**********************************************************************
Chapter 2: The Distracter
~flashback~
Usagi frantically clung herself to the police officer as she battled her eyelashes and screamed, "THIEF! THIEF!" Then to add more drama to the scene, she grabbed the collar around the officer's neck with one hand and pointed the direction with another hand.
The police officer, in his mid-twenties, had dark raven hair and sapphire eyes flickering in the dark. Gosh! What good timing this girl had! Didn't she know he was onto a big case right now? He ran his fingers through his slightly curly hair and began his sentence frantically, "But I- "
"But what?" Usagi growled at the officer. It was not her fault that she was The Distracter in the Five Talented. It was not her fault that she was always the one ended up with the worst task possible. But it was THIS police's fault if he wouldn't let her do her job! Gosh! She could be fired! Usagi shriveled at the thought. The Boss wouldn't be happy for sure. So with a little quick wit she still had, she questioned the policemen, "Are you a police or not?"
"Yes."
Whew. She still had her job. Now, it was time to get this police officer, oh wait, the commander in chief (she definitely didn't come unprepared) away from the scene of crime. Keeping the triumphant look under her sweet mask, Usagi continued to ask in a frantic voice, "Then, isn't it your duty to catch that thief?"
Usagi watched in satisfaction secretly as the commander in chief bore the face of defeat. She knew she won this round, only if she could do the same to her friends. Oh well, she better focused on her work! The commander sighed and instructed his crew, "Search the museum and find any suspects lurking around it."
Then Usagi led the commander into the street. Oh yeah, had she mentioned that the thief was all made up? Well, it was not. But the actual thieves were in the museum, not out on the street. *Good luck, minna-san!* Usagi whispered a prayer to all the Talented before she led the unknowing commander on the wild goose chase.
~end of flashback~
"Sensei! Tsukino-sensei!" a small childish voice sang its sweet melody into the blonde daydreaming by the window. The owner of the voice frowned and poked his teacher softly, "Sensei!"
The blonde teacher, Usagi, jumped, causing her smooth golden brown hair to ease off her shoulder, "Hai!"
The little boy giggled, "Chiba-onii-san is here to see you!"
*Onii-san? When do I have an older brother? And I thought Singo is enough to deal with for twenty years,* Usagi frowned.
"Good afternoon, Usagi-san!"
Upon hearing the voice, Usagi shaped her petal-like lips into a smile, "Mamoru-kun!"
A dark-haired police officer smiled back at the sudden burst of sunshine, "So, what are you doing tonight?"
*He's asking me out on a date!* Usagi beamed and murmured shyly, "Nothing."
"Really?" Mamoru's eyes lighted up. "Because I was wondering if you would like to go to the-"
RRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG! !!!!!!!!!!!
Usagi sighed and picked up the phone, "This is Tsukino-sensei speaking."
"Ha ha ha!" a ring of laughter burst out.
"REI!" Usagi shouted, disapproving written all over her face. And in a smaller voice she hissed, "Rei, you know I'm talking to you-know-who!"
"I know," Rei replied, "but you can't go on the date with him tonight."
Usagi rolled her eyes. It was another meeting for the Five Talented. "Alright, I'll be there."
"Then, I'll be waiting for you!" Rei added.
"I am sure you will," Usagi replied with hint of sarcasm. Although Rei and Usagi no longer bickered with each other anymore, they still retained a hint of sarcasm between each other. It was something the other Talented wanted to get rid of, unfortunately, it never ceased; and the Talented finally gave up on it, after all, it provided them with some sort of entertainment. And at last, Usagi hung up the phone. "Umm...Mamoru- kun...I..."
"It's alright," Mamoru hid his disappointment. "We'll meet another time."
"Alright."
********************
A blue-haired woman glanced at the old-fashioned clock on the wall impatiently and paced around the small quarter. She was one of the Talented, but secretly, she suspected that she was the only one that took the job seriously. After all, the other Talented were content with their jobs and same with her except... Well, her job was tedious in comparison to the job she had secretly. Inside of her always would rest this core of excitement that she kept bottled tightly under control, yet this job would let her vent out a little...maybe that was why she took this job more seriously than the others.
"Oh, stop it, Merc!" a raven-hair woman sat comfortably on the couch crossing her legs. Her long black hair was tied into a French twist with a wisp of waist-length hair behind her two ears. She took off her ruby-red business coat and said, "You know how it is, Moon is always late. You can count on it!"
Merc sighed. Mars was right about that. It had been this way ever since they were in junior high. And at that moment the door was opened. A cheerful Talented poked her head inside the crack and smiled, "Glad to see I'm not the last one here!"
"Come in, Jup!" Mars winked. "So at last, like always..."
"Hey!" the door was banged open again and a blonde in her early twenty shouted. "You better have some food with you, Jup! I'm starving!"
"There's one blonde left," Mars finished. "Hey Moon, glad that you can make it."
Moon rolled her eyes, "Cut that out. I just want to get this over with as quickly as we can. So where's V?"
"Dunno," Jup shrugged and passed the fudge over to the hungry blonde. She winced as the blonde with two meatballs scarped down all the fudge within seconds.
Moon wiped her mouth in satisfactory, "Okay, can we get this going NOW?"
"Why the rush?" Mars asked slyly. "Does that have to do with a certain Chiba Mamoru?"
"Uhh...no!" Moon stammered. "I just wanna go home!"
The other three Talented gave Moon a skeptical look and replied in unison, "Right!"
"So," Mars scooted closer to the stammering Moon, "why the rush? Got a date with Mamoru?"
Moon turned beet-red, "No, thanks to you!"
"Me?" Mars replied in pretend surprise. "Why?"
"It's because of your stupid phone call that wrecks EVERYTHING!"
"Everything?" Jup cocked her eyebrow. And sitting afar, Merc looked interestedly at the group.
"Hmm..." Mars stroked her chin, "does that involves going on dates, kissing, marrying, and having a wonderful daughter?"
"NO!" Moon shouted, her face flushed a bright red. Then with awkward attempt, she started, "So where's V?"
Merc shrugged. Then the phone rang. RIIIINNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!
Merc got up from her seat and pressed the speaker button. V's voice immediately came out, "Hey Merc, it's V."
"What's up?" Merc greeted briskly.
"The tomb...it's missing..."
"WHAT?!" Moon fell off from her chair and stared at the phone in disbelief.
"Okay, don't panic," Merc answered, "we just gotta meet somewhere."
"Alright, I am coming over."
Merc hung up and looked at the group. She sighed, "Guess our job isn't done yet." The three Talented groaned.
Within minutes, V showed up with an apologetic look on her face. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
Jup chuckled, "It's alright!"
"So what do you think we should do?" V walked back and forth among her four friends.
"GOT IT!" Merc smiled triumphantly as she finally deciphered the code which was simply a list of suspects who were also interested in the tomb.
"So who is behind this?" Jup turned her head and asked while twirling with a strand of her brown hair.
"A good old friend of ours," Merc replied while scrolling down the computer window.
"NOT HIM!" Moon wailed.
Mars narrowed her eyes and banged Moon on the head with a stick, "Quit being a drama queen!"
"Bleh!" Jup gagged, "Why does it have to be him? PITHOLE! Argh...I would like to get my hand on this guy someday."
"And make sure to punch more for me," Mars added.
"As long as he doesn't look like her old boyfriend, oh yeah," V chipped in sarcastically.
"Come on, you guys!" Jup exclaimed. "I can take this guy out...but it would be nice if he's hot looking..."
The four other talented exchanged a glance and went back to work to figure out how to deal with Pithole.
After an hour or so, Merc exclaimed, "Hey V, don't you have a security camera in your house?"
"Yeah?" V replied.
"Go get the tape and let's get rolling!"
Then, after V ran back to her apartment and showed the other four Talented the tape. They sat on the sofa and groaned.
Moon sighed, "Who would have thought of all those people..."
Mars sipped her tea and whispered, "Yup, who would have thought..."
"Unbelievable!" Jup shook her head.
"WHO CARES!" V put her cup down violently. "The important thing is that he WAS my friend!"
Jup rolled her eyes, "He still is, V. Motoki is still your friend. Your best friend, I must add."
"Yup," Moon nudged the blonde V and added slyly, "your very *best* friend."
V's face turned tomato red, "Shush you guys! Motoki and I are *just* friends!"
"Uh huh!" Mars nodded with a mischievous glance on her face. "That's why you are always with him like a sick puppy."
"Yeah!" Jup snapped her fingers. "Like that time when Motoki had a cold, you left your show just to take care of him!"
"Or," Moon added excitedly, "that time when..."
"Alright, alright!" V put her hands up in the air, a sign of defeat. She blushed a little, "yes, I do have a thing or two for Motoki, but why is he? Why is he? Why is he the Snatcher?"
"Well, why are we the Five Talented?" Merc countered.
"Hmm..." Mars stroked her chin, "good point."
"Oh please," Moon yawned, "he probably has a better boss than we do!"
"Well," Jup put her cup down, "I wouldn't be sure about it, though. Pithole is quite a handful to deal with, and I really doubt whether the relationship between him and Snatcher is nice."
Mars snapped her fingers, "Which is why we should get Snatcher on our side."
"Wicked!" Moon clapped her hands.
V shrugged, "Alright, but how?"
Four pairs of eyes were staring right back at the questioning blonde.
V hung her head, "Alright, I'll get him on our side, but we need a plan."
"And the plan is already mapped out," Merc smiled triumphantly.
"Alright," Jup beamed. "Let's hear it!"
"Okay," Merc turned away from her handy computer and faced the group. "So far the information I gathered implies that Snatcher, or Motoki, is trading the tomb in with Pithole at the carnival tonight."
V snapped her fingers, "So that's why Motoki asked me out tonight."
Moon cocked her eyebrow, "Oh really? Where?"
Mars looked at Moon annoyed, "Do you have to ask?"
Moon frowned, "Why? Is asking a crime?"
"NO!" Mars growled. "But isn't it obviously that Motoki is taking V to the carnival AND trade with Pithole at the same time?"
"Oh," Moon answered sheepishly.
"Well, anyways," Merc cleared her throat and continued, "we are going to get the tomb back during the carnival."
"How?" Jup asked.
Merc winked, "With a magic show!"
"Ooh, I like it," V smiled wickedly.
"Alright!" Moon clapped her hands. "So now that the business is done, can I go now?"
"Why in a rush?" Jup asked.
Mars coughed dramatically, "Chiba Mamoru."
V raised her eyebrow, "Isn't that the cop that chased the imaginary thief for an hour while Jup and I stole the tomb from the museum?"
"Yup," Mars nodded.
Moon, seeing that the situation was getting nasty for her, began thinking of ways to get out as slick as possible.
"Hold on a minute, Moon!" V rose up, her face quite serious. "Do you like this guy?"
Moon fumbled with her fingers, "Well...no...err...yeah...umm..."
"You like him," Jup smiled encouragingly.
Moon nodded shyly, "Yeah I do. Mamoru-kun and I talked quite a bit after that fake robbery we set on him. He is a really nice guy."
"Just be careful," Merc warned. "He is a cop after all; he might expose all of us."
Moon sighed. "Well, I better get going now. And no, I won't be calling him later." She really didn't want her friends to worry this much. Not to mention this was about a guy she liked. Couldn't they put some trust in her?
But the other Talented didn't say anything else. They just watched as Moon quietly left the building.
********************
In the police headquarter, a frustrated young man looked at his paperwork in annoyance. He had been searching for the Five Talented for quite some years now. Ever since their first crime five years ago when a sacred jewel named Ginshozhu was stolen. But he was so close at getting a glimpse of them yesterday. So darn close. He was almost there, only if he wasn't stopped by that blonde. And then, at the thought of the blonde, the young man smiled, his sapphire eyes danced with amusement as he rolled the blonde's name softly off his tongue, "Usagi. Tsukino Usagi."
Suddenly, his eyebrows creased together in deep ponderings. He knew something was wrong. Something was quite wrong about yesterday. Something he couldn't quite put his finger on it. What was wrong? Like a maniac, the young man, also known as Chiba Mamoru the commander in chief, flipped through a thick portfolio about the Five Talented.
********************
Usagi sighed as she looked at the costume in front of her. It was obvious. She was the main character for tonight's magic performance. She, the most clumsy and klutzy one, was the main feature tonight. With her cerulean eyes closed and her fingers crossed, the blonde silently prayed for a night without interferences either from the annoying Pithole, or worse...Chiba Mamoru.
********************
Mamoru stared at the file in disbelief. He believed that he finally cracked the Talented's code. But it couldn't be true, could it?
With one hand supporting his head, Mamoru read through the file again. It was true. For every case the Talented were in, there were two main thieves, one back-up, one behind-the-scene, and one distracter. And without much ado, the distracter yesterday: Tsukino Usagi.
"This is just great!" Mamoru mumbled. "The one woman I finally have a liking for turns out to be a thief."
Behind him, the fax machine hummed softly. Mamoru turned around and read the message as it was printed on the fax paper.
--- Dear Commander,
Take notice of the event tonight. ---
Mamoru frowned. What event?
********************
At the carnival in the park that night.
"Coming through!" a group of workers carried a case through the crowd and then stopped at the audition stage.
The announcer grinned, "Why, thank you! I will take care of it from here."
"Alright!" the workers cheered and stepped out to join the carnival.
The announcer heaved out a sigh. She couldn't believe how easy the task was. Merc had already figured out how Snatcher would carry on the event probably even more thoroughly than Snatcher himself. She was right for every step. Snatcher had arranged with Pithole in advance to carry the tomb into the park pretending it was an event in the carnival. The workers, who didn't know anything, brought the tomb inside the tent. Then, another group of workers, under Pithole's direction, would carry out the tomb. But, sadly, there was one problem. They didn't account the fact that the announcer would be there. They didn't account the fact that the announcer was in disguise. That the announcer was one of the Talented. The announcer smiled and stroked the tomb gently, "Finally, I got my hand on this baby!" With ease, she took off her mask, seeing that nobody had trespassed into the tent. Her beautiful cerulean eyes beamed as she, known as Moon by her fellow Talented, inspected every corner of the tomb, "Ah...you are going to bring in lots of money, baby..."
"Or not!" a voice rang loud and clear behind.
Moon turned around swiftly, her mouth opened wide as she recognized the intruder. Only one thing crossed her mind now. She was busted.
Chapter 2: The Distracter
~flashback~
Usagi frantically clung herself to the police officer as she battled her eyelashes and screamed, "THIEF! THIEF!" Then to add more drama to the scene, she grabbed the collar around the officer's neck with one hand and pointed the direction with another hand.
The police officer, in his mid-twenties, had dark raven hair and sapphire eyes flickering in the dark. Gosh! What good timing this girl had! Didn't she know he was onto a big case right now? He ran his fingers through his slightly curly hair and began his sentence frantically, "But I- "
"But what?" Usagi growled at the officer. It was not her fault that she was The Distracter in the Five Talented. It was not her fault that she was always the one ended up with the worst task possible. But it was THIS police's fault if he wouldn't let her do her job! Gosh! She could be fired! Usagi shriveled at the thought. The Boss wouldn't be happy for sure. So with a little quick wit she still had, she questioned the policemen, "Are you a police or not?"
"Yes."
Whew. She still had her job. Now, it was time to get this police officer, oh wait, the commander in chief (she definitely didn't come unprepared) away from the scene of crime. Keeping the triumphant look under her sweet mask, Usagi continued to ask in a frantic voice, "Then, isn't it your duty to catch that thief?"
Usagi watched in satisfaction secretly as the commander in chief bore the face of defeat. She knew she won this round, only if she could do the same to her friends. Oh well, she better focused on her work! The commander sighed and instructed his crew, "Search the museum and find any suspects lurking around it."
Then Usagi led the commander into the street. Oh yeah, had she mentioned that the thief was all made up? Well, it was not. But the actual thieves were in the museum, not out on the street. *Good luck, minna-san!* Usagi whispered a prayer to all the Talented before she led the unknowing commander on the wild goose chase.
~end of flashback~
"Sensei! Tsukino-sensei!" a small childish voice sang its sweet melody into the blonde daydreaming by the window. The owner of the voice frowned and poked his teacher softly, "Sensei!"
The blonde teacher, Usagi, jumped, causing her smooth golden brown hair to ease off her shoulder, "Hai!"
The little boy giggled, "Chiba-onii-san is here to see you!"
*Onii-san? When do I have an older brother? And I thought Singo is enough to deal with for twenty years,* Usagi frowned.
"Good afternoon, Usagi-san!"
Upon hearing the voice, Usagi shaped her petal-like lips into a smile, "Mamoru-kun!"
A dark-haired police officer smiled back at the sudden burst of sunshine, "So, what are you doing tonight?"
*He's asking me out on a date!* Usagi beamed and murmured shyly, "Nothing."
"Really?" Mamoru's eyes lighted up. "Because I was wondering if you would like to go to the-"
RRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG! !!!!!!!!!!!
Usagi sighed and picked up the phone, "This is Tsukino-sensei speaking."
"Ha ha ha!" a ring of laughter burst out.
"REI!" Usagi shouted, disapproving written all over her face. And in a smaller voice she hissed, "Rei, you know I'm talking to you-know-who!"
"I know," Rei replied, "but you can't go on the date with him tonight."
Usagi rolled her eyes. It was another meeting for the Five Talented. "Alright, I'll be there."
"Then, I'll be waiting for you!" Rei added.
"I am sure you will," Usagi replied with hint of sarcasm. Although Rei and Usagi no longer bickered with each other anymore, they still retained a hint of sarcasm between each other. It was something the other Talented wanted to get rid of, unfortunately, it never ceased; and the Talented finally gave up on it, after all, it provided them with some sort of entertainment. And at last, Usagi hung up the phone. "Umm...Mamoru- kun...I..."
"It's alright," Mamoru hid his disappointment. "We'll meet another time."
"Alright."
********************
A blue-haired woman glanced at the old-fashioned clock on the wall impatiently and paced around the small quarter. She was one of the Talented, but secretly, she suspected that she was the only one that took the job seriously. After all, the other Talented were content with their jobs and same with her except... Well, her job was tedious in comparison to the job she had secretly. Inside of her always would rest this core of excitement that she kept bottled tightly under control, yet this job would let her vent out a little...maybe that was why she took this job more seriously than the others.
"Oh, stop it, Merc!" a raven-hair woman sat comfortably on the couch crossing her legs. Her long black hair was tied into a French twist with a wisp of waist-length hair behind her two ears. She took off her ruby-red business coat and said, "You know how it is, Moon is always late. You can count on it!"
Merc sighed. Mars was right about that. It had been this way ever since they were in junior high. And at that moment the door was opened. A cheerful Talented poked her head inside the crack and smiled, "Glad to see I'm not the last one here!"
"Come in, Jup!" Mars winked. "So at last, like always..."
"Hey!" the door was banged open again and a blonde in her early twenty shouted. "You better have some food with you, Jup! I'm starving!"
"There's one blonde left," Mars finished. "Hey Moon, glad that you can make it."
Moon rolled her eyes, "Cut that out. I just want to get this over with as quickly as we can. So where's V?"
"Dunno," Jup shrugged and passed the fudge over to the hungry blonde. She winced as the blonde with two meatballs scarped down all the fudge within seconds.
Moon wiped her mouth in satisfactory, "Okay, can we get this going NOW?"
"Why the rush?" Mars asked slyly. "Does that have to do with a certain Chiba Mamoru?"
"Uhh...no!" Moon stammered. "I just wanna go home!"
The other three Talented gave Moon a skeptical look and replied in unison, "Right!"
"So," Mars scooted closer to the stammering Moon, "why the rush? Got a date with Mamoru?"
Moon turned beet-red, "No, thanks to you!"
"Me?" Mars replied in pretend surprise. "Why?"
"It's because of your stupid phone call that wrecks EVERYTHING!"
"Everything?" Jup cocked her eyebrow. And sitting afar, Merc looked interestedly at the group.
"Hmm..." Mars stroked her chin, "does that involves going on dates, kissing, marrying, and having a wonderful daughter?"
"NO!" Moon shouted, her face flushed a bright red. Then with awkward attempt, she started, "So where's V?"
Merc shrugged. Then the phone rang. RIIIINNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!
Merc got up from her seat and pressed the speaker button. V's voice immediately came out, "Hey Merc, it's V."
"What's up?" Merc greeted briskly.
"The tomb...it's missing..."
"WHAT?!" Moon fell off from her chair and stared at the phone in disbelief.
"Okay, don't panic," Merc answered, "we just gotta meet somewhere."
"Alright, I am coming over."
Merc hung up and looked at the group. She sighed, "Guess our job isn't done yet." The three Talented groaned.
Within minutes, V showed up with an apologetic look on her face. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
Jup chuckled, "It's alright!"
"So what do you think we should do?" V walked back and forth among her four friends.
"GOT IT!" Merc smiled triumphantly as she finally deciphered the code which was simply a list of suspects who were also interested in the tomb.
"So who is behind this?" Jup turned her head and asked while twirling with a strand of her brown hair.
"A good old friend of ours," Merc replied while scrolling down the computer window.
"NOT HIM!" Moon wailed.
Mars narrowed her eyes and banged Moon on the head with a stick, "Quit being a drama queen!"
"Bleh!" Jup gagged, "Why does it have to be him? PITHOLE! Argh...I would like to get my hand on this guy someday."
"And make sure to punch more for me," Mars added.
"As long as he doesn't look like her old boyfriend, oh yeah," V chipped in sarcastically.
"Come on, you guys!" Jup exclaimed. "I can take this guy out...but it would be nice if he's hot looking..."
The four other talented exchanged a glance and went back to work to figure out how to deal with Pithole.
After an hour or so, Merc exclaimed, "Hey V, don't you have a security camera in your house?"
"Yeah?" V replied.
"Go get the tape and let's get rolling!"
Then, after V ran back to her apartment and showed the other four Talented the tape. They sat on the sofa and groaned.
Moon sighed, "Who would have thought of all those people..."
Mars sipped her tea and whispered, "Yup, who would have thought..."
"Unbelievable!" Jup shook her head.
"WHO CARES!" V put her cup down violently. "The important thing is that he WAS my friend!"
Jup rolled her eyes, "He still is, V. Motoki is still your friend. Your best friend, I must add."
"Yup," Moon nudged the blonde V and added slyly, "your very *best* friend."
V's face turned tomato red, "Shush you guys! Motoki and I are *just* friends!"
"Uh huh!" Mars nodded with a mischievous glance on her face. "That's why you are always with him like a sick puppy."
"Yeah!" Jup snapped her fingers. "Like that time when Motoki had a cold, you left your show just to take care of him!"
"Or," Moon added excitedly, "that time when..."
"Alright, alright!" V put her hands up in the air, a sign of defeat. She blushed a little, "yes, I do have a thing or two for Motoki, but why is he? Why is he? Why is he the Snatcher?"
"Well, why are we the Five Talented?" Merc countered.
"Hmm..." Mars stroked her chin, "good point."
"Oh please," Moon yawned, "he probably has a better boss than we do!"
"Well," Jup put her cup down, "I wouldn't be sure about it, though. Pithole is quite a handful to deal with, and I really doubt whether the relationship between him and Snatcher is nice."
Mars snapped her fingers, "Which is why we should get Snatcher on our side."
"Wicked!" Moon clapped her hands.
V shrugged, "Alright, but how?"
Four pairs of eyes were staring right back at the questioning blonde.
V hung her head, "Alright, I'll get him on our side, but we need a plan."
"And the plan is already mapped out," Merc smiled triumphantly.
"Alright," Jup beamed. "Let's hear it!"
"Okay," Merc turned away from her handy computer and faced the group. "So far the information I gathered implies that Snatcher, or Motoki, is trading the tomb in with Pithole at the carnival tonight."
V snapped her fingers, "So that's why Motoki asked me out tonight."
Moon cocked her eyebrow, "Oh really? Where?"
Mars looked at Moon annoyed, "Do you have to ask?"
Moon frowned, "Why? Is asking a crime?"
"NO!" Mars growled. "But isn't it obviously that Motoki is taking V to the carnival AND trade with Pithole at the same time?"
"Oh," Moon answered sheepishly.
"Well, anyways," Merc cleared her throat and continued, "we are going to get the tomb back during the carnival."
"How?" Jup asked.
Merc winked, "With a magic show!"
"Ooh, I like it," V smiled wickedly.
"Alright!" Moon clapped her hands. "So now that the business is done, can I go now?"
"Why in a rush?" Jup asked.
Mars coughed dramatically, "Chiba Mamoru."
V raised her eyebrow, "Isn't that the cop that chased the imaginary thief for an hour while Jup and I stole the tomb from the museum?"
"Yup," Mars nodded.
Moon, seeing that the situation was getting nasty for her, began thinking of ways to get out as slick as possible.
"Hold on a minute, Moon!" V rose up, her face quite serious. "Do you like this guy?"
Moon fumbled with her fingers, "Well...no...err...yeah...umm..."
"You like him," Jup smiled encouragingly.
Moon nodded shyly, "Yeah I do. Mamoru-kun and I talked quite a bit after that fake robbery we set on him. He is a really nice guy."
"Just be careful," Merc warned. "He is a cop after all; he might expose all of us."
Moon sighed. "Well, I better get going now. And no, I won't be calling him later." She really didn't want her friends to worry this much. Not to mention this was about a guy she liked. Couldn't they put some trust in her?
But the other Talented didn't say anything else. They just watched as Moon quietly left the building.
********************
In the police headquarter, a frustrated young man looked at his paperwork in annoyance. He had been searching for the Five Talented for quite some years now. Ever since their first crime five years ago when a sacred jewel named Ginshozhu was stolen. But he was so close at getting a glimpse of them yesterday. So darn close. He was almost there, only if he wasn't stopped by that blonde. And then, at the thought of the blonde, the young man smiled, his sapphire eyes danced with amusement as he rolled the blonde's name softly off his tongue, "Usagi. Tsukino Usagi."
Suddenly, his eyebrows creased together in deep ponderings. He knew something was wrong. Something was quite wrong about yesterday. Something he couldn't quite put his finger on it. What was wrong? Like a maniac, the young man, also known as Chiba Mamoru the commander in chief, flipped through a thick portfolio about the Five Talented.
********************
Usagi sighed as she looked at the costume in front of her. It was obvious. She was the main character for tonight's magic performance. She, the most clumsy and klutzy one, was the main feature tonight. With her cerulean eyes closed and her fingers crossed, the blonde silently prayed for a night without interferences either from the annoying Pithole, or worse...Chiba Mamoru.
********************
Mamoru stared at the file in disbelief. He believed that he finally cracked the Talented's code. But it couldn't be true, could it?
With one hand supporting his head, Mamoru read through the file again. It was true. For every case the Talented were in, there were two main thieves, one back-up, one behind-the-scene, and one distracter. And without much ado, the distracter yesterday: Tsukino Usagi.
"This is just great!" Mamoru mumbled. "The one woman I finally have a liking for turns out to be a thief."
Behind him, the fax machine hummed softly. Mamoru turned around and read the message as it was printed on the fax paper.
--- Dear Commander,
Take notice of the event tonight. ---
Mamoru frowned. What event?
********************
At the carnival in the park that night.
"Coming through!" a group of workers carried a case through the crowd and then stopped at the audition stage.
The announcer grinned, "Why, thank you! I will take care of it from here."
"Alright!" the workers cheered and stepped out to join the carnival.
The announcer heaved out a sigh. She couldn't believe how easy the task was. Merc had already figured out how Snatcher would carry on the event probably even more thoroughly than Snatcher himself. She was right for every step. Snatcher had arranged with Pithole in advance to carry the tomb into the park pretending it was an event in the carnival. The workers, who didn't know anything, brought the tomb inside the tent. Then, another group of workers, under Pithole's direction, would carry out the tomb. But, sadly, there was one problem. They didn't account the fact that the announcer would be there. They didn't account the fact that the announcer was in disguise. That the announcer was one of the Talented. The announcer smiled and stroked the tomb gently, "Finally, I got my hand on this baby!" With ease, she took off her mask, seeing that nobody had trespassed into the tent. Her beautiful cerulean eyes beamed as she, known as Moon by her fellow Talented, inspected every corner of the tomb, "Ah...you are going to bring in lots of money, baby..."
"Or not!" a voice rang loud and clear behind.
Moon turned around swiftly, her mouth opened wide as she recognized the intruder. Only one thing crossed her mind now. She was busted.