Setsuna was walking down the streets of Nerima in her usual business suit and she was carrying a plan suitcase. The Senshi of Time was in Nerima because Setsuna thought she had a possible lead on the missing prince's location. Sure this new 'Black Prince' most likely was the Nemesian Prince, but there was always the chance that he was simply someone else who do to the butterfly effect had decided to take up the mantle of a superhero. With the Nemesian Senate breathing down Neo-Queen Serenity's neck on this matter, Setsuna and especially her 30th century analogue didn't to deal with the fallout that a wild goose chase would cause; particularly if that fallout came in the form of orbital mass-drivers. Getting pulverized into another ice age was not Setsuna's idea of a fun time. Besides, the citizens of Crystal Tokyo would probably get tired of being the ball in a ping-pong ball game of apocalyptic death and instant resurrection.

In an effort to avoid seeing how many times Neo-Queen Serenity could hit the reset button on the Earth's ecosystem, Setsuna and Sailor Pluto hit the history books. Using the incredibly dry if accurate historical records from the Crystal Tokyo timeline Setsuna ran a comparison with her timeline starting a little before the earliest date that was believed to be the point of divergence. Luckily Charon Castle's internal computer was able to do the actual comparison because otherwise this plan would have been impossible.

Two words naturally explained why Setsuna was here in Nerima: Ranma Saotome. Simply put, the boy shouldn't exist. In the CT timeline Nodoka Saotome had been childless. Ranma Saotome's existence couldn't simple be explained away as an early expression of the butterfly effect because Genma Saotome was sterile and Nodoka's psych profile showed that she would never cheat on her husband. Rape, as much as Setsuna hated to even consider that option, was thankfully not the reason for Ranma's existence even if it was the last reasonable explanation for his existence left.

Naturally Ranma's unexplainable birth put him at the top of a very short list of people who could potentially be the Nemesian prince. The fact that Ranma Saotome was, or at least had been, closely connected to the Black Moon Clan's ancestors living in this time was also something important to consider. If Ranma actually was the Nemesian prince then his close connection to his ancestors would provide him with the perfect smokescreen. In a way it was almost like that time 3,000 years ago when Achilles was hidden in the seraglio.

So just like her ex-boyfriend, Setsuna was coming to town to flush out a prince. The only reason why Setsuna hadn't immediately started a 24 hour stakeout around Ranma Tohno's residence is she wanted to get some more background information on the boy and possibly confirmation that he was the prince. Besides, getting some information on the real person would prove useful when figuring out how to contact Ranma or deal with him diplomatically in the future.

After a few minutes Setsuna reached the Tendo house and politely rang the doorbell. When Kasumi answered the door moments later Setsuna smiled and said, "Good day miss. My name is Setsuna Meiou and I am from a group that doing an investigation. Don't worry, nothing's wrong. The group I am working for is looking for something that has a, shall we say, magical connection. Our investigations have indicated that an associate of yours, Ranma Saotome, may have some information on the item that my superiors are trying to find."

Kasumi frowned a bit and replied, "I'm sorry Ms. Meiou. You see, no one living here has seen or heard from Ranma in almost a month. In fact, Ranma has apparently left the Saotome family and no one knows what his new last name is." The eldest Tendo sister scrunched her face for a moment as if she was in deep thought. She then smiled and said, "Please come inside Ms. Meiou. Maybe there's something Ranma did or said while he was here that could help you locate whatever it is your trying to find. At the very least let me get you some tea so that your journey isn't a total waste."

Setsuna politely nodded her head and said, "Thank you for your kindness Miss Tendo. If it's not too much of a bother, that tea does sound very good." There was something familiar about Kasumi that Setsuna couldn't quite place her fingers on. Whatever it was, it couldn't be more important then finding out about Ranma so Setsuna put that feeling on the back burner in her mind.

As Kasumi took a step backwards so that Setsuna could get through the front door Soun's eldest daughter said, "It's not a bother at all Ms. Meiou. But please, call me Kasumi. Miss. Tendo is a little too formal in my tastes for a friendly chat over tea."

In a surprising move Setsuna smiled and said, "Yes Kasumi. To be fair would you please just call me Setsuna?" Now Setsuna was a little surprised at her request since she normally didn't act this informally. The only reasons why she let the Inners get away with calling her Setsuna was because they were more comfortable with informality and because it was the princess who had first insisted on using her first name. Once the two were inside the house and the tea had been set up Setsuna said, "Kasumi. Before Ranma left this household, did something strange happen? By strange I mean beyond the usual weirdness that is supposed to have followed Ranma around like the plague."

With an innocent and seemingly naïve look on her face Kasumi said, "Something strange? Well let's see. There was that attempt by father and Uncle Saotome to get Ranma and Akane married, but Ranma never showed up before things started to get crazy. Ah, Ranma and several of his friends were in China a while ago trying to deal with some supposed cure that was in danger. Sadly I can't recall too much about the particulars of that adventure. Oh! I remember that when Ranma came back from China he had this interesting black mark on his forehead that looked like an upside down moon."

The other Scouts, particularly the Inners, would have been shocked to see Setsuna actually do a spit-take when she heard Kasumi mention the Eclipse. Setsuna immediately said with wide eyes as she pulled out a small picture, "Did you really see this mark on Ranma's forehead?" Kasumi looked at the photo Setsuna showed her and nodded her head wondering what was going on. Once Kasumi nodded her head Setsuna said, "I've found him. I've found the prince."

Over in one of the parks in Shinjuku, Ranma and Chibiusa were hanging out. Well, technically Ranko and Chibiusa were hanging out. Ranma hadn't introduced her male form yet to Chibiusa and so Chibiusa was only friends with Ranko Tohno. Ranma figured that Chibiusa wanted a normal friend besides the other Sailor Scouts and so had decided against revealing her curse. Besides, when the curse did reveal its head Ranma figured that Chibiusa would be able to deal with it because of her familiarity with magic.

Speaking of the Sailor Scouts, Ranma had decided to keep his big mouth shut on the fact that he knew that Chibiusa was Sailor Chibi Moon. As far as Ranma could see revealing that fact to Chibiusa without a very good reason would really sour their friendship and open a really nasty can of worms. Not the least of the problems would be how he knew she was Sailor Chibi Moon. Ranma wasn't willing to reveal that he was the Black Prince yet and he knew that revealing his knowledge about the Scouts would bring out that secret. He might trust Chibiusa, but he didn't trust or even know the other Scouts.

In Chibiusa's mind things were going great this week. She had a good lead on the Nemesian prince, the Death Busters were almost at half strength, Usagi hadn't made a complete idiot of herself today, and she was currently spending time with her first knew friend Ranko. Chibiusa looked up at her redhead friend and seriously thought about introducing Ranko to her other friends. In Chibiusa's mind Ranko would be a great role model for the Inners and she was sure that Hotaru would love to meet Ranko.

On the other hand, Chibiusa kind of wanted to keep Ranko as just her friend instead of her and the other Scouts' friend. Part of that probably was because she could let 'Usa' slip in a little bit instead of having to be Chibiusa in looks and actions. Chibiusa never felt the need to keep Hotaru a secret from the other Scouts and was actually quite happy to introduce her to the rest of the gang. But then again, Chibiusa had never had a dream with Hotaru involving whips, chains, a turkey baster, and hot fudge chocolate. A slight blush appeared on Chibiusa's face as she remembered one of those dreams where her friend and been involved and then it quickly vanished. The future princess was willing to consider the possibility that she was bi instead of strait, but she much preferred to believe that those dreams were simply the side effect of using the disguise pen for as long as she had been using it.

This peaceful scene that hidden royal duo had been enjoying quickly came to an end when they heard two young children scream. Instantly the two magical warriors jumped off of the park bench they had been sitting on and started looking for the source of the screams. Both of them were thinking of ways of disappearing so they could transform into their alter egos when the duo saw something that caused them to stand still in surprise.

Two little boys were in front of Ranma and Chibiusa running from an animated candle thing that was chasing them. One of the little boys had a rusty camping lamp in his hand and was screaming, "I want my wish back that genie cheated! We were supposed to become digimon tamers like in the TV show."

While dodging a tiny firecracker sized attack from the Candlemon the other kid said, "Dummy! You wished for a digimon not for us to become digimon tamers! My uncle in Nerima said that we'd have to be careful when using the magic lamp. He should know since he sells magical stuff." Ranma nearly face faulted when he heard one of the kids mention the curse item shop in Nerima. Didn't the store owner learn to not give these kinds of items to people too mentally immature to handle the items after that phoenix egg mess? Never having dealt with this kind of a situation before, Chibiusa was at a loss about what she should do.

Now Chibiusa can be excused for not have a clue as to what she was supposed to do in this situation because stuff like this didn't happen in Crystal Tokyo. No one back home would be so irresponsible as to give a child a magical item without making certain that the child was capable of and ready to use said item. Also magical lamps that granted wishes, provided that the wish was within reason, didn't exist in Crystal Tokyo so Chibiusa didn't know what her magic would do to the magic of the lamp. Oh Chibiusa knew that such things had existed, but all of the lamps had unfortunately been one of the many magical items that had been destroyed in the Foundation War of the 22 century.

Sadly for the royal duo, the choice about what they should do about this unexpected situation was quickly taken from them because the two kids turned and started running towards them. Naturally Ranma and Chibiusa immediately jumped out of the way of the oncoming kids. However, Chibiusa was used to jumping out of the way of magical craziness while in her Scout form and so she misjudged her landing. When Chibiusa hit the ground she rolled a little from twisting her ankle.

By chance, fate, or simply dumb luck Chibiusa's hand brushed against the Candlemon when she finished rolling. Ranma was about to run over and grab Chibiusa to get her out of the way when the Candlemon glowed and then exploded into a cloud of pink smoke. Once the smoke cleared the Candlemon was gone and Ranma saw an unconscious, and nude, Usa. The magic of the lamp and the magic in her disguise pen did not mix well resulting in Usa being knocked out and the pen short-circuiting.

Immediately after getting confirmation that Usa's pink hair was indeed her natural color, Ranma rushed over and grabbed her unconscious body. Ranma then used her body to provide Usa with some modesty. She then grabbed up Usa's shredded kid clothes and prepared a transportation spell. As soon as the black void of the transportation spell was formed Ranma picked Usa up and jumped through the void.

Mamoru was sitting in his apartment on the couch holding Jadeite's, Nephrite's, Zoisite's, and Kunzite's crystalline remains that he had placed in a special plaque. As the reincarnated Prince of Earth looked on his four former best friends he couldn't help but cry. He needed his friends and he needed his tutors. Thanks to that car accident Mamoru couldn't remember any of the spells that he knew he had once wielded as Prince Endymion. Whatever he had done instinctively with his magic that day to save his life seemed to have created a permanent block on that portion of his memories.

Words just couldn't describe just how frustrated Mamoru was with himself. Unlike his beloved Usako and her friends Mamoru couldn't count on suddenly learning a new magical spell to defeat the monster of the week. In the Earth Kingdom you had to go to a school to learn how to use magic as opposed to the Moon Kingdom where almost all of the spells a person would bother to learn in their lifetime were downloaded into the person's subconscious shortly after birth. Earth's way allowed for people to be far more flexible in their magical abilities while the Moon's way insured that a person always knew how to do certain spells.

In practical terms Mamoru, or rather Tuxedo Kamen was dead weight and he knew it. Without his memories of Prince Endymion's magical training Mamoru had to stumble along in the dark alone trying to figure out how to use his magic. He couldn't ask Ami if he could borrow the Mercury computer as a study guide because there wouldn't be any old Terran magic recorded there. Even with how badly his memories of Endymion were scrambled up Mamoru did remember that the people of the other planets never recorded Terran methods of using magic because they viewed it as inferior.

Sensing their liege's distressed, the Four Heavenly Kings's crystals glowed and the four stood around Mamoru in their astral bodies. Jadeite was standing in front of Mamoru with Nephrite and Zoisite flanking the prince while Kunzite stood behind their lord. The four waited for Mamoru to look up and see them standing around him. Before Mamoru could express his shock Jadeite said, "Easy there Endy. The guys and I are here because you are in the pits. I'd suggest getting you plastered, but I don't think the Misses would approve and it's kind of hard to do a pub craw when you don't actually have a body."

Zoisite immediately shot back, "Why would the prince do such a stupid thing as getting drunk? Might I remind you of the trouble one can get mixed up in when you get so drunk that you can't walk home? I seem to recall that it took you six months for you to finally convince the princess of Mars to let you back into her bed again after that little fiasco with the two Nubian bar wenches."

Kunzite rolled his eyes and then said in a dignified manner, "Children please. Might I remind you that we're on the clock here? The senior of the Four Heavenly Kings walked around the couch and into Mamoru's sight. He then said with his hands behind his back, "We are here Endymion to tell you of a ritual that will allow you to regain your full memories and thus your powers as the Prince of Earth. Once you regain your memories and powers you should be able to go toe to toe with both of the Outers and emerge victorious."

Nephrite then placed his hand on Mamoru's shoulder and said, "On the first day of the New Moon before the Sun rises look to the west and think with all your might on the Hearth Temple of Atlantis. You don't have to remember the temple; just remember to focus on that temple. This will transport you the main temple of the Earth Kingdom. Once you are in the temple head to the inner sanctum and retrieve Excalibur from its resting place. Then as the Sun just starts to rise you must raise Excalibur above your head and said 'I am Prince Endymion. I ask you Oh father Sol to restore my mind and soul like you restore the land with your life giving light.' If you do that your memories and powers will be restored to you."

The Four Heavenly Kings' bodies then started to fade from Mamoru's sight. As they were fading Kunzite said, "Remember Endymon, the New Moon before the Sun rises. If you make a mistake you'll have to wait an entire cycle before you can try again." With that said the four were gone leaving Mamoru with something that he hadn't had in a long time; hope that he could make a difference.

Back at the Tendo house almost every regular member of the NWC had assembled within ten minutes of Setsuna saying that she had found the prince. Pretty much all of Ranma's former associates had a sixth sense that told them when something crazy was about to happen, thus alerting them to the fact that they should head over to the Tendo house. The only people absent were the Kunos who didn't have this sense, the fathers who were too drunk at a bar to recognize what their six senses were telling them, and Ryoga who was currently in maximum confinement after unintentionally escaping prison two days ago. Nabiki became the unofficial spokeswoman for the Nerima regulars and she said, "Alright Miss. Meiou. What's this about Ranma being a prince?"

Setsuna knew that they had her backed into the proverbial corner and she decided that it might be necessary to reveal some secrets. With a resigned sigh Setsuna said, "Alright. I work in the intelligence department for a country called Crystal Tokyo. This country exists about a thousand years in the future. For the past couple of years Crystal Tokyo has been at war with another country called Nemesis. Recently the two countries have gained a shaky armistice after the previous prince of Nemesis attempted to destroy Crystal Tokyo in this era by killing people who would eventually go on to lay the groundwork for my country."

"The Nemesian Senate has refused to discuss more then the current armistice with Crystal Tokyo until the heir to the Nemesian throne is found. Recently we learned that Saphir, who was the brother of the previous Nemesian prince, had a son that he sent to this era to protect the boy from the war. Crystal Tokyo was told this because my country is the only country that still has a working time machine. Nemesis is threatening Crystal Tokyo with an orbital bombardment unless we safely bring back the heir to the Nemesian throne. All members of the Nemesian royal family have the mark of the Eclipse on their foreheads." To prove her point Setsuna showed everyone a photograph of the Eclipse.

Every member of the NWC immediately recognized the eclipse and they remembered seeing that mark on Ranma's forehead before he left. Obviously, Ranma was in the middle of a major adventure again and he hadn't even appeared yet. Naturally Nabiki played the part of the skeptic and she said, "No offense Miss. Meiou, but I serious have to question your story. Even if I were to believe that you work for a country that exists in the future, which I am still not completely sure, I have to question your belief that this mark makes Ranma the missing prince. After all, couldn't Ranma be an ancestor of the Nemesian royal family?"

Setsuna shook her head and replied, "In understand your position Miss. Tendo. However, I can tell you with complete certainty that Ranma isn't an ancestor of the Nemesian royal house. Besides the fact that according to the historical records Mrs. Saotome never had a child, there is another reason why Ranma can't be an ancestor of the prince I'm looking for. You see, the royal family of Nemesis is descended from Kasumi."

Before anyone else could say something Nodoka said, "It makes sense. That's how he knew about my condition." Everyone in the room quickly turned their attention to the Saotome matriarch. Nodoka knew that it was time to come clean and she said, "Several months before Ranma was born I received a notice from the doctor stating that Genma was sterile. After I receive the noticed a strange man named Saphir suddenly appeared in the living room claiming to be from the future. He said that he needed to hide his embryonic son because of a war looming on the horizon and because of court intrigue. I agreed to carry the child and raise him as my own so Saphir used some sort of magic to place Ranma into my womb."

At this point Akane made the time out hand sign and she said, "Wait a minute! Ranma isn't really Uncle Genma and Auntie Nodoka's son, but he's the son of this Saphir person and some unknown woman a thousand years in the future? Also, Saphir is descended from Kasumi? That means that Daddy and Uncle Genma have been trying to make me marry my own nephew!" Nodoka and the Tendo sisters all started to look a little green when they thought about the situation. Everyone else in the NWC was trying to figure out just how they should react to that little fact.

Cologne nodded her head as she thought about the new situation surrounding Ranma and she was once again thankful that she had ended Shampoo's marriage to the boy. Now it came out that technically Ranma hadn't ever been married to Shampoo since he was royalty. After a bad encounter with the son of a White Hun Kan 2,000 years ago, the Amazon council had ruled that royalty, particularly the heir to the throne, were permanently exempted from the Kiss of Marriage rule. A single unwilling husband was one thing, but an unwilling husband with an army at his beck and call was an entirely different thing. The Amazon Nation hadn't survived 3,000 years by being stupid.

Setsuna waited a few minutes for everyone to calm down a little bit and then she said, "Thank you for your time everyone. Whether you believe me or not, you've done a great service today. Especially you Mrs. Saotome, if you hadn't been compassionate enough to accept Ranma as your child I fear that the Nemesian Senate would have tried to destroy Crystal Tokyo even if it meant mutually assured destruction." With that Setsuna promptly left the Tendo house and started walking to the subway. Now that she knew who the prince was the only thing she had left to do was to talk to Ranma.

Usa opened her eyes and she instantly realized that she wasn't in her bedroom at her grandparents place. As soon as Usa realized this fact she shot up and realized that she wasn't in her little girl form. For a second Usa wondered why she wasn't in her chibi form and then she remembered that she had touched that strange creature that had been summoned by a magical lamp.

Instead of screaming out in shock like Usagi probably would, Usa tried to figure out where she was. A cursory glance of her surroundings told her that she was in a typical bedroom. Usa was happy about that because it meant that she probably hadn't been kidnapped by some dark organization. Her eyes then spotted a small stack of clothes that had been neatly folded and place near her on the floor. In a slightly apprehensive manner, Usa raised the covers off of her slightly and saw that she was nude. Unlike most of the Scouts, Usa threw off the covers and proceeded to get dressed. Obviously if whoever owned this place was going to take advantage of her, then that person would have done it while she was asleep.

Once Usa was dressed she opened the door and peaked outside. Like Usa had suspected someone was sitting nearby waiting for her to awake. At this point Ranma looked up from his book and said, "Sit down Chibiusa or whatever name you want to be addressed as while you're in that form."

Since she had already stumbled down the rabbit hole, Usa figured that she didn't have anything more to lose and she quickly sat down across from Ranma. As soon as Usa sat down she said, "Alright mister. Who are you and how do you know the name I usually go by?"

Ranma gave Usa a friendly smile, but inside he was extremely nervous. She was Ranma's first true friend and he was really worried that their friendship would end once all of the deceptions between them had been stopped. Nevertheless Ranma said, "My name is Ranma Tohno and there is a very good reason why I know what your name is Chibiusa. You see," and here Ranma paused a second to pull out a small cup of water and splash himself with it. As soon as the curse activated Ranma said, "I am also your friend Ranko Tohno. A while ago I received a curse that allows me to change genders with hot and cold water. Just so you know I was guy originally."

Typically this would be the point where Ranma would be called a freak, a pervert, or asked a range of very embarrassing questions. However, Usa didn't do any of those sorts of things. She didn't even claim that Ranma had been lying to her when they had hung out since that would make her a hypocrite. Instead, Usa thought about the situation for a few minutes. Sure the curse was very strange, but Usa could accept it easily enough. The future princess then decided to return the favor and said, "You can call me Usa while I'm in this form. I use Chibiusa when I'm a little girl to help my friends differentiate me from my mother." As soon as Usa said that she realized what she had let slip.

In a confused manner Ranma said, "So your friends can tell the difference between you and your mother? Shouldn't they be able to tell the difference? Wait a second, are you from the future?" Most people probably wouldn't have ever asked such a thing, but then again most people didn't have experience with time travel.

Usa nodded her head and said, "Yes Ranma, I'm from the future. The reason why I go around as Chibiusa is because I've already travel to this time period when I really was that young. My mother, at least my mother in the future, told me that I was needed in the past again and 'Chibiusa' already had an identity in the past." Usa was congratulating herself for finding the right balance of answering Ranma's questions while not really saying anything at all.

While shrugging his shoulders Ranma said, "Okay so you're from the future. I've got just one question for you, how are you going to pretend to be Chibiusa again? That disguise trinket of yours was completely fried."

Instead of going into a panic, Usa narrowed her eyes. In a friendly and yet firm tone the future princess said, "And how do you know that the disguise pen is damaged Ranma." While it was possible that he had simply made a guess as to the disguise pen's status, Usa wasn't betting on it. Ranma's tone and body posture as he said that was too confident to be a bluff.

Once again Ranma shrugged his shoulders and said, "I know that the trinket you were using is ruined because I examined it. While I'm not an expert on magic, I do know a lot more about magic then most people on the planet. How do you think you got here without there being a huge production going on outside about a naked girl being carried through the streets? From what I can tell the original spells on the pen are still on it, but they've been isolated from each other and the magical 'battery' on the pen has been completely exhausted. Sadly, the pen is beyond my current ability to repair."

Usa let out a small curse under her breath and then closed her eyes. How was she going to explain this to the other Scouts? Oh, her mother was probably going to ground her for life once she got back to Crystal Tokyo. How by the Goddess was she supposed to find the prince now?

Just as Usa was about to lose her cool because of all the problems having the disguise pen ruined would bring, the air conditioning kicked in. The sudden breeze pushed Ranma's hair aside just enough so that Usa could see the Eclipse on his forehead. Instantly Usa froze up when she saw that mark since it meant that all this time she had been looking for Ranma. Before Usa could say anything to Ranma about being the prince, the doorbell rang.

Ranma got up and said, "Let me get the door Usa." He then walked to the front door wondering who it could be, and then he opened the door. Usa was also curious about who could be at the door and so she tilted her head to look at the door. Both of them were surprised to see Setsuna calmly standing in front of Ranma's front door.