"This is so awesome!" Mercury crowed, turning first one way, then another, as she admired herself in her new senshi fuku. Pluto smiled at the happy, childish tone of her voice.
"Reach up to your earring and turn it, Mercury."
"Why?"
"Just do it."
Mercury reached up and twirled her blue earring ball. A line of light flashed over her forehead, and her blue VR screen pulled down from it to cover her face. Mercury fell down to the ground with a yelp of surprise. The other three girls watched in surprise. Sailor Moon crossed her arms grumpily. "My gadgets aren't that cool." she grumbled. Mercury began laughing as numbers poured across her screen.
"This is great! I can't believe it! Pluto, quick, hand me the computer--let me see if they can connect."
Pluto sighed and handed it to her. "Of course they can connect, Mercury, they were made specifically for you--and for each other. You must use them to analyze any information we gather on our enemy, plus gather anything you can find on their plans, our surroundings in a battle...anything like that. Often, you are our eyes and ears, so you have to stay out of heavy fighting." She ignored Mercury's pout. "I want you to show the others your power, now, Mercury."
Mercury tilted her head. "What is it? What do I do?"
Luna stepped up to her. "Just think about it, Mercury. It should come to you. Close your eyes and concentrate."
Mercury looked down and stood silently in the middle of the abandoned field. The three other inner senshi watched her breathlessly. Suddenly Mercury's head snapped up and she lifted her arms. "Shabon...Spray!" A thick, heavy fog suddenly covered the area. "That's it?!? FOG?!? That's my great power!?! Shit!"
"Mercury, control yourself!" Pluto snapped. "Your early powers are all weaker. You will get stronger as you learn. But you, Mercury, are not an offensive warrior like the others are. You are defensive. You give us cover, and allow retreat, and give us information. Understand?"
Mercury looked at her, slightly calmer. "I want to see your power."
Pluto shook her head. "I don't think--"
"Yeah! I want to see your power too!" Sailor Moon spoke up, then nudged Mars and Venus in the ribs. They jumped and nodded.
"Yeah..."
"Me too..."
Pluto sighed. She couldn't really disobey the Princess when it wouldn't do any harm. She'd aim it into the ground a ways away from the senshi. "Very well. Brace yourselves." She closed her eyes and centered herself. "Dead Scream..." she whispered into the breeze, and blasted away with the smallest amount of power she could. No reason to waste strength. The magenta ball of energy shrieked through the air and crashed into the ground, throwing up dirt and knocking a tree over before finally dissipating. Pluto turned and watched the inners get up off the ground. Sailor Moon was practically jumping out of her skin with excitement.
"That was great!" she began excitedly. "Kick ass! Yeah! Are we gonna have powers like that soon? Huh?" Mercury glared at Pluto, obviously angry that she didn't have such a spectacular attack. Pluto looked at an overly enthusiastic Sailor Moon and stifled her annoyance.
"You will all get very powerful. But you need to keep training...and you need to fight. I think...." Pluto closed her eyes and concentrated. She hadn't done this yet in the new time line...she'd been frightened to, to tell the truth...she quested into the future, looking for answers. "Yes...you will meet your real enemy soon...I can't tell exactly when, that's too changeable, but it will happen within..." Her eyes snapped back open and she looked at the three younger women. "hours! Within three hours!"
*****
"So, Setsuna, what can we expect from this enemy?" Luna asked curiously from Usagi's shoulder. "I would think that you're so powerful it wouldn't cause any worry, but you seem disturbed."
Setsuna turned to her. "It's hard to explain. Your enemy is getting information from my enemy--I can tell from the tendencies in the timeline. And I don't know what to do about it. I want to tell you things--but I'm afraid I'll make you lose the battle if I say too much."
Luna tilted her head and looked up at her for a second, then, without warning, jumped to her shoulder and settled herself down. "Why don't you tell me something you're uncertain about. I won't mention it to the girls--but maybe I'll have a better idea of what the girls are capable of, and can offer advice."
"Hey!" Usagi shouted. "If you're gonna tell Luna, you might as well tell us all! It's not good to keep secrets!" Setsuna didn't answer Usagi, but shot Luna a look that spoke volumes. The black cat looked from her charge to Setsuna and back, and sighed.
"I see what you mean."
"Hey!"
Setsuna smiled and put her hand on Usagi's head. "I'm so glad everything hasn't changed." She looked from the new, outgoing Ami to the sometimes suspicious and cynical new Usagi, then at the strangely subdued new versions of Rei and Minako and sobered quickly. Maybe everything hadn't changed, but many things had... Screams suddenly shattered the afternoon air, and a few people scrambled out of a local shop. The three veteran senshi looked at each other and began to make a beeline for a nearby alley. Ami stood riveted in place until Setsuna roughly pulled her after them. The other three were already in the midst of their transformations when Setsuna reached up into the air. "Pluto Crystal Power! Make UP!"
Ami blinked and held up her own henshin rod. "Mercury Power! Make UP!"
Pluto twirled her Garnet Rod impatiently as she waited for Mercury to finish. The other girls crowded around the entrance of the alley, peeking out into the street. Mercury opened her eyes and began to walk toward them, but Pluto snagged her arm. "Remember," she hissed, "don't extend yourself! You only have defensive powers! Give us information on the enemy, and don't get yourself killed!" Mercury snarled and yanked her arm out of Pluto's grip.
"Yeah, yeah, I get it! Let go!"
Pluto watched them step out of the alley and sighed mournfully. "They're such children." Then she quickly followed.
Sailor Moon and Mercury walked in with confident steps while Mars and Venus moved forward with trepidation. Pluto snorted and pushed them forward with the tip of her staff. They both leapt into the air with faint cries, then looked back at her guiltily, as if they'd forgotten she was there. "Move it!" she hissed at them. "Mercury doesn't have any offensive power! You have to pull your end of the rope!" Pluto looked at Sailor Moon and noted that she was preparing for her usual hokey speech and posturing. She opened her mouth to speak into the dark store when the lights in one of the hallways flipped on. A figure stood silhouetted in the doorway with her feet a shoulder's width apart and her arms akimbo.
As the light filtered into the main room of the shop from the hallway, the four senshi gasped. A man in a strange gray uniform sat floating in the middle of the room. He had short blond hair and a superior smirk on his face as he looked at everyone arrayed around him. A few hapless shoppers lay on the floor under him, pale and still. A voice rough with barely suppressed anger emerged from the silhouette in the doorway.
"I am the senshi of thunder and justice! I am Sailor J!" Just then the rest of the lights in the room turned on, and Makoto stepped forward. Pluto gasped. She was wearing the oddest uniform! Her armor stopped above her stomach, leaving her midriff bare, and the upper edge of her green skirt had white feather-like contraptions on it. Her feet still wore the green half boots, and her hair was in a ponytail that was lower on her head than her old style, but instead of a tiara she had a headset with winged glasses and an earpiece with an antenna on one side of her head. She held sharp silver weapons in one hand, shaped like stylized lightning, and the brooch over her bow and the tops of her long gloves, which reached the middle of her upper arm, both had her symbol inscribed on them. Pluto watched Artemis step up behind "Sailor J" and couldn't help smiling a little, despite the strangeness and gravity of the situation. Artemis got lots of points for dramatics, but not many for originality. She snickered. Sailor J?!?
She suddenly realized she was distracted and quickly turned her gaze back to Jedite. He seemed completely unconcerned as his gaze turned from Makoto toward the four inner senshi. Pluto hung back in the shadows and watched. She'd prefer the girls learn to work as a team without her, if possible. She flicked her eyes in Sailor Moon's direction. Sailor Moon and Mercury both looked disgruntled at having the limelight so brilliantly stolen, and Mars and Venus gazed in open-mouthed fascination. Pluto cleared her throat just loud enough for the girls to hear her, and Sailor Moon jumped.
"Oh! Well, I am the beautiful sailor suited soldier of love and justice, Sailor Moon!"
"Also, Sailor Mercury!" Ami's clear voice rang out.
"And Sailor Mars!" Rei's voice trembled a little, but she held her head high.
"And Sailor Venus!" Minako seemed to stand taller and more confident as she was surrounded by the other senshi.
Sailor Moon finished her characteristic gesture, pointing accusingly at a still bored looking Jedite. "And in the name of the moon, I will punish you!"
Sailor J was staring at the four sailor senshi with a strange look on her face, but Artemis reached up with a snow-white paw and nudged her. Without a second more of hesitation, she turned back to Jedite and shouted as she drew back one arm, "Thunderbolt Shower!" Three of the silver weapons in her hands flew at Jedite. He nimbly stepped out of the way, but one razor-sharp edge managed to rip through his uniform. He looked down at his torn sleeve in annoyance. Sailor J smiled. "Give it up, whoever you are! We outnumber you!" She held her hands together, and lightning crackled between her palms. Sailor Moon already had her glowing tiara spinning in her hand, waiting to be released, and Pluto nodded in approval when she saw that Mercury had her computer out and was typing at it furiously.
"Minna! I don't know what exactly this means, but I'm getting an alarm from this thing! Something's going on!" Mercury hissed to the three senshi near her. Pluto was about to step out to help Mercury when Luna jumped up on the water senshi's shoulder.
"Let me see...maybe I'll recognize something..." the black cat muttered. She peered down at the screen. "Look! That's energy! You can read his power rating! This must mean he's getting ready to do something! Look at the level of those readings! He's got the same type of power that you girls do..."
"What?!?" Mercury practically shouted. "You mean magic powers?" Luna nodded.
"Supreme Thunder!" Sailor J cried out, then she yelped in surprise as she jumped away from some shards of crystal Jedite threw in her direction. "You know..." she gasped as she pulled herself back to her feet near the four other inner senshi, "...a little less discussion and a little more help might be in order here." She placed her hands on her hips and sneered down at them a little. "And you call yourselves 'sailor soldiers'."
Sailor Moon shot her a sour look, and shrieked, "Moon Tiara Action!" Jedite again backed away just in time, and Pluto watched in concern as he began to pull back.
"Minna! Don't let him escape!" she cried with a bark of command. Mars jerked to attention and looked back over her shoulder at Pluto. Pluto snorted in exasperation at their incompetence and brought up her Rod. "Dead Scream," she whispered, and spun the tip of her staff until the Garnet Rod was centered on Jedite. "No!" she shouted in exasperation as she saw he had already shimmered out of existence. Her attack smashed into the back wall of the store and blew a giant chunk out of the wall. "Shit!" She planted the foot of her Rod in the ground and held to it tightly as she got her adrenaline back under control. They were hopeless! How could she ever defeat this great enemy if the senshi were next to useless? Now Jedite knew what they all looked like--with the possible exception of her, since she'd stayed in the shadows most of the fight--and he'd managed to get away with some stolen energy.
She wearily raised her head with a sigh and looked up to meet the wide eyes of Sailors Moon, Mercury, Mars, Venus, and J. When she looked into their eyes, Venus and Mars turned away. Moon was looking offended at Pluto's attitude, and J had a look of awe on her face, while Mercury stared at her with open jealousy. Pluto looked away from them, down at Artemis.
"Well, hello there, Artemis. Good to meet you. Do you happen to remember Luna?"
"What?!?" Luna cried as she jumped off Mercury's shoulder. "This is Artemis? But Artemis is woman's name!"
"Hey!" Artemis cried, looking even more offended than Sailor Moon. "It is not a woman's name! Because it's my name, and I am most definitely not a woman!" J giggled into her hand at his annoyed tone, and bent over to pick him up. Before she'd even straightened Artemis fought his way out of her grip. "But I do vaguely remember you now..." He stood in front of her, and Pluto saw his whiskers twitch as he sniffed the air. "...Luna...ne?"
"Artemis...oh!"
"What?"
"You're a trainer of the senshi too! We taught the senshi to be great warriors in the past together!"
"That's right! Now I'm remembering a little! And we're not here to fight criminals or petty thieves! We're here to prevent our enemy from winning again!"
"Yes!" Artemis and Luna walked off into the night together, chatting eagerly. J stood alone in the center of the store, at a loss and separate from all the other senshi. Pluto took pity on her and walked up. Makoto was about seventeen, like all the other girls, and taller than her now.
"Sailor J?"
Makoto looked up, the same hunger for friendship in her green eyes that had always been there. "Yes?"
Pluto grinned and clapped her on the shoulder. "Welcome to the Sailor Team, Sailor Jupiter, senshi of thunder."
At that, J smiled brightly, a sparkle entering her eyes, as Pluto heard Sailor Moon mutter under her breath.
"Pink plastic toy sticks...damn..."
*****