"No matter what Minako says, I am not a dumpster diver." Suntemis said, biting into a cooked salmon filet.

"Can somebody explain who the fuck Minako is?" Sammy demanded, leaning back on his bunk. "I keep hearing that name thrown around like a football."

Suntemis blinked. "That's you, Mina, remember?"

"Artemis." Lunadrop interrupted with a stern look. "These are not the same Sailor Guardians of the past."

"They're not?" He frowned, looking around at the six people in the room. "Why not?"

"Excuse me?" Lefty tilted her head.

"So what I'm hearing is..." Scrap began cautiously, "We have no right to be our own selves?"

Molten shrunk even further beneath their pink blanket, eyeing the two cats. They hissed before burrowing into their plushy chair, shrouded in fuzzy pink.

"Well..." Suntemis began.

"The princess-" He shot a look at Counter before going on, "of the future chose the six of you to harbor the Sailor's star seeds. Every reincarnation was just like the last, and the lot of you are no different."

No individuality. No going against tradition.

If Helpy had known, there was no way he would have accepted that brooch.

Subconsciously he reached for the brooch, running his small fingers over the heart's shape.

"So what?" Sammy said. "I'm supposed to abandon everything I've done, everything that's made me Sammy Lawrence?"

He set Suntemis aside, standing up. "I don't know who Minako is, so how in the name of Hell and fuck am I supposed to become her? I'm supposed to play the part of someone I don't know?"

"Sammy's right, for once." Counter cut in. "This doesn't seem fair to us or to the original guardians."

"It is fair." Lunadrop insisted. "Don't any of you get it?"

"I don't think I want to get it." Scrap shook her head. "If this is what being a sailor guardian entails, then fuck that."

Lefty got up, then scooped Molten up in the pink blanket and disappeared into the main rooms.

"Yeah." Sammy smirked, nodding. "Come on, Silly."

"Silly?" Scrap repeated.

"Scrap-Lily." Sammy explained.

"You can't be serious." Lunadrop gasped. "It isn't that bad, really!"

"Is it?" Counter said, watching the other two leave the room. "Come on, mini cub."

Mini cub. Grrrrrr, Helpy was a grown bear, not a cub!

Angrily, Helpy hopped down, fleeing into the party room. Helpy had lots of things to do.

Helpy grabbed his little checkerboard, walking around the pizzeria.

Animatronics in order? Check!

Pizza hot and ready? Check!

Strange hole in the corner of the room? Check!

Wait. Helpy paused by the hole. Small enough for him to go through, and small enough to avoid detection.

Helpy set the clipboard aside, approaching the hole.

No sign of any way to get down.

Helpy took in a deep breath, shutting his eyes and leaping head first into the hole.

The fall itself wasn't so bad. Its just where Helpy went.

When he opened his eyes, he was no longer in a place he recognized.

This wasn't the basement. No, it looked more like a little home. A small bed, with a lamp held together with duct tape, sat in the corner.

And hovering over him was a rounded, pale face.

A rounded skeletal face.

"You're not supposed to be here." The skeleton said in a deep voice. "Nobody is. This is off limits."

"Then don't live underneath my company." Helpy frowned.

"I'm serious. This place is off limits." The skeleton repeated. "Get the hell out of here."

Helpy looked up at the trickle of light coming from above ground. "And how do I do that?"

The skeleton frowned, disappearing from view. "There should be a ladder around here, let me find it."

Helpy wrinkled his nose, sitting up and looking around. This room had to be as big as, if not smaller than, Counter's cot in the backroom.

"You live here?" Helpy thought out loud.

"Not 'live', I just stay here when I'm not doing tests." The skeleton shrugged. "What, you got nothing better to do than snoop around?"

"I'm not snooping!" Helpy protested as he set down the paper he was inspecting. "I'm just looking."

"Same thing." The skeleton says. "You're awfully small to have a company."

"Why does everyone say that?" Helpy stomped his foot. "I'm a lawyer, I can handle myself!"

"Sure, kid." The skeleton chuckled. "I'm Sans, by the way."

Helpy considered him with a frown. "Helpy."

"Odd name, but if you say so." Sans shrugged.

Says the skeleton named after a font. "So, find that ladder?"

"Still looking. What, bored of me already?" Sans laughed. "Oh, found it!" He pulled out a rusty, folding ladder.

He positioned the ladder underneath the light, gesturing at Helpy. "What are you waiting for?"

Helpy frowned at the ladder, particularly at the gap between the rungs. "For you to get a better ladder?"

Sans shook his head, chuckling. "Oh, right, you're tiny. Forgot about that."

Sans grabbed him around the middle, hoisting him up on Sans's head.

Helpy squeaked, clinging onto Sans's bony head.

"Alright, Helpy." Sans took Helpy off his head after a long silence. "Here we are."

All Sans had to do was reach out and put Helpy back on the surface. "Remember, this place is off limits."

Helpy glanced back at Sans momentarily, then at his tiny, tiny room.

All Helpy had been able to make out on that paper was the number 9. 9? What the hell was going on?

And Sans looked so tired, tired as a skeleton could without having skin.

"Oh, I'm coming back, alright." Helpy said, suddenly determined.

Sans's eye sockets widened.

"And don't think I'm not gonna bring some food with me." Helpy stated. "I'll be seeing you soon."

And Helpy lept out of Sans's bony hand back up onto the surface.

As he landed, he heard a faint call.

"Sans? What's going on in there?"

"Nothing, Gaster." Came Sans's voice, much louder. "Just removing some human junk."

"Good." 'Gaster' said. "Come, now, you have tests to be done."

A shuffle, then silence.

Something wasn't right here.