Under the cover of Mercury's aqua mist, the Sailor Soldiers plus Trunks were all hidden from the lesser Androids. However, 17 and 18 would have no issue locking onto them as they floated in the air.

"Do you feel that 17?" Android 18 looked at her brother. "There are three more unfamiliar signatures."

Android 17 clenched his fist. "We'll squash those brats no problem."

"Moon tiara action!" Usagi's attack came from out of the mist, bee-lining between the twin Androids. She missed them on purpose, allowing them to get distracted.

"Seriously," 17 said. "Does she get tired of using that attack?"

Usagi smirked from where she stood. "I have more than that up my sleeve."

Trunks flew down from above while Usagi had their attention, grabbing the Androids' heads and smashing them together. Before they could grab at him, he flipped out of the way. Just in time for Usagi's tiara to make the round trip and hit them in the back of their skulls.

"Nice job Usako, we're really ahead of the game." Trunks quipped.

Usagi giggled in response. "Why thank you."

The sound of her laughter made Trunks beam. His fondness for Usagi grew inside of him. He was proud of how far she came.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a stray beam from Rei's fire soul crashing into another lesser Android. "Watch out!" he shouted, forcing Usagi down as he ducked.

As the bot crashed into the ground, its chest cavity opened up and released all the stolen hearts back into their respective bodies.

"No!" 18 reached out her hand towards the broken Android in anguish. "Oh you punks are totally going to get it now." She then pointed both of her hands towards Usagi and Trunks.

Usagi stood up, holding the little gem in her tiara. "Moon twilight..."

Quickly Trunks pressed into her side, flanking her. He held his arms out. "Kame... Hame..."

Seeing as his sister was outnumbered, 17 joined in and charged his attack with her.

"Flash!"

"Ha!"

Both Trunks and Usagi released their attacks at the same time as Androids 17 and 18, resulting in a beam struggle. For a moment, Trunks and Usagi were losing. They grit their teeth with the effort. 17 and 18 were pushing them back.

But then...

"Fire soul!"

Sailor Mars flanked Sailor Moon's other side, adding her power into their beam. Rei smiles at Usagi and dips her head.

"Shine aqua... Illusion!"

Sailor Mercury was at her brother's side. With Mars' and Mercury's added abilities, they had the edge. They were finally pushing back against 17 and 18. For once, they've shown signs of fear. The heroes where in the final stretch of the struggle. They just had to push a little further.

A new voice called out from behind then.

"Flower hurricane!"

Sailor Jupiter pressed behind the group, standing tall. Everyone was surprised to see that Makoto had joined the fray.

Together they managed to break through Android 17's and Android 18's attack, hitting them with a direct blast. Smoke filled the area.

"Did we just... Beat them?" Trunks asked, waving his hand to dispell some of the smoke.

"No." Ami said. They could still feel their power levels, so the Androids weren't dead.

Makoto clenched her fist. "But are they still standing?"

The group stood in silence as the smoke dispelled, revealing a battered Android 17 and 18. No matter how damaged they were, they were still standing.

"You got lucky." said 18, holding her broken arm.

"But we'll be back." 17 added. Together they flew off.

Trunks was about to follow but Ami held him back by touching his chest.

Trunks looked down at her, bewildered. "But why? They're practically scrap metal, we can finish them."

"Assuming that they're going home, we wouldn't be able to handle a whole army of Androids." Ami reminded him. "And what if Kaolinite is there? You weren't there when I felt her power level. She's about as strong as a Sailor Soldier. We need to find out more information and we can't do that without Sailor Venus."

Trunks scoffed. "And where is Sailor Venus anyway?"

Ami pulled out her tracker. "Last I checked she was in Orange City... But it seems like she's leaving."

"I wonder who Sailor Venus might turn out to be." Usagi mused, hand on her chin. "If Mako is Sailor Jupiter, do you think we all know Venus?"

Trunks crossed his arms. "Well whoever she is, I'm pretty sure Sailor Venus and Sailor V are one in the same."

"Wouldn't that mean she awakened before all of us?" Usagi looked around for Luna, who would know the answer to that. But the cat was nowhere to be found. "Where is Luna anyway?"

"We took care of all the other Androids... Right?" Rei asked Ami.

Ami's face turned sallow. "It's possible we could have missed one."

Panicked, Usagi ran, searching under every stone for Luna. "Luna? Where are you?"

Following her lead, everyone went off in search of Luna and called out her name.

"You can stop that." said a woman's voice. The sound of her heels digging into the dirt filled the silence as she approached the group. "I have your cat."

The woman had long red hair that seemed to have a mind of its own. It was moving around like tentacles and in one of them was Luna, tied up. Her mouth was covered by a tendril of hair to prevent her from screaming.

"Silly Sailor Mercury." she said, chuckling. "Kaolinite might be there. No. Kaolinite is here."

Ami's breath caught in her throat.

"I wanted to see first hand how our new wave of Androids would take hearts. You made quick work of them I have to admit. But it had to take all of you to put a dent in 17 and 18."

"You..." Rei pointed an accusatory finger at Kaolinite. "You were masking your power!"

Even now, none of the girls or Trunks could sense any energy coming from Kaolinite. The woman just glowered at them, smiling sinisterly.

"Let Luna go!" Usagi lunged forward, only to be slapped away by Kaolinite's hair. She flew into the air only to be caught by Trunks.

Kaolinite laughed at Usagi. "I'll give you your cat back. After she tells me where the Silver Crystal is."

"Silver Crystal..." Mako echoed.

"Go ahead," said Kaolinite, unwrapping her hair from Luna's mouth. "Tell us. Where is the Silver Crystal?"

Luna hissed at her captor. "I don't know."

"You're lying." Kaolinite squeezed Luna's little body, knocking the wind out of her.

"Stop it!" Usagi cried, fighting against Trunks' grip on her.

"Okay! I'll tell you!" Luna shouted. Kaolinite loosened up so Luna could speak. "The princess of the Silver Millennium has it."

"And just who might that be?"

"... Sailor Venus." Luna lied, but there was no way for Kaolinite to know.

The woman was satisfied with that answer. She threw Luna down at Trunks' and Usagi's feet. "For that, I've spared your life."

Kaolinite then teleports away.

The other Sailor Guardians crowd around Luna to see if she was okay. Luna stood up with a cough, fluffing out her fur. "I'm alright." she promised. "Just a little bruised."

"How come you told her Sailor Venus is the princess?" Rei asked angrily. "They could kill her before we find her!"

Ami placed a hand on her sister's shoulder to calm her down. "All the more reason to find her first."