Venus Bounty

Chap 1: Capture

By: Sailor E

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailormoon or any other of associated byproducts, eww…like her boogers are not mine…ewww

Notes: there are no significant notes to make on this fic.

Prologue:

Captain's Log

September 4 2036 AMK

            Approaching Earth in good time. I've increased Kitten's speed by two reds. Should be able to reach it by the sixth of September. Still no other Venus readings from any other galaxies. We can't be sure, though, our radar is old and slow. But I pray this is it. I don't know if I could do this again.

Gertrude

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Usagi squealed and clasped her hands together. Rei scowled and covered her ears. Usagi pouted and the others tried to ignore them.

            "This is going to be the best birthday party ever!" Minako cried.

            Ami blushed, "Don't make such a big deal out of it, I don't want you to go overboard!"

            "Ami-chan! It's your sixteenth birthday! This is a big deal!" Usagi said, recovering from Rei's scowl.

            The senshi buzzed with big plans for Ami's birthday. The air was cool at McKenna Park that autumn afternoon. On a nearby bench Luna and Artemis were napping.

            Rei's back stiffened suddenly. She turned around for a moment.

            "Rei-chan?" Makoto put a hand on her shoulder. "What's wrong?"

            Rei shook her head. "Nothing, it just felt like someone was watching us."

            Teeth clenched in pain, Gertrude gripped her shoulder and tried to stand. Her left ankle ached and she couldn't support herself. Regidre chuckled and kicked dirt into her face. "That'll teach you to talk back to our queen!"

            Faswiku glowered at him and helped Gertrude get to her feet. "Get lost you big bully!"

            Regidre laughed and disappeared. Gertrude pushed Faswiku away. "I can get up myself," she muttered. Her eyes watered with pain as she slowly lifted her self. Faswiku, despite what Gertrude had said, put an arm around her to give her more support on her left side. She could've sworn she heard Gertrude say "thank you" under her breath but decided not to get her hopes up.

            Gertrude used Faswiku as a crutch down a path at McKenna Park.

            "Gertrude," Faswiku began. The other girl didn't even acknowledge her but she continued, "I agree with all your feelings on our queen, but you can't go expressing them to everyone, especially one of her top generals. If you keep on like this..."

            "I don't care what anyone thinks anymore. This is the last of them. After this I'm outta here," Gertrude said. Faswiku sighed.

            They could see a group of girls by a park bench a ways down the path. One, with long scarlet hair looked behind her. Gertrude threw herself into the brush along the trail, taking Faswiku painfully down upon her. The girl turned back around.

            "Was that her?" Faswiku asked.

            Gertrude shook her head, her whole body now in pain. "But one of them is. I just can't make out which one. I'm getting so many different readings from them. Very powerful ones..." Gertrude trailed off and looked down at the band around her wrist. Five different colors pulsated in unison.

            Faswiku looked over Gertrude's shoulder. "Moon, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter...does that mean...?"

            "Senshi," Gertrude groaned. Faswiku slumped back. Gertrude examined the girls as she spoke. "This is going to be our hardest one yet. I should've realized she would save Princess Venus herself for last."

            "What do we do now?" Faswiku wondered aloud.

            "I have a, an acquaintance that told me what to do if we ever came across this situation," Gertrude replied. She seemed uncomfortable as she pulled a device out of her jacket.

            It was a small and round with a red button on the top. Gertrude took a deep breath and looked down at her wristband. When the colors heightened in the rhythm, she pressed the button. The machine opened up and spun to the ground. It sprouted one tiny leg and stuck it into the earth. It made a small "wrrrr"-ing noise, and then was silent. Next it made a sound as if it were a camera taking a picture.

            "So what does...?!!" Faswiku wasn't able to finish her question. An incredible force had sent her, and everyone else she could see hurdling through the air. Faswiku shut her eyes tightly, not wanting to know what would happen to her next. She was surprised when she felt herself fall gently to the ground. She opened an eye and saw that Gertrude had grabbed a hold of her and was anchored to the ground by the device she had used.

            "What," Faswiku said catching her breath, "was that?"

            "We stopped the Earth from moving. It is no longer rotating. That's why everyone went flying, just like when you slam the brakes down in a vehicle," Gertrude explained.

            Faswiku looked around, the force was uprooting even trees. Gertrude was snaking a finger into her machine and there was a click of another button. Gertrude pulled Faswiku closer and directed her silently to put a hand on it.

There was a flash of light that made her dizzy and blind for a few moments. She didn't have time to recover, though. Gertrude was already getting to her feet.

"Now what did you do?" Faswiku asked once she was able to gather her thoughts.

"Stopped the Earth from orbiting around the sun. This stopped time so no major damage would occur from it stopping its rotations," Gertrude said over her shoulder as she ran to where the senshi had been standing.

They had flown a few hundred yards away and were several feet above the ground. Faswiku giggled at the strange expressions on their faces. Gertrude glanced at her wristband, then back up at the senshi.

"That one," she pointed to the girl with long blonde hair pulled back with a red ribbon.

Faswiku had to give Gertrude a leg up to reach the girl. She carefully brought her down, trying not to disturb the others' positions. The Venetian stayed stiff in their arms. Gertrude flicked open the screen on her wristband.

"Kitten pickup!" she commanded.

"Wait!" Faswiku said suddenly. "I here something…"

The two bounty hunters stopped and listened. A thick fog was beginning to settle around the park. Gertrude swore under her breath, "Sailor Pluto…!" She turned back to the screen on her wrist, "Kitten now! Pickup!"

"Halt! Who goes there?" Sailor Pluto called out from the fog close by.

Faswiku looked around frantically, but Gertrude focused on the screen at her wrist, as if it would make the crew of her ship, the Kitten, move faster.

"Who dares disturb the space-time continuum?" Sailor Pluto was getting closer.

"Ah, we mean no harm! Let us go! And all will be well!" Faswiku shook in fright. She looked at Gertrude. "Right? You're going to fix this, right?"

"Shh! Listen!" Gertrude said as she looked up. The hum of her ship could now be heard.

A flash of a garnet staff sliced through the fog and in a whirl of deep green, the Senshi of Time confronted them. "Now you must answer me! What are you doing here?" She pointed her staff at them menacingly.

"Uh…uh…" Faswiku gulped. She shot a terrified glance to Gertrude. Gertrude just watched the sky, and her ship finally cast a reassuring shadow over the three of them.

"Answer me! You can't leave this planet without going through me! And what are you doing with…that girl?"

Gertrude spat at Pluto's feet as a beam was lowered for her, Faswiku, and their bounty.

Sailor Pluto was filled with rage. Through clenched teeth, she began her attack cry, "…dead…"

"Not today sweetheart!" Gertrude called as the beam pulled the party up.

"…scream." Her attack swooshed and chased them up, but bounced off the beam. It went into the wind, creating a ghostly wail.

Gertrude smiled arrogantly down at her. Pluto threw down her staff in anger.

"Sailor Venus!! Minako!" she called up in angst.

Once aboard the ship, Faswiku finally spoke again. "So now what happens to them?"

Gertrude shrugged, "They'll be fine, Pluto overreacted. Its nothing she can't handle. She'll fix everything and have things running smoothly before we're back to the queen."

The Venetian stirred on the cold steel table they had laid her down on. "Pluto…?"

Gertrude sighed; she looked around her ship and petted the walls. "Another race, my Kitten. And this will be our last." She gripped the charm around her neck with an intensity that always startled Faswiku. For her captain rarely showed any emotion, unless the mystery in that charm possessed her as it did now.

Faswiku agreed, and said quietly to herself as she watched stars go by on the window, "The last race, now we shall see what you have spent your life hunting for, Gertrude." Faswiku glanced over her shoulder to the other side of the ship. Gertrude was fiddling with her charm and watching their bounty with amusement. She stared into a shadow of space. Pleadingly, she whispered to the sky, searching for her master.

~~~~~~~~~

Reviews help!! And this story is in desperate need of help! Please! Review! If you don't, you can't come to my birthday party! Oh, how childish of me, let me rephrase that: if you don't, I will hate you forever! Damn…that isn't much better.

Thank you for reading at least! Bye-o