Venus was glad that the news hadn’t managed to capture the youma’s image and cause panic to spread among the civilians. She suspected either Luna or Artemis had made sure of that too—perhaps tapped into the surveillance videos and tampered with them in some way in order to maintain their secrecy. The senshi appeared pretty clear in them, though. But thanks to the magic cloaking them, no one would ever be able to figure out their civilian identities.

Venus didn’t care what people were calling them. She didn’t want to be a hero. She didn’t want to be famous. She just wanted to protect her princess.

Today she was on the other end of the arcade from where Usagi, Jupiter, and Mercury were. Venus couldn’t believe both Jupiter and Mercury had managed to get themselves into Usagi’s circle of friends. She didn’t know if she was angry because they’d completely deviated from their original plan, or because she was envious that they got to talk and interact up close with the princess while she and Mars were forced to remain far away.

It’s unfair.

The bitter thought popped in her mind unbidden, and Venus quickly squashed it. For Usagi’s sake, she must not reveal herself. No matter how much she longed to. No matter how she wished she could switch places with Jupiter or Mercury. Resentment built in her toward her own fellow senshi, seeing how happy they were to be able to be with Serenity again.

It’s unfair... she thought again, and this time she felt more devastated than angry.

Usagi was glad that Ami-chan seemed to forgive her for taking off like she had. She really was a kind person! The blonde simply couldn’t understand all the mean things her fellow classmates said about the blue haired girl. She was polite, super smart and always seemed happy with Usagi was there. It was even better today that her other new friend Makoto, had been able to join them after school today. Usually her friends didn’t like coming to the arcade with her. Oh well, it was there loss!
 

“Hey Mako-chan, have you ever played the new Tuxedo Mask video game before? It’s super cool! You get to fight all these bad monsters, and shoot a beam that comes out of your cane! The characters dressed up in a little tuxedo with a top hat, it’s so cute!”

This arcade place wasn't that bad, Jupiter thought. When Usagi had dragged her and Mercury over there, she hadn't been sure what to expect. She didn't have much interest in playing video games, so an entire building full of them wasn't very amazing....but the food was good.

After being persuaded to try a milkshake, Jupiter had finished it in about five minutes. And after the ensuing brain freeze ended (Mercury had warned her, but she was stubborn and hungry), she looked at the menu for something else to try. The boy at the counter, Motoki, was stunned when she asked for about half of the items listed, but he went to get it for her, mumbling something about teenagers having crazy appetites. 

Maybe the fight the Senshi had earlier in the week had drained her energy, but she was starving, and not much of the food she had ordered went to waste. As she was finishing off a glass of soda, Usagi asked her a question. Jupiter glanced at the machine she was talking about the one labelled "Tuxedo Mask".

"Hm? I don't play games much..." Jupiter said, but she had a feeling that Serenity would want her to play it. "I'm not that good at them, but... maybe you could show me how?" Right after she tried this pizza, anyway.

Mercury had to admit - she enjoyed spending time with Serenity. Although it wasn't the same as back during the Silver Millennium, Usagi shared a lot of Serenity's traits. It was comforting, in a way. Being with Serenity in this world reminded Mercury of why she was here, and the duty she had vowed to serve. Perhaps getting this close to Serenity was dangerous, but Mercury had confidence in the capabilities of herself and Jupiter. If push came to shove, they would be able to handle any threat.

Sipping on another strawberry milkshake (much slower this time), Mercury watched as Serenity offered to play a game with Jupiter. She raised one eyebrow at her fellow senshi's response, wondering how this would go. She hadn't tried any video games herself, but based on research and the reactions some of the players in this arcade gave, she had deduced that video games brought about severe anger issues. It would be amusing to watch Jupiter try and play one.

"Hey, Motoki-kun? You don't serve popcorn by any chance, do you?"

Today Mars and Venus were in the arcade watching the princess, Mercury, and Jupiter from the other side. She caught herself resenting her friends a little because she wasn't by the princess's side and they were. She looked over at Venus and it looked like she was struggling with something of her own. Were they maybe both wishing to be with the princess? It wouldn't be too surprising if we both were thinking the same thing. Mars thought, Afterall we used to be by her side as well. "What are you thinking about Venus?" Mars finally decided to ask her friend.

"Ahh! It's super easy, come here and I'll show you!" Grabbing Makoto's hand, she tugged the girl over to one of the booths. Sitting down she began to show her how it worked.

“This button here is how you fire you’re weapon, this on over here, is for jumping,” Usagi explained, pointing at two different buttons. “Don’t forget the jump button its super helpful at avoiding enemies or getting ones that are high up. Oh! And this stick over here, is how you move the character.” She demonstrated a few rounds, getting herself killed every time.


“Never was any good at these games,” she said cheerfully. “Want to try now Mako-chan?” From the corner of her eye, she noticed a girl with long, dark hair.


“She’s beautiful,” she whispered, unaware she was staring. As with Ami and Makoto, Usagi felt the same sense of loneliness emanating from the girl. She stood up slowly, never taking her eyes off her, feeling an overwhelming need to go over and hug the young woman, but having no idea why. It wasn’t like Usagi recognized the girl from her school, infact she was positive that the dark haired beauty didn’t goto Jubaan at all.  If she didn’t goto Jubaan, who was she?

Well that pizza would have to come later then, Jupiter thought as she was taken out of her seat to stand in front of the game console. It reminded her of the controls for a ship, except far simpler and more colorful. She watched as Usagi demonstrated the two buttons an the joystick, trying to memorize the connection between her movements and the game's actions.

Jupiter hesitated before nodding at Usagi's offer, though she did wonder why Serenity played a game that she was bad at. Was it still fun to her? She sat down at the stool in front of the game's cabinet and started a fresh round. This wasn't so hard, it was just a reflex exercise...

And then the character died as a hole suddenly opened up underneath it, surprising her as she lost the game. Jupiter frowned slightly, mumbling about how unfair that instance had been. She pulled out another coin and restarted. Five more deaths later, it was safe to say that Jupiter was frustrated. Clearly this arcade machine was rigged or something, it couldn't be this difficult!

"One more time..." she said, her grip on the joystick tightening. She was going to make it to level 3 this try! her green eyes were laser focused on the screen, tuning Usagi's comments out. So far so good, she just needed to get past this pit and... Tuxedo Mask was struck by a flying monster mid-jump, falling to his death. Jupiter bit her lip to refrain from saying a very choice word in a language only the other senshi could understand, and a somewhat loud snapping sound echoed through the arcade.

Jupiter's eyes widened in surprise as she opened her palm to see the top half of the joystick in it, having just broken it off the console. Her irritation faded, and was quickly replaced with embarrassment over her lack of restraint.

"U-uh..." How was she supposed to explain that?

Venus turned to Mars at her question, hesitating before she answered. She didn’t want to admit that she was jealous. She and Mars were the ones still sticking to the mission. They should not be envying those incompetent rule breakers. “I just…” she paused, then decided to go with another truth. “I miss her, is all. I wish I could talk to her again.”

She watched as Usagi taught Jupiter how to play a game, and even Mercury looked happy. Venus so rarely saw Mercury smile, and now she was practically glowing. Her fists tightened on her sides.

Then she noticed the direction of Usagi’s gaze and stiffened. She was looking directly at Mars. Her heart started thumping. “We’ve been spotted. She’s staring at you. Try not to attract her attention,” she whispered while turning sideways to pretend to look at the game console behind them.

Her entire being was torn between trying to get Usagi to look at her and trying to hide herself. Her heart warred with what she knew to be her duty.

Then a loud snap reverberated in the arcade, and Venus turned back. She stared, horrified, when she noticed the broken stick on Jupiter’s hand.

She had just revealed her superhuman strength in front of their princess.

How much more could everyone mess up?!

Beside the dark haired girl, there was a blonde one as well. Were they friends? They must be if they were here together. Perhaps the dark haired girl wasn’t as lonely as Usagi had first thought. You weren’t lonely if you had friends, right? She took an unconscious step forward only to stop when she heard a loud snap from beside her. 

“Ehhh, Mako-chan how did that happen?” she asked, scratching her head in confusion. Seeing Makoto’s embarrassed look, Usagi couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s okay Mako-chan, I bet Motoki-kun isn’t even mad, at you?”

“It was probably a faulty controller, poorly made,” Motoki muttered, looking at the broken machine in front of him. How was this even possible? What was he going to say to his boss? “Don’t worry, you’re not in any trouble.”

Hearing Venus say that she missed the princess too made Mars feel a little bit better. She knew they were both in a rough place. The other senshi had broken the rules about becoming friends with the princess, but it seemed like they were having so much fun. For Mars it felt like sticking with the rules was what was getting her into this bad mood she was in half of the time. She smiled at her blonde friend and was about to speak again when Venus told her that they'd been spotted. She told her not to attract attention, but now that Mars knew she was being stared at, it was hard not to. She tried to hide, but she wasn't sure if it was working and she was afraid of what would happen if the princess walked over to them.

Mercury watched, amused, as Jupiter struggled to pass the game she was playing. The growing frustration on the brunette's face caused Mercury to giggle as she sipped her milkshake. She was almost tempted to try the game out herself and see how hard Earth's entertainment systems really were. It looked rather simple from where Mercury was sitting, but she couldn't be sure until she played it herself.

She was suddenly torn from her thoughts by a loud snap!, and she quickly stood and rushed to Jupiter. She had broken the machine's joystick, revealing just how strong she really was. Mercury began to panic slightly, her brain running overtime as she tried to think of something to say. Realizing she was staring, Mercury took a deep breath and placed a playful hand on Jupiter's shoulder. "Oh Mako-chan, you know that you're not supposed to play video games this much! Remember what the doctor said about your adrenaline? You could break the hole machine if you tried!"

Jupiter breathed a sigh of relief when Motoki declared the joystick to be faulty. She wasn't entirely sure what she would have said to cover that up, especially after Serenity noticed as well. She stood up form her stool to let Motoki look at it better, still guilty about her mistake. She was definitely going to get chewed out for this one.

"A-ah, right, I forgot again..." Jupiter said to Mercury, scratching the back of her head. Her eyes drifted back to Motoki, who was now trying to remove the broken part with a screwdriver. Apparently the girls around here thought he was attractive, and they often showed up just to watch him work. But that was by Earth standards, and Jupiter had her own expectations. But if she let herself forget that he was Terran, she could consider that he was a little cute. Not that she'd admit it to any of the other senshi. 

They weren't here to fall for Earth men, that was what got them in trouble in the Silver Millennium! She snapped out of her musings as he stood up again, having opened up the panel. 

"I'm going to get a spare part from the back," Motoki said, before walking through a door labeled for staff. Almost as soon as he was out of sight, there was a low rumbling that came from outside. Jupiter frowned and turned to look out the window behind them. What was that? And then a few kids screamed as some kind of monstrous spider woman walked into view and looked inside. The spider grinned and charged straight through the glass window, knocking over a table as it entered the arcade. Children panicked and started running for any exit they could get to, trying to escape. 

"Widow!" The youma yelled triumphantly, before she started trashing the room.

Usagi giggled as she caught Mako-chan starting at Motoki. Someone had a cruussshhhhhh. Perhaps she could play match maker and get the two together? Motoki-kun was a really sweet guy, always giving her a little bit of extra food and Mako-chan was sweet too! She always shared her food with Usagi. 

Hearing people scream, Usagi looked towards the direction it was coming from, only to see a hideous monster break through the glass of the arcade and began trashing the room. 

"AHHH!" Usagi screamed, terror filing her body. She grabbed onto Makoto's arm and begun tugging at her friend. "Mako-chan, Ami-chan, common, we need to get out of here!" She was so scared. How were they going to get passed this monster. 

If this was a dream she wanted to wake up. RIGHT. NOW.

Mars was torn out of her worried thoughts by some commotion outside. She looked out the window and saw a spider creature run through a window into the arcade. Mars spun around, looked at Venus and then glanced quickly at Mercury and Jupiter. What are we supposed to do? Mars thought. "Venus, what should we do?" Mars whispered to her friend, hoping not to attract the youma. She knew things could be bad if they didn't try and fight this youma, but they also weren't supposed to reveal themselves to anyone, especially not Usagi. They were here to protect her and to keep her from having to become Princess Serenity again, if they revealed themselves to her, it might cause problems.

Everyone seemed to make excuses for the broken controller, not even one of them thinking it was odd that Jupiter was strong enough to break it. Venus heaved a sigh of relief that their cover wasn’t blown. It looked like Jupiter also needed a stern talking-to. She massaged her throbbing temple softly and tried not to lose her control over her emotions.

The sound of rumbling that came from outside made her turn back, and when the screaming voices reached them Venus felt her blood run cold. She stared in disbelief at the monster stalking right toward the arcade. A youma right here?! Now? Why?!

It seemed it was targeting something—or someone—as it crashed through the glass without hesitation. Venus’ gaze darted toward Usagi. Was the monster after her? Did it know she was the princess?! As everyone else scattered away, leaving the place empty save for Usagi and the senshi, Venus felt herself panicking. She was torn between protecting Usagi and protecting their secret. They’d gotten way too close to her as it was. They could not expose their identities to her as well. That would equal to dragging Usagi right into the path of danger—the very thing they were trying to avoid.

But there was no choice. The monster was blocking the way outside. Jupiter and Mercury might attempt to get past it, but in their civilian forms they didn’t have much of a chance to fight it.

Gritting her teeth and balling her fist as Mars asked her what to do, Venus knew there was only one choice.

They had to put the Princess’ immediate safety first, at all costs.

“We fight,” she said simply, before shouting quickly, “Venus Crystal Power, Make Up!”

Bright lights filled her corner of the room, and a second later Venus stood in her true form. She didn’t waste any time; she ran straight toward the youma. “Rolling Heart Vibration!” she yelled, sending a powerful wave of heart-shaped projectiles toward the youma.

You are not touching my princess!

At the sight of the monster stalking towards them, Jupiter's hand started going for her transformation tool, but Usagi's grip on her arm made her remember where she was. They weren't allowed to transform in front of the princess, it'd blow their cover. And worse, it could possibly jog her memories of the past. 

But they were trapped in the arcade, the spider youma blocking their only exit. How were they supposed to keep Serenity safe if they couldn't use their powers? Jupiter grit her teeth in frustration, glaring at the youm as she took a step away from it. And then she heard the familiar call of Venus, and the monster was knocked to the side by the explosion of hearts that collided with it.

Did Venus just transform in public? If their leader had decided that identities were no longer important, then it made no sense for her to act helpless either. Serenity was in danger, and this youma needed to be slain. After a quick glance at Mercury, she pushed Usagi behind her.

"Stay out of this, okay? We'll handle the monster!" Jupiter said, before turning her attention back to the battle. "Jupiter Crystal Power, Make Up!" In a flare of green energy, Sailor Jupiter was in front of Usagi now, and she ran towards the spider youma without hesitation. "Sparkling Wide Pressure!" She threw her ball of lighting at it before it could even get up, and it screeched in pain again before scrambling back onto its spindly legs.

Soon Venus replied to Mar's question and prepared for battle. Mars looked at Venus and she trusted her judgement. She prepared to battle as well. "Mars Crystal Power, Makeup!" Mars yelled. After she transformed she joined Venus and now Jupiter in attacking the youma. She yelled, "Mar Flame Sniper!" and attacked the youma. Mars tried really hard not to focus on the fact that the princess was still here and that they'd just blown their covers, but she couldn't put it completely out of her head. What were they going to do now? She shook her head and turned her focus back to the battle with the youma.

"Mako-chan, what are you doing, come back!" Usagi cried, reaching towards her friend to grab he back and try and do something, drag her to safety anything. Just as she reached out a bright light enveloped her friend. There in her place stood a woman who looked like Makoto but was wearing a costume. 

She looks like those super heroes I saw the other day. It was then Usagi noticed the other two. The one in red looked like the beautiful girls he had been looking at a few moments prior. Was her new friend a super hero? This was so cool! 

Her fear melted away. Somehow Usagi knew that as long as these girls were here, she wouldn't com to any harm. She wanted to jump up and down with excitement. How cool was this? She was in the middle of a battle with real live super hero! How did they get their powers anyway? Was it through a super secret government organization that was doing experiments on people? 

Impatient to find out the answer, but knowing that it wasn't the time, she eagerly waited for the fighting to be done, planning on bombarding the girls with questions.

One second Mercury was covering for Jupiter, the next they were all transforming. Without hesitating, Mercury followed orders and shouted her transformation phrase. It felt good to be in senshi form. Way more natural than acting like a regular civilian. 

This could awaken her memories. This could seriously alter everything the senshi had been trying to hard to do. 

And that was the enemy's plan. Of course.

Getting Usagi to safety was the first and foremost priority. "Mercury Aqua Mist!" she shouted, fogging up the area. This way, she would be able to hide Usagi without the enemy noticing. 

Mercury grabbed Usagi's arm and yanked her towards the counter, pushing her to the floor behind it, where it was safe. "This is serious, Tsukino-san. If you're our friend, then you will stay here and you will not come out until we tell you to, okay? Please, I'm begging you, do this for me," Mercury said, staring deep into the blonde's eyes.

Under the triple assault of three senshi's attacks, the spider youma was having a hard time staying upright. The Flame Sniper attack grazed its side, and it hissed before it disappeared into Mercury's mist. Now injured and blinded, it opened its mouth to spray sticky web everywhere. Mercury and Usagi were protected by the counter they had ducked behind, but the other senshi would have to protect themselves in some other way. 

Jupiter was tied up by the spider thread, pinning her arms to her torso, but she strained against the bindings until they ripped apart again. 

"We need to get it out of the building, it's too cluttered in here to fight!" she said. With all the fallen tables and game machines, it was becoming hard to move around. The youma screeched again and started moving around in the fog.

Mars saw Mercury transform in front of the princess and then prepare to pull her to safety. This way they could definitely fight without worrying about her. They had wounded the spider youma and when Mercury's mist filled the room it was going to be hard for all of them to see. All of the sudden she felt a web coming towards her. It wrapped around her and she was going to have to find a way to get out of it. She yelled, "Burning Mandala!" in an attempt to break the web. It fell apart with her attack and then she heard Jupiter saying they needed to get out of the building. She knew she was right but how could they get them out without causing more damage. "Where should we go?" She yelled to the other senshi.

The others had followed suit and transformed, and Venus forced herself to concentrate on the monster. She had to believe Jupiter and Mercury would protect Usagi properly. Soon mist descended upon the room, and she lost sight of the monster. The next thing she knew its sticky webs were trapping her against an arcade machine. Venus could just barely move her finger, but she yelled, “Crescent Beam!” slicing a path of light through the web. She struggled to rip apart the remaining parts and free herself from the trap.

She heard Jupiter’s yell and knew she was right. Sending a mental apology to the owners of this place, Venus sent another Crescent Beam toward where she judged the glass windows were, cracking them and creating a sizeable hole that led outside. Some of the fog flew out and should clear the sight a little. She ran toward it and jumped through, yelling at the youma all the while, “Hey, eight-legs! Come get me if you can!”

Ami was a super hero too? This was so cool! Usagi wondered if she could be one as well. It looked scary, but she was sure she could do it. 

"Hey! What did you do that for?" Usagi said, when Ami used her powers to make the area foggy and then proceeded to drag her behind the counter, begging her to stay there. Her excitement suddenly evaporated when she realized how serious her friend was being. Silently, she nodded, moving so that she was hidden behind the counter, but was still able to peek out to try and watch the action...not that she could see much because of the fog. 

She could hear the girls shouting, and suddenly the fog began to thin. Usagi watched as the girl in orange headed outside. Was she trying to get the monster to follow her? Curious, she crawled forward a little, trying to get a better look.

Mars heard Venus escape from the webs using crescent beam. She then saw the light through the fog meaning she used it again. This time it was to make a hole in the arcade to escape through. As the fog cleared she saw Venus exit the building trying to get the youma to follow her. She followed her quickly out of the building and then yelled, "Catch me if you can, ugly!" to the youma, hoping to get it outside and away from the princess. Mars continued to run until she caught up with Venus. She was prepared to continue fighting, but hoped it wouldn't take much longer now that they were in a more open space.

Mercury heaved a sigh of relief at Usagi's reluctant answer. "Thank you," she breathed. "I will come get you as soon as I can, okay?" Before waiting for Usagi's response, Mercury ran through the fog to join her friends. She knew from earlier sounds that Venus had shattered a window, giving them all a safe path outside and hopefully drawing the youma out there as well. Despite knowing there was a way out, Mercury lingered behind, crouching in the fog the remained and waiting for the youma to leave. She would stay here until Usagi was out of harm's way.

The youma turned and glared at Venus, before screeching "Widow!" again and clambering after the senshi. The spider woman crashed through the window and scuttled out into public again. As it left the building, Luna squeezed out from under a half crushed table and ran to where Mercury and Usagi were.

"Go handle that youma, I'll watch Usagi for you!" Luna said to Mercury, before creeping behind the counter that Usagi was hidden behind. 

"Usagi-chan, are you hurt?" It took some effort to not call her Princess, but Luna knew better than to start throwing more information at her now. Usagi had enough to take in at the moment. "I can lead you out as soon as that spider creature is far enough away."

Jupiter hopped out of the whole the spider had made when it first entered the Crown Arcade, catching up with the other senshi. 

Floating over a rooftop and out of sight, nephrite watched as his monster was surrounded by the senshi.

"Hm...It seems there's all four present now. How fortunate for me, the stars were correct after all." Nephrite smirked as the battle continued to unfold. Once they beat Widow, he had plenty more servants to attack with. It was only a matter of time before they wore down and perished.

"Supreme Thunder!" The youma sidestepped the bolt of lighting Jupiter tossed at her, but it still hit one of her eight legs. It screamed in pain and was now standing still.

Mars watched as the Spider youma left the arcade and ran after them. She knew that this was the princess would be safe. Mercury was still in there with her and so was Luna. Soon, she saw Jupiter follow the youma and attack it. She watched as her attack clipped the youma and it was still. Mars prepared to attack the youma as well. She hoped that they could kill it now that they were in a more open space. "Mars Flame Sniper!" Mars shouted and aimed her attack straight for the youma. She hoped her attack would actually hit the youma. If she was lucky it wouldn't move.

Venus was relieved to see the youma following her outside. She’d successfully drawn it away from their princess, and it made her feel able to focus much better on the fight. She still hadn’t thought about how they would deal with revealing their identities in front of her; one crisis at a time. Fighting out in the open with more potential audience bothered her a little but right now anything was better than being trapped in that arcade with Usagi right in the line of danger.

As Jupiter hit the youma with her attack and created an opening for the rest of them to hopefully finish it, Venus timed her attack so that it would hit together with Mars’. “Venus Love and Beauty Shock!” she cried, sending her beam of energy toward the monster.

The combined attacks of Mars and Venus created a pulse of flames and light, and slammed into the youma's chest with pinpoint accuracy. The spider screamed again and started to disintegrate before their eyes, defeated. 

Nephrite sighed at its death, more out of pity than exasperation. It wasn't a very strong youma in the first place, but it served its purpose of luring the senshi out just fine. Now he knew that they would come running to any monster that attacked the innocent. He'd let them escape for now, and then attack with more powerful beasts next time. He was willing to play the waiting game as long as he was in control of the situation. He tore open a portal and floated back into it, satisfied with what he had seen.

Jupiter waited until the monster was completely turned to ash before she relaxed. That was the second youma attack in a week, just what was going on?

"...What should we do about the princess?" she asked, turning to Venus. Usagi had seen them transform, so should they just tell her everything now? Or would she still be kept in the dark for safety purposes? "I don't think she's awakened yet, or the Silver Crystal would have appeared. Is she still unable to remember everything?"

Please don’t leave! She cried in her mind as Ami-chan left her all alone. What was she going to do?
 
"Usagi-chan, are you hurt?"
 
She looked over to where the new was coming from and nearly had a heart attack. “EHHHH YOU CAN TALK?” she cried, picking her cat up. How was this even possible, cats didn’t talk, did they?
 
“Have you been able to talk all this time? Why haven’t you talked to me before Luna?” she demanded, eyes narrowing slightly in annoyance. To think of all the fun they had missed!
 

“I’m fine, I’m not hurt.” She wasn’t but what if Makoto or Ami were? Biting her lip nervously, she peaked out from around the counter, trying to see if she could spot her friends.