Sailor Moon Aeons.
Book 2: Rebirth.
Act 9: Fantastic Voyage.
Episode 128: I can't believe it's not Senshi!

By Razor Knight
Last update: February 20, 2017
Last edited: June 16, 2017

There were several places in the city that made it hard to believe it wasn't their reality. However, Ami had already tried scanning, but couldn't locate her friends. Maybe- No, she didn't need to waste time guessing. "There, the shrine."

As they approached the shrine, they could tell things were quite different. There were dozens of people there, many of them wore priest robes, much like the ones Rei used. A young priestess walked to them as they landed, and she seemed surprised to see them. "Mr. Zephyr, Mrs. Zephyr, shouldn't you be at the Tower?"

Terry noticed Ami was blushing, and knew exactly why. "We... Were looking for Rei."

"Miss Hino is... Wait, you look different."

"It may be hard to believe, but we're not from here."

"Oh, I can believe that."

Ami turned to the voice. Her voice. And sure enough, standing behind her was this reality's version of her, who seemed to be in her late twenties. "Well, that answers one of our questions."

"I'll be the one asking, if you don't mind," the other Ami snapped. "Who are you?"

"I'm you, from a different reality."

The other Ami was scanning them both with her visor. "I try my best to be open-minded, and my scans tell me you are younger versions of me and Terry, except for some strange energy-"

"Oh, that's why I couldn't detect anyone. You're not mana users."

"No idea what that is," the other Ami said, "but just in case, I'm not unarmed."

"We're not here to fight," Terry said, "nor was our visit to your reality planned."

"I almost feel silly but I must ask," Ami said, "is Usagi your leader?"

"Yes, she's the one who brought us together, back when we were teens."

"So you fight evil too."

The 'local' Ami sighed. "That will be a long story, just like I'm guessing yours is, so let's move to a less public location." She turned to the young priestess, who had been staring at them the whole time. "Akari, I don't want the media to know anything about this until we have the whole story figured out."

"I'll make sure the others keep quiet about it."

"Good, now let's go, before either my husband or my daughter get tired of waiting and come shoot at you."

Terry saw Ami blush at that, but he was curious about that 'daughter.' Had they built themseelves an Aiko, or was this their biological daughter?

The other Ami noticed their silence and frowned. "Can you teleport or should I take us all there?"

"We can teleport," Ami said. "That white tower is your base, right?"

"Yeah. See you there," the other said and vanished.

Terry looked at Ami. "What's on your mind, Mrs. Zephyr?"

Ami shook her head at that. "It's not like I haven't thought about it before, but hearing that... I feel so silly getting flustered about it."

"You're silly, but this isn't one of the reasons you are silly."

"... On second thought, maybe I need to go find a boyfriend who's not a jerk."

"Ouch. Let's go to the Avenger Tower or whatever they call their base."

As soon as they appeared inside the tower, they could see several different things. Ami looked at Aiko, who stared back at her. She was a young girl and Ami could somehow tell her origins had not been artificial. "Hello, Aiko."

"Mom, why does she look like you?"

"Because she's me, from another reality. From what they already said, I can tell their reality is very different to ours."

Terry nodded. "I can see several of our friends aren't here."

Usagi walked to them. "This is quite amazing. I know you told us there could be other realities out there, but actually seeing proof of it..."

"I don't like them," Aiko said. "This has to be a trap."

"My scan tells me they're exactly like me and Terry," the other Ami said, "can't you trust my judgement on this?"

"I... Guess so. Sorry."

Terry smiled. "We have our own Aiko," he said, "and she's also quite strong-willed."

"But isn't she a small girl?"

Ami turned to Mako. "You're assuming she's our biological daughtet, but it's... Complicated."

"I would like to hear your story. We'll tell you how things went here, too."

"Deal," Terry said, then frowned. "Where is, uh, your Terry?"

"He's dealing with a bank robbery, along with Chibi and Shingo," Usagi said. "They'll be back soon."

"Okay then, guess I'll start from the First Serenity..."

After telling them their story, and listening to how things had gone in that world, the two 'visitors' knew the two worlds had little in common, despite having the same 'main characters.'

They weren't magicians, in fact magic was believed to be just fantasy. Instead, the Senshi had gathered thanks to Usagi's efforts. The Tsukino of this universe were quite wealthy and Usagi had always dreamed if being a superheroine. When she turned fifteen, she had started discussing her ideas with Naru and Ami, her closest friends. Ami was quite in love with the idea, and with enough prodding from her friends, she managed to build weapons and armors for them. They started fighting crime and became quite popular, but their group grew thanks to some... Visitors they had.

A large alien fleet attacked the Earth, and it became clear during the first two days of the 'war' that ensued that human armies were powerless against the invaders.

Usagi's group had heard of other 'heroes' who had followed their example, and gathered them together, forming the small squad that was afterwards named "Saviors." They managed to infiltrate the main alien ship, destroy it and get out of there alive. Confused and without leaders, the rest of the alien fleet was relatively easy to deal with.

The Saviors had not bothered with secrecy afterwards, which led to a certain rich boy from the States joining them. Terry had been surprised to hear that part of the story. Apparently, Hana had died to a different group of alien assholes, but the end result had been the same. And without magic in their world, then Yukiko and the Demon Hunters didn't exist. Actually, Usagi admitted there was a Yukiko around, a very persistent and sometimes very annoying fan.

They were all in their early thirties, which explained why Aiko was already part of the team. In any case, it was interesting to see that even without magic the group had still gathered and had the same mission as they had back in their reality.

Just as they were finishing their story, Aiko looked at her wrist. Ami noticed a small watch there, not too different to the one Terry used back when he was known as Zero. "Mom, there's trouble. The worm is back."

"Again? We need to make finding a way to destroy it our priority."

"Which worm?"

Usagi looked at the visitors. "Something that came from outer space, in a meteor. It was small at first, but it started eating anything it found - even living beings - and grew quite a lot. Our weapons can tire it down and send it back to sleep, but we can't kill it. It takes a couple years to come back and..."

"Maybe I can figure out a way," Ami said, "maybe magic is the key."

"Our reality has no magic," Minako said.

"It does," Ami said, a sphere of ice floating on her open palm, "you just don't have the means to use it."

"Well then, let's see if your fancy magic can kill that worm," Mako said.

Ami, or rather Mercury, scanned the large, green, grotesque worm for a few seconds before nodding. "I see. A Khyr'sal, or in our language, a World Sapper. Ancient creatures who would feed on worlds slowly until they destroyed them, then move on to the next world. They use most of the mass they gather when they travel from system to system, using it as fuel for the long journey."

"How do you know that?" Rei asked.

"My computer is linked to an ancient database built in Mercury by a civilization older than mankind. It works even from several realities away... Or maybe I'm actually linked to your universe's version of it."

"Weird," Usagi said. "Anyhow, do your thing before that bug eats Tokyo up. We'll be ready to back you up."

Terry saw the group change into their battle gear. Unlike the Senshi, the Saviors didn't shout a thing, there were no flashing lights. Their armors simply appeared on top of their civilian clothes, and they were all different. Minako's one was the least heavy-looking, obviously built for speed. Mako's armor, on the other hand, made her look like a human tank. Still, the colors were all the 'right' ones.

Mercury had been concentrating for a few instants, but then opened her eyes as water and ice started swirling around her. "Let's see if I can cool its head a little."

The Saviors expected some kind of beam or blast, but none came. The worm suddenly stopped moving and its skin turned blue. Mercury fell to her knees and smiled. "It's almost done. Just shoot everything you got at it."

The heroes did just that, and Mercury had to admit the barrage was amazing even if no magic was involved. The weaponry they used was as varied as the elements of the Senshi. Laser, plasma, acid, sound, missiles, and even explosive arrows. The worm shattered into countless shards, and the Saviors cheered. Mercury staggered up and grimaced. "Haven't used that much mana in one shot in a long time."

"Will you be okay?"

"Yeah, I just need a while to... Recharge."

Ami looked at Mercury. "When you told us your suits were revealing, you weren't joking."

"You girls should start using that kind of suits too," the 'local' Terry said, and promptly dodged an arm swipe by Mako. "Can't take a joke."

Mercury chuckled. "Guess Terry will always be Terry."

Chie walked to them. "You guys told us you've just been blindly jumping around. Can't you try telling it to take you home?"

Mercury sighed. "It has no record of 'where' our universe is."

Ami looked at the watch. "Could I take a look at it? It looks similar to our personal teleporters, perhaps we can-"

Aiko frowned. "If they're like our gadgets, then shouldn't they be able to modify them to tell them where to go?"

Mercury was impressed, but not surprised. Apparently, Aiko was still Aiko even if her origins were different. "I get what you mean. That way we can make short jumps, and avoid long recharge times."

"Yeah, that way if you end up in an universe that's too dangerous you can just jump out of it."

"I think I can help you modify it," Ami said.

"Thanks for the idea," Mercury said, turning to Aiko.

"I guess if mom and dad vanished like you did from your universe, I would be worried. Scared even. I want that Aiko to have her parents back. You just make sure you don't die before going back home, or I'll kill you."

"That's a promise," Mercury said.

Aiko's idea had worked. Ami and Terry were now able to jump to a 'close' universe and could make several jumos in a row. Still, the universe they were currently exploring didn't seem dangerous. Which meant they had to explore it for a while longer to find out what horrors it held. And yes, Ami realized that could sound paranoid, but the multiverse seemed to have fun making paranoia a sensible mental path to take.

"So far, so good," Terry said.

Ami had to admit he was right. The large city they were walking through was quite peaceful. Maybe there was nothing to see in this reality, and they could just jump- Her train of thoughts flew off the rails as they walked past a woman. Looking at Terry, she could see he had also noticed. "It's not her."

Terry let out a sigh. "I know that. Still, I never thought I would see Luminite's face again."

"A teenage version of her, even. This universe is-"

"What are you two following my girl around for?"

As Ami turned to the voice, she saw a young Jadeite standing there. And for some reason, he seemed confused. "Wraith and Siren? How... We killed you. Did that evil queen of yours bring you back so you can die again?"

It didn't take Ami more than a split second to figure some things out. Apparently, in this reality the Senshi were the villains. "We are not who you think we are. We come from another reality."

"That's bullshit."

Terry saw Luminite had noticed them as well. "I know it's not going to be easy to prove, but..."

Ami could see the way Jadeite was looking at her. "You're trying to figure out why we're not attacking you. I'm guessing my counterpart in this reality wasn't one for subtlety."

"None of you are. You terrorize Arcadia whenever you feel like it."

Ami walked to Jadeite. "Go ahead. Kill me. If you don't believe me, then that's the logical thing to do. If you really think I'm your enemy, then you should eliminate me."

Terry was surprised, and had been about to shout at her to stop, but then knew what Ami was doing. This version of Jadeite was visibly upset by the very thought of attacking a foe who was not defending itself nor attacking him. Still, he kept a finger close to the teleporter's jump button, just in case.

Jadeite sighed. "Damn it, I can't do it."

Luminite walked to him. "Me neither."

Ami was about to say something, but saw four figures appearing near them. "What the..."

Terry was quite surprised, yet he could tell the four warriors facing them were not to be taken lightly. That reality's versions of Rei, Mako, Minako and Naru were there, and they all wore form-fitting suits which made the Sailor Senshi suits look conservative. Very short metal skirts and what looked like metallic tank tops. "The old me would have been too distracted by those outfits to take them seriously."

'Rei' was visibly angered by their presence. "What in Darkness... You are not Wraith and Siren. But you remind me of them. Queen Moonshine doesn't tolerate failures, and neither do I, so I'll have to destroy you along with those kids."

Ami glared back at her. "Well, you look exactly like one of my friends, but she's someone who would never treat her allies, her friends, as tools. Neither would my leader. This is a fight I can't lose."

"Your friend sounds worthless, and so does your leader." 'Minako' said.

Terry stood besides Ami. "We won't let some censor bar-wearing evil girls insult our friends. Let's show them how the Senshi fight."

A/N: Rich Senshi, evil Senshi, can this get any weirder? It can.