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Alise was shopping for a card.

Actually, it wasn't her doing the shopping, it was Etoile, but seeing as cats weren't supposed to be able to talk or make business transactions, Alise was acting as some sort of proxy. Etoile had wanted to get a card for the girl she used to live with, as her birthday was this month, and so Alise had reluctantly agreed, even though she knew absolutely nothing about this girl other than the brief encounter they had had while powered up.

The store they stopped at wasn't Alise's first choice, but Etoile had insisted on getting a nice card, and not something at the local dollar store, and so the two had set out, Etoile stowed away in a bunny backpack Alise had taken to carrying with her when she needed to take Etoile somewhere. It was better than hiding her in her coat, anyway... most of the time.

"Um... where are your birthday cards?" Alise asked the worker that greeted her.

"Welllllll... not exactly?" Alise confessed, working to come up with a story on the spot if need be, "I don't really know her that well, to be honest, but I guess I'm looking for something nice and not, like... super cheesy?"

If they had anything like that, anyway. Personally, Alise was pretty certain the girl would hate anything she bought, but she had to at least make an effort.

Meanwhile, from within her hiding place in Alise's back back, Etoile stirred, having been taking a nap. It wasn't the coziest of places- Alise had a tendency to jostle the backpack too much- but there had been nothing else to do as they couldn't talk while on the bus ride to the store. The sounds of conversation caught the little cat's attention, and as she tried to listen in, something else caught her attention:

There was a senshi to be awakened, and they were nearby.

(But how nearby? Etoile wanted to get a closer look, but Alise was still talking; she'd have to wait for the right opportunity.)

While Alise felt Etoile start to move about in the backpack, she misinterpreted it as wanting the two to be alone so they could talk, and so she shook her head at Derrick's question.

"I think I'm good for now, thanks," she said, and waited for him to leave.

Once Alise was certain that they were alone, she unzipped her backpack enough for Etoile to poke her head out, not that she wasn't certain that the cat wouldn't be capable of doing it herself. After all, Etoile wasn't some ordinary housecat. Keeping her voice down (they were, after all, the only other ones in the shop aside from Derrick), Alise showed a few cards to the Mauvian. "Well?" she inquired, "If we get a blank card, you can just write a message yourself, like he said. Would that work?"

But Etoile wasn't listening to Alise at all, and in fact, her gaze seemed to be elsewhere... towards the direction Derrick went. Alise, confused, followed her gaze but didn't quite get what was going on; the last senshi she had helped Etoile awaken had been a classmate, after all. "Uhhh, Etoi?" she asked again. The longer Etoile stared, the more Alise was pretty certain they were going to be discovered.

"I think," Etoile finally spoke up, still staring intently, "I found another senshi."

It was then things finally clicked for Alise, now that she knew why Derrick had caught Etoile's attention so. However, before either of them could act upon it, or attempt to call him back over to them, Etoile sensed the aura of something noticeable Chaos, a youma, and apparently nearby, too, which caused her fur to stabd up on end. Alise, familiar with this, took notice, reaching for her henshin pen that was hidden in her coat pocket.

"... I think we're about to have a bigger problem on our hands," Alise said.

[quote="SSBrosB"

Alise and Etoile briefly lost sight of Derrick, with the two of them distracted by the two different things the little cat sensed, but Etoile heard the commotion from the back, sensed the aura of the youma, and jumped out of Alise's backpack, darting off in the direction of the backroom. "This way!" she shouted, as Alise followed after her, powering up in the process (with the shop otherwise thankfully empty, this was easy to do.)

By the time the two made it to the back, Alise was now Chibi Lepus, and Etoile now carrying a new henshin pen with her, intending on giving it to its rightful owner... who could probably use it right about now. Assessing the situation, Lepus realized there were a few problems, other than the obvious- for one, she didn't want to cause any damage to the store (she didn't have the money to pay for it), and for two...

... Well, she could try to distract the youma, but her attacks relied on line of sight being broken and a bit of a distance between them. "Hey! Get off of him!" she yelled, unable to think of anything else.

Maybe there was something she could use as a weapon until Etoile got the other situation under control?

"Heyyyyy!! Over here!" Lepus continued to yell, waving her arms at the youma to attempt to continue to draw attention to herself. Not the best strategy, she knew, but anything to buy more time, right?

Hopefully the youma wouldn't decide she made a great meal.

In the meantime, Etoile had finally made her way over to where Derrick was, taking care to avoid the youma, and shoved the henshin pen towards him. "Sailor Caliban!" she exclaimed, not bothering to take the time to give any sort of explanation, "Quickly! Take this pen, and shout 'Caliban Power, make up!'"

Caliban's awakening came as somewhat of a relief to Lepus, who very much welcomed the help of any and all other senshi right about now. On the other hand, he was now trying to get the attention of the youma she had been working to keep away from him previously, and she wasn't so sure it was a good idea, being newly awakened and all.

Not that she liked the idea of either of them becoming youma food- that would be bad.

"Are you sure about this??" the chibi found herself asking.