Next chapter, but this time, we're covering a bit more, you'll see what I mean.


It was a peaceful evening for the town, as no strange incidents had happened for the last few days. Currently in the Tsukino household, Usagi had just stepped out of the bath, letting out a small sigh. Since today had been the weekend, Kensuke had been training her again earlier. The guy's training wasn't easy, but it definitely was helping. She was dodging more smoother now and she was confident she wouldn't have to worry about random muggers anymore now. With that in mind, she idly went to the weighing scale and got on. Looking at the numbers, she pumped her fist in victory, as another side effect of the new routine she'd settled into: her weight was definitely being kept in check.


"A diet?" Usagi blinked.

"Yeah, I've been trying a few to lose weight, but they're just so hard to stick to sometimes," one of their classmates, a rather chubby girl, said.

"We know," Usagi, Naru, and one more of their classmates couldn't help but say. At the same time.

"Hey, Usagi, with how much you eat how do you keep your weight down?" the other girl, a girl with neck length straight brown hair, asked.

Usagi… couldn't help but grin a bit, knowing how to really tease her friends "A handsome university student helping me train on the weekends."

The reaction she got was princeless, as both girls started scrambling at Usagi for details, while Naru smiled knowingly.

After a few minutes, a thought crossed Naru's mind. "You know… Ms. Sakurada's lost quite a bit of weight recently," she mused, remembering how their teacher seemed slimmer than before the last couple of days...which as impressive seeing as she wasn't exactly chubby to begin with.

"Really?" Usagi blinked in surprise.

As if on cue, Ms. Sakurada walked by, noticing them and waving, to which they waved back and was soon on her way again. "...I don't really see it," Usagi blinked, seeing as Ms. Sakurada wasn't exactly in great need of some weight loss.

"You wouldn't notice under those clothes," came Umino's voice as he was suddenly next to them.

"Where'd you come from?!" the four girls said in alarm, not expecting to see him here.

"I was walking by and heard you girls talking," Umino said. "Anyway, how I know is based on these," he said, showing two pictures of their teacher. "This is before, and this is after," he said, showing that while both WERE pretty similar, she definitely looked slimmer in the second one.

"...where the heck did you get those?" Usagi and Naru deadpanned.

"She borrowed my camera and asked me to have these pictures developed for her, I was going to give them as soon as I saw her." he answered with a shrug.

"So, where did she even go to work out?" Usagi asked after a moment.

"There's a new place that just opened up actually." Umino started, before going into more detail.


Several hours later had them standing in front of the gym that Umino told them about named 'Shapely'. "So this is the place," the chubby girl said.

"Doesn't look any different from a normal gym," the straight haired girl mused.

"Wonder how much they charge for their services if they actually work," Naru frowned.

"Well...they probably have at least some decent value. They've got Rie Gotou on that commercial," Usagi mused.

"Wow… that must have cost a fortune." the chubby girl said, before all of them headed inside.

It didn't take them long to get changed in the locker room, having brought their PE clothes with them just in case, and when they stepped out, they saw who they assumed was the manager, a man with slicked back red hair, wearing a pair of shades on his face.

"Welcome to Gym Shapely," the man said. "I'm the instructor here. Are you looking to join?"

The girls couldn't help but blush at the rather handsome man, to which Usagi started slowly. "Uh...we were looking around. We're wondering how much it would cost if we joined."

"Ah, well you're in luck. We currently have a special introductory promotion. All new applicants can join for free with the first week being free as well," he said with a smile.

"Really?" their two classmates said, before smiling. "Lucky us!"

"Well...that DOES sound like a good deal," Naru admitted, Usagi nodding in agreement.

It wasn't long before they were in the training area. The selection was fairly complete, with a variety of machines. Naru was using the pull up bars, Usagi was on a row machine, while their friends were using the dumbbells and the treadmill, all of them getting supervision from some of the other trainers. The two classmates were having a slight difficulty keeping up, clearly not used to the regular exercise, Naru doing a bit better than them. Usagi on the other hand wasn't having too much difficulty. It was tiring sure, but not exactly any worse than when Kensuke was training her. That and she secretly had another membership in another gym, so this was just trying out since there WAS that free trial.

"One sweat for two kilograms, two sweats for five, and three sweats and you too will be beautiful," the trainer said, clapping his hands encouragingly. "Now try harder," he said as the girls continued on the workout. Eventually…

"That's enough for today," the head trainer said, the girls sighing as they stopped the workout. Naru and their two classmates seemed rather winded, while Usagi seemed a bit less tired, no doubt due to her secret training.

The head trainer looked them over for a bit, then went to talk with the other trainers a little before turning around. "Now then, you've done well everyone. Next, we will bathe you in our Shape Ray to help with the weight loss process."

"Shape Ray?" the three of them blinked, though Naru's voice had an edge of uncertainty. This...didn't sound like a normal part of a weight loss program...or legal at that. Speaking of which… "Wait...where'd Usagi go?" she couldn't help but ask as her blonde best friend had suddenly vanished.

Turns out...she was in the bubble bath room. "Nothing like a bath after a workout," she smiled. "Still though...I don't see what's so special about this gym. They don't seem too different from any other gym…" she frowned. "Well, maybe we'll find out after a few more days," she shrugged. This WAS their first day after all.


When Naru was led down the dark stairs, she felt rather worried, but figured that it was normal since there was no windows in the staircase.

But when she entered the room at the bottom… she felt like backpedaling and running back outside.

"What… what is this thing?" she asked as she looked at the weird pods and the glowing crystal, honestly, it looked like it came off the set of Alien.

"These are the key ingredient in our workout program," the head trainer said. "If you are exposed to the shape ray for five minutes, you the chubby one will lose ten kilograms, while the lighter ones can lose three kilograms right away," he said.

"Really? No wonder Ms. Sakurada could lose weight so fast," the two girls smiled, apparently not the least bit put off by the room, more interested in losing weight quickly.

"I'm going in!" the chubby one said, pumping her fist.

"Me too!" the one with brown hair said in agreement, and before long both were inside the pods.

"I'm… going to pass." Naru said nervously, backing away from the VERY creepy pods.

Before she could get far though, she felt a pair of hands on her shoulders pushing her back forward "Please, I INSIST!" the head trainer said as he pushed her in a pod, which closed as soon as she was in it.

She tried to struggled free from it, but she was starting to feel weak so quickly, and soon, her eyes closed as she passed out.

Several minutes passed, and the pods soon opened, letting the three out...and well...they definitely looked thinner...but not in the good way.

"I feel…" the chubby one started.

"...really tired…" the one with brown hair said.

"Congratulations, you three have become fine beauties," the head trainer said, even when Naru glared at him like he HADN'T just shoved her into the pod. She didn't care if he was telling the truth or not. She was NOT coming back after that. Especially if it made her feel so tired out, well beyond what the workout did.

She ignored whatever else he had to say and went back up the stairs quickly, looking around for Usagi, and relief spread on her face when she saw her coming out of the bathroom.

"Usagi!" Naru called out to her as she went up to her, and, of course, Usagi's shocked face was to be expected.

"Wh-what the heck happened while I was in the bath?!" Usagi gasped. Naru looked terrible. Sure she looked slimmer, but not in a good way at all. Heck, she looked less 'lost some weight' and more 'haven't eaten in ages'.

Naru stumbled as she walked closer to her friend, who caught her with ease "Weird machine in the basement, I was pushed into it by the head trainer when I tried to leave, I just feel… drained."

Usagi's eyes narrowed at that, but she nodded slowly "Alright, how about I help you get back home? I'll call Kensuke, see if he has any ideas on what to do."

Naru nodded at that, accepting the idea, before she needed to have Usagi help her get changed in the locker room and then had to lean on her the whole way back home, and of course, her mother was worried when she saw how she looked, and she was rushed up to bed to rest.

Once she made sure Naru was okay, she made a beeline for the Crown Game Center. So focused she was that she didn't see a familiar figure when she turned a corner, and bumped into them.

"Yeesh dumpling head, with how often you do that maybe you need glasses," Mamoru said with a smirk...which promptly died when she returned his smirk with a...well...okay, now he was thinking he might have just poked a sleeping dragon this time.

"Get out of my way," Usagi said, her voice flat and making it clear that getting in her way now...NOT a smart idea.

Mamoru promptly did just that as the girl stomped right past him. "...wow, never knew she could get that angry…" he gulped.

With that little roadblock taken care of, she soon found her way to the arcade (and saying hello to Motoki), she soon found who she was looking for.

"Kensuke." she said when she got close, grabbing his attention "Naru got targeted again."

And with that he was completely serious "Motoki, I need to take the rest of the day off, something serious came up." he said, quickly getting his apron off and walking back out with Usagi as she gave him the details, while along the way, Luna found them, quickly briefing her on the situation as well.

"That was a bold move on their part, forcing Naru into such a contraption." Luna commented quietly.

"Yeah, and I'm gonna make them pay for being bold." Usagi said in anger.

"They'll get what's coming to them, we'll strike tonight." Kensuke said, the other two nodding in agreement.


The night soon fell and the two of them were standing in an alley near the gym. "I know this is the fastest way, but it still feels like we're about to vandalize a gym...which we kind of are," Kensuke chuckled.

"But only one room," Luna corrected.

"True, makes this a bit easier to do then," Kensuke chuckled.

"I can tell you two one thing at least, if I see Jadeite's smug face, I'm caving it in." Usagi said, cracking her knuckles for emphasis.

"Trust me, you'll get first dibs." Kensuke said as he slipped the Change card into his Buckle and let it wrap around him.

Usagi nodded, before raising her hand high "Moon Prism Power, Make Up!"

"Henshin!" "Turn Up!"


Getting into the place was easy since...well…

"Seriously? They didn't lock the door? Either Jadeite really IS stupid, or this is a trap...and somehow I think it's the former," Blade deadpanned.

"That or he figured it wouldn't matter," Luna supplied.

"Oh yeah, he's always just focused on gathering energy, isn't he?" Sailor Moon nodded as they got into the gym. Once they were in, they made a way directly for the room that Naru had spoke of. It took a bit of searching, but eventually...

"Subtlety really isn't Jadeite's middle name is it?" Blade deadpanned.

"No it is not," Luna and Sailor Moon agreed as all three of them saw the 'Shape Rays'.

"...whelp, time to start smashing," Blade said in a rather cheerful tone as he scanned one of his Rouze cards. "Slash!"

It didn't take long for the two to make short work of the pods and the core, as between Sailor Moon's Tiara and the Lizard Undead's power, the room was soon in ruins. When they were done…

"You two again?" came Jadeite's annoyed voice as they turned to see him standing in the doorway, having arrived too late to stop them.

"Surprise! We thought we'd do a bit of redecorating while you were out!" Sailor Moon couldn't help but snark, and Blade snorted at her words.

"Yeah, what she said. Now we're gonna pick up where we left off last time and do a little redecorating… on your FACE!" Blade added. "So what'll it be? You gonna fight us, or are we gonna have to dust ANOTHER Youma you throw at us?"

Jadeite glared at them...before smirking. "I don't believe I will be using a Youma today. No, this time you two can deal with something an ally of ours...acquired," he said. "Come! Ancient Beast!" he called out as a portal appeared, depositing something into the ground...before it shook.

"W-what's happening?!" Sailor Moon gasped in surprise.

"There's something moving in the ground!" Luna said in alarm, right before yelping as she was forced to jump away as a limb came out of the ground and out of the new hole, out came a creature with blue skin, with black armor covered in studs, with rectangular covers on its shoulders. It head was normal, up until you noticed the eyes and nose and drills replacing them, while its hands were large claws shaped like shovels, with its forearms covered in spiked arm guards… and they then noticed the Ouroborus buckle on its waist.

"An Undead!" Blade said in shock as he used his sword to block the claws as it lunged for him "And not one of my suit either! If I'm right this is the 3 of Clubs, Mole Undead."

"Deal with those annoyances," Jadeite said, as he had extracted any remaining energy from the machine. "I will deliver these to our Queen," he said before vanishing.

"Wait!" Sailor Moon tried to stop him, but too late. That and she was forced to dodge when the Undead tried to take her head off with a wide swing.

"Focus on the Undead first!" Blade shouted as he tackled it. However, it quickly pushed him away before it began tunneling into the ground.

"It's getting away!" Luna said, but Blade held up his hand.

"No, it's still here. My pendant is still reacting," he warned. True enough, the Undead soon emerged from the ground again and started taking pot shots at them.

"We need to stop its movements somehow!" Sailor Moon said as the two were back to back, scanning the ground for movement.

"Or at least some way to keep it above ground for a little," Blade frowned.

"Sailor Moon, use the tiara!" Luna said.

"I don't think the Tiara will be able to hit something underground," Sailor Moon countered.

"Not if you use its other ability. Activate it and call out 'Moon Tiara Stardust'!" Luna instructed.

"I don't fully understand but okay!" Sailor Moon said as she took off her tiara and turned it into its ready form. "Moon Tiara...Stardust!" she called out as she threw it. The tiara flew through the air before releasing a burst of magical energy in the form of glowing dust. At that moment, the Mole Undead emerged, ready to strike, but the moment the dust hit it, it let out a groan as its movements started to slow, giving Blade the chance he needed...and stabbed it in the face, drawing sparks from it as it was thrown out of the ground.

"Normally I'd say something about waiting to tell us, but I'm honestly not complaining of the timing!" Blade grinned under his mask, before pulling out his remaining two Rouze Cards. "Kick! Thunder!"

"Lightning...Blast!" Blade called out as he flipped in the air and landed the kick onto the Undead's chest which took massive damage, causing it to fall on the ground, its belt snapping open. Acting quickly, Blade went for a card holder at his hip, before pulling out a Common Blank, and threw it at the Undead which was soon absorbed and sealed into the card, which returned to Blade's hand.

The card was indeed the 3 of Clubs, now depicting a blue metallic mole with spinning shovels in place of front paws, the words Screw Mole written beneath the image.

"It's unexpected, but I won't complain." Blade said with a sigh as he put the card in his weapon, just in case he might find a use for it before finding Leangle. "Still...now I know why I felt it odd that one of the other Riders sealed one of my cards…"

"Why is that?" Sailor Moon asked.

"You remember where I said the seals were, right?" Blade checked.

"Yeah, the spades are in Japan, and I think you said the clubs are in...oh…" Sailor Moon blinked as she realized what he was getting at.

"There shouldn't BE a reason for another Rider to be in Japan, when their Undead are in other areas of the world. But...the fact one of them at least are here means their Undead have come here, and with the Mole here, it means something is attracting the Undead to cross entire oceans just to come here," he said with a frown.

"What could be causing that?" Luna asked in worry.

"THAT is the million yen question," Blade said. "The only time the Undead have ever all gathered together was when…" he trailed off and somehow Sailor Moon and Luna knew he'd paled under his helmet. "Oh shit…"

"I'm afraid to ask, but what?" Sailor Moon gulped.

"The only thing that could possibly attract all the Undead...is their master. The 'referee' if you will, of the Battle Royal...the Stone of Sealing…" Blade said as he undid his transformation and they saw the panicked look on his face.

"What is the Stone of Sealing?" Luna asked.

"In a nutshell? It's the vessel let's say God used to oversee the Battle Royal. Where it appears is a signal to the Undead that basically tells them 'Next Battle Royal Here'," Kensuke explained. "So yeah...if that thing is actually in Japan right now, then this country is about to have about 35 unwanted guests real soon…"

"That's… bad." Sailor Moon said, pale, as she let her transformation drop as well and turned back into Usagi.

"And I'm assuming the higher the category, the stronger they are, which means…" Luna trailed off, sweating.

Kensuke nodded, knowing what she was getting at "The Royals are coming… we'll have to hope they'll keep their heads down, or else it's going to be pure chaos in the country." he frowned. "And if that wasn't enough, I honestly have no idea how Jadeite could command an Undead. Sure it was a Category 3, but still…"

"Let's hope he just got lucky. I don't think I want to imagine what the Dark Kingdom could do with Undead under their control," Usagi gulped thickly.

"That makes three of us," Luna gulped thickly as well. They'd only fought low level Undead so far and those alone were well beyond any normal Youma could be. The Dark Kingdom controlling stronger creatures than that...it was too terrifying to consider.

"The only silver lining is that that means the other three Riders are likely on their way too, so we should at least get 3 more allies out of this," Kensuke sighed. "At any rate, we've done what we came here to do. This operation is sunk, so all we can do is wait for the next move."

"Let's hope we'll find the other riders and sailor scouts before things get too dangerous." Usagi said with a slight nervous tone before the three of them snuck back out of the building and headed back to their homes.


The next couple of days went by relatively peacefully, but one day Usagi woke up a bit earlier than normal, not due to her alarm or Luna or her mom. No, she was woken up by the sound of shouting...from Shingo's room. "What's going on?" she groaned, as she opened his room door, just in time to get a pillow the face. "What was that for?!" she demanded when the pillow fell off, right as she noticed Luna at her feet...and Shingo looking afraid. "...right…" she realized, remembering that Shingo had a slight phobia of cats from when he was a baby. It seemed a cat bit him on the nose and since then he's never QUITE gotten over it. Sure he'd been able to slowly get used to Luna around the house, but he still tended to get...jumpy...when she sometimes got him by surprise. "Come on, Luna. Let's not bother Shingo," Usagi said, picking up the moon cat. "Sorry about that, I guess I didn't lock the door properly," she said.

"I-its fine," Shingo by now had started to calm down. "I was just really surprised to see her when I woke up. Sorry about the pillow."

"You can pay me back with your bacon this morning." Usagi said simply as she went back into her room to change while Shingo sighed.

Minutes later everyone was downstairs for breakfast, with Luna on the floor next to Usagi and lapping up some milk.

"What was the ruckus we heard earlier?" Kenji asked with a raised eyebrow as he drank his coffee.

"Luna wandered in Shingo's room in the night so he got spooked when he woke up." Usagi answered as she munched on her extra bacon. "We really need to work on that. Think the doctors can suggest a cure for cat phobia?"

"I'm getting better," Shingo snorted. "And the books mainly say try to slowly face said fears...which I've been doing...at my own pace."

"I'm sure it helps Luna is so well behaved," Ikuko chuckled as Luna walked over to Shingo, the boy stiffening a bit, but managing to keep his cool, since he was well aware she was already there.

Yeah, it was...a work in progress.


Later while walking to school, Usagi looked down at Luna who was tagging along. "By the way, why WERE you in Shingo's room this morning?" Usagi couldn't help but ask.

"Well...I've just been so busy with work lately and well...I accidentally went into the wrong room," Luna said.

"Work, huh?" Usagi mused, before gaining a mischievous look. "Been working hard terrorizing the mice?" she teased.

"Very funny, but no," Luna chuckled. "I've been searching for a clue to finding the Moon Princess," she said.

"Moon Princess? Is that the princess we're supposed to be protecting?" Usagi asked.

"Yep, but don't worry too much about that just yet. I'll let you know when I actually find a lead rather than just chase after unconfirmed information," Luna said.

"Alright, I'll leave that to you I guess," Usagi chuckled, not sure what else to say. "Anyway, I gotta go to class. See ya!" she said as she ran into school.

Luna watched her go before going another direction. Her work was far from over after all.


Meanwhile, Kensuke was for once not in class, as classes for today had been cancelled, apparently, his teacher ended up being a target again, likely from the gym, so she was taking a few days off to rest and recover with her husband doing the same to look after her. With that in mind, he made sure to lock his doors and close his windows as he opened his closet and picked up a crystal ball. "...mental note, ask why the heck we have to use a crystal ball like some kind of fortune teller," he sighed as he placed the ball on a cushion he put on the table. Taking off his pendant, he placed it on top of the ball to which they began to resonate. He then sighed as he remembered the, in his opinion, hammy passcode to activate it "Flying away from the gold to nest in the mountains of the east." With the passcode given, the crystal ball flashed, before showing an image of a man and a woman, Kensuke looking mostly like the man, but he had his hair color from the woman "Hey mom, hey dad." he said with a small wave.

"Son!" his parents, Kazuma and Shiori Inazuma said, very happy to hear from him again. The Crystal Balls could only hold so much energy at one point in time, so constant use was a no. "How have you been?" Shiori asked.

"And how goes the hunt for the Undead?" Kazuma added, a bit of pride creeping into his voice.

"I've been good, and the hunt is going… uniquely, to say the least." Kensuke said sheepishly.

"I don't like the sound of that." Shiori said with a frown.

"You'd be right not to mom." he sighed "I think the Stone of Sealing showed up in Japan, because the other night I fought the 3 of Clubs, Screw Mole. Not just that, a week or two ago, Time Scarab was sealed by someone else."

His parents understandably paled at that "Oh no… it's starting again." Kazuma whispered in shock.

"But that shouldn't be possible. For a new Battle Royal to begin, ALL the Undead must be unsealed," Shiori frowned. "And we know Change Beetle was never unsealed, and I'm sure the same is the case for the other tribes as well, and even then, I doubt Spirit Human would be unsealed."

"That's what I'm hoping too, mom," Kensuke sighed. "Hopefully this is just some fluke, that the stone just happened to be here, and not that a new Battle Royal is starting."

Kazuma sighed "So, anything else?"

"Well…" Kensuke sighed, knowing the next part would be yet another bomb "I'm helping out with the search for the reincarnated Moon Princess and her Sailor Scouts. The Dark Kingdom has also resurfaced and has started sending in Youma to gather energy, most likely for their leader."

"That's not comforting at all," Kazuma frowned. "Needless to say, we're proud to hear that you've been aiding in stopping the Dark Kingdom as well as sealing the Undead. Please let us know if any additional issues come up. We'll try to coordinate with the tribe and hopefully the other tribes as well."

"Right. I'll be sure to keep an eye and ear out for any info...oh, and if possible, think you could have someone ask the the other tribes who may already be here? I'll admit I'm a bit curious about who managed to seal Time Scarab," Kensuke said.

"We'll see what we can do," Shiori nodded. "We love you."

"Love you both too," Kensuke smiled before the image vanished.


Meanwhile, Luna opened her eyes from the little nap she was taking as she heard the bell and the sound of children bidding each other goodbye. Peering over the part of the gate she had been lying on, she was met with the sight of various kids coming out of the school. She looked for a bit, before she found who she was looking for.

Shingo was walking out of his school wordlessly, and just as he was about to pass the gates, he heard it. A meow. And then his old phobia flared up, and he jolted in surprised fear, causing him to fall on his butt.

Luna sweat dropped at the reaction. She'd purposely avoided any physical contact for now, but in retrospect, maybe appearing out of nowhere really wasn't the best idea. That in mind though, she gave an apologetic meow and went a bit closer so he could see it was just her, but far enough so she wouldn't trigger his phobia.

"Eh? Luna? What are you doing here?" Shingo blinked at the sight of the family's cat.

She simply meowed again, she would have preferred to outright tell him, but who knows how everyone would react to a talking cat?

"Were you waiting for me?" Shingo hazarded a guess, being slightly freaked out at Luna nodding.

Seriously, a cat that understood human speech was weird as hell for him.

"Shingo? Are you ok?" he heard a voice say, making him blush a bit as he turned to one of his classmates, a cute girl with with short brown hair and a ribbon tied into it, Mika Kayama.

"Uh, y-yeah, I'm fine." he said, standing up and dusting himself off "My sister got a cat recently and I guess she followed me to school, she kinda surprised me." he said, trying to play it off while gesturing towards Luna.

"That so?" Mika said, looking towards Luna and smiling before kneeling down and holding out her hand. Luna went closer and licked it a little, causing the girl to giggle. "How cute," she smiled.

"Y-yeah, she is, isn't she?" Shingo said, though it was clear that took a bit of effort, though the bright blush on his face made it clear why he was saying that.

It wasn't long before they were walking home together, Luna following them, though Shingo could tell she was deliberately keeping her distance. Once again more proof that cat was too intelligent to be a normal cat. Shaking his head a little he turned to Mika. "So...do you have a pet?" he asked, hoping to break the ice.

"No, but I've been thinking about what would be good," she said. "In fact, I've been eyeing a particular pet lately."

"That so? What is it?" Shingo asked.

"Why don't I show you? There's a pretty interesting store that opened up recently. Want to see?" she asked.

"Sure," Shingo nodded.

The two kept walking a bit more at that, Luna still keeping at a distance behind them, until eventually they reached what was likely the new pet store Mika was talking about, Pet Shop Perfume… it was a bit… strange for a name.

"Well, ok then." Shingo said with a raised eyebrow as he walked in with his friend, immediately, he noticed how the interior of the shop just smelled so… different from outside.

"Welcome to Pet Shop Perfume." said a woman with rust colored hair that came up to them "I'm the owner of the store. Were you interested about the Chanela?"

"Chanela?" Shingo repeated in confusion.

The owner nodded "A new breed of animal, each Chanela has its own unique scent, and you don't even need to feed them."

Shingo blinked at the description "Uh… but doesn't every living being need to eat to survive though?"

"I suppose I should amend that. It's not that they don't need to eat, but rather, feeding them is unnecessary. They are able to live off of a regular dose of sunlight," the owner explained.

Shingo seemed skeptical, but he was still curious, so he took a closer look at one of them. "These are pretty cute," he admitted, but right as he looked at one of the chanela, it looked back at him with its large rabbit-like eyes, and when their eyes met, its eyes began to glow, something he noticed, but before he could even think much about it...he started feeling...woozy, unfocused. Was this chanela always so...cute? He wanted to have it..no..he NEEDED to have it. "I'll buy this chanela." With that he opened the cage and took the little creature out. Likewise, Mika came back with one of her own...and with an unfocused expression as well.

"I see, well you're in luck, we give them away for free to young children like you." the owner said with a smirk, not that either of them paid attention to it.

"Thank you." the two said in monotone, before walking out of the pet shop, not even paying attention to Luna as they just started to walk back home.

Luna frowned at the sight, and tried to get their attention...no reaction. If it was just that she'd have chalked it up to them being more focused on their new pets. But no, they were ignoring everything, from a puppy who was looking for attention to a little girl who'd tripped and fallen (Luna had to cheer her up till her mom came). Suffice to say she was VERY suspicious now. Compulsive behavior? Sudden change in personality? Heck, even seemingly fixation on those admittedly cute creatures was well beyond what should be normal...or healthy, if the almost obsessive attention they were giving the chanelas was any indication. Yep, it seems she may have just stumbled upon the Dark Kingdom's next scheme. She'd make sure to tell Usagi and Kensuke first chance she got...yeah, she really needed to work on those communicators.

With that in mind, she soon broke away from them (not that either of the kids noticed, further cementing the idea that they were being manipulated in her mind), she soon made her way to the Game Center Crown, and waited. Night began to fall, and before long it was closing time for the arcade, so she waited for a certain rider to come out, letting out a loud meow to draw his attention.

"Luna?" Kensuke blinked, not expecting to see the cat here.

"Oh? Is that cat yours? It's been coming around the arcade every now and then," Motoki said in surprise from behind him.

"That so? And no, Luna is Usagi's cat," Kensuke said. "She likes to wander around is all."

"Okay then," Motoki nodded. "Anyway, I gotta go, so please lock up for me."

"Gotcha," Kensuke nodded. Once Motoki was gone… "This is a surprise. It's not everyday you want to talk to me without Usagi."

"It's a bit related to Usagi though. Let's head inside first, there's something about the arcade even YOU don't know about." Luna said as she walked inside, Kensuke blinking before following her in and locking up.

"Ok, so what's the big secret?" Kensuke asked as Luna jumped onto one of the Sailor V cabinets. Before he could say anything, she began pressing buttons and shifting the joystick, and after a few moments, the words 'GAME ENDLESS' appeared on the screen. When it did, a light began to shine from between the game Luna was operating and the game next to it, to which he realized the two game cabinets and the ones behind them were moving apart, to which he went to the side and saw that underneath the cabinets was an opening with a staircase leading down. Oh and the stairs were almost translucent with no visible staircase leading into what looked almost like a starfield.

He was silent for a good moment, before looking at Luna "How long has this been here?"

"Let's just say before you started working here." Luna said cryptically as she started going down the staircase, with Kensuke following her while being freaked out about nearly invisible stairs.

Once they got to the end, they arrived at what could best be described as a command center from a sci-fi movie. They were on a platform who knows how deep down, four pillars at the edges and a computer that was WAY beyond anything available to normal people. In fact, if he'd hazard a guess… "Is this...old world technology?" he asked. He was no stranger to wonders made from salvaging technology from before the fall. His buckle was made with the help of such technology. "And from the Silver Millenium at that."

"Correct." Luna answered.

"Well...it's a very impressive base then. Any reason you never showed it to us before?"

"Honestly? There was never a need," Luna chuckled.

"Fair enough, so why did you bring me here?" Kensuke asked, before grabbing a dark blue wristwatch with a gold spade symbol on top that Luna tossed him.

"A communicator I made for you, it'll let you talk with Usagi more easily, I'm also almost done with communicators for the other riders if we can make them our close allies." Luna explained before hoping up to the computer. "As well, I believe I may have found another Dark Kingdom scheme… and they targeted Usagi's little brother."

"I see…" Kensuke frowned. "I hope it's just a coincidence that people close to Usagi seem to be getting targeted by the Dark Kingdom. At any rate, what is the scheme this time?"

"Have you ever heard of a creature called a 'Chanela'?" Luna asked.

"Not to my knowledge," Kensuke said.

"Unsurprising," Luna said as she typed in some keys, and images of the creatures appeared. "No known database matches these and they're apparently ONLY sold in Pet Shop Perfume, since no other pet shops have it."

"Well, if that's not a big bright neon sign for 'Obvious Plot' I don't what is." Kensuke said dryly as he looked at the creatures "Also, Change Beetle wants to tear them to pieces for some reason."

"That's… concerning in regards to you actually." Luna said hesitantly.

"Yeah, but it's mostly because he's my partner and I can basically feel his emotions." Kensuke added with a shrug. "Its the key part of the Rider system. The armor work by basically allowing us to temporarily merge with the Undead that's powering the belt, so they can influence us and we can influence them."

"That's...honestly pretty worrying," Luna frowned, having seen how violent the Undead could be.

"Don't worry about it. All of us were trained for this. We won't be influenced so easily," Kensuke said reassuringly. "Anyway, so what's the game plan to tackle this scheme?"

"Try to seperate Shingo from his Chanela for one, he seemed almost obsessed with it. After that, we'll need to take care of the pet store, no doubt the owner is a Youma." Luna said.

"You might want to get back home to inform Usagi then." Kensuke told her helpfully.

"Good point. It's likely we'll be doing this operation tomorrow." Luna said with a nod as the two left the command center, which closed back up after the got off the stairs.


Meanwhile, Usagi was getting VERY worried as she sat on her bed. Ever since Shingo came home with his new pet, all he seemed to care about was the chanela. Sure at first she figured it was just someone liking something new….but it was like he was ignoring everything. And by everything, she meant he'd left dinner before properly eating, and when she peered into his room earlier, all he was doing was leaning on his desk and admiring the small creature. Suffice to say, this was fishy as heck.

"I wonder where Luna went…" she frowned. She couldn't exactly act without confirming facts, and on top of that, if she went and tried to take the chanela away on a mere hunch, and it turned out she was over thinking...well...that would be very bad…

"Sorry I'm late," Luna said as she crawled in through the open window.

"Ah, welcome back. Hey, Shingo got this really tiny pet earlier." Usagi started, but at the serious look Luna gave her, she stopped, waiting for the cat to explain.

"His new pet is a Dark Kingdom scheme." was all Luna had to say for Usagi to look pissed.

"I'm going to kick Jadeite's ass." she muttered under her breath.

"You'll get your chance soon enough. But first we need to get that chanela away from Shingo. Then we should take out the Youma that is at the Pet Shop. Once we deal with it, the chanela should become harmless if not destroyed," Luna said.

"You know...is it just me or have we been finding them so much because they're really lousy at being discreet. Seriously, I bet mom and dad would realize something is wrong by tomorrow morning latest," Usagi sighed. The personality changes were too drastic to be hidden really.

"They'll probably try to hospitalize your brother." Luna muttered, seeing that as a definite possibility.

"Let's aim to get this done before it gets that bad," Usagi sighed.

"Speaking of which…here," Luna said, producing a wrist watch that was pink in color and had the symbol of a crescent moon. "It's a communicator. I gave one to Kensuke earlier, so now we can stay in contact more easily and coordinate if any of us find a Dark Kingdom plot or even an Undead."

Usagi accepted it, putting it around her wrist before clicking it open "So… how does this work?"

She heard a voice from the other side mutter something before the voice became clearer "Usagi? That you?"

"Ah, hey Kensuke, Luna just briefed me and gave me a communicator." Usagi told him, deciding to get right down to business.

"Ah, right, well, like she probably told you, those Chanela things are bad news, especially since Change Beetle wants to rip them to shreds. I stopped by the pet store on my way home and just standing in the window he was practically begging for a chance to cut loose. Whatever these things are, they're so 'unnatural', that the Undead can only see them as enemies." he explained.

"Wow, they must be REALLY bad if even the Undead want them gone," Usagi blinked. "Guess we all know what the plan is again. So usual plan?"

"We attack at night, yes," Kensuke nodded, meaning they had about 24 hours to prepare. With that, the two soon ended the call and went to bed. They had another big day ahead of them.


The next morning…

"Shingo! Shingo! You're going to be late if this keeps up!" Usagi called, knocking on her brother's door. No response. "Alright, I'm coming in!" she said as she opened the door...and stopped short. Shingo was just leaning on his desk, staring at the chanela adoringly...and he looked like he had literally stayed like that all night. "Shingo, it's time for school!" she said.

"Don't care," was the reply. "I don't feel like going to school today…" Shingo said in a half focused and dreamy tone.

NOW Usagi was very worried. However, she also knew that she couldn't wait for long or she'd be late. That in mind… "Mom, Dad, something's wrong with Shingo. He isn't leaving his room, and all he's doing is staring at the chanela he got," she told her parents when she came down.

"That...doesn't sound right," Ikuko frowned worriedly. "I'll go talk to him after this. You two need to get going."

"Right. But let us know if anything comes up or you need help," Kenji said with a worried frown, while Usagi nodded at her mother's words. With that, she quickly grabbed her lunch, and with a determined look, went out the house. She was more determined than ever to end things tonight. However, when she arrived at school...

"...okay, this is just scary…" Usagi couldn't help but say, as she walked into her classroom...and found several of her classmates fawning over several chanela. It seemed the shop worked fast.

"Tell me about it. Some of the others tried to make me buy some but they just felt too weird for me." Naru added with a grimace.

"Having skepticism is good in this day and age." Umino said as he had overheard them.

"Especially with all the weird stuff happening around lately." Usagi added, causing the other two to nod in agreement.

Their thoughts soon gained more weight when class started, and as usual everyone had to put away anything other than their class supplies. However, the class was barely 10 minutes in, when several girls let out shouts, getting up from their desks and going for their chanelas.

"What do you all think you're doing?! We're in the middle of class!" Ms. Sakurada demanded angrily as she walked over to them. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to confiscate them," she said. However…

"No!" the girl she was about to confiscate the chanela, and shoved her back, the force actually hard enough that she tumbled back into several desks and chairs, knocking them over.

"Ms. Sakurada! Are you alright?!" Umino was the first to say in alarm, but she just lay there against one of the overturned tables.

"Someone call the nurse!" Usagi shouted when they realized she wasn't moving. At the same time, Naru glared at the girl.

"What the heck were you thinking?! I get you like your new pets but isn't this too much?!" Naru demanded.

"Shut up, I'm going home!" the girl who had shoved Ms. Sakurada said, taking out the chanela and then going out of the classroom.

"Me too!"

"Me too!"

Several other girls who had chanela with them did the same, not the least bit caring about what had just happened.

"Just forget about those idiots, just get the nurse here!" Usagi said towards the general class, and was relieved when Umino scrambled out and ran towards the nurse's office.


"This is insane!" Naru practically shouted as she and Usagi were talking under a tree in the school grounds. "What is happening to this city?! Monsters are attacking, and people are acting like someone replaced them with something else! It's like what happened to Umino with the fortune teller!" she shouted, and in her frustration, kicked the tree...slight mistake.

"I know what you mean, but I don't think the tree knows what to do…" Usagi said lamely as her best friend was now nursing her foot.

"At least there's superheroes running around trying to fix things." Naru added after she was done holding her foot in pain.

"Yeah, and who knows? Maybe there's going to be more like them." Usagi said, her tone hopeful.

She REALLY wished she could tell Naru, but as it stood, that may no be the best idea right now. Whatever the case, if there wasn't an urgency to deal with this before, it was becoming more and more apparent by the second.


"I know these aren't legit businesses, but I STILL kinda feel like a vandal," Kensuke couldn't help but say as they were currently in front of Pet Shop Perfume.

"But we have to. This is even more serious than before," Usagi frowned. Earlier after class she'd gone home, but when she did well...her mother was hysterical as during the day after an unsuccessful attempt to get Shingo to leave his room or part with his new pet...well...he'd left the house sometime in the day, possibly when she'd gone out to grab some groceries. Suffice to say, if past experience taught Usagi anything, Shingo had been called by the Youma. She was going to keep hitting it with her Tiara now till it stayed dead.

"Well then, time for our night jobs," Kensuke joked, before putting on his belt.

"Henshin!" "Turn Up!"

"Moon Prism Power, Make Up!"


Meanwhile, inside the pet shop, the owner was chuckling, standing before her all the people that had been entranced by the Chanela. Waving her hands, several more chanela soon jumped down. "You will be spreading these chanela throughout the city. Understood?"

"Yeah!" Everyone gathered, including Shingo and some of Usagi's classmates cheered. However…

"Frill-necked lizards, Mexican salamanders, and human-faced fish are all mad!" a voice called out, as a pair of figures appeared in the doorway. "They are mad, saying that they are not toys! I'm the pretty sailor scout of love and justice, Sailor Moon!"

The second figure, instead of continuing, turned to the one who spoke slowly "Where the hell did you come up with that one?"

That took the wind out of her sails a bit. "Honestly? I kinda made that up on the fly," Sailor Moon admitted.

Blade looked at her for a moment, before face palming, not sure whether to be impressed she thought that up so quickly or mortified she went for it anyway. "Ugh...she's Sailor Moon, I'm Kamen Rider Blade, and we're gonna kick your ass seven ways to Sunday, so bring it, Youma!"

"Am I supposed to be impressed?" the Youma in disguise asked dryly.

"No, you're supposed to die." Sailor Moon said seriously.

"Why you…" she growled, before her form shifted, becoming blue and scaly while her eyes turned green and her body became larger, ripping out of her clothes, while her nails grew into claws and her teeth became fangs. When it was done, what was left in her place was a reptilian Youma (complete with a long scaly tail) that was a lot more monstrous than the previous Youma they'd fought.

"Put some clothes on dammit, there's kids here even." Blade deadpanned. Not that there was anything to actually see, but still, it was a matter of decency in his opinion. Even the Undead at least looked like they were wearing some kind of clothing.

All the Youma did in response was glare at them, eyes glowing...before her victims soon changed, becoming similar to her and were now going for them.

"...of course…" the three of them (Luna included) groaned at the sight of the now reptilian civilians going after them. However…

"Yaaaah!" Blade and Sailor Moon didn't waste time as they immediately went for the Youma. They'd learned by now that to beat the victims without harming them...break the Youma's concentration. As such, they fully expected the victims to go back to normal when their feet plowed into the Youma's face, sending her tumbling back in pain. However…

"Whoa!" Sailor Moon gasped as Shingo took a swing at her, same for Blade when others tried.

"Hell of a time for them to actually NOT need to be constantly focused to control their slaves," Blade snarled as the two were forced to go deeper into the shop.

"Okay, need a new plan," Sailor Moon frowned.

"Use the Stardust again. It can also purify those affected by evil energy!" Luna said.

"You couldn't have told us that the last two times we had mind controlled slaves to deal with?" the two of them deadpanned at the cat. Luna had the decency to blush at that.

"Okay, new plan. We get them somewhere where they're all boxed in, THEN you use the Stardust," Blade said, earning a nod from Sailor Moon as they purposely ran into a tighter corridor, while knocking over some boxes to stop the mob.

"Chance! Moon Tiara...Stardust!" Sailor Moon called out, using the move, spreading the magic dust over the mob, and soon they'd all turned to normal, all looking confused as heck, while the chanelas fell to the ground, looking utterly confused as well.

"Okay, that takes care of the unwitting mooks. Now where's the…" Blade started before the Youma lunged for them.

"There it is!" Sailor Moon managed to say before they dodged.

"Over here!" Luna called, having found a backdoor.

"Right!" both of them nodded before the two of them ran out after Luna, the Youma following after them.

"Take this!" both of them shouted, as Sailor Moon threw her tiara and Blade scanned the Thunder card, the electrified Tiara hitting the Youma dead on the chest and soon flew back to Sailor Moon. However, unlike before, the Youma was clearly badly damaged, but it's injuries were slowly healing.

"Hey, shouldn't that work normally?!" Sailor Moon demanded.

"No way, it's like Recovery Camel!" Blade gasped in surprise, remembering one of the more well known Undead due to its no doubt troublesome ability.

"Any suggestions, Luna?" Sailor Moon quickly asked.

"This type of Youma, while rare, usually has a weak point. If you can find it, we can beat it!" Luna reported.

"Hit its weak point. Got it!" both of them nodded. This was going to be just like a video game then. The only problem was...they had no idea where to hit. With that in mind though, they started attacking almost wildly.

"Slash!" the rouser called out as the Slash Lizard card was used and Blade started hacking off parts which grew back, while Sailor Moon threw her tiara several times, no hits.

Eventually the Youma got annoyed and lashed out with its tail, wrapping around Sailor Moon's neck, to which Blade quickly tried to help her, but the Youma blocked his attacks.

"Come on…!" Sailor Moon grunted, trying to get out...however that's when she noticed her tiara glow, and a spot at the base of the Youma's tail suddenly lighting up. "Is that…?" she blinked, before narrowing her eyes and taking off her tiara one more time. "Moon Tiara Action!" she called out, throwing it at the base of the tail, right as Blade decided to use his new card.

"Screw!" the rouser called out, before delivering a strong screw punch to the Youma's chest, causing it to let go of Sailor Moon, right as the tiara hit the base of her tail. The effect was instant as the Youma shouted in pain, while also being launched across the street, her body crumbling before she even finished her flight.

"And that's that." Sailor Moon said before high fiving Blade.

"I knew it!" shouted a voice, which made Sailor Moon jump and hide behind Blade as she realised it was her brother who was running out of the store towards them "You're those two superheroes people have been talking about aren't you?" he asked in awe as he got closer.

"Yeah...that's us," Blade blinked under his helmet. "Are you alright, citizen?" he said, trying to sound more heroic...though inwardly he winced at how much he sounded like a comic superhero.

"Yeah! Though… I don't really know what happened." Shingo said with a frown, before trying to look around Blade "Why is she hiding behind you?"

"She's shy around new people." Blade said simply, despite the slight shove Sailor Moon gave into his back with her elbow. He got another one when he added, "She's had it rough before becoming a superhero."

"Wow...some people can be real jerks," Shingo nodded in sympathy.

"Yeah, that's a universal truth." Blade said with a nod "Anyway, you should probably get back home now, your parents are probably worried sick about you."

"You're probably right," Shingo nodded...before pulling out a notepad from his pocket. "But can I have your autographs first?" he was grinning now.

"Oh..uh...sure?" Blade blinked before taking the notepad and writing an improvised autograph, even adding a rough picture of Change Beetle as he was depicted on his Rouze Card at the end. Once he was done, he passed it over his shoulder to Sailor Moon, who wrote in her own signature, trying to make it different from her normal handwriting, and added in a doodle of a crescent moon. Once she was done, she quickly gave it back to Shingo.

"Thank you," he grinned. "And I really think it's cool what you both do. Especially you, Sailor Moon. You had to deal with the jerks of people and you STILL chose to be a hero. Don't worry, you're doing great," he said before running off.

Blade waited until Shingo was out of sight before chuckling "Well, guess your little brother supports you."

"Yeah… guess he does." Sailor Moon said with a dry look, mostly since the story they gave him was the furthest from the truth. "And what was that about 'rough time'?" she deadpanned.

"Well, I had to give a reason for you being 'shy', right?" Blade countered.

"Let's just go home," Sailor Moon groaned.

"Well, all's well ends well I guess," Luna chuckled at the little exchange.


And there's the chapter!

Yeahp, two episodes instead of just one.

Also, we're raising the brain level on, well, EVERY character, villains included, so yeah, Jadeite can make a decent disguise here, we also have more realistic reactions, such as that snippet of Ikuko being in hysterics because her son just disappeared.

Seriously, there's a LOT of glaring issues in the original show, so we're fixing everything as we find it.

Anyway, see ya next time!