After hearing Usagi and Pluto's encouragement, Makoto forced herself to nod and did her best to stay determined, though she still looked a bit pale.

"Yeah, just...just give me a minute..." she said. As soon as she got her legs to work again, she'd walk down to the plane. She didn't want to hold the group back, but it was like the fear she felt was even stronger than usual. Was it because she was a child again, when the incident was fresher? Mako took a slow breath, and started walking again. If she stopped a second time, she didn't think she'd be able to move at all, so she decided she just wasn't going to stop until they were past this thing.

Haruka felt every hair on her body stand up, even though she was in the water, as a huge monster loomed above them. It was so ugly.

Michiru was suddenly on top of her, and Haruka struggled a bit to stay afloat. Her legs and arms moved wildly, fueled by adrenaline, fear, and the need to protect Michiru. But how could she? She was three feet tall. For once, little Haruka felt helpless. She was just a kid - she couldn't win a fight against this thing.

She would sacrifice herself for Michiru. Maybe if she threw herself in front of Michiru and took the blow, it would give her friend enough time to escape. That was a good idea.

"Come at me, you big dumb -" Haruka paused, feeling Michiru suddenly shouted something and got off of her. Shocked, Haruka watched as someone who looked like Michiru but looked nothing like her attacked the monster with magic.

It was the coolest thing Haruka had ever seen.

But seeing it, something stirred inside of her. A memory, one of Haruka sitting behind as Michiru took a blow for her. But not Michiru - Sailor Neptune. The memory grew and grew, expanding into several memories of the two fighting side-by-side, working for the same goal. They had been together for much longer than this short time in the pond.

The familiar smooth texture of her transformation pen appeared in Haruka's hand and she smiled just slightly. Swimming over to the shore, Haruka pulled herself up and wrapped her arms around Michiru's shoulders from behind. "Thank you. Again," she said softly. It was weird trying to be flirtatious when she was ten years behind hitting puberty and she was barely taller than Michiru, but she hoped she had been at least a little successful.

Glad to be her old self again, at least mentally, Haruka did her best to get attuned to what was going on. Of course the road was a trap, but what else could they do? It was the flute's fault they were here, so if they could find it and destroy it, maybe they could get out.

She didn't really doubt that Pluto, Neptune, and herself would be able to handle the situation on their own. They were stronger than the inner senshi combined, but having the inner senshi unable to transform made them vulnerable. It was a problem.

They came across a plane, and Haruka was suddenly confused. Why was Makoto acting so weird? The Makoto she knew was fearless and strong, and wasn't afraid of anything. Maybe this was her fear? Just as Haruka was afraid of moving without direction, Makoto must be afraid of planes. Or heights?

Haruka placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It's a dream. Don't forget that, okay?"

Haruka was right, it was all just a dream, and Makoto knew that. That certainly didn't stop the memories though... But she kept walking towards the plane, despite her stomach doing uncomfortable flips at the thought of the crash. 

And just as she was about to enter the opened cargo hold, the entire rusted plane shuddered. Makoto almost fell backwards when it shifted and morphed into a metallic beast.

 It turned to face her with sharp teeth, the nose of the plane splitting opening like a set of jaws. The plane monster's engines roared to life, and to Makoto's frustration, she froze up on the spot, both terrified and stunned.

"Oh no, Makoto-chan!" Ami cried, unable to react in any other way as the plane suddenly changed into a horrible monster.

She could see that the brunette was frozen, and Ami's own instinct was to run forward to help somehow... But the memory of early at the lake with Michiru's awakening as Sailor Neptune flashed through her mind. The blue eyes critically regarded the airplane-creature, and she suspected that this was similar. A challenge just for Makoto to face.

You can do it, Makoto! she prayed, clasping her hands together.



"You can do it, Mako-chan!" cheered Chibi Moon, hoping to nudge the currently-younger-but-usually-older girl out of inactivity. She obviously hadn't wanted anything like this to happen, but if airplanes were going to transform into awful and creepy things, what else could this be but the key to unlock Makoto's powers as Sailor Jupiter.