"I. Am. STUPID," Ami hissed at her empty, silent bedroom through clenched teeth.
Somehow, it had not occurred to her, at the time of the Shishiuri incident, that footage of her assault on the nut in the shinigami costume would be broadcast all over the news all day and all night.
Or that her open use of her freezing powers would be quickly linked to the Saegusa incident.
Now, pretty much all of Japan knew the bastard had been killed by a Senshi.
Tsukino Usagi was none too pleased. And somehow, that unsettled her.
*Why should I care that Tsukino-san is upset with me?*
Indeed, there was no logical reason to worry herself over the other girl's disapproval.
And yet...
With a heavy sigh, Ami rolled over in bed, hoping to get at least an hour of sleep before facing the morning.
Usagi sat on a bench across the way from Ami, a textbook open in front of her, but her mind far from the math equations on the page.
As upset as she'd been with Ami's recklessness the day before, her mood had only worsened by the time she got home, minutes before dinner, to find her parents chattering anxiously about something on the terebi.
While she gaped at the shocking video of the jumper being rescued by Jupiter, her phone buzzed in her pocket.
After she'd read Rei's e-mail concerning the incident at Mugen Gakuen, she'd slipped away to call Makoto. Something about the "rescue" in the video looked questionable in her estimation, but despite a direct and pointed question about the incident, Makoto insisted she had not done what Usagi could almost swear she saw. However, the last thing the tea-haired girl wanted to do was insult or offend her new friend and formidable comrade by accusing her of...
Still, she couldn't quite shake the suspicion. And that, on top of everything else, left her in a brown study as she sat, alone and with an unusually solemn and grave expression.
Mercury had used her ice powers on an ordinary human playing dress-up to try to meet the Senshi.
Venus and Mars had nearly been drawn into an idiotic incident at their school, perpetrated by a pasty nerd in a stolen monster costume, who was trying to meet the Senshi.
And Jupiter had encountered a man faking a suicide attempt in order to try to meet the Senshi—and had scared him shitless by actually pushing him off the ledge and letting him think he was going to die, before saving him at the last second.
Yes, the more Usagi thought about it, the more certain she was that Makoto had in fact pushed the man off the ledge. As much as she liked the girl, as much as she pitied her and wanted to make her life better than it had been...she couldn't deny that Kino Makoto was troubled, and more than a bit sadistic at times.
*This has to stop before it gets any more out of hand...before someone really gets hurt.*
With a determined scowl on her face, she stood and strode to the stairwells that would take her to the ground level. En route, she texted Ami and Makoto, not bothering to look at the phone she held hidden in the pocket of her skirt as she did so—text by touch was a talent she and Osaka Naru had perfected before they were even out of elementary school.
* * * * *
"Anou...Kino-san? Eto...have you seen Usagi-chan?"
Makoto blinked at the frizzy-haired redhead, who seemed to have something crawling around in her underwear, judging by the nervous way she was squirming. "Usagi?" She frowned. "Iya, gomen, don't know where she is."
"Aa...doumo," Osaka Naru bowed hastily, nervously. "Sumimasen!" She took two skidding steps backwards, then turned and walked away with quick, nervous strides.
Makoto watched her depart, snorted, then returned her attention to the text message on the screen of her phone.
LEAVING TOWER. COVER FOR ME.
*What the heck are you up to, Usagi...?*
* * * * *
Serenity darted from rooftop to rooftop, spiralling outward from Tokyo Tower in a hasty, basic search pattern. When she had left the Tower, she wasn't entirely sure what she had planned to do, but as she gave the matter some thought, she became certain as to the proper plan of attack.
The media had created this nightmare. Now she was going to use the media to end it.
* * * * *
Makoto caught up with Naru and two of her friends—she couldn't place the girls' names—outside McDonald's. "Oi, Osaka," she called. "I just remembered what Usagi said this morning!"
Naru blinked. "Hai?" The other girls looked nervous at the mere presence of the tall girl.
"Un, she wasn't feeling well, so she got permission to leave to go to the hospital," Makoto said. "I think she had, y'know, cramps."
Naru and her friends blushed. "S-sou..."
Makoto looked up at the sign over the restaurant the girls were loitering in front of. "Hey, I haven't tried this place. It any good?"
"Aa—I guess so," Naru hedged. "We usually eat at Pizza-la, but we just thought today..."
Makoto smiled at the girls. "Cool, let's all go together." At their nervous expressions, she added, "My treat."
Naru blinked. "H-hontou?"
"Un."
The three shorter girls exchanged glances, shrugged, and followed the tall girl into the restaurant.
* * * * *
A television news reporter preparing to cover a dreary story about homeless people getting paid to round up crows was startled by the sudden appearance of a Sailor Senshi directly in front of her.
She yelped in surprise, and stammered, "S-Sailor—"
The girl before her raised a hand to silence her. "PLEASE don't call me Sailor Moon," she said in a pained voice. Coughing, she continued, "I'm sorry for startling you with my abrupt appearance, but I need a favour."
The reporter blinked. "A favour?"
"Hai." The golden-haired Senshi shifted somewhat uncomfortably. "Is there any possible way I could get a message out to people through your network? I'm not exactly sure how to go about this kind of thing, so I've just been running around hoping to find a terebi news crew, and..." She trailed off with a weak, nervous laugh. "Anyway, I just really need to tell everyone in Tokyo something. Can you help?"
"Are you KIDDING?!" the suddenly excited reporter exclaimed. "An interview with a Sailor Senshi? ABSOLUTELY I can help with that! We can do it right now!"
"Eh? Now?" the Senshi replied, blinking. "Are you sure? I mean, I don't want to interrupt whatever you're working on—"
"I've got forever to cover this stupid crow-catching story, and it's boring as hell anyway. You're REAL news."
"O-okay," the golden-haired girl replied, mouth slightly agape and cheeks flushing.
* * * * *
//...and we've just received word of breaking news. We now go to field reporter Ayase Takako.//
//I've just been approached by one of Tokyo's newest super-popular and mysterious protectors, the Sailor Senshi, who would like to address everyone viewing this broadcast.//
//A-Arigatou. Anou...my name is Serenity. The reason I'm here is...well, yesterday a bunch of people started doing really stupid things to try to lure my Senshi and I out in public. A whole lot of people could've gotten hurt. We're really not very happy about that.
//See, the thing is this: we're not what everyone seems to think we are, and we really don't want the kind of attention we're getting. The Senshi have a very specific mission, and every time some idiot dressed up like a monster starts running around scaring people, or some jerk decides to fake a suicide attempt just to get 'rescued', it's a distraction we don't need. Not to mention it's dangerous. People could really get hurt by these stupid stunts. So um...if anyone else had any plans to try to get our attention, just...don't. We're not going to show up for stupid things like what happened yesterday. We're leaving it to the police to handle such things from now on. That's their job.//
//Um...wow. Okay...Serenity, was it?...I think I speak on behalf of everyone when I say we're sorry some of the people of this city are going completely crazy and causing problems. Not everyone in Tokyo is like that.//
//Oh, I know. And it'd almost be flattering if people weren't being put in danger over it.//
//Do you mind if I ask a couple quick questions? I know you're probably busy, there's probably some robbery or mugging going on you could be stopping—//
//That's another thing. We're not crimefighters. This city has police. It's THEIR job to stop jewel thieves and such, not ours. Please don't get the wrong idea about us being some kind of manga superheroes. We're not.//
//Demo...you DID stop Tuxedo Kamen, and Sailor V—//
//Venus.//
//—Sailor Venus stopped the robbers who broke into Osa-P...//
//My involvement in the Yamagoto incident was a coincidence. I was already there for my own reasons. As for Venus, she was in the middle of an evening training session when she ran into the robbery and decided to work it into her exercise. In other words, we just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Don't depend on that happening again. Like I said, those are matters for the police to handle. It's not our fight.//
//...sou ka.//
//I'm sorry if that came across as a little harsh. The thing is, we're here to fight an evil force that's preying on mankind and could very well destroy the world. Every time we get sidetracked by some jewel thief or some lunatic otaku, that's costing the entire human race valuable time. We're soldiers, not vigilantes. The war against petty crime is your fight, not ours. That's why I'm saying we won't get involved in any more incidents that aren't directly related to our mission unless we absolutely have to.//
//...sou ka.//
//Anyway, that's all I wanted to say. I'll let you get back to the thing with the crows now. Bai-bai!//
//...and she's already gone. She moves so fast! Well, I...just don't have any words for what just happened here. Back over to you, Akio-kun.//
* * * * *
Serenity found a shadowy alcove close to ground level where she could land unnoticed and transformed back into Tsukino Usagi. Calmly, the schoolgirl made a beeline for the nearest rail station, losing herself in the bustling midday crowds, and pulled out her phone to send an e-mail as she walked.
TO: Mina Aino
Kino Makoto
Hino Rei
Mizuno Ami
FROM: Tsukino Usagi
RE: TV news
Leader of Senshi has appeared on terebi news re: stupid people from yesterday. Thought you might want to know. Watch for it tonight.
* * * * *
"The hell's this?" Makoto asked, peering intently at a slightly soggy strip of fried...something she was holding carefully by one greasy end.
"They're onion rings," one of Naru's friends replied. "They're cut-up onions fried in batter."
"Huh." Makoto popped it into her mouth, chewed thoughtfully, and wiped her mouth with a napkin. "Not bad. Little greasy, but not bad."
"Tousan says Japanese cooks can't do them justice," Naru's other friend said with a dainty sniff. "Tousan does business in America a lot, and he's had real onion rings. He says they're so much better than this."
"Really," Makoto replied, a thoughtful expression on her face as she absently chewed on another onion ring. "I'll have to look up the recipe for these and try to make 'em better than this, then."
"You cook, Kino-san?" Naru asked, blinking.
"Sometimes. It's a hobby."
"Sugee," Naru breathed. "You don't—I mean, that is—"
"I don't look like the kind of girl who cooks?" Makoto guessed, smirking.
"Aa—! I-iie, gomen, I didn't—"
Makoto laughed. "Calm down, Osaka. I don't know where the hell everyone gets the idea I'm some kind of sukeban, but I'm not, really. Just calm down, okay?"
"Aa...hai! Gomen." Naru flushed.
Makoto was about to say something else when her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out, examined the screen...
Instantly, her face clouded, and her eyes darkened. Wiping her mouth and hands on her napkin, she stood, slapping down a wad of crumpled bills and a few coins. "Something just came up. Ja." Before the others could blink, she was gone.
"Un..."
* * * * *
Ami stared at her phone, mouth agape in surprise. *She didn't...!*
A shadow fell over her.
"Oi, Mizuno...did Usagi read you the riot act about the shit from yesterday, then go do something just as fucked up herself today without asking what you thought about it?"
Ami pursed her lips in annoyance. "That is an adequate summation."
Makoto snorted. "Some leader, huh?"
The shorter girl adjusted her glasses. "Tsukino-san is quite impulsive, and given to weighing her actions with emotion rather than intellect." She frowned. "However, I must confess...her actions usually yield positive results." She looked pointedly up at Makoto. "You and I are both alive. Your situation has changed dramatically. All of this is due to Tsukino-san."
The tall girl nodded. "Un...so we should just let her do what she wants, because it'll probably work out?"
Ami scowled. "Absolutely not. That would be irresponsible and foolish. Our best course is to...advise her when we believe she is behaving rashly. After all, she has done so to us, has she not?"
"Well, yeah..." Makoto sighed. "Our little team's gonna need a lotta work, isn't it?"
Ami elected not to reply.
* * * * *
Mamoru fought the urge to laugh out loud as he watched the surprise news report with his study group.
"That was...strange," a stringy-haired student from Nara remarked.
"Un," a mousy girl in their study group echoed, pushing her square glasses up her small, round nose. "She doesn't sound all that nice at all, does she?"
"Yeah, that whole thing came off a bit bitchy," another, preppier girl replied.
A tall, muscular boy with dyed and frosted blond hair shrugged. "I dunno...if I had to put up with chasing fake monsters all the time and it kept me from doing something important, I'd probably be pretty ticked off about it." He turned to face Mamoru. "What do you think, Chiba-kun?"
"I think," Mamoru replied in the most acid tone he could muster, "that you're wasting time you should be spending studying with pointless chatter." He stood, closed his textbook with a snap, grabbed his rucksack, and marched away.
To his credit, he managed to hold back the laughter until he'd found an empty restroom.
Once he'd regained control of himself, he mused thoughtfully, *Well...at least I know I won't have to worry about those crazy girls anymore...*
* * * * *
Jadeite sat alone in the apartment, hands folded, staring absently at the television, lost in thought.
Nephrite strolled in through the front door. "Brother Jadeite, didst thou perchance witness the appearance of the Moon Princess on the humans' current events programme?"
"Just finished watching a repeat of it," Jadeite replied. "In a way, I feel...somewhat sympathetic."
The dark-haired Shitennou nodded. "It is ill fortune indeed that casts such ignorant peons before our worthy foes. Truly the humans of this era have achieved the pinnacle of foolishness."
"I agree." Jadeite frowned. "On the one hand, this particular breed of human stupidity is serving our purposes. As long as the Senshi are distracted by such nonsense, we can operate unfettered. And make no mistake, Her Highness' little speech will do nothing but encourage these idiots."
"Indeed."
"On the other hand, it is hardly honourable to hide behind a smokescreen, as it were, of human stupidity. The Senshi are worthy opponents, and deserve better. They deserve our full respect and attention."
"I concur wholeheartedly, brother."
"Then, what say you, Brother Nephrite? What course shall we set now?"
"An engagement. In as open a venue as possible. Ensure that the humans witness the full measure of the battle we bring upon the Senshi."
Jadeite nodded, smiling. "Couldn't have said it better myself. And I think I have just the youma for the job...."
* * * * *
Rei had been excused from classes for the last hour of the day to deal with "religious obligations" (as her grandfather called it; she was really just meeting an old drinking buddy of his to deliver a large bottle of sake as a birthday present). Mina managed to worm her way out of class as well by claiming to be helping as part of an initiation.
"You realise you have just earned negative karma," Rei pointed out as they slipped on their shoes.
Mina shrugged. "What the hell am I gonna learn in English class?"
"Point. Still..."
"So, what're we doing, anyway?" Mina asked. "I admit I just used the excuse to ditch class, but I really want to help you do whatever it is."
Rei smiled. "That is thoughtful of you, Mina-san, but in truth..." She fidgeted and bowed her head; her bangs obscured her eyes and she flushed slightly. "Jijiue is using me as a courier."
"Ah, so you're just running a pointless errand?" Mina replied. She snorted. "Well, let's get it over with so we can do something fun."
A short while later, they emerged from a rail station near Tokyo Tower. "Hey, maybe we'll run into the others!" Mina exclaimed.
"Possibly," Rei said. "However, our destination is Shiba Park."
"That's right, there's a really old temple in the park, isn't there?" Mina asked.
"Hai."
They quickly approached the park; Rei was about to explain something about the history of Zoujou-ji when she was cut off by a chorus of terrified screams.
The two girls shared a glance, eyes narrowed. They nodded in unison and dashed into the park.
"If this is another hoax..." Mina began. The rest of the sentiment died in her throat as she saw just what was happening.
A television news crew and nearly two dozen bystanders were held in some kind of living net that seemed to be made up of...
"Snakes?" Mina asked, eyes wide.
Rei scowled. "Youma," she hissed.
"Demon snakes, then. Great."
The writhing, scaly snakes were everywhere; half of them had deep crimson scales and the other half had dark green scales. They hissed and rattled; their (probably poisonous) fangs glistened in the afternoon sun.
"So this is really the real thing, huh?" Mina asked.
"Hai." Rei pulled her phone from her purse. "Wait until I call Tsukino-hime. Then we'll henshin and engage the enemy."
"Right."
* * * * *
The school day had just ended when Usagi's phone rang.
//Tsukino-hime,// Rei's voice sounded rushed, urgent. //A youma has appeared in Shiba Park.//
"A youma? Are you sure? It's the real thing this time?"
//Hai.//
"We're on our way." She spotted Makoto near the tower exit, and Ami loitering in a sweetshop. Without hesitation, she bustled over to the taller girl and snagged her by the elbow. "Trouble. Park. Get ready."
Makoto blinked at her for a second, then nodded, eyes hard and jaw set. Usagi didn't wait for a verbal response; she set off toward Ami, mindful of the press of normal junior high students all around her. Reaching the shorter girl just as she was paying for a cake, she leaned in and called out, "Ami-chan! Rei-chan wants us to meet her in the park, like right now. It's REALLY important!"
Ami shot her a brief, cross look, but the snap of impatience and the lack of a smile on the tea-haired girl's face forestalled any caustic retort. She merely nodded, adjusted her glasses, and hurried to the exit, Usagi hot on her heels.
Two minutes later, three Senshi were tearing their way across the block from Tokyo Tower to Shiba Park, surprising dozens of people as they passed.
"Was it absolutely necessary to be so public AND so familiar just now?" Mercury inquired.
"Gomen, but with that many people around, I couldn't just tell you what was going on."
The blue-haired Senshi sighed. "Of course," she admitted. "Still, that was more than a little embarrassing."
"Get over it," Jupiter snapped. "We don't have time for your kuudere bullshit right now."
"Enough, both of you," Serenity commanded firmly. "Focus on the battle ahead."
"Hai, hai, wakatta," Jupiter replied.
* * * * *
Things had gotten worse in the park.
As soon as they'd transformed, Venus had taken several shots at the nearest web of snakes; the reaction had been surprising and unwelcome. The snakes had unwound from their captives and collected in a coiled, writhing mass on the footpath. Once all the snakes had joined the squirming, hissing mass, it had begun to take on a disturbingly humanoid form.
"I hope they get here soon," Venus murmured, surveying the scene from her vantage point atop the roof of Zoujou-ji. "I don't think we can do this by ourselves."
"We may not have the luxury of waiting," Mars replied, wings beating slowly.
A golden blur suddenly zipped between them. "Sorry we're late," Serenity's voice dopplered from the blur as she descended, landing three metres from the writhing, hissing youma. The panicked bystanders burst into applause.
Venus and Mars nodded at one another, then descended. As they reached the ground, Mercury and Jupiter appeared from opposite directions, completing a semicircle around the youma.
"Careful," a voice hissed from a shadow under a bench. "That's Kuruga. He's a nasty piece of work."
"Thanks," Serenity muttered. "Keep a lookout for the Shitennou or those other cats."
"Understood," Luna rumbled; the aura of her presence faded.
The youma's form changed; what had been a vaguely humanoid mass of writhing snakes was now a scaly, manlike figure with rust-brown legs, a striped scarlet and green torso, a hideous brown, wrinkled, serpentine head, and claws made up of elongated fangs protruding from one hand. It sneered wickedly at them.
"Okay I think I liked the snakes better," Venus said.
Serenity's lips thinned to a white line as she glanced around the park. "We need to get these people OUT of here," she said.
"I don't think that's gonna happen," Jupiter grumbled. "Best we can do is try to keep them out of the crossfire."
"Agreed," Mars added. Flying slightly above the others' heads, she raised her voice and addressed the reporters and onlookers:
"Get thee gone from my sight, lest this minion of Lucifer strike thee down!"
As the bystanders milled and murmured, Venus translated, "She means get the FUCK out of the way or you might get killed." When the throng showed little interest in moving, the blond Senshi let out a frustrated growl. "Idiots."
"No more time to worry about them!" Serenity yelled. "Here it comes!"
"How sweet," the youma snarled in a rough, deep voice. "Senshi meat." It glanced around at them, then abruptly burst into a cloud of snakes, striking out in all directions.
"Abunai!" Serenity yelled. The Senshi leapt away in different directions.
"Can we take it out if we go after the snakes?" Jupiter asked.
"I hope so, because I get the feeling it's probably going to keep doing this!" Serenity replied, dodging three snakes and very nearly getting tangled up in her own limbs. With a scowl, she thrust both hands to her sides.
"CRESCENT MOON!"
At close range, the serpents couldn't evade her attack; two of them were sliced cleanly in half. The severed snakes fell to the ground, spraying greenish-black blood everywhere.
"Yosh'!" Jupiter cheered. "Alright, let's see how you like this one! SHOCKING THORNS!"
Several large, sharp thorns erupted from Jupiter's outstretched hands, electricity arcing and snapping between them. Four snakes were skewered; they fell to the ground bleeding and spasming.
"LOVE MACHINE!" Venus yelled, strafing the serpents chasing her. The glowing golden heart-shaped bullets perforated the snakes, but did little to slow their advance. Mars suddenly descended in front of her and slashed with her flaming sword. Three serpents became barbecue.
"Thanks," Venus said breathlessly. "I have got to get an attack that actually does something."
"Agreed," Mercury said as her Piercing Ice dropped two snakes. Looking around, she frowned. "We aren't doing enough damage," she commented.
"No shit," Jupiter replied, dodging four snakes that tried to catch her in a four-way pincer attack. "If we could get it to pull itself together again..."
Serenity unleashed several more Crescent Moons, chopping two snakes into multiple pieces. As she did so, she saw something that made her stop. "Minna," she exclaimed, "look! They're—"
"Regenerating," Mercury finished. "And multiplying. Like worms. All we're doing is creating more opponents."
"Great," Venus moaned. She yelped as a snake wrapped itself around her ankle; a second one nearly bit her, but a quick kick from Mars dazed it. "So what do we do?"
"I have an idea," Serenity said. "Mercury, do your fog thing."
"Ryoukai," the blue-haired Senshi replied.
"ROLLING FOG!"
A dense, chilling mist descended upon the park. After a few minutes, it thinned and dispersed.
The snakes were back to surrounding the bystanders, hissing and writhing and snapping.
"Ice try, bitch!" the youma's voice boomed from all directions, followed by a loud, hideous chuckle.
"Chikushou!" Jupiter spat.
"Everything we're doing is just making this mess worse!" Venus complained.
"Not necessarily," Mercury replied calmly. "The individual snakes aren't fast or strong enough to threaten us. I don't believe the youma can continue to multiply forever. Additionally, in order to threaten these innocent people, it must concentrate itself..."
"It's a sitting target," Serenity realised. "But—"
"If we attack it while it's a sitting target, it could spread out and our attacks would hit those people," Venus interjected.
"Precisely. So we need to use a strategy which will incapacitate the youma without significant harm to the hostages."
"I think I can do that," Jupiter said.
"You can take this thing down without hitting all those people?" Serenity asked.
"Iya," Jupiter replied. "But the trick here is taking it down without hurting those people, not without hitting them," she pointed out with a wicked grin.
Serenity frowned dubiously. "I see what you're thinking. I don't like it."
"Can you think of a better way?" the tall Senshi replied.
"Iie," Serenity replied with a sad sigh. "I suppose not. Alright...do it."
"Yosh'," Jupiter said. She closed her eyes and concentrated. All around her, the trees and shrubs began to quiver and rustle. After a moment of this, a veritable hailstorm of leaves filled the park, surrounding the writhing serpent nets.
"LEAF CIRCUIT!"
The park exploded with snapping, humming arcs of electricity. The Senshi quickly leapt away from the effect area; the youma wasn't quite as fast or as lucky. A horrific scream made up of hundreds of angry hisses rose over the din of the humming electricity. As Jupiter's attack subsided, hundreds of dazed, twitching snakes fell to the ground—as did half of the trapped bystanders.
"Good work, Jupiter!" Serenity called.
"No problem. So now what?"
"Yeah, it's gonna recover pretty soon," Venus pointed out. "We still don't know how to kill it."
"I have an idea," Serenity said, beckoning the others. The Senshi huddled and listened as their leader whispered her plan.
Once the huddle broke, Mars began burning as many of the downed snakes as she could. She had succeeded in destroying nearly a third of them when they recovered and coalesced into the humanoid form again. The hideous serpentine face with livid with rage. "You little BITCHES!" Kuruga roared. "What kind of heroes are you, anyway? That was one of the most craven things I've ever seen, and I'm a fucking demon!"
"Sacrifices within reason are sometimes necessary," Serenity replied coldly. "IMA DA!"
The other four Senshi abruptly dogpiled the youma, wrestling him to the ground. He struggled to disperse his body again, but the Senshi were straining to pin him down, and Jupiter was sending pulses of electricity through his body, preventing him from doing much beyond spasming uncontrollably.
"LET GO OF ME!" Kuruga roared.
"Not a chance!" Jupiter snarled. "Hayaku!"
Serenity stalked toward the pile of bodies on the ground and leaned in, a huge, glowing disc of silver moonlight ready in one hand. The youma's eyes widened.
"Full Moon," Serenity whispered, releasing the attack point-blank.
"Oh, FUCK!!" Kuruga yelled. The Senshi leapt away as beams of moonlight spilled out from his body. Two seconds later, he exploded violently, showering gore all over the park.
The unconscious hostages had recovered by now, and the entire crowd cheered. The Senshi exchanged glances, bowed to their fans, then departed in five different directions.
* * * * *
Ten minutes later, they regrouped two blocks west of the park in civilian form. "That was a nightmare," Mina said.
"That one was a hell of a lot tougher than the paper bitch," Makoto added.
"Hell, I'd take the demon panthers over another one like that," the British girl replied.
"I wasn't there for that fight, so no comment."
"We must assume any future enemies will increase in strength, and possibly in number," Ami said, polishing her glasses. "We must be prepared. And we must find the Maboroshi no Ginzuishou as quickly as possible."
"Ami-san is right," Usagi said, frowning. "This is gonna get a lot worse before it's all over with. We'd better do everything we can to make sure nobody gets hurt or killed."
"Including us," Mina added.
"Still," Makoto said, stretching, "not bad for our first full team battle, ne?"
Usagi blinked. "Hey, you're right, Mako-chan! That's the first time we've all fought together!" She beamed. "This calls for a celebration."
"Sounds good to me!" Mina chirped.
"Me too," Makoto grinned.
"I have no objections," Rei said softly.
"I'll pass," Ami said.
The others looked at her. "Oh come on, Ami-san, it's got to be all of us!" Usagi prodded.
"Yeah, come on, girl, take the stick out!"
"You gotta have fun while you're young!"
Ami sighed irritably. "Alright."
"Yosh'!" Usagi cheered. "So, what should we do?"
"How about karaoke?" Mina suggested.
The others stared at her.
"What?" she asked, blinking. "Isn't that something normal for Japanese girls to do together?"
"Aa, ee," Usagi replied. "Gomen...I just wasn't expecting anyone to suggest that." She flushed. "None of you really seem like the karaoke type."
"Oh," Mina said quietly. "Well..."
"It isn't a bad suggestion," Rei said quickly and somewhat defensively. "It is certainly a celebratory activity."
"Works for me," Makoto said, shrugging.
"I have no opinion either way," Ami added.
Usagi shrugged. "Okay then, karaoke it is!"
* * * * *
Jupiter's attack had fried almost every piece of equipment the television crews in the park had. One network, however, had luckily escaped with a working camera—and footage of the entire battle.
//Earlier today, Serenity, leader of the Sailor Senshi, made a sudden and dramatic appearance to give an interview. In the interview, she expressed anger with the people committing stunts to meet the Sailor Senshi, and made mysterious comments about a mission and a secret war.
//Less than six hours later, some hint of the 'mission' Serenity referred to made itself clear, as a monster appeared in Shiba Park. Incredibly, five Sailor Senshi appeared to battle the monster, and our team has exclusive coverage of the battle!//
Nephrite frowned and turned off the television. "That was a complete fiasco," he said.
"He put up a considerable fight," Jadeite said defensively.
"Against five foes whose power and skill are considerably greater than anticipated," Nephrite continued. "And whose combat prowess we can now examine thoroughly by virtue of the humans' video recording technology."
Jadeite stroked his chin. "Hmm. There is that." He sighed. "Still, this is starting to get out of hand. How the hell are these Senshi so powerful? We shouldn't be losing this badly at every engagement."
Nephrite sighed. "Brother Jadeite, thou failst to see what has transpired." He stood and began to pace. "For too long we languished in the darkness, exiled from this Earth, the very Earth from which our great strength of old sprang. We anticipated a restoration of that ancient bond once we escaped confinement in the Dark Kingdom."
Jadeite frowned. "But that didn't happen. We've lost the power of the Earth."
"Precisely. Our strength is greatly diminished, and our youma are of little consequence to these Senshi."
"That's the part that bothers me," Jadeite said, standing and beginning to pace as well. "These girls haven't had their power for very long, and yet..."
"And yet they wield it with considerable skill and efficiency."
"And if we don't find some way to restore our mana link, or a substitute source of power..."
"As I believe the humans of this age would say, the Senshi will curbstomp us."
"You must be angry if you're using colloquialisms," Zoicite's voice lilted from thin air, followed by his effeminate chuckle.
Jadeite sighed in exasperation. "Why do you delight in aggravating your brethren?"
"Because you're all so stuffy and serious all the time. You could do with a little aggravation."
"We have sufficient aggravation to contend with, Brother Zoicite, without thine base antics."
Zoicite finally decided to appear, smirking. "Yeah, I heard. And I saw. They're a problem, aren't they?"
"So, do you have any useful suggestions about dealing with this?" Jadeite asked archly.
"Simple," Zoicite said. A pair of crystal sai appeared in his hands, and he spun them expertly, a malicious grin crossing his face. "Leave them to me."
* * * * *
"Konbanwa, Ami-chan! You're home late."
"I apologize, Okaasan."
"I'm not upset. I'm just surprised."
"I was with..." Ami paused, then, steeling herself, she added, "...friends."
The next few minutes of motherly squee were sheer torture.
* * * * *
Usagi had just gotten out of the bath when...
"That was quite a performance you put on today, Your Highness."
Shrieking and wrapping her towel tightly around herself, she turned and faced the amused mage, glaring irritably at him. "You really ARE a pervert after all!" she accused shrilly.
Artemis chuckled. "Apologies, Your Highness. I suppose I just have bad timing. Anyway, you might be interested in knowing that Luna just spotted Tuxedo Kamen entering a bank..."
* * * * *
Tuxedo Kamen emerged onto the roof of the bank, the deposit box strapped securely to a harness underneath his cape.
Stealing an entire safe deposit box was not his style, nor was it particularly easy, but given the nightmarish security inside the vault, he simply had not had time to pick the lock on the box while still inside.
No matter. He had the goods, he'd made a clean escape, and once he ascertained whether or not the Tears of Diana contained the Maboroshi no Ginzuishou, he'd—
"It's been a while, Tuxedo Kamen."
The thief froze, staring into the cold, sharp blue eyes of Sailor Moon.
She wasn't alone.
*Oh...shit.*
