Notes: Episode 102, "The Pure Heart Stolen! Usagi's Biggest Crisis". Or, "The one with Usagi's heart crystal".

Episode 102

"Why didn't it work?"

"Seriously? This. Seriously."

"Oh my god there's no way."

"Why didn't it work?"

"I don't—"

"Okay everyone, let's not panic."

"'Don't panic'? Mercury are you even seeing this?"

"Huh. Maybe your natural magic is interfering with the duplication of—"

"No, okay, stop, I don't care. I can MAKE this work."

"Let's just go in there and get her, why are we bothering with all this?"

"They think she's Sailor Moon, Mars. We have to convince them she's not."

"Just get her to walk and talk for five seconds. That'll convince anyone."

"I can do this, guys."

"I'm with Mars. If they think Usagi's Sailor Moon, we'll just beat them until they don't even know who THEY are anymore."

"Yes! Thank you."

"But what if that woman has already reported to her superiors?"

"Guys?"

"We can worry about 'if's later. We have to save Usagi NOW."

"We'll be doing her no favours if her identity is exposed."

"Guys."

"How is THIS helping?"

"I'm done arguing. Usagi needs us."

"Exactly. Let's—"

"GUYS."

Minako's voice sliced through the bickering and silence rushed to fill the void. She stood tall before them. In the absence of her usual ribbon, her hair was loose and flowing around her shoulders. Her fuku was a disaster, some bastardized offspring of Sailor Moon and Venus, with orange randomly inserted in places where orange ought never to be.

With her hands on her hips and mouth set in a determined line, Minako made it abundantly clear. They were doing this. She WAS Sailor Moon.

... ... ...

"There is no way you're Sailor Moon."

Mars was standing back and appraising Minako while Jupiter and Mercury worried at her hair. They'd tried the Disguise Pen another three times, eventually giving up when it only seemed to be making things worse.

They were rapidly running out of time. They'd reached the correct floor, at least, and Luna was keeping a wary eye on Usagi and the scene unfolding nearby. At the moment it seemed as though Uranus and Neptune were willing to offer some degree of protection, but it was impossible to know how long that would last, and only a matter of time before Usagi would be forced into reveling her identity, or die trying to deny it.

"Yeah the hair's not working at all," agreed Artemis. "Mercury, maybe if you—"

"Why don't you do it then!"

Mercury clapped her hands to her mouth, but the words had already escaped. She looked mortified, and her face flushed with embarrassment and apology. "Oh Artemis, I'm so sorry! I just … There's a reason I keep my hair short. I- I'm not very good at this."

Despite the urgency of the situation, Jupiter squeezed Mercury's shoulder and nodded to her own efforts on Minako's right side. "Hey don't feel bad. I'm not much better, and I don't have your excuse."

"Let me try," Mars said gently, giving Mercury a smile. "Usagi does this every day, so there has to be some kind of easy trick to it, right?"

Mercury nodded her thanks and made to join Luna when Minako's voice stopped her. "This'll work, Ami-chan. It's a V-Guarantee!"

"'V-Guarantee', really?" Jupiter muttered as Mercury peeked through the crack in the door to the main viewing floor of Tokyo Tower.

"Shut up, Jupiter," Minako replied sweetly, then hissed sharply as Mars twisted a handful of hair in a way that hair was not meant to twist. "Watch it! Person here! Person capable of feeling pain and getting revenge for it later!"

"Sorry," said Mars, thoroughly distracted and not sounding sorry at all. "Okay, I think … maybe?"

Both she and Jupiter stood back and eyed their handiwork critically. Jupiter's side was mostly in the correct shape, but had turned out nearly twice the normal size. Mars' odango was beginning to unravel, and sloped to one side like it had partied too hard. They shared a look and went back to try again when Mercury gasped.

"No time!" Luna called. "We need you in there!"

Sailor Venus Moon took a deep breath and focused inward. "Showtime!" she said, and confidently marched forward.

Jupiter and Mars lingered for a moment.

"They're gonna kill Usagi," Jupiter said with a resigned sigh.

Mars clapped her hand on Jupiter's shoulder. "Let's hope. Because if not, she's definitely going to kill US."