Manga Volume 1: Act 3 - Introduction of Rei/Sailor Mars
Translated by Alex Glover

Usagi, Luna, and Ami are suspicious about the six o'clock bus on which many students have been disappearing. They are also trying to learn more about their enemies. Ami has a class to get to so Luna and Usagi join Ami for the ride. While on the bus, a girl with long black hair gets on and walks past them. Ami points out that the uniform the girl is wearing belongs to students from the T-A Girl's School.

Ami gets off at her stop, and at the next stop - Sendai Hilltop/Hikawa Shinto shrine - the girl with the long dark hair gets off and Luna tells Usagi to follow the girl. Usagi exclaims over how pretty the girl is. Usagi walks over to the shrine when two black crows swoop down and attack Usagi.

The girl, now changed into a robe, says, "I feel something." She opens the door of her room and runs out. "Something strange and ghastly..." She sees the crows swarming Usagi. "It's finally come." The girl takes out a small slip of paper. "She's going to make some disaster happen at this scared shrine. I won't let her!" She swings the paper and it flies at Usagi. "Evil spirit, begone!"

The paper strikes Usagi between the eyes. She falls to the ground.

"What-?" says the girl, surprised. "A girl?" She bows, embarrassed. "I'm so sorry! Umm... Usagi-san? I made a mistake... I thought I sensed something bad was about to happen." Usagi laughs nervously. The crows fly to the girl. "Phobos and Deimos don't usually attack people," she says.

And so Usagi and Rei meet for the first time. At this moment, a woman walks upto Rei and asks her where this one girl, Mii-chan, was. Rei explains that Mii-chan got on the bus everyone was talking about. Rei tells them she is worried, and believes the bus is dangerous and that there may be kidnappings going on. The woman walks away with a man and comments that they should keep an eye on Rei because she makes strange prayers and her class thinks she is an "inspiration."

Luna hears this and wonders if Rei - this cool-headed girl with wondrous power, a noble complexion, a flowing attitude, and a beautiful body might be the princess.

The next morning, Usagi's class is in a flurry over the news that a bunch of 7th graders are missing - all of whom took the 6 o'clock bus from Sendai Hill.It is now later in the same day and we catch up with Usagi and Luna.

Usagi is walking down the street, carrying Luna. "This is suspicious," says Luna. "It smells like trouble. Come on, Usagi-chan. I want to check out that bus, and the Sendai Hilltop. Should we meet with that girl, Rei-chan? There's something in her spirit. I don't know if she's an ally... Or if she's an enemy." She looks up. "The bus is here!"

Inside the bus, Usagi meets Mamoru and both exchange sly glances at each other while the other is not looking and imagines a mask over the other's eyes and wonders if the other might be Sailor Moon or Tuxedo Kamen respectively. (It's a very cute scene) Then the bus stop for the shrine comes and Usagi and Luna get off.

As Usagi and Luna look on, Rei is being questioned by a worried woman, asking where all the girls are, and telling Rei she must help to find them. Usagi once again comments on how beautiful Rei is, and Luna expresses concern because they do not know yet if Rei is on the enemy's side. Rei, in the meantime, is trying to figure out who is responsible for the disappearances.

Rei sits before a fire, holding up her hands. "Concentrate... What is going on? What's happening?"

The face of Jadeite appears in the fire. "Who's that?" Rei says. She sees Jadeite grabbing Usagi. "Usagi-chan!"

"I sense something... foreboding..." says Rei. "Usagi-chan's in danger!?" She gets up and runs from the shrine.

A bus, driven by Jadeite, approaches outside. He sees Rei running and stops the bus. Rei sees his face. "That driver! He's the man I saw in the fire... I have to hurry!"

Jadeite opens the bus door. "Come on, get in. We're just... leaving..."

"It's almost 6 o'clock," says Usagi.

"Usagi-chan," calls Luna. "It's the bus! Something's wrong. It's flashing red lights."

As the bus drives by, they see Rei unconscious inside. "Rei-chan!?"

A black portal appears in a wall in front of the bus. The bus drives through it.

"No way!" cries Usagi. "The wall! The wall! A hole opened up!? This is the 6 o'clock bus? I have to save Rei-chan!" She grabs her pen. "Let's do it!" She throws it high into the air. "Moon Power! Turn me into a stewardess!" Usagi appears in a stewardess uniform.

"Usagi-chan!?" says Luna. "Why a stewardess?"

"I have to protect the passengers and make sure they have a safe trip!" She jumps onto the bus as it rises into the sky. Luna tries to hold on to Usagi's leg, but loses her grip. She begins to fall. "Luna!?"

Luna lands in the grasp of a masked man close below. "Tuxedo Kamen!?" He tries to get up to the bus, but it disappears before he can make it.

"She transformed right before my eyes," says Tuxedo Kamen. "Who is that girl...?" He lets Luna down to the ground, and she runs away.

Luna then goes and finds Ami who gets a message on her computer from Usagi. Usagi explains to Ami and Luna that after going through the portal she came before a stone castle and that she lost sight of the bus. Luna tells Usagi to transform into Sailor Moon and that she must save everyone. She and Ami transform at the same time and Ami appears next to Usagi.

Meanwhile, Rei lies on the ground, unconscious. Jadeite kneels beside her. "So beautiful," he says. "I've wanted her since I first saw her. This girl..." (too bad he's evil in this life, he and Rei woulda made a cute couple)

"So, you've come, Sailor Moon," says Jadeite.

"Look!" says Jadeite, as he clutches Rei around the throat.

"Rei-chan, say something!" Usagi says. "I won't allow you to trap these innocent people here!! In the name of the moon, I'll punish you!"

Rei looks up. "That voice..."

Ami spreads a fog across the room, but Jedeite sticks his hand out and the fog dissipates. Usagi then takes off her tiara, and it spins into a circle. She throws it hard. "Moon Frisbee!"

It flies at Jadeite. "What- What's this?" he says. Luna strikes a key on her keyboard, and the tiara locks around Jadeite. "It's caught me!" An icy glare flashes in his eyes, and a force blows Usagi and Ami to the ground. Rei gets up, alarmed.

"Ami-chan!" calls Luna. "The pen! Throw it!" Ami does.

The moonlight shines down on Rei. The mark of the planet Mars appears on her forehead. The pen glows. Two crows fly overhead. Usagi and Ami look on, surprised. "Rei-chan!?"

"Phobos! Deimos!" Rei calls, as she appears in a sailor suit. They circle above her. She holds her arms out, and a ball of energy glows before them. The energy shoots at the trapped Jadeite. "Evil spirit, begone!" she shouts. Jadeite screams as he burns into a charred corpse.

Usagi then gets the missing girls, Ami and Rei together and brings them back to Earth.

"What, what am I now?" asks Rei. "These clothes..."

"Rei-chan," says Luna, "You have the power to manipulate fire, and receive the protection of Mars. You are Sailor Mars! You have been chosen to be a soldier!"

"A soldier!?" says Rei.

"You're our ally, Rei-chan!" says Usagi.

"We've been looking for you," says Ami, "Looks like you're on our side."

"We're so happy we found you, Sailor Mars!" says Luna.

"I'm Sailor Mars..." Rei thinks to herself. "So that strange power I sensed... Was from them?"

And thus begins the life of Hino Rei - the beautiful Soldier of Mars. If you would like to read more manga translations/summaries, visit Usagi and Mamoru.com and click on Information.