A/N – Greetings all. This is my first written fanfic, though my sisters and I grew up telling each other stories based on characters from books, movies, and anime. I hope you enjoy it.
As everyone who comes to this site knows, I don't own any of the characters from SailorMoon. Or from Genesis Climber Mospeda, either, for that matter. I have merely borrowed them for the moment. I hope you enjoy the way they have been combined.
I always wondered, if Sailor Pluto had been sent back to the past to be reborn, where was the reincarnated Pluto when Prince Demando almost destroyed the world. This story just came to me, and for some reason, my old friends from GCM (third "season" of Robotech in the US) just decided they HAD to be in here.
I prefer Japanese names myself, but I don't know them for the GCM characters (except for Mint/Annie). And I always thought Diamond was a more appealing name than Demand, so I changed it. ^-^ And my last note: This takes place in the manga R storyline, not the anime. And now, please enjoy....
The Passing of Time
Time....STOP....
Deep in
an underground bunker hidden in the North American Sierra Mountains,
Meioh Setsuna felt the desperate command echo and re-echo through her
soul. Around her, noises ceased.
"It's come,"
she thought to herself. "It's finally come." Deep
inside, joy and excitement began to blossom. "I'm going home.
At last, I'll get to see them again!"
She turned her
chair away from the large monitor console she'd been manning, and
looked around the room. As she spied at her companions, a faint sense
of sadness joined the joy and excitement.
In the middle of the
room, surrounded by the parts of two motorcycle engines, Lunk and
Annie were frozen in their "Dr. Mechanic" game. Annie had
just slapped down some sort of wrench down into Lunk's big open hand,
her eyes glued to what he was doing so she could anticipate his next
need, like any good nurse. Her worried prattle was stopped, if just
for the moment. Well out of the red-headed teenager's hearing, the
group of resistance fighters often speculated that Annie would soon
be able to repair any engine, gun, or machine almost as well as their
resident mechanical genius as long as she was allowed to talk about
her problems at the same time.
Leaning against the far wall of
the room, Lancer was caught mid-chord change as he worked on a new
song for his next concert, which he insisted would be in Crystal
Tokyo's famous Sunshine Theater. He stared intently at some point by
his left knee, as if he were using his eyes as lasers to write the
song into the concrete floor. His long blue-purple hair was just
beginning to spill over his shoulder towards his twelve-string
guitar.
Beside him, his girlfriend Sera leaned
her blond head back against the wall, a recording device and a
clipboard with paper in her lap. Her eyes were closed, pen frozen
mid-tap, as she listened intently, searching for lyrics to match the
melody.
Rook was frozen looking down the sights of a laser
gun, pointed, oddly enough, at the exact spot that Lancer was staring
at. Setsuna felt a small smile steal across her face as she noticed
this little detail. Beside Rook, Rand was bent over some electrical
troubleshooting equipment, attempting to diagnose a problem with
another laser gun. Setsuna's smile grew bigger as she made a bet with
herself. "His eyes are on his blond partner," she
thought, "not on that readout. And Rook-san is just about to
call him on it."
By the coffeepot, Marlene had just
finished pouring a cup of thin weak American coffee for their leader,
Scott, who was on guard duty out of sight at the entrance to the
bunker. The last drop hovered at the edge of the pot, waiting for
time to start again so it could finish it's descent.
In the
short six months since the Black Moon family had returned to invade
Earth, these eight fighters had become friends. Somehow, they had
found each other and banded together to fight off the enemy forces.
With Setsuna's help, they had managed to stay free and armed.
Although, they hadn't really needed much help, just a few pointers on
how to fight warriors with psychic powers. Her biggest job had been
to man the communications line and scanners, warning them of energy
changes and enemy movements.
Setsuna moved to push herself out
of her chair, and realized that her legs seemed to have been replaced
by noodles. "What? What's going on? Why can't I move?"
Before fear or panic could set in, the answer floated up to
her mind. "Oh. I must be affected by the shock waves. My
former self has just broken the biggest taboo. That would certainly
be enough to affect me." Feeling another spurt of sadness,
she sighed and settled back down to wait. "It shouldn't be
long. Just long enough for Sailor Moon to get the two Crystals from
Diamond. And for my former self to summon Diana back from the Time
Gate." Indeed, she felt the streams of time beginning to
rush back in.
TWANG Lancer jerked back in surprise as
two strings on his guitar broke as one. Sera's eyes flew open, and
she immediately turned a fearful gaze to Setsuna. She looked as if
she realized that her heart had just stopped.
"Rand, pay
attention!" Rook cried impatiently at the exact same moment.
Then, the couple jumped back, Rook squealing and Rand yelping, as the
diagnostic machine threw off sparks and shorted out his gun. "Aw,
man!" Rand exclaimed.
Lunk and Annie looked over at the
couple and sighed. Annie had just opened her mouth to make some smart
comment, when the coffeepot shattered. Everyone jumped and whirled.
"Marlene?"
"Setsuna-sensei?" Marlene
stared at Setsuna with a puzzled, uncertain look on her face. "She
knows," Setsuna thought with wonder. Marlene and Sera were
their sensitives, though Marlene was the more powerful. They were the
main reason the others had lasted so long against the psychics of the
Black Moon family. Setsuna knew Marlene was good, but she hadn't
realized that the girl was THAT good. "She knows something
extraordinary just happened. And that I'm somehow involved."
"It's
alright, Marlene-san. The war is almost over."
"What?!?"
the other seven exclaimed. "What do you mean, almost over!"
"What did you see Marlene?" "What happened?"
"Setsuna-sensei?" "How do you know?" "It
is?" Lunk, as usual, remained quiet as the others tried to talk
over each other, but his questioning stare was riveted on
Setsuna.
She sighed, then froze. A black hole appeared in
front of her, and out of it emerged a staff crowned with the Garnet
Orb. Standing, she stared at it a moment, her heart leaping and
pounding in her chest. Then, she reached out and gently accepted it.
Around her, her companions watched in shock.
"What...
What is that?" Rook asked.
"This... is a symbol of
my office."
"Office? What office? Setsuna-san,
what's going on?" Lunk said quietly.
Setsuna
turned her garnet eyes toward him. Her face was glowing, and her eyes
looked so happy, that Annie immediately grinned and relaxed. Whatever
it was, it wasn't bad.
"I am Sailor Pluto," Setsuna
declared. Her companions stared at her blankly, causing her to smile
her slight smile. "You have heard of the legendary Sailor Senshi
who guard Crystal Tokyo, right?" Mutely, they nodded. "I am
like them. I was here in the US on vacation when the Black Moon
family struck. I decided to stay, since I could not be of assistance
there." She thought of the chaos it would have caused in the
time stream if she and her former self had been in the same city. She
also thought how much more she would have been affected by that final
command if she had been any closer, and shuddered. "But now, I
am being summoned home to my post."
"But, why now?"
Lancer asked. "What's changed? Why do you say the war is almost
over?" "What just happened?" Sera added
fiercely.
Setsuna debated briefly, then told them an edited
version of what had happened in Crystal Tokyo, and of Sailor Moon's
journey to Nemesis. Her former self became another Senshi who shared
her post at a "strategic point". Black Lady/Sailor
ChibiMoon became a court child who was in the wrong place at the
wrong time. She didn't even bother to explain where Sailor Moon had
come from, believing that they would think she was just one of the
many Senshi they hadn't heard of.
"But how do you know
this?" Lancer asked. "Mysterious Senshi powers,"
Setsuna replied with a smile.
"It still doesn't explain
why you say the war is almost over," Rand grumbled. Setsuna
looked at him a moment, then said "Sailor Moon is the most
powerful of the Senshi. In fact, only Neo-Queen Serenity is more
powerful. There is no doubt that she will defeat Nemesis."
"If
she's so powerful, then why haven't I ever heard of her," Annie
whined. Setsuna paused for a moment while her mind raced for an
acceptable answer. "She doesn't like for people to be in awe of
her so she keeps a very low profile."
"And why
hasn't she defeated Black Moon already?" Rook demanded. Setsuna
sighed. "Sometimes she forgets how strong she is. It takes her a
while to remember. And now, I must go."
"Wait!"
Marlene cried. "What about Scott? You can't leave without saying
goodbye to him!" Before Setsuna could respond, Marlene dashed
out of the room to get their lanky, blue haired leader. Impatiently,
the Senshi of Time turned back to the monitor console, and began to
type. An image of Nemesis appeared on the main screen. Five minutes
later, as Scott and Marlene re-entered the room, the distant planet
was swallowed by a strong white light. Everyone flinched back,
shielding their eyes from the glare.
"What was THAT?"
Scott exclaimed. "That," Setsuna replied with satisfaction
"was the end of the war. Nemesis has been defeated. All that's
left is for you guys to mop up." She paused, looking at each of
them as if she would imprint them into her memory. "Thank you
for all you have done. And thank you for letting me help. Be sure
that the King and Queen will know of your deeds. Goodbye." And
in a moment, she was gone.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Pluto
stood in the shadows by the Time Gate and watched with joyful
amusement as her Queen and former Princess exchange words of
appreciation and gratitude. "I'm home. At last, I'm here."
Her eyes drank in the image of Sailor Moon, Neo-Queen Serenity, and
Sailor ChibiMoon. As the Doors swung shut, she breathed a small sigh
of relief.
Neo-Queen Serenity gave a quick laugh. "Didn't
think I would let them go without telling them you were all right,
did you? Really, Pluto, I DO know how to keep a secret," she
grinned, as lighthearted and joyful as ever.
"Yes, my
Queen," Pluto responded solemnly as she stepped out of the
shadows. She ignored the grins on the faces of the Inners as they
stood around the Queen.
"Please open the Time Gate
again, Pluto?" the ruler of Crystal Tokyo requested. Standing in
front of the open portal, the Queen held up Pluto's Star Seed and
blew gently on it. A clear bubble of Silver Crystal surrounded it as
it drifted off into the mists of time. "Off you go now. Be
reborn in the past, and live a normal, happy life," she
whispered. The Queen and the Senshi watched until the shine of the
Star Seed could no longer be seen.
"Thank you, Pluto,"
Neo-Queen Serenity said as she turned away from the portal. She began
to walk across the hall followed by her guardians, then stopped and
faced Pluto once more with a wide smile. "Oh, and Setsuna-san...
Welcome home."
P/S – Sunshine Theater is a real theater in Tokyo, as all Sera Myu (SailorMoon Musical) fans know. ^-^ I couldn't resist.....
