Tenshi pulled over. "Daijoubu ka?" she asked worried.
Neko-chan nodded. "But I think we passed where we need to be. My headache was much worse over by that shopping center we passed back there. That's probably where we'll find the missing people."
Well, it wasn't where they were really supposed to go, but Tenshi didn't have any other indicators of where to look, so she turned the car around and headed back toward the shopping center. When they got there, they got out of the car and looked around.
The shopping center had signs all over it saying that it was closed due to earthquake and lightning damage. Some of the shops had shattered windows; others had walls and ceiling damage.
"Ki-chan," Mi-chan asked, "can you sense evil?"
Kimako closed her eyes and took a few seconds. "Oh yeah, it's all around."
They looked around to make sure nobody was around. "Ok, henshin yo!"
They all transformed, except of course for Jian-kun. "Jian-kun," Sailor Electra suggested, "why don't you stay here with the car?" He nodded.
"Ok," Sailor Eryx said, "let's split up. Night Angel and I will go this way. Electra, Phoenix, and Chibi go that way. We can split up more later to cover the most ground."
Electra added, "Don't forget to call the others if you find anything." She tapped on her watch.
They all agreed and split up.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Eryx and Night Angel walked towards the west and checked shops along the way.
"I don't really know what we're looking for," Night Angel admitted.
"Sales, people acting weird, draining of energy, maybe stronger headaches, it depends. Hey, maybe we'll get lucky and look in to see a bunch of people lying on the ground. I mean, that's not good, but it's usually a good indication that evil's afoot."
Right past the electronics store they had just walked by was a service road. Down one way were more shops. Down the service road was a storage warehouse for some of the shops.
"What should we do?" Night Angel asked.
"Ano, you go that way, I'll go towards the warehouse."
"Do you really think we should split up?"
"It's the best way to cover the most ground. Just be careful. And call if you see anything suspicious."
Eryx started to head towards the warehouse when suddenly Night Angel grabbed her arm. She turned towards him.
"Sailor Eryx," he said, "onegai, be careful." He pulled down his mask and kissed her on her forehead, right above her tiara. Eryx felt the pain dissipate.
She smiled shyly. "Thanks, you too."
Then, slightly confused, she separated from him.
She ran off towards the warehouse, alertly watching all around her for signs of the Negaverse. When she got to the warehouse, there was a lock on the door. She put her ear up to the door to see if she could hear anything and winced in pain again as the headache came back. *Guess this is the place.* She wondered how she could get in.
*Mi-chan's not the only one who can break the rules.* Looking around she saw a reasonable sized rock. She picked it up and hit the lock, opening it without damaging it badly. "Well, the people of Eryx are just gonna have to live with the fact that their princess did a little breaking and entering in the name of duty." But she did feel guilty.
She hid the lock in a bush by the side of the road. *If this isn't the place, at least I'll be able to put back on the lock.* But she didn't want someone to come by, see the lock, and lock her inside the warehouse.
Eryx cautiously opened the door and looked inside. The warehouse looked a lot bigger on the inside than on the outside. The place was well lit so she closed the door most of the way, leaving it open a crack, just in case. She started wandering through the warehouse. She hadn't walked more than ten feet before her headache grew even stronger. She also thought she could hear music. She turned left and ran in the direction of it and found herself in an empty area of the warehouse where there was nothing being stored. The ceiling over this area had been partially destroyed by the earthquake, but there was no debris on the floor. *Someone must have cleaned it up, but why?* There in the corner was a stereo playing a weird melody. She went over and turned it off and was surprised to feel her headache leave. *Okay�.*
This small victory was overturned by the evil laugh she heard behind her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Electra, Phoenix, and Chibi all walked towards the east.
"Phoenix, can you sense evil coming from any particular shop."
Phoenix concentrated and shook her head. "Iie, it's stronger here than where we were, but I can't pinpoint a location. Gomen."
"Well, keep sensing, if you can," Chibi suggested.
Electra looked at the row of shops in front of them. She noticed that some of them had lights on even though the shopping center was closed. "Ne, shouldn't these shops be closed?" She pointed to them.
They decided to split up and check the shops with lights on and to meet back there if they didn't find anything.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"I knew that you would come eventually, Sailor Eryx. It was just a matter of time." General Tanzanite floated above Eryx smiling haughtily at her. "You were supposed to come with the others last night. I went to all the trouble of making those flowers just so that you'd respond to my music. The pollen knocked out the recipients because it was altering their brainwaves to react to the frequency of music that I was sending out. Everyone else came to me last night, but somehow you managed to avoid it. But I kept playing the music hoping that you'd come to me anyway."
"How did you-?"
