About a month and a half had passed since Serena, as Sailor Moon, gave the guys the Scouts' transformation pens. The Scouts had been getting really anxious and nervous without their transformation pens. They didn't like knowing that there could be evil roaming around and they couldn't do anything about it.

The Ronin Warriors had been carrying around the Scouts' transformation pens since the day they got them, never letting the pens leave their side. They had also been carrying around their kanji balls, just in case they happened to get attacked and since the Sailor Scouts couldn't do anything about it because they didn't have the power to transform, the responsibility fell on the guys to fight off monsters. But, no droids had attacked since that day at school when Lita almost blew the Scouts' identity. Well, at least for the moment.

In a parallel universe, the Quartz sisters were recovering from their battle.

"Oh, those wretched Sailor Scouts. Who'd have thought they'd be so hard to destroy?" Pyrope said, running a hand vainly through her dark crimson hair.

"I sure didn't, but, thanks to you Pyrope, we're all hurt. This was all your idea," Serpentine said, taking a seat besides her red sister. Pyrope only glared at her.

"Girls, girls. This is no time to argue. We have to come up with a strategy on how to beat those Scouts. They're much stronger than we anticipated, so we're going to have to come up with a plan," Axinite dictated.

"Like what?" Rubellite and Lazulite said simultaneously.

"Oh, I don't know. We'll think of something. You girls saw it; those Sailor Scouts are without the power to transform. I say we send a droid down now and destroy them while we can. And then, we can take over this miserable planet," Axinite said.

"For once, you have an excellent idea," Pyrope said smugly.

"For once? What do you mean by that?" Axinite yelled.

"Oh, nothing," Pyrope said. Axinite barely regained control of her temper as she called forth one of her monsters.

"Sandrock, come forth!"

"As you wish, master." A monster appeared out of thin air in front of Axinite. The monster, Sandrock, was huge, made completely out of rock and sand.

"Sandrock, I want you to go to Toyama and destroy everything, do you understand?" Axinite instructed.

"Yes, mistress. I will do as you tell me," a deep voice rumbled.

"Good, you go on your way," Axinite said. Sandrock bowed slightly, as well as its heavy frame could, before disappearing.

"Let's just hope this works," Serpentine muttered.

"It'll work," Axinite said, clenching her fist.

***
In Toyama, the Ronin Warriors were spending a luxurious Saturday, sitting outside of a pizza place, eating lunch.

"This is really great; we haven't done something like this in a long time," Rowen said.

"Yeah, that's because we can never get you to wake up. It's a miracle that we got you out of bed before 10:00," Cye said.

"Oh, shut up. You guys are ruining my food experience," Kento said, taking a huge bite out of a slice of pizza.

"Hey, didn't the girls say they were going to meet us down here?" Sage asked.

"Well, that's what Serena said when I talked to her last night. I figure they'll be down here soon," Ryo said, checking his watch. Rowen opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off when they heard a large crash.

The Ronin Warriors all turned their heads to see a large monster in the middle of the street. The monster was about 15 feet tall and made completely out of rock. People screamed and fled at the sight of the monster, while the Ronin Warriors got out of their chairs and stood defensively in front of the monster, which was looking down at them condescendingly.

"Hey, blockhead, why don't you go back to where you belong?" Kento yelled.

"And who are you to be addressing me?" the creature said in a low, rumbling voice.

"We're your worst nightmare," Rowen said.

"Oh, so the little boys think they can hurt me? I'd like to see you try."

"Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it," Ryo said as he pulled out his kanji ball. "Ok, Ronin Warriors, power up. ARMOR OF WILDFIRE!" Ryo cried and his sub-armor appeared. The others followed suit.

"ARMOR OF HALO!"

"ARMOR OF HARDROCK!"

"ARMOR OF TORRENT!"

"ARMOR OF STRATA!" Within seconds, the guys were wearing their sub-armor and were ready to fight.

"Ok, you guys, ready to fight?" Rowen asked.

"Like never before. Let's rock it!" Kento yelled as he charged the monster. The monster only chuckled before sending out a gust of wind and sand that hit the guys. The guys could feel their skin being cut as the sand whipped against them harshly.

The guys were knocked to the ground and Sandrock laughed.

"You think you can beat me? You brave fools. You don't know who you're up against." Ryo pushed himself off of the ground and yelled, "Ok, that's it! ARMOR OF WILDFIRE, DAO CHI!" A few moments later, Ryo stood there in his Wildfire armor, his swords unsheathed and ready to strike.

"Good idea, Ryo," Rowen said, "Let's armor up. ARMOR OF STRATA..."
"ARMOR OF HARDROCK..."
"ARMOR OF HALO..."
"ARMOR OF TORRENT..."
"DAO CHI!" they all cried as their transformations took place. In a few seconds, the Ronin Warriors stood in front of Sandrock, their weapons poised and ready to fight.

"Cute armor, but no match for my power!" Sandrock yelled as he sent another blast of wind, sand, and power towards the Ronin Warriors. They barely stayed on their feet as they were bombarded by Sandrock's power and all the while, they were being watched.

***
Just moments earlier, the Sailor Scouts (well, as their human alter egos) were walking to the pizza place to meet the guys.

"Serena, if you didn't sleep so late, we might actually be on time," Raye yelled.

"I'm sorry Raye, but I need my beauty sleep," Serena whined.

"Beauty sleep? I'm sorry Serena, but..." Raye was cut off when they heard a large crash, followed by numerous screams. The girls all looked at each other, wide-eyed with terror and alarm, and then to Serena.

"Serena, it looks like you're going to have to take care of this," Lita said dismally.

"Yeah, we don't have our transformation pens, so it's all up to you," Mina said.

Serena nodded and looked around for a quick way to get to the battle scene. Her eyes spotted an alley that led to where she hoped the battle scene was. She ran into the abandoned alley, the girls following close behind. Once she entered the alley, Serena began her transformation.

"MOON CRYSTAL POWER!" With a flurry of light and feathers, Sailor Moon appeared, ready to fight. She ran down the alley and the girls followed.

As the group approached the end of the alley, they saw a large cloud of dust and sand blow in their direction. They screamed slightly and averted their heads so they wouldn't get sand in them. When the cloud settled down, the girls turned their head towards the scene to find five young warriors, in armor, facing off against a large creature that was made out of rock.

The girls' eyes widened in confusion and Serena's face took on a small smile. So, the Ronin Warriors decided to fight again. Let's see how they do against a monster like this, Serena thought as the girls watched them fight.

"Who are they?" Raye asked as the girls remained hidden in the shadows.

"I don't know. I've never heard of any other type of warrior," Ami said.

"Do you think they're on our side?" Lita asked.

"I sure hope so," Mina replied, "Do you know who they are, Serena?"

Serena, who had been ignoring the conversation behind her, turned to look at Mina.

"What did you say?" Serena asked.

"I asked you if you knew who those warriors were?" Mina repeated. Serena shrugged and turned back to the battle, feeling bad for lying to the girls about the Ronin Warriors. They'll find out soon enough, Serena thought. Serena watched as Kento tried to destroy the monster using his power.

"IRON ROCK CRUSHER!" Kento yelled as large boulders came out of the ground and energy hit the monster. The monster was unfazed by Kento's attack.

Kento took a step back and said, "It didn't work? Why didn't it work?"

Lita looked at Kento, not knowing that it was Kento she was looking at, and said softly, "Where have I heard that voice?"


"Here, let me try," Sage yelled. "THUNDERBOLT CUT!" Sage's attack also did nothing to Sandrock, who just stood there, laughing evilly.

"Those puny attacks do nothing to me, you weaklings. I will destroy you!" Sandrock sent out another blast of power, more painful than the other two, and knocked the guys to the ground.

Serena wanted so badly to intercept, but she didn't. She wanted to, needed to see if the Ronin Warriors could fight the monsters the Sailor Scouts fought against. The Ronin Warriors, who were wounded, lay on the ground, trying to get up.

"Come on, you guys. We have to destroy this thing. Let's try combining all of our powers," Ryo said.

"That could work," Cye said.

"Well, it couldn't hurt," Rowen said.

"Alright then," Ryo said, "FLARE UP NOW!"

"SUPER WAVE SMASHER!"

"IRON ROCK CRUSHER!"

"THUNDERBOLT CUT!"

"ARROR SHOCKWAVE!" The combined powers of the Ronin Warriors proved too much for Sandrock to handle and in moments, he was incinerated. The Ronin Warriors collapsed onto the ground in exhaustion.

Serena only smiled and took a step forward when Raye caught her shoulder.

"Serena, where are you going?" Raye asked. Serena looked over her shoulder and gave Raye a small smile.

"I'm getting your transformation pens back." Raye looked at her, a confused look carved on her face, and Serena took that opportunity to get out of Raye's hold. She walked forward and started applauding.

The guys sprang to attention as they heard Sailor Moon clapping. They turned to look and saw Sailor Moon walking towards them.

"Ronin Warriors, good job. I must congratulate you. You were truly remarkable."

"Thank you," Ryo said, "But why didn't you help us?"

"I wanted to see if you could handle it on your own. If we are ever to become allies, then I need to know that you are strong enough to hold your own in a fight."

As Serena spoke with the Ronin Warriors, the girls looked on in amazement.

"Does she know who they are?" Lita asked.

"Obviously and she never told us about them. That slimy Meatball Head," Raye said, her temper flaring.

Ami put a hand on Raye's shoulder and said, "Raye, calm down. She must have a good reason for not telling us."

"She better," Raye said through clenched teeth, pounding a fist into her palm of her other hand. They turned back to the scene in front of them just as Serena started talking again.
"I've come to get something back from you guys," Serena said.

"What?" Rowen asked, still in his armor.

"I've come to collect the Scouts' transformation pens."

"So, you guys have solved your problems?" Sage asked.

"Yes, and the Scouts want their pens back, so if you could oblige, that would be great." The guys sighed and detransformed back into their normal clothes, revealing to the girls who they really were.

"What?" Mina said, seeing the guys standing in front of Serena.

"No, this can't be," Ami said.
"Sage is not a warrior," Raye said, like she was trying to deny what she saw.

"I can't believe it," Lita said, "I really can't."

Serena glanced back to alley quickly, with a smirk on her face. So, now they know who the Ronin Warriors are and they know that I knew about them. I should be angry or scared, but I think this situation is too funny, Serena thought.

She turned back to the Ronin Warriors and held out her hand, motioning for the guys to give the pens back.

"You guys are going to have to part with them," Serena said at their reluctance to hand over the pens. Rowen was the one who let go first. He walked over to Serena, who was still Sailor Moon, and put Sailor Mercury's pen in her open hand.

"Thank you," Serena said. The others followed Rowen's example and handed the pens to Sailor Moon.

Serena smiled at them and said, "Thank you for looking after them," before turning around and walking back into the alley.

Serena entered the darkened alley and handed the girls back their pens. Raye grabbed hers greedily and immediately transformed, feeling the power run through her veins once more. Lita, Mina, and Ami did the same, relieved that they were no longer helpless.

The guys, who were still in the street, heard the transformation cries.

"MARS STAR POWER!"

"JUPITER STAR POWER!"

"VENUS STAR POWER!"

"MERCURY STAR POWER!" With a bright flash of light, the girls had transformed and the guys could now see the Sailor Scouts standing in the alley.

"Oh, that feels good," Sailor Mars said.

"I would have to agree with you, Mars," Sailor Jupiter said, feeling her Jupiter power course through her body. Sailor Venus and Mercury only sighed with relief.

After a few seconds, Sailor Mars came off her power high and glared at Sailor Moon.

"How could you not tell us that you knew who those warriors were?" Sailor Mars yelled.

"I'm sorry. I kinda forgot," Sailor Moon whined. Sailor Mars advanced on Sailor Moon and Sailor Moon ran out of the alley with Sailor Mars close behind.

The guys took a few steps back as they watched Sailor Moon be chased around by Sailor Mars.
"Princess or no princess, you are still a Meatball Head, Sailor Moon," Raye yelled as Serena placed Ryo in between her and Raye.

"I'm sorry Sailor Mars. I was going to tell you."

"You know what, you'll never be anything but a big Meatball Head," Raye yelled.

"Meatball Head?" Rowen said to himself, "Where have I heard that nickname before?"

"You guys, stop it," Lita said.

"This isn't appropriate Sailor Scout behavior," Ami said, her head bowed in embarrassment.

"We can argue about this when we get home," Mina said, walking over and grabbing the two quarreling scouts by the arms and dragging them away from the guys.

"Ok, we'll talk about this when we get home," Serena said sulkily, walking away from the group and back into the alley. The other Scouts remained in the street next to the guys.

"Sailor Mars, you shouldn't be so hard on Sailor Moon. You know how emotional she gets sometimes," Mina said.
"I suppose you're right, Venus, but she still should have told us earlier," Raye said. Raye glanced at Ami, who had a very distracted look on her face.

"Hey Mercury, are you alright?" Raye asked.

"Yes, I am."

"Then what's wrong?" Lita asked.

Ami walked over to the pile of sand that was the monster, Sandrock, and pulled out her computer. She knelt on the ground and began analyzing the sand for traces of anything that would give her a clue as to what was going on with the attacks. The other Scouts walked over and stood around Ami as she analyzed the sand and the guys just stood behind, feeling left out of the loop. As Ami sat there with her computer, one thought ran through the minds of the guys: She reminds me of Ami.

Ami's computer beeped at her as it finished analyzing the sand and she said, "I got what I wanted."

"What were you looking for?" Cye asked, surprising everyone, including the guys. Ami stood up and turned towards the other scouts.

Ignoring Cye's remark, she said, "This monster was from the Negaverse. It's made out of the same materials as the other youmas that we've fought in the past. I recognize the materials as the same as the first youma I fought with Sailor Moon. I don't think these droids are related to Beryl..."
"Well, they can't be. We killed Beryl two years ago," Mina said.

"They're more closely related to the droids that the Negamoon family sent after us. I think that those 5 sisters may even be from the same place as they are," Ami continued.

"But, the Negamoon doesn't exist except for in the future," Raye said.

"Not necessarily true. It was just discovered during Crystal Tokyo. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist now, 1000 years earlier," Ami said, addressing Raye's statement.

"Hello!" Serena exclaimed as she came back into the street, "Aren't we going?"

"Right, I still have to yell at you," Raye said, walking towards Serena.

"Oh, great, just what I need. A lecture from Pyro."

"Oh no, not again," Lita said as she and Mina followed.

Ami stayed behind for a few moments, looking at the pile of sand, before beginning to walk away, but before she could get too far, Ryo grabbed her wrist.

"Excuse me, Sailor Mercury, right?" he asked.

"Yes?" Ami said.

"Um, could you do us a favor? If you happen to see a group of 5 girls walking towards this place, could you tell them that the guys won't be meeting them here?" Ryo asked.

Ami nodded and said, "Sure. I'll do that."

"Great, thanks. Come on, you guys. Let's go home." The guys started to file out and Ami watched them go, her eyes on Rowen the entire time.

"Oh Rowen, you don't know what you've gotten yourself involved in," Ami muttered, her voice full of regret and worry, before turning to go with the other scouts.

***
A bit ahead of Ami, the Scouts had detransformed in the alley.

"Ok, so spill it. How did you know about the Ronin Warriors and that the guys were them?" Raye asked.

"Well, I..." Serena started to explain when Ami came running up, still as Sailor Mercury.
She stopped, detransformed, and said, "The guys are going home. Looks like if we want pizza, we're going to have to go eat as just the 5 of us."

"Why'd the guys go home?" Lita asked.

"They were a little exhausted after the fight. And, speaking of which, Serena, how did you know the guys were the Ronin Warriors and how come you never told us?" Ami asked Serena.

"I already asked her that and she's going to explain it to us, right Serena?" Raye said.

"Yes, I am. I found out about the Ronin Warriors when I got my memories of the Moon Kingdom. The Ronin Warriors were part of Darien's guards during the Silver Millennium. They would often come with Darien whenever Darien came to the moon," Serena lied.

She knew she couldn't very well say that they were guards of her cousin. Then the others would know who they really were and she couldn't have the Scouts knowing that they saw the Ronin Warriors die 1000 years ago.

"How did you know the guys were the Ronin Warriors?" Lita asked.

"Well, I could tell when I first saw them, but I was so shocked that telling you completely slipped my mind. After that, it really didn't spring to mind to tell you about them," Serena continued.

"Well, if you didn't mean to not tell us, I guess it's ok. Just stop knowing everything, ok?" Raye said, being surprisingly compassionate.

"Thanks Raye. I promise, if there is anything else I know, I'll tell you right away," Serena said, immediately regretting it because she had broken the promise before it was even made.

"Ok, good," Mina said, "But, now, I'm hungry and I want food. I saw a cute, little Italian place a few streets back. Let's go there."

"Good idea, Mina. I could go for Italian food right about now," Lita said, dragging Mina and Serena by the arm.

Raye and Ami looked at each other and sighed, following the three who were headed out of the alley.

"What a day this had been, huh Raye?" Ami said as they walked down the sidewalk.

"Sure has. Full of surprises," Raye replied.

"Yeah, I couldn't even begin to imagine that the guys were warriors like us," Ami said.

"My only concern is how I'm going to treat Sage now that I know his secret."

"Yeah, I know how you feel," Ami said, "But we'll worry about that later. Let's catch up with the others and get that food."

"Good idea, Ames," Raye said, laughing, as she grabbed Ami's arm and together, they ran to catch up with Lita, Mina, and Serena.