Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Sailormoon Dark ❯ Episode 35: Partnership. A Rune Divided. ( Chapter 35 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Sailormoon Dark: Episode Thirty-Five
"Partnership. A Rune Divided."

Written by Laurel Wilson ( Sailorhathor@aol.com )
Inspired by the Japanese animated show Pretty Soldier Sailormoon.
The ideas for this fanfic were conceived in 1995, but this actual episode was written in October 2004-February 2005.


"Partnership. It's a tricky thing, because you must maintain the whole while still retaining a sense of self. Sometimes, things are thrown out of balance, and a group can be divided."
"The rune - the rune has divided itself. This is a sign of disaster ahead for a very important partnership."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, who cares about all that jazz? Didn't you hear what I said? I said one of the Outer Senshi will die!" (Thunder claps behind Sailordarkcosmos.)
"Ooh, neat effect. I promise, we're getting to that."
"So says you!"
Pretty Soldier Sailormoon Dark Episode 35: Partnership. A Rune Divided. The moonlight carries the message of love.

        Small stones clacking together made a sound almost as loud as the growly purring coming from the raccoon, Rooreru, as he scratched his back against one of the posts of Su's bed. She sat at her desk, kneading at the bottom of a small suede bag filled with rune stones, stirring them up. They are what made the clacking noises as they tumbled together.
        Rooreru hopped up on the desk beside where her hands were at work. "You seem troubled, Su," he commented.
        "I have a bad feeling." A strand of silvery white hair fell across one of her eyes as she pondered the way the bag of runes felt in her fingers. "Oh... this is why." Su fished two jagged halves of a broken rune out of the little sack. "A rune has split itself."
        "Hmm..." Rooreru grunted, looking the pieces over. "That is troubling. That is the rune of - "
        "Partnership," Su finished. Fitting the pieces together so they formed a whole again, she continued, "Gebo. Well, this couldn't be any clearer. When the rune of partnership splits itself down the middle, it is sending a foreboding message. It means a very tight partnership will be split in two. Today."
        "Will the partnership be broken up by force, or voluntarily?" the raccoon asked. He leaned over to examine the split rune more closely, black nose twitching.
        Su finally pushed the hair from her eye and replied, "That cannot be known until the event happens. However it all goes, one thing is for certain - we'll all be feeling its ramifications for a long while. This will not be a desirable dissolution of a partnership. My feelings tell me it will be very bad."
        "It must be senshi-related, then. Maybe - "
        Suddenly, Su put a hand to the raccoon's snout. "There's someone in the hall."
        A knock at the door came mere seconds later.
        "Come in."
        Tabitha entered the room. "Hey Su, you wanted me to remind you about your first appointment today. Tanaka-san comes at ten for a reading." She played idly with the doorknob.
        "Thank you for the reminder."
        Smiling at him, Tabitha said, "Hi Rooreru."
        The chubby raccoon put on his best look of naive innocence. "Meow!"
        Tabitha giggled and asked, "Do you ever say anything other than 'meow'?"
        Su and Rooreru exchanged a discreet glance.


         Tufts of pink hair poked from under the mounds of pillows on Nozomi's bed. They stirred as the giggling child shifted beneath them. Smiling with amusement, Momono stood at the side of the bed. "Haha, Sailormoon, I have you now," she cackled in a mock-villain voice.
        Nozomi popped up, spreading pillows all over. "Pink Sugaaaar Heeeeart ATTACK!" She held up a kitchen spoon as if it was a wand.
        "Arrrgh! How did you escape?" Momono yelled, and grabbed her chest, pretending she'd been hit by this attack, Chibimoon's first power. "That's no matter. I'll just defeat you with brute force. Banzai!" Momono jumped on the bed. She and Nozomi started wrestling playfully and bounding around on the bed, making a great ruckus.
        Looking quite irritated, Haruka poked her head into the room. "Do you know how much a fancy bed for a little girl costs?"
        Nozomi and Momono kept playing, sparring with a couple of long-handled spoons. "Oh, furniture's expensive!" Nozomi replied distractedly.
        "Then why are you standing on it?!" Haruka asked in a tone that promised that violence might soon follow.
        The two young girls stopped in mid-playbattle and looked at each other with wide eyes until what Haruka had said had sunk in. "Oh..." They guiltily stepped down off the bed. "Sorry, Haruka-san."
        "We're sorry," added Momono sheepishly.
        Satisfied that they were properly intimidated into behaving, Haruka nodded curtly and said, "Just don't do it again. Beds can break when you jump on them." With that, she left the room.
        Haruka passed Elios on his way down the hallway with a tray of tea, milk, and cookies. "Elios, did you know they were jumping on the bed in there?" she asked with a cross tone.
        Elios shrugged. "Children jump on beds all the time; it's a common thing they like to do."
        "Well, I don't want them to do that. They could break it. And keep them quiet in there, please. Michiru is preparing for a special class today. They're going on a field trip."
        Elios commented, "I don't hear her complaining," and headed to Nozomi's room. As he entered, he said, "Who wants cookies?"
        The two girls cheered, but then shushed each other in mid-"yay!" as they remembered Haruka's demeanor. Haruka frowned, suddenly wondering if she was being too grumpy.
        Michiru came down the hallway; she was chewing on a pen and looking over some sheet music. She didn't seem to notice Haruka brooding there, but revealed that she definitely had noticed by asking, "Something wrong?"
        In spite of herself, Haruka grinned; Michiru had a secret way about her that sometimes made it hard to tell how she really felt, if she even noticed you. Her self-indulgent inner world... but she always gave herself away for Haruka. "I was just wondering how someone could think that I'll ever be anyone's mother."
        Michiru, suddenly serious, putting all of her attention on Haruka, took the other woman's hands in her own. "How can you say that? You'll make a wonderful mother."
        Haruka shook her head. "I'm horrible with Nozomi. She's just a little girl, she's lost her mother, and I won't even let her play. I lose patience with her so easily. She's afraid of me. How am I ever going to be the mother of that teenage girl in there?" She gestured toward Taru and Sash's room.
        Michiru reminded her, "You took care of Hotaru when she was a baby."
        "After trying to kill her."
        "We all tried to kill Hotaru - you, Setsuna, and I. We thought she was too dangerous to be allowed to live. But we all grew to love her as our own. Just as you will love our two daughters." She kissed Haruka's mouth. "You're just a strict disciplinarian, and children need that. Stop worrying about it."
        Sighing, Haruka paced the hallway. "Why does the child annoy me so much? She just wants to play."
        Michiru, realizing that Haruka just wasn't going to let this go, bopped her on the nose with her pen. Haruka blinked, first by reflex, then in surprise. "Alright, if you're determined to keep brooding over it, then do me a favor. Work on it. Make a serious effort to be more patient with the children. Play with Nozomi. Read to her. You'll feel better." She sighed to signal that the conversation was over and promptly went back to studying her music.
        Haruka nodded once. "Alright. I'll do it for you. But just this once." With a wink, she leaned over Michiru's shoulder. "Is that the song we're playing at the demonstration today?"
        "Yes. Are you prepared?"
        Giving an overconfident shrug, Haruka replied, "Always." She looked toward Nozomi's room. "That young girl Nozomi hangs out with, Koji Momono, she told Jun she's an orphan. I think I'll work on my patience with her too. She's older, and needs a role model."
        "So you'll use her for practice," Michiru commented in a mischievous tone.
        Haruka started to say yes, but caught herself. "No, I don't mean it like-" She realized she was being teased, and gave Michiru her best "I may strangle you" look. "You know how I meant it."
        "Yes, I do." Now Michiru winked.
        "We should do something to give the girl some guidance. Imagine losing both your parents in an earthquake on their anniversary. It's sad."
        Furrowing her brow, Michiru asked, "Is that what she told you?"
        "Yes. Why?"
        "Momono told Jun and Nozomi that her parents died in an explosion."
        "Hm." Haruka looked through the open door of Nozomi's room at Momono, who was nibbling on a cookie. "That's strange. I wonder which story is true?"


      & nbsp; Outside the hotel in which the pop singing group Noble 6 had decided to take refuge, a few press vans and a mob of fans waited for them to come out. This was the only place it seemed they could stay together and still be able to hide out from the press; the hotel had excellent security and even better room service. Everyone who waited outside wanted one question answered: Was Aian Hatsudouki a senshi?
        Among the fans and curious onlookers were two friends who were very familiar with the ancient story that had inspired Noble 6's moniker - Heri and Hikaru. They were in civilian clothes; no need to appear as Sailorhelium and Sailorneon unless there was trouble. "Do you think it's really true that Noble 6 are our missing sisters?" Hikaru asked, a question she had repeated more than once before.
        Heri understood the anticipation that Hikaru felt. She nodded. "I do. I really do. Hopefully, we can find out for sure."
        "You think Darkcosmos might come back for Aian?"
        "She might come back for all of them. Darkcosmos sent her lackeys to get Aian once already. Maybe they're all senshi, and they all will be targeted." Heri gazed thoughtfully up at the tenth floor, where it was rumored Noble 6 were staying. "We're going to prevent them from being taken."
        Across the street, Aquamarine Black conducted a live report for the entertainment portion of the news. "We're entering day three of the wait for Noble 6 to come down out of this hotel to face the press and answer the question on everyone's lips: Aian Hatsudouki, are you a senshi? All attempts to contact the famous pop singing group have been met with closed doors and replies of 'no comment.' In just a moment, I'll be talking with some of the fans here to get their opinions. First, I must send out a personal plea to Noble 6. Please, you must come down and clear the air in this matter. Your fans want to know; in fact, all of Japan wants to know the truth."
        On the tenth floor, sitting on an ottoman pulled up to the television, Ran wrung her hands with apprehension. She followed the news reporter's image on the screen with her eyes. "This is such crap," she said. "This isn't real news. How can they let her hold this vigil out there? 'We're entering day three of the wait...' I can't believe she gets paid for that."
        Aian, the girl who had transformed from Sailorxenonkingfisher back into her regular self before the TV camera, brought her a paper cup of strong sake. "Drink this. Calm down. Getting upset won't make her go away."
        "Maybe a nice big water balloon thrown at her from the tenth floor would. We're virtual prisoners in this hotel because of that mob out there." Ran downed the entire cup in one gulp and crumpled it between her hands. She showed no sign of stopping the worrying; Ran crumpled and crumpled the cup and turned it over in her hands. The sound seemed to feed her addled mind.
        "We're going to have to face them sometime." Aian poured herself another glass of the sake.
        Ji spoke from her perch in the wicker chair by the balcony, where she had been watching the crowd down below since the morning. "You're remarkably calm for someone who appeared as a senshi on national TV and then detransformed for all to see. That's never happened before, you know." She looked with tired eyes on Aian. "Senshi are supposed to keep their true identities secret."
        "I'm not a senshi. And it's the sake that's keeping me calm." Aian tipped the bottle in her bandmate's general direction.
        "Then how do you explain the fact that you turned into one?" Ji's tone was cynical and weary. "I grow tired of your denial. You turned into a senshi, Aian."
        "I was turned, Ji. I was turned into one by one of those weird bad chicks who are running around Tokyo right now." She emphasized her words by pointing the bottle at Ji every so often. "There's a big difference."
        "And you think that's something that can just be done to people?" Ji pressed. She stood up, taking a more confrontational stance. "People can just be turned into senshi when they had nothing within them to make them senshi in the first place?"
        Still wringing the cup in her hands, Ran worried, "What's going to happen to our careers because of this? Will we ever be able to perform as Noble 6 again without being plagued by questions of that incident at Mirai Mugen?"
        Aian didn't even seem to hear her; she said to Ji, "What are you saying? You think I'm really a senshi?" She laughed mockingly, as if Ji was being a great fool. "You must be joking."
        "I don't want to talk about this anymore." Ran got up and started to pace the room.
        The last member of Noble 6, Denki, had caught the latter part of this conversation when she entered the room, followed by the band's personal servant, Simon Wheatsworth. Wheatsworth looked the part of the proper English butler in the tuxedo he insisted on wearing; all his idea. He considered it his working uniform. Wheatsworth almost always wore a serious, tightlipped expression, as he did now.
        "Aren't we ever going to talk about it?" Denki asked. She addressed Aian directly. "All we've been doing for days is starting these half-baked confrontations and then someone declares they don't want to talk about it. Well, this affects our whole lives - we have to talk about it. About the dreams we've all had, about the two girls in the shadows, about how Ran came up with the name Noble 6... what happened to Aian is a sign. It's finally time to talk about the Castle Noble."
        Ji was nodding, but Aian seemed to ignore her. She engaged in one of her favorite pastimes, teasing the serious and proper Wheatsworth. "Wheatsworth, my love!" She threw her arms around his neck and jumped up on him, wrapping her legs about his waist. He made no effort to hold her, just stood there looking mildly uncomfortable, taking it. Aian planted many small kisses on Wheatsworth's cheeks. "I'm so happy to see you!"
        "Yes, madam," he responded.
        Rolling her eyes, Denki tried to get Aian's attention. "Aian..."
        "I'm so thankful to you for showing up with the limo the other day and rescuing me from those TV reporters. I should do something romantic for you to show you how much I appreciated that." She pretended to think it over. "We could go out for a romantic candlelit dinner."
        "That won't be necessary, madam."
        Aian pretended to be hurt. "Wheatsworth, have you stopped loving me?"
        "Aian!" Denki suddenly screeched, startling everyone in the room. Everyone but Wheatsworth, who just struggled lightly to keep from toppling over under Aian's weight.
        Instantly serious, Aian stepped down off of the servant and looked at Denki expectantly. She noticed Denki's hands were shaking.
        "Aian... I haven't seen Suzi in several days. All because we're holed up here in this damn hotel room." Suzi was Denki's personal assistant, who helped her with all the things Wheatsworth couldn't, namely her nervous condition. Denki suffered from crippling stagefright. She declared often that without Suzi, she would never have been able to perform onstage. Suzi was also Denki's lover, a fact she thought she had kept hidden from the others, but which they secretly knew - they just didn't tell that to Denki. All except Ran, who was densely oblivious to the extra level of Denki and Suzi's relationship.
        The press, however, most definitely did not know. Such a thing would be touted all over the papers as a huge scandal. Aian and Ji did not care if the two loved each other, they just weren't going to reveal their knowledge if Denki did not want them to know. All in due time, they thought. Maybe even Ran would come to understand in time.
        "I didn't want to expose Suzi to this media circus, so I've told her to stay away. But I can't stand it anymore. See how my hands are shaking?" Denki held up a hand to show them what they had already noticed - awful tremors. "Suzi's coming here today, to help me. I don't want things to be so strained, that I don't even feel comfortable having my assistant visit, to do her job." The increased presence of the press around Noble 6 lately... what might they accidentally catch? No wonder Denki was being cautious. "I want things to go back to normal."
        Feeling ashamed, Aian looked at her helplessly, and with sympathy. "I understand how you feel, Denki, but what can we do?"
        She paused a long time, looking at each member of the group before replying, "We can admit the truth to ourselves."
        "And that truth is...?" Ran asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
        Stopping again to gaze at Ji, who nodded, Denki declared, "We're all senshi."
        Aian and Ran both shook their heads and rolled their eyes, scoffing in disbelief. "Are you out of your mind? We are not senshi," Aian said. "Senshi wear those silly outfits with the short skirts and go gallivanting around, saving the innocent." She tried to keep the sarcasm out of her voice, but she just couldn't help it. "We are idol singers. We don't do that."
        Denki shot the sarcasm right back at her. "And exactly what was it that you wore the other day as Sailorxenonkingfisher? Was that a silly senshi outfit? And have you ever stopped to think about that name - Sailorxenon? Why, xenon is one of the noble gases. Like Noble 6." She turned to Ran. "You told us about the dreams you had of the Castle Noble and its six sisters. That's how you named our group. There are six noble gases. Do you dismiss all this as coincidence, after you've seen the mobs of Elemental senshi that have been cropping up lately? It's been plastered all over the news..."
        Obviously conflicted between her dreams and her denial, Ran shook her head furiously. "No. I am a pop singer. I am not a soldier of love! I refuse to give up my life for something I've never asked for."
        "I don't think we have a choice," Ji interjected. "It's destiny. You can stay in denial if you want to, but I can't take the dreams anymore. Every night, they're calling to me in my sleep, the two girls in the shadows. 'We are your missing ones, we complete the Noble Six.' Then there's screaming and death and the complete destruction of the Castle Noble, and this overwhelming feeling of betrayal. I wake up in such intense fear. I have to find out what these dreams mean if I'm ever getting any sleep again." She snatched up her jacket. "I'm taking a walk around the hotel."
        Ran, looking stricken with worry, protested, "But the press - "
        "They aren't allowed above the lobby floor. I'm going up to the roof. They can't find me there unless they bring a freaking helicopter." Ji quickly stormed from the room, slamming the door behind her.
        "You see?" Denki said. "You see what this denial is doing to... Suzi?"
        Ran and Aian noticed that she was staring at the television over Ran's shoulder. They looked too and saw Suzi trying to make her way past the press crowded around her.
        Aquamarine Black was being the most aggressive in trying to get her questions answered. "You are Amai Suzume, aren't you? Denki Notama's assistant?" Amai was Suzi's real first name, but everyone called her Suzi in a shortening of her surname. Someone had started it years ago and it had always stuck. "Can you answer any of our questions about Noble 6?"
        "Please just let me through." Suzi appeared to be horribly shy and humble in her mannerisms, which she was.
        "Will they still be playing the benefit concert with Lightning Boys, or will they cancel?"
        "No, they're not going to cancel. Let me through!" Suzi attempted to get closer to the hotel, but the press people swarmed in on her, pinning her in the middle of the crowd.
        "Wheatsworth!" cried Denki.
        "Of course, madam." She didn't even have to explain; he knew she wanted him to go rescue Suzi.
        What happened next was so sudden and stunning that no one was prepared for it. People off camera gasped and screamed just seconds before the TV screen filled with birds. They swooped down out of the sky in a massive swarm, buzzing the heads of the reporters, shrieking as they flew. Reacting on instinct, the reporters covered their heads and yelped in surprise - this amazing distraction gave Suzi the chance to duck between two reporters and escape into the hotel. A few people from the news crews milled in the hotel bar, but when Suzi dashed through the lobby, all they could do was watch her, unprepared. Truthfully, some of them were not informed enough to know who she was.
        As soon as Suzi was safely inside, the birds took up a formation and soared back up into the sky. Aquamarine looked all around her for any birds that might still be hovering near. "What was that all about?!" she asked no one in particular.
        Denki sighed with relief. "The birds... they protected her."
        Aian, amazed at what she had seen, asked, "Why?!"
        No one knew.
        Within minutes, Wheatsworth returned to the room with Suzi. The demure, innocent girl started to rush to Denki, who returned her concern; once they reached each other, they temporarily lifted their arms to embrace, but suddenly remembered there were other people in the room. Awkwardly, the two women stopped and did a sort of dance of avoidance in touching each other in any way that could be viewed as intimate. "Suzi, are you alright? The reporters didn't hurt you, did they?"
        "No, they just crowded me. I'm alright." She liked the feeling of Denki rubbing her lower arms, even if the effort was tentative. Suzi glanced at the others. "Good afternoon, Aian-san, Ranpu-san, Wheatsworth-san." She briefly bowed her head to each one. "How are you holding up?"
        "As well as anyone who's a virtual prisoner." Aian saw Suzi wince at her bitter sarcasm, and was immediately sorry she'd been cross with her. Suzi really was a nice girl, an innocent bystander in this whole mess. "I'm sorry to snap at you, but we're all under a lot of pressure. We have to figure a way out of this."
        Suzi nodded.
        "We saw you on the television. What happened with those birds?" Ran asked. "Are they your trained pets? Denki never mentioned-"
        "No, no, I don't train animals or anything of the sort," Suzi shyly replied.
        Aian added, "Then why...?"
        "I don't know." Uncomfortable with the attention and questions she couldn't answer, Suzi shrugged and looked down at Denki's hands on her arms. "The birds' behavior is a mystery to me too. Perhaps they wanted bits of the newscasters' hair to built nests with."
        Ran and Aian exchanged doubtful glances. But obviously, Suzi had no control over nor knowledge of the birds' strange behavior. "Lucky for you, they gave you the chance to escape."
        Suzi nodded. This was a scene she apparently wanted to escape from too.
        Denki excused the both of them. "I haven't had a treatment for my anxiety attacks for days. Suzi and I will need some privacy; we'll use my room. Will you two think about what I said, please?" she pleaded.
        The most commitment they would make to that was a nod. Denki turned to go to her private room, followed by Suzi. Aian and Ran looked at each other, but before they could say anything, Aian gasped and pointed to the balcony. "Holy cow!"
        Birds lined the balcony railing from one end to the other, perching there quietly, occasionally grooming themselves. All of the patio furniture was also occupied by gaggles of birds - what were they doing there? Their number was large, just like when they defended Suzi. It was unmistakable that they were the same birds; they were the same size and colors, all very similar in appearance. What were they waiting for?
        Ran watched the birds watching her. "What kind are they?"
        All Aian could do was shrug, wide-eyed. "Maybe we could send Wheatsworth out for a book on bird varieties?"
        Inside Denki's room, finally alone, the two girls had their long-awaited embrace and a series of desperate kisses. Soft, warm lips on lips, until one of them spoke. "It's been Hell, being away from you."
        "I've missed you too." Suzi ran her hands through Denki's green hair while Denki played with her looped braids. "Things have been so weird lately. What are we going to do?"
        "I'm not sure. I've been talking to the others, and... Suzi, you know that interview Modern Heroes magazine did with Sailormoon a couple years back?"
        "Yes, I read it."
        "You remember how she said that when she wasn't acting as Sailormoon, she was just an ordinary girl living a regular life like the rest of us? And how she once had a past life as a princess on the moon? She retained memories of that life in this one."
        Suzi nodded.
        "The other members of Noble 6 and I... we've had memories like that. Then this thing happened with Aian becoming Sailorxenonkingfisher. Ji and I think it all has meaning."
        "You think you may be senshi?" Suzi asked, a little questioningly, a little matter-of-factly, as if she already knew.
        "Yeah... we do." Denki inwardly winced and added, "I know it sounds crazy, I know it does, but if you could experience these dreams-"
        "Denki-chan, it doesn't sound crazy," Suzi broke in. She shushed Denki with a finger to her lips and a shake of her head. "I've had some strange dreams too, ones about you wearing a senshi uniform; I don't fully understand them yet, but I think I was there somehow. This thing today, with the birds... when they protected me... it wasn't the first time the sparrows came around."
        "Sparrows? Is that what they were?"
        "Yes. After the first few times I saw them, I looked them up in a pictorial bird guide. Sparrows of all kinds, some that aren't even native to Japan. Yet, here they are... watching me. So help me, Denki, I know they're watching me!"
        Suzi's voice had begun to shake, like she might cry, like there was some horrible truth behind the sparrows' behavior. "They perch on telephone wires and railings, anywhere they can find, and just sit out there for hours, watching with their beady black eyes." She swallowed back tears. "If they would just talk to me, then maybe they'd tell me what they want. But why does that thought even occur to me? Birds can't speak. Why should I even expect them to? Either I'm crazy or something unexplainable is happening here."
        Stroking Suzi's arms, Denki shook her head as she said, "We're not crazy. Weird things always surround the lives of senshi. I think... that that is our explanation for what's been happening to us lately."
        Suzi, openly confused, looked at Denki with doubt. "Maybe for you, but - I'm not a senshi. Senshi are brave and beautiful and so many things I could never be."
        With a small smile, Denki kissed her girlfriend's forehead. "Why does it always seem that the ones who are inherently good have no idea just how amazing they really are, and the ones who are basically bad almost always have an overinflated sense of their worth?" She sighed, holding Suzi's face in her hands. "We'll make sense of it all. I have a feeling this will all solve itself in time."
        Tears of fear brimmed in Suzi's eyes. "Denki-chan, I'm frightened. The sparrows, the way they look at me... I think they're trying to tell me something. That something bad is going to happen." The tears ran down her face. Denki softly wiped them away with the pads of her thumbs. "Or that maybe... the bad thing has already happened."


     &nb sp;  Among the crowd of onlookers and dedicated fans lingering in front of the hotel, the Tokyo branch of the Dazzling Pop Idols Fan Club held session. The group's most hyperactive member, Peni, pulled on the arm of its most sophisticated member, Nikkuru, Niki for short. "Isn't this the most exciting thing that's happened to our club ever? Aian Hatsudouki, member of the famous pop group Noble 6, possibly a senshi! Do you think it's true? Do you think she'll come out on the balcony and wave to us?"
        As usual, Niki tolerated her friend's overenthusiasm, although she looked a little annoyed at having her arm treated like a slot machine handle. "I wouldn't be here if I wasn't excited by the possibility. We all saw the report on the news - she detransformed right before our eyes. It has to be true."
        "Nurita says it was all done with special effects."
        "Why would they do that?"
        "Maybe to promote a new album, or that charity concert they'll be playing soon. It could have been a publicity stunt." Peni thought it was a good, possible theory, but Niki shook her head.
        "There are better ways to promote something than some stupid publicity stunt. Noble 6 are much too smart for that."
        Nurita heard her; since that had been her idea, she took the insult personally. "Oh really, Niki? You're just saying that because you're jealous. You wish you were a senshi, so you want your idol to be one too." The girl snobbishly regarded Niki with only her shoulder, refusing to even look at her. "But it's just a promotional stunt, you mark my words." Nurita rejoined the faction of the fan club to whom she'd been talking.
        Niki made an obscene gesture at her back. "Bitch. She's wrong, I tell you. Aian Hatsudouki is a senshi. They probably all are."
        Her bespectacled eyes wide with wonder, Peni exclaimed, "You really think so?"
        "I do," Niki nodded. "Wouldn't that be a beautiful thing? To be part of a powerful team of senshi, all gorgeous and magical and special?"
        Peni was nodding her agreement, enchanted with the idea, when a voice came out of the crowd of people around them. "You can have all of that, you know."
        Peni and Niki turned to the source of the voice, and, although they didn't know it, found themselves looking at Baby Baby Love. "What? Who are you?"
        Baby Baby Love held up Dark Luna-P. The mirror on its forehead was flashing. "Come with me and I'll tell you everything. Including who you really are."


      &n bsp; Alone on the roof of the hotel, Ji sighed as she looked out over the city of Tokyo. Her city. Had she ever been so arrogant to consider it her city? Just because she had become a big singing star... now, maybe Ji had inherited the city after all, but as one of its protectors. Being a pop idol didn't seem so important in light of that responsibility. It seemed meaningless.
        "How are we going to sort all of this out?" Ji said aloud. With Aian and Ran in denial, and the press still on their backs...
        "Jishin Yochi."
        Her thoughts frozen by the interruption, Ji's eyes widened in surprise. No one knew she was up here, except the girls in the band. Had the press managed to find her anyway? Ji turned and gasped, because who she saw there was no member of the press. Instead, it was Baby Baby Love and two unfamiliar senshi.
        The one with pale lavendar hair and glasses carried a copper gun, a wicked one. The other brushed her long dark green braid off her shoulder and brandished the thin silver rod in her hand. They wore the fuku of Elemental senshi; Ji had seen them enough on the news to know what they looked like. Aian had worn a similar one as Sailorxenonkingfisher. "Who the hell are you?!"
        The girl in the glasses posed with her gun. "People think I am small and worthless, like a single copper American penny. But when you're dealing with more and more of me, I add up to some major change. I am Sailorcopper, Elemental of the Metal Triads!" She showed off her gun. It was marked with an alchemy symbol that stood for copper. "Isn't this awesome? It's the Copper Harpoon Gun. And it's mine!"
        "Shut up, you're stepping on my introduction," the other girl started.
        Baby Baby Love interrupted her. "And I thought I said no introductory speeches," she sighed.
        The green-haired girl spoke quickly, to get her spiel in. "The nickel is another small American coin, thick, but not worth much. But nickel is also used to make strong vaults to guard what is valuable against theft. I am Sailornickel, sentry of the Metal Triads!"
        "Tell her what yours is called!" Sailorcopper said cheerfully.
        Sailornicke l held out the rod. "The Nickel Gate," she proudly said.
        Baby Baby Love sighed with impatience. "Would you two stop showing off? Now then... Yochi-san, you will come with us. If not by choice, then by force." She started to bounce Dark Luna-P. The mirror on its head was flashing again.
        Ji didn't wait to see what she was going to do with that strange-looking ball. She tried to dash past them, but Nickel darted in front of her and jabbed her in the stomach with the Nickel Gate. Ji helplessly doubled over and went to her knees, the wind knocked out of her. She watched the cat-head ball disappear into a puff of purple smoke; when the cloud cleared, the ball had turned into a giant lollipop with a swirl circling around it. Ji couldn't believe she was caught in the middle of some sort of senshi melee. They planned to kidnap her!
        Baby Baby Love held up the sucker. "Watch the-"
        "Three against one, that's hardly a fair fight!"
        They all looked over to the door that led onto the roof - this is where the voice had come from. Two senshi stood there, side by side and leaning on one another. Two who were not on the same side as these three.
        "Light of air!" Sailorhelium cried.
        "A beacon in the night!" added Sailorneon.
        They spoke together. "Two of the six sisters of the noble gases, we are Sailorhelium and Sailorneon. You sodden the name of the Elemental senshi with your evil actions. We have seen your weapons, and we are not impressed!"

"Carefully chosen... these senshi were carefully chosen. These weapons... they were chosen also. Chosen as a special present for the Outer Senshi I want to surprise. The Titanium Shield."
"Surprise her with what?"
"The Zirconium Shield."
"Surprise her with what?"
"The Fortunetelling Trident."
"Answer me! Surprise her with what?!"
"Her own death."
Sailormoon Dark Episode 36: A Rune Divided II: The Fortunetelling Trident. The moonlight carries the message of love.

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