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Minako stirred, rolling in the very inviting, dozy warm embrace of her sheets. Thoughts of alarms and school were pushed aside with the semi-sentient comfort that it was still the weekend, and nothing could stop her from getting the lie-in she deserved. She smiled, and stretched with deliberate abandon, all ready to hunker back down.Her hand hit something, firm, unyielding, and slightly warm. Her brain got caught on why the wall had moved until she stuck out her other hand and it shifted from her with a disgruntled ‘hmpf’. Her eyes snapped open properly, burning with hot fury. There was wall of white someone in her bed and she leapt backwards with a yelp.The intruder yelped too, caught up in bedsheets and alarm as Minako fell, twisting through the air. Was it an enemy? Some new inflitration caught unawares?“Minako!” Artemis! Calling out to her. Of course he’d be nearby. Her heart leapt. Good. Two on one was always better than being alone, and-She was still falling. Something twigged within her. Sudden unease that made her scrabble through the air in the last few feet of space, before the mattress shot up above her and she piled into the floor. “Minako?” Scrabbling came from above her as she laid, spread-eagled on the floor, the wind and, for moment, all her thoughts knocked from her. “Minako, are you there?” Artemis called. "I- ah," There was hesitation in his voice. "Ohh, this isn't good."Minako didn't care for it, eyes pinned shut and stomach still trying to readjust, she took stock from the reassuring solidity of the floor. She'd fallen too far. She'd fallen far too far. Still uneasy, and a little bit sore, she pushed herself up to all fours, and looked up. And the world stretched above her. All the way to a cliff-face of the edge of her bed.And Artemis looked out over it, towering in his human form, with his bright white hair and clear green eyes. He blinked at her. She blinked back and reached up, paw paddling through the air.Paw?She waved it again, marvelling at the strange shape. A paw. A paw, covered in bright orange fur and set with pink pads that stretched and flexed as she did. There were two of them, and they paddled through the air in slow sweeps as she tried to figure out why her hands looked so different, then, on a growing suspicion, tried to find what happened to the rest of her.“Minako?” Artemis said in wonderment. “Is that you?” Hands reached down, scooping her up so easily under her shoulders in the beginnings of her frantic turning, and bringing her to eye-height. His hands were very warm, and there was little more she could do than hang there, safe in his grasp. She could see herself in his eyes. A pretty ginger tabby cat, her head framed by a bright red ribbon that sat around her neck.“Yes,” she said, and the frown that wrinkled his forehead matched her own displeasure as she heard the meow that came out instead of words. She tried again, just as inarticulate.“Oh,” he said as she began to squirm. “I suppose I’m going to have to take that as a yes. Ohhh, this is…” He sat down, placing her on his lap. “...very queer.” He tilted his head. “How did this happen? Did we somehow get swapped? I already tried changing back, but I've never woken up like this before.” His hand idly scratched the top of her head. Minako was too busy trying to figure herself out to tell him off. He was voicing her thoughts anyway.Cat. She was a cat. She rolled this way and that, working to get a better look at herself now she knew what was going on. Hmm. There was a tail there too. The scritches felt nice.“Is this a dream?” Artemis continued. “Maybe I haven't woken up. I’ve often wanted to get to know you on equal footing, but…”“Artemis.”“I know you’re supposed to be human, and I’m not.”“Artemis!” Minako’s patience snapped, and she swiped at him. He yelped. She glared at him. “We don’t have time for this!” she said, which only came out as a rather unpleasant yowl.“Oh. Uh…” Artemis looked at her, scrunching apologetically. “I have no idea what you’re saying.”“We have to get to Usagi! We- ugh!” Minako could feel her frustration, and Artemis’s gentle, gentle, eyes were not helping.“I’m sorry,” he said, “I don’t understand you. That's not really fair. Not after all the time we've spent together.”We don’t have time for this! She wanted to yell. There was some magic going on here, she knew it, and they needed to get to the bottom of it. They needed Usagi. She closed her eyes. Even Luna and Artemis could talk to them, with their magical gifts from a far off planet. She didn’t even have that power.But there was power. The sort that laid deep within her, inseparable, intrinsic. She stuck a hand paw out.‘Venus planet power, make up!’…Nothing.She yowled again, shaking her head, letting all her frustrations build up and crystallise inside her. She could feel it, growing warmer and warmer into a tight ball until it glowed so brightly inside her she couldn’t bear to look.She could feel Artemis shift beneath her. "Mina?” She clung on, arching up and ignoring the gasps from him as her claws anchored her in place.She had power. She just had to reach it.‘Venus power…!’Lights flashed behind her eyes, dizzying crescent that drew memories of an older power, something she hadn’t connected with in some time. She changed her grasp.‘Moon Power...come forth!’The light glowed, shone and rushed up through her in a blaze of warmth that rushed out between her eyes in a roar, spilling out into the air and leaving the softest touch of something there behind. She blinked and opened her eyes.“Minako?”She looked up at Artemis, catching her reflection and seeing the new upturned golden crescent that adorned her forehead with a smile. She turned and said to him in perfect English: “how about now?” “Why did we have to go out the window?” Artemis panted as he struggled to keep up.“There was a strange guy in my room. I am not explaining that to my mom.” Minako kept sprinting down the street. Her phone rang, and Artemis scrambled to answer it.“It’s Usagi.” Artemis tried typing something in. “Wait, it’s not-”“Four three six one,” Minako huffed.“Right.” He finally got in and lifted it up. “Hello?”“Artemis!” Luna’s desperate shout forced Artemis away from the handset with a wince. “Oh, thank goodness! Usagi’s missing and I can't get through to the others. There's something really weird going on. I can feel it. There was some kind of animal in house before, and I’m-”“Human again,” Minako finished, jumping to Artemis’s shoulder. “Right?”“Yes. How did you-?”“It happened to us too,” Artemis explained. “Minako’s been turned into a cat.”“Oh. A cat? Oh. Ohhhh..." They could hear the realisation dawning half a ward away. "...and Usagi... The animal... It might not be just you. Ikkuko got a strange call from the Hikawa shrine earlier, but it was just noises. It sounded liked some sort of animal too. If something similar has happened to the others, then...“...that would be Rei,” Minako confirmed, “trying to get in contact. I couldn’t speak at first either.” Minako frowned. “Do you think it’s affected all the senshi?”“It’s possible. It'd explain why I've been unable to get through to the rest of them. Doesn’t look like it’s affected anyone else though.” Sure enough there were signs all around them of the first few early risers happily going about their day."Great. just what we need." Minako paused. “Luna...I can’t transform,” she confessed. "If there's an attack..."“We’ve got bigger problems than that at the moment,” Luna said. “Usagi is missing, and her mother called pest control in because of the mess she made on the way out. They think it’s an infestation.” They could hear distant barking. “If she's an animal...Usagi’s in trouble. If she doesn’t know the danger she’s in…” She didn’t need to finish. “She can't have gone far, but I can’t get outside to look without breaking her cover. Please, you need to find her, and quickly!”“On it.” The call ended. “Artemis, can you check on the others? Mako’s place is nearest. I’ll get Usagi and meet you there.”“Wouldn’t it be better if I came with you?”“Do you really want to deal with the dogs?” she shot back at him. He straightened up with a grimace.“Good point.”With a brief nod he ran off, and Minako turned to where her princess lay.I’m coming Usagi!She set all four paws against the tarmac and sped off into the last remnants of the night. Minako was infinitely glad she still retained her human memories and knowledge as she traversed the streets to the Tsukino residence, making shortcuts she’d usually be unable to, pushing her lithe new form to it’s limits as she scaled fences and sprinted across rooftops. She slowed as she approached, seeing the pest control van parked over the other side of the house. Her hackles rose as she heard the barking of dogs within.She was safe up here though. A quick scan of the yard revealed a small white and pink bunny-rabbit cowering behind one of the bushes and not much else. Usagi. It had to be. She was shaking furiously, frozen in place. Minako hunkered down on the wall, judging her distance.“Usagi!” she hissed, the rabbit stiffening as it saw her. Minako jumped down, freezing as Usagi's parents passed by, missing them both.Her hackles rose as the yapping got louder, followed by a not distant enough ‘heel boy!’“If we can flush it out…” Her head snapped up. They were approaching! They had to move. Fast.Sorry Usagi! Minako thought to herself. She quickly darted forward and grabbed her by the nape of her neck, trying to ignore the mouthful of fur, and, carrying her new cargo, shot out the back gate, nipping around the corner before the handlers saw her, tugging at their yapping dogs to calm down. At least Usagi was small, she thought, although she was still quite awkward to carry and run at the same time. The poor usagi was swinging with every bound and constantly threatening to trip her up. Not like she suddenly had twice the number of limbs to co-ordinate than normal either. All things considered, Minako thought, she was doing quite well.Then something big and warm came flying out of a side-alley, and crashed into her, sending her spilling across the floor.She cursed against the asphalt, her precious cargo lost, and leapt up, rounding on the inconsiderate whelp that had taken her out. "Hey! Watch where you're go-eeehhhh!" She froze, the chill grabbing her heart and rushing through to seize the rest of her, plastering her ears back with a hiss as she came face-to-face with the bared teeth, and towering, growling mountain, of a very angry dog.