[Scene: The Silver Millennium. Sailor Mercury, dressed in an elegant gown the same shade of blue as her hair, rushes into a grand ballroom in the palace. There is a party, and Sailor Jupiter is among the wallflowers.]
[The Guardian of Thunder is the best dancer in the kingdom, yet none of the men ever ask her to dance. Not surprising, since she is a full head taller than most of them. But she's always there, in a pretty gown, refusing to give up hope that somehow, someday, some fantastically tall prince will come in and ask her to dance.]
[Sailor Mercury rushes to her side, keeping her voice low so as not to cause a panic.]
Mercury: You must come with me. The palace's defenses have been breached. I fear an attack is imminent.
[Jupiter nods and they move out. They walk briskly to the exit doors then break into a run when they are free from the party. As they race through the halls, they are passed by a group of late arrivals in their formalwear.]
[Sailor Mercury turns to stare at them, since they have gold moons on their foreheads and she thinks she recognizes some of them as the Children of Nemesis. But that's unlikely, since the Children of Nemesis were escorted out by armed guards and told to stay away from the palace several days earlier.]
[Eventually they come to the mechanism that powers the palace's defenses. It has been smashed to pieces.]
Jupiter: We should summon the other guardians.
Mercury: [sighs] There are no other guardians…It's just us.
[Jupiter does a double take]
Mercury: Mars is dead… I just came from her shrine…The intruders slashed her throat… Presumably so she couldn't sense the invasion coming and raise an alarm.
Jupiter: And Venus?
[Mercury takes a deep breath]
Mercury: Venus was the one who let them in.
Jupiter: [large eyed] Are you sure about that?
Mercury: The first line defenses were disabled by her passcodes, and nobody else's… She was supposed to be at the party, but she tiptoed away and nobody's seen her since.
Jupiter: If Venus is working for the enemy, we should alert the queen!
Mercury: Yes, I agree. She will be in her meditation chambers.
[They run up the stairs that lead to the parapets and the towers. Mercury turns to go alert the queen in her mediation spire, but Jupiter stops abruptly and turns for the battlements.
Jupiter: Oh my heavens…
[Mercury comes over and sees that far below is an Earth army that stretches as far as the horizon.]
[Mercury tries to pull her back. Jupiter steps closer to the battlements and stares down , as their leader, the shitennou Kunzite, stares up at her.]
Mercury: Come away from there. We have to alert the queen.
Jupiter: [grins] No need. I count two Shitennou and a few thousand normal earthlings encased in metal. And you know what works really well against men encased in metal..?
[Jupiter steps up onto the parapet, and tenses her arms as an antenna rises from her tiara.]
Mercury: [gasps in fear] Jupiter…no…
[Sailor Mercury doesn't know why she's so frightened. Other than the fact that Kunzite is staring straight up at Sailor Jupiter with an evil smile on his face. He must know what she is about to do and doesn't seem concerned in the slightest. Meanwhile, Nephrite, who was standing at his side, is now nowhere to be seen]
Jupiter: [winks back at Mercury] Step aside and watch the chain reaction. SUPREME THUNDER!
[Bolts of lightning beam down from the heavens as Jupiter clenches her fists to harness their energy. She draws as much lighting as she can. But the instant she holds out her arms to unleash its power on the army below, she is encased in a black bubble]
[Mercury can hear her screams, and see the lightning dance on the interior of the bubble, but there is nothing she can do to help.]
[Her element is water, and water is not much of a help when it comes to preventing an electrocution. Jupiter's innate immunity against her own powers provide the only protection, but even she can't withstand prolonged exposure to a lighting storm devised to take down an entire army.]
[All she can hope to do is direct the lightning as far as she can from herself and hope that it dissipates before it touches her…]
[Then the bubble starts to shrink]
[Mercury feels her heart sink as she watches Jupiter being incinerated by her own attack. She doesn't want to flee and leave her closest friend to die alone, but she knows she must alert the queen.]
[No sooner does she take a step back than Nephrite appears on the wall beside her, wielding a giant halberd overhead. She doesn't even have time to scream as he whirls it around and swings it so that it cuts deep into her side, knocking her off the wall to plummet like a comet to the battlefield below.]
Nephrite: [laughing as he steps forward to watch her fall] Bullseye.
[Ami Mizuno wakes with a gasp and runs her hand through her short jet black hair. Downstairs she can hear the maid washing dishes. She looks at the clock. She's never had to set the alarm before, but now she has only twenty minutes to get school.]
[She rises, dresses quickly and goes downstairs for a quick breakfast. Her mother, Dr. Mizuno, is sitting at the table drinking coffee and wearing scrubs]
Ami: I missed the bus. Can I have a ride?
Dr. Mizuno: Are you feeling ok? It's not like you to sleep this late. You look a little flushed.
Ami: [uncharacteristically grumpy] I'm fine. I overslept. I just need a ride, and it's on your way to the hospital.
[Dr. Mizuno places her palm on Ami's forehead]
Dr. Mizuno: No, you're not fine. You have a fever. You'd better stay home today.
Ami: [panic attack] I can't stay home! I'll fall behind in school!
Dr. Mizuno: Fall behind? [laughs] You gotten a perfect score on every exam you've ever taken.
Ami: [near tears] Yes, but I don't want to start on a downward spiral.
Dr. Mizuno: If you have a fever, you're staying home.
[Dr. Mizuno rises, comes back with a thermometer, and places it in her daughter's mouth]
Dr. Mizuno: There is a terrible flu going around. The ER is already filled to capacity. I'm not having you infect the entire school.
[Ami nods, and submits meekly. But as soon as her mother's back is turned, she pulls the thermometer out of her mouth and looks at it.]
[The line is up to 103 degrees fahrenheit.]
[She shakes the thermometer until the mercury goes down and places it back in her mouth an instant before her mother turns around.]
[Her mother pulls the thermometer out of her mouth.]
Dr. Mizuno: You're right. You don't have a fever. If anything you're running a bit cool.
Ami: I told you I wasn't sick. I'm just a little warm since I slept with my face under the blankets.
[Her mother sighs]
Dr. Mizuno: Fine. Get your bookbag. I'll give you a ride.