"Right down the middle! Whoa!" Jim jumped as high as
he could and barely caught the ball. "That was the crappiest
pitch I have ever seen in my entire life!"
Candra laughed.
"Jim! I was the catcher, not the pitcher," she pointed
out as she caught the ball. "You should know that you are not
getting a strike!"
"You could have been a good
pitcher if you had really tried; you can do everything."
Candra
threw the ball back. "See, everyone thinks that. Then I start
to believe it and that's when I get into trouble. You need no
examples; you know what I'm talking about."
"Gomen
ne, demo are you Serenity?" Candra turned around to find five
little girls armed with pen and paper. And I thought I got away
from them. sigh I can't go anywhere without my fans finding
me. "I sure am. I'm guessing you would like an
autograph?" she asked with a smile.
"Hai!" said
the girls.
"Awww, come on, Candra!" whined Jim.
"Now,
now! If it weren't for the fans, I wouldn't be here, as clique
as that sounds. I'll do anything for them. . . .Just so long as
they are in small groups like this. I can't stand big crowds,"
she told the girls as she started to sign her John Hancock. "I
feel trapped and all that. I'm sure you all understand."
The
girls just nodded and giggled. After she was done, they bowed.
"Thank you," they said in English, although they had
just had the entire conversation in Japanese.
Candra bowed
right back. "No problem."
Jim ran up Candra and
placed his hand on her shoulder. "We should really get going.
We need to get cleaned up and meet Usagi and Mamoru in an hour and
a half."
"I don't wanna go! I'm having fun here!"
Candra crossed her arms and made a fake pouting face. "You
can't make me."
Jim suddenly bent down, and before
Candra was able to react, he scooped her up in his arms. "Yes,
I can. Watch me." Candra started laughing as Jim carried her
out of the park.
As the two headed home, Haruka and Michiru
watched from behind a tree. "I think you're right. He has
to be. After what she has been through, I'm sure she wouldn't
let just any man pick her up like that."
"I wonder
where they're going," Haruka said.
"There is only one
way to find out," stated Michiru.
"Hey, Guy and
Girly!" said Candra as she and Jim entered the
arcade.
"Candra!" Usagi gave Candra a hug. "Time
to teach you how to play the new Sailor V game!"
"I
don't even know how to play the old one. Do you know if they are
making a Sailor Moon game?"
"I don't know, but I
wish they were!"
Jim leaned over to Mamoru. "Are they
always like this?" he asked.
"Yeah, pretty much,"
answered Mamoru.
Sailor V destroyed two baddies in one shot.
"Good shot!" Usagi yelled. She rapped her arms around
Candra's waist. Candra pumped her fist up in the air. "Yeah!"
The girls started cheering until the youma in the game attacked
Sailor V. The two girls froze in position. "Eeeee?"
Sailor
V did a funny little dance before dying. "Uh, I guess you're
supposed to keep playing," said Candra.
"Sound's
about right," said Usagi.
The four started laughing. Jim
placed his hand on Candra's shoulder, then leaned over and
whispered into Candra's ear, "Okay. Maybe you can't do
everything."
"Gee, thanks, Handsome." Candra
patted Jim's hand. She laughed again.
Haruka jabbed Michiru
in the stomach. "I told you."
Michiru rubbed her
stomach. "Ouch. That doesn't mean anything. Geez. Did you
have to jab so hard?"
"You know just as well as I do
that Candra is not very trusting of new people."
"Well,
can you blame her, given her history? However, I still say that
doesn't mean anything. She was seen by Minako AND Jim ring
shopping yesterday with Mamoru."
"Come on, minna.
Let's go and visit Naru-chan at her mama's store," they
heard Usagi say. Haruka started to get up to follow them, but
Michiru held her back. "We're not going to spend all day
chasing Candra, are we? She'll be fine; she's with Usagi.
Besides, you have that race to get ready for."
"Grrr.
. . ." was all Haruka could think of as she knew her partner
was right.
The store was packed. So packed, in fact, that
the line that ended somewhere around the corner and it had a
bouncer of sorts at the beginning of it. "Your party cannot
enter until the same amount of people or more leave the store,"
she reminded the people at the front of the line.
"You
don't understand; I'm the only one in my party! I know what I
want and I'm already late!" cried out a desperate man a
little farther back.
"What you don't understand is that
the guy who just went in said the exact same thing. I can tell you
right now that he couldn't even show me where the bathroom is."
The bouncer then spotted Candra, Usagi, Jim, and Mamoru walking
towards her. "Whoa, there! Back of the line."
"We
are friends of Naru-chan," Usagi explained.
"Usagi-chan!
Candra-chan!" Naru held open the exit door. "Come
on!"
The bouncer smirked. "In all my years, that's
the first time the 'I'm with the band' line was true," she
said.
"But I didn't say, 'I'm with the band',"
said Usagi.
Candra sighed. "Dear Lord Kami-sama! Just go
in!" She pushed Usagi into the building. Complaints rose and
the poor bouncer had to hold back the enraged crowd as they saw
the group quickly entering through the other door.
"What
is going on here?" Usagi asked Naru.
"Apparently Mama
has a few bills to pay and business was slow, so she's having a
sale so business will pick back up," Naru said.
"But
if everything's on sale, won't she lose money?" asked
Usagi.
"Whenever you buy something and then turn around
and sell it like Naru-san's mother is doing, you 'mark-up'
the price and sell it for more than what you paid for it. That
way, you make a profit," explained Candra. "However, if
you aren't selling anything, then you aren't making any money;
in fact, you're losing money through payroll and utilities.
Therefore, it's better to sell something at a reduced price and
not make as much profit than to make no profit, loose money, go
out of business, and still have all of your stuff. Sometimes,
though, if an item has been in a store for, like, forever, then
sometimes the price will get marked way down just to get rid of
it, and then the store would lose money. I think, though, that 20
off the price won't kill Naru-san's mother's
store."
Everyone stared at Candra with wide-opened eyes,
even Naru, who knew she was right. "I plan on becoming an
accountant when I grow up," Candra stated.
"Oh,"
said everyone.
Naru smiled. "Come on! Let me show you some
of the new jewelry Mama got today . . .Oh wait. It looks like
someone needs help. I'll be right back." Naru squeezed
through the crowd. "Excuse me, sir? Do you need. . .?"
"Wow!
Look at the line to the register," said Candra.
"I
know. It's, like, a mile long," commented Jim.
"I'll
be right back, " said Candra.
"Where are you going?"
asked Mamoru.
"To see me if Ms. Osaka needs help,"
Candra answered matter-of-factly.
"You're gonna what?"
asked Usagi.
"Hey, there's another register, up there."
Before anyone could say anything else, Candra was swallowed up by
the crowd. Pushing her way through, she made her way up to the
counter. "Ms. Osaka?" she said.
"Uh? Oh, hello.
If you need any help, I can call my daughter up. . ."
"Well,
see, I'm a friend of your daughter's and I was wanting to know
if you needed any help up here."
Naru's mother stopped
what she was doing for a moment. "Well, yes I do. Arigato
gozamsu."
"No problem." Candra stepped behind
the counter. "Do you want me to ring over here or
bag?"
"Gomen nasai?" asked Ms. Osaka.
"Do
you want me to use the register or bag for you?" she asked
again.
"Register, onegai. May I help you?"
"I
can take whoever's next!" Candra called out. People started
leaving the first line, fighting for a good spot in the second.
"Uh, hello," said Candra, a little scared about the
position she had just put herself into. "Did you find
everything you needed?"
"There she is!" Usagi
pointed at the counter as the three fought to stay together.
"This
is nuts!" commented Mamoru. "We need to help. Excuse me,
ladies? Do you need some help?" Mamoru rushed over to one of
the glass cases to stop a fight involving two women and a
necklace.
"We should help, too," commented Jim.
"I
don't know anything about jewels. 'Cept mine," replied
Usagi.
"You can bag, can't you?" Jim pointed to the
counter; while things were a little smoother and faster, the two
were still falling behind. Jim and Usagi pushed their way through
the crowd and ran behind the counter. Jim started bagging for
Candra and Usagi started bagging for Ms. Osaka.
Outside, a
woman with purple hair to the ground and a VERY revealing outfit
stared through the window. "Very soon, I will have you,
Serenity," she said. Turning to leave, she noticed three
teenaged boys staring at her. "What do you want?" she
snapped.
"You," blurted out one.
"Shut up!"
yelled the others.
Grinning evilly, Libertine raised her hand
and blasted the boys back about five meters. "Don't even
think about it," she ordered and walked away.
"She
digs us," said the first. The other two sighed in
reply.
"Well?"
asked Grety.
"I am still trying to figure out how and
where to execute the plan," replied Libertine.
"Then
why did you return?" asked Grety.
"Because I am not
sure if we are able to pull this off right now. Serenity is able
to control the Senshi without saying a word." Libertine
pulled out a remote control and pointed it to her left. She pushed
the play button and a movie screen popped up, replaying some of
the scenes from earlier in the store. "She was able to take
control without even saying what she was going to do."
"I
see. I still think you should follow through with the plan and see
how far we can get. If anything, we may find some
weaknesses."
Libertine hit the stop button and the screen
disappeared. "Agreed. Who do you want me to start
with?"
Grety smiled. "Simple. Start at the top and
the rest will
fall."
"Minako-chan!
Wait up!"
Minako turned around and saw Mako running up to
her, right arm waving in the air. "Hey, girl!" Minako
smiled and waved back. Then her smiled dropped as she saw the look
on Mako's face. "What's the matter?"
"I just
saw Candra-chan with Jim-san and, well. . ."
"What?
Did something happen to them?"
"Well, she and Jim are
at Naru-chan's mother's store right now and they are looking
at rings."
Minako crossed her arms. "So? He's allowed
to buy his sister things now and then. I think it's a sweet
gesture. More brothers should be like him."
This was not
what Mako was expecting to hear. She didn't know that Candra and
Jim were siblings. Her mouth dropped and her eyes grew. "Uh.
. ."
"Mako-chan? Are okay? And what's with the
purple streak in your hair?"
"Uh, nothing. I wanted
to try something new. Anyway, uh, the ring is for Jim-san to give
to Usagi-chan."
Minako raised an eyebrow. "What?"
Mako
shrugged. "Apparently, Usagi-chan and Mamoru-san called it
quits weeks ago, but didn't have guts to tell us. Then Jim-san
started going out with her and Candra-chan and Mamoru-san are
thinking of starting their own relationship. . ."
Minako's
mouth dropped. "But he told me. . ."
"I know.
You told me. I guess he changed his mind."
Minako's eyes
filled with tears. "When I had met him, I thought I would
never again have to put Usagi-chan above my love life. . .Excuse
me. I have to think about this." She started to back
away.
"Wait!" Mako took a step forward. "Do you
want me to walk you home?"
"Iie! I'll be fine!"
Minako finally turned around and ran home at full speed.
The
front door burst open. Minako flew down the hallway.
"Minako!
Your shoes!" yelled her mother. Minako slammed the door in
response.
Minako fell on her bed and started to cry in to a
pillow. I don't understand how Usagi-chan and Jim-chan could
do this to me! And why didn't Candra-chan stop
them?
"Minako-chan! Minako-chan! Hurry!" Luna's
voice was coming out of Minako's wrist communicator. Minako
opened it. "Hai?"
"Your eyes look blood shot;
are you alright?"
Minako wiped her nose with a tissue.
"I'm-fine-what-do-you-want?"
"Trouble at the
Tokyo Tower! Mars is there alone!"
"Gotcha!"
Minako grabbed her stick. "Venus Crystal Power! Make
Up!"
"Mars Flame Sniper!" Mars fired two
arrows at the Libertine. Libertine managed to dodge one, but the
other hit the mark. "I see you have become stronger,"
Libertine commented. "You had to; where are your
friends?"
"They will be here any minute now and then
we're gonna kick you ass, just like we did the last time!"
Her
opponent smirked. "Maybe you haven't noticed, but we have
be fighting for fifteen minutes now and they are nowhere in
sight."
"Tokyo's a big place; they'll be here!"
They don't normally take this long though. . .
"Corruption
Beam!"
"Fire Soul Bird!"
Libertine smirked.
Mars's attack wasn't as powerful as it could have been. That
meant she was getting to Mars. "Admit it, Mars! They don't
care about you anymore!"
"Shut up! Mars Flame
Sniper!" Mars prepared to fire again.
"You know I
ain't lying, Mars!" taunted Libertine.
"I said,
'Shut up!'" Mars let go of the arrow.
Her target,
though, disappeared. However, Mars did hear Libertine's voice
say one last thing: "The fight is over and now the Calvary
arrives." Mars turned around to see Moon and ChibiMoon
running up to help. "What happened? What took you girls so
long?"
"Gomen, Rei-chan," said Moon. "Demo,
it took us forever to get here. . ."
Mars suddenly
dehenshioned and glared at Sailor Moon. "Yeah. Whatever."
Rei walked off in a huff.
Moon was baffled. "Rei-chan?
Rei-chan! What happened?"
"Wouldn't you like to
know?" Moon and ChibiMoon turned to see Venus with her arms
crossed and leaning on her right foot. When Moon didn't respond
quickly, Venus sighed, rolled her eyes, and walked away. Moon
tried to talk to her, but Venus kept walking off. "I don't
get it; ChibiUsa, what just happened?"
ChibiMoon just
shrugged. "Beats
me."
Ami
stepped out of her apartment building and spotted Usagi and
ChibiUsa. Before she could ask, Usagi asked, "Did I do
something? Rei-chan and Minako-chan are mad at me and they won't
tell me why."
"I haven't talked to them in a couple
of days," Ami replied as she adjusted her glasses. "So,
what did they say?"
"Well, Luna found ChibiUsa and me
and told us that Mars was fighting another youma. So we went to go
help. But it took us forever to get there; by the time we got
there, the youma was gone. Then she looked at me and got mad that
we were late and walked off."
"Then Minako-chan
showed up after Rei-chan walked off, and she was mad, too,"
added ChibiUsa. "They never said why, though."
Ami
pushed a few strands of hair behind her ear. "Minako-chan
tends to overreact. That's not like Rei-chan, though. Maybe I
could call them up and try to find out."
"Just don't
tell them I said anything. They may not tell you anything then,"
begged Usagi.
"Sure. Anything for you, Usagi-chan,"
assured Ami.
"Thank you!" Usagi rapped Ami in a great
big bear hug. "Let me take you out for ice
cream!"
"Okay."
ChibiUsa tugged at Usagi's
jeans. "What about me?"
"You get your own.
OWWWWWIE!!!" Usagi screamed. ChibiUsa laughed evilly as she
removed her foot from Usagi's butt. She ran down the street,
screaming, "Usagi-bakabutt!"
"You little. . .!"
Usagi took off after her. Ami shook her head, signed, and chased
after
them.
"Usagi!
The phone! It's Ami!"
"Okay, Mama!" Usagi
picked up the phone in her room, then walked back to the door. "I
got it!" She closed the door behind her. "So, what did
they say?"
"Well, I couldn't get anything out of
Rei-chan without being blunt. All she said was something that
sounded like 'Lazy-baka', and then hung up. Then Minako-chan
barely let me say 'Hello', before she hung up."
"Well,
geez. That does not help me out at all." Usagi sighed. "Well,
thanks, Ami-chan. Think I should just leave them alone for
awhile?"
"Yea, I would. . .Listen, I hate to cut you
off, but, I, uh, my mom forgot her lunch, so I'm going to take
it to her. Then I have to, uh, do some shopping. Mako-chan and I
are going out later. Do you want to join us?"
"Sure!
No. . ."
"Usagi-chan!" Voices came from Usagi's
watch.
"Hang on." Usagi picked up the watch.
"Hotaru-chan?"
"Usagi-chan! Hurry to Toyko
Tower! It's Libertine!"
Usagi and Ami turned the
corner in time to see Saturn and Pluto hit the ground. Libertine
laughed at the sight of the two tried to get in a few moments of
rest before attacking again. "Where is your Sailor Moon
now?"
Usagi and Ami looked at each other. "Do you
think. . .?" started Usagi.
"We don't have time!"
Ami pulled Usagi behind the fence. "Mercury Crystal Power!
Make Up!"
"Moon Eternal! Make Up!"
Libertine
put her hands up as far as they would go. Then she created a
circle with her hands meeting at the bottom, palms facing up,
formeding a black circle. She then brought her hands level to her
chest, which filled the circle with the same black. . .stuff.
Shoving the circle forward, she yelled, "Ring of
Immorality!"
Saturn managed to get up and yell "Silent
Wall!" in time to block the attack. The attack was powerful
enough to send her back a few meters and left groves in the
concrete as evidence.
Taking advantage of the distraction,
Mercury attacked. "Mercury Agua Rhapsody!" Libertine saw
the attack and the Senshi out of the corner of her eye and quickly
disappeared. "I'll be back!" she yelled.
"Saturn!
Pluto!" Moon and Mercury ran over to check on them. "Are
you two okay?"
"Yes! But we need to check on Makoto,"
replied Pluto.
Sailor Venus, Mars, ChibiMoon, and Tuxedo Mask
ran up just as Sailor Moon asked, "Why do we need to check on
Mako-chan?"
Pluto and Saturn dehenshioned. "We
thought we saw her and walked up to say 'Hello'. Suddenly, she
turned around and a burst of energy hit us."
"It was
Libertine in disguise!" added Hotaru.
"NANI?"
everyone
cried.
Mako's
eyes fluttered open. Kami-sama, what happened? She grabbed
her head. What is up with this migraine? And where did the sun
come from? It's the middle of the night! She looked around the
room and her jaw hit the floor. The place was in shambles; blinds
torn, rugs shredded, chairs destroyed, and paper everywhere. "What
happened?" she asked out loud.
She noticed her relfection
the shattered mirror on the floor. "I'm transformed? What.
. .?"
Someone started banging on the apartment door.
"Mako-chan!" yelled Usagi from the other side.
Jupiter
stood to answer, but became light-headed and ended back on the
floor. "Do you still have my key, Usagi-chan?"
"Yeah."
"Okay.
You're gonna have to use it."
Usagi opened the door and
walked in with the girls, Haruka and Michiru included. Seeing
their friend henshioned and her living room in a mess, they
quickly huddled in and closed the door. "Mako-chan!"
exclaimed a very surprised Minako.
"What happened here?"
asked Michiru.
"I have no idea," said Jupiter,
rubbing her head. "I just woke up."
"Do you
think you can stand?" asked Usagi.
"I know I can't
stand, but I think I can sit. Could some help me?" Haruka and
Rei helped Jupiter into a sitting position. "The only thing I
really remember is watching TV and noticing something out the
window."
"Here. I'll turn your TV off." Hotaru
reached for the remote, but ChibiUsa beat her to it. "Ha ha,"
ChibiUsa scoffed.
Hotaru pouted. "Aww, man."
ChibiUsa
stuck her tongue out as she pushed the off button. Instead of
being turned off, though, Libertine's face appeared. "Oh,
geez," ChibiUsa mumbled.
Everyone turned to look at the
screen. "Not again," commented Rei.
Libertine
scoffed. "While you are worried about Princess Jupiter, what
about Princess Moon?" Laughing, Libertine's imagine
disappeared.
Everyone looked at each other. "Candra!"
Minako
ran to the phone and quickly dialed Candra's number. "Candra-chan?
Jim-chan! Where's Candra-chan?. . .You don't know? . . .Call
her cell. We'll look for her. . .We know they're after her
again. Call me when you get a hold of her. Tell her to go to the
temple. Bye!"
"He doesn't know where she is?"
asked Jupiter.
"He said she went for a walk. He doesn't
know where to." Minako pulled out her pen. "Let's do
it."
"Mercury Crystal Power Make Up!"
"Venus
Crystal Power Make Up!"
"Earth Star Power Make
Up!"
"Mars Crystal Power Make Up!"
"Saturn
Crystal Power Make Up!"
"Uranus Crystal Power Make
Up!"
"Neptune Crystal Power Make Up!"
"Pluto
Crystal Power Make Up!"
"Moon Eternal! Make
Up!"
"Moon Crisis! Make Up!"
"Thank
you for your help, young lady." The old woman reached into
her wallet. "Let me see what I can get you, Dearie."
"Oh,
no." Candra shook her head. "You don't need to give me
anything."
"Oh, but no good dead should go
unrewarded," the woman commented.
"Then, please, give
it to charity. Trust me; I have all I need." Candra bowed and
walked off.
"Serenity! Serenity!" A group of little
girls ran up to Candra. "Would you please sign this?"
"Sure
thing." As she started signing, her cell phone rang. She
signed the book, handed it back, and answered the phone. "Moshi
Moshi," she said as she started to sign another book. "Jim!
Hey there!. . .What? Wait, slow down." Candra handed the book
back to the girl and told the others, "Hang on. Minako-chan
said what?. . .Alright. I'm going right now!" She started
to run off. "No! Stay there!" She turned around and told
her fans, "Gomen ne!"
The girls started crying. "Lord
Kami-sama! I feel so bad. . .No, not you. Jim!"
The girls'
cries turned to screams. Candra turned around to see Libertine and
another youma. The girls were tied together and Libertine had hold
of the rope. "So, Princess, let's make a deal: You for
these little girls."
"I want to go home!"
"I
want my mommy!"
Candra stared in horror as she started to
slowly drain the girls of their energy. "Princess!"
Libertine cried out. "What will it be?"
Chapter Fifteen: Libertine's Final Stand! Candra's Many Men.
