"Now! Do it, Sailor Moon!"
"Right! MOON PRINCESS HALATION!"
Sailor Moon and the Guardians were locked in a battle with another Cardian on top of a building. The fight was fierce, but with one blast from Sailor Moon's Cutie Moon Rod, the Cardian got destroyed. At its defeat, a projection of Ail and An appeared before them, and they were not happy.
"Curse you, Guardians!" Ail growled.
"You all will pay for this!" An hissed.
The projections then disappeared as the sun slowly began to rise over the horizon behind them, not only signaling their victory but also for a brand new day.
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Usagi, Makoto, Ami, and Harusuke were now running to school. Due to the battle of the Cardian earlier this morning, they were running very late.
"Oh, man! We're going to be late!" screeched Usagi.
"I've messed up!" Ami panted. "In fourteen years, I've never once been late for anything, and I'm praying that doesn't start today!"
"If it wasn't for that damned Cardian!" complained Harusuke as he ran. "It not only had to wake us up at the crack of dawn, but it also had to make us late too?!
"Never mind that!" gasped Makoto. "We've got to hurry! Otherwise, we'll be in big trouble!"
The four soon made it to the school. The good news was the front gates were open, but the bad news was the tardy bell was beginning to ring. However, the four didn't waste any time as they rushed through the entrance and split up. Ami and Makoto went into their respective classrooms, and Harusuke and Usagi went to Ms. Haruna's.
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Ms. Haruna had started roll call inside her classroom, coming up to the T's.
"Mister and Miss Tsukino? Are Mister and Miss Tsukino here?" Ms. Haruna called out.
Harusuke burst into the room at that moment, causing everyone to look up.
"Sorry, I'm late, Ms. Haruna!" panted Harusuke. "But I'm here!"
"And I'm here too!" Usagi gasped. "Present and accounted for - ."
Then there was trouble. As the girl rushed in, Usagi stepped into a bucket which inadvertently got stuck, causing her to stumble. She barreled right into Harusuke, and the two ended up crashing right into the supply closet, making it topple over with a mighty crash. Usagi now sat on top of Harusuke's back, covered with dust and a couple of cloths. Neither one was hurt, but the two were afraid that Ms. Haruna would be cross with them. However, much to their surprise, Ms. Haruna wasn't.
"Glad you two could join us, Tsukinos," Ms. Haruna said. "But while it's good to be so energetic, the two of you really shouldn't try to enter so noisily next time."
Usagi and Harusuke were surprised. "Y-Yes, ma'am." the two replied respectfully.
As Ms. Haruna resumed taking attendance, Usagi and Harusuke were still puzzled.
"Hey, Harusuke? What's up with Ms. Haruna?" whispered Usagi. "She's not normally in this much of a good mood."
"I don't know. Your guess is about as good as mine," Harusuke whispered back. "But as they say, don't look a gift horse in the mouth. It's better to have her being nice rather than being her normal cranky self."
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A few minutes later, Ms. Haruna had just finished taking attendance and delivered the roll call to the teacher's lounge. She had just walked in when another teacher called out to her.
"Ms. Sakurada, you have a phone call."
Ms. Haruna then went over answered the phone.
"Yes, this is her. Oh, hi, Koichi! Why, yes! Of course, I can still make it for our date today. I'll come as soon as school lets out."
Then her face paled with disappointment as her smile quickly turned into a frown.
"What, you have to cancel? No, it's okay. I understand. Really. All right. I'll talk to you later. Bye."
Her frown then changed into an angry scowl, and she slammed the phone, hanging up.
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While enjoying their free time, the entire class talked while feeling cheerful, except for Usagi and Natsumi.
"Man... I'm hungry," whined Usagi. "I wanna eat something."
"I need energy," Natsumi groaned internally.
"Come on, Usagi. Class barely started," Harusuke said. "If you start eating your lunch in the morning, it's not only bad for you, but you're going to end up getting on Ms. Haruna's bad side, and you know how she gets when she's like that."
"But Harusuke, no thanks to that stupid Cardian and us running late, I haven't had anything to eat yet," Usagi moaned. "I just got to eat something. If I don't, I'm going to starve."
Harusuke sighed and was just about to speak again when the door suddenly opened, and a very angry Ms. Haruna stomped in. She went over to her desk and slammed her hand on the table, causing everyone to jump.
"Enough horsing around, you kids!" she barked. "Everyone, get into your seats this instant and open your textbooks!"
Everyone immediately obeyed, not wanting to incur Ms. Haruna's wrath. From there, Ms. Haruna began her lesson, which had to do with English. As she went on, Harusuke made sure to pay extra attention to his teacher, ensuring he didn't make her mad. Then as he looked up, he caught sight of Usagi, and much to his horror as well as annoyance, she was eating her lunch while hiding behind her textbook so that Ms. Haruna wouldn't see.
"That idiot! Why does she always have to put her stomach above everything else?!" Harusuke mentally screamed.
Harusuke was just about to whisper to Usagi put her lunch away, but then Ms. Haruna came walking by.
"Now then, who can translate this passage?" Ms. Haruna spoke, looking towards Usagi's desk. "Tsukino!"
Usagi then jumped, trying to swallow a mouthful of food before she'd get caught, but it was too late. Ms. Haruna had already poked Usagi's textbook tipping it over, revealing her lunchbox for the class to see.
"You've got a lot of nerve eating your lunch early in my classroom, Miss. Tsukino!" Ms. Haruna spoke crossly. "How dare you?!"
"But I... um... uh... I was just-," Usagi stammered, trying to explain.
"Staying after school in detention is what you'll be doing!" finished Ms. Haruna.
Usagi then groaned while Harusuke shook his head, pinching his nose.
Ms. Haruna then turned towards Natsumi's desk. "Natsumi Ginga? Would you translate this passage?"
Natsumi looked up a bit zoned out but complied. However, as she picked up her book, she did just that, but it was utterly intelligible.
"Hali le la sa su lela."
Ms. Haruna, along with everyone else in the room, stared at Natsumi, frozen with bewilderment, thinking that Natsumi was smart aleck. This action was the final straw for Ms. Haruna, as her face turned red with anger.
"And what kind of bizarre gibberish is that?!" Ms. Haruna demanded.
"You asked me to translate the passage, didn't you?" Natsumi replied sleepily. "So I said it in the language of my home planet."
Ms. Haruna was even madder than before. "You insolent girl! How dare you joke around and be so disrespectful?!" Ms. Haruna burst out. "Now you're staying after school along with Ms. Tsukino!"
But Natsumi seemed to be too sleepy even to care.
"I wonder what's up with Natsumi?" Harusuke thought. "Did she stay up all night studying or something? One thing's for sure, Ms. Haruna's on the warpath today."
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After school, Natsumi and Seijuuro met on the roof, discussing Natsumi's problem.
"You didn't blow your cover with that stunt of yours in class, did you?" asked Seijuuro grimly.
"No. I don't think that anyone suspects anything," Natsumi replied. "They just thought I was being the class clown."
"Well, you need to be more careful!" Seijuuro scolded. "For our future's sake!"
"Yes, alright. I'm sorry," Natsumi said. "I couldn't think."
Seijuuro then sighed. "There's no helping it, An," he said. "But don't worry, I'll find a way to steal energy for us this time."
"It's those damned Guardians' fault!" Natsumi growled, angrily biting her thumbnail. "They're the cause of this along with every other problem that we've faced!"
"You're right about that, which is why we'll need a powerful Cardians to take those Guardians down," agreed Seijuuro as he presented her a hand of Cardian cards.
Natsumi was about to pick a Cardian suitable for their mission when Usagi ran up the stairs, interrupting them.
"Hey! Natsumi! There you are!" Usagi panted. "Ms. Haruna's about to start after-school detention. We got to get going right now; otherwise, Ms. Haruna will end up giving us more work!"
And before Natsumi could even object, Usagi grabbed her by the wrist and took off running while pulling her arm exiting the rooftop. Seijuuro watched them leave, gazing particularly at Usagi lovingly.
"Usagi, my fairest lady," Seijuuro sighed. "Mark my words, someday I will steal your heart and make you mine."
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At Juuban Park, Rei, Minako, Makoto, Luna, Artemis, and Harusuke all met up at the fountain. Harusuke was telling what had happened in regards to Usagi.
"So long story short, Usagi had to stay after school for detention," finished Harusuke.
"That dummy, it's what she gets for being so lazy!" huffed Rei.
"Well, to be fair, we all got off to a late start today," pointed out Makoto. "Not to mention that from the sound of it, Ms. Haruna was in a pretty rotten mood for some reason."
"I do feel sorry for her this time," said Luna. "It's too bad she can't be here."
"And Ami's over at cram school," added Artemis. "Guess that means we'll have to cancel today's meeting."
Minako then had an idea. "If that's the case, then why don't the four of us see a movie?" she asked. "It's been a while since we've hung out."
"I'm in!" agreed Makoto.
"So will I," said Rei. "There's a good one showing in theatres right now."
"You shouldn't go to movies on your way home from school!" scolded Luna. "Especially since you all have homework to do."
"Luna's right," concurred Harusuke. "Maybe we could have a study session over at a person's house or something."
Minako then pouted as she stuffed the cats into her bag, zipping up the zipper. "Come on, Harusuke! Don't be such a stick in the mud!" she complained. "When was the last time you've ever had a chance to have some fun? You're acting just like Ami!"
"But it's true, though," said Harusuke. "I'm usually the kind of guy that works first and plays later, so sorry if I'm like Ami."
"Lighten up, Harusuke. It's just for one day," said Makoto. "Besides, when was the last time you got to take a break from Usagi?"
Harusuke then pondered. "Well... I suppose it's been a while since I've been able to kick back without having to worry about her," he said thoughtfully.
"So why don't you come with us to the movies?" asked Rei. "You can always finish your homework afterward."
Harusuke then nodded. "Alright, then. You talked me into it," he said with a smile. "I'm in too."
"Then come on! Let's go!" Minako squealed as she grabbed Harusuke by the wrist and started pulling him along, with Rei and Makoto following close behind.
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In detention, Ms. Haruna had just given Natsumi and Usagi a worksheet in front of their desks.
"Now listen up, you two. I'm not letting either of you go home until you both have finished that entire set of problems," she said sternly. "And don't worry, I will be with you the whole time since I seem to have all the time in the world today."
Not wanting to anger Ms. Haruna any more than they already did, the two girls quickly set to work solving the problems on the worksheet. At that moment, the door to the classroom opened, and a male teacher peered in.
"Ms. Sakurada? You've got a phone call," he said.
Ms. Haruna then turned to Usagi and Natsumi. "You two continue what you're doing," she said. "I won't be gone long."
She then left the room while Natsumi and Usagi continued to work on the problems on the sheet.
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Ms. Haruna soon came into the teacher's lounge and answered the phone again.
"Thank you for waiting," she said. "How may I help you?"
Ms. Haruna's face immediately lit up with joy.
"Koichi?! Oh, of course not! I'm not angry with you at all! What?! Right now?! Of course, I can! Okay, I'll see you soon!"
She then took out a makeup compact, opened it, and started applying makeup to her face feeling excited.
"Oh, that Koichi! Always keeping me on pins and needles like that!" Ms. Haruna giggled to herself. "On the plus side, no paper grading for me tonight!"
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Usagi and Natsumi were still working on their worksheets in the classroom, waiting for Ms. Haruna to return, but she had been gone for quite some time. Finally, after a while, Usagi grew impatient as she stood up from her seat, feeling cross.
"Ms. Haruna hasn't come back yet! What could be taking her so long?!" she complained. "I can't be wasting my whole day here!" She then began packing up her things into her schoolbag. "I have to hurry home, so I can catch Mamoru on my way home and maybe run into Harusuke on my way back!"
Natsumi finally looked up. "Wait a minute," she said firmly. "You're telling me that you're still chasing after Harusuke even though you have Mamoru?! You two-timer!"
Usagi was puzzled as well as insulted. "Of course not!" she spoke indignantly. "Mamoru's the only one for me because the red string of fate binds us! So I would never two-time him! Besides, I could say the same thing about you! You're the one that keeps trying to make a pass at him even though he rejects you! So isn't it about time you gave up on him?!"
Natsumi growled in frustration as she glared. "You know that you can be so difficult, you know that?! Fine then! If that's how you feel, then you leave me no choice but to challenge you to a battle!"
"A battle?" wondered Usagi. "What kind of battle?"
"That's right. You and I will race against each other to see who can complete this set of problems first," Natsumi spoke with a grin as she held up her sheet. "If you win, then I'll give up on Harusuke. However, if I win, then you give up on Mamoru. Agreed?"
Usagi was unsure, but she wasn't about to back down from this challenge, especially when Mamoru and Harusuke were on the line.
"Fine then! You're on," the ordango blonde spoke with determination.
Two girls then sat back down on their desks and set to work completing the worksheet, determined to win.
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On top of a high building overlooking the entire city of Downtown Juuban, Ail stood on top gazing towards the city below, ready to put his next plan of stealing energy into action. Cardian card into his hand and threw it into the air as it suddenly stopped expanding to a large size.
"Now come forth, Cardian Amanju!" Ail commanded as he took out his flute, beginning to play.
At the sweet sound and alluring call of his flute, the card exploded into life as a Cardian emerged from it. She was big and muscular, green-skinned, red-eyed, and had long blue hair with white horns. She also wore an outfit reminiscent of a wrestler's uniform: a tiger-colored unitard pink ruffles on the ends with matching gloves and boots with yellow feathers jutting out from the sides, and also having pink puffy shoulder pads.
As soon as his Cardian had awakened, Ail was just about to give her a command when he noticed someone down below walking down the street, which turned out to be Mamoru, which gave him an idea.
"Mamoru Chiba, eh? If he were gone, Usagi would be mine for the taking," Ail thought deviously. "And no one else would be able to stop me."
He then turned towards his subordinate.
"Amanju! I want you to go after the energy of that man first!" Ail commanded. "And make sure to drain every last bit of his energy until he's dead!"
Amanju let out a roar and disappeared from view, much to Ail's surprise. He looked around to see where Amanju could have gone, only for Amanju to reappear and hopscotch on top of his head, causing him to almost fall over before taking off.
"Wait! Get back here!" Ail yelled. "You can't disobey orders like that!"
But Amanju had already disappeared, leaving Ail confused.
"What was all that about?" he wondered. "And where could that Cardian be going?"
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Usagi and Natsumi were still inside the classroom, busily solving the problems on their separate worksheets, but Natsumi was having some trouble. Due to not getting any energy earlier, she began to grow weary. So much so that her vision began to waver, and she almost passed out a couple of times.
"It's no use..." Natsumi moaned in her thoughts. "I'm so low on energy that my head feels like it's spinning. If I had some energy, I could solve all of these problems in no time and make Tsukino give up on Harusuke."
Then an idea clicked in her head as she looked over at Usagi, who was still busy writing.
"Why didn't I think of this before?! There's energy right in front of me! And if I suck away all of her energy, I could kill her and make Harusuke all mine. Now that's killing two birds with one stone."
She then quietly stood up and calmly walked over to Usagi while removing her disguise, reaching out to grab her by the throat, but then Usagi began to ruffle her hair in frustration as she desperately tried to think. An was startled but relaxed when Usagi resumed scribbling with her pencil. Seizing her chance, An quickly lunged forwards, attempting to tackle Usagi down. But as luck would have it, Usagi accidentally knocked her eraser to the floor, causing her to bend down and get it, making An miss her mark go flying over her desk, overturning it.
"What are you doing, Natsumi?" Usagi asked, bewildered.
Natsumi, who managed to change back in time, pretended to laugh as she moved her arms up and down. "Oh! Nothing! Just getting some exercise to keep up my mood!"
She then rushed back to her desk, pretending nothing was wrong, and Usagi resumed writing on her worksheet. Natsumi waited for a little bit, hoping to drop Usagi's guard, before trying again.
"I'm not going to give up now!" Natsumi thought to herself as she tiptoed towards Usagi again while turning into An and reaching out to strangle her.
However, coincidence would again come into play as Usagi let out a yawn while stretching her arms. As she did, she inadvertently jabbed her pencil right up An's nostril, which made her let out a cry of pain as she held her nose.
Usagi then looked back just as An changed back to Natsumi again. "Oops! Sorry about that!" Usagi apologized. "But that was kind of your fault. You shouldn't sneak up behind me like that."
Natsumi didn't answer as Usagi resumed writing on her worksheet.
"Damn it all! Why is it that nothing seems to be going right for me today?" Natsumi thought in frustration.
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At the Zettai Gokaku Cram School, Ami and her class were busily at work studying peacefully, but not for long. For right that moment, the chalkboard in the front of the classroom began to crack and crumble until it exploded, the shockwave blowing back a couple of desks. When the dust cleared, Amanju stood there, letting out a ferocious roar, finally finding some prey.
"Wh-what is that?!" gasped a boy and girl.
"It's a Cardian!" Ami gasped to herself.
Amanju grabbed two of the students closest to her by their heads and began to drain their energy rapidly until she had her fill, throwing them to the floor. She then took off jumping in the window, crashing through it, and jumped away, leaving the students as well as the teachers shocked for what had just happened.
Wasting no time, Ami stepped out of the classroom and took out her laptop. "I've got to contact the others right away!" she said.
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Harusuke, Rei, Minako, and Makoto were enjoying themselves at the movie theatre, while Luna and Artemis sat in Minako's bag feeling the opposite. Just then, Harusuke's bracelet began to beep, causing him to answer immediately.
"This is Harusuke," he spoke to the bracelet.
"Harusuke, this is Ami!" a familiar voice spoke from the bracelet. "A Cardian has just appeared!"
Minako and Makoto heard this and became worried along with Harusuke.
"Ami, are you sure?" asked Minako.
"Yes, it just came bursting into my classroom and drained the energy from two of my classmates!" said Ami.
"Where is it now?" asked Makoto.
"It was heading somewhere northeast from my school, but it disappeared," replied Ami.
"Don't worry. We're on our way," said Harusuke. "Just stay where you are, and we'll meet you there."
Makoto then tapped Rei's shoulder. "Come on, Rei. We got to go. Guardian business."
"Aw, but the movie's just getting good," complained Rei.
"Never mind that!" scolded Luna. "Just hurry up and get moving!"
"Finally. I was getting tired of this romantic mush," Artemis sighed with relief.
As the girls began to exit the theatre, Minako couldn't help but stop and take one last glance at the movie, which showed a shot of the hero.
"He looks just, Alan..." Minako sighed wistfully.
At that moment, Harusuke then took Minako by the hand. "Come on, Minako! You can make goo-goo eyes at boys later! Let's go!"
And with a sharp yank, Harusuke dragged Minako out of the theatre.
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Amanju had soon reached Juuban Park jumping all over the place. She had just landed back on the ground when Ail suddenly appeared before her.
"Amanju! Stop right there!" Ail ordered. "I already told you, your target is-"
But before Ail could finish, Amanju had leaped away from him and disappeared into the bushes. Ail felt even more confused and angry at Amanju as he chased her in hot pursuit.
"What is the matter with you, Amanju?!" Ail growled to himself. "A Cardian can't disobey my orders, so what's going on here?!"
Around that same time, Ms. Haruna was busy enjoying her date enormously as she and Koichi walked along the lake. However, as she did, she couldn't help but feel a nagging suspicion that the woman had forgotten something important, but she couldn't quite place what that something was. But she decided not to worry too much about it.
"Oh well, I'm sure it couldn't have been that important," Ms. Haruna said to herself as she continued to walk with her date.
Then suddenly, Amanju appeared, landing in front of them. Before they had a chance to react or even scream for help, Amanju had already grabbed the two by their necks and drained their energy immediately as they fell to the ground unconscious.
Ail then finally caught up to her. "I've had enough of this!" he spoke severely to Amanju. "I don't care whose energy it is! Just steal human energy from someone! Anyone! Understand, Amanju?! That's an order!"
Amanju let out a roar, but instead of following Ail's orders, she jumped right into the pond, grabbed a pair of ducks, and began to drain their energy instead. Now Ail was even more bewildered and angry with the Cardian, his hair standing on end.
"No! Not the ducks, you fool!" Ail yelled. "I don't want energy from those silly birds! I want human energy!"
"And you won't get it!" said a voice. "Because this ends right now!"
Ail then looked down and saw Solaris, Sailor Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus had arrived.
"Sneaking up on victims again, I see?" said Sailor Venus.
"You've got guts to try it a second time!" said Sailor Mars.
"Disturbing the peaceful lives of those birds is a serious crime, too!" added Sailor Jupiter.
"Not to mention that you're disrupting a peaceful evening between couples," said Solaris. "Which in of itself is a crime as well!"
"We won't you get away with this!" said Sailor Mercury. "Because..."
"In the name of Sailor Moon, we'll punish you!" the four Sailor Guardians said together.
"And in the name of the sun, with my blinding rays, I'll scorch you!" Solaris finished.
Ail then laughed. "So you've come, Guardians, spouting out that same old nonsense as usual," he scoffed. "But this time, things are going to be quite different! That much, I can assure you! Get them, Amanju!"
The Guardians braced themselves for a fight as Amanju came shooting out of the water. However, to their surprise, Amanju went over to Ail, hopscotched on his head, disappearing once again.
"Not again!" growled Ail. "Get back here, Amanju!"
Ail then disappeared, leaving the Guardians confused, wondering what had happened.
"Well, I'll say this much," said Solaris. "Ail was right about this being completely different."
"Yeah, they both ran away," said Sailor Mars.
"Then... does that mean we won?" asked Sailor Venus.
No one answered.
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At this point, it was getting late, and Usagi only had one problem left on her worksheet.
"Alright, I'm almost done!" Usagi cheered to herself as she looked smugly at Natsumi. "How are you doing, Natsumi? You almost done?"
Natsumi, who had at this point had given up all hope of getting energy, weakly looked up at Usagi. "Yeah... I'll manage... somehow..."
"Whatever you say!" grinned Usagi as she resumed working. "But I won't lose, so don't hold it against me if I win!"
As Usagi resumed, Natsumi felt even weaker than before, and while it may be because she was feeling dizzy, she couldn't help but think that Usagi was more formidable than she realized.
"Usagi Tsukino, you are a worthy opponent," she thought. "You've never let your guard down even once, and that deserves some praise."
Usagi then looked back at Natsumi and noticed how tired she looked. Feeling a bit worried about her, she went over to her desk. She also saw her worksheet, seeing that she didn't write a single answer, which worried her.
"Natsumi, is something wrong with you?" Usagi asked. "You don't look well, and you haven't answered a single problem, either."
"It's nothing, Ms. Tsukino," reassured Natsumi. "I'm just a bit tired, is all."
Usagi then smiled kindly at her. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
Natsumi was surprised. "Why would you ask me that?" she asked.
"Just think of it as the victor's compassion," Usagi said brightly. "Anyway, if there's anything I can do for you, just say the word, and I'll do it. Just don't ask me to tell you the answers, give up Mamoru, or let you have Harusuke."
Natsumi felt touched by Usagi's kindness at first, but then an idea flew into her head. A very sly one.
"All right then. Since you're so kind, Ms. Tsukino, I do have a favor to ask of you," Natsumi said. "All I need you to do is to close your eyes and stay perfectly still for about ten seconds."
"Is that all you need? I can do that," Usagi replied as she did just that. "Alright, then. How's this?"
"Thank you very much," Natsumi said, smirking darkly.
As soon as Usagi's eyes were closed, she transformed into An and touched her neck with her finger as she began to drain her energy.
"Whoa... I'm starting to feel a little weird," Usagi spoke, oblivious as to what was going on.
"Now, sleep for eternity, Usagi Tsukino," An cackled to herself as she continued.
Then suddenly, Amanju came bursting into the room, causing Usagi and Natsumi to jump with a start as the Cardian shot past them and crashed through the window and towards the ground below. As Usagi went over to the window, wondering what was going on, Ail suddenly appeared beside Natsumi, causing her to revert to her alien form.
"Something's wrong with that Cardian!" Ail spoke via telepathy. "She won't listen to a single thing I say!"
"That's impossible!" An gasped in disbelief. "How is that even possible?!"
"Just come on!" Ail ordered.
And the two aliens disappeared from the room, leaving Usagi alone as she watched the other Guardians arrive surrounding the Cardian.
"We've got you now, Guardian!" cried Sailor Mars as she went on the attack first. "MARS FIRE SOUL! She unleashed a powerful fireball at Amanju, but she easily avoided the blast.
Sailor Jupiter then attacked next.
"JUPITER SUPREME THUNDER!"
She unleashed a powerful shockwave of lighting, which only grazed Amanju by her leg, but still wasn't enough to damage her.
Sailor Mercury attacked next.
"MERCURY BUBBLES SPRAY FREEZING!"
She released a flurry of bubble, which upon contact, froze the cardian completely, only to have her break out a few seconds later.
"Sailor Venus! Let's double team this Cardian!" Solaris called out as he began conjuring a ball of light. "Maybe our combined attacks will take this thing down!"
"Right! Let's do it!" agreed Sailor Venus as she pointed her finger, charging power.
"SOLARIS SUNSHINE METEOR!"
"VENUS CRESCENT BEAM SHOWER!"
Solaris fired his ball of light while Sailor Venus fired a shower of beams. This time, Amanju charged straight forward, barreling straight through the attacks at the same time and barrelling right into the guardians, knocking them over like bowling pins.
"This is awful!" Artemis gasped. "The Guardians need help! That Cardian's way too strong for them to take on by themselves!"
Luna then looked up and saw Usagi in the building above, watching the fight through the broken window.
"Look! Usagi's up there!" Luna cried, pointing with her paw. "I'm going to go get her down here. You stay here!"
And Luna raced away, heading into the school building.
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Unbeknownst to them from up on the roof, Ail and An watched as Amanju continued to fight the guardians mercilessly.
"You see? That Cardian is completely out of control," Ail said. "It won't listen to a single thing I say!"
"But how is this even be possible?!" An murmured in disbelief. "It's impossible for a Cardian to ignore your orders!"
"But it has, and it is," Ail insisted. "However, if she can get rid of those Guardians, that would work out great for us."
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Meanwhile, Usagi was still watching from her classroom as Amanju continued to fight the Guardians. "Hang in there, guys!" she called. "You can do it!"
Luna then came into the room. "Usagi! Stop being so laid back and transform already!" she scolded.
Usagi jumped a bit, surprised to see Luna, but she realized that Natsumi had mysteriously disappeared.
"That's odd. I wonder where Natsumi could have gone to?" she wondered.
"I don't know, but never mind that!" Luna urged. "Hurry and transform!"
Usagi then nodded understanding as she held up her brooch.
"MOON CRYSTAL POWER MAKE UP!"
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Transformation Sequence: Usagi
Usagi holds up the Crystal Star brooch as it opens, revealing the Silver Crystal inside. Usagi waved her hand on the Silver Crystal, and it flashed it a bright short burst of pink light emitting a chime. It does it a second time, and on the third, it shines brightly, enveloping Usagi in its glow. Usagi then holds the brooch above her head, suspending it in between her hands, drawing it to the center of her torso, flipping it once before placing it in the center of her chest. She then spins around a few times as the crystal begins to glow even brighter than before in pink light. She holds her hands up as a pair of wings spring forth from her back while pink ribbons come out from the crystal wrapping around Usagi's body, forming her leotard. The wings on her back disappeared as more pink ribbons wrapped around her arms and hands, creating white gloves and red boots around her calves and feet. As the blue skirt appears around her waist, one more pink ribbon ties at her back as she does a kind of spread-eagle motion with one leg up, a glowing moon symbol appearing on her forehead. Her tiara, earrings, choker, and ordango covers appear, and Usagi, now Sailor Moon, finishes with her signature pose.
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Sailor Moon jumped out from the broken window and landed between Amanju and the other guardians, ready to help.
"Sorry, I'm late, you guys," Sailor Moon said.
"No, kidding!" complained Sailor Mars. "What took you so long?!"
"Now, now, give me a break," soothed Sailor Moon. "I always manage to finish these things off."
Sailor Moon then stepped forward, taking out her Cutie Moon Rod and prepared to attack, but then she felt a wave of vertigo hit her body, causing her to lower her rod.
"What's going on here?" Sailor Moon murmured weakly. "Why do I feel like I have no energy left?"
"Sailor Moon, what's the matter?!" Luna asked worriedly.
"I don't know... maybe I studied too hard or something," mumbled Sailor Moon, her eyes half-open.
Amanju seeing that Sailor Moon was open, reached out quickly and clasped her hand around her throat, squeezing tightly. Then, a white rose shot down from above, scraping Amanju by her arm, causing her to cry out in pain while letting go of Sailor Moon.
"A wicked world is where the wicked like you belong!" said a voice from above. "Now, begone at once from the light of this lovely moon!"
The Guardians looked up, and standing on the rooftop of the building was the Moonlight Knight.
"Moonlight Knight! What good timing!" the Sailor Guardians cried.
"And as usual, the fanbase of this guy is going nuts," Solaris chuckled.
"Sailor Moon! Finish her now!" called out Moonlight Knight. "Do it quickly!"
Sailor Moon then held up her stick filled with newly found vigor and aimed at Amanju.
"MOON PRINCESS HALATION!"
At her call, a powerful blast of light and sparkles shot forth and blasted Amanju, eradicating her, leaving only a card behind, which hissed as it released smoke. As the Guardians celebrated their victory, the Moonlight decided to go.
"The crescent moon itself is no match for a Pretty Guardian," he said to himself. "Adieu..."
"Alright then! Now that's been taken care of, I've got to get back to the classroom," Sailor Moon said. "Natsumi's probably wondering what happened to me."
The others were a bit surprised as they watched Usagi walk back to the class, noticing that she now had a bounce in her step, unlike before.
"What's Sailor Moon?" wondered Sailor Jupiter. "All of a sudden, she's full of energy."
"I'll say this much, no one can match her ability to bounce back," said Sailor Venus.
"That's Sailor Moon for you," smiled Sailor Mercury.
"In any case, we better get going," said Solaris. "The last thing we want to do is draw attention. And for that matter, check up on Sailor Moon."
"I agree," said Sailor Mars. "Let's get going."
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As the Guardians took their leave, Ail and An were disappointed and angry.
"We failed yet again, Ail," said An.
"Curse those Guardians!" Ail growled, seething with fury. "One of these days, we'll beat them!"
"Well, I suppose I better get back to the classroom," sighed An. "If I don't, Tsukino will start getting suspicious of me."
And An then disappeared, leaving Ail alone, still confused as to why their Cardian acted the way she did, which caused him to worry.
"Something's going on here," Ail said to himself. "It feels like something big is going to happen, or that something already has... but I don't know what."
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Back inside of the classroom, Usagi shot to her feet, letting out a whoop of victory as she triumphantly held up her finished worksheet.
"Alright, I finished!" she cheered.
"Oh, is that so?" said a voice.
Usagi then turned around and was surprised to see Natsumi was back at her desk holding up her completed worksheet.
"Wait, Natsumi, when did you...?" Usagi mumbled with shock.
But Natsumi cut in. "I just finished a moment ago myself," she said. Once I put my mind to it, these problems took me no time at all."
At that moment, Makoto, Ami, and Harusuke entered the classroom.
"Hey, Usagi," greeted Makoto. "We came to pick you up and take you home."
"It looks like you've been working hard," said Ami.
"And that in of itself deserves a pork bun to celebrate," smiled Harusuke.
"That sounds awesome!" Usagi spoke happily. Then she turned to Natsumi. "Well then, Natsumi, since the two of us finished at the same time, it looks like this battle is a draw."
"I guess so," Natsumi smiled back. "Looks like we both get to pursue the guys that we like. But we'll have to settle our match next time."
"You got it!" Usagi said, feeling pumped. "But the next time, I won't lose to you! See you later!"
And Usagi left along with her friends, leaving Natsumi alone, flashing a malicious smile at Usagi's back while she left.
"Oh, we'll see about that," Natsumi whispered. "The next time we fight, I will make Harusuke mine, and you won't live to see tomorrow."
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In the dimension with the Makai Tree, its top began to glow in a dark purple color pulsing dangerously. Whatever was going on with it, it couldn't have been a good thing.