"Pluto?" Sailor Moon looked around. "Where'd that boy go?"
Pluto released her power and slumped back to the ground as Setsuna. "I...She took him."
"But what's going on?"
"I need a little time to think...I'm not really sure..." Setsuna sighed and turned to Tuxedo Kamen. "Thank you for saving me back there." She looked at Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask and smiled as they both began to eye each other uncertainly. "Well then, you finally realize what you each are." At least in part. She wondered briefly if they were going to remember their double identities as royalty, but it seemed things weren't going to happen the same way in this timeline. Which reminded her...the rainbow crystals. If she, or some form of her, was the enemy, then the enemy knew of the crystals too. She cursed. This was how the enemy stayed one step ahead of her-she knew everything Setsuna knew, and maybe even more. She had to get the rainbow crystals, and then she had to get Usagi to meld them into Ginzuishou.
No small order. She looked at the royal couple. "Why don't you both de-transform and we'll call a senshi meeting. You'd better come along, Tuxedo Kamen-sama. We have a common enemy and a common goal, and from what I've just learned I think we'll need your help." She turned to go, with Mamoru-san and Usagi-chan a few steps behind her.
*****
The room rang with silence so profound that everyone suddenly realized there was a soft but annoyingly grating sound coming from somewhere in the room. Everyone in the room turned their heads slowly, trying to pinpoint the source. Slowly, they all centered their gaze on Setsuna. She sat in one corner of the room, her head in her hands and her eyes trained on Usagi and Ami.
They'd all squished into Usagi's room again. It had been obvious from the way Kenji-san had greeted Mamoru with pleasure that Usagi and Mamoru had been speaking the truth when they claimed he was nothing but her tutor. He was also, it seemed, a friend of the rest of the family. Setsuna had been forced to be rude to Kenji in order to get him to leave them alone in Usagi's room. Once there she'd called the other senshi. Makoto had arrived first. She'd stared in silence for a second upon seeing Mamoru, then recovered quickly and made her way to the corner of Usagi's room opposite Setsuna. She leaned against the corner of the room and stood there, a pillar of silence that peered at the world from a distance. Rei and Minako piled in next, Minako excitedly talking about her latest volleyball game. Evidently her playing had improved significantly since that nasty fight with Jedite. It was good to see the old Minako peek through. Setsuna sighed when she saw that Rei was just passively listening, though. So much to do... The shock on their faces had been quite comical when they'd simultaneously noticed Mamoru. Setsuna made the introductions, informing all three girls that he was Tuxedo Kamen. Mako-chan simply narrowed her eyes and watched him more closely. Rei withdrew into shy silence. And Minako began a hopelessly clumsy attempt at flirtation. Mamoru took it in stride, smiling politely and trying to maintain a little distance.
Last to arrive had been Ami. From the dark circles under her eyes it appeared she hadn't slept in the last twenty-four hours. And the second she'd arrived, the fighting had started. Usagi had laid into her for being late, and for not being ready for an emergency. Ami promptly returned insult for insult, and the decibel level had risen higher and higher until Ikuko-san was forced to rap on the door and ask what was going on. That was when the room went silent.
Setsuna sat in her corner, her eyes narrowed and focused in anger. They didn't have time for this! What were the girls thinking?!? But that was the point. They weren't.
Suddenly she noticed everyone was staring at her. She lifted her head out of her hands and realized that she was audibly grinding her teeth. With an embarrassed "Ahem!" she stood up. "Are we finished?" She fixed a glare that she hoped was threatening on Ami and Usagi. At their wide-eyed nods she brusquely took control of the conversation before another quarrel could flare up. "Good. I finally know who our time-traveling enemy is." She looked down for a second. "It appears to be me."
She let the sounds of shock and surprise over for a second, then held up her hand. "Since I don't remember ever doing the things she is doing, there's only one possibility. She must be the Pluto of the future."
"Wait, wait," Ami interrupted. "Why does she have to be from the future? I mean, haven't you been telling us about parallel universes? Isn't that what we're doing, trying to bring back the universe you remember? Why can't she be from another timeline completely?"
"What? Pluto? Is that why I've never heard of you before?"
Setsuna looked at Mamoru. She'd forgotten that he didn't know about her. Thank goodness that, of all the people here, he was best equipped, intellectually, to deal with understanding her life as the guardian of time. "Yes, Mamoru-san. That's how I knew who you were. In my original timeline all the senshi have known who you were for years now. In my timeline, you're at Harvard right now, actually. Some enemy capable of time travel changed the past in my timeline, leading to this alternate universe. I'm trying to change it back." She looked over at Ami, who was impatiently tapping her foot. She'd already heard Setsuna's explanation a few times and was obviously thoroughly tired of it. "To address your question, Ami...well, it's interesting that you should ask that, of all people."
"Why?"
"Well, as you know, there've been multiple changes. And thus I've been in multiple different timelines since this started. I enlisted you to help me change the timeline back once, and while we succeeded, you were fatally shot in the process."
"What! You let me get shot?!?"
Mako-chan smiled to herself. "You're not inspiring us with confidence here, Setsuna." She buffed her nails against her shirt and smiled through narrowed eyes at Ami. "Unless you meant her to get shot, that is."
"What?!?"
Setsuna raised a hasty hand. "Stop. Both of you." She then stared and the wall with a sigh and shrugged. "I can usually see what the future is tending toward, but having the enemy be a time-traveler as well makes things...difficult. I couldn't tell she was going to get shot. So, anyway, we succeeded. The time line changed back to my original one, and when I released the protection I'd put over you to prevent you shifting back with the time stream, your body morphed into the Mercury from my time line. There were no doubles from parallel universes. There never are, in my experience. So this evil version of me must be from the future."
Mamoru waved his hand through the air, getting up out of Usagi's desk chair. "Wait a minute, wait a minute. Are you trying to tell me that the senshi are helping you destroy our timeline? Our world? Why should we do that, if we're going to disappear?" He shook his head. "I don't think I'm going to go for this. What makes your time better than ours?"
Setsuna stood up too. "But it's all wrong here! I mean, look at what happened to Japan after World War II! It's been ripped to shreds! The U.S. didn't help rebuild it at all! I'm surprised we're not speaking Russian! And the senshi, and you! Do you realize how much more powerful you are in my time? How many times you've saved the Earth from invasion or destruction?"
"So? Can you say there aren't terrible things in your timeline that we've avoided?" Setsuna shivered as scenes from Hiroshima and Nagasaki flashed through her mind. She couldn't, could she? "And about us saving the Earth from invasion, or whatever-we haven't had to save the Earth from invasion! Isn't that better than fighting? Why should we lose what we have to give you your world back? I mean, we're only asking one person-you-to accept a change. You're asking all of us to lose everything!"
Setsuna stared at him in silence for a moment, at a loss for words. "I-I realize it seems like you'll be losing a lot, but you won't. You won't even remember this happened. But...you'll be happily married, and well on your way to building your kingdom." She closed her eyes and thought of Chibi Usa. To think, she missed the idea of being "Pu". "You don't understand! My double is changing things so that the senshi won't exist! Every time the past's changed, the senshi have been even weaker the new time line! You don't remember this, but what about the next time she changes things? Will she make it so you're all dead?" Setsuna's hands shook. She clasped them together and clenched them tightly to hide her trembling. She had to convince them. She had to convince him. "Do you realize what havoc she-I-can cause if she's allowed to run free like this? Please, I know you have doubts, but this needs to be done! I can't allow the future to die!" It had been so much easier in her old time. There, she was the mysterious soldier. There, she was believed and obeyed no matter what. And here she was, begging that they believe her. If things weren't so desperate, she'd laugh. If they weren't so desperate, she'd cry. She closed her eyes and felt forward as best she could. It was next to impossible-everything was too fluid with a second time traveler thrown into the mix. But her fears were well founded. Even with her help, these senshi were too weak, too distant from each other to win. Even with her help, it would take a miracle. She had to stop herself, and get to her own time, to the right time. And then she could forget this whole horrible nightmare.
"What do you mean, 'allow the future to die'?" Rei's eyes were wide, and she stared at Setsuna as if she could feel her distress. Come to think of it, maybe she could. Setsuna took a couple strides across Usagi's small room to stand over Rei.
"Do you feel it too, Rei-chan?" Her powers may not have been refined from years of being a Shinto shrine maiden, but something as monumental as their defeat and the end of the world-that would break though just about any inexperience. "Can you sense what I'm sensing?"
Rei didn't answer. She just stared up at Setsuna and swallowed audibly. Setsuna crouched in front of her and looked into her eyes. "Can you feel it too?" The other girls and Mamoru watched the exchange as if they were both mad. "Rei-chan, it's real. Don't doubt it, don't push it away. It's your power."
The shy girl's eyes stayed fixed on hers, and she slowly nodded. "Yes," she whispered. "I can feel it now...suddenly." She closed her eyes. "Something's changed. Something important. I think it's because of you. Not you, but...the other you."
Setsuna whirled around. "Usagi-chan! Quick! I need a candle! She works best with a flame!"
"But-"
"Look, I'd rather not set your furniture on fire, but the information she can get is important enough that I'm willing to do it if I have to!" she hissed. Usagi stiffened at her tone, but nodded and dashed out of the room, returning in seconds with a candle. Setsuna lit it and held it in front of Rei's face, ignoring the heat as hot wax began to flow down the sides of the narrow column of wax. "Okay, Rei. Look, here's a flame. Look into it, and tell me what you see."
The girl's eyes opened a fraction. "I see...pain. A rainbow. A priest turned boxer...a cat? No, a monster...others...seven..." They all waited breathlessly as her voice trailed off into silence, but after a few minutes she suddenly started and blinked her eyes all the way open. "What?" Everyone pulled back with a sigh. Setsuna pursed her lips to blow out the candle, but before she released her breath Mamoru reached out with a startled cry and jerked her hand toward him. It splashed even more burning hot wax on her hands, and she gritted her teeth in pain.
"Your hands!" He grabbed the candle away from her and blew it out. "What were you thinking?"
Usagi stared at her, then at her burned hands. "I'll go get...something...for them." She left the room again. No one else moved, they just watched her, looking like they doubted her sanity more with every passing minute.
Setsuna tried to explain it to them. "Rei...Rei has special abilities, even when she's not a senshi. In a case like this the information she can give us is probably more useful than the information I can feel in the tendencies of the time stream. That information was important." Mamoru looked at her for a second, then nodded. Mako-chan, who had finally moved out of her corner, nodded as well, with the snap of satisfaction to it, as if she approved of Setsuna's stoicism. Minako and Ami both stared at her with disbelief. Setsuna looked back at them for a second, then shrugged and began to peel the now stiffened cakes of cooling wax off her skin. "I'll be fine." Usagi crashed into the room again and began fussing over her hands, slobbering some nameless ointment all over them, then wrapping bandages clumsily over her palms. Setsuna just smiled over Usagi-chan's bowed head. Her princess...
"So," Ami interrupted her momentary reverie, "what does psychic girl's muttering mean, then?"
Rei raised her eyes to meet Ami's as she reached up to wipe drops of sweat off her brow. Minako patted her hand. "Ignore her, you know how she is."
Rei shot her a sharp look. "Look who's talking."
Setsuna sighed. "It means that my counterpart has the component pieces of Ginzuishou."
Various "what?!?"s rebounded around the room. She gave it a couple minutes to settle down, then raised her voice. "Look, it's all right, she can't put them together or anything. She's at an impasse for a while. We have a problem, though. In order to get the pieces she created some monsters. Seven of them."
"That's the 'seven' she was talking about!" Minako exclaimed with excitement.
"Yes. They were human until the pieces of the crystal were taken from them. We need Sailor Moon's healing power to get them to be humans again. We can't just destroy them."
"Seven?!?" Usagi jumped up to her feet. "I can't use that power seven times! Do you know how much that took out of me? Can't we just kill them? Either way they'll stop bothering people."
Setsuna stared in disbelief. Usagi? Wanting to destroy instead of heal? "Usagi? Do you really think that would be right?"
Usagi looked at her for a second, the dropped her eyes to the floor. "No." She scuffed her big toe on the carpet. "I guess not."
Setsuna looked up at Mamoru. "Are you with us? Are you going to help us?"
He looked back, then sighed. "I'll help you stop those monsters for sure, but as for this time-line thing...I'm not sure."
Setsuna smiled, happy to get him to give in on something...she was sure he'd keep helping, if he started. He wouldn't want to let Usagi get hurt. He hadn't as a lover, he wouldn't as an onii. She took his hand. "Let me protect you."
"What?"
Usagi put her hand on his shoulder. "It's all right. She did this for all of us. It keeps the enemy from taking us out of existence, even if she changes the time line again."
"Okay," he sighed. Setsuna sent a bolt of energy into him, then looked around at her charges. "Are you ready? We should go."
"How will we find the monsters?"
Setsuna smiled ruefully. "Trust me, they won't be hard to locate."
*****
She didn't even bother to watch him. She knew he couldn't do anything except fume silently to himself. So he fumed. "That was a very, very stupid thing you did, boy." He clenched his fist. His name was Hito. He was getting very tired of this "boy" business. "You know that don't you?" She didn't even bother to sound angry. In fact she seemed to be...amused. "Zoicite had to die, so I'm glad you were able to help my young counter part accomplish that. I didn't want you to reveal quite as much as you did, though. If I hadn't been...distracted...you wouldn't have been able to tell them as much as you did." She shook her head. Her heavy hair swung back and forth, emphasizing the minimal movement. "I wouldn't have figured you would behave like that, boy. Seems you're developing a backbone. It's a little different from last time...maybe I should watch you more carefully, hmm?"
Hito didn't even bother to respond. What could he say? He was helpless. He just sulked silently on the disgustingly frilly bed and glared at the clouds as they drifted over the big door. He hated this place.
"You know..." Hito jerked his head over to face her. Her voice sounded different. She'd turned to face him. "You know, boy, that if I want, I can simply will you out of existence?" He blinked. What can a person say in response to that? "You only exist in that one timeline...well, in a very small subset of all the timelines that exist, I suppose I should say. There's always the possibility that you exist in two or three instead of one. Infinity's hard to keep track of, after all. But you are very special. It took a series of very remarkable accidents to enable you to exist, boy. Some people, like the senshi, exist in almost every time, almost every universe. Most normal people have a decent chance of being born-oh, about seventy-five percent or so. But you-you're rare. Any significant change and...poof!...you've never been born! Isn't that interesting? And just remember what happened to Mercury, that time she got shot? Remember when my younger counterpart released Mercury from the time shield? Remember how she promptly returned to her correct form for that universe? Well, boy, if I release my shield, guess what your correct form for this time line, or nearly every other possible time line is? Hmmm? Well? Guess!"
Hito licked his lips and just stared at her. Her arm whipped her staff around until its tip was less than a millimeter from his nose. "Guess," she hissed.
"Um...nothing?"
Her lips turned up in a cruel smile. "Yes. Exactly. Nothing. So. Don't make me angry again. Do you understand?" Hito silently rubbed his sweaty hands on his pants and nodded. "Good, I'm glad we had this little talk." Hito shivered as she entered the doorway and disappeared.
Some talk.
*****
Ami suddenly clutched her ears. "I've got it! Some kind of creature with wings is...you're not gonna believe this. It's drawing giant rocks and dropping them on people!" She looked around at everyone else. "How can you draw something into existence?"
"With difficulty. Where is this?"
"Ha ha. It's...a couple blocks south. Okay...they've got another report..." Ami reached down with one hand to turn the volume on her walkman up. The other still clutched the earpiece tightly in her ear. "Oh no! This one's got everyone in a panic! It seems to be heading toward a school! It's right next to...Hikawa Jinja!" Setsuna whirled her head around to face Rei. She caught sight of a slight widening of her eyes, but the quiet girl quickly hid her emotion. Setsuna wanted to reach out and give her a reassuring pat on the hand, but the car was almost too crowded to breathe in, let alone move. She couldn't help wondering why Mamoru owned a ten year old station wagon here...there weren't many big cars in her old Japan. But at least everyone could fit...kind of... Maybe it was better if Mars didn't know who the creature really was until after the fact.
"Well, that's a relief."
"A relief? What do you mean? They're no where near each other. How long is this going to take? How are we going to find all of them?" Usagi wrung her hands. She seemed so nervous about the upcoming fights.
"It's a relief because they're not working together, at least not yet. How would you rather face them? One by one, or all at once?"
"I see your point..."
Mamoru looked at Setsuna. "So, where to first? The shrine or the one that's closer?"
"It sounds like the one at the shrine is more dangerous. We can't let it get to a school."
"Okay, hold on!" Mamoru made a sharp right and pressed on the gas. Setsuna just closed her eyes. She didn't think she'd ever get used to this driving on the wrong side of the road. The Americans even affected how the cars and roads were set up here... She reminded herself never to live in America. Her nerves couldn't take this sort of thing every day.
"There!" Rei pointed eagerly after a few tense minutes. "Quick everyone!" A small creature jumped from the sidewalk up to a roof, while a few nearby pedestrians fainted or screamed. "It's still too close to the temple!"
Everyone piled out of the car and into a nearby alley to transform, then they ran back out. "There it is! See it hopping on that roof over there?" Venus pointed excitedly. Without another word they all ran toward it. Pluto, Jupiter and Tuxedo Kamen leaped onto the roof without a second's hesitation. Venus watched them jump with hunger in her eyes. She took a few steps back and attempted a flying leap. She made it onto the roof, but she didn't quite keep her feet. "Oof!" She pulled herself to her knees, spitting random pieces of shingle out of her mouth. Mercury, Moon and Mars watched this, then looked at each other and ran for a fire escape. When they finally made it up, the others were a few roofs ahead of them, slowly catching up to the small monster running over the last few buildings before it reached the school grounds. They swore softly under their breath and sprinted to catch up.
"You'll have to learn to jump sometime! Learn from Venus! She'll do better next time!" Pluto gasped to the three girls as they drew up behind her. "Yeah, either she'll do better next time or she'll break her nose," Jupiter grunted as she lengthened her stride, pulling ahead of everyone else. "You can clean up the mess when I finish with this thing, Sailor Moon!"
Pluto growled and fought to keep up with the taller girl. If Jupiter hurt Rei's ojii-chan...
"Supreme Thunder!" The large ball of electricity crashed into the small figure scrambling over the rooftops. It rolled along the roof, growling something incomprehensible, then it lumbered to its feet again. Jupiter took a flying leap and cracked her foot at it, kicking it in the face, then landing on her feet behind it. She spun to face it, and angry snarl on her face.
"Stop! Jupiter! Don't hurt it any more than necessary!"
"Why? What do you care? It's just-" She threw a punch, but the creature had regained its bearings enough to dodge. "...just a monster!" It took a swipe back at her with its long claws, but she dodged it. Jupiter's antenna came up and she took a breath in preparation for another attack, but before a word escape the creature that used to be Rei's ojii-chan moved supernaturally fast, raking its claws across her stomach. She fell to the roof with a pained cry. Pluto nearly flew as she jumped toward the creature, whacking it away from Jupiter with her staff.
"Get back!" Jupiter stirred a bit, then wobbled to feet, backing off a few feet. Pluto looked over her shoulder. "Sailor Moon! Hurry!"
"I'm coming! I'm coming!" Sailor Moon stooped over for a split second, gasping a few deep breaths. Pluto knocked the youma off its feet again, turning to yell.
"Sailor Moo-"
"I said I was coming!" Sailor Moon closed her eyes and the Moon Stick materialized in her hands. "Moon...Healing...Activation!"
White energy flew from the wand. The youma screamed as it hit. Its body stretched and deformed for a second, then everyone's sight cleared from the blinding light. Mars gasped in horror.
"Ojii-san! Kami-sama...did you have to hurt him so much??? Ojii-san!!" She dropped to her knees and clutched him to her, faint sobs shaking through her. Pluto reached down to place a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm...I'm sorry, Rei-chan. I didn't know how to tell you. I wanted to get to him first, so...so Sailor Moon could heal him right away. It's going to get tougher from here on out. I tried to spare him as much as possible."
Mars glared up at Jupiter, who was slowly pulling herself to her feet. No one even offered to help-the look in Jupiter's eyes pushed everyone back. Everyone except Mars. "What were you thinking? Why'd you have to hurt him so much?" She handed her grandfather to Venus and stood up, taking angry steps toward Jupiter. She stood toe to toe with her, so angry she didn't seem to notice she was trying to stare down a girl that was almost a foot taller than her. "You didn't have to! Why didn't you wait until Sailor Moon caught up! He's old and sick! He couldn't help what happened to him!"
Jupiter stared down at her, nonplused. "I'm sorry..." she mumbled.
"He's my only real family! He was so kind to me...after Mama died." Mars looked down and away, failing to hold the tears back from her eyes. She didn't notice the sudden gasp of pain that rose from Jupiter at her words. "Otou-san may not let me come to see him anymore, but he's the only one who's ever loved me! And you...and you..." She brought her fists up. "He's just an old man!!!!" She pounded Jupiter with her fists, like she might pound on a locked door. "...just a helpless old man..." Jupiter winced as more pain was added to her injuries, but stood and took it with a stubborn look on her face, accepting her penance. Pluto put a hand on Mars' shoulder.
"Rei-chan...Rei-chan, we have more to fight. Let's bring your ojii-cha...er, your ojii-san home, okay? We can check on him later."
Mars didn't look up for a second. Then, with a stifled sob, she nodded. She turned toward where Venus cradled the unconscious man's head in her lap, and bent to pick him up. A hand suddenly pulled her aside. "Let me," a voice rough with pent emotion said softly. Mars stood back and blinked with surprise as Jupiter picked up the prone body of her grandfather.
"But-"
Jupiter turned to her with eyes bright and brittle as glass. "I lost my parents when I was little. I'm sorry I hurt your family. I would never knowingly do that to anyone." Pluto sighed as the brunette turned away with flip of her ponytail and began to slowly make her way back to Hikawa Jinja, her head held high. So much pain. In either timeline. She looked at the other senshi, and a silently watching Tuxedo Kamen. So much pain in all their lives. Would they ever get close enough to help each other forget? Pluto tossed her head in the direction of Jupiter's retreating back, indicating they should all follow, then she turned without another word and sprinted to catch up to Jupiter. She pretended not to notice the tears on the other girl's cheeks.
"Are you sure you're all right? He got you pretty good with those claws. He even broke through your armor a bit."
Jupiter looked at her out of the corner of her eyes. "I'm fine."
"Yeah." Pluto smiled. "Stubborn too." She looked over her shoulder and saw the others catching up. They couldn't take too long. They had six other monsters to fight.
"Say, Pluto. What about your timeline?"
She jerked her attention back to the senshi of lightning. "What?"
"My parents? Are they alive?"
Pluto sighed. "No. They both died in a plane crash."
"Well, what's the use then?" Jupiter sniffed softly.
"You have good friends...and a purpose. It gets better, I promise."
"Mmm."
"Really, it does."
"And what would you know about it?"
"Know about what?" Usagi asked, poking her head between Jupiter and Pluto. "Hmm?"
"Oh...nothing-whoa!" Pluto reached out to place a steadying hand on Jupiter as she stumbled, almost losing her balance. "You all right?"
"Fine. We're almost there."
Mars ran up behind Jupiter. "I'll show you where you can put him." She jogged ahead and climbed carefully off the roof, then ran to open the door to the shrine. Venus giggled and ran up to the edge after her. Then, with a vigorous "Geronimo!" she leapt off the edge. "OUCH!"
Sailor Moon and Mercury crept close to the edge and peered down at Venus. "It didn't really hurt that much!" Pluto heard her call out encouragingly. "Really! Look! I can walk and everything!" Sailor Moon and Mercury looked at each other, then turned around to slowly let themselves down. They dangled from the edge for a second, then dropped the last couple of feet to the ground with a simultaneous thud. "Chicken!" Pluto heard a smothered chuckle and turned to smile at Tuxedo Kamen. Then they both jumped nimbly off the roof, landing in a cloud of dust. Venus glared at Pluto and Tuxedo Kamen for their flawless execution of their leaps, then turned and followed Mars into the shrine. Pluto turned and craned her neck up to Jupiter.
"Hand him down to me, then you can-"
Jupiter ignored her and jumped down off the roof, then wordlessly strode toward the door behind Venus and Mars. Pluto shrugged ruefully and followed behind as well. Children.
*****