Author's Note: Make sure you've read Chapter 20 before you read this one. (Y'all I totally forgot to post this after Chapter 20 (lol) so have it right before Chapter 21).
Nephrite
"Those Guardian…" Nephrite snarls as the images change in his crystal ball. "Five times now they've managed to interrupt my plans." But the next image that appears isn't one of the three girls giving him trouble, but a man in a black tuxedo wielding red roses. "And this Tuxedo Mask." As he watches, though, a thought occurs to him. 'The girls may be showing up to counteract my plans, but this one shows up to help them out. If it weren't for him I'd have killed those brats by now!' he internally seethes.
"Nephrite~" a voice calls out behind him, "Queen Beryl wishes to see you."
Nephrite doesn't bother to hide his annoyance as he turns to find his fellow Commander, Zoisite, standing behind him. "Very well then." He doesn't wait for the other to teleport to the center of Queen Beryl's throne room. "My Queen, you wished to see me," he says without further fanfare.
"Nephrite, you don't seem to be making much progress gathering human energy," Queen Beryl says, regarding him coolly.
Nephrite feels the moment Zoisite appears behind him and he just knows there's a smug expression on the other Commander's face. "The universe wasn't created in a day," he replies, letting the annoyance creep into his tone.
Queen Beryl doesn't take kindly to the retort, her hair flying up with her displeasure. "Silence!" she snaps. "If you cannot defeat those Sailor Guardians, I will turn you to stone the same way I did Jadeite!" There's tittering from the gathered crowd behind him, but Nephrite isn't as bothered by her threat.
"That's one terrifying punishment," Zoisite remarks.
"I am Nephrite, one of the Dark Kingdom's Four Commanders," he turns around to snarl, and it makes the closest of Queen Beryl's subjects back away in fear, though Zoisite is unfazed. "I don't need to be told how to defeat the Sailor Guardians."
"Jadeite said the same thing as well, and look what happened to him," Zoisite taunts. "What makes you think you can do better?"
Nephrite doesn't bother to respond, instead directing his next words to Queen Beryl. "I vow to lure Sailor Moon out of hiding and eliminate her. "And I already have a plan."
Queen Beryl chuckles darkly. "Very well" she says, "but should you fail…" she trails off, her sultry tone turning threatening. She doesn't have to finish for Nephrite to understand her meaning. He nods and vanishes back to his mansion in the woods outside Tokyo. He won't be picking a target this time, but this new plan of his will take some preparation.