Chapter 12
**********
Reflections on a Sunny Day
**************************
Mina sat on the temple floor, absentmindedly petting Artemis, her tired
eyes watching as Raye yet again tried to find guidance from the flames.
The Scout of Love flipped her long blond hair behind her, and brooded.
Three weeks. Three weeks of constantly losing to foes already beaten.
Three weeks watching the city fall into total despair. Three weeks of
those horrible nightmares; over and over again being killed. Three of the
most horrible weeks of her life.

'Why...why are we being punished like this?' she thought to herself, 'Did
we get too cocky? Did the world just seem too safe? WHY?' She sighed
softly. There was no easy answer why this time. Yet again in her life, the
Darkness closed in around her, showing her how black life really was. She
had thought the world a place of innocence, till a white talking cat
named Artemis had wandered into her life, and showed her what evil lurked
beneath. And that she, a mere child, was expected to fight it.

Then, while fighting the evil, as Sailor V, then with her friends, as
Sailor Venus, she thought the evil conquerable. That some day, they could
FINALLY beat IT, and live normal lives. It was a lie she told herself, to
keep sane. To keep going. This time...it was a little harder to do so.
She was finally coming to terms with the fact that Evil would always
exist. And she would always have to don the uniform to fight it. She
couldn't believe anymore in the happily ever after. She had to protect
that dream for  others. It was a sad and sobering thought, and Mina
realised it. A bitter smile flickered over her lips, wasn't she supposed
to be the postive one?

She watched the flames flicker off of Raye's black hair, turning
the strands a deep purple. She wondered what thoughts...what chants Raye
was saying to stay calm, focused like she was now. Mina thought with
admiration, 'No matter what gets to Raye in normal life, whenever she
consults the flames, she's always cool and calm. Always the mentally
together priestess. Hell, if I had been sitting in front of that thing for
as long as Raye has, with no answer, I'd starting screaming..'

Raye felt like SCREAMING. For hours she had sat there, consulting the holy
fire. And still, all she got was a beautiful star-filled night. It made NO
sense, and she was starting to get frustrated. Actually, frustrated was
past tense. She was beginning to feel like just taking a nice solid kick
to the flame pit and tell the sacred fire to bite it and get it's act
together. She sighed quietly. It was time to stop this. She was getting
no where.

She bit back her dissapointment. Always, ALWAYS in her times of deepest
desperation, the fire had come through for her, giving her wisdom when she
needed it most. But now, in one of the darkest hours of her life, it too,
had failed her. Like she failed herself. She shook herself, and thought,
'Stop that. We haven't failed...we haven't. She wiped a tear of anger away
from one clenched shut eye, and composed herself. She stood slowly, and
faced the two Moon Cats and Mina. "Well, I hate to say this but..." she
said softly.

Luna sighed, and said heavily, "Nothing. Again. My gods, what am I going
to tell..SERENA?!?!" The black cat yelped as the blond girl, along with
Ami, and Lita in tow came crashing through the door. Ami and Serena, who
had been holding onto Lita's arms, stopped suddenly and let go, panting
and grinning like idiots. Lita tripped, went flying forward, and hit the
ground with a _Splat_.

Serena looked down and smiled weakly. "Sorry Lita...look out for sudden
stops!" she joked lightly. Lita looked up at her and _glared_.

"You know, for the amount of time I spend down here on the floor, I could
be having intimate relations with it!" she spat out. Mina and Raye glanced
at each other, while Ami and Serena laughed.

Artemis raised an eyebrow, and commented dryly, "You three seem in a good
mood. What's up?"

Lita sighed, "Don't ask me. I was just dragged along for the ride. Ask the
Giggling Twosome."

Ami looked at Serena, who looked at Ami. They smiled at each other. Ami
looked at each one of the group assembled, and said, "We have figured it
out."

Raye looked at them, crossing her arms and tapping her foot, then asked
impatiently, "Figured WHAT out?"

Serena grinned again, and commented, "How to beat the Generals at their
own game."

Luna and Artemis's eyes widened, while Mina stood up. Lita pulled
herself into a sitting postion and stared. Raye gasped out, "WHAT?? HOW??"

Ami smugly commented, "We use their own againist them."

Lita snorted, "What, have one of them fall in love with someone on earth,
and suddenly change their tune?"

Ami grinned, and said, "Gee Lita, how did you guess?"

Raye's, Mina's, and Lita's mouths dropped open. Luna's ears perked up,
and her tone was short, "Explain."

"It's simple, Luna! Who is the ONE general who went from BAD to totally
good?" Serena said excitedly, hunching on the floor by the cat. Luna sat
in meditation for a moment, then her brown eyes flashed.

Raye said slowly, "We're not talking about who I THINK we're talking
about, are we?"

"If that person would be Nephlyte, then YES, we are talking about him."
Ami commented softly.

Mina and Lita looked at each other, confusion flashing over their faces.
They then blurted out, "Neph WHO?"

Raye and Serena looked at them skeptically, while Artemis put his head to
his paw and sighed, "Didn't you two EVER study the disk Luna and I
compliled of what happened to the Scouts BEFORE you joined."

Lita blushed, and said, "Well...we got up to Jedaite...and where Raye
joined, but then you broke into some technical stuff about Jedaite's
attack modes and well we kinda..."

Mina finished, eyes averted from her Mentor, "..Doozed off. We figured
they beat Jedaite, and that Zoeisite had just been around a lot longer."
She paused for a moment, remembering her nightmare...the second man she
couldn't recognize. That must of been him, Nephlyte. Her lips twitched; a
name with a face she would never forget.

Before Luna or Artemis could break into a speech about checking up on
facts, Ami interrupted with the story of Nephlyte, the Second General of
the Negaverse. She spoke with that calm, even tone of voice, of his fights
with the Scouts, his unexpected falling in love with Molly, and his noble
death.

Lita whistled, impressed, "Whoa...but if he's dead, how do we bring him
back?"

Serena and Ami looked at each other. "Geez..now we get into the technical
stuff." Serena sighed, sitting on the floor with one hand on her chin.

Luna looked at Artemis, who looked back at Luna. Artemis said slowly,
"Actually...it shouldn't be that hard." The five scouts stared at the Moon
Cat. Artemis sat on his haunches, and said, "Well, think about it. This
Erkyte fellow brought back Jedaite, Zoeisite, and Malachite. I don't know
EXACTLY what happened to Jedaite, but we know the other two died. My
thinking is that they ended up like all of you after the Moon Kingdom. In
stasis."

Serena said puzzled, "In stasis?? You mean like...their souls were put in
storage?"

Luna said dryly, "Yes...in storage. Now all we need to do is see if
Nephlyte is collecting dust, as it were, or if he has moved unto a
higher plane."

Lita joked, "Time to break out the Oujii board? Hello, is Nephlyte there?
This is the Sailor Scouts. We'd like to know if you'd like to take a
brief vacation from purgatory to come and give us a hand--"

Raye smacked her friend upside her head, then asked, "Do you want me to
do a fire reading?" Lita rubbed her head and scowled at Raye.

Artemis shook his head, "No...wouldn't do any good. We need a place where
Nephlyte spread out his power signature. That's probably what Erkyte did
to find the other Generals."

Ami said thoughtfully, "The tree in the park where he died... We were
looking at it just this afternoon. That should have an enormous energy
signal." She took out her small computer from its Space Pocket and began
computing.

Mina crossed her arms, and said dryly, "One glitch here. Even if we find
out if he's 'home', how do we get him BACK? I'm thinking Erkyte had a
little help from the Negaverse here."

"We'll take that bridge when we get to it, Mina. For now, let's just find
out if he's...returnable. " Artemis commented, and padded out the door.
"Let's move out, Scouts!"

*******************************************************************************

Cold freezing winds whipped through the corridors of the former base of
the Negaverse, as the destruction Malachite had wrought had allowed the
elements to take its toll on the Cavern. Zoeisite huddled in her huge
parka, climbing over rocks, snow piles and ice, to one of the hallways
just off the Main Room. Here, the icy breezes were less, and only a light
layer of snow lay on the rock floor. This was the hallway where the four
Generals had had their living quarters, away from the Youma.

Zoeisite peeked through the first door, untouched by anything but cold
and dust. Jedaite's room. She considered going in and getting something
for him, but the room seemed very bare. There was the usual furniture, and
she could see a bed in a room beyond the living room area. A desk sat neat
and clean, a stack of papers still unmoved. There were no knick-knacks
about the room, and the stone walls were bare of pictures.

Zoeisite realised with a start that when Jedaite had been the head of the
army, he had no interests except that. Cold and hard, nothing got to him.
But that was because he never let anything in. She couldn't help but
smile; he had changed so much; they all had. They joked, and laughed.
Messed around. They worked together, as a team. It was like they had
all known each other forever...

She shook herself. She was here on a mission, not for self reflection.
Moving on down the hallway, the snow crunched beneath her boots. She
opened the next door, and stepped into Nephlyte's private sanctum. The
bitter hate and jealousy she had always had for the man flickered once,
then died. Nephylte had been as used as the rest of them by Beryl. He had
stood in Zoeisite's way, and she crushed him by using his love for that
Molly girl. Flickers of guilt and shame ran through her. Nephlyte never
would have sunk as low as she had to attain power; he had honor.

She looked about the room, such a sharp contrast to Jedaite's. Fine rugs
lay on the floor of the room, and paintings of stars flooded the walls.
And she recalled...

...A room with warm wooden paneling, tastefully decorated, where she
stood admiring a statue that Nephlyte had bought himself. He stood to one
side, smiling at her honest apprasial of its beauty...

'Neph always did have exquistite taste...' she thought, then started.
Where had THAT come from? When had she ever stood smiling with
Nephlyte, except when she had mocked him? Where was that room
anyways; it seemed like a place she knew, long ago. Backing away from the
room, her mind reeling on the edge of a memory, she hit the wall behind
her. Shaking herself slightly, she growled, "Oh stop that. You just
remember his mansion. Nothing else."

She moved to the last two doors, feeling vaguely like a lie had been said,
and cracked open the door to Malachite's room. A pleasant memory came,
one of her coming here at night, in the first few weeks of their love
affair. Her nightgown clinging to her, and he stood there, waiting for
her, half naked, his brilliant hair falling on his bare chest, ice blue
eyes burning....

She shook herself out of that thought as well, and grinned. Plenty of time
to think of THOSE sorts of things later. She opened the last door. Her
room. She moved into the living area, fingers brushing along the dusty
edges of the table. She looked at the vase on her desk with a feeling of
pain. The pink rose that sat there had turned to dust, the petals and
leaves nothing. She sighed, and turned towards the bedroom. And there she
saw what she had come for. On the bedside table, sat her and Malachite's
picture. She stepped forward, snagging it from its perch and hugged it to
her chest. Malachite had left it there, he hadn't moved it, for respect of
her death. Oh how she loved him for that....

Still holding the picture, she disappeared in a flurry of cherry blossoms.

*************************************************************************

Erkyte sat in the upper floor of the warehouse, where the kitchen area
lay. There was a common eating area, where he was sitting, reading the
paper, the kitchen itself, and a sliding glass door he had put in that
lead to a balcony. The view there was extrodinary, the skyline of Tokyo by
the water was something to be seen. The late afternoon light flowed
through the glass.

He put another bite of spagetti into his mouth. One of the things he
had come to enjoy about this world was it's food. He had awoken this
morning with a strange growling in his stomach, and he realized with a
laugh that he was hungry. He chewed thoughtfully, and read the article
about their attack on the Riverside building. Glorious attack, that one.
Building FULL of people, and lots of energy. Metallia had been so
pleased...

He sighed heavilly, and then caught himself. Why should he feel this
aching feeling of wrongness doing his sworn mission? He was a Negaverse
commander, scratch that, General. It was his duty to take this world for
his queen. He put his fork down, and rubbed his forehead slightly, twinges
of a headache hurting him. He looked up suddenly to a breeze of wind, and
managed a grin as the cherry blossums settled to the ground, and Zoeisite
stepped out of their circle. She put something down on a table, and
grinned back as she stripped off the parka, the sweater underneath, and
the boots.

Erkyte gestured to the object. Zoeisite's green eyes glowed, and she
nodded assention. He picked it up, and smiled. It was a picture of her and
Malachite, taken back, if he recalled, just before he left. Walking down
the Generals Hallway, just getting used to being alive again , with a
message for Nephlyte. He had heard, if he could believe it, laughing. He
glanced through a crack in the door, saw them posing. Then he thought it
foolish, now...it was a nice memory. Which is probably why Zoeisite had
gone back for it.

He handed it back to her, and commented, "I always thought you two
photographed well."

Zoeisite grinned, and stared at the picture again. Not looking up, she
asked, "So where is my gorgeous man?"

Erkyte flipped over a page in his paper, and said, "As far as I
know...he's getting some groceries..I think Jedaite went with him."

Below, the door clicked open, and Zoeisite squealed with happiness. She
put the picture down on the table and ran for the door. A bit more
sedately, Erkyte closed his paper and followed.

*******************************************************************************

Malachite had just turned the keys in the door, when he heard the
laughter. He frowned slightly, one hand on the doorknob, the other holding
the bag of groceries. Half turning, he glanced to see a father and son
walking through the warehouses, back to the more populated parts of Tokyo.
The boy and Father were both flithy, in old overalls and splattered boots.
The father held two fishing poles, while the boy carried the fish,
chattering excitedly, "Look Dad! Look at this big one! He must be a baby
whale!"

The father laughed, and said, "The son of Moby Dick himself. Let's get
home and show it to Mom. eh?"

Malachite stood watching them, his face expressionless as the father and
son turned a corner of another warehouse and dissapered. His blue eyes
closed...

....And he heard the voice...

"Look Mal, look! We caught a whole load of fish, and even some frogs!" a
young boy called to him, dark hair tostled, as he ran down a long hallway,
his boots tracking mud all over the carpet, green frog in hand...

Suddenly he was brutally shaken out of his reverie, as a blond head
crashed into him, and slim arms wrapped around his waist. In his surprise,
he threw the grocery bag, and tried to regain his balance, laughing.
Erkyte stepped forward, and snagged the bag neatly, as Malachite swung
Zoeisite around in his arms. Erkyte watched the lovers embrace, and with a
chuckle, took the bag upstairs.

Malachite watched out of the corner of his eye as the young man left, and
putting his finger to his lips for Zoeisite, he grabbed a long black, flat
case that he had left resting by the door. He winked at her, and wrapped
his arm around her waist, carrying the black case with him.

Zoeisite rested her head on Malachite`s shoulder, as they walked inside,
and Malachite locked the door behind them. She leaned up and whispered
into his ear, as they ascended the stairs, "Is that for Erkyte?"

Malachite nodded, and said softly, "He was staring so hard at it through
the window the other day...I thought his eyes would pop out of his head.
Thought it would be a..well, a nice thing for him. Of course, I didn't
know WHAT it was till the saleslady explained told me...but I'm sure he
knows."

Zoeisite giggled, and said breathlessly, "Speaking of presents...I have
one for you..."

Malachite kissed her lips softly, and murmered back, as they stepped out
into the landing, "Wasn`t my greeting enough?"

Erkyte put the groceries away, watching out of the corner of his eye as
Zoeisite pulled Malachite over to the table, and showed him their picture.
The look of pure joy on Malachite's face was enough for Erkyte to grin as
well. He tried not to look, again, as Malachite swept Zoeisite into
another kiss.

Zoeisite broke away, reluctantly, and grinned, winking at Malachite.
Malachite coughed, and Erkyte looked up from putting the eggs into the
fridge. Malachite broke his grip around Zoeisite to place on the table,
with both hands, the long black case. Erkyte's green eyes widened, and
glowed as he said, "You didn't..."

Malachite smiled softly, and commented, "I did."

Erkyte jumped over the counter, and slide over to the table. His lips were
touched with a shaky, excited smile, as he gently ran his fingers over the
shiny black case. Finding the clasps, he unsnapped them, and slowly opened
the case, reveiling a red six string guitar. Zoeisite ohhed slightly, and
Malachite said, "You like it?"

Erykyte took the guitar from the case, running his fingers over the
strings, his face showing something quite unusual for him...complete and
total happiness. He murmered softly, "It's the most beautiful thing I have
ever seen..."

Malachite chuckled, and kissed the nape of Zoeisite's neck, murmering,
"You're the most beautiful thing I've even seen..."

Zoeisite shivered, and purred, "Watch that..." She grinned up at him.

Erkyte put the guitar gently back into the case, and asked dazedly, "So
where's Jed? I'm guessing he helped you pick this out?"

Zoeisite turned around, with Malachite wrapping his arms around her
waist, expectant eyes on Malachite . The white haired general looked over
at Erkyte and frowned, "Isn't he here?"

Erkyte glanced at Zoeisite, as he shook his head no. Zoeisite looked up
into Malachite's eye, her tone taking on a note of worry, "We thought he
was with you...we haven't seen him for four hours. Oh no..." Her green
eyes wavered slightly.

Malachite's expression darkened, as he said slowly, "Dear gods, he's
out by himself. Without any backup.  Anything could happen to Jedaite.
The Scouts could of ambushed him, or Prince Darien...he IS only one
General."

Erkyte frowned and said, "Or he could of gotten caught trying to lift
another car...and is sitting in a jail right now.." Zoeisite and Malachite
both gave him skeptical looks. He shrugged, and added, "It could
happen...we Generals can't get out of EVERY jail."

Zoeisite's lip trembled, and she said softly, "What if he wasn't looking
where he was going...and he got hit by one of those buses..and he's lying
in a hospital...bleeding his life away...and they don't know what to do
with him, because he has green blood..and he's DYING!" Her voice rose to
an almost frantic level, while Erkyte and Malachite paled slightly.

The door clicked open again downstairs, and Jedaite called out, as he put
his keys in his pocket, and headed up the stairs, "I'm home..."

The three of them breathed a sight of relief together, then waited till
Jedaite had cleared the last step.  Then they all exploded with, "WHERE
HAVE YOU BEEN?!?"

Jedaite took a step backwards, and his violet eyes opened wide. He said
nervously, looking to each angry face turned at him, "I...I went for a
walk."

Zoesite moved away from Malachite, and moved forward. She poked Jedaite in
the chest, "For FOUR hours? You could of called!"

Jedaite eased up, and grinned, "Sorry 'Mom', next time I'll give you a
ring when I go out and play."

Malachite said sternly, "This is no joke, Jedaite. If you had gotten
attacked, how would of we known how to find you? Teleporting wastes too
much valuble energy we need to open the Doorway; you know that!"

Jedaite went past them and into the kitchen, pouring himself a glass of
juice. Sipping thoughtfully, he replied, "Well, you could buy me a beeper.
However, I think that would be rather rude to be fighting the Scouts and
suddenly have to stop to answer a page."

Malachite snorted, and turned away. Erkyte crossed his arms, and said,
"Four hours is a long time for a walk...what were you REALLY doing?"

Jedaite choked a little on his juice, as the three sets of eyes fell on
him again. He managed a wry grin, as he picked up the paper. He said
cooly, "All right, I'll give it to you straight. I was off for four hours
with the most beautiful, intelligent, funny human girl I have ever met. We
walked in the park for hours and just talked. And she's my girlfriend,
and I feel strong 'things' for her. Happy?" Moving past them he started
to read the local news. The other three looked shocked for a moment, then
burst out laughing.

Catching her breath, Zoeisite grinned, "Yeah right, Jed. Like we're going
to believe that."

Malachite added, as he wiped a tear from his face, "Cute...nice adding in
the park."

Erkyte, still chuckling, dryly commented, "DO bring her for dinner
sometime...you are such a kidder." Then the three of them paused, looked
at each other, as skeptical looks passed their faces.

Zoeisite asked carefully, "You ARE kidding...right?"

Jedaite stopped at the head of the stairs, and turned to glance back at
the three of them. He smiled slyly, and said almost TOO calmly, "Wouldn't
you like to know?"

With that, he dissapered down the stairs. Malachite stared after him,
commenting under his breath, "That's not exactly what I wanted to hear..."

***************************************************************************

The phone rang. Once. Twice. Darien had just shut off the shower when the
phone rang for the third time. Jumping quickly out, he made a mad dash
for the phone. He had gotten halfway into the living room, when he looked
down at himself, thinking, 'Towel would be good here.' He ran back into
the bathroom, grabbed a towel, and managed to snag the phone on the sixth
ring. Somewhat breathless, he said into the reciever, "Darien here. Talk
to me."

Then the cavalcade of voices hit his ear, all young, all female. Darien
held the reciever from his ear, as he tried to make sense of what the
Scouts were yelling at him. Something about the Four Generals...the
park...chess??..Cissa?? Then came the really confusing part...something
about bringing back the DEAD??  He heard one calm voice, and talked
directly to the owner, "Ami, I'm going to say this as nicely as
possible...What in the bloody blazes of HELL do you want me to do??" He
rubbed his forehead, sensing a migraine coming on.

Ami stood in a red phone booth down on the street below, surrounded by the
other Scouts. Artemis and Luna sat on top of the booth itself. Ami, over
the shouts and muffled 'ouches`' from the other Scouts, repeated what she
just said to the confused young man, "We are bringing back Nephlyte,
Second General to the Negaverse. Would you like to help us?"

Darien rubbed one foot againist another, and wondered if he was having one
of his weird nightmares again. He pondered for a minute, then pinched
himself. No, he was wide awake, and actually hearing this. 'Well...it
can't be any weirder then anything ELSE we've ever done.'he thought to
himself with resignation. He said into the phone, "Sure...give me a minute
to throw some clothes on."

He heard a quiet, 'Ohhhhhhhhh...' then a  noise that sounded like a thump.
"What was that?", he asked, frowning. He heard Ami gasp, and there was
muffled sounds of her asking if someone was okay. Darien's eyes widened,
and he shouted, "Oh my god, what happened? Is it the Generals?"

Mina snagged the phone and said, "Hey Darien! No, no Generals. That was
just Serena. She fainted when she heard you didn't have any clothes on.
Ami is trying revive her."

Darien sighed with relief. He ran one hand through his wet, dark hair,
saying, "Well it's not like I'm naked. I just got out of the shower, and
I'm dripping wet with water. All over my rug, actually. Damn. I have a
towel on, though..." Another thump was heard.

Mina said nonchanlantly, "Well, there went Raye. It's kind of funny...she
heard you and her eyes rolled back into her head, and then THUNK, down
she went. Kind of like 'The Exorist'. I think you'd better stop while
you're ahead. Ami and Luna are already slapping Serena awake, and Artemis
is hopping up and down on Raye's stomach. Lita's looking kind of wobbly
over there, though. I think it was the dripping wet thing."

Darien sighed in exsaperation, "I'm glad I went for the towel, or I'd be
standing here completely naked...god knows what could of..." Another
thump. He raised a eyebrow.

"DAMN Darien! You just knocked out Lita! Listen, I'm getting off the phone
with you. You're dangerous. Go get some clothes on, we'll meet you
downstairs..." Mina finished, and hung up the phone.

Darien stood there for another minute, holding unto his towel with one
hand, putting the phone down with the other. He sighed, "These Sailor
Scouts are DEFINATELY going to be the end of me..." He laughed, and added
in his mind, 'Or I'll be the end of them...' He went off to the bedroom to
get dressed.

*******************************************************************************
He exited his building several minutes later, a pair of worn jeans and a
baggy blue sweatshirt on, his hair still slightly damp. Walking outside,
he stopped, staring at the amazing sight in front of him. Serena, Raye,
and Lita stood there, hands over their eyes. Luna and Artemis looked
annoyed, and Ami and Mina couldn't stop smiling. Darien shook his head,
and said calmly, "I _am_ fully dressed, you know."

Raye sighed, and muttered, "Damn, really?" It earned her another raised
eyebrow from Darien, and a swift elbow in the stomach from Serena, who had
cautiously taken her slender fingers from her eyes. She leaped forward
into Darien's arms, and whispered, "I'm glad you're clothed..."

He leaned down and kissed her nose, and with a slightly ironic chuckle,
said, "Me too..." He hooked one arm through Serena's, and turned to the
group. "All right girls...and cats, would someone mind explaining to me
HOW we are bringing back Nephlyte back from the dead? Besides turning him
into a zombie, or something like that."

Luna, who sat nestled in Ami's arms, moved her paw, gesturing they should
start walking. The group started forward, and Serena piped up, "Okay
Darien...what we think we are doing..that is, what we are doing is sort of
complicated..and it deals alot with biorythems..and such..and..maybe I
should just let Ami explain, cause I don't really understand it much.."

Raye, still smarting from the elbow in her solar plexus, snorted, "Gee,
what a surprise. If it wasn't in a manga, I'd doubt you'd understand human
speech!"

Serena turned to Raye, snapping back, "Well if it wasn't for the fact your
Grandpa, who has a MUCH nicer personality might I add, claims a genetic
relationship with you, I'd doubt you're HUMAN!" And with that, another
bickering session had begun. Lita and Mina put on their weary looks, as
Artemis and Luna sighed. Ami did what she did best, ignore the commotion
and start explaining.

"You see, Darien, we've pinpointed a place where Nephylte's energy is the
strongest. And by all indications, since the energy flux is still so high,
it is safe to assume that he has not moved past into the...light as it
were. What we are going to attempt to do is open a portal for him to come
back."

"And we are going to do this how?" Darien said, blocking out the screams
and name calling beside him.

Ami said, "It's rather simple, actually. We're going to reverse one of our
Sailor Transports. So instead of US going to HIM, he can come to us."

Darien nodded, saying, "Sounds easy enough. What do you need me for?"

Ami got quiet. Lita and Mina looked at each other. Serena and Raye stopped
bickering, and Luna coughed. Artemis said slowly, "Well you see...we need
a focal point. A familiar object for Nephlyte to recognize so he know we
mean him no harm...something that has special meaning to him."

Darien stopped short, and glared at each one of them, saying tersely, "I
am NOT kidnapping Molly."

Serena got a digusted look on her face, "Darien, we would NEVER use Molly
as bait. She's one of my best friends, and I'm not about to put her in
danger if the portal thing backfires."

Darien nodded in approval, then frowned. "Wait a sec...we're not going to
steal his Ferrari from the police impound, are we? I recall he was
awfully fond of that..." he said suspiously.

Raye huffed in exasperation, and said shortly, "Darien...do we LOOK stupid
enough to do that? People already know the Sailor Scouts on sight. A red
Ferrari would REALLY cut down on that slick getting away thing."

Darien half grinned, then said, "Okay...so what is this item of great
significance that will magically be the white flag between us and
Nephlyte?"

Luna stated simply, "The bandage made for him by Molly."

Darien's eyebrows raised, and he said slowly, "That old grungy piece of
cloth?? THAT'S going to say, We Are Your Friends Now? Are you all
serious??"

Ami replied calmly, "Well of course. You don't think we would of dragged
you out of your shower to go on some foolish excursion, do you?"

Darien made no reply, but rubbed his forehead, and asked tiredly,
"Okay...so how do we get the bandage from Molly?"

Mina said slowly, "Weeeell, Molly doesn't exactly have it, Melvin does."

Lita piped in, "So what we're going to do is...go to Melvin's house..."

Raye grinned, "Disguised, if you can believe it, as some sort of Girl's
Group selling cookies..."

Serena bubbled, "While you and Mina...cause she knows how to pick locks,
break into Melvin's room, and take back the bandage!"

Ami finished, "And then we slip out, using a Lunar Mind Meld to make
sure Melvin's family doesn't remember us."

Luna said calmly, "Then we take the bandage, and try to bring Nephlyte
back."

Artemis grinned at Darien from his perch on Mina's shoulder, and said
dryly, "Simple, huh?"

Darien's eyes widened, and he spluttered out, "SIMPLE?? Simple?? Do you
know how many laws we are going to be violating?" He began to count them
out on his hand. "Breaking and entering, vandalism, burglary..not to
mention impersonating a...a...a group of Brownies!"

Ami said thoughtfully, "Actually...we are going as Campfire Girls, as we
are too old to be Brownies.." The glare in Darien's eyes silenced her
musing.

Serena turned a livid Darien to face her. Her voice was, surprising, calm
and reasonable, "Darien, my love...we have no choice. We've run out of
options here. The Generals are beating the pants, I mean, skirts off of
us. We NEED Nephlyte."

Darien looked down into her eyes, and saw the tiredness there, and the
slim hope that rested there with this insane plan. He sighed heavily, and
said, "Okay, okay. So what's the time window Mina and I have to get the
bandage?"

The Scouts all grinned, and Luna said, "We decided on 15 minutes. In and
Out. Now, I think we ought to get changed. We'll run over the plan, then
head in. Serena, the Lunar Pen."

Artemis frowned for a moment, then said, "Wait...how is the pen supposed
to disguise all of them?"

Ami said quietly, "We are all going to hold unto Serena, while she chants.
Therefore, we are within her circle of transforming magic. By the
statistics on my computer, this has a 98.9% chance of working
effectively."

Lita said slowly, "Uhm...what's the other 1.1% chance of happening?"

Ami looked at her, and stated calmly, "The magic backlashes over us,
rejects our form, and implodes us."

Lita looked over at Raye. Raye looked at her, and said, "You just HAD to
ask, didn't you?"

Lita shrugged, her eyes flickering momentary fear, while Luna called out,
"All right girls, no time for negative thoughts. We are on a mission!
Let's get to it!"

Ami grabbed unto Serena's shoulder, while Lita and Raye caustiously held
hands, then Lita grabbed unto Ami's. Darien, Mina, and the two cats took a
few steps backwards. Luna nodded at Serena, who nodded back, and pulled
out the pen. Holding it high above her head, she called out, "DISGUISE
POWER! Turn us into a bunch of...of really cute Explorer Girl Scouts! With
Cookie boxes!"

The pink light flooded around them, and Darien and Mina averted their
eyes. When they glanced up, they saw before them one heck of an amazing
sight. Serena, Ami, Raye, and Lita stood, all clothed in white short
sleeved shirts, brown vests with several cloth badges, and brown pleated
skirts, not unlike what they wore as Sailor Scouts. Brown berets topped
their heads, and brown loafers covered their feet.

Darien and Mina looked at each other, and started laughing.  The girls
scowled at them, and Serena huffed, "So what's so funny?"

Mina gasped out, "You all look so...cute!"

Darien chuckled, "Downright adorable. I love the hats."

Lita growled, "They're berets. And I'd watch that snotty tune, bucko. Or
Serena will turn you into our 'Girl Scout' leader." Serena twirled the
Lunar pen in between her fingers, an evil look gleaming in her blue eyes.
Darien promptly shut up.

Artemis grinned furrily, and said, "Okay, Mina. Darien. Get to
it." The two nodded, and transformed. Luna looked up at all of them.

"All right, we know our jobs. Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Moon. You four
are running interfernce. Artemis, Venus, Mask and I will cover Melvin's
room. We have a fifteen minute window. Everyone set?" Everyone nodded, and
she finished, charging forward to the house in front of them,  "Okay,
let's do it!"

Serena said quietly, "Um Luna...there's a problem though."

Luna stopped from her mad dash, and looked up at the blond leader. She
asked, exasperated, "What?!?"

Serena pointed down the street, "Melvin's house is in the next block."

Luna blushed, and said quickly, "Well I knew that. Okay, let's do
it..AGAIN!", as she charged down the block. Serena shrugged, and ran after
her, the others following. Mask looked down at Artemis, who looked up at
him.

Then they said in unision, "We're dead."

Mask bowed, and said, "After you, White Wonder."

Artemis bobbed his head, and commented, "Thank you, Well Dressed One."

With that, they casually walked down the street behind the girls.