The six warriors made their way towards the exit slowly, being careful to avoid hurting anyone in the crowd given Manzer's incredible size.

Lunar lead the way with Orpheus bringing up the rear. Suddenly Orpheus heard a piercing scream behind her. "HEY! Where're you guys taking my prize winning partner?!" Orpheus all but jumped out of her fuku as she turned to see who was addressing her. *Ouch! My eardrums! Huh?*

She saw before her the girl in blue armor who had teamed up with the dragon for the Masquerade. "Um, he has to go now! We're friends of his." she replied quietly.

Already? HEY! NICE costume! I LOVE anime! I came here for the music videos! I LOVE music!!" Orpheus stood slightly uncomfortable yet amazed at how she could hear the girl over the rest of the crowd with no difficulty.

Orpheus looked ahead at the others as she held her ears. *I'll never forgive myself for this, but,...* "So you enjoy music huh!" Orpheus turned to the girl and called forth her magic clarinet.

"Mystical Melody, MESMERIZE!"

she carried out her attack and watched as the girl fell captive to the music's trance. "Whew! That shut her up! Gomen!" Orpheus then turned to catch up with the others leaving the girl standing motionless with a hypnotic gaze in her eyes.

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

No sooner did the group make it outside the congested area when Manzer nervously turned to his allies. "Uh, how am I going to get back on the plane?"

Warlock grinned at the dragon. "Don't worry. She's a strong jet, she can hold you! The real question is how do we get you back up to the roof. Hey Todd!" Warlock called to the security head who was instantly recognized by Stardust. The guard walked over and Pendula smiled as she noticed he was accompanied by Cathy from the art room.

Warlock explained they needed an alternate means of departure since Manzer had no way of changing out of his *costume*. "Sure Gemmil! There's a freight elevator over that way. Thanks for your help. Sorry to lose you." replied Todd.

Warlock was in the middle of thanking him when Stardust stepped before the two looking slightly uneasy. "Uh, you two... know each other?" The flirtatious senshi then advanced towards Todd and smiled. "Thank you for giving Gemmil something to do honey!"

Cathy had just finished saying her goodbyes with Pendula and swerved around to do the same for Stardust. The senshi jumped back with reflexes even Lunar would be envious of, landing right beside a staring , bemused Warlock. Cathy sat with her hand extended, puzzled at the senshi's reaction. Stardust glanced back at Warlock who was grinning devilishly. Both girls let out an identical cry, directed at different people."What?" Warlock keeping direct eye contact with Stardust, let go of his grin and replied "I thought I was your honey."

Stardust turned beet red at this, shifting her focus back and forth from Warlock to Todd. "What? No goodbye hug for your boyfriend?" Todd exclaimed as he extended his arms towards Stardust. Cathy's previously extended hand turned to a clenched fist as she glared at Todd. "WHAT are you doing?" she muttered. Todd leaned down and whispered to Cathy "I'll explain later. Roll with it!" Cathy sat firm and replied sarcastically "I'm not going _anywhere_!" all the while, watching Stardust's every move.

Stardust's face shifted from beet to crimson to vermillion in a single heartbeat. She then turned to her allies who snickered at the sight. "I'll meet you guys upstairs!" the senshi blurted out. She then did the world's fastest 180 and made for the stairway. As the door to the stairwell closed, the entire group burst out laughing.

With that, the remaining warriors headed for the elevator. Before the door closed, Todd reached in to shake Warlock's hand. "Have fun!" he said. The warriors then bid the pair farewell.

As the elevator ascended, the group reversed their transformations and in a matter of minutes they were on the roof , their jet fuled and ready to go. An out of breath Hikari met up with others as they checked to see that they had everything.

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

Satisfied all was ready, Gemmil turned to Kodomo. His expression went from stern, to angry, and then to sarcastic as he spoke with arms crossed.

"You know Kodomo, I don't believe a single one of us found any trace of evil at this event. Yet you insisted on coming here." As he eyed her many packages, Kodomo gulped apologetically.

"It's okay Kodo-chan." Manzer stated from behind. "We all had fun anyways. Just don't make a habit of organizing senshi investigations for personal gain, okay?" The others started a chorus of subtle laughter as they all had to admit the day _was_ quite the experience. Besides, if Manzer could forgive and forget after what he went through, certainly they could.

Gemmil quickly hid the hint of a smile on his face and reverted back to seriousness as he pulled forth his thinned wallet. "Okay, fun's over. Cough 'em up!" He motioned to the three girls to hand over the *borrowed* credit cards. Warlock kept a careful eye on which card came from which girl. "Now Kodomo, perhaps you can explain my cards' disappearing act! I'd like to know what happened before coming up with adequate punishment!"

Kodomo cringed. "Wh-why are you blaming me? We ALL used them!" she protested trying to look innocent. Gemmil took out his cel phone. "Well, I have no proof of who took them, but let's see how much each of you spent!"

He dialed and spoke into the receiver. "Yes, I'd like a quote of how much is on this card please....Uh huh!...and this one,... yes! And this...thank you!" As he hung up the phone, Gemmil looked at Kodomo and shook his head.

"Y'know, those packages don't help your case. Besides, I find it hard to believe that Hikari purchased a $5000 t-shirt." Kodomo felt the weight on her arms seemingly increase as she nervously searched for an excuse. Allegra and Hikari both stared at her, interested to hear what her reply would be. Hikari, still out of breath mumbled "At last! Somebody else's turn!"

"But you said it was YOUR treat!" Kodomo wined.

Gemmil let out a small growl. "I hope you have a better excuse for Setsuna when she meets us at the airport!" Gemmil marched the whimpering Kodomo on board the jet motioning to the pilot to ready the craft for take off. The others followed closely behind, Manzer taking slow, careful steps and making sure to keep his wings folded until safely on the plane.

Once on board, Manzer's body took up most of the isle. At Gemmil's signal the jet took off. Kodomo curled up in a corner and Gemmil stood at the front of the isle like a warden. As the weary passengers watched the hotel become smaller and smaller Chang made on last attempt to lighten the mood before settling down himself

. "Well., this certainly was an interesting trip." The jet became a speck in the darkening sky and they were gone.

********

Twenty four hours had passed since their departure, but memories of the visitors' presence at the convention were on the minds of all who'd come in contact with them. Closing ceremonies had ended, events were pretty much over and several staff were in the main ballroom working on cleanup.

Head of security was currently struggling with a large banner and called to another staff member. "Hey Geoff, gimme a hand with this will you?" As the two took down the banner they reflected on the weekend's events. "How'd gaming go?" inquired Todd. Geoff shuddered. "Don't ask!"

Just then Cathy entered at a slower pace than usual. She looked up at the pair who had just finished folding the banner. "Whew! My arms are tired! Well, the art room's done. You guys need any help?" "We could use some help packing up these t-shirts."

Cathy turned towards the source of the new voice behind her. Two more staff members walked in carrying heavy boxes. "Hey David, Dave! Sure, I'll be right over." Cathy proceeded to assist the two men with their heavy load.

"Here Dave. Let me help you with that one. How was the music video presentation?" "Thanks Cathy. It was good." replied the tired staff member. "But if I can handle seven bags for an enthusiastic shopper, I can carry this." Cathy's face took on a coy expression. "What did you do, help a damsel in distress?" Dave blushed. "Well yeah, something like that."

David put down a t-shirt and looked around the room. "What's with Serena?" Cathy looked in the direction of David's pointing finger to see their friend looking dazed and generally out of it as she took down some posters. The trio called the girl over and Todd and Geoff looked up at the sound of the three voices. Cathy looked at the tired volunteer quite concerned.

"You okay? You've been this way since the end of the masquerade."

Serena looked at the group, briefly recalling some strange music, then shook her head. "Huh? Yeah, I'm fine!" Soon the work was completed and all six sat in the center of the room, now restored to its original state.

Geoff was the first to speak up. "Well, another Anime North come and gone!" "Yep!" replied David followed closely by a simple "Uh huh!" from Dave. A long stretch of silence followed. No one seemed to know quite what to say. All thoughts were on the previous day's experience. Suddenly, the silence ceased to exist as it was replaced with six voices all speaking the same enthusiastic phrase.

"I JUST HAD THE GREATEST IDEA FOR A SAILOR MOON FANFIC CHARACTER!!"

The End

Written by: Akane-san

Editing and Rewrites by:
Yamato
Iczel Prime
Clef
Asuka
Ferio