Cyber Moon: Crystal.

Act 2: War Games.

Episode 1: Black Moon Rising.

By Razor Knight

Last update: December 26, 2008

She had, through her life, been in countless situations that normal humans would consider strange. Impossible, even. But what she was looking at right now defied each and every law of the Universe scientists had come with in the past, and even though she knew this day would eventually come, it was still quite a shock for her.

Ten days ago, in June thirty of the year two thousands, nine hundred seventy-eight, she had been born. And at the same time, she was also a thousand years old now. But all that was nothing, compared to the little human she was looking at right now.

"She's... Me."

Serenity smiled. Princess Serenity, or as everyone knew her nowadays, Neo Moon, was quite visibly shocked. It was a bit strange, even for the Queen, to be holding the days-old ChibiUsa in her arms, while the centuries-old ChibiUsa looked at her. "Indeed, want to hold her?"

"I wonder if I can do that."

The Queen gave a soft giggle. "I asked Pluto about it, there's no risk involved in this, the only thing we have to be careful of, is of not having your paths cross a few years from now."

"Oh, I'm quite aware of that," Usagi said as she took the small girl in her arms. "I was cute back then, huh?"

Serenity frowned. "You're talking about the present as past."

Usagi sighed. "Hard not to do it. This era is the past for me."

"Are you okay with what you had to do?"

Usagi nodded. "Princess Serenity is gone, at least for now, but I can still fight as Neo Moon."

Serenity blinked. She still wasn't used to this, but for the rest of the world, her daughter had died a couple centuries ago, fighting Saturn, who had turned against her. Of course it was all faked, but watching the battle used as proof of her death, she could hardly think Usagi and Hotaru weren't fighting for real. They were either very good actresses, or had used that battle as stress relief.

"Oh, by the way, how's Hotaru?"

Usagi smiled. "She's doing fine, had to take care of something in Mars but should be here soon."

Just as she said that, a figure appeared in the room. Serenity almost confused her with someone else, since she looked quite different. "Hotaru, what's with your hair?"

Hotaru smiled and looked down at the black hair that now almost brushed the ground. "I thought that since I would have to get a new identity, I could try something new for my looks too."

"You look quite intimidating now."

Hotaru nodded. "I've been told that, too." She looked at the baby and grinned. "Hey, I'm quite lucky, other people only get to see pictures of their lovers as babies."

Usagi smiled as she thought about it. "This almost..."

"Almost what?" Hotaru asked.

Usagi flinched. "Nevermind."

"Almost makes you wish you could have one of your own," Serenity guessed.

Usagi nodded slowly. "Yes."

Hotaru looked at the baby again. "Funny, magic can turn an overheated rock into a glacial world, yet..."

Usagi smiled. "Yet we never tried what we know is impossible. "

"Or we assumed it was impossible," Serenity said.

"You know something we don't?" Hotaru asked.

"Many things, but this one, I can't tell you about," Serenity said. There was no malice in her voice, so the others understood it meant they would have to figure out what she meant on their own.

"So, how long should it be until we get 'unexpected' visitors?"

Usagi frowned. "I was four by the time they arrived. I remember how scary their spaceships looked to me back then, too... But we can't let them know we knew they were coming."

Serenity nodded. "The old me would have been against the idea. We are going to let thousands of civilians die..."

"It's either that or, if the paradox theory is correct, we could have our reality vanish completely."

Hotaru sighed. "We'll save as many as we can ourselves. We have to let them destroy Crystal Tokyo, yes, but I don't think we ever heard anything about the rest of the world being as wrecked as this."

"Of course not. The Neo Senshi were rumored to take down entire enemy fleets in minutes, the Nemesians feared them and called them 'Azakhat,' which in their language is basically the same as the origin of our name, Senshi."

"Assassins," Serenity said. She had heard the story from Ami once, about the ones that had been supposed to be the First Senshi back in the past. The situation back then had been very different, and they had thus been a lot more murderous than the present era's Senshi could ever be.

The Princess knew the look her mother was giving her, and shrugged. "If that's what it takes to save this world, I'm ready to make a few heads roll."

"Me too, but I fear my role in this war will be quite different," Serenity said, "so I have to trust you and your group to save the world."

"What about the other Senshi?"

"I know they're making their own plans. Maybe you should speak to them and see if you can all team up."

"That would be a good idea," Hotaru admitted. "But let's worry about that later. For now, I want to enjoy the few years of peace we have left."

Usagi looked at Hotaru, and for a second remembered the other event she knew about, and what it would mean. No, there had to be a way to change that without destroying their reality... There had to be a way out, there always was.

But what exactly was it? She couldn't tell, but she hoped she would get the answer before that day, before that sad day that was both in her distant past and fifteen years into the future.

And four years passed like a flash for the Queen and her friends. Now that she sat on her throne, listening to Prince Dimando's speech of friendship and mutual benefit for both the Earth and Nemesis, she knew the time had finally come.

The news of spaceships passing near Mars were quite a shock to everyone on Earth and the neighbouring planets, but not for the Senshi. They had been waiting for these aliens. For these aliens they knew would be causing a lot of pain and suffering to the world. These... Monsters? No, Serenity couldn't think of them that way. These Nemesians were being misled by a great evil, and while the actions of Dimando and her group qualified them as evil, their final sacrifice was enough for her to forgive them. Yes, they would cause great pain to the world, and yes, her own daughter would be forced to go back to a time and place strange for her, but she knew the Nemesians would do the right thing in the very end.

This man, Dimando, was one of her most dreaded enemies, but at the same time, his final sacrifice was something she could respect. But her mind now forced her back to the present, as Dimando was apparently finishing his speech.

"... And I hope that, with time, our two worlds may come to become as one, united in harmony."

"That is also our hope, Prince Dimando," Serenity said, "we will make sure the rest of our people gives you their friendship and respect too."

Usagi was, also, looking at the scene, but from a different place. A place the Nemesians knew not of, at least for the time being. "That bastard's here..."

"I know quite well what you feel, Princess."

"If I wasn't so damn aware of the risk, I would go shut his mouth up right now." Usagi looked at Pluto. "Setsuna, I need to ask you something."

"And I will answer, if I can."

"Good enough for me. Listen, about what's going to happen a decade from now, just how can... Am I going to have to live on while everyone dies there? Isn't there a way to save everyone?"

Pluto looked away. "I... I can't answer that. I wish I could, but I can't."

"So, if there even is a way, I will have to find it on my own."

"Unfortunately, yes."

Usagi sighed. "You don't have to explain yourself. I understand, I've lived for long enough to know sometimes you have to do things you hate, for the sake of everyone..."

"Like that fight you had with Hotaru."

Usagi chuckled. "That, actually, wasn't hard."

Pluto smiled. "But you two, I'm sure you weren't faking it."

"But we knew our limits, and we trusted each other."

Pluto summoned a 'window' near them, one that showed the past, two hundred years ago. The day when Princess Serenity and Elder Saturn 'died.' The Princess had to agree, that looking at their fight from the outside, it seemed like the two were really out to kill each other.

They had chosen Mars as their battleground, and the fight had lasted for about half an hour. Of course, neither of them had used their forbidden techniques, as that would have been bad for the planet. But still, the power they were throwing at each other was quite amazing.

"And here comes the dramatic ending," Pluto said.

The Princess nodded. Those last moments were worth of an action film, the stand-off between the heroine and the villain, and the last, desperate attack from both.

To a normal human, or even to a trained mage, the scene would have been the two shooting their strongest attacks at each other, then an explosion, and when the light dimmed, both of them were lying on the ground, bleeding and looking very dead.

To those who knew what had happened, what had actually happened was quite different. Pluto (both of them) had taken the two fighters into the time tunnel a split second before the attacks hit, and replaced them with exact replicas made of Zero, courtesy of Zephyr Interspace. However, only two persons within the company knew about it.

They both had trusted each other completely. They had to, in order to survive that battle. If they had been holding back, it would have been obvious to anyone trained in combat. No, they had to trust each other, to be sure that, no matter what they used, they would either dodge or minimize the damage somehow. That battle was, honestly, the biggest lie she had ever told.

"One year and a half left, have you all prepared for this?"

"When they come, they will find a welcome party they will not forget. "

Hotaru was looking out at the city. It had changed in the last centuries, now the height of the buildings was taller the closer one got to the center of the city, but none coming near to the towering main spires of the Crystal Palace. It was a sight she never tired of, she liked the city, even if she found it a bit too calm for her liking.

"Aunt Hotaru, what are you doing here?"

She looked back to see the small, pink-haired girl looking curiously at her. "Nothing much, Princess, just taking a look at the city." The Princess tried to look out at the city too, but the opaque crystal walls of the balcony they were in were half a meter too tall for her. Hotaru giggled at the scene, then picked the girl up, letting her stare out at the city. "Your mom is the Queen of all you see around us."

"I know that. I like how it looks."

Hotaru smiled. "Good, because you'll be staying here for a long time. "

"That sounds boring, I want to see what's outside the city, too."

Hotaru smiled. "I'm sure that you will, someday."

"Now, Hotaru, don't turn her into a rebel."

Hotaru turned to see Serenity standing there, smiling at her. "You really shouldn't let her roam around the palace like that."

"Why not? I always know where she is."

"I still have to worry, you know..."

Serenity nodded. "Of course. Say, are things ready on your side?"

"Quite. We will keep things interesting while your group takes a nap. "

The Princess paid no attention to the two women speaking. She didn't quite get what they talked about most of the time, anyhow. She kept looking out at the city for a while. This city, Crystal Tokyo, the place where the legendary Sailor Moon was born. She hoped she could meet Sailor Moon, someday.

"Dimando, our plans are progressing smoothly. Diplomatic relationships with the terrans are at their peak."

"Good, it is time we begin the second phase of our conquest. Use any means to learn how to neutralize the magic shield around Crystal Tokyo."

"As you order, Prince."

A figure observed the scene from the shadows, and as Esmeraude vanished, he knew things would go as planned. He already knew how to get rid of that shield, but he also had to let this naive Prince find out on his own, the bigger his ego, the easier to manipulate he would be.

"Wiseman!"

But now, apparently, was time to play his role in this charade, the role of a faithful advisor to the Black Moon Clan, the rulers of his homeworld, Nemesis. "You summoned me, Prince Dimando?" It was a charade he had to take a part on, if he wanted to reach his own goal. He knew sooner or later he would have to get rid of this white-haired fleshling, but he had already thought of a few alternative ways to get what he wanted from Earth.

"Crescent Scythe!"

Lilith stared at the incoming crescent-shaped white wave with a smile. "That's not going to work."

Venus saw the blast curve up before hitting Lilith, then turn around and head her way. She let out a curse and leapt out of the way. "I'm too old for this..."

"Biologically speaking, we're still in our twenties."

"But I suppose they're ready now."

"Just be careful with the big blasts, Hikaru. I don't want to have to switch bases again."

"I know that, Usagi."

"Does this place even have a name?"

Saturn nodded at Tsuki. "Asteroid B-57386."

"That's too long," Tsuki noted.

"Well, we are in Lilith," Moon said, "too bad I couldn't find the Seed here."

"Not easy to find, even if it was still out there," Saturn said. "We've been searching for years and still have eighty percent of the asteroid belt to explore."

"Shouldn't you be training too?" Hisako asked.

"We've trained a lot, too," Moon said. "But we're up to the point where we can't get stronger. We just need to train in order to not grow weaker."

"What about the Elder? Will they be up to the challenge?"

"You never saw them fight," Moon mused. "Even if they only slacked off the last thousand years, their bodies will remember their training soon enough. And some of them, I'm sure, weren't slacking off."

"I'm still not agreeing with all this."

"Tsuki, don't you believe what I said?"

"I do," Tsuki said, "it's just that... Countless innocents will die, when we could just stop it all before it started."

Moon frowned. "You think I'm not aware of that? You think I'm happy about it? But the thing is, if we stop them before they start, if we stop them from going back to the past, if we stop anything that's meant to happen, then we'll trade a few lives for the whole Universe. "

"It's just a theory," Tsuki noted.

"Let me tell you what could happen, then," Moon said, "you probably never heard about this, but Setsuna's been to a few other universes, checking things in case some strong enemy had the same kind of powers as her. She's found many realities where everything went as planned up to one point, but then things changed for some reason, and... Out of all those universes, only five had a somewhat 'happy' outcome."

"That's a new one, even for me," Saturn admitted.

"Thing is... You may have heard about what we call the Dark World. The one world where every Senshi but Mars and Mercury died, and which we helped 'fixing' by defeating the youma. By Pluto's words, that is the best 'happy ending' she's seen besides ours."

"But..."

"I know you're the Lucky Senshi," Moon said, "but even if I had your powers, I wouldn't dare betting the Universe on this 'theory' being wrong."

"I... I understand."

"Moreso, let this be a friendly warning: If any of you tries to change what's going to happen, I'm going to stop them personally."

"May I ask you something?"

Moon looked at Hikaru. "Go ahead."

"What about what's going to happen in a decade?"

"What about that?" Moon muttered.

"Won't you be tempted to change that?"

Moon looked down. "I've thought about that, yes, and I already thought of a way to prevent even me from doing that."

"And that is..."

"That is something I will only discuss with my mother," Moon said.

"I want to be just like Sailor Moon when I grow up."

"And you will. You've got your mother's spirit, Small Lady."

ChibiUsa looked up at Pluto. The stoic, serious Pluto, whom nobody had seen much in the last thousand years. Pluto was the Princess' best friend, but mostly because the Princess hadn't been outside the Palace enough to meet anyone else she could get along with.

"Was mom as strong as she told me?"

Pluto smiled. "Stronger, even. She saved this world, many times."

A figure appeared near them, and the Princess recognized her in a second. "Aunt Ami?"

Mercury smiled. "Pluto, we're heading for a meeting with the Nemesians. If everything goes well, then the future will be safe."

"And so will the past," Pluto said. "Go ahead, I will be there when the time's right."

"You think this is it?"

Endymion sighed. "Our little girl is six now, so I suppose this could be the day it all goes wrong."

"Or right, depending on how you look at it."

Endymion looked at Serenity. Even though she knew what would happen, even though she knew she would be thrown into a dormant state while her daughter (both versions of her) risked her life in the war against the Nemesians, she looked so calm, so sure of what she had to do. But it wasn't just the surface, he had lived by her side long enough to know she wasn't just putting up a facade.

"Are the others ready?"

"Yes, they're waiting for us."

"So it begins," Saturn said.

Moon nodded. "It has to be today, I remember it all clearly... Well, what I saw, anyhow. I know how my younger self will feel in a few minutes, and trust me, it's hard not to go there and stop it all from happening."

Lilith groaned. "Don't you go weak on us now."

"Am not," Moon said, "but just in case... If I try anything myself, I want you all to stop me."

"Can we..."

"Leave her to me," Saturn said, "it won't be the first time I have to stab her through to stop her from doing something stupid."

"Love is in the air," Mars joked.

Two years of pretending to be a peaceful ruler with no ambitions, two years of sucking up to this self-appointed Queen, two years he had spent planning just how to get rid of Crystal Tokyo. The rest of the human armies, he knew he could defeat in days, weeks at most. But the Senshi, they had to be dealt with as soon as possible.

And thus, Dimando was following Wiseman's advice. Wiseman had pointed out to the Ginzuishou being the main weapon of the Senshi, and also the power source of the barrier around the city. If they got rid of the Queen, then the crystal would lose its power.

There was the question of the Princess, but Wiseman said she was still too young to use the crystal's power. In any case, she would have to be eliminated as well, just to be sure. Yes, their plan couldn't fail, wouldn't fail. The Senshi didn't have a clue on what was happening.

To the enemy, this would be just another boring diplomatic meeting. To the Black Moon Family, this would be a turning point, and the beginning of their conquest of this planet. The building they were in right now would be their grave.

"They have arrived," a voice announced from the shadows. Wiseman could be quite an unsetting individual sometimes, but he had helped him getting this far. He was thankful for that, but sometimes he couldn't help but wonder just why he was helping them. Nothing was known of this man before the day he showed up at his palace and convinced him to unify all of Nemesis under his flag.

And here they were, the rulers of Crystal Tokyo, all here as planned, all here to die. "Queen Serenity, I am glad you accepted our request."

"I see no harm in talking," Serenity said, "but I've brought my guardians with me, just in case."

"I admit I thought the same way," Dimando said.

Wiseman was watching the scene from the shadows, and was quite content with what he saw. The stupid Queen had not brought the Ginzuishou along, which meant she was weak and vulnerable. "Dimando, it is time for the meeting to begin."

Serenity saw the robed creature walk out of the shadows. It was just as she remembered it, except for one thing. Its power was incredibly high, there was no way this monster was the same she had defeated a thousand years ago. "Who is he?"

"This is the Wiseman, my most faithful servant, and the one who gave the idea of meeting you in neutral grounds to me."

Faithful servant? Endymion found it rather hard not to laugh at this man's naivety. But it was time to drop the bomb. "Don't think we aren't aware of your plans."

"I know not what you're talking about," Dimando lied.

Serenity smiled. "As much as you have been spying on us, learning our secrets and weaknesses, so have we. We know all about your invasion plans, Dimando, and we will not let you start a war that will cause thousands of deaths on both sides."

"That, dear Serenity, isn't your decision anymore," the Wiseman snapped and shot a black beam at Serenity. Serenity rose a shield to block it, so the Wiseman gasped. "You can't be this strong!"

"I suppose you never saw a Senshi before, then," Serenity noted.

The Ayakashi all shot at the Queen, but the four Senshi stood in front of her, taking the hits. "Impossible!" Petz exclaimed.

"Nothing is impossible for us Senshi," Mars noted.

"I beg to differ," Dimando snapped, and shot his own beam at Serenity. The combined power of Dimando and the Wiseman broke through the shield, but Endymion leapt on the way and took the hit instead of the Queen.

"Endymion!"

Wiseman chuckled. "It seems defeating us is impossible."

"Monster!" Serenity reached out her hand and shot a wide beam, hitting Wiseman and sending him sailing back.

Dimando reacted fast, acting before any of the Senshi could stop him. He appeared right behind Serenity, shooting a beam at point blank range, then vanished just as the Senshi all shot at him.

Mars saw Serenity fall and grimaced. "Damn it..."

"Everything went as expected. Even if you had planned for this, it all happened too fast for you to react."

Mars looked at Pluto, who had just appeared. "Setsuna, what..."

"I'll take care of them, you take them back to safety." As the Senshi rushed out of the building, she turned to the Nemesians. "You won't leave this place until I want you to."

Wiseman staggered up and looked at the newcomer. "Sailor Pluto, I presume."

"You know your facts, monster."

Dimando growled at the others. "What are you waiting for? The Senshi are escaping!"

"No, they have already left," Wiseman noted, "they teleported back inside their pretty shield."

"And in there, they will be..." Pluto turned back and gasped. "The crystal..."

Wiseman laughed. "Its energy is gone, I can feel that. What is it that happened, time witch? It doesn't matter, without that crystal, you're defenseless."

"You underestimate us Senshi," Pluto snapped.

"Dark Thunder!"

"Dark Whip!"

"Dark Fire!"

"Dark Ice!"

Dimando saw Pluto vanish as the attacks hit and snorted. "That was too easy."

"She could still be alive," Wiseman noted, "but we must not worry about that now. The shield is down, we can destroy their palace."

"That's right. Rubeus!"

Rubeus nodded and summoned a strange, triangle-shaped communicator. "Send in our fourth squadron, let's destroy their glass city."

The Princess had been waiting for her mother to come back, looking out the window of her room. She smiled as she saw several figures appear in the palace's gardens, but her smile vanished soon. Both her parents were unconscious, and she feared the worst. No, they were still alive, she somehow knew that, but... They were hurt, she had to help them, but how?

The crystal, her mother said that crystal could grant your wishes if you knew how to ask. She had to try, to help her parents.

To anyone not used to the Crystal Palace's corridors, they could all seem the same. But she had been walking through these corridors her whole life, she knew her way around this place better than anyone, even some of the Senshi. So she knew exactly where she was heading, and how to get there.

The two guards standing in front of the large door gave a respectful bow as they saw her approach. She was a kid, true, but she was also the Princess, and they knew she could one day be the one sitting in the throne. If they hadn't bowed, though, the girl wouldn't have noticed. She was too focused in what she had to do, and simply nodded at the two men as they opened the door for her.

There it was, inside the shield room, as she had heard it be called in the past. The small crystal floated a mere centimeter away from the metal pillar it rested on. She had seen it before, and it was always like that. But it was shining brighter, as if it felt its owner was in danger.

The Princess hesitated for a second. What if it didn't work? She recalled the stories her mother told her time and again, of the time when she was Sailor Moon. And if there was anything she had learnt from them, is that not trying was much worse than failing.

So, she reached out and grabbed the crystal. Before she could say or think anything, however, the crystal started shining brighter than before, then vanished. "What?"

"Small Lady, don't fear."

"But the crystal... I wanted to help mom, but now it's gone!"

"Calm down, there's still a chance for you to save them. You have to go back to the past and search for the Ginzuishou." Pluto reached her hand out, holding a familiar sphere. "Here, this will help you. "

The Princess looked at the sphere. It had a cat's face and cat ears. It almost looked like a very fat Luna. "What's this?"

"It will allow you to travel back to the past, and also... It has a few other uses, but I'll let you discover them yourself. You can also call me if you need help."

"Won't you come with me?"

"I'm sorry, Small Lady, but I have to stay here and stop them from destroying the city."

The small girl nodded. "Okay, I will get that crystal back in no time."

As the girl vanished, Pluto turned around. "You made a habit out of eavesdropping."

Moon walked out from the shadows. "Curiosity killed the Princess, huh?"

"Are you ready for what's to come?"

"More than ready," Moon noted, "These idiots think the city will be defenseless with its shield down, but that's as far from reality as they can get."

"Good luck out there," Pluto said, then turned to the spot where 'Small Lady' had been as Moon teleported out of the palace. Serenity had acted without thinking during the short fight against the Black Moon. And that instinct had actually kept things as they should. Wiseman wasn't just stunned by Serenity's attack. No, it was more than that, it was similar to what she had done to Black Lady. Except instead of taking out all his power, she had left him with just enough power to be a threat to the Senshi of the past, but not for the Senshi of this era.

If all went as planned, Wiseman would realize that, and focus his own attacks in the past. With the main forces focused in getting the Princess, the Senshi of this era would have a relatively easy war ahead of them.

The four Senshi were sitting in a circle around the shield generator, with a few other Senshi watching them as they got ready to reactivate the shield. If they hadn't already known what was going to happen, then they would have probably never planned something like this, or be ready to do it at the right time.

"Everyone ready?"

The three other women nodded. For Ami, it had been centuries since she had last used her Senshi suit. She turned to look at Terry and smiled. "Don't have too much fun without me, okay?"

"You girls just keep this palace safe," Terry said, "we'll take care of the rest of the planet."

"Don't die out there," Mars said.

Yuu smiled. "Don't worry, that's an experience I don't want to repeat."

Jupiter sighed. "Okay then, let's get this thing up before those freaks come to town."

Venus nodded. "Let's go. Venus Holy Power!"

"Jupiter Holy Power!"

"Mercury Holy Power!"

"Mars Holy Power!"

The room fell silent, except for the hum of the shield generator, until an explosion rocked the palace. "They're here," Karin said.

The four women were left inside that room, their focus only in keeping the shield up, and they would remain there for several weeks, until the Ginzuishou was restored to its place.

Moon sighed in relief. One of the Nemesian ships (which were made of a mix of black crystal and metal, like the one she remembered Rubeus using,) had fired a strange missile at the palace, but the shield had reappeared just in time to stop it. However, upon realizing their target was unreachable, all the ships turned their attention to the city below. Moon kept her cool, summoning her communicator. "Kyma, how are things there?"

"All the civilians are in the underground shelters. You can shot as big as you want now."

With her parents unconscious, and the four strongest Senshi shielding the palace, the command of the city and the Senshi was hers now. The rest of the world would never know that, however, but she would still fight for this planet, even if it meant having to fight under a fake name.

"Prince Dimando, one of our spies in the Palace saw the Princess talking to Pluto right after our meeting with Serenity. Pluto gave the girl some strange artifact, and the girl then vanished."

Dimando frowned. "That Princess may be just a small Rabbit, but we cannot ignore the fact she's still alive."

Wiseman's voice was heard from the shadows behind Dimando's throne. "We can't win this war without eliminating the Princess. Moreso, if Pluto was there, it can only mean she sent the Princess away to keep her safe."

"Then we have to go after her."

"That may prove more difficult than you think," Wiseman noted, "I will need a few days to find a way to tap into the place known as the Time Gates."

"You do that, we will begin our invasion of this world," Dimando said.

"More bad news," Saffir commented, "reports from the front say there's a large group of Senshi fighting our spaceships... And several of them are apparently strong enough to bring our ships down in one shot!"

"That's not possible. We have to..."

"We wait, and we make them think our main target is this era," Wiseman said.

"Why?"

"The Princess went back to an era before Crystal Tokyo existed. She will surely go to the Senshi of that era. If we kill them, then this city won't exist. We can win this war a millenia before it even starts."

Dimando nodded. "Rubeus, once Wiseman is ready, you will go back to the past and hunt the Rabbit together with the Ayakashi."

"As you wish," Rubeus said. He would do anything to get a break from Wiseman's unsetting presence, really.

A/N: After getting the error pointed out by one very confused reader, I've renamed the three parts of this saga to make reading them in order an easier task. Also, this episode makes manga 'timeslips' look small. I just skipped over eight centuries of boredom.

LordHalo: Who knows what hides in all that gas, though. So no, mankind's expansion isn't over yet, but they have to get rid of a robe-wearing freak and his band of merry losers first.

dainlord: That was my (very) old account. Nothing to see there. Unless you like horribly written stuff, that is. The only reason it's still there, is that I didn't even remember it was there to begin with.