Chapter One- The Plan
Tsukino Ikuko smiled, as she began the day's work, cleaning away breakfast. She loved the stillness of the early morning- well, near stillness, anyway. She placed a pink bento and two slices of toast on the table beside the door, and backed quickly into the kitchen, bracing herself. As if on command the house erupted in a hail of shrieks coming from one of the upstairs bedrooms. Moments later, a blur of golden hair flashed out the door, slamming it closed. Ikuko noticed the sudden absence of the bento, and toast with a smile. Have a good day, Usagi, dear she thought with a sigh.
Usagi ran as fast as she could through the empty streets, mentally grumbling at Luna for not waking her up. Luna had been spending longer and longer at "Central Control" and had overslept, herself. Thankfully Shingo had slammed his bedroom door on his way out, and it had startled her awake. She sighed. She had been having another one of the unusual dreams that inevitably followed every single transformation into Sailor Moon. It was night-time, and the stars were unbelievably bright. She leaned over the balcony waiting for someone. Her heart began racing as the figure would appear out of the shadows, his gleaming armor momentarily blinding her. Just as her eyes adjusted, and she was about to see the face of her prince, she would invariably wake up. Today she'd actually gone so far as to make out a strong build, and a shock of black hair before she'd been ripped from sleep, and thrown into another hectic day.
Usagi mentally shook herself out of her reverie. She crammed the toast her mother had made her into her mouth, and silently thanked whatever gods would hear her that at least she hadn't run into that baka Mamoru. She doubled her speed, as she reached the school courtyard. Those battles seemed to be finally paying off, she managed to slip into her seat moments before the bell. Maybe today wouldn't be so bad after all.
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Zoicite knelt before his Queen. He internally grumbled at the gesture- He didn't like lowering his head to anyone, and his knee wasn't what it used to be. He placed one fist over his heart in a show of loyalty he did not feel. If he were not so compelled- if his will were his own, he might consider using the device he'd presented Beryl for inspection. She looked the object over, with obvious disinterest. As she does with anything she doesn't understand Zoicite thought bitterly. Finally the Queen looked down at her flavor-of-the-month General
"I am uncertain of this…er…plan, Zoicite. We simply release this eagle within Sailor Moon's vicinity, and it will kill her? It doesn't look like an eagle at all. Now we have a youma that looks like an eagle, and she should-" Zoicite stifled the urge to roll his eyes at the Queen
"No, my Queen. It's not actually an eagle, that's just the name of the manufacturer; Desert Eagle- .50 actually. Inside it are several small projectiles that when fired pierce through flesh, and the resulting blood loss causes death. The speed of death dependant, of course, on the location of the wound. Better still, there are several such projectiles in each magazine, so theoretically we could take out all four sailor nuisances in one fell swoop. The rose-toting Tuxedo Moron too, if I have my way" Zoicite finished with a smile as his imagination played the scene before his eyes. He was cut off with an exasperated sigh.
"Zoicite, as much as I appreciate your…er… enthusiasm, but, I mean really! Metal projectiles? Last week you wanted to hunt down Sailor Moon's true identity, and just kill her in her sleep! The week before that, what was it? Use some civilians as hostages, and force her to give herself up! Honestly, Zoicite, if you keep up with these ridiculous ideas, you may not be suited for a position as one of my Generals! No arguments now. I expect you to come up with a reasonable plan before the end of the day!" Zoicite growled with barely contained frustration.
"Fine, then. How about I take one of the youma- the youma of tacos or something- and, er, create a taco stand that sucks the energy out of anyone that eats them, cause, uh, we all know Sailor Moon loves to eat, and she's just dingy enough to fall for our sinister tacos" Zoicite hoped he wouldn't be executed for his sarcasm, but to his utter astonishment, Beryl smiled widely at him She couldn't possibly like that moronic idea he thought incredulously, but Beryl quickly nodded her approval, and dismissed him to carry out his plan, congratulating him on another wonderful idea. Suddenly an idea struck him. At least he could make this a double pronged attack. The stupid taco-monster would certainly lure Sailor Moon, but he had another youma in mind that might just actually work. He rushed back to get approval of this second phase of his plan. He had to get approval of all youma use now after that incident with Jadeite, and the bachelor party. He sighed and teleported back into the throne room in his usual flurry of cherry blossoms. The Queen LOVED those cherry blossoms.