The Future In Need! The Neo Senshi Called Upon.
An elegant white-clad figure strode firmly into the throne room. She did not pause for the guards, but they bowed to her. She held her chin high and her long white hair and white cape flowed behind her. Her high-heeled shoes and staff clicked on the marble floor as she glided to the thrones. When she reached them, she bowed her head slightly, even though it wasn't necessary.
On the four thrones before her sat two couples. The foremost and ruling couple consisted of the young pink-haired queen and her white-haired king who had a golden horn on his head. The second, older, couple was the retired queen and king.
"Serenity, Endymion, Young Serenity, Helios," the majestic visitor began, "I have come to you because of the great need that has befallen our future. Chaos has been reborn, and it is threatening to destroy Sagittarius Zero Star. My soldiers and I cannot face it alone, so I have come to you with a request."
Endymion's face was grave. "You never were the bearer of good news, Cosmos."
Old Serenity's was just as worried. "What is this request?"
"We need to train reinforcements that will know me and trust my leadership."
"How do plan to accomplish that?" Helios asked.
"Endymion, Serenity, Young Serenity, do you remember my younger self, Chibi-Chibi?"
They all nodded.
"I will create her again. Her memory will only span to just before she changed into me. She will lead the new reinforcements. She will grow very rapidly, changing in stages. She will keep changing until she is exactly like me. At that point, I will meet up with her and she will cease to exist, and I will be their leader in this great war against Chaos."
"Wouldn't that be a little cruel to her?" the young queen asked.
"No. She is part of me. I know this is right," Cosmos answered firmly. "Now I must request my reinforcements."
"Who might they be?" Helios asked.
"The inheritors of the planet powers as well as the quartet and trio powers," she answered calmly.
"All of them!" Serenity gasped.
Sailor Cosmos nodded. "With you permission…"
"If you must…" Serenity trailed away.
Life droned on at Hitotsuban Junior High. The rhythm of life remained the same pattern. The weather was always dull and dreary this time of year; nothing special.
Towards the end of the last period of the day, the office secretary's voice came over the loud speaker in chemistry class. "Tsukino Musha, please report to the main office."
A girl with dusty purple hair in a long braid stirred in her desk. "Great," she muttered.
"Musha," the teacher reminded.
Musha reluctantly left her desk. As she walked to the office, she pondered what it could be this time. 1.) She could be in trouble, but she couldn't remember anything she had done wrong recently. 2.) There might be some special occasion at the crystal palace she needed to be present at. She was the young Queen Serenity's cousin. Musha's father was the old queen's brother. 3.) Some more reporters wanted to interview the young queen's cousin.
As she passed through the hallways, one of her classmates exited her classroom and entered the hall. Her name was Meioh Korai. She had short dark hair that shone a slight green color. It was no longer than her curved dagger-like bangs all around her head. She was the class freak. She had weird powers that attacked people when she got mad. No surprise; she was under the care of the senshi of time, Sailor Pluto. Though, rumor had it that she wasn't her real mother: she didn't have real parents, or something freaky like that.
Korai rarely spoke and was almost always depressed. No doubt that she was going to counseling, like she always did at the end of the day.
As they entered the office, the secretary stopped Musha as Korai entered a near-by room.
"Tsukino Musha, your visitor is in that room there." The secretary gestured to the same room that Korai had entered.
Musha sighed in disgust. She was going to be associated with freak Korai. If any of her classmates found out about this, she'd never hear the end of it. She added another possibility to her list. 4.) She was going crazy, so she was starting counseling with Korai.
She entered the small room. Korai and the visitor were seated at a small table. The visitor looked like Musha's grandmother, the old queen. She was wearing a simple black skirt and a white blouse. Her pure white hair was done in two heart-shaped buns and long flowing pigtails coming from each, just like her aunt and cousin.
"Do have a seat Musha, oh and close that door if you please," the beautiful stranger said in an elegant voice.
Musha closed the door and sat down. She gave the stranger a distinct look of mistrust. The she shot another such look at Korai.
"My name is Tsukino Cosmos," she began then turned to Musha, "And yes, I am related to you, but the extent of it is too difficult to explain. Hmm… Where do I start?
"This may hit you a little hard, but I don't know how to explain it otherwise: You both know that you are related to Sailor Senshi. Korai, your mother is Sailor Pluto… leave it to Setsuna, most likely she never told you that. And Musha, your aunt and cousin were both given the title 'Sailor Moon'."
The two 14-year-olds nodded.
Cosmos took a deep breath and sighed. "All along you two were destined to be Sailor Senshi just like them. The heirs of Sailor powers." As the two girls gasped, she dug through her purse until she produced two odd looking pens. One was burgundy and the other violet. Their caps were gold with a sideways oval on top with a circle inside of it. On the circles were the symbols for Pluto and Saturn.
"You, Meioh Korai, are destined to be the next Sailor Pluto, and you, Tsukino Musha, are destined to be Sailor Saturn. If you accept these pens, you will receive the powers of Pluto, and Saturn," Cosmos stated plainly.
Korai reached out for the burgundy Pluto pen. Her hand hovered over it momentarily then she picked it up. "I accept, even though I know that I'll never lead a regular life again. Not that I ever did…"
"Saturn? Shouldn't I be Sailor Moon? I'm related to the queens, not Tomoe Hotaru! Why am I Saturn? I should be the leader, not just one of the outers!"
"Calm down Musha," Cosmos commanded, "Honestly, I don't know why you were chosen by the powers to be Saturn. You simply were. Tomoe Hotaru never had any children and never will. Her powers are the most powerful of all the senshi outside of Sailor Moon. These days, the only Sailor Moons are the Queen and her mother. Young Serenity did have a daughter, but she disappeared… I had to search other times to find a Sailor Moon to lead the Neo Senshi. That's what the two of you are: the first two Neo Senshi."
"I still don't get it," Musha declared.
"No one does," Cosmos sighed. "But I'd be thankful if I were you. If Hotaru had had a child, you would not be a senshi. Now do you accept?"
Musha reluctantly took the violet Saturn pen. "I guess."
"Now," Cosmos stood, "I really need to get going… I expect to see the both of you at Cherry Hill Temple at, say, seven thirty tonight." With that she strode out of the room.
"Now that's abrupt for you," Korai commented.
Musha ignored her and mumbled, "I suppose we should be getting back to our classes."
Korai nodded then the two of them headed back to their classrooms. Musha made a point to keep her distance from Korai. After all, she was still a freak.
"You what?!" the priestess Kumada Rei exclaimed angrily. "I can't believe you Cosmos! Age doesn't do anything, you're still the same Usagi."
"I only thought this would be a good place for a gathering… After all this is where we use to have our Sailor Meetings…" Cosmos answered tentatively.
"Sailor Meetings? This has nothing to do with the Sailor Senshi. You're just hosting a party for some teens at my temple!"
Yuuichirou approached from behind his steaming wife. "Rei-chan, this might actually be a good idea. Hidenka might meet some new friends."
Rei's eyes narrowed. "You never said anything about inviting my daughter to this party did you?"
"I have to ask her first." Cosmos grinned. She walked past the fuming Rei and her husband in search of their daughter. As she passed, Rei noticed a red and gold pen with the Mars symbol on it. She gasped. It was her first transformation pen, she didn't know it even existed any more. "Hidenka," Cosmos called.
"In here!" She replied over the blaring music in her room.
Cosmos glided to the girl's room and watched her execute her dance routine to the music. The girl looked just like her mother. She had short, light red hair that curled under just below her ears. This girl was a star, exactly what her mother had dreamed of.
When Hidenka finished dancing, Cosmos clapped. "Well done, very well done," she praised.
Hidenka straitened up and surveyed the white-haired woman. "Who are you?"
"A friend of your mother's. My name is Tsukino Cosmos, but you can call me Cosmos," She answered sweetly.
"What do you want?"
"Well, I'm having a get together of some girls you age tonight, and I was wondering if you would have time to come."
"Sounds good enough, what's the catch?" She narrowed her eyes in suspicion.
"Catch?"
"What do you want me to do? Complete strangers don't come up to me and invite me to parties without wanting something first."
Cosmos sighed. "I suppose there is one. You're much wiser than the rest…" She cleared her throat. "To make a long story short, as I can see you are busy practicing for your next production, your mother was Sailor Mars, thus you are destined to be Sailor Mars also." She retrieved the transformation pen from her purse. "If you accept this, you will inherit the powers of Mars."
Hidenka daintily plucked the pen from Cosmos's hand, the grasped it tightly and hugged it. "Can this really be true? I'd always hoped…" she asked excitedly in disbelief.
Cosmos nodded then grinned. "So have you made up your mind weather you will come to the Sailor gathering tonight?"
"Yes, of course! Where is it?"
"Right here at your temple." Her grin broadened. "Maybe you can convince your mother to let me have it here… I certainly couldn't."
Hidenka sped out of the room past Cosmos displaying her new pen. Cosmos could hear her yelling to her mother outside, "Mama, Mama! Look what Cosmos-sama gave me! I'll be just like you…"
Cosmos smiled to herself. She had hoped that at least one of them would be as excited as this…
A girl with long fluffy black hair stepped out of her room behind Cosmos. She was Hidenka's younger sister named Shakaku. Enka-chan is a star and now a senshi, she thought, Life isn't fair! I deserve to be something more than to be just little Shakaku, Hidenka's sister.
Cosmos sensed Shakaku's feelings and turned to her. She put her hand on the girl's shoulder. "Your time will come Kumada Shakaku. Sooner than you think," She said then turned and left.
Cosmos stood outside of the door to a beautiful house in the countryside. She rang the doorbell once then waited patiently.
"Coming!" A lofty voice answered. Soon a teal-hared woman opened the door. She stepped back in amazement at the sight of her visitor. "Usagi?" she gasped.
"Her future self, yes. I prefer to go by Tsukino Cosmos these days though," Cosmos answered thoughtfully.
"Oh! Cosmos-sama! Come right in! What brings you here?" Michiru asked, stepping aside.
Cosmos glided into the house and into the living room. She immediately made herself right at home on the couch.
Michiru called up the stares, "Haruka-chan, come down here! We have a visitor!"
Haruka came down the stares and Michiru led her into the living room. Michiru sat on the couch next to Cosmos and Haruka sat in a large plush chair across from them.
"Good to see you again Haruka," Cosmos began, "You have a lovely little household here."
"Who are you?" Haruka asked suspiciously, "You seem familiar, but I can't remember. Almost like Usagi…"
"My name is Tsukino Cosmos, and I am Usagi."
Haruka chuckled. "That would explain it wouldn't it?"
"Now what did you come here for?" Michiru asked.
Cosmos took a deep breath and sighed. "It's about your two foster daughters, Kenjou and Asatsuyu. They have somehow inherited your senshi powers. Kenjou, Uranus, and Asatsuyu, Neptune. I'm afraid that they will have to soon leave and go on their own senshi journey… and help save the future. Of course it is their choice alone weather they will or not."
"What! You can't take both of them!" Haruka got to her feet and clenched her fists.
"You haven't changed much Haruka-chan… still just as protective," Cosmos commented. "I'm afraid if they accept it, it is necessary to send them to the future. You must never tell this to anyone, but we are loosing the battle in the future against Chaos. It's destroying Sagittarius Zero Star. We need reinforcements."
"I see the urgency…" Michiru commented thoughtfully. "Why don't you sit down and relax, Haruka?" she cooed.
The tall blond softened and returned to her seat.
"You must remember Tenou Haruka, that they accept this of their own free will. It's their choice," Cosmos continued, "I usually go strait to the children, but since you are so protective of them, and love them so much, I thought I should warn you." She rose from the couch. "I suppose I should be seeing the girls now."
"They should be upstairs." Haruka gestured upward.
"Most likely in Asatsuyu's room…" Michiru added.
Cosmos preformed a slight bow in thanks, then started up the stairs. She found them in Asatsuyu's room, as Michiru had predicted. She entered the room, introduced herself, then produced two pens from her purse: one teal and the other navy blue.
"Like you foster parents, you have the powers in you to become senshi…"
"Back so soon?" Helios asked as Cosmos entered the throne room.
"Actually, I was wondering if anyone had seen Aiyokono Tonda, Ryo Koneko, or Furuhata Teisei around?" Their mothers are here often, so I thought they might be as well." Cosmos got right to the point, as she always did.
"Tonda was heading for her house, Koneko was in the courtyard, and Teisei is at her home with her family," Young Serenity answered without a pause.
"You've done quite a good job as rulers," Cosmos commented, "Now I really must be going." With that, she glided out of the hall.
She went first to the courtyard in search of the water senshi's daughter. Koneko was sitting on a low branch of a sakura tree, her long sea green swaying gently in the breeze. Her face looked much like her mother's did when she was young. Koneko had a much more carefree air about her than her mother had. Ami had a much more intelligent air.
"Ryo Koneko," Cosmos called.
The girl looked up curiously. "Your highness?"
"Oh no, I'm not the queen. My name is Tsukino Cosmos. I'm related to her in an awful complicated way… to hard to explain now… well anyway…" She trailed away.
The girl hopped down from her branch, then walked over to Cosmos. She held out her hand in a friendly gesture. "Nice to meet you."
Cosmos shook Koneko's outstretched hand. "Nice to finally meet you as well. Your mother talks about you a lot. Why don't we sit down so we can chat better?"
"Okay," the light green-haired girl walked over to a nearby red park bench and sat down. Cosmos followed. "So what do you want to talk about?" Koneko asked.
"Well, I can't really talk long, but it is a pretty simple topic. You are to be the next Sailor Mercury," Cosmos said flatly.
Koneko gasped quietly.
"Just as your mother was Sailor Mercury before you, you will take her place in the future. Is this something you would like to do?"
Koneko nodded slowly. "I guess it would be a big responsibility, but I'd really like to be like my mother was when she was young, defending the world against evil…" she trailed off, casting her eyes down. She was silent for a moment then made eye contact with Cosmos again. Determination and vigor shone in her eyes. "I will be Sailor Mercury. I will be strong and fight for good, like I have always dreamed of."
"Determination will get you far," Cosmos commented and fished the true blue henshin pen out of her purse. "This is for you to use when you need to become a senshi. It was your mother's when she first became a Sailor Senshi. Treasure it."
"Thaa-ank you…"Koneko managed to stutter quietly as Cosmos swept out of the courtyard as suddenly and gracefully as she had come.
"ME? A SAILOR!" Aiyokono Tonda yelled. "You mean like my mom? I'll never run around a skirt, much less a skimpy miniskirt and high heels! Go find someone else to be your Sailor Venus! I will most certainly NOT be the person representing and fighting for feminine love and beauty!" Tonda got up and strutted for the door angrily. When she reached for the door handle, she found herself unable to turn it. It was stuck. In her anger, she turned to the side and attempted to kick the door open, but found herself frozen with her foot an inch from the door.
Cosmos grinned slyly to herself.
"What! Why'd you do that?" Tonda fumed. "Let me go right now!"
"If you agree to hear me out, and actually listen, I will," Cosmos named her conditions calmly.
Tonda clenched her teeth and sighed angrily. "Fine," she said in a reluctantly firm tone. Suddenly she could move again. The change caused her topple over onto the floor, cursing. She sat herself in a couch, opposite the white-haired woman.
"Aiyokono Tonda, I know this isn't something you have been always wanting, but the future need your help. I can't just find another. The future of the universe lies in your hands; weather or not you choose to become a senshi. Think of the power you could have. Your powers will be much different than your mother's because you are much different than she was. You will still fight for Venus, however. You have the possibility to be the most powerful senshi on the team," Cosmos temped the pink-haired rebel with everything she could think of.
Tonda pondered for while in silence. "So you're saying that if I don't become part of the team, the future will be overtaken by evil and the senshi can't win? How do you know so much about the future?"
"I have been to the future, that is where I am from. Because I have been there, I know that without you, we will fail."
"We? Are you a senshi too?" Tonda questioned suspiciously.
"Yes."
"Oh… well then, I suppose I will join you. Just don't give me some gaudy high heels," She said triumphantly.
Cosmos felt like hitting herself. Tonda was an extremely good actor. She had already decided that she would join when she sat back down from being frozen. She was just using her position to get the information she wanted. She took the yellow Venus henshin pen from her purse and tossed it at Tonda. "You should be able to figure out how to use it."
"What if I don't?"
"Ask your mother. It was her first henshin pen after all," Cosmos told her. She hated her mother and her 'blond' mannerisms. She hated the way her mother always loved being in the spotlight and always embarrassed her. Tonda needed a reason to have to talk to her mom. It would do them both some good.
Tonda got up and strode to the door them paused. "May I leave now, or are you going to freeze me again?"
"You may leave," Cosmos stated plainly.
As she had suspected, the door swung easily open, as if it had never been jammed. Tsukino Cosmos was much more powerful than she had originally thought. She grinned to herself. With these new powers, I'll be a powerful as her someday…
Cosmos stood outside the house of the last neo senshi. She rung the doorbell and she could hear people inside telling the others that they would get it. A familiar face opened the door. Kino Makoto stood in the doorway. Her brown hair was done up in the usual ponytail and she wore a pink and green apron, that told Cosmos that she was cooking.
"Oh! Cosmos-sama!" Makoto bowed slightly in greeting. "What brings you here? Oh, do come inside. I was just making some tea… rosemary tea, in fact. Would you like some?"
The white-haired woman stepped inside the door and Makoto shut it behind her. "I'm sorry I can't stay long Mako-chan, but I have a lot to do in one day. I would really like some tea though. I need to speak with your daughter…" Cosmos trailed away when she saw two nearly identical girls wander up behind their mother. Drat! She cursed to herself, Two of them! And the both have senshi powers… but only one of them can be Jupiter… She cleared her throat and began talking again: "I need to speak with both of your daughters."
"That's just fine," Makoto answered, "Teisei, Ure why don't you show this friend of mine to the living room, and I'll go get some tea." The tall brown-haired woman headed for the kitchen as her two green-haired daughters showed Cosmos to the living room.
They entered a cozy room of pink, green, and baby blue. The chairs and sofas were all done in floral prints of pink and green, and plants were scattered about the room. Makoto has one of the most wonderful houses for herself imaginable. The girls planted themselves on a floral sofa and Cosmos on a floral chair. Teisei planted both elbows on the armrest, resting her chin in her hands, and gave Cosmos an expecting look. Her dark green hair, darker than her sisters, was in a ponytail like her mother's, however it was shorter. Ure was sitting daintily on the couch with her hands in folded her lap and a shy and curious expression on her face. Her long hair was deep green and held up by a mint green bow. The style was much like Minako's in her younger years. "Well?" Teisei asked.
"You both know that your mother was a Sailor Senshi know as Sailor Jupiter. You both have…" Cosmos began but was interrupted by Makoto bustling into the room with a tea and cakes on a tray.
"Oh! I hope I'm not bothering you, but I brought the rosemary tea," She said as she put her tray down on the coffee table between the couch and chair where the girls and Cosmos sat. She sat herself in a near by chair. "Here's the cream and the sugar," She gestured to each, "And here these are raspberry-lemon tortes, my own recipe."
Each of the girls snatched a torte greedily. "Mom makes the best tortes!" Ure managed to say through a mouth-full of pink pastry.
"Mmhmm!" Teisei agreed, nodding and stuffing another round miniature cake into her mouth.
"Girls!" Makoto scolded, "Your manners! We have a visitor who has come to see you."
Guilty looks crossed the twins' faces.
"Oh, that's alright," Cosmos said calmly, "I was worse then even they when I was their age. Don't you remember Mako-chan?" She smiled sweetly and poured some of the tea into a rose-print cup then took a dainty sip.
Makoto sighed. "I suppose you're right… Ami was the only one with truly good manners of our quintet." She turned to her daughters, "Now listen well to her, she is a very important and busy person. I don't want you wasting her time." Makoto stood as the two green-haired girls nodded. She picked up a torte and placed it in her mouth, then headed back to the kitchen to finish dinner.
Ure swallowed her food then asked, "What were you going to tell us just before mother came in?"
Cosmos thought for a moment. "As your mother was Sailor Jupiter, you both have the powers of a senshi, however I have only come for one of you."
"Really!" Ure asked.
"But which one of us?" Teisei suddenly got the catch.
"Yes, really. And, I'm not sure. Only the power inside of you can decide." The beautiful woman produced the green Jupiter pen from her purse and placed it on the table.
"What's that for?" Teisei asked. Something inside her itched to reach out and grab it.
"It will help us decide which one of you I need right now," Cosmos stated. She flung it into the air. It spiraled upward, but as it began to fall, it disappeared in a small puff of green smoke.
Teisei stood up furiously, "What did you do that for?"
She's the one… "Do calm down Furuhata Teisei! And please sit," Cosmos said and gave Teisei a stern look.
Teisei sighed rebelliously and sat back down.
"Now listen carefully," Cosmos commanded, "This will take perfection and utmost concentration from you two for it to work." She paused and let her statements sink in. "Both of you stand."
The girls did so.
"Now, you must concentrate very hard. Draw from your senshi power deep within you. You must command your henshin pens to appear in your hand, which you are going to hold out now."
The girls each held out their hands: Ure, her right and Teisei, her left. Both closed their eye and lowered their heads as if they were looking at their hands. Shortly, electric green light erupted in Teisei's outstretched left hand. The green quickly turned to orange then diminished, revealing the green Jupiter pen. Teisei opened her eyes and stared down at the green and gold pen in awe. About thirty seconds later, intense green light erupted from Ure's hand and illuminated the room with dancing green light. Her eyes flew open and she stood awestruck at her power. The light faded slowly, and the tree watched in absolute silence. Ure's pen looked exactly like Sailor Jupiter's second pen, except that it had a leaf for a symbol on it instead of the 4 of Jupiter. The twins sunk slowly back to the couch.
"Now I know which one of you I need," Cosmos said bluntly. "Teisei, you have received the planet powers of Jupiter. Your senshi identity is Neo Sailor Jupiter. I will need to see you at the Cherry Hill Temple at 7:30 tonight." She took one last sip of her tea and got up to leave. She glided gracefully to the door. As she was about to step outside, Ure stopped her.
"Wait!" Ure cried after the beautiful white-haired woman. "What about me? What powers do I have? What is my senshi name?"
Cosmos stopped, and only turned her head to the side, not looking directly at the distraught girl. "To be honest with you, I don't know. Your time will come, and you will know when that is." With that, she turned and left the house, closing the door behind her.