Count Dark had a puzzled expression on his face as he examined O'Chunkten, "O'Chunkten…" he started slowly, "What is that on your face…?"
O'Chunkten rubbed his cheek with the palm of his beefy hand slowly, removing his palm to show the mark on his cheek, "Oi, you mean this?" He asked, mostly for confirmation.
Mimi, who was wearing a black jacket and blue jeans, covering her eyes with sunglasses and her hair with a sunhat, tilted her head slowly, leaning forward to O'Chunkten's face, squinting her eyes to get a better look, "It…It looks like a…boot mark?"
"Aye, that's because it is!" O'Chunkten exclaimed.
"Oh? Did those Sailor Scouts finally manage to get a hit on you?" Dimentio asked in a somewhat mocking tone.
"Not at all!" O'Chunkten scoffed, the very idea of those dainty teenage girls in high heels and miniskirts actually landing a hit on him seeming impossible at best, "I was about to return teh targets soul because it was a dud, when suddenly this weird guy blindsided meh and sent meh through a damn wall!"
"Hold on a moment…" Dark started, "Someone, not allied with the Sailor Scouts, attacked you?"
"That's not even all of it, Count," O'Chunkten continued, "The buggah even had teh never to take the Pure Soul, even though it was a dud!"
"It seems we may have a new player in this game, Count," Dimentio suggested, snickering to himself at the mere thought.
"Indeed, Dimentio," Dark nodded, "It's bad enough our progress is attempting to be halted by a group of teenage girls, but now there is someone else hunting for the Pure Souls? Why can't things ever go smoothly?"
"If it was easy it wouldn't be any fun, Count!" Mimi nodded, giggling at the thought, "Once we crush those Sailor Scouts and that other guy, the world will be ours for the taking!"
"I do think the idea of a challenge is rather fascinating, Count," Nastansia nodded, adjusting her glasses with two fingers.
"Hm, yes, perhaps," The Count nodded, "I have the target ready for tomorrow, but until then, get some rest, everyone."
"I have a Monsuta that will
be perfect for this job anyway," Nastansia nodded, walking off to her lab.
.
.
The following day, about midafternoon, Usagi, Chibiusa, Grace, and Rei were all invited, by Kate, to the Juuban Concert hall to watch her practice performance before the big concert tomorrow. During Kate's performance, Usagi leaned over to Grace, whispering over to her, "Wow…I had no idea Kate could sing…!"
Grace smirked slightly, returning the whisper, "Yeah, she's amazing, isn't she?"
"She could almost be on par with me," Rei commented.
"You sing, Rei?" Grace looked over at Rei with a surprised, yet interested look.
"Mhm," Rei nodded, crossing her legs, as she didn't take her eyes off Kate.
"Her voice is great though…!" Chibiusa commented.
"Sssh!" Grace waved an arm excitedly, "Here comes her big part!" The other singers quieted down as Kate was required to hit a high note, which she did so beautifully, thus ending the practice. After Kate finished, a woman wearing a classical musical conductors outfit, and her brown hair tied into a bun stepped forward, clapping her hands excitedly.
"Bravo, bravo!" The woman grinned, congratulating all of the singers, "You all did excellent! We finished things a bit early today, so you all can go home and get some rest!"
"Let's meet her outside," Chibiusa suggested. Afterwards, the girls all walked outside, meeting an ecstatic Kate at the front doors.
"Did you guys like my singing?" Kate asked, a bit nervously as she felt she screwed up on that last note.
"Fantastic as always," Grace said with a smile.
"You were amazing!" Usagi's eyes sparkled slightly.
"I like it, almost on par with me," Rei nodded, smiling.
"You were great!" Chibiusa grinned, nodding her head a few times.
"Thanks!" Kate grinned, letting off a sigh of relief as she started walking, motioning for the girls to follow, "Ms. Cooke is really excited for this! She's been keeping us all pumped for it too!"
"I bet you'll do great!" Usagi said with an encouraging voice.
"I hope so—Oof!" Kate accidently bumped a passing female's shoulder, "O-Oh, I'm sorry!"
The female slowly turned around, "N-no, it's oka-." The female stopped mid-sentence once she realized whom it was who bumped into her.
"M-Mako-chan!" Chibiusa looked at the depressed former Scout with worry.
"Oh…Hey…" Mako didn't sound all that happy to see her friends, as she hung her head down slightly.
"Where were you…?" Grace asked, "We didn't see you at school today…"
"I was at home…I wasn't feeling too well, that's all," Mako sighed, not making eye contact with any of the girls in front of her.
"…Hey, Makoto," Kate spoke up slowly, a smile forming across her face, "I'm having a concert tomorrow night, how about you come and watch?"
Mako paused for a moment, pondering the idea in her head for a few minutes before nodding slowly, "Sure, I'll come; it'll help take my mind off of things…"
"Great!" Kate clapped her hands excitedly, "I'll just-" Her eyes suddenly widened as she started to panic, "W-Where is it? Nonononononononnononono!"
"Eh…?" Rei tilted her head just slightly, a tad confused at why Kate was suddenly panicking, "Everything okay, Kate?" She asked curiously, raising an eyebrow.
"I left my puuuuuuuuuuuurse…." Kate groaned and pouted, before perking up, "Oh, I left it back at the Concert hall, silly me!" Before anyone else could get a word in, Kate quickly turned on her heels, then sprinted back to the concert hall.
"Why do I have the feeling she'll probably get herself hurt?" Chibiusa thought aloud, toying with one of the pink rabbit ear shaped buns on her hair.
"Because she's Kate," Grace sighed, starting to walk in the direction Kate sprinted off at, "Come on, she might trip like Usagi or something."
"HEY!" Usagi huffed and crossed her arms, pouting as she looked at the street.
.
.
O'Chunkten stepped inside the Concert hall, allowing the door to slam shut behind him, alerting whoever was inside to become aware of his presence; O'Chunkten glanced over at the picture, a picture of Ms. Cooke, the Musical Conductor for the concert for the following night. "I hope da lass is still here…I really don't feel like lookin' for 'er." O'Chunkten walked into the main room, looking down the large row of chairs and onto the stage; to his surprise, there was a woman there. "Hm?" He walked down two the stage, the woman on the stage looking similar to the one on the picture; this had to be the target. To O'Chunkten's luck, it was, and he spent no time grabbing Cooke by her collar as a dark aura started to surround his hand, "Alright, let's make this a quick one, eh?" He stuck his hand into Cooke's chest, causing her to shriek out in pain.
Just then, Kate had just walked onto the stage after finding her gray purse, sighing happily that it wasn't stolen, "That was close…" The pained shriek immediately caught her ears as she looked over to see O'Chunkten, "H-He's here?!" Without thinking, she recklessly charged forward, swinging her purse as O'Chunkten, screaming, "Let her GO!"
"Aye, what a bug…!" O'Chunkten removed his hand from Cooke's body, then proceeded to backhand Kate, sending her into the wall and knocking her out, "Yeesh, what's up with the annoyin' teenage girls as of late…Mimi's the only sane one around these days I swear…" He sighed, and then proceeded the Pure Soul extraction process once again since he was so rudely interrupted. As he finished removing the Pure Soul, a commanding voice told him to halt, "Oh…don't'cha tell meh…" O'Chunkten turned, only to see Sailors Moon, Chibi Moon, Mars, and Z.
"Stealing the harmonic soul of one who loves music is an unforgivable action!" Sailor Moon shouted from atop the room, "The pretty suited sailor when the Sailor Senshi, Sailor Moon!"
Chibi Moon jumped up, a serious look on her face, "And I am Sailor Chibi Moon! And in the name of the moon, we will punish you!" She said this last part in unison with Sailor Moon.
"Oi, you lasses sure are persistent…" O'Chunkten sighed, snapping his fingers, a humanoid creature with a harp sticking from their midsection appearing, "Black Harp, just…do whatever with these people." O'Chunkten dropped Cooke's body, allowing the soul to float back into her body as he teleported away.
Mars looked over to Mako, who was hiding in between a row of chairs, "Stay safe, Mako-chan, we can handle this." Mako simply nodded as a response.
"Would you ladies like a shot at my finely tuned strings~?" The Harp asked in a musical voice.
"Uh…what?" Z tilted her head in confusion.
"I think he's asking us to hit him…" Chibi Moon guessed.
"I'll take care of it then!" Mars traced her finger in a clockwise motion, a travel of fire slowly following her path; she then placed her hands in front of her, as multiple symbols appeared, "Burning Mandala!" Several rings of fire traveled towards the Black Harp, only to bounce off the strings, causing the girl's eyes to widen, "W-What!?" The Scouts quickly hit the deck as the rings of fire flew over their heads.
"Anyone else want to give it a shot?" The Black Harp strummed its own strings beautifully, but the sound it created was an ear splitting screech, causing the girls to place their hands over their ears in attempt to block out the sound, "If it doesn't work, that sound is only going to get worse~."
"Pink Sugar Heart Attack!" Chibi Moon held her tiny wand forward, radiant pink hearts shooting out from it; the hearts bounced off the strings and onto Chibi's head, causing her to stumble back a bit, "Ow ow ow! Is THAT how it feels?!"
"That's twice; two strikes and you're out!" The Black Harp started strumming its strings again, letting out a soothing tone instead of the ear splitting noise.
"This is…so relaxing…" Z's eyes slowly started to get heavier as she yawned.
"I could fall asleep…" Sailor Moon yawned herself, curling into a ball on the floor.
"W-What's going on…" Mako peered over the chairs at the Harp; she couldn't' feel anything but the tension inside her body, "Why are they getting so tired…?"
"The sound of death is so relaxing, isn't it?" The Harp chuckled before its strumming sent musical notes forward towards the girls; however, the musical notes exploded on contact, sending the girls flying away.
"Ah!" Mako let out a yelp from surprise, her eyes widening, "T-That's not good…!" She thought about helping, but then she reminded herself that she would only get in the way, and make the situation worse; it was painful for her to just stand by and watch, but it was all she was capable of doing.
"Ouch…" Z stumbled onto her feet slowly, but quickly lost control of her body as the soothing tone repeated once again, "I can't even move my body to this…!"
"How do we fight this thing…!?" Mars grumbled through gritted teeth, attempting to force her arm forward so she could throw a spiritual tag at the Harp.
"You don't, that's the beauty!" The Harp gave a menacing chuckle before an icicle cut through the finely tuned strings, thus ending the tune, "W-What!?" The girls looked up, spotting the figure from the other day, Akuro.
"Don't get the wrong idea," Akuro stated before jumping down with his silver sword in hand, "You girls are obviously too weak to handle something such as this, and I won't allow this thing to roam around free, unlike you."
"H-Hey! You can't talk to us like that!" Z blurted out.
"Isn't that ironic…" Mars mumbled under her breath.
"Watch and learn, amateurs," Akuro held his blade forward, and in one swift motion, slashed diagonally.
"…I don't feel any-" Before the Black Harp could finish, it exploded into glorious light.
"One shot!?" Mars asked in amazement.
"You may as well throw in the towel if you can't handle something as weak as that…" Akuro shook his head before walking out the door.
"…Wow…" Z rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, "Is that how it felt…?"
"Yeah," Moon, Chibi Moon, and Mars all said in unison. A few minutes later, Kate regained consciousness, and she was informed of the event that just took place. The following night, the concert took place and Kate ended with the beautiful high note she had been practicing, resulting in her getting a standing ovation.