"Fifteen? Seriously???"
"I'm telling you. But you have to subtract one; he wore that one at the Starlight Tower when Kunzite kidnapped him. And I think one is at the cleaners. Serenity spilled a shake on it or something like that."
Zoisite simply couldn't believe it.
During the Silver Millennium, his supreme commander was actually quite secure in his clothing style. Whether in his military uniform or a tuxedo, Endymion was a sight to behold. But now? This more than strange combination, which he had fifteen times in his wardrobe – even in different sizes – and which all the generals now wore...
"I think they brainwashed him much earlier."
He murmured slightly disdainfully into his imaginary beard.
"I know, his clothing style takes some getting used to, but you mustn't forget that we are living in the 90s of the modern era. There are truly worse outfits. Your horrible uniforms from Beryl weren't exactly the latest fashion either."
Epheios was, of course, right, and he had to talk, having exchanged his shimmering uniform for a white shirt and brown pants. But still, Zoisite felt more than uncomfortable in his skin as he walked through the streets of Azabu-Juban with the others. There was no teleporting anymore. Since he woke up in Endymion's apartment, he had no magical abilities left that had been so wonderfully useful in his evil alter ego. Black energy was really something great, at least one had power and wasn't such a pitifully useless human. What Epheios planned to do with them to bring Endymion back to the good side was entirely unclear to him. At least now, like his two comrades, he had a chic, black pair of sunglasses on his nose, which perfectly covered his eyes. Well, actually, it was just black and not chic. Another fashion faux pas from his boss, who seemed to own it in a thousand copies. A strange guy. Honestly.
"So, here we are. Just step right in."
Cheerfully whistling, Epheios walked through the automatic doors of the arcade, and the other former generals followed suit. Only Zoisite stood rooted to the spot and looked critically at the logo with yellow letters on a blue background above the doors.
"Game Crown Center? Why on earth do people today go to an arcade?"
As a villain, "fun" meant for Zoisite draining energy from others or setting nasty and insidious traps for them. How he enjoyed it when he could hurt someone or when he could sic another new Youma on the damn Sailor Warriors.
"Ah, damn it. So far, I haven't seen any of the good side." he grumbled discontentedly and finally walked through the automatic doors with his head held high... and immediately found himself in a very magical world. There were screens everywhere, loud beeping and jingling came from all the strange machines, and people eagerly let their fingers fly over the buttons and pads in front of the flickering tubes.
Zoisite was fascinated, watching a schoolgirl over her shoulder as she desperately tried to defeat a monster with her avatar. This virtual battle, good against evil... he really liked it! But before he could join the gamers, he heard a reproachful voice behind him.
"Zoisite, really! You're not here for your amusement. Come on, let's go."
When he turned around, the former villain briefly caught his breath; Epheios had topped off his already tasteless outfit with an... apron! So it was obviously work clothes he wore underneath? Completely disguised as a civilian, he actually looked like a perfectly normal person.
"Motoki! How nice to see you again!"
The woman who greeted his current commander with this name, unfamiliar to him, seemed strangely familiar to him. Which actually couldn't be, as he had just landed in this human world today. But she didn't quite seem to come from this world; her long black hair – half tied up in a bun at her head – had a slight greenish shimmer, her tall, slender figure wrapped in a mauve costume looked far too graceful for a human being, and her magical, almost pink eyes seemed as if she came from a completely different time.
Time was indeed a good keyword as Zoisite studied her from head to toe. He had no doubt that before him stood none other than the guardian of time and space.
Sailor Pluto. How cool!
She gave him a brief smile and then turned to her companion. Zoisite only noticed him now, but immediately the name came to his lips; this... yes, he was actually more of a thirteen-year-old teenager.
"Helios!" he whispered in disbelief. What kind of illustrious group was this? In the middle of the human world? In an arcade?
"Motoki, I see you have already successfully reclaimed three of Endymion's four generals." The sandy-blonde student grinned mischievously at Helios and then explained,
"Zoisite is still pretty new on board; we need to train him properly first, but that will work out. Come on, let's find a quiet place so we can discuss everything further."
The extraordinary group consisting of a time guardian, a keeper of probably the most powerful crystal on this planet (besides the Silver Crystal), three former generals of the Dark Kingdom, and the deputy prince of Earth, made themselves comfortable – of course, all in civilian clothes – in the upper area of the arcade, the Fruit Parlor, in a corner.
"First of all, I want to thank all of you for arranging a meeting so quickly. The situation unfortunately requires us to intervene immediately. The fact that the Dark Kingdom could kidnap Endymion in the Starlight Tower was actually not intended."
With a brief, slightly worried glance at Sailor Pluto, Helios turned back to his listeners.
"We must try to free Endymion from Beryl's clutches as quickly as possible. But we need your help for that. You know every nook and cranny of the Dark Kingdom. You know how Kunzite thinks and what he has planned regarding the Sailor Warriors. You are also generally familiar with Beryl's intentions. With your knowledge, we may be able to prevent certain situations and ultimately thwart Beryl's plans to get the Silver Crystal into her hands."
"Okay, understood. We are former generals and can therefore better assess the intentions of Beryl and Kunzite... but what exactly are we supposed to do? We have no powers anymore?"
Nephrite looked somewhat lost, and Jadeite also didn't seem convinced at all that they could be of any use for the planned operation.
"I wouldn't say that. You are a well-coordinated team for thousands of years, and I am more than sure that you can awaken memories of their former life in both Endymion and Kunzite. In this sense, you do indeed have certain abilities. After all..."
Epheios's gaze briefly touched Zoisite, who fixed him with his green eyes.
"...you are quite close to Kunzite. Therefore, you are ideally suited to manipulate the two accordingly so that they don't get their hands on the Silver Crystal. Helios and I will do everything possible on our side to ensure Endymion and Kunzite return to us safely."
Sailor Pluto nodded briefly to her two companions and then also turned to the three from the Shitennou team.
"We have been able to set a certain time frame by which you must retrieve Endymion, otherwise it will get pretty tight for all of us... because you know best that the black energy is very powerful. Do everything you can to prevent Endymion's entire body from being completely filled with this bad energy. We still hope that he is strong enough inside to resist it... but time is literally running out for us, and it is simply not allowed for me to change anything about this state from my side... but I can help you in that I know when and where the Dark Kingdom plans to locate the Moon Princess and with her the Imperial Silver Crystal."
Endymion's brother now took the floor. Zoisite had to swallow again at his appearance. Before him did not sit the mighty prince of Elysion, Epheios looked like the friendly bartender from next door with his kindergarten apron. As if he couldn't harm a fly. Yet he could exhibit a brutality that could make one feel frightened. Zoisite still remembered that well from the Silver Millennium. As he now raised his voice to the generals, it held a pathos that reminded Zoisite of those long-gone times.
"In distant past, you swore full loyalty to your master. Now you can renew your vow in this time and help us reclaim him. For this service, you will also be duly rewarded, you can count on that. I cannot give you a direct order because you are not subordinate to me in this time, but I could sort of employ you. Until we achieve our goal. So, what do you say?"
After Epheios finished his speech, there was a long period of reverent silence in the group until Jadeite spoke up.
"There is no question that we will do this. Of course, we want to help, and we will come up with something. You can count on it."
"Exactly, we will do our part to ensure Beryl and her beloved Metalia are banished from this planet forever."
Nephrite now looked challengingly at Zoisite, who seemed to be visibly struggling with his response.
How on earth was he supposed to convince Kunzite that what he was doing under Beryl's orders was completely wrong? Endymion was a different story. At most, the Moon Princess might be able to free him with her endless love. The whole mission felt more like a suicide mission than a well-thought-out plan. But Zoisite was Zoisite. He loved adventure, and if he could finally try out those video games down at the Crown, it would be worth it.
"Screw it, I'm alive and I want to stay that way! Even if I have to run around in this horrible outfit for the rest of the time. I want to take down that damn Perilia! Neflite, I'm really sorry for what I did to you, you deserve better from me. Also, I want to apologize to all of you for trying to kill Tuxedo Mask. No one could have known he was Endymion. If he'd left the mask off, the little mistake wouldn't have happened. Ah, let's just forget it. I'm in, and I'll do everything I can to make sure we come out of this battle victorious."
Everyone looked at Zoisite a bit perplexed until Epheios finally gave him a slightly mischievous smile and said,
"Very good, I knew you would do it! The first opportunity for you will come very soon. You all have rather old-fashioned hairstyles, so tomorrow morning you can visit the newly opened hair salon of Kariko Tokoyama and get your hair trimmed."
"Sounds a lot like one of Kunzite's stupid ideas," Zoisite said sharply. Nephrite was visibly puzzled by Epheios' somewhat unusual suggestion.
"And what else are we supposed to do there besides getting our hair cut?"
"You'll see. Have fun!"
The three generals looked at Epheios critically. Being on the other side felt pretty uneasy, even though it was the right side. Still, none of them could shake the feeling that it would be more than difficult to complete their assigned mission.