[FFML] [Fanfic][SM][Draft]I'm Here to Help Chapter 8

Well, I'm back from the dead after 8 years. For recent FFMLers, the previous chapter was posted to the FFML in 1998 (from memory. Might have been 1999) Previous parts are available on http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3337074/1/
(I split the previous chapter6a into chapters 6 and 7)
Had to completely rewrite this after losing my draft a couple of computers ago. I'm still thinking about this chapter, especially the scene of Emerald/Usagi. So this is definitely a draft. I have to mull over what, if anything, needs to be changed/chopped/added.

I'm Here to Help
by Mark Doherty (avantrefaq@yahoo.com.au)

Chapter 8

Sailor Moon and associated characters/background were created by Naoko
Takeuchi. No disrespect is intended in their use.

Journals will be shown as usual( * * * )

+++++++++++++++++
* * *

Is it my destiny to be an assassin? Has Fate decreed that I live only so
that I can make others die? Is the sum total reason for my existence?

I still remember those times just before the Great Ice, when I was trying
to act the hero. I still remember trying my hardest to fight the good
fight, tried my best to be someone to look up to.

I remember failing.

There was always a distance between myself and the other fighters that I
could not overcome. No matter how much I dressed myself up as something
better, as something positive, there was always that nagging thought that
it was all a sham.

I could teleport, yes, but only from shadows. I could draw energy from
the elements, yes, but not as quickly as I could drain it from youma. I
could fight in the open, yes, but never as effectively as when I struck
from the shadows.

There was no getting around it. In a world of bright colours and short
skirts, my powers stood me apart as something different, something darker.
I remember always having my powers looked at with suspicion.

I ignored it, as best I can. My sister had spent months in convincing me
to fight the good fight - I could not have bared to see her face if I had
given it up. But for all that, I remember afterwards how no one was ever
very surprised that I became what I am. They expected it. I believe that
they somehow think that it was my destiny.

Idiots. What you will become is not about what you are, or who you are,
or who you are thought to be. My life, like anyone's life, has been a
series of choices and consequences.

After the rebellion, it came down to this:

If I had done nothing, I would have lived - albeit in exile. If I fought
the Senshi directly without allies, I would have died. And if I fought
from the shadows, then one day it was possible that I might get my lucky
shot and win. That, then, left me a clear choice - to do nothing, or to
do what I can.

Destiny be damned. I choose to do what I can.

- Found by traders in a bundle of home-made paper in a ramshackle house
near the old city of Rome in 2457.

* * *
+++++++++++++++++

Usagi had spent the majority of her life living in a densely populated
metropolis. She was used to a constant level of background noise. The
clacking of train tracks, the neighbour's radio, her brother's console
games, even the snores of her father at night. Even in her occasional
trips to nature - the hot springs or the snowfields - there were still
the sounds of wind sighing through trees, of cicadas in the summer, the
rhythmic clack of a traditional Japanese water pump, or even the caw of
crows.

She had never realised what silence truly was until this moment. The land
around her was dead, grey dirt stretched in every direction. One look at
the unnatural sky made it clear that this was not Earth. Besides this
knight and her, there was no life here to make a sound. Her heart thumped
in her chest, her eardrums throbbing with a rush of blood. But still, it
was silent.

She gathered her courage, and looked up at the armoured man. Her voice
managed to not crack as she stared at him and calmly replied, "I am not
evil."

"Not yet, perhaps." The man allowed. "But I've seen the future. A choice
is coming. Soon enough, you will be given the opportunity to take away all
the negative energy on the entire planet."

"That doesn't sound very evil."

"Not at first glance, no. But a lot of good work has been done due to bad
emotions. Have you ever looked at any of the great monuments - the
pyramids, perhaps - and wondered why they were made? Or have you ever
worked extra hard to pass a test? That's pride. It fuels the desire to do
better and to leave your mark on the world."

Sailor Moon shook her head. "But there's nothing negative about feeling a
little bit of justified pride."

"That's just it - there is no 'little' or 'lot' - when this sort of magic
is involved there's only the choice of 'all' or 'nothing'. Either you
take all of the pride, or you take none. And it doesn't stop there - have
you ever wanted to improve yourself after seeing someone else do well?
Have you ever dreamed of wearing something that you saw being worn in a
catalogue? That's envy. It fuels the desire to improve yourself so you
can be more of an equal to your peers."

He held up his hand when it looked like Sailor Moon was going to reply.
"Even something as simple as eating ice-cream is a negative desire. Ice
cream has no nutritional value, it does you no good to eat it. It's
addictive and we still eat when we know it's bad for us. The only reason
to have it is because it tastes good. That's self-indulgence."

"I don't understand what you're saying. I'd never want to do something
that would harm anyone. Why would I ever want to alter people's emotions?"
Sailor Moon argued.

"I don't know why you did it. But if you do, then don't you see? The human
drive, the need to excel is tied to negative emotions. If you ever decide
to take that away, humanity will languish. They'll have no desire to do
anything! Sailor Moon - just look at any one of your companions. Sailor
Mars is proud and arrogant. If you took that away, you might think she'd
be a better person. But you'd soon realise that she wasn't Sailor Mars any
more. She'd be something else that's just wearing her body.

"We have to stop it now before it happens! Sailor Moon, please - we have
to change what's to come." He knelt, offering his left arm to her. "I'm
begging you. Please help me to stop the coming evil."

Sailor Moon looked up to the knight and his proffered hand. Hesitantly
she reached out. "I-"

Silver light surrounded the girl. The man jumped back, arms crossed across
his face. For a moment, he saw the ghostly image of a mature, silver-
haired woman behind the girl, before light flared, and they were gone.

The crystalline armour dissolved into motes of energy as Emerald stared
for a few moments at the spot where Sailor Moon had been. His shoulders
slightly slumped and he muttered, "Typical."

+++++++++++++++++

Sailor Jupiter looked over at Sailor Mars as they searched the park for
their leader. It didn't take a genius to realise that the fire senshi was
feeling troubled.

"Rei, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Sailor Mars muttered in an automatic response. Seeing the
quiet disbelief on the thunder senshi's face, she sighed. "The last time
I saw Emerald, he was being chased by Kunzite. I... don't think he got
away. That youma general we faced tonight... I think... no, I'm pretty
sure that it was him."

Jupiter blinked. "You don't mean..."

"Yes. I think the Dark Kingdom's caught and brainwashed him just like they
did with Mamoru. And he's kidnapped Usagi."

"It's okay." Sailor Jupiter hesitantly put her hand on Sailor Mars's
shoulder. "We'll get them both back."

+++++++++++++++++

Prince Demande glanced at the pale glow of the setting sun - one of the
few things of even mild beauty on the harsh planet of Nemesis, before he
walked into a small chapel-like building.

"Saphir, what are you doing here?"

Blue Saphir blinked, turning his attention away from a mural to his
brother. "Is it time, then?"

Prince Demande nodded. "Yes. At last, after waiting so long, we are ready
to attack Crystal Tokyo. I'm surprised you are not preparing as well."

"I was considering the past." Saphir pointed to the eight murals that
covered the walls of the large room. Each mural depicted vaguely
represented figures fighting against sailor suited women. Having been
painted long after the original rebels' deaths, the painters had decided
it would desecrate their memory if they guessed at how they looked - the
faces, when they were painted at all, were left with only the broadest of
features.

Demande walked up to his brother, looking up at the mural that had caught
his brother's attention. The centrepiece of the room, and largest of the
paintings, it showed the back of a black-clad man with long green hair.
His right hand, glowing with energy, was pointed at two sailor-suited
figures that lay prone at his feet. One of the figures was painted with a
short sandy-blond hair, the other with wavy bluish-green hair. The man's
left arm was shielding his face from the harsh glowing light of the woman
floating before him - the Dread Queen Serenity.

"The tales say he was the last one standing," Saphir noted. "It is said
that he outlasted them all. The legends say he was only moments from
victory before Serenity took the field. They even say he escaped and may
still be alive today."

"The legends are probably wrong," Demande replied.

"But what if they're not?"

"Then we will soon have a legend fighting on our side. Come, Saphir, let
us go."

+++++++++++++++++

Sailor Moon looked around at what appeared to be ruins on the Moon's
surface.

"My daughter, are you unharmed?" The silver-haired spirit looked at her
with concern on her face. In her ghostly hands floated the ginzuisho.

"Mother?" Sailor Moon whispered, her heart confirming to her the woman's
identity.

Queen Serenity nodded.

"Mother," Sailor Moon hesitated. "What that knight said... I don't
understand how he could have seen the future or how I could be the cause
of something that would make him sound so desperate. Mother, am I destined
to cause such pain?"

"Usagi, there will always be people who seek to sway you with words when
they know they will fail to sway you with threats. This man is no
different. He has lied so often that even he has trouble remembering the
truth any more. My precious, sweet child. You must hold to the courage of
your convictions, and forge forward. With your court by your side, you
will always have the support to do what is right."

Sailor Moon turned, seeing the other Senshi appearing beside her.

"Remember the past so that you can forge a better future." The Senshi
closed their eyes, memories of a long-ago ball filling their thoughts.
"And know that this man has lied to you, Usagi. You must forget him and
put your doubts aside, my girl."

The queen moved her hand, and the ginzuisho floated down to Sailor Moon.
Her crescent wand appeared, allowing the gem to reattach to the weapon.
"Time has run out. The Dark Kingdom is preparing to invade the Earth. I
can send you to where you need to be. Hold true, my daughter. Be brave,
and hold true."

+++++++++++++++++

Beryl's eyes widened as the Senshi materialised in the arctic plains, less
than a kilometre from the dimensional entrance to the Dark Kingdom.
Recovering quickly, she saw to it that 5 youma sisters were dispatched to
intercept within a minute.

+++++++++++++++++

His eyes were closed, his body seated, his expression calm.

"You are even more pathetic than Beryl."

His eyes shot open at this. Floating in front of him was the ghost who had
rescued Usagi. "Yes, well and whoever you are, you're dead," he replied.
"And I know which of those two options I'd rather be. Now if you'll excuse
me, I'm currently sifting through the dimensions trying to find someone."

"It is too late for that. I have sent the Senshi to where they are most
needed."

His eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"I have them to face their destiny. They will soon engage Beryl's forces."

"You what!? You sent those five inexperienced girls up against the army of
the Dark Kingdom!? You're lucky you're already dead or I'd rip you apart
myself!"

"Why do you care?"

"Because it's my planet too, you sanctimonious cretin! My parents and my
sister are still alive on that mudball and you've sent the girls with the
best chance of saving them on a suicide mission! That's why I never tried
to kill them - whether I like them or not, they do tend to save the world
a lot! But you - you're unbelievable! You're just like her!"

"Who?"

"Neo-Queen Serenity, you pusillanimous imbecile! Always sending out others
to do her dirty work. Always with that better-than-you attitude." He
visibly stopped himself. "Enough. Thanks to your mind-numbing stupidity,
it looks like I'll have to go on a killing spree. Goodbye."

His eyes closed, his mind going through the actions needed to bypass the
teleportation eddies of this dimension, and he was gone.

The ghost turned to her companion, who had just materialised next to her.
"That was a most unpleasant man. You were right, his buttons are rather
easy to push."

Pluto nodded.

"You are sure that provoking him was the best course?"

"Yes," Pluto affirmed. "I swore to you on your dying breaths, my queen,
that my actions would be devoted to seeing your kingdom reborn. I swore
that I would never endanger this future through any direct act of mine.
As always, I remain true to that vow."

The spirit nodded, fading from view.

+++++++++++++++++

Kunzite frowned as he waited at the portal that led to the North Pole.
Metallia had been confident that the Senshi would soon attack them, but
still they were nowhere in sight. He bit off a growl of annoyance,
contenting himself thoughts of which attack to use when they arrived.

+++++++++++++++++

The army of the Dark Kingdom gathered on the plains of their land, ready
at last to invade Earth. Raucous laughter erupted as one or another beast
told tales of what they would do once they were through the portal.

A swathe of energy shot through their ranks, disintegrating a dozen of the
tightly packed monsters. The laughter died in a moment as the army turned
as one to view the man facing them.

"I'll flay to the bones any of you who thinks you're taking one step
through that portal!" the man shouted. "I didn't risk temporal
annihilation just to let a party of throwback halfwits like you onto my
planet. If nothing else, my sister would kill me if she found out that I
let that happen! You have a choice - leave here or die."

"You! You can't escape us, spy," one of the youma hissed, grinning. "Not
this time. There are some among us who can block teleportation. You're
going to spend the rest of your life screaming in pain. You will learn the
price of crossing the Dark Kingdom. You will only be the first of many
once we conquer Earth."

"You bunch of mewling pissants," Emerald drawled in amusement. "Escape
you? You just don't get it. You think you're the height of the monster
kingdom? You're deluded enough to think you're special? You don't even
compare to the toe-wart of some of the things I've faced - especially the
Senshi. You don't realise just what it is I can do to you. Let me show you
something." He held his hands out, palms up. After a moment, twenty small
diamond-shaped crystals formed from nothing, standing in a little pyramid
pile between his cupped hands. He stood there for a second, silent, before
throwing the crystals into the air.

Hundreds of eyes followed the crystals' trails, widening when they saw the
minerals crackle with energy, before transforming into large, threatening
beasts. Each beast, vaguely feminine, landed around the man and surrounded
him like a living shield.

"I've made quite a few improvements to their original design over the
years," Emerald noted conversationally. "I never have much reason to
create them any more, since the Senshi tear them apart like rice paper.
But I think you'll find them to be sufficiently entertaining. Droids-"

The twenty monsters perked, facing their master.

"-oh, you know what to do," he said with a vague wave of his hand.

The twenty monsters grinned, each turning to face the surrounding swarm.

+++++++++++++++++

Screams of bloodlust and of agony ripped through the battlefield as the
cacophony of war reverberated across the plain. Vision wavered as
everywhere you turned there was the crackling of energy, the wake of ice
and fire and electrical attacks, the snap of claw against bone.

"I can't remember the last time I was in a fun little fray like this,"
Emerald said conversationally to his crystal as he sidestepped a youma's
attack. A jagged spike of crystal coalesced in his hand, before he used it
to stab the attacker in the throat. As the youma died, he casually
withdrew and then threw the spike with such force that it completely
buried itself in the chest of another youma.

"Really?" He asked in surprise, grabbing the throat of an enemy and using
it as a shield against several attacks until it disintegrated, then
raising his hand and blasting away his attackers. "Has it been that long?
I really didn't think that-"

He turned his head. The dimensional wall between Earth and the Dark
Kingdom had frayed to the point where he could sense the auras near the
connection point in the Arctic. "Was that... Jupiter?" He strained his
senses. The droids, seeing their creator distracted, closed in and
protected him from any attacker. After another minute, he felt it again.
Another aura was being snuffed out of existence. "Mercury?"

He looked down at his crystal in confusion. "They're... dying? But how?
I'm taking down the youma's army. What's left to take them out? Have I
changed the past that much?"

He shook his head, his right hand pointing back and unleashing an energy
blast that disintegrated a group of youma that had been sneaking up on
him. "Alright. Something's going very wrong here. Droids!"

The fifteen surviving monstrous automatons perked their ears.

"No delays! Wipe them out as fast as you can!"

The droids returned to the battle with increased fervour as he raised his
arms and begun sucking energy from the opposing throng.

+++++++++++++++++

His face was grim as he held aloft the last of the youma, its body falling
to dust as he drained its energy.

The man looked at the 5 remaining droids. Each was heavily scarred by
battle. Two were barely alive at all - if their existence could be called
life.

"Thank you," he said with a nod. The droids bowed, then shrunk back into
small crystals. He bent down, took the crystals, and stared at them as
they dissolved into motes of light.

With that, he glanced up, and teleported to the last of the senshi's auras
that he felt disappear.

+++++++++++++++++

He looked down at the lifeless, entombed body, not even noticing the cold
wind that was biting into him.

"Damn it, Mars. How could you let yourself die like this? You're supposed
to be stronger than this. You're supposed to be more. I was supposed to be
the one who killed-"

Feeling the wisps of energy, he glanced up. "-anything that threatened
you," he rapidly amended as he looked at Sailor Mars's spirit. For a
moment, he considered changing back to what he'd originally intended to
say. The girl was dead - she probably deserved the truth.

He looked down again to the entombed girl. She was no more than fifteen
years old and here she was, dead and gone, and probably no one would ever
know to mourn her. He despised what she helped create, but she wasn't that
girl just yet. She never would be now. To hell with the truth. He'd won -
he'd outlasted her. Hurting her any further would just be petty.

He looked up at the spirit. "You deserved better than this, Rei. You
deserved to go down fighting against a hundred or a thousand enemies. You
deserved an end so epic that its legend would have to be written across
the stars. You deserved more than being entombed like this - in this...
ice."

"How touching. If you like her so much, you're welcome to join her.
Although I doubt your death could be as pathetic as hers was."

Emerald turned to see Kunzite. "Mind your mouth, you miserable vermin. She
was twenty times the fighter you ever were."

"I very much doubt that," Kunzite replied. "Although it was curious that
they somehow snuck past me. Still, killing you might make up for missing
my chance with them." He concentrated, shooting four energy boomerangs at
the other man.

Emerald managed to twist enough to avoid being hit by the four energy
boomerangs. With a snarl he brought both arms up and unleashed an unholy
torrent of power. Kunzite's eyes widened as he felt his shield buckle in
seconds. 'What are you?' he thought, his shields collapsing and his lungs
burning away before he ever got a chance to say it.

"That's the level of power that Mars was capable of, Kunzite. Oh, nothing
to say?" Emerald wondered as the Dark General faded into oblivion. "I
would have expected at least one last comeback."

Behind him the four energy boomerangs completed their return arc, slicing
into Emerald's back with enough force to leave the edges jutting out from
his chest. With the last of the energy imbued by the Dark General gone,
the boomerangs faded into nothing, leaving only the wounds behind.

"Touche," Emerald gasped before falling to the ground.

+++++++++++++++++

The spirit of Sailor Mars looked down at the fallen man, her eyes taking
in his terrible wounds. She took a step forward, then stopped. Her head
turned, feeling a call. She disappeared as she realised that her princess
needed her.

+++++++++++++++++

He opened his eyes, feeling the torrent of magic that was being cast
nearby. With a grunt of effort, he dragged himself to a snow embankment.
Leaning over that, he watched the last moments of Serenity facing the
Beryl/Metallia hybrid.

He watched in that moment as the monstrous giant was destroyed. He saw
Serenity fall. His senses saw her aura dim and die. He pushed himself onto
his back, his eyes staring at the sky.

"Does this mean that I won? Is... Serenity dead?"

Tears slowly leaked from his eyes at the thought. After a few seconds, he
choked off a sob. "She's dead." The tears started to flow faster.
"She's... dead."

The biting arctic wind began to freeze his tears, but he managed to ignore
the sensation. "Thank the gods, she's actually dead!"

He chuckled, and started to laugh. The laugh didn't last long before his
injuries flared, and he passed out.

Nearby, Sailor Mars's body was enveloped in red energy. It rose, then
disappeared as the Senshi were reborn.

+++++++++++++++++

In the middle of an ice field, some eighty kilometres from the North Pole,
a broken body of a broken man lay unmoving against a small snowdrift.

His eyes shot open, realisation shooting through him. "Hold on..."

The clunk of a metal staff against the ice distracted him from an
epiphany.

"Pluto." He didn't raise his head.

"Emerald," she murmured with a small nod.

"Come to kill me then?"

Her grim expression was her only answer.

"Thought so. I get that a lot," he noted before chuckling. "Sorry that
wasn't really very funny." When she didn't respond, he forged on. "Oh -
you'd probably know. Out of curiosity, can you remind me what my real
name was?"

Sailor Pluto hesitated for a moment, then answered. "Your birth-name was
Yukio."

"Really?" Emerald blinked. "Huh. Well that was a bit boring. No wonder I
forgot it."

Pluto shook her head. "Enough. I'm here to finish this."

"Well of course you are," he agreed as if it was the most obvious thing
in the world. "I'm surprised it took you so long."

She cut him off. "There was no need to hurry. Despite your attempt,
nothing has changed. Nothing of significance, anyway. All of those youma
you just killed? They would have died anyway. Your attempt to sway Sailor
Moon? Wasn't even worth trying. Your entire life? Barely worth noting.
And do you know what the funniest thing is?

"If you had left in exile after the rebellion, you would have found a way
to link with the energy of the planet Nemesis and become supremely
powerful. If you had only waited another fifty years before travelling to
the past, you would have met the descendants of your rebellion and
inspired them to a complete and total victory. Either way, you would have
won."

He raised his eyebrows as if to say 'I really don't believe you'.

Her eyes narrowed. "But then, every time you come close to winning, you
manage to shoot yourself in the foot. I've waited centuries to tell you
this." She leaned over and whispered in his ear, "You lose. As always.
For all your posturing and your woe-is-me journals, nothing you ever do
really makes a difference. You will never win, Yukio."

Her eyes widened as she heard him chuckle in response.

"Ah, Pluto." He coughed for a moment, winced, then continued. "You don't
get it. I don't have to win. All I really have to do is to see you lose."

Pluto stepped back as she felt a creeping lethargy move through her body.
Her steps faltered as she realised that he'd been distracting her from
the power drain that he was holding on her.

Emerald pushed himself up, his wounds visibly sealing and healing as he
stole her energy. His eyes locked on hers, and he smiled mirthlessly.
"All of the other Senshi fought me several times before they learned how
to block my drain. They covered each other for those first few fights.
But I've never directly fought you before, have I? Come on Pluto, you
should have known better than this! In the future I've survived far worse
than the damage I took from Kunzite. I halfway can't believe that you
fell for it. Why attack me now, after so long?"

"I have no choice but to act," Pluto gasped. "With your attention now off
the Senshi, you pose a threat to Crystal Tokyo. Dead Scream."

The attack splattered against his energy shield, clearly not taking him
off guard.

"This is impossible," she muttered, feeling her strength sap away as more
energy drained from her. "I should have seen this."

"Probably," he agreed. "I'll let you in on a secret." He rose his left
hand, allowing green energy to coruscate from his palm. Pluto slammed to
the ground as his attack struck her in the stomach. "I didn't jump into
the past with just a hope and a prayer that you wouldn't stop me. In
fact, I was planning on you attacking me. Without you I had to waste
months getting back enough power."

He blinked. "Wait. I'm gloating. That's always a good way to die. Better
get on with it, then." Emerald set his legs and spread his arms. Energy
began to build around him as he drew his power. The gem on his necklace
glowed, seeming to add its own energies to the build-up.

"Dead Scream." It was harder to focus the energy this time, and again it
shattered harmlessly against his shield. Worse yet, he was still draining
energy from her. She made a motion with her Key to open an escape portal,
but nothing happened.

"Most of your power is tied to Time, isn't it?" he noted conversationally,
his hands starting to trace a complex pattern in the air. "Did you know
that I can draw energy from Time, just as I can with the elements? It's
how I was able to pierce the Time Barrier in the first place. You'll find
that causality is currently too unstable around us to open a Portal."

"What are you doing?" Her voice was barely above a whisper; she struggled
just to look up at him. Her hands were barely holding her kneeling form
off the ground.

"I just felt the Senshi die," he noted. "But then again, I also felt
Sailor Moon die just before the Great Ice. As I was lying there after
Serenity's death, I had an epiphany. 'Fool me once' - isn't that the
saying? And you just confirmed it. Nothing changed, you said. But the
Senshi are dead - undoubtedly and undeniably. It seems more than likely
then that they somehow have a way of coming back from death. But if that's
true, then there's no point in my trying to kill Serenity. She'd just
come back.

"Now that you've decided to show your hand, it occurs to me that I cannot
afford to wait any longer for other solutions to present themselves. If
I try to confront Serenity again, it's possible that you, or another
person acting as Sailor Pluto, or even another version of you from another
part of the timeline might be able to stop me. That means I must act now
while you can't ambush me. So, I suppose I will have to go with Plan D."

"D?" A moment after her question, her arms buckled and she collapsed,
leaving her to lie on the cold snow.

He nodded, but he never stopped drawing energy. "If I can't kill Serenity
- my preferred plan A, or convince her to change the future - my reluctant
fallback plan B, or somehow destroy the ginzuisho - my unlikely plan C,
then I have to ensure she can never do the one thing that started this
whole mess." His eyes narrowed. "My pyrrhic plan D - stop the
Purification."

"You can't," she whispered.

"Yes, I think I can," he responded with confidence as his hands made
several jabbing motions to punctuate some of the hazy glowing green sigils
he was drawing around him. "Thanks to your energy. I worked it out a long,
long time ago. I can cast... an Anti-Purification."

"No. You can't. You don't know what it-"

"Oh, I can guess. Of course, doing this will almost certainly cause a time
paradox. It'll probably wipe me from existence. But not even a paradox
will wipe out the outcome. Not when I'm using the powers of the Time
Senshi to do it."

Emerald shook his head. "To be honest, I'd hoped to kill Serenity without
having to try this. If this fails, I'll have no way of enacting plans E,
F, or G. It's a pity, I really liked plan G. But as I said, it doesn't
matter whether I lose, as long as your side does too. I'm tired of this
endless fight, Pluto. I'm tired of being beaten down again and again and
having to find the conviction in myself to return once more to the fight.
At this stage of my life, I think even a pyrrhic victory is enough of a
victory for me." The hazy sigils were beginning to sharpen in form as his
hands began sketched the final symbols needed.

"Oh, and Pluto?" He looked at her as she struggled to bring her Time Key
up for one last attack. "You lose."

"Dead Scr-"

With one last flourish, his hands completed the last of the sigils.

+++++++++++++++++
* * *

If I were asked to list the worst thing about being immortal, I would
have to hesitate in my answer. Once, I might have thought that it was the
ennui - the crushing boredom of life never-ending. Or the hubris - there
can be no doubt of an immortal's over-weaning arrogance. But, if I were
to search in my soul of souls for an honest answer, I would have to say
that there is nothing worse for an immortal than one thing:

Guilt. Regret can haunt you forever.

I have had countless crawling years to analyse my various failures. Chief
amongst them, and my worst crime of all, was the realisation that I could
have actually stopped it.

I could have stopped the Purification.

Not through the rebellion, which was perhaps doomed from its conception,
but through my own powers. I could have actually made it so that Serenity
could never have done it. In my own defence, I did not understand the
relationship between my powers and hers until decades after she purified
the world. I still remember the creeping horror I felt as I slowly came
to a gradual understanding of what I could have done.

My power and Serenity's lie at opposite sides of the magical spectrum.
Whenever they interact, they act much like matter and anti-matter,
causing painful and explosive magical backlashes.

This, then, leads to the question: what if I had bathed the planet and
its people in MY energy BEFORE Serenity had performed her Purification?
What if I had performed some sort of Anti-Purification? The answer, I
feel, is obvious.

The Purification would have failed. Crystal Tokyo would never have been
possible in its current form. I would have won without a single drop of
blood being shed.

It's too late now. While my energy could have ensured that a Purification
was impossible, I cannot attempt it any more. I have no power to change
men's minds. If I did, it would be a power that I would not dare use, for
fear of falling to the same mistakes that Serenity did. No, humanity has
been irrevocably changed, and I can no longer change it back.

I know that in truth I could not have stopped the Purification. I know
that I would have needed the control over my power that I now have. I
know that I would have needed more energy than I had at that time. I know
that I did not understand my powers well enough back then to have
succeeded.

Yet still, the guilt gnaws. Forever. Or until I die.

That is what it is, to be immortal.

- Retrieved from personal effects left behind after Mars pursued Emerald
to a former hotel in the Caribbean in 2781.

* * *
+++++++++++++++++

Across the world, thousands of millions of people saw the world change.
Burning bright emerald light spread across the sky, coming from the North
to the South, stretching East and West as it spread almost too fast for
the eye to see. Ten time zones saw their night skies erupt into a pseudo-
day. Well over a billion were woken as the light permeated every surface
and through every barrier, shining brighter than day.

As the light blanketed the planet, green motes fell from the energy
curtain, floating like light snow. Each mote travelled through brick and
steel and concrete like it was not there, only stopping when it was
absorbed by either the Earth or by a living creature.

Thousands of television cameras captured the phenomenon in a multitude of
spots around the globe. For a couple of days, at least, this would be
headline news. Experts' theories would hatch and breed and grow, and then
die as time - as with most old news - let people grow disinterested.

In Tokyo, two cats - one black and one white - looked at each other,
their worried expressions mirroring each other as the light illuminated
their faces.

A young blonde girl, her memories still clouded from minutes-ago rebirth,
woke screaming. Her eyes were wide, as she felt - without being able to
explain it - that something had just gone horribly wrong.

A temple maiden frowned, leaning out of her bedroom window. Her psychic
abilities stunted by her recent rebirth, she was not sure how and why she
was feeling so angry and so sad at the same time. With a shake of her
head, she wiped her eyes, before looking out at the light again.

In Osaka, a boy stared at the sky's display, confused at how familiar the
green energy felt. He held out a hand, allowing some of the light motes
to touch it. For a moment, his brown eyes flashed green, before he shook
his head and returned home.

+++++++++++++++++

"Glorious!" he shouted, his power pumping into the atmosphere through his
outstretched hands. His gaze turned from the sky to his crystal, which
was floating in front of him. "Is it working?"

The crystal pulsed.

"That's what I wanted to hear!" Emerald shouted, turning his gaze back to
the sky. "I can't believe it! I've done it! I've won! I've actually gone
and won!"

After a few more moments, his energy fluctuated as he felt his body
tremor. Instead of passing, the tremors got worse until his whole body
began to shake.

"Oh. Well," he said as his eyes turned once again to his crystal, "looks
like I was right about that paradox." The last of his energy burst from
his fingertips, and with that he collapsed to his knees, still wildly
shaking. He looked up at his crystal, a slight smile on his lips. "You
know, the truest friend is the one who helps you become something more."

He could feel existence slip away, his body beginning to fade from
temporal reality. As quickly as he could, he forced out, "Thank you,
my friend. You made me into something... so much more."

As he faded into nothing, his smile widened when he heard the crystal
reply, words pulsing in his mind.

'Goodbye, my friend'.

+++++++++++++++++

Sailor Pluto slowly opened her eyes. She could feel the cold seeping
through her limbs. Every breath felt like hundreds of tiny daggers were
stabbing into her lungs. With a shuddering gasp, she forced herself to
stand, using her Time Key as a crutch.

Her eyes scanned the skies. Already the light was fading as the man's
power dissipated. Her lips quirked into a grim smile as she shakily
raised her staff to create a portal.

Her exhausted voice was barely a croak, but she still managed to force
the words. "Well done, Yukio; I lost. But there was something you never
did learn. Sometimes... losing is winning."

With that, she was gone.

+++++++++++++++++

"Pluto! There you are." Mars walked into the Time Senshi's personal
quarters in Crystal Tokyo's palace. "I've been searching for you." She
blinked, noting how haggard her fellow senshi looked. "Are you alright?"

Pluto dismissively waved an exhausted hand. "I'll be fine once I get some
rest. It was a necessary sacrifice." Her tired voice was barely a whisper.
"Do you know, it took me thousands of manipulations over thousands of
years, but I did it." Pluto raised her hands in a 'look around you'
gesture. "I did it. Through my actions, Crystal Tokyo was born. It was
due to me that this future came to pass."

Mars blinked. "Yes, that's... great. What's your point?"

"Oh, no point. Just thinking about past actions. Tell me, Rei, have you
ever striven to gain something, only to realise only after you got it
that it wasn't what you thought it was?"

Mars nodded. She hesitated, then asked "Are you sure you're alright?" She
shook her head. "Wait, there's no time for that. You have to listen to
me. I'm worried that Emerald might have found a way to pierce the time
barrier."

Pluto raised her hand in a 'wait' gesture. "Come with me." She turned,
and walked around a corner.

Mars stood there for a moment, her mouth tightening at being talked to so
dismissively, before she followed the Time Senshi. After she rounded the
corner, her sure stride skittered to a halt. Pluto was standing on her
private balcony, but it was what was beyond her that made the fire senshi
pause.

"What is that?" Mars's voice was tinged with horror. Beyond the balcony,
beyond a dome of shimmering energy that Pluto had cast, where a crystal
city of millions should have stood, there was only darkness. Her stomach
began to churn as she realised that she could no longer feel a connection
to her queen, or to any other Senshi besides Pluto.

"It is Nothing. In the most strict sense of that word." Pluto sighed,
staring out through the dome of energy she was maintaining to keep the
chronal entropy at bay. "Through no act of my own, everything has changed.
I cannot hold this off for long - I simply don't have the spare energy
right now. I am sorry Rei. You were right. He did pierce the barrier. I
just thought that you should know before the end."

Mars's eyes narrowed as she looked at the green-haired Senshi. "What have
you done?" she hissed as fire formed around her, blazing with her anger.

Pluto met her gaze. "I did nothing, Mars. Absolutely nothing." She raised
her Time Key, before adding, "That was the whole point."

A moment after Pluto disappeared back to the Time Gates, the dome that
was holding back the entropy flickered, then collapsed.

"Damn it all," Mars muttered, closing her eyes and letting her flames
extinguish as Nothing washed over her.

+++++++++++++++++

Author Notes: Well, that is that. Thanks to my huge hiatus, it took
around 10 years to complete this fic. Thanks go out to all the reviewers
both now and in the past.

You might have noticed that a lot of loose ends weren't tied up. That
was deliberate. In order to write the fic, I worked out what Emerald's
crystal was (and why it hated Beryl), what exactly happened before,
during, and after the Great Ice, Pluto's full motivations, and so on. I
didn't cover a lot of that because it was extraneous to the plot, but
mentioning them made the story-world seem bigger/more real.

Neo-queen Serenity was never, ever directly shown to ensure that there
would always be doubt over what happened - Pluto's motivations aside.
When I originally began writing, I planned a sequel that would cover most
of these things, but I now feel that the story works better as a stand-
alone work. Still, maybe one day I'll change my mind.

+++++++++++++++++

Epilogue:

Yukio stared in anger as the oni burst into flames. Letting the crystals
that formed his helmet and armour dissolve, he turned to the Senshi in
fury. "Hey, that was my fight!"

His teeth gritted as he fumed. Stupid sister making him wear this stupid
armour so he could live out her stupid dreams of being a stupid senshi
just because he had these stupid powers. He was eighteen years old, damn
it! How did he let himself be talked into playing her stupid superhero
game? And then when he finally found something to fight, he doesn't even
get 20 seconds with it before someone butts in and takes the creature
down!

"What are you talking about?" The dark-haired senshi walked towards him.
"You were way outclass-" She gasped as she drew close enough to see him
clearly. "It can't be!"

"What?" Yukio looked around him to see if there was something behind him.
His green hair flew around, reminding him that he needed to get a haircut.

"It's been four years..." the senshi breathed. "We thought you died with
the Dark Kingdom!"

"With the what?"

Sailor Mars stepped up to him and slapped him across the face. Before he
could react to that, she hugged him. "Don't ever do that again," she
muttered.

Yukio blinked, then blinked again, still too confused to be angry over
the slap. He looked down at the total stranger who was hugging him, his
all-green eyes wide, before he shouted out, "Damn it all, what the hell
is going on here!?"

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