*Neph appears*
 So I finally got away.  Yippee.
 *pulls out a sheet of paper as sounds
 of a mad fight and a very indignant
 Ninx sound in the background*
 She has a lot of things to say this week,
 but not enough room/time for all of them.
 Therefore, here's a shortened version, meaning
 I cut everything but the Disclaimers.
 1) No own! No own!
 2) I think I fudged some details here, but don't
    kill me too much.
 3) There will be Author's Notes
 *as he starts to destroy the paper, a yell comes
  from the back*
 "GO READ PAST LIVES! SAILOR LOON SAID IT WAS BETTER!"
 *Neph looks very non-plussed, and just adds*
 I'm sure there's an explanation for that.
 ONTO IT THEN! 

        The Four Lovers: Interim
            CHAPTER FIVE
         THE FINISHING TOUCH
 They appeared in the large, empty study at 
Nate's house.   
 "Whoa...that was odd," she said as she 
stood.  The three of them still knelt, though 
the pain seemed to be easing.  She gently 
touched each of them on the shoulder, saying, 
"We're safe now."
 The three of them seemed to open their eyes 
as one, and looked around.  "I'm...home," 
Nate said.  His eyes widened suddenly.  "Oh 
no--the car!" 
 "We'll get it later," Kevin said, standing.  
He winced slightly at the throb in his head, 
then looked squarely at Sailor Moon.  "Right 
now, there's some explaining that needs to be 
done."
 She sighed, and then de transformed in front 
of them, revealing plain, old Serena.  For a 
moment, indecision flickered in Kevin's eyes, 
and she wondered if she was going to be let 
off the hook.  Then, they hardened again, and 
she knew that there was no hope.
 <At least I'll be comfortable,> she thought, 
sitting on the comfortable floor and 
stretching out.  She really wanted to take a 
nap--being Sailor Moon after so long was 
harsh--but she knew they wouldn't let her see 
her pillow until she explained somethings.   
 "Where do you want me to start?  The 
beginning, or why I left?" Pain flickered in 
her eyes for a brief moment, then vanished; 
still, Kev noted it.
 "From when you left," he said.  "We don't 
have time to listen to the WHOLE story."
 She nodded.  They didn't, really.
 "It began," she started, "one day, as I was 
walking with Molly..."

*       *       *       *
 Concisely, Serena's story goes like this:
 During the time period between Beryl's 
"death" and the arrival of Ann and Alan, the 
Senshi had no idea who the others were.  They 
chose to pursue their own interests, and did 
so with success.  And one of Serena's 
interests was romance, and with romance came 
traveling, and what better romantic, far off 
place than America?  She often dreamed of the 
stories she'd heard, and even though her 
English was terrible, she longed to go there 
in her secret dreams.
 One day, while she and Molly were walking 
home, they spied an advertisement that caught 
Serena's eye.  "Go to High School in 
America," she read.  "Oh Molly! That would be 
just so cool!"
 "It would, Serena," Molly'd replied, but she 
internally rolled her eyes.  Serena ALWAYS 
was going off on tangents like these, and she 
knew she'd hear about it for days on end.  
The only thing was that this trip was about 
SCHOOL.  Serena would NEVER make anything 
that had to do with SCHOOL, in her opinion.  
 However, Serena had other ideas.  She 
obtained as much information as she could, 
and then filled out an application.  To her 
surprise (and most others), she was picked 
for an interview.
 Now, there are two versions of the story 
here, and since they don't quite jibe and are 
short, you'll hear both.  One is that the 
woman who chose Serena for an interview was 
one of those SPECIAL people who know things, 
and she knew that Serena had to go to 
America.  The other is that the person was 
youma who scanned her sheet, found out who 
she was, and decided to exact a little 
revenge by getting her out of the country.  
Which one to believe, no one knows, and no 
one cares.  Yet it is known that all Serena 
had to do was "be cool" with going, and she 
was on her way.
 Then Alan and Ann showed up, and the return 
of Sailor Moon put the trip on the 
backburner.  Somehow she knew that letting 
Luna or the reformed Senshi know about the 
trip wouldn't be right, and she never 
mentioned it.  She also failed to inform her 
family...and later, when love came upon her 
again, Darien.
 Meanwhile, her contact--Yvonne--was patient 
and flexible.  She knew that somehow Serena 
was going to end up in America; all it would 
take was time.  And she was right.  The 
advertisement, the application, the 
interview, the choice--they'd all subtlety 
changed the course Serena was on.  
 She first thought about accepting the offer 
as she lay in a phone booth, devastated 
beyond belief.  But she'd resigned herself to 
winning back his love, and she would fight 
until she got to that end.  
 Until the day when he crushed that rose.  
Their rose...the symbol of their love.  As 
she watched the rose petals fly and called 
out after him, her heart had wrenched and 
broken completely.  Now her mind whispered 
once again of her leaving--and she didn't 
have to come back.
 How was Serena to know that across the city, 
Darien stood on a pier and cried for the 
first time in years?  How was she to know 
that he'd FINALLY realized the impact of her 
love upon him, and that he truly loved her in 
return?  
 She never saw Lizzie that day in the 
restaurant.  Instead, she went to visit 
Yvonne.
 All the way up the stairs, thoughts of 
Darien and tears threatened her resolve, and 
she nearly turned and bolted back out.  
Still, she pushed the thoughts and tears 
away, composed herself the best she could, 
and opened the door to the woman's office.    
 "Why, hello Serena!" the woman said upon 
looking up, her English pleasantly accented.  
"Come to give me an answer?"
 "Yes," she said instantly, surprised to hear 
the English coming from her.  "I go."  It was 
thick, but much better than usual.
 "Have you been practicing, Serena?" she 
asked slowly.
 "Hai.  Um, yes," she replied.
 "Good.  You'll need it." The woman's purple 
eyes sparkled.  "When will you be ready to 
go?" 
 "Leave..could leave...now?" she asked, then 
amended.  "Today?"
 The question surprised Yvonne, but she 
replied, "I don't see why not.  Would you be 
ready to leave in about two hours?" 
 Serena thought for a bit, a pang surfacing 
in her heart.  Right then, the urge to turn 
back and refuse to go struck her, and a 
struggle began, heart against mind.  She 
fidgeted under it.
 Yvonne wasn't blind, nor stupid; she could 
see the internal battle.  Once she said those 
words, she'd be off to America for high 
school.  Three-four years away from 
everything she'd ever known, into a totally 
different world.  "Serena, if you're not 
ready to leave your loved ones..."
 <I can't date you anymore, Usako.>
 <Our love is like a rose.  Beautiful when in 
bloom, but..>
 Darien's painful words flashed through her 
mind, sending fresh pain screaming through 
her heart.  She nearly slumped into it, and 
tears began to cluster at her eyes again--and 
at the same time, gave her the resolve she'd 
lack.  She straightened and said, |No, I'm 
ready.  I'll be here in less than two hours!|
 |See you then, Serena,| Yvonne replied.

*       *       *       *
 "And so you left, just like that?" Jared 
asked.
 She closed her eyes, and he could see 
splashes of pain and weariness across her 
features.  Quickly he added, "You don't have 
to tell us."
 "It's not that," she sighed.  "I just 
haven't...really...dealt with everything yet.  
Give me a moment."  She set herself, 
something she was developing a skill at.
 "What did you do?" asked Nate, his dusky 
voice questioning and curious.  She was quite 
a storyteller, and he waited anxiously for 
her next bit.
 She opened her eyes, gaze light and 
curiously strong, and quietly said, "I said 
good-bye forever."
 
*       *       *       *
 Pain, heartache and sorrow are some of the 
greatest motivaters that EVER inspired 
humanity.  Fabulous works of art have been 
drawn of sorrow; pain can produce poetry that 
would make a hard man cry; heartache and 
music have been intertwined throughout the 
ages.  It also tends to harden a person, make 
them hard where they were gentle, and fierce 
where they were not.  Unbeknownst to Serena, 
her mind was already shoring up its barriers 
and fuzzing out memories; things she didn't 
discover until much later.
 At home, she found herself alone.  Where her 
mother, father, and brother disappeared to 
was questionable, but definitely not the 
first thing on her mind.  She knew Luna was 
out investigating something or other with 
Artemis.  It was almost as if someone had 
stacked the deck in her favor.
 Quickly she got out her suitcase, a large 
tan thing, and began throwing things in it  
According to Yvonne, her host family was 
going to take care of her, so she should 
bring necessities only.  In went her favorite 
clothes, a pair or two of shoes, the Luna 
Pen, her stuffed bunny, some drawing she'd 
been working on, and two jackets.  She 
hesitated for bare moments before throwing in 
pictures of the Senshi and one of the actual 
Tuxedo Mask, snapped secretly by Mina one day 
and presented to her on her fifteenth 
birthday.  Hesitantly she held up her star 
locket, then decided against it.  The picture 
was enough to remind her of days gone by, and 
the man she loved.  However, she did tip open 
the lid and rest it on her dresser, letting 
the music fill the air.  
 When she'd packed what she felt was 
necessary (including money and her passport, 
which everyone in her family had due to her 
father's job), she sat down to add the 
finishing touch.  She was going to make them 
believe her truly and completely gone.
 Her first letter was to the Senshi.  
Unknowingly, she phrased it very much like a 
will.  She told them in kind, Serena words 
that she was gone now, never to come back, 
and that they should just move on now.  Then 
she addressed messages to each of them: to 
Ami, thanking her for her wonderful mind, 
inspiration, and patience; to Raye, a few 
remarks on their sweet friendship and a 
comment on how to develop interpersonal 
skills; to Lita, for protecting her, cooking 
for her, and being there for her; and finally 
to Mina, thanking her for being a warm, kind 
friend and sharing all her troubles, never 
backing down.  In a moment of strange 
inspiration, she left the leader role to Mina 
and her communicator to all of them; she 
couldn't bring herself to part with her 
broach, so she said she would take it with 
her to her final place, as a remembrance.
 Next came the letter to her family.  In it, 
she poured out how much she loved them, but 
circumstances surrounding her convinced her 
that she had to move on.  ("I was concerned 
about their welfare--after all, the people we 
fought wanted Reenie, and I wasn't going to 
sacrifice my family for the spore!" she told 
the men.) She praised her mother and her 
patience; her father's loyalty and caring; 
her brother's incredible mixture of annoyance 
and love.  She wistfully wished she could 
watch him mature and grow; tearfully, she 
asked that they remember her happily, for 
they would ALWAYS be with her.
 Now came her true opus, her masterpiece and 
crowning jewel.  She carefully wrote his full 
name on the top, and paused as the locket's 
music ended.  Then she set to writing.

 "I can remember every word exactly," she 
told them softly, eyes closing on the memory.  
"Dear Darien Chiba: My love, last night as 
you drove away, you said words that broke us 
apart.  Now, as I write this letter, I will 
break us apart forever.  I now realize that 
our love was only my love, and that you, lead 
by the confusing string of destiny, didn't 
love me.  It hurts to write this, because I 
love you with everything I have, but I must."  
She swallowed a little--it still hurt, no 
matter how much she tried to convince herself 
otherwise.  "I release you, Darien Chiba.  
Please, take the Star Locket and Luna, and 
remember me and my love whenever you look at 
the white moon.  I'll be watching you, my 
love, my Mamo-chan.  Love, Serena Tsukino."  
She sniffed once, sadly, then opened her 
eyes.  "Then I snipped a piece of red thread 
and folded the letter like the others, 
placing it all together on my bed with my 
select items.  Then, I went to Yvonne's, 
making it just in time, and we left.  And now 
I'm here."
 The boys digested it while she fought the 
tears brought back by her memory of that day.  
She had no idea how much she'd be affected by 
this all, and the fatigue of being Sailor 
Moon didn't help much.  She wished she could 
just collapse and cry.  
 "Serena," Kevin spoke up.  "Why did you cut 
the string?"
 "There was a saying I had about me and 
Darien--connected by the red string of 
destiny," she said.  'And by doing that, I 
showed him that he was truly free."
 "Oh," Kevin said softly.  They lapsed back 
into silence, her eyes closed, they watching 
the pain and weariness on her face.  Finally, 
"Serena, I'm sorry I asked you about this.  I 
didn't know it was going to be so painful."
 "I was going to have to do it someday," she 
said quietly.  "I'm just glad..it's out now."  
She sighed, then suddenly perked up.  "Are 
you three all right?  I've never hit a PERSON 
with the Elimination before, and even if it 
wasn't the right..."
 "Whoa, whoa, whoa Serena, slow down," Jade 
said.  "First off, what's the Elimination?"
 "OH! That's right! You have no idea!" she 
said, and color began to return to her pale 
face.  The boys all exchanged glances; she 
was getting happier...and so were they.  
 "As Sailor Moon," she started, "I have an 
item to use for my power.  This one that I 
used here is called the Moon Scepterand I use 
it to destroy youma."  She paused.  "That's 
what that beast was."
 "What's a youma?" Nate asked.
 She sneered, an odd expression for her.  But 
too much had been done to her friends by 
youma--flashes of blood on Arctic snow came 
to mind--for her to ever truly feel pity for 
them.  
 No, that wasn't right.  She did pity them.  
It didn't stop her hate, though.
 "It's a creature of the Dark Kingdom," she 
finally said.  "They served the Negaverse 
Generals, Ann and Alan, those Weird 
Sisters..." she cut off suddenly.
 "What?" the three of them asked in unison.
 "The Negaverse Generals," she said.  "The 
youma I fought knew about...Beryl...and said 
they were gathering energy for their Dark 
King."
 Kevin paled immediately, his mind two steps 
ahead of hers.  "The Generals could've been 
called Kings, right?  And if they know Zach 
is a General...Maley."
 "What? Kunz, tell us!" Jared cried out.
 "Think! His nurse showed up about the time 
he got sick--which was right about the time 
these changes started to happen.  Something 
must have tipped her off..." he jumped to his 
feet.  "Miss Maley's a youma!"
 "SHE'S A WHAT?!" Serena shrieked, eyes 
widening.  "BUT..."
 "No time," Nate said, voice 
uncharacteristically firm.  "We have to get 
over there and help Zach."  He started for 
the door.  "I'll drive."
 
*       *       *       *
 <How much longer will I be alive?>
 Zach felt his resolve crumble as the thought 
slowly wound its way through his head.  He'd 
tried to keep up good, tough spirits so he 
could fight all this off, but what was 
happening to him was so disconcerting that it 
hurt.  Memories flashed in his mind, painful 
memories, of both his life and Zoycite's 
twisted one.
 "Zoycite," he spat.  The name was a bane to 
him.  When they'd first started using it in 
the room, he thought they'd been referring to 
the General he knew, his other half, Zoicite.  
Then he'd been set straight, and he now they 
knew they spoke of the lady Gen of the 
Negaverse.  <Funny, I've learned so much that 
I didn't want to know in this past hour,> he 
though to himself.  <And the other pieces I 
learned, I wish I knew before.>
 Those other pieces were what Miss Maley, AKA 
Malice, had told him.  She was no longer the 
strange, thin beauty of before, but a female 
shaped figure of tan gel and spiked hands.  
Her eyes were cruel beacons of amber-red 
light, her claws a sharp tan, and the weapons 
she bore effective, especially on any of the 
five slow peons around her.  He wouldn't want 
to meet her in a dark alley; he wished he'd 
never seen her it all.  That was the first 
piece of information he wished he knew; if he 
had, he would have run away to live with Jade 
and Serena, or Nate, or Kev, or bums on the 
street.  Just as long as she was away from 
him.  
 The other piece was something he'd never be 
able to tell the others, and that pissed him 
off/depressed him greatly.  He'd finally 
learned why they could never reach their 
powers.
 "You foolish, foolish man!" she'd said when 
he tried to bluff her.  "I know you can't 
reach your powers!" Her eyes grew sly, and 
she cackled.  "Despite the fact that the 
other Zoicite, the one from before, exists 
within you, you will never be able to touch 
him because of her! When Queen Beryl created 
her Generals from them, she stole a piece of 
them, which only return after her Generals 
died--contaminated by the Negaforce!"  Here 
she laughed again.  "The only way to touch it 
is to get rid of that, or turn you completely 
evil."  Her eyes shimmered.  "Guess what we 
are going to do, Great Lord Zoycite?"
 He trembled at the thought.  Right now he 
was alone in his bed, imprisoned by a web of 
dark energy that had been spun by a spidery 
type youma.  <I HATE this,> he thought to 
himself as he brushed the field, and was 
shocked.  <I hate that I'm going to become 
evil, and my friends will never know why, and 
I'll kill them, and...> he stopped.  <And 
I'll never be able to face that angel again.>
 That had been his only moment of peace, the 
brief appearance of a woman in an odd sailor 
suit with long, odd hair and beautiful eyes.  
She'd been so warm and loving, her voice so 
beautiful, that he knew she had to be his 
angel.  Then Maley had come back, and she'd 
gotten away safelybut he still held her 
memory most precious to him.  It was the 
memory that flashed in front of his eyes now, 
as the preparations were being made to turn 
him.  
 "I will not," he muttered to himself.  
"I...WILL...NOT!" 
 Yet he knew that all promises cannot be 
kept.

 "I saw him," Kev reported.
 The four of them were clustered outside of 
Zach's house, in the low bushes that lined 
the side.  Serena grimaced to herself as she 
touched the house again; improved senses or 
not, the evil here ran off the house in 
sticky waves.  She wished she could be ten 
miles from this place...or at least, ten 
feet.  It was horrible.
 <But I've GOT to save him,> she thought.  
<He's my friend--my brother!--and if I back 
out now, I'll just be proving all those 
things Raye said were true.>  Her face pulled 
tight at that, and her eyes glowed.  She was 
NO coward.  Not anymore.
 "How is he?" Nate asked.
 "Worse than his usual pale and thin.  I 
could read some of his body language--and it 
was mostly fear."
 "I'd be scared too, if I just found out I 
was going to be turned evil," Jade muttered.
 "I wasn't holding it against him," Kev 
quickly muttered back.  "Serena...?"
 She looked up from the grass she picked at, 
eyes glossy.  His gray ones held her for a 
second, and he breathed, "There are four 
others in there, Serena.  Five counting 
Maley."
 She drew a breath.  <FIVE YOUMA?> she 
thought.  <That's the most we've EVER 
faced...and there were Senshi there to help 
me!  Ooooh...> For a moment, she could feel 
fear seize her, the urge to break down and 
run away.  She sniffed automatically, and 
took a deep breath, preparing to whine--then 
she met their eyes.  Pale blue, deep brown, 
steady gray.  All depending on her to fish 
out their friend.  Her friend.  
 <He's counting on you,> she reminded herself 
as she slammed the feeling deep into her 
chest.  This was no time to be Serena.  This 
was time to be Sailor Moon.
 "It'll be a challenge," she said.  
 They raised their eyebrows.  "Only a 
challenge?  Serena, I bet you've never faced 
this many enemies in your lifetime!" Nate 
said.
 "Well...once.  With the Senshi," she 
admitted.  <And they all died, and you died, 
and Tux died, and...>
 "Are you sure you can handle this Serena?" 
Jade asked, blue eyes quietly worried.  She 
knew that she could back down their, and he 
wouldn't give a lick.  
 <No.  I'm going to do this,> she thought to 
herself.  "No," she admitted.  "But you can't 
stop me.  MOON CRYSTAL POWER, MAKEUP!!" 
 The pink power pulsed from the crystal, 
driving the boys back.  This was the first 
time she'd ever let anyone but the Senshi see 
her transform--<well, Darien and Nephlyte, 
too>--and if she'd known that she was naked 
briefly, she probably wouldn't have.  
However, none of them noticed that; they were 
too awed by the pink energy ribbons and white 
feathers that sluiced across her body.  In 
less than a minute, she was Sailor Moon once 
more.
 "I'm outie!" she whispered to them, bounding 
away.  She didn't register the faint cries of 
protest from them; she was already psyching 
herself up, getting in the whole battle mode.  
To her surprise, she sank into it fairly 
easily; <like riding a bike,> she thought 
sarcastically.
 She ran around back to the find the door the 
boys said was never locked, and slid quickly 
inside, her boots making faint scuffing 
sounds on the floor.  Quickly she headed 
towards the stairs--the boys said that's 
where Zach would be--and immediately found 
youma.  Two of them, to be exact, both of the 
snarling, bestial, "I want to eat for lunch" 
sort.  Without even a thought, her hand was 
on her tiara, whipping it about as she 
whispered, "moon tiara...magic!"  The power, 
she noted bemusedly, seemed to work as well 
when whispered as it did when screamed.  The 
tiara cut cleanly through the first, then 
looped back and smashed through the other.  
With an air of triumph, she caught it; it 
flashed back onto her head.  "Sorry," she 
drawled, "no Moon burgers today."
 "Are you sure?" hissed another voice, and 
she spun to find a feline youma crouched 
behind her.  As the cat sprang, she 
backflipped off the stairs, her heel catching 
the tip of its chin and knocking it back.  
She landed on her feet, somewhat stunned 
being an understatement.  <Um, where did that 
come from?> she thought to herself as she 
stared at the sleepy looking, big kitty.  It 
raised its head and snarled, eyes flashing, 
just as another snarl came from the basement 
steps.  She looked down to see another 
animalistic youma, fangs dripping 
something...
 "Uh-oh," she whispered as both converged on 
her at once.

 "You're friends attempt to save you," Malice 
snarled.  She'd dispatched four of her youma 
to deal with the intruders, saving just the 
one, most human-like one to help her prepare 
to turn him.  "But they will fail."  Her 
hands began to pulse tan, and the field over 
him crumbled.  Fear held him stiff to the bed 
as she moved over him, but it wasn't just of 
her.  It was of the responding blackness that 
was spreading through his chest, the one that 
was slowly creeping into his thoughts.  <No!> 
he thought to himself.  <I cannot...>

 Outside, the three boys heard a yell.  
Immediately Jade was up and ready to go, but 
the other two hauled him down.  "Are you 
crazy?" Nathan asked.
 "Crazy?  CRAZY?  Yea, to be sitting here!" 
Jade fired back, trying to stumble to his 
feet again.
 "Jade, we can't..." Nate started, but he cut 
him off rapidly.
 "You think I DON'T KNOW THAT? You think I 
didn't know that at the mall?  We at least 
did something there!"
 "Jared, we can't touch our powers, and 
without those, we have no chance," Kevin said 
softly.
 "So what?  We have most of the physical 
ability, and I've seen some of the knives in 
Zach's house," he spat back.
 "Jared, DON'T be a FOOL! I want to go help 
her as much as you do, but we could end up 
harming instead of helping!  Jade...JADE!"
 Jared Gold was not a man to anger easily.  
His emotions were flighty things, swinging in 
predictable arcs; his personality was mostly 
happy.  He cracked jokes, not people's heads.  
Yet the thought of Serena in a pool of her 
own blood pissed him off in ways he didn't 
think possible.  <Sailor Moon or no, we 
shouldn't have let her out of our sight!> he 
thought, and his fists clenched.
 And glowed.
 "What, KEVIN?" he asked, voice roughened 
with fury.
 He couldn't speak, and Jade could see 
the...amazement? flickering in his pale eyes.  
Nate had the same emotion, and maybe envy? 
floating around in there, too.  "What?" he 
asked again.
 "You're glowing."
 His eyes widened, and he stared at his 
hands.  Yep, there was a definite red sheen 
there.  He looked down at himself; the red 
glow had enveloped him from head to foot, 
pulsing as his heart did.  He could feel his 
pulse thrumming in his head now, and his 
mouth drying, and his eyes glowing.
 "My powers," he whispered.
 The next thing he knew, the world was 
exploding around him.  Memories rushed into 
his mind, along with a delightful tingling 
that burned along his veins.  He felt like he 
was swimming in a suddenly choppy sea, all of 
red power, and for a second he was afraid.  
Afraid of losing himself to it totally; 
afraid of what was going to happen if he went 
under.
 >Don't fear what you must do,< said a voice 
in his head.  He was startled that to find it 
was his, only older.  No, not him--Jadeite.
 Obediently, he didn't fight the power.  He 
let it suck him under, and his eyes slammed 
shut as the power slammed through him, arced 
over him, filled him completely.
 To Nate and Kev, it seemed as if Jared was 
about to faint.  His skin had turned a near 
white color, and the glow around him had 
increased ten fold.  As the blinding red 
static turned to a blinding red sheet, Nathan 
whispered, "Lucky one."
 Kev didn't reply, but instead reached inside 
himself.  He knew that if Jared could touch 
it, he could too--he had to of!  
 Nate didn't noticed Kevin start to glow, his 
hair whipping up and behind him in some 
imaginary breeze as the gray of his eyes 
suddenly appeared around him.  His eyes were 
on Jade completely, for suddenly the boy had 
been lifted off the ground, red an opaque 
shield around him.  Then, with a faint 
pinging sound, he dropped to the ground.
 Wearing a General's uniform.
 He felt the breeze suddenly, and turned to 
see Kevin starting on his descent upwards.  
Anger tumbled inside him--<it's not fair! 
Just because...>--but then he felt the 
sensations start...
 When he opened his eyes to find himself on 
the ground, Jade and Kev--no, no, Jadeite and 
Kunzite--were staring at him bemusedly.  
"What took you so long?" Jade asked.  "The 
Princess is in trouble."
 "Then why are we sitting here talking?" 
Nephrite snapped, and vanished.  The other 
two followed.

 "Urea, prepare the extraction crystal.  He 
is ripe," Malice barked, and the yellowish 
youma nodded and moved to do so.  Her hand 
still pulsed, though now it had changed to a 
puke green color.  Zach was sweating bullets, 
and she grimaced inside.  
 "Don't try to resist, fool," she whispered 
in her sweetest tone to him, something 
reminiscent of the way serial killers speak 
before they kill.  "It will only make this 
harder."
 His lips moved, and he rasped, "I cannot.  I 
will not...."
 She chuckled, and stood up straighter.  Was 
it her imagination, or did he seem to 
be...developing?  She chuckled again.
 "You will," she laughed.  "You WILL!"

 <Well, there goes a shoulder,> Serena 
thought as the feline's claw caught the 
fabric of her suit and ripped it away as if 
it was just air.  The other youma, the 
nastier, poisonous one, followed the strike 
with her own, reaching for bare skin.
 <You know,> she thought as she scrambled out 
of the way yet again, the youma's claws 
sticking in the deep softness of the couch, 
<why is it that only in America youma 
cooperate with each other?  In Japan, these 
two would be trying to kill EACH other, not 
me!> 
 "You will not escape, foolish Moon child," 
the cat hissed again as her "friend" tried to 
extricate herself from the sofa.  Serena 
flipped backwards again--she was definitely 
getting the hang of this--and reached for her 
tiara.  
 "MOON TIARA....MAGIC!" she said without her 
usual preamble.  That was another thing.  
They didn't wait for her to finish her 
speeches here.  The first time she'd tried to 
do that, she'd nearly had her throat ripped 
out.  
 The tiara flew away from her hand, sparks 
illuminating the room, towards the more 
poisonous one.  The cat seemed smug enough to 
start to bring around her claws--they 
extended on command, curled, able to rip as 
easily as she actually was close to 
scratch--until the Tiara bored into her back, 
and she vanished in a sparkle, screaming 
loudly.  

 Malice looked up from Zach, who gulped for 
air as sweat poured down his face.  His scalp 
felt like it was sweating as well, and he 
could feel it leaking out of him all over his 
body.  
 "Urea," she commanded curtly, "go stop 
them."  With that, the yellow filled, human 
shaped sack of evil nodded, put down the jar 
she held in both hands, and scurried out of 
the room.
 "It may take longer now," she whispered to 
him in a clenched tone, eyes sparkling, "but 
you will be a Dark King once more.  Once more 
you will be ZOYCITE!" 
 He had no strength left to tell he would 
not.

 Serena had been ready to take down the still 
struggling youma with a second throw of the 
shimmering Tiara when a yellow arc appeared 
in the corner of her eye.  Without thought, 
she launched herself backwards, into a table; 
as she struggled to pull herself from the 
broken glass, the yellow arc leaped toward 
her at a dizzying speed.  She tried to move, 
but the table wouldn't budge, and the glass 
stung in her ripped uniform.  As Serena, she 
would have been bleeding crazily by now; as 
Sailor Moon, the shattered pieces left 
nothing but harsh scratches.  Didn't mean it 
hurt any less...
 The yellow arc seemed to chuckle as it 
reformed itself into a fairly human looking 
youma, all yellow with just the outlines of 
features, even hair.  A faint odor emanated 
from it, and Serena's nose wrinkled in 
disgust; it smelled nasty, even if she 
couldn't place it.
 |I have you now, Sailor Moon,| the youma 
said simply, funneling liquid into her hands.  
As it splashed over her and pulled taut, 
Serena wretched; it was sticky, slimy, ugly, 
and smelled even worse when it touched her 
skin.  Frantically she kicked herself to a 
stand, but with her arms tied she could do 
nothing.
 Then she saw the poisonous one break free, 
and cackle.  |My turn, Sailor Moon!| she 
cried, and launched herself into the air.
 |I think not, slime bag,| came a low, 
stunning male voice which caused the youma to 
fall short.  Even the yellow one looked.  
 "Lords..." breathed the first, but suddenly 
a crackle of energy surrounded her, and with 
a scream she turned into a pile of dust.  
 "Let her lose, youma scum," came a sharp 
voice, and Serena's eyes followed it to a 
tall, handsome blond man who wore a gray-
black uniform trimmed in red.  His eyes were 
a pale, flashing blue, and the gloves on his 
hands slightly misty, as if he held something 
there.
 "No time for that," said another man, his 
hair a deep auburn brown that fell halfway 
down his back.  His eyes were so dark a brown 
that it seemed one could swim in their velvet 
depths forever.  His uniform was trimmed in 
purple-blue, and a clear blast of white 
trimmed black power was in his hands.
 "Indeed," said the last man.  His hair was a 
shocking white, almost clear, with a green 
sheen to it; it set off pale, bright gray 
eyes, tainted with a strict seriousness.  His 
uniform was lined with steel gray, and the 
power that crackled around his hands was 
tangible to Serena.
 The yellow youma cackled and squeezed her 
bonds tighter around Serena, making her 
squeal in pain.  "Walk away, or she dies," 
the woman said, her voice an unholy mix of 
woman and man.  It sent shivers up her spine, 
and she couldn't get very far due to the 
current holding her there.
 "Not today," said the blond lightly.  
 On a silent count of ".00000009" the three 
men unleashed their powers at the youma.  The 
thing didn't even see it coming before she 
was melted away to nothingness, her shriek 
barely uttered.
 She stumbled out of her glass filled 
enclosure, on edge.  The three men...where 
had they come from?  Why did they seem...
 <SERENA, YOU DITZ!!> her mind shrieked, and 
without thinking she threw herself forward 
into Jade.  "You found your powers!" she 
crooned as she squeezed him.  
 "Ye..a..s..s..." he choked out.  "Sere...let 
me...
 "NOOOOO!!! I WILL NOT!!! I WILL..." 
 The scream died out before it'd run its 
whole course.  In an instant, Serena had 
sprung to the top of the stairs.  She looked 
back at them, eyes wide.
 They stared back at her, and the barely 
compressed fury in Jade's eyes nearly toppled 
her over.  "Could handle them, could we?" he 
said.
 She looked down, and grimaced.  She'd only 
lost part of her shoulder, and some of her 
skirt--more than she'd wanted to, but they'd 
have to deal with that.  "Later," she said 
curtly.  "What was that?" 
 "NOOOO!!!" came the cry again, and all three 
men went dead white.  
 "Petal," Kunz whispered.
 "We've got to..." Serena started, but the 
three of them faded out in quick flashes of 
power.  Muttering to herself, she leaped over 
the railing, sailing downwards to hit the 
stairs.  She only had to step a short 
distance before she found the three men 
again...powers in full force.
 Malice glared back at them.  <Took out my 
five, eh,> she thought.  <Well, soon enough 
the Dark Lord will be able to finish them 
off.  Soon enough.> She grinned at the 
thought, and put more firepower into the 
shield she'd woven.  She may not have been 
the best magician, but Lord Kunzite himself 
had taught her how to weave a shield.  It 
would hold against these inexperienced whelps 
who THOUGHT they were Generals.  Perhaps, 
afterwards, she could turn them as well...
 Serena tried to scramble through the 
onslaught, but the Gens wouldn't give her 
shoulder room. "Let me through!" she demanded 
in Neph's ear.
 "Not...the time, Sailor Moon," he grunted.  
She could almost see the direct flow of star 
power as it shimmered from the stars to him, 
flowing right out through his fingers again.  
It smashed against the shield--woven in plain 
sight, in mockery, of thousands of tiny 
little strands--and dissipated.  
 She checked the other two.  The same.  And 
inside, she could feel the evil growing.  
Zach was never going to make it out of this 
good if they hesitated long.  She could hear 
the blasted youma witch inside murmur some 
words, and feel the dark forces riot at that.  
 <He's close, so close,> she thought 
helplessly.  <And they won't move out of the 
way!>
 "MOVE!" she ordered Kunzite.
 "Not now!" he bellowed back.  Fury sizzled 
inside her, red fury--they may have been 
powerful, but they were going to burn it 
right out of themselves if they kept this up.  
 >You have to stop them, Serena!< she heard 
the crystal clang.
 *But how?  They won't let me through!* she 
whined back, frustrated.
 >You're the Princess, Serena! Be one!<
 The thought stopped her in her tracks just 
as a wave of darkness pounded at her through 
the room.  Even the three winced and turned 
pale.  
 <Zach's nearly done for, unless I can 
think...think, Serena THINK!!!>
 And suddenly it came to her.  She moved down 
by Jadeite, got up right next to his ear, and 
whispered, "You're dismissed."
 Immediately the power stopped flowing from 
his hands long enough for her to scurry in, 
her scepter emerging in a flowing stroke.  In 
the same stroke, she cut through the shield; 
apparently, the crystal was taking about as 
much guff as she was.  
 The youma turned from Zach, and Serena 
nearly blanched at the pale, thinness of the 
boy, and the evil that swirled near him.  
"NO!" the youma cried, stepping away.  "I 
WILL ROUSE THE DARK LORD!"
 "All you'll be rousing are the neighbors!" 
Kunz snarled behind her, and a blast of 
energy struck her right in the chest.  She 
fell back, but shakily, slowly started to 
rise...until Serena stepped in.
 "This is enough!" she shouted.  "Trying to 
turn my friend evil is wrong and spiteful and 
I'm sick of it! In the name of the moon, I 
will DUST YOU!!!"
 She took a breath and screamed as loudly as 
she could, "MOON CRYSTAL SCEPTER 
ELIMINATION!!!!!!!"
 Pouf! All that was left of the great youma 
who'd tried to turn Zach was dust, and that 
gently swirled away.
 Immediately, the darkness in the room went 
down by a half, and the walls began to 
lighten.  They'd been, Serena suddenly 
noticed, a shade very close to black when 
she'd stepped in; now they were a medium 
gray.
 Which left it above Zach...she and the three 
stepped over to the bed.
 Fury seized the faces of the three men as 
they stared at Zach.  His face was ravaged, 
and he seemed so pale and thin as if he was 
going to break.  His body was curled and 
contortioned into painful shapes, and they 
could see purple bruises on his neck.
 It still surprised Serena to see the boys 
she knew as Generals.  It surprised her even 
more when they began to fire on their friend.
 "What are you doing?!" she yelled.
 "The evil...is within..." Jade said through 
gritted teeth.
 "Shielded," Nephrite growled.
 "Heavily," Kunzite breathed, his voice 
deeply disgusted.
 "I can heal him with the crystal," she said 
softly, the <I think> added nowhere but her 
mind.
 "Just a moment, Sailor Moon," Kunzite 
sneered.
 "No tricks," Jade immediately put in. 
 "Just a little more...NOW!" Neph said, and 
suddenly something around Zoicite shattered 
into sparkling pieces, fading away from them.  
Serena's eyes widened, and the heavy, dark 
tinged atmosphere of the room lessened 
another quarter.
 <Which means the last is WITHIN Zach,> she 
thought to herself quietly.  <Can I...>
 "Go ahead, Serena," Neph rasped.  "The floor 
is yours."
 Hesitantly she stepped up beside him, eyes 
staring down at the bed.  <I don't have the 
wand," she thought as she brushed the broach.  
<How can I heal without the wand?>
 >Child, the wand didn't heal.  I DID.  Say 
the normal thing, and use me to cleanse this 
poor young man.<  The voice was shifting wind 
chimes again, not like the clanging it had 
been before.
 "Moon Healing Activation," she whispered 
softly, her fingers tapping the crystal.
 White light filled the room, a white so 
bright that the three men had to back away.  
They felt the transformations they wore melt 
off of them, no longer needed or too small 
for the brilliant, white light; whatever the 
case, normality returned to them.
 His body slowly straightened itself out to 
become relaxed, straight  The tangles of hair 
that had wound themselves about the bedposts, 
or anything nearby, pulled themselves back to 
splay on the pillow.  Something on his chest 
almost seemed to break, and then another, and 
then another, until he began to take deep, 
regular breaths.  Blood ran to his face once 
more, to his tauntly pulled lips and 
shrinking gums and gaunt cheeks so that they 
fell right once more.  Finally, it seemed 
that all traces of the evil that had crawled 
inside him disappeared, and he opened his 
eyes.
 "Angel," he whispered lowly, his green-gray 
depths shimmering with kindness.  
 
*       *       *       *
 A week passed.  No one really spoke of the 
event after that day, when four million 
discoveries had been made in one quick 
afternoon.  Sailor Moon.  Zach.  Malice.  The 
Generals.  Everything had crashed down at 
once, and after the clean up, everyone needed 
to recover.
 Still, it was Zach who had to bring up the 
whole issue that day, and carefully the 
afternoon's events were told, including a 
very concise version of Serena's story.  He 
seemed amazed by it all, and he'd leaned back 
in against the couch (they were in Nate's 
study again) and cocked his head, eyes 
twinkling.  He'd been more healthy after that 
day then he'd been his whole life, and had 
returned to school within days.  He also 
seemed to have inherited an ability to 
assimilate and analyze nearly everything 
since then, and the four of them developed 
small sweat drops when he looked at them that 
way.
 "How did you three break the Current?" he 
asked.  That's what they referred to that 
thin line of darkness as; it seemed fitting.
 "Not sure," Kevin said, eyes low.  
 "All we know is that it's gone," Jade added 
quickly.
 "Actually, I know how," Nate said softly.  
He'd become quieter since the incident, 
and--if it was truly possible--more 
introspective.   
 "You do?" Serena asked in a bubbly tone.  
There hadn't been much of a change in her; 
that had all happened on the plane flight to 
America.
 He nodded.  "You told us that the power you 
used, the 'Moon Crystal Scepter Elimination', 
basically eliminated any trace of youma."
 "Usually," she agreed.
 "I say that it doesn't do that."
 They all gave him odd looks.
 "I'm merely refining the definition," he 
said, staring at the apple he was peeling.  
"What I say is that the Scepter eliminates 
EVIL, and since youma are made of dust and 
evil..." he trailed off, and they followed  
his point for him.
 "So you think that when Serena hit us with 
her power, it scorched the Current from us?" 
Jade asked.  At the nod, he whistled.  "No 
wonder it hurt so much."
 Soft silence descended as they all began to 
rummage for more fruit.
 "So, Petal, had any luck with your powers?" 
Kevin asked as he peeled a banana.  
 He mumbled something into his strawberries.
 "Huh?" Nate asked.
 "I haven't tried," the boy admitted 
sullenly.
 They all stared at him.  Not gaped, not 
shocked...just a silent stare.
 "WHAT?" he asked.  Then, his voice fell back 
into a mumble, and he said, "I don't even 
think I have them anymore." 
 Now their eyebrows raised.  "Why, Zach?"   
Serena asked.
 He turned his shining green shaded gray eyes 
on her again, and sighed.  "When you healed 
me with the crystal, it stripped away 
everything within me, wrung it out, and 
placed it back.  But I didn't feel...quite 
right when it all came back.  Like I was 
missing something.  But I don't know.." his 
eyes stared off into space, and he let loose 
a sigh.
 Quiet again, except for the soft scrapping 
at Nate finished up on his apple.  He placed 
the peelings on the tray with the fruit, then 
looked up at Zach.  "Never hurts to try, you 
know."
 "What?" Zach asked, eyes flying open.  
 "You know what he means," Kevin said, his 
voice slightly less than gentle.  "You can do 
it."
 "He's right, Petal," Jade said with a smile.  
"We all know you can do it.  Just try."
 "Do you think I haven't?" he asked, 
incredulous.  "Ever since I saw you, all..."
 "Try it," Kevin commanded, his tone more 
than a touch Kunzite.  
 Zach sighed harshly, and stormed to his 
feet.  "I will," he snarled.  "But I 
hate...fail...ure??"
 A sweet green shimmer swept over him, and 
Serena watched curiously as it brightened and 
strengthened.  Instead of lifting him off the 
ground, though, it sucked inside him; his 
eyes opened, brighter than any gemstones.  
Then, in a wave, he was no longer Zachary, 
but Zoicite.  His hair fell in loose, long, 
blond spirals nearly all the way down his 
back; his eyes were a fiery green again, but 
with a touch of neutral, balancing gray.  The 
uniform he wore was a little different from 
the others, more gray than the rest, but 
still outlined in a trim, his a hunter green.
 "I did it," he said, voice soft.
 Wordlessly, the three other Generals joined 
them, shaking his hand, sharing shy smiles. 
"Hey," Serena suddenly said, "ya'll wear 
capes!" 
 " 'Ya'll', Princess?" Kunzite asked.
 "Your mother would throw a fit," Zoicite 
said cautiously.
 She shook her head, then stood and walked to 
them.  "Right now," she said softly, "I can 
speak however I want."  Then she smiled, a 
huge, crushingly bright smile.  "It's good to 
see all four of you together."
 "It's good to have you here with us, 
Princess," Zoicite said quietly, eyes 
flickering.
 A soft smile between the two, and then 
Jadeite said, "Oh, this is so loving its 
sick.  Might as well complete it!" Power 
pushed at them from the sides, and he 
chanted, "GROUP HUG!"
 Laughingly, they complied.