Rei came back from another long school day. It had been slightly different to her egular school day. Many of the other girls had been acting like they were insane. Upon investigation, the only link had been a few playing cards. A few of the victims had been to a new fortune teller, but not all of them. Perhaps this was another Dark Kingdom plot. She'd have to talk to Luna and Makoto about it.
As if on cue, the familiar black cat appeared on the walls of the shrine, holding a piece of paper down by it's paws. "Rei, we have a situation.
Rei sighed. The tarot troubles would have to wait. "What is it now, Luna?"
The cat handed Rei the paper. "My superiors have intel that there have been people at an after school seminar haven't been coming home." Rei turned over the paper to reveal a photo of a blue haired girl, approx. 14, dressed in a Juuban school uniform. "They think that this girl might have something to do with it."
Rei was instantly serious. "We should get over there immediately. There's no time to get Mako." She began to run, but then stopped, embarrassed. "Luna, where is this place?"
Meanwhile, across town, Ami Anderson was worried about her grades. This was something she had never experienced personally. The flash drive that contained her work for the seminar was missing. She must have left it at the arcade she visited earlier. She'd been so wrapped up with her new friend Usagi showing her around, she put it down and forgot it. She was wondering how to explain it to Ms. Gretchen, when the woman herself showed up to talk to her.
"Ami", she said in her usual friendly tone, "there's a Mr. Akiyama here to talk to you. He's been reviewing your progress this year and found it quite impressive."
"Oh!", Ami said, quite surprised. "Are you sure you're not mad about me losing my flash drive?"
"Oh no.", Ms. Gretchen replied. "It's just a silly piece of metal and plastic. Anyway, when you get back, I want you to lead today's class." As the girl nodded and left, Garoben smiled underneath her disguise. Soon, her most brilliant pupil would be Queen Beryl's most valuable spy.
Outside the building, Rei and Luna were discussing their plan to sneak in. Luna presented her human friend with a pen. "This will allow you to assume the appearance of anything you can think of. Just say "Disguise Power and state what you want to be turned into."
"Ok." Rei replied. She then held up the pen and declared "Disguise Power! Turn me into an inspection agent." There was a flash, and then the magic trick was complete. Rei was now dressed in a formal businesswoman suit. She kept his charade up until she was outside the classroom, as indicated by the notes for each floor. Then, she transformed into Sailor Mars, before preceding to burst into the room.
"So you're the one that's been killing my comrades.", the teacher declared, transforming into her true self. "Perhaps you'd like to meet the class.", she said, beckoning her army of mind controlled zombies to attack.
But Rei was prepared for something like this. Her grandfather had taught her to carry a protection ofuda (or as a non-believer would put it, an anti-ghost sticker.) and Luna told her that her Senshi powers could supercharge her spiritual skills. "I call upon the power of Mars. (She began throwing the ofuda around) Evil spirits, begone!" With this one swift motion, everyone collapsed, the possession blocked from taking effect.
"You'll regret that!", the Youma said angrily. She turned her arm into an axe and prepared to strike. But before she could, another Senshi dressed in blue appeared in the doorway.
"Mercury Shabon Spray - Blast!" With that one shot, the room was filled with mist. When it cleared, the Youma was gone. The affected people were beginning to recover. Sailor Mars turned to face her unexpected rescuer "Sailor Mercury, I presume?"
"What gave me away?"
"The attack name began with "Mercury". That kind of clinches it. Now come on, let's leave before people start asking for autographs." But as Rei and Luna walked away, neither realised that their memory was failing them. Luna would have recalled that Sailor Mercury's spells were primarily defensive. And Rei would have noticed that there was an extra victim getting off the floor, who now went over to Mercury.
"Congratulations!", said Garoben. "Welcome to the Dark Kingdom, Mercury."
Elsewhere, two cyclists were engaged in a motorcycle race. On one bike was Haruka Tenoh, a relative newcomer driving her regular bike. On the other was Takamoto Konishii, riding a computer guided cycle. Haruka, in a desperate attempt to win, pushed her opponent into the wall. A faulty wire on the bike caused it and it's rider to be consumed in an explosion. When medics went over to check on him, they were horrified by what they saw…