*in a blue haze, Kunzite appear; 
unlike the others, he doesn't look like
he fears for his existence*
 I'll take this job with honor.  Besides,
we can't fish out Jade or Zoi from their hidey
hole, and Neph is tired, so I was the chosen one.
*sly smile*  But I have permission, so I WON'T be
in trouble.  Nah nah na boo boo.
 NINX SAYS:
 Hola, all!
 Well, I'm finished now.  You may notice this
ISN'T the last chapter.  I had to split it into
DOS pieces because it was WAY too long for one
chapter, and besides, it seemed to work better
that way.
 DISCLAIMERS
 1) I don't own it.  No creative infringement
    intended.
 2) Don't DISS the crystal!  My universe, my ISC! 
 3) Some of this may seem odd to you, but I'm trying
    to wrap up loose ends.  Any crappy dialogue/action
    is purely the fault of the author's purile brain. 
    Trust me, my imagination made it look SPIFFY!
 4) I'm really tired.  Forgive grammar/spelling
    mistakes.
 AUTHOR READS: Fushigi Kismet: Drop everything NOW
               and go read "Past Loves".  It kicks my
               story's butt.
               Lianne: So wonderful.  I cried...and cried..
               and wanted the next parts.
               Pandora Waldron: Inside the mind of Mamoru.
               Excellent.
               Tim Nolan: MASTER of the epic, and excellent
               Outer Senshi reference.
               Bunny Annla: I don't know if the name is right,
               but you HAVE to read this stuff.  It's AWESOME.
               Amethist: Hey, she's just COOL.
 *looks up from reading*  It's really wonderful/sad when the 
Author's list is longer than the disclaimers.  *continues 
reading* 
 Contact me at jkc1984@niia.net over anything story wise.
 DEDICATIONS: Theresa (Selket), Sailor Mercurio, Reynard the Fox,
              Adam, Jeremy...you are my inspiration.  All the people
              out there who haven't left to read "Past Loves"--you
              are my payment for doing this.  You are ALL wonderful,
              and I'm overpriveliged to have any sort of fan base at
              all.  Thank you so much.

*Kunz nods and finishes* ONTO IT THEN!

              The Four Lovers: Interim

            CHAPTER FOUR
            REVELATIONS
 <Two months,> Serena thought as she plopped 
on the bed.  Almost immediately she fished 
out her broach, the crystal emitting a soft 
glow in response.  She still hadn't told any 
of the Gens about it, despite the steadily 
deepening friendship between the four of 
them.
 "Two months," she whispered to the crystal.  
Her English was nearly perfect now, or as 
perfect as it could be + slang; she'd picked 
it up at a speed that had surprised everyone.  
<I can imagine Haruna now--she'd flip out!> 
she thought with a tiny smile.  It'd been 
more than just her excellent tutoring, too; 
her steady work with the crystal had somehow 
allowed to just...well, do better.
 <I wish I'd know this back...then,> she 
thought with a sigh.  <Maybe..> but she 
quickly cut the thought off, trying to rip 
away the feelings attached--to no avail.
 "Two months," she murmured again.  It hadn't 
seemed that long; days seemed to skip by so 
rapidly here that she could barely keep 
track.  When she reacted with such surprise 
this morning, Jared had told her (laughingly) 
that she needed a calendar.  He was the 
closest of her four "brothers" and he doted 
on her.  She was trying to convince all of 
them to grow their hair out, citing EXTREME 
hunky-ness as a reason, but they refused.  
Well, except for one...   
 "Poor Zach," she whispered softly as she 
traced the facets of the crystal.  Anytime 
she thought of the Generals, her thoughts 
turned to him.  She wished she knew what was 
happening to him...
 A warm light formed under her fingers, and 
before she knew what was happening a silver 
bead of light drew her eye, and she fell....
 /THUMP!/
 /"Where am I?" she wondered softly.  The 
room-place where she now stood was a bare 
white, and grayish light filtered in from the 
uncovered windows.  The floor was completely 
bare, and she could somehow tell it was cold, 
even though she didn't touch, couldn't feel 
it./
 /"Huh?"/
 /Looking down, she noticed that she was no 
longer Serena, but Sailor Moon...only she 
wore goggles, like Sailor V.  It was...very 
odd!...and she had a million questions./
 /Yet she couldn't voice them, for she saw 
that a bed had been placed in the room, of 
dark wood and darker covers, where slept 
Zachary./
 /"Zach!" she said, moving towards the boy, 
light in her eyes./
 /But the light dimmed suddenly./
 /Over his bed swirled strands...of darkness.  
Thick strands, thin strands, cables, spider 
silk, all whirling, weaving, woven, swirling, 
overlapping, knotting, touching his faces, 
snapping at is splayed hair, cackling as they 
turned above him./
 /And he stirred, and cried out, and 
something from him tried to sweep away the 
black...but it seemed to giggle and scream in 
amusement and crowded right back./
 /Some of the black actually seemed to be in 
him./
 /Anger rose in her, and the odd broach she 
wore began to shimmer and glow.  The darkness 
DID NOT care for the light that shone from 
her chest, and seemed to vanish, huddling 
away in the shadows./
 /"Zachary," she said, kneeling, smiling, 
touching his forehead.  He stopped stirring, 
his breathing becoming regular--and his eyes 
opened./
 /"Zach," she said softly./
 /He stared blankly at her for a moment, 
whispering, "Sere...no, it can't be!"/
 /She swallowed, than smiled.  "Zach, it..."/
 /A sudden thumping graced their ears, and 
both looked towards the door.  Immediately 
Zach let out a small whimper, then seemed to 
shore himself up and say, "Whoever you are, 
you've got to get out of here!"/
 /"But Zach, I'm..."/
 /"I don't care! You've got to get out of 
her!" His eyes teared.  "You're too 
nice...too warm...to get hurt."/
 /"Zach...but I..." he stopped her with a 
raised hand./
 /Hush," he said gently.  "Mi arco iris, mi 
chiquita rubia.  My angel.  You have given me 
peace, and I'll hold onto it forever."  His 
eyes hardened.  "Now GO!"/
 /She stood, and even as he urged her to go 
she could hear a sinister voice screaming for 
her to stay.  The two seemed to mesh with 
each other, even as another voice like the 
sound of wind chimes called out to her./
 /"Step away, child, and come with me.  Don't 
dawdle! You have no TIME!"/
 /A large, black, a crawling, oozing 
darkness, crashed through Zach's door, just 
as Serena *reached* out for the voice with a 
scream.../
 THUMP!
 She opened her eyes, and saw the crystal 
still shimmering at her fingertips. She sat 
up, gasping for air and pulling her fingers 
away, staring at the broach and its gleaming 
crystal.  Cautiously she touched it again, 
feeling a warm, warm sensation from it.
 THUMP!
 The noise brought her completely back to 
life, and she slid the broach under her 
pillow.  "Come in," she said.
 Jade burst in, eyes wide.  "Are you all 
right?"
 "Fine." She blinked twice.  "Why?"
 "I came to check on you, see if you wanted 
to head out to the mall," he replied.  
"But...you didn't answer for the LONGest 
time...and.."
 "I was, uh, thinking," she said softly.  
"Daydreaming."
 "You daydreamed right through my pounding?  
Serena, are you all right?" he asked.
 |At home, I could sleep through anything,| 
she said softly, smiling.  |Daydreaming too.  
I love to dream...to relax.|
 |I see,| he replied, eyes not so mellow.  
|Are you coming?|
 She shook her head no, and he sighed.  
|Well, don't forget to relax through your 
homework,| he added.
 |Jared!|
 |Serena!|
 |All right,| she said.  |I'll start my math 
right away.|  <Even though I hate it.>
 "I know you don't like it," he said, subtly 
slipping into that common-tongue-o'-Sol.  It 
sounded a lot like English, actually, but 
smoother, easier--though its history wasn't 
know, she assumed it was Moon Kingdom 
originated.  "But you have to at least try," 
he continued on.  "Kev'll check it over 
later."
 "All right," she replied, then added with a 
smile, "You're dismissed."
 He automatically clicked his heels and then 
bowed, then shot her a dirty look.  "Don't DO 
that, your majesty."
 "My apologizes, Jadeite..Jade," she said.  
Despite her memories, she still had some 
trouble dealing with the fact that they were 
Generals.  She'd told them (in veiled terms) 
of some experiences she'd had with the other 
Four, and they'd grown angry and depressed.  
On the good side, it helped to explain the 
changes that'd happened over the last three-
quarters of a year or so before she'd 
arrived.  THEY also still had problems 
believing she was the Princess Serenity; 
after all, she was beautiful, but somehow 
they couldn't mesh the two people.  Heck, SHE 
didn't want to mesh the two people half the 
time...
 He gave her a brief smile, then walked out.  
She immediately dashed for the crystal, 
pulling the brooch from under her pillow.  
Her hands shook as she touched the shimmering 
gem; <Who WAS that?> she wondered, gazing in 
near awe mixed with fear at the broach.
 For in the crystal there had been a third 
voice.  Not hers, not Zach's, but...
 >It was MY voice, child.<
 She nearly tumbled off the bed as she 
whipped around, looking for anyone in the 
room; however, there was NO ONE else but her, 
her furniture, and the crystal.
 >Child? Hello?<
 Her breath came faster, and she again looked 
about.  Nothing.  She reached out for her 
broach, ready to MCP it and dust whatever 
kept calling to her.
 >It is I, child, who calls you.  I, the 
Silver Crystal.<
 The voice spoke in the shifting of wind 
chimes, in the soft sound of tinkling glass, 
its breath a gentle wind.  She looked down at 
the broach that rested in her hand, and a 
soft, pulsing light answered her.
 >What?  Aren't crystals of infinite power 
allowed a voice?<
*       *       *       *
 "Hey, Jade, enjoying the silence?" Nathan 
asked.  
 The three of them--he, Jade, Kev--were 
sitting at a table in the open court/food 
part of the mall, a salad in front of each, 
enjoying the sights.  Well, sort of.  He and 
Kevy had each gotten most of the way through 
his salad as they talked (and gawked) about 
(at) those walking by.  Despite the 
occasional nagging thoughts of other women--
warm, loving females--they still looked.
 <Not that you EVER needed help,> he reminded 
himself with an internal grin.  There was 
something about his eyes and his hair that 
made young woman smile (swoon).  In fact, 
he'd only come up against a couple of woman 
who'd been completely immune--Serena for 
one--but they'd all had their reasons, mostly 
being older and married.  As to Serena...he 
evoked a mental image of Endymion with his 
sword...
 "I guess," Jade broke in, reminding Nate of 
his concern for his friend.  Jade had been 
somewhat out of it all day, and even more so 
since they'd picked him up.  Not that Jade 
was always happy, but it was rare to find him 
so QUIET; he was always (AL-ways) chatty, 
even when depressed.  Now, though...
 "Are you all right?" Kevin asked haltingly.  
He seemed to just be grasping the oddity of 
Red's mood.
 "I'm just thinking," he replied.
 "Quietly?" Nathan asked incredulously.
 He managed a grin.  "It's Serena," he 
confessed.  "Something weird happened this 
afternoon--that I know--but she was evasive 
about it, and it bugs me."  He let out a 
heavy sigh.  "I don't even understand why I'm 
so confused about her."  His grin turned 
lopsided.  "She's ONLY my sister."
 They all spontaneously grinned now, little 
grins that made them look like they had 
something to hide.  In the beginning she'd 
made it very clear what Jade's declared 
relationship with her was--and how it 
extended to all of them.  "Maybe you're doing 
it for him," Kev said as Jared punched at his 
salad with his fork.
 His eyebrows raised.  "Him?"
 "Endymion..." Nate said, voice soft and 
cautious and not quite...sure.  <Honestly, 
Jade,> he wondered, <we all remember the 
oath.>  Yet sometimes...well, he understood 
what Jade meant.  After all, they knew HER, 
but not HIM; he wondered if they ever would 
know him.  Serena said very little about her 
past, and even the mention of the word 
"Prince" seemed to cloud her eyes.
 "I don't know him," Jared replied, as if to 
echo Nate's thoughts.  "But I do know her.  
So, right now, I'm doing this all for HER."  
His voice, eyes, and face hardened, beckoning 
a challenge which would never come.
 "Speaking of 'hers', Jared," Nate said, 
"there are a couple of girls that have been 
staring at us for the past few minutes.  Care 
to go over and say hi?" 
 "What about her, Nephrite," Kevin asked 
quietly, eyes on the tomato he was trying to 
stab.  "Have you forgotten?"  His quiet gray 
eyes raised to look at him.
 He felt anger surge to the surface, and his 
face set.  "Why is it that our future has to 
be ruled by our past?" he fiercely spat out.  
"Damn it all!" 
 The two stared at him, obviously shocked, 
and he looked down.  "Sorry," he murmured.  
"I still have...some trouble."
 "We all do, Nate," Kevin replied after 
seconds of silence.  "But just because we 
remember out past doesn't mean that our 
present is forfeit." 
 "Yea," Jade chimed it.  "You'll always be 
Kevin and Nathan to me."
 "Awee...thanks," he replied, thinking, <You 
have no idea how much that helps, Jade.  No 
idea.>
 They resumed peaceful eating of their 
salads, letting the health food wash away 
their angry/sad thoughts of the past.  They 
were on their way to a normal conversation 
when suddenly, swiftly, Kevin shot straight 
up in his seat.  Nate barely had time to even 
register it before a tingle shot up his own 
neck.  <Wha..?> he thought, then noticed 
Jared was now rigid as well. "You feel that?" 
he asked quietly.
 "It feels...wrong," Jared said, seeming to 
struggle for a word.
 "I concur," Kevin added.
  Unintentionally, unconsciously, he reached 
inside to his memory and found Nephrite.  He 
could feel a shimmer run up his neck, and it 
seemed as if he could see his past 
counterpart standing next to him, shimmering 
a purplish color, hair blowing in an 
imaginary breeze.  That part of him gathered 
his energy and found the man, demonstrating 
slowly, as if trying to tell him what to 
do...though it was something he couldn't do.
 "Nate?" A voice startled him back to life, 
and he looked back to find blue and gray eyes 
staring worriedly at him.
 "There's evil here," he said swiftly. 
"Watching...not us, but the mall...and I 
can't...can't..." he gritted his teeth in 
frustration.
 "Relax, Neph," Kev said, voice low.  "We all 
can feel it.  It's here--somewhere--but we'll 
find it."  His eyes became steel, and he 
whispered, "I know we will."

*       *       *       *
 As so it went on for two more weeks; as one 
worked with the crystal, the others tried to 
seek out the evil they'd felt.  Neither told 
the other; the thought didn't occur to 
either.  In a way, they were protecting each 
other from the consequences of what COULD 
happen.  Serena had no intention of ever 
telling the men she was Sailor Moon--it 
didn't seem pertinent--and the guys didn't 
want her to worry about them.  So they 
continued, oblivious.
 Yet they had no idea how much they NEEDED to 
depend on each other. Serena's break from 
Japan had twisted history and Fate, and her 
protection had been switched from the Senshi 
to the Generals, in the same way Darien was 
now under the Senshi's care.  They needed 
each other.
 Oops...a small digression.
 Two weeks from the day when Serena had heard 
the crystal's voice, the boys were again at 
the mall.  The evil had grown so strong to 
their dull senses that they could barely eat.  
Most often they would speak of nothing, 
concentrating the important part of their 
mind on the unfamiliar sensations that 
skittered around their bodies and minds.
 Now Serena was here.  The ONE day that they 
set aside for searching this out, the ONE day 
the evil felt so strong that their WHOLE body 
TiNgLeD, she decided to join them.
 Not that Serena really felt any better.  
Increased crystal usage = increased 
sensitivity, and she'd never felt so...uneasy 
before.  She could read it in the liquid eyes 
of the guys as well, and FEEL the taste in 
the air.  Without even realizing it, she 
reached out to the crystal.
 >I am with you, Serena.  Even when you are 
away, I am with you.<  A beat, and a shift in 
the wind chimes.  >There is danger around 
you.  You must go and become Sailor Moon.<
 *But the boys!*
 >They NEED this.  Go, Sere, go! And HURRY!<
 She broke out of her semi-trance and stood 
up quickly, hitting her leg hard enough to 
make an impression on it.  She winced, then 
softly said, "Please excuse me."  Jared gave 
her an odd look, but she ignored it and 
walked towards the woman's bathroom.  Her 
hands were shaking so badly that she could 
barely open the door, and fasten the lock in 
the stall.
 Back at the table, Jared still puzzled over 
her.  The conversation had been at a peaceful 
lull, and she'd been lost in her lemonade, 
when suddenly she SHOT up and like a rocket 
to go to the bathroom.  "Weird," he murmured.
 "This all is," Nate said, an odd look in his 
eyes.  Jade wondered if he'd caught Serena's 
behavior as well.
 "Feels like something inside me is playing 
the tingle button," Kev said dryly.  He 
pushed forward.  "Something's going to happen 
today.  We all can feel it."
 "So wh...are you saying that we may reach 
our powers today?" Nate said, eyes glowing.  
"That'd be sweet."
 "But how...you think that only battle will 
bring it out?" Jared guessed, brow furrowing.
 "I think that only battle can break the 
bonds that hold our powers down," he replied.
 "But..." he started, when suddenly the 
tingles crescendoed into a burst of static, 
and it felt like something scraped across 
their brain.  Their eyes met instantly.
 "It's time," Kevin said, rising.  

 "It's time," Serena whispered to herself as 
she stared at the broach.  "MOON CRYSTAL 
POWER...MAKEUP!"

 "It's good that Serena'll miss this," Jared 
said.  "She disdains violence."
 "Oh...disdain, good word," Nate muttered.
 "Will you two shutup?"
 They'd walked to the edge of the court, 
where the sensation seemed the strongest, and 
waited.  They knew it was coming--they just 
didn't know from where or who or when or how.  
They just knew it was soon.  Their Memory 
would be no help in these days; youma had 
developed ways of disguising themselves, and 
though they didn't know it, the one they 
looked for was no more than five feet away.
 He was one of the rare male youma, and 
though not too powerful, fairly sure of 
himself.  He'd trained under Malice and 
Kunzite, honing his powers of darkness in 
wait of his own command.  It'd been fortunate 
that he'd been at the Antarctic base when 
Beryl had been attacked; though they had to 
lay low and gain strength for awhile, it was 
time to take things over once more! The 
Negaverse would rule again!
 Besides, he mused, with the Negaverse in 
power, he wouldn't have to eat penguin 
anymore.
 He quietly gathered his energy for this day, 
the day when the transformation would be 
complete.  He was to strike and bring back 
quite a bit of energy, for it would take that 
much to bring back their Dark Lord.  He 
grinned at the thought; success her could 
bring him quite a promotion.
 Nate looked around again, the prickles on 
his skin intensifying.  <Something's 
happening,> he thought.  His quick eyes 
scanned the people nearby again, but there 
was...
 A drop of darkness appeared.  
 He blinked in surprise, but then came 
another one, and another, and another, 
quietly scattering on the floor.  They pooled 
with each other, and with other little pools, 
until a three foot pool of blackness stood 
there.  It heaved a portion of itself 
upwards, then twisted, pulling itself 
together.
 "Guys," he said, raking his hands down their 
sleeves.  "Guys, there's something you have 
to see, NOW!"
 They obediently turned to look, and all 
three of them got their first glimpse of a 
youma.  He was tall, and made of dashes of 
diagonal and straight lines, all edges, all 
sharp, all dangerous.  The rest of him barely 
seemed human--he had pale, pale skin, dark 
eyes, and a mop of hair that seemed made of 
more diagonal lines that anything else.  
 And the tingling stopped.
 
 Serena looked at herself in the mirror.  Her 
transformation had taken longer than usual 
this time--and she'd been weary afterwards.  
Weary enough to stumble against the toilet 
before she got herself out of the bathroom.
 And gaped.
 She was the Sailor Moon of her dream! 
Goggles covered her eyes, and long odangos 
streamed from her head; her uniform seemed to 
be more...more...well, not very different 
except for the broach.  It was more heart 
shaped now, and the crystal glowed deeper 
than usual, a faint salmon sheen.  
 <This is no time to look at yourself in the 
mirror, Serena,> she thought to herself.  
<Get out there!>
 <But what if I'm not good enough?  I don't 
have my...my friends here with me now.  And 
in a mall with crowded people! And cops!>
 A scream blasted her thoughts.
 <This is NO TIME to be STUBBORN, SERENA! 
MOVE, NOW!> 
 She obediently dashed from the bathroom, a 
blur as she skidded out from it and turned.  
Hiding in the shadow of a pillar, she looked 
around and listened.  Nothing.
 But she could FEEL it...and the crystal 
glowed darker.  
 <Go with your instincts, Moon!>
 She darted out from behind the pillar; 
people ignored her, even with her odd costume 
and odd hairstyle and odd way of moving.  
They were too busy screaming or staring at 
the creature.
 It had grown in height some, and solid black 
spheres surrounded it, glowing in dark 
energy.  Even now it was pinning people with 
sharp diagonals, stopping them in time to 
grab them with two flat sticks and drain 
their energy.  Several of the bodies were 
cops.  
 <So much for law enforcement!> she thought 
as she took off again, then skidded to a stop 
in front of it.  |BACK OFF, CREEP!|
 The creature blinked it's dark eyes, then 
smiled.  |A beautiful piece of energy for our 
Dark King...good.|  It nearly slavered.  
|Come here, child.|
 <JERK!> she thought.  <HE DIDN'T EVEN 
RECOGNIZE ME!>  The compulsion to whine came 
upon her so swiftly that she nearly did it; 
she cut herself off, instead shouting, "Tsuki 
ni kawatte o shioki yo!" She then leaped up.  
"Sailor Moon...KICK!" 
 Her leg lashed out at the creature with a 
force she thought would knock his head off.  
Instead, he growled and dashed at her, 
causing her to start and jump backwards.  He 
chuckled wildly at that, a grotesque smile on 
his face, and charged again, lashing out with 
his stick.  |I know about you, Sailor Moon!| 
he spat.  |You're the whinny, cowardly 
brat...|
 |Who put Beryl away for good, sleeze!| she 
retorted before he could finish.  For the 
second time in a fight she felt angry--REALLY 
angry.  Angry that he was here.  Angry that 
SHE was here, trying to dust his butt while 
showing off hers in her short little skirt 
that...that...
 |With the crystal.  Let's see you do that 
now, Sailor Brat!| he interrupted, taking 
another swipe at her.
 |I AM SOOOOO SICK OF HEARING THAT!|  she 
retorted, dodging the energy blows and coming 
in to kick him again.  This time, though, he 
managed to flat her with one of the dark 
pieces of wood, throwing off her timing and 
leading her to SMACK right into the ground.  
She tumbled and ended up twisted on the 
ground; he advanced on her.  As she looked 
up, the smile on his face was so unbearably 
cruel that she nearly wretched.
 |This ends here and now!| he roared, 
swinging at her.
 
 When the blond streak had first jumped into 
the fight, the guys had barely noticed.  The 
attack had come upon them so quickly that 
they'd barely had a chance to try and get 
people out of the way before he struck.  
Luckily they did posses the Generals' agility 
and instincts; all three had escaped 
basically unhurt.  They then turned their 
attention to getting the people out of their 
as they tried to ignore the compulsion to 
sleep that the sphere seemed to induce.
 Then came the shouting in Japanese.
 "In the name of the moon, I will punish 
you?" Kev said.  "Huh?"
 Jared and Nate looked back, and they both 
immediately paled.  "My God," he whispered.
 "WHAT?" Kev asked, coming around...his jaw 
dropping.
 A young, lithe, blond girl in an AWFULLY 
short skirt was engaging the monster.  She 
darted as he attacked, and even managed a 
good hit or two herself.  She was shorter 
than most comic book woman, and wore a 
colorful splash of red, white and blue along 
with red goggles.  Her long hair streamed 
around her, and he noticed it was pulled up 
into...into...
 "It's her," he breathed hoarsely.  "Serena's 
Sailor Moon!" 
 "Our little...I can't believe I'm seeing 
this," Jared breathed.  "She always seemed 
so...nice."
 They watched for a few stunned seconds, 
until Nate said, "We HAVE to help her!" 
 "What?  She's doing fine!" Jared said. 
 The flat of the black stick thingy caught 
her then, and she fell to the floor.
 "Now she's not!" Kevin cried out as he took 
off running.

 Serena only saw the cold eyes and the cruel 
smile as he began to bring the piece around.  
She knew it was going to be painful, but 
she'd felt pain before; even death had 
touched her before.  Yet she knew that this 
would be the worst of all, because there was 
so much unfinished...
 Yet Sailor Moon wasn't to taste pain nor 
death this day.  For as the sizzling, black 
thing came around, three streaks of pale, 
pastel colors blotted out her vision of the 
creature.  They alighted on it and forced it 
back, and she scrambled away as the creature 
screamed.  
 <I need to use the Scepter!> she thought.  
<It's not that strong, that I know!>  She 
leaped to her feet and looked to the beast, 
then gasped.
 <BROTHERS!> her mind gasped; it was them 
that were attached to the monster.  It seemed 
auras had grown out of them, auras of silvery 
gray and fiery red and purplish blue, and 
even as they fought by hand she could see the 
seeds of magic working.  
 She had to use the Scepter.  HAD to.  But 
they were...in the way...what would happen?  
What...?
 >Use it, Sailor Moon.<
 *Huh?  But my friends...my brothers...*
 >USE IT, SAILOR MOON!<  The thunder of 
broken glass crashed in her skull, and as she 
winced, she felt no choice but to obey.
 The Scepter sprang to her hand, and she had 
to stare for one moment...it seemed different 
somehow...before she shook it off.  She had 
to save them...even if it cost her brothers.
 The youma struggled on.  Jared clawed at its 
back as Nate smacked into its legs and Kevin 
sparred with its clawed hands.
 "MOON..."
 It looked up, and they doubled their 
efforts.
 "..CRYSTAL..."
 <That's new.>
 "..SCEPTER"
  The youma's eyes widened.  He knew what 
came next, even if he'd never seen this 
weapon before.
 "...ELIMINATION!!" 
 For a moment, all seemed to stop.  Then, the 
twist of purple radiated outwards, and the 
moon followed.
 "NOOOO!" the youma screamed as his form 
shattered into dust.
 "ARHHHHHHH!" the three boys screamed, 
falling on their knees, holding their heads.
 Tears sprung to Sailor Moon's eyes, tears of 
pain.  <All I cause,> she thought quietly, 
<is pain.  Pain in the Senshi.  Pain in my 
brothers.  Pain in...> She tried to turn away 
from herself, but she stood stock still.  
 >Go help them.  Get them away from here.  
Talk with them.<
 The crystal's voice was soft and smooth, and 
she sighed internally.  It was right.  She 
couldn't stand here and mope over their 
pain--a crowd was forming, and she had to get 
them away.
 Quickly she sprung to their aid, kneeling by 
them.  "Are you all right...Jade?" she asked.
 "I'm fine," he said softly, pain etched in 
his voice.  "And you?"
 "None the worse.  Listen, we've got to get 
out of here.  Do you know..."
 But she never finished her sentence, for a 
sudden swirl took a hold of them, and they 
vanished.