Makoto sighed and collapsed behind the curtain as the sounds of the plane flying by faded into the distance. As her breathing slowed back to a normal pace, she thought about where she was and why she was there. The death of her parents several years earlier had left her with a terrible fear of airplanes. So intense was the fear that the very sound of a jet engine sent her cowering. It had been going on for ages now. She wished that she wouldn't show such weakness. She wished there was something that could make her repress this fear. It was illogical. It was pathetic. It made her feel so weak and vulnerable. She sat there behind the curtain and into the emptiness of her apartment. Empty. It reflected many things about her. It was small, for one person only. There were plants hanging or setup all around. Botany was one of here favorite pastimes. She loved plants. But the emptiness was still there. Managing her floral arrangements was only a temporary escape from the true loneliness she felt. Then there were her friends. She loved spending time with them as much, even more than she did everything else, but there was only so much time you could spend with a select group of people. Even she got tired of the constant bickering between Rei and Usagi, Minako's boy chasing, despite the fact that she wasn't much better, and Ami's constant studying. How smart does she need to be to live up to her own standards? She'd been around this for so long that she was beginning to think of it as regular. It disturbed her greatly at times. The other Senshi weren't much better at times. Haruka and Michiru just made her nervous at times. Those two were a strange pair. Their adopted daughter Hotaru was a bit young for the things she liked to do, and the same went for Chibi-Usa. That left Setsuna. No. There was just something weird about her. Mamorou was out as well. She didn't want to hang around and watch as one of her friends was happy with an amazing guy while she wasn't. It was like they were unintentionally rubbing in the fact that she had broken up with her old boyfriend and couldn't land a new one. Generally, she just wanted some time to herself for the moment. She was glad that there hadn't been any kind of monster attacks lately. That would just cause problems. She was, if not enjoying, then content enough not to change the quiet and silence that she suffered in. She would rather not have to fight now. She really didn't feel like risking death for no real purpose. What she did as a Sailor Senshi was crucial to the continuing existence of the world, but one could only do so for so long before it just became an interruption. Hopefully the world could stand on it's own for a while, because one of it's prime defenders was taking a nice long vacation. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Destiny Not 1 A Sailor Moon fanfic by Morgion Disclaimer: You already know what's going in here. I mean does anyone ever really read this crap. Everyone knows that the author didn't write Sailor Moon, and we're all pretty sure that we know who did and who owns it as well. More so, I don't believe that anyone would go through the trouble of tracking down the real owners and writers in order to get the right to write this. Really. Who's gonna waste that time when they could spend it writing or even doing something practical with their life. More so, who really thinks they're gonna make a profit off this crap. Whatever. If this stuff were good enough to go to market, you wouldn't be reading it on the net for free, now would you? Get it? We crystal? Good. >;) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Makoto put on a cheery face as she dragged herself to school. She really didn't want to go. She didn't enjoy school that much. The only real benefit was her friends there, but she hadn't felt as much part of the group lately. She fairly found life to be repetitive. Even if there was a monster attack it was old and had lost the excitement. She wanted something new to enter her life. Her thoughts were answered moments later by a thunk as she collided with something solid yet somehow mealable. There were a few surprised yelps as Makoto and someone else tumbled to the ground in a heap. "Ohhhhhh," groaned the figure below her. Makoto scrambled to her feet as fast as she could. She looked down at the curled up boy on the sidewalk in front of the school gates. He didn't seem to be a student there, although he did look the right age to be. His clothes were rather strange as well. He wore large baggy black pants cinched around the hips with a green canvas belt. His button down gray shirt with a black fire print around the bottom was thrown up over his head, which was buried face first in the pavement. "Oh Shit!" Makoto cursed. The boy groaned as he slowly collected himself into a sitting position. He wasn't handsome by any stretch, but not ugly either. His looks fell into the area between the two known as mediocrity. He had short, spiky green hair and a short goatee. His face had some minor scrapes on it as well as a cut on his upper lip that was bleeding a little. He licked the blood from his lip and snorted. "Ow," he commented in a flat tone. Makoto rushed to his side as fast as she could. "I'm so sorry," she gushed as she helped him to his feet. "I should have been more careful. I should have been watching where I was going. I'm so sorry." Once on his feet he waved her off. "I'm OK," he muttered. "Just a scrape I've had worse." He searched his pockets checked his clothes and hands for any more damage. "Just a scrape, don't worry 'bout it." He took a moment to look her over while she spewed forth more apologies. The man, she could tell that he was older than she thought now, pulled a cigarette pack from his pocket and lit one. Makoto stared at him. Smoking wasn't for people as young as him. He took a drag and pulled the cigarette from his mouth and spit on the side walk. His saliva was red with blood. "Your mouth is bleeding," She commented. He looked down at his wad of spit on the sidewalk and spit again. More red. He shrugged. "Nothin' new." And then took another drag. "Shouldn't you be going to school or somethin'?" he asked. Makoto eeped and scrambled off to school again. She could hear the man laugh behind her as she walked away. She took a moment to glance back and see that he was following her down the street. He was still chuckling to himself and spitting red every now and then. The whole scene disgusted her. And unnerved her. Some strange westerner following her down the street wasn't a comforting feeling. She picked up her pace a little. He continued to follow but wasn't getting any faster. After a few blocks, Makoto breathed a sigh of relief as the westerner ducked into a local fast food shop. Breathing a sigh of relief, Makoto finished her trip to school in peace and slightly less humour than before. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Minako watched from around the corner as Makoto finished her conversation with the man and scampered away. She would have come out, but Makoto's discussion had an odd look to it. She couldn't see the man's face, but she could see Makoto's slight blush. Something was very up with this. As the two departed, she slipped around the corner and discretely followed the man as he wandered off after her friend. It wasn't long before Makoto had cast a nervous look back and sped up her pace. Something really odd was going on if Makoto, the scourge of Juban high was getting nervous. Mina smiled to herself. This was going to be interesting. As Her fellow Senshi returned to her trip to school, Mina followed after the stranger with the green hair. She was glad she'd left Artemis at home. He would be a real nuisance in a time like this. Following the stranger proved to be quite easy. He followed in the same route as Makoto for several blocks, and then ducked into one of the establishments along the way to the school. Waiting a brief moment, Minako debated if she should continue to school or follow the westerner. School was good, but his was too important to let go. She quickly ducked into the establishment before she could be noticed by Makoto or had a conscience attack and proceeded to school. The building was not like one she had ever been in. The simple explanation was that it was a bar. It being early morning though, the tavern was yet to truly open, or be occupied by many clients. Sitting around a table in an out of the way booth, Minako spotted the object of her inquiry surrounded by others of the same general style, and one lone Japanese man, who Minako guessed was the proprietor of the building. The group was in a deep discussion about something in hushed tones that Minako found difficult to hear, despite the lack off noise in the building. Minako felt a deep nervousness overcome her. She quickly took another look around the main room of the bar. She got the feeling that bad things would happen if she were to be found. At a glance she caught sight of an advertisement attached to a bulletin board to the left of the door. The paper had a picture of several of the figures sitting in the booth, and some text written across it. A quick survey of the page told her all she needed to know. Performance by, she didn't take the time to figure out the name, it was in English, 'No Cover', 'All Ages.' She didn't need any more. She snatched the paper off the wall and quietly stepped out the door again. Once outside, she breathed a sigh of relief. There was something about the quiet of that place that was just eerie. Minako took one more look at the paper. This would do perfect. All she had to do was convince Makoto and maybe the others to come with her tonight. She didn't know why, but there was something that just felt right about this. Moments later her smile vanished as she caught sight of her watch and realized she was late for school again. With an 'EEP' she dashed off in the direction of the school, knowing full well that she was going to be punished for being late again. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Makoto stepped out of the classroom. The teacher, who had decided that it might be wise for her to seek some tutoring, had held her back. Physics had never been her strong point or her favorite subject. Even with Ami's help, she was lagging behind the class. There was just so much to remember and so many formulas that looked the same. It was just not something she was cut out for. But she didn't have much money and tutors were not free. Ami could help her, but tended to be quite advanced in her work and had trouble bringing it down to her level. As she joined her friends under their usual tree, she noticed that everyone was giving her expectant looks. She quickly passed her eyes over the group. They seemed to want something from her, and for once it wasn't her meal they were staring at. "What?" She asked in confusion. This day was getting stranger and stranger. "Tell us about him," Usagi exclaimed as she made a grab for Makoto's bento. "About who?" Makoto asked as she snatched the bento out Usagi's reach. Usagi made a scene of begging and crying but gave up once she realized that she was being ignored. Minako smiled and held out a piece of paper. "Him," she commented as she pointed out a character on the sheet. The person seemed vaguely familiar to Makoto, but she couldn't put her finger on where she'd seen the face before. "I saw you with him earlier today." Minako finished. It hit Makoto like a wall. That was the westerner that she had seen earlier that morning. Minako must have seen them, although it wasn't more than a chance run in. Literally. "All we can tell about him so far," Ami continued. "He's from a band called Turipin (trippin'). From North America somewhere. He doesn't seem to be front man either." Ami returned to her book. She rarely ever got out of a book. Makoto dropped back and held her hands up defensively. "I don't know him," she argued. "I just collided with him on the way to school. That's all. Nothing else." "That's not what I saw." "Yeah!" Usagi piped up between bites of Makoto's forgotten lunch. "That's not what she saw. We want all the details." Makoto blushed. "No, really. There are no details. I wasn't looking where I was going and ran into him. I helped him up and we went different ways." She paused for a moment and glared at Mina. "And what were you doing spying on me anyway?" Mina stuttered a bit, but quickly recovered and advanced with her attack without answering the question. "We decided that we're going to go and visit your new boyfriend at the club he's playing at." Makoto glared. "He's not my boyfriend. I don't even know his name. I ran into him knocked him over, helped him up and apologized. That's all. No names, no friends, no nothing. I didn't even like him and his snotty attitude. Besides, he smokes. It's gross." Mina's momentum was deterred slightly by this fact, but she persevered. "Come on. We're all going to the show tonight. You should come. It'll be fun. It's not like we have school tomorrow or anything. And the haven't been any monster attacks lately so there isn't really anything to worry about. Come on. It'll be fun." As embarrassing as Makoto knew this would be, she couldn't resist the puppy dog eyes she was getting from both Mina and Usagi. The simultaneous effect was more than the green sailor could handle. "Alright," she conceded. "I'll go. But nothing funny. I don't want the two of you trying anything." She gave the two blonds a harsh stare and they smiled innocently in return. Something about this gave her a sinking feeling. She finished her lunch in silence and stood up. "I have to make an appointment with the school counselor. Excuse me." She politely left as her friends looked on in confusion. "What's eating her?" Minako asked once Makoto was out of earshot. "Npht Lphnsh," commented Usagi her mouth full of the delicious food that Makoto had prepared herself that morning. The others chuckled, feeling somewhere between amusement and disgust at Usagi's act. Rei sat forlornly outside during her own lunch break at her private school in an other part of Juuban. She didn't dislike her school, but her life as a senshi and a shrine priestess had limited her social contact for the most part. In fact, the other senshi were really the only friends she had. And so she sat under a tree at school, wishing she could be somewhere else. Actually, she knew exactly where she would rather be. Juuban high. Where Usagi and the others were. Well, where Usagi was really. The other got so preoccupied with things, but at least Usagi could be counted on to come over even if it would be just to read her manga collection. Actually, there were any number of excuses that she invited Usagi over. But really, things were far more complicated than that. She didn't know how to explain it to herself even. She enjoyed her time with Usagi far more than any of the other senshi, and it made her worry. At the same time, being around the noodle brained girl upset her to no end. She was never quite so frustrated as when Usagi was around. She was never sure why that happened. There was just something in the girl that excited her. And then when she did something stupid, or piggish, it just threw everything haywire. She was so excited at times that she lashed out at the girl more than once. She didn't like to do that either, but the girl just brought out the worst in her. Maybe there was something wrong with her. Being the source of the problem, Rei wouldn't be able to analyze herself, but maybe she could get one from Ami a little later. For now, though, she would content herself to finish her lunch. Maybe she could give Ami a call that night. Yes that would do. Sailor Pluto looked through the time stream into the present. The were fluctuations. The time stream was deviating from the course she had set for it. There was something wrong and she couldn't pinpoint it. A quick look into the future revealed something that she hadn't foreseen. There was something wrong with the way things were going. At this rate, it was possible that Crystal Tokyo may never come to pass. That was unacceptable. All her plans would come to fruition even if she had to remove the obstacles herself. An other quick look though the future revealed that there was no immediate threats until the time had come for the next generation to take over the position of the senshi. She would have to be there to make sure that the new senshi were adequate to take on their new roles. By the time the black moon family would rise for it's vengeance, The next generation would be ready to defend against their assaults. Now only that last obstacle remained before the rise of Crystal Tokyo could begin. Once that occurred, evil would be banished from the world. All would be as it must. It had to be. It was destiny. Pluto took a moment to analyze her plan and look thru the time gate one more time. Her target would appear at a small club show that evening. She could strike then. If that event were to be altered, then Crystal Tokyo would rise. Many of the negative influences of her target would rise at this club tonight. She could eliminate those influences, but it would be safer to eliminate the target. No sense in taking chances with destiny. Stepping back and letting the doors close, Pluto enacted an incantation long forgotten. The process was short and from the mist of Pluto, a figure rose. Sailor Pluto couldn't make out the full features of the being in the dark and misty air, but she was already familiar with the being well enough to not need a good view to recognize it's features. "Your orders," Pluto intoned commandingly, "are simple." Stepping back and motioning to the time gate, a picture of the target appeared. "This is your target. Your job is to eliminate. There is no room for failure. Understood?" The beast nodded in the darkness. While she couldn't see the movement, Pluto knew that the beast would obey. "Now go. Go and fulfill your purpose." The beast grunted and threw itself to it's feet and rushed through the time gate to it's destination. Pluto looked on with a satisfied smile. "It's time you were eliminated from the time stream Rei Hino."
That concludes part 1. Anything cool to say to me, email: cookie_td@excite.com.
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