Darien was walking to Serena's house. Well, he LOOKED liked Darien, but in reality he was Natas inside Darien's body. As part of his banishment, he was not able to be in the Earth realm for more than one hour unless he was inside the body of a human born in the shadows, and raised in the light of day. Darien fit the bill perfectly.

Now, Natas was going to see if he could ruin the life of Sailor Moon. He had all of Darien's memories. Now, he was going to use them to ruin Serena's life. Perfect plan, right? Of course it was. Natas knew that force alone was not enough to beat Sailor Moon. To really hurt her, to really crush her, he had to work from the inside. In short, he had to "love" her.

As Natas continued walking to Serena's house, he realized that it was still night out, and she would probably be asleep. He decided to wait until morning came. He continued to walk the streets of Tokyo, and every human he came in contact with, he burned. Literally. He had fun doing it, too. He couldn't wait until he got to do the same to Sailor Moon, and the rest of the Sailor Scouts.

With every life Natas took, he grew stronger. Within a half hour, he had taken over fifty lives. Most of them had been those of bums and prostitutes, since everybody else was inside their homes. Natas was approaching the point of invincibility once again. He had lost it once when banished to the Negaverse, but he still remained very powerful.

Natas was still wandering about the streets when he decided to visit a graveyard. This graveyard was not in the Earth realm, however, but in the realm of the Negaverse.

* * * * * * * * *

Natas appeared in a space of darkness. There were many ghosts, all of which were from Negaverse generals, youma, etc. Natas was about to select three of the beings for resurrection. The selection of the first two was easy. Zoisite and Nephlite, two of the most cunning and ruthless Negaverse generals. Now, he had a hard decision. Malachite, who had proven to be very worthy, or Ninjana, who has proven to be able to infiltrate the Sailor Scouts? Natas finally decided on Malachite. Then, he realized that three would not be enough. He realized that he would need at least five. He then resurrected Dolomite and Sylvite.

Natas examined his team of five warriors. He had upgraded their powers, and made them a force to be reckoned with.

"All of you must work together to defeat the Sailor Scouts."

"What?" Zoisite asked angrily. "Those Sailor Bitches are still alive? And who are you to order us around?"

"I am Natas, son of Satan, and the lone ruler of the Dark Universe."

"You look suspiciously like Darien to me," Malachite said.

"Fools! I am Natas! I am merely inside Darien's body, so I may have way to be in the Earth realm."

"So why did you select us?" Nephlite asked.

"I chose you five to lead my Army of Darkness, to lead the world into Armageddon!"

"So," said Sylvite, "why did you pick a spineless wimp like Dolomite?"

"Hey!" shouted Dolomite.

"He may be spineless, but he has a great power. He may not be a real leader, but I think he will suffice. No one else has a power like his."

"Thank you," said Dolomite.

"Now," said Natas, "follow me to my palace. We have much to discuss." Natas stepped through a portal, and the five warriors followed. Zoisite and Nephlite were the last to go through.

"Let's get something straight," Zoisite said. "Just because we are working together does not mean I have any feeling of friendship toward you."

"I feel the same way about you," Nephlite calmly responded. "But I won't try to kill you. I have too much class." Nephlite stepped through the portal.

"Ass-hole," Zoisite said as she stepped through the portal.

* * * * * * * * *

Serena entered her house undetected. It was 7:30 a.m. She went to her bedroom and fell onto her bed, crying. She had a feeling that Darien had left her, one way or another. She began remembering all the good times they had shared, and all the battles he had come to her aid in.

"Why?" she whimpered. "Why now?"

"Serena," Luna said. "I don't think he's doing it on his own free will. I think Natas could be behind it."

"I know," Serena said. "Just leave me alone. I need to get some sleep." Luna didn't say another word.

* * * * * * * * *

"All right, recruits!" Natas shouted. "Cashia is going to test all of you. Who ever can defeat him in one-on-one battle will be the supreme commander of my Army of Darkness." Natas then whispered to Cashia that none of the five warriors were to be killed.

"First, Dolomite! Enter the arena!" A boxing ring appeared, minus the ropes. "Begin!"

Dolomite made a void appear between his hands, and blasted Cashia. The blast was ineffective, and Cashia quickly defeated Dolomite by throwing him against a wall, 25 feet way. Dolomite was unconscious.

"Nephlite! Get in there!" shouted Natas. Nephlite entered the arena. "Begin!"

Cashia whipped his tail around to hit Nephlite, who effortlessly dodged. Nephlite made a purple energy sword appear in his right hand, and charged Cashia. The sword went through Cashia's abdomen. Cashia then turned to charcoal.

"Nephlite, you will be the supreme ruler of my army."

"It is an honor, my lord," Nephlite said with the utmost sincerity.

"But we didn't even get a chance!" Zoisite shouted.

"You dare raise your voice to me?" Natas asked, eyes turning red.

"Please, forgive her," Malachite said. "She has forgotten herself."

"Make sure that it does not happen again," Natas said.

"Yes, my lord."

"I will be going now," Natas said to his five warriors. "Nephlite will be in charge. I am putting Zoisite and Malachite in charge of ensuring his safety from now on."

"You mean we have the honor of being his personal bodyguards?" Zoisite asked.

"Yes. Do you have a problem with that?"

"No," Malachite said before Zoisite had a chance to speak. Natas disappeared. Nephlite walked over to Zoisite.

"Ironic, isn't it? You kill me, then you have to protect me."

"You had just better watch your back," Zoisite said.

"Sylvite," Nephlite said.

"Yes, Nephlite?"

"Keep an eye on Zoisite and Malachite. I don't trust them."

"Yes, commander. It will be done." Sylvite felt something about Nephlite that she had once felt about Dolomite. It was not a very strong feeling, but she thought it could be love. Or maybe it was lust? She didn't know, but she was going to find out.

* * * * * * * * *

Natas appeared in front of Serena's house. He was seen by no one. He knocked on the front door. Serena's mother answered the door.

"Hello?"

"Hello. Is Serena home?"

"Yes, Darien, but she's asleep. Can you come back after a while?"

"Actually, I really need to talk to her. It's kind of an emergency."

"Well, wait here. I'll go get her." Serena's mother went upstairs to get Serena, while Natas waited outside. After a short time, Serena came down the stairs. When she saw Darien, she was ecstatic.

"Darien!"

"Serena! Could you step outside for a minute? I have to talk to you."

"Sure, muffin." Serena stepped outside, and closed the door. "What is it?"

"Serena, I just came by to tell you that..."

"Yes? What is it?"

"Well...this is really hard to say. But...I don't think it's best if we see each other for a while."

"What?" Serena nearly wailed, but held back, mostly.

"It's just that, with this new threat and all, I have a lot going on, and I don't think I can handle a relationship."

"How can you say that? After all we've been through!"

"Serena, I'm sorry, but we're through!" Natas/Darien ran away as fast as he could. When he was out of sight of Serena, he teleported back to his palace.

* * * * * * * * *

Dolomite was slow in waking up. When he finally did, he saw Nephlite standing over him. "What the hell...?"

"It's about time you woke up," Nephlite said. "How in the hell did you get chosen for resurrection?"

"My power, I guess."

"You should learn to use it better." At this point, Nephlite started to whisper. "Do you really want to serve Natas?"

"What?"

"Just answer my question."

"Well, not really, but--"

"OK. Here's the deal. I can help you out, if you help me. I don't want to serve him either."

"But--"

"Shh! Listen, I have someone in the Earth realm that I really care about, but I don't want to hurt her."

"It's not Sailor Moon, is it?" Now Dolomite was starting to whisper.

"No. Her name is Molly Baker. But that is not the issue. Will you help me?"

"In doing what?"

"Getting out of here."

"Sure...I guess." At this point, Natas appeared.

"Shh," Nephlite whispered to Dolomite.

"Nephlite," Natas said.

"Yes, my lord?"

"I want you to visit Sailor Moon. Give her a message for me." Nephlite realized this as his one and only opportunity to carry out his plan. He just wished he had more time to prepare.

"Anything, my lord."

"Tell her that you have a message from Darien, and then hurt her badly."

"It will be done, but I request Dolomite's assistance."

"Why?"

"If she discovers who I am, I may need help fending off the Sailor Scouts. They are hardly ever apart."

"Very well. Anything else?"

"No." Nephlite and Dolomite disappeared. Natas thought his plan was going perfectly. It had, up until now. Now, it was about to take a turn for the worse. If only Natas had looked into Nephlite's past a little more, he could have prevented his biggest mistake.

* * * * * * * * *