Act 15 Infiltration - Sailor Mars -

Not long after a strange young girl drops into their lives, the Sailor Guardians face a fresh threat calling itself the Black Moon. The clan's first move is to seize Rei Hino, leaving her comrades scrambling to work out who has taken her and why. Naoko Takeuchi wrote and illustrated the chapter, which formally opens the Black Moon arc.

Picking up where the previous chapter closed, Chibiusa presses Usagi to hand over the Silver Crystal and, after firing a toy pistol at her, bolts. Usagi and Mamoru track the child to a playground swing, where she has turned unexpectedly sweet and rides home on Mamoru's shoulders. Once inside the Tsukino house, Chibiusa hypnotizes Usagi's family and Umino into welcoming her as a guest.

Elsewhere, the Black Moon Clan celebrates pinpointing where the crystal lies. One of the Ayakashi Sisters, Koan, tells Rubeus she senses a kindred spirit with a strong bond to fire and prophecy, someone worth recruiting. Rubeus issues an order codenamed Operation Recruit, and Koan slips into T*A Girls Academy under the alias Koan Kurozuki, taking charge of the occult club at the school Rei Hino attends. A rival club leader remarks on her icy touch and gaze and wonders about the black saucer that trails her departures.

At the Game Center Crown, Luna and Artemis hand the four guardians their Star Power Sticks and improved communicators, gear that leaves each fighter stronger and grants new signature attacks. Rei is haunted by a nightmare in which Koan burns a child alive with pyrokinetic flame. During the campus cultural festival, Koan runs a fortune booth predicting gruesome deaths for visitors while promising a kinder end to anyone who signs with the Black Moon. After Rei uncovers Droids masquerading as nuns, she becomes Sailor Mars and scorches them with Burning Mandala. Koan drops her disguise and cages Mars inside a wall of fire. Spotting the trap, Usagi transforms and hurls her Moon Tiara Boomerang, only to have it bounce back. When more Droids swarm, Sailor Mercury arrives and clears them with Shine Aqua Illusion. The bond between Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask gives rise to the Cutie Moon Rod, whose Moon Princess Halation finishes Koan, and Rei, still sealed in the burning barrier, is carried off as Rubeus's captive.

The installment debuts the Black Moon Clan, the Star Power Stick, the Cutie Moon Rod, the Mars Star Power Make Up call, and the Burning Mandala and Moon Princess Halation attacks. An early draft carried the title Act 14 Black Moon Koan Sailor Mars, though the printed version became Act 15 Shinnyuu Sailor Mars. This chapter marks the official start of the Black Moon arc.