"You did what...?" Michelle glared at Karen, who was looking at the floor. "Well?"
"I jumped off the Tokyo Tower... I don't see what the big deal is, I was trying to save Rebecca..." Karen brought her head up to return the grimace. "Unless you having a problem with your sister living..."
"Amara would be worried to death if she knew..."
"Amara's off in Candy Land, playing with the candy cane people on the gum drop trees."
"If only that were true..."
"What do you mean?"
"Amara's gone... I took my eyes off of her for one minute and she disappeared..."
"And you didn't go look for her?! Is punishing me that important to you?!"
"I didn't think it would be right for both of us to just leave."
"Well, next time you beep me, get straight to the point and maybe I'll actually stop to have a conversation with you."
"Why do you hate me..?"
"Amara and the others might not see through your act, but I do."
Michelle became silent after that remark and then suddenly slapped Karen. Karen just shook her head and tackled Michelle onto the floor. She managed to land some punches on the older girl before getting kicked away. Michelle quickly got up and pinned Karen against a wall. The tomboy got out of her grasp and elbowed Michelle in the ribs. More punches and some kicks were exchanged before Michelle tossed Karen into the coffee table, which happened to be glass. Karen climbed to her feet and took some steps back. She noticed her left arm bleeding and gazed at Michelle shocked.
"You are trying to kill me!"
Michelle didn't respond, she just took slow steps over to Karen. When she was a mere inch away, a voice spoke out.
"What happened?" Amara stood at the front door, seeming perfectly well.
"Mic..." Karen tried to tell her, but Michelle interrupted her.
"She was attacked. I came in here after I heard a noise, but whoever it was had left."
Amara seemed to buy it, she just approached the two. "Maybe we should do something about her arm."
Karen saw Michelle ready to volunteer and she clung onto Amara. "Could you help me Mara? Please?"
Amara glanced at Michelle and then nodded. "Okay... Come on." She walked out of the room, leaving Karen and Michelle.
Michelle glared at Karen again and the young girl just hurried after Amara.
-.-
Karen entered Alex's room, noticing all the others were already there. She rubbed her bandaged arm and took a seat next to Rebecca and Susan. They all seemed as if they wanted to ask her about her latest injury, yet refrained from doing so. Karen saw Peruru across the room and they locked gazes for a few seconds. Rebecca was the only to see it and she slightly frowned. Peruru cleared his throat and got the room's full attention.
"I guess you're all wondering why I'm here..."
"He's really coming, isn't he?" Karen questioned and half the room looked at her.
"Who?" Four unidentified voices spoke up.
"Thanatos." Karen and Peruru answered in unison.
"Sleep's brother, Night's son, oh.. and his name means death." Karen explained.
"I'm still not entirely sure why he's coming here..." Peruru stated. "But I am sure that he's after Lady Kat."
"Lady..." Susan had a slight smile on her face.
"... Kat?" Rebecca turned to Karen, who was hiding her face in her hands.
"Could you please not call me that...?" Karen muffled the question.
"At least he didn't call you Lady Katherine." Susan retorted. "... Or Kitty." Karen just shook her head and ran out of the room. Rebecca chased after her as the Inners just stared at Susan. "She'll get over it."
"Karen, wait up!" Rebecca called out to her friend, but the girl didn't stop until she was outside.
Karen sat on the ground, knees against her chest as she buried her face in them. Rebecca stepped over to her and got down onto her knees. She put a hand on Karen's shoulder and waited for some kind of response. Karen lifted her head up and glanced at Rebecca. She hugged her tightly, still not saying anything.
"You going to be okay?" Rebecca whispered.
"I don't know... when he's around, I get this feeling. It's like the one I get when I'm around you... I barely even know him..."
"It'll be alright... How about we go back inside, unless you want to go home..."
"There's something I need to tell you."
"What is it?"
Karen let go of Rebecca and moved away so they could make eye contact. "I know this is going to sound crazy.... Michelle is trying to kill me, this time I'm positive about it."
"Karen..."
"She attacked me and gave me this." She motioned to her arm. "But when Amara came, she just lied about it... You believe me, right?"
"I do, it's just that... no one else might."
"I don't care what everyone else thinks, as long as you trust me."
"I'd hate to interrupt your moment.. or actually, no.. I wouldn't." Telulu came out of some bushes.
"Rebecca, go get the others!" Karen demanded and Rebecca raced off.
"We just keep on running into each other, don't we kid?" Telulu mocked and Karen hopped onto her feet.
"Listen, I was already beat once today, so I'm in a very bad mood." Karen noticed the vines slithering out of the concrete and jumped back. "I hope you didn't expect me to fall for that one again."
"No, I didn't."
"What?" An energy blast came out of nowhere and hit Karen from the back. "Okay, that's it..!" She got back up and dashed away from Telulu.
"Where do you think you're going?" Kaori appeared in front of Karen.
"Who said I was going anywhere?" Karen kicked Kaori and dodged another attack from Telulu.
"Sparkling Wide Pressure!" The thunderbolt hit Telulu directly, almost causing her to lose her balance and fall.
"I'm out of here!" She turned around and returned to the bushes.
"She wasn't your real opponent anyway." Kaori reappeared on a tree branch.
"Somehow I don't think you are either." Karen mumbled.
"Of course not, look behind you."
Karen glanced over her shoulders, eyed widening at what stood some feet away. "Proof, I have proof!"
Neptune guarded Karen, but froze when she saw who Kaori had been speaking of. "Michelle...?"
"I told you she's trying to kill me!"
"... That can't be my sister..."
"Oh? So where exactly is your real sister then?" Kaori interrogated, knowing Neptune couldn't answer her.
"Right here." Michelle had just arrived, yet hadn't noticed the clone of her.
"Okay, this just makes things even more complicated." Karen looked at Michelle and then the clone. "But how do we know that the one over there is the real Michelle?"
"What are you...?" Michelle caught sight of the clone. "What the hell is that?"
"It's you of course, though I must say you don't look as nice."
"Space Sword Blaster!" Neptune was knocked off her feet by the attack and Karen quickly looked around.
"Someone's using my powers for evil...?! Man, this can only get worse..!"
"Submarine Reflection!" This time Michelle's clone had struck, hitting Karen at full force.
"Man, if looks could kill." Karen muttered as she lay on the concrete.
"That's enough for now." Kaori commanded and the clone sprinted away. "Ta-ta." She vanished with that said.
Peruru held out his hand to help Karen up." Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, just a little upset at the fact everyone's picking on me just because I can't transform." Karen folded her arms over her chest.
Michelle observed Karen and Peruru closely, totally forgetting about her clone. Karen saw Michelle and just glared at her, getting up to check on Neptune.
-.-
"It's good to be home again..." Karen sighed happily and collapsed onto her bed. "Hey, Amara... where did you go earlier..?"
"I came here actually, I had to find something...." Amara replied and took a seat on the bed.
"What?" Karen rolled over and sat up.
"I had a dream not too long ago.. and when I woke up, I drew this.." Amara pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Karen. "The thing is... I'm a poor artist and that's a nicely draw picture..."
Karen took the drawing from Amara and examined it. It was a cloaked figure holding a scythe, and atop the scythe was a butterfly. "Thanatos..." Karen whispered to herself and Amara nodded.
"After you had told me about your dream, the picture was the only thing I could think of. So, when I finally regained consciousness, I had to find it."
"... You heard me...?"
"Of course."
Karen thought of Peruru and hung her head in anguish. Amara took note to Karen's woe and gave her a big hug. Karen smiled, feeling a little better and she handed Amara the picture. They both heard Michelle calling for Amara from downstairs and Karen mentally twitched. Amara shook her head and left the move, waving slightly to Karen.
-.-
Karen and Rebecca were sitting on a park bench, waiting for Rini to get there. They heard footsteps soon enough, seeing Rini approaching them followed by Peruru. Karen ignored him and moved closer to Rebecca so Rini could sit with them.
"... What are you doing here?" Karen inquired Peruru in the nicest tone possible.
"Serena didn't want me to come alone..." Rini answered for Peruru.
"So, what do we know about our enemy so far?" Rebecca tried to change the subject.
"Well, the old Scouts fought them and they keep tabs on the clones with those tracking devices." Karen clarified.
"But where does Tomoe fit into this..?"
"He makes the clones of course, whoever hired him obviously couldn't. And I know for a fact the Witches or Kaori can't."
"So are real enemy is..?
"We aren't exactly sure. We've been told it's Thanatos, some god of death, but that doesn't make much sense. Maybe it's some kind of cover so we don't find out who our real enemy is."
"Somehow, this doesn't seem like the ordinary 'take over the world or destroy it' plot."
"Maybe that's not their intended purpose..." Peruru spoke to himself.
"If that's so.. then what are they after..?" Rini glanced at Karen, who just shook her head.
"There's only one way to find that out. We need to meet our true enemy..."
-.-
The Witches Five stood in front of a throne where a cloaked figure was seated. "You failed once again...?"
"Those Sailor brats always gang up on us! Maybe if they weren't together..." Telulu admitted.
"Silence!" The shadow released a beam of light at Telulu, tossing her onto the floor.
"If I may ask, isn't there some other way to go about destroying the Sailor Scouts?" Cyprine asked.
"Well... since our recent attempts have been failing, we could try a different approach."
"Does our master have an idea in mind?"
"Actually, yes. If you can pull off a simple kidnapping I'll spare your lives for a little while longer."
"Kidnapping? Must we resort to such a low action?"
"Unless you'd rather return to the Hell I saved you from..."
The Witches grew silent, then nodded.
-.-
"Karen!" Rebecca's voice echoed through the house.
Karen stumbled out of her room and down the stairs. "I'm coming..!" She entered the living room, spotting Rini and Rebecca on the couch. "Man, I thought it was an emergency.... or is it?"
"No emergency here."
"Alright, so what's up?"
Rini pulled Karen's wand from her pocket and handed it to the older girl.
"Oh... well thanks.." Karen took her wand and looked at it. "Maybe now I won't get beat up so much..." The wand began to glow and Karen was pushed back onto the love seat as she dropped it. "... That's new.."
The three exchanged glances and then stared at the wand again.
"I jumped off the Tokyo Tower... I don't see what the big deal is, I was trying to save Rebecca..." Karen brought her head up to return the grimace. "Unless you having a problem with your sister living..."
"Amara would be worried to death if she knew..."
"Amara's off in Candy Land, playing with the candy cane people on the gum drop trees."
"If only that were true..."
"What do you mean?"
"Amara's gone... I took my eyes off of her for one minute and she disappeared..."
"And you didn't go look for her?! Is punishing me that important to you?!"
"I didn't think it would be right for both of us to just leave."
"Well, next time you beep me, get straight to the point and maybe I'll actually stop to have a conversation with you."
"Why do you hate me..?"
"Amara and the others might not see through your act, but I do."
Michelle became silent after that remark and then suddenly slapped Karen. Karen just shook her head and tackled Michelle onto the floor. She managed to land some punches on the older girl before getting kicked away. Michelle quickly got up and pinned Karen against a wall. The tomboy got out of her grasp and elbowed Michelle in the ribs. More punches and some kicks were exchanged before Michelle tossed Karen into the coffee table, which happened to be glass. Karen climbed to her feet and took some steps back. She noticed her left arm bleeding and gazed at Michelle shocked.
"You are trying to kill me!"
Michelle didn't respond, she just took slow steps over to Karen. When she was a mere inch away, a voice spoke out.
"What happened?" Amara stood at the front door, seeming perfectly well.
"Mic..." Karen tried to tell her, but Michelle interrupted her.
"She was attacked. I came in here after I heard a noise, but whoever it was had left."
Amara seemed to buy it, she just approached the two. "Maybe we should do something about her arm."
Karen saw Michelle ready to volunteer and she clung onto Amara. "Could you help me Mara? Please?"
Amara glanced at Michelle and then nodded. "Okay... Come on." She walked out of the room, leaving Karen and Michelle.
Michelle glared at Karen again and the young girl just hurried after Amara.
-.-
Karen entered Alex's room, noticing all the others were already there. She rubbed her bandaged arm and took a seat next to Rebecca and Susan. They all seemed as if they wanted to ask her about her latest injury, yet refrained from doing so. Karen saw Peruru across the room and they locked gazes for a few seconds. Rebecca was the only to see it and she slightly frowned. Peruru cleared his throat and got the room's full attention.
"I guess you're all wondering why I'm here..."
"He's really coming, isn't he?" Karen questioned and half the room looked at her.
"Who?" Four unidentified voices spoke up.
"Thanatos." Karen and Peruru answered in unison.
"Sleep's brother, Night's son, oh.. and his name means death." Karen explained.
"I'm still not entirely sure why he's coming here..." Peruru stated. "But I am sure that he's after Lady Kat."
"Lady..." Susan had a slight smile on her face.
"... Kat?" Rebecca turned to Karen, who was hiding her face in her hands.
"Could you please not call me that...?" Karen muffled the question.
"At least he didn't call you Lady Katherine." Susan retorted. "... Or Kitty." Karen just shook her head and ran out of the room. Rebecca chased after her as the Inners just stared at Susan. "She'll get over it."
"Karen, wait up!" Rebecca called out to her friend, but the girl didn't stop until she was outside.
Karen sat on the ground, knees against her chest as she buried her face in them. Rebecca stepped over to her and got down onto her knees. She put a hand on Karen's shoulder and waited for some kind of response. Karen lifted her head up and glanced at Rebecca. She hugged her tightly, still not saying anything.
"You going to be okay?" Rebecca whispered.
"I don't know... when he's around, I get this feeling. It's like the one I get when I'm around you... I barely even know him..."
"It'll be alright... How about we go back inside, unless you want to go home..."
"There's something I need to tell you."
"What is it?"
Karen let go of Rebecca and moved away so they could make eye contact. "I know this is going to sound crazy.... Michelle is trying to kill me, this time I'm positive about it."
"Karen..."
"She attacked me and gave me this." She motioned to her arm. "But when Amara came, she just lied about it... You believe me, right?"
"I do, it's just that... no one else might."
"I don't care what everyone else thinks, as long as you trust me."
"I'd hate to interrupt your moment.. or actually, no.. I wouldn't." Telulu came out of some bushes.
"Rebecca, go get the others!" Karen demanded and Rebecca raced off.
"We just keep on running into each other, don't we kid?" Telulu mocked and Karen hopped onto her feet.
"Listen, I was already beat once today, so I'm in a very bad mood." Karen noticed the vines slithering out of the concrete and jumped back. "I hope you didn't expect me to fall for that one again."
"No, I didn't."
"What?" An energy blast came out of nowhere and hit Karen from the back. "Okay, that's it..!" She got back up and dashed away from Telulu.
"Where do you think you're going?" Kaori appeared in front of Karen.
"Who said I was going anywhere?" Karen kicked Kaori and dodged another attack from Telulu.
"Sparkling Wide Pressure!" The thunderbolt hit Telulu directly, almost causing her to lose her balance and fall.
"I'm out of here!" She turned around and returned to the bushes.
"She wasn't your real opponent anyway." Kaori reappeared on a tree branch.
"Somehow I don't think you are either." Karen mumbled.
"Of course not, look behind you."
Karen glanced over her shoulders, eyed widening at what stood some feet away. "Proof, I have proof!"
Neptune guarded Karen, but froze when she saw who Kaori had been speaking of. "Michelle...?"
"I told you she's trying to kill me!"
"... That can't be my sister..."
"Oh? So where exactly is your real sister then?" Kaori interrogated, knowing Neptune couldn't answer her.
"Right here." Michelle had just arrived, yet hadn't noticed the clone of her.
"Okay, this just makes things even more complicated." Karen looked at Michelle and then the clone. "But how do we know that the one over there is the real Michelle?"
"What are you...?" Michelle caught sight of the clone. "What the hell is that?"
"It's you of course, though I must say you don't look as nice."
"Space Sword Blaster!" Neptune was knocked off her feet by the attack and Karen quickly looked around.
"Someone's using my powers for evil...?! Man, this can only get worse..!"
"Submarine Reflection!" This time Michelle's clone had struck, hitting Karen at full force.
"Man, if looks could kill." Karen muttered as she lay on the concrete.
"That's enough for now." Kaori commanded and the clone sprinted away. "Ta-ta." She vanished with that said.
Peruru held out his hand to help Karen up." Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, just a little upset at the fact everyone's picking on me just because I can't transform." Karen folded her arms over her chest.
Michelle observed Karen and Peruru closely, totally forgetting about her clone. Karen saw Michelle and just glared at her, getting up to check on Neptune.
-.-
"It's good to be home again..." Karen sighed happily and collapsed onto her bed. "Hey, Amara... where did you go earlier..?"
"I came here actually, I had to find something...." Amara replied and took a seat on the bed.
"What?" Karen rolled over and sat up.
"I had a dream not too long ago.. and when I woke up, I drew this.." Amara pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Karen. "The thing is... I'm a poor artist and that's a nicely draw picture..."
Karen took the drawing from Amara and examined it. It was a cloaked figure holding a scythe, and atop the scythe was a butterfly. "Thanatos..." Karen whispered to herself and Amara nodded.
"After you had told me about your dream, the picture was the only thing I could think of. So, when I finally regained consciousness, I had to find it."
"... You heard me...?"
"Of course."
Karen thought of Peruru and hung her head in anguish. Amara took note to Karen's woe and gave her a big hug. Karen smiled, feeling a little better and she handed Amara the picture. They both heard Michelle calling for Amara from downstairs and Karen mentally twitched. Amara shook her head and left the move, waving slightly to Karen.
-.-
Karen and Rebecca were sitting on a park bench, waiting for Rini to get there. They heard footsteps soon enough, seeing Rini approaching them followed by Peruru. Karen ignored him and moved closer to Rebecca so Rini could sit with them.
"... What are you doing here?" Karen inquired Peruru in the nicest tone possible.
"Serena didn't want me to come alone..." Rini answered for Peruru.
"So, what do we know about our enemy so far?" Rebecca tried to change the subject.
"Well, the old Scouts fought them and they keep tabs on the clones with those tracking devices." Karen clarified.
"But where does Tomoe fit into this..?"
"He makes the clones of course, whoever hired him obviously couldn't. And I know for a fact the Witches or Kaori can't."
"So are real enemy is..?
"We aren't exactly sure. We've been told it's Thanatos, some god of death, but that doesn't make much sense. Maybe it's some kind of cover so we don't find out who our real enemy is."
"Somehow, this doesn't seem like the ordinary 'take over the world or destroy it' plot."
"Maybe that's not their intended purpose..." Peruru spoke to himself.
"If that's so.. then what are they after..?" Rini glanced at Karen, who just shook her head.
"There's only one way to find that out. We need to meet our true enemy..."
-.-
The Witches Five stood in front of a throne where a cloaked figure was seated. "You failed once again...?"
"Those Sailor brats always gang up on us! Maybe if they weren't together..." Telulu admitted.
"Silence!" The shadow released a beam of light at Telulu, tossing her onto the floor.
"If I may ask, isn't there some other way to go about destroying the Sailor Scouts?" Cyprine asked.
"Well... since our recent attempts have been failing, we could try a different approach."
"Does our master have an idea in mind?"
"Actually, yes. If you can pull off a simple kidnapping I'll spare your lives for a little while longer."
"Kidnapping? Must we resort to such a low action?"
"Unless you'd rather return to the Hell I saved you from..."
The Witches grew silent, then nodded.
-.-
"Karen!" Rebecca's voice echoed through the house.
Karen stumbled out of her room and down the stairs. "I'm coming..!" She entered the living room, spotting Rini and Rebecca on the couch. "Man, I thought it was an emergency.... or is it?"
"No emergency here."
"Alright, so what's up?"
Rini pulled Karen's wand from her pocket and handed it to the older girl.
"Oh... well thanks.." Karen took her wand and looked at it. "Maybe now I won't get beat up so much..." The wand began to glow and Karen was pushed back onto the love seat as she dropped it. "... That's new.."
The three exchanged glances and then stared at the wand again.