The Rebound Effect - Arc 1
A Sailor Moon fanfic
by Tim Williams - fireangel37@yahoo.com or ffml_tim@yahoo.com

Disclaimer goes here. (Sailor Moon and Tenchi Muyo! at some point)

Author's notes:  Hello and welcome!  Some of you may remember this
fanfic from ages ago (and others may have been searching for it at some
point or another and given up).  I am, in fact, not dead, though a five
year long hiatus from fanfiction may make it seem that way.  I am
certainly a better thinker than I was way back when, but I'm not sure
I'm a much better writer.  However, I am better able to edit this story
since I haven't even read it in years.

This fanfic, being re-released as a single part was originally released
in eleven installments (which are now the Chapters of this complete
"volume") from March 29, 1998 to April 8, 1998.  More was released
later, but this eleven day long period marked the beginning and some of
the pivotal development of the story.  The text has been reformatted and
edited for content and clarity, so it's mostly the same, but not quite.
Some sections are virtually unchanged while others were almost
completely rewritten.  Chapter names were done on the spur of the moment
and some of them rather suck.  Which is fine, since they were never part
of the original posting.

The individual commentaries for each chapter were removed since much of
the dialogue was dated and/or completely invalid now.  I've also changed
the formatting drastically (tabs have been replaced by blank lines,
etc).

Though it has yet to receive the revamp it so richly needs, you can find
the original version of the following on my old website at:

http://www.angelfire.com/tn/twillia/

Is this a herald of me starting back up with the series and attempting 
To finish off arc two?  Maybe.  I may also attempt more of TRE: Again! 
which will likely end up being a Love Hina version of this plot (not the 
quite the same).  Arc one is a bear, not just to read but to edit.  Word
currently tells me it stands at 73 pages at 10 point font and almost 
30,000 words.  I never thought to write something so long, but I think
it's fairly good.  After so long, it's almost like reading someone else's
work, anyway.  Also, I will likely give the start of arc 2 a similar
treatment in due course.

Even though it is old, C&C is still more than welcome since I want to 
end up with a final version of this section.  If you�re brave enough, you
can even MST part or all of the fic, but you may want to cut along
chapter lines (which were the original parts in any case)... There a
couple which would make good fodder, I believe.

Oh, and one quick note.  //text// implies thoughts.  It's certainly more
distinctive than ', and more intuitive than <> to type.


Chapter 1
Somewhere in Space and Time


Lady Mercury watched intently as the data glyphs streamed across her
terminal at a pace impossible for most people to follow.  It wasn't very
often that one got to witness something as spectacular as the formation
of a black hole, but that was exactly what was being displayed on the
monitor in pulsating greens and yellows.

Few other events would warrant a personal viewing by a scientist of her
status, but here she was, drifting through space halfway across the
galaxy from her home in her tiny observation vessel, the Hermes.

The process was well underway by the time they had come out of warp, and
the apex was fast approaching.

"Ma'am, my terminal is showing that we just lost contact with Earth
Central," her co-pilot interjected, his voice a startling contrast to
the soft humming and buzzing of monitoring equipment.  He was on loan to
her from the Interstellar Naval Academy and took his job a little more
seriously than she may have liked, though he was well trained and always
professional.

"It's probably due to the rapid flux of the gravitational field," she
replied distractedly, her eyes still focused on the incoming data from
the collapsing star.  A faint sense of foreboding tickled the back of
her mind, "But it would be best if you attempt to reestablish contact."

The sound of rapid typing seemed to fill the small craft's control
chamber, though Mercury's sense of wrongness continued to grow.

"Ma'am, no luck," the man said nervously.  "I can't get a link to
anything within the Solar system.  And not only that, but I've also lost
contact with the base on Apollo III."

Mercury sighed, brushing off the nervousness that she was starting to
feel.  Incidents like this weren't unheard of near cosmic phenomena, but
knowing that didn't sooth her nerves much.  Though it was probably
nothing, her first duty was still to the safety of her Queen even if it
meant missing a once in a lifetime opportunity like this.  "Deploy the
reconnaissance drone and set a course for Earth."

He rapidly obeyed and within a matter of minutes, the ship was coming
about to begin the long trip home as the small form of the data
collection drone drifted lazily away.  The drone wasted no time in
deploying its collector dish, its small stabilization thrusters firing
to keep it in the proper orientation as the shimmering sheet of foil was
unfurled.

"Ma'am, contact lost with everything on the other side of the Gambian
Belt."

Mercury nodded slightly.  //Always trust your instincts, girl,// she
admonished herself as her lips settled into a grim line that could
almost be mistaken for a smile.  //You're getting slow in your old
age.//  Things had been silent for dozens of centuries, and now
everything was going to hell all at once.

She turned to her pilot.  "Full speed toward Earth, and put the contact
map on the forward display."

Soon the forward hemisphere of the cabin was bathed in faintly glowing
yellow-green lines that formed a simplified map of the Milky Way.  All
known human and alien settlements, worlds, and outposts were highlighted
in a brighter green that almost seemed to hover a few centimeters over
the backdrop.  Well, the ones that were still sending "alive" messages
were highlighted in green, a vast expanse on the left side of the map
was in red.  Red was for worlds that should be sending "alive" messages,
but weren't.

Earth was in the middle of the dead worlds.

Even as she watched, the tide of red dots expanded outward slightly and
her mind raced as she began a series of rapid mental calculations.
"Change course for Centauri IV.  All possible speed."

According to her math, which was rarely wrong, they should arrive at
Centauri IV shortly before the encroaching wave.  She silently prayed
that it was all a gravitational event, and not something more sinister.

***

Lady Mercury awoke slowly to the dull red lights of emergency power.
Her last memory was of a watching a glowing wave of energy consume the
planet below them and then feeling the shock as it hit her tiny vessel.
There had been no chance to turn aside and likely nowhere to go even if
there had been.  If the sensors had been right just before the impact,
there shouldn't even be a galaxy left.

Groggily, she began to take stock of the damage to her body.  Dozens of
bruises, some quite large, and a twisted ankle all throbbed in response
to her mental cataloging.  Not too bad, she thought, considering what
had hit her.

Slowly, she began to take stock of her surroundings.  Two things caught
her attention immediately.  For one thing, the contact map was still
splayed across the cabin's forward display, though the lines were dimmed
due to lack of power.  The map was showing quite a bit of green, though
not as much as it should have been, and many of the dots seemed to be in
odd places.  Secondly, her pilot was missing.

He wasn't dead, he was just gone.  No body, no scorch marks, nothing.
In fact, the ship seemed to have taken no substantial damage other than
the missing crewmember.

Well, it's not like she needed him to get home, but he had been kind of
cute...  She frowned and cut the thought off before it got started.
Worry about the Queen was her first priority, and then came everything
else.

Without much trouble, she got the ship back to full power and back into
motion though the engines took two cycles before they came humming back
to life.  Whatever had hit her had done a number on the ship's
electrical system in a magnetic fashion.  Fortunately, most of the
important parts were designed out of crystal and a simple restart
repaired the problems.

As she powered through the solar system, heading for deep space it was
safe to enter warp, her instruments registered a distress call from just
outside the orbit of the eight planet.  Frowning slightly at yet another
interruption, she changed course to intercept.  Doing so would only cost
her a half hour or so, and compared to the length of the journey ahead,
it was an almost insignificant detour.

Soon she was upon the source amidst what appeared to be a vast debris
field.  A detailed sensor sweep eventually narrowed down the signal to
what appeared to be an escape capsule floating in the midst of wreckage.
Though the markings on the side of the pod were not something she
recognized, she carefully maneuvered along side of it and brought it
into the tiny hold of the ship.  As soon as the capsule was aboard, she
resealed her hold and pulled away.  Setting the autopilot for Earth, yet
again, she went to find out exactly who or what had needed her help.  If
they were victims of the same disaster that appeared to have caused so
much other havoc, it was possible that they knew a little bit more about
what had gone on.

***

Inside the warm jelly that filled the interior of the pod, a humanoid
female floated.

In fact, if Mercury didn't know better, she would have sworn that the
girl was her sister or daughter, but she knew she had neither.  On
closer inspection, she found that the woman didn't look all that much
like her, after all.  Mostly it was the blue hair and the headband that
did it.

//Might as well ask her who she is,// Mercury decided and pressed the
buttons on the capsule's control board that seemed most likely to be the
proper sequence to free the woman from stasis.  Though the controls
themselves weren't familiar, the language labeling them appeared to be a
dialect of Kurosh, which was fairly common on spacecraft parts.

In a matter of minutes, the pod had dissolved to a pool of goo and the
woman was beginning to come around.

"Mihoshi..." she murmured distractedly.  "Going... kill you..."

The language the girl spoke, at least, appeared to be very similar to
Japanese, the galactic standard.  Mercury waited patiently as her guest
regained consciousness.  She knew from experience how much fun waking
from stasis was.

"Oh... my head," the blue haired woman muttered as her eyes cracking
open just a bit.  Crusted stasis jelly cracked on her face as she did so
and some smaller pieces fell to the floor.  "Where am I?"

"On board my ship, mind telling me exactly what you were doing floating
around in a pile of wreckage that doesn't seem to have been a space
vessel?"

"Weren't a space ship, was a house.  Who are you?"  She was slurring her
words a bit, almost drunkenly.

"A house?  How strange," Mercury smiled slightly, mostly out of gladness
that she wasn't the one suffering from a stasis hangover.  "As for
introductions, how about we get you cleaned up and talk in the control
room?  Would you like some tea?"

"Sounds good," the woman muttered and tried in vain to get to her feet.

"Here, let me help you," Mercury said as she offered the woman her hand,
which was gladly accepted.

***

"So, Kiyone, you're in the... What did you call it again?" Mercury took
another sip of her tea as she carefully watched her guest.

"Galaxy Police.  Don't tell me you don't know who we are."  Kiyone took
a sip from her own cup of tea as she studied her rescuer carefully.

"Actually, I've never heard of them before today.  Of course, the way
things have been these last few decades, I could have missed something
like that."  Mercury sighed lightly as she tried to remember the last
time she had time for something so simple as watching the news and
couldn't.

"We've been around for seventeen hundred and fifty three years," she
mumbled, though her host's raised eyebrow seemed to indicate she had
been heard.  She decided it was time for a change in topic.  "What about
you?  I thought I was familiar with most of the major nobility, but I
don't recognize your name."
Mercury smiled faintly.  "I'm not noble, by any means.  Well, in so much
as my birth parents were nobles."

"Ah, but you introduced yourself as "Lady"?"

"Force of habit.  You can call me Ami," she grinned broadly.  "No one
ever does, but I have to try."

"Okay, Ami," Kiyone grinned slightly as well.

"It's one of those things that gets thrust upon you once you've defeated
a certain number of "Evil Menace Set to Destroy the Universe"s, I think
the requirement is currently five, but I'm not certain."

Kiyone grinned.  "Guess I have two more to go."  She took another sip of
tea then looked up, startled.  "I can't believe I've forgotten to report
in!"

"Oh, you may use my communications system if you wish."

"Thank you."  Kiyone bowed slightly and moved forward to the control
panel.  After a few moments of fumbling with the unfamiliar equipment,
she found the right buttons and dialed in a signal designation.  The
lieutenant's face appeared on the screen.  "Kiyone?  Is that you? Thank
God!  You're alive!"  He looked on the verge of tears.  "Listen,
Mihoshi's gone out of control, she's in the Solar System.  You've got to
go and keep an eye on her, you're the only one she'll listen to!  If
anything happens to her, I'll lose my job!"

Kiyone scowled.  //I spend who knows how long floating in space because
of that bubble head, and now they're trying to give me another
assignment with her?  I can't believe this!//  "Sir, I have to decline.
I don't have a ship, and if you think that I'm going to spend one more
SECOND on the same assignment as that-"

Mercury broke in, ignoring the look of chagrin Kiyone directed her way,
"If you need a lift, I'm heading to the Solar System right now... In
fact, we'll arrive in just a few days."  //Besides, I need to find out
exactly who the "Galaxy Police" are and what they are doing on Earth.
Possibly they are the source of this recent.//

Kiyone gaped in dismay.  "See, Kiyone," the lieutenant said laughing in
relief.  "You'll be able to rejoin your partner in no time at all!"

Kiyone sighed in frustration.  It was always like this.  No matter what
she did, she couldn't escape HER.  Never, ever, ever.  She wanted to
cry.


Chapter 2
Wake Up, Wake Up


Queen Serenity awoke slowly.  Even after 1500 years, she couldn't find
her way to being a morning person, not that it really mattered.  When
royalty wanted to sleep in, everyone else usually decided that a late
morning to early evening schedule suited them just as well.  Thus, most
of her personal responsibilities could be taken care of in the
afternoon, and the few that couldn't, her daughter was more than capable
of handling.

That meant that most mornings she was able to gently rise from her
slumber and greet the day gracefully and happily.  It was amazing how
much easier life was if one actually got adequate sleep at reasonable
hours.  After all, dawn was something best experienced only from the
other side.

This morning was different, however.  For one thing, someone was shaking
her quite violently and yelling.  After a couple seconds of foggy
confusion, her mind reached out for the Silver Crystal, readying herself
to draw upon its awesome power if this was an emergency, which it almost
certainly was. In shock she realized that she could not find it and her
eyes snapped open, a deep sense of foreboding filled her, but she was
ready for anything.

Well, anything but the face that gazed down on her.  It was a ghost.
Dead for hundreds of years, but now somehow arisen and attempting to
rattle her arm off.

A few of the apparition's words made their way into her mind before she
fainted.  Words that she had thought to never hear again.

"Usagi," her mother's voice demanded.  "Wake up this instant, you're
already LATE!"

***

Tsukino Usagi awake slowly.  Even after 15 years, she couldn't find her
way to being a morning person, not that it really mattered.  Her mother
always got her up and out the door in time for a nice brisk, headlong
suicide dash to school.

Her eyes drifted open just as her mother was preparing to resort to the
cold water treatment.

Over the years, Usagi had become fairly well versed in the methods her
mother employed in waking her up.  Cold water was the very last weapon
in her arsenal, which meant that she was seriously late for school.

Her eyes snapped wide open, and a familiar mantra formed on her lips:
"OhmygodI'msolate!"

Her mother breathed a sigh of relief at not having to spend the rest of
the morning drying out the mattress and hurried took a step back as
pajama-clad tornado that was her daughter went dashing past.  She made
her way downstairs and gathered up the more portable items of Usagi's
breakfast and her lunch.

Usagi spared two point three seconds to give her mother a hug as she
snagged the proffered food, darted out the door, and made her way at
amazing speeds toward school, a piece of toast gripped firmly between
her teeth.

***

Serenity groggily came around and found herself to be running somewhere.
Well, she wasn't really doing the running, but her body was.

//Where am I going?// she thought.

//Iamsolate! Gottogettoschool!// another thought answered.  It sounded
almost exactly like her own mental voice, but it certainly wasn't hers.

//Err... Hello?// Serenity projected. //Can I have my body back?//

"Ican'ttalkrightnowIamsolate!" her body said, drawing strange looks from
several pedestrians that had been trying to mind their own business.

//I'll just wait till you get to school them... well, I guess it's we
since you seem to be in control of my body,// she said with a resigned
mental sigh.  She was fairly certain that she could wrench away control
if she needed to, but doing so would have to be a last resort because of
the possible side effects.

Whoever was controlling her body seemed completely unaware of this and
dashed along even faster.

As they ran along the streets, places and people began to tickle
Serenity's memory.  She got the distinct impression that she had been
here before, but couldn't place most of it immediately.  Things
certainly didn't look like Neo-Tokyo, though.

Her body rounded a last corner and heaved a sigh of relief.  After a
couple seconds, Serenity identified the building ahead as a school.  A
junior high school.  Juban Junior High, to be exact.

Suddenly, things began to fall into place and Serenity realized who was
in her body with her.  It was her.  And this was apparently the past.
It was a big shock, but also a big relief.  Time travel wasn't anything
new to her.

Though the fact that she was apparently without her body was a new twist
on things.  And the Silver Crystal was nowhere to be found, which meant
that there was no direct way to contact Sailor Pluto.  This could be
bad.  Very bad.

Might as well have a talk with myself, she decided.

***



All morning, Usagi had been feeling a bit strange.  Her head felt...
full.  She was used to having cobwebs and the like when she first woke
up, but this was something different, though not altogether
uncomfortable.  Not to mention the strange thoughts that would surface
in her mind periodically and take quite a bit of effort to ignore.

Now it was time for lunch and she was sitting underneath a tree with
Naru, chattering about various subjects, boys being a particular 
favorite.

//Ahem, do you think we could talk?// a strange voice that sounded
suspiciously like her own asked inside her head, much louder than
before.  The thought was, if anything, annoyed.

"What?!" she exclaimed and jumped slightly.

"Usagi-chan, are you alright?" Naru leaned forward slightly, a look of
mild confusion and concern on her face at her friend's outburst.

She shook her head to clear it. //I'm hearing things again.  Just like
this morning,// she thought and frowned slightly.  "Yeah, Naru-chan, I'm
fine.  Just thought I heard someone calling my name is all."

//Would you like to actually listen to me?  I've been trying to get your
attention all morning.  Don'tspeak!  Think what you want to say,// the
voice tried again.

Usagi's expression turned puzzled. //Err... Hello?//

//There!  That wasn't so hard, now was it?//  The voice sounded
decidedly happy, though it also held something of a mother praising a
child.

//Who are you and what are you doing inside my head?//

"Usagi-chan, are you sure you're alright?  You keep staring off into
space like that..." Naru asked as she waved her hand in front of Usagi's
eyes which had been slightly glazed through most of the internal
dialogue.

"Oh... ah... I'm just fine!  I was just thinking about Motoki, that's
all!" Usagi answered hurriedly. //We'll talk later.//

"Oh, I know, isn't he just..."

Serenity sighed mentally, //Whatever.//

And things went back to normal for a while.

***

Serenity dozed lightly inside Usagi's head, waiting for a chance to talk
to herself, strange as that may sound.

She finally got her chance when Usagi was sitting in detention, slowly
working her way through a set of kanji exercises.  Another memory
tickled her mind and she gave a short mental laugh.

//What's so funny?// Usagi thought back to her, more than just a little
annoyed. //Who are you, and am I going crazy?//

//Well, I'm you, it's possible we're both insane, and you don't know
kanji,// Serenity smirked slightly.

//If you're me, then you can't do it, either, so there!// Usagi stuck
her mental tongue out at the voice.

//Really?// Serenity exerted a good deal of her will and grabbed control
of her writing hand.  Such a limited grab at control wasn't likely to
cause any damage to the body, at least.  It was amazingly easy, her past
self having nowhere near the experience with mind control and possession
that she did.

"Hey!" Usagi exclaimed, drawing an odd look from the teacher overseeing
her and the other two students sharing her detention.

Soon, the page was covered with perfectly drawn characters and she
released her control of the arm. //There.  How's that?//

//Errr... perfect... except for one thing...//

//Oh?// Serenity replied, a bit shocked.  She had spent almost five
years learning how to write the junk and was rather proud of her
ability.

//No one is going to believe that I wrote this...// Usagi replied,
causing Serenity to heave a sigh of relief. //But it'll still get me out
of here, I hope.//

She took the paper up to the teacher who was standing watch.  "Sensei,
I have completed the assignment, my I go home now?"

The teacher shot her a disbelieving look and perused the work.  She
immediately walked past Usagi and began to search the classroom.

Usagi, puzzled, followed after her.  "Umm... Sensei, what are you
doing?"

"I'm trying to find the person that did this work.  I know your work,
Tsukino-san, and I know that those two," she gestured at the two boys
sitting near the front of the room.  They smiled sheepishly.  "Couldn't
have done it."

"Oh... uhh... I just got a flash of inspiration, that's all." Usagi
laughed nervously and began debating the intelligence of handing in the
paper.

The teacher heaved a sigh.  "I guess you can go, but next time, I want
you to sit closer to the front of the room so I can keep a closer eye on
you."

Usagi bowed slightly in gratitude and took her leave.

//Great, that little stunt of yours almost got me in trouble,// Usagi
fumed at herself.

//Hey, it's been a while since I was in school.  How could I be expected
to remember how bad a student I was?// Serenity shot back. //Besides, it
got us out of there, didn't it?//

Usagi just grumbled.

//Say, where are we going, anyway?// Serenity was suddenly serious,
almost sensing what was coming.

//We are going to talk, that's where.//

//Oh, goodie.  How about we talk while you walk?// Serenity suggested as
a sudden idea hit her. //We can go to the arcade or something.  I
haven't played a good game of Sailor V in far too long.//

//Sailor who?//

//Mina-chan,// was the only answer she received.

***

They arrived at the arcade a short chat latter, Usagi now knowing about
as much about the situation as Serenity.  However, she was having
trouble getting any facts about the future out of the voice that claimed
to be her future self.

//And why won't you tell me anything USEFUL about the future?// she
asked for the third time.

//Well, let's put it this way, if I accidentally give you information
that changes your future, I might end up not existing.  I can't tell you
anything important, sorry.//

Usagi grumbled to herself again, only slightly concerned that she was
beginning to make a habit of it.  The doors slid open at her approach
and she looked around the arcade, hoping that Motoki was working.

//So, what was it you wanted to do here?//

//Sailor V!  It should me the fourth machine in the second row, near the
fire extinguisher.//

//If you're from a long time in the future, how do you manage to
remember things like that?  I have trouble with things that happened
just a few months ago.//

//Trust me, if you spend anywhere near as much time as I did in here,
you'd know the whole place by heart.// Serenity smiled mentally to
herself at the prospect of enjoying one of the many activities she
hadn't been able to engage in for several hundred years.

//Is this it?// Usagi peered at the machine skeptically.  The blazing
title "Barbarian Warrior Goddess" was surrounded by scantily clad,
highly muscular men and women.

//Err... no.  I don't remember this one at all.// Serenity watched the
demo game kick in. //It doesn't even look like her.//

//Well, this is a total bust, Motoki's not even here,// Usagi pouted.

//He has a girlfriend, you know.//

//He WHAT!?!  How COULD he?// Usagi almost broke down wailing, but
Serenity seized control of her body.

//Not on my watch, you don't.  Just because he's not available doesn't
mean that there isn't someone out there that was destined to be with
you.//

Usagi sniffled mentally, but it just wasn't the same. //Hey, aren't you
sharing facts about the future with me?  Didn't you just spend fifteen
minutes talking about how you couldn't do that?//

//Err... well, I'm starting to think that this may not really be the
past, after all.  So I don't guess it really matters what I tell you.//

//Wait a minute, if you're not in the past, why are you in my body?  And
if you're me, how come you can write kanji as well as the teachers?
And-//

//I never said I wasn't you.  I'm just not the you that you'll grow up
to be.  Get it?//

Usagi thought for a few seconds. //No, not really.//

Serenity sighed. //Okay, let's head over to the shrine and see if anyone
else is having our problem.  You do know where it is, right?//

//Which shrine?//

//Never mind, I'll just do the walking.  Mom isn't expecting us home for
a while, is she?//

//Nah, I usually go hang out with Naru-chan.  But she's helping her mom
set up for some big jewelry show.//

Serenity, still in control of the body, nodded.

After a few more minutes of walking, the Hikawa Shrine came into view.

//Here we are,// Serenity announced.

//This place?  Isn't this a shrine a bit small?  We could always go to
the big one over on-//

//It's not the shrine I want to see, but the people.// Serenity marched
up the stairs, a faint grin of nostalgia on her face.

She spotted Rei's grandfather, who looked up from sweeping the stairs at
her approach.

"Excuse me, kind sir, but I'm looking for a Ms. Hino Rei.  Would you
happen to know where I can find her?"

"Of course.  I'm always happy to help out a pretty young lady such as
yourself.  She's around back chopping wood for the furo," he smiled at
her in a benevolent manner that Serenity suspected would change into a
leer the second she turned her back.

"Thank you very much." She bowed and continued up the stairs.

//So, exactly who is this Rei person, anyway?//

//One of my dearest friends.  She's the only I can think of to talk to
about what's going on.//

Usagi accepted the answer grudgingly. //But will she help us?  I mean,
she doesn't know you yet.//

//Got any better ideas?//

Usagi let it go at that.

By that point, they had reached the top of the stairs, and the faint
sound of wood being chopped could be heard from behind the living
quarters area of the shrine.

Moving stealthily, she made her way around the corner and spotted Rei,
dressed in her Shinto robes, wielding a small axe and cutting small log
down to size for use in the shrine's furo heater.  When the maiden
stopped for a second to catch her breath, Serenity cleared her throat
quietly.

"Excuse me, but are you Ms. Hino Rei?" she managed to put a hint of
doubt into her voice, just in case.

Rei looked up, startled.  "Serenity-sama?"

Serenity broke out into a wide smile.  "Now where have I heard that name
before?"

Rei dropped the axe and threw herself at Serenity in a bone-crushing
hug.


Chapter 3
One Head is Better Than None


Kino Makoto wrapped her arms tightly about her pillow and mumbled into
it.  Then the first rays of the morning sun touched the foot of her bed
and the alarm began to sound.

"Mina-chan... turn that off..." she muttered and rolled the pillow
halfway over her head.

After a few seconds, she groggily sat up and stared at the alarm clock.
It was 5:45 am.  She hadn't gotten up that early for decades.  Minako
must have set it for some strange reason.

She flipped over and slammed the snooze button, reaching her other arm
out toward her bedmate.

It was at this point that two things sank in.  One, she wasn't in her
normal bed.  Not that that was anything incredibly unusual, since she
did so much traveling, but it didn't look like a hotel room, either.
Two, she was alone in bed.  This sent a definite shiver down her spine.
The only reasons that Minako would have left bed early would be a
serious emergency, but surely she'd have woken Makoto first, or she was
going to cook breakfast.

The cooking of Aino Minako is just as legendary as that of Kino Makoto,
though for an entirely different reason.  While Makoto's food was a
delight to eat, Minako's would usually lead to a long hospital stay.
That is, if you were lucky.  If she was even looking at the stove, she
had to be stopped.

That was more than enough to get Makoto out of bed, even at such an
ungodly hour.

As she stood there, naked, several more things caught her attention.
For one thing, the bed she was sleeping in was far too small for two
people and the furnishings of the room were so old as to be antique.
Finally, the clothes scattered around the room didn't look like anything
she or Minako had been wearing the night before.

"Uh, oh," Makoto muttered.  "Where am I?"

The last thing she remembered was falling asleep in the other girl's
arms.  She sighed faintly at the memory.   Their encounters were always
wonderful.  For the last seven or so centuries, they had sought each
other out at irregular intervals, usually not going more than a decade
apart at a time.

It was true love.  Not some trashy sex thing like they each ended up
falling into far too often, but two friends who were always there for
each other, who always would be there for each other.  They would spend
a night or three together, most of the time just holding each other and
talking about times past, and then move back into their separate lives.
There was something about knowing that she could hold the same person
again in another thousand years that made the encounters so desirable,
even needed.

Both of them had had more husbands than they would care to count, Minako
even had a wife briefly, but they all left after a few years, unable to
handle the stress of being married to a Senshi, or met with a tragic
end.  The pain would keep accumulating until it was almost unbearable.

And so, they found each other when it became too much and shared their
burdens.  To hold each other and know that at least one thing in their
lives wasn't going to be eroded by time.  It was something like what the
Prince and Princess had, or Neptune and Uranus.  Love among the
immortals.

They had only seen each other briefly the night before.  Minako, nursing
the pain of the last man who had left her when he found out that she was
one of Serenity's soldiers, had sought her out as she was leading a
delegation to the Peoples Republic of New Australia and that night they
had talked a long time before finally falling asleep in each other's
arms.

But now, Minako was missing, and this was definitely NOT the hotel room
they had been in the night before.  Thoughts of assassins and kidnappers
floated through her head briefly as she scanned the surroundings.
Certainly, nothing looked particularly menacing, though such a shabby
room was an oddity even in the worst parts of New Austrailia.

She made her way from the cramped bedroom to a small hallway and into
the neat little bathroom.  She fumbled with the old fashioned knobs
until the water was good and cold and splashed a healthy amount on her
face.

She shivered as the cold brought her fully awake and then glanced into
the mirror for the first time.

The face looking back at her was hers, but it wasn't.  It was much
younger, and her hair was back in the long style that could be easily
tied back that she had favored through most of her young life but given
up as impractical later.

It was then that she heard the voice.  Well, it was her voice, but it
wasn't.

//Hey, how'd I get in here?//

"What!?!"

//Who said that?  Hey!  Why can't I talk?// the voice was loosing it's
grogginess and taking on an angry tone.

"What are you doing in my head?"

//Your head?  This is my body, give it back!//

"This is my body, in case you haven't noticed.  Look in the mirror."

There was a second's worth of pause before the voice answered. //Yeah,
that's me in the mirror, now GIVE ME BACK MY BODY!//

Makoto clutched as the sink as she experience something akin to a mental
kick in the shins.  Not very powerful, but it came as a total surprise.

"Cut that out.  What do you mean, 'That's me in the mirror'?  That's
me."

//Like hell it is, get out of my head, and get out of my body before I
hurt you bad.//

"Listen, kid," Makoto spit out.  She wasn't sure why, but the other
voice definitely seemed much younger than herself.  "I don't really have
time for this, a friend of mine is missing and I don't care what it
takes for me to get her back.  If that includes taking you out of the
picture, so be it.  Now shut up and tell me exactly what you're doing
inside my head."

//It's my head.  I went to sleep last night and when I wake up,
someone's standing in my bathroom using my body.  Where the hell did YOU
come from?//

"I went to sleep last night and woke up with a different hairstyle, a
missing friend and a in strange house.  You sure you don't know how to
get out of my head?"

//MY head.  And would you kindly get out of it?//

"Err... no, don't know how I got into 'YOUR head' in the first place."
Makoto frantically searched for a change of subject, if this
confrontation kept going on for much longer, she was going to have to
hurt the punk.  "Say, what's your name?  One of us is in someone else's
body and we don't even know each other.  This is a bit too much like my
last boyfriend."

//What's yours?//

"A bit defensive are we?" Makoto said then hurried on before the
impending outburst could hit.  "My name is Kino Makoto, now will you
tell me yours?"

//MY name is Kino Makoto, what's your REAL name?//

"That IS my real name.  I've had that name for over a thousand years,
and I've never met anyone with the same name."

//A thousand years?// there was a mental snort.  //Get real.//

"Hey, we're two people in the same body, and you have trouble believing
that I'm a thousand years old?"

//Good point... Can I have my body back now?//

"Will you get off that?  I don't know how to give you the body even if I
wanted to."

//Just don't stop me when I take over.//

Makoto stood there for a couple seconds, a bit confused by it all.  Then
she felt a... presence attempt to take over her limbs.  Instinctively,
she fought back and the presence vanished.

//OUCH, I said for you to let me take over!//

"Sorry, reflex."

//Well, let's try this again, and you don't stop me this time.//

Makoto nodded and soon felt the presence again.  This time, she fought
her instincts and let it take over.  She found herself sinking back down
into herself as something else surged past her into the front of her
body.

"Ah, much better."  Her body moved out of the bathroom and into the
bedroom and began collecting the pieces of a school uniform and putting
them on.  "Geeze, this whole fiasco is going to make me late if I don't
hurry.  Happy?"

//Happy?  Sharing my body with you?  Yeah, right.//

"My body."

//Whatever.//

***

Mercury's tiny star shaped vessel cruised silently through warp space as
she played yet another game of chess against her guest.

"Are you sure you won't tell me who this "Mihoshi" person is that you
were babbling about in your sleep?" Mercury asked, one delicate blue
eyebrow arched in a quizzical expression.

"Were you listening in on me last night?" her guest asked.  Her hair was
tied back in a ponytail because of the strange effect the goo in the
stasis capsule had on it.  She was also missing her trademark headband
because it didn't look right with the braid.

"No, but "babbling" is not quite the right way to describe what you were
doing... I think "screaming" is a better fit."

Kiyone brushed a stray strand of hair from her eyes.  "Yeah, I guess I
have some rather... strong feelings about her."  She paused as yet
another strand of hair drifted into her eyes.  "How long do you think
it'll take for my hair to recover from that junk, anyway?"

Mercury smiled sadly, "It won't.  You'll have to wait for it to grow
back normally.  Though we could give you a trim if you want to get some
semblance of order going again."

"Hmm..." Kiyone started at the hair in front of her eyes for a moment.
"Okay, I can't live with it like this.  Are you sure you can cut it?"

"Oh, I've cut hundreds of people's hair, just let me go find a pair of
scissors."

Kiyone nodded and proceeded to clear off the table and fold it back into
it's storage compartment.

Mercury mumbled the rest of her sentence as she walked through ship in
search of a pair of scissors.  "Of course, they were being shaved for
surgery at the time, but it shouldn't be too different."

***

Dr. Frankenstein would have given his left arm for even half of the
eerie, mad scientist style equipment that filled Washuu's laboratory.
Well, someone's left arm, anyway.

Crackling worms of electricity danced across instruments that probably
served no purposes other than generating crackling worms of electricity.
Bubbling vials of liquid sat on bubbling machines and there was even a
human body attached to a strange, table-like device in the middle of the
room.

Well, Frankenstein would probably have had a dead body, but this one was
still living.  And struggling.  And mostly nude.

"Now, Tenchi," Washuu began as she pulled the second rubber glove into
place.  "Where were we last time?"

She walked forward a bit before continuing, "Oh, yes, Angel of Mercy
time."

Tenchi struggled harder against his bonds, but it was no good.  Mihoshi
usually saved him from these situations, but this time Washuu said that
she had taken the ultimate precaution.  Namely, locking the door.  It's
amazing what the owners of multi-dimensional homes take for granted.

Washuu let out an insane cackle as she pulled open his boxer shorts with
one hand.  "Time to shake the dew off this lily!" she exclaimed happily.

 Tenchi squeezed his eyes shut, hoping to ward off the approaching hand
with the power of his mind, not that it ever worked when his life wasn't
in danger.

"Excuse me, Washuu, we need to talk."

Tenchi opened his eyes and heaved a sigh of relief.  Over to one side of
the room was a strange looking woman with long, dark green hair in a
black sailor fuku.  The outfit was outlandish on an adult, though it
certainly didn't look like any school uniform he had ever seen before.

"I don't know who you are, but thank you!" he exclaimed.

"Pluto, dear, would you mind coming back in half an hour?  I've got
some... business to attend to," Washuu replied with a distinct note of
annoyance in her voice.

"Actually..." Pluto began.

"Hey!  This doesn't look like the bathroom."  Mihoshi wandered out from
between two particularly large machines and began looking around the
room in a puzzled manner.  Or, at least, that's what she wants you to
think.  Ever think about that?  Huh?

Washuu shot Pluto a scathing look.  "You let her in here, didn't you?"

"Nope, she was in here before you locked the doors," the Senshi replied
with a smirk.

"Okay, Tenchi," Washuu said with a sigh.  "We'll continue this later.
Just get Mihoshi out of here before she breaks anything."

There was a muffled boom from the device that the blond detective had
been playing with.

"Too late."

"Just get her out of here!" Washuu yelled as she flipped the switch that
released him.

Tenchi wasted no time in grabbing his clothing, Mihoshi and darting out
the door.

Washuu watched him go with disappointment clear in her eyes.  "So, what
did you want?"

"Well, there have been some major changes in the time stream," Pluto
began.  "I was wondering if you would care to try to figure out what
caused them.  Oh, and how are you set up for cloning Earthlings?"

***

Makoto spent most of her day as normal, though the voice that had taken
up residence in her mind kept nagging her to see a guidance councilor.

Finally, she relented and skipped lunch to have a talk with Hinawa-
sensei.

"Hinawa-sensei, I was wondering if I could have a word with you?" Makoto
bowed slightly at the older woman.

"How may I help you, Kino-san?" she replied, returning the bow.

//Let me handle this.// the voice asserted.

//Okay, but I really wish that you'd tell me what you want to see her
for.// Makoto released control of her body to her other self and sat
back to watch the meeting.

"Sensei, I've been thinking a lot about my record."

Ms. Hinawa's face tightened slightly.  "Yes?"

"I know that I've been in a lot of fights and all, and I know that it's
only going to lead to more trouble since I've developed a bit of a
reputation as a fighter."

//Errr... what exactly are you doing?//

//Trust me.  I've been through this before.  Besides, they kick you out
of here tomorrow.//

//They what!?!//

//Do the words "chicken-legged bitch" make you angry?//

//Hell yes.//

//Let's just say that they made me angry, too.//

Makoto was silent and let the other mind handle the rest of the
encounter, not that she could have wrestled back control, anyway.
Whatever had taken up residence in her head had a will of iron.

"Kino-san, I'm well aware of your record and I know that one more-"

"Ma'am, I know that I'm close to being ejected from this school, but
with my reputation, another fight is inevitable.  Some guy will
undoubtedly try to pick a fight before the week is out."

Ms. Hinawa nodded gravely.  The girl had finally figured out her
problem.

"So, I was thinking that it might be best if I just left for another
school where I can start over again."

Her counselor heaved an inward sigh of relief.  Finally, she thought,
she's getting out of my hair.  "Have you decided where you want to go
to?"

"Yes, I was thinking that Juuban seems to be a nice, calm area to live
in.  Exactly what I need right now."

"I couldn't agree more.  When shall I have your papers sent over there?
Next week?"

"Actually, Sensei, I was hoping to start there tomorrow."

If Makoto hadn't been there, her teacher would have jumped for joy.  "I
see... It is highly irregular for transfers to be so fast, but in your
case, I think I can pull a few strings."  She glanced at the clock on
the wall.  "Why don't you go say goodbye to your friends before the
lunch period ends and take the rest of the day off.  I'm certain that
you'll need the time to move your things into a new place."

//Exactly why am I moving?  And to Juuban of all places, that's the most
boring area of the city!//

//Juuban is anything but boring, believe me.  Besides, it's not like you
were going to be able to stay here much longer anyway.  Not with the way
you and that Akira punk go at it.//

//Akira?  He's the punk that gets me kicked out of here?  When I see
him, I'm going to smash his face in-//

//Calm down!  Geeze, I can't believe that I was ever this dense.//

//Dense am I?//

Things just went downhill from there.


Chapter 4
Come Together... Right Now


Aino Minako had what is probably the most unique experience of all the
Senshi since she was awake when her other self found it's way into her
head.  She was sitting on a plane bound for Japan, reading an English
teen-modeling magazine when it hit her.

It was kind of like having a large person squeeze into a telephone booth
with you.  Unpleasant at first, but not too bad once you were both
settled, though a bit cramped.

Woozily she reached for an airsickness bag in case things were going to
get messy.

After a few minutes, however, the vertigo stopped and she was merely
left with a feeling of... fullness.  Shortly, however, the things got
stranger.

//ACK, who turned on the lights?//

Minako jumped a bit, startled by the voice inside her head.  "Wh-what?"

//I said, W-H-O T-U-R-N-E-D O-N T-H-E L-I-G-H-T-S?//

"Okay, that's it.  Those airline peanuts have something dangerous in
them," Minako muttered to herself.

//Hey, wait a minute, what am I doing on a plane, anyway?  Last thing I
remember was being in a hotel room with Mako-chan.//

"Mako-chan?" Minako asked quietly, mindful of the person dozing lightly
beside her.

//Yeah, and what are you doing in my body, anyway?//

"You are the one that just landed in my body.  I was trying to read a
magazine and then you barged into my head like you own the place."
Minako spent a couple of moments trying to decide whether this was all
just a weird dream or if she was going crazy.  Either way, panicking
would get her nowhere.  Besides, she was kind of curious about the type
of person that would pick her head to invade.  "Hey, who are you,
anyway?"

//Aino Minako, the beautiful and talented goddess of love.//

"Err... pleased to meet you, I'm Aino Minako the apparently insane."

The voice in her head heaved a mental sigh. //I don't suppose that this
is some crazy dream, is it?//

"Well, that's what I'm hoping."

//If we're both hoping it's a dream, then it probably isn't.  Say, where
are we, anyway?//

"On a plane, I'm moving to Japan this week."

//From England?//

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

//I've been through this before.  Looks like I'm trapped in one of those
kooky time travel things.// Another mental sigh. //Hey, Artemis might
know what's going on.//

"Artemis?  My cat?"

//Yeah, your cat.  Where is he, anyway?//

"He's in the cargo hold in his pet carrier.  But why would he know
what's going on, he's just a cat."

//Yeah, right.  You mean he hasn't talked to you yet?//

"He's a cat..."

//He's a Moon cat.  But that's strange, he's the one who told me how to
turn into Sailor V, and that was well before I ever moved to Japan...//

"Sailor V?"

//You don't know who Sailor V is?// the voice sounded appalled. //Maybe
this isn't time travel, after all.//

"Yeah, it's just me going insane."

//You're not going insane.  If anyone's going insane, it's me.  I hope I
don't bite Mako-chan if I start foaming at the mouth.//

"Who's Mako-chan?  Your boyfriend?"

//Heh, well, not exactly... She's my best friend.//

"Oh, but how can you be the one going insane?  You're just a disembodied
voice."

//Well, I had a body when I went to bed last night.// There was a
thoughtful pause. //Say, what's the date, anyway?//

Minako told her.

//Strange, I thought I moved to Japan last month.  Well, when I did it,
at least.//

Minako shrugged.  "Dad's transfer got delayed because of some new
immigration laws or something."

//Hmm... strange... are you registered in a school yet?  When I did
this, I didn't pick till I got there.//

"Nope, but mom's been looking at-"

//Get her to register you at Juuban Junior High.  Believe me, it'll make
life a lot simpler.//

"If you say so.  I wonder if they accept people who hear voices..."

//Oh, I think just about anyone can get into Juuban.  Well, unless your
tentacles are too obvious...//

"Tentacles?  Ick!"

//You get used to them.  Besides, you can just think of me as your
Guardian Angel.//

"Guardian Angel?  So, what are you going to do for me?"

//Well, for starters, get you a date with someone gorgeous.  If you're
me, I won't have you dating anything less than the best!//

Minako giggled.  "I wonder if all insane people have voices like you."

//They can only wish.  Now, refresh my memory on what kind of guys I
liked at your age.  The Goddess of Love is ready to go to work.//

***

Rei and Serenity were sipping tea in the shrine, quietly discussing what
they knew about recent events.  Both were trapped in the bodies of their
past selves, who were not enjoying sharing the facilities with
themselves, either.

"Then there was a bright flash of light, and that was it.  Next thing I
remember, I was in this body in bed here," Rei finished.  The real Rei,
meanwhile, was twiddling her mental thumbs in boredom.

Serenity nodded.  "I remember going to bed with Endy-chan and then
waking up to my mother trying shake me to death."

Rei grinned bitterly.  "You had it easy.  I've been out of the shrine
maiden business for far too long to be getting up at five in the morning
to tend the fire."  She sighed softly.  "Yuuichirou isn't even around
yet to keep me company."

Serenity gently took Rei's hand.  "Don't worry, we'll find our way back
home."

Rei nodded and then became thoughtful.  "Serenity-sama?  Do we really
need to go back?  I mean, it's not like the Kingdom really needs us
anymore and everyone has at least one successor trained and ready to
take over..."

"And he's alive here?" Serenity asked gently.  She knew that Rei had
been nursing wounds from the death of her husband, Yuuichirou, in a
shuttle accident a scant twenty years after they had married, almost a
thousand years ago.  She wanted to make sure that she wasn't going to do
anything for the wrong reasons.

"Yeah, and that..." Rei looked even sadder.

"Well, having a bit of a vacation would certainly be nice, but I'm not
sure that we'd want to do that without our own bodies," she replied.
"I'm not sure how much longer we're going to be able to live like this
without getting on our own nerves, if you know what I mean."

Rei smiled sadly.  "Yeah, I know exactly what you mean.  I did a fire
reading on it, but nothing makes any sense.  All I get are flashes of a
red crab and wood that flies.  Something tells me that there is
something evil coming, though."

Serenity nodded.  "Do you think we should see about finding the others
and start training these bodies?"

Rei perked up a bit.  "That sound great, but are we going to need to
find Luna before we can get the Transformation wands?"

Serenity thought for a few minutes.  "No, I think we can create our own.
It'll be tough, but certainly a lot better than waiting around for Luna
to show up, if she does at all.  Besides, I know how she does it,
anyway."  She grinned mischievously.  "She just liked to make us think
it was hard."

Serenity held out her hand, palm upward.  "The wands and the brooch are
just manifestations of your soul, like the talismans were.  It takes a
lot of power to generate them, but I'm certain that it'll be no problem
for us."  She closed her eyes and concentrated, trying to remember what
her original transformation brooch had looked like.

Rei watched intently as a swirling pillar of golden sparks formed in
Serenity's hand.  They danced and darted for a moment before settling
into the familiar form.

Serenity sighed in relief as she felt the weight settle into her hand.
"Your turn," she said as she pinned the talisman to the bow of her fuku.

Rei nodded and put out her hand.  After a few minutes of concentration,
a spark formed in the center of her palm and then rushed upward until it
formed a gout of flame over a foot long.  After a few seconds, it died
away until the Transformation Wand with the sigil of Mars could be seen.

Rei exhaled heavily and slumped a bit.  "That's harder than it looks."

Serenity nodded.  "We should also return their memories, but that can
wait till tomorrow.  I'm not sure that I can do much more tonight."

With a flick of her wrist, Rei vanquished the wand and it returned to
rest within her soul and wait to be summoned once more.  "Yeah, we've
still got some chores to finish before bed."

As Serenity moved to get up, she had one last thought.  "Say, do you
remember where Minako is supposed to be right now?  As far as I can
tell, Sailor V isn't around yet."

Rei shook her head sadly.  "I have no idea, but maybe England.  What
about Makoto and Ami?"

"Makoto should be getting transferred to Juban in the next couple of
weeks or so and I think I spotted Ami today at lunch.  Mako-chan might
even show up sooner if she's having the same problems we are.  I'm not
sure about our Ami being here, though.  Last I heard, she was out near
the Core watching that black hole forming.  She didn't show any
recognition when I saw her this morning, and whatever brought us here
might not have reached her."

"Yeah, but I hate to think about the trouble we're going to go through
getting back if she's not around.  I don't exactly have a working
knowledge of time travel or whatever it was that we went through."
Rei's face went through a bit of turmoil.  "Okay, party's over.  The
young one is going to start screaming if I don't let her have her body
back soon."

Serenity grinned.  "You always were a temperamental one at that age,
Rei-chan.  Usagi's asleep and I won't wake her till we get to the
house...  It's nice to be home again, even if I've got to live with
myself to do it."

Rei nodded sagely and the sighed as she relinquished control.  Her face
set itself into a slight frown.  "Serenity-san, shall I show you out?"

Serenity looked at Rei thoughtfully for a moment.  "Please, call me
Usagi.  That's my real name, Tsukino Usagi.  Serenity is a title I took
up... later in life, but I'm certain that your other self is way too set
in her ways to return to calling me Usagi anytime soon."

"You will be returning tomorrow, Usagi-san?  I listened to much of your
conversation with my... roommate."

"Yes," Serenity nodded.  "We're going to awaken your sleeping memories.
I hate to push any of you into accepting the kind of responsibility that
you will have, but it is far better for you to have them restored
carefully in a calm atmosphere and have time to adjust before you are
thrust into the fray.  We didn't have that luxury and it made things
very confusing for several years."

With a bow, Serenity made to excuse herself.  Then she turned to give
Rei a benevolent look over her shoulder, "Rei-san, can I ask a favor of
you?"

"Yes, Ser.. Usagi-san?"

"Be patient with Usagi-chan for me.  She's young and immature, but she
will have to grow up fast.  I know that the support of my Rei-chan meant
a lot to me when I was her."

"I will try, Usagi-san."

"That is all that I ask.  Good night, Rei-san."

***

Serenity guided Usagi's body through the long walk from the Hikawa
shrine to her old house, spending a good deal of time wondering about
the others, particularly Minako and Hotaru.  Something was going to have
to be done to help the younger Senshi if she was in the same kind of
situation in this world as in the other.  Especially if her older mind
had entered her body.

Serenity had every confidence in Hotaru.  She had proven time and again
that she was more than a match for her darker side, but that was without
Master Pharaoh 90 to worry about.

Who knows what kind of trouble she could be in if her darker half proved
to be stronger than her or took her by surprise?  It was far too early
to have to face Mistress 9.

"I wish Pluto would show up," she muttered.  "It'll take me too long to
track down Haruka and Mirchiru on my own, and we need to get a hold of
the Rainbow Crystals, as well."

There was still a good half hour of daylight left by the time she made
it home.  She slipped inside and followed her nose to the kitchen where
her mother was baking.

"Welcome home, dear," her mother greeted broadly.  "Dinner will be ready
soon, why don't you go and wash up?"

Serenity bowed, smiling broadly at the prospect of getting to eat her
mother's cooking again.  "Yes, mother."  She turned and was halfway up
the stairs before her mother's call brought her to a halt.

"Oh!  A Mr. Chiba called for you just a few minutes ago.  He said that
you'd dropped a notebook when you ran into him the other day, and he
wants to return it.  His number is beside the phone in the living room."

Serenity was at the phone in a flash.  If Mamouro had called her, that
meant that Endyminion was probably here, as well.  She found the
scribbled note and dialed the number.

On the fourth ring, he picked up.  "Chiba residence, this is Mamouro."

"Excuse me, Mr. Chiba, but I'm wondering if you're been hearing voices?"
she asked with a grin.

"Serenity?  That you?"

"Endy-chan!  You're here, too?  That makes at least three of us."

"Who's the third?"

"Mars," she pondered just spilling everything that she knew, but it
probably wouldn't help matters.  "Listen, we should meet and talk about
things tomorrow sometime.  I've got school, but Rei and I were planning
on attempting the Mind Meld trick that Luna used on us.  Can you be at
the shrine at, let's say, five?"

"Sure, I'll be there."  There was a pause.  "I'm just so glad that I'm
not going insane."

"Afraid that your roses were going to turn white again, dear?"

"Very funny."

***

Usagi managed to finish her homework in record time that night.  Of
course, having someone take control of your body every time you try to
sneak away to read a manga does wonders for study habits, but it's not
much fun.

As she finished the last problem, Serenity gently took control of the
body again.  "I don't know why you're complaining, it's a lot more fun
to do the work than be punished for not doing it."

She put the materials into her book bag and set it beside the desk in
its customary place.

"Ah, since that's done," she sighed and stretched her aching shoulders.
"Setsuna, you can come out now."

Usagi jumped in surprise at the voice that replied, "How did you know I
was here?"  Well, she would have jumped in surprise if she'd had control
of her body, but it's the thought that counts.

Serenity swiveled the chair around with a broad grin on her face.  "I
didn't.  I just like saying that to empty rooms at dramatically
appropriate times.  This is the first time it's worked, though..."  She
was on the verge of giggling, but maintained her iron control.

Over the years she had developed a sort of friendship with the Senshi of
Time.  Pluto tended to manipulate others into doing whatever she wanted,
but Serenity could usually out do her in these conversations, though it
was a great challenge.

For one of the few times in her extremely long existence, Pluto was at a
loss for words.

"So, do you know what's going on?  We're not from this time line, are
we?"

The older Senshi recovered quickly, "No, you're not from this world."

"What took you so long to appear, anyway?  I'd have thought you'd be
here to greet us when we showed up so you could yell at us about not
revealing anything about the future."

Pluto frowned.  "As far as I can tell, your actions are not a danger to
the time stream."

That was a big surprise for Serenity.  "Listen, we don't have time to
play games.  We need the Silver Crystal.  I'm certain that Mars and I
can handle it if we're the only Inner Senshi who made the trip, but
there is another task that has to be done."  She gazed at Pluto
meaningfully.

"I take it you speak of Saturn."

"Yes.  If our Hotaru is here, she may need help summoning Saturn's power
or breaking the hold of Master Pharaoh 90.  I need you, Mirchiru and
Haruka to handle that while we gather the Rainbow Crystals."

Pluto nodded.  "I've already seen to it that Mirchiru and Haruka are
scouting out the area.  We'll make our move soon."

"Don't wait too long.  I can't stop her if she goes out of control
without the Silver Crystal, but I'm certain that Hotaru has more than
enough control to break the evil ones' hold as long as nothing
intervenes.  Just make sure that nothing stops her from getting her
chance."

"Is that all?"

"That's all I can think of at the moment.  Do you know what the status
on the Dark Kingdom is?"

"It's breaking through slowly.  The first scouts should be through the
gateways within a few days."

Serenity nodded.  "That's more than enough time.  This time, we're going
to fight this war right."

"If I may make a suggestion?"

"Always."

"Let the young ones fight for themselves.  This is their world, and thus
their battle."

Serenity nodded again.  "I know.  But I'm not going to let them do this
alone."

"Is that all, my queen?"

"You always know more than you tell, don't you my dear Setsuna?"

"Not always, but telling too much can be just and dangerous as not
telling enough."

"Well, anything I should know?"

"Yes, be sure to be at the shrine tomorrow and you might want to take a
little vacation this weekend."

"Vacation?  I assume you have arranged something?"

"Of course.  There is a friend of mine who will be able to help you with
your problem."

"Problem?" Serenity asked.  The Senshi of Time, however, was already
gone.

"Worse than Batman," Serenity mumbled to herself, though there was no
one around to hear it.


Chapter 5
Childhood's End


Tsukino Usagi managed to get to school almost ten minutes early the next
day, an accomplishment that had less to do with any new-found sense of
duty and more to do with Serenity's low tolerance for being shaken.

Naru was quite surprised, to say the least.  The two actually got to
walk to school for once instead of taking part in an early morning
marathon.

"Usagi-chan, are you going to be at the gem show tonight?  Mother and I
spent all last night getting everything ready.  Where were you, anyway?
I thought you said that you'd drop by and help?"

Usagi laughed a little bit nervously but answered casually, "Oh, I just
forgot about it... I'll try to be there, but I might be a little late.
What time does it start?"

"See?  I knew I would need to remind you about this," Naru shook her
head in dismay at her friend's lack of responsibility.  "It starts at
seven, but we'll be there around six to start setting up."

"Don't worry, Naru-chan.  I'll be there."

"You'd better be.  Mom wasn't very happy that you didn't show up last
night."

Usagi frowned.  "I'm really sorry, but I ran into someone I haven't seen
in a really long time and we got to talking and I lost track of time."

"Who was it?  Anyone I know?"

"Nah, she doesn't go to our school.  I met her... at... um... summer
school last year."

//Good save,// Serenity's voice rang out in her head, laden with
sarcasm.

//Thank you.//

Serenity sighed as Usagi totally overlooked the real meaning of her
words.  The girl had so much to learn.

"Say, Naru-chan, would you mind if I brought a friend or two with me to
the show?  We're supposed to do something earlier today, and I think it
would be nice if we could all do something together..."

Naru smiled slightly.  "Sure.  Bring as many as you want, it'll be fun.
We can cut out early and go get ice cream or something."

"Mmmmm...." Usagi's eyes glazed over.  "Ice cream."

Naru giggled in relief.  "You've been acting a little weird all morning,
but that look was definitely 100% Usagi."

At that point they reached the school and began the long process of
mingling their way to class.

***

"Class, I'd like to introduce two new students," Ms. Haruna announced.
"Kino Makoto and Aino Minako."

Serenity smacked Usagi in the back of the mental head, pulling her
attention away from the manga she was reading behind a textbook and
causing her to glance toward the board.

//That's them!// she announced happily.  She seized control and rummaged
through a her notebook for a clean page.  Drawing quickly and
methodically, she wrote the words "That you?" in the script of Crystal
Tokyo and held it up to where Makoto and Minako could just see it.

"Aino-san has just arrived from England."  Minako bowed to the class as
she was introduced.

"And Kino-san is a transfer student from a neighboring school," Ms.
Haruna continued and Makoto bowed, as well.  "I'd like to ask that you
each make an effort to welcome them to their new school.

Each girl nodded slightly upon noticing Serenity's sign.

//What was all that, anyway?// Usagi asked, more than a little peeved at
having her reading interrupted before actual class started.

//Friends of mine.  Your new teammates.// Serenity replied.

"Now if you would each take a seat, I'm certain that we are all eager to
get started."  The few groans let out by the class were done quietly.

***

The scene at the shrine was more crowded than Rei had been expecting.
Somehow, Minako and Makoto had both shown up, along with a slightly
confused looking Mamouro.

//Isn't that they guy that keeps on calling Usagi "Odango-atama"?
What's he doing here?// her younger self asked as she gazed at him
dreamily. //Not that I mind, since he is rather cute.//

//He's not for you.  Believe me, I tried,// she told herself. //You'll
get most of your answers if this goes as planned.//

//Okay.// She let it drop, though she didn't sound very pleased at the
evasive answer.

It was at that moment that Usagi chose to make her entrance.

Rei looked up as she approached and noticed that she was alone.
"Where's Ami-chan?"

"She isn't here," Serenity replied.  "I talked to her today at lunch and
she isn't 'of two minds' about anything."

"Please," Rei narrowed her eyes slightly.  "Tell me that you didn't just
make really obscure references like that at her and expected her to get
them.  She never was very good at picking up subtle hints, you know."

"Well, I also said, 'Gribzaks sorpeto torboona kal.' to her, but she
just looked at me strangely."

"Err... I would have looked at you strangely too, what does that mean?"

"It's an old joke between me and her.  Remember that time we went to
Rigel IX?"  Serenity grinned mischievously.

Rei couldn't recall the story she was referring to and decided it was
probably better to just let it go.  "The others are here.  Have you
heard anything from the Outer Senshi?  We should contact them as soon as
possible."

"I talked to Pluto and right now she should be taking Haruka and
Mirchiru to take care of any... problems that Hotaru might be having."

"You spoke with Pluto?  Is she having the same personality conflicts
that we are?"

"I don't believe so, but who can tell with that woman?  Though two of
her is a scary thought." Serenity shivered.  "She's already made some
kind of arrangements for one of our problems, though I'm not sure which
one.  She said something about us going on a 'Vacation' this weekend."

"She's our travel agent now?  How come that doesn't comfort me."

"Well, she always knows what the weather's going to be like," Serenity
grinned.  "We know that we can trust her, at least.  Just be ready to go
on... Say, what is today, anyway?"

"Thursday, do you think she means for us to leave tomorrow?"

"I don't know, but be ready by tomorrow, just in case."

Rei nodded.  "Well, the others are waiting.  Shall we get this party
started?"

***

Kiyone glared at Mercury.  Her hair was now in a short cut, very like
the one worn my Ami.

"I don't know what you're so mad about," Mercury said.  "That look is
perfectly fine.  I wore it for centuries.  And the others were all very
popular as well."

"Popular for who!?!"  Kiyone was fuming.  "A colony of blind people?"

"Actually, it was an interstellar empire."

//It's impossible to argue with this woman,// Kiyone thought, feeling
the anger drain out of here.. //She just doesn't get mad at anything.
Almost... like... Mihoshi... well, without the crying.  Mihoshi, it all
comes back to her.  Well, maybe she's better by now.  Like I'd be that
lucky, but still, maybe.//

Besides, this last hairstyle didn't look half bad.

***

They sat in a ring.  Usagi was between Mamouro and Minako.  Minako was
beside Makoto who was beside Rei who was on the other side of Mamouro.

"Okay," Serenity announced.  "Each of us is experiencing a shortage of
head room, but that's not the problem we're going to address tonight."
She looked over to Rei and nodded slightly.  "Rei has received signs
that something evil is about to arise.  That means that someone is going
to have to come forward to stop it."

The older minds in the room who were in command of bodies at the moment
nodded grimly.

"It's time for each of you to make a choice."  Serenity swept her gaze
around the room.  "Everyone here, including Usagi, has the power to
fight this evil, whatever it is.  That power comes with memories of
another life, as well."

"When we faced such a danger in out own youths, the choice was taken out
of our hands.  It was fight and remember or forget and die.  We chose to
remember, and it ruined any chance that we would ever have for normal
lives.  If you don't want to fight, or to remember, we won't force you."

"Though I must warn you, you may be forced to remember whether you want
to or not.  We forgot for a while, once, but there is always another
battle waiting to happen."

"You, however, must choose."  Serenity fell silent.  The speech came out
much better the second time, she felt.  The first had only been for
Usagi's benefit, though, and this was a much more mixed crowd.

Rei was the first to speak up.  "I know that I cannot sit idly by if
there is evil threatening.  It is my duty to accept."

Makoto jumped in right behind her.  "I won't back down form a fight."

Minako and Mamouro both seemed to be locked in internal debates.
Mamouro's finished first.

"I've been searching for my past for far too long to pass this up," he
spoke softly.

Finally, the Minakos seemed to reach a decision and nodded silently.

"Alright then," Serenity managed to hold back the sigh of relief she
wanted to heave.  "Everyone just relax and join hands."

Gently she began to probe around in Usagi's head until she found what
felt like the right barriers and released them.  She waited for a moment
before hazarding a question.

//Was that it?//

//Yeah,// Usagi replied weakly. //I think that was it.//

Accepting that as proof that she could do this, Serenity pushed herself
out of Usagi's body and into Mamouro's.  Her mind met that of Endyminion
and together they searched Mamouro's for the barriers.  They were a lot
more complicated than Usagi's had been, which explained a lot about the
multiple personalities that he had manifested in their own world.  Soon,
those barriers fell, as well and Serenity was off around the circle,
destroying barriers one by one until she finally reached her own body
again.

By that point, Usagi had recovered from the flood of memories and formed
her questions.  Serenity paused to answer a few of her most pressing
concerns before taking control of the body again and speaking.

"I realize that this is all very confusing for you all, but try to
relax.  Let it sort itself out in your minds before you get too worried
about anything.  Now, you will have to forgive me," she moved to stand,
"but Usagi has a convention to attend.  If any of you wish to join her,
I'm certain that you'll have plenty of time to talk."

Slowly the group broke up.  Rei said she needed to finish her chores and
wouldn't be able to make it.  Mamouro begged out of it by claiming that
he had a paper due the next day, but both Minako and Makoto agreed to
accompany her as long as they got a chance to run home and change first.

Usagi said that it was a good idea, and Serenity voiced their agreement.

Serenity had made her way almost a third of the way down the stairs
leading to the Hikawa Shrine before Usagi decided which of her questions
she wanted answered first.  From there on, Serenity had a lot of
explaining to do.

***

Minako darted in the front door and up the stairs to her room where she
found her cat sitting up on the bed, waiting on her.

His day had been rather eventful.  One minute, he was just a regular
cat, laying happily in a sun beam, the next, he had sensed something
evil in the area and sleeping memories had been unlocked.

Now he knew who he was, where he had come from, and why he had been
drawn to Minako.  She had to turn into Sailor... Sailor... Sailor
something... V?  That sounded almost right... and fight it.

She completely ignored him as she opened the closet and began rummaging
through the boxes of clothes that filled her closet.

Gathering up all of his courage, which was quite an incredible amount
for a cat, he spoke.  "Minako, there is something evil stalking the
city.  You must transform into Sailor V and destroy it!"

To his surprise, Minako didn't run out of the room screaming.  Instead,
she just stopped her rummaging and looked at him over her shoulder.
"My, it certainly took you long enough to finally talk to me."

Artemis didn't have a heart attack, though he only escaped because of
his naturally relaxed nature.

"And don't you mean Sailor Venus?"  Minako replied, her smile hidden by
the fact that she was again searching her closet.

"Err... you're not surprised that I can talk?  Not even a little?" he
asked, not believing any of this.

She stepped back from her closet with an armload of garments, which she
then dumped on the bed beside the cat.  Then she scooped him up in her
arms and gave him a hearty scratching behind the ears.

"Let's just say that my memory is probably better than yours."  She
opened the door to her room.  "But you're not going to get to watch me
change anymore."

Artemis could only stare at the closed door, disappointed that he wasn't
going to get to see anything now that he was actually of a mind to enjoy
it.

***

To Serenity's surprise, Mianko showed up wearing Artemis.  Of course,
Usagi found the sight rather comical, or at least, a lot more
entertaining than the lecture she had been receiving on combat tactics.

"Look who finally found his tongue."  Minako smirked as the feline
grumbled something about always being the last to know.  "He says
there's something evil stalking the city.  Probably youma."

"Did he say where?"  Serenity asked, confident that Usagi would take her
more seriously after a few battles.

"It's really close to this place, it seems."  Minako inclined her head
to the smallish convention center across the street.

Makoto arrived shortly and they went inside for a date with Destiny and
Fate.  Of course, that would mean that someone would have to sit out if
they danced, but so be it.  Unless Lady Luck showed up, then Makoto and
Minako would probably end up dancing together, but they were still
trying to keep themselves from finding out about that.


Chapter 6
A Date With Destiny


The Third Annual Juuban Area Gem and Precious Stone Show was well
underway by the time Usagi talked her way past the man at the door.  As
luck would have it, he remembered her from the last two conventions
where she had helped out Naru's mother at the Osa-P's display and let
them in without much hassle.

Everywhere, the place was swarming with people.  Many of them were the
owners of jewelry shops from outside Tokyo or wealthy collectors, though
many of them were just normal people who wanted to see the beautiful
items on display.

Excited as it was for most of them, Naru found the whole thing insanely
boring.  She had spent most of the evening listening to her mother drone
on endlessly about the gems in their collection.  That, in itself,
wasn't so bad.  It was the fact that everyone asked about the exact same
pieces that got so boring.

Her mother, however, didn't seem to mind, her love of the trade was
enough to sustain her through her twentieth recitation of the history of
a particularly large diamond.  Naru just leaned back in her chair and
tried to pretend that it was close to closing time.

Too bad the show had only been going on for an hour.

Then, suddenly, the crowd parted and she spotted Usagi and the two new
students making their way toward her table.  Strangely enough, the blond
girl was wearing something that looked like a cat.

"Naru-chan!  This place is a mad house.  Want to get out of here?  We're
going for ice cream," Usagi exclaimed eagerly.  The thought of ice cream
was already causing the outside world to fade slightly.

"Well..." Naru turned to look at her mother, who nodded her approval.
"Sure, I'd love to.  Let's go."  She wormed around the table and into
the aisle between displays.

"Be careful, this place is a bit crowded." Usagi began leading them
toward the relative safety of the entryway.

They were almost half way there, right in the middle of the showroom,
when the screaming started.  If Naru hadn't known better, she would have
sworn that Minako's cat muttered an "I told you so."

People began to drop in growing circle originating very close to the
main exit and the crowd began to surge back, looking for another way out
of the building.  Naru found herself alone in the crowd as her friend
was pulled away from her.

She soon found herself between the source of the disturbance and the
leading edge of the crowd, which provided her a good, though unwelcome,
view of the antagonist.  The dark gray... thing spotted her, too.

Reaching out one of it's misshapen hands, it began to pull the air
slowly toward it.  Naru felt something deep inside her being drawn
toward it creating a painful, tearing sensation all through her body.
She screamed and dropped to her knees, overcome by the pain and
beginning to lose consciousness.

"Hold it right there!"  A shout rang out in the mostly deserted room.
The beast thing stopped it's gesturing and turned to look at the source
of the shout.

Naru sighed in relief as the tearing stopped and fell forward, drifting
into unconsciousness.  The last thing she heard was the name of her
savior.  Sailor Moon.

***

Usagi wasn't having a good time.  She had just gotten separated from
Naru and the others and whatever it was that was causing the disturbance
had spotted her friend.

//Damn, why do they always want to hurt her?// Serenity's voice asked.
//Quick, Usagi, duck under one of those tables and transform into Sailor
Moon!//

//How do I do that?// Usagi asked, confused and angry.

//That's right, you slept through the whole thing.  Take the broach
you're wearing, hold it and shout out the words that come to your mind.
It will do the rest.  Then you have to get out there and save Naru.//

//Okay.// She dove under the table and fumbled for the broach she hadn't
remembered putting on.  "Moon Prism Power, MAKE-UP!"

The standard transformation scene followed (listen, if you don't know
what it is, how did you ever make it through 5 chapters of this story
without getting totally confused?).  Soon Sailor Moon walked the earth
for the first time... again.  She rolled out from under the table and
assessed the situation.

//Now remember what I told you about speeches.  You want to get his
attention from the side so he has to stop watching Naru, so sprint over
there,// Serenity directed her eyes down an aisle. //Quickly now, before
he drains her too much.//

Usagi was eager to comply, having heard the scream of agony that Naru
had just uttered.  She darted down the indicated aisle and soon had the
beast in her sights.

//Shout something at it to get it's attention.  Then give it a speech,
doesn't matter what just make sure it's about half a minute long.//

//Err... Why?//

//Didn't you listen to anything I told you earlier?  It buys you some
time in which to examine your foe.//

//Yeah, but it makes me look like an idiot!//

//Of course, that's just an added bonus.  If your enemy thinks you're an
idiot, they can get overconfident or angry that you dare to challenge
them.  Either way works to your advantage.//

"Hold it right there!" she shouted.  She was relieved to see that the
pale white glow that had stretched between the thing's fist and Naru
faded out as it shifted its attention to her.  Well, not too relieved
since it was now staring straight at her.  Searching frantically for
something to yell, she seized the first thing that came to mind.

"You who would destroy a young girl who's only crime was to be amongst
pretty things, with hopes and dreams for her future, should beware.  I
am the Pretty Suited Soldier of Love, Sailor Moon!  In the name of the
Moon, I will punish you!"  The entire speech was coupled with a series
of bizarre hand gestures that she hadn't consciously done.

//Not bad, but you could use a little work.// The beast roared in rage
and lifted one of it's hands above it's head. //There, see how angry it
is?  This isn't one of the brighter ones, it seems.//

//Was that a good idea?//

//With a big villan, it wouldn't be, but this is just a third rate
henchman.// Black lightning began to crackle around the thing's right
fist. //Okay, it's forming an energy bolt.  When you she his hand start
to move, dive to the right and roll.  Any attack that comes from a hand
or arm has more trouble tracking if the arm has to move across they body
to do it.//

The massive fist swung forward and a spitting beam of black energy
slammed into the spot where Sailor Moon had been standing a full second
and a half before.

//You've got to work on your response time.  Get up, fast as you can.//

Usagi groaned as she threw herself to her feet. //What now?//

//It got overconfident and tried to finish you off with one shot.  Now
it's weakened after putting out so much energy in one go.  See how it's
chest is designed?// Serenity made Usagi look at the very center of it's
chest carapace which was slightly discolored. //That's the most likely
weak spot.  Remove your tiara and say the words that come to you.//

Sailor Moon removed her tiara and recited the words to turn it into a
blazing disc of energy.

//Aim for that weak spot!//  Serenity offered as a final piece of
advice.

The shot was straight and true and the monster was soon just so much
dust.

//Good job!  You're learning fast.  I certainly had a rougher time on my
first youma.//

Usagi groaned a bit in pain from the bruises caused by her headlong
dive.  //You mean there are going to be more of those... things?//

//Yeah, but they get easier after the first few.  Now crawl under a
table or something and reverse the transform... well, look who decided
to join us.//

Sailors Venus and Jupiter rounded the corner at a run and skidded to a
halt in front of Sailor Moon.

"Sorry we're late," Venus stammered, "but SOMEone couldn't remember how
to get out transformation pens."

"Let's just get out of these fukus and make sure that Naru's okay."

//Isn't there some way we can be super heros without the drafty
uniforms?//

//What?  And lose the distraction factor of Mina-chan's legs?//

***

Naru woke up slowly, her head hurt but at least she was alive.  Being
alive had a lot more value attached to it when you get a good, clear
look at death.

"Naru-chan?  Feeling better?" Usagi's voice cut through the fog in her
head and she opened her eyes.  Her friend was kneeling down beside her,
holding her hand.

"Usagi-chan?  What happened?"

"Some strange monster attacked you and a bunch of other people, but
somebody managed to kill it."

"Girl in a sailor fuku with blond hair?" Naru asked groggily.

"Yeah, that's what the witnesses say.  Feel up to getting some ice cream
still?  The people it hit before you are going to the hospital, but it
didn't get as much of a chance to do whatever it was doing to you."

"Uhhh... I think I just want to lay here for a while.  I'm sooooo
tired."

"I guess I'll sit with you for a while, then," she replied with a smile.
She raised her head and called to her two new friends.  "Mina-chan,
Mako-chan, why don't you two go ahead without us?  I'll see you tomorrow
at school."

The two other girls agreed and departed.

"Usagi-chan?  Who killed that... thing?"

"I have no idea... Maybe she's some kind of government agent?"

"A government agent assigned to hunt down monsters?"  Naru chuckled
softly at the idea.  "Sounds like you've been reading too much manga."

***

In the shadow of a second floor window, Tuxedo Kamen leaned back against
a support and watched Usagi tend to Naru.

//Serenity's giving her tips, I see,// Endyminon's voice rang out in his
head.

//How can you tell?//

//Simple, most of the time she got into a fight in my world, I got there
well before it was over.  She took that thing out fast and hard.//

//What does that mean for me?//

//That means that we're going to have to do some training on our own.
It's best if you don't get involved in their fights as part of the team.
That way there's backup in case of a trap.//

//Sound advice.  So what should we practice first?//

//Simple.  We have a rather unique ability in that we can manifest our
emotions into physical objects.  It works best with warm feelings.//

Tuxedo Kamen vaulted his way onto the roof of the building.

//Now,// Endyminion's voice continued. //Remember the love you felt for
Princess Serenity in your past life.  It's still there for her now, so
all you have to do is will it into a physical form?//

//What kind of physical form?//

//Try a rose.  A red rose.//

***

Elsewhere in the city, a blue-black cat was wandering the streets
aimlessly.

She was searching for something... something that she couldn't quite
remember.  It had to do with the Moon, but other than that, she was at a
loss.

Things weren't going well.  The cut paw was just making things worse.

//Never should have tried to climb that fence,// she cursed herself as
she limped out of an alley.  She sank to her haunches and did her best
to not put any weight on her injured foot. //I'll just rest here for a
while before I move on...//

***

Mizuno Ami was walking home late.  Of course, she always walked home
late.  It was rare that her cram school sessions ended before dark, and
even then, she sometimes stayed after for a while to use the computer
systems.

She had her own computer at home, sure, but it didn't have anywhere near
the power of the network at school.  Studying to be a doctor was one
thing, but she had found a secondary passion in programming.

//If only,// she thought. //If only I had the time to do both.//

She sighed heavily and came to a sudden stop as she spotted something
golden lying near the mouth of an alley.  Curious, she bent to pick it
up and found that it wasn't real gold, after all.

It was a shining crescent on the forehead of a dark blue cat that had
fallen asleep just inside the alleyway.  The cat itself had been almost
invisible in the darkness.  Looking closer, she noticed two things: it
wasn't wearing a collar and its paw was hurt.

Normally, Ami wasn't the kind of person to pick up a stray cat, but this
one was injured and she had a soft spot for those in pain.

Gently, she stroked the creature, hoping to bring it around and find out
if it was tame or not.  It wouldn't do to take home a wild animal.

The cat stirred at her touch and rubbed back against her hand. //Well,
at least it's tame.  Probably someone's pet.//

She bent to scoop the cat up. //I'll just take it home and tend to that
paw.  Then it'll be time to look for it's owner, it's far too tame not
to be someone's pet.//

***

Hino Rei had gotten the feeling that something was up when her
grandfather had given her the train ticket.  He had been planning on
visiting the Misaki Shrine in a nearby province, but a visiting
ambassador had decided to include the Hikawa Shrine in his tour of
Tokyo.

Strangely enough, he had decided that she might as well go on the trip
in his place.

Rei's older half thought this was probably the work of Pluto.  The
Hikawa Shrine wasn't unknown, but most important visitors to Tokyo
preferred to see the larger shrines in other areas of the city.  It
wouldn't have been hard to arrange, either.

Rei held her doubts about that until she found the envelope in her room.
Inside were five more tickets for the same train and a note with a name
and address.

She sighed.  Then she began to wonder who the sixth ticket was meant
for.


Chapter 7
No Need For Witty Titles!


A great change had come over Luna by the time she woke up.  For one
thing, she now could remember a lot more of her mission, though parts
were still hazy.

Her paw didn't hurt anywhere near as much, either, since someone had
bandaged the wound.  Without too much trouble, she got to her feet and
began the process of finding out who her benefactor was and exactly
where she was.

She soon found out that the answer to the later was inside a cardboard
box.  Well, it was really half a box that had been filled with an old
blanket.  The whole affair was sitting in the floor of a rather small
and extremely neat bedroom, hence the bed that was taking up most of the
available area.

She limped lightly around the room, searching for an exit but found that
the window was latched and the doorknob too high for her to leap to with
an injured foot.

That avenue closed, she decided that she should at least find out who
had brought her here.  With a careful leap, she surmounted the bed.

The bed was, perhaps, the only item in the room that wasn't neat and
ordered.  The blue haired girl in the middle of it seemed to have
wrestled the sheets to a standstill before going to sleep.

After a few seconds of examination, Luna reached a conclusion.

"This girl may be the one I'm looking for.  She's radiating some strange
energy, but it's not malevolent."  Luna had taken to muttering to
herself when she was alone, a bad habit, but not one that was easy to
break.

Briefly, she considered waking the girl and having a long talk.  Maybe
even getting some answers about what the energy emanations were, but
discarded the idea in favor of a "wait and see" attitude.  And some more
sleep.

***

Mizuno Ami awake early, as usual.  She stretched and yawned
lethargically, allowing herself a moment's laziness before launching
into the day.

Quickly and methodically, she made her bed and gathered her school
clothes before taking a moment out to check on the stray she had picked
up the night before.  To her satisfaction, the cat seemed to be resting
comfortably.

With professional precision, she stripped off the old bandage, cleaned
the wound again, and applied a new one.

"There, that's better."  The cat, for her part, just watched intently as
she went about her task, almost as if she knew what was going on.

Ami admired her handiwork for a second.  "We'll have to see about
finding your owner soon.  You're far too pretty to be a stray."  The cat
started purring.  "My, and so intelligent, too.  If I didn't know
better, I'd almost swear that you could understand every word that I
say."

***

Usagi and Serenity, meanwhile, were having a bad morning.  Naru hadn't
shown up to walk to school with them and they walking alone, locked into
an internal argument.

Sore and bruised from last night's fighting, Usagi wasn't in the mood
for "Drill Sergeant Serenity" and her constant lectures on how she
should act.  Things came to a head when she complained one too many
times about how much her back hurt.

//That's it!// Serenity announced. //You are far too out of shape.
You're going to be having regular training sessions starting today.
There is no way you should be this tired after such a short fight.//

//Hey, I don't want to be fighting in the first place!// Usagi snapped
back.  Her annoyance had been growing for a couple days, but was only
now beginning to override her normal good nature. //I am NOT going to
start any "training program" that you happen to dream up.  This is MY
life, dammit.//

//I am just trying to make your life easier,// Serenity growled. //If
you spend just a few hours a week working on your skills, battles will
be much easier for you and you won't get hurt as much.//

//Don't you get it?  I don't plan on fighting anything!  I don't want to
be a stupid superhero!  The only reason that I did anything last night
was to protect Naru-chan.//

//You don't have a choice.  You have to fight.//

//Like hell I do!  I'm making my choice right now.  I'm not going to go
along with anything.//

//You can't do that.  If you refuse to fight, they'll end up hurting
someone you care about, like Naru.  Like your mother.//

//That's low.  Bringing my mother into this.  But that doesn't matter to
you, does it?  All you care about is getting me to fight your stupid
little war.  Listen to me: I DON'T WANT TO FIGHT.  Got that?//

//Don't you remember the fall of the Silver Millennium?  Do you remember
what they did?  What it was like?  Just because you won't fight them
doesn't mean that they will stop attacking.  Without you to stand in
their way, they will win this time.  Millions upon millions were killed
in the last war, and they didn't win.  What will it be like this time?
How many billions will they kill?//

//Let someone else do the fighting!//

Serenity sighed mentally. //Okay, I know how you feel.  I felt that way
too, once.// Her voice seemed weaker now, bereft of it's earlier anger.
//But believe me, if you don't take responsibility for this war, if you
don't accept the fact that YOU are the one that has to fight it, the
results could be terrible.//

//I still don't see why I have to be the one.//

//When I first became Sailor Moon, I didn't know that I was the Moon
Princess as well.  I always thought that I was just doing the job till
she showed up and took over.  Luna tried to get me to take things
seriously, but I didn't.  So much happened... so much pain...// She
trailed off sadly.

//But that was you, this is me.//

//We're the same?  Don't you see that?  I want you to do what I never
would.  I want to spare you that pain!  Please, just listen to me.//

//I can handle myself.//

Serenity was silent for a long moment. //I hope you can forgive me, but
I won't let you make the same mistakes that I did.  I tried to handle it
by myself...//

//What are you going to do?// Usagi asked, more than a little worried.

//I'm going to show you how things worked out for me.// Serenity reached
inside herself and latched onto the memories of the battle she had waged
against the Dark Kingdom in her own life and began to spin them steadily
into Usagi's mind.  She took particular care to point out her mistakes,
as she had done many times in her own recollections.

She had already vowed that Usagi was to have the final choice in
anything like this, but she couldn't let her make that decision without
knowing what the consequences would be if she chose a path similar to
the one Serenity had tried to take.  And so she spun the memories.

On and on they went, Usagi had stopped walking and now just stared into
space, transfixed by the images and sounds that flooded her.  Mistake
after mistake, error after error.  All of Serenity's misjudgements were
spelled out before her.  Every misstep, every lapse in discipline.
Right up to the final battle... and death.  Horrible, horrible death.

Surrounded by the stench of it, the worst, most terrifying part of it
all was the firm, cold knowledge that this was all her fault.  She had
put being a normal girl ahead of the lives of her friends... her loved
ones.  She had killed them as surely as their enemies had.

These last visions were too much and Usagi tried to break free from
Serenity's control.  To flee this terrible parade of death and mistakes.
But she couldn't.  Serenity was determined to finish what she had begun
and held Usagi's mind firmly.

As the last memory faded out, she quickly moved to blur Usagi's
recollections of the more gruesome scenes, leaving her with only the
memory of her revulsion at something that had happened to Serenity.  The
whole thing was probably a bad idea, but it was an act of desperation.

//Now do you understand?  Do you see why you can't just walk away?  What
will happen?//

//Y..Yes,// Usagi replied unsteadily.

Serenity sighed.  She was really beginning to hate herself for ruining
Usagi's innocence, but what other choice did she have?  At this rate,
she had another three or four years, tops, before she was either dead or
was forced to go "all the way" and become the Neo-Queen.  At least,
maybe this way, she could trade away her innocence in small parcels and
make it last a little longer.

It had to be better than facing the Ice.  Anything would be better than
that.

***

Ami's walk to school was much more sedate, if no less important to
future events.  Behind her, unseen, Luna stalked quietly.  It had been a
rather difficult maneuver to slip out the door without being seen, but
she had managed it.

Now she was stealthily following Ami in hopes that a chance to reveal
herself would arise.  As they arrived at school, she secreted herself in
a tree with a good view of the entrance and prepared to wait.  After a
while, other students started wandering into the building.

Some time after she had settled in, a blond girl with a vaguely familiar
hairstyle trudged despondently into the courtyard.  She was obviously
late, as the courtyard was totally deserted, but she didn't seem to
care.  It was almost as if she had bigger things to worry about.

Luna snapped herself out of her musings.  She wasn't here to worry about
the blond girl, even though she could swear that she had seen that
double bun hair style before... somewhere... anyway, she was here to
watch the blue haired girl.

Watch and wait for something to happen.  She didn't know what that
something was, yet, but was sure she would know it when she saw it.

***

Ami, for her part, had the feeling that someone had been following her,
but every time she turned around, there was no one there.  Eventually
she decided to ignore it and get on to class.  Time was wasting.

She found her seat in the empty room and almost immediately immersed
herself in a text on advanced particle physics.  Over the next half hour
or so, students slowly drifted in, and she was forced to stop her
reading as class started.

Things went as usual, Ami watching intently as the teacher tried to
teach the students some simple piece of knowledge or another.  Of
course, Ami had already mastered whatever was being taught, but she
enjoyed hearing about it again.  She was funny that way.

Fifteen minutes after class stared, Tsukino Usagi wandered in.  That
alone was enough to capture Ami's attention.  Even for the Tsukino girl,
fifteen minutes was unusual, and the look on her face showed that
something serious was going on.

Ms. Haruna looked up from the book she had been reading from and moved
over to the latecomer.  After a short, whispered conversation, Usagi
nodded her head slightly and turned to leave the room.

Ami watched it all, puzzled.  Perhaps she had been sent to the nurse if
she wasn't feeling well.

Either way, it was really none of her concern and class was underway
again.

***

Usagi was confused and disoriented to say the least.  The visions that
her future self had filled her with had been traumatic, of course, but
now she was wrestling with something else.  She was trying to come to
terms with the one decision that Serenity claimed had caused all of her
grief.

To fight.  She had to decide to fight.  More than that, she had to
accept it and train for it.  Serenity had shown her that no matter how
much she tried to run from it, no matter how hard she tried to hide
herself, this was her battle.

Ms. Haruna had sent her to the nurse and she just let herself drift
there on autopilot.  Serenity appeared to have retreated to some unknown
recess of her brain to let her mull things over.  The nurse, apparently
sensing her distress, led her to a quiet bed in the back of the office.

She didn't hate Serenity.  No, she was doing what she thought was right,
and it WAS right.  It was also painful and not a decision that Usagi
wanted to make.  If nothing else, the memories had proven to her that
Serenity was, indeed, the same person as she was.

She claimed that she wanted to make Usagi's life easier by making her a
better fighter, a better tactician.  Thoughts and possibilities swirled
through her head for a long time, Serenity staying silent.  This was
Usagi's decision, she had said.

It was then that she heard the screams.  Something inside her clicked
and she was out of the bed in an instant.  The decision to fight had
been made.

***

The day had flowed along normally until lunchtime.  But Usagi hadn't
come back to class, which was starting to make Makoto worry.  She hardly
knew the girl, but she was nice and they were teammates now.  She had
every right to worry.

She looked over at Minako who returned her concerned glance.  They would
go check on her as soon as lunch started, since they couldn't think up
any good excuses to get out of class.  Naru, the only one who could have
convinced Ms. Haruna that she was concerned for Usagi, was absent, but
that was only to be expected after being on the receiving end of a youma
drain.

They had talked over the battle a couple times and come to the
conclusion that these were the same type of low-grade youma that Sailor
V had fought in England.  Apparently, they were the first line of attack
used by the Dark Kingdom, and their tactics certainly matched.

Time drifted slowly into lunch and they wasted no time in making their
way to the nurse's office.  Just as Minako was reaching for the handle,
however, screams rang out from the courtyard.  They glanced down the
hallway to be sure they were alone and summoned their transformation
pens.

Only an instant after the lights faded, Sailor Venus was flattened
against the wall by Sailor Moon, who had just thrown open the door to
the infirmary.

Sailor Moon skidded to a stop when she heard the thump and closed the
door.

"Sailor Moon," Venus began.  "I really wish you wouldn't slam open doors
like that."  She got to her feet and gave Usagi a faint grin.  "You're
supposed to let out enemies beat me up, not do it yourself."

"No," Sailor Moon's face was serious.  "I'm supposed to stop them from
hurting anyone.  That includes you."

"Sailor Moon," Jupiter began from behind her.  "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," she let a grim smile settle on her face, "I'm fine.  I just had
to get my priorities in order.  Hey, what are we doing standing around
here and talking for?  Let's go dust a youma!"

The others nodded, still vaguely confused by Usagi's change in demeanor,
but followed her into the courtyard, anyway.

***

Ami was under her customary tree, eating a sandwich and reading some
English novel to try to brush up her foreign language skills.  That
wasn't unusual, but the large booth set up on the other side of the
courtyard was.

Some organization that provided school lunches was test marketing a new
entree and passing out pins embossed with their logos.  Most of the
time, the lunches sold at school were made locally, but the demand for
bought food in a neighborhood as attached to the bento box as Juuban was
so low that the school was considering letting an outside company handle
it.  It would certainly help save money.

This was an effort to see if the students would actually approve of this
company.  Apparently, it was apparently going over well since there was
a constant stream of students in and out of the company's booth.  Of
course, that could be just because they were offering free food.

The line died down after about five minutes, the company having been
ready to feed everyone if it proved necessary.  That was when the
screaming started.

Each student that had one of the pins that had been given out with the
lunches began to feel his or her life force slip away.  Soon the
courtyard was littered with unconscious bodies as more than half the
student body of Juuban was dropped in one fell swoop.

Ami hurriedly put away her book and scrambled behind her tree.
Carefully peeking at the booth, she saw the cook and her assistant
shimmer and become black, scaled... things that began draining the
students who hadn't fallen for the free lunch ploy.

Ami cast about, looking for a way out, when she noticed the cat she had
brought home the night before.  It was slinking toward her through the
grass, only slightly favoring it's wounded paw.

"Listen, there isn't any time to explain," the cat said, much to Ami's
amazement.  "You've got to transform and fight those things before they
do any serious damage to the students!"  The cat jumped into the air and
did a backflip, producing a blue wand.  "Here," the cat said through
clenched teeth, her paw causing her a lot of pain, "take this and say
the words that form in your mind!"

Ami did as directed.  "Mercury Planet Power, MAKE-UP!"  Soon she was
cocooned in light and bubbles.  When it all faded away, she found
herself in a shortened version of a school uniform.  A draftier version,
too.

She stepped out from behind the tree and shouted at the monsters.
"Stop!  I won't let you do this to innocent students who just want to
learn!"

One of the students lying nearby, only half conscious, muttered, "Just
wanted... free... food..."

Sailor Mercury shot him an icy glare and continued.  "In the name of
Mercury, I will punish you!"

The monster decided that it'd had enough and fired an energy beam at the
annoyance.

Swiftly, Mercury dodged out of the way and came to her feet only
slightly unsteady.  She gathered her breath and readied to launch an
attack of her own.  Somehow she knew that she had one, just waiting to
be unleashed.

"Shabon SPRAY!" she exclaimed.  Soon the battlefield was filled with a
screen of bubbles, severely hampering visibility.

"Umm... did that get them?" she asked a little uncertainly, look toward
the vague outline of the talking cat.

Luna, meanwhile, was cursing herself.  She had just sent the only Senshi
with no offensive abilities into combat against two angry youma.  "No,
Sailor Mercury, get out of here!  Those things won't be fooled by this
for long."

Mercury, not having much experience with her powers, didn't know how to
keep the attack running for more than a few seconds.  She quietly
slipped along the tree line to another hiding place in hopes that the
monsters wouldn't catch up to her.  The speech, she decided, had
definitely been a bad idea.

Just as her bubble screen began to dissipate, she heard new voices
shouting.  "You who would destroy these innocent students who merely
dreamed of a free lunch, I am the Pretty Soldier of Love and Justice,
Sailor Moon!  In the name of the Moon, I will punish you."

"In the name of Venus," another voice rang out.  "I will punish you!"

"In the name of Jupiter," yet another voice added.  "I will punish you!"

A short series of shouts and attacks later, the enemies had dissolved
into nothingness.

Sailor Mercury came out of hiding as the three other Sailors walked over
to her.

"Well, where is she?" the one in the blue skirt asked.

"Umm... who are you looking for?" Mercury asked.

"Luna.  Black cat about this tall?  Talks?"

"Oh, her.  She was behind that tree over there the last time I saw her."
She indicated the tree where she'd been eating her lunch.

"Okay, you three go on and get back to class or something, I need to
have a little talk with Luna.  Seriously, what did she think she was
doing sending Sailor Mercury into battle alone."  She frowned and then
looked back at her companions.  "Explain things to her, please.  If Luna
did the same job on her memories as last time, she's probably wondering
what's going on.  Meeting tonight at five.  We'll talk later."

With that, Sailor Moon stalked off to have a little talk with a cat.

"Is she," Mercury asked, "always like that?"

The one in the orange skirt looked at her, her brow crinkled in
puzzlement.  "Nope.  She's usually a little more relaxed."


Chapter 8
No, Really, No Need For Silly Titles!


Ten'ou Haruka rounded the corner at what would have been an insane speed
for anyone of lesser skills.  For her, it was mildly uncomfortable, but
speed was of the essence.  Seeing that the road ahead was straight for a
moment, she spared a glance toward the unconscious form in the passenger
seat.

Professor Tomoe's face was blackened by soot from the fire that had
destroyed his laboratory, and his clothing was ripped and torn in many
places.  A makeshift bandage, soaked through with blood, covered the
light wound that a piece of debris had made in his side.  Fortunately,
he had been rendered unconscious by the initial blasts Uranus had thrown
into the lab, and hadn't really been able to fight back so that the gash
in his side was the only real injury he had sustained.

In the back seat, Kaiou Michiru was tending the professor's daughter,
Hotaru.  She had been catatonic when they had arrived at the mansion,
and Michiru suspected that it was because of an internal battle between
Mistress 9 and the Hotaru from their world.  Not that she had any proof,
mind you, but it was as good a theory as any.  Much to her shock, she
had found this Hotaru to be a cyborg.

It was obvious from the moment she had picked her up that this wasn't
the sickly little girl that they had first met in their world.  Perhaps
this Hotaru had been more damaged by the accident than theirs and this
was the way her father had chosen to keep her alive.

Not that it really mattered right now, they were on their way to some
place way out in the Okayama Prefecture, several hours from Tokyo, where
Pluto had said they would find help.  What kind of help, she didn't say,
but now wasn't the time to be arguing.

The sun was already drooping below the horizon by the time Haruka
skidded to a stop.  They had arrived.  Not that there was much to look
at, just a small gravel parking lot with a black van in it and a long
set of stairs stretching away up a mountain.

The sign beside the stairs proclaimed them to be at the "Masaki Shrine."
Well, a shrine was a decent place to go for an exorcism, after all.

"Okay, how are we going to handle this?" Haruka asked.

Michiru thought about it for a moment.  "I'll run up and see if I can't
find this "Washuu" person.  You stay with these two."

Haruka nodded solemnly and watched as Michiru climbed the stairs and was
soon hidden from view by the trees.  Turning back to her charges, she
opened the passenger door and wrestled the Professor out of the car and
onto a flat patch of ground.  She checked his wound and removed the gory
bandage, which she replaced with a clean handkerchief.  He still hadn't
regained consciousness, and that was beginning to worry her, though she
might have had to kill him if he did.

Then she flipped the passenger seat forward and pulled Hotaru out and
onto the ground a short distance from her father.  Haruka frowned at the
prospect of having to carry the half robotic girl up a long series of
stairs.  She was REALLY heavy.

//Do you know this Washuu person?// she asked herself.  Well, her other
self, the one that seemed to be from the future of some other world or
something.

//I've heard the name before... just a rumor though.  She was apparently
a scientific genius or something who vanished a few thousand years
before the dawn of the Crystal Millennium.  If this is the same person,
I'm surprised to find her on Earth, of all places.//

Haruka nodded. //I wonder how Pluto knows her.//

//Probably met her fifty years from now or something and keeps coming
back in time to pester her.  You know how Pluto can be sometimes.//

//What?  You mean the way that you're never certain if the last meeting
you had with her has already happened or not?  I know what you mean.//

//Exactly.//

//I wish Michiru would hurry up and get back, this waiting is killing
me.//

//You're too impatient.  Calm down a bit, it'll do you good.//

//I still hate waiting.  I wish I was driving right now.//

//Tell you what, when this is over, we'll go to the track and I'll show
you how it's done.

***


Michiru, herself, was wishing that she was back already.  The stairs
flattened into a walkway after a few hundred feet and carrot fields
replaced the dense forest that had covered the base of the stairway.

Fortunately, there was someone working in the fields and she decided
that he would probably be able to help her.

She called to him and the young man looked up from his work and waved to
her.  He shouldered his hoe and walked across the field to the walkway.

"Hello, can I help you?"  He spoke in a cheerful tone, but she could
tell that he was tense for some reason.

"Yes, I'm looking for Washuu."  Michiru watched in puzzlement as his
smile wavered.

"Great, why can't we ever have normal visitors," he muttered so quietly
that she almost didn't hear it.

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, nothing.  You don't want to kill her or anything, do you?  The last
time someone showed up looking for her, they almost destroyed the
house."

"Oh, no, a friend of ours told us that she could help us with a little
problem we were having."

"'Us?'"

"Yes, my friends are waiting at the car.  We thought it would be easier
to just go get Washuu and take her down there."  Michiru was having a
hard time making it sound like she actually knew what she was talking
about, but she kept up the effort.

"Oh, well, I was about to quit here, anyway.  Let's go on up to the
house."  He turned and began along the path again.  She followed and
soon they were climbing more stairs.

***

Lady Mercury pushed away from the console and turned to Kiyone.  "We'll
be there in about three hours.  Gather up anything that you're going to
need before I prepare the ship for impact."

"Um," Kiyone gave her a doubting look.  "Don't you mean landing?"
"This ship isn't designed to land on planetary surfaces.  And since my
scans are showing no space ports in the area of Earth..."

"Oh, that's just great.  What else can happen?"

Sometimes it's best to keep your mouth shut.

***

Washuu was a lot... shorter than Michiru had expected.  Younger, too.
In fact, she had almost convinced herself that Pluto had made a mistake.
When they arrived at the house, they had found about a small group of
women sitting on the porch and eating watermelon, Washuu among them.

One of the women, the one with purple hair done into twin ponytails,
stood up at their approach and called a greeting to the young man, his
name was Tenchi, who had lead Michiru to the house.  Another girl with
spiked cyan hair tackled Tenchi.

"Hello, Tenchi, you're back early!  Who is your guest?" she asked.  If
elder Michiru hadn't been as experienced in reading emotions, she would
have never noticed the hint of suspicion in the young woman's voice.
And anger, but that was mostly directed at the woman currently sitting
on top of Tenchi.

"Errr..."  Tenchi looked a bit nervously, trying to get the girl to let
him up.  "I don't really know.  She says that she's looking for Washuu."

Washuu looked up at the sound of her name.  "Oh!  That's right, you're
one of the ones Setsuna-chan said she was sending!"  She looked around
for a second or two.  "Shouldn't there be more of you?"  Ayeka and the
other girl had started an argument by this point, but no one except
Tenchi seemed to notice so Michiru just ignored it.

"Yes, Ms. Washuu," Michiru answered. //Setsuna-chan?  Well, I just hope
that she's really able to help us.// "My friends are at the bottom of
the stairs.  Two of them aren't able to walk and we didn't feel that we
could carry them up the stairs.  We were-"

"I'll help you.  But only on one condition," she announced.  A couple of
the other people on the porch groaned slightly, having heard this ploy
before.

Michiru felt a shiver of fear.  Conditions were never good in dealings
like this, especially when there wasn't much choice.  "Alright, what's
your price?"

"Would you please... Could you... Call me little Washuu?"

Michiru almost fell over with laughter and relief.  "Of course, Little
Washuu!  You really had me going there for a minute."  Washuu smiled.

"Hey, Ryoko!" the pink haired girl shouted.  "Why don't you do your
mother a favor and go help this young lady's friends to the house?"

The one called Ryoko broke off her argument and turned to face Washuu.
"Aw, mom, do I have to?"

//Mom?// Michiru thought. //Well, I've seen stranger things before.
Maybe she's the reincarnation of someone, too.//

"Yes.  And do be careful, please.  I wouldn't want anyone to get hurt."
For some reason, that sounded ominous.

***

Washuu's laboratory was amazing.  Not only was it larger than the entire
house, but the equipment was equal to or better than anything that the
Crystal Millennium had to offer.  For the first time since she had been
introduced to Washuu, Michiru was starting to feel that she might
actually be the help they had been seeking.

"So, what did you need my help for?  Setsuna-chan seems to make a
special effort to not be helpful."  Washuu had taken up a seat on a
floating cushion and was giving Michiru a calculating look.

"Well, a couple of our friends are possessed by beings from space..."

"Oh, is that it?" Washuu snorted at the simpleness of the task.  "I
thought this was going to be something worthy of the Greatest Scientific
Genius in the Universe."

"And I have someone else inside my head that claims to be me from 1500
years in the future or another world or something like that."

"Hmm...." Washuu began walking around her slowly.  "Now, THAT sounds
interesting."  She began to type into a shadowy terminal that manifested
in thin air.  "Yes, I see... your astral signature is doubled up and one
half has a different temporal signature... and dimensional signature,
too."

Michiru began to feel uncomfortable, almost like a lab specimen.

"And you wanted me to fix this for you?"

"Um, yes, that would be really nice of you... Little Washuu."

Washuu beamed.  "Of course!  So, do you want me to clone another body
for the other mind, send it back to where it came from, or just destroy
it altogether?"

Michiru laughed nervously.  "Another body will be fine."

Washuu typed rapidly for a while.  "Yes, this should be easy."

There was a whooshing sound as someone used the combination elevator and
teleportation device to enter the lab.  "Put them over there, Ryoko,
dear," Washuu called out without even looking up.  Haruka moved up
behind Michiru and placed a hand on her shoulder.

Grumbling the whole way, Ryoko carried both Professor Tomoe and Hotaru
over to a pair of tables that had just materialized.  Moving reasonably
gently, she placed one on each slab and then turned to the scientist.
"Is that all, MOM?"  She made the title seem almost like an accusation.

"Oh, yes, why don't you run off and go play or something," Washuu
replied, not paying any attention to her daughter.

Ryoko glowered at her mother for a moment before she drifted out of the
room via the teleporter.

"Strange people," Haruka whispered to Michiru.

"We're not exactly normal, you know," she replied.

"Hmm..." Washuu said as she looked up from her work.  "We just need to
perform a few tests before I'm ready to split you.  Oh, will your friend
be requiring the same service as well?"

"Um, yes, but could you please take a look at Hotaru and Professor Tomoe
first?  They are the ones that need immediate attention."

"Of course, then I have a few tests I'd like to run."

"Tests?"  Somehow, Michiru knew that she was going to want to hurt
Setsuna by the time they got out of there.

***

Mercury's ship was now in orbit around Earth, much to Kiyone's
disappointment.

Mercury was bent over the communications terminal trying to decide where
to "land."  "Hmm... what do you make of this?" she asked Kiyone.

Kiyone glanced over the data scrolling across the screen.  "Looks like
the identity beacon of a Galaxy Police ship."

Mercury nodded.  "It's only a few hundred miles from Tokyo, so we might
as well land there."

Kiyone sighed.  That meant that she would see Mihoshi again all the
sooner. //Maybe she's better by now.  Yeah, I was out for quite a while,
she may be through with it already.  I hope.// She forced herself to
believe that and smile.

"Alright, we're ready for final approach."  Mercury brought the ship
about and into the atmosphere.  The outer hull began to soften and run
upward until the ship was almost teardrop shaped.

"What's happening to this ship?" Kiyone asked, extremely worried.

"Oh, it's falling apart.  It's not meant to take the heat of reentry and
the systems that maintain the ice of the outer hull are shutting down."

"Ice?  You mean that this ship is made of ice?  That's crazy!"

Mercury shrugged.  "I happen to like ice.  Besides, the interior is made
of metal."  She pressed a complicated sequence into the terminal before
her and the walls seemed to surge forward as they were sucked into it.
Soon, the interior of the ship had become a hollow cavity of ice.

"All the major technological components that make up the ships are
stored in subspace pockets and the control circuitry is micronized into
a handy carrying case.  I just take the systems with me and make a new
hull whenever I need it.  It's quite convenient."

"Wait a minute, does that mean that the only thing left between us and
solid ground is air and ice?"

Mercury smirked.  "Yep.  Here, put this on."  She handed Kiyone the case
that had once been the nerve center of the ship.  It had two heavy-duty
straps that allowed it to be worn as a backpack along with several knobs
and dials.  The whole thing only weighed about fifty pounds or so.  "It
has a grav chute feature.  Just push the red button on the left strap to
activate it."

"Isn't that dangerous with all this ice around?  Hey, and what about
you?"

"I'll be fine, and the ice can be removed.  Tell me when you're ready."

Kiyone hurriedly put on the pack and found the red button.  "Okay, this
is nuts but I'm ready."

Mercury produced a wand from nowhere and held it up before her.
"Mercury Planet Eternal, MAKE-UP!"  In a whirlwind of lights and
feathers, Mercury's clothing dissolved and was replaced by a blue-
skirted outfit with a pair of small wings on the back.

"You expect to land with those little wings?  You really are insane."

"No, I expect to fly by force of will.  The wings are just symbolic."

Mercury looked around quickly.  "Okay, push that button as soon as I
dissolve the ice."

Kiyone nodded her readiness and Mercury willed the ice to liquefy.  Soon
they were falling freely from several thousand feet above the earth
amidst a rapidly thinning cloud of water droplets.

Kiyone pressed the red button and felt a gentle tugging as the chute
took hold and slowed her downward acceleration.  Mercury matched speed
with her precisely and soon they spotted their objective.  A large lake
by a house and, a bit farther away, a small shrine.

***

"Hmm... this one is interesting.  She has three distinct astral
patterns.  Two look like the same, but the third is... hmm... it's not
from earth, I know that much."  Washuu turned from her study of Hotaru
and looked at Michiru, radiating cute innocence.  "You want the two that
are terrestrial in origin, right?  Can I keep the other one?"

Michiru shifted nervously.  Haruka looked at her and shrugged.  "Do you
mean Mistress 9?" Michiru finally answered. "She's extremely
dangerous... but you can keep her if think you can contain her, I
guess." //After all, if you can do what you say you can, she shouldn't
prove too much of a problem.//

Washuu smiled broadly.  "Thanks!  Now I just have to get the other two
out of there..."

She clipped a few hairs from Hotaru's head and dropped them into a
hyperspacial hole.  "Just run a few quick scans... there."  Another
table slid out of hyperspace with a nude Hotaru clone on it.  Washuu
pushed a couple more buttons and a pair of helmets dropped from the
ceiling.

She affixed one to each Hotaru and went back to typing for several
minutes.  There was a crackle of electricity and then both Hotarus' eyes
fluttered open.  Cyber Hotaru, now only Mistress 9, screamed in general
outrage and tried to leap off the table.  An invisible force field
snapped her back into place and her attempts at blasting her way free
met with no success, either.

Washuu smiled broadly.  "You'll get your chance to play, later.  Why
don't you go play with the tribbles?"  She cackled maniacally and the
table vanished into the floor, presumably bound for a room filled with
furry softballs.

The other Hotaru, meanwhile, jumped from the table and shouted,
"Michiru-mama!"  Then she threw herself at Michiru in a fierce hug.

Washuu looked back to the other, naked, girl and started typing again.
"The patterns in that body seem to have mixed somewhat during the
transfer... They shouldn't be too hard separate again, but she's not
going to be herself until I get a chance to fix it."

Michiru, who hadn't been subjected to a full-blow glomp in a long time
or at all, depending on which mind you asked, could only nod.  Haruka
smirked slightly at her lover's distress, but couldn't help feeling
relieved that Hotaru was alright.  Both of her.

"Now it's time for you two," Washuu began, a maniacal glint in her eyes.
"Since there seems to have been a little garbling with the last effort,
I'm going to need to run a few 'tests' before I try it again."

It would have been a lot better for them if they had just run.

***

The sun was just about to finish it's descent into the horizon as
Tenchi, who had been sitting in his room trying to do some studying,
heard the distinct patter of raindrops against his window.  Something
rather odd, considering the crystal clear sky.  He went over to the
window and looked outside just in time to see two figures plummet out of
the sky and splash down in the middle of the lake.

//Well,// he sighed to himself, //At least the last group was nice
enough to arrive by the stairs.  Thousand yen says they speak
Japanese.//

He went downstairs to get his shoes and greet the new "visitors."
Whatever planet they were from.


Chapter 9
One and One Makes Two


During the course of a single day, Serenity's problems had transmuted
greatly.  She had wanted Usagi to take things a little more seriously,
but she hadn't taken into account the fact that she was, by nature, a
creature of extremes.

Now, the girl was taking things too far.

//Listen, Usagi, I'm sorry about what I did, but you really need to calm
down//

//Calm down!?!  How can I be calm when there's a war going on?  I've got
to lay plans and organiz-//

//No, you don't.  Listen, don't let this become your whole life.  That
is just as grave a mistake as not caring enough about it.  Believe me,
I've seen both mistakes made in plenty, and neither leads to an ending
that you would like.//

//So what am I supposed to do?  Sit on my hands and wait for the enemy
to attack?  We've got to-//

//In this war, waiting is a sound strategy.  Listen, the Dark Kingdom is
very low on energy right now, that's why they are sending all these
raids.  Each raid costs them a fair chunk of what little reserve they
have left and when you thwart their efforts, it's wasted.  If you just
concentrate on stopping their operations when they happen, you'll end up
weakening them far easier than you would with a direct assault.//

Usagi wasn't very happy with Serenity as a person, but as a tactician,
she still respected her fully. //All right, but we shouldn't just be
doing nothing while we wait for them to strike again.//

//I agree.  You and the others can spend some time training.
Individually and as a group.  These aren't the only foes that you're
going to encounter and later battles will require you to work as a unit
and starting to learn how to do that now will help.  Ami, especially, is
going to need to learn how to function in a team since that's where she
is strongest.//

//Okay, I'll tell the others at the meeting tonight.  Regular training
sessions every day after school.//

//Actually, I think three days a week should be sufficient.  You do have
a life outside of your duties, you know.//

Usagi smiled faintly as she let herself be convinced. //Yeah, I guess I
do.  Wouldn't want to forget about Naru-chan..//

//Speaking of Naru, you can't tell her anything about this.  At least
not for a while.//

//Why?//

//It's not save for her to know who Sailor Moon and the others really
are.  To her or you.  She doesn't have any secret legacy of power to
fall back on when she's attacked, and if someone thinks that she
knows... well, she'll be slightly more likely to be attacked.//

//Only slightly?//

//Well, in my world at least, Naru always seemed to attract youma
attacks like a magnet...//

//Oh, great.  None of them ever hurt her, did they?//

//Only her heart, Usagi.  Only her heart.//

***

Kiyone drug herself out of the lake and collapsed beside Mercury.  "I
hate you, you know."

"Of course," Mercury smiled broadly.  "At least you managed to keep the
ship with you."

Kiyone wiggled out of the straps and let the heavy container fall onto
it's side.  "At least it was buoyant.  You wouldn't happen to have a set
of dry clothes laying around somewhere, would you?"

"Well, not exactly, but stand up."  Kiyone did so and Mercury, well, she
was still Eternal Sailor Mercury, held up her hands in a kind of X
pattern with her palms touching.  As Mercury concentrated, Kiyone could
feel the water on her skin and in her clothing being pulled away.  As
she watched, Kiyone saw a ball of water form in Mercury's open palms.

Gently, Mercury set the ball down on the ground where it broke.  "That
better?"

Kiyone nodded.  "Much."

"Well, looks like the welcome wagon is here."  Mercury nodded in the
general direction of the house where someone could be seen walking
toward them.  She let herself revert to her normal outfit.  "Let's go be
sociable."

Kiyone, meanwhile, was trying to figure out how to explain their strange
arrival to what was probably a native of this planet.  The Galaxy Police
had strict rules about revealing themselves to primitives.

***

Things went far better than Mercury could have hoped and worse than
Kiyone would have liked.  For one thing, the young man didn't really
think it was all that strange that they had fallen out of the sky.  He
also knew Mihoshi.

He didn't seem all that enthusiastic about seeing them, either.  "Okay,
you can stay here as long as it takes for you to fix your ship or find
your lost relative or whatever it is you're here to do, but you have to
follow a few rules.  One, no killing in the house.  I mean it.  Two, I
do NOT want to marry either of you so don't even start.  Three..." he
droned on for a while and Mercury and Kiyone exchanged looks.
Apparently the poor boy had a very interesting life.  Judging by rule 5,
a VERY interesting life.

Kiyone sighed and gathered her courage as they finally entered the
house.  "Excuse me, Mr. Masaki, but could you just tell me where Mihoshi
is?  I have orders to find her."

"Let me guess, your here after her as some plot by an alien syndicate to
take over the universe and for some reason, killing or kidnapping
Mihoshi is the key to that.  Listen, I've already told you that you
can't kill anyone in this house, and the same goes to kidnapping.  I'm
sure if-"

"Actually, I'm her partner."

"Her partner... Kiyone?"  Kiyone nodded and Tenchi laughed nervously.
"We all just kind of thought she made you up.  You know how she gets
when she starts telling stories..."

"Yeah, I know how she is.  All too well." Kiyone thought, //But maybe
she's back to normal by now.  Pleaseohpleaseohplease let her be back to
normal.//

"Well, she's probably helping Sasami in the kitchen right about now."

"Oh, God, please tell me you don't let her cook."

"Oh, no, we learned our lesson the last time she caught the stove on
fire.  She's helping clean up."

Kiyone gathered her resolve and marched into the kitchen to face her
doom.  Mercury winced as she heard the sound of pans hitting the floor
and a high-pitched scream of Kiyone's name.

"Ah, well, looks like I might as well spend the night here before
heading on into Tokyo," Mercury said.  "You are sure it's no trouble?"

Tenchi smiled wistfully.  "Nah, what's a couple more aliens in a house
like this?"

"Well, actually, I'm from earth, Tokyo, actually."  Tenchi brightened
considerably at this.

"That's great!  You have no idea how very few visitors we get that
aren't from the other side of the galaxy."  He paused for a minute.
"Actually, we've had five today.  This is really strange..."

"Oh, the other four were here to visit the shrine, I presume."

"No, the showed up to see Washuu.  They said something about a woman
named Setsuna sending them to find her or something."

Mercury looked surprised but quickly regained her composure.  "I think
I'd like to meet this Washuu."

***

By the time Tenchi and Mercury finally found their way into the area of
the lab that Washuu was currently using, she was almost finished with
her tests.  Haruka and Michiru didn't look very happy about it, either.

Mercury, for her part, wasn't too incredibly surprised at the sight of
two of the other Senshi suspended, half naked, in a bizarre network of
metal tentacles and probes, having already suspected their, or at least,
some of the Senshi's, presence.

They, however, seemed quite surprised to see her.

"Washuu," Tenchi asked, "Is all that really necessary?"

Mercury looked over to the girl Tenchi had addressed. //She doesn't look
old enough to even be a teenager,// she thought. //Then again, I wasn't
much older than that when I started fighting monsters.//

Washuu sighed and pressed a few more buttons.  "Well, I guess I'm about
done with them."  The tentacles slackened and began to gently lower them
to the ground.  Washuu turned to look at Mercury.  "Oh, who's this?
Someone else seeking the aid of the Greatest Scientific Genius and the
Universe?"

"Didn't you forget Cutest?" Tenchi deadpanned.

"That goes without saying!  Anyway, who is she?"

"Says her name is Mercury.  She just said that she wanted to meet you."
Tenchi turned to leave.  "I'm going to go study.  See you later, Little
Washuu."

"Oh, Tenchi!  You'll have to drop by so I can run a few tests later.
These girls have given me a couple of ideas that I need to test out."

Tenchi laughed nervously.  "Hehe, I'll think about it."

"You do that..." she let herself trail off as Tenchi walked out the door
the turned to Mercury.  "What can I do for you?"

"Well, first of all, what kind of tests were you running on my friends
over there?"

Soon they were embroiled in a discussion of highly intellectual content.
Haruka and Michiru used that opportunity to stealthily gather their
clothing and slip away, hopefully out of that accursed lab.

***

The fragile bubble of hope that Kiyone had been building up for the last
few days popped soon after encountering Mihoshi again.  As soon as she
had walked into the kitchen, Mihoshi had burst into tears and leaped
toward her.

Of course, she still had a wet pan in one hand a dishtowel in the other.
The dishtowel she dropped and promptly tripped over causing the pan to
slip from her grasp and bean Kiyone rather soundly across the forehead.
Then Mihoshi had careened into her sending them both sprawling into a
counter.  Kitchen utensils and foodstuffs were scattered in all
directions.

The young pigtailed girl, probably Sasami, proceeded to evict the two
from her kitchen before they could do any further damage.  Mihoshi then
noticed the damage she had done to Kiyone, who was still groggy, and
began wailing in earnest.

She drug her through the house and into the bathroom, going on and on
about how sorry she was and how she'd make it "all better."  Kiyone, for
her part, just resigned herself to her miserable fate and let herself be
pulled along.

//Well, I knew it was too good to be true.  She's still as fried as they
get.// Kiyone sighed.  It had been too much to hope that Mihoshi had
recovered from her overload by now.

Perhaps that needs some explaining.  Very well, the Galaxy Police had
used slight forms of genetic augmentation for centuries to give their
human agents an edge in combat and other such activities over other
races that might be better designed for that purpose.  Recently, a
radical new kind of the treatment was developed and a younger Mihoshi
was one of the first to volunteer.

The results were immediate and dramatic.  With the new therapy, an
agent's reflexes, hand-eye coordination, and overall thought speed and
intelligence were increased by up to three times what could be attained
with previous versions.

However, the High Command had decided to watch the handful of augmented
agents in the field for a few years before subjecting more to the
treatment.  It turned out to be a good idea.

About three years after the experiment was initiated, the first subject
went into sensory overload.  Apparently, the brain structure of a human
was incapable of handling such vast amounts of speed for prolonged
periods of time.  Fortunately, the agent had recovered after a few
months or the whole project would have been scrapped.

But, in that four month period, the poor man seemed to have his physical
abilities reduced by the very same factor by which the treatment had
increased them, making for a klutzy, ditzy period.

Mihoshi had hit her first such period in the middle of their last
assignment.  The assignment that had left Kiyone stranded in deep space.
That had been months ago, but some of the other subjects to undergo the
treatment burned out for periods as long as a year.

Apparently, Mihoshi was on the long end of the scale.

Or, at least, that's what Kiyone had assumed from their encounter in the
kitchen.  Now, Mihoshi had stopped crying and was looking a lot like her
old self.

"M-Mihoshi?" she asked warily.

The blond woman leaned forward in response and drew her into a deep
kiss.  Kiyone was startled for a few seconds by then gave in to the all
to familiar sensations.  Her Mihoshi was back.

After they broke for air a few seconds later, Mihoshi explained.  "Sorry
about that, but I have to pretend to still be going through the "phase"
when there are other people around.  They don't know about it and I
don't really want to explain."

"So, you were still... when you got here?"

"Yes.  These are nice people and they were very kind to me, even if I
was a total idiot."

"Oh, so why didn't you report back in for duty?  The Lieutenant seems to
think that you've gone out of control or something."

"It's too important that I stay here.  All the most likely heirs to the
throne of Jurai are living in this house.  They seem to attract some
really big criminals and I might as well stick around and see what pops
up."

"Jurai?  On a backwoods planet like this?"

Mihoshi grinned.  "Yeah, I know.  It's a long story..."

"You'll tell me later, I suppose?"

"Of course."  She kissed her again.  "But we really need to get back out
there before anyone gets suspicious.  Hang on a sec, let me get back in
character."

Kiyone grinned.  Life was good, for once.  Even if her lover did have to
act like an idiot whenever people were around.

***

Back in Tokyo, the meeting at the shrine had broken up and the Senshi
had returned home to prepare for their trip.

Usagi was going to tell most of the truth and say that she was going to
visit a historic shrine in the Okayaman mountains with her new friends.
Her mother had met Makoto and Minako and seemed to like them, so it
shouldn't prove a problem.  Naru still wasn't feeling well, so she
wouldn't be able to go, anyway.

Minako was opting for the same route as Usagi.  Her parents were so
pleased that she had managed to make new friends in a foreign country so
quickly that they'd let her do just about anything that didn't seem
overtly dangerous.

Ami figured that her mother would be so pleased that she was doing
something sociable that approval wasn't a problem.  She couldn't count
the number of times that she had heard "You've got to work on your
social skills, too, Ami-chan.  How else are you going to get past the
personal interviews to get into med school?"

Makoto and Mamouro were both loners and wouldn't have to explain
themselves to anyone, and Rei was being specifically sent by her
grandfather.

Things just work out neatly some times.


Chapter 10
Just One More To Go!


Usagi stared out the train window at the countryside as it rushed past.
//What a way to spend a Saturday night,// she thought.  She sighed
deeply and snuggled into Mamouro's arm a little more.

Their closeness had a lot to do with Serenity and Endyminion, but there
was also something there between the younger two.  It was too early for
it to be anything definite, but they shared the memory of a love from
long ago, and that was a start.

Ami watched them impassively.  Her life had changed rather radically in
the last two days and she was still trying to sort out where she stood
on everything.  Complicating things even more, Usagi, or was it
Serenity? Anyway, Usagi hadn't been able to completely recover her
memories.  She still had bits and pieces missing, as did they all, but
her gaps were far more numerous.

Currently, she was playing with the Mercury computer and grinning.
//The funny part is, if they had told be that this thing came with the
job, I would have volunteered,// she mused to herself.

***

Haruka and Michiru, meanwhile, had finally found their way out of
Washuu's laboratory.  Just after dinner, too.

They drug themselves into the dining room just Sasami and Hotaru were
starting the clean up process.  Hotaru spotted them and giggled when she
saw the ravenous looks they were shooting at the remains of dinner.
Sasami smiled and told them that they were welcome to what was left.
Fortunately, a fair amount of food remained and they gleefully fell upon
them.  Yay, there was much gnashing of teeth and rending of noodle.

When they were finished, they offered to help Sasami clean up, but she
politely declined, saying that Hotaru had already offered to help.
Instead, she suggested that they go find everyone and tell them that she
was going to cut up the rest of the watermelon they had started on the
day before.

Haruka and Michiru knew that they couldn't leave before they got a
chance to talk to Mercury again, and they certainly weren't going to
wander back into that sick funhouse that Washuu called a laboratory
looking for her, so they agreed.  The activity would kill time, if
nothing else.

After they had left, Sasami and Hotaru finished clearing the table and
set about washing dishes.

"So, those two are your friends?"

"Haruka-papa and Michiru-mama?  Yes, they're nice."

"Papa?  I thought your father was in Washuu's lab, and isn't he a bit
young?"

Hotaru giggled.  She was a lot happier since she had woken up.  For some
odd reason, she didn't feel as alone as she had before, or as weak.  In
fact, she had even made a new friend.  Of course, Sasami didn't know
about her healing powers yet, but Hotaru was almost convinced that she
wouldn't care.  Almost.

"No, Haruka-papa isn't my real papa.  She... she... something I don't
remember."  Hotaru's cute little face wrinkled in an effort to recall
why she even knew Haruka's name, much less felt the urge to call her
"papa."

"She?  Hmm... yeah, she did look sort of feminine.  But why did you call
her 'papa' then?"

Hotaru frowned.  "I can't remember.  I know but I don't know.  It's
strange."

"Don't worry about it.  You'll think of it eventually.  Hey, why don't
you go take these bowls to Washuu and the others?  They haven't been out
of the lab all day, and I bet they're hungry."

"Sure!" Hotaru scooped up the bowls and made off for the lab, her bad
mood totally defused.

***

Tenchi, as it turned out, was busy tending his fields.  Ever since the
school had been destroyed, he had been finding himself with more and
more free time.  Not normally a bad thing, but being around the house
for such long periods of time wasn't good for his mental, and quite
possibly physical, health.

So he came out here, to the broad, plateau that skirted the mountain
about a third of the way up the path to the Masaki shrine and gardened.
None of the other members of the household objected, Ryo-okhi least of
all.  Most days he would come down early in the morning, but it had
rained today, so he'd decided to give the soil a little time to dry out
and do his work after dinner.  Right now, he was engaged in a healthy
bout of weeding.

And thinking.  He had a lot to think about.  This Kiyone individual, for
one.

She was cute and not from earth, that usually led to him attracting a
new admirer, though she didn't seem to be interested.  Yet.  Some small
part of him found that disappointing but was savagely beaten into
silence by the more rational part of his brain that adamantly did not
want more competitors for the Tenchi Cup.

She would almost definitely be living with them since she was here
because of Mihoshi.  Not that she seemed very happy to have found her.
He'd thought about avoiding her, but it didn't prove necessary.  Neither
she nor Mihoshi had been seen all day.

//I just hope that they haven't killed each other,// he thought.

Then there was this Mercury lady.  She was... she was way too much like
Washuu for his tastes.  Well, not really like Washuu.  Sure, there was a
certain intense intelligence that she radiated, but it didn't come with
the dynamic feeling that Washuu gave off.  Mercury was much more
stable... colder.

He shook his head.  If this Mercury woman did stay, she'd probably spend
all her time in Washuu's lab, far away from him.

The others... well, the other group that had shown up the day before
hadn't been seen since entering Washuu's realm.

//I wonder if I should say a prayer for them?// he wondered.

It was then that a voice snapped him out of his revere.  He looked up
from his work and spotted a rather large group of teenagers standing on
the pathway to the shrine.  One of the blond girls was waving to him and
was apparently the one who had called out.

He shouldered his hoe and went to greet the guests. //I'm beginning to
wonder if I shouldn't just post signs saying "Aliens take next left,
shrine worshipers go straight" or something.  I'd get more work done, at
least.//

***

"He looks like my old sempai," Makoto whispered to Minako, who giggled.

"He is kind of cute, I bet he'll be gorgeous in a couple years, though,"
Minako replied.  They stopped talking when he looked up from his work in
response to Usagi's greeting.

He picked up whatever farm instrument he had been using and made his way
over to them, almost reluctantly.

"Hello.  Can I help you?" he asked.  For some strange reason, his voice
seemed to carry a note of resignation.  Almost as if he was expecting
them to attempt to kill him.

They were saved from answering when someone called out "Tenchi!" from
farther up the path.

"Ahh... That's me, why don't you all come along up to the house for some
tea."  They nodded agreement and followed him up the stairs a short ways
before encountering Haruka and Michiru.

"Tenchi, Sasami said that she's going to..." Haruka trailed off as she
spotted the people following him.  "Well, I'm glad you guys finally
decided to show up."

This brought a few giggles, but Usagi looked at her sternly.  "Some of
us can't just forget about school to go traipsing off into the
mountains."  When Haruka's face had reached the appropriate level of
shock, anger, and confusion, Usagi let herself go and giggled along with
the rest of them.

After a couple seconds of Haruka's older mind kicking her younger self
around a bit and giving her a speech on relaxing more, she broke into a
smile, too.

"Anyway, there's probably enough watermelon for everyone if she cuts
really small pieces."  She spared a look at Usagi.  "REALLY small
pieces."

***

"...but would that kind of reaction lead to the effect that we
witnessed?  I mean, this isn't just a couple of lesser dimensions that
we're talking about here, these are whole world threads.  I mean just
look at-"

"No, the model works fine.  The distance between the threads is what
makes it work so well..." Washuu paused and looked over as a monitor
flickered to life.  "Hello!  Looks like we have more visitors."

Mercury looked over at the screen.  "Oh, I was wondering when they'd
show up.  Shall I go and bring them in here?"

"Yeah, I haven't had this many guena pi... I mean, patients in a long
time."

Mercury just shook her head and went to greet her friends.  It certainly
was a good thing that she'd arrived.  Some of the "improvements" that
Washuu had decided to add to the Senshis' new bodies would NOT have been
well received.

***

The Senshi hadn't even finished removing their shoes before Mercury
stepped into the hallway.

Haruka and Michiru had already know that she was here and didn't share
in the shock and confusion that the others were experiencing.  "Oh,
yeah, and Mercury's here," Haruka said as matter-of-factly as she could
manage.

Usagi turned a mild glare her way before starting to launch questions at
Mercury.

Mercury, for her part, held up a hand to stop her.  "We'll talk later.
Right now, Ms. Washuu needs to run tests so that we can get everything
started."  She gestured toward the opened door.  "Right this way."

The others choked down their protests and filed into through the door.
Everyone except Tenchi, who knew that he wasn't included and had already
wandered into the kitchen, Ami, who Mercury had pulled aside, and Haruka
and Michiru, who weren't going back in there if they didn't specifically
have to.

Mercury looked to Haruka and Michiru.  "Oh, you two should go on in,
too.  Your bodies are ready."  If it had been anyone other than Haruka
and Michiru, they would likely have whimpered.

***

Ami sipped her tea slowly, trying to draw reassurance from the warm
liquid.  "So... You're me?"  She lowered her cup and gave Lady Mercury a
steady look. //Well, at least I grow up pretty,// she thought.

"Yes, in a manner of speaking.  Though not really... well, that
explanation will have to wait for a while, I still don't understand it
entirely."

Ami tried to figure out what she was talking about but failed.  "Umm..
Is that a yes?"

"Yes.  Well, sort of.  I'm a you that you could be."

"Alright, I can handle that," Ami said.

Mercury smiled.  "So, I hear that you want to be a doctor."

"Yes," Ami replied, deciding to play along.  "I've always dreamed about
being able to help people.  Like my mother."

"Of course.  How about other areas of study?"

"Well, I have a decent knowledge of history and I can read English
fairly well."

"Hmm... have you ever considered getting some outside tutoring?  I mean,
learning things that aren't in your schools curriculum."

"Certainly.  But most tutors are rather specific and I don't like to be
tied down so much in what I learn."

"I understand.  What if I knew of someone who could teach you a lot
about everything?  Would you be interested in learning from her?"

"Her?  I take it you are referring to yourself."

"Yes, indeed.  There's no way that I'd try to get you to study under
Washuu.  She's brilliant, but she's not quite safe to be around, if you
know what I mean."

***

In another part of the house, a part that wasn't even on the same plane
of existence, screams of horror could be heard.  The kind of horror that
comes from specially designed medical instruments that are always cold
to the touch.  REAL horror.


Chapter 11
Ending the Arc


Usagi struggled to keep her eyes open through Washuu's lecture.  It
wasn't easy since she was running very low on sleep.

The entire night before had been one long unending series of tests and
examinations, sometimes together, but mostly one at a time.  Sleep had
been gathered in ten and twenty minute packets, but never enough.

"... and so you see the Soja was tied into multiple dimensions at the
same time.  That means that when it exploded, some of the force from the
blast tried to spill over into the other dimension but was blocked by
the safety precautions that I had installed.  Those precautions,
however, were not designed to handle a blast of quite that magnitude."

Washuu was lecturing from behind a small podium.  Usagi finally gave in
and let her head sink toward her desk.

Before it could make the landing, though, a chalkboard eraser whizzed
across the room and smacked her on the forehead.  "Ms. Tsukino, I would
appreciate you paying attention in class."

Usagi groaned but forced her eyes open again.  "Yes, ma'am."

"Where was I?  Oh, yes, when the safety buffers were overloaded, a
dimensional resonance was created which then transmuted into a wave.
The fabric of dimensions is very hard to shift, but once you get it
started, it can go a long way before it stops."

"When Soja exploded, such a resonance was created and a loop of this
reality was sent hurdling across the multiverse.  As it went, it slowly
lost speed from each dimension that it passed through until it finally
came to a stop in your world.  At the point where it stopped, the two
dimensions "overlapped" for a few milliseconds before it began to return
to it's normal shape.  During that brief period of overlap, it seems
that your astral signatures were imprinted on this reality and it
brought you back with it."

Washuu paused as Ami raised her hand.  "Yes, Ms. Mizuno?"

"Ms. Washuu, why did Lady Mercury come into this world with her body and
her ship while the rest of them didn't?"

"Good question.  I'll be glad to explain it to you as soon as Ms. Aino
wakes up!" Another eraser found its mark.  "Thank you."

"The wave apparently manifested in your world at roughly the point where
it was created in this world, near Earth.  Thus it was still moving and
didn't fully overlap.  Mercury, however, was much farther from Earth and
thus was closer to the point where our reality stopped, and as such, was
more fully copied into this dimension.  It is because of her strong
astral signature and, her strong ties to the ship's computer that they
were copied at all.  Normal humans, and most other races wouldn't have
been picked up by this reality, no matter how "close" they were."

"Any questions?  Yes, Ms. Kino?"

"But, if we were just being copied, why did we end up in the same bodies
as our other selves?"

"Simple.  When you were copied, the reality must have tried to overwrite
the copy of your astral signature that already existed in this world.
That would have meant that you would have ended up in younger bodies but
without the younger minds.  Instead, the differences in your astral
signatures were so great that they didn't actually cover each other and
you just ended up in that body.  Things would have been worse if the
wave had hit your reality a few hundred years earlier."

"Any more questions?  Ms. Aino?"

"Will there be a quiz on this?"

Minako, fortunately, was saved by the bell, or buzzer, as it was.  Their
new bodies were ready.

***

Both copies of Haruka, Michiru, and Hotaru woke up a little while after
the Inner Senshi started their own separation process.  They were all a
bit groggy, but the feeling that they were alone in their own heads was
more than enough compensation for Haruka and Michiru.  All four of them.
Hotaru didn't really notice a difference as her personalities had been
mingled almost the entire time that she had been conscious.

They just sat quietly for a while, savoring the silence.  Well, except
for the Hotarus where were chatting away and giggling.

"Hello, girls.  Good to see that you're awake.  How are those new
bodies?"

Haruka smiled and made held out her arm and made a fist.  "They seem to
be just fine.  Is there any reason why we look the same age as the other
bodies?  I mean, couldn't you have made us look at least a little
different?"

Mercury frowned a little.  "I don't really know.  Washuu did all the
designing, even though I did manage to talk her out of a few things that
she wanted to try...  I guess she just decided that it would be more fun
this way."

"Fun?" interjected younger Michiru.  "How are we supposed to explain a
set of twin sisters?"

"You'd be surprised how much 'fun' has to do with getting Washuu's help
at all.  As for appearing as twins, I'd advise against it, actually.
Change hairstyles and pretend to be cousins, maybe.  I'll hack you some
documents later if you want to go to school."

"Yeah, that'd be nice.  I'm going to need a driver's licence," elder
Haruka added.

Her younger self looked at her strangely.  "Don't even think about
driving my car."

"Why not?  I'm you so your car is my car.  Only makes sense."

Soon they degenerated into an argument and Mercury was forced to turn to
the Michirus for conversation.

"Well, what are your plans after this?  Are you going to join the other
Senshi?  I believe they have planned some sort of training program or
something."

The older Michiru thought about it for a few moments.  "No, I think we
need to make sure the Deathbusters are actually gone.  We didn't do a
very thorough job of it this time.  Besides, we need to make sure that
Hotaru's taken care of."

Mercury nodded, knowing well Michiru's soft spot for the younger girl.
"I see.  Professor Tomoe is around here somewhere, I believe.  You might
want to talk to him about a place to stay if you want to take care of
his daughter and I'd personally like for you to keep an eye on him and
make sure that his research doesn't cause any problems.  Washuu was
giving him some advice and God only knows what kind of trouble that'll
get him into."

She looked down at her watch.  "I'd better be getting back to the lab,
the others should be coming out of the protein bath any minute now."

Both Michiru's bowed to her and she reciprocated and left.

The younger Michiru turned to the older and asked a question.  "So, what
about us?"

"You?  You're going to get some training, too."

"I see.  What kind of training?"

"Combat, tactics, some basic magic, diplomacy, everything that you're
going to need to be a Senshi.  Oh, and the most important skill of all."

"Most important skill?  I'd have thought it would be combat."

"No, not by a long shot.  The most important skill that you can learn,
my dear, is controlling Haruka."

"Oh," she replied quietly.

"Haruka!" her older self called.  School was in session.

***

Some hours later, the rest of the Senshi woke up and after a little
initial confusion, began to make the plans that they had all been
thinking about but didn't voice because they doubted that they would
ever actually get separate bodies.

"So, what are we going to do now?  I mean, we can't just go back home
and hope that no one notices that we're suddenly twins," younger Rei
said.

"Well... ah..." older Makoto began.  Everyone looked at her expectantly.
"Well, Minako and I decided that... well, we're not going back to Tokyo
for a while."

A mummer of alarm rippled through the other Senshi.

"Is there any reason for this decision?" Serenity asked calmly.  Even if
her body was identical to Usagi's there was no mistaking the two.

"Yeah," Minako leapt in.  "We're going to England to see what became of
the Dark Kingdom's other gateway to Earth.  If Sailor V didn't destroy
it like she did in our world, then we need to find out if it's usable or
not.  If it's already open, we need to destroy or disable it so we don't
have to fight on two fronts at once.  If it's still closed, we should
see about strengthening the barriers in case we decide to use it as a
back door later."

Serenity nodded but still had her reservations.  "How long do you think
it will take?"

"A couple weeks to destroy it, more if it's not open and we have to
figure out how the wards work," Makoto said.

"Don't take too long.  How about you, Rei-chan?"  Serenity directed the
last towards elder Rei.

"Umm... well, I can probably cut my hair and put on a little make-up or
something and pretend to be a distant cousin who wants to work at the
shrine.  It shouldn't be too hard to convince grandpa to put up a pretty
young thing like myself," she grinned, her cheeks dimpling cutely.

Some of the others groaned at her display, younger Rei most of all.  "I
can't believe that I ever turn into her," she muttered.

"What was that?  Did you say something?" elder Rei asked, somehow
managing to keep up the ultra-cute look and appear menacing at the same
time.

"Ah... I was just wondering what Serenity-sama's going to do.  Her
parents probably won't go for the distant cousin thing..."  She trailed
off when she noticed the elders giving her a strange look.

"Good idea!" Serenity exclaimed and turned to Mercury, who no one else
had noticed come in.  "Can you whip up a Luna-P?  I'm going to need to
do a little mind control on mom and dad."

"Wouldn't it just be easier to do it telepathically?" Mercury asked.

"Easier, yes, but the Luna-P's effect lasts a lot longer.  Besides, it's
worked before."

"Yeah, that brings up another topic, what are we going to call you?
Chibi-Usa, maybe?" elder Rei jibed.

"I think that Serenity is a perfectly acceptable name.  Though having
two Reis is going to be strange."

"I'll think up something.  But isn't Serenity a bit too European or
American?"

"We have a few relatives in California, so I'll just pretend to be from
there.  Fake an accent for a week or two and no one will ever notice.
That is, if Mercury can create us identities on paper, too."

Mercury nodded and soon the conversation drifted to other business.

***

Endyminion, one time King, and Mamouro, future King, awoke in a separate
room where Professor Tomoe was sitting, pouring over a sheaf of notes.
Every so often he would giggle in delight and keep on reading.

After a few minutes of watching him, Endyminion decided to risk
disturbing him, if that's possible.  "So, Professor, what do you have
there?"

"Little Washuu, God bless her," he hugged the notes to his chest,
"showed me what I was doing wrong with the teleportation research!  With
these notes, I'll have a working prototype in no time at all!"  He was
almost frothing with joy.

"Ah... Professor, didn't that get you into a lot of trouble last time?"

"Yes, but she also showed me why that happened.  I'm not going to let
the device be that undirected again, believe me."

"If you're going to do it at all, make sure that you're careful.  The
last thing we need is some interstellar horror rampaging through Tokyo
or a terrorist group with the power to plant bombs anywhere."

The professor, for his part, didn't seem to be paying attention.

Mamouro decided that this was a pointless conversation and made a
suggestion.  "Why don't we go and find the others?  It's probably
getting about time for us to be heading home if I'm going to get any
sleep before class tomorrow."

***

The train ride home was just as uneventful as the ride out to Okayama
the day before had been.  Usagi and Mamouro sat close together, though
not as close as before, and Endyminion and Serenity sat far closer.

Ami, for her part, was trying to get a head start on the assignments
that Lady Mercury had given her.  Mercury planned to stay with Washuu
for a while and work on some things but had decided that was no reason
not to help Ami better herself, or so she claimed.

Probably for the first time in her academic career, she was being
challenged.  It was a bit annoying, but she was enough of a realist to
understand that she would gain far more knowledge this way.

Besides, the first task was to write a more effective piece of youma
detection software than the Mercury computer was currently using.  There
were some notes and data files included with Mercury's specs to help her
along, but it was still going to take a while.

The two Reis, for their part, were busy getting a head start on
"training."  They'd already been at it for a couple hours and younger
Rei did seem to be having a bit of success.  She was conjuring up a tiny
needle of flame and getting it to move about her palm without burning
her.  She'd already burned herself several dozen times, but that didn't
stop her from continuing.

The burns, after all, were quite mild since her control broke the second
she felt the pain and the little flame disappeared.  And as the ride
went on, her yelps grew fewer and farther between.

Minako and Makoto were both lost in thought trying to figure out why
their other selves hadn't stayed around once they got new bodies.

Outside, finally, the Juuban station rolled into view and they began to
gather their things for disembarking.  Serenity took up the rather bulky
bag of gadgets that she had gotten Mercury to produce before they left
and checked to make sure that everything was still in place.

***

Far away, in a slightly different dimension, Washuu was watching the
data she had gathered on the Senshi scroll past and chuckling to
herself.  She would have paid quite a lot for this kind of information,
certainly more than a handful of cloned bodies.

"Little Washuu?  What do you have there?" Mercury asked from behind her.

She jumped slightly in surprise.  "Nothing!"  She quietly keyed the
clear screen command.  "I was just reviewing some data that the external
sensors picked up earlier.  Say, why are you still here?"

"You said that you needed a lab assistant for something and I've no
other pressing engagements so I thought that I'd stick around..."

"Yeah, I did say that, didn't I.  Hmm..." Washuu pondered.  "First thing
we can do is go down to the tribble pens.  I've got a very interesting
specimen down there."

***

In another laboratory, this one much darker and even more sinister, a
shadowy figure sat.  His monitor was slowly scrolling data stolen from
Washuu's computer via a tap he had planted many years ago.  He hadn't
thought it would be that useful at the time, but now it was proving
invaluable.

He laughed manically as he contemplated his revenge.  Yes, this was
exactly what he needed to grind Washuu into the ground with.

He wouldn't make the same mistakes twice.

END ARC

Tim Williams
http://www.angelfire.com/tn/twillia/
fireangel37@yahoo.com
ffml_tim@yahoo.com

"This time, we're leaving nothing to the imagination.  We tried that
last time, and, in our opinion, it didn't work." -- Henry Rollins,
"Driveby Shooting"


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