Blueeyeddevil06, thank you for being my beta!

Darien paced the floor in his apartment shortly before midnight. Amy and Zoisite had easily traced the energy coming from the card to the House of Fortune, a newly opened business that had seen many new customers lately. Now, the problem was that they all had lives, and Serena wanted to work as quickly as possible to stop the destruction. It didn't help the situation that Melvin had sexually harassed Molly. Serena and Rick were ready to take on the Negaverse right away.

"I still say we wait until tomorrow night. I have classes all day," Amy said.

Lita sighed, "I have that big cooking test tomorrow, and I can't make it up if I miss out. I agree."

"But people are suffering," Serena countered. Darien held her close, letting her know silently that he supported her fully.

Kunzite shrugged, "Maybe we try to wait. We plan an all-out assault tomorrow night, but if it becomes necessary, we go in earlier. We protect the city and our futures."

Serena shook her head, "That's not how this should work."

"Who wrote the rules?" Raye asked. "We're the heroes."

Darien shook his head, "Serena writes the rules. She's the princess, after all." He sighed out and added, "We try to wait until tomorrow night." He then cupped her cheek and looked deep into her eyes. "Rick can take notes for me tomorrow. I'll help you keep an eye on the city."

She bit her lip nervously and said, "Noooo…. I can wait..."

He knew she didn't want to inconvenience him. "No, I'm with you on this, and I'm not asking you. I'm telling you, Serena." He turned and looked at everyone. "Go home. Get some sleep and listen for the call if we have to go in sooner."

That night Darien held Serena as she tried to drift off to sleep. He didn't feel good about what would come. He knew, deep in his heart, they wouldn't wait until the evening. He just hoped everyone would show up in time.

It was early afternoon when the gnawing feeling in Darien's stomach turned into a full stomach ache. The city was descending into chaos. From above, it looked like swarms of people were buzzing around the city breaking shop windows, mugging, and all sorts of things that he shuddered to see.

He looked at Serena and, placing a hand on her shoulder, said, "Call it in. I refuse to let this go on."

"But, they're busy…."

He leaned down and kissed her on the lips, "I was trying not to rule. I didn't want to be… It doesn't matter. It's time their Prince and Princess set the rules. This," he pointed at the city, "shouldn't still be going on."

Serena pulled out her communicator, setting off the alarm, and said, "It's gone too far. It's time to attack." She then slipped it into her sub space pocket. They both then transformed and leaped off the building they had been standing on.

When they reached the street, he smiled at her and whispered, "You look so hot when you transform." She blushed, and they stepped into the House of Fortune.

When she made her way inside and to the main room, Balm was there with twenty people. As she stepped forward, they all turned in perfect synchronization to stare at her. "Attack!" Balm yelled out.

As Sailor Moon stood there staring in horror, Elis watched on from the sidelines. Balm commanded the hoard of people standing there to attack her. "What do I do?" she pleaded. She hadn't felt this entirely at a loss since her first fight. How was she supposed to stop a bunch of innocent humans, many of whom she recognized? She couldn't bring herself to do anything against them.

Just then, Tuxedo Mask set his hand on her shoulder. "Stop them!"

"I can't; they're human!" He heard the desperation and defeat in her voice.

He leapt and landed in front of her, facing the group, "Stay behind me," he commanded her. He then raised his cane in an attack position.

"You can't hurt them," he heard the sorrow in her voice.

"Like hell, I can't. I won't kill them, but you are too important." He briefly looked back over his shoulder, "Don't ever give up."

She smiled tentatively at his back. He always believed in her. It made her feel stronger.

As he used the tip of his cane to push those back who got too close, she scrambled for an idea. "Give me a rose!" He handed one back to her, and she launched it straight at Balm, trying to break her hold on everyone. The rose landed halfway between them. "Oops, guess it's not as easy as it looks."

"Use your tiara, Sweetheart. And thank you for the commentary on what you think my abilities are," he said irritably.

She pulled her tiara from her head and yelled, "Moon Tiara Action," charging it and launching it directly at Balm. It struck her in the chest, and she screamed out as she turned into a pile of dust.

Serena breathed out a sigh of relief as Luna came in and leapt on her shoulder. "Whew, that stopped…" her eyes widened in disbelief as she realized the mass of people were still fighting Tuxedo Mask and trying to attack her. "Wha….?"

Luna dropped an item into Sailor Moon's hand, "I just felt like I have to give you this. Say 'Moon Healing Escalation.'"

She took the wand and held it up high over everyone's heads, and yelled, "Moon Healing Escalation!" It bathed the group of people in moonlight, and purple cards, tucked in their clothes, glowed brightly and then crumbled to dust. Finally, they were released from being under the thrall of the Negaverse.

"Where is everyone?" Tuxedo Mask asked.

Luna sighed, "They're on their way. We were just lucky you and Tuxedo Mask were able to sneak away in the middle of the day."

They then heard a snarl of rage come up from Elis. He was incensed. The fact that he was going to have to go back to Beryl reporting failure had brought on an intense rage. He refused to look like the fool in front of that woman.

He clapped his hands together high over his head, and the floor split in two out from where he stood—separating Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask, only by a small chasm. He then pulled his hands apart slowly, and the floor shook, almost knocking Sailor Moon to the ground. Tuxedo Mask leaped over, pulling her into his arms and holding her steady.

Elis glared at the two, "You think you can defeat me so easily. I'm King Elis of Earth!" He then brought his hands down, palms flat towards the ground, and the floor started to crumble. The walls trembled along with everything, and bits of dust and debris rained down.

The words "Fire Soul!" ripped through the room along with the fire that was launched from Sailor Mars' attack. The floor stopped crumbling when Elis had lost his concentration while dodging her attack. Jadeite then stood there and moved chunks of flooring careening towards Elis.

Elis made it back to his feet and held up his arm in the position one would use a shield, and the large chunks of flooring ricocheted off as if deflected. He then lifted his hands palms up, pulling rubble and flooring into the air, and then moved as if to shove them. Everything came careening towards them. Tuxedo Mask covered Sailor Moon with his cape as Jadeite protected Sailor Mars.

As they attempted to shift out of the rubble on top of them, they heard Sailor Venus scream out in fear over what might have happened to her Princess. She then yelled, "Crescent Beam!" shooting her attack towards Elis. While the attack was working towards him, she leaped in front of Sailor Moon, shielding her and Tuxedo Mask as they got up and assessed their injuries.

Elis was struck by her attack and stumbled back, falling to the ground. The attack knocked the wind out of him, and he grew even angrier. He slapped his hands to the ground, and it felt to everyone as if an earthquake had struck. Sailor Moon slid and fell to the ground. Tuxedo Mask realized then that her ankle had gotten hit by falling debris before despite how hard he had tried to protect her.

Jadeite used his powers to fling a table at Elis and yelled, "Now, ladies!"

"Fire Soul!"

"Crescent Beam!"

Both attacks hit Elis simultaneously, flinging him backward and ripping a massive wound in his side. He cursed fiercely and disappeared back to D Point. The battle was lost for him today.

Two minutes later, every Senshi and General was standing there staring at Darien as he held an injured Serena in his arms tenderly. "You're late!" he roared.

Serena sighed out, "Let's have this conversation when you're not worried over me anymore." She turned his face to look at her and caressed his cheek. "Bring me home. It's your turn to play the sexy nurse." That got a small smile out of him.

He sighed and pressed her close to his chest. He then looked over at the group. "Things are going to change now. As much as I just wanted her to be a normal girl, she's not. She's your princess, and from now on, that means you obey her. She was right about not waiting. I get you have lives to live, but so does everyone else in this city. I saw a man try to rape a woman today. He was stopped, but could you live with that if he wasn't?"

Silence reigned in the destroyed room. Luna then spoke up, "Take her home. Since we all know we're free tonight, why don't we meet at your place to debrief and to set up the new rules."

"I want everyone there, even the civilians," Darien said, looking at Kunzite. "I expect you to ensure that happens."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Everyone then left with heavy hearts.