Richard, Desendent of the Moon?

    The scouts and Richard filed back into the temple. "Oh Richie, thank you!!!" Shaquita hugged him tightly then put the locket back in her pocket. "I'm in your debt forever!!!"
 
    "I don't see why those lockets are so important to you, and you still haven't explained that situation out there," Richard was still wary of everything.

    "This is gonna be hard to explain," Shaquita thought to herself.

    "I'd better start from the beginning," Serena said. "Many a millenia ago the inhabitants of the nine planets were in a harmonious time called the Silver Millenium..."

    "Wait a minute, wait a minute," Richard interupted, "You're talking about that stupid cartoon again. You girls are obsessed."

"Richie," Shaquita looked him directly in his eyes," try to understand. That, cartoon, as you call it, was not fictonal, it was a documentary"

    "And we are those scouts," Mina finished.

 
    "IT WAS A CARTOON!!!" Richard was getting frustrated. "It was penmarks, paper, and paints!!! It was animation, Shaquita!!! Beep-Beep!!!"
 
    "Richard, shut up and try to comprehend that somethings that are made to be belived as fiction might actually be real!!!" Shaquita got in his face. "Come on outside!!!" The scouts went into the courtyard and lined up according to the order in which they joined. "If this doesn't convince you, I'll just beat it into your brain!!!" She looked down both sides of the line to make sure everyone was correct. "I learned this in JROTC Drill team. At the fancy, at the ripple, Henshin!!!"

    "Moon Crystal Power!!!"

    "Mercury Star Power!!!"
 
    "Mars Star Power!!!"

    "Jupiter Star Power!!!"

    "Venus Star Power!!!"

    "Earth Life Power!!!"

    "Solaris Star Power!!!"

    "Dark Moon Onyx Power!!!" She paused slightly,

    "Dark Moon Chains of Oppresion, Absorb!!!"

    "Solaris Solar Flare!!!"

    "Earth Magma Strike!!!"

    "Venus Cresent Beam Smash!!!"

    "Jupiter Thunder Crash!!!"

    "Mars Celestial Fire Ignite!!!"

    "Mercury Bubbles Blast!!!"

    "Moon Tiara Magic!!!" She paused slightly, then each scout de-henshined into their human counterparts.

    Richard was left in a stupor. Shaquita walked up to him and asked, "Now are you convinced?"

    "Uhh, je-jet-lag," He shook his head. "That's all. I just need to go to the hotel and take a nap.

    "Richard!!!" Shaquita steamed.

    "Okay, I believe you!!! But just one question, how come Raye over there gets the cool fire thing and I get wimpy drumstick and cymbal thing?"
 
    "Your attack is based on your planet, which Luna will help us figure out," Shaquita replied.

    "The white cat?" Richard asked.

    "The black one," Luna replied as she walked up, and then covered her mouth as she realized Richard was standing right there.

    "Major oopsie, Luna," Serena scolded.

    "Oh look at this," Raye crossed her arms,"The Queen Klutz telling someone they made an oopsie."

    "Like you didn' t almost barbecue us that time we were trapped in that bubble Malachite made, pyro!!!" Serena shot back.

    "I was trying to get us free, unlike you who just wanted to sit there and cry!!!"

    "Pyromaniac!!!"

    "Crybaby!!!"

    This started a yelling match between Raye and Serena, embarrasing everyone and making them get teardrops on the backs of their heads. Instead of trying to get them to stop, they left them outside to settle differences. "Well, Luna, you didn't make too much of an oopsie cuz Richirudo is a senshi now," Shaquita laid a hand on his shoulder.

    Richard pushed her hand off. "How many times have I told you DON'T CALL ME THAT!!!"

    "Don't call you what, Richirudo?" Ohiko giggled.

    "Oooh!!!" Richard fumed, and his symbol shown brightly on his forehead.

    Luna studied the sign for a minute. "The sign of the Moon?!? He has the sign of the Moon next to that fancy 'A' for a symbol. How do you have that???"

    "How in the universe should I know??? Beep-Beep!!!" Richard put up his "L" sign with his hand. "Up until now talking cats and Moon Princesses were only cartoons,"

    "Animes," Shaquita mentioned.

    "Don't correct me," Richard replied dryly. "Anyway, you expect me to come up with all this information on a moment's notice?!?!? You must be a true idiota!!!"

    "Calm down, Richie!!!" Shaquita found herself rubbing his back. Once she realized what she was doing she awkwardly retracted her hand. "Luna could you use your beam to reveal his symbol? Maybe I can get something from it, " Luna complied, meanwhile Serena and Raye came in, still arguing. "Shut up you two!!!" Shaquita yelled, then continued studying. After a while she spoke, "Richie, got that cymbal catalog with you?"

    "When don't I?" He pulled it out and handed it to Shaquita.

    She thumbed through a few pages. "Aha!!! I knew I had seen that 'A' somewhere before! It's the emblem on his favorite cymbals, 'A' custom Zildjans!!!" She smacked him on the forehead lightly. "I told you you take those drums too seriously!!!"

    "No, I don't!!! You and I both know that I have to have the best equipment to keep in practice for when I become famous!!!"
 
    "Yeah, you famous. The same day Luna becomes President," Shaquita nodded. Richard swung at her but Shaquita ducked just in time.

    "That still doesn't explain his senshi-ness," Mina spoke up

    Everyone turned to face her, "Senshi-ness???"

    "Back to the task at hand. What would Nega-energy, passed on through a scout, do to a person?"

    Now everyone turned to face Shaquita, "Huh???" "I was hoping to avoid this," She sighed. "There may be a chance I passed on some to Richard," She finished meekly.

    "Nothing, really," Amy said, typing on her palm computer, "maybe a little hyper-activity."

    "Okay, so that's ruled out, " Shaquita sighed.

    "Unless he's not normal, " Luna said, and did a backflip which produced a small snapshot.

    "Richard's never been normal," Shaquita stated. Another swing and miss from Richard.
 
    "I knew it! I knew you looked familiar!!!" she pointed to the picture. It was of a teenage Queen Serenity, a young kitten Luna, and a boy who strangely looked exactly like Richard. "This is a picture of me, your mother, Serena, and her favorite cousin, Richirudo Shiruba."

    "His name in Japanese," Shaquita whispered softly to herself.

"As I was saying, if I'm right and these two are related, then he's a descendent of the Moon, and all descendents of the Moon have a special gene..."

    "Which turned him into a scout when I gave him the energy!!!" Shaquita finished.

    Richard took the picture and stared at it a long time. He finally spoke. "This is my Great-Great-Uncle. I've heard that he was closely related to royalty, but I never knew....."

    "Who? Queen Serenity?" Mina asked.

    "Yeah," he sighed. "I never knew him but I've heard lots of stories about him and I have lots of pictures of him hidden at home, but none like this."

    "Hmm," Amy thought. "Does that mean he could be a rainbow crystal carrier?"

    "I thought we found all of those," Lita said.

    "Wait a minute!!!" Serena broke in. "If Richard's Great-Great-Uncle is my mother's cousin, that means we're related!!!"

    "And you came to this conclusion all by yourself, didn't you blondie?" Terra teased.

    "Ahh, so you got a little Puerto Rico in you chica? Tu quieres Taco Bell?" Shaquita giggled.

    "I don't like chiuauas!!!" Serena whined.

    "Uh-oh, I think we need a braver scout," Terra continued the already dead pun.

    "Uh, I know no one's paid any attention, but where's Reenie?" Lita asked.

    "The groundskeeper has her," Richard said, somewhat disconnected from the whole conversation.

    " Chad was off today," Raye thought to herself. "What'd he look like?" She asked.

    "Tall dude, old, white hair..."

    Raye's eyes grew wide. "Oh my damn, Malachite's got Reenie!!!"

    "Well let him keep the little spore mold, I don't care," Serena growled.

    "SERENA!!!" the group yelled.

    "I'm sorry!!! The little fungus thought it would be funny to put toothpaste on my sheets last night and I'm still mad about that."
    "Meanwhile, back on the planet Earth," Shaquita rolled her eyes. "We need to track him down."

    "I'm on it," Amy said, typing away madly.

    "We have to go downtown," She said after a few minutes.

    The scouts got up to leave. Shaquita stopped at the door, noticing Richard had not left his seat on the floor. She called to the others, "We'll catch up," before walking back and taking a seat next to him.

    "Que Pasa, Ricardo?"

    "Nothing really," he figeted nervously, fumbling with his fingers.

    "Now Richard, I know something's wrong. What is it?"

    "It's just all this information, it's a little hard to swallow all at once."

    "Don't feel bad," Shaquita put her arm around him, then retracted it quickly. "I didn't take it too well when I found out I was a scout either."

    "But look at you! You're just like the rest of them! You're a chocolate dipped Serena!!!"

    "Don't go that far," Shaquita shuddered.

    "Anyway, my first day as a sen-shen-senshi," The word stuck awkwardly in Richard's throat, "and I've messed up big time, what help am I? Maybe you'd be better off without me."

    "No, no, no. Don't even worry about it. You didn't know he was a negaverse general."

    "Negaverse General?!? ooooooh," he groaned and turned a sickly green.

    "You'll be just fine," Shaquita held his chin up and looked directly into his eyes. She couldn't help thinking, "Those are still the deepest, sexiest brown eyes I have ever seen." She shook herself out of her semi-trance. "There's one thing you should know, although we've lived hundreds of eons ago and have done this a million times over, when you first come back to being a scout the skill does not come to you automatically. It's just like Drill Team or Choir or anything else, you have to practice. Eventually you get better and the skill does come to you. Now come on, before the others leave us." The duo ran outside and Shaquita transformed.
 
 

    "I'm going to get those jewels back no matter what!!!" Malachite yelled to himself while tying Reenie tightly to a chair atop the Tokyo Tower.

    "Oh Malachite, have you really sunk this low?" Zoicite groaned as she materialized. "You have all the power of the negaverse and you play 'mousetrap' with the scouts? Ugh."

    "Didn't I tell you I will tolerate no more flack from you, General's Assistant Zoicite!?!" He said through clenched teeth, putting emphasis on her name and title.

    "That's why I'm here. I'm offering my verbal resignation as your assistant. Your recent actions have concerned and even frightened me and I would like no part in you demise. As for our relationship, we're through. I can no longer tolerate you nor your plans to take over. Goodbye." She stepped back to transport.

    "But Zoey," Malachite turned to face her for the first time, his face streaked with pain.

    "This is the path you have chosen, Malachite," The trademark whirlwind of rose petals rose and then she was gone.
 
    Anger once again set in on his face. "I don't need her anyway," He growled, and looked off into the city. "The 'failure' scouts should be here any minute."
 
    "That's right!!!" Reenie yelled. "Sailor Moon'll be here any minute and she'll kick your sorry behind!!!"

    "Shut up you little red-eyed wench!!!" he back-handed her forcefully, sending her skidding across the roof in her chair. "That crybaby can't save her money from the ice cream shop let alone save a human being!!!"

    Meanwhile the scouts and Richard were in front of the temple waiting for a result from Mercury's scanner.

    "So? Where is she?" Dark Moon asked.

    "I'm getting something. Reenie's been injured, but not badly. The injury caused her beam to go off."

    "Get to the point!!!" Richard yelled.

    "She's at the Tokyo Tower," She finished quickly.

    "Of course," Richard smacked his forehead, "From what Shaqui-- uhh, Dark Moon has told me, everything always happens at either the Shrine or the Tower."

    "Okay, I know y'all like running everywhere," Dark Moon put a hand on her hip, "but if you think I'm running all the way to the Tokyo..."

    *Beep-Beep* "You girls need a ride?" Tuxedo Mask as he pulled up in his red sports car. "I saw Reenie's energy-eee, Uh, hi," He stopped short as he saw Richard.

    "It's okay, he's one of us," Dark Moon explained. "But there is a problem though, nine of us, four seats."

    Moon stood there for a minute, "Okay, you, Richard, Earth, and Sun get in, the rest of us'll use Sailor Teleport." Moon said.

    The scouts stood, open-mouthed, staring at Moon. You-you just gave up a ride with Tuxedo Mask???" Mars asked, unblinking and unbelieving.

    "It's not the end of the world! We're the only ones experienced with teleportation so this is the best way!!!"

    "Whoa, Sailor Moon making sense, never thought I'd see it," Dark Moon said.

    "Come on!!!" Richard yelled from inside the car. Dark Moon got in the car and they pulled off while the others went back into the Temple.
 
 

    "The scouts should have been here by now!!!" Malachite yelled while looking out over the city. "Well, I guess I can amuse myself by playing 'Torture the Hostage' again" he turned towards Reenie, who was still tied to the now turned over chair. As he got closer she tried to get away by kicking, but it was no use. She closed her good eye (the other was swollen shut from her earlier ordeal) and awaited the pain she was about to endure. All of a sudden a cry of "Mars Celestial Fire, ignite!!!" was heard from the exit of the stairs to the roof and several fire rings hit Malachite in the back, making him fall flat. He winced as he got up. "So Princess Mars, you finally made it," he turned around, "and I see you're not alone."

    "That's right, Grandpa!!!" Moon yelled as she and the rest of the inners stepped out from the shadows. "I knew the Negaverse was dirty but I never thought you would stoop this low. I mean, kidnapping?!? I am Sailor Moon, protector of little children! I stand for Love and Justice, but I won't stand for the theft of human beings so on behalf of the Moon, I'll punish you!!!"

    "Oh, really? If you were really smart you would have known that I didn't want the pink weasel. I just wanted a chance to get the crystal and the..." He looked around for a moment "Where are the rest of you???"
 
    "Ki-yaa!!!" Out of nowhere Dark Moon karate-kicked Malachite in the back, co-incidently in the same spot the fire rings seared him. He fell to his hands and knees. "Who needs to rely on magical powers when you've got the element of suprise?" She giggled.
 
    "This is no laughing matter!!!" Malachite yelled. But you'll find out in a minute!!! Yah!!!" He sent out a beam to both Sailors Moon and Dark Moon's lockets, drawing them closer to him. As they struggled Malachite laughed, a near mad glint in his eyes, "They will be mine again!!!"

    "Not if we can help it!!! Jupiter Thunder Dragon, strike!!!"

    "Venus Love Chain Encircle!!!"

    "Mars Firebird Strike!!!"

    "Mercury Ice Bubbles Blast!!!"

    The attack caused him to release the Moons. Sailor Moon flew backwards and hit her head, knocking her unconscious. "My battle is not with you," he said indifferently and blew them off the roof with a wind attack. Luckily they caught hold of a flagpole on the way down. He turned back towards the duo. "Aww, little Moon taking a nap??? That'll make it much easier for me!!!" He ran towards them, slapped Dark Moon out of the way, then began choking Moon.Just then, a rose and a drumstick hit Malachite's hands, causing him to drop Sailor Moon. Then a blinding light flashed, causing everyone to cover their eyes. When it faded two tuxedo-ed men and a white Sailor-suited girl could be seen floating above the roof. "Argh!!! Tuxedo Mask!!! And who are the rest of you???"

    "I am Zildjan Mask!!!" The shorter man said "Protector of Sailor Dark Moon, the Onyx of Power, and her faithful scouts."

    Dark Moon frowned as she tried to figure out who it was. "They're not my scouts, really," She mumbled.

    "Shaquita, don't correct me!!!"He said in a fierce whisper. "And on behalf of the beautiful Princess Shaquita..."

    Dark Moon smirked as she realized who it was. "Flattery will get you nowhere, Richirudo!!!"

    "Don't interupt me, and DON'T CALL ME THAT!!! ahem. Nothing shall keep me from doing my task!!!" he threw several small cymbals, causing Malachite to stagger backward, while Tuxedo Mask jumped down and tried to revive Sailor Moon.

    "I am Sailor Solaris, I would tell you you can call me Sailor Sun for short but you won't live long enough to have the honor!!! Solaris Super..."

    "Nooo!!!" Dark Moon yelled. "You can't do that here!!!"

    "But I can!!!" Sailor Earth burst through another roof door. "Earth Magma Strike!!!" That attack landed him on the ground unconcious."

    "C'mon Sailor Moon, wake up!!!" Tuxedo Mask yelled, "You have to finish him off!!!"

    "Let me do it," Dark Moon said, picking up Moon's scepter and struggling to her feet. "Moon Sceptre Elimination!!!" Malachite's body turned to dust.

Sailors Mars, Venus, Mercury, and Jupiter ran through the door. "What happened? Where's Malachite?"

    "I just 'Moon Dusted' him, don't ask me how." Dark Moon said, staring at the Moon Sceptre in her hands.

    Zildjan Mask walked over to Reenie, untied her, and picked her up. "Tuxedo Mask, you saved me," she said weakly, then her eyebrows raised. "Wait a minute, didn't you used to be taller? And when did you grow a beard?"

    He smiled, "I'll tell you later." He then handed her to the real Tuxedo Mask and walked over to a far corner of the roof, watching everyone else. Moon's eyes fluttered open, "Wha- what happened?"

    "It's over," Venus replied, "Malachite's gone." Tuxedo Mask helped Moon up and walked her down the stairs, followed by the rest of the scouts, save, Dark Moon. She walked over to the railing and stared out over the city.

    Zildjan Mask walked over to her and put an arm around her shoulder. "Aren't you glad that's over?

    "That's just it, I've got this feeling it isn't over."

    "You mean there's more weird shit we gotta go through? Ay!"

    "Yes, and it's gonna hit a lot closer and be a lot more intense, at least that's how it looks," She sighed, then turned toward him and took the mask off his face, "but at least I have something familiar to cling to" She kissed him full on the lips.
After a while Zildjan Mask pulled away, "Does this mean that we're back together?"

"Let's just say, you have a pretty good chance." They returned to kissing as the Moon rose behind them