Disclaimer: Sailor Moon, Sailor Senshi, and all terms, names etc. associated with the series are copyrighted by Naoko Takeuchi and Kodansha. We make no claim to them and this work of fanfiction should not be seen as making a claim. Those characters that are original and the story "Chibi-Usa Times Two" are copyrighted (c) 1997 by Douglas Helm & Will Wolfshohl. This fanfic and over 280 other SM fanfics reside in "Tuxedo" Will's SM Fanfics Archive at http://log.on.ca/users/helm/anime/index.htm Send comments to: Douglas "Candle Light Author" Helm (dhelm@log.on.ca) or "Tuxedo" Will Wolfshohl (wwolfshohl@logicon.com) Rated: PG Chibi-Usa Times Two Part 1: Rabbit's trap That particular thought ran through Usagi's mind as she laid fully awake in bed. Through bloodshot eyes, she once more looked at the clock on the headboard of her bed. If she got to sleep right now, she'd just manage to have three hours of sleep. Usagi could feel the reason for the thought that was keeping her awake snuggled up against her. Usagi internally winced as she remembered having to clean her room today instead of going to the arcade. Suppressing the whine that wanted to escape Usagi continued to look at the wall. ****** Another week of sleepless nights was catching up with Usagi. One more day of dozing in class and yet another day of detention... Usagi heaved a mighty sigh as she trudged towards the meeting. She knew she was really late but figured running wouldn't help matters. she thought hotly, After forcing her foul mood as deep as she could Usagi climbed the shrine steps. ****** Chibi-Usa was happy... sort of. It wasn't so bad in the past. She still hadn't found the Ginzuishou. She knew that Usagi had it, This puzzled Chibi-Usa, she just couldn't figure out where a baka like Usagi would hide something where her obviously SUPERIOR intelligence couldn't find it. She had searched for months now in vain. Turning the corner Chibi-Usa heard a whistle. she thought as she looked around. Then she saw him floating above... Rubeus! Spinning on her heel Chibi-Usa started to run down the now deserted street. "What luck! I hadn't been looking for you but you obliged me by delivering yourself to me! And it isn't even my birthday!" Rubeus crowed, a feral grin spreading across his face. Turning another corner Chibi-Usa finally was forced to a sudden stop as she ran head first into a small brick wall. Bouncing back she landed with a thump on her backside. Hearing Rubeus' laugh she opened her eyes and looked directly into his dark heart. Letting out a scream of fright her crescent moon sigil burned brightly and shot a beam into the darkening sky. Rubeus at first was surprised and temporarily blinded by this development. When his vision cleared he noticed that his prey had started to scramble over the low wall she'd run into. "Not this time, Rabbit! I've got a snare for you!" With that dark energy streamers shot from Rubeus' hands and started to encircle Chibi-Usa making her stick to the wall. "I see I should have handled this myself instead of relying on those baka Sisters!" Chibi-Usa struggled against the bonds as Rubeus stalked towards her. She could see the gleam of anticipation in his eyes as he grew closer. That's when she heard the voice, that voice that sounded so familiar to her... "Depriving a girl of her sleep! How low can you go! In addition to being healthy, a good sleep keeps a girl looking good, and for depriving ME of my beauty sleep, in the name of the Moon, I WILL PUNISH YOU!!" Chibi-Usa thought, Giving a snarl Rubeus whirled around. "Come on out! I've caught one Rabbit... I can certainly trap the others." "Up here!" Rubeus swung his head up to see the Senshi standing atop a nearby building. Raising his hands Rubeus released a dark sphere of energy rushing toward the Senshi who easily dodged it. "BURNING MANDALA!" Mars shouted out. The attack missed Rubeus when he flitted out of existence and reappeared in midair. "Hey watch it, pyro!" Chibi-Usa shouted indignantly, "I want to live to see my next birthday!" Mars just snarled at the remark. "SPARKLING WIDE PRESSURE!" Jupiter called out and sent her attack flying towards Rubeus. It missed but managed to hollow out a section of wall. "I'll be back, Rabbit!" Rubeus snarled and then teleported away. "Chibi-Usa-chan, are you alright?" Sailor Moon asked as she rushed forward. Then noticing Chibi-Usa was injured, "Where'd you get that bruise?" Chibi-Usa raised her hand to feel a bump on her forehead starting to form. "Oh... must be from when I ran into the wall." She winced slightly as her hand brushed across the forming bruise. "I'm okay though." "I show indications that Rubeus is returning," Mercury stated calmly. "What!?!?" Jupiter and Venus alarmed asked as they started to watch for possible attacks. Mercury continued her scans. "I am detecting a low amount of Dark Energy consistent with the energy signature used by the Black Moon Family." "Where's it coming from... I don't see a thing," Jupiter said, "We're the only ones around. When we got here the street cleared pretty quickly." After tapping her minicomputer's keys for several seconds Mercury began to frown. Lowering her visor she started a more intense scan... After a few more seconds Mercury calmly said, "Well I've located the source of the Dark Energy." She waited until everyone was looking at her, "It's coming from Chibi-Usa-chan." Sailor Moon darkly thought. "What will it do to me?" Chibi-Usa asked worriedly as she latched onto Sailor Moon's leg, tears already forming in her eyes. "It is a small amount of energy and should be passed out of her body in the same manner any other contaminant would be." "Huh?!?" Sailor Moon and Chibi-Usa queried. "Since it is such a low amount of Dark Energy it should have no effect on Chibi-Usa. As it's a foreign agent it'll be attacked by her body's own defenses and will eventually leave." Mercury watched as Sailor Moon and Chibi-Usa chewed on this simplified explanation. "Why don't you just say what you mean?" Sailor Moon said still puzzled. She was too tired to try to muddle through what Mercury said. Chibi-Usa herself had an expression of being unconvinced. Heaving a sigh Mercury kneeled down and spoke softly, "Chibi-Usa-chan, don't worry you'll just poop it out." Mercury immediately blushed in embarrassment. "Eeewww!" Venus said, "I really didn't need to hear that!" ****** As Venus and Jupiter were taking Chibi-Usa home Mercury pulled the two remaining Senshi aside. Glancing around, Mercury made sure that they weren't observed. "Sailor Moon, I want you to watch Chibi-Usa carefully," she almost commanded. "But why?! You said she'd be fine... and there wouldn't be anything to worry about!" Mars frowned before saying, "Did you lie to her, Mercury? I think you should have told her what's going to happen even if she's a kid." "That's just it, I DON'T KNOW," Mercury stated firmly, "We've never encountered this problem before... It could happen just as I told her and it'll work itself out of her system or it could have dangerous side-effects on her. There's no way to know for sure with the data currently available." Turning to Sailor Moon who had already changed back Mercury reiterated, "Usagi, just keep an eye on her... please?" Her face showed signs of worry. "Oh... alright." With that Usagi sprinted away from the two other Senshi who were looking on in wonder. "She didn't even whine..." Mars slowly said, "That's incredible..." ****** Later that night Usagi was trying to complete the homework assignments she'd neglected for the past two days. A light knock at the door gave her an excuse to stop which she took full advantage of. When she opened the door she saw it was Chibi-Usa standing in the hall clutching Luna-P in her arms. "Usagi-chan, can I sleep with you tonight?" Chibi-Usa asked looking up with her puppy dog eyes. Usagi was surprised, usually the spore would simply come into the room and crawl into bed uninvited. Nodding she stepped out of the way to let Chibi-Usa in. The little girl entered the room and proceeded to snuggle under Usagi's covers. "What are you doing?" she asked. "Nothing..." Usagi said but it was hopeless. She imagined an angry Haruna-sensei sending her off to detention. She just sighed. She wasn't going to get her homework done in time for school tomorrow. She had enough experience to know that much. She glanced over to Chibi-Usa. Turning off the lights she also slipped in under the covers. Several hours passed. Chibi-Usa had soon drifted off to sleep but Usagi kept seeing the little girl trapped against the wall by Rubeus in her mind. Usagi thought, Sighing again Usagi closed her eyes but she just couldn't fall asleep. Curled up beside her was Chibi-Usa who was lightly snoring. It was going to be a long night. That was the last thought Usagi had before drifting finally off into sleep. Part 2: Paladin's Hand Usagi's classmates watched with some fascination as she loudly proclaimed she was asleep; in other words Usagi was snoring. Haruna-sensei's face contorted into a mask of rage. This had been the fifth time TODAY! "TSUKINO-SAN!!!!" Haruna-sensei bellowed. The reply was only the sound of Usagi's snoring. Usagi's head was lolled back, tongue hanging slightly out. She had become the center of attention of all her classmates. It was quite natural of Usagi to fall asleep in class once, maybe even twice but five times?! Clamping a tight grip on her anger Haruna-sensei stalked towards the oblivious Usagi. When she reached Usagi's desk Haruna-sensei reached out and gave Usagi a firm shake. After she withdrew her hand Usagi promptly rolled over and landed face first on the floor prompting a number of giggles. Sensei stared at the class to quiet them. The class watched for several seconds not quite sure what to do. Then the tired voice floated up to them, "HEY YOU LITTLE SPORE! It's bad enough you have to share my bed with you but you don't have to shove me out of it." There was a general intake of breath as several students glanced nervously at the Sensei who was standing stalk still. When Haruna-sensei spoke her voice was very calm yet there was definite venom, "And exactly who are you calling a `little spore'?" Usagi popped up and looked around bleary eyed. As exactly where she was dawned on her Usagi's eyes grew large with horror. She quickly scrambled to her feet but didn't dare do anything else. She knew Haruna-sensei had said something but wasn't exactly sure what it had been. "Pardon Sensei?" Usagi queried in a small voice. "Who are you calling a little spore?" The venom was gone but it was replaced with a definite bite. Usagi pondered for a moment and then gulped visibly. "Ah... my cousin." Haruna-sensei wasn't about to let it go so easily. "And why would you call your cousin a `little spore'?" Several students suppressed the urge to laugh. Usagi remained silent staring at the ground for several seconds. Haruna-sensei heaved a sigh and said, "Fine. Tsukino-san, take your seat, don't plan on going anywhere after school. Not even death would get you out of this detention; I'll be speaking with your parents about this." Sullenly Usagi took her seat, ****** "You know," Chibi-Usa said, "That baka Odango Atama really bugs me... I mean I'm definitely more intelligent than she is yet she can hide the Ginzuishou from me. How can that baka do it?" Mamoru blinked, he knew Chibi-Usa and Usagi didn't get along but he'd never heard Chibi-Usa say something that strong. "Chibi-Usa-chan, Usagi isn't that bad." "Oh yeah?!" Chibi-Usa retorted, "Then why did you smarten' up and give up that walking cement head?" Mamoru was rather stunned but Chibi-Usa was on a roll, "Mamo-chan, I need your help with something." "What?" Mamoru asked. "I know this'll bother you but you like me, right?" Mamoru looked suspiciously at Chibi-Usa for a moment before he said, "Yes I do." "Good, now my plan is to trade a date with you for the Ginzuishou. She can give me the Ginzuishou and you can well put up with her for say... ten, fifteen minutes. She's sure to do it. Then we can both leave her forever." Mamoru took the defensive route, "I broke up with Usagi. It's painful enough to be around her. I'm certainly not going to go out on a date with her." "Please!?!" Chibi-Usa asked while blinking puppy dog eyes. "No," Mamoru firmly stated. ****** Two days had passed. Usagi was sleeping under a tree in the park. It was the only place that seemed to hold the cure for her insomnia. Chibi-Usa had become more obnoxious by the day, her speech and physical stances oozed with contempt towards Usagi. Around Ikuko it was well hidden and subtle but when Ikuko wasn't around it was very plain and open. Usagi had stoically put up with this. When she complained to her mother, her mother wouldn't hear of it. In fact Ikuko accused Usagi of making it up to distract her. Haruna-sensei had informed Ikuko of Usagi's behavior in class. Eventually this led to Ikuko berating her daughter yet again for the spectacle she made of herself. Unnoticed by the sleeping Usagi, Chibi-Usa sat in the tree directly above her. Usagi had snuck out of the house and Chibi-Usa was anxious to put her new plan of action into effect. Rubbing her hands in anticipation Chibi-Usa hefted the heavy water balloon. Grinning she positioned the watery bomb and released it. The watery projectile found its target perfectly and smacked Usagi right in her face. Usagi totally caught by surprise cried out and looked frantically around. Chibi-Usa not wanting to give her adversary time to figure out what happened promptly dropped two more balloons one after the other. Both were direct hits which finally shocked Usagi into action. She sprang up and started to run but managed to trip over a tree root landing face first into the dirt. Chibi-Usa grabbed another water balloon and took aim at Usagi's backside which was sticking up into the air. "This is too good to be true," she chuckled to herself. With a cry of revenge Chibi-Usa launched the watery missile. It narrowly missed its mark but managed to soak the lower portion of Usagi's body. Whirling around with ferocity Usagi glared at Chibi-Usa. She'd heard Chibi-Usa's cry and now watched as Chibi-Usa clung to the tree laughing loudly at the drenched Usagi. "When I get a hold of you..." Usagi screamed in rage, "I'm going to..." She was cut off by Chibi-Usa's sarcastic voice, "You and what army, BAKA ODANGO ATAMA?!!!" With that Chibi-Usa hefted another water balloon and tossed it at Usagi. It squarely hit its mark. Usagi's fight or flight instinct took over and Usagi started to run all the while being pelted by Chibi-Usa's accurately placed water bombs. Chibi-Usa gloated as her enemy retreated from the scene of battle. ****** Rei watched curiously as a dripping wet and thoroughly enraged Usagi stalked up towards her. She was about to make a smart remark to Usagi about being a klutz but wisely hadn't when she caught the look of anger in her friend's eyes. "What happened to you, Usagi?" Rei asked, she hoped Usagi wouldn't take it the wrong way. Usagi fixed Rei with a icy glare for a moment before replying, "That SPORE!!! I was sleeping in the park under a tree and that SPORE tossed water balloons at me!! Look what she did to me!" Rei's first impulse was to snicker. No sooner had the sound left her mouth then Usagi turned away and started to stalk out of the shrine grounds. Hurrying after her friend Rei said, "Oh come on Usagi, it just slipped out..." Rei suppressed another snicker with difficulty - her friend looked like a drowned `rabbit'. Every stitch of clothing was soaked through. Her normally beautiful flowing pigtails were a matted mass of stringy hair. "Ah... Is there something that I could do for you?" "Rei-chan, I don't suppose you have an extra set of clothing I could have until these dry off?" "Why come here? I thought you would've gone home." Usagi sighed heavily, "I couldn't... I snuck out of the house and if I came home like this... I'd be in even more trouble." "I think we can fix you up," Rei said guiding the still dripping Usagi towards her room. ****** Luna sighed as she listened to yet another argument between Chibi-Usa and Usagi. She was out on the roof of the Tsukino home but still she found no relief. She had to get away from it for awhile. Getting up she made her way over to Minako's home. Finding Artemis lazily sunning himself in Minako's bedroom window, she made her way up to him and then from the tree she pounced onto the dozing cat. Artemis gave startled cry of surprise and landed on the floor with a thud. Luna chuckled to herself as Artemis picked himself up and glared hotly at the black cat. "Hey! What did you do that for?!" Artemis growled out, "I was having a great dream!" "I'm sorry Artemis... I've just been having a rough couple of days and I guess I wanted to strike out at something." Artemis mollified by Luna's explanation nodded and made his way over to his visitor. "Luna, are Usagi and Chibi-Usa still going at it?" Artemis queried as he sat down. Luna frowned slightly, at least as much as a cat's face could frown, before saying, "Chibi-Usa's been a regular terror. I mean she hardly leaves Usagi alone anymore. Just a couple of days ago Chibi-Usa water bombed Usagi in the park. The day after that Chibi-Usa got together with Shingo and then pretty much had Usagi locked in her room when Ikuko left them alone for the afternoon. When Ikuko did finally come home Usagi got all the blame for the mess that Chibi-Usa had created in the kitchen." Luna's voice had started to rise in irritation. Taking a few deep breaths Luna continued her story, "And today Chibi-Usa was bouncing on Usagi's bed and managed to nearly destroy the thing. All the while demanding that if Usagi wanted her to stop that Usagi should hand over the Ginzuishou." Artemis pondered Luna's words for several seconds before he asked a question that had been nagging him since Minako had told them of their fight with Rubeus, "Could it be the Dark Energy, Luna?" "It's hard to say..." Luna trailed off in thought for several seconds, "I will drop by Ami's place later today and ask her for her opinion. We don't really know one way or the other. I mean Chibi-Usa's been rather rambunctious before... maybe it's just a phase. Maybe Rubeus' attack scared her more than we think and she's starting to get desperate for the Ginzuishou." "That brings up the another question, `Why exactly does Chibi-Usa want the Ginzuishou?'" "I don't know... I really don't." ****** Later that night Ami heard a scratching at her window. When she went to look she saw Luna patiently waiting. Lifting up the window she let the cat in. "Luna? What's going on?" Ami asked curiously. Usagi hadn't called and it was unusual that Luna would just show up. "Ami-chan, I want to talk to you about Chibi-Usa," Luna said. "I'm not exactly sure what's going on. She's becoming quite a menace!" Ami blinked, "Why?" "I was over visiting Artemis. When I got home she decided that she was going to try and hold me for ransom." Luna said angrily, "The price for my freedom was the Ginzuishou!" "I see you got away unharmed," Ami observed as she sat back down at her desk. Ami hid her amusement. Luna walked over and sat in front of Ami, tail twitching. "I left her with a reminder that cats have claws," Luna said. "Have you found anything new out from the readings you got on Chibi-Usa and the Dark Energy? Could it be affecting her?" Ami pulled out her minicomputer and started to tap the keys. After several seconds she said, "The results are still inconclusive. It was a minimal amount of Dark Energy. It should of dissipated or been excreted by now." After several more seconds of studying the results of her query Ami said, "I don't think Chibi-Usa's behavioral shift is due to the Dark Energy. Probably she's become more desperate for the Ginzuishou because Rubeus nearly captured her. If she hadn't released her energy beam or we'd been slow, he'd have gotten Chibi-Usa. I think she knows that." Luna remained silent before saying, more to herself, "I just hope you're right..." ****** Presetting her minicomputer to autoscan Chibi-Usa, Ami knocked at the Tsukino door. Ikuko promptly opened it and invited the girl in. After exchanging greetings, Ikuko went back to her work. Ami made her way partially up the stairs before nearly getting knocked back down them by Chibi-Usa fleeing headlong past Ami in a mad dash to evade impending doom. "GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE SPORE!!! I'VE GOT A SPANKING WITH YOUR NAME ON IT!" With that enraged yell Usagi came bolting out of her room but stopped short when she saw Ami standing there in bewilderment. Ami judging that it be better to defuse this situation said, "Want to talk about it?" Usagi gave venomous glare towards the stairs Chibi-Usa had darted down and, uttering something acidic, stomped into her room. Ami followed, uncertain if she really wanted to be in such close proximity to a walking timebomb. When she did work up the nerve to come into Usagi's room she found Usagi scraping what looked like green slime off of her bed and into a trash can. "What is that?" "I don't know... just rather slimy stuff... the fungus probably leaked it out!" Usagi huffed. After a moment Usagi calmed down. "I'm sorry Ami-chan... It's just been rough. I don't get what's happening. I've never seen her this bad before. I mean I know she can be good but..." Usagi threw her hands up in a expression of non-comprehension. Taking out her minicomputer Ami looked at the results of the scan she'd just taken of Chibi-Usa. "The amount of Dark Energy remaining is less than my previous scan. These results indicate that the Dark Energy IS leaving Chibi-Usa's body." After tapping a few more times, "I don't think it's having any effect on her... However, I want you to keep a close watch on her for a few days more." "No," Usagi stated bluntly. "Usagi-chan, it'll just be a few more days, that's all." "No!" "Usagi-chan... would you want anything to really happen to that little girl?" Usagi thought, Heaving a sigh Usagi said, "Alright Ami-chan... only a couple more days?" "Yes," Ami said. ****** Usagi plodded home the next day. She managed to stay awake for the entire class for once. She surprisingly had no detention and she even arrived at the Senshi meeting on time too. Usagi smiled at that thought, Walking to her home Usagi slipped off her shoes and called out a greeting to her mother. What she got in response was a muffled crash. Cocking her head Usagi listened again. "That's coming from my room!" Usagi screeched as she heard another crash and a curse. Bolting up the stairs the complaining grew louder with the occasional thud. "Where is that BAKA hiding it?!" Usagi threw open the door of her bedroom. What greeted Usagi's eyes looked like a demolition zone. The dresser was toppled over and the contents of the drawers were spread throughout the room. The bed was in shambles with the sheets and blankets tossed in helter-skelter fashion. Fluff floated down throughout the room from one of the torn pillows. At that moment, her closet was being systematically ripped apart with her clothes being tossed everywhere. "It's got to be here somewhere." Usagi let out a bellow of gigantic proportions and launched herself towards the closet. Seeing the perpetrator she grabbed Chibi-Usa up and by sheer force of will stopped herself from flinging the evil imp across the room. She neatly dropped the still enraged child on the bed and glared at her. "What are you doing in here?!!" "Give me the Ginzuishou!" Chibi-Usa demanded angrily. "You want it?!" Usagi had finally had enough. "YES!!!" Chibi-Usa screeched. "Here then." Usagi grabbed her broach and was about to fling it at Chibi-Usa when an idea struck her. Usagi smiled evilly at Chibi-Usa who was just staring distracted by Usagi's sudden compliance with her demand. "MOON HEALING ESCALATION!" Usagi shouted. The Ginzuishou flared into life. Usagi thought as she poured all of her emotional power into the wish. Chibi-Usa seeing the Ginzuishou, the target of her long search, leapt and made contact with the broach just as Usagi completed her command to the Ginzuishou. And both were enveloped in a sphere of blinding white light!