“This flu epidemic has been raging all over the Tenth Street District,” the news anchorwoman announced. “This strange variation of the virus has been giving medical researchers a hard time.”
“There are a number of schools that have shut down because of this,” the male news anchorman added.
Emerald suddenly faded into view in front of the electronics shop, smirking at the TV just as the news program cut to a commercial. “No one will suspect that this flu is the handiwork of the dark power,” she said smugly, as she laughed with her fan spread before her face. “Those stupid humans will become very ill….” Laughing loudly, she vanished again before anyone noticed that she was there.
As Emerald left, Minako strolled down the street, glancing back and forth at all the sick people and the others who were covering their faces with cloths, so as not to catch the flu. Sure, winter was just beginning to set in, but for so many people to fall sick?
“Everyone in the city is sick and suffering,” she said to herself. “It’s time that the Goddess of Love, Aino Minako, did something about it!”
The phone rang a few times before Rei sluggishly got out of bed to answer it. It was bad enough that she was sick, but everyone in her temple was sick as well. Since her room was closest to the phone, it was unfortunately her job to answer it. It wasn’t the first time she seriously considered moving the phone closer to either Grandpa’s room or Yuuichirou’s.
“Hello?” she answered faintly. “Hino residence.”
“Rei-chan, have you come down with this flu, too?” Makoto asked on the other end.
“Yeah, I’ve got a horrible fever,” she replied. “How about you and Ryo-kun?”
“We’re not too bad, but Ami-chan and Usagi-chan are really sick,” Makoto replied.
“So, I guess this means that all of the Sailor Scouts are sick.”
“Nope,” she corrected. “There’s one person who’s exceptionally healthy.”
Rei was about to ask who that might be, when the sound of a sliding door suddenly caught her attention. She sweatdropped as soon as she saw Minako’s overly cheerful face.
“Yoo-hoo, Rei-chan!” she called as she waved her basket at her. The basket was making a strange rustling noise as she waved it. “I heard you were sick!”
“Let me out, Mina!” Artemis’ muffled voice shouted from inside the basket.
At the other end, Makoto winced slightly as she could hear Minako’s loud voice on her phone.
“I came to see how you were doing!”
“Looks like it’s too late, Mako-chan,” her brother’s voice said. She glanced toward his room, which was visible from her own, and saw – since his stand-up mirror was turned in such a way to enable her to see – that Ryoku had picked up his phone and was listening in on the conversation.
“Oh, well,” she said as she hung up the phone. “I didn’t want anyone else to suffer….” She slowly got out of bed and glanced over toward the small mess that Minako had left in her room: hot water heater left lying around; dirty plates, cups, and silverware; crumbs; and some other things were all lying in a small disaster area of her otherwise immaculate room. She had a feeling that Ryoku’s room would look even worse, considering the loud noises that she heard coming from there when Minako was here. “Minako-chan really did it this time.”
“You don’t know the half of it,” she heard Ryoku reply from his room.
“By the way, Ryo-chan,” she began as she made her way to his room, “what was all that noise ab…?” She halted in mid-step as soon as she took her first good look at what Minako did to his room. “What happened here?!?” she exclaimed in shock as she took in the utter destruction of what used to be his room. The same mess that was in her room was in his room as well, but there was more…. Much more. Ryoku was dressed in gray sweatpants and a gray tank top since the clothes he had worn to bed were now in a small pile on the floor with the soup stains still on them. Those same soup stains were evident on his bed sheets, blanket and the mop lying in the corner of his room. His Star Sword was no longer on the wall rack where he kept it when he slept, but it was lying on the floor. There was also a strange hole in the middle of his bed and the blanket as well. His guitar stand and his music stand were both knocked over and the stand seemed to be slightly bent.
“Hurricane Aino happened,” Ryoku replied from his seat on the chair next to the toppled musical equipment as he finished bending the music stand back to its old shape. “What else?”
“I mean…,” she continued as she stared at the ruins of his room. “…how?”
“I’m not really too sure myself,” he began as he rubbed the back of his head, “but here’s what happened. After Minako-chan served your soup, which I assume turned out to be too cold, right?” He waited before seeing her nod before continuing. “Well, after she heated yours and reserved it to you, she served me my soup. As it turned out, my soup would’ve been just fine… had she not heated mine up as well.
“When she came into my room to serve me in bed, she ended up tripping over my stands and dumping the overheated soup right into me and my bed. The bowl was so hot that I reflexively batted the bowl back to her. But since she had dropped the tray as well, she caught it with her hands. The bowl was burning her fingers as well, so she also reflexively threw the bowl away… only to have the bowl bang right into the tip of the Star Sword, which knocked it right out of its rack. By some act of random chance, the way the bowl struck my sword hit it in such a way that the sword flew directly towards my bed and stuck itself, point first, through the blanket and into the mattress. I was fortunate, though, since if the sword had landed one centimeter closer to me, I would’ve been effectively… neutered, so to speak. As if the hot soup wasn’t bad enough.” He shook his head as he grimaced. “It’s a good thing Minako-chan left when she did. Any more of her nursing and I probably wouldn’t be able to have any children in the future!”
Makoto sweatdropped as she listened to what her brother told her. “I guess I got off easy,” she said as she moved to pick up his soiled clothing. “Come on, Ryo-chan. We’ve got some cleaning up to do.”
“No kidding,” he said as he stripped his bed and flipped his mattress over. “I only hope that Rei-chan doesn’t get hit by Hurricane Aino as bad as we did.” He paused for a moment as he glanced toward his phone. “I wonder if Ami-chan’s all right?” he mused. “After all, I think Minako-chan did mention that she was the first victim.”
“Tell you what,” she said as she took the bedding from Ryoku. “You call her while I take care of this. You’ve been through enough today as it is. I’m sure that just hearing your voice will make her feel a whole lot better. After all, no one could possibly have a worse experience of Minako-chan’s nursing than you had.”
“That makes me feel so much better, Mako-chan,” he muttered flatly as he reached for his phone and sat down.
“Just doing my job as your younger sister to make you feel better,” she replied with a wink as she left. Ryoku merely sighed as he dialed Ami’s number and waited for her to answer.
“Hello?” a sickly female voice answered on the other end. “Mizuno residence.”
“Ami-chan? It’s me.”
“Ryo-kun?” she said, her voice picking up slightly.
“Yes. By any chance, did you get a visit from Nurse Minako-chan earlier today?”
“Oh, no,” Ami said concernedly. “Don’t tell me she went to go see you and Mako-chan as well?”
“She did,” he answered knowingly. “Let me guess; she tried to play nursemaid with you and messed up, right?”
“Well, I’m sure she meant well,” she said quietly. “I didn’t mind it, since Mom’s busy at the hospital all day today. What happened with you two?”
“I’m sure I got it much worse than Mako-chan did, but here’s most of what happened….”
Rei sat quietly in her bed, reading her manga. Her bed was covered with an extra set of blankets so as to help her sweat out her illness, but since she was sitting up, it only covered her lap. Idly, she wondered why Makoto hung up the phone when she did. She didn’t even say goodbye or anything; she just hung up as soon as Minako showed up. She thought of asking Artemis, who was sitting on the floor at the foot of her bed, but he didn’t seem to be in the talking mood, especially after being banged around inside that basket. He had several bumps on his head as proof of his rough treatment. She pondered on the reason for Makoto abruptly hanging up her phone for a few moments more until Minako slid open the door to her room, wearing a pink apron with her name on it and smiling cheerfully.
“Here you are!” she said as she held up a covered bowl sitting on a tray. “I made you some soup! This time, it’s perfect!”
Rei sweatdropped as she eyed the bowl warily. “What do you mean by this time?” she asked.
“Before we came here, we stopped at Ami-chan’s place, then at Mako-chan and Ryo-kun’s place and made them soup, too,” Artemis explained.
“But… I kinda messed up,” Minako admitted sheepishly. “Ami-chan’s soup was bland and watery, while I made Mako-chan’s too cold and Ryo-kun’s too hot. I feel so bad.”
She should, especially after what happened with Ryo-kun, Artemis thought as he gingerly touched the bumps on his head to feel how sensitive they were, and winced a little at the slightest touch.
“Anyway, have some!” she said, her cheery expression restored. “Have some! Here you are!” she said as she placed the tray on Rei’s lap, then kneeled at her bedside to watch her eat.
“Thank you,” she said in a slightly deadpan tone as she glanced reluctantly from the soup bowl to Minako. She had reservations about eating this soup, especially after hearing about what happened with the others, but Minako’s expression was so expectant. It was hard to just ignore the look on her face, so she set her mind to just taking the first spoonful and hoping that she didn’t accidentally mess her food up as well. Her hand slowly, but firmly grasped the spoon as she scooped up her first spoonful of soup and raised it to her mouth and ate it.
Minako continued to stare at Rei, her expression hopeful, waiting for the first sign of approval of her efforts. She put a lot of effort into not screwing this batch up, and she was hoping that the fourth time would be the charm. Artemis also watched Rei, hoping that she wouldn’t gag or something.
Seconds passed by and it seemed as though this batch of soup wouldn’t be so bad. After all, Rei did manage to swallow it.
Two seconds later, Rei half-yelled, half-groaned at the effects the soup was having on her digestive system. Her abused throat was burning and her breathing became labored just before she collapsed forward, her head just avoiding a trip into the soup bowl.
Oh no, she killed her! Artemis thought as he jumped to his feet. Beside him, Minako let out a small apprehensive shriek at seeing her sick friend topple face forward after taking just one spoonful of her soup.
“Rei-chan!” she shouted worriedly. “What’s wrong, Rei-chan!”
Artemis leaped onto her bed and licked some of the soup that had spilled out of the bowl, almost gagging at the taste. “Mina, there’s… too… much… salt….”
“What?” she exclaimed.
“And too… much pepper,” he added. “And… it tastes like… you accidentally put in some curry… as well.”
“Really?” she asked sheepishly as she smiled in chagrin. “I’ve done it again. What am I to do? I’m such a bad cook.”
“Don’t just stand there looking innocent,” he said, his eyes beginning to tear up.
“Minako-chan…,” Rei began as she slowly began to recover from the effects of the soup. “I’m sorry, but I just want to get some sleep….”
“Oh, okay then,” she replied understandingly. “Just hold on a minute and I’ll clean everything up….” She reached down to pick up the soup, but ended up spilling it on Rei instead. Fortunately, it wasn’t as scalding hot as it was with Ryoku, so the hot liquid didn’t burn her as it did him.
“Sorry!” she exclaimed apologetically as Artemis ducked underneath the bed and covered his head with his paws for good measure.
“Mina, you clumsy girl…,” he muttered to himself.
“I’m really sorry, Rei-chan,” Minako apologized again. “Let me change your bed sheets for you.” She quickly yanked the bed sheets from off the bed, but she neglected to realize that by doing so, she would flip Rei out of her bed, since she was still sitting on them. With a loud cry, Rei was flung from her bed and hit the floor with a loud thump.
“I’m sorry, Rei-chan!” she apologized yet again, hoping that Rei wouldn’t be too angry with her.
“I’m sorry, Rei,” Artemis said as Minako got to work changing the bed sheets. “Mina didn’t mean to do all this. She doesn’t mean any harm.”
“If she did mean to do this, she’s way more evil than Emerald!” Rei growled as she tried to calm herself down.
“Here, Rei-chan,” Minako said after fluffing the pillow and straightening out the bed sheets. “I’ve made your bed, so now you can get some rest. Oh! I know!” she said as an idea suddenly came to mind. Rei slowly climbed into her bed and laid down as Minako went to go get something.
After a short break from her presence, she returned with a cassette tape in hand. “I’ll put some music on to relax you. This will let you drift into a deep sleep,” she said as she walked over to the bookcase near the foot of the bed and tried to turn on the tape player. “Hmm…. That’s funny…. How do you turn this on?” she muttered as she pushed random buttons while trying to find out which button would turn it on. As she was searching for the power button, both Rei and Artemis gave her a flat, annoyed stare, surprised that she could make something simple into something complicated. “Where is it?” she huffed irritably after pressing almost every button on the machine. “Oh!” she exclaimed as she found the button she was searching for. “Here we go!” The moment she pressed the button, the room was filled with music blasting at ear-shattering levels, startling both Artemis and Rei, and giving Rei the beginnings of what would probably be a very big headache later.
“Oh, I’m sorry!” she yelled over the noise. “I’ll just turn this off.” She immediately set to work trying to find the off button by pressing all of the buttons again. Unfortunately, since the power was on now, this only served to overload the tape player and blow it up in her face, leaving her clothes covered in a thin layer of smoky soot. Pieces of what was left of her tape were hanging from her arms and out of her hair, which was also slightly sooty and partially frizzled from the blast.
Minako took one look at the tape player, and the small plume of smoke coming from within it, which was finally starting to dissipate, and laughed sheepishly with one hand behind her head. “That’s right,” she said, trying to laugh off that blunder. “When you’re sick, it’s best to sleep in a quiet room.”
Rei was trying very hard not to lose her temper and beat Minako senseless, but after witnessing the death of her tape player…. I can’t take this anymore…, she seethed mentally as she started to quiver in anger. She had reached her limit, and she let Minako know it with a loud scream of rage. Minako started at the scream, but knew Rei well enough to know that it was time to leave… if she valued her life. Before Rei was done screaming, she had gathered all her things and rushed out the door.
“I’m sorry!” she yelled as she ran for her life. Artemis wasn’t too far behind her as she fled.
“Oh… I’ve screwed up again,” Minako lamented as she made her way down the street. “I have to make sure that I don’t mess up at Usagi-chan’s house.”
Artemis stared at her in shock. He was walking beside her, instead of riding in the basket, since he didn’t want a repeat of what happened at Rei’s. His head was better, but still a little sore. “You’re going to do this again?!?” he asked in disbelief.
“Of course I am,” she said certainly. “Usagi-chan’s entire family is sick in bed. If I don’t go, who’s going to take care of them?”
“Mina, sometimes good deeds can be a nuisance, you know…,” he muttered partly to himself.
“What are you mumbling about?”
“Nothing.”
“The Dark Henge is growing according to schedule,” Emerald noted as she studied the progress this current Dark Henge was taking. “At this rate, the opening of the Black Gate would only be a matter of time. Prince Diamond-sama, how I wish I could return to your side….” She started laughing as the Dark Henge continued to draw more dark power from the negative point, continuing its slow growth.
“Oh, so she went to your place, too, Rei-chan?” Usagi asked. Beside her, Luna sat on her bed, curled up in a small little ball with her eyes closed, trying to get some sleep. “Mako-chan and Ami-chan called here earlier and gave me an idea of what happened, but….”
“I just can’t handle her anymore!” Rei told her over the phone, then coughed. Her voice was muffled, since she was wearing a scarf as well as a thick wool coat over her pajamas. “Be careful, Usagi-chan.”
“But, we have another bundle of energy at our house, too…,” she replied, but was interrupted by a loud yelling coming from another room. “Sorry, I gotta go,” she said hurriedly. “I think that bundle of energy is up to something again!” She quickly hung up the phone and rushed out of her room, making her way toward the room she heard Chibiusa screaming from.
On the second floor balcony, the young pink-haired girl was hanging over the side of the balcony along with the sheet she was trying to hang up to dry. “Oh my! Chibiusa-chan!” Ikuko shouted fearfully as she reached over and picked up Chibiusa, while letting the sheet fall to the ground below. “Don’t worry about helping. Go out and play.”
Usagi had arrived in time to watch her mother rescue Chibiusa, but was now staring sternly at the little girl.
“Leave everything to me and get some rest, Ikuko-mama,” Chibiusa requested as she stared pleadingly up at her.
“But…,” Ikuko began hesitantly.
“Chibiusa, if you’re going to help, just do the things you can do on your own!” Usagi said chidingly with her arms placed akimbo on her hips.
“How rude!” Chibiusa countered as Ikuko set her down. “I can do the laundry on my own!”
Ikuko shut her eyes and put a hand to her head as they continued. “Oh really?” Usagi asked. “Then, who was it that dropped the sheet that mom just washed?” Chibiusa simply glared at her, upset that she had scored on that one.
“Usagi, I’m getting a headache,” Ikuko said as she started to leave the balcony. “Would you please look after Chibiusa-chan?”
Both girls stared concernedly after her as she left. “Mama…,” Usagi murmured as she watched her mother leave.
“Then, what about the cleaning and the cooking?” Chibiusa called after her. “I’ll help with anything! Let me help!”
“Oh, I wish that someone would take care of Chibiusa…,” Usagi muttered.
“I’ll take that job!” someone shouted from the ground below her. She turned around and saw someone cloaked in the sheet that Chibiusa had dropped a short while ago, standing on the wall surrounding her house. The cloaked figure quickly cast off the sheet, revealing herself as Minako. Then again, she already knew that it was Minako, since Artemis had been sitting at her feet giving Minako a flat, exasperated stare. “Leave it to me!” she declared.
“Minako-chan!” Usagi exclaimed as Minako leaped from the wall up to the balcony.
“Don’t worry,” Minako told her confidently. “The Goddess of Love, Aino Minako, will take care of Chibiusa-chan and everything else!” Below, Artemis let out a small sigh, knowing exactly what would happen should Minako be allowed to… take care of everything.
“Um… I just want you to take care of Chibiusa, that’s all,” Usagi told her as she gave Minako a perplexed look. She remembered what Makoto, Ami and Rei had all told her, and her mind raced for an excuse for her to only take care of Chibiusa and not do any additional… and possibly very dangerous tasks.
“It’s okay,” Minako said, nodding as if she was expecting her to say that. “Don’t worry. Leave everything to me.”
“But…,” Usagi began, but was cut off by a slight coughing fit.
“See?” she told her, giving her a worried look. “You’ve got to stay in bed, Usagi-chan.”
“It’s okay,” Usagi tried to insist. “I’m getting better.”
“No, it’s not okay!” Minako said sternly as she shook her finger at her. “You can’t let your guard down. You know the old sayings: ‘Tomorrow is another cold’, or ‘Tomorrow you’ll catch tomorrow’s cold.’“
Usagi stared blankly at Minako while Chibiusa nodded. “That’s right!” she agreed.
“Come on, get into bed,” she told her as she herded Usagi inside.
Artemis stared after them and sweatdropped. “I think the sayings are: ‘Tomorrow is another day’, and ‘Tomorrow will blow tomorrow’s wind.’“ He sighed at Minako’s perpetual misquotations and followed the girls inside.
“Finally, a moment’s rest…,” Usagi sighed tiredly as she laid in her bed and closed her eyes. Minako had finally taken Chibiusa and left her alone so she could get some peace and quiet.
Beside Usagi’s bed, Luna laid curled up on a red pillow, looking just as sick as Usagi. “Are you okay, Luna?” Artemis asked with some concern.
“Of course I’m not all right,” Luna retorted. “You’re so lucky, Artemis…. They say that idiots don’t catch cold.”
Artemis stiffened indignantly from the insult. “Luna!” he shouted angrily just as the door opened, revealing both Chibiusa and Minako dressed as actual hospital nurses.
“Hi! Sorry to keep you waiting!” Minako stated, giving Usagi a wink. “Don’t worry, we’ll take care of you.”
Usagi, Luna and Artemis all stared at them with their mouths hanging open in astonishment. I wish that didn’t sound like they meant something different…, Usagi thought nervously after sitting up and staring at the twin nurses.
She’s getting worse… and she’s even letting Chibiusa-chan get in on the act! Artemis thought, wondering how much worse could things actually get before someone would end up getting killed by accident.
“Usagi-chan, did you take your temperature?” Minako asked after rushing up to the side of the bed.
“Um… no,” she replied nervously.
“Nice!” Minako said with a huge grin as she turned back to Chibiusa. “Chibiusa-chan, the thermometer, please.”
“Right!” Chibiusa replied eagerly as she gave her a small salute of acknowledgement. She grabbed her Luna Sphere, which had been floating around behind her, and tossed it into the air. “Luna Sphere, change!” she shouted, making the ball change into a medical kit. “Here you go, Minako-chan!” she said, handing her the thermometer.
“Thank you,” Minako said as she stuck the thermometer into Usagi’s mouth. “Time to take your temperature,” she said as she pulled out a timer and waited.
Fifteen seconds later, the timer went off, indicating that the wait was over. “Okay, time to measure,” she said as she pulled out the thermometer and read the digital display.
It read 37.5°F.
“That’s strange…,” she murmured as she watched the display suddenly turn off. She shook it for a second to see if the display would pop back up with the correct temperature. It didn’t, which meant that either Usagi’s body temperature was so low that her blood was actually a few degrees away from freezing solid or…. “Chibiusa-chan, I think the batteries are dead.”
As she was shaking the thermometer, it suddenly slipped from her grip and went flying as it smashed through one of the windowpanes. A strong gust of wind blew into the room from outside, making the room slightly chillier than before. “Oopsie…,” Minako said and she laughed in deep chagrin. “I think I screwed up a little…. But, don’t worry,” she said, trying to reassure Usagi, who was growing more nervous by the second. “We don’t have to take your temperature.”
“Minako-chan…,” Chibiusa sighed as she stared at her in disbelief and sweatdropped.
“She’s just as clumsy as Usagi-chan,” Luna remarked as Artemis merely hung his head in embarrassment at his charge.
“I know…,” he sighed regretfully.
Minako quickly went to work as she patched Usagi’s window with a sheet of paper and some tape. “Okay,” she said after she finished, “that should take care of it.” She then turned back to Usagi and grinned. “Oh, Usagi-chan, are you hungry?” she asked.
Immediately, a warning alarm went off in both Usagi’s and Artemis’ heads as Minako continued.
“I could make you some nice warm soup. That should warm you up.”
“No, no…,” Usagi declined, shaking her head and waving her hands to indicate that she didn’t want any soup. “That’s all right. I just ate.” It’s a good thing that everyone warned me about the soup, she thought in relief at the forewarning.
“Well, that’s too bad…,” she said disappointingly with her hands on her hips. Both Usagi and Artemis sighed in relief as Chibiusa stared at them in confusion. “Then, how about some soothing music?”
Artemis jumped to his feet in alarm as Minako grabbed a CD – her tape had been accidentally destroyed at Rei’s place… along with Rei’s tape player – and was heading over toward Usagi’s stereo system.
“Don’t touch that stereo!” Artemis warned anxiously.
“How can I help her if you keep bothering me!” Minako shot back as she turned away from the CD player and stood up.
“I’m bored!” Chibiusa declared suddenly.
“Then ask Mom,” Usagi suggested. “I’m sure there’s lots to do.”
Minako and Chibiusa shared a look. “Got it,” Minako said as she took Chibiusa’s hand and started to leave. “Let’s go, Chibiusa-chan!”
“Okay!”
Usagi watched the door until it closed behind them, then sighed in relief. “Oh, boy….”
The silent lasted until she heard Minako shriek in distress, followed by the sounds of two large objects tumbling down the stairs, punctuated by a loud thud. The surprise lasted for only a moment as the paper that Minako had attached to her window came off and smacked her square in the face. It was then blown off her face by the cold wind that had blown the paper off the window in the first place.
“It’s freezing!!!” she shouted, hugging herself as she shivered in the cold.
“Let’s get to it!” Minako said, rolling up her sleeves after they had changed out of their nurse outfits and into cleaning aprons. Chibiusa had even tied an apron around her Luna Sphere, which was now floating just above her head. “Ready, Chibiusa-chan?” she asked the young girl.
“All right!” Chibiusa shouted eagerly, thrusting a fist into the air.
They tried to clean the dishes first. Minako washed and rinsed, while Chibiusa dried and stacked the dishes. It was going fine, until Chibiusa stacked the dishes a little too high. Minako accidentally bumped her elbow into one of the cups, causing it to topple over. Chibiusa tried to stop it from falling, but since the stack was so high, she ended up knocking even more dishes to the floor. Seven plates, four cups and two glasses lost their lives that fateful day.
Laundry was next on the list. Just like before, they started out fine. Minako pointed out to Chibiusa that white clothes and colored clothes had to be washed separately. The white clothes were the first to be washed, but unfortunately, Minako had accidentally added too much detergent. Result: too many soapsuds and stains on the white clothes.
Next was vacuuming. Chibiusa was determined to do one thing around the house on her own, so Minako let her try vacuuming the living room carpet. Bad idea. The suction from the powerful vacuum motor was enough to cause the hose to run rampant, dragging the hapless pink-haired girl along for the ride.
Meanwhile, Minako tried to clean the mirrors on the living room wall. As she wiped down the glass surface of the mirror, she carelessly bumped her arm into the flower vase that was sitting on the small cabinet below the wall mirror. One loud crash later, there were pieces of the vase, and the flowers that were sitting in it, lying scattered on the floor and surrounded by a puddle of water.
Upon hearing all of the commotion, both Usagi and Ikuko came downstairs to see what had happened. When they saw the absolute disaster area that their living room had turned into, they both sweatdropped in amazement at the amount of destruction that two people could’ve caused in such a short amount of time.
“I’m going to get some more sleep and clean this up later,” Ikuko sighed tiredly as she turned to leave. “Try to keep things under control,” she told Usagi as she left.
“Poor Mom…,” Usagi sighed sympathetically. “Now, she’s gonna have to clean all this up.”
“Oh…,” she moaned as she suddenly began to feel dizzy. “The room is spinning… round and round….” The dizziness quickly hit her, causing her to slump to the floor.
“Usagi!” Minako and Chibiusa shouted concernedly as they stopped trying to clean up their messes and ran to her side.
“The room… is… spinning… and spinning….”
It was such a marvelous dream. She didn’t want it to end. Spending Christmas alone with Mamoru… it was perfect. Completely, utterly and absolutely perfect. Nothing could ruin this moment.
And then, the moment was gone. Out of the darkness, her friends loomed over her, chastising her for going too far with Mamoru while she was still in junior high. So what if she was all alone with him on such a special night? She loved him, and he loved her!
It grew worse when Minako and Chibiusa appeared in their nurse outfits and took Mamoru away from her. Well, she didn’t see them take him, but when she turned back to Mamoru when they disappeared, he was gone! Just before she could call out to him, a fire suddenly flared to life in front of her. Another roared up to her left, then her right, then surrounding her in a ring of flame.
It was hot!
Hot.…
And then, she was doused in cold water.
“Cold!” she shrieked as she sat bolt upright in bed, causing the cold towel to slide off her head. She blinked in confusion as she realized that she wasn’t burning and that she had just been dreaming. She blankly glanced around her room until her gaze fell upon Minako and Chibiusa, who were sitting at the side of her bed. Minako had her hand up as if she was about to reach for something, but stopped midway as she stared at her. Chibiusa was fast asleep, while the expression on Minako’s face showed that she was tired enough to join her at any moment.
“Minako-chan…,” Usagi said, surprised to find her sitting there.
“Oh, you’re awake?” Minako said as she dropped her hand back down to the bed and smiled. “I was just about to change your towel. Sorry if I woke you up.”
“You were here all this time, Minako-chan?” Usagi asked.
“Well, I can’t do much else, now can I?” Minako replied as she took the towel from off the bed and dipped it in the cold water.
“Say, Minako-chan, how come you’re so devoted?” she asked curiously.
“Because you’re very important to me,” Minako told her. “I have to help you.”
“Why?” Usagi asked. “Is it because I’m the Princess?”
“No,” she answered with a slight shake of her head. “It’s because I feel so peaceful when I’m with you,” she replied as she laid her head down on the bed and closed her eyes. “I want you to be full of energy. I can’t leave you sick. So, get well soon, okay?”
Usagi stared at Minako for a moment before nodding. Just as she nodded, Chibiusa began to stir.
“Did her fever go down?” she asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
“Yeah,” Minako replied with a smile. “Chibiusa-chan was by your side the whole time,” she told Usagi.
“Really?” she asked as she glanced toward Chibiusa.
“That doesn’t matter!” Chibiusa said firmly as she pounded a fist into the bed. “Minako-chan, we have to go to the hospital and pick up some medicine for everyone!”
“That’s right!” Minako said, then turned to Usagi. “Will you be okay by yourself, Usagi-chan?”
“I feel a lot better now,” she said with a nod.
“All right,” Minako said as she stood up. “Then, let’s go, Chibiusa-chan.”
“Okay, let’s go!” Chibiusa said as she reached up to take Minako’s hand. She laughed cheerily as she left with Minako to go to the hospital, leaving Usagi behind with both Luna and Artemis, who had both fallen asleep. She smiled as she settled back down into her bed and tried to go back to sleep.
It was quiet inside the hospital. Inside, all the doctors, nurses, orderlies, and other assorted hospital workers were lying unconscious on the floor, or slumped against a wall, victims of Emerald’s attack. Deep inside, Emerald stood in front of her Dark Henge, which was gradually growing within the negative point she had recently found. A woman wearing a nurse’s outfit was standing next to the crystalline figure, carefully observing it.
“How is it, Parmacon?” Emerald asked as she appeared behind her.
“Emerald, the Dark Henge is growing steadily as you can see,” she replied, turning her head slightly away from the crystalline figure as she made her report. She then reached into her pocket and pulled out a small capsule, and showed it to her. “If we distribute more of this dark power-filled medicine to the humans….”
“…opening the Black Gate will be very easy,” Emerald finished with a dark grin spread across her face as she laughed.
“Strange…,” Minako observed as she and Chibiusa wandered through the hospital, looking for the pharmaceutical window. “It’s so quiet….”
“You think so?” Chibiusa asked as she ran up to the window and leaped up toward the counter. “Excuse me, I’m Tsukino,” she shouted into the window. “I’m here to pick up the medicine!” No answer. The room on the other side of the window was completely empty. “Excuse me!” she called again. Still no answer.
“Isn’t anyone in?” she grumbled irritably. “Anybody? I don’t believe this! Hello, you have a customer!” She pushed herself off of the counter and started to run through the hallway, searching. “Excuse me!” she yelled, trying to get somebody’s attention.
“What?” Emerald exclaimed as she changed into a doctor’s uniform. “There’s still a child who’s energetic enough to yell that loudly? How can that be?” she asked as she waved her fan over a table covered with medical instruments, infecting each one with the same virus that she had unleash upon the public some time ago.
“There shouldn’t be any…,” Parmacon said in a puzzled tone of voice.
The door opened just as Emerald finished. “Here you are!” Chibiusa said as she stood in the doorway. “Hurry up! Give me the medicine for my family!” she shouted as she held out her hand expectantly.
“What a snobby brat…,” Emerald muttered under her breath, then grinned at her. “Sure, sure. But, before you go, little girl,” she said as she picked up a syringe, “let’s give you a vaccination shot, so you don’t catch it as well.”
Chibiusa took one look at the needle, then began to back away slowly in fear. “What?” she said anxiously. “A needle?”
“Don’t worry,” Emerald said reassuringly. “It won’t hurt. I’ll even make it free of charge.”
“No,” she refused as she took another step back, toward the door.
Emerald frowned as she lowered the syringe. “You should learn to accept the kindness of others, little girl,” she said condescendingly. “Parmacon!” she said as she snapped her fingers. In response, Parmacon leaped at Chibiusa and grabbed her shoulders to prevent her from escaping.
“Hold her,” she ordered as she picked up the syringe again and squeezed, letting some of the fluid squirt out of the needle.
Chibiusa looked from Parmacon to the needle and back, her expression filled with fear. She began to scream as a crescent moon symbol suddenly appeared on her forehead, emitting a strong light. Parmacon jumped back in surprise as she and Emerald gasped.
“It’s the Rabbit!” Emerald exclaimed in realization.
Elsewhere inside the hospital, Minako whirled toward the direction where Chibiusa was. She had been looking for her for a while, but she could now sense the energy she was giving off.
“Chibiusa-chan!” she exclaimed.
Back at their respective homes, Usagi, Ami, Rei, Makoto and Ryoku each bolted upright in their beds and stared toward the direction of the hospital. They, too, could sense the energy that Chibiusa was emitting. They remembered that whenever she gave off that energy, she was in danger.
“Chibiusa!” each of the girls shouted worriedly, while Ryoku shouted, “Kiddo!”
“Hold on, Chibiusa-chan!” Minako shouted as she lifted her transformation wand skyward. “Venus star power, make up!” Within moments, she transformed into Sailor Venus.
Emerald laughed as she shed her disguise and stared condescendingly down at Chibiusa, who had fell to the floor after the light beam disappeared from her forehead.
“Rabbit, how good to see you,” she said as she stood with one hand on her hip and the other holding her fan. “You’re mine now. Parmacon, do it,” she ordered as she turned toward the woman next to her.
“Yes,” Parmacon replied as she raised her hands over her head and reverted to her Droid body. Chibiusa gasped in fright at her. Her right hand was actually a large scalpel, but the more frightening thing was the fact that her left hand was a huge syringe… with an equally huge needle.
“Hold it!” a voice shouted before the Droid could advance toward Chibiusa. Everyone turned their heads toward the direction of the voice. A lone figure was standing up on the wide window ledge above them, her arms folded sternly.
“Sailor Venus!” Chibiusa sighed in relief.
“Frightening children and filling the world with evil power cannot be forgiven!” Venus declared. “The Sailor Warrior of love and beauty, Sailor Venus, will give you divine punishment!”
“You…,” Emerald growled. “You already know where the Dark Henge is?” she asked in disbelief.
“Of course, I do,” Venus replied certainly.
Chibiusa’s expression became bewildered. What is she talking about?
Emerald gasped in disbelief. “Then, you have already figured out my plan to use this hospital to spread medicine infected with dark power in order to spread this viral sickness?”
“I figured it out a long time ago,” Venus answered again with the same certainty as before.
Chibiusa gaped at Venus in utter disbelief. Venus can make up everything so easily.… What a liar.
“It seems that I have slightly underestimated you,” Emerald grudgingly admitted. “Parmacon, get her!”
Parmacon responded by raising her scalpel arm toward Venus and prepared to attack.
Usagi stopped running toward the hospital and leaned forward weakly against the stone wall beside her. She was still weak from her illness, but she couldn’t let that stop her. Not when Chibiusa was in grave danger.
“Usagi-chan, you shouldn’t go,” Luna told her, trying once again to persuade her charge to go back home.
“Your fever is rising again!” Artemis added. “You’ve got to stay in bed!”
“I’ll be okay,” Usagi reassured them. “How can I sleep when I know that Chibiusa is in danger?”
The same thought was going through the minds of the other four Sailor Scouts as they pushed themselves onward, trying to make it to the hospital on time.
“Crescent beam!” Venus shouted, firing her attack. Parmacon leaped straight into the air, just barely avoiding the attack, and swung her scalpel arm towards Venus on the way down.
Just before the scalpel struck, Venus leaped out of the way, leaving the sharp tool to strike the floor where she had been kneeling a moment ago. She rolled a short distance, then jumped back up to her feet, facing the Droid.
“Venus love-me chain!” she shouted, flinging her attack. The golden chain wrapped around the scalpel stuck into the floor, leaving Parmacon with only her syringe arm. She aimed her syringe arm at her and fired, letting the oversized syringe rocket toward her. Venus leaped straight up into the air in order to avoid the attack and landed facing the Droid, while watching for her to attack.
Since the chain had disappeared when Venus had to dodge her attack, Parmacon stood up and fired a barrage of syringes at her just as she landed. Since she had no room to leap away, she had to try to dodge the huge needles. Luckily, each of the needles only struck the wall and not her. However, since each of the needles barely missed hitting her by inches, half of the syringes had her pinned by her long hair.
“Damn…,” she muttered to herself apprehensively. She couldn’t move and Parmacon had her syringe arm pointed right at her head.
“Well, I guess this match is decided,” Emerald laughed triumphantly. “Finish the Rabbit off first!” she ordered. Parmacon complied by turning and firing a syringe at Chibiusa.
“I told you, I hate needles!” Chibiusa shouted as she leaped to her feet and ran. As the syringe closed in, she tripped and fell to the floor. Just before the syringe reached her, something flew through the air, shattering the glass syringe. Chibiusa pushed herself off the ground and glanced behind her. There was a rose sticking into the ground in the middle of the broken syringe.
“A hospital is a place where the sick come for help,” Tuxedo Kamen said as he appeared, just a short distance in front of Chibiusa. “How dare you tarnish this place with your evil power! This cannot be forgiven!”
“Mamo-chan!” Chibiusa sighed in relief.
“Tuxedo Kamen!” Venus said, relieved that Chibiusa was saved.
“You tiresome fool!” Emerald growled as she shook her fist at him furiously. “Parmacon, get rid of him!” she shouted.
Parmacon replied by firing another syringe at Tuxedo Kamen.
“Sparkling wide pressure!” Jupiter shouted, firing her attack. The attack connected in mid-flight, completely destroying the syringe.
“Shabon spray!” Mercury yelled, filling the room with a thick mist.
“Damn!” Emerald seethed. “What’s going on?”
“So, you’re behind this virus!” Mars stated as the rest of the Sailor Scouts surrounded Emerald. “We’ll pay you back for this.”
“What are you doing here?” Venus exclaimed. “You should all be in bed!”
“We’ll are fine now,” Sailor Moon told her as the mist began to dissipate.
“We owe it all to you, Sailor Venus,” Mars said.
“You gave us your energy,” Mercury added.
“And you gave us your compassion,” Knight said.
“Thank you, Sailor Venus,” Jupiter said gratefully.
“Everyone…,” Venus murmured, moved by her friends’ appreciation.
“Parmacon, I’ll leave the rest to you,” Emerald said as she leaped into the air and vanished.
“Leaving so soon?” Knight called after her mockingly, as Parmacon grimaced at her abandonment.
“Now, let’s get rid of the source of this virus!” Mercury suggested.
“Okay!” Mars agreed. “Burning mandala!”
“Avalanche barrage!” Knight shouted right after her. The two attacks pelted Parmacon, weakening the Droid.
“Now, Sailor Moon!” Mercury shouted.
Sailor Moon was about to comply when her legs suddenly gave way underneath her.
“What’s wrong?” Mars asked worriedly as she and the others rushed to her side.
“Sailor Moon!” Mercury shouted as she knelt by her side along with the others.
“Sorry…,” Sailor Moon said weakly. “My fever….”
“You can do it,” Mars told her.
“Concentrate,” Knight said, putting his hand on her shoulder encouragingly.
“Don’t give up, Sailor Moon!” Tuxedo Kamen told her. The others all turned to see Tuxedo Kamen carrying Chibiusa in his arms. “Bring out your strength! I love the spirit within you!”
Sailor Moon stared at him wondrously. Mamo-chan.… She smiled and nodded confidently. “Right, Tuxedo Kamen-sama!” she replied with a nod as she brought out her Moon Scepter. “Moon princess halation!” she shouted as she waved the scepter in front of her, firing a blast of white energy at Parmacon. The attack stuck her shattering her skin to pieces, leaving only her figure in crystal, which disintegrated into a pile of powder. The jewel with the upside-down black crescent moon turned from a bright emerald green into a dull lifeless gray.
“You did it!” Jupiter exclaimed.
“Sailor Moon!” Mercury shouted joyfully.
“Good job,” Mars commented.
“Well, that’s that,” Knight said, nodding his head. “We should get going.”
“Um…. Excuse me…,” Venus called faintly. Everyone turned to see that although Parmacon was gone, her syringes were still there… and Venus was still pinned to the wall. “Maybe you can help me down now. I’m stuck!”
“Sorry,” Sailor Moon said, rubbing the back of her head in chagrin. “I forgot.”
“After I worked so hard?” Venus complained. “Not fair!” The others started laughing, while Knight suddenly half-grinned in a slightly wicked way.
“I’m sorry. Do you want me to help you out of that?” he asked.
She took one look at his expression and sweatdropped. “Um… I’m okay. Really. There’s no need….”
His half-grin slowly deepened. “It doesn’t look like it to me,” he replied. “I think you need my help. After all, I owe you for all the help you gave me earlier today.”
Venus gulped audibly. “No… that’s all right. Really.” She then looked pleadingly toward the others. “Don’t any of you want to help me out?”
“I thought you said you didn’t need any help,” Mars pointed out. “Knight’s offered his help. Don’t you want him to help you?”
“No!” she squeaked as she saw Knight drawing his Star Sword. “I mean, that’s quite all right. I wouldn’t want to trouble him….”
“Hold still, please,” he told her quietly.
“I don’t have much choice,” she said dryly, then squealed nervously and squeezed her eyes shut as she saw him fling his sword at her. She felt the sword strike the wall above her head, followed by the sound of glass falling to the floor and shattering. She opened her eyes and looked down to see that all of the syringes were now on the floor, most of them shattered.
“You know, you scared me there for a moment,” she said as she turned to see where his sword hit the wall. “I thought for sure that you were… AAH!!!”
She leaped back in shock as she saw that Knight’s sword was so close to where her head was that if she was even one centimeter taller, it would’ve hit her. “You didn’t have to be so close!!!” she screamed angrily at him.
His smile took on that mischievous quality again. “You’re welcome.”
Everyone else just exchanged glances and sweatdropped. “Your brother scares me sometimes,” Mars commented to Jupiter.
“You get used to it,” Jupiter replied with a shrug.
Emerald appeared in the room with the Dark Henge just in time to see it hit the floor and shatter.
“Damn!” she growled furiously. “I was so close! Sailor Soldiers, just you wait….” She faded away again, laughing as she imagined what she would do to them the next time she had a chance.
“And so, everyone recovered, and the city was once again a place of activity and energy… except for a few,” Artemis complained as he lay curled up on Minako’s bed.
“Shut up, Artemis,” Minako murmured from underneath her blanket. “I guess I’ve caught a real cold.”
“Seems like it,” he agreed.
“Well, that’s good,” Luna said as she leaped up onto the bed and grinned down at him. “It means you’re not an idiot, after all. I never expected that from you.”
“Luna, is that all you have to say?” he asked indignantly.
The door to Minako’s room opened, admitting Usagi and Chibiusa inside. Chibiusa was back into her nurse’s outfit, while Usagi wore one of her own.
“Hi!” she said as she carried a tray with a covered bowl inside. “Thanks for waiting.” Minako sat bolt upright as she, Luna, and Artemis all gaped in astonishment.
“Go ahead and help yourself!” she said cheerily. “It’s my special soup made just for you!”
“Thank you,” Minako said faintly as Usagi placed the tray on her lap. She took one spoonful, ate it, and almost gagged at the horrid taste.
“Well, do you like it, Minako-chan?” Usagi asked eagerly, her face showing a hopeful expression.
Minako made a show of eating another spoonful while making approving sounds as she ate.
“Great!” Usagi said happily as she danced around. “Eat plenty, then.”
Was I this bad? Minako thought to herself as she watched.
“Now, let’s take your temperature,” Chibiusa said as she brought out the thermometer.
“That’s for later,” Usagi said as she grabbed the thermometer out of her hand. “Don’t interrupt.”
“Oh yeah?” Chibiusa growled angrily.
“That’s right!” Usagi growled back.
“So, is this what it’s meant by ‘taking someone else’s medicine’?” Minako asked Artemis with a grimace as the two nurses started fighting. Luna merely sweatdropped as she decided that she wasn’t going to deal with it.
“Another misquote,” he muttered tiredly to himself.
“Lemme sleep in peace!!!” Minako whined, then sighed as she absentmindedly took another spoonful of Usagi’s soup, almost gagged again and cursed her luck.
To Chapter 77: Dog Day for Artemis