The Crystal Senshi

Savagekitty

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

Chapter Eleven

It is Near the Ending

They finally came into caverns where Caty could see. As much as she could anyway after breaking her glasses. She squinted, looking around, "I swear to God, after this, I'm getting Lasic."

Kunzite, turning, looked at her puzzled, but knowing she couldn't see him across the small cavern anyway, shrugged and looked for the tunnel out.

"I thought you said the tunnel was in your room, Kunzite." Caty said as she felt along the wall.

"No," Kunzite sighed as he felt around the wall himself, "I said it was near my chambers. This is near. Stop whining. You're getting on my nerves."

Caty made an indignant sound and stopped, leaning against the wall. She folded her arms, pouting. She opened her mouth to argue when she perked up, her eyes widening, "I hear something."

Kunzite turned from his section of cavern wall, his sword appearing as Artemis and Tuxedo Kamen rounded the corner into the cavern, "I heard a female voice…Oh…" Kamen stopped, looking from Caty to Kunzite.

"Mamoru?" Caty asked, turning her head towards Artemis and Kamen. Kunzite strode forward, grabbing her, "Don't move."

Caty pulled at her arm in his grasp, "Will you stop? They won't hurt us, they are on our side." She jerked her arm from his grasp, holding her arms out towards Kamen and Artemis, "Mamoru? Is Artemis with you?"

Artemis strode forward, "Caty, what happened?" He took her by the arms and hugged her, also checking her over for injury.

"I'm ok. I just broke my glasses, you didn't happen to bring my spares did you?" She looked hopeful as she could actually see Artemis now, he was close enough. She felt a knot of panic untangle from her chest.

"No, but I did bring your sunglasses. Here." He pulled a glasses case from his backpack and handed it to her. She popped it open and took out the brown lenses. She put them on and sighed, "Thank you Jesus. And you too Arty. It's a tad dark, but at least I can see what I'm doing. Where are the girls?"

Kamen stepped forward, looking wearily at Kunzite as he came to Caty, "They went to stop the army from marching any further. They were coming through a canyon, stopping them in there was the best bet."

Caty nodded, "It is. They can cause a cave in. Pretty much stop the army cold in their tracks. Good girls." She rubbed her hands together in maniacal thought. She looked from Artemis and Kamen to Kunzite, "Oh. Kunzite, this is Mamoru and Artemis. Guys, this is Kunzite. He's a good guy now." Kunzite glared at the younger men. Kamen glared back. Artemis grit his teeth, "The past is the past. Right now, we need to stop Beryl."

"Uh…" Caty looked at Kunzite then back to Artemis, "She really isn't Beryl anymore. She's Metallia."

Artemis closed his eyes, "I thought I felt her. I felt her that day on the Moon." He opened his eyes and looked at Caty, "Why haven't you transformed yet?"

Caty looked down at her feet, "Jadeite took the emerald and gave it to Beryl. She was using it to feed her power before Metallia took over her body. I destroyed it."

"Caty, it was an emerald. That's second to a diamond. You couldn't have unless you smashed it with another emerald or a diamond." Artemis said as he stuck her glasses case back into his back pack. Caty stood there, blinking, "Uh… I thought I heard it break… What if it just dropped somewhere." She looked back at Kunzite, "I need to go find it."

Kunzite furrowed his brows, thinking, "It's unwise to split up, not with Metallia sneaking around. The Throne Room isn't too far from here." He looked at Caty, his face softening, "Come on."

"What the FUCK are we suppose to do about that?" Amethyst ranted as they hid behind the glacier, Sapphire peeking out, watching Metallia gather energy. They had come to the conclusion that it was no longer Queen Beryl. That was a very eye opening moment.

"Well, a 100 story tall naked woman is just around the corner, I could think of a few things to do." Sapphire muttered under her breath. Sailor Moon rubbed her forehead, "Crap, crap, crap… Ok…no…CRAP!" She sighed and rested her head against the cold icy wall, "I'm stumped."

Ruby was pacing back and forth, "Well… We could go find the others, regroup, and then try it?"

Amethyst looked at Sailor Moon, then back to Ruby, "What else do we have to lose?"

Kunzite peeked around the corner to the Throne Room, then motioned the others. They entered the large chamber, Caty blinking, "Crap, it's darker in here. Stupid sunglasses." She walked forward to where Beryl had been hanging from the ceiling. She noticed dark spots on the ground, ignoring them because she knew it was blood. She walked to a crop of stalagmites and got to her knees, feeling around with the ground. She came over several stone as Mamoru got to his knees. Artemis and Kunzite stood watch. She thought she heard it fall in a certain spot and then she saw it. A hole in the ground.

"I need a light!" She kneeled by the hole as Mamoru produced a flashlight. She took it and flashed it at the hole. She flashed it around where she was searching. Then back to the hole. She sighed and closed her eyes as Mamoru took the flashlight to look, "It's small. It could be anywhere."

Caty sighed and shook her head, "It's gone. It's gone, Mamoru. It may not have broken, but it's gone."

Kunzite came over, putting a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him and smiled. She stood, "Well, plan B."

"I figured plan B, anyway, Catherine." Kunzite said quietly as he led her from the Throne Room, "Things tend to disappear in this place if it isn't fixed to a person."

"Could have used that information earlier, Kunzite." Caty growled as they walked down the silent halls, Artemis and Kamen coming up behind them.

"Didn't want you to loose hope."

"Thanks for the thought, but now isn't really the time to waste what little time we have. Metallia is out there, doing God knows what."

"Well… We'll find out soon enough."

He held out one of his little crystal orbs and she took it, watching the movie of her friends moving through dark tunnels towards them. Even with her dark sunglasses on, she could make it out, "How close?"

"We should stop, they will be here in a few minutes if they keep on that course. They seem to be honed on you, Caty. A straight line from the Gates of Darkness to this spot."

"It's the crystal." Artemis came up beside Caty, looking into the ball, "Ruby has it. She's following it to you, Caty."

"Me? How me?" Caty looked at Arty, raising an eyebrow, "Like a homing beacon or something?"

"Pretty much. It has your aura on it. You wore it for so long…"

"Actually, Arty, I…didn't. Wear it, I mean. I put it on my rearview mirror in my car and kinda forgot about it…" She looked sheepishly at the ground then back at him. All she found was a mask of puzzlement.

"You didn't wear it at all?" Artemis's eyebrows were raised so high, they were in danger of disappearing into his hairline.

"No." She stepped closer to Kunzite to use him as a shield if Artemis got too angry.

"Then, how can they be following the crystal here? Unless… Its picked up on the Silver Crystal."

Caty's eye widened, "Oh God, I don't even want to hope. But if that's the case, that could save us all."

They waited, milling around. Artemis kept a good distance from Kunzite. The loathing and hate of what Kunzite did to Luna still fresh on even Caty's mind. But the time for revenge for Luna was later. They had to deal with Metallia first. Their waited was short, as the small group, panting, came around a corner. Minus one person. Sapphire was gone. Caty looked at her three comrades, "Where's Sapphire? We were watching you come in a crystal, where is she?"

Ruby's lip quivered, "We…ran into trouble in one of the tunnels. Metallia had a guard on her. One of them chased us here. He...it...got her...but...she took him with her, Caty." She smiled, "She took that bastard with her in a blaze of glory."

Caty felt the air go out of her lungs. She stood against the wall, "Oh God…oh God… Bonbon… No…" She started to quiver and Kunzite held her shoulders, "Catherine, breath deeply, slowly. This isn't the time to fall apart."

Sailor Moon went into the arms of Kamen as the others milled around closely. Caty blinked and nodded, "She…she's one of my oldest best friends. It hard, Kunzite. Ok… I think I'll be ok…" She sighed, wiping her eyes. Amethyst blinked, "Shh...Do you guys hear something?"

"What? That tapping noise? I thought it was Arty." Ruby looked over at their mentor.

Caty looked around, "No, it's coming from…the walls… Oh GOD!"

Pushing Kunzite to the ground, she closed her eyes and screamed, as the tunnel sighed inward around them and then implode in a shower of sharp rocks. Dust filled the air as one end of the tunnel caved in. Someone screamed. Heavy bars of metal shot through the stone. Caty wasn't sure who had screamed as the dust started to settle. She lay in Kunzite's arms, he was shielding her now, having rolled on top of her. Someone was laughing. She coughed, shaking. Kunzite stood, drawing power and the dust seemed to evaporate. Caty removed her glasses to clean them. She put them back on and braced her hands on the floor to get up. Her hand slid in something warm and wet. She looked up to see Artemis pinned to the wall, a bar through his middle, his right arm, and his throat. His eyes were half closed as he struggled to breath wetly. She shot up, crying hysterically as she tried to pull the bars away. Sailor Moon was sobbing over Tuxedo Kamen, who was half crushed under a boulder that blocked their way back through the tunnels. He was talking in a low voice to her. Ruby and Amethyst came to help Caty try and free Artemis. Caty listened with a half ear as Kunzite addressed the youma that had attacked them. They freed him and lay him out on the ground, gathering around him as he looked into their eyes. Amethyst gave a quiet sob as he mouthed something then he was gone. Caty asked quietly what he had said, unable to read lips. Amethyst who could, said, "He said…he said he would see Luna soon, at least." Ruby plucked helpless at his sleeve.

Caty felt cold inside. She turned to Sailor Moon, who was crying quietly now and cradling the now dead Tuxedo Kamen's head in her lap. Caty felt the cold rage trickle down her spine as she stood and walked to Kunzite. He held his sword, still arguing with the youma. Caty took the sword and ran the youma through. It blinked in surprise, but that was all. Caty pulled the sword free as the large youma got its wind back, black blood dribbling from the wound. He raised it's own weapon, a club with spikes around it. He looked like some kinda of trapeze artist in a violent shade of magenta. In some strange and calm part of her mind, Caty wondered if they ran out of youma ideas for this guy. She sidestepped back as he brought the club down and she brought the sword and pieced his side. In and out the blade came, while it was stunned, she brought the sword down and beheaded the creature.

Its head flopped to the ground and actually bounced a couple times before stopping. The body fell and Caty swooned. Kunzite caught her, taking his sword back. It disappeared as he fanned her awake. Ruby, Amethyst and Sailor Moon stood around him as he lightly slapped Caty's face. She awoke, and turned away, vomiting. Kunzite held her, rubbed her back as she did. Finally, she evacuated what bile she had left and weakly looked at her bleeding hands. The power through Kunzite's sword had shredded the skin on her hands. Ruby ripped cloth from Artemis's jacket to wrap her hands in. They were all silent, unsure of what to do next.

Finally, Amethyst realized why they could all see. Artemis had been carrying a lamp before, making it easy for that small group to see, and Ruby and the others were using the light of the crystal around her neck. With the lamp gone, the only light source was the crystal. She blinked a few times, looking at it to Kunzite and back, "Holy shit."

"What?" Caty said hoarsely.

"The crystal… its glowing." Amethsyt said as she looked at it.

Ruby looked down, blinking, "Wha… oh… OH… Oh man…"

"Did I miss someth-… Oh my God…" Caty said as she stood.

Sailor Moon looked puzzled then it caught on, "No, it's a joke…"

Kunzite blinked, "Uh…. Excuse me?"

Caty grabbed the crystal from around Ruby's neck and pulled it off, holding it out to Kunzite. It actually started humming.

"Kunzite, you have the Silver Crystal."

"That's ridiculous. If I had then… then I would have found out a long time ago." Kunzite scowled at the crystal then at Caty who still held it. He slapped her hand away, "That damnable thing is broken."

Caty picked it up from where it had fallen, "Artemis designed this himself, I doubt its broken. Anyway, it isn't like you have Syphilis, Kunzite. What I would like to know, how do we get it out?"

Kunzite actually backed against a wall, looking at them like they were all mad. Caty looked at him, "Oh calm down, you baby. We aren't going to slice you open and root around in your innards. Its probably hidden in your aura or soul or something."

"Mother would do that." Sailor Moon said, her eyes still puffy from crying over Tuxedo Kamen. Their loses would hurt them. Caty didn't think time would reset like it had in the manga and anime. Sailor Moon sat down against the wall, "I feel we weren't ready to be here. We lost so many of our friends already and now… now Mamoru is gone. My Mamoru."

Ruby kneeled by her, wrapping her arms around her shoulders, "Usagi, this has to be done. I know it hurts. It will hurt for so long, but we are on this path for a reason. If we just stop and don't go on… Metallia wins and the Earth will die. We need to finish what we started."

Caty hardened her face. She wouldn't cry again, "Lets go. We need to get out of here. This place is a death trap. We'll think of what to do next as we move."

They were weary as they moved through the caverns and tunnels. They finally came out into the dim sunlight of the settling sun of Antarctica. Amethyst looked around, "The sun isn't suppose to set. I mean be setting right now. Its too early…"

The sky was a brilliant and dazzling orange-ish pink color. Caty gasped at how beautiful it was and then cussed at how cold it was. She huddled into herself, looking around, "Metallia is drawing energy from the Earth. I can feel it. I'm not even Senshi now and I can feel it…"

"Don't say that, Caty." Ruby said as she fished around in Artemis's backpack. She had salvaged it before they left him and Kamen in the tunnels. She pulled out a compass and a map. She looked around with the compass and then threw it down, "She's giving it off too. It's screwing up the compass. Caty, you are Senshi. Just because you lost the emerald to transform, doesn't mean you can't."

"Oh….wittle ickly Senshi out alone, and one helpless human… hm?" The last two carriers of the sedan chair stood yards away, side by side. Large male youma, arms crossed against a thickly muscled chest. They were twins. They looked so human, but their skin was a yellowish color and their eyes red. They talked in unison, creepy within it self. Caty cringed. She shrunk behind Kunzite, resting her forehead on his shoulder. Ruby, Amethyst, and Sailor Moon stood in front of Caty and Kunzite. One to protect the Crystal, two, to protect a defenseless human. Ruby stood in the middle, her hammer appearing out of nowhere. She pointed it at the youma, "You damn bastards! Go back to hell!"

The youma chuckled as Kunzite dragged Caty back, running back for the shelter of the gates. They had already walked five football field lengths towards where Metellia towered. Caty looked back at her friends. Amethyst's staff spun as she directed a volley of crystal spikes to rain down onto the youma.

Caty shrieked, "Kunzite, let go! We have to help them!" She fought against Kunzite. He stopped, "Woman! You're maddening! They can handle them! DOWN!" He pushed her to the ground and shielded her as Amethyst's crystal shards rained down upon them. Caty struggled under him as he lay on her, "Get off! Kunzite!" She realized something was wrong as she lay in the cold permafrost.

Struggling, she turned her head towards Sailor Moon and Ruby. Amethyst lay on the ground in a heap. Caty screamed as Ruby fell to the ground, "NO! ERIN! LAUREN! Kunzite get off me! Please! Please!" She sobbed pushing at his limp body. She finally rolled out from under him and saw a crystal piecing his back. She moaned, grabbed it and pulling. He whimpered. From there…. Everything went into slow motion.

End Chapter Eleven

It's Near the End