Chibi Senshi RETURN!
A few minutes later and after a quick explanation Setsuna was blinking in confusion. Which was kind of scary, considering this was the team's mistress of time.
"Is something wrong?" Ami Mizuno asked a bit worriedly.
"That doesn't match the Crystal Tokyo I'm aware of," Setsuna said cautiously.
"That's bad, right?" Minako Aino asked, doing her best 'Peter Venkman.'
"Extremely bad," Ami answered automatically, doing 'Igon.'
"I NEVER should have let you borrow my Ghostbusters DVD," Rei Hino shook her head ruefully.
Everyone just kind of ignored that.
Getting back on track Ami addressed Setsuna, "Are alternate timelines possible with your sort of time travel?"
"It's not supposed to be," Setsuna said cautiously.
"That's a really vague answer for you," Usagi Tsukino noted perceptively.
Setsuna sighed. "The combination of the Time Gates and my staff are supposed to keep alternate timelines from intruding on our own," she explained.
"And if it's no longer doing that... we may have a problem," Ami mused.
"Exactly," Setsuna agreed.
"Uhm, excuse me?" an unfamiliar female voice asked, coming from the direction of the steps leading up to the shrine.
Everyone had that sinking feeling as they turned to see the young woman who was addressing them.
The girl was maybe twelve or so, though it was kind of hard to guess. She was dressed in what looked like a military uniform, with a skirt instead of pants, and oddly had a little sword belted at her side. Her hair was a deep shade of pink, and her skin was a light tan.
"And who might you be?" Minako knelt down to look the stranger in the face.
"Chibi Utena!" she declared cheerfully.
"URK," Setsuna made the oddest sound.
"Setsuna?" Usagi looked at her curiously.
"Do NOT ask her any details of her parentage or where she comes from," Setsuna said flatly. "Please," she added.
"I take it she's from our future?" Ami guessed perceptively.
"Possibly," Setsuna said evasively. "And I am going to have a very pointed discussion with my future self about giving time keys to children."
"Like you did with Chibi-Usa?" Ami teased.
"Special case," Setsuna sighed.
"You're so CUTE!" Utena gushed as she knelt by the young girl..
"I'm NOT cute," Chibi-Utena said firmly, "I'm a prince."
"Squeee!" Usagi squeeed then glomped the overly-serious cutie.
"Awk!" Chibi-Utena awked.
Haruka shook her head as she looked over at Setsuna. "Can you use the Time Gates to see if there are more coming?" she asked seriously.
"I don't really want to leave while this is happening...," Setsuna admitted.
"She's got a point," Michiru pointed out reasonably.
The sound of flapping wings drew their attention, and nearby Makoto looked up in curiosity. "Holy crap," she blurted.
The little girl was hovering above them on grey colored wings, her entire body covered in blue-black fur. AND wearing an oddly stylized sailor suit.
Almost instinctively Rei whipped out one of her demon-banishing charms, but stopped mid motion.
"Rei?" Minako looked at her curiously.
"I don't sense any evil from her at all," Rei explained as the little girl landed. "Even the few demons I've met who went good..."
"Like Hellboy," Minako remembered.
"I still felt something. Her, nothing...," Rei noted.
The little girl landed and, surprisingly, swiftly hid behind Utena. "I was so scared! I got lost, Utena-senpai!" she wailed.
"It's okay, Devil Girl," Chibi-Utena patted her shoulder.
"Are you all right?" Usagi asked her gently, kind of peering past Chibi-Utena.
The little girl smiled back a bit timidly. "I think so," she answered.
Usagi was VERY tempted to glomp her too, but was pretty sure it would freak the poor child out. Too bad, really.
Setsuna was trying not to react, but it was hard. The child of Utena and Anthy... and now the child of Jun Fudoh, the Devilman Lady? Here? Unless her future self had gotten very, very drunk Setsuna couldn't imagine why she'd send them into the past.
"You know this one too?" Ami noted as she watched Makoto trying to temp the two children with treats.
Setsuna nodded glumly, "Indeed."
"Any idea why...?" Ami asked softly.
"Sorry," Setsuna shook her head, "I'm as perplexed as you are."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"This is a HUGE mess," the young woman in the tuxedo noted, peering around the corner. She wore a white mask and a top hat, too.
"We didn't get here in time to stop them," the woman in red and blue colored sailor uniform sighed. "What do you want to do, Tuxedo Kamen?"
"Do you HAVE to call me that," she rolled her eyes, "Sailor Ares?"
"Can't risk polluting the timeline, Tuxie. Get used to it," Ares told her.
"Ugh," Tuxedo Kamen sighed. "So, it LOOKS like they're from our future..."
"Yeah. Who knew Utena and Anthy's kid would be that cute?" Ares noted.
"So... do we try to get the kids away from the Senshi so they don't risk changing history? Or wait for our back up?" Tuxedo Kamen asked.
"Wait for back up," Ares said firmly. "If we rush out and try to grab the kids, they WILL assume we're up to no good and jump us."
"True," Tuxedo Kamen sighed.
"You COULD try going out there and trying to convince Usagi you are her Tuxedo Mask," Ares teased her impishly.
Tuxedo Mask looked down at her chest and her not unimpressive bust. "I don't think even young Usagi is THAT dumb," she said wryly.
They watched as Usagi tried to lure Devil Girl out with cookies. "You were saying?" Ares teased.
"Oh shut up," Tuxedo Kamen sighed.
"What the hell," Ares yelped as a massive distortion appeared in the air above them.
The Sailor Senshi were similarly concerned, sweeping the kids behind them as they took up guard positions.
"You were saying?" Tuzedo Kamen teased as they watched the formerly goofy young women go deadly serious.
"Oh shut up," Ares smiled wryly as they watched the shifting, churning rip in space warily.
With an unearthly VOOOORP sound a figure burst out of the portal, dressed in pink and black armor, a featureless helm hiding their face.
"Hardsuit?" Tuxedo Kamen blinked.
Boot thrusters brought the armored figure down to earth, then she raised empty hands. "I come in peace," the distorted voice said.
Suddenly both kids burst from behind the senshi and rushed up to the armor. "You found us!" Chibi-Utena blurted.
"Thank you," Devil Girl added, grabbing her leg.
"Well, the children know you," Usagi noted, giving her a cautious smile.
The hardsuit clad figure turned to where Ares and Tuxedo Kamen were hiding and called, "You'd best come out now. I'm here to take you home, too."
"Shit," Ares blurted as everyone's gaze turned to where they were hiding.
"We'd better go out," Tuxedo Kamen decided, "our cover's blown anyway..."
"TUXEDO KAMEN, you're okay!" Usagi blurted.
"Hold on, Odango-head," Rei sighed, "that's a woman."
"Eeeehhh," Usagi gaped.
Tuxedo Kamen took off her top hat and bowed gracefully to them. "Ladies," she nodded charmingly.
There was a beat of dead silence as little hearts popped up around Minako, Makoto and Ami, surprisingly. "I'd do her," Minako drawled.
"MINA!" several girls blurted out scoldingly.
Rei was looking at the sailor suit other woman thoughtfully. "And you are...?" she asked.
She pitched her voice down and did her best not to squirm as she replied, "Sailor Ares."
Before anyone else could say anything the armored figure said, "Could anyone time displaced please stand near me? We want to avoid polluting the timeline any further."
"She's correct," Setsuna agreed. Greatfuly Sailor Ares headed over to her, as Rei watched her hurry off with the oddest look on her face.
"Setsuna-sama, could I speak with you privately?" the armored woman asked.
Haruka and Michiru both looked wary, but Setsuna nodded to them slightly. "It should be fine," she said as she and the armored woman moved off a bit.
"I apologize for the drama," the armored figure said, "I had intended to contact you privately, but those two rascals went through our copy of your Time Gate..." She shook her head, then touched a control at the base of her helm.
The purple haired young woman had a familiar face, so familiar that Setsuna nearly froze. The usually pink hair was a darker purple, but it was done up in buns just like Usagi's.
"My name is Usagi Tomoe the third, pretty much," she smiled warmly.
"... As in, Chibi-Usa and Hotaru...," Setsuna managed.
"Yup," Usagi III smiled. More seriously she continued, "I know why you had the army of chibi's arrive, and I'm sorry but it's likely going to continue."
"Explain," Setsuna frowned.
"An immensely powerful being is traveling across timelines using a Time Key," Usagi III explained, "and it's disrupting both timelines and how the Time Gates work. Alternate universes are bleeding into each other."
Setsuna looked dubious. "And I can't sense this because...?" she asked dryly.
"You're too close to the event," Usagi III answered evenly. "Tracking waves in a pool is hard, while standing above it would make that relatively easy."
"That makes sense...," Setsuna conceded.
"I can't stay," Usagi III pressed a control to make her helm colored again, "too much risk of my telling you something to damage the timeline."
The time traveller gathered her companions, opened the portal again, and in a flash of light was gone...
To be continued?
Notes: Chibi-Utena and lil' Devil Girl are from not long in the future of my fic, Eternal City Crystal Tokyo. Also implying a version of Hellboy exists in this universe. Tuxedo Kamen II and Sailor Ares are also from that fic.
Usagi III is the daughter of Chibi-Usa and Hotaru Tomoe, and is from even farther in the future. I may (or may not) use her more.
The person travelling across timelines is Sailor Venus over in my fic 'Sailor Venus and the Quest For Power Ups.'