CHAPTER 36
"What happened Malachite?" Zoicite asked.
"I had to reveal my true form," Malachite said.
"To who?"
"Unfortunately, Sailor Jupiter," Malachite said.
"What?" Zoicite in shock. "Why could you do such a thing Malachite."
"You know the risks involved with absorbing a human body. We both let our human personalities run relatively free to avoid raising suspicion. Katsugi even hired Jupiter to be his assistant, but I didn't act because I would risk revealing myself, and Katsugi was fighting me inside. So I let is slide, for the time being."
"So what caused you to reveal yourself?" Zoicite asked.
"Katsugi's ties to a crime syndicate came to collect. Two of them threatened me, so I blasted them unconscious and wiped their memories. But then they came for me again when I just happened to be with Sailor Jupiter. Katsugi caused me to reveal myself in order to save her, and then he prevented me from attacking her long enough for her to escape."
"This is not good. Our plans could be ruined," Zoicite.
"It was such an excellent plan. First subliminally bending two sides political battle to our will and then causing them utterly despise each other with small bits of negaenergy placed in them. And then as they fight and cheer drain their energy slowly from them."
"It was working so well too," Zoicite said.
"Still..they don't know what our plan is yet."
"No they have no idea."
How convenient? Mina thought. I have to tell the others. Mina thought and
raced away.
The attack was so unorthodox that the three dark warriors were hardly ready for it. Sailor Moon, Sailor Mars, and Sailor Mercury had taken refuge in a roach motel near Jade Corporation headquarters, and surprised the dark warriors by leaping out from behind the front desk. Sailor Moon plowed into Green Warrior, her right knee smashed into his skull and knocked him backward. Mercury managed to do the same to Gold Warrior. Only Red Warrior managed to duck under Mars' attack and come around swinging. His sword flashed as he fired a fire bolt at her as she landed. Her sixth sense caused her to dive to her right. The blast exploded into a wall.
"Mercury Ice Storm blast!" Mercury shouted. The energy smashed into both Green Warrior and Gold Warrior and shot them through the front window. A mist began to descend. Mars looked through it for Red Warrior. He had disappeared. Sailor Moon aimed her scepter at the two warriors still recovering.
"Moon Scepter Elimination!" she shouted and unleashed her attack.
"Uh oh," Gold Warrior said and leapt up into the air. Green Warrior followed. They only managed to get a few feet off the ground, but it was enough to avoid the attack. As the mist cleared, Red Warrior leapt out of nowhere right at Sailor Moon, his sword aimed straight at her head. She screamed. Mars leapt and kicked Red Warrior out of the air.
Mercury noticed Green and Gold Warrior moving again outside.
"Mercury Ice Storm Blast!" She shouted again and caught them off guard yet again. They were thrown across the street and slammed against the wall of another building.
Red Warrior slid along the floor firing his sword as he did so. The three scouts jumped out of the way and barely missed the ceiling. Red Warrior dashed out the door sending another blast flying in the door. The three scouts ducked.
"Should we follow him?" Sailor Moon asked watching Red Warrior gather up his two heavily wounded comrades and retreat.
"I think they're gone for now," Mars said.
"Jaedite must have known we were here," Sailor Moon said.
"Let's get out of here before Jaedite decides to send any more of his goons," Mars said.
"I guess those dark warriors aren't so great when they're not up against the Sailor Scout counterpart," Mercury said.
"Well that's good to know, but we don't usually choose the terms of battle," Mars said.
"Mars...are you all right? I mean..you had to fight him..." Sailor Moon asked.
"I'm fine. I know what I have to do. Besides, the way Rick's been acting later, it doesn't seem so wrong to kick him in the head," Sailor Mars replied. "But...I don't know if I could have done much more..." she admitted. "He's still in there."
"We know," Sailor Moon said. "Don't worry, somehow we'll get him back."
"Mina!" Lita shouted seeing her friend running in the opposite direction. Mina stopped.
"Lita, I'm glad I found you, I just found out something really bad," Mina said.
"So did I. Mr. Katsugi's Malachite," Lita said huffing and puffing.
"I know, he was talking to Sylia, and she's Zoicite."
"She is!" Lita shouted.
"You know what this means."
"It means that all four of the former negaverse commanders are here on Earth and three of them are up to evil purposes."
"I know. How can we fight them all?"
"I don't know. I don't feel so good now."
"Neither do I."
Later that day at Raye's repaired temple.
"Malachite? Zoicite?" Serena said in complete shock.
"Afraid so," Mina said.
"Well this just made my day," Raye said solemnly. "As if I didn't have enough problems."
"I thought we had destroyed them," Serena said.
"The truth is we never figured out what happened to Zoicite, but it seemed fairly likely that she was killed by Queen Beryl," Artemas said.
"But I trashed Malachite," Serena whined.
"Very true," Luna said. "Yet somehow the four original negaverse Generals are back."
"Luna, is it even possible for us to beat them all?" Mina asked.
"Don't forget Nephlite is on our side now," Amy said.
"Hopefully," Artemas said.
"As for the other three....you girls are more powerful then before, and there are five of you, it would be very close," Luna said.
"But we could do it?" Serena asked.
"Theoretically, yes," Luna said. "But you would have to be at the top of your game."
"The tolerance for error would be extremely low," Artemas said.
"Still..maybe we don't have to fight them all at once. After all....Jaedite isn't allied with the other two, he probably wants to get rid of them too," Amy said.
"So your saying he might try to take them out?" Mina asked.
"It's certainly possible," Amy said.
"Let's hope so, we'll take all the help we can get," Serena said.
"Say..what happened to Lita?" Luna asked.
"She's out front. I think once the shock and the adrenaline rush wore off what happened caught up with her," Mina said.
"I'll check on her," Amy said.
"Lita..you okay?" Amy asked.
"Me? I get kidnaped by mobsters, lose even more innocence, and find out we're probably fighting immeasurable odds...why wouldn't I be okay?" Lita asked.
"Wrong terminology I guess," Amy said.
"Isn't this wonderful? Just when you think it can't get any worse," Lita muttered. "It's not just that Mr. Katsugi is an evil being from another world, it's that I trusted him. Sure, half the country said he was corrupt, but he was always nice to me, and I thought that they were all lying. Now it turns out it was true. The guy was bought out by organized crime. This so called wonderful man who used to bounce me on his knee. Do you know how that makes me feel?" Lita said angrily.
"No clue."
"No clue? What do you mean no clue? You have to have some idea?"
"Lita, I'm sure there's a lot you want to get off your chest, so I'm letting you do it. You don't need my input. I'm just going to listen," Amy said.
"Oh, okay. I mean how am I supposed to believe anything anymore, when the person I thought was an upstanding citizen is really just a crook? He spoke about helping the city and I actually believed him. Silly me, that man is out for his own personal gain. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't have me on his campaign staff just to earn younger voters. Jeez..what a fool I was. I mean I can be a real idiot when I have a crush on someone...."
Don't I know it? Amy thought remembering the numerous times Lita has gone to pieces over her silly crushes.
"But this isn't love, this is politics. I should have been rational. Besides I didn't have a crush on him," Lita added.
"Uh...yes...of course," Amy said.
"It's not really the negaverse..I guess I've gotten used to them....but..." Lita said and trailed off.
"Amy..did you ever believe in something or someone, and be disappointed?"
"I guess...Brighton Academy comes to mind," Amy said. "I was accepted there and was proud of my achievements...after all only the best get into Brighton.."
"So I've heard."
"But there was no one there..that I...could relate to...they were all rich..I mean..really rich..or at least the ones I ran into were..and it was so competitive..it's one thing to try and do your best..it's another to want to destroy your opponents, and that's what it seemed like. When I happened to get first in the class, everyone turned on me..it wasn't like I was well off to start with, but when I beat them all...I lost any chance I had...in retrospect I really don't think I would have enjoyed any relationship with any of them...but...I was disappointed the day I said I had to transfer..the day I just couldn't accept that kind of treatment, even if Brighton was supposedly where I was supposed to be. Maybe I was nieve...but..."
"I know what your saying," Lita said. "That's how I feel...I mean..Mr. Katsugi..he was nice to me..and I think that..he really did try to help me...so he wasn't all bad..but.."
"Lita..there is one thing. I don't think it will make this much better, but if you didn't know him and if he didn't care about you, we wouldn't have learned about Malachite and Zoicite till maybe it was too late."
"Yeah..there's a silver lining for you," Lita said. "Amy..why aren't we all abnormally depressed?"
"Odd question," Amy said. "Why do you think we should be?"
"Because here we are, having to fight evil here and there...warriors popping out of the bushes. They know where we live, they know who we are...I mean..they could be waiting out there right now. Furthermore, Mina, Raye, and I dumped people we liked a lot to protect ourselves, all the while trying to get through school...we have massive amounts of evil forces all around us...why shouldn't we be raving lunatics?"
"Well..maybe..we believe that someday...all the fighting will end and that we have to live to see that day," Amy said.
"Maybe..of course you've got it easy. You didn't have to dump your boyfriend or worry about school that much. You're all set," Lita said. "Besides, we all know that a certain ally of ours won't let the negaverse harm a hair on your head if he can help it," she said with a grin.
"Well...you might be right..about most of that...though what you're implicitly implying is merely your imagination running wild,"Amy said blushing. "But..you know..that while you, Mina, Raye, and of course Serena face maybe the most hardship. I'm the one that has to watch you face it, and agonize about it, and I have to be the one who can't let the concern I have for you interfere with my responsibilities. You may all have to endure the hardships, but I have to endure your endurance..which believe it or not, can sometimes be very difficult."
"Oh...well..I didn't think of it that way. Here we are always looking to you and putting you on a pedestal. An example of what we all should be..and..all the while...you're trying desperately to keep on that pedestal not for your own sake, but for everyone else. If it means anything, you're doing a good job," Lita said.
"Thank you...I try," Amy said.
At the Crown Restaurant.
"So..how's class been for you?" Andrew asked.
"Better than I'd hoped, but I'm still getting into the hang of balancing school and Serena. Of course, it's been much easier lately," Darrien said.
"Really? What changed things?"
"Serena has actually been studying too."
"Oh....well..that gives her a lot less free time I assume."
"Yeah, and she also has other responsibilities."
"I hope they're nothing too important," Andrew said. "I mean Serena's a wonderful girl, but she's still got a bit of a maturity problem."
"You'd be surprised at what she's capable of doing," Darrien said with some reverence.
"Well..all I can say is that by her studying I've lost one of my best customers," Andrew said.
And the two laughed.
"So...how's your girlfriend doing?" Darrien asked.
"Oh, she's down in Egypt right now, doing some sort of dig for fossilized bugs. She's having fun."
"Have you seen her often?" Darrien asked.
"Yeah, she was here this summer, and she seemed to still be into the relationship thing. I hope she won't meet anyone else before she gets back here."
"So you're actually worried now?"
"Well..I'm a bit concerned, but it's healthy concern. Rita isn't someone who would cheat on me, but she might break off the relationship if she felt it wasn't working. I think she's just glad I'm not cheating on her."
"You're not, right?" Darrien asked.
"No!" Andrew said.
"Just checking," Darrien replied.
"So..I bet your glad you didn't take over this planet?" Molly said walking along at Nephlite's side through an arboretum.
"Yes, it's very beautiful," Nephlite said. "In fact I've never seen a place so beautiful, and I was involved in many negaverse conquests before Earth."
"Oh, I see," Molly said.
"But..that's the past, consider me to be just a normal human, because that is what I hope to be."
"Sure thing," Molly said.
"Neph..ahem..Maxfield. Can I ask you something?"
"Whatever you want?"
"Well...why did you come to my aid that night? I mean..what made you do all you did even though it went against everything you knew and were lead to believe?"
"I guess that it was because you wanted to help me even after all I had done to you. I can't explain the feeling since I had never felt it before, but I knew that I had to help you. Even if that meant fighting both Sailor Moon and Zoicite to do it. Now I realize that the only future I have is here on Earth, not as a conqueror, but just as a person."
"Nephlite, you were ready to destroy Sailor Moon even when you were helping me weren't you?" Molly asked.
"I was foolish, I thought maybe I could still accomplish my mission and shield you at the same time. That didn't work out, now I know better," Nephlite said.
"You know what....you still haven't gotten that milkshake I promised you," Molly said joyfully.
"The what?" Nephlite asked.
"Remember that last day...I said you should have a milkshake."
"Uh..yeah...now I do."
'Let's go then."
And the two walked off.
That evening at Raye's temple, the other girls were gone, and Raye was desperately trying to forget her problems. There was a knock on the door.
"Yeah?" she asked.
"So are we still going out?" Chad asked.
Oh..right..we were going out tonight..silly me. Raye thought. Forgot it with all the chaos earlier.
"Sure Chad, I'm not sure Rick has gotten the idea yet," Raye said Finally.
"Okay," Chad said.
"Be right out," Raye said and began to change. Why am I doing this though?
Rick will hound me whatever I do. I must be curious as to what Chad is like on a
date. Am I cheating? No, I can't be. Can I? This is why I don't feel that great.
She told herself. So much for forgetting my problems.
And in Steve's garage.
"Our girlfriends dumped us without explanation and Sailor Jupiter tells us that it's all to protect us from the negaverse and now we're actually considering going back to them when this is over. We must be the biggest idiots in the world," Steve said.
"Or the most forgiving," Mike said.
"Yeah...well..this situation is so weird it almost has to be true," Steve said.
"Yeah..I mean...Mina and Patterson?....Heh you gotta be kidding." Mike said.
"That's exactly what we said when you got together with her,"Steve said.
"You did not," Mike said.
"Well not to your face of course."
"Very funny....just one question?"
"Yeah."
"Why are we still building rockets?!" Mike asked.
"This one will work," Steve said finishing his latest creation. "To the test range,"
he said and walked out.
"It won't work and you know it!" Mike shouted after him. "There's no way I'm going with you."
"Fine, stay here," Steve said.
"I think I will," Mike said and then noticed the garage was filled with other rockets.
"On second thought," He said and ran out the door.
Minutes later in a restaurant.
"So I was touring with this band. It was called Big Time, I think. It was great. I got to go to all these cities, and I was the backup guitarist. Plus they liked my singing voice. If they hadn't all gotten into that bar fight and been put into jail I would probably have been on stage by now," Chad said.
"Too bad," Raye said desperately trying to pay attention so her mind wouldn't drift onto thoughts of Rick.
"You don't like my music do you?" Chad asked.
"Well..you just need practice that's all, and when you were singing that whatever it was a year ago I couldn't stand it. I'm sure there are plenty of people that go for it," Raye said.
"It's too bad that you don't like it. I never sing for myself."
"You don't?"
"No. Heck, my family's rich, I don't need to sing to make money. Heck, if I wanted money I'd go back and live with them. I want to be in a band someday and sing in front of people, that's my real dream. I guess I've been silently hoping you'd come into my room someday and say...sing that song again. I liked it," Chad said.
"I never realized it meant that much to you. I thought you were just messing around," Raye said.
"Fraid not. I mean..I love living at your temple. It's quiet except for the numerous times those monsters showed up, but I mean...it's just nice. My house was all spoiled. I was waited on hand and foot and stuff...anything I wanted was there, but there was no where I could go to be alone, or where I could go and have my own band. Now out in the real world things are better,"
"I shouldn't have been so selfish," Raye said.
"It's all right Raye. I didn't mind. You're not the first one to not like my singing."
"Well...it's not that bad..I guess I've just spent a lot of time with my own work and I guess maybe I was a little jealous."
"Jealous?"
"That maybe you'd be more successful than I was."
"Ahh....I see...that's not surprising, I mean I am pretty good at it."
"Don't get cocky," Raye said with a smile.
Chad just laughed.
I can't believe this. I'm really starting to like Chad. Raye thought. Now what do I do?
There was some yelling outside the restaurant and a rocket smashed into the ground.
"Uh...sorry folks," Steve said hurriedly grabbing it and running off, Mike right behind them. A police officer went running down the street a few seconds later after them.
Raye burst out laughing.
"Those two idiots," she said. Possess the power to destroy me. She thought solemnly.
"Heh....I didn't think our space shuttle program was that far along," Chad said.
And they laughed.
Ehh...maybe now I'm officially cheating on Rick, but I like this too much.
Raye said. Besides, he doesn't have to know that and right now it's a moot point
anyway, and besides..I'm trying to forget about him right now.
Several blocks away.
Mina was sitting in the spot that Mike had shown to her looking over the bay and the stars hanging above it.
Sylia, my idol, a negaverse pawn. The old Sylia I liked, but now what? She's an enemy. Maybe she can be cured, maybe not..but why does it have to be so complex?
When will the negaverse just go away? I hate fighting them. And now I have to fight the guy of my dreams for a greater cause. Now if we don't beat them I'll never get to be with him. And now the odds have just become even greater. And we're expected to react? Five fifteen year old girls?
Why us? Why does it have to be our responsibility to fight the hundreds of
enemies that keep crawling out of the woodwork? And what about our families and
friends who are pulled into the fight with us? They don't deserve this, and
neither do we.
And across the city.
"Luna, can you honestly tell me there is any point to me studying right now? With the world on the brink of destruction," Serena said.
"Serena, it's your job to save the world, and if you manage to do it, you're going to have to keep going to school, and hence your need to study, that is unless you plan on losing the battle."
"I don't know, maybe negaverse domination is better than history. Heck if they took over, history wouldn't matter any more. What would the negaverse care? In fact, we wouldn't have to go to school at all. It would be great," Serena said.
"Serena, did you get enough sleep last night?" Luna muttered.
"Um...now that you mention it. No," Serena said.
"I think you need to rest. Your not even thinking as clearly as you normally do, and that's bad enough, but this is a new low even for you."
"Is it? I hadn't even noticed," Serena said