Chibi Usa and Hotaru meet when Hotaru is attacked by one of her father's failed experiments. Sailors Moon and Chibi Moon help her, and Hotaru heals Chibi Moon's wound. Later, Chibi Usa wants to return the handkerchief Hotaru gave her. She goes to the lab and Hotaru asks her in. All of a sudden, Hotaru has an attack where she cannot breathe and she falls to the floor. She asks for the amulet her father gave her, but Chibi Usa heals her with her silver crystal. Outside, Michiru and Haruka watch.

A while later, Chibi Usa has made a clay model of the holy grail at school and decides that she wants to give it to Hotaru.

Meanwhile, Hotaru is walking home from school, alone, as usual. All of a sudden, she has an attack and all her things spill from her schoolbag. Two girls who just happened to be talking about Hotaru see her and step on her things. Hotaru gets a strange glint in her eyes and crushes her iron pencil case in one hand. The girls run away.

Usagi wants to accompany Chibi Usa to Hotaru's, so they both set off. Usagi is nervous while she is there and she leaves to go to the washroom. Hotaru has an attack while she is gone and she reaches for Chibi Usa's crystal, then pulls herself away. "There is a voice in my head..." she whispers. Usagi and Chibi Usa leave.

A while later, Hotaru asks Chibi Usa to go to a movie with her. When Hotaru is very late, Chibi Usa decides to go and see if she is at her house. Hotaru has just had another session with her father and is getting dressed. Chibi Usa stands at the window, stunned by all the wires and electrodes that cover Hotaru's body. Hotaru sees her and Chibi Usa runs away.

Hotaru remembers when she was a little girl: there was an accident at the lab. Her mother was killed and she was severly wounded and fell into a coma. To save her, her father merged her body with that of an alien. Presently, she is mostly mechanical. Hotaru abruptly comes back to the present as she has another attack. She looks up and sees Michiru, Haruka, and Setsuna at her window, looking at her with pity and compassion. She asks them if they are the goddesses of death, then slams the window closed, accidentally throwing the amulet her father gave her away at the same time. The Outers disappear.

As Sailor Moon discovers that she can become Super Sailor Moon, Hotaru lies on her floor, crying out in pain. Hotaru fights with what is trying to possess her body. She loses. Her eyes become sparks of light and she murmurs: "The Silver Crystal... I must have the Silver Crystal..." Her eyes return to normal and Hotaru falls unconscious.

Meanwhile, the Outer Scouts recount the tale of Sailor Saturn, the Destroyer. Called from the forbidden planet by the joining of the three talismans, Saturn was awakened in the time of the Moon Kingdom. When Saturn raised her Silence Glaive, the end came upon the world. They also reveal that they have found their enemy, and that Saturn is dormant among them. Sailor Saturn is none other than Hotaru. Saturn was not supposed to be in this time: she must therefore be destroyed, before she awakens and destroys the universe. They tell of the condition of her body, and say that the only way she can become human again is to become Saturn, but that must never happen.

Chibi Moon, sickened by the Outer Scouts' cold-blooded talk, runs to Hotaru's home and finds her unconscious. Suddenly, Hotaru's head snaps up, revealing shining eyes. A clawed hand reaches for Chibi Moon and grabs her locket. Chibi Usa falls unconscious. Hotaru's hair grows until it is past her feet, and she reaches for the other Scouts, who followed Chibi Moon. They escape her. A black star appears on Hotaru's forehead and she rises, crying: "Pharaoh Ninety, I, Mistress Nine, shall free you!"

Meanwhile, doctors pronounce Chibi Usa dead. The Outers appear and tell the Scouts that the being they saw was not Saturn, but a Daimon, and that it has Chibi Usa's soul.

Mistress Nine presents Chibi Usa's heart crystal to the darkness that is Pharaoh Ninety, and he uses some of its energy to breach the gap between the earth and their world. Just then, a faint shadow appears behind her and tells her that she will never allow her to use Chibi Usa's pure heart for evil again. Mistress Nine turns but finds no one. She tells Professor Tomoe that the master will soon have enough energy to enter this world. Near them, the same shadow floats...

The Sailor Scouts attack Professor Tomoe's lab. In response, Mistress Nine swallows Chibi Usa's heart crystal and power courses through her. As Mistress Nine convulses with the power she's absorbing, Chibi Usa convulses in pain. All of a sudden, the power is cut off. The shadow stands, cradling the heart crystal in her hands, in Mistress Nine's mind. "I won't let you abuse her power!" Mistress Nine feels like someone is trying to gain control of her body. Furious, she swears that when she has completed her goal, she will shred this body into a million pieces. The shadow clenches her fists, powerless.

Chibi Usa is falling through darkness. Suddenly, a voice cries out and she sees Hotaru, a mere shadow of herself, leading her to something. She leads her to her heart crystal, and Chibi Usa finds some peace as she curls up around it and goes to sleep. Hotaru cradles the small body on her lap, then looks up and swears that she will not let anyone harm her any more. Mistress Nine's power slowly fades. Elsewhere, Chibi Usa begins to breathe again.

The Scouts fight their way through to the lab, losing the Inners (except Sailor Moon) in the process, but they finally come face to face with Mistress Nine. A huge chasm has opened in the sky, and the world around them is slowly being destroyed. The Outer Scouts unite their powers. Mistress Nine laughs and tries to free herself from Hotaru's body, but Hotaru's spirit will not let her. Mistress Nine begins to tear apart her body. Hotaru's soul weakens, but she refuses to give up. Suddenly, Mistress Nine notices the souls of the Inner Scouts. She rushes to them, intent on getting their energy, and swallows their souls. Mistress Nine tries to draw on their power, but Hotaru beats her to them. She protects them and is quickly weakening, but manages to release them from her body. The Inners wake up. Hotaru's shadow stands before them, smiling. Then she disappears. (By this time, Mistress Nine has freed herself of Hotaru's body, which she has shredded until it died.)

Hotaru's spirit goes to Chibi Usa's body and sends her heart crystal back to her. Chibi Usa wakes up, and Hotaru tells her she is her best friend. Then she cries out in pain and disappears.

One by one, all the Scouts fall to the ground, their energy spent. Just as Sailor Moon succumbs to the power of Pharaoh Ninety, the talismans awake. They lift to form a triangle, and a bright ball of light appears. Inside lies a girl who looks like Hotaru, in a Sailor uniform. She carries a stick much longer than herself, and the sign of Saturn can be clearly seen on her forehead. "I am the messenger of death. Under the protection of the planet Saturn, planet of destruction, I am the Scout of Silence... I am Sailor Saturn."

All are stunned. Saturn smiles and remarks that, judging by their expressions, she supposes she is still unwanted. She plants the end of her Glaive in the earth and begins her attack. The others look on, wondering what they did wrong, why this must be so, if it is truly the end. Each Sailor Scout remembers Sailor Moon, who has fallen into the abyss, and cries. Uranus, still holding her Space Sword, looks up with tears in her eyes. "No, it's too unfair...! All our fighting was in vain?! Everything is falling in ruins..." She clenches her fists helplessly and tears run down her cheeks. "I... I wanted to protect her any way I could and I failed!" she cries.

Saturn finishes her attack and drains Pharaoh Ninety's energy. All the darkness he had cast onto the earth rejoined the dark hole. Saturn smiles and looks down at the retreating darkness. It parts to reveal an unconscious Sailor Moon, encased in a bubble, floating up toward them. She wakes and looks at her friends. Satisfied, Saturn closes her eyes and cries: "Let the Apocalypse invade this universe!" There is a moment of utter silence before a huge explosion shakes the earth. Everything is disappearing; the very earth itself is dying. As Pharaoh Ninety howls in agony, Sailor Saturn smiles softly and whispers: "I like... this agony before destruction..."

Saturn jumps up and is slowly drawn toward the black hole. Saturn turns to comfort them. "Do not regret... even after death, there is hope and resurrection. I am the Sailor Scout who must destroy for there to be resurrection." She tells Sailor Moon to help the earth grow again when this is done. Saturn then turns to Pluto. "You must close the door to the forbidden world behind me!" When Pluto looks alarmed, Saturn yells, "Do it!" and enters the hole. Reluctantly, Pluto does as asked and the door of time appears, then closes. It disappears again. Pluto is crying.

Sailor Moon uses the power of the Silver Crystal to purify the world. All the dead people wake up and the world returns to normal. Suddenly, they hear a baby crying. Neptune runs over to where a tiny child lies, with the symbol of Saturn fading quickly from her forehead. The Outers take her and disappear to an unknown place to raise her, with the promise to return someday. The Inner Scouts smile and watch them go.

* note: This is not the entire Sailor Moon S story -- this is only the parts relevant to Saturn/Hotaru. If you want the full version of the story (and I've left out a LOT in this version) go to my other Sailor Moon page. You'll find it in my links section, on the main page.

(c) copyright - Takeuchi Naoko/Toei