Chapter 7


Minako rubbed her face in disbelief. What on earth were these women thinking?! What were the writers thinking?! She stood on the filmset in a costume that was really tight, didn't fit in the right places, and was really ichy. Her true senshi uniform was NOTHING like this monstrosity.

And now she was watching playback of the women's interaction as "friends". How could Sailor Mercury hate everyone and be interpreted as a social outcast of the team? And Sailor Mars? Why did they portray her as Venus' right hand man in both battle and at the "school" they all attended. And Sailor Moon.

She had to inwardly groan.

Why did they have Sailormoon as some sort of control freak with a militaristic background? Seriously? Cry-baby Usagi barking orders from day one? And what they made Makoto out to be?! Venus didn't EVEN want to go there.

It looked good on screen if you knew nothing about their backgrounds. To Minako, this was a disaster waiting to happen. She could imagine Usagi and the other ladies screaming at the movie screen pointing out all the errors about the character flaws portrayed.

She turned her head from the playback screen and walked to get some water.

This was not an accurate picture of who the senshi were.

But how could she let the director and the backstage staff know this? They were the ones with all the money and time spent before she even came on the scene. And now some new aspiring actress was coming onto the set making suggestions to all their calculating plans on who they thought the senshi were?

Yeah, she needed to get away from this before she shouted in anger and frustration. It was bad enough all these women around, who looked like her long time sisters in arms, saw her as an outsider.

Her actions didn't go unnoticed.

Minako, like Venus, grabbed a bottle of water, and sat down trying to absorb all this. It was bad enough she was becoming homesick. Worry knotted up in her stomach every time her communicator went off with some senshi-call-to-battle. The itch to return home was great. The women here in the studio saw her as competition as Minako seemed to "one-up" them every time in her portrayal as a beloved Sailor Warrior. She had ENOUGH. Five weeks of this garbage was more than enough to make her want to SCREAM!

She began to think this was a mistake.

She noticed someone stand in front of her and overshadow her as she took a sip of water.

She didn't even look up.

"You didn't like what you saw on film." He spoke it directly and to the point.

Her blue eyes shot up and narrowed at him. "Their personalities are wrong."

He sat in a chair opposite of her. He leaned forward and waited to hear her speak. He could smell her unique perfume, one that she immediately grabbed and stowed away to her dressing room after the first full dress rehersal. He began to smell it on her, both in and out of costume. The blonde woman had kept silent for more than a month with her opinions about the filming, but he saw all her winces, narrowed eyebrows, and tense shoulders when the other actresses responded to her during their filming. He knew that she knew something he didn't. And he wanted to know what that something was.

"It's all wrong," spoke Minako tersely with a deep frown, "but what can I say? I'm just an outsider coming in."

Kendal narrowed his eye. He had become comfortable wearing the eyepatch. More than a dozen times had people suggested to the silver-haired man to cast himself in as a villain. When the bandages and the stitches came out, the scars that remained on his face definiately made him much scarrier and that much more aluring to women who tried gaining his attention. All the star actresses tried their best to seduce him. But his attention was locked on to the one who mirrored Sailor Venus. The first day Minako came out looking like the Love Senshi herself, he fell head over heels with that woman. So, he forced himself to stuff those feelings down.

Nathan saw it. The director never spoke a word of it. But everyone else perceived his supreme stoicness as part of his drive to get this film finished with perfection.

Yet, he never seemed to truly gain Minako's attention. Already, they had been working together for over a month. Not that he sought for her attention openly, but she assumed his advances were strictly for business reasons or for their strange developing friendship. Yes, he had casually taken her to grab some dinner... or breakfast after a 16-hour shoot from evening to early in the morning. She did notice that he only asked her to come along, but she assumed it was because he could tolerate her and Nathan only. She knew the other women and their advances made him angry. And for him to see her so displeased with the filming, really did make him second guess his assumptions of his portrayal of the senshi.

"What's wrong with the filming?" bluntly asked Kendal.

She remained silent looking in the other direction.

He waited, internally knowing that she was trying to find a way to present her words to him. It took a total of five minutes before she looked at him squarely and said plainly, "None of these women are acting as the real senshi." She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose to alieviate pressure being built up there. "The filming is more than halfway completed. All that time and effort would be wasted if we backtracked to capture on film the senshi's true personalities."

It felt like someone punch him in the gut. Ouch.

"Explain."

She huffed, "Sailor Mars would never kiss Venus's rear for anything. Jupiter is not off in her own world creating lone-wolf decisions. Sailor Mercury is NOT a social outcast with her team, and in NO WAY is Sailor Moon that militaristicly serious. She cried and complained for more than half her time as a Sailor Senshi because she wanted someone else to be the team leader. She is such a happy go-lucky person always seeing the good in people. It was hard for her to truly embrace her role as a Senshi until the love of her life was kil-.. taken away from her."

Kendal dared not display his shock at this gush of information. He remained still and silent.

"And Mercury... she's like the glue that holds the team together. She always knows how to promote peace in the group especially on the days Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars begin to fight. She is such a sweet spirit, not what her actress is portraying." Minako looked up at the ceiling, "And Sailor Jupiter is over protective of the Senshi. Those women are the only family she has! She may look tough to outsiders, but when she accepts you in, it's the complete opposite." Minako began to crush the waterbottle in her gloved hands. The water began to spill out over onto the costume, "And Mars... silly Mars, she has trust issues that stem off from her own father abandoning her as a child. But she will kill for her senshi sisters because she loves each of them dearly. They too have become her family."

"And Venus?"

She looked at him square in the eye and immediately shut her lips. She hastily began to drink the rest of her water before throwing the plastic bottle away.

He waited another ten minutes in uncomfortable silence before she opened up, "And Venus... They immediately welcomed her with open arms, and promoted her to team lead. She and Sailor Moon are like twins. In some cases, Venus pretends to be Sailor Moon in battles to protect their leader from harm. She is in no way the stuck-up, whore the script suggests her as." Off handedly she uttered, "She never had a boyfriend after joining the senshi..."

Kendal leaned towards her, "How do you know this information?"

Her piercing blue eyes dared him to challenge her, "Just like Venus, the Sailor Senshi are my long time friends."

He leaned back in his seat and pondered on all she spoke of.

She felt her communicator begin to vibrate in her bra, a safe place she decided to hide her device in case of an emergency. She hoped Kendal didn't see nor hear it. She stood and bowed, "Excuse me sir."

She left him sitting on the chair, no doubt he watching her as she went into her personal changing room and locked the door behind her. She opened her communication device and spoke, "Venus here."

"Sailor Venus! I just got a reading that a Youma is traveling in your direction! I don't know why, but it's headed your way!" urgently spoke Mercury, "I'm trying to get ahold of Zoisite and Jadeite so we can assist you!"

Minako's eyes widened, "Headed my way?"

"Yes! We don't know what it's looking for, but we know it's out for blood. Remember that Lady Youma from weeks ago?" The one that took out Kendal's eye? Yes, she remembered that one clearly. How could she forget that monster?

"She's back. She vanished before we could finish her off, and I think she may be wanting to finish the job she started."

Or to get her revenge. She felt a chill running down her spine. "I think she might be here already."

"You have to go and assist."

Minako hesitated. She knew she had to... but how could she intervene without blowing her cover as the Senshi of Love?


Nathan turned his attention around when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He smiled, "May I help you?"

"Kendal," spoke a woman looking very much like a character he was getting ready to have his stunt women "fight" against.

"He's getting water." He pointed her into the direction the producer was in. She began her strides to that area. Nathan furrowed his eyebrows. Something was off about that person...


Kendal sighed and ran a hand through his hair, his finger stopping at the band of his eye patch. He couldn't even properly release stress by straightening his hair! He was getting more agrivated by the moment. Any suspicion of Minako being Sailor Venus was just confirmed. He couldn't wrap his mind around it. Her information, her mannerisms, her appearance (especially when dressed as the senshi), screamed that she was indeed Sailor Venus. He should have trust his suspicious for the past month!

How could he be so stupid?

His eye caught color from the left side, and he turned his head ever so slightly to see more clearly. He leaped from his chair and threw it at the woman.

Her hand immediately became a blade and sliced through the metal and plastic like butter. Her lips curled into a smirk. "So you do remember me! And look, you got a momento from our last encounter!" she teased trying to stab him in the same place he did so many weeks prior.

He dodged expertly, while grabbing another chair and throwing it at her face to distract her. It pushed her against the concrete wall and he began to retreat. He needed to find the props! He knew there were a few sharp metal swords or spears that could be used against this monster!

With her other hand, he watched in alarm as she created a ball of energy. It was bright blue. He knew it would explode and/or melt anything it touched on impact.

"LEAVE THE SET!" he shouted in an authoritative voice as he finally grabbed a metal sword from the table of props. The monster aimed directly at him with a smirk on her lips, "Say Good-bye to this realm."

The monster screamed as a beam of pure, yellow light struck through its heart and chest. The blue power was released and thrown towards Kendal, who expertly dodged it while holding his sword protectively. It began to eat through and set on fire some of the wood and curtains that were filmed. His attention never focused on the destruction.

No, it rested on the woman who stood up on a riser in the shadows.

She leaped down and released another attack as bright as gold dusting the already dying monster.

"In the name of the Moon!" She stepped under the lights posing in her iconic fashion, "You're punished!" shouted Sailor Moon as she stood there posing.

As the set was being extinguished of fire, Sailor Mercury and Mars joined the group followed by Sailor Jupiter minutes later. They quickly assisted with extinguishing all flames caused by the energy expelled from the Youma.

All actors, actresses, stuntmen, and backstage crew rushed around the Senshi of the Moon thanking her for saving them. Where was Sailor Venus?

Nathan was very quick to assist Kendal and make sure there was nothing wrong. When his eye caught the vision of Sailor Jupiter, Kendal saw the stupid grin on his friend's face. "Excuse me, my friend, but I believe I may have a date with destiny."

The producer shook his head and dusted himself off. He looked around. Where was Minako?

"Sir, are you okay?"

He looked down at the small senshi, Sailor Moon. As a matter of fact, all these women were really small... and petite. Why did he get such tall lengthy actresses? He nodded to the senshi, "Thank you for your intervention."

She smiled brightly, "The pleasure is all mine! Just keep safe." She neared him, tried tiptoeing though she had five inch heels on, and said, "You have been made a target. Keep watch." She leaned back and looked up at him with her bright blue eyes giving her biggest smile, "Say hello to Minako for me!"

His eye widened after his nose caught a very unique yet familiar scent.

Sailor Moon turned around and called out, "Senshi! Let's go!"

Mars, Mercury, and Jupiter (who was trying to be wooed by Nathan), nodded their heads and began to run with her. The ladies leaped using their supernatural powers into the rafters. Though all the people were under the stage lightsand could not see into that darkened area, only Kendal noticed two additional figures waiting in the dark. The women all huddled together with them and vanished from sight.

...only to appear in Minako's locked dressing room. Usagi waited at the couch hugging a pillow. She was in her Sailor Senshi uniform waiting for her friends to return. The other Sailor Moon, who held Jadeite's hand during transporting to the room, detransformed into Sailor Venus. Minako made sure she was in her real senshi fuku (just in case). Sailor Moon smiled when she saw her almost-twin, Venus.

Immediately, the moon princess stood up and ran to Venus. She hugged her long time friend. "I have missed you!" The other women joined in also adding their words of encouragement and excitement in seeing their sister-in-arms. She began to cry tears of happiness. She didn't realize how homesick she really was.

"That was some quick thinking," spoke Sailor Mercury, "I didn't even consider Kendal connecting the dots between you and Venus. Even with just a regular costume, you really do look like Sailor Venus."

"I was almost caught off guard when I saw you as Sailor Moon," laughed Jadeite behind the women. "This was quick thinking, having us all transport here first."

Venus shook her head, "We don't have much time. Knowing Kendal, he may be on his way here to check on me. Venus never came out. I think he suspects that I am her."

"He is a sharp one," spoke Zoisite. "We all need to start heading back." He looked to his bride and her friend, Jupiter, "Ready? Who would like to go first?"

Makoto volunteered.

Usagi stood up and walked beside Jadeite as he took her hand.

The men vanished taking with them Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Moon.

"Are they going to be okay teleporting such distances?" asked Minako.

"Only if it's one person at a time," confirmed Mars, "They've been testing their limits ever since you left."

"Kendal's injury really impacted Zach," frowned Mercury, "It was a sobering reminder that we are not immortal."

Venus scoffed, "That arrogant man wears it as a badge of honor. I asked him about it, and he told me that it's a daily reminder of the day he cheated death, and how Sailor Venus came to his rescue. He is honored that all this cost him was an eye and physical scars."

"Only Kendal would say something like that."

Venus saw Jadeite and Zoisite once more and were ready for their women. Mercury graciously walked into her husband's embrace before they vashished. Mars only gave him two gloved fingers to hold. He looked at her and raised an eyebrow, "Really? I don't have cooties if that's what your worried about." She uncomfortably placed the rest of her hand in his before they too vanished.

Minako wanted to laugh, but she sighed instead. The room began to feel dead again.

How she so desired to return with them... to Japanese food, to walk in the streets of Tokyo, and to spend time with her friends.

She really, really missed them.

She heard a knock on her door.

She walked over to open it, and saw Kendal standing at her door. He stepped in and closed the door behind him locking it. Making long strides over to Venus, he grasped her and held her tight. She was stunned. Why was he doing this?! She almost pushed him off and looked up into his eye, "Why are you acting like this?"

"Because your perfume gave you away."

Her what?!

She looked at him confused, "What are you talking about?"

"You were Sailor Moon."