ACT 37

This act originally appeared in Nakayoshi in July 1995.

"Don't cry, small maiden," the man said.

Chibi-Usa stares into the hand mirror Michiru gave her.

"Don't cry, small maiden."

"Elios hasn't appeared since then."

She sighs.

"Chibi-Usaaa?" Usagi says. "Want an afternoon snack?"

"I don't have an appetite. I'm full."

"What!?" Usagi cries. She leaves the room. "Oh well, too bad. Today we've got lemon pie, melons, chocolate cake, and sherbet..."

Chibi-Usa's eyes widen. She charges downstairs.

"I don't have an appetite, but!" she says. "I'll eat."

"Okay, okay."

Usagi puts on a jacket and heads for the door.

"Where you going?" asks Chibi-Usa.

"Mamo-chan's," says Usagi. "He's been really sick, and he's resting at school. I thought I'd go visit him. You want to come?"

Chibi-Usa thinks of Elios.

"Oh," she says. "No. I'll stay. From now on, I've decided not to come between you two. See you later."

"How'd she come to that!?" Usagi thinks. "The world must be coming to an end!"

"I can't," thinks Chibi-Usa. "While I love Mamo-chan in my heart, since then I've only been thinking of Elios. If I did, I'd feel like it was adultery."

Diana points to a screen, which reads:

Note: Adultery.
Forbidden love with a married man!

"(But neither of them are married...)" Diana says.

Chibi-Usa thinks of the man who kissed her.

"Elios..." she thinks. "Why are you suddenly not appearing? Is that your true form? Why are you taking the form of a Pegasus? Elios seems to have many secrets. I want to make him strong. I wonder if I should go ask advice from someone. I hear Ami-chan's talks get really long..."

"We have to analyze the Dead Moon first!"

"Rei-chan doesn't talk about feelings..."

"Right when he changed into the form of a young boy..."

"I hear you get interrogated by Mina-chan..."

"So? Are you two going to be getting involved?"

"Well, then. I'll talk about it with Mako-chan."

"(Leave it to me!)"

"Usagi's great... She can ask advice from anyone. She has lots of friends."

"Small Lady," says Diana. "Your body is still in training! Comparing your position with Usagi-sama's! They're not equal situations."

"I know... Someday, I'll be a fine soldier too. I hope the time comes... the time when I can have friends like that."

The injured Pegasus lies caged on the floor.

"Have to hold on," he thinks. "Unless I hold on, even the Prince's body will be ruined... And then the planet, too..."

"Zirconia."

"How may I be of service, Nehalennia-sama."

"Who am I?"

"You are the world's most beautiful and wise, the highest in our Dead Moon, carrying the largest power, the great Queen Nehalennia-sama."

"And our long-cherished goal?"

"Our long-cherished goal, that is to overthrow the hated White Moon Kingdom, the Silver Millennium, to take the Mystical Silver Crystal and this blue land Earth, and soon, to become the supreme ruler of all the cosmos."

"Heh heh heh. Right. Elysion has already fallen into our hands."

"Since ancient times, the White Moon Kingdom has stood watch over this planet. And the moon is already a planet of death, gasping for breath. Heh heh heh."

"We will only settle with those troublesome survivors of the Moon Kingdom," Nehalennia says. "Quickly, fill them with nightmares and darkness. I want to see this blue planet. It has become the planet of the beautiful darkness of the Dead Moon!"

"Queen Nehalennia," the four girls say. "Leave this to us, the Amazoness Quartet, to our Amazon Stones, and to our lemures! We will surely make this planet ours! Heh heh heh."

Mamoru lies in bed, coughing.

Kunzite, Jadeite, Zoisite, and Nephrite appear.

"The aura enveloping our master's body is weakening. A disturbance is occurring within his body."

Mamoru coughs harder. Blood splats onto his hand.

"But, there is nothing we can do with our power anymore."

Mamoru continues coughing as his four generals disappear.

"Mamo-chan?" Usagi calls as she enters the room.

"Usa," says Mamoru.

"You must have been sleeping," she says. "Sorry if I bothered you. Is your body feeling well? I thought you might not have had dinner, so I brought a bento box. It's packed full with mom's cooking. Later, I thought we could go outside, get some drinks and medicine..."

"Usa," says Mamoru. "Would you go home? I was thinking of going to sleep, since I want to rest well."

"Oh. Sure. S- Sorry. Well, I'll be going. Sorry for barging in here. Get some rest. See you."

Mamoru winces as Usagi closes the door behind her.

"I can't let her get suspicious..." he thinks. He looks at his wet hand. "...of this black blood!"

"A lung shadow," the doctor said.

"What's wrong with my body! The Dead Moon! From now on, they're reaching their evil hands through this city! When I say from now on, even if I do it again, am I being a burden on Usa...!"

"Mamo-chan...!?" thinks Usagi.

Minako, Makoto, Rei, and Ami walk dazedly out of the circus.

"How was it?" says Ami. "The show today."

"Today's elephant and motorcycle show was impressive," says Makoto.

"Felt like it was sending out intense electrical waves," says Minako. "My head's spinning. I wonder if the people who watched the show are okay."

"Yeah, they look fine for now."

Since that time, we've been coming to the Dead Moon Circus every day to scout.

"I wonder if they're just pretending, to be an ostensibly ordinary circus," says Ami.

"We'll find proof that their plan is to brainwash with electrical waves," says Minako. "The Dead Moon! We'll uncover them for sure! But after that, without fighting the enemies, or particularly changing the circus."

"Then," says Rei, "finally, all that will be left will be to catch the circus people from behind."

"Just who are the enemies?" says Ami. "I wonder what kind of people they are."

-

The Amazoness Quartet watch them from above.

"Yes, how foolish to think that they could catch us by the tail so simply," Ves-Ves says. "However tough they might be, I've heard the rumors. The guardian soldiers of the Silver Millennium, the sailor soldiers! We saw into your dreams. We can finally get you out."

"Let's make this as entertaining as possible," says Jun-Jun. She lifts a slingshot. "Heh heh."

-

Four balls peg the four girls on their heads.

"Ouch!"

They look around, then continue walking. They leave the circus.

"For all that, the circus has firmly set itself in this city. I wonder if they plan to stay here permanently."

"Since the circus has come, Juuban has gotten so dirty."

"No helping it. It's all the people gathering."

"When summer gets here," says Makoto, "more people will be gathering at the circus. It's risky, if we don't do something."

"It's hot out," says Ami. "Looks like a heat wave this summer."

"Later."

"Bye-bye."

"See you tomorrow."

The lemures peek out from behind the trash littered on the ground.

"Oh! Mako-chan!"

"Hey, Chibi-Usa," says Makoto.

"I thought I'd go to your place now!" she says. "I've got something I want to talk to you about..."

"What is it, what is it," says Makoto. "You're getting all serious. Is it some cute boy?"

Chibi-Usa's eyes widen in surprise.

"All right," Makoto says. "I'll make some great dinner for us."

"Yay!"

"Let's go to the supermarket!"

They enter the Juuban Supermarket, and notice a commotion.

"What's going on?"

Hawk's Eye is talking with the clerk. "What!?" he says. "No pili or pincko?? You don't have guaraná either!?"

[I have no idea what he's talking about. These are best guesses.]

"Sir, we don't have those kinds of things at this store!"

"Then what about tokon!? Henluda!? Allspice!?"

"I bet..." says Makoto. "Do you want spices? If you do, there's all kinds at the foreigners' supermarket." She takes him outside. "You can't buy spices and herbs at a small store. Would you like to go to the other store together?"

"I appreciate your kindness," he says, "but actually, I was doing market research just now."

He takes them to a store across the street.

"Herb Shop?" asks Makoto.

"I just opened today," says Hawk's Eye. "I'm so happy. I was going around to the other stores in Juuban Shopping Center, doing various research. Please, come in."

"Wow," Makoto says, as she looks around at the shelves stacked with herbs and spices.

"I almost have a complete stock," he says. "But I could use some advice. I wonder if there's a large assortment of Amazon medicinal herbs."

"Amazon!?" thinks Makoto. "It can't be... The circus is from the Amazon! The Dead Moon Circus!"

"Are you from the circus?" she asks.

"Yes, I'm a member. I'm continuing to perform there for now. I managed to put this store up, and I'm working here on the side."

"Then," says Chibi-Usa, "what you were talking about before were Amazon vegetables?"

"Right," says Hawk's Eye. "I make them into medicine. Since I was young, it's been my dream to have a small shop like this. Juuban is a conscientious city, since I was able to lease this shore for cheap. It's a good city. I love it. But with this circus road tour, I'll be going to other cities again. My dream is to someday have shops all over the world."

"Oh," says Makoto. "My dream, too... is to someday own a shop. A flower and cake shop."

"Oh, wonderful!" says Hawk's Eye. "You have to make it come true! When you've had a goal since your youth, you must pursue it! I'll give you two special presents for being the first customers of mine."

He gives them two rings.

"Pretty rings!" says Makoto.

Hawk's Eye points to the ring's stone. "This is an Amazon Stone," he says. "It's an anti-evil charm from the Amazon. It also has the ability to make dreams come true."

Two girls enter the store.

"Oh, welcome!" he says. "Please come in, look around."

"Maaako-chaaan!" Chibi-Usa says, holding up a bowl. "I cut the tomatoes and put them in the salad."

"Okay!" says Makoto. "Now sprinkle on the basil, and you're done."

"Basil?"

"It's an herb that makes the tomatoes taste good."

"All right!"

Makoto looks at the ring on her finger.

"A charm that can make dreams come true, eh?" she thinks. "He was a wonderful person. It's twinkling. To make my dream come true, I should keep pursuing it further."

"When you've had a goal since your youth, you must pursue it!"

"My dream... Since my parents died early, I've been living on my own for a long time. It's to marry early, and make a happy home. And then to open a small flower and cake shop. After that is a secret, but... I also really want to become a pretty woman like Michiru-san. And then to become strong like Haruka-san, too. I have lots of dreams. But those dreams... Have I been pursuing them?"

"Then I cooked lots of herbs for Mako-chan!" Chibi-Usa says. "(But I forgot to talk to her about Elios after dinner...)"

"I see," says Mamoru. "Then what?"

"This is that Amazon Stone. The ring's stone is a charm. Hey. It's pretty, but isn't it suspicious!? Getting a stone that looks this expensive for free."

"Chibi-Usa, can I keep this?"

"Of course! Well, I'm going home. Mamo-chan, take care, okay? Be sure you're eating. If you want anything, call me, and I'll come over."

"Right, right."

After she leaves, Mamoru turns to the ring.

"An Amazon Stone...?"

He cracks the stone with a pair of pliers.

"Looks like a normal stone, but... I'll leave it for a while and see..."

Chibi-Usa meets Usagi outside Mamoru's building.

"I told him to take care, like I was supposed to, but he still looks pretty bad."

"I see," says Usagi. "Sorry, Chibi-Usa. Thanks."

"Why didn't you go see him?" Chibi-Usa asks. "You came all the way here, but..."

"It's okay."

"I was scared..." Usagi thinks. "Of being rejected again... Has something happened to Mamo-chan? If I wait a while... He'll talk to me."

Hawk's Eye turns toward the door. "Welcome to... Oh!"

"Hi," says Makoto. "Is it okay if I look around a little?"

"Certainly."

He sets out two cups of tea.

"So?" he asks. "Are you doing well going after your dreams since then?"

Makoto looks down. "I can't really talk about it to my friends... I... have lots of dreams. But... I'm hesitant... Which path should I choose? If I keep on being a sailor soldier like this, I only have fighting. I've always kept it buried inside me. My dreams... won't they come true? The path I'm taking now is in the opposite direction, I think--No, what am I saying?"

"If you're hesitant, will you quit?" Hawk's Eye asks. "Being a sailor soldier?"

"What!?"

Lemures begin to flow out from the ring on Makoto's finger.

"What!? These--! This ring! I can't take it off!?"

"These little incarnations of nightmares, the lemures, they want you, filled up with dreams. How would you like to join the Dead Moon Circus, too? Let's spread nightmares around the world together."

Ropes of energy tie around Makoto.

"Ouch! The shutters!?"

The window blinds close on the shop.

Hawk's Eye reverts to his animal form.

Ves-Ves holds up the hawk. "How pitiful," she says. "No one will come to save you now. Heh heh!"

"This is the Amazon Stone, the End Ball," says Palla-Palla. "It unties what is coming undone."

The ropes tighten around Makoto. She collapses.

"I'm losing my strength..." she thinks. "Sorry, everyone..."

"This time it's the end of the sailor soldiers. Simple."

-

"-piter... Jupiter!"

Makoto opens her eyes and looks up. "This place..."

"This is inside your conscience, Jupiter!"

"Ow!"

"Come on, jeez!" says a miniature Sailor Jupiter. "What're you doing, showing the enemies your weakness! Don't be taken advantage of! Have you forgotten your mission? Without the Herculean Jupiter, who will protect Princess Selenity, and Mars, Mercury, and Venus! Who will protect the people of the city!"

"That's right," thinks Makoto. "I am the Herculean Jupiter. I have many dreams, but my biggest dream now is to become the strongest soldier, to protect the ones I love. That is my mission!"

"Remember, Makoto," says Haruka. "Before you defeat the enemies, your biggest enemy is your own weakness!"

"I understand, Haruka-san. I won't give up!"

"That's the spirit, Sailor Jupiter," the small Jupiter says. "My Princess Jupiter." She hands her a glowing heart. "That's your Jupiter Crystal."

"You're..."

"I'm your other self. I'm always watching over you. Hang in there, Herculean Jupiter!"

-

Makoto breaks the ropes of energy around her.

"Jupiter Crystal Power, Make Up!!"

"What!?" cries Ves-Ves.

Makoto feels a wreath of laurel around her head.

"The emblem of thunder and lightning!" she thinks. "Leaves of oak!!"

She runs at the enemies. "I'm going to expel you from this city! That time will be the time when you die! Dead Moon Circus! Jupiter Oak Evolution!!"

Ves-Ves and Palla-Palla disappear. The attack flies by them, cutting apart the flying hawk.

The Herb Shop vanishes.

"Jupiter!?" calls Usagi.

"Usagi! Chibi-Usa!"

The Amazoness Quartet wait outside.

"Heh heh heh. It truly is the sailor soldiers!" They disappear. "But the ones who die will be you!"

"Those girls!?" thinks Makoto.

Chibi-Usa hears a ringing sound.

"A bell!" she says. "Elios!?" She takes out the small bell. "Elios! Is he calling me from somewhere!?"

Usagi and Chibi-Usa suddenly gasp together.

"Mamo-chan!?"

They run to his apartment and burst through the door.

The Pegasus stands over Mamoru's unconscious body. Lemures attack them.

"Mamo-chan!!"

"Elios!!" says Chibi-Usa.

"Chibi-Usa!"

"Usagi!"

"Moon Crisis! Make Up!!"

They transform and hold out their kaleidoscope rods.

"Moon Gorgeous Meditation!!"

The lemures are destroyed.

"Maiden..." gasps the Pegasus. He collapses on the floor.

"Elios!?" cries Chibi-Usa. "There are wounds all over his body!?"

Mamoru coughs hard.

"Mamo-chan!?" says Usagi.

"Don't look," he says.

She sees the blood on his hands.

"Mamo-chan!? Black blood!?"

ACT 38

This act originally appeared in Nakayoshi in August 1995.

"Mamo-chan!!"

Mamoru kneels on his bed, coughing. The Pegasus stands next to him.

Makoto runs into the room. "Mamoru-san!!"

"Black blood!!" says Usagi. "Mamo-chan! How long? Why is your blood black..."

"I don't know," he says. "Since a little while ago. My chest started hurting..."

"And the black shadow in my lungs..." he thinks to himself.

"Elios!" says Chibi-Usa. "Tell me! You must know! Is Mamo-chan's black blood related to the enemies and you? Is this the enemies' doing!?"

"It seems the time has come already," says the Pegasus. "Let us talk."

In a glowing light, the Pegasus transforms into a man, with the same gold horn on his forehead. He kneels before them.

"I am Priest Elios of Elysion," he says.

"Priest Elios, of Elysion?" asks Chibi-Usa. "Elysion?"

"Elysion is the holy land that protects Earth," he says. "It quietly rests deep in the Earth, a place like the heart of this planet. I serve as a priest there. My mission is to continue watching over Elysion, and this planet Earth, and you, Prince Endymion. I am also the guardian priest of this planet and you."

"My guardian priest...?" thinks Mamoru.

"Since the distant past," continues Elios, "you have protected this planet all alone. Noble Prince Endymion."

"Do you know me?" he asks.

"Yes, Prince. But you probably don't know me. This planet is protected by the holy land Elysion. I live together with that Elysion. You, this planet, and Elysion and me. Our four spirits and bodies are linked. And those four spirits and bodies and starting to resonate."

"Our four spirits and bodies are... linked? Resonating?"

"But for that," says Elios, "this is happening."

A beam of light shines from his forehead to Mamoru's chest. A dark flower appears in front of him.

"Mamo-chan!?" says Usagi. "Inside your chest...!"

Mamoru looks at himself in the mirror.

"Inside my chest..." he thinks. "A black rose is blooming...!?"

"In my chest as well," says Elios. "A cursed black rose is ruining me. It is a sign of Elysion's ruining. Prince, you are suffering from a curse just like I and Elysion are."

"Inside Mamo-chan's chest..." thinks Usagi. "A black rose...? A curse!?"

"The form you are looking at is an illusion of me," says Elios. "My body now is also being changed into a Pegasus by the curse. I am confined to Elysion."

"A curse!?" says Chibi-Usa. "Confined!? Who could do such a thing...!?"

"There is only one who could do this. In the kingdom of nightmares, inside the new moon. Queen Nehalennia of the Dead Moon. The Dead Moon, their kingdom was sealed deep in the darkness of the new moon. Since long ago, they have been plotting to overthrow the kingdom of light, the Silver Millennium, and rule Earth. The Dead Moon's Queen Nehalennia is an apparition of revenge. If the shining power of the Silver Millennium is eliminated from the moon, and they cause damage to Elysion, this planet will fall easily. From inside the darkness, the heart of the Earth, Elysion, was cursed. First, to lift the curse from within, I prayed continually. But with my small power, my prayers were not answered. The curse spread like a nightmare. Elysion was ruined, and soon the power protecting Earth faded away. Taking that chance, they crept in the moment of the beautifully cursed solar eclipse. It seems this planet is now being invaded from within and without. Due to the curse on Elysion, its dying condition is under rule by darkness and nightmares. If these conditions continue long, the nightmares will shortly spread to the surface as well, making this planet a dead planet, and making it theirs. Princess Selenity. No, Super Sailor Moon. They are not aware of the reincarnation on this planet of the successor to the Silver Millennium, you. Please, I request that you use your power and the power of the Mystical Silver Crystal to defeat them."

"I understand!" says Usagi. "I will defeat the enemies! If I do that, I'll save Elysion, you, and Mamo-chan, too!"

"It's regrettable," says Elios, "but even if you defeat them, with only the Mystical Silver Crystal, you cannot lift the curse on Elysion and the Prince."

"What are you saying!?"

"In this ruined body, it was quite hard getting to you and the Prince. Then I finally found you. Princess Selenity, if you are indeed the chosen maiden, you should be able to search out the Golden Crystal and bring forth its power. If you have the beautiful dream, protected by the light of the moon. If you are the princess soldier. If you are the chosen maiden, who carries the crystal that can break the seal on the Golden Crystal."

"The Golden Crystal?"

The wings sprout out from his back, and he hunches over.

"Elios!?"

He reverts to his form as a Pegasus. "Maiden," he says. "I am a priest. I only have the power to pray for salvation and watch over. Maiden, I need your power. The day to break the seal on the Golden Crystal has come. Please, save everything from the nightmares with the power of the Mystical Silver Crystal and the Golden Crystal..."

He disappears.

"Elios!" Usagi calls. "Without the Golden Crystal, I can't save Mamo-chan and Elios, and Elysion and Earth! The Golden Crystal!! Where is it? How can I find it...?"

Mamoru coughs up more blood.

"Mamo-chan!?"

"You should stay away from me!" he says. "This curse... You might catch it! You shouldn't stay with me."

"I can't even lend you my strength with this body," he thinks.

"I will stay with you," says Usagi. "Just like you feel the pain of this planet, your pain is my pain." She runs to Mamoru and throws her arms around him. "I'm going to make you get better! So I'll always stay with you. We'll get through this together!"

"Usa...!"

"I'll protect this planet, you, and everyone!"

"Elios...!" thinks Chibi-Usa. "I want to help him... Elios."

"Without the Golden Crystal," thinks Makoto, "the Prince and Elysion won't be saved. And maybe even this planet. The Golden Crystal... Where could it be? What kind of crystal is it!?"

"So to completely save Earth from the Dead Moon," says Ami, "we need the Golden Crystal... And this thing that's happening to Mamoru-san..."

"We should have been thinking of these enemies differently," says Makoto. "From now on, the five of us have to fight to help Usagi-chan and to protect Mamoru-san."

"Right!" says Chibi-Usa.

"Now how are we going to go about fighting the enemies? We need to work on a strategy."

"Yeah, we do."

"If those three were here now..." says Makoto.

"Huh?" says Minako.

"Haruka-san, Michiru-san, and Setsuna-san. That's what I'm thinking. When we fought together with those three, we were given vitality."

"There was a time when I couldn't transform," says Rei. "But when I thought of Haruka-san, Michiru-san, and Setsuna-san, I was filled with strength. Then I powered up and transformed."

"Those alter egos that appeared when we transformed, in our forms," says Ami. "I think that was those three sending us a message to hang in there. Right, Mina?"

"Um, yeah," says Minako. "Right..."

She leaves.

"How come I'm the only one who can't transform?" she thinks. She raises her arm. "Venus Planet Power! Make Up!"

Nothing happens.

"Right... I didn't tell the others, but... I can't transform. Only me."

"So they all said there was a time when they couldn't transform," says Artemis. "That they felt a power-up, and they met their own alter egos? This is a special transformation. It'll surely happen to you now. You're in the process of storing power as a leader in your body, Mina. Yes, this is a special transformation. Something is surely going to happen from here on. What are you going to do! You're the leader of the soldiers! Soon you'll be able to transform! Even though you're late, the time will come!"

"I guess," says Minako. "Even if I worry, there's no helping it. Yeah. I'm going to go take a bath."

She goes into the bathroom and gets into the bath.

"With that evidence, Mina," she thinks to herself, "lately you haven't been pretty at all. To be just like the goddess Venus..."

Artemis peeks through the door, his face red, as Minako gets out and towels off.

"Leader..." she thinks. "Yeah. I am their leader for now."

-

"Hey, Mom," says Diana. "Those eyes that Dad looks at Minako-sama with, they look just like a lover's eyes."

"Come on now, Diana," says Luna.

Luna bites into Artemis's tail. "But, I'm not just going to let you peep into the bath."

Artemis cries out in pain.

"Well now," says Cere-Cere. She looks into a mirror at Minako's face. "Of all the sailor soldiers, there's one who can't transform."

"There's one in every world," says Palla-Palla.

"I'm tired of only sprinkling nightmares among the humans at the circus show," says Ves-Ves. "Shall we put on a fun event using this one?"

"All right!" says Palla-Palla. "Xenotime! Zeolite!"

Two circus men appear.

"Leave it to us, sisters," says Xenotime.

"We're not like that good-for-nothing Amazon Trio," says Zeolite.

"We won't just use the lemures and spread nightmares into the world. At the event's climax, we'll wipe out the annoyances!"

"At the behest of our Queen Nehalennia, we'll take the Mystical Silver Crystal!"

"Man, the summer this year is really hot," says Minako.

"Somehow, the city is getting more and more run down."

Lemures hide in the dirt and darkness.

"The Dead Moon Circus!" says Makoto. "We have to get rid of that tent! But how? Should we risk a surprise attack!?"

They see two men arguing.

"What, a fight?"

"This heat makes people irritable."

"What's that?"

"Michiru-san's mirror," says Rei. "I borrowed it from Chibi-Usa. I thought if there's anything strange going on, I could sense it with this mirror. It's not just the heat, lately I've felt an air of unrest."

"From the center of the circus," says Ami, "there's a strange aura surrounding Juuban. A force field, or brainwashing waves..."

"A force field?" thinks Minako. "Could... Could that be why I can't transform? But still, that would be weird. Only me..."

"Mina?" says Ami.

"Oh, no, nothing," she says. "Ami-chan, you found the force field all by yourself? Amazing!"

"Yeah, I did it with a program Setsuna-san gave me."

Makoto looks to the sky as she hears a chopper overhead.

"Whenever I hear the sound of a helicopter," she says, "I always think maybe it's Haruka-san and the others. If we could use helicopters like them, we could investigate things a lot easier!"

"Five times!" says Minako.

"Say what?"

"Today since we met, those three's names have come up five times. I don't think there's any excuse for thinking about people who aren't here!"

"Mina?" says Ami.

"We're talking about how if they were here, we could depend on them," says Makoto.

"Of course, you can't depend on your leader!" Minako says.

"That's not what we're saying!" says Ami.

"Mina, you're acting strange today," says Rei.

"Mina?"

"Of course I'm strange!" says Minako. "Strange is fine! Cock-a-doodle-doo!"

She turns and runs away.

"Mina!!" the others call.

"Now I've failed as a leader!" she thinks, tears in her eyes. "Oh, how stupid! Oh, why am I so irritable? What's wrong? My power... How come I can't transform? If an enemy appears now, how am I supposed to fight him!?"

She stops and blows her nose.

A man approaches her.

"You," he says. "Would you like to go to an idol audition?"

"You were scouted!?"

Minako tosses her hair back. "Yep. He said that, and I'm going to the audition. It was my dream!! To be an idol!! Whatever it took! Now I'll be one."

"Mina!?" the others say.

"We have to talk, Mina," says Ami. "Doesn't this look like a suspicious production? Show me the scout's card."

Minako shows her the business card:

Dead Moon Entertainment
Mr. Xenotime

"Dead Moon Entertainment!?"

"Mina...! Look at this!"

"Bye-bye!" Minako calls as she runs out the door.

"Mina!?"

Minako looks at the audition ad as she walks down the street.

"I'm such an idiot," she thinks. "I knew it was probably a Dead Moon trap."

"Mina! Wait!" calls Artemis. "What are you thinking! Are you planning to go after them by yourself? Even though you can't transform!"

"Shut up!" says Minako. "This is the chance to show my power!" she thinks. "I'm the leader! I have to act! I'm going after them! The Dead Moon! Sailor Venus! I'm made to fight, for fun and profit!"

Minako goes to the Dead Moon idol audition.

"All these Dead Moon buildings are here all of a sudden!?" she thinks. "It's so hot and stuffy. It feels really suffocating here. It's not just the heat. I'm sure there's a strange air hanging. We've been invaded without knowing it. Now! I'm going to check this out thoroughly!"

She puts on a dress and gathers with the other girls there for the audition.

"What!?" she thinks. "This many girls came!?"

She looks at her reflection in her crescent moon compact.

"There's no way I can save everyone by myself," she thinks. "I guess I should call Ami-chan and the others... But... then everyone will find out I can't transform! No! Don't be afraid! Never say die, Mina! I'll fight by myself! That's what I've decided!"

"Everyone!" says Zeolite, holding a microphone. "Please enter the tent where the audition will be held!"

Minako goes inside the tent, and sees trees and dense foliage everywhere.

"A jungle!?" she thinks.

"Now! The survival audition begins!" says Zeolite. "This audition will fit you for the story. One after another, become brave girls, and come out of the jungle. Then save the children on top of that tower!"

Four kids cower on the tower, crying.

"They put children up there!?" thinks Minako.

"First place gets a prize of 50,000,000 yen!" says Zeolite. "And a starring role in a TV movie! You'll also get a role in a commercial, and a CD sale! Start!"

All the girls charge into the jungle, shoving others out of the way.

"Hehe," says Jun-Jun. "Get angry, get angry. Release more and more energy. The lemures will change your energy and dreams into nightmares. Being able to spread this many nightmares makes me happy."

"Everyone, calm down!" says Minako. "This audition is strange! Get out of the tent!"

"Shut up!" says one girl. "We're going to be idols!"

They continue running.

"Wait, everyone!" Minako calls.

Boulders begin falling toward Minako.

"Look out!"

Makoto runs in front of her and destroys the boulders.

"Jupiter!?"

"Mina!" Makoto says. "I don't care what you say."

"Right!" says Ami. "When we go after enemies, we all go together!"

"Mars!? Mercury!?"

Lemures begin attacking her.

"Mina! Transform!"

Minako thrusts her arm into the air. "Venus Planet Power! Make Up!!"

Nothing happens.

"Oh no!" she thinks. "I still can't transform!"

"Mina!?" says Makoto.

"Like this, I'll just be a burden on everyone!" Minako thinks.

She runs into the jungle. "I'm going ahead!"

"Mina!!"

Minako comes to a clearing and sees lemures swarming over unconscious bodies.

"Everyone!" she says. "Hold on! They're multiplying rapidly, these things! Oh no! Could they be sucking up everyone's power!? They just want to be idols. Preying on those pure and clean dreams! I won't allow it! I'm stopping this event, Dead Moon! I'll save them all!"

She climbs up the tall tower holding the kids. As she approaches the top, knives begin pelting down at her.

"Even if you're truly disgusted, sailor soldier," says Xenotime from the top, "you won't become the lemures' prey if you come up here."

"Mina! Watch out!" calls Rei.

Knives fly at the three soldiers.

"Seems we have people who aren't participants in the audition," says Zeolite. "Make one move, and I won't guarantee the survival of your little friend who can't transform. Now, lemures! Eat up these sailor soldiers, and put them to an end! Ahahaha!"

Minako reaches the top of the tower.

"I made it!" she says. "Now I'm going to save you all!"

The kids change into lemures.

"They're not children! Damn!!"

She drops to the floor as more knives fly at her.

"Congratulations!" says Ves-Ves. "You've cleared a number of obstacles, and you've arrived here in first place! Now you're one step away from being an idol!"

"I can't move my body!" Minako thinks.

"Last, we'll do a little treasure hunting," says Ves-Ves. "Little lemures!"

"Lemures!?"

Minako screams as the lemures delve into her body.

"I feel faint..." she thinks. "They're slipping inside my head..."

"Ehehe," says Ves-Ves. "Now you're a member of the Dead Moon. So, go to where your friends are, and steal the Mystical Silver Crystal."

Minako gets up.

"The Mystical Silver Crystal..." she says. "For our Dead Moon... Heh."

Artemis jumps at her and claws her in the face.

"Mina!!" he says.

Minako cries out in pain.

"Artemis!?"

"Get a hold of yourself, Mina!" he says.

"Damn!" says Ves-Ves. She stamps her foot on the floor.

A trap door opens underneath Minako, and she drops through it.

"Oh no! I'm fallllllling!"

Artemis grabs onto her hand, holding her in the air.

"Artemis!?"

"Oh no..." she thinks. "My arm feels like it's going to come off..."

Palla-Palla appears. "This is where I have my fun," she says.

"Palla-Palla!" says Ves-Ves.

"Hailstone Ball!" she calls.

A boulder appears in the air.

"Artemis!!" calls Minako.

The boulder falls down toward the white cat.

"Artemiiiis! Noooooo!"

EXAM 1

This originally appeared in Run-Run in May 1995.

"I'm home! Mmm, something smells good."

"Welcome home, honey!" says Makoto. "Since today's our one year marriage anniversary, I've made all kinds of treats!"

"Oh, sounds great," says the man. "To celebrate, I brought you pink roses. But Mako-chan, I smell something burning."

"Ohh, honey, I didn't mean to overcook it. Something burning..."

Makoto wakes up and jumps to her feet.

"Oh, damn!"

She pulls a burned meatloaf out of the oven.

"Hmph. A dream."

I'm Kino Makoto. I'm 15, and in 9th grade. My hobby is shopping, and my strong point is cooking. But my weak point is...

A plane soars on television. "You too can fly JAL to Okinawa..."

"Ack!"

She jumps behind the curtains.

Airplanes. I'm a weak girl.

"Oh, just the TV. Hehe..."

[JAL - Japan Air Lines]

The doorbell rings. She goes to the door and opens it.

Usagi stands outside with Minako, Rei, and Ami.

"Maaako-chaaan!"

"Welcome!" says Makoto.

Right now we're preparing for the Hana entrance exam, to get into Hana Girls High. Starting today, we've decided to meet to study once a week under Ami-chan's guidance. This is the record of our exam battles of love and emotion!

"Wow! Jeez, Mako-chan, in the long time since we last came here, you've really made the place lovely!"

"Here, have some tea," Makoto says.

"Wow, those are cute cups!"

"Smells good," says Rei. "This herb tea?"

"Yummy!" says Usagi.

"Really?" asks Makoto. "That's camomile tea. It makes you relax. If you drink it, you can sleep soundly."

"Sleep soundly?" says Ami. "That's not good! We've had enough tea, now let's get cracking!"

The five girls sit around a table, quietly reading their textbooks.

Makoto's eyes droop.

"Hey!" she says. "Isn't it getting time for dinner?"

She brings over a tray full of food.

"Wow! Great food! That looks good."

"Was it hard to fix?"

"Well, just took one night," says Makoto.

"One night!?" says Ami. "No, Mako-chan! That'll interrupt your exam studies! Don't do that anymore."

"Okay," Makoto says. "But I just wanted to do all I could to serve all you lots of food."

A plane soars on the television. "You too can fly JAL to Okinawa..."

"Ack!"

She jumps behind the curtains again.

"Mako-chan!?"

"Oh, a commercial," she says. "Sorry, everyone. I can't stand the sound of planes. When I was little, my parents died in a plane crash. And so with all of you around my cooking, we're eating like a family, it makes me so happy."

The clock strikes eleven.

"Oh no! This time already?"

"Sorry for keeping you," says Makoto. "Come for tea and dinner again sometime."

The others leave.

"For tea and dinner?" says Usagi.

"Is that why we came?" says Rei.

"Come on!" says Ami. "We didn't even do half of what we planned! Next time, we need to hit the books."

Makoto looks around her shining kitchen, holding a rag.

"Well! I finally got everything done. Oh no! It's already 1 o'clock! Gotta get to sleep soon."

She gets into bed.

"From now on, we've got study meetings every week until March. But, since we've got such a great friend in Ami-chan, this exam will be a piece of cake."

Makoto looks down at her test. She scored a 40.

"Mako-chan," says Ami. "How'd you do on the test?"

Ami holds her test, with a score of 100.

"Keep trying, Mako-chan," she says.

"Yeah, I know..."

Makoto goes to the gardening club room.

"Hello..." she says.

"Hey, Mako-chan-senpai?" says one of the boys. "What's the matter? Ninth graders have the exams, so they can't do extracurricular activities."

Makoto leans against the wall. "*sniff* It's so hard, having exams."

"So?" says Unazuki. "Mako-chan, Usagi-chan, isn't it good?"

"It's sour!" they say, their lips puckered.

"That's the hibiscus tea I recommend," she says. "If you drink it while you're studying, it'll be sour and keep you awake."

"If that's true, even Ami-chan will like it!" says Makoto. "Where are they selling it?"

She takes them to a small store, called Pri-Pri.

"Wow! There's such a lovely shop in Juuban?"

"You're sold out?" asks a girl inside.

"Sorry," says the saleswoman.

"Ohh. They were supposed to be getting more in," Unazuki says. "I wonder if it's because they don't have many clerks. That's suitable."

"Instead of that," says Usagi, "Mako-chan really likes these."

"Ooh! These cushions are cute!" says Makoto. "This jewelry box is pretty! Oh, cute earrings!"

They go back to the Fruit Parlor Crown.

"Well, we're drinking tea together, and going to stores," Makoto says, "but going back to school was the most fun. But now I have to go through exams, too? Oh! I want to drink tea with everyone."

"Mako-chan!" says Unazuki. "If you get into Hana Girls High, you can do whatever you want! You can drink tea, even goofing off is okay! You have to do it!"

"Unazuki-chan!"

The doorbell rings. Usagi and the others stand outside.

"Mako-chaaan!"

"Come on in!" says Makoto.

They sit down and begin studying.

Makoto's eyes start to droop.

"Hey, everyone!" she says. "How about a little tea?"

She gets up and heads for the kitchen.

Ami grabs her. "Mako-chan," she says. "Today I brought green tea with me. I'll make the tea, so you can keep working. Don't worry about it, and solve those problems."

"But..." thinks Usagi.

"Something smells..." thinks Minako.

"Hey," says Makoto. "Isn't it about time for dinner?"

She brings out plates of food.

"Wow! All this wonderful cooking!"

"Mako-chan..." says Ami.

"Oh, I'm sorry," says Makoto. "Forgive me! I spent another night preparing food...!"

"Mako-chan!" Ami says. "Exam students have to eat Cup Ramen! If you have the time to cook, you should be working problems!"

"That's right, Mako-chan!" says Minako. "If you have this kind of nourishment while you can't even participate in clubs, you'll become a fat sailor soldier! Is that what you want to happen!?"

"A fat sailor soldier!?" Makoto says.

Ami wipes her finger across the sparkling countertop. "Mako-chan," she says. "It seems your apartment is quite clean."

"W- Well, I spent two nights cleaning..."

Ami looks around the room. "Speaking of which, it seems that there are a lot of lovely goods here, even more than before."

"Have you been loitering on the way home from school?" says Rei.

"Oops! Sorry!"

Makoto looks down. "Maybe I'll quit going to high school," she says. "I'm afraid I'm not up to studying for entrance exams. If you think you have to, it's worth thinking. It makes me want to drink tea! It makes me want to cook! It makes me want to clean! It makes me want lovely things! I'd be happy if I could just have a life loving tea, cooking, flowers, and pretty things!"

"Mako-chan," Ami says. "That is simply an escape."

Makoto collapses in shock.

Rei catches her. "Huh. She's dead."

"Come on!" Ami says. "We don't have time to be dead! Let's get cracking!"

A girl in a robe appears in front of the Pri-Pri store.

"Ehehe," she says. "I am the genius loci haunting this land. I've been in China for four thousand years. I'm Touhiichan." She smells the air. "Mmm. Sweet. Filled with the spirit of sugar. This shop has lots of young, escaping game. Using this spirit of sugar, I can gather more and more escaping kiddies."

[Touhiichan - I'm guessing it's a name formed from the word 'touhi,' meaning 'escape.']

Makoto looks down at her test. She scored a 50.

"Mako-chan!" says Usagi. "You did it! You raised your score."

"Thanks, but it was only by ten points..."

She walks home from school.

"Oh... I raised my score, but... I'm not happy. I feel weak, too. Oh, I want to stop on the way home, have some tea. I want to look at lovely things. But I have to go straight home, and study."

A fragrance wafts through the air.

"I wonder what that is... Smells good. Oh, I can't stop my legs..."

She passes the Pri-Pri store.

"What!? A sale!?"

She goes inside.

"Welcome!" says Touhiichan. "Thank you for your patronage."

"A sale, a sale!" says Makoto.

"You're in luck! Today you can buy lots on sale! We have a special herb tea, Chinese scones, and brownies. Buy now, and they're 100 yen for a set!"

"No way!" says Makoto. "I'm sold!"

"Thank you very much."

"Ami-chan, you're way too strict," Usagi says.

"As Shakespeare says," says Ami, "'Knowledge the wing wherewith we fly to heaven.' We must not fear learning! So we can all enter high school together, we will study!"

"But as Bacon says," says Rei, "'To spend too much time in studies is sloth.'"

"Is she talking about the bacon you eat?" think Usagi and Minako.

Rei's eyes widen.

"An evil spirit!" she says. She points to the store. "There's a suspicious fragrance coming from that shop! Everyone looks strange!"

"That shop!" says Usagi. "Mako-chan goes there a lot!"

Makoto sits at the table, wolfing down the food she bought.

"Ahh..." she says. "This is so good. Cake with tea... I'm happy. I'm fine like this, even if I become a fat sailor soldier, even if I don't get into high school..."

"Mako-chan!?" says Usagi.

Makoto collapses on the floor.

"The evil spirit!?" says Rei.

"Oh no! Mako-chan!?"

The spirit appears. "I am the genius loci, Touhiichan," she says. "I have filled her body with my sugar spirit."

"An enemy!?" says Rei.

Usagi holds on to Makoto.

"You can't diiie!" she says. "Mako-chaaan! We're going to get into Hana Girls High, and go to Shibuya, and play on the way home, and have parties, and get boyfriends! We're going to get into Hana Girls High, Mako-chan!"

[Shibuya is a big shopping district.]

Makoto's eyes open. "Right," she says. "You're right! Jupiter Planet Power! Make Up!!" She transforms. "I can't die until I do all I can to get into Hana Girls High, and goof off going home, and have tea! Jupiter Coconut Cyclone!"

The spirit is destroyed.

"You did it, Jupiter!" says Usagi.

"Of course!" Makoto says. "They can't beat me."

Her eyes spin, and she collapses again.

"Jupiter!?"

"Since I've beaten the enemy," she says, "now my exam is complete..."

"Jupiterrr!" says Ami. "Even if you beat an enemy, you still have studying to do!"

"Mmmm..." Makoto says as she closes her eyes. "Honey... For celebrating my admission into high school, I'd like a rose-shaped ring..."

And then, spring.

A photo shows Makoto in her new uniform, in front of Juuban High School.

Ami's Shakespeare quotation is from 2 Henry VI, Act IV, Scene VII.
Rei's Bacon quotation is from The Essays, "Of Studies."

EXAM 2

This originally appeared in Run-Run in July 1995.

I'm Mizuno Ami. I was born on September 10th. I'm a Virgo, and my blood type is A. I live with my mother in a condominium in Azabu Juuban. My routine is to get to school every morning 40 minutes before it starts, and read a book. My hobbies are reading and chess. My favorite color is aquamarine. My favorite food is sandwiches, because I can read while I'm eating them. My favorite sport is swimming, and my favorite subject is math. And my least favorite thing is...

Ami opens her locker and finds an envelope sealed with a heart. She picks it up, and sees it's addressed to her.

"Eek..."

Love letters.

Her face turns bright red.

"Oh nooo!" she cries. "Ick!"

She tosses the letter away.

"Ami-chan!?" says Usagi. "What's wrong!? You look..."

"Nothing," Ami says, her face still flushed. "I got a rash this morning. I wonder if it's stress building up."

The more I call it a weak point, the more I think there's no reason for me to get them. (In fact, this is the third one.) As soon as I get a love letter, these symptoms appear all over my body. First, I feel embarrassed. Second, disbelief. I don't deserve a love letter. And third, I guess it's refusal I feel. In this important time in ninth grade, there's only one thing I should have a passion for: Studying! I don't know the meaning of the word 'love' now!

"Ack!!" Ami exclaims.

"Wh- What's wrong, Ami-chan!?" asks Rei.

"What is it this time?" says Usagi.

Ami is reading a magazine. "Him again!" she says. She shows the others. "I've come across this person's name a lot lately in the mock exams at the prep school. Without fail, he always gets the same ranking as me."

The paper reads:

1. Mercurius - 500
1. Mercury - 500
2. Mr. Boo - 497
3. Hanako - 493

"Mercury?" asks Usagi. "Mercurius? Those are names??"

"Pseudonyms," says Ami. "You register a name you like, and you can take the test using it. It's originally a correspondence course system."

"So Mercury must be your pseudonym?"

"Right," she says. She thinks, "This name 'Mercurius' has appeared in various publishers and prep schools' mock exams nationwide. He always gets a perfect score and keeps first place."

Usagi looks through the magazine.

"Which one, which one?" says Makoto. "First place is Mercury, with 5-subject composite score of 500. Five hundred!? Perfect in every subject again!?"

"Don't you ever get tired of perfect scores?" asks Rei.

"Studying for the exams is fine," says Makoto, "but I need change of pace once in a while. Tomorrow, we're all going to a sale in Harajuku. Ami-chan, you wanna come too?"

"Sorry," says Ami. "I'm thinking of taking a mock exam tomorrow, too."

"She takes tests more often than she goes out with her friends..."

"That's right," Ami thinks. "There's a reason I want to take exams even if I betray my friends now. It's because I'm worrying about that person. Oh! Here he is again. Same score, same ranking. Mercurius... Latin for 'Mercury.' Besides him being in a Tokyo junior high, I don't know anything about him. Worry, worry, worry... (He might be an enemy.)"

She looks at a poster on the wall. "There's another mock exam. On a poster for a new prep school... Wonder what I should do. Mercurius is probably going to take this exam too. I have to take it! Yes. He (or she) should be going to prep schools and cram schools. I might have already met him at an exam or prep school without knowing it... I wonder what kind of person it is. Yes. Now, when I take all these mock exams and go to all these prep school, I might be able to meet him...! Somehow I'll do it! Having a rival would be wonderful! Now! I've got tests to take, prep schools to go to! I have to apply!"

Ami sits in the park, reading.

"Hasn't Ami-chan looked worn out lately?" says Rei.

"It's only natural," says Minako. "On top of cram school and prep school, she takes a mock exam every Sunday."

"What!?" says Usagi. "Why would she do something like that!?"

They all pause.

"It's that Mercurius-sama..."

A few days later.

"Oh!" Ami says. "Again!"

She's looking at a paper showing her tied for first place with Mercurius in another exam.

"This is it! Same score, same ranking. It's a miracle! He might be an enemy after all."

"Since they both always get perfect scores," thinks Makoto, "of course they always get first place."

"But this person must really be amazing," says Ami. "Keeping on top for this long. I wonder what kind of person it is. I want to meet him."

"Ami-chan," says Minako. "You look like you're in love."

"He (or she) is the rival I've wanted!" Ami says.

"That's right," says Usagi. "We don't know yet if it's a boy or a girl."

"Say, Ami-chan," says Minako. "What kind of guy is your ideal man? Like, name a celebrity."

"My ideal man," says Ami. "That would be... Probably Einstein-sama, of the special theory of relativity."

"Who's that?" says Usagi.

Rei rolls her eyes.

"Come on, let's go," says Minako.

Usagi, Makoto, Rei, and Minako sit around a table at the Crown Fruit Parlor.

"Her ideal was kind of high, but that's the first time I've seen Ami-chan like that."

"Same here!"

"Seeing her face so flushed, and her eyes twinkling," says Makoto.

"And with such high tension..." thinks Usagi. "Could this be... Ami-chan's first love!?"

"Come on!" says Minako. "Let's take a shot here, and help Ami-chan out!"

She begins to take off her shirt.

Makoto grimaces. "That's enough..."

[In Japanese, 'lend (a helping hand)' and 'take off (clothing)' use the same verb...]

"We'll find out!" Minako continues. "What kind of person this Mercurius-sama is! With Ami-chan feeling like this, her scores will go down!"

"I think it would be more distracting to Ami-chan when she finds out we're doing this," says Rei.

"So how are we going to find him?" says Usagi.

"I got it!" Minako says. "Ami-chan must be on Paso-Tsuu! Wouldn't Mercurius-sama be on it too?"

[Paso-Tsuu < Pasokon Tsuushin, a Japanese online service like CompuServe or America Online. (lit. 'personal computer communication'.)]

"So we'll find out Mercurius's handle, and trace his phone line!" she says. "But the only one who could do that is Ami-chan..."

Usagi walks through the hallway at school.

"But I want to see what kind of person Mercurius-sama is, too," she says. "Since it's Ami-chan's first love, and he could be cool."

"Usagi!" calls Naru. "You coming to the library today? Umino is taking lots of midterm tests."

"Umino!!" Usagi thinks. "I forgot there was such a devoted guy who could help me out now! (For about a year...)" She grabs him. "Umino! Have you heard of a person at the exams with the alias 'Mercurius'!?"

"If that's who you want," says Umino, "it's a friend of mine. Huh? You want to meet Mercurius? Okay."

"This is it," says Ami. "The prep school that had an advertisement on the bulletin board at school. This is a really old building. I wonder if any students are here. Nope! I can study anywhere. I'm happy to have another learning place for my game with Mercurius."

"Yes, and now to go for the accepted entries for the nationwide mock exam."

Ami wakes up, her head lying on the desk.

"Oh no!" she thinks. "What have I done! Have I been dozing since the first day!? My head is so woozy. I wonder if my immune system is weakened... Never felt like this before. Is it because I've been too conscious of Mercurius, and studying too much? Disrupting my pace so much. It must be Mercurius. But even though I play and play this game with you, I can't be satisfied. Even though I want to meet you, I don't even know your name. This is the same frustration I have when there's an equation I can't solve. I want to hurry and find the solution, and fix this up!"

As Ami leaves the school, another student fills out an application for the exam, writing the name 'Mercurius.'

A swirl of gas appears on the floor of the prep school. It forms into a figure.

"I am the genius loci Bonnoun," she says. "The temple hut of proper history has been open here for tens of hundreds of years. I've never seen such students engrossed in their studies. One seldom sees people feeling such fierce passion! Speaking out on this sacred land of education, it's an incarnation of a lewd, evil spirit!"

[Bonnoun - (Best guess) from the Japanese "bonnou," meaning "passion." I've also heard that it refers to a deity of jealousy, but I can't confirm this.]

She spies Ami leaving the school.

"Oh! This maiden is surely in love. In her passion, she's thinking only of a boy!"

Umino approaches the school with Usagi and the others.

"It's this prep school," he says, "where he goes to. Oh! Mercurius!"

"Hey! Dr. Googly!" he says.

The girls stare at the boy.

Ami walks to school reading a book.

"In the end," she thinks, "last night I was weak, but I was okay. Today I have work. No! To do work during exams would be blasphemy toward school! Wait... What were the characters for 'blasphemy'...?"

[The word 'blasphemy' is written without kanji here.]

"Oh, my mind is foggy. My eyes are blurry..."

She pictures two possible kanji combinations for the word. (The left one is the correct one.)

"Pull yourself together!" she thinks. "I don't want my scores to drop. Mercurius is awaiting me at the test!"

She collapses on the ground.

"Oh no!" cries Usagi. "Ami-chaaan!"

Ami-chan lies in bed in the nurse's office.

"Ami-chan..." says Usagi. "Is it brain strain?"

"If you're going to call it something," says Makoto, "I'd say lovesickness."

"It's an ordinary cold," the nurse says. "It's because of intemperance. If she rests, she'll get better."

The nurse leaves with the two girls, and tapes a note to the door:

In case of emergency, the attending physician is out. Contact the staff office if needed.

Ami moans. "Ohh... Ohh... My head hurts... My body won't move... I want to study, but I can't... What's wrong with me? This couldn't be... your fault, Mercurius?"

Bonnoun appears.

"So in the end you're ruled by your bad dreams, your passions," she says. "I'll hurry and make you into a being of passion. You'll fall victim to me. Eheh! The beginning of all passions. A love letter attack from your first love! No human can free themselves from the scent of their first love. Now, become passion incarnate!"

A storm of letters flies at Ami. One covers her face.

"Yeow! Who's that!?" Ami cries. "Ack, these love letters! I can't get them off my face!"

Information begins flowing from her head.

"Oh no! I feel it, I feel it... Everything I worked so hard to learn! Equations! Vocabulary! They're escaping from my head! Impossible!" She rips the letter away. "Who's there!? Oh, my head is dazed, I can't see very well."

"Listen carefully. I am the genius loci, Bonnoun..."

"It must be..." Ami says. "Are you Mercurius!? The Mercurius who's landed me in this situation!?"

"Umm... Hello! You listening? I'm Bonnoun..."

"You're such a coward, Mercurius! The time is finally here for our game! I can't lose!"

Ami envisions an equation:

                             /----------------------------------
(Exams^2 + Prep School^2) + /stress * temp. * (disturbances)^2    * Rival^2
                           / ----------------------------------
                         \/                 ranking

...= Mercurius's true identity = Enemy = Defeat her!

"Transform!" Ami shouts. "Mercury Crystal Power! Make Up!!"

Bonnoun gasps as Ami changes.

"I am the soldier of justice and wisdom, Sailor Mercury! I'm stopping you here! Mercurius! Together, we always have first place perfect scores! This is the end of our finishing game of barren desks!"

"Umm... Hellooo? My name is Bonnoun! Are you listening?"

"I know that you're an enemy! And misleading me like this! I'm truly happy I could meet you. Rival = Enemy! That's the Ami equation. This proves it! I defeat enemies. Mercury Aqua Mirage!!"

Bonnoun is destroyed.

"Ah!!" Ami says. "Nice and tidy! My eyes are a little blurry... I never saw Mercurius's face, but... Must have been a wondrous person! Since it was my rival." She falls over.

Usagi runs into the room. "Oh no! Ami-chan!"

"Rival = Enemy, eh?" says Minako. "Just when my grades were improving, now I have to stop. I don't want to be killed by Ami-chan."

"I guess not," says Usagi. "We better not talk about seeing Mercurius-sama in front of Ami-chan."

"What!?" says Ami. "You saw him!?" She looks down. "What kind of person was he?"

"Th- This kind!" says Minako. She holds up a poster of a cute teen boy. "He was just like this idol!"

"Of course!" says Ami. "Just like when Einstein-sama was young! He truly is (was) my rival."

"I knew she'd want a pretty face," Minako thinks. "Because of her high ideals."

A box labeled 'Mercurius-sama's face' shows a boy with wild hair and square glasses (like Umino).

"The origin of my alias?" he says. "I just read my name, Suuri Kurume, backwards."

[Doesn't work in English, of course. Think 'Me-ru-ku-ri-u-su'.]

"From now on, we'll keep quiet about Mercurius-sama being a nerd just like Umino," thinks Usagi.

In the future, at the announcement of the mock exam results.

"Oh, why!?" Ami cries.

She rips apart the paper:

1st place: 500 points - Mercurius
1st place: 500 points - Mercury

"I was supposed to have defeated him! Why!? Damnit!"

The struggle of Mercury, with her high ideals, still, still... It continues.

EXAM 3

This originally appeared in Run-Run in November 1995.

I'm Aino Minako. I'm 15, and in 9th grade. Right now I'm in the middle of studying for entrance exams at Mako-chan's. My birthday is October 22nd. I'm a little Libra with B blood type. My favorite colors are yellow and red. My hobby is chasing after idols. My favorite foods are curry and ramen. My least favorite is shiitake mushrooms. My talent is goofing off...

Ami looks at the clock: 10:25.

"Oh, this time already?" she says. "Well, let's call it a night."

"All right!!" shouts Minako. "No more studying!"

"Everyone!" says Makoto. "I have an apple pie, want some?"

"Oh, I do! I do!" Minako calls. She gets a piece of pie. "Can we turn on the TV? Hey, Usagi! This manga was great! Can I keep it a while longer?"

"Isn't it good?" says Usagi.

They sit back together in front of the television.

"Ah, without studying, this is fun," says Minako. "I want to see a high school where girls don't need to worry."

"Tomorrow's Sunday," says Makoto. "You going to stop by, everyone?"

"Oh, all right! I want to!"

"Okay, what should we have for dinner?"

Mako-chan's cooking is superb. I love her like an older sister. Then there's Ami-chan... She's kind of scary, but we rely on her for studying. For talking about games, manga, and TV, Usagi is the best.

"I have meditation tomorrow," says Rei, "so I'll pass. It's early in the morning."

"When's it start?" asks Ami.

"Four o'clock."

"Four o'clock!?"

"I do it all the time," Rei says.

Then there's Hino Rei. She's like me, 15 years old, 9th grade. She was born on April 17th. She's a stubborn Aries with blood type AB. Her hobby might be fortunetelling (since she does it a lot). She's a bourgeois girl living at a shrine with her grandpa. Actually, about all I know is that she's cunning.

"Rei-chan," Minako says. "What's your favorite food?"

"Umm... Probably fugu."

[Extremely delicious fish, but it has a sac of lethal poison. Very risky to eat.]

"Your talent?"

"Meditation."

"...... Say, Rei-chan... Do you, like, fart?"

Usagi, Ami, and Makoto spit their tea across the room.

"Are you looking for a fight?" Rei asks.

"Well, I thought it could happen when you're meditating," says Minako. She dons a hat and grabs a mike. "The exotic straight, long Rei-chan! They say she chases after lots of high school boys."

"I think boys are stupid," Rei says.

"You what!?"

"Hey, Rei-chan," says Ami. "You must be worried about us. Since you don't have exams, shouldn't you be making more effective use of your time?"

"What's to worry about," says Rei. "It's okay, I have free time." She leaves.

"That's so unfair," thinks Minako. "That Rei-chan... She doesn't have exams! She's studying because she has free time!? That bitch! Could anything be more unfair!?"

"Well, about Rei-chan..." says Makoto. "Since she goes to a complete education school, with elementary, junior high, high school, and college, it's only natural. It's a first-rate private school, unequaled in Tokyo. It's like an escalator, that lets you play until junior college. I'm so jealous!"

"Oh, she's here!" says Usagi. "You're late, Rei-chan!"

"I'm sorry," says Rei. "Cleanup ran long."

"Oh!" says a policeman. "A kid from T-A Girls School."

"She's cute," says another. "I like that uniform."

The two men look at Minako as they pass by. "Hmph."

"You bastards!" Minako shouts. "You were just laughing through your noses at me, weren't you! I'm a junior high girl too!"

Makoto grabs onto her. "Mina! Don't be so rash!"

By the way, my weak points are my mom, and policemen.
By the way, Rei-chan is an old hag. Her mother is gone, may she rest in peace. Besides that, the police are fans of T-A Girls School. I'm getting accustomed to our differences.

"Mina!" Ami says. She sees Minako resting her head behind her book. "You've only gotten one page read since I last looked!"

"I wonder if I'd get into a girls high school..." says Minako.

"It's unfortunate," says Rei, "but my school doesn't take applicants from high school."

Minako tears her book apart in frustration.

"What is it, Mina-P?," says Usagi. "You wanted to go to the girls school with Rei-chan?"

[P is an affectionate name suffix used by young girls.]

"Even if the Earth crumbled, I wouldn't be able to get in!" Minako says.

"Well, since they're not taking applications, it's impossible," says Makoto.

"They say they don't," says Rei, "but even they have some entrance exams. Since every year, there are kids who fail and can't advance to high school. That's why I come here too."

"Why you-!!" Minako says. "You said it was because you had free time!!"

"The girls school is so unchanging, so unchallenging," says Rei. "It's boring. Only the rules are strict."

"What, it's strict?" says Makoto.

"Boring?" says Usagi.

"No way!" says Minako. "There's no way!"

"Come, then," Rei says. "See for yourself."

"Since you said that, here I am," says Minako.

Rei stands in front of the T-A Girls School. "I don't believe it," she thinks. "She actually came."

"And for just such an occasion," says Minako, "I have this compact!"

She takes out her crescent moon compact.

"Moon Power! Turn me into a T-A Girls School student!"

She appears in a gray uniform like Rei's, wearing glasses and her hair tied back in two pigtails.

"Hey, hey!" she says. "It even made me a little prettier!"

"This is only for lunch," says Rei. "Don't make too big a commotion."

Minako runs ahead.

"Wowww!" she says. "This is the hall of the girls school I've desired!"

"Mi- Mina!" Rei calls. "Get away from there!"

"You there!" a nun calls. "How savage! Running through the hall is blasphemous toward god! Promptly give me your school year, class, and roll number!"

"I- I apologize, Sister!" says Rei, grabbing Minako. "She has diarrhea, and wanted to go to the bathroom! She'll be careful in the future."

They walk away from the woman.

"Stupid," Rei says. "If the sister caught you, you'd be sentenced to go to the reflection room, and be beaten on your behind with a rod."

"Oh, amazing!" says Minako. "You have a dining room!? Wow! It looks like a restaurant! It's pretty!"

They sit down at a table and Minako begins scarfing down food.

"Yummy! Rei-chan, you eat such wonderful lunches every day!? Not fair!"

"You!" a nun calls. "Savage! Quiet during mealtime!"

"W- We apologize, Sister!" Rei and Minako say together.

Minako watches Rei take a small bite of food.

"Rei-chan..." she says. "You... You look like you don't like that food."

Rei grimaces. "Mind your own business," she says.

A group of girls are playing volleyball outside.

"Oh, Hino-san!" one says. "Won't you join us?"

"I'll pass today," says Rei.

"Yeow!" thinks Minako. "That's girls school talk!"

[They were talking very formally. Now Minako starts to, as well.]

"Classmate?" she says. "Hey, hey! I'll play to help my digestion after lunch!"

She changes into a gym suit. "Let's go! I could get used to this!"

She hits the volleyball high into the air. It shatters a window.

A nun leans out from it. "How savage!" she yells.

"It's okay," says Rei. "I'll go apologize."

Minako goes to get the ball. "Maybe I'm not cut out for this world after all."

She sees a old covered well in the corner, next to the ball.

"Huh?"

She opens the well and looks down inside it.

"Isn't it a mismatch having a well this deep in the school?" she says.

A burst of dust flies up in her face, making her cough.

"Ugh, what's this? I'm all dusty. Ick. I have to go back."

As she leaves the old well, two points of light shine above it.

Minako sees Rei talking and laughing with two other students.

"What!?" one says. "Hino-sama, you broke the glass of the faculty room?"

"You've gotten so many warnings during lunch break," says the other. "Hino-sama, that's not like you."

"Rei-chan..." Minako thinks. "She's... She's like someone I don't even know."

"Mina!" calls Rei.

Minako goes to Rei, disheveled and covered in dust.

"Who's that?" one of the students says. "Yuck."

"Ooh, you're covered with mud," says Rei.

"You laughed." says Minako.

"What?"

"I'm not like you after all!" Minako shouts. "I'm a savage! Rei-chan, I hate you!!"

Rei stares into her eyes.

Minako turns and runs away.

"Mina...!"

"Oh," thinks Minako. "Her face was a little sad."

A spirit appears in the air.

"Savage," she says. "I was opened from the old well, and in the air of the world 300 years past, the smell of savageness is buzzing." She looks down at Rei, who's running after Minako. "Oh! Such a savagely dressed girl. Living in a savage world, I'll need savage bodies like that."

"Mina!?" Rei calls.

The spirit dives into Rei's body.

"Umm...! Miss Rei!" a girl calls.

"Whaaat?" says Rei.

"Here!" The girl holds out a package. "I made these cookies in cooking practice. S- Since I transferred here, you've always been like a sister to me!"

"Well!" Rei says. "How savage." She holds the girl's face. "Your sister is going to eat the savage child. Pucker your lips!" She leans toward her.

"Sis!?"

Minako hears a scream. "What the-!?"

The girl comes running toward her. "Hino-samaaa! She's-!"

Rei catches the girl. "Ha! You're yelling, my savage!" She bends her over. "I'll eat you, my savage kitty! Now, pucker your lips!"

"Rei-chaaan!!" Minako thinks. "An evil spirit! Venus Planet Power! Make Up!!"

A curved blade flies at Rei, knocking her away.

"Crescent Boomerang!"

"Ouch!" says Rei. "That's really savage! Who is it there?"

"I was once a helpless exam student," says Minako. "And once I was a suffering T-A Girls School student! But those were temporary forms! This is my real form! The friend of girls school students, the soldier of love and beauty, I am Sailor Venus!! Demon who took over Rei-chan! Show me your true self!"

The spirit floats over Rei's body. "Ah, savage ape-girl! I am the genius loci, and I've inhabited this girls' garden since the Edo time of ages past. I'm Ghost Sistern!" She goes back into Rei's body. "My little savage." Rei grabs Minako and presses her lips to her. "I will eat you! Yummm!"

Minako screams.

"Evil Spirit, Begone!"

She throws a paper strip at Rei.

The spirit is destroyed, and Rei collapses on the ground.

"Oh! Rei-chan! I'm sorry!"

The schoolgirls crowd around Minako.

"Wowww!"

"Let me touch you!"

"Take a picture with me!"

"Oh, no," says Minako. "You mean me?"

"So, you fit for girls school?"

"It's fun! I want to come again! Oh, Sister?"

Rei gets up.

"Mina," she says. "If I can't advance to high school because of all the glares from sisters in this important time, it's your fault."

"I'm sorry," says Minako. "I've always, always wanted to try on a T-A Girls School uniform. I longed for it. Really, it was only that!"

"Mina... There's one thing you've forgotten. Since I've never farted, I can't be with you."

Minako turns red.

"You're abandoning your fellow soldier!?"

"That's right."

From then on, I liked the stubborn Rei-chan.
(Even though she tried to kiss me.)

"I did not!"

The End.

Original manga copyright © 1995 Takeuchi Naoko.
English translation copyright © 1997 Alex Glover.