WHEN HEROES COLLIDE
Epilogue
Meanwhile, in modern-day Tokyo, a pair of large doors engraved with the eight phases of the moon mysteriously appeared at the docks just outside of the city limits. The doors slowly opened on their own, revealing a seemingly endless glowing blue void. Within moments, six figures slowly reached the open doors, with two cats hanging onto the shoulders of two of the girls.
"Yay! We're finally home!" Serena cheered gleefully as she and her friends walked out of the doors and stepped onto the wooden docks.
"Feels good to be back in our own time," Lita admitted as she stretched out her arms.
"Since everything's back the way it should be, I'll be going now," Rini announced as she turned around and headed back to the Gates of Time, followed by her Luna Ball.
"Rini, wait!" Rae shouted. "Before you go, we need to know something about the Ronin Warriors."
"What is it, Rae?" Rini asked curiously as she turned around to face the Sailor Scouts.
"How exactly did saving the Ronin Warriors in the past affect our, and your, present time, Rini?" Amy asked.
"Well…the Ronin Warriors have many other challenges to face, besides beating Talpa, which they already did," Rini explained. "If they weren't around to face those other enemies, that would seriously affect both our times."
"But, why didn't Amethyst and Topaz go back further in time, like before the Ronin Warriors fought Talpa?" Mina asked curiously. "They would have been younger and probably less powerful."
"It was because they needed the Jewel of Life for the Celestial Stones, Mina," Rini replied. "The Ronin Warriors didn't get the Jewel until near the end of the war between Talpa and the Evil Dynasty. Before the battle with Talpa started, the Jewel of Life was hidden under Jewel Lake by the Ancient's clan over a thousand years ago. Only someone using the Ancient's staff could gain access to the underwater cave, where the Jewel was kept. Also, only someone with a pure heart could remove the Jewel of Life from the cave. Even if Amethyst and Topaz knew where the Jewel was hidden and found a way inside without using the Ancient's staff, they wouldn't be able to take it, because none of them had a pure heart. At least, that's what I was told."
"So that's why they didn't go further back in time," Amy muttered thoughtfully. "Amethyst and Topaz needed to go to a time where the Ronin Warriors already had possession of the Jewel of Life. Otherwise, their plan would have failed from the start."
"Well, I gotta go now. Goodbye," Rini announced as she once again headed for the Gates of Time.
"Goodbye, Rini! See ya in the future!" Serena shouted as she and the other girls waved goodbye to Rini as she walked into the blue void. Rini turned around and waved back to the five girls and two cats as the Gates of Time slowly closed behind her.
Lita glanced down at her watch for a moment and realized something. "You guys, Rini was right! This is the exact date and time that we left for Toyama!"
"So...what do we do now?" Serena asked curiously. "I told my mom I was sleeping over at Molly's tonight. Molly's not expecting me, and mom and dad are gonna wonder why I went back home when I was supposed to be going to Molly's."
"That's easy, Serena. Go back home, and if your parents ask, just tell them that you forgot something," Mina suggested. "And while you're there, call Molly and ask if you can spend the night. If she says no, then tell your parents there was a change in plans. That way, they'll never know."
"Yeah, good idea, Mina," Serena agreed.
"You know…I was wondering about the Ronin Warriors. Do you think they're still around? And do they remember us?" Lita asked curiously as she, Serena, Rae, Mina, Amy, Luna, and Artemis walked away from the docks.
"I'm sure they do, Lita," Amy replied.
"What do you think are the odds we'll see them here in Tokyo?" Rae asked curiously.
"I don't know, Rae. Pretty likely, I guess," Amy muttered thoughtfully. "Toyama's only about a hundred and fifty miles northwest of Tokyo. And the Ronin Warriors would be in their mid to late twenties now. But, chances are pretty slim that all five, if any, still live there today. Who knows? Perhaps our paths will cross again…one day."
As the five girls and the two guardian cats left the docks, they were unaware of five young men watching them from a distance.
"That must be them. They look just like the drawings I made of them ten years ago," one of the young men muttered out loud in his British accent, who had shoulder-length reddish-brown hair and green eyes.
"Doesn't look like Rini's with them anymore. She must have returned to her time in Crystal Tokyo," another young man observed in his Australian accent, who had blue hair and blue eyes.
"Should we go talk to them?" a third man suggested, who had short charcoal gray hair and blue eyes.
"That's probably not the best idea," a fourth man stated, who had thick blonde hair and violet-gray eyes.
"And why not?" the man with the charcoal gray hair asked suspiciously.
"It might interfere with their destiny," the blonde man pointed out.
The young man with the charcoal gray hair looked towards the fifth man with his back towards them, who had long black hair and tiger blue eyes. "What do you think?"
The black-haired man turned around and replied, "I agree that we shouldn't approach them just yet. The Sailor Scouts came to us ten years ago, not just to stop Amethyst and Topaz, but also to save us. Don't forget: part of Amethyst and Topaz's plan was to destroy us. If the Sailor Scouts weren't there to help us, then we wouldn't had come up against that ancient sorcerer, Shikaisen, or that African man with the black Inferno armor, Mukala. If we weren't around to stop those two, who knows how the future would have turned out?"
"Especially if we didn't defeat Mukala. Those two Inferno armors fighting each other would have destroyed our world if we didn't put a stop to it," the blue-haired young man pointed out.
"Yeah, that's true," the man with the charcoal gray hair reluctantly agreed.
"For now, let's leave them. They only came into our lives because they were preventing something that wasn't supposed to happen to us. But, if they ever do need our help, we'll be there," the black-haired man announced. "We should get going now."
"Right," the blonde man agreed as the five young men turned around and left…THE END
