A Little Company for Naru

by Grey-X

Usagi notices Naru seems angry with her for supposedly blowing her off, and resolves to set things right. Meanwhile, CereCere hatches a plan to get the Sailor Senshi out of the way, by using her Lemure to shrink them down to a few inches tall! But before CereCere can capture them, Naru rushes in and whisks them away. Now the one the Senshi were always rescuing is their only hope.

1. Flipped Scripts

A Little Company for Naru

a Sailor Moon GTS story

Chapter 1: Flipped Scripts

11-25-2019

by Grey-X, with help from BiggerBetterBarbie

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon is the creation and property of Naoko Takeuchi and Toei Animation.

Note: This is a story written for and dedicated to BiggerBetterBarbie, but is unconnected to Sailor Moon X: Lunar Eclipse, which also focused on Usagi and Naru.

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For perhaps the first time, Usagi wished Ms. Haruna was still her English teacher. Terrifying as Haruna Sakurada always was, that waspish voice would help snap her to attention, as if awakening a primal instinct. But alas, Usagi was fast approaching the end of her third and final year in junior high. So instead of Ms. Haruna always breathing down her neck, keeping her alert, some guy approaching late middle-age droned on and on, as if to lull Usagi to sleep.

That was the last thing Usagi needed today. Last night, that little psycho PallaPalla had struck again, her Lemure minion callously devouring someone's dreams. That fight seemed to drag on all night. Just when Usagi had thought Chibiusa would never get an opening to summon Pegasus, Tuxedo Kamen arrived at just the right time as usual, distracting the bad guys with some well-aimed roses. This let Sailor Jupiter grapple PallaPalla and chuck her through some plant store's window, while she finished the job with Moon Gorgeous Meditation, saving the day yet again.

Only it brought them no closer to getting to the bottom of this business with dreams and Chibiusa's pegasus. And in the short term, robbed Usagi of much needed sleep.

Her eyelids felt oppressively heavy, and Usagi was half-aware of how she was slouching over her desk, ready to nod off. Ugh, why do bad guys have to make their moves in the dead of night? Usagi thought to herself angrily, sheer willpower the only thing keeping her awake. Have they no courtesy? School's hard enough without having to spend half the time teaching these weirdos a lesson...

Her willpower ebbing, Usagi's head sagged forward, practically snoring already. She would have drifted off right then and there, but Naru, who was seated beside her, came to the rescue.

"Usagi, get it together!" Naru hissed through gritted teeth. She leaned over to shake Usagi's shoulder. Soft as it was, it was just enough to snap Usagi back awake.

"Huh, whuh?" Usagi spat out, still woozy.

"Just because we're not in Sakurada's class anymore... C'mon, are you TRYING to land yourself in detention?" Naru asked softly.

Unfortunately, not softly enough to escape the teacher's notice. "Ms. Osaka! Are you gossiping with your friend during my lesson, disrupting class!?" he roared.

"Wha!? N-N-No, sir!" spluttered, now sitting up straight at her desk. "I-I-I-I, errr, uh..."

"You can explain it to your homeroom teacher later today, when you spend the afternoon in detention, Ms. Osaka," he said coolly.

Now, at last, Usagi was wide awake, racked with guilt over Naru getting in trouble because of her. This always seemed to happen. Granted, Naru wasn't dragged into things every other week like when the Dark Kingdom was around, but occasionally she would still be a target of Sailor Moon's enemies. Or in this case, get caught in the fallout somehow.

After their teacher went back to the lesson, his back turned for a moment, Usagi looked over to Naru. "Naru, I-I-I-I'm sorry. I-I-I-I was, uhhh, up late working with Ami and the others on something, a-a-a-and..."

"It's OK, Usagi," Naru said, though she was a bit curt. "I... figured it was something like that."

Naru seemed to be taking this well. Still, the thought of Naru getting detention instead of her filled Usagi with shame. "Naru, there's gotta be a way to make it up..."

Naru held up a hand, cutting her off. "Just be sure to tell Umino I'll be held up. We were planning to meet after school," she said with a tone of finality.

Naru had every reason to sound pissed with her, but some instinct told Usagi there was more to it than landing in detention. That suspicion grew after the bell rang, and Naru gathered up her books and left without a word to her.

Come to think of it, it's not like I've spent as much time with her this school year, Usagi realized as she watched Naru stomp out of the classroom. She was tempted to run after her, but Naru made it clear she wasn't in an amiable mood. Granted, between the Death Busters and these new creeps with the Lemures, not to mention getting ready for the entrance exams...

Then it suddenly made sense. More and more, she spent far time with the other Sailor Senshi and less with Naru. Did she resent them for that, or was her frustration aimed squarely at Usagi?

Considering she just got detention because of me, it's probably me, Usagi reasoned, frowning as she shuffled out of the classroom. That adrenaline boost was already fading fast. But now, like Naru wanted, she had to find Umino and explain this whole mess. And maybe he could provide some insight into what was eating Naru. She desperately wanted answers. Bad enough they were getting nowhere with their new enemy, but was her job as Sailor Moon was straining her friendship with Naru all over again?

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Meanwhile, in the headquarters of the Dead Moon Circus, where the Amazoness Quartet gathered and hung out, three of them were picking up the pieces after last night's debacle. Or rather, JunJun and VesVes were picking pieces out of PallaPalla's hide. Namely, thorns from the cactus PallaPalla had slammed into after Jupiter smashed her face through a window.

"OWWWW!" PallaPalla shrieked as VesVes plucked another thorn out from her butt with tweezers. She writhed on the billiards table, forcing the other two to hold her down. "That hurts! Stop being so rough with PallaPalla!"

"Then stop getting your ass kicked and thrown into cacti, and we won't have to waste a whole day plucking a bajillion little thorns out of your sorry hide!" JunJun spat back. Naturally, PallaPalla didn't listen and just struggled more, but her two teammates kept her pinned.

"Worse, all of us got yelled at by that old hag Zirconia for YOUR screw-up!" cried VesVes. "I mean, so what if yet again it wasn't the right mirror? It sounds like you had the Sailor Senshi on the ropes until you fouled up at the last second, and they wiped out yet another Lemure!

"Yeah! With them gone, you'd have something to show. and maybe the hag would stop riding our asses!" JunJun chimed in.

"Fine fine, whatever! Right now, PallaPalla just wants these thorns out!" PallaPalla whimpered.

"Then hold still and let us do our job!" sneered JunJun.

For some time, the three of them had been watched from the shadows. But now, CereCere, the final member of the Amazoness Quartet strolled out of the darkness. The other three hadn't seen her yet, so CereCere let a low chuckle announce her arrival. "My my, PallaPalla," said CereCere sweetly, and the three of them finally looked up. "I offered to take that job for you, I said my flower Lemures would be better suited to the task. Perhaps next time, you'll be more open to reason."

"Call me crazy, but I think the last thing PallaPalla wants to hear about now is plants," VesVes sneered. Unfortunately, CereCere distracting her made it so VesVes was even less gentle than before. After plucking out yet another thorn, PallaPalla shrieked in pain, writhing about and even smacking VesVes's face with her foot. "Ow, watch it! And I was on your side even!" VesVes spat, rubbing her aching cheek.

CereCere, meanwhile, just laughed to herself, ignoring how flustered the others were. JunJun didn't take kindly to that. "Oh, stop acting so haughty, CereCere! It's not like your Lemures have had any better luck against those Sailor dopes than anyone else's!"

JunJun was too busy holding PallaPalla down to notice how offended CereCere looked. The trapeze artist could only glare at JunJun, who now paid her no mind. Deciding to give VesVes another minute to recover, JunJun took the tweezers and pulled out another thorn herself. "Geez, this is so ridiculous," said JunJun, examining the thorn closely as she held down a whining PallaPalla. "Things so small shouldn't be such a pain in the ass, LITERALLY in PallaPalla's case!"

CereCere had been fixing to fire back at JunJun, but something about her words stuck in her mind. She's right, something so small SHOULDN'T be much trouble, CereCere reasoned. And the other girls doubted the fitness of the Lemures under her dominion, did they? Well, there was one Lemure of hers with a little something CereCere was seeking to perfect. Granted, it was potentially dangerous, unpredictable even, thanks to how little they knew about these Sailor Senshi, even after all these battles. If this stunt were to work, it all hinged on so many factors. It was more or less a crapshoot, a shot in the dark. But if she could pull it off... And her comrades lamented how the Sailor Senshi kept getting in their way? Well, if this worked, they'd stop complaining AND be forced to eat their words!

And as if sensing CereCere was cooking up the perfect scheme, Zircon came fluttering in. The other three were still too wrapped up in thorn removal to notice the flaming eyeball with wings spat out a photograph. CereCere took the opportunity to snatch it up for herself. Only when CereCere had it in hand did PallaPalla realize she swiped a job right under their noses.

"Hey, give that to PallaPalla! PallaPalla's got a score to settle with... AHHHH!" PallaPalla had tried to get off the billiards table to grab it, but aggravated yet more thorns still stuck in her. She toppled over, forcing VesVes and JunJun to catch her.

"Just sit this one out, will you?" said VesVes.

"Yeah, I know this look in CereCere's eyes," JunJun added. "She thinks she can show the rest of us up. Well, let her try. And then we can laugh our asses off when she slinks back from yet another pounding from those Sailor Senshi."

"Hmph. I look forward to seeing you eat your words upon my return, when you realize how you all think too... small. Especially Cactus-Butt over there," CereCere snapped back. The other three shot her confused, incensed looks, but CereCere paid them no mind. She grinned to herself as sauntered out of the break area, but it faded a little when she finally got a look at her target. "Ugh, not the most striking one we've gone after," she muttered. It was some short, dorky-looking boy with gaudy glasses now suspected of harboring Pegasus in his dreams...

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It had been over a year since that pseudo-date with Umino, but Usagi remembered it as if it had been yesterday. Looking back, Usagi marveled at how things were simpler back then. Not all of the Inner Senshi had gathered yet, and youma attacks from the Dark Kingdom were nowhere near as frequent as these Lemures, popping up what seemed like every other day. Usagi didn't learn much about the Dark Kingdom until later anyway, so whatever Beryl and her Shitennou were plotting was usually the furthest thing from her mind. And perhaps most importantly, she, Umino and Naru spent a lot more time together. How did that last part not register until now? It stung, realizing it took such resentment, however subtle, bleeding out in Naru's voice to finally notice.

Usagi sat with Umino at a table outside a restaurant he had planned to meet Naru at, wrestling with these questions. Obviously, their date was on hold, so Usagi decided to wait with him, even more determined to figure out what was wrong. After all, their friendship wasn't irreparable, right?

Thankfully, other changes over the last year or so worked in Usagi's favor. For one thing, Umino no longer had a crush on her. Nope, completely devoted to Naru now, some might say fanatically so. So that awkwardness that oozed out of Umino when Usagi dragged him across the city that day was nowhere to be seen.

I guess you could say he's matured, Usagi thought to herself. We all have, I suppose. Luna doesn't harp on me as much, for one thing. Still, to think I've gotten a bit better at handling bad guys out to steal hearts or dreams or whatever, only to drift away from my best friend...

It was time to do something about that. Usagi looked up, to where Umino sat across from her. "Umino, you've... been seeing a lot more of Naru than me," she said uneasily. "Does it seem like anything's, well, bothering her lately? Besides landing in detention because of me, I mean. Like there's something on her mind, but she doesn't really want to talk about it?"

Umino looked up. Usagi could see the anxiety in his eyes, despite the thick glasses. "No, not really. N-N-Not from what I can tell," said Umino.

Usagi stared at him for a moment. He seemed sincere, so perhaps he was just clueless. Yeah, that was it. Guys tended to be oblivious about a girl's feelings half the time, plus Umino was usually distracted by geeky science stuff.

Or maybe not so much the latter. There was no mistaking the uneasiness in Umino's voice. Was something weighing in his mind, too?

Well, if I want answers about Naru, I guess I can wait until I can ask her myself, Usagi reasoned. For now, maybe it's Umino that needs cheering up. "Umino, is anything the matter? I mean, you and Naru seem to be doing just fine, right?" Usagi asked cheerfully. But then, a terrible thought came to her. "Or is there something wrong? I mean, that stuff that happened because of that creepshow a while back, is there still..."

"What? Oh no, no, nothing that that. That's all in the past," Umino said quickly.

That was probably true, but some instinct told Usagi there was more to the story. "Umino, please, I'm worried something's troubling Naru and can't shake the feeling I'm part of the problem. I'd like to at least know things are OK between you two."

Umino looked at her quizzically, as if trying to figure out how she could've done something to hurt Naru. At length, he said, "Well, I... errr, that is... Maybe I'm just still kicking myself for not being there when that creep showed his true colors. I was just being useless, wallowing in self-pity when Naru was in trouble."

"Oh," was all Usagi could say. Here was more proof that she wasn't spending enough time with her old friends. She could've helped Umino get over this self-doubt far earlier.

Umino went on. "And factor in how I couldn't do anything when that other creature, the type that were yanking out people's hearts..."

"Umino, wasn't that thing after YOU, not Naru?" Usagi pointed out dryly.

"Doesn't matter. At the time, I figured someone could've been after Naru again!" cried Umino. "I dunno what it is, Usagi, to be honest. I know the logical thing to say is that all those bad guys were WAY out of my league, but so many of these incidents piling up... I mean, well, sure, Sailor Moon always came along to pull our fat from the fire." Maybe it was Usagi's imagination, but she thought she heard Umino's voice tremble a little at the mention of her alter-ego. "B-B-B-But what if there's a time she can't come? I-I-I mean, it's the point I'm daring to dream this might be more than a fling in junior high school, Naru and I..."

It was difficult, hearing Umino beat himself up like this, not to mention the insinuation she might not be there as Sailor Moon. Still, if Umino was thinking this far ahead, to high school and possibly beyond, things were good between him and Naru at least.

Maybe I'm overthinking things. Even if Naru's a little miffed at me, she's happy with Umino, to the point he feels free to dream, Usagi reasoned. That comforting thought only lasted an instant as Usagi reflected on what Umino opened up about. Hold on. Beautiful dreams, Umino worried about Sailor Moon's enemies... Uh-oh, couldn't that mean...

As if fate itself was mocking her thoughts, a soft yet chilling laugh resounded in the outside courtyard. Turning to its source, Usagi's eyes widened. One of the Amazoness Quartet, CereCere if she remembered right, was waltzing up to the restaurant, a smug look on her face. To make matters worse, she had already summoned one of those Lemures. She vaguely resembled an adult woman, albeit a bit bulkier and sporting slimy-looking greyish-green skin. The creature wore some sort of orange toga, but her most telling feature were the flowers sprouting out of the top of her head and shoulders. Usagi was no botanist, but it looked like those were lotuses.

"My apologies for disturbing your afternoon, everyone, but I have very pressing matters to attend to, and unfortunately, it involves a lot of collateral damage," said CereCere, sweetly but coolly. Usagi looked to Umino, then back to CereCere. She was here for Umino's dream mirror, Usagi was sure of it. Before Usagi could do anything, CereCere said, "PujePuje, if you would, please clear out the riffraff."

"At once, milady!" chortled the Lemure. She smirked evilly as those lotuses on her shoulders angled downward. They started spinning, the petals making them resemble whirling fans. Before Usagi knew it, blasts of wind shout out of those flowers, along with what looked like seeds. Pedestrians and the restaurant's patrons were blown away, and those seeds ripped through tables and windows, not to mention left what looked like bullet holes in solid brick.

"Not good not good NOT GOOD!" Usagi cried, grabbing Umino's hand. "Umino, no heroics today please, let's MOVE!" She yanked him away and ran. She had to get him away from here fast, hide him somewhere, then think of some excuse so she could go and transform.

But just as she feared, Umino was their target. She caught a glimpse of CereCere pointing at them. At once, PujePuje fired another weird wind blast. Blinding gusts forced Usagi's eyes shut, and she felt herself get swept away and screamed. Worse, Umino's hand slipped out of hers, and his cries were quickly muffled by roaring winds.

Usagi landed hard on her back on some boxed-up garbage in a back alley. She grunted weakly, her head fuzzy from pain. She was dimly aware of the sound of sirens, but it wasn't quite enough to rouse her, at least not right away. Eventually, her eyes snapped open. Fighting through a haze of pain, she dragged herself off that stack of boxes, then hobbled back toward that restaurant courtyard.

It was as she feared. Usagi returned to her senses just in time to see CereCere's ricocheting orb smack into Umino, exposing his dream mirror. Usagi could hear CereCere sniff in disappointment, even from this far away. And any moment, she would have that Lemure eat Umino's dreams. Worse, a bunch of police cars and even a fire ambulance had shown up while she was out. Yet there wasn't a sign of any cops anywhere. What looked like bullet holes riddling those cars, one of them partially ablaze as a result, offered a chilling clue as to why.

Hopefully they only got blown away, or had the sense to duck out and leave this to the experts, Usagi hoped. She ducked back behind the corner as she flipped her communicator on. "Everyone, we got a problem! The reddest of code reds!" she hissed into it.

"Lemme guess, you got detention again and need us to tape something?" came Rei's waspish retort.

"Not now, Rei!" Usagi snapped. "Seriously, are none of you around a TV!? One of the Amazoness Quartet just showed up and trashed the place where Umino was waiting for Naru. And she and her Lemure already took out a bunch of cops and exposed Umino's dream mirror while I was out cold!"

"Wow, that's not their usual style," Minako remarked. "These guys are usually way more low-key."

"Minako's right, this is too different from their usual tactics. Something doesn't add up. It may not be just about finding the right mirror this time," added Ami. "Usagi, please be careful until we can all make it over there."

"Aren't I always?" Usagi asked with a smirk. She swore she heard Rei and maybe even Makoto grumble a little over the comm. With a snort, Usagi shut her communicator watch. "OK, time to get to work. Hopefully I can clean this all up before Naru's out of detention," she told herself before raising a hand high. "Moon Crisis Makeup!"

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Naru was half-stomping down the street, swinging her school bag a bit forcefully as she trudged ahead. She stuck her neck out for Usagi, who over the last year or so seemed to spend less and less time with her, and look what happened! She was looking forward to having more time with Umino as well. Things were mostly back to normal after what that creep Tigers'-Eye tried to pull, and it was clear Umino dared to dream it could all lead to more. But no, Usagi had to go and ruin the rest of her day!

That's not fair and you know it, Naru, she told herself. Usagi was clearly sorry for what happened, and I was rather... curt to her. Maybe she'll still be there with Umino when I show. Maybe...

Naru had been lost in her thoughts, but was snapped out of it when someone pushed past her, rather forcefully. "Hey, what's wrong with..." she began, but suddenly got shoved around some more as others rushed past her. As Naru struggled to avoid getting knocked down and trampled, she noticed what direction these panicky people were coming from: where she was headed.

"Oh that's not good," Naru muttered, now pushing past the people trying to flee. Finally, she made it past them and rounded the corner, and dropped her bag from shock. There were some police cars surrounding the place she was to meet Umino. Or at least, they had once been police cars. Most looked like they had been shot up by a minigun. Some of the police officers were still around, barely clinging to consciousness as they lay on the concrete, though thankfully none seemed to have life-threatening injuries.

But what drew Naru's eye was Umino, slumped down on his knees. A mirror fluttered before him, just like what that creep Tigers'-Eye forced out of her. But instead of that guy, this time it was some little girl in a skimpy outfit, her pink hair braided up in some strange way, like looping rope. There was some monster with her, wearing a toga and sporting giant lotus flowers.

To Naru's horror, that girl pointed at Umino, and suddenly the lotus flower on that thing's left shoulder sprouted a drooling snout with razor-sharp teeth. Was it going to EAT that mirror? Naru couldn't decide if that was worse than how Tigers'-Eye violated her, peering into her own. This girl simply didn't care about Umino's dreams!

That thing leaned over to let its flower-mouth gobble it up, and Naru was a second away from charging and smacking that creature with her bag, danger be damned. But then came a cry that Naru was never happier to hear: "Hold it right there!"

The girl and her monster looked up to the restaurant's roof. Sailor Moon was glaring down at them, fists on her hips, looking angrier than Naru could ever remember seeing her. "To so callously tear asunder a young boy's dreams of love, as he waited patiently for his soulmate!? And frightening away all the other couples who came to this place to celebrate their love, and attacking those pledged to defend them!? Oh, in the name of the Moon, I am SO gonna punish you!"

Wait, how did Sailor Moon know I was coming to see Umino? Naru wondered. She didn't have long to dwell on it, however. Sailor Moon jumped down from the roof, then charged right at the girl.

"My, someone's running on a short fuse today," grumbled the girl.

The girl seemed quite nimble, backflipping away, but still got a boot planted in her face. "Sailor Moon Kick!" Sailor Moon shrieked. Before the girl's backside slammed into a totaled cop car, Sailor Moon had removed her tiara. "Moon Tiara Action!" The blazing disk shredded that slobbering snout poking out of the lotus flower, and the monster stumbled back, howling. Naru figured this was her chance. She sprinted forward, aiming to get to Umino. Sailor Moon was way ahead of her, however. With the monster stunned, she ran to him and shoved that mirror back into his chest. "I swear CereCere, if Umino never wakes up, I'll rip you limb from limb!" she screamed.

Unfortunately, by the time Sailor Moon had Umino slung over her shoulders, the monster had recovered. Its flowers were intact, and the ones on its shoulders spun, firing what looked like seeds. Worse, that girl was already back on her feet, walking over to her monster. Yelping, Naru ducked behind a different car, peering out from behind it.

As she feared, that thing had Sailor Moon pinned down. Sailor Moon danced around frantically to avoid getting her legs shredded into hamburger, and holding onto Umino wasn't doing her favors.

That's funny, it doesn't look like that monster's shooting to kill, Naru thought. As she kept watching, she overheard the girl and her monster, confirming her suspicions.

"Don't make her swiss cheese just yet, PujePuje," said the girl. Her tone was chilling, saccharine. "We still need to draw out the rest. Can you tell yet, can you feel as if this'll work?"

"Yes, I sense a considerable... disquiet about the girl." That monster's voice had a gargling quality to it, yet had an eerie, calm flow like her boss's which chilled Naru. "If it extends to the others, this gamble may yet pay off."

Naru had no idea what they were talking about. All she knew was she had to do SOMETHING. After all, how many times had Sailor Moon saved her hide? She looked in and around the car for a weapon left by the police. For something, ANYTHING, that could get that monster off Sailor Moon's back.

She was beaten to the punch. Naru heard someone shout something, then something crackled and the air suddenly reeked of ozone. Peering out from behind cover again, Naru saw electricity was crackling all over that monster called PujePuje.

Next, a flurry of roses and little glowing pink hearts came out of nowhere, driving the girl and her monster further back. Lastly, a cry of "Mars Flame Sniper!" rang out. A blazing arrow shot at the pair. They both ducked to avoid it, but it struck one of the damaged cars behind them. It promptly blew up and the two were knocked down. Naru instinctively ducked back behind cover, feeling the rush of heat, then scrambled over to peek out from the other side. There they were, all of the Sailor Senshi, arriving just in time like always.

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Her heart swelling with relief, Sailor Moon ran over to them, Umino still slung over her shoulders. Even Tuxedo Kamen was already here, not content to wait in reserve. "Wow, am I glad you guys are here. That was cutting it close!"

"Sure was. Those seeds were about a second away from shredding you into a Sailor sushi roll," quipped Sailor Mars.

"Yeah, do you really need us for everything, you dummy?" added Sailor Chibi-Moon.

"Oh COME ON, you two!" cried Sailor Moon. "At least I kept that Lemure from gobbling up someone's dreams this time!"

"Sailor Moon is right, let's just focus on making this latest Lemure into tossed salad," said Jupiter, pounding her fists together. The antenna on her tiara was already out as well, crackling with power.

By now, CereCere and PujePuje were back on their feet. Sailor Moon eyed them angrily. If they tried anything, they'd unload all their attacks on them, then bring in Pegasus to finish off that Lemure while it was on the ground, drooling.

Yet for some reason, CereCere didn't seem the least bit daunted by the collective power she faced. In fact, she was smirking evilly, as if she had some trump card. But what? This newest Lemure was a pain, sure, but surely nothing the Sailor Senshi couldn't handle as a team, right?

"So confident, and yet there's obviously some disharmony in your ranks," sneered CereCere. "PujePuje, it's time. They're all here. We can finally get them in one fell swoop."

"So this was a ploy to draw all of us out! I feared as much," said Mercury.

"Sailor Senshi, be ready for anything!" cried Tuxedo Kamen, a fistful of roses at the ready.

"Spread out!" cried Venus. "If this thing's got something big, let's not..."

But those lotus flowers... The petals were already spinning like fans again. And now, some weird blueish-green gunk was flowing out of them like smoke. Pollen, or some sort of poison gas? Whatever it was, it had already enveloped all of them. It had happened so suddenly, Sailor Moon couldn't avoid breathing some of it in.

"Huh? I don't feel like there's something wrong," said Sailor Moon. A quick glance at the others let her know they felt fine as well. She looked back to PujePuje through the haze of whatever-it-was, and could still make her out. Sailor Moon did catch, however, how her eyes were glowing a fierce orange-red, as if to bore into her soul. Meanwhile, Chibi-Moon had turned the Luna-P into a handheld fan, and blew the offending gas away.

"Ha! Whatever that stuff was supposed to do, it didn't work!" cried Venus. "All this effort to draw us out for nothing!"

CereCere looked crestfallen for a moment, but then her face twisted into a haughty sneer. "Except it wasn't. I can see it finally taking effect."

Sailor Moon's eyes widened, wondering if this was a bluff. She still didn't feel funny or anything. She figured she could lob her tiara, so it trapped both CereCere and her Lemure, to buy time to figure things out. Of course, she'd have to set Umino down to free her hands. So she looked around for a table still standing to put him down on.

And THAT'S when she noticed something was wrong. There was indeed a table still standing at her right, but it looked... higher than it should've been? And wait, was it getting even higher the longer she looked at it?

Sailor Moon watched in horror as whatever was happening sped up. That tabletop was shooting up higher and higher, and soon it was looming over her head! Looking back to the other Sailor Senshi, she saw the terror in their faces as they saw the same thing happening to them! The tables and chairs strewn about were looming over them as well! Mercury was the first one to find her voice. "Oh no, this is impossible! We're SHRINKING!"

Sailor Moon briefly looked over at Umino's face, who was shrinking along with the rest of them, then at the jagged cobblestones of the restaurant courtyard coming up fast. Then, slowly, dread threatening to overwhelm her, Sailor Moon looked back up to CereCere. She loomed over them in the distance, like something out of a kaiju movie, and seemed to grow ever bigger by the second!

"Oh no no no," Mercury went on. Despite how the distance between each Senshi just got a lot wider, from their perspective, Sailor Moon could still hear her, and the dread in her voice. Not to mention her furiously typing away at her computer. "According to these scans, we've, oh my goodness, had our heights reduced by a factor of more than twelve!"

Sailor Moon didn't need exact calculations. Seeing the end results firsthand was more than enough. CereCere took a few steps closer, the clicking of her heels booming in all their ears. "Oh my, so this is what becomes of the mighty Sailor Senshi?" she taunted from up high. She took another step closer. Sailor Moon shuddered and backed up reflexively, that dumpster-sized foot now only a few car-lengths away. "Just goes to show not everyone thinks you're the epitome of pure pureness, untouchable guardians of all that's good. PujePuje, if they stray too far, open fire. I want to handle as many as I can personally..."

"What the hell did you do to us!?" Chibi-Moon demanded. Maybe it was just her, but Sailor Moon thought her voice sounded even higher than usual.

"We'll figure it out, Chibi-Moon," said Venus. Her voice echoed Sailor Moon's own dread, but a bit of confidence still shone through. "She'll tell us, because there's still plenty we can do to her! Venus Love-Me Chain!"

Venus rushed past Sailor Moon, flinging her golden chain right at CereCere's ankles. CereCere's eyes widened, clearly not expecting them to get over their shock so soon. Mars and Jupiter joined in. A double-whammy with Sparkling Wide Pressure and Mars Flame Sniper struck CereCere's face and neck, respectively. She teetered backward, her arms flailing as she screamed.

The courtyard floor rumbled a little when she finally toppled. CereCere hit the ground hard just as Sailor Moon backed away. That, plus snagging her foot in between two cobblestones, made her fall backwards as well, and she lost her hold on Umino.

"Everyone, scatter!" cried Tuxedo Kamen."Maybe we can come at her from all sides as Sailor Mercury figures out how to reverse this." As for himself, he rushed over to scoop up Umino, then moved closer to help Sailor Moon up.

"Don't count on it, Cape Boy," CereCere sneered. Sailor Moon looked up to see CereCere still on her back, but raising up that yellow orb of hers.

"Uh-oh, don't tell me she's gonna..." Sailor Moon began.

"Pellet Orb!" CereCere cried. She craned her neck up a little to watch as yellow marbles shot out at all the shrunken Senshi. But whereas before that attack just tripped them up, now those marbles were like wrecking balls. Sailor Moon winced as she heard her friends cry out in pain. She rolled aside to avoid getting crushed by one of those wrecking marbles, and Tuxedo Kamen barely got Umino away from it. Glancing back at the others, her eyes widened in horror upon seeing some of those balls had rolled onto the downed Senshi, pinning them to the cobblestones.

"That takes care of the riffraff." Sailor Moon looked back ahead to see CereCere ripping off Venus's binding. Soon enough, she was back on her feet, towering over them again. She glared down at Sailor Moon intently.

"Tuxedo Kamen, get Umino out of here! Move!" cried Sailor Moon, shoving him away. That brief delay cost her. When Sailor Moon looked back up, she saw CereCere's foot coming down. Sailor Moon jumped back in fear, tripping again, and that let CereCere pin her to the ground. If she didn't still have some of a Senshi's durability, she would've been squashed instantly, even though CereCere was clearly toying with her, not pressing down with all her weight. Still, the pain was excruciating. Crying out in fear, Sailor Moon tried to push that sole off of her, but to no avail.

"Sailor Moon!" cried Tuxedo Kamen, before gazing up at CereCere in anger. He readied a rose, but CereCere leaned down to swat him away.

"Tuxedo Kamen!" shrieked Sailor Moon. From under CereCere's foot, she could see him collide with a table leg. He slid to the floor, stirring a little, but there was no telling how badly Umino was hurt.

"Don't concern yourself with your man right now, Sailor Dolly," CereCere jeered. At last, that foot came off of her, only to be replaced by the sight of CereCere's giant hand coming down, and she was in too much pain to get away.

She was scooped up, fingers as thick as telephone poles wrapped around her. Sailor Moon's heart hammered as she was brought up to CereCere's smirking face. Those huge, pinkish-red eyes stared at her coldly. "How the mighty have fallen," CereCere said softly. "And what was that before, about ripping me limb from limb?"

Sailor Moon thought she was scared before, but now her mind went completely numb. CereCere brought her other hand up, her eyes narrowing at her quarry. Sailor Moon screamed as she felt two gigantic fingertips press against her arm. "Funny how karma works, doesn't it?" CereCere asked as she pulled her arm forward. It felt like her arm would be torn from her socket any second. Again, if not for a Senshi's durability, it just might have been. "You fancied yourself a savior, little girl. And that hubris will cost you an arm and, well, a leg." CereCere let go of Sailor Moon's arm, only to feel those fingertips clamp down on her leg and yank at it. Sailor Moon screamed and squirmed in CereCere's grip, but it was no use.

"Sailor Moon!" cried some of the Senshi. Sailor Moon twisted around as best she could to look down. Her friends were still all pinned down by those balls, and Tuxedo Kamen was just getting up to check on Umino.

"You little psycho-bitch, let her go!" Chibi-Moon bellowed.

"Look who's calling who little," said CereCere dismissively. "But maybe you're right, little lsdy. Enough games. Time to..."

The next thing Sailor Moon knew, she was all wet. As was CereCere, for a gushing blast of water splashed in her face, making her choke and gargle. Moreover, it made CereCere drop her. She hit the ground hard, landing on her butt.

"Wow, cutting it a little close Mercury, and..." Sailor Moon looked to the others. With CereCere distracted, they were able to roll those balls off of them. And Sailor Mercury only just pried the one on her off. Huh? If Mercury didn't do that, who did? Sailor Moon looked up to see water still gushing, pushing CereCere back and soaking the courtyard. Sailor Moon brought her arms up to shield herself from huge, stinging droplets, then followed the water to its source. It looked like someone had screwed off a cap on a nearby fire hydrant to spray CereCere, but who?

"Come, Sailor Moon!" cried Tuxedo Kamen, grabbing her wrist with one hand, holding Umino securely over his shoulder with the other. "That won't keep her at bay long." He dragged her as he ran, struggling to keep his footing with all the water rushing by their feet. It looked like he was leading them toward the street.

"Yeah, let's make a break for it!" cried Mars as the rest of the Sailor Senshi brought up the rear. "If we're lucky, we can duck down a storm drain and lose them in..."

A hail of big black rocks the size of footballs rained down, ricocheting off the cobblestones right in front of them. They all skidded to a halt, then turned around. CereCere was angrily wiping water off her face as she strode forward with PujePuje flanking her, those flowers on her shoulders angled forward. They were both, from their perspective, a few dozen meters away, but they still seemed to loom over them all the same.

"Oh great, we forgot about the other one," grumbled Jupiter.

"CereCere, we shouldn't risk toying with them any longer," said PujePuje frostily.

"I agree, but I still want them alive," said CereCere, glowering down at them. "The other girls would just love to play with them like dolls, so..." Suddenly, CereCere looked up just as a strange, booming sound filled the air. Her eyes widened in shock and fear. "Oh, you've got to..."

Suddenly, a huge shadow fell over the shrunken Senshi as the very air around them roared, gusts swirling around them. It all faded as swiftly as it came. Then their view of CereCere and PujePuje was blocked by the back of a red ambulance. It kept going forward, smashing them through the restaurant's window.

They all just stood there for a moment, gobsmacked. Eventually, Venus spoke up. "D-D-Did someone just d-d-d-drive an AMBULANCE over us!?"

"A-A-And rammed it into CereCere and her Lemure," added Mercury. "I-I-It would appear so, yes."

"B-B-But who's out there w-w-who would," Sailor Moon stammered, but then the driver's door was kicked open and someone jumped out. From her vantage point on the ground, so far away, Sailor Moon couldn't tell who it was. Whoever it was was running right for them, however. Sailor Moon froze all over again, paralyzed by the sight of something so massive coming right for them, booming footfalls rattling her ears.

The next thing Sailor Moon knew, something was plopped down right in front of them. She winced as stinging wind rushed past her face. It took a moment to realize it was a gigantic school bag, its flap opened, as if beckoning for them to jump in.

"Well, if you want to live, come on!" came a thundering voice that somehow sounded... familiar. "A hit-and-run isn't going to keep them down for long, right?"

Sailor Moon craned her head up, and her jaw dropped. A girl in a short-sleeved Juuban junior high uniform was taking off a pair of sunglasses and an EMT worker's cap... It was Naru! She was kneeling down, casting a shadow over them! She held the flap up with one hand, and held a huge wrench in the other. Despite this being her friend, gazing down at them with a pleading look, Sailor Moon shivered, intimidated by how she towered over all of them.

If the others felt the same way, they got over their anxiety way quicker. "You don't have to tell me twice!" cried Jupiter. She leaped onto the bag and rolled into the space opened for them. Most of the other Senshi swiftly followed suit. Shaking her head, Sailor Moon hopped up to join them and crawled into the darkness.

Once they were all in, Naru snapped her bag shut, blocking out all light. Then their world lurched violently. The Senshi grunted and shrieked as they were tossed this way and that like toys. Well, that's what we're the size of now, Sailor Moon reminded herself.

As they kept being bounced around, the Sailor Senshi could hear Naru's stomping footfalls outside the bag. "Wow, she's really sprinting. Where's she taking us?" asked Mars.

"As long as it's far, far away from CereCere and her Lemure, who cares!?" cried Venus.

"Venus is right. Naru had the foresight to disguise herself in case CereCere saw her driving the ambulance. Hopefully, she won't know who we escaped with," said Mercury.

"True, so that'll buy time for us to figure out how to reverse whatever's been done and get out of this mess," said Tuxedo Kamen.

"Hopefully sooner than later," said Chibi-Moon. "With us... in no condition to fight, the Amazoness Quartet will have free reign to rip apart as many dreams as they want." Sailor Moon grumbled to herself. Their situation was bad enough without pointing out just how dire things could get. "Anyway, no sense dwelling on this in darkness. Luna-P, I need a lantern!"

Sailor Moon heard the Luna-P change form, and moments later, the inside of Naru's bag was flooded with light from an electric lantern. Tuxedo Kamen set Umino down as gently as he could, but it was difficult. Despite being so small, the inside of Naru's bag wasn't a very wide space for them, barely wider than a closet.

Tuxedo Kamen and Mercury checked Umino over. "Doesn't look like he's suffered any fractures or a concussion," said Mercury, prying one eyelid open to examine his eye.

"Good. Then the real challenge is making sure Umino doesn't lose his mind when he wakes up to a world too damn big for him," spat Mars.

Sailor Moon nodded in relief, then looked around. Naru hadn't exactly had time to empty this space out for them. A few pens and pencils bounced around on the bottom, as big as overhead pipes in parts of the school. Over at the far end were a calculator, a makeup compact and a notepad all taller than they were, looking ready to fall over onto Jupiter and Mars. Looking down, Sailor Moon found she was sitting on a big eraser.

Everywhere they looked, there were unwelcome reminders of how tiny and vulnerable they were. Many of the others were obviously dwelling on the same thing. "Oh, I can't believe this!" cried Jupiter. "I hate this! I hate feeling all weak and puny!"

"Me too!" chimed in Mars. "Chibi-Moon's right. There's no way we can fight like this! If Naru hadn't come along, we'd've been cooked!"

"Seriously, at what point did we lose control of the situation back there!?" Venus asked. "We had them dead-to-rights, then POOF! Honey, We Shrunk the Senshi!"

"It is vexing," Mercury agreed. "I-I-I-I mean, if these people had this sort of power all this time, they would've used it on us long ago. There's something we're missing, but I'm at a loss as to..."

Mercury stopped suddenly, and the others listened closely. The bag stopped shaking so much, and Naru's footsteps no longer rattled. From outside the bag, they heard a loud hissing noise.

"That sounded like a subway door opening," said Sailor Moon.

"Good. Even more distance between us and CereCere," said Tuxedo Kamen.

"But what's Naru planning to do with us?" said Venus.

Sailor Moon said nothing. It was too surreal, how so many scripts had just been flipped. She and the other Senshi had saved Naru countless times. Now, Naru had swooped in to save the day. And Sailor Moon had planned on using this afternoon to patch things up with Naru, since they hadn't been spending much time together. Well, it looked like the two of them would now be seeing a lot more of each other. Of course, there could be no attempts at reconciliation now, not unless she was willing to spill her secret.

"I'm more worried about surviving the trip," Mars grumbled. "The subway at this time of day? With a crowd like that, a good chance of someone bumping into Naru and squishing us in here."

"No need to be THAT pessimistic, Mars," Mercury admonished. "I mean, we can trust Naru to be careful. The only thing we should worry about while she's on the subway is..."

"HEY! Keep your hands to yourself, you perv!" Naru's voice thundered from outside the bag. An instant later, their entire world lurched and turned upside-down. All eight of them were flung around every which way, crying and screaming as they banged into Naru's school supplies, only for everything to settle down the next instant.

"If someone gets fresh with Naru, and she smacks him with her bag in a blind rage," Mercury finished dejectedly, half-pinned under that calculator and some pens.

Sailor Moon, shivering in terror, barely noticed that. She was more focused on the sharpened point of a propped-up pencil, which had been less than a millimeter from impaling her in the face.

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Here's the long overdue start of a story I promised BiggerBetterBarbie quite a while ago. I had planned on starting this right after finishing Dragon for a Day for her brother CubedCinder128, but I struggled for a long time with just how to kickstart this thing. Oh well, better late than never. And hey, it didn't take me over a decade to piece it all together, like with Sailor Moon X: Lunar Eclipse. In fact, this story recycles A WHOLE LOT from that...

So long,

Grey-X