Disclaimer: Sailor Moon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko and Toei Animation, and bits of it probably belong to a bunch of other people, too. The only thing that belongs to me is more bunny slippers than you could shake a stick at (if that's your idea of fun). So why are my feet cold?

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Night of the Killer Bunny Slippers

By Jessyca Thornbrook

Chapter Three

It all happened so fast. "Get to the car," hissed Mamoru, and before Usagi could speak, he gave her a shove and started running in the opposite direction, shouting and waving his arms. Usagi stumbled over to the car, dumped Luna in the driver's seat, and shut the door. When she looked up, Mamoru was halfway down the street already. He was moving fast, but the flock of white fluffballs moved faster, and even as she watched one leapt onto his back. Then another, and another, till he stumbled and fell, and they swarmed over him like giant, furry insects.

"No!" Usagi's scream cut through the darkness like a knife. Mamoru heard it, but more than that—he felt it, resonating in his bones, every atom in his body responding to her call. With a sudden burst of strength, he threw off half of the creatures attacking him and struggled to regain his feet. There were too many of them, though, and they just kept coming. As he fell to his knees again, he was dimly aware of a bright light suddenly flaring off to one side, and the now familiar urge to transform into Tuxedo Kamen flooded his senses. Too bad he couldn't move his arms. . . .

Sailor Moon tore down the street toward the writhing mass of plush monsters. She couldn't use any of her attacks without endangering Mamoru, so she opted for a more direct approach. After all, she was stronger in her hero form, and she wasn't barefoot anymore. With a yell—that she hoped sounded more like a battle cry than a dying yak—she entered the fray, punting bunny slippers right and left with her booted feet. Most of them scattered in surprise from this unexpected onslaught. She kicked away a few that clung to Mamoru's arms and legs, and stomped viciously on one that was trying to squeeze between his arms to bite his face.

"Mamoru!" She grabbed his arm and pulled him into a sitting position, dropping to her knees beside him. "Are you okay?" His clothes were torn and he was bleeding in several places, but none of his injuries looked life-threatening. Still, when he didn't answer and just kept staring at her with his mouth hanging slightly open, she began to panic.

"Are you hurt? Mamoru!" she shook his arm, which she was still holding on to.

He blinked. "Sailor Moon! I—I'm okay—for a moment, I thought you were—but you're not—so how—" he babbled, in a most un-Mamoru-like manner.

"Talk later," she cut him off nervously. "Run now. Can you get up?" He did, with a little help from her, and she started pulling him toward the car before he could ask any more questions.

Not a moment too soon. The bunny slippers had regrouped at a distance and, as if responding to some inaudible signal, swept toward them in a wave. Fortunately, the two humans had a headstart, and Sailor Moon's super abilities made up for the difference in leg length. She and Mamoru reached the car at the same moment, seized the door handles, and gasped together in horror.

The doors were locked, and the keys were in the ignition.

Mamoru glanced up at the rapidly approaching tide of fluffy death, and was suddenly struck by another dreadful thought: the car was empty. Well, except for Usagi's cat. So where was Usagi? He found himself suddenly cold and sick with terror that something had happened to her. "Usagi!" he shouted, looking around wildly.

Sailor Moon looked up abruptly from her effort to inconspicuously get the attention of the black cat which appeared to be either sleeping or unconscious. "Uh, don't worry about her, she's, ah—she's safe!" she blurted out. "Really! She's okay!" For a few more seconds, anyway, she added privately.

Mamoru looked at her, and his eyes widened in what Sailor Moon was terribly afraid was an expression of dawning comprehension. For a moment she wavered, unable to think what she should do next. Fortunately, the increasingly close growls of several hundred bloodthirsty bunny slippers made up her mind for her. She took a deep breath.

Rei's gonna kill me.

"LUNA!" she bellowed at the top of her lungs, pounding on the car window. "WAKE UP AND UNLOCK THE DOOR!" Luna's head jerked up, and she looked around, startled and obviously suffering the effects of her injuries. "The door!" Sailor Moon shrieked again. Mamoru watched in amazement as the cat jumped to her feet as quickly as she could, favoring one paw, and quite deliberately pushed the unlock button with her pink nose.

"That's a smart cat," he said, feeling more sure than ever that this whole night was some bizarre dream.

Meanwhile, Sailor Moon wrenched open the passenger door and flung herself into the seat. "Get in!" she shouted to Mamoru. He obeyed mechanically, locking the doors and putting on his seatbelt, as if he were just taking a drive on a sunny afternoon.

"Hurry! Step on it! Let's get out of here!" the superheroine yelled again. He followed her instructions, still feeling oddly disconnected from the whole situation. Only when bunny slippers started bouncing off the windshield with angry growls did he really snap out of his daze. As soon as the car had cleared the crowd of slippers (and the one clinging to his windshield wiper had finally fallen off) he glanced over at the girl beside him.

"It's you, isn't it?" he almost whispered. Her head jerked up from her examination of Luna's paw.

"Huh? What? I mean, who? I mean, ah, I don't know what you're talking about!" she stammered. "What are you talking about?"

"Usagi-chan," he began, but she quickly interrupted.

"Oh, her! I, um, hid her someplace safe! She's fine! In fact, she's with some friends of mine," she babbled desperately. "No problem. Don't worry about it—" she stopped suddenly. He had sounded worried when he saw she wasn't in the car. He'd seemed very worried, in fact. Since when does he care about me?

"Usagi," said Mamoru, slowly and deliberately, "I know it's you."

"What? Me, her?" She forced a laugh. "Where'd you get a crazy idea like that? Did you hit your head when you fell down back there?" She laughed again, hoping it didn't sound as choked as it felt.

Mamoru was quiet for a moment, watching the road ahead of him. Then he reached over with his left hand and carefully picked up her right. Her eyes widened in surprise, and somewhere in the back of her mind she wondered how such a cold guy could have such a warm touch.

"Your hand is still bleeding," he said softly.

"Huh?" she replied. She glanced down. Her white glove was decorated with a semicircle of blood spots where she'd been bitten. As Usagi. And he'd seen it.

She snatched her hand back with a gasp. Oh no, oh no, oh, no! He knows! This is not happening! This can't be happening! She slumped back against the seat, eyes squeezed shut, heart thumping, and brain racing to think of some way to fix the situation. Nothing came to mind.

Mamoru watched her with a mixture of so many feelings he could hardly identify them all. Concern, elation, confusion, relief, disbelief all swirled through his brain. Concern began to win out, though, when he saw her white face and terrified expression. What's she so scared of? Does she really think I'd tell anyone? He paused and grimaced. Considering the way I usually treat her, she probably thinks I'll sell her secret to the highest bidder. She doesn't know that I could never, ever hurt her... He opened his mouth to reassure her.

At the sound of his voice, Sailor Moon opened her eyes, but whatever words he said were swallowed up in her own frantic cry.

"LOOK OUT!"

Tires squealed, the world spun in sickening circles and turned on its head, and all was black.