Within minutes, Blood Moon warriors assembled before the flickering golden aura of Sailor Venus. Under the limited light of the progressing lunar eclipse, she drew them to her like moths to a flame. Lizard-men scaled buildings, while floating, black-hooded enemies teleported ever closer. It seemed they were at least smart enough to spread out, so as not to be taken out in one big blast, but for Venus, all in her sightline were as good as dead.

Once eight or so enemies gathered, Minako could wait no longer, not wanting to risk them detecting the power of the real Silver Crystal behind her. The possibility of exhausting her powers was also a concern, especially since she was sure Ami’s adrenaline shot was masking her real condition.

"Remember the plan,” Corg ordered. “Now that we know her weakness, we must draw her fire until she runs out of energy. Then, we will take the crystal from her like grubs from a Raptilian baby!"

Venus was startled—not to mention repulsed—by the reptile’s words. So, that was what this assault was about. Somehow, they had learned that she tired from using her full powers, and they planned to take advantage of that fact with their large numbers. It worried her for a moment, but she quickly recovered.

“Are you serious?” she said derisively, addressing the group’s apparent leader. “You just announced your whole battle strategy!”

Corg looked affronted. “I meant to do that!” he insisted.

“Well, in the interest of fairness, here’s an announcement for you. I am Sailor Venus, the sailor-suited soldier of light and beauty! Get ready for the heartbreak!” With that, Venus charged, crying, “Love Heart Chain!” and the battle commenced.

In order to conserve her energy, and to bait her opponents, she engaged them in close combat with her expertly wielded energy weapon. It worked both offensively and defensively, tearing through the lizard-men within reach, which she knew to be resistant to physical attacks, as well as the energy blasts that others fired at her from a distance.

Her teleporting, hooded foes, on the other hand, could disappear just in time to avoid her chain’s whip-like movements. However, they couldn’t travel too far and left a faint, purple trail when they did, so she was able to predict where they would reappear. With her greatly enhanced strength and speed, she Skywalked to their materialization points and delivered life-ending kicks before they could release their violet flames.

Still, with so many enemies, and more arriving as the fight drew their attention, Venus was having a hard time keeping up. She was enveloped, the Raptilians pressuring her from below and the Malanorians from above. After a close call from an energy blast that detonated too close, she began to back away while creating a defensive wall by spinning her chain like a lasso. The enemies noticed this sign of weakness and advanced.

However, this was the moment Venus had been waiting for. Assured of themselves, the Blood Moon warriors had grouped together. Venus headed down in the direction of the nearest rooftop, the enemies in close pursuit. With the battle taking place in the sky, and most of her opponents at an upward angle, there was no potential for collateral damage. Venus could finally employ the only technique she had never tested while in her boosted, transformed state.

As soon as she touched down on the building’s surface, Venus instinctively somersaulted forward to avoid an incoming volley of attacks from her pursuers, then spun around to face them. Forming a heart shape with the tips of her thumbs and fingers, she moved her hands around her chest in a circular motion.

“This is for Tokyo!” she cried before taking a deep breath. Light energy rapidly condensed between her fingers, then she shouted into the heart-shape gap as if it were a megaphone. “Roaring Heart Vibration!”

Still descending on her location, the Blood Moon Warriors were assaulted with a steady—and immense—stream of yellow pulse waves, which distorted the air and generated a deafening, high-pitched ringing. Those caught in the expansive scope of the attack seemed unable to move, their bodies disintegrating further with each successive pulse until only particles of dust remained.

The technique that combined light and sound was stronger than Venus had anticipated, perhaps due to the astronomical events Ami had mentioned. To her surprise, upon canceling it, her unstable energy cloak petered out, and her transformation vanished with an abrupt flare of orange.

Stolen novel; please report.

Her skin didn’t look as bad as it usually did after using her unstable power, and while her body ached, it wasn’t a pain she couldn’t handle. If that weren’t evidence enough that something was wrong, there was the fact that she was still conscious. Dizzy but conscious.

Minako lost her balance and fell to the floor. With some effort, she turned to her side, where her transformation rod now lay. She reached a shaky hand to it, but before her fingers could make contact, the Venus crystal crumbled. So, that was it… Her transformation had disappeared prematurely because her powers were gone. Her time as Sailor Venus was over.

She took solace in the fact she had made good use of them, taking out so many enemies at once. Some had surely survived, though. Some of the grounded Raptilians would have escaped her skyward attack, even with its enhanced radius. Feeling weak and lightheaded, Minako watched as her assumption was proven correct, and three lizard-men appeared in her field of vision, carefully spaced apart.

“Search her and bring the crystal to me!” Corg commanded. “Commander Vardas will reward us.”

As the green aliens cautiously crept toward her, Minako cursed herself for not being able to return to Ami’s lab. What if the genius girl’s big plan failed, and the enemy got the Silver Crystal? Worse yet, what if her plan succeeded? What if Ami brought Usagi back, and there was something wrong with her?

Or… Minako couldn’t help but wonder, what if Usagi was fine, but she died here without ever getting to see her old friend again? And if Usagi was alive, who would be there to greet her on the other side? After years of her life spent in solitude, would she be alone in death, too?

“Flower Hurricane!”

All of a sudden, the scene before Minako was obscured by a flurry of swirling, pink rose petals. The Raptilian leader narrowly avoided the cascade, but his men were engulfed by it.

“What is this?” one cried.

“I-I cannot move,” said the other.

Caught in the paralyzing electrostatic field created by Sailor Jupiter’s beguiling ability, the two aliens were unable to avoid her follow-up move.

“Supreme Thunder!” the green-clad guardian yelled as she descended from above like an avenging angel. A blast of lightning struck the field of conductive petals, electrifying the warriors from every direction.

“Who are you?” spat Corg as Sailor Jupiter touched down between him and Minako.

“You don’t need to know that. You’ll be joining your friends in just a moment,” she answered.

With a hiss of rage and his claws extended, Corg rushed her, hoping to make use of his kind’s impressive combat abilities. However, before he could land a blow, Jupiter delivered a punch that sent him flying into an air conditioning unit.

Minako smiled.

The Raptilian sub-commander picked himself up, the new dent in his face already healing itself.

“Supreme Thunder—”

“You think you can hit me with an attack like that, woman!” Corg rasped, leaping over to the adjacent building with startling agility.

“—Dragon!” Jupiter bellowed. Sparkling white bolts of lightning generated by her antennae and directed by her hands shot upward, combined, and took the form of a great snake-like creature with a crackling, fanged mouth. The monstrous mass of electricity dove at the enemy as if sentient and trying to take a bite out of him.

Corg demonstrated his agility once more, jumping high to avoid the attack while hissing with laughter. However, he stopped laughing when the creature suddenly altered its trajectory. Tracking the length of its lustrous, serpentine body with his eyes, he realized its tail was still connected to the Sailor Soldier, who could apparently redirect it with a mere flick of her wrists.

While Corg squirmed helplessly in the air, the dragon rose with a thunderous roar that drowned out his screams, and its gaping maw snapped shut around him.

As the lightning beast swallowed its prey whole, Jupiter tended to Minako. “Can you move?” she asked.

“You have to get to Mercury," said Minako, struggling to focus.

“It’s okay. Between those you got with your giant attack and the ones I took out on the way here, I think we got all of them!”

“No. Forget me. Go,” Minako pleaded.

"What are you talking about? I can't just leave you here..."

"Jupiter, listen to me! Ami’s gone crazy. She’s got the Silver Crystal—"

“The Silver Crystal?” Jupiter repeated with consternation. “You must be confusing things. That was just a bluff, remember?”

“You don’t understand!” said Minako, shaking her head feebly. “Ami lied about it disappearing. She’s been lying about everything! She has it. She’s been keeping Rei asleep!”

Makoto’s eyes widened at this point. The mention of Rei resonated with her, causing recent memories of Ami acting cagily to surface in her mind’s eye. In spite of this, she uttered unassuredly, “Ami wouldn’t do that.”

“Please, Mako,” said Minako, a tear running down her cheek. “She’s trying to bring Usagi back. You’ve got to stop her! I’ll be fine. I just need to rest for a minute. Go... Please… Save Usagi!"

Panic etched across Jupiter’s face as the weight of her friend’s words settled in. Was it possible Minako had it wrong? Could she be hallucinating? If not, wouldn’t having Usagi back be a good thing? Makoto wasn’t sure. All she knew, was that she had to get to the hospital as soon as possible.