Hey guys! Been a little while with this story.

Thankfully not a year, but, still, 10 months is big, but, yeah, we finally got a new chapter out, and it's a big one, because if you remember the episodes... you know what's coming.

So sit back, and enjoy.


"She's what?!" was the general gasp of shock from the group. It was currently one of their regular meet ups to discuss the situation and see if anyone noticed any updates, and so far nothing since the incident involving the Diamond Kingdom party, at least on the Dark Kingdom and Undead side. However, during this particular meet up, Usagi came looking very worried, and when they asked her what was wrong...she was right to be worried.

"Naru's head over heels for Masato Sanjouin," Usagi repeated.

"Meaning she's fallen for one of the Dark Kingdom's Generals...and she has no idea that he's one of the people sending out the Youma," Ami frowned.

"I tried telling her he's a bad guy but…" Usagi frowned, thinking she probably could have done that better...but it was pretty spur of the moment for her.

"She didn't believe you at all, didn't she?" Rei sighed, earning a nod from the blonde.

Kensuke sighed as he facepalmed "What is it with teenage girls and throwing logic out the window when they're in love?" he muttered to himself.

"To be fair, she's never actually SEEN 'Masato Sanjouin' do anything obviously evil, and even that one time she might have thought it was just a dream or something," Luna frowned.

"So what are we going to do about it? We can't just let her stay like this, but if we up and told her…" Usagi frowned.

"I guess this isn't a straight forward situation, huh?" Luna sighed. Adding emotion to the mix always made things...messy.

"We have to tell her," Rei said.

"But would that really be the best move to make right now?" Ami said with doubt.

"It might be, but then again it might not." Kensuke sighed "If Usagi tells her straight, Naru might just ignore her and then run headfirst into danger, and it could shatter their friendship for all we know. And even if Naru listens, she might go into a depression if she's in this deep enough."

"Are you saying we should wait and see what happens? Possibly letting Nephrite manipulate her more?!" Rei growled.

"I'm saying we're running on 'damned if we do, damned if we don't'," Kensuke groaned.

Rei visibly deflated at that, since she had to admit...he was right. Either way this was going to be messy…

"...what do you think, Usagi?" Luna asked, seeing as of all of them, Usagi was the one who had the most stake in this seeing as it directly involved her best friend.

"...I just don't know…" Usagi sighed. "But...if I had to choose...maybe...maybe we should tell her."

"The problem is how to get her to believe what we're saying," Kensuke frowned. "Unless…"

"What do you have in mind?" Ami blinked.

"Its just...something I've been considering. I mean...she HAS been involved in incidents rather frequently and all so…" he trailed off.

"...you think we should bring her into the circle?" Usagi blinked.

"Well, we already brought Shingo in, and your parents will very likely be told eventually." he said with a shrug.

"I… yeah, they probably will." Usagi admitted with a sigh.

"Telling my mother would be a good idea." Ami added.

"Gramps would stop wondering what I do with all the seals." Rei said with a sweat drop.

"Its...more than that…" Kensuke sighed, his expression somber.

"...do we want to ask?" Usagi gulped.

"No, but it's something we need to consider all the same," Kensuke sighed. "Its not that I think it'll actually happen but… we're up against a kingdom of demons that want to destroy and/or turn all human into a food source AND nearly 50 creatures who aim to replace humanity as the dominant species on the planet. As we've seen by now they are more than ready to kill to get what they want, so…"

An uncomfortable silence descended at that, the girls not sure what to say. Kensuke was right, they didn't want to ask...but it was a subject they had to consider like it or not. "...we need to tell them so if the worst happens…" Rei trailed off.

"Don't get me wrong. I'm fighting to LIVE, same as all the other Riders. But all of us are prepared if the worst happens…" Kensuke sighed. "We're already in the thick of it now so all we can do is keep moving forward."

The girls and Luna could only give a somber nod of understanding. It was a bitter pill to swallow...but it was something better swallowed now than later.


"I still don't know what to do…" Usagi sighed as currently she was walking back home, still feeling conflicted on what she should do.

"I agree that we should tell her the truth, but your other worries are valid too," Luna frowned.

"You two look like you're pondering a mystery of the universe like that," came a new voice, to which Usagi blinked and turned in surprise to see Kelch...apparently on a grocery run if the bag in his hand was any indication.

"Oh, Chalice." Usagi blinked in recognition.

"Shh." Kelch did a shushing motion "It's Kelch, remember? I know we haven't spoken much yet but my name's not THAT hard to remember is it?"

Usagi blushed sheepishly at that "Ah… yeah, I guess… I've just never been very good at foreign names."

He sighed "Well, can't blame you, the German language would be pretty odd for a Japanese." he said, before shaking his head "Anyway, what's got you both looking so down?"

After quickly moving to a nearby bench, Usagi explained the whole situation. When she was done…

"...okay yeah...I don't blame you for looking like that," Kelch winced in sympathy.

"So you can see why we're having a hard time figuring out which action to take," Luna sighed.

Kelch thought about it, seriously considering it. "...okay if I'm gonna be honest...I think your best option is to tell her straight," he sighed. "Do I think this is a good idea? Not really. But what's worse? A broken heart...or her stuck in a position she can't get out of because she was with a bad person?"

Usagi shivered all of a sudden "Oh god, putting it like that… it sounds even worse than the actual situation."

Kelch paused, going over what he said, before wincing "Yeah… just realised what that can mean in a slightly different context. Mina must be rubbing off on me with her idiom fails."

"Bad connotations aside, that DID help," Luna admitted. "Thank you."

"Hey, no problem. We're all in this together, even if I'm still playing a bit of a lone wolf," Kelch grinned.

"Well you're really friendly for a lone wolf," Usagi chuckled as she got up. "I'm gonna tell Naru what she needs to know. Even if it strains our friendship, I'd rather that than Nephrite using her," she said determinedly as she and Luna soon ran off.

"...I just hope your friend actually listens…" Kelch said once they were gone and sighing. He agreed this was probably the best option right now...but whether it would work or not...depended on Naru herself.


Usagi breathed deeply as she stood in front of the door to Naru's home, preparing herself for what she was about to do, with Luna sitting nearby, offering her silent support.

"Alright… I can do this." she said, before she rang the buzzer.

It only took a minute of waiting before the door was opened by Naru herself "Usagi? What are you doing here?" she asked in slight surprise, not expecting her friend over.

"Naru… I know you don't want to hear this, but Masato Sanjouin is NOT a good person. He's one of the people involved in all the weird cases of monsters lately." Usagi said.

"How could you even know something like that Usagi? Even if it were true?" Naru asked, looking hurt.

Usagi almost wilted at that look, but she pushed on "Because I heard it from the Kamen Riders and the Sailor Scouts myself. They told me he's a dangerous man, and that his real name is Nephrite. He's the one who's been making people act like they're not themselves anymore."

Naru's eyes widened at that "He's the one… who made Rui act like THAT?" she said in shock.

Usagi nodded, a sad expression on her face. "I'm sorry you had to find out like this, but that's why you need to stay away from him. There's no telling what he might do next…"

Naru looked like someone had had just punched her in the gut and slapped her in the face for good measure. "I...I need to think…" she said. "Th...thank you for telling me, Usagi," she said...before she closed the door.

"...do you think I did the right thing?" Usagi asked Luna after a moment.

"...I don't think there WAS a 'right' thing to do in this situation," Luna sighed. "But yes, I think you did the correct thing," she said reassuringly.

"...I just hope you're right…" Usagi sighed as they soon went home. The only thing she could do now was give Naru some space...and hope she pulls through this.


Meanwhile…

Nephrite frowned as he was standing in the location he kept the celestial globe. His mood was anything but good seeing as he knew he was already on thin ice, not helped by the fact he'd been ignoring Queen Beryl's summons. Even so he had no intention of going down without a fight.

However before he could actually put his next (and possibly last) plan into motion, he was interrupted by a small flurry of petals that soon revealed a less than welcome figure floating up near the roof. "Zoisite." he said with an annoyed glare.

"My, my, so hostile Nephrite." replied the effeminate, blonde haired man, his shoulder length hair tied back into a ponytail "You know, Queen Beryl is summoning you at this very moment, she's QUITE angry. Even Kujaku isn't able to help keep her fury in check for much longer, and he usually has a plan for that." he said in amusement.

"I imagine Kunzite had you come check up on me then?" Nephrite frowned.

"And from the looks of it you don't have any good plans ready. If I were you I'd withdraw from the running before you REALLY anger Queen Beryl," Zoisite said with a haughty laugh.

"Silence," Nephrite growled. "I still have one more card to play, and with it I'll obtain the Silver Crystal."

THAT actually shocked Zoisite, enough so he lost his composure a little. "What? But the Silver Crystal is supposed to be MY assignment!" he gasped.

"It doesn't matter whose assignment it's supposed to be! Whoever gets it wins!" Nephrite declared. "Once I obtain it for Queen Beryl my honor will be restored!"

Zoisite grit his teeth and clenched his fist in anger. "Unbelievable! I'll remember this!" he said before disappearing.

With Zoisite gone Nephrite started to calm down. "I can't believe I lost my composure with someone as petty as Zoisite," he frowned. "No matter, it won't change anything," he sighed a bit before his star map appeared once again. "The stars know everything…" he intoned in his mind. "When the sun creates a sinister perpendicular angle between Neptune and Mars, the guide to the Silver Crystal shall appear…" he continued mentally before opening his eyes "Come forth! The Black Crystal!" he declared as dark energy built up, turning the entire map black as more and more energy gathered before eventually the whole thing condensed and manifested into a small black and rectangular crystal.

"So this is the Black Crystal?" Nephrite mused as he picked up the crystal and examined it. When he held it up, it started to glow and soon projected an image that revealed to be...Naru Osaka. "This...is the Black Crystal saying this girl has the Silver Crystal?" he wondered. Well, he had a clue and all he had to do was investigate it.


Naru sighed as she sat in her room. After the conversation with Usagi a few hours ago...she didn't know what to think. On one hand she didn't think Usagi was lying...after all why would she? But at the same time, the idea that Masato was the one behind all the recent events...her heart didn't want to accept it. Maybe...maybe if she talked to him something could be straightened out. She just couldn't imagine Masato Sanjouin as an evil person, so much so she wanted to believe that there was more to this than what Usagi knew.

As if in response to her thoughts, her mother called for her, saying they'd received a phone call from Masato. Needless to say she immediately went down and took the call. It seemed he wanted to see her and asked her to meet him at Sankaku Park. Needless to say she was quick to agree…


"Sorry for asking you to come so late at night," Masato apologized as he and Naru were sitting on a bench in the park.

"It's no trouble at all," Naru reassured. "If anything it made me really happy," she said with a bright smile.

"Is that so?" Masato chuckled lightly before he sighed. "The truth is I came to say goodbye to you."

"What?" Naru gasped, before looking down "I'm not… being a bother to you, am I?"

"No, not at all." he said, shaking his head "It's more about not wanting to drag you into a dangerous situation."

"What?" Naru asked in confusion "What kind of situation?"

"You see, the truth is, I'm being threatened by some dangerous people. They're forcing me to work for them." he said.

Naru gasped "You mean… those people behind all the energy draining monsters that keep appearing?"

Masato looked at her in surprise "Yes… how did you figure it out?"

"My friend, she said that she was able to talk to Sailor Moon and her friends, and that they told her you were working for them." Naru explained with a sad sigh, before looking up at him "But, she was wrong, wasn't she? Or rather they didn't know everything."

Masato nodded with a sigh "Indeed. Those people, they're practically holding a gun to my head to make me work for them."

"Is there any way to escape them?" Naru asked.

"There is, but I doubt it's an option," Masato sighed. "Just...forget about it."

"No, if there's even a small chance, please tell me what it is!" Naru exclaimed.

Masato didn't look at her at first, but if she could see his face she'd have seen a victorious smirk. "...if you're sure…" he said 'uncertainly'. "They're after something called the Silver Crystal...if they have it they'll have no more use for me, so if I give it to them, they'll surely let me go. Still...the odds of finding that crystal are nearly nothing…" he sighed sadly.

"Silver Crystal…" Naru murmured in thought, before she perked up as she remembered a gem her mother had shown her not too long ago, a pearl like one with a silver sheen to it "I think… I think we have that… please wait here, I'll go get it right away!" she said quickly before running off back home.

Had she looked back, she might have seen his victorious smirk.


Usagi sighed as she finished up her homework. Not easy with her ADHD, but Luna was a big help in keeping her on track. Annoyingly though, she had to deal with another worry keeping her from properly focusing. "I hope Naru is okay…" she sighed.

"We did all we could," Luna said. "All we can do moving forward is check on her from time to time to make sure she's okay."

"I guess you're right. But still...I feel kinda worried…" Usagi frowned.

"Understandable. Still though, it's only been a few hours, I'm sure everything is alright," Luna said with a smile.

The phone started ringing a few moments after that, with Usagi looking up, before going back to her homework once it was picked up… and then she heard her mom shouting for her in a hurried tone, making her run out of her room "What is it?!"

"It's your friend Naru! She suddenly ran away after taking a jewel from her mother's store." her mother explained worriedly.

Usagi's eyes widened at that "I'll go look for her!" she said, running out in a hurry, Luna chasing after her. Once she was outside, she brought up her communicator "Guys! Naru just ran away from home! I think Nephrite is manipulating her again, but emotionally this time!"

"Dammit! He had to pick NOW to make a move?!" Kensuke growled.

"We'll start searching immediately!" Rei said.

"Do you have any clues where to start?" Ami asked.

Usagi thought about it. "Ah! Naru's mom mentioned she was asked to meet up with Nephrite in Sankaku Park!"

"Then that's the first place we'll need to check," Luna nodded.

"Let's move, people!" Kensuke said as they all left to start searching.


Back at Sankaku Park, Naru had returned with the gemstone in hand. "H-here.." she panted a bit. "Is this the Silver Crystal you need?" she asked.

"You actually found it?" Masato 'blinked in surprise' as he accepted the crystal. Quickly taking out the Black Crystal, he held it over the crystal in hand…and his expression soon lost its enthusiasm when the crystal failed to react.

"How is it? Is it the one you're looking for?" Naru asked as she came closer...and the Black Crystal started glowing much to Masato's surprise.

'Could it be...that the Black Crystal is reacting to her specifically?' Masato wondered mentally. 'Could SHE hold the Silver Crystal within herself perhaps?'

Closing his eyes, seemingly in thought, he focused his senses on Naru… and she almost seemed to have a pink aura around herself.

'Curious… maybe she really DOES house it in her body. I should extract it in that case.' he mused to himself. However before he could even try to make a move…

"Hold it right there!" came a familiar voice, as the two turned to see Sailor Moon. "I don't know what you want with her, but manipulating her feelings like that is unforgivable! In the name of the moon, I'll punish you!" Sailor Moon declared.

"Sailor Moon, why are you here?!" Naru gasped.

"Naru, get away from him! He's the one behind people going berserk! He's one of the Dark Kingdom's Four Generals!" Sailor Moon shouted.

"That may be true, but he's not really a bad person, just being forced to do bad things! He'll be able to leave once they get the crystal they want!" Naru defended.

"Sorry, but that sounds like the oldest trick in the book," came Blade's voice as Masato's eyes widened and he looked up, and evaded just in time to avoid getting cleaved in half when Blade landed where he had been.

"Don't interfere with me!" Masato, or rather Nephrite, growled as he gathered energy and fired a blast of magic from his hand, one that Blade blocked, even if it pushed him back.

"Glad to see you're proving our point," Blade smirked a little.

"I wouldn't have had to do this if you'd just stayed out of my way!" Nephrite growled as he continued firing, keeping them on the defensive.

"Okay, so we got his focus. TOO much of his focus," Sailor Moon gulped a bit as they were pinned down by the attacks.

"That's where we come in!" came Mars's voice as a Fire Soul flew through the air, forcing Nephrite to block it.

"Sorry for the wait!" Mercury said as she and Mars entered the scene.

"You came at the perfect time," Sailor Moon reassured. "Now let's get him!"

"Shabon Spray!" Mercury called out, covering the area in a mist that made it so he couldn't see anything as they quickly scattered.

"Over here, star head!" came Blade's voice, to which Nephrite threw a blast of energy in that direction...which led to…

"Moon Tiara...Action!" Sailor Moon called out as her Tiara came flying through the air from another angle, one that Nephrite was in no position to block due to having shifted his focus.

"NO!" Naru shouted as she threw herself in the path of the tiara… right as it was about to hit him!

"I-impossible!" Nephrite gasped in shock...and though he didn't realize it himself at the time, horror, at seeing Naru about to take an attack meant for him.

"NARU!" Sailor Moon shouted with eyes wide in fear, trying to will her tiara to stop even when it was just a hair away from Naru.

However, to everyone's surprise, a pink glow emanated from Naru, before right in front of her a pink almost translucent wall appeared, blocking the Tiara. The Tiara hit, immediately causing the whole wall to crack, but it was enough as the Tiara fell to the ground back in its inactive state, while the wall completely shattered shortly after.

Everyone stopped short when they saw that, trying to process what they'd just seen...and in Blade's case he'd pulled out a blue handkerchief with a gold spade in the corner...and used it to rub the 'eyes' of his helmet as if thinking he might have been seeing things. Once he was done… "So...we all just saw that, right?"

"A barrier stopping the tiara? Yeah," Mars nodded, completely nonplussed.

Naru herself had no idea how she just did that. Even so her eyes quickly regained their determined expression. "Plese don't hurt Mr. Sanjouin!" she shouted, her words shocking the group…including the one she wasn't aware of.

Up in a nearby set of trees, Chalice was also present, Blade having contacted him earlier. He'd already scanned Tornado ahead of time and had his weapon at the ready, aiming to snipe Nephrite, and he would have too...if not for the shock at seeing the girl jump in front of him, ready to take an attack that could slice Youma in half.

Back with the rest of them.

"What do you think you're doing, Naru?!" Blade exclaimed.

"We can't let him get away after everything he's done!" Mercury added.

"He's a villain who's manipulated so many people already! He's not someone you should protect!" Mars shouted as well. "Get out of our way!"

"I won't! Not even if you kill me!" Naru shouted, shocking them to the core.

"Dammit girl, stop being stupid and stop shielding the bad guy already!" Blade said, granted a bit ruder than he would have liked, but his nerves weren't exactly calm right now.

"Maybe I am being stupid...but that doesn't change the fact I love him!" Naru said, tears falling from her eyes. "I love him with all my heart! So I'll protect him even if it costs me my life!"

Everyone listening was stunned silent, unable to do anything in response to that. Even Chalice in the trees felt his arrow feel heavier than normal...and for a moment in his mind the scene before him was replaced with an image from the past, Minako in Naru's place and him in Nephrite's place...and from the emotions the memory brought, he could only lower the Chalice Arrow. He just couldn't do it. Not like this…

For a moment the atmosphere was tense and uncertain...until someone promptly broke it.

"Is that the work of the Silver Crystal?" a voice said as from the shadows a figure leaped out, going straight for Naru.

It looked to simply be a woman dressed in traditional clothing, wearing a mask over her face… but it was obvious she was a youma from the way she moved.

It almost looked like no one would be able to move fast enough, as Naru gasped in fear as the youma was almost upon her…

But somebody was able to act fast enough.

"NO!" a certain voice shouted as a blast of energy was fired from a hand, right at the Youma's face, sending it flying backwards and breaking the mask off her face.

As for the person who saved her…

"Nephrite…" Blade whispered in shock as they all looked at Nephrite who stood protectively in front of Naru, and even he himself appeared to be shocked at his own actions.

However, the Youma wasn't down yet either. "Damn you, Nephrite!" she growled as her form shifted...and turned into what could only be called an Oni in Kabuki-style clothing with long white hair and two horns growing out of her head. "Do you intend to protect a human?!" she roared as she charged forward, aiming to skewer him with her horns, only for her to be stopped short when Nephrite grabbed hold of her horns, stopping her, before with a grunt he threw her into the air where she tried to right herself, aiming for a counter attack...until something flew out of the tree and skewered her through, causing her to be reduced to dust before she could even try to do anything else.

"...well...at least the sniper plan didn't go to waste I guess…" Blade sweat dropped a bit.

With the Youma gone, and the tension slowly leaving the atmosphere, everyone seemed to relax a little...or in Naru's case the excitement finally got to her and she fainted, to which Nephrite caught her much to his own surprise. Quickly getting over it though, he soon settled for a more neutral expression as he laid her down gently and putting the crystal she'd given him into her hand. It wasn't the Silver Crystal, so he had no use for it, and he had no desire to try investigating her strange power at this point in time.

"Nephrite." Blade spoke, his voice hard, but he didn't do anything.

Nephrite paused, turning his head to look over his shoulder at them silently.

"I'm sure you understand now that Naru's feelings for you are genuine. That's why I hope you'll realise why continuing to use that to manipulate her will NOT go well for you." Blade said, the girls all ready to act next to him, just in case Nephrite tried anything.

The general of the Dark Kingdom simply continued to silently stare at them, before looking down at Naru, his gaze unreadable, until he finally turned and just continued to walk away silently, till he simply disappeared, all the while, his mind was whirling with questions, with a single prominent one.

'Why did I protect her?'


A few days passed since that incident, and currently Usagi was meeting up with Naru at the local playground. Naru still seemed down after what happened, and all Usagi could do was give her silent support. Eventually though, she knew she had to say something. "Say, Naru...I think it would be better if you just forget about him," she said softly.

"I can't," Naru said, earning a worried look from Usagi. "No matter how bad he is, I still love him," she admitted.

"I see…" Usagi frowned, hating the fact she couldn't do anything to help.

"When you find someone you love with all your heart, you'll understand…" Naru sighed.

Usagi frowned a bit "No… I think I get it actually…" she murmured.


Meanwhile, it seemed Naru was not the only one with a lot on their mind. Nephrite sat on a throne in his cathedral, his mind pondering the recent events. "Why did I move to protect her?" he frowned. "And what was that energy the Black Crystal was reacting to?"

So many questions were running through his mind but no answers were coming forth. Eventually he shook his head. "No, I must not lose focus. My mission is to retrieve the Silver Crystal or defeat the Sailor Scouts and Blade," he said, pushing the thoughts aside. "Though…" he stopped, a thoughtful look on his face "How DID she suddenly make that shield the other night? What kind of power does she have to be able to do that?"

In the end it seemed he would continue to investigate her after all. It was definitely not because what she did meant something to him. Definitely not.

So focused he was however, he didn't realise that a certain someone was spying on him.

"So… that's the Black Crystal then?" Kujaku mused, before smirking "I wonder what Zoisite will pay me for this information." he said, before disappearing into the shadow.


A few hours later, the sun had gone down and the people had turned in for the night. Among them was Naru who was sleeping soundly in her bed. As she slept she never noticed the figure appearing outside of her room window.

'The Crystal clearly reacted to her, and with those strange powers she had...could it be that the crystal is really inside of her body?' he wondered before sending the Black Crystal over and letting it scan her.

As the energy examined her, the pink aura from before became visible again. 'There's definitely something here, but it can't be the Silver Crystal…' he thought with a frown. Either way he continued to deepen the search and slowly but surely something started to become visible.

It… almost looked like… no, it WAS a crystal, one shaped like a rose and colored bright pink.

"This… what is this?" Nephrite said in confusion, never having seen nor heard about something like this before.

"Could this be what the Black Crystal is detecting? Then, somehow… rather than locate the Silver Crystal, it locates this… Rose Crystal?" he wondered.

Recalling the Black Crystal, he was deep in thought, and while a part of him told him that he should take her crystal, that maybe it would be a power source just as strong as the Silver Crystal, and that Queen Beryl would forgive his failures were he to arrive with it.

But… the other part told him he should ignore it, act like he hadn't seen anything… because if he took the crystal from Naru, it was very likely her life force would completely drain away, and she would die.

His hesitation and confusion caused his energy to become a little less controlled than normal, enough so that it seemed Naru could sense his presence, rousing her from her sleep. Blinking a little she looked around, and recognized the figure standing outside of the curtain. "Mr. Sanjoin?" she said in surprise.

"Masato Sanjoin was just an identity I used to move about this city. My real name is Nephrite," Nephrite said. "I'm telling you this because I do not wish to lie to you anymore."

Naru didn't say anything, instead she shifted, wanting to get closer but he stopped her. "Please just stay there and listen," he said.

"Alright," Naru nodded.

"You are...a very unique girl," Nephrite said. "In my work I've always observed humans, but for some reason this is the first time I've started to understand what it is humans call 'love'," he sighed. "In the Dark Kingdom there is no such thing. Perhaps there are some attachments, but in the end if it allows one to boost their standings, it won't take much for us to turn on each other."

"And, as for myself… I'm quite the proper example. Sailor Moon and Kamen Rider Blade, they were right about me. I manipulated many people, you included. I don't deserve the love you feel for me Naru," he continued.

"But if you understand that now, that means you can change, right?" Naru asked hopefully.

"Unfortunately things are not as simple as that," Nephrite said. "Its unfortunate, but I cannot leave the Dark Kingdom. That is why I came here to say that this time it really will be goodbye," he said.

"Mr. Nephrite, wait!" Naru gasped as she reached for the curtain and pulled it aside...but he was already gone. Naru stopped short before leaning on the wall and curling into a ball. She just didn't know what to think or do right now…

However as she did that, outside on a building not too far away…

"And here I thought all we'd be doing is looking for a way to get the Black Crystal. Instead we get a soap opera too. I should help you backstab each other more often," Kujaku chuckled as he and Zoicite had been watching.

"Is that so? Then I suppose I owe you an amusing show," Zoicite chuckled. "Still, to think Nephrite would be foolish enough to fall for a human girl. It's almost too easy," he laughed.

"Master Zoicite," a new voice said to which the two turned to see a trio of Youma who...honestly looked like they could easily be sisters what with the similar body shape, appearance, and even all having plant-like themes.

"I'm sure you saw everything as well. You know what to do," Zoicite chuckled.

"Of course. Nephrite was foolish to allow weakness into his heart. We should attack him now," the Youma said.

"Slow down there girls. You should know that if you tried fighting him now, you'd all just die," Kujaku chuckled.

"We'll take that girl as a hostage to lure him out," Zoicite agreed. "From there we will take the Black Crystal from him and kill him...in whichever order you prefer."

"This plan is interesting. Shall I lend you an Undead just in case?" Kujaku smirked.

"Why not?" Zoicite chuckled. "Even the great Nephrite can't defeat what can't be killed."

What none of them noticed was the figure in a sailor suit watching from afar before quickly leaping away.


In two homes, one a house and the other an apartment, the sound of beeping could be heard.

Kensuke and Usagi groaned as they heard their communicator/phone go off and reached/got up and grabbed for it.

(Insert split screen effect)

"Who's calling me this late at night?" both of them groaned...in surprising synch. "Hello?"

They were both met with a few seconds of silence at first… and both of them got a bit grumpy at what might have been a prank "Hello?" they repeated a bit more forcefully.

"Yo, sorry to call you so late, but it's really important," Kelch said through the communicator...before yawning a bit.

"...I'm guessing you were just woken up too?" Kensuke said in mild amusement.

"Pretty much yeah. Long story short, I just got info from a very reliable source that the Dark Kingdom's been out and about. They were spying on a shop called Osa-P. Does that mean anything to you?"

Kensuke sat up straight at that "That's where Naru lives. What's Nephrite planning?"

"It wasn't Nephrite." Kelch said, stopping Kensuke "My source said it was someone with blonde hair in a ponytail and yes, they were dressed like Nephrite. Could be another General. There was also someone with slicked black hair."

Kensuke frowned "I don't know the first one… but the second sounds like the human form the Peacock Undead takes. Whatever they're planning, it can't be good."

Back with Usagi…

"Sorry for calling you so late in the night Usagi." Naru's voice came from the phone.

"Naru!" Usagi almost shouted before catching herself and hissing it out, not wanting to wake up anybody, especially not after her parents were kind enough to give her a home phone in her room. "What's wrong?"

"I just thought you're the only one I can talk to. Mister Sanjoin… no, Mister Nephrite, he just came to talk to me. He told me himself that he was a dangerous person… that he didn't deserve the love I felt for him… and that it would be the last time I'd ever see him." Naru spoke sadly.

"Naru…" Usagi said sadly, not sure what to say to try and comfort her. However, that was...made moot...seeing as the next thing she heard was the sound of something breaking followed by struggling. "Naru? Naru! What's happening?!" Usagi gasped as the sound of struggling continued and nobody responded on the phone.

"Usagi! Help!" Naru's voice could be faintly heard through the other end of the phone, until… silence.

As soon as she heard the cry for help, Usagi hung up her phone and opened her communicator, contacting everybody at once "We've got trouble! Everybody wake up! I think Naru was kidnapped!"

Her voice managed to wake up Luna as well, and a moment later, her door was opened a bit by a sleepy eyed Shingo "Sis? What's going on?"

"I think Naru just got kidnapped by the Dark Kingdom." she answered, and he immediately snapped fully awake right as four voices came from her communicator, two female shouts of "What?!" and two male shouts of "Damn it!"


The group quickly made their way to Naru's house via rooftop or motorbike and before long they were on the rooftop near Osa-P...and unsurprisingly the police were here. "Considering they literally kidnapped a girl, this is really no surprise," Blade frowned.

"The only problem is how should we try to get more information if any," Chalice sighed.

"He's right, if they went so far as to kidnap Naru, they must have a motive," Mercury agreed.

"Think we should just go up and ask the police?" Moon suggested.

Everyone paused at that, before looking at each other "Huh… you know, that actually might work." Mars admitted.

"We'll do it. Just in case some of them can see through your glamour somehow and remember your faces." Blade said gesturing to himself and Chalice.

"Right, better safe than sorry," Mercury nodded as Blade and Chalice jumped off the roof and soon landed not far away from the scene.

"Excuse us," Blade said, catching their attention. Most of the officers present seemed quite surprised to see the two of them there, though one of them quickly regained their composure and moved forward.

He was a man with steel colored hair and stormy grey eyes, he was obviously higher ranked than the other officers, as rather than a simple police uniform, he was wearing a vest, tie, and suit pants. "I'm going to guess that you two are here because of the incident," he said, voice rather serious but not overly so or unfriendly.

"Basically," Chalice nodded. "We have reason to believe the Dark Kingdom is involved in this kidnapping. Why? We're hoping to figure THAT part out," he explained.

"And seeing as you're all already here, we felt it best to talk to all of you first rather than just barging in," Blade said.

The officer nodded at that. "Good on both of you. If you HAD just barged in the brass would probably get on or cases or something. As for clues, there was a ransom note left in the girl's room. The only problem is who it's addressed to. Does the name 'Nephrite' mean anything to you two?"

The two riders shared a look of surprise "It does yes." Chalice said "It means things have just become even more complicated because he's supposed to be a member of the Dark Kingdom. But if they're doing this… something has definitely happened."

"It might be related to what your source saw earlier. Kujaku talking with another of the generals." Blade mused, a hand on his chin.

"So an internal power struggle is it?" the officer frowned. "Well, if that's the case they wanted some 'Black Crystal' this Nephrite apparently owns. The problem is there's no address."

"The Dark Kingdom members are able to sense 'energy'. Odds are they didn't put an address because they didn't need to put one," Chalice frowned. "For now, I think the first priority should be trying to find the girl. Probably somewhere quiet or even abandoned. They tend to like using places like that unless they're scheming something. As for Nephrite...I don't know if he'll actually answer this or not, so that makes it even more important we find them."

Unknown to them, standing several feet in the air above them, Nephrite heard everything, his hand clenching in fury "Zoicite… it could only have been him…" he said with a growl.


Naru was afraid...though a part of her felt just sad. Why? Oh no it wasn't because she was currently being threatened by monsters. It wasn't because apparently she was live bait for the person she'd fallen for...though that DID hurt. What REALLY made her sad...was the feeling of resignation that she was, once again, right in the middle of ANOTHER incident. Did she do something terrible in a past life? Something so bad it warranted her being apparently the favorite target of monsters in this life?

Ultimately she decided to not say anything, even as they were threatening her, seeing as she was their hostage. They wouldn't kill her just yet...though she WAS a bit worried when they made it clear if Nephrite didn't show up they'd kill her for sure. Even so...she held hope that he would come. Right as she thought that though, the sound of someone entering was heard...and up from the stairs, Nephrite was coming down, a neutral expression on his face. "Mr. Nephrite!" Naru couldn't help but say, her voice a mix of surprise and a lot of relief. Though the relief didn't last all that long when the Youma suddenly sprang into action, one of them releasing a spread of small bombs at him which he quickly evaded, the bombs blowing up the stairs he'd come in from, while another of the Youma released what appeared to be soundwaves from her hands, which seemed to mess with his senses a little, enough so that the first released another spread of bombs, seemingly catching him in the explosion...only for him to burst out of the smoke, seemingly unharmed, before smashing his fist into both of their guts, knocking them back and out of the fight. The third Youma saw this and turned her arm into a spear-like weapon and sent it forward, but he quickly evaded and manifested a sword in his hand. The Youma gasped and involuntarily backed away and ended up against the wall as Nephrite stabbed the sword into the wall, shifting the position a bit and having it just shy of cutting her neck. "I'll never hand over the Black Crystal to the likes of you. Tell that to Zoisite," Nephrite said coldly.

"Do you think...we're all that's here?" the Youma managed to say.

"What?" Nephrite's eyes widened as he sensed another presence...and narrowly evaded a strike from another attacker. Once he got a look at the fourth assailant, he glared. "So it seems Kujaku has decided to throw his lot in with Zoisite," he growled as he saw the Undead before him. It had the same type of body as the others, covered in leather straps and the like, with a head that was shaped like a large hammer, a mouth full of razor sharp fangs, and fin shaped tonfas being held in his hands.

The Undead wasted no time in going after Nephrite, swinging its tonfas, forcing Nephrite to evade...leaving a table to be cleaved in half. Nephrite clicked his tongue in frustration, before hitting the Undead with a powerful blast of magic at near point blank, sending it flying, and even blowing off some of its flesh, but where that would have killed a Youma, the Undead soon got back up, the injury quickly healing.

Realizing if he drew this out he'd be in trouble, Nephrite used a quick spell to cut the ropes binding Naru, before picking her up bridal style. "We're making our escape," he said urgently before quickly vanishing, taking her with him...right as the Undead struck where they had been, cutting through the wall instead.


While the Riders, the Scouts, and even the police were all searching for Naru… she was currently in Nephrite's arms, being carried back to her home by him.

"Thank you…" Naru told him shyly.

"There's no need to do that." Nephrite said "Even I don't know why I saved you. All I know is that when I heard what happened… I was angry." he said, shaking his head "Not to mention, I've been deceiving you for so long. I may lie to you again for all you know."

Naru smiled at him softly "You won't. You told me everything earlier after all, didn't you? I don't think you'll lie to me again."

He blinked in surprise at how sure she sounded of herself, before shaking his head "I don't see how you can be so sure of yourself." he said, though he had a somewhat fond look on his face.

"Call it a hunch," Naru chuckled a bit...until she saw his arm and noticed the bit of blood that was visible on his arm from a cut on it. "Your arm…" she gasped.

"Its just a scratch. Nothing to be worried about," Nephrite reassured her.

"Nonsense! Even if its a small one you shouldn't just leave it alone!" Naru said. "Come on, let's find somewhere we can at least treat that," she urged.

Nephrite sighed but ultimately complied, soon moving to a park that was nearby.

A short while later they were sitting under a tree, Naru having ripped a part of her pajamas off to use as a makeshift bandage for the wound. At first both were silent as Naru bandaged the injury, before she tried to break the silence. "In San-Chome," she started, catching his slightly confused expression. "There's a place that serves really good chocolate parfait," she said.

"Chocolate Parfait?" Nephrite asked, a little confused.

"Yeah. Do you not like them?" Naru asked.

"I've never had one so I can't say," Nephrite answered.

"Is that so? Then maybe next time we could share one," Naru said as she finished up tying up the bandages.

Nephrite moved his arm about, feeling it not as painful as it was before. "Perhaps we can. I owe you that much at least," he chuckled slightly.

"I'll be sure to hold you to that," Naru smiled, something he returned a bit as his expression softened a bit "Oh, come to think of it… do you even get days off in the first place?"

He looked at her in slight surprise at the question, before he started to chuckle, something which made her smile before soon joining him in laughter.

However… the happy moment was soon broken. Nephrite only had a second to sense the killing intent, right as something came moving through the air, giving him just enough time to push Naru out of the way...before he was speared through the shoulder by a spear made out of roots/spikes. "Mr. Nephrite!" Naru shouted in alarm and horror at seeing him getting speared through, right as the spear glowed and broke off, leaving several thorns impaling him.

"You let your guard down," a familiar voice chuckled as the three Youma from before appeared "Those thorns will keep sucking out your energy until you die."

"You…" Nephrite growled, wincing in pain.

"Such a miserable way for one such as you to die." one of the Youma said in a haughty tone "Now, unless you want the girl to die too, you'll hand the Black Crystal over to us."

Nephrite only took a moment to calm himself down "Very well." he said reluctantly, before looking to Naru "Hurry, run."

Naru was still looking at the scene in fear, before she steeled herself "I… no." she said.

"Run!" Nephrite repeated more firmly.

"No! I won't leave you!" Naru said as she rushed to him, before she grabbed onto the roots, which started to spark as she did, harming her, but she didn't let go and instead started to try and pull them out from him.

One of the youma laughed. "Do you really think a pitiful human like you can just pull them out?"

"Shut up!" Naru managed to shout, actually surprising them enough for her to get an edge in word wise. "Its always like this with you monsters! You act like you're going to win while sounding so smug about it all the time! If that's the case, why is it...that you ALWAYS LOSE?!" she shouted.

"Insolent little girl…!" the one who made small bombs growled and raised her hands to throw her explosives, before…

"Kick! Thunder! Mach!"

"Lightning Sonic!" a voice shouted, before all of a sudden the youma was folding over in half around Kamen Rider Blade's foot, a trail of electricity behind him… and then she got sent flying into a tree by the force of the kick suddenly landing on her at such high speed… and it was rather unclear if she was even still alive with the smoke that got kicked up from the attack (though more than likely that did her in). "Made it just in time," Blade smirked under his mask.

"What are you doing here?!" the youma who could release sound waves gasped.

"You kidnapped a girl so blatantly. What did you THINK would happen?" came Chalice's voice as a volley of arrows was fired, forcing the two Youma to back away, creating more distance between them and their target.

"We need to get the Black Crystal now!" the Youma with the spear arm growled but…

"Shabon Spray!" came Mercury's voice as the spell hit, covering the area in mist, making the Youma unable to find their target.

"Naru!" came Moon's voice as the rest of the group entered the park, still able to see as Mercury's spell only affected enemies.

"Sailor Moon!" Naru gasped, relief in her voice. They were safe now. Though there was still the matter of the roots in Nephrite, which she focused back on and gripped tighter, trying harder to pull them out… and she didn't notice her hands suddenly glow a pink color as she suddenly fell backwards with a gasp, and when she sat back up… most of the spears were gone, Nephrite himself looking surprised.

"Is this… the power of that Rose Crystal?" he spoke in shock, as only one spear was left in him, which made it much more easy for him to grab it and yank it out with a grunt, now that so much of his energy wasn't being drained.

"...okay we got a LOT of questions, but we'll save them for later," Mars sighed. Seriously, when did Naru spontaneously develop powers of her own?

"Agreed. We've got to deal with the Youma first," Moon nodded, the group focusing their attention on the Youma, who understandably looked a bit less confident than before.

"Dammit all!" the one with a spear arm roared as she lashed out, while the other one let out a wave of sound to throw them off balance.

"I don't think so!" Blade growled as he grabbed another card and scanned it. "Metal!"

He got in front of the spear...and it unsurprisingly was completely useless against the defense that Metal Trilobite afforded. "Counter them now!"

"Right! Moon Tiara...Action!" Moon called out, throwing her tiara.

"I'll help too! Fire Soul!" Mars added, adding her attack to the tiara, turning it into a flaming disc, and with the Youma just finishing their attacks...yeah…

The two of them screamed before they were reduced to dust.

With the Youma gone, the group started to relax...until Nephrite sensed something again, the same time the Riders felt their respective charms heat up. "Watch out!" he shouted, once again pushing Naru away from the danger, right as the Undead from before jumped down from wherever it was hiding, and slashed him in the back, causing him to shout out in pain...and drop the Black crystal in the process which clattered on the ground before floating up and flying right into Zoisite's waiting hand.

"Well that took longer than expected." the effeminate man said with a tut "I suppose it was too much to hope that those Youma would finish the job, but that Undead might be able to kill at least one or two of you." he said with a smirk, before disappearing.

"That… bastard…" Nephrite growled with a wince, feeling the painful slash on his back from the Undead's weapon.

"Don't know who he thinks he is, but he's out of it if he thinks THIS one can do us in at this point," Chalice said dryly, Blade nodding in agreement.

"Is this one a pretty low Category then?" Mercury asked hopefully...right as she fired another Shabon Spray to disorient the Undead, while Moon was the first to get to her friend, who in turn helped Nephrite get away from there...not easy when he was bleeding from basically three holes.

"Yeah, this one is the Hammerhead Undead. Three of Hearts," Blade nodded...before wincing at the damage Nephrite had taken this evening. "...also think your powers can be focused into an ice patch or something? Cause I think we need to stop that bleeding. At this point even burning the wounds shut has to be better than leaving them open."

"We'll figure something out. You two seal that thing first," Mars said, earning a nod from the two Riders who faced the Undead.

"No problems there," Chalice nodded before the two charged forward. The Undead met them head on, swinging its weapons, but the two either evaded or blocked the attack. "Let's start by messing his movements up," Chalice said before attaching his Rouzer to his weapon and drawing one of his cards. "Bio!"

Lashing out with the vines, he started tangling the Undead, even as it tried to cut off parts of the vines, but Chalice kept sending more, causing it to slowly but surely get tangled up, enough so that Blade had a clear opening to attack the Undead, landing several hits, before getting out of the way as Chalice followed up with another card. "Bullet!"

The Undead was pelted with a barrage of shots as Chalice unloaded on it, sending it flying back. "Let's not prolong this. We've got someone who needs the ER," he frowned, before drawing two more cards and scanning them. "Drill! Tornado!" The images appeared and were absorbed into his armor. "Spinning Attack!" he called out as he was lifted into the air by the tornado kicked up, before going into a drill kick propelled by the wind, slamming right into the Undead's chest and sending it sprawling on the ground before exploding in a ball of fire.

When the flames cleared, they saw the Undead on the ground, Belt cracked open and ready for sealing. As such Chalice easily drew his Proper Blank and tossed it at the Undead, sealing it away and awarding him with the Chop Hammerhead card.

"And that's another." he sighed, grabbing the card as it came back and putting it in his case.

"I'm still worried about the fact the Dark Kingdom has some of these guys under their control, even if it IS because of the Peacock Undead." Blade said, a frown behind his helmet.

"Then that means we're gonna have to aim to seal him away as soon as we can," Chalice frowned. However, before they could go further on that train of thought, the sound of collapsing caught their attention, as the group turned and saw Nephrite fall to the ground as with the Youma and Undead gone...he'd crashed from his injuries.

"Mr. Nephrite!" Naru gasped in alarm as she was soon cradling him.

"This is bad. Is there any way we can heal him?" Mars asked, turning to the Riders.

"Maybe if we had Recovery Camel, but…" Blade trailed off, looking at Chalice, who shook his head sadly.

"I haven't found that one yet." he answered.

"Then what can we do?" Moon asked with a sad look as Naru was looking distraught at the clearly dying Nephrite.

Nephrite struggled to stay alive, looking up Naru with a sad smile "I'm… sorry… I ended up lying to you again… I won't be able to go try those parfaits with you…" he said, trying to give her one last smile as he slowly closed his eyes.

"No…" Naru gasped. "It can't be like this! You promised!" she shouted, tears falling, and as they fell, the pink aura from before returned, and started to be absorbed into her tears. Where they landed, points of light started to form, before they grew and soon enveloped him, and for a moment they blinded everyone, but when the light subsided, there was Nephrite, his injuries healed, though it seemed he wasn't moving...though thankfully it turned out he was just asleep now.

"What just…?" Mars blinked.

"I think we're all right there with you," Blade said, blinking behind his mask. "Though...what now?"

"What do you mean?" Mercury asked.

"I think he means what do we do with Nephrite now," Luna said as she came closer seeing as the danger was passed. Of course, when she stepped into view…

"Eh?! Is that Luna?!" Naru gasped, seeing the familiar cat.

Everyone stopped at that, before Blade facepalmed "Luna… you need more tact dammit."

The feline had the decency to blush at being called out "Yes… I suppose I do."

"Wait, if Luna is here then...does that mean…?" Naru blinked, looking towards the Scouts gathered.

The group sighed at that. No point hiding it now. "Yeah, it's me. Sorry you had to find out like this…" Moon apologized. "But before you ask more, we'll explain later. For now what was that you were getting at?" she asked Luna and Blade.

"Put simply, while Nephrite surviving is good and all, I'm not sure the Dark Kingdom would actually take one of their Generals running free lying down. There's a really good chance they'll keep coming after him and by extension Naru…" Blade frowned.

"That can't be…" Moon frowned sadly. "Isn't there anything we can do to help?"

Luna thought about it for a moment...before her expression brightened up. "There might be a way," she said before doing a somersault, leaving a trail of magic which condensed into a new item. This one looking like a short pink stick with a crescent moon at the tip.

"Huh? What's this thing?" Moon asked as she picked it up.

"This is the Moon Stick. I wasn't sure we'd actually need it, but in light of recent events, it seems we will," Luna said. "It may be a powerful weapon, but it's one in the sense that its main power is to Purify evil energies. If you use this on Nephrite, and if he has had a change of heart, it should purify the evil and turn him into a normal human...more or less on the normal part anyway," Luna explained. "The spell contained in this is 'Moon Healing Escalation'."

Moon looked at the Moon Stick in her hand, before looking at Naru uncertainly. Naru noticed the look, looking down at the sleeping Nephrite before she looked back and nodded. "If this can let him find a new and better life, please do it."

"Alright," Moon nodded, before she held the Moon Stick into the air, the crystals on it shining a little. "Moon Healing...Escalation!" she called out as she twirled around, the Moon Stick releasing a trail of stardust-like magic which spread till it looked like a veil of the dust had been spread before she formed a full circle with it, sending the dust flying forward, gently covering Nephrite as the image of a glowing crescent moon briefly covered him and his body started to glow, waves of malevolent magic and energy being driven out of him and when it was done...well...he looked normal, but they were pretty sure it had done its job.

Blade sighed, before looking at everyone "Well… the only question left is… what next?"


BOOM!

Yeahp, we made a pretty massive change to canon.

First, the biggest, Nephrite lives.

Second, equally big, Naru has powers of some kind.

Yeah, we're going to take this story places, VERY big places.

You'll find out what those places are... some day.

Rouze Card Count:

Blade:

Spade: Ace, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10

Club: 3

Chalice:

Heart: Ace, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8

Diamond: 2

Garren:

Diamond: Ace, 6