User:Darkpower/Sailor Moon Canon

Darkpower has depicted a set Sailor Moon canon that is somewhat different from the official canon, but is one of the few fanfiction authors to follow such a canon throughout his fanfiction, putting each of the fanfictions into a set part of the canon's timeline. Deadworld and Moon Kingdom are two of the first fanfictions that will be in this set canon.

Several elements are changed to expand on characters, to change perception, and to expand on story elements that he felt were never taken advantage of. There are other elements that are completely original, while some are original ideas to main canon elements. There is also a few elements that Darkpower has used that is from a fanfiction that he had in the past gained permission to use ideas from, to which has been expanded upon even further. In short, one can argue that this canon is just a modification of the original canon. It is only after the Sailor Moon R storyline that this canon completely deviates from the official canon. The following, while not a complete description, is the canon in which Darkpower has begun to follow in each of his fanfictions, starting with the ongoing Deadworld.

Added and Altered Characters
It is important to remember when talking about this canon version to first depict what has changed with the characters names and who has been added.

Nicole Serenity
In the Silver Millennium, each queen is formally addressed by their title and surname, and not their first name. Thus, the first name of "Nicole" is given to Serenity.

To begin, Nicole despises formalities, and even though she accepts them in public, in private, she allows her guards and her people to call her by her first name, unless the person in question is one in which committed a crime or has angered someone in the royal family. She also runs the Moon Kingdom as a half-democracy, and doesn't mind her guards being openly critical of her decisions. This is partially because of her mother abandoning her at the age of fourteen without any training to be a queen. Her mother was strict to a fault, and she had sworn to herself to never rule in that way. Furthermore, she had rejected any formal training from anyone out of anger of her mother abandoning her without a reason. She is also known to make rash and quick decisions, usually without thinking them through. She is, for her luck, mostly successful.

She is most known culture wise for trying to be different, being one to use new terms for common things. This in turn causes us to hear modern day names for certain things in that time period.

She is understood to live at least from the beginning of the Moon Kingdom storyline to when Beryl attacks 100 years after. She and her Kingdom returns five years prior to the beginning of Deadworld.

Serena Sommers
The change of Serena's last name from Tsukino to Sommers is only to give her the same last name as her blood brother in the canon, Casto Sommers, which his last name is English because of his nationality when he first lands on Earth. She is highly protective of her brother, so much so that some are saying that she cares more for her brother than for Darien. The two had become extremely close, and were so on the Moon, Serena being the only one on the Moon to see Casto actually leave, pleading with him to reconsider his decision to flee the Moon following the incident of banning Beryl from the Moon. She had admitted that she had never forgotten about Casto up until Beryl's attack, and part of the reason for her falling in love with Darien was because he had some of the personality that Casto had, letting her move on somewhat from the loss of her brother.

Though the changed parts of the canon, Serena learns of the actions that took place in the Silver Millennium from Casto, with Serenity eventually telling her the truth about the Silver Millennium Project. In response, Serena had cut off her trademark pigtails to signify her newly broken relationship with her mother.

In this canon, Serena also develops a temper towards those that hurt her family and friends, even more so than the original canon. Her anger had become uncontrollable for a time, and it is well known to the Sailors that she does not have too much of a handle on her anger management skills. Thankfully for the Sailors, Serena rarely boils into that type of uncontrollable rage, and before long, begins to show the type of anger management that Serenity always wanted to have: To show her anger though actions rather than words and rage, even though she still does, mainly because of influence from her brother. Her emotional aspects in recent years has also been credited towards the Sailor Moon power and who held it first: Sarah Yeouh, who had similar emotion check issues.

Melissa Beryl
Like Nicole Serenity, the formal addressing of "Queen Beryl" is of title and surname, thus the name "Melissa" is given.

It is interesting to note that her original name was to be "Michelle", but following the giving of that name to Michiru for the Sailor Moon English dubbing, and because of the name being highly unpopular, it was changed to Melissa.

Her origins actually reside in Saturn, in which one of her ancestors became a part of the Peace Corps. It is because of this that she believes that Hotaru Tomoe has some blood relation to her. However, even though she does not know if there is a relationship between her and Hotaru, she and Hotaru are extremely close friends regardless, and Melissa has vowed to protect her at all costs.

She was in rule of the North Pole Kingdom, but her story didn't begin there. As a princess, she felt alone, even though her parents were loving to her. During trips to the Moon, she became close friends to Casto Sommers, and is said to be the one to give Casto the powers of the "bird of prey" which would actually make him able to take the name Sailor Vulture later on. When her parents were tragically killed in a shuttle accident, Melissa was forced to take over as queen, even though she didn't desire to for two full years. Later on, she is banned from the Silver Millennium Project by the Council because of beliefs that she would want to take over the Project, but Beryl sneaked into the Moon Kingdom a few days after and found Serena and Darien together. Thinking that there was an ulterior motive behind Serenity's decision, she accepts an offer from Metallia to help her in exchange for her acquiring Darien, which in turn falls her into ruin. Even further.

She is resurrected by Rubeus years later, but this triggers a series of events which makes her rethink her alliance with Metallia, and ends her reign of evil by joining with the Sailors to rid Metallia. She eventually gains their trust, but she is still with guilt of what she had done, and seeks forever to put right of what she had done wrong, forever believing that she must prove herself as changed even though all the Sailors trust her with their lives.

Throughout the canon, it is perceived that her first love, above all else while uncorrupted as queen of the North Pole Kingdom, was her people, and her people returned the love in spades. However, she appears to care for Casto now as more than just a childhood friend, as she has shown many times that he is one of her lifelines in the world, and had vowed to protect him no matter what. However, although she has felt that she romantically loves Casto, she cannot bring herself to admit it, and shows fear in admitting to herself or anyone else to share those feelings.

She is the only one to have her powers intact, at least halfway, at the start of Deadworld.

Sarah Yeouh
Considered to be one of the legends of the Silver Project. She is credited as being the very first Sailor Moon, even before Serena was born. She was first picked by Serenity because of her exceptional martial arts skills, even though she is later revealed to have a very shaky past with an abusive father and a very gruesome accusation of arson and murder.

Sarah has exceptional strength and speed that rivals most men, even though many are surprised of how much strength she possesses due to her short and slim stature.

Albeit with a tough demeanor and appearing as a loner, she is actually very kind, warm, and caring. She is able to open herself up to friends rather quickly. She is a high advocate of peace and would do anything to make sure Serenity's dream becomes reality.

Her main character flaw, however, is her inability to keep her emotions in check once one is able to break through the emotional barriers she makes for herself. She is known to not be able to regain her composure for some time, and any additional attacks against her emotions afterwards only hampers this further. For this reason alone, she tries to not let too many of her friends break down those barriers she makes (thus the immediate misconception at first of a cold and loner personality), and she is skilled at not letting anyone break them, even though she is open about her life after the first few days of being in the Peace Corps. However, a few times, her friends, especially Cindy Solomon (who idolizes her), are able to seethe into her deepest emotions. Cindy is currently the only known friend of her's that she has not been able to hide her feelings from at all, with Sarah even letting Cindy do so.

Keith Tobal
He is the head guard of the Mars Kingdom, and is viewed as an eccentric person. He rarely uses correct grammar in sentences and usually uses slang terms in his speech, one of the few that knows of such terms in the time frame. His speech is also one of a tough, rugged character, choosing to settle issues with his fists rather than diplomatically. Darkpower has expressively pointed out that Final Fantasy VIII character Zell Dincht was a major influence behind the making this character.

Keith joins the Peace Corps quickly upon learning about it, and quickly develops a friendship with Sarah. He continues to be surprised by Sarah's strength.

His nature in settling disputes is taken into question many times, however. Detractors are quick to point out one time in which his nature was blamed for the death of his girlfriend by her falling into a lava river on Mars.

Casto Sommers
The older brother of Serena Sommers. He ran away from the Moon Kingdom two years before Beryl leveled the palace because he was tired of the continued lies and deceit that his mother, Queen Serenity was telling the people of her Kingdom. He and Serena were very close and continues to be. He was said to been making his way back to the Moon Kingdom to warn his sister that something was going to happen, and his shuttle was perceived to crash to Earth. Thus, he was the only one to have not been reincarnated or have forgotten who he was. However, he is the first to claim that he saw something else in Beryl's attack, which is something that may have depicted that she wasn't acting on her own free will.

He is the only male Sailor, calling himself "Sailor Vulture". Even though at first the origin of his powers are unknown, it is revealed that Beryl was his best childhood friend, and she gave him the Vulture powers to protect himself and to always remember he by as she left to become the queen of her kingdom. His powers are not of the official Sailor powers that those in the Peace Corps discovered, thus he is technically not a Sailor, and could've been grouped in with Tuxedo Mask as one of their heroic friends. However, due to him being a constant member of their team, and because he is the brother of the Moon Princess (he fights alongside the Sailors as one of them instead of making sporadic entrances), they have just considered him as a Sailor. They now call him Sailor Vulture and treat him as a Sailor without a second thought.

His powers are not even those of a Vulture, but rather a "bird of prey", which would be a bird of his choosing for that planet that would be considered one that wasn't hunted often, if at all. He chose Vulture as the Earth's "bird of prey" because of the Old World vulture classification as a raptor, which is considered another name for Bird of prey. He also chose the name in order to give the vulture more respect in the world in places where it is looked down upon. He had taught Melissa Beryl about the true meaning of the vulture that came from Ancient Egypt.

Ultimagama
Not entirely a new character as the monster is so far only mentioned and not encountered in any of the written stories.

Ultimagama is talked about by Metallia has being the "ultimate Youma" (hence its given name), so powerful that she had forbid Beryl to ever use him. Beryl, once she was forbidden to use Ultimagama for any reason, disemboweled any knowledge of the Youma. So much so that she completely forgot of its existence up until the day before Metallia uses him to cause the Cataclysm in Deadworld.

Ultimagama's power is unmatched by any other being in the Dark Kingdom, possibly the Universe. His powers, when controlled (see below), are devastating to anyone, so much so that Metallia appears to be the only person that is able to even cast the controlling spell on him. However, when uncontrolled, Ultimagama can literately destroy worlds within seconds, laying waste to anything and can cause absolute destruction simply by flying over any object. His powers also include the ability to fire a light beam via his eyes, fingers, and/or mouth (even all three at the same time), cause wind and water related disasters, and cause earthquakes, among other powers.

Not only is Ultimagama an extremely dangerous being, but he's also extremely loyal to his "master", to the point that he is willing to die to protect him or her once the relationship is established. It is understood that the relationship had been established between Metallia and Ultimagama long before the events that lead to Deadworld had taken place. This is established so much so that Ultimagama flanks Metallia, uncontrolled, in Deadworld, and will do things for her without even being told.

Youma's controller
The Youmas (the official name for the monsters in this canon, thus the reason for the capitalization) are given a different importance in this canon. Instead of just being "monsters of the day", they have an even more sinister thought in mind that cannot be realized unless their magical power is unsuppressed. It is thought that, as well, the unsuppressed powers of Youmas can be highly dangerous to mankind, depending on how powerful an individual Youma would be. It is because of this that the Dark Kingdom's inhabitants, when under Metallia's control, were given powers that were unexplained by Metallia in order to hold Youmas in check to what that person who suppressed its power. Whoever casted the unnamed spell on that Youma had complete control over that Youma. This was also done because Youmas are brash and unpredictable by nature. Many who have this power are bewildered to how they are able to control the Youma through the spell if they are far less powerful than the Youma.

For this reason, there are two statuses for the Youma: Controlled (under the spell) and uncontrolled (free of the spell). This is very important in Deadworld, since Ultimagama's devastation on the world was done while uncontrolled.

The Beginning: The Silver Millennium Project
The Silver Millennium is instead called the Silver Millennium Project (sometimes short handed as just "Silver Project"). This is an attempt by Queen Serenity to attain a thousand years of peace for the kingdoms that bought into this plan. She has it approved by the independent United Planetary Alliance, or UPA, that oversees all of the activities of the planets that belong to it. The UPA can also make decisions as to whether to impeach a queen or a president of a planet if they feel it necessary (such as a queen abusing her power). They rarely have to use this decision. However, Serenity's project is viewed as a failure, and she is never able to attain her dream. This is despite beginning the Peace Corps that eventually becomes the Sailor Soldiers. When each of the first Soldiers are killed at an uncertain time in the canon, the queens attain the powers that are acquired by those members of the Corps and reserve them for their daughters. This gives the reason why the Sailors are all female, although this would change soon.

The Silver Project is instead made a hundred years before the attack by Queen Beryl that levels the palace. Once the attack happens, one of Serenity's dying thoughts that if she were to tell anyone what happened, she would act as though the Silver Millennium Project was a success, and, to take it one step further, to not even name it as a project.

The Peace Corps
To protect the peace of the Moon Kingdom and the Silver Project, Serenity proposed that a group of people that can be charged as the Project's police. The Alliance agrees, but with a stern warning that she is not one to succeed at her projects very well, and that this could be her last chance to succeed. She then picks Sarah Yeouh after hearing about a confrontation between her and a man who allegedly threatened her. Even though this proves to be yet another rash decision (Sarah had just been called up from their jail cell), Sarah is all for helping Serenity. Serenity charges her with picking out the rest of the corps, with a catch of one member per planet (no other restrictions exists, even though she later would be criticized for allowing men into the group). The Corps, even though they are a success, were unable to completely bring peace to Serenity's project.

They do, however, discover certain crystals in each planet that give them extraordinary powers that are in fact the Sailor powers we know now.

Once they die off, however, the powers are then held by their respective planet's leaders, and eventually, to the princesses if there is one.

The last years
As the UPA breaks apart, the Queens take over as the Council, and is named the Silver Millennium Council. Serenity is the leader of this group, and they eventually make a decision that would change the fate of their Alliance forever.

Serenity gives birth to siblings. The girl, Serena, becomes a full fledged princess being trained to become the queen someday. She never sees what happens to the Project. In fact, she was never told about the Project.

However, Casto Sommers, the male sibling that is birthed by Serenity, had no desires of ruling in the Kingdom. He roams around the Moon City, and eventually finds out that there is more to his mother's tale than what she had told him.

Around the age of five, he finds a girl in the slums of the city. She is Melissa Beryl, unsure where she is, or how she got there. He asks her to come with him to the Kingdom, to which she obliges. The two eventually become best friends, nearly inseparable. Casto and Melissa are able to share deep secrets with each other, with Casto telling Melissa about his doubts about the Project. Melissa has also become aware of a deeper lie not being told.

However, when they become ten, a tragic death occurs. Melissa comes to Casto crying, saying that she cannot come to the Moon anymore because she must become queen of her North Pole Kingdom because her parents have been killed in a tragic space shuttle accident. Casto is devastated at the news, and it's even more painful for Melissa to have to do what she had to do. However, she does one more thing for Casto: She hugs him, telling him to not be scared, hold her and not let go. As they hug, Melissa transfers some of her shadow power to Casto, telling him to use the power when he is in danger, and to consider it as having her there when she can't be.

For the eight years after, Casto started becoming close to Serena. Serena, upon hearing his take on the Project, doesn't know what to believe. She loves her mother to death, but also loves Casto just as much. She is unable to pick a side, and wishes that all of the feuding were to stop.

It would be one of the final conversations Casto had with Serena. Serenity is told of someone wanting to join the Project. It is Melissa Beryl, now Queen Beryl. Before the council, she pleads her case for peace. However, she not only doesn't get her wish, but she is forbidden from the Moon, for fear that she would instead try to conquer the kingdoms. She runs in despair. The other queens are happy, but Serenity immediately has second thoughts.

Casto reads Serenity's face coming back, knowing something happened. The other queens, still smiling, tell Casto about Melissa's banning, saying that was the best thing ever. Casto, however, is horrified, and grills the queens, asking then how they could possibly do something like that, and why would anyone keep them from peace. He also, for the first time, reveals about his friendship with her, which is what changes the queens' minds about the decision. Confronting a tear-soaked Serenity, he yells to her that he's had enough of the lies and deceit, and the banning of his best friend was the last straw, saying that there is no peace in this Project, just lies. He runs off and goes to his shuttle, telling a pleading Serena to not believe everything she sees as the truth. He cannot continue to watch his mother lie to everyone.

Meanwhile, Melissa finds out later on that Serena and Darien are together, and she finds out that there might've been more to the reason she was banned than met the eye. She had a theory that the real reason Serenity made her decision was to keep her from possibly stealing Darien from Serena. While it was true that she had a crush on Darien, she had no intentions of stealing Darien from anyone. Nonetheless, she was devastated about what she found. She, however, also found a comet streaking towards the Earth. It crash lands near her kingdom, and the alien life form that we would soon know as Metallia gives her an non-refutable offer: Help her in her goals, and Darien is hers. Now wanting to pay Serenity back for what happened, she accepts. However, she does not realize who she has just struck a deal with.

Two years later, the Moon Kingdom is attacked and destroyed as we know now, only with two differences. First, Casto had attempted to return to warn Serena about danger, and his ship was damaged during the attack as it crash landed into Los Angeles, California. Secondly, Serenity vows to, if she is ever returned in spirit, to never talk about any Project to anyone, and that the Silver Millennium was a success. It was a white lie that would be kept for nine or so years.

To Sailor Moon R
Up until the end of the R series of Sailor Moon, the story from the leveling of the Moon Kingdom to the fall of the Black Moon remains the same as the official canon, with the Sailors presumably defeating the Dark Kingdom without any knowledge of the events that have led up to their reincarnations on Earth. Serenity also tells the Sailors the story of the Moon Kingdom the same way as in the anime (this proves important later on in the DP Canon). During this time, Casto is never seen. However, it is after the fall of the Black Moon that the canon forks off once more, this time the story deviates all but completely.

The Return Of Rubeus
The Sailors had thought that they were done with the Black Moon, but due to a last minute escape plan, Rubeus, who was commanding the Four Sisters of Nemesis, was able to get out of the UFO he was controlling just seconds before it exploded. Now without anyone else backing him or telling him what to do, he was now a man of revenge, vowing to get back at the Sailors for what he thinks they caused him. He has a hard time trying to find the Sailors (since the Sailors think there is no more evil for them to fight at the moment, and thus no real reason to use their power). However, he catches Luna and Serena talking to one another near her house about Serena's Sailor duties, and with newfound enthusiasm, followed her to the Hikawa Shrine, when he eventually learns who the Sailors really are. Knowing of their aliases now, he goes and attacks Serena's adoptive family, including Sammy, who is put into intensive care after the attack. Serena, in a whirlwind of anger, demands to know who tried to go after her family, and her mother gives Rubeus' description. Serena runs out of the hospital and changes into Sailor Moon, demanding that Rubeus fight her. He eventually appears, but to say that his attack wouldn't be the last. Serena, crying in anger, lunges out after Rubeus right there, but he is able to disappear before she can do anything. The other Sailors then find out from Serena that Rubeus now knows their real identities, and that could spell disaster.

Enter Casto
A few days later, a young man flies to Japan to take part in a foreign exchange program, even though this is only his cover. Dressed in his usual attire of blue jeans, white athletic shoes and black shirt, Casto Sommers, as he identifies himself to the flight clerk, is looking for Serena, and be reunited with her once more. He thinks the search will be difficult until he is enrolled in the same high school she is, and is in the same class with Miss Haruna as she is on that day. He meets Serena and says that he must talk to her. Being "weirded out" by this man, Serena refuses at first, but once the school day is over, Casto once more approaches her, first identifying her as Serena, which she is not surprised at. However, he then says that he knows her other life. Serena immediately knows that he knows that she is Sailor Moon, and after an argument ensues as to how he knows who she really is, he then drops the truth on her: That he is her biological brother from the Moon, and he knows all about her days as the Moon Princess. He does not reveal anything else at that point, even though she knows that there is more to his story. Still frightened, she offers to introduce him to her other friends, the other Sailors, to which Casto identifies their Sailor names one by one. Raye especially takes a liking to him, however, and grows to be very good friends with him, although he says that he is not looking for a relationship right now. This friendship, however, would play an important role much later on.

Later on, though, Rubeus appears at the Shrine, and challenges the Sailors to a fight at the Shrine. When Casto intervenes to fight Rubeus instead, he reveals himself to be Sailor Vulture (just "Vulture Soul" at that point), and begins to fight Rubeus, to which he wins with his "Vulture Attack", a vulture streaking across the sky in a collision course towards the target. Afterwards, the Sailors are glad to be able to have Casto as a friend that can protect them now, as well. Casto wants to fight alongside them, and they allow it, and two days later, he renames himself Sailor Vulture in order to coincide with the rest of them, to which they have called his alias ever since.

The Resurrection of Queen Beryl
Rubeus continues to get beaten time after time again. Along the way, the Sailors get told by Pluto that Reenie has been summoned back to train as Sailor Mini Moon, and even she is making short work or Rubeus' plans.

However, during one of these failed attempts he learns about the Hizrounswa (pronounced "HIS-ROW-NA-ZA"), which is a crystal that is dedicated to pure black energy, and it could be used in dark arts. He also learns that this crystal can be used to kill just about anything, and that enough energy can actually kill even the Sailors if used correctly. However, it was last seen somewhere in the North Pole.

Rubeus goes to that point, to which he suddenly realizes just where he is about to approach, and reveals that he remembers something about this place that he was told by the Dark Phantom, that this was the scene of a gruesome battle to the death in which the good guys won. He then believes that maybe this place might hold the Hizrounswa.

He finds D-Point, and upon further inspection, his suspicions were confirmed. He was in what used to be the Dark Kingdom, and he had a firm chance to find what he was looking for, since this was the place where the most dark in the world resided. But halfway into exploring the palace, he finds a small seal, and he seems to think that he knows that this must be where the Hizrounswa hid. Once breaking the seal off the wall, though, he instead releases hundreds of dark spirits, all converging into the center of the room. Rubeus knows this isn't the crystal. However, he hears a familiar laugh soon afterwards, and he finds out then that he actually resurrected the Dark Kingdom. Metallia tells Rubeus that she was the one the invented the last minute escape plan, and that Sailor Moon never really did finish them off. However, not only is Metallia resurrected, but Queen Beryl, as well. Rubeus then asks Beryl if he can join as a vigilante with a common goal. Beryl accepts and they shake hands, unknowing what was about to happen to each of them.

Rubeus versus Beryl
Rubeus, at first, receives complete approval from Queen Beryl of what he planned to do: To kill off the Sailors one by one. She even agrees to help him with his plan. Unfortunately, Rubeus doesn't inform her of the plan other than to make the Sailors become emotionally distraught, making them easy targets. He tells her that because they're could be people spying on them that he cannot tell her the details of the plan just yet. This is in fact truthful, as Rubeus was paranoid upon finding the panel that he thought held the Hizrounswa that someone was following him.

However, he did not realize that his plan would come under controversy. Nephlite, who was also resurrected along with the rest of the four generals, was assigned to assist Rubeus. This proves successful on Earth, until Nephlite observes that Rubeus' target was Reenie. Rubeus informs Nephlite about Reenie being Serena's daughter in the future. Nephlite is uneasy about the attempt. Later on, once the Sailors thwart Rubeus' attempt, in which the Sailors first learn about the Dark Kingdom's resurrection, Nephlite informs Queen Beryl about the incident.

He also informs her about who he targeted and who Reenie was. This angers Beryl, which berates Rubeus for wanting to harm a child. Not knowing what the sudden compassion was about, Rubeus lashes back, telling Beryl that her time in the "land of the dead" has caused her to turn soft. After a heated verbal discussion, Beryl warns Rubeus to not go behind her back again, and that she is watching to make sure that no more secrets are kept between them.

This is only the beginning of their rivalry, as Rubeus continues to do what he can to inflame Beryl's anger. To her credit, the other Dark Kingdom generals begin to express their concerns about Rubeus' reckless behavior.

The Truth About Metallia
However, Rubeus was able to gain one person's respect within the Dark Kingdom: Queen Metallia. Metallia completely agrees with what Rubeus is trying to do, saying that Rubeus is doing the right thing by making sure that the future will be easier for the darkness to take over now and later. However, Beryl accidentally overhears this, and now realizes that it's also her master that wants a child to be killed. It is at this point that Beryl starts thinking twice about who she is serving.

However, things would get worse. Metallia is later told by Rubeus that Beryl is "growing soft", and is starting to care more about humans than getting energy to free her. Metallia confronts Beryl, and yells at her for showing compassion. Beryl retaliates, however, saying that she has no desire to harm a kid, when she did nothing to them. Metallia then tells Beryl that she didn't care when she leveled the Moon Kingdom about any children. This makes Beryl go off on Metallia, as she reveals that she did not want to destroy the Moon Kingdom, and that it was only because of what Metallia promised her that she went and committed the heinous act. Metallia does not budge, now telling Beryl that she better comply with her and Rubeus, or she will suffer a dire consequence. Beryl scoffs at Metallia's ultimatum, telling her that no one tells her what she better do, and she would never answer to "scum" like Rubeus who "only cares about himself." It is then that Beryl grows even more weary of the path she has chosen, as she now believes that there is no line that Metallia will not cross and has no conscious.

The Final Straw
However, the very next night, Rubeus has some news to share: He has found the Hizrounswa. It was revealed that it was within Metallia's possession. He then reveals the real reason why he resurrected them to begin with, and lets everyone know why he was after the crystal. By this time, the entire Dark Kingdom, besides Metallia, is completely against Rubeus, but each has their different reasons. For Jedite, he just can't stand him, while Nephlite thinks he's trying to take total control of the Kingdom. Malichite thinks he's using them, and Beryl's previously documented troubles with Rubeus were then topped with Metallia saying that she had to approve of his schemes. Beryl knew what he had planned, and Rubeus decided to pull the trigger.

Rubeus calls out the Sailors to the Juuban Park. The Sailors have a more that tough time trying to battle against him, but they eventually get the upper hand. He then, however, reveals the Hizrounswa crystal, and commences to fire. Even though he is not using the crystal at it's highest power (the power that could kill the Sailors in one hit), it still is able to damage the Sailors, to which he does in quick fashion. Reenie tends to Serena and the rest of the Sailors. Rubeus then eyes Reenie, ready to fire with the crystal's full power, which would kill her. However, at that point, a beam knocks the Hizrounswa out of his hands, and Reenie is able to run and grab it. Rubeus and the Sailors look to see who it was that fired the shot, and it turns out to be Queen Beryl, who has had enough. Rubeus questions why Beryl just did that, and Beryl responds by saying that no one orders her around. She then reveals that for years, she had trusted Metallia to give her what she desired, but she was beginning to have doubts because of what he was attempting to do. She thanked him for making her see the light of what she was doing, and for exposing Metallia for her. Beryl continues on to say that at least she was distancing herself from Metallia, and from this point on, she no longer served her. She also yells to Rubeus, telling him to tell Metallia how she felt the night she destroyed the Moon Kingdom, because Beryl could not get rid of the regret. Rubeus then catches Reenie and attacks her. Reenie falls to the ground, with Ruebus picking up the Hizrounswa crystal. However, Beryl makes sure that Ruebus never even considers firing it. As the other Sailors look on, Rubeus only scoffs, believe that Beryl has finally revealed who she truly is: A traitor. Beryl then tells Rubeus that the next time she sees him, she'll make sure it'll be the last time they meet, and to go and tell Metallia that she is not coming back to her rule. Rubeus takes the high road and just escapes with the Hizrounswa in hand.

A few hours afterwards, Beryl is seen overlooking a lake, the Sailors only looking on in disbelief. Beryl tells the Sailors that they can trust her, even though not many do. Beryl understands their reluctance, though she realizes that she must prove to them that she is real in her attempts to gain the Sailors' trust after all she did. She then asks for Sailor Moon's tiara for a reason she doesn't reveal right away. The others desperately tell Moon to not give it to her, but Serena doesn't even give it a second thought as she hands it over to her. Beryl then uses the tiara to chop off her hair, making it shoulder length, and letting the hair strands blow away with the wind. After this, she hands back the tiara, saying that her past is now truly behind her. Serena then becomes the first to believe that Beryl is truthful in her statements. Lita soon follows suit (even though she had trusted her beforehand, she verbally announces it some days after Serena does).

It is also then that she tells the Sailors that from here on in that they can call her by her real name, Melissa Beryl. The Sailors have done so ever since.

Escalating Danger
Although the generals were also contemplating dissenting from Metallia, Melissa had "ordered" (now suggesting it as "advise") them to not exactly do so, but to instead make sure that Rubeus cannot form any closer of a tie to Metallia than he already has, and to act as double agents so they are a step ahead of Metallia.

However, even with the added help, the task proves difficult, as Metallia and Rubeus continue their alliance, and continue to grow stronger by the day. The generals, after a few months of trying to keep themselves a step ahead of the two, had finally deemed the area too hostile. The main reason: The Youmas, who Metallia had given Rubeus the power to control, and Rubeus has a lot of skill in controlling, with the Youmas being more powerful that Melissa could've imagined and remembered. It is also troublesome to Melissa and the Sailors that Rubeus has been finding ways to increase the power of the Hizrounswa crystal, and has also been able to inject the crystal into some sort of small pistol, to which he can now use to fire off shot after shot of the crystal in any amount of power he desires, making the weapon more dangerous than ever before.

Meanwhile, the Sailors are finding it somewhat challenging to trust Beryl the way she would want to be trusted. However, a few more Sailors have came to accept the woman as part of their group: Mina (who had seen enough after one month to decide to put her trust in her), and Amy (who revealed that she had always seen that Melissa was sincere, but, like Lita, didn't think it was necessary to make it verbal). However, Raye had become venomously against the woman in the group, continuously thinking that Melissa was acting as a double agent for Metaliia. This was a feeling that would not go away for some time. Luna was, however, the most vocal in doubting Melissa's true intentions. However, knowing this, they knew that they had to stay together to fight Rubeus and his new weapon.

The Unthinkable and the Rage Becomes Unleashed
One more Sailor joins those who had trusted Beryl: Reenie. This is a turn that many saw coming, but it was similar to Lita and Mina: Thought that showing the trust was more convincing than telling the trust. This was actually a very important verbal admission for one reason: Rubeus got wind of it, making it the first time that Rubeus knew that some Sailors did not trust Beryl still, and it was taking some of them more time than usual to come around.

He first goes to Metallia with the news, to which is in her liking. She tells Rubeus that this may be a good chance to get Melissa back. If Reenie's trust in her is broken somehow, then Beryl would eventually come around and see that she should side with the alliance. However, at this point, Melissa had grown completely distant to Metallia, thus recruiting her back would be difficult, as was proven on a first attempt.

However, it was on the second failed attempt at this that Rubeus realizes that he forgot his original intention of resurrecting the Dark Kingdom: His "weapon of mass destruction', the Hizrounswa, and to rid of the Sailors. He realizes that the main reason why Beryl dissented was Reenie, and as long as Reenie was around, Beryl wasn't going to be swayed. Thus, he wanted to resurrect his personal mission: To kill Reenie, but now to make it look like it was Beryl that did it. This proves unsuccessful in two attempts without much fanfare or attention.

It is then, however, that he grows enraged with the situation, and now even Metallia thinks that Rubeus has grown too powerful to control. She, however, only thinks that he is threatening her places as the most powerful entity in the Dark Kingdom, with the reason having nothing to do with anything else. Rubeus, however, ignores everyone at this point and abandons any particular reason to why he wanted to kill Reenie other than to make a statement to the Sailors that he was going to rid them all.

Around this time, Casto joins the three Sailors that had their "show, not tell" belief of trust becoming told towards Melissa. This angers Raye at first, but the next day, it begins to show a little for Raye that it wouldn't be so bad to at least try to trust her. This marks the beginning of a slow gaining of trust, and the end of the venomous verbal attacks on Melissa's character. The official Casto dissension is thought to be THE key dissension for later on in the canon (when the truth about the Moon Kingdom begins to surface).

This is also an immediate sign for Rubeus, as he believes that Casto is VERY well liked within the Sailors right now, and thus, his admission would be followed immediately, seemly making any attempt at breaking trust moot, fueling his desire for his new intentions: killing Reenie for sport.

Thus, he makes an appearance to the Sailors and tells Serena that if he doesn't see her in 24 hours, he will make sure she regrets it. Without any info as to what he meant, Serena goes on the hunt for Rubeus. Melissa, seeing what Rubeus would want, which is to end this where it officially began, Juuban Park. Serena, however, decides to go alone because she has seen these things on TV before and they always want the hero to come alone. However, Melissa wants to just keep an eye out in case something goes wrong. Casto decides to join her. Once they get there, no one is there for an hour. They grow suspicious, and that is when Rubeus appears once more. He tells Serena that she did exactly what he thought she would do, and laughs that she should think everything through. During the time leading up to this point, Serena and Reenie grew extremely close, and Serena now treated Reenie like her daughter, and protected her with her life. Rubeus disappears, with the three wondering what was going on. Suddenly, Serena panics. She screams "REENIE!!" and bolts out of the park. Melissa also now realizes what is going on: Rubeus lured Serena away from Reenie so Rubeus could snatch her, and Serena realized what Rubeus original intention always was, with Meilssa realizing it, as well. Casto beelines it for his sister because he saw something in her that scared him. When Serena makes it to her house, she finds Rubeus frightening Reenie. Reenie cannot fight back as Rubeus knocked the Mini Moon transformer pen out of her hand just as she was going to use it. He then readies his crystal gun, only to find Serena running upstairs. Vowing that he would not fail this time, he snatches Reenie and bolts out the second story window and hightails it. Now enraged, Serena throws a lamp in the direction Rubeus went. Casto and Melissa both see it and try to get into the house to calm Serena down, but they nearly get ran over by Serena, with only a cry of "he's got Reenie! My God, he has her!" before running off after him. Melissa knows what happened, but relieved that Rubeus hasn't done his intended deed just yet. Casto is worried about Reenie, as well, but also for Serena, as he states that her temper is scaring him more and more. He has never seen her this angry in his life, and even when he couldn't blame her, he didn't want her to do anything stupid. He decides to call the other Sailors and inform them on the situation and all that has happened to that point. All the other Sailors and Darien immediately oblidge to join them, leaving their trust or distrust for Beryl aside in order to stop what is now described as a madman.

Serena finds Rubeus in a small cave that is underneath a mountain on the outskirts of Tokyo. Serena demands that Rubeus let Reenie go. Rubeus then reveals that his Reenie plan was just to get her to have a battle with him. Serena obidges, and transforms into Sailor Moon without a second thought to who was looking. The fight ensures, all while Reenie lay unconscious on the cave floor. The other Sailors continue to make their way towards where Casto saw them go. Amy makes the announcement that they are headed for a small unknown mountain, and that there is a cave that is easily accessible if she remembered what she was told correctly. They all decide to go on that info and head for the mountain.

Rubeus and Moon continued to battle for a good ten minutes. However, it's when Reenie woke up that Rubeus knew what he wanted to do. He announces that he will be the true victor. and in a fast act, whips out his crystal gun and points it at Serena. She is ready to dodge, but then Rubeus points the gun at Reenie instead and fires. The blast hits dead center on Reenie, who flies in the air and is seen to be dead almost instantaneously. While Rubeus waits for the gun to recharge (the only true flaw his weapon has: A slow recoil rate), Sailor Moon runs to tend to Reenie, only to find out her gruesome fate. Enraged, she suddenly screams, "MURDERER!!" and lunges after Rubeus, this time putting aside any sense of judgment or keeping herself safe from anything and trying to kill him, screaming at him the entire time in an octave that no one has ever heard from her before. Scared for his life, Rubeus frantically breaks free and flees, deciding that it'll be best if he can get her when she's not expecting it. However, in an act of sheer rage, Serena goes after him, still screaming and crying out.

At this point, the rest of the Sailors find the now lifeless carcass of Reenie lying on the cave floor, Darien enraged and the rest saddened. Casto suddenly realized where Rubeus escaped to and that his sister is going after him. Without a second thought or any warning, he sprints out after his sister and eventually catches her and stops her from running recklessly through Tokyo traffic to catch Rubeus, and convinces her to go back and tend to her daughter's body, in which the rest of the Sailors meet her with hugs and condolences.

Even though Rubeus' thought was to have Beryl become detached to Reenie though Reenie's death and rejoin (one he abandoned), the actual death in fact does the exact opposite: Melissa now grows as distant to Metallia and her past than she ever has been, and swears that she will never again join up with people who would do such things. She also makes all the Sailors promise to kill her if she were to ever join them again, which all, despite some being uneasy about such a promise, swear to.

However, all concern then turns to Serena, who they have to pull away from the situation. It is anger that resides within her for some time. She makes a promise of her own: The next time she sees Rubeus, he'll "be swimming in a pool of his own blood by my own hand." It is the first time anyone hears her talk in such a manner.

Anger Struggle
For the next year or so, the Sailors become preoccupied with settling down Serena and her alter ego, so much so that they forget about any hardships they had with each other (even the Beryl trustworthiness issue is subsided in favor of Serena's dilemma, though a few things happen in that respect).

Serena continues on a path of rage, not being used to the feeling of anger and hatred of such level, and thus, has no clue on how to control it. She distances herself from most of her friends and family due to escalating anger issues. She is preoccupied with one goal: Make Rubeus pay for his murderous deed.

During this time, the Sailors even have a hard time keeping Serena under a leash, something that even her adoptive parents find hard to do. They try to ground her several time, each time with no avail: She escapes without even thinking of consequence, as she is too preoccupied to care or realize that a punishment had been leveled against her. It is only after Casto explains the situation that her adoptive parents give up trying, since they understand the anger. They also understand that Casto may have a plan.

Since Serena is obviously incapable to handle leadership duties as Sailor Moon in her mental state, the role of leader fluctuates between members of the group. Luna and Artemis at first (since they would be next down in rank by the official rules of the original Peace Corps, something they went to in case of such a situation presented itself), and then to Raye (due to Serena's trust in Raye as a motivational friend). However, it eventually falls on the lap of Casto, due to his blood relation. His will and determination as well as his anti-establishment attitude gains the respect of all the Sailors. It would be a move that would later be important to the canon.

However, a move that surprised everyone was that Melissa also started to show qualifications of being a leader whenever Casto was incapacitated. This is a role that would soon win over the trust of Luna and Artemis. Luna being one to have been hard pressed to be able to trust her (making it even harder for Raye to not trust Melissa), while Artemis reveals he just didn't want to admit he had trusted her from the beginning (classifying him as one that thought he didn't have to verbally declare his trust).

It was also during one of the times in which Casto was incapacitated that Melissa realized an important detail about the Hizrounswa: It's not entirely evil. In fact, the only thing evil about it, she claims, is its user. While the crystal has extraordinary power and can kill the Sailors in one hit, it can also be used to do the exact opposite (resurrect one), even though the opposite would be harder because of the crystal's natural element. She then thinks that if they could get the crystal away from Rubeus, they could use it to get Reenie back, thus quelling the anger that Serena had. Hard-pressed to find any other opinion to do such a thing, they all decide to trust her.

It's a decision that proves successful. Luring Rubeus out of hiding, Melissa and Rubeus battle, with Rubeus trying to use the crystal's power on Melissa. However, a interesting development happens: The crystal, at its highest power, only does minimal damage to her because her power is of the exact same element, giving her a distinct advantage against the weapon. She wrestles the weapon out of Rubeus' hands and dismantles the weapon, thereby permanently ending his chances of killing the Sailors using that gun. Furthermore, Melissa now possesses the crystal. Rubeus tries then to play with the Sailors distrust in her, trying to say that Melissa is about to turn on everyone and to show how much of a setup it was. However, Melissa only smiles at him and hands the crystal to Casto. Rubeus, shocked and angered at the development, decides to flee.

The capture of Serena in order to tell her of the news and the plan was a harder issue. She wanted nothing more to do with the Sailors, and began attacking them after they approached her with the crystal. The standoff ends swiftly, however, once Melissa uses her power to temporarily incapacitate her long enough to tell her the news about their plan, verbally scolding her for acting out of anger like Melissa was doing when she accepted Metallia's offer. This is the first time that Melissa would use her prior situation with anger as an example as to why someone else should keep control of their own anger.

Serena reluctantly goes to Reenie's grave site with the gang, and after Melissa fires the Hizrounswa at the gravestone, the grave stone disappears, and Reenie's corpse appears behind them, but a few seconds later, she shows life, officially ending the ordeal. Melissa is ecstatic about the turn of events, and Serena has a reason to control her anger now. She apologizes to everyone for her actions, to which they quickly accept.

Resurgence of Metallia
Rubeus' plan now backfiring and failing one year after it was put into motion, he searches for a confidant in order to regroup. He realizes that there was one more piece of his puzzle: Queen Metallia. The Dark Kingdom nearly deserted, he attempts to reunite with the "woman in the egg" (as he phrases it), to which Metallia gladly re-accepts. This is significant to the canon due to this being the first time that Metallia shows how far she will now be willing to go to get her way, as she declares that she would like nothing better than Earth to crumble under the humans' feet (and thus plays a significant role that sets up the Deadworld story).

Now being able to focus on other issues and waiting for Rubeus to try to make a move to get back on top in his feud with them, the Sailors focus now on other issues that surround them, including Serena putting her social life back together after her anger issues. Her family forgives her, and eventually, everyone seems to get over the issue.

The main concern becomes, once again, the trust issue with Melissa and the rest of the Sailors. However, the only one out of the inner sensei that continues to have distrust is Raye, who is fluctuating constantly between trusting her or not.

However, the trust issue is once again put on hold following an attack on the Hikawa Shrine by Rubeus. This time, however, it is with a Youma, something that shocks Beryl. After the Sailors are able to defeat it (albeit with more trouble than before), Rubeus reveals that he is wanting to recapture the Hizrounswa and show what it can really do. However, he also reveals that not only does he have a new pact with Metallia, but he is also falling in love with her, something that sickens everyone. He reveals that the Youma attack was only a test run to see what would happen with his new found control over them. They now know that Metallia is trying to resurrect her position as the leader of the Dark Kingdom.

Enter the Outer Sensei
The Sailors debate over whether or not to destroy the Hizrounswa in order to permanently keep Rubeus from ever taking it back. They decide to go ahead and finally put an end to the crystal when they are stopped by Reenie's Luna-P. It is Sailor Pluto, who orders them to stop and keep the Hizrounswa intact. The reason: She has a dark premonition that may require the crystal to keep from happening, and thus, the crystal must be intact for such to take place. She also explains that she isn't the only one worried about the future, and that there are more warriors that are concerned that Rubeus and Metallia will be too dangerous for them. She just tells them to be on the lookout for them.

Later on, they find out who Pluto was talking about: Sailor Uranus and Neptune, who appear during a fight with Rubeus and an even stronger Youma. After short work of the Youma, Neptune and Uranus explain the situation. Ruebus is trying to get the Hizrounswa back and use it to instead of killing the Sailors, to take care of the rest of Metallia's resurrection. Beryl immediately realizes what they are talking about: Metallia still wants to "hatch" out of the egg. However, this is the first time that Beryl or anyone else hears about Metallia being a humanoid herself instead of what was originally thought of to be only an essence of evil.

It's important to note, as well, that while the issue with Rubeus is going on, the real reason of Uranus and Neptune's arrival is emphatically the same as the original canon of Sailor Moon S. However, the introduction of that reason doesn't come around in this canon until about three years later. Amara, Michelle, and Trista divulge their true identities, however, just a few days after the former two's arrival into the story.

Also to note that at this point, the Outer Sensei have not declared one way or another about their trust in Melissa, Amara being the first to say that she doesn't think that there should be any room for such politicking in the Sensei. Even though this was only meant as a personal view that she did not mean as a soapbox speech, it was taken hard, and is the first time that the Sailors realize that they have in fact treated the issue of trust as a political game. Casto is the first to declare that they shouldn't have to declare any trust in anyone, and that they should want to trust all their friends, even Melissa. Serena joins him soon after. This starts a quick chain reaction, and soon, the "politicking" ends about the trust issue, with only Raye still on the fence (even though she had also made a truce that she wouldn't turn it into a game or a faction war). This is also the first time that anyone would refer to Melissa as a friend. A few days later, all the Outer Sensei (besides Hotatu, who has yet to be introduced into the story at this point) reveal they consider all the Sailors, Melissa, and Darien trustworthy. With this move, the Sailors finally feel like they have true unity, except for Raye, who was about to experience her run with emotional distress which becomes extremely important as it becomes a major plot point and eventually a turning point in the canon.

Seizing the Hizrounswa
Rubeus, now seeing the Sailors more united than ever, decided that he and Metallia must make their move now before it gets too late. Rubeus want to get dissension within the Sailors going again, and Metallia has a new goal: To get Melissa back long enough to restore distrust (even though Raye still holds distrust over Beryl, she had agreed to not show it, as the distrust was now considered as normal to her personality). However, this proves to be futile with the new Outer Sensei in play: Rubeus fails miserably, and Metallia cannot do anything about Melissa until she is free.

Like before, however, Rubeus grows tired of the continue failures of his plans and decides to abandon them in favor of making a statement. He decides to send a lynch mob of Youmas after the Sailors. Even though they fall easily, the real purpose was to distract them for him to recapture the Hizrounswa. He does so with ease, and without any of the Sailors knowing that he had done so. They soon find out, however, and the gang is worried about what would happen. However, Rubeus tells Metallia that he is going to wait on getting Metallia free, since there is something that he wants to do with that thing first that would be too good to not try. Trusting Rubeus, Metallia lets Rubeus be his own boss (the romantic relationship between the two now growing), not knowing of the plan that Rubeus has in mind. It would be a significant one to the story.

Beginning of Raye's Collapse
Raye at that point was beginning to doubt her own emotional being due to her not being able to trust Melissa when everyone else was able to, telling Darien about her troubles at first to trust her. She knows now she can, but for some reason, she cannot. Darien tells her that it's probably just her being herself, and that she was one to show her compassion in a weird way. Raye is reminded about her relationship with Serena: She was tough on her, but only because she cared deeply for her. She thought that maybe this was the same thing with Melissa, and that she was only choosing to say that she didn't trust her as a means to keep Melissa from being influenced by Metallia and Rubeus' efforts again by making Melissa have to constantly prove her trust by defeating her enemies. However, she cannot bring herself to believe this as viable because she was trying to work on showing her compassion the correct way.

Frustrated by this, she is about to go straight to Melissa and be honest with her about her emotional situation, but it is stonewalled by a terrible incident: Her grandfather goes into a stroke and is hospitalized. He eventually is taken out of intensive care, though unconscious at this point.

Rubeus' Official Challenge
With the Hizrounswa now in his hands, Rubeus issues yet another challenge to the Sailors. Growing tired of these challenges, Serena wants to go it alone and put an end to this once and for all. However, Pluto stops her, reminding all of the Sailors about the premonition that she had that caused her to stop the Sailors from destroying the crystal to begin with. Melissa and Casto both agree, with seeing Rubeus' past tricks involving confrontational challenges. Serena at first refuses, but then Amara and Michelle both decide to stay with Reenie and the Shrine just in case this is a second attempt at killing Reenie, and for the others to go and see if Rubeus is indeed telling the truth this time.

However, he is this time, albeit with another Youma, and like the more recent fights, this one was more powerful than the others, and more powerful than Melissa can remember. However, Serena then told Rubeus that she knew he wasn't about to fight her alone, and to try again with his antics, since she wasn't about to be fooled so easily this time.

Collapse Continues
However, when the group comes back to the Shrine to see Reenie and the Outers alright, the Shrine phone immediately rings after normal chatter. Raye picks up to find the hospital on the other end. At first, Raye thinks that her grandpa is alright, asking if he's behaving and not trying to catcall the young nurses. Her smile and joking attitude falls quickly as she instead hears horrific news instead about her grandpa: He did not survive. He had another stroke, and died following the ordeal. In a moment of shock, Raye drops the phone that's still off the hook, and tells her friends the news. They are all saddened and hurt by the news, and decide to put everything aside to assist Raye cope with the loss of her grandpa. Chad, her off and on boyfriend at the time, decides to leave the Shrine, saying that he needs some time to himself to cope with the loss of his Sensei. This is just two of the main outlets Raye had to talk to that were taken away from her, but more was to come.

Darien and Casto leave
Darien's college days are firmly approaching, and he had decided to take courses in America instead of attending a Japanese school, citing his intention to know of the world he would be defending. Serena is devastated but understands the situation, and promises to keep in touch.

However, with Raye already losing her grandpa to his stroke, and Chad deciding to grieve alone, this hits her hard. She tries not to verbalize it in front of Darien, and instead, not caring who she has to tell it to, privately tells her grief to Melissa, someone who she thought she couldn't trust. Melissa, not acknowledging Raye's past feelings about her, tells her that it will be fine, and that he will soon return. She also tells Raye that she is also highly disappointed that she won't get to talk to Darien for a long time, citing that she and him are still close friends, as are all the Senshi to her. It is only when Raye is about to go to sleep that night that she realizes that she did talk to Melissa about her ordeal, not even noticing that. Although she thinks nothing of it at this point, this is important towards what eventually happens later on in the canon.

However, another person needs to leave: Casto. He learns that the foreign exchange program is ending, and the agency that was running the program is forcing him to return to the States. Casto tries to plead his case, but the agency refuses to budge. The Sailors, having trusted him for so long, does not like this decision by the agency. He has no choice, however, and vows to do whatever he can to get himself back in Japan. Both Serena and Melissa do what they can to get him to defy the system, but he doesn't want anything extremely bad to happen to him as a result, and that he might face trouble in Japan, as well, if he doesn't comply. He vows to come back as soon as he can, though it will take a while for this to eventually happen.

Raye also takes this news hard, and she is quickly left with a dilemma even more serious than her distrust in Melissa: All the people she could really trust to talk to were leaving her in some way. She was quickly running out of people that she trusted with her private life, as she didn't see her parents much anymore, and all her school friends left for college, as well.

The Closer They Are
Raye decides to talk with Serena about her recent dilemmas, and Serena is somewhat shocked that Raye felt the way she did for Darien and Casto. Serena tells Raye that she could've just came to her for guidance and comfort. Raye responds by crying on her shoulder. This is the first sign of not only Raye's friendship with Serena growing even stronger and closer, but also a sign that Serena was willing to be forever loyal to her friends, which is a sticking point of her character in this canon, and is continuously mentioned in Deadworld.

However, Raye's distraught behavior catches Rubeus' attention. He is not sure how to exploit this yet, though, and neither does Metallia. Rubeus does, however, realize now that the Sailors are shorthanded without Darien and Casto, and that he had a few options. He could take advantage of Darien and Casto not having anyone else to provide back-up if he were to go after them, or he could face the shorthanded Sailors He decided to continue with challenging Sailor Moon still. He has tried two more times to challenge Serena to face him. Each time, there turned out to be a catch: One Youma each, with both of them again proving to be even stronger than the ones that preceded them.

However, on the second attempt, Rubeus saw a shocking phenomenon: Serena and Raye working closer together than any of the other Sailors, and moreso than he saw in the past. He knew Serena and Raye both had a strong friendship as it was, but at this point, it was growing stronger than ever. Rubeus took a mental note of it and told Metallia about that relationship. Metallia suggests to investigate further, and from said investigation, Rubeus finds out about Raye finding Serena to be a major outlet for her emotions. Rubeus knows this can be exploited in a variety of ways, and goes to Metallia for advice. Metallia responds by mentioning a sinister suggestion: That it may be time "spill the blood of their leader". In other words: Kill Sailor Moon! Rubeus immediately agrees, wondering why he didn't think of it sooner: Get rid of the leader, and he not only kills Raye's last outlet that stops her from going into a complete emotional breakdown, but also makes the Sailors basically mercenaries and lost. He agrees that it's time to spill Serena's blood, and vows to kill her if it kills HIM!