Chapter Twenty-One:
Lost And Found

by by Sky, Skysong, Angie, Meiling, Toya

It was a regular evening on Wendy Parker's paper route. The short girl with sugar-pink hair and tiny blue runners ran from door to door, ringing the doorbells on the list she had memorized by now. It was collection day.

She'd just started her doorbell-ringing marathon, and she'd already gotten three payments and gotten yelled at by a possibly insane random person down the street. She hadn't seen who it was, but it couldn't be a hobo, for the main reason that there were no hobos around here. Wendy shrugged and went up to the next door.

"Hello? It's the paper!" She knocked on the door. "Collection!"

Unknown to her, the infamous plant-eating rabbit of the neighborhood was hopping after her. Eve had tried to call out to the paper delivery girl, but Wendy had thought it was some random crazy person, or possibly one of those irritating preps at her school that she tried to ignore. Unfazed, the rather silly and possibly insane rabbit kept running, hiding in bushes every once in a while for cover. Well, she told herself it was for cover. It was actually to eat the leaves and berries, and sometimes the bark.

It was a particularly boring night for the resident of the house Wendy was walking towards next. Naiya bustled around the kitchen.  She was vainly trying to find something to nimble on to try and pass the time. Patrolling, she thought vaguely, pulling a package of jell-o pudding from the fridge. It didn't sound too fun, if anything senshi related could be. Especially not if it involved anyone else like she had met Halloween time. Except Rian of course, Naiya added as the blue hiared girl stuck a chocolate covered spoon in her mouth.

Hearing a knock on the door she started down the hall to answer it.  Both of her parents were out for the night, and Adra was out doing whatever Adra did in her spare time. "Vapo! Come on down, wil you?  I think it's time to go!" Nia called into the living room with that and continued her short walk.

"Hello? It's the paper!" Nia's hand was already turning the doorknob before she could call back to the frog with a 'nevermind.'  The door was open and Nia was left standing face to...well, top of the head of a pink haired girl calling 'collection!' at her. Orchid eyes blinked at her for a moment.

Realizing she had stuck the spoon back in her mouth and it was still there, Naiya pulled it out and grinned at the girl. "Hi!  Collection, eh?" She paused and made a quick check of her pockets.  As she had thought, there wasn't any money lurking in them. "Just give me a moment to go get it..." And she was bounding down the hallway back to the kitchen, spoon back in her mouth and leaving a very confused frog next to the door.

Wendy smiled after the girl was gone. As mean as it sounded- and she tried to keep it from sounding that way- this had brought a little comic relief to her day. The pink-haired girl looked down at her customer's guardian.

"A frog? Unusual pet. Which is cool. Cute little thing," she smiled. Wendy wondered if perhaps frogs had been descended from dragons. That would be cool. She, however, decided not to mention this to anyone.

Eve had a chunk of bark still in her mouth when she noticed that the fast-moving girl had stopped again. The fat rabbit started hopping again, vainly trying to finish her food at the same time.  Wendy looked back.  "It's the rabbit," she commented to no one in particular. "At least it's not eating our tree again."

At the moment, the frog was feeling quite favorable. Having being deemed 'cute' by the girl in front of him, Vaporum took an immediate liking to her. He was now a 'cute little thing.' The thought of telling Naiya this and making her give a few more compliments to him crept into the frog guardian's mind, but he supposed it would be better not to. Besides, there were more important things to think about. Something about this girl was irking him a little.

Wendy's comment pulled him from his thoughts for a moment. It was random enough to have him pay attention to the rabbit in question.  Curious, Vaporum started to hop towards the furry creature. Maybe things wouldn't turn out as random as they seemed.

Nia was back at the door in time to give Vaporum a short, curious glance. Such an odd fellow, she mused and gave a light sigh. Looking back at the girl she grinned and offered the collection payment to her. "There you go. Sorry about that." Naiya paused and motioned towards the rabbit that was currently swallowing some bark. "Is she yours?"

Wendy smiled. "It's okay," she laughed. "You should see some of the people on this route. Completely insane... No, that's just the rabbit. She eats everyone's plants. Although I wonder why she's following me..."

Eve hopped up to Vaporum and looked over the frog.  "Heyhey!" she whispered, words running together and hardly identifiable. "Who'reyou? IthinkIknowyou.  DoI? 'CausesometimesIthinkIknowsomeonebutIdon't. Andthat'dbereallyweird'causethenit'dbemore'n'oneinaday."

Vaporum let out a squeak, his sudden hopping showing a rise in hyperactivity. "Think I know you! Yes! Think I do!" He peered closer at Eve, little black eyes blinking in curiosity. A few more squeaks issued from the frog and he started to do what might have looked like a prance, if he had the proper legs to do one. "Senshi!  Astro? EEP!" Clinging to a piece of sanity, Vaporum made a frantic look over at Wendy. "Is she? Doyouknow?"

Eve smiled and began her unintelligible hyperactive response. "You'reVaporumaren'tyou? Yayyayyay! Heylolo! Ithinksheis!  Idunnoyet'cuzshethoughtIwassomecrazyhobostalkingher. Buthey!"

Naiya shifted her eyes back over towards the odd animal pair. That squeaking sound was unmistakable. Vapo seemed to be making friends for all the wrong reasons, in her own reasonings anyway. At the back of her mind she knew she should call Rian pretty soon. Looking back at Wendy, Vaporum's squeaks next to the rabbit only meant one thing. "Say... would you like to come in for a drink or something before you deal with the rest of your insane clients?"

Wendy laughed. "Sure. Gotta be fast though. I have a game at eight."

Naiya beamed and moved aside. "Come on in." As soon as Wendy's head was past her shoulder, Naiya cast an imploring look at the two guardians. Luckily, Vaporum understood and came leaping over, closely followed by the rabbit.  Shutting the door after the two, Nia turned and followed after Wendy, leading her to the slightly unarranged kitchen. "Any prefereance in drinks? My sis is an addict when it comes to beverages, so we probably have a little of it."

Wendy smiled. "Do you have any of that carbonated lemonade stuff?"

At this point Vaporum had climbed up to his perch on her shoulder. He was blinking over at Wendy, studying her. After making sure Eve had made it to the kitchen, the frog cleared his throat a little bit. Apparantly Nia had heard it, and gave a despairing sigh from in the refridgerator. Vaporum didn't pay any mind to it and went on with his business. His voice was more like a high pitched squeak due to all this excitement, and what he said more or less sounded like a squeak to anyone who didn't know what he was talking about. "Senshi!"

"Hm?" Wendy turned around. "Oh, sorry, I thought someone said something. Probably just your frog. Cute, isn't he?"

Nia chuckled. "Oh yes, very cute, when he wants to be." Vaporum leapt off her shoulder to the table as Naiya wen to get a cup. He waited rather impatiently while she got the drink. "There you are," Nia said cheerily, offering Wendy the glass.

"Thanks," smiled the pink-haired girl.

A loud squeak from the table brought attentions to it, and Vaporum was hopping around madly. "Let's get on with it! No time! We have to! Explain! EEP!  You have to! Rian! Senshi! Eve!" The teal bundle of energy was so wrapped up in his pieced out dialogue he didn't even notice himself hopping off the table. He conveniantly fell on top of Eve. Blinking, he tried to make sense of how he got there, leaving Naiya alone with Wendy's response for the moment.

"Huh?" Wendy just about dropped the glass. "The frog-"

"Yup! Hetalkedhetalkedhedid! AndIdidtoo! Hiiiiiiiiiii!" interrupted the fat rabbit.

"The rabbit?" Wendy put her glass down before she broke it. "That's the voice from before!"

"Uh-huh! Myname'sEve!" The brown animal grinned, at least as much as a rabbit could, while Wendy attempted to decipher what she was saying.

"What is going on?" was her reply.

"Wellit'salongstorybutbasic'lyyou'reoneofusyou'reaSenshilikethatgirlovertherean'yougetsuperpowersan'saveth'world!" Eve smiled as Wendy processed what the rabbit's blur of speech meant.

"So... first things first. Why can you talk? Why haven't you talked before? And why did you have to tell me now?"

"'CuzIneverknewwhoyouwere'tilnow,'course!" Wendy studied Eve, then Vaporum, than Naiya. She'd dreamed of this moment for a very long time, but she'd never thought that it would take place in the middle of collection, or that the wise old guardian-type- her father wrote fantasy novels along with his regular job, not to mention she read a lot, so she was rather familiar with the genre- would be, of all creatures, The Rabbit. Capitalized, for everyone knew the rabbit. Or at least everyone was victim to her plant-eating habits.

Shifting rather uncomfortably, Naiya rubbed the back of her neck as if the action would magically tell her what to say. To her own dismay, the action didn't even begin to give her an idea. She looked at the pair of guardians on the floor, then at the pink haired girl. Ah well, can't get around fate. With that though Nia stuck out her hand to Wendy and smiled. "I guess proper introductions and explanations are in order." She paused for a thoughtful moment before continuing on cheerfully, "Well, as proper as we can get them, anyway."

She idly waved her hand at the frog and rabbit. "The frog is Vaporum, and he's my guardian. The rabbit's name is Eve... I think." Nia had only caught a bit of the creature's spastic introductions, so she hoped Eve was the right name. "And I'm Naiya. Nia if you'd like that better." Her smile took an awkward look to it. "If you want to get a bit  professional about it, I'm Sailor Pisces."

Vaporum piped up and nudged Eve a little. "This is where you come in!"

"A little bit calmer? maybe?" Nia threw in, hoping it would be easier to understand the rabbit if it was said more calmly.

"Cool," the paper girl smiled. "I'm Wendy. Wendy Parker." She turned to the rabbit, who smiled.

"Okay!" Eve chirped. "HithereWendy! So...um... ifyouwanttotransform, justsayPlutoPlanetaryPowerMakeUp!"

"Hm? Could you repeat that please? No offense, but you're a little unintelligible," Wendy replied.

"'Kay! Say 'Pluto Planetary Power, Make Up!'" Eve repeated in the slowest speech she could provide. Wendy smiled.

"Okay, here goes... Pluto Planetary Power, Make Up!" she called out. A thin wall of ice rose up in front of the girl, and instinctively, she shattered it with her fist. The ice fell all around her, melted into a puddle, and shot up to completely cover Wendy. She back flipped and spun twice before stopping, hand outstretched. The water flew from her into the form of an ice cube in her hand, then froze, dark indigo. Wendy was left in a parka, long scarf, turtleneck, long skirt and winter boots, all ice blue and brown and bearing the symbol of the planet Pluto. She had a tiny Pluto symbol on her face, as well.

Wendy looked at her outfit strangely.  "I have to fight evil in this thing?"

Nia chuckled a bit, her shoulders moving up in a shrug. "I suppose.  I'm guessing none of these funky threads are good to be fighting, but I don't think we have a choice in the matter." She hopped up on her kitchen counter. Taking the phone from the wall next to her, Nia punched in a number she had commited to memory. Nia looked at Wendy as she brought the receiver to her ear, "I know someone else that's like us, and I think she'd like to meet you... Ah, hello. Could I speak to Rian, please?"

It sounded as if the voice on the other end was holding the phone away. "Hey, Rian, one of your GIRLFRIENDS is on the PHO-ONE!"

There was a moment of silence, then the sound of what could only be enraged cursing in another language. There were the sounds of struggle, then Rian's voice said, "Saied residence, soon-to-be only child speaking."

"Oh don't kill him. Just beat him around a bit until he says 'uncle'," Nia mused into the phone. "It's Nia... I have a newspaper girl in my kitchen right now." She paused and looked over at Wendy, smiling a bit. "It's odd sounding for me to call you about that, I know." At this point Nia's tone had lowered slightly. "But there's a rabbit that's been following her, and it seems to be becoming fast friends with a frog we both know." Naiya hoped Rian would understand what she meant without having Nia saying the obvious: that there was another senshi standing next to her kitchen table.

"Ho-ly crap," Rian said softly. "Wait...wait. Nia, are you sure she's, you know, a good one? One of us? Because otherwise, I mean, she's in your freakin' kitchen, and might go off at any minute, and try and stall her until I get there and kick her ass."

The phone cord was wrapping around her hand, but it was the least of her concerns. Nia shook her head to the phone and switched it to her other ear. "No, no it's OK, i'm pretty sure she's one of us. I don't think Vapo would have gotten so friendly with her guardian otherwise. She did say planet in her, well, you know..."

Vaporum let out a loud sigh. This wasn't getting them anywhere, and he was getting impatient. They had things to do, places to go. "Niiiia!"

Sending a glare at the frog, Naiya went on. "Are you free tonight?  Vapo said something about...taking a stroll, and i'm not really sure what to do with Wendy."

Rian cleared her throat, stalling for a moment. Taking a stroll more than likely meant flailing that giant key around at some point, which was fine so long as no one else has anything bigger. But for Nia, well...

"I'm supposed to work tonight," she said, "but some really annoying little Vietnamese girl keeps coming in when I'm closing and yelling at me, and I told them I won't keep closing unless they do something about her..." she trailed off, realizing she was rambling. "I can call in, it's been really slow. You want me to come over and we can, uh, what, induct her into our gang?"

"If you could, that would be great." Saying her goodbyes, Nia placed the phone back in the receiver. Looking at it for a moment, she thought things through in her head. She knew perfectly well it was going to be a bad night, whether anything happened or not. Getting into those outfits seemed to guarantee a bad time. Nia slid off the counter top, orchid eyes moving to meet the other girl's.

"Sorry if you miss your game." She said it with an apologetic shrug, hoping Wendy wouldn't turn and bolt out of the house in the get up she was in.

"It's okay," Wendy laughed, "they never seem to put me in the game anyway, ever since I missed last year's tryouts thanks to a finger injury. I'll just have to tell them. What's the plan, anyway?"

Nia cracked a grin at the finger comment. "Well, it's not the best of things to be called a plan. Rian's going to try and come over so you two can meet properly... that'll bring our numbers to three." She paused, tapping her cheek lightly. "As far as I know anyway.  There's bound to be more on our side, I hope. As for the rest of the plan, that's probably up to Vapo and Wendy." It was hard saying their fate was in the paws of a frog and a rabbit, but that was the gist of it.

"And the rest of that plan would be to go patrolling." Vaporum stated it very plainly and reprimanded Nia's agitated look. "It'll be for your own good in the long run, don't look at me like that. You'll get some more experience behind you and make sure there's no enemies nearby. No really, stop looking at me like that."

Finally complying with his wish Naiya turned her gaze elsewhere. She didn't want any more experience behind her, especially if there was an enemy nearby.  Grin and bear it, Nia, she reminded herself. Grin and bear.

Theresa sat in her car for a moment outside Rayya's, thinking. She needed to put her game face on before she went in, since Rayya had found herself dealing with enough as it was. She didn't need Theresa moping around on top of it.

Even the bat knew something was wrong. And if that self-absorbed, furry little tyrant noticed something beyond his pushed-in nose, well, she may as well have a neon sign flashing DISENCHANTED WITH LIFE! somewhere around the cranial area.

Patrolling, however, was cathartic. Taking her bad juju out on some poor, scantily dressed fool out past their curfew would even things out.

Of course, patrolling was also half the problem. Work had been hell, and overtime was involved. What little free time she had involved scoping out weirdness on dark streets. Not telling her longtime boyfriend where the hell she was on random nights, and being secretive, and coming home with occasional bruises...

"Ah, fuck it," she said aloud, shoving the door open and slamming it behind. She trotted across the lawn, tucking her hair into a ponytail as she did so. When she knocked on the door, she had her happy face on, which really didn't take much; not when Rayya would be on the other side of that door. If there was anything good about the whole thing, it was that there was Rayya, whom she would never have met otherwise.

As if the brunette in question had merely been waiting for the knock to break a spell, the door swung open immediately and Rayya stepped out. She was smiling and the once-familiar look, now so foreign, was enough to send Theresa back a step in surprise. "Hey, 'Reese," she chirped as she turned to check the lock on the apartment building, making sure it caught. Then she tucked her keys in her small purse and jammed her hands in the back pockets of her jeans. "I've missed you and Jules was driving me nuts," she continued, "so I decided to wait down here for you. It's a pretty nice day, isn't it? Sunsets are lovely this time of year. How have you been?"

Looking closely, it was easy to make out that Rayya's smile was fragile and there was a touch of manic light in her violet eyes.  Hardly pausing, she began making her way towards her friend's car. "Where did you think we'd go tonight? Oh, you don't mind if Gina tags along, right?"

"Um..." Theresa stalled as she trotted along behind Rayya, watching her get into the car. "'Course not. More the merrier on these excursions." She hopped in behind the wheel, banging on the dashboard when the starter acted like it might have second thoughts. "Fucking thing overheats, I need a new car. Not puttin' any more money into this."

Realizing she was trying to overcompensate by prattling, she suddenly stuck a hand out and ran it down the back of Rayya's head while keeping her eyes on the road as she pulled away from the curb. "'The future is no place to place your better days'," she quoted. "God bless Dave Matthews. Let's try a couple of spots where the other 'teams' might be practicing. Seems like everyone's always got a newbie or two to train."

Instinctively, Rayya had ducked her head to half-nuzzle into the other woman's touch, glad for a bit of no-string-attached affection.  Then she straightened and adjusted her seatbelt. "No kidding," she replied. "And all the ages, too. Some of them are so young, you know?" Suddenly, she pointed ahead. "Gina's place is down Turner to Roosevelt. Shouldn't take more than ten minutes to get there. Her mom knows me so... I suppose I'll go up like I'm picking her up for a movie and we'll be off. Or something."

Theresa hmmmed her assent as she headed for Turner. "Ten minutes, if I was scared of getting pulled over. God help the cop who tries, after dark. He'll get a face full of robe."

"That's a new take. I usually just cry when I get pulled over."

Theresa clicked her tongue, then clicked the radio on and off. Then she rolled her window down for air. "You know, they're all young," she said suddenly, reverting back to the earlier comment. "We're all really goddamn young except behind the eyes." She paused, then before Rayya could comment, she said, "Rob thinks I'm cheating on him, and I can't tell him the truth because I'd rather be out trying to end this fucking war than worry about what he thinks."

There. It was said aloud, finally, to someone she could trust with it. She put her turning signal on for Roosevelt, and added, "So is there anything you'd like to tell me, about what I can do for you?  Seems I should be able to make life better for someone, by now, and you need to remember that anyone who knows you loves you. If they don't, they need their head seen to."

A soft, humorless laugh slipped from the brunette and she wiggled back into her seat. "Not a bit, hon," she replied. "It's me that needs the seeing, you know? It's okay, though, because I know what I have to do now and it's just getting up the courage. My friend, Wilma, I think I've told you about her..." Rayya absently pushed a piece of hair from her eyes and twisted to smile at her teammate. "We had a bit of a talk and I'm going to call Wade soon and fix this all... I'll call you afterwards if it goes badly and you can bring the chocolate, okay?"

"You know it babe," Theresa said. "No matter how it goes, I'm here."  She gestured out the windshield as she slowed a little. "S'this Gina's?"

Peering through the window for a moment, Rayya nodded. "Yep, I'll be right back, hon." Deftly, she undid her seatbelt and, before Theresa could reply, she was out of the car and tripping up the path. Two knocks and the brunette stepped back to wait for her younger teammate.

A few moments later, the door was quietly cracked open, then closed again as Regina slipped out with a quiet, "Hi, Rayya."

"Hey, hon." Quickly, Rayya hugged the other girl and then turned to drag her down the walk towards Theresa and the car. "It's been a while, huh? I'm sorry I haven't been around much. I've, uh, sucked." She smiled lopsidedly and then opened the door for Regina to climb into the car. "I can't remember. Do you know 'Reese, here?”

"We've only met once, I believe. At your party last year." Regina slipped into the back seat and buckled herself in calmly. "You were the one with the bat, I believe. The one who flew into Eva's hair?"  This was question was directed at Theresa.

Remembering the incident all too well, Theresa began to laugh, then covered it by clearing her throat instead. "Oh, yeah," she said. "That's him, always the life of the party." She pulled away from the curb, and added, "You know, we could just drive around until we see someone in a fu-fu getup, then run them over. I have so many safe driver points that the dents would be free."

Rayya chuckled dryly, shaking her head. "What if we hit a cheerleader or a costume party-goer or something? I mean, our stuff all looks a bit like whoever thought it up was drunk and had a short skirt fetish." She paused, chewing on her lip as she stared out the windshield, idly playing with her seat belt. Carefully, she weighed the options; where would they least likely run into someone else?  Where had she met other senshi before?

Suddenly, she sighed explosively. "Six one way, half dozen the other, hon," she announced. "How about we try that park on the other side of town? More in the suburbs? Yeah, that shouldn't be too busy." Twisting in her seat, she smiled over her shoulder at Gina. "Let's go get some fresh air, huh?"

Sailor Pluto, who had abandoned her scarf at Nia's house but was finally convinced by the two guardians to keep the jacket, looked out from the grove of trees that shielded her.  "All I see is the playground," she whispered to Eve. "A couple of kids out late, that's about it."

The large rabbit nodded and hopped away to relay the message to Pisces, whom she spotted further along the manmade creek that ran throughout the park. After checking to see that there was no one around, she dashed over to the blue-haired senshi.  "Pluto doesn't see anything," the brown rabbit reported.

Pisces nodded. "Alright." Peering from beneath the bridge she had nested under, she couldn't see anything more than what Pluto had seen. Only less of it. "It's really empty around here. The worst that came by was a couple making out above me." She cringed, and cast her gaze down at the rabbit.

"Could you go find Aldebaran please? She might actually have seen something." Though she doubted it. Pisces watched as the rabbit hopped on its way, then turned her attention to the frog next to her foot. "Vapo, you go tell Pluto too." Vaporum squeaked and started out on his trip to find the paper-girl soldier.

She sighed. Patrolling was a boring ordeal. Why they had to be doing this was beyond her. And yet there was still a kind of ominous feeling. Though she mused that must happen every time she put this blasted outfit on. She flicked her eyes back over to the direction Eve had been hopping in, wondering vaguely if she was delivering the news at that moment or not.

Aldebaran was trying to be what she thought of as incognito, even though she realized that in a bright orange getup with a giant key, she was hideously out of place. Nothing to see except late walkers, nothing, nothing -

A car, with three young women in it, cruised by a little too slowly, and Aldebaran let her eyes follow them, hoping she wasn't too visible in the trees. They were coming up to the curb, like they were going to pull into the drive leading to the parking area. Something weird about those three...something about the way they were scoping everything out. They were only feet away when something brushed her ankle and spoke.

"Aldebaran!" Eve squealed. "PiscesandPlutodidn'tseeanything..."

"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!" Aldebaran's shriek of surprise would have carried to the street no matter where she'd been in the park. The Sentinel Key whipped out of her hand convulsively when she jumped, slamming into the passenger side of the approaching car. The momentum flipped it over onto the hood, where it lay for a moment while the driver slammed on the breaks. Then it slid onto the pavement with a clatter.

There was a heavy moment of silence. If not for wanting her key back, Aldebaran would have run away like any kid caught throwing things at cars.

Theresa bolted out of the car before she could think twice, already shouting at the girl in orange. "Are you fucking CRAZY? Look what you did to my goddamn car! You want my attention, you little punk bitch, you got it now!"

"Eep!" Eve whispered so only the Astronomia girl could hear her. "Whatnow?"

Aldebaran stood frozen, trying to figure out what to do, and Theresa picked up the Sentinel Key and handed it to Regina in the backseat. Then she stormed around the front of the car in a rage, not caring that she was facing a senshi. "I guess you don't want this, since you felt like throwing it around! Jesus, what are you? That's not a Hare Krishna outfit, if I ever saw one."

The fat rabbit blinked in shock and bolted off to inform Pisces and Pluto about the strange girls. Their teammate obviously needed some help.

Aldebaran, mouth open in shock during the tirade, barely registered the reference to another team. Who the hell was this? She could only stammer, "I...give me my key back!"

"What I want to know is –why- she gave –me- this thing in the first place." Regina muttered from the backseat. She didn't want the thing, simply holding it made her uncomfortable, and her hands tingled.

"Because you had your window down and were closer, sweetie." Rayya twisted to smile reassuringly. "Nothing personal." Then she rolled down her own window and poked her head out. Frowning, she waited to see the next move; she couldn't remember ever seeing Theresa in such a mood.

"You have to tell me who you are and say 'please'", Theresa said to the orange girl.

Aldebaran knew she didn't have anything to defend herself with; her powers didn't allow for a situation like this. She had her mouth, and that was about all. "Aldebaran, to you," she said. "Now kiss my ass and give me the goddamn key back before I come take it! It was an accident!"

"Bullshit," Theresa said, leaning on the hood of her car and examining the new scratches. "Better run, weirdo. Bad night for little vandals like you to be out."

Aldebaran took off, more to warn the others than anything else, hoping Eve had already been able to tell Pisces and Pluto what was going on. This would need a team effort to get her key back, if the other barely-visible women in the car were as scary as the one with the purple braids.

Theresa shook her head a little, watching the girl vanish into the park, looking at Rayya and Regina as if to say “can you believe this?”

"That... was perhaps one of the most... ironic encounters I have ever seen." Regina said slowly, not quite sure about what to make of the situation. "And –now- what do we do with this thing?" She held up the key to indicate what she was talking about. "I don't want it, and she'll be back for it."

"And we probably shouldn't let her have it." Rayya neatly unhooked her seatbelt and climbed out of the car. "If we find her again and we're in costume, I don't think we should mention having it either."  Reaching into Regina's window, she grasped the Key and lifted it; a quicksilver expression of discomfort slid across her face. "Geez, it burns a little, doesn't it?" she muttered. "'Reese? Can you pop the trunk for me? I think it'll fit in there if we wiggle it. Then... I guess we should park and go transform." The brunette sounded less than enthused with the idea.

Theresa took the Key from Rayya, wrinkling her nose a little. She couldn't tell what it was made of, and it didn't weigh nearly as much as it had when she'd grabbed it the first time. "Sorry about that, Reg," she said absently while she popped the trunk. She and Rayya tried to angle the thing in there, and ended up having to lay one of the back seats flat and throw Theresa's emergency blanket over it.

"My luck, the little psycho'll be able to call it to her or something," Theresa muttered. "But I doubt she'll even recognize the car again...she just about pissed herself." She slammed the trunk shut and got back into the car, watching Rayya do the same. "I hope she's not alone. Hate to have to kill another lonely little girl."

But she gripped the steering wheel hard enough to whiten her knuckles as she said it.

From her seat, Regina was giving the back of Theresa's head a strange look but remained silent and hunched further down into her seat in an unusual lack of good posture. Whatever thoughts or doubts she now had on the situation, she kept to herself.

The rabbit sprinted to Pluto, shocking her out of her concentration.  "What is it, Eve?" The pink-haired girl spun around. "IthinkAldebaranneedshelpI'llgetPiscesgothatway!" the brown animal panted, talking incredibly quickly as usual. After Pluto deciphered what she was saying, she nodded and ran off. Eve dashed in the opposite direction and ran right into Sailor Pisces.

Or rather, Sailor Pisces tripped over Eve.

Pisces cried out in mild alarm, managing to catch her balance before she toppled over. Still surprised, she looked down at the rabbit in concern. "Eve? I'm sorry! Are you okay?" Pisces paused, noticing the rabbit seemed to be in more alarm in something other than being tripped over.

"What is it? what's wrong?" She asked, attempting to calm the rabbit down.

"AldebaransintroubleandIthinksheneedshelpcausesheranintoacoupleofscarygirlsandtheytookherkey!" the animal panted.

Pisces' eyes widened in alarm. "Where are they now?"

"Bytheroadoverthatway," the rabbit replied. "Plutosalreadycoming!"

She had barely taken in what Eve had said before she was off running. She didn't have a clue what she would do when she did find Aldebaran, but did she really have a clue what she was doing the first time the two had met? No, and they managed to get out of it alright. Though she had experienced being blind, and they might have just been lucky... Pisces blocked the thoughts out and kept going, scanning the area for either of her two companions. Those negative kinds of thoughts wouldn't help anyone at this point if something really was wrong.

It wasn't very long until she spied a streak of orange behind some trees nearby. Pisces came to a slow near them, careful not to alarm the other girl. "Aldebran?" She called out softly, peering closer at the orange clad figure.

Aldebaran spun around and moved out of the trees, eyes scanning the area restlessly. "I think I really pissed off a few civilians. We'd probably better get out of here, but..."

"Have you seen Pluto?" A touch of worry was in Pisces' tone, and she glanced out through the trees.

"Not for a little bit, no," Aldebaran said. The air was getting cooler, shifting around their feet; the trees whispered with it. "Let's find her as quick as we can. One of the girls I just pissed off...shit, I'll tell you when we find Pluto. I have NO idea what to do. I just haven't been at this long enough."

She tapped Pisces on the arm gently to gesture her along, and took to the trees again to stay out of view in the gathering dark. "Pluto!" she shouted, then giggled. "Anyone'll think I'm calling my dog.  Pluto! Over here, girl!"

Pluto's ears perked up at hearing her voice. It sounded like Aldebaran- who knew why she was calling her, much less sounding like she was looking for her pet. Well, it was her first assignment, she'd better go find them. The pink-haired senshi dashed through the trees until she spotted blue and orange behind one of them.  "Pisces? Aldebaran?" She ran up to them. "What's the problem? Eve told me something, but I couldn't understand what she was saying..."

Aldebaran glanced around again and sighed. "She was probably trying to tell you some really angry local housewife took...um, came across my...well, my key got out of my hands. And into hers. And now I'm not sure where she went, but she's got my key. I mean, did it ever occur to anyone what we're supposed to do if we manage to lose the thing that lets us transform? Is there, well, you know...club rules or something for dealing with stuff like this? I'm not sure if I can even use my powers without it."

A frown tugged at Pisces' mouth. "I don't know. I think you've got as much experience as Pluto and I have together.”

"We can help, though," Pluto added. "We'd better, anyway."

Eve ran into the middle of the circle, panting.  "I'mback!" she greeted.  "Aldebaran'skey'sgone?  WehavetomoveotherwiseIdon'tknowwhatwe'regoingtodo..." The overweight rabbit chattered on while the rest attempted to process what she was saying.

"I think it just got worse, though," Aldebaran said, squinting a little toward a set of swings in the distance. Someone moved in the shadows. "I see a funny outfit, and there's no way it's friendly."

"Of course not," Pisces said faintly, looking in the direction Aldebaran was. She caught a very short glimpse of the shadowy person as well.

She looked over at Eve. "Does Pluto know any of her attacks?"  Pisces nodded towards the pink haired girl in question. "She may need them soon, I think."

"Well, let's go!" Pluto shot her fist up in the air. "It's not like we have any time to lose!"

Bolstered by the newer senshi's enthusiasm and confidence, Aldebaran said, "Eve'll have to yell them at her as we go. We've got company, and this time I don't wanna wait for them to come to us like the Graikos did. Let's catch them off guard!" She broke into a sprint toward the figures, howling like a banshee as she went and trying to pretend she wouldn't need the key.

The figure in the distance lifted its head at the holler and the unnatural light of a streetlight reflected off of gold. Cursing softly under her breath, Bacchus fell back a step and glanced around to see where her teammates stood. "Well, girls, looks like someone wants their toy back. Ready?"

"I don't think we need to be ready for this one," Tisiphone said. "I'm honestly beginning to wonder what the hell she is, instead of who. Let's see if it can dance."

Urania shruged slightly, tightening her grip on her staff and repressing her nerves.

Aldebaran suddenly paused within about fifty yards of the Romanus, finally realizing there were three of them. "Nobody invited you!" she shouted. "Can't a bunch of girls in skirts practice their routines without the peanut gallery showing up?"

"Peanut gallery?" Urania raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Sometimes one does wish for an opponent who doesn't have to rely upon name calling. And isn't the purpose of patrolling so we can have nice, civilized bloodshed in the first place?"

Bacchus shrugged and absently adjusted the heavy golden chalice hanging a cord at her hip. "I'd rather no shedding of blood at all, really," she admitted. "But I don't think she's going to go for that." She shifted her stance, nerves starting to show through the calm as the other two Astronomia came into clearer view; she didn't recognize either of them. "We can ask, though, if you girls like?"

Tisiphone glanced at Bacchus, stifling an impulse to lay a hand on her shoulder and suggest they go elsewhere. They were out doing what they were supposed to. Plus, the little orange dumbass had scratched her car. And she had decided to do whatever she could to end this nonsense one way or another, even if it meant killing everything that moved. 

She walked away from the other Romanus suddenly, headed straight for the Astronomia that had challenged them. To her credit, the many-ribboned bit of fluff stood her ground, eyes wide in the dark.

Coming close enough to breathe on her, amazed the girl hadn't run, Tisiphone said, "Well, little girl? Wanna rumble over who gets the park?"

Swallowing audibly, Aldebaran said, "Seems to be what everybody's into, these days. Am I supposed to know which group you belong to?"

Gesturing widely to include Urania and Bacchus and raising her voice, Tisiphone said, "I present a portion of the Romanus Girls. You want me to show you the secret handshake?"

Aldebaran's eyes flickered over Tisiphone's shoulder to take in the other Romanus, neither of whom looked all that willing to get aggressive, which confused her. She could hear Pisces and Pluto behind her, but all she could think about was how naked she felt without her key, and the fact that this crazy girl in the robes wouldn't back off.

"Take a shot or move on," Tisiphone said in an eerily soothing tone.

"Nobody started anything with you," Aldebaran said.

There was a beat of waiting, and then Tisiphone lashed out and grabbed the Astronomia by the hair, bending her over by it. Aldebaran immediately began shrieking and trying to back away, making it plain that she had no powers to wield on anyone.

Pink-haired Pluto and the fat rabbit that seemed to have declared herself her guardian got there first.  "Perfect, what now?" the girl in the parka asked Eve.

"Use your weapon?" the rabbit replied. The pink-haired one seemed to remember, as she closed her eyes and held out her hand. A deep indigo ice cube materialized in it, and Wendy's eyes snapped open.  "Arctic... Assault!" she cried, smashing the cube on the ground.  Before their eyes, a small glacier rose from its remains to Wendy's eye level, aimed itself at the nearest enemy, and fired.

The head-sized chunk of ice smashed into Tisiphone's shoulder, shattering itself and throwing the Romanus a step to her left with the impact. Startled and bruised, she shouted her surprise, and Aldebaran shook loose just enough to kick her and jump back several steps.

"That's what you get," Aldebaran hissed, enraged by the gall of the other senshi.

"You little shits never learn," Tisiphone said in a low, vicious voice before she body-checked the redhead to the grass and went after Pluto.

Cursing under her breath, Bacchus snatched her chalice from where it hung at her side and dashed after her teammate. "Urania!" she hollered. "Keep an eye out. There might be more." Neatly, she appointed herself guard to Aldebaran as Tisiphone chose Pluto.

Key words there, `might be.' Still, Bacchus had a point she couldn't dispute. Urania quietly moved herself out to the far left, keeping an eye on Pisces primarily, in case the other girl tried to do anything that would interfere with Tisphone.

Aldebaran stared up at Bacchus, amazed. At least this one didn't seem to be interested in pulling her hair. Just once, she wanted to go out and not find herself in so much trouble. Now she was surrounded with enemy senshi, with no key she was pretty sure she could only look dirty at people as a defense.

Oh, the hell with that! The crazy hair-pulling bitch in the robe was inches from whaling on poor Pisces, and she couldn't just sit there.  She unraveled one of her fuku ribbons, looped it around both of Bacchus' legs, and yanked.

"Don't just stand there!" A short distance away from Aldebaran, Pisces blinked, looking briefly at her shoulder where Vaporum's voice had come from. The amphibian had retreated again, but he was right, she had to do something, anything. All she had done was follow Aldebaran on her charge and watched the events follow through. Some great team mate she was being. Well, no more of that.

The water senshi straightened as Urania moved closer towards her.  She briefly glanced at where the other two were at. They were occupied with the other Astronomia, leaving her with this one. Her navy gaze leveled with Urania's, a frown on her face. The confrontation was inevitable.

"There doesn't seem to be anyway to get out of this little party, eh?" Pisces said lightly, taking a step back. Her eyes flicked to where Aldebaran was, and saw the ribbons circling Bacchus' feet. Snapping her gaze back on Urania, Pisces' hand shot in front her, swirls of water already starting to form a ball in her hand. She wasn't blind this time, and there wasn't anymore just standing around. She actually could do something.

"Pisces Constel.." Up went the ball. "Water Strike!" Down came the blue senshi's hand, the aquatic sphere flying towards its target.

Urania's eyes widened slightly, before she planted her staff and summoned up small, yellow orbs of light.  A few of these actually hit Pisces' water attack, causing craters like a small moon before it struck Urania smartly, causing her to yelp and jump back.  It took a moment to regain her balance, before she pulled up her staff and darted forward, swinging it low at Pisces' legs.

Pisces jumped back away from the darting senshi, but misjudged herself by a bit. The staffs caught the back of her leg, and Pisces gave a little cry at the contact.  She stumbled back a few steps, making an attempt to regain her balance.  The effort paid off, and Pisces stood with her right leg stinging and another ball of water forming in her hands. 

Urania, still using her earlier momentum, did not stop when her staff connected with Pisces' leg but continued to charge forward in a manner comparable to a football tackle.  Urania wasn't aware of that though - she never watched football.

Apparantly Pisces didn't make the connection either, being a little too suprised to actually think about anything. She tried to make another backwards retreat, but failed. Though it probably wouldn't have done her any good, considering Urania would have continued to charge at her anyway.

Her eyes widened in a brief flash of pain at the sudden contact, and she started moving on automatic. The ball in her hand was quite solid now, and her hand that was holding it swung up at Urania as if she was going to punch her, quietly hoping she didn't miss.

Pisces aim wasn't only good - it was too good to be true.  It connected quite squarely to the side of Urania's head and she wound up inhaling a good deal of water, causing her to hack and cough and stumble off Pisces, clearly disoriented.

Pluto dashed out of Tisiphone's path and turned around to face her opponent.  "We're not that easy to get rid of!" She summoned her ice cube again. "Arctic..." the pink-haired one began.

Before she could get the words out, a heavy golden chalice smacked clumsily into her hands. It was thrown awkwardly but more or less accurately, accomplishing the goal of upsetting the attack. "Not gonna let you do -that- again, hon," Bacchus snapped from where she lay, prone on the ground, working at the ribbons around her ankles in frustration. Her opponent's attention gained, however, she raised her hands again and a glowing ball appeared between them. "The Morning After!" With a hop and a flash, the ball sped towards Pluto.

"What the-" The athletic Astronomia managed to dodge the attack, but tripped over her parka in the process, landing hard on the ground. Wincing, she pulled herself up and deathglared as much as a twelve-year-old pink-haired girl in a parka could manage. Pointing at Bacchus, she yelled, "Below Zero!"

"Oh, goddammit, -no-!" Pushing the final ribbon from her ankle, Bacchus watched as large icicles grew up around her, caging her down to the ground. This wasn't good. She raised a foot to start kicking at the ice and a hand flailed out to grip the chain on her chalice, desperately dragging the heavy object back to her with a view towards using it to break the ice. "Tisiphone!" she hollered. "Can you work with -this-?"

Caught between Pluto and Bacchus, Tisiphone realized she'd have a better chance to really -do- something to the twerps they were facing if she changed her plan of getting her hands around Pluto's neck. Her robes billowed out behind her as she made a beeline for the entrapped Bacchus. Holding out her hand, she shoved it between the icicles and said, "Give me your hand!"

Unquestioning, Bacchus reached out and twined fingers with her teammate, eyes half-closing. Her other hand yanked the chalice back to her, through the icy cage, and safely into her grip.

Tisiphone squeezed the other senshi's fingers, picking up everything she needed from that brief contact. "Hold on," she said, "I gotta put her out of commission before we do anything else." Sliding off the cage of ice, Tisiphone faced the little pink-haired senshi with one hand outstretched. "Here's the two I owe you, brat," she said. "Aftermath!"

She no sooner got the word out of her mouth than a swirl of orange looped around her neck, and a weight slammed across her back. There was a ribbon cutting off her air, and something in a skirt trying to flail her to the ground.

"Leave her alone!" Aldebaran shouted.

Choking, Tisiphone spun, grabbing the hands that held the ribbon to her throat and yanking as she leaned forward, spilling the Astronomia onto Bacchus' icy cell. It shattered with bright finality, and Tisiphone heard both Aldebaran and Bacchus yelp. She gave Aldebaran a shove with her foot, sending her sprawling several feet away.

With a cough, Tisiphone said, "Sorry, Bac."

"Wha-" Pluto's eyes glazed over and she spun around, pointing at Sailor Pisces. "Below Zero!"

The blue haired senshi looked up at the sounds of yelping and shattering ice, only to notice Pluto looking at her strangely. The smaller girl called out her attack and Pisces' eyes widened. "Pluto!" Surprised at the sudden attack, there wasn't any time to try and get out of the way. The ice rose up around her, and Pisces was trapped in the same kind of cage Bacchus had just been released from.

She moved the try and push the icicles, only to pull her hands away. Much too cold for her damp hands to touch. "Crap!" She kicked at her prison, but that had little effect, leaving Pisces to watch bitterly as the events continued around her.

Urania finally coughed her way clear of Pisces' earlier attack, having stumbled some feet away in a sort of stunned confusion.  Her head hurt, and she was not a happy camper.  She took in the situation, then planted her staff and raised one hand to upwards.  "Star..."

Above her, the stars began to come down.

"TRAITOR!"

Aldebaran had untangled herself from Bacchus, and was running full-tilt toward Urania and Pluto. She slammed into Urania from behind, knocked the Romanus down, and tackled Pluto before the dazed senshi could move. Behind her, Tisiphone ran for Urania to help her up, and stood grinning at the prospect of the enemy pummelling each other for once. Less wear and tear on the fuku.

"You're supposed to be with us!" Aldebaran was shouting, wishing she had her key back so she could pin the pink-haired senshi with it. "We're supposed to protect each other, not practice our powers on each other!"

For the second time that night, Aldebaran got her hair pulled when a hand wrapped itself in her hair and yanked her, screaming, off of Pluto.

"I did it, you little crack whore," Tisiphone said through gritted teeth. "I made her attack, and I can do the same to all of you, and worse, because you're stupid little immature girls out playing dress-up." Aldebaran tried to kick her, and she shoved the girl to the ground. "No one needs to attack any of you, you'll do yourselves in without our help. Go home. Just fucking go home!"

Aldebaran got to her feet again, resentment radiating off her. She wasn't going to attack again, though; Tisiphone could tell from her posture. None of the Astronomia had anything left to level on them.  She could go back to her car, get that damn key, and bash their heads in with no great effort. Save them the trouble of being killed later.  Save them all the weary annoyance of trying to remember who was who, just kill off one entire team at a time and get it over with. It was where they were all heading. They would be too dumb to get away, and who would stop her? Who really gave a damn?

Bacchus.

Tisiphone sighed, glancing back at said teammate. Bacchus had seen enough. They all had, but what Bacchus thought and felt meant more than venting her own rage on a trio of fru-frus. She made as if to turn away, then spun and stuck a gloved finger within an inch of Aldebaran's face. "The next time I see you," she said, "...in your silly little outfit, I'm gonna do more than pull your hair. I'm goddamn sick of all of you. Get a better hobby." Then she did turn and stalk away, shrugging at Urania and then Bacchus as she passed.

"Let's go find a team that'll actually put a crick in my neck," she said loudly. "All these little girls can do is hump our legs. Romanus carpool, line forming this way!" She kept walking, gliding over the grass in her robes.

Standing slowly, warily, Bacchus hefted her chalice and looped the chain over her shoulder again. Her wide violet eyes regarded the three Astronomia and she nodded curtly as her fingers absently traced along the rim of the chalice. Quick glances rested on each and a strange twist appeared at her full mouth before she nodded briefly to them, beginning to take steps backwards after her teammate. "Go home," she muttered but the soft volume didn't hide the sudden iron in the words. "Just. Go. Home." Spinning on her heel, she touched Urania's shoulder. "C'mon."

Bacchus could probably guess what was going on in Urania's head, from the way her eyes darted back and fourth between the Astronomia and the departing Tisiphone - but the odds were against her if she stayed, so she nodded.  "Yea," she cleared her throat.  She could feel her head beginning to throb from the blow it had taken.  "I'm coming."  She turned and followed Tisiphone, her fuku clanking softly.

"Go on, then!" Aldebaran shouted after them. "Nobody asked you bitches to show up in the first place, so just get out!" When none of the Romanus turned to answer her or even shoot her a look, she turned to Pisces and Pluto and took her unreasoning anger out on them, fair or not. "That's it," she said. "All we do when we're in groups is get killed or hurt. I'm not gonna fight with you guys anymore, I'm gonna just do this on my own."

She started to stalk away, already feeling guilty and disloyal for her outburst. She paused and said, "My key is gone now anyway, so it's not like I have a choice about retiring. You guys just...do what she said and go home. Be careful and take care of yourselves and just go home and forget all this stuff." She looked at Pluto for just an instant, feeling even worse, and said, "Sorry, kid. I didn't know.  Which just means we really aren't prepared for any of this." She walked away, wondering when she should bother to de-transform. It would be the last time she would ever be in this getup if her key was gone for good. And it was, since she had no idea how to go about looking for it.

What a joke, she thought. Senshi of pursuit can't find her own damn transformation item. It was just as well, she sucked at the whole thing anyway.

She wanted to yell at Aldebran to wait, but Pisces went against her nature and bit her tongue. The orange senshi was right. They weren't prepared for any of this. If they didn't do anything to prepare themselves, they really were going to get killed. Pisces gave the ground a dismayed look, and lifted her eyes to look at Pluto. "Anyway you can let me out of here?" She asked quietly, motioning towards the icicles still holding her prisoner.

The pink-haired girl nodded, ran up to the icicle trap and kicked it in.  "There you go."

Free, Pisces stood up. A frown settled on her face as she looked down at Pluto. Instinctively, Pisces reached out and gave the smaller senshi a tight hug. "I'm sorry," She said softly. She really hadn't meant for anyone to get mixed up in this. She hadn't even meant herself to get mixed up in this. Letting go, Pisces sighed. Waving her hand towards the trees behind her, she gave a murmured, "We should get out of here."

Pluto nodded and started out towards the trees, Eve following suit. "That Aldebaran girl, you think she's really gonna... leave?"

"I.." Pisces started, then paused, thinking it over. "I'm don't know what she'll do." And she honestly had no idea. This had only been the second time Pisces had ever seen the orange senshi, though tonight's outcome was almost a repeat of what happened last time. The blue haired girl frowned at that.

There was a small weight on her shoulder, and she glanced to see Vaporum sitting there. He said nothing, and Sailor Pisces was glad. She similarly noted that the rabbit close behind them hadn't said a single hyperactive thought. Not very surprising, all things considered. Who wanted to be hyper right now? Sighing lightly with her hand on the pink haired girl's shoulder, Pisces led the odd ensemble out from the park. At some point they had shifted back into being plain Naiya and Wendy, but it didn't make much difference on the mood.

Already contemplating excuses for their absences at both households, Naiya turned onto the side walk with Wendy in tow. It was going to be a long night. She took a swift look down at her younger charge, letting her thoughts wander to Rian. She hoped she would be alright. It was going to be a long night full of thought for all of them. Another sigh, and Naiya shook her head lightly with her soft command.

"Come on, let's get you home."

Tisiphone reached the edge of the trees, using the shadows to pause and wait for the other two. She was scanning for the Astronomia, making sure they wouldn't follow and see who got into the one and only car in the 'lot. She'd seen them split up and knew things weren't stellar in their court either. Bacchus and Urania reached the shadows with her, and she shook her fuku off with a thought and a shrug of mild apology.

"You hot and amazing hitchers wanna ride?" she said.

"Only if you won't tell my dad that I'm accepting rides from strange women." Rayya smiled vaguely and closed her eyes to dispell her own fuku. Reopening them, she laughed suddenly. "And they don't get stranger than you, hon. That was a hell of a speech." Tilting her head back, she studied the stars as if to dismiss that line of discussion once more. Suddenly, abruptly. Then she straightened again, one hand touching Gina's shoulder as she watched Theresa.

She walked for her car, not wanting to talk about any of it, hating the Astronomia and senshiness in general but still fond of the company she was keeping. She unlocked all the doors from the driver's side, then waited until Rayya and Regina got in before she followed suit and slammed her door. Then she sat, not moving to start the car.  The silence drew out until she knew someone was going to ask her if she was waiting for gas prices to drop or what, so she said, "Is that goddamn key still back there?"

Rayya started and glanced sideways at her friend. "Should be," she replied after a moment. "Unless she can make it vanish and call it to her. I didn't notice a big hackin' key-shaped hole in the door or anything." She paused. "What are we going to do with it?"

Theresa opened her mouth to say something sardonic, yet another something she didn't really mean. "The best thing," she said slowly, "would be to destroy it and set that girl free from all this.  But you know what? I'm not egomaniacal enough to believe I understand enough about all of it anymore. Maybe destroying it would kill her, or mess her up, or who knows what. I don't need the responsibility."  She got out of the car suddenly and got into the back, feeling around. "Shit, look at this." She held an object up for them to look at. "She must have de-transformed. It's regular-size. What an extreme pain in the ass it has to be, to carry around the rest of the time."

She walked away from the car, then broke into a trot. She took a hopping-step and then overhanded the key into the air, pitching it into an area of overgrown blackberries. Then she waked back to the car and got in again.

"She's her own worst enemy, I bet," Theresa said. "She doesn't need us." Then she started the car and took them all back to what was only occasionally the regular world.

An hour passed.

Two.

A stray dog crossed the parking lot, sniffed along a divider, and passed on. Somewhere after midnight, a lone figure half-circled the open pavement, making several false starts. Then it stood just outside the reach of the sodium vapor lighting and remained still for an unusual amount of time, as if listening. After a bit of whispered cursing, it headed for the blackberries and took a few hesitant steps into the stickers.

Ten minutes after that, scratched and torn, with leaves adorning its hair, the figure emerged and ran back across the dewy grass of the battle site, clutching something in one hand.

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