Story by SinisterMarmalade.

I own neither Sailor Moon or Gundam Wing, nor any other copyrights I may infringe upon.

Duo silently made his way into the mansion he shared with the others, crept up the steps, and snuck towards his bedroom. His heart sank as he noticed Heero was awake and monitoring the Oz base Duo had infiltrated on computer. Still, Duo attempted to sneak stealthily past him.

"Very sloppy," Heero commented, "and you should know better than to try and sneak past a cat."

"Cut me a break Luna-chan," Duo responded. "Besides, I found the Venus scout tonight!"

"Yes, and you were killed by her as well. I don't seem to be the only cat with claws," Heero/Luna mused. "In any case, we are willing to take a chance on you, Nephlite, because you were forgiven and could act with emotions other than hatred."

"I know, BUT IT'S DUO NOW, ASS! In any case urgkk!" Duo shouted and was cut off.

"Fine Duo, but keep in mind a cat has sensitive hearing, and shattering my eardrums tends to make me upset!" Heero snarled with his right hand around Duo's throat. His left hand was poised over Duo's face in a claw-like gesture.

From the doorway behind them, Trowa appeared and started to lift Heero off Duo. "Don't take it too hard, Duo. He does the same thing to me sometimes, and I'm his husband," An amused Trowa whispered. "In any case, there isn't a soul in the house that hasn't heard you, and I believe your old boss is on the way."

"His 'old boss' is HERE!" Wufei responded. Heero and Trowa winced at the shout as the Chinese pilot continued. "As the reincarnation of hope and a Gundam pilot, I could be called on tommorrow to perform any number of duties, for which I need my sleep. Can you tell me why you needed to assert your identity to Heero at such a volume?"

"Well, he called me Nephlite. I've reincarnated, and as a symbol of my new self, I have a different name. Also, the very name Duo Maxwell is a history of my life, commemorating both turning points and people who I cared about. So for future reference, if you get my name wrong again, you'll see my claws!" This last was directed at Heero.

Trowa shook his head and smiled. "We don't just work with you out of necessity, Duo. We are all friends here. Luna-chan, you are listening, hai?" Trowa asked. Heero nodded. "In any case, it is late, and we should all retire to bed."

Heero mumbled an apology and walked off with Trowa. Wufei turned toward his bedroom as well. "Fei-chan, would you stay the night? I won't do anything you don't ask me to," Duo pleaded.

Wufei shook his head. "I have forgiven you for my death two life-times ago, but if you remember, I am straight. Good night, Duo-chan." And with that, he made his way to bed. Trowa and Heero followed, and after a moment, so did Duo.

Mina Kushrinada, however, found sleep harder to come by. After personally seeing Dr. Mizuno home safely, she thought for a long time about the good doctor's strange story and the tape recorder that collaborated it. It was far too strange and rather unsettling. Her logical side stated there must be some solution that would make sense. Perhaps her shot had not hit as true as she had thought. Maybe the boy had passed out, and well trained paramedics as well as a brilliant and well known doctor had simply diagnosed him wrong. When there were three gaping chest wounds that spelled instant fatality. And he was conscious fifteen minutes later, and able to leave under his own power. Leaping through a window and sprinting away, if Dr. Mizuno were to be believed. Okay, so much for logic. Her suspicious side whispered to her of vampires, bionic augmentation or things equally absurd. Vampires didn't exist, and science hadn't really experimented with cybernetics except in the field of medicine. Even if someone had experimented in military cybernetics, it would take decades to make anything remotely useable in the field. She sighed, so much for logic indeed.

Sleep still would not come. She cursed the enigma of that boy. She had killed him, she knew the wound had to be fatal. She had seen people die of less before, and nobody had avoided death that had been so wounded. She knew she should be well rested for school tommorrow, but the question would not let her sleep. Who had she shot, and what was he?

The next morning found her still mentally restless and equally sleepless. When her alarm went off, she sighed, turned off the alarm, rose and dressed. Grabbing a protein shake and cereal bar to eat on the way, she resignedly left for school. After about fifteen minutes of walking, several people ran past her, shrieking and yelling. She froze, instantly alert. 'This can't be good,' she thought to herself as she sprinted ahead and assessed the situation.

Down the street, there loomed a strange fish-like creature with green scaly skin, red orbs for eyes and rows of needle sharp teeth. The arms, back and legs were adorned with fins, and the webbed hands sported nasty talons. Overall, it was around nine feet tall and while it was fairly lean, the fact that it just threw a car at her head suggested it was quite strong. It had just thrown...

"SHIT!" she yelled, jumping out of the way just in time. 'I've got to remember to get more sleep when I'm going to be facing a Roger Corman rip-off!' Mina thought to herself. She knew a pistol would be inadequate, even if she had one with her. Somehow, Mina figured the school would frown on it. Her logical side told her it was a product of her sleepless mind, that maybe she was currently asleep, but just the same, she was not willing to bet her life on it. 'And just my luck, it's charging at me,' she noted. As fleeing seemed to be the sanest course of action, Mina ran behind the nearest building and started zig-zagging around back yards. Suddenly, a tall, bishounen boy dropped down in her path. His brown hair fell over one side of his face, and the other side revealed he had emerald green eyes. She stopped and took a fighting stance. "Who are you?" She demanded.

"I am not your enemy, Mina Kushrinada. You may call me Trowa Barton, but you have known me before as Artemis." He bowed to her gracefully, so Mina relaxed her stance.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know you or any Artemis, fruitcake. Now if you know what that fish thing is or how to beat it, I'm listening," Mina responded.

"That monster is called a youma, and its appearance heralds the return of the Negaverse, just as your rebirth signals a return of hope and a second chance to create the crystal millenium. Although, hope is more like your cousin-in-law. Or he will be, if all goes well. In any case, take this wand and shout "Venus Power Make-up!" Don't ask, you don't have time," Trowa informed her, holding out a weird, sparkley wand.

Mina took the wand and laughed cynically. Okay, this was proof that her imagination had control of her, and she needed a psychiatric session. So complying couldn't hurt. "Venus Power Make-up!" She shouted, and to her utter amazement, she felt indescribable power fill her being, refreshing her body and giving her total confidence. Landing after the spinning transformation, she grinned at the monster who had stopped in its tracks. "You are one ugly son of a bitch, you know that?" she shouted at the monster, "but that's okay, your face is the least of your problems now!"

"Now shout, "Venus Love Me Whip!" Trowa whispered in her ear. She nearly slapped him, but decided to follow along for now. He did seem to know what was going on, in any case.

"Venus Love Me Whip!" Mina shouted, and energy shot from her hand and entangled the surprised fish like monster. Suddenly, a boy ran at the youma from the side with a crackling black-bladed scythe. A familiar, bishounen young man her own age. The boy slashed through the youma, cutting it cleanly in two, and the monster fell to dust. The boy kept running, and disappeared around a corner. "Wait!" Mina shouted and attempted to pursue, but the young man was long gone. She turned to Trowa, but she didn't see him either. Just a note that read, 'shout "detransformation." Mina did as the note suggested, and found herself back to normal. Just then she did a double take at her watch, and sprinted off. She was late again.