Cellblock Z - Captured Again

    "Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" A Senshi in green and gold screeched, "Go Away! Shoo! Find your own hiding place!" 

    She frowned down at the whimpering man hiding behind her. He clung to the back bows of her uniform with a most pitiful teary-eyed look and, for a second, the girl's resolve wavered and she suddenly felt a touch of sympathy for the man. It looked as if this was not one of his better days either. She almost caved into his pleas for sanctuary.

    That is to say, she almost caved. 

    Perhaps, if the castle guard didn't chose that exact moment to come thundering down the halls, screaming for the blue-haired man's blood, she would have let him stay. Instead, the urge to live (and remain free of the dungeon) over ruled any remaining doubt in her mind as she shoved him from behind the tapestry and right into a patrol. 

    "It's YOU!" A man yelled back to his unit, "Hey! I've found him!"

    A squeak of terror managed to escape Yorukai's throat. He turned on his heel was about to tear down the hall when he heard the snickering of that Sailor Senshi. There was a wicked grin on her face as she waved bye-bye to him before ducking behind the tapestry again. She must have been someone that was caught because of Yorukai's earlier actions and was getting revenge now. 

    But, while Yorukai was running past the tapestry, a corner somehow managed to get caught in his clothing, causing it to tumble to the ground in a heap. The Senshi froze and stared back at the patrol with wide green eyes. Further down the hall, Yorukai was taking this chance to find a new place to hide and therefore, oblivious to the girl's predicament. 

    "Uh.... hello?" She smiled weakly.

    "One of the escapees!" A guard grabbed her arms before she had the chance to protest. 

    "H-HEY! What about that other guy?!" She yelled over her shoulder in Yorukai's general direction as she was dragged away. "YOU TRAITOR! I'll get you for this! You just wait and see!"

    Yorukai peeked around the corner and breathed a sigh of relief. They missed him. It was really too bad that he had to sacrifice that girl for his own safety but, hey! She was about to do the same thing to him! 'That's right,' Yorukai said to himself, 'So it's only fair. 'Sides, I know that she's smart enough to keep herself from getting in more trouble.' 

    "Now, I just need to find a safe place to hide until I figure out what to do about Ame-chan's capture." Yorukai smoothed back his hair and frowned in thought. It seemed as if his earlier guesses about the size of this problem were off by quite a bit. This no longer seemed to be the simple task of finding David's brother and getting out since there were so many other people getting captured... not that he would have anything to do about that. 

   Yorukai's thoughts were then interrupted by a loud growl. He quickly covered his stomach with his hands and laughed sheepishly. "I guess that with all that's been going on, I've forgotten to eat!" Yorukai checked up and down the hall before climbing out from the alcove. 

    "Well, I guess it's time for a trip to the kitchen!"  

* * *

    Sailor Epsilon growled as she peeled herself off the floor. Just when she thought that things could not get any worse, they did. It honestly seemed like a good idea at the time to be transferred to a new dungeon that was far, far away from Yorukai. Who would have guessed that the new dungeon would be an ever-changing deathtrap?

    She frowned up at the open hatch in the ceiling, were there were still a couple of stray tennis balls dropping through. After wandering through room after room, and managing to trigger the traps in every one, Epsilon finally got sick of trying to find the pattern and decided to try and blast her way thorough. The walls seemed thin enough that they wouldn't be able to stand up to an attack but, of course, things would not be that easy.

    When Epsilon powered up and released the Crystal Storm, she found herself pelted by multi-coloured tennis balls, released by several high-powered launchers that were hidden within the walls. Apparently, they were put there to discourage people from trying to cheat. Also, to make sure that no one would just try to destroy the machines and move on, the designers installed the launchers on every flat surface in the room. And since the room was nothing more than a giant, empty cube....

    "Damned..." Epsilon swore under her breath as she examined what would soon become a magnificent bruise on her arm. 'At least it will match my uniform,' She thought and examined the room. "I can't believe that I've been trapped in here for several hours already and I still haven't found a way out."  

    Faint voices from below interrupted Epsilon's tirade.

    "....know I heard someone up here!"

    "It could be another trap!" A second female voice protested, "We should stay here!"

    "But the panel around the hatch is green so this room is safe!" The first girl retorted loudly. 

    "How do you knoooow that? It's too dangerous!" The second girl's voice rose into a familiar whine. "I don't waaaannaaa gooo~!" 

    Epsilon paled and jumped back from the hatch in the floor. No. It couldn't be her. It could NOT be her. A bead of sweat slowly rolled down the side of her face as she turned to look for a route of escape. 'Out of all the people to run into...' 

    "Well...hmm." The first girl said, "Then I'll go first and prove that it's safe, okay?"

    "O...okay." 

    A creak from below informed Epsilon that they were getting close to entering the room. She scrambled up the side of a wall in a most undignified manner to grasp the handle of a hatch in the wall and pulled.  But something seemed to be wrong. The hatch wouldn't open! Epsilon panicked as the girls' voices got louder and more distinct. 

    "So when I count to three, we'll push the door open and go in." 

    "Right..." The second girl sniffed. 

    "One."

    'I have to get out of this room!' Epsilon grit her teeth and forced the handle to turn. 'I can't let her see me!' 

     "Two..." The door creaked as they braced themselves below. 

    A brief surge of hope filled Epsilon as she head the last bolt side into place and  released the door's locks. 'Come ON! OPEN! OPEN!'  She threw her full weight against creaking and groaning hinges. 'You HAVE to open!'

        "THREE!" 

    Epsilon spared the time for one final look over her shoulder, just in time to watch the floor hatch bang open  before diving through the door into the next room. She slammed the door behind her just as a girl emerged from the room below. An aqua-haired girl in a maroon fuku turned to help a girl with large white wings climb into the room and, therefore, missed Epsilon's exit.  

    Unfortunately, in her haste, Epsilon forgot to check the colour on the door...

    "AAAGGGGHH!" 

    Silverstar yelped and almost managed to fall back into the other room before she was stopped by Sailor Virtue. Virtue tried to calm down her friend but her words were drowned out by a rather large, if somewhat muffled, explosion in the next room. They stared at the east wall as the trap sensor beeped cheerfully as it changed from red to green. 

    "................." 

* * *

    Chefs and their assistants rushed back and forth as they frantically tried to salvage the remains of what was once a magnificent dinner for the nobles. They couldn't figure out what happened to all of the dishes they were preparing. First, entire spice jars went missing, only to turn up later on with their contents emptied into the nearest batch of sauce, creating a most unsalvageable brownish goo. When the chefs tried to create a new sauce to go with the meal, they found whole unpeeled oranges floating in the pot, right next to the bananas that, after being fished out and put aside, somehow found their way into oven to destroy the roast in a most spectacular explosion. And as if this wasn't bad enough, the green salad somehow managed to catch fire! 

    Everyone was about ready to declare that this was the work of a kitchen ghost and that it would be foolish to try and work in the same space as the vengeful spirit. It was then that someone had spotted one of the new assistants stirring some bitter melon and jalapeno peppers into the mashed potatoes. At first nothing seemed strange since, as an assistant, he was allowed to add to the dishes. But... something seemed strange. The chef noticed that this assistant looked awfully familiar, especially the long braid sticking out of the man's hat. 

    Wasn't a warning issued about a braided prisoner that broke out of the dungeon...? 

    "I know that guy has to be around here somewhere!" A cook yelled as he stopped next to the cupboard. "That jerk couldn't just disappear! Find him!" The cook stalked past and was, fortunately, unaware of the pantry door that was closing itself.

        "Maaaan~ that was too close." Yorukai sighed and pressed his back against the wall. "Everywhere I turn, more and more guards appear! What do they do, grow them?" He crossed his arms and frowned. "And why do they need to be so hostile? I mean, all I did was make their dishes more interesting! Geez... talk about touchy."

    Deeply engrossed in his thoughts, Yorukai didn't notice the presence of another individual in the cupboard until he started screaming for the guard. By the time Yorukai noticed, it was too late and the guard were already in the kitchen, getting directions from the one that spotted him.

    'Oh no.. this is bad!' Yorukai sweat nervously. 'There's no way out of this place! I've got to find a way to throw them off my track! But how? There's nothing in here to work with!'

    "Yeah, right in there! That's the guy that you told us about!"

    "Are you sure about this?" A gruff voice asked.

    "Absolutely!"

    Yorukai panicked and pat himself down. 'There's got to be something here! There HAS to be!' Just then, his hands fell upon his transformation crystal. 'This is...' He hesitated, casting a frantic glance over his shoulder to the door. They were getting closer. 'I have no choice! I hope this won't burn me in the end...' Yorukai took and deep breath to steady his nerves before awakening the blood crystal's strength. 

    "That's right!" A young voice called out, "That braided trouble-maker is in here!"

    "Well," The guard hesitated. "I'll take it from here. Please stand back everyone."

    The door slammed open. Everyone froze.

    A surly looking young man in black leather frowned at them through a curtain of tousled midnight-blue hair. There were only a few accents of colour upon this stranger. A strip of cloth tied around his forehead and a crystal shard hanging around his neck. Both were as red as blood. In the gloom, those pale eyes seemed to be lit from within by the same unearthly light that occupied the blade of his scythe. 

    "Who...who are you?" The chef demanded, puffing himself up. "What did you do to that guy that was just here? Hmm? Answer!"

    "Now you'd better leave the questioning to us." The guard interrupted and cleared his throat. "So, mister, where was the young man that several people saw enter this pantry?"

    Shinigami just stared at him.

    It looked as if the guard was going to repeat his question when Shinigami smiled darkly and said nothing. The scythe scraped across the stones as it was lifted, leaving a faint chalk-white line behind. The dark brown boots made no sound as he brushed past the stunned guard and strode out of the kitchen.

    'Aiyaaaaah~~~~! Too close!' Shinigami plastered himself against a wall and clutched his chest. 'That was way too close. They almost got me! That goodness they let me through without a fight!' He took a deep breath and looked around. Empty.

     "Good. Now maybe I can find out what's going on here." And with that thought firmly in mind, Shinigami turned to begin his search.
 

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