Reminder that Serecindra has her storyboard pages up, with picture hosting on them courtesy Bill Heineman. Pictures this week are smaller than usual as I haven't received my big old bundle yet. I'll replace them with larger versions when I do.

Act 16.

The curtains open to show Usagi sitting in the secret karaoke room.  “Because of Naru-chan,” Usagi begins and is then encased by a heart-shaped bubble, “I was stuck with Mamoru Chiba and when we were together, a youma appeared after we ran away from the thieves of Minako’s jewelry.  Images of the two’s adventure from the last Act are shown accordingly as Usagi mentions them.  Usagi remembers the youma backing Mamoru up into the railing.  As Usagi begins to remember her bandaging Mamoru’s arm, she says, “Perhaps, maybe I like Mamoru Chiba, just a little bit…”  She shakes her head violently, “No, that can’t be!  I love Tuxedo Mask!”  The bubble enlarges to show Usagi alone in the room.  “By the way, I can’t find Ami-chan and the girls.  What are they up to?”

At Karaoke Crown, Usagi blurts, “Huh?!  You fought with a youma?!”  “Yeah.  I couldn’t blast it, but I’m sure it’s behind the disappearances,” Rei responds.  “I guess the youma kidnapped them to collect energy,” Luna says, “I will look for the place where they have been taken.”  The girls nod.  “Well, where were you, then?” Makoto asks Usagi.  “Huh?” she says.  She then thinks, “Uh, I can’t tell them that I stayed with Mamoru Chiba…”  “Hmm?” Makoto insists.  “Ahh…  Um, I was with Naru-chan and the girls and we also ran into a youma, but I punished it!”  Ami’s eyes widen upon Naru’s name.  “Really?” Makoto says.  “So you were also busy with the enemy.”  Makoto then sneezes.  “You sick?” Rei asks.  “I guess…  It’s because of the youma’s attack.”  “Was Ôsaka-san and the others okay?  The youma didn’t attack them?” Ami asks.  “Huh?  Uh, Naru-chan…  Um, yeah!  They were okay!”  “I see,” Ami says and forces a smile.  “I’m glad they’re okay.”  Usagi’s face shows her disturbance, “Ami-chan, you’re worried about Naru-chan and the others?  I’m glad!”  Usagi then gives her a big smile.  Ami forces another smile, which is bigger this time. 

At the Tsukino residence, Usagi lie awake in her bed.  “Is he okay?”  She remembers when the youma slashed Mamoru’s arm.  She then sits up quickly, “No way.  Why am I always thinking about him?”  Luna sleeps on the side of her bed closest to the wall.  “Let’s think of Tuxedo Mask!”  She then lies back again.  She remembers Mamoru saying, “Usagi, get on the bike!”  Hey eyes flash open.  She shuts them again to remember Mamoru protecting her from the youma, calling, “Usagi!”  Her eyes flash open again.  She covers her head with the sheets

Light shines from the sun through the branches of a tree.  Usagi is walking to school, wearing her winter jacket.  “I dreamt about him…  But his injury looks bad,” Usagi thinks.  She stops and says out loud, “Hold on!  Why am I still thinking about him?!”  She begins to walk again.  She thinks, “I guess he got that injury because of me.  Worrying about him is common courtesy.  Yeah!”  Ami is behind Usagi with her head down.  She looks up and sees Usagi before her and stops.  She smiles and goes to catch up with her, but Naru pops out from the side getting to Usagi first, “Whatcha thinking about?”  “Naru-chan!”  “How was your date with him?”  “You misunderstand!”  Ami looks saddened that Naru is there.  “I love another person and it’s not him!” Usagi declares and continues to walk.  “No way!  You were thinking about him just now, weren’t you?” Naru says.  Usagi looks shocked.  “That was…”  “Just as I thought! When I saw you two, I got a good idea!”  “Stop it!”  “Am I right?”  Ami has begun to continue to walk, though she has slowed.  “Come on!” Usagi says pushing Naru.  She turns to see Ami nearing.  “Ah!  Ami-chan!”  Usagi runs over to her.  Naru watches her run off with a look on her face.  “Let’s go to school together!” Usagi says grabbing Ami’s arm, “Eh?”  Naru looks down and remembers the incident with Ami a few nights ago.  She then glares at the two.  “Naru-chan!  Ami-chan is really kind!  She was worried about you and the other girls!”  Ami looks at her like she was ashamed of worrying.  “Why?” Naru says.  Usagi’s smile dies, “Huh?”  “Why were you worried about us?” Naru says this in a voice that implied “How dare you”.  Ami looks at her in surprise, then watches the floor again.  “Ah, that was,” Usagi says.  She runs up to Naru and grabs her arm, “There are many reasons!  Eh?  Naru-chan, eh?”  Ami looks on, alone.  Usagi raises her hand to mean, “Sorry!” and continues with Naru.  Ami had smiled in return, then continues on without it.

Ms. Haruna slaps a stick on the chalkboard, which has English on it.  “Here!  Practice this phone conversation with a partner!  You can move around!  Enjoy it!”  “Alright,” the class replies dismally.  They scatter to partner up.  Ami turns her head to Usagi’s direction, smiling.  Naru sees her and turns to take Usagi before Ami even tries to beckon her, “Usagi!  Let’s be partners!”  “Okay!”  Ami’s smile fades as she turns away.  Usagi looks over at her, “Ah!  Ami-chan!  Let’s practice in a group of three!”  Ami watches her come of, and seems to have smiles from the movement of her cheeks.  “No thanks.  We have to practice this conversation with one other person.  I’ll practice with whoever is left,” Ami says.  “But—” Usagi is cut off by Naru.  “You should be honest.  You should just say you want to practice with Usagi!”  Ami looks back up, “But you got to her first.”  “I think that is sly of you to victimize yourself.  I feel like I’m evil.”  “No way!” Ami says jumping from her seat.  “Hold on, Naru-chan!” Usagi says.  “Ami-chan doesn’t have such feelings.  She is too kind!”  Ami looks over to her.  “Right?” Usagi urges.  Naru is looking down with fake sadness.  “What?!  You’ve been hanging out with Ami a lot lately!”  “No, that’s—”  Usagi is cut off by Ms. Haruna.  “Hey!  What are you girls doing?!  Don’t have a fuss about partners!  I will decide the pairs.”

“Ôsaka-san and Abe-san,” Haruna says.  “Nice to meet you,” Abe-san says.  [She looks like Momoko!]  Naru nods.

“Mizuno-san and Kimura-san,” Haruna says.  “Nice to meet you,” Kimura-san says.  [She looks like Kanami!]  Ami bows.

“Tsukino-san and Yamamoto Hikoemon-kun,” Haruna says.  “Nice to meet you,” Hikoemon says in the deepest voice I’ve heard while thrusting his head forward.  “Nice to meet you,” Usagi says disappointedly while bowing.

“If you complain, I’ll give you a quiz!” Haruna says playfully.  “EH?!?!” The class screams.  They begin their practices.  “Hello,” Usagi says in English.  “Hello,” Hikoemon responds in a deep voice I could barely understand as an English speaking person!  “This is—  Hold on a second,” Usagi beings in English then tells Hikoemon in Japanese.  She walks over to Ami, “Naru-chan didn’t mean what she said.”  Naru watches.  Ami smiles and nods.

Someplace outside, Ami is walking down a paved walkway in heavy attire with a big blue jacket over her.  She pauses as she sees Naru in a similar wear, but with a ochre jacket, walking her way.  “Ôsaka-san…  What should I do?”  Ami starts to look away, but hears Naru scream.  The ground gives way under her as another Ant Lion!Youma’s hold appears.  “Ôsaka-san!”  Naru clutches to the walls of it, “Help me!”  Ami runs up to the side opposite Naru, then runs to the side closest.  “Ôsaka-san!”  Ami reaches her hand out to Naru, and she tries to reach for Ami’s.  Ami stretches, and as their fingertips touch, Naru slips into the hole at the center.  “Ôsaka-san!”  The hole disappears.  Ami stands, “Ôsaka-san…”

Moo to commercials…

Ami is standing where Naru disappeared, starring at the ground.  Ami and Rei come running up from behind her.  “Ami-chan!” Usagi shouts.  She turns.  “Usagi-chan…”  “Where?” Rei asks.  “A hole opened in the ground and she fell in.”  “The same youma that tried to attack Makoto,” Rei says.  Usagi gets on the ground and looks at it, “Naru-chan…”  Ami looks at her intensely.  Rei watches Ami in doubt of her situation with Naru and Usagi.  There phones suddenly ring, and all three of them answer.  Luna is on the other end, “I found the place where the missing people are!  Get over here!”  They nod to each other and run off.

“Mako-chan, good luck!  We’re just about there!” Moon says as she and Jupiter run across a bridge.  “I’m okay!  I’m not held back by my cold!  You should have called me earlier!”  They arrive at where Mercury and Mars are.  “I’m sorry!” Moon says as Mars and Mercury get up.  “You shouldn’t disappoint Usagi’s ideal,” Mars says to Mercury.  “Huh?  What?” Moon says.  Mercury turns to her and smiles, “Nothing.”  Moon smiles in return.  Mars looks at the barrier, “Look!  There’s a crack in the barrier!”  “I see!  Okay, this is the last one!”  “One,” Mars says.  “Two,” Jupiter says.  “Three,” Mercury says.  They all fire their energies into the barrier.  The wall finally shatters.  “We got it!” Moon and Jupiter say simultaneously.  “We did it!” Mars says as she looks at Mercury.  She nods, “Yeah!”  “Let’s go!”  Moon says.  They run up the stairs as the peoples’ energy is being sucked out again.  They fall to the ground.  They stop when they see Naru on the ground, “Naru-chan!” Moon says.  “We have to find the youma!” Mercury says.  They nod.

} I am commercial!  Buy this product sell good!

} NOOOO!! 

The girls enter a foyer, and as usual, they all look in the same direction for the youma.  It takes such an opportunity to appear behind them.  It runs up behind them, slaps Moon and Jupiter and kicks Mars.  Those three hit the floor while Mercury glares at it charging toward her.  It throws a couple punches at Mercury who ducks and such, and then retaliates with a kick and roundhouse.  She jumps over a couple attacks, then jumps over the youma and kicks it in the collarbone.  She flips, lands, and turns to say, “Over here!” with a cute wag of her finger.  The youma flips around to see Mercury say, “Mercury Aqua Mist!”  The youma screams and twirls and then dies.  The three other girls get up and join Mercury.  “You did it,” Mars says.  “You did it,” Moon says.  “You did it, huh?” Jupiter says, then sneezes.  “Are you okay, Mako-chan?!” Moon says quite loudly.  “Not really…”  “I’m sorry!”  Mercury, moon, and Jupiter laugh together.  Mars smiles.  Luna comes up to them, “Sailor Moon, please restore the power to the previously captured people.”  Moon flips around and nods.  She calls upon the Moonlight Stick, waves it around a bit, then holds it up and unleashes its power.  The people begin to wake up, and Naru does, too, “Why am I here?”

At their school, they are in their cooking class.  The class’s teacher tells them that they are going to make cookies and to make groups of two.  The class doesn’t like that number.  “Huh?  Again?!  What should I do?  Naru-chan and Ami-chan will…”  “Ôsaka-san,” Ami says as she walks up to Naru.  “Oh my!” Usagi says.  “What’s this?  Is this the way of a smart person?” Naru asks.  Ami shakes her head.  “I don’t want to fight with you, but I can’t give up my claim to make a group with Usagi.  I’m not that kind, so…”  Naru stares at her.  “Ahh…  Same with me!  Well, let’s be a group together!”  Ami smiles, “Okay!”  Usagi stares in disbelief, but changes her expression to happiness, “Ami-chan…”  She then realizes, “So, am I alone?!”  The class’s teacher comes up to her, “Miss Tsukino, why don’t you make a group with me?”  “Huh?” Usagi bares a face of disgust, “Yes, ma’am.”  Later, the three girls are writing who they will give their cookies to on a card.  Ami writes ‘To Mama’ on her card.  She caps the pen and sets it down neatly and straight.  She then picks up a gray pen carefully.  Naru jumps up and pops behind Usagi, “You wrote his name, huh Usagi?!”  “No!  That’s wrong!” Usagi says as she shoves Naru away.  She has Chiba Mamoru-sama written on the card with a cute bunny on the bottom left corner.  She thinks, “This is to show my gratitude!”  “AH!  Can I have this remaining cookie?!” Naru shouts.  “AH!  No, you can’t!”  “Why?  Please?”  “No, I’m gonna eat it!”  “No, you caaan’t!”  “Why?!”  “Do you want to share?” Naru says to Ami.  She nods.  “AH!  That’s terrible!” Usagi yells.  Outside the window, purple lightening flashes in the sky.

The same purple thunder zaps the castle of the Dark Kingdom.  In Beryl’s lair, the flashing lights startle Nephrite and her, “What is this?” Beryl says.  “You don’t know what this is?” Kunzite says.  “This is a sign of the great revival!  Great evil, Queen Metaria!”  The place begins to shake, and dust and small rocks fall from the ceiling.  All three are taken by surprise of the quake.  Beryl’s voice quivers.  Nephrite runs to her, “Lady Beryl!”  The shaking stops, but a purple, pulsating light comes from down the tunnel.  A deep, feminine voice moaning accompanies it.  Beryl looks at it in wonder, while Nephrite seems surprised, then blinded.  Kunzite smiles at it and Beryl says uneasily, “Queen Metaria…!”

In another part of the cave, a monument with four pockets carved into it stands steadily.  A white light is cast upon the left one and a yellow light upon the right.  A stone falls from the yellow one, turning the light off.  It begins to glow, then grows into the form of Jadeite.  His human form has been restored.  He stands, looks up, and smiles.

More lightning flashes in the sky, and seems out of place and unnoticed.  Usagi walks down a sidewalk with the bag of cookies in her hand, looking around.  She glances at the piece of paper in her hand and smiles while brushing her hand through her right pigtail.  She turns to see a large apartment building and smiles in amazement, “He’s here?  Amazing!  He might be rich!”  Usagi tries to force her smile away as her hear pounds and she clutches the bag in her grasp.  “Why is my heart pounding?” she thinks.  “There is no reason for it.  I like Tuxedo Mask!”  Usagi then sees Mamoru walk out of the building.  She hides the bag and paper behind her back.  Suddenly, a girl runs out and wraps her arm around Mamoru’s.  “Let’s go!” she says.  “Yeah.”  Usagi’s eye widen, “Huh?”  She looks at the girl’s arm around Mamoru’s.  She then changes her facial expression to a lonesome one.  Mamoru looks over to see her and stops walking.  He gasps.  The girl sees Usagi as well, looks up at Mamoru and asks, “What’s wrong, Mamoru?”  “Nothing.”  They continue walking.  Usagi drops her hands to her sides and thinks, “I see.  He has a girlfriend…  There’s no relationship between us.”  Usagi sighs.  She turns around and begins to walk away slowly.  Her face is pale and about to bloom with tears.  The moon cycle surrounds her.

Next time…

Mars hits the ground and glares behind her.  A youma approaches and Minako appears on a stage behind it from behind some curtains.

“Even a singer comes to church alone?” Rei says.  She clasps her hands together before a cross in a cemetery.

Minako holds her hands together before an altar of a church.  “It’s because I can think about many things.”

Minako and Rei sit behind a cute dog with a blanket over it.  Minako is petting it softly.  “Many things?” Rei says.  “Yeah.  Many things.”

Usagi turns away from Mamoru and his ‘girlfriend’ who are looking at her.  “It’s not Mamoru Chiba.”  “I am…” Usagi says.

“Hold it!” Minako says.  The youma turns around.  “Don’t!  Run!” Mars shouts.  “Venus Power!”

Post a comment in the forums  Email Jay Navok  Archives