Volume Five

As if enough crappy stuff did not happen to both Chibiusa and Usagi in the last volume, yet more crappy stuff happens in this volume. Not surprisingly, the first major thing to happen is the attempted abduction of Sailor Venus at the hands of Calaveras, the last of the Black Moon sisters. But we're not there yet. First there has to be some plot where the remaining senshi and the cats do some research into the Black Moon family courtesy of Petz's dropped earring.

Minako is so distressed at losing all the other Sailor Senshi at this point that she resolves to make Chibiusa talk even if she doesn't want to. They need to know what's going on, since they seem to be facing an out and out alien invasion. Mamoru, Minako, and Usagi head back to the Tsukino residence to see if they can pump Chibiusa for information only to find Chibiusa frolicking back from school like a regular kid with her new best friend Momoko. They feel bad about pumping Chibiusa in front of her new friend and they start back watching her be cute. The she catches sight of the earring that Luna's carrying around in a container and she freaks out. This is not really surprising, given what she's been through, poor kid. Mamoru, Usagi, and Minako note this reaction (it's kind of hard to miss, considering she's shrieking).

Meanwhile back at Demand's swinging bachelor bad, Esmeraude is introduced and Calaveras is sent to ix-nay Sailor Venus. Wise Man shows and whispers sweet nothings to Demand about destroying the Earth, having the bodies of the king and queen at his feet, and getting the ginzuishou, which he declares is in possession of the Rabbit.

The Rabbit in question is currently sobbing into the shirt of her future papa, still terrified of the crystal earring. She declares that the earring is the reason that her mama is . . . and then trails off. She won't say anything more, other than it's not her fault, and that she swears she's not their enemy, but Usagi is still very upset and tells Chibiusa that even if they're not enemies, if she won't help them then they can't be friends. Chibiusa is devastated.

Calaveras issues her challenge to the senshi by posing as a psychic medium and denouncing those of the White Moon. Venus is not impressed and even though they suspect a trap, they decide to go anyway. Unfortunately for them, on the morning of the show down Chibiusa swipes Sailor Moon's brooch in the first of a series of not very intelligent moves on her part. Give her a break. She's six years old and terrified.

Because Chibiusa has swiped the brooch, Sailor Moon can't be there to back up Venus so she takes off after Chibiusa instead. Unfortunately, this is also part of the Black Moon's plan. Usagi catches up with Chibiusa in a parking lot and demands to have her brooch back, but just then Luna P beeps an alert and the two of them dodge Rubeus's lasers just in time. Tuxedo Kamen is there in an instant to drag Usagi and Chibiusa out of the way, but they still have to deal with Rubeus. It is at this point that Tuxedo Kamen uses his brilliant attack "Tuxedo La Smoking Bomber." Don't ask me, I have no idea what kind of crack Naoko was smoking X3.

The attack gives Usagi enough time to get the brooch back from Chibiusa and then transform and get to Venus and toast Calaveras before she can abduct her. The Smoking Bomber apparently wailed hard enough on Rubeus so that he retreated, so now the remaining senshi have a little breathing room.

Usagi asks Chibiusa why she took the brooch and Chibiusa admits that she knows she can't do anything no matter how many crystals she has. She says that she was taught that the ginzuishou of the past can only work in the past and that the ginzuishou of the future has similar restraints, but she had hoped, with two of them that she'd be able to save everyone.

And here the bombshell is dropped. Chibiusa is from the Thirtieth Century. Bum bum BUM!

She begs Sailor Moon for help and admits that she's from the future of earth, specifically from Crystal Tokyo, and that she traveled through time to be in the right place at the right time to brain Usagi in the head and interrupt a precious moment. She says that there was a huge explosion in Crystal Tokyo and that she was very scared and didn't know what to do. Tuxedo Kamen comforts her and then Luna and Artemis ask her to tell them what she knows because they want to help her mama. Venus takes a step farther and asks Chibiusa to take them back, BACK TO THE FUTURE! Wow, I'm so clever. I kill me.

Chibiusa is antsy about taking them to the future and Mamoru tells her that it's okay, she can rest for a while before she decides. She goes home with Mamoru and he has an inspirational talk with her about not running away and tells her she's really brave for coming all the way from the future with only Luna P for company. Chibiusa goes to sleep comforted, the little champ, and Usagi shows up and asks to stay with Mamoru for a little while. She's worried about him, and about Chibiusa and is more than a little jealous, but she's also upset and afraid for her friends and doesn't want to lose Mamoru too, so its understandable. They talk about the future a little and then get awfully cuddly on the couch, wink wink nudge nudge. Meanwhile Luna stays with Minako and has a dream about the Gates of Time.

The next day, Chibiusa has made her decision and offers to take Usagi, Mamoru, and Minako to the future. She tells them that it's dangerous and she knows that it's the last taboo, but much like her mother, she's all damn the torpedoes if it's to save her friends and family and tells them to hold tight to her hand while she opens the gate.

She opens the gate, but Sailor Moon loses grip on her and she flies off into the void and they're left alone in the fourth dimension.

Meanwhile in the chamber of evil, Saffir reports the disturbance in the flow of time to Demand and Esmeraude offers to send two of her goons after them and dispatches Chiral and Achiral.

Venus, Moon, and Kamen then stumble upon the Gate of Time and Pluto wails upon Sailor Moon mightily with a Dead Scream and then informs her that not even she can break the taboo and prepares to execute her. Little does she know how common messing with the flow of time will soon become XD. Chibiusa tackles Pluto from behind and names her as “Puu” and Pluto calls her 'Small Lady.' Chibiusa apologizes for breaking the taboo and bringing others back with her, but explains she's bringing them back to help save everyone in the future. Pluto admonishes Chibiusa for stealing a Time Key (HA! And you thought someone had given it to her XD. Manga Chibiusa has sticky fingers.) and Chibiusa is afraid Pluto is mad at her. Pluto just hugs her and tells her not to scare her like that ever again. Then she thanks Venus and Moon for taking care of the princess.

Chibiusa gets a little high horse and demands that Usagi treat her better now that she knows that she's a princess, and Usagi retorts that she's a princess too Nya! Pluto is used to dealing with them and makes some comment to this effect. Then she opens the door and gestures them all through. Sailor Moon wants Pluto to come with them, but she claims that it is forbidden for her to leave the gate. And so the four of them step forward into the Thirtieth Century with Chibiusa as their only tour guide.

The city is deathly quiet and this affects Chibiusa obviously who suddenly becomes very morose and starts to cry quietly. They soon see why, as the city is half melted, the people are charred and burned and the city is empty, except for a giant, evil-looking black crystal. Wow, so this sucks. No wonder Chibiusa has been such a basket case throughout the earlier manga. Aww, we forgive her.

Chibiusa explains again that there was a big explosion (in case you weren't paying attention earlier) and that a big fog followed it, the buildings and people melted, then changed, then disappeared. The she drags them off to see her mama in the Crystal Palace. While she's running she thinks she hears the voice of Diana, but when she turns around, there's no one there. Spooky.

Chibiusa drags them into the Crystal Palace only to find out that the place where they're standing is not in fact the Crystal Palace but is just a mirror copy courtesy of the bad guys (so you'd been wondering where they'd gotten to too, huh?). Sailor Moon tries to attack but is frozen fast and Esmeraude shows up to chortle over it and claims the supremacy of the future Black Moon Crystal. A Magic Voice tells Kamen what to do, and with Venus's help the four of them manage to escape and toast Achiral and Chiral.

Now the real Crystal Palace is in front of them, so they advance slowly. Inside the palace they see a pedestal of pure crystal and inside this glass coffin Neo Queen Serenity sleeps. Usagi is rather surprised to see that the Neo Queen looks exactly like her. Diana comes running up to Chibiusa and Chibiusa cuddles her, happy that she's alive. Then they're brought face to face with Prince Lavender himself, the King of Earth, King Endymion.

Everyone goes 'GASP!' at him and the similarities between the lavender king and Kamen are noted and then Chibiusa runs to tearfully hug her papa and goes right through him. He tells her that he's glad that she's safely home, because traveling in the past is dangerous, although she made the right decision. He goes on to greet the three guests and explain that his body is in another room in a coma and that this is merely his psychic reflection. He then introduces himself as King Endymion and confirms that he is Tuxedo Kamen's future self. Chibiusa then introduces herself as Small Lady Serenity, daughter of Neo Queen Serenity and King Endymion, and by proxy the daughter of Usagi and Mamoru as well.

The King explains that Neo Queen Serenity was encased in crystal as she ran down the front steps of the palace quite agitated. The attack came suddenly, but something protected the Queen. He and the other senshi fell and a poison gas covered the city, melting everyone else. Chibiusa and Diana were the only ones not effected. Hmm, I wonder why.

He explains that Chibiusa decided to go fetch help from the past, when her mother was still a soldier, Sailor Moon while Diana stayed guarding Luna and Artemis. Luna and Artemis goggle over the fact that Diana is their daughter and then the King continues on to explain the long lifespans of the people of Crystal Tokyo and Thirtieth Century earth courtesy of the ginzuishou. He again repeats the story of the attack and the advent of the nasty black crystal and then mourns because the only person who can use the ginzuishou is Neo Queen Serenity who currently sleeps eternally. Sucks. He gives some more back story of the Black Moon and the tenth planet Nemesis which we don't really care about because our eyes are on the prize: Chibiusa.

Eventually the pressure of being so close to her future self sends Usagi and the others back to the past and there's a little more about Pluto being the lonely Guardian of Time, forbidden to leave the gate. Mamoru promises Endymion that he will protect Chibiusa with his life and then Endymion gets a key from Pluto and gives it to Sailor Moon. He tells her how to use it and then praises Pluto to them before going back to the future. Pluto then sends them all back to the present day, where they land in a big pile in the park. Mamoru offers to take Chibiusa home and watch her, and this makes Usagi very cranky and she runs off after asking Mamoru the dreaded question "Would you choose her over me?!"

Chibiusa is upset again at everything and sniffles herself to sleep in a pair of over-sized jammies. Usagi knows that she's being irrational being jealous of Chibiusa, but she can't help it. Chibiusa is upset over her papa and she runs off that night to go back to Crystal Tokyo alone. Pluto lets her pass and she goes to see the Sailor Senshi who all lie in comas on pedestals. Then she goes to see her mama and tries to wake her up unsuccessfully. Distressed, she goes out into the city to head back home where Esmeraude surprises her.

Fortunately for her, Moon, Venus, and Tuxedo Kamen arrive on the scene (thanks to their time key) in time to prevent much badness from happening. Venus and Tuxedo Kamen manage to save Chibiusa and do away with Esmeraude, and Sailor Moon is distressed to learn (for the second time) that she cannot use her powers in the future because they rely on the ginzuishou of the past which will not work in such proximity to the ginzuishou of the future.

After the death of Esmeraude, Demand himself shows up and abducts Sailor Moon while Sailor Venus, Tuxedo Kamen, and Chibiusa just sort of gape at him.