Chapter Text
The sun of a Tuesday afternoon was a lazy, golden thing, spilling through the windows of the Tsukino residence like warm honey. It painted long, drowsy stripes across the living room floor, illuminating dust motes dancing in the air like tiny, silent fairies. Usagi Tsukino, champion of justice and princess of the Moon Kingdom, was currently champion of the napping arts. She was sprawled on the carpet, a half eaten bag of potato chips serving as a makeshift pillow, her head lolling to one side as a gentle snore escaped her lips. Her school uniform was rumpled, a testament to a long day of pretending to absorb lectures on Tokugawa era politics.
Luna, the sleek black cat with the crescent moon on her forehead, sat perched on the arm of the sofa, regarding her charge with an air of weary resignation. Her tail twitched, a metronome counting the seconds of wasted potential.
Luna: "(Sighing heavily) Usagi, you have homework. You cannot simply sleep your life away. Do you think the forces of evil take naps?"
Usagi: "(Mumbling in her sleep) Mmm… five more minutes, Mom… the cake is fighting back…"
Luna was about to deliver a well aimed swat to Usagi’s head when the very air in the room seemed to curdle. It grew thick and heavy, charged with the electric hum of temporal displacement. The lazy afternoon light flickered, and a column of pink energy erupted in the center of the room, scattering chip crumbs in its wake. It swirled with the sound of a thousand tiny bells before coalescing and depositing a small, pink haired figure onto the floor.
Chibiusa, looking frantic and wide eyed, stumbled forward, her red eyes scanning the room. Her usual confident, if slightly bratty, demeanor was gone, replaced by a raw, palpable fear.
Chibiusa: "(Gasping for breath) Usagi! Luna! You have to listen!"
Usagi shot up, suddenly wide awake. The transition from slumber to alert was instantaneous, a reflex honed by countless battles. Her blue eyes, still foggy with sleep, focused on her future daughter.
Usagi: "(Blinking) Small Lady? What’s wrong? Did you forget your keys to the future again? I told you to put them on a keychain."
Luna: "(Leaping from the sofa to Chibiusa’s side) This is no normal visit. I can feel the disturbance in the Space Time Door. It’s strained. Something is terribly wrong."
Chibiusa shook her head, her twin tails swishing anxiously. She clutched a small, ornate locket in her hand, her knuckles white.
Chibiusa: "(Her voice trembling) It’s the future. It’s… disappearing. Not being rewritten, like before. It’s being… drained. People in Crystal Tokyo… they just stop. They stop smiling, they stop loving. They become like empty dolls. Neo Queen Serenity… my mother… she’s trying to hold it together with the Silver Crystal, but she’s weakening. She sent me back. She said it started here. In this time."
Usagi’s playful attitude vanished, replaced by the steely resolve of Sailor Moon. She moved to Chibiusa’s side, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.
Usagi: "(Softly) Started here? What started here, Chibiusa?"
Before Chibiusa could answer, a chilling wave of energy washed over the city, so potent that even Usagi, in her civilian form, could feel it. It was a cold, hollow feeling, a psychic void that seemed to suck the warmth from the very air. It felt like a universal sigh of despair. Somewhere in the Azabu Juban district, laughter died. Hope dwindled. Joy evaporated.
Luna: "(Hissing, her fur standing on end) What was that? It’s like all the happiness in a whole city block just vanished."
Chibiusa: "(Looking towards the window, her expression grim) That’s them. She said they would be here. They’ve come to steal the light from this era too. The light of people’s hearts."
Usagi: "(Standing up, her eyes narrowed) They? Who are ‘they’?"
Chibiusa finally looked down at her feet, a tear tracing a path down her dusty cheek. She spoke the name with a dread that made the room feel several degrees colder.
Chibiusa: "(Whispering) The Sailor Oppositios. And their queen, the Sorceress Apsu."
The name hung in the air, heavy and menacing. Usagi felt a shiver that had nothing to do with the temperature. Apsu. Oppositios. The words sounded ancient and wrong, echoes from a place that should have remained silent. The peaceful afternoon was officially over. Outside, the world was a little less bright, a little less joyful, and Usagi Tsukino knew, with a sinking certainty, that her days of napping on chip bags were over for the foreseeable future. The fight was on, whether she was ready for it or not.
The communicators chirped in unison, a frantic electronic chorus cutting through the quiet atmospheres of four different locations across Tokyo. At the Hikawa Shrine, Rei Hino was in the middle of sweeping the stone steps, her movements a practiced, graceful dance. The sudden sound caused her to jump, nearly dropping her broom. In her apartment, Ami Mizuno was hunched over a complex equation, her brow furrowed in concentration until the piercing beep shattered her focus. Makoto Kino was tending to her potted roses, gently misting their leaves, her thoughts on a new cake recipe, when her communicator buzzed insistently in her apron pocket. And at the heart of the city, Minako Aino was in the middle of a disastrous audition for a J-pop group, her singing slightly off key, when the device on her wrist vibrated, providing a welcome excuse to bow out gracefully.
They all convened within ten minutes at their usual headquarters: the command center hidden deep beneath the Crown Game Center. The room was a wash of glowing screens and blinking lights. Usagi, Chibiusa, and Luna were already there, their faces etched with worry.
Makoto: "(Rushing in, still wiping a bit of soil from her hands) Usagi! What’s going on? I felt that energy wave. It was awful. It felt like someone just turned off the sun."
Rei: "(Following close behind, her arms crossed) I felt it at the shrine. The sacred fire flickered. It was a malevolent energy, cold and hungry. And I’ve been having nightmares for a week. Dark figures, a dying planet."
Ami: "(Adjusting her glasses, her fingers already flying across a keyboard) I’ve been tracking atmospheric anomalies all day. There are pockets of negative psychic energy forming all over the city. It’s not youma energy. It’s something else. It specifically targets areas with high concentrations of positive emotional output. Parks, shopping malls, even a pet store."
Minako: "(Leaning dramatically against a console, with Artemis perched on her shoulder) They hit the audition! Everyone suddenly got stage fright and forgot the lyrics. The producer started crying about his failed dreams. It was a total mood killer. Artemis says the energy signature is completely alien."
Artemis: "(Nodding his feline head) It’s like nothing we have on file. It doesn’t destroy, it just… takes. It siphons positive emotions."
All eyes turned to Chibiusa, who stood beside the main console, looking small and overwhelmed. She took a deep breath, steeling herself to deliver the full weight of her terrible news.
Chibiusa: "(Her voice gaining a little strength) They’re from Planet Htrae. It’s a world in another dimension, a mirror of Earth. But it’s dying. The star it orbits is fading, and the planet is turning to dust. The Sorceress Apsu is its ruler. To save her world, she found a way to create warriors by distilling the negative aspects of powerful people from another reality. She chose you."
She pointed a trembling finger at the four inner scouts and then at Usagi.
Chibiusa: "(Continuing) She created the Sailor Oppositios. They are your dark reflections, your opposites. They feed on happiness, love, and joy, converting it into life force to send back to their dying planet."
Ami brought up a schematic on the main screen, a theoretical projection based on Chibiusa’s frantic description. Five shadowed figures appeared.
Ami: "(Reading from the screen) According to the temporal data Chibiusa brought back, their names are based on ancient Mesopotamian deities of the underworld. Ishtar, the opposite of Sailor Venus. Nergal, the opposite of Sailor Mars. Marduk, the opposite of Sailor Jupiter. And Nabu, the opposite of me, Sailor Mercury."
Usagi: "(Staring at the screen, a knot tightening in her stomach) And my opposite?"
Chibiusa: "(Looking at Usagi with dread) Her name is Sin. She is their leader. She is the opposite of everything you are, Usagi. Where you bring love, she brings emptiness. Where you offer hope, she offers despair. She is the most powerful and the most dangerous of them all."
A heavy silence fell over the command center. The concept of fighting dark versions of themselves was chillingly familiar, reminiscent of the DD Girls or other twisted mockeries they had faced. But this was different. These weren’t monsters of the day. They were twisted Sailor Scouts with a purpose, a desperate, tragic mission.
Makoto: "(Clenching her fist) So they’re stealing people’s happiness to save their home? That’s… horrible. But also kind of sad."
Rei: "(Her expression hard) Sad or not, they’re hurting innocent people. We can’t let them continue. What about Shingo?"
The sudden mention of her brother’s name made Usagi flinch.
Usagi: "(Confused) Shingo? What about him?"
Chibiusa looked even more distressed.
Chibiusa: "(Wringing her hands) In the future that’s fading, there was another one. Apsu didn’t just target the scouts. She targeted someone close to you, to create an anchor of despair. His name is Anshar. He’s the opposite of your brother, my uncle, Shingo."
The blood drained from Usagi’s face. Her annoying, video game obsessed little brother was now a target, and worse, had a dark reflection of his own. The fight had just become deeply, terrifyingly personal.
Minako: "(Putting a hand on Usagi’s shoulder) We’re with you, Usagi. All the way. No dark copycat is a match for the real Sailor Venus, goddess of love and beauty!"
Rei: "(Rolling her eyes, but with a supportive glint) We’ll purify them with fire. All of them."
Ami: "(Nodding, her focus unwavering) We need a strategy. We need to understand their powers and how to counteract this energy drain."
Makoto: "(Smiling reassuringly) And we’ll protect Shingo. And everyone in Tokyo. Count on it."
Usagi looked at her friends, at their determined faces, and felt a surge of courage. The fear was still there, a cold stone in her gut, but it was now surrounded by the warmth of their friendship.
Usagi: "(Her voice clear and strong) Alright. Let’s show these Oppositios what real Sailor Scouts can do."
Deep in the shadows of a forgotten alleyway in Shinjuku, five figures watched the city lights. One of them, a woman with silver hair that seemed to absorb the light, stepped forward. Her eyes, the color of a dead star, surveyed the vibrant metropolis with a cold emptiness.
Sin: "(Her voice a low, chilling whisper) The banquet has begun. Feed, my sisters. Drain this world of its cloying light. Let them know the silence of our home. Let them feel the cold of Htrae."