"You're a very pretty kitty, you know that? And healthy, too. I'd say you're someone's pet, unless strays are fed really good cat food every day!" Goku joked.
Luna purred louder, as if she was making sure that Goku couldn't hear her think as he rubbed her under the chin, "I might actually like this guy if he keeps the 'pretty' stuff up, but I can't be held responsible for my actions if he starts with that other stuff."
At that moment, Vegeta returned. Having overheard Goku, he was a little cautious before entering the room, "Who are you talking too?"
Luna's hair stiffened at the sound of Vegeta's harsh voice.
"Vegeta? Oh, I'm just talking to a cat, that's all."
Indignantly, Vegeta stepped into the room.
"Why are you so angry? It's not like I would intentionally tell someone where we were hiding."
"Well, one can never be too careful. Besides, you're not my first pick on partners, ya know."
Luna was absorbing all the information like a sponge.
"I know, Vegeta, but you have to learn to trust me. If it helps any for me to say so, I trust you with my life."
Vegeta looked shocked, but only for a second, when Goku admitted that. After the moment passed, he laughed, "Me, trust you!? I don't think so, Kakarot!"
Goku patiently, and almost knowingly, smiled, but said nothing.
"As soon as you or I find that 'Red Heart Crystal' and return it to Dende`, we are no longer friends, Kakarot; we're enemies."
Goku shrugged, "Suit yourself." Then, offhandedly, he added, "You wouldn't happen to have anything to eat on you, would you?"
Vegeta looked up at the ceiling and sighed. He tossed an apple to Goku, "This is all I have. I was saving it for later," he trailed off.
Goku caught the apple, and was about to eat it, then remembered Luna. "Hey, Vegeta, you wanna hold the cat?"
"No!"
"C'mon Vegeta, she's really sweet."
"I am not holding any cat!"
"What's wrong? Afraid of a little kitty cat?" Goku held Luna out slightly.
"I don't like where this is going!" Luna predicted, tensing up as Goku held her out.
Vegeta turned his back to Goku, "I'm not afraid of cats, I just hate them."
"Why would you hate a cat? They're so cute and lovable. I mean, look at her, she's practically adorable!" Goku childishly cradled Luna to him.
A small sweatdrop appeared on Luna's face, "Practically?"
"Adorable!?" Vegeta looked crossly over his shoulder. "More like evil! Cats are the most overpopulated feral animals in the world! Not to mention that they are some of the fiercest, too."
Goku took a few steps towards him, making Luna even more nervous, even though she was not being held out anymore. "But Vegeta, you have to look at the opposite end of the spectrum. Cats outnumber dogs as house pets, they keep the rat in controllable numbers, and they are great companions!"
Vegeta could tell that Goku was walking toward him without even turning around, so he made his makeshift partner halt, "Bring that cat one step closer and I'll ring its neck!" Goku stopped dead in his tracks. "You really don't like cats, do you?"
"I hate them with everything I have! The only thing they're good for is stringing violins!"
"Vegeta! You can't mean that!"
"Well I do! And if you think you can change my mind, Kakarot, you are badly mistaken!"
Goku was fed up, but he still kept his cool; Luna admired him for that. "Fine, I won't try to change your mind, but only if you stop calling me 'Kakarot,' deal?"
"I will call you whatever I want, Kakarot," Vegeta stubbornly emphasized Goku's Sayin name.
Goku had no retaliation, and merely set Luna on the ground. He changed the subject, "Whatever. Come on, we have to search for the Red Heart Crystal now."
"What?" Luna freaked mentally. "Oh no! I lost track of time! I'd better get back to Serena and tell her everything!"
Goku headed for the doorway behind Vegeta as Luna went for a broken side door. When Goku said, "Let's go," something made Luna pause, though she didn't know why. The cat raced down the sidewalk, dodging people's legs all the way in the early morning.
Luna slowed down to a walk a few blocks from Serena's home, "Why am I running? It's a Sunday! Serena is probably still asleep." She ran into Amy, "Oh, Amy! How nice to see you!"
"Hi, Luna! Where have you been?"
"You won't believe it! But I can't tell you now; I know. Come to Serena's with me and I'll tell both of you the whole story!"
"Okay, sounds great!" Luna finished up her story in Serena's room. Serena was still in her pajamas.
"And something I found out, is that this Vegeta person hates cats!"
Amy posed a question, "Why would he hate cats? You know, it could be a hint as to what these guys are."
"Could be," Luna acknowledged.
"Hey, what did Vegeta look like?"
"Good question, Serena!" Amy applauded. "I thought you were going to ask something stupid!"
Sailor Moon just stared at Mercury as Luna answered, "Well, it was a little difficult to tell, as it was dark and he had his back to me most of the time, but I can say with certainty that he was much shorter than Goku, maybe five feet tall or less."
"Wow," Amy commented, "that is short. What else can you tell us?"
"His hair did stand straight up; it didn't flop over like Goku's. I'm not positive as to what color it was, but it was most likely black or dark brown. Also, I think he was wearing a blue suit underneath a white vest of some sort. And he was an extremely angry fellow! He seemed angry at Goku even before he entered the room!"
Amy was surprised, "Really? I know I shouldn't be this surprised, after all, you did say that Vegeta wanted to go back to being enemies with Goku. But I'm just curious as to why he'd want it that way. Goku seems like a fairly nice guy.
"I know!" Serena chimed in. "He didn't even want to hurt a cat, now, how could anyone like that have an enemy?"
"I don't think Goku is the one who wants to be enemies with Vegeta. Goku doesn't even want to be called 'Kakarot' by Vegeta. I'm afraid that I don't understand them," Luna shook her head. "And I still have no idea what Goku might be."
"I don't think any of us do, Luna," Amy tried to make Luna feel better. "Hey, did Goku say anything else to you or Vegeta?"
Luna had a thoughtful look on her face, then she smiled, "Well, there is one thing."
"What is it?" The two urged, hoping for another clue.
"He called me 'kitty'!"
Sailor Moon and Mercury were disappointed. Just then, Sailor Moon's mother called up.
"Serena, you need to have breakfast!"
"All right Mom! I'll be there in a minute!"
Amy and Luna stepped outside while Serena changed. When Moon came down stairs, she gave her mom an excuse to get out of a full breakfast, and snatched an orange instead. After the three went outside, Serena started eating her "breakfast." They walked into town and Sailor Moon threw away the orange peel as she passed a garbage can.
"I wonder if Goku is really our enemy," Amy pondered aloud. "I mean, he didn't want to fight us, he made that very clear. And even when he did fight back, he could have destroyed you, Serena, but he chose to try and help you instead. And then he just walked away! He could have killed us all, but, instead, he left!"
Luna raised her ears, "You may be right, buy we can't be sure. We'll have to play it safe until we know for certain."
From ahead, the girls heard someone scream. Amy and Luna were the first to take off, and Sailor Moon followed clumsily. The screaming continued as they ran.
"It's coming from the jewelry shop!" Amy exclaimed.
Inside, a Nega-verse minion, modeled after a diamond cutter, was terrorizing the shop keeper. The screaming was coming from a customer, who was crouched behind a display case. The diamond cutter had a magnifying glass strapped around her head, with the glass piece over her eye. She had a lot of gold and diamond jewelry, a large battery pack on her back, and a diamond-tipped drill attached to the battery via an electrical cord.
"Come out, come out, my little Pure Heart" she sang awkwardly as she searched for the hiding jeweler. She found him cowering under a desk, "Ha-ha! Got ya, you slippery thing!"
The jeweler exclaimed in fear as the monster sucked out his heart crystal with her non-drill hand. She laughed wickedly while she held the crystal.
Serena transformed into her outfit at the same time as Amy, saving some time.
Sailor Moon got the monster's attention, "Give that back! It doesn't belong to you!"
"Oh no! Sailor Moon!" the diamond cutter gritted her teeth. "Excuse me, but I have somewhere to be! Ha-ha-ha-ha!"
Sailor Mercury intervened, "You're not getting away with that Heart Crystal! Mercury . . . Bubbles . . . Blast!"
Mercury crossed her arms over her chest, spun a few times, and fired. The monster barely dodged the bubble attack by diving aside.
"You fool!" she yelled. "You could have broken the Heart Crystal!"
Serena, rather reluctantly, agreed, "She's right. You should be more careful."
The monster wasted no time in retaliation. She used her drill and tried to drill a hone from Mercury's head to her feet. Screaming, Sailor Mercury scrambled backwards and hurt her leg falling down.
"Now, you pesky rodent, I'm going to fill you full of holes, just like Swiss Cheese!" the monster raised her drill to finish off Mercury; however, Sailor Moon intervened.
"Stop it! She's not the one you want!"
The monster was confused, "What d'ya mean?"
"I am Sailor Moon; champion of truth and justice, protector of the innocent! In the name of the Moon, I will punish you!"
