Disclaimer: If I didn't make it up, then I don't own it.
There will be many elements from different shows, though some of said shows will not be featured, I just had the idea to use certain parts.
Forced Remembrance
Year: 3100
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prologue - Dead Men Do Tell Tales
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
San Francisco, California, United States
Status: Nearly uninhabitable
Climate: Desert
Average temperature: 120 degrees Fahrenheit
Average yearly rainfall past 100 years: 4 inches
Population: 50 civilians, no militia, 200 military personnel
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
London, England
Status: barely inhabitable
Climate: Desert
Average temperature: 90 - 110 degrees Fahrenheit
Average yearly rainfall past 100 years: 6 inches
Population: 150 civilians, 150 militia, 300 military personnel
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Moscow, Russia
Status: inhabitable
Climate: temperate
Average temperature: 80 - 100 degrees Fahrenheit
Average yearly rainfall past 100 years: 2ft
Population: 300 civilians, 200 militia, 500 military personnel
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Beijing, China
Status: readily inhabitable
Climate: temperate
Average temperature: 80 - 90 degrees
Average yearly rainfall past 100 years: 2.5ft
Population: 600 civilians, 400 militia, 1000 military personnel
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Crystal Tokyo, Japan
Status: Excellent
Climate: temperate
Average temperature: 70 - 85 degrees
Average yearly rainfall past 100 years: 3ft
Population: 95,000 civilians, no militia, 5000 military personnel
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
END STATUS CHECK
General August Endsley sighed in frustration as the computer rattled off the daily world status report as it had done for the past hundred or so years. Gus, as his friends knew him, stood at six foot tall, had brown hair, blue eyes, white skin, and wore a grey uniform. At his left hip was an Army saber, at his right, a twenty-two caliber revolver. While he was only eighteen years old in appearance, Gus was over two thousand years old. Formerly a Dark Kingdom General, he was now the average citizen of Crystal Tokyo, with somewhat of an average job. His job was to simply listen to the computer's status check three times a day, and compile a report at the end of every week, and for convenience he had a link to it put into his home computer. While he really wasn't supposed to, he still wore his old Dark Kingdom uniform, though, he didn't wear it with the same pride that he had once, now he wore it as if it were average clothing. Jacket unbuttoned, shirt untucked, shoes unshined, the look of the average punk kid pretty much.
"Huh... I really don't see why they have me do this. It's been exactly the same since I started doing this a hundred years ago." Gus said as he took a piece of paper and pen and began to write his report for this week. Today was Sunday after all, "And the report always says the exact same thing. I don't see why they bother with it more than maybe once every two or three months, other than to give me something to do. 'Course, then again, it's not like anyone really does any more than skim through them anyway." Gus sighed again as he looked over at the nearest wall.
On the wall were some of Gus's most personal items, three of which were flags. The first was the flag of the Dark Kingdom, a grey background with an inverted black crescent moon in the center. The second was his personal battle flag, it had a black background, a blue vertical crescent moon, and a golden yellow five point star where the rest of the moon would be -not very large, about double the size of a star on the U.S. flag-, and had gold tassels hanging on the edges of the flag. The third flag was strangely enough, an old confederate battle flag. Gus never knew why, but the look of the 'stars and bars' seemed enchanting to him, and he finally bought a flag. Then there was a picture of a tank. Nobody except for him, and possibly Sailor Mercury, knew what it was, even though it was a terror when it was still in use. The tank was a German PzKpfw VI Tiger II Heavy Battle Tank, the feared King Tiger tank, from World War Two. While one hasn't been seen in over one thousand years, Gus still used it as a symbol of power when he had men at his command.
Gus however was soon stirred from his memories when the doorbell rang. Gus looked at a color security monitor in the room, and saw that it was Hotaru Tomoe, most know her as Sailor Saturn, but she'd always preferred Gus to think of her as a friend, and to call her Hotaru. Gus started calling her by a nickname. She accepted it, heck, she'd never really minded it. With raven colored hair, violet eyes, somewhat pale skin, and standing at about five foot eight inches tall, wearing a purple t-shirt, blue jeans, and sneakers, she looked to be about seventeen years old, but in all reality, she was still about a thousand years old.
"Hey 'Taru! Door's open, come on in!" Gus said happily, "I'm in the computer room."
Hotaru opened the door to Gus's house and walked in, closing it behind her. The inside of the house was nice and neat. It was mostly drab, walls were painted white, and it had a hardwood floor for most of the house, save the bedrooms and living room. The house was a two story house with eight bedrooms, four baths, a kitchen, a living room, a basement, and attic. The computer room, as Gus called it, was actually an add-on to the house that could be reached through a short hallway. Some liveliness was brought to the house by old photos -most of which from when Gus was still in the D.K. military-, sketches, old battle maps -some of victories, others were losses that Gus kept replaying in his head to see if he could have changed the outcome-, some gun racks with the guns on them -even though Raye had told Gus time and time again that he wasn't supposed to have weapons. As if he'd ever listen to her.-, medals, a folded up flag -supposedly from the funeral of a close friend of Gus's, and various other things gave the house life. Hotaru made her way to the computer room, where Gus was waiting, and entered when she came upon it.
"Hey there 'Taru. How ya been?" Gus asked as she entered, and he returned to his report.
"I've been pretty good. How about you?" Hotaru replied happily.
"Not too bad. Any specific reason for the visit?" Gus asked as he wrote.
"No, not really, but since I was on my way, Raye told me to tell you that she wants to have a word with you. She didn't say what for though." Hotaru said as she looked at the wall with the flags and pictures. While Hotaru knew that the Dark Kingdom was the Moon Kingdom's worst enemy, she also knew that it hadn't always been that way. In a way it had a sort of old southern charm at one time, long ago, and that's the way Gus always seemed to act too. At first she hadn't really been interested in Gus's military career, really though, who in the Moon Kingdom would be? He was fighting them after all. Then, one day, over a dinner in the palace that Gus had actually been invited to, and shown up for, it came up in conversation about the final military battle against the Dark Kingdom, where, though nobody at the time knew it, Gus had lost his friend, the one that flag's for.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Yes, it was a grand victory." King Endymion said happily at the memory.
"Yeah, we sure showed them!" Lita added, holding up her drinking glass.
"It couldn't have been any more perfect!" Raye added with a wide grin.
"Ooh... yippee. Hurrah..." Gus let out pretty unenthusiastically.
"What's bothering you?" Mina asked in one of 'those' tones.
"Nothing." Gus breathed, almost sighed, out.
"There's something bothering you." Michiru pushed.
"No there ain't." Gus said, with a slightly southern accent.
"Gus, just tell us." Amy insisted politely.
"I said there ain't nothin' both'rin' me!" Gus raised his voice slightly.
"Don't raise your voice to us." Haruka commanded.
"And who're you to tell me what to do?" Gus challenged.
"Calm down Haruka. Now, Gus, would you please tell us what's wrong?" Setsuna said.
"There ain't nothin' wrong!" Gus said as he jumped to his feet, his chair fell backward, and slammed his hands onto the table, "I shouldn't have come here!" He said, and stalked off.
"What was that all about?" Mina asked of nobody in particular.
"You're all forgetting something." Queen Serenity began, "You've forgotten what side he was on. And by the looks of things, we hit a sore spot."
"We? You didn't say anything. It's not your fault." Lita said to her.
"That's the point, I should have stopped you all from pressing." Serenity said.
"May I be excused? I think I'm going to go try and talk to him." Hotaru asked.
"You may. And tell him I apologize for this." Serenity said as Hotaru stood, and left.
Luckily, Gus hadn't left the palace yet. He was just down the hallway, on a balcony. Hotaru tried to walk up slowly, so as not to make him leave again, but...
"Hello Hotaru." Gus said as she came up as silent as possible.
"How did you...?" Hotaru trailed off as she came next to Gus on the balcony.
"After you've seen and done the things that I have, you start to be able to do that." Gus smiled, and gave a quick chuckle, as did Hotaru, "So what's up kid?"
"Kid? Where do you get 'kid' from?" Hotaru asked.
"If I'm twice as old as somebody, they're a kid to me. And that includes Serena."
"You mean, Queen Serenity."
"No, I mean Serena. Queen or not, I'm still HER elder, not the other way around."
"That's true, but I still have the looks!" Serenity chuckled from behind, startling Gus.
"Jesus Christ! Tryin' to give me a heart attack or what?" Gus shouted in surprise, when he realized who had said it, "And what's this about you havin' the looks?" he joked.
"Oh nothing." She smiled, followed by Gus and Hotaru, "But I'm here to apologize for what happened in there. I should have told them to stop pressing."
"No, no. I should apologize to you for interrupting your dinner." Gus said.
"That's alright, between you and me, it was getting boring anyway."
"Well, good thing I was here to liven things up then." Gus smiled.
"Hey, uh, Gus, if you don't mind my asking though..." Hotaru trailed.
"What was I upset about?" He finished her question.
"Yeah." Hotaru replied.
"In that last battle, I lost my best friend. I'd known him since we were kids, and we'd both wanted to get into the military, then when we did, it was like a dream come true. But it didn't go exactly as we had planned. I ended up getting promoted above him, but that didn't really matter that much, in fact, he became my right hand man as my second in command. But as all dreams do, this one came to an end that day. Since then, I haven't talked about it." Gus explained.
"Why didn't you?" Serenity asked.
"There was nobody to really listen until just now." Gus smiled, as did Hotaru and Serenity.
"So are you going to come back to the dinner?" Hotaru asked.
"If you don't want to you don't have to." Serenity added.
"I think I will, if'n a'course her majesty will permit it." Gus smiled at Serenity.
"Of course you can, and you might as well call me Serena, you already did." Serenity said
"Alright then, shall we return?" Hotaru began, and motioned to the dining room.
"Let's." Serenity said, and they headed for the dining room.
Upon returning to the dining room, Gus apologized to everyone for his behavior, and explained about losing his friend. He also apologized directly to Haruka for his insubordination. That surprised everyone, especially Haruka...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Well, I'll go talk to her once I'm done with this report. That way I can give it to her then and not have to make two separate trips." Gus said as he seemed to scribble on the paper.
"Are you even writing?" Hotaru asked.
"Yeah. I've written this same thing so many times, I don't even have to think about it anymore." Gus smiled as he finished writing.
"Done already?" Hotaru asked in surprise.
"Yeah. Anything you want to do after I talk to Raye? It's only noon." Gus asked.
"Nothing I can think of right now."
"Well, maybe you'll think of somethin' in a little while. Let's go see Raye." Gus said, and off they went, headed for Internal Security's (I.S.) main headquarters, "We can take my car."
The two headed for Gus's garage. They reached the garage, and Gus opened the door. Inside was Gus's car. A 1969 Dodge Charger R/T. If you're wondering how he has a car this old, you have to remember, he's over two thousand years old, and there is a such thing as vacuum storage. Anyhow, it was painted royal blue, same shade as the crescent moon on his battle flag, on the side was painted the number 02 in white and black, on the roof was painted a rebel flag and the words 'The Raptor' above the doors. Under the hood was a V-8 426 Hemi, and in the car were all the creature comforts you could ask for, except maybe a TV, or something super extravagant. The rear license plate read 'CNH 220', and the front one was a picture of the Dark Kingdom flag. Completed with a short black spoiler on the back, police car push-bars on the front, and BF Goodrich tires, this car RULED! The only thing that put some people off, was the fact that the doors had gotten jammed shut, so Gus had them welded shut and sanded down so that you couldn't tell from the outside. Gus Helped Hotaru inside the car through the window, he hopped in, and then they were off...
About ten minutes later, due to the fact that there was virtually no traffic, Gus pulled up and stopped the car in front of I.S.'s H.Q. and went inside, along with Hotaru, to meet Raye. After about ten minutes, most of it walking, and riding the elevator, they made it to Raye's office on the top floor of the twenty story building. Raye had been expecting them, so she wasn't surprised when...
"Hey Raye!" Gus shouted as he and Hotaru entered the room.
"Yeah, hi." Hotaru added, slightly embarrassed at Gus's display.
"Must you do that whenever you come into my office Gus?" Raye asked with a sigh. She stood at five foot eleven inches tall, hair and eyes almost matching Hotaru's, just slightly darker eyes. Her skin was slightly tanned, and she wore a white uniform, with the I.S. patch on the shoulders, and a star on both tips of the collar to signify that she was the commanding officer.
"Yeah, pretty much." Gus smiled.
"Now hold on, what's this? A sword, and a gun! Didn't I tell you-!" Raye began.
"Yeah, yeah. I know! I'm not permitted to have weapons." Gus interrupted.
"Then why do you have them? Ever since you set foot into this city, you've had a blatant disregard for not only my rules, but the LAW as well! If Serenity didn't pity you so much-!"
"Shut up! I didn't come here to be snapped at! Now what do you want director?"
"Fine. All I wanted was your report, and... Though I'm embarrassed to say it, Serenity has asked me to ask you for some help in the security grid."
"Oh? Like what?" Gus asked.
"Where our men's stations should be around the city. She wants it properly defended."
"I'm sorry. I can't help you there. This city will never be properly defended so long as it doesn't have to worry about fighting, and due to your queen's abilities, it won't have to."
"Be that as it may, OUR queen requested I get your help."
"You forget something madam director, I don't take orders from HER, YOU, or ANYONE ELSE! I'm not a member of her council, hell, I'm not even a citizen of this kingdom!" Gus shouted.
"Calm down you two!" Hotaru shouted, and Gus stalked out, tossing his report on the way.
"Fine! I can do it better on my own anyway!" Raye shouted back as Gus left.
"Oh you two are hopeless!" Hotaru said as she ran out after Gus.
About fifteen minutes later, Gus and Hotaru were back on the road...
"So where are we headed?" Hotaru asked.
"No idea. You think of anything yet?"
"No. Nothing much to do really. After about a thousand years, you end up having done everything, and nothing new ever seems to happen."
"Well there is the baseball diamond. I need to relieve some stress, and I know that Haruka's there every Sunday right about now. Want to go there?"
"Sure! And could we pick Rini up too?"
"I don't see why not. Where would she be about now?"
"Probably at the palace, or she should be. I don't know where else to look except maybe the arcade, but on Sundays I think it's closed."
"Well, let's go to the palace then." Gus said, as they headed for the palace...
"Hotaru? Gus?" Serenity said as she spotted them walking through the palace.
"Hey there Serena!" Gus said happily, "We were hoping to pick up Rini, if it's okay?"
"Oh sure. Uh... I think she's in her room." Serenity said, pointing down the long hall.
"Huh." Gus almost gave a chuckle, "The one place we haven't looked yet."
"And probably the first we should have." Hotaru added.
"So where are you going to go?" Serenity asked.
"The baseball diamond. I know Haruka's there, and I need to blow off some steam."
"Was it Raye again?"
"How'd you guess?"
"I just had a feeling, since she was by here not long ago, and was in a huff too."
"How'd she get here before us?" Gus asked, confused.
"She doesn't have to go through all the security stuff like you did." Hotaru answered.
"True. Well, I guess we'll see you later." Gus said as he and Hotaru began to walk away.
"Hey, hold on a sec. I have an idea! How about we all go?" Serenity suggested.
"If you want to come, it's fine with me. I couldn't stop you if I wanted to." Gus smiled.
"No, no, no. I mean EVERYBODY." Serenity went out of her way to make her point.
"Oh. Alright. Sure, why no? If you can round all of them up, just meet us there."
"Okay, see you there." Serenity said, and ran off to get everyone.
"Uh, Gus, I think you forgot something." Hotaru said.
"What?" He asked.
"'Everybody' includes Raye." She said, trying not to upset him.
"Oh well. At least Serena's happy, and we have something to do. Now come on, let's get Rini and head on over to the diamond." Gus said, and soon they found themselves back at the car with and ecstatic Rini. She was five foot six inches tall, with pink hair, crimson eyes, barely tan skin, and her hair was done up in the royal hair style as always, she looked about sixteen. She wore the same thing as Hotaru, the only difference was her shirt was pink. Rini got in first with Gus's help, and sat on the back bench seat, then Hotaru on the passenger's side, and Gus got in on the driver's side. Just as he started the car, he saw a cherry-red 1969 Camaro Z-28, and immediately knew who it was.
"Well, well, Raye. I have the feeling we're going the same way, so, wanna race?" Gus said under his breath, as he revved the engine, obviously getting Raye's attention, because she pulled up alongside Gus, and revved her engine as well. No matter how much they hated each other at times, next to Haruka, they were the only drivers challenging enough worth racing. Both got their engines roaring, and Raye started the count with her horn. All the while, Hotaru and Rini were just waiting for the third horn blast, they loved these races. The third horn came, and both cars leapt forward...
About fifteen minutes later, both cars parked in the lot outside the baseball diamond, and everyone emerged from the cars, smiling. They had tied. They went into the baseball stadium, and were greeted by the smiling faces of some, and the dejected faces of others. All the Senshi were there in the stands, except for Haruka, and they were the ones smiling. The others were on one of the two local baseball teams, and down on the field. The reason for their faces, was out on the pitcher's mound. Haruka stood out there smiling like hero that just received his medal. Haruka waved up at the newcomers to the stadium as the team started packing up their stuff, and left.
"Who's my next victim?" Haruka called out to everyone.
"OOO! Me next! ME NEXT!" Mina yelled out as she rand down to the field, followed by everyone else, except Gus, Rini, and Hotaru, who just went to the edge of the stands. Everyone except Gus, Rini, Hotaru, and Haruka, were in shorts, t-shirts, and sneakers. Haruka was in a baseball uniform with golden-yellow patches and other things signifying her team.
"You sure Mina?" Haruka asked.
"Yeah, come on! Put one right over the plate!" Mina shouted back, and tapped the base with her bat, then got into stance, which was somewhat off, but, oh well.
"Alright then, you asked for it. Just let me warm up first." Haruka smiled. She turned on the mound to face the speed counter. She wound up and without really seeming to try, threw the ball. The first one registered at 92mph! Everyone but Haruka stopped and stared for a minute at the readout as Haruka grabbed another ball, "That's my normal without warming up." At that, Mina's jaw dropped wide open. Haruka threw the next ball, and it registered 96mph, "Not quite there yet." Mina's jaw hung lower, if that was at all possible. Haruka threw another, and that one hit 100mph! "Still not there, but almost." Haruka said, Mina's eyes bugged out, and some of the others let their jaws hang at that. Haruka threw the next ball, and it hit 105mph!! Mina did a face plant, and Haruka laughed at the sight as she turned to face her 'victim', "Ready?"
"Uh... yeah." Mina said as she got back to her feet and spat out the dirt.
"Here it comes!" Haruka said as she threw a fast ball. Mina swung too late and it just whizzed past her.
"Strike one!" Gus said as he came down with a glove and face mask.
"Here comes the next ball Mina!" Haruka warned as she threw another fast ball. This time Mina swung too early and it went past unaffected. Gus caught the ball in his glove, which he had put extra padding in, thank God for tissue paper.
"Strike two!" Gus said, and threw the ball back to Haruka.
"Last one Mina!" Haruka threw the last ball, and Mina was ready for it, or she thought so anyway. She was ready for a fast ball, but Haruka threw a curve ball instead. Mina missed it due to the change of course at the last second, and Gus caught the ball.
"Strike three! You're out!" Gus announced and tossed back the ball.
"Mina's out! Who's next?" Haruka said with an evil grin.
"I'm up! I'll hit it for sure!" Raye announced and stepped up to bat.
Then Haruka pulled out an old baseball trick. She threw the first ball right at Raye, who ducked to dodge it, the next was a curve ball, then a fast ball, then a ball that seemed to spiral around on its way. All three Raye missed. Next was Amy. Then Lita, Michiru, Setsuna, Hotaru, Serenity, Endymion, and Rini. Every time they all stuck out, and it went on like this until about six o'clock when the sun started to go down...
"I think it's about time to head back." Serenity said, and everyone started grabbing the stuff they had brought, but Gus went over and picked up a bat, most likely Endymion's, and held it for a minute as he walked over to home plate. As Haruka was walking out to the field, he called her out...
"Hey Haruka! I'm callin' you out! Let's see if you can strike me out!" Gus shouted. Everyone seemed to just stop what they were doing without even realizing it. Haruka stopped in mid-step and pivoted around on her heels.
"What was that?"
"I'm callin' you out!"
"Alright, you think you're so hot huh? Let's just see how good you are." Haruka said as she walked back to the mound and readied herself to throw the ball.
"Bring it." Gus said with a smile.
"Do you think he knows what he's doing?" Lita asked.
"I hope so." Hotaru replied.
"He better know how to duck if she does the same thing she did to me." Raye said.
"This might not end so well." Endymion said as they all looked on.
"Why not?" Rini asked.
"We have a Dark Kingdom General at bat, and Sailor Uranus pitching. Run the numbers on that and tell me how many different things can go wrong." Michiru said as it began.
Haruka wound up for the pitch, and Gus tensed, ready to slam it out of the park. Haruka, however, had other things in mind. She threw the ball as hard as she could, about 110mph, straight at Gus. Gus didn't duck though...
"Spirit Gun!" Gus quickly freed one hand of the bat, made a gun shape with it, and a royal blue ball of energy flew out, disintegrating the ball on impact, "How about a straight pitch over the plate, if you wouldn't mind? Fast ball preferably, and no funny business this time."
"How did you do that?!" Haruka asked in surprise.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Gus answered.
"Alright. One right over the plate. Fireball, comin' up!" Haruka said as she picked up another ball. This time, she threw it as hard as she could, and right over the plate. Gus swung... And connected! The force behind the bat, and the speed of the ball made it sound almost like a gunshot. The ball flew high and far, and...
"It's going." Mina started.
"Going..." Serenity continued.
"Going..." Rini said as it soared.
"GONE!" Hotaru shouted as the ball went over the billboards on the other side of the field. Everyone, out of actually wanting to, or not, cheered at the sight, and then laughed as they again looked at the field, only to see a fuming Haruka throwing down her baseball cap and jumping up and down on it, and a laughing Gus dancing like a Russian backwards from first to second base, and laughing at the same time.
"Hey! ... Hey! ... Hey! ... Hey! ... Hey!" Gus laughed.
"Come here you!" Haruka yelled as she charged at Gus.
"Oh shit!" Gus shouted, turned, and ran for his life, Haruka on his heels.
"Got you!" Haruka jumped onto Gus's back, "This is what anyone who can hit that ball gets! SUPER ATOMIC NOOGIE!!!" Haruka shouted and laughed as she rubbed her balled fist on top of Gus's head at subsonic speed.
"Ouch! Ow! Stop! Get off!" Gus shouted, but to no avail. Everyone in the stands was near tears from laughing at the sight when Gus dropped to his knees, and Haruka stopped the noogie. Gus looked up at her on his back, "Are you going to get off now?"
"No." Haruka began the noogie once again, and everyone laughed all the harder, except Gus, who had an idea. He shuffled his feet, kicking up tons of dust, and then dropped on his back. Haruka let go, and when she sat up...
"Hey? Where'd he go?" She shouldn't have asked. From behind her, he put his arm around her neck, and began the noogie once again.
"Ah! My head! Stop! I surrender! UNCLE! UNCLE!" She shouted as everyone but her laughed now. After he felt enough payback had been served, he stopped and let go. Though he was now laughing and almost out of breath. Gus fell onto his back and looked up at the by now star filled sky. Haruka stood up and looked down at Gus from above.
"Need a hand?" Haruka said, offering hers.
"Sure, thanks." Gus accepted, and was hauled to his feet almost instantly.
Gus and Haruka walked back to the stands where everyone was waiting.
"You two done now?" Michiru and Hotaru chorused.
"Yeah, we're done." Haruka and Gus answered with a laugh.
"So are we all heading back?" Endymion asked.
"Actually, I had heard that there was a meteor shower tonight." Amy said, "There's the first one now!" Amy said, pointing into the sky.
Everyone looked into the sky and saw the beautiful sight as it passed in the sky.
"Remember to make wishes." Rini reminded.
A few minutes later, it was over. Everyone felt pretty good about how the day had gone. This city, the capitol of the Crystal Millennium, Crystal Tokyo, truly was paradise.
"So what did you wish for Gus?" Hotaru asked.
"I made two actually. But it doesn't matter. It isn't possible unless you can bring back the dead. And I'm sure that nobody can." Gus said, then let out a sigh as he headed for the car.
After dropping off Rini and Hotaru at the palace, Gus headed back to his home. He opened the garage, parked the car inside, shut the garage, and went into the house. After getting inside, he took off the jacket, put it on the rack and slipped off his shoes next to the couch. He plopped down on the couch, grabbed the remote control, and turned on the TV. He flipped through the channels, and didn't really see anything to his liking until he found CMT (Country Music Television) and the Top 20 Countdown with Lance Smith had just come on. He decided to leave it on, even though by now he had seen every one of them due to the fact that there weren't any country artists, and there hadn't been any for about eight hundred years. But not only country was gone, so was southern rock, rock, and most anything close to rock. There were no new artists, and all be it as it may, there wasn't much music listened to in Crystal Tokyo, or television watched. The arcade was a popular place during the week for students just after school, but other than that, not many kids played video games. Everyone was always outside doing something, having fun. Gus would get out every once in a while, but the computer had him tied down somewhat, because he had to listen to it three times a day. It didn't seem to bother him though, and he did it without complaint.
Gus decided to get something to eat, seeing as how he hadn't eaten all day, and went into the kitchen. When he got there though, he noticed something strange. There was literally a bread crumb trail leading to the computer room. He followed it, not knowing what to find.
When he got to the computer room, he saw the computer on, which wasn't too strange, he had left it on before he left, what was strange, was that Microsoft Word was on the screen, and there was a note written to him! How was it possible? Someone would have had to get in the house in order to write it. But how? And who? Hell, why for that matter? He decided at this point that the note probably was the reason for getting in, so he began reading it.
"Hello Gus. It would appear that you've become quite attached to this city. Hm, I never thought I'd see the day when my ranking officer would take up residence inside one of our enemy's cities, much less the capitol. Oh! And not to mention befriend the Moon Kingdom's Sailor Senshi and Monarchs! Quite the accomplishment there bud. Anyhow, if you truly care about this grand city, and I believe that you do whether you want to admit it or not, prepare its defenses. An attack will happen twenty years from this day. I am only giving YOU this information. If you choose to accept this task, I wish you the best of luck in your endeavor. And I hope that once its all over, you'll forgive me for what happened so long ago, and for what is happening now. You truly were, no, ARE my best friend. Good luck.
Your friend,
-Colonel David Frederickson Atlas
P.S.: I ain't the only one back, you should make your wishes more carefully."
"There's no way." Gus whispered, "Dave? It... It couldn't have really been him. This must be some type of sick joke! Dave's been dead since that day! That flag is from his funeral!" Gus shouted into the air, then, an idea struck him, "There is one way to find out." He stood from the chair, and went into the living room to where he had kept the flag, "My God, the flag's gone, it's real. He's back. The only reason that would be gone, is someone didn't want me to have his flag, and the only person that wouldn't want me to have his flag would be him. He even told me not to keep it so I would only think of the good times." It finally started to sink in what this all meant, and it was none too good, "If he's back, then so are the others. And if they are, they'll try to destroy the city. Warning the Senshi, or even Serenity and Endymion will do no good." Gus sighed, "Looks like I'll have to help Raye with those plans after all."
And so it begins...