"I don't think I'm a fan of solar eclipses," muttered Jack, looking up at the vast darkness overhead.
"Maybe I can help," Sailor Moon suggested. "Love-Love Moon Illumination!"
The moon above flickered into luminescence like a gigantic lightbulb, casting a pale yellow glow that proved an adequate substitute for daylight. It also revealed just how close the satellite had gotten, hundreds of smaller craters visible alongside the gargantuan ones.
Luffy was evidently relieved. "Wow, thanks, Usagi!"
"I'm not Usagi! I'm Sailor Moon!"
The wonder on the faces of her teammates soured.
"How long are you going to keep that up?"
Usagi did not answer, because she immediately became preoccupied with something else. She shivered, turning to the north.
"What about that? Did you feel that?!"
Jack shook his head. "No, Usagi. We're not feeling any of these things."
"It's another power… but different from the one before… not from the inside, but from the outside."
"So are we to the end of the end, yet?" asked Luffy. "Or are we stuck in the middle of the end?"
"The middle," Sailor Moon replied. "Definitely the middle."
Vash held the door open, and the two younger warriors scrambled in, with Rex throwing himself into a chair and Honey pouting on the bed. The gunslinger pushed the door shut and moved to the window of the suite. Nearly everyone had abandoned the town when the fighting had begun this morning; Vash had gotten the room at a steal. They had made it inside the hotel just after the darkness had fallen, which was too close of a call in his opinion. There were strange noises out there, deep rumblings and explosions. The hotel wasn't exactly a fortress, but if whatever was making those sounds was wandering about, they'd have to ask the front desk to find where they were. And the front desk was unstaffed.
A foolproof plan, Vash, he thought to himself.
"AA-CHOO!" sneezed Honey, wiping her nose.
Vash pulled a handkerchief out of his coat and passed it to her. "Gesundheit," he chirped.
"AAA-CHOOO!" she sneezed again.
"Gesundheit again! Are you allergic to anything?"
"No, not really," sniffled Honey.
"Whoa, chica! Those are some powerful sneezes," Rex exclaimed.
"Are you making fun of me?" growled the android.
"No, your sneezes literally just turned on the moon!"
Vash and Honey turned back to the window, which now streamed light in on them. The moon was indeed alight, a gigantic lamp bathing the land in a gentle glow.
"I did not know I could do that," muttered the girl, crossing her eyes to look at her nose.