"What's your name?"
"Sailor Moon."
"That's a stupid name. Give me something else to call you."
"Serenity."
"NO!" Eriko screamed. She tried to run to where they were, to stop the imposter, but she couldn't move. They didn't seem to hear her. Instead, she watched as they slowly leaned in together and kissed. The kiss broke the spell holding her still. She ran to them. As she approached them, they broke apart and turned to face her. Surprised, Eriko stopped in her tracks, looking up at them. They seemed larger than life. "Imposter!" she hissed.
Sailor Moon nodded to Tuxedo Mask, who in turn responded. He stepped forward. "Good-bye, Usagi." Before she knew what was happening, Eriko saw him pull a rose out of the inner breast pocket of his jacket and throw it right at her.
* * *
"Auuuugh," Zoicite cried out in agony as he lay curled up tightly in fetal position on Kunzite's loveseat. His teeth were chattering, and his eyes were focused on the distant imaginary object that had put him into this state. Kunzite stood over his love, worried. He didn't know what had happened to Zoicite, but whatever it was, he suspected that that girl in the Sailor fuku and the masked man were responsible.
"Is he still like that?" a voice enquired as it entered Kunzite's chambers via the portal.
"Nephlite," Kunzite turned to face his soldier. "Yes. He's still in shock."
"Well, General," Nephlite addressed his superior as he bowed, "I suspect that you summoned me for reasons other than to share Zoicite's condition. How may I be of service?"
"Since Zoicite is in this condition, he will probably need to be reconditioned. It will be a lengthy process. In the meanwhile, it will be up to you to destroy that girl and boy."
Nephlite smiled evilly. "As you wish, my lord." After bowing, he teleported to a new location.
* * *
Why did I tell him to call me Usagi? Eriko wondered to herself for the hundredth time. For the last two weeks, she kept kicking herself about it. She had to admit that it was rather unoriginal. She shifted ever so slightly in bed. She cringed at the groan that her loft made. She didn't want to wake Lily. Then again, Eriko reminded herself, when she screamed at the end of that nightmare, Lily didn't seem to wake up. Eriko sighed; what was wrong with her? She turned over in bed and gasped sharply in surprise as something popped up in front of her.
"Chill!" Lily tried to calm Eriko. "Just me. Sorry. You okay? You were moaning in your sleep again…"
"I didn't wake you, did I?" Eriko rushed. "I mean, if I did, I'm really sorry! I don't know-"
"No," Lily interjected. "It's okay. I'm just worried about you." She brushed her hand against Eriko's forehead. "Something is up. Wanna tell me what's bugging you?"
Eriko took a deep breath. After a moment hesitation, she replied, "Thanks for your concern. I don't know what exactly is up, but I promise that when I figure it out, I'll let you know." She smiled broadly at her best friend and roommate.
Lily looked uneasy. "Um, okay. You're welcome. Well, I guess we'd better - good God! We're late!" she interrupted herself.
"Late?" Eriko asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes. "For what?"
"We need to get dressed and whatnot in the next 20ish minutes!" Lily cried over her shoulder as she tore off her pajamas and put on her bathrobe.
"Why?"
"Quinn and that new friend of hers are coming by. We're supposed to go out for lunch, remember?" Lily called over her shoulder as she strode out the door, shower caddy and towel in hand, towards the bathroom.
"Oh yeah." Eriko just sat in bed and sighed. After sitting there for another moment in the still darkened, quiet room, she patted her pillow forlornly before moving toward the ladder of her loft. She was surprised when she felt her hand hit something hard. She reached under her pillow and pulled out what laid underneath.
Looking down at the palm-sized communicator in her hand, Eriko remembered her last encounter with the psychotic cat…
"I'm glad to see that you've come to your sense."
"That's 'come to your senses.' And I have no choice, Luna. No one else
can do this job."
"No, there are others who are far more qualified than a mere human like
you. But, after all, I suppose that they're too busy with their own affairs
than to try to save a planet full of a bunch of silly people like you."
Eriko smiled as she remembered the cat's shocked expression. She'd cherish it and the few moments of silence that followed it as the cat struggled to think of some comeback.
"Look, Sailor Moon. I don't want to be here. You know that, I know
it, even my queen knows it. But I will serve her and her wishes to the
best of my ability. To that end, whenever I need to see you, you
must make yourself available for her majesty and the service that she
requires of you. Here." The cat jumped up into an arc and spun
around. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a small object appeared and fell to the
ground. Eriko reached down to pick it up. The cat landed on all four
legs and swatted at her hand before she could reach it.
"Hey!"
"It's a communicator."
"Oh really?" Eriko responded sarcastically.
"Before you take it," Luna explained, "understand that this will seal our
agreement. You can
Eriko looked down at the communicator in her hand. She sighed heavily, once again bemoaning her fate and her lack of a choice. "Ah well," she muttered to herself, slipping the communicator into her pocket. "Time to get on with life."
* * *
Quinn glanced at her watch. Tapping her fingers lightly against the table, she turned to her companion. "They should be here soon. You okay? You haven't said much."
Annie smiled weakly. "I'm just a little nervous to meet your friends. Especially with everything that happened before…"
Quinn, smiling broadly, reassured her, "Don't worry. That was all bunk anywayz. 'Sides, Lily and Eriko aren't like most of the others. And speaking of the devil…" Quinn nodded her head towards the entrance of Musashi, "here they come."
Within seconds, the quietness of the restaurant was interrupted with the sounds of the opening and closing door and of Lily and Eriko's voices as they continued their conversation.
"-was nothing Lily. Just a silly dream."
"The fiftieth one this week!"
"Hardly."
"Although I suppose it'd be interesting to have fifty dreams within a week, ne, A-ni-chan," Quinn interjected, successfully breaking up the conversation. "Heya Lily, Eriko. This is my friend Ann."
"Ooh!" Lily squealed, making everyone jump. "I know you! We're in History 25 together, right?"
"Um… you sit next to that guy who always wears that hood?" Ann ventured.
"Yeah!" Lily had a huge grin on her face. "I knew that I knew you!"
"Hi. My name is Maxfield. I'll be your waiter today." Maxfield pulled out several sushi order sheets and pencils from his tip belt. "What would you ladies like to drink?" He pulled a little pad out of his back pocket. "Let's start with… you." He halfheartedly pointed the eraser of his pencil in Ann's direction and winked at her.
"Water."
"Sweet tea."
"Sweet tea."
"Sake."
"What?!?" Lily cried out in surprise.
"Just kidding," Eriko said sheepishly, avoiding eye contact with everyone by deliberately unfolding her napkin. "I'll have a sweet tea."
"Okay, I'll be right back with those-" Maxfield stopped abruptly as the sound of breaking china interrupted him. "Um, I'll be back soon." He rushed off to the kitchen.
The girls resumed their conversation as Eriko watched their waiter run to the back of the restaurant. Through the bus window she caught glimpses of the man being berated. They were too far away for her to hear him, but Eriko could see Maxfield yelling at the other worker for breaking the dishes. As Eriko looked at the poor man, she couldn't help feeling that there was something familiar about the defiant stance he took as the head waiter was probably informing him that the cost of the plates would come out of his paycheck…
* * *
Nephlite cringed. He was all too happy to take over this sorry excuse for a planet. He wasn't sure how much longer he would be able to stay put and listen to this yelling. But he was near a great vessel of energy. He could tell that much. Just a little more patience, that was all it would take. Nephlite stole a glance at the table across the room. One of those four girl, he determined. All he would need to do is get close to one of them, and then he would be able to tap an unlimited amount of energy.
He looked down at the flyer that he had had just printed up for the purpose of luring his human battery. The guise of a frat party and a free open bar would be sure to lure his prey. Still… Nephlite vaguely remembered reading something off of the database about these girls… something that might make them not so eager to go to a frat party… Nephlite decided to call back to the base just to make sure that his plan would work. Using his communicator, cleverly disguised as a cell phone, he called Kuntzite and explained his plan. "But somehow," Nephlite concluded, "I have this feeling that it might not lure them."
"Well, it won't work."
Slightly stunned by his abruptness, Nephlite recoiled for a moment before his asked, "But why?"
"They don't like fraternity parties."
"Oh."
Kuntzite was getting slightly annoyed. This phone call was distracting him from making the gross number of pink roses that he had arranged in 12 vases with 12 roses each. He snapped at his soldier, "All this information is on the database! Did you not bother to read up on it??"
Nephlite winced slightly as the yelling on the cell phone coincided with that in the kitchen. "Well, um, yes, that is to say…" He trailed off. Changing subjects, he asked, "So what would be a good alternative to getting a large body of people together?"
Kuntzite let out an exasperated sigh. With a wave of his hand, he summoned a console to the database to float in the air before him. "Hold on," he muttered. The sooner he finished this, the sooner he could return to his flower arranging. "Okay, how about this. The last summer they all used to go clubbing at this techno place after their anime meetings. But wait…" he searched a little deeper. "No, they've stopped going since the school year started. Also, the place they used to go to has since gone out of business."
"Okay." Nephlite thought for a second. "Well, why don't we just crash an anime meeting?"
"And reveal ourselves prematurely? It's too much of a risk. No, we need something else." Kuntzite searched for a minute longer. "AHA!" he shouted loudly in rejoice, causing Nephlite to quickly pull the phone away from his ear and every person in Musashi to turn and look at him. Nephlite looked up and saw the manager of the restaurant glaring at him.
"Found something? Good. You need to hurry. I can't talk much longer," Nephlite said in a hurried whisper.
Kuntzite twirled a rose between his thumb and forefinger. "Yeah. There was this dance last year that they all went to. You could just rename your 'frat party,' and then we'll be in business…"
* * *
Quinn popped the last bit of her unagi roll into her mouth with her chopsticks. Lily looked impressed. "Wow… I can't believe you ate it all."
After chewing and swallowing her food, Quinn gave an incredulous grin. "I can't believe it either."
As the girls laughed and chatted, Eriko still remained slightly distracted. She couldn't take her eyes off of the boy working in the kitchen. He'd ducted out of sight for a few minutes, but now that she could see him again, Eriko couldn't take her eyes off of him. She wracked her brain, trying to figure where she had seen him before…
"Earth to Eriko." Lily waved her hand in front of her roommate, startling her out of her daze. "Whatcha lookin' at…" Lily turned to look from Eriko's perspective.
"Ooooh," Ann's eyes lit up. "He's cute. You should go ask him out."
Eriko nearly choked on the sip of ice tea she had just taken. She sputtered, "What?? I'm just looking. No interest in him… really!"
"But he is such a pretty boy. I don't blame you for looking," Lily cooed. "What a bishounen!"
"Which one?" Quinn asked. "The one sitting down or the one in the kitchen?"
Eriko looked at the brown-haired man sitting at the table directly below the kitchen window. "Oh, I didn't even notice the man in the kitchen," she heard Lily say. The man sitting down was a few years older than the guy in the kitchen; that much was obvious. Eriko found herself having a hard time determining his age. She watched as he put something away in a bag and pull out a piece of paper. Curious, she wanted to see his face. After a few seconds, her curiosity passed, and her gaze fell on the man in the kitchen once more. Eriko immediately became lost in her thoughts, trying to remember anything about that face besides what she had noticed in the last hour. Her reverie was interrupted when Lily elbowed her in the arm, whispering excitedly, "He's coming this way!!"
Eriko glanced up to see the clearest brown eyes gazing back at her. Not even a fleck of darker coloring existed in those light brown eyes, making this man's eye look almost unrealistic. Centered between his eyes began a perfectly shaped roman nose. "Hello," he said, his voice deep and resonating. Eriko thought it was the type of voice that would melt most women into soggy puddles. As she glanced around the table, she realized that her assumption was partially true.
"Um, hi," Lily ventured.
"I saw you girls looking over in my direction," Eriko felt herself flush slightly, "and I was wondering if you'd like to join me for a gathering I'm having next weekend." He pulled out the sheet of paper that Eriko had noticed earlier.
"The Pikachu Boogaloo II," Ann read outloud.
"Ooh!" Quinn exclaimed. "Remember the last time? That was coolsomes! I wonder if we can get Koj to drink with us before the party again…"
"Well," the brown-haired man explained, "this is going to be more of a private party. It's going to be held at the castle, not in a dance club."
"Ghimgoul castle?" Lily said incredulously. "I've always wanted to look around there! I hear that there's ghosts."
"Well, you're all more than welcome to join the party. And please, do invite all of your friends. There'll be a free open bar."
"Wait," Ann cut in. "What's the catch? Is there like a $15 cover charge or something?"
The man laughed. "No, of course not. However, donations will be accepted. And since this is a private party," he leaned in closer to the table, "we won't need to be doing any carding, will we?" He winked at Eriko, who in turn looked a bit flustered. He stood up straight again. "So, please invite all of your friends. I plan on extending an invitation to any other people who might be interested in anime in general-"
"Oh! We can spread the word to the local anime group!" Lily volunteered.
The man smiled broadly. "Great. Then I'll see you at the castle next Friday at 9 o'clock."
* * *
"Why am I going to this party?" Eriko complained out loud. "This week was hell. I should be sleeping instead."
"I don't know," Luna responded. "You should be working on finding the Generals, not going off and partying all night."
"Oh yeah," Eriko reminded herself. This is why I need to go the party. At least Luna won't dare to speak with all those other people around. At last, some peace and quiet!
"I heard that," Luna responded curtly.
Eriko screamed. "Get out of my head! Can't I even have a moment of peace!" Eriko was about to stop long enough to kick the cat out of her way, but thought better of it as she saw two people walking up the hill towards her. She glared at the black cat for another second before she redoubled her steps up the steep hill. "Anyway, I'm going to go the party. There was something about that man…"
"You mean the brown-haired one?" Lily asked, walking up behind Eriko, causing the girl to jump slightly. "By the way, who're you talking to?"
"Um, just to myself," Eriko said, looking embarrassed. She quickly glanced around, but the lunar cat was nowhere in sight. "I thought you'd already be in the room by now."
"Nah, I had to look up some books for a project first," Lily explained, as the girls raced down the hill towards their dorm.
"Ah. Well, we'd better hurry. I think Ann said that she'd be coming by the room at 8ish so we could get some dinner first."
"Okee," Lily replied nonchalantly. "So what's up with the host of this party? Getting any strange vibes from him?"
Eriko laughed at her joke. She glanced over at Lily's face and saw the seriousness in her face, however, and quickly stopped laughing. "Um, no. It's just that we don't know anything about him… including his name."
"Yeah," Lily agreed. "That's been bothering me too…"
* * *
Georgia looked up and saw her escape. Struggling through the door passed a sea of people entered Ann, Lily, and Eriko. "Excuse me," she said curtly to her boyfriend, Stefan, before she started to make her way through the crowd to Eriko.
"Hey guys!" she cried out to them. With all the noise, only the person closest to Georgia heard her salutation.
"Hey Georgia," Eriko responded. "How's it going?"
"It's going. Did Quinn come with you guys?"
"No, she's going to be a bit late, as per usual," Eriko laughed. "Actually, I think she's hanging out with Aimee and company."
"Oh." Georgia looked disappointed and slightly distressed.
"Um, is anything wrong?" Eriko asked.
"Yeah… I was hoping I could talk to her about Stephan and… " Georgia trailed off.
"Here." Eriko placed her hand on Georgia's shoulder and steered her toward a quiet corner of the room. "Why don't we talk?"
* * *
Stephan slouched against the wall. He brightened slightly as he watched Eriko lead Georgia off towards the corner near the bathroom. He picked himself up, and was about to join them so he could flirt innocently with Eriko when he felt a man's hand clap down on his shoulder.
"Enjoying the party?" a brown-haired bishounen asked him.
"Yeah, yeah," Stephan tried to wave the man away. "It's great. My compliments to the host." He tried to step away, but the older man's hand was still firmly planted on his shoulder.
"I'm glad you're enjoying my little gala," the man said, as he flipped a lock of hair over his shoulder. He looked down at Stephan with his clear brown eyes, scrutinizing him. Stephan felt himself involuntarily shrink back against the wall.
"This is your gathering?" he said meekly. He needed to do something fast to compliment the guy. He didn't want to get thrown out. "This is really incredible. Really."
"Thanks," the man said flippantly. "You seem to be distressed about something. Mind telling me what?"
Stephan shifted uneasily. "Heh, just a little prob with the girlfriend. I'm sure you know how it is," he said, trying to act all buddy-buddy.
"Yeah. I'm sure," he responded. The man's gaze continued to bear down on Stephan. He felt his resolve weakening.
"Well, you know, I should probably go and t-try to talk to her-" Stephan stuttered. He stepped to the side, trying to get passed his host. While successful at walking around the older man, Stephan failed to avoid Carma. In the next instant he was deafen by her shrill squeal and was drenched in her sticky, sweet drink. Stephan dropped down to the ground in pain. "Augh," he screamed. "My ears!"
The host knelt down to his drenched guest. He pulled out a handkerchief from his breast pocket. Handing it over to Stephan, he said, "Here. Wipe off your face. I'll let you use my private bathroom to wash up." The dark-haired host led Stephan away from the party and up the stairs to clean up.
* * *
"…and so," Georgia concluded, hardly even noticing Stephan's disappearance from the party, "it seems as if we never see each other! I mean, the only reason he came by this weekend was because I threatened to break up with him if he didn't see me at least once this month! We didn't even see each other at Thanksgiving, because he was in Florida on a band trip!"
"Well, maybe things will still work out," Eriko offered. "I mean, he is here now, isn't he?"
"Yes," Georgia conceded. "But…"
"But what?"
"Well, it's just that whenever we do get to spend time together, I can only tolerate for about a day at most. He just gets to be so annoying at times."
Eriko laughed. "Yeah, maybe breaking up would be a good-"
"Hi everybody," Noland called from the doorstep, waiving his free hand to everyone in the party. In his other hand he clutched a chai.
"Hey," Georgia responded. She and Eriko stopped their conversation and walked along the wall towards him. "How's it going?"
He just grinned and shrugged. "I just came by to see how things were going."
"Cool," Eriko responded. There was a moment when the three said nothing at all.
"Okay," Noland interrupted their silence. "I guess I should get going. I need to go download some more anime to my computer. Bye."
Before Georgia and Eriko could object, Noland turn around and left the party.
The girls laughed. "Isn't that just like Noland," Eriko mused.
"No, actually, he just seems to be doing that more and more lately," Georgia commented. "I think he has a new game and…"
Eriko became distracted as she glanced around herself and caught sight of the black-haired boy from Musashi. She watched him as he crossed the room, making his way to the bar.
"Hey, Eriko?" Georgia tapped her arm. "Are you listening?"
"Hmm?" Eriko remained in her daze. "Um, will you excuse me Georgia…?"
Eriko felt her feet pulling her towards this mysterious boy who had so captivated her.
* * *
Lily looked around to see where Eriko was. She was getting worried about her roommate. The older girl's change in mood over the last several weeks had not gone unnoticed. Lily was relieved to see Eriko talking to Georgia. But then suddenly she wasn't. Now Eriko was walking across the room to the bar. Lily held her breath. She didn't want her roommate to start drinking. Eriko was already becoming more and more depressed. There was a terrible burden weighing down on the twenty-year-old's shoulders. The last thing she needed was alcohol to increase the depression.
Lily quickly excused herself from the crowd she was speaking with, and started to make her way towards the bar, when she heard the sound of glass breaking above her. Not looking, not even thinking, Lily threw herself away from the center of the room as shards of glass from the skylight overhead crashed to the ground. As Lily rolled to safety, she heard dozens of people scream in pain and alarm. She looked for Eriko first. She was relieved to see her standing up straight, looking at the center of the room with a bit of surprise and something darker. Lily slowly turned to face the center of the room. She stifled a scream as she saw the monster standing on the center coffee table.
The monster was dressed in tight black pants and an equally tight shirt, all in zebra-print. The outfit shimmered as if it had a plastic coating. The blue sunglasses that covered his eyes matched the blue of his spiked hair and lips. For a moment, Lily couldn't figure out if the being in front of him was really a monster or just a really badly dressed man. All doubt was dispelled, however, as he screamed, "Oooh! All the pretty ladies! Come! Let Daemon Jailbait give you a kiss!" With that he jumped across the room, planting his first kiss on Carma, who hadn't yet stopped screaming. As he pulled away from kissing her cheek, he muttered, "No need to scream over me, baby." Carma slowly fell to the floor in a heap, a set of blue lips glowing on her cheek. Lily watched in horror as she saw the energy drained from her friend.
"Well, the affections of one girl are never enough!" the Daemon exclaimed gaily. "Let's see… how about you next, my love," he pointed to Georgia, "and then your friends next." The monster jumped across the room to the next target.
After quickly planting a kiss on Georgia's lips, Lily sat, frozen, on the ground. She had to get away, a voice screamed in her head, but she couldn't move. To her horror, she saw the monster jump from one girl to the next. He bounced off of the walls and headed directly for her…
Lily squeezed her eyes shut as the monster was about to fall on her. Her eyes flew open, however, as she heard a dull thud and felt a lack of weight pressing upon her. She looked up and saw Eriko standing in front of her, a now-dented silver platter separating Daemon Jailbait's lips and Eriko's face. Eriko quickly pushed the monster away, so he lay sprawled on the floor. In the moment that the monster was distracted, Lily felt Eriko grab her as they both rolled under the white tablecloth of the table upon which the platter had just rested.
"You okay?" Eriko whispered breathlessly.
Lily nodded. She strained her ears to hear if the monster would approach once again. For the moment, the commotion out from the sanctity of the tablecloth was great enough that they would remain undetected. Lily heard the sliding glass doors behind them open, and multitudes of people exiting the room.
"It'd be nice if some of those guys would bother to fight that daemon," Eriko grumbled. "It's not like they're going to get kissed or anything."
"What makes you say that?" Lily asked.
"Um, just a hunch."
Lily hesitated. "We don't have much of a chance like this, do we?"
Eriko held her breath. "No, we don't."
"So we'll need some help, right?" Eriko nodded. "So why don't you call Sailor Moon?"
Eriko looked up in surprise. Did she just hear Lily straight, or was that Luna's voice in her head again? "What did you just say??" Eriko asked incredulously.
Lily grabbed Eriko's hand. "We need Sailor Moon! Please! You've got to stop this!"
Eriko sat there, stunned for an instant. She looked down at her hands. Lily waited patiently. She whispered to her friend, "This can't be easy, hon. I mean, I've seen the changes in you since Sailor Moon first appeared… but you're the only one who can help. We really need you."
Eriko just stared at her hands. Time was running out. Lily opened her mouth to plead again when Eriko whispered:
"Okay."
* (* *
Tuxedo Mask stood at the front door. He was waiting for the Daemon to attack him. In the meanwhile, he watched the monster attack the other girl's with his kisses. He needed to be able to predict how the monster would move before he could attack. He was just about to call the monster to get his attention when he heard a female voice beating him to the task.
"You know," Sailor Moon called out, "you'd think that after I'd already beaten you guys TWICE without so much as breaking a sweat, that you'd figure out that these type of parties don't work."
Daemon Jailbait gushed, "Wow! What a babe!" and lunged at the Senshi.
Sailor Moon jumped out of the Daemon's way, sending him crashing into a vase. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lily slip out from under the table and out the back door. Sailor Moon lifted up her scepter, pointing it straight up into the air so that all the room would be affected. "MOON HEALING ACTIVATION!" In a few seconds, many unconscious, but healed bodies, lay around the room. Sailor Moon was about to leave, when she heard someone clapping. She spun around.
"Tuxedo Mask," Sailor Moon cooed, mockingly, "to what do I owe this honor?"
"Nice work, Usagi." He stepped out of the doorway towards the Senshi. "Usagi. I still don't like that name."
"So you pick one," Sailor Moon said nonchalantly, brushing an invisible speck of dust off of her skirt.
"Hmm…" he mused. "How about Usa? Or better yet, Usako. For that 'cute, little girl, Usa.'"
"Do you need something, Tux?" Usagi asked gruffly. "Because, as you can see, I've already fixed the attacker situation. You're a little late this time."
Tuxedo Mask looked slightly upset. "This time, maybe. But next time, I'll get there first and-"
"And what?" Sailor Moon challenged. "You'll get captured? You'll get your mask taken away from you? I'm sorry, but, in all honesty, this job isn't very hard. And I can do it on my own. It doesn't exactly take rocket science to do this. I can handle it."
"Look," Tuxedo Mask said, crossing the room in three bounds to Usagi's side. "This is my planet. As its protector, it's my job to-"
"To what?" Usagi refused to back down. "To get killed?! I don't think so. I'll handle these Generals. I mean, you lost control of them, right? I'll fix this problem. I don't need you. Go home." Angry, Usagi pushed the masked man aside, into the bar. It was then that she realized that other mysterious man was missing. As she pondered this new revelation, she saw Tuxedo Mask pick himself up, like a wounded animal, and walk out the sliding door.
Sailor Moon let out a long sigh. She hadn't meant to be so harsh, but everything she said was true. Besides, the masked man was far too violent for her own tastes. She kept running all the explanations, all the justifications for sending him away through her head. To her surprise, Sailor Moon realized that the drop of what appeared to be water that had fallen onto her raised glove was actually a tear. She sighed heavily and prepared to leave when she heard a male voice followed by a slight rush of wind, "Ouch, that was cold."
Sailor Moon tried to turn around, but she couldn't move. Her assailant had one arm wrapped tightly around her, the other hand clapped over her mouth, stifling her screams. Despite her enhanced strength and agility, Sailor Moon realized that she couldn't get out. Suddenly, it dawned on her: she had just met the third General.
* * *
The General teleported himself and Sailor Moon to the roof of the castle. "Calm down," he whispered in a deep voice into her ear. "This will all be over soon enough. There's no one around anyway. You might as well stop your screaming." The General slowly removed his hand from Sailor Moon's mouth.
"General Nephlite, I presume," Sailor Moon said darkly, using a grim tone to mask how scared she was. "What do you want with me?"
"What else, my dear? Your energy. You're by far the brightest star in this sea of people. And now," he rummaged through a pocket, eventually brandishing a dark crystal, "I'll be taking you back with me to help energize our operations."
"I don't think so," she responded. Sailor Moon hoped that she hadn't sent him away too quickly and screamed at the top of her lungs.
"SHUT UP!" Nephlite screamed back, clapping his hand over her mouth again, the dark crystal wedged between his ring finger and pinkie. "Looks like I'll have to calm you down."
Sailor Moon's eyes grew wide in horror as the crystal started to glow faintly. At first she felt nothing, but then, slowly, she felt her resolve, her fighting power, decreasing. NO! her mind screamed. Luna! Where are you?? Someone??
As Nephlite felt her body go limp, he removed his hand from her mouth. He shifted her in his arms, lifting her off of the ground. He stepped to the end of the roof. "Soon, my dear, we'll be back at home. Just a little bit more…"
Sailor Moon could barely keep her eyes open. "No," she murmured, sounding sleepy. "I can't, won't let you… I…"
"You are mine now," he explained to her. He leaned down to kiss her forehead.
"AUGH!" Nephlite screamed in surprise and pain, dropping the load in his arms, Sailor Moon and crystal, off the edge of the roof as he grabbed his wounded arm. "NOOO!" he screamed as watched them fall. His job was to retrieve the Senshi, not kill her. Partially to his relief, he watched the quickly moving shadow, which he attributed to the masked man, catch the Senshi and, more unfortunately, the dark crystal as well. Nephlite watched them for another instant before they disappeared completely.
With a heavy sigh, he tended his wounded arm. He saw that the thorned red rose was still sticking out of his arm, but that it was nonetheless imbedded at least a few inches into the arm. Nephlite realized that he had just lost.
* * *
For the first time, he noticed how pretty she was. Usually, Tux was too busy fighting, either with her or beside her, to notice. But now that she lay there, unconscious, seemingly asleep… More than her beauty, however, he realized how familiar she seemed. As he stood there, on the threshold of the nearby church, Tuxedo Mask was overwhelmed by that sense of familiarity. He leaned over and kissed her forehead. He raised his hand, lifting the mask off of his face. He felt his arm slowly lowering the mask to Sailor Moon's face…
"What would the Moon Princess think if she were to see this?" a shrill voice demanded,
Tuxedo Mask looked up in surprise. "Luna! We were doing nothing." He quickly replaced the mask onto his own face.
"Nothing?" the feline challenged. "Like how you did 'nothing' but disobey her majesty's orders by coming to Earth, or the 'nothing' of how intimate you and Her Majesty's minion seem?"
Tuxedo Mask couldn't answer. He just looked down at the crystal in his hand. He gently lowered the Senshi to the ground. He stood tall, and walked over to the cat. "Here," he responded gruffly, tossing the dark crystal to the cat, who caught it midair with her teeth. "That crystal holds all of Sailor Moon's energy. I couldn't get to Nephlite fast enough to stop him."
"You couldn't get there fast enough, or where you just there looking at him attack her, like the last time?"
Tuxedo Mask ignored the last comment. "I don't know how to transfer the energy back, so you'll have a job ahead of you."
Luna, walking back to the fallen soldier, heard the masked man's footsteps as he walked away. She dropped the crystal on top of the sleeping soldier's folded hands. "Wait!" Luna called back to him. "Where's her scepter?"
Tuxedo Mask shrugged. "I guess she must have dropped it at the castle." He hesitated for a moment. "Luna, look out for Usako for me."
Luna turned around to respond, but was greeted by a deserted walkway.