"It was him!"

"Don't be ridiculous. Why would Hunter mug you?"

"It's New York, Mom, we could take a survey and find out. Does it matter why?"

"I'm not going to call up the O'Briens and accuse their son of mugging. Now get your things together; he'll be here soon to walk you to school."

Virginia suppressed a growl of frustration as she collected her books into her backpack and sat on the porch. Phoebe kept her company as they waited.

"I should just leave without him," Virginia speculated, rising to her feet.

"Your mom said to wait," Phoebe scolded, prodding her foot in warning.

"I don't care if he is Tux Boy; he tried to mug me."

"He what? You never told me this. Are you sure it was Hunter?" She dismissed it. "So he tried to steal your lunch money. In the grand scheme of things, he's still more help than hurt."

"He didn't go for my 'lunch money', he went for my pendant."

Phoebe suddenly rose to her feet. "Your pendant?"

"Here's the warden, checking in," Hunter said as she came up the walk. "Let's go." He then noticed Phoebe. "Since when do you have a cat?"

"Since when do you care?"

Phoebe approached, and Hunter backed off with a wince. "You should have gotten a dog. Come on; don't make me nag you."

Phoebe growled low at Hunter until he and Virginia made it to the sidewalk and started the walk toward the bus stop.

"Saw 'Wicked' last night. Grace was there, too."

"That's nice."

"How long have you and Grace been friends?"

"About three years now."

"Is she…Does she ever…Have you ever noticed anything…different about her?"

"Like what? She sprouts a tail when the moon is full?"

"Different like...Does she ever just suddenly leave anywhere without explanation?"

The realization hit her: he was asking, because he thought that Grace was Sailor Virgo. Virginia reconfirmed her genius at having given up her "Wicked" ticket, regardless of how badly she wanted to see the show. Withholding any amused grins, she replied, "Yeah, now that you mention it. She's been doing things like that the past few days."

Hunter ceased any other conversation, as they were coming upon the bus stop, and there was Grace and someone else there. As soon as they approached, Grace began gushing out a conversation with Hunter about the performance they had seen the previous night. The other girl who was waiting furrowed her brow in annoyance and inched away slightly, tapping her foot impatiently until the bus finally arrived. Grace and Hunter sat next to each other, and Virginia made herself a mental note to show her displeasure to Grace later. There was an empty seat across the aisle, so she slid in and stared out the window.

"Um...excuse me..."

Virginia looked over to see the girl who had been waiting at the bus stop with them. "Yes?"

Tucking her long blonde hair behind her ear, she said, "Could I have the window seat?"

Virginia shrugged and moved over to allow the girl to sit next to the window.

Upon sitting, the girl winced slightly. "Are bus windows always so dirty?"

"I guess so."

"Maybe I should sit by the aisle."

With a sigh, Virginia scooted over to the window so that the girl could sit by the aisle. When the bus driver put on the gas and bus lurched forward, the girl fell out of the seat and into the aisle, which would have been embarrassing enough, except that her tartan skirt was relatively short. Her face flushed deep red as she heard a few people laugh openly, then she rose and composed herself as best she could.

"Let me sit by the window," she demanded, her grey eyes slightly wet.

Virginia moved over again, and the girl fell into the window seat, folding her arms and directing her face to the window.

In spite of herself, Virginia felt compelled to try to comfort her. "You shouldn't be embarrassed," she said. "An hour from now, those immature idiots will have completely forgotten about it."

The girl turned around, mascara lightly running down her cheek. "Do you have any Kleenex?"

Unzipping the front pocket of her backpack, Virginia dug past the moist towellettes, band-aids, and antiseptic to find the packet of tissues. As the girl wiped her nose and dabbed the mascara from her cheek, her eyes wandered over the backpack.

"Where did you get that?" she asked.

"I ordered it off ebay, actually," Virginia replied.

"It's so vintage-style." She ran her finger along the pocket. "Is that suede?"

"Washable suede."

"Nice..." The girl showed her backpack. "Microsuede. Barney's. Oh my god! Can I...?" She carefully took hold of Virginia's diamond pendant. "This is gorgeous! Where did you get this?"

"It was my great grandmother's."

"So gorgeous!" The girl lightly tossed the pendant up and down in her hand pensively. "Ten...fifteen...twenty karats, at least! And...18k gold!" After one more tentative toss, she corrected, "24k gold!"

Virginia smiled politely while tugging the pendant out of the girl's eager hands. The girl then looked for a place to put her used Kleenex, when Virginia took a Ziploc bag from her backpack, and opened it in offering. The girl put the Kleenex in and then dangled the plastic bag in front of the people sitting in the seat in front.

"Pass this to the trash," she said.

After receiving an odd look at her request, the plastic bag was taken away, and she sat with her compact mirror to make sure her make-up wasn't ruined.

"I'm Cyan Hildebrand," she said with a smile. "Who are you?"

"Virginia Starr."

"Starr...Starr...Oh, we have third period Phy Ed together, don't we?" After taking a moment of thought to confirm her statement, Cyan asked, "Do you always ride the bus, Virginia?"

"Yes."

"Ugh! I sure feel sorry for you. When my daddy's porsche comes back from the shop, we can give you a ride to school."

Virginia's eyebrow quirked in disbelief. "What?"

"It's in the shop now, that's why I have to ride the bus. But when it's fixed, he can give us a ride, so we don't have to ride the bus."

The bus slowed to a halt, and people beganto unload. "I'll see you in Phy Ed, Virginia!" Cyan bid as she hurried to get off the bus, wiping invisible filth from her clothes before going inside the school.

That day at third period Phy Ed, Cyan clung to Virginia as though they were life-long best friends. She made sure they were partners for basketball warm-ups, and passed the ball to Virginia every chance she could during the game. Virginia was becoming increasingly annoyed, and began to regret her single, simple act of sympathy.

After class, as she finished changing from her gym clothes and into her regular clothes, she pulled her sock from her left shoe and tipped it upside down. As always, it was where she hid her pendant, not being allowed to wear it during class. However, the pendant didn't fall out. Pressing her fingers together throughout the sock, and even after turning both socks inside-out, the pendant was nowhere to be found.

"Cyan, do you know where my pendant is?" she asked. Only in a moment of desperation would she talk to her.

"No–it's gone?" Cyan's eyes grew instantly wide. "Oh my god! Where did you put it?"

"Where I always put it! And my locker was locked!"

The two of them tore apart her locker, looking for it in every possible nook and cranny–though seeing as Virginia's locker was pristinely organized, there weren't many places the pendant could hide.

The three-minute warning bell rang.

"I'll help you look after school," Cyan offered dismissively as she left for class.

While Virginia made her way to her next class, she took out her cellphone and hit the speed dial for Phoebe. "Phoebe? Are you there?"

"Something wrong, Virginia?"

Virginia hushed her voice. "My star pendant's been stolen."

"Stolen?!"

"I had to take it off for Phy Ed, and I put it in my sock in my shoe, and I locked my locker with my combination lock, and it's not there! I have class; could you sneak into the school and look for me?"

"Of course. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Thanks."

Virgina could barely focus on her classes as her mind scrambled over the possibilities of what happened to her pendant. It was easy to conclude that Hunter could have stolen it, as he had attempted to before. But Cyan had also shown a great interest in it, and knew exactly when and where it would be abandoned. Then she began to scold herself for being so stupid as to parade around such a valuable item, and yet she knew that she had to take it everywhere for her duty as Sailor Virgo.

At lunchtime, Grace noticed that Virginia was no longer wearing her pendant, and Virginia begrudgingly talked about how it had been stolen. Moments later, to her dismay, Cyan found her and sat next to her.

"Hi, Virginia!" she piped cheerfully as she sat down and opened her designer lunch bag to unload a gourmet lunch of seafood. "Did you find your pendant yet?"

Virginia shook her head. "I did report it to the front office, though, in case it turns up."

Across the cafeteria, Virginia caught sight of Phoebe slinking past the hot lunch line. Virginia waved her head slightly to get the cat's attention, and the cat shook her head in reply–she hadn't found it, either.

"Are we supposed to take the bus home, too?" Cyan asked with a hint of dislike.

"Yes," Virginia replied.

"Rgh. Hopefully daddy's porsche won't be in the shop too long."

"Wow–your dad has a porsche?" Grace asked.

Cyan's brow furrowed in slight irritation. "Who are you?"

"Grace O'Malley."

"Hm."

"Are you Cyan? I think we have fifth period Study Hall together."

"I don't remember." She took a bite of sushi and said, "Virginia, meet me after school so we can get on the bus together."

In faith, I do not love thee with mine eyes

For they in thee a thousand errors note

But 'tis my heart that loves what they despise

Who in despite of view is pleased to dote

Virginia's concentration on her English lesson was interrupted by the buzz of her cellphone vibrating. Not now!she thought in dread. Nonetheless, she excused herself from the room, bringing her backpack along. After locking herself into a bathroom stall, she flipped open the cellphone. Sure enough, there was an ENEMY ALERT. She speed dialed Phoebe.

"What am I supposed to do?!" Virginia said. "I can transform, but I can't fight without my Stardust Pistol!"

"You have to try, Virginia–if we give the enemy an inch, they could take a mile."

"Proverbs are not helpful right now!" After a moment to collect herself, she said, "I'll be there." Hopefully Zodiac Mask will show up with some sticks of dynamite or something...

Just as she was heading out the bathroom door, Cyan was entering. "Hi, Virginia!" she said. "What a coincidence!"

"Yeah...small world..." She took off running down the hall.

"Virginia, where are you going?"

Virginia didn't stop until she was out of the building, then she halted to look at the diagram on her cellphone. "Looks like it's just down the street..."

Running as fast as she could manage, she came to a building marked "Goldbrick Gym". Considering the screams issuing from the building, she could tell that she was at the right place. She first ducked into the alley and used her cellphone to transform into Sailor Virgo. She then entered the front doors cautiously. She knew she had to find the demon, but she had no idea what to do once she found it.

The gym was a maze, difficult to navigate even with her cellphone. It took a full fifteen minutes for her to reach the weight room, where the demon stood over a weightlifter who had collapsed under his dumbbell. The demon picked up the weightlifter by his ankle and slung him over his back.

"Put him down!" Virgo commanded.

The demon looked over to her with mild curiosity. But it only turned away toward the stairwell and began to descend.

"I can't just stand here..." Virgo said. It rather surprised her to hear how dedicated she had already become to her duty. "Where's Phoebe? She could at least jump and claw at it." But it wasn't long for Virgo to figure out something to do. While the demon descended the stairs, Virgo threw a 5 lb weight disc, hitting the demon in the heel and causing him to trip slightly. She then grabbed the heaviest dumbbell she could carry and rushed down the stairs, striking the demon in the head with the dumbbell. It was enough to make him drop the weightlifter, who Zodiac Mask caught before hitting the stairs.

"Take him somewhere safe," Virgo instructed.

"Will you be alright?"

"Just go!"

Zodiac Mask left to do as she instructed. The demon came to from the blow to its head, and took hold of Virgo with its massive hands. She coughed at the sudden squeeze around her waist, and the demon slammed her back against the wall. Virgo bit her tongue–she didn't want to scream, no matter how painful the hit was.

"Hey, stop that!" The voice came from somewhere else in the room.

Shaking her head to restore her proper vision, Virgo looked out across the room and thought to be hallucinating–the girl was wearing a soldier outfit exactly like hers, only blue. And if that weren't strange enough, through the blue mask, it looked like Cyan. The soldier looked down where Phoebe stood beside her, saying something that Virgo couldn't hear. The soldier then drew her hands through the air, saying, "Libra to arms!" She conjured a misty image of golden balance scales. From the image, she plucked the two scales and the chain attaching them, and they became tangible. She twirled them like bolos and cried, "Libra scales of justice!"

Throwing the bolos, it twirled and sped toward the demon, and struck it, flying about its neck. The demon dropped Virgo as it struggled to pull the bolos from his neck. Virgo staggered to her feet, and the soldier rushed over to help move her away from the demon.

"Are you okay, Sailor Virgo?"

Virgo nodded through a wince of pain. "Who are you?"

Phoebe answered, "This is Sailor Libra!"

"If the talking cat says it, it must be true," Sailor Libra said. "Did you know that this cat can talk?"

In a roar of fury, the demon tore the bolos, making it vanish. In a desperate attempt, Virgo said, "Virgo to arms!" making her pistol appear. She then pointed it at the demon and cried, "Virgo Stardust Blast!" Nothing happened. The demon began to charge toward them, snarling.

"What now?" Virgo asked Phoebe. "I can't kill it!"

The demon lashed out its arms, but both soldiers managed to dodge aside in time. Zodiac Mask emerged at the top of the stairs, brandishing a full hand of cards. "Royal Flush!" He flicked the cards at the demon, and they sped around it, creating a confining whirlwind.

"Here," Virgo said, putting the pistol in Libra's hand. "Let's both try this together, both pull the trigger. Maybe we can combine our powers and make it work."

"Did Phoebe teach you that?" Libra asked.

Virgo hesitated before answering, "Actually, I thought of it because of Captain Planet."

"You're taking lessons from a cartoon?!"

"Just try it!"

Each with one finger on the trigger, they said together, "Zodiac Stardust Blast!" and pulled the trigger. A beam of green and blue light shot from the pistol and pierced into the demon, disintegrating it into ash. The whirlwind that had contained it subsided.

"...Is it dead?" Libra asked.

Virgo laughed, partly out of the absurdity of the question, and partly out of relief at the answer: "Yes, it's dead."

Libra vocalized a groan of relief. "That was insane! What the heck was that thing, anyway?"

Virgo shrugged. "A demon of some kind."

Zodiac Mask stepped forward to collect his cards, looking them over with a slight chuckle. "This is actually a full house, threes over sixes. That explains why it was such a small twister..."

"Stupid!"

The shrill voice had not come from anyone in the room, and the four looked frantically around the room for the source.

"I should know better than to send demons to do the job. I'll have to do it myself from now on."

After the echo of the voice silenced, all waited to hear anything further, but that seemed to be the end of it.

"You all heard that too, right?" Libra asked. "I'm new to this, so I want to make sure I'm not going crazy."

"We heard it too," Virgo and Zodiac Mask confirmed.

"We-ird..." Libra chimed, still looking to try to find who had spoken.

Cyan insisted that Virginia join her at Starbucks to talk over all that had happened. Though Virginia rather wanted to go home, especially since she was already more late than her mother expected, Cyan insisted too hard to refuse. So they sat in the furthest corner with their oversized blueberry muffins to talk in low, quiet voices.

"I couldn't believe when a cat started talking to me," Cyan said. "I mean, first, I found this weird cellphone in my backpack, then I started talking to someone, and then I found out I had been talking to a cat over the phone, and...well, I'm sure you know. How long have you been doing...all that?"

"Only since Tuesday."

"Really?" She sipped her cappuccino. "It's like a movie, you know? But it's real. That's what's so weird. It's like just when you think things can't any weirder, you know? And who was that guy in the tuxedo?"

"He calls himself Zodiac Mask."

"And, what, he's one of us?"

"I don't know. I think he...Cyan, you remember my pendant?"

"Yeah, of course."

"I really need that. It's what I normally use for my Virgo pistol. So if you know where it is, I really need it."

"I don't know where it is; I honestly don't." She set down her cappuccino, indignant. "You think I stole it?"

"I just had to make sure, alright? In all fairness, you were a complete stranger to me before today."

Cyan took another sip of her drink. "I didn't steal it."

"Then he did."

"Who? That mask guy?"

"He's tried to steal it from me before."

"But he helped us fight that demon. If you need it for your pistol, why would he steal it?"

"I don't know, but he probably did."

After a moment of silence, Cyan asked, "How do you use a diamond pendant in a pistol?"

Virginia quipped, "How do you use a cellphone to change your outfit?"

Cyan laughed. "Fair enough. Fair enough."