~*~*~*~
The tall, red head made her way ever so slowly to the struggling Saiyan, who lay uncomfortably on the floor almost giving up her struggle on pulling herself to her feet. The girl's once traumatic wailing had turned into a soft whimper, though the pain was still very much alive. She had taken a fetal position, completely curling in on herself, hoping that the pain would eventually subside. Her hands were tucked beneath her face, which was turned in toward her chest. Her fingers curled in to form two small fists that clutched her shirt. Her knees were almost just as tightly locked in under her elbow. She was completely vulnerable, but she didn't care. The pain was too much, and growing.
The blow from the fall had broken her defenses. Her body tingled all over, her muscles feeling as if they were weakening; she was losing control. This wasn't a foreign sensation, however. She knew this all too well. It wouldn't be long before she would pass out, and wake up hours, even days later in a new room, completely unaware of anything that took place during her episode.
This only worked to frighten her more than anything. She felt no control over herself as her strength left her. She couldn't help but give a quick squeal as she saw Kaori nearing her. She was helpless, and Kaori appeared bigger than usual. "Stay awa." She failed to continue her words as she felt thoughts drift out of her mind. Another whimper left her lips, though that was all she could manage as two hands wrapped themselves around her tiny body.
Kaori grunted as she lifted the young Saiyan up off the floor. She received another moan of pain from the girl, but ignored it. "Shut up girl. You're delirious." She didn't take care in how she treated the child, but instead hoisted her up over her own shoulder with an evil smirk. "You're going back to bed until it's time to come out."
Hotaru felt a sudden surge of pain rip through her body, causing her to cry out once more; this time being twice as loud as her whimpers. She hadn't felt this since her spars with her friends, who hadn't been by to see her in quite a while. She couldn't help but wonder where they had been, but was suddenly snapped back into reality when Kaori took a sharp turn down a dark hallway, causing her head to smash into the wall. "Owe!" She yelped, but hardly moved as the pain had been too great. Her entire body ached all over, and Kaori seemed to be doing everything in her power to make things worse.
"Your pain will be over soon, brat." Kaori reached to her right and flipped on a light switch, revealing several doors on either side of the hallway.
Hotaru felt a bit of anger boil in her heart as she felt her body go more numb. She closed her eyes tightly as she clenched her fists harder. She wanted so much to pound her caretaker. When she opened her eyes, they were no longer their usual black-violet color. They shone bright red with a brand new frown to accompany them. "You had better not fail on those words this time, Kaori." She mumbled, not feeling exactly as herself.
Kaori stopped short with a gasp. "Mistress!" She ran to the nearest room and set the child onto the desk. Hotaru slumped over, feeling weak, but her eyes still shone their bright red. "Is that you?"
Hotaru's eyes flickered back to their original color as she struggled to lift her eyes to meet Kaori's. "What are you talking about?" She whined as she slumped her head back down to make her chin touch her chest.
Kaori frowned; her growing anticipation had started to subside. "Good, just the brat now. The last thing I want to deal with is the Mistress."
Hotaru's eyes opened her face still in its downward position. "Well," she stared, her voice sounding a bit more raspy than usual; "deal with me is what you shall do!" She slowly lifted her eyes once again, their bright red color had returned. "You are the subordinate now, Kaori!" She raised her arm, causing the woman before her to flinch with fear. "You are wise to fear me." She reached out and clamped a strong grip around Kaori's throat.
"I only wish to serve you, Mistress, as Professor Tomoe does." Kaori choked out, her eyes desperately pleading with the body of Hotaru.
Hotaru, or rather, the Mistress, sighed as she released her grip upon Kaori. Her eyes fell to the side with growing anger. "Ah, Tomoe, he is wasting time." She casually brought her eyes back up to meet Kaori's. "As are you." She pushed herself off the desk and struggled to keep herself standing. "I am growing weak, and this child is strong. It is a struggle for me to keep a hold of her for too long. You must bring me Heart Crystals as you did before. You must bring me the three Pure Heart Crystals, or else your life is what I will take."
Kaori gulped after taking one look at the child. The one she had once loved to torment was now the tormenter. "As you wish. I will get on it right away."
Hotaru smirked. "Yes, you will."
~*~*~
It was already lunchtime, and there was still no sign of Usagi at school. Her friends had begun to worry about her. Without being able to turn into Sailor Moon, she would only be able to ward off foes with normal attacks. Soon, however, she would be drained of all energy and the enemy would be at full force. Even if they, as Senshi, were to show up, it would only be a matter of time before they were defeated as well. It seemed almost hopeless right now. They were at the complete mercy of those two mystery warriors who appeared to be Senshi themselves.
The lunch bell rang, which started the daily frenzy of hungry teenagers racing down to the cafeteria in hopes to be the first in line. Minako, who was normally one of these teenagers, found herself hanging back with the others, who were taking a slow, casual pace down the hall. If it was one thing that could pull her away from her stomach, it was her friends' safety.
"Where do you think she could be?" Rei asked, hugging her books tightly to her chest. She and the other girls had decided to start studying during lunch for the entrance exams, and so the whole lot had lugged their books with them from class. "I mean, it's not like her to just miss school like this, as much as she hates it."
Makoto looked to be deep in thought. She too was puzzled over the recent disappearance of their friend. "Well," she started, "I suppose she could be at home."
Ami nodded, keeping her eyes downward as she walked forward. "I suppose that's true. It would be a lot easier if we could just sense her, but she's so relaxed right now that she's not emitting a lot of energy." She looked up and over at Rei, who was on her left. "It must be her Princess qualities. She's always been like that, I suppose its because she's meant to be kept safe."
Minako sniffed the air. They were nearing the cafeteria, the smells lingered out into the hall, causing her stomach to rumble. "What if her mom wanted her safe, so she was made to stay home?"
All eyes turned to the blonde, but Ami was the only one to answer. "Usagi doesn't like to worry her parents with the business of the Senshi. I doubt she would have told her parents anything about being unable to transform. However." Her words lingered on into nothing as she went back into thought. There was always the fact that Goku had always been able to pry anything he wanted out of his daughter. If he begged long and hard enough, there was a chance that she would have spilled everything to him, and he to his wife. "We'll have to go there after school and see if she's there."
Minako's eyes were dazzled with an idea as she suddenly forgot about her loudly rumbling stomach. "What if we went now?" She knew her idea needed more of an explanation by wary eyes of her friends. "All I'm saying is that protecting a friend who happens to be the Moon Princess from harm is a lot more important than school. We can afford to miss a day, can't we? Usagi's safety is our duty, right?" She tried to sell her point to her friends, but they didn't seem to be buying it.
"I do see your point, Minako, but don't you think leaving school is just a little on the drastic side?" Makoto continued forward, though staring directly at Minako. She didn't even realize that she was about to bump into a teacher, when - bam - she plowed right into one. The first thought that ran through her mind was if she had been heard, or how much of their conversation had been heard. "Oh." She said quietly as she looked up.
The rest of the group looked up, horrorstricken at what they saw. All but one stammered their words. "Mr. Koch." The levelheaded one of the group tried to remain calm, as if no talk of leaving school early had been said. "How nice to run into you here.in this hall.on our way to lunch." Though more levelheaded she may be, she still had something to hide, something untruthful.
The teacher eyed the girls with an untrusting glare. He could tell by their mischievous faces that they were up to something, and he knew exactly what it was. "Not thinking of skipping out of class, now are we?" He accused. Seeing that Usagi wasn't present in the group, he relaxed a bit; returning back to his former ways of feeling high and mighty being the teacher and they, the girls, being the students. He puffed his chest as he put his hands behind his back, increasing his glare upon the girls.
The four friends exchanged glances. There was a certain unease in their aura that caused their teacher to crack a smirk. He had finally caught them; he would now be able to take them to the principal and get them in the trouble that they had always deserved. "You'll be coming with me then." He jumped to say before any of the girls could get a word in for their own defense.
Makoto was the first to jump in and interrupt him. "Wait just a minute!" She demanded as she planted her feet firmly on the floor, appearing as if nothing could make her move. She looked nervously over to Rei, who seemed not to want to get involved, but was looking just as worried. They could have cared less about the fact that this bozo was trying to get them into trouble, but they were worried about how much he had heard them saying; not that he would really believe anything about Usagi being a Princess.
Mr. Koch's face scrunched in on itself as he tried to frown. "Excuse me, Ms. Kinou? Did you just tell me what to do?" Sounding like a child, he pulled his hands out from behind his back and placed them on his waist.
Makoto kept a straight face, not wanting to give him a reason to say she was talking back, or provoking him. "No, I asked that you listen."
"What she's trying to say," Minako didn't allow the brunette to get very far before she started in, "is that we were only talking about leaving." She heard Rei groan in the background as if she had said the wrong thing. She knew she had better clarify what she had said before Mr. Koch took them in for attempt to leave school. "However, we were never going to actually leave."
"R.right. A lot of kids talk about leaving early. You know, what we could be doing instead of wasting away here?" Rei didn't want to leave the job of a recovery up to Minako. "We were just talking about how nice it would be to go home and watch TV all day. We're not breaking a rule." She and the rest of her friends held their breath as they waited for him to answer.
"I suppose not." He replied rather disappointedly. He had wanted so badly to get them into trouble. "Tell Usagi she had better get back here soon if she doesn't want extra homework." With that, he stomped off, his hands deep in his pockets.
"That was really close." Rei exclaimed as she stepped to the side of the hallway. "We should be more careful about what we're saying. You never know what bum is listening."
"The walls in this place have ears. Teachers are everywhere." Ami agreed with Rei as she watched Minako sigh with relief. "But what are we going to do about Usagi?"
Minako gained as sudden look of horror. "She'll be in a state of trauma if she gets anymore homework than what we've already been assigned." She looked up to Rei, who was shaking her head side to side. "Right." She said before anyone else could add. "We should go and check in on her then."
Makoto sidestepped to the girls' restroom and pushed the door open. "In and then out we go. Let's hurry." She motioned for the others to head in, where they would then teleport out.
~*~*~
The aqua blue eyes stared off into nothingness as the sound of chatter from all around droned on. They were worried; their normal twinkle was no longer present. A pair of dark blue eyes stared into the emptiness of those that were aqua blue. "You're silent."
"She's not at school." The aqua eyes shifted to stare directly into her partner's. "What's she thinking, Haruka?" Michiru's eyes drifted forward, down to the front of the classroom, where their professor was covering the basics of human biology. She had no interest in paying attention. Her mind was wandering to her duty as a Sailor Senshi; and more importantly, her duty to their Princess, who was known to make reckless decisions.
"You're thinking of her again?" Haruka reached down and wrapped her fingers around Michiru's hand. "I thought we were going to let her friend's watch out for her safety." With her free hand, she tried to guide Michiru's face toward her so she could look back into those aqua blue eyes, but Michiru refused.
"They aren't with her."
Haruka frowned, clearly upset that her partner refused to forget about the Saiyan Senshi. "Mamoru is with her. He can protect her well enough until we can arrive if the heart snatchers decide to attack." She was a little more forceful the next time she tried to pull Michiru's face toward her, this time she wasn't getting any resistance. "But we can't watch her every move or she'll get suspicious. With her Ki as low as it is, she'll wonder why we're able to feel her presence in the first place."
Michiru's eyes became softer. "I know."
~*~*~
"So where to now?" His discomfort rose as the duo made their way to the edge of the Tomoe property. The fact that he had anyone touching him was bad enough, but the fact that he had Usagi latched onto him was just too much. She was the most unlikely person to ever want to get this close to him without throwing a fit. But it was just such an odd situation that he didn't want to bring much attention to it. Instead, he just lifted his arm upward, causing Usagi to release her grip.
She hadn't really known why she had acted the way she just did. It was really more of a set reaction that she had always done whenever she was happy, or feeling proud of herself. It was usually her father or one of her brothers that she had done this with, as she was most comfortable with them. She too didn't wish to bring any attention to what had just happened. It was just too awkward. It was silly of her to think she was comfortable enough with Mamoru to have willingly had any kind of contact with him. "I don't know." She said as she stepped away from Mamoru, keeping her eyes down upon the ground so as not to look him in the eye. "The day is half over."
Mamoru refused to look at Usagi, so he had no idea if she was upset that he had pulled away from her grip. "Why don't you tell me your plan then?"
Usagi smiled with a sigh of relief. He had changed the subject; obviously not wanting to talk about the uncomfortable actions that had just taken place. "I already told you to wait. I want to discuss this with the others before we do this. We need more eyes."
Mamoru kept himself from looking curiously upon the girl to his side. "More eyes?" He wondered out loud as they turned on to the sidewalk. He wondered what she could possibly be thinking if they needed more then just the two of them to find out what was going on. "So no sneaking in then?"
Usagi, irritated that he wouldn't drop the subject, stopped short and peered up at Mamoru's back as he walked forward. "I know what we can do." She said with a hinting smirk. "We haven't sparred in a while."
Mamoru, too, stopped. "What?" He asked, wondering what she was thinking. "What about your father?" He added as he stepped in such a way that would allow him to stare back at the eager Saiyan. "He'll know you're not at school."
Usagi cocked her head to the side. "What do you care if my parents find out that I'm not in school? I know you'd love to get me in trouble." She replied, feeling a bit spiteful.
Mamoru couldn't help but feel a little hurt by her accusations. "You're right, Odango. I would absolutely cherish the thought of getting you into trouble with your mother. However, I don't think that's what's best right now. If you're going to be it top shape to fight off this new threat we need you in full capacity of mind, and not going on about how you're mother is so terribly unfair in grounding you."
Her face went red with anger as she narrowed her eyes into a glare. "Why you little.!!" She couldn't find bad enough words in her vocabulary to express her anger. "I should have known better than to trust you!" Usagi cried out as she pushed herself into Mamoru, causing him to lose his balance and topple over onto the street. She didn't stop there. Feeling her anger rise, she stomped off down the street, leaving Mamoru behind.
He sat on the cold pavement with his legs in front of him and his arms resting at his side. Mamoru had again, failed to go a single day without somehow insulting Usagi. He grinned, 'not that she's hard to insult, the little crybaby,' he thought to himself as he pushed against the ground in order to stand up.
"Let her fend for herself." He said out loud as he stepped back up onto the sidewalk. A woman in a business suit walked by, eyeing him carefully and half expecting him to attack. He ignored her and shoved his hands into his pocket. "That's the last time I try to do my duty to protect her."
~*~*~
Rei, Minako, Makoto, and Ami arrived just a few feet away from the Son house in the woods. They were a bit nervous about knocking on the door during school hours - what would Chi-Chi say?
"I sure hope Usagi's there." Minako said in almost a whisper as they neared the house. "This could mean trouble if she's not."
No one answered; they were all too nervous to. Instead, they just continued their way, tiptoeing as if making no sound would make a more desirable situation. They proceeded forward until they reached the small house. None of them wanted to ring the doorbell.
"Better get this done and over with." Ami said, breaking the silence.
"The sooner we get it done, the better." Rei added, as she reached out and pressed the button next to the door. Inside they could hear a chime, which alerted the occupants of their presence.
~*~*~
"Chi-Chi, someone's at the door." Yelled a male voice from the top of the stairs.
Chi-Chi, who had been sitting in the family room just below the stairs, placed her book on the coffee table in front of her. "Got it." She yelled back to her husband. She thought nothing of visitors at her home, regardless the fact that they lived in the middle of nowhere. They had many friends who stopped by occasionally, and their sons would sometimes come home for a visit during the day. She had no idea, however, of who actually stood outside.
Luna lay curled up in a tiny ball on the sofa next to where Chi-Chi had been sitting. She had been taking an afternoon snooze, but was awaken by the doorbell. Yawning, she stood up to stretch. She sat back down, looking drowsy, which gave a droopy look to her stance. Her eyes turned to the door, which Chi-Chi was just opening.
Outside stood four girls, all of whom were well known around this house. They looked uncomfortable to be there, but stayed just the same. Luna's eyes bolted wide open as she jumped back to her feet. Chi-Chi looked just as shocked. "Girls?!"
Luna jumped to the nearby coffee table and walked to the edge. She counted heads, realizing first that Usagi wasn't present. "What on earth are you doing here?"
Chi-Chi noticed just moments after Luna that her daughter wasn't there. "Where's Usagi?" She shouted, losing control of herself. " She pulled the girls in one by one and slammed the door shut. "Where is she?" She demanded once more before any of the girls had a chance to reply.
Luna, knowing that something serious was bothering Usagi, became just as rushed as Chi-Chi. "Say something girls! Where is Usagi?!" She became more worried at the thought that something may have happened to the Princess.
The girls exchanged grim looks, causing Chi-Chi to go white in the face. If no one in this house knew where Usagi was, the where exactly was she? That's the question that went roaming through their minds as they stared into Chi-Chi's black eyes.
Ami opened her mouth to say something, but was soon cut off by the sound of creaking stairs. It was Goku. He had heard the commotion from downstairs, and had come to see for himself what all the trouble was. "What's going on down here?" He casually asked, not knowing the true danger of what was happening. His eyes scanned the room. He saw his wife, Luna, and all of Usagi's friends; but someone was missing. "Where's Usagi?" He looked to his wife, who looked back at him with question.
Ami opened her mouth to speak again, this time being uninterrupted. "We thought she may be here." Her words were solemn, and brought no comfort to the ears of the advisor and two parents. "She never," She paused, not wanting to continue, but was urged by Rei to go on, "She never showed up to school today."
Chi-Chi fainted at those words, falling back into Goku, who caught her with ease. Goku looked up at the girls, with a worried frown. "She what?"
Luna had the same look on her face. "How could she not have shown up at school today?" She looked up to Goku, who was trying to wake his wife. "I don't understand. Can't you feel her presence?"
Goku reached out, searching for his daughter's Ki signature, but felt nothing. "She's either knocked out, or so relaxed that she's emitting almost no aura." He was horrified to think that the reasoning was the former. "Luna," He started, ignoring the girls and turning to the cats, "Watch Chi-Chi for me. If she wakes up, tell her I've gone to look for Usagi."
"You're going out to look for her?!" Makoto watched as Goku carried his wife to the sofa. "You won't know the first place to look."
Goku frowned as he gently placed his wife down. "No, but I know what route she uses to get to school. If she was knocked out, she may be out there. If she was carried away." He stopped himself from finishing. He didn't want to think of losing her. "Right, you four stay here while I search."
His words weren't met with happy faces. All their lives they had been told to stay put when something like this happened. They were always the back up fighters, at least that's how they were seen to the older fighters. They had proven their worth on countless occasions; fought strong enemies and prevailed over evil.
This time, they weren't going to stay in the background. "Not this time, Goku!" Minako commanded as she got her 'fighting face' on. "We're helping you look for her."
Goku looked stunned by her reaction, but apparently she wasn't the only one who felt this way. Makoto had added; "Yeah. She's our friend and we deserve a chance to help. It'll go faster this way. More of us will be looking."
A smile spread wide over his face. "I keep forgetting how able you four are. Alright then, you can help me."
~*~*~
The Tomoe house was nearly as chaotic as the Son house. Professor Tomoe was hard at work developing new creatures to withstand the blows of the two newest Senshi. He had been trying for months now, and still nothing worked. They had gotten a little stronger, obviously strong enough to ward off the old Senshis' attacks, but the other two were still able to take them out with one attack. It was unacceptable, and the Mistress wouldn't be kept waiting while he tinkered with inventions. "I'm going to fix you good, Sailor Brats."
Down two hallways Kaori was hard at work with her own research. She needed to find a good candidate for the next Pure Heart Crystal before the day was out. She would show Professor Tomoe and his Mistress that she wasn't a complete failure; not that she was, but they needed a bit more convincing.
She sat at her computer in complete darkness. The only form of light was being emitted from the screen. She worked best this way, she felt as if she were in complete solitude. "None of these are good." She complained as her fingers flew across the keyboard. She was sifting through a list of possible candidates, but none of them were pure enough to go after. "This one has to be really good, full of good intentions and extremely pure." She suddenly stopped typing and a picture of a young woman showed up on the screen. Her black hair was pulled tightly behind her head, and she wore a yellow dress.
The sides of Kaori's lips turned upward into a smile. "She's perfect." She popped in a disc to the computer and uploaded the woman's information to it so it could be downloaded into Tomoe's next heart snatcher. "This time I won't fail. No one will be able to stop this extraction!" She pulled the disc out and laughed as hard as she could.
~*~*~
Kaori's maniacal laughter was carried throughout the complex. It seeped into every corner, and bounced off the concrete floor. It even found its way into a dark hallway, which housed a single door. On this door lay a sign, which read, "Witches 5".
A woman with long, red hair sat in front of a computer, her arms crossed over her chest and one knee over the other. "Listen to her in there, girls. She thinks of herself as a great heart snatcher, but she's nothing. Professor Tomoe has already informed me that I'll be next in line when Kaori fails next." Her eyes formed two ovals, giving her a look of complete evil.
A woman to her right, with short, orange hair, scrunched her face into a frown. "I won't to be next! Why are you always first?" She whined.
"Put a sock in it, Mimet. I've already got a line of victims waiting to be attacked when she fails. You've got nothing."
~*~*~
"How dare he say that to me!" Usagi sulked as she walked aimlessly through town. It had only been 20 minutes since she had run off and left Mamoru behind, but her anger hadn't subsided at all. In fact, thinking about it only made her angrier, and thinking about it is what she did. "He practically called me a crybaby!" She crossed her arms over her chest and scowled at her feet. "He hasn't changed a bit! He's the same old mean Mamoru who has no compassion for others. I hate him!"
She stopped at the corner of the busy street. People were so preoccupied with themselves that they didn't even seem to notice that she wasn't in school, let alone the fact that she was talking to herself. Looking over her shoulder, she had kind of hoped to see Mamoru chasing after her, but there was no sign of him. "Selfish!"
Not letting her scowl lighten up any, she turned down the alley, which was created by a convenience store and a liquor store. She wasn't afraid to travel down allies anymore, not now that she could defend herself adequately. But this time, she didn't have to worry about anyone jumping her; there was no one around. "Nimbus!" She called into the air. Almost immediately a small, yellow cloud came flying for her. She jumped on, and leaned forward. "Let's go home, Nimbus."
The cloud flew high into the air above the white clouds so that no one would see them flying overhead.
~*~*~
Luna sat over Chi-Chi while Goku and the girls were out looking for Usagi. She too was worried about the Princess, and wished there was something she could do to help. This Princess was nothing like the one she knew from the old Moon Kingdom. Princess Serenity had always been a calm, rule-abiding child. Usagi, however, was a reckless child who, in Luna's mind, found it fun and exciting to break the rules. She had promised the Queen that she would watch over the new Princess, and keep her safe. But it wasn't very easy when the child wouldn't even share her worries.
Sighing, Luna lay down on the coffee table, keeping her eye on the fainted woman before her. She wondered if this was always normal for Usagi; to just disappear without a word. "That girl." She thought out loud, but didn't finish.
"Mmmm." Chi-Chi moaned as she twisted herself on the sofa. "Usagi." She appeared to be waking, but Luna stayed cautious for any outbursts. "Where are you?"
"Chi-Chi?" Luna called, not wanting to frighten the woman.
Chi-Chi opened her eyes to see Luna staring at her. Although she had fainted, she remembered exactly what was happening. "Usagi!!" She screamed as she bolted upward.
Luna jumped to her feet in surprise. "Calm down. Goku's gone to find her." She didn't want Chi-Chi to freak out over the disappearance of her husband as well.
"Goku? Gone to look for Usagi?" She pushed herself off the sofa and bolted for the door. "I've got to help. My baby is out there all alone!"
"No! You're not in any condition to." It was too late. Before Luna could finish, the door had slammed shut and Chi-Chi was gone. "No wonder where that child gets it."
~*~*~
Using the Flying Nimbus, it took Usagi nearly a half-hour to get to the mountains surrounding her house, but she didn't mind. She needed to waste time before going home. Her parents would think nothing of her skipping school, and would never know the difference. She would go home in about an hour. School got out in half an hour. She had completely forgotten about going to Rei's with everything that had happened at Hotaru's, but she wouldn't lie to her friends about skipping class. It was only her mother and father that she wanted to hide the truth from, as well as Luna.
On her way home, Usagi tried to forget about the happenings with Mamoru. She didn't want to let on to her parents that she was in a bad mood or else there would be questions; there always were. But something caught her attention on the forest floor. Something was running down there, something not natural to the forest. It was a bright yellow and ran almost as fast as she did. "What the." She motioned for Nimbus to lower her to the ground.
Little did she know that nearby stood Kaori, hiding behind a tree with a big, silver briefcase. She was hunting her next victim.
"Usagi! Usagi where are you?"
Usagi perked her head at the sound of her name. "Mom?" She called back, not even thinking about keeping up her lie.
Kaori, ignoring the mother/daughter dialogue, poked her head out from behind her tree. Her victim was standing two feet from her. Grimacing, she kneeled down and set her briefcase in front of her.
"Usagi? Where are you?" Chi-Chi looked to both her sides but saw no sign of her daughter.
Usagi spotted her mother in the distance. The yellow blob that she had seen run by was her mother, but why was she searching? "Mom, I'm right here." She stepped toward her mother, but what she saw next absolutely terrified her.
Kaori had opened her briefcase, and had unleashed her newest heart snatcher. "Get that Pure Heart Crystal for me and you won't be sorry!"
Chi-Chi turned around just in time to stare straight into the ruby red eyes of a giant spider. She let out a horrified scream as she stumbled backward, almost completely paralyzed with fear.
Usagi's eyes went wide. "MOM!!!"
The tall, red head made her way ever so slowly to the struggling Saiyan, who lay uncomfortably on the floor almost giving up her struggle on pulling herself to her feet. The girl's once traumatic wailing had turned into a soft whimper, though the pain was still very much alive. She had taken a fetal position, completely curling in on herself, hoping that the pain would eventually subside. Her hands were tucked beneath her face, which was turned in toward her chest. Her fingers curled in to form two small fists that clutched her shirt. Her knees were almost just as tightly locked in under her elbow. She was completely vulnerable, but she didn't care. The pain was too much, and growing.
The blow from the fall had broken her defenses. Her body tingled all over, her muscles feeling as if they were weakening; she was losing control. This wasn't a foreign sensation, however. She knew this all too well. It wouldn't be long before she would pass out, and wake up hours, even days later in a new room, completely unaware of anything that took place during her episode.
This only worked to frighten her more than anything. She felt no control over herself as her strength left her. She couldn't help but give a quick squeal as she saw Kaori nearing her. She was helpless, and Kaori appeared bigger than usual. "Stay awa." She failed to continue her words as she felt thoughts drift out of her mind. Another whimper left her lips, though that was all she could manage as two hands wrapped themselves around her tiny body.
Kaori grunted as she lifted the young Saiyan up off the floor. She received another moan of pain from the girl, but ignored it. "Shut up girl. You're delirious." She didn't take care in how she treated the child, but instead hoisted her up over her own shoulder with an evil smirk. "You're going back to bed until it's time to come out."
Hotaru felt a sudden surge of pain rip through her body, causing her to cry out once more; this time being twice as loud as her whimpers. She hadn't felt this since her spars with her friends, who hadn't been by to see her in quite a while. She couldn't help but wonder where they had been, but was suddenly snapped back into reality when Kaori took a sharp turn down a dark hallway, causing her head to smash into the wall. "Owe!" She yelped, but hardly moved as the pain had been too great. Her entire body ached all over, and Kaori seemed to be doing everything in her power to make things worse.
"Your pain will be over soon, brat." Kaori reached to her right and flipped on a light switch, revealing several doors on either side of the hallway.
Hotaru felt a bit of anger boil in her heart as she felt her body go more numb. She closed her eyes tightly as she clenched her fists harder. She wanted so much to pound her caretaker. When she opened her eyes, they were no longer their usual black-violet color. They shone bright red with a brand new frown to accompany them. "You had better not fail on those words this time, Kaori." She mumbled, not feeling exactly as herself.
Kaori stopped short with a gasp. "Mistress!" She ran to the nearest room and set the child onto the desk. Hotaru slumped over, feeling weak, but her eyes still shone their bright red. "Is that you?"
Hotaru's eyes flickered back to their original color as she struggled to lift her eyes to meet Kaori's. "What are you talking about?" She whined as she slumped her head back down to make her chin touch her chest.
Kaori frowned; her growing anticipation had started to subside. "Good, just the brat now. The last thing I want to deal with is the Mistress."
Hotaru's eyes opened her face still in its downward position. "Well," she stared, her voice sounding a bit more raspy than usual; "deal with me is what you shall do!" She slowly lifted her eyes once again, their bright red color had returned. "You are the subordinate now, Kaori!" She raised her arm, causing the woman before her to flinch with fear. "You are wise to fear me." She reached out and clamped a strong grip around Kaori's throat.
"I only wish to serve you, Mistress, as Professor Tomoe does." Kaori choked out, her eyes desperately pleading with the body of Hotaru.
Hotaru, or rather, the Mistress, sighed as she released her grip upon Kaori. Her eyes fell to the side with growing anger. "Ah, Tomoe, he is wasting time." She casually brought her eyes back up to meet Kaori's. "As are you." She pushed herself off the desk and struggled to keep herself standing. "I am growing weak, and this child is strong. It is a struggle for me to keep a hold of her for too long. You must bring me Heart Crystals as you did before. You must bring me the three Pure Heart Crystals, or else your life is what I will take."
Kaori gulped after taking one look at the child. The one she had once loved to torment was now the tormenter. "As you wish. I will get on it right away."
Hotaru smirked. "Yes, you will."
~*~*~
It was already lunchtime, and there was still no sign of Usagi at school. Her friends had begun to worry about her. Without being able to turn into Sailor Moon, she would only be able to ward off foes with normal attacks. Soon, however, she would be drained of all energy and the enemy would be at full force. Even if they, as Senshi, were to show up, it would only be a matter of time before they were defeated as well. It seemed almost hopeless right now. They were at the complete mercy of those two mystery warriors who appeared to be Senshi themselves.
The lunch bell rang, which started the daily frenzy of hungry teenagers racing down to the cafeteria in hopes to be the first in line. Minako, who was normally one of these teenagers, found herself hanging back with the others, who were taking a slow, casual pace down the hall. If it was one thing that could pull her away from her stomach, it was her friends' safety.
"Where do you think she could be?" Rei asked, hugging her books tightly to her chest. She and the other girls had decided to start studying during lunch for the entrance exams, and so the whole lot had lugged their books with them from class. "I mean, it's not like her to just miss school like this, as much as she hates it."
Makoto looked to be deep in thought. She too was puzzled over the recent disappearance of their friend. "Well," she started, "I suppose she could be at home."
Ami nodded, keeping her eyes downward as she walked forward. "I suppose that's true. It would be a lot easier if we could just sense her, but she's so relaxed right now that she's not emitting a lot of energy." She looked up and over at Rei, who was on her left. "It must be her Princess qualities. She's always been like that, I suppose its because she's meant to be kept safe."
Minako sniffed the air. They were nearing the cafeteria, the smells lingered out into the hall, causing her stomach to rumble. "What if her mom wanted her safe, so she was made to stay home?"
All eyes turned to the blonde, but Ami was the only one to answer. "Usagi doesn't like to worry her parents with the business of the Senshi. I doubt she would have told her parents anything about being unable to transform. However." Her words lingered on into nothing as she went back into thought. There was always the fact that Goku had always been able to pry anything he wanted out of his daughter. If he begged long and hard enough, there was a chance that she would have spilled everything to him, and he to his wife. "We'll have to go there after school and see if she's there."
Minako's eyes were dazzled with an idea as she suddenly forgot about her loudly rumbling stomach. "What if we went now?" She knew her idea needed more of an explanation by wary eyes of her friends. "All I'm saying is that protecting a friend who happens to be the Moon Princess from harm is a lot more important than school. We can afford to miss a day, can't we? Usagi's safety is our duty, right?" She tried to sell her point to her friends, but they didn't seem to be buying it.
"I do see your point, Minako, but don't you think leaving school is just a little on the drastic side?" Makoto continued forward, though staring directly at Minako. She didn't even realize that she was about to bump into a teacher, when - bam - she plowed right into one. The first thought that ran through her mind was if she had been heard, or how much of their conversation had been heard. "Oh." She said quietly as she looked up.
The rest of the group looked up, horrorstricken at what they saw. All but one stammered their words. "Mr. Koch." The levelheaded one of the group tried to remain calm, as if no talk of leaving school early had been said. "How nice to run into you here.in this hall.on our way to lunch." Though more levelheaded she may be, she still had something to hide, something untruthful.
The teacher eyed the girls with an untrusting glare. He could tell by their mischievous faces that they were up to something, and he knew exactly what it was. "Not thinking of skipping out of class, now are we?" He accused. Seeing that Usagi wasn't present in the group, he relaxed a bit; returning back to his former ways of feeling high and mighty being the teacher and they, the girls, being the students. He puffed his chest as he put his hands behind his back, increasing his glare upon the girls.
The four friends exchanged glances. There was a certain unease in their aura that caused their teacher to crack a smirk. He had finally caught them; he would now be able to take them to the principal and get them in the trouble that they had always deserved. "You'll be coming with me then." He jumped to say before any of the girls could get a word in for their own defense.
Makoto was the first to jump in and interrupt him. "Wait just a minute!" She demanded as she planted her feet firmly on the floor, appearing as if nothing could make her move. She looked nervously over to Rei, who seemed not to want to get involved, but was looking just as worried. They could have cared less about the fact that this bozo was trying to get them into trouble, but they were worried about how much he had heard them saying; not that he would really believe anything about Usagi being a Princess.
Mr. Koch's face scrunched in on itself as he tried to frown. "Excuse me, Ms. Kinou? Did you just tell me what to do?" Sounding like a child, he pulled his hands out from behind his back and placed them on his waist.
Makoto kept a straight face, not wanting to give him a reason to say she was talking back, or provoking him. "No, I asked that you listen."
"What she's trying to say," Minako didn't allow the brunette to get very far before she started in, "is that we were only talking about leaving." She heard Rei groan in the background as if she had said the wrong thing. She knew she had better clarify what she had said before Mr. Koch took them in for attempt to leave school. "However, we were never going to actually leave."
"R.right. A lot of kids talk about leaving early. You know, what we could be doing instead of wasting away here?" Rei didn't want to leave the job of a recovery up to Minako. "We were just talking about how nice it would be to go home and watch TV all day. We're not breaking a rule." She and the rest of her friends held their breath as they waited for him to answer.
"I suppose not." He replied rather disappointedly. He had wanted so badly to get them into trouble. "Tell Usagi she had better get back here soon if she doesn't want extra homework." With that, he stomped off, his hands deep in his pockets.
"That was really close." Rei exclaimed as she stepped to the side of the hallway. "We should be more careful about what we're saying. You never know what bum is listening."
"The walls in this place have ears. Teachers are everywhere." Ami agreed with Rei as she watched Minako sigh with relief. "But what are we going to do about Usagi?"
Minako gained as sudden look of horror. "She'll be in a state of trauma if she gets anymore homework than what we've already been assigned." She looked up to Rei, who was shaking her head side to side. "Right." She said before anyone else could add. "We should go and check in on her then."
Makoto sidestepped to the girls' restroom and pushed the door open. "In and then out we go. Let's hurry." She motioned for the others to head in, where they would then teleport out.
~*~*~
The aqua blue eyes stared off into nothingness as the sound of chatter from all around droned on. They were worried; their normal twinkle was no longer present. A pair of dark blue eyes stared into the emptiness of those that were aqua blue. "You're silent."
"She's not at school." The aqua eyes shifted to stare directly into her partner's. "What's she thinking, Haruka?" Michiru's eyes drifted forward, down to the front of the classroom, where their professor was covering the basics of human biology. She had no interest in paying attention. Her mind was wandering to her duty as a Sailor Senshi; and more importantly, her duty to their Princess, who was known to make reckless decisions.
"You're thinking of her again?" Haruka reached down and wrapped her fingers around Michiru's hand. "I thought we were going to let her friend's watch out for her safety." With her free hand, she tried to guide Michiru's face toward her so she could look back into those aqua blue eyes, but Michiru refused.
"They aren't with her."
Haruka frowned, clearly upset that her partner refused to forget about the Saiyan Senshi. "Mamoru is with her. He can protect her well enough until we can arrive if the heart snatchers decide to attack." She was a little more forceful the next time she tried to pull Michiru's face toward her, this time she wasn't getting any resistance. "But we can't watch her every move or she'll get suspicious. With her Ki as low as it is, she'll wonder why we're able to feel her presence in the first place."
Michiru's eyes became softer. "I know."
~*~*~
"So where to now?" His discomfort rose as the duo made their way to the edge of the Tomoe property. The fact that he had anyone touching him was bad enough, but the fact that he had Usagi latched onto him was just too much. She was the most unlikely person to ever want to get this close to him without throwing a fit. But it was just such an odd situation that he didn't want to bring much attention to it. Instead, he just lifted his arm upward, causing Usagi to release her grip.
She hadn't really known why she had acted the way she just did. It was really more of a set reaction that she had always done whenever she was happy, or feeling proud of herself. It was usually her father or one of her brothers that she had done this with, as she was most comfortable with them. She too didn't wish to bring any attention to what had just happened. It was just too awkward. It was silly of her to think she was comfortable enough with Mamoru to have willingly had any kind of contact with him. "I don't know." She said as she stepped away from Mamoru, keeping her eyes down upon the ground so as not to look him in the eye. "The day is half over."
Mamoru refused to look at Usagi, so he had no idea if she was upset that he had pulled away from her grip. "Why don't you tell me your plan then?"
Usagi smiled with a sigh of relief. He had changed the subject; obviously not wanting to talk about the uncomfortable actions that had just taken place. "I already told you to wait. I want to discuss this with the others before we do this. We need more eyes."
Mamoru kept himself from looking curiously upon the girl to his side. "More eyes?" He wondered out loud as they turned on to the sidewalk. He wondered what she could possibly be thinking if they needed more then just the two of them to find out what was going on. "So no sneaking in then?"
Usagi, irritated that he wouldn't drop the subject, stopped short and peered up at Mamoru's back as he walked forward. "I know what we can do." She said with a hinting smirk. "We haven't sparred in a while."
Mamoru, too, stopped. "What?" He asked, wondering what she was thinking. "What about your father?" He added as he stepped in such a way that would allow him to stare back at the eager Saiyan. "He'll know you're not at school."
Usagi cocked her head to the side. "What do you care if my parents find out that I'm not in school? I know you'd love to get me in trouble." She replied, feeling a bit spiteful.
Mamoru couldn't help but feel a little hurt by her accusations. "You're right, Odango. I would absolutely cherish the thought of getting you into trouble with your mother. However, I don't think that's what's best right now. If you're going to be it top shape to fight off this new threat we need you in full capacity of mind, and not going on about how you're mother is so terribly unfair in grounding you."
Her face went red with anger as she narrowed her eyes into a glare. "Why you little.!!" She couldn't find bad enough words in her vocabulary to express her anger. "I should have known better than to trust you!" Usagi cried out as she pushed herself into Mamoru, causing him to lose his balance and topple over onto the street. She didn't stop there. Feeling her anger rise, she stomped off down the street, leaving Mamoru behind.
He sat on the cold pavement with his legs in front of him and his arms resting at his side. Mamoru had again, failed to go a single day without somehow insulting Usagi. He grinned, 'not that she's hard to insult, the little crybaby,' he thought to himself as he pushed against the ground in order to stand up.
"Let her fend for herself." He said out loud as he stepped back up onto the sidewalk. A woman in a business suit walked by, eyeing him carefully and half expecting him to attack. He ignored her and shoved his hands into his pocket. "That's the last time I try to do my duty to protect her."
~*~*~
Rei, Minako, Makoto, and Ami arrived just a few feet away from the Son house in the woods. They were a bit nervous about knocking on the door during school hours - what would Chi-Chi say?
"I sure hope Usagi's there." Minako said in almost a whisper as they neared the house. "This could mean trouble if she's not."
No one answered; they were all too nervous to. Instead, they just continued their way, tiptoeing as if making no sound would make a more desirable situation. They proceeded forward until they reached the small house. None of them wanted to ring the doorbell.
"Better get this done and over with." Ami said, breaking the silence.
"The sooner we get it done, the better." Rei added, as she reached out and pressed the button next to the door. Inside they could hear a chime, which alerted the occupants of their presence.
~*~*~
"Chi-Chi, someone's at the door." Yelled a male voice from the top of the stairs.
Chi-Chi, who had been sitting in the family room just below the stairs, placed her book on the coffee table in front of her. "Got it." She yelled back to her husband. She thought nothing of visitors at her home, regardless the fact that they lived in the middle of nowhere. They had many friends who stopped by occasionally, and their sons would sometimes come home for a visit during the day. She had no idea, however, of who actually stood outside.
Luna lay curled up in a tiny ball on the sofa next to where Chi-Chi had been sitting. She had been taking an afternoon snooze, but was awaken by the doorbell. Yawning, she stood up to stretch. She sat back down, looking drowsy, which gave a droopy look to her stance. Her eyes turned to the door, which Chi-Chi was just opening.
Outside stood four girls, all of whom were well known around this house. They looked uncomfortable to be there, but stayed just the same. Luna's eyes bolted wide open as she jumped back to her feet. Chi-Chi looked just as shocked. "Girls?!"
Luna jumped to the nearby coffee table and walked to the edge. She counted heads, realizing first that Usagi wasn't present. "What on earth are you doing here?"
Chi-Chi noticed just moments after Luna that her daughter wasn't there. "Where's Usagi?" She shouted, losing control of herself. " She pulled the girls in one by one and slammed the door shut. "Where is she?" She demanded once more before any of the girls had a chance to reply.
Luna, knowing that something serious was bothering Usagi, became just as rushed as Chi-Chi. "Say something girls! Where is Usagi?!" She became more worried at the thought that something may have happened to the Princess.
The girls exchanged grim looks, causing Chi-Chi to go white in the face. If no one in this house knew where Usagi was, the where exactly was she? That's the question that went roaming through their minds as they stared into Chi-Chi's black eyes.
Ami opened her mouth to say something, but was soon cut off by the sound of creaking stairs. It was Goku. He had heard the commotion from downstairs, and had come to see for himself what all the trouble was. "What's going on down here?" He casually asked, not knowing the true danger of what was happening. His eyes scanned the room. He saw his wife, Luna, and all of Usagi's friends; but someone was missing. "Where's Usagi?" He looked to his wife, who looked back at him with question.
Ami opened her mouth to speak again, this time being uninterrupted. "We thought she may be here." Her words were solemn, and brought no comfort to the ears of the advisor and two parents. "She never," She paused, not wanting to continue, but was urged by Rei to go on, "She never showed up to school today."
Chi-Chi fainted at those words, falling back into Goku, who caught her with ease. Goku looked up at the girls, with a worried frown. "She what?"
Luna had the same look on her face. "How could she not have shown up at school today?" She looked up to Goku, who was trying to wake his wife. "I don't understand. Can't you feel her presence?"
Goku reached out, searching for his daughter's Ki signature, but felt nothing. "She's either knocked out, or so relaxed that she's emitting almost no aura." He was horrified to think that the reasoning was the former. "Luna," He started, ignoring the girls and turning to the cats, "Watch Chi-Chi for me. If she wakes up, tell her I've gone to look for Usagi."
"You're going out to look for her?!" Makoto watched as Goku carried his wife to the sofa. "You won't know the first place to look."
Goku frowned as he gently placed his wife down. "No, but I know what route she uses to get to school. If she was knocked out, she may be out there. If she was carried away." He stopped himself from finishing. He didn't want to think of losing her. "Right, you four stay here while I search."
His words weren't met with happy faces. All their lives they had been told to stay put when something like this happened. They were always the back up fighters, at least that's how they were seen to the older fighters. They had proven their worth on countless occasions; fought strong enemies and prevailed over evil.
This time, they weren't going to stay in the background. "Not this time, Goku!" Minako commanded as she got her 'fighting face' on. "We're helping you look for her."
Goku looked stunned by her reaction, but apparently she wasn't the only one who felt this way. Makoto had added; "Yeah. She's our friend and we deserve a chance to help. It'll go faster this way. More of us will be looking."
A smile spread wide over his face. "I keep forgetting how able you four are. Alright then, you can help me."
~*~*~
The Tomoe house was nearly as chaotic as the Son house. Professor Tomoe was hard at work developing new creatures to withstand the blows of the two newest Senshi. He had been trying for months now, and still nothing worked. They had gotten a little stronger, obviously strong enough to ward off the old Senshis' attacks, but the other two were still able to take them out with one attack. It was unacceptable, and the Mistress wouldn't be kept waiting while he tinkered with inventions. "I'm going to fix you good, Sailor Brats."
Down two hallways Kaori was hard at work with her own research. She needed to find a good candidate for the next Pure Heart Crystal before the day was out. She would show Professor Tomoe and his Mistress that she wasn't a complete failure; not that she was, but they needed a bit more convincing.
She sat at her computer in complete darkness. The only form of light was being emitted from the screen. She worked best this way, she felt as if she were in complete solitude. "None of these are good." She complained as her fingers flew across the keyboard. She was sifting through a list of possible candidates, but none of them were pure enough to go after. "This one has to be really good, full of good intentions and extremely pure." She suddenly stopped typing and a picture of a young woman showed up on the screen. Her black hair was pulled tightly behind her head, and she wore a yellow dress.
The sides of Kaori's lips turned upward into a smile. "She's perfect." She popped in a disc to the computer and uploaded the woman's information to it so it could be downloaded into Tomoe's next heart snatcher. "This time I won't fail. No one will be able to stop this extraction!" She pulled the disc out and laughed as hard as she could.
~*~*~
Kaori's maniacal laughter was carried throughout the complex. It seeped into every corner, and bounced off the concrete floor. It even found its way into a dark hallway, which housed a single door. On this door lay a sign, which read, "Witches 5".
A woman with long, red hair sat in front of a computer, her arms crossed over her chest and one knee over the other. "Listen to her in there, girls. She thinks of herself as a great heart snatcher, but she's nothing. Professor Tomoe has already informed me that I'll be next in line when Kaori fails next." Her eyes formed two ovals, giving her a look of complete evil.
A woman to her right, with short, orange hair, scrunched her face into a frown. "I won't to be next! Why are you always first?" She whined.
"Put a sock in it, Mimet. I've already got a line of victims waiting to be attacked when she fails. You've got nothing."
~*~*~
"How dare he say that to me!" Usagi sulked as she walked aimlessly through town. It had only been 20 minutes since she had run off and left Mamoru behind, but her anger hadn't subsided at all. In fact, thinking about it only made her angrier, and thinking about it is what she did. "He practically called me a crybaby!" She crossed her arms over her chest and scowled at her feet. "He hasn't changed a bit! He's the same old mean Mamoru who has no compassion for others. I hate him!"
She stopped at the corner of the busy street. People were so preoccupied with themselves that they didn't even seem to notice that she wasn't in school, let alone the fact that she was talking to herself. Looking over her shoulder, she had kind of hoped to see Mamoru chasing after her, but there was no sign of him. "Selfish!"
Not letting her scowl lighten up any, she turned down the alley, which was created by a convenience store and a liquor store. She wasn't afraid to travel down allies anymore, not now that she could defend herself adequately. But this time, she didn't have to worry about anyone jumping her; there was no one around. "Nimbus!" She called into the air. Almost immediately a small, yellow cloud came flying for her. She jumped on, and leaned forward. "Let's go home, Nimbus."
The cloud flew high into the air above the white clouds so that no one would see them flying overhead.
~*~*~
Luna sat over Chi-Chi while Goku and the girls were out looking for Usagi. She too was worried about the Princess, and wished there was something she could do to help. This Princess was nothing like the one she knew from the old Moon Kingdom. Princess Serenity had always been a calm, rule-abiding child. Usagi, however, was a reckless child who, in Luna's mind, found it fun and exciting to break the rules. She had promised the Queen that she would watch over the new Princess, and keep her safe. But it wasn't very easy when the child wouldn't even share her worries.
Sighing, Luna lay down on the coffee table, keeping her eye on the fainted woman before her. She wondered if this was always normal for Usagi; to just disappear without a word. "That girl." She thought out loud, but didn't finish.
"Mmmm." Chi-Chi moaned as she twisted herself on the sofa. "Usagi." She appeared to be waking, but Luna stayed cautious for any outbursts. "Where are you?"
"Chi-Chi?" Luna called, not wanting to frighten the woman.
Chi-Chi opened her eyes to see Luna staring at her. Although she had fainted, she remembered exactly what was happening. "Usagi!!" She screamed as she bolted upward.
Luna jumped to her feet in surprise. "Calm down. Goku's gone to find her." She didn't want Chi-Chi to freak out over the disappearance of her husband as well.
"Goku? Gone to look for Usagi?" She pushed herself off the sofa and bolted for the door. "I've got to help. My baby is out there all alone!"
"No! You're not in any condition to." It was too late. Before Luna could finish, the door had slammed shut and Chi-Chi was gone. "No wonder where that child gets it."
~*~*~
Using the Flying Nimbus, it took Usagi nearly a half-hour to get to the mountains surrounding her house, but she didn't mind. She needed to waste time before going home. Her parents would think nothing of her skipping school, and would never know the difference. She would go home in about an hour. School got out in half an hour. She had completely forgotten about going to Rei's with everything that had happened at Hotaru's, but she wouldn't lie to her friends about skipping class. It was only her mother and father that she wanted to hide the truth from, as well as Luna.
On her way home, Usagi tried to forget about the happenings with Mamoru. She didn't want to let on to her parents that she was in a bad mood or else there would be questions; there always were. But something caught her attention on the forest floor. Something was running down there, something not natural to the forest. It was a bright yellow and ran almost as fast as she did. "What the." She motioned for Nimbus to lower her to the ground.
Little did she know that nearby stood Kaori, hiding behind a tree with a big, silver briefcase. She was hunting her next victim.
"Usagi! Usagi where are you?"
Usagi perked her head at the sound of her name. "Mom?" She called back, not even thinking about keeping up her lie.
Kaori, ignoring the mother/daughter dialogue, poked her head out from behind her tree. Her victim was standing two feet from her. Grimacing, she kneeled down and set her briefcase in front of her.
"Usagi? Where are you?" Chi-Chi looked to both her sides but saw no sign of her daughter.
Usagi spotted her mother in the distance. The yellow blob that she had seen run by was her mother, but why was she searching? "Mom, I'm right here." She stepped toward her mother, but what she saw next absolutely terrified her.
Kaori had opened her briefcase, and had unleashed her newest heart snatcher. "Get that Pure Heart Crystal for me and you won't be sorry!"
Chi-Chi turned around just in time to stare straight into the ruby red eyes of a giant spider. She let out a horrified scream as she stumbled backward, almost completely paralyzed with fear.
Usagi's eyes went wide. "MOM!!!"