Hot Bath Crisis Make-Up! The Stressed Out Pretty Girl    

"Goodnight, Ojiichan!" Kirin waved a hearty goodbye to her boss (and grandpa) as she exited out the Ageman, adjusting her purse strap on her shoulder. Humming softly to herself, she hurried down the street, the heels of her dress shoes clicking jovially on the pavement. Tonight had been a good night - twelve thousand yen in tips! And on a Thursday to boot!

About halfway home, she gave a start as all of a sudden a loud, metallic crash interrupted the silence, followed by a shout of, "Get out of the garbage you mangy cat!" Glancing up, Kirin saw an angry man with a small rock clenched in his fist standing in the lighted doorway of his home. A moment later, a streak of black darted between her legs heading in the opposite direction. "And stay out!" the man yelled, "Stupid cat."

"He was probably just hungry!" Kirin shot back, angry the man might have hurt the cat. The cat didn't mean any harm - and it didn't know any better either.

"Then you feed it! If I see it again, he might not be as lucky next time!" The man slammed his door shut before Kirin could get another word in.

"Fine then, I will! Stupid man," she muttered before heading off in the direction of the black streak. She didn't have to look long as the cat popped out of the bushes across the street and greeted her with a hearty, "Meow!" before trotting over to her and snuggling against her legs. Delighted, Kirin knelt down a scratched him between the ears, which earned her a happy purr of contentment. "You're coming with me. I'll make you a big ol' feast. Sound good?"

The cat meowed again in reply, then looked up at her expectantly, golden eyes flashing, almost as if it was waiting on her to lead the way. "Come on then, kitty. Follow me." And amazingly, he did.

~ * ~

Kirin rummaged through the fridge, trying to find something to feed the cat when she came across a little tupperware container with a sticky note affixed to the lid reading: "Kirin -- Salmon = protein. Eat it. Love, Dad." Wrinkling her nose a little, Kirin turned to the kitty waving the tupperware in the air. "Ta-da! Salmon. You'll appreciate this much more than I will."

Bringing this dish into her room, she placed it onto the floor for her new guest, while she climbed onto her bed and pulled out her composition book. Selecting a pencil, she flipped to the first clean page and began piecing together a melody from the snippets and jots she had scribbled throughout the day on the opposite page. Humming softly to herself, she began building the melody, erasing and recomposing almost as much as she was creating, not caring about the little eraser bits flying all over her bed as she brushed them away. She barely noticed when the cat jumped onto her bed as she was so engrossed in the new song she was crafting.

"Kirin! I've called you three times already."

"Sorry, Dad, I just --" She glanced up at her doorway, but it was oddly void of her father. She rubbed her eyes and checked the old-fashioned brass alarm clock on her nightstand. One in the morning. "Now I'm hearing things. Maybe I should get some sleep," Kirin murmured to herself, "But I really want to finish the refrain..."

"No, you will listen to me, young lady! I might be a cat, but I will NOT be ignored."

"Ohmygosh! Talking. Cat." Kirin skittered backwards until her back bumped up against her headboard, her blue-violet eyes wide in shock. The cat in question padded over to her and sat on her feet as if that act alone would keep her from bolting anywhere else. "I thought this might happen," he said, tsking slightly. "I'm Ethos, by the way, so please don't forget it." Kirin nodded, still too amazed to say much. "Well, since you're already sitting down in a fashion, I'll break the news to you. Congratulations - you're Crisis senshi Sailor Muse."

"Okaaay..." Kirin calmed a little as she tried to digest everything that had happened in the last five minutes, at least enough so that Ethos rose off her feet and situated himself comfortably in her lap. "Oh, and this is yours, Sailor Muse," he added.

What appeared to be one of those cosplay henshin sticks shimmered into existence at eye level, hovering a few inches in front of her. Gold in color, the pen shaped device had a pale rose crystal orb on top with a funny looking symbol etched into it. Reaching out, she grasped the wand and immediately was overcome with a feeling of rightness, of certainty about the situation. The pen belonged to her, she could feel it, which both amazed and awed Kirin. To think, senshi really existed, she thought to herself, Or am I just dreaming? She gazed at the golden wand in her hand, holding it gingerly, yet reverently.

"Now, we'll need to train you as you're the leader and need to set the proper example, and gather the others together," Ethos began before Kirin interrupted.

"Training? Others? Leader? How the heck am I going to fit all this into my work schedule?!"

"Yes. Yes, and yes. And you'll find a way. You're the leader; be resourceful. - Anything else or can I continue?"

Kirin thought long and hard for a moment, then asked, "Does this have anything to do with the cosplayer that was found murdered?"

"Yes. That girl was no cosplayer -- that was the real Sailor Moon. We must get you and the other Crisis senshi together and trained because the evil that has manifested is not fooling around. You MUST be ready sooner than later."

Kirin took a moment to process this new information. She had read some of the Sailor Moon manga when she was younger -- who hadn't, really? -- and was truly amazed that the heroine she read about in those books was real. And now dead. That unsettled her as someone who was filled with so much hope and so much goodness was now gone. It seemed unfair. But now she herself had the power to stop it from happening again - so how could she turn a blind eye to what had happened and what she had just been given? She couldn't and she wouldn't. She'd just have to make it work with everything else in her life. Somehow.

Kirin managed a slight smile. "Umm - I'm going to go to bed if you don't mind. I need some time to think about all this - but don't worry," here she held up the henshin wand, more firmly this time, "I get the feeling this is the right thing to do, like I was born to do it, weird as that sounds. So, yeah, I just need to let it all sink in ? Please?"

Ethos nodded, knowing this wasn't going to be easy. His new charge was definitely an interesting one, but at least she accepted her duty willingly enough.

Kirin closed her composition book and placed it on her dresser next to her mother's diary. At least, she thought, I'm bound to get some new inspiration for my music out of all this...

~ * ~

Akemi knew she wasn't in Tokyo anymore. At least, not her Tokyo. Her Tokyo sparkled in the sun, a bright beacon of greatness. She always saw Tokyo as the seat of the world, a place of justice and greatness.

But not this place. This place was just dirty, and it smelled funny too, like every grimy Youma she'd ever encountered had come to this city to die. Not a great first impression. Hurray, she'd landed in a stinky, dirty Universe. And as she looked around, seeing none of the team, she realized slowly she was alone in this stinky, dirty Universe. Great. Just spectacularly great.

From the messenger bag at her hip, Akemi noticed a fuzzy white head pop out and take a gander at the grime around them. He didn't look particularly happy, but you never knew with her cat. He was a little weird sometimes.

"Akemi? Where are we? Did you not listen to what End-"

"I did exactly what he told me to do. He even gave me a diagram to make sure!" Akemi's voice was, as usual, more forceful than she wanted, and people at the other end of the alley were starring at her. She couldn't tell from this distance-- where had her glasses gone?-- but she wagered they were looking at her oddly.

As well they should. She was a sixteen-year-old girl appearing out of nowhere talking to a cat in a messenger bag. Thankfully no one had cameras to document Myojo! going crazy...

"Wait a minute," Akemi said slowly, a gleam of enthusiasm reaching her confused eyes. "Myojo! doesn't exist in this universe!"

"That would be so, Idol-girl," Artemis made it clear this wasn't a brilliant leap of logic.

She'd get him back later for that. Her hand smacking a lump on his head flashed across her mind, and she grinned. Couldn't help herself, the image was too funny!

The grin must have looked fiendish, because Artemis had no trouble guessing exactly what Akemi was thinking. "Akemi, this is no time for such thoughts. We have to find Serenity and the others and complete our mission."

"Fine," Akemi breezed, but she moved into the crowd anyway. She was enjoying the sensation of being anonymous now, but it would get old fast. Recognition was a good thing, after all, and being just a regular girl was not for Akemi, former Idol.

"You should be more worried. The other Senshi are out there, probably just as separated as you are. We must find them," Artemis pulled a paw from the messenger bag to lightly touch her arm. She assumed it to be an earnest gesture-- it didn't feel like a kitty punch.

"I am sure they are fine, Artemis. But if you are worried, why don't you try the communicator?"

"I did, that's what I popped out to tell you. It doesn't work."

"Oh. Well, okay, I can see where you are worried about now,? Akemi paused, rubbing the bridge of her nose. That certainly changed things, and she was beginning to feel the first signs of worry. This was not turning out to be the easy mission she'd thought it would be.

“But Artemis, the girls are great warriors and certainly know how to take care of themselves. Why, some of them are adults already! They get to live on their own and don't have to have their parents controlling their every move... not that mine do. You know I am the one who rules the roost, Artemis. But to have that kind of power..." Akemi trailed off, happily picturing life on her own. No rules! She could eat whatever she wanted! All the coffee and energy drinks she could want!

"Akemi, your stomach is rumbling," Artemis muttered. "It is so loud I think they can hear it all the way at the peak of Fuji-san."

"I'd better find some food, then!"

"Akemi! You must be finding the Senshi first!"

"But Artemis! It could take all day to hunt them down and I'm hungry now!"

The cat shook his head. She knew he'd want to hold it and wail, but he wouldn't bring that much attention to her.

She almost wished he would. Usually by now Akemi would have been recognized. But, she thought with a sigh, no one knew Myojo! here. Which was a shame, because she hadn't brought that much yen with her and people who liked Idols would usually give her things at a discount and wow, Artemis was right, she was starving! She was hungry enough to feed a kobe cow. "Mmm, Kobe-niku..." Akemi was practically drooling. Steak! Teppanyaki! Sashimi! All of it danced enticingly in her head.

Sometimes being a visual person was not fun, particularly when Akemi was this desperately hungry. Why hadn't she had anything to eat this morning?

"Sometimes I don't know what to do with you," Artemis wailed as Akemi lead the way, by her nose, to a food stand nearby.

"You know you adore me Artemis," Akemi said between sniffs. "And besides, the girls are probably fine. I mean, nothing has killed us in all the time we've been Senshi. I don't see how anything could go wrong. Except..." Akemi trailed off mournfully, studying the prices.

"Except what?" Artemis prodded, sounding concerned.

""Except for not having enough yen for that sukiyaki."

"Akemi."

"Artemis!"

"Akemi!!"

Akemi pouted but moved away. She'd just have to find less expensive food and hope it didn't taste as gross as this place smelled. Then she'd hunt down the rest of the team. They couldn't get into too much trouble without her...

~ * ~

Later, Akemi crawled into the dingy hotel room defeated, all she and Artemis could find for the tiny amount of yen the cat had grudgingly admitted he'd stashed away for the trip. It wouldn't last, but at least they had a roof over their head. She needed a few hours to re-group before she headed out again. Maybe a nap would revitalize her for the long hunt...

She eyed the bed warily. "Think of Japan and Serenity," She muttered, closing her eyes as she fell onto it. She must be tired if this cheap bed felt THAT good. "Do you mind turning the light off, Artemis?" Akemi muttered as her body began to tingle.She was in desperate need of a nap...

There was no answer. She cracked open an eye and saw at once a newcomer sitting in the window. A short, not-human newcomer. Akemi fumbled for her glasses. Was it one of those crows?!

"Konban wa, Luna." Akemi mumbled, taking into account the late hour. If his cheeks were visible underneath his fur, Akemi was sure the cat would be blushing. She pushed the glasses on and blinked, Luna had jumped down from her perch, but was saying nothing.

And then Akemi knew. Because every inch of the cat conveyed grief.

It had to be Moon. It had to be. Luna wouldn't be that emotionally hung over if it had been herself, or one of the other girls. Images, gruesome images, flashed through her head, all of them bad.

"Where's Moon?" Akemi bit out, her voice rasping even more than usual even as her eyes squeezed vise shut; she couldn't deal with what she saw in Luna's dull eyes.

Luna wasted no time explaining, skipping no detail even as Akemi's heart screamed for no more. It was too much for Akemi, couldn't turn her visual brain off the images Luna's words were feeding. Moon! It was too horrible to comprehend. She had died, ALONE.

That was what broke Akemi. She burst into furious tears, arms shaking with their need to smack something, anything, just to make the pain less intense. But it wouldn't be enough. It would never be enough without Moon.

"Moon-sama," she whispered between broken gasps for air, not caring that she was reaching hysteria. More visuals danced through her thick skull, each of the girls-- her girls now-- taking Moon's place, each of them more battered than the next. She couldn't push those images down, either, so she kept crying, hoping to thrust them out for the world, throw them anywhere but inside her brain.

The cats settled in against her skin, giving her comfort with their warm presences. It helped, but not enough. Because it wasn't going to be alright. She had... Akemi had failed. And she hadn't even known until hours later. How oblivious was she? What kind of a leader was she? If only she had kept searching instead of immediately going after her own needs first...

She picked the nearest cat-- wet, bleary eyes saw white fur, so it was Artemis then--from her hip and clung to his shaking form, her face pressed against his softness. Her eyes were drenching him, but Artemis wouldn't mind. She cried into Artemis' fur until here were no tears left.Then she stood and walked to the sink and began methodically wiping away the clumps of cat fur and grime from her travels. She was patting her face dry when she realized a very important truth.

Her girls were still out there. And if Moon was gone, they were all in a world of trouble. She had to go out there and find them before anything else happened. Akemi wasn't going to let one of her girls end up like Moon, dying alone!

Revitalized by her new mission, Akemigathered her things-- there was no way she'd leave them here, where who knows what could get into them-- grabbed the cats by the scruff of their necks, stuffed them in her messenger bag too, and vaulted out of the hotel room, slammed the door on her way out.

She was going to find her girls. And there wasn't anything this universe could do to stop her!

Except, perhaps, her grumbling stomach...

~ * ~

The charts didn't lie, he was sure of it.On occasion he would glance at an arm or leg to double check his personal calculations, even though he knew his own all by heart.And he kept glancing down at the charts and graphs in front of him, but no matter how he worked it, it came out the same each time."An inauspicious day for business matters."Each one of his Witches came out to this result, every last one of them.In such a situation, he'd normally close the spa, except for his results."A hidden treasure, the Questing Beast, a Unicorn, a Prince with an Ill-Fitting Crown, a Briar-Rose."It was maddening, and he was already mad enough. He was terribly good at astrology, but if he didn't know any better, he would have said somebody was moving the stars around on him.He could usually just glance at the charts to get the meaning of them ? today he had to consult books to figure out what it all meant.

He read from one of the books to himself, "Hidden Treasure, a business opportunity you may miss if you aren't careful.The Questing Beast, an object of desire that may destroy the seeker.TheUnicorn, a pure soul; an object difficult to obtain.A Prince with an Ill-Fitting Crown, a leader not accustomed to leadership.A Briar-Rose, much to gain with much danger, a guarded treasure."

He put the book down in disgust, "There's someone special coming, Beloved. Maybe several someones.I can't read it, it's too opaque.Something dangerous is coming.I would close up if not for the mention of the Unicorn.There's a beautiful soul coming here, but if it's owned by the dangerous person or not, I don't know.I would leave, Beloved, and keep collecting the scum off of the pond, if not for the unicorn.It's the unicorn I'm waiting for."He fiddled with a pencil on his desk, and then put it back down in its designated spot.

"Seek my revenge, my love.Capture the beautiful soul if you can, learn about the danger that comes, but above all, stay alive for if you die, I died in vain."The voice was soft and spoke directly in his ear."Remember me.Send the women away, close all of the extras, and run things with the help of the scum."

"Yes, Beloved," Lucifer said, crying with joy."No aromatherapy, no massage, no tea ceremony, just baths and snacks.Wakame-chan and Katsuo-kun can clean the changing rooms and run the drink bar.I'll run reception."He looked forward to getting a chance to avenge his life's great love, even if it meant working with the Tokyoites.Not that the humans remembered anything about their jobs except for 'It was wonderful, I enjoyed it so much,' by the time they got home anyway, so he could yell at them all he wanted if he felt like it."I'll wait here for the unicorn."

If only he knew how right he would turn out to be; Lucifer's charts didn't lie.

~ * ~

"CAT!" Kirin half growled, half shouted, "When I said I'd work training into my schedule that was NOT the a-ok to wake me up at 6:00 A.M. ESPECIALLY when I went to bed at 1:30. AFTER working. AFTER school." She promptly slid down the tree she was resting against muttering what sounded like an incredibly long and verbose string of expletives.

It was currently ten in the morning at a nearby park and Kirin had spent the last four hours in a training routine that her new guardian had devised for her - which mostly involved a lot of running, stair climbing, jumping from precarious places and landing nimbly, and (much to her chagrin) striking superhero-esque poses in her yoga pants. Not out of shape by any means, but not used to such a workout with so little sleep, Kirin was noticeably cranky.

"It is Ethos, by the way, not "cat," thank you very much," her feline guardian replied with a sniff and an annoyed swish of his tail. "This is for your own good. How will your teammates regard their leader if she can't even master the senshi basics?" If Ethos had distinctive eyebrows, he'd be arching one right about now. "And by the way, your poses should exude confidence and determination, NOT oh-my-god-I-can't-believe-I'm-doing-this-I-hope-no-one's-watching embarrassment."

"Oh, shut up, Cat," she needled, but her voice wasn't as petulant, more like resigned affirmation. "Point taken. Now look, I need to recharge. I've been running on fumes the last few days and could really use a break -- Oooh!" Kirin dug into her satchel and rooted around until she produced a small postcard triumphantly. The card advertised a new spa called Refreshing Breeze Spring Sunshine Spa and offered a free trial; something Kirin just couldn't pass up given her love of all things onsen. "Let's make a deal. I'll spend the rest of my morning here," she waved the ad in front of Ethos, "And after this recharge I will be completely at your training command. I know this is very important and I truly do want to be a good senshi and leader -- just let me do this first. I guarantee you'll see a world of difference."

Ethos hesitated for a moment then finally nodded. His charge seemed sincere enough, but he was planning on holding her to her word on the off chance she wasn't. He padded into her satchel, which she had chosen just for that reason, and the two of them made their way to the Refreshing Breeze Spring Sunshine Spa.

~ * ~

"Are we there yet?" Artemis muttered inside Akemi's bag. Akemi responded by thwacking the side of her bag, grinning (a little too eagerly) at the pedestrians who were casting suspicious looks her way. It rang false, especially with the deep set dark circles her glasses made all too visible.

"Just a toy for my kid sister!" She explained, but the crowd seemed to part magically around her. No one wanted to walk next to the crazy girl talking to her bag, apparently.

But that suited Akemi perfectly. She was on a Mission, with a capital M, and having to navigate a crowd had been proving a nuisance. She was going to find her girls! So what if she hadn't had any luck? Or Luna had run off to who knew where? Or that Artemis had decided to whine about every little thing for the last hour? She was going to find her girls! And then she was going to go home and be a star all over again! Nothing was going to stop her--

It hit her. "Artemis! I have a brilliant idea!"

The cat's reply was muffled, but unmistakably rude. She thwacked the bag again. "I know exactly where Mars is, Artemis! Oh, this is fabulous! I can't believe I didn't think of it earlier!"

"What, holed up at some temple?"

Akemi laughed; it was forced, though, and lacked the usual good cheer. "As if she'd do that! No, this is much more like her. And I bet she isn't even TRAINING. Just sitting around waiting for us to find her! I'll have to make her run laps when I see her!"

Artemis popped his fuzzy head up, blinking as his eyes adapted to the light. "What are you going on about now?" He demanded, glaring at his charge. She'd had half a dozen hair-brained ideas so far today. The worst had been deciding that Tamaki would be at a cloth emporium. As if the first thing she'd do in this Universe would be starting a new Cosplaying outfit!

Akemi listed off with her fingers. "One, Kohaku is terribly decadent, you know how she's always reeking of body pampering! That girl must have more perfume than I have clothes! Two, those grandparents of hers probably got her hooked on relaxing-- you know she does that lame yoga stuff. Three, she's lazy! So the perfect place for her to be is," Akemi paused for dramatics, "A SPA!"

Artemis made another rude sound. "This is the worst idea you've had yet. Kohaku would not go to a spa! Not when we are here for a very important mission! And on the off-chance that she was at a spa-- PROBABLY TRYING TO FIND YOU-- what chance do we have of picking the right one? There must be hundreds in this section of Tokyo alone!"

She reached into the bag, digging around the cat before she pulled out a small compact. "There we go! We'll just check the one right ahead! And money shouldn't be a problem, as long as I disguise myself as an attendant!"

"That... isn't your worst idea," Artemis begrudged. He was suspicious of Akemi's good mood in the face of all this tragedy, though, and suspected there was more behind her decision to head to a spa. He wished Luna was there...

"Good, because we're here," Akemi stared at the entrance to the spa, reading the name. "Refreshing Breeze Spring Sunshine Spa. With a name that bad, I don't suppose they get to high profile a clientele. To think Myojo! will be enjoying their services, and they can't even gloat about it! This poor Universe."

A handwritten sign had been posted outside of the spa.It was clear and easy to read, though it seemed to lack the flow and beauty that hastiness or a skilled hand might have given it ? it was entirely too regular to be lovely.It informed, in the politest of language, that half of the staff had a funeral to attend, and so most of the extras ? aromatherapy, massage, the restaurant ? were all closed for the day, though the baths, the television room, and the drink bar were still opened.It apologized profusely for the inconvenience.

The front, even though perhaps it didn't serve the highest of pop idol client?le, looked respectable, fresh and new.Sliding, automatic glass doors lead into a wood paneled area for the removal of shoes, and if one looked closely, the hint of a front desk loomed around a corner.There was an indiscernible something about it that pulled and beckoned at one, calling to come in and relax.The troubles of all who entered were sure to melt away.Had either of the girls been thinking about anything aside from their own personal pleasure, they might have noticed how odd that was, or even a hint of being disturbed by it.

Kirin approached the spa, adjusting her satchel strap as she read the sign displayed neatly against the door. "Strange," she murmured softly, "Well, as long as the baths are still open - couldn't hurt to go in. Besides, it's free with the postcard and I need a break!" From within her bag, she could hear Ethos make some kind of annoyed noise and she gently tapped the side of the satchel in repproach. "Remember, you promised!"

The automatic door made a soft shushing sound as it parted to let her in and Kirin was overcome with a sense of calm as she slipped her shoes off. She glanced about, looking for a host or attendant, but found none. With a small shrug, she padded over to the front desk and sat down in one of the plush chairs after ringing the desk bell. Once. She didn't want to be rude or break the seemingly tranquil atmosphere within the spa.

"Did you hear that, Artemis? The spa is free with a postcard!" The compact was warm in her hand, eager to be used; but she resisted, instead starring at it with pursed lips.

"What's wrong?" Artemis grumbled.

"If there's only a few of the staff present today, as that sign says, I doubt I can sneak in as an employee. I could be a Health Inspector on an unannounced visit, but the last time I had to wear that costume, it itched SOO." She twisted her collar for emphasis.

"You just rummage around in that bag, as if the postcard was there," Artemis suggested, a glint in his eye. "And I'll.." She didn't hear the rest of Artemis' babbling, as the white cat had raced for the door and snuck inside, leaving her quite alone.

Akemi replaced the compact in her bag and jogged into the spa, shivering a little as the automatic door closed behind her. After nudging her shoes off, she made her way slowly towards the desk, careful to make a show over rummaging through her bag (which was a disorganized mess as usual). But Akemi became was so wrapped up in the bag searching, however, that she misjudged the direction and walked right into a chair, her body dive-bombing foward.

Years honing her reflexes had her hands stopping her graceless fall, but her nose was inches from the plush cushion, a close call.and she hovered there a long second, breathless, before her glasses unceremoniously tumbled right off her nose.

Mars had better be here, She vowed, because she needed a little good luck today...

Moments after Kirin sat down, a door behind the counter opened and out stepped a man wearing a happi coat, advertising the establishment on the front (and it might be assumed the back as well).He wore a button-up shirt and a tie underneath the happi.His hands seemed a little too large for his body, and combined with his wiry frame, short, pointy hair, and thickset eyebrows, you could tell that in grade school his nickname was probably Saru. He bowed and said, "Hello, and welcome to the Refreshing Breeze Spring Sunshine Spa.I'm Tanabata, the owner and proprietor.I apologize profusely for the inconvenience but many of our auxiliary facilities are not in service today.It would be my pleasure to serve you in whatever way possible."

He could feel the clarity of her soul from where he was.It was like some bright bird caught in a cage ? he wanted to liberate it from its prison.He would have leapt over the desk (his agility matched his nickname) and just killed her right there, if he hadn't seen some dye-job sitting in a chair off to the side, rummaging through her purse like there was the Hope Diamond at the bottom of it; she might be able to see an assault, which would probably complicate things rather a lot.He'd have to get her inside and away from windows before trying his next move.

Kirin was pulling herself and the postcard up to the counter when there was a shriek from behind her.A woman, perhaps in her fifties, and dressed in jinbei (How like pajamas!How comfortable for work wear!) screamed aloud, "A cat!A cat in my freshly cleaned entryway!A filthy dirty cat from off the streets, infested with germs and lice and muddying all of the membership applications with his urine-soaked paws!"There was a white cat on top of a table off to the side, where a sign promoted becoming a member of the Refreshing Breeze Spring Sunshine Spa (Join today and get today's visit for only 300 yen, followed by a 200 yen deduction on all other visits afterwards!200 yen!Not valid with any other offer!).

Tanabata looked over at the offending cat (it looked...sheepish.Can cat's do that?) and bellowed, "Tarao-KUN!There's an offensive beast sullying the fine qualities of this establishment's entryway!Deal with it!"A youngish boy, maybe 16 and fresh out of Jr. High came hurtling out of the men's changing room from further down the hall also wearing jinbei, a towel streaming behind him.The owner bowed again to Kirin."I apologize for this further inconvenience, and please, allow me to upgrade you to the deluxe bath kit for no extra charge to make up for it all."

Akemi's face shot up at the great commotion-- or catmotion, as it were. Oh, what was Artemis getting into now? She caught a glimpse of the cat in question sailing through the air and scampering for all his worth away from his new tormentor. Well, he would just have to go save himself this time-- after all, he had given her the perfect opening. Maybe.

"A filthy street cat, here? What kind of establishment is this?" Akemi demanded as she stood, clutching her bag. "And to think my mother thought sending me here would be a good idea before she scoped this place out for her review!" She replaced her glasses on her nose, giving her best disgusted face.

Inwardly, she was frantically thinking back to the city mags Artemis had found for her, which she'd been perusing the morning (hunting down any references to Moon's... to her girls... to things of great importance). She needed to remember a writer's name...

Kirin began to follow the proprietor completely thrilled at the fact she was getting a free upgrade, while in her satchel Ethos was trying desperately to get her attention -- to the point where he was trying to poke her through the bag with his claws. Why? She had no clue, but he immediately went still when the owner (Tanabata, she remembered) called for a very firm removal of another cat in the building.

Two cats in a bath house?? Kirin vaguely thought that was doubly strange, but the need to check out the deluxe spa was winning out over the voice of reason. That was, until the other girl spoke.

Peering closely at the other young woman, Kirin suddenly clasped her hands together in delight. "Are you the daughter of Gakaku Meishu -- the ultimate arts and culture reviewer in Tokyo? You have the same friz - ah, um - hair!"

Akemi patted her hair self-consciously. It wasn't that bad, was it? But she didn't have her special shampoos here, so naturally her hair was taking advantage of the situation and go feral. "She might disagree with being called the ultimate reviewer, at least in the privacy of home," Akemi said slowly, not confirming it verbally, but nodding her head. "In public?" She laughed, shrugging her shoulders as if that answered her.

"My name is Akemi," She introduced herself, holding out a hand to the girl. She had a quality about her that reminded Akemi for her late friend.

Tanabata cast his mind back to that morning's Yomiuri Shimbun."Your mother is Gakaku Meishu?" he asked, looking across at Akemi."'The production of Cats now touring in Tokyo is the most moving show on this, or any other stage in the world; the innumerable tears which were shed by the audience in mixed joy and sorrow could not be hoped to be counted by any means save by the number of oceans they would fill' Gakaku Meishu?"He didn't believe her, but if she was going to lie her way into his spa he'd let her in, and then just make sure she never found her way out again.

And that's when he noticed her soul was brilliant and shining, perhaps even more so than the first girl's had been - though there was the oddest sensation of it being different, of it being used in some way that Kirin's hadn't.'She probably dates fifty-year-old salarymen,' he thought to himself.

"If there is anything I can do to persuade you not to cast an unfavorable impression with such a literary talent as your mother, please, let me know," he said."I assure you, this is the first time a cat has come into the spa, and I reassure you, it will not happen again.Perhaps you would like to make use of what facilities we have open today, and later, when everything is open, return with your mother to sample a bit of everything?Complimentary, of course.In fact, the two of you," he said, addressing both girls, "please help yourself to the drink of your choice from the snack bar as a further token of my heartfelt regret for the inconvenience caused by that cat."

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Tarao-kun, waving the cat in the air by the scruff of the neck - if he had his way the cat would have seen the bottom of one of the baths, but with the two girls there that he was really looking forward to killing, he let it slide."Throw the cat outside, Tarao-kun, and turn the automatic door sensor off so he cannot come back in - our other customers will just have to use the button this afternoon."The boy walked through the doors and tossed the cat outside roughly, then came back in and fiddled with a switch in the wall.Tanabata set one bag on the counter, and a wristband with a key on it near Kirin, and placed a second set next to Akemi."Your locker number is on the wristband."

Kirin took Akemi's hand and shook it warmly, immediately feeling as if she would get along well with the other girl - possibly even becoming close, which made her smile brightly. Today kept getting better and better. First a free upgraded spa day, then meeting Gakaku Meishu's daughter and getting the chance to get to know her well. "I'm Kirin. Pleased to meet you!"

Ethos started fidgeting in her bag again as she stayed near Akemi, but then her guardian immediately froze as she walked closer to Tanabata to collect her wristband and bag. This was, of course, about the same time Artemis got the boot. At least Ethos was smart enough to know when to quit, Kirin thought to herself, I wonder what's got a bug up his butt anyway ... He promised I could come here.

"Thank you very much, Tanabata-sama." Gathering her items, she bowed respectfully to him, then turned to Akemi. "Shall we?"

Akemi was careful not to confirm or deny. She sucked at lying, and it bothered her to step around the truth. So instead, she tossed a short nod at their host, then turned a 100 watt smile on the girl holding her hand. "I love your name, Kirin. It is so unusual! I like unusual things, even when they are odd, like this short staffed spa. There isn't enough unusual things in life, if you ask me, just a lot of boring grays and the same old. I'd take a splash of color any day!"

It was on the tip of Akemi's tongue to continue her rant on unusual things to demand the girl tell her if she'd seen anything unusual-- after all, Senshi tended to stick out like sore thumbs-- but she bit her tongue to keep that inside. Not hard enough to draw blood, but plenty enough to hurt. Holding back was something new for Akemi; she tended to favor blunt responses and demands; but she had a feeling with this girl, she'd have to walk with a little more care. Plus, she was giving Akemi attention, and she was feeling a bit left out with no one noticing her at ALL in this lame universe.

The rest of the staff, though? Ha! They were all clearly idiots for falling for her simple ruse. She was obviously very clever. And even if Kohaku wasn't lazing about the spa, Akemi certainly deserved a little pampering. So she felt no sadness over Artemis being thrown out-- he deserved it, after all, pestering her to find yen when she was TRYING to track down her girls! Well, he'd just have to go solve their money issues. She was going to relax-- er-- find Kohaku!

"Spa time!" Kirin declared as she all but marched into the locker room area. Locating her particular cubby hole, she slid her satchel to the floor and promptly began changing. Usually she was a tad more modest, but her spa spider-sense was tingling like mad so she knew her battery was about to be maxed out. This she didn't want because how utterly embarrassing would it be to go into one of her crab attacks in front of Akemi!? Total mortification. Especially if she and her mother, Gakaku Meishu, ever came to review the Ageman. She could just see it now, Akemi telling her mother, "Oh, that girl on stage? Total nut job. Went postal at the spa you reviewed two weeks ago - cursing and fuming at the employees. I think she even snapped one of them with a bath towel. Weirdo - she seemed nice at first too."

Shaking her head to dispell those not so pleasant thought, Kirin hurriedly stuffed her yoga pants and workout top into her designated locker and snapped it shut. She started to take off towards the spa, then thought better of it, and turned and knelt by her stachel, lifting its flap. A very cranky looking Ethos peered up at her from inside the bag. Kirin arched a brow in question and Ethos quitely hissed, "This place is not right. Be careful."

"It is a little weird, I'll grant you that," Kirin whispered back, "But it's not like its run by a serial killer or anything. I would've heard something on the news." At Ethos' eyeroll (cats could do that?!) and pointed glare of a response, Kirin added, "I'll be careful! Scout's -- senshi's! -- honor."

Giving Ethos a quick scratch behind the ears for reassurance, she then rose and called to Akemi, "I'm heading to the spa. Meet you there!"

"Mmmhhm!" Akemi mumbled at the other girl. She was staring pathetically at the near empty cubbies. Mars wasn't there. It had been a shot in the dark, yes, but she'd hoped that just once one of her hunches would come true! What kind of leader was she that she couldn't--

"Wait a second," Her eyes brightened considerably. "Drink of your choice from the snack bar? HOW FABULOUS!" She flung her clothes off, hopped into her spa gear, and hightailed it out of the room faster than you could say "go." Akemi wasn't about to miss any free refreshments!!

But outside the room, she looked about in confusion. "Now where is the snack bar?!"

~ * ~

"Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!" Toujimi muttered to herself in Enlgish, running through the Tokyo streets on her way to the Onsen. It wasn't like she meant to be late for her shift (although, Toujimi was sure that her beloved cousin would be ready to blame her anyways, since she was always late), since she had to go and ask her teacher about his lesson... And clean up her latest lab mess, but that was beside the point.

"I am so dead," she grumbled, finally seeing the Ryoufuu Shunyou Onsen above the other buildings, looking as bright and happy as any other day. Toujimi wondered if the happiness would wear off sooner or later, once more Mana was harvested, but she shook the thought as she came up to the large building. She peeked through the front doors, noticing that the Boss-man wasn't at the receptionist's desk. It was that Sanzo, or Saiza, or whatever.

"No matter," said Toujimi as she headed towards the rear of the building, "I'll just go through the back and try to play the 'I was here the whole time' spiel." With that in mind, the seventeen year old went inside as quietly as she could (which was pretty quiet, thank you very much), and got dressed in the employee locker room. As soon as every little button was in place, Toujimi headed upstairs to the snack bar.

Toujimi was just in time, seeing as another employee (Toujimi seriously needed to learn all their names) and some blonde haired girl were coming up as well. She sat behind the bar and smiled, ready to do buisness.

~ * ~

Tarao-kun had finished with the white cat, and had gone back to cleaning the men's changing area, and the lobby in front of it.He saw Akemi come bounding out of the women's changing room, already wearing her bathhouse outfit, and gazing about with an air of purposeful uncertainty.This confused him greatly ? she hadn't had time to have a bath yet, but there she was, dressed in her after-bath things."Excuse me, ma'am is there something you need?Shampoo or another towel or something?"

"I am fine!" Akemi flashed a bright smile at the employee, but her stomach was growling powerfully loud, and it was difficult to concentrate when she was so terribly hungry. Stupid, stupid cat-- this was all Artemis' fault!

But then, it really wasn't. It was really her fault... Akemi's face darkened, revealing the sudden and uber tragic gloom bouncing on her emotions. "Perhaps I am not fine. Only one thing can save me-- the drink-bar! Where is it?!"

"Oh," he said."The snack bar is on the second floor.Would you like me to show you?"

"No!" Akemi said with 5 pounds too much force to pass for a totally truthful answer. The fact she was barely clothed didn't sway her from her mission-- she would have food or death!

Oh, bad choice of words there, Akemi."It shall be an adventure! A relaxing, drink filled adventure! A relaxing adventure best taken by myself!" She strolled away on her powerful legs, mindless of how tightly her garb clung to her figure, letting her nose lead her to the goodies.

She found the bar quickly and was about to enter when she noticed the creepy employee was standing behind her. Had the employee been following her? How rude! She was about to yell at him when her stomach rumbled again, bringing her focus back to more important matters. Like food and drink.

She flashed the girl behind the bar a smile and strolled in. "What is your special today? Because if it is delicious, I think I would love three of them!"

~ * ~

Kirin found her way to the baths easily enough and was thrilled to find them completely empty. The whole bath house to herself! (and, well, Akemi, of course). She slipped soundlessly into the water, shoulder deep, and breathed a long sigh of contentment. This was how it should be, nice and quiet with plenty of time to recharge in the steamy, warm water. It couldn't get any better than this! she thought to herself, feeling noticeably more relaxed the longer she soaked, Ethos must have got the wrong impression about this place...

The cat in question, though, hadn't shaken that feeling of foreboding. If anything, it had intensified the moment Kirin took off for the baths. Concerned, Ethos wriggled out of his charge's satchel and padded around the locker room in an attempt to pinpoint the threat. There! Something malicious was emanating from the corner of the room. He had to warn Kirin. She was in no shape ready for a real battle, but he needed to prepare her just in case she was faced with whatever it was lurking nearby.

Lucifer peered out from the dark recesses of the closet at the second cat to be in his spa in ten minutes.This annoyed him greatly.When the cat stared at the closet for a moment and then looked frightened (cats do that?) and suddenly dart off towards the baths, it worried Lucifer.If he did anything his cover would be blown, but he had a feeling that the cat was going to muddle things up anyway.He still wanted revenge on that white cat from earlier, this black one would have to do for now ? he might as well go in with a bang

There was a sharp crack from his pistol, and a star-shaped burst of black energy sailed through the air towards the cat.He hoped it knocked the cat into the opposite wall, or a bath.He flickered out of existence in the closet, to flicker back in on the opposite side of the pool from where he thought Kirin was, hoping the flying cat on the other side would be enough of a distraction to keep her from looking his way.

Everything was in perfect de-stressing order. Kirin had the baths all to herself, the water was just the right temperature (relaxingly hot, but not scalding), and it was blissfully, blissfully quiet. Perfect.

Then it happened. She was minding her own business, eyes closed, soaking up the steamy bath goodness when a sharp crack followed by an impossibly loud cat's yowling pierced her peaceful silence. Furious, Kirin whirled around towards the direction of the sounds -- ready to give whoever caused them a piece of her mind -- when she saw a small, black, furry object fly past her and (luckily!) crash land in a pile of bath towels neatly stacked in the corner of the bath house.

"Ohmygosh! Please, no!" Ethos. That had to have been Ethos. Kirin scrambled out of the bath and ran to the now collapsed tower of linens, a path of wet footprints trailing behind her. Murmuring "no, no, no..." over and over again as she dug through the pile and extricated Ethos, she hoped beyond hope he was okay. Her feline guardian shook himself as she set him on the ground, clearing the water droplets Kirin had dusted on him in her rescue and wobbly stood on all fours. "Kirin. Henshin. Now."

Her gold and rose colored henshin stick appeared on the floor and Ethos nudged it toward her with his nose. Kirin grasped it, then hesitated, "Are you okay? I don't want to leave you --"

"I'm fine. Now go stop whatever it is that SHOT ME." Nodding, Kirin rose and started to make her way over to the lockers. She could transform behind them since they blocked the entrance and exit doors; no one would see her. Calling over her shoulder, she added, "I am SO going to get the jerk who tried to hurt you and ruined my spa time. Don't you worry about that."

Lucifer took aim to launch another bolt of energy at the panicking girl.He had no idea why she was acting so strangely ? running up to the cat, then running away from the cat, but whatever.Just as he pulled the trigger, he sneezed (he would later entertain the idea that he was allergic to cats ? he was certain cats did that to people) and his shot just ended up hitting the wall uselessly.He swore.

Kirin heard a (manly?!) sneeze and the wall to her right promptly exploded. Okay, maybe not exploded per say, but the spa owner was definitely going to have to do some repairs on said wall. "Holy crap," Kirin muttered, all traces of her recent recharge gone under the stress of the last five minutes, "Ethos could have TOLD ME I was dealing with a jerk who could blow up walls when he sneezes!"

Ducking into the corner of the locker room as quickly as her bare feet could take her, Kirin clutched her henshin wand and raised it above her head. "Here goes nothing; Muse Crisis Power, Make-Up!" Gold and pale rose colored ribbons shimmered around her and swirled down her body, forming her senshi uniform as they went. When the last gold ribbon encased her feet and winked out of existence, leaving behind gold, three inch heels, Kirin was now officially Sailor Muse. Glancing down at herself, she managed a soft, awe-struck, "Wow..."

Her celebratory time lasted approximately one second, however; as distinctly angry footsteps headed towards her. Bringing her attention back to the matter at hand, Sailor Muse mentally prepared herself to face Mr. Sneeze-Bomber.

And not a moment too soon, because in ran the Man with the Silver Hat.If this were a cowboy serial, the fact that he was wearing a white-ish colored hat would have tipped Kirin off that he was a good guy; though with all of the black he wore elsewhere and the fact that between his rolled-up sleeves and gloves some sort of tattooed pattern stood out on his skin, perhaps he would have been some sort of anti-hero.Sadly, this wasn't a cowboy serial, but real life!The chances of this man being an anti-hero were slim to none at best.

"All right, who are you and what have you done with the screaming naked girl?" he asked, staring at Sailor Muse, bringing his handgun gun up, and pointed at her heart."I have a very important task to fulfill and I would prefer if you didn't get in my way."

"You're not going to hurt that girl!" Sailor Muse replied angrily.Especially because she's me ...

Of all the things Sailor Muse expected to see rounding the corner of the locker room, a man dressed as if he walked off of Wild Wild West Goes Bondage was not one of them (can straps actually go there?!?!). Her attention was immediately diverted, though, when she caught sight of his handgun. A handgun pointing right at her in very close range. Not good.

Not only was the gun not good, but she notice tattoos scrawled up Mr. Cowboy's arm in the space between his glove and his shirt. Only one type of person in Japan had BOTH handguns and tattoos -- Yakuza. Shit, she thought, then immediately gave herself a mental kick as cursing was just the thing a certain Yakuza boss she knew would do. I am going to force Ojiichan into an early retirement for this!! Looks like some rival gang is trying to take out his granddaughter -- me! -- in some kind of territory play. Though I've never seen a Yakuza disguise himself before. If I could just get a look at his tattoos...

"As for who I am? I'm Crisis Senshi Sailor Muse! Here to protect those innocent people you're trying to harm!" Somehow, the silly poses Kirin practiced earlier came naturally to Sailor Muse as she pointed angrily at the man, her other hand firmly on her hip in emphasis. "You have to get through me to get the girl!" Literally, she added silently. I could seriously use some help here. Maybe henshining in a corner was not the greatest idea.

Luckily, at that same moment, Ethos had snuck up behind Lucifer and was in crouch position, ready to leap at the cowboy with claws extended. Nobody was going to take potshots at him, then corner his charge before she learns her attack phrase and get away with it.

If it would have been possible to see the man's eyes, Muse would have seen him blink several times in confusion."Sailor who?"The tone of his voice was clearly incredulous."Sailor Muse?What, are you Sailor Moon's backwoods, too-embarrassing-to-be-mentioned cousin or something?"He was being cocky on the outside, but inside he was screaming something about things not going to schedule, and this world not supposed to have senshi.Meanwhile, the cat crept ever closer to his target.

"I won't warn you again.Hand over the girl, or I'll be forced to deal with you."He lazily cocked the hammer back, still pointing the oversized gun at Muse's bosom.However, at that moment, the tiny black ball of furry fury struck out and latched itself into the arm with the gun.Ethos' mouth was too full of glove to say anything inspiring to Muse (or teach her her attack phrase, for that matter) but the shock of a cat on Lucifer's arm, scratching up the part of his arm without protection, caused her attacker to scream in rage.Lucifer waved his arm to try and get the cat off, but Ethos merely held on tighter.He was going to skin that cat and have him made into gloves.In the confusion, the gun was no longer directly on Muse; now was the perfect time to use her attack!If only she had any idea what, exactly, it was, or even how one did it.

Thank you Ethos! Had said cat not been biting the life out of Mr. Strap-Happy's arm, Sailor Muse would have run over and given her feline guardian the biggest hug she could, topped with a well deserved scratch behind the ears. Instead, she focused on devising a plan to get away from the man with the gun, especially since she had no clue how to activate her senshi powers (not to mention she didn't have a whole lot of time to stand there and figure it out).That should have been the first thing Ethos taught me instead of those silly poses ... Then we wouldn't be in this predicament!

Her eyes darted to the exit. The space between the lockers and Lucifer was big enough for her to get by, but not large enough that she could do it with ease. If he wasn't distracted completely, he'd have no problem grabbing her as she hurried past. If she could just get to the main foyer, there had to be some employee in the general vicinity who could help. If not, at least she could draw him away from the baths before Akemi returned. There was no way Muse was going to let that weirdo cowboy shoot the other girl. Absolutely not.

Maybe if she took the initiative and pushed him as she ran past? He was already a bit off kilter with Ethos attached to his (now waving) arm. Muse doubted he'd expect her to attempt a physical attack and if she really got lucky she might even knock the gun out of his hand. "Okay," she breathed, "Now or never."

~ * ~

Toujimi looked up, to show her reward winning smile to the customer (She was pretty sure that, somewhere along the line, Tanabata had said "Make sure you smile - or no pay" and Toujimi really, really really needed it, if she was to get the latest novel that was on all the posters all over the mall).

"G'day, ma'am. Let's see what we got." The seventeen year old looked up and behind her at the large board of treats they served, and looked for the special. "It seems like you're in luck, 'cause we've got the Triple Berry-Banana-Pina Colada. One of the sweatest things we got on the menu, just for a nice price of 250 yen a'piece. I could also give you a discount if you get it in the Happy Pleasant Fun Time! meal, which includes," Toujimi began ticking them off on her fingers, "one medium smothie on the board, two side orders of chips or fries, or somethin', a choice between a burger, hot dog, or pizza slice, low-carb o' course, and a Happy Pleasant Fun Time Treat, which could be a discount off your next purchase, or a towel, or bunches of other coolio stuff - for a measely 410 yen!"

Toujimi looked around again, wondering if she was forgeting something. Thankfully, nothing came to her, so she continued looking at the brassy haired girl, blinking as little as she possibly could (it said in one of the books she had recently bought that good eye contact is the best idea if one wants to succeed in buisness, and she was trying it out. Most of the girls who came to the spa were bunches of health nuts anyways).

"I really like the color scheme you guys have in place here," Akemi babbled, her huge, shiny eyes devouring the menu. "Oh, oh, I'll have two of those specials!" She said enthusiastically, beaming at the girl.

But the smile faded as the hairs on the back of her neck rose. Something... something wasn't quite right. Something was wrong, with a capital dubbaue. Akemi started to turn towards the door, her serious!business!face pulling at her features, when stilled as her stomach growled so loud, surely everyone in a nine block radius could hear the rumbling.

There couldn't be anything wrong here, Akemi thought, turning back to the other girl, her smile back and brighter than ever. She was going to have food, wonderful food! "Also, if you have anything with caffeine, especially if you have something in a can I can take with me, because I'm dangerously decaffeinated. Lives could be at stake!"

~ * ~

The sailor-suited soldier of, well, he didn't really know, made a dash for Lucifer just as he was bringing his arm up to smack Ethos into one of the lockers.As he swung the cat into the locker, she raced into him, bumping him with her shoulder and using the momentum off of him to dash down the lockers towards the exit.Thanks to her valiant effort, Ethos slammed extra hard into the lockers, while Lucifer got thrown up against them as well.He didn't fall over, though that wretched cat finally fell off of his arm.

His mouth no longer full of villain glove, battered and bruised as he was, Ethos managed to cry out, "HEART OF INSPIRATION!HEART OF INSPIRATION!"

Lucifer knew that cats couldn't talk (right?He was pretty sure that in this universe, cats couldn't talk).He let out a short cry of rage, and lashed out with his boot at the cat, trying to punt it back into the baths, but mostly missing (the glancing blow wasn't even strong enough to move the cat an inch) in his rage.He could see her racing out of the door, and knew he didn't have time to deal with the cat anymore ? he had to stop Muse, before she escaped.He started running after her, and just as the door slammed behind her, his mind invaded her own.With any luck, he could reload his gun as he ran after her.

Sailor Muse dashed hurriedly out of the locker room, silently apologizing a million times over to Ethos as she knew he took the brunt of her shove at Lucifer. Part of her screamed, "Go back in there and make sure your Guardian is all right," while the other part was screaming, "Don't you dare! The only chance to save Ethos is to not get caught and going back in there would defeat the purpose." The latter somewhat reluctantly won out, although Muse was still trying to decipher Ethos' cryptic words that he shouted as she ran past.

Heart of Inspiration? Heart of Inspiration. Was it some kind of weird Guardian pep talk? Or was he just cheering me on? Or was that code for "help me right now?" She let out a small, frustrated groan as she skidded to a halt in the main lobby. As if things couldn't get any worse, not only could she not figure out Guardian-ese, but there was also not a single solitary soul in the lobby. "Hello? Anyone here?"

As she spoke, an eerie, alien sound masked the sound of her own voice, causing her to shudder and quickly clap a hand over her mouth. What did that weird Yakuza guy do to her? It had to be him that was causing this, right? Her blue-violet eyes darted around, trying to find a hiding place, a weapon, anything(!) before he made his way into the lobby.

Not finding anything in terms of a weapon -- unless one counted a stapler or flyers to papercut him to death as weapons -- she settled on hiding in plain sight: right next to the locker room doors. That way, when Lucifer opened the doors into the lobby, she'd be briefly concealed by them (as long as he didn't fling it open and squish her). Hopefully, that'd at least give her the advantage of being behind him at first and maybe she could try to tackle the gun away from him? That was definitely a long shot by far, but stranger things have happened. If she got really lucky, maybe one of the hired help around here would actually show up, but at the rate things were going, she wouldn't bet on that.

Please, she silently thought,Please Benten, please anyone up there who might be listening, I could use a little help here! Anything would work as long everyone makes it out of here in one piece...Please?

~ * ~

Akemi eagerly watched as the service worker prepared her grub, swiftly grabbing it the moment it was presented. Akemi wasted no time in shoving it down her mouth. How she managed not to choke , much less breathe, as the food promptly disappeared, was a great mystery of the universe.

As the last bit passed from hand to lips, the blonde haired girl leaned back in her chair, rubbing her tummy appreciatively. It had been too long since she’d gotten a good meal in her-- the cats were good, but providing edible food? Not one of their good points.

Thoughts began to swirl in that thick head of hers, the food kicking her brain firmly into gear. The spa hadn’t been the best of ideas, Akemi realized glumly, but it had all worked out so far. She didn’t regret it--yet. Better go enjoy the spa and go retrieve Artemis before he went and did something silly. Like attempt to flirt with Luna.

“Put this on my tab,” She rubbed her belly one last time, letting out an appreciative, longing sigh at the food behind the counter. By the time she made her escape, the spa wouldn’t know what had hit them. “That was wonderful, thank you.” She smiled, distantly, and waddled out of the room.

As she walked down the hallway, Akemi frowned at her robe draped hip. There, her henshin device was radiating an uncomfortable heat. Was Mercury trying to get in touch with the devices? She dug the device out, yelping as the heat intensified, juggling it from hand to hand. But no communication followed, and Akemi lowered her head in defeat.

Only to raise it as sounds that should be alien to a relaxing spa snuck their way into her eardrums. Clashing, struggling, yells-- something was going on downstairs, and it had the distinct taste of criminal to it.

A wide smile crossed Akemi’s face, and she closed her hand around the burning device. This was going to be just like old times.Taking out some petty criminals was definitely the right way to lose some stress-- even if it wouldn’t do anything for her pores.

She raced down the stairs, looking around for cameras or people before ducking a corner and transforming. Her body tingled as the mettle of Venus settled about her form, familiar in this cold universe-- but she wasn’t comforted until the cool crystal of the Holy Moon Sword materialized in her hand.

There. Now she was ready to scare off some goons-- and maybe make up for the whole fooling the spa out of some money, too. Justice for justice.Her back hugged the wall, inching closer to where the clash of people had sounded moments before. Silence was never a good thing in situations like this. She peered into the hallway, eyes quickly taking in the closed doors to the locker room, but nothing prepared herself for what stood beside them.

Either that was a deranged fan, or something was very wrong with this universe.

Because a sailor suited warrior was standing there, and all Venus could do was blink stupidly, sword wavering before her.

Lucifer slipped one of his special bullets into his revolver as he kicked the door open and glanced around the room.He didn't see the sailor suited soldier of nudity anywhere, but he knew she hadn't had the time to run out of the doors - those things take forever to open and shut (Japanese door technology was decades behind Tau Ceti).The door, for the moment, hid Muse from view, but he could feel her brilliant soul calling to him, and he could hear Mistress 9 whispering to him, "find it, take it, release it from it's cage of bone and flesh, see my death avenged."The manic grin on his face as he listened to his Beloved's words of encouragement would have seemed eerily familiar to anyone familiar with the Death Busters.

~ * ~

Watching the blonde leave the food area, Toujimi discrettly placed a sign saying "Be Back In 10 Happy Pleasant Fun Minutes!" onto the counter before slipping out the other side. The blonde was, interesting, to say the least and perhaps...

Well, Lucifer did want as many souls as possible... With that in mind, Toujimi nonchantly brushed her right shoulder, concentrating. There was a gust of fresh air and, in her place, stood Calci. The Death Buster smirked, and she eagerly rushed out of the onsen's restaurant to find the fuzzy-haired blond. Down hallways and stairs, and almost pass the locker rooms, except something orange and frilly and vaguely-recongizable flashed in the corner of her vision.

Orange? What the hell? Calci turned back slowly and as quiet as she could be. Of course, when Calci saw what the orange was, she nearly cursed out loud in very fluent German. It was a Sailor Senshi!

Now, Calci had two choices: she could either sneak back away and pretend she didn't see anything at all... Or she could try a sneak attack... Calci, of course, chose the latter (who knew if Lucifer was watching! Brownie points!) and just as silently grabbed her Alter Luft from one of her pockets. She aimed at the senshi's back (it was the largest area and, thus easiest to hit) and threw her rope dart. It looked like it was going to connect - for about three seconds - before it veered erally of course and hit the wall four inches away from Venus's right shoulder.

This time, Calci didn't stop herself from cursing in German: "Gott in Himmel!"

Venus was in motion before her brain processed the strange whirling sound, swinging the heavy sword to deflect further attacks. Her eyes swept across the other girl's outfit, dismissing it as petty and cheap. Really, a cowboy and whatever this girl was? This universe just had to get more inspired villains. Facing two uncertain villains-- and not willing to call the other sailor senshi an ally when she could just be a villain in disguise herself-- Venus did what any good fighter would do.

She stalled, hoping the girl would buy her bait. After all, sometimes taunts made the enemy stupid. And Venus much preferred the odds of two, possibly three, stupid villains against little old her. "Dearie, that outfit is so last season. I've seen petty criminals on the street in better knock offs. And that color! It does absolutely nothing for your skin. Please tell me you at least have a catchy name to make up for this mess of an outfit!"

Calci raised an eyebrow at the large sword weilded by the girl, and was almost willing to laugh the person off as an idiotic cosplayer who was very misplaced. That almost extended right up until the sailor senshi opened her mouth.

Glaring as well as she could (not like the orange-suited, fuzzy haired girl could tell from behind her sunglasses), Calci gave a vicious tug on the wire, pulling her weapon out of the wall. "Well, we all can't be Sailor V knock-offs, now, can we? I mean, really," she gave a once-over Sailor Venus now that she was staring at her, not knowing that this was the real one, "Takeuchi's Venus looked a lot cooler, and that hairstyle went out with 'The Magic School Bus.'" She sneered, self-conciously brushing off her jacket, despite nothing being on it. "The name, if you must know, is Calci, and I'd appreciate if you evaluate your own clothing choices before getting on mine."

While the girl spoke, Venus snuck off a glove, plotting her next move. While she’d love to show all these potential foes a good trashing, but with potentially two more hostiles at her back, and without the support of a team, Venus made getting out of the hallway was her priority. She still grinned as the girl’s words came to her. If only that brat only knew how stupid she was, trying to taunt the real Sailor V!

"I'm sure you'd prefer to face a bimbo like Takeuchi's Venus, but I'm afraid you'll find the real deal a little more effective. Deadly, even." Her low tone was strong and steady as she raised her bare hand, as if about to make a rude gesture. "I've taken out petty villains like you between coats during a manicure. Justice is-"

“Ravishing Crush Knockout!” Venus’ words had flown seamlessly into her attack name. The bare hand began to glow, as skin and nails fading to a dim gray. The glow formed a bright orange red aura, which circled her body before streaking out towards Calci's chest.

Not waiting to see if the attack pushed Calci over, Venus hurled herself backwards into the hallway, pivoting sharply on a toe, her body a blur of orange-red and yellow. The motion ended with Venus's sword trained at the Cowboy, a comfortable distance between blade and man."Please tell me this is just a bad costume convention."

Lucifer, had he been able to speak, probably would have sworn when he saw Sailor Frizzy with CALCI behind her?He'd told them all to not come into work today.Someone was going to need a stern talking to later on.Thanks to all of her pointing and posturing, though, he knew exactly where Muse had to be – behind the door he was standing next to.He severed the tie between himself and Muse.

He was very quick with his gunwork, and he aimed it Venus and pulled off a shot as he said, "You cannot escape the judgment of the stars."A bright white ball of light shot out of his gun towards Venus at extremely close range.He attempted to reestablish the link between himself and Muse, but that would take some time.

Right then, foe. Venus thought as she swung the sword. The strange little light smacked into the sword, rendering all kinds of crazy vibrations up and down the blade and handle. There was an explosion and a weird bright light, and then... nothing. Is that it? Venus was about to laugh when the light hit the hands holding onto the sword, both of which began shaking under a strange sensation of extreme pressure.

"What the?" Venus opened her mouth to say-- but no sound came out. Oh, that's a dirty trick. She glared at the Cowboy, feeling vindicated in dubbing him the leader. Hoping whatever had hit her would wear off soon, Venus considered the situation. Getting past this weirdo was going to be harder without her speech-- but not impossible.

So she crept to the side, inching a little closer to the exit, sword held out threateningly with unsteady hands. There was still one to her back-- and she wasn't quite sure about this job in the sailor collar yet.

I know I asked for a little divine intervention … but I really didn’t expect all this! From her position, she watched as the weird cowboy appeared, followed by another strangely clad girl and (thank goodness!) another senshi. Muse desperately hoped the new ally was another one of her teammates, since the girl seemed to be holding her own against Calci and wielded her sword with skill. That’s the kind of person she needed to help get her out of this mess.!

Stepping out from behind the door, she felt something disconnect -- for lack of a better term -- from her as Lucifer turned his attention to Venus. At the same moment, Ethos popped his head through the door after practically peeling himself off the lockers where the space cowboy had left him. “Sailor Muse!,” Ethos demanded, surveying the tableau before him, “Why haven’t you used Heart of Inspiration yet?! Your ally needs you!”

“Ohmygosh! Ethos! You’re all right --,” Muse paused as the rest of her guardian’s words processed, “ --You mean Heart of Inspiration is my attack? Why didn’t you say so before?!” If looks could kill, the expression Ethos shot his charge would have killed her right on the spot. Luckily for Kirin, she missed his gaze as she was too preoccupied with executing her very first attack. Now she could finally be of help! Placing a hand over her heart, she murmured, “Heart of …” and a glowing gold orb formed in the space between her heart and hand. She could feel her own hopes filtering into the sphere as it pulsed even brighter with each thought. Finally, Sailor Muse lifted the orb over her head and exclaimed, “Inspiration!” then hurled her attack at Lucifer as hard as she could -- for both herself and especially for what he did to Ethos.

Not waiting to see if her attack landed on target, Muse scooped up Ethos and frantically edged towards Sailor Venus. If she could just get close enough to talk to the other senshi, maybe they could work together and get the heck out of dodge.This place was turning out to be neither happy nor pleasant. And most definitely not what Kirin would consider a “fun time.”

Lucifer tried to dodge, but he'd been to wrapped up in shooting Sailor Dyejob to notice that Princess Sparklypoo and her amazing talking feline were lining up an attack until it was too late.The golden orb hit him in the shoulder and he was filled with feelings of hope and promise.For one brief moment, he believed that everything was okay, and he had nothing to worry or fight about, and that all would be perfectly fine.There are some who say that Lucifer's heart grew three sizes that day.

But those people are dumb.He screamed, because in those few moments, the voice of Mistress 9, which had encouraged him with whispers ever since he first set eyes on them, to seek his revenge and rip the glistening souls out of the two girls, was silent.Lucifer screamed in rage, because in this moment of hope he was alone."Calci!," he managed to bark out in his pain."Do something besides leading the whore's friends to me!"

Venus was surprised by how destructive the attack appeared to be. Heart of Inspiration, was that was the girl had said? Whatever that attack did, it looked pretty nasty-- she certainly wasn't inspired to take up arms against the Senshi scooting her way!

What was that in her arms? Venus adjusted her mask and blinked, her suspicions fading in an instant. Sailor Collars didn't always mean a person was one of the good guys-- but holding a guardian cat? This had to be someone important. She opened her mouth to welcome the girl, but once again nothing came out. Hearing the man's words, she felt her eyes widen. She noticed the man saying something, but wasn't able to hear what he said. Troubled, Venus decided it was time for a hasty retreat. Whatever the man had said, meant nothing good for her.

Turning to the (hopefully good) Senshi, Venus patted her stretched throat, pointed towards the other girl, and then mimed two fingers walking towards the door, and hoped the girl got the message. But it was Venus' water eyes that conveyed the message clear as a bell-- the fear lurking there stated she was terrified.

Sailor Muse caught the eye of the other senshi and nodded her understanding. That explained the strange disconnect she felt earlier: it appeared that the now very pissed off cowboy had used the same attack on Venus as he did on her earlier. Wincing at Lucifer’s shout, Muse hurried over to Venus as fast as she could, not wanting to be any closer to him than necessary.

“Ethos! Why didn’t you tell me my attack was going to do that?! I’ve never heard a scream like that before,” Muse breathed as she scrambled towards Venus, clutching her guardian tightly to make sure she didn’t lose him in the chaos.

“It’s only as strong as you make it,” he retorted, annoyed at being bounced around in her hands, but proud his charge hit her mark. That freaky cowboy deserved it after slamming him into those lockers! Serves him right for messing with Guardian Ethos!

“Oh. Really?” She’d have to think harder on that later. Right now, she threw all her focus into getting out with the other senshi alive. With Lucifer temporarily out of commission, the only one they had to worry about now was the one called Calci and now Muse was almost in reach of Venus!

Why was the girl wasting time talking? They had to get out of here! She waved her hands, hoping to catch the girl's attention, and motioned with both hands towards the door again.Figuring that was more than enough warning, Venus lunged for the door, sprinting as fast as her legs could take her.

She'd worry about settling her tab later.

She knew when to take a cue, so as soon as Sailor Venus started towards the door, Muse quickly picked up her lead and made her own dash for the exit. It bothered her slightly that they were turning their backs on the enemy, but given the current situation, there really wasn't much choice. She much preferred being in one piece and living to fight another day.

If they could just make it outside -- and they were so close! -- they'd be home free!

Whatever the attack that hit Lucifer was, it drove his insanity away for a moment, and that was more painful to him than the burning power of hope.In his rage he fired two shots blindly after the fleeing senshi.He hadn't planned on any of this – the horoscopes tried to warn him, but he was blind to it.This world was supposed to be empty of guardians, that's why they came, because it should have been an easy target.And then, not only had he met up with a senshi he'd never even heard of before, he'd also seen one of the Moon Princess' guardians.He'd never met them, but Pharaoh 90 had warned Mistress 9 about them, and Lucifer had heard from Mistress 9 herself, as she slowly died, about her downfall, and there was no way in the world there were two senshi running around with fuzzy orange hair, glasses, and a giant sword, calling themselves Sailor Venus.

Whatever it was that Muse had hit him with faded as the two girls dashed out of the doors, his two shots having gone totally wild.He didn't go chasing after them for one reason only – if he went outside and revealed himself, they'd remember him.If he stayed inside, they'd forget he even existed, and at least he'd have the knowledge that they were here, while they would be left with nothing.

He looked over his shoulder at Calci – she'd taken Venus' power at extremely close range, and was knocked out cold.He'd told her to stay at home; he told them all to not come in.And now he could see why.If he'd been expecting a senshi attack, he would have been better prepared, would have made some machine to warn him if one came inside before they had a chance to muddle everything up, he would have carried an extra bullet on him, he would have done a lot of things differently.

The voice of Mistress 9 came flooding back into his head.'Lucifer!If one's here, they're all here.Find the one who killed me, find Sailor Moon, and seek out my revenge.If you love me you will kill her, and kill all of her followers.Scatter them and kill them one, by one.'He could only whisper a tiny, "Yes, Beloved" in response.'They're here.This is your chance, here, now, rip their souls from their bodies and offer them up, and we shall rejoice as every world is swallowed up in silence!' He smiled in pure joy – what a precious gift he had been given in the disguise of defeat

The moment fresh air hit Venus' face, she wanted to drop to the ground and kiss it a few times. But this Tokyo was completely nasty, and there was still the matter of getting out of harms way to attend to. So she jogged around to the corner and immediately dropped her henshin. If the villains followed, they would not be looking for Akemi (although it would be hard to explain what the teenager was doing outside the spa in her towel).

Akemi adjusted her glasses as she popped her head out around the corner and squinted. Her eyes took their time focusing, but she caught blurry sight of the other girl leaving.Oh good, she didn't get vaporized. I wonder who she is?

Sailor Muse skidded to a halt as soon as she got far enough away from the entrance, breathing a huge sigh of relief. Safe. And it didn't look like she or Sailor Venus were followed out either.

"We need to find the other senshi," Ethos declared, once he decided the threat was gone. He wiggled in her arms and Muse placed him back on the ground, where he proceeded to pad his way over to Akemi after circling the area briefly. Kirin herself was glad to see the other girl made it out safely at some point during the fight. What surprised her, though, was what Ethos said to the other girl: "Greetings, senshi. I am Ethos, guardian of Sailor Muse."

How had the cat known she was a Senshi? Akemi pondered as she bowed her head respectfully at the guardian. The ways of those who watched over the Senshi were mysterious, though, and Akemi was far more interested in the sailor suited warrior. She took in the full of the girl-- those earrings were superb, after all, and the color combination was soothing and appropriately beautiful.

And she had to have mad skills to have taken down that cowboy earlier. "You must be one of the Crisis Senshi!" Akemi's grin was especially brilliant, complete with an obligatory sparkling gleam to her teeth, completely at odds with the throaty cackle of her voice. "Oh good, the attack wore off! And if figures I found you but not one of my own-"

Just then, a pipe above them began to ping as muffled complaints sounded. An explosion of soot was followed by the fat end of a once white cat, who was now a decidedly charcoal color. The cat's heavy tail swatted in annoyance. "Is that you Akemi?" The cat tried very hard to sound in control of the situation. From Akemi's chortle, he had obviously failed. "Can you... pull me out? I appear to be stuck."

"What are you even doing up there, Artie?" Akemi wiped her glasses before standing on tippy toes (oblivious to her towel riding up in the back) to grasp her guardian.

"I needed something from the bag." Artemis said flatly, groaning as Akemi tried forcing the chubby cat from the very small pipe.

"You need to go on a diet!"

"I wouldn't be in this situation if you hadn't gotten it in your head Kohaku would go to a day spa!"

"Really? That's not such a bad idea. But not this one-- it wasn't much of a fun time." Akemi stuck out her tongue and tugged once more. Artemis grunted as his body began to slide slowly out of the pipe-- as well as a very scrunched messenger bag. "No wonder you got stuck Artemis!" She said as she dropped the cat down and clutched her very dirty bag. "Oh, this is never going to come out. Do you know how priceless this bag is?"

Akemi turned back to the other girl. "Well, go ahead and de-henshin! As for introductions-- in addition to being Venus, leader of the Negaverse Senshi and overall superb fighter, I'm also a regular girl named Akemi."Telling her about the whole Myojo! think might be overkill, Akemi decided, watching as Artemis went over to the other guardian.

“Yep! Crisis senshi as-soon-as-I-find-my-team leader, Sailor Muse, at your service,” Kirin responded with a small curtsey and her own pleasant smile. “Though, you could probably teach me a thing or two. You handled yourself really well back there and I kind of hoped you were one of my teammates,” she added with a laugh. Kirin thought it was a bit surreal to be talking to THE Sailor Venus from the manga, but at the same time, she was relieved to find someone who might be able to help her with her senshi duties too.

As if to confirm it truly was Sailor Venus before her, a (now dirty) white talking cat wiggled out from a nearby pipe with Akemi’s help. So Artemis existed too! However, her train of thought changed gears when she saw the bag Artemis had dragged out with him. “Oh, crap! My things are still inside the spa.” A blush crept up her cheeks as she realized it’d be impossible for her to de-henshin as she had nothing on underneath her fuku. “Much as I’d love to change, I think it’d be best if I stayed in my suit for now, but … Oh! You do know me, though! I’m Kirin. I met you inside before …,” she paused trying to figure out why she was outside, “… Well, in the spa.”

Ethos meanwhile nodded in greeting as Artemis approached. “It’s good to see another guardian around here. How is the Negaverse situation fairing? Sailor Muse and I will help if we can, but she just awoke as a senshi yesterday and we need to find the rest of her team.”

“We will help!” Kirin echoed, turning to Akemi with a smile, “That’s what senshi do, right?”

"Oh, I have just the thing!" Akemi crouched, digging into bag the bag. As she rummaged, the thought crossed her mind that she was amongst equals, and it would probably be a good thing to dispel a few notes of wisdom on her fellow leader.

"You never know what is going to happen out on patrol. Better to be prepared for anything than have to explain suspicious slime stains on your clothing away. Youma is so hard to get out of good fabrics." Akemi pulled out a very rumpled piece of particularly bright yellow fabric and stood awkwardly, the bag left on the ground. Without wasting time, she shook the fabric out, revealing the cloth to be a serviceable halter slip dress, trimmed with violet satin below the bust line. But Akemi eyed the other girl and shook her head, not entirely pleased with the selection. "It will cover you, at least, but the fit won't be perfect. At least it is better than running around without clothes on!"

Artemis, meanwhile, had gone quite stiff. "Things are not what we planned," The cat said slowly. "The girls were separated upon arrival in this universe, and according to news reports... the princess of the white moon is no more." The soot covered cat bowed his head for a long moment. He'd always liked Luna's charge-- she gave the best scratches, and she was such a nice person. That, and she didn't hit him like Akemi was fond of.

He quickly gathered himself and pressed forward. There wasn't enough time to sit around and mope-- time was of the essence. "Bringing the Negaverse Senshi together is our top priority, but once we are a team again, we'll be able to help with training your Senshi. And the Senshi have a way of popping up when you least expect it-- but keep an eye out for reports of strange girls in the news. That's how Akemi and I found the Negaverse Senshi back home, when it was time to bring the Inners together. But we should hang out! For Guardian business, that is." Artemis finished hastily, trying to appear more dignified than he sounded and failing miserably.

Akemi eyed the cats and sighed before tossing the garment to the other girl. "If you see any Negaverse girls roaming around, please let me know. Ican do the same if I run into any of your team."

Memories of the spa were beginning to fade, leaving her only with a bad feeling of the place and the feeling of having eaten far too much food in one sitting. There was something important she was suppose to be remembering about the spa, but it couldn't be that important, right?

"Thank you so much!" Kirin accepted the proffered dress and managed to slip it on and de-henshin around the same time in order to keep her flashage to a minimum. Smoothing the dress out, she found it fit well enough and would work at least until she got home. Kirin also mentally stored Akemi's piece of advice in the back of her mind. It definitely would help to carry spare clothing around - especially if there were youma! (Another thing that existed from the manga! and not one she wanted to meet just yet). "I'll have to pick your brain later about more helpful hits," Kirin added with a grateful smile.

At the confirmation of the White Moon princess' death, Ethos too bowed his head. He had hoped maybe, just maybe, she had survived, but Artemis' news shattered that hope. Straightening, Ethos nodded at the other guardian. "Understood. We need to find the rest of the Crisis team, as well. Without them together, any training you could give them would be less effective. We'll look out for the Negaverse girls too." With stretch that covered his own grin, he added, "Yes, we should hang out. Compare notes and all. The usual."

"We'll definitely let you know if we see any of your girls, Akemi," Kirin seconded Ethos' statement. "And if you need a place to stay or something to eat -- just let me know. I, um, have a few connections that might be able to help. Or just look me up at the Ageman. I work there a lot; just tell them you're a friend of mine." She didn't want to tell Akemi about her yakuza connections just yet; not sure how the other senshi would take the news.

"Will do," Akemi said shortly, her face betraying her distraction with its impassive quality as she dropped to her haunches, digging out a small glittering object before she gracefully rose to her feet. Whereas before Akemi had an air of warmth and friendliness about her, now she seemed wrapped in a distant mystery, as if she was pushing Kirin away to a safe emotional distance. "I'll send one of the cats to the Ageman if I hear anything about your team. But remember..."

She muttered beneath her breath, and the shining object was revealed to be a small, crescent shape compact, dwarfed by an emblem of a heart superimposed before a crescent moon. The compact released a wave of orange energy that settled about her body, not a simple glow but an aura that positively sparkled with vitality. At once, her appearance changed. She was still recognizably Akemi, but her hair was pulled into a fashionable bun, and the towel had transformed into a yellow outfit not out of place on the Tokyo streets. And a pair of cute yellow shoes appeared on her feet.

"Old trinkets can be remarkably helpful too." Akemi said solemnly, catching Artemis with one hand on her way towards the corner. But once there, she turned back to Kirin and winked. "Good luck." With that, the blond twisted around the bend, fading at once into the crowd.

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