Disclaimer: Naoko Takeuchi owns the Scouts while I created the Knights.

Chapter XXIII: The Final Countdown.

Int. Kino Residence, Juuban, Tokyo - 5th December 2002, 5:30 pm

It had been nearly a month since the concert which had proved such a major embarassement for the senshi, a month in which they could reflect and prepare for the horrors that may face them. However, right now those worries were temporarily hidden as it was time to party. At her apartment Lita was celebrating her 21st birthday with her friends. So far Hotaru, Michelle and Amara had arrived, Amara wanting to arrive before the snowstorm outside took a turn for the worse.

"Well, I just hope it doesn't last. We've all got homes to go to later, so we don't need it to make the roads slippy."
"Hey, it's the first time it's snowed this winter." said Michelle with a smile on her face. "We could always go outside and have a snow fight later"
"Maybe." chuckled Amara as she smirked.
"Anyway, not long to go until Christmas, eh?"

"And not long until the big day either. I hope you've both got something to wear." said Lita as she re-entered the room, wearing her favourite long, pea-green dress, matching high-heels and a silver watch that Amara and Michelle had given her as a present.
"How could we forget? Michelle's already put a sign in huge letters on the wardrobe." Michelle's smile turned mischevous. "I'm looking forward to the day itself, I'm just not looking forward to wearing a dress all day. I hate those things."
"Aww, come on Amara, surely it can't be that bad." replied Lita joyfully. "I mean, you may be all tomboyish, but you're still a woman at heart, right?"
"Nah. I'm just a masculine personality in a feminine body. I like my body the way it is though, it's just the things I'm supposed to wear." Lita slowly sat down on the sofa next to the couple, stretching her legs in relief as she leant back.

"Hey, it's just for a day. Just think of Amy, it's her special day after all."
"Yeah, you're right. I'm not changing the hairstyle though. It seems to attract the ladies." Amara jolted as she received a sharp nudge from Michelle. "What? It's true. I mean, even Lita fancied me for a time." Lita glared at Amara, unimpressed by her comments.
"That was before I discovered you were a woman. I was fuming when the others left it until the last minute to tell me that." Amara began to chuckle as Lita seemed more unimpressed.
"But what would you have done if they hadn't have told you?"
"I know where this is heading Amara. I'm not lesbian, I'm not bi-sexual, I'm straight." Amara leant somewhat closer to Lita, who began to feel extremely uneasy.
"Hey, you can't knock it until you've tried it." Michelle firmly placed her hand on Amara's shoulder, her face green with envy.

"Enough's enough Amara, you're frightening the poor girl." Amara instantly leant back and turned to Michelle, a huge smile on her face.
"Hey, it's just a bit of fun." chuckled Amara. "I didn't mean any of that, although it would be nice..."
"Just remember you're with me. I'd kill you if I ever caught you shagging someone else."
"Okay, okay, I get the picture." The sound of the doorbell seemed like a godsend at that moment, with Lita feeling increadibly uncomfortable. She swiftly stood up and neatened out her dress before opening the front door.

"Happy birthday." Wrapped up in plenty of warm thermal clothing, Mark brushed the flakes of snow from his black coat and royal blue woolen Everton hat.
"Mark, what a surprise!" Lita actually sounded pleased at the appearence of Mark, something he wasn't accustomed to. "Do come in, you must be cold."
"Thanks. It's been a long time since I've seen weather like this." said Mark, removing his gloves and hat and stuffing them into a pocket in his coat.
"Oh, this is just the norm for this time of year. It's the fallout from the weather on the mountain range. It's quite calm considering."
"Ah. I just hope it doesn't get any worse though. I'm walking home in this tonight." Mark removed his coat to reveal his usual smart black suit and blue tie. As Lita began to lead him into the living room he reached into the breast pocket of his jacket and pulled out a flat, emerald green jewelery case. "I believe this is for you."

She quickly turned around to find Mark, the jewelery case in his hands held out towards her. She slowly took the case from his hands and opened it up.
"Oh my god..." Inside lay a silver necklace. However, what was most notable about this neclace was the pendant on the end, the symbol of Jupiter punctually encrusted with emeralds.
"I was just browsing around the shopping centre when I saw that and thought of you." Lita just looked at the necklace in wide-eyed amazement as Mark smiled.
"Geeze... Now I feel guilty for only getting you a CD..."
"Hey, don't worry about it. It's a pretty good band. I've been listening to it a lot too. Anyway, it didn't really cost that much either. They had seventy-five percent off on a ton of stuff, and that was one of them. It only cost me two and a half thousand Yen."

"It doesn't matter. Thank you so much!" Lita snapped out of her gaze and hugged Mark, leaving Amara and Michelle to wonder just why they were getting along so well.
"No problem. Just remember it's Christmas soon."
"And a wedding too." called Amara from the sofa.
"Heh. That's another thing." chuckled Mark. "I've still gotta get my christmas presents, my wedding present, and a suit for the wedding."
"Don't worry about the suit. Just see if you can borrow a tux from Darien. Surely he can't fight every battle in the same tuxedo." giggled Lita as Mark, Michelle and Amara all sighed.

Int. Recovery ward, Negaverse command centre - 5th December 2002, 6:15 pm.

All around the base everyone only had one thing in mind, the Tokyo assault later in the month. Every single able person was assigned to preparing for the assault, from the high command of Beryl, Wiseman and Professor Tomoe to the helpers drafted in by the American branch.

However, that evening Prince Diamond had managed to find the time to visit the recovery ward and his fellow general Malachite. As he entered the room he noticed that Malachite was standing up and slowly pacing around in his black shirt and shorts.
"Well well, I see you're back on your feet again." Malachite seemed happy at Diamonds comments, although as Diamond looked down an uneasy expression came across his face. Malachite's legs were very red and fairly blistered. Even though some of the skin had started to return to normal, Diamond was very surprised that he was stable on his feet again after less than a month, especially after receiving so severe burns.

"Well, I'm glad of it. It's been terrible laying in bed all day. I mean, I've only just become confident in my walking today."
"Well, too bad you're not going to be there for the final assault." Malachite instantly glared at Diamond with hidden rage.
"Who said I wasn't gonna be there? The odds are stacked in our favour. We've only got seven senshi, the Mars Knight and Tuxedo Mask to deal with, and we've got three leaders as well as ourselves and Raye." Malachite promptly stopped and turned around to face Diamond. "By the way, how is Raye anyway?"
"Just her usual self. She's enjoying it here. I personally can't see how she's going to fit in with the plans once this is over though." Malachite froze, his silence filling the air with anxiety.
"What... do you mean by... 'can't see how she's going to fit in with the plans'?"
"The plans for Dark Tokyo. Beryl and Wiseman have joint leadership, we're the two key ministers and she isn't mentioned whatsoever." Malachite sat back down on his bed and held his head in his hands. "Anyway, why are you so concerned about her?"

"Oh, it's nothing."
"No, it is something. Something about her, isn't it?" Malachite became overcome by his nervousness as Diamond came ever closer to discovering his true feelings for Raye.
"Look, believe me, it's nothing." A large smile came across Diamond's face as he clicked.
"Heh. What else could it be. You love her." Diamond stepped back and chuckled as Malachite removed one hand from his forehead and clenched it as tight as he could. "Yep, that says it all. You love her."
"Okay, I admit it. Just DO NOT tell anyone else, alright? Love isn't a word in Beryl's or Wiseman's vocabulary. The only high commander that knows love is Tomoe, the only reason why he turned evil the first time was to try and exorcise that demon Mistress Nine from his daughter." The silence returned as Malachite looked Diamond straight in the eyes.

"Promise me you won't betray me." Diamond instantly turned solemn and serious as he tried to contemplate his situation. On the one hand he had the happiness of one of his friends and colleagues, but on the other it could result in death for himself by keeping this from the high command, especially if they were to order Raye's execution once the battle was over. He closed his eyes, the two options causing a raging battle in his mind.
"Okay, I'll keep it to myself, although I can't guarantee it if they decide to execute her. I'll want something in return should everything go to plan though." A sigh of relief escaped from Malachite's lungs as a broad smile emerged.
"Name it and I'll do it."
"I've got nothing in mind right now except the assault. I'll let you know in due time."

Int. Kino Residence, Juuban, Tokyo - 5th December 2002, 7:30 pm

It was now half seven and the party at Lita's apartment was in full swing, as was the snowstorm outside.All the guests had now arrived, Mina, Serena, Darien, Hotaru, Amara, Michelle, Mark and her boyfriend Ken. At the night wore on there was only one real topic of conversation amongst the guests, Amy's wedding.

"I'm telling you, they make the perfect couple! When they got back together after those four years of not knowing where Greg was, you could just see the look of sheer joy on Amy's face! Her eyes were like water fountains! I swear I've never seen her cry so much before!" Mina and Serena nodded in agreement as Lita talked about the couple.
"I know. I felt extremely sorry for Amy when Greg couldn't be saved. I just felt continually guilty for her whenever I saw any of the other scouts with a boyfriend, you, Lita, with Ken, Mina when she two-timed in high school..." Mina glared back at Serena. "and all that time Amy went without."

"Still," continued Mina "even after we were all revived by the Silver Crystal, Greg included, it still beats me how they could not bump into each other even once for four years. Still at least they got back together. I don't think it's any surprise that they first saw each other again outside the library though..." Again, the group nodded in unison.
"She said she's gonna keep us waiting to see the wedding dress. They're doing a practice run on the morning of the twenty-first, so we're gonna have to wait until then."
"I really can't wait! She's just gonna look so sweet!" giggled Mina as the others smiled.

"Question is, who's next?" enquired Lita, rubbing her chin.
"Well, if the government have a sudden change of heart and allow gay marriages, I'd say Amara and Michelle." replied Mina ever-so-cheerfully. "But somehow I don't think that's going to happen, so I reckon you're next Serena."
"Really?" Serena sounded very surprised. "What makes you think that?"
"For one thing, the big freeze is nearly three years overdue. It was supposed to arrive on millenium eve, but there's been nothing. Secondly, there's Rini. She's due on your 24th birthday, so you must marry within the next two to two-and-a-half years. Thirdly, I'm very surprised he hasn't already proposed." Serena just nodded, wondering if she was ready to wed Darien.
"Well, come to think of it I am ready to marry. Perhaps Darien's just biding his time, waiting for the right moment." Mina and Lita nodded again to stop Serena from questioning herself further. "Well, after me then, who else is gonna tie the knot?" The girls paused for thought for several moments as they tried to think just who could wed after Serena.

"Well, I'm not sure about that one." replied Lita. "Ken's sweet and all that, but I'm still not ready to marry him. Mark and Raye's relationship is on hold for obvious reasons, Hotaru's only sixteen and Mina hasn't got boyfriend."
"Well, I'm sure I left my heart in England. I may be Japanese, but I haven't been able to find anyone in Tokyo who just makes my heart skip a beat. I don't know why, but I just prefer English men."
"Just don't go for the Englishman over there." said Serena, glancing in Mark's direction. "He's reserved."
"I know that. Anyway, I've seen a picture of his best friend, the Mercury Knight. Man he is hot!" exclaimed Mina to a chorus of sighs from the other ladies.

Int. Laboratory 1, Negaverse Command Central - 5th December 2002, 8:10 pm

"Just add a little liquid nitrogen here..." Deep inside the main laboratory at the Dark Kingdom's base, Professor Tomoe was at work, seemingly transferring the energy captured from the concert into dark energy. However, as he dropped a drop of a cloudy solution onto a piece of earth in a petri dish crystals of ice shot out from the droplet and completely transformed the piece of soil into a frozen tundra.
"Experiment number sixty-five. Initial observations, the sample has completely frozen, with a layer of ice on top. Temperature, minus seventy degrees celsius." The professor took out what appeared to be some sort of measuring equipment and measured the thickness of the ice. "Ice layer thickness, twenty-two millimeters. Conclusion, the best result so far, although the temperature is still possibly too cold." The professor turned off the recorder in his shirt pocket and cleared away his equipment, placing the formula and petri dish in a nearby freezer.

However, it appeared that he was not too keen on checking the processes at that moment, there were other issues on his mind, issues of dominancy, issues of betrayal, issues of supremicy. Swiftly he opened his bottom drawer and took out a set of darts, stood up and flipped the notice board on the wall of the red-lit room to reveal an image of Queen Beryl and Wiseman, an image full of holes. He sat back down on his swivel-chair seat as he began to throw the darts at the picture, one by one.

"Bulls-eye!" He exclaimed as a dart landed square on the forehead of the Queen. Throwing the remaining darts, he turned around on the chair and paddled himself to the noteboard, removing the darts from the picture, but taking care to slowly remove the dart lodged in Beryl's forehead.
"Oh deary me, Beryl, someone's about to rain on your parade. Someone working side-by-side with you. Heheheh!" Kicking his seat back to his desk, Tomoe stood up and returned the notice board back to return the notice board to its original side.

"'Cause the Queen Mother's gonna have the plug pulled!" he sang as he booted up his laptop. He was the one in charge of regenerating Metallia, and even though she was now at forty-percent strength, she was still fairly weak. Tomoe knew all too well that as well as the bringing her the power of life, he could also end her life all too easily as long as she remained in the regeneration tank. The majority of the energy captured at the concert was to be used with regenerating Metallia's spirit. However, Tomoe was starting to get other ideas.

"Right... Let's see how the converters are doing..." said Tomoe to himself as he called up the drainer control panel. "Three terrajoules... So that's sixty percent..." Manically he tapped the buttons on his calculator. "Let's move two terrajoules over to my own energy container to my lab anonymously..." he clicked the button as he saw a red level drop by two thirdsand a green one rise from nothing. "And offset the sensors..." Typing furiously in a new window he managed to reset the sensors, bringing the red level up to what it was before. "And voilá!"

Int. Kino Residence, Juuban, Tokyo - 5th December 2002, 9:00 pm

The snowstorm had died out now, but all around was a vast blanket of white, bar the roads which had turned dark brown due to the road gritters. Inside the apartmant everyone was dancing, everyone except Mark and Amara who were discussing Formula One racing.

"Well, it's good to see they've changed things, but even after these early few races I still think Schuhmacher's gonna win the title."
"I know" replied Amara enthusastically. "There's no denying the man. He is simply the world's greatest, just like Muhammed Ali was for boxing and Pele was for soccer."
"Yeah. The only problem with the man is that he makes the season a bit too predictable. They only changed the rules because he broke every single record last year."
"True." The pair seemed inseperable from their conversation.

"Well, I'm not that much of a driver myself. I'll have to resit my driving test when I've saved up for a car. I don't think that a British driving license is a legal document for those claiming citizenship in Japan."
"Well, as far as I know a driving license for any country is universal as long as you know the highway code for that country. You'd better check with the driving agency in central Tokyo to be safe." As the background music changed to a different track Mark found himself dragged up by his arm and spun into the arms of Mina.

"Well, wanna dance?" As a slow ballad beat swayed from the stereo, Mark saw hardly any other options.
"Go on then. Just this one." he replied as he put his arms around Mina's back. As they stepped in time to the beat Mina closed her eyes and smiled as if she was in a dream. Mark just smiled. To him this was just a harmless dance with another young lady.
"Hey, you're a pretty good dancer Mina." Mina still kept her eyes closed but blushed.
"You're pretty good yourself Mark." she whispered back in his ear.
"Well, it's been a while since I danced. The last time was on one of those Dance Dance Revolution manchines before I left England, and I was terrible." ha chuckled as Mina rested her head on his shoulder, something greeted bny a look of alarm from Serena.
"Oh I know those things. You should see Serena on it. She's very good. It's all that time and money she's spent at the arcade over the years."
"I see."

As the song continued to play Mina continued to hold tightly to Mark, not wanting to let go of him. However, as the song approached its climax she slowly lifted her head from his shoulder and moved closer to his lips, until the two eventually met. Mark instantly opened his eyes and let go of Mina as she moved back from him, her eyes wide open too.
"Mina..."
"Oh my god. I'm sorry Mark." cried Mina as Mark looked around, noticing the stark, disbelieving look on Serena's face.
"Er, excuse me a moment, I need to get some fresh air." said Mark, trying to maintain his self-awareness. Quickly he amde his way tothe other side of the living room and made his way onto the balcony, closing the door behind him and leaving the others to guess what was going on. Mina knew she had done something terrible though and instantly followed him.

"Mark, I don't know why I did that, but I just did." Mark turned around to face the seemingly worried Venus senshi.
"No, no, I'm sorry."
"What have you got to apologise for? I'm the one in the wrong here. You belong to Raye. I shouldn't have done that." Mark simply smiled.
"Hey, it was just one harmless kiss. It wasn't as if it was a full-on snog." Mina smiled back as Mark rubbed his arms to stay warm.
"Heh. It's probably just all that Sake going to my head."
"Yeah, probably. What was that for anyway? Was it just a spare-of-the-moment thing or what?" Mina looked down to the floor as she continued to blush.
"I dunno, it probably was, but I've always had a liking for English guys, so since you were the first one I've ever danced with, I decided to see if they were good kissers." Mark chuckled at Mina's philosophy.
"And was I?" Mina giggled as she looked back up at him. "Well, I'm just wodering, that's all."
"Well, I didn't get long, but you were alright, yeah." It was now Mark's turn to blush, whether it was the crisp cold air or Mina's comments, however, could not be determined.

"Ah well, it's pretty cold out here. Wanna go back inside?"
"Yeah, go on then. This dress doesn't keep me very warm." Mark opened the door as Mina stepped throughback into the warmth. However, Mark couldn't help but feel it would be slightly harder to keep Raye's competition away from him in her absence.

End of chapter 23.