| Sailor Moon Act 4: Masquerade By Naoko Tacheuchi |
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Luna's paws deftly move across the keyboard of a computer as she looks at the information about the sailor scouts and Darien Shields. Little is known about him, and Luna ponders whether he is a friend or foe of the sailor team. The next morning, Bunny's mom is reading the newspaper. On the front page, Sailor Moon solving the "Phantom Bus" mystery is featured. She also sees a report of Princess D from D-Land arriving to show their national treasure. Bunny runs by, late for school as always. On her way to school, she passes many cops, but has no time to find out what's happening. Arriving at school, Bunny sees Molly who tells her the teacher has not arrived yet. Molly also knows that the cops on the street are due to the visit of Princess D from D-Land, an area known for its diamonds. A ball is going to be held at the embassy in her honor. After school, Bunny goes to the arcade for the scout meeting, arriving late because she had to stay after school for failing a test. Amy is glad she made it, but Raye complains about her tardiness. Raye announces she is too busy to be a scout and asks Luna what their origins are. Luna tells them they would not believe the truth at this time, and Amy asks for more information about the enemy. Luna is in the dark about the enemy, though, and tells the girls they were not chosen to fight the enemy, but rather chosen to protect the princess. The princess cannot be found because she was sealed away, probably because she has the Silver Imperium Crystal with her. (Bunny is playing the Sailor V game and is not paying attention.) Once the other two scouts are found, the full scout powers of all will be complete, and the princess will be unsealed. The information they need will come from their own memories, especially Bunny's. She was the first scout, and the leader. Andrew, the arcade worker, comes by and asks Bunny about the cops. She tells him about Princess D, and just then Melvin shows up with a photo of the princess. With her large glasses, the girls think the princess looks kinda like Melvin. But, Bunny still wants to go to the ball. Raye is hesitant, sensing trouble. Back in Dark Kingdom, the warrior Nephrite learns of the D-Land treasure and thinks it may be connected to the Silver Imperium Crystal. Queen Beryl tells him to find the Crystal, its power will revive Jadeite, and the Dark Kingdom will rule the universe. At Bunny's house, her dad is getting ready for the embassy ball. Bunny asks to come along, but her dad tells her to watch it on TV and leaves. Bunny decides to "investigate" and uses her disguise pen to morph into a princess, to Luna's dismay. Amy and Raye are already at the ball when Bunny arrives. The scouts are looking for the princess and notice Bunny is preoccupied with her daydreams. Bunny wanders around dreaming of joining the dance, when someone accidentally spills something on her dress. She goes off to find a sink to rinse off her dress in, and drops her handkerchief embroidered with her name, which is picked up by Darien. Standing by herself, Bunny looks sadly into the crowd. Dressed up like a beautiful princess, but all alone. Then, Darien/Tuxedo Mask whirls in and begins waltzing with Bunny. (Darien is wearing a tux and his mask, but not the Tuxedo Mask costume.) Bunny recognizes her dance partner as Tuxedo Mask and breathlessly whirls with him until Luna calls out to her. After turning towards Luna, Bunny looks back and Darien/Tuxedo Mask is gone. Luna explains they've found Princess D, however she is not the princess they are looking for. Inside, Princess D prepares to show the D-Land treasure to the assembly, wishing she were as important as the treasure seemed to be to the crowd. While leading Princess D to her room, the attendant shows herself as an enemy minion, and takes over Princess D's body, in order to gain the treasure and the energy from the crowd. The princess runs with the treasure towards the balcony and Bunny tries to catch her. However, the unearthly princess flings her to the side and over the railing. Darien/Tuxedo Mask reaches out and barely grasps Bunny's wrist. Before he can pull her up, they both begin to slip. Luna tells Bunny to use her pen, which she takes out and turns into an umbrella that floats them safely to the ground. Darien/Tuxedo Mask says "Thank you Sailor Moon" and runs off. Bunny transforms into Sailor Moon, but realizes that she is no longer wearing her tiara. Her body begins to feel warm, and a new tiara appears. The guests are being sucked into darkness by the enemy/Princess D and Sailor Mars' "Aku ryo tai san" attack does nothing. Tuxedo Mask (the real thing) appears in the back, telling Sailor Moon "To conquer the darkness, use the power of light!" Sailor Moon bounces the moonlight off the jewel in her new tiara with the words "Moon Twilight Flash!!" which destroys the shadow enemy created by Nephrite. As everyone begins to stir, Princess D is missing her glasses, and the scouts see how beautiful she is. Princess D quickly replaces the glasses, however, because without them she can't see a thing. She then presents the treasure, which turns out to be a 2000-carat diamond statue of the Queen of D-Land. Meanwhile, Sailor Moon is thirsty and begins drinking the cups left on the table, which she thinks are "kinda tasty". After she is pretty tipsy, she falls into Tuxedo Mask's arms. He lays her down against a pillar and kisses her, and they both feel like it is something that happened from a long time ago. Luna runs up and tells Tuxedo Mask to leave Bunny alone, asking if he is a friend or foe. Because all he knows is that he and the scouts are both after the Silver Imperium Crystal, he tells Luna that they might be enemies. All around the city a storm is beginning. |
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