In a restaurant in Downtown Juuban, inside the cook's kitchen, a man crossly let out a yell throwing a pan at a particular white cat who was looking around for free food.

"Get out of here, you damn thieving cat!" the cook roared. "Get back here right now! Once I get my hands on you, I'm going to skin you alive!"

Artemis yowled while jumping, dashing, and hurrying as the cook threw pots, pans, and spoons at him. The white cat soon managed to escape, not wanting to stick around, running as fast as his little paws could carry him.

Eventually, Artemis made it to the Tsukino residence, resting on Usagi's bed with Luna. He was worn out and very exhausted.

"Man! I thought that he was going to kill me!" Artemis gasped.

"Well, it's your fault, Artemis," said Luna. "You got way too careless and pushed things too far."

"Come on, Luna! Cut me some slack!" Artemis huffed. "I was trying to find the enemy's hideout!"

"Then why is it that you're only searching at restaurants?" Luna spoke skeptically. "You sure that you're not trying to look for a free meal?"

Artemis cringed guiltily at Luna's conclusion, which was all the black cat needed to know.

"Artemis, you're going to have to do better than that," Luna scolded snootily. "Otherwise, people are going to say you're nothing but a furry freeloader."

Artemis felt insulted and hopped off the bed, walking towards the door. However, as he was about to open the door, it suddenly swung open and smacked the feline square in the face. Chibiusa and Usagi then walked into the room, each carrying a large stack of clothes. The pink ordango walked over to the bed and set the pile of clothes on it. Then she saw Artemis, who now had a large red lump on his forehead.

"Oh, no! Artemis! What happened to you?!" Chibiusa exclaimed. "Did someone hit you or something?"

"Chibiusa, I think you were the one that hit her," Usagi pointed out.

Artemis could only let out a dizzy meow while Luna sighed exasperatedly.

Chibiusa then carried Artemis over to the bed, and she, Usagi, and Luna saw the lump on Artemis' head. It looked so silly to them that they couldn't help but snicker, trying their best to keep their laughter inside.

"I'm so sorry, Artemis," apologized Chibiusa. "Does this bump hurt when I touch it?"

Before Artemis could respond, Chibiusa touched the bump on his forehead. Due to it still being raw, Artemis let out a loud yowl in agony as the lump throbbed.

Chibiusa gasped when she saw it. "Wow! That thing looks so large and round; it looks like the moon!"

Usagi and Luna then exploded with laughter, thinking what Chibiusa said was funny.

"That's a good one, Chibiusa!" Luna yowled. "It's perfect for someone as careless as Artemis!"

Artemis scowled crossly, not amused.

"Aw, come on, Artemis. Don't be mad," chuckled Usagi. "We're only having a little fun."

"Don't worry about him," soothed Luna. "Artemis is just upset that he hasn't gotten anything done lately."

Now Artemis was angry. "Shut up, Luna!" he snapped. "I've had all I can take with you!"

The white cat then jumped off the bed and stormed away. Feeling a bit worried about Artemis, Usagi and Luna rushed out of the house following, but it was no good. Artemis had already gone.

"Luna, somehow I get the feeling you were a little too hard on him," Usagi chided.

"You think so?" wondered Luna, showing a slight bit of guilt. "Perhaps I was."

"Well, don't you worry about a thing! I'll be your mediator and help patch things up between you two!" Usagi said cheerily. "You can consider it already done!"

"That's what I'm worried about," Luna groaned. "Whenever you become a mediator for something, you can bet that it'll be done, alright."

Artemis soon returned to his residence, of course, Minako's house. Minako was busily at work knitting while Artemis sat on her bed, still fuming.

"Is there something wrong, Artemis?" asked Minako. "You seem cranky."

"I'm a proud male cat, and I refuse to be insulted!" Artemis huffed. "Not even by Luna!"

"Sounds to me that you fought with Luna," Minako said, putting down her needles. "You know, there's a saying that goes, "Fortune favors the old."

Artemis sighed. "Minako, it's "Fortunate favors the bold," not the old," he corrected.

Minako's cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "Well, some people say it that way. Anyway, my point is you can't accomplish anything you're willing to get out there, put yourself on the line, and take a risk."

Artemis stared at Minako, replaying her words of advice in his mind. Then, an idea bubbled up in his brain.

"Then that's what I'll do! I'm going to take some real action and distinguish myself!" Artemis thought with determination. "And that'll show Luna and the others! I'm going to take a risk and show them what I got!"

Artemis then hopped off of the bed and dashed out of the room.

"Artemis, where are you off to?" called out Minako. "What's going on?"

The white cat didn't reply as he set off on his critical mission.

At the same time, Usagi and Luna were running towards Minako's house, hoping to find Artemis to smooth things over with him. But then, as they turned around the corner, Usagi stepped on something that was not only soft and squishy but also let out a loud shrill yowl in agony. Usagi looked down, and much to her horror, she found that she was stepping on Artemis' head.

Luna couldn't help but snigger. "How careless."

Artemis glared. "Don't call me careless!" he hissed.

"Now, now. Let's all calm down here," Usagi spoke importantly. "Let your mediator handle this."

"How about mediating your foot off of my head, first, Usagi?!" Artemis complained.

Usagi did so, but as they looked back at Artemis, they saw that the white cat now had a large implant of Usagi's foot on his head. Not only that, but Artemis looked so cross that he was making a ridiculous angry face as he growled in anger. Usagi and Luna tried to hold back, but they couldn't as they both burst out laughing again, thinking that Artemis looked so funny. But as they settled down, they were quick to notice that Artemis had wisely disappeared.

"Oh, no! He's gone!" Usagi gasped. "This was your fault, Luna! You had to go and laugh at him!"

"What are you mean? You laughed at him, too!" Luna shot back.

Artemis didn't stop running until he came to a different part of Juuban, now feeling more determined to prove himself than before. Then, as he passed a couple of garbage cans, he heard a strange sound—the sound of mewling. Following the sound, Artemis went over to the trash cans and saw something that surprised him. In between the two cans was a box, and inside that box were four baby kittens, all of which looked sad, lonely, and hungry.

"I wonder where these little guys came from?" Artemis wondered.

At that moment, a car came driving by and soon stopped at where they were. Not wanting to be seen, Artemis quickly dashed away and hid behind a telephone pole peering out. Then, stepping out from the car, a man in a gray trenchcoat with green pants, black boots, a black neckbeard, and a brown hat. The man walked over to the kittens, picked them up, and put them in his car in the backseat. Artemis watched as the man got back into his car and drove away.

Feeling curious as to what the man was up to, Artemis followed him while the car went down another few feet down the block. Soon, the car came to a stop, and Artemis saw another animal. This time, he saw an old dog digging through the trash, trying to find something to eat. The man out of the car and walked over to the dog with a few treats in his hand. The dog, panting gratefully by the offering, went over to the man ate the treats. Then, the man led him to the car and drove away when the canine finished eating, leaving Artemis behind.

"I wonder where he's taking those animals?" Artemis wondered to himself. Then a thought struck him. "Wait, what if that guy's kidnapping those animals?! If he is, this could be my chance to take action and prove myself!"

And without giving it a second thought, Artemis stepped out from his hiding place and let out a meow. The man looked up, hearing him, and smiled kindly.

"Well, what do you know? Another lost cat," the man said as he went over and picked him up. "Don't worry, little one. I'm going to take you someplace that's will be a much better home than here."

Meanwhile, in Downtown Juuban, Esmeraude was walking around, searching for another Negative Point to take over. So far, her crystal couldn't detect anything close. Then it began to glow, swaying back and forth. The Black Moon Clan general looked up and saw where it was directing her. Just up ahead, there was an animal park with a large gate that read: GREAT ANIMAL KINGDOM. As she held up the crystal, it began to sway back and forth even faster than before, confirming her suspicions.

"So it seems that our next Negative Point is located somewhere beyond those gates," Esmeraude cackled.

Then, Esmeraude noticed something. As a couple of people walked past, they couldn't help but snicker and laugh as they went by. Thinking that they were mocking her, Esmeraude snootily pulled back her hair.

"Being beautiful can be such a sin sometimes," Esmeraude spoke haughtily. "Naturally, these filthy apes can't seem to understand."

But Esmeraude was wrong. At that moment, she felt something warm and wet on her foot and could also hear the sound of something trickling. The Black Moon General looked down, and she was shocked to see that a dog was urinating on her while everyone else laughed.

Esmeraude's face went red with fury. "You stupid mutt! I'm not a telephone pole! ! !"

The dog feeling a bit frightened, raced away, going through the gates to the park, and Esmeraude followed in hot pursuit wanting to make it pay.

Ami and Makoto happened to be walking by the animal park heading for Usagi's place to visit. As they were about to walk past the gate, the red car came driving by. As it went past the gates, Makoto happened to take a glance inside of the vehicle and saw a certain white feline riding inside.

"Hey, Ami? Wasn't that Artemis in that car just now?" Makoto asked.

Ami looked up from her book. "Sorry, I wasn't looking. I was memorizing my hundredth English vocabulary word," she replied. "Do you think remembering a hundred a day is too little?"

Makoto smiled wryly. "For you, that sounds about right," she sighed.

Inside the park, the man had dropped off Artemis over by an area where a large tree stood. All sorts of animals surrounded it, from birds, cats, and even dogs, all of which were living peacefully. Not too far from there was a veterinarian's office where all the animals got taken. The man got out of his car and brought the four kittens and the dog inside, where a female veterinarian was busily at work taking care of the animals.

The veterinarian looked up when the man came in. "Hello. Mr. McNeal," she greeted. "I take it you found more abandoned animals?"

"Yes. I did. Four kittens, a white cat, a dog," the man said. "The white cat appeared to be in good health, but I would like to have these little ones a checkup, just to be safe."

"Of course, I can," the veterinarian smiled as she picked up one of the kittens. "All of you are so lucky to be picked up by this nice man."

Then suddenly, Esmeraude appeared in the room, taking them both by surprise. Before the two could even react, Esmeraude used her powers, giving them a powerful bolt and making them convulse until they both fell unconscious. She then took out her crystal, and it began to sway back and forth wildly while glowing brightly.

"The Negative Point is right here!" Esmeraude smirked. "Now for the Dark Henge."

With a wave of her fan, she made a portal appear, and the Dark Henge came shooting out from it, sticking to the floor at her feet. Esmeraude waved her hand, activating its power.

"Now come forth, Droid Dokkubaa!" she ordered.

The Dark Henge began to flash with light at her command, and a droid emerged from it. She wore green pumps, a unitard with pink frills on the sides with a purple belt, gold hoop earrings, and a chain headdress with a silver gem in the middle. She also had dark red skin, white hair tied in a bun with two orange stick-like decorations, and had a long maroon whip at the ready.

The droid then took on the guise of the unconscious veterinarian, and while the Dark Henge began to absorb dark power, the animals were bathed in the evil light, all of their eyes glowing in an ominous red. Dokkubaa then snapped her fingers, and at her command, the dog suddenly sprang up and began walking on his front paws, as were the four kittens.

Esmeraude was so impressed and amused; she couldn't help but laugh raucously. However, she laughed so loud and so suddenly that the animals couldn't help but feel startled, causing them all to fall to the floor.

"Master Esmeraude, please do try to keep your voice down," admonished Dokkubaa. "You're scaring them."

Esmeraude blushed a bright pink as she hid behind her fan in embarrassment.

At the Tsukino residence, Makoto and Ami told the others about Artemis.

"What?! Artemis went to the Animal Kingdom?!" exclaimed Usagi.

"Why in the world would he go there?" asked Luna. "And what kind of place is that exactly?"

"It's a shelter that houses and takes care of animals that get abandoned," said Makoto.

"And when people are looking to get a new pet, they can go visit there and adopt one," added Ami.

"Well, if that's the case, then I know for sure now!" said Usagi. "Artemis must have run away!"

"Ran away?" everyone else repeated.

"That's right. Artemis is always getting teased by Luna, so he must have finally had enough of it!" Usagi explained. "So he must have decided to give up living with us, and now he's at the Great Animal Kingdom."

"But I heard that you laughed at Artemis as well, Usagi," Harusuke said. "Not to mention, you stepped on his head and laughed about it too."

Usagi responded by elbowing her brother on the hip hard, causing Harusuke to yelp. "Anyway, there's only one of us who can get Artemis back." she went on, pointing to the black cat. "That someone is you, Luna."

"Come on, Usagi. You're being completely absurd and overreacting," scoffed Luna. "Besides, it's not my job to fetch him."

Usagi was shocked. "I can't believe you would say that!" she gasped. "You got to help him, Luna! He's your friend!"

"Yeah. I mean, Artemis is a bit clumsy, but you don't have to be so cold to the poor guy," Harusuke agreed.

"You were pretty rough on him, Luna," Rei agreed. "Artemis probably left because you hurt his feelings."

"And what's more, the Great Animal Kingdom doesn't just have cats and dogs over there," Minako said, ominously pretending to be a ghost. "It also has alligators, giant snakes, and tigers too! But, of course, by now, Artemis might already be dead, turned into a ghost."

The others could only stare at Minako, not amused.

Luna then conceded. "All right, all right, already! I get it!" she groaned. "I'll go convince Artemis to come back."

Chibiusa then burst into the room, having eavesdropped on the conversation, wearing a backpack on her shoulders. "Wait! Did I hear that you're going to the zoo? I wanna go too!"

"Look, Chibiusa. We're not going to the Animal Kingdom for fun," Usagi explained. "We have some important business over there."

"Hey, no fair!" Chibiusa pouted sulkily. "If you don't let me go, I'm gonna tell Mamo!"

"Well, in that case, you're coming!" Usagi immediately said.

"Now, hold on just a minute," said Makoto. "I think it would be for the best if Luna handled this one."

"I agree," said Minako as she pretended to be a ghost again. "Remember, Luna. Bring back Artemis before he ends up like this."

"Minako, would you give the ghost thing a rest already?" Harusuke sighed. "Artemis isn't going to die, and there are certainly no wild animals in there for that matter."

Luna could only sigh, feeling uncertain as well as annoyed.

Back in the Animal Kingdom, Artemis was still investigating. He was looking for anything suspicious and the animals the man picked up. So far, he saw nothing but animals, until finally, he saw them not too far away, marching along.

"Thank goodness they're all okay. I guess I was worried over nothing," Artemis said to himself. "I suppose I should head home."

But just as he was about to do so, the four kittens suddenly began walking on their hind legs, while the dog followed. Then the kittens jumped onto the dog's back, still on their hind legs, like they were doing a circus act. The people that saw this were amazed. Artemis, however, was so shocked his mouth slacked open in disbelief. Then Dokkuba walked up surrounded by various animals, who were all on their hind legs.

"Now, I will show you some more amazing animal tricks, Dokkuba!" the disguised droid announced as she snapped her fingers.

Immediately at her command, all of the animals quickly assembled themselves into an animal pyramid, much to their audience's delight as they applauded. However, their excitement would soon be over. Right then, all of the animals' eyes suddenly glowed red, and before the spectators knew what hit them, they all went on the attack, biting and scratching whichever person they could. Everyone fleed with terror as the animals pursued them relentlessly.

"The Black Moon Clan must have influenced those animals!" Artemis thought. "This is my chance to prove myself! Time for me to be a hero!"

Bu before Artemis could even think of playing hero, he found himself staring face to face with a dog that growled viciously at him. Artemis then raced away with the dog chasing him in hot pursuit. Then as he leaped over to some trash cans, he heard a familiar voice.

"Artemis!"

Artemis skidded to a stop and looked behind him. Inside of a trash can was Luna.

"What are you doing here?!" Artemis exclaimed.

"There's no time for that now!" Luna spoke urgently. "Get inside, quick!"

Artemis then ran inside just as the dog came rushing past, not seeing them in their hiding place. Artemis was grateful, but he was still surprised to see Luna.

"Explain yourself right now," Artemis spoke firmly. "What are you doing here, Luna?"

At first, Luna was going to apologize, but she couldn't help but let her haughty attitude show for whatever reason. "Oh, no reason. I was just passing by. Anyway, what're you doing running around this place, Artemis? Did you mess something up again?"

Artemis scowled and walked out of the bin. "No, but I'm busy at the moment," he said. "You should go home right now, Luna."

The white cat sulkily walked away, only to have Luna follow him.

Artemis then looked back. "Don't follow me!" he snapped.

"Hey! Ease up on the attitude, will you?" Luna snapped back. "I only came here because I was worried about you, but you're going to be like that, then I will go home."

Artemis now felt surprised as Luna turned on her paws and walked away. As he watched her go, he couldn't help but feel confused as well as guilty.

"Luna came here for my sake?" Artemis thought. "And I had to go say all of that too! So what's the matter with me?!" He then shook his head, shaking off his guilt. "Luna, if I live through this, I'll see you soon, okay?"

He then took off, ready to fight the enemy, only for him to step on an empty can, which in turn caused him to slip and fall to the ground.

Meanwhile, the animals continued to wreak havoc on the poor citizens as they corned them by a phone booth, with Dokubaa leading the charge. Some of them desperately tried to call nine-one-one, but the animals had chewed away on the phone lines, making them useless. Dokkabaa then shed her human disguise revealing her droid form, and with a mighty twirl of her whip, she shot it towards a poor soul, making it wrap around his wrist, and began shocking him with dark power.

As this went on, Esmeraude cackled with triumph as the Dark Henge began to grow. "Yes! The Dark Henge is growing beautifully!" she crowed.

Meanwhile, Usagi, Minako, and Harusuke waited outside the gates for Luna and Artemis to return.

"I wonder why Luna's been taking so long to find Artemis?" wondered Usagi.

"I don't know," shrugged Minako. "Maybe she got lost in there or something?"

"Let's just hope no dogs are chasing them or something," Harusuke said. "Or the owner of that place didn't mistake them for strays or something."

Then, suddenly, the three of them heard the sound of screaming coming from inside the park. Just as the three were looking inside, a few other people inside the park came running out, shrieking in terror and fright.

"What was all that about?!" Minako gasped.

Harusuke then looked inside. "I don't know, but something's telling that there's trouble afoot, guys."

Usagi and Minako agreed as they became concerned.

"Harusuke, Minako, we need to transform," Usagi said. "Artemis and Luna are in there, and they could be in trouble."

Harusuke and Minako answered with a nod, and the three took out their transformation items.

"MOON CRYSTAL POWER MAKE UP!"

"VENUS STAR POWER MAKE UP!"

"SOLAR PRISM POWER BLAZE FORTH!"

Transformation Sequence: Usagi

Usagi holds up the Crystal Star brooch as it opens, revealing the Silver Crystal inside. Usagi waved her hand on the Silver Crystal, and it flashed it a bright short burst of pink light emitting a chime. It does it a second time, and on the third, it shines brightly, enveloping Usagi in its glow. Usagi then holds the brooch above her head, suspending it in between her hands, drawing it to the center of her torso, flipping it once before placing it in the center of her chest. She then spins around a few times as the crystal begins to glow even brighter than before in pink light. She holds her hands up as a pair of wings spring forth from her back while pink ribbons come out from the crystal wrapping around Usagi's body, forming her leotard. The wings on her back disappeared as more pink ribbons wrapped around her arms and hands, creating white gloves and red boots around her calves and feet. As the blue skirt appears around her waist, one more pink ribbon ties at her back as she does a kind of spread-eagle motion with one leg up, a glowing moon symbol appearing on her forehead. Her tiara, earrings, choker, and ordango covers appear, and Usagi, now Sailor Moon, finishes with her signature pose.

Transformation Sequence: Harusuke.

Harusuke holds up his hand as the stone on his bracelet shines bright in golden light. The stone lets out three pulses, the symbol of the Sun glowing inside of it on the third pulse. Harusuke is enveloped in silver and gold light as he jumps into the air, his clothes disappearing. The symbol of the sun appears just above him and goes down, phasing through his body, making his silver jumpsuit with gold lines on the sides materialize. Two smaller sun symbols go over his feet to his kneecaps, and his gold and metal boots and silver kneecaps appear. Around his waist, a ring of light wraps around it, forming a belt with a gold belt buckle in the shape of an oval. Harusuke then spreads his arms wide as two more light rings envelop his arms and hands, making gold gloves appear. The symbol of the sun appears in front of him now, and crashes into his chest, making his chest piece like before, now thicker and having shoulder guards. Finally, a helmet materializes above Harusuke's head, the design slightly different as he reaches and grabs hit, putting it on his head, not having a mouth protector. Harusuke opens his eyes, punches his hands together, and strikes his signature pose, the symbol of the sun appearing behind him with a star-filled background.

Transformation sequence: Minako.

Minako's hand is held up as golden stars swirl around it, alighting her fingernails, turning them into a shade of bright orange. Her transformation stick appears spinning, and she takes hold of it, the star on end as well as the symbol glowing. It begins to turn as Minako is enveloped in yellow light. Then she sweeps the pen over her head as banners of golden stars emit from it. Minako then holds up the pen above her head as the banners of stars form a spiral around her body. They disappear into the ground, forming a circle of stars and burst into more stars going upwards, enveloping Minako's body. Then Minako emerges wearing the same outfit as Sailor Moon's, the center bow, boots, and rims on the gloves colored orange, her back bow, yellow, and her center bow, blue. She then opens her eyes as she assumes her signature pose.

Dokkubaa continued her relentless assault on the innocent citizens, cracking her whip and shocking them until they were unconscious. Artemis, hiding inside the bushes, couldn't stand watching this, knowing that he had to do something.

"Damn! I'm not just going to stand here, and them do this!" Artemis thought. "However, this is the perfect opportunity to meet up with the enemy like this! I'll stop that droid for sure!"

And while plucking up courage, Artemis leaped out from the bushes and dashed straight at the droid letting out a brave yowl as he pounced. But unfortunately, the four brainwashed kittens saw him coming and all attacked him at once, hitting him at incredible speeds. Artemis yelped as he fell helplessly to the ground, his little cat's body wracked with pain.

"Come on, you guys! Don't do this!" Artemis begged the kittens. "Come to your senses, and snap out of it!"

The little kittens didn't hear them as they surrounded Artemis, their eyes gleaming predatorily at him, along with all of the other animals. Dokkubaa now stood over Artemis, and wanting to make him submit to her control as well, she cracked her whip. Artemis jumped out of the way to dodge and tried to escape, but one of the dogs knew what he had planned and knocked him back to the middle with its paw.

Realizing that he had no means of escaping, Artemis stood his ground, trying to be brave despite being battered. But it was only going to get worse for him. A monkey hopped on top of the crowd holding a rope right then. The monkey threw it with an evil cackle, making it wrap around Artemis's left leg, yanking it sharply, causing the white feline to fall to the ground. Dokkupaa readied her whip, prepared to strike while the cat was down, but at the last second, Luna leaped into the fray, tackling the monkey that bound him, enabling Artemis to jump out of the way from Dokkupaa's whip.

"Luna!" Artemis gasped. "You saved me!"

"Stop this already, Artemis! She's too strong!" said Luna. "There's no way you can take this droid by yourself! We need to wait for the Guardians!"

But Artemis refused to give up, ready to keep up the fight. "No! You're wrong!" the white cat defiantly spoke. "I'm going to prove to you and the others that I'm not clumsy or careless! I can beat this droid on my own!"

"But you can't! Please don't do this!" begged Luan, her eyes welling up in tears. "If you keep going on like this, you'll get hurt or worse!"

Dokkupaa then cracked her whip again, forcing the cats to dodge. This time, Luna tried to escape, only to get kicked by a dog back to the middle of their circle. Seeing that Luna was hurt, Artemis bravely stepped in front of the black cat, ready to protect her from harm.

"Stop, Artemis! Don't do it!" begged Luna. "Get out of the way!"

The white cat refused to move as Dokkupaa cracked her whip again, wanting to finish this. But then, a familiar voice shouted out.

"VENUS LOVE-ME CHAIN!"

A long chain of hearts made of energy shot out and collided with Dokkupaa's whip, causing it to explode, destroying it, and creating a cloud of smoke. Seizing their chance, and while the droid and the animals were surprised, Artemis and Luna leaped over the animals taking cover in the bushes as Sailor Moon, Sailor Venus, and Solaris appeared.

"You have done the unthinkable! Changing the pure hearts of animals into evil!" Sailor Moon spoke.

"They say you can teach an old dog new tricks, but teaching any animal how to be ruthless and malevolent is not only wrong, but it's disgraceful to pet owners everywhere!" Solaris scowled.

"Perhaps God or Buddha may forgive you..." Sailor Venus said.

"But as for us, we'll never forgive you!" the three Guardians said together.

"I am the Pretty Guardian who fights for love and justice, Sailor Moon!"

"And I'm Sailor Venus!"

"And I'm Solaris!"

"And now, in the name of the Moon, we'll punish you!" finished Sailor Moon.

Dokkupaa then let out a shout and snapped her fingers, causing all of the animals to charge at the Guardians at once. However, due to them still being animals despite being controlled, the Guardians couldn't lay a finger on them out of fear of hurting them. The dogs viciously snapped their jaws, and the cats scratched with their claws while the Guardians tried their best to defend themselves from their attacks. Artemis and Luna watched from behind the bushes and were worried. Artemis was raring to jump in and help the Guardians somehow, but he did not need to do that as Sailor Mars, Jupiter, and Mercury arrived.

"JUPITER SPARKLING WIDE PRESSURE!"

"MARS BURNING MANDALA!"

Jupiter launched a large disc of lightning while Mars fired an array of fire rings. The two attacks meshed together, creating a giant pillar of fire and lightning that flared brightly. The animals were so surprised and frightened that they ceased their assault on Sailor Moon's group and retreated to the large tree. When that happened, another voice cried out.

"MERCURY SHINE AQUA ILLUSION!"

Sailor Mercury then unleashed a cold torrent of water circling the tree, creating a wall of ice corraling the animals inside.

"Now behave yourselves while you're in there, okay?" Sailor Mercury spoke to the animals.

Sailor Moon rushed over to Sailor Mercury, feeling relieved as well as grateful. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" she cried.

"Nicely done, girls!" Solaris congratulated. "I never would have thought about corraling the animals. Pretty clever."

"That's nice and all, but we still got some unfinished work to do, you know," pointed out Sailor Mars.

"Don't worry!" Sailor Moon spoke aloofly. "It'll be a piece of cake!"

Unfortunately, Sailor Moon had spoken way too soon, for right then, Dokkupaa threw six strange rings at the Guardians. The rings immediately clamped around their necks and transformed into metal collars with chained leashes that started to squeeze around their necks as Dokkupaa gave them a yank pulling them to the ground.

"D-Damn it! We let out ground down!" choked out Rei.

"If we don't do something, we'll suffocate!" Sailor Jupiter rasped as she desperately tried to pry hers off.

Artemis could see that the Guardians were in trouble, and without any hesitation, Artemis rushed out of the bushes towards Dokkupaa.

"Artemis! No!" Luna cried.

But the white cat didn't stop as he let out another brave yowl as he pounced and relentlessly started scratching the droid in the face with his claws. Dokkupaa screamed in pain while letting go of the leashes, desperately trying to get Artemis off of her. At the same time, the Guardians felt the collars on their necks lessen, and Sailor Moon using her strength managed to get the collar off. Then, seeing that Artemis had the droid distracted, Sailor Moon summoned her Cutie Moon Rod and aimed.

"MOON PRINCESS HALATION!"

The Guardian of the Moon then fired a powerful blast at Dokkupaa just as she managed to throw Artemis off of her. The attack struck her immediately, reducing her to a pile of ashes, her gem turning black and lifeless.

Back with Esmeraude, the Dark Henge, now no longer having its droid, began to shrink and lose power until it shattered into a million pieces. At first, Esmeraude was cross, but then she laughed haughtily.

"Don't think that you brats have won!" Esmeraude snarked. "I'll be back!"

But once again, Esmeraude felt a warm and wet sensation on her boot. She looked down and was appalled to see that the same dog from before was urinating on her again.

"You little mutt! You peed on me again?!" Esmeraude shrieked crossly. "I've had it with this!"

The Black Moon Clan general then disappeared, having enough for one day.

Back with Usagi and the others, the animals had now returned to their usual and friendly selves. And since there was no one else around at this time, Usagi and her group decided to take advantage and play with the animals.

"Aww! They're so cute!" Usagi gushed as she played with the four kittens.

"And so sweet too," agreed Minako. "It's hard to believe that these little guys were attacking us."

"You're telling me," Harusuke chuckled as he stroked another cat on its head. "It's better to have them cute and sweet rather than enemies."

Ami couldn't help but laugh as she, Rei, and Makoto played with a dog. "You know? You look like my cram school teacher," she spoke to the dog.

"I say he's got my grandpa's eyes," Rei giggled.

"This dog looks just like the grandpa of the guy that broke my heart," Makoto said with a smile.

Everyone could only look at Makoto, feeling awkward.

Artemis and Luna were resting over at a table not too far away from them. Artemis was feeling rather pleased with himself, feeling proud that he had a part in taking down the droid.

"You know Artemis; I have to say that you're still careless and clumsy," Luna said. "But I guess what you did today was pretty impressive, so you deserve a little credit."

"Naturally," Artemis spoke snootily. "Because of my keen investigation, the enemy's plan never stood a chance."

Luna rolled her eyes. "It seemed more like you found them by accident," she spoke flatly.

Artemis didn't say anything more. Then suddenly, Chibiusa came rushing through the gates, twirling her bag in the air, looking cross.

"Hey! Why did you all leave me behind?!" Chibiusa shrieked in frustration. "I wanted to see the animals too!"

Then, due to Chibiusa was swinging her bag so fast and hard, it slipped out of her hand and went flying until it crashed straight into Artemis. The white cat yowled as he was knocked off of the table to the ground. Everyone else couldn't help but laugh while Artemis once again had his pride bruised.

"Oh, come on, you guys! Give me a break!" wailed the white cat.

I guess there's no helping that silly and careless cat, isn't there?