Act 22 - Assault / Black Lady

Originally appeared in Nakayoshi, January 1994.
Translated by Kurozuki (manga@kurozuki.com). Version 1.0, 7.96.

Do not link directly to this page. Do not redistribute this translation in any form, such as by posting it on another web site.

"The black crescent moon on her forehead... The sign of the Black Moon... The queen of Nemesis, Black Lady!? Can... Can that really be Chibi-Usa!?"

"She's awakened in that form!? Small Lady!?"

"Chibi-Usa!?" Usagi calls. "It's not you, is it!?"

The Luna-P ball beeps on the ground. "Small Lady... Small Lady..."

The woman turns and blasts the ball. "Noisy toy."

"Chibi-Usa!?"

Ami picks the broken ball up. "Luna-P..."

"Small Lady!" says King Endymion. "Wake up!"

"It's useless," says the Wiseman. "The Rabbit no longer exists in this world. Now she is my pretty Black Lady. Heh heh heh..."

"Wiseman!"

"Prince Demand," says Black Lady. "Safir."

The two men appear. Safir's hands glow with darkness. "I've inherited these death hands from the Wiseman," he says.

"And I have the power of evil vision," says Demand. "Take this!" The mark on his forehead shines, and energy shoots at Makoto and Minako.

"Venus!? Jupiter!!"

Safir's hands reach out and grow, wrapping around Ami and Rei.

"Mercury!! Mars!!"

"Chibi-Usa," says Makoto. "Stop it! Don't you recognize us!?"

"This is your birthplace!" says Minako. "Are you going to fight us right in front of the palace?"

"I have no feelings for this place," Black Lady says. "Look." She points outside. "A second Evil Black Crystal monolith. The Evil Black Crystal produces twisted darkness, which will quickly spread out across the planet. Everything will be drawn into it. People. Buildings. They will collapse hundreds of times faster than they have been. This planet will be brought to ruin."

"But, Chibi-Usa..." says Usagi. "No, Black Lady. Did you put it there? Into your own planet!?"

"Since I have what I want," she says, "whatever happens to this planet is fine. Endymion."

The caped man with black eyes steps forward.

"Tuxedo Kamen!?" Usagi calls. "Mamo-chan!?"

"He's mine," says Black Lady. "I've got him all to myself. He's all mine."

"Mamo-chan!!"

"Get her."

He holds the moon rod in his hand.

"Mamo-chan!? Can't you see me!?"

He jumps up.

"Sailor Moon!" the king calls.

Endymion comes down and strikes Usagi with the rod. She falls to the ground.

"With the rod that we created..." she thinks. "He... He couldn't have..."

"Sailor Moon!" says the king.

"He won't listen to anyone but me," Black Lady says. "Come, Endymion." He goes to her, and they kiss.

"They're here, but..." Usagi says. "That's not who he should be in love with. Chibi-Usa! Wake up! Mamo-chan was just mine... But I was jealous of Chibi-Usa. I didn't know what she was doing... Now what... Chibi-Usa! I know we screwed up, but you're important to us! Why are you fighting us!?"

"You're a good girl," Pluto said. "I love you, Chibi-Usa."

Black Lady flinches. "I'm not listening to you!" she shouts. "You don't know anything about me!" She hits Usagi and knocks her to the floor. "Prince Demand!"

"You have love taken by force," Demand says. "That is one way to get it."

Black Lady raises her arm in the air. A huge black crystal appears above her. They others all gasp.

"Everyone!" Minako says. "Get out of the way!"

The crystal shoots down and embeds itself in the ground, near the other two monoliths.

"An Evil Black Crystal!?"

"The palace of the Moon Kingdom," Black Lady says. "This planet, and you will all be drawn into the darkness of oblivion."

"My pretty Black Lady," says the Wiseman. "She's right. With her immense power, she can manipulate this world quite easily, along with you, her relatives of the Moon Kingdom. Heh heh heh..."

Sailor Pluto's garnet rod glows. "I feel uneasy..." she says. "Such anxiety... What's happening on the other side of that door!? I can only wait here, alone. Small Lady... Are you safe!? King...! Sailor Moon!!"

"Look!" says Rei. "The palace...!"

"Sailor Moon!?"

Usagi stands in front of the Crystal Palace, her eyes closed. They glow.

"Heh..." says the Wiseman. "She's still struggling. Your loved ones are all mine. I can crush you at any time. If you want them returned, become mine together with the queen. With the second Mystical Silver Crystal!"

"Never," says Usagi. "I'll show you! I'll protect them! Neo-Queen Selenity's palace, and this planet!" She holds out her arms before the palace.

"Use the Mystical Silver Crystal," the Wiseman says.

"But then..." says Demand. "This planet...!"

"I don't care," the Wiseman says. "The crystal and the queen are as good as mine. I don't need the planet anymore."

"And is it the same with us?" asks Demand.

"Prince Demand!?" says Black Lady.

"Wiseman," he says. "You took us with your evil vision. Ironic that it was the power you sent out that cleared my mind. I've come to my senses! Rubeus and Esmeraude... For years we lived as your comrades. I won't let them have died in vain!"

"Safir!" Black Lady calls. Safir approaches Demand.

"Are you going to fight against me, Safir?" Demand asks. "You've always been on my side. But now you're wearing that Evil Black Crystal earring..."

Safir's long black arm reaches out at him.

"That's the single sign of your rebellion," Demand says. The mark on his forehead shines, and Safir's body is torn to shreds.

"That's it, Safir," he says. He turns to the cloaked figure. "Die, Wiseman!!"

The light blasts the Wiseman. The cloak flies off, revealing a skeleton that collapses.

Demand gasps. "That's... the Wiseman's body!? Oh no..."

Black Lady laughs. "His true form is here," she says. She reaches to the sky. "Wiseman!!"

Dark clouds circle in the air above her, swirling over the palace.

Pluto looks around. "The storm's gone...? What... What is happening!? I have to get through that door now! I want to help the others fight! But... I am the solitary guardian of the space-time door. I can't leave here."

"Pluto," Queen Selenity says. "You watch the space-time door. You are the soldier who controls time and space. There are three things you must not do. First, you may not cross time. Second, you can never leave the door you must protect. And third..."

"What is that!?" they cry.

A huge black planet comes through the storm in the sky.

"That's...!?"

Two eyes shine through the sphere. "My name... is Wiseman."

Usagi covers her ears. "That voice is so loud! Where's it coming from!?"

"That body of mine," he says, "was an afterimage of the past. The planet Nemesis has come. That corpse has been rotting away for ages. Time is running out for this world. I will have it assimilated. It and Nemesis will become one. I am Nemesis! This planet is myself."

"Nemesis... has a mind!?" Demand says. "That's the Wiseman's true self!?"

Black Lady smiles before the glowing planet. Buildings rip from the ground, and fly into the air.

"Everything's being sucked in!!" says Usagi. The other soldiers start to fall over. "Mars!" she calls. "Jupiter! Mercury! Everyone! Nemesis is approaching. Black, distorted space is expanding everywhere... The planet will really become a planet of death. I can't let it happen! I'll stop it!!"

"Nemesis..." Demand says. "Then the Wiseman never existed...!? It was the planet all along. We were being fooled... Into thinking our lives had a purpose..."

"Look!" Rei says. "The palace... It's shining!"

Usagi stands still before it.

"Is that Neo-Queen Selenity's power!?" says Minako. "The power of the Mystical Silver Crystal!?"

"It must be," says Luna. "In the future, Sailor Moon can't use the Mystical Silver Crystal of the past."

"No," says Diana. "That's Sailor Moon's power!"

"The Crystal Palace!" Makoto says.

"It's being crushed!" says Ami. "Sailor Moon! Queen!!"

King Endymion turns and runs toward it.

"King!?"

He rushes into the palace, toward the place where the queen lies.

"Selenity..."

Diana looks at him, concerned.

"Pluto!"

Pluto turns. "Diana!?"

"Pluto," she says. "You have to help the king. We're all in trouble. Small Lady has changed! Into the queen of the Black Moon! Nemesis has appeared in the sky! You have to fight! Sailor Moon and the others are already being worn out. They might not be able to save Crystal Tokyo... Or the planet!"

"I have to stay here..." Pluto says. "I want to fight with them...!"

"Pluto... I will stay here and guard!"

"Diana?"

"I don't have any power either. I am a little small... But it's better than nothing! Go through the door, join the others!"

Pluto picks her up. "Diana... You're just like Small Lady. Thank you."

Diana watches as Pluto opens the door. "Pluto," she calls. "Good luck."

The king turns around. "Pluto?"

"It's getting stronger..." Usagi thinks. "The power of the Mystical Silver Crystal." She raises her arms as she kneels on the floor. "Clear, beautiful power. Light, run across time."

"The power of the Evil Black Crystal..." thinks Demand. "The rewriting of history... That white power will pierce through us. I can't resist it... That power...!"

"Heh heh!" says Black Lady. "This planet is finished! Sailor Moon, this is your ruined future! How long can you stand against the Evil Black Crystal contorting time and space! Ahahaha!"

"Chibi-Usa...!" Usagi thinks.

The other soldiers lie on the ground. "Sailor Moon..." Makoto moans.

"I can't keep my strength up..." Usagi says. "No... Stop! Black Lady! If you get the Mystical Silver Crystal, our lives will be over. Please! Open your eyes! Return to the real Chibi-Usa! Don't let the future turn out this way!"

"Endymion..." Black Lady says.

"Mamo-chan!" says Usagi.

Endymion lunges at Usagi and snatches the brooch from her chest. Usagi immediately falls back into her normal clothes. She lands on the ground.

He holds the brooch in one hand, and the glowing moon rod in the other. He hears a voice in his head.

"Mamo-chan..."

He stops for a moment.

Black Lady takes the brooch from his hand and opens it up, removing the crystal inside.

"The past and the future," she says, and she takes out her own. "The two Mystical Silver Crystals!"

Demand smacks her upside the head, and grabs the two crystals from her.

The king and Pluto run out from the palace.

"I've got them!" Demand says. "The two Mystical Silver Crystals!"

"Damnit!" says King Endymion.

"Oh my-!?" says Pluto. "Is that... Small Lady!?"

"I don't believe anyone anymore!" yells Demand. "Black Lady, Wiseman, you have the immense power of the Evil Black Crystal. But I have the Mystical Silver Crystals of the past and future. I have the power to cross time!"

"What's he going to do!?" says the king. "The two crystals..."

"If they touch," Pluto thinks, "everything in this world could be over!"

"Give them back!" says Black Lady. She runs toward Demand.

"Small Lady!" calls Pluto.

"We'll all be going on a trip," says Demand, as he brings the two shining crystals together.

Do not link directly to this page. Do not redistribute this translation in any form, such as by posting it on another web site.