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Yuuko took a quick glance at the rainbow-coloured flag while taking a sip of her drink. She never thought she'd come to that kind of place. When Yui gave her the address she didn't suspect anything at first until she saw in which district this establishment was.

" Bidou-san… is she making fun of me or is she being considerate? "

She pondered on that as she took another sip. Knowing what kind of person Yui was, the answer was probably a mix of both. Given what she was sent to accomplish, this place might make it easier for her.

"I have successfully implanted the Daimon Shell in you. But in order to use its full potential, you will need to fill it with human energy," Yui had told her.

And that was why she was here. Yuuko blushed at that thought. She wished she could have simply used Yui's machine to steal energy like she did with Ami, but this wasn't something she could carry around. So she'll need to gather human energy, the old-fashioned way…

"First time here?"

Yuuko nearly jolted. That voice, she was pretty sure she heard it before. She quickly turned back to confirm her suspicion.

"You…?"

A girl close to her age was smiling at her. She had a dark complexion and short pink hair.

"Hm? Do we know each other?" the girl asked.

Of course they did. This girl was Elza Grey, one of Eudial's many targets in the past when she was looking for the talismans hidden in pure hearts. But it seemed like Elza wasn't remembering her, or simply didn't recognize her without her witch outfit.

"Huh, n-no… we don't know each other," Yuuko pretended, feeling a little bit embarrassed.

What were the chances that she'd encounter one of her victims here? Yuuko still felt lucky that she didn't recognize her.

"That's funny, you do seem familiar to me. Maybe we went to school together or something?"

"I… maybe? Did you go to Mugen Academy?" Yuuko replied, evasive.

"No I didn't, but an old friend of mine did. Maybe that's where I saw you? Either way, this is definitely the first time I've seen you here."

Elza sat down next to her, putting her wine glass on the counter. "So you're a beer person, huh," she commented, glancing at Yuuko's glass.

"Oh, uh… yeah, I guess?"

Given she was still technically underage and had never really drunk before, she had opted for the only type of alcohol she was familiar with. It didn't really taste great if she was being honest but it felt weird to stay in a bar without at least ordering a drink.

"Do you mind some company?" Elza offered.

Yuuko refrained from pointing out that she'd already invited herself. Should she target this woman? It somehow felt a little wrong to attack the same person twice- although this time she wasn't after her pure heart, but rather some of her energy. This wasn't as bad… right? At least she wouldn't die. And Elza was the first person who approached her after over an hour here, so she had to take her chances.

Yuuko's demeanour changed, acting more confident and even offering a charming smile. "I'd love to have your company."

"Teruno-san!? Teruno-san!"

Lulu had barely one foot outside the store when she was ambushed by Makoto calling out her name.

"Teruno-san! Thank goodness you're alright," Makoto said with relief.

Lulu closed the door behind her, pulling out her keys. "Huh… yeah? Why wouldn't I be?"

"I tried to call you and you didn't answer. I even left you a message text!"

Lulu locked the door before pulling out her phone. "Well yeah, I was working. I turned off my phone… Oh, 11 missed calls…!? What the heck Kino-san!? What's the hurry- "

"You're in danger!" Mako interrupted her.

Lulu went silent for a second, staring at her. "... in danger? Of what?"

"It's-"

"Mako-chan, wait for us!" Usagi let out.

Like on cue the rest of the inner senshi arrived after Makoto, exhausted. Lulu sighed.

"Of course you'd bring your whole gang with you," Lulu remarked.

"Who are you calling a gang!?" Minako protested.

"Oh, I'm sorry, would you prefer 'group of violent vigilantes wannabe dressed like cosplayers'?"

Minako stared at her. "Okay, gang is fine."

Lulu rolled her eyes then looked at Makoto. "I thought I made myself clear. I don't want anything to do with them . Or anything involving them."

"Hey, no need to be so hostile, we're here to help-" Rei tried to chime in.

"Thanks, but no thanks," Lulu interrupted her. "Whenever I get involved with you people I always end up hurt- usually by you. So I'll pass on your help."

"You're in danger! Actual danger!" Ami let out.

Lulu suddenly glanced at Ami. "Huh. I see you've rescued your friend after all. I'm glad, I truly am. Now, I don't know what this 'danger' is, but I can take care of myself…"

"Someone is after you!" Makoto exclaimed.

Lulu looked surprised for a second but didn't seem particularly phased. "Really? Who? Is it Bidou-san? Or perhaps Arimura-"

"It's Mimete," Makoto suddenly said. "Mimete is after you."

Lulu stared at her with a blank expression for a moment before replying. "Mimi, really? This is what warranted 11 calls? I'd hardly call Mimi a threat, more a nuisance…"

"No no, not 'Mimi', Mim ete !" Minako corrected.

"Same difference."

"She's a witch again-" Makoto tried to say.

"Switch that w for a b and now we're talking," Lulu interrupted.

"Now is not the time for jokes!" Mako reprimanded.

Minako looked thoughtful all of a sudden. "Switch the w for a b… witch, bi- ohhh…! I get it!"

No one paid attention to Minako's "discovery".

"She's back to being a daimon, she has powers, she's a threat," Makoto argued.

"Mimete was by far the weakest among the Witches 5, without her daimons she's pretty harmless," Lulu replied. "Anyway, I fail to see why she'd be after me specifically…"

"... Did you forget…?" Rei asked, dumbfounded.

"Hm? Forget what?"

"Well, you… you know… kind of pulled the plug on her and got her trapped in that device?" Ami said.

Lulu looked confused for a moment. "Huh? I didn't- Oh! You mean that . But… that was Tellu, not me…!"

"Do you really think Mimete cares? She won't make that distinction," Makoto said.

"But… why!? Why are you so sure she's coming after me!?"

"Because we saw her and she said she would," Minako answered.

Lulu sighed, running a hand through her fringe. "Well, that's just my luck. I guess it was silly of me to think I could just move on from all this mess…"

"Now you understand why you need our help," Rei commented.

Lulu let out a bitter laugh. "It doesn't matter if it's Mimi or Mimete, I'm not scared of her."

"That's reckless! What if she attacks you!?" Makoto protested.

"I can take care of myself, thank you very much," Lulu replied. "I can talk to her."

"Something tells me she is not interested in talking," Rei said.

"We tried that before and it didn't work," Minako added.

"No offence, but I know Mimi better than you do. If there's someone who can get through her, it's me."

Minako seemed somewhat annoyed at that comment. "This isn't Mimi anymore."

"We'll see about that. She isn't much different from Mimete. I would know since we used to be classmates- friends even."

This seemed to intrigue Minako. "You were friends… with Hanyuu-san?"

"We could say that," Lulu replied. "We were in the same class when we used to attend Mugen Academy. Bidou-san was a year older than us while Arimura-senpai was 2 grades above us."

"What kind of person… was Hanyuu-san?" Minako asked.

Lulu looked pensive for a moment. "Hmmm… not that different from Mimete, I guess? Without the murderous side of course. She's a very self-centered and egotistical person, but overall harmless. Maybe a little narcissistic- she has that in common with Bidou-san. But don't tell either of them that, they'd probably get mad if you say they have anything in common."

"Those two didn't get along?" Ami asked.

"Hardly. They barely tolerated each other. Bidou-san actually used to tutor Mimi, at the request of senpai."

"Wait… Hanyuu-san and Arimura-san… were friends?" Minako asked, surprised.

"You could say that. I don't know their whole history, but apparently they used to go to the same middle school. They weren't friends back then as far as I'm aware, but after enrolling in Mugen Academy, Arimura-senpai was one of the few people Mimi knew, so she kind of just stuck with her. Not that she was really nice to senpai."

"What do you mean by that?" Minako asked.

"Let's just say Mimi has the bad habit of pranking people and senpai was her favourite target. And this turned out for the worse when she became Mimete."

"Oh, right…" Usagi remembered what Mimete had told them about sabotaging Eudial's car.

"Anyway, thanks for letting me know about Mimete, but I think I'll be fine on my own…" Lulu suddenly said. "Now if you'll excuse me-"

"W-wait…!" Makoto tried to stop her.

"Not so fast."

Lulu suddenly stopped walking away and sighed. "Great, more of you people..."

Haruka was walking towards her, followed by Michiru. "We need to talk."

Lulu kept her back turned to them. "I'm not interested in talking to you."

"I wasn't asking," Haruka insisted, her voice sounding almost menacing.

"H-Haruka-san, what's wrong?" Usagi asked, sensing some urgency in her friend's demeanour.

"I just learned one of my old friends got hospitalized," Haruka replied. "You remember Elza Gray, right?"

That name did ring a bell. Usagi suddenly remembered her. She was one of the many victims of the Death Busters in their quest for pure heart crystals.

"Wait, what happened to Elza-san?" Minako asked.

"She fell into a coma after having her energy drained," Michiru explained. "And she's not the only one. Other women ended up the same."

"Multiple women had their energy drained!?" Rei exclaimed.

"Do you understand why I'm here?" Haruka continued. "It has to be one of them ."

As she said that Haruka glared at Lulu. "One of your old companions must be responsible."

Lulu scoffed. "Why are you telling me this? That's obviously not me. And I know nothing about this."

"We aren't accusing you, but we do suspect you might have an idea of who did this," Michiru added.

"I'm afraid I don't. Sorry about your friend though."

"Don't lie to us-" Haruka was about to snap.

"Wait!" Minako suddenly said. "Doesn't it give you a feeling of deja vu?"

The group seemed confused for a moment, trying to think about what Minako meant. Rei was the one who remembered first.

"That's right! This exact situation happened before!" Rei let out. "Back when Mimete was still a daimon- well, without her pure heart crystal. A lot of men ended up hospitalized because they fell into a coma after she drained their energy."

"That's right!" Makoto exclaimed. "So, it must be Mimete again…!"

"But why?" Ami said. "And weren't her victims all men?"

"Well, not all of them," Minako chimed in. "She also went after me."

They all looked at Minako, who felt the need to be precise. "I'm just saying, maybe she discovered something about herself thanks to me."

"I think you're overestimating yourself," Rei commented.

"Come on! I could have been her awakening-"

"... You said all the victims were women, right?" Lulu suddenly said.

Everyone went quiet for a moment. They were not expecting her to chime in.

"Y-Yeah, that seems so," Usagi replied hesitantly.

"And how is the energy drained?"

"Through the… mouth," Minako answered, flushed.

"... so through kissing?"

"... yep."

"Oh," Lulu took a short pause before continuing, "so it's probably senpai."

They were not expecting Lulu to say that with such confidence.

"Wait, why do you think it's Eudial- I mean, Arimura-san?" Makoto asked.

Lulu sighed. "Do I really need to explain? It's not that hard to figure it out yourself. I just know if it's anyone among the Witches 5, that'd be her. Just trust me on that."

"Do you mean… oh," Minako finally realized what she meant.

"But why would she do that? And how? She's no longer a daimon," Rei said.

"I suppose she found a way to turn back into a daimon," Haruka said with a dark glint in her eyes. "This means… she's no longer human. There's no reason to hold back anymore."

"Wait, you don't mean-" Usagi began to say.

"So you think it's okay to kill someone just because they are no longer human?" Lulu suddenly said, glaring at Haruka.

Haruka seemed somewhat bothered by that statement. "Not just because of that. She's hurting people too."

"So is Bidou-san, and yet you only seem to think it's okay to kill Arimura-san because she is no longer human."

"It's more complicated than that," Haruka argued.

"Would you kill me too if I was no longer human, right at this instant?" Lulu suddenly asked.

Haruka was taken aback for a moment. "I… If you were a threat, I would."

This response seemed to displease Lulu. There even seemed to be a glimmer of wariness in her green eyes. "And yet, I wasn't a threat and you still attacked me indiscriminately. As far as I'm concerned, you are the threat."

Haruka looked like she wanted to protest but no sound came out of her mouth.

"It's beside the point," Michiru suddenly intervened. "She's an active threat who caused harm to multiple innocent civilians. She has to be dealt with. Human or not."

Haruka nodded. Lulu grew more tense and Usagi was worried things might escalate for the worse.

"If she's back to being a daimon, I could purify her again," Usagi proposed.

"What good would it do? She was purified once and she hasn't changed," Haruka replied. "She already had her chance."

"She isn't leaving us any other choice," Michiru added.

"I won't let you…!" Lulu suddenly declared.

Haruka looked surprised for a moment before she glared at her with a challenge in her eyes. "Oh? And how do you intend to stop us?"

Judging by Lulu's determined expression, she was willing to accept the challenge. "I know how to contact senpai and get her to talk to me. But I won't do it unless you promise you won't try to kill her."

Haruka took a step towards Lulu as if she was about to grab her. "You know where she is!?"

"No, I don't. But I know how to contact her and get her to meet me," Lulu replied, impassive.

"Tell us how, now!" Haruka ordered.

"It won't work unless I'm the one who contacts her."

"And why is that?" Michiru asked.

"She thinks I have something she's looking for, something only I could have."

"And I suppose you aren't going to tell us what it is," Michiru added.

Lulu shrugged. "That's my only insurance. There's only one way I will agree to lure Arimura-san. I need a guarantee that you won't attack her until you at least let me talk to her."

"And if she doesn't listen to you?" Haruka insisted.

Lulu sighed, glancing at Usagi. "Then I guess she can try to purify her. At least she won't be a direct threat anymore."

"So there's no guarantee you can get through to her," Haruka replied. "And you expect us to go along with it?"

"What other choice do you have? You need me."

"We don't need you," Haruka said back.

"Oh, really?" Lulu nearly sneered at her. "Well then, go ahead, find her on your own."

Haruka looked like she was about to snap back until Michiru put a hand on her wrist.

"Maybe we will. We have our own ways to find people," Michiru said. "Let's go, Haruka. We're wasting our time here."

As she said that, Michiru started to walk away. Haruka nodded as her girlfriend dragged her along with her. Once they were gone, Lulu looked at the inner senshi.

"My offer still stands," Lulu continued. "I can contact senpai and meet with her. But you have to promise me you won't attack her before I get a chance to speak with her."

The group exchanged a glance and then nodded in agreement. Usagi was the one who spoke for them.

"Deal."

Lulu really wished it hadn't come to this. She was taking a huge risk just by being there. She wasn't doing it for the sake of those Sailor Senshi, or herself- or anyone else really. She was only doing this for Yuuko's sake.

She couldn't bear to see her senpai continuing to be on a path of darkness. She knew she wasn't being herself. Something or someone was influencing her towards evil and she was determined to bring Yuuko back onto the right path.

Lulu wished to move on from all this, this Death Busters incident, and go back to her normal life. And that applied to her fellow witches. She could only fully move on if all of them did. Not that she thought it'd be an easy task; not only because her old companions were stubborn, but because she herself could never return to who she used to be.

In more than one way.

"I'm here, Teruno-san."

Lulu nearly jumped. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't hear her coming. The small forest near the local park, the place where they had arranged their meeting, was usually so quiet.

Lulu turned back, her voice sounding softer than usual. "Arimura-senpai…"

She was relieved to see that it was Yuuko, not Eudial. She still seemed to be human- or at least, she wasn't in her witch form.

"You came," Lulu said.

"I received your message. You have something I want- something I need ."

Lulu grew tense. She had no intention to give that to Yuuko- or anyone.

"I'm here to talk," Lulu replied.

"And I'm here for your amulet," Yuuko said. "Give it to me. Now."

"... Why? Why do you want my amulet so badly? Don't you have yours already?"

"I need all the amulets."

Lulu had a bad feeling about that. "All of the amulets? Just yours isn't enough for you? How greedy…"

"I don't have time for your snarky remarks. You said you'd bring your amulet if I agreed to meet. And I want it."

"But… why? Why do you need all of our amulets?"

"You don't need to know- no, you'd be better off not knowing."

"Then I can't give it to you! I can't agree to something I don't even know!"

Yuuko sighed. "If you must insist, I need them… in order to rebuild the Taioron Crystal."

The answer came as a shock for Lulu. "What…? The Taioron Crystal? But… why!?"

"Our amulets are merely shards of the Taioron Crystal, reuniting them would bring our sacred stone back-"

"That's not what I meant by 'why'! Why would you want that!?"

Yuuko scoffed. "Isn't it obvious? For power! And to get revenge on those pesky Sailor Senshi and everyone else who has wronged me!"

Lulu didn't like that answer one bit. "You know that's not right. This isn't like you…!"

"I didn't come here to be lectured. You said you'd agree to give me your amulet if I meet you!"

"I said I'd consider it. I was willing to hear you out, but after telling me what you intend to do with it, I cannot give it to you. I will not enable you to cause harm to others."

Yuuko shrugged. "This is why I said you'd be better off not knowing."

"Is the fact you've been draining people of their energy also something I was better off not knowing?"

Yuuko's eyes widened, and it took her a few seconds to find her words. "How… do you know that?"

"It… it doesn't matter. You just confirmed it. This isn't you! You have to stop this madness before it's too late-"

"You brought them with you, didn't you? That's why you know."

"I… they aren't here. Yet ."

Yuuko glared at her. "You said you'd come alone. Was it all just a trap? Did you deceive me!?"

"N-no…! I did come alone! I came early so we could talk alone…"

"But you did tell them about our meeting, right?"

Lulu didn't answer but her silence was all Yuuko needed.

"You betrayed me, as I always thought you would…!" Yuuko snapped.

"It's not what you think! I did this because I'm worried about you! I don't think what you're doing is right! And I don't want you to do something you might regret-"

"Enough! I'm tired of hearing more of your excuses and lies! I knew I shouldn't have trusted you…!"

"The one you shouldn't be trusting is Bidou-san! Don't you see she has a bad influence on you? She's manipulating you and using you! If someone is actually going to betray you, it's her, not me!"

Yuuko let out a bitter chuckle. "You really think that I trust Bidou-san? That she's 'manipulating' me? You're wrong. It's the other way around. I'm the one who is using her. Everything I'm doing is from my own free will for my own sake. I am no one's puppet!"

Lulu remained baffled by this declaration. "N-no, I don't believe you! You're lying! The senpai I knew was kind and generous! I can't believe you'd do such a thing. Please come back to your senses, Arimura-senpai…!"

"It's Eudial ."

"...huh?"

"My name is Eudial. Arimura Yuuko is no more. This is who I am now- who I need to be!"

"It can't be… senpai-"

"Enough with the pointless chit-chat. I came here for one reason only. Your amulet. Give it to me!"

Lulu knew at that moment that she could no longer talk her way through it. She forced herself to sneer. "What a shame. I intended to give my amulet to Arimura-san and only her. Too bad for you, Eudial ."

Eudial glared at her. "I wasn't asking."

Lulu clenched her fist, preparing herself for the worst. "I'm not scared of you. I'm ready to knock some sense into you-"

She was expecting Eudial to rush towards her and attack her, but she did none of that.

Instead, she pulled a gun on her.

Lulu froze, not able to process what was happening. It wasn't even a Fire Buster, it was a pistol , a gun! She expected anything but that.

"W-wait, senpai…!?" she had lost all semblance of her previous bravado.

"I won't repeat myself," Eudial threatened. "Give me your amulet, or else…"

"You… you wouldn't…! I don't believe this! You wouldn't dare to-"

BANG!

A sudden gunshot interrupted Lulu.