(Note: Ecchi 1/2 is hopelessly stalled. Final Fantasy 1/2 and UF: Wilderness
are moving slowly. This is in response to Mr. Davis/Hosmer/Gaffney's fic;
since I don't have a SM story in the works, I better get moving.)
* * * * * *
CRYSTAL TOKYO
NEW YEAR'S DAY, 3001
THE BEGINNING OF THE NEW CRYSTAL MILLENIUM
Night fell with a thud over a city still very hung over from
celebrating more beginnings than any city, even Crystal Tokyo, deserves to
go through in a single day.
The pedant-mandated beginning of the fourth millenium, according to
the Gregorian calendar, is obvious.
Less obvious to a non-citizen of Earth is the official transfer of
duties from one group of men and women to another.
The most inconcievable beginning, though, the one that nobody
thought would happen until someone turned the last shovelful of dirt over
Usagi Tsukino's coffin, the beginning of the rule of the -second- Queen and
Protector of Crystal Tokyo, the new Sailor Moon...
... well, let's just say Crystal Tokyo is as much stunned as hung
over, and considering the number of toasts to the Queen's Health and the
high alcoholic content of saki, that says rather a lot.
Still, reality must set in, and for the people who engineer these
changes reality sets in faster than for others.
"Never thought I'd see the day," Minako sighed. The official
commander of the Sailor Senshi sat on the bed in the guest suite Usagi had
moved into since Usagi Jr. moved into the Royal Quarters. For the first time
in sixty-four years, she wore clothing other than her sailor-suit uniform,
and though she looked as dazzling as ever, she fidgeted beneath the civilian
clothes. Her blonde hair bunched together into two loosely tied ponytails
reaching down almost to her waist. "I mean, not being Sailor Venus anymore.
It doesn't seem real."
Makoto nodded. "I don't know what to do with myself." Her brown
ponytail swished behind her as she looked at the floor. "I mean, it's not
like Haruka, or Michiru, or the others. They're planning a vacation together
on Tau Ceti." The former Outer Senshi, with the exception of Setsuna, had
already said their goodbyes, packed their belongings up in a small starship,
and set off to see the universe. Setsuna, with the assistance of the new
Sailor Pluto, had elected to go back in time to live out the rest of her
immortal existence beginning with ancient Greece. The original five Sailor
Senshi, plus Mamoru, remained.
"Well, I've almost completed my research into the Grand
Thaumatenergetic Unification Equation," Ami smiled. Unlike Minako, who'd
almost never been out of her uniform, Ami had almost never been -in- it; her
lab coat could have been surgically attached, for all the other ex-Senshi
knew. "After that, I'd planned on seeing if I could design a more efficient
mana battery than the ones we've made, using-"
"Whatever," Rei frowned. The fire priestess seemed even more
taciturn and razor-edged than ever, her temper barely kept in check at the
best of times. Her Shinto robes might as well have been a nun's habit, for
all anyone could apprach her, and her dark eyes and long ebon hair reflected
the light in little shards and highlights of flame. "I'm just here to hear
what the dingbat has to say, and then I'm gone."
"The dingbat," Usagi called out from the doorway, "hasn't lost her
hearing, nor has she forgotten that twelve hours ago you would have at least
addressed her as Queen Dingbat." Sporting the same idiosyncratic odango
hairstyle she'd worn for over a thousand years, the former Queen skipped
into the room and flopped down onto the bed. "I see everybody's here."
"What about Mamoru?" Minako asked. "Shouldn't we wait for him?"
"Yes," Rei frowned, "especially since he's only your husband and all."
Usagi frowned. "Mamoru has.... gone ahead. He kind of had to."
Ami quirked an eyebrow. "Gone ahead? Does this have anything to do
with the septupidimensional projector you asked me to make last year?"
Usagi nodded. "Got it in one, Ami."
"Septupidimensional?" Makoto walked over to the bed, looking dead at
Usagi. "I don't like the sound of that."
"Hear me out," Usagi held up her hands at the other four Senshi.
"I've thought this through, honest!"
"You better have," Rei grumbled.
"Well, remember when I first said it was time for Usagi to take the
throne?"
"Oh, we remember," Makoto nodded. "It took six months to stop the
politicians for calling for a double helping of Rabbit Head on a Silver
Platter."
"I know," Usagi nodded, "but I figured, well, we've been doing this
a thousand years. Usagi's fifty years old, already. Sooner or later, we need
to pass the torch to the next generation and make way for them."
"We heard your speech, Dumpling," Rei barked, "get to the point."
"Well, the thing is," Usagi waved a hand around the group, "we're
immortal. Even if we pass on our duties, the part of us that made us Sailor
Senshi is part of our essence. Unless something kills us, we'll live forever."
"Something -did- kill us, on eight different occasions," Ami pointed
out. "The Crystal-"
"Please, if I can continue," Usagi looked at Ami, the stern gaze of
Queen Serenity now instead of her more casual smile. "The thing is, even
without the powers we all got from the Crystal, we're still immortal,
ageless, and pretty powerful.
"So what do we do with it?"
"Swimsuit catalogs," Makoto smiled.
"Studies on the fundamental nature of the omniverse," Ami said.
"Wild tantric sex rites," Rei said.
Whatever Minako had planned on saying caught in her throat as she
gaped, along with everyone else, at the stone-faced priestess.
"Ah, hm," Usagi managed to compose herself, "but my point is, here
we are with all this power, and it's not being used for anything useful, right?"
The others shrugged and nodded.
"Well, I decided that, instead of hanging around interfering with
the future of our world..." Usagi took a deep breath, her eyes twinkling as
she finished, "we're going to rescue another one."
".... are we," Rei spoke for the whole group.
"At least I am," Usagi nodded. "Using the Crystal, I fashioned new
transformation wands for all of us, and then sent them through the
septupidimensional translation to a world I'd viewed in the Crystal...
someplace that really needs magic, very badly." Usagi held up a small remote
and flicked on a crystal scrye on the wall; through its facets, a dark city,
spangled with neon and incandescent lights, overshadowed by a monstrous
steel monolith, glared back at the Senshi.
"From what I've gathered from the Crystal," Usagi said, "this
universe's Earth is currently in the first half of the twenty-first century.
After the great Kanto earthquake, a powerful corporation named GENOM
essentially took over Tokyo, and with it most of Japan. By the time pictured
in the scrye, it has about 20% control of the entire world. It's the single
largest corporation on that world, corrupt from top to bottom.
"The people living in GENOM's shadow are constantly terrified by the
monsters GENOM uses to achieve its goals. They're dependent on GENOM to
provide whatever living GENOM sees fit to grant. The unrest and hopelessness
in this Tokyo is building along with GENOM's influence. It's an unstable
situation... and it's one I'm going to help."
"Why aren't there Sailor Senshi already there to protect these
people?" Minako asked.
"I don't know," Usagi shrugged. "As far as I could tell, there are
no equivalents to us anywhere in this world's history. However..." The scrye
began replaying a battle between a group of hulking blue robots and four
feminine figures in shining metal armor. "There is a group of vigilantes,
all motivated by a desire to bring GENOM down. They're sort of like
mosquitoes irritating GENOM now... but it is -just- possible that, -maybe,-
they could set a chain of events in motion that could topple the giant...
and Tokyo with them."
None of the other Senshi spoke for a long moment; then, finally, Rei
mumbled, "When do we leave?"
Usagi nodded to Ami. "Ami, could you explain the situation?"
Ami nodded. "The septupidimensional translation window isn't just a
teleportation portal. It takes whatever you put in- like, for example, an
immortal, magically empowered Sailor Sensho- and translates it into a
version which, to all intents and purposes, is native to the destination
universe. We'd still have all our abilities... but we'd have no memories, at
least not at first, of our existence in this universe... and our magic would
be adapted slightly to fit into the, ah, leitmotif, the environment of the
destination universe."
"Tell them the rest of it," Usagi murmured.
Ami looked at her lap and murmured:
"it's a one way trip"
The women looked from one to another. Each one seemed a bit
frightened at the prospect of a new life, with no memories of the old, in an
alien universe. Leaving friends behind, giving up... who knew?
"Usagi," Minako said, "why are you doing this?"
"Look at me," Usagi said quietly. "In all the robes and trappings of
Queen Serenity, I look ancient, timeless. Take it away and I'm only 20 years
old, at least to look at. The same with all of you," she waved at each
Sensho in turn. "Like I said, unless someone kills us, we're not going to
die... and now that we've stepped aside, I feel it's only right to step
aside for those who are going to take over... and go somewhere else."
"You could have just gone by yourself," Rei grumbled. "The -rest- of
us have lives after Senshihood, you know."
"I understand that," Usagi nodded. "I'm going whether or not you
choose to. I just wanted to let you know." She stood up and pulled aside a
panel in the wall; behind it sat a swirl of snow and light plunging into a
direction the human mind couldn't properly register. "In fact, I'm going
right now. I've left my last will and all that, and made notes for the rest
of you if you chose to follow... I've even talked with Chibiusa about it,
and she tried to talk me out of it." She straightened her blouse, stepped
over to the vortex, and looked back. "If you're coming, I'll see you on the
other side. If not... you've all been the best friends a Savior of the World
could ever have," she said with a sad little smirk.
Minako stood up and took Usagi's hand. Her eyes bore into Usagi's
deep blue orbs as she said, "I spent a millenium at your side, Sailor Moon.
I'm not going to abandon you."
Makoto walked over and took Minako's hand. "I suppose the
photographer can wait an aeon or two."
Ami took Makoto's hand and smiled cheerfully. "You'll need someone
with some scientific training where you're headed."
Rei glowered at the others, then sighed, smiled, and took Ami's
hand. "And you'll need someone with some common sense, too. Let's do it."
Usagi nodded. "Last time, everyone. When we arrive, it'll be as if
we were born and raised in that universe. We'll have memories of everything
we did up to that point. Everything we know now will become a dream..." She
smiled a bit. "At least until we Awaken again."
"Back from the Negaverse again," Rei grinned. "Just like always.
Let's go, Sailor Moon. We've got a world to save."
"Thanks," Usagi smiled. Slowly, timidly, the woman who had led Earth
into the Crystal Millenium by sheer force of will stepped into the vortex.
One by one, the others followed, vanishing into the swirl. Finally, as Rei
stepped forward, muttering, "I know I'm going to-" she and the vortex both
vanished.
* * * * * *
MEGATOKYO
JANUARY 1, 2032
QUARTERLY TEMP RECYCLING DAY, GENOM STAFFING
"Ms. Tsukino... YOU'RE FIRED!!!"
"AAAAAAAAHHH!!" Usagi Tsukino, graduate of Quincy Academy for the
Liberal Arts, part-time student of literature at the University of GENOM at
MegaTokyo, and chronically sleep-deprived data-entry clerk for GENOM Temp
Services, sat bolt upright in her cubicle, shocked out of such a wonderful
dream... she'd been a fairy princess with magical powers, back in the good
old 1990s, battling evil demons with her friends...
... no, that couldn't possibly be right. Except for -maybe- her
aerobics instructor, she didn't have any friends. Her studies and interests
in writing hadn't made her many friends among the 'normal' students, and her
borderline-passing GPA had kept her firmly out of the super-achiever cliques
both in high school and college. So, of course, she couldn't possibly know
any dashing man in a tuxedo, or girls in sailor fuku...
... wait a minute...
"Fired?"
"Ah, so you're awake, Ms. Tsukino," the lathe-thin man smiled. His
skin seemed oilier than ususal; he must not be feeling well, Usagi thought
to herself. "Your constant sleeping on the job, your use of company
computers to craft your substandard attempts at fantastic fiction-"
"That was an assignment for my class!" Usagi protested. "I was
running behind and had to finish during my lunch break or flunk out of college!"
"NO EXCUSES!!!" her supervisor roared. "For the past ninety days,
you have been an embarrassment to GENOM! Well, young lady, this is the END!
You are TERMINATED! Your temporary contract is EXPIRED! As of 5 P. M. this
evening, you are not only an ex-employee of GENOM, your are the proud bearer
of a Black Flag employment record!" Mr. Kisagi smirked as he plunged the
final dagger in Usagi's heart. "That means GENOM will never, and I mean
NEVER, hire you back! To all practical purposes, you are no longer
EMPLOYABLE within Mega-Tokyo!"
"...what?" Usagi blinked. "No, wait, you don't understand! I have to
make a down payment on tuition next week! If I'm not-"
"Don't worry about that," Kisagi's smirk stretched even wider. "Your
black flag extends to all GENOM-sponsored educational venues. You have been
expelled from GENOM University, effective immediately. Your final
transcripts will be posted to the transfer school of your choice."
"But... but I had a hardship scholarship," Usagi said. "My parents
were both GENOM employees..."
"The scholarship has been revoked," Kisagi grinned. "In fact, Ms.
Tsukino, I think you should just move your belongings to the Canyons right
now and save yourself the trouble of eviction procedings from your
apartment- which is also, I might add, controlled by GENOM."
Usagi stared glassily up at Kisagi. She'd tried so hard, spent the
last three months sleeping four-hour nights or less to earn extra money so
she could hire a literary agent for her first novel and take extra classes
and keep up her aerobics classes... and now... her life was OVER.
"I'm only 20!" she whimpered, eyes glittering as the tidal wave of
tears built up within her. "It's too soon for my life to be over!!
WAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!" The wave broke, tears running down her face, her crying
drowning out the clacking of keys in the cubicles around her.
"SHUT UP!" Kisagi growled. "Forget 5 PM! I want you out of the
building right NOW! Collect your paycheck and turn in your access badge at
the security desk!" Kisagi reached past Usagi and, with one motion, snapped
off her computer.
"But... but I need to collect my files..." Usagi pointed at the pair
of compression-discs sitting beside her computer.
"Those discs will be wiped for the next authorized user, Ms.
Tsukino," Kisagi said. "Which is most definitely NOT you. Now OUT!"
Ten minutes later, Usagi had collected her paycheck from the
security guard, recieved another check from the bank, where GENOM had closed
her accounts- cashed her checks, trudged home to find a pink
termination-of-lease-get-out-in-30-days note on her apartment door, crawled
into her bed and bawled her head off for the next hour.
The ringing of her vidphone finally got Usagi out of the bed. Eyes
bloodshot from the sheer amount of salt water expressed from them, she
looked at the screen. "Hello?"
Her aerobics instructor blinked in shock at Usagi's state. "Usagi!
What's up?" Linna Yamazaki shifted uncomfortably in the viewscreen, worry
crossing her eyebrows. "You look like someone died."
"Almost," Usagi nodded. "Aw, Linna, my life is OVERRRRR!!!" Through
her sobs, she gasped out each injustice committed against her, until finally
Linna got the message.
"Gee, Usagi, I'm sorry to hear that," Linna said when Usagi stopped
babbling. "Listen up, hon, you pack up a few changes of clothes and come
over to my apartment tonight. You need some company after all that."
"... you mean it?" Usagi blinked.
"Sure do!" Linna nodded. "See you later!"
"Gee, thanks!" Usagi grinned, keying off the vidphone, slapping
together clothes, snacks, money, books, disks, video games, toiletries,
plushie dolls, and more books until her gym bag bulged at its
triple-expandable seams. Grunting with the weight of the bag, she worked her
front door open and was trying to squeeze through both herself and the bag
when she noticed the delivery boy. "Ah, may I help you?"
"Usagi Tsukino?" The dark-haired, tallish, handsome young man with
the UNITED PARCEL SERVICE shirt on smiled at her as he handed her an
electronic signing pad. "Sign here, please."
Usagi signed almost absently as she gazed at him.
"Okay, it's all yours. Thank you!" With that, the delivery man
turned and walked out of Usagi's life... leaving her with a small packet
about the size of a shoebox at her feet. She bent down to pick up the box,
barely glancing at the label: CRYSTAL MOON FOUNDATION, the return address said.
Oh, well, later, she shrugged, stuffing it into her overstretched
bag before trotting down the hallway, stopping, trotting back up the
hallway, locking her door, and then running pell-mell down the hall. If I
hurry, and the bus is late, maybe I can get to Linna's before sunset...
*** TO BE CONTINUED *** (hopefully tomorrow, when I can keep my
eyelids open)
Redneck
Kris Overstreet, web pages beyond belief
http://www.txdirect.net/users/redneck - Redneck Gaijin Online
http://www.jurai.net/~redneck/wlp/ - White Lightning Productions
http://www.antarctic-press.com/ - Antarctic Press Web Site
http://www.jurai.net/~redneck/acupunct/ - Anatomical Acupuncture
http://www.jurai.net/~redneck/dvpbem/ - In Nomine: Dark Victory PBEM