A/N Yay! Update time. I wasn't sure if I was going to have time to proof read and post this today because I've had family in town visiting for the last week and a half (and they're still here) and it's seriously been cutting into my writing time. I have come to the conclusion that I absolutely hate living in a city that has so many tourist attractions. I have literally worn out my favorite pair of tennis shoes with all the walking I've done recently and I've probably gained ten pounds from eating out at restaurants so much. But I have managed to squeeze in a few minutes here and there to put the finishing touches on this chapter. Okay, time for me to give out my hugs. BIG HUGS TO:

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Thank you so much everyone for your wonderful reviews. I treasure each and every one. It's hard to believe, but thanks to all of you this story has hit 200 reviews in only eight chapters. You've definitely blown me away with your response. That being said, I'm going to shut up and let you get on with the story. I know you're all anxious to see what happens now that truths are coming out. So on with the show!

ENJOY!

Rekindled : A Classic Sailor Moon Twist

Chapter 9

A Shocking Reunion

Serena walked out of the chemistry lab and closed the door behind her, wishing that she could close the door on everything that had just happened in there as easily. Her head still spun dizzily and her knees were weak and shaking, so she leaned up against the wall.

In less than five minutes her already sideways life had flipped completely upside down. It had been a big enough shock to find out that two of her closest friends were sailor scouts as well, but to discover that Darien was Tuxedo Mask…well, it was almost too much to take in.

She licked her suddenly dry lips; almost moaning out loud as she remembered the way Darien's lips had fit against hers so perfectly. It hadn't been an extremely romantic kiss, hardly more than a mere pressing together of lips for a few seconds, but it had felt so right.

She heard a shuffling of noise from inside the room and pushed herself away from the wall, kicking off those infernal high heels so that she could hopefully manage to walk without falling flat on her face. Darien was going to come out of the lab sooner or later, and she didn't want to be caught sulking outside it. She wasn't ready to face him yet.

She pushed her way into a nearby restroom, counting her lucky stars when she found it empty. She needed to get herself composed and under control. Then she would go back into the gym to find her friends and tell them that she wasn't feeling good and that she was going to go home. They would be okay with it if they thought she was sick, but if they knew that she was upset over Darien they would hunt him down and drag him into the nearest dark place they could find. He would be lucky to be able to crawl, much less walk, after they were through with him. It didn't matter if he was a super hero, Amy and Raye were too. Lita was already so strong that grown men had been known to run from her, and Mina had gone through extensive training to make her role as Sailor V as believable as possible. Even Tuxedo Mask wouldn't stand a chance against all four of them.

And she really didn't want to see him hurt. Sure, she was upset right now, but she still had feelings for him. In fact she felt a small amount of relief knowing that her secret crush and her dashing partner in crime were one and the same. She had been walking around for weeks feeling a little sluttish for crushing on Tuxedo Mask when she had strong feelings for Darien.

She walked over to the row of sinks below the long mirror and placed her hands on each side of one of the cold porcelain basins before looking up at her reflection. The paleness of her face made the make up she was wearing stand out garishly against her skin and her eyes were so wide that they looked like they were about to pop out of her head. She looked like one of the walking corpses in that late night horror flick that she and the girls had sat up and watched a few weeks ago.

She rummaged around in her wrist bag until she found the Luna Pen and used it to remove the spell that she had cast on herself earlier in the evening. The cosmetics disappeared, leaving her face stark white but squeaky clean. Too late, she remembered that her hair had been down when she had used the pen, and it fell in a shimmering sheet of pure gold down her back to hit a few inches below her knees. Oh well, at least she looked halfway normal again.

"I'm going to go home, soak in a hot bath until I turn wrinkly, and then curl up with a pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream and a stack of manga. That's what I should have done in the first place instead of coming to this stupid dance," she told herself firmly. "I'm not going to think any more about this whole Darien and Tuxedo Mask thing tonight. Maybe I'll feel like dealing with it tomorrow."

She nodded her head, feeling somewhat better now that she had given herself a pep talk. Some relaxation and a good night's sleep was exactly what she needed to get her head back on straight. Everything would look brighter in the morning. God help the Dark Kingdom if they decided to attack tonight, she just might go postal on their ass if they did.

No sooner than the thought had gone through her head there was a loud boom and the floor rumbled under her bare feet. Her reflection quivered as the mirror shook. Screams erupted in the distance.

She closed her eyes for a moment in agitation and drew in a deep breath. Perfect, this was just what she needed right now.

"Somebody somewhere must really hate me," she muttered, reaching into her bag for her broach. Okay, so first she would kick some Dark Kingdom butt, and then she would go home to the peace and tranquility of her pink and white bedroom.

Her communicator beeped and she pulled it out. Amy's worried face filled the screen. "Serena, we have a situation here."

"Tell Meatball Brains to pull her head out of Darien's ass and get out here!" Raye snapped somewhere close by.

"I'm on my way," Serena said wearily, cutting the connection. She held her broach up and called, "Moon Prism Power!" By the time the light show faded, Sailor Moon was already running out the door.


Nephrite grinned as he looked out over the sea of wildly dancing teenagers. The energy that was flowing around them was just begging to be taken and he was looking forward to relieving them of it. The evening looked even more promising than he originally thought it would be since he now had twice as many victims than he had planned. That burst water pipe that had flooded Juuban's gym had been a blessing.

He had spent the past week acting as a substitute teacher at Juuban High, filling in for a science teacher that had felt a sudden urge to take a vacation thanks to a little hypnosis on his part. With his mind manipulation he had cleared a path for himself and nobody questioned his presence. He had planned in the beginning to siphon a small amount of energy from each of his classes on a daily basis, but when he had discovered that there was a dance being held he had bided his time patiently. Such a large gathering of people was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

His eyes found and focused on the one bright spot of energy that had intrigued him more than the others from the very beginning. Molly, as he had discovered her name was, seemed to possess a very pure, untainted energy. It called to him like a siren. Queen Beryl would undoubtedly be pleased when he presented her with such a gift. Molly's energy would go a long way in bringing Metallia back up to full strength once again. Then they could focus on finding the Silver Crystal and take over the world.

He turned his head as another glimmer of energy caught his eye. This one was as bright as Molly's, but it glowed a deep jade green. His eyes widened as he took in the form of the tall, slender girl that was standing alone against the wall looking wistfully at the dance floor as the music slowed down and couples gravitated toward one another.

So Sailor Jupiter's reincarnation was here, was she? He wasn't too concerned about her since she hadn't awakened yet, but usually wherever one scout was the others weren't far away. He studied the crowd closer, and sure enough he picked up on Mercury's blue and Mars's red auras quickly.

He reached out farther, but didn't sense any sign of the one they called Sailor Moon, so perhaps this mission could still be a success. Mercury and Mars were the only ones that he needed to worry about, and they wouldn't be able to risk transforming into their fighting forms in the middle of this crowd. They would be sitting ducks.

The grin returned to his face. Yes, this could be a most productive evening. Not only could he get Molly's energy, but that of three sailor scouts as well. This getting better and better.

He glanced over at Jupiter's reincarnation once more and felt a pull of something deep inside him. That was the problem with inhabiting the body of one of Endymion's generals; although the soul was locked away, latent emotions had a way of breaking through from time to time. He sure didn't want to repeat Jadeite's mistake and risk waking up Jupiter, but there was something about the girl that made him want to get closer. Surely it wouldn't hurt to talk to her for a minute. That wouldn't backfire on him, would it?


"So where do you think they went?" Raye whispered to Amy. "I don't see them anywhere."

The blue haired girl shrugged and glared off in the direction that Serena and Darien had disappeared a few minutes before. She knew that Darien wouldn't intentionally hurt Serena, but she couldn't help feeling a little anxious about him. Some of her memories from the past may be a muddled mess, but she did remember that Endymion had always been the one that could elicit the most emotions from Serenity. He better deliver her back to them in the same condition that he found her, or there was going to be hell to pay.

"Chill out," Mina cautioned both of them quietly. "We've got to give them some space. They are just starting to really get to know one another. Remember, Serenity and Endymion didn't always get along either."

That was true enough. When they had first met, Prince Endymion had thought that Princess Serenity acted entirely to flighty and carefree for a girl of her station, and she had thought that he acted like an uptight, stuck up jerk. The moon palace had quaked under the onslaught of insults they had had fired at each other the first time the royal family of Earth had visited. But it had all worked out in the end.

Not too far away Lita was muttering under her breath. "He better not try anything slick on her. He may be the quiet, studious type, but they're the ones that you have to watch out for. If he so much as puts one fingernail out of line, I'll make him wish that he was never born."

Amy grinned at Raye and Mina. "Jupiter may not be here yet, but I think Lita will be able to handle the situation if anything goes wrong."

The other two nodded enthusiastically as Andrew, Asanuma, and Kobyashi wandered over to join them.

"So are the happy couple off to list themselves with the gift registry for the wedding?" Andrew asked with a mischievous smile. "I hope they don't pick out anything too expensive, my dad doesn't pay me that much for working at the arcade. He's probably breaking ten kinds of child labor laws by working me the way he does."

"I wouldn't worry about it too much," Asanuma replied from where he was hiding behind Kobyashi, spiking a glass of punch with something from a flask he had removed from his pocket. "If I know those two, they probably skipped the wedding and headed straight for the honeymoon."

Kobyashi nodded. "Sad, but true. Overactive hormones in teenagers usually tend to override common sense. Let's just hope they're being safe. I don't think either one of them are ready for parenthood quite yet. Of course Darien wouldn't get the chance to experience that. We would be attending his funeral when Ken Tsukino was done with him."

"Drew, make them stop!" Mina pled to Andrew in a whisper as she saw the murderous looks come over Amy, Raye, and Lita's faces. "I'm sure nothing's happening between Serena and Darien, but the other girls may decide to kill him if those two idiots keep talking like that."

Andrew tried to think quickly. "Hey guys, this is a dance. We can't let these lovely ladies be wallflowers." He offered an arm to Mina. "Shall we?"

She giggled and looped her arm through his. "Why thank you, gallant sir."

Asanuma downed his drink and set the empty cup on a nearby table. "How about you, Raye? Do you want to take spin?"

Raye eyed him warily. "Only if you promise to keep your hands and your perverted comments to yourself."

"I'll be a perfect angel," he declared with an innocent expression.

She sighed. "I'll probably regret this, but okay."

This left Kobyashi looking like a lost puppy. He glanced back and forth between Amy and Lita several times, opening and closing his mouth like a beached fish.

Lita finally took pity on him and gently pushed Amy toward him. "You two go ahead. I'm going to go get something to drink."

"B…but," Amy stuttered.

Lita crossed her arms. "Don't 'but' me. Get your tail out there. That's a good song coming on and Koby needs someone to dance with."

She turned and walked away, glancing back over her shoulder once with a happy, yet at the same time sad smile as she saw Amy heading out to the dance floor with Kobyashi. She had reconciled herself long ago to the fact that finding a guy that wasn't shorter than her or intimidated by her was going to be hard to find. And she was okay with that, but it still hurt sometimes.

She found a secluded spot and leaned up against the wall, watching the dancing crowd with wistful eyes. Sometimes she wished that she were more like her friends. Serena was the caring, loving sweetheart that everyone seemed to gravitate to. Mina had the classic blonde beauty that drew guys in like a magnet. Raye was dark and mysterious with striking good looks. And Amy was like a cute little china doll, but with a cutting wit that drew people in.

And what was she? She was tall, brusque, and extremely outspoken. Her face was definitely not hideous with her lightly tanned complexion and bright green eyes, but people were easily intimidated by her and usually gave her a wide berth. She'd had few friends in her life until Serena had come along and treated her like a normal person. The other girls had fallen into line behind her and she loved how she felt feminine around them, but there were still moments like this when she felt left out.

She wasn't sure how long she stood there, but the current song ended and changed into something slow and romantic as the lights dimmed. She was considering stepping outside for a breath of fresh air when a shadow fell over her. She raised her eyes to the level that she was used to looking and was greeted with a wide expanse of solid male chest. Her gaze traveled up several inches until her breath caught when she locked onto a pair of piercing slate blue eyes.

Man was he tall! And he was built like a solid brick wall. Her heart gave a few loud thuds as she drank him in. Now this was a guy that she would definitely like to get to know better. She felt almost petite in his presence. She didn't recognize him as a student of Azabu High, so he must go to Juuban. He looked to be older, so he was probably a senior.

"So what is a beautiful girl like you doing standing here all alone when there is dancing to be done?" he asked in a quiet tone that made her tremble in anticipation.

She fought to find her voice. "Lack of dancing partners I'm afraid. It's hard to find somebody to dance with when you're built like an Amazon."

He gave her a small smile. "That's a shame. Maybe we can do something to rectify that problem. I'm Max, by the way, Max Stanton." He held his hand out to her.

She took it and gasped as what felt like a jolt of electricity traveled up her arm. "I…I'm Lita Kino. I'm sorry, have we met before? You seem very familiar to me."

His look turned a little wary. "No. I don't believe we have."

She shook her head with a smile. "You're right. I'm sure that I would remember you if we had ever met. You're definitely not someone that could be forgotten easily."

He looked relieved. "So would you like to take a turn?" he asked, gesturing to the dance floor.

She was about to accept his invitation when a feeling shot down her back. It felt like someone had just shoved a fully charged cattle prod down her spine. A tingling sensation shot out from her center all the way to the tips of her fingers and toes. A voice in the back of her head began screaming at her to get as far away from this man as she could.

Being a teenage girl living alone had taught her long ago to trust her instincts. There may be absolutely nothing wrong with Max, but something about him just didn't sit right with her. "I'm sorry, but I'm just not feeling like it right now. Maybe later."

He shrugged. "If you say so. I'll be sure to look you up again later, Lita."

"Yeah, you do that," she replied with what she hoped was a convincing smile, trying not to wince as another painful surge flowed through her. "Please excuse me. I need to visit the ladies room."

He bowed his head to her. "Of course."

She turned and fled. But instead of heading for the restroom she pushed her way through the crowd toward the exit. She suddenly felt very hot, like her skin was about to sizzle off her bones, and the cold December air outside sounded like heaven to her.

She made her escape and breathed deeply of the frigid air. It was beginning to lightly snow and tiny snowflakes danced lazily through the air. She held out her palm and caught one of the flakes, gasping in surprise when what looked like a small electrical spark flared up where it touched her skin.

"Geez. I'm just full of static electricity tonight," she murmured to herself.

A group of stumbling, giggling, obviously intoxicated classmates were making their way up from the parking lot. Not wanting to be the subject of their stares and whispers, she retreated around the corner of the building and into the dark shadows there. She found herself beneath the row of high windows of the girl's locker room. A few of the windows were cracked open as cigarette smoke and giggling female voices poured out of them. She froze when she heard her name.

"Did you see that Lita Kino turn down that hunky substitute teacher from Juuban?"

"Yeah, what was she thinking? If that Mr. Stanton had asked me to dance I would have been all over him. That man is a god."

"Girl, I would have done more than dance with him. All he'd have to do is say the word and I'd have us both naked before he could blink. He looks like the type that could show a girl a very good time."

"But he's a teacher! That would be wrong."

"Don't be such a prude! He's not that much older than us. Maybe one of our teachers will take some time off and we'll get him as a sub. I'd love to show him that the teacher's desk is for more than just grading papers."

Lita rolled her eyes and muttered, "Stupid bimbos. I guess they've finally humped the entire football team and now they're searching for new victims to sink their claws into. They'll probably all have STD's and a baby on their hip by the time we graduate."

"So do you think the rumors about Lita are true? I mean, she did turn down a perfect opportunity."

"Of course they're true. That girl has lesbian written all over her. And look who she hangs out with. They're probably all doing something freaky with one another."

"I don't know. Raye, Mina, and Amy are certainly strange enough, but Darien, Andrew, Asanuma, and Kobyashi are always around them too. And I've known Serena since elementary school, I can't picture her being involved in anything weird."

"It's the bubbly ones like her that you have to watch. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that she's doing Darien Shields and Andrew Furuhata at the same time. She may seem innocent to everyone else, but the way guys stare at her makes me think that she's definitely putting out. I have to admire her though, last year I tried to put the moves on Darien and he pushed me away. I'd like to know her secret for thawing him out so I could give him another try. I bet he is ripped from playing basketball."

The sound of multiple giggles floated down to Lita, who ground her teeth together and clenched her fists. She wanted nothing more than to burst in there and give those bitches an ass kicking that they would never forget. She didn't care what they thought about her, but she couldn't stand for people to talk bad about her friends. The only thing that held her back was the promise that she had made to Serena.

She had been transferred to Azabu High after her old school had kicked her out for fighting. She hadn't felt that it was fair because, despite her reputation for being a brawler, that had been the first fight she had ever been involved in on school grounds. But she still felt that her actions were justified until this day. She had stepped in to save a freshman girl that was being manhandled by thickskulled, muscle-bound senior boy. The memory of the satisfying crunch of his nose under her fist could still bring a smile to her face. But the school had a strict no fighting policy, so she was booted out.

The first day that she had arrived at Azabu she had found that her reputation had preceded her. When she had stepped onto the campus all eyes had turned toward her and the whispers had started. She had put on her usual mask of indifference and stalked past all of the curious and prying eyes, not willing to let them see how much their criticisms and speculations had hurt her.

When she had reached her homeroom she had avoided the teacher's sharp gaze and had stood at the front of the room as the rest of the class had filed in. The teacher had then briefly introduced her and had assigned her a seat next to a blonde girl with a strange hairdo, saying that the girl would be her guide until she had learned her way around. She had taken her seat, but didn't even bother looking at the girl, knowing that she would probably find the same wary expression on her face that was on everyone else's. So she had been shocked when she felt a tap on her shoulder a few moments later.

"Hi! I'm Serena," the girl next to her spoke in a whisper.

She had sighed and reluctantly turned to her, sucking in a breath as she took in the owner of the cheerful voice. She felt an instant connection with this girl, but she didn't know why. They were total opposites.

Serena was a china doll compared to her. She appeared almost childlike in all of her petite glory. She stood 5'2" at her full height and had long golden hair that rippled and curled like a living thing. But what had struck Lita the most about her were her eyes. They were large, round, and the color of a summer sky. They had also shown with an innocence and sincerity that had struck straight into her heart.

Before she had known what was happening, she had found herself drawn into Serena's social circle. The perky blonde had introduced her to Amy and Raye, and then to Darien, Andrew, Asanuma, and Kobyashi. By the time her first week at Azabu had finish, she had found herself falling into the routine of group lunches and hanging out at the arcade after school. When Mina had shown up a few weeks later, she had watched in amazement as the cycle repeated itself.

During a late night junk food binge with the girls, she had spilled all the details of her lonely life. She told them how her parents had died in a plane crash a few years before while flying back from a chef's seminar in Paris. A distant cousin had been made her guardian, but since he didn't want to be saddled with an orphaned relative he had allowed her to remain in her family's apartment and had hired a caretaker to look after her. When she had turned sixteen she had told her guardian that she was old enough to look after herself. He had agreed as long as she stayed in school and completed her education. Luckily her parents had left her a tidy inheritance, so her apartment and other bills were paid for and she was given a generous living allowance every month.

Serena had predictably shed a fountain of tears for the pain and sorrow her friend had gone through. Then she had thrown her arms around Lita's neck and hugged her fiercely, making her promise that she would never get into a fight in school again so that they would never be separated. Lita had hugged her back and agreed wholeheartedly.

So it was that promise that kept her from storming into that locker room and mopping the floor with those spiteful bitches. She wanted to, badly, but she would not break her promise to Serena like that. Those girls just better hope that she never came across them alone in a dark alley. If she did she would give them the beating they deserved.

She hissed a painful breath as another electrifying jolt slammed into her body. She had always been a magnet for static electricity, but this was going a little overboard. She heard a crackling sound and looked down, shocked to see bright arcs of snapping electrical energy dancing at her fingertips. She leaned against the wall and held her hands in front of her, staring at them as if they belonged to someone else. What the hell was going on?"

"I'm going to go hunt down Mr. Stanton and see if he could use a little company for the evening," a voice said from inside the locker room.

"I wish everyone would quit talking about him," Lita growled as a vision of the sinfully good-looking man popped up in her head. She was tired of hearing about him. She was extremely grateful now that she had refused to dance with him. What kind of teacher went around asking students if they wanted to dance? He must be a major pervert.

Her head suddenly swam dizzily as the picture in her mind seemed to morph and change. Max's dark suit melted away to be replaced by a gray uniform of some type that appeared to be scorched and blood spattered in several places. His dark chestnut hair became disheveled and his slate blue eyes were cold.

"Stupid princess of Jupiter!" he sneered. "Did you honestly think that you would be able to beat me?"

She saw herself in a bloody sailor suit with a short green skirt. She clutched a gaping wound in her abdomen as it poured blood over her fingers. "I'm not dead yet!" she spat, sending out a fine spray of blood and saliva to hit him in the face.

He backed up a few steps and wiped an arm across his face. He glared at her as he leveled his sword in her direction. "You will be soon. Come on and give me your worst, Jupiter!"

An antenna extended up from the tiara on her forehead as lightening shot down to surround her. She ran forward and threw her arms around him, gasping in pain as his blade cut through her side.

She looked down into his shocked eyes before pressing her blood coated lips to his and whispering, "I will always love you, my dear general."

She called the lightening into their bodies, and just as she felt the darkness that was coming to claim her she heard a heartbroken scream, "Endymion!" She fell to the ground, still wrapped tightly around the man she held. Tears streaked down her blackened cheeks as she felt the last breath expel heavily from his body. The burning ache in her heart intensified a few moments later, and she knew that her beloved princess had died as well.

"Wait for me, Nephrite, Serenity. I will see you soon in the next world," she murmured weakly. Her eyes fell shut as the darkness descended.

Lita's head jerked up, her green eyes wide as a jumble of memories bombarded her brain. She remembered the moon. She remembered her princess and her sister scouts. And she remembered him.

"Nephrite!" she ground out. She had heard the recent stories on the news about the mysterious attacks that had been taking place around town and the unknown heroes that had been coming to the rescue. So far Sailor Moon was the one that had been receiving the most attention. Mercury had been briefly mentioned after the attack at the cram school earlier in the week and a few of the hijacked bus victims that had been semi conscious had mentioned seeing three scouts. Mars was the logical choice for the third since the attack had taken place right outside the shrine where Raye lived.

She pushed away from the wall. A hundred questions were burning inside her, and she wanted answers. She knew Mercury was awake and was pretty sure Mars was as well. She wasn't sure about Venus, but she couldn't imagine the leader of the scouts not being aware of what was going on. The big question that bothered her the most was why was Serena, who she now recognized as being her princess, fighting against this enemy as Sailor Moon? She was meant to be protected, not be on the front line battling youma.

And Darien Shields, aka Endymion, what did he know about all of this? She would like to have five minutes alone with that guy so that she could beat him to a bloody pulp. The prince of Earth that she had known in the past would never have allowed Serenity to be placed in any danger. They may have argued from time to time, but he had been fiercely protective of the moon princess.

She had to go hunt down her friends and find out what was going on before all of this drove her insane. And for good measure she needed to run Nephrite out of there. She had no idea what he was doing lurking around a high school dance, but considering he had been a brainwashed murderer the last time she'd seen him she figured he couldn't be up to anything good.

She had only taken a few steps when a loud boom came from inside the building and the ground shook. Then the sounds of hundreds of panicked teenagers screaming filled the night air.

"Shit! I knew he was up to something!" she exclaimed. She tried to call upon her transformation powers, but without her henshin rod there was no way for her to change into Sailor Jupiter. She was stuck in her civilian form without it.

"Lita!" she heard a voice call, and she turned to see two cats, one black and one white, running toward her.

"Luna, Artemis!" she cried. "What the hell is going on?"

The felines skidded to a stop in front of her, panting for breath.

"Thank the goddess!" Luna choked out. "I had a feeling that you had awoken, and I prayed that it was true. Here, this is yours." She jumped into the air and there was a glittery poof. A small, green, pen looking device hit the ground.

Lita snatched it up quickly. She held it up, ready to call out her transformation, but was cut off by Luna's shrill voice. "Wait! We have to tell you something first. Don't say anything to Serena or Darien about the past. They don't have their memories back yet. The other scouts have awakened, but Venus has not made her presence known. She is acting as a decoy for the princess until we find the Silver Crystal and restore Princess Serenity to her proper place. We'll explain everything later, but for now keep your knowledge of the past to yourself."

Lita's jaw clenched. Things sounded like they might be worse than she originally thought. "Okay, I won't say anything yet, but somebody better start talking when this is over. Just tell me one thing, is it Beryl again?"

Both cats nodded and Lita let out a stream of curses. "That's just great! I kind of thought so when I figured out that the guy that asked me to dance earlier was Nephrite."

Luna's cinnamon colored eyes went impossibly wide and Artemis shook his head grumbling, "So he's here too? I'm afraid our suspicions were correct, Luna."

Lita gripped her henshin rod close to her chest. "What suspicions? Are you saying that they were all resurrected with Beryl?"

"Up until now we have only seen Jadeite," Luna said on a sigh. "But if Nephrite has appeared as well, then it's safe to assume that Kunzite and Zoicite are slinking around somewhere as well."

"We'll take care of them when they decide to show their traitorous faces," Lita growled. "For now I'll settle for kicking Nephrite's ass." She held her wand up and cried, "Jupiter Power!"


"Are you having fun?" Melvin whispered into the ear of the girl with her head on his shoulder as they spun slowly in time to the music.

Molly raised her head to look at him with shining cobalt blue eyes and nodded. "I'm having a great time. Of course I always have a great time when I'm with you."

He grinned at her, brown eyes twinkling mischievously behind his glasses. "Who said nerds couldn't show a girl a good time?"

Molly slid one of the hands she had around his neck up and pulled playfully on a piece of his shaggy brown hair. "I've told you before, you're not a nerd! You are quiet and studious. Just because you get good grades doesn't make you a nerd. You're way too good looking to fall into the nerd category."

He lifted his chin and preened a little. "You think I'm good looking?"

She giggled. "You know I do. Of course there was a time that I could never imagine that I would have to look up to talk to you, especially when I am wearing heels."

"Thank goodness for growth spurts," he sighed reverently. "I think the time I've been spending in the gym has started paying off too."

Molly slid her hands down his shoulders to his arms, feeling the lean muscles beneath his tuxedo jacket and shirt. "You won't hear any complaints out of me. You're ripped."

He chuckled quietly. "And you're biased."

She shrugged. "Maybe I am. But I would still love you even if you were still short and wore thick glasses."

Melvin glanced around quickly to make sure that no teachers were watching before he leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to her lips just as the last notes of the song played. He pulled back with a smile. "Are you thirsty?"

She nodded and he took her by the hand to lead her off the dance floor. He saw her to a seat and then left to weave his way through the crowd toward the refreshment table.

Molly bent over to remove her high-heeled shoes and rub her aching feet. She adored the strappy black heels and loved the way they looked with her dress, but they were killing her. She was sure that she would pay for wearing them the next day, and probably a couple of days after that, but it was worth it.

She felt someone come to stand beside her, and then a deep voice asked, "Are you having a good time tonight, Molly?"

She looked up in surprise and then smiled at her substitute science teacher. "Yes I am, Mr. Stanton, thank you. And how about you? I would imagine that you would have better things to do on a Saturday night than to chaperone a high school dance."

He grinned good-naturedly. "I don't mind it. Everyone seems so happy and…energetic."

She felt a trickle of unease at the way that he said that last word. And when he turned his gleaming and calculating eyes on her, she jumped up quickly from her seat and began babbling. "Well it was nice talking to you, but I really need to go find my boyfriend. We have some friends of ours that we haven't managed to track down yet. Good night, Mr. Stanton."

She turned to walk away, wanting to get away from the creepy teacher and find Melvin. But a cold, hard hand locked around her arm like a vice. She opened her mouth to scream, but her throat suddenly felt paralyzed and her voice refused to work. She was spun back around and yanked into a pair of harsh, unyielding arms.

She felt hot breath against her ear as he rasped to her, "I don't think so, pretty Molly. You have something that I want, and I'm going to get it."

She desperately tried to pull away from him, but it was if every muscle in her body had locked up and frozen her in place. She felt fingers under her chin, forcing her head up. And when wide, panicked eyes met his, everything faded away into darkness.

Nephrite smirked as he gathered the unconscious girl close to him. It was time to get this party started.


"Do you have any idea where Lita wandered off to?" Mina asked Amy after she thanked Andrew politely for the dance and rejoined her friend. She was a little starry eyed from her encounter with her crush, but concern shown in her cornflower blue gaze as well.

Amy shook her head. "No. She wasn't here when I got back. I guess she either found a dance partner, went to get a drink, or went to the restroom. I'm sure she'll be back soon."

Mina chewed on her bottom lip. "I sure hope so. I wish Serena and Darien would come back too. I would feel better if we were all together."

"Is something wrong?" Amy asked quickly, opening her handbag. "I could try to find a private place and run a scan."

Mina waved a hand at her. "No! Don't pull the Mercury computer out here. It isn't worth the risk. I thought I felt something a minute ago, but I'm probably just being paranoid."

"I don't think you are," Raye said as she joined them. "I definitely felt a sweep of negative energy a few minutes ago. It was almost like it was scanning auras. I tried to pinpoint it, but it disappeared before I could."

"I think we need to find the others," Mina insisted quietly. "I think the Dark Kingdom is planning something."

They all nodded in agreement, but before they could move three loud explosions went off together and chunks of debris fell from the ceiling to block all of the possible exits. Screams erupted all around as the lights cut off, plunging the gym into total darkness. They turned back on a moment later, along with a spotlight that highlighted the man standing on the makeshift stage where the crowning of the holiday king and queen was supposed to take place later in the evening.

"Nephrite!" Mina hissed as she took in the sight of the tall general with his long chestnut hair and cold blue eyes. In his arms he held the body of an unconscious teenage girl that she recognized as being Serena's friend, Molly.

Behind her she heard Amy and Raye talking and knew that they were calling Serena on the communicator. They may not like the idea of their princess fighting, but in this case they didn't have a choice. They were trapped with nowhere to go and no place to transform, not that she would anyway. She needed to keep her cover as the moon princess for just a while longer. She was suddenly grateful that Artemis had taught her how to mask her aura so that she wouldn't show up as Sailor Venus. If they found out who she really was that would put Serena at risk if the Dark Kingdom began suspecting her of being the moon princess, and her identity needed to be kept a secret until the Silver Crystal was found.

"Serena, please be safe," she prayed as Nephrite began speaking.

"I'm sorry to interrupt such a joyous occasion, but I'm afraid I need your energy," Nephrite spoke calmly. "Now be good and give it up quietly so that the negaverse will rise and take over the world."

The old fashioned disco ball that the decorating crew had erected over the dance floor exploded to reveal a dark crystal that began sucking up everyone's energy. As Mina fell to her knees she tried to reach for her henshin rod, not caring if her cover was blown. At the same time Amy and Raye both reached for theirs, only to fall helplessly to the floor as their energy was zapped.

'It's all up to you, Serena,' she thought as she fell in a boneless heap on the floor. She hated to leave her princess without backup in a case like this, but her energy was being drained at an astronomical rate, and there was nothing that she could do.


"Damn it!" Sailor Moon growled in frustration as she pushed against the gym doors for the fifth time and was still unable to budge them. She placed her palms against the unforgiving metal and put her entire unsubstantial body weight into trying to shove her way into the gym. The screams that she had been hearing had dwindled into nothing but an occasional muted moan, and it frightened her.

A second pair of white-gloved hands appeared next to hers and began pushing as well. She didn't have to look to see who it was, she could feel his much larger presence wrap around her like a cloak. Part of her wanted to shriek at him to go away, but a larger part of her was secretly thrilled that he was still coming to her aid despite the fact that she had walked out on him only a few minutes before.

"Something's blocking the door. We aren't going to be able to get in that way," Tuxedo Mask grumbled as he gave up his efforts and stepped back.

Sailor Moon gave up as well and glanced quickly at him, grateful that his eyes were hidden behind the opaqueness of his mask. "What are we going to do? We have to find a way to get in there. I could try to blast the door open," she reached for her tiara.

She flinched a little as his gloved hand grabbed hers, and his mouth tightened into a thin, straight line at her reaction. "No, don't do that. We don't know what's on the other side of that door. There could be people close by and they could be hurt by flying debris if you blow that door open."

"Oh! You're right," she said softly, trying to remove her hand from his only to find it held tightly. She tried pulling gently, but he refused to let go.

He turned and walked away, pulling her behind him. "Come on, we'll find another way in."

"Okay," she agreed. "But could you let go of my hand, please? I can follow you on my own."

He stopped and she ran into his back. He did let go of her hand, but he turned to look at her as she grumbled and rubbed her freshly banged up nose. He looked severely put out.

"You never had a problem with me taking your hand before," he accused.

She stuttered in reply, "We…well, tha…that was before."

He snorted derisively. "Before what? Before you found out that the guy that you had trusted to watch your back during a fight was also your worst enemy? I'm so sorry to disappoint you!"

He ripped the mask away from his eyes and shoved his face close to hers, his sapphire eyes snapping with irritation and anger. "This is who I am, Serena! I'm sorry that I'm not some random stranger that you've never met, but things haven't changed. We still have a battle to fight and I'm still your partner whether you like it or not."

She recoiled a little from his raging emotions, and then her own agitation kicked in. "Get over yourself, Darien," she snapped with a glare. "I know that whatever happens in our personal life has no bearing on what goes on when we are taking care of business. And you're not my worst enemy, you big, dumb, stupid jerk! I thought I'd made it clear to you that you're my best enemy. There's a big difference!"

A grin spread across his face. "Right…best enemy. You know, some people may use the word friend instead."

Her lips twitched. "Don't push your luck! Now let's find a way into the gym and see what's going on."

His grin widened as she grabbed his hand this time and began dragging him behind her. He replaced his mask. "Lead on, my lady."

"Weirdo!" she muttered. "I'm not your anything."

'Not yet, but you will be,' he thought smugly to himself. 'I haven't given up on you yet, Serena. You can try to deny it if you want to, but you responded to that kiss and liked it. I know you have feelings for me, even if you don't want to admit it. But I can wait.'

She led him outside and to the side entrance of the gym. They both pushed on the doors, but once again they were met with resistance.

"What are we going to do?" she wondered out loud. "I'd be willing to bet my brother's Xbox that the doors on the other side are blocked as well."

Tuxedo Mask looked around, and then he looked up. An idea began forming in his head. "Let's go up there," he said, pointing to the roof.

"What good is that going to do?" she demanded sharply.

He rolled his eyes. "There are skylights on the roof. We'll be able to look in and see what's going on and possibly be able to get in through there if we have to."

"Oh," she grumbled, feeling a little foolish for not figuring that out right away when he first mentioned the roof. "Right! Let's go!"

They both took a couple of running steps and pushed off hard from the ground, straight up. They soared through the air for a couple of seconds before landing softly, side by side, on the roof. But they both reeled back a step when they realized that they weren't alone.

A larger figure and two small ones were crouched in the darkness by the nearest skylight and were peeking down into the gym below. All three looked up at the muffled thumps of their landings.

"There you two are!" a relieved voice exclaimed. "I was beginning to worry when I couldn't find you anywhere in the crowd."

"Luna? What's going on?" Sailor Moon asked, hurrying toward them. She pulled up short when she got a good look at the person with the two felines. "Lita! You're a sailor scout too?"

Her auburn haired friend grinned and nodded. "Sailor Jupiter, at your service."

Sailor Moon groaned and began rubbing her temples. "All of my friends are turning into sailor scouts around me. What next? Is Mina going to become one too? And I guess it's only a matter of time before Andrew, Asanuma, and Kobyashi start running around in tuxedoes and throwing roses like him." She gestured emphatically toward Tuxedo Mask.

Jupiter smirked. "I don't think so. By the way, Shields, that's a nice look on you."

He gaped at her. "You know who I am?" He glared at Luna. "I guess you went and told everybody, didn't you?"

"She didn't tell me," Sailor Moon grumbled. "I had to find out the hard way."

Jupiter laughed. "Luna didn't have to tell me. It's pretty obvious just by looking at him. I can't believe you didn't figure it out right away."

Sailor Moon sighed. "I had my suspicions for a while, but then I went into denial. Anyway, what's happening down there?"

Jupiter's expression turned serious. "We've got one dark kingdom general and he's using some kind of a dark crystal to suck up everyone's energy. So far there's no youma, but I'm sure he'll summon some in a heartbeat if we interfere. Amy and Raye are trapped with the rest, so we can't expect any help from them. And he's holding a hostage."

Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask both leaned over the skylight to get their first look at the situation.

Sailor Moon gasped. "That's not Jadeite! And he's got Molly!"

"Nephrite!" Tuxedo Mask ground out between clenched teeth as he balled his fists at his side.

Everyone's head snapped toward him. "You recognize him?" Artemis asked quietly.

His brow furrowed in concentration. "Yeah, but I don't know why. I'm pretty sure I've never seen the guy before in my life, but he seems familiar somehow. It's the same feeling I got when I saw Jadeite, almost like I know them from somewhere."

Jupiter and the two cats shared a significant look. Perhaps Endymion's memories weren't as deeply buried as they had thought. They had believed that neither Serenity nor Endymion's memories would resurface until the Silver Crystal had been recovered. But if the way he was glaring at his former general was any indication, it meant that the memories of his past life were bubbling just underneath the surface. That could be both good and bad.

It could be good because everyone knew that Endymion was obsessively protective of Serenity, almost to the point where others could question his sanity. That would definitely help ensure Serena's safety, but it could also put her at risk as well. Beryl had been overly infatuated with the earth prince in the past. If she ever discovered that Darien was Endymion's reincarnation, it wouldn't take her long to figure out that Serena was Serenity. And that was what they were trying to prevent from happening until the Silver Crystal had been restored to its full power.

That was an issue they would have to address later. For now they needed to stop Nephrite and free his victims before somebody was seriously hurt, or worse, killed.

Jupiter eyed the locks on the skylight. "I think I can handle those. Everybody, step back."

Tuxedo Mask didn't budge, although Sailor Moon snatched up both of the cats and retreated several paces. He stared down the Amazonian scout. "I think something a little more subtle than you blasting a hole in the roof would be appropriate for our entrance."

He flicked his wrist and a steel tipped red rose appeared in his hand. He took careful aim and launched the rose at the locks. They shattered quietly as it skimmed over them.

Jupiter smirked. "Understated, but effective. Now lets go kick some dark kingdom ass!"

Tuxedo Mask pulled the skylight open before dropping through the opening. Sailor Moon shot a curious glance at Artemis as she handed him to Jupiter. "I can't believe you hid the fact that you could talk like Luna from me all this time, but I guess I'm not really all that surprised. I've kind of come to expect the unexpected lately. I'll want the full story later, but first I want to save my friends and everyone else."

She jumped through the opening holding Luna securely. She sat the feline down on the floor gently as Jupiter landed beside her and did the same with Artemis. Tuxedo Mask wasn't far away, and he was glaring daggers at the general.

Nephrite turned slowly toward them, his eyes widening just a fraction when he took in Sailor Jupiter's tall, seething form, but he quickly covered it with a smirk. "Well, well, Lady Jupiter, this is a bit of a surprise. And you two must be Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask. Jadeite has told me so much about you."

"Funny, he never mentioned you to us," Sailor Moon replied, trying to sound firm despite her jumping nerves. Jadeite had scared her with his cold, evil persona, but this guy was ten times more intimidating. He stood a few inches taller than even Tuxedo Mask's height of 6'2" and was almost twice as broad as the masked hero. There was a lethal air about him that chilled her to her bones. This man was a killer, and he wouldn't think twice about it. He probably ate shrimps like her for breakfast.

Something that could have almost passed as humor sparkled in his eyes. "Please forgive my rude manners. I am Nephrite, second in command of Queen Beryl's generals and her loyal subject."

"Puh-leeeeze!" Jupiter drawled with a roll of her eyes. "All you are is a cowardly, backstabbing turncoat! It's because of you that the Silver Millennium was destroyed. If you and the others hadn't jumped ship and joined Beryl, none of us would have died and Queen Serenity would have been able to take down the Dark Kingdom with the Silver Crystal."

Sailor Moon shuffled over to Tuxedo Mask's side and whispered. "Do you get the feeling that Lita knows something we don't?"

He nodded in agreement. From the way she was talking, it was pretty safe to assume that Sailor Jupiter definitely recalled some memories of her past life. Her words struck a chord deep inside him and a fleeting memory of the same man before him, laughing and smiling, flitted across his mind, but faded just as quickly before he could make anything out of it.

Nephrite chuckled darkly. "Still just as feisty as ever I see, Jupiter. I couldn't help but notice that Mars and Mercury are here as well." He waved a hand in the direction where Raye and Amy lay unconscious on the floor. "It got me to wondering. With so many scouts together in one place, does this mean that Princess Serenity is nearby? Queen Beryl is most interested in having a little chat with her."

Jupiter's hands balled into fists and lightening began to crackle around her. "Even if she was, I wouldn't tell you. You'll never lay a hand on my princess, not while I've got breath in my body!"

"Tut, tut, you're always the protector, aren't you?" he admonished her sardonically. "Surely you can see how futile your efforts are. What hope could you possibly have that one, insignificant little princess would be able to stand up against the might of the Dark Kingdom? I have bled all of these pathetic people almost completely of their energy, your fellow scouts included. And as soon as I have taken this girl's energy I will have a nice gift to present to Queen Beryl." His arms tightened around Molly.

Sailor Moon lunged forward. "No! Let her go!" She fought against Tuxedo Mask as he grabbed her and held her tightly against him. "Let me go, Dar…Tuxedo Mask! I won't let him hurt her!"

"Calm down, Serena!" Tuxedo Mask whispered calmly to her. "You're not going to do Molly or anyone else any good if you go charging after him recklessly. All you'll do is get yourself hurt."

Nephrite's eyes glinted as he took in the struggling girl. "Normally I would love to challenge you, Sailor Moon. But as you can see I have other business to attend to right now. But if it's a fight you want, I'll be happy to accommodate you. Celestina! Polaris!"

There was a loud crack, and then two buxom youma were knelt before him. They had identical faces and features, but one had long white hair and was dressed in a white leather corset and matching miniskirt while the other had hair as dark as pitch and wore the same outfit in the blackest of black.

"How may we serve you, Lord Nephrite?" they asked together.

"Keep these nuisances occupied while I finish up here," he ordered, nodding toward Sailor Moon, Tuxedo Mask, and Sailor Jupiter.

"Of course, my lord," the opposite twins answered before blurring into motion so quickly that they practically disappeared.

Thanks to his elevated sense of hearing, Tuxedo Mask heard a low hissing sound and jumped with Sailor Moon in his arms only seconds before a blast of dark energy hit the spot they had been standing. He landed on one of the rafters and lowered Sailor Moon to her feet as Jupiter lit beside them after dodging a similar attack.

"I'll take care of the bimbos. You two find a way to shatter that crystal," Jupiter said, pointing at the dark crystal that was now eye level with them. "I bet if we break it everyone's energy will be returned."

"But what about Molly?" Sailor Moon cried hysterically. "We can't leave her with him!"

"We'll get to her," Tuxedo Mask soothed her. "But first we have to get rid of Nephrite's pit bulls. While Lita's taking care of them maybe we can help everyone else."

The two youma appeared before them, floating in mid air. "You're not going to spend all night hiding up here in the dark, are you? That's no fun."

"I'll show you fun!" Jupiter snarled, flinging out a hand and sending bolts of lightning flying from her fingers toward them.

They both shrieked as her attack singed the ends of the white haired one's hair and the hem of the dark haired one's already almost nonexistent skirt. Their eyes flared red and they both took off after Jupiter as she leapt away.

"I hope she's careful," Sailor Moon muttered as she watched her friend lead the youma away.

"She'll be fine," Tuxedo Mask told her. "Now let's see what we can do about pissing Nephrite off and getting everyone their energy back." He launched one of his deadly roses at the crystal, but it bounced harmlessly off a barrier of dark energy that surrounded it.

"Let me try," Sailor Moon said, taking off her tiara and charging it up before throwing it at the crystal with all her might. It recoiled back with a snap and she barely caught it with her fingertips as it flew back toward her.

"Well that didn't work," she grumbled as she replaced the tiara on her brow. "What do we do now?"

"I'm thinking!" Tuxedo Mask snapped harsher than he intended.

Sailor Moon flinched as though she had been struck. "Well excuse me! I figure that since you're the know it all with the big brain and genius IQ you might have an idea about what to do next. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother talking to you!"

He drew back at her words. Even though he had known for a few days that Serena was Sailor Moon, his brain had still been classifying them as two separate people. But hearing Serena's voice spilling hurt-filled words out of Sailor Moon's mouth brought the reality slamming home.

"I'm sorry, Serena," he said softly. "I had no right to snap at you like that. The truth is I honestly don't have a clue how to break through that barrier."

She looked up at him as she heard the sincerity in his words. "It's okay. I understand."

Then she jumped as noise exploded beneath them. The dark youma let out a howl as one of Jupiter's attacks managed to destroy her partner, and Molly came to with a scream of agony as Nephrite held her tightly against him and shimmering waves of energy began rolling off of her to be collected in a second, smaller crystal that the general held in one palm.

Tears burned Sailor Moon's eyes. "I've got to do something!"

The area around her right hip suddenly grew very warm, and she slipped her hand into the carefully concealed pocket of her skirt to pull out the wand Luna had given to her. The golden crescent moon at the top glowed innocently, but she felt power humming through her hands as she wrapped her fingers around the handle.

"That's weird. It's never done that before," she muttered in confusion.

Tuxedo Mask eyed it skeptically. The same vision that he had the last time he saw her with that wand of the older woman with silver hair in the same style as Serena's floated through his mind. "Have you even tried that thing out yet?"

She shook her head. "No. I have no idea what it does or how to use it. Luna just gave it to me and said that when the time came I would know what to do."

"So much for that idea," he grumbled sarcastically, scanning the floor below them. "And it seems like your furry little companion decided to make a run for the hills, Meatball Head."

She glared at him. "You're being a jerk again."

Just then the wand flared brighter for a moment, and Sailor Moon's eyes went wide as a sudden understanding filled her. "I do know what to do. I just don't know if it will work. That barrier deflected your rose and my tiara easily enough."

"Just watch out where you point it," Tuxedo Mask actually whimpered as she turned toward him with the wand in her hands. "I've got a sneaking suspicion that that thing packs quite a punch."

"Oh please!" Sailor Moon snorted as she pointed it at the black crystal that had sucked up everyone's energy. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm kind of at the bottom of the food chain when it comes to scout power. I don't go around shooting ice bubbles, or fire…" she paused as another one of Jupiter's sizzling attacks took out the second youma, "or lightning like the others. All I got stuck with was a stinking tiara."

No sooner had the words come out of her mouth than a beam of white-hot light shot from the crescent moon and slammed into the crystal, shattering it into a million dust fine particles. Clouds of vaporous energy began floating down and being absorbed by the bodies.

Nephrite snarled and threw Molly aside. He hadn't even half drained the girl yet, but he was filled with a murderous rage. He could handle the loss of two youma, but to lose all of that energy…the moon brat was going to pay for that.

"You little bitch!" he growled, glaring up to where Sailor Moon stood next to Tuxedo Mask, both of them with matching expressions of shock on their faces. "You won't live long enough to regret that." Queen Beryl would be beyond pissed that he was coming back to her empty handed. But if he could deliver her the death of the meddlesome moon scout, that would go a long way in redeeming him.

He took a threatening step forward, relishing in the sight of the tiny scout cringing back into Tuxedo Mask's embrace as the masked hero pulled her against him protectively. Maybe he would get lucky and be able to take out both of the troublemakers. He would be welcomed back to the Dark Kingdom as a hero if he could pull that off.

He jumped back as a surge of lightning flew past his face. He leveled his cold gaze on Jupiter as she stepped into his path. "Get out of the way, Jupiter. I seem to remember that the last time we fought didn't end so well for you."

Sailor Jupiter smirked. "It didn't go so great for you either. But you've got another thing coming if you think I'm just going to stand by and let you go after my friend. The only way you're going to get to Sailor Moon is if you go through me first, buddy! So if you want to go another round with me, then bring it on big boy! I'm ready for you!"

A twisted grin curved his lips. "I would like nothing better."

There was a rush of heat, followed by a blast of icy coldness as Sailor Mars and Sailor Mercury appeared on the scene.

Jupiter grinned at them. "I wondered when you two were going to quit sleeping on the job."

Mars returned the grin with one of her own. "You're one to talk. We were starting to think that you were never going to wake up." Then she leaned closer to whisper. "I'm just glad that Amy and I recovered faster than everyone else once the energy was released. We snuck into the locker room when no one was looking and transformed."

Jupiter looked around expectantly. "But what about Ven…"

Mars slapped a hand over her mouth and then looked pointedly over to where Mina was still lying on the floor. They both saw a china blue eye wink at them from under a fringe of blonde bangs before it closed again.

"We'll talk later," Mercury promised. "But how did you break that crystal?"

"It wasn't me. It was all her doing," she pointed up to Sailor Moon, who smiled in relief and jumped down to join her friends, followed closely by Tuxedo Mask.

Nephrite was seething in anger. One sailor scout alone he could handle, but there was no way he could take on four of them and Tuxedo Mask. "You've won this round sailor scouts, but I'll be back. You haven't seen the last of me."

"Famous last words," Jupiter snorted. "That sounded just like a line out of a poorly made, low budget movie."

"I'm just glad that everyone's okay," Sailor Moon cheered, beaming a smile at all of them.

"We should probably get out of here," Mercury told them as the people around them began moaning and stirring. They all jumped up quickly through the skylight to the roof.

Sailor Moon's knees suddenly felt wobbly, and she would have collapsed if Tuxedo Mask hadn't put a supporting arm around her waist. She hated to admit it, but whatever that blast from the wand had been had made her feel a little weak.

"You should probably go home and get some rest, Serena," Mars said in concern. "You look completely wiped out."

Sailor Moon shook her head. "No. As much as I want to go home and have a date with Ben & Jerry, I want to make sure that everyone's okay first."

"We've got it under control," Mercury insisted. "Everyone should be awake soon, and I'm sure the principal will send everyone home after that. Raye and I should definitely stay because we were in the gym when the attack happened and it may seem suspicious if we suddenly disappear. But a lot of people know that you weren't around, so it shouldn't be a problem for you to slip away."

Sailor Moon chewed her bottom lip uncertainly. "I don't know…"

"Enough of this debating!" Jupiter exclaimed. "Shields! Take the girl home already! She looks ready to drop any second. And I don't want to hear any more arguments out of you, missy! Go home and curl up with a pint of ice cream and a good movie. And I don't want to see hide nor hair out of you until at least noon tomorrow! Is that understood? I don't care if the whole city is falling down around us, you keep your butt at home and in bed!"

"Ye…yes ma'am," Sailor Moon stammered weakly under the force of her friend's stern glare. She muttered a hasty goodnight to the others after promising to meet them at the arcade for lunch the next day. And then she felt cold air rushing past her as Tuxedo Mask jumped lightly from the roof to the ground with her still in his arms.

He sat her gently an her feet and said softly, "You should probably go ahead and detransform."

She nodded and pressed a hand to the broach on her bow. After the light show and dance of ribbons ended, she stood there in her blue and silver dress once more.

Darien, who had also changed back into his civilian form, stood transfixed, staring at her in wonder.

She glanced nervously at him. "What?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. I've just never seen you with your hair down before. It's really long."

She groaned. "Shoot! I knew I was forgetting something." She rummaged in her small bag and pulled out a gaudy pink pen. "Luna Pen, fix my hair and make up exactly the way you had it earlier so mom won't get suspicious when I come in."

There was a glow of soft white light, and when it faded she had been transformed back into the elegantly coiffed girl that he had seen walk into the dance earlier in the evening. She looked absolutely stunning, but he found himself preferring her wholesome, natural look compared to this made up version of her.

"Nice trick," he commented with a grin.

"It comes in handy sometimes," she replied wearily. "You don't have to take me home, Darien. I'm perfectly capable of walking on my own."

"Yeah right!" he snorted, taking her arm and steering her toward the parking lot. "You look half dead, there's patchy ice everywhere, and you're wearing two inch heels when you have a hard enough time walking barefooted on a flat surface. That's a recipe for disaster."

She stuck her tongue out at him and muttered, "Jerk!" under her breath, but she allowed him to lead her to his red BMW and get her situated in the passenger seat. He rounded the car and got in behind the wheel, starting the engine and turning the heat on full blast when he saw her shiver.

"It'll warm up soon, just give it a minute," he told her.

She nodded and leaned her head back against the headrest, closing her eyes. He took a moment to drink in the sight of her, but he was concerned by her sudden tiredness and the lack of color in her pale face.

"That new attack took a lot out of you, didn't it?" he asked softly.

Her eyes fluttered open and she gave him a wane smile. "Yeah, a little. It was like it came from inside of me. I felt really warm right here," she placed a slim hand against her chest, "and then it was like whatever it was traveled down my arm and came out through the wand."

"You sure took that crystal down quick enough," he replied with a grin before turning thoughtful. "So what are you doing tomorrow after you meet with the girls?"

Her eyes turned wary. "I don't know. I don't have anything planned. We are on vacation after all. Why?"

He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. "No reason. I was just thinking that if you felt like it we could get back to your lessons. We've really slacked off this week with everything that's been going on, and don't take this the wrong way, you could still use the help."

She gaped at him for a moment. "You want to keep teaching me?"

He cleared his throat. "Well, yeah. Sailor Moon's lessons were always important to me, even when I didn't know who she was. But now that I know she's someone I know that makes them even more important."

She thought about it for a moment. The thought of spending hours alone with Darien was a little unnerving, but as long as she treated the sessions in a professional way she should be fine. "Okay. I agree to let you keep teaching me. But the moment you start acting like an ass I'm outta there."

He grinned and put the car in gear. "Fair enough. Now let's get you home so you can get some rest. And Serena, about earlier, when I kissed you, I…"

She held up a hand and cut him off. "Can we please not talk about that right now? I have so many things running through my head right now that it's hard to concentrate."

She had come up with her own reasons why he had kissed her, and none of them were happy. Pretty much it boiled down to her thinking that this was a simple case of one super hero developing a crush on another. Darien had never seemed romantically interested in her in the two years that she had already known him, but the moment he found out that she was Sailor Moon he hadn't wasted any time in kissing her.

That brought up another question. "How did you find out who I was, anyway? I don't remember ever saying anything to give it away."

The glow from the dashboard lights lit up his amused face. "No. You hid your identity well. Of course I had noticed the physical similarities between you and Sailor Moon, but your personalities were so much different. When you're Sailor Moon you show a serious side to yourself that I had never seen. I was suspicious for a while, but then I convinced myself that there was no way that you were the same person. But then I found this." He took one hand off the wheel and fished around in his jacket pocket until he pulled out a small piece of white fabric.

Serena gasped as she recognized it as being her missing handkerchief that she had been looking for. "I've been wondering where that thing was! But how did that tell you who I was?"

He smirked. "I saw you with it at the arcade last Sunday, and then Sailor Moon dropped the same handkerchief on the roof of the Crown after that supermarket attack. It was just too much of a coincidence that both of you were carrying around such a ridiculous handkerchief, so I started watching you closely and followed you to Amy's cram school when Mercury woke up. I saw you transform and knew my suspicions were correct."

She sighed as they pulled up in front of her house. "Wow! All the sneaking around I've been doing lately, and a silly handkerchief gave it away. That's crazy! But then again, most people aren't as maniacally observant as you are. You should really think about getting a hobby or something, Darien."

"Uh, uh, uh," he admonished her as he brought the car to a complete stop. "If I have to be nice to you, then you have to be nice to me. That's only fair."

Serena lifted her chin defiantly. "Fine! But I bet you'll be the one to break the truce first. You have a hard time controlling that mouth of yours."

His eyes twinkled at the challenge. "You're on! The loser has to treat the winner to the largest ice cream sundae that Andrew can make."

Her mouth dropped open in surprise. "Really? You didn't strike me as being much of an ice cream fan. All I ever see you get at the arcade is soda, coffee, and the occasional burger."

"There's a lot about me that you don't know," he quipped lightheartedly.

"So I'm beginning to see," Serena muttered as she looked out the window at her home. The lights shining in the windows gave it a warm, welcoming appearance. As she stared out, she saw the curtain on the living room window twitch. Noticing her father's car in the driveway, she knew it had to be him looking out. Her mother was probably wrestling him to the ground right now to keep him from storming out here to see who she was with.

She slowly unlatched her seatbelt. "I guess I better go. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Call me if you need me," Darien called after her as she climbed out of the car and began walking up the front walk to her door. She was just about to step up on the front porch when she slipped on a patch of ice. She would have gone sprawling if she hadn't reacted quickly enough to grab the porch railing to hold herself up.

As she righted herself she looked over her shoulder back toward the car. She couldn't hear him, but she could see Darien almost doubled over with laughter. She ground her teeth tightly together and carefully climbed the two steps up to the porch with her back straight and her head held high. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing that he got under her skin.

As she opened the door she heard the sound of his car as he pulled away. She stepped into the entry hall and closed it firmly behind her before letting out a loud breath and leaning against it.

"And just who was that, young lady?" a slightly hysterical voice demanded.

She looked up to see her mother blocking the living room doorway and her father trying desperately to get by her. He was wild eyed and practically foaming at the mouth. "That better not have been a boy! You know that you aren't allowed to date until you at least finish college. Your mother said that Melvin gave you a ride to the dance, but that was not his car."

Serena huffed an irritated breath. "Chill out dad. There was an incident at the dance so it ended early. Darien offered to give me a ride home, that's all."

"Darien…as in Darien Shields, Andrew's friend?" Ken seemed to calm slightly. "Well at least it wasn't a total stranger. But Andrew was with you, right? You weren't riding around with that boy alone, were you?"

She crossed her fingers behind her back as she told a little white lie. "Of course he was with us, dad. Darien was giving him a ride home too, so don't blow a gasket."

Ilene nodded approval at her daughter's words, but she gave her a conspiratorial wink and smile that let her know that she knew that there had only been two of them in that car. Serena just hoped that her mother didn't ask her a million questions about it. She could be quite a drama queen when she wanted to be.

"What kind of incident stopped the dance?" her father cried, turning around and scrambling for his remote control to change the station on the TV to the news. Luckily nothing was being reported on the attack at the high school yet."

"It wasn't that big of a deal," Serena told them. "It was a monster attack of some kind, but I didn't see it. I was in the bathroom primping with the girls."

Ken shoved his hands through his hair. "You see, Ilene! This is exactly what I was talking about earlier. We can't even let our children go to a place where they should be safe. Maybe next semester we should start home schooling the kids. Or better yet, we could move out into the country near your mother where it's safer."

Serena was appalled by both ideas. "No way!"

Ilene patted her comfortingly on the shoulder. "Don't worry dear, I'll take care of it. Why don't you go on up and relax. You look tired." Then she turned to her husband. "Sit down and calm yourself, honey, and I'll go make us some nice chamomile tea."

Serena took advantage of the opportunity and sprinted for the stairs as fast as she could. This was definitely one night that she was ready to put behind her.


"IDIOTS!" the scream echoed throughout the chamber, causing the assembled youma to quake in terror. "Can neither one of you get anything right?"

Jadeite and Nephrite both ducked as a glass flew toward them and sailed over their heads to smash into a thousand pieces against a wall behind them.

Beryl spun on them, her eyes blazing with fury. "I am surrounded by incompetent fools! I gifted you, my most elite youma, with the bodies of some of the most powerful men on Earth. I was even able to keep most of the general's powers intact for you to use as well. All I asked in return was for you to gather energy, find and destroy one cursed little moon tramp, and bring her crystal and Prince Endymion to me, and you couldn't even do that!"

A few large rocks broke free from the walls to tumble to the ground as the enraged queen's voice continued to rise in pitch. The youma scattered to escape the falling stone.

"Please try to calm yourself, my queen," the platinum haired Kunzite spoke from beside the large, black, grotesquely ornate throne. "Getting yourself worked up like this won't solve our problems."

"Calm, hell, I want her dead!" Beryl screeched as she threw herself across her throne. "I want that little lunarian bitch's corpse in front of me so that I can spat on her and watch as her blood stains the floor red. And I want Endymion at my side when that time comes so that he knows that I am the only woman for him."

"It will happen, your majesty," Kunzite soothed her as he knelt next to her knee. "We may have run into some obstacles along the way, but the time will come when we will find your prince and that princess that stole him from you. You will have your revenge on her and will take her Silver Crystal. I promise you that."

Beryl's breath hitched as she felt his hand caressing her calf under the long purple skirt of her dress. Of all of her generals, Kunzite was the only one who could soothe the raging beast within her when it came to the surface. "Kunzite, come with me! The rest of you may leave. Jadeite, Nephrite, you two are confined to chambers until I can figure out what to do with you. Just count your blessings that I didn't decide to kill both of you on the spot. That is all." She stood and made her way over to the stairs that led down to Metallia's inner sanctum with Kunzite trailing behind her.

The youma rushed from the chamber at the dismissal, followed closely by Jadeite and Nephrite who were anxious to put some distance between them and their murderous queen.

Zoicite paused for a moment to glance over his shoulder at Kunzite's retreating back before snickering. The poor guy probably had a wild night ahead of him. He would be lucky to be able to walk by morning. He shook his head in sympathy before returning to his research.

Beryl led the way down the stairs holding the small orb of energy Nephrite had been able to bring back from that human girl. It wasn't a lot, but it was strong energy. Metallia would benefit a lot from it. She knelt before Metallia's essence and silently offered up the energy to her. She stayed in that kneeled position for several minutes before rising slowly to her feet.

"Kunzite," she said softly, not turning to face him. "You are on my side, right?"

"I am, my queen," he answered smoothly.

"And you would never betray me, right?" she questioned insistently.

He stiffened a little, but answered in the same even tone, "Of course not, your majesty."

She turned to him then, her eyes blazing with an emotion hotter than her anger had been only a short while before. She sauntered over to a nearby chaise lounge and lowered herself across it. "Then prove it to me."

Kunzite grinned mockingly. This was a game that he was used to playing. "If that's what you wish." He began stalking toward her.

Beryl bit back a moan. Kunzite was the only one of her generals that could make her feel like this. He had been Endymion's teacher in the art of combat, so his movements closely mirrored those of the earth prince she craved. She waved a careless hand and his long, light hair shortened and turned as black as the darkest midnight sky and his silver eyes darkened into a deep ocean blue. His gray uniform faded away to reveal a set of ornate black and silver armor with a long, sweeping, red lined cape. His shoulders and chest slimmed down some to a tapered waist. But when the spell was complete he was an exact physical duplicate of Prince Endymion.

She knew on the inside that he was just an imitation of the one she truly wanted. He was nothing more than a possessed body under an illusion spell, but the moment she looked into those mesmerizing eyes she fell into a world of fantasy where no one existed but her and her prince.

A feral smile twisted her lips. She could already imagine the feel of his body surging over hers as she arched beneath him, lost in the throes of passion that he would be able to invoke in her. Kunzite was very skilled as a lover. And if she contrived this much pleasure from an illusion, she could only imagine what heights her real prince would be able to lift her to once she had him in her arms.

Heat and lust flooded her body as she thought of that and opened her arms to him. "Come to me, Endymion. Come love me and make me believe that we will be successful in destroying that hateful girl. Tell me that you love only me and that you will never leave my side."

He laid himself carefully across her body and looked down into her reddish brown eyes before answering in Endymion's low, husky voice. "I love you, my dearest queen. There will never be any other woman for me but you." Then he claimed her lips in a searing kiss as he ran his hands over her. Neither one of them spoke again for several hours.

A/N So there we go. Another chapter bites the dust. I know I'll probably get some flak for that last scene between Beryl and Kunzite, but this is supposed to be a twist story and I didn't want it to be all sunshine and rainbows. Besides, I've always pictured Beryl to be one severely messed up chicky. I always thought the anime never portrayed her as being the deep, tortured person she was in the manga. And you all know that I am a huge supporter of scout/general pairings, but I don't feel like I'm messing with Kunzite and Mina too much since technically that's not Kunzite. Everyone that has read "What If" knows that Mina's true soul mate is alive and well. Kyle, Jake, Nick, and Zack are just sitting back and waiting patiently until it's time to launch the S season twist, "Stolen Hearts". Expect some more of Serena and Darien dancing around each other and their feelings, after all, their big romance doesn't start until the R season. But there will be a few dramatic moments between them. More twists and turns are coming up. Don't forget to drop me a review and tell me what you think. I'll see you all next update! Lots of love!

~Sere~