It was late at night when an exasperated Pluto returned to her apartment to find Haruka and Michiru (who saw no need to be in their Senshi garb unless they had to) poring over printouts. By now, the box on the coffee table marked “High Risk” had a stack of documents about two inches high, and it looked like it wasn’t going to stop growing anytime soon.
Michiru added a rebellious teenager from Nagasaki named Hotaru Watanabe to the pile and looked up as the time Guardian transformed back into her snappily-dressed civilian form, Setsuna Meioh. “Any more information?”
The green-haired Time Guardian sighed. “No… the Princess had a few more conversations using those strange jewels, but they were all too one sided.”
“And I take it the Princess wasn’t the side doing the talking?” Haruka asked.
“No,” Setsuna said with a sigh.
“So, back to the piles?”
“I suppose.” Setsuna sat down on an overstuffed chair and picked up her own stack.
“Hey, Setsuna, I was wondering about something—what are we supposed to do when we actually find Saturn? I mean, are we supposed to just kill someone who hasn’t even done anything yet?”
Setsuna sighed again as she answered Haruka. “No, we’re not going to do that unless we’re provoked—that is, unless you particularly want to found out how powerful the Princess is when she’s angry.” Both teenagers shook their heads vigorously at that. “I didn’t think so. Besides, if the Princess is right about these vague enemies she’s predicting, then we could theoretically need Saturn’s power; personally, I doubt it will ever be truly necessary, but that is the reason the Senshi of Destruction exists at all.”
“So what will we do if we can’t kill her?” asked Michiru.
“I was thinking that I could bring her to the Time Gates and put her in stasis—that way, she’ll still be alive, but she wouldn’t be able to have a direct effect on the timeline unless it’s necessary.”
“But didn’t you say the Princess could travel to the Time Gates?”
“The Princess managed to leave the Time Gates through teleportation—and in order to teleport, all you really need to know is where your destination is, not your current location. I was the one who brought her there to begin with, so she can’t know the location of the Time Gates, since only those who hold the title of Sailor Pluto know that.”
“And she’s not talking to Sailor Pluto,” added Haruka.
“Obviously not. Each planet can have only one Senshi at any given time, and Pluto in particular only receives a new Senshi when the previous one dies.”
“Right. So when do we start taking a closer look at these girls, anyway.”
Pluto checked her watch. “I suppose it’s getting a bit late… why don’t the two of you call it a night while I stay up and keep looking over this? We can start actually visiting these girls tomorrow.”
Ikuko was glad to see her daughter in a better mood—perhaps her previous funk was just a phase.
“Good morning, Usagi!”
“Morning, Mom.”
“Feeling better?”
“What do you mean, Mom? I’ve been fine,” Usagi said with the faintest hint of nervousness.
“You sure? It’s just that the last few days it seemed like there was something troubling you.”
“Oh… yeah, I… I guess there was. But right now that looks like it’s going to be okay, I think.”
“You do know that I’m here for you, right? I’m willing to listen to whatever you have to say.”
“Yeah, I know.” Usagi sat down at the table and started digging in to her breakfast.
“Usagi….”
“Yes?”
“Will you tell me about it?”
Usagi paused; before, she had never seriously considered telling her mother about her adventures as Sailor Moon, but now… “Maybe. I have to make sure of a few things, first.”
Ikuko didn’t seem entirely pleased with this, but she didn’t press the matter further, and let her daughter finish eating her morning meal, after which Usagi left for school.
Almost as soon as she reached the sidewalk, Usagi felt something happen. She didn’t know why, but for some reason, she had more energy than she knew what to do with. She had to get rid of it somehow, so she did something she hadn’t done since her first defeat of Galaxia: she started running—and she kept running. For some reason, the energy didn’t seem to be leaving, even though she was running harder than she could ever remember doing. If anything, the energy seemed to be increasing, even as the pain in her legs started building. Usagi was starting to become concerned—whatever this was, it was not normal.
Then, as abruptly as it started, the energy suddenly dissipated, leaving Usagi gasping for breath. “What… the heck… was that?” she asked of nobody in particular.
Given her experience over the last few days, she shouldn’t have been surprised if someone answered her, but she was anyway. Oops. I Guess I got a little carried away.
Uranus? Is that you?
Yeah, it’s me.
Hold on a second; let me bring you out. A split second later, there was a ghostly image of the Sailor Uranus in front of her.
“You don’t have to do that, you know,” said the androgynous Senshi.
No, but this is good practice. She wasn’t quite sure how long she’d be able to keep Uranus out, so she got right to the point. What the heck was that?
The figure before her began getting flush in the cheeks. “Well, I sort of wanted to see what I could do… I’ve taken charge of your adrenal glands—well, actually, your entire endocrine system, but I’m mostly in it for the adrenaline. I figured that this was about as close as I could get to racing—but then you had to go and develop more socially acceptable sleeping habits, so you haven’t had to rush to school like I hoped you would.”
Usagi sighed. She knew that Haruka had always had a rather pronounced “need for speed,” but she wasn’t quite sure she liked the idea of being treated like a vehicle (then again, at times it seemed like Haruka loved her sports car almost as much as she loved Michiru, so perhaps it wasn’t so bad). So that’s the part of my mind you’re living in?
“Well, technically, I suppose that’s where I live, but I spend most of my time with Neptune. And before you ask, she’s taken up residence in the part of your mind concerned with the fine arts. It’s certainly… interesting, though I think she’d like you to have some experience beyond idol singers and manga. You know, culture and stuff like that.” Before Usagi could respond, Uranus started flickering. “I’d better go back. That adrenaline rush tired you out faster than I expected, and you still need to review your plan with Mercury before you get to school.” Uranus then proceeded to fade away.
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(Posted Sat, 08 Apr 2006 07:52)
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