When Jupiter arrived and told them Mercury was with the princess, Venus nodded, hoping everything would be fine on that end. “Yes, I think so. The crowd makes me nervous, but I don’t think the enemy would attack everyone out in the open like this and create so much attention to themselves. It’ll allow us to blend in better too, hopefully.” She paused, took a deep breath, and decided, “Split up to different corners of the store. Look for anything unusual and where the enemy could be hiding. Use the communicator if you find anything.”

Venus then slipped in between people clamoring for the now cheap jewelries, trying to work her way inside. Artemis had jumped back down and seemed to be using his agile cat form to sneak between people’s feet easily. Venus didn’t quite know what she’d find or if she could identify something as the enemy just by looking at it, but though she did not have Mars’ sixth sense, she was also a thousand year old senshi with a lot of experience. She liked to think she could sense something that wasn’t right. All this people was making it difficult to hone in on anything, though…

Mars moved in a different direction, the dark energy getting stronger with each step she took deeper into the store. She tried to tune out the world’s noises, trying to pinpoint its source. But to her surprise, it felt as if every single piece of jewelry in the place had been touched by the dark energy. With worry, she watched as woman after woman purchased them and walked out of the store. What did this mean? Was the enemy planning to spread their influence over the entire city? If so, the princess could encounter anyone who’d been in this shop anytime. Maybe even now. The thought made her blood run cold.

She tried to focus a little bit more in order to find the source. They needed to find it and destroy it quickly.

In the back of the store, a blonde man in a grey and red suit monitored the progress of his plan as he sat back in a chair. Just like Jadeite had predicted, the humans expended huge amounts of energy trying to buy this jewelry, energy he could easily harvest for Queen Beryl's purposes. At the rate of customers flooding in, he wouldn't be very far from hitting his quota by tonight. 

"People are so easy to manipulate..." he said, toying with a ring he had found. His eyes widened as a strange wave of deja vu washed over him. What was this energy he was sensing? It didn't match the rest of the humans at all... And why was he suddenly afraid for his life? "Morga, come here." 

Naru's mother teleported in, kneeing in front of Jadeite as he stood up. 

"You called for me, master?"

"There's been a change in schedule, start collecting energy as soon as possible." She looked surprised.

"But sir, we aren't at full capacity yet! If we just waited another hour, I'm sure we could-"

"Are you questioning my judgement?" Jadeite asked.

"U-uh... no, of course not, I'll get right on it!" She disappeared again, and Jadeite sat down, deep in thought. Why couldn't he remember the last time he felt this power?

_______________________________________________________



Jupiter looked around at the different jewelry displays in a different direction than Venus and Mars, trying to find anything noteworthy. Beyond her rose earrings, she wasn't much of a fan of jewelry in general, so she had no idea what to look for. Despite he disadvantage, she tried her best to really study the set of bracelets on a rack, in hopes of something out of the ordinary catching her eye. The Dark Kingdom was definitely here, they just needed to figure out exactly where....

"Kino-san?" Jupiter turned around quickly, only to see Naru behind her.

"Oh, it's you again..." she said, relaxing. Naru smiled up at her. 

"I'm glad you came to look at the store! Um..." Naru looked around. "Did Usagi come with you? I didn't see her at all."

"I think she stopped at the arcade, actually..." Jupiter said. "But I'm sure she'll catch up." Naru laughed.

"That sounds like her!" The door to the shop suddenly shut by itself, and locked with a soft click. Out of nowhere, all the jewelry in the store began to glow white, and the women looking at or touching them started to grow faint. One by one, they collapsed on the floor. On instinct, Jupiter backed away from the display case, grabbing Naru to drag her away too. "Wait, what's happening?" she asked, panicked.

"Go hide somewhere, okay?" Jupiter said, pushing her towards another door. Her entire tone and body language had changed, and Naru found herself wanting to listen to her. She nodded and ran into a different room, closing the door behind her. The last of the people insider were passing out now, with only Venus, Mars, and herself still standing. Jupiter moved closer to them, already reaching for her pen. "Well, I think we got their attention..." she said.

Part of Usagi was surprised that Ami had rushed to her so quickly when she had tripped. It was almost as if she was panicking that Usagi would be injured. Nah, that couldn’t be right. Ami was just a careful girl and thought that Usagi was injured worse than it appeared. Wasn’t her mom a doctor? Usagi quickly forgot her train of thought when she felt something bump against her arm. Looking down, she was shocked to see a black cat rubbing itself against her, looking up with big round eyes. What was her cat doing here? 
 

“I’m fine,” she murmured in response to Ami’s question. She picked up the cat and hugged it against her chest. “What are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be at home? ”

Exhaling, Mercury quickly moved away from Serenity at the sight of Luna. The cat was serving as her reminder. She couldn't get close to Serenity like that, and she definitely couldn't get so worked up when the girl merely fell. It was a constant with the princess in this generation, and if Mercury continuously worried about her, she would blow her cover.

"Um...since you're okay and everything, would you like to accompany me to the arcade? I heard there was a new game out..." Mercury said, silently praying for Serenity to accept. She wasn't sure whether or not the arcade would have a new game, but she figured that would lure the princess to the arcade instead of the jewelry store.

"Yah, that sounds like fun!" Usagi smiled at Ami as she got up from the ground keeping her cat cuddled against her chest. She hadn’t thought that Ami was the type to be into video games. She assumed since she always saw her with her nose in a book that she was constantly studying.
 

“Maybe Motoki-kun will have something good to eat! Oh he makes the best milkshakes!” Usagi gushed. “Whats your favourite flavour Ami-chan? I love Green Tea! Ohh but strawberry’s always good to! So is chocolate and mango and lychee! There’s so many good flavours, how can I only pick one?

As Mercury walked with Serenity, she did her best to a avoid Luna's eyes. She was going to get in so much trouble later...

Serenity asked her about ice cream, and Mercury drew a blank. She hadn't really paid much attention to the food here on Earth. In fact, she wouldn't have eaten anything at all if it hadn't been for Jupiter's insistence.

"Oh, um...I like...strawberry," she finally said, choosing her favorite fruit. "I'm not really all that hungry for food right now, though." 

The arcade wasn't too far away from the school, so it didn't take long for the girls to arrive. Once inside, they were greeted by the man Mercury assumed to be Motoki. He was tall, blonde, and he seemed to be kind towards Serenity. "Hey, Usagi-chan! Good to see you, as always. Who's your friend?" Motoki asked.

Keeping her hands clasped in front of her, Mercury bowed slightly. "Mizuno Ami. It's nice to meet you."

“Motoki-kun, can you make us some of your awesome milkshakes?” Usagi pleaded with her best feed me now I’m adorable look plastered on her face.
 
“Sure thing Usagi-chan, two milkshakes coming right up!” Motoki replied, flashing the girls a smile before turning to make their milkshakes. In no time at all, or forever if you used Usagi time, two amazing looking milkshakes complete with whipped cream and a cherry on top were placed in front of the girls.
 
“Ahh, it looks so good!!” Usagi cooed looking at her milkshake. “Itadakimasu Ami-chan!” Not waiting for her new friend to say anything, the blonde cheerfully dug into milkshake, devouring half of the tall glass in three or four gulps. Mmm this is so good! Naru-chan would have loved this! Ahh! Naru-chan!
 

“Ehh! Ami-chan! We were supposed to meet Naru-chan at her family’s store, oh we’re so late! Naru-chan’s going to kill me!” Quickly eating the rest of her milkshake, she couldn’t just leave without finishing it, it would be such waste, she impatiently waiting for Ami-chan to finish.

When everyone started collapsing all around her, Venus turned in alarm, her eyes scanning the entire shop. She didn’t see any enemy—all the store workers including Naru’s mother seemed to be conspicuously absent all of a sudden. She crouched beside the nearest woman to check her pulse and was relieved to find it still beating. It seemed she had only passed out. As she stood back up, in a matter of seconds, everyone else was down, and all that was left were Mars, Jupiter, and herself. There was no point hiding their identities anymore at this point, since they were sticking out like a sore thumb among the unconscious.

She nodded at Jupiter. “Let’s transform.” With that, she raised her own Crystal Change Rod and called out, “Venus Crystal Power, Make Up!” In a shower of lights, she shed the disguise of Minako Aino and stood in the middle of the room in her true form, Sailor Venus.

Mars had sensed the spike of dark energy a split second before it took effect, and now she could feel it permeating the entire store. Not liking the fact that they were standing in full view as if they had targets on their backs, she quickly followed suit and transformed. “Mars Crystal Power, Make Up!”

"Jupiter Crystal Power, Make Up!" After a full year, she could finally drop her disguise, and Jupiter was eager to do it. All three senshi were standing in the center of the store now, and it was deadly silent. Sailor Jupiter tensed, ready to strike out at anything that jumped out at them.

In the back room, Jadeite was holding a white ball of energy that he had collected, smiling ot himself. 

"See, Morga? We have have enough energy to call this operation successful after all. Wait..." Jadeite turned to look at his own viewing screen again, and saw three somewhat familiar faces. He dismissed the energy ball and leaned in closer. "It couldn't be!" The Sailor Senshi were supposed to be dead! That's what Queen Beryl had told him.

"Who are those girls, sir?" Morga asked. 

"The Dark Kingdom's greatest enemies," he said. "Now destroy them before they can interfere!"

_____________________________________________________

Back in the main room, Naru's mother teleported in, standing in front of the senshi with a twisted grin. 

"Whoever you are, you will pay for daring to interrupt the Dark Kingdom!" The woman's body shifted into a grotesque form, until it was clear that she was really a Youma. "I am Morga, and here is where you will die!" She raised her hands above her head, and the sleeping customers slowly awoke, but there was something wrong with them...

"Have fun being crushed by my minions!" The customers, looking more like zombies than people now, shambled towards the senshi with makeshift weapons. Jupiter took a step back and glared at the youma. 

"You beast, how dare you use them as weapons!" The lighting rod on her tiara sparked and she crossed her arms in preparation to release an attack.

When Mars woke up from her slumber things were strange. She struggled to recall what happened for a while, but when she remembered she was haunted by the memories. The one that stuck in her mind most was the deaths of Princess Serenity and Prince Endymion. She and the rest of the senshi had tried so hard to keep the princess safe. She had watched in horror as Beryl ran towards the princess with a sword, the prince had gotten in the way, but he had not been spared. He'd died right in front of the princess and then Mar's horror she killed herself and died with him. 

She remembered Queen Serenity defeating Queen Metallia and Beryl and then getting the order to escape. She had stepped into a chamber and the next thing she knew, she was awake in a strange place. Things had changed so much on Earth since the Silver Millennium. It took Mars a while to understand the new rules and new things of this society. While she was learning new things the cats explored Tokyo. They brought them new information and finally found the princess. Her reincarnation, that is, was a 13 year old girl named Usagi Tsukino. 

Soon they were all okay to blend into the new society. They all disguised themselves as kids and created false lives. They blended into society and were each strategically placed in different areas of Tokyo to carefully watch over their reincarnated princess. Luna would follow this girl and all of the senshi would look for signs of the Dark Kingdom. They decided not to interfere with her life unless she was absolutely needed. 

Mars was given the name Rei Hino and became a miko at a shrine with a new grandfather. All of her friends were placed in the school with Usagi and she was stuck in a place she felt was far from the princess. Soon she knew she'd be needed though, and keeping the princess safe was the most important. 

____________________________________________________________________________

A year passed since they were integrated into the new era and things had been normal. Until Artemis started feeling dark energy coming from a jewelry shop run by Usagi's best friend's mother. Mars had been outside the Jewelry store with Venus guarding it. Venus and Mars had been talking when they both felt some dark energy coming from the store. They went inside and were searching around for the dark energy. Something was wrong, but she couldn't figure out what. 

Suddenly all of the people around her started dropping like flies. They fell to the ground and the only ones left standing were Mars, Jupiter, and Venus. She watched as Jupiter moved towards them with her transformation pen in hand. Venus ordered them to transform and Mars yelled, "Mars Power Makeup!"

Someone who looked like Naru's mother teleported in front of them and yelled at them for interrupting the work of the Dark Kingdom. It was time to fight, but suddenly all of the women in the shop rose up like zombies. Mars prepared for the fight that was about to start.

For the first time in a year, Venus felt so alive. She felt like herself again, unrestricted by the mask of Minako Aino, the cheerful, normal, wholesome girl. She was the soldier again; dangerous, cunning, and deadly. It felt as if her mind sharpened after the transformation. Power crackled beneath her skin, impatient to be unleashed. For a moment, no enemy appeared.

Then someone did. At first she thought the woman was possessed. But when it shifted into its true form, Venus was glad. That saved her from the trouble of trying not to vaporize her into dust. The words ‘Dark Kingdom’ sent shivers along her spine, her anger bubbling up. So they’d finally showed themselves. The people who’d murdered her princess. Well, this time they were the ones who were going to die.

She was just about to attack when the customers around them began waking up. Venus groaned in frustration when she realized innocent lives were put at risk now. So much for being grateful about the monster not actually being a civilian. Now they were surrounded by them, and she knew she could not kill them.

“Be careful,” she said to Jupiter. “Don’t hurt the civilians.” She easily disarmed the one that came close to her, knocking her at the back of the head to render her unconscious. “Well, don’t hurt them more than necessary,” she amended, before she continued weaving through the crowd, neutralizing the corrupted costumers with as little force as possible, aiming to knock them out when possible. If she could just get an opening towards the youma…

There! Between two women ambling toward her, she spied the monster, and did not hesitate. “Venus Love-Me Chain!” she yelled, sending her golden chain across the narrow space to tie itself around the youma. If successful, that should give either Jupiter or Mars an opening to finish her off.

Jupiter paused at Venus' warning, and let her attack fade, realizing how dangerous it could get with so many people close by. She'd just have to do this by hand then... Using some restraint, Jupiter started fighting off the brainwashed people as they approached, mostly performing grabs and counter moves to keep them at bay without serious injury. 

Morga growled and struggled as the chain wrapped around her waist, distracted. Seeing the opening Venus had created, Jupiter kicked a weapon out of a nearby woman's hands, grabbed her, and swung her into another group of approaching civilians. They were all knocked down like bowling pins, leaving Jupiter with space to move again. 

"Sparkling Wide Pressure!" She brought her hands together and created a ball of lighting, tossing it at the youma's head. Morga saw the attack and stretched her entire neck to dodge it. The attack struck a wall instead, and blew a hole through it. Jupiter made a frustrated sound, realizing how off her aim was after not fighting for so long. Maybe this wouldn't be as easy as they thought...

"You're getting annoying!" the youma said, before extending her hand towards Jupiter. She ducked the first swipe, but Morga caught her around the neck on the second one, picking up the senshi by the throat before slamming her into a wall. Jupiter clawed at the hand with her fingers, but couldn't get free.

Listening to Venus's warnings, Mars tried to be careful when fending off the civilians. Mars was trying hard to maneuver around them and fight them off without hurting them too much. Morga, the youma, was struggling in Venus's chain. Venus had left Mars and Jupiter an opening to attack. Mars created a space between the zombie like civilians. 

She saw Jupiter attack and Morga stretched around it. Then she saw her attack Jupiter. Jupiter looked like she was struggling to get free. Mars decided that she should attack, "Burning Mandala!" She hoped that would help Jupiter get free. It seemed like it was working. Morga was distracted by Mar's attack and focused on Mars. She tried to grab her, but Mars dodged it.

Morga screeched as the rings of flame struck her extended limb, and stretched her other hand to swipe at Sailor Mars. While she continued to attack the other senshi, her grip on Jupiter loosened. Now able to think straight, Jupiter grabbed Morga's wrist as her tiara crackled with electricity. 

"S-supreme... Thunder!" The lightning bolt passed through Jupiter and into the youma by direct contact, and she hit the floor hard as the monster finally let her go. She stood up after a few seconds of breathing hard, ready to continue the fight. 

"Thanks, Mars..." she said. The monster honestly wasn't that powerful, but after lying in wait for so much time and spending countless years in magical stasis, they were just out of practice. Morga shuddered as the charge dissipated, weaker from the two near direct attacks. She would retreat, but Venus's chain still held her in place, and she didn't have the power to break it.

Her friends were taking care of the monster pretty well, though Jupiter scared her for a bit there. Maybe they were a little bit rusty? Seeing it still trapped by her chains, though, Venus knew she had the chance to finish it off. If they could take care of this problem quickly, then by the time Usagi got here, all would be well again and she’d never know about the close call.

Still maintaining her chain’s grip on the youma, Venus shook off some more of the civilian attackers and focused her attention on the monster. “Venus Love and Beauty Shock!” she cried, sending her most powerful attack towards it. Hopefully, this would incinerate it for good.

Mars watched as Jupiter got free of the monster. Jupiter thanked her for her help and Mars nodded to her. She understood they were all out of practice when it came to fighting. Mars saw that the monster was still trapped in Venus's chains and she seemed weaker. They had to defeat her soon, because Usagi would be getting here soon. They didn't want Usagi to get wrapped up in all of this. Mars watched as Venus sent her strongest attack towards the monster. Mars hoped that this would be the last attack that was needed to defeat this monster.

Mercury was surprised by how delicious Motoki's milkshake was. She drank it slowly, savoring one of the few pleasurable things she had experienced since coming to Earth. She almost choked when Usagi brought up her plans with Naru.

"Oh, um...I bet she probably went home by now," Mercury said, making it a point to drink her milkshake as slowly as possible. "We'll go when I finish this, okay?" she said, trying so seem as innocent as possible. She hoped that Jupiter and the others had figured out whatever was going on at the jewelry store by now. Nervously, she glanced at her communicator, just waiting for it to go off.

"But Naru lives right above the shop!" Usagi said pouting. She didn't want to disappoint Naru but she also didn't want to upset her new friend. What was she going to do? She sat down with a sigh as she waited, patiently for her mind you, for Ami to finish her milkshake. If she was the type to be inclined to believe so she would have sworn that Ami was drinking it so slowly on purpose. 

"Ami-chan I promise it won't hurt you if you drink it a little faster! Well if you drink too fast then you can get brain freeze and that really, really hurts! I've had it before and it sucks so much! Mama always tells me not to eat ice cream so fast but I never listen. I really should listen to her sometimes."

Mercury began to panic. Everything she was saying was backfiring, and the thought of failing the one mission Venus gave her was too horrifying. She was already due for a long berating on her irresponsibility and careless behavior - she could only imagine how much worse it would be if Usagi ended up in the midst of battle.

The possibility of her awakening as the princess would be dangerously high if she was put in that dangerous of a situation.

Anxiety began to tear at Mercury's insides, and without realizing it, she had begun drinking the milkshake faster and faster. Suddenly, an aching pain began to pull at her brain, causing her to drop the milkshake and place her hands on her forehead. The shattering of glass didn't even register in her mind and she wondered what the hell was happening to her brain. Had the milkshake been poisoned?

Morga screamed as Venus tore her apart with Love and Beauty Shock, and she disintegrated before their eyes. The humans under her control fell to the floor again, returned to normal. From the backroom, Jadeite looked nervous as he watched the senshi defeat his monster. He needed to tell Queen Beryl about this before they noticed him. He could get his revenge later... He opened a portal and disappeared into it. The dark energy around the shop faded as soon as he left.

Still hiding in the room Jupiter had pointed her to, Naru heard the battle die down. She quietly reached for the phone and dialed for the police.

"I think it's over," Jupiter said, looking around. The shop was silent now, though a few of the women were beginning to stir. In the distance, a siren could be heard. "And I'm pretty sure the law enforcement's coming now...Should we leave?"

Over by the Crown Parlor, a squad of police cars sped by, sirens blaring.

Mars watched as Venus's last attack destroyed the monster and all of the humans who were being controlled fell to the floor. Jupiter commented that it was over and Mars agreed. She smiled slightly, knowing that they'd defeated the monster and Usagi would be safe. Jupiter spoke as Mars heard sirens coming closer to the building. "We should probably leave." Mars said, "We might have a hard time trying to explain this to law enforcement. And maybe we should train a bit more, for future battles." Mars knew that they were a bit rusty when it came to fighting and if they were going to continue to fight monsters they would need to be strong and in fighting shape.

"Just take a deep breath, and try to breathe," Usagi said offering the blue haired girl some advice. "Have you never had brain freeze before? You shouldn't have drank so much so fast! It hurts a lot when you do that!" She giggled a bit thinking about all the times she had done it. It certainly was painful. 

The blonde's attention was drawn to the entrance of the Crowl Parlour as a small squad of police cards flew by. Hearing the sirens had Usagi beginning to fret when she realized they were headed in the direction of the jewellery store. What if they were headed to the Jewellery store? Was Naru alright? What if she was hurt and she needed Usagi’s help? But was it okay to leave Ami-chan like this? But it’s kind of an emergency, Naru-chan could be hurt or worse! Praying that Ami-chan would forgive her later, she grabbed her school bag and stood up.
 
“I’m so sorry Ami-chan but I need to go see if Naru-chan is alright, please forgive me!” Bowing quickly, she ran out the door and made her way as fast as she could to Naru’s family’s store. Just hold on Naru-chan I’m coming, please be alright.

Mercury inhaled sharply, rocking back and forth on the chair as she said, "You couldn't have warned me sooner?" The agonizing 'brain freeze' had just begun to wear off when police sirens could be heard outside, drawing Usagi away with them. A curse escaped Mercury's lips as she stepped off of her chair, her foot landing in her spilled milkshake and slipping across the tiled floor. With a yelp, Mercury fell to the ground. Motoki rushed over, trying his best to help her up and clean off the strawberry milkshake from her clothes, but Mercury pushed him off, running after Usagi.

"Tsukino-san, wait!" she screamed, even though she knew Usagi was long gone. Mercury began to sprint, following the blonde to the jewelry store. She could only pray that her friends had dealt with the threat in time.

Venus sighed in relief when the monster was no more. All the humans slumped unconscious again, but after checking the nearest person’s pulse, she was positive that they would be okay. Jupiter mentioned leaving and seconded by Mars. She welcomed the thought of training; being a soldier was what she was most comfortable with after all, and any excuse to shed her disguise would be nice. Besides, if they wanted to protect Usagi better, that would be necessary. Today they nearly got overwhelmed by a single lower level monster when there were three of them and Venus didn’t like that.

“Of course. Let’s get out of here before the police arrives,” she walked quickly but carefully to make sure she didn’t step on any of the passed out customers. Venus made her way briskly to the door, relieved they had managed to neutralize the threat before Usagi even got here. Although she might be confused about what she found in the shop, at least the monster was gone.

Outside the shop, as she left, she contacted Mercury’s communicator and sent a message: “Threat neutralized. Stay by the princess, make sure she gets home okay. Any development, let us know.”

The sirens sounded even closer now, and the senshi could hear the engines as well. "We should get out of the open before anyone sees us..." Jupiter saw a dark alleyway and ducked into it. The buildings surrounding it had fire escapes that could be pulled down from the ground level, and Jupiter grabbed one of the ladders and used it to climb to the next level. 

"I think we can use these to reach the rooftops. The police won't check there!" And they'd be able to see better from a higher place too. 

Back at the store, the police has finally reached it. The entire area was covered in yellow tape, and officers were speaking to a number of confused people to try and figure out what had happened. If Usagi tried to get through, she would be turned away before she got too close.

Mars followed Jupiter out of the building and into the dark alleyway. She watched as Jupiter pulled one of the ladders down from the fire escape and climbed it. Jupiter had suggested that they would get a better view from the rooftop. "I agree." Mars said to Jupiter as she followed her up to the roof. She hoped that no one would see them from up there. Mainly she hoped that no cops would notice them. 

The view from up on the roof was pretty spectacular. Mars could see pretty much the whole city from up there. It was a beautiful view. Mars was almost taken aback by how pretty the city was lit up like that at night.

About a block away from Naru’s family’s shop, Usagi encountered a police block.
 
“I’m sorry, but you can’t get through,” an officer said, blocked Usagi’s way when she attempted to sneak past.
 
“But Officer! That’s my friends store, I was supposed to meet her there afterschool! I need to know if she’s alright!” Using her best puppy dog look had no effect on the officer, who politely told her that she could see her friend at school tomorrow.
 
Sighing, she turned around, intending to head back to the Crown Parlour. If Ami-chan was still there, she was going to have to do a lot of apologizing. She grimaced at the thought. Was she a bad friend for taking off like that? Tilting her head back, she looked at the sky. Hopefully Ami-chan would forgive her. Looking back one last time at the OSA-P shop, something red caught her attention out of the corner of her eye.
 
“What in the world?” she said softly. Up on the roof of a building close to the OSA-P shop, there were three young women, a little older than Usagi dressed in what the blonde could only describe as a much cooler version of her school uniform. Each of the girls had their own colour; red, orange and green.  They’re so cool! I wonder if they’re super heroes? That would be super cool if they were! They must led such exciting lives, I wish I could be like them.  
 
“Watch where you’re going!” Someone said as they slammed into her rudely. “You shouldn’t be standing in the middle of the sidewalk day dreamer, go home!”
 

“Rude!” Usagi yelled at the stranger as they disappeared down the street, sticking her tongue out! The nerve of some people! Shaking her head, she decided that the stranger was probably right, she should head home for the day. Mama would kill her if she was late.

Venus followed Jupiter as she suggested going to the roof, reluctant herself to completely leave the scene before she was sure Usagi was going to be safe. She watched from the top as police started setting up their tape around the area, blocking it completely.

She tensed when a couple minutes later she recognized their princess’ figure appearing in the crowd. Venus watched, with barely controlled longing, as Usagi looked around in confusion and argued with one of the police officers. How Venus wished she could be down there comforting her, telling her that everything was going to be okay. How she wanted to hold her princess’ hands again and see her smile. Swallowing the threat of tears, she blinked when suddenly Usagi looked up toward the sky, her eyes glancing in their direction.

She instinctively stepped back out of view, worried that Usagi had spotted them, even if at the same time it broke her heart. There was nothing she wanted in the world more than seeing those blue eyes looking at her directly once again.

Venus looked at the other two and sighed. “Let’s detransform and get out of here by mingling with the crowd. I think she’s going to be okay. I’ve asked Mercury to keep watch on her…”

She hadn’t seen Mercury in the crowd, but the girl had better not be far behind Usagi.

Mercury spotted Usagi's blonde locks standing near a police officer, but she stopped running when her communicator beeped. Her eyes quickly scanned the message, causing her to breathe a sight of relief. She was glad her senshi had neutralized the threat without any trouble. Feeling much more relaxed, Mercury began to walk towards Usagi. She paused again when she saw someone yelling at her princess for absolutely no good reason. A flare of overprotective anger washed over Mercury, and she eyed a nearby fire hydrant. Flexing her wrist, she waited until the rude man walked by the fire hydrant before causing it to explode, spraying water all over him and knocking him to the ground. Mercury smirked before finishing her stroll towards Usagi, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Hey, thanks for leaving me back there," she teased, feeling a little more upbeat. "Do you mind if I walk home with you?"

Jupiter looked away from the city view and nodded at her command. There was nothing else they could really do now that the monster was destroyed. All they could do now was report what happened to Luna and Artemis and keep their eyes open for another possible appearance of the Dark Kingdom.

Back on ground level, Luna ran to catch up with Mercury, having seen her and Usagi run out of the store. by the time she caught up, the Jewelry store Artemis had picked up on was already surrounded by police, blocking the princess from getting any closer. She couldn't sense any evil energy, so she assumed that if anything had happened, it was over now. 

She hung back to watch as Mercury caught up with her and asked to walk her home...after destroying a hydrant to punish a man for treating Usagi roughly. Oh well, she couldn't quite get mad at the senshi for getting defensive, and as long as no one had seen her do it, it was fine. Luna stretched, and changed directions to go back to Usagi's house. She would get filled in on the mission results later tonight...

_______________________________________________________
D-Point

"What did you just say?!" Queen Beryl yelled. The youma gathered around her throne room jumped in fear, but Jadeite barely flinched as he keeled before her. "You were interrupted by who?!"

"Young women dressed in Sailor Guardian uniforms, three of them to be exact," Jadeite said, standing up. "They destroyed my youma too, so I escaped while I still had the chance before they could turn on me." Beryl sank lower in her stone chair, deep in thought. 

"They should be dead, all four of them with their cursed Moon Kingdom and their sicking princess and queen..." She still remembered when Sailor Venus, that annoyingly cunning lapdog of the Moon, had run her through with a sword, killing her. Beryl had at least taken solace in the fact that her precious Serenity was beyond saving, but imagining her alive again made her blood boil. How could any of them have survived for a thousand years? Did they not age at all, or were they also reborn by some miracle? And what about the Moon's royal line? "Tell me what they looked like."

"One was tall, with red hair, and she was dressed in a green and pink uniform. The second had long dark hair and a red and purple uniform. And the last was blonde, and dressed in orange and blue." Jupiter, Mars, and Venus had appeared then, but they were missing one. Serenity had four Guardians in the past. Was the last one not around, or simply hiding? They were too dangerous to be left unchecked, and Beryl needed them out of her way.

"Jadeite, I want you to continue collecting energy. We will need it to fuel our operations until the Silver Crystal is discovered. Meanwhile... Nephrite!" she called. A man with wavy brown hair and light blue eyes in a grey and red uniform appeared.

"You asked for me?" Nephrite said, bowing.

"Gather as many powerful youma as you can, and start striking the area around that Jewelry shop with them. I want you to smoke the senshi out of hiding and into the open, and then you need to kill them by any means necessary. If they resist and overwhelm you, retreat and recoup our losses, and try again as soon as possible. I want them as worn out as possible until they slip up and die."

"Yes, my Queen..."
______________________________________

Over the next few days, the local news buzzed with blurry images of the supposed attack on the OSA-P shop, captured on the grainy security cameras. Some claimed that it was some kind of monster or demon that appeared, but it was nearly impossible to tell. The clearest part of the images were the three young women in strange school uniforms that seemed to be fighting the creature. A few people tentatively called them heroes, but the rest waited to see if they would appear again before making any big reports.

Usagi was at the arcade after school again, this time with both of her new friends "Makoto" and "Ami". Naru couldn't come with them, too busy helping her mother clean up and reorganize. Luna had snuck into the arcade with them this time, sitting under their booth table that was near the game cabinets. 

Saturday was a half day, so she had convinced them to join her once more, this time with no interruptions. Later that night, the senshi planned to have their first training session in the woods by their hidden ship. 

OOC: