Chapter 12: Haruka on Trial

Haruka sighed as she took Setsuna's green tea out of the microwave.

"Here is your tea, Lady Pluto. Now what other chores do you have for me?" she asked, somewhat teasing, yet also bitter. Setsuna raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe none if this has taught you a lesson," she said imperiously.

"I don't understand why you've been treating me like this. I was not planning to actually join the Mew Mews. I meant to sneak into wherever they teleport back to when they leave and find out their secrets. I promise you, I would NOT have sold my soul to them like I did with Galaxia," Haruka pleaded.

"It was still dangerously close to what you did back then. I expected better of you, Haruka Tenou, to set a good example for the Dessert Senshi, especially when we recently had so much trouble convincing Serena that it was okay to fight the anime characters. I gave up the last of my powers for that," Setsuna replied, her voice icy with contempt. There was a knock on the door, interrupting the conversation between the two former Senshi. Michiru, who had been quietly watching the others, went and got it. When she opened the door, she found that it was Mortimer Wellington who was waiting.

"Hello, Michiru. I came here because Makoto told me some things about what happened at the gym, and I thought your group would be the best to talk to about it," he explained. Galaxy peeked into the room and gave a shriek of disgust, pointing at Mortimer.

"He's...EWWW!! HE'S WEARING A DRESS!!" Indeed, Mortimer was wearing a pale blue sundress, tailored to fit his tall, masculine body.

"Yes, yes I am. Do you have a problem with that?" he asked with an amused smirk.

"Of course I do! I can understand the Senshi outfits since you don't pick what that looks like, but a boy wearing a dress out of choice?! That's disgusting!" Galaxy shouted angrily.

"That's enough, Galaxy. He didn't come here to get yelled at about his clothing, he came here to talk to me," Haruka scolded.

"I did. And about when you wanted to join the Mew Mews. Did that have anything to do with the fact that Taiki, who was one of the Sailor Starlights, got captured by them? The reason I'm asking is because I heard you didn't like the Starlights," Mortimer finally got to explain.

"It didn't have anything to do with Taiki, and I didn't want to actually join them the way Serena and Mozzarella joined the Love Angels. I was only going to get them to take me to their hideout so I could find out their secrets. I actually was wondering if they had any connection to Galaxia, because of how they turn the Sailor Senshi evil. Galaxia did just the same thing. The thing is, inverted Senshi outfits weren't necessarily part of Galaxia's plan, so it probably isn't as similar as I thought. But when Makoto and Seiya stopped me, I did realize that if I was to sneak in, I would do it with Michiru anyway," Haruka told him, Setsuna and Michiru also listening curiously.

Meanwhile, in Ryou's research room, Taiki was finally waking up from a hypnotic sleep she had been put in. The first thing she noticed was that she felt quite bloated, as if someone had inflated her like a balloon. When she looked down at herself, she realized that was exactly what had happened. Kou Taiki had been turned into a sphere person, with only her head sticking out and her little useless hands and feet.

"How did this happen?" she asked softly, though she could guess the answer. The Mew Mews probably did this to her, but how that was possible she wasn't sure. The human body didn't just inflate like that, did it?

"I'm glad that job's done. Such messy work for a girl like me," sighed a voice that obviously belonged to Mint. "I'm glad Ryou didn't make us explode her, that would be even worse."

"Well, that would ruin the whole idea, right? She needs to be alive," replied Zakuro. Ruin the idea? What exactly are they trying to do with me, Taiki wondered.

"Shh, guys, she's awake! Don't give things away!" hissed Ichigo frantically.

"Hi, Taiki! Can I use you for my acrobatic tricks first before Ryou's plan?" giggled Pudding. Before the other girls could stop her, she pounced on Taiki, sending her rolling across the room. Pudding flew off, crashing into the computer, which slammed into the wall and broke.

"Pudding, no! You're gonna get in trouble for that!" shrieked Ichigo in a panic. Taiki noticed that Mint and Zakuro had left the room, and that Ichigo was busy seeing if Pudding and the computer were okay. She decided this was her chance to escape if she could, but how? Of course, there was the obvious idea that she could roll, so she did just that. However, as Taiki reached the door, she was too big to fit through, and Ryou chose that time to enter. He bounced off of her, not noticing her at first, and fell on his butt.

"Get out of my way, Taiki, good thing you can't fit through the door and escape," he snapped, jumping back to his feet and shoving Taiki aside. He went to where Ichigo was bending over the computer and glared at her and the other four Mew Mews. "Okay, what happened here?"

"Pudding did it! She wanted to play with Taiki and she crashed into it!" Ichigo blurted out.

"Aww, you tattletale! I just wanted to have fun with her while she was in that nice round ball shape," Pudding pouted. Ryou sighed exasperatedly.

"Ichigo, you, Mint and Zakuro should help me fix the computer, and if that's not possible, we need to go get a new one. As for you, Pudding, you have to go with Lettuce and see if this Senshi has the Lightning Rod," he ordered, tossing a picture of Sailor Chocolate to them.

"Is this a girl, or a pretty boy?" Pudding asked, curious about the picture.

"Does it matter?! Just go before I decide to punish you further!" Ryou snapped. Pudding shrugged and headed off with Lettuce. However, before they left, they grabbed a few of the super-fattening cakes, thinking they could stuff some of the other Senshi too. At the Outer Senshi's house, things had gotten worse for Haruka, since Michiru was now against her.

"I don't believe you. How could you lie to me? You left me this note that said you were going to try to sneak into the Mew Mews' place the next time they attacked. So why are you acting like it was all spontaneous?" she pleaded.

"Hypocrite! You're an evil hypocrite! Serena was right about you!" shouted Pierre's familiar French accent as he entered the room, absolutely furious.

"What? When was I being like that? I was NOT trying to join them like Serena did, I said I wanted to sneak in and sabotage them!" Haruka protested.

"Because you didn't let me do the same thing to the Love Angels! How come you think it's okay for you to be sneaky with our enemies and not me, even when I'm a Senshi now and you're not?!" Pierre retorted. Mortimer laughed.

"He's got a point there, Haruka, or are you forgetting that we're the Senshi in charge now?" he said with a smirk.

"Because I'm an older, more experienced Senshi! And I'm supposed to take care of you! My life is dedicated to being a Senshi, but after this weird anime character war is over, you don't have to be! You can go on to do whatever you want. But until then, you're under my protection!" Haruka shot back. Pierre was about to retort when Mortimer suddenly screamed in pain. A green energy beam shot him in the back, and his brown Soul Crystal came out. He fell over, and a new Senshi outfit formed on his body, this one was mainly pale blue with peach bows.

"Aww, he didn't have the Soul Crystal. That silly Ryou just sent me out here for nothing," pouted Pudding, who was nearby.

"Give him his soul back! Without it he'll be even more immoral! Popsicle Crystal Power, Make Up!" yelled Galaxy.

"Cookie Crystal Power, Make Up!" added Pierre, ignoring Haruka for the moment. Pudding wasn't paying attention to the Senshi, though, she was focused on Michiru.

"I think we should just get rid of you silly first Senshi. Ribbon Puddingring Inferno!" she called. Michiru jumped aside, dropping the note, which was encased in the giant pudding glob instead of her. Sailor Peanut Butter chose that time to enter, and she gave an eager squeal.

"I always wanted to see what Pudding's pudding globs tasted like!" she shrieked, running forwards. Pudding and Lettuce grabbed her roughly.

"You're not going to eat that. You can have this instead," Lettuce said firmly, and she stuffed one of the cakes into Serena's open mouth. On the floor, Evil Chocolate woke up.

"The proof is in the pudding. The proof that shows I can kill you," he snarled at Haruka.