Lita walked into the
hospital ward where Mina was lying, leg still coated in plaster.
"Hey!" Lita announced cheerfully.
"Hi Lita!" Mina said "How's things?"
"Not too bad…"
Mina looked up at Lita's face. Her smile was a little forced…
"You're upset about Serena, aren't you? You want her to come
back"
Lita sighed, and nodded.
"It just seemed so wrong…I mean, that was the only real
mistake she's made"
Mina nodded.
"I know…but I'm not quite ready to forgive her yet, I mean
she bust my leg, I've had to pass on the role of Polly in the play because of
her!"
"Right, right" Lita said "But…She's such a nice person, I
couldn't imagine her hurting you on purpose"
Mina nodded again.
"Like I said, give it time…" she looked up at Lita "Tell
you what, when you see her, tell her to come and see me"
The door opened, and they both turned to see Rei walk in
through the door, smiling when she saw Mina.
"Hi Mina! Leg better?" she asked.
"Much better…but
I've had to pass on the role of Polly in the play"
Rei winced.
"Oh, I'm sorry…" she shook her head "Honestly, Serena has
a lot to answer for"
"Oh, don't be so hard on her!" Lita said "I don't think
even you can remain mad at her for long…it's not as if she tried to hurt Mina"
Rei tried to protest, but sagged.
"Yeah, you're right…" she looked up "…But is she still fit
to be leader?"
Mina looked at her.
"A little ambitious, I think Rei?"
Rei glared at her.
"Did I say anything about wanting to be leader? I'm just
bringing the matter up!"
"Okay, okay!" Lita said "Cool it, willya? Come on, let's
go"
Ios handed Serena and Ami two watches. Except the readouts
showed seconds, minutes, hours, days, months and years.
"Whoa, big readout" Serena muttered.
"These are so that you keep track of time" Ios said "They
immediately calibrate to their time period when a time journey is made"
Ami and Serena both strapped them to their wrists, tapping
them experimentally. They both read 5:00pm, May 6th.
"You'll have to keep a low profile when we get there" Ios
said, leaning against the wall of the alley they were currently standing in,
getting their 'briefing' "Now, I have one or two ideas that might work. The
first is changing the location, which may affect things. Pretend to be
sanitation workers inspecting the park when your other selves arrive"
Serena put her hands on her hips.
"Oh, great. How are we
going to convince anybody we're sanitation workers?"
Ami turned to her.
"You've got the disguise pen, remember?"
Serena slapped her forehead.
"Oh, Yeah, of course"
Ios smiled, folding his arms.
"Well?"
They looked at him.
"Well what?"
"Transform. You're not going to have much time when you get
there"
Serena nodded, and withdrew the disguise pen in a flourish.
"Disguise us as City sanitation workers…! Women, that is!"
There was a brilliant flash of phosphorescent light, and when
Ios looked at them again, in front of him were two slightly taller girls, both
of whom were clad in the uniform of Sanitation officers, replete with insignia
and ID badge.
"Wow!" Serena said,
looking at her badge, feeling her hard hat "That's what I call a disguise"
"Not bad at all" Ami remarked, looking at her own uniform.
"Right" Ios said, pulling out his time-device "Ready to go
back?"
They nodded.
"As ready as we ever will be" Serena said "Are you coming?"
"Yes. To keep in contact…oh damn!"
Ios slapped his forehead.
"I KNEW there was something I forgot!"
"What did you forget?"
He pulled out two earpieces.
"I've already got one of these…They're communication
earpieces which cannot be monitored by any other force, you activate the
speaking mechanism by pressing the button on them, let go to listen to an
incoming transmission"
"Fine" Ami said, and smiled, taking hers "Shall we go?"
"Okay…" the man said, tapping the digits of his time travel
device "…What time did you start to fight last night?"
"Eleven" Ami said automatically "I've got a good memory"
"Then we'll give you a five minute head start" Ios said,
pressing a few keys "10:55"
"Location, Brandy District main park"
Ios tapped a few more numbers, used a small touch screen
for a few moments.
"Location set. Trans-temporal paradigms set." He looked up
at the girls "Ready?"
They nodded.
Ios pressed a button. An electric wind picked up,
blasting waste paper down the alley. The girls felt the charge in the air,
electric spraks crackled off their fingertips.
"What the-?" Serena said, before a blinding blue glow
exploded around them, and in one rushing, falling moment they were in a blue
and black infinity, before it suddenly vanished.
Serena and Ami looked around. They were back in reality
again. A strong sense of déjà vu washed over them, as they realised the place.
The park, the same park they had been in the previous night.
Serena looked up at the digital clock on one of the
shops to their far left. It read 10:55pm.
Ami looked at her watch. 10:55pm, May 5th.
"Amazing" she whispered.
"Well, it worked" Serena said.
Ios nodded.
"Now go to the park area where you fought, providing
you just remain innocuous, everything should go well"
Ios nodded, and
leaned against the shop window.
"Now go" he commanded.
Serena and Ami put on a brisk pace as they hurried into
the park, recognising the familiar surroundings as they trampled over the neat
lawn.
Ami looked to
their left.
"Over there" she said.
They slowed down, and wandered over to where they
reckoned they had had the fight.
They stood there for a few moments.
"Uh…so what do sanitation workers do?" Serena asked.
"Inspect drains for flaws and check that they're not
infringing any health laws" Ami explained.
Serena screwed up her face.
"So they LOOK in drains? Yeuch"
Serena looked at Ami again.
"So…if we're
sanitation workers…then we need something to look at, right?"
"Right"
"What shall we look at?"
Ami looked around. Serena had a good point.
"Right…uh…"
There was a clink as Ami moved her foot forwards. They
both looked down, to see a city sewer cover staring them right in the face.
They started to grin.
"Makes you feel kind of silly, sometimes, doesn't it?"
Serena said, comically.
"Yeah" Ami said.
Serena checked her watch.
10:57pm
"Not long now" she remarked.
They waited.
"Funny thing" Serena said "If this goes well, we'll
never remember this ever happening"
"Probably be best if we don't" Ami added "Especially for you"
Serena nodded.
"No kidding Ames"
She looked at her watch.
"Whoa…looks like our past selves will be turning up any
minute, positions"
Ami and Serena then proceeded to put on a very impressive
impression of two Sanitation workers who knew exactly what they were doing.
Serena didn't know how long she was staring at the drain, but she heard
footsteps.
Sounded like four or five people…yes, that was the Scouts
alright. As the scouts got close to them, they stopped dead in their tracks.
"Uh…" Serena heard herself say.
Putting on a husky voice, Ami said
"Sanitation, please go to the next park"
"Um, thanks" Mina said, as the scouts ran off.
After a few moments, there was an explosion. Serena and Ami
looked up, and saw the creature with the scouts, the mist appearing…
"Great!" Serena whispered "Has it worked?"
Ami pressed the button on her earpiece.
"Ios, has it worked?"
There was a short silence and then
"No, nothing's different here. I guess moving the fight
didn't work after all"
Ami and Serena nearly swore, but for the good of their
dignity didn't.
"Tell you what" Ios said "Let's inspect the park, we'll
go back in time about ten minutes before this time, just to check the park for
any people who shouldn't be there"
"Right" Serena said "So let's go"
The park ten minutes before eleven was no different to it
five minutes before, which Serena was somewhat disappointed with.
Serena, Ami and Ios stood by the entrance to the park.
"Right" Serena said "What disguises do we try now?"
"Well…" Ios scratched his head "Preferably we just want you
to keep discreet"
"Okay…" Serena said, raising the disguise pen before either
of her companions could say a single word "Disguise us…as…discreet people!"
After another flash of light…Serena and Ami were wearing
camouflage army uniforms.
"Discreet" Ami said, sarcastically "Very discreet. Who
designed that pen?"
"Well, it'll help when we hide in the bushes" Serena said.
Ios, who was trying not to laugh, folded his arms and looked
on.
"Um…very…fitting" he said, after some thought.
"Ha ha Ios" Serena and Ami said in unison.
"Now hurry" Ios said "I don't want to risk us running into
the other versions of us that will be here in less than five minutes"
"Oh THOSE versions of us!" Serena said, as if she was
getting used to the idea.
They ran into the park, Serena suffering the greatest sense
of déjà vu she'd ever had, and turned off to the part of the park they'd
directed the fight to.
"Right" Ami said, "Let's have a look for anything
suspicious"
Ios nodded to them.
"I'll keep in contact – I'll leave you to it"
Ios ran off, Ami and Serena watching him go.
"Is he a coward, or does he just know what he's doing?" Ami
asked, wonderingly.
Ami and Serena scoured the park in less than five minutes,
and found nothing.
"Nothing!" Serena said, sitting on the bench
"Absolutely-EEK!"
She jumped up with a start, turning to stare at what she'd
sat on.
The object was about the size of a roll of film, silver
coloured and with no other extraneous markings on it.
"What's this?" Serena asked, picking it up.
Ami looked at it, and pulled out her computer.
"Analysing…" there was a whirr and a beep "…It's a psionic
amplifier, it can magnify the powers of a psychic nearly tenfold"
"And that means…?" Serena asked.
"Power of the mind"
"Oh!" Serena nodded "I got it"
"Look out!" Ami whispered, and
they both stepped back into the shadows as two very familiar people wearing
sanitation worker uniforms ran and stood in the centre of the park a short
distance away. Serena could hear them talk
A very familiar voice said
"So they LOOK in drains? Yeuch"
Serena mumbled something under her breath about how weird she
sounded in that disguise.
Ami and Serena's earpieces crackled into life.
"Quick, throw the amplifier over the wall to me. I'll
neutralise its power"
Serena nodded, and taking the small object from Ami, hurled it
in one swift swing over the wall. Throwing the Tiara also helped her throwing
arm.
After a few moments, Serena and Ami saw the other scouts
approach their other selves…heard some mumbled reply…and the scouts ran up to
the path towards them. In a scene Serena and Ami had now seen twice and were
getting bored of, the familiar reptilian creature appeared once again, spraying
its unspeakable gases and whipping its tentacles against the floor.
Mist once again…
Ami peered into the mist.
"Can't see…much"
After a short time, there was a scream. It was Mina.
"Damn!" Serena hissed "Why is it never working?"
Ios contacted them again.
"Sorry, it seems that Lekiel only used the amplifier for
insurance…come on, I'll get you out of there"
"Try again" Ami sighed.
The park fifteen minutes before eleven was even more like the
park ten minutes before than it had five minutes before. The time travel thing
was rapidly losing its appeal. Serena and Ami were once again dressed in their
normal clothes.
"Right" Serena said, irritably "What now? Showdown with the
big guy?"
Ios shook his head.
"No" he replied "We're not nearly powerful enough for that"
"So what do we do? Shall we go into the park again?"
Ios shook his head.
"We're now in a rather awkward paradox – In five minutes
time, the three of us who were in the park in five minutes time will be going
into the park, while the three of us from five minutes on from that five
minutes will be in the park again, and five minutes on from that you'll arrive
with the other scouts, so there'll be four versions of you two and three of me,
and we can't risk meeting our other selves"
Serena scratched her head.
"This time travel is MAJORLY confusing" she said.
Ami nodded.
"We've been copied more times than that picture of Darien in
your room"
Ios sighed, and thought for a few moments.
"This option is now out, so there is only one other solution
I can think of"
Serena and Ami looked at him.
"What's that?"
He nodded at them.
"Let's go to the Municipal pond – I'll tell you my other plan there"