Bunny yawned as she dressed after her shower. Even though she rose every morning at five to train with her guardians she was in no way a morning person. She pulled her last shoe on and dragged herself to the kitchen. On her way she passed a grouchy blonde heading towards the shower and reflected that Jason was just as bad in the mornings as she was. On the other hand there was Nick who, though he enjoyed a good sleep in, could quite easily handle getting up every day before dawn.

He greeted her cheerfully as she sat down at the table and handed her some of his pancakes.

"G'day Angel, how many pancakes?"

"Mornin' Nick, three please." She inhaled the delicious aroma and muttered, "We are so lucky that you don't mind cooking at home as well as at the restaurant."

He smiled, placed the rest of the pancakes under a cover on the centre of the bench and then sat down with his own plate next to her. "Well this way I don't have to do any cleaning. Besides I wouldn't want to run the risk of letting Jason use my kitchen. Until I met him I would have thought it impossible for a pot of water to catch on fire."

They both paused for a minute and then shuddered simultaneously at the thought of Jase cooking.

"He's even worse than I am," Bunny mused, "And that's saying something."

Nick tilted his head for a moment and answered, "He's gotten a lot better since we first met, now I can at least trust him not to poison himself by accident. Anyway Angel, you're not a bad cook, you're just a messy one. Some of the stuff you make is really good."

"Thanks. But you should taste some of Lita's cooking. She's really good."

"I take it this Lita is someone you met yesterday."

"Yeah and get this you are her hero!" she grinned at his astonishment, "She wants to be a chef you see and she thinks our restaurants are the best."

"Well they are," he stated confidently and then mulled her news over in silence for a couple of minutes. "So is she cute?" he finally asked.

"You wanna know something?" she grinned.

"What?" he answered cautiously.

Bunny laughed, "She asked the same thing about you!"

"Nice to know, if she is cute that is," he paused when Bunny nodded in confirmation, "But somehow I get the feeling she might be a bit young for me Angel."

Bunny shrugged, dismissing the thought, "When you get right down to it, you guys are too old for everyone!"

"Thank you for reminding me of my extensive years," he said dryly.

Bunny paused for a moment before looking at Nick and asked, "You're waiting for Her aren't you? I mean Sailor Jupiter. You're still in love with her?"

He looked down at her with sad eyes and she stood and moved across to hug him, "Don't worry Nicky we'll find them, all of them. And when we do she'll understand. She won't blame you."

He kissed the top of the small teen's blonde head as he held her to him, "I don't think so Angel. What I did is not something that can ever be forgiven."

She pulled away from him far enough to look him straight in the eyes. Her own showed the uncanny depths that were often barred from her and as he looked into them Nick felt her light soothe his still bruised soul.

"Yes it can," she contradicted him, "If you try, truly try for forgiveness and really work to redress a wrong then redemption can always be found."

He smiled and she was relieved to see it reach his eyes, "How did you come to be so wise Angel?"

Bunny giggled and returned to her chair, "I don't know."

"That proves she's only faking it Nick, she probably read it in a fortune cookie somewhere," teased a more alert Jason as he entered the kitchen, fresh from the shower. Kevin and Zoe followed behind him and both smiled as Bunny poked her tongue at Jase. Jase retaliated by blowing her a raspberry and they look set to start a war when Zoe laughed and intervened.

"Jase, you're thirty-three years old, over sixty if you count your last lifetime. Don't you think you're getting a bit old for that?" she asked wryly.

Kevin snorted loudly behind her and both Bunny and Nick caught his muttered, "As if!"

Jase sniffed and gathered his dignity around him, "Old? I am not old-... over sixty? Are you sure?" he paused and did some mental arithmetic. His face fell dramatically and he dropped heavily into a chair, "You're right... I am getting old, and the Angel's growing up. How depressing." Bunny smiled and handed him the syrup that he poured liberally over his pancakes. He smiled at her and shrugged.

"He's right you know Angel, you are growing up and growing into the wisdom both of your mothers have bequeathed you," Zoe informed her while she dished her own breakfast up.

"Thanks." Bunny fidgeted a moment then looked at them one by one.

"What's up Angel?" Kevin asked noticing her examination.

"I kind of had this really weird dream last night," she answered reluctantly.

"So spill," Jase retorted, shoving half a pancake into his mouth.

She nodded, put the remains of her last pancake down onto her plate and bit her lip a moment before beginning, "It was really weird because I don't remember there being any pictures or sounds or anything, just words. It wasn't like someone was reciting them to me or I was reading them, they just sort of appeared in my head."

"What were they?" Nick asked placing his fork down and focusing solely on her.

"I don't remember all of them, there was something about a wall, protectors and redemption. It's the last part that stayed with me. It goes: When death retreats of the reaper's free will, when gold dances to silver's beat, when Earth revovles around the Moon, then will the host be free once more. Does that make any sense to you?" She looked up to find her friends staring at her intently, "Well?"

Everyone turned to Kevin who raised an eyebrow at Nick. He nodded and Kevin returned his attention to Bunny, "Your dream sounds like part of a prophecy."

Nick nodded again, "It's probably very well known on the Moon and something you knew when you were Princess Serenity. It sounds like it was predicting what would need to happen before your people are freed."

"So freeing the Moon Kingdom might have nothing to do with defeating Metallia?"

Nick shrugged and Kevin leaned back thinking intently.

"I wonder whether that's a good thing or a bad one?" he eventually mused aloud.

"A bit of both I would expect," Zoe guessed.

"At least we don't have to destroy Metallia so that we can free the Lunarians so they can kill Metallia," Jase quipped.

Bunny thought about that for a couple of seconds before shooting him a quick smile. "That's all very well but this Earth revolving around the moon thing sounds even more impossible."

Nick shook his head at her, "Don't tempt fate Angel."

Jase agreed emphatically, "Yeah, or we could end up with the Earth being knocked out of its proper orbit because Beryl and Metallia both having massive hissy fits."

"Oh... what have you seen in the stars Nick?" Bunny asked.

"Nothing much. The beginning is too close now and it obscures almost everything else."

"How about a more cheerful topic?" Kevin interrupted, "Meet any interesting friends yesterday Angel?"

Bunny's enthusiasm returned and her cheeriness chased the gloom away from the others in the room. "Yeah!" she squealed, "There was Lita, she's the girl who I was telling you about Nick. Then there was Amy, a lot of the other kids were saying that she's a genius with an IQ of over three hundred!"

"What about the boy you were talking with when I got there?" Jase asked.

Bunny looked at him suspiciously, he had a long history of teasing her about boys but this time he seemed to be innocent. The attack came from a totally unexpected corner.

"Is he cute?" Zoe asked with a smile.

Bunny sighed in exasperation, "No! He's a jerk! He calls me Meatball Head and I admit that it was my fault we started out wrong, but I apologised!"

"So is he cute?" this time it was Jase who asked, smiling slightly.

"I've already said no!" Receiving four disbelieving looks she shook her head and relented, "OK, he's not ugly. Lita and Amy both seem to think he's gorgeous. The sub zero personality problem he has must disguise it I guess."

"So what happened?" Kevin asked, his lips twitching and the other three nodded.

Bunny did not like the knowing looks they kept giving one another and answered reluctantly, "I knocked him over on the way to school. I admit that I wasn't looking where I was going but then again neither was he so it wasn't entirely my fault. I said sorry and he chucks a fit. He starts calling me names in the middle of the street, we get into a roaring argument and he makes me late for school." She paused and frowned, "What time is it?"

Kevin looked up at the clock and answered, "Ten past eight."

Both Jason and Bunny stared at him in horror, "You're kidding!" they shouted simultaneously.

"Oh man I'm gonna be so late!" Bunny moaned as she leapt up and ran to fetch her school bag.

"You? What about me?" Jase yelled back. Kevin sighed and resumed eating his breakfast. Zoe smiled and Nick stood and padded to the kitchen and then stationed himself at the back door to their two-storey house.

Ten seconds later Jase and Bunny were back and both of them sprinted to the door.

"At least if you're late you don't get detention!" Bunny was saying.

"No I'd just be fired!" he returned.

Neither of them even slowed down as they passed Nick who was holding the door open for them. Both of them murmured thanks as they accepted the lunch boxes he handed them, not even pausing in their argument.

"As if! Now me, I'm gonna end up having to write a three page essay on the advantages of being punctual!"

"Point." the older blonde's concession was the last the three remaining heard as Nick closed the door.

"Nice weather today, isn't it?" Nick said as he sat back down to finish his breakfast.

***

"So Bunny, I never got the chance to ask you yesterday, what did you think of Darien?" Lita quizzed as they strolled down the street. The three of them, Amy Lita and Bunny had finished school ten minutes before and were now headed to a nearby arcade. Bunny had narrowly missed detention that morning, Jase having gotten her to school instants before the bell had rung.

At Lita's question Bunny looked at her in disbelief, "You've gotta be kidding me!" she exclaimed.

Amy added, "It was kind of obvious that she doesn't really like him Lita."

Bunny nodded her agreement but Lita persisted, "Come on you can't say you don't think he's cute!"

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" Bunny shouted in exasperation, "Lita if it weren't for the fact that you two are so nice and yet obviously like him, I'd dismiss him as a total waste of space. As it is he is a class A jerk!"

"Geez calm down, I'm sorry!" Lita tried to soothe the irritated blonde, "It's just that it's hard to imagine a girl who's not head over heels with him."

"You aren't and neither's Amy," Bunny pointed out.

Lita shrugged and answered, "We've known him forever, he's like a brother to the both of us."

"Hmph! Please let's forget about the Zit and you tell me about these girls you're going to introduce me to."

"Sure-" Amy said only to be interrupted by Lita.

"Why do you call him Zit?"

Bunny grinned, "A lot of reasons, I'm sure you could think of a couple for yourself."

"Come on Bunny," Lita begged

"Ask him," was the only reply.

"I did," Lita answered in disgust.

"He wouldn't answer," Amy finished.

"Sorry, you're going to have to pry it out of him... or maybe bribe me!"

Lita stared at the tiny blonde in calculation, "What'll it take?"

"A triple choc fudge sundae?" suggested Bunny.

"Dea-" Lita started to agree when Amy mused aloud.

"Was it because he irritated you or because of his hair?" she asked.

"Drat, I guess I don't get that sundae," Bunny muttered.

"His hair? I don't get it," complained the tall brunette.

Amy explained, "He kept picking on Bunny's hair so it makes sense that she would return the favour. Think about it black hair, black head..."

"Oh!" comprehension dawned and Lita smiled at Bunny, "I guess it does kind of suit him after the way he was treating you. He was being a pain huh?"

"Yeah. Usually I'm not like that, I mean two wrongs and all of that it's just, you have no idea how much flack I cop because of the way I wear my hair."

"It is rather unusual," Amy commented.

"I know but that still doesn't make insulting me about it alright," Bunny muttered.

"Here, Here Bunny. By the way you were great yesterday, totally awesome!" Lita complimented her, "No one had ever gotten the better of him like that before."

"I guess," she didn't sound too sure.

"What's wrong Bunny?" asked Amy, hearing the hesitation in the smaller girl's voice.

"It's just... I don't like not liking people. I'd rather make friends with someone and the first thing I do when I get here is to find a nemesis."

"Don't worry about it Bunny, we'll help you meet so really nice people and when Darien's had time to get over the sulk he's in then we'll reintroduce the pair of you and you'll get along fine," Lita proclaimed grandly.

"I believe that when I see it," Bunny muttered and Amy winked at her.

A couple of minutes later they came upon the Crown Arcade and walked in. Immediately Amy and Lita spotted two other girls and began heading in their direction. The blonde turned and saw them and then began to wave while shouting, "Amy, Lita, hi!" The trio got to the table where their targets were sitting and joined them.

"You must be Bunny," Mina babbled, "Hi I'm Mina, Lita, Amy and Darien have told me all about you."

Bunny's eyebrows rose at this assault and she smiled back and said, "Don't believe a word of it. Especially what ever Darien said, he's biased."

"Now that I've seen you I believe everything they said. They told us you were beautiful and they were right! You have the most amazing hair!" Mina giggled again and Bunny blushed furiously.

"Darien was right too, you are a midget with a weird hairstyle," the black haired beauty mused, "What he didn't say was that you were more like a fairy than a dwarf and that your hair was so perfect for you."

Bunny's blush changed to a flush of rage and back again so quickly that the other girls blinked. "Thank you... I think," she answered uncertainly.

"Don't worry Bunny, Raye's always like that. She can be really hard to get along with sometimes but she always tells the truth." Lita chuckled from the side.

"And what do you mean by that?" Raye demanded of the taller girl.

Mina giggled and Amy rolled her eyes as the pair began t argue furiously.

"They're always doing that," Mina whispered and Amy nodded in agreement.

"So you've all been friends for a long time then?" Bunny asked.

Mina bobbed her head. "Yeah, I was the last to join the group and I moved here nearly five years ago."

"Where'd you live before that?" Bunny asked in interest.

"Europe,"

"Oh so you would have heard of Sailor V then?" Bunny began to bounce in her seat, "She's my favourite super heroine but hardly anyone's ever heard of her. If it hadn't been for Jason bringing me some of her comics back after a business trip I wouldn't have ever known about her either. Apparently her popularity is confined to England but that has to be wrong."

All of the girls looked stunned for a moment, Raye and Lita forgot their argument and Amy's eyes were wide. Mina on the other hand was quiet for a second and then an enormous grin appeared on her face, "Of course I've heard of her, in fact I am Sailor V. I played her in the movie and even modeled for the Sailor V ads."

Lita, Amy and Raye all wore expressions of extreme martyrdom and Raye muttered under her breath, "Here she goes again."

Bunny ignored them and enthused, "Wicked! Did you get to keep any freebies?"

Mina began to gesture wildly with her hands, "Yeah, I've got a whole bunch of posters, the action figures, the games, all of the comics-"

"Yeah, yeah. Bunny does not want you to list the contents of your room Mina," Raye interrupted and then turned back to Bunny, "Anyway what do you like to do in your spare time Bunny. Any hobbies?"

"Well I love comics and as I said Sailor V is my favourite. I also love myths and legends and old fairytales. I like to sketch and paint. Other than that I help out where ever I'm needed. Sometimes I act as a waitress at business dinners for Jase. Or I help out at any of our new restaurants when Nick is getting them started. Or I run errands for Kevin and Zoe. They've always got something for me to do. So what about you two?"

Mina shook her head and poked her tongue out at Raye before answering, "Well I like shopping," Raye rolled her eyes, "and boy watching." She grinned suddenly and eyed Bunny in a way that made Bunny very nervous, "I also like match making."

Bunny's eyes went wide, "Uh oh!"

Lita and Raye started to laugh, even Amy had to hide a giggle.

Mina looked very put out, "I'm pretty good at it, I can usually spot a good match a mile away."

Raye took pity on Bunny and cut Mina off, "Well as you know by now I'm Raye. I'm a priestess at the Cherry Hill Shrine,"

"Wicked," Bunny breathed.

"Yep, and it's my job to help Amy keep these two out of trouble."

"Do they get into a lot?" Bunny asked.

"You have no idea," Raye rolled her eyes again. Lita looked offended and Mina tried to appear innocent. Raye glared at them for a moment before smiling at Bunny, "There was one time..."

***

Darien walked into the arcade and sat down at the counter where Andrew was serving. His friend smiled in greeting and gave him a cup of coffee before heading off to help some kids. Darien sipped his drink and unfolded the newspaper he had bought at the stand across the street. As he did so he glimpsed a flash of gold out of the corner of his eye. He looked over to see a small blonde teenager with her hair in meatballs playing the Sailor V game. Meatball Head likes Sailor V? I wonder if Lita and Amy have introduced her to Mina yet. They'll probably get on like a house on fire.

Putting the girl out of his mind he proceeded to read the paper. Ten minutes later laughter caught his attention and he looked up to see his best friend laughing with Bunny. What? He stood and approached them quietly. As he got closer their conversation became understandable.

"That's such a neat trick, thanks for showing it to me!" Bunny was saying.

"No probs, anything to make a pretty girl smile," Andrew replied

What on Earth are you doing Drew?

Bunny blushed and giggled a moment before answering, "Thank you, I'm Bunny."

"Andrew, but call me Andy."

"Oh, are you the Andrew that's friends with Lita and Amy?"

"You know Lita and Amy?" Andrew said surprised.

"Yeah, I'm new here and they've been showing me around a bit."

"Then they would have presented Darien to you. Rats, now I don't stand a chance!"

Drew what are you going on about? You can't seriously be considering whether to ask her out or not.

"Darien? Oh no we met on our own, he's a total jerk!"

Not again! What did I do to deserve this?

Andrew's face showed surprise at her comment and at that moment he looked up to see Darien standing behind the pair. He started to grin and Darien rolled his eyes.

Not you too Drew? Well I can't let her get away with it. "So nice to know I made such an impression on you Meatball Head."

He watched in amusement as she jerked upright and slowly turned to face him, "Not again, please, not again. I'm not in the mood for you right now!"

"Don't blame me Meatball Brains, you never seem to be in the mood." Did I just say that? Andrew was grinning at him. Apparently I did. Please don't let her think I want her to like me. That would be the ultimate humiliation.

"And who's fault is that?" she retorted, "I'm not the one that started the name calling... and still doing it."

"But it suits you so perfectly-"

"As Zit does you and do you hear me yelling it out in a public place. No!"

Maybe but when you get down to it Meatball Head is nowhere near as bad as Zit. I mean a Zit's is a symptom for acne, a disease. Andrew left, still grinning widely and he caught Darien's eye as he did so and winked. Grow up Drew, you're as bad as Mina. He looked back at the irate blonde in front of him and sighed. I do owe you an apology, but how can I give it to you with out letting you know you were right?

"Look Meatball Head, you're just a very teaseable person OK? I can't help it if you bring out the worst in me."

"You mean you have a better side?" she retorted.

Ouch! "OK, maybe Meatball Head isn't such a great name for you... Medusa might be better, what do you think?"

"Medusa?"

"Uh uh, your glare certainly has the potential to turn people to stone."

She attacked him with that same glare but moments later her look became thoughtful.

"What?" he asked with caution.

She shrugged and smiled dryly at him, "Nothing, just that it's not as big an insult as you would have hoped. I mean Medusa was supposed to be very beautiful before Athena made it so her eyes would turn people to stone."

"Ah but remember her hair was snakes, that would tend to turn prospective dates off."

"So now my hair makes you think of snakes... no, don't answer that" she hurriedly appended, "You already pick on my hair enough."

Darien chuckled. Am I so predictable? "OK Meatball Head, I won't make any new comments about your hair, but I make no promises about old ones."

"Hmph!"

"I take it you like mythology?" he remarked casually. You knew who I was referring to immediately. She tilted her head and looked at him suspiciously. Darien displayed his best expression of innocence. Come on Meatball Head, I'm trying to be nice. Please don't make it any harder. She turned back to the video game and popped another coin in making Darien think she wasn't going to answer.

"Yeah," Darien almost jumped when she spoke. He watched her playing for a couple of more minutes and he saw he glance at him from the corner of her eye. Apparently she realised that he was waiting for her to elaborate as she began to talk as she manipulated the game's controls.

"Yeah, I like mythology."

Come on Meatball Head, you can do better than that! "Any particular favourites?"

She turned to him in surprise before the frantic beeping of the game forced her to concentrate on trying to extricate her character from near death. After a moment she answered, "Yeah, the one about Selene and Endymion."

What?!! "Huh?" he blurted in shock.

She smiled as she glanced at his expression for a second, "Yeah, the one where the goddess of the moon falls in love with a shepherd. Do you know it?"

"I've heard of it, but it sound rather far fetched to me." Oh yes, Selene and I were having an affair and it wasn't Beryl that caused my... sudden disappearance, it was Selene enchanting me into an eternal slumber.

"It's a myth, they're not supposed to have a basis in fact."

"You'd be surprised!" he replied enigmatically. She looked away from her game again and examined him in bemusement. Oh yes Meatball Head, there was a Merlin and King Arthur, Odysseus and Troy, Robin Hood. You would be very surprised at some of the stories that are true.

"Maybe," she conceded reluctantly as she returned to her embattled character, "But there are a lot of versions of the same story. Some say that it wasn't Selene but her daughter or that Endymion was a king or a prince rather than a shepherd. Others say that the spell that Selene placed on Endymion wasn't one of eternal slumber and that she didn't do it because she was in love with him."

"Oh?" Now I'm interested. Where did you find all of this?

Bunny twitched uneasily and looked around the arcade briefly. Seeing nothing important she shook her head and turned back to Darien. "There's an old story that I came across once that there was a war and that the spell Selene cast was to save Endymion's life, hoping that one day he would be able to free her. In that story she's not a goddess, she's a queen and her people were all trapped on the moon."

Could that be the truth? It certainly sounds more believable than a goddess falling madly in love with a mortal. I've got to know the whole version. "I've never heard it that way before. What book did you get it out of?" Bunny looked startled at his question but then she twitched again. What's up Meatball Head? Itching powder? If so then it wasn't me!

"I don't remember. It might have been a story my mother told me at night. I can't be sure." She squirmed again and her inattention caused her icon to die a noisy death. She frowned briefly at the screen and then stood. Darien watched in confusion as she quickly glanced around the arcade again and then sighed in frustration, "Sorry Darien I've gotta book." She picked up the schoolbag that was lying beside her stool and turned to leave. After going only a couple of steps she turned back to him and said in a contemplative voice, "You know Darien, you can be almost tolerable when you want."

Oh? "Gee thanks Meatball Head," he returned dryly.

She frowned, "On the other hand you can still be an unbearable jerk."

He snorted and she walked off.

"So you like her?" a laughing voice commented from behind him. Darien turned to find Andrew grinning at him, his eyes dancing with amusement.

Not this again! "I've said this before and I'll say it again, she's a meatball head."

"A meatball head that you like."

"Drew, grow up!" Darien retorted as he headed back to where his cooled coffee and paper still lay on the counter.

"Come on Dare, you can't deny it. I mean I've never seen a girl get under your skin like Bunny just did."

"Like a parasite," he muttered in disgust. Yeah, ringworm or something.

Andrew looked at him with a skeptical expression, his voice oozed mockery "Rrriiight."

"She rubs me the wrong way."

"You seemed to be getting along OK for a while there." Andrew observed.

"Only because I was making a conscious effort. Lita and Amy have taken her under their wings. If I want to eat then I can't tick Lita off." There is no way I'll eat my own food if Lita's cooking is available!

Andrew laughed and moments later began to choke.

"What's up Drew?" Darien asked in concern.

His friend tried to regain his breath at the same time as he gestured to the front window. "M... monster!" he gasped.

Darien whirled and saw people running down the street in a panic. He turned to Andrew and barked, "Stay here!"

"But-" his friend began.

Darien began to rush out the arcade entrance, "I've go to see this," he explained over his shoulder.

As soon as he got outside Darien saw the cause of the hysteria and was frozen for an instant himself. A two metre tall thing was floating in the air over the middle of the street and shooting blasts of energy at people randomly. Darien shook himself out of his inertia and ducked into the alley beside the arcade. He quickly drew out his rose and instants later leapt to the roof of the arcade as Tuxedo Mask.

Tuxedo Mask, I don't believe I let them stick me with a name like that. It's better than what Haruka came up with though. Capeboy just doesn't seem to cut it. Ham it up Lita said, oh well here goes nothing. "Streets should be safe for all to enjoy. Foul monster begone and leave these people to pursue their lives in peace!" his voice echoed out over the street but Darien flinched inwardly. Goddess, I sound like a bad cartoon character, please let the Scouts come before I destroy my brains spouting this drivel!

The creature forgot about the humans and looked up to the roof Tuxedo Mask was posing on.

"Who are you?" it screamed.

He leapt over the monster, shooting three of his steel tip roses at it as he went, and landed on the street about twenty metres from the monster. "I am Tuxedo Mask, protector of the innocent and I will destroy you!" From here on I think I'll just shut up and leave any speeches to the Scouts, I am bloody awful at them!

At that moment the monster or whatever it was began shooting energy blasts at him. The tuxedo-clad warrior ducked the first and frantically scrambled out of the path of the following blasts. Come on Tux get your act together! Darien as Tuxedo Mask flung several more of his roses at the thing and discovered that, though they didn't seem to harm the creature itself, they instantly neutralised any energy blasts whose path they cut through. OK, OK, I don't seem to be able to hurt it but I can stop it from hurting others. That doesn't sound too bad. I can hold it off for a while.

At that moment the monster stopped shooting energy blasts and instead revealed several tentacles that proceeded to entangle Tux. Change that, we are definitely going to have to get mobile phones or something. Relying on the alarm in Mercury's computer does not seem to be working.

Suddenly a golden discus of light shot through, first the tentacles binding Tux, and then the monster itself. Tuxedo Mask was released and fell to land, agilely, on his feet. The monster itself glowed for an instant and dissolved into grey dust. Tux stared in the direction the attack had come from and saw a girl in a miniskirt standing on the same roof that he had just vacated.

About time you Scouts showed up... hang on, who are you? As he examined her closer, noting the strange Scout's uniform colours, four more voices shouted out from behind him.

"Tuxedo Mask, are you OK?"

"What happened?"

"Where's the problem?"

"What's wrong?"

Tuxedo Mask turned to stare at the four inner Scouts, "What's wrong? What took you so long?"

Mercury looked harried, "The energy signature of your attacker is radically different from that of a Shadow. Tracking it down proved to be more difficult than we expected."

"We have got to get some kind of communication device. I was almost killed trying to handle that thing on my own!"

"Then you shouldn't have been fighting." The strange Scout had approached while they had been talking and now she looked at Tuxedo Mask disapprovingly.

Tuxedo Mask and his Scouts all examined her. She was in red and blue, colours none of them had ever seen applied to a Scout uniform before and at her side was a sword. I'd forgotten just how short those skirt were. Her long blonde hair was done up in buns and ponytails with red jewels twinkling in the buns. That hair, those eyes. Surely not... It couldn't be... At that moment the glimmering crescent on the new warrior's choker caught the eyes of everyone present. Huh? What on Earth was I thinking about? Oh yeah...

"Look, whoever you are, what right do you have to tell me that I shouldn't be fighting?" he demanded.

"None," she answered, taking him aback, "But if my tiara destroyed that thing then it wasn't very strong. If you couldn't handle that one on your own then how do you expect to keep up in the future? The attackers are only going to get stronger from now on in."

"Very true Sailor Scouts," a mocking voice suddenly spat from overhead, "Or should I call you Sailor Brats for not one of you looks like you have grown up." The six fighters looked up to see a man with short blonde hair, green eyes and a vicious expression floating above them. "I believe you might remember me. I am Jadeite, third general of the Dark Kingdom. Queen Beryl predicted you Sailor Failures might have been reborn and I am pleased to confirm this. Playing with you and your little friends is going to be fun."

"Jadeite!" Tuxedo Mask whispered, stepping closer to the hovering figure. Jade, you're still trapped by that witch? The others too? Oh my poor friends!

He closed his eyes in sorrow and suddenly a weight knock him off of his feet. He opened his eyes to find the unknown Scout leaning on top of him and watching as Jadeite blasted at the other Scouts. Tux saw her scowl and whisper something too quietly for him to hear before turning back to him.

"Are you OK?" she asked in concern.

"As much as can be expected," he answered sadly. It feels kind of familiar, you sitting on me like this, where have I felt this befo- His thoughts broke off and his eyes widened in shock as he saw Jadeite conjured forth another monster behind her. She saw his shock in his face and turned to look. Tux grabbed her and rolled her underneath himself, covering them with his cape. Instants later a blast of acid impacted against it not doing any harm. Thank you Mercury!

Tux could here the war cries of the Scouts as they attacked the monster. The pair of them continued to huddle together as the stream of acid did not let up. Jadeite's voice floated to them in the protective cocoon.

"Do you like my pet? It's called a youma. The last one was bait, to see what we could dig up. This youma is for real now that I know you are here. Have fun Brats!" and there was a pop.

Tux looked down into the blue eyes of the Scout lying beneath him. Wow! Get back on track Endy. "Any suggestions?" he murmured.

She smiled and raised a hand to her forehead. As he watched the gem in her tiara glowed and soon she was holding another glowing disk. "On three?" she proposed.

He nodded. "One,"

"Two."

"Three!" they shouted simultaneously as he rolled off of her and she flung the disk of light as she rolled in the opposite direction. A roar of outrage greeted them as they regained their feet. They moved back together to face the monstrous youma.

"So the first one was just bait?" he said conversationally as they watched it.

"Looks like," and she sent her tiara spinning off again, receiving only minor results.

"That probably means this one will be even stronger," he murmured ruefully, twirling another of his steel tipped roses between his fingers.

"Probably," she agreed apologetically.

He looked at the rose and shrugged, "Oh well, never hurts to try." The rose lanced through the air to pierce the youma and reappear out the other side.

The pair looked at each other for a moment and Tuxedo Mask grinned as the monster's outrage threatened to deafen anyone within a three-kilometre radius.

The strange warrior nodded at him respectfully. "I do apologise, it seems you were just dealt a bad first hand."

"Put it out of your mind," he returned magnimoniously as he sent a half a dozen more roses into the fray. The other Scouts continued to attack the youma as well with less effect than the new Scout's tiara. Tux saw her frown, glance about and then draw her sword.

"Keep it occupied, will you?"

He bowed, "As my lady commands."

"Such a gentleman," she mocked cheerfully. He winked and she giggled as she disappeared into the shadows of the nearest building.

He turned back to the task of distracting the youma and began to work out a rhythm. Gesture, throw, gesture, and throw. Well at least this time, I'm actually having an affect. Suddenly a sparkle of silver caught his eye and he looked up to see the strange Scout leap off of the building holding her now glowing sword overhead. She fell towards the monstrosity bringing her sword to bear. The creature must have realised its danger as it too began to turn until another rose forcibly rerouted its attention. Moments later, the silver blade was scything through the monster's body and by the time the swordswoman had landed all that remained of the youma was dust.

The Scouts and Tuxedo Mask all watched her with awe that was only dispersed when the dusty remains of the youma caused her to sneeze.

As she sneezed and sheathed her sword Sailor Jupiter walked up to her and exclaimed, "Who are you?"

The girl looked up in surprise and smiled shyly, "A friend."

Tuxedo Mask moved to her side and caught her eye, "Do you have a name?"

To his delight she blushed before answering, "Um... yeah. Just call me Sailor Moon."

"But there's no Scout for the Moon!" Venus contradicted.

Tuxedo Mask noticed that both Mars and Mercury were each examining her in their own ways. Mercury was scanning her with her minicomputer and Mars was doing what ever it was that psychics did. She's not an enemy, I'll bet you anything that neither of you'll find anything to indicate that she is.

As he watched Sailor Moon cocked her head and nodded for some reason. She turned back to them and spoke directly to him, "There mightn't have been a Sailor Moon before but there's one now. ''Til next time!" then she leapt straight up, higher than Tux would have thought possible and disappeared at the apex of her jump.

"Deny it." a voice beside him said cheekily.

"Huh?" he answered in Sailor Jupiter in confusion.

"That girl, you like!"

"Do you ever think of anything other than trying to set me up?" Why me?

"It would be wiser if we were to make sure that she is on our side before we make friends with her," Venus added with a sigh, "For all we know she could be another of Beryl's servants trying to get us off guard."

"From what Jadeite said they weren't even sure that we had been reborn before today. Why go to all the trouble of creating a traitor who mightn't be needed. Besides without her we would have lost, none of our attacks were making a difference," Jupiter argued.

The five warriors slipped into the nearest alley and returned to their everyday forms. Walking down the still empty street they resumed their conversation.

"You don't have to worry about whether or not she works for Beryl Mina," Raye said after her identity of Mars had faded, "I think it would be physically impossible for her to think an evil thought. She is the brightest soul I have ever encountered, she radiates positive energy."

"So there really is a Scout for the moon now?" Lita asked.

The moon? Is Selene helping us again?

"No," stated Mercury, "What she did she did as a human, a talented one, but a human nonetheless. Her uniform doesn't have the same resonance ours do and she doesn't radiate with a planetary force although her personal energy levels are amazing. She's only a little weaker than the Guard used to be."

The five of them were silent for a minute pausing outside the entrance to the arcade.

"The generals are still with Beryl," Lita whispered.

"There's worse, Jadeite at least is stronger now than he was last time," Amy informed them.

"And they've joined Beryl willingly," Raye added.

Not possible. They'd never, would never betray us willingly.

Raye dismissed their protests, "The darkness I sensed in him was too strong to be explained by brainwashing or coercion."

"Just Jadeite, he was the easiest to manipulate. It doesn't mean the rest of them have turned," Lita protested and Mina rested her hand on her friends shoulder in sympathy.

My poor friend, my poor friends. Lita I hope that you're right, for all of our sakes. If we have to face them as willing enemies then our chances look very grim indeed.

"I'm afraid we can't think like that Lita. You know as well as the rest of us that none of the Guard would have been easy to break. If Beryl has turned one then she has mostly likely corrupted all." Amy argued softly.

"We're doomed then," Lita sighed.

"Not necessarily, I mean there's Sailor Moon and if she's for real then there might be others," Mina contradicted.

Sailor Moon. Why choose that name or that costume? "Amy I want you to run another scan of the moon for me and compare it to the ones you did for me when I was Endymion," he ordered absently.

"Darien?" he snapped back to reality to find four anxious gazes on him.

He smiled reassuringly, "I have this feeling." Coincidence maybe but... "You're all going to think that it's because of my obsession with the moon but what are the chances of there being a super powered girl showing up in time to save me and calling herself Sailor Moon?" There are no legends of the Sailor Scouts how did she know? Then again Sailor V is quite popular around here. "Then there's the fact that although today's technology is nowhere near as advanced as ours was people from this time have still managed to walk on the moon."

"What are you getting at?" Mina asked.

"I'm not sure... Amy if you get time do you think you could dig up all references to the myth of Selene and Endymion?"

"Sure!"

"Bunny's right Dare! Reading about how a goddess was supposed to have adored you? Kind of egotistical isn't it?" Lita joked, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

Darien smiled slightly, "In fact it was Bunny who gave me the idea." His smile grew at her incredulous expression. "She told me about a version where Selene was a Queen trapped on the moon. Now we're supposed to free the Shadow Bane right? And we know for a fact that Queen Serenity can fight the Shadows and win. What if the prophecy means we're supposed to free the moon goddess?"

"I don't believe it!" Lita shook her head.

"What? Why?" Darien asked with a frown.

"Uh? Oh your explanation makes perfect sense and you might really be on to something," Lita suddenly grinned, "I just don't believe that you and Bunny managed have a civilised discussion with out killing each other!"

Darien groaned and his friends giggled. He frowned at them and waved goodbye as he entered the arcade to reassure Andrew that he was fine. As the girls walked away he heard Lita's cheerful voice drift back, "Poor Darien. First it's that he's hounded by dozens of girls he can't stand and now that he's found a couple he likes, one detests him and the other is a total stranger!"

Darien sighed again. Why me?

***

Sailor Moon found herself being lowered gently to the roof of a tall building. Behind and below her Tuxedo Mask and the Scouts were still talking to one another softly. As her feet touched the firm surface Jadeite's telekinesis released her and she hurled herself into his arms. She tapped the side of his collar, causing his helmet to retract and stared into his eyes searchingly.

"What's wrong Angel?" he asked, concerned. Behind him his three fellow generals gathered closer. She hugged herself to him and he stroked her hair to soothe her down.

"I knew I was right," she murmured into his neck.

"About what Angel?" Kunzite asked from beside the pair.

"I knew it wasn't really Jadeite down there but they all seemed to believe him."

"Jadeite?" Zoicyte asked.

"Me?" blurted Jadeite

The Guard drew the young warrior into the shadow of an overhang and the remaining three triggered the retraction of their own helmets.

"Tell us what happened," Nephrite requested, shaking his hair out.

"From the start Angel," Kunzite ordered.

"She nodded, "Well I was in the arcade talking to Darien-"

"The jerk?" Jadeite teased, "I thought you didn't like him."

"I don't," she protested, "I was playing a game to pass the time. Lita and her friends had had to leave and I was bored. I was talking to this cute guy when he came up and started teasing me again."

"Sounds like love!" Jadeite quipped.

"Jade," Kunzite said warningly.

Sailor Moon poked her tongue at him and as he stuck his back out at her Nephrite grabbed it.

"Keep it in your mouth and still or I'll pull it out, so help me!"

Kunzite and Zoicyte sighed and Sailor Moon hid a giggle as she continued, "I was talking and I started getting all edgy, like something was crawling all over me. I left the arcade and less than five minutes later there were people everywhere screaming. I ducked into an alley, transformed and went to see what was happening. When I got there, there was something called a youma and it had Tuxedo Mask wrapped in its tentacles." Jadeite opened his mouth but shut it again after a warning look from Nephrite.

Sailor Moon took pity on him and explained, "Tuxedo Mask was the man in the tux and the cape, he seems to be friends with the Sailor Scouts. Well I threw my tiara at the thing holding him and it turned to dust. After that the inner Scouts arrived and I went down to talk with them. While we were talking with them a man that looked exactly like Jadeite appeared and started bragging. He called himself Jadeite, third general of the Dark Kingdom."

"And you could tell that it wasn't Jade? How? Because you know him or was there something special?" Kunzite interrogated.

She bit her lip, "A lot of both. I know how Jade feels in my head, how you all feel in my head and that guy felt wrong. His power was like Jade's but it was twisted and it didn't taste like the phoenix the way Jade's does. Also he's stronger, you know that edgy feeling I had in the arcade? Well it got a lot stronger when he appeared, he made me want to crawl out of my skin, the youmas did too, but not as badly."

Kunzite leaned forward and kissed her forehead, "Not a bad first battle at all Angel. You've shown that you can sense when the Shadows are about to attack, discovered that Beryl has figured a way to clone or copy us, you've made contact with the Scouts and you've met this new warrior Tuxedo Mask."

"OK, but there weren't any Shadows there," she argued.

"I think there were, it's just that Metallia has figured out a new way to use them," Zoicyte explained, "I think she has Beryl making bodies and getting Shadows to possess them."

"Oh."

"You know what this means, don't you?" Nephrite asked Kunzite who nodded.

"We can't tell the Scouts who we are. They wouldn't be able to tell us apart from any copies Beryl might have made."

"I can," Sailor Moon protested.

"We know Angel, but you're linked to us. Our auras are hidden from most people, only the general colour can be seen, not strength or shape or feel. The Scouts won't be able to see as you do," Nephrite answered.

"What about the prince?" she asked.

Kunzite shook his silver head, "Our bond to him broke on our death and was replaced by our one to you afterwards-"

"But he wasn't just your prince, he was your friend," the younger warrior argued, "There's a bond in that as well."

The four generals looked at each other hopefully.

"Maybe," Zoicyte muttered doubtfully.

"We'd have to get him on his own long enough to explain," Nephrite added.

"The Scouts will not like it," Jadeite agreed.

Kunzite looked at the girl before him, "They'll probable try to kill us," he warned.

She winked at him, "Don't worry, I'll protect you."

He smiled, "How can we argue with that?"

"You can't," she grinned.