Interlude: History Lesson

Moon Kingdom Palace

He walked through the hallways of the kingdom, arms shaking at his side. The tears were still in his eyes, but he wouldn't show it to anyone. He was sick of everything that the position of prince gave to him. He could still hear the scolding remarks. 'Prince Samuel, you mustn't be so reckless.' 'Prince Samuel, you have to act more like royalty.' 'Prince Samuel, you mustn't pick fights with the royal guards.' But the worst came from his mother. 'Son, you must act more mature.'

"What do they expect from me? I try to be the person they want, but it's just not me." he looked outside and at the large space fortress. "That's what I want. To be a warrior, a Netwarriors. Here, they treat me like I'm made of porcelain." that's when the idea came into his head. "That's it."

Later…

The guard ran into the throne room, the note in his hand. "Queen Serenity, I found this in the prince's room!" she took it from him and read it to herself.

Dear Mom,

I know that you think I don't have what it takes to be a warrior, but I have to prove you wrong. I want you to know I love both you and my sister, but I must take my leave. I can't tell you where I'm going, but know this. If we ever see each other again, I'm not Samuel Serenity. The name's Sammy Tsukino.

Your son,
Sammy

Battle Netwarriors' Recruiting Office- The next day

"This has got to be the most boring job that a Netwarrior can be given," Ash said to himself. He was sitting in a small recruiting office, waiting to help anybody who wished to join the team. "Blow up a few new battle cruisers and you get demoted to the lowest possible level. What did I do, really? Is it my fault that that pirated They Might Be Giants CD had a virus on it. And I was planning to enter the Eon Cup Tournament this time. Oh, well."

There was a knock at the door and a young boy stepped in. He was wearing a cap and sunglasses to disguise his face. "Uh, are you the recruiting officer?" Sammy saw who it was. "Hey, you're that top level Netwarrior, Ash Kasheem!"

"Ash Kasheem, yes, top level, no."

"What happened?"

"You remember that explosion the other day? That was me."

"Sorry to here that." Sammy had a thought. "Can I show you something?"

"Go ahead." Ash said, a little disinterested. The glasses and hat came off. "Prince Samuel!" Ash jumped from his seat and saluted.

"Please don't do that!"

"Hey, I remember now! You ran away from the palace. It was in the paper this morning."

"I know, now listen up, I need your help."

Gamma-Z Squad Residential Area

Ash and Sammy walked into the former's home and entered the living room, being greeted by the faces of his friends, Tracey, Lan, and Eugene. "Hi, guys."

"Yo, Ash." Tracey replied, sipping some of his coffee. "Who's your friend?"

"Promise me you won't salute him." his friends looked at each other before bursting out laughing. "Just show them."

When Sammy removed his hat and glasses, the others gasped and, like Ash, jumped up and saluted. "Why does everyone do that?"

Eugene stopped saluting and said, "It could be because you are Prince Samuel Serenity. Or as the newspapers have branded you, 'The Runaway Royalty.' " Eugene then looked at Ash, agitated. "What is he doing here?"

"He asked me to help join the Battle Netwarriors."

"Which, of course, means you bring him here." Lan pointed out.

"At least I didn't try to help an escaped convict from Jupiter join."

"Would you let that die!" the brown haired youth yelled.

"Look, we just have to help him change his appearance enough to not be recognized."

"That shouldn't be too hard." Tracey said. He had the same hairstyle as the rest of the royal family. Like his mother, it was silver and pulled back in two buns. Unlike his mother and sister, it was accompanied by a single, short ponytail. "Oh, dear god. Let's get to work."

A few hours later…

Sammy came out of the building completely different. His hair was now cut shorter and dyed brown. His royal clothes had also been dumped, leaving him in Netwarrior Training Armor. "This is really cool."

"Trust me, you realize hw much they ride up in battle during training." commented Ash. "Which, by the way, you'll be starting tomorrow."

"Ash, I got to thank you. I would never have been able to join the team if it wasn't for you guys."

"That reminds me, I have a question. Why would you want to give it all up?"

"Why? That's easy. I've always felt that my life is too keyed up, being someone people act different around. I have these powers, but all the people care about is my bloodline. But who cares? My mother is the keeper of the Imperial Crystal and after she dies, my sister will be able to do that. I have wanted to be a Netwarrior since I first saw you guys fighting. It's not because I want the fame and fortune. I don't care if not even my teammates know my names. I just want to help protect my home and all the others out there. That's why I ran." the two were silent for a while.

"Come on, you got a big day tomorrow." the duo reentered the house and went to sleep.

Gamma- Z Training Grounds- The next morning.

Sammy stood in a ring, similar to the kind used in wrestling. In front of him was a scraggly looking teen, who was on his back. He had gone down in one hit. A referee came up and dragged the defeated boy away. Sammy commented, "That was pathetic."

Ash and the other Netwarriors he had made friends with came up to him and congratulated him. Tracey said, "Let me guess, you thought that was pathetic?"

"You'd be right. Why is that?"

"It's because Gamma- Z is the lowest team in the Netwarriors." Lan said. "The four of us used to be members of Alpha- D, but someone in our unit kept doing stupid things and getting us demoted." Ash whistled innocently.

"The point is, by beating a member of the Netwarriors, you earn the right to become one." Lan pulled out a Palm Pilot and clicked a few things on screen. Soon, it came up to the Join Up screen. He handed it to Sammy. "I put in all the other information last night. Now all you need to do is sign your name."

"Cool. I've already thought of a new last name." he signed his name, Sammy Tsukino. "It means 'of the moon'." as Sammy said this, a voice boomed across the Gamma- Z Training Grounds.

"All Battle Netwarriors, report to the Moon Kingdom Palace, immediately."

"You don't think this is about Sammy?" Ash asked.

"All we can do right now is follow orders and report to the palace." Tracey turned to Sammy. "Don't worry, it'll all work out." the five exited the training grounds and followed the other Netwarriors that were heading for the palace.

Lan punched Ash hard in the head. "If we get kicked off the team for this, I'm very willing to go to jail over killing you."

"Oh, whatever!"

Moon Kingdom Palace

A silence had fallen over the room. Every member of the Battle Netwarriors stationed on or near the Moon, grouped by Level, Ranking, and Unit, stood still, waiting for whatever was supposed to happen, to happen. At the front of the large room stood the leader of the Netwarriors, Lance Dragons, and Queen Serenity, her daughter, and the Sailor Senshi.

"Are you sure about this, Serenity?" Lance said, under his breath, so no one but the queen could hear him. Being of such a high ranking, he was one of the few people who could address the queen so casually. "If you are mistaken, this waste of time will be in vain. We don't want more problem between our groups."

"I assure you, Lance, we are positive my son is here. We received these pictures earlier this morning." he took the pictures from the queen and saw the prince in a recruiting office, talking to someone he knew all to well.

He sighed, smacking himself in the head. Under his breath, he mumbled, "Dang it, Ash." before saying into the megaphone in his hand, "Gamma- Z, get up here." the group of Netwarriors split in two, leaving a path. The members of Gamma- Z walked to the front and lined up. "X Unit, step forward." Ash, Tracey, Lan, and Chaud approached. Lance walked to Ash. "What happened? You saw the prince, knew he had run away, and, considering who you are, you decided to do something idiotic. Is it in your blood to cause trouble?"

"Sir, I-"

"Shut up, Ash, it was a rhetorical question. So tell me, where is the prince?"

Sammy sighed and stepped up. "Sir, with all respect, please leave Ash alone. I'm the prince." if possible, the room grew even quieter. Sammy turned to his mother. "Mom, I'm sorry I ran away. I don't know why, but I thought this is where I belonged. I'll return home."

"Wait!!!" a voice shouted. Someone in the higher ranks ran to the front of the room. It was Canute Summers. "Lance, it is impossible for Prince Samuel to leave with his mother." he handed Dragons a newly printed document. "As you can see, Sammy, as he is now going by, signed his name on the Netwarrior Contract. I cross checked this signature with one of the prince's to make sure. It's his. And, as the Battle Netwarrior/ Moon Kingdom Agreement states, 'Once a person has joined the Netwarriors, it is impossible for anyone to get them out of it. Sammy has signed up for life, so he can't b taken out unless he breaks his contract three times. And then, of course, he would be killed, or imprisoned for life."

Lance looked from the document to Canute to the prince and back to the document. At last, he turned to the queen. "I'm sorry, Serenity, but what Canute says is true. Samuel is now a member of the Battle Netwarriors." he looked at X Unit. "And he will be in your unit, Ash."

"Yes, sir."

"I'm sorry for this, mom." Sammy said.

"Don't try to apologize, Sammy." she said his new name with spite. "You've already hurt me enough." and with that, the queen left. Sammy stared, feeling half destroyed, half happy as hell.

Next: Predicament