"Just what do you mean by 'a case of a best of a worse situation'?"
Glinda turned and began calling up some files. "While it did take some time to backtrack exactly what triggered the sequence of events which resulted in Crystal Tokyo, it actually took far longer to confirm what we found."
"Oh? One would think that it would be the other way around. Usually, confirming one's experimental results is the easiest part."
"You'd think so, wouldn't you?" she glanced at them. "Unfortunately, when you start dealing with time travel, tracking causality becomes a real bitch."
"You mean Chibi-usa and that Black Moon Family ostensibly traveling back in time, but actually ending up in a parallel past."
"Right. In the true original reality, or realities, take your pick, there was, of course, no time travel. No time travel meant no Black Moon Family to keep them occupied while the Death Busters were gearing up."
"And since the Inners weren't distracted, they were able to deal with that bunch before either the Outers or the Talismen hit the scene."
"So, I guess without those Talismen, that means no Grail or Super-Sailor Moon either."
"Actually, Cas," Glinda replied, glancing over, "she still ends up with the Grail somehow, even without actually finding and releasing the Talismen."
"In any case," she continued, "the real consequence is that without Uranus and Neptune to serve as their usual examples, the Senshi slowly became more harsh and rigid in their tactics."
"My way or the highway," quoted the mage.
"Correct. So when the 'situation' came up, not only was the solution the used excessively draconian, but their pride and fanaticism convinced them to enact it more widely."
Eyes widened. "Chibi-usa. Damn, that's not just a magical city, that's a megaversal empire."
"In any case, that was just so you'd understand why it was so hard to confirm the findings. The more pressing concern is the 'situation' that triggered Crystal Tokyo."
"Okay, so what was it?"
An image came up. "The battle between Eternal Sailor Moon and the Chaos-possessed Sailor Galaxia? How could that have caused Crystal Tokyo?"
"It has to do with the aftermath, when she caused Chaos to be dissipated. Brilliant, truly, since the very nature of Chaos meant that it would always escape any imprisonment, no matter what it was."
The image now zoomed out, showing the location of the battle. "Unfortunately, Usagi has always had a problem with seeing the path to the goal. She can look right into the depths of one's soul, but be absolutely blind to anything hidden just beneath the surface."
"The dissipation isn't instantaneous."
"No, it isn't. Which is exactly the problem. May I present the ward of Nerima, in the city of Tokyo. The cosmic epicenter for chaos."
"Are you suggesting that is the reason why they always have those messes in Nerima with Saotome, Morobishi, and the rest? The timelines don't even match up."
"Not directly, though there does seem to be a fair bit of crosstime inertia involved. However, in those timelines where those groups do coexist with the Senshi, the messes tend to be a whole lot worse."
"So, is there a bright side to all that?"
"Oddly enough, yes. It seems that the more chaotic things get in Nerima, the lower the odds are that the Senshi will be forced to enact the solution that will result in Crystal Tokyo."
"Like releasing a pressure valve to stop an explosion."
"Right. So, in those timelines where no such release exists, the nature of Chaos begins to seep into and influence people more subtly. About fifteen years later, the Senshi find themselves facing complete anarchy and the end of civilization."
"Ouch. Considering their nature, that's the worst thing that could ever happen."
"Unfortunately, their solution is to 'purify' that chaos right out of everyone, driving it from the Earth."
"They went too far, didn't they."
"Yes. All of the individuality, all the ambition, all the inquisitiveness -- basically, all the drive was driven out. Civilization froze solid."
"So where did that stuff go, anyways?"
"Remember what I mentioned about anarchy and the end of civilization? Well, when the Senshi expelled the chaos from the Earth, it hit the rest of the galaxy like a tsunami, triggering a long night no psychohistorian could have ever predicted."
Ray spoke up, "so you're saying that we never actually had to deal with the Senshi in the first place? We could've simply done something to bring out all that chaos in Nerima and be done with it?"
"Perhaps," replied the Mage, "but that wouldn't have been anywhere near as much fun. Providing, of course, that it actually worked and Crystal Tokyo and the Great Freeze are no longer a problem."
"Not even a possibility," confirmed Glinda. "The dynamic is completely different. Before, the Senshi were the champions of order and civilization, while their opponents fought for chaos and anarchy. Now, they fight for sexuality and the ability to express it fully, while others strive to bind and limit it."
"So what's the mega-bad now? Can't be Chaos, what with all the changes."
"No, it isn't. Unfortunately, they're much local, and as such don't suffer from the major disadvantage common to most of the Senshi's traditional foes. Alienness."
"So who?"
"The western Church. Whether it was because of an aberrant sense of puritanism, or simple ambition, or even if one beget the other, they came up with the genius scheme to siphon off the excess sexual energies."
"Not enough to actually cause harm, but enough to give them a political tool, as well as helping to pacify their followers. They used that power as political leverage, enabling them to convert more people and thus expand even further."
"Over time, they split of course. That was only natural. However, their methods remained the same."
"So why aren't we all still stuck in the middle ages if they've been stifling curiousity and innovation like that?"
"The Black Plague. When it struck Europe, it absolutely decimated their power base. Worst yet, they had to expend nearly all of their power reserves just containing it, and the rest striking back at the ones who caused it."
"It was deliberate?"
"Yes. It was a rare concerted effort by those who were able to see the inevitable. Unfortunately, while they managed to weaken the Church, they were themselves pretty much wiped out."
"Which explains how the Europeans were able to explode out and dominate the rest of the world. The forces that had been holding them back, and those which would've opposed them had either been destroyed or weakened beyond measure."
"And that brings us up to the modern day. The western Church, which basically opposes innovation, inquisitiveness, individuality, and any form of sexual expression, basically consists of all the faiths which could be considered to be descendent from Judaism, has basically become the moral centre of the world. The other, pagan faiths tend to take the opposite tact."
"Including Rei?"
"Of course. Sexcraft is a basic tenet of Shinto, after all." Wide grin.
"In any case, their new form of magic is much more cooperative. Which means that they can actually have others helping them out, rather than being forced to just rely on themselves."
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(Posted Thu, 04 Aug 2005 21:15)
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