The Great Adventure (version 2)

"Come on!" Donald called to Bloom and the others as he, Ryan, Goofy, Ariel, Jake, Zim, Genie, and Piglet walked across the rope bridge to the cottage. Goofy was covering Bloom's eyes.
"Guys, why can't you tell me what this all about?" Bloom curiously asked.
"Awhuck, you'll see! It's a surprise." Goofy responded with a chuckle. After they entered the cottage, Jake closed the door and Goofy uncovered her eyes.
"TA-DAH!" Zim exclaimed when they were all the way in the cave, pointing ahead, and the others smiled as Bloom looked on in surprise, stopping short when she saw what was in the center of the cottage. There, tilted to one side, was the statue of Sky! "Prince Sky's statue!" Bloom exclaimed in surprise. "But where- when- how did you get it?"
"Oh, you guys are the best!" she exclaimed, hugging Ariel, giving Ryan, Goofy, Jake, and Zim a kiss on the cheek, then petting Piglet on the head. She scooped up Donald and twirled around with the duck in her arms, and finally hugged Genie.
"It looks just like him! It even has his eyes!" she gasped, as she flew around the statue. If only it really were him, she thought. "Why, Sky, you want me to run away with you?" she asked dreamily with a giggle. "This is all so sudden!"
She whirled around with happiness. The room seemed to spin. She saw the shelves, the window, the ceiling, her friends, the entrance, Xem, and Obi-Wan Kenobi-Obi-Wan Kenobi?
"Master Kenobi!" Bloom yelped when she saw a shadowed Obi-Wan at the entrance with an intent look on his face. Xem stood right behind, looking down at the ground in guilt. Ryan and the gang hid behind a large chest.
The Jedi Master stepped out of the entrance and into the cottage. In the uneven light, his face was etched in shadows.
"I consider myself a very reasonable Jedi... I set certain RULES; and I expect them to be obeyed; not broken!" Obi-Wan said angrily.
Bloom swallowed hard, and tried to explain. "But, Master, I-"
"Is it true that you rescued a outsider...a human - from drowning?" he demanded.
"Master, I had to!" Bloom exclaimed.
"Contact between our world and the mortal realm is strictly forbidden, Bloom, you know that. Everyone knows that!"
"He would have died!" Bloom protested.
"Bah!" Obi-Wan scoffed waving his hand. "One less human to worry about!"
"You can't treat me like a child," Bloom said heatedly.
"Bloom, think about what happened to your parents!" Obi-Wan shouted. He began to sing:
Obi-Wan: This is where you belong!
"You don't understand-" Bloom protested.
Obi-Wan: For once, just listen will you?
That savage brute would kill you in the world out there!
"He's not a barbarian!" Bloom shouted.
Obi-Wan: Don't try that same old song,
I'll have you grounded til next year!
Am I clear! Don't go near that world out there!
"You don't even know him!" Bloom shouted.
"Know him? I don't have to know him!" Obi-Wan roared. "They're all the same; heartless monsters who are only compelled by greed, and will kill and destroy anything that's not like them-"
That did it for Bloom, who couldn't hold it in anymore. "Master, I love him!" she shouted with tears in her eyes. Upon realizing what she said, Bloom gasped and covered her mouth. Xem and the others gasped as well. Obi-Wan looked stunned.
"No..." he gasped. His shock turned to anger. He ignited his lightsaber and turned to Xem. The tiger screamed in terror and flattened himself against the wall, trying not to get killed. "I leave her in your care and this is what happens?" Obi-Wan shouted.
"Please, Master! Have mercy!" Xem begged, sobbing hysterically as he got on his knees and hugging Obi-Wan's knees. The Jedi Master kicked the tiger away, who whimpered and curled up, shaking terribly.
"It isn't his fault!" Ryan shouted, stepping out. Obi-Wan turned off his lightsaber and turned to Ryan.
"And you, Ryan! You knew all along, too?" the Jedi demanded.
"Yes, Master." Ryan gulped.
"Why did you not tell me this then?"
"I...I...I'm sorry, Master Obi-Wan." Ryan said slowly. The jedi master turned back to Bloom.
"And, as for you, have you lost all sense? He's a human; you're an immortal!" Obi-Wan shouted.
"It doesn't matter! I don't care!" Bloom protested.
"So help me, Bloom, I will get through to you, no matter what!" Obi-Wan threatened. Bloom's friends couldn't take anymore of this. They ran from their hiding places.
"Why you pompous, arrogant, cold-hearted wind bag! " Genie shouted.
"WHAT WAS THAT?" Obi-Wan shouted angrily. Xem yelped.
"Yo, you heard him, you piece of Bantha fodder!" Jake shouted.
"You're not a nice person!" Piglet said timidly.
"Yeah! You only care about yourself, you emotionless pig!" Donald added.
"You old jerk!" Goofy shouted.
"You're ten times worse than my daddy!" Ariel added.
"You have no heart at all, Obi-Wan!" Zim sneered. Xem looked nervous and Obi-Wan was furious.
"THAT'S IT! You pushed me too far! Xemnas and you seven are BANISHED from Fantasia until the end of your days!" Obi-Wan shouted. Bloom and her friends gasped.
"Exile?" Xem whimpered. "No! NO! NOOOOOO! IT CAN'T BE TRUE!" Xem sobbed hysterically.
"And, Xemnas, if you are not gone by sunset, you will be sent to the electric chair!" Obi-Wan shouted. Xem whimpered and hid behind Ryan and the others.
"That's not fair!" Bloom shouted. Obi-Wan resumed singing:
Obi-Wan: I'm still the King here!
My word is law!
Obi-Wan grabbed a telescope off one shelf and glared at it with disgust, before throwing it to the ground and stepping on it, breaking the item.
This filth you bring here,
Is the final straw!
And push, my student, has come to shove!
I'll make you obey till you do what I say!
I don't care, come what may, but I'll keep you away
from that cruel, harsh, cold, vile world OUT THERE!
Obi-Wan ignited his lighsaber. Xem and the others gasped and ran for cover. Despite Bloom's pleas, Obi-Wan destroyed every artifact with his lightsaber. He then set his sights on the statue. He prepared a mighty force burst. "MASTER OBI-WAN, NO!" Bloom shouted. The statue was destroyed in a mighty explosion caused by the force.
Obi-Wan then introduced Bloom and her friends to Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker! Anakin was Obi-Wan's best friend! Bloom and her friends were very happy to meet Anakin!
A couple of days went by from the last time Usagi last saw Tuxedo Kamen, or Mamoru, but for her it seemed like years. She had fallen into a deep depression, barely reacting to anything.
School began again, like it always did. She still went to school, but she was miserably indifferent about it. She looked so dispirited that Haruna forwent giving Usagi her usual harangue about being late. She watched concernedly as Usagi hobbled to her seat and sat down, despondently putting her head down on her arms and staring out at nothing.
Near her desk, a bunch of girls were talking excitedly over some poster. "Take a look at this, Usagi-chan!" Naru exclaimed, holding up the poster to her. "A new hair salon opened up. As part of their grand opening celebration, they're gonna do haircuts for free! Isn't that wonderful? Let's go try it out!"
Naru paused, staring down at Usagi. She hadn't moved an inch since she sat down at her desk. It almost seemed as though she wasn't paying any attention to what she was saying.
"What's wrong?" Naru asked, frowning. "You look depressed."
She still didn't move or answer. She remained that way until class was over.
Makoto leaned against one of the pillars on the side of the shrine, near a small pond, listening to Luna tell the others about Usagi's decline into depression. She glanced over at her brother, who was wearing a dark expression, as Usagi's plight reminded him all too much of a bitter memory that had, up until recently, began to slowly fade into something less painful.
Usagi's condition reminded her, all too clearly, of how he looked after that day five years ago. Hopefully, this wouldn't cause her to change drastically in personality as he did... but, then again, there was the hope that Tuxedo Kamen was still alive.
Makoto glanced over at Luna, who had begun speaking again. "Yes, she has been taking Tuxedo Kamen's disappearance very hard," Luna continued. "She hasn't been getting very much sleep. And, when she does sleep, she has nightmares."
"Poor girl," Ami said quietly from her seat upon one of the large rocks. Minako was sitting on the other rock with Artemis in her lap. Rei was busy feeding the fish as she knelt by the pond.
"Any news on Tuxedo Kamen?" Makoto asked.
"Still missing," Luna replied. "Usagi's so worried about Tuxedo Kamen that she can hardly function. She's beginning to lose herself."
"And just when we really need her to be aware of her duties as the Princess," Artemis commented dryly.
"But, there's nothing we can do," Rei retorted, looking at him over her shoulder. "The man she loves has been taken away from her. She's heartbroken. Is that so hard to understand?" she asked, turning back to the pond. "I know how she feels."
Makoto glanced over at her. "Strange to see you take her side," she remarked.
She bowed her head a little further. A stray memory surfaced to her mind.... Mars continued to stare at Sailor Moon, tears streaming down her cheeks as well. "And you think you're not strong? You have the power, you just don't believe. That is why you're a wimp. Mamoru-san risked his life to save a wimp."
"Sorry," she replied quietly. Makoto blinked in surprise at that response.
"I know this is hard on her," Artemis continued, "but she's got no time to be lost."
"That's right," Luna agreed. "Her purpose is to defeat the Dark Kingdom. In order to do so, she must mature into a proper princess and master using the Silver Crystal. We have to find a way to cheer her up," she stated, looking around at the others.
"At times like these," Ryoku said quietly, speaking up for the first time during their meeting, "some people prefer to be alone." Everyone turned to regard him, who still hadn't moved from the position he had settled in at the beginning of the meeting. He had been adamant about them leaving her alone for a while. They agreed with him, since he assured them that he knew that she wouldn't want to be disturbed.
He sighed and shook his head, but he still didn't look up at the others. "Still, I suppose that we don't have that luxury. Besides, it just doesn't seem natural for Usagi-chan to be in that kind of condition. She's the last person I'd ever expect to just lose all optimism and hope."
"You're right," Minako added. "Usagi-chan's not someone who'd want to stay miserable for long. She needs someone to cheer her up. I think I might know just the thing."
Usagi came home after school, went straight to her room, and sat in front of her mirror. She took out her star locket and opened it, listening to it play, then put her head down on her arms again and stared sadly into the mirror. Tears began to stream down her cheeks as she listened to the locket play its music.
She could almost imagine Mamoru's face in the mirror. "You don't look good crying, Meatball-head," she could imagine hearing him say.
"Mamoru...," she whimpered quietly. "Where are you? I never thought that I'd miss hearing you call me 'Meatball-head'." She glanced over to an open magazine on her bed. It was turned to that same ad that Naru showed her earlier. "There's that ad for the new hair salon that opened up. If I cut them off, then I won't have to hear anyone call me that anymore...."
"Usagi-chan," someone called from behind her. She looked up over her shoulder and saw Minako behind her.
"Minako-chan," she said in a more normal tone.
"Sorry," Minako said as she came in. "I knocked, but you didn't answer," she added, grinning cheerily as she glanced down at the ad on her bed. "Tell me.... Do you want to change your hairstyle, to refresh yourself?"
"All right," Usagi replied, nodding.
Minako's smile widened. She knelt down behind her and started to undo both of the buns on her head, letting the hair tumble down to the floor. She then picked up a hairbrush from Usagi's dresser and started to gently brush Usagi's hair. Usagi closed her eyes in contentment as the soft stroking of the hairbrush relaxed her.
"What do you think?" Minako asked while she worked. "Short for a mature spirit? A light wave for something extra? How about simply straight? Girls can change so much just by changing their hairstyle, don't you think? They can become someone totally different; a whole new person."
Usagi nodded silently and glanced down at the hair salon ad again.
Kunzite stared balefully down at Mamoru, who was still in the brainwashing device. The process was nearly complete and soon he would join their side. However, he didn't look forward to it. In fact, he despised him for being the root of what had caused Zoisite's demise. He would only put up with his presence because Beryl had plans for him.
"Kunzite," Beryl said as she entered. He glanced up to where she was standing at the other side of the room, and bowed.
"Yes, Queen Beryl?"
"We must get the Silver Crystal out of Sailor Moon's hands at any cost," Beryl told him. "Have you not discovered the true identity of Sailor Moon?"
"I still require more time," Kunzite replied, bowing again.
"Do not delay," Beryl advised. "You must discover the true identity of Sailor Moon and retrieve the Silver Crystal."
"Do not be concerned. I have an operation currently underway." Kunzite raised his right hand, displaying a long strand of blonde hair. "This is a strand of Sailor Moon's hair that I found during a battle. I'll analyze it and find the girl who matches. Surely, we shall find out who Sailor Moon is."
"Good. Carry on."
The hair salon, Tokoyama Kariko, which was named after its owner and founder, was very busy. Several girls were lined up at sinks for shampoo and rinse, in chairs for haircuts and trims, at the hair steamers, and in the waiting area. Despite the capacity, the flow of customers moved swiftly for a hair salon.
When Minako and Usagi entered the salon, they were greeted by none other than Kariko herself, whom they recognized from her picture in the ads they had seen before.
"Hello. Welcome to Tokoyama Kariko. What can I do for you?"
Minako pushed Usagi forward. "Can you take a look at her hair? Perhaps suggest a new style for her?"
"Sure," Kariko replied, taking a look at Usagi's hair. "Oh, what pretty hair! Please, come this way." She led Usagi over to one of the unoccupied sinks and sat her down in it. She then placed a warm cloth over Usagi's face and filled the sink with warm water.
"What do you think about short and red?" she asked as she began to shampoo Usagi's hair.
"Me? A redhead?" Usagi exclaimed, her voice muffled through the cloth.
Minako watched Usagi with a small, pleased grin on her face. This's just the thing she needs right now - something to take her mind off Mamoru. I hope this makes you feel better, Usagi-chan.
One of the hairstylists who were tending to the girls at the hair steamers readied another girl under one of the steamers. "Please wait there," she requested, then left to go take care of something else.
Kariko turned to look at the girl under the steamer as the machine began to analyze the girl's hair. A light at the top flashed a bright blue. So, this girl is not Sailor Moon, either....
Another hairstylist approached Minako, who was sitting in the waiting area reading one of the magazines. "Thank you for waiting," she told her. "We're ready for you now."
"Oh, that's okay," Minako replied, holding her hand up in polite refusal. "I'm just waiting for my friend."
"I see," she answered, undaunted. "Well, why not try out our special hair steamer. This machine will treat damaged hair with a special steam."
Minako nodded her assent. Why not? she thought to herself. After all, it's free. She got up from her chair and followed the hairstylist to one of the unoccupied steamers and sat down. She reached up and untied the hairbow, letting her long blonde hair fall freely around her shoulders. The hairstylist then wrapped her hair in a small towel and lowered the steamer over her head.
"Please wait there," she said and left. Kariko turned toward Minako and watched as the machine analyzed her hair. A light at the top flashed a bright red. Her eyes widened in surprised, then narrowed in anticipation.
At last, Sailor Moon!
"OW!" Usagi yelped, as Kariko's hands started massaging Usagi's scalp a little too hard. "Hey, do you have to rub so hard?"
At last, we discovered the true identity of Sailor Moon....
"That's better. Can you go over a bit to the right?"
Kariko left Usagi and strode over to where Minako was sitting.
"Kariko-san, are you done with the shampoo?" Usagi asked, still seated at the sink.
"We have finally found you, Sailor Moon," Kariko growled quietly as she roughly grabbed Minako's shoulder. Usagi heard Minako's shout of pain and surprise and quickly sat up to see what was going on.
The other hairstylists stood in a circle in the center of the room and each raised an unmarked aerosol spray can. They started spraying a somniferous vapor around the room, which slowly began to blanket the interior of the salon. All of the customers promptly fell asleep, except for Minako, who was fighting the effects of the spray, and Usagi, who had quickly dropped to the floor and crawled around a wall, out of the effected area.
"No!" Kariko shouted, shaking Minako savagely. "You will not go to sleep! Now, hand over the Silver Crystal!"
"What are you talking about?" Minako asked tiredly.
She angrily shook her again. "There's no use in playing ignorant!" she snapped fiercely, and began slamming her repeatedly back against her chair. "We've analyzed your hair. It matches Sailor Moon's perfectly!"
"Hair?" Minako murmured weakly, after she ceased slamming her against the chair. I see.... I must've gotten some of Usagi's hair on me earlier as I was brushing it....
"So, you're not going to cooperate with us," Kariko stated, slamming Minako back against the chair one last time and releasing her. Minako slumped back into the chair, weak from the effects of the vapor. She then began to walk backwards toward the center of the circle of hairstylists. "We have another plan."
As soon as she stepped into the center of the circle, it began to revolve around her. Soon, the red- and blue-garbed hairstylists began to blur into one giant ring of alternating red and blue around white-clothed Kariko. The red, white, and blue cylindrical blur soon disappeared, leaving a giant monster in its place. The huge red creature's four blond braids stuck out in an X-pattern behind her head. Her right arm had what resembled a barber pole on her forearm.
"No way...," Minako uttered apprehensively.
Usagi watched all this from behind the corner of the wall. "Kariko-san must've been turned into a youma by the Dark Kingdom!" she exclaimed. "Hang in there, Minako-chan. I'll rescue you! Moon prism power, make up!" Within moments, she had transformed into Sailor Moon.
"Hold it!" Sailor Moon commanded. The creature paused in her tracks and turned to regard whoever had interrupted her. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw Sailor Moon standing behind her, arms folded sternly in front of her. "She's not Sailor Moon."
"Impossible!" she exclaimed in confusion.
"You claim to do haircuts for free and play over the girls who are short on money! Sailor Moon will not forgive a stingy youma like you! On behalf of the Moon, I'll punish you!"
"Nice of you to come out into the open like this, Sailor Moon. Now, I can take care of you and get the Silver Crystal!" Her right hand sank into her forearm, below the barber pole. She then affixed a hair dryer attachment to it and pointed it at Sailor Moon. "I, the youma Mitsuarmy, will melt you away!"
Sailor Moon dived to one side as a blast of searing hot air melted the counter she had been standing beside.
"Sailor Moon...," Minako murmured faintly and succumbed to the effects of the spray.
"Always dry wet hair!" Mitsuarmy shouted, pointing her dryer toward Sailor Moon. She sent another blast of burning air at her, incinerating the three potted plants and the counter top Sailor Moon was hiding behind. She took one look at the damage and gave a small yelp of apprehension.
Mitsuarmy exchanged her dryer attachment for a large razor blade. She then leaped into the air, while sharpening the blade on a length of course material. "I'll shave away unwanted hair!" she declared as she brought the blade down over Sailor Moon. The blade went through the middle of the counter and even through a bit of the floor, while Sailor Moon leaped out of the way.
As she rolled toward one of the couches in the waiting area, she stopped just in time to avoid getting hit by a pair of scissors, which had embedded themselves into the side of the couch in front of her. She dived to the ground and started to roll again as Mitsuarmy fired a barrage of scissors, imbedding them into the ground in a straight line behind her.
Sailor Moon continued to roll until she crashed into a cart full of makeup, causing the contents of the cart to scatter everywhere, but mostly on her. Mitsuarmy strode over to where she could get another clear shot at her, just as Sailor Moon threw a small jar of powder at her. The jar shattered, creating a cloud of powder around her face.
"Mitsuarmy," Sailor Moon said as she brought out her Crescent Moon Wand, "I'll turn you back into Tokoyama Kariko again! Moon healing.... Ah!" she exclaimed, as something struck the Crescent Moon Wand out of her hand. She cradled her hand for a moment, then reached out and picked up the wand. When she turned to see what had struck her hand, she froze for a moment in shock.
"That's...," she whispered to herself. She slowly turned around, half-afraid that her mind was only playing tricks on her and half-hopeful that it really was who she thought it was.
In front of her, a figure dressed in black with a top hat was seated in one of the chairs with his back turned to her. "Is he...?" she wondered aloud. The figure turned in his chair. "Tuxedo Kamen-sama!" she exclaimed in immense relief. "I'm so glad you're safe."
Unnoticed by Sailor Moon, Tuxedo Kamen's usual red rose suddenly turned black. "I am not the man you speak of," he remarked coldly, and got up from the chair. Sailor Moon's expression turned from relief to confusion as she stared at Tuxedo Kamen in disbelief. "I'm a commander of the Dark Kingdom, Endymion."
"No... no way," she uttered in disbelief.
"Sailor Moon, hand over the Silver Crystal," he demanded, lifting up his cane and extending it.
"No way...," Sailor Moon lamented, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "How could he...?"
Behind her, Mitsuarmy was busy trying to start some kind of motor. After several pulls on the starter cord, the motor sputtered to life. "Finally," she muttered irritably as a plume of smoke rose from the motor. She whirled around, displaying a huge motorized razor on her right arm. "I have the engine going." She leaped at Sailor Moon, lunging with the huge razor. Sailor Moon quickly leaped back from the attack, still holding onto the Crescent Moon Wand.
"Mitsuarmy, take the Silver Crystal!" Tuxedo Kamen ordered, pointing his cane directly at Sailor Moon.
"No!" Sailor Moon gasped. "This can't be happening!"
"I'll trim your hair!" Mitsuarmy shouted and rushed toward her.
"No way!" Sailor Moon shrieked and dashed out of the salon. Mitsuarmy dashed after her, breaking through the door and most of the wall around it. Tuxedo Kamen calmly followed after them.
Minako came to just as he passed by her. She weakly lifted her head and watched as he walked out the considerably enlarged doorway.
"Tuxedo Kamen is on the enemy's side?" she murmured in astonishment. "I'd better call the others." She brought out her transformation pen and held it out in front of her.
"Venus power, make up!"
Mitsuarmy lunged again with her oversized razor, just missing Sailor Moon, and struck a telephone pole. The pole toppled over, snapping the phone wires, and crashed into the ground.
"Stand still and let me shave you bald!" she shouted and took another swipe at her, this time hitting a lamppost.
"Are you kidding?" Sailor Moon retorted. "My head'll come off if you use that thing!"
"What is taking so long, Mitsuarmy?" Tuxedo Kamen demanded. "Take the Silver Crystal now!"
"No...," Sailor Moon whispered sadly to herself.
Mitsuarmy leaped at Sailor Moon again, striking the concrete as Sailor Moon dodged the attack again and tumbled to the ground. She turned around in time to watch her advance toward her with the large razor pointed straight at her.
"Say goodbye, Sailor Moon," she sneered.
"Hold it right there!" five voices ordered in unison.
Everyone turned to regard the new arrivals: the other Sailor Scouts and the two guardian cats. "Everyone...," Sailor Moon said in relief.
"Fire...."
"Supreme...."
"Earth...."
"...soul!"
"...thunder!"
"...thrust!"
The three attacks combined and struck the huge razor on Mitsuarmy's right hand and blew it up, causing her to stagger from the blow.
"Shabon spray!" Mercury shouted, raising a thick mist to obscure vision.
"Hurry, Sailor Moon!" Venus shouted.
"Moon healing escalation!" she shouted, rotating the wand in a large circle in front of her, ending above her head. As she held the wand above her head, a white glow emanated from the wand and covered the monster, returning her and the other hairstylists to their normal form. They then collapsed in a heap onto the ground. Tuxedo Kamen growled furiously, seeing that Mitsuarmy was now gone.
"Tuxedo Kamen-sama!" Mars called out, taking a few steps toward him. "I'm so glad to see you safe...."
"Sailor Mars," Venus said in a stern voice. "He's not the Tuxedo Kamen you knew. He's a commander of the Dark Kingdom," she declared, pointing an accusing finger at him. "Endymion. That youma was taking orders from him." Each of the other four Scouts and the two cats stared at Tuxedo Kamen in disbelief, Mars with tears in her eyes. Sailor Moon just stared down into the crystal on her wand.
"He can't be," Mars said in astonishment. "That's not true, is it? Please, Tuxedo Kamen-sama," she pleaded, "tell me it's not true."
"It is," Tuxedo Kamen replied. "A rose has its thorns, and even a red rose can turn black."
"How could you...," Mars whispered sadly.
"You... traitor...," Knight uttered incredulously, tightly clenching both fists at his sides.
"Are you seriously going to fight against us?" Mercury asked.
"It is against my belief to defeat women, but I will if it is to get the Silver Crystal," Tuxedo Kamen stated. "So, who's first?"
"Sailor Moon, Sailor Mars, I'm so sorry," Knight said quietly and stepped between the other Scouts and Tuxedo Kamen. "Even during the race for the Rainbow Crystals, I never truly believed that it would come to this." He sighed regretfully and stood in a defensive fighting stance. "I'm first. Come, Endymion. I am ready."
Tuxedo Kamen stepped forward to fight Sailor Knight, but paused as he heard Queen Beryl contact him telepathically.
Endymion, leave them for now.
What?
That is the order of Queen Metallia.
His glare swept over all of the Scouts for a brief moment. "Sailor Scouts, the day to meet your fate has been postponed for now," he told them as he turned to leave. "I will return and I will have that Silver Crystal. Beware of that. Farewell." All of the Scouts and cats stared after him as he walked away. A black portal opened up a short distance in front of him, which he calmly strode through, and disappeared.
Endymion, now in his Earth Prince uniform, entered the chamber where Queen Metallia resided and knelt in front of dark structure which housed her.
"Why have you called me back?" Mamoru inquired.
The dark form bubbled to life. "BECAUSE I CANNOT AFFORD TO LOSE YOU, ENDYMION."
Endymion nodded and bowed again. "As you wish, Great Master."
Beryl grinned as she sat in her throne, gazing over her crystal. "It appears Endymion has totally become the Dark Kingdom's warrior," she commented.
"The brainwashing has been quite effective," Kunzite replied, bowing.
"We must have Endymion working very hard as a warrior of the Dark Kingdom now."
"As you wish, my Queen."
Each of the six Scouts stood outside of the hair salon, observing the hairstylists at work. Neither they, nor the customers, seemed to recall anything of what happened earlier. Usagi nodded to herself, turned, and started to walk away.
"Everything seems back to normal here," she said, then stopped. "They all had nothing to do with our fight. I don't want them to become victims of our battle."
"Looks like Usagi-chan's finally starting to accept her destiny as the Princess," Artemis remarked as he sat in Minako's arms.
"Most of all, I'm glad Tuxedo Kamen-sama's okay!" Usagi declared cheerily. Everyone sweatdropped in exasperation as she laughed happily.
"You were saying, Artemis?" Luna commented as she sat in Ami's arms.
"Well, I'm sure she's trying, Luna," Artemis continued. "I meant that she was moving forward."
"I definitely prefer her this way," Ryoku replied quietly, his expression showing a little concern as he watched Usagi. "At least, opposed to her being in a deep depression. That is no way for anyone to be." The two cats, Ami and Minako all gave him a questioning look, but he ignored it.
"Rei-chan," Makoto said, putting a concerned hand on her shoulder. Rei had been watching Usagi with a concerned expression as well, but turned to Makoto when she felt her hand on her shoulder. "Rei-chan, you can't keep worrying, either," Makoto told her.
Rei smiled faintly and nodded. "You're right," she agreed and turned back to watch Usagi.
"I bet he's being used by the bad guys!" Usagi continued, clenching a fist angrily. "I'll get him back! You'll see! I'll break whatever hold they have on him and I'll bring him back!"
"Thank you!"
A pair of young girls happily left the Hikawa Shrine after purchasing a pair of charms for good luck in love. After offering a quick prayer in front of the shrine, the pair left, giggling cheerily.
"Come back anytime, if there's a problem!" Minako called out after them. She and Makoto were dressed in shrine robes similar to the ones they had always seen Rei wear whenever she was working in the shrine. Makoto walked up to the window that Minako was selling the charms from and watched the two girls leave.
"There won't be any problems," Grandpa assured her from where he sat across from Minako.
"I didn't expect working as a shrine maiden would be so hard," Minako stated as she sat back. Makoto merely grinned and nodded.
"Well done," Grandpa said with a pleased grin.
"Grandpa!" Usagi greeted from outside as she and Ami walked up to the window.
"Ah! Usagi-chan!" he greeted back.
"What are you two doing here dressed like that?" Ami asked as she took in Minako's and Makoto's outfits.
"Where's Rei-chan?" Usagi asked.
"She's been very busy since she took charge of the executive committee in charge of her school's festival," he explained.
"That's why we're helping out around the shrine," Makoto added. "Rei-chan's been so busy, she's even got Ryo-chan helping her out at her school."
"By the way," Grandpa added as he smiled at Usagi, "why don't you help out here, as well?"
"Being a maiden?" Usagi asked, blinking in surprise. "Well, I think it would be cool, but I don't have the confidence to memorize a Sutra."
Grandpa facefaulted. "It's a shrine! You don't need to read a Sutra!"
"Hey, Ryo-kun! A little bit higher, please!"
"Right. How about now, Rei-chan?"
"A little to the left.... There!"
Rei smiled in satisfaction as Ryoku secured the spotlight into place, then turned it on. She signaled for him to turn the light slightly to the left, then nodded as he adjusted it to the exact spot she wanted.
"Rei," a girl interrupted as she and another girl walked up to her as Ryoku began climbing down from the catwalks.
"What?" Rei asked, frowning as she turned around.
"We'd like to ask you about the class exhibition," she began.
"I told you about it yesterday, didn't I?" Rei exclaimed. "How many times do I have to explain?"
"Oh, come on, Rei-chan," Ryoku said as he joined Rei on the stage. "Don't get so upset."
"But, I'm busy arranging the stage," she began.
"But, we can't sort this out alone," the girl pleaded.
Rei sighed as she shook her head. "All right, I'll come and see you later." She turned to go back to arranging the stage, but stopped as she spotted a pair of speakers sitting on the back of the stage. "Who left those here? Remove it immediately!"
Ryoku sighed. "I suppose she means me again," he muttered as he left to go move the speakers.
"She's so cool...," the first girl sighed as she watched Rei in awe. "I bet the festival wouldn't succeed without her."
"That's right," the other girl agreed, watching Rei in awe as well. "And if it wasn't for her, we wouldn't have had that boy, Ryoku, working for the festival as well. He's been such a big help."
"That's because he's a good friend of hers," the first girl explained.
"You two!" Rei snapped as she whirled in their direction. "Stop chatting and get back to work!"
"She spoke to us!" the first girl said fawningly.
"I'm so happy!" the other said just as fawningly.
Rei sighed in vexation. "Don't they know how busy I am?" she muttered. "This's gonna take more than just Ryo-kun and myself. I'd even ask a cat for help."
"Rei-chan!" Usagi shouted in greeting as she and Ami arrived with Luna and Artemis on Usagi's shoulders.
"What?" Rei said as she turned to see who was calling her. "Oh, Usagi."
"Sorry to keep you waiting," she said as she lifted the two cats off her shoulders and presented them to Rei. "I've brought Luna and Artemis for you."
"What?"
"You said you wanted a cat to help you, didn't you?" she asked as she dropped the cats. Luna and Artemis gave her an indignant glare after they hit the ground.
"Did you come here just to irritate me?" Rei asked irritably.
"It was just a joke," Usagi replied. "We came to encourage you."
"Here," Ami said as she held out one of the bag lunches she was carrying. "This is from Mako-chan." She glanced around the theater as Rei took her lunch bag. "Where's Ryo-kun? I have his lunch as well."
"Over here," Ryoku said as he returned from his task. "You brought us lunch, Ami-chan?"
"It's from Mako-chan," she told him.
"Thanks," he said gratefully as he took his lunch bag.
"Hey, can we look around your school, Rei-chan?" Usagi asked.
"Sure. We're going to hold a rehearsal in a minute," she told them, then turned to Ryoku. "You ready, Ryo-kun?" She paused as she noticed him reaching into his lunch bag. "Ryo-kun, we can eat after the rehearsal," she told him pointedly.
He sighed as he closed his lunch bag. "Very well."
Usagi and Ami watched in awe as they listened to Rei sing. Behind Rei, Ryoku played his guitar as she sang, his melody intertwining with her words and voice to weave a captivating song.
As she continued to sing, the lighting color suddenly shifted from a bright yellow to a bright violet. Rei glanced up and saw that one of the girls that was handling the lights that Ryoku had previously adjusted had accidentally turned the wheel that held the different-colored plastic films that made the white light shine in different colors. It was likely because the girls were so awestruck by Rei's singing that they forgot about their job.
"Hey, lighting staff!" Rei shouted up to the two inattentive girls handling the lights. "We're not in a bar!"
"A bar?" the first girl asked the second girl questioningly.
"Is this what bar lighting looks like?" the other asked, just as questioningly.
"Find more suitable colors!" Rei shouted again, then sighed. "Forget it! Take a five-minute break."
"All right," Ryoku said with a half-grin. "Time to eat."
"Everyone's so slow," she complained. "It makes me tired."
"Whose song was that?" Usagi asked as she and Ami walked up to the stage with Luna and Artemis riding on their shoulders. "I like it."
"You've got good taste, Usagi," Rei said with a pleased grin. "I wrote all the words and songs for the recital," she said as she brought out a stack of sheet music and proudly displayed it for the others to see.
Usagi, Ami and the cats stared at Rei in astonishment, while Ryoku merely glanced at Rei for a moment before shrugging and returning to his lunch. Rei glanced back at Ryoku for a moment, then frowned at everyone's reaction.
"What? Is that funny or something?" she asked indignantly.
"Not at all," Usagi said, shaking her head.
"It seems as though this recital is being held just for you, Rei-chan," Ami observed.
"Of course!" Rei agreed. "I'm in charge of everything from forewoman to executive committee."
"No change there, then," Artemis commented.
"That's good," Usagi said as she grimaced.
From outside, Seijuro and Natsumi watch Rei and Ryoku work from one of the branches of a tree near one of the theater's windows.
"A school festival," Seijuro observed as they watched.
"There will be plenty of youthful energy here," Natsumi added with a grin as she folded her arms.
"It's too good an opportunity to miss."
"Makaiju will be pleased."
That evening, everyone gathered in front of Hikawa Shrine to discuss Rei's school festival the following day. Minako and Makoto were already back in their normal clothes.
"Rei-chan, it's tomorrow, isn't it?" Usagi asked.
"We're going to take a break from working at your shrine to come to the festival," Makoto added.
"Grandpa is coming as well," Rei told them as she sat down.
"Then, I guess Yuuichirou-kun will have to take care of the shrine by himself," Ryoku commented.
"By the way," Minako added, "I wanted to say how impressed I was to learn that you wrote all the festival songs."
"It must've been hard work," Ami added.
Rei glanced over at Ryoku, who was silently watching her, then shook her head. "No, not really...."
Rei sat in front of her keyboard, writing note after note on a piece of staff paper. After writing a few notes, she began to slowly come to a stop. She grimaced as she looked over her music, played what she wrote, then banged on the keyboard in frustration.
As she became more and more frustrated with what she thought to be poor work, the pile of crumpled papers in her trashcan began to grow, one piece of paper after another. She settled her head into her folded arms as she idly pressed one key after another on her keyboard, hoping for some inspiration to strike.
A knock at her door interrupted her brooding. "Come in," she called as she sat up.
Ryoku opened the door and walked inside. "I heard you were put in charge of your school's festival committee."
"That's right," she agreed, nodding. "I suppose you came to offer your services, right, Ryo-kun?"
He blinked in surprise. "Services?"
She grinned sweetly. "You know, with setting up the theater for the recital, setting up the booths, arranging...."
"Is that all I'll be doing?" he asked with an eyebrow raised in amusement. "Manual labor?"
"Well...," she began contritely as her grin faded slightly.
"No problem. I'll be glad to help."
Rei's expression brightened immediately as she clasped one of his hands gratefully. "Thank you, Ryo-kun! You're a big help!"
Ryoku nodded and was about to say something else when the sheet music on Rei's keyboard caught his eye. "You're writing a song for the festival as well?"
"Well... yeah, I am," she said with a hesitant grin since she didn't want to tell him that she was writing all the songs for the festival's recital.
"May I take a look?" he asked as he walked over to the keyboard.
"Sure, but it's not really done yet," she admitted.
"Oh?" he asked as he looked over the sheet music, then began to play what she had written on her keyboard.
Rei blinked in surprise as he played her music. "You know how to play piano as well, Ryo-kun?"
"Sugiyama-sensei taught me," he replied without looking away from the sheet music. "After all, when you work with a pianist music teacher for so long, you pick up a few things. Sugiyama-sensei says that I'm a natural when it comes to music." He paused as he came to the end of what Rei had written, frowned in thought for a moment, then played a single chord of four notes.
Rei's eyes widened as the chord he played all but broke through her musical writer's block. "What was that, Ryo-kun?"
"B flat minor seventh," he replied as he turned around to face her. "I didn't mean to presume that I...."
"No, I'm not upset," she said quickly. "It's just that I was having a bit of a block right there. That one chord you played helped to break through it." She smiled at him. "Now I can finish the rest of it easily. Thanks again, Ryo-kun." Her smile widened as she came up with another idea. "Say, Ryo-kun, how about you play your guitar along with me while I sing?"
Ryoku blinked, then nodded. "Sure, but I must warn you. I'm not all that experienced as a background singer," he added jokingly.
After that one breakthrough, she was able to finish her music with very few problems. Ryoku had left and come back with his guitar, so he played as she sang the words to her songs and wrote down what she thought sounded good. Every now and then, Ryoku would toss her a few suggestions, but for the most part, she wrote each song that they worked on. After they finished all the songs for the recital and Ryoku left for the night - he still didn't know that she was writing the songs for the entire recital; he thought she was writing most of them - Rei smiled at the stack of sheet music. It was hard work, but she did it.
As she was about to turn off her keyboard and put her music away, a thought suddenly struck her. Her smile returned, wider than before, as she grabbed a pencil and started writing quickly.
"I didn't have any problem with the words," Rei continued. "The ideas came real easily and I finished it very quickly. I have a gift for it, you know."
"You're really great, Rei-chan," Usagi said admiringly.
"Do you really think that proper Sailor Warriors should get so excited over a festival like this?" Artemis asked Luna doubtfully.
"Well... why not?" Luna replied.
The next day, Usagi, Ami, Makoto, Minako and the cats all made their way to Rei's school to attend the festival. Rei and Ryoku were already there, taking care of some last minute details, so they told the girls that they would be joining up with them as soon as they could.
"There're only girls here," Artemis remarked as he glanced around the school grounds.
"Well, this is a girls-only school," Ami told him. "I'm sure that will change once the festival starts to get underway."
As they went further into the school grounds, Grandpa went around the exterior of the school grounds, asking girls if they would like to work at his shrine.
"Hi, pretty girls!" he called out as he approached two more girls. "How would you like to work part time at my shrine?"
"Our school forbids part time work, sir," one of the girls replied.
"I'm sorry," the other added as both bowed politely. "Goodbye."
"Really?" Grandpa asked disappointedly. "Goodbye." He sighed in defeat. "I can't win over such rich girls."
"Hey, where can I buy pancakes?" Usagi exclaimed as she glanced around at all the booths inside the school grounds. "How about noodles? Curry with boiled rice?"
"Calm down," Makoto said with a grin.
"Usagi-chan...," Luna muttered from Usagi's shoulder as Usagi's wild glancing about had thrown her around quite a bit.
"Where's Ami?" Artemis asked as he glanced around. "She was just here."
"She's either gone to see some exhibition or to find Ryo-kun," Minako told him. "At any rate, shall we go look around?"
"Yeah!" the rest of the girls exclaimed eagerly.
The first place they stopped was a booth with a beautiful display of kimonos. They tried on one after another until they each found one they liked, then had their pictures taken while wearing them. At another booth, several students were demonstrating their skills in baking. Makoto decided to stay here for a bit to make something as the other girls chose to keep going and come back later to see what she would make.
"Hey, what're those?" Usagi said as she headed over to a booth that had several pieces of strangely shaped metal intertwined together.
"Puzzles," Ryoku said as he and Ami walked up to where the girls were standing.
"Puzzles?" Usagi repeated quizzically as she glanced down at the metal pieces.
"Watch," he said as he picked up a group, moved the metal pieces around, then separated one of the pieces from the rest.
"Wow!" one of the booth operators exclaimed in surprise. "That's the fastest I've ever seen someone solve that one!"
"Wanna try it?" he asked Usagi after he replaced the piece and handed it over to her.
"All right," she said as she tried to replicate his feat. Some time later, Ryoku and Ami had both solved every puzzle on the table, but Usagi still hadn't figured out the first puzzle.
"I can't get this!" she exclaimed in frustration.
Next, the group decided to look around at the different game booths, while Ryoku and Ami wandered around by themselves for a bit. Minako decided to try her luck at playing this game where she had to hit a golf ball into a target several meters away. The first few swings hit nothing but air, but when she did hit, she hit the ball too hard and sent it flying out of the booth's playing area.
"Oops," she said sheepishly as she watched the ball descend, all the while hoping that she wouldn't hit anyone. Unfortunately, she did end up hitting someone.
"Ryo-kun!!!" Ami exclaimed as she saw her boyfriend knocked to the ground by a plummeting golf ball.
"Uh-oh...," Minako grimaced as she put down her club and hoped no one would link her with the accident. She would apologize to Ryoku later.
After Ryoku's recovery - the blow to the head only fazed him for a moment - Rei dragged him and Ami to a booth where they were playing a game that seemed almost like it was a quiz show with a dating game theme to it. Ryoku watched as Rei dragged Ami up to the stage in order to participate with her. Behind both chairs was a heart-shaped board that was divided in half; left half blue, right half red. Ryoku assumed that blue was correct and red was incorrect, since during the game, Ami got mostly blue while Rei got mostly red.
While everyone was moving about the school grounds, enjoying themselves, Natsumi and Seijuro stood underneath a tree and watched everyone else.
"I can feel so much energy," Natsumi commented.
"Yeah," Seijuro agreed. "We'll enjoy this."
"Yes."
Natsumi and Seijuro began to leave, but Seijuro stopped as someone caught his arm. He turned around to see a girl holding onto his arm and staring at him intently. Suddenly, her expression changed into a satisfied grin.
"I was right!" she exclaimed delightedly to two girls standing behind her.
"He's our ideal boy," a second girl agreed, then turned to the third girl. "Junko-san, please measure his size."
"Sure," Junko agreed as she walked toward Seijuro with a measuring tape in her hands.
"What's going on?" he asked, frowning in confusion.
"Come this way, please," the second girl requested as she herded Natsumi over to one side and brought out a second measuring tape.
"Could you open your arms?" Junko requested.
"Pardon?" Seijuro asked, still confused.
"Open your arms like this," she replied, spreading out her arms in demonstration.
"Like this?" he asked, repeating her gesture.
"And I'd like you to squat a bit for me."
"But...."
"Quickly!"
"All right," he relented as he squatted down enough for her to take his measurements. "Yes! He's the one!" she crowed in delight.
"And her as well!" the second girl called out after measuring Natsumi.
"We've finally found the right pair," the first girl said happily. "Come on!" she exclaimed as the other two girls began to drag Seijuro and Natsumi after them.
"Wait a minute," Seijuro said as he was being dragged along. "Tell us who you are."
The girl halted and blinked in realization. "Oh, I forgot," she said sheepishly as she realized how rude she was being. "I'm Ogi Sakurako from the fashion research club. We'd like you to model clothes for us."
"Models?" Natsumi and Seijuro repeated as they glanced quizzically at each other.
"Yes," Sakurako continued. "Our theme is 'Aliens from Space.'"
"What???" Natsumi and Seijuro exclaimed as they were taken aback.
Ail..., Natsumi said telepathically to Seijuro as she gave him a significant look.
She recognizes what we are, he replied warily. She can't be an ordinary schoolgirl....
"What's the matter?" she asked with a concerned expression on her face. "You don't look well." Her expression turned to one of amusement as she reached a conclusion. "You don't believe in such things as space aliens, do you?" she said as she laughed.
"Of course not," Seijuro replied, laughing half-heartedly while Natsumi just grumbled to herself.
"Let's go, then!" she said as she took off, while the two girls with her dragged Natsumi and Seijuro after them.
"Hey!!!" they exclaimed as they were dragged off, but the girls weren't listening anymore.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the recital of the Queen of the Girls' High School Festival, Hino Rei, will be held in one minute. Please come enjoy the show with your friends."
Usagi, Ami, Makoto, Minako and the cats all exchanged glances after the turned away from looking at the PA announcement speaker. "I didn't know Rei-chan was the Queen," Makoto commented as they entered the theater.
"I suppose Ryo-kun was just reading off of a piece of paper when he made that announcement," Ami remarked. "But, she did work very hard for it."
"She really is the Queen," Artemis said. "Everyone in the festival relies on her."
"Really?" Luna commented as she gave Usagi a furtive glance. "I could compare her to someone I...."
"Luna!" Usagi growled as she smacked her in the head. "I'll hit you!"
"Don't say that after hitting me," Luna muttered back at her.
"We should go get seats now," Minako suggested.
"Let's go," Usagi agreed eagerly.
"Ryo-chan said that he was saving seats for us up in the front row," Makoto said as they headed down toward the front row of seats. They could see Ryoku signaling for them to come over. He was dressed in a sharp, gray dress shirt with a black necktie, black slacks and black, polished dress shoes.
"Looking good, Ryo-chan!" Makoto called out as they approached him.
"Here you are," he said as he gestured toward the row of five empty chairs in the middle of the front row. "One chair for each of you."
"I thought that you were going to play your guitar while Rei-chan sang," Usagi said as she sat down with Luna in her lap.
"I am," he replied with a nod.
"Then, why is your guitar still at home?" Makoto asked, blinking in confusion as she and the others sat down as well. Artemis took a seat in Minako's lap. "I saw it there before I left, and you left home before I did."
Ryoku half-grinned. "You'll see."
"Are you ready?" Sakurako asked after she had finished peeking out at the audience.
"What is going on?" Seijuro asked. He and Natsumi were dressed in the most ridiculous outfits imaginable, which - to Seijuro's and Natsumi's minds - looked like nothing they, as aliens themselves, would ever wear. Their Cardians, on the other hand....
"It's a fashion show," she explained.
"It's a sort of opening show for Rei's recital, you see?" Junko added.
"A fashion show?" Seijuro repeated uncertainly.
"An opening show?" Natsumi also repeated questioningly.
"Go now!" Sakurako exclaimed as she unceremoniously shoved both fashion victims out onto the stage. Once they were out on stage, a spotlight immediately shone down on them, effectively pinning them to the spot.
"Well... hello," Seijuro said nervously as they both stared out at the audience.
"I feel so sorry for them," one girl murmured to another in the audience. "It looks like they've been chosen as the school festival victims this year."
"They're enjoying it," Seijuro observed in surprise.
"It's not so bad," Natsumi added.
"Hey, it's those two!" Usagi said as she recognized the fashion victims.
"Natsumi and Seijuro," Ami agreed.
"Better them than us," Ryoku commented dryly.
"Yeah," Minako nodded.
"So, has Seijuro given up being cool?" Makoto joked.
"The energy level's going up higher," Seijuro said as he closed his eyes and felt the audience's energy.
"It would be great fun to steal it all at once," Natsumi added with a devilish grin.
"Yes, there's a vast amount."
"This hall is full of it."
"Let's see what happens," Seijuro said as his grin took on a malicious curve.
As the fashion show ended, Ryoku got up from his seat and headed up toward the stage. On the way up, he grabbed a microphone and a music stand from one of the stands near the stairs leading to the stage. He turned on the microphone as a spotlight shone down on him. The applause from the talent show died down as he signaled for silence after placing the stand in the middle of the stage.
"Thank you for your applause," he said as he faced the audience. "Hino Rei's recital is about to start." Behind him, the curtains parted as Rei stepped out on stage. She was dressed in a beautiful red dress with a yellow flower and a white ribbon tied in her hair. A yellow bow was tied around her waist and a slim red choker was placed around her neck. She carried her sheet music out to the stage and placed it on the stand that Ryoku brought for her.
"It looks like her turn is at the end," Minako stated.
"Oh! I'm feeling so nervous!" Usagi squealed excitedly.
"You're not the one singing, Usagi-chan," Ami pointed out.
"I know that," Usagi replied.
"It's starting," Makoto told them as Ryoku handed over the microphone to Rei.
"Thank you, Ryo-kun," she said as she turned to the audience while Ryoku headed backstage. "Hello, everyone! I'm Hino Rei, but you can call me Rei-chan! I'm so happy that you've all come to see me!"
"Not one for humility, is she?" Luna commented.
"She's completely self-intoxicated," Artemis agreed.
"Great, Rei!" Grandpa cheered from the audience as he jumped up and down excitedly.
"Rei-chan, you're cool!" Usagi cheered as well.
"I'll sing for you with all my heart," Rei stated as the curtains parted, revealing Ryoku standing behind the curtains with an electric guitar in his hands and a set of amplifiers and speakers behind him.
"So, that's where Ryo-kun ran off to," Minako said as they took in the sight. "Where'd he get the electric guitar? I thought he had a regular one."
"Must be the school's or something," Makoto replied. "I don't remember him buying one."
Rei nodded back to Ryoku signaling for him to start the music. As he played, and as the recording of the rest of the background music played - Ryoku had the background music recorded yesterday - Rei began to sing.
On top of the theater roof, above the performers and the audience, Ail and Ann watched.
"Select a Cardian," Ail said to Ann as he turned from the show and spread a hand of cards in front of her. Ann pointed at a card, which promptly rose into the air and hovered before them.
"Come forth, Cardian Seirei!" he commanded as he played his summoning song on his flute. Immediately, the card expanded into a mermaid-like creature with bluish skin and a fish-like tail.
As Rei was singing, a sensation at the back of her mind caused her to stop suddenly.
I feel something evil..., she thought as she glanced up over her shoulder toward the top of the theater.
Suddenly, Seirei appeared overhead, circling around as she sprinkled the entire audience with some type of sparkling powder.
"What's that?" Usagi said as she spotted the flying creature.
"It's a Cardian!" Artemis shouted urgently. "Avoid the golden powder!"
As the golden dust landed on the audience, everyone was knocked unconscious as their energy was drained away.
"Girls, do you want to work in my shrine?" Grandpa shouted as he continued to jump up and down while the powder fell on him as well. "You'd like it...." He trailed off as the powder took effect and put him to sleep.
The only people the powder didn't affect were Usagi, Ami, Makoto, Minako and the cats, who had ducked under their chairs in time, and Rei and Ryoku, who were on stage.
"Everything seems to be going well," Ail remarked as he reached out for Ann's hand.
"We'll wait back at the Doom Tree," Ann added as she took Ail's hand in hers and vanished along with him.
Now that the audience was out, the Cardian decided to attack both Rei and Ryoku. The pearls that adorned her hair suddenly broke off as her pink hair lashed out at both of them. Ryoku quickly drew his Knight Swords and rushed Seirei, but even as he managed to slash some of the hair that struck at him, the ones that he missed grabbed him and flung him out toward the chairs in the audience.
"Ryo-kun!" Ami exclaimed as she and the others came out of hiding in time to see him crash into the chairs just behind them.
At the same time, Seirei's hair lashed out at Rei, grabbed her and started to drain her of her energy as well.
"Rei-chan!" Usagi shouted worriedly.
"Damn!" Makoto growled fiercely.
"Right, then," Ryoku seethed as he got to his feet. "Girls, let's get to work. Knight swords power!"
"Moon crystal power...."
"Mercury power...."
"Jupiter power...."
"Venus power...."
"...make up!"
"I'm the Sailor Warrior fighting for love and justice, Sailor Moon!" Sailor Moon announced.
"Sailor Knight!"
"Sailor Jupiter!"
"Sailor Mercury!"
"Sailor Venus!"
"The Sailor Warriors!" all five shouted at once.
"Help me!" Rei gasped as she tried to pull the hair away from her. "I'm losing my energy...."
"Supreme...."
"Shabon...."
"Earth...."
"...thunder!"
"...spray!"
"...thrust!"
The combined attack cut through the hair holding on to Rei, freeing her from the Cardian's draining attack. However, Seirei countered by flinging her hair at them. Sailor Knight managed to dive to the side and slice away the hair that had attacked him, but Mercury and Jupiter got caught.
"Rei, are you all right?" Sailor Moon asked as she and Sailor Venus knelt down by Rei's side.
"Be careful!" Luna shouted as Seirei flung her hair at them. Sailor Knight tried to shove Sailor Moon out of the way of the attack, but only managed to get caught up in it as well.
"What?" Jupiter exclaimed as she felt her energy being drained. "My energy is fading!"
"No!" Sailor Moon shouted as she felt her energy being drained as well.
"Help!" Venus shouted as well as the Cardian drained all five Scouts of their energy.
"Rei-chan!" Sailor Knight shouted as he struggled with the hair trapping him. "Wake up, Rei-chan!"
Rei slowly woke up from her imposed nap to see her friends in danger. "Wait for me," she whispered fiercely as she slowly pushed herself to her feet.
"Rei?" Artemis said concernedly.
"You can't fight in that condition!" Luna shouted worriedly, but Rei wasn't listening.
"Mars power, make up!"
"You've committed a serious crime, by destroying my recital and stealing the energy of my friends!" Mars declared. Her knees buckled slightly from her loss of energy, but she quickly recovered. "In the name of Mars, I'll punish you!
"Fire soul!" she yelled, firing her attack at the hair holding her friends captive. The hair quickly burned away, releasing them as they slumped down to the floor. The fireball also hit the Cardian, which quickly engulfed her. However, the effect didn't last long as Seirei quickly threw off the attack.
"What? Why?" Mars gasped in shock as the Cardian began to advance again. "The Fire Soul didn't work?"
Sailor Moon tried to push herself up, but weakly fell back down to the floor again. "Sailor Moon!" Mars exclaimed as she rushed over and knelt down at her side.
"I can't fight anymore," Sailor Moon said weakly. "Good luck, Sailor Mars."
"Sailor Moon!"
Seirei lunged at them and was about to strike when a single white rose cut through the air to strike the floor before the Cardian, stopping her.
"There's a small planet that plays a tune in the quiet of space," the Moonlight Knight stated from his vantage point in the rafters in the overhead of the theater. "It's Earth. I, the Moonlight Knight, won't forgive anyone disturbing that beautiful melody," he finished as he slowly drew his blade from the sheath at his side.
"Moonlight Knight...," Mars breathed as she stared up at him.
"Sailor Mars, please let me listen to your beautiful voice once more," he said as he leaped down from the rafters and swung at the Cardian. Seirei tried to counter by swinging her tail at him, but only managed to knock over the stand holding her sheet music. Several sheets of her music remained fluttering in the air, but most of them were scattered everywhere. Some were slightly shredded at the edges from the Cardian's tail, while one or two sheets were actually ripped in half.
Sailor Mars' eyes widened in shock at seeing the music she had worked so hard on manhandled in such a manner. Her eyes narrowed in a burning fury. "Unforgivable...," she murmured in an intensely cold voice as her entire body quivered in anger. "This is absolutely unforgivable!!!" She pulled out an ofuda and flung it at the Cardian, but that was only part of her attack. There was a fire burning in her heart... her soul. She prepared to go through the motions of the rest of her attack, but the words that came to mind were completely different. Words fueled with rage.
"Fire soul bird!!!"
The fireball that issued from her hands soared directly into the ofuda and consumed it. After passing through the ward, the fireball took on the form of a bird and dove directly at Seirei. The Cardian tried to stop the bird by shooting streams of water at it, but the bird merely swerved around the attack and struck the Cardian, weakening it severely.
"Sailor Mars has found her hidden power," Artemis stated as he and Luna watched Mars bring down the Cardian.
"Sailor Moon, finish her!" Mars shouted over at Sailor Moon.
"Right," Sailor Moon agreed as she slowly pushed herself to her feet and brought out the Moon Scepter. "Moon princess halation!" she shouted as she waved the scepter in front of her, ending with it pointing at the Cardian. A stream of light emanated from the scepter and struck Seirei, destroying her and leaving nothing behind but a smoldering card stuck into the ground.
"Well done, Sailor Warriors," the Moonlight Knight congratulated as he turned to leave. "Don't forget to keep happiness in your heart. Farewell." He leaped up and vanished in midair.
"Moonlight Knight-sama...," Sailor Moon breathed as she stared at the space the Moonlight Knight had occupied moments before.
"Thank you!" Rei said happily as she bowed to the audience. "Thank you very much!"
Behind her, Ryoku half-grinned as he watched Rei soak up the accolades and cheers. The audience seemed to love her last song, 'Forever Melody', which was the very song he had inadvertently helped Rei finished a few days ago. It was almost appropriate to end the recital with that song. He was about to take off the electric guitar he had borrowed from one of the students from Sugiyama-sensei's class when he noticed that Rei had held her hands up, signaling for the audience to quiet down.
Rei glanced back at Ryoku and smiled at his expression of confusion while gesturing for him to keep his guitar out. I have a surprise for you, Ryo-kun, she thought as she turned back toward the audience.
"Originally, I had planned to end the recital with that last song, but instead, I would like to sing for you one last song which I wrote for a special friend of mine. Without his help, all the work I had done for this festival would've been a lot harder and taken a lot longer than it did," she said as she turned toward Ryoku again and started walking toward him. "Even now, he is still working alongside me, helping me to make this recital a big success.
"For all his help and support, I would like to dedicate this last song to my friend, Kino Ryoku, and have him sing this song with me. Ryo-kun, would you please sing this duet with me?" she asked as she extended a hand toward him.
"A duet?" Ryoku asked, half-grinning in surprise. "I would be honored to sing with you, Rei-chan." As Ryoku took Rei's hand in his and walked toward the front of the stage with her, the whole audience began to cheer.
"Ryo-kun's gonna sing?" Usagi asked with an excited grin on her face. "All right! This's gonna be so cool!"
"Yeah," Makoto agreed, nodding excitedly. "I haven't heard him sing in years."
The entire audience quieted down as Ryoku played the opening to the song. "I call this last song, 'This Far'," Rei said as she turned to face Ryoku and prepared to sing.
"I used to think that I could never count on anyone,
"And that I always had to be alone.
"I used to think that you could never know just how I feel,
"But everything had changed when you came to stand by my side."
Ryoku took a breath, faced Rei and began to sing as he continued to play.
"I never knew that I would need to lean on anyone,
"My pride would make me stand alone.
"And I never knew that you would be there when I needed you,
"But you were there to help me stand up and face each day with you."
As they came to the chorus, both began to sing together in a perfect two-part harmony.
"Wherever you go, wherever you are,
"You know I'll be there beside you.
"Whenever you need me, whatever the reason,
"You know I'm by your side.
"No matter how hard the road is before us,
"There is one thing that I know:
"As far I can see, without you I'd never be,
"This far."
Ryoku played a short reprise of the chorus on his guitar before changing the key of the song and moving into the song's bridge. Rei would sing the first third of the bridge and he would sing the second third, then they would sing the final third of the bridge together.
"Now all the days that I've spent all by myself,
"Seem like nothing but a distant memory.
"Now all the time I sat feeling all alone,
"Feels like I was waiting there for you.
"Now that we are standing here together,
"There is nothing I can't do, because I'm standing here by you."
As the finished the bridge, Ryoku returned to the song's original key and began to play a solo on his electric guitar. "Ladies and gentlemen, Kino Ryoku," Rei said as she gestured toward him while he continued to play. She watched him as he played, especially the expression on his face. She could see that he was pouring a lot of emotion into his playing, which made her feel as if he was playing just for her. Just before he finished his solo, he looked back up at her and half-smiled. She knew for certain that he was playing his best, just for her. She nodded as they began to sing the chorus again.
"Wherever you go, wherever you are,
"You know I'll be there beside you.
"Whenever you need me, whatever the reason,
"You know I'm by your side.
"No matter how hard the road is before us,
"There is one thing that I know:
"As far I can see, without you I'd never be,
"This far."
Ryoku began another short solo, but it was a subtle one, played in the background as they repeated the chorus again with a few ad-libs here and there by Rei, then Ryoku closed the song with an ending reprise in which he sustained the final note an octave higher than before, ending the song with a musical flourish.
When the song ended, the audience roared with applause as they gave them a standing ovation. Rei and Ryoku both smiled at each other - a half-smile in Ryoku's case - as Ryoku took one of Rei's hands in his and both bowed at the same time.
"You're a hit, Rei-chan," Ryoku mentioned as then stood back up.
"I know," she replied with another grin. "Thanks for helping me get this far."
"That was great, Ryo-kun," Ami said as she and the others were all gathered around the huge bonfire that was lit out in the middle of a clearing in the school grounds after night fell. They were all sitting on a pair of logs that were part of a huge ring circling the bonfire; Makoto, Ryoku and Ami on one log, and Minako, Usagi and Rei on another. "I never knew you could sing like that. You have such a lovely singing voice."
"It has been a while since I did something like that," Ryoku replied from his seat next to Ami. "I'm just glad that my voice didn't crack."
"Yeah," Rei added with a nod. "He sings tenor very well. Maybe I should have you sing more duets with me, right, Ryo-kun?"
"Well, I don't know about that...," he began in a casual tone.
"You were great on stage, Rei-chan," Usagi added as she looked from her to Ryoku. "You and Ryo-kun both. You're so amazing."
"You should learn to follow my example," Rei told her with a smug grin.
"Except for the part with your personality," Usagi replied.
"Pardon?" Rei shot back. "Maybe my example is too hard for you to follow."
"Who said I wanted to follow your example? I'd sooner follow Ryo-kun's!" Minako, Makoto and Ami all began to laugh quietly at Ryoku while the he scowled at the bickering girls.
"Don't bring me into this!" he shouted, but neither one was listening to him as they had begun arguing in earnest.
Queen Beryl was really mad at Jaedite this time. Not only had he failed again, but thanks to Sailor Moon and the three other Sailor Scouts, he had also lost Titus. Things just couldn't get any worse, but then again things usually did. And, as of late, they always seemed to happen to him.
She had left him waiting for her, as she went to decide his fate. He knew it wasn't going to be good, especially since she was furious when she left. When she returned, she was icy calm. That was a very bad sign.
"Jadeite, we are pleased with the energy you have collected from the people of Earth," she began, "but you also have made several mistakes." Jadeite growled to himself and clenched a fist in anger. "Furthermore, you have not yet been able to eliminate the four Sailor Scouts: Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars and Sailor Knight. This disturbs me, Jadeite," she said in an ominous tone.
"But, Queen Beryl...," he began, but Beryl cut him off.
"I will hear no excuses!" she roared fiercely. "Kill the Sailor Scouts!" She grinned wickedly in the pale lighting. "If you fail this time... the punishment is eternal sleep."
In the background, astonished murmuring could be heard easily. Jadeite was merely speechless with worry over his fate. Now, things couldn't get any worse.
"The punishment of eternal sleep condemns you to the most profound darkness... forever. You will be sealed away into the edge of darkness... never to return. Remember that."
It was time for him to take drastic measures.
Rei was just getting dressed after taking a nice long soak in the bathtub. She slipped on her usual red and white robes and headed for her room. Ever since that so-called cruise that she, Ami and Ryoku went on, she had been mulling over the same thing: why Ryoku had apparently given up on dating.
She had come to several different conclusions, but only a few seemed to fit. For one, she knew he was interested in girls, not boys. She had flirted with him a couple times and had even made him blush a few times; though he tried to hide it. Besides, he didn't seem to be the type that would go for that sort of thing.
The one reason she thought was the most likely, was that his last girlfriend must've really broken his heart. That would explain his constant depression and reluctance to date again. She wanted to ask him about what happened, but she knew that he didn't want to talk about it.
From out of nowhere, an ominous, wicked laughter interrupted her musings. She turned to look out her window....
Ami had just finished another chapter in her biology textbook. She yawned and stretched out her arms. She had been sitting on her bed for a long time, so decided to get up and move her legs for a bit before moving on to the next chapter.
She went over to her window and opened it. A gentle breeze flew into her room stirring her short blue hair. She closed her eyes and tilted her head, letting the wind blow across her face. It felt good. Things like this were little reminders to her that there actually was more to life than studying. Then again, she thought with some amusement, with friends like mine, who needs to be reminded?
From out of nowhere, an ominous, wicked laughter interrupted her musings. She looked up into the sky....
Ryoku was up on the roof again, but this time his swords were back in his room. He was sitting on the edge of the roof while letting his feet dangle over the edge. He had brought his guitar up with him and he was now softly strumming a few insignificant chords. He wasn't really trying to play anything; he was just listing to the sound it made.
He was growing very tired of the repeated misunderstandings that seemed to be prevalent in his life as of late. First, there was the incident that landed him at Crossroads in the first place. No big deal; he had all but forgotten it already. Then, there were the rumors that had greeted him upon his arrival at the junior high. Hospitalized, indeed! That couldn't be further from the truth.
Now, there was this misunderstanding he had with Rei. He thought he told her that he was no longer interested in dating. I guess that to her that meant that you're free to flirt, as long as you don't go farther than that. He sighed. Oh well, I never did say that I didn't want to be flirted with, either. So, he endured it. She had even managed to make him blush! Before, only Keiko could've done that....
From out of nowhere, an ominous, wicked laughter interrupted his musings. He looked up from his guitar into the sky....
Usagi was staring up at the stars with Luna. "I love looking up at the constellations. Oh, look, Cygnus," she said, pointing to one constellation after another. "Sagittarius. Libra. Motoki-oniisan." She pointed over to another. "And there, Tuxedo Kamen." She giggled. "What a two-timer I am! I'm in love with two guys at the same time. I'm a very sinful girl."
Luna merely groaned tiredly and yawned. "This is making me sleepy, Usagi-chan. Don't you have anything better to do with your time?" she asked.
Obviously, she did not, since she continued to stare out into the starry night. "It's so hard to be in love. But, what if Motoki-oniisan was Tuxedo Kamen...?"
From out of nowhere, an ominous, wicked laughter interrupted her musings. As she looked up into the sky, she saw lightning flash and clouds swirl around unnaturally. "Huh? What is that?" she asked.
As if answering her question, the clouds converged and formed into an image of Jadeite. Luna arched her back and hissed at him.
"Now hear this, Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars and Sailor Knight!" he challenged. "Come to the F runway of Haneda Airport tomorrow night at one o'clock. If you do not come...." He shot a fireball into the city, igniting it instantly.
Usagi and Luna gasped in shock. "Stop it, you monster!" Luna shouted angrily.
He merely snapped his fingers and the flames vanished. "That was only an illusion, but if you do not come, I will burn all of Tokyo." As suddenly as his image appeared, it disappeared, displaying the serene starlit sky.
"This calls for an emergency meeting," Luna said worriedly. "Come on, Usagi-chan. We need to go to Rei's shrine. Now."
Rei was outside, waiting for the others when they arrived. She noticed the varying degrees of worry on the others' faces, from Ryoku's calm demeanor to Usagi's obvious apprehension. At least she wasn't crying like a baby this time.
"Good, we're all here," Luna said. "Now, we've all seen Jadeite's challenge to us a few minutes ago...."
"Yes," Ryoku said flatly, "either we show up, or he incinerates the whole city."
"Do you really think he'll do it?" Usagi asked apprehensively.
"I'm sure he'd turn Tokyo into an inferno, just as he said," Luna told them.
"Let's go," Rei suggested. "We can't just ignore his challenge."
"But that means we're walking right into his trap!" Ami interjected.
"Actually," Ryoku said thoughtfully, "you both have a point. If we don't answer, Jadeite roasts Tokyo. But, Jadeite wouldn't have challenged us unless he was sure of winning. That means a trap."
Luna nodded and turned to Usagi. "What do you think, Usagi-chan?" she asked.
The other three turned to Usagi, who up until now was lost in thought. "We fight him, right?" Rei asked.
"Think carefully," Ami said.
"Well, Usagi-chan?" Ryoku asked.
Usagi laughed nervously. "Me?" she asked, pointing to herself. "I'm scared I don't wanna go!"
"Okay, so it's settled," Luna said. "We all meet Jadeite tomorrow night."
"Hey!" Usagi interrupted. Everyone else ignored her.
"Right," Ryoku said and left.
"I don't like this, but we don't have any choice," Ami said. "We must meet Jadeite or the city will suffer." She turned and left.
"Come on, Usagi-chan," Luna said. "We'd better be getting home, too."
Usagi noticed that she and Luna were all alone. Rei had already gone back inside and Ryoku and Ami left. "All right. Coming, Luna."
The next day, an announcement on the news stated that due to Jadeite's late-night message to the Scouts, the police were going to station teams of officers all over the airport. The news of the impending battle was currently being discussed throughout the school, especially in Usagi's class.
Usagi was standing next to the window with Luna, while the other students were discussing the nature of the strange message last night. They were even suggesting that they sneak over to the airport to watch the fight.
"We can't have all those people there!" Luna said, concerned. "They could get hurt!"
"Maybe we shouldn't go there, either," Usagi said.
"Usagi!"
"Just kidding."
Just then, Usagi's teacher, Sakurada Haruna, entered the room. "What are you all planning?" she demanded, after overhearing a little bit of the many conversations going on in the room. "Junior high students shouldn't be out that late at night!"
"That's right!" Usagi added. "Don't go!" Everyone suddenly turned to Usagi, looking at her curiously, as if to say, 'Who are you, and what have you done with the real Usagi?'
"How come?" Naru said, surprised at what her best friend had just said.
"Because, it's too dangerous!"
"How come it's dangerous?"
"Do you know something, Usagi-san?" Umino asked.
"No, of course not!" Usagi said indignantly. "Why should I know anything? Anyway, if you all have so much free time, you should stay home and study!"
Everyone's jaws dropped at the same time, even Haruna's. "Tsukino-san... I wonder what made you talk so normal," she said worriedly as she walked over to her. "You don't have a fever, do you?" She put her hand to her forehead, checking her temperature. "Is there something bothering you? Maybe I can be of some help to you."
I can't believe this! Usagi thought as she started to grow angry. They're all acting as if just had a nervous breakdown or something! "Come on!" she shouted indignantly. "What's wrong with me talking normal?!?" Suddenly, tears started to form on her face as she grew more and more upset. "You can't do that!!!" she wailed as she started crying.
"I guess she's back to normal," Haruna muttered.
At the Crown Video Arcade, Usagi was telling Motoki about what happened when she tried to be serious in class. She expected him to understand. What she got was totally unexpected.
He laughed.
"Isn't she cruel?" she said petulantly, while he was still laughing.
Motoki finally managed to get his laughter under control. "Maybe, but I can't help agreeing with your teacher." Usagi awarded him with a hurt, indignant look. "You don't look attractive talking normally," he continued. "I prefer a girl with character."
Usagi's expression brightened at the news. "Really?"
"Really."
She smiled and exited the arcade. As soon as she was outside, she leaped into the air. "Yahoo! Motoki-oniisan said such a nice thing to me!" she sang to herself happily.
As she skipped in time to her singing, she kicked off her right shoe. It sailed through the air and landed on a certain someone's head. "Ow!" Mamoru exclaimed, picking up the shoe that hit him.
"I'm sorry," she said. Oh, great! Of all the people my shoe had to land on....
"Not your shoes again. Were you aiming for me?" he asked irritably.
"You watch were you're going!" she retorted angrily.
"What a snob. Why can't you be more serious, like a normal girl?" he asked tiredly.
"No I can't," she said happily. "There's a guy who told me that he prefers a girl that's not normal."
"That's dumb," he said contemptuously. "He's gotta be stupid."
"He's way better than you!" she snapped.
"Like gathers alike," he said mockingly. "Garbage in a trash can. A Meatball-head deserves somebody just as stupid as her."
Usagi grew really upset with that remark as tears started to form in her eyes. "How could you? I don't care what you say about me, but... to talk like that... about... him...?" she moaned as she began to cry.
Mamoru began to grow embarrassed and nervous as he noticed all the people beginning to stare. "H-hey...."
"You can't do that!"
"Sorry about that. I gotta rush. Here's your shoe back." He tossed the shoe over to Usagi, who had already dropped to her knees, wailing heavily. "Later," he said and ran off. She just picked up the shoe and kept on crying.
Night had fallen hours ago and midnight was just minutes past. Haneda Airport was devoid of passengers waiting for a late night departure or waiting to greet an arrival. Instead, it was crawling with alert, uniformed policemen, watching and waiting for any sign of the oncoming battle between the Sailor Scouts and the one whose face appeared in the sky yesterday night.
Above the policemen, on the airport roof, Jadeite walked over to the edge of the roof and looked down at the foolish humans who thought they could come between him and his only means for redemption.
"We have no need for you," he said impatiently. "Sleep for now." He raised his arms, causing a dark fog to appear. All the policemen promptly fall asleep, some falling on their sides as if tipped over like cows. Jadeite walked through the inside of the airport, examining his handiwork and laughing to himself.
"Now come, Sailor Scouts," he said ominously.
The four Scouts and Luna were, at this moment, running up the stairs of the nearest subway that would take them to the airport.
"Run, Usagi-chan!" Rei shouted back irritably. "I can't believe that your name means 'rabbit'. It that some sort of joke?"
"Shut up!" Usagi muttered.
"We've got no time to be fighting amongst ourselves," Ami said patiently as she tried to stifle their bickering. They all suddenly stopped as they realized that it was too quiet. Nothing was running.
"So, they're not running anymore?" Usagi asked.
"Can we afford a taxi?" Rei asked.
"I think I can," Ryoku said. "Except most of my money is back at home." The whole discussion became moot as the only subway car left at the station opened up by itself.
"What's going on?" Luna exclaimed in surprise.
After their initial surprise was over, Rei was the first to speak. "An invitation from the enemy, huh? Fine with me," she said, and moved to enter.
"Wait!" Ryoku said, holding a sword across the doorway, keeping Rei from entering. "Let me go first." She eyed him curiously for a moment, then nodded, stepping aside.
He pulled out his second sword, from seemingly out of nowhere, and cautiously stepped inside, both swords at the ready. Although there wasn't anybody inside, he moved slowly, watching for any sign of an ambush. He slowly turned completely around eyeing every corner warily. After confirming that the car was safe, so to speak, he waved the girls inside.
"Even though there's no one here, I'm still getting a bad feeling about this," he said, making his swords vanish behind his back. "It's like we're walking into...."
He was cut off as the door suddenly slammed shut and the train began to move. "The door... it's locked!" Ami exclaimed as she tried to open it.
"...a trap," he finished quietly.
"Looks like you two were right," Luna said worriedly. "We're being led straight into a trap."
"All we can do now is wait and enjoy the ride," Ryoku muttered. He was wondering about the irony of this situation. Here he was, willingly heading for an airport - a place either he or his sister would avoid unless absolutely necessary, though each had different ideas about what necessary meant as applied to flying, even though he wasn't there for flying anyway - ready to fight someone who was waiting to ambush them. His opinion of airports was steadily declining each passing minute.
After arriving at Haneda Airport, they ran into the main building. They needed to go through the main building in order to get to the main runway. As they ran up another set of stairs, Ryoku pointed to a wall, indicating that they stop and peek around it. As they looked around the wall, they saw several policemen watching the area.
"So many officers," Usagi commented.
"Everything looks okay so far," Rei added.
"Well," Ryoku said, glancing at his watch, "it's almost one. Jadeite won't wait for very long."
"Still, something's weird about all this," Ami said.
Just as she spoke, some policemen were slowly sneaking up on the group from behind. Their eyes began to glow red as they reached their hands out to grab them.
Rei suddenly sensed the policemen just as Ryoku heard them slide their clubs out of their holsters. As one, they both turned around and shouted, "Look out!"
Usagi and Ami turned around quickly and spotted the policemen. They shouted as a couple of them lunged at the two girls. Rei kicked one in the head, knocking him to the floor as Ryoku pulled out a sword and cut the club in half, spun and elbowed the other in the gut, causing him to double over.
"Why are police officers after us?" Usagi yelled as Ami, Rei, Luna and Ryoku began to run.
"This way! Hurry!" Rei shouted behind her.
"I can't stand this!" Usagi grumbled, ranting as the policemen began to give chase. "I've lost faith in the Japanese government! Hey! Wait up!"
The chase quickly led onto the main runway. The Scouts and Luna managed to keep ahead of the policemen for a while, but they were quickly growing tired.
Finally deciding that they had enough, they all stopped and turned to face the policemen. "Strange.... This doesn't make sense," Ami said, frowning. "Mercury power, make up!" She quickly transformed into Sailor Mercury.
"Fine, then. Me, too!" Rei shouted. "Mars power, make up!" She quickly transformed into Sailor Mars.
"All right, my turn!" Ryoku shouted. "Knight swords power!" He quickly transformed into Sailor Knight.
"I'm the last?" Usagi stammered nervously. "Moon prism power, make up!" She quickly transformed into Sailor Moon.
The four transformed Sailor Scouts faced the group of policemen. Mercury pressed an earring and activated her visor. She studied the readout and learned an interesting fact about their attackers. "What? They aren't humans! They're just clay dolls!"
"Then, there's no need to hesitate," Mars said. "Fire soul!" A huge fireball flew straight for the disguised clay dolls and burnt them completely, leaving nothing but ashes. "Got them," Mars said, as Mercury deactivated her visor.
"They were clay dolls after all," Luna said.
"Sailor Mars, you're awesome!" Sailor Moon exclaimed.
"It's nothing," Mars said smugly.
"I think Jadeite just sent them to flush us out." Knight said as his eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"You don't mean...?" Mercury said worriedly.
"Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars and Sailor Knight, now I know your true identities!" Jadeite said smugly from the roof of the airport.
"Yes, he now knows our identities," Knight said quietly. "He watched us transform from there."
"Yikes! He did?" Sailor Moon asked fearfully.
"Flowers only have a short life full of hardship," Jadeite said derisively. "So, you will die tonight."
"There's a saying that pretty women don't live long," Sailor Moon said apprehensively. "So, I'm going to die early."
"What makes you think you're a pretty woman?" Mars asked, annoyed.
"At least, better than you."
"I can't believe this conversation is actually taking place," Knight muttered, as he and Mercury were silently suffering though yet another Usagi/Rei argument. "And, now of all times!"
"Oh, well," Mercury said tiredly. "I guess we've gotta go break them up again."
"Very funny. Monkeys look better than you!"
"Shut up!"
"We've got no time to quarrel!" Mercury shouted as she and Knight stepped between the two feuding Scouts.
"Remember what's happening here! You two can argue later for all we care, but for now, stay focused!" Knight added.
"Sorry," Sailor Moon said apologetically.
"We've got a mission to finish. We can't die," Mars said.
"Prepare to meet your fate!" Jadeite said, bringing his hands together. Dark lightning flew out of his hands and struck a nearby plane. The plane started turning towards the Scouts. They all stared at the plane for a moment in surprise.
"We'll get run over!" Sailor Moon shouted, frightened.
"Run!" Luna shouted. As they all fled from the oncoming plane, a second plane started heading straight for them.
"Here comes another one!" Sailor Moon yelled. "Do something!"
"All right. I'll use a Fire Soul," Mars suggested.
"No!" Luna exclaimed. "Don't you know how much a jet aircraft costs? It'll take more than your entire life to pay for it!"
"That much?" Mars asked, blinking.
"Well, that's out," Knight said. "Any other ideas?"
"There's only one thing I can think of," Mercury stated.
"And that is?" Sailor Moon and Mars asked.
"Run!!!"
Everybody yelled in panic and ran from the two planes. "Getting run over by a car is fine, but I don't wanna get flattened by an airplane!" Sailor Moon muttered. "It's too embarrassing!"
Up ahead, the end of the runway was growing very close. "We're running out of runway!" Sailor Moon yelled as they all stopped.
What a disaster! Luna thought to herself.
As the planes steadily closed the gap between themselves and the Scouts, Jadeite laughed. "Now, you are finished!" he said, watching in anticipation. Suddenly, a rose flew past his face and embedding itself into the roof. In his surprise, he lost control of the planes, which promptly stopped.
"The airplanes stopped?" all the Scouts said in unison.
"Is it enjoyable, picking on girls?" Tuxedo Kamen asked condescendingly.
"We meet again, Tuxedo Kamen," he said, turning to face him. "You will die as well."
"You are a villain who plays tricks on innocent people with your magic," Tuxedo Kamen said. "You will pay for it." A sudden breeze picked up, blowing his cape open.
Knight noticed that the other three Scouts had gone all dreamy-eyed on him. He was still a little upset that both Jadeite and Tuxedo Kamen had referred to the Scouts collectively as girls, though he definitely was not a girl. Although Tuxedo Kamen meant nothing by it, he was sure that Jadeite's remark was an extra insult on his part. He would definitely have to pay him back for that.
Jadeite raised his hands and shot the same dark lightning as before. Tuxedo Kamen leaped into the air, dodging the attack. As he was leaping upward, Jadeite leaped up after him and intercepted him midair. They began to grapple and soon they fell down into the water.
"Tuxedo Kamen-sama!" Sailor Moon shouted worriedly. The four Scouts and Luna rushed to the edge of the runway and peered into the water. Suddenly, a rose floated to the surface. Jadeite rose out of the water afterwards, laughing wickedly. "What happened to him?" she asked concernedly.
"Where's Tuxedo Kamen-sama?" Mars demanded angrily.
Jadeite continued his evil laughter. "Your only hope, Tuxedo Kamen, is dead. Cry and scream. Can you not do anything without a man to help you? What silly girls."
"What did you say?!?" Knight yelled angrily. "Insinuating that I'm a girl is bad enough, but that's going too far!"
"Only a fossil geezer would think that men are better than women now," Mars added sternly.
"The idea of looking down on women is a remnant from the feudal society!" Mercury added.
"We're all equal!" Sailor Moon finished.
"Fools," Jadeite said mockingly. "Taste my power!" He raised his arms again, calling one of the planes that had chased down the Scouts before.
"Not again!" Sailor Moon whined.
"Come on! This way!" Mars shouted as everyone started running away from the plane.
"Don't be distracted by the jets!" Luna shouted. "Our enemy is the one who's moving them!"
Everyone came to a stop. "Hold on! Luna's right!" Mercury said.
"We have to work together!" Knight added.
"It's Jadeite we must defeat!" Sailor Moon stated.
"You got it!" Mars said and pointed to Sailor Moon. "Now, you be the decoy and run."
"Huh?" Sailor Moon said confused. "Hey, why me?"
"Shabon spray!" Mercury shouted, raising a thick mist. As planned, the jet began following Sailor Moon, much to her dismay.
"You can't do that!" Sailor Moon shouted indignantly. "Why is it always me running for my life?" The plane was growing closer. "I can't keep this up forever," she muttered.
Jadeite leaped to the ground and looked around for the Scouts. "Where are the other three?"
Meanwhile, Knight was sneaking up behind Jadeite. When he was close enough, he leaped behind Jadeite and grabbed his arms, pulling them behind his back and pinning them so that he couldn't move. "Gotcha, Jadeite," he said. Now it was up to Mars.
Evil spirit, begone! she thought as she slapped an ofuda on Jadeite's back after Knight leaped away. Now that the ward was on his back, the plane turned toward him.
"What? What's happening?" he shouted after noticing that the planes were now chasing him. He immediately began to run. "Why? Why are they after me?" He came to a stop in front of the four Sailor Scouts.
"Don't you underestimate girls, Jadeite," Sailor Moon said. "Crying isn't the only thing we do."
"Why?" Jadeite demanded. "Why can't I concentrate?"
"Because your mind is evil," Mars told him.
"You are the fool for falling into your own trap," Mercury added.
"You have failed again, Jadeite," Knight said, his arms folded. "And it's not half of what you deserve for calling me a girl!"
"You'll pay for all those deeds you have committed," Sailor Moon said. "On behalf on the Moon, I'll punish you!" She removed her tiara from her forehead. "Moon tiara action!" she shouted, throwing her tiara. It flew at Jadeite, just missing him, but knocking him down nonetheless.
As the plane came within a few feet from crushing Jadeite, he began to scream in fright. The four Scouts turned away, knowing that they had seen the last of him and went back to look for Tuxedo Kamen. What they didn't see was that he had vanished before the plane had totally run him over.
Jadeite reappeared in front of Beryl, wounded but still standing. He knew what he was in for, but he was determined to try to convince her that she should give him just one more chance.
"Queen Beryl, I have important information for you!" he said quickly.
"You fool! How dare you come back here in failure!" Beryl shouted.
"But, Queen Beryl, I have discovered the identities of the Sailor Scouts!"
"Do not disgrace yourself with excuses!" she roared angrily. "Now sleep eternally!" Her eyes began to glow and a sphere of energy struck him from her staff. He screamed as he was encased in crystal.
"Dispose of the body," Beryl said as the crystal containing Jadeite vanished. "You will be in charge of the operation, Nephrite."
Within the darkness, a man stepped forward and bowed. "Jadeite was useless. Let me handle the matter," Nephrite said.
Back at the airport, the three female Scouts were watching the water and waiting. Suddenly, Sailor Knight came up to the surface of the water. Coming onto the asphalt of the runway, he stopped and wiped the water from his face. He looked at each of the girls' worried faces and slowly shook his head. "No sign of him," he said quietly.
"Tuxedo Kamen-sama...," Sailor Moon said sadly.
"It's no use just standing here," Luna said quietly. "We'll just have to give up."
"I don't wanna...," she whispered.
"I thank you for your concern," Tuxedo Kamen said from behind the Scouts. All four Scouts turned around to see him standing there unhurt.
"You were alive?" Sailor Moon said relieved.
"I'm not so easy to get rid of," Tuxedo Kamen said.
"So I see," Knight said.
"Why do you always come to our aid?" Sailor Mercury asked.
"I can tell," Sailor Moon said dreamily. "You love me, don't you?" Mars, Mercury and Knight all groaned in exasperation.
"Who are you?" Mars asked. Knight nodded seriously as he gave him a scrutinizing look.
"I cannot reveal my identity yet," he told her. "Sailor Moon, Sailor Mars, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Knight, value your friendship! Farewell!"
As Tuxedo Kamen leaped away into the twilight, the three girls stared at his departing form in awe. For Sailor Knight, he saw a kindred spirit who had assisted him in his battle once again... maybe, even a friend. For now, he would not pursue his identity....
Category:Fan Fiction