Author's notes:  And more revisions.  This part is based off episode 19,
"Usagi kangeki! Tuxedo Kamen no love letter" but, I assure you that
probably don't need to be familiar with it to enjoy (or not enjoy, to
each is own) the story.  This chapter presented me with something of a
dilemma.  In a lot of ways, this chapter was better than previous
chapters, originally.  The plot elements are woven well together in a
lot of places, and I managed to use some small things to fairly good
effect.  The problem is that I'm not happy with the dialogue.  Almost
all of it could stand to be rewritten, but doing so would take longer
than rewriting the fic from scratch (I edit slowly and sometimes
poorly).  So, I made an executive decision to clean this fic up a little
bit and leave the content alone, for the most part.  I fixed a few
things that were bugging me more than the rest, but generally it is very
similar to the original.

One of the things that I've discovered from editing these chapters is
the reason why I wrote in episodic format to begin with.  That is, my
writing style changed over time and I am spending a lot of time bringing
everything into line.  Each of these chapters takes a few hours of
dedicated editing, but I can only imagine how it would be compounded if
I had, for instance, written the first arc all as one huge fic.  Thus,
I'm likely to stick to the 5-10 page format that I adopted in these (and
subsequently the LH fics I've been trying to write lately) and future
chapters.

Of course, I want to get a chance to broaden my horizons one day and
write a really long fic, but I don't generally think that way.  In terms
of plot, I find that I tend to go for the single 30 minute anime episode
equivalent in text form.  Of course, I know a lot of other writers do
the same thing, so I'm not unique on that.
As always, C&C (and everything else) welcome.  ffml_tim@yahoo.com and
fireangel37@yahoo.com

This chapter is decidedly less edited than previous chapters.  Partly, 
this is because this chapter was better written in the first place, but 
it is also because there is a lot of interaction I don�t think I can 
properly recreate if I start messing with stuff.  In any case, I hope I 
got most of the grammar problems and spelling mistakes.  If not, someone
let me know.

Disclaimer goes here. (Sailor Moon)

Part 15

General Nephrite of the Dark Kingdom arrived in Queen Beryl's throne
room just as the last of the cleaning crews was leaving.  The hall was
eerily empty, most of Beryl's court having been seriously wounded or
killed by a mysterious explosion the day before.

Rumor had it that someone had taken out General Jadeite and then
attached a very powerful fireball to the summon spell that Beryl had
sent after him.  The rumors seemed to be substantiated by the fact that
he was being called to the throne room at such an early hour.

Sparing barely a glance to his queen, he knelt before the throne as was
customary.

"Rise, General Nephrite."

Nephrite did as commanded and snapped his heels together smartly.
"Hail, Queen Beryl."  Queen Beryl barely seemed to notice, but that had
been the intent.  Being noticed by Beryl usually came along with making
a mistake.  And it usually ended painfully.

"General Nephrite, General Jadeite has failed and paid the price for
that failure."

"My Queen, am I to take his place gathering energy for the resurrection
of our great ruler?"  He knew the answer.  If Jadeite were defeated,
then he was the only General free for the task.  The others had their
own duties.

"Nay, your task is to kill the Sailor Senshi.  They have insulted me
greatly by doing damage to my court and this I cannot forgive.  Bring me
the head of the one known as Sailor Moon and you shall have anything
that you desire.  Fail me... fail me and you will join General Jadeite
in hell."

"Yes, Queen Beryl!"  Nephrite saluted and took a couple steps backward.
If he had been dismissed, it was now safe to leave, but if he had not,
she would speak again.  She did not issue further orders, so he spared
barely another second before teleporting to his base on Earth.

Once safely ensconced in his base, he began to prepare the equipment he
would need for a star reading.

"The Sailor Senshi may be powerful warriors, but even the strongest
warrior has a weakness that a clever foe may exploit for their
downfall."  Certainly, they had been the ones behind Jadeite's downfall,
but Jadeite had always been the weakest willed of the Dark Generals.
His connection to the stars would show him a way to exact vengeance for
his queen while rising in her esteem.  It was not long, however, before
his musings were interrupted by the sudden arrival of General Zoicite.

"My, you certainly seem full of confidence, Nephrite.  So very much like
Jadeite was... but we both know where that got him."  Zoicite smirked at
the slight growl that Nephrite gave him.  Tormenting his fellow Generals
was almost as much fun for Zoicite as tormenting mortals.

"Don't you have a mission of your own, Zoicite?  Or do you consider your
own orders so poorly as to spend your valuable time here tormenting me?"

"I have agents searching for the Silver Crystal even as we speak.  I am
not concerned about failure."  He made a dismissive guesture with one
hand and raised on eyebrow gracefully to give Nephrite a meaningful
look.  "Perhaps you should worry about that yourself."

Nephrite grumbled as Zoicite vanished in a shower of flower petals but
didn't let it deter him from returning to his work.  Sailor Moon's
weakness would soon be known, and he would deal with Zoicite when the
time came.


***

Usagi checked her mailbox on her way home from school and found, much to
her surprise, a letter addressed to her.

She showed it to Serenity, who was walking beside her, and opened it.

"Well, what's it say?"  Serenity asked.

"Umm... it's really weird..." she replied, still reading.  "It's a love
letter from Tuxedo Kamen.  It says that he wants me to meet him in the
MS department store in Shinjuku tomorrow night."  She looked up at her
counterpart.  "But why doesn't Mamo-chan just ask me in person?"

"Oh, I know." Serenity seemed to suddenly remember something and nod to
herself.  She smiled mysteriously but wouldn't say any more on the
matter.

Later, that evening, Usagi called Mamouro, still trying to puzzle out
what was going on.

"Chiba residence."

"Mamouro?"

"Nope, Endymion, that you Serenity?"

She giggled lightly.  "Nope, it's Usagi.  O' clone of mine went over to
the shrine to make sure her spells are holding.  Is Mamo-chan there?"

"Yeah, he's just getting out of the bath, here, lemme go get him."

She waited for a few moments before Mamouro answered the phone.

"Yeah, what's up, Usako?"

"I was just wondering what you've got planned for tomorrow night."

"Sorry, but I've got an exam at seven.  Can't do anything tomorrow, but
I'll make it up to you Saturday."

"Then why did I just get a love letter from "Tuxedo Kamen" asking me to
meet him tomorrow night?"

"Dunno.  Does it look like my writing?"

"It's typed, and no signature."

"Sounds like a trap to me.  Just try not to get in trouble before nine,
okay?"

***


A heavy bag of groceries in each arm, Makoto was doing her best to get
home
when a television display in the window of an electronics store caught
her eye.  There wasn't any sound, the televisions being on the other
side of a thick pane of glass, but the closed captioning was enabled on
a couple of the sets.

"And again, the mysterious Sailors V and J have thwarted a monster
attack on a subway train in London.  Police are baffled at the origins
of both strange creatures that have been causing havoc throughout the
London area for the last two weeks and the mysterious figures that have
arrived to combat them."  Throughout the anchor's commentary, hazy video
of two girls in Sailor fukus, one orange and one green, was being shown.

"Similarities to the so called Sailor Senshi that have appeared in the
Juuban area in the midst of a rash of unexplained disasters is
striking."  Here, the video switched to some black and white footage
from a surveillance camera that had been at the gem show a couple of
weeks
before.  "Authorities are speculating that the two groups may have a
common origin, but so far, no evidence has come forth to support..."

Makoto's arm was starting to cramp up from having to hold the bags for
so long and she decided that it would be better to just catch the late
night news replay and get home.  No sooner had she turned around than
she found herself imbedded in someone's chest.

Her bags dropped to the ground and she stumbled backwards, as did the
man she had run into.  "I'm so sorry," she said as she recovered and
bent down to reclaim her fallen groceries.

"It was my fault, I wasn't watching where I was going."  The man, though
startled by the run in, recovered quickly and scooped up the bags.  "My,
these are heavy,� he said as he held up the items he had regained for
her.

He seemed to grow thoughtful for a second or two.  "Please, allow me to
help you carry these home.  It's the least that I can do for causing a
lady as beautiful as yourself so much trouble."

//But it was my fault...// Makoto gently shoved the voice of reason into
the back of her mind and locked it in its room.  "Oh, thank you."

After all, how often did she get a chance to offer a nice, older man a
home cooked meal?  Especially one that reminded her so much of someone,
though it was probably just her old sempai.

***

The next day at school, Usagi gathered from the general gossip that she
was, by no means, the only person to have gotten one of the letters.

It was really starting to get to her since Serenity refused to talk
about it, Naru and Makoto were so busy discussing some Sanjouin guy that
they had both met the day before that they were impossible to talk to,
and everyone else just flat-out didn't know.

Finally, Ms. Haruna began class with an announcement.

"I understand that many of the young women in this class have received
letters from someone calling himself "Tuxedo Kamen."  Other students
have received similar invitations, and it is clear that this is all just
a prank.  I urge you to just forget about them.  Now, with that out of
the way, let us move on to Chapter 3 in your..."

Class was underway but Usagi was still contemplating who had really sent
out the letters.

***

After school, Naru walked to the MS department store to see what was
going on.  Much to her delight, she found Sanjouin Masato there,
watching the entrance.  After a few seconds of hesitation, she walked up
to him.

They had met very briefly the day before when she'd bumped into him on
the street. //He probably doesn't even remember me,// Naru thought.
//But this is no time to back out.//

"Masato... Masato-san, my name is Osaka Naru and we met yesterday... and
I was just wondering... umm... are you Tuxedo Kamen?"

Masato looked surprised for a moment then smiled smoothly. //She
shouldn't have been able to figure out that I was the one who sent those
letters.  Most girls her age don't have that kind of perception... maybe
she is someone special.  Someone like Sailor Moon.//  He gave her an
appraising look, and she certainly looked about the right age.  //Yes,
she just might be the one that Queen Beryl is looking for.  I'd better
make sure that she's there tonight.//

"Naru-chan, you're very cute," he said suavely.  "I'm glad that you
remembered my name."  He stood up and turned around to leave.  After a
couple steps, he turned his head and said, "See you tonight."  With
that, he smoothly glided away from her and was soon lost in midst of the
other pedestrians.

Naru could barely keep herself from shouting out in joy.  She would
definitely be there.

***

Curiosity finally got the better of Makoto and she made the trip to the
Department store.

When she had gotten the letter that morning, she had gotten a strong
feeling that it was from Sanjouin Masato.  She didn't know why, but
something about it had called out to her.  What was causing her the most
trouble was the fact that he'd signed it as "Tuxedo Kamen."

No one, besides the Senshi even knew who Tuxedo Kamen was, but, in the
end, Makoto wasn't one to listen to reason when her instincts were
telling her something, so here she was.

She wasn't alone, either.  Naru was there well ahead of her.  They had
spoken earlier in the day about Masato, and Naru had also seemed
convinced that he was the one that had sent the letters.  Makoto hadn't
tried to dissuade her of the notion because of the feeling she kept
getting that Naru was right and the fact that she couldn't explain who
Tuxedo Kamen really was.

Now, here Naru was, calling out to Tuxedo Kamen in a deserted department
store far too late at night.  Makoto hid herself behind a large display
and settled in to watch.

Naru called out again, and this time was answered from the top of the
escalators.  "So, you have arrived, Sailor Moon."  A figure clad in a
black tuxedo and cape moved out of the shadows.

"Masato-san, what are you talking about?" Naru asked, puzzled.

"Don't try to deny it anymore.  Transform, my love, so that we may be
together."  Meanwhile, Nephrite's was growing even more sure that he had
the right target.  She had recognized him his voice alone.

"I'm not Sailor Moon..."

"They why are you here?  Sailor Moon would have come to be with her
darling Tuxedo Kamen."

"I...I'm here because I like you, Masato-san.  I was hoping that it was
you that sent the letters..."  Even in the darkness, Makoto was sure she
was blushing.

//Damn.  Better get her out of the way before the REAL Sailor Moon shows
up.// He bounded down the escalator and stood before her.  "I have no
time for this," he muttered and reached out to drain her energy.

Makoto spared the room a quick glance to make certain that she was
unwatched and transformed into Sailor Jupiter.  Nephrite had only just
started draining Naru by the time Jupiter stepped out from the darkened
displays.

"Who are you to play with young girls' hearts?  Wearing the false mask
of a man of good and pure heart to commit your evil deeds.  I am Sailor
Jupiter and in the name of love lorn girls everywhere, I shall punish
you."

Nephrite let Naru go, still amazed at the amount of energy she had given
up in so short a period of time.  "Oh, well.  This trap was set for
Sailor Moon, but you are as good a victim as any."  He dismissed the
glamour that was his costume.  "I am General Nephrite of the Dark
Kingdom and your destroyer."

The effect on his foe was less spectacular than he had hoped.  The
girl's jaw fell open in shock and she stammered out, "N-Nephrite-chan?"
Jupiter, like Rei before her, was faced with a ghost from her past.
Certainly, they had figured out that the four Generals were also the
four Guardians, but knowing and seeing were two different things.  "Is
that really y-you?"

"Who else would I be?  Now, prepare yourself!"  He drew back his hand to
build up an attack, but stopped when he saw that his opponent seemed
frozen.  Somehow, this didn't feel right.  "Come on, prepare yourself."

"They said that you were alive, but I didn't know..." Makoto was
babbling by this point, tears streaming down her face.  "Jadeite came
back and then..."

"What are you talking about?  Jadeite is dead.  He died for his failure
to Queen Beryl."

"No, he's alive," she gave him an odd look.  "Don't you remember?"

"Remember what?"  He knew he should be ripping her apart at that moment,
but for some reason he couldn't get his arm to agree to attack.
Something buried deep inside him was trying to force itself out.  He
screamed in pain as he felt something very much akin to being torn in
two.

The girl had moved closer to him and his muddled mind focused on her as
the creator of his torment.  He gathered what energy he could and
launched his Starlight Attack.  She didn't see it coming and took it
full in the chest.  She flew backwards and crumpled into a heap on the
ground but that did nothing to stop the hideous tearing sensation and
soon he was blinded by the pain.

Finally, His vision cleared again and he was able to focus on the world
again.  The first thing that he saw was the body of his beloved, the
Lady Jupiter laying on the ground before him.

Immediately, he wondered who had done such a hideous thing but he
already knew the answer.  He had.  He screamed in a mixture or
frustration and rage as he ran to her side.

She was already coming around, his blast having been far from full
power, by the time he reached her.

***

Serenity, who had been hiding in a darkened corner of the MS department
store for several hours, sighed in relief as General Nephrite's drab
uniform shimmered and twisted and transformed into Guardian Nephrite's
armor.   She had been ready to step in on this encounter more than once
already, but was now glad that she hadn't.

The last, desperate attack forced by Beryl's controlling spells had
packed little more energy than a weak punch and done Makoto no real
damage.  She had been right about the strength of the love that Nephrite
held for Jupiter being enough to overcome Beryl's control.  After all,
his love for Naru in their own world had made him turn against her in
the end.

Things seemed to be working out just fine.

That is, until Nephrite screamed again.

Serenity snapped her attention back to the others and saw that Nephrite
was slowly fading from view, just as Jadeite had.  Hurriedly, she
chanted the anchoring spells that would hold him in place, but when she
went to attach another fireball to the summoning spell, she couldn't
find it.

Nephrite fell over and Serenity finally decided that it was time for her
to do a thorough examination on him.  She dispelled the obfuscation
magics that she had woven about herself and rushed over to him.

Makoto was already crouching above him, trying to wake him up but having
little success.

When Serenity drew to within arm's reach, Nephrite's eyes snapped open
and Serenity immediately sensed that something was wrong.  She threw
herself against Sailor Jupiter, knocking both of them to the floor
several feet from the prone figure.

"Queen Beryl says: Only fools use the same trick twice!" the thing said
in a monotone voice.  "She sends her greetings."  Serenity flipped over
to face the thing and chanted a containment spell as fast as she could.

The... thing that looked like Nephrite exploded into a shower of mist
which rushed outward until it met the barrier that Serenity had hastily
erected around it.  It condensed on the shield and ran onto the floor
where it hissed and ate at the tile.

"What was that thing?  Where is Nephrite?" Makoto asked, nearly
hysterical.

"Gone.  Beryl has him again.  She tricked me."  Serenity hung her head
in shame.  She had tried to let the younger Senshi fight their own
battles and this was the fruit of that decision.

//God help Nephrite's soul,// she prayed silently.

***

Queen Beryl's satisfaction at putting one over on the mysterious
sorcerer that was working with the Senshi went a long way toward easing
the anger she felt at having her controlling spells broken yet again.

She looked at the prone form of Guardian Nephrite that was hovering in
the air before her throne and began the long task of returning him to
her side.  Her bond with the spells allowed her to read their tattered
remains to find what had caused their breakage.  //He always was the
strongest willed of them,// she thought, //first, I have to find out
which of his accursed memories was strong enough to break my seals.  And
destroy it.//

Guardian Nephrite seemed to shiver in his sleep, somehow sensing the
agony that was about to begin.

END


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