Chapter 14

A New Enemy Appears: Nephrite's Evil Crest

In the Palace of Darkness, Nephrite stood before Queen Beryl, Maleficent, and Pete, while Sephiroth stood next to him with his arms folded over his chest. He wore the same kind of uniform as Jadeite, but his maroon hair was more wavy and reached his mid-back, and his eyes were navy blue.

"Jadeite took energy from everyone and anyone he could. But if you ask me, that's just a waste of time and effort," he said.

"Yeah, that's for sure. Besides that bozo kinda deserved to be turned into Heartless," replied Pete.

"Indeed. Well Nephrite, now that you're in charge, what's your plan?" asked Beryl.

"Unlike Jadeite, who targeted people indiscriminately, I will obtain all the energy we need from a single victim," replied Nephrite.

"And how will you be able to do it?" asked Sephiroth.

"It's simple, the stars above govern the fate of every individual, guiding the destiny for each of them. The same is true of energy as a moment when every person's level of energy is at its highest. Therefore, I will analyze the motion of the stars, and then target the one person who's energy is going to increase the most," explained Nephrite.

He was about to explain further when he heard a scoff and a high cold laughter. He glanced up at the individual who was laughing at him, taking note of the same uniform he wore, but his light blonde hair was tied in a ponytail.

"Well, you certainly seem confident," the voice said.

"What do you want, Zoisite? Why are you here?" demanded Nephrite.

"Overconfidence has brought down many you know," replied Zoisite.

But Sephiroth pointed his sword at him in a threatening manner.

"Vanish," he said in a menacing tone, which made Zoisite scoff at the silverette.

"I will infiltrate the human world, and exploit their weaknesses. And I certainly don't need any help from you," Nephrite said in agreement.

"Oh, really? Funny because, right now I'm picturing you crawling back to our allies and begging them in tears," sneered Zoisite.

"Know your place!" Sephiroth said in a more dangerous tone.

"Ooh scary," snickered Zoisite, as he vanished in a flurry of petals that were engulfed with darkness.

"Nephrite, I leave it to you," said Queen Beryl.

"But just a heads up, if you see a kid with a Keyblade and his little group of friends, steer clear," warned Pete.

"I'll take your warning into consideration, Pete," replied Nephrite, who turned and left.

On the streets of Juban, a group of reporters were going after a young girl by the name of Rui Saionji. They wanted to ask her questions, but Rui politely declined, and said that she had to go to go practice on the Tennis court. Unknown to them, a mysterious manor appeared in another part of the city. But inside of the manor, Nephrite was concentrating on locating his prey by utilizing his skills in astrology. At last, after a brief few minutes he had finally located his prey.

"The noble archer Chyron is about to fire his arrow into the heart of the Milky Way, and sagittarius' target is Rui Saionji. Your energy is mne," Nephrite said.

On the tennis court, Rui Saionji was now practicing with another player, who sent the tennis ball back and out of the play area. Nearby, Usagi, Naru and Sora were watching, while the two girls cheered for Rui.

"That was an awesome match, sis!" Naru called out with a proud smile, making Rui turn towards her.

"Hey, how come we never knew that?" asked Usagi.

"Knew what?" Naru asked back.

"Well… you never told us that you had an older sibling, Naru," replied Sora.

"What?" Naru asked in confusion.

"And now for hiding things from your best friends, We're punishing you," said Usagi.

"Don't be so dumb, Usagi," replied Naru.

"Come on Naru, you know it's not nice to be rude to other people," warned Sora, making Usagi smile at him.

"But you know that, I'm an only child. And besides, Sis and I have different last names," replied Naru.

"But, uh, why do you still think that Rui's like your sister?" Sora asked.

"Well, her mother's been a long time customer at our jewelry store. So we've known each other practically our entire lives. Sis and I used to play together alot when we were little kids," answered Naru.

"Hmm… sounds interesting," said Sora, as they watched Rui's performance on the tennis field.

"We're actually a year apart, but she's always looked out for me, just like a real big sister would, You know?" Naru said to them.

"Oh okay, we get it now," replied Usagi.

But they heard the sound of a red sports car pulling up to the tennis court and coming to a stop at the tennis field. Then it's driver got out and walked towards the field. Several people glanced at him, and began talking about him, but Sora glanced nervously at him, as he sensed a powerful darkness inside of the stranger's heart. But at the same time, his expression darkened, while Naru and Usagi were smitten by the individual, as he jumped into the air, and landed on the tennis field.

"Excuse me, but you can't just walk onto the court right now," a player said to him.

'You should be putting more weight behind the ball," the man said to Rui, ignoring the other player.

Rui and the spectators were confused, but the stranger told the player to hand her the Tennis racket, which she did so without hesitation.

"Now, serve me the ball!" he said sternly.

Rui did so, but the stranger struck at it with all of his might, and sent it back to her. Rui tried to hit the ball back at him, but it bounced off her wrist, making everyone shocked. Sora, on the other hand, was furious at him and glared angrily at the stranger. He had no idea that his name was actually Nephrite.

"That serve was so slow that a fly could have landed on it," he said as he walked up to Rui who was clutching her wrist.

"I'm sorry, but just who are you?" she asked.

"My name's Masato Sanjouin. I'm a coach and I can help you," replied Nephrite.

Rui was aghast, but as she stepped back, she didn't notice Nephrite transferring a small portion of darkness into the Tennis racket that was knocked out of her hand, nor did she see a mysterious symbol on the bottom of the handle. But she saw him carefully pick it up and return it to him.

'Focus on putting your weight behind the ball," said Nephrite.

Rui nodded, but was unsure of what was happening to her.

"I need someone to receive!" he called out to the other players.

One of the players stepped up, but was still a bit prideful and arrogant, until he started acting modest in front of Rui. But as Rui served the ball to him, it whooshed past him and disintegrated behind him, making Sora and Naru shocked, but made Usagi rather impressed. Even Rui was surprised by what happened. She didn't seem to be able to comprehend that Masato Sanjouin was actually Nephrite in disguise, and she had no idea that he placed a creature of darkness into the Tennis Racket in her hands.

"Thanks for the tip," she said, but Nephrite had already left.

"The more you use that racket, the more your energy will increase, and the more I can steal," he said, as he watched Rui hitting the more tennis balls at her opponents.

But everyone was afraid of this sudden change in Rui's strength.

"This feels great," she said.

Usagi was extremely happy that she was stronger.

"Is something wrong, Naru?" Sora asked her.

"I don't know, something just doesn't seem right," replied Naru.

That night at Juban Shopping District's Crown Arcade, Sora and Luna stood before the Sailor V video game console.

"Codename 0091, this is Luna. Passphrase: The rabbit on the moon is pounding rice cakes," the black cat said.

"The moon's rice cakes are sticky," replied her contact.

"And the puff up when you toast them as well," Luna said.

"Good news, we've uncovered new information on the enemy we're up against," Luna's contact said informatively to them.

"Okay, so what are they called?" asked Sora.

"The enemy's organization goes by the name, Dark Kingdom. They're trying to collect human energy. But as of yet, we haven't been able to uncover their master plan," replied Luna's contact.

"Why would they want human energy?" wondered Luna.

The next day after school, Sora and Luna had called a meeting with everyone at the Hikawa Shrine.

"The Dark Kingdom, Huh?" asked Rei.

"We need to prepare ourselves to face them," Ami said determinedly.

"Well I say that we bust in there and crush those evil jerks!" argued Rei.

"No! If we charge into their base of operations without a plan, we'd be unprepared for what awaits us behind enemy lines. And that's for three reasons. 1: Even if we did manage to locate their base of operations, we'd run right smack into their army of darkness. 2: They'd try to take us all down, even after giving us a fighting chance, we'd exhaust ourselves both physically and mentally. And 3: They'd all have an easier time using this disadvantage for their own twisted agenda, and transform us all into Heartless before we get a chance to recover. That's why going into their base of operations unprepared will only make Luna disappointed if we don't find the Princess and the Silver Crystal first," Sora said in a serious tone, which surprised everyone.

"Sora's right, going in unprepared would be disastrous for all of us," agreed Ami.

"That's a very valid point. You have to prepare for that confrontation by studying and training yourselves," said Luna.

"Oh, I have an idea! Why don't we use Tennis to train?" asked Usagi.

Everyone glanced at Usagi, until Riku stepped up.

"According to Sora and Usagi, they saw a tennis coach who went by the name Masato Sanjouin. From what they told me, his motives are shrouded in darkness," he said to them.

"You're right Riku, we need to learn about this Masato Sanjouin guy and catch him in the act," agreed Rei.

"Ohh, who should I choose," wondered Usagi.

"You know, I'm really glad that our new allies are helping us out. If it had been you Usagi, I'm sure that the Dark Kingdom would have taken away all of the energy from those people a long time ago," said Luna.

"That's a bitter pill for her to swallow, Luna. But the more you pressure Usagi to battle the darkness, the less likely she'll be serious about the task at hand," added Roxas.

"That's right, we need to let her share the burden with us first," agreed Ami.

"We sure do, Ami. Because Usagi bearing this burden on her own is a weakness that organization could easily exploit," said Axel.

"In the meantime, Riku, I need you to take charge of the group while Usagi and I go visit Naru to cheer her up," added Sora.

"Thank you, Sora," Usagi said as she gave him a hug.

Meanwhile, Rui was defeating many tennis players that tried to challenge her, but they had no idea that she was being controlled by the darkness Nephrite had placed into the racket.

"Rui we should stop now," a player said fearfully.

"What's the problem? I brought you a spare racket. Now come on, get up on your feet. Let's finish this," replied Rui.

Naru, however, saw everything and was worried about Rui. She had never seen her acting like this before. She quickly returned home, contacted Usagi and Sora, and told them to meet at her house. A few minutes later, her friends arrived and she prepared them tea.

"Sorry for calling you here, last minute," she said.

"It's no big deal," Sora assured her.

"Is something wrong?" asked Usagi.

"I don't know, but sis has been acting strange the last couple of days," replied Naru.

"What do you mean?" asked Sora.

"She's become so aggressive whenever she plays tennis. And all the time we've spent together, she's never been like this. It's as if she's become a different person," answered Naru.

"Do you think she's just on edge because of the big tournament coming up?" asked Usagi.

"That was my first guess, too. But, now I think it's more than that. I don't know," replied Naru as the tears stung her eyes.

Usagi became concerned, but Sora suddenly placed his hand on his chest, and looked solemnly at Naru.

"What could have happened to her?" she asked sadly.

As she wept, Naru began to think about all the good times she and Rui had together, including some of the hard times they had to endure. But then she remembered asking Rui if there was something wrong, only to receive a foreboding reply from her.

"I've never seen Sis act like that to me before. It makes me think that something terrible happened to her to make her behave this way. She won't even talk to me," she said, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"I see," replied Usagi.

(Play any version of Dearly Beloved from Kingdom Hearts for this part here)

"Naru, please don't cry…" Sora assured her.

"Wait, why are you telling me not to cry?" she asked.

It's like this… I know how much Rui means to you because you think of her as your sister. But… you know- I can tell that you really do care about her. I can't leave things like this… I understand how you feel… But our meeting was no coincidence. That's why we're friends. And we always will be. But I can't allow you to bear this pain on your own… not ever. Naru… if you cry now- I'll feel guilty, like I let you down. So don't cry… please. Until we help Rui, smile and try to be happy. It's easier for all of us," Sora said to her.

Then Naru's face lit up as she smiled at him.

"Wow Sora, that was really sweet of you to say to Naru," said Usagi.

"Aw, cut it out! If I couldn't cheer her up, who would?" he replied.

"Too bad. You know that friends always help each other out!" she giggled.

"Come on…" Sora said, rubbing his nose.

But Naru couldn't help but laugh at what she heard.

"There! That's it! That's the Naru we remember. Yeah… I really liked it when you used to smile. Of course, that was only when we first met you and Usagi. But what I'm feeling now is concern for Rui. So let's help her," smiled Sora.

"Thank you," replied Naru.

Then Sora turned to Usagi.

"Well then, let's go," he said.

"Yeah, come with us Naru," Usagi said in agreement.

(Music ends here)

That night, the three friends set off to find Rui. Then they came to a building where the lights shone down on many tennis courts.

"So this is the place where Rui comes to get tennis lessons?" asked Usagi.

"Yeah she comes down here to train after school is over," replied Naru.

Usagi grew concerned, but Sora had a serious glare in his eyes, making Naru turn and face them.

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

"I'm afraid so, Naru. let's go and help Rui," replied Sora.

Usagi also glanced at Sora, with a look of worry in her eyes.

"Sora, it's gonna be fine. I promise," she said to him.

Suddenly they heard a loud grunt of pain, and another player asking if his partner was alright.

"What was that serve?" asked the first player.

"What's wrong with you guys, I thought you were supposed to be pros. Are you telling me that you can't even return a serve?" sneered Rui.

"Look just give us a break, okay?" replied the second player.

"No, I'm serving again!" Rui said in an unhinged tone.

But as she was about to serve, she heard not one, but two people calling out to her.

"STOP IT!" cried Sora and Naru.

Rui glanced up, and saw Usagi, Naru, and Sora standing between her and the players.

"Move it!" she snapped.

"No way! Not until you stop acting like this sis! I mean it!" replied Naru, her brow furrowed with determination.

Sora nodded as he readied his keyblade.

"Get out of the way, Naru!" Rui said furiously.

"That's enough Rui! Naru's not the only one who's worried about you, Usagi and I are also worried about you too! You have to stop what you're doing and listen! You're being controlled by the darkness!" Sora said to her.

"Just shut up!" she snapped, making Naru step back in fear.

She clasped her racket with both hands and glared at them.

"GO AWAY!" she screamed.

With a mighty swing, she sent a burst of darkness from her racket, but Sora blocked it with all of his strength and deflected it into the sky as Usagi and Naru ducked for cover behind some bushes.

"Her energy is at its peak! Now Tesuni! Do it!" Nephrite's voice said within her mind.

Then Sora noticed Nephrite's sigil on her tennis racket, and saw a terrible sight. He watched Tesuni rise out of the racket, as Rui collapsed to the ground in a crumpled heap. Then he heard the demon cackling wickedly.

"Now all your energy belongs to the great ruler!" Tesuni said with evil triumph.

"Rui!" cried Sora.

He ran towards her, knelt down and tried to wake her up.

"Rui! Rui! Open your eyes!" He said in desperation.

"Don't bother, boy!" Tesuni said to him.

"It's Sora!" snapped the keyblade wielder, summoning his keyblade and preparing himself.

"I knew it, a monster!" she said.

Quickly taking cover, she knew that now was the time to help Sora defeat the monster.

"Moon Prism Power Make Up!" Usagi called to the night sky.

When Sora heard it, he glimpsed a faint glimmer of light nearby, and knew that Sailor Moon was coming to help him, as Tesuni started to close in on him.

"Monster's aren't allowed to score an Ace! How dare you use Tennis for your evil ends! Even Navratilova would be upset! I am the Pretty Guardian who fights for love and for justice! I am Sailor Moon! And now, on behalf of the moon, I'm punishing you!" Sailor Moon said from behind her.

"That's right!" agreed Sora.

"Feh! What nerve!" snarled Tesuni, summoning a flaming tennis racket into her hand.

Both Sora and Usagi gasped in shock, as Tesuni attacked them with it.

"Shoot!" cried Sora, jumping out of the way, as Usagi tried to run.

But the attack struck her, turning her into a tennis ball. Then, Tesuni began bouncing her all over the field as the Heartless appeared to try and keep Sora busy.

"I should have asked the others for help first!" cried Sailor Moon.

"Serves you right!" cackled Tesuni, as she bounced her foe all over the court.

But the moment didn't last long when a rose suddenly flashed by the demon's face, and embedded itself on the ground, as Sora struck down all the Heartless in one fell swoop.

"Who did that!?" demanded Tesuni.

"I think I know who," remarked Sora.

It was Tuxedo Mask, sitting on the park bench. Both Sailor Moon and Sora were relieved to see him, as Tesuni ordered him to leave or be turned into a tennis ball himself.

"Sounds like a challenge to me. Go on, do your worst," Tuxedo Mask said as Usagi called for help.

"You fool, I'll make you regret that you ever said those words!" cackled the tennis demon.

She tried to strike him down with the same attack she used on Sailor Moon, but the caped crusader jumped out of the way, and struck back with his cane.

"Way to go, Tuxedo Mask! You're the best!" cheered Usagi, as she watched the Tesuni crash to the ground.

Then, she was back to normal as Tuxedo Mask landed beside her.

"Nice save, Tuxedo Mask!" Sora said with a smirk.

"Stay on your guard," he replied.

"Got it!" Sora and Sailor Moon said together.

"Curse you!" roared Tesuni, who had managed to recover.

"Get ready!" Tuxedo Mask said to his allies.

"Cause it's time to kick it into overdrive!" agreed Sora.

"Right!" replied Sailor Moon, but she was secretly excited to fight with the well dressed crusader.

Tesuni began firing several fireballs at them, but Sora was able to deflect most of them with his keyblade, until Sailor Moon saw an even bigger fireball that would incinerate them. He was able to cast a shield spell around himself, just as Tuxedo Mask grabbed her and pulled her out of the way, as the fireball exploded on Sora. But although Sailor Moon was happy to have Tuxedo Mask at her side, she was also worried about Sora, and thought he was consumed by the flames of Tesuni's attack.

"Don't worry about Sora, he's gonna be fine," he assured her.

When they landed on the ground, Sora quickly joined them, his being still intact after the blast struck the barrier he cast. Enraged, Tesuni attacked them again, but they quickly dodged out of the way. Then Tuxedo Mask flung another rose at the demon, catching her off guard.

"Quickly, you two!" he called to his allies, but he began to feel strange.

"Right!" Sora and Sailor Moon said, but they glanced at Tuxedo Mask who was writhing in pain.

"Don't worry about Tuxedo Mask! Use Moon Tiara Action!" Sora said.

"Roger!" replied Sailor Moon.

Then she removed her tiara and transformed it into the golden discus, to strike down the monster.

"Moon Tiara Action!" she cried out, flinging it at her foe, as Tesuni brushed the petals off her face, only to see the discus flying towards her.

"And now! ANCIENT LIGHT!" shouted Sora, causing a massive burst of power to erupt from his Keyblade.

Both attacks struck at Tesuni, resulting in a massive explosion as Rei and Ami arrived as Sailors Mercury and Mars, with Luna, Riku, and the remaining Guardians of Kingdom Hearts at their side, just in time to see the demon fade away into nothingness, and restore Rui to life. They could see both Usagi and Sora standing triumphant on the tennis field.

"They did it!" Ami said proudly.

"Who'd have thought?" agreed Rei.

"They actually did their best," added Luna.

"That's Sora and Sailor Moon for you," smiled Riku.

Everyone nodded in agreement at what he said, as Usagi looked around to see that Tuxedo Mask had disappeared.

"Don't worry about him, Sailor Moon. I'm sure he's gonna be fine," he assured her.

But Usagi hugged Sora tightly, knowing that he was right.

"Me too, Sora," she said as Sora hugged her as well.

"Hmm… they really are alike," Roxas said observantly.

The next day, at Juban Middle School, Usagi, Naru, and Sora all stood on the tennis court watching Rui as her usual self once again.

"I talked to sis the other day, and she says that she can't remember anything that happened during the last few days," Naru said to them.

"As long as she's doing okay now, that other stuff doesn't really matter," replied Usagi.

"Hmm… I guess," mused Naru.

"Then I guess, I'm happy she's back to her usual self," said Sora.

"Naru, do you want to play a set with me?" asked Rui as she approached them.

"Sure, that sounds like a whole lot of fun," replied Naru.

"Is it okay if I'm a referee?" asked Sora.

"Sure, we don't mind at all," replied Rui.

Naru was so happy as she and Sora walked off to the court, but she stopped and glanced at him.

"Hey, Sora, thank you… for cheering me up," Naru said to him.

Sora nodded in acknowledgement, and they all went up to the court to play Tennis, while Sora would be the referee.

"Go easy on me though," Naru said.

"Sorry, no can do," replied Rui.

"Why don't you serve first?" asked Naru, as Usagi watched them.

"Okay, here comes my killer serve," replied Rui.

"Ah, It could be so great if I could play Tennis with Tuxedo Mask," Usagi said.

"Look out!" called Naru and Sora.

But the tennis ball struck her on the face, and she fell to the ground in a dazed state.

"Ouch, that's gonna leave a mark," Sora said.

"Yeah, I guess," sighed Naru.