Chapter 9: The Mask

AN: Just a quick note here in case it's not already painfully obvious, since it's about to become so in the next several chapters...I'm not being a hardliner about the sailor moon timeline as shown in the anime. As an example, I realize that the scouts discovered that Darien was Tuxedo Mask pretty much right after Mina joined the team, so this fic wouldn't slot into the timeline in a sensible way. I'm playing it loose with the timeline (though in harmless ways) for the purposes of the story I want to tell.

"

Headquarters, April 27th, 4:00 PM

"So I was thinking about incorporating some machetes into my uniform," Serena said, hands up behind her head as she casually strolled down the rows of warehouses, making her way to number eight. "At least one. Those things are really handy."

"Okay, Danny Trejo," Lita replied. "As long as it doesn't replace your tiara."

"You know, thinking back on it, last night really wasn't too bad." Mina looked around the largely vacated area. "There were a lot of those things, but they honestly went down pretty easily."

"I'm not saying the negaverse is stupid, but...I wouldn't call them particularly smart, either," Raye added.

As the four girls approached the warehouse, the door swung open to reveal Darien, in his usual green jacket and black pants. His hands were in his pockets and his face was slightly red. He started walking towards the four.

"Hey, dick," Serena said casually as they crossed paths.

"Hey, Serena," he muttered in reply, continuing right by her.

Serena froze mid-step, eyebrow cocked, turning around to look at his back. "Huh?"

Darien stopped as well, turning to look back at her. "Uh, I mean...uh...uh, Meatball Head." He turned back around and kept walking, Serena staring at his back in confusion.

"What the heck?" Serena said quietly, scratching the back of her head.

"What's wrong?" Raye asked as Darien slowly shrunk into the background.

"He's usually a little...quicker on the draw than that," Serena said, turning back around.

"What, you disappointed?" Raye asked.

"Oooh, I think she is!" Mina goaded, elbowing Serena in the ribs softly.

"No, I...it's just kinda weird, is all," Serena replied.

"Poor Serena, deprived of her precious witty banter time with Darien!" Mina continued, cocking a wry smile. "How you live for those back-and-forths!"

"Knock it off," Serena said warningly.

"Just like Benedict and Beatrice!" Mina added.

"Didn't I make you promise to stop saying that I have a crush on Darien?" Serena said through gritted teeth as the four girls filed into the warehouse office.

"Yeah, but if you lob it in there like that, I'm gonna take a cut at it," Mina answered. Amy was seated at the desk, holding an empty beer bottle in her right hand and looking at it with a scowl.

"Hey Amy." Serena set her school bag down by the door. "Something happen with Darien?"

"Why do you ask?" Amy set the bottle down next to five roughly identical ones.

"He just seemed a little...stupider than usual," Serena settled on.

"Well, alcohol can certainly have that effect on the brain," Amy said darkly.

"Did he drink all of those just now?" Lita asked, looking at the half dozen containers.

"Yes." Amy leaned back in the desk chair. "Six percent now."

"Jesus," Raye muttered. "Doesn't he have to drive home now?"

"Seems that way," Amy said, getting up. "And it's a good twenty minute drive to his place from here in this traffic."

"Yeah, well...wait, how do you know where he lives?" Serena watched Amy go over to the warehouse door.

"GPS transmissions from his cell phone," Amy replied simply. "Knowledge is power." She unlocked the door and pushed it open.

"I didn't think you had it in you," Mina said slyly.

"He was acting rather...distracted even before he started drinking, though," Amy mused as the group walked into the warehouse. "He even forgot his cooler here."

"Well, whatever," Serena said dismissively. "You got what you needed out of him, right?"

"Yes," Amy replied, slowly going over to a cardboard box on the long desk against the near wall of the warehouse. "Now, it's time for some R and D, so you four are free to start on your homework."

"So Amy, I was thinking last night," Serena started, sidling up next to Amy as she started placing the contents of the cardboard box on the desk. "The fog grenades are excellent, really useful, so what about going one step beyond?"

"Uh-huh," Amy said quietly, looking down at the computer components in front of her.

"What I mean is, what if we started going into the field with actual explosives? I imagine that'd be pretty useful in many situations—"

"Too dangerous, too much potential for collateral," Amy said quickly, picking up a worn motherboard and flipping it around in her hands. "Out of the question."

"Oh," Serena said. "Okay, sure."

"Now please let me have peace and quiet," Amy said. "This isn't going to be easy."

"What are you trying to make now?" Lita asked, coming up behind Serena and looking at the small pile of parts.

"Now, now, Lita, you know how much Amy loves her little surprises," Mina said.

"I suppose I can give a little hint," Amy offered. "Right now, I think our biggest problem is the wait-and-defend strategy we're forced to implement. Every battle we fight, every negaverse encounter we have, it's all dictated by the negaverse. They act, we react. They attack, we defend. Often, we have to get our information from local news reports, which really puts us behind."

Raye nodded. "Definitely."

"So...what if we changed that?"

"

Arcade, May 3rd, 4:56 PM

Serena jerked the joystick back and forth, tapping the buttons with her right hand. Andrew stood behind her, holding a milkshake in his right hand.

"So yeah, incredibly excited to see Rita again," Andrew continued. "But I've got a little problem."

"I'll get Lita to clean your place up," Serena said quickly, eyes on the video game screen.

"No, not that. She's gonna be here in two days and I don't have a present for her," Andrew said uneasily.

"Amazon Prime," Serena said. "Guaranteed two-day shipping."

"Well, okay, but I don't know what to get her." Andrew sipped from his milkshake glass. "I mean, I haven't seen her in five months, what's the customary gift for a circumstance like that?"

"An evening of carnal, animal-like lust?" Serena suggested, mistiming her jump and watching the virtual Sailor V fall to her death.

"Well, obviously that. What else?" Andrew looked around the mostly empty arcade. "I was thinking maybe I could go pick her up a dress—"

"Nonono," Serena said quickly, looking up at Andrew. "Trust me, you do not want to play that game."

"Why not?" Andrew asked.

"You know what her size is?" Serena tapped the primary button, starting the game again.

"Of course I do, she's a—"

"Her size right now, not her size five months ago," Serena interrupted.

"Oh...well, I'm sure that—"

"Five months is a long time," Serena said. "Foreign country, entirely different food choices, stress of being in a strange place, who knows what's happened to her body."

"Huh..." Andrew put his left hand up to his chin.

"You get her one size too small, and it says 'oh, I guess you're fatter than I thought'. One size too big, and it's 'oh, you looked fatter'. It's suicide." Serena pushed the joystick to the right.

"Right, okay. Good point," Andrew frowned. "So then what?"

"What about the good folks over at Zales or Kay?" Serena asked.

"I wait tables at an arcade," Andrew protested. "My paygrade can't even see that paygrade."

"Stuffed animals," Serena said. "Goes nicely with the...animal-like lust."

"Hm." Andrew nodded. "Thanks Serena." He patted her on the shoulder.

Serena's cell phone started vibrating, drawing her attention away from the game. "I gotta take this," she said quickly, turning away from the console and pulling the phone out. She put it to her ear. "Hello?"

"Hey Serena, you still at the arcade?" It was Amy.

"Yup."

"I need a big favor," Amy said. "Darien was supposed to be here a half-hour ago, but I haven't heard from him and he won't answer his phone—"

"Nope," Serena said quickly.

"Serena, please?" Amy pleaded. "You're the closest to his apartment, it's like two blocks over from the arcade—"

"Nooooooope," Serena repeated. "Get Raye to do it."

"Raye's busy working, Lita's waiting for the cable guy to show up at her place, Mina's taking care of her sick mother." Amy cleared her throat. "So I really need you to—"

"Nope!" Serena crossed her right leg over her left.

Amy sighed. "There's a twenty in it for you."

"Fifty," Serena countered.

"Twenty-five, final offer," Amy replied.

"Deal." Serena stood up. "I'll bring him over."

"I'll text you the address."

"

Darien's Apartment, May 3rd, 5:14 PM

"Rise and shine!" Serena shouted, pounding on the door with both fists. "You're late for work!"

She kept beating her fists on the door for a good thirty seconds, her efforts unrewarded when nobody opened up. She finally stopped, putting her ear to the door and listening. Nothing.

"Ugh. Probably passed out in a ditch somewhere, shirt drenched in cheap cologne and cheaper beer," she muttered, reaching towards her cell phone.

"Can I help you, Meatball Head?"

Serena turned to her right. Darien was standing there, wearing a gray tanktop and grey track pants, towel draped over his shoulders, soaked in persperation.

"O-oh, uh, you were supposed to be at the warehouse forty-five minutes ago!" Serena snapped, hands on her hips.

"What?" Darien wrinkled his forehead. "Oh...whatever." He walked over to his door, pulling out his key.

"Oh no you don't!" Serena walked up next to him. "We're going over there, right now!"

"Wrong." Darien opened his door. "You are going over there right now, I am going into my apartment to take care of some things, after which I will go over there. Now...wait a minute, how do you know where I live?!" He narrowed his eyes at Serena.

"Oh, I just followed the smell," Serena replied snootily. "And you've broken the bond of trust, Darien, so I will be escorting you back to the warehouse!"

Darien sighed. "Fine. Wait out here, I'll come out when I'm good and ready." He walked into his apartment and slammed the door shut behind him.

"Oh, you're not even going to invite me inside?!" Serena shouted.

"Nope!"

"Of all the inconsiderate..." she paused, thinking for a moment. "Hmm..." She cleared her throat.

"Darien, you are three months behind on your child support payments now!" she shouted, voice carrying down the halls. "Jacob is your son too, and you owe it to him to make sure I can afford diapers!" She pounded the door a couple times. "Dammit, Darien, let me in or I'm going to tell Popeye about this, and you're going to need a new set of kneecaps! Take responsibility for—"

Darien ripped the door open, a death glare directed at Serena. He reached his hand out and covered her mouth with it. "Shut up!"

Serena grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand down. "I have Popeye on speed dial, swear to God!" She yelled.

"Just get in here!" he relented, grabbing her wrist and pulling her into his apartment.

"Whew!" Serena exclaimed, waving her hand in front of her nose. "The scent of roofies in here is just overwhelming."

"You know what?!" Darien seethed, hands clenching into giant fists.

"I recommend lysol. Maybe two or three cans," Serena added, smirking.

"Okay. Here's how this is going to work," Darien said through gritted teeth. He grabbed a dinner table chair from the small carpeted area by the kitchen. "You are going to sit right here, sitting on your hands, the entire time you are here. You may get up only when I say I am ready to leave. Do you get me?"

"Nice pad," Serena said, ignoring him entirely. "I mean, for a vampire, so you probably feel right at home."

"Meatball Head. You are a guest in my apartment, so—"

"So, Darien, it's common courtesy to offer a guest a beverage." Serena crossed her arms over her chest.

Darien growled, then stomped over to the kitchen. He ripped open one of his cabinets, pulled a glass down from one of the shelves, and shoved it under the sink faucet for a second, blasting a half-inch of lukewarm tap water into the container. He marched back over to her and offered her the glass.

Serena took it, looking down at it. "No ice," she grumbled, setting it down on the kitchen table.

"Hey, Meatball Head, there's this new thing called coasters!" Darien snarled.

"Oh please! I couldn't make the resale value on this place go down with a sledgehammer and a pound of C4! Now, what do you need to do before we go?"

"Well, first, I need to shower." He walked over towards his bedroom, Serena following. He opened the door, trying to swing it shut behind him as he entered, but Serena caught the knob and followed him in. "And then, I need to masturbate."

"Ewwwwwwwww!" Serena wrinkled her nose.

"So unless you want to help, with either or both, get out of my bedroom." Darien pulled his tanktop up over his head, exposing his damp back to Serena.

"You've got five minutes!" Serena said, quickly regaining her composure.

"I've got as long as I want," Darien retorted.

"You're almost an hour late already, so maybe you can skip applying your makeup today." Serena sat down at the foot of Darien's bed.

Darien turned around. "Hey, I don't remember telling you sit down on my bed!"

Serena's eyes were drawn to Darien's chest and abs. There was no denying he was chisled, and inspite of the situation, she couldn't help but staring at his perfect six-pack and broad, barrel-chest.

"What?" Darien snapped, breaking Serena out of her two-second trance. "You see something you like?!" He put his arms out to his sides.

"N-no!" Serena said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Then stop eye-banging me," he grunted, walking over towards his bathroom door.

"I wasn't!" Serena insisted, going slightly red in the cheeks.

"Yeah, yeah. You've flown so far into the danger zone you can't even remember which way to go to get out." He stepped into his bathroom, grabbing the sliding door. "Now get the hell out of my bedroom!"

"Oh, congratulations, you finally got to say that line to a woman!" Serena said haughtily. "First time for everything!"

Darien reached over to the inside wall of the bathroom, pressing a button. His speaker system jumped to life and started playing Pearl Jam quite loudly. He slammed the door shut.

Serena sat there, fuming for a moment. She heard the shower turn on over the raucous noise of Even Flow, then slowly stood up. She turned towards the nightstand, when something caught her eye. A small, black object, roughly rectangle-shaped with bits of clear plastic around the outside. She approached it slowly, staring at it intently.

"...wait..." she muttered, reaching her hand down to grab it. A couple inches short, she thought better of it and retracted her hand. She glanced back at the bathroom door, still closed.

"No, no it...it can't be." She grabbed her cell phone, quickly bringing up Amy's number and calling it.

"Hello?" Amy greeted after the second ring.

"Amy, it's me, listen—"

"Oh, Serena, what's going on with Darien?" Amy asked. "And is that music?"

"Y-yes, and Darien's fine, I'm at his place right now. Can you hear me okay?"

"Barely," Amy said. "What's going on?"

"He's showering, we'll be there...soon, uh, can you do something for me, Amy?" Serena asked, looking at the device worriedly.

"What's up?"

"Uh, can you...can you try to signal Tuxedo Mask?" Serena asked, eyes darting back to the bathroom door.

"...do you need him?"

"N-no, it's just...look, it's complicated, and kind of weird, but I just need you to use the signal." Serena bit her lower lip.

"What am I going to tell Tuxedo Mask if he shows up here?" Amy asked.

"J-just tell him it was a false alarm. Listen, I need you to trust me here, just hit the button, there's something...something fishy going on here."

There was a short pause. "Okay, Serena, I've got it. Ready?"

"Hit it," Serena said.

A second later, the little device started to vibrate and blink multiple colors. Serena started at it disbelievingly for several seconds, mouth dropping open slowly.

"Serena?" Amy buzzed in. "Serena, what's going on?"

The phone slipped from Serena's fingers, dropping to the ground. Serena felt knots tying up in her stomach. She started shaking, oblivious to Amy trying to get her attention from the phone at her feet.

"No...no..." she whimpered.

And then, she looked up at the ceiling and let loose a truly bloodcurling scream.

"AUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH !"

The windows fought to not shatter under the audio onslaught, and the only reason why the entire building didn't think someone wasn't getting murdered was the loud music. A few seconds later, Darien stumbled out of his bathroom, wearing a bathrobe, hands covering his ears.

Serena, somehow, was still screaming, her lungs performing better underneath the immense stress. Darien approached her, hands still clapped over his ears.

"SERENA, WHAT?!" He shouted, trying to be heard over her screeching. He would have turned down the music if he wasn't afraid of others in the building being able to hear her. "WHAT'S WRONG?!

Finally, after several more seconds, she stopped, then slowly turned her head to look at Darien. He jumped back a couple steps at the sight, her face contorted into a mask of loathing that intimidated even him.

"You!" she growled, voice a few octaves lower than usual. She advanced on him. He backed up into the bathroom and killed his speakers.

"Me what?! What about me?!" Darien asked.

Serena pointed her index finger right at Darien, face twitching with rage and entire body shaking. "You...you...you killed Tuxedo Mask!"

Darien froze, staring at her. She stopped just short of him, panting air in and out of her nose, looking ready to shoot flames out of her eyes.

"Wait. What?!" Darien shouted, looking at her. "What are you talking about?!"

"DON'T PLAY INNOCENT WITH ME!" She screamed.

"Serena, Serena, keep your freaking voice down!" he hissed, motioning his hands downwards.

"You killed him! You killed Tuxedo Mask!"

Darien shook his head a few times. "Serena, you gotta slow down, what the hell is a Tuxedo Mask?! If that's supposed to be an insult, that's terrible—"

"You're not fooling me, you murderer!" Serena turned her body slightly and pointed at the device on the nightstand. "You killed him and you took a trophy!"

Darien's mouth fell open slightly as he followed her finger. "W-wait. Serena, do you know what that is?!"

"Yes, Darien, I do!"

He walked over to her, fighting the urge to reach out and grab her collar. "What is it?! Tell me!"

Serena was so incensed, all thoughts of secrecy had flown out of her mind and landed in another area code. "We gave that to Tuxedo Mask as a signal! So, tell me, why do you have it?!"

"Serena, Serena, what is a Tuxedo Mask?! Is that a...like a nickname for one of your friends—"

"Oh, cut the act, Darien, you know exactly who Tuxedo Mask is! Crusader of justice, ally of the Sailor Scouts, a frequent partner in defeating negaverse minions—"

"Okay, uh...Serena, you're not making any sense, just...just sit down, and I'll call a doctor." He tried to push her towards the bed, but she pushed him away roughly.

"You're the one who's gonna need a doctor when I'm done with you!" she roared. "Or a mortician!"

"Serena—"

"That object on your nightstand was given to Tuxedo Mask as a signal! We'd use it to alert him whenever we needed his help!"

"W-who is we?!" Darien asked.

"We, the Sailor Scouts!" she replied harshly. "So, care to try to explain why it's in your possession, Darien?!"

Darien stood there for a moment, mind racing. Slowly, he started making connections, brain doing mental math to slide in Serena's crazed rants with what he knew.

Suddenly, everything started to slot into place. Things added up, impossible though they seemed.

And then, he felt a sharp crack inside his head, and then felt nothing. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed to the floor, landing with a loud thud.

Serena's mouth fell open slightly as he fell, brow furrowing. "D-Darien?" she asked timidly. He didn't move. Regaining her fury, she marched over to him and kicked him in the side. "Oh no, you're not gonna get out of this one by pretending to faint!" She kicked him again. "You are going to get up, and I am going to shatter every single bone in your body to avenge Tuxedo Mask, you hear me?! Get up!"

But Darien didn't so much as stir. She bent down, grabbing his large wrist and placing her fingers on it. She held it for several seconds, but could feel no pulse.

"W-wait...Darien?" She nudged him slightly. "Darien? Oh...crap!"

She jumped up upon hearing a sharp knocking at the window. Mina was standing there, in Sailor Venus form, perched on the fire escape. Serena quickly ran over to the other side of the room and undid the window latch, pulling it open.

"I got here as soon as I could, Amy said you—" Mina's words died in her throat as soon as she laid eyes on Darien's unmoving figure.

"I...I don't know what happened," Serena said quietly.

"Oh my god, she killed Darien!" Mina gasped. She looked down at the bow on her chest. "Guys, Serena killed Darien!"

"N-no, I didn't!" Serena insisted as Mina went over to Darien's lifeless figure. "He just sort of...keeled over!"

Mina rolled Darien onto his back, looking his face over. "No visibly obvious method of killing, possible use of poison."

"Mina!" Serena shrieked. "I didn't kill him, I swear, he just—"

"Serena, listen to me," Mina said slowly, getting up and approaching Serena. "How soon can you be packed to leave the country?"

"Mina—"

"We're going to need a country with no extradition, does China sound okay to you?" She looked around the room.

"Mina, please!" Serena ran up to Mina and grabbed her hands. "I know this looks bad, but I didn't even touch him! He just fell over, I swear!"

"Serena, I...I wanna believe you, I really do. But even if I did, no jury would, so what I need you to do right now, is tell me your opinion of Madagascar, because you won't last a week in jail."

"Holy crap!"

The two blondes spun around to find Raye, in Mars form, leaping from the fire escape into the room.

"Mina, I thought you were joking!" Raye's eyes bugged out. "She actually did it, guys, he's dead!"

"C'mon guys, I wouldn't...you know I wouldn't kill him...wait." She looked over at the nightstand. "And even if I did, he would have deserved it!"

"My God, Serena!" Raye exclaimed, rounding on her. "Can't you control your hormones for five seconds?!"

"Raye, I swear I didn't kill him!" Serena shouted. "I wish I did, but I didn't, I need you to believe me!"

"Well, I don't!" Raye countered. "Do you have any idea what you've done?! Not only have you committed first-degree murder, you've endangered the Sailor Scout's entire operation!"

"Wait, wait," Mina said. "What do you mean, he would have deserved it?"

Serena cleared her throat. "It just so happens that, right before he keeled over, I discovered that Darien killed Tuxedo Mask!"

Mina and Raye stared at her for several seconds, a deafening silence enveloping all three of them.

"Huh," Mina said. "You know, if you keep talking like that, you might be able to dodge jailtime. Just get sent to an insane asylum. I mean, would you be okay with that?"

"I'm telling the truth!" Serena shouted. "He—"

"Serena Naoko Tsukino!"

Lita was standing on the fire escape now, Luna and Artemis tucked under either of her arms and Amy riding on her back. Luna wormed out of Luna's grip and jumped down to the carpet.

"I really, really didn't want to believe it, Serena!" Luna shouted, looking down at Darien's body. "I really can't believe you've done it!"

"Serena..." Lita trailed off as Amy jumped off her back.

"G-guys, I know this must look really, really bad for me, but I swear it wasn't me," Serena said, voice shaking.

"Yeah, Serena," Lita said unconvincingly. "You just keep on...practicing that speech to the jury."

Serena moaned, looking at Artemis desperately. "Artemis, you believe me, don't you?!"

Artemis looked to the side uneasily. "Uh...I'd rather not take sides."

Amy had dashed to Darien's side, grabbing his arm and lifting it up. She tried to feel a pulse. She put her arms on his chest, face falling with every passing second. She pounded his chest a couple times, then started pulsing her hands on it to simulate a heartbeat. She moved up to his mouth, holding it open and blowing air down his throat.

She did this for several minutes, everyone watching in silence. Finally, she stood up, body shaking. Her mouth curved down into a furious scowl that none of the girls had ever seen on her before.

"A-Amy, you believe me, right?" Serena asked weakly.

Amy clenched her fists and started breathing rather loudly, closing her eyes and tilting her head down.

"Amy?"

"Okay, Serena," Amy said through gritted teeth. "This is your one!" She turned around to face her, holding her index finger up in the air. "We've been through a lot together, so this one time, I will help you get rid of the body. But next time you kill someone, you are on your own!"

"Amy, I—"

"And, when we get back to headquarters, you are going to sit, quietly, and listen to me lecture you for a good three hours, and if you say so much as a single word I will start over!" She glared at Serena with fury that she had never shown herself capable of before. "And then, for the rest of this month, I don't want to hear you breathe, got it?!"

Serena looked like she was on the verge of tears. "Guys, please, somebody, I...I didn't do it, you gotta believe me, somebody!"

Lita sighed. "Serena, please. You gotta stop with that. If Amy's gonna help you, then so am I, but...I'm sorry, it's pretty obvious." Mina wandered off into the corner of the room, fidgeting away from the tense scene.

"What do I have to do to make you guys believe me?" Serena asked, eyes watering. "You guys know me, I wouldn't—"

"How about a single shred of evidence that doesn't paint you as the obvious killer?" Raye asked, glaring at Serena.

"L-like what?"

"Uh...guys?"

Everyone turned to look at Mina. She was in the corner of the room, looking at a small laptop computer with an integrated webcam along the bezzle. The screen was showing a live feed of the bedroom, and a timer indicated that the webcam had been recording for the last several minutes.

Immediately, Amy darted over to the computer, ending the recording and causing a video file to generate. She clicked on it and brought it up.

"Last chance to change your story," Raye said, looking at Serena. Serena, however, was obviously overjoyed and had already run over to the computer.

"Motion detection..." Amy muttered to herself as the video started playing. The door swung open and Darien entered, followed closely by Serena. The audio wasn't particularly good, so she turned it up as loud as it could go.

"Why would he do that?" Lita asked, eyes glued to the screen as Serena and Darien bickered back and forth.

"He has a lot of motion detection video files on here," Amy said quietly. "Maybe he's paranoid."

"Then stop eye-banging me."

"I wasn't!"

"I know I was," Mina said. Serena shot her a nasty side glare. "What? I'm only human."

The group watched Darien disappear into the bathroom, losing any relevant audio thanks to the loud music. They watched Serena make her phone call for a minute, then watched something on the nightstand start to flash multiple colors. Everyone gasped in shock except for Serena.

"Oh yeah, which reminds me, I have a little dark secret to share about Darien once I clear my name," Serena said, regaining her composure.

Serena started to scream on the video, which drew Darien out of the bathroom. Finally, the music was turned off, and the two started to yell at each other. As their conversation played out, Mina, Raye, Lita and Amy all started to exchange glances, each line peeling back another layer of the mystery.

And then, the Darien on video fell over onto his face, Serena looking at him in momentary shock, before going up to him to kick his side. Amy paused the video, then expelled a small breath.

"Well." She cleared her throat. "It would seem that I...may have rushed to judgement." Slowly, she turned to look at Serena, who was frowning with her hands on her hips.

"Ahem," Serena growled, glaring right at Amy. Amy got up and slowly approached her, eyes downcast and hands clasped in front of her.

"Serena, I am incredibly sorry," she said quietly, still not making eye contact. "I was wrong to assume the worst of you, and I promise it won't ever happen again. So, from the bottom of my heart, I apologize." She meekly extended her hand out towards Serena. "Forgive me?"

"Yeah, yeah," Serena said, extending her hand and shaking Amy's. "Seriously not cool of you, though. After everything we've done together."

"Well, can you blame us?" Raye protested. "I mean, based on what we knew at the time, it was pretty obvious—"

"Raye!" Amy snapped, glaring over at her. "Now is not that time."

Raye grumbled something under her breath. "I'm...sorry, Serena," she forced out.

"Later," Serena insisted. "I don't have time to listen to a bunch of apologies. We have a bigger concern. As that video should have made quite clear, Darien has killed Tuxedo Mask!"

The four other girls glanced at each other uneasily, Serena now stomping around the room angrily.

"He killed him and took our signal as a trophy, that son of a bitch! So, while I didn't kill him, he deserved to die, obviously. In any case, Lita, run down to the hardware store and pick up a bag of lime powder to dissolve the body. We'll take care of that, then there will be time to mourn the passing of our knight in shining armor."

"Uh...Serena..." Amy said, coming up next to her friend, arms clasped in front of her.

"My God, I can't believe he's really gone," Serena moaned, hanging her head. "He was so...perfect. Darien must have snuck up on him, no way he'd beat Tuxedo Mask in a straight fight."

"A-actually..." Amy bit her lower lip. "Serena, what if—"

"Look at me, I'm a mess!" Serena wiped her forehead. "I have just gone through the full gamut of emotions in the last half hour, I need to cool down, I'll use the kitchen sink." She left the room, headed toward the small kitchen.

"Y-yeah, Serena, you do that," Amy called out, easing the door shut behind her. As soon as it was shut, she turned to the other three girls and two cats in the room. "Okay, who's going to tell her?"

"Not me," Mina said immediately. "She might literally pop a blood vessel out of anger, I'm not gonna have that on my hands."

"Yeah, I'm not piling on," Lita agreed. "Forget it."

Amy looked at Raye. "I suppose this is your territory."

Raye shook her head. "Actually, I'd really rather...not."

"I thought you loved winding her up?" Amy asked.

"I do, but this...this is too much." Raye glanced down at the ground. "I mean, winding her up is one thing, but I don't want to crush her soul."

"Well, I don't want to do it either," Amy said. "Which means..." the four girls looked down at Luna.

"I have to live with her!" Luna protested. "The least you people can do is be the bearer of bad news."

They turned their gaze to Artemis, who looked away immediately.

"Artemis, please?" Amy begged.

"Uh...no-speakee-the-english," he said.

"Well, what do we do?" Lita asked.

"Okay, okay..." Amy pointed at herself, Raye, Lita and Mina in turn. "0, 1, 2, 3. We go on the count of three, the sum mod four has to tell her. Deal?"

The girls nodded.

"One, two, three!" Amy cried, throwing two fingers up in the air. Raye put up one, Lita put up three, and Mina put up one.

"Okay, seven," Amy said. "Seven mod four is three, so...Mina, it's all yours."

"Ooohhhhh," Mina groaned. The door swung open, Serena marching in.

"Okay, I feel much better now, so where are we on that lime powder?!" she said loudly.

"Uh, Serena..." Mina slowly went up to her side. "Okay, so, first, I just want to say how sorry I am that I didn't believe you earlier—"

"Mina, you can do the ass-kissing bit later, we have a job to do!" Serena said, looking down at Darien's body.

"Okay, that's fine, but...you don't hate me, do you?" Mina asked warily.

"Of course I don't hate you, Mina. You're my friend, a little friction never did anyone harm." Serena patted her back.

"Okay, but...would you say you're close to hating me? Like, on the brink?" Mina looked at Serena hopefully.

"No, Mina, don't worry about it. I couldn't ever actually hate you."

"Okay, that's really good to know." She sighed. "So...what if Darien didn't kill Tuxedo Mask?"

A hopeful smile popped up on Serena's face. "You're right, Mina! He...he could have just wounded him!"

"Y-yeah, that's possible...or maybe—"

"Maybe he just pickpocketed him! Or broke into his house...that would definitely be a Darien thing to do..." Serena scratched the back of her head. "Yes, Darien could never kill Tuxedo Mask! We'll have to form a search party to track him down—"

"Serena, I think Darien was Tuxedo Mask!" Mina shouted quickly, immediately averting her gaze from Serena as soon as the words were out of her mouth.

Serena was silent for several seconds, then gave a harsh little laugh. "Yeah, right. So, anyway, lime powder?"

Mina went over to the other three, hunched over slightly. "Okay. I told her, she didn't believe me, I'm done," she whispered.

"B-but—" Amy started.

"D-O-N-E." Mina walked past Amy.

Lita sighed, then walked over to where Serena was pacing. "Serena, honey, I'm not saying this because I want to hurt you, I swear, but...I think that story makes a lot of sense."

"Puh-leese, Lita," Serena said dismissively. "I'd sooner believe Melvin was Tuxedo Mask. Darien wasn't anywhere close to enough of a man to be Tuxedo Mask, not even close. It's impossible."

"Serena, I—"

"Okay, fine!" Serena cried. "Prove it! If he's Tuxedo Mask, then where's his dresscoat? Where's his mask?" She went over to the closet and pulled it open. "I'd be shocked if you found anything nicer than a pair of khakis in this dump, and I sure don't see any mask!"

"Well, Serena, it might not necessarily...work like that," Lita said slowly.

"Hey, turnabout is fair play. How about I see some proof before you start assuming things, huh?" Serena demanded. She walked over to the nightstand. "So, until I see a mask, I will treat your crazy claim with the disrespect it deserves!" She pulled the nightstand drawer open, looked down in it, and her mouth quickly fell open. "Whoa."

"What, you find it?" Lita asked quickly, all five girls running over to look down into the drawer.

"No, but..."

Eight wads of twenties were resting at the bottom of the drawer, haphazardly stacked on top of each other.

"Man, that was one paranoid guy," Raye said. "Recording video of his bedroom, storing cash in a drawer instead of a bank..."

Amy clapped Serena on the shoulder cautiously. "Serena, you see this?"

"Yeah, it's the money we paid Darien," Serena said bitterly.

"Not quite," Amy said. "How many thousand dollar bundles do you see down there?"

Serena looked down into the drawer for a second. "Eight."

"Right," Amy said slowly. "Now, I only gave Darien seven bundles."

"Okay? He obviously has other sources of income," Serena said, shrugging.

"Serena, look at the paper bands. They're identical, all of them."

Serena bent down to look at them. "Coincidence."

"Other than the seven bundles we've paid Darien, we've only given out two others that still had the paper band on it," Amy continued. "Do you remember the two I'm talking about?"

"Yeah," Serena said casually. "I gave one to Darien, which he gave back and I burned, and the other I gave to—"

"—Tuxedo Mask." Amy looked down at the ground. "Now, I am not trying to upset you with this, I'm just trying to help. So, if we've given Darien seven, and Tuxedo Mask one, and Darien has eight, what does that mean?"

Serena glanced down at the money again, brow furrowing. "That...that son of a bitch, he stole Tuxedo Mask's money too!"

Amy clenched her eyes shut in frustration. "Serena, no, I—"

"Serena, Darien was Tuxedo Mask!" Raye said loudly, grabbing her by the shoulders and pulling her up into a standing position. "It's the only thing that makes sense, it's the only possible explanation, and I am sorry to have to tell you this, but it's the truth!"

Serena laughed. "Guys, I appreciate the attempted use of humor to deflate a very tense situation, but that's really enough. There's no way, in this universe or any other, that Darien could have been—"

"AHHH!"

Darien jolted up, making everyone in the room jump back and gasp. Darien looked around wildly, sucking in deep lungfuls of air, wide-eyed.

"Darien?!" Amy yelped. "B-but you had no pulse for—"

"Ohmigod!" he gasped, frantically trying to stand up. "What...what happened?!"

"Darien, sit down, don't try to get up so fast," Lita said, but Darien wasn't paying attention.

"I...I remember!" Darien said, looking around the room. "I remember...everything now!"

"Remember what?" Raye asked.

Serena finally snapped out of her shock. "Oh, good, Darien. You're alive. Now I can kill you!" She started to advance on Darien.

"T-the blackouts, I'm...I'm Tuxedo Mask!" Darien exclaimed, looking down at himself in shock.

Serena froze midstep for several seconds, then expelled a harsh breath. "Okay. Was this all a big prank that you guys organized?" She pointed at Darien. "And he's in on it too?"

"No, Serena, shut up, it's...I can remember now, I'm Tuxedo Mask!" Darien rubbed his eyeballs. "But...I don't..."

"Alright." Serena closed her eyes. "I can appreciate people sticking to an act for as long as they possibly can, but I'm not amused anymore."

"Maybe...maybe I can..." Darien closed his eyes and put his hands out at his sides.

"So I'm being serious here. All of you, knock it off before I—"

Darien started to grow a bright white, silencing Serena. About two seconds later, his bathrobe had been replaced with an impeccable dresscoat, he was wearing a white mask over his eyes, and was holding a black cane and wearing a top hat. Darien looked down at himself, jaw hanging open.

"Oh my God," he muttered, looking down at his cane.

"Wow," Raye said quietly.

Serena stood there, stock silent, face devoid of expression. Slowly, her face started to fall, mouth drooping open as if she had just seen a ghost. Color drained from her face, and she started to shake.

"Lita!" Amy shouted.

Immediately, Lita reached over and grabbed one of Darien's pillows. She pounced on Serena, pressing her back against the floor, and put the pillow over her face just in the nick of time.

"MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMPPPPPPPPPPPPPHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH !"

Nearby eardrums were saved only by the pillow's dulling effects, as Serena vocalized her duress and horror to the absolute best of her abilities. Lita kept the pillow plugged right over her face, hopefully preventing neighbors from hearing it.

"Thank you, Lita," Amy said.

"

AN: Okay, so, I was pretty happy with that chapter. Probably my favorite since four. Glad to really get the plot moving again.

Update might come this weekend, not sure.