Author's notes: This chapter is based off episode 19, "Usagi kangeki! Tuxedo Kamen no love letter" but, I assure you that probably don't need to be familiar with it to enjoy (or not enjoy, to each is own) the story.
Disclaimer goes here. (Sailor Moon) Note that because this chapter is based heavily off of the anime episode, there may be some dialogue which was taken directly from (a translation of) the original source. If such dialogue exists, no ownership is implied by its inclusion.
The Rebound Effect
Arc 2: Chapter 4 (formerly Part 15)
Dangerous Liaisons
General Nephrite of the Dark Kingdom arrived in Queen Beryl's throne room just as the last cleaning crew was leaving. The hall was eerily empty, most of Beryl's court having been seriously wounded or killed by a mysterious explosion the day before.
Rumor had it that someone had taken out General Jadeite and then attached a very powerful fireball to the summon spell that Beryl had sent after him. The rumors seemed to be substantiated by the fact that he was being called to the throne room at such an early hour.
Sparing barely a glance to his queen, he knelt before the throne as was customary.
"Rise, General Nephrite."
Nephrite did as commanded and snapped his heels together smartly. "Hail, Queen Beryl." Queen Beryl barely seemed to notice, but that had been his intention. Being noticed by Beryl usually came along with making a mistake. Making a mistake in front of the dark Queen generally ended painfully or fatally.
"General Nephrite, General Jadeite has failed and paid the price for that failure," she announced. When she paused after the declaration, the implication was obvious.
"My Queen, am I to take his place gathering energy for the resurrection of our great ruler?" He knew the answer. If Jadeite were defeated, then he was the only General free for the task. The others had their own duties.
"Nay, your task is to kill the Sailor Senshi. They have insulted me greatly by doing damage to my court and this I cannot forgive. Bring me the head of the one known as Sailor Moon and you shall have anything that you desire. Fail me... fail me and you will join General Jadeite in hell."
"Yes, Queen Beryl!" Nephrite saluted and took a couple steps backward. If he had been dismissed, it was now safe to leave, but if he had not, she would speak again. She did not issue further orders, so he spared barely another second before teleporting to his base on Earth.
Once safely ensconced in his base, he began to prepare the equipment he would need for a star reading.
"The Sailor Senshi may be powerful warriors, but even the strongest warrior has a weakness that a clever foe may exploit for their downfall." Certainly, they had been the ones behind Jadeite's downfall, but Jadeite had always been the weakest willed of the Dark Generals. His connection to the stars would show him a way to exact vengeance for his queen while rising in her esteem. It was not long, however, before his musings were interrupted by the sudden arrival of General Zoicite.
"My, you certainly seem full of confidence, Nephrite. So very much like Jadeite was... but we both know where that got him." Zoicite smirked at the slight growl that Nephrite gave him. Tormenting his fellow Generals was almost as much fun for Zoicite as tormenting mortals.
"Don't you have a mission of your own, Zoicite? Or do you consider your own orders so poorly as to spend your valuable time here tormenting me?"
"I have agents searching for the Silver Crystal even as we speak. I am not concerned about failure." He made a dismissive gesture with one hand and raised one eyebrow gracefully to give Nephrite a meaningful look. "Perhaps you should worry about that yourself."
Nephrite grumbled as Zoicite vanished in a shower of flower petals but didn't let it deter him from returning to his work. Sailor Moon's weakness would soon be known, and he would deal with Zoicite when the time came.
Usagi checked her mailbox on her way home from school and found, much to her surprise, a letter addressed to her.
She showed it to Serenity, who was walking beside her, and opened it.
"Well, what's it say?" Serenity asked.
"Umm... it's really weird..." she replied, still reading. "It's a love letter from Tuxedo Kamen. It says that he wants me to meet him in the MS department store in Shinjuku tomorrow night." She looked up at her counterpart. "But why doesn't Mamo-chan just ask me in person?"
"Oh, I know." Serenity seemed to suddenly remember something and nodded to herself. She smiled mysteriously but wouldn't say any more on the matter.
Later, that evening, Usagi called Mamoru, still trying to puzzle out what was going on.
"Chiba residence."
"Mamoru?"
"Nope, Endymion, that you Serenity?"
She giggled lightly. "Nope, it's Usagi. O' clone of mine went over to the shrine to make sure her spells are holding. Is Mamo-chan there?"
"Yeah, he's just getting out of the bath, here, lemme go get him."
She waited for a few moments before Mamoru answered the phone.
"Yeah, what's up, Usako?"
"I was just wondering what you've got planned for tomorrow night."
"Sorry, but I've got an exam at seven. Can't do anything tomorrow, but I'll make it up to you Saturday."
"Then why did I just get a love letter from "Tuxedo Kamen" asking me to meet him tomorrow night?"
"Dunno. Does it look like my writing?"
"It's typed, and no signature."
"Sounds like a trap to me. Just try not to get in trouble before nine, okay?"
A heavy bag of groceries in each arm, Makoto was doing her best to walk home when a television display in the window of an electronics store caught her eye. There wasn't any sound, the televisions being on the other side of a thick pane of glass, but the closed captioning was enabled on a couple of the sets.
"And again, the mysterious Sailors V and J have thwarted a monster attack on a subway train in London. Police are baffled at the origins of both the strange creatures that have been causing havoc throughout the London area for the last two weeks and the mysterious figures that have arrived to combat them." Throughout the anchor's commentary, hazy video of two girls in Sailor fukus, one orange and one green, was being shown.
"The similarity to the so called Sailor Senshi that have appeared in the Juuban area in the midst of a rash of unexplained disasters is striking." Here, the video switched to some black and white footage from a surveillance camera that had been at the gem show a couple weeks before. "Authorities are speculating that the two groups may have a common origin, but so far, no evidence has come forth to support..."
Makoto's arm was starting to cramp up from having to hold the bags for so long and she decided that it would be better to just catch the late night news replay at home. No sooner had she turned around than she found herself imbedded in someone's chest.
Her bags dropped to the ground and she stumbled backwards, as did the man she had run into. "I'm so sorry," she said as she recovered and bent down to reclaim her fallen groceries.
"It was my fault, I wasn't watching where I was going." The man, though startled by the run in, recovered quickly and scooped up the bags. "My, these are heavy."
He seemed to grow thoughtful for a second or two. "Please, allow me to help you carry them home. It's the least that I can do for causing such a lady as beautiful so much trouble."
/But it was my fault.../ Makoto gently shoved the voice of reason into the back of her mind and locked it in its room. "Oh, thank you."
After all, how often did she get a chance to offer a nice, older man a home cooked meal? Especially one that reminded her so much of someone, though it was probably just her old sempai.
The next day at school, Usagi gathered from the general gossip that she was, by no means, the only person to have gotten one of the letters.
It was really starting to get to her since Serenity refused to talk about it, Naru and Makoto were so busy discussing some Sanjouin guy that they had both met the day before that they were impossible to talk to, and everyone else just flat-out didn't know.
Finally, Ms. Haruna began class with an announcement.
"I understand that many of the young women in this class have received letters from someone calling himself "Tuxedo Kamen." Other students have received similar invitations, and it is clear that this is all just a prank. I urge you to just forget about them. Now, with that out of the way, let us move on to Chapter 3 in your..."
Class was underway but Usagi was still contemplating who had really sent out the letters.
After school, Naru walked to the MS department store to see what was going on. Much to her delight, she found Sanjouin Masato there, watching the entrance. After a few seconds of hesitation, she walked up to him.
They had met very briefly the day before when she'd bumped into him on the street. /He probably doesn't even remember me,/ Naru thought. /But this is no time to back out./
"Masato... Masato-san, my name is Osaka Naru and we met yesterday... and I was just wondering... umm... are you Tuxedo Kamen?"
Masato looked surprised for a moment then smiled smoothly. /She shouldn't have been able to figure out that I was the one who sent those letters. Most girls her age don't have that kind of perception... maybe she is someone special. Someone like Sailor Moon./ He gave her an appraising look, and she certainly looked about the right age. /Yes, she just might be the one that Queen Beryl is looking for. I'd better make sure that she's there tonight./
"Naru-chan, you're very cute," he said suavely. "I'm glad that you remembered my name." He stood up and turned around to leave. After a couple steps, he turned his head and said, "See you tonight." With that, he smoothly glided away from her and was soon lost in midst of the other pedestrians.
Naru could barely keep herself from shouting out in joy. She would definitely be there.
Curiosity finally got the better of Makoto and she made the trip to the Department store.
When she had gotten the letter that morning, she had gotten a strong feeling that it was from Sanjouin Masato. She didn't know why, but something about it had called out to her. What was causing her the most trouble was the fact that he'd signed it as "Tuxedo Kamen."
No one, besides the Senshi even knew who Tuxedo Kamen was, but, in the end, Makoto wasn't one to listen to reason when her instincts were telling her something, so here she was.
She wasn't alone, either. Naru was there well ahead of her. They had spoken earlier in the day about Masato, and Naru had also seemed convinced that he was the one that had sent the letters. Makoto hadn't tried to dissuade her of the notion because of the feeling she kept getting that Naru was right and the fact that she couldn't explain who Tuxedo Kamen really was.
Now, here Naru was, calling out to Tuxedo Kamen in a deserted department store far too late at night. Makoto hid herself behind a large display and settled in to watch.
Naru called out again, and this time was answered from the top of the escalators. "So, you have arrived, Sailor Moon." A figure clad in a black tuxedo and cape moved out of the shadows.
"Masato-san, what are you talking about?" Naru asked, puzzled.
"Don't try to deny it anymore. Transform, my love, so that we may be together." Meanwhile, Nephrite's was growing even more certain that he had chosen the right target. She had recognized him from his voice alone.
"I'm not Sailor Moon..."
"They why are you here? Sailor Moon would have come to be with her darling Tuxedo Kamen."
"I...I'm here because I like you, Masato-san. I was hoping that it was you that sent the letters..." Even in the darkness, Makoto was sure she was blushing.
/Damn. Better get her out of the way before the REAL Sailor Moon shows up./ He bounded down the escalator and stood before her. "I have no time for this," he muttered and reached out to drain her energy.
Makoto spared the room a quick glance to make certain that she was unwatched and transformed into Sailor Jupiter. Nephrite had only just started draining Naru by the time Jupiter stepped out from the darkened displays.
"Who are you to play with young girls' hearts? Wearing the false mask of a man with a pure heart to commit your evil deeds. I am Sailor Jupiter and in the name of love lorn girls everywhere, I shall punish you."
Nephrite let Naru go, still amazed at the amount of energy she had given up in so short a period of time. "Oh, well. This trap was set for Sailor Moon, but you are as good a victim as any." He dismissed the glamour that was his costume. "I am General Nephrite of the Dark Kingdom and your destroyer."
The effect on his foe was less spectacular than he had hoped. The girl's jaw fell open in shock and she stammered out, "N-Nephrite-chan?" Jupiter, like Rei before her, was faced with a ghost from her past. Certainly, they had figured out that the four Generals were also the four Guardians, but knowing and seeing were two different things. "Is that really y-you?"
"Who else would I be? Now, prepare yourself!" He drew back his hand to build up an attack, but stopped when he saw that his opponent seemed frozen. Somehow, this didn't feel right. "Come on, prepare yourself."
"They said that you were alive, but I didn't know..." Makoto was babbling by this point, tears streaming down her face. "Jadeite came back and then..."
"What are you talking about? Jadeite is dead. He died for his failure to Queen Beryl."
"No, he's alive," she gave him an odd look. "Don't you remember?"
"Remember what?" He knew he should be ripping her apart at that moment, but for some reason he couldn't get his arm to agree to attack. Something buried deep inside him was trying to force itself out. He screamed in pain as he felt something very much akin to being torn in two.
The girl had moved closer to him and his muddled mind focused on her as the creator of his torment. He gathered what energy he could and launched his Starlight Attack. She didn't see it coming and took it full in the chest. She flew backwards and crumpled into a heap on the ground but that did nothing to stop the hideous tearing sensation and soon he was blinded by the pain.
Finally, his vision cleared and he was able to focus on the world again. The first thing that he saw was the body of his beloved, the Lady Jupiter lying on the ground before him.
Immediately, he wondered who had done such a hideous thing but he already knew the answer. He had. He screamed in a mixture or frustration and rage as he ran to her side.
She was already coming around, his blast having been far from full power, by the time he reached her.
Serenity, who had been hiding in a darkened corner of the MS department store for several hours, sighed in relief as General Nephrite's drab uniform shimmered and twisted and transformed into Guardian Nephrite's armor. She had been ready to step in on this encounter more than once already, but was now glad that she hadn't.
The last, desperate attack forced by Beryl's controlling spells had packed little more energy than a weak punch and done Makoto no real damage. She had been right about the strength of the love that Nephrite held for Jupiter being enough to overcome Beryl's control. After all, his love for Naru in their own world had made him turn against her in the end.
Things seemed to be working out just fine.
That is, until Nephrite screamed again.
Serenity snapped her attention back to the others and saw that Nephrite was slowly fading from view, just as Jadeite had. Hurriedly, she chanted the anchoring spells that would hold him in place, but when she went to attach another fireball to the summoning spell, she couldn't find it.
Nephrite fell over and Serenity finally decided that it was time for her to do a thorough examination on him. She dispelled the obfuscation magics that she had woven about herself and rushed over to him.
Makoto was already crouching above him, trying to wake him up but having little success.
When Serenity drew to within arm's reach, Nephrite's eyes snapped open and Serenity immediately sensed that something was wrong. She threw herself against Sailor Jupiter, knocking both of them to the floor several feet from the prone figure.
"Queen Beryl says: Only fools use the same trick twice!" the thing said in a monotone voice. "She sends her greetings." Serenity flipped over to face the thing and chanted a containment spell as fast as she could.
The... thing that looked like Nephrite exploded into a shower of mist which rushed outward until it met the barrier that Serenity had hastily erected around it. It condensed on the shield and ran onto the floor where it hissed and ate at the tile.
"What was that thing? Where is Nephrite?" Makoto asked, nearly hysterical.
"Gone. Beryl has him again. She tricked me." Serenity hung her head in shame. She had tried to let the younger Senshi fight their own battles and this was the fruit of that decision.
/God help Nephrite's soul,/ she prayed silently.
Queen Beryl's satisfaction at putting one over on the mysterious sorcerer that was working with the Senshi went a long way toward easing the anger she felt at having her controlling spells broken yet again.
She looked at the prone form of Guardian Nephrite that was hovering in the air before her throne and began the long task of returning him to her side. Her bond with the spells allowed her to read their tattered remains to find what had caused their breakage. /He always was the strongest willed of them,/ she thought, /first, I have to find out which of his accursed memories was strong enough to break my seals. And destroy it./
Guardian Nephrite seemed to shiver in his sleep, somehow sensing the agony that was about to begin.
END