Chapter 25

Jupiter, the Powerful Girl in Love

In the palace of the Dark Kingdom, Queen Beryl knelt before an altar with the energy that Nephrite collected with Maleficent and Sephiroth at her side.

"Awaken, great ruler. To you I offer vital energy. Hear my plea, and awaken once more. Great Ruler of ours, now is the time! Arise, 'O great one!" she said, and sent the energy that Nephrite had gathered to the source of ultimate evil.

Everyone watched as they heard a dark voice coming from within the seal.

"So it seems as if the energy from the humans has stirred me from my long sleep," it said.

"Yes, great ruler. What an auspicious moment. How we have waited for this to happen," replied Beryl.

"But, it is not enough. I can feel myself being drawn back into a deep sleep," said the demonic voice.

"Yes. Our ultimate objective is the Silver Crystal. Once it is in Beryl's possession, she'll use it to release you, and grant you the power to take over the Realm of Light," interjected Maleficent.

"However, without it, your return will be considered it impossible to achieve, until it is found. What can we do to make you complete again?" asked Sephiroth.

"When the seven great monsters are revived, together with the rainbow crystals, only then will the Legendary Silver Crystal shine brightly enough to be found," replied the voice.

Beryl, Maleficent and Sephiroth, knowing that they had a new mission to fulfill. On the streets of Juban, Usagi was running to school just as Luna caught up with her with the bag of lunch in her mouth. She didn't watch where she was going, when she collided with a rather intimidating guy that sent them crashing to the ground. She was about to apologize, when she noticed that they looked angrily at her making her cry out in fear.

"You broke my leg! I heard it snap like a pretzel!" cried the guy.

"Hey, what'cha gonna do now?" asked the other guy.

"She said sorry," said another girl who appeared, just as Sora saw her.

She looked strong, and had her hair tied in a ponytail, but she wore a different school uniform, instead of the standard Juban school uniform.

"I saw the whole thing boys, she barely bumped you. That's pretty low trying to con an innocent little girl," she said.

The two delinquents walked up to her, and tried to take her down, but Sora, Luna, and Usagi watched as she took them down in a single heartbeat.

"Oh, wow," Sora and Usagi said in surprise.

The last guy fled in fear of being put in his place, as Sora placed his hands behind his head.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yep, never better," said Sora.

"You take care," replied the girl.

To Usagi's surprise, she had rose shaped earrings on her person, as she slowly walked away. Luna was surprised, but Sora saw that she was strong like Tifa Lockhart.

"Man, she's pretty tough," he said to Luna.

"When the seven great monsters and the rainbow crystals are revived together, then the legendary Silver Crystal will be found," explained Beryl.

"I remember everything about the seven great monsters. They were the strongest of our allies, but they were sealed away eons ago by our enemy," replied Kunzite.

"Whoa, that's pretty harsh for them," mused Pete.

"Your memory serves you well. The legendary Seven Great Monsters, were the most powerful warriors of all. Until that day, when we suffered a great loss to our enemy, those cowards sealed away the Seven Great Monsters into seven fragments of the Legendary Silver Crystal, and then banished them to our world. Those seven fragments are known as the Rainbow Crystals," snarled Beryl.

"So, what the heck are these Rainbow Crystals, and what's happened to those Seven Great Monsters?" asked Pete.

"They lost their memories of being monsters, and they have been reborn as humans," answered Kunzite.

"Such a sad fate, but they can be re-found, brought back to their former glory," said Maleficent.

"I see, so if we remove these seen rainbow crystals from the reborn humans, will it lead us to the Legendary Silver Crystal?" asked Zoisite.

Yes, but what's even better, the seven great monsters will also be reincarnated," replied Queen Beryl.

She waved her hand over her sceptre, and the dark crystal flew to Zoisite's hand.

"I've modified the Dark Crystal to only react to the presence of the rainbow crystals," she said.

"Thank you my queen," replied Zoisite.

"All right, let's get this show on the road," said Pete.

"With pleasure!" the warlord said with a confident smirk.

He cast the crystal aside, and it began to show them the target they were searching for.

"Ah, so there's a rainbow crystal inside him," Zoisite said.

At Juban Middle School, Sora and Usagi were getting ready for lunch, when they noticed the same girl sitting in front of them. She was about to take a closer look, when Umino appeared, making them jump.

"DON'T EVER DO THAT TO US AGAIN!" shouted Sora, making Usagi almost panic.

"Easy, Sora, you almost gave away our location," hissed Usagi, as she pulled them back behind the tree.

"That new girl's a transfer student, who just joined class 6 today," said Umino.

"So who is she?" asked Sora.

"Her name's Makoto Kino, and the word is that she's incredibly strong. Turns out she was kicked out of her last school for fighting. So, if I were you, I'd keep your distance," answered Umino.

"Hmm… we should talk to her and know a little bit more about her," Sora said to Usagi.

She nodded and the two of them went up to her, with Sora walking normally, while Usagi crept up quietly towards her. To their surprise, they could see that she had her own lunch made, along with her desert, and the bag Usagi found to be cute.

"Who's there!?" Makoto asked, making them jump and laugh sheepishly.

"Why hello again," said Usagi.

"Hiya," added Sora as he waved at her.

"Oh it's you guys again. So you go to school here too, huh?" she asked.

"Why yes I do. I'm Usagi," replied Usagi.

But suddenly Makoto looked blissfully at Sora and began to have a distant look in her eyes.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked, snapping her out of her trance.

"Oh, I'm sorry. It's just that you kind of reminded me of someone from back then," she said, shaking her head a bit.

Sora seemed confused, but Makoto quickly composed herself.

"So, what's your name?" she asked Sora.

"Oh, uh… my name's Sora," he replied.

"Wanna come sit with me?" she asked.

"Sure!" Sora and Usagi replied together.

"Thanks for helping us this morning," said Usagi, as Umino watched in dismay.

"Oh would you guys like to have some?" she asked, offering them her lunch.

"Oh, well actually, I'm not really a big eater. But since you offered…" said Usagi, and began scarfing down the food she was given.

"I'm sure glad you came by. You know for some reason everyone at school seems afraid to talk to me," said Makoto.

"Right," sighed Sora, looking disappointed.

"Well, Mako. Oh, I'm sorry, is it okay if I call you that?" asked Usagi.

"Sure," replied Makoto.

"Mako your mom packs the biggest lunch I've ever tasted," said Usagi.

"Oh, actually I made all this myself," Makoto said to her.

"Wow," Sora said in surprise.

"That's amazing. You gotta teach me how to make these, or you can make them for me. Just kidding," Usagi said with a light giggle.

"What a natural, those two can make friends with anyone," murmured Umino.

"How about you, Sora?" asked Makoto.

"Well, I learned how to cook thanks to Little Chef," answered Sora.

"Little Chef?" asked Usagi and Makoto.

"Yep, a friendly rat who's culinary style is more like art," replied Sora.

"So Mako, I was wondering, why aren't you wearing our school uniform?" asked Usagi, as they arrived at Crown Arcade.

"What I'm wearing now, suits me better," replied Makoto.

"Guess Motoki's not here today," said Sora.

"That's a shame," replied Usagi, as Makoto looked around the arcade.

"Oh yeah, who's Motoki?" asked Makoto.

"He's a special friend of ours who gives us some advice, and some helpful tips on beating Sailor V The Video Game," replied Sora, as he showed her the game Usagi liked to play, but often failed due to poor strategy.

"Hey, Guys," Usagi said as she approached them.

"Guys! Here you are," called Ami, who arrived with Rei, Luna, Riku, and their friends.

Sora and Usagi glanced at them, while Makoto was busily trying to play the game.

"What is it?" asked Usagi.

"Luna told us about this girl you and Sora met. However, I'm sensing something different about her," said Riku.

"You mean Mako?" asked Usagi.

Luna nodded, as Sora approached them.

"Don't worry, Luna. I too sense a strong light in her heart," he said.

Argh! How did I lose that one!?" complained Makoto when she got a game over.

"Mako, meet our other friends," said Usagi.

"This is Makoto Kino, she transferred over to Usagi's school," explained Sora, as he and Usagi introduced her to them.

"Hi there," said Makoto.

"Oh, hi," replied their friends.

"These are our friends," Sora said.

"Donald Duck!" quacked Donald.

"Nice to meet you Makoto, I'm Goofy," said Goofy.

"I'm Mickey, King of the worlds," piped in Mickey.

"My name is Namine," said Namine.

"I'm Riku," added Riku.

"My name is Kairi," said Kairi.

"My name is Terra," the older brunette said.

"Who am I? Oh my name is Lea, but my friends call me Axel. Got it Memorized?" said Axel.

"I'm Roxas," said Roxas.

"My name is Xion," added Xion.

"I'm Ventus. call me Ven," said Ventus

"My name is Aqua," finished Aqua.

"And together we are, the Guardians of Kingdom Hearts!" announced Sora.

"So this is Ami who's the really smart one," said Usagi.

"And this is Rei Hino, a shrine maiden from Hikawa Shrine. She has a special power that makes her sort of like a foreteller of the group," said Sora.

"Just, make sure you stay on her good side, rather than her bad side. Also, we have to make sure that Usagi and Rei stay on their best behavior, otherwise they'll have to deal with a lot of consequences, Ah lah Luna," added Axel.

"Ugh, yeah, yeah, rub it in our faces, why don't you?" grumbled Rei and Usagi.

"Hey, quit agreeing with me!" they barked at each other.

"See what I mean?" said Sora, until Rei and Usagi were told by Luna to stow their infighting before they'd give her an excuse to contact Master Yen Sid.

"Sorry, Luna," they said.

"Well, you know what they say, the more you fight the more you get along," said Makoto.

"That's a good one Makoto," giggled Ami.

But Makoto suddenly noticed Luna in Ami's arms and began stroking her children.

"Oh, right. That's Luna. She's someone who's very special to the girls, and the crescent moon on her forehead is not really a bald spot, but more of a natural mark," explained Roxas.

Suddenly, they heard the sound of several people gathering around a strange individual, who was winning prizes easily in a crane game. Everyone went to investigate it, until they saw two prizes being dragged up, and deposited down the chute. The guy's name was Crane-machine Joe, a prodigy of the Crane Machine games who had been gifted with something mysterious, after his birth.

"Oh, Hi there, you guys," Yumi said.

"Hey Yumemi," Sora and Usagi greeted in response.

"Did you just see that?" she asked.

They both nodded, as they saw him winning more prizes.

"Everyone calls him Joe, the Crane-man Troll," explained Yumi.

"Why do people call him by that name?" asked Sora.

"Cause he's a genius at that crane game. I've heard that every single stuffed animal he sets his sights on, he gets. He's got hundreds of them," answered Yumemi.

"Wow, that's awesome," Sora and Usagi said.

She was about to ask Makoto, when she saw the same distant look in her eyes when she first saw Sora.

"He's just like him," she said.

"What are you talking about?" asked Usagi.

Usagi tried to get Makoto's attention, when Sora glanced suspiciously at Joe, who followed him. At first Joe was safe and sound, but he didn't know that Zoisite was tailing him. When he got down to another part of the road, he picked up one of the stuffed dolls in his hand, and continued walking down. He was about to continue on his way, when the wicked Zoisite appeared in front of him, making him drop his prize bag to the ground.

"Who are you?" Joe asked fearfully.

"This will only take a moment," sneered Zoisite.

He cast the Crystal towards him, and it began to emanate a dark power that made Joe writhe in agony, as Sora watched what was happening from nearby, when Makoto appeared, forcing Zoisite to halt his attempts at gaining the first of seven Rainbow Crystals Queen Beryl spoke of.

"You shouldn't bully people weaker than you!" she said, making Zoisite angrily grab the crystal.

Makoto raced to Joe's side.

"I'll make sure you regret interfering!" he seethed furiously.

Makoto charged fiercely at Zoisite and tried to bring him down, but the warlord evaded her attacks with relative ease, forcing Sora to jump out hiding and attempt to attack him from behind.

"You!" he gasped, brandishing his weapon.

Sora and Zoisite engaged in a fierce clash of blades that made Makoto surprised.

"Hold on, Sora! Let's take him together!" she said.

"How unfair," scoffed Zoisite.

Makoto charged towards the warlord again, but this time she tossed one of her rose earrings to distract him long enough for her to get a hit on him.

"You prehistoric witch! You scarred my beautiful face!" seethed Zoisite.

"If there's one thing I know, it's this! Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned!" said Sora, pointing his Keyblade at the warlord.

"Sora! Mako!" called Usagi.

She and Luna noticed them squaring off with Zoisite who quickly retreated into the dark corridor. Then Usagi ran to Joe's side, as Sora and Makoto looked at each other.

"Whoa! What the heck is that!?" she asked him.

"This is a Keyblade. It's a powerful weapon that can only be used by people who have taken the Rite of Inheritance," explained Sora.

"Yep. However, Sora's Keyblade accepted him when he understood the meaning of strength of heart, thanks to Ven's heart living inside of him," said Terra.

They quickly raced back to Joe, to see if he was alright, but Joe told them to back off and to leave him be.

"Man, what a jerk," Sora said to his friends.

"What's his problem, we were just trying to help him out," piped in Usagi.

Makoto followed him, with Terra at her side.

"I can sense it," said Luna.

"What?" asked Usagi.

"I felt his super evil aura, from that guy she fought," continued the cat.

"That means, he's with the Dark Kingdom," said Sora.

"You think so?" gasped Usagi.

"We better follow them. Makoto and Joe could be in serious trouble with that guy," Sora said.

"Oh no, Sora's right!" gasped Usagi.

"You guys, wait up!" called Luna.

"Joe!" Terra said.

"You need to stop following me!" snapped Joe.

"No! We're more concerned about your safety," replied Terra.

"We're just afraid that someone else might come after you. We can be your bodyguards." added Makoto.

"And just why would anyone be after me, anyway?" Joe asked them.

"You may not know it, but everyone's hearts are made up of light and darkness, which means the Heartless could be after you," replied Terra.

"Or maybe, cause you won too much at that Crane game. Yeah, maybe someone at the game center hired someone to hunt you down and eliminate you," Makoto said with mischievous intent.

"Heh, not likely," chuckled Joe.

"By the way. Do you believe you can teach someone how to win at that Crane game?" asked Terra.

They could never do it," replied Joe, until he clutched at his chest.

"What's the matter, Joe?" asked Makoto.

But Joe simply ignored her, and went into a coffee shop, just as Terra and Makoto followed him.

"I'd like to enjoy my coffee alone, thank you," he said to them, and went inside.

"He's sure got an attitude," snipped Usagi.

"That's why I like him," replied Makoto.

"What do you mean?" asked Sora.

"You see, he reminds me of the guy who broke my heart," explained Makoto.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Sora said sympathetically to Makoto.

She turned and glanced at Sora, whom she thought was just like her Ex, but realized that he was different from him, while Usagi thought it was the face of a girl in love with another individual. Inside the coffee shop, Joe's pain slowly subsided as he took several breaths to calm himself down. But when he saw Usagi, Terra, Makoto, and Sora outside, he began to have second thoughts about pushing them back.

"Really, you can go on without me if you're too tired," said Makoto.

"No," giggled Usagi.

But she suddenly saw Joe beckoning them to enter the coffee shop.

"He wants you to go in!" she said to Makoto.

"What do I do?" asked Makoto.

"March right in, and go for the kill," answered Sora.

"Yeah, what Sora said!" piped in Usagi.

She pulled him towards the entrance, and gave her a gentle push. Makoto slowly approached Joe, while Sora and Terra stood their ground, waiting for when Zoisite would pounce at them next.

"Have a seat," said Joe.

Makoto nodded, and sat opposite of him.

"Don't get the wrong idea. It's just too annoying to see you standing around outside just watching me," scoffed Joe, as he sipped his coffee.

Makoto nodded sheepishly.

"I'm great at the crane game, cause I got this supernatural power I kinda been blessed with," explained Joe.

"Supernatural power?" asked Makoto.

"Ever since I was a kid, I've had this weird ability," replied Joe.

Then to prove his point, he slowly levitated the ashtray into the air, making Makoto surprised.

"You understand now? I've never met anybody else who can do that. That's why I know you could never win that crane game," Joe said pridefully, as he adjusted his glasses.

"But wait, hold on. Isn't that considered cheating?" asked Makoto.

"Cheating? Who? I've got this awesome ability, and I'm putting it to good use," remarked Joe.

"Oh, I see," said Makoto, when Zoisite appeared in front of her.

"Welcome," he said.

"Oh, I'll have a large curry rice. No, on second thought, tea with milk," Makoto said, until Zoisite struck her down.

When Joe saw Zoisite, he quickly ran for his life, making everyone shocked to their core.

"It's that guy again!" cried Luna.

"You guys help Makoto! I'll deal with this other guy!" Sora said.

"You're crawling away and leaving Mako behind!?" demanded Usagi.

"I don't care about her! She's the one who decided to follow me!" protested Joe.

"What's that!? You think of yourself as a man, acting this way!?" shouted Usagi.

"She's not my responsibility! Besides, giant girls like her really aren't my type!" cried Joe, as he raced away from them.

Although Makoto was shocked to hear it from Joe, Zoisite quickly pursued him.

"Sora was right! That guy's from the Dark Kingdom!" said Luna.

"Come back here!" shouted Sora, as he pursued Zoisite.

"Mako, are you alright? Talk to me!" Usagi said to her friend.

"That's the second time A guy said that about me," Makoto said quietly.

"If what you say is true! Then people who talk trash about you, are nothing but self-absorbed Blue Bloods!" Terra said furiously.

"You said it!" agreed Makoto, and together they followed Sora, with Usagi trailing behind them.

Once Joe was alone, Zoisite knew that the time was right to fulfill Beryl's wishes.

"You don't have to run away," he said.

"All we want is that pretty little Rainbow Crystal you keep locked up inside your heart. Cause you're one of the guys, Queen Beryl mentioned." added Pete, who joined him.

"One of them?" stuttered Joe.

"We're taking your Rainbow Crystal," sneered Zoisite, as Pete laughed at him.

Joe's screams echoed everywhere, as Makoto and Terra saw him, just as Sora burst out and tried to attack Zoisite, but it was too late. The first Rainbow Crystal flew out of Joe's body, and landed in Zoisite's hand.

"Got it," he said.

"Hold it you!" Sailor Moon said to them.

Makoto was surprised to see Sailor Moon, as Sora glared furiously at him.

"You're a little too late, you two," Zoisite said mockingly to them.

"As for who this guy is, I think it's fair of him to introduce himself to you bozos!" said Pete.

"Why thank you Pete. I am one of the Dark Kingdom's Four Kings of Heaven, Zoisite," the warlord said to them.

"What!?" gasped Sora and Sailor Moon.

"I think I'll let Gamecen take care of this," he sneered at them, and vanished.

"Coward!" shouted Sora.

But then suddenly, they noticed Joe changing into the vicious Gamecen.

"Whoa! Joe turned into a monster!" gasped Sailor Moon.

Gamecen began attacking them furiously by unleashing a giant hammer to crush them. But Sora and the others dodged out of the way, while Poor Sailor Moon was once again being chased down while evading his attacks. Before he could deliver the final blow, Makoto grabbed him and held him over her head.

"And just what do you think you're doing to my heroes, Sailor Moon and Sora!?" she cried out in fury.

Then Luna noticed a symbol on her forehead, as Makoto cast Gamecen away from them.

"All right, Makoto!" cheered Sora.

But Gamecen wasn't done yet, he fired a grappler at Sailor Moon.

"Look out!" Sora, Terra and Makoto cried out.

But Sailor Moon was caught in his grip, and was being held in place for the final blow.

"Guys we gotta help her!" Makoto said in desperation.

"Wait! Mako you're a Sailor Guardian!" called Luna, who had produced a transformation pen for her.

"You can talk?" asked Makoto.

"We'll worry about that later! But right now, Terra and I have some Heartless to take care of!" called Sora, as they saw the dark creatures appear, and attempt to pounce Sailor Moon in order to turn her into a Heartless.

"To help Sailor Moon, all you need to do is hold this transformation pen, and shout, Jupiter Power, Make up! Please, you must, it's the only way to help your new friends," explained Luna.

Makoto nodded, and picked up her transformation pen, just as Terra fought off the Heartless, while Sora turned to face her.

"Jupiter Power, Make Up!" cried Makoto.

Instantly her body was now surrounded by lightning that covered her from head to foot. Then it parted to reveal her in an outfit that looked very similar to Sailors Moon, Mercury and Mars' outfits but had a dark green collar, a dark green skirt, a dark green stone in her tiara, a green choker, and a dark green brooch, two pink bows on her chest and on the back of her skirt, but her boots had white laces in them. She still had her rose earrings on her, but Sora was rather impressed by what he saw.

"Wow, Mako transformed!" gasped Usagi, as Gamecen tried to bind her as well.

Luckily, the newly transformed Sailor Jupiter, jumped clear and began to channel her power.

"Jupiter my guardian planet, bring forth the storm! Summon the clouds and bring down your thunder!" Sailor Jupiter called to the heavens above.

Then, a small antennae appeared from her Tiara, as a bolt of lightning struck it.

"SUPREME THUNDER!" she cried out, sending a burst of lightning at Gamecen, that released Sailor Moon from his grip.

"Yeah, way to go, Sailor Jupiter!" cheered Sora, as Terra defeated the Last of the Heartless.

"Thanks Sora," Sailor Jupiter said giving, him a thumbs up.

"He's weakened, but I can still sense a trace of light in him," Terra said.

"He's right! That monster still has a human heart! Remember, he used to be a human being!" said Luna.

"How are we supposed to stop him?" asked Sailor Moon.

"You have to turn that monster back into his original form," answered Luna.

"You're right. If we can free his heart… But, but how?" asked Sora.

As if to answer his question, Luna summoned a new item for Sailor Moon to use, as it landed in her hands.

"What is it?" she asked.

"The Moon Stick! Now shout Moon Healing Escalation!" answered Luna.

Sailor Moon, nodded, and concentrated hard and channeled her power into the new item she had obtained.

"Moon Healing Escalation!" she cried, sending a blast of light.

"Okay, Joe. It's time for you to face the light!" added Sora, combining his power with Sailor Moon's.

In a flash of light, GameCen reverted back to Joe the Crane-game troll, who slowly collapsed to the ground.

"Mako, you are the fourth Sailor Guardian, Sailor Jupiter," said Luna.

"Me, a Sailor Guardian?" asked Makoto.

"Yep. welcome to the team, Sailor Jupiter," said Sora.

"Sailor Moon, listen. Now that we found all four Guardians, you will lead the team to find and protect our princess," explained Luna.

"Wait, I'm the leader!?" asked Usagi.

"Don't worry, Sailor Moon. Even though the Moon Stick Luna gave you signifies that position, you bear a strong responsibility to take on the mantle of leadership," Sora assured her.

"Whoa, the way you said it, Sora. I think you too are a great leader for your friends to rely on," said Makoto, who was still Sailor Jupiter.

Sora chuckled a bit, making Usagi smile at him.

"Thanks Sailor Jupiter. But, I couldn't have done it without Terra at my side," he said.

The next day, at Crown Game Center, Makoto was raging at the fact that she got another game over, on the Sailor V Video Game over and over again, but she knew that Sora was actually a kind and respectful individual she could acknowledge as a friend, while Usagi, Sora and Luna watched nervously.

"Oh, hey you guys," called Motoki.

"Oh, hi Motoki," replied Usagi.

"Hey there," added Sora.

"Hey, I heard Joe the Crane Troll played here yesterday. Wish I could have seen that," said Motoki.

"Yeah, well, we actually made a new friend called Makoto Kino," replied Sora.

"Yeah, why don't you go and say hello to her?" added Usagi.

"Nice to meet you," Motoki said, only to be met by that distant look in Makoto's eyes.

"Come on, Makoto. You said that Joe was like that guy, who left a scar on your heart," said Sora.

"I just meant his voice," replied Makoto, making Usagi mildly upset.

But Sora just laughed silently to himself, as he watched the hilarity ensue.