~*~*~*~
Michiru sat down in chair that was placed in the center of the art studio. She placed her portfolio on her lap as she began to take out a few of her paintings to show Taro. "This one was my first."
The door behind the pair slowly creaked open to allow Kaori inside. "And it'll be your last."
Taro and Michiru gasped in surprise as their heads turned in the direction of the interruption. "Who are you?!" Taro demanded. He didn't recognize the woman as one of his father's colleagues, which were the only people who had been invited to the ceremony other than Haruka and Michiru. "How did you get in here?!" Michiru jumped out of her seat not knowing to expect from this woman. She grabbed her paintings and quickly shoved them back into her portfolio so they wouldn't be seen by the stranger.
Kaori set her little silver box down while she ignored the boy's demands. She knelt down beside it and began unlatching it as she had many times before.
Taro took a step forward, curious as to what the strange looking red head had. Maybe she was just a fan and wanted to show him some of her art, but she didn't seem the type. Michiru stood her ground. After training with Mamoru under the supervision of Piccolo for most of her life she had learned how to sense when something was up. She could tell that this woman was bad news. "This isn't good."
Kaori sneered at the aqua-haired girl. "Watch as I make your friend disappear, or rather, die."
Taro jumped away and glanced over his shoulder. "Michiru, run!" Stumbling over his feet, he spun around and ran to the back of the room.
Kaori just laughed as she pulled the cover off of the silver box, which let out a cloud of dust. Michiru knew right then and there that this wasn't just anybody. This woman was definitely up to something. Acting fast, she grabbed Taro from behind and threw him to the side. She crouched down and began calling fourth her Ki.
Losing his footing, Taro rolled down to the ground into a corner. He wasted no time turning his attention back up to the two women in shock, especially Michiru. She didn't seemed to be scared at all like he would have thought. She even seemed to be challenging the woman. "Michiru don't try anything stupid. She might have a gun!" Using the floor as his leverage, he pushed himself back onto his feet.
Kaori laughed even louder as she looked upon her next victim. She really had no interest in Michiru. It was Taro she was after. His love for the Arts made him a perfect candidate for a Pure Heart Crystal. Kicking her little box, she commanded her creature to do its job. "Get his Pure Heart Crystal!"
Michiru's eye widened as she prepared herself for whatever the woman was talking to. "Taro get out of here! It's you she's after!"
Taro frowned as he grabbed Michiru from behind and tried to pull her aside, but she wouldn't budge. "I'm not leaving you alone with that crazy woman!" He looked down at the box and noticed a long, slimly object making its way out. "Huh?"
Michiru pushed Taro back. "Don't worry about me! I can hold up against this thing! Go find Haruka!" She kept her eyes planted on Kaori as she tightened her fists. She squatted to the ground to create a quick diversion to gain the slug's attention. She noticed that Taro hadn't moved. He was too stunned. "Get outta here!"
Taro blinked with a quick shake of his head to snap himself out of his trance. "What's going on?!" Without waiting for an answer he dove for the door.
Kaori, who wasn't too far from the door herself, took one step to the side with a grin. She clothes-lined Taro and pushed him back into the room. "Where do you think you're going, little man?"
Taro looked up at Kaori with genuine fear in his eyes. He had no idea who this woman was or what she wanted. Michiru noticed that the slug was beginning to turn back toward Taro. 'Crap!' Not knowing what else to do, she extended her leg toward the slug-like creature and kicked it into the wall. She could hear Kaori laughing at the top of her lungs as the creature slowly began to erect itself into its attacking form. "What the?" She stood up and went in for another attack. She knew this could only go on for so long, so she bent down and grabbed the slimly thing with her hands, hoping that she could use her strength to stop it from moving.
Taro backed into a wall as he just watched the girl wrestle with the oversized bug. He was thoroughly confused at that point. "Be careful!"
Michiru struggled to keep her hold on the creature, which wriggled around in her grasp. She wasn't able to hold it long before her hands just became too slippery to really keep a good grip on it. Her hands covered in slim, the creature shot out of her hands and directly for the boy on the other side of the room. Taro tried to make a hasty run for it. Michiru looked down at her hands with a groan. They were covered with a greenish-brown gel substance.
Kaori chuckled at the girl. "Looks like you're a little pre-occupied there."
Michiru glared at the woman as she wiped her hands on the ground, but by then it was too late. Taro was already lying on the ground as lifeless as a fallen tree. "Taro!" Both fear and anger occupied her voice as a feeling of loss hope entered her body. Taro was gone, the one time someone was actually counting on her skills as a fighter and she had to blow it.
Kaori laughed even louder as she neared Tatsuo and her creature and knelt down to see if she had won her most anticipated prize. Michiru slowly stepped toward Kaori, making sure that her feet made as little noise as possible on the linoleum flooring. She clasped her hands together to create one, large fist and brought it up to the side of her head as she would have with a baseball bat.
The unsuspecting Kaori was too busy checking her catch to notice the fighter slowly approaching from behind. She held the glowing Crystal in her hand, but this one was no better than all the others she had caught before. "Stupid boy!" She yelled as she punched Taro's limp body. "Can't even have a Pure Heart Crystal!" She put the Crystal into a little pouch on her side just as she was standing up.
Michiru took her chance while she had it. In one swift movement she brought threw her fist into Kaori's neck, causing the woman to fall face flat with a thud. Michiru narrowed her glare at the practically harmless woman, taking special notice at the glow her side was emitting. "Is that what you were after? He had some sort of jewel you wanted? You had to KILL him for that?!"
Kaori had no real intention of replying to the brat as she tried to regain her composure. Patting her pouch, she made sure her treasure was secure in its place. "You're one of the brat's friends."
"What?!" Michiru had never really seen Kaori hanging around Hotaru's. Not that she or Haruka had ever gone into the child's house.
Kaori grinned, happy that this girl didn't know who she was. Had she, the entire plan would have been ruined. Her identity would have been revealed to the Saiyans, which would have meant bad news. She knew they weren't ready to meet with the Saiyans and their friends. Only when the Mistress truly appeared would they be ready to rid the earth of all threats to 'him'. "Right.. ." She glared down at her creature. "Finish her off."
Michiru frowned as she powered up enough to surround herself with a blue aura. "You're not getting away that easily!"
Kaori scowled back at the girl. "If I stay here any longer I'm going to have to take your Heart Crystal like I did with that idiot." She pointed down to Taro's body, causing Michiru to turn her gaze downward.
Michiru quickly shot her glare back up at the woman to make sure she wasn't going to try anything. But Kaori wasn't the person she should have been worried about at that point, and she soon realized when that slimy, gooey monster was headed right for her in the same position that it had killed Taro with. She reacted the way Piccolo and Mamoru had taught her when she was first learning. Firing a quick Ki ball, she jumped into the air, barely dodging death. The ball of energy tore through the slimy surface of her foe and crashed into the floor beneath it. She thought it was defeated when it fell to the ground, but it was only a matter of seconds before the hole in its stomach was filled in with slimy skin once again. "Huh?"
Kaori had expected that from the girl, but she knew it wouldn't do any good. Professor Tomoe had created that particular creature to resist attacks from the energy using kind of folk. Seeing that Michiru had her hands full, Kaori left the room and started whistling to herself, proud that she at least got a Heart Crystal to keep the Mistress in control of Hotaru's body. Sure it wasn't a pure Heart Crystal, but there were so many candidates and only three Pure Heart Crystals. They would have to weed through all of them to find them all. As long as they could stay hidden they would be fine. It didn't even bother her that one of the friends of Hotaru's friends knew now. Michiru didn't know who the Heart Snatchers were, so she didn't really pose a threat, yet.
While Kaori made a quick escape, Michiru we left back in the studio to battle the slimly slug all alone. She wished she could speak to Haruka through her mind like Usagi and her friends could. She could really have used the help right about now.
The slug-like monster erected itself once again and made a flying dash for the eighteen-year-old. Michiru prepared another blast as she backed herself into the wall. She hoped that by raising her power Haruka would think something was up, but why hadn't she come running now? Raising power levels was NOT exactly proper party etiquette.
Just as Michiru was about to release her power upon her foe, she lost her hold on the Ki ball and her energy was absorbed back into her body. "Oh no! What's happening!?" She looked around the room in a frenzy. Why had her power just disappeared like that? The enemy was coming right for her and she had nothing to protect herself with but her physical attacks.
Just as the two were about to make impact with one another, Michiru dropped to the ground, causing her attacker to fly straight into the wall. Before it had a chance to fall, she kicked it further up into the air in hopes that she would be able to pull of a Ki attack, but it was no go. "Why can't I do it?!" She cried out in distress. She felt like she had no control over her body.
"It's time." A voice whispered.
Her heart racing faster and faster, she looked up only to see no one. "Who's there?!" She crawled away from her current spot, eventually scrambling to her feet. Fearing for her own life now, she ran to the door and ripped it off its hinges in an attempt to get it open. She didn't care at that point. Even though she had her chance to escape and find Haruka, she felt as if she needed to stay there and fight the creature.
"It's your time." The same voice whispered once again.
Michiru frowned as she turned back and faced the inside of the room. The slug was preparing for yet another attack on her. "Crap!" This time she was going to prepare for an all-out physical attack on the creature, instead of just hitting it a few times here and there. Just as she was tensing her muscles, she noticed an aqua-blue light being emitted from her arm as she extended it. "What?!" She pulled her arm back, only to realize her entire body was emitting the strange aura. "What's happening to me?" Her body felt tingly all over as she crouched to the ground, thinking that this thing had some sort of curse on her. She didn't feel weak from the strange light, in fact, she felt more refreshed, like some sort of strange power was building up within her. Looking up at her foe, which was flying back for her, she noticed a strange blue ball of energy forming in front of her nose. "Huh?" Now she was completely confused. A strange voice was talking to her, and now she was glowing a strange color. She didn't need something else to happen too.
"Now choose your destiny!" The strange voice was no longer just a whisper.
Michiru squinted her eyes and stared into the ball of energy as the light intensified with every second that passed by. Inside, she could see a small wand with a golden star at the top. "What is that?" She reached out, but fell short of even touching the energy.
"You don't have much time! Choose now!"
Michiru looked up, feeling as if time had been slowed down. "And what if I refuse?!"
"The gift will pass you by."
Michiru quirked a brow in interest as she looked back upon the ball of energy with the 'stick' inside it. She didn't have a clue what the voice was talking about. What 'gift' was it that she was speaking of? And what did she mean by choosing her destiny? The thought of this being a trick crossed her mind, but judging by the short distance she was from being hit by the slug, she didn't give it much thought past the fact that it could be one. "What IS the gift?"
"There's no time!" Cried the voice.
Michiru tried to think about what Haruka would do in this situation. Knowing that girl she would take the chance and just grab the stupid thing. She was always one for taking chances. But Michiru never was. She had always just followed Haruka and what she wanted to do. Frowning to herself, she decided to take the chance. She knew there would come a time when she would have to take a chance, Haruka wouldn't always be the one to make the decisions for her. "Alright!" She reached out let her hand penetrate the strange energy as she wrapped her fingers around the base of the tiny wand. Immediately a serge of energy shot out of her body in all directions, causing her foe to be thrown back against the wall once again. This time it didn't get right back up as it had all the other times.
" Now it is time to activate your powers."
Michiru looked up, still trying to find the voice. "Powers? What're you talking about!?"
"Call out the words, 'Neptune Planet Power, Make-up'! Only then will your true powers be awakened! You will become Sailor Neptune."
Michiru looked down at the item in her hands. Her body was still covered in the strange energy. "Here it goes." She took a deep breath as she looked at the other side of the room to make sure there was no immediate threat. Everything checked out all right as the attacking creature seemed to have been paralyzed. Holding the strange wand out, she did as the voice told her. "Neptune Planet Power, Make-Up!" Her body seemed to be taken over as the strange energy intensified, causing her to take a few steps back. "Whoa!" She hadn't expected that to happen. Her energy pattern was starting to change, as was her outfit. The attire she had arrived in disappeared, only to be replaced rather quickly by her own Sailor GI. "A Sailor Senshi?! ME?!" She extended her arm and flattened out her hand, taking notice that the glowing energy had disappeared.
Looking up, she didn't know what to do next. She didn't really feel like herself anymore. Her energy was completely different now, like she was a whole new person. She wasn't sure if she liked the feeling. "What am I supposed to do now?"
"Activate your attack to kill the beast with the words 'Deep Submerge'."
Sailor Neptune didn't question the voice this time. It hadn't lied to her yet, so she had no reason not to believe it. Holding her hands together like she would for a Ki blast, she chanted the words as told. "Deep Submerge!" A large, basketball size ball of blue energy formed between her hands. She threw it forward and watched it as it spiraled down at its target, the stunned bug. On impact, the energy merged with the creature, but not for long. It soon exploded after burrowing deep enough within the creature's flesh. Neptune just watched in amazement. Her own Ki attack hadn't worked against that thing, but this power seemed to chomp right through it.
Neptune raised her hands to eye level and looked at them in disbelief. "How? What is this?"
"You're not finished. That woman is getting away with that boy's Heart Crystal!"
The Senshi of the ocean looked up, still with confusion written all over her face. "Heart Crystal? Is that what she put in her pouch?!"
"There's no time! You have to find her! Find out where their operations are!"
Neptune didn't exactly know what she was doing, but she nodded anyway. If this so-called Heart Crystal was what was taken from Taro, then that's what probably killed him too. Maybe if she got the Heart Crystal back she could some how get it back into his body, and then maybe he would come back to life. It was worth a try. She ran out the door, completely ignoring the monster she just obliterated.
"Don't go to the other one."
Neptune raced down the hallway as fast as she could. "Who?"
"The one you call Haruka."
The Senshi frowned. She had never kept anything this big from her friend before, and didn't plan on starting now. "I have to tell her. She can help me find the woman who stole Taro's heart crystal!"
"No! She is not to know!" She voice shouted angrily.
Neptune stopped short as she came upon the stairway that led to the lower level. "She can probably feel me already anyway!"
"She couldn't feel a thing all night!" Neptune didn't understand. She and Haruka had been taught how to sense each other, and everyone else around Why would tonight be any different. She just stood silent, trying to make sense of everything that was happening. "You're a special kind of Senshi. You're not like Usagi and the others. You protect the Princess silently; therefore your power cannot be detected by anyone. Your power is needed, which is why you've been summoned. Your power has been coming fourth all night. And now you've finally wakened up as the Senshi of the Ocean, Sailor Neptune."
Knowing that she didn't have any time to waste, she quickly started down the stairway. She couldn't help but think about what the female voice had just told her. She still wasn't sure about this whole Senshi business. She had freaked when she heard that Usagi and her friends were the infamous Sailor Senshi that had popped up out of no where two years before. She wasn't sure if she deserved the job of protecting Usagi after everything she had pulled in the past. Of course, she wasn't sure if Mamoru even deserved the role of being Earth's Prince. "So I'm not to tell Usagi?"
"Right."
Neptune wasn't sure what she thought of that, but she didn't have much time to think about it. She had her mind set on greater things. She had to find the strange woman who had attacked Taro and get his Heart Crystal back. She would ask for details later.
The party was still going strong downstairs. The first place Neptune laid her eyes on was Haruka laughing it up with what looked like two confused young artists. Neptune couldn't help but giggle at the site. Haruka always had a way of making a joke out of everything, even if it wasn't funny to the other party. Shaking her head, she remembered that she had a job to do. She pushed her way through the crowd as fast as she could to get to the front door. She couldn't help but notice everyone staring at her as if she were an idiot that didn't belong to the party, but she didn't care. She just kept on her way to the door.
Haruka noticed the strange girl running for the door and became amused. "What do we have hear?" She noticed that the outfit the girl had on was exactly like the one the Senshi wore. "A new Sailor Senshi?" Becoming more interested in the girl, she set her drink down and began following her.
Neptune made a quick dash out the door, seeing no one but the knocked out doorman herself. "She was definitely here." Figuring she could get better land coverage in the air, she let herself rise off the ground. She sighed with relief over the fact that she could actually use her Ki again.
Haruka followed the Senshi out the door, only to be face with nothing but the blackness of the night. "What? Where'd she go?" She looked all around, even up in the sky. But she still saw nothing. "Why couldn't I feel her?" Shrugging to herself, she decided to go back inside and check on Michiru. She had been upstairs with that Taro guy for quite a long time now. She turned around and walked back inside, taking close notice to the fact that the doorman was out cold on the ground. "Damn, even the doormen get smashed at these parties."
~*~*~
Neptune flew at top speed, hoping that Kaori hadn't gone too far. Hopefully she was on foot, but the chances of her luck being THAT good were pretty bad. Chances were that the woman had just hoped in her car and driven off. And if that was the case she would probably be traveling in the back roads, but then again, she probably wasn't expecting anyone to follow her so maybe there was a chance that she was on the main road. But the next question was where she would be heading and what type of car she was in. There were dozens of people on the street, with no telling which one she'd be in. And it wasn't even certain that she was even in a car yet.
Sighing to herself, Neptune gave herself a quick boost of energy. She decided not to follow one straight road in her search. Instead she decided to fly from back and fourth over a series of roads that were side by side within a five-mile radius in hopes to see something suspicious.
~*~*~
Haruka found herself standing face to face with a rather largely built guard as she reached the stairway that led to Michiru. "Excuse me." She said as she tried to push past.
The Guard held his arm out with a frown. "No guests are to go upstairs at this time."
Haruka frowned back as she once again tried pushing her way past him, but the guy wouldn't have it. "Let me up there. My friend went up there with some guy named Taro."
"Taro is the son of the Museum owner, and is therefore allowed upstairs. If he didn't take you up there himself then you obviously weren't meant to be up there."
Haruka growled at the man. She was ready to haul off and hit the guy, but that would only result in getting kicked out of the party, which would more than likely upset Michiru. "Look, the only reason why I stayed down here is so I could get some food. Now that I'm full I want to go see them."
"You won't be seeing them until they decide to come down."
Haruka tensed her muscles in anger. "This is insane! Just let me the hell up there!" The guard shook his head, this time saying nothing.
~*~*~
Neptune had almost reached her limit on how far she was going to go and she still hadn't seen anything. There were no crazy drivers on the road nor were there any suspicious looking pedestrians. "Crap!" She didn't know what to do now. She had failed to find the Heart Crystal thief before it was too late. Who knows where that woman had gone to now? If she had had a power level to detect things would have been much easier, but the dang woman was normal, and therefore had barely any power level at all.
Just as she was getting ready to head back and re-search, she caught a bright light reflecting into the side of her eye. "Huh?" Swiftly turning toward the light, she noticed what looked to be a fleeing character making a quick dash into the City Park. "What's this?"
Neptune followed the person into the park. The place was darker than the street, with no real lights around, which made it hard to spot anyone. She could hear a few whispering voices, but everyone showed up as nothing more than shadows. "Great.. ." Walking cautiously, she began her search for the woman with the sliver case. 'Could this be where their operations are?' Walking through the park, she didn't really notice anything too out of the ordinary. The person whom she had chased in here was gone, and so was the glare from her silver case.
Everything seemed calm until a harsh slamming of a door filled the area with a 'bang'. Neptune jump-turned toward the sound and found herself facing small janitor's building. "What have we here?" Thinking that she had found the culprit, she raced to the rusty door and wrapped her hands around the knob. She immediately began tugging on the door, but it didn't seem to want to open. "Come on!" She yelled, drawing the eyes of many passerby's. The door wouldn't budge, which obviously meant one thing. It had been locked, but by who? She hadn't seen anyone walking away. But then again, it WAS dark outside.
Sighing to herself, Neptune was beginning to think that she had been outsmarted by the enemy. Kaori was no where in sight. She seemed to have just disappeared.
With one last attempt to help her friend, Neptune kicked the Janitor's door in, thinking that the woman had been the one to cause it to slam shut. She heard a group of people screaming in the background, but at that point she didn't care what anyone else thought. Her number one goal at that point was finding Taro's Heart Crystal. Looking inside, she was disappointed to see that there was nothing out of the ordinary in there. It was just a janitor's closet.
~*~*~
Kaori jumped in surprise at the crash that had been created when Neptune kicked the door in. She hadn't expected anyone to follow her in there, especially not Michiru. She hadn't expected the girl to live past the wrath of her monster, but she had and now she was going to spread the word around. No matter though. The girl didn't know who was doing the attacks. They would just have to be more careful from then on.
Smirking to herself, she continued on her way down the secret tunnel that led from the park to the lab beneath Tomoe's house. They had created tunnels like this all over the city for easy travelling, and it looked like it was going to pay off now that their existence was going to be known.
Kaori stuck a small remote into her pocket as she continued on her way with her night's catch. The professor had that ahead to the fact that someone may find out about their operations and had created 3D projectors that, when activated, would make it appear as if a wall were in a place where it wasn't really, which had been the only reason why her chaser hadn't followed her down into the tunnel. It was the perfect plan to keep meddlers out.
~*~*~
After searching the park and the surrounding area thoroughly for Kaori, Neptune finally decided to return back to the party. She would just have to swallow her defeat. It was obvious that Kaori had gotten the better of her this time, but that would never happen again. Next time she would be able to take out the monster before Kaori got the Heart Crystal.
~*~*~
~~Ten Minutes Later~~
Kaori literally fell into the underground lab. "Professor!" She pushed herself off the ground and ran to the table in the center of the lab, where Tomoe seemed to be researching a new kind of creature for her to use.
Tomoe didn't take his eyes of his work. "What is it?" Kaori calmly walked to the table and set the Heart Crystal down before him. The Professor briefly brought his eyes up with a frown. "What the hell is that?"
"A Heart Crystal, Professor." She didn't know if he was pleased or not.
Tomoe put what he was working on down on the table and completely turned around to face Kaori. "I thought I told you to get the damn Pure Heart Crystals!"
Kaori gulped at the Professor's rage. "The boy didn't have one."
Tomoe growled as he stood up and grabbed the case from her grip. "This is the second time you've screwed up!"
Kaori frowned. "They'll come up." She walked along side the Professor. "We've been found out."
Tomoe dropped the case as he turned to the woman with rage in his eyes. "What?! Who found out!?"
"One of Hotaru's friends' friend. She killed my Heart Snatcher and then started coming after me. I barely escaped into the tunnel before she kicked down the door in the park. Luckily I had the projector turned on."
Tomoe picked up the case once again, only to slam it down on the nearest counter. "There's NOTHING lucky about being found out." He eyed Kaori very carefully with a frown.
~*~*~
Neptune landed at the front door, but not before making sure the area was secure and free of anyone who could possibly see her de-transform. The doorman had been taken inside already, which took away any threat of her identity being blown on the first night. Taking her opportunity while she had it, she quickly de-transformed herself back into Michiru.
Walking back inside to find Haruka, she wondered if Taro's body was still there, or if it had been found. She felt horrible. She hadn't been able to save him, and now he was dead.
Haruka was already standing by the door, completely alone, and completely bored without Michiru. It had already been a half-hour since she had gone upstairs with that boy. She wondered what they could be doing up there. She knew it didn't take that long to show a few paintings.
Haruka was just about ready to go and force her way upstairs when she noticed her aqua-haired friend walk through the front door, throwing her into a blitz of confusion. "What the? Weren't you just upstairs?"
Michiru looked up into the girl's eyes with a blank expression. "I came out the back way."
Haruka, not knowing what was chewing at the other girl's conscience, smiled widely. "Well it's about damn time. I'm bored outta my mind."
Michiru grabbed a hold of Haruka's arm and started leading her out of the building. "I wanna go home."
"Huh?" She took a quick look inside, and then in the quad area outside. "Where's that Taro guy?"
Michiru gulped. "Sleeping."
Michiru sat down in chair that was placed in the center of the art studio. She placed her portfolio on her lap as she began to take out a few of her paintings to show Taro. "This one was my first."
The door behind the pair slowly creaked open to allow Kaori inside. "And it'll be your last."
Taro and Michiru gasped in surprise as their heads turned in the direction of the interruption. "Who are you?!" Taro demanded. He didn't recognize the woman as one of his father's colleagues, which were the only people who had been invited to the ceremony other than Haruka and Michiru. "How did you get in here?!" Michiru jumped out of her seat not knowing to expect from this woman. She grabbed her paintings and quickly shoved them back into her portfolio so they wouldn't be seen by the stranger.
Kaori set her little silver box down while she ignored the boy's demands. She knelt down beside it and began unlatching it as she had many times before.
Taro took a step forward, curious as to what the strange looking red head had. Maybe she was just a fan and wanted to show him some of her art, but she didn't seem the type. Michiru stood her ground. After training with Mamoru under the supervision of Piccolo for most of her life she had learned how to sense when something was up. She could tell that this woman was bad news. "This isn't good."
Kaori sneered at the aqua-haired girl. "Watch as I make your friend disappear, or rather, die."
Taro jumped away and glanced over his shoulder. "Michiru, run!" Stumbling over his feet, he spun around and ran to the back of the room.
Kaori just laughed as she pulled the cover off of the silver box, which let out a cloud of dust. Michiru knew right then and there that this wasn't just anybody. This woman was definitely up to something. Acting fast, she grabbed Taro from behind and threw him to the side. She crouched down and began calling fourth her Ki.
Losing his footing, Taro rolled down to the ground into a corner. He wasted no time turning his attention back up to the two women in shock, especially Michiru. She didn't seemed to be scared at all like he would have thought. She even seemed to be challenging the woman. "Michiru don't try anything stupid. She might have a gun!" Using the floor as his leverage, he pushed himself back onto his feet.
Kaori laughed even louder as she looked upon her next victim. She really had no interest in Michiru. It was Taro she was after. His love for the Arts made him a perfect candidate for a Pure Heart Crystal. Kicking her little box, she commanded her creature to do its job. "Get his Pure Heart Crystal!"
Michiru's eye widened as she prepared herself for whatever the woman was talking to. "Taro get out of here! It's you she's after!"
Taro frowned as he grabbed Michiru from behind and tried to pull her aside, but she wouldn't budge. "I'm not leaving you alone with that crazy woman!" He looked down at the box and noticed a long, slimly object making its way out. "Huh?"
Michiru pushed Taro back. "Don't worry about me! I can hold up against this thing! Go find Haruka!" She kept her eyes planted on Kaori as she tightened her fists. She squatted to the ground to create a quick diversion to gain the slug's attention. She noticed that Taro hadn't moved. He was too stunned. "Get outta here!"
Taro blinked with a quick shake of his head to snap himself out of his trance. "What's going on?!" Without waiting for an answer he dove for the door.
Kaori, who wasn't too far from the door herself, took one step to the side with a grin. She clothes-lined Taro and pushed him back into the room. "Where do you think you're going, little man?"
Taro looked up at Kaori with genuine fear in his eyes. He had no idea who this woman was or what she wanted. Michiru noticed that the slug was beginning to turn back toward Taro. 'Crap!' Not knowing what else to do, she extended her leg toward the slug-like creature and kicked it into the wall. She could hear Kaori laughing at the top of her lungs as the creature slowly began to erect itself into its attacking form. "What the?" She stood up and went in for another attack. She knew this could only go on for so long, so she bent down and grabbed the slimly thing with her hands, hoping that she could use her strength to stop it from moving.
Taro backed into a wall as he just watched the girl wrestle with the oversized bug. He was thoroughly confused at that point. "Be careful!"
Michiru struggled to keep her hold on the creature, which wriggled around in her grasp. She wasn't able to hold it long before her hands just became too slippery to really keep a good grip on it. Her hands covered in slim, the creature shot out of her hands and directly for the boy on the other side of the room. Taro tried to make a hasty run for it. Michiru looked down at her hands with a groan. They were covered with a greenish-brown gel substance.
Kaori chuckled at the girl. "Looks like you're a little pre-occupied there."
Michiru glared at the woman as she wiped her hands on the ground, but by then it was too late. Taro was already lying on the ground as lifeless as a fallen tree. "Taro!" Both fear and anger occupied her voice as a feeling of loss hope entered her body. Taro was gone, the one time someone was actually counting on her skills as a fighter and she had to blow it.
Kaori laughed even louder as she neared Tatsuo and her creature and knelt down to see if she had won her most anticipated prize. Michiru slowly stepped toward Kaori, making sure that her feet made as little noise as possible on the linoleum flooring. She clasped her hands together to create one, large fist and brought it up to the side of her head as she would have with a baseball bat.
The unsuspecting Kaori was too busy checking her catch to notice the fighter slowly approaching from behind. She held the glowing Crystal in her hand, but this one was no better than all the others she had caught before. "Stupid boy!" She yelled as she punched Taro's limp body. "Can't even have a Pure Heart Crystal!" She put the Crystal into a little pouch on her side just as she was standing up.
Michiru took her chance while she had it. In one swift movement she brought threw her fist into Kaori's neck, causing the woman to fall face flat with a thud. Michiru narrowed her glare at the practically harmless woman, taking special notice at the glow her side was emitting. "Is that what you were after? He had some sort of jewel you wanted? You had to KILL him for that?!"
Kaori had no real intention of replying to the brat as she tried to regain her composure. Patting her pouch, she made sure her treasure was secure in its place. "You're one of the brat's friends."
"What?!" Michiru had never really seen Kaori hanging around Hotaru's. Not that she or Haruka had ever gone into the child's house.
Kaori grinned, happy that this girl didn't know who she was. Had she, the entire plan would have been ruined. Her identity would have been revealed to the Saiyans, which would have meant bad news. She knew they weren't ready to meet with the Saiyans and their friends. Only when the Mistress truly appeared would they be ready to rid the earth of all threats to 'him'. "Right.. ." She glared down at her creature. "Finish her off."
Michiru frowned as she powered up enough to surround herself with a blue aura. "You're not getting away that easily!"
Kaori scowled back at the girl. "If I stay here any longer I'm going to have to take your Heart Crystal like I did with that idiot." She pointed down to Taro's body, causing Michiru to turn her gaze downward.
Michiru quickly shot her glare back up at the woman to make sure she wasn't going to try anything. But Kaori wasn't the person she should have been worried about at that point, and she soon realized when that slimy, gooey monster was headed right for her in the same position that it had killed Taro with. She reacted the way Piccolo and Mamoru had taught her when she was first learning. Firing a quick Ki ball, she jumped into the air, barely dodging death. The ball of energy tore through the slimy surface of her foe and crashed into the floor beneath it. She thought it was defeated when it fell to the ground, but it was only a matter of seconds before the hole in its stomach was filled in with slimy skin once again. "Huh?"
Kaori had expected that from the girl, but she knew it wouldn't do any good. Professor Tomoe had created that particular creature to resist attacks from the energy using kind of folk. Seeing that Michiru had her hands full, Kaori left the room and started whistling to herself, proud that she at least got a Heart Crystal to keep the Mistress in control of Hotaru's body. Sure it wasn't a pure Heart Crystal, but there were so many candidates and only three Pure Heart Crystals. They would have to weed through all of them to find them all. As long as they could stay hidden they would be fine. It didn't even bother her that one of the friends of Hotaru's friends knew now. Michiru didn't know who the Heart Snatchers were, so she didn't really pose a threat, yet.
While Kaori made a quick escape, Michiru we left back in the studio to battle the slimly slug all alone. She wished she could speak to Haruka through her mind like Usagi and her friends could. She could really have used the help right about now.
The slug-like monster erected itself once again and made a flying dash for the eighteen-year-old. Michiru prepared another blast as she backed herself into the wall. She hoped that by raising her power Haruka would think something was up, but why hadn't she come running now? Raising power levels was NOT exactly proper party etiquette.
Just as Michiru was about to release her power upon her foe, she lost her hold on the Ki ball and her energy was absorbed back into her body. "Oh no! What's happening!?" She looked around the room in a frenzy. Why had her power just disappeared like that? The enemy was coming right for her and she had nothing to protect herself with but her physical attacks.
Just as the two were about to make impact with one another, Michiru dropped to the ground, causing her attacker to fly straight into the wall. Before it had a chance to fall, she kicked it further up into the air in hopes that she would be able to pull of a Ki attack, but it was no go. "Why can't I do it?!" She cried out in distress. She felt like she had no control over her body.
"It's time." A voice whispered.
Her heart racing faster and faster, she looked up only to see no one. "Who's there?!" She crawled away from her current spot, eventually scrambling to her feet. Fearing for her own life now, she ran to the door and ripped it off its hinges in an attempt to get it open. She didn't care at that point. Even though she had her chance to escape and find Haruka, she felt as if she needed to stay there and fight the creature.
"It's your time." The same voice whispered once again.
Michiru frowned as she turned back and faced the inside of the room. The slug was preparing for yet another attack on her. "Crap!" This time she was going to prepare for an all-out physical attack on the creature, instead of just hitting it a few times here and there. Just as she was tensing her muscles, she noticed an aqua-blue light being emitted from her arm as she extended it. "What?!" She pulled her arm back, only to realize her entire body was emitting the strange aura. "What's happening to me?" Her body felt tingly all over as she crouched to the ground, thinking that this thing had some sort of curse on her. She didn't feel weak from the strange light, in fact, she felt more refreshed, like some sort of strange power was building up within her. Looking up at her foe, which was flying back for her, she noticed a strange blue ball of energy forming in front of her nose. "Huh?" Now she was completely confused. A strange voice was talking to her, and now she was glowing a strange color. She didn't need something else to happen too.
"Now choose your destiny!" The strange voice was no longer just a whisper.
Michiru squinted her eyes and stared into the ball of energy as the light intensified with every second that passed by. Inside, she could see a small wand with a golden star at the top. "What is that?" She reached out, but fell short of even touching the energy.
"You don't have much time! Choose now!"
Michiru looked up, feeling as if time had been slowed down. "And what if I refuse?!"
"The gift will pass you by."
Michiru quirked a brow in interest as she looked back upon the ball of energy with the 'stick' inside it. She didn't have a clue what the voice was talking about. What 'gift' was it that she was speaking of? And what did she mean by choosing her destiny? The thought of this being a trick crossed her mind, but judging by the short distance she was from being hit by the slug, she didn't give it much thought past the fact that it could be one. "What IS the gift?"
"There's no time!" Cried the voice.
Michiru tried to think about what Haruka would do in this situation. Knowing that girl she would take the chance and just grab the stupid thing. She was always one for taking chances. But Michiru never was. She had always just followed Haruka and what she wanted to do. Frowning to herself, she decided to take the chance. She knew there would come a time when she would have to take a chance, Haruka wouldn't always be the one to make the decisions for her. "Alright!" She reached out let her hand penetrate the strange energy as she wrapped her fingers around the base of the tiny wand. Immediately a serge of energy shot out of her body in all directions, causing her foe to be thrown back against the wall once again. This time it didn't get right back up as it had all the other times.
" Now it is time to activate your powers."
Michiru looked up, still trying to find the voice. "Powers? What're you talking about!?"
"Call out the words, 'Neptune Planet Power, Make-up'! Only then will your true powers be awakened! You will become Sailor Neptune."
Michiru looked down at the item in her hands. Her body was still covered in the strange energy. "Here it goes." She took a deep breath as she looked at the other side of the room to make sure there was no immediate threat. Everything checked out all right as the attacking creature seemed to have been paralyzed. Holding the strange wand out, she did as the voice told her. "Neptune Planet Power, Make-Up!" Her body seemed to be taken over as the strange energy intensified, causing her to take a few steps back. "Whoa!" She hadn't expected that to happen. Her energy pattern was starting to change, as was her outfit. The attire she had arrived in disappeared, only to be replaced rather quickly by her own Sailor GI. "A Sailor Senshi?! ME?!" She extended her arm and flattened out her hand, taking notice that the glowing energy had disappeared.
Looking up, she didn't know what to do next. She didn't really feel like herself anymore. Her energy was completely different now, like she was a whole new person. She wasn't sure if she liked the feeling. "What am I supposed to do now?"
"Activate your attack to kill the beast with the words 'Deep Submerge'."
Sailor Neptune didn't question the voice this time. It hadn't lied to her yet, so she had no reason not to believe it. Holding her hands together like she would for a Ki blast, she chanted the words as told. "Deep Submerge!" A large, basketball size ball of blue energy formed between her hands. She threw it forward and watched it as it spiraled down at its target, the stunned bug. On impact, the energy merged with the creature, but not for long. It soon exploded after burrowing deep enough within the creature's flesh. Neptune just watched in amazement. Her own Ki attack hadn't worked against that thing, but this power seemed to chomp right through it.
Neptune raised her hands to eye level and looked at them in disbelief. "How? What is this?"
"You're not finished. That woman is getting away with that boy's Heart Crystal!"
The Senshi of the ocean looked up, still with confusion written all over her face. "Heart Crystal? Is that what she put in her pouch?!"
"There's no time! You have to find her! Find out where their operations are!"
Neptune didn't exactly know what she was doing, but she nodded anyway. If this so-called Heart Crystal was what was taken from Taro, then that's what probably killed him too. Maybe if she got the Heart Crystal back she could some how get it back into his body, and then maybe he would come back to life. It was worth a try. She ran out the door, completely ignoring the monster she just obliterated.
"Don't go to the other one."
Neptune raced down the hallway as fast as she could. "Who?"
"The one you call Haruka."
The Senshi frowned. She had never kept anything this big from her friend before, and didn't plan on starting now. "I have to tell her. She can help me find the woman who stole Taro's heart crystal!"
"No! She is not to know!" She voice shouted angrily.
Neptune stopped short as she came upon the stairway that led to the lower level. "She can probably feel me already anyway!"
"She couldn't feel a thing all night!" Neptune didn't understand. She and Haruka had been taught how to sense each other, and everyone else around Why would tonight be any different. She just stood silent, trying to make sense of everything that was happening. "You're a special kind of Senshi. You're not like Usagi and the others. You protect the Princess silently; therefore your power cannot be detected by anyone. Your power is needed, which is why you've been summoned. Your power has been coming fourth all night. And now you've finally wakened up as the Senshi of the Ocean, Sailor Neptune."
Knowing that she didn't have any time to waste, she quickly started down the stairway. She couldn't help but think about what the female voice had just told her. She still wasn't sure about this whole Senshi business. She had freaked when she heard that Usagi and her friends were the infamous Sailor Senshi that had popped up out of no where two years before. She wasn't sure if she deserved the job of protecting Usagi after everything she had pulled in the past. Of course, she wasn't sure if Mamoru even deserved the role of being Earth's Prince. "So I'm not to tell Usagi?"
"Right."
Neptune wasn't sure what she thought of that, but she didn't have much time to think about it. She had her mind set on greater things. She had to find the strange woman who had attacked Taro and get his Heart Crystal back. She would ask for details later.
The party was still going strong downstairs. The first place Neptune laid her eyes on was Haruka laughing it up with what looked like two confused young artists. Neptune couldn't help but giggle at the site. Haruka always had a way of making a joke out of everything, even if it wasn't funny to the other party. Shaking her head, she remembered that she had a job to do. She pushed her way through the crowd as fast as she could to get to the front door. She couldn't help but notice everyone staring at her as if she were an idiot that didn't belong to the party, but she didn't care. She just kept on her way to the door.
Haruka noticed the strange girl running for the door and became amused. "What do we have hear?" She noticed that the outfit the girl had on was exactly like the one the Senshi wore. "A new Sailor Senshi?" Becoming more interested in the girl, she set her drink down and began following her.
Neptune made a quick dash out the door, seeing no one but the knocked out doorman herself. "She was definitely here." Figuring she could get better land coverage in the air, she let herself rise off the ground. She sighed with relief over the fact that she could actually use her Ki again.
Haruka followed the Senshi out the door, only to be face with nothing but the blackness of the night. "What? Where'd she go?" She looked all around, even up in the sky. But she still saw nothing. "Why couldn't I feel her?" Shrugging to herself, she decided to go back inside and check on Michiru. She had been upstairs with that Taro guy for quite a long time now. She turned around and walked back inside, taking close notice to the fact that the doorman was out cold on the ground. "Damn, even the doormen get smashed at these parties."
~*~*~
Neptune flew at top speed, hoping that Kaori hadn't gone too far. Hopefully she was on foot, but the chances of her luck being THAT good were pretty bad. Chances were that the woman had just hoped in her car and driven off. And if that was the case she would probably be traveling in the back roads, but then again, she probably wasn't expecting anyone to follow her so maybe there was a chance that she was on the main road. But the next question was where she would be heading and what type of car she was in. There were dozens of people on the street, with no telling which one she'd be in. And it wasn't even certain that she was even in a car yet.
Sighing to herself, Neptune gave herself a quick boost of energy. She decided not to follow one straight road in her search. Instead she decided to fly from back and fourth over a series of roads that were side by side within a five-mile radius in hopes to see something suspicious.
~*~*~
Haruka found herself standing face to face with a rather largely built guard as she reached the stairway that led to Michiru. "Excuse me." She said as she tried to push past.
The Guard held his arm out with a frown. "No guests are to go upstairs at this time."
Haruka frowned back as she once again tried pushing her way past him, but the guy wouldn't have it. "Let me up there. My friend went up there with some guy named Taro."
"Taro is the son of the Museum owner, and is therefore allowed upstairs. If he didn't take you up there himself then you obviously weren't meant to be up there."
Haruka growled at the man. She was ready to haul off and hit the guy, but that would only result in getting kicked out of the party, which would more than likely upset Michiru. "Look, the only reason why I stayed down here is so I could get some food. Now that I'm full I want to go see them."
"You won't be seeing them until they decide to come down."
Haruka tensed her muscles in anger. "This is insane! Just let me the hell up there!" The guard shook his head, this time saying nothing.
~*~*~
Neptune had almost reached her limit on how far she was going to go and she still hadn't seen anything. There were no crazy drivers on the road nor were there any suspicious looking pedestrians. "Crap!" She didn't know what to do now. She had failed to find the Heart Crystal thief before it was too late. Who knows where that woman had gone to now? If she had had a power level to detect things would have been much easier, but the dang woman was normal, and therefore had barely any power level at all.
Just as she was getting ready to head back and re-search, she caught a bright light reflecting into the side of her eye. "Huh?" Swiftly turning toward the light, she noticed what looked to be a fleeing character making a quick dash into the City Park. "What's this?"
Neptune followed the person into the park. The place was darker than the street, with no real lights around, which made it hard to spot anyone. She could hear a few whispering voices, but everyone showed up as nothing more than shadows. "Great.. ." Walking cautiously, she began her search for the woman with the sliver case. 'Could this be where their operations are?' Walking through the park, she didn't really notice anything too out of the ordinary. The person whom she had chased in here was gone, and so was the glare from her silver case.
Everything seemed calm until a harsh slamming of a door filled the area with a 'bang'. Neptune jump-turned toward the sound and found herself facing small janitor's building. "What have we here?" Thinking that she had found the culprit, she raced to the rusty door and wrapped her hands around the knob. She immediately began tugging on the door, but it didn't seem to want to open. "Come on!" She yelled, drawing the eyes of many passerby's. The door wouldn't budge, which obviously meant one thing. It had been locked, but by who? She hadn't seen anyone walking away. But then again, it WAS dark outside.
Sighing to herself, Neptune was beginning to think that she had been outsmarted by the enemy. Kaori was no where in sight. She seemed to have just disappeared.
With one last attempt to help her friend, Neptune kicked the Janitor's door in, thinking that the woman had been the one to cause it to slam shut. She heard a group of people screaming in the background, but at that point she didn't care what anyone else thought. Her number one goal at that point was finding Taro's Heart Crystal. Looking inside, she was disappointed to see that there was nothing out of the ordinary in there. It was just a janitor's closet.
~*~*~
Kaori jumped in surprise at the crash that had been created when Neptune kicked the door in. She hadn't expected anyone to follow her in there, especially not Michiru. She hadn't expected the girl to live past the wrath of her monster, but she had and now she was going to spread the word around. No matter though. The girl didn't know who was doing the attacks. They would just have to be more careful from then on.
Smirking to herself, she continued on her way down the secret tunnel that led from the park to the lab beneath Tomoe's house. They had created tunnels like this all over the city for easy travelling, and it looked like it was going to pay off now that their existence was going to be known.
Kaori stuck a small remote into her pocket as she continued on her way with her night's catch. The professor had that ahead to the fact that someone may find out about their operations and had created 3D projectors that, when activated, would make it appear as if a wall were in a place where it wasn't really, which had been the only reason why her chaser hadn't followed her down into the tunnel. It was the perfect plan to keep meddlers out.
~*~*~
After searching the park and the surrounding area thoroughly for Kaori, Neptune finally decided to return back to the party. She would just have to swallow her defeat. It was obvious that Kaori had gotten the better of her this time, but that would never happen again. Next time she would be able to take out the monster before Kaori got the Heart Crystal.
~*~*~
~~Ten Minutes Later~~
Kaori literally fell into the underground lab. "Professor!" She pushed herself off the ground and ran to the table in the center of the lab, where Tomoe seemed to be researching a new kind of creature for her to use.
Tomoe didn't take his eyes of his work. "What is it?" Kaori calmly walked to the table and set the Heart Crystal down before him. The Professor briefly brought his eyes up with a frown. "What the hell is that?"
"A Heart Crystal, Professor." She didn't know if he was pleased or not.
Tomoe put what he was working on down on the table and completely turned around to face Kaori. "I thought I told you to get the damn Pure Heart Crystals!"
Kaori gulped at the Professor's rage. "The boy didn't have one."
Tomoe growled as he stood up and grabbed the case from her grip. "This is the second time you've screwed up!"
Kaori frowned. "They'll come up." She walked along side the Professor. "We've been found out."
Tomoe dropped the case as he turned to the woman with rage in his eyes. "What?! Who found out!?"
"One of Hotaru's friends' friend. She killed my Heart Snatcher and then started coming after me. I barely escaped into the tunnel before she kicked down the door in the park. Luckily I had the projector turned on."
Tomoe picked up the case once again, only to slam it down on the nearest counter. "There's NOTHING lucky about being found out." He eyed Kaori very carefully with a frown.
~*~*~
Neptune landed at the front door, but not before making sure the area was secure and free of anyone who could possibly see her de-transform. The doorman had been taken inside already, which took away any threat of her identity being blown on the first night. Taking her opportunity while she had it, she quickly de-transformed herself back into Michiru.
Walking back inside to find Haruka, she wondered if Taro's body was still there, or if it had been found. She felt horrible. She hadn't been able to save him, and now he was dead.
Haruka was already standing by the door, completely alone, and completely bored without Michiru. It had already been a half-hour since she had gone upstairs with that boy. She wondered what they could be doing up there. She knew it didn't take that long to show a few paintings.
Haruka was just about ready to go and force her way upstairs when she noticed her aqua-haired friend walk through the front door, throwing her into a blitz of confusion. "What the? Weren't you just upstairs?"
Michiru looked up into the girl's eyes with a blank expression. "I came out the back way."
Haruka, not knowing what was chewing at the other girl's conscience, smiled widely. "Well it's about damn time. I'm bored outta my mind."
Michiru grabbed a hold of Haruka's arm and started leading her out of the building. "I wanna go home."
"Huh?" She took a quick look inside, and then in the quad area outside. "Where's that Taro guy?"
Michiru gulped. "Sleeping."