Chapter 23
Journey to the Future: Battle in the Space-Time Corridor
Even as everyone was preparing themselves for the trek to Chibiusa's timeline, Chibiusa was now having a terrible nightmare, where everyone was struck down by a burst of darkness from a massive explosion, causing her to cry out in shock and dismay, making her awaken from the nightmarish premonition.
"Calm down, Little Sister. It was just a bad dream," Riku assured her.
She clutched at the Space-Time Key on her chest, as she breathed heavily. A while later, Chibiusa stood near the fountain, thinking about how difficult it would be to help her mother with her friends. At the same time, she was afraid that the Black Moon Clan would be more powerful than they realized, and feared losing them to the darkness for good.
"Mommy, what should I do? I'm scared," Chibiusa said aloud.
"Chibiusa," Mamoru said from behind her, a gentle look in his eyes, alongside Riku.
The girl turned and looked at them.
"What are you doing here by yourself? Is there something troubling you?" Riku asked.
"Let's go, everyone's waiting for you," added the dark-haired young man.
"Yes, but…" Chibiusa said hesitantly.
"Come on Chibiusa, we're all gonna help you save your mother from the darkness," Riku assured her.
"That's right, you can't let yourself be held back by fear, so don't get cold feet now," agreed Mamoru.
"Believe in your strength, and in the strength of your friends. You must have faith that all of you can do this," they said together.
"Come on, let's go together to the future. I'll be with you, to keep you safe," continued Mamoru.
"As will I, Little Sister," finished Riku.
"Thank you, guys," replied Chibiusa.
They asked if they were good, and Chibiusa nodded in response.
"I wonder what's keeping Chibiusa?" asked Makoto who was now Sailor Jupiter.
"Sailor Moon, how come she didn't come here with you or Sora?" Rei asked as well, as she was now Sailor Mars.
"She told me to go on ahead, because she had something she needed to do," replied Usagi.
"That's right, and there are three reasons to back up Sailor Moon's response. 1: She's worried that we might not survive our trek to the future. 2: She's also afraid of seeing our lives come to an unfortunate end. And 3: Even though she needed some time to herself, Sailor Moon and I asked both Mamoru and Riku if they could talk to her, and let her know that she can rely on us to stop any of the Black Moon Clan's foot soldiers from hurting her," added Sora.
"I sure hope nothing happened to her," said Ami.
"Same here, Sailor Mercury," agreed Roxas.
"I'll go look for her," piped in Minako.
"Same here," agreed Aqua.
"I'll go as well," said Makoto.
"All right," Terra replied, with an understanding nod.
"That won't be necessary, we've got her right here," interjected Tuxedo Mask who arrived with Riku and Chibiusa.
"Yeah, consider us fashionably late," added the silverette.
"Chibiusa, what took you so long?" asked Usagi.
"You know how it is when you're going away, I had things to do," replied Chibiusa, earning a light chuckle from Sora.
"Okay, is everyone ready to go now?" Artemis asked in a serious tone.
"You betcha, Artemis," replied Mickey.
"Chibiusa, we're all counting on you," Luna assured the young girl.
Chibiusa nodded, then stepped forward, and held her time key into the sky, just as Sora and his friends held their Keyblades to the sky above.
"O' Guardian of Time, tear apart the heavens and open wide for me, the door of space and time! I summon thee, by your true name! Omnipotent god of time!" she called to the sky above everyone.
In that instant, there was a flash of light that burst from the Space-Time Key, which began resonating with the Keyblades of the Guardians of Kingdom Hearts.
"Father of the Guardian! O' Chronos, guide us on our journey Protect these travelers!" continued the young girl.
Then a bright light soon emerged from the sky, and engulfed them all, as several beams of light came from the Keyblades and merged with it.
"Grant us the path of light!" Chibiusa finished in a loud clear voice.
Then the light soon engulfed everyone and they all disappeared from the dock. In the next instant, Sora and Sailor Moon found themselves high up in the clouds and began searching around them.
"I-is this the future?" she asked.
"Not quite, but it does remind me of the Final World," replied Sora.
"Where did everyone go?" Usagi asked, feeling worried.
Then they saw a door slowly materialize in front of them, which made them curious. But as they approached it they were stopped by a voice that seemed familiar.
"Stop right there! Those who violate the taboo and approach the door of space and time, must be eliminated!" the woman's voice said.
In the next instant Sora readied his Keyblade and got ready for a fight, just as Sailor Moon tried to explain their situation, but the woman declared that their sentence was death, making them afraid, until Chibiusa stopped her, surprising them.
"Small Lady?" the woman known as Sailor Pluto asked.
Then she glanced at both Sailor Moon and Sora, while the brunette keyblader waved sheepishly at her.
"Yup, hey Sailor Pluto," he said.
Sailor Moon was surprised to see that everyone had also arrived.
"Is this your doing?" Sailor Pluto demanded, her tone sharp but calm.
"I'm sorry I broke my promise and brought all these people with me to the door, but they're my friends and they're here to help," Chibiusa replied apologetically.
"And the reason she brought us with her, was to try and help save her mother," added Sora.
"Don't say anymore," Sailor Pluto said.
Sora was worried that Sailor Pluto would hit Chibiusa, but saw that she gently petted her head.
"Hold the phone, Sailor Pluto. Does that mean you're not angry at the kid anymore?" asked Axel.
"No, I'm very proud of her. She's finally mastered the space-time key, and become an exceptionally fine young lady," replied Sailor Pluto.
This made Chibiusa and everyone else happy, then the Keeper of Fate turned towards the others.
"Forgive my behavior, you were kind enough to bring Small Lady here. I should not have threatened you, please accept my apology," Sailor Pluto said remorsefully.
"Hey, Hakuna Matata, Sailor Pluto," replied Sora, making the time guardian smile respectfully.
"Thank you, Sora, Knight of the light. But I must admit, it's not easy when I'm dealing with people like you or Sailor Moon," she said.
Sora rubbed his head sheepishly, and chuckled.
"I will open this door, to allow you to go beyond the boundaries of time," Sailor Pluto said.
Then with a wave of her Garnet Rod, Sailor Pluto opened the door by channeling her power into the keyhole, which made Sora amazed.
"The door of space and time is now open. You may set forth on your journey to the future," she said to her new companions.
"Thank you, Puu," replied Chibiusa.
"All right, hold each other's hands. Sailor Moon, you must never let go of Small Lady's hand. If you are separated at any point, you may become trapped between the gaps of time forever," warned Sailor Pluto.
"Sailor Pluto, please come with us," called Sailor Mercury.
"I cannot leave. This is my permanent station. And since I can't go with you, please protect Small Lady for me," remarked the Sailor Keeper of Fate.
"We'll do our best," Artemis assured her.
"That's right, and even if we do get separated, our hearts will still find a way to guide us back to each other, no matter what," agreed Sora.
"Puu, see you soon," Chibiusa called to her friend.
"And may your heart be your guiding key," added Riku.
Then with a great leap, they entered the corridor of time, leaving Sailor Pluto behind.
"Now I remember, Queen Serenity once told me about a Sailor Guardian who'd been assigned to protect the door of space and time for all eternity. A solitary guardian who's name and existence shall never be known to anyone but the Queen. She was talking about Sailor Pluto," said Luna.
"A solitary Guardian," mused Rei.
"That no one would ever know about," added Makoto.
"No wonder there's such a sad look in her eyes," said Minako.
"We've come to the space time corridor. Everyone, be careful," warned Chibiusa.
"Right, let's go," replied Sora.
But the moment he said those words, there was a gust of wind that blew fiercely at them.
"So this is the space time corridor," Rei said.
"It must be, but this blast of pressure is really intense," replied Ami.
"We have no time to talk. We must go now," Aqua said firmly.
"We must try to move forward," added Tuxedo Mask.
As they bravely marched through the corridor of time, Saphir noticed several dots on the projector, while Hyena and Ultimecia stood silently away from him.
"What is it, Saphir?" the dark Keyblader asked.
"I'm seeing movement in the ancient Space-Time Corridor. It appears to be traveling by time warp to Crystal Tokyo," replied Saphir.
"That must be the Rabbit," said Esmeraude who appeared from behind them.
"There's more than just one," countered Saphir.
"Indeed, Sora, Sailor Moon and their friends are also with the pathetic child, Chibiusa," added Hyena.
"Huh, it's unusual for that world to have any visitors," mused Demande, just as Wiseman appeared.
"The time has come. We must now seize the Legendary Silver Crystal and the Rabbit, and then topple that impenetrable castle," said the cloaked figure.
"Seize the Rabbit? Why do we need her now?" Esmeraude asked with a confused look in her eyes.
"Bringing the Malefic Black Crystal and the Rabbit together, will result in an extraordinary power," replied Wiseman.
But Demande noticed something about Sailor Moon when he saw her eyes, and it made him feel strange, but made Saphir a bit anxious about his brother.
"You must get hold of the Rabbit," Wiseman said firmly as he vanished into the darkness.
"Esmeraude, capture the Rabbit, bring her and Sailor Moon here, alive, understand?" Demande said.
"You want Sailor Moon, too?" Esmeraude asked in shock and dismay.
"I want to gaze into those beautiful eyes of her's," replied Demande.
"Oh, I see. So you've fallen for her, haven't you, Demande?" mused Hyena.
"But brother," Saphir said worriedly.
But Demande dismissed him and left with a warning for Esmeraude not to fail him, while Hyena left to speak with Maleficent and Pete.
"Wiseman, that feeble that old prophet always shows up here, trying to get my brother to do his bidding, toying with his mind, making demands, but never revealing what his true intentions are," scoffed Saphir.
"Come to think of it, he's the one who put those strange ideas about the Legendary Silver Crystal into Prince Demande's head," added Esmearude.
"One day, I'll expose that fraud," murmured Saphir.
"Personally I think it's time I made Prince Demande forget about that dewy eyed temptress, Sailor Moon," sneered Esmeraude, as a dark chuckled slithered between her lips.
In the corridor of time and space, the Heroes of light struggled through the harsh typhoon, despite the heavy air pressure. Sailor Moon was worried she wouldn't make it, but her friends, as well as Sora assured her that they would make it through. But, Chibiusa was worried about whether Sailor Moon was strong enough to save her mother, as she felt her grip start to slip.
"Chibiusa, hold on, we'll make it, trust me," Sailor Moon assured her.
Chibiusa nodded, knowing full well that she had to maintain that trust, but the wicked Esmeraude's cackle echoed in the corridor when she appeared before them.
"Esmeraude!" Sora said furiously as he readied his Keyblade, standing firm against the wind.
"How nice of you to step into our domain, allow me to give you a proper welcome" she said.
She waved her fan, and a burst of darkness sent everyone flying, but made Chibiusa lose her grip on both Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask's hands.
"Oh, I've lost them in the space time labyrinth," she said, feigning disappointment.
Then she summoned forth her newest Droid, called Luax, and ordered her track down and eliminate Sora, Sailor Moon, and their friends, save for Chibiusa who needed to be left alive for capture. Luax nodded, then quickly departed on her objective.
"Oh dear, perhaps I forgot to mention Sailor Moon. Or perhaps Luax left without hearing my instructions. Oh, that's too bad," Esmeraude said with a sadistic smirk.
"Is everyone okay?" Rei asked, in another part of the corridor.
"Yeah, we're fine, Rei," replied Sora.
But Sailor Moon discovered that neither Chibiusa nor Tuxedo Mask were with them.
"Apparently we've been sucked into a dark gap, in the movement in space-time," said Ami.
"How are we ever gonna reunite with Chibiusa?" asked Makoto.
"If we're lost in time, we could be wandering around here for an eternity, and we wouldn't even know," Minako said worriedly.
"I'm sorry, if only I hadn't let go of Chibiusa's hand," Usagi said apologetically.
"NO! DON'T GO BLAMING YOURSELF, SAILOR MOON! YOU CAN'T KEEP BLAMING YOURSELF EVERY TIME THE BAD GUYS HAVE THEIR WAY! For three reasons! 1: SHE'S PURE EVIL! 2: IF SHE DOES GRAB CHIBIUSA! THEN IT WILL BE CONSIDERED POINTLESS FOR US TO MOVE ON! AND 3: THE BLACK MOON CLAN WILL DESTROY THE JUBAN DISTRICT WITH ONE SWIFT STROKE ALONG WITH ALL THE PEOPLE LIVING THERE! SO QUIT BLAMING YOURSELF FOR EVERYTHING ESMERAUDE HAS DONE!" bellowed Sora, which surprised everyone.
"Whoa, Sora?" Makoto asked in a hushed tone.
"What's gotten into you? This isn't like you at all," Minako said with a worried look in her eyes.
But Sora turned slowly away from them.
"I'm sorry," he said somberly, only for the taller brunette to hug him.
"Come on Sora, you don't need to apologize for what you did. I know you're worried about Chibiusa just as we are. But there was no reason for you to get angry and shout at Sailor Moon like that. That's most certainly not like you at all, and especially in front of Minako," the taller brunette replied comfortingly.
"That's right, Sora. Even when I get angry at Sailor Moon, I say horrible things that I'll regret later on. But it's also because she and I are friends, no matter how often we in-fight with each other. I know that from my own personal experience, because anger and hatred always give way to the darkness," agreed Rei.
Sora gently hugged her back, then they slowly pulled away from each other and turned to Usagi, and suddenly saw the Silver Crystal reacting to his words.
"What's going on? The Silver Crystal's glowing," she said.
"Look up there," Makoto said as they saw another light in the distance.
"How strange. That light is glowing too," added Minako.
"It's as though it's signalling the Silver Crystal," mused Rei.
"Yes, perhaps the Silver Crystal of the future is resonating, with the Silver Crystal of the Present," finished Ami.
"I think we should go check it out," replied Usagi.
"I agree, there's no use staying here," said Minako.
"Chibiusa, we're on our way," Sora said bravely thanks to Makoto's consultation.
The others nodded and soon walked carefully through the darkness. In another part of the corridor of time, Tuxedo Mask, Luna, and Artemis were also in the same situation, but they all agreed that they had to find their friends by tracing the connection with their hearts.
"Wait," a voice said, making them turn and look warily around them.
"Who's there?" asked the caped crusader.
"You must not go that way. Turn around, go the way you're facing now, quickly," replied the voice.
Luna and Artemis looked at each other with a worrying glance, but Tuxedo Mask knew that they had to follow the path ahead of them. At the same time, Chibiusa and Riku were also in the same position as everyone else, but they did see something that looked like a doorway to the future, but the young pinkett was so upset that she and Riku wouldn't be enough to save her mother.
"Poor little thing," a voice said.
"Who's there?" demanded Riku.
"Oh, you poor little thing. My little darling, it's all right now," the woman who resembled Usagi said.
Chibiusa was so relieved that she ran up to her, believing it was her mother. But Riku was skeptical about it as he walked cautiously behind Chibiusa.
"Wait, you're not my mommy," squeaked the young girl.
"That's right, you're not the true Usagi," added Riku.
"You don't recognize me? I'm your mommy, Rabbit," replied Usagi doppleganger.
"You're not my mommy! You're just pretending! My mommy never called me rabbit!" countered Chibiusa.
"That's right, your scent is different. The Usagi that we know is far more kinder and and respectful," added Riku.
"Oh, I guess no one can fool you little fools. However, this would have been a lot easier on you if you had just believed me," Luax said as she reverted to her true form.
Extending her claws, Luax slowly stalked towards her, but Riku stood his ground and held his Keyblade at the ready.
"Take her if you can!" he said to the droid.
Fearing that it was the end, Chibiusa was about to accept her demise, when she remembered Mamoru and Riku's words of wisdom about how giving up meant that darkness would win. Quickly, she called Luna P to her side, and transformed it into a slingshot. Firing several orbs of light at the droid, which didn't seem to affect her at all, Chibiusa thought she'd gotten her, but Luax didn't find it to be all that nice.
"Really? Well we'll just see about that!" Riku said, and fired a dark firaga at the droid.
But Luax retaliated and was about to strike them down, when Riku and Chibiusa heard Sailor Moon and Sora's voices, letting them know that they arrived.
"Back off! We're warning you! Don't even think of laying a finger on our friends!" they said.
"Well, how were you able to get through that labyrinth?" Luax asked.
"If you want to know why, we followed our hearts to Chibiusa and Riku, thanks to an unbreakable connection that binds us together," remarked Sora.
"And by tracing the connection, we were able to find them easily, with a little luck! I am the Pretty Guardian who fights for love and for justice! I am Sailor Moon! And on behalf of the moon, I'm punishing you!" added Sailor Moon.
"Got it memorized?" asked Axel.
"Doubt it, I'll give you a taste of my punishment now, and deal with the rabbit later," remarked Luax.
Then she began unleashing her powers against them, forcing Sora to cast a powerful Shield spell as Riku called to him and the others. Despite being affected by change in the polarity of time, Sailor Mars tried to use her Burning Mandala attack, but was suddenly reflected back at her, which suddenly made Sora jump in it's path, and take the hit for her.
"Sora!" everyone cried out in shock.
"I won't let anyone else die! Not while I draw breath!" Sora said, despite the injuries he sustained.
"You reckless idiot!" Sailor Mars said through tears.
Thanks to Sailor Mercury's keen instinct, Sailors Venus and Jupiter decided to attack together, but they're attacks were also deflected as well.
"According to my calculations, the time distortion vanishes for a moment when she unleashes her power. That's our chance," Sailor Mercury said after discovering a weakness in Luax.
"Then we'd better adapt quickly, and not waste this chance," replied Sora.
"Yeah, Sora's right, Our only hope is the Sailor Planet Attack," said Sailor Mars.
"Okay, Chibiusa and the rest of us will buy you time. That way you can use the Sailor Planet attack against this Droid," replied Riku.
"Yeah, Big Brother Riku's right. We can do it together," added Chibiusa.
Despite everyone's protests, the two of them charged forward and engaged her, thanks to the reminder that she'd trust in her own heart, as well as in her friends, which in turn gave her a new kind of strength she never knew she had. Luax leered sadistically at them, but when she tried to strike at Chibiusa, the little girl dodged out of the way, and fired a shot at her, followed by Riku who cut straight through her with his Keyblade. This was the signal for everyone else to combine their powers and unleash their ultimate move. While Chibiusa's courage and bravery allowed her to fire a shot at Luax, and Riku used Dark Firaga to cause her some damage. Enraged, Luax was about to blast them with her darkness, but Tuxedo Mask scooped up the child in his arms and managed to get her to safety, with Riku close behind them.
"SAILOR PLANET ATTACK!" the five Sailor Guardians cried out as one.
"And finally, DIVINE PROCLAMATION!" called Sora, as he and the other Guardians of Kingdom Hearts channeled their powers together.
The combined might of Sailor Planet Attack as well as Divine Proclamation destroyed Luax and reduced her to nothing but dust and ash.
"All right!" everyone said together.
"I'm proud of you, Chibiusa," Tuxedo Mask said to the young girl.
Chibiusa nodded towards him, as the caped crusader complimented everyone for a job well done, just as everyone else congratulated Chibiusa for her bravery. Now that everyone was together again, it was time to continue onwards to Crystal Tokyo, so they marched bravely through the door, and emerged into what they saw. There standing before them, was the very city that Chibiusa had come from, but it was now shrouded in darkness.
"No way, This is the future?" Sailor Moon asked worriedly.
"Yeah, no doubt about it, Sailor Moon," replied Sora.