The Hand of Fate
A fair-haired young man in military style uniform strode down a stone corridor. The torches on the walls illuminated a face deep in thought and devoid of humor. A pair of massive doors opened before him, and he entered a spacious room with a raised throne on the opposite end. The man strode across the throne room and dropped to one knee.
"You summoned me, my King?"
"Yes Jadeite" The man seated upon the throne was tall with pale skin offset by his red hair, red beard and purple clothing. "Have you formed a new plan to gather energy for our Great Leader?"
"I have indeed, King Beryl. The citizens of this world are ruled by superstition; I intend to use this fact for our purposes."
King Beryl smiled slightly and said "Human passions and beliefs are indeed useful tools. Are you confident that things will not go as they did last time?"
"I am, my King. I have created a monster more crafty and powerful than Morgaan. I am sure we will gather a large quantity of living energy for our Great Leader."
"I certainly hope so."
"Come on, just a little more…" Kaemon muttered fiercely as he worked the controls on the arcade cabinet. On the screen, a sprite resembling Sailor V was doing battle with a dragon. He was low on health but so was the beast. He had never beaten this boss before and today might be the day. "As soon as you next expose that weak point, you're mine!"
Just as Kaemon made his move, another arcade patron sneezed loudly. Kaemon jumped and twitched the joystick in the wrong direction. This left his character exposed and the dragon finished him off. Kaemon stared frozen at the "game over" screen in silent shock. He then banged his head down on the console with a loud moan.
"I was so close" he whined "What terrible timing for a sneeze."
"Bad luck within the world of Sailor V today?" a bubbly voice asked
Kaemon popped up and sat rigidly on his stool. "Yeah…terrible luck…"
He turned to face an attractive High School girl wearing an arcade apron. Her name was Unazuki Furuhata and her family owned the Game Crown Arcade. "Too bad…maybe you could try some of the others."
"I already have" Kaemon responded mournfully "I haven't won anything today and now I'm all out of money."
"Oh dear, no wonder you were so upset just now!"
"Yeah, no wonder…" he smiled awkwardly at her and prayed that his face wasn't turning red.
"I think you're simply having an off day" Unazuki said with a smile. "You're really very good at some of the games in here."
"Thanks! Video games are one of my passions!"
"Well, that's good for my business I suppose. I just wonder when you younger kids find the time to study. One mustn't forget the importance of education. My big brother says college is a real grind."
Kaemon almost fell off the stool. Why did she have to make him feel worse by mentioning school? "You know" he said quickly trying to change the subject "It's not just games. I've been unlucky all day."
"How so?"
"I overslept again, kept tripping over everything, and the teacher yelled at me."
"I see…you must be unlucky a lot then." His jaw fell open and she gasped "Oh I'm sorry, that was rude of me."
"That's ok" he said with a laugh and a wave of his hand. Mentally, he was a little bit irked by the truth of her words, but he didn't want to let her know that.
"Oh look, it's that cat that sometimes shows up here" Unazuki said with joy "Hi there kitty-chan!"
Kaemon was less thrilled. He wore a cool expression as the black cat with an odd crescent mark on her forehead strolled toward them. "Don't places like this ban cats?"
The cat shot him a look, but Unazuki said "Only if they're a problem. She's no bother at all"
As Unazuki began to fawn over the cat, Kaemon perked up again. "Her name is Luna, you know" he said, hoping to impress her with the information.
"Oh, is she yours?"
"No!" he replied very quickly. He calmed himself and went on "She does hang around my house a lot though."
"You still cared enough to find out her name. You're a very sweet boy, Kaemon."
Now he was sure that he was turning red. He intended to stand up to thank her properly, possibly even striking a dashing pose but he somehow got his foot caught in the legs of the stool. Unazuki and Luna dodged as he crashed wildly to the floor.
"Are you hurt?"
"No, not really" Silently he again cursed his luck. Why did he have to have a klutz attack in front of Unazuki?
"Anyway…" she paused awkwardly "I really should get back to work now."
"Yeah, of course" Kaemon said as he got to his feet
"See you later" she said as she wandered off to help a small girl with the change machine.
Kaemon noticed that Luna was staring up at him. He looked away and walked out of the arcade without looking back at the cat. Luna caught up quickly and fell into step beside him.
As they approached Kaemon's house, Luna made sure there was no one around and said "Just what were you doing in the arcade anyway? You have more important things to do."
"I guess you'll say studying, right?" Kaemon replied in a miffed voice. He wasn't surprised at all that Luna was talking to him. She'd been doing little else for the past several days.
"Yes, that is very important but what about your mission?"
"Look Luna, we've discussed this, I'm not hero material."
"I thought you'd be thrilled. You seem to love hero themed manga."
"That's different; that battle on the soccer field hurt a lot."
"Did you think that wouldn't happen?"
"I wasn't thinking anything!"
"That sounds pretty normal from what I've observed so far"
"Oh you" he fumed. He thrust a hand beneath the jacket of his school uniform and dragged out a golden pendant with a moon symbol on it. "You dump this on me and make me fight a monster, what am I supposed to think?"
"That you have been chosen for a special purpose and need to take it seriously."
"What purpose? Defending the city from monsters? There are the police for that, and the army, and Sailor V, and…"
"And you" Luna interrupted firmly "You are a guardian of justice now and there's no escaping that."
"I can try"
"No, you can't! Too many lives are at stake for that!"
"You still haven't said why I was chosen."
Luna sighed and replied, "There are some things that I can't tell you yet for various reasons."
"Oh, that clears everything up!" Kaemon bowed and said, "Instruct me in the ways of battle, oh wise leader."
"There's no need for sarcasm" Luna replied with dignity "Everything will become clear in the course of time."
"Great, come back and recruit me then."
"Kaemon Tsukino! Are you honestly saying that you'll stand by while these monsters attack innocent people?"
"No, of course not!" Kaemon snapped. His expression changed and his voice trembled "I just don't like it."
"I'm sorry about that but it's your fated mission. I've been trying to give you some time to get used to the idea…"
"By showing up all the time and yakking about it?"
Luna's eye twitched but she continued "…but you really should begin training in earnest. Perhaps this weekend we can go to the park and…"
Kaemon sniffed the air and exclaimed "Something smells good. Ah, I totally forgot about supper! If I'm late Shingo will gobble it all up."
He ran inside without another glance at Luna and the cat was so stunned that she fell over. "What am I going to do with that boy?" she moaned
The next morning Kaemon was shaken out of his dreams by his mother. "Get up this instant, you're running late."
"Huh" he sat up and grabbed his phone. "What happened to the alarm!? Oh, curse this run of bad luck!"
Mrs. Tsukino sighed while she watched her son try to jump out of bed only to get tangled in the blankets. She stepped out of the room to let him get dressed and muttered "Is bad luck to blame or did someone simply forget to set his alarm?"
Kaemon sped past her, still buttoning up his uniform, and stumbled his way down the stairs. He shoved a piece of toast into his mouth and ran right into his father on his way out of the kitchen.
"Slow down, son, or you'll hurt someone."
Kaemon couldn't respond because he was choking on the toast he'd swallowed mid-collision. Mr. Tsukino thumped him on the back, and he managed to swallow the chunk of bread. "Ah…thanks Dad. I think I'm cursed these days."
"Only these days…" his dad said in a quiet voice
"What was that?"
"Oh nothing; shouldn't you be on your way?"
"Oh yeah, see you later Dad!" Kaemon said as he shoved his feet into his shoes and ran out the door.
He ran through the streets in such a blind rush that he was almost hit at least twice while hurrying through intersections. Muttering all the time about his bad luck, he finally reached the school, was lectured for being late once again, and did his time in the hallway.
When he was allowed to rejoin the class, he noticed that the other students were in a much better mood than him. They were supposed to be quietly studying while Haruna-sensei was out of the room but instead they were talking about their excellent luck.
"Yesterday at the Game Crown, I actually managed to snag two prizes at once in the Crane Game" he heard Shigeru telling Akane
She replied to him with "I can top that; you know that gumball machine in the corner? Well, I put in my coin and it simply poured with gumballs!"
In another part of the room, Natsume was telling her friends "I went to the ice cream parlor last night. They accidentally dropped my order and gave me one for free as an apology. As if that wasn't enough, the second cone had much more ice cream on it!"
"I keep finding money on the street!" Umino exclaimed "Soon I'm going to be rich!"
All over the room, kids were talking about their awesome luck and Kaemon felt like he was going to explode. "What's going on?" he demanded of no one in particular
His best friend, Nao, answered "Haven't you heard of the lucky coins you can get in the park?"
"What? No, I haven't"
"You do always seem to be out of the loop somehow." Nao noticed Kaemon's expression and said "Sorry! Anyway, these are what I mean." Nao pulled a large golden coin from his pocket with the kanji for "luck" stamped on it.
"They're all the rage" Umino shouted as she popped up next to them "There's a place in Juban park selling these really cheap. They work too, look how rich I am" she dumped out her purse onto Kaemon's desk revealing (among other things) a small pile of 10-yen pieces. "All of these were given to me by the goddess of luck!"
"Wow…that's really not a lot of money…" Nao replied
"It's only the beginning" she said as she stuffed everything back into her bag
"Is that a Red Man key chain?" Kaemon asked, referring to the hero show meant for small kids
"I don't care what anyone says, Red Man is a true hero" Umino declared as she snatched up the key chain
"Anyway… you say you get these charms in Jubaan park?" Kaemon asked
"Yep!" Nao answered, "Just look for the little stand with the pretty lady in purple."
"You bet I will!"
At that moment, Haruna-sensei reentered the room, and everyone jumped back into their desks. "I hope all of this chatter is related to studying because there's going to be a quiz." The students all gasped but she then smiled and said, "That's what I was planning to say but why don't we just skip it today?"
The students all expressed their joy and some even said "Lucky!" Haruna-sensei's smile grew wider as she opened a drawer in her desk and placed a small note about her date that night next to a luck coin. She then turned to the whiteboard and began the lesson.
As time went by, Kaemon noticed that the students with luck coins were having awesome days. For one thing, they seemed to answer every question they were asked correctly. At lunch, many exclaimed how their families had packed their favorite things and some even found the food to still be the perfect temperature. Umino added to her coin collection while others found spare pencils and things they thought they had lost.
"Ok, I have got to get one of those coins" Kaemon said while putting his street shoes on at the end of the day.
"Good idea" Nao replied "I'd go with you, but we have practice today to prepare for the upcoming game."
"Have fun!"
"I will! I have a feeling that things will go very well today"
They fist bumped and Kaemon made a beeline for Juban Park. He was soon walking down a tree lined path keeping an eye out for his destination. Suddenly, Luna jumped out of a bush and fell into step with him.
"Did you put a tracking chip on me or something?"
"I've been keeping an eye on you all day."
"What about when I was changing for gym?"
"Oh, for heaven's sake, I was not looking at your body the night we met, when are you going to let that go? Although it doesn't take much to see that you do need to get it into shape."
"Why is everyone so mean to me?" Kaemon groaned as he self-consciously touched his belly.
"I can't imagine" Luna answered sarcastically "Now I assume you're here to investigate those coins?"
"I've already investigated how well they work, and I want one!"
"Yes, they work but it could be an enemy plot."
"What makes you say that?"
"It's a mysterious lady selling lucky charms that actually work."
"What's your point?"
"You really don't see that as a potential problem?"
"How could good luck be a problem? Ah here we are!"
They were standing at the edge of a large, grassy clearing. A small table covered in luck coins of various colors was situated under a shady tree. A tall, beautiful woman with long black hair and a robe-like purple dress was serving a flock of eager customers. Many were Kaemon's contemporaries, but all ages were represented.
"Thank you, thank you" she was saying in a slightly accented voice "You're all too kind but I'm only here to serve. I never dreamed that my little charms would become so popular."
"No thank you" a college aged man was saying "With this kind of luck on my side, she'll finally notice me for sure!"
"I'd be happy to meet anyone" a girl near him said "and now I will."
"Just wait until I write into that game show!" another customer was saying
"So cool!" Kaemon said, "I'm going to go get one right now!"
"With what money?" Luna asked, "Didn't you spend all of this week's allowance at the arcade?"
He froze and looked stunned. "Oh crap…" he said, letting his head hang "More bad luck."
"That is in no way bad luck" Luna said "That is irresponsible spending. Honestly, almost all of what you've been recently putting down to bad luck is irresponsibility or simply not paying attention."
"Well, I wish I didn't have to pay attention to you" Kaemon grunted as he stomped away in a huff
"If you don't pay attention to good advice from someone" Luna said as she walked beside him "you'll never get anywhere in life."
"What does that mean?"
"Just that from what I've seen so far, you're not setting yourself up well for the future."
"I'm just a kid."
"You're fourteen years old and fast approaching high school."
"Just be quiet! I don't have to take this from a nagging, controlling pet!"
"I am nobody's pet!"
"Leave me alone, you stupid furball!"
He broke into a run to get away from Luna but quickly slammed right into someone coming the other way. "I'm so sorry…you!"
"We meet again, space case." It was the girl he had met on the day of his first battle. She was looking just as annoyed as the last time. "I suppose I'll say thanks for not knocking me down all the way this time."
"Why don't you watch where you're going?"
"I was watching. You were the one who was sprinting down the path to get away from a cat."
"You're spying on me?"
"Hardly" she answered with a bored expression "I have far better things to do with my time. However, I did notice that you seemed to be arguing with a cat. Are you trying to communicate with a higher life form?"
Kaemon fumed and said, "Would I be talking to you if I were?"
"Well, that's certainly mature" she replied smugly
"Mature? You insulted me first!"
"I only call it as I see it and I see a space case who runs people over and talks to cats."
"In that case, I see a…a…"
"As fascinating as the end of that sentence eventually would have been, I have to be going now. See you later, space case."
Kaemon turned red but couldn't think of anything to say. He kicked a nearby trashcan in frustration but then hopped around whining about his hurt foot. The girl stopped to glance at him and roll her eyes before continuing her way.
"I see a rude, immature witch!" he shouted at her but couldn't be sure if she heard him. People around were staring by now and he walked away in silent embarrassment. Luna had watched the whole thing from a distance and was praying for strength.
The next morning: the new, very loud alarm his mother had given him got Kaemon out of bed on time. He had tried to turn it off, but she had put in on the other side of the room and by the time he had found it, he started to feel hungry for breakfast.
"Mom there's a stranger at the breakfast table!" Shingo cried out when Kaemon yawned his way in
"Oh, shut up!"
As he walked to school, he noticed that the traffic was kind of odd. More than once, cars raced past at top speed and even ran red lights. Nobody crashed but there were some near misses. Kaemon wondered about this but was more concerned with getting to school before the bell.
"Hey there Nao" Kaemon said to his friend who was busy dribbling a soccer ball near the shoe lockers "Can you believe it; I'm actually on time today!"
"That's nice" he said in a dismissive manner "This is the longest I've ever done this! I'm so amazing!"
"Uh…yeah you are but not just for dribbling a ball."
"You should have seen me at practice! Everything went right for me. Now that I have this luck, I can do anything!"
"Whatever you say, Nao" a concerned Kaemon replied, "Don't you think we ought to get to class?"
"Class? Who needs it? I'm going to be a famous athlete and become rich, and I'll never need school again. I don't even know why I came today."
"Nao, that's not like you."
"No, it's the new and luckier me!"
Kaemon didn't know what to say. "Well, the bell will be ringing soon so I should go. I hope I see you in class."
Nao didn't even respond as Kaemon slowly walked away. All the way to his classroom, he passed students bragging about their awesome luck, showing off perfected talents, or even picking on others for not being as awesome as them. He peered into one classroom not far from his own and saw a whole circle of students surrounding one boy trying to read. The boy pushed his glasses back up his nose and leaned lower over his book, but his classmates continued to sneer at him.
"Look at genius Mizuno and his books!"
"Working so hard when all he needs is these" some other students chanted in unison while holding out their luck coins.
"You always lorded your perfect grades over us, Mizuno, but who's better off now?"
The timid boy looked up from his book and said "I never lorded my grades over anyone. I'm very happy for you but I still prefer hard work over relying on luck."
"Hear that, he still thinks he's better than us."
"No, I don't. Please let me read."
"Stop that!" Kaemon shouted, "Leave him alone you bullies!"
"Oh, look it's the clumsy crybaby from Class B" one boy sneered
"Not even a hundred coins could improve his luck"
Kaemon turned red and said, "If you think luck is everything and you don't need class, then just get out of here!"
They all laughed. The leader of the gang said, "Come on guys, these dorks aren't worth our time."
They all wandered off to a far corner of the room to keep discussing all the wonders of their newfound luck. Kaemon walked over to the boy with the book and said "That was awful of them, the jerks. You're Akira Mizuno, right?"
"Y…yes and you're Tsukino aren't you?"
"Call me Kaemon. I've seen you around but never had the chance to talk."
"You wouldn't be interested in talking with me" Akria responded meekly as he lowered his head. "I'm not very interesting at all."
"That can't be true! It sounds like you're really smart."
"Thank you, and thank you for your help a minute ago, but I'm used to it. You better get to your own classroom; the bell will ring any minute." He returned to his book, the light reflecting off his glasses obscuring his eyes.
"Well ok. Just remember not to let those jerks push you around."
Kaemon ran down the hall and entered his own classroom right as the bell rang. "I made it!"
Nobody seemed to notice him. In fact, Haruna-sensei wasn't even in the room. Many students here were also acting boastful and strange. Others were quietly sitting and trying to avoid the ones with the luck coins, but it wasn't easy.
Suddenly, someone grabbed Kaemon from behind and spun him around. Umino was wearing a party dress rather than her school uniform and had even put on makeup (although the thick glasses were still obscuring much of her face).
"Hey there Kaemon, let's go on a date!"
"WHAT!? I, er, that is class is starting."
"I hear Haruna is on a date herself so what's the harm?"
Kaemon rolled his eyes slightly and thought to himself 'Some teacher...she lectures me all the time but can be really immature herself.' Out loud he said, "What about your grades?"
"Who needs grades? I'm doing just fine with luck. Oh, let's skip the date, let's just make out!"
She puckered up and Kaemon backed away so quickly that he fell backwards over a chair.
The other students backed away from him. "Ew, get away from the klutz. He'll corrupt our perfect luck."
Umino on the other hand said "Oh, on the floor, I like it."
"I have a stomachache!" Kaemon screamed "I need to go to the nurse!"
He crawled quickly out of the classroom, got to his feet, and ran down the hall. Umino was saying something about this not being very lucky, but he didn't stop to hear more. Everywhere he went, students were running amok acting on their every desire. Teachers and staff tried to maintain order but the wild students simply continued to do what they liked.
"Just try to punish us! Our luck will make things bad for you!"
Kaemon finally fled the school altogether and found what seemed to be a party forming. One of the guys who had been bullying Akira was addressing the crowd of students. "We don't need to hang around this dull place. Let's go find some real fun!"
"Yeah!" "Let's do it!" "Nothing can go wrong after all!" were just some of the cries in response.
Everyone scattered and Kaemon took refuge in the bushes near the school gates. "Everyone has gone crazy!"
"Now do you believe me" Luna said. He looked up and saw her on top of the wall behind him. She jumped down and situated herself in front of him. "This may be the worst enemy attack in a long time."
"It looks like it. They're not just lucky, they're insane!"
"I'm afraid that's partially human nature. Would perfect luck really bring out your better qualities?"
"Um…maybe."
"I rather doubt it. Anyway, you're not wrong to say that it's more than that. Those coins are ramping things up, causing the holders to build up energy so it can be stolen later."
"That's messed up!"
"Indeed" Luna replied "Not the most eloquent statement but a truthful one."
"What should we do?"
"Investigate obviously. We need to find the source and stop this."
He thought of his possessed friends and gulped. "Ok, I'll do it!"
"Wonderful!" Luna beamed
"Uh, if it does come to a battle…what were those words again?"
Luna flopped over in frustration before saying "Moon Prism Power, Make Up!"
"Yeah, now that I think about it, that sounds kind of weird."
"Oh, just get a move on!"
"Ok!"
Together they hurried to the park. Kaemon was still nervous, but he was determined to help Nao and the others. They heard many voices as they approached the clearing from before. Peering out from some thick bushes, they observed the purple robed woman surrounded by a small crowd including Nao and Umino.
"They got here before us"
Luna responded, "Well I imagine they had all green lights at crosswalks and other fortunate circumstances."
"Oh yeah. Lucky them."
The woman was speaking to the crowd. "Do you like my luck charms?"
"Yes!"
"Have you enjoyed succeeding in all that you do?"
"Yes!"
"Do you feel grateful for this good fortune?"
"Yes!"
"Then show that gratitude by offering your energy and your lives to the Dark Kingdom!"
"YES!"
"Oh no! Kaemon, you need to transform now while no one is looking."
"Ok" he backed further into the bushes and said, "Moon Prism Power, Make Up!"
His pendant was suddenly on the outside of his uniform and bathing him in ribbons of light. In seconds he had become Sailor Moon and was mustering his courage. He ran from the bushes and stopped a little way from the crowd.
"Stop this right now!"
"What's this?" the woman demanded angrily
"What's this is that you're taking advantage of these people and their desires to better their lives. You reel them in with promises of improved fortune and then corrupt them! I can't let that pass! I am Sailor Moon, the handsome soldier who fights for truth and justice, and in the name of the moon I will punish you!"
"I've heard of you" the woman said as her skin began to wrinkle and her long hair to writhe like snakes "You foiled our plans before, but your luck is running out. My new friends; tear him to pieces!"
"Yes!" The crowd turned to him with glowing eyes and began to march forward.
"Oh no" Kaemon shouted "not this again!"
"Don't be afraid, Sailor Moon" Luna shouted "If you can stop that woman, this will all end."
"You hope" the woman cackled in a deeper, more monstrous voice. Her long robe turned a much deeper purple, her skin turned brown and wrinkled, and her hair was now shaped like long arms. "The truth is that you don't have any hope at all!"
"Another monster! This is too much!"
He saw Nao leading the pack and grinning cruelly. The other zombies laughed as Nao lunged forward and began to choke Kaemon. He couldn't believe it; his best friend was trying to kill him. Kaemon struggled but Nao had always been the stronger one of the two. "Please…I don't…want to…hurt…you..."
Nao laughed and tightened his grip. Kaemon couldn't breathe and he didn't know what to do. Suddenly, the monster's cackling turned into a scream of pain. The zombies all froze, and Nao loosened his grip slightly. Kaemon wriggled free and saw that the monster had a rose embedded in her shoulder. Standing on a tree branch above the battle was the masked woman who had encouraged him at the soccer field.
"It's you!" Kaemon exclaimed with joy (and a slight stirring of hormones).
"Yes, it is I, the Masked Rose! You must stay strong and focused, Sailor Moon. These people may be enemies right now but they're depending on you!"
"Yeah" he said with a nod
The monster ripped the rose out of her shoulder and shouted "Don't just stand there, do your duty to the Dark Kingdom!"
The zombies woke up and advanced again. Nao closed in but Kaemon did the first thing he could think of; he reached out and tickled Nao in his top-secret vulnerable spot under his arm.
"I'm sorry but desperate times call for desperate measures."
Zombie Nao was too busy laughing to fight back, and Kaemon slipped past him. The rest of the crowd was closing in, but he plowed on through, knocking people left and right.
"I guess knocking people down can be a talent after all."
"Don't get too cocky. It's only because they weren't ready for it" Luna called out
"Whose side are you on?"
He was now near the monster; she was waving her arm-shaped hair threateningly and the fingers looked sharp. She proved this fact by clawing at the ground and leaving deep gouges. Kaemon stepped back but also touched his broach to summon his boomerang. The hair snatched his arm and began dragging him forward, but he sliced it with the weapon's sharp edge. She swiped again with another claw, and he jumped back to dodge. A few more maneuvers like this backed him into the tree.
"You need to strike now!" the Masked Rose called out from above him
"Right! Moon Boomerang Action!"
He threw the weapon while the monster was rushing at him. She had left herself open and it ripped right through her, the same as Morgaan. She screamed and stumbled to the ground. In another few seconds all that remained of her was sand. Nearby, and all over the district, the luck coins also crumbled into sand. The zombies all collapsed, and the Moon Boomerang returned to Kaemon.
"Two for me, monsters zip" he said in a weak, trembling voice
"And fine victories they were. I'll see you again, Sailor Moon!" The Masked Rose smiled at him and leapt from the tree with amazing power. She landed a good distance away and was soon out of sight.
"She's cool"
"I don't know" Luna said with a frown "We really don't know anything about her."
"We know she's hot! That's a great starting point for our investigations."
By this time, everyone was waking up.
"What was I doing?"
"How did I get here?"
"I think I remember…" the person shuddered as if they didn't like recalling their recent actions
"I remember!" Umino wailed "I acted so unladylike with Kaemon!"
"Hey! Did you save us" Nao asked turning to the bemused Sailor Moon
"Uh…yes citizen, yes I did"
He pulled his cap a little lower so Nao wouldn't recognize him, but everyone was too excited to try guessing identities.
"Wow, it's Sailor V!"
"No, this one looks different."
"I think I remember him saying that he's Sailor Moon"
The crowd pressed in all wanting to thank him. At the edge of events Luna said in a low voice "Well, I suppose it was going to happen eventually. I just hope fame doesn't go to his head."
"Why yes I am pretty awesome!" Kaemon was saying as he struck a pose
"Too late" the cat moaned
Jadeite watched these events through his crystal with much frustration. "My monster, Bam, failed me. Sailor Moon, I'm beginning to become very angry with you."