. "Larger animals are coming from
that direction! I think they're orangutans!"
    Jupiter stepped forward to attack, but Sailor Moon held her back.
"Jupiter, no! Not orangutans! Killing bugs is one thing, but...."
    "Let me handle this," Mercury requested. She retracted her visor and
stepped away from the group. "MERCURY FLASH FREEZE!" she shouted,
sending a blast of frigid air through the jungle. The trunks of the
trees in its path crystallized instantly, and the thunder of the
approaching primates ceased. "They'll thaw out once we defeat the Tree
of Death," she announced. "But we should hurry."
    They stepped up their pace, making rapid progress toward the Tree of
Death as the attacks continued to come from all sides. Jupiter
electrocuted dozens of insect swarms, Mercury froze several more packs
of orangutans and other animals, and Venus used her own power to send an
elephant flying when it managed to surprise them from behind.
Surprisingly, the attacks became less and less frequent as they
advanced, but nobody questioned why. They could all see the trees
becoming more withered and lifeless as they closed in on the Death Tree,
and even Mars' impromptu mask could barely hold off the overpowering
evil aura.
    Then, as they passed through a final line of rotten, yellowing
trunks, the Tree of Death came into view. It towered over them in the
middle of a wide space filled with dead trees and the corpses of animals
that had strayed too close. Its trunk was covered in purple moss that
emitted a dull glow in a rhythm that resembled a heartbeat, and its
branches were covered with thick leaves and dangling pods that pulsated
irregularly.
    Mars turned around and threw up at the base of one of the dead
trees.
    "That's it," said Sailor Moon, filling in the silence with her own
voice. "The Tree of Death."
    "It's horrible," whispered Mercury. "This tree... it's responsible
for everything we've had to face. All the people Serena had to purify,
and the unfortunate ones who were lost before we could reach them... it
all came from this tree."
    "It's in pain," said Jupiter. "It's that dark energy... the moss, I
think. It's turned the tree evil. If we can just get rid of it...."
    "I'll take care of it," said Mars. She stood up and took aim at the
tree. "MARS RAGING INFERNO!" she shouted, sending a thin line of fire
toward the tree. As the fire struck, it became a tower of flame
surrounding the trunk, spiraling upward to engulf the leaves and
branches in an instant.
    "No!" shouted Sailor Moon. "You can't just kill it!"
    "We have to do something!" Mars shouted back. "It's killed so many
people!"
    "It's not the tree's fault!"
    "I don't think it will matter anyway," Mercury said flatly. "The
trunk is covered with a flame-retardant sap. Fire won't harm it."
    Mars bit her lip and let the fire burn out. The Tree of Death was
unharmed, but its branches shook as if in anger.
    "Look out!" shouted Jupiter, leaping backward. Sharp roots shot out
of the ground, scratching deep cuts into the Sailor Scouts' skin as they
barely dodged. Mercury was a moment slower, and one of the roots pierced
her lower leg, pinning her in place. Thinking quickly, she grabbed it
and froze it solid, then pulled on it sharply until it shattered. She
limped out of the way as Venus stepped in front of her.
    "VENUS CARING BARRIER!"
    A dome of light surrounded the pair, deflecting the roots that
sought to penetrate it.
    "Mercury, are you okay?" asked Sailor Moon.
    Mercury clutched her leg tightly. "I don't know... there's no
telling what might have been in that root. But I won't be walking
anywhere for a while."
    "I'd heal you, but I don't think the tree's going to give us that
kind of time," said Venus.
    "What can we do if my fire won't hurt it?" asked Mars.
    "Something that doesn't make it any angrier," suggested Jupiter.
"Mercury, any chance you could freeze it?"
    "It wouldn't last long," replied Mercury. "The tree's metabolism is
incredibly fast. It's mutating at an incredible rate."
    "So are the seed pods," said Jupiter. "Look!"
    They all did so. The pods had grown noticeably in the short time
they'd been fighting the tree, and a few of the larger ones were
beginning to show bulges as the spores within threatened to burst the
sacs that contained them.
    "It took us months to cleanse the spores it released last time,"
said Sailor Moon. "If it releases another wave, we might never be able
to control it."
    "Then we'd better hurry up and destroy them," said Mars. She glanced
at Sailor Moon for approval and received an emphatic nod. "Mercury, do
we have anything that can hurt those pods?"
    Mercury shook her head. "Any sudden change in temperature could
cause them to burst prematurely... but they're already mature enough to
spread and infect the world all over again."
    "There's only one way," said Sailor Moon as she raised the Moon
Crystal Wand.
    "No, you can't!" protested Jupiter. "The Death Tree's too strong!
There's no way you could produce enough power to heal it without killing
yourself!"
    "If that's what I have to do...."
    The branches of the Tree of Death shuddered, and two of the smaller
seed pods fell to the Earth. Sailor Jupiter pushed Sailor Moon out of
the way as the first landed at her feet, exploding in a thick cloud of
black gas. The second pod landed on Venus' shield, and the gas that
poured out of it rolled quickly over the impenetrable dome and spread
across the jungle floor.
    Sailor Moon turned around as she managed to break her fall and
quickly redirected her energy toward Jupiter. "CLEANSING MOON CRYSTAL
WAVE!" she shouted, whirling the wand around as she gathered the power
of the Silver Crystal within herself. The energy flowed from the Crystal
embedded within the wand's ornament, washing over Jupiter and thinning
the black mist. Jupiter was on her knees, hacking violently as her lungs
sought to expel the foul poison she'd already inhaled.
    "CLEANSING MOON CRYSTAL WAVE!" Sailor Moon shouted again, blowing
the mist away from Venus and Mercury. Venus relaxed as the immediate
threat vanished, but kept the shield up lest anything else try to attack
the defenseless Mercury.
    "Incoming!" shouted Mars as she raised her hands toward another
falling seed pod. "MARS FIRE IGNITE!" A plume of flame shot upward and
engulfed the sac of spores.
    "Don't!" Mercury tried to warn her, too late.
    The flaming mass broke into pieces as it continued to fall. The
rushing wind quickly extinguished the last of the flames, revealing
dozens of undamaged spores. Mars could only cover her face with her arms
as they landed on and around her. Tiny plumes of black mist wound upward
from the ones that had hit the ground, but the spores that had touched
Mars' body had attached themselves to her flesh and quickly dug their
way in, leaving no wounds as they sealed their entrances behind them.
She clawed frantically at her arms, trying to pry the spores loose, but
they were already inside her. She screamed in terror.
    "She's been infected!" cried Mercury.
    Sailor Moon lifted her wand and performed the move that had cleansed
the other victims of the Tree of Death. "CLEANSING MOON CRYSTAL WAVE!"
The light from the Crystal flowed over Mars, but it didn't stop her
screams, which were no longer spurred by terror, but had become screams
of agony as the spores began their infection, mutating her body into a
Treespawn. The Sailor Scouts had seen the process several times before,
when they'd managed to reach one of the Tree's victims before the
mutation took place, but what was happening to Mars was far more
gruesome. Each part of her body hosted a different spore, and each spore
bred a different kind of monster... all of them in the same hideous
package. Mars' left arm elongated like a rubber band, the hand becoming
a misshapen lump, while her right arm bulged into a scaly mass of muscle
with four twisted, clawed fingers. Her torso expanded, tearing her fuku
into pieces as thick, shaggy fur covered her from neck to waist. Her
right leg snapped as her knee changed direction, turning into a squat
bird's leg, and her left leg shifted upward until it grew out of the
side of her hip, becoming long and thin like a spider's leg. Three new
legs grew to match that one, giving her a clumsy but functional center
of balance. And her head....
    Her head remained as it had always been, a lurid reminder of the
woman who had become the beast. Only her cold, lifeless eyes showed any
trace of the change that had consumed the rest of her body.
    Sailor Moon's eyes darted back and forth between Sailor Mars and her
wand. "I don't understand. Why didn't it work?"
    "She's been infected by more than one spore," said Mercury. "The
infection is too strong, even though she hadn't finished changing yet.
I'm afraid we'll have to fight her."
    Sailor Moon gasped. "No! We can't! Not Sailor Mars!"
    "We don't have a choice!" Mercury shouted back. "You saw the effect
that the miasma has on her. Now it's inside her body! If we don't
cleanse it quickly, it could kill her!"
    Sailor Moon choked back a sob. "But... I can't...!"
    "Mars! You can fight it!" shouted Venus. "I know you can beat the
evil!"
    Mars' aborted cries resumed, but they had become mere yelps as she
finally regained her senses enough to look down and see for the first
time the thing she had become. Then large veins bulged from her face as
the spores began to work their way up to her brain, fighting each other
for control of her mind. Mars bit her lip and shut her eyes tightly,
drawing her claws across her chest. As she tore her breasts open, the
blood that poured forth was pitch black, and dark smoke rose from the
fur that it touched.
    "What's she doing?" asked Venus.
    "She knows she can't hold off the infection forever," replied
Mercury. "She's trying to weaken herself so that Sailor Moon can change
her back."
    "But if she does that, the spores will take over her mind! She'll be
a real Treespawn!"
    Mars' jaw jutted outward, and she threw her head back in a scream of
rage.
    "You have to do something, Sailor Moon!" shouted Venus. "I can't let
go of my barrier, or -"
    "Go. Help her," commanded Mercury. "I'll be fine."
    "But -!" Venus turned to look at Jupiter, who was still trying to
get to her feet. Every time she started to rise, another bout of
coughing wracked her so violently that she fell back to the ground.
    "After Mars is cleansed, she'll be very weak," warned Mercury.
"You'll need to use your healing powers to keep her alive until she
regains her strength. I won't be able to fight with my leg in this
condition anyway, so whether I'm conscious or not won't matter."
    Venus started to protest that her concern wasn't for Mercury's
consciousness, but for her life. However, before she could get out a
single word, Mars growled again, this time a deep, echoing sound from
within her gut. Her eyes popped open, bright circles of red that bored
into the souls of the other Scouts as they helplessly stared back.
    Then, she charged, scuttling toward Sailor Moon with incredible
speed that belied the clumsy appearance of her lopsided legs. Even
before she'd closed the distance, her elongated arm swung around,
forcing Sailor Moon to duck as it passed through the space where her
head had been. Letting the upper half of her body swivel with the
motion, Mars spun easily around and brought her claws down, nearly
slicing Sailor Moon's head off. It was only Sailor Moon's quick reaction
that saved her as she parried with the Moon Crystal Wand. Sparks flew as
Mars' claws scraped against the handle of the wand, sliding down until
they came to rest against Sailor Moon's fingers. Sailor Moon knocked the
clawed hand away and pulled her arms in close, squeezing her left hand
to control the flow of blood trickling from the wound. And that had only
been from a brief touch....
    Mars' mouth opened, and she coughed up black blood, singeing a large
hole in Sailor Moon's shoulder. Sailor Moon frantically kicked the beast
away, pressing a hand to the wound. It came away burnt.
    "The dark aura is killing her from within," Mercury sobbed, feeling
the first tears in the corners of her eyes. "She can't go on like that."
She gasped as she felt Venus' lips on her calf. The healing power took
effect instantly, slowly sealing up the wound. "Venus, what are you
doing? You must help Sailor Mars!"
    The ground shook, and Mercury quickly pressed her palm to the ground
in the direction of the tree. "MERCURY FLASH FREEZE!" she shouted. The
ground frosted and shattered into thousands of shards, revealing the
frozen ends of the roots that had been about to attack while Venus'
barrier was down.
    Venus didn't flinch, keeping the Healing Kiss active despite all
that was going on around her.
    Mercury pried Venus away from her leg. "Don't worry about me!" she
shouted. "If anything, go heal Sailor Jupiter so she can help fight! You
have to defeat Sailor Mars quickly, or the spores will kill her from
within!"
    "What if it drops more seed pods?" asked Venus, wiping the blood
from her mouth on the back of her arm. Mercury's wound still went clear
through her leg, and she wouldn't be able to stand without snapping her
tibia. "You won't be able to get away!"
    "I don't think it will," replied Mercury. "It needs those spores to
spread. If it wastes them all attacking us, we'll be able to dispense
with the tree itself, take our time healing, then track down the few
spores that remain before they have a chance to take root."
    "Well, I'm at least healing this until you can stand on it," Venus
insisted. She bent down and returned to her healing work. Mercury sighed
and resigned to let her finish uninterrupted so that she could get on to
healing the others who needed her help.
    Meanwhile, Mars had gotten back to her feet. She charged toward the
nearest living target, Sailor Jupiter, who was still grappling with her
tainted air supply. Sailor Moon tackled her before she could strike, and
the two wrestled for a few seconds until Mars' long arm wrapped around
Sailor Moon's throat and started to choke her.
    Mercury gasped. "Venus, I know you're concerned about me, but Sailor
Moon's in trouble!"
    Venus sat up and examined Mercury's wound again. It didn't look much
better than it had before, but the bone was starting to heal at last.
She didn't like the thought of leaving a half-healed wound open, but at
least the parts that had originally been exposed had healed over. "Keep
that clean," she advised. "I'll be right back to finish healing it."
    "Don't worry about me," Mercury repeated. "I can take care of
myself." She placed her hands over each side of the wound and sprayed
water liberally over the exposed tissues, wincing at the sudden sting.
    Venus took aim while she ran across the battlefield and launched a
single attack at Mars. "VENUS CRESCENT BEAM SMASH!" The beam of light
struck Mars in the face with enough force to make her lose her grip just
long enough to allow Sailor Moon to slip away. Without stopping to see
her success, Venus slid to a stop in front of Jupiter and planted a kiss
right on her lips, forcing her healing power into Jupiter's lungs before
she could cough again.
    It only took a few seconds for Jupiter to push Venus away and stand
up, red-faced but as strong as ever. "So what do we do about Sailor
Mars?" she asked.
    "You'll have to weaken her until Sailor Moon's healing power will
work," replied Venus.
    "Aren't you going to help?" asked Jupiter.
    "I have to finish healing Sailor Mercury," said Venus. "And then
I'll have to heal Mars as well, once she's back to normal. I don't know
how much energy that'll take, but I don't want to run out."
    "Good call," agreed Jupiter. "In that case, leave it to me!" She
charged into battle, electricity crackling around her. "JUPITER STUN
SHOCK!" A high-voltage blast of electricity surged into Mars, throwing
her away from Sailor Moon and pinning her to the ground.
    Venus raced back across the clearing toward Sailor Mercury, but the
fallen Scout shouted a warning. "Venus, more pods are falling!"
    Venus turned her eyes to the sky and spotted the pods bearing down
on her and the others. She pointed at the nearest one. "VENUS BINDING
HOLD!" she shouted, shooting a beam of light that wrapped around the pod
and held it in place, preventing it from hitting the ground and
releasing its toxin. She quickly swept the beam through the sky,
snagging all of the falling pods.
    "Well done, Sailor Venus!" cheered Mercury. "Now, just get rid of
them!"
    Venus hauled back and hurled the seed pods over the tops of the
distant trees, far enough that their poisonous gas wouldn't be able to
harm the fighters. She waited, but the Tree of Death didn't seem
inclined to waste any more of its precious children in such a futile
attack. Feeling edgy but concerned about her partner, Venus bent down
and returned to healing Mercury's wound.
    Jupiter stood over Mars' fallen form as she tried to stand up. "I'm
sorry, but I have to do this." She dealt Mars a swift kick, flipping her
onto her front, then planted a boot firmly in Mars' back. "JUPITER
THUNDER CRASH!" Lightning shot through Mars, frying her from the inside
out. Smoke began to rise from her body, and she screamed until her
throat convulsed and disgorged nearly a gallon of black blood all over
the ground in front of her.
    "Stop it!" shouted Sailor Moon, rubbing her own throat where Mars
had nearly crushed it. "You're killing her!"
    "It has to be done," said Jupiter. "Just a little more. Until you
can restore her to normal...."
    "That's enough! My power won't do anything if she dies!"
    "I'm not gonna kill her. Just making sure she can't fight back
anymore." She broke her attack and stepped back, leaving Mars prone and
unmoving. "Do it now. If she's not weak enough now...."
    Sailor Moon drew the Moon Crystal Wand before Jupiter could finish
her thought. "CLEANSING MOON CRYSTAL WAVE!" she shouted, sending the
power of the Silver Crystal into Sailor Mars once again. Spouts of blood
shot up as Mars' body began to shrink in on itself.
    Mercury heaved a sigh of relief. "It's working."
    "Just a little longer," said Venus.
    Mars screamed and writhed in pain.
    "Something's wrong!" said Jupiter. "It never did that before!"
    Sailor Moon quickly broke off her attack. "Sailor Mars!" she
shouted. "What's happening to you?"
    Mars stumbled to her feet, spilling blood everywhere as she rose
into an unsteady stance, preparing to attack as soon as she could gather
the energy.
    "The spores are too strong," said Mercury. "Even in her weakened
state, Sailor Moon's power can't heal her."
    "Well, I can't weaken her any more than she is already," said
Jupiter. "She may be on her feet now, but you could probably kill her
with a feather."
    Venus sat up. "Done!"
    Mercury pulled her healed leg in and let Venus help her to her feet.
"Thank you. But I don't think it matters anymore. We've lost Sailor
Mars."
    Venus shook her head. "No, there has to be a way to save her!"
    Mars lurched forward, brandishing her claw threateningly and
roaring.
    Jupiter charged up an electric blast and prepared to meet Mars
head-on. "Well, if we can't heal her...."
    "No!" shouted Sailor Moon, leaping in front with her arms spread
wide, as if inviting Mars to attack her. "Even if she's become a
Treespawn, she's still Sailor Mars! As long as she's alive, there's
still hope! I won't let her die!"
    Seeing her cue, Mars charged at her in a berserk fury. Sailor Moon
stood still as Mars bore down on her, trusting the humanity still in
Mars to stop her at the last minute. It always worked that way. There
was always that last vestige of something in the minds of the
humans-turned-Treespawn that held them back when they were about to kill
a loved one. She'd only seen it fail once, in a woman whose husband had
been abusing her through their entire marriage... or so she'd been told.
The knowledge hadn't made it any easier to bear. But Mars would overcome
the power within her. Her spirit had always been strong. Then again,
she'd shown an unusual vulnerability to the aura of the Tree of Death,
and her body was weak from all the fighting earlier. Perhaps... she
wouldn't make it.
    As the claws of death bore down on her and she stared into the
soulless eyes of the monster that had once been her trusted companion,
for the first time in her life, Sailor Moon truly experienced doubt. Her
knees started to buckle, and it was all she could do to remain standing
as the truth became clear. Her faith in her friend had failed her;
Sailor Mars would not stop.
    It was then, as she prepared to face her final moment, that she felt
the rainbow energy washing over her. Mars charged blindly through it,
but Sailor Moon ignored that threat as her blood froze with a completely
different kind of horror. "No... it couldn't be...."
    "RAINBOW CRYSTAL MOON ENERGY!" came the familiar battle cry of
Sailor Crystal Moon, sending a powerful rainbow-colored wave through the
clearing. It threw Mars to the ground, and she screamed yet again, but
this time her body quickly shrank and returned to its normal shape, her
body and hair matted with blood. The black pools in the clearing where
she had bled turned bright red as even the tainted blood was purified.
    Sailor Venus wasted no time in charging to Mars' aid. She threw
herself on top of the dying Scout to maximize their body contact and
planted a Healing Kiss on her lips, abandoning all reserve in her haste
to pump as much healing energy through Mars as she could. Mercury kept
her eyes on the Tree of Death and her hands on the ground, hoping to
anticipate any attacks while their guard was otherwise down. Jupiter
prepared to face whatever danger might come their way next - the battle
had proven wildly unpredictable so far.
    Sailor Moon, however, seemed to have forgotten about the battle
entirely. She ran to the edge of the clearing, calling the name of the
one who had rescued them. "Rini!"
    The buxom pink-haired woman leapt down from the treetops to stand in
front of her mother. "Before you say anything, remember that I just
saved your life again."
    The visions flashed through Sailor Moon's mind in rapid succession,
all the horrible images that had haunted her dreams. "I told you not to
come here."
    Rini put her hands on her hips. "Yeah, I caught that. I was
wondering why you kept encouraging me to go on missions with you all
this month, and why you suddenly wanted me to be Sailor Crystal Moon
when you usually keep telling me to go home and never get involved in
your battles again. Then I figured it out... you wanted me to waste my
power so I wouldn't be able to get here. Well, I wasn't going to miss
the big battle for anything. You NEED me."
    Sailor Moon glared at her yet-to-be-born daughter with equal parts
love and venom. "Rini, I did that to protect you. Don't you understand?
Uranus and Neptune told me that something horrible would happen if you
came to this place!"
    Rini met Sailor Moon's gaze without flinching. "I don't care what
Sailor Pluto told them to tell you. You're the one who taught me to have
faith in every situation. I believe in Planet Power, and I believe in
destiny. Everything's going to be fine."
    "Everything will NOT be fine!" shouted Sailor Moon. "Don't you
understand that? You're going to die!"
    "Like you were about to before I saved you?" countered Rini. "Look,
we've been through this speech a hundred times before. I know you don't
care what happens to you as long as I'm safe. BUT I DO. I know exactly
how you feel about me risking my life all the time, because I feel the
same way about you. You may not have given birth to me yet, but you're
still my mother, and every day, you remind me more and more of the woman
who sent me to the past to become who I am now."
    "And you're like a daughter to me," said Sailor Moon, raising her
hands to Rini's cheeks. "I couldn't bear it if anything happened to
you."
    "But the world needs you... a lot more than it needs me. I can only
be Sailor Crystal Moon once a month. If I was the only one who could hea
l Treespawn, there'd be hundreds of Tree of Death seedlings in every
country in the world, getting ready to spread millions of spores and
infect every living thing on Earth. The world needs YOUR power."
    Sailor Moon shook her head vigorously. "I'll never accept that
anyone should have to sacrifice their lives, even for the good of the
world! You know that!"
    "I don't intend to die here," Rini asserted. "But it happens to
everyone someday... except you guys. I can't stay a Sailor Scout forever
like you guys can. At least, not anymore. I'll live a really long time,
but even I'm not immortal. I know I'll be dead by the time I'm born in
the future, or else there'd have been two of me. But right here, and
right now, you needed my power, and I was here to use it. That's all
that matters."
    Sailor Moon started to say something else, but Rini threw her aside
as several roots burst out of the ground where they'd been standing.
Sailor Moon gasped in shock, fearing that Rini had been impaled, but the
younger girl was lying on top of her, completely unharmed. She had to
take a deep breath and remind herself that Rini wasn't dead yet, and
another to remind herself that Rini was NOT going to die. She'd prepared
too carefully for this day to let Uranus and Neptune's warning be in
vain.
    "You'd better snap out of it, Mom," said Rini. "That tree's not
going to wait forever to start spreading its spores again, and if you're
not paying attention, it'll kill all of us first."
    "MERCURY FLASH FREEZE!" shouted Mercury, freezing the roots that
threatened Venus and Mars. "Sailor Moon, hurry! Those seed pods could
burst at any moment!"
    Sailor Moon stood up, quickly brushed off her fuku, and raised the
Moon Crystal Wand. "Rini, get out of here now! There's no telling what
might happen, and you're out of power!"
    "I'm four hundred years old," Rini reminded her. "Even if I've still
got the body of a teenager, I'm old enough to take care of myself."
    Sailor Moon didn't have time to argue. "CLEANSING MOON CRYSTAL
WAVE!" Bright light poured out of the crystal and washed over the tree,
making the dark moss pulsate even more sporadically.
    Mercury heaved a sigh of relief. "Finally, it's over."
    Mars turned, dislodging Venus from her perch, and groaned. "No...
it's still...."
    As the light from Sailor Moon's attack faded, the moss darkened even
more until it was black with deep purple undertones. It began to spread
as they watched, covering what little bare bark remained until the tree
could no longer be seen beneath the thick coating of evil.
    "Impossible!" cried Mercury. "It's growing stronger!"
    Mars sat up. "It's feeding on the tree.... You have to destroy the
moss all at once, or it'll just keep growing."
    Sailor Moon slumped. "I don't have that much energy in me!"
    There was a loud CRACK from the top of the Tree of Death. Everyone
looked up to see that one of the larger seed pods had split open.
    "We're too late!" shouted Sailor Moon.
    "Not yet!" Mercury shouted back. "Quickly! Use your power to hold it
at bay!"
    Sailor Moon nodded and braced herself for a difficult battle.
"CLEANSING MOON CRYSTAL WAVE!"
    Once again, the light flowed forth, bathing the tree in its harsh
glow. The Sailor Scouts watched with bated breath, waiting for the moss
to recede. But there was no change as the seconds passed. The seed pods
remained intact, not discharging their deadly payload, but the tree
showed no other sign of the influence of Sailor Moon's power.
    "How long can she keep that up?" asked Mars, as Venus returned to
applying her Healing Kiss to the various wounds that remained on her
body. Mars pushed her away. "That's really disturbing."
    "You're still badly injured," said Venus. "You were on the brink of
death just then."
    "I'll be fine," replied Mars, forcing herself to her feet.
    Jupiter shook her head. "She's never going to beat it on her own.
She's just stalling for time now... and I don't know what good that's
going to do. Any word from Uranus and Neptune?"
    "We're right here," said Uranus as the Gate opened at the edge of
the clearing. "We barely got to the last one in time, but we destroyed
it before it could take root. Once you're done getting rid of the spores
that are still on the tree, it's all over."
    "Is Sailor Moon all right?" asked Neptune. "Her power doesn't appear
to be having any effect."
    "She's used a lot of it recently," said Mars. "And that moss is full
of evil."
    "Are you breathing okay now?" asked Jupiter.
    Mars nodded. "I think Sailor Moon's containing the aura, for now.
But after she's spent that much energy keeping the aura at bay, there's
not enough energy left to purify the tree. She's losing ground, and it's
only a matter of time before it overpowers her and breaks free."
    "And with it, the spores..." added Mercury.
    "Is there anything we can do?" asked Neptune, staring up at the Tree
of Death. "Would our powers even affect it?"
    "No," said Rini determinedly. "But mine would."
    "You just used your power to heal Sailor Mars," Venus reminded her.
"You can't transform into Sailor Crystal Moon again for another month."
    "That's just because using the Rainbow Crystal takes all of my
energy," explained Rini. "But what if you guys all gave me your energy,
like you did when we made the Rainbow Crystal? That might be enough to
let me change one more time."
    "Will that work?" asked Mars, turning to Mercury.
    Mercury considered it. "Well, if it does, it would leave all of us
as powerless as Rini for one month. We'd all revert to our mortal forms,
and we'd age during that time... and we could die very easily. But I
don't think we have a choice. Sailor Crystal Moon's power may be the
only thing that can heal the Tree of Death."
    Sailor Moon tried to protest, to order Uranus and Neptune to get
Rini to a safe place, but it was all she could do to keep her waning
energy focused on the tree.
    "Well, you can't hurt what you don't try," said Venus.
    Uranus sighed. "What she said. Let's do it."
    The Sailor Scouts gathered around Rini and linked hands. Rini held
the Rainbow Crystal Scepter aloft and focused all of her thoughts on it.
"Rainbow Crystal, Activate!" she chanted. "CRYSTAL MOON RAINBOW POWER!"
Ribbons of rainbow-colored light fountained from the crystal and
surrounded her while she transformed. The Sailor Scouts felt the power
drain from their bodies as the Rainbow Crystal drew it out of them to
fuel Rini's transformation. When the light vanished, Sailor Crystal Moon
stood in the center of the ring of mortal women, filling the uniform
exactly as her mother had so many centuries ago. Amarah caught herself
wondering how the girl would look once she had finally passed through
puberty and developed the hourglass figure that all the others had...
but for a split second, Pluto's message came back to her, and she
remembered that this was destined to be Rini's last battle. She hung her
head and waited to see what would come of the cruel inevitability of
fate.
    Sailor Moon shrieked as the energy surrounding the Tree of Death
flared, throwing her to the ground. Raye collapsed as the dark aura
slammed into her, but the others were more concerned with the seed pods.
Free of Sailor Moon's influence, the containers burst, and their
hundreds of spores flew into the sky in all directions, slowly making
their way toward as many living beings as they could infect.
    Mina raised her arm. "Venus Binding Hold!" she shouted. Nothing
happened. She stared at her finger and blushed. "Oh, yeah. I'm not a
Sailor Scout anymore!"
    Sailor Crystal Moon fidgeted nervously, looking up into the sky,
then at the Tree of Death. "What do I do? If I purify the spores, I
won't have enough energy left to heal the tree!"
    "Get the spores!" ordered Amarah. "It'll take the tree more than a
month to make more spores, but if the ones it's already made get out
into the world, we can't heal them in this state!"
    Sailor Crystal Moon nodded and aimed the Rainbow Crystal Scepter
into the sky. "RAINBOW CRYSTAL MOON ENERGY!" she shouted, sending waves
of rainbow energy into the atmosphere. The light quickly filled the sky,
enveloping all of the floating spores in its warmth. The spores crumbled
to dust within seconds.
    Rini quickly lowered the scepter and pointed it at the Tree of
Death, but the light faded quickly, and her uniform became her casual
jumper. She quickly backed away from the tree and returned to the group.
    The moss glowed brightly, and the former Sailor Scouts heard a deep
voice in their heads. "FOOLS! YOU HAVE PLAYED BRILLIANTLY INTO MY PLAN."
    "Was that the Tree of Death?" asked Michelle, scanning the clearing
for any sign of another entity from which the voice could have come.
    "POWERLESS... I CAN MAKE MORE SPORES AT MY LEISURE, AN ARMY TO
CONSUME THE WORLD, ONCE I HAVE DEALT WITH THOSE WHO WOULD HAVE HAD THE
POWER TO STOP ME."
    Sailor Moon weakly sat up and looked up at the tree. "Is it talking
to me? Did we beat it?" she asked deliriously.
    "YOU WILL GO FIRST," said the Tree of Death, "WHILE THE OTHERS
WATCH."
    Roots rose from the ground, wrapping around the arms and legs of
each woman before she could react. Only Rini managed to escape their
clutches, as she was already running across the clearing toward her
helpless mother. She rolled and shoved Sailor Moon aside as a root shot
up where she had been, just missing them both, but the rough wood curved
and snaked downward, aiming at Sailor Moon again. Rini barely had time
to stand up before it impaled her back. She grabbed the root as it burst
through her chest from behind, holding it tightly to prevent it from
reaching its intended target. Only the shower of blood from the exit
wound got past her guard, spraying all over her horrified mother.
    Sailor Moon screamed. "RINI!"
    Rini smiled. "It's okay. You're safe. I wouldn't let it hurt you."
    "No! Please, God, no! Don't let this happen!" She shook her
daughter's body. "Rini, I told you not to come here! I did everything I
could! Don't tell me it wasn't enough!"
    Rini coughed up blood, turning her head so she wouldn't stain her
mother's face with it. "You're right. I disobeyed you again, and this is
my punishment." She stared into Sailor Moon's eyes as the sparkle in her
own eyes began to fade. "But if it means you can live... then it's worth
it. Everything's worth it."
    "No! I won't let you die for me! I won't let you!" Sailor Moon took
Rini in her arms and pulled her down, driving the sharp tip of the root
into her breast. She held Rini close in a hug, squeezing her tighter and
tighter. "I won't let you go! I won't let you go!"
    Rini's lips brushed Sailor Moon's cheek. "Don't be sad. This is the
way I wanted it to be. You'll beat the Tree of Death, and you'll be
okay, and everyone I love will be saved." Her arms fell to Sailor Moon's
sides in the closest thing to a hug that she could manage. "To be like
this... at the end... in your arms... I'm so happy...."
    Sailor Moon felt her arms sink into Rini's body as it began to fade,
and she frantically grasped at Rini's clothes as if to hold her in
place. "Don't go! Rini, don't you die! I want you to live!" But her
fingers closed around nothing more than a memory. Within seconds, there
was nothing left of her daughter but a thousand tiny spots of light
floating into the air, and the blood running down the root and into the
wound in her chest. The warmth of that blood and the energy in it ran
through her body, filling her with the beauty and love of the lost young
life. It was disgusting to her. Sailor Moon's arms slowly lowered until
her hands met, right atop the wound. "Rini...."
    Mina sobbed, finally breaking the silence of horror that had
descended on the others. "If only I were still Sailor Venus... I could
have healed her!"
    "You've got to move, Sailor Moon!" shouted Amarah. "It's going to
attack you again!"
    Sailor Moon's fingers closed around the bloody root that had claimed
her daughter's life. She blinked away her tears and had to force herself
to breathe. "This thing... this monstrosity, even too low to be called a
thing... what gives you the right?" Emotions stirred within her, a
torrential force, and her fingers clenched, snapping the root like a
toothpick. The severed tip crumbled into black ash, settling into her
wound. She could feel what was welling up inside her, and she fought
vainly to hold it back, but the emotions were too powerful. She couldn't
stop herself, especially not for its sake. For the one that had
destroyed her daughter, even death was too kind a fate. There was
nothing she could do to punish it enough. What little retribution she
had would not so much as scar the horrid mass of its sin, but she would
give it everything she had. It seethed, then boiled, then exploded
within her, every second doubling its intensity without bound. The Moon
Crystal Wand was in her hands, and it became the outlet for her rage...
a tiny tap in a universe-sized keg. The force of the gushing emotion
would be more powerful than the fabric of reality could allow. Not even
Sailor Moon herself could stand in its wake.
    She opened her eyes and saw the crystal in front of her face, its
normally gleaming surface light-absorbing black. But she had already
released the energy. "DARK MOON ANNIHILATION!" shouted a voice that was
not hers but came from deep within her. A column of darkness descended
upon the Tree of Death, and its voice didn't have time to scream as the
darkness consumed it. The column flared over and over, emitting
prominences of darkness as it devoured everything within. It drew the
very life out of the clearing, and the huddled women curled into balls
as the darkness tore and sucked at them, swallowing their souls without
coming close. The roots that bound them died, shriveled, and
disintegrated as the Tree of Death absorbed the full force of the
terrifying power: the torture of Sailor Moon's soul multiplied and
multiplied again and exacted upon the Tree of Death for an eternity.
    And then it was over. The darkness lifted, and the Silver Crystal
returned to normal. Sailor Moon let her arms fall to the ground,
completely exhausted. She didn't even have the energy to throw up, but
if she had, she would have done it a thousand times and still not felt
clean. She didn't have the energy to cry, but the tears poured forth
anyway, washing away the last of Rini's energy that had remained within
her. It was gone, now... spent in that burst of rage that had eradicated
the Tree of Death and Sailor Crystal Moon with it. She would never see
her daughter again, and now she would never feel her love again either.
She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself, full of a filth that
could never be washed away.
    Mina was the first one to make it to Sailor Moon's side. She fell to
her knees and embraced Sailor Moon warmly. "I'm so sorry.... Are you all
right?"
    "Let go of me," ordered Sailor Moon, without a trace of sorrow.
    Mina sat up quickly. "I know. It hurts. I loved Rini too... but she
was so much more than that to you."
    Sailor Moon shook her head. "No. That's not it at all." She sat up,
and Mina could see how much she was shaking. "I just lashed out with the
power of the Moon... in anger."
    Mina sat down next to Sailor Moon. Something told her that she was
about to say something she shouldn't, but it wasn't Rini's death that
had Sailor Moon so upset. "Anyone would be angry. The tree killed your
daughter."
    "But Planet Power isn't a tool of anger. It's a tool for love." She
cast her eyes to the ground. "Look at the Moon, Sailor Venus."
    Mina looked up, and heard the startled gasps as the others did the
same. The Moon was in its waning gibbous phase, but the shadowed
crescent wasn't the only part of the Moon that was dark. The large black
spot along the circular curve of the Moon's left side was even darker
than the surrounding night sky, and pulsated just as the moss on the
Tree of Death had.
    "W-what is that?" stammered Mina, unable to take her eyes off it.
    "It is the taint of anger upon the Moon," replied Sailor Moon. "A
pool of hatred that will forever breed darkness. A cesspit from which
monsters are born."
    Mina looked down at Sailor Moon and blinked in surprise. "You can
tell all that?"
    "The Moon weeps. I can feel its pain." Sailor Moon clasped her hands
over her heart, and a tiny droplet of water landed on them. "I should
never have... but it is too late. The damage cannot be undone." She
stood up, and her clothing flickered for an instant before becoming a
long, flowing white dress. "The Moon has lost two warriors this day."
    Raye ran to her side. "Sailor Moon, what do you -?"
    "I am Sailor Moon no more," she replied darkly.
    "Serena?"
    She shook her head. "That one was pure and wholesome. This taint is
not hers; she should not have to bear it. I, Serenity, will be the one
to live under its curse."
    Amy gasped. "Are you... a new personality?"
    Serenity nodded slowly. "Indeed. The shock of losing her daughter
has caused Serena's mind to repress itself. I do not know whether she
will ever be able to return."
    "Idiots!" snapped Amarah. The others turned around to see her on one
knee with her head bowed. "She's our queen! Show some respect!"
    Michelle had also genuflected already, but the others were quick to
follow, expecting to hear Serenity tell them to rise at any moment.
After a few seconds of silence, they looked up expectantly, but she kept
her regal gaze on them without flinching. Finally, she bade them stand
with a slight wave and turned to the gaping crater where the Tree of
Death had stood. With a quick underhand toss, she threw the Moon Crystal
Scepter into the crater, where it vanished into a column of silver
light.
    "What's going to happen now?" asked Lita.
    "The decay began here," replied Serenity. "So, too, the healing must
begin here." She turned her eyes to the sky and looked at the Moon for
the first time since she'd unleashed her dark power. "Then we must go
there. We must always be prepared to protect the world from the monsters
I created."
    "Go there?" repeated Mina. "You mean to the Moon?"
    "In one month," confirmed Serenity. "When you have all recovered
your powers, we will all go to the Moon together. The power gathered
here will restore the Moon Kingdom to its former glory. We will create a
New Moon Kingdom on the ruins of what once was."
    Raye gasped. "But if you do that...!"
     "I no longer deserve to be Sailor Moon." Serenity turned around and
looked up at the Moon again. "It seems that the only evil I could not
defeat... was the evil within myself." She cast her eyes downward and
shook her head. "No, the New Moon Kingdom will be a haven of peace. I
will make sure of that. We will strike down the monsters as soon as they
form, and the Moon will be open to any who seek a peaceful life. My
kingdom will prosper as the Earth always has... and to do that, the
Planet Power of the Moon must return to the Moon."
    "You're serious," said Amarah. "You're seriously going to give up
being Sailor Moon forever?"
    "That... was not my decision," said Serenity, staring into the
column of light. "It was Serena's."
    "Serena's? But she -"
    "It was her last thought. Her final wish." A single tear fell from
her eye. "But I, too, dreamed of a world where the Sailor Scouts would
no longer be needed. Yet after three hundred years, we are no closer to
that goal. I think she and I both realized that it will never happen.
She does not wish to see that world."
    "That's not true!" shouted Amy. "Serena would never give up like
that!"
    Serenity did not reply. Instead, she clasped her hands in prayer.
"One month," she said again. "And may the Moon have mercy on our souls."
*************************************************
    Serenity awoke abruptly, sitting up in bed with her mouth wide open
in a silent scream. Darien was already awake, gently rubbing her back.
"That dream again?"
    She nodded.
    "I know. It hasn't been easy for me either.... I wish I'd realized
back then that it was the only chance I'd ever have to see my daughter
grow up."
    Serenity would have burst into tears if she'd had any left in her.
Instead, she had to content herself with throwing her arms around him
and holding him tight.
    "You don't have to be ashamed," he said soothingly, mistaking her
intentions. "We all loved her very much, and I know you loved her more
than anyone else. I can only imagine how much it must have hurt you,
having to make that decision on your own. I don't even know whether I
could have done it myself. I've always known you were strong, but... I
don't know if all the strength in the Moon Kingdom could add up to what
it must have taken you."
    He paused, giving way to an uncomfortable silence.
    "I'm sorry," he said at last. "I'm a horrible husband. You need my
support, and I have no idea what to say."
    Serenity pulled away from him and stared up into his face, her eyes
wide open. She slowly shook her head no before returning to his warm
embrace. He wasn't a horrible husband at all, and there was nothing she
needed him to say. Even if she had lost her voice, she could communicate
that much.
    "Your people are worried about you," said Darien. "I'm worried too,
but at least I understand what's happened. They don't know why you've
shut yourself in. I think we need to tell them the truth."
    Serenity nodded. It would not be the full truth, of course; they
could never speak of what had really happened to Rini, but they had a
story prepared for when this moment inevitably came. Serenity had always
believed that she would be the one to deliver it, but nobody could have
foreseen that the shock would have made her lose her voice. At a time
like this, she was grateful for Darien's strength to do what she could
not.
    It wasn't just her voice that she'd lost, though. There was one
other thing she couldn't do. She'd lived for centuries unable to forgive
her future self for having left Rini in the past to die. Now, she
finally understood why she had done it - to spare Rini from what the
future would have in store for her - but she still couldn't forgive
herself. In that respect, too, it was only Darien's support that held
her together. She wanted so much to tell him that, tell him why she
needed him so much at that moment, but it wasn't enough to bring her
voice back.
    Mute, emotionally torn, and so full of self-loathing that, were her
husband to release her too soon, she might well kill herself with the
first thing she could lay her hands on. What kind of Queen was she?
*************************************************
    Sailor Mars stretched her hands out to either side, just to feel the
reassuring pressure as Jupiter and Mercury took them. It was a brief
pause while the monsters regrouped to renew their attack, and it
wouldn't last long. They had to take advantage of it while they could.
    Mercury raised her free hand, and rain poured from above, washing
from their uniforms the blood and bile that hadn't yet caked into
stains. They turned their faces to the sky and let the water fall on
them, but mere water couldn't scrub away the ravages of the battle that
would never end.
    Jupiter reached up to wipe some of the congealed crud from her face
and stared down into the ooze that continued to produce new monsters
even as the survivors of the previous attacks bided their time, waiting
for more of their infinite supply of reinforcements to rise from the
sludge. "Are you guys ready?" she asked.
    "I sure hope the queen gets herself together soon," said Mars. "We
can't keep holding this perimeter forever."
    "I can't imagine what she must be going through for the Sea of Rage
to be this active," said Mercury. "She has a terrible burden to bear. We
must shoulder ours as best we can and support her until she can defeat
the monsters within herself."
    Mars nodded solemnly.
    With a roar, the monsters surged toward the edge of the crater, and
without another word, the three Sailor Scouts spread out to fight them
back once again. Fire, lightning, and ice tore through the sea of
monsters, and every kind of darkness imaginable continued to swarm out
of it, seeking escape into the world of light to sow more of the fear
and hatred that sustained them.
    But it was all nothing compared to the war that was soon to begin on
Earth.

--------------------------------------------------------

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