Chapter 10

"Minako…when were you going to tell us about Katsuro being the Phoenix Knight?" Usagi questioned as the three rushed to the opening to watch the action down below.

Venus took in a deep breath before releasing it slowly. "To be honest, I just found out the night Rei was telling me I should stop seeing him. It was by accident though, he didn't know I was watching. I thought there was a fight going on and transformed to check it out. It was him training though."

"So was this what he was trying to get out to us earlier?" Mamoru questioned as Venus nodded.

"I wanted you two to be the first to know, and for now the only ones. I know what you're thinking. No I'm not hiding it. Its just the way Rei spoke about it, really got to me you know? Like not even considering me giving it a chance to try and balance the two things or maybe trust someone with that." Her voice became quiet.

"She's just worried. Things have gone wrong for everyone in the past. Throwing a new person or a new super powered warrior that we don't know into our lives can put everyone in a dangerous situation." Mamoru explained.

"Mamo-chan. I agree with Venus. It should be her call to make how she lives or who she lets in her life. We have each other, and both of us have been a part of this since the beginning. So we don't have to hide anything like this, but it seems so unfair sometimes that my friends did have a chance at love…but because of Beryl…" She trailed off after referring to the Four Heavenly Knights. "They deserve another chance to be happy like you and I."

"You're right Usako…"
"So are we heading down to help him or not?!" Usagi with determination in her voice was ready to transform and fight with her new friend.
"Yeah, I'll help lower everyone down." With that, Mamoru and Usagi transformed.

~Meanwhile~

Katsuro continued fighting shadow warriors, slashing them down one by one and keeping them away from civilians. However, this time when he finished them off, they turned into a black shadow on the ground that seemed to all be fleeing off into one direction towards the arcade. "That's never a good sign. Why do I feel like this is leading up to the big monster of the week reveal?" There was an eerie flashing of different color lights from inside the dark arcade.

"Ok, so either that's a sweet rave party that's going on in there, or this is about to be an insane boss fight." He readied himself, sliding his feet to a wider sturdier stance, his arms up and ready to defend himself. "Well, at least I have some distance on it to give me time to prepa-?!" Before he could finish that sentence, a long metal cable with a giant metal claw rushed from the darkness, grabbing around his torso. "Ah shit biscuits…" With that, he was yanked to one side then slung through a roller coasters wooden column.

The creature came walking from inside the arcade, it was essentially a claw machine with arms, legs and a head. The body was condensed down to a regular sized torso with a door on the abdomen area. Its hands were three-pronged claws with arms that looked like metal cables.

"Well…that's new." Katsuro slowly emerged from the ruble, stumbling to his feet. "Alright, so extendy stretchy claw arms. Neat. I'll just avoid that then and all should be okie dokie." He began to charge in, forming his sword in his hands. However, the closer he got, the door in the abdomen finally opened up, shooting a stuffed bear at him.

"Really? That's what you want to do? A cute stuffed bear being shot out like a cannon at me?" He slashed at the bear, only to be met with an explosion on impact "What the?!" Smoke and debris covered him completely. Once cleared, he had some burn marks on his armor and one or two small areas chipped slightly.

"Ok, extendy stretchy arms, and exploding stuffed animals. Noted."

The creature let out a maniacal laugh, shooting out more stuffed animals all over the place, however these were more, sentient. The stuffed animals seemed like wild and insane goblins that only wanted to break and smash things. They began jumping on civilians as they ran screaming for their lives. One jumped onto the head of a man, biting him onto the head. The man panicked only to have his toupee ripped from his head, then running away to freedom.

He saw one group of the demented creatures piling up on a couple in their 20's, a few jumping up to the games you shot targets, turning the guns to people.

"Ok, now that's just a bit much." Katsuro's eyes went wide. He had multiple jump onto him. "Little freaks! Get the hell off me! This is why I hate movies about toys coming to life! Right here." He began flailing his arms and legs before finally blazing up flames around him, burning them away. "Phoenix Wave!" He slashed his sword, sending the wave of phoenix shaped energy rushing through the hoard and into the creature, smashing it through the restroom building's wall. A man was sitting on the toilet, wide eyed before pulling his pants up and taking off running.

Sailor Venus came running to his side with the other two. "Hey! What are we up against here?"

He stopped to look at her then Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask. He knew who they were now but still, this was a bit new for him, fighting alongside the people he looked to as heroes. It was a new feeling to him, especially one of them being his…girlfriend.

"Hello? Earth to Phoenix Knight?" Sailor Moon snapped her fingers as Katsuro shook his head quickly to snap out of it.

That was also different, hearing his hero name called. "Oh um, yeah. Well, so far it seems we're fighting an overpowered claw machine monster with way to many fucking abilities. " You could hear how done he was already with this fight in his voice, although he did seem to be enjoy using his powers a bit and having a SLIGHT bit of fun with it. More shadow warriors appeared and also more of the demonic stuffed animals running towards them.

"Eep!" Sailor Moon squealed as two grabbed onto her, one for each leg. She tried kicking them off of her, then Tuxedo Mask ran up to pull them off. One then jumped onto his back.

"They're everywhere!" He exclaimed, trying to reach around his back.

A few began climbing up on Venus. "Ew ew ew! Get them off me!" She began to flail, then blasted a few with her Crescent Beam.

"Tuxedo La Smoking Bomber!" Tuxedo Mask blasted a group of them down, then began fighting with a few of the shadow warriors. He was trying to keep Sailor Moon safe and get the ones crawling on her off as well.

Katsuro came to Sailor Venus's side and began pulling them of her. "Get off my girlfriend!" He yelled angrily before feeling something grabbing his arm, a claw. One grabbed his other arm as well, and he was pulled away from her, thrown up into the air and then slammed back onto the ground. A scream of pain left his lungs before going silent, having the wind knocked out of him from the impact.

Hearing her called his girlfriend for a split second felt sort of nice, but the moment was ruined by all the creepy stuffed creatures crawling all over her body, then seeing him ripped away from her to be slammed on the ground. "No! Phoenix Knight!" She exclaimed before ripping the creatures off from her body forcibly. "Venus! Love and Beauty Shock!" She blasted the creatures with golden energy hearts then tried to run to his side, but the creature still had hold of him. It pulled him away, towards it.

"Tuxedo La Smoking Bomber!" The attack was directed at the claw arms, it released Katsuro, dropping him to the ground. Sailor Venus ran to him, gently placing her arms around him.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

"Don't take me out coach." He sounded completely out of it.

Then, the unthinkable happened, two arms grabbed onto Venus, but did not pull her towards it. Instead an energy traveled along the arms, into the claws as Venus began to glow. In a flash of light, she was turned into a plushie herself, then pulled into the creature.

"Venus! No!" Sailor Moon yelled out in shock and fear, watching her friend get turned into a stuffed animal then pulled into a small door in the creature's stomach. The door then shut.

Katsuro quickly snapped out of it. "Seriously!? Another bullshit power!? No, Venus!" Oh, he was big mad now. He got to his feet and instantly charged the creature.

"Nuh uh uuuuuuuh!" The creature had a raspy growl to it's voice, with a slight mechanical sound. "You destroy me, she goes with me!" The creature smirked, laughing. Katsuro stopped mid punch with fear in his eyes. How was he going to get her out of there?! The creature sent one of its claws, grabbing Katsuro's face before quickly extending, sending him flying backwards, smashing into Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask. The three skidded back onto the ground.

"Damnit…what do we do now?!" He felt so helpless, he couldn't destroy the creature or Minako would be killed with it.

"We have to come up with some strategy to get her out of there then put an end to this monster" Tuxedo Mask glared at the creature.

"But how? How do we even get anything inside there to pull her out?!" Sailor Moon saw some more creatures coming at them. She blasted her attack out at them, purifying them into regular stuffed animals.

The creature launched out more stuffed creatures towards them, they exploded, causing a smokescreen that blocked their visions.
"I can't see anything! Is everyone alright?" Katsuro asked, trying to see through the smoke, knocking down shadow warriors near him.

"I'm alright over here! Sailor Moon? Where are you?!"

"I'm over here! I can't see anything!" She felt a grab on her arm. "Mamo?" She quietly stated before feeling another grab. Oh no, it wasn't him. "Help! It's got me!" She screamed before feeling her body go almost paralyzed, not being able to move. A light engulfed her body as she let out a scream, trying to resist and break free. But before long, she was turned into a stuffed plushie, quickly being pulled out of the smokescreen. The smoke dispersed as the other two looked on helplessly, seeing her dragged out and into the creature's stomach.
"NO! Usako~ Tuxedo Mask exclaimed, reaching his hand in the direction she was pulled away.

"Damnit!" Katsuro cursed; panic started to set in. He already failed to keep Venus from being absorbed into this thing, now Sailor Moon was, and he didn't even have the slightest clue on how to get them out or stop this thing without harming them yet. The only way he could think of that he could get them, would be to somehow be inside that thing. "Wait, that's it! Tuxedo Mask! I have an idea. I'm not sure it'll work. I'll have to consult with the god spirit that resides in my jewel, but if all goes the way I'm thinking. I can get them out." He explained as the two continued to battle with stuffed animals and shadow warriors.

"You do?! What is it? Please, if you have a way, save them." He pleaded. He tried to remain calm, they had been in tough situations like this before. This was also a chance for him to see what Katsuro was made of, as a hero, and as someone who was to be by Minako's side. He was curious to see what he had come up with.

'Suzaku! I'm going to try and get myself in there. Is there a way to allow myself to be changed into one of those things, but still stay conscious?'

'I may can provide you with a protective barrier, but it wouldn't last long. I do not have much power myself to be able to maintain things like that anymore.'

'How long could you buy me? I need to shrink down to size to bring this thing down from the inside out, but I can't fully turn into one of those plushies.'

'I can buy you five minutes tops. But then the barrier will be let down, and your body will change.'

'Five minutes? I can work with that I think. Let's do it then.' He looked to Tuxedo Mask then back to the monster. "Oh no…I'm out of power. I…I can't fight anymore." He bluffed, falling to his knees. Tuxedo Mask didn't know what he was doing or what the plan was, he genuinely believed he was weakened.

"Phoenix Knight! You said you could save them! What are you doing!?" A mixture of fear and anger filled him, was he lied to?! Why would Katsuro get his hopes up like that?!

"I'm no good anymore on the battlefield. I've lost Venus…I…I just want to be with her. Please, change me and add me to your collection. I can't go on anymore. I don't want to be without her." He begged the monster.

"Giving up? Pathetic. But I'll be more than happy to steal another warrior for my collection. I can take you all to Lord Zeo for him to take your energies. Come to me then!" The creature extended out the claws, grabbing hold of Katsuro.

"No! Don't! You have to keep fighting! Stop it!" Tuxedo Mask yelled, trying to fight through a group of shadow warriors to get to him. "You're such a coward! How dare you let Venus down like that! How dare you let Sailor Moon down!" He was filled with rage, he let his friends down and just gave up like that without trying.

"I'm sorry, please…forgive me." He began to glow as the creature started to transform him. His body began to shrink down to size to be absorbed. 'NOW!' There was a slight red tint of energy around him as well, Suzaku formed a barrier, lining around his body. He was quickly pulled into the creature once down to size.

"Phoenix Knight!" Tuxedo Mask yelled helpless, watching yet another victim pulled in, along with his friend and the woman he loved. Gone, all gone.

"All that delicious energy for Lord Zeo! I'll be rewarded so much for my hard work!" The creature exclaimed with glee.

"GAH!" Katsuro exclaimed as he fell into a bunch of wiring and machinery. He slowly stood up looking around. "So this is it's insides? Its all computerized and metal with wiring. Its like being inside a computer. He looked around. The place was so spacious and vast. "Where do I even begin to look?!" He began to walk around to search for any signs of Sailor Venus and Moon.

"I hope Tuxedo Mask can hold things down on the outside long enough for me to get them out. I hate I had to lie to him…he looked so angry and let down. Of course, he was. The woman he loves is in here, and they've been together for a long time, and even in a past life. I can't fuck this up." He continued on before seeing a group of stuffed creatures running at him. "Really?! In here too!? How!? These things must be the size of like insects or something. What is this, some sort of virus protection like program?!" He exclaimed as he began to battle the creatures, punching and kicking them off him.

"Tuxedo La Smoking Bomber!" Tuxedo Mask blasted the creature.

Everything inside began shaking and rumbling as Katsuro fell to the ground with everything turning sideways. "What the fuck?!" He yelled, smashing to the ground with a thud. "I guess he's decided to try and fight back, or stall till back up arrives. Or until he can figure out a way to save them. I better hurry." He began to run down what seemed to be a labyrinth of computerized walls. He saw something standing in the distance. A person?

"You found me…Katsuro." The figure turned around. It was Sailor Venus. Something was off though. "Now…you can join us." The eyes were blank. "Venus, Love and Beauty Shock!" She blasted golden energy hearts at him.

"Venus no! Wait! It's me!" He yelled as the impact from the attack exploded on him, sending him flying back. "Why are you attacking me?" He asked, slowly getting to his feet before looking up from where he sat, seeing Sailor Moon.

"You're pathetic. You couldn't save me or the woman you love. And you just let poor Tuxedo Mask down. No one will ever trust you now, you're just scum." She kicked him back down to the ground, stepping onto his back, pinning him down to the ground. She began twisting her heel into his back.

"I really picked the wrong guy to be with. You're such a weakling. I deserve someone much stronger and more manly. Not a loser like you." Sailor Venus began kicking him

"Please, both of you. Why are you doing this? I'm trying to save you!" He grunted in between kicks. His time was running out. He couldn't fight them, there was no way he could hurt the woman he loved or his new friend. "I don't know what this thing has done to you two but please! Snap out of it!" The girls kicked him to the wall.

"Argh!" He exclaimed in pain. He struggled to his feet. "I don't want to hurt you two, but if I have to save you by force, I will" He powered up a little, he could feel the barrier slowly fading away, his body was becoming heavier. "Flame Cannon!" He held his hands out, blasting flames at the two, sending them falling hard to the ground. 'How am I going to get them out of here?' He thought to himself.

"That almost hurt." Sailor Venus smirked standing back up. "Venus Crescent Beam!" She blasted him as Sailor Moon readied an attack.

"Moon Exploding Escalation!" A strange more violent version of one of her attacks was launched at him, both attacks hit head on, wearing his barrier down even more. He was blasted through a wall.

"What is with these two…? I can't do anything. I can't attack them…" Despair filled his voice till finally, he looked over to the side, seeing nothing else but…a claw machine. With those two inside. "Wait, seriously? A claw machine inside a claw machine? Clawception." He made an inception pun. He quickly got up and ran to the machine, punching it to break it. But it didn't work.

"Aw, poor hero is helpless to save the damsels in distress." The evil Venus and Sailor Moon leaned against the wall. They began to approach him.

"Only one thing to do!" He quickly searched for change, placing it into the machine. "Thankfully I'm a pro at this!" He tried to move the claw to push the two together.

"Venus Love Chain Sword!" She called out, a sword connected to a goldne chain of hearts smashed him in the back. It caused him to bump the claw away from the two, failing the grab them. The claw slowly raised back up. "Damnit! I don't have the time, or the change for this shit!" He yelled, turning around and forming his sword. "Phoenix Wave!" He yelled, swinging to send the fiery phoenix shaped energy to smash the two back.

He quickly put more change into the machine to try and grab the two again. "Come one, come on! Stupid ass claw machine! Give me my friend and girlfriend back!" He yelled, trying to grab the two in one go again. He had managed to get multiple things out of a claw machine with one grab before, but never under pressure like this. He finally took hold of both Sailor Moon and Venus. "Yes! Finally!" His victory was short lived however.

"Moon Destructive Heart Break Attack!" She began spinning, sending a blast of multiple hearts, exploding on his back, causing him to drop the two again.

"FUCK OFF!" He turned around again, sending another Phoenix Wave at her, the blast knocked her and the Venus back again. "Come on! Please work this time! I'm running out of time!" His body began to become soft and began looking like a stuffed plush. One hand completely lost usefulness. "No no no noooo! Not now!" He used his free hand to put coins in again. "I'm shit with my left hand. I have to make this work!" Frantically he began to move the claw to the two again, lifting them up.

He felt another Crescent Beam hit him in the back and Sailor Moon's attack again but kept going. "Almost! Almost! THERE!" He managed to hook both and drop them both into the opening below. Once he pulled them both out, the two attacking him disappeared. His body began to change slowly. "No…I…can't move…" It was taking all he had before finally looking up. He summoned all the power he had left to blast a hole out in front of him, it was the doors on the stomach.

He began running before jumping out with all his might, tumbling down on the ground with both of them in his arms as they grew back to size and turned to normal. His body began to reverse back to normal as well. "Booyah Motherfucker!" He called out as the two lay on the ground unconscious before him.

"Phoenix Knight?! Sailor Moon! Venus!" Tuxedo Mask yelled out seeing all three. He was banged up pretty bad from battling the monster. "You, you saved them?" He asked in disbelief. "I thought you were out of energy? That you weren't going to be able to save them."

"I'm so sorry, I had to lie to get myself pulled in so I could save them." He stood to his feet. "And now, there's nothing left stopping me from turning this asshole into scrap metal." He smirked.

"No, leave this to us." Sailor Venus placed her hand on his shoulder, she was pissed, super angry. "This thing used us to fight you and turned us into a stupid claw machine prize. We'll put down this hunk of junk. Right Sailor Moon?" She smirked, looking over to her friend.

"Definitely." She nodded.

"Venus Love Chain Sword!" She smashed the creature with the sword then wrapped the chain around it.

"Silver Moon Crystal Power Kiss!" Her attack smashed into the creature, fully destroying it as it screamed out, fading away.

"Good job Sailor Moon!" Tuxedo Mask yelled.

"Damn, you two are awesome!" Katsuro looked at the two as Venus gave her signature victory pose, winking at him.

"See, your girlfriend's got things handled." She chuckled.

"Thanks for getting us out of there, it felt so…weird being a plushie and not being able to move." Sailor Moon crossed her arms and shivered.

The group got out of sight before all turning back to normal. "Well Katsuro, after seeing you in action and how much you care about Minako, I definitely approve." Mamoru said, reaching his hand out.

"Thanks, I'll always do my best to protect her and everyone else too." He shook his hand, smiling. Minako wrapped herself around his arm. "You were amazing out there. I just hate our day got totally ruined." She pouted.

"Everyone is safe, that's what matters." Mamoru held Usagi close to him, kissing her forehead.

"Yea, it is." Usagi leaned up and kissed his lips. "I love you Mamo-chan." She said softly, holding him close. "Thank you, Katsuro, for helping us. I agree with Mamo. I approve of you two!" She smiled. "And we'll keep both your secrets till you're ready to tell everyone."

"Thanks you two." Minako said before taking in a deep breath and exhaling. She straightened her sundress out that had become wrinkled then turned to Katsuro, kissing his lips. "Though, I think we should talk to everyone soon, especially with everything we've found out recently." She said, glancing at Usagi and Mamoru, then Katsuro.

"Yeah, I think it would be best to let everyone in on it." He wrapped his arms around Minako, holding her close. He didn't want to admit how scared he was seeing her taken like that. This being a hero thing and fighting with someone he was dating would be harder than he thought. "Well, should we call it here? And maybe regroup later for dinner or something?"

"That sounds like a plan to me." Mamoru stated as Usagi nodded.

"Yeah! Let's not let something like this ruin our day out. We can all go get changed and ready for dinner then! We need more time to talk." She smiled, kissing Mamoru again.

"I do need to actually give Artemis an update on everything too. So going home for a short bit would be a good idea." Minako agreed.

"Then its settled, lets meet back up later, at the park?" Katsuro asked

"Sure." Everyone agreed. They all began to head out of the park as couples, Minako and Katsuro going one way and Usagi and Mamoru another.