Pluto told the assembled gruop, "Actually, we're in roughly the same place most of you were in before the time shift - this land will one day be Tokyo. As for when we are..."
Pluto took a deep breath, then continued, "The combination of the Paradox Storm and the destruction of my Staff and the Mirror created a great deal of temporal energy. We were washed back in time about sixty-five to sixty-six million years ago, to the end of the Cretaceous Period."
All of the senshi, Nabiki, Akane, and Ukyou all cried out, "What?!"
Kasumi commented, "Oh my!"
Shampoo asked Cologne, "Shampoo not understand. What means 'sixty-five million years'?"
Cologne responded in the native tounge of the Joketsetsu, "Sixty-five million years."
Shampoo's eyes widened. Responding in kind, she said, "I didn't know the world was that old!"
Cologne cackled. "Oh, yes. According to the Western scientists, the world is four billion years old, if you can believe that!"
Mousse disagreed. "Impossible! Nothing can be that old! Although you might be an exception." Cologne whacked him on the head with her staff.
Shampoo commented, "I can't even imagine what a number that big means!"
Cologne replied, "I doubt many can."
Shampoo hesitated. "We're long before the foundation of the Amazon Nation, aren't we?"
Cologne nodded, and smiled weakly. "Child, we're long before the foundation of the Human race."
Meanwhile, Tatewaki commented, "So, we are in the age of the giant reptiles? Truly I underestimated the power of your sorcery, Saotome! You shall still not vanquish me, however!"
Ranma growled, "Idiot! It was the mirror that did this, not me! And it has nothing to do with beating you!"
Kodachi let out a laugh. "Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho! What a wonderful place you have brought us to, Ranma-sama! I may be able to find a pet even grander than Midorogami; and all the exotic plants I can experiment with...! Truly we will have to return here for our honeymoon! Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho!"
Ranma shuddered.
Wanting to get in on the ranting, Ryouga cried out, "Ranma, thanks to you I have seen the Mesozoic!"
"Er..." Ranma didn't know how to respond to that one.
Meanwhile, Genma got a (dangerous) thoughtful look in his eyes. "What a great training opportunity! Now, how to get Ranma to fight a dinosaur...?"
Soun warned him, "Just so long as you don't engage Ranma to any cave-women!"
Kasumi giggled. "Oh, you're so silly, Father. Everybody knows cave-people didn't come along until long after all the dinosaurs died out."
Soun scratched the back of his head. "Er, yes, of course. I was just kidding!"
Nabiki rolled her eyes.
While most of the other senshi stared at the building insanity among the Nerima half of the crowd, Ami asked Pluto, "You wouldn't happen to know how close we are to the time of the asteroid impact, would you?"
This caught the attention of the other senshi, Ukyou, Nabiki, Kasumi, and Cologne.
Pluto shook her head. "The Time Gate isn't very accurate with dates at this distance, and neither is the paleontological record, for that matter. We could have as much as a million years before the impact, or as little as a few hours. There's no way to know - at least until we spot the asteroid."
Ukyou asked, "What's this all about?"
Ami turned to Ukyou, and began lecturing, with Usagi, Mina, and Shampoo listening in for answers as well. "About sixty-five point five million years ago - from our time - an asteroid struck the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico in North America. This would have caused earthquakes and tsunami, a rain of hot ash which caused vast forest fires, and most importantly, a cloud of ash and smoke which would have darkened the skies for months or even years, causing the temperatures to plummet and most plant life to die off."
Ami closed her eyes and took a breath, then opened them again. "Around the same time, all of the dinosaurs (except for birds, which some count as dinosaurs) died out, as did many other species, in what is known as a 'Mass Extinction.' Some scientists believe that dinosaurs were in decline prior to this, and that a few dinosaur species survived for some time after the impact, but there is little doubt that the impact was a large factor in the the Mass Extinction, if not the deciding factor."
Usagi thought she got it, but just to be sure, she asked, "So, in other words...?"
Mokoto folded her arms and said, "Sometime in what is now our future, a big rock is going to hit the Earth, killing off the dinosaurs - and us, too, probably, if we're still around."
"Aiyah!" Shampoo exclaimed.
Cologne commented, "The ironic thing is, with the powers of those here, we might be able to stop this asteroid, if it arrives during our life-times - but in doing so, we would doom the human race as we know it to never exist!"
Pluto nodded at this.
Usagi said quietly to Mina and Mokoto, "This is as bad as knowing about the Great Freeze ahead of time! Lots of people and animals are going to die - well, only animals this time, unless you count us - and we can't stop it without destroying a future we care about!"
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(Posted Tue, 01 Apr 2008 21:36)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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