(Usagi floats just beyond the orbit of the moon. The white folds of her princess gown billow around her legs, while her hair floats around her head and shoulders in a gently waving halo. She looks at the earth and sighs.)

Usagi: I can feel it, the last battles between good and evil. Year after year, millennia after millennia, Chaos has collected throughout the universe. But soon, the Crystal Millennia will begin with the formation of Crystal Tokyo…

(Usagi is interrupted as a horde of youma charge toward the earth, narrowly missing Usagi, who dodges, her hair and dress whirling around her.)

Youma: CRYSTAL TOKYO WILL DESTROY US; CRYSTAL TOKYO MUST NOT EXIST! CRYSTAL TOKYO WILL DESTROY US, CRYSTAL TOKYO MUST NOT EXIST! CRYSTAL TOKYO WILL DESTROY US…

(The chant continues, louder and louder. Usagi covers her ears as she grimaces in pain, still slowly spinning. Suddenly, silently, the earth explodes, making no sound except the rustling of dust against Usagi’s dress. In the distance, exactly where the earth’s core had been, there is a silvery light among the ruble. Usagi is suddenly there. The shining light is actually a semi-humanoid figure who has lost a hand and a leg, bleeding little silver droplets from the wounds. The figure groans and opens it’s eyes, which are gray. With a feminine voice the figure calls out.)

???: Princess…Usagi-hime!!! Help me stop this destruction… help me save… my… planet…

(The figure’s voice gets progressively weaker with each word. With her breath becoming haggard, the figure extends her remaining hand to Usagi, closed. As she slowly opens her fist, a small sphere the size of a marble floats into Usagi’s open palm. Usagi examines it briefly, seeing her old tiara suspended in it. She then looks back at the figure, who is now fading away. With her last breath, the figure speaks.)

???: Please…

***

(Usagi wakes up as the car she is riding in gently bumps to a stop.)

Mamoru: Fell asleep? Wake up. Remember, you’re driving this home.

(Usagi rubs her eyes and looks up at him. He was leaving on a business trip for the weekend, and she was taking his car. She looks out the window and sees the busy airport. She grimaces uneasily.)

Usagi: Remember what happened last time you flew on an airplane?

Mamoru: I will never forget. But why are you concerned, Usa-ko?

(Usagi thinks back on her dream, finds the details vague, and dismisses it.)

Usagi: I’m not sure. Probably just old nightmares.

Mamoru: I’m not going far, and you have the hotel’s number. (He puts his hand on her shoulder.) Call if anything happens.

Usagi: Mamo-chan…

(He reaches behind her head with his other hand and pulls her towards him. They kiss, not long, not passionate, but sweet. He pulls back and the both of them smile.)

Mamoru: See you Monday.

(He gets out of the car and Usagi hands him his suitcase. Then she slides into the driver’s seat, buckles in, and drives away.)

***

(Endimion snuck past a set of guards and into a side hallway. He thought idly to himself that sneaking into his parent’s estate was harder than getting out. He walked almost silently down the hallway and came to the great hall. It was well past midnight, so it was cold and deserted. The pillars lining the walls stood ominously before him. They were put there to hide the numerous servants’ doors, but he couldn’t help but feel they each hid something sinister in their shadows.

He walked out into the hall and felt very exposed. He made his way Diagonally to the pillar that he knew hid the secret passage to his room)

???: It’s a little late for a prince to be out of his room. If anyone finds out, there will be rumors.

(Endimion stopped dead in his tracks, terrified that his secret might have been brought to light. He looked back to the feminine shadow that stood beside the pillar that hid the door he had just come from. The lady walked forward into the dully-illuminated hall, revealing an entertained smile in a face that bore more than a little familial resemblance to his own. She was wearing a simple, green dress with a lavender leather tunic over it. Both dress and tunic were edged in white and embroidered with silver. Her golden hair was braided, and artfully arranged into a crown. When Endimoin saw who it was, he relaxed slightly.)

Endimoin: Cousin, you have the worst sense of humor.

Terra: Not at all, Endimion-sama. Your face was just priceless.

Endimoin: I’m sure. But you won’t tell, will you?

Terra: I’ve kept your secret this long, I think I shall keep it at least a short while longer.

Endimoin: (blushes) You’ve known?

Terra: About two months. Honestly, the two of you are in quite a pickle.

(Endimoin looked at her for a few seconds, but he could not fathom how she had figured out he was secretly visiting princess Serenity of the moon. He began to panic, and a trickle of sweat ran down the side of his face. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, round ball of quartz. Endimioin looked at her, startled.)

Endimion: Where did you get a teleportation crystal?

Terra: You are not the only one consorting secretly with our Lunar counterparts. Queen Serenity gave it to me. (She put the crystal away before continuing.) Being the closest female in line to the throne, she has decided to illegally start me training as a Sailor Senshi.

Endimion-sama, she is afraid that some evil will strike at earth.

(Endimion sucked in his breath. The princess had told him of the increasingly frequent battles with various demons, and with the royal court in fits about internal issues, earth might very well be ripe pickings.)

(Terra looked at Endimion a few seconds before turning to go.)

Terra: Be safe, Endimion-kun. I worry about you.

(With that she disappeared behind one of the ever-looming pillars. Endimion stood looking after her briefly before going his own way.)

***

(Usagi sat on the table in the kitchen, swinging her legs back and forth as she watched her friend with the blue hair use a magnet to attach the sheets of to the fridge.)

Usagi: This is kind of unlike you, Ami-chan.

Ami: (Nods her head and smiles.) I know. But it will be so much fun, don’t you think? He’ll be from the United States.

Usagi: (Cocks her head) I’m not so sure. How well will he get along? (She leans forward to look more closely at the brief letter on top of the rather long stack, explaining Ami’s desire to have a foreign exchange student stay with her. Ami shrugs and smiles a little. They both turn as they hear the doorbell ring.)

Ami: Hai! (She runs off to open the door. Usagi looks after her friend.)

Usagi: *she has gotten to be so confident, it is a wonder that she was ever shy at all.*

Ami: Mom! I didn’t expect you to be home today!

Mrs. Mizuno: Neither Did I, But the director says I need to get out more – doctor’s orders! So here I am.

Ami: Great! I have something to show you…

Mrs. Mizuno: You sure are excited! I haven’t seen you like this since you went on your first merry-go-round ride. Hold on; let me put my bags down.

(Ami and her mother walk in. Mrs. Mizuno is wearing a white blouse and a navy skirt. Her hair is pulled back in a white scrunchi. Her hair is perhaps a shade darker than Ami’s, and her eyes are brown. Over one arm she has a white doctor’s jacket, and a pair of reading glasses hangs from a gold chain on her neck. Rather obvious, she wears large teardrop-shaped diamond earrings. Ami is in fact an inch or so taller than her mother.)

Ami: (removes papers from the fridge, hands them to her mother) Here.

(Mrs. Mizuno looks at the papers, then puts her glasses on. She makes “hmm” sounds as she reads. She lowers the papers and looks up at Ami)

Mrs. Mizuno: I don’t see why not. We have three extra rooms, so space won’t be a problem. Hmm… yes, a very good idea, Ami.

(Mrs. Mizuno puts her glasses down, and finally notices Usagi sitting on the table. Ami notices her glance, and hurriedly introduces her.)

Ami: Oh, this is Usagi, my friend from school. I told you about her.

Mrs. Mizuno; Usagi: Pleased to meet you.

Usagi: Ami-chan, we’ve got to go meet Rei…

Ami: oh, right! Bye mom!

Mrs. Mizuno: Bye hon! *I really am proud of her. She is so bright, and now she has friends too. I hope her life turns out better than mine.*

***

(Usagi and Ami are seen walking up the stairs to Hikawa shrine. As they approach the top they hear voices. They come to the top and see Rei in her priestess robes and Makoto in khaki overalls and a white, wide necked t-shirt. Makoto shakes her head and her long brown ponytail swings back and forth.)

Usagi: Guys, what’s wrong?

Rei: (runs her hand through her long, straight bangs in annoyance) Minako got dumped.

Ami: Already? She and Damon have only been going out for two weeks.

Usagi: They fit so well together.

Makoto: I know, but he got offered an apprenticeship at a new hair salon.

Rei: (eyes closed, arms folded) He said he didn’t want to strain his relationship with the odd work hours, so he just dumped her.

Usagi: Poor Minako-chan…

Ami: Where is she now?

Makoto: She’s at some new nutrition clinic, I’ve never heard of the place before. She has her cell, if you want to call her.

Usagi: No, maybe later.

Makoto: At least she’s being productive. She has that paper on nutrition she has to complete for her foods class.

Rei: And speaking of classes… have you got any ideas for what sort of project we are going to do for our English class?

Usagi: huh?

Ami: (sweatdrop) Don’t tell me you forgot! That’s the whole reason we’re meeting here today!

Usagi: Oh! You mean that whole “practical applications of translation” thing! Yes! I do have some ideas! (All the other girls sigh in relief) I thought we could translate the Sailor V manga, and then post a website in English! Then all the people in America would know how great Sailor V is!

(The other three girls look at each other with less than enthusiastic faces, and then proceed to walk towards the shrine. Usagi stares after them.)

Usagi: Hey! Wait a minute! (She begins to run after them) Just what is wrong with my idea?

(They sit at the table sipping some tea that Makoto is pouring from a large thermos. Ami has spread out a whole slew of papers. Usagi sits with glazed eyes, and Rei is frowning thoughtfully.)

Ami: … And so, If we get it right, we can start a long lasting peace between the United States and Russia.

Rei: And if we get it wrong we can start World War III. Ami-chan, I really don’t think so.

Ami: it’s not so bad as that, all we need to do is show a little initiative and…

Makoto: Ami, Rei’s right. It’s just too much to take on.

Usagi: (comes out of her stupor) I still don’t see what was so bad about my plan.

Rei: Oh, let’s see, first, it will make us look like total geeks, (picture of all three resembling Steve Erkel pops up in the corner) Ami would end up doing most of the work, and it doesn’t amount to anything because Sailor V is from England, (deformed picture of Minako waving a British flag pops up in the other corner) so all the manga are in English anyway.

(Usagi Looks positively crushed. Makoto reaches over and refills her teacup.)

Makoto: Besides, It’s already been done.

Usagi: What do you mean?

Makoto: There are hundreds of Sailor V fan pages in all sorts of languages. Right, Ami-chan?

Ami: I honestly never looked.

(Ami pulls a full size black laptop out of her bag. Everyone looks at her quizzically. She scowls at them)

Ami: Have you ever tried to write a thesis paper on that tiny thing? (She begins to type on it) Besides, staring at that screen for too long hurts my eyes. Ah! Here Usagi!

(She turns the laptop so Usagi can see the screen. Usagi looks at it and gasps in disbelief. The other two look as well, and they are only a little less surprised than Usagi.)

Rei: Sugoi…

Makoto: Two million, one hundred ninety thousand search results. Sorry Usagi-chan.

(Usagi doesn’t reply. She only looks sad and sips her tea.)

Ami: (stacks papers) What about you, Rei-chan? What ideas do you have?

Rei: Me? Well… (She scratches the side of her head) I don’t really have any. I tried to think of something, but the closest I came was… No, It’s dumb.

Makoto: Come on, Rei-chan, it can’t be that bad.

Rei: (sweatdrops) Translating Japanese bus schedules.

(They all sit staring at her. Makoto drops the lid to the thermos.)

Makoto: maybe it is…

Rei: (slumps down) I said it was bad…

Usagi: Mako-chan, please tell me you have a better idea.

 Makoto: (recovers the dropped lid) Actually, I was thinking of getting an American cookbook and translating some of the recipes. Then we could see if we could do them correctly. We could each pick a recipe, and whoever did the best could bring some to school.

Usagi: Yay! Food! Foodfoodfoodfoodfood!

(She keeps a running monologue in the background as the rest of the girls continue to talk)

Rei: It sounds like fun!

Ami: They do say that food is the international language.

Makoto: Cool! Let’s get started.

***

Damon: there you go!

(In a smallish hair boutique a young man removes a sheet from around the shoulders of a redheaded girl. She caresses her beautiful, shiny hair, and her blue eyes shine as she looks in the mirror.)

Girl: oh, it’s wonderful!!! (She turns and looks at Damon) I’ll be sure to come back! You did such a great job!

(Damon watches her pay at the counter, still grinning and blushing.)

Damon: *I told Minako that I dumped her because of the odd hours, but I did it so she wouldn’t be jealous of all these beautiful girls I end up doing hair for!*

(A tall woman with her black hair put up in a bun and a red dress suit walks up to him.)

Boss: Damon…

(Damon turns to look at her, and he bows to her as her greets her.)

Damon: Antonia-san!

Ms. Antonia: Everything well? I think I just saw another satisfied customer walk out.

Damon: Yes ma’am!

Ms. Antonia: Good! I have someone for you to meet.

(A young girl with blond hair pulled back in a high ponytail with a green bow leans out from behind the boss. She is wearing a blue ¾ sleeve blouse and black slacks. Smiles politely and blinks her blue eyes.)

Girl: Konichii-wa!

Damon: (dumbstruck) Minako?!

Girl: Mina-who? (flat eyed)

Ms. Antonia: Damon, This is Selina Jansen, our other apprentice. She’ll have a booth next to yours.

Damon: Of course! I’ll show her around! (Still nervous)

Ms. Antonia: I’ll leave you to it!

(Ms. Antonia leaves leaving Damon and Jansen looking staring at each other. Jansen lifts a bag.)

Jansen: um, can I put my stuff in my booth?

Damon: oh, of course!

(He points to the booth next to him. Jansen begins to pull things out of her bag and set them on the counter. Damon continues to stare at her. Finally, Jansen turns to look at him.)

Jansen: Is something wrong?

Damon: (panicking) No! Nothing!

Jansen: (cocks head, smiles) You look like you’ve seen a ghost.

Damon: Ah well… (Shrugs) you do look kind of like my old girlfriend… *if looks like means practically identical*

Jansen: is that so?

Damon: yah, uh, just tell me if you need anything.

(Damon walks off, and Jansen looks after him, an evil gleam in her eye.)

Jansen: oh, it looks like you have already told me what I need.

***

Minako is sitting in a chair in the middle of a lecture hall. The man at the podium is lecturing on the benefits of his new hybrid of cucumber.

Minako is very, very bored.

Minako: *I wonder what everyone else is doing?*

Later, she walks around the showroom floor, taking notes as she goes. She stops at one booth for some time before purchasing a book titled ‘what’s wrong with tofu?’

Minako: * that ought to be enough material.*

She walks out of the showroom, and waits for the bus. Suddenly, her cell phone rings.

Minako: Hello?

Jansen: ah, would this be Aino Minako? (other end)

Minako: who is this?

In the parlor, the lights have been dimmed, and several people are lying on the ground. Jansen has let down her hair, and she now wears a tight black dress. We see only the lower half of her face.

Jansen: I believe I know an old friend of yours.

Jansen puts the phone next to a still-conscious Damon’s ear

Minako: Hello? (other end)

Damon: Minako!

Minako starts in surprise.

Minako: Damon!

Damon: Minako-chan! Whatever you do, don’t come, it’s a tr – (other end)

Jansen: That’s enough! (Slap) I think you know where to find us, hm? Be at the parlor in fifteen minutes. (End call) (other end)

Minako looks about her. It is almost half an hour there by bus, but there are too many people here for her to take her usual ‘short cuts’ i.e. jumping over walls. She reaches for her communication watch.