Act 37: "Dream 4: Jupiter Dream"

Chibiusa can't get Elios out of her mind, and decides to talk to Makoto about him. They go to the supermarket and meet Hawk's Eye, who is trying to buy spices; they help him out, and he gives Makoto an Amazon Stone ring. In the subsequent flurry of cooking, Chibiusa doesn't get to talk to Makoto; Makoto visits Hawk's Eye at his spice shop. When she gets there, he asks blandly if she'll stop being a sailor senshi. She stares at him, and lemures come out of the ring and surround her, draining her of her ambition.

Makoto lies in a daze; suddenly, a miniature Sailorjupiter appears. The sprite bops her on the nose and reminds her that she must fight and protect the Princess. Makoto agrees; she wakes up, transforms, and discovers a crown of oak leaves on her head. "Jupiter Oak Evolution!" she cries, and Hawk's Eye is destroyed.

Chibiusa's bell rings, and she and Usagi feel that Mamoru's in danger; they burst into his apartment. Elios is standing over Mamoru's prone form while lemures swarm them; the girls destroy the lemures. Chibiusa sees to her horror that Elios' body is covered with wounds; Mamoru doubles up, and coughs up black blood.

Act 38: "Dream 5: Venus Dream"

Elios shows Mamoru the black rose growing inside his chest, and the similar one inside Elios' chest; he introduces himself as Elios, guardian of Elysion just as Mamoru is guardian of Earth. Elios says that since there's a curse on him, the curse is being made felt in all four of them - in Elios, in Elysion, in the Earth, and in Mamoru. He tells them that Neherenia of the Dead Moon is trying to spread nightmares across the Earth, and that they must stop her with the combined powers of the Silver Crystal and the Golden Crystal.

The girls discuss this, and Minako finds that all the others have been given power-ups except her. She goes off and tries to transform, but cannot; she fears that she's failed as leader of the senshi, and pushes herself to act. The Amazoness Quartet summons Xenotime and Zeolite; they invite Minako to an idol audition. Minako flings herself headlong into the challenge; the other senshi try to help her, but Xenotime and Zeolite drive them back.

Minako makes it to the top of the tower, but it's a trap. Lemures dive into her body, but Artemis claws at her and wakes her up. Ves-ves opens a trapdoor and she falls through; Artemis grabs her hand and stops her fall. Minako hangs precariously, the only thing keeping her from falling is a small white cat. Palla-palla appears; with a grin, she produces a huge ball. It falls towards Artemis, and Minako screams a hopeless warning.

Mako-chan's Depression

...the first of the exam battles (side stories appearing in Run-Run magazine)...

Under Ami's tutelage, the girls are studying for the entrance exams to Hana Girls' High, an exclusive school. They gather at Makoto's house, but she stays up all night cooking and cleaning for them and keeps falling asleep over her books. This becomes a pattern over the next couple of days. She only manages to raise her test scores from 40 to 50. (Out of 100, this is not admirable.)

She keeps visiting the Pri-Pri store, and a woman inside keeps selling her food. Makoto becomes obsessed, saying that she'll eat more, that she doesn't care if she fails her exams... the other girls become concerned. The woman from the store appears and grins that she's filled Makoto with her sugar spirit. Usagi shakes Makoto, saying that they're going to get into Hana Girls' High, and go shopping, and have lots of boyfriends! Makoto wakes up and agrees; she transforms, and destroys the woman with "Jupiter Coconut Cyclone." Then her eyes glaze over. "Now that I've beaten the enemy," she mumbles, "I've finished my exam." Ami tries to get her to study more, but Makoto sinks into dreamland.

It's spring. Makoto is grinning in her new uniform, standing in front of Juuban High.

Ami-chan's First Love

...the second of the exam battles...

Ami opens her locker and takes out a love letter. She squeals and tosses it away, her face flushed. Later, Usagi notices that Ami has a rash. (It's because she's allergic to love letters.) Ami dismisses it and looks over some test scores. At the top, with full marks, are two names: Mercurius and Mercury. Ami explains that "Mercury" is her pseudonym, but there's always a "Mercurius" who keeps getting top scores too. She wonders if he's an enemy, and the other girls think that she's concentrating too hard on competing with him. A evil spirit appears and targets Ami to fall in love.

Later, Makoto asks Ami if she's in love; Ami shrugs that Mercurius is her rival. The girls giggle at Ami's tense demeanor, and wonder if she's having her first love. They plot to find out who Mercurius is; Usagi finds out that Umino knows him. Over the next few days, Ami studies harder and harder; one day, she falls over in a faint. The girls take her to the nurse's office and leave her there; the spirit appears. In her delirium, Ami thinks that the spirit is Mercurius; she transforms and destroys it. Content, she falls back into bed.

The other girls have met Mercurius, who is about as much of a nerd as Umino; when Ami asks what he looks like, Minako shows her a poster of a cute idol. Ami nods with satisfaction; Minako says quietly that with Ami's high ideals, she wouldn't accept anything less.

Later, Ami opens the test scores. She shares first place with Mercurius, each of them having earned top scores. She rips the paper in frustration.

Rei and Minako's Girls School Battle

...the third of the exam battles...

As they're studying, Rei gets up and says that she has to leave; she has meditation at four AM the next day. Minako is astounded and starts quizzing Rei about herself; every answer makes Rei look like a perfect girl - and Minako's exact opposite. After Rei leaves, Minako reflects that it's all very unfair, especially that Rei gets to go to TA Private Girls' School and doesn't have to take exams.

This becomes an obsession with Mina-chan, especially after passing men admire Rei and ignore Minako. Rei tells her that TA isn't perfect, and finally invites her to see for herself. Minako disguises herself as a TA student, and bounces off to school with Rei to attend the lunch hour. Rei warns her not to make too much of a fuss.

The minute Minako enters, she races through the school and through lunch; Rei patches up the chaos behind her, making excuses to the strict nuns. Eventually, Minako finds an old well; she opens the cover, then loses interest and leaves. A spirit floats out of the well.

Minako wanders over and hears the other students making disparaging remarks about her. Her temper flares, and she yells that she's not like Rei at all, and that she hates her. She runs; Rei looks hurt, then runs after her. The spirit flies down to Rei and takes possession of her. Rei suddenly starts acting very strange, and kisses one of the TA girls; the girl screams, and Minako looks around. Realizing that Rei is possessed, she transforms. "Evil spirit, begone!" she shouts, pegging Rei with a paper strip.

Rei collapses, and all of the other girls mob Minako, cooing with admiration. Rei sighs, and tells Minako that it'll be her fault if Rei's kicked out of school. From that day on, Minako liked Rei-chan immensely.

To volume 14
Back to summaries index