Blueeyeddevil06, thank you for being my beta and helping me form this story.
"You have cake and sex on your list?" Darien asked, snickering.
Lita shrugged, "Surprising no one. Notice my cake came first," she said pointing to the list, teasing.
"That's because he was sleeping! I would have put sex first otherwise!" Serena looked up at Darien and grabbed the paper from his hand. "Come on, baby; it's on the list after all."
"He's not up for a quickie, and with the way we're all behaving, that's what he'll get. Something is off about this clock," Rita said, handing it to him.
"I scanned it!" Amy said. "It's tainted with dark energy."
"It looks like Luna," Darien commented.
Serena smiled, "We thought so too! That's why I bought the thing at that new clock store."
He shook his head, "You bought this? No buying things from stores that go up seemingly overnight. Remember the House of Fortune?"
She blushed, "Yeah, I remember. To be fair, I should've known since alarm clocks are inherently evil. I'll make a mental note that all clocks really are bad."
There was a knock at the front door, and the rest of the guys were all there. "Oh, good. Thanks for coming so quickly." Darien stated, relieved.
The moment Nephrite stepped in, a pot came hurtling at his head. After Lita's previous attacks, he caught it easily. "You're mad at me for serving Beryl again?" He looked sadly at Lita.
"No, you idiot! You were supposed to propose to me!"
He looked at her wide-eyed, "Marry me?" He was more than willing to do exactly as she asked.
"Yes!" She yelled out happily and jumped into his arms.
Zoisite wasn't a stupid man. He heard the girls were affected by the dark energy and seemed to be in a hurry. He took one look at Amy and said, from across the room, "Will you marry me?"
She broke into a smile and held up a notebook, "Yes! And I have everything planned."
Kunzite took one look at Mina and crossed his arms, "If you think I'm proposing after I'm already your husband -"
She held up her notebook and said, "Scout and general plans, color-coded and indexed."
He walked over to her and pulled her into his arms, "I adore you."
"Because I'm awesome!"
"Yes, you are. And you're sexy as hell," his hand slipped down, grasped her butt cheek, and squeezed.
"Chop, chop, time is ticking. No time for that, Kunz!" Lita yelled out.
"Nephrite, tell your girl to shut up." He looked down at Mina and was about to kiss her when a coffee cup struck him in the arm. "Ouch! What was that for?!
Lita crossed her arms and glared at him, "You don't order him around!"
"I literally do. I'm in charge of the generals."
She narrowed her eyes, "I'm not a 'girl.'"
Nephrite groaned at that right as Jadeite perked up and said, "Really? I didn't know you were into that, Neph!"
Darien wondered how the whole thing had gotten away from him. Half the room wasn't affected by that clock, and still, the ladies were able to derail everything. It actually kind of amused him. "Moving on," he said. "Time to go to the clock store and figure out what's happening. I'm assuming we'll discover a new servant of the Negaverse. Rita and Molly, feel free to head home. Please research anything online that looks suspicious and let us know if we missed anything. And Rita," he said, turning to her, "thank you for calling me."
Ramwoir bowed low before Elis, "I have been collecting energy, my king. I live to serve you."
He smirked. It felt good to have people obey him and humble themselves before him. "I have been monitoring your energy intake. You have exceeded even Balm. Well done."
She looked up at him and stood, smiling. "When the shop opens today, I'm going to have a two for one sale."
He nodded at her and smiled. "Good."
Sailor Moon took one look at the shop and shuddered, "I can feel the energy now being pulled into the store."
Jadeite stepped close to Sailor Mars and whispered into her ear, "Are you okay? You look pale."
She turned into him and wrapped her arms around him. "I will be. Having you here matters. And I trust Sailor Moon. She understood how I felt before I even fully figured it out."
Tuxedo Mask watched the interaction, overhearing them. He was so proud of Serena and how she supported everyone. He lifted his cane and said, "Time for a little breaking and entering." He then smashed the front shop window then used his cane to clear out a large hole.
"So we're not going for the sneak attack. Good, I prefer to go in like this," Nephrite said. He then held out his hand to Sailor Jupiter, "After you, my love. Time to kick some ass." He then helped her step through the hole, careful she didn't cut herself.
"Notice he sent her in first," Jadite said, laughing.
"Hell yes, I did! She's way scarier than me. I don't mind admitting I'm hiding behind her. She can shoot freaking lightning bolts!" The whole group then followed them in.
Once the last one made it in, they all heard a loud grinding noise behind them, and they spun to see the hole they crawled through take on an eerie shimmer, and then the front of the shop disappeared, leaving a wall where the window once was.
"Well, we can't go back now," Sailor Moon said, casting her eyes at her friends. "I guess we go forward." Much to Tuxedo Mask's silent frustration, she went first. He didn't say anything since it was only fitting, but he wanted her protected above everyone else.
He strode forward though and stopped her in her tracks for a moment by pulling her into his embrace, her back to his front. He whispered, "Where you go, I go. Be careful. Without you, I have nothing."
She looked up at him, "I'm going to be by your side for the rest of our lives." He then released her, and they all went through the door to the back of the shop.
"Well, that's odd," Sailor Moon said in a quiet tone. She kept walking down what turned into a long hall. It was in a bright purple color and had no doors. The end of the hall was cast into shadow. That didn't stop her. She kept walking, finally finding an open door. She was the first to step through, and as she did, she turned into an old woman. She turned to look at Tuxedo Mask, and her back ached.
"Help me," she said, looking at him through her aged eyes.
Sailor Venus, in her panic, ran through the door before anyone could stop her. She couldn't leave her princess like that and unprotected. The moment she made it through, she was a toddler. She stomped her foot and yelled, "This sucks!"
Jadeite couldn't help himself, despite the situation, "Language, young lady!"
"Well, Dad, what do you suggest?" She sassed back.
Sailor Mercury had her computer out and was typing rapidly. The effect of the clock was helping her move faster.
They heard cackling, and Ramwoir stepped out from the shadows. "You should be easy to defeat now."
"Thank goodness," Mercury yelled. She looked at the others, "We defeat her, we break the time issues they are having."
Tuxedo Mask pulled out a rose, "Let me." He then launched the rose directly at her heart, and it struck, embedding itself there. He smiled until he watched as the rose withered and died, and her cut healed. "They say 'time heals all wounds,'" she quipped.
Sailor Jupiter mumbled, "Can it heal you when I roast your ass?" She then launched her attack. Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars, not wanting to be left out, launched attacks too. Ramwoir was hit by ice freezing her and then blasted with lightning and fire. She then shattered into thousands of pieces. Releasing Sailor Moon and Sailor Venus from their time distortion.
"Well, that was easy!" Jadeite said.
Sailor Mars turned and punched him in the arm, "You complete moron! What's wrong with you? Never say that!"
They heard slow clapping, and Elis stepped out of the shadow. Nephrite scowled, "They keep doing that!"
"You keep killing my minions. Talk about annoying. And Beryl's going to be a real bitch now. I'd want to kill you just for that." He cocked his head and narrowed his eyes at Sailor Moon. "You die first."
He pushed his hands forward, and the flooring in front of him ripped up and sailed towards her. Tuxedo Mask leapt in front of her, shielding her with his body and cloak as Jadeite redirected the debris to the right, where it crashed through the wall, leaving a hole.
"You seem to want to protect the moon bitch. I seem to remember that from the past." He glared at Tuxedo Mask.
Darien was pissed. Before Sailor Moon could stop him, he pulled off his mask and tossed it to the floor, where it clattered there. "Hello, Dad. Remember me?" He wanted to get Elis' focus off Serena and onto him. He wasn't kidding when he said he couldn't bear losing her.
"Endymion, my loser of a son. Did you actually find your little moon mouse again?" He shook his head. "She was so… boring."
"You wanted me to marry Beryl. What's wrong with you?"
He shrugged, "A slight miscalculation. She's such a bitch. She's a good fuck, though. You've missed out."
Sailor Moon stomped her foot, "Hey! We have crazy sex all the time! Just the other day, he tied me up and pretended I was his disobedient slave." She then stuck her tongue out at Elis.
Zoisite whispered, "And now I can never unhear that." He then shuddered.
"Go, Endymion. I say," said Kunzite. "Sailor Venus, I have a fun idea for tonight."
"You're on," she replied.
Zoisite put his hand over his face. "I don't really want to hear this."
"I don't know," Sailor Mercury said, locking eyes with him. "I think it sounds fun."
"Enough!" Elis yelled. "None of you are having sex!"
"Jealous?" Nephrite asked. "Heard your whores were murdered."
"No! I'm going to kill you all. You're all idiots!"
Sailor Jupiter scoffed, "Said the man having sex with Queen Beryl."
"She's not the fucking queen! I'm king, dammit. Get that straight."
"Does she know that?"
He then slapped his hands together, and the walls came careening towards them. Jadeite blocked again as Sailor Mars, Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury launched a planetary attack. It hit him hard, knocking him back, and he struck the wall, cracking it and slumping to the floor. Sailor Moon pulled her tiara from her head, yelled, "Moon Tiara Action!" and launched it at his head. They watched it head towards him, and half a second before it hit him, he disappeared, and the tiara struck the wall he had been leaning against.
"Dammit!" Sailor Venus yelled. "We didn't get him!"
"I knew I wouldn't," Sailor Moon said. "I don't really want him dead. I knew he would leave. I need to plan on how to heal him." She turned to Zoisite. "Any ideas?"
While she asked that, Kunzite picked up Tux's mask and shoved it at him. "What the hell was that?! He knows how you are. Beryl wants that information."
"I wanted the focus off Sailor Moon, and he's not going to tell her who I am. He hates her."
"Time to go, guys," Sailor Mercury said. "Let's regroup at headquarters."
"Where's headquarters?" Jadeite asked.