CHAPTER 16

All of General Nephlite's soldiers stood silent and solemn while their Commander had his back to them consulting the stars. They knew he was not yet guaranteed full release from the hook of Queen Beryl even though Jumo had just successfully gathered more energy for the Negaforce. There was still the matter of their fallen comrade Kyameran. If she proved impossible to bring back to life from the photo frame she had been reduced to, then Queen Beryl's indignant anger knew no bounds. At any moment General Zoicite would appear to summon them all to Beryl's throne to hear her judgement. They were on the edges of their seats listening to Nephlite speak out loud.
"The stars know everything. Great powers of the constellations. I desperately beseech you in this very serious moment. Please reveal to me what Sailor Moon's greatest weakness is so I can destroy her utterly and finally."
Two seconds later his eyes flew open. He had seen a vision of a familiar masked figure flying through the air in an enormous bound while Sailor Moon stood watching him adoringly and calling out, "You are soooo dreamy."
"Of course." He turned around to face his soldiers with his arms raised in the air. His face on fire with excited purpose. "It's Tuxedo Mask. That's how we'll set a trap for Sailor Moon my friends."
At that moment though Zoicite made her entrance. "Excuse me Nephlite. Queen Beryl is ready to speak with you now." It was clear from the expression on her face that it was not going to be good news for Nephlite.

In a short while Nephlite and Zoicite stood before Beryl's throne while the soldiers all formed their customary half circle a few paces behind. Queen Beryl's face was a glaring cold stone as she frowned. Then she said, "Remember what I said would happen if Kyameran could not be restored to life Nephlite?" Without waiting for a reply she threw something at his feet. Looking down he saw his worst fear looking back up at him. "Well as you can see all attempts were dismal failures." Queen Beryl went on. "Can you give me a good reason why I shouldn't have horrible punishments inflicted on you for this Nephlite? Because all your other successful schemes to gather energy are not enough to pacify my rage."
Zoicite was smiling all the more maliciously but Nephlite composed himself and replied calmly.
"Your majesty. What if I had a plan to eliminate Sailor Moon for certain?"
Queen Beryl stopped and thought a moment. "That sounds promising Nephlite. What are you going to propose?"
"Jedite and Titus couldn't trap Sailor Moon with any scheme they concocted. Why should any plan of yours be any different?" Zoicite spoke sardonically.
Nephlite turned on her in passion. "Mind your own business Zoicite. Remember I have brought back far more energy and lost far less soldiers than my predecessors ever did."
"That is true." Queen Beryl conceded holding up her hand to call for order. "So tell me exactly what you have in mind Nephlite."
"Your majesty, I am going to capture Sailor Moon by disguising myself as Tuxedo Mask. She is crazy with love for him and she will never realize what she is walking into."
Queen Beryl thought quietly to herself for a moment. "Hmm. There is something about that masked man that strangely attracts me also." All eyes were on her to see what her decision was. Though momentarily lost in her own world she came back to reality and said, "Very well Nephlite. You may try your scheme. But be warned. If Sailor Moon escapes then your punishment will be the worst painful torture I can think of for Kyameran's death as well as failing to eliminate our worst enemy."

So Nephlite began to put his plan into operation. He printed out copies of identical letters saying, "Please come to the shopping center at 9pm on Friday night. It will be closed of course, but I will make arrangements for the door to be unlocked. I need to see you again with all my heart. Your Tuxedo Mask."
Serena was so overjoyed when she found it in the mailbox addressed to her. She lay on her bed with Luna on her pillow and said, "Wow. Tuxedo Mask wants to meet up with me."
Luna was confused. "I don't understand how he could have found out that you're Sailor Moon. But in any case why would he arrange such a meeting?"
"Luna isn't it clear? His heart led him straight to me." She was kissing the letter repeatedly and wasn't even listening when Luna tried to ask her if it wasn't just a little bit suspicious.
"Shouldn't we ask Raye to consult her fire about this before you get so excited?"
"What's that? Raye? Oh she'll be sooo jealous. Ha! I have a date with Tuxedo Mask."
"Ooooh," Luna groaned hopelessly.

But Serena had a very disturbing shock when she went to school the following morning because practically every other girl in her class had received the very same invitation to go to the shopping center at 9 o'clock Friday night. Furthermore yesterday had been Thursday when they had all been sent out and so a huge meeting with heaps of girls had been arranged for that very night. Serena was crestfallen and shut her eyes while Molly and her other classmates all wondered who the letters were from and what it could possibly all mean amongst themselves. Nobody had any idea but Molly looked at her letter and thought to herself, "Perhaps it's that handsome millionaire, Maxfield Stanton. He has been known to sometimes wear tuxedoes. I sure hope it's him." Molly was secretly enamoured with Nephlite's cover identity. She always had been from the very first time she saw him when he had targeted her friend Katie Sandler on the Tennis Court.

Suddenly Miss Haruna entered and called the class to attention. "Before we begin I have a very important announcement to make. How many of the girls received Tuxedo Mask invites for tonight in yesterday's mail?" Everybody raised their hand and called out affirmatively with breathless enthusiasm. except for Serena, who was gloomily staring at the top of her desk.
Miss Haruna continued, "Very good. Well I was invited along as a chaperone and I want you to know that I'll be expecting all of you girls to be on your very best behaviour." They all gave their solemn word to their teacher.
"Okay. Then let's get down to our lessons for today."
But as she turned her back and began to write on the blackboard her expression became sour and she thought to herself, "Great. Babysitter for a bunch of teenage girls. Precisely how I want to spend my time tonight after a full five days of teaching."

It turned out to be even worse. Not only Serena's class, but throughout the whole school every girl had received an invitation. Serena was so heartbroken she ran straight home after school crying her eyes out.
In the meantime Luna had been speaking to Amy about this mysterious event. Amy too had been invited and she agreed with Luna that it was weird. "I have no idea why Tuxedo Mask should ask every girl in town to meet him tonight Luna. It is very suspicious. It could be another Negaverse scheme."
Luna answered, "My thoughts exactly Amy. Let's go over to Raye's temple and ask her about this."
But when the two of them arrived they found poor Raye in bed sick with flu. "I wish I could consult the sacred fire for you Amy and Luna. But I've been knocked around badly with this flu bug." Raye coughed and covered her mouth with her bedclothes. "I feel really lousy and I can't receive any visions. I'm just too weak."
Amy felt her forehead. "You poor dear. Your forehead is really hot." She and Luna were deeply sympathetic.
"Don't worry Raye. You rest and get better. Amy and I will look into this as best we can. Somehow we'll convince Serena to investigate with us. You don't have to concern yourself in the least."

Meanwhile Nephlite was walking along the city sidewalks feeling very pleased with himself. "I've sent those letters out to every girl who lives in this entire city. One of them has to be Sailor Moon." He thought to himself confident that he would trap Sailor Moon in this way. "And not only that, but my soldiers and I will also capture the energy of all the other girls who come along with their invited chaperones. We'll have more than we need to unleash the Negaforce finally."
As he was about to turn the corner he heard a girl's voice call out to him. "Excuse me, Mr. Stanton." He spun around on his heels and saw Molly looking at him with eyes full of admiration. "Ah. My name is Molly Baker. We met last week while you were coaching people at the tennis tournament. Do you recall?"
It's true that Nephlite had been doing some legitimate tennis coaching among involvement in other harmless activities in between his schemes for gathering energy in order to help nurture and conceal his secret agendas. "Yes I do remember you." He smiled as he walked towards her. "You were the ball girl for your friend Katie Sandler, weren't you?"
Molly's eyes opened wide and so did her mouth. "You do remember me." Her cheeks glowed red as she continued. "I was just wondering Mr. Stanton. Did you perchance send a bunch of letters to all the girls in our school signed Tuxedo Mask?"
Nephlite raised his eyebrows. "What makes you think that Molly?"
"Oh. I just had a feeling it might be you." Molly blushed very red and turned her head to the side while Nephlite thought to himself.
"I sense something strange about this girl. There is some force within her. She could be Sailor Moon trying to turn my trap back upon myself."
Then Molly looked at him and spoke again. "I'm sorry. You must think I'm very silly."
Nephlite replied placing his hand on her shoulder, "No I don't. In truth the thought of a mystery meeting sounds rather romantic. Anyway I hope to see you again at next week's tennis tournament. Bye for now Molly."
As he turned and walked away Molly gasped and thought to herself, "It is you. I know it's you." Reaching into her bag she pulled out her invitation and thought further, "I'm going to be there one hour early at 8 tonight. So I can get to talk to him before everybody else arrives."

So at 8pm Molly arrived in her best clothes all freshened up after a shower. Like the letter had said the shopping center was closed for the night but the automatic sliding doors opened allowing Molly to enter. "Hello. Is anybody here? It's Molly." She called out confidently.
"Hello. You've come early." A voice called out above her and she looked up to see Nephlite standing behind the railing of the upper level wearing the very same clothing as Tuxedo Mask right down to the mask itself.
She gasped and said, "I hope you don't mind. I just couldn't wait to meet with you."
"Has anybody come with you?"
"No just myself. I don't need anybody else to say what I have to."
Nephlite walked across to the staircase and began to slowly walk down towards her. "Go ahead. I'm very interested in what you want to say to me."
"Why don't you come up close? I'm not going to bite you or anything you know."
Nephlite was still walking downstairs but as soon as she said this he suddenly gave an extraordinary leap and to her surprise landed in front of her and jabbed his finger in her chest. "Do you think you can fool me? I know who you really are. Admit it. You're Sailor Moon."
Molly gasped. "M-me? Sailor M-m-moon?"
"Yes you are Sailor Moon. Aren't you?"
"No I'm not."
"Don't lie to me."
"I'm not lying."
"But I can feel a strange force inside you directed at me!"
"Th-that's my love." As Molly said this Nephlite began to siphon off the love she felt for him and stored it into a round crystal ball. She fainted as he remarked, "Whatever this stuff is it's certainly very powerful energy."

But Molly was not the only one who had decided to come to the meeting early. Serena had made up her mind to meet Tuxedo Mask and demand to know what the big deal was before all the others turned up. On the way she had thought perhaps she'd better call Amy and let her know what she was up to. So she used the communicator that Luna had given them and Amy answered, "Serena. What's the matter?"
"Amy. I'm on my way to the mall."
"The mall?"
"Yes. I just wanted to let you know I'm going to meet Tuxedo Mask. Bye."
"Wait Serena."
But Serena had hung up. Amy and Luna were still at Raye's bedside and Luna was aghast when Amy told them what Serena was doing. Before Luna could say anything Raye began to climb out of bed. "Come on. We've got to get to the mall."
Amy and Luna were amazed. "Raye. Are you sure you should come with us? You're sick." Amy asked as Raye coughed.
"I want to go. Serena could be walking into a trap. I may not be feeling perfect but if the Negaverse is after Sailor Moon I can't let that stop me from fighting."
Luna was impressed. "Raye I'm so proud of you for such loyal devotion. If you're really sure you can manage then of course you can come with us."
So Raye tied a mask over her mouth to keep the germs from spreading and she and Amy transformed. But in truth Raye did have another secret agenda that her friends were unaware of. Raye had received an invitation in the mail just like all the other girls and she didn't like the idea of Serena having Tuxedo Mask all to herself if it really was him after all.

Anyway Serena herself arrived and entered the building quietly looking all around her. She was just in time to see what she thought at first was Tuxedo Mask wooing her friend Molly in his arms. She quickly ducked around the corner thinking, "What a two-timing creep." But then as she peered round for another look she realised Nephlite's long curly brown hair sticking out from under the top hat.
"That can't be the real Tuxedo Mask. It's a Negaverse imposter. I'll take care of this. Moon Prism Power."
Transforming she made her move just as Nephlite was thinking that maybe Molly wasn't Sailor Moon after all. "But I've captured all her love energy for Queen Beryl."
But also at the exact same time as Serena had transformed, Darien was sitting in his apartment reading a book. Suddenly he clutched his temples and groaned like he had a headache. "Oh no. Not again. What's happening to me?" In a sudden flash of light Darien leaped out of his chair. But he was dressed in Tuxedo Mask's clothing. He had transformed himself and now Tuxedo Mask knew Sailor Moon needed his help. He jumped out of his apartment window, leaping from rooftop to rooftop towards the mall.
In the meantime Sailor Moon had made her appearance to Nephlite telling him to get away from Molly. "You phony sleaze-ball impersonating Tuxedo Mask. Take off that disguise and tell me who you really are."
Nephlite set Molly's unconscious form down and spoke, "Once I do you know I must destroy you Sailor Moon."
"In the Name of the Moon I will triumph over your evil. So bring it on whoever you are."
Nephlite threw off his entire disguise revealing himself in his Negaverse General's uniform. As he finally removed the mask Sailor Moon gasped. "Maxfield Stanton? The millionaire?"
"The real name is Nephlite. Loyal Commander of Queen Beryl's invasion force. Now that we have finally met your time to die has now come. My soldiers appear and help me destroy our enemy."
Before Sailor Moon's startled eyes the familiar forms of Black Widow, Petasos, Jumo and Tensie all materialized plus the Gemini Twins Castor and Pollux, who had not gone against her yet.
"We are at your service Commander," said Tensie.
"We will all attack Sailor Moon together," said Petasos.
"For Queen Beryl," said Jumo.
"And the Negaforce," said Black Widow.
"Onward to victory," Castor and Pollox shouted together.

At the sight of so many enemies Sailor Moon turned and ran in terror. Suddenly three roses flew through the air and struck in the floor in front of all the soldiers making them come to an abrupt stop.
"Commander. It's Tuxedo Mask," cried Tensie.
Sure enough Tuxedo Mask was standing next to an open elevator where he had just emerged. "Sailor Moon. I hope you realize that it was this Nega-creep who wrote those phony invitations and not me."
"Tuxedo Mask. How could I ever doubt you?" Sailor Moon dreamily answered as her true hero gave a mighty bound and landed in front of her brandishing his cane.
"You have no chance against my forces." Nephlite raised his fist defiantly.
"Let me test that theory," challenged Tuxedo Mask. "Run Sailor Moon."
"You can run but you can't hide. Once my soldiers finish with Tuxedo Mask, they will track you down Sailor Moon."
As she ran she heard Nephlite's taunts ringing in her ears and looking over her shoulder she saw how outnumbered Tuxedo Mask was. "Oh no. I must help him." She prepared to throw her tiara. "MOON TIARA MAGIC!"
Upon hearing this Nephlite cried out urgently, "Quickly you lot. Remember your force shields."
And all of them right down to the Gemini Twins hit the buttons on their wristbands. To Sailor Moon's dismay her attack was rendered completely useless. Her tiara was deflected and went clattering at her feet. She picked it up terrified and Tuxedo Mask shouted, "Run for it. We can't win."
Responding to his prompting she followed him into the elevator and Tuxedo Mask hit the button closing the door.
Nephlite called to his soldiers, "It's all right. They are right where I want them. I have an idea."

Inside the elevator Tuxedo Mask said, "I don't know how to defeat them all."
"At least we're safe now," said Sailor Moon.
Suddenly the elevator started rising upwards by itself and Nephlite's voice sounded over the intercom, "You may think you're safe but not for long. My soldiers and I have taken over control of the elevator. We're sending you all the way to the top floor. Then you're going back down again at super fast speed. When you hit the bottom you'll be reduced to a Sailor pancake."
"Ooooohhh. I don't want to be a pancake." Sailor Moon was hysterical.
But Tuxedo Mask was saying, "There must be a way out."
As he thought to himself staring around the elevator Sailor Moon also began thinking to herself, "This may seem crazy but I kind of find this romantic being trapped and facing danger together with him. He's so irresistible."
Suddenly Tuxedo Mask said, "Are you ready?"
Sailor Moon was in a fantasy daydream and prepared herself for a kiss. "Oh yes my dreamboat."
"Hey. I said are you ready?"
Tuxedo Mask's voice quickly brought her back to reality. "What? Oh yeah."
"I've found the way out. Come on."
Tuxedo Mask pushed an emergency escape hatch in the roof open with his cane. Then he leaped up and grabbed the edge, lifting himself out. Reaching down he pulled Sailor Moon up after him while the elevator continued to rise.
"As soon as it stops we have to jump," he told her.
"Er. We do?" Sailor Moon was nervous again. But there was no time to argue. The elevator stopped and Tuxedo Mask jumped grabbing the edge where the door to the top floor opened. As soon as he did so the elevator began to plummet. Sailor Moon had hesitated for a split second, however she jumped with a sharp shriek as it fell and Tuxedo Mask grabbed her hand with his free hand.
While the elevator zoomed downwards Nephlite and his soldiers watched with their eyes glued to the floor indicator. When it landed with a sickening smashing sound Nephlite cried, "We've done it!"
"Congratulations Commander." Every member of his team clapped him on the back and shook his hand as they all huddled around him sharing a victory round of laughter.
"Now my friends, let us wait for all the invited girls to show up and we will gather all their energy and take it all back to Queen Beryl so we can unleash the Negaforce upon planet Earth." Nephlite raised his fist in the air as he shouted and they all jumped and cavorted in celebration.
"Long live our mighty Queen Beryl and the Negaforce."

Meanwhile Tuxedo Mask had braced one of his feet against a small jutting panel screwed into the shaft wall and Sailor Moon had climbed up onto his back. He was gently trying to lift them both up so he could try to open the doors. "Hey thank you for saving me again Tuxedo Mask. But tell me. Who are you and why do you keep helping me?"
Tuxedo Mask grunted and replied to her double question, "Sailor Moon. It is my mission to protect you. As for who I am, I really don't know myself to be honest. I have this feeling we used to know each other a long long time ago but I have no idea what the connection is. All I know is that my duty is to watch over you."
While Sailor Moon was listening to this news and taking it in suddenly a bad thing happened. The panel Tuxedo Mask was braced against broke away from the wall completely and went plunging down the shaft. Tuxedo Mask held on with his fingertips and Sailor Moon hung on to his shoulders.
"Eeeeeeek!" She cried.
"Hold on!" Tuxedo Mask told her.
"I can. But how long can you hold on?" Sailor Moon began to be very distrought. "Oh Tuxedo Mask. This can't be happening. Not when we're beginning to get to know each other. It really can't."
Tuxedo Mask just grunted and groaned as his fingertips struggled against the inevitable. Then one of his hands slipped and they both yelled in terror. But before his other hand also came loose the doors slid open and Sailors Mercury and Mars reached out and grabbed his arms. "It's all right," said Luna. "The girls have you. Just hold on while they pull."
They certainly did pull together with all the strength they could muster and Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon were on safe grounds in a jiffy.
"Where have you been?" Sailor Moon asked.
Poor Sailor Mars coughed behind her mask while she answered, "We've been climbing a million flights of stairs. I concentrated as hard as I could in spite of being weak with the flu and sensed psychically what was happening to you."
Sailor Mercury continued, "We used our Bubbles and Fire to send all those enemies into a frenzied panic. They all vacated the scene very fast."

Nephlite and his soldiers had never taken into consideration that the other two Scouts may turn up. They had all turned off their force shields and were waiting for all their intended victims to arrive. Some of them were sent into a chill by Mercury Bubbles while the rest were leaping and screaming as Mars Fire gave them singes to the seats of their pants. Nephlite had attempted to rally his troops to attack but the two Sailor girls were smart and kept up a constant barrage so there was no time to counter-attack. Realizing that there was no choice he sounded retreat and they all desperately activated their devices to set up their shields before transporting away from the relentless blasts of painful flame and biting cold. If only Sailor Mars hadn't been sick she may have been able to muster enough power to kill some of the enemy the way she had totally incinerated Morga and Kigaan back when Luna had first discovered and awakened her to her identity. But still those she had hit wouldn't be sitting in chairs again immediately. Nephlite himself had been agile enough to avoid injury. But just before he departed he cunningly gathered a small sample of the magic fire and the magic bubbles in two other little crystal balls.
When they were all assembled back at the isolated cottage the soldiers all rubbed their sore backsides or hugged themselves trying to shake off the shock of the cold blasts. "They ruined our final plans Commander," Jumo cried resentfully.
Nephlite smiled and said, "But at least Sailor Moon and that Tuxedo Mask are vanquished and we did get that one girl's love energy." He raised the crystal ball in his hand then added with a sneaky smile, "Castor and Pollux my dear friends. Would you be so considerate as to allow me to give you special combat training?"
"Of course we are obliged to obey whatever you command us Commander," said Castor.
"What is it you have in mind?" Pollux added.
Nephlite set the crystal ball carefully on a table and pulled the two smaller ones out of his pockets. "I am going to study closely and duplicate the contents of these two crystals. When I've finished training you two, you'll be able to pay Sailor Mars and Sailor Mercury back for all of us." He began to laugh while his soldiers all raised their eyebrows in wonderment.

How Mercury had managed to haul Molly's still unconscious form up all those stairs while supporting Mars who was feeling really lousy and knocked about by this time was nothing short of miraculous in itself, let alone that they were in time to save their friends from plunging to their deaths. But as soon as Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask climbed to their feet they helped the others get Molly safely up on top of the roof while at that moment all the girls were arriving with their various chaperones. Though the doors were still unlocked when they entered they found the mall empty and deserted like a ghost town. They were all annoyed at what they assumed had been a stupid prank. "Huh. What a waste of time," one girl remarked in a huff.
"Whoever set this up is such a sick joker. I agree," another added.
"Okay girls. Let's all take you home." The former Miss Lambert gave an exasperated sigh. "I'll be glad to get back to my dear husband Herbert after this fiasco."
"Yes Mrs. Humphreys." The girls under her care flocked to her side while Miss Haruna's girls wisely kept silent as they saw her grinding her teeth and fuming. "If I ever find out who was responsible for ruining the start of my weekend break I'll slap his face as hard as I can," she thought to herself as she led her girls out the door.

As for what was happening on the roof Sailor Moon was beginning to pick on Sailor Mars pointing to her flu mask. "That's a good look for you Mars. Covering up that big fat mouth of yours."
Sailor Mars coughed and retorted, "Don't annoy me while I'm sick. I just saved your life and I'm not a total gaga geek over him like you are." She pointed to Tuxedo Mask.
Sailor Mercury who was carrying Molly on her back said, "Will you two knock it off. I'm tired of you fighting."
Luna agreed. "You're all supposed to be a team remember? How will you ever help me locate the missing Moon Princess and finally defeat the Queen of the Negaverse if you keep this up?"
"Mercury and Luna are right." Tuxedo Mask declared as he jumped up on the railing. "Your strength lies in your unity. Cherish and nurture it."
With that he leaped away into the air. Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars ran to the railing crying to him to wait but they saw him flying in mighty leaps and bounds over the building tops.
"I wish we knew who he was." Sailor Moon sighed.
"What amazing powers he has." Sailor Mars coughed again.
"All right girls. Let's help Sailor Mercury to return Molly to her home, then you Mars need to go back to bed and rest so you recover as soon as possible." Luna directed them to action and they agreed.
As for Tuxedo Mask he finally arrived back at his apartment jumping through the open window and landed back in his easy chair suddenly back in his everyday clothes as Darien. "My head feels all right now." He looked at his clock. "Is that the time? Could that attack have really lasted for that long? Maybe I should see a doctor?"

Finally when Nephlite and his team of soldiers reported to Queen Beryl they were told by her to their dismay that things hadn't gone fully as they planned. "Nephlite. Your plan failed. I can see on my magic crystal that Sailor Moon is still alive. She escaped your trap."
Standing nearby Zoicite added with disdain, "And all you managed to get was the energy of that one silly girl. You promised enough to unleash the Negaforce."
Nephlite growled defiantly at Zoicite, though inwardly he was beginning to fear the worst. So were his soldiers who trembled for their Commander.
However Queen Beryl stared into the crystal containing Molly's love energy and said, "Yes. But look how powerful the emotions of that girl are. Nephlite has not given enough to fully release the Negaforce but still he has given it a significantly strong boost."
Zoicite was so perturbed that she forgot to control herself. "But he still failed. And what about the death of Kyameran? Aren't you going to punish him even for that?"
Queen Beryl's eyes turned into narrow slits. Then she raised her voice. "I'm going to punish you Zoicite. You have the gall to question my decision? Doom and Gloom Girls. Seize her."
To Zoicite's horror the five Doom and Gloom Girls came out of nowhere and grabbed her. Queen Beryl went on to say, "Put General Zoicite's feet in the stocks. Then heat up some red hot pokers."
"No Queen Beryl." Zoicite's eyes bulged in terror. "Don't do this to me. Please I'm sorry. Queen Beryl." Her pleas continued as the Doom and Gloom Girls dragged her out of sight. A few minutes later the sound of her agonized screaming echoed through the corridors and Nephlite smiled.

Later back at the cottage Nephlite concentrated on the stars. "The stars know everything. Powers of the Negaverse. Erase everything that happened between me and my latest victim from her memory. She must not remember a single thing or she will reveal Maxfield Stanton's true identity to her friends."
He turned to his soldiers behind him smirking. "I suppose I should be grateful to her. After all, her silly love for me saved me from Queen Beryl's wrath."
"Aye Commander. And that sleazy General Zoicite opened her mouth and shoved her foot right in it." Tensie replied.
"Speaking of her feet, I don't think she'll be walking very well for at least a week." Black Widow chimed in and they all laughed together.

Zoicite sat on a chair with her bare feet propped up on a cushion. She sobbed deeply. "Just look at the soles of my feet!" They were marked with red raw blisters where the pokers had touched them.
"There there my sweet." A male voice spoke comfortingly to her and a pair of hands gently rubbed cream on her sores. As bandages were next wrapped around her feet the voice spoke again, "You must be more careful around Queen Beryl in the future dear Zoicite. Don't worry. I'll make you as comfortable as I can. I love you Zoicite."