The Crystal Senshi

Savagekitty

Dedicated to those who are true senshi of the heart and spirit.

Chapter Four

Captured!

Caty stood in the kitchen, looking at the TV that had been set up on the counter. She leaned forward, her right hand gripping the butcher knife she had been using to cut up green onion for a stew. The news reported three more attacks upon the city from the mysterious monsters. Luckily the saviors of the city, The Sailor Senshi, had been there to save people from further harm. Three had died. Makoto finally had to take the knife from Caty's white knuckle grip, "It wasn't bad."

"Three people died and Bonnie nearly broke her arm."

Makoto sighed, going back to chopping potatoes, "This is our life, Caty. This is what you got into by come here."

"Call a spade a spade, then. We were forced here without choice."

Makoto looked at her, hurt filling her eyes, "You really think that?"

"What I think, won't fill this measuring cup to the ¼ mark, but it still counts." She held the measuring cup, "We were brought here to help you, I have seen the enemy and I intend to stop this horror upon the world once and for all."

"Then maybe you can do what we've been trying for years, Caty-chan."

Caty and Makoto turned to Usagi and Mamoru. They stood holding bags of groceries. The group was having a big dinner to mark the three month anniversary of the Crystal Senshi's return. Makoto and Caty had been working all day to make it a very special dinner. The two girls had gotten into their old argument about how harsh the senshi should take action. Caty wanted to find the Dark Kingdom and cut a path through the hell to the Queen. Makoto wanted to wait, let them come to her.

Usagi set down her bags, looking at Caty, pleasantly, but in her eyes, Caty could see distain and anger. Caty looked down, "I'm sorry…I'm just frustrated."

"I know, we all are."

Through the front door, the rowdy crew had returned. Rei, Lauren, Minako, Erin, and Bonnie. Luna, Ami, and Artemis were already sitting in the living room, reading. Lauren and Bonnie had been out of their first battle. Three buildings had to be destroyed before the choice was made to finally uncover Bonnie and Lauren's Sapphire and Ruby alter egos. And boy, did it shock the hell out of Jadeite. Between Sapphire's Volley of the Hurricane, Ruby's Hammer Song, and finally the double team of Mar's Snake Fire/ Venus's Love and Beauty Shock. The youma was defeated and the city saved once again. Bonnie plopped down next to Ami, "How do you feel today, Ami-chan?"

Ami, who seemed to have not been able to transform for a good two months now, smiled, "I'm alright. Congratulations."

Bonnie shrugged happily, "It was awesome!" She jumped up to start regaling the team of what happened. Caty stood in the doorway to the kitchen, listening.

"… came out of no where! My arm hurt like a mother, but once I transformed it was ok. OH, you should have seen Lauren!"

Lauren looked sheepish, "I can't help is if I can bench press the Chrysler Building in that form."

"She threw a truck! I mean threw it like a toy car! It was awesome!" Bonnie sat down again, panting, "I love being a senshi!

Luna chuckled, "Glad you like it."

Ami stood, "Please excuse me."

The small girl left the room, going across the hall into Mamoru's apartment. Minako excused herself, following her. Caty frowned, "She's worried."

Rei rolled her eyes, "No shit Sherlock."

Caty chucked the spoon she held at Rei, who ducked, "HEY!"

Erin stood over Rei, "AGAIN! AGAIN! Say it again, Rei."

Rei crossed her arms, "I don't have to repeat myself. We've dealt with this before. You don't need to bother."

Erin growled and moved closer to Rei. Caty, laying a hand on her friend's arm, stood between Rei and Erin, "Why don't you go over and see if you can do something. Practice that healing gift you seemed to have acquired."

Erin gave one more hateful look to Rei and left the apartment. One of Amethyst's hidden gifts of senshi was the power to heal the wounded. It had come in handy in tight spots. If it was just a physical thing with Ami, maybe Amethyst could fix it.

Caty glared at Rei and went back to the kitchen. Makoto came in, helping to finish the dinner.

It was a week later when it was discovered that now, besides Ami, Minako and Erin couldn't transform.

"It's the stress," Makoto was saying to Usagi and Caty over sodas at their favorite hangout, the Crown Fruit Bar and Karaoke. Caty chewed her bottom lip, "We haven't work enough to be stressed out. It doesn't seem right. I mean, I noticed Erin avoiding going out for missions, but this could be bad."

"Minako had this happen before… maybe they just need a vacation. I mean, we have the help now…" Usagi smiled at the worried Caty. Caty looked into her diet coke, swirling the lemon slice around the glass, "It doesn't feel right."

You better not crapping out on us too, Caty." Makoto said, pointing a finger at her, "We need you."

"I know, I'm just saying that we," She pointed to herself in reference to the Crystal Senshi, "haven't been…ah…working long enough to be stressed out."

Usagi shrugged, "Well, we will send them up to the mountains for a few days, see if that fixes them. For right now, I want a sundae."

"Oooh…sundae," Caty said, food replacing her worry for her friends.

"I feel funny…" Lauren said as she sat between Ami and Erin in the car to the mountains. Mamoru and Caty took Lauren along. Minako sat behind Ami, Erin, and Lauren with the luggage. Caty was excited that she would actually get to go to a real Japanese getaway. Trees, hot bathes, tea houses. She grinned and hopped up and down in her seat as they came into the little driveway that would lead them to the hotel. Caty looked back into the backseat at Lauren, looking over her sunglasses, "Bathroom funny or carsick funny?"

Lauren thought a moment, "I don't know," she finally said, "It feels like carsick, but I don't get that feeling of wanting to throw up."

Caty shrugged, "Maybe it's the thin air up here, we'll be to the hotel soon."

"You better not throw up on me." Erin said.

"We're here," Mamoru was announcing, as he parked the car. He got out, stretching from the three hour drive, taking in the mountain air. Caty hopping out, rolling her arms to work out the kinks, "Wow, its really pretty here." Lauren got out, "This is more beautiful then the Blue Ridge Mountains," She gasped. Ami, Minako, and Erin got out, silent, as they looked around. Caty walked to the back of the SUV, her sandals crunching on the gravel driveway. Mamoru had already opened the back. She helped grab bags, and satchels. She tossed one at Minako, "I know you guys are in awe of the beauty of the wilderness, but can you give us a hand?"

She was startled by the dark look she received from Minako, who caught the suitcase. Then it was gone, like it was never there, "Sure thing. Then we can hit the hot bathes! You guys haven't lived until you soaked in sulfur and hot water. Its so relaxing," She was saying to Lauren and Erin as they carried their bags inside. Caty stood, staring after then, blinking. She jumped when Mamoru touched her arm, "You ok?" Caty nodded, "Uh, yeah. Just thought I saw a ghost, you know how these old places boast ghosts."

Mamoru raised an eyebrow, "Into spirits?"

Caty nodded as she picked up her own duffle bag, "Yah, it's kinda a hobby of mine."

They settled into their rooms, Lauren and Caty shared one. Erin wanted to bunk with Ami and Minako. Mamoru got his own room, being the man. The rooms were very simple, traditional Japanese. Whicker floors with beds that were rolls out on the floor every night by servants. Simple water color paintings on the wall, low tables. Caty found it annoying. She didn't like to kneel when she ate, her knees always bothered her. Lauren got the better end of the stick, not having far to go with her small frame, making Caty jealous once again that Lauren was a small petite girl and Caty was a tall Amazon. But, with a shrug, she grabbed a towel, changed into her bathing suit and slipped into a pair of sandals to go to the hot springs. She got a hell of a shock when she got there. The few people that were at the retreat all seemed to be in the large unisex hot springs. Naked. You couldn't see anything through the murky water, but the fact that they were sitting in the water, naked, made her face flame brilliant red and she turned. Minako, Erin, and Ami sat to the side, reading. She looked at them, "You guys not going in?" Minako nodded, "We will in a few moments." Caty nodded, "I think…I'll go change and have a bit of a walk." Mamoru and Lauren stood outside the front of the hotel, looking at the trees, Mamoru pointing out birds. Caty stood beside Mamoru, "They were naked."

He turned to her and laughed, "Never been in a hot spring before?"

"No," She said, as calmly as she could as Lauren cackled so hard on the other side of Mamoru, she fell over. Caty glared at her friend, "I don't want to flash my ass in public, ok? I'll just get a rub down, maybe a pedicure, and take in nature." Mamoru chuckled, "Lets go for a walk then." He looked at Lauren who was still rolling around in the gravel. "I'll be…in the….springs…" she said through her tears.

They walked down a bath through the trees that seemed only for deer and other smaller creatures of the forest. Mamoru wore shorts and sandals and seemed to navigate through the brush just fine. Caty seemed to get whacked with every branch, thankful she wore jeans that covered her legs from scratches and thorns. He stopped in a small covering of trees, looking out at a family of deer. Caty smiled, watching them. From across the clearing, she saw someone else, a tall man with long black hair. He didn't look Japanese, but something else, his skin was pale, or maybe it was just where he stood. Caty got a shiver, looking at him, and pulled on Mamoru's sleeve.

They moved on down the path towards a waterfall set into high rocks. They sat down and had a bite to eat. Mamoru had found a plum tree with early fruit. They were a little sour but tasty. Caty sat at the edge of the pool, dipping her feet in after she removed her shoes and rolled her jeans up. She tossed the pit of the plum into the water, making little rings. She smiled as the reflection cleared and she saw herself and the man she had seen in the clearing standing behind her. She squeaked and tumbled head first into the pool of water. She came up, sputtering, spitting water out of her mouth. Her glasses hung askew on her face. She pushed her wet hair from her eyes and righted her glasses, glaring at the man who was laughing. Mamoru was no where to be seen, "I'm sorry!" The man said, in English. He offered a hand to her and she took it, "I didn't mean to scare you, I thought you heard me coming up."

Caty got out, dripping wet, pulling string of algae from her hair, "You could have been a little louder."

He looked sheepishly at her, "Well," he pulled a piece from her shoulder and flicked it away, "I don't get to pull pretty ladies from pools of water often."

She eyed him, not used to compliments from handsome men, she dismissed it, "Yeah, well, don't make it a habit of scaring them into it in the first place." Mamoru came out of the trees, "Caty?" The stranger turned to Mamoru, "Oh, the jealous boyfriend. I mean you no harm." He said with humor in his voice, holding his hands up, "Just saving a damsel in distress. Zien Kut." He held out a hand to Mamoru as he gave his name. Pronouncing it Zane Koot. He spelled it too, as if people got it wrong all the time. Caty thought that was a little arrogant of him, since she didn't care to get to know him further. She put on her shoes, "Mamoru, I'm going back to the hotel to change." He nodded, looking at Zien, "Nice to meet you… uh…" Zien chuckled, "The lady beckons, Mamoru."

Back at the hotel and a set of dry clothes later, Caty sat in a lounge chair on the deck, reading a book. The sun was setting dramatically over the mountains, making her wish for a man to share it with. Then she scolded herself for being such an airhead and went back to her book. Someone took the chair next to her. She looked up from her book, aware that someone was not a friend and was staring at her. She looked over to find Zien, "Oh for God sake! What? Are you following me?"

He chuckled, sitting back in his chair, "Nope, just luck of the draw I guess. I figured you would be staying here. I've been looking for you for the better part of an hour. You and Mamoru serious enough where I shouldn't even bother asking you out?"

Caty closed her eyes, willing herself not to blush as she stood, gripping her book, "We aren't even a couple. I have no idea where you got that idea. Second, following people it creepy. So stop following me." She turned and started back to her room. Zien caught up, "Hey…" He said, panting, "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to come on like that. I didn't expect to find another American here and it surprised me."

"So you hit on any American you see in Japan? Try the naval yards." She turned a corner, disgruntled and weary of this man now, "Hey!" she stopped when he grabbed her arm, "Let go."

"All I wanted to do was ask you to lunch. I don't hit on any American I see. Just those I want to. And for your information you're the first."

She raised an eyebrow, "I find that hard to believe."

He shrugged, "I like tall women. So, lunch? Tomorrow?"

She thought, "Hm… Yah sure, what will it hurt." she shrugged, "Oh, by the way, my name is Catherine. You can just call me Caty."

"Well, Caty, I'm Zien. Pleased to meet you."

Lunch was uneventful. Caty found a nice skirt and her favorite white tunic shirt to wear. They made small talk, talking about where they came from, Zien was from Boston on a student visa, learning about Japanese architecture. Caty said she was on a student visa also, she wasn't sure what for, since she hadn't really been to a school since coming here, so she said she was studying folk lore. She just hoped he didn't prompt her for a story. They took a walk after lunch, through the small rock garden the hotel kept up. A man was raking sand as Caty and Zien stopped to watch. Zien plucked a flower from a bush and gave it to her. She smiled at him, the two inch difference between their height. Then it happened. Of course it happened. She was having a good time with a man that liked her and it HAD to happen. A crash from the other side of the hotel and the ground shook. Zien looked startled but Caty knew that crash. A youma. Here. Of all the places in Japan. Mamoru was running from the hot springs, a towel wrapped around his middle. Caty saw him and turned to Zien, "I have to see if my friends are alright. You stay here."

"What! I'll come with you!"

"Like hell, I don't want you hurt too." She pushed him into a rose bush. He yelped and struggled as she ran down the path after Mamoru and out of sight.

"Crystal! CRISIS! MAKE UP!"

In a flash of green, she and Tuxedo Kamen stood at the top of the hotel, looking down at the monster in the back woods. Emerald tightened her jaw as she saw that Minako, Ami, and Erin were all struggling against the thing. The back of the hotel had a wide field of wildflowers just before the forest. The youma looked like a giant wild flower. Its thorn vines wrapped around her three friends, lifting them off the ground as Zoicite stood by, watching.

"This isn't just a coincidence."

Emerald looked at Tuxedo Kamen, his cape flapping in the wind, "No shit. They attack the three of us that can not transform? They know something." Her sword formed in her hand as Sailor Ruby stood beside Emerald, panting, "Sorry, eating, couldn't get away from the rushing people." She clapped her own black gloved hands together and a long crystal formed then turned into a black hammer. It was doubled headed, with the handle black and edged in red crystal. It rimed Emerald of John Henry's Hammer, from the stories she heard in elementary school. Ruby looked at her and smiled, "John Henry's Hammer, eh?" Emerald laughed, "Get out of my head."

"Ladies," Tuxedo Kamen motioned towards the youma and jumped from the roof. Emerald and Ruby followed suit. Emerald took point, by cutting her friends free of the vines that held them as Ruby twirled her hammer in her hands and brought it down on the ground, "HAMMER SONG!" And the hammer did sing as the ground shook, opening beneath the youma. It fell in, screeching and then the earth around it closed up. Zoicite clapped in earnest, "GOOD SHOW!" He cackled in his girlish voice, "I say good show! But now…"

He waved to the three free girls and they stood. Erin, Minako, and Ami. Their faces blank, their eyes empty as they stood limply. Emerald and Ruby gasped, Tuxedo Kamen clutching Emerald's arm harshly. Their friends dissolved before their eyes, turning into sexless, hairless, eyeless puppets.

"What did you DO TO THEM!" Emerald screamed. Her body shook in rage. How could this have happened? How did she not notice one of hers was the enemy. Maybe it was just a decoy and her friends were safely inside. She hoped to God that was the case as she pointed her sword at Zoicite, "I swear by the blood of my ancestors that if they are harmed I will not let you die until you felt their pain, Zoicite!"

The feminine male crossed his arms, "You know, that puzzled me. I have been racking my brain, thinking. How did you know of me? I mean, I would have remembered if there were other senshi besides those of Sailor Moon guild. But then you show up with your three little friends. I'm flabbergasted. And then, she spilled the beans." He waved a hand and a portal opened in the ground. A stake rose from the hole and tied to it was a severally harmed Erin. Her hair hung in her face and she leaned forward against her binds. She looked up sluggishly, her face bruised, her mouth still trickling blood, "EMERALD!" She screeched when she finally saw who it was.

Emerald's grip on her sword tightened as her face darkened, "You monster," she seethed. Zoicite chuckled as Erin faded back into the ground, "I still don't remember you, but I have the story. Silver Millennium and all that. What I still don't have is who YOU really are, Ms. Sailor Emerald. That, I will be getting shortly. I still have your other two friends." He cackled and faded back into a warp hole, leaving the three puppets staring at Kamen, Emerald, and Ruby. The first one attacked Emerald. It was unbelievably strong and she held her sword up in a block. It gripped the blade, Emerald stared into the empty eyes and pushed with both her mind and body. The puppet youma rocketed backwards, hitting a tree. It fell to pieces and seemed to stay that way. Ruby was swinging her hammer with very tight control at the one that attacked her. She got in a lucky shot to the head, sending it flying. Ruby yelled, "HOMERUN!" as she drove her hammer into its middle and jerked up, tearing the hammer through the middle. The youma fell to dust. Emerald was puzzled, if it fell to dust when destroyed, then what happened to hers?

She turned to find the thing tackling her to the ground. With clawed hands, it ripped at her chest as she grit her teeth, trying to concentrate through the pain. She brought her knees up under its pelvis and pushed up. It fell to the side and she rolled to her knees, going for the sword she dropped. She had it in her hands as it jumped on her back. It rode her like a bull as she screamed, its claws tearing down her neck and back. Ruby swung hard, launching the youma off of Emerald. Emerald rolled up onto her knees and pointed her sword, pissed off now.

Light ripped down the sword and then back up. She launched herself at the youma and pinned it to a tree like a beetle to a card. It struggled as Emerald held out her hand and two long daggers appeared, the same black and green crystal of her sword. She brought the daggers down in a crossing motion, beheading the youma. It fell to dust, and she popped the dagger back into the strange space they seemed to be in while she didn't need them. She pulled her sword out and turned to the last youma. Tuxedo Kamen seemed to be having a stand off as she and Ruby came upon them. Emerald used her metal throw to toss it into a tree and Ruby crushed its head with a hammer swing. Tuxedo Kamen, sweating, smiled, "'Bout time!"

Emerald grimly looked at the spot where the last youma fell. "We defeated them, but our people are missing."

Tuxedo Kamen looked grim as Ruby's hammer disappeared and she rubbed her arms, "I knew I felt weird sitting between Erin and Ami. Do you think…they've been like that for a while?"

Emerald faded back to Caty, her wounds healing, "That's why they couldn't transform. We better get back to Tokyo." She closed her eyes, "We need to deliver the bad news."

They were loading the car as Zien came to say goodbye. He gave Caty his email address for her to keep in touch. She gave him a weak smile. They stood out of sight on the other side of the SUV from Lauren and Mamoru. Zien didn't really know how many people were in their party so he didn't ask about the three missing girls. Caty was glad, because her heart hurt. Zien hugged her suddenly and gave her a swift kiss, "I will see you again." Caty was left speechless as he strode away and Mamoru came around the car, "Lets get out of here. I called Usagi and she's frantic." Caty nodded numbly, climbing into the car.

End Chapter Four

Captured!