24 Hours to Life
by Moon Momma

11:30 am, Tokyo
Nephrite, Jadeite, Zoisite, Kunzite

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Nephrite, Jadeite, Kunzite, and Zoisite walked a short distance away from the cafe. Nephrite kept an eye on the entrance, and after a few moments the boy Naru had been with the evening before went into the cafe. He hoped all would go well, and that Naru's guess about what the boy really wanted in a girlfriend was right. On top of everything else, he didn't want to be responsible for breaking the kid's heart.

"What's next?" Jadeite asked.

Nephrite looked at his watch. He'd forgotten that Jadeite still had his Patek Phillipe. It didn't matter; he'd buy them all new watches once they had completed their tasks and were free to begin their new lives. They had six and a half hours left, and a lot of work to do. "I'll go see the tennis player and the photographer, and I'll also get Usagi to go visit the dollmaker with me. I hope this will work; handling those old objects should be enough to bridge the gap between this reality and the one we were in and bring people's memories back without letting too many monsters loose or doing too much damage. I'll ask the Senshi to be ready to battle any monsters that do appear. Maybe you three can offer backup."

Jadeite, Zoisite, and Kunzite all nodded. "I've been in a mood to impale something with an ice crystal ever since that stupid human at the casino took our money," Zoisite said.

"I wouldn't mind destroying a few monsters, myself," Jadeite added.

"Good. In the meantime, also figure out how to advertise for our victims once the memories come back. Jadeite, I know you had some experience with advertising and media during your operations on Earth."

"I had some too," Kunzite said. "My plans also involved attracting large numbers of people."

"Good. Set up a plan, then, and have it ready to go."

"How will we know you've succeeded?" Zoisite asked.

"The monsters will start appearing. And, well, I suppose that when a lot of people suddely recover their memories of our operations, that might cause a certain amount of chaos."

"It would help if we had some of those phone things," Jadeite said. "Look over there."

Right up the street was a kiosk selling cell phones. Nephrite grinned. "Luck is on our side, for once. I just hope they aren't too expensive."

"Oh, yeah, the money," Jadeite grumbled. "None of this makes any difference if we don't have enough money. I owe Japan Airlines two jumbo jets, for starters. And the City of Tokyo three buses."

"If we're successful at bridging the gap, I'll see if I can get into my bank accounts and move the money somewhere where it's accessible to us in this reality."

"That's a lot of 'ifs'," Kunzite said. "And we've got how long?"

"A little under six and a half hours. We can't give up yet; we can do this."

They all nodded in agreement, then went to the cell phone kiosk. It took nearly fifteen precious minutes to buy the phones, which weren't terribly expensive, and set them up and put each other's phone numbers in the directories. Fortunately, the phone service had pay-in-advance plans available, since Nephrite wasn't sure his credit cards would work.

With that taken care of, Nephrite pointed out the high-rise apartment building where Mamoru and Usagi Chiba lived, then called the couple to warn them that the other three Generals were on their way over.

"Also," he said to Usagi while he had her on the phone, "could I ask you to come with me to visit the Kayamas at two o'clock? The mother was very suspicious of me when I was there before, and I can't blame her. She might be more willing to listen if you're with me."

"Sure!" Usagi replied. "I'll meet you there at two, okay?"

"Good, thank you," Nephrite said. He turned to the other three. "The Senshi are expecting you. Figure out a way to get the word out to our victims, then wait. If this works, you should see results or hear from me at about two-thirty." When there would only be three and a half hours left on the clock. His stomach knotted in worry; he tried to ignore it. The Senshi had won because they never gave up, even when it looked hopeless. He and his fellow Generals had to learn from their example.

They began walking towards the the Chibas' apartment building - the street was too busy for them to teleport unnoticed - so that Nephrite to retrieve his car, which he had left parked there, and the other Generals could meet the Senshi for the first time in this new life.

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The Nephrite and Naru Treasury