Chapter 9: Palace of Insanity
Parallax sat up in bed, gasping for breath. What was that vision she had just seen? Beams of pink, blue and yellow striking the castle, targeting the innocent and powerless Sailor Starlights! She sighed. She hated to admit it, but she missed Mozzarella bounding into her room and waking her up. Telling her it was time to go to school. She slipped out of her covers, deciding that she should go to school anyway. At least Chibi-Usa would be there with her, even if she was in a different grade.
"It seems you are feeling the loss of your friend," Zelda commented from her curled-up spot on the floor, "As well as another problem. Had a bad premonition again?" Parallax dropped her shirt in shock. That's right! She had to warn the Starlights in case they were going to be the Love Angels' next targets! She was sure the Love Angels would strike while she, Maria, and Ahmed were at school, that way none of them could interfere. She quickly pulled her clothes on and rushed out of the room. On the way, whether it was good or bad luck, she slammed into Taiki, who was on her way to the dining area.
"OW! Oh, I found you! The Love Angels are going to attack you and the other two Starlights!" Parallax blurted out, "I saw it in one of my psychic dreams. The problem is, I think they're going to attack while you're here and we're at school."
"Then possibly we should leave the palace and accompany you?" Taiki suggested. Parallax shook her head.
"No, what about the King and Queen? They would be in danger then. You don't have your Sailor powers anymore, but you do have the ability to change genders, right? That could be useful for something."
Later, after Parallax, Maria, and Ahmed left for school, the Starlights held a private meeting to discuss what Taiki had been told that morning.
"You know, the Love Angels seemed disgusted by our gender-changing abilities. Maybe we could use it to our advantage, like Parallax said?" suggested Seiya. Yaten was worried, though.
"What if they just attacked us then? We don't have our magic powers anymore," she pointed out.
"This is a problem. Perhaps we could use the guards' weapons, but even those might not stand up to magic," Taiki added. Seiya then gasped.
"What's that sound!" Yaten shuddered. That sound was horribly familiar. It sounded like a horde of squealing high school girls! Indeed, it was, as Jessica's class and Kurumi's class both had field trips to the palace that day. Mixed in with the regular students were Momoko, Yuri, and Hinagiku. Since they looked like they were just part of the crowd, they had been able to pass by the guards.
"What luck! Now all we have to do is sneak off and find those hot Sailor Starlights and get them to stay in male form," giggled Momoko.
"Hey, doesn't that girl look like Sailor Caramel? Scarlett did say she was a super-tall girl with black hair and a gigantic forehead," snickered Hinagiku, pointing to Kurumi.
"Maybe we should get her and she can help us find the Starlights. Then we won't have to...OOF! How barbaric!" Yuri huffed as a girl with curly blond hair clumsily crashed into her from behind.
"Ha ha! Ruri, you're always such a stupid nerdy clutz!" jeered an elegant-looking brunette. The blond glared at her.
"Shut up, Kimiko, or I'll tell the teacher!" she shouted back.
"Stop arguing and be more disciplined, soldiers!" ordered a girl with her black hair in a braid who was wearing a martial arts outfit.
"This is crazy! How are we ever going to find the Starlights!" wailed Momoko, "And Sailor Caramel probably won't help us, either."
"We'll never see them if we don't do something! Someone climb on my back and then you might be able to see them!" yelled Hinagiku. Momoko happily obliged, only to send Hinagiku crashing and tripping across the floor.
"Oh, Momoko, you're such a...huh? Who is that tiny girl?" Yuri wondered out loud, as she noticed Jessica struggling to her feet after having Momoko and Hinagiku land on top of her.
"That's the girl Sailor Ivy tried to capture! Hey! Do you know where the Sailor Starlights are? We think they're really cute guys and want to date them!" Hinagiku called.
"Yes. And they are girls, mon," Jessica coolly replied.
"Oh, that doesn't matter, as long as they stay in male form around us," shrugged Yuri, "Because it would be inappropriate for us to date them as females." Meanwhile, the Starlights, in their male guises, were watching the crowd from a secluded hallway.
"What are we supposed to do about that crowd? How are we supposed to find the Love Angels in there?" whined Yaten.
"Isn't that one of them?" Taiki pointed out, as he saw Hinagiku climbing on top of people, trying to get to Kurumi.
"If it's just her, then we should have no problem. Not to mention at least one of the Sailor Senshi is here in case we run into trouble," Seiya said. Suddenly a boy with girlish brown braids jumped up and flung a frozen pizza out of the crowd. It sailed through the air until it smacked into Taiki's forehead.
"Hey, look, I think that pizza just hit someone over there. Come on," hissed Hinagiku, who jumped off of the martial-arts girl's head and began shoving past people to where she thought the pizza had landed.
"Now come on, class, Keiichirou has presented us with a wonderful opportunity. How would all of you like to meet the legendary Sailor Starlights in person?" announced the teacher of Kurumi's class, which caused cheers to rise up amongst the students. Even the ones in Jessica's class cheered, because their teacher decided to follow as well.
"Yikes! I thought we were only going to confront the Love Angels, not overcurious students!" exclaimed Seiya.
"Yes, and why did one of them throw a pizza at me?" said Taiki, rubbing the bump where it had hit him.
"Just use it for an ice pack and let's hide!" shouted Seiya, who was beginning to panic as the students began to approach the hallway en masse.
"No. Let's not hide. We can tell the students about the Love Angels who were hiding amongst them illegally," Taiki countered calmly, "And then we can politely tell them we are not interested in an interview."
"YEEEEK! I want your autographs! Can you show us how you transform!" squealed a girl with shoulder-length peach hair.
"Shizuki! They can't transform any more! Sailor Nemesis stole their powers!" yelled Kurumi.
"Sailor Nemesis did? Who's that? It sounds like those Sailor Senshi really ARE bad; with such infighting that they would deprive their own kind from having the same magic as the others," Yuri gasped upon hearing the retort.
"We've got a great opportunity, then! Hey, everyone!" Hinagiku called as she climbed up on top of a statue of the Queen, "Listen to me! The Sailor Senshi are evil! They rejected the Book of Love and are hideous infidels! They allow unspeakable acts between people of the same gender! Who's going to rally with me in the name of morals and purity!"
"EEEE! It's Angel Daisy! Straight from the Wedding Peach manga! See, I TOLD you it was a good idea for me to bring it!" Kurumi squealed in mock excitement. A bunch of the students began to crowd Hinagiku, begging her for autographs and to show them her two transformations.
"Stop that! We're on an important mission to defeat the Sailor Senshi! I don't have time! Let me go freeze that evil tall girl!" Hinagiku pleaded. Momoko and Yuri were in no more safety, as the crowds had noticed them too.
"Why did we have to come here on this day when all these barbaric children are pawing over us!" moaned Yuri.
"Um, Yuri, some of them are older than us," Momoko pointed out meekly as she tried to find an escape route. Meanwhile, the Starlights were able to sneak off before they were crowded as well.
"Tell me to thank Kurumi next time I see her. If it wasn't for her, we would be trampled like the Love Angels," Seiya commented.
"Me too," Yaten agreed, "I don't want to go through the 'squealing fan girls' thing again."
"It was also lucky, in a way, that those classes decided to have their field trips today, since otherwise we'd be alone and at the mercy of the Love Angels," added Taiki.