Minako stepped out of a house on a suburban street and turned back to the owner, a middle-aged woman with a glum expression. “Well, thank you for your time. I have your information. If I hear anything, I’ll be in touch,” she told the woman.

“Thank you, Miss Aino. Take care,” the woman replied, and closed her front door.

As Minako walked down the front path, her old partner dropped down from the branch of a nearby tree. “Well?” the white cat asked eagerly.

Minako nodded. “The date and estimated location of her son’s disappearance line up with another of the Youma attacks,” she said.

“That makes fourteen,” Artemis noted.

“Yeah. I think it’s safe to say all the others are going to pan out like this. Ami did a good job of keeping track of things, but I can’t find a pattern. There’s nothing to connect any of the missing people, to each other or anything else. There’s nothing special about any of them or their families. At least, nothing that would explain their having unusual energy. Did you sense anything?”

“No, the woman’s energy seemed perfectly normal, just like all the others we have visited this week,” Artemis answered. “Maybe there’s some other reason the Blood Moon Alliance is targeting specific people?”

Minako considered this for a moment before replying, “I don’t think so. We know that they are finding these people while gathering energy. Makoto’s information confirms that much. That’s why they tried to take her, after all.”

“Speaking of Makoto, how are your training sessions going?” Artemis asked as the pair approached Minako’s shiny, cherry-red moped.

“She’s improving. Scarily fast, actually,” said Minako with a grin. “I had to smack her around for a while, but she eventually started blocking my moves, even anticipating them, so I gave her the night off to rest up. I never really appreciated her skill before, but after all my Aikido lessons, I can tell just how good she is.”

“That’s great!”

“Maybe. I’m not going easy on her but sparring with me isn’t the same as a real fight. There’s no guarantee she will be able to help us. It’s so frustrating. We need Makoto, especially with my powers on the brink of disappearing. Whether she wants to face it or not, fighting is in her bones!”

“You all have different strengths,” Artemis commented wisely. “Even if you do lose your powers, you’re an important member of the team.”

“Yeah, right,” Minako guffawed, retrieving her black bike helmet from the storage rack on the back of her moped. “Even if we were functioning as a team these days, Makoto’s strong, Ami’s smart, Rei has her spiritual powers… The outer soldiers—wherever they are—had gifts too. Once my crystal breaks, I won’t be needed anymore.”

Artemis looked up at the girl in surprise. “You don’t really feel that way, do you?”

Minako averted her eyes, looking up at the night sky. “On some level, I guess I always have,” she admitted. “What do I bring to the table?”

“Your heart, Minako!” Artemis said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Pfft!” she responded with a derisive laugh. “That was Usagi’s thing, Arte—”

“No, Minako!” Artemis interrupted, his voice clear and commanding, his expression earnest. “Usagi's pure heart gave her a unique ability to bring people together, but it’s your heart that shines brightest! You feel things more deeply than most, but as strong as your heart is, you’re not ruled by it! This allows you to understand the hearts of others; the way they feel, the way they think... You're able to see the bigger picture and make the hard choices necessary for the greater good. You have the heart of a true leader!”

Minako was frozen in stunned silence, her blue eyes wide with shock. When her senses returned to her, she surreptitiously put on her helmet to disguise her reddening cheeks. “Hurry up and get on, I’ve got to meet Ami for patrol duty!” she instructed.

Artemis grinned and leaped up into the basket-like storage rack. “Investigating together like this… It reminds me of old times.”

“Yeah, well, don’t get used to it,” Minako said gruffly before turning on the ignition.

Artemis shook his head and grinned wider as the moped took off. His old partner wasn’t fooling him. Despite her best efforts, some part of the old Minako was finally returning to him.

“Another pair of Youma failed to return,” Jadeite informed his mistress. “Even though they are being more careful, we are losing warriors faster than you can create them.”

“No matter,” Morgan replied, stroking the large metal tank in the corner of the room. “Have you amassed the energy needed?”

“Yes, Mistress. Thanks to the special targets we have captured, we finally have enough,” Jadeite confirmed.

Morgan turned her attention to the wall of glass chambers, most of which now contained a sleeping human prisoner. “Good,” she said. “In that case, our losses don’t matter anymore. Do it!”

“Yes, Mistress,” said Jadeite, walking over to the computer station and entering a sequence. A strange claw-like device lowered itself from the ceiling. It came to a stop directly over the globe used to absorb the energy collected by Youma. “It’s ready.”

Morgan detached the red gem from atop her magic staff and raised it to the device, whose metal claw closed around it, holding it in place. She then stepped back and gave Jadeite a confirmatory nod. With the push of another button, the tank full of energy began to vibrate. A few seconds later, the globe began to glow brightly before releasing a continuous burst of crackling, white light at the red gem above.

Jadeite and Morgan shielded their eyes as they watched the machine at work, filling the red stone with the alliance’s human energy reserves. After five minutes or so, the globe’s light finally dimmed, and the tank ceased its rumbling. The red stone now bathed the room and its occupants in scarlet.

Jadeite entered a command to make the claw open, leaving the gem floating in mid-air. Morgan watched hungrily until the red luminescence faded at last, then held out her staff to receive the gem, which returned to its rightful place, then flashed once.

“I can feel its power!” Morgan remarked in awe.

“Indeed. I can feel it from here. However, unlike the Silver Crystal, its power is finite,” Jadeite warned. “Are you sure you want to go ahead with the plan?”

“Yes,” Morgan replied simply, her thoughts otherwise occupied by her new weapon.

“And the other alliance leaders?”

Morgan managed to turn her eyes away from the dazzling stone, and explained, “This was never an alliance, Jadeite. It’s always been a race! A race to see who can get their hands on the Silver Crystal first, and I intend to win! I’m not letting those weak men use me any longer. Assemble our remaining warriors and flush out Sailor V! When the time is right, I will join you, and together, we will collect my prize!”

Sailor Mercury fell from the evening sky, landing on the hospital roof with a soft clack of her heels. She smiled to herself briefly before powering down her transformation and entering the building via the roof access door. Patrolling had been a lot easier since Minako had awoken, almost enjoyable in fact. With her and Sailor V working in tandem, they had been able to defeat several pairs of Youma, even with them appearing less than before.

However, as Ami made her way down to her office, she wondered how long they could keep up their ruse. The Blood Moon Alliance would surely come up with a new plan of attack with their numbers taking such a hit. Thankfully, it was almost time. They just had to keep the enemy at bay a little longer.

As Ami pushed open her office door, lost in thought, a voice startled her. “Hello, Ami,” said Luna, sitting on top of the desk.

“Luna, what are you doing here?” Ami replied, noting the time on her wall clock approaching eight o’clock. “It’s a bit late for a visit.”

“I’ve been here for a while. Artemis said you and Minako were patrolling together again. I must have just missed you before you left. How did it go?”

“Good,” said Ami. “We took out another pair.”

“Well done!” the black cat praised.

“Perhaps. I’m a little concerned that the ones we’ve faced lately haven’t been that strong.”

Luna cocked her head to the side and looked pensive. “Perhaps the enemy is going for quantity over quality? That could indicate that you’re making a dent in their forces.”

“Not a bad hypothesis,” Ami conceded. “Let’s hope you’re right. Was there anything else you wanted?”

“I thought I would visit Rei,” said Luna, flicking her long tail.

Ami sighed. “She’s not conscious, Luna,” she told the Moon Cat.

“I know that. It would be nice to see her, though. I have to admit, I was also hoping to get a look at your laboratory. Makoto mentioned it’s quite something.”

“Did she? Well, I suppose that would be alright,” Ami decided after a brief pause, walking around her desk and entering the keyboard sequence to reveal the hidden door.

Luna jumped down from the desk and followed Ami through the metal door. “Makoto wasn’t exaggerating!” she exclaimed, taking in the hidden room’s many beeping machines and flashing instruments. “What is all this equipment for exactly?”

Ami distracted herself by observing Rei’s vitals as she replied, not meeting the Moon Cat's eyes. “Most of it's just to enhance my computer’s sensory capabilities. It’s how I’ve been able to detect the enemy.”

“All this just for that?” Luna commented incredulously, noting all the bulky machines with complex button configurations, and a long metallic unit parallel to Rei’s bed with a length of thick silver tubing leading to a separate device.

“Some of its work-related,” Ami tried to sound casual. “I’m also conducting experiments of my own.”

“Oh? What sort of experiments?”

“You know what they say about curiosity, Luna…” said Ami darkly.

Luna looked affronted for a moment, but when a sweet smile stretched across Ami’s face, she chose not to be offended by Ami’s clever joke, callous though it was.

“Didn’t you want to see Rei?” Ami asked, trying to distract the Moon Cat from the technological wonders of her secret lab. “I’m heading home in a few minutes, so I can drop you at Makoto’s on the way.”

“Oh, yes, thank you,” said Luna, leaping up onto Rei’s bed and looking at the sleeping girl’s face. “Do you think she will wake up soon?”

Ami fussed with some papers with her back turned, and gave a non-committal reply, “It’s hard to say.”

Luna adopted a motherly tone, and said softly, “Well, until then, sleep well, Rei.”

Ami bit the inside of her cheek. Just two more days and she could finally put her plan into motion. Just two more days and she could finally stop lying to everyone.

A few minutes later, Ami and Luna made to leave the lab. However, before reaching the exit, an alarm began to sound, and an orange light started flashing intermittently.

“What is it, Ami?” said Luna.

“Another portal has been detected,” Ami explained, running to her computer station, and turning on the huge screen. Her jaw dropped in despair. No less than six unique energy signatures had appeared inside the city’s biggest shopping mall.