That impression might be challenged by something colliding with her ankle, followed by a loud, offended yowl. 

Ow, what? Oh, kitty.

"My apologies, neko-san. I haven't seen you around here before."

Grrrr.

The cat sits primly in front of her, then paws at its face a bit – what it'd been busy with before the stupid human came blundering through – trying to remove the bandages stuck to its forehead. 

"Do you need help with that?" She kneels down and cautiously reaches out.

It glares, but it lets her get close, even holds still while she removes the bandages – revealing a yellow mark on its forehead like a crescent moon or a strange boat, the horns pointing up. 

"Isn't that strange." Never seen a cat with yellow fur like that. Is it dye, maybe?

It makes a small noise as she tries to examine it... Then jumps onto Erika's shoulder, doing a neat and almost gravity-defying flip to get around her head and arm.

Wah!

"Uh. Hi there? Are you going to get mad if I try to stand up now...?" Scritches?

It seems to be sniffing her? It tilts its head into the scritches a bit, but only reacts to her standing up by very slightly shifting to keep its balance.

"Okay then. I've got to get to school, so if you don't mind..." She will start walking. She's not late, yet, but she does need to keep moving.

The cat rides on her shoulder until she reaches the school gate, where it jumps up onto the top of the wall to the side of the gate, landing above the school's name – Juban Municipal High School. 

"See you later then, neko-san." She's not really expecting it to still be here after school, but she is in the going-home club, so it'll still be light out and she might see it.

There's nothing immediately apparent when she leaves school. No cats, at least.

Alas. But not surprising.

Well. On with her afternoon- to the library, with a brief detour to pick up a snack at the corner store.

Mizuno Ami from Class 5 seems to have beaten her there. (Not stopping for a snack helped.) She isn't at her usual place at an open table, books spread around her. though – instead, she's sitting at one of the computers, squinting at something before blinking and shaking her head. 

Wonder what she's working on that she needs a computer for. They're not really friends such that Erika will go ask what she's doing (they may in fact never have exchanged more than six words directly), so Erika will collect her materials for the day and retreat to her usual table.

Ami does the 'blink and shake her head' thing a few more times, before leaning back and groaning with her hands over her eyes. "This thing's giving me a headache," she mutters, only audible because of how quiet the library is, before reaching down to remove a floppy disk from the tower, then turning the whole computer off. 

...Which is when there's a soft scuffling noise from around Erika's feet.

What? Is that-

"How did you get in here?" she hisses.

It waves its tail dismissively, then jumps up on the table next to Erika's books. "I walked in," it says, primly. 

She stands up too fast in shock and has to hastily grab at her chair to prevent it from falling over.

Ami (and a couple of other people) glance over at the noise, though apparently lose interest quickly.

The cat huffs and sits on its haunches. 

"Sorry," she mutters, sitting back down. Wait, does no one else see the cat? What?

"...Why are you talking."

"Those bandages were blocking my powers," it says, very quietly. "I can talk now that you removed them."

"You're... welcome?"

Hmmm. "There's a strange energy around you..." 

"Coming from a talking cat, what's that supposed to mean?"

It wraps its tail around its legs. "Something best discussed in private."

Hmm. Well. The books will be here later, but the cat has a mind of its own.

"All right." She gets up, more carefully this time, and starts putting away her things.

It watches her, then jumps down to follow. 

Is just walking private enough or does she actually need to get all the way home?

It waits until she's home. Once there's four walls and a closed door between them and anyone else, it jumps and does an odd backflip – and the air shimmers, and a jeweled brooch falls to the ground. The brooch has a large central disk with an engraving of a crescent moon and a series of smaller circles, with four circular gems coming off the disk – red, green, yellow, and blue.

"What is that?"

"A transformation item. If I'm right... Using that, you'll be able to turn into Sailor Moon."

"Turn into...?" She reaches down to pick the brooch up.

It sparkles! Something feels oddly momentous about it.

"Now, repeat after me: 'Moon Prism Power, Make Up.'"

"No, wait, hold on. What did you mean, turn into? Will I be able to turn back? What's Sailor Moon, is that like that- 'Sailor V' on the news?" Also you're a talking cat. Something magic is clearly going on, but Erika wants just a little bit more information before jumping in with both feet.

"You will be able to turn back. You can only access your powers while using a powered item – the transformation brooch will let you access the basics. Sailor Moon is one of the Guardians of Justice, chosen to defend the Moon and everything the Moon is part of – the Earth's orbit, the Solar System, even the galaxy."

"Defend it from what?"

"Any and all potential threats. Corruption from within this world, malice from without." 

"Oh. No pressure, then."

"You will have power, and training, and allies in time – I haven't found any of the other Guardians of this Solar System yet, but there should be one for each major cosmic body, except the Sun."

"Guess that's something." Let's be realistic, she was never going to say no to magic powers. "How did the words go again?"

"'Moon Prism Power, Make Up.'"

Feeling only mildly ridiculous, she repeats after the cat. "Moon Prism Power, Make Up."

And power starts to rush around her, the world she sees replaced by a sparkly void, a light suffusing her from within as her clothes dissolve and then begin to reform. 

"Congratulations."

"Thanks. I think." She examines herself in her mirror. "My face is different..."

"You're still recognizable if someone really looks," the cat warns, "Or if they have other reasons to suspect – but most people will only notice you look very similar to Tsukino Erika. They shouldn't make the connection on their own, not even your own family."

"Noted."

"Be careful, anyways."

"So you said something about accessing powers?"

"You should be able to hear – perhaps even see – any developing situations you're needed in. Your tiara also has several powers, especially offensive and healing-oriented. They will need practice to use effectively or at scale. You should also be far more athletic than an ordinary human."

"Probably shouldn't practice inside. I'll have to find somewhere."

"I can show you some options."

"Thank you. Uh, what should I call you?"

"My name is Luna."

"Luna. Got it."

"Is it because of your-" she points to her forehead.

"I'm not the only one with that kind of mark. I'm called Luna because I'm sworn to serve the Moon Kingdom."

"Am I part of the Moon Kingdom now too?"

"...The Moon Kingdom no longer exists. One of my tasks is trying to find its lost princess."

"Oh. I see."

The cats looks away. "I don't have much information on her. But... I know she's powerful and a true ally to justice – the princesses of the Moon Kingdom always are."

"I suppose I'll keep an eye out for her too, then."

"Anyway. You said you knew a place to practice? Can you show me?"

"Follow me." It jumps into a windowsill and starts nudging the window open.

Erika takes over opening it. Luna did say her athleticism would increase. Jumping out of a second story window is as good a way as any to prove that.

She has no more trouble with it than the cat, landing quietly.

Nice. Where to?

A fairly deserted, industrial-looking area. It's a decent ways away, but Sailor Moon doesn't get tired at all running over there – even if she follows the cat on more complicated, physically demanding routes over rooftops.

She could come to enjoy this. And she hasn't even started on real magic.

Well, the first 'real magic' Luna instructs her to do involves picking a target, taking her shiny tiara off and shouting 'Moon Tiara Action.'

"...Are the catchphrases really necessary?"

"Yes. Yes, they are."

"And they're all... like that?"

Showy, totally unnecessary stretch. "Some are worse."

"Oh. good."

She takes her tiara off and points it at a pile of broken pallets.

"Moon Tiara Action."

It glows brilliantly in her hand, turning into a hovering, flattened disk. The world immediately around her sparkles and a silver light like the moon shines around her as an unfelt wind rustles through her skirt. It hovers above her hand, for now.

So how does she make it go...? Maybe a throwing motion?

It flies off! ...Even mostly in the direction of the pallets. Well, it clips one near the top of the pile (disintegrating it), which sends the rest tumbling. And then it flies right back at her, finishing its broad arc.

Catch? Can she catch it?

She can catch it! It turns back into a tiara as soon as it brushes her hand.

Great. She loves not being disintegrated by her own magic.

"Any tips?" she asks Luna.

"Practice," she says, "And watch your energy levels. Use magic like this sparingly in actual fights, until you've adjusted." (Sailor Moon does feel unusually tired, almost sleepy.)

"So it's like a finisher move?"

"For now. Ultimately, it's the weakest of your directly offensive options. You aren't ready for the stronger attacks, not yet."

"You'll likely be best served using your athleticism to maneuver your opponents to where you can kill them with this, or to restrain any you don't want to kill. Against stronger opponents... You'll need to get clever, or you'll need to retreat."

"I have to also punch things, in other words."

"If that's how you prefer to fight."

"I guess we'll see. Is continuing to exercise going to hinder the magical recovery?"

"No. For now, you can think of it as only actions with a 'catch phrase' drawing magical power."

"Hmm. All right."

Then she will start running and jumping, testing her agility and strength, while waiting to see how long it takes for the magic tiredness to dissipate.

The sense of emotional drain and brain fog fades a little, slowly, but she's still unaccountably sleepy. 

(She is very agile and strong – nothing insane, she won't be throwing tanks anytime soon, but she can move quickly, and she can execute the kind of acrobatics that are just on the edge of human plausibility. Landing from a jump never seems to hurt if she lands on her feet, and even if she falls more awkwardly – accidentally or on purpose – any physical pains fade quickly. Her muscles don't seem to get tired at all.)

Keeping moving helps her not fall over, at least. And it is fun, doing all this. She's never been the most athletic girl, but she starts to see why people might pursue this.

"I still feel sleepy," she says to Luna. "Is that normal?"

"Yes. You'll recover when you sleep – but a normal amount of sleep will suffice even if you pushed yourself to the point of collapse."

"And I'll get more stamina over time?"

"Yes, as well as the ability to pull on more magic at once – each time will strengthen your connection, even if only a little."

"So I should try to do it at least once a day, before I go to bed if not before then..."

"Be careful not to exhaust yourself too early."

"In case I need to actually use it for anything, right. I don't suppose there's something a little less- destructive? So I don't have to come all the way out here?"

"There are healing techniques, but they'll tire you out far more."

"Won't matter if I go to sleep immediately after."

"If you plan to exhaust yourself like that, I suggest laying down first."

"I'm not going to do it now, obviously."

It nods.

She's about done with practice for the day, then. Time to head home.

The cat follows her.

"How do I change back?" she asks once they're safely inside.

"Just focus on wanting to."

Turn back, turn back, turn back, turn back...

Oh, there it goes.

"Are you going to stick around?"

"Yes. One of my jobs is to guide and assist the Guardians."

"Should I get a cat tree or something then?"

"I will need something to sharpen my claws on..."

Heh. "I'll see what I can do."

"Perhaps a nice box, while you're at it..."

"You got it." Yawn. "Tomorrow, though."

Luna jumps up on the foot of her bed.

She wraps up for the night and then joins the cat.

It's back to school tomorrow.

Her mother has breakfast ready for her, tea included. "Were you out last night?" she asks, lightly. 

Uuuuuugh she knew she was forgetting something. "Yeah. Went for a walk, after the library." Technically true but incomplete, further elaboration to depend on whether her mother has noticed Luna.

Well, Luna promptly jumps up on the seat next to her and starts sniffing at her food. 

Her mother looks right at the cat and raises an eyebrow. "And you made a new friend on your walk?"

"...Had to check if anyone was missing her."

"Did you talk to the shelter already?"

"Mm. I want to keep her."

"You'll be responsible for feeding and cleaning up after her, as well as keeping track of any vet appointments." Despite her stern tone, she reaches out her hand to Luna, letting the cat sniff before offering pats.

She judges the human sufficiently well trained for ear rubs.

"Yes mom." Phew, safe.

Unfortunately, they don't have much more time to chat before they both need to leave for the day. "Work hard at school," she says as she finishes up her own breakfast. 

"Don't make too many fun things illegal."

"I'll let you review our proposals before submission."

Smile.

"I'll be off, then."

She'll let her go.

Luna hops down to follow her.

"That worked out okay, I think," she says once they've left.

"I like your mother."

"Yeah. She's good, for the most part."

"Do you know how she'd react to you being Sailor Moon?"

"I'm not completely sure how I'm reacting to being Sailor Moon yet."

It nods. (Onwards to her school?)

And on her way, Erika spots a woman walking the opposite direction – a strangely familiar woman, that seems important somehow –

Who, as she passes Erika, promptly trips.

Luna yowls, offended.

Huh- oh shit. "Are you okay?" She stops to help the woman up.

"I'm fine." 

"Your cat needs to look where it's going."

"She did the same thing to me when we met," Erika agrees. "I don't think she likes the idea of taking responsibility, though."

Rude. (Fortunately her grumbling probably sounds close enough to annoyed cat noises.)

That gets a tiny hint of a smile out of the woman. "Cats usually don't."

Cute smile.

"She's nice if you're not moving around her, though."

Hm.

She bends down to offer her hand to Luna.

One sniff, and then it haughtily sticks its nose up in the air and turns its back on her.

"Maybe you got off on the wrong foot," she says. "Sorry."

"Being picky isn't a bad thing, anyways."

"Suppose not. Tsukino Erika, by the way. And this is Luna."

"I'm Chiba Shinju. It's nice to meet you."

"Same. Are you still in school...?"

"I'm a freshman at Keio University."

"Oh, okay." Of course, Erika doesn't remember seeing her at school, so that's obvious. Why did she ask. Wait, that means Shinju is only a couple years older than her. "I'm at Juban High."

"What year?"

"Second."

She nods. "I attended Juban – the archery club's pretty good."

"Yeah? I've never visited them."

"They're a solid crowd – I still hang out with them sometimes, especially at the practices off school grounds, and I'll be cheering for them at their meets of course."

"Maybe I'll go to one too."

Mmhmm. "You have a good build for archery, you know."

"I've never really been athletic."

"It's always worth trying. I can help coach you, if needed."

"If my schedule this year allows, maybe."

"We'll see, then."

"Mm. -I've got to get to school. It was nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too." And she'll head off after a moment.

And off to school with Erika. She's not going to be distracted all day thinking about the hot older girl who thinks she has a good build, you're distracted-

School isn't too hard, fortunately – and she's not the only one distracted, at least, so the teacher's wrath mostly avoids her. (There's a lot of chatter about a high end cram school that opened a local site only a year ago, and has started offering more scholarships and promotions lately... And a lot of students seem half asleep.)

And no trouble with Luna?

Luna left Erika at the school gate again – apparently it has something to research at the library – but it meets her as she comes out.

"Productive day?"

"I think so – I'm trying to find leads on the other Sailor Guardians."

"What sort of things are you looking for?"

"Girls around your age – all of the inner Guardians should have been born the same year as you. They'd all be born under a star sign ruled by their respective planet. They'll likely be exceptional somehow... Strong spiritual power, or physical strength, or intelligence, or force of will... I can sense someone's power levels if I focus on them, but that isn't a guarantee."

"Not Chiba-san, then."

"No. But there's still something strange about her..."

"You think? I thought there was- something about her. Some kind of aura."

"It's possible she's the lost Princess, or an Outer Guardian... But it's also possible she's a servant of the enemy – whether she knows it or not."

"A specific enemy, or just that malice and corruption you were talking about?"

"...I'm not sure. I know..." It stops, then shakes its head. "There's things I don't remember, but I know there's an enemy – or multiple enemies – who will want the Legendary Silver Crystal for themselves."

"I don't have one of those. Right?"

"No. The Princess is the one who guards it."

Pause, then: "Sailor Guardians do have Sailor Crystals – but those are ordinary star seeds, just unusually powerful ones."

"Is that the same thing as the transformation item, or something different?"

"Something different. Everyone has a star seed inside them – it's the source of the energy you draw on as Sailor Moon. Losing your transformation item would be inconvenient. Losing your star seed would be deadly."

"If it's inside me, at least I don't have to worry about dropping it."

Luna nods. "It isn't a major risk."

"Any plans for the rest of the afternoon?"

"It's up to you."

"Usually I go to the library. Don't think I want to go back the scrapyard yet, something might still happen."

"Training your mind is important."

"I will take that as assent." Off to the library! Today, after brief consideration, she will take a book on archery.

She passes by Ami again on her way to the tables, who's leaning back in her chair at a computer with her eyes closed, rubbing her temples. (An unusual number of people are at the computers, most of them staring blankly ahead.)

Luna slows as they pass Ami, sniffing the air.

That is a little weird.

"Do you sense something?" she whispers once they get to the table.

"Energy – a lot of it. It feels odd, though, differently so from you or Chiba-san, and it... I shouldn't be sble to sense it this easily."

"There's a lot of strange energy here in general, too. More than yesterday. Something's wrong." (If Erika focuses – really pays attention – she can feel it, too, though even just paying attention to the aura of stress and anxiety makes those feelings want to creep into her own mind.) 

"...The library doesn't usually feel like this. Can we do anything?"

"It's possible there's a curse, or enemy activity... We can track down the source. Speaking to anyone affected might give us a clue, but also risks revealing our positions."

"I don't see how else I could help, unless there's some kind of magical sense I haven't unlocked yet."

"You should be able to sense the same things I can, though you need to practice... And it'll be easier as Sailor Moon."

"We could also follow someone subtly."

"I don't want to transform here... Let's keep an eye out and see if anyone leaves suspiciously."

"Alright."

No one leaves suspiciously, at least not right away – in fact, suspiciously no one leaves. Usually, people would slowly peel off over the afternoon, or at least drift to other parts of the library. The students at the computers seem pretty glued to them, except Ami who's only a little stuck, and who continues her odd cycle of staring at the computer and then either shaking her head or rubbing her temples. 

Okay, that is kind of weird. She could sit here and just wait but that doesn't actually seem very 'Guardian of Justice'-y. That's the sort of person who would take a proactive approach. Maybe that can be her now.

Erika doesn't know most of them but she has at least half an excuse to speak to Mizuno. She will walk up and clear her throat a little awkwardly.

"Hey."

She blinks and jerks her gaze away from the computer, looking at Erika with an almost startled expression. "Tsukino-san?" she asks, bewildered. 

"Mizuno-san. What are you working on?"

"I'm studying – my cram school insisted we use this program," something twitches in her face, and she starts to look back towards the screen before shaking her head and looking back at Erika. "It gives me a headache, is all..."

"Cram school already?"

"I need to be the best..." Her gaze starts drifting towards the screen again. (And, even as socially isolated as Erika is, Erika's heard the rumors – the idea that Ami's IQ is over 300 is probably silly, but every time rankings are posted, Ami has perfect marks, scoring at the top of not just her school but of their grade across all of Japan.)

(She no slouch herself academically, but she will freely admit she has no desire to put in the work to reach those kind of heights.)

"I've heard it's not good to spend too much time looking at a computer screen. Maybe you need a short break, if you're getting headaches?"

Her gaze snaps away from the screen again. "I've always preferred books," she admits, "I think computer programs honestly put too much distance between you and the material..." She pushes back from the computer, reaches out towards the tower, "But the cram school's been insisting on this new pro...gram..." 

Her gaze goes blank, and she turns back to the screen.

Luna makes unhappy cat noises from Erika's feet.

"Mizuno-san?!"

No response!

Mrrr...

Luna lashes out at Ami's bare ankle, claws bared.

" – Uwah!" She jumps up from her chair, away from the screen. Her eyes are back to normal. 

"I think you need to take a break for a while."

(The librarian shushes them, and Ami glances behind her, sheepishly.) Then, back to Erika: "...Maybe... I'm usually not such a space case – what was that just now?" She looks down at Luna, blinks.

And then crouches down and holds her hand out. "Oh, was I ignoring you, kitty?"

Heh. (Yes, yes she was.) Luna headbutts Ami's hand.

"Do you want to go outside for a bit?"

"...Yeah." She bends down to grab her backpack before turning towards the doors – apparently totally forgetting to eject the disc for the program she was working on. (There's an open case on the corner of the desk.)

Might have something to do with this? Well, easy enough to hit the eject button and grab the disc and the case up before heading out. Presumably Luna will have no compunctions about whacking Erika either if she catches sight of the screen and gets ensnared herself.

Luna wouldn't, though Erika's able to avoid that, at least. Luna does check to make sure Erika's grabbing the disc, before it darts ahead to lead Ami out – incidentally distracting the girl from noticing Erika's lagging behind them. 

(The floppy disc looks pretty normal, a solid deep black, though the case seems to have some subtle crystalline texturing, and a logo for the cram school Erika's been hearing more about lately.)

Ami heads to the benches out back, and promptly starts petting Luna.

Erika takes a seat next to her.

"Is this your cat, Tsukino-san?"

"Yeah. Name's Luna."

"Nice to meet you, Luna-chan," she says solemnly, before scritching under Luna's chin. 

"You're lucky; she doesn't like everyone right away."

Grin! "I wish I could have a cat... She's so pretty and soft."

"Cats are very good."

”Mmhmm!" Pet pet, and her smile turns gentler. "...Thank you. I've been so stressed lately... It's hard to remember the last time I did something like this."

"It's no good to burn yourself out before you even graduate."

"...I feel like... I feel like there's something coming. Something big. And if I don't succeed now – if I'm not the best now... There might not be a 'then.'"

"That sounds... difficult."

"...It is difficult. And I'm... Alone. I have older siblings, but they're so tied up in their own lives..."

Hhhhhkkkk she's no good at talking to people that's why she doesn't do it.

"I'm an only child. But my mother is always dropping hints about how I can have friends over any time."

Shy smile. "I still need to study a lot, but... It'd be nice to study somewhere other than the library."

Smile. "Yeah. Um. And Luna will be there."

Cute mew.

"I'll definitely come, then."

"Great."

She grins, then glances at her watch. "Shit, I need to get going soon." They can exchange addresses and numbers though? And Ami can come over after school tomorrow?

Sure, that sounds good.

Where is her cram school, by the way?

She gives that address, too. "It's Crystal Seminar."

"Thanks."

"See you at school tomorrow."

"See you."

And she's off.

Erika takes out the floppy disc after she goes. "Do you, uh, smell anything on this?"

Sniff. "It's strange, but... It's hard to tell. It's been handled by Mizuno-san too much."

"Do you think we should try to run it?"

"I think so. I'll keep an eye on you to make sure it doesn't brainwash you."

Then back inside, and hopefully she can just get the computer Mizuno-san was on.

It's still open.

Great. What dark magics does the disc hold?

It seems... Normal? Just a bunch of math and chemistry practice problems. (But she has a strange feeling in the back of her mind...)

She will try a couple problems while making sure to pay attention to that strange feeling.

A whisper, nothing more, almost an intrusive thought:

The Crystal...

Give your energy to our ruler...

Find the Legendary Silver Crystal... 

Ungh.

Okay, she is going to stop for now.

"What's wrong, Erika-chan?" Luna whispers.

"Some kind of brainwashing, I think," she whispers back. "Telling me to find a Legendary Silver Crystal."

"That confirms it... This disc was created by our enemy. We can't let them find the Legendary Silver Crystal first."

"Might be easier to find them than the Princess. We know they're connected to the cram school now."

Luna nods. "We should hurry, before they ensnare anyone else."

"Right. Let's go." Fortunately, she has the address now.

It's not too far, at least.

The school is located in a tall building. There's a guard at the only entrance.

That's unusual.

"I guess I could just kick the door down as Sailor Moon..."

"Perhaps... Or, maybe..." Luna frowns, then jumps in the same odd way as when it gave Erika her transformation brooch. A pink pen with a silver crescent moon on its cap falls to the ground. "You should be able to use this to disguise yourself. Say 'Moon Power, Change me' – and then say what you want to be. If you look like someone who has a reason to be here, the guard won't question you."

"Handy." She bends to pick it up. "What are the limits on the disguise?"

"It won't give you knowledge you don't already have, though it'll make certain things easier to remember if they're needed for the role, and it can give you physical abilities and basic muscle memory – up to a point. If you try to transform into a form incompatible with your self-image, it'll work, but you'll feel a heightened distress and struggle with your other powers. Non-specific transformations like 'a student' and transforming into specific people should both work, so long as you can more or less visualize what you want – an animal transformation might work, but I wouldn't suggest trying that now."

"Particularly perceptive or spiritually powerful people will see through it, or at least recognize that you aren't who you claim to be. If you transform into a specific person, anyone who knows that person well will likely notice something's off. Most people won't question your identity if you're where they'd expect that identity to be or if you act as you should, but straying outside of that will strain the transformation."

"All right. Got it. Will you be able to come inside with me?"

"I'll sneak in."

Nod. Quick check to make sure they're unobserved, then:

"Moon Power, Change Me into a cram student."

Sparkling moonlight swirls around her! Far more briefly than when she transforms into Sailor Moon, though.

Cool, all right. Not exactly subtle but it works.

She will walk up to the door and attempt to gain entrance to the building.

The guard doesn't question her (or notice the cat silently creeping along the base of the wall on the same side as his little door guard station).

Perfect. Now, let's see if they can't find where the bad feelings are coming from.

She's able to find a directory by the elevator which helps. The bad feeling is very distinctly coming from the open door into the cram school's main classroom. The lights are off except for a pale flicker from computer monitors. 

Erika takes a cautious peek around the corner. What's going on in there?

Several students sitting at computers, staring blankly at their screens. Ami's among them, though she's half turned away – the teacher is speaking to her, apparently berating her for not focusing, not studying using the disc enough. Ami seems... Small. 

Anything from the teacher?

There's something wrong with that woman. Whatever it is, it's making the hairs on the back of Erika's neck stand up.

Nyeugh. Okay, let's try to get her away from the students.

Knock knock on the open door. "Sensei, they're asking for you in the office..."

The woman looks up, her eyes shining in the low light. "I don't think they are," she says. "Come, take a seat."

Heck.

"No, I'd prefer not to."

The woman's eyes narrow, just before Ami starts pushing away from her computer. The woman grabs Ami's shoulder tightly, then returns her gaze to Erika. "I insist. Youth should work hard, not be lazy." (There's that whisper, again, in the back of Erika's mind, that anxiety...) (Ami lets out a small, pained noise, squeezing her eyes shut.)

"Let her go."

"Or what?" Her grip tightens, and Ami tries but fails to jerk away.

"Or I'll make you."

The woman laughs, and raises the hand that isn't holding Ami. Something in her face shifts, warps, and that sense of wrongness intensifies. "A little human girl like you can do nothing to stop my great self."

All right then.

"Moon Prism Power, Make Up!"

"A Sailor Guardian?!" the woman shouts, before she grows in size and her face warps, elongates until she has a wide smile full of sharp teeth. Her fingers lengthen, the claws of one hand curling to wrap around Ami's throat, the other hand snapping towards Sailor Moon. Glowing papers materialize in front of her before flying towards Sailor Moon.

Dodge the papers, try to get Ami free.

The woman's got a pretty solid grip on Ami's neck, even as the girl struggles, and enough sense to keep Ami between her and Sailor Moon even as she presses her own attacks –

Until a blue pen goes flying at them, and Luna shouts, "Ami! Repeat after me!"

She catches it, and the monster reacts a hair too slowly –

"Mercury Power – Make Up!"

"The Pretty Guardian in a Sailor Suit, the Guardian of Love and Intelligence, Sailor Mercury! Douse yourself in water and repent!"

...Why did she just say that.

The monster is thrown back by the energetic force of her transformation with a sharp cry.

Catch phrases can always get worse.

Worry about that later, beat the shit out of the evil teacher/monster now.

The evil teacher-monster calls out to the brainwashed students, who start to change and warp before trying to rush at Sailor Moon. 

She'll try not to hurt them too badly, but she needs to pin the teacher and get a clear shot. Is, uh, Sailor Mercury able to help?

In fact, she holds out her hands then spreads her arms, shouting, "Mercury Aqua Mist!"

A cold mist rapidly fills the room. The students attacking them collapse to the floor, and the monster spins and tries to attack a random computer, apparently thinking it's Sailor Mercury. Visibility's pretty bad, but at least everyone who isn't either a monster or a Sailor Guardian is now on the floor.

Sweet, okay. Tiara, aim- "Moon Tiara Action!" Flick!

It strikes the monster across the back! She screams as she turns grey and then crumbles like dry clay.

Does this magically fix the other students? She hopes it magically fixes the other students.

They're still on the floor, probably, but it's really hard to see anything. The mist hasn't dissipated. Then, Erika hears a distant, "Um, how do I – there!"

And the mist clears, revealing the other students still apparently unconscious – they're all breathing, at least the ones Erika can see. 

Okay, good.

"Nice job," she says to Sailor Mercury.

"Thanks?"

"What in the world's going on?"

"We defeated evil and saved Tokyo. Or the world. Or something. At least temporarily. I only found out about all this yesterday."

"You're Sailor Mercury! One of the five Sailor Guardians chosen to defend Earth. An evil youma was using those crystal discs to brainwash people."

"Sailor Mercury..." She glances down, then: "Wait, you're Tsukino-san's cat!"

"...Eh. Hehehe. About that..."

"Luna can talk, yeah."

"So Tsukino-san is..."

"That's me. Sailor Moon."

"...Something seemed special about you, even at the library..."

"I got a similar sense about you."

She nods, then: "Thank you, Sailor Moon, for saving me."

"Couldn't have done it without your help."

Hee!

...Then: "...Should we call someone? About all... This..." She looks around at the unconscious students.

"I don't know. Seems like it would be kind of hard to... explain..."

"Do we just... Leave them?"

She will check to see if they're all breathing.

They are! A couple are even starting to stir.

"Their energy's been drained. They should recover, though it might take some of them a few days."

"That's a lot of school to miss..."

"Healing them is possible, but it'll be tiring."

"We can try, if you want."

"I want to try! And I don't feel tired right now."

"It'll be easiest for Sailor Moon."

Frown. "Can I give her some of my... Energy, I guess?"

"...Maybe. I'm not sure how, but... You might have a sense..."

"A sense..." Just... Go by what feels right, maybe? The way those words she spoke earlier, the attack she used, felt right... 

She steps up to Sailor Moon, reaching out for her hand.

She can be normal about holding a cute girl's hand. It has nothing to do with the length of her skirt.

Mercury's hand is warm, and a blue light spills from her skin. "Mercury, swift messenger of the Gods... Carry my wish to Sailor Moon!"

Something passes between them, a powerful thrum, and an answering light rises in Sailor Moon. She doesn't feel tired at all – and with that light comes a spark of an idea, almost a memory, and suddenly she knows the right action to take, here –

"Moon Tiara Stardust!" It just feels right, and she throws her tiara at the students and this time instead of turning them to dust-

Sparkling moonlight falls over them. They all sit up, several rubbing their heads or looking around. "What... What happened? Did I fall asleep?" one asks. 

"It's not healthy to spend too long looking at a computer screen! Remember to take appropriate breaks. You only have one youth, so don't spend it all on your future!"

"Ah... I spent so long studying..." The students blink, hazily, some looking at each other. "I didn't take any breaks," another murmurs. "We should go outside," another says. The students stand, and they seem totally fine, though they're now ignoring the presence of the Sailor Guardians (and the damage to the room) as they start chattering with one another as they leave the room.