"Owwwww." Usagi muttered as she massaged her neck and grimaced. "Damn, those freakazoids really got me!"
"Yep. That's what you get for turning your back on them." Mars muttered behind her as the Sailor Senshi marched into the changing room of the local hotspring.
"Now, now. Don't be that way." Haruka, otherwise known as Sailor Uranus said, sauntering up behind Usagi. "Usagi here took out more of them than any of us. Maybe she got a little careless at the end, but she did a good job."
"Yeah, well, you didn't have to pull that thing off her, did you?" Rei sai idly as she began to remove her clothes. "God, the smell was....ugh."
"Thanks you for your help as well." Ami said to Michiru as they stripped to a pair of light blue bra and panties, each reminiscient of the water they used as their signature attack. "I'm sorry we had to interrupt your concert for this."
"Oh, not at all. We have a duty as Senshi first. I know we tend to keep to ourselves, but the Outer Senshi will always lend a hand when you girls need it. And this really was a situation that needed all of us."
"Yeah. The monsters usually appear one at a time. I've never seen them attack as a huge army like that before. Its a good thing dealing with Galaxia toughened us all up, otherwise I don't think we would have made it." Makoto, also known as Sailor Jupiter, said grimly.
"In the past our enemies have had to gather large amounts of energy from the populous, or else they were looking for a hidden treasure amongst the population to fuel their plans. The only time I recall something on this scale occuring was Nehelenia's return, calling forth those glass mirror servants to attack us on all fronts." Setsuna, Sailor Pluto, noted in her typically cold manner. "Clearly, these demons had entirely different goals."
"What did they want, anyway?" Usagi asked, sliding out of her clothes and craning her neck so that Haruka could work out the tension in her bruise. "Other than being really grabby and gross, they didn't seem to have a plan."
There was a long silence in the changing room as the other senshi glanced as each other and silently stripped out of their clothes.
"Usagi....did you notice the tentacles?" Haruka asked carefully.
"Yeah, they all had them. Why?" Usagi asked.
"Did you notice anything funny about them?" Haruka asked.
"Yeah, the ends looked weird. Why is the important?" Usagi asked.
Rei groaned. "How can an 18 year old be that naive? I mean, you and Mamoru have been going out for a least a few years now. Haven't you ever....or at least seen him changing or something? Don't you know what IT looks like?"
"What what looks like?" Usagi demanded.
Haruka gave a pained sigh. "Usagi, those were....those are demons that feed on lust and sex. They came to this world to feed on those things. Those tentacles are....ahem....there to help them do that."
Usagi paused. "So.....those tentacles were their...."
"Boy parts." Makoto supplied.
"And when they grabbed me they were trying to...."
"Right."
"And this smelly sludge they were covered with was...."
"Right."
Usagi paused, set down her basket full of clothes, picked up her bath supplies, and ran screaming from the changing room.
"GROSS, GROSS, GROSS, GROSS, GROSS, GROSS GROSS!"
The group of girls exchanged glances, then began laughing together.
"Okay. I take it back. If she would have freaked out that badly while we were fighting them, I guess its a good thing she's a little more innocent than the rest of us." Rei said.
"Ignorance is bliss." Haruka agreed. "Although someone might tell our beloved prince to get pick up the pace a little with that girl. Taking it slow is all well and good, but it might not hurt to remind him he's not the only one interested. If he doesn't kick things up a notch, someone might steal her before he knows it."
"Oh?" Michiru asked, a playful smile on her face.
"Hey, what's with that look? You know there's only one woman for me. Sure, its fun to tease and flirt with that little girl, but that's just playing! You know I don't want anyone but you, Michi-chan." The tall blonde girl proclaimed.
"Oh? That's a shame. I was just thinking to myself that the so-called little girl had grown into a young woman as we've known her, and that there were so many things the two of us could teach her....but if you only have eyes for me, I suppose there's nothing to talk about." Michiru said, throwing a towel over her shoulder and walking into the bath with a wiggle of her nude butt.
Haruka blinked, and then blushed tremendously. "Wait....did she just suggest....was she serious? Was she kidding? What was...."
The other Senshi gave her sympathetic looks. Haruka certainly had the edge when it came to teasing Usagi, but Michiru was clearly the master in their own relationship.
The Senshi filed out, each intending to wash away the wounds and stink of battle in a relaxing bath. As the last girl filed out, a disembodied smile filled the empty room. Like something out of a Lewis Carroll story, a sleek cheshire cat slowly materialized on limb at a time. It glanced around the room, its smile growing.
"It was unwise to attack a world with its own guardians, wasn't it?" The Cheshire asked to the empty room. "A little more research would have been worthwhile. I always said the subtle approach was the best one. But then, there are advantages to this situation as well, aren't there? The impatient ones are all dead now. I can't say I'll cry for them- too stupid to do more than rape and devour- no style, no finesse, just a pack of maddened behemoths who met the fate they deserved. Never understanding- there are better ways to get the job done...."
The Cheshire cat moved from basket to basket, where each Senshi had tucked away their shoes, wallets, clothes...and hidden carefully in their belongings, their transformation wands. Purring, the cat rubbed up against each basket in turn. The clothes seemed to dissolve into smoky tendrils of shadow, which the cat swallowed with a satisfied intake of breath. Lastly, the alien feline rubbed against the wand each scout carried, instilling an aura of darkness into each that vanished a moment later. Usagi's brooch was the last to go, resisting the magic the longest. But even the crystal embedded in its core fell to the curse.
"The seeds have been sown, Sailor Senshi. You can kill a thousand lust demons without breaking a stride. But what do you do when you are the instruments of lust? That will be my curse- we shall feast on your shame and the lust you inspire, and we shall sup far more heatily than the quick, pathetic meal my brethren sought."