Yay, the third chapter. This one might not be as polished as the others because I ran out of prewritten stuff two thirds of the way through the last. This means that updates might take a little longer, but I will continue to try to get one up a day.

On another note, this one really begins to depart from cannon. I know that TK did not get the first jewel, but I was bored with the mystery of Mamoru's headaches; I read somewhere that it was the crystal that made him able to remember his time as tuxedo kamen, I don't know how accurate this is, but I think that it works well into the story. There are other inconsistencies with cannon, but this is an alternate universe so I get to do that.

Thank you to my reviewers, I really appreciate your feedback.

Jed was sitting on the couch when Mamoru stumbled through the door. He looked as though he had taken a thorough beating. Jed jumped up and rushed to his side.

"You look like hell."

Mamoru winced but didn't answer. Perhaps he hoped that Jed would drop it, but, if he did, he really did not know Jed. "What happened to you?"

Glaring alternately between the floor and his nosey roommate, he muttered, "I don't really know."

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

"I said I don't know, okay?" Mamoru shouted.

Frowning at Mamoru, Jed lead him to the couch. "I don't suppose you remember how to heal yourself?"

The pain was making Mamoru irritable, "If I knew that, do you think I would have walked home in this condition?"

"Right. Do you have a first aid kit?"

"In the bathroom."

Jed glared at himself in the mirror while he gathered the kit. Some guard he was turning out to be. Mamoru had been beaten while he was in a weakened state, they should have stayed with him. Jed didn't mind when beating were deserved, but Mamoru had been distracted by an illness, how could he have possibly gotten somebody to that level of anger?

Returning to the living room, Jed efficiently cleaned and wrapped Mamoru's cuts, which were surprisingly few. Studying the bruises on him, Jed remarked, "I take it you still heal quite fast."

Mamoru sighed, "How do you know that?"

"These bruises, they look weeks old, rather than a couple hours, and since you were not bruised when we left you, I assumed that these were what you got from your fight. So, who were you fighting?"

Mamoru just turned away.

"Come on, you can tell me. Although if it is underground fighting rings, I am afraid as your guard, I'll have to forbid that."

Scowling, Mamoru didn't answer.

Jed sighed theatrically, "Alright. But when you are ready to talk, I should be interested to know why when we left you, you were sick and when I saw you next you were beaten. It hasn't even been that long, maybe an hour."

Mamoru watched Jed stalk back to the bedroom and slam the door. He wasn't worried about Jed holding a grudge, the man had seemed more irritated at himself than anything. But, this whole altercation reinforced how little privacy he was going to have. He had been getting these scrapes for months, and because he lived alone had been able to hide them. Now, everything he did was at risk of being found out by Jed. And he really did not want to admit to black outs, and injuries he did not remember getting. He wanted to know what was going on. Maybe he could have Jed follow him, when he got a headache? No, that would mean having to tell Jed that he was concerned and in some sort of trouble. And ever since he was a boy, Mamoru had taken care of himself.

"That bitch. Did you see the right hook she gave Takumi? Nearly knocked him out."

"I don't care about her punches. It f-ing hurt when she threw me into the wall."

Nathan laughed internally at the two boys groaning on the sidewalk. He had come across them and another guy who was knocked out on his way home from the jog. They had probably deserved what they had gotten, their clothes attested that they thought of themselves as bad ass. He thought that it was an even better comeuppance that they appeared to have been beaten up by a girl. That had to be a blow to the ego.

"God, if anybody finds out about this, we're doomed. Especially if they find out she was carrying baking supplies. If she was a yank, our cred might survive. But not this." The one who had admired the girl's punches groaned.

Nathan couldn't help but say, "I won't tell anyone."

The two boys snapped to attention. "Shit somebody saw. Lord kill me now."

Nathan gave them a Jed worthy smirk before sauntering away. That a girl could do that, it intrigued him. He had forgotten that girls of this era were less docile than those in the Silver Millennium, only the Sailor Senshi had any spark back then. Women here were definitely more interesting.

Whistling to himself, he didn't notice a man across the street who looked as though he could pass for his double. He didn't notice the furtive look that the man gave the people on the sidewalk before stepping into a building. Nor did he notice when five minutes later, screams began.

The phone rang, and Zane cursed. They had interrupted him in the middle of a test run of a new game. It had made him lose. He hated that, therefore he answered the phone a little more grumpily than his wont.

"Moshi moshi."

"Zane, its me, Jed."

"Jed?"

"You know, Jadeite. One of the four great generals."

"I know who you are." Zane groused, "I was just surprised that you were calling me so soon."

"I wouldn't, but something's up with Mamoru."

Zane perked his ears, "What is it?"

"You remember how when we left him in the park, he was ill?"

"Yes?"

"When he got home a few minutes ago, he wasn't ill but was beaten. And I have reason to think that he has been getting blackouts."

Zane frowned, "I can't think of anything off the top of my head. The number one cause for blackouts is alcoholism or heart failures."

"No, I don't think that's it, he hasn't come home smelling like a liquor store, and I think we'd notice by now if he had heart failure."

Chuckling, Zane agreed, "I'll go to the library after I finish here to see what I can find on the subject."

"Make sure you keep in mind that he is doing stuff during the time that he blacks out, he is not just fainting."

"Will do."

Hanging up the phone, Zane was determined to make this a quick run through, so that he could okay the game for mass production. Besides, if he left now, he wouldn't be able to get his mind off of it, and he knew for a fact that that didn't help him when he was trying to do research.

The gym was even bigger than what Jed had imagined, and he couldn't help but wonder how Keenan had been able to afford this. It was the whole enchilada: a track, exercise machines, weights, the actual gym area, an outside field, and did he forget to mention the pool. Perhaps, Jed thought, noting the hours sign on the door, he got a loan on it and is paying it back through its own income. It would still be a down payment that Jed was slightly nauseated at thinking about. His parents were rich, yes, but they prescribed to Rockefellers thinking and Jed had never had an allowance or gotten too much special treatment. If he wanted his parents to buy something extra, he had to earn it through work, house work or otherwise. He bought his first and only car, himself. His birthdays and Christmas' weren't anything special. He went to a good school, his parents had a big house, and they went on phenomenal vacations, but that was the extent of his 'spoiling'. Everything else, he had to work for, just like his parents and their parents before them.

While Jed, Nathan, Zane, and Mamoru were busy gawking at the gym, Keenan walked into the office and grabbed the sword that hung over his desk, and a rather large box that nobody ever noticed. When he got back into the main part of the gym where the men were standing with dazed expressions, Keenan felt the corner of his mouth curl slightly.

Jed was the first to snap out of the luxury induced coma, and shouted, "You actually own a freaking broad sword!"

The room echoed his room for a long a moment, and after it silenced, the others just stared at him. For a change, Jed felt sheepish and rubbed the back of his neck, carefully avoiding meeting anybody's eyes.

After a moment, Keenan cleared his throat, "I bought this a while back, and when I did, I...uh, impulsively, " he nearly muttered the word, "bought these." He kicked open the box he had carried, and in it there laid three swords and two really long daggers.

Zane swooped in and picked out the daggers, "These are just like mine! Or what mine used to be." He felt the edges and then tossed them into the air, failing at catching either. "That's a lot harder than it used to be." he shrugged, "I guess I'll have to work on it."

Keenan closed his eyes, "That is the least of the skills you should work on with those."

Jed looked over the three swords, before deciding on one that was thinner than the average sword, but not as thin as foils. He swished it around before lifting it into the air and saying, "Zorro ain't got nothing one me."

"Sorry Jed, but there is no competition between you and Zorro, and I mean that in his favor." Nathan called before grabbing a sword that was slightly shorter than Keenan's, actually, if it weren't for the pointed tip, it would look exactly like a machete.

Mamoru just stared at the last sword as though he didn't know what to do with it. His life was so strange. If you had told him last year that he would become friends with four guys who claimed to be reincarnated and they would give him sword lessons, he would have discreetly given you the card of a mental hospital.

The last sword very nearly twinned Keenan's, the handle was a little fancier, but otherwise he wouldn't have been able to tell the difference.

Keenan hefted his sword and commanded, "Line up and get into a fighting stance with your blades."

Mamoru quickly grabbed the sword and stood next to the other three. Keenan walked down the line correcting their stances.

"No, Nathan, put a little more bend in your knees, if you lock your legs like that you are liable to faint and if you don't your movements will be stilted. Bent knees give both support and preparation for movement."

"Zane, keep your blades in the air, an enemy is not going to wait for you to lift them."

"Jed, you are not playing baseball, get that sword off your shoulder."

When he got to Mamoru, he gave Mamoru a small smile, "Very good, your majesty."

Mamoru frowned, both at the title and the fact that the sword did not feel as foreign to his hand as he thought it should. In fact, part of him took mental notes on the quality and how the blade's weight was a little uneven and he would have to mind the disparity when swinging it. A small part of him was even annoyed at both how heavy and how light it was. It was as though he was used to swinging both a heavier sword and a lighter stick, and this sword just didn't cut it in comparison.

Keenan led them through a series of patterns that progressively got harder. Finally he raised his hand for them to stop. "I am glad to see we are not as bad as we might be, but there is a definite need for work. Today was unusual because I wanted to see just how bad the damage of a millennia or two truly is. Weight training will be on Mondays and Wednesdays, endurance on Tuesdays, Sundays and Thursdays will be stretching and flexibility. Fridays will be weaponry, generally swords, but occasionally bows. You will get Saturday evenings off. You will be there unless you are dieing. Is this understood?"

Nathan, Zane, and Jed saluted him and said, "Yes, sir." while Mamoru merely nodded his agreement. Keenan nodded to them and carried the now empty box back into his office. Their weapons were their responsibility now.

Keenan was downtown Juuban when it happened. A monster appeared out of no where and soon the streets were in a panic, half the people collapsing from energy loss. It was pandemonium, Keenan crouched in a nearby doorway, trying to decide what to do. The monster was huge and machine like and strangely feminine. He didn't have his sword or his magic, but he was supposed to protect the people of earth, wasn't he? That had been his job in both lives, was he to forsake it now? But a good soldier needed to know when going out to fight was a viable option. A good soldier knew that when a job seemed as though it were suicide, sometimes it was best to stay back and gather information, waiting for back up. So, why was he in a torment about not being able to do anything? But, what could he do? He didn't have a weapon and there were no convenient lead pipes lying around.

While he had been scrutinizing his small area for weapons, he missed the flashes of blue, red, and green. So he was almost startled when he heard a feminine voice shout, "Nega-scum! You are ruining a peaceful Sunday morning and lovely shopping time. I, pretty guardian Sailor Moon cannot forgive you, and in the name of the moon, I will punish you."

He looked up in time to see the girl in red, white, and blue take a pose. He could tell that she didn't notice that the monster had already launched an attack her way, and he was about to shout a warning when a dark figure swept her out of the way, and onto a light post. Wondering vaguely how they were able to balance on it, he studied the new figure. Nathan had said nothing about a man helping the Sailor Senshi, and this was most obviously a man. In a tuxedo none the less. This was troubling. It meant that there was much more going on than a simple reincarnation, he had been okay when the Sailor Senshi had appeared in this time. That was almost to be expected, even if their home planets had been destroyed. He could easily accept their presence, but now that there was an extra one and a man, Keenan was starting to get worried. Why would the Sailor Senshi need help, they never had before. And what was a Nega-scum, obviously the monster, but why had she called it that? And most importantly why were there monsters on Earth in the first place? He didn't like it, he didn't like it at all.

"Supreme Thunder!" the one in green shouted, Keenan's dusty memory of the old lore informed him that this was probably Sailor Jupiter. Her attack zoomed at the monster and ran along its metallic parts, freezing it for a moment.

"Hit it again Jupiter." the girl in blue called, Sailor Mercury, was it? "Your powers will work best as its body conducts electricity."

The last girl in red was busy shouting at somebody that Keenan couldn't quite see, but who ever it was, they were doing a thorough job of ticking the Senshi from Mars off. He winced when she shouted, "Fire Soul" and pointed her fingers like a gun, for out of her fingers a line of fire shot toward whoever she had been yelling at. Yes, that was definitely the Senshi from Mars.

Jupiter was hitting the monster over and over again with her lightening, laughing each time it froze the monster. Mercury shook her head at this display, while Mars was busy cursing the air blue, evidently, the person or thing that she had a disagreement with had escaped unscathed. Moon and the man in the mask were now standing next to the light post, murmuring to each other. Finally, Mars got fed up with Jupiter toying with the monster and yelled, "Anytime now would be great, Moony."

Sailor Moon seemed to jump and from where he was, Keenan could see the embarrassment in her stance. She pulled off her crown and shouted, "Moon Tiara Action."

While everybody was distracted by the monster turning to dust, the man in the mask melted into the darkness.

"Nathan, why did you neglect to mention a man in a tuxedo helping the Senshi when you gave your report?" A dangerously soft voice enquired.

Nathan grimaced, when Kunzite or Keenan got that tone, it meant that he was not happy. And when Kunzite was not happy, nobody was happy. Worse, this time the tone was most definitely directed at him. He looked up at his leader very slowly, hoping that maybe in the time it took him to look Keenan in the face, Keenan will have calmed down. No such luck. He cleared his throat, "A man in a tuxedo? Did he happen to go by Tuxedo Kamen?"

Keenan gritted his teeth, "I didn't catch a name. I don't think he ever said. But the point remains, why didn't you mention him. It was relevant to the discussion."

Nathan shifted uncomfortably, "Well, the thing is, I thought he was a myth. The newspapers have no pictures of him, and although witnesses claim that there was a man helping the Sailor Senshi, I thought that it wasn't true. Why would the Sailor Senshi need help? I was sure that they existed from their photos, albeit blurry, at least there was proof of their existence."

"Why didn't you consult the stars on this Tuxedo Kamen?"

Nathan frowned, "Like with Sailor Moon, they were rather unforthcoming. As though it was too important for them to reveal anything about those two. In Tuxedo Kamen's case, I assumed it was because he was pure fiction. Are you saying he is real?"

"Of course that's what I am saying. I saw him help the Senshi fight a monster."

"Oh. You saw a fight?" at Keenan's slight incline of his head, Nathan asked excitedly, "Were they as good as legend held them to be?"

"Not really."

Nathan's frown deepened. True his connection with the stars had grown stronger since Mamoru had woken Nephrite, but it was still not as good as it could be. But since he saw actual images rather than blurs, Nathan found that he couldn't complain. Instead he hoped that Endymion would hurry and wake up so that he could get his full powers. It irked him that the lack of powers did not seem to bother the others so much. Still, he had always been a bit more dependent, for lack of a better word, on his powers. Not that they were necessary for him to fight. But he tended to fret when he couldn't talk to the stars. Jadeite had always called them his imaginary friends, and sometimes would accuse him of liking the stars' company better than his brothers-in-arms'. They both had known that wasn't true, while the other generals were his friends and what made a place feel like home, the stars were what relaxed him. He had never been a person who liked being surrounded by people, he would much rather be alone. But, talking the stars always gave him a recharge on the energy lost to being social.

It was both disheartening and a relief to find that the Senshi also were having trouble connecting into their full power. He, unlike Jed and probably Keenan, fully believed that the Senshi of this era were the reincarnated princesses of the past. He had a sneaking suspicion that the past itself was being recreated to a degree. Why and how it was, he didn't have a clue, but he was almost certain that that was the purpose of reincarnating both the generals and the Senshi. Besides, if Mamoru's dreams were any indication, their prince was not the only high royalty to be reincarnated. Why else would a princess ask the prince of the earth for help? And if he didn't miss his mark, he suspected that the princess was in fact the Lunarian princess, and since the Sailor Senshi were not with her, she was missing in action as well. Frustratingly, the stars were again close mouthed on this subject.

This probably meant that part of the Senshi's mission was to find their princess. Well, that was fine and dandy, but were the Shitennou just supposed to sit here and twiddle their thumbs? They had already found their prince, albeit on accident, so what was their goal now? Keenan had already said that they weren't to fight the monsters. Even though he could see the wisdom in that decision, it still irritated him. He had never been one to like surprise. Why would he? The stars had always given him a foreshadowing, so this uselessness and an unknown future grated his nerves.

"Nathan. NAAATHAAAN." Jed called into his ear, and he started. "Hey, buddy, those must have been some thoughts, I have been trying to reach you for the past five minutes."

"What's the matter?"

"Nothings the matter, I just wanted to bring you back to where you are physically. Probably just to annoy you, but I myself am not sure." He gave Nathan a winning grin.

"When did you get here?" Nathan asked, realizing that Jed had not been there when Keenan had been berating him.

"I finally got around to charging my phone, and lo and behold, there was a message there saying that there was yet another meeting."

"Yeah." Zane said using Jed's shoulders to push himself taller, "It turns out that the reason I can never get ahold of Jed is because the dolt forgets to charge his phone most of the time. He even told me that if it wasn't that he forgot to charge it, it would be that he forgot to add more minutes."

"I am so sure that I am the only one that this happens to." Jed rolled his eyes.

Both Keenan and Nathan shook their heads to indicate that no, no such thing would ever happen on their watch, but Zane got a slightly subdued look on his face. "You see," Jed said, noticing the look on Zane's face.

"So, now that I am here, why am I here?" Jed asked Keenan.

"It seems that Nathan was not as thorough in he research as we might have hoped, we now have a third new player. A man called Tuxedo Mask who helps the Senshi."

Jed whistled lowly, "We really are missing a lot of pieces."

"I don't know how important this is, but according to the rumors, Tuxedo Kamen and Sailor Moon showed up around the same time, while the others were brought in later." Nathan said, subconsciously hoping to redeem himself.

"Huh. They were the first fighters?" Zane asked, and at Nathan's nod, he mused, "That makes it almost seem like they gathered everyone. But why would they have the power to do that? Are they an entity together or is it just coincidence? And, did their appearance spark the monsters or did the monsters spark their appearance?"

"I'd wager it is more likely that the monsters sparked their appearance, just because they seem to be cleaning up the monsters, and therefore are a reaction to them." Jed voted.

Keenan frowned, there were too many questions involving this whole thing, and if there was one thing he didn't like it was unanswered questions. His life had been so much simpler before this weekend. 'But better?' a small part of him asked, 'Do you really regret meeting these men?' No, he acknowledged to himself, just because he didn't trust people that didn't mean that he liked being alone. Sometimes he had wished he could get rid of the shields that didn't let people in, but that would mean changing how he is, and he actually liked himself. So it was a blessing to have these men who knew him and accepted him for who he was. Seeing the man behind the mask, as it were. Keenan grimaced slightly at the cliché, but it was kind of true.

"I think we should try and witness more of these battles," Zane volunteered, "The more information we have, the better."

A week later:

Tuxedo Kamen waited in the shadows of a building for his cue to help the senshi. The night was dark, and the moon was swollen in the sky, part of him wondered how it could be so dark with such a large moon, but that really wasn't important right now. The blood that the monster spilled stained the ground black. The Senshi were bouncing around it, trying to find an opening. He had heard Mercury mention that this one was a human. He shuddered at the thought. Monsters should be monsters and humans human, a mixture of the two was disturbing.

Especially since this monster was more disturbing than most they had ever come up against. Maybe it was the way the light fell on it, but instead of being slightly humorous, it was grotesque. It's painted face clown-like, but like a clown from a coulrophobic's worst nightmare. The death's head grin had dark stains on its teeth, and the bald head was painted white. It's red body suit and armor made it look like a video game boss. And worst of all, the damn thing had telekinesis.

More often than not, he found his eyes on Sailor Moon, the girl captivated him, and he knew that part of him would forsake all else if only she was safe. The girl jumped out of reach of the monster and he smiled to himself, she had come a long way from the first time they had met. She was a continual surprise to him, from that very first moment when she taught him that sometimes crying did help. At least if you had supernatural amplifiers that caused the earth to shake from your tears.

But, for a girl so determined to fight, she had the strangest compassion, there had been seven fights this week, all against that new guy, Nephrite, and yet when it seemed that he had found love, and sacrificed his life for that girl, Naru, he could see the tears glittering in her eyes. As though she regretted that Nephrite had to die, as though she could forgive everything because he loved.

Turning his head, he saw that Zoicite was sneaking up behind the Sailor Moon, and he cursed. While he hadn't liked either Nephrite or Jadeite, at least they had had some semblance of honor. With Zoicite, it was the ends justify the means, and he would do anything to get his way, whether he had to buy, sell, or steal. The man had stabbed his own comrade in the back, just so he could get the mission and presumably be honored by whoever their boss was. Springing forward, he pulled out his cane. Surprisingly, over the past week, his skill with it had become more honed, as though whoever his alter ego was, he was practicing. This time, he and Zoicite were more evenly matched. At least, they would have been if Zoicite had not kept using magic.

He dodged all of Zoicite's missiles with ease and he gave a good thrust for every parry. They might have dueled like that all night for all Tuxedo Kamen could tell, except he tripped over the back of the monster. Zoicite screeched in triumph, as though the opening were his own doing and leapt forward to stab him with a knife. Tuxedo Kamen rolled out of the way, the knife landing right where his head was a moment before. It looked as though Zoicite was about to try again when his head snapped to look at the Sailor Scouts as he heard Sailor Moon shout, "Moon Healing Escalation!" And the monster that Tuxedo Kamen had tripped over just seconds before melted to reveal a heavy set boy in glasses. A stone lay next to his feet, and Tuxedo Kamen lunged for it, his hand grabbing it just before Zoicite's could get there. He felt Zoicite's nails scrape down the back of his glove. For once he was thankful for this over-dressed uniform, he wouldn't be surprised if Zoicite put some sort of poison under his nails for just this situation.

A fire came streaming towards Zoicite who cursed and disappeared in a flash of flowers. Tuxedo Kamen could feel the flames just a few centimeters above him, and felt grateful that Mars had aimed well. Which, though he would never ever tell her to her face, it seemed as if she had trouble aiming. In fact, it seemed as though she thought that anything within the area of the monster was fair game. Precision did not go hand in hand with a passionate spirit.

Getting up, he began to walk away, but he heard footsteps running behind him, and turned just in time to catch Sailor Moon who had tripped over the collapsed boy. He kept his face blank as he slowly helped her up, even though where ever she touched him, his nerves were singing. Actually, the air was full of music, and he belatedly realized that it was not coming from his own senses. He looked down, and on the ground in between them was a locket. It was the one he had dropped at a previous fight. The one that he had searched frantically for, before the dizziness returned and he assumed that he returned to his alter ego. Their hands touched as they both reached for it, and Sailor Moon pulled hers back slightly, blushing. His hand hovered over it as he looked her in the eye and she murmured, "That's yours isn't it? I found it in the park."

"I got it from the princess a long time ago." he said, his mouth moving without his permission.

"The princess? Do you know who she is? We are trying so very hard to find her."

"It's your mission to find her?" at her nod, he smiled softly to himself, "Then you should keep it."

Her eyes widened and he saw her swallow, "Tuxedo Kamen-sama, since you have already given me this, I wonder could you give me something else?"

His eyes closed, he would give her anything, if he had a choice, but he had a feeling that he knew what she was going to ask for. The one thing he could not give. He mentally prepared himself for her disappointment.

"Could you give me that stone that you took? Please?"

There was something vaguely familiar about the way she said please, but he shook it away, and hardened his resolve. "No. I am sorry but I am keeping this. In this case we are rivals and if you gain any of the rainbow stones, I won't hesitate taking them if I have a chance."

So saying, he straightened his spine and bounded out of her sight, not even having looked at her. The small gasp that she had let out when he said they were rivals was enough to make him feel regret, he did not know what he would do if he had seen the disappointment in her face. He leaned against a tree as he listened to Sailor Moon join her Senshi, as their cheerful voices faded, he wondered why he was always him against the world. He had felt a kinship with Moon when she first started, they had both been dragged into something that they did not want, but now she had friends to fight with her and he was still just him.

Shaking off the depressing thoughts, Tuxedo Kamen tossed the red crystal up into the air and caught it, before putting it into his pocket and letting the dizziness that signified his detransformation take over him.

Chiba Mamoru opened his eyes. He was back in the park. This time though, he had no surprise at his location. He pulled a red rock from his pocket at held it in front of his eyes. Twisting it this way and that to watch it glint, it was mesmerizing. What was so special about this gem that it could unlock the mystery behind his blackouts and illness? He knew it was a piece of the Ginzuishou, but why did it make him remember, or at least realize that he was Tuxedo Kamen.

He still didn't have his memories from those times before, but he presumed that each time was spent fighting. Which also explained the mysterious injuries. He smirked, well, they weren't so mysterious anymore. Although he didn't remember fighting, he got small snippets of what had happened, sparring at the airport with Jadeite, watching Nephrite die, seeing Sailor Moon for the first time. But the rest was a blur.

Speaking of Jadeite and Nephrite, what the hell? He had seen both Jed and Nathan in the interim of Nephrite's death and now. And as far as he knew, Jadeite was long gone, but these two claimed to be Jadeite and Nephrite from a past life. Then there was Zoicite, other than appearance, he was really nothing like Zane, and yet they could be easily mistaken for each other. The only one of his supposed guards that he had not yet seen was Kunzite, but he held no hope that this would always be the case. It looked like it was time to have a nice long chat with the Shitennou.

Zane looked up at the sound of Keenan's door slamming open. He had been spending more and more time at the older man's apartment, he liked the serenity of it, even if it was just a tad icy. But then he had always like icy things, from snow to ice cream. But the man who stormed through the door was not icy, not one bit. In fact, Zane would go so far as to say that he was positively steaming.

That was not the most surprising thing, though. The man who had waltzed so violently in was someone that Zane only knew by hearsay. The tuxedo and white mask gave it away. So the question remained, what was Tuxedo Mask doing here?

"Er...Tuxedo Kamen-san, I think you have the wrong apartment."

"No, I don't think so, Zoicite."

Zane's eyes bugged from his head and he stood there his mouth open as though he were a fish. How could Tuxedo Kamen possibly know his past life's name? It was unfathomable.

Tuxedo Kamen swept past him and into the living room where Jed, Nathan, and Keenan were sitting on the couches, wrapping up their Shitennou meeting. When he got in there, Jed sprang to his feet, Nathan fell out of his chair, and Keenan just became very, very still.

"Nephrite, Jadeite, I would say it is a pleasure to see you again, except its really not. Your supposed to be dead. In fact, I know for sure that you are dead Nephrite."

Nathan stared at the masked man in askance, "I beg your pardon, I most certainly am not dead."

Jed dealt with his surprise in the best way he knew, "Tuxedo Kamen, natty outfit, truly. May I say that the top hat just adds something so very...nineteenth century?"

Tuxedo Kamen didn't remove his drilling gaze from Nathan's eyes. "Who is your leader, Nephrite?"

"Keenan, of course. Only after Prince Endymion."

Pinning his gaze on Keenan, the two men got into a silent staring contest, each trying to dominate the others gaze. Neither one, and in the end Tuxedo Kamen broke the silence, "What do you want with all that energy, Keenan or can I presume that you are Kunzite?"

Keenan didn't respond, but the gasps around him were enough to convey the room's general question. Zane voiced it anyway, he was never one to shy away from asking questions, "What energy?"

Tuxedo Kamen sighed and seemed to shrink from the imposing man he was a few minutes before. He turned back to Nathan, "Tell me Nephrite, have your powers felt stronger since yesterday?"

Nathan thought for a moment, "Yeah, now that you mention it, they do. Actually, I feel as though they are at full capacity now. Hang on, let me check."

Nathan's face grew relaxed and he stood his arms casually at his sides. The air in the room seemed to deepen as he gathered energy into himself. A slight wind blew threw his hair, even though everybody else's was still. Then, when the building up pressure seemed like it was about to explode out, it was slowly released, starting from his bare feet. Bare feet that were now encased in leather boots, and tucked in these boots was a dark blue uniform, so dark that it was almost black. The buttons were a dull silver and at his side, a sword very much like the one he had been practicing with was strapped to his left hip.

He slowly opened his eyes and looked down at his clothes, he smiled slightly before his gaze trained on Tuxedo Kamen, "How did you know that my powers would be back in full?"

"I didn't, it was merely a suspicion."

Zane bounced in his seat, "Does this mean that Prince Endymion has woken up?" Before anybody could answer, he attempted to do his own transformation, but nothing happened. With a disappointed look, he sat back on the couch.

"Why is Nathan the only one who got his power back?" Jed asked not caring that there was a bit of a whine in his voice.

"I told you, it was merely a suspicion. But now I am curious, are you able to transform Jadeite?"

Jed shook his head, "No way. I don't even have to try, my power is nowhere near what it used to be, and transforming is one of the highest abilities."

Tuxedo Kamen nodded, "I wondered. I guess that means that he isn't dead."

"Who isn't dead?" Keenan asked accusingly.

Tuxedo Kamen's gaze sharpened before his lips curved into an uncharacteristic smirk, "Why General Jadeite of the Dark Kingdom, of course."

"What?" Jed asked, too surprised to even change his tone of voice, "Look mate, I don't know how you know that I was Jadeite in a past life, but as Nathan most eloquently put, I most certainly am not dead."

The smirk on Tuxedo Kamen's face widened as he said, "Actually, Jed, you are both right. Neither of you are dead, and nor, apparently is General Jadeite. But, I know that General Nephrite is dead. And your counterpart," he added glancing at Zane, "is busy wreaking havoc at this very moment."

The four Shitennou sat with varying degrees of confusion on their face, before Jed ran his fingers through his hair and said, "Alright, mate. I think you are going to have to take this from the top for us. To put it bluntly, what the hell are you talking about?"

"Certainly, but first, it is rather uncomfortable to stay in this getup." Tuxedo Kamen pulled a perfect red rose out of an inner pocket that, by all rights, should have squished it. Running his fingers over the bud, the transformation leaked way from him, and after a moment, Mamoru stood there, the tips of his fingers grasping the stem of the rose. He opened his fingers and the rose disappeared.

They all stared and then Jed voiced the thought that they all had, "What the bloody hell is going on?

Heh, the next chapter will explain all...not really, but I imagine there will be a bit more interaction with the senshi, but it is somewhat of a mystery to me as well. I just have a general outline of what I want to happen, but things just pop in and I go with the flow.