The floating ball of light descended into the dark room. "I'm here, sir," a female voice called out. "You have a mission for me?"
A shadowy figure stepped forward. Only the outlines of its body could be seen. "That I have, Tikal," the figure said in a male voice. "And this one is very important."
"I'm ready for everything."
The shadowy man nodded. He held out a hand, and a small blue planet appeared. "On this version of Earth, a dark future has been predicted, and most of the people that are planning to make this future reality really don't have any idea of the tragedy this future is going to cause."
"You want me to prevent this future?" Tikal said , slightly unsure.
"Yes, indeed," the man continued. "But you don't have to use force... most of these people have the purest hearts you can imagine. They simply don't know the results of their actions."
"What do you want me to do?"
"Here are your instructions." The figure held out a paper that floated towards the glowing ball. When it touched the light, it instantly disappeared.
"I understand," Tikal said. "What exactly is the name of this menace?"
The figure looked darkly at her. "It is called... Crystal Tokyo!"
----
Around the same time Ranma Saotome vanished out of Nerima, Sailor Pluto was standing before the Gates of Time. She was very nervous.
She ALWAYS kept track of Ranma, wherever he was. His chaos factor was simply too big to leave him unguarded. But now, he was gone... not dead, not teleported to another planet, just... gone!
That didn't make any sense.
"People don't vanish just like that," Pluto muttered. "I should have been able to easily track him down using the gates, but... it's like he doesn't exist anymore."
"He doesn't, at least not in this dimension," a voice called out to her. Setsuna turned around and saw a ball of light slowly floating down on the ground.
"Who are you?" Pluto was on guard. No one should be able to come to the Gates of Time that easily. "How did you get here?"
The gleaming ball touched the ground, and with a flash of light, turned into a small, humanoid animal... a girl, to be precise.
Pluto blinked. "You're... a hedgehog?"
The girl smiled. "Echidna, actually! My name is Tikal, and I was send here to fetch you, Setsuna Meioh."
Sailor Pluto blinked again. The girl shouldn't be able to see through her disguise field. "How did you... never mind." She shook her head. "It seems like you have abilities I never heard of. Where are you from? And do you know what happened to Ranma Saotome?"
The orange-furred Echidna smiled. "He was sent to another world, to serve it as a hero. He won't be a bother to you anymore, Setsuna... as from now on, your work here will be done."
"I don't quite understand what you mean," Setsuna carefully replied. "Are you threatening me?"
Tikal giggled and shook her head. "Oh, no no, I am no warrior. I would never be strong enough to beat someone like you."
"So what do you mean? I have to stay here and make sure nothing threatens the future or Crystal Tokyo."
Tikal stretched out her hands. "That exactly is the point. Crystal Tokyo. My... employers... have decided that it would be too dangerous to allow you and the Senshi to build this city."
Now Setsuna was angrily gripping her rod. "Leave! Now! Crystal Tokyo is an Utopia, where everyone will be free and happy under the rule of Neo-Queen Serenity."
Tikal sadly shook her head. "Living under the rule of a queen? I don't think that counts as 'free', Setsuna. And while the residents of Crystal Tokyo may be safe from the Great Freeze, what about the rest of Earth? If you were wise, you would have used that knowledge to prevent the Great Freeze, not just to save the people of Japan."
"What do you know?" Pluto growled. "It was the wish of Queen Serenity of the Moon Kingdom, that one day, her kingdom would be built anew, with her reincarnated daughter as queen."
"But don't you see? This isn't 'freedom' any more... that's forcing the people to accept a ruler. We looked into the future as well, Setsuna... and Crystal Tokyo won't cause anything good. The hearts of the queen and her Senshi will be frozen after the Great Freeze, failing to notice the disaster that struck all the other people."
"But what about Small Lady?" Setsuna now sounded pretty desperate. "If Crystal Tokyo doesn't become reality, she will never be born."
Tikal shook her head. "That's not true. Do Usagi Tsukino and Mamoru Chiba need a kingdom to keep their love? Do they need to be king and queen to raise a child? The prevention of Crystal Tokyo won't be the prevention of Chibiusa's birth."
"I won't let you destroy the Utopia we're planning to bring to the humans," Sailor Pluto shouted angrily. "Dead Scream!"
The magical attack barely missed Tikal, who gave a loud cry of surprise and jumped aside. "Please, Setsuna... stop that! I'm not here to hurt you!"
"Leave, or I'm forced to make you leave," Pluto yelled.
Tikal sighed. "I thought I could convince you before this happens... but I guess the boss was right." She raised her hands and began chanting.
"Let this world merge with another world! Let the lesser pains of the new world overwhelm the bigger pains of the previous world! Let there be happiness and hope for all living beings in this future!"
She took one last look at Setsuna. "I'm sorry... If I were able to convince you, you would have been spared of getting this new role in life... a very hard life, I have to add."
And everything vanished in a bright light.
----
She opened her eyes. She couldn't see anything. What happened? Where was she?
WHO was she?
"Now, now, my dear," a soothing voice said. "It's okay. Here, let me take off the bindings..."
A pair of gentle hands removed the bandages that were covering her face. When her vision cleared, she saw the smiling face of an old man wearing a lab coat. He was looking down on her in concern. "Are you okay? Does it hurt?"
She shook her head and slowly got up. "No... no, I'm fine. Uuuhh... my head! W-where am I? Who are you? What is this place? And... most important... who am I?"
The old man sighed and sat down next to her. She could now see that she was lying on some metal bed, inside a futuristic-looking room. Some strange machines were attached to the wall, and another person seemed to work on them.
"You are inside the ARK... the first space colony mankind created. I am Professor Gerald Robotnik... your creator!"
"Creator?" she gasped. "But I... am I not a living being?"
"Oh yes, you are," the professor assured her. "I created you using the wonders of gene technology. I guess that would make me your... father, in a sort of way." He laughed. "Some people say this way of creating life would be sinful... but think about it: What's so wrong about bringing life to a world of peace and beauty?"
She shook her head. "Nothing, I guess... But I think..." She tried to get up. "Whoa! Why... why am I so small? Am I a child?"
"No, you aren't! Here, take a look into the mirror..."
She carefully walked over to the big mirror and looked inside. A female, humanoid hedgehog looked back at her, her fur a dark emerald green.
"That's me?" she whispered. "Who am I?"
Professor Gerald proudly stood next to her. "You are Pluto the Hedgehog... the Ultimate Life Form - First Version!"
Read the comments on this episode
See other episodes by Shritistrang
(Posted Thu, 10 Aug 2006 09:40)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.