There was a certain art to being a thief. Anyone could swipe something, but just as well, anybody could build a house, fire a rocket into a small island country causing unknown amounts of damage, or even become queen of said island many centuries later. It took skill and finesse, and a great amount of imagination to be unique of all those who have completed such feats. The ancient Egyptians were still hailed as the best construction civilization ever known. Einstein's work was still recognized as a measure to live up to. There was an undisputed thought among all on Earth that Queen Serenity had to be the best ruler of all time, even if she was a tad vapid. And of course, no one could ever compete to the thievery skills and imagination that was Carmen Sandiego's. With a smirk, the trenchcoat-wearing superthief detached herself from her ceiling rope and hopped silently to the ground. It was to be an easy heist, Actually. She committed few thefts lately, mostly because of searching. She felt that her next job had to be something of the history books. The former ACME agent was already infamous worldwide, as well as in several different time lines. Still, she felt a longing for something to put her face in the halls of time for all time, to be bigger than even Dance Dance Revolution 56th Mix (Compositions done by a collaborative effort of M. Hayashibara, Y. Kanno, J. Williams, and DJ Scribble). With a sudden burst of inspiration, And a couple of pushes on her 'borrowed' ACME Chronoskimmer (Now with dimensional capability!), she had found the first of her targets in a quaint little empire known as Crystal Tokyo. Carmen continued her musings as she wove through the palace security. It was supposed to be a magical kingdom, so there was bound to be an icon of power around. She'd done enough research on it to confirm that the Queen's power did indeed result from the Shiny Bobble of Great Power, or ginzuishou as the natives called it. Truly it was the thing to begin her course to be the Greatest Thief Ever. But of course, the crystal wasn't her true target here tonight. It would just Serve as the catalyst. Tired of all the plot revelations through the medium of her thoughts, Carmen promptly backhanded the author and continued her mission. The guards had all been surpassed, and the glowing symbol of power was with the Queen, who was asleep (it being nighttime and all). Carmen looked around for any signs of alarm, and crept into the room. She gazed over at the slumbering couple, and held back a chuckle. This was going to be too much fun. The only thing that would have possibly ruined it was if her 'opponent' that she was sure they were going to send after her did not live up to the potential that Carmen thought she would. The thief whapped the author a good one again, and continued her work... **************swipe* "Stolen! It's been stolen! Call the National Guard!" Several minutes and much grumping later, the 8 Senshi and princess were in The bedchambers of their Queen, all in random states of fanservicey dress. "What's the meaning of this? Michiru and I were--" "That's okay, we don't need any detail." Makoto groused. The two glared at each other until Serenity silenced them with her bedroom fuzzy slippers. "There's been a robbery! What were you all doing last night! Why weren't the guards around to stop it?" "Well, that would be because we don't have any," Ami replied. "We killed the last of our budget building everything of solid crystal." "... Well that doesn't matter! The thief has to be caught! Someone has to hang for this!" The Senshi all shrunk away from the Queen's angry tirade. They'd never really seen her so pissed off before. "I've never seen her this pissed before," Mina said. The other began scanning the room, scanning for signs of intrusion. Setsuna Was the first to observe the pedestal by Serenity's dresser. "Someone's made off with the Ginzuishou!" The others blinked, and groaned. "Not again," Saturn muttered. "That's not important!" The elder Usagi roared. "Um, mom, wouldn't the thief be able to basically be a god with the crystal?" Pink-haired Usagi spoke up. "Oh. Okay, so it might be important..." She looked sheepish. Endymon hugged his wife. "It will be fine, dear. We'll get the crystal back." Not that he cared, he thought. It just meant that he was the stronger of the two for a while, and that made him feel good. "But that's not what hurt me, Mamo-chan," She whined. "They took my... my--" "Hey, wait," Rei looked up. "There WAS a time when you were this mad! You--" Serenity cut her off. "Don't you simpleton's realize that monster took my Wonka brand Pocky?!" "--had your pocky stolen in college." The Senshi of Mars finished. "... Okay, so we need to locate the Ginzuishou, as well as your pocky." Ami nodded at something. "Well, at least we have some clues." "Already?" Hotaru asked. "For one thing, whoever did this left a temporal rip right near your bed, which explains how they got away." Ami said. "And the other?" Makoto asked. Ami held up a slip of paper that had big bold letters that read 'SCAVANGER LIST' at the top. "Oh." Ami skimmed the list with a critical eye, and blushed. "I'm afraid the pocky and the crystal wasn't the only thing taken." Serenity blinked when Ami went to her 'private' drawer in her dresser and opened it. "She made off with your Royal Delight collection." Mamoru paled. "... This evil being must be caught and filleted alive." The Senshi groaned. "Okay, time to draw straws," Setsuna said. "Huh?" Usagi blinked. "Aren't we all gonna go and get the crystal back?" "That would be utter nonsense," Setsuna answered. "No need for all of us to leave the kingdom unprotected." From absolutely nothing, she didn't add. "As is, to have to set out and recover some pocky and a collector's worth of undergarments is just... embarrassing." "But..." She started. "Okay, so that Usagi going, and who else?" Minako spoke up. "Hey!" Hotaru brought out some straws, and the rest of the Senshi drew. Mercury's was the shortest. "Damn." "Don't look at it so bad Ami-chan," Rei tried to console her. "At least you won't be cooped up in that lab of yours for a moment." "But Motoki-san and I were perfecting was to increase stamina and endurance for..." She blinked, and blushed badly. "On second thought, it will be good training for Sailor Moon, and I need to get out anyway. Let's go spore." "My name's Usagi," the teen grumped. "Right, spore. We'll just go and grab that Convenient Portable Teleport Device in my lab." She grabbed the girl and hurried out the door. ----- ----- ----- SCAVANGER HUNT A Figment of Your Imagination It's all Kenji's fault. Blame him. Part 01: The Chase is on $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ ... Damn. It was the only clue they had to go on, but it looked to be enough. It was all the supposed targets that the thief was to go after. It would help if Ami knew the identity, but it would be revealed. Their first stop was after the next item on the list, 'Washuu's Lab'. The Ice Senshi smiled. Of course they'd have time before something THAT massive was stolen, if it was even possible. Then again, the thief had taken what was possibly the most powerful artifact ever made, so maybe it could be done? The two Senshi arrived on at the Masaki household and blinked. Outside, kicking up dirt and swearing up a storm, was Washuu herself. At least it was someone who matched the profile. Red hair, childlike appearance, and painfully cute when she wanted to be. It was like looking at a child's pouting amplified, except a child couldn't swear in Juraian and Klingon. "Um, Washuu-san? We're the--" "Don't bother," The scientist turned and looked at the two. "I know who the Senshi are. You're too late; Carmen made off with my lab." Ami BLINKED. "How did she do that?" "Follow me." She stomped into the house with the two trailing behind. Ami noted the downright frightened look on the resident's faces. Must not get angry like this all that often, she thought. Washuu pointed to an open broom closet. It was open because the door was no longer there. "To prevent certain non-intelligent lifeforms from gaining unauthorized access," She glared at a busty blond on the couch, who began to whimper. "I slaved all entrances to this door." She pointed at the non-existent door. "Oh my." "I can't do anything to help you, since I can only track it. Good luck finding her, and when you do, be a dear and let me have her entrails?" The scientist gave her a sickly smile, reminiscent of Mamoru's cold glare. "Um, sure. Lets go spore." "I hate being background fodder." The girl replied to no one in particular. "What's the next item on the list?" "... Heero Yui's fuzzy dice." ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ... No comment... Anyway, enough of that romp. Hope this will be as entertaining as my delusions say it will be. Back to the Hack I go. -Kenji M. (12/2/01)