CHAPTER 6
Serena and her new friend Amy had been enjoying themselves on Sunday wandering around all the shopping malls in town. They looked at everything. Clothes, dolls, ornaments. You name it, they looked at it. They even went to the bookstore, mostly because Amy was so insistent about it. While Amy bought a book she wanted Serena picked up some new comic books. "Hey Amy. What did you buy?"
"An updated copy of Scientific Equations and Computations. Here take a look at it." Amy handed Serena the book.
While Serena looked at the pages and thought, "Awk. I have no idea what this is all about," Amy was looking at her comics.
"Oh dear. Serena's never going to amount to anything if all she does is read these comic books."
Later they were standing outside a clock store. "Let's make this our last stop Serena. I need a rest from all the walking."
"Okay Amy. Then we can have some ice cream," agreed Serena. The two of them admired all the various clock designs and the lady at the counter asked if they'd like to look at anything in particular. Serena's favourite was one that was a statuette of a cat with a clockface in its middle. It was also an alarm. Amy said if she bought it it could help her get to school on time. The lady offered it to Serena for only $10 and Serena thought that sounded good. But when she pulled out her purse she found only a few coins. "Oh no!" She burst into tears. "I didn't realize how much I spent at the video arcade. Now I'll keep oversleeping and being late!"
Amy made an offer. "How about I begin calling in at your house every school morning to make sure you wake up and then we can walk together?"
"Oh you're a lifesaver Amy." Serena threw her arms around her thanking her immensely. The shoplady grumbled and muttered to herself about her time being wasted when they left but as soon as other customers arrived she eagerly began trying to sell to them instead.
Later when Serena got home she had a big surprise. Her mother presented her with a box to open. "I was out shopping and I saw something I knew you'd really love. Hopefully it will even help getting you to school on time." When Serena opened her gift she was delighted indeed.
"It's the very same clock that I saw and wasn't able to buy. Oh thank you mum. Thank you."
"I also bought a wall clock for your father and I to hang in our bedroom. It will get him to his job on time."
Serena and her mother thought the cat clock looked just like Luna. However Luna was deeply incensed. "Nonsense. It doesn't look anything like me at all."
But Serena set it by her bedside that night after setting the alarm for school the following Monday morning.
Meanwhile back at the shop something sinister was happening. Jedite and Titus appeared suddenly to the shoplady after the store was all locked up for the night and she transformed revealing herself as Ramwoir, the other Negaverse soldier who had been guarding Saffron under the leadership of Titus.
"You are doing well Ramwoir," Jedite complimented her. "All of our magic clocks that you sold today will cast their spell upon the people while they sleep."
Titus added. "They'll all be running around desperately trying to get their daily business done in a crazed frenzy and all the energy they vent through their stress and confusion will be drawn to us for Queen Beryl."
Ramwoir gave a little bow. "I live to serve our queen and the Negaforce."
Jedite gave a pained frown and Titus frowned too as he spoke. "Well come what may we must make sure that you continue to live Ramwoir. All our previous soldiers have been killed except for Morga who is being discharged very soon from our headquarters hospital ward by either Sailor Moon or that mysterious masked man in a tuxedo. And now we have to contend with Sailor Mercury who distracted us with her cold fog long enough for Sailor Moon to kill Garoben. You must be very careful for our sake as well as your own."
"Yes our backs are still causing us pain and discomfort though they are healing." Titus looked like she was ready to cry at the memory of the brutal whipping Queen Beryl had sentenced her and Jedite to.
"I deeply sympathize," said Ramwoir. "But Queen Beryl is so needlessly harsh. As a soldier I know I may perish in battle one day in one form or another. Garoben and all the others knew that as well."
"We know," Jedite replied. "But Queen Beryl seems to think we should be responsible to keep our troops alive when they are on individual missions as opposed to full scale combat war."
"Please be very careful Ramwoir," Titus implored. "For our sake if nothing else."
"I will," promised Ramwoir.
In the morning Amy called in to pick up Serena as she had promised, only to have her mother tell her at the front door that Serena had already left over an hour ago. "What? We were supposed to go together!"
"I know. It's unlike Serena to get up at such a time," her mother agreed. "But she said she wanted to get an early start today." Amy was amazed, even more so as Serena's dad raced out the front door past her with his breakfast toast still in his mouth saying a muffled, hasty, quick goodbye. Next Serena's mum told her, "It's been very nice to see you Amy but I desperately need to do all the housework for today. Vacuuming, ironing, washing, cooking and everything else. I must start immediately or else I'll never get done. Every second is too precious to waste. Bye." Amy thought it was very weird the way Serena's parents were rushing about.
Meanwhile at school Serena, Molly, Melvin and everybody else were all desperately pleading with Miss Haruna to hurry up and begin class so they could take care of their own business afterward. But she insisted on waiting until it was exactly time to start and then to their irritation announced that she had so much to do herself today that she had decided suddenly to cancel their classes. She packed up her papers and said goodbye. Serena grumbled about how rude she was wasting their time like that and the others agreed. They all left to go home.
But things in general were becoming more and more chaotic. Amy noticed that everybody was running around all over the place and cars were driving so fast and erratically that there were several crashes. People yelled and argued with each other and the energy emanated to where Jedite and Titus were gathering it at the clock store. "This is all so very strange," she thought to herself.
Suddenly Amy heard Luna call out to her and as she turned around she saw that Luna had the cat clock tied to her back. "Amy I noticed this clock was mysteriously giving out a glowing light upon Serena while she was asleep. I suspect it may have something to do with what is happening to everybody."
"Let's take a look Luna." Amy sat on a park bench and untied the clock from Luna. She took out her mini-computer that Luna had presented her with the other day and carefully prised the back of the clock off. Holding her computer she scanned the insides and found that something unusual was indeed in the mechanism.
"Aha! I was right," said Luna.
"This is major weird Luna. This force is designed to affect people's relation to time. No wonder everybody is rushing around and causing trouble and confusion."
"Yes even Serena got up early this morning Amy. Two entire hours early."
Just then Serena herself came running around the corner and they both called out to get her attention. Pulling up to a halt Serena asked what they were doing there and they both explained what was happening. So they all raced off to the shop to investigate.
When they arrived Luna wanted them to take time to formulate a plan of attack. But Serena was still under the influence of the magic spell and was grouching about how she was running out of time to do all the things she needed to do and all the other things she wanted to do for fun and pleasure. She transformed into Sailor Moon and talked Amy into bursting through the front door with her. Amy transformed also saying "What are we waiting for? I'm tired of wasting time planning things anyway."
Luna worried that the spell was beginning to infect Amy like a disease plague.
Sailor Moon used her tiara through to break the doors down and she and Sailor Mercury ran inside followed by Luna. Inside they found Ramwoir still disguised as the shoplady. "Hey you!" Sailor Moon yelled. "I'm Sailor Moon."
"And I'm Sailor Mercury."
"We're the champions of justice."
"So in the Name of the Moon you'd better surrender, and make it snappy because I haven't got all day to wait."
Ramwoir shed off her disguise and said defiantly, "You can't scare me little girls. Follow me with your kitty cat companion. If you dare."
She disappeared inside the body of a huge grandfather clock and the hands moved to the midnight hour giving out twelve eerie chimes. "Come after me girls. Unless you're scared." Her voice taunted them from inside.
"I have no time to be scared." Sailor Moon ran inside the clock with Mercury and Luna at her heels.
As soon as they were gone Jedite and Titus appeared and laughed triumphantly together.
"Nothing to worry about this time Titus honey pie. As long as this clock stays on midnight not even Sailor Moon will be able to overcome Ramwoir. Her power over time is absolutely strong."
"And Queen Beryl will be delighted that we have finally done away with her plus Sailor Mercury," added Titus as she hugged and kissed her lover. They continued to laugh gleefully during their cuddles and smoochings.
Luna and the two girls tracked down Ramwoir eventually but before they could do anything Sailor Moon began to shrink into a small toddler girl. Luna and Sailor Mercury were shocked but Ramwoir waved the staff she had pointed at Sailor Moon and declared, "I have complete power over time. I just made it go far backwards for Sailor Moon as you can see. As for you Sailor Mercury, I can also make it go forward." So saying she pointed her staff at Mercury and she began to change into an old lady.
Luna tried to attack Ramwoir with an angry meowl. But Ramwoir just casually froze her in mid stride. "I can also make it stand still. Now which one of you shall I blast into nothing first? The old timer or the baby?"
"No. You leave me fwiend alone!" The toddler Sailor Moon cried and the elderly Sailor Mercury staggered as she tried to move almost falling over her own feet.
Jedite and Titus could overhear everything that was happening inside the big clock from where they stood to their immense glee. But so could Tuxedo Mask. He had entered through the broken doorway and snuck up quietly while their backs were turned. With their attention rivetted to the clock face he realized the girls were in trouble and seizing his chance threw a rose right into the center of the clock smashing it and breaking the mechanism.
Jedite and Titus wheeled around in shock to behold him.
"Oh no!"
"Do you realize what you've done?"
Ramwoir immediately felt the effect of what Tuxedo Mask had done and so did the others. Sailors Mercury and Moon returned to their normal forms and Luna unfroze collapsing to the floor. "What's happening?" Ramwoir was very worried.
"Mercury Bubbles Blast!" The icy cold blast of Sailor Mercury's attack sent Ramwoir into deep chills.
Sailor Moon said "Where is she?"
Mercury pointed out her eyes glowing in the cold fog. "Aim for those two dots."
"Right. MOON TIARA MAGIC!" Sailor Moon's tiara cut through the fog taking Ramwoir by surprise. As it struck her and she was blasted to dust her last thoughts were of her promise to Jedite and Titus. "Nooooo!"
When she disappeared so did the clock and the entire shop. The two girls and Luna found themselves on a vacant patch of sidewalk with Jedite, Titus and Tuxedo Mask.
"Again I have helped you Sailor Moon and I am pleased to introduce myself to your friend Sailor Mercury."
"Mercury. It's him. The handsome masked man I told you about."
Sailor Mercury was amazed to finally see him and she smiled and waved. "Hello there."
But Jedite and Titus didn't stay to chat. They were very upset and transported back to Queen Beryl with dread. There they were sternly told by her that they were fortunate in that Ramwoir had survived and was now in the hospital ward. "She told me that when she realized what was going to happen she put all her reserved strength into trying to come through alive for your sakes. Needless to say she succeeded and she begged me to be lenient with you two. I am getting sick of your failures but because Ramwoir is going to live I will let you off with just a warning this time."
Jedite and Titus almost fainted with relief. They fell to their knees and bowed respectfully to their monarch gasping their thanks.
"Now hear me out." Queen Beryl went on. "Morga has been discharged from the wards today. So she will be ready to return to active service soon. I have taken it upon myself to come up with a plan of my own for your next mission and it will involve not only Morga but also Kigaan. You two are to infiltrate the Cherry Hill Temple disguised as servants to sell good luck charms to students who visit there. They will really be our own Negaverse charms designed to drain off their energy. While they are dazed and disoriented they will board a bus driven by Kigaan and Morga who will be disguised as a driver and conductor. They will kidnap them all and take them to another dimension where the rest of their energy can be quietly removed. That is a perfectly fool-proof plan. Not even you could possibly louse it up. And you'd better not." She finished her speech on a threatening tone glaring at them making them tremble and cringe where they lay prostrate.
"Uh n-no Queen Beryl."
"W-we will not l-l-let you down."
Meanwhile back on earth Luna told Amy and Serena how very proud she was of them. Serena said she never wanted to go on mall sprees again after this experience. That is until Molly suddenly ran up. "Hey Amy! Serena! The shoe store is having a big sale. Everything half price!"
"I love shoes!" Serena was all excited. She ran to follow Molly and then stumbled over her own feet crashing to the ground. Molly never even noticed and ran off while Serena began to whine and cry.
Luna sighed. "I should have known it was too good to last. Serena will always be Serena."
Amy agreed. "Yes undoubtedly."