I've got a bowling ball in my stomach I've got a desert in my mouth Figures my courage would choose to give out now Tori Amos, Crucify ---An Alternate Reality, the Present--- Kihomi threw some more pieces of wood she'd found into the fire. She didn't have a watch on her, and thus had no idea how long she'd been in this horrible place. There was no visible sun to measure time by either. The light from the fire extended some forty feet in all directions before ending, and that forty feet was now her world. She looked down at the cans she'd salvaged, and sighed. She had enough food for a while, provided the cans had done their job. The only noise other than her breathing was the crackle of the fire. She closed her eyes and thought back. She could remember the picnic, how excited everyone was for her and Setsuna. She still wished the ring had been bigger, but Setsuna was too overjoyed at the time to notice its size. Minako was the first to reach them at the bottom of the hill; she could remember teasing the Senshi of Love for weeping almost as much as she and Setsuna were. Rei immediately volunteered to perform the Shinto wedding ceremony when the time came. Hotaru came over next and gave her a huge hug. "Oba-san!" the child had said, "I... I'm so happy for both of you." While she and her mei hugged, Usagi and the rest of the gang finally joined them. She opened her eyes again to find herself sitting next to a small skeleton clutching a baby doll. She looked again at the soup cans in front of her as new images, of a silent world of death cloaked in blackness presented themselves before her. "Sets-chan." she whispered sadly as she remembered finding Ami's corpse. Looking around, she caught herself wondering which set of remains was her beloved's, and began to weep. ---Tokyo, the Present--- Saeko walked into the bathroom with the man following her, the pungent smells causing her face to scrunch up in disgust. On the walls obscene graffiti was sprawled and above their heads an old fluorescent bulb flickered. "We're agreed on the price?" the woman asked. "Yes, of course." the man said, showing a wad of Japanese yen with one hand while scratching at his five-o'clock shadow with the other. It figured she'd forget something like the need for cash. She had to show these primitives the light of darkness and the liberation to be found in silence, but she wasn't going to be able to do anything if she was caught. She needed a subway ticket, and she needed it now. She followed the man into the bathroom stall, locking the door behind them. "The things I do for science." she muttered as she got down on her knees in front of him. ------ "Momma!" Usagi shrieked as she ran in through the door. Behind her ran Ami and Haruka, "Momma, I..." "Usagi, for heaven's sake." Her mom sighed exasperatedly as she left the kitchen, "You've been living on your own for five years, and you still can't come and visit like an ordinary... Oh, hello." Mrs. Tsukino said, dusting some flower off her apron as she smiled pleasantly, "I didn't know you brought guests. Haruka, is it? And Ami? My goodness, I haven't seen you in ages, Ami-chan. How are your medical studies going?" Ami was a bit tongue tied; the apron Usagi's mom was wearing reminded her of some fun she and Makoto had last weekend making a "Mizuno fudge sundae." As Usagi gave her now blushing friend a confused look, Haruka stepped forward. "Tsukino-sama," the Senshi of the Air began, "We understand Usagi's older sister is here. We'd like to see her." The dark-haired woman smiled pleasantly, "Yes, Emi arrived a short while ago. She's in the kitchen at the moment, helping me with dinner." Ami finally shook her head clear enough to go over to Usagi's mom, "Tsukino-sama, why don't we go in the living room and I'll tell you all about my medical studies." "That sounds good." she said. Before leaving the hallway however, she went up to her daughter and whispered in her ear, "Haruka seems like a nice young man, but remember you have Mamoru." With that, she left the room with Ami. Now alone, Usagi placed her hand on her broach while Haruka reached for her henshin wand as they made their way to the kitchen. As they got closer, they heard someone whistling a happy tune. Usagi peered in through the doorway first. The woman in her mom's kitchen looked almost exactly like her; same blue eyes, same blond hair, same facial features. Her hair was shorter though, only coming to her shoulders, and was feathered a bit in the front. Also, she was taller than Usagi or her mom. As Usagi watched, her "sister" began washing out various pots and pans in the sink that she'd used with Mrs. Tsukino to fix the meal currently cooking in the oven. The future queen and Haruka now slipped into the kitchen. Emi was wearing a light blue skirt and a light green sweater, the sleeves of which were pulled up to keep them from getting wet. She was finishing wiping down a bowl used for mixing a sauce when she turned and saw the two stern faces watching her, "Usagi-chan." she said with a pleasant smile, "I was wondering where you were. And Ruka-kun. How's everything going?" "‘How's everything...' Who are you and what are you doing at my parent's house?" "I'm Emi, and I'm currently doing the dishes." the young woman answered good naturedly as she began to make her way to the kitchen door. As Emi looked around to make sure the three of them were alone, Usagi frowned. "That's not what I meant." she said exasperatedly, "I mean who are you really, and why are you here pretending to be my sister?" "I'm a friend." the woman answered, moving to the kitchen window to close the blinds, "And I'm here to help you." Haruka narrowed her eyes, "Friend? Look, the last hour and a half have not been very kind to us ‘Emi,' so..." The woman posing as Usagi's sister, sure that she was alone with the two, now turned to them, "Let me guess." she said in a lower tone of voice, "A woman in a blue suit with black hair appeared out of nowhere and did something to Kiho-chan, right?" Usagi and Haruka exchanged glances, "Yes," Usagi said, "But how did you know?" Emi suddenly looked extremely perturbed, "Damn." she muttered, "I was hoping to arrive before the event took place." Looking over to the two Senshi, she crossed her arms as she leaned up against the refrigerator, "I need you to tell me everything that happened, starting with when the woman first appeared." "Very well." Usagi said, "We..." she was immediately cut off by Haruka. "Usagi, what are you doing?" the sandy blond asked angrily, "Why are you so quick to trust this woman?" turning to Emi, the Senshi of the Air eyed her suspiciously, "You have yet to reveal who you really are." Emi looked at Haruka and sighed, "I wasn't supposed to unless absolutely necessary." she said, "But since we're alone..." she closed her eyes and allowed the disguise to fade away to reveal the fuku-clad woman standing before them. Both Usagi and Haruka were at a loss for words at first. Finally, the future queen broke the silence. "M... Mako-chan?" she asked, "What happened to your arm?" ---Crystal Tokyo, 3043--- Neo Queen Serenity looked out one of the windows to the palace. She began to have doubts about sending Lady Jupiter back to the past. There was a time, once long ago, when the enemies she faced could be dealt with using a simple "Moon Tiara Action." Then, more powerful enemies came, and more powerful attacks to deal with them. By the age of sixteen she was already capable of transforming into her eternal form. The others likewise began to increase in power over time. She'd told Lady Uranus that she sent Princess Jupiter back because she'd volunteered first. It was only partially true. The other part was that she was worried of the amount of power Uranus now possessed being exposed in the past. As it was, Jupiter's present power would put her on an equal footing with the Outers of the time period she'd been sent to. Lady Jupiter was currently so powerful in fact that she was barred from using her full powers within Crystal Tokyo itself. She worried that perhaps her old friend was too powerful for the past. Then again, desperate times... The sound of footsteps alerted her that she was no longer alone. Turning around, she saw Lady Mercury enter the chamber, wearing her ever present hinged knee brace on her left knee. The queen could remember asking her once after the final battle with Cthulhu and the Cthulhi why she didn't just have Saturn heal her knee. She just smiled at her and explained her parents were dead, and everyone around her grew old and died while she remained young. She needed the knee brace for her sanity; to remind herself that in spite of everything she wasn't a god, that she was still mortal. Serenity sometimes wondered though if that was all there was to it or if there wasn't also an attempt at atonement on her part for what happened near the end of the battle. "Any change?" the queen asked hopefully. The woman in front of her frowned. "Yes." she said sadly, "The periods when Lady Minerva is solid are becoming fewer and lasting less and less." Serenity looked at Lady Mercury for a bit before nodding her head. As Mercury left the royal chamber to go back to Pluto and Minerva, Serenity followed. ---Tokyo, the Present--- Michiru had left Hotaru at home with Setsuna. She didn't want to say it, but the Sea Senshi felt that in her current state Setsuna wasn't going to be of much help. She'd dropped the two of them off close to twenty minutes ago, and ever since arriving back home Hotaru watched nervously as Setsuna paced the living room, the Time Senshi mumbling to herself as she looked at a subway map printed inside the back of the Tokyo phonebook. "The subway." the Time Senshi murmured as she continued to look at the picture of the various underground lines, "If Ruka was right, she would've entered the Nakano-Fujimicho station. There... There's close to twenty stops on that line before it ends at Ikebukuro. But... But if she changes subway lines, she could be anywhere and..." "Setsuna-mama." Hotaru said out of concern for her adoptive mother, "Please, they'll contact us as soon as they find her." Setsuna looked at her daughter with a lost look in her eyes, almost as if she was staring through her, then started pacing again, "If... If she got off at the Nakano-Sakaue station and got on this line she... she could sit on the track and end up way out in Ryogoku or..." suddenly Setsuna's face began to contort as she clenched her teeth. She took the phone book and threw it against the wall across from Hotaru. "Shit!" she screamed, "Damn it, where is she; why is there no news? Why... oh god..." Hotaru went over to her Setsuna-mama and took her into her arms. Setsuna tried to withdraw from her embrace initially, but as her adopted daughter hung on she soon found herself returning the embrace as her fears for Kihomi and rage at the scientist from the future brought tears of frustration and anger out of her. "I... I'm sorry Hotaru, I..." "It's okay." Hotaru said as she held her, "I'm worried too." ------ "Experiments dealing with other dimensions?" Haruka asked. Jupiter nodded her head. "Other dimensions and time, actually." she explained as she began to put the gloves back on that she'd taken off to do the dishes, "She's extremely dangerous, and in this time period could do untold damage to the future Crystal Tokyo." Usagi caught herself staring again at the artificial arm her friend wore under her glove. Jupiter noticed and began to blush, "It... It's been awhile since anyone's stared at it like that." she said self-consciously. Usagi suddenly felt bad for embarrassing her. "I'm sorry, Mako-chan. I didn't mean to..." "No, Seren... Usagi. It's okay, it's a natural reaction." she looked down at the green metal and smiled as she flexed her fingers, "You know, with the sensors built into this I can actually feel objects just like with a real hand. I..." the sound of Haruka's communicator going off interrupted the conversation. ------ Michiru needed to get back to the temple and check with Rei to see if the priestess had been able to dig up anything on where their enemy might be. As she came to a stoplight by the subway depot she saw her; the scientist. She was coming out and appeared to be in a hurry. She quickly pulled out her communicator as the light changed. "Hello." a familiar deep voice said. "Ruka, I've found her." the Senshi of the Seas said as she parked her car. "Where are you Michi-chan?" "In the Shinbashi district, near some clothing stores. I'm going to follow on foot. Get the others out here fast." "Will do. Be careful." she added before hanging up. Michiru got out of the car and began to run back to where she'd seen the scientist. She had her henshin wand in the purse around her shoulder, and she began to reach out with her consciousness to see where the scientist might be. Her intuition led her to a supermarket where she caught a quick glimpse of the woman entering. She quickly ran through the parking lot and into the building. ------ "Momma." Emi called out. Mrs. Tsukino came out of the living room with Ami. Upon seeing the med student, a smile graced the "sister's" face, "Mom, I have to go out with Usagi and her friends for a bit. I'll be back shortly." Usagi's mother smiled pleasantly, "Of course. Have fun and drive safe." As they were leaving, Ami leaned over to Haruka, "Well?" she whispered, "Who is she?" "A friend." Haruka whispered back, "Usagi and I can't tell you more than that." Once they were outside, the four quickly ran behind the house. As Ami watched, "Emi" leapt into the air, heading towards the shopping district. She turned back to Haruka and Usagi, a worried look gracing her features. "Why can't you tell me?" she asked, "Is she really trustworthy?" "She's trustworthy." Haruka answered as she pulled her henshin wand out, "I'll personally vouch for her." "So will I." Usagi added, "So don't worry." Ami looked at the two unconvinced. As Haruka and Usagi transformed, she reasoned that if this person could make the blonde's family think she was a sibling, she could quite possibly also hypnotize her friends into trusting her. For the moment though, she didn't have much choice but to go along with them. She transformed and took off with Sailors Moon and Uranus, resolving to keep an eye on "Emi" should she try to betray them. ------ Sailors Jupiter, Mars and Venus were the first to arrive at the scene. Haruka had contacted them after getting off the phone with Michiru, and they were closer. The fact that their friend Kihomi had been missing now for a little over two hours gave them impetus to move faster than normal. Within the grocery store, Michiru suddenly realized she hadn't reported yet where in the Shinbashi district she was. She was about to pull her communicator out again, when Saeko looked out the window and saw Sailor Venus walking down the street looking around. "Fuck." the scientist muttered angrily. Looking around, she saw a small girl holding a red balloon standing next to her parents. Before Michiru could stop her, Saeko grabbed the child and aimed the orb at her. "No!" Michiru shouted. "What do you think you're doing?" the father demanded angrily. "Stay back!" she said, backing out of the store with her arm still tightly around the child's neck. "Look, it's over." Michiru said, "You can't get away. Just let her go." Sailor Venus meanwhile now saw the scientist exiting the store with the small girl and started running toward them. "Stay back, damn it!" Saeko shouted as she held the orb up to the child's head. Venus stopped in her tracks. The child meanwhile was panicking and started to kick the scientist in the shins. "Ow!" Saeko yelped in pain as she let the child go. Looking at the little girl angrily as she tried to run for it, the scientist aimed her orb, "Little bitch!" she yelled. Sailors Mars and Jupiter arrived just in time to see the girl enveloped in a blue light and disappear. ---Crystal Tokyo, 3043--- Serenity and the others continued to keep a somber vigil within the royal courtroom as Lady Minerva continued to phase in and out. The queen started to reach out to put a hand on Lady Pluto's shoulder for support when the door to the room burst open and a guard ran in with a terrified look on his face. "My queen." he gasped, "It's horrible!" King Endymion came over quickly, "What? What's happened now?" "Your Highness," the guard began, "Close to five hundred people within the last ten minutes have started to phase out of existence just like Lady Minerva, not just in Crystal Tokyo but worldwide." All the color drained from the king's face. He looked over to his wife to see fear in her eyes as well. "Jupiter." The queen whispered, "Please don't fail us." ---An Alternate Reality, the Present--- Kihomi slowly watched as the flames began to die out. She no longer had the ambition to try to keep it alive. Why bother. She was all alone, and she had no idea if this was another universe or the future she'd been zapped to. All she knew for certain was that all her friends appeared to be dead, and Setsuna was gone. She had nothing, and despair had begun to set in. Her body shook as she continued to cry, her face buried in her hands. As she could feel the heat from the flame continue to go down, she thought she heard something. She stopped crying and listened. At first she thought it was her imagination; her mind playing cruel tricks on her. Looking up from her hands, she saw a quick flash of blue light, and something small appeared to be within it. A second later, it was gone. The teacher was now scared; what was this that was appearing here in this dead world? She was alone, and unsure of what new menace she was about to face. She pulled out her henshin wand. "Minerva power, make-up!" she yelled out. A few seconds later, Sailor Minerva was standing in Kihomi's place. "Great Shield!" she said, using her glowing field once again as a flashlight. Moving toward where she saw the light before, she began to hear a small child crying. Reaching the area, she saw a small girl of roughly seven years old wearing a cute light blue dress and her dark hair pulled up into ponytails sitting among the remains of an arcade. "Momma!" the girl cried, terrified of where she found herself, "Momma! Daddy! Where are you?" she sobbed. "Shhh... calm down." Sailor Minerva said in the most soothing tone she could muster, "It's okay, you're safe." The small child looked up, her eyes widening when she saw who was speaking to her. She and her friends in the second grade often played Sailor Senshi, running around the playground pretending to fight bad guys and monsters. Her mom would always save newspaper clippings with pictures of the heroes for her to look at when she got home. She especially liked the one with the pony tails, Sailor Moon, but she was also a big fan of the others as well. And here, kneeling down right in front of her, was one of them. She was beautiful too, with long brown hair, grey eyes and a kind face. The child wiped her eyes and ran to the Senshi, wrapping her arms around her neck. Sailor Minerva was caught off guard at first, but quickly returned the hug. She always found it humbling how people in trouble always seemed to immediately find hope in seeing her or the others in their fukus show up. Especially the kids; there seemed to be an almost ingrained trust of the Sailor Senshi among the children, and she had promised herself to never betray that trust. For now, however, all of that didn't seem to matter. She was just overjoyed to no longer be alone, even if her new companion was just a child. The girl looked up at her now, her eyes full of hope, "You... You're a Sailor Senshi." she said. "Yes." the Senshi answered, "I'm Sailor Minerva." The child's face brightened, "Then you're here to help me?" she asked. The Senshi didn't know what to say to that; how was she supposed to help this little girl when she couldn't even help herself? She looked into the child's dark eyes though and found herself unable to crush her spirit with the truth. "Yes." she said, "I... I'm here to help you." The child smiled at that. Minerva was speechless; how could anyone smile in this place? She stood up and took the child's small hand in hers, allowing the child to stand next to her shield. "What's your name?" she asked the child. "Hoshi." the girl answered. "Well Hoshi, how did you end up here?" the Senshi asked, stopping to pick up some wood she found by her feet with her free hand. "A mean lady." The girl said, "She shined a light on me..." "And you found yourself here?" "Uh huh." the child said. As they continued to walk back to the fire, the child noticed something, "Sailor Minerva-sama, have you been crying too?" Minerva looked down at the girl and nodded "That mean lady sent me here too." She admitted. The child looked at her sympathetically. "Don't cry." she said, "Sailor Moon will help us." The Senshi could feel tears welling up once again, "Yes." she whispered, "Sailor Moon will help us." As Minerva sat Hoshi down by the fire, she laid more wood on it. Lowering her shield, she sat down too and picked the girl up, sitting her on her lap as the flames warmed them both. Meanwhile, deep within the subterranean catacombs of the Mugan Academy ruins, something began to stir.
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