Circuit One: Scanning. Scanning. Oh Where Are Those Blasted Things?

I'm awake.

Rai got up and pulled her arms closer against her in an attempt to keep warm. I can't fall asleep again. I'm waiting for Makoto. Rai shook her head and squinted past the fuzzy glare of a streetlight. Rai got up and walked towards the end of the alley, rubbing her hands on her crossed arms to keep warm.

Suddenly Rai heard a thud behind her and she whirled her head around. It was Makoto. The taller girl was clad in some blue denim jeans and a thread bear green sweatshirt with a hood. Her canvas high top sneakers were obviously not new, but would last. "We need to get out of here. I'm being followed." Whispered Makoto as she put her arm on the shoulders of her friend, wearing some black sweat pants and a loose red t-shirt.

"Did you find out where Minako and Ami are?" said Rei as they left the alley, Makoto still half-supporting her.

"No. But unless you've gotten a call, we can't go looking for them." Makoto looked down slightly at Rei, who was shaking her head from side to side.

I'm not doing so well. At this point I'm only hindering Mako-chan… I'm so sleepy…I could curl up over there and sleep... Rei blushed at her thoughts. How could she think of sleeping and leaving Makoto alone? How could she think of risking being caught at her most vulnerable?

"Need to recharge?"

"I'm not critical yet, but getting close. I have about an hour I guess. An hour before I..." Rei was cut off when Makoto spun around, pointing a small black gun at the empty blackness behind them.

"Rei would be able to sense things. She wouldn't need to waist her energy going after shadows. Once upon a time we didn't need guns…" muttered Rei.

"Hmm?" asked Makoto; in answer Rei shook her head. Suddenly, Rei started and drew her gun. It was only a tired looking man with several days' worth of stubble and a kind smile. He asked them if they wanted to come to the dinner with him. Makoto and Rei, not knowing where any source of food and a place to rest was in this part of Tokyo, agreed to follow the man.

"You look hungry. Runaways?" the man had looked over the two girls and obviously was confused on their ages by their slim, youthful frames and clothing.

"I think you are mistaken in a few areas. My friend and I are actually several hundred years old. And second of all, thank you for inquiring about our hunger, but we are really in need of a place to rest and wait for our friends to contact us." Said Rei politely, smiling as best she could. She then beckoned to the tired looking waitress, her blond hair limp and dirty, despite the permanent. "May I please speak to the manager?" she inquired. The waitress sighed, she got this a lot on the quality of the food, and then went to fetch the manager. When she came out, the manager flipped her long purple braid over her shoulder and then slid into the booth next to the kind man.

"What kin I do for ya honey?" she asked. Makoto groaned as a sweat drop appeared by her head. Why do they always think we are fifteen? I'm supposed to look at least twenty two!

"My friend and I don't have any cash on hand, or credit cards. We were wondering if we could sleep in the diner tonight." Rei paused to see the manager's reaction to the proposal, who was blinking and biteing her lip. Makoto broke in, saying, "This is a rough section of town. I'm suspecting you wouldn't mind us to keep an eye on that cash register for you, just for tonight."

Suddenly, before Makoto and Rei could try to show the manager lady their guns, for assurence the cash register would be safe, a super deformed purple tiger flung it self at a now tiny Rei and Makoto screaming about thievery and smooth talk and gangsters and lesbians and hell no with lots of swearing from both the purple tornado and the two girls fighting it off. "WE JUST WANT TO SPEND THE NIGHT!!! WE DON'T WANT TO ROB YOU LADY!! WE WERE ONLY SUGGESTING THAT WE COULD STOP REAL THEIVES FROM BREAKING IN!!!" The commotion subsided for a moment, while the very chibi purple tiger sat on the floor for a moment, sucking on Makoto's foot. Suddenly with a great roar, the tiger flung itself over the counter and appeared again as the full-size manager, only with a rather large automatic rifle. "I'LL SHOW YOU WHERE TO STAY!" she bellowed. Makoto and Rei perked up for a moment, until the manager continued to bellow, "IN HELL!" and hence forth continued with such talk, or rather opera, until Makoto and Rei flung themselves out the door as the man with a kind smile clapped at the after dinner entertainment.

"That didn't work too well." Sighed Makoto, hopping on one foot as she held up the other one to inspect the damage to it and the shoe that covered it.

"Sure didn't. And now I have even less energy." moaned Rei despairingly. The depression soon lifted when both communicators went off at the same time, Minako was calling in.

"Yo! I'm at the observatory. I think I figured how we can get Topaz!" the blond said excitedly.

"That's great. But the observatory isn't in one of the star points."

"No duh! But it has a nice view and I was looking at each point through the telescope and saw what has to be the Crystal Core of the Venus Point!"

"Where is it? Rei and I are in the Jupiter Point Sector and we could get there in a nano second if we jack a bike."

"The cemetery! One of the largest mausoleums is there! I…er…Venus has to buried there!"

Makoto and Rai both got nerves in the brow and mushroom breath. "MINAKO! What makes you think that some court official isn't buried there???" yelled both girls at the same time.

"MAYBE IT HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE HUMUNGOID SIGN FOR VENUS ON THE ROOF!" shrieked Minako, who was looking quite insane and super deformed. Makoto and Rei fell over and then signed off. They found a motorcycle parked outside a bar across the street and Rei quickly hot-wired it.

Makoto and Rei were going at the motorcycle's top speed. They would soon reach the cemetery, where hopefully they would find the topaz stone. They had to get Venus back.

Makoto jumped off the bike and grabbed Rei's hand; the two sailed through the air and the somersaulted a landing. Minako had appeared out of nowhere when the other two looked up.

"I'm not doing very well…I need to rest, like, um, NOW!" Rei was obviously panicked.

Minako said calmly, "We're tired, we can break into the crypt and sleep there the night."

Makoto walked over to the stone door of the crypt and cocked her head to the side. Then she pulled back her arm and punched through the stone, efficiently making a hole. Minako smiled, as did Rei, and the later softly said, "Your just liker her, Mako-chan."

The three girls clambered into the crypt and curled up against the wall, huddled together for warmth, and they dreamed about life long ago.