“Did you hear me, doll freak?” Makoto yelled, her voice hoarse and her body still showing signs of damage from Jumpstart’s attack. “I said leave them, or I will take my own life! You’ll have lost what you came for—my energy— as well as your battery-powered friend. What will your boss think of that, huh?”

Maladoll stopped dead in its tracks and its drill ceased spinning. “Fine,” it agreed. “But we’re leaving now. If you fight, I will kill the Sailor Soldier and these strange creatures.”

“I won’t fight,” Makoto responded, lowering the stone-filled shaking hand from her neck and staggering towards the monster. Maladoll grabbed her tightly by the arm and pulled her to the damaged jungle gym. Makoto though he was retrieving Jumpstart’s remains, but he picked up a small object lying near the car battery, instead. It was a black gemstone.

“Mercury! Please, you must get up!” Luna begged, trying to rouse the dazed guardian.

As Ami raised her head from the floor to take in the situation, she and Makoto locked eyes. Somehow, she knew that Makoto was silently saying goodbye. She couldn’t bear the thought of losing another of her old friends, but her body simply wouldn’t move the way her mind wanted it to. She cursed herself for not taking physical training as seriously as the other soldiers. She had always relied on the power of her mind, but it was of no use to her right now.

“It’s time to go, human,” said Maladoll, holding the crystal out before them. A distortion began to appear and soon became the beginnings of a swirling portal. However, with a flash of yellow, Maladoll’s arm pieces and the gem were blasted away, and the portal closed abruptly.

“She’s not going anywhere with you!” declared Sailor V with her left hand on her hip and the other pointed at the Youma.

“Sailor V!” Luna proclaimed with relief. However, her face fell when she saw that the masked soldier’s left hand was awkwardly placed to disguise supporting her bruised ribs. Despite appearing in time to prevent Makoto’s kidnap, Minako was not in fighting form, especially against a monster such as Maladoll.

“Another Sailor Soldier?” Maladoll asked as his arm parts reconnected.

“That’s right!” Ami asserted, now back on her feet, though, a little shaky. “There are two of us now, and Sailor V possesses the Legendary Silver Crystal!”

Makoto and Luna frowned in confusion at this odd pronouncement but didn’t contradict it.

“Release the woman and we may spare you!” Ami continued.

Understanding what Ami was trying to do, Sailor V added, “Resist, and I will destroy you, like I have so many of your comrades!”

“Oh?” Maladoll enquired. “Show me the crystal, then.”

“I will reveal it to you in your final moments, if you force me to,” Sailor V replied.

“Your attack was weak. I don’t believe you,” Maladoll concluded, then hurled Makoto across the park. “Wait for me while I deal with these two, human!”

Makoto landed hard and didn’t appear to be moving. As Luna carefully ran around the park’s edge to check on her, the fight began. Maladoll threw a flying punch at each of the guardians.

“Crescent Boomerang!” yelled Sailor V, tossing her Crescent Compact and smashing each of the arms to bits as Mercury scooped up Artemis. Sailor V covered her with her finger beams until the white cat was placed at Luna’s side. Her rays of light were enough to keep Maladoll busy, but they weren’t inflicting any damage. The Youma would just reform every time some of its doll limbs were blasted away.

Noticing this, Mercury reactivated her visor and began scanning the monster more closely. She had to find a weakness and devise a new plan. They couldn’t afford a prolonged battle with Minako in the condition she was in. Worse yet, she didn’t want to risk her having to use her full powers again.

Tired of the long-distance exchange, Maladoll tried to charge Sailor V. She fired a continuous beam that shaved parts from his main body, but he pushed through until he was within physical range. Minako was forced to switch to hand-to-hand combat. She delivered some strong blows, but the Youma continued to reform and advance on her, and the stress on her existing wounds was slowing her down.

“I knew you were lying!” said Maladoll with glee, drawing back his arm in preparation to strike. “You are weak! I will defeat you, take the woman, and tell my masters that there is nothing to fear from you.”

“I’ve got it! Sailor V!” Mercury called.

Trusting that her dependable old teammate had found a solution to their monster of a problem, Minako ducked the punch and dashed to Mercury’s location. Maladoll followed but ran straight into danger.

“Mercury! Aqua Rhapsody!” Ami commanded, her harp appearing once more. The powerful stream of water blasted Maladoll to bits. “Quick, before he reforms. I can’t defeat him with my powers, but he has a weakness. I’m going to create an opening for you. There’s a small, brain-like core at the very center of his head. It controls his entire body and allows him to reform. If you can pierce it, he’ll be finished.”

“Got it!” Minako confirmed. “Here he comes!”

“Foolish humans, you cannot destroy me!” Maladoll told them, reforming completely in a matter of seconds.

“We’ll see about that!” Mercury retorted, raising both hands to her chest and reciting, “Shining Aqua Illusion!” She twirled on the spot, creating a considerably smaller, but shimmering trail of water in the air, then launched it at the monster.

“Water has no effect on me, foolish human!” Maladoll taunted, not even bothering to move as the jet of liquid hit him directly in the face. However, he realized too late that this had been a ploy. Sailor Mercury’s initial attack had been to lull him into a false sense of security. The second, despite its appearance, was not simply water. It had frozen on impact. Maldoll’s head and chest were now encased in a large block of ice.

“Now, Sailor V!” Mercury cried.

Sailor V dashed forward, thrust out her pointed hand, took aim at point blank range, and yelled, “Crescent Beam!” The narrow ray pierced the Youma’s head dead center like a bullet. Subsequently, its body of doll parts collapsed under the weight of the ice, which shattered as it hit the floor.

“Finally,” Mercury exclaimed with a sigh of relief, then went to check on Makoto and Artemis.

Sailor V fell to her knees with fatigue, clutching her ribs. “Are you okay, Minako?” Luna asked her.

“I’ll be fine,” she answered simply, focusing on her breathing. Minako was distracted, though, by an odd scraping sound. She looked up to see the remnants of Mercury’s ice moving across the floor. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”

“Impossible!” Ami added as Maladoll’s pieces began to rebuild themselves. “My computer indicated a direct hit!”

Seconds later, the doll parts had collided with each other to free themselves of the remaining ice and rebuilt the hideous monster. “Sorry, humans, but I can move the core inside my body at will,” said the creature derisively.

“We can’t beat it like this,” Minako despaired. “We have to obliterate it completely or it’s going to keep coming back!”

Realizing that Minako was alluding to using her full powers, Mercury insisted, “No! You can’t, it’s too dangerous. I will trace it with my computer and make sure we don’t miss this time.”

Minako wouldn’t be deterred, though. She shook her head, lamenting the unfortunate match up. Rei could have melted an enemy made of plastic in an instant with her fire powers. And Usagi, of course, could have easily taken care of a monster like this back in the day. “It’s the only way, Ami. Protect the others,” she said.

“What’s happening? Protect us from what, Mercury?” Luna questioned with worry in her voice.

“Minako wait—” Ami began, but as she saw the girl raise her rod-filled hand, she turned and dived on top of Luna, Artemis and Makoto to shield them from the coming shockwave.

“Venus Crystal Power!”

With a blinding swirl of yellow and orange, Minako transformed into Sailor Venus. As it had days earlier, waves of force pulsated from her aura-cloaked body. Many of Maladoll’s part were blown away, Mercury and the others beneath her skidded across the floor, and the branches of trees that surrounded the park on all sides bent outwards.

Also as before, Venus was overwhelmed with pain. Her skin burned, her muscles tensed, and her bones ached. It was even worse than before. In fact, as she gritted her teeth and focused desperately on remaining conscious, she wasn’t sure she could even move.

After the initial surprise, Maladoll reformed with some effort. “Is this… The Legendary Silver Crystal?” he spoke. He could see that something was wrong with Venus, but he couldn’t get close to her now. Fearful for his life and sure that Jadeite would want to know what he had witnessed, the monster decided to flee.

“Ami! The he’s getting away!” Luna screeched against the billowing wind that filled her ears.

Mercury turned from her grounded position and watched their opponent retrieve his gem with a flying hand. He began opening another portal, while Venus remained glued to the spot. “Venus! You can’t let him leave; he knows too much about us! You have to stop him!” she called as loudly as her throat would let her, hoping her voice would carry.

Minako had heard, just barely. She raised her right arm slowly, supporting it with her left, and opened her eyes enough to take aim. “Cre-Crescent. Beam!” she expelled.

The giant current of light ripped through the air, forcing Mercury lower against the ground and those she was protecting. It was on target, swallowing the monster and the tear in space, but Venus had to be sure that the monster was vaporized once and for all, so she maintained the energy beam and swept the far side of the park, screaming with exertion the whole time.

Thankfully, Minako was not alone in this fight. Scanning with her visor, Mercury had detected their enemy’s head. It had abandoned the portal and the rest of its body and escaped into the sky. “Venus! Ten O’clock, fifty degrees!”

With an almighty effort, Venus yanked her arms skyward and to the left, her cries becoming louder and more high-pitched.

“NOOOOOOO!” Maladoll’s many mouths echoed in despair as the incredible energy beam found its airborne target like a search light and consumed what was left of him.