Sunday, March 7th -
4:05 pm
Update
- Jay
Navok
Live Action Sailor Moon
(Twenty-second episode Synopsis)
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The
new Dark Kingdom "Kinda looks like an Exploding Head" magic
really makes you think.
Credits for the picture snaps goes to Serecindra |
Serecindra has her storyboard
graphics up for this week's show!
Thanks as always to Bill
Heineman for the picture hosting on those storyboards.
This act 22 synopsis was written for us by
Wasurenagusa and Nae! A HUGE THANK YOU! to
the both of them for getting us this.
Act 22 Synopsis
Episode Introduction
In the abandoned gallery, the newly emerged Dark Mercury smiles at the Sailor
Senshi darkly. Next to her, a statue drips with water, and the droplets start
to converge until icicles form. Dark Mercury looks over at the statue, walks
over, and breaks off an icicle. When she holds out the icicle, it becomes a
sword in her hand. She strikes a pose with the sword defiantly at the other
Senshi.
“Ami-chan, stop!” Moon cries.
“Remember us!” begs Mars.
“Oh, I remember,” says Dark Mercury. “Sailor Moon. Sailor Mars. Sailor
Jupiter. I'll defeat you, and I will be stronger!” With that, she aims the
sword at them and swipes at the air with it, sending an attack in their
direction. The other Senshi fling their arms up to protect themselves from the
blast, but it is Jupiter who absorbs the brunt of it by blocking it with her
hands.
The Senshi fall to the ground. Jupiter looks up and reaches out for Ami, her
glove burned through from the attack. “Ami-chan,” Jupiter chokes. “Please
stop…”
Dark Mercury merely points the sword in their direction once again. Jupiter
drops her hand and looks away.
Sailor Moon forces herself to her feet. “Ami-chan!” She pulls out her
moonstick and holds it in front of her. “Please…go back to the way you were.”
She swirls the moonstick in circles. A pink light emanates from it. When the
light reaches Dark Mercury, she strikes it away callously with her sword. The
power from the moonstick shatters.
From behind a column, Luna gasps, “I can't believe it! Even Sailor Moon's
powers aren’t working!”
Kunzite steps forward. “Sailor Mercury,” he says, “has received a
sample of the Power of Darkness—and has been reborn.” The scenes flash back
to the image of Ami standing before a mass of dark energy. She struggles as her
body absorbs it. The shot fades into the image of Dark Mercury’s face, back at
the gallery. Kunzite says with a smirk, “It doesn’t look like she's ever
coming back.”
“That can’t be true...” Sailor Moon breathes. “You’re lying!”
“It was fun up until yesterday,” Dark Mercury says with a grin. “Goodbye,
my friends.” She aims the sword at them once more, a look of sadistic pleasure
all over her face. The Senshi look on in disbelief. When Dark Mercury prepares
to attack, Sailor Moon shrinks back, expecting the blast—but Kunzite blocks
Dark Mercury with his arm. She looks up at him, irritated.
“This is enough for today,” Kunzite tells her, and with a sweep of his
cape, he and Dark Mercury vanish.
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"Remember
when she sat around knitting stuff instead of trying to kill us?"
"Yeah, good times." |
Alone in the gallery, the Senshi stare at the space where Dark Mercury was a
moment before, still in shock. Sailor Moon falls slowly to her knees, her
shoulders slumped.
Artemis arrives on the scene and scopes out the situation. “It can’t be,”
he says to himself. “How can something like this…?”
Rei attempts to sit up, but falls on her hands. Jupiter can’t seem to bring
herself to move. “Ami-chan...” she says faintly.
Act 22
Beryl basks in the glow of Queen Metalia’s power. She abruptly turns around
to the sound of footsteps and sees Kunzite with Dark Mercury. “A Sailor
Senshi...” she remarks. “Kunzite! How will something like this contribute
to our organization?
“With the reawakening of the Darkness, of course,” he replies. “Zoicite
has not yet awoken. It’s been sad with one of the Four Generals gone, has it
not?”
Beryl glares at him. “This girl…will replace Zoicite?” she asks,
looking displeased.
Dark Mercury pipes up. “Please withhold your judgment on its improbability
until after I defeat the Sailor Senshi,” she says arrogantly.
Beryl makes a half-amused, half-impressed sound.
Dark Mercury addresses Kunzite but keeps her eyes on Beryl. “Kunzite,”
she says. “I may have been reborn, but…” Her body takes a defensive
position towards Beryl. “I will not be anybody's subordinate. Remember that.”
She turns around and walks away.
Queen Beryl glares after her retreating figure and then shifts her glare to
Kunzite. He smirks at her and bows sarcastically.
In the back, Jadeite watches the entire scene. He wonders to himself, “Kunzite...what
is he planning to do?”
* * *
Rei, Usagi, Makoto, and Luna have gathered in the Crown room. The three girls
stand before the table, staring at the four mittens sitting there neatly.
“Ami-chan knitted them for all of you,” Luna explains.
Makoto grabs the green pair. “Why?” she demands. She slams a fist down on
the counter. “Why Ami-chan?!”
Luna says guiltily, “It's because I didn't bother to pay attention. If I
had been more aware...”
“No, you’re wrong,” Rei cuts in, her eyes downcast. “It's not just
you. We’re at fault too...” She looks down at her red mittens.
Usagi pinks up the pink pair. “If she had given as a call, we would have
come to help at once...”
“Lately...don't you think that we've been falling apart?” Luna asks. The
girls look at her in silence. “But Ami-chan…” Luna continues, “she said,
‘We will be together again some day.’”
* * *
Makoto sits on the couch in her apartment, a lamp burning in the corner. She
looks at the mittens sitting on her coffee table and thinks back to the other
day.
Ami looks up from her knitting and says excitedly, “ Mako-chan, what do you
think of this color!”
“Sorry, ask me later,” Makoto says brusquely.
When I first became friends with everyone, Makoto thinks. I was so
happy. And then, just like that, I started taking it for granted. She
slams a fist to her leg.
Rei is lying down in her room at the shrine, looking up at the ceiling. She
remembers her last conversation with Ami.
Rei turns to leave as Ami puts down a drink for her. “Nothing's
going to get done if I sit around here,” says Rei. “I'll be on the look out
for any movements of the enemy.”
Rei turns to her side. What was I talking about, working alone, she
asks herself sadly. She touches her mittens.
Ami knits alone in the Crown room.
Usagi sits on her bed. Lately...I haven't really talked that much with
Ami-chan, she thinks. All I’ve been thinking about is Chiba Mamoru...
She looks down at the muffler beside her.
* * *
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"I
love you." |
At Mamoru’s apartment, Hina and Mamoru sit down for dinner. “I made a
great hamburger today,” she says, cutting her meat. “But the sauce is a
little lacking, I think. I just learned it in cooking class.”
Mamoru, poised to cut his hamburger, stares at his food, silent.
Hina looks at him and waves in his face. “Hel—loooooo? Is there a
problem?”
Mamoru laughs himself out of his daze. “Sorry. I was on another planet for
a minute.”
Hina smiles back, but her expression soon turns somber. “You know,” she
says seriously. “Is it okay for you to keep your promise of studying abroad
and marrying me…even though you still haven’t learned about your past? Won't
you regret inheriting Father's company?”
Mamoru looks down wordlessly.
“That’s what I thought...” says Hina.
“No!” Mamoru says quickly. “I can't break my promise with your father.
And...maybe it's better not to chase the past.” He eats a piece of his
hamburger and smiles at her.
As he chews, he thinks, Because if I chase it...I'll be seeing her again
for sure...
* * *
I have to forget about it! Usagi says to herself. She grabs the muffler
and shoves it in her desk drawer defiantly, but her expression is pained. Then
she looks down at her desk, where her pink mittens lay. Picking them up, she
holds them close to her heart, saying, “Ami-chan...”
* * *
The next day, at Juuban Middle, the entire class seems to be carrying on as
usual, chattering excitedly before the beginning of classes. Usagi walks into
the classroom, deep in thought. How am I going to explain to the teachers and
everyone else about Ami-chan...? she wonders. But as she sets her bag on her
desk, she picks up bits of the conversation in the background.
“...Ami-chan...” a girl is saying.
“...like Ami-chan...” says another girl.
Usagi looks over to where the students are gathered, curious. When they move
to reveal Ami sitting at her desk, talking and smiling animatedly, Usagi breaks
out into a delighted smile. “Ami-chan?!” she exclaims, running over to her.
“Ami-chan!”
The classroom halts into a dead silence. The other students stare at her
coldly. Taken aback, Usagi stops in her tracks and looks around.
Naru steps forward. “Usagi,” she snaps. “Don’t address Mizuno-san as
if you were so familiar with her.”
“Naru-chan…” Usagi says faintly.
Ami smiles creepily and stands up. “Good morning, Tsukino-san. I didn't
want to miss school so I made this place a little more comfortable.”
Usagi looks around at the cold faces of students who were once her friends
staring back at her. “No way...”
“I don't plan on fighting in school,” Ami continues, “but...don't let
your guard down.”
“Ami-chan...”
Ami simply continues to smile, backed by the entire class.
* * *
Kunzite walks through the caves of the Dark Kingdom. “Kunzite!” Jadeite’s
voices echoes off the walls. “You said you're going to investigate that
princess. Is that princess a fake?”
“I don't know,” Kunzite answers, his back to Jadeite. “But I learned
from capturing Mercury that the Sailor Senshi think she is the real one.”
“Then why are you—?!”
“Even in the past, you were simple-minded,” Kunzite interrupts him.
“What?”
Kunzite turns around to face him. “But! This will continue until we have
them cornered. It’s something to throw out whenever they're in trouble.”
Smiling smugly, he starts to walk past Jadeite, but when he’s close to his
ear. “Nephrite is too heated up over what's right in front of him,” he
comments. “If you want to actually achieve something… I can help you.”
* * *
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Hey
now I remember you.
It's Hexadecimal from Reboot! |
The girls at Juuban militantly push their desks together one by one. “Itadakimasu!”
they cry (Again, is a Japanese custom to say “I will receive the food”
prior to eating). They chatter amongst each other. “Lunch from the
convenience store again?” Naru asks Ami.
Usagi holds her lunch alone in the background, looking disturbed. Slowly, she
walks outside to the roof, where Ami would always eat by herself. Luna crawls up
to her. “It’s shocking,” she says. “We never thought she'd actually show
up at school.”
Usagi looks at her lap and frowns. “Did we always leave Ami-chan alone?
Like this?” she wonders. “If I have to fight against Ami-chan, I...I'll stop
being Sailor Moon.”
“Usagi-chan...” Luna says, dismayed.
“That’s not an option!” barks Artemis. He jumps down to the roof.
“Artemis!”
“Luna, this is an awful situation,” he says to Luna worriedly.
“I'm sorry,” Luna hangs her head in shame. “I was here, but...”
“It’s already happened, we can't help it,” he reassures her. “Since
she’s become an enemy, we have to fight Mercury. That’s a message from the
princess.”
“But!” Luna protests. “She's a friend!”
“We can't defeat anything by staying quiet!” he says urgently. “This is
also for the Earth!”
Usagi’s frown deepens.
* * *
At the Crown, the three Senshi and Luna sit in silence, apparently recovering
from an earlier conversation. They remember Luna’s attempt to relay the “princess’s”
message just moments ago.
Rei flatly rejects the idea. “It's impossible to fight with Ami-chan!”
Makoto stands up, shoving her chair back. “I can't do it!”
Even Luna voices doubt: “ As Senshi, what the princess said is right,
but...”
Usagi lifelessly sits in silence.
At the amusement park, a little girl points at the airplane ride to her
mother. They turn their heads to see a jester-like youma prancing around. It
takes a bow.
Back at the Crown, Luna jerks her head up. “A youma's aura!” she
exclaims. “I feel it near here!”
* * *
The girls run to the park and find people scattered across the ground, barely
conscious. They look towards to the sound of a woman screaming as the youma
attacks her.
Usagi turns to Rei and Makoto. “For now,” she says, “let's fight the
youma that we can see!
“Right!” say Makoto and Rei.
“Moon Prism Power!” shouts Usagi.
“Make up!” they shout together.
Having transformed into Senshi, they prepare to face the youma. Upon seeing
them, the youma runs away, teasingly.
“Let’s split up,” says Mars.
Jupiter agrees. “We'll sandwich him.”
“Got it,” nods Moon.
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Mercury
does her best Gollum impression; Venus is not amused.
But Venus is not amused by anything so that's okay. |
So saying, Jupiter and Mars run off in one direction, Moon in the other. Mars
and Jupiter find themselves hot on the youma’s trail, but Moon stops short
when she hears Ami’s voice call out, “Tsukino-san!” She looks around her
in confusion and freezes at the sight of the carousel. The horses rotate around
until she sees Ami sitting on one of them, grinning at her.
“Ami-chan...” breathes Moon.
“Can you fight me?” challenges Ami. “Dark Power! Make up!” She
transforms and smirks at Moon.
Meanwhile, Mars and Jupiter have chases the youma into the aquarium. It
disappears sporadically, throwing them off track. Suddenly, it pops up on the
other side of a jellyfish display and runs for the door, taunting them the
entire way. The two senshi run after it through the door. They find themselves
in a dark room, bright slivers of light casting shadows around its corners.
Mars and Jupiter look at each other and, nodding, split up. As they wander
around carefully, the youma mocks them by appearing behind them and waving its
hands over its face. It disappears as soon as they turn around. Mars and Jupiter
eventually circle the place until they back into each other accidentally.
Startled, they breathe a sigh of relief when they see each other—but a light
switches on and spotlights the youma. It takes a bow and disappears. As Mars and
Jupiter run after it, trying to find its whereabouts, another light switches on.
Moon is viciously thrown into the room.
“Usagi!” Mars cries.
Dark Mercury comes in, the sword from the gallery in one hand. Jupiter and
Mars start, unprepared to face Ami so soon. “Ami-chan!” exclaims Jupiter.
The youma appears out of nowhere and shoves them against a wall, its hands
gripping at their throats. They struggle as it starts to drain their energy. Moon
looks at them, horrified.
“Where do you think you’re looking?” Dark Mercury asks her coldly. “You’re
opponent is me, isn’t that right, Tsukino-san?” She walks towards Usagi, who
is still lying on the floor from her fall, and aims the sword at her.
“Usagi!” shouts Mars desperately, unable to escape the youma’s hold.
“Ami-chan!” Moon says. Her eyes widen in fear. When Ami brings the sword
down on her, Usagi looks away and squeezes her eyes shut, expecting the attack.
But the sword clashes with something else—and when Moon looks up, she sees
Venus blocking it with her chain. Dark Mercury and Venus glare at each other.
“Princess!” says Usagi.
Venus calls out over her shoulder, “Sailor Moon!” she barks. “Get your
act together!” Turning back to Dark Mercury, she pushes the chain at her. Her
opponent uses the momentum from the push to flip away.
“It's an honor to face off with the princess,” says Dark Mercury,
circling Venus.
Venus circles Dark Mercury in turn. “Mercury,” she demands. “Stop this.
If you don't, I’ll have to take you down.”
“Sure you will,” Dark Mercury says sarcastically. She strikes a pose with
her sword. “If you can.”
Venus prepares to attack with her chain. Usagi pleads from the floor, “Princess,
stop please!”
Dark Mercury and Venus ignore her and flip towards each other. Landing on
opposite sides, both appear fine at first. But after a moment, Venus winces and
lets herself fall over.
Dark Mercury stands up and walks over to her. “I never knew the princess
was this weak,” she says smugly. She looks back at Moon and heads slowly in
her direction.
Venus looks up. “Sailor Moon, you must fight!” she orders weakly.
“What?” asks Moon, refusing to move.
“You can’t let yourself be defeated!” Venus pleads.
“But...”
Venus tries to persuade her one last time: “It's your duty!”
But when Ami raises the sword again and smiles, Usagi, instead of fighting,
closes her eyes and stands up. Pink light scatters around her as she powers down
back into Usagi. She stands there, eyes closed, looking startlingly vulnerable.
Dark Mercury, surprised, lowers her sword.
Mars and Jupiter widen their eyes in terror. “Usagi!” Rei screams.
“Stop!” shouts Venus.
Usagi opens her eyes. “I...” she begins. “I won't fight against
Ami-chan.”
Venus looks at her, pained.
“Ami-chan,” Usagi says smiling softly. “I'm sorry I didn't notice that
you were captured...I'm so sorry for leaving you by yourself.” She pulls the
pink mittens out of her bag and holds them up, looking at them tenderly. “Thank
you for this! I was always thinking only of myself. But I won't do it anymore. I
can't fight like this.”
Dark Mercury looks at the mittens, her eyes lifeless.
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Quick!
Leave before we have to think of another way to kill time before the end
of this arc. |
“That's why... Usagi continues. “Ami-chan...let's go home to the Crown
together.” She smiles encouragingly.
Dark Mercury makes eye contact with her. Swiftly, her sword comes down and
slices the mittens into pieces. “Is that your last speech?” she deadpans.
Usagi stares at the pink mittens, silent from devastation. For a moment, no
one in the room moves.
A tear slowly falls from Usagi’s eye onto her transformation charm with a
ping. All of a sudden, a pink glow starts to emanate from it, encasing the room
with its power.
The youma yelps in pain and lets go of Mars and Jupiter. Their energy
rejuvenates from the pink glow, Mars and Jupiter stare at Usagi.
“Sailor Moon's powers...” Venus murmurs.
Then, the pink glow stops and is replaced by a golden light. When it spreads
across Usagi’s body, it transforms her into Sailor Moon. The light continues
to glow from her brooch, spreading around the room in large rings.
Venus gives a small smile of approval in the background. The youma explodes
with a scream. Dark Mercury raises an arm to shield herself from the light, but
her transformation flickers faintly. Ami’s image fades in and out of the room.
“Usagi...chan...” Ami weakly calls out.
Kunzite frantically arrives on the scene. “Mercury, come!” he orders, and
rushes her away to the Dark Kingdom with his cape.
Sailor Moon falls to the ground in exhaustion. “Just now...” she says
quietly. “I...” Her tone is numb.
Venus stands up, healed from Dark Mercury’s attack. “It's your powers,”
she explains gently. “They are starting to awake. Just a little more. Remember
all your powers.”
Mars and Jupiter walk towards them. “Our...powers,” says Mars. She and
Venus look at each other for a moment before Venus walks away.
But Usagi is still sitting on the floor, her system reeling from shock. “Ami-chan...”
Moon says, her eyes glazed over.
Mars and Jupiter rush over and kneel next to her with concern. They look at
each other, not knowing what to do. At that moment, Jupiter spots the pink
mittens and grabs them from the floor. “Usagi!” she says. “Here.”
Moon takes the mittens and sees that they’ve been mysteriously repaired.
Holding them to her heart, she bursts into tears. “Thank goodness,” she
chokes out.
Jupiter smiles. “Maybe it was because of that light,” she suggests.
Tears glisten in Mars’ eyes as she says, “Ami-chan taught us that…That
we must not fall apart.”
“Yes,” Jupiter agrees. “We have to get Ami-chan back soon and be
together again.”
Luna crawls onto Usagi’s shoulder. “Let's do our best! I'm sure the real
Ami-chan is waiting for us!”
Smiling through her tears, Moon nods. “Yeah!”
The four of them look at each other, full of hope.
* * *
Meanwhile, in the Dark Kingdom, Beryl once again basks in Queen Metalia’s
power. “Queen Metalia's power has grown again,” she says as black spots of
energy swirl around her. “This time we will reach the Earth. For sure.”
* * *
Hina and Mamoru step out of the elevator onto Mamoru’s floor. “Let's go
to the amusement park!” Hina says.
“Sure,” Mamoru agrees.
“But the jet coaster there sure is scary!”
“You sure like those kinds of things,” Mamoru teases her.
She smiles back at him.
When they reach the door they hear music coming from his apartment. Mamoru
and Hina look confused.
“...A CD?” Hina wonders. When Mamoru fails to respond, she starts for the
door. “Is somebody inside?!” she cries.
Mamoru quickly puts a hand on her shoulder and stops her from entering. “Wait
here for a bit,” he says to her, smiling. He opens the front door and peers
inside suspiciously, as Hina looks on with concern outside.
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Absolutely
no clue who this could be. |
The notes of Zoicite’s signature song drift out from another room. Mamoru
cautiously walks in and opens the door to it. His face looks stricken when he
sees a shimmer of Zoicite at his piano right before his eyes. “You...”
Mamoru breathes.
Zoicite stops playing and looks up. Standing, he holds out a hand towards
Mamoru. “Master...Endymion,” he says.
The moon cycles closes over Mamoru’s astonished face.
Act 23 Preview
Rei rests her elbow on a chair in the Crown room. “I want you...to help me,”
she says into her cell phone.
“What?” Usagi asks in surprise on the other end of the line.
A little girl approaches Rei, holding out a pen and paper. “Sign this
please!” she chirps.
“Huh?” Rei says to her.
“Good luck,” says Minako, obviously amused, “Mars Reiko-san.” Rei
looks at her in disbelief as she walks away.
Makoto says smiling, “But I want to hear Rei's song.”
Rei falls over and yelps, apparently from practicing an act in the Crown
room.
“Don’t you think you're lacking something as a leader?” asks Minako.
“As if I'll get defeated!” Rei retorts to herself, picking herself up.
“So cute!!!” Usagi squeals to Rei, who is donning a red cowboy hat. Rei
awkwardly closes her cell phone and looks at Usagi.
Rei picks up the microphone in front of a crowd of people. I'll do it,
she thinks. So what? It's just a concert.
Great! Once again, a gigantic thank you to Wasurenagusa and Nae!!
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