"You know, that color doesn't really suit you," Sailor Neptune commented airily.

Star Healer's brow twitched slightly at this. "At least I didn't pick this paint color by choice." The other finally said as breezily as she could manage while the aqua dye dripped down her body, mingling with her frazzled white hair and getting into Healer's narrowed eyes.

Neptune's brow rose in annoyance. The decoy phage that turned out to be no more than a puppet, after all, was quite destroyed by this point though Neptune would rather have missed and hit someone else a bit more annoying and harder to kill than the supposed villain of the day. However, fate was not always kind to the Senshi. "Ironically enough, that's not really paint--" Neptune began.

Healer, too agitated to stay and listen, waved away the explanation. "Whatever. I'm going home to wash this off..."

Neptune smiled through her frown, suppressing her current irritation. After all, this was the plan. She had counted on that arrogance to get her revenge. It didn't, however, mean she had to like the treatment. Still, it will all be worth it in the end...

Neptune grinned at Healer's retreating back. Her calm smile was eerie under the street-light that came on as evening approached. "Enjoy your shower, Healer-kun." Neptune waved, her words laced with mocking cheer.

An hour later...

"Is this a joke?" Kou Yaten exclaimed. The shout was loud enough to rock the Kou residents. The girl looked at herself in the mirror with horror and disbelief. The swirl of pale aqua twisted itself into her hair, splotching and staining her pale skin like strangely colored bruises. Everywhere the paint had touched was now tattooed to her skin no matter how hard she scrubbed! Most of her face was now covered with splotched green while the other half was red from the steam of her heated bath.

Elsewhere in the city...

"Was that a little much?" Setsuna asked from her perch on the roof as Michiru giggled while looking into her mirror.

Her aqua-haired companion only smiled innocently, purposefully setting aside the mirror to be faced-down. "I thought it was only fitting to identify alien intruders by their true colors." Michiru replied lightly.

"Aqua?" Setsuna remarked with dry skepticism.

"A rather nice shade of green and blue," Michiru corrected haughtily.

"A type of signature?" Setsuna observed.

Michiru blew at her tea and took a delicate sip. "Oh that?" Michiru pondered with exaggerating gestures, putting a long finger to her chin as she feigned ignorance. "Well," aqua-eyes met weary ruby ones over the rim of her delicate porcelain, "I call that poetic justice*."


* Michiru, here, switched from Japanese speech to English.