Act 21 Complication - Nemesis

Alone in enemy territory, Sailor Moon finds herself trapped on the planet Nemesis and hears the Black Moon Clan's scheme directly from Prince Demande, who confesses a romantic attraction to Neo-Queen Serenity. Naoko Takeuchi wrote and illustrated the chapter, part of the Black Moon arc.

Waking on Nemesis, Usagi faces Demande, who describes rising up against Neo-Queen Serenity and following Wiseman's guidance to the planet to harness the Black Crystal's power. After striking Crystal Tokyo, the clan meant to travel back and rewrite history in its favor. Demande admits the sight of Neo-Queen Serenity left him smitten, and unable to have her, he seized Usagi instead. Her attempt to transform fails, blocked by the Black Crystal. Elsewhere, Tuxedo Mask and Venus learn that Nemesis behaves like a black hole, devouring energy, so any approach is perilous.

Luna proposes that Chibiusa, as Serenity's daughter, might wield the Silver Crystal, but King Endymion says the girl holds no special gifts. He then recounts the roots of the conflict: a criminal called Death Phantom once terrorized Crystal Tokyo until Neo-Queen Serenity banished him to Nemesis with the Silver Crystal. Years later, rebels styling themselves the Black Moon came to the planet in search of power.

Summoning her resolve, Usagi calls out to Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter, who wake elsewhere on Nemesis in civilian form, unable to transform, and pass out as the air thins. Chibiusa recalls the days before the attack, when constant taunts over her lack of power drove her to take her mother's Silver Crystal, an act that left the queen sealed in a comatose, quartz-encased sleep. Lonely and feeling unwanted, she sought out her one true friend, Sailor Pluto, but lost the Space-Time Key and became stranded. Wiseman then appears before her, offering power, and she accepts.

The chapter fills in the origin of the feud between the Black Moon and the rulers of Crystal Tokyo, revealing Death Phantom's banishment as its starting point. It also closes on Chibiusa taking Wiseman's hand, a turn that drives the following chapters.