Pendula was thunderstruck. Never in her life had she seen so many examples of talented artists' work in one room before. *Even the art shows held at Infinite Academy weren't _this_ rich with talent!* Pendula fell into a dream world with anime fans admiring the work before them, with Pendula of course, playing the role of the featured artist.

_**SCREEECH!!**_

Pendula was quickly pulled from her dream back into reality when she heard the loud sound break the silence of an otherwise quiet room.

"Here ya go Jason, s'more pieces for ya! Sorry I'm late, got here as fast as I could."

Pendula stood admiring the piece in front of her, but couldn't help overhearing the voices in the background.

"It's okay. I'm off to a panel now. You can hang them up can't you? Take care of the room for me." Pendula looked up to see a young man leaving the room and waving behind him. She turned to look at the girl who had received the wave who was now busy hanging up a painting of what looked like a martial artist in red.

"Here, let me help you with that." Pendula kindly offered to assist in hanging up some of the pieces that seemed out of the girl's reach.

"Thanks. Quite a show huh!"

The senshi looked down at the girl who was reaching for another painting. "Yes, amazing. I love art! I draw a little myself." replied Pendula, hoping she wasn't sounding too out of place. The girl smiled up at Pendula giving her some reassurance.

"Really? Me too! Great costume by the way!" The sailor warrior stared at the girl in confusion. *Costume??*

*************

Just as this exchange of words was going on in the artroom, Warlock was slowly making his way through the dealers' room, carefully looking for anyone who appeared suspicious. He was surrounded by merchants sitting at tables littered with anime and manga memorabilia, and other than the occasional squeal of joy by a shopper who had found a rare item, no one seemed to be behaving out of the ordinary.

He stopped when he spotted a young man casually picking up a cd and turning to leave. Warlock stood calm yet alert waiting for the young man to advance to his position. As the child made to go around him, Warlock stepped into his path again. "I believe that you have something that belongs back at the table youngster!" The boys face shifted from shock to surprise to anger. "What the hell do you mean? Get out of my way!" With that the boy once again made to go around his human obstacle.

"Stop THIEF" Warlock said in a voice loud enough to attract attention.

Several people were now looking at the pair and one person appeared to be walking towards them. "Is there a problem here?" Warlock looked at the new arrival. They were both the same height and build. The main difference seemed to be about a hundred pounds all on the guard's part. "Yes, this child seems to think that he can walk out of here without paying for the CD in his pocket. Considering the lack of security in here, I can't blame him for trying."

the guard's face went from a pleasant smile to an angry pout. "What do you MEAN by lack of security?" He looked at the boy as he tried to sneak off. "Going somewhere?" And putting action behind his words, he reached out and grabbed the kids jacket. "Someone want to call the police to my room please?" the head of security spoke into his radio. "You come with me and Mr.?..." He glanced up at Warlock waiting for a name. "Ahh... Andrews! Gemmil Andrews." The guard's face went white." Your joking right?? Gemmil Andrews? Do you have any idea what my name is?" Warlock glanced at the name badge worn by the guard. "Let's see. I'm no expert, but I'd say it was Todd Spencley." he answered.

Todd smiled. "Follow me." With the struggling teenager in tow they set off for what turned out to be the 'Operations' room.

***********

Todd pushed the kid towards a seat. "SIT!" An asian man behind the desk looked up. "Problem Todd?" "Yeah, Irwin, shoplifter. You called the Police like I asked?" asked the security head. "They're on the way." replied Irwin looking at Warlock.

"Who's he?" Todd glanced over towards the warrior. "Gemmil Andrews, here caught the kid." he said with a smile. Irwin snickered. "You should ask your name sake to join security, if he's that good." The head of security looked over at Warlock. "Well, you up for it?" Warlock groaned. "NAME SAKE???"

*************

Meanwhile, Lunar had reached what appeared to be the gaming room and was cautiously observing a game in progress, though not knowing anything about role playing he'd never have known it.

*What _are_ these people doing?* Lunar was a little on edge in his surroundings for although he'd heard the term monster and even *yoma* several times, he saw no sign of danger.

"What the..hey Lunar, what's up with _this_ room?" The moon warrior turned towards the familiar voice's source to see Manzer walking past the first table. Manzer eyed the table that had held Lunar's attention and walked over to the game in progress stopping behind one of the players. He was a big fellow seated at the head of the table and was sporting one of those staff badges the senshi had been encountering.

The dragon studied the game master in front of him, eying his movements and studying what arsenal the man had at his disposal. The gamer made a move he seemed quite proud of until Manzer made his presence known with a single word. "Hmmm...."

Lunar watched as with each passing turn, Manzer would comment on how "Interesting" the gamer's strategy was. He stood in amazement as the dragon gradually took the man from indifferent to severely agitated. The game master had just completed another turn and was about to receive another unwanted comment when he swerved around to face Manzer.

"WHAT!??" the game master bellowed as Manzer studied the board.

Manzer looked up at the man briefly, then as if to lead the game master's attention to the board, looked down again before responding. "Well, you realize you've left your right flank wide open."

Manzer's pointing finger acted like a dagger wounding the game master's pride as he noticed the flaw. Everyone at the table watching him, the man's only defense on such short notice was a snarky counter attack. "Oh, and what do _you_ know about Battle Tech anyways!?" Hearing the hostility in the man's voice, Lunar advanced towards Manzer preparing to stop a possible brawl. Manzer replied in a manner more common to that of his annoying ally Warlock as he merely smirked and spoke down to the man with a voice possessing as much calmness as the game master's had anger. "One of the original play testers."

Lunar stared at Manzer in complete confusion as the table fell silent. The game master paused, then as Manzer turned to leave, picked up the game as though the half dragon had never been there.

Lunar looked at the satisfied Manzer expressing disapproval. "Well, you must be pretty proud of yourself! Quit acting like Gemmil would ya!" Manzer's expression could have passed for that of an innocent child as he replied sounding quite oblivious. "What'd I do?"

**************

Both were about to continue exploring when Manzer stopped dead in his tracks displaying a look of shock on his face. The moon warrior turned to face him. "What is it?" Manzer looked at his ally with an expression that worried both of them. He then gave a reply that one unaware of the situation would shrug off as a normal request, but to Lunar, the phrase sent a chill down his spine. "What time is it?..."

Had the pair been able to read each other's thoughts they would have found an identical pattern. Both realized the dragon had been in human form for a full twenty four hours. With all that was going on, Manzer had forgotten about the time and at this rate he would revert back to his dragon state any second. The simultaneous thought exchange between the two took only a second. Lunar recovered enough to reply and take command.

"Oh shit!! Let's get you outta here before we cause a scene! Move, NOW!!" Lunar grabbed Manzer's hand and made for the door in true Ranma Saotome style, rebounding off the heads of every unsuspecting gamer in their way.

No sooner did they make it to the exit than the inevitable occurred. The two voices came together to speak as one.

"Uh, oh....."

End Part 3