Lunar entered the main hallway, peering into random doorways in hopes of finding his fellow warriors. *Where the hell _is_ everyone? We've got an emergency on our hands here. I don't think Manzer can stay undetected for long with crowds like this running around.*

*******

Back in the dealer's room, Stardust and Pendula had split up, each giving the other half the room to explore. Stardust had covered almost all of her side and was bursting with excitement. She felt herself struggling to focus on any one table as all of them were battling for her attention. *This room is amazing! I can't believe it took me this long to get here*

Suddenly, the senshi turned as she heard a voice addressing her from behind. "Excuse me young lady, but I can see from your costume that I just happen to have an item that might be of interest to you" The merchant who had spoken to her reached over his shoulder to grab a wall scroll on the display wall behind him. He then placed it on the table in front of a curious Stardust. Her face then lost all anticipation as she eyed the item. "No thank you sir!" replied Stardust with a hint of disgust in her tone. She then bowed and turned to walk away leaving behind the confused merchant. *That's odd..* thought the man. *...Now why wouldn't she want a beautiful wall scroll of Sailor Venus in mint condition?*

"Pendula, _there_ you are!" Stardust met up with her fellow senshi at the front of the room. "Geez, you're loaded down! Between this stuff and the pieces you picked up in the art room, I don't know how you carry it all. All I got was this." Stardust held up her one bag to Pendula's load in comparison and let out a small sigh. "Lemme see!"

Pendula snatched the bag, pulling forth its contents to reveal a t-shirt sporting a handsome teenage boy on the front. He was dressed in a yellow shirt with black pants and wore a distinctive black and yellow print bandana.

"Nice!...Uh, did you spot the enemy?" Pendula asked nervously as she refolded the shirt. Stardust glared at her ally trying to hold back a satisfactory giggle. "Relax girl, I know you. You made this all up so you could see the manga art! I've seen you at our school's art shows, you're uncontrollable!" Pendula braced herself for a lecture on responsible senshi behavior.

"Pretty clever though! Wouldn't expect it from you!" As Stardust finished her sentence, Pendula opened her eyes as she felt all tension leave her body. She looked up in amazement at the senshi. Stardust wasn't angry, but rather was actually commending her ally on sneakiness. *Wow, I hope the others are as forgiving* thought Pendula.

Stardust smiled as she turned towards the exit motioning for Pendula to join her. "C'mon, let's go find the others."

The two girls left the dealers' room and headed towards the main auditorium, Pendula struggling with her bags all the way.

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

Stardust and Pendula didn't need to look very far, for Orpheus was only a few doors down from them. The pair lugged their purchases, mostly Pendula's, into a room where a lecture was presently taking place.

Stardust was quick to spot their ally at the front of the room and went to join her.

"WAIT!

"Pendula reached out to stop Stardust from leaving and dropped all but one of her bags in the process. "Here, let me help you with those."

Pendula looked up to see a man with a staff badge and radio headset gathering her bags together. When both had gathered all they could hold, the two stood up and the grateful senshi got a better look at her rescuer. He was a fairly tall man with medium build and five o clock shadow. "Um, th-thank you." Pendula exclaimed nervously and halfway embarrassed. "Not at all. Attractive outfit!" The man smiled and the senshi's blushed deepened.

"Hey Orpheus! What've you been up to? What's going on in here?" Stardust's patience grew thin as she couldn't help but notice Orpheus hadn't budged, let alone given a verbal response.

"AHEM!!"

Orpheus looked over her shoulder to see her ally slightly miffed. "Oh, hi Stardust! Where did you come from?" Orpheus patted the empty seat next to her motioning for Stardust to sit down.

"I've been listening to the most amazing lecture." As Orpheus spoke, Stardust noticed her fellow senshi seemed mesmerized by the screen in front of them. "It's a presentation on making anime music videos. Check it out!"

Orpheus directed Stardust's attention to a woman speaking at the front of the room. She was demonstrating the do's and don't's of fitting video clips to music. The woman pointed to the screen in back of her and the lights went down. "C'mon Orpheus. Pendula's back there waiting for us. We have to go find the others."

Stardust practically dragged the stubborn senshi out of her seat, both keeping their heads low as they exited the room.

*********

When all three were in the light of the hallway, Orpheus looked over at Pendula struggling with her bags. "For the love of....Pendula, how much did you BUY??!" The senshi blushed as she regained her balance and turned to thank the man who had helped her one final time. Her eyes met disappointment as she saw no trace of him.

"Honestly Pendula, I thought Minako was a hard core shopper but..." Stardust paused when she noticed Pendula's attention was elsewhere.

*I didn't even get his name...*thought the forlorn senshi.

"What're you looking at?" inquired Stardust.

"Uh, n-nothing!" replied Pendula, reverting her attention back to the others. She wanted no teasing from the flirtatious senshi about guys on any level. Pendula put on her best face and the three girls pressed on.

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

Lunar had all but given up locating any of his group when he came upon a familiar sight. Warlock was up ahead arguing with a young girl over whether the item she was "armed" with was considered to be a weapon or a prop.

"You can't go around wielding that size a glave miss! I'm sorry, you'll HAVE to hand it over to security!"

Lunar saw Warlock reaching for his badge as the insistent female cut him off. "I NEED this for the masquerade mister! I'm not going to hurt anyone, and I'm NOT handing you anything!"

Lunar rushed towards the pair and deliberately placed himself between the two pretending not to notice the girl. "Warlock, thank god! Where are the others? We need to get out of here! Manzer's undergone a, er..." he paused and glanced over at the girl then looking Warlock straight in the eyes,continued.

"...costume change!"

Quite out of breath, Lunar collected himself and waited for a response from his ally. Warlock let out a seemingly agitated growl under his breath and said quite calmly to Lunar "Let's go." He then turned to the girl, who was smiling in satisfaction and before leaving the scene exclaimed "And _don't_ think you're off the hook!"

The pair then rushed towards the auditorium where Lunar had left the dragon. "Honestly, Warlock. She couldn't have been more than twelve!" Lunar stared at Warlock in disapproval until the warrior brought forth the security badge bestowed upon him earlier.

Lunar took one look at the symbol of authority and did one huge face fault. He then muttered under his breath "Great! Give the man _more_ power!" and the pair continued on their way.

*********

End Part 5