Sky's Explosion
By A-kun
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
My back hurt. Now, there are many kinds of hurt when discussing pain. First is the uncomfortable cramp, then there's the piercing stab, and then there's the overwhelming throb. My back was suffering from all three of these pains, all in different areas, making an cacophany of agony for me.
The only thing I was grateful for was the soft bed beneath me. I sighed and tried my best to relax. Whoever the new Witch that was running around was, she was both a bimbo and a professional. The two words seemed to contradict each other, but this 'Mimete' girl proved that it could somehow work, if not at the same time.
The battle had been pretty fast in that movie theater. I recalled throwing a World Shaking into the monster's torso, but it wasn't so easily beaten like the monsters before it. It managed to kick me across the theater and I remember hitting a bunch of theater seats at a bad angle. When I came to, Usagi had used a Rainbow Heart Ache to get rid of it and Mimete was just fleeing.
There was something odd about Usagi when she used it. It was like the power gained by the Holy Grail was a mere fragment of her full strength. But, everytime she used it, she always looked a little pale afterwards. And then there was the oddity of Chibi-Usa's simultaneous transformation into the 'Super' stage, as Ami dubbed it. I sighed. My back hurt too much and it was starting to give me a headache.
"Haru-chan?" was the soft inquiry from Mako-chan as she laid down next to me.
"Yes, Mako-chan?" I asked.
"Need a back massage?" she quiered.
"Mako-chan, I'd love it if you would," I responded.
"Take your clothes off and I'll give you one," Mako-chan instructed.
"Ooohh, but that requires getting up!" I whined.
"I'll give you a special massage if you do," Mako-chan whispered seductively in my ear.
My clothes were off the instant she said the word 'do'. What we did after that will be kept to ourselves. (Author's note: HA! Thought I'd change my evil ways?! NEVER!! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAARCK! *COUGH* *HACK* *COUGH*)
I couldn't ask for much more. Our fingers were intertwined as she laid on my sweaty body. A thin blanket was draped over most of our bodies, but left enough of her back exposed that I could stroke it without feeling the distraction of the sheet. Her head was nestled under the right side of my chin.
"Haruka..," Mako-chan began in an uneasy tone. Something was bothering her and I knew it.
"Yes?" I asked.
"If Michiru comes back, will you leave me?" Mako-chan inquired, lifting herself up and looking at me.
That was something I hadn't counted on. Heck, I hadn't even thought of what was going to happen. I had to think. Unfortunately, I didn't really know of a good way to ask for time without making myself look like a total dork.
"Haruka?" Makoto asked.
Well, lies and confusion broke me and Michiru up, so honesty would be the key.
"To be honest, Mako-chan, Michiru will always have a part of me. I won't lie and say I never loved her or that I don't love her. I'm just too hurt to go back," I answered.
"What if I hurt you?" Makoto inquired.
That sent a queasy feeling up my spine. It wasn't quite a shiver, a shudder or a stiffening, but something else entirely.
"Why do you ask?" I asked, sitting up.
Makoto hesistated, then sighed.
"Well, my old sempai is a part of me too. Only, he didn't do anything like Michiru did to you, so I'm... I..," Makoto tried to explain.
"So, you aren't sure what you might do if he were to show up and beg you to come back," I finished.
"It's... I love you and what we do, but... I've never been in love. I'm doubting myself more than I ever have. Now that I think about it, I don't really want my old sempai back, but... thoughts start going through me head. I'm...," Makoto tried again to explain.
She wasn't sure what she was saying. That much was obvious by how her expression kept changing from nervous to baffled to hurt to depressed and back to nervous. I laid back down and pulled her to me. I held her to my chest and stroked her hair.
"Just think calmly. What is it that you want to tell me?" I asked.
Makoto relaxed against me and just hugged me for a few minutes. Finally, she started to talk again, "Can we have a threesome?"
That caught me off-guard entirely. I was startled at first, but I didn't want to freak out like some small-minded peon. A threesome? Did she just want to explore the option of having more lovers or was she growing bored? I shook off my doubts and decided to think the best of my Mako-chan.
"Been sneaking peeks at the other Inners?" I asked.
Mako-chan's blush told me that I was right on the money.
"To be honest, you and Michiru are the only girls I've ever done this with, but I wouldn't mind having someone else in here if you don't mind. But!" I began, bringing her eyes up to meet mine, "I wanna know who it is that you wanna bring in beforehand,"
Mako-chan's blush deepened, but instead of answering, she laid her head back against my chest and began to think again. I could tell because she kept murmurring to herself and moving her head. She was no doubt trying to decide on one of the other girls, but was uncertain as to who to bring in.
"Mako-chan, if you're uncertain..," I began.
"Well... I'm just not sure they'd jump for a threesome right away..," Mako-chan replied.
So THAT was the problem! She wanted to test the waters first, but didn't want to hurt my feelings! Then again, seeing as Michiru had been cheating on me, she was trying to ask me without hurting me like Michiru had.
"Mako-chan, Michiru hurt me by NOT telling me about her other relationship. You and I are discussing it before you're even trying. Trust me, it may look the same, but since we're being open and honest about this, it's very different," I soothed.
Mako-chan relaxed before hugging me tightly.
"Thank you," she whispered.
"Thank you for asking me first," I responded, stroking her back.
Morning came and it was back to school. I have to admit that Mako-chan putting the moves on someone else was a tad disturbing after the fact, but I could accept it. It was just difficult to see Michiru after I just told my new love to go play with someone else. Michiru had grown increasingly introverted since she had given up being Sailor Neptune, but I was glad she hadn't done anything rash.
I wanted to ease her pain, but I couldn't think of a way that wouldn't end up in an awkward position for both of us. Michiru was obviously hurting and while she had hurt me too, she had more to burn herself with. Guilt and regret can be the heaviest of weights and Michiru was obviously bearing plenty.
I was distracted all through class, and though I got the gist of what the teacher was saying and writing, my mind was trying to find something that I could do for Michiru. I didn't like to see people suffering, even back when I was the one responsible. Just standing around wasn't my style. I was determined to see her happy again.
Class ended fairly quickly. I knew Michiru wasn't the sort to just rush out of the room. She took her time and so did I, even though I was ready before the bell even rang.
"Hey, Michiru. You need a lift to swimming?" I asked, approaching her desk.
Michiru looked at me as if I had grown a quadruple D cup chest. While thinking of the benefits and consequences of such an event would have been a nice distraction, I hadn't, so I threw the whole insane train of thought into my mental trash bin.
"What?" I inquired.
"I don't need sympathy," Michiru answered.
"I wasn't offering any. I just know it takes you a while to get to the pool. It was the reason I started giving you a lift, remember?" I asked.
"I don't think that would be wise, Miss Ten'oh," Michiru told me formally.
"Why, because you need to be a better person? It's going to go pretty slowly if you just sit around depressed. Lemme give you a lift," I responded.
"Haruka, PLEASE!" Michiru barked.
Luckily, the classroom was already empty. I sighed.
"Michiru, I've been doing some thinking. Why don't we just start over and be friends like we said we would be?" I inquired.
Michiru backed away.
"Haruka, we can't. Every time you come near me, I remember what we were and what I did to you," Michiru responded.
"If we can't be lovers, neither one of us wants to be enemies, then we should at least be friends, Michiru," I reasoned.
Michiru was silent.
"Come on, it'll make you a better person," I teased, holding out my hand to her.
Michiru sighed, then took my hand.
"Friends," she whispered.
It was a small step, but it was better than nothing at all.
The pool. Something about the sight of all that water in one spot reminded me of Michiru. Trying to keep everything from spilling out and going where it wasn't meant to be. I had no idea why, but I had gotten the urge to see the pool again.
Michiru exited the girl's changing room with a heavy blush on her face. Then I realized why: she had a skimpy two piece bikini on. It was the sort she liked to wear to feel more of the water, but it showed so much that it was like walking around with only three strips of yarn on. The moisture already between her legs was a sign that something had broken in the changing room or that she was turned on by the the thought of having me watch her again.
She tossed her towel aside and leapt into the water quickly. Once in the water, she was like a mermaid, gliding through the water as a bird through air. She loved to twirl and dance in the water. Finally, she stopped and returned to the surface. Michiru turned to me with a shy smile on her face and it was then that I noticed she had lost her top somewhere between diving in and coming up to the surface.
Blushing, I looked away as Michiru noticed her lack of a top. She yelped and crossed her arms over her chest. By pure luck, the top had appeared near me. My face felt as hot as an oven as I picked it out of the water and held it out for her. Her face covered in embarrassment, she swam over to me and took it. I was transfixed as she uncovered her chest for the few seconds it took to put on the skimpy thing.
Then, she looked up to me. Fear began to dig into me and I pulled away before I became too transfixed to ever pull away.
"Uh, I've got to get going. The Inners are having a meeting, ya know," I commented hastily.
Disappointment flashed across her face, then her eyes began to tear up.
"Haruka, I'm sorry," Michiru began.
"Huh?" I asked.
"......... this wasn't happening by accident...," Michiru began to explain.
I was stunned. The whole fiasco seemed like an honest mistake, but thinking back, I realized she had quickly tossed her top off when she was diving in and some of her moves in the water were to move the top towards me. Normal people would've have a hard time arranging such 'coincidences', but I knew Michiru had learned some tricks to manipulate water without transforming. Tears began to roll down her face.
"Michiru...," I started.
"Please, leave. Before I try again. I'm not worthy to be near you, Haruka-sama. I can't even control myself," Michiru answered, hiding her face as she began to cry.
A chill ran up my spine as I contemplated the whole situation. Finally, an answer came to me as her sobs slowed.
"Michiru.... I'd be a fool to say that I didn't feel a tad used," I began, then sighed, "But, seeing as how much time and love was actually in our relationship.... I can understand _why_ you did what you were trying to do,"
Michiru pulled her face from her hands in surprise.
"And to say that I wasn't feeling something as well... would be lying. Michiru... I don't blame you for trying. I'm feeling angry, but... I can understand your reasons," I continued.
I reached down, gripped her shoulders and lifted her out of the water. Before she could react, I pulled her into a tight hug.
"Haruka...?" Michiru asked.
"You don't need to be alone, Michiru," I whispered.
Michiru laid her head on my shoulder and sighed. I don't know how long we stood there like that, but when we finally separated, my shirt and pants were soaked all the way down the front.
"Will we ever be together again, Haruka?" Michiru begged.
"I don't know. But I do know that if you're honest with yourself and with me, you'll become the person you wanted to be. If you do that, we may find that thing we both lost," I told her.
Michiru's face lit up briefly, before she noticed my outfit and began blushing. I blinked in confusion.
"Haruka, you really shouldn't get a white shirt of that material wet. It turns transparent," Michiru noted.
I finally noticed that my bra was showing perfectly through my thin nigh-transparent shirt. I grabbed my coat and put it on, making sure to button it up. Sure, I'd need to launder all three, but at least I wasn't giving any perverts a free show.
"I'll see you tomorrow. I should probably have an answer for you," I responded.
Michiru nodded, her face flushed. I had to hurry out of the room before my libido took a hold of me again.
Michiru and Makoto. The more I thought about it, the hotter my face became. I was happy to be driving my car, especially after changing into dry clothes, but the thought of them both brought erotic images of them kissing to my mind. I was just plain confused. I loved Makoto and I wanted to be with her always, but it was the same way I had and still felt about Michiru. I started to worry that maybe I didn't really love either of them.
I pulled into a parking lot and parked. Opening the door, I turned to stare at the ground, my feet firmly on the ground. I needed to think and this position seemed to help. Caught between two lovers and my own heart. I was beginning to understand why Michiru had put off talking to me about her other lover. She had probably been waiting for a more oppurtune time to bring another person to our bed, just like Mako-chan had been trying to do with me. Only Mako-chan had talked to me beforehand. She was taking the more honest route.
But if I hadn't made that decision back at the cathedral, Michiru and I might still be together and Mako-chan... where would she be?
"Hey, it's Haruka! Hotaru, it's my friend, Haruka!" came a happy cry from my right.
I saw Chibi-Usa and a taller, yet paler girl with short black hair wearing a Mugen Gaken uniform walking up to me.
"Hey, Chibi-Usa. Who's your friend?" I asked.
"This is Hotaru! She's my best friend!" Chibi-Usa declared proudly, before introducing me to Hotaru.
Hotaru blushed faintly as Chibi-Usa began gushing about how pretty Hotaru looked in her school uniform. While the plaid colors for the pants and skirt were never flattering, the school jacket looked nice on her.
"Hey, I've seen you around school," I noted, recalling seeing her in the hallways before and after school.
"I'm very pleased to meet you," Hotaru said politely.
"Pleased to meet you too. Any friend of Chibi-Usa's is a friend of mine. If you need some help on a subject or something, don't hesitate to ask around for me. I'm usually in Room 3-C," I said, smiling.
"We're on our way to ice cream shop! You wanna come?" Chibi-Usa asked.
"Sure. Hop in, I can drive us there," I noted.
Chibi-Usa opted to sit in the back, letting Hotaru sit in the shotgun seat. The ice cream shop Chibi-Usa wanted to go to was only a few blocks away, so it wasn't very long before we were standing in the shop waiting to be seated. Chibi-Usa was so energetic around Hotaru that I was concerned that she might start hyperventilating. Chibi-Usa had told me enough for me to learn her last name was Tomoe, they were only four years apart in age, they had met by a river, Hotaru had some super cool power, and Chibi-Usa was a babbler.
There was something about the two together that just sort of connected. It was like watching one of those scenes out of an anime about best friends who knew each other for years. The kind that was always depicted with a lot of stars and bubbles and flowers and a semi-platonic/semi-romantic relationship.
Chibi-Usa ordered three sundaes, all of which she insisted on paying for. Until she realized she had forgotten her money at home. Hotaru offered to pay, but I over-ruled her.
"Ah, ah, ah, ah!" I told her, waggling my finger at her, "I'm a tag along, so I'll be paying. Besides, it'd be rude to make a new friend of Chibi-Usa's pay for something when I'm loaded with cash,"
Hotaru nodded and smiled gratefully. I could tell she probably didn't have much money. She would probably be broke for the rest of the week and I could tell that it would be a real downer for their fun if neither of them had anything to spend. Besides, they were getting along so well. Hotaru seemed like a nice enough girl, but way too shy. Maybe some time with someone as energetic as Chibi-Usa would do her some good.
It was about then that I noticed Hotaru glancing over at a small group of about three girls who were glaring over at us. Obviously, they meant trouble, but they looked about Hotaru's age, so probably the sort to pester someone about their fashion sense. Chibi-Usa noticed the group as well.
"What's with them? We're just having a good time!" Chibi-Usa huffed, now angry at the girls who continued to glare at Hotaru.
"I see the witch used her powers to get two new friends. Pretty impressive since she can't find a fashion sense," one of the trio said way too loud.
Hotaru lowered her head. Poor girl, she probably got teased a lot. Two could play at this game. I looked over at them. It was the roadkill du'jour calling the puppy ugly. Now, I'm no fashion master, but I knew butt-ugly outfits when I say them. They all had neon pinks, yellows and green on. I'd seen transvestites that were less of an eyesore, but telling them that would probably start something that no one wanted. It took all my willpower not to break out laughing, but I still snerked a few times.
(For the unenlightened, a 'snerk' is a muffled laugh that usually involves tightening one's facial muscles into a rigid mask in order to keep from laughing. One may also puff out one's cheeks in an strained effort to stifle the laughter, though this may result in a mild release of oxygen. A snerk is most often heard when one is attempting to hold a form of composure in public or when trying not to laugh at a friend or loved one. However, the snerk is often a prelude to inevitable laughter. Only true masters of composure can perform a snerk and not look as if they were about to laugh. It should be noted that, save for the dead or certain forms of undead, there are no masters of composure. - Author "Yes, I know this should go at the end, but I felt you needed to know now")
"Ignore those toddlers, Hotaru. Obviously they're no more mature than their fashion sense," I told Hotaru.
That got the trio steamed, but they were obviously not going to try and start anything. After all, I was larger and obviously not as weak-willed as Hotaru. Buzzards like them only preyed on the weak.
"If they bother you again, Hotaru, just talk to me or Chibi-Usa. We can make sure they'll think twice about bugging you again," I offered.
"Thank you," Hotaru responded.
"No, seriously, if they're big enough losers to waste all their time bothering someone else, they obviously deserve whatever fate deals them," I answered.
Hotaru nodded more assertively. The other girls, having finished their ice cream a while ago, were shooed out of the shop by the waitress. It made it a lot easier to talk to Hotaru without the buzzards glaring at us.
Hotaru's father was a scientist, I found out, who was conducting experiments with an enormous budget. She didn't know what kind of research he was doing, precisely, only that he often wound up making tea and hot chocolate in various beakers. She gave me an open-ended invitation to visit her, but as Chibi-Usa told me while Hotaru went to the restroom, "Everyone Hotaru is friends with was allowed to visit,"
The look that accompanied the statement informed me that Chibi-Usa was very protective of Hotaru already and that I would have to bring her along if I wanted to visit. Seeing as Hotaru wasn't around, I decided to tease Chibi-Usa, "Oooh, so you like her that much,"
The blush on Chibi-Usa's face was priceless.
"I'm kidding, Chibi-Usa," I told her.
"S'not funny," Chibi-Usa answered, her face still red, but returning to normal.
"Oh, so I was right?" I inquired.
The blush returned in full force.
"Haruka!" Chibi-Usa complained.
"Hey, there's nothing wrong with it. I mean, Hotaru's a very good friend. There's nothing wrong with very good friends," I answered.
Chibi-Usa facefaulted. That had to hurt.
"You know, it's a lot healthier if you don't do that so often," I informed her.
"Stop teasing me!" Chibi-Usa protested.
"Here," I said handing her some bills.
Chibi-Usa blinked as she took the money, her eyes widening.
"You're going to the arcade after this, ne? Gotta have spending money. And it's not proper to make your date pay for YOUR fun," I told Chibi-Usa.
The blush was back. I could understand why relatives were known to do this. It was fun teasin' the young'uns. Of course, calling a 900 year old trapped in an 8 year old's body a "young'un" felt a bit... weird.
I dropped Chibi-Usa and Hotaru at the arcade and started to drive back to the apartment when I noticed that bitch Mimete walking down the sidewalk. It wasn't really all that hard to tell her from most other people. Orange hair, red eyes, a black suitcase with a stupid-looking bird on the side and tacky outfits were her M.O. I quickly parked, found a secluded spot to transform and followed Mimete.
I found her again behind the Crown Arcade. She was obviously setting up for some devious trap and, as Michiru had noted, a lot of villians liked to repeat their plans aloud before putting them into operation. Maybe they were desperately lonely or something, but I always found it stupid. If I were evil, that would be the last thing on my mind.
"Oooh, I don't know I can go through with this! That Motoki is kinda cute, but if..," Mimete trailed off, shaking her head back and forth (Maybe she's hoping the marble will fall into a hole - Author), before starting up, "NO! I must do this! With this dimension-warping Daimon, I'll be able to get rid of those infernal Senshi at the same time that I get..," she trailed off and I could almost see the hearts and sparklies in her eyes, "...dear Motoki...'s heart crystal, I'll get a bonus for sure! And once Mistress Nine and Master Pharoah 90 take over this world, I'll get any guy I want!"
My eyes narrowed. Mistress Nine and Master Pharoah 90? In any case, I couldn't let that bitch, Mimete, attack the arcade. Chibi-Usa and Hotaru were having fun in there and trying to ruin that was inexcuseable. Dammit, Michiru was right, I am a sucker for those cheesy animes.
"Not so fast, Mimete," I growled, leaping down at her.
She dodged, a bit quicker than I had expected, but she had forgotten her suitcase. She realized what she had done and panicked, tossing a power bolt at me. I dodged as best I could, but I could still feel the heat from the attack.
"No fair dodging! Now, what were the words for that tracking spell...? Ambu Gree Forca, Leem Zep Ruu, Klaatu Barata Nik...er, boomshackalacka!" Mimete spat.
Her spittle flying in my face was more annoying that the seventy-eight carrots that fell into the alleyway.
"That was absolutely pathetic. Lemme guess, you're the ditz of the family," I inquired, wiping my face off with a hankerchief.
"I'm not a ditz! I just forget things when I get frustrated!" Mimete answered.
"Like that you shouldn't tell your enemy your flaws and weaknesses?" I inquired.
"Yeah!" Mimete answered cheerfully.
Fighting her stupid daimon was easier than trying to comprehend her stupidity, so I hefted her suitcase and asked, "You want this?"
"Yeah! Gee, you're awfully friendly!" Mimete thanked.
Her suitcase rebounded off her forehead at an incredible velocity. The fact that she was still alive afterwards surprised me a bit.
"Sorry!" I apologized.
"You did that on purpose!" Mimete growled.
"Actually, I didn't. You see, that thing was kinda heavy and I overestimated how strong I am," I reasoned, scratching the back of my head. For some reason, cartoon characters did this to try and fake sincerity, so I took a lesson from them.
"Oh. 'Kay!" Mimete answered.
She _was_ an idiot.
"Daimon Kaleidoscope! ATTACK!" Mimete cried, opening the suitcase.
Mimete laughed maniacally as an enormous kaleidoscope with rather frail-looking arms and legs popped out of the suitcase. A head appeared on the top. It look very much like a kaleidoscope that someone had glued some arms, legs and a head onto.
"DAIMON!" the kaleidscope daimon yelled.
I stared at it, then at Mimete, then at it again, then back at Mimete.
"I'm going home," I announced, turning to leave.
"HEY! No fair! You have to fight my..," Mimete began.
"Kaleidoscope?" I asked.
"Uh.... okay, it's not very impressive looking, but you still haveta fight iiiiit!" Mimete whined.
I rolled my eyes. She was begging me to fight a kaleidoscope. And here I had thought she couldn't look any more ridiculous.
"Okay, let's go at it," I answered, half-heartedly.
I learned a few things in the next few minutes. While the word kaleidoscope looks silly and an actual kaleidoscope looked silly, it also made for a nasty monster. One far more dangerous than I would've thought one could make.
"WORLD SHAKING!" I yelled and growled in frustration as the kaleidoscope daimon changed colors to match my World Shaking attack. The energy flew right through and slammed into a badly charred Mimete, who shrieked and hit another wall.
The Daimon sweatdropped briefly, before changing colors yet again, ending on red. I leapt over the gust of flames that were belched out of the Daimon's mouth. It changed again to blue and I rolled away from the gout of water.
I cursed loudly. I hadn't injured it at all and it had done far more damage to the buildings around us than I had even imagined possible from the wimpy looking thing.
"DAMMIT! DAIMON KALEIDOSCOPE! STOP DOING THAT!" Mimete swore at it.
"Daimon?" the kaleidoscope monster inquired.
"Stop letting her attacks blast ME!" Mimete told it.
"Daimon," the kaleidoscope daimon answered, shrugging it's shoulders.
I snickered. She couldn't even get it to follow her commands. Now THAT was pathetic.
"GRRRRR! THEN USE YOUR ULTIMATE ATTACK, DAIMON!" Mimete growled.
"DAIMON!" it exclaimed.
The words 'ultimate attack' didn't sound so good, especially since it had already done so much damage. I pulled out the communicator I had gotten from Luna and hit the panic button.
"DAIMON!" the daimon yelled, lunging at me.
Before I could dodge, it's head vanished and an intense vortex began pulling me in. I couldn't even brace myself against it, which allowed the monster to pull me in, but I managed to hurl my communicator a fair distance away.
I hit hard ground. Not a very pleasant way to land. I opened my eyes and found myself in a palace. That didn't make much sense. The palace floors were made from polished marble, the walls had murials of half-naked or completely naked women and the ceiling wasn't much better.
I struggled to my feet and was about to take a better look around when three very familiar people in scantily clad outfits charged me with spears. Makoto, Minako and Rei stopped and pointed their spears at me, then paused. Sighing in frustration, they lowered their spears.
"Mistress, what are you doing here?" Mako-chan inquired.
Oh-kay, Mako-chan had never called me Mistress. She was wearing a green bikini that did more to amplify her yummy bits rather than cover them up. Rei was wearing a red bikini that did the same and Minako was wearing a yellow copy of the 'uniform'.
"Huh?" I asked.
"It's time for your weekly beating of that fool, Serenity," Minako informed me.
Rei was silent. I noticed her eyes were out of focus.
"Come on, she needs your holy punishment or she'll try and break free again," Minako said, pulling me along.
Serenity? Holy punishment? Weekly beating? This was going in a direction that I wasn't very comfortable with. Minako dragged me, with Makoto and Rei in tow, to a large wooden door and opened it.
Inside was something almost out of one of those stories about bondage and S&M. Whips, chains and other things lined one wall, spare rope and various cuffs covered another, Usagi and Setsuna were naked and chained to another wall, and the last wall had a single key hanging from it.
The biggest shock was me, or rather someone who resembled me, standing in the middle of the room. The other me was wearing a white silk teddy, silk gloves and white thigh-high boots. Ami and Hotaru were laying at her feet, wearing collars around their necks, and rubbing against her legs.
"Two mistresses?!" Minako asked.
The other Haruka noticed us. More importantly, she noticed me.
"Hmm? Who is this?" the other Haruka inquired.
"I'm Haruka Ten'ou. Who the hell are you?" I demanded.
"I'm Amara Tenoh. Ruler of this universe and Goddess of Salvation to all," the other me answered, before cupping Usagi's chin, "isn't that right, snooky-wookums?"
Usagi tried to spit on Amara, but Amara pulled back and out of the line of fire.
"You won't catch me with mere saliva, Princess Serenity," Amara laughed before punching Usagi in the stomach. Usagi took the punch well, but went limp regardless. She had obviously been taking hits like that for a while as her stomach was bruised.
I took a step forward, but Setsuna managed to waggle a few fingers at me to stop.
"In any case, your arrival is certainly something unusual. I know that there is no one in the whole wide galaxy that even resembles me and Rei would've noticed if you were using disguise magic," Amara said, walking over to me and pressing her body against mine.
I tried to step back, but Amara had her arms around me, effectively pinning me against her.
"You are rather attractive..," Amara began.
"Yeah, so?" I asked.
Amara smiled an evil smile, "You must be from another universe. Come, let us eat and you can tell me of your world. I may even be able to send you back,"
That was an unpleasant idea. I trusted her to send me back, but I didn't trust her to not follow with an army and enslave my world.
The dining hall was surprisingly modest compared to what I would've expected from Amara. First of all, it was illuminated with candles. There was a table with adequate room for ten people, ten rather comfortable chairs, and a cart which held all of the food. The cart was controlled by Luna and Artemis, who looked to be in good health, probably because Amara didn't want to waste any time getting someone else to push the cart. The kitchen was where Mamoru and Michiru made dinner for everyone, but only Michiru was present.
I sat at the foot of the table while Amara sat at the head. Or was that the other way around? In any case, she and I were the first seated. The other senshi sat down afterwards.
The arrangement went like so:
Hotaru Rei Minako Empty
Amara Me
Makoto Michiru Empty Ami
It was then that I noticed that Mamoru was missing. So were Usagi and Setsuna.
"The others aren't joining us?" I asked.
"Princess Serenity and Pluto still need... rehabilitation. Endymion won't be joining us because I hate all men. The only reason he's even in this castle is because it's a personal favor to the former Queen," Amara answered, motioning to someone I hadn't noticed because she was under the cart. The woman looked a lot like an older Usagi, but her hair was a very light purple instead of blonde. She wore a collar like Ami and Hotaru did, but it was clipped onto the cart. A harness was wrapped around the naked queen's waist to ease the strain on her neck. In her mouth was a red ball gag, probably to keep her from mouthing off or perhaps to just keep her from talking.
"Queen Serenity is the propulsion for our little cart. And she does a good job because I can destroy her and her daughter with the blink of an eye. If she and her daughter cooperate more, I may see fit to restoring more of their freedom. But until then, I'll just satisfy myself with watching her pull the cart like a dog," Amara laughed.
I was sorely tempted to leap over the table and attack Amara, but I knew that she had to be an incredibly powerful woman to overwhelm Usagi and Setsuna.
"So, tell me, how did you overthrow your world?" I asked. Amara wasn't an idiot. She no doubt already noticed my lack of approval.
She waved her hands and the candles increased in brightness, revealing the murial on the wall. The murial, which covered all four walls in the room, depicted her standing over Usagi and Setsuna, wielding the Guinzuishou and something else wedged into the Holy Grail. The thing I couldn't identify was a black crystal that I hadn't seen before. It looked a lot like the Guinzuishou, though. In the painted Amara's other hand was a strange looking glaive.
"It was quite simple, really. Since I'm the Time Guardian, all I had to do was fake a massive invasion by an evil power with the Zachzuishou. The stupid Queen gave the Guinzuishou to me because she feared the encroaching dark forces. After that, it was minor task to convince Pluto, Neptune and little Saturn here into giving up their talisman to help me," Amara laughed.
Amara smiled politely at me, "Now that I've told you about me, let's hear a little about you. I haven't seen that uniform in quite a while,"
"That's because I'm just biding my time. Unlike you, I don't have the luxury of being the Time Guardian. I've got to play a lot smarter to get what I want," I lied.
"No powers over time? Dreadful. Of course, if you were to simply wait until your Time Guardian falls asleep and steal her Time Key, you should be able to take over the job. I should know, little Hotaru almost succeeded in doing just that. Too bad I wasn't entirely asleep, ne?" Amara asked Hotaru, stroking the pale girl's hair.
Ami and Hotaru lowered their gaze.
"It was an admirable effort, but I still wielded the Holy Grail, which gave me the power to override the transfer. If they had tied me down, perhaps they could've gotten past the fifty percent conversion mark, meaning that even I could not stop them from using it as they saw fit," Amara teased the duo.
"So, that's the way you do it," I responded. I had no idea that our talisman could be converted, but I guess it had to be someone of the same magical qualities.
"There must be many differences between our worlds. I can't imagine what my life would've been like if I hadn't gotten my power over time," Amara mused.
"Well, for one, I'm forced to be a mere student at a high school," I began.
"It must be horrible. Tell you what, I can never take all of my servants at one time, so why do you take Makoto, Ami, Rei and... Queen Serenity to bed tonight? It'll help you get used to being a galactic ruler," Amara told me.
"... all right," I answered.
Dinner passed rather quickly. Perhaps too quickly. My guest room was placed between the dining hall and the torture room where Usagi and Setsuna were. Something about the placement made me uneasy. It was almost as if Amara knew what I was going to do and had set it up for me to try.
Luckily, I managed to get Makoto, Rei, Ami and Queen Serenity to start without me, claiming I needed to get something to drink. I wasn't sure how loyal they were. Ami and Queen Serenity obviously weren't enjoying themselves, but Makoto and Rei were treated better, so I couldn't trust them completely.
I hurried down the hall to the torture room, trying to be as quiet as I could. Thankfully, Amara placed no guards around or in the torture room, so I got in with no trouble. Making sure no one was coming to check on the room, I carefully woke up Setsuna.
"Nuh?" Setsuna asked wearily.
"Setsuna, do you know how to beat Amara?" I inquired.
Setsuna's eyes snapped open.
"You... you want to beat Amara?" Setsuna asked.
I nodded. Setsuna's eyes began to tear up.
"I know it's something you've been looking forward to, but I need to know," I began.
"The Zachzuishou," was Usagi's reply.
I stared at Usagi, there was a coldness in her eyes that had never existed in the eyes of the Usagi I knew.
"What about it?" I inquired.
"The Zachzuishou is the opposite of the Guinzuishou. The Guinzuishou's major purpose was granting energy for certain uses. The Zachzuishou's main purpose is to take in energy for the Guinzuishou's use, but it can be used like the Guinzuishou. The two are polar opposites, but very much the same. If you use the Zachzuishou, you can drain Amara of all the power she's stripped from the rest of us and grant it as you see fit," Usagi answered.
"But, Princess-" Setsuna began.
"I know, Pluto. Stranger who bears Amara's face, if you truly intend to use the Zachzuishou, you must be stronger than it is. It will try to drain your strength as you use it," Usagi informed me.
I nodded grimly, "Where is it?"
"She'd likely hold it out in the open, but I'm afraid that we were in here before most of the palace was finished," Usagi answered.
"Well, guess I've got to check the palace. I'll get you two down..," I began.
"Don't bother with us. Even if you do get us down, our muscles are too weak for us to move. You'd be better off searching without us," Setsuna responded.
"Even so, I'm not going to let you two just hang there," I retorted, grabbing the key and undoing their cuffs. I laid them gently on the ground and hurried off.
The palace was bigger than I thought. I had run into two armories, a blacksmithing room, six laboratories and three kitchens. Most of the rooms hadn't been used in quite a while and were possibly put in on a whim to fill in the space.
Finally, I found a massive hall where the Holy Grail, the Zachzuishou, the Guinzuishou and numerous other items were floating at least twenty feet off the ground. Most notably were the henshin wands that the other Senshi _should_ have had. In any case, I had to get the Zachzuishou, which was easy to recognize as it was the darkened copy of the Guinzuishou. I leapt for it, only to be knocked aside by someone.
I looked at my attacker and surprisingly, it was Michiru. I kicked her off of me and landed. A quick glance towards the entrance showed that Amara, Hotaru and Minako were all waiting.
"I applaud you for your lies and for getting here, but I was alerted the instant you used the key to free Princess Serenity and Pluto," Amara answered.
"So? You all obviously haven't had the rigorous training I have," I answered, summoning power in my hands.
"Ah, a World Shaking. Haven't seen one of those in a long time. Since before Pluto was shackled, I think," Amara answered.
"WORLD SHAKING!" I roared, unleashing the blast.
Minako and Michiru leapt in front of the attack, but since they weren't in their Senshi forms, they were knocked aside. However, the attack died once it reached Amara. Damn, I hadn't expected her to be able to just block my power. I had hoped she would at least have to concentrate. However, I now knew that she was much more powerful than I had anticipated.
"Dead Scream," Amara answered, now holding the Time Staff.
I ducked under the horizontal vortex and leapt for the Zachzuishou again, only to catch a second Dead Scream in the stomach. She had pulled on the power, so it was only as powerful as a punch to the gut. I managed to land on my feet.
"Not much of a fighter. Your training makes you superior to my minions, but I'm still-" Amara began until Hotaru caught her a full nelson. Though small, she was able to hold Amara still for a while. I jumped again and finally snatched the Zachzuishou.
"Your plans are through," I declared, holding up the Zachzuishou and focusing my will through it.
Amara screamed in agony as I forced the Zachzuishou to strip her of her power and return it where it all belonged. However, the effort was a bit more than I could handle. I didn't even realize how drained I was until I saw the carpet rushing up to meet my face.
When I came to, Amara was standing over me. Not the sight I was hoping to wake up to. I wondered if I was going to be her love slave or if she would just kill me.
"Not bad work," Amara told me.
"Not bad what?" I inquired.
"Not bad work. You did what I had hoped the other senshi would've done. I just wish you hadn't been so anti-dramatic about it. I was hoping for a longer coup de'grace, but it all worked out in the end," Amara told me.
"What in the hell are you talking about?" I asked.
Amara looked surprised.
"You mean you didn't know? Being a galactic ruler with no opposition is incredibly BORING. With the Guinzuishou, the Zachzuishou, the Holy Grail, the three talisman, the Silence Glaive and innumerable other artifacts a mere lie, seduction and merry jig away, it gets to the point that you just lose interest. It took a while, but I'm officially bored with all forms of domination. Now that things have been mostly righted, I'm going to pretend that having all that energy sapped out of me made my fragile little mind snap like a twig and I've been reduced to an innocent sex-crazed teen," Amara answered.
"....," I responded.
Amara noted my stare, "What? A galactic ruler has fetishes too, you know. And I couldn't really let the other senshi help me indulge my urge to be submissive without them trying to kill me. So, I set this all up. I'll admit that you weren't really planned for, but you helped me get what I wanted."
Amara pointed behind me, "Oh, and the most probable passageway back to your dimension is right behind you. I'd say 'see you later', but it's very unlikely that we'll ever meet again,"
Amara vanished. I looked up to see that there was, indeed, a portal. I scrambled to my feet and leapt through. I hoped I never came back to a twisted alternate world like this ever again.
Little did I know that nothing was ever easy.
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Now, people are wondering, "A-kun, what the phu(k was that about?"
Well, when I wrote that one line, "If I were evil, that would be the last thing on my mind," I started to wonder, what would an evil Haruka be like? Well, this one got it easy, being the Time Guardian, but the concept is still there. What if just one of the senshi were evil?
They'd play mind games with the others for their own amusement. Once tiring in that, they'd play emotional games, and finally they'd see how many Senshi they could dominate.
Amara is the name the North American version of Toei (i.e. Cloverway) gave Haruka, so I decided 'What the hell, it's not like anyone can stop me'.
And thank 64\/\/d, I stayed away from that 'cousins' $h!+ this time around.
Oh, did you notice that I've picked up some leet language skillz? I found a translator online and I'm using my knowledge 3x+3n$!\/3ly. Of course, like with Japanese, there are some variations on leet. The leet l4n64u63 sk33lz that I picked up might not mesh with yours, so here's a little guide. I guess there's slang even in leet.
\/ = V
$ = S
! = i
+ = t
6 = G
3 = E
4 = A
\/\/ = W
ph = f
( = C
I know, I know, I should stop talking in leet, but it's easier to get around censorship that way. ^_^
In any case, a lot of this picks up on the important issues left behind by the original, Sky's Reflection.
Q. What Michiru is doing?
A. Not much. She's mostly wallowing in her own pain. Despair and depression are like cement shoes for someone trying to swim. Guilt and regret are the matching gloves and necklace. Haruka's friendship can pull her out, though. "One's companions alone may be one's saving grace," - By someone who's name slipped right out of my head. (I think it was the owner of Bishamon in Night Warriors 2)
She still loves Haruka. I mean, the stuff they've gone through together will always leave a special place open.
Q. Does Haruka still love Michiru?
A. Yes. I'm no good at emotions, but what little I do know about your primitive Earth emotions is that love isn't something that's so easily cut off. As Haruka said, she still loves Michiru, she's just too hurt to go back. In time, they may return to being the lovers that are famous in all Yuri fanfiction.
Q. Why was Amara so mean?
A. Duh, she was a bored tyrant. She was doing all those mean things to provoke the other senshi into trying to overthrow her. It wasn't her fault they kept failing to do things 'right'.
Q. A-kun, are you pure evil or just really really mean?
A. BOTH! I figure if you can't be mean, you can't really write. Stories are about facing conflict. Even pointless stories have conflict. It's just a unique form called Characters versus Inevitable Plotline. An author must weigh good and evil alike.
Q. What about the Kaleidoscope Daimon?
A. Sailor Moon probably took care of it. After all, there's no distinct color for ABSOLUTE WHOOP-ASS!
Q. Why could Haruka use the Zachzuishou? And what is it?
A. The Zachzuishou is what I remember one webpage calling the 'Black Crystal'. It's what the Wiseman was using to try and destroy Tokyo of the past. The name stuck in my head, so even if it's wrong, I'll continue to use it. Well, here's how I figure it breaks down. The Guinzuishou and the Zachzuishou are polar opposites. The Guinzuishou puts out energy easily while the Zachzuishou absorbs energy easily. The Guinzuishou is basically a condensed version of the theoretical White Pillar while the Zachzuishou is a condensed version of the theoretical Black Hole. For every ounce of energy the Guizuishou spits out, the Zachzuishou absorbs an ounce of energy.
However, the Guinzuishou is magically linked to a certain family, the Serenity family. It's easy to do because the Guinzuishou has so much power to use, and because of the connection, Princess and Queen Serenity have a higher magical capacity than most other people.
The Zachzuishou, on the other hand, can't be linked to as it takes far too much energy to even try. Even Galaxia would spend far too much energy tapping into the Zachzuishou, because the connection links you to the Zachzuishou. Everytime you'd try to use it, you'd be drained of your strength first, then it would do what you wanted. In the end, it's futile effort. Thus why the Zachzuishou has no real master or controller.
It's because of the effects on their wielders that the Zachzuishou got such a bad reputation. The Zachzuishou drains you in order to do anything while the Guinzuishou pumps it's energy through you. Being drained of your strength is more quickly noticed by others than being used as a capacitor. And one can get used to energy being thrown through you more easily than one can when energy is just being sucked out of you.
A2. The Zachzuishou might be a negative energy variant of the Guinzuishou. Since all living things have a natural positive energy, only undead could use the Zachzuishou without massive negative feed back. Indeed, the Zachzuishou may cause permanent damage to the wielder as they are slowly filled with negative energy in order to grant their request. It could very well sap away your life force in the process, leading to very early demise.
Q. What was the original ending to this like?
A. I hauled Haruka back after the final battle with Mistress 9 and Master Pharoah 90. And I dumped that idea for a number of reasons. It wasn't that I didn't want to write out the battle, it was that things got complicated. See, the reason Usagi gave Mistress 9 the Holy Grail was that she thought that Haruka and Michiru were wrong in their assumption that she was still evil. They hadn't always been right. Well, with Haruka missing, Setsuna would have had to take her place. And Usagi trusts Setsuna's opinion a bit more.
Plus, there was a problem. I hadn't killed Mimete, Tellu, Viluy, Cyprine or Ptitol (sp?) yet, so I would have to write up their deaths or do a full invasion. Things would gotten desperate and quick.
And with Haruka presumably dead, that would make everyone even more vicious towards remaining Witches. And I didn't want you to see Sailor Mercury jump on Mimete and beat her to death. Sure, it would be cool, but it's just something I didn't want you all to see. Yet. Then there was the scene where Chibi-Usa tore out Viluy's throat. That was pretty cool too, but I decided against it.
Q. So, how did Amara get the Holy Grail?
A. Weren't you reading? In her world, she's the Guardian of TIME. She's like Setsuna in the prime timelime, meaning she can jump through time. With enough training, she could snatch the Holy Grail at any time. After all, the Holy Grail seemed to be a magic amplifier than an actual holy artifact, meaning anyone could use it (which explains why it was used to summon Master Pharoah 90). And someone who can control time would have an infinitely easier time getting in, getting it and getting out of the way of any attacks, so trying to stop her from grabbing it would be like trying to make molasses from iron and basalt; unlike with the Kaleidoscope Daimon, where you could just fire different blasts through it until you caught it off-guard.
(BTW, Pluto of Amara's world, if you didn't figure it out, had the Space Sword and the World Shaking; instead of Amara, who had the Time Key, Garnet Orb and Dead Scream attacks.)
Q. What about Hotaru and Chibi-Usa?
A. The popular idea is that they're friends and will grow into something bigger. I think most people who dislike this pairing are usually the ones who love Hotaru and hate Chibi-Usa or vice versa (though the reverse is probably more common in Japan). Chibi-Usa may be annoying, but something about the two of them together makes Chibi-Usa tolerable. For a long time, I heavily disliked Chibi-Usa, but once I saw her and Hotaru together... well, even a heartless monster like me has to stop and say, "KAWAII!"
In the end, if you like one, you have to like both. And I like Hotaru too much to dare hate her, so I have to like Chibi-Usa.
Q. Why are you so down on Mimete and Daimons?
A. Mimete was a bimbo. Face it, no matter how much you rationalize it, she's a bimbo. She's like Martina (Slayers Next) or Minmei (Robotech), only she has less of an excuse. She chooses anyone she finds handsome or sexy as candidates for their pure hearts, yet if she wanted to woo them or win their hearts, she'd send the daimons after rivals. She's an idiot, pure and simple. Hell, even Martina and Minmei fell in and out of love for moderately good reasons. Mimete was turned on by anyone who brushed their teeth regularly and didn't smell like horse flop. What? Come on, you have to admit that it was pretty much the case.
Daimons I'm only down on because of their deployment. Okay, let's look at the other monsters out there: Youma, Cardians, Droids and Lemures.
Youma had the possible disadvantage that they had to be summoned out of the Dark Kingdom. You need a lot of power to punch through a powerful seal like the one Queen Serenity put up. The Generals were able to do it because they had a greater connection to Earth than everyone else. They were, after all, Prince Endymion's guardians. Plus, they were really powerful. Laugh all you want, even Jadeite was probably as powerful as any of Galaxia's minions if he were in the Dark Kingdom. The problem was that his increased power was tied to Metallia (or the Negaforce for you NA dubbers), so he was fighting at about half, maybe even a quarter of his full strength.
Ail and Ann had power limitations, which excuses the Cardians. After all, if you have to _create_ the monsters, you're spending energy, which Ail and Ann didn't have much of. They were trying to revive the Doom Tree and keep themselves alive at the same time, so they couldn't go around tossing out monsters.
The Dark Family's Droids had a better excuse. The force that was in the past was all they could _spare_ from the _war_ they were waging with Crystal Tokyo. Which means that Rubeus and company were working on the minimal supplies that were allowed to them. No matter what it may have looked like, they were probably on their last legs if they were trying such a desperate ploy as time-travel.
The Dead Moon Circus had another excuse. They had to maintain their cover. By putting out too many monsters at any one time, the Senshi would've pinpointed them, and magic or no, they were poorly prepared for a fight. Another excuse was the fact that if the citizens panicked, they wouldn't know who had good dreams or not, meaning trapping Pegasus would've been impossible. The manga had them gathering energy, but, let's face it, if people are wary, it's more difficult to put up a mass-enchantment (they get a +4 to their saving throw versus Domination). In the manga, the Lemures were also a lot weaker, which explains why they were used as a military force.
Daimons, on the other hand, were cheap and easily produced. By Mimete's time, they had refined the process. Hell, during Kaolonite's time, they'd already shown that they had a perfectly good secret delivery method. I mean, if no one was noticing those FLYING EGGS, then keep doing it. If you've seen the final fight between the Senshi and Mistress 9/Master Pharoah 90, you know how difficult it was for the Senshi to battle all of those Daimon. Now, if they had delayed the missions a bit and then sent a SQUAD of Daimon, they would've had a higher success rate.
The fact that neither Kaolinite or ANY of the Witches 5 understood this is sad. Well, Tellu did, because she actually used that tactic, but she had all of her eggs in one basket, not to mention she fought the senshi on her home turf, had no escape plan and she wound up being eaten by her own creation makes me doubt she had much intelligence. Sad that she _and_ Viluy both fell the _EXACT_ _SAME_ _FLAW_, that being killed by their own creations. So, make bloody phu(k!n6 sure that your creation CAN'T KILL _YOU_. Even if it's a magic defense barrier or something that your enemies can take advantage of, make sure you don't get killed by your own creation. That is the most idiotic thing I've ever seen. I mean, even Mimete's death was because of the flaws in SOMEONE ELSE'S device.
I know you perverts out there read the title and thought, "POOOOOORRRRRRNNNN!", but except for some lime and IMPLIED lemon, I didn't have any planned for this.
Version 0.5 was Makoto, Rei, Haruka, Chibi-Usa and Hotaru get sent to another dimension. They find out about Hotaru being Sailor Saturn, but things got iffy about there. Had them exploring a cavern, but unsure of where to finish it all.
Version 1.0 was going to have Haruka and Makoto _ABOUT_ to engage in lemon when Setsuna shows up and tells them they have thirty minutes to stop the Witches 5 from summoning Master Pharoah 90.
Version 1.01 was people were being possessed by various monsters that had been sealed in Japan's history. The Witches were forgotten.
Version 1.11 was the two story ideas fused and Michiru winds up as one of the possessed. The active Senshi split into three when charging into Mugen Gaken (the daimons weren't released outside and there's no protective barrier). Had scene with Ami, Haruka and Usagi winding up in the basement where Doctor Tomoe had stolen panties from various female students and visitors. Haruka confuses it all into thinking Dr. Tomoe WEARS them (she never read a Ranma 1/2 comic). She explains it to Usagi as guys wanting to dress like girls. Haruka and Usagi both crack up at the thought of Mamoru dressed as Sailor Moon saying her trademark line, "In the name of the Moon, I'll punish you" with an effeminate tone.
Version 1.21 was that Michiru was possessed, but Chibi-Moon managed to heal her before the final battle with Mistress 9. Haruka is taken down by a powerful blast from Yutaga (the demon possessing Tomoe, it was named in the Sailor Moon: Another Story video game) and wakes up after the battle. Dumped because readers would want me to write the fight sequence.
Version 1.35 Beta was that the X/1999 events all start happening and whole lot of crap goes down, eventually winding up with the Guinzuishou and the Zachzuishou being used to remove both groups of Dragons from existance.
Version 1.35a Beta was that a group of humans who gain incredible spiritual powers jump in, trying to kill both sets of Dragons. They have the Zachzuishou and in a rare instance, the Zachzuishou isn't being used for pure evil. Moral lines get slanted, twisted and mangled. Abandonded because the author is @#%@$^!@ing lazy. Will be rewritten into a totally different series.
Version 1.7 was the first half of this story, ending without a fight.
Version 1.8 had Haruka jumping through the portal. I was going to have some dimensional mishaps, but things get sticky if you do that. Besides, I plan to have dimensional fun of a different sort next time.
Version 1.81 had Haruka jumping through the portal to home. She'd been gone for half a year, which had allowed for the Senshi to wrap up the Deathbusters entirely (Anyone else noticed that Tellu, Viluy, Cyprine/Ptitol each got about one episode to them?). Had a weird continuation where a girl who looked like a mix between Makoto and Rei appear, a belated backlash of the kaleidoscope monster's attack.
Version 1.9 was me considering going back and doing more wacky dimensional mishaps. I stuck with it. ^_^ Now I just have to think of wacky dimensional mishaps for her to go through. ;;;O_O;;;
Version 2.0 is the finished project. This is all I'm going to do on this particular chapter and I don't care about spelling or plot.
By A-kun
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
My back hurt. Now, there are many kinds of hurt when discussing pain. First is the uncomfortable cramp, then there's the piercing stab, and then there's the overwhelming throb. My back was suffering from all three of these pains, all in different areas, making an cacophany of agony for me.
The only thing I was grateful for was the soft bed beneath me. I sighed and tried my best to relax. Whoever the new Witch that was running around was, she was both a bimbo and a professional. The two words seemed to contradict each other, but this 'Mimete' girl proved that it could somehow work, if not at the same time.
The battle had been pretty fast in that movie theater. I recalled throwing a World Shaking into the monster's torso, but it wasn't so easily beaten like the monsters before it. It managed to kick me across the theater and I remember hitting a bunch of theater seats at a bad angle. When I came to, Usagi had used a Rainbow Heart Ache to get rid of it and Mimete was just fleeing.
There was something odd about Usagi when she used it. It was like the power gained by the Holy Grail was a mere fragment of her full strength. But, everytime she used it, she always looked a little pale afterwards. And then there was the oddity of Chibi-Usa's simultaneous transformation into the 'Super' stage, as Ami dubbed it. I sighed. My back hurt too much and it was starting to give me a headache.
"Haru-chan?" was the soft inquiry from Mako-chan as she laid down next to me.
"Yes, Mako-chan?" I asked.
"Need a back massage?" she quiered.
"Mako-chan, I'd love it if you would," I responded.
"Take your clothes off and I'll give you one," Mako-chan instructed.
"Ooohh, but that requires getting up!" I whined.
"I'll give you a special massage if you do," Mako-chan whispered seductively in my ear.
My clothes were off the instant she said the word 'do'. What we did after that will be kept to ourselves. (Author's note: HA! Thought I'd change my evil ways?! NEVER!! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAARCK! *COUGH* *HACK* *COUGH*)
I couldn't ask for much more. Our fingers were intertwined as she laid on my sweaty body. A thin blanket was draped over most of our bodies, but left enough of her back exposed that I could stroke it without feeling the distraction of the sheet. Her head was nestled under the right side of my chin.
"Haruka..," Mako-chan began in an uneasy tone. Something was bothering her and I knew it.
"Yes?" I asked.
"If Michiru comes back, will you leave me?" Mako-chan inquired, lifting herself up and looking at me.
That was something I hadn't counted on. Heck, I hadn't even thought of what was going to happen. I had to think. Unfortunately, I didn't really know of a good way to ask for time without making myself look like a total dork.
"Haruka?" Makoto asked.
Well, lies and confusion broke me and Michiru up, so honesty would be the key.
"To be honest, Mako-chan, Michiru will always have a part of me. I won't lie and say I never loved her or that I don't love her. I'm just too hurt to go back," I answered.
"What if I hurt you?" Makoto inquired.
That sent a queasy feeling up my spine. It wasn't quite a shiver, a shudder or a stiffening, but something else entirely.
"Why do you ask?" I asked, sitting up.
Makoto hesistated, then sighed.
"Well, my old sempai is a part of me too. Only, he didn't do anything like Michiru did to you, so I'm... I..," Makoto tried to explain.
"So, you aren't sure what you might do if he were to show up and beg you to come back," I finished.
"It's... I love you and what we do, but... I've never been in love. I'm doubting myself more than I ever have. Now that I think about it, I don't really want my old sempai back, but... thoughts start going through me head. I'm...," Makoto tried again to explain.
She wasn't sure what she was saying. That much was obvious by how her expression kept changing from nervous to baffled to hurt to depressed and back to nervous. I laid back down and pulled her to me. I held her to my chest and stroked her hair.
"Just think calmly. What is it that you want to tell me?" I asked.
Makoto relaxed against me and just hugged me for a few minutes. Finally, she started to talk again, "Can we have a threesome?"
That caught me off-guard entirely. I was startled at first, but I didn't want to freak out like some small-minded peon. A threesome? Did she just want to explore the option of having more lovers or was she growing bored? I shook off my doubts and decided to think the best of my Mako-chan.
"Been sneaking peeks at the other Inners?" I asked.
Mako-chan's blush told me that I was right on the money.
"To be honest, you and Michiru are the only girls I've ever done this with, but I wouldn't mind having someone else in here if you don't mind. But!" I began, bringing her eyes up to meet mine, "I wanna know who it is that you wanna bring in beforehand,"
Mako-chan's blush deepened, but instead of answering, she laid her head back against my chest and began to think again. I could tell because she kept murmurring to herself and moving her head. She was no doubt trying to decide on one of the other girls, but was uncertain as to who to bring in.
"Mako-chan, if you're uncertain..," I began.
"Well... I'm just not sure they'd jump for a threesome right away..," Mako-chan replied.
So THAT was the problem! She wanted to test the waters first, but didn't want to hurt my feelings! Then again, seeing as Michiru had been cheating on me, she was trying to ask me without hurting me like Michiru had.
"Mako-chan, Michiru hurt me by NOT telling me about her other relationship. You and I are discussing it before you're even trying. Trust me, it may look the same, but since we're being open and honest about this, it's very different," I soothed.
Mako-chan relaxed before hugging me tightly.
"Thank you," she whispered.
"Thank you for asking me first," I responded, stroking her back.
Morning came and it was back to school. I have to admit that Mako-chan putting the moves on someone else was a tad disturbing after the fact, but I could accept it. It was just difficult to see Michiru after I just told my new love to go play with someone else. Michiru had grown increasingly introverted since she had given up being Sailor Neptune, but I was glad she hadn't done anything rash.
I wanted to ease her pain, but I couldn't think of a way that wouldn't end up in an awkward position for both of us. Michiru was obviously hurting and while she had hurt me too, she had more to burn herself with. Guilt and regret can be the heaviest of weights and Michiru was obviously bearing plenty.
I was distracted all through class, and though I got the gist of what the teacher was saying and writing, my mind was trying to find something that I could do for Michiru. I didn't like to see people suffering, even back when I was the one responsible. Just standing around wasn't my style. I was determined to see her happy again.
Class ended fairly quickly. I knew Michiru wasn't the sort to just rush out of the room. She took her time and so did I, even though I was ready before the bell even rang.
"Hey, Michiru. You need a lift to swimming?" I asked, approaching her desk.
Michiru looked at me as if I had grown a quadruple D cup chest. While thinking of the benefits and consequences of such an event would have been a nice distraction, I hadn't, so I threw the whole insane train of thought into my mental trash bin.
"What?" I inquired.
"I don't need sympathy," Michiru answered.
"I wasn't offering any. I just know it takes you a while to get to the pool. It was the reason I started giving you a lift, remember?" I asked.
"I don't think that would be wise, Miss Ten'oh," Michiru told me formally.
"Why, because you need to be a better person? It's going to go pretty slowly if you just sit around depressed. Lemme give you a lift," I responded.
"Haruka, PLEASE!" Michiru barked.
Luckily, the classroom was already empty. I sighed.
"Michiru, I've been doing some thinking. Why don't we just start over and be friends like we said we would be?" I inquired.
Michiru backed away.
"Haruka, we can't. Every time you come near me, I remember what we were and what I did to you," Michiru responded.
"If we can't be lovers, neither one of us wants to be enemies, then we should at least be friends, Michiru," I reasoned.
Michiru was silent.
"Come on, it'll make you a better person," I teased, holding out my hand to her.
Michiru sighed, then took my hand.
"Friends," she whispered.
It was a small step, but it was better than nothing at all.
The pool. Something about the sight of all that water in one spot reminded me of Michiru. Trying to keep everything from spilling out and going where it wasn't meant to be. I had no idea why, but I had gotten the urge to see the pool again.
Michiru exited the girl's changing room with a heavy blush on her face. Then I realized why: she had a skimpy two piece bikini on. It was the sort she liked to wear to feel more of the water, but it showed so much that it was like walking around with only three strips of yarn on. The moisture already between her legs was a sign that something had broken in the changing room or that she was turned on by the the thought of having me watch her again.
She tossed her towel aside and leapt into the water quickly. Once in the water, she was like a mermaid, gliding through the water as a bird through air. She loved to twirl and dance in the water. Finally, she stopped and returned to the surface. Michiru turned to me with a shy smile on her face and it was then that I noticed she had lost her top somewhere between diving in and coming up to the surface.
Blushing, I looked away as Michiru noticed her lack of a top. She yelped and crossed her arms over her chest. By pure luck, the top had appeared near me. My face felt as hot as an oven as I picked it out of the water and held it out for her. Her face covered in embarrassment, she swam over to me and took it. I was transfixed as she uncovered her chest for the few seconds it took to put on the skimpy thing.
Then, she looked up to me. Fear began to dig into me and I pulled away before I became too transfixed to ever pull away.
"Uh, I've got to get going. The Inners are having a meeting, ya know," I commented hastily.
Disappointment flashed across her face, then her eyes began to tear up.
"Haruka, I'm sorry," Michiru began.
"Huh?" I asked.
"......... this wasn't happening by accident...," Michiru began to explain.
I was stunned. The whole fiasco seemed like an honest mistake, but thinking back, I realized she had quickly tossed her top off when she was diving in and some of her moves in the water were to move the top towards me. Normal people would've have a hard time arranging such 'coincidences', but I knew Michiru had learned some tricks to manipulate water without transforming. Tears began to roll down her face.
"Michiru...," I started.
"Please, leave. Before I try again. I'm not worthy to be near you, Haruka-sama. I can't even control myself," Michiru answered, hiding her face as she began to cry.
A chill ran up my spine as I contemplated the whole situation. Finally, an answer came to me as her sobs slowed.
"Michiru.... I'd be a fool to say that I didn't feel a tad used," I began, then sighed, "But, seeing as how much time and love was actually in our relationship.... I can understand _why_ you did what you were trying to do,"
Michiru pulled her face from her hands in surprise.
"And to say that I wasn't feeling something as well... would be lying. Michiru... I don't blame you for trying. I'm feeling angry, but... I can understand your reasons," I continued.
I reached down, gripped her shoulders and lifted her out of the water. Before she could react, I pulled her into a tight hug.
"Haruka...?" Michiru asked.
"You don't need to be alone, Michiru," I whispered.
Michiru laid her head on my shoulder and sighed. I don't know how long we stood there like that, but when we finally separated, my shirt and pants were soaked all the way down the front.
"Will we ever be together again, Haruka?" Michiru begged.
"I don't know. But I do know that if you're honest with yourself and with me, you'll become the person you wanted to be. If you do that, we may find that thing we both lost," I told her.
Michiru's face lit up briefly, before she noticed my outfit and began blushing. I blinked in confusion.
"Haruka, you really shouldn't get a white shirt of that material wet. It turns transparent," Michiru noted.
I finally noticed that my bra was showing perfectly through my thin nigh-transparent shirt. I grabbed my coat and put it on, making sure to button it up. Sure, I'd need to launder all three, but at least I wasn't giving any perverts a free show.
"I'll see you tomorrow. I should probably have an answer for you," I responded.
Michiru nodded, her face flushed. I had to hurry out of the room before my libido took a hold of me again.
Michiru and Makoto. The more I thought about it, the hotter my face became. I was happy to be driving my car, especially after changing into dry clothes, but the thought of them both brought erotic images of them kissing to my mind. I was just plain confused. I loved Makoto and I wanted to be with her always, but it was the same way I had and still felt about Michiru. I started to worry that maybe I didn't really love either of them.
I pulled into a parking lot and parked. Opening the door, I turned to stare at the ground, my feet firmly on the ground. I needed to think and this position seemed to help. Caught between two lovers and my own heart. I was beginning to understand why Michiru had put off talking to me about her other lover. She had probably been waiting for a more oppurtune time to bring another person to our bed, just like Mako-chan had been trying to do with me. Only Mako-chan had talked to me beforehand. She was taking the more honest route.
But if I hadn't made that decision back at the cathedral, Michiru and I might still be together and Mako-chan... where would she be?
"Hey, it's Haruka! Hotaru, it's my friend, Haruka!" came a happy cry from my right.
I saw Chibi-Usa and a taller, yet paler girl with short black hair wearing a Mugen Gaken uniform walking up to me.
"Hey, Chibi-Usa. Who's your friend?" I asked.
"This is Hotaru! She's my best friend!" Chibi-Usa declared proudly, before introducing me to Hotaru.
Hotaru blushed faintly as Chibi-Usa began gushing about how pretty Hotaru looked in her school uniform. While the plaid colors for the pants and skirt were never flattering, the school jacket looked nice on her.
"Hey, I've seen you around school," I noted, recalling seeing her in the hallways before and after school.
"I'm very pleased to meet you," Hotaru said politely.
"Pleased to meet you too. Any friend of Chibi-Usa's is a friend of mine. If you need some help on a subject or something, don't hesitate to ask around for me. I'm usually in Room 3-C," I said, smiling.
"We're on our way to ice cream shop! You wanna come?" Chibi-Usa asked.
"Sure. Hop in, I can drive us there," I noted.
Chibi-Usa opted to sit in the back, letting Hotaru sit in the shotgun seat. The ice cream shop Chibi-Usa wanted to go to was only a few blocks away, so it wasn't very long before we were standing in the shop waiting to be seated. Chibi-Usa was so energetic around Hotaru that I was concerned that she might start hyperventilating. Chibi-Usa had told me enough for me to learn her last name was Tomoe, they were only four years apart in age, they had met by a river, Hotaru had some super cool power, and Chibi-Usa was a babbler.
There was something about the two together that just sort of connected. It was like watching one of those scenes out of an anime about best friends who knew each other for years. The kind that was always depicted with a lot of stars and bubbles and flowers and a semi-platonic/semi-romantic relationship.
Chibi-Usa ordered three sundaes, all of which she insisted on paying for. Until she realized she had forgotten her money at home. Hotaru offered to pay, but I over-ruled her.
"Ah, ah, ah, ah!" I told her, waggling my finger at her, "I'm a tag along, so I'll be paying. Besides, it'd be rude to make a new friend of Chibi-Usa's pay for something when I'm loaded with cash,"
Hotaru nodded and smiled gratefully. I could tell she probably didn't have much money. She would probably be broke for the rest of the week and I could tell that it would be a real downer for their fun if neither of them had anything to spend. Besides, they were getting along so well. Hotaru seemed like a nice enough girl, but way too shy. Maybe some time with someone as energetic as Chibi-Usa would do her some good.
It was about then that I noticed Hotaru glancing over at a small group of about three girls who were glaring over at us. Obviously, they meant trouble, but they looked about Hotaru's age, so probably the sort to pester someone about their fashion sense. Chibi-Usa noticed the group as well.
"What's with them? We're just having a good time!" Chibi-Usa huffed, now angry at the girls who continued to glare at Hotaru.
"I see the witch used her powers to get two new friends. Pretty impressive since she can't find a fashion sense," one of the trio said way too loud.
Hotaru lowered her head. Poor girl, she probably got teased a lot. Two could play at this game. I looked over at them. It was the roadkill du'jour calling the puppy ugly. Now, I'm no fashion master, but I knew butt-ugly outfits when I say them. They all had neon pinks, yellows and green on. I'd seen transvestites that were less of an eyesore, but telling them that would probably start something that no one wanted. It took all my willpower not to break out laughing, but I still snerked a few times.
(For the unenlightened, a 'snerk' is a muffled laugh that usually involves tightening one's facial muscles into a rigid mask in order to keep from laughing. One may also puff out one's cheeks in an strained effort to stifle the laughter, though this may result in a mild release of oxygen. A snerk is most often heard when one is attempting to hold a form of composure in public or when trying not to laugh at a friend or loved one. However, the snerk is often a prelude to inevitable laughter. Only true masters of composure can perform a snerk and not look as if they were about to laugh. It should be noted that, save for the dead or certain forms of undead, there are no masters of composure. - Author "Yes, I know this should go at the end, but I felt you needed to know now")
"Ignore those toddlers, Hotaru. Obviously they're no more mature than their fashion sense," I told Hotaru.
That got the trio steamed, but they were obviously not going to try and start anything. After all, I was larger and obviously not as weak-willed as Hotaru. Buzzards like them only preyed on the weak.
"If they bother you again, Hotaru, just talk to me or Chibi-Usa. We can make sure they'll think twice about bugging you again," I offered.
"Thank you," Hotaru responded.
"No, seriously, if they're big enough losers to waste all their time bothering someone else, they obviously deserve whatever fate deals them," I answered.
Hotaru nodded more assertively. The other girls, having finished their ice cream a while ago, were shooed out of the shop by the waitress. It made it a lot easier to talk to Hotaru without the buzzards glaring at us.
Hotaru's father was a scientist, I found out, who was conducting experiments with an enormous budget. She didn't know what kind of research he was doing, precisely, only that he often wound up making tea and hot chocolate in various beakers. She gave me an open-ended invitation to visit her, but as Chibi-Usa told me while Hotaru went to the restroom, "Everyone Hotaru is friends with was allowed to visit,"
The look that accompanied the statement informed me that Chibi-Usa was very protective of Hotaru already and that I would have to bring her along if I wanted to visit. Seeing as Hotaru wasn't around, I decided to tease Chibi-Usa, "Oooh, so you like her that much,"
The blush on Chibi-Usa's face was priceless.
"I'm kidding, Chibi-Usa," I told her.
"S'not funny," Chibi-Usa answered, her face still red, but returning to normal.
"Oh, so I was right?" I inquired.
The blush returned in full force.
"Haruka!" Chibi-Usa complained.
"Hey, there's nothing wrong with it. I mean, Hotaru's a very good friend. There's nothing wrong with very good friends," I answered.
Chibi-Usa facefaulted. That had to hurt.
"You know, it's a lot healthier if you don't do that so often," I informed her.
"Stop teasing me!" Chibi-Usa protested.
"Here," I said handing her some bills.
Chibi-Usa blinked as she took the money, her eyes widening.
"You're going to the arcade after this, ne? Gotta have spending money. And it's not proper to make your date pay for YOUR fun," I told Chibi-Usa.
The blush was back. I could understand why relatives were known to do this. It was fun teasin' the young'uns. Of course, calling a 900 year old trapped in an 8 year old's body a "young'un" felt a bit... weird.
I dropped Chibi-Usa and Hotaru at the arcade and started to drive back to the apartment when I noticed that bitch Mimete walking down the sidewalk. It wasn't really all that hard to tell her from most other people. Orange hair, red eyes, a black suitcase with a stupid-looking bird on the side and tacky outfits were her M.O. I quickly parked, found a secluded spot to transform and followed Mimete.
I found her again behind the Crown Arcade. She was obviously setting up for some devious trap and, as Michiru had noted, a lot of villians liked to repeat their plans aloud before putting them into operation. Maybe they were desperately lonely or something, but I always found it stupid. If I were evil, that would be the last thing on my mind.
"Oooh, I don't know I can go through with this! That Motoki is kinda cute, but if..," Mimete trailed off, shaking her head back and forth (Maybe she's hoping the marble will fall into a hole - Author), before starting up, "NO! I must do this! With this dimension-warping Daimon, I'll be able to get rid of those infernal Senshi at the same time that I get..," she trailed off and I could almost see the hearts and sparklies in her eyes, "...dear Motoki...'s heart crystal, I'll get a bonus for sure! And once Mistress Nine and Master Pharoah 90 take over this world, I'll get any guy I want!"
My eyes narrowed. Mistress Nine and Master Pharoah 90? In any case, I couldn't let that bitch, Mimete, attack the arcade. Chibi-Usa and Hotaru were having fun in there and trying to ruin that was inexcuseable. Dammit, Michiru was right, I am a sucker for those cheesy animes.
"Not so fast, Mimete," I growled, leaping down at her.
She dodged, a bit quicker than I had expected, but she had forgotten her suitcase. She realized what she had done and panicked, tossing a power bolt at me. I dodged as best I could, but I could still feel the heat from the attack.
"No fair dodging! Now, what were the words for that tracking spell...? Ambu Gree Forca, Leem Zep Ruu, Klaatu Barata Nik...er, boomshackalacka!" Mimete spat.
Her spittle flying in my face was more annoying that the seventy-eight carrots that fell into the alleyway.
"That was absolutely pathetic. Lemme guess, you're the ditz of the family," I inquired, wiping my face off with a hankerchief.
"I'm not a ditz! I just forget things when I get frustrated!" Mimete answered.
"Like that you shouldn't tell your enemy your flaws and weaknesses?" I inquired.
"Yeah!" Mimete answered cheerfully.
Fighting her stupid daimon was easier than trying to comprehend her stupidity, so I hefted her suitcase and asked, "You want this?"
"Yeah! Gee, you're awfully friendly!" Mimete thanked.
Her suitcase rebounded off her forehead at an incredible velocity. The fact that she was still alive afterwards surprised me a bit.
"Sorry!" I apologized.
"You did that on purpose!" Mimete growled.
"Actually, I didn't. You see, that thing was kinda heavy and I overestimated how strong I am," I reasoned, scratching the back of my head. For some reason, cartoon characters did this to try and fake sincerity, so I took a lesson from them.
"Oh. 'Kay!" Mimete answered.
She _was_ an idiot.
"Daimon Kaleidoscope! ATTACK!" Mimete cried, opening the suitcase.
Mimete laughed maniacally as an enormous kaleidoscope with rather frail-looking arms and legs popped out of the suitcase. A head appeared on the top. It look very much like a kaleidoscope that someone had glued some arms, legs and a head onto.
"DAIMON!" the kaleidscope daimon yelled.
I stared at it, then at Mimete, then at it again, then back at Mimete.
"I'm going home," I announced, turning to leave.
"HEY! No fair! You have to fight my..," Mimete began.
"Kaleidoscope?" I asked.
"Uh.... okay, it's not very impressive looking, but you still haveta fight iiiiit!" Mimete whined.
I rolled my eyes. She was begging me to fight a kaleidoscope. And here I had thought she couldn't look any more ridiculous.
"Okay, let's go at it," I answered, half-heartedly.
I learned a few things in the next few minutes. While the word kaleidoscope looks silly and an actual kaleidoscope looked silly, it also made for a nasty monster. One far more dangerous than I would've thought one could make.
"WORLD SHAKING!" I yelled and growled in frustration as the kaleidoscope daimon changed colors to match my World Shaking attack. The energy flew right through and slammed into a badly charred Mimete, who shrieked and hit another wall.
The Daimon sweatdropped briefly, before changing colors yet again, ending on red. I leapt over the gust of flames that were belched out of the Daimon's mouth. It changed again to blue and I rolled away from the gout of water.
I cursed loudly. I hadn't injured it at all and it had done far more damage to the buildings around us than I had even imagined possible from the wimpy looking thing.
"DAMMIT! DAIMON KALEIDOSCOPE! STOP DOING THAT!" Mimete swore at it.
"Daimon?" the kaleidoscope monster inquired.
"Stop letting her attacks blast ME!" Mimete told it.
"Daimon," the kaleidoscope daimon answered, shrugging it's shoulders.
I snickered. She couldn't even get it to follow her commands. Now THAT was pathetic.
"GRRRRR! THEN USE YOUR ULTIMATE ATTACK, DAIMON!" Mimete growled.
"DAIMON!" it exclaimed.
The words 'ultimate attack' didn't sound so good, especially since it had already done so much damage. I pulled out the communicator I had gotten from Luna and hit the panic button.
"DAIMON!" the daimon yelled, lunging at me.
Before I could dodge, it's head vanished and an intense vortex began pulling me in. I couldn't even brace myself against it, which allowed the monster to pull me in, but I managed to hurl my communicator a fair distance away.
I hit hard ground. Not a very pleasant way to land. I opened my eyes and found myself in a palace. That didn't make much sense. The palace floors were made from polished marble, the walls had murials of half-naked or completely naked women and the ceiling wasn't much better.
I struggled to my feet and was about to take a better look around when three very familiar people in scantily clad outfits charged me with spears. Makoto, Minako and Rei stopped and pointed their spears at me, then paused. Sighing in frustration, they lowered their spears.
"Mistress, what are you doing here?" Mako-chan inquired.
Oh-kay, Mako-chan had never called me Mistress. She was wearing a green bikini that did more to amplify her yummy bits rather than cover them up. Rei was wearing a red bikini that did the same and Minako was wearing a yellow copy of the 'uniform'.
"Huh?" I asked.
"It's time for your weekly beating of that fool, Serenity," Minako informed me.
Rei was silent. I noticed her eyes were out of focus.
"Come on, she needs your holy punishment or she'll try and break free again," Minako said, pulling me along.
Serenity? Holy punishment? Weekly beating? This was going in a direction that I wasn't very comfortable with. Minako dragged me, with Makoto and Rei in tow, to a large wooden door and opened it.
Inside was something almost out of one of those stories about bondage and S&M. Whips, chains and other things lined one wall, spare rope and various cuffs covered another, Usagi and Setsuna were naked and chained to another wall, and the last wall had a single key hanging from it.
The biggest shock was me, or rather someone who resembled me, standing in the middle of the room. The other me was wearing a white silk teddy, silk gloves and white thigh-high boots. Ami and Hotaru were laying at her feet, wearing collars around their necks, and rubbing against her legs.
"Two mistresses?!" Minako asked.
The other Haruka noticed us. More importantly, she noticed me.
"Hmm? Who is this?" the other Haruka inquired.
"I'm Haruka Ten'ou. Who the hell are you?" I demanded.
"I'm Amara Tenoh. Ruler of this universe and Goddess of Salvation to all," the other me answered, before cupping Usagi's chin, "isn't that right, snooky-wookums?"
Usagi tried to spit on Amara, but Amara pulled back and out of the line of fire.
"You won't catch me with mere saliva, Princess Serenity," Amara laughed before punching Usagi in the stomach. Usagi took the punch well, but went limp regardless. She had obviously been taking hits like that for a while as her stomach was bruised.
I took a step forward, but Setsuna managed to waggle a few fingers at me to stop.
"In any case, your arrival is certainly something unusual. I know that there is no one in the whole wide galaxy that even resembles me and Rei would've noticed if you were using disguise magic," Amara said, walking over to me and pressing her body against mine.
I tried to step back, but Amara had her arms around me, effectively pinning me against her.
"You are rather attractive..," Amara began.
"Yeah, so?" I asked.
Amara smiled an evil smile, "You must be from another universe. Come, let us eat and you can tell me of your world. I may even be able to send you back,"
That was an unpleasant idea. I trusted her to send me back, but I didn't trust her to not follow with an army and enslave my world.
The dining hall was surprisingly modest compared to what I would've expected from Amara. First of all, it was illuminated with candles. There was a table with adequate room for ten people, ten rather comfortable chairs, and a cart which held all of the food. The cart was controlled by Luna and Artemis, who looked to be in good health, probably because Amara didn't want to waste any time getting someone else to push the cart. The kitchen was where Mamoru and Michiru made dinner for everyone, but only Michiru was present.
I sat at the foot of the table while Amara sat at the head. Or was that the other way around? In any case, she and I were the first seated. The other senshi sat down afterwards.
The arrangement went like so:
Hotaru Rei Minako Empty
Amara Me
Makoto Michiru Empty Ami
It was then that I noticed that Mamoru was missing. So were Usagi and Setsuna.
"The others aren't joining us?" I asked.
"Princess Serenity and Pluto still need... rehabilitation. Endymion won't be joining us because I hate all men. The only reason he's even in this castle is because it's a personal favor to the former Queen," Amara answered, motioning to someone I hadn't noticed because she was under the cart. The woman looked a lot like an older Usagi, but her hair was a very light purple instead of blonde. She wore a collar like Ami and Hotaru did, but it was clipped onto the cart. A harness was wrapped around the naked queen's waist to ease the strain on her neck. In her mouth was a red ball gag, probably to keep her from mouthing off or perhaps to just keep her from talking.
"Queen Serenity is the propulsion for our little cart. And she does a good job because I can destroy her and her daughter with the blink of an eye. If she and her daughter cooperate more, I may see fit to restoring more of their freedom. But until then, I'll just satisfy myself with watching her pull the cart like a dog," Amara laughed.
I was sorely tempted to leap over the table and attack Amara, but I knew that she had to be an incredibly powerful woman to overwhelm Usagi and Setsuna.
"So, tell me, how did you overthrow your world?" I asked. Amara wasn't an idiot. She no doubt already noticed my lack of approval.
She waved her hands and the candles increased in brightness, revealing the murial on the wall. The murial, which covered all four walls in the room, depicted her standing over Usagi and Setsuna, wielding the Guinzuishou and something else wedged into the Holy Grail. The thing I couldn't identify was a black crystal that I hadn't seen before. It looked a lot like the Guinzuishou, though. In the painted Amara's other hand was a strange looking glaive.
"It was quite simple, really. Since I'm the Time Guardian, all I had to do was fake a massive invasion by an evil power with the Zachzuishou. The stupid Queen gave the Guinzuishou to me because she feared the encroaching dark forces. After that, it was minor task to convince Pluto, Neptune and little Saturn here into giving up their talisman to help me," Amara laughed.
Amara smiled politely at me, "Now that I've told you about me, let's hear a little about you. I haven't seen that uniform in quite a while,"
"That's because I'm just biding my time. Unlike you, I don't have the luxury of being the Time Guardian. I've got to play a lot smarter to get what I want," I lied.
"No powers over time? Dreadful. Of course, if you were to simply wait until your Time Guardian falls asleep and steal her Time Key, you should be able to take over the job. I should know, little Hotaru almost succeeded in doing just that. Too bad I wasn't entirely asleep, ne?" Amara asked Hotaru, stroking the pale girl's hair.
Ami and Hotaru lowered their gaze.
"It was an admirable effort, but I still wielded the Holy Grail, which gave me the power to override the transfer. If they had tied me down, perhaps they could've gotten past the fifty percent conversion mark, meaning that even I could not stop them from using it as they saw fit," Amara teased the duo.
"So, that's the way you do it," I responded. I had no idea that our talisman could be converted, but I guess it had to be someone of the same magical qualities.
"There must be many differences between our worlds. I can't imagine what my life would've been like if I hadn't gotten my power over time," Amara mused.
"Well, for one, I'm forced to be a mere student at a high school," I began.
"It must be horrible. Tell you what, I can never take all of my servants at one time, so why do you take Makoto, Ami, Rei and... Queen Serenity to bed tonight? It'll help you get used to being a galactic ruler," Amara told me.
"... all right," I answered.
Dinner passed rather quickly. Perhaps too quickly. My guest room was placed between the dining hall and the torture room where Usagi and Setsuna were. Something about the placement made me uneasy. It was almost as if Amara knew what I was going to do and had set it up for me to try.
Luckily, I managed to get Makoto, Rei, Ami and Queen Serenity to start without me, claiming I needed to get something to drink. I wasn't sure how loyal they were. Ami and Queen Serenity obviously weren't enjoying themselves, but Makoto and Rei were treated better, so I couldn't trust them completely.
I hurried down the hall to the torture room, trying to be as quiet as I could. Thankfully, Amara placed no guards around or in the torture room, so I got in with no trouble. Making sure no one was coming to check on the room, I carefully woke up Setsuna.
"Nuh?" Setsuna asked wearily.
"Setsuna, do you know how to beat Amara?" I inquired.
Setsuna's eyes snapped open.
"You... you want to beat Amara?" Setsuna asked.
I nodded. Setsuna's eyes began to tear up.
"I know it's something you've been looking forward to, but I need to know," I began.
"The Zachzuishou," was Usagi's reply.
I stared at Usagi, there was a coldness in her eyes that had never existed in the eyes of the Usagi I knew.
"What about it?" I inquired.
"The Zachzuishou is the opposite of the Guinzuishou. The Guinzuishou's major purpose was granting energy for certain uses. The Zachzuishou's main purpose is to take in energy for the Guinzuishou's use, but it can be used like the Guinzuishou. The two are polar opposites, but very much the same. If you use the Zachzuishou, you can drain Amara of all the power she's stripped from the rest of us and grant it as you see fit," Usagi answered.
"But, Princess-" Setsuna began.
"I know, Pluto. Stranger who bears Amara's face, if you truly intend to use the Zachzuishou, you must be stronger than it is. It will try to drain your strength as you use it," Usagi informed me.
I nodded grimly, "Where is it?"
"She'd likely hold it out in the open, but I'm afraid that we were in here before most of the palace was finished," Usagi answered.
"Well, guess I've got to check the palace. I'll get you two down..," I began.
"Don't bother with us. Even if you do get us down, our muscles are too weak for us to move. You'd be better off searching without us," Setsuna responded.
"Even so, I'm not going to let you two just hang there," I retorted, grabbing the key and undoing their cuffs. I laid them gently on the ground and hurried off.
The palace was bigger than I thought. I had run into two armories, a blacksmithing room, six laboratories and three kitchens. Most of the rooms hadn't been used in quite a while and were possibly put in on a whim to fill in the space.
Finally, I found a massive hall where the Holy Grail, the Zachzuishou, the Guinzuishou and numerous other items were floating at least twenty feet off the ground. Most notably were the henshin wands that the other Senshi _should_ have had. In any case, I had to get the Zachzuishou, which was easy to recognize as it was the darkened copy of the Guinzuishou. I leapt for it, only to be knocked aside by someone.
I looked at my attacker and surprisingly, it was Michiru. I kicked her off of me and landed. A quick glance towards the entrance showed that Amara, Hotaru and Minako were all waiting.
"I applaud you for your lies and for getting here, but I was alerted the instant you used the key to free Princess Serenity and Pluto," Amara answered.
"So? You all obviously haven't had the rigorous training I have," I answered, summoning power in my hands.
"Ah, a World Shaking. Haven't seen one of those in a long time. Since before Pluto was shackled, I think," Amara answered.
"WORLD SHAKING!" I roared, unleashing the blast.
Minako and Michiru leapt in front of the attack, but since they weren't in their Senshi forms, they were knocked aside. However, the attack died once it reached Amara. Damn, I hadn't expected her to be able to just block my power. I had hoped she would at least have to concentrate. However, I now knew that she was much more powerful than I had anticipated.
"Dead Scream," Amara answered, now holding the Time Staff.
I ducked under the horizontal vortex and leapt for the Zachzuishou again, only to catch a second Dead Scream in the stomach. She had pulled on the power, so it was only as powerful as a punch to the gut. I managed to land on my feet.
"Not much of a fighter. Your training makes you superior to my minions, but I'm still-" Amara began until Hotaru caught her a full nelson. Though small, she was able to hold Amara still for a while. I jumped again and finally snatched the Zachzuishou.
"Your plans are through," I declared, holding up the Zachzuishou and focusing my will through it.
Amara screamed in agony as I forced the Zachzuishou to strip her of her power and return it where it all belonged. However, the effort was a bit more than I could handle. I didn't even realize how drained I was until I saw the carpet rushing up to meet my face.
When I came to, Amara was standing over me. Not the sight I was hoping to wake up to. I wondered if I was going to be her love slave or if she would just kill me.
"Not bad work," Amara told me.
"Not bad what?" I inquired.
"Not bad work. You did what I had hoped the other senshi would've done. I just wish you hadn't been so anti-dramatic about it. I was hoping for a longer coup de'grace, but it all worked out in the end," Amara told me.
"What in the hell are you talking about?" I asked.
Amara looked surprised.
"You mean you didn't know? Being a galactic ruler with no opposition is incredibly BORING. With the Guinzuishou, the Zachzuishou, the Holy Grail, the three talisman, the Silence Glaive and innumerable other artifacts a mere lie, seduction and merry jig away, it gets to the point that you just lose interest. It took a while, but I'm officially bored with all forms of domination. Now that things have been mostly righted, I'm going to pretend that having all that energy sapped out of me made my fragile little mind snap like a twig and I've been reduced to an innocent sex-crazed teen," Amara answered.
"....," I responded.
Amara noted my stare, "What? A galactic ruler has fetishes too, you know. And I couldn't really let the other senshi help me indulge my urge to be submissive without them trying to kill me. So, I set this all up. I'll admit that you weren't really planned for, but you helped me get what I wanted."
Amara pointed behind me, "Oh, and the most probable passageway back to your dimension is right behind you. I'd say 'see you later', but it's very unlikely that we'll ever meet again,"
Amara vanished. I looked up to see that there was, indeed, a portal. I scrambled to my feet and leapt through. I hoped I never came back to a twisted alternate world like this ever again.
Little did I know that nothing was ever easy.
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Now, people are wondering, "A-kun, what the phu(k was that about?"
Well, when I wrote that one line, "If I were evil, that would be the last thing on my mind," I started to wonder, what would an evil Haruka be like? Well, this one got it easy, being the Time Guardian, but the concept is still there. What if just one of the senshi were evil?
They'd play mind games with the others for their own amusement. Once tiring in that, they'd play emotional games, and finally they'd see how many Senshi they could dominate.
Amara is the name the North American version of Toei (i.e. Cloverway) gave Haruka, so I decided 'What the hell, it's not like anyone can stop me'.
And thank 64\/\/d, I stayed away from that 'cousins' $h!+ this time around.
Oh, did you notice that I've picked up some leet language skillz? I found a translator online and I'm using my knowledge 3x+3n$!\/3ly. Of course, like with Japanese, there are some variations on leet. The leet l4n64u63 sk33lz that I picked up might not mesh with yours, so here's a little guide. I guess there's slang even in leet.
\/ = V
$ = S
! = i
+ = t
6 = G
3 = E
4 = A
\/\/ = W
ph = f
( = C
I know, I know, I should stop talking in leet, but it's easier to get around censorship that way. ^_^
In any case, a lot of this picks up on the important issues left behind by the original, Sky's Reflection.
Q. What Michiru is doing?
A. Not much. She's mostly wallowing in her own pain. Despair and depression are like cement shoes for someone trying to swim. Guilt and regret are the matching gloves and necklace. Haruka's friendship can pull her out, though. "One's companions alone may be one's saving grace," - By someone who's name slipped right out of my head. (I think it was the owner of Bishamon in Night Warriors 2)
She still loves Haruka. I mean, the stuff they've gone through together will always leave a special place open.
Q. Does Haruka still love Michiru?
A. Yes. I'm no good at emotions, but what little I do know about your primitive Earth emotions is that love isn't something that's so easily cut off. As Haruka said, she still loves Michiru, she's just too hurt to go back. In time, they may return to being the lovers that are famous in all Yuri fanfiction.
Q. Why was Amara so mean?
A. Duh, she was a bored tyrant. She was doing all those mean things to provoke the other senshi into trying to overthrow her. It wasn't her fault they kept failing to do things 'right'.
Q. A-kun, are you pure evil or just really really mean?
A. BOTH! I figure if you can't be mean, you can't really write. Stories are about facing conflict. Even pointless stories have conflict. It's just a unique form called Characters versus Inevitable Plotline. An author must weigh good and evil alike.
Q. What about the Kaleidoscope Daimon?
A. Sailor Moon probably took care of it. After all, there's no distinct color for ABSOLUTE WHOOP-ASS!
Q. Why could Haruka use the Zachzuishou? And what is it?
A. The Zachzuishou is what I remember one webpage calling the 'Black Crystal'. It's what the Wiseman was using to try and destroy Tokyo of the past. The name stuck in my head, so even if it's wrong, I'll continue to use it. Well, here's how I figure it breaks down. The Guinzuishou and the Zachzuishou are polar opposites. The Guinzuishou puts out energy easily while the Zachzuishou absorbs energy easily. The Guinzuishou is basically a condensed version of the theoretical White Pillar while the Zachzuishou is a condensed version of the theoretical Black Hole. For every ounce of energy the Guizuishou spits out, the Zachzuishou absorbs an ounce of energy.
However, the Guinzuishou is magically linked to a certain family, the Serenity family. It's easy to do because the Guinzuishou has so much power to use, and because of the connection, Princess and Queen Serenity have a higher magical capacity than most other people.
The Zachzuishou, on the other hand, can't be linked to as it takes far too much energy to even try. Even Galaxia would spend far too much energy tapping into the Zachzuishou, because the connection links you to the Zachzuishou. Everytime you'd try to use it, you'd be drained of your strength first, then it would do what you wanted. In the end, it's futile effort. Thus why the Zachzuishou has no real master or controller.
It's because of the effects on their wielders that the Zachzuishou got such a bad reputation. The Zachzuishou drains you in order to do anything while the Guinzuishou pumps it's energy through you. Being drained of your strength is more quickly noticed by others than being used as a capacitor. And one can get used to energy being thrown through you more easily than one can when energy is just being sucked out of you.
A2. The Zachzuishou might be a negative energy variant of the Guinzuishou. Since all living things have a natural positive energy, only undead could use the Zachzuishou without massive negative feed back. Indeed, the Zachzuishou may cause permanent damage to the wielder as they are slowly filled with negative energy in order to grant their request. It could very well sap away your life force in the process, leading to very early demise.
Q. What was the original ending to this like?
A. I hauled Haruka back after the final battle with Mistress 9 and Master Pharoah 90. And I dumped that idea for a number of reasons. It wasn't that I didn't want to write out the battle, it was that things got complicated. See, the reason Usagi gave Mistress 9 the Holy Grail was that she thought that Haruka and Michiru were wrong in their assumption that she was still evil. They hadn't always been right. Well, with Haruka missing, Setsuna would have had to take her place. And Usagi trusts Setsuna's opinion a bit more.
Plus, there was a problem. I hadn't killed Mimete, Tellu, Viluy, Cyprine or Ptitol (sp?) yet, so I would have to write up their deaths or do a full invasion. Things would gotten desperate and quick.
And with Haruka presumably dead, that would make everyone even more vicious towards remaining Witches. And I didn't want you to see Sailor Mercury jump on Mimete and beat her to death. Sure, it would be cool, but it's just something I didn't want you all to see. Yet. Then there was the scene where Chibi-Usa tore out Viluy's throat. That was pretty cool too, but I decided against it.
Q. So, how did Amara get the Holy Grail?
A. Weren't you reading? In her world, she's the Guardian of TIME. She's like Setsuna in the prime timelime, meaning she can jump through time. With enough training, she could snatch the Holy Grail at any time. After all, the Holy Grail seemed to be a magic amplifier than an actual holy artifact, meaning anyone could use it (which explains why it was used to summon Master Pharoah 90). And someone who can control time would have an infinitely easier time getting in, getting it and getting out of the way of any attacks, so trying to stop her from grabbing it would be like trying to make molasses from iron and basalt; unlike with the Kaleidoscope Daimon, where you could just fire different blasts through it until you caught it off-guard.
(BTW, Pluto of Amara's world, if you didn't figure it out, had the Space Sword and the World Shaking; instead of Amara, who had the Time Key, Garnet Orb and Dead Scream attacks.)
Q. What about Hotaru and Chibi-Usa?
A. The popular idea is that they're friends and will grow into something bigger. I think most people who dislike this pairing are usually the ones who love Hotaru and hate Chibi-Usa or vice versa (though the reverse is probably more common in Japan). Chibi-Usa may be annoying, but something about the two of them together makes Chibi-Usa tolerable. For a long time, I heavily disliked Chibi-Usa, but once I saw her and Hotaru together... well, even a heartless monster like me has to stop and say, "KAWAII!"
In the end, if you like one, you have to like both. And I like Hotaru too much to dare hate her, so I have to like Chibi-Usa.
Q. Why are you so down on Mimete and Daimons?
A. Mimete was a bimbo. Face it, no matter how much you rationalize it, she's a bimbo. She's like Martina (Slayers Next) or Minmei (Robotech), only she has less of an excuse. She chooses anyone she finds handsome or sexy as candidates for their pure hearts, yet if she wanted to woo them or win their hearts, she'd send the daimons after rivals. She's an idiot, pure and simple. Hell, even Martina and Minmei fell in and out of love for moderately good reasons. Mimete was turned on by anyone who brushed their teeth regularly and didn't smell like horse flop. What? Come on, you have to admit that it was pretty much the case.
Daimons I'm only down on because of their deployment. Okay, let's look at the other monsters out there: Youma, Cardians, Droids and Lemures.
Youma had the possible disadvantage that they had to be summoned out of the Dark Kingdom. You need a lot of power to punch through a powerful seal like the one Queen Serenity put up. The Generals were able to do it because they had a greater connection to Earth than everyone else. They were, after all, Prince Endymion's guardians. Plus, they were really powerful. Laugh all you want, even Jadeite was probably as powerful as any of Galaxia's minions if he were in the Dark Kingdom. The problem was that his increased power was tied to Metallia (or the Negaforce for you NA dubbers), so he was fighting at about half, maybe even a quarter of his full strength.
Ail and Ann had power limitations, which excuses the Cardians. After all, if you have to _create_ the monsters, you're spending energy, which Ail and Ann didn't have much of. They were trying to revive the Doom Tree and keep themselves alive at the same time, so they couldn't go around tossing out monsters.
The Dark Family's Droids had a better excuse. The force that was in the past was all they could _spare_ from the _war_ they were waging with Crystal Tokyo. Which means that Rubeus and company were working on the minimal supplies that were allowed to them. No matter what it may have looked like, they were probably on their last legs if they were trying such a desperate ploy as time-travel.
The Dead Moon Circus had another excuse. They had to maintain their cover. By putting out too many monsters at any one time, the Senshi would've pinpointed them, and magic or no, they were poorly prepared for a fight. Another excuse was the fact that if the citizens panicked, they wouldn't know who had good dreams or not, meaning trapping Pegasus would've been impossible. The manga had them gathering energy, but, let's face it, if people are wary, it's more difficult to put up a mass-enchantment (they get a +4 to their saving throw versus Domination). In the manga, the Lemures were also a lot weaker, which explains why they were used as a military force.
Daimons, on the other hand, were cheap and easily produced. By Mimete's time, they had refined the process. Hell, during Kaolonite's time, they'd already shown that they had a perfectly good secret delivery method. I mean, if no one was noticing those FLYING EGGS, then keep doing it. If you've seen the final fight between the Senshi and Mistress 9/Master Pharoah 90, you know how difficult it was for the Senshi to battle all of those Daimon. Now, if they had delayed the missions a bit and then sent a SQUAD of Daimon, they would've had a higher success rate.
The fact that neither Kaolinite or ANY of the Witches 5 understood this is sad. Well, Tellu did, because she actually used that tactic, but she had all of her eggs in one basket, not to mention she fought the senshi on her home turf, had no escape plan and she wound up being eaten by her own creation makes me doubt she had much intelligence. Sad that she _and_ Viluy both fell the _EXACT_ _SAME_ _FLAW_, that being killed by their own creations. So, make bloody phu(k!n6 sure that your creation CAN'T KILL _YOU_. Even if it's a magic defense barrier or something that your enemies can take advantage of, make sure you don't get killed by your own creation. That is the most idiotic thing I've ever seen. I mean, even Mimete's death was because of the flaws in SOMEONE ELSE'S device.
I know you perverts out there read the title and thought, "POOOOOORRRRRRNNNN!", but except for some lime and IMPLIED lemon, I didn't have any planned for this.
Version 0.5 was Makoto, Rei, Haruka, Chibi-Usa and Hotaru get sent to another dimension. They find out about Hotaru being Sailor Saturn, but things got iffy about there. Had them exploring a cavern, but unsure of where to finish it all.
Version 1.0 was going to have Haruka and Makoto _ABOUT_ to engage in lemon when Setsuna shows up and tells them they have thirty minutes to stop the Witches 5 from summoning Master Pharoah 90.
Version 1.01 was people were being possessed by various monsters that had been sealed in Japan's history. The Witches were forgotten.
Version 1.11 was the two story ideas fused and Michiru winds up as one of the possessed. The active Senshi split into three when charging into Mugen Gaken (the daimons weren't released outside and there's no protective barrier). Had scene with Ami, Haruka and Usagi winding up in the basement where Doctor Tomoe had stolen panties from various female students and visitors. Haruka confuses it all into thinking Dr. Tomoe WEARS them (she never read a Ranma 1/2 comic). She explains it to Usagi as guys wanting to dress like girls. Haruka and Usagi both crack up at the thought of Mamoru dressed as Sailor Moon saying her trademark line, "In the name of the Moon, I'll punish you" with an effeminate tone.
Version 1.21 was that Michiru was possessed, but Chibi-Moon managed to heal her before the final battle with Mistress 9. Haruka is taken down by a powerful blast from Yutaga (the demon possessing Tomoe, it was named in the Sailor Moon: Another Story video game) and wakes up after the battle. Dumped because readers would want me to write the fight sequence.
Version 1.35 Beta was that the X/1999 events all start happening and whole lot of crap goes down, eventually winding up with the Guinzuishou and the Zachzuishou being used to remove both groups of Dragons from existance.
Version 1.35a Beta was that a group of humans who gain incredible spiritual powers jump in, trying to kill both sets of Dragons. They have the Zachzuishou and in a rare instance, the Zachzuishou isn't being used for pure evil. Moral lines get slanted, twisted and mangled. Abandonded because the author is @#%@$^!@ing lazy. Will be rewritten into a totally different series.
Version 1.7 was the first half of this story, ending without a fight.
Version 1.8 had Haruka jumping through the portal. I was going to have some dimensional mishaps, but things get sticky if you do that. Besides, I plan to have dimensional fun of a different sort next time.
Version 1.81 had Haruka jumping through the portal to home. She'd been gone for half a year, which had allowed for the Senshi to wrap up the Deathbusters entirely (Anyone else noticed that Tellu, Viluy, Cyprine/Ptitol each got about one episode to them?). Had a weird continuation where a girl who looked like a mix between Makoto and Rei appear, a belated backlash of the kaleidoscope monster's attack.
Version 1.9 was me considering going back and doing more wacky dimensional mishaps. I stuck with it. ^_^ Now I just have to think of wacky dimensional mishaps for her to go through. ;;;O_O;;;
Version 2.0 is the finished project. This is all I'm going to do on this particular chapter and I don't care about spelling or plot.