Chapter 28
"Well this is a disappointment," Jaedite said as Argosante and the minion who had failed him he day before stood in front of his desk.
"I'm sorry Jaedite," the man said.
"I'm not interested in your apology," Jaedite said and picked up his hand and blasted the man with a yellow bolt of energy. The man fell back against the wall and collapsed to the ground.
"He'll be fine in a day or two. He deserved it," Jaedite said.
"Should we continue with our plan to gain small amounts of energy secretly from most of this city's populace?" Argosante asked.
"No, the human defense forces are everywhere. They'd see us for sure now. It was such a good plan. To accumulate small amounts from each person would gradually give us massive amounts of energy and no one would notice," Jaedite said and slammed his hand down on the desk. "It was so perfect!"
"So what should we do?" Argosante said.
"Well, the defense forces are the problem, so we'll just have to get rid of them."
"But Jaedite, that would draw attention to us for sure."
"Not necessarily. If we take over the leading elements of the Police and the Army before they realize it, we can control the force trying to destroy us, and lead it into a trap."
"Well just how do you intend to do that?"
"I don't know yet. I'll figure something out," Jaedite said.
"Yet another school day," Serena muttered sleepily as she staggered into class "You know Amy, I may be able to get here on time, but I don't feel very good."
"Sorry Serena," Amy said. "Who said life was fair?"
"I sure didn't," Serena said and put her head down on her desk.
There was a commotion outside.
"What's that?" Amy asked.
"The heck if I know," Serena said.
"Is that really him?" a girls voice said out in the hall.
"It can't be," a second voice chimed in.
"What happened?" a third said.
Following those words, Melvin strode in the door of the classroom. Amy's jaw dropped.
"What's going on out there?" Serena muttered and looked up to see Melvin. Her jaw dropped too.
"Hello, ladies," Melvin said. His round glasses were gone, and his hair was slicked back in an orderly fashion. He smelt of cologne and walked with a slight swagger. Behind him trailed several girls completely amazed at his transformation.
"Melvin? What's going on?" Serena muttered.
"I've reinvented myself," Melvin said without his trademark squeak. "A new hairdo, contact lenses, and a new attitude."
"I can't believe this," Serena said.
"Somehow, I can't either," Amy said.
Neither of them noticed Patterson step in the doorway, see the large group of girls, and slip back out, just noticing for a second Melvin's new look.
Melvin looks like a playboy. Is this the end of the world? He thought.
"So...anyone want to go out with me?" Melvin asked. Several girls swarmed around him. Molly walked in and sat down quietly, she didn't seem to notice what was happening.
"Molly, have you seen Melvin?" Serena whispered.
"No, why?" Molly replied in a disinterested tone.
"Well just look at him," Serena said. Molly looked and then turned her head back.
"Yeah, he looks different. Big deal," Molly said.
"Big deal? Molly are you okay?"
"No, Serena, I'm not. I got a call last night from someone I thought was dead," Molly said.
She can't mean Nephlite. Amy and Serena thought simultaneously.
"Are you sure?" Serena asked.
"I don't know. It sounded like him. I could have been wrong," Molly said. Serena backed off. Molly didn't look like she was in a good mood and as much as Serena wanted to help her friend, it was probably best to leave things alone for now.
"Hey, Molly," Melvin said sliding up to her. Molly said nothing and stared at the desk.
"Look, it's me, Melvin.." Melvin said.
"Melvin, please leave me alone right now," Molly said.
"What? Hey, I'm not the old nerdy guy anymore, I'm a stud..you have nothing to worry about."
"Please go away."
"Uh...well...you'll change your mind, they always do," Melvin said and turned away.
They always do? What is he talking about? Serena thought. He's only been Mr. Stud since this morning.
"So wanna date the new Melvin?" Melvin asked sliding up next to Serena.
"Melvin, I'm taken," Serena said.
"Oh...that's surprising," Melvin said.
"It is huh?" Serena asked and grabbed his collar.
"Uh..well..maybe not that much," Melvin said.
"Ehh.." Serena said and let go.
"Say..Amy..you wanna be my girl?" Melvin said sliding up next to her much the way he did for the other two.
"Melvin, I'm very busy right now," Amy said.
"Strike three..." Melvin muttered. "Well..I only asked you girls as a courtesy anyway..I can have anyone..and I will," he said heading out the door. An newly formed entourage of girls followed him.
"Is he gone?" Steve muttered poking his head in the door. "Dang it we missed him."
"Don't tell me your um..attracted to him.." Serena said nervously.
"No, of course not," Steve said. "I'm just leading the mob that's going to disfigure him..say hello fellas."
"Hi!" said about thirty guys appearing at various points behind him.
"Steve. What do you care anyway?" Serena asked.
"Me..well I'm not that worried, but knowing my luck, the new Melvin will look like Lita's old boyfriend..so..we have to make sure," Steve said.
"Oh..well..have fun," Serena said.
The mob took off down the hall.
"Well..looks like the Melvin situation is under control," Serena said.
"Even if he has become a jerk, he shouldn't be beaten up for it," Amy said.
"They probably won't beat him up Amy, they're just high on hormones right now."
"Isn't that when they would do something like beat him up?"
"Well..maybe..." Serena said. "But it is Melvin," she said and started laughing.
"She still has so far to go," Amy muttered.
At Raye's temple, later that day.
"I can't believe this, Chad is actually jealous of Rick," Raye said. "I mean I thought maybe he had a crush on me, but he never said anything about it."
"Hmm...maybe he was afraid to say anything," Amy said.
"Maybe, but still...to just pick a fight with Rick? What was he thinking?"
"He might have been holding in this jealously for a while. It might have made him act irrationally," Amy said.
"Yeah, well how am I supposed to solve this problem?"
"I don't know if you can," Amy said. "It might be up to them to work things out."
"Yeah, I guess so. Well, we've got to keep an eye on Chad anyway. How's the camera working?"
"Fine, I was able to sneak it in the door and had it sitting in a crack in a wall. That's been able to conserve its power and still keep an eye on him while I was at school. Nothing has happened yet apparently," Amy said.
"Let's hope it stays that way, because if something does happen, I don't know what we'll have to do. I really don't like the idea of attacking negaverse HQ," Raye said.
"I don't like the idea either, but we may have to do it sooner or later."
"Maybe we should tell the army that Jade corp is the HQ. Then they could attack it," Raye said.
"Raye, Jaedite would escape before we could get him. Sure we'd save the people at Jade Corp, but he'd just set up shop somewhere else. We have to keep him in one place so we can eventually defeat him. Also, knowing the army, they might incur unnecessary casualties," Amy said.
"Oh, well that makes sense," Raye said.
General Nagumo walked into the committee room and sat down. The police and the civilians and his military staff were all there.
"Good afternoon," he said. "I'm pleased to report that we managed to break up a secret negaverse operation. Unfortunately I have no idea what it was."
There were some grumbles.
"Apparently whatever the negaverse was doing, we suspect it was draining energy in small increments from the population, they then drained their victim's memories, so none of them could tell what happened. We're going off of so little evidence it's annoying, but we believe we've put a stop to it," Nagumo said.
"So it's just back to watch and wait isn't it?" Chief Ozaki said.
"Unfortunately yes," Nagumo said.
"We've got to make some headway here," one of the civilian scientists said.
"I agree, and that's why I've made use of a new resource that has been presented to us. He claims to have studied the negaverse and he has brought us some interesting data," Nagumo said.
"Who could that be?" Mr. Patterson whispered to D.V.
"I have no idea," Patterson replied.
"I'm pleased to present to you gentlemen, Maxfield Stanton," Nagumo said. D.V's eyes widened in surprise as a tall man with long brown hair and piercing blue eyes entered.
"D.V. are you all right?" Mr. Patterson asked seeing his nephew's stunned expression.
"Keep your sidearm ready," Patterson replied and firmly grasped his cane.
"Why?" Mr. Patterson asked.
"I'll explain later," Patterson said.
"I'm glad to be here General, " Stanton said.
"Okay, Stanton. What do you know that's so important that you get let in here," one of the police officers asked skeptically.
"Mr. Stanton has given us important data on negaverse tactics and energy. He even supplied us with a sample, which I'm sure you scientists will love to have a look at," Nagumo said.
"Well where'd he get the sample?" Ozaki asked.
"Like our other resident negaverse tracker, D.V. Patterson, Maxfield Stanton has been following them since their arrival here over a year ago. He apparently has information that even Patterson didn't know."
"If we wanted information, we should have just asked the Sailor Scouts," someone muttered.
"We've tried, but they usually only stay around us for a short time before they run off," Nagumo said. "We're on our own."
"So, Stanton's here. How does that change anything?" Ozaki asked.
"Well, it means we might be able to build a weapon capable of defeating the negaverse using our own energy sources rather than just fighting them with numbers," Nagumo said.
"That could give us the edge we need to finally defeat them!" someone shouted
and soon the entire room was in an uproar, yet Patterson kept quiet and his gaze
was on Maxfield Stanton the entire time.
The phone rang. Molly moved towards it with trepidation. Oh..what if it's him. She thought and picked up the receiver.
"Hello Molly," came the voice she had been hoping for and dreading at the same time.
"Who is this?" Molly stammered.
"It's Maxfield, Molly. I think we need to talk about things," came the voice.
"Uh..right," Molly said.
"The park, you know which one in an hour?" the voice said.
"Uh...yeah...I'll be there," Molly said and hung up.
Can it really be him? She asked herself.
Molly walked into the park nervously, she didn't know what to expect. Would it be him or just someone's cruel idea of a joke. She thought he was gone, but that voice sounded so like him. She walked along the sidewalk and saw sitting on a bench, Maxfield Stanton, or Nephlite depending on your point of view. She hurried over to him.
"Hello Molly," he said.
"What..what are you doing here?" she asked. "How did you?" She said in surprise.
"That is hard to explain, but I'm here again," he said.
"It's good to see you," Molly said letting her joy out.
"I'm glad to see you too," Nephlite said.
Chad Vanderbilt was glad to have this job at Jade Corp. He could use this to pay back the Hino's and eventually find a place of his own. It wasn't that he didn't liked being around them, it just was that things could get a little nuts. Besides, now that Raye had a boyfriend, what was the point? They had no future. Of course this Rick Fujimori person worried him. He looked too slick, he reminded Chad of himself a few years ago. A guy in pursuit of girls wherever he could find them. Sure at the start he did anything and everything to please them, but then...he began to get sick of them. Now, he had a better understanding of what a girl's feelings are and he didn't think he'd repeat the mistakes, but Rick looks so similar. Sure, Rick seems considerate, but the way he acts. Well...he had overheard Raye talk about Rick. Sure Raye likes him, they share the same interests, but considering that Rick seems to be as much of a free spirit as Raye is, how long can their relationship last? They'll get to a point where they don't agree and then Rick will throw her away. At least that's how Chad saw it. He didn't know it, but he sure didn't trust Rick at all. He had met Mike, and Steve once, Rick's two friends. They seemed a bit more normal. Mike told bad jokes, but seemed dead set on pleasing his girlfriend. Steve knew he hadn't been doing the best job of providing romance for his girlfriend, but he was trying. Rick doesn't seem too critical of himself. He hardly ever corrects himself in front of Raye and even when he gives in to one of Raye's suggestions he never admits that he was wrong. Rick seems to be going with Raye until she gets to tough to handle. Then forget it.
Chad put his feet up on his small desk. He was in charge of mail sorting, and
the mail had already come in and been sorted. Now he was just there to receive
packages. So far there were none, so he was pretty unoccupied. Bob, the other
occupant of the mail room, sat at his own desk and said little.
"This is boring to watch," Raye muttered looking at the camera view projected onto Amy's computer screen.
"Well...you said we had to keep a close eye on him," Amy said.
"Yeah...well...it's still boring."
Chad stood up and walked towards the office door.
"Amy follow him," Raye said urgently.
"I know, I know," Amy said and pressed a few buttons the camera followed Chad down a hallway. He stopped at a door which was clearly marked "Men."
"What now?" Amy said.
"Follow him," Raye said.
"Into a men's room?"
"Haven't you been in a men's room before. It's nothing special," Raye muttered.
"You've been in men's room?" Amy asked.
"Sure, follow him before the door closes," Raye said urgently.
"I'm not going to," Amy said. The door closed.
"Well we can't now," Raye said. There was a sound of footsteps, many of them picked up by the camera.
"What's that?" Raye asked.
"Let's see," Amy said and raised the camera towards the ceiling and then in a position to see several Jade Corp employees walking down the hall.
"Where are they all going? A meeting?" Raye asked.
"I wouldn't know," Amy said.
The group headed off down the hall. The men's room door opened, and Chad looked to see the last elements of the group rounding a corner.
"Where are they going?" he asked. "Hey, that was Bob going to the meeting. He was hired the same time I was. Oh..it must be a meeting for new employees or something. I don't want to miss that and get fired," Chad said and hurried down the hall. Amy quickly made the camera follow him.
Chad reached a door that had just begun to close.
"They must have gone there," Chad said and walked to the door. "But this goes to the basement. Oh well...I don't know how management works."
"Oh, no," Raye said. "This could where they take over the people's minds!"
"Let's hope not," Amy said.
"We have to do something," Raye said.
"Calm down Raye, at the very worse they'll just turn him into one of their soldiers. Sailor Moon can heal him if that happens."
"You're right," Raye said.
Chad ducked in the door. Amy quickly tried to make the camera catch up before the door closed, but only succeed in smashing the camera into the wall.
"Uh oh," she said. "I don't usually make mistakes."
"I've noticed," Raye muttered. "Now how are we supposed to keep an eye on Chad?"
"I guess we don't," Amy said solemnly.
Chad walked down a dark stairwell. He heard the sound of voices and then a strange crackling noise. Several flashes of light came from ahead.
What the heck is going on? He thought and rounded a turn in the stairs. Then he saw it.
Oh my god. He thought. He had just stumbled onto the headquarters for the
negaverse and what he saw scared him more than anything he had ever experienced.
He stared at the scene for a good minute and then raced back up the steps.
The phone rang. Molly moved towards it with trepidation. Oh..what if it's him. She thought and picked up the receiver.
"Hello Molly," came the voice she had been hoping for and dreading at the same time.
"Who is this?" Molly stammered.
"It's Maxfield, Molly. I think we need to talk about things," came the voice.
"Uh..right," Molly said.
"The park, you know which one in an hour?" the voice said.
"Uh...yeah...I'll be there," Molly said and hung up.
Can it really be him? She asked herself.
Molly walked into the park nervously, she didn't know what to expect. Would it be him or just someone's cruel idea of a joke. She thought he was gone, but that voice sounded so like him. She walked along the sidewalk and saw sitting on a bench, Maxfield Stanton, or Nephlite depending on your point of view. She hurried over to him.
"Hello Molly," he said.
"What..what are you doing here?" she asked. "How did you?" She said in surprise.
"That is hard to explain, but I'm here again," he said.
"It's good to see you," Molly said letting her joy out.
"I'm glad to see you too," Nephlite said.
"I can't believe your working for that Katsugi guy," Mina said as she and Lita walked along the street.
"Oh really? And why is that?" Lita asked.
"Well..for one things he's one of the most corrupt politicians in Japan," Mina said.
"He is not. Who told you that? Sylia?" Lita said with disgust.
"Of course she did, of course she's only quoting the various investigations held over the years," Mina replied.
"Hmph...well..of course Sylia would say that, she only is trying to get elected!" Lita said. "She'll say anything to get into office. Besides, if she wins we'll probably have to live off the land because it's all natural."
"So you prefer smog infested cities and polluting the environment?" Mina snapped.
"No, but I don't exactly want to live in a grass house either," Lita replied.
"Is that what you think she's about? You don't know how wrong you are," Mina said.
"Do you know that your good friend Sylia has been to jail six times, five times for robbery," Lita said.
"Where'd you get those lies, Katsugi?"
"No, they're in the newspapers."
"Yeah....so she got arrested back when she was in college. She was young!"
"She still is young!"
"She's learned her lessons, yet your supposed great hero Katsugi continues to rob this country blind," Mina said.
"You take that back!" Lita said.
"No!" Mina said.
And the two girls turned their heads away from each other in defiance only seconds before two figures leapt out of a side street and landed in front of them.
"Well if it isn't two little school girls having a argument?" the first said.
"Yeah...we don't want you girls to ruin your friendships over such a small thing, so we'll just end the argument for you," the second said.
Mina and Lita both gasped and stepped back defensively. Standing in front of
them were Green Warrior and Gold Warrior.
"Raye! Raye! I need to talk to you!" Chad said bursting in the doorway to Raye's room.
"Chad! You're all right!" Raye shouted.
"Of course I am! How'd you know I was in trouble?" Chad asked.
"I didn't, I'm just glad to see you," Raye said.
"Oh, listen, you have to stop seeing Rick," Chad said.
"Why?" Raye said.
"It's so hard for me to explain, and I don't think you'd believe the story I could tell, but trust me."
"I can't just trust you. You hate him."
"But Raye he's with the negaverse! Do you know what that is!" Chad shouted.
"What do you mean?" Raye snapped.
"I saw him today," Chad said.
"You're lying," Raye said. What is he doing? Trying to use the negaverse to get between us? How dare he! She thought.
"I'm not lying Raye. Why would I lie?" Chad said.
"Chad, you hate Rick and how do you know about the negaverse anyway?"
"Raye, it's Jade Corp, they're..."
And the door exploded. The two were shattered with shards of bamboo and through the door stepped Red Warrior.
"Well...Chad Vanderbilt, looks like you missed role call today. You're fired!" Red Warrior said and blasted Chad with his fire sword.
"Chad!" Raye said in surprise as he fell to the floor.
"Ah...Raye Hino, so we meet again, though I can assure you this is the very
last time," Red Warrior said.
"Attack!" Tempkin yelled. And the negaverse army surged down the street, their target, Tokyo Metropolitan Police Headquarters.
"What the devil!" Chief Ozaki said glancing out the window to see the force.
"Sir, they're attacking us," a subordinate yelled.
"I can see that. Call General Nagumo and call a code 10, full mobilization!"
Ozaki yelled and raced out the door.
"Serena! We need your help!" Lita shouted into her communicator as the sound of a blast of energy could be heard in the background. "We don't have the time to transform. Those warriors are all over us!"
"I'm coming!" Serena shouted. "Moon Crystal Power!" She shouted and transformed in her room into Sailor Moon. She climbed out her window and dropped to the ground. Luna followed.
"We'd better hurry," Luna shouted as the rounded a corner and headed for the house's front gate. Sailor Moon stopped and gasped. Luna did too as soon as she saw what Sailor Moon did. Standing there in the street was Argosante and a small army of negaverse soldiers.
"You see this is what we call a diversionary attack. The puny human forces go and fight half of our army while the rest of us attack Sailor Moon here, brilliant, ehh?" Argosante said.
"Uh oh," Sailor Moon said.