Chapter 2

    Shakou and Mukiau walked into the mall to find the place swamped. Not only was it the busiest day of the week, Saturday, but it was the middle of the summer; of course people flocked here. It was the hangout for all kids especially because of the theater on the upper floor.

     The halls were crowded as can be with people of all ages. Shakou thought he would never make it in time to get a game. "Where do you want to try first?" Mukiau asked as they turned a corner.

     "How about CoolGames? They always have the latest games in stock." Shakou said and smiled thinking about the new Sailor V game almost in his grasp.

     "I guess that makes sense. The company made the game, they should have it in." said Mukiau. A tall girl with long brown hair walked past the two. She had emerald eyes and she wore a blue mini-skirt. A white button-up was on her but it was tied up at the ends so it would show her belly.

     After a few moments Mukiau still got no reply from Shakou so he looked back to see if he even heard him. Shakou wasn't there! Mukiau walked back in the opposite direction and caught sight of Shakou turning a corner.

     Shakou walked faster and faster with his heart beating like a drum. He finally caught up to the girl from before. "Excuse me?" He quivered as he tried to get her attention.

     The girl swung around and her hair smacked Shakou in the face. Her hair smelt like fresh lilacs, the fragrance was imprinted in his mind. Shakou though he would faint. Shakou gathered his nerve and tried to gain his cool. "So." He said and leaned on the railing at the end of the walkway. It looked over a fountain on the bottom floor.

     She walked towards the railing and stood next to Shakou. "What is it?" She asked, already annoyed.

     Shakou couldn't speak, his heart pounded to hard. He could feel it in his throat. 'Just breath', he kept telling himself. As he looked into her eyes he became mesmerized. 'She's like an angel, so perfect.' he thought.

     "What is it?!" She was almost yelling from annoyance.

     Shakou snapped out of it and tried to remember what to say. The only thing that came to his mind was a stupid catch phrase Mukiau had taught him. "Do you believe in love at first sight or should I walk by you again?" He asked and blushed.

     "Is that all you wanted?! I hate guys like you and your stupid pick-up lines!" She snarled and turned around.

     "Wait!" Shakou snapped and grabbed her wrist. She turned around, her face glowing red with anger. "Let me start over again." He gave an innocent smile, "I am Shakou Tsukino. Nice to meet you." He said and let go of her wrist. Though he still held out his hand to shake.

     Mukiau walked over to Shakou from within the crowd. "Where do you think your going? You just left me out there without a word." Mukiau accused, not even noticing the girl.

     The girl coughed twice and Mukiau looked over at her. "Oh, I'm sorry." He apologized and looked down at the ground. He turned toward the railing and looked over, waiting for Shakou to finish.

     "May I ask what yours is?" Shakou asked and blushed. "Please." He gave her the innocent smile again.

     She looked at him from toe to head and then just gave a quick "Ha." She turned around and walked away. She shook her lower body as she walked and her hair swung back and forth.

     Mukiau turned back around. "She likes the attention." Shakou said to himself. "That's the kind of girl she is. She just plays it off."

     "What's that?" Mukiau asked as Shakou mumbled.

     "Nothing." Shakou and Mukiau walked off into the crowd back toward the CoolGames Store. "You know, you shouldn't be so shy. You'll never get a girl acting like that." Shakou tried to give advice, like he had any luck with girls himself.

     "You know how it is. If I know a person I'm fine around them but if there new I just seem to crawl up in a shell. It's a natural reaction. It's just the person I am." Mukiau smiled. "And you never know, I may meet a girl that likes the strong and silent type."

     "Okay. Whatever you say." Shakou laughed.

     "You should talk! You don't even get to talk to a girl for more than a minute before they leave you." Mukiau laughed back at Shakou. The two of them always made fun of each other and their girl troubles, it was just something two friends would do.

      They reached CoolGames and walked in. The store was crowded and the walls were almost empty. Mukiau noticed a sign on the wall and pulled Shakou over with a grim face. "Sailor V, sold out." He read in horror. "I must get that game!" He yelled with wide eyes, it looked as if he would go into shock!

     The store became quiet and everyone around stared. "Sorry." He whispered and everyone returned to what they were doing. "I must get that game." He complained to Shakou.

     "We'll just try somewhere else." Shakou said and the two walked out. He almost tripped on a flier layer on the ground. Shakou picked it up. It read, 'The Turquoise Moon, Grand Opening. Games, Arcade, and Parlor.' Shakou mind went blank as he read over the words, 'Turquoise Moon'. A quick flash came to his mind from his dream.

     'Look for the Turquoise Moon.' He heard the voice ringing in his ears. 'It's a coincidence.' He kept telling himself.

     "What is it?" Mukiau asked trying to look over Shakou's shoulder.

     Shakou snapped out from it. "Oh, um? it's a new store opening. It's called the Turquoise Moon."

     "Let's check it out! They may have the game!" Mukiau shouted and grabbed hold of Shakou's arm. He dragged him through the crowd.

     Once they reached the store they found it to crowded with people. Though this place wasn't as bad as the last one. Many people were crowded into the arcade at the back of the store and the parlor at the front.

     They stepped into the actual store section and began looking through the games. Mukiau hurried through the games until he found the section for "S". He didn't find the game he wanted. "What's with this? They just skip over Sailor V; there isn't even a section for the game. Do they not sell it here?" Mukiau complained to Shakou.

     A tall man walked over toward the two. He had blue eyes and long turquoise hair pulled back in a ponytail. He wore a blue t-shirt and black slacks. He also wore a white apron with the store logo sewed onto the front. "How may I help you?" He asked with a warm, kind voice.

     All anger drifted away from Mukiau immediately. He became very quiet and stepped back behind Shakou. Mukiau couldn't help himself; he just was a shy person. Shakou stepped forward, "Well you see, my friend here," Shakou pulled Mukiau out from behind him, "would like to know why you didn't have any Sailor V games?"

     "Oh, I see." The owner said and stepped toward the cashier. Shakou and Mukiau followed behind him. "I keep all copies I own behind this desk. They're like gold to you Americans." The man said and chuckled.

     "What do you mean 'you Americans'?" Shakou asked.

     "I just arrived here from Japan to open my own game store. You see, over in Japan we have many games and other merchandise for Sailor V. But over here the first game is just now being released." The owner smiled at the two boys.

     Mukiau began to warm up to the man; he seemed nice enough. "I?I have a co?cousin in England. She's of Japanese de?decent like me. Sh?Sh?Shakou has a cousin in Japan." Mukiau finally got out.

     "Then you must know what's it's like to wait for things to be let out in America." The man added.

      "I know!" Mukiau spoke up. "Minako, my cousin, is always bragging how even in England they get things out quicker then here! She even says she's seen Sailor V in person before! It makes me so jealous."

      Shakou laughed, he couldn't believe how open Mukiau got when the conversation was right. As long as he'd know him, which was his whole life, Mukiau had been the shiest person but when it came to Sailor V he was one of the loudest.

     "Well if you two promise to come back to my store I'll give you something." The owner said and reached behind the counter. Mukiau and Shakou's hearts pounded as the man retrieved a copy of the Sailor V game!

     "I promise!" Shakou and Mukiau yelled at the same time, drool almost hanging from their mouths.

     "Then here you go." He handed it to them. Mukiau grabbed the game and kissed it! He then held it above his head like a trophy and gave a v-for-victory sign.

     "Mwahahahahahahaha!" Mukiau laughed out loud. "It's mine! Mine! Mine I tell you!" Once again everything became quiet as everyone around stared. Mukiau slowly lowered the game, "Sorry." He squealed.

     "There's nothing to be ashamed of! Everyone loves me!" A feminine heroic voice shouted from a shadowed corner of the store. The sound of her voice turned heads of everyone around.

     The girl's silhouette was only showing but it was enough for the people in the store. She had long hair down to her back. She wore a mini-skirt and a shirt that stopped at her belly, over her eyes was a pair of goggles.

     "It's Sailor V!" A voice yelled from within the store and an enormous crowd came running! Shakou and Mukiau were first to arrive.

     "I'm your biggest fan!" Mukiau yelled and held out his game. "Please sign this!"

     "No, I'm your biggest fan!" Shakou pushed Mukiau to the side. "Can I have a kiss?" Shakou yelled and puckered up.

     The storeowner backed away from the crowd and moved to a storage room. "I didn't ask for an actress to come. Something isn't right." He shut the door behind him. "Something doesn't seem right."

     Sailor V stepped out from the shadowed corner and walked to the center of the room with all her glory. The crowd gathered around her with different items, ready to be signed. "There's time for everyone to get what they want? just give me your energy!" She yelled and all noise stopped.

     "What?" "Who?" "What'd she say?" Voices from the crowd asked.

      Sailor V cackled as thick dark maroon fog spread around the store from around her. It came from no where, it just seemed to appear. People breathed in the smoke and fell over sound asleep. "Hahahahaha!" She cackled. "Yes, give me your precious energy!"

     White midst, their energy, from the people drifted outward from their bodies and was drawn into the fog. The dull maroon became bright lavender with its new power.

      Shakou and Mukiau were the only ones left standing! Shakou backed up slowly until he came to a wall and couldn't move any further. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

     Mukiau rushed up to her. "What are you doing? The real Sailor V would never do this!" He yelled.

     "Mukiau." Shakou whispered, "get over here! Do you want to be killed?!"

     Sailor V slammed her open hand into his gut and a blast of bright purple energy shot Mukiau across the store into a shelf of games! His head hit hard and he was knocked out.

     She lifted her arms up toward the ceiling and a tiny purple light came into sight. Slowly the lavender fog was collected into the light. The mode of purple light grew larger and larger as the energy was collected inside.

     Sailor V then noticed Shakou quivering in a corner of the room. "Tried to escape me, eh?" She laughed and walked toward him.

     Shakou stood frozen in place. Sailor V lifted her hand up to his face and grabbed onto his chin. She thrashed his head up and down, left and right. "Humans, such pitiful creatures." She removed her hand and placed it on his chest. "Time to die." A wave of maroon light swept over his body and began to extract his energy. The light became bright white, almost so bright it hurt her eyes! "Such powerful energy!"

     Shakou felt himself getting weaker and weaker. He began to slide down the wall, not being able to even stand up. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't stop himself. "I don't know who you are, but you're not Sailor V." He drew up his last bit of energy and punched her across the jaw!

     A blast of bright gold energy escaped from his fist as he made contact! Sailor V flew across the room and slammed into another shelf of games. The shelf swayed back and forth and toppled over on top of her!

     Shakou's bright white energy collected back inside of him. He felt himself grow stronger and stronger until finally he could regain control of his body. He looked down at his fist, still glowing bright gold. This light puzzled Shakou but he was also curious. He rubbed his fist and the energy spread across to his other hand! The gold light moved up his arms and down his head and chest. The light came down his legs, making his whole body covered with this freaky gold!

     "What is this light?" Shakou asked himself with a frightened voice.

     The storage room door cracked open and a small turquoise cat walked out. Its head radiated bright gold on a crescent-shaped bald spot. "He's close, the energy of the moon is awakening."

     The turquoise cat leapt up on the front desk and saw Shakou frozen in place at a wall of the store.

     The shelf across the room began to rumble as Sailor V tried to stand. "Shakou! Shakou!" the cat called until Shakou snapped out of it. Shakou looked over at the cat with wide eyes.

     "You?you talk." Shakou stuttered. He then noticed the crescent moon bald-spot and the turquoise color of his fur.

     "Shakou, it's the Turquoise Moon. Listen to him well." That same voice from his dream rang clear. "You won't hear from me again."

     The cat seemed to have heard the voice to. It sprung out and flipped into the air, landing on the floor infront of Shakou. As it landed a wave of light passed around his neck and a bright gold chain lay in its place. On the end of the chain was a golden crescent moon pendant. "Shakou, put this on." The cat demanded. "Trust me."

     Shakou leaned over nervously and took the necklace off the cat. He then placed it around his own. "Now repeat after me, Shakou." The cat demanded again. "Astral Moon Power."

     "Astral Moon Power." Shakou whispered. The light flashed as he spoke the words but then returned to normal.

     The shelf on top of Sailor V shattered to pieces after an attack from Sailor V. She stood huffing and puffing. "No one hurts me. No one!" She screamed.

     "What should I do?" Shakou whimpered.

     "She's not Sailor V, she's a minion. Now yell it, Shakou!" commanded the cat.

     "Astral Moon Power!" Shakou yelled and the energy glew bright gold! The pendant took in all the energy around Shakou. It shined bright gold with his power.

     The energy flew out in a wave from the pendant that ripped off Shakou's clothing and made him transparent! The energy released again, this time in ribbons that wrapped around his body. In a bright flash the ribbons melted together and formed to uniform!

     He wore a blue tunic that was short-sleeved and had a pleated bottom. Another one of the golden ribbons flew out and laced around the neck of the tunic creating a red collar. More ribbons jumped out creating red boots and red fingerless gloves.

     The pendant's chain broke apart into modes of light that came together at Shakou's forehead and formed a crescent moon! The pendant itself drifted down Shakou's body and stopped at his waist. A final ribbon of energy shot out and around his waist forming a belt, the pendant as the buckle.

     "What?what's this?" Shakou whispered to himself.

     The cat seemed to have heard. "You are Soldier Moon, the Warrior of Light and Life, fighter for peace and justice." The cat smiled lightly and continued. "Now, destroy the minion!"

     The minion screamed as she darted toward Soldier Moon! Fangs protruded from her mouth just as her nails became longer like knives. "Die, Soldier Moon!" She laughed.

     "You must fight her, only you can!" The cat yelled as the minion drew closer and closer.

     The minion sprung out and slammed Soldier Moon into the wall. Once again she had him by the throat and he was motionless! She stretched her claws forward and rubbed her hand across his face. "So handsome, to bad you have to die." She cackled and drew back her hand to let out the blow!

     A blur of turquoise flew by as the cat scratched the minion. "Ah! My face, how dare you!" She screeched. The minion let go of Soldier Moon and moved away.

     "You have to trust me, Soldier Moon. I am your pre-destined guardian. Now attack her while she's wounded. Call out, 'Discus Action'." The guardian cat explained.

     Soldier Moon raised his hand up toward the sky, "Discus", he shouted and a sphere of light appeared in the air. It shone bright white as he grabbed it and swung it back. The sphere spun around and around in his hand until it was in the shape of a disk. "Act?!"

     "Stop!" A voice shouted from the front of the store. "How dare you impersonate a sailor senshi!" She yelled. Soldier Moon, believing she was talking to him, held his attack still. The minion also looked up at this new figure.

     She wore a sailor fuku like Sailor V's. Though she wore a green skirt and collar. She wore brown bows and a green brooch. Her brown hair had green stripes and was held in a bun on the top of her head. She wore a green tight choker and green ballet slippers with ribbons that laced up around her legs until they reached her knees. "Only the most pure of heart are given the blessings of the planets!"

     "What?" The minion asked, already confused. 'Ha! More energy for Metallia!' Is all she could think of.

     "Emerald Synthesis!" She yelled and released a blast of green energy onto the minion!

      "Ahhhhhhhhhh!" It screamed in horror as the bright green light enveloped it! The minion turned into a glob of purple ooze. The goo melted until it was just a puddle of the floor.

     "Sailor?" Eclipse whispered to himself.

     "Wow!", was all Soldier Moon could say as he glared at the puddle, still holding the powered-up disk in his hand. He looked up to see this costumed heroine, put no one was there. "Hey! Where'd she go?" He complained and walked over to where she had been.

     "She's like our very own local Sailor V!" Soldier Moon exclaimed.

     "Soldier Moon, look out!" Eclipse yelled! Shakou turned around to see the puddle gathering together back into a pile! "Kill it before it reforms!"

     Soldier Moon spun the energy back behind him, "Action!" He yelled and let it fly. The light spiraled through the air and struck into the half-formed minion! The goo bubbled up and disappeared as it burst apart! Soldier Moon stood in position amazed at what he just did.

     "Good job, Soldier Moon." Eclipse congratulated. "I knew you could do it!" He looked around. "But my store!"

     Soldier Moon's fuku emitted bright white light as it ripped apart into ribbons! "What?what's happening?" The light retreated into the pendant and it released again, this time reforming his clothes. The pendant became a necklace again around his neck. "I feel?faint."

     Shakou fell backward and smashed his head into one of the store walls!

                                                                       *~*~*~*

     "Report." The dark queen demanded. "You've had your time."

     The four generals kneeled before her with their heads bowed. The room was quiet as a reply was awaited. Even the thousands of ever-fighting minions were quiet.

     Hilairite stood up nervously and walked infront of the queen. She bowed her head again before speaking. "Plenty of energy was collected for Queen Metallia." She outstretched her arms and hundreds of bright lavender spheres appeared around the room. "Each filled with energy of at least thirty humans." She spoke loud and clear, very proud of herself.

     The Queen inspected a sphere very quickly. "Very good. But?" The Queen paused. "This is not enough energy to re-power Metallia like you promised. You have failed, but not miserably so I will give you another chance." Queen Bismuth stood and raised her arms upward, accepting the spheres. The energy disappeared behind her.

     "Now, how was it done? You had to be so discreet." Bismuth asked.

     "Well, it seems that the population of Earth love Sailor V." Hilairite started as Queen Bismuth cringed at the word 'sailor'. "So I sent out one minion to every store in America selling her new game. Each took her form and then tricked the humans into giving up their energy." Hilairite finished.

     "Good thinking. What about human casualties?" Queen Bismuth asked, her attention still taken.

     "None. This way we can return for more when they grow stronger." Hilairite answered quickly.

     "Even better. I may have a reason for keeping you. Now what about our casualties?"

     "One minion." Hilairite whispered.

     "What?!" Queen bismuth yelled.

     "It wasn't my fault! Senshi were there!" Hilairite yelled out quickly.

     "Senshi! How I hate them!" Queen Bismuth breathed deeply. "We will move our operations to the spot of the senshi and attack there until they're dead!"

                                                              *~*~*~*

     Shakou sat up from under his covers and let out a good and long yawn. "What a weird dream that was?" He rolled, literally, out of bed. "To much eating before bed I guess."

     He stood up and stretched. "What a good day it?" He stopped in the middle of stretching, "what is today? Does Sailor V come out today? If it was a dream it should be today, unless I slept for a whole day. And I haven't done that in a week so?"

      "Shakou, it wasn't a dream." A voice called from a corner of the room.

     Shakou jumped back. "Who are you?!" He asked as he stared at a man leaning against a wall of his room. The man held up his hand. In it was a gold object with a chain. Shakou recognized it. "What are you doing here?" He asked, now a little more calm. "And what are you doing with that? It's mine."

      "Shakou, it's me." The man spoke and stood up strait. He set down the pendant and closed his eyes. A slight wind began to pick up in the room and the man's hair seemed to dance in it. His ponytail drew back into his head and his clothes seemed to blend in with his skin. A wave of turquoise light swept across his body that withdrew his clothes and all skin pigment. Very quickly a layer of turquoise fur grew all over his body and made a full coat of hair. He began to shrink as a long object began to protrude from his rear. The man fell down to the ground on all fours. His ears began to slide up his head and change. At the same time whiskers shot out over his face. The man's new form, a cat, walked forward and jumped up on a nearby dresser, next the pendant. "My name is Eclipse, your guardian."

      "My guardian?" Shakou asked, quite puzzled.

     "Yes, just as I said before. I am your pre-destined guardian. You must be trained for the battle ahead, Shakou, or I should call you, Soldier Moon." Eclipse smiled. "You've never been in a fight before, have you?"

      "No. I don't think so." Shakou answered.

     "I can tell. You need some serious training, even on the basics, like punching." Eclipse tried to hold back a laugh. "I never thought I would see a senshi with such terrible fighting skills."

     "What? A senshi?" Shakou was full of questions but kept forgetting past ones as new ones arose.

      "A senshi, it means 'soldier'. That is you, a soldier. A soldier that fights to keep the peace of this planet from infringing evils." Eclipse said almost like it was a chant.

     "Say what?" Shakou said as everything just went through one ear and out the other. "Anyway, who said I wanted to be this soldier guy thing?"

     "It doesn't matter. You were chosen." Eclipse replied a little offended.

     "I don't think I'm the right guy. There's no reason I should be chosen for this, believe me." Shakou went on, trying to get out of it.

     "I didn't choose you, you were chosen a long time ago. Farther back then you or I can remember." Eclipse looked down at the pendant next to him. "I had a feeling it was you when you first walked in the store, but I wasn't sure. But when your power awakened I was sure."

     Shakou sat down on the floor. "Even if I do accept, what am I suppose to do?"

     "Your suppose to train, like I said! You know how after an attack you de-transformed? That shows how weak you are. Your power couldn't keep you in senshi form any longer. We've got a lot of work to do."

     Shakou shook his head. "I understand that. What I meant was what am I fighting for? What is my mission?"

     Eclipse smiled. "You were always wanting a story. Well, it's the classic fairytale. Get the weapon, fight the enemy, save the princess."

     "Princess? What princess?" Shakou was all ears now.

     "I'm sorry but I don't know. My memory hasn't just begun to return. I just remember a princess, not a name or face."

     "I knew it! The one thing I needed to hear you can't tell me. You're disappointing. Just kidding...Eclipse."