Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon S2: Black Moon

Act 0 - The Story So Far

"Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon" is a Japanese tokusatsu superhero series based on the manga by Naoko Takeuchi. It aired from 2003 to 2004 and both adapted and greatly expanded the "Dark Kingdom" arc of the manga. This fanfic is a direct sequel to that story.

Below is a full summary of the show's one and only season. If you've never watched "Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon", consider this chapter a primer for this fanfic. If you've seen the show, feel free to skip to "Act 1".

Spoilers ahead.

Usagi Tsukino is a clumsy, lazy, but cheerful and good-hearted middle school girl. One day, she encounters a talking plush cat named Luna, who awakens her as Sailor Moon, the Guardian of Love and Justice. Usagi reluctantly accepts her role to fight the monsters that plague Tokyo. Luna entrusts her with an important mission: find and awaken her fellow Sailor Guardians and protect a hidden princess.

Over time, Usagi is drawn to other girls who turn out to be her fellow Sailor Guardians. Ami Mizuno becomes Sailor Mercury. Ami is a shy, intelligent girl who is lonely. She finds friendship with Usagi and the other Guardians. Her fondest wish is to follow in her mother's footsteps and become a doctor.

Rei Hino is revealed as Sailor Mars. She is a powerful shrine maiden with psychic abilities, who is serious and withdrawn. The death of her mother when she was young, and her strained relationship with her absent father, have made Rei reluctant to form meaningful bonds.

Makoto Kino becomes Sailor Jupiter. She is a strong but kind-hearted girl who feels isolated because of her strength. She has a strong feminine side and loves to cook, but people often judge her based on her physical prowess.

Minako Aino, an idol who has secretly operated as the vigilante Sailor V, is later revealed to be Sailor Venus and the leader of the Guardians. She has a strong sense of duty and harbors a dark secret. When she first encounters the other Guardians, she pretends to be the hidden princess to protect the true princess's identity. She also has her own plush cat adviser, Artemis.

Usagi repeatedly encounters Mamoru Chiba, a young man with whom she has an adversarial relationship. Unbeknownst to Usagi, Mamoru also prowls the night as Tuxedo Mask, a jewel thief who seeks to restore his lost memories. Tuxedo Mask often helps Sailor Moon in her fights against monsters called youma.

The group of girls makes the local karaoke club, Crown, their secret headquarters. Crown is run by the kind and turtle-obsessed Motoki Furuhata. He also happens to be Mamoru's best friend.

A hidden group of villains called the Dark Kingdom reveals itself to be behind the attacks on the people of Tokyo. They send youma to gather human energy and try to find the Silver Crystal, a powerful artifact linked to the hidden princess. The Dark Kingdom is led by Queen Beryl. Her four generals, Jadeite, Nephrite, Zoisite, and Kunzite, carry out her plans.

Ami continues to struggle with insecurities in her friendship with Usagi and often compares herself to Usagi's other close friend, Naru Osaka. During an attack by the Dark Kingdom, Ami is brainwashed and becomes Dark Mercury, fighting against her friends. She eventually breaks free from the Dark Kingdom's influence and rejoins her friends, but the experience leaves its mark.

Usagi begins to spend more time with Mamoru and falls in love with him, rejecting her crush on Tuxedo Mask. She discovers Mamoru is engaged to be married, but his fiancée breaks off the engagement, sensing the budding affection he has for Usagi.

As the Guardians' battles intensify, they begin to recover memories of their past lives. They discover that they have been reincarnated from a long-dead Moon Kingdom. Usagi realizes she is the princess, Serenity, and her forbidden love for Prince Endymion of Earth, who has been reincarnated as Mamoru, led to the Moon Kingdom's destruction. Beryl is obsessed with Mamoru, as she long ago was in love with Endymion, as well.

Rei, meanwhile, is the first to discover the true identity of Sailor Venus and forms a contentious bond with her. The two clash over their past lives, with Rei rejecting the notion that her current life must be ruled by her previous life's mission. Minako, meanwhile, has given herself completely to her past life's duty.

Rei also discovers that Minako is struggling with a terminal illness. This illness limits the time left to complete her mission, but she continues to fight rather than seek treatment. Minako's duty and sacrifice inspires Rei, who grows close to her.

Usagi's fear of losing Mamoru leads her to transform into "Princess Sailor Moon", a distinct, second personality that emerges when her past self takes control. This dark version of her is immensely powerful but consumed by grief and anger. It soon becomes clear that it was her who destroyed all things on both the moon and Earth in her grief over Endymion's death. Fearing that history might repeat, Usagi struggles to suppress that part of herself.

Makoto finds herself falling in love with Mamoru's best friend, Motoki. She initially believes her past life demands she stay alone forever, but she eventually opens her heart to Motoki, and the two start a relationship.

Mamoru discovers that Beryl's generals were actually his generals and friends in his past life. He surrenders himself to the Dark Kingdom to rescue them. They regain their memories of their master. Despite Mamoru's best efforts, they ultimately perish.

Rei reconnects with her absent father, who is a successful politician. Despite her resentment, she makes an effort to her father. They forge an uneasy peace. Ami, meanwhile, deals with the disappointment of her mother, who has noticed that her dedication to her studies has wavered. Ami ultimately explains to her mother that her goals have not changed, but that her friends also play an important role in her life.

On Rei's urging, Minako decides to get a risky surgery to fight off her terminal illness and dies during the operation. This shatters the other Guardians, especially Rei, who must now enter the final conflict with the Dark Kingdom without one of their own.

They discover that Beryl serves a malevolent force called Metalia, which threatens to destroy the world if released. Mamoru takes this force into his body in an attempt to contain it, but fails. Instead, Metalia gains control of Mamoru. Sailor Moon is forced to kill him. In her grief, Princess Sailor Moon emerges and attempts to destroy the world. The remaining Sailor Guardians take up arms against their princess and friend to save the world. They fail.

From beyond death, Usagi uses the power of the Silver Crystal, a part of her all along, to restore the world and her friends, including Minako. The Crystal shatters. Mamoru and Usagi remain dead.

Unable to forget Usagi in their restored lives, the former Sailor Guardians will her and Mamoru back into existence. Princess Sailor Moon fades away along with all of the Guardians' powers. They can now look forward to a new life together, free from the burdens of their past lives.

Four years later, Mamoru and Usagi are getting married. Ami is studying to be a doctor in America. Rei is honing her spiritual powers. Makoto, still dating Motoki, is working in flower-arrangement. Minako's career is reaching global proportions; she accepts an award as the top artist in Greece.

A servant of the Dark Kingdom re-emerges to take revenge on the group. A remnant of power from the Moon Kingdom, in the form of the Lunar Sword, temporarily restores the Guardians' powers and they defeat their adversary. Immediately after their victory, their powers disappear for good.

Mamoru and Usagi get married. Motoki catches the bouquet and proposes to Makoto. The Guardians go their separate ways, each with their own happy ending...

Or so they thought...