(A green haired man is talking to a small green crystal)

?: No I don't think we'd look good in yellow. How would we get any respect
   if I wandered around with all-yellow eyes? People would think I had
   jaundice or something.

(he puts the crystal away)

?: Obviously, mostly C&C is supposed to offer comments on story direction and
   such. However, I am a character who is more of a C&Cer of philosophy than
   anything else, especially philosophies regarding good and evil, Crystal 
   Tokyo, and such. Keep that in mind.

?: I think I'll skip the token character this time, and just go onwards with
   John Biles' (*cough* bit of a Freudian slip in the last C&C over that ^_^)
   second chapter of this thing:

      "We lost Dr. Wise's Time Orb, Poppa.  Whatever broke through 
has.  Poppa...it..."  Her voice trailed off.

       "What, dear?"

       She turned to Dr. Wise.  "Can someone actually time travel 
with that thing?"

        He thought for a moment.  "I think it would help you not get 
lost if you tried, but the sheer power that it takes to travel 
backwards through time is enormous."

?: That's certainly no joke. And yet Pluto goes either way with ease. Just
   how much power did the people who activated the power of the Senshi have?
   Just what sources do they truly draw upon? Their planets? Somehow, I doubt
   it's just hunks of rock giving them energy. 

Nemesis,  Royal Palace, DY (Demand Year 305)

      Prince Demand frowned.  "Are you sure, Wiseman?  We can't 
afford another fiasco like what happened to King Hari at Belkin 
Ridge."  He shuddered at the thought.  Serenity's army had been so 
huge.  Albernia had been the greatest power on Earth, not counting 
the Winter Queen's vast hordes, when Serenity came.  King Hari had 
thought he could easily take down Serenity once she was exhausted 

>from battling the Winter Queen.  Hari had been an ignorant fool, fat 

with unearned pride.  He had ignored the prophecy at his cost.  
Serenity had swatted down Belkin without even noticing.  She 
hadn't even bothered to kill a single one of his warriors.  She hadn't 
bothered to stop their flight to Nemesis.  They were only the first of 
those who had fled.  

        The Wiseman was powerful, but not a match for Serenity, 
Demand thought.  He found the way here, he brought us all here, all 
those who fled Serenity's power, but he was no match for her, 
Demand thought.  He is a spider, who lurks in the shadows, a 
coward who flees honest battle, Demand thought.  

?: Do you know what the difference between knowing when to cut your losses
   and retreat, and not knowing that is? About six hundreds years of extra 
   life, so far, giving new opportunities at winning. Wiseman obviously is 
   just that, a wiseman.

"Food cooks itself, 
bathrooms clean themselves, laundry does itself.  We do hire 
caterers for special events, though.  Humans do a better job than 
magic on food.  We also keep gardeners, because people change 
their minds too often to leave it to automatic magic, and the 
hospitality staff escorts visitors around and makes sure their needs 
are met."  

?: This overreliance on magic is just that, an overreliance. What happens 
   when it fails them? Boom, civilisation falls.

      Jupiter boggled.  "But...I have to protect you, Serenity!  Who 
will..."

      "Who will threaten me here?  The worst that might happen is 
that I might overeat, or spill something on myself.  Besides, I will 
have Pluto with me, and Endymion."  She paused.  "And most of the 
other senshi are either within the palace or close enough to be 
called."  She turned to Pluto.  "Uranus and Neptune did return last 
night, did they not?  I didn't see them at breakfast."

?: Complacency on safety. The second great way for a civilisation to fall.
   The first, of course, is corruption and decadency. The third is rival
   groups/barbarians. Unofficially, of course.

       "No mugging?  Do you execute all the muggers?"

        He shook his head violently.  "We don't have the death 
penalty.  People almost never commit crimes for one simple reason.  
You can't get away with it.  It doesn't stop all crime, but it stops 
almost all of it."  He turned and pointed off through the park.  "The 
track is that way.  I'll be right back."  He got back into the skimmer.

?: That reasoning for little crime would have raised my hackles, if I was
   the one there. What about kleptomaniacs? People who find the thought of
   maybe being caught thrilling? People who covet something that someone else
   has; after all, not everything would be able to be duplicated with magic,
   some items would be unique. And more, and so on. What truly stops them? 
   What could cause such fear of punishment, in a place that has no capital
   punishment? The answer, ignoring mindwashings like Serenity's 'healings',
   seems to only fall to one thing: shunning. Peer pressure. Do a wrong, and,
   like in the ancient times, you would be treated like a leper. After all,
   what other punishment could be feared so much by a race willing to take 
   risks, then a punishment that seperates them from the pack?

      "People driving 800 KPH over the city, for example."  He 
laughed.  "People who climb up onto places they can't get down 
from.  The occasional fist fight.  Children who eat rocks.  Getting rid 
of poverty and having a fairly iron-clad justice system stops 
property crime, but the laws and the legal system haven't been 
made that keep people from being stupid.  The Troubleshooters 
have branches beyond the Criminal Justice branch, which deal with 
cleaning up the problems people get into.  Anyway, we can talk 
more about this later.  You go jog.  I'll be right back."  He backed up 
the skimmer, then turned and zoomed off.

?: Ah, the fourth problem of a civilisation waiting to fall: blaming any 
   problems that occur on stupidity and humanity's need to be human, 
   instead of looking deeper. You're going down Serenity, your civilisation
   is obviously teetering at the edge of destruction! Wahahahahahahaha!

      "Basically, yes.  The Archetype of Destruction.  Sort of.  It's a 
long confusing story, but the only way to stop the Winter Queen 
was to close Kali's gate so it could no longer use all its power 
through her.  

?: Things seemed grim, until the Archetype of Disco arrived. After he blinded
   the Winter Queen with the light reflecting off his white leisure suit, he
   did a dance number that had her retreat in embarassment at being in the 
   same room as him. The world owes its continuing existence to disco.

      Uriel finally spoke, having apparently paused in his making 
out.  He was tall and black haired, though you normally couldn't tell 
because of the black hooded robes he tended to wear everywhere.  
He did a great Wiseman imitation, but only when it was safe, which 
wasn't very often.  Today, though, he was wearing bright green 
robes embroidered with the Sailor Senshi symbols, an outfit which 
marked him as a member of the First Church of the Senshi, which 
he wasn't, but it was a great disguise.  "I'd rather appreciate not 
dying myself."

?: Now these are Nemesians I can respect. Anyone who disguises themself
   as a priest of the leader of the person they're fighting has cunning
   you can appreciate.

      "Well, the museum was a lot more interesting than watching 
people run, even if it was full of lies,"  Gabrielle said.  "Although not 
nearly as bad as that awful, 'Book of Truth' the Senshi worshippers 
quote from."  Cocking her head, she began to proclaim loudly, "And 
lo, Serenity cast her bread upon the waters and gave forth with the 
breath of life, and the ice melted and the grass grew, and Serenity 
said that it was good.  And it was good."  She continued onward, 
making blessing signs at passersby.  Soon, a crowd began to gather, 
and she harangued them on the glories of the gods and goddesses 
made flesh that walked among them.

      Michael took a moment to curse the day he was born.

?: Oh yes, I like these ones. I'm not sure you need a comma before the 'Book
   of Truth' bit, by the way. I suppose it's hoping for too much to hear
   their side of what happened?

       Jenni, Ryo, and Hikaru laughed.  Arcadia's skin crawled.  Her 
husband's ghost lives inside her?  Ugh.  She started on another 
sandwich, gobbled it in seconds, then said, "So, to about sum up 
what happened with Kali and the Great Ice is that she kicked your 
butt and you basically got lucky that you beat her at all.  Your 
heavy hitters got their asses handed to them on a plate, the second 
string got stomped, the third string all died or ended up as ghosts 
and whatnot.  Am I right?"

?: Escape girl! Escape before Crystal Tokyo turns you into another simpering
   toadie of Serenity! Escape before you lose the scepticism that CT so 
   obviously needs an overdose of!

       A woman in blue robes approached those around the 
monument and began to declaim loudly.  "Yeah, let us remember 
those who fell in service to the holy Serenity and her servants, the 
Senshi.  They are assured a place in paradise."

?: Yes, you can really respect someone who can carry a disguise like that 
   without gagging.

      "You don't want to know what comes next.  It's not pretty.  
History is full of death, destruction, greed, murder, lust, and other 
nasty things."  Arcadia sighed.  "We make the same stupid mistakes 
over and over, a litany of pain and betrayal."  She waved her arms 
about at the city.  "Most of this is rubble in my time.  Only the 
palace is even inhabited."

      "One must risk the thorns to grasp the rose,"  

?: Sometimes, the thorns themselves hold the beauty. For humanity are the sheep
   and the wolf, always wanting to be a part of a greater whole, always willing
   to give up one's individuality for safety and comfort, while at the same time
   always striving against the bars of conformity, always wanting something
   different from one's fellow man or woman. That is the greatest problem with
   the idea of Utopia, the idea of a time of blessed peace and good: humanity
   is diverse, and nothing pleases everyone. What happens to the dissatisfied,
   the unhappy? Do they have to leave to find their fulfillment, is their
   unhappiness hidden behind a rug because of the obvious 'Everything is nice'
   psychology that permeates the place?

      Usagi started scarfing down food as well.  "You've probably 
been using a lot of magic.  One way you can fuel magic is to eat, eat, 
eat.  Your body converts the food into energy and you can use it to 
do magic.  This works especially well if you're just running really 
fast, or becoming super strong, or something else that just lets you 
do something normal at a magical level, like outracing a skimmer 
on foot."  She ate an apple in four bites. "So where are you from?"

?: Or you can drain the life force and mana from people until they
   die. Of course, this causes _some_ social backlash but what the hey, 
   it doesn't pack on the calories like eating does.

      "Yeah.  It's so picture-perfect I could almost gag."  She finished 
her sandwich.  "Okay, that's an overstatement, but it's just like...I 
can't see how it works.  I haven't met anyone who wasn't nice.  
Well, one person did get kinda mad, but I can't blame her.  It's just 
so...It's all...It's this big fairy tale of happy shiny people, and I can't 
see how it turned into the horror story I'm from."  Arcadia stared 
at her food.  "Everyone's so hopeful and cheery and...I feel like the 
evil witch at a princess' christening.  People ask me about the 
future, and all I can tell them is that everything is going to go to 
hell in a handbasket.  That everything they've fought for is going to 
be destroyed.  And then the whole business with the museum and 
all..."

?: Look beyond the facade! Examine, see, search for the hidden angles! For
   a bitter young girl, you believe too easily! Somehow, I think you want this
   to be a golden age, you want a vacation in a happy place.

      Michael sat at the table in their hotel room and tried to read 
'The Book of Truth'.  'And lo, the wrath of the most holy Rei is 
terrible to behold, her anger a fire that consumes all it touches.  For 
she is the Wrath of the Most High made flesh, the avenging angel, 
the one who destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah at his command for 
their sins.  Yet too, she is the Angel of Song, her voice the cool 
breeze of the morning, her light that of the morning star, that 
heralds the coming of day.  And the people listened to the words of 
Imoron, as he spoke the words of the Most High, and they did 
dance and sing, and feast upon...'  Michael put down the book.  
"Damn you for making me read this stupid thing, Gabrielle.  I still 
think this is a stupid plan."

?: Ugh. _Who_ _wrote_ that _book_? They must die. Now. Or sooner, if at all
   possible.

      Michael glanced over at Raphaelle, who was busily sewing a 
green robe with gold thread.  "What did you pick?"

?: Why didn't they just use one of those wardrobe things?

      "I'm gonna be a Jupiter worshipper, I think.  We both do 
lightning."  She grinned.  "You should be a Small Lady devotee."

?: Oh good, that means in a very, very short time this place is going to
   become a load of pretty rubble, unless you're using the '900-year-old'
   manga version of the pink horror.

       "Yes, indeed she is."  A voice boomed through the room, 
reeking of death and bitterness.  It was a voice they knew too well.

      Everyone fell to their knees.  Raphaelle buried her face in the 
bed and didn't even look up.  Michael said quietly, "Hello, sir.  How 
can we save you?"

?: Save you? Strange greeting.

       Only one thing preserved human life upon the frozen Earth.  
Two things, actually.  One was a fact, the other a being.  The fact 
was that the Winter Queen was too insane to carry out a methodical 
plan of extermination.  The other was a being, known only as 
'Wiseman', a sage of great power who traveled between the tiny 
settlements clinging to life against the cold, the monsters, and the 
Winter Queen's rages.  

       'Wiseman' was presumed to be male because of his name and 
his voice, but no one really knew for sure.  Indeed, the prophet 
Andros had been burned to death for claiming that 'Wiseman' was 
actually the Winter Queen in disguise, simply playing with the 
Kingdom of Albernia, like a cat plays with a mouse.  Few really 
believed that, and they burned as well, for any community that 
spurned the Wiseman's help was left to wither on the vine before 
the assaults of the Winter Queen, the monsters, or simply the 
vagaries of the weather.  

?: I'm sure Wiseman has quite the ulterior motive. Who doesn't in life?
   But nevertheless, I'm finding it easy to respect him so far. A few
   casual threats of unending agony do not a bad guy make, after all. ^_^

      The Royal Palace was a three-story building of stone and dried 
clay, mainly distinguishable by its flag, which was a golden needle, 
and the stone pillar that jutted out of its heart over the roof, 
Angelica's Needle.  It was here than the King and Queen lived, that 
they communed with the great goddess Albernia who watched over 
the kingdom and preserved it from the ice.  Many gods and 
goddesses had died three centuries ago when the Winter Queen 
conquered the world, but their sacrifice had not been in vain, for 
the Winter Queen was cut off from the heavens, severed from most 
of her power.  Those few kingdoms that endured had the protection 
of some patron deity and of the Wiseman.

?: It was said before that the people prepaid in suffering for the 'wonder'
   of Crystal Tokyo. And yet, weren't these the people who eventually fled
   for Nemesis? Weren't the Senshi entrapped in ice? How much did _they_
   suffer in suspended animation, while people who etched a living were the
   ones forced to eventually flee? For that matter, what is life like outside
   of Crystal Tokyo? How is it for people such as the wandering people, who
   would probably prefer nomadity to living in a city such as CT?

?: Ah well, far more (obviously deserved ^_^) respect for the Nemesians in this
   chapter. Wiseman, quite often regarded as one of the most evil of 
   Sailor Moon's foes, came across as quite a decent guy, and the spies were
   decently cunning and certainly not half as stupid as the attack groups in
   the first chapter. It's shaping up as quite an epic, even if all the jumping
   around in time can put a strain on concentration.

************  
Mark Doherty  -  mdoherty@mailbox.uq.edu.au
My spam/fanfics are at - 
http://www.tass.org/~mdoherty/index.html

"Time grows short, but I remain tall."