"Nephrite VeNeer!" a voice barked out. A feminine voice. Nephrite elbowed and pushed his way to the front, and came eye to chin with the senshi from Jupiter. :How in Gaia did she grow so tall?: Nephrite asked himself that very irrelevant question.

"Yes, I am Nephrite VeNeer," he said proudly.

Makoto sized up the teenager in front of her and found him up to her standards of what a man should be. "According to sources, you are the last person to see Gingetsu Illandi, Haruko sword master and General Malachite. Is that correct?"

"I would imagine so," Nephrite replied coolly, hating the way she barked at him, even at such close range.

"Do you know where they are now?"

:If that isn't a stupid question...: Then out aloud, "no. I don't know where any of them are." He did not add that he had eavesdropped on their conversation, and knew full well why they wanted all three. But even if Gingetsu wasn't his good friend, he was not going to volunteer information, especially not after how this senshi pissed him off.

Kino Makoto examined him and decided that he was speaking the truth. :Moron,: Nephrite thought scornfully. She marched out of the room, and left a few guards to guard them. Nephrite pulled out his handphone and called his father.

"My Queen, the boy Nephrite VeNeer claims not to know anything," Makoto reported. Queen Serenity impaled her with her cold blue eyes.

"You say?" she crooked a finger at the guard, who ducked out of the throne room and reentered with a middle-aged man, balding and with a paunch in the middle.

"Cameroy VeNeer is Nephrite's father, and he claims otherwise." The senshi of Jupiter broke into a cold sweat.

"Your Majesty," Cameroy greeted, bowing obsequiously. Standing at the side, Rei gave a snort of disdain. This was the kind of man who would do anything for money. The old adage that 'money made the world go round' still stood true for some people.

"You say that you have a tape of a conversation that would interest me?" the Queen asked archly.

"Indeed, your Majesty. I've bugged my son since he was young so that I would always know where he was, in case he was assaulted, but it seems the bug has other uses." He fished a casette tape out from the pocket of his tailored pants, and Ami came forward with a tape recorder.

Though faint, everybody could hear part of the conversation. "...he is Zoisite Merdeka... Princess Ten'ou Haruka of Uranus, and Princess Kai'ou Michiru of Neptune, Lord-General Malachite... the Outer planets are running out of resources...we will grant you a favour..."

They listened to bits of conversation and static for a while longer before the Queen waved her hand. "All this was recorded from the bug on your son?" Cameroy nodded. "In that case, guards, take him to the Royal Treasury and give him a million gold bars. You are free to take your son back, though I would like to remind you that lying to a senshi can get your son into very big trouble."

Cameroy nodded. "I thank you for your kindness and mercy," he fawned. Queen Serenity waved her hand and ordered the guards to get him out of his sight. Makoto was on her knees in a moment. "I beg your forgiveness, my Queen. I thought the boy was telling the truth."

"Thought is not enough! But I have more important plans now than to punish you. No. Serena, you will take your fellow senshis and Prince Endymion to capture Zoisite Merdeka, and I want him alive! Do not fail me." The threat in her voice was so heavy and menacing that all took a step backwards in fear. Serena was the first to recover, and together with Endymion, led the rest out of the throne room.

Victoria VeNeer chided her son in the coach. "You should know never to lie to a senshi! If it wasn't for your father, you would be in the Queen's dungeon by now! Such important information! How could you withhold it?" Nephrite stared. "What information?" he asked warily, sensing something that he didn't like.

"About Zoisite Merdeka and goodness knows who else, of course."

"How did you know that?"

Cameroy glanced over at his son. "From a bug. Had one implanted in you so that I would know if you got attacked and needed help."

Nephrite's face drained of colour. "You bugged me? Without my permission? How could you betray me like that?" he shouted in disbelief.

"Don't speak to your parents like that," Cameroy snapped. "Got us a tidy sum of money too. The senshi are already going after him."

Nephrite felt his heart still. His father had betrayed his trust for mere paper notes, and worse, Zoisite was in danger. Nephrite hadn't believed he needed friends, but Zoisite had proven him wrong, and had worked tirelessly to bring him out of his cold shell. And now his friend was in danger because of him.

"I don't believe that my parents would betray their son for money," Nephrite said acidly. Before either of his stunned parents could say anything, he'd called the driver to stop the car and jumped out.

"Nephrite!" his mother shrieked, while his father ordered the chauffeur to chase after their son, but Nephrite was soon lost in the crowds of the street.

"You know the old adage that 'music knows no barriers'? Well, that old cliché has truth in it, even if it's worn out from over-usage," Michiru explained to the understandably nervous teenager. "All you have to do is stand still and clear your mind. We'll take care of the rest," she murmured.

From the corner of the room, Jadeite piped up. "You sound as if you've done this many times."

Haruka quirked him a lop-sided grin. "Well, if you had to do it for your little siblings, I dare say we've done it many times. Michiru has five younger siblings!" She sobered up quickly and took her position opposite Michiru, space sword in her hands.

Neither Malachite nor Jadeite could describe what they saw, everything happened in a blur of colours and violin music, and there seemed to be something blurring Zoisite. Finally, after what seemed like eternity in a second, the colours stabilized and resolved into Haruka, Michiru and Zoisite. The teenager seemed to be glowing faintly with a dark green aura, and he gingerly reached a finger out to poke at it. Haruka managed a tired wheeze of a laugh.

"You won't feel anything. But you've got to shield or you'll stick out like a traffic light!"

Zoisite's brow wrinkled as he sorted through the instructions the Princesses had imprinted in his brain, and managed to shield properly. He opened his mouth to say something, but the door banged.

"It's Nephrite! Let him in!" Zoisite ordered, running to open the door, but Malachite beat him to it. He yanked the door open, dragged the surprised boy in and slammed the door shut.

"You're alright, thank Gaia!" Nephrite gasped out, trying to free himself of the Generals' viselike grip. "You've got to get out of here, the Queen knows where you are."

"How?" Zoisite demanded.

"My father bugged me without telling me, and I overheard your conversation in the storeroom," Nephrite explained. Malachite clamped a hand over the teenager's mouth, and signaled for the computer in the room to be switched on. He waited impatiently for the screen to light up and access windows and Microsoft Word before typing down what he wanted to say.

"If your father bugged you, mostly likely the bug's still on you."

Nephrite took over the keyboard. "Sorry, but the senshi are after you. I'm afraid they know where we are now."

Haruka glanced over at Michiru, a particularly grim expression on her face. "In that case," she typed, we better get out of here while we can. I'll whip the bug off you later."

Too late, Zoisite's hightened senses could pick out the stomping of feet into the hotel and up the stairs.

"No time," he said flatly, and ran over to the window.

"You're not thinking of jumping, are you?" Jadeite asked warily. He didn't like bungee jumping, let alone say leaping seven storeys down without even a safety rope. Zoisite looked at his drained white face and grinned.

"Now I know why you're a professor," he said wryly, opening the window and gazing down. Their room was at the back of the hotel, and there was an awning below that blocked off the sun's rays for those on the ground floor. It would break their fall very nicely. The others could hear the soldiers now.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Haruka asked, taking the initiative and vaulting over the sill. She landed on the tough canvas, bounced off and landed neatly on her feet. Apparently, all the soldiers were stupid enough to go by the front alone. Michiru was next, followed by Zoisite, Nephrite, Malachite and finally Jadeite. But the poor professor was staring down at the five of them, not able to muster the courage to jump.

"Hurry, Jadeite," Malachite hissed urgently. Behind Jadeite, the door creaked ominously as soldiers banged themselves against it, but the solid oak doors held for the moment, thankfully. Jadeite screwed up his eyes, took a deep breath and dropped from the window sill, bouncing off the canvas and landing unceremoniously on Zoisite.

"Omph!" Zoisite squeaked while Jadeite wondered why he didn't hurt. "Jadeite, sir, you're sitting on me."

The professor cracked open one eye and looked down dumbly at Zoisite before the fact registered. "Sorry!" he exclaimed, getting up and helping Zoisite up.

"Okay, what now?"

Zoisite thought for a moment, and beckoned Malachite over. "I'm going to the palace to try and break the spell now," he whispered into the General's ear. "What?! It's too dangerous now! Everybody's out looking for you!" the General hissed back.

Zoisite had a dangerous smile on his face. "Precisely. If everybody is out, there'll be less people waiting to catch me, especially if they think I've gone into hiding. Besides, the best hiding place is under your enemy's nose, remember?" Malachite did remember giving that piece of advice before, but he had no idea Zoisite actually paid attention to it.

Haruka raised an eyebrow. "Since you two obviously have a plan, I'm going to contact my King now, and Michiru's going to call her sister. If you'll excuse us, we'll meet up with you later on. I think that we'll be able to find you, since we tuned you to your power." The sandy-blond turned and walked off, slouching a little so that she wouldn't stand out so much among the Eartheners. Michiru was by her side, looking very much in charge. She'd taken her violin case with her when she jumped down, and the heavy black case swung by her side. Haruka had a vapid expression on her face, and Zoisite grinned. What a splendid reversal of roles to confuse their enemies.

"What's happening now?" Nephrite whispered, looking around uneasily.

Malachite fished a piece of paper and a pen out of his pocket and wrote down, "we're going to the palace to break a spell."

Nephrite stared and Jadeite nodded. "That's good. The Queen wouldn't expect it," he wrote. "Let's go. One of the soldiers might look down from the window, even though I pushed it shut when I jumped." Words were put into action, and the four walked briskly off in the opposite direction from the two women.

Zoisite found that among his Gifts was the ability to weave illusions, and he put that to good use. Haruka had kindly provided a footnote on how to shield so that the signature aura wouldn't be picked up by anyone else, and within a few minutes, four totally different people were walking down the street. The hotel wasn't very far from the palace if one knew the proper short cuts, and Nephrite was their guide, having lived in this posh, up-town area all his life. They reached the palace gates in no time, and Zoisite pulled the 'obi-wan' gambit on the guards.

"This is fun," he giggled softly as he told the third guard they met, "we are not the ones you are looking for" for the third time. Nephrite rolled his eyes.

"Alright now," Malachite wrote on the over-utilized piece of paper. "We'll attract too much attention if four of us go to the centre of the Palace together. Jadeite and Nephrite, hide and wait for us at the back gate. We'll come for you once we've finished." He waved the two off, and proceeded on with Zoisite.

Serena cursed frantically when she realised that her quarry had escaped from the hotel room. How in Jupiter was she supposed to explain to her Queen? There were no voices from the bug attached to Nephrite's person, so no clues could be gained from there. Ami grabbed the receiver from her and plugged it to her notebook.

"It'll be more sensitized this way," she explained curtly, and the five senshi and Prince Endymion crowded around here. There were faint snatches of voices which sounded very familiar to one senshi...

"That's the squad in their usual afternoon training!" Makoto exclaimed in surprise. "I can recognize the captain's commands anywhere!"

"They're in the palace?" Rei shrilled incredulously. "What are we waiting for here then? Call the guards there!"

Endymion pulled out a hand phone and punched the buttons. Within a few moments, he had issued instructions to search out the 'backyard' of the Palace and detain the criminals until they arrived. The alpha male then led the pack off.

Zoisite stalked down the corridors warily, keeping an eye on his illusions and another eye in front of him in case a guard bumped into him accidentally and wreak his illusions. It was hard work for a beginner, but Zoisite had always been a fast learner. Even before he reached the Central, he could feel a faint buzzing in his mental ears that warned him of magic in front. As expected, there were a score of guards there.

"Got any ideas?" Zoisite whispered very softly to Malachite, blessing the General's acute sound of hearing.

"Could you spin some more independent illusions to send the guards off?" he whispered back.

Zoisite checked his energy level and considered the cost of an illusion. One more wouldn't cause much more damage. "Alright. Here goes." He took a deep breath and spun the illusion.

"Guards, sleeping on duty I see!" a voice barked out, high and haughty. The soldiers all jumped to their feet and saluted their Princess hastily. "We beg your pardon, Princess and senshi," they echoed as one. Serena surveyed them and barked ot further orders.

"Five of you stay here to guard this Central. The rest of you, the Queen requests your presence!"

"But Princess, we had express orders not to move from our place!" one guard protested. The cornflower blue eyes flashed with anger.

"Are you questioning your Queen's orders?" she asked dangerously. "I will take your positions here until you return."

"Yes, your highness!" Fifteen marched off smartly, and the five rearranged themselves uneasily around her. Two guards crumpled suddenly, while the Princess dissolved into thin air, leaving the remaining three very bewildered and frightened. They were knocked out before they knew what hit them. "I hope none of them will suffer brain damage," Zoisite said seriously. "I was very gentle with them," Malachite assured him. Zoisite opened the door with his mind and slipped in. The room wasn't very big, and it would have been dark if not for the ball of light placed strategically in the middle of the room. it was bright yellow in colour, but fluxed occasionally as if it's source of energy wasn't very stable. Zoisite and Malachite stared at it, the former with awe and trepidation, the latter with rapt calculation.

"Did Princess Haruka tell you how to take it down?" the General asked.

Zoisite nodded his head hesitantly. "She just told me to ground, centre and open myself to it. I'll know what's wrong then and will be able to um...break the spell." He didn't sound very confident, and Malachite couldn't fault him. "I understand you're apprehensive, your Highness, but we don't have much time," Malachite reminded him in undertone.

"Call me Zoisite, not 'Your Highness'," Zoisite said abruptly, circling the ball like a dog around a suspicious object in its territory. He stretched one hand near the ball and closed his eyes.

It was like a very big, very detailed and very confusing map, Zoisite thought to himself, examining the spell that tied it to everyone on the planet. What a massive undertaking it must have been. How long did the Queen plan to take over Earth? But there were places where the linkages were faint, if not broken, and Zoisite could identify those threads as him, Jadeite, Nephrite and Malachite. If he was to break the spell, he would have to cut each strand individually and avoid the ball of light that was the pool of magic in the Earth, and that would take some time. He began to think of how to cast a trigger spell, so that when one thread was cut, it would snap the rest in succession. When ransacking Haruka's instructions did not produce anything, Zoisite improvised. He erected a fire-resistant shield over the ball and lighted a random strand with a spark.

Malachite waited impatiently for Zoisite to do something, and jumped when he saw the green spark that leapt from Zoisite's forefinger to a spot near the ball. It produced many other little sparks that traveled in convoluted patterns around the ball.

"What did you do?"

Zoisite looked up from his handicraft. "Torched it," he replied blandly. "I don't have to supervise it. Fires can't be controlled, certainly not a magical one. Let's go collect Nephrite and Jadeite now."

Queen Serenity looked up in anger when the fifteen guards stumbled into the throne room. "I told you to guard Central!"

The guard captain gulped. "Your pardon, Majesty, but Princess Serena told us that you want to see us." He and the rest of the guards reeked with fear. "I gave no such orders!" a new voice rang out in the almost empty room, and Serena stepped in. "Zoisite is in the Palace!" Just then, a very audible snap could be heard, and the smell of something burning tainted the air.

The Queen's face turned white. "The spell - it's been broken." Standing below the dais, the fifteen guardsmen wondered why they suddenly thought of their late King Lorien. Their confusion was reflected on their faces, clear for all the see, and the Queen though furiously.

"Get to Central now and stop that boy!" she shrieked. "We may yet have time!" Serena turned and ran, the ultra short skirt flapping indecently, with Prince Endymion in tow.

Nephrite moved restlessly about - never one to keep still, all this waiting was making him as cagey as a nervous panther. There was something in the air, and Nephrite sniffed curiously.

"Smells like something's burning," he whispered to Jadeite. The professor took his own whiff of air and nodded.

"You're right. I wonder what. There's no smoke or anything, and we're not even near the kitchens."

"What are the soldiers doing now?" Nephrite whispered again, watching as they fell out of formation and started asking each other questions. Even the captain, who couldn't tolerate any breaks in training joined in with his men."

"I wonder..." the professor suddenly whipped around, and found the Senshi of Mars, Jupiter and Mercury scouring the place like dogs on a scent. They were hiding behind a bush, and Jadeite knew that a bush wasn't the best of hiding places when an active search was going on, so he nudged Nephrite, and together, they inched towards the back gate. With the soldiers in disarray, Jadeite knew they would have a slim chance of escaping, which was better than sitting around like a rabbit waiting to be caught.

They were almost to the gates when the senshi of Jupiter gave a triumphant shout and charged towards them. "There they are! Stop! Guards! Stop them!" Makoto was astonished when she heard them reply ,"We only follow the orders of King Lorien." Ami did a double take while Rei let loose with two fireballs that slammed into the ground just in front of Jadeite and Nephrite. The shock landed everybody on their rears.

Jadeite cursed explosively when he saw the senshis headed towards him and the teenager, causing Nephrite to look at him in surprise. He didn't know the professor had such a vast vocabulary.

:Think Jadeite. What can you do against three senshi? If only I could move something and ram it into them, something like that truck over there.: No sooner thought than done, the army truck roared into life and charhed straight of rthe senshis. Ami ducked out of the way with a squeak, while Rei and Makoto used their combined powers to blast the truck into dust.

"I didn't know you could move things, professor!" Nephrite shouted over the din of the explosion.

"O didn't know that either, but it seems that Zoisite has broken the spell and we have our Magical powers back. Perhaps you ought to try something too. Just think," Jadeite shouted back.

:Here goes nothing,: Nephrite thought to himself. :I want the ground to swallow up those pesky senshis.: Nothing happened and Nephrite cursed. :Stars! Why didn't anything happen? Starfires and hell!" The ground before Ami burst into a spectacular display of flames, and she had to use her bubble fog to protect herself. The soldiers cheered Nephrite and Jadeite on.

"Enough of this nonsense!" Makoto roared. "Oak tree revelations!" she shouted, pointing her fingers at the two. Immediately, the trees at the side began to bend towards the two, reaching out their branches to entangle them. Jadeite used his newly discovered powers of telekinesis to shift the trees away while Nephrite repeated his attack. But being new in their power, no matter how valiantly they fought to prevent capture, the senshis prevailed. Nephrite's fireballs met head on with the senshi of Mar's firebird, while Jadeite engaged in a tug-of-war with Makoto over the tree, leaving Ami free to do what she wanted. She concentrated and sent a -10OC bubble blast at Nephrite, Jadeite and the guards who were trying to help now. They fell to ground frozen senseless.

"Hell!" Makoto spat out angrily, scratching away the strands of hair that was plastered messily on her face. "What do we do with them? They're not exactly the ones we want."

Ami scowled, the side of her face bruised from the impact of throwing herself out of the truck's way. "Throw them into the dungeons until the Queen tells us what to do with them. As for the soldiers, they can freeze out here."

Zoisite and Malachite ran soundlessly down the corridors, past confused guards who made no move to stop them. A few even called out to Malachite, asking him what they should do. The General had no time to stop and instruct them, for around the next corner, Endymion came barreling out, Serena at his heels.

"Stop right there!" Endymion shouted, and Zoisite thought privately that the line would be more at home in a lousy cops-and-robbers action flick. Malachite drew his sword and braced himself for a fight, while Zoisite held his powers ready.

"So, the little whelp has claws?" Endymion laughed, a jest which was not shared by Serena, and he wilted under the glare she bestowed upon him.

"Stop indulging in theatrics!" she hissed angrily at him, lashing out with a snare spell. Zoisite defended neatly, using fire to burn the 'rope' and retaliated with a barrage of razor sharp sakura blossoms. The two ducked, flinging up their arms to protect their faces from the petals, and then the battle was joined.

Malachite was quite certain that the Princess would not be able to use her powers if faced with a physical threat, or at the very least she would lose her concentration. He was partially correct, but once the Princess recovered from her initial shock at facing three feet of exposed steel, she attacked back, whipping out a beam of light from her inter-dimensional pocket. Malachite cursed.

In the other corner, Zoisite was having more fun with Endymion. He bandied words with the Prince, traded insults and prodded him in all his sensitive areas, making the Prince so very enraged he forgot how to use his brain. Zoisite was doing fine defending himself against the Prince's peculiar weapon, a cane that could extend and retract at will, until Prince brought out his other weapon, the roses.

"What? That's your signature trademark?" Zoisite exclaimed, curling his lip in disgust. "How could you sully the roses with your touch? Ugh...I'm surprised the roses don't wither and die at your touch!" Endymion puffed as red as a boiled lobster and flung the rose at his enemy. Zoisite leaped up into the air and stayed there, having found out that he could levitate too. From his vantage point, he rained down more sakura blossoms, giggling with maniacal glee as he directed the blossoms and gave the Prince a new haircut. "You look so cute with that crew cut," he observed in imitation of a cute, syrupy seven year old's voice. Endymion roared in impotent anger, but he couldn't make good his threats with Zoisite hovering above his head.

Malachite knew that he couldn't keep dodging the Princess's magical attacks - he couldn't attack her if he kept dancing out of the way, and sooner or later, she would score a hit. Since Zoisite destroyed the spell, whatever magical abilities he had ought to have returned to him. A moon beam narrowly missed slicing him into two, and Malachite yelled out a phrase that his mind fabricated on the spot, and he didn't realise that it had been transmuted into reality until the Princess yelped and ducked, a pair of purple coloured boomerangs embedded in the wall.

:Time to wrap up,: Zoisite thought. :With as little casualties as possible. I've already given the Queen's future son-in-law a hair cut, I don't think she'll appreciate it if he comes back a eunuch! Besides, I don't want to hurt him, much less kill him, and he'll be more useful alive than dead. At least I can use him as a bargaining chip.: So out came his last card from the proverbial sleeve of tricks. An ice-crystal formed in his hands, and he dropped it on Endymion like a torpedo. The Prince was knocked out in an instant, being too slow to duck.

Serena howled with pain when another of those pesky boomerang thingys nicked her arm. :Damn! When I get hold of him, I'll re-: Thump! She fell to the ground without finishing that thought.

Malachite leaned against the wall panting from the punishing duel. He looked up at Zoisite who was still hovering below the ceiling, another ice-crystal poised in his hands.

"I think she's out cold," the General said wearily.

"That's good. Are you alright?" Zoisite floated down to pear anxiously into his eyes. The General waved his hand.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What about you?"

Zoisite smiled. "Oh, don't worry about me, cos' you're the one who'll be carrying these two." The smile grew into a grin as the words sank in. Malachite shot upright. "What?!" he shouted incredulously. "Carry them?" "Uh huh. They'll make a nice bargaining chip when I go and see the Queen about returning Earth's freedom."

Just then, the three senshi turned around the corner and came face to face with the two men. Rei readied a fireball in her hand and flung it at them. It crashed half way with a crackling hiss, and a pool of water started forming on the ground. Zoisite waited with his ice crystal as Ami tugged Rei back behind her.

"Don't do that," she hissed at her fellow senshi. "Look who they've got." Makoto squinted past Zoisite, locked her brown eyes on Malachite and swore out loud.

"Jupiter's flaming ass! It's Endymion and Serena!"

"Just so," Zoisite agreed amiably. The two men slung over the senshi of Jupiter's shoulder hadn't escaped his notice. "Let my people go!" he ordered.

Rei smirked. "My, my, so eager to be king? Well listen closely whelp, you want your people, give us back the Princess and Prince. A worthy exchange." Zoisite hesitated. He couldn't jolly well leave his friends in the lurch. He started to open his mouth to agree to the exchange, but a beam of light descended on the three senshi and spirited them off. Zoisite stared at the empty spot, jaw hanging down.

"Zoisite? You're going to make a frog jealous if you don't close your mouth soon. There are many mosquitoes here." Zoisite hastily snapped his mouth shut.

"What are we going to do now?" he asked, feeling more than a little out of his depth.

"Right now?" Malachite echoed. "We go to find the Outer planet Princesses. Then we'll decide on our plans. And since I do not wish to lug these two around with me, I'm going to try something." The General closed his eyes and concentrated, a frown line appearing on his forehead. Zoisite had a bad feeling about this, and he started to back away when Malachite suddenly grabbed his arm in one hand, and Endymion and Serena's hands in the other, and...Zoisite threw up violently.