Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Fragility of Time ❯ "The Geometry of Shadows" ( Chapter 5 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

The Fragility of Time
Chapter 5: "The Geometry of Shadows"
Author: etj4Eagle
Email: etj4Eagle@yahoo.com
http://www.geocities.com/etj4eagle
Lasted Edited: 9/9/00

Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story,
all rights are owned by others.
If you distribute the story, do only
so freely and inform me of where you post it.

_______________________________________

Following ChibiUsa's recount of the incident with the Nijizuishou
Crystal, the Senshi were lost in thought. "ChibiUsa-chan may I see
your transformation broach for a moment, I would like to scan it."
Asked Ami. Getting the broach from ChibiUsa, Ami scanned it and
compared the results to a previous one that she had of Usagi's
broach. "I think that I may have a partial reason for why that
crystal teleported to ChibiUsa during the battle. The crystal appears
to be resonating with a crystal inside ChibiUsa's broach. It was hard
to detect the crystal in her broach, it is almost as if it is just a
shadow of one."

Luna pondered Ami's statements. "That's it!" declared Luna. After getting
some puzzled look from the other Senshi she continued. "That crystal
is a fragment of the Ginzuishou. When Queen Serenity defeated the
Shadow Warriors she sealed them into the Ginzuishou. The crystal must
have shattered into seven fragments when she sent it to earth. Each
fragment being born much the way your Sailor Crystals were. Only that
in this case a new soul also accompanied the crystal fragment in the
rebirth."

"Huh?" came the response from all but Ami. For Ami her response was
"Sailor Crystal? What is that?"

"I don't remember. That term just came up in my head, don't remember
anything beyond it. How about you Artemis."

"No, I don't remember anything either, only that it seems that it
should be a very basic concept. Hopefully our memories will start
sorting themselves out soon. Anyways that is not important. What is,
is that that crystal is a fragment of the Ginzuishou."

"And ChibiUsa's broach contains a projection of the Ginzuishou of the
future." Continued Luna. "While it does not have much power, it did
recognize that fragment and returned it to one of its rightful
owners. I have a feeling that the next time we see that Dark Kingdom
general, he will attempt to eliminate ChibiMoon, so that the she
can't swipe another crystal. Now since we are all here, why don't we
do some training."

* * * * * * * * *
Elsewhere in the city

Rubeus was currently wandering around the seedier parts of the city.
His stay here in the past was now indefinite, so he was going to need
a source of income. While he could go out and rob banks, that was not
a good way to keep a low profile. Unfortunately being a traveler from
the future prevented him from having the proper papers to get
reputable work. Consequently, he was wandering around this particular
portion of town. Most people kept out, afraid of what went on, but
those things did not scare him.

He had taken the liberty earlier to acquire some basic means of
disguising himself from the rabbit. While the threat of running into
her was low, he knew that the way his luck was currently going he
would. So, he now wore a cloak that obscured his identity, but
afforded him plenty of mobility. And in case someone got a close look
at his face, he now wore a headband covering the mark of his family,
a family that now longer existed.

"Hey buddy I suggest that you reverse your direction and leave this
area if you know what is good for you." Challenged a voice from his
side.

Turning and observing the voice, he removed the hood before smiling.
"And why should I leave, you are nowhere near the strength of a
Senshi." Pulling a large knife that he had also acquired; Rubeus
prepared for the inevitable surprise attack from his flanks. When it
did come, he was most disappointed, but that is what you get when you
fight ordinary humans. Keeping true Rubeus refrained from using
obvious shows of his power. While he did not hold any regard for the
life of these humans, he did refrain from killing them.

Instead, he just smiled and turned to the gentleman who had first
addressed him. "I think your friends here are not much use in
protecting your territory. They were not a challenge at all, I am
surprised that you and the rest of your friends have not already been
removed."

The large grin on Rubeus's face was unnerving to the man. Instead the
accoster fled down back into the alleys. The battle was not, however,
unwatched. From the shadows, a recruiter of talent watched this
newcomer with anticipation. Rubeus was quite
aware of the admirer he had picked up during the battle, and knew
that his plan was starting to come together. He only hoped that his
admirer would not take too long before letting himself be known, he
needed to develop his intelligence network quickly. Something told
him that things were going to move faster than the version of history
that he had studied before coming to the past.

* * * * * * * * *
The Dark Kingdom Base

"Zoisite, why have you failed to obtain that crystal!" Demanded a
very pissed off queen.

Bowing even lower and with a very humble voice, Zoisite replied "Your
majesty, I am at fault for not being prepared for the sudden new
strength of our enemy. I was not prepared for the new Senshi that
joined in today's battle."

"More Senshi?!?" bellowed an even more irate queen.

"Yes my lord, two more Senshi joined the battle one calling herself
Sailor Venus, the other Sailor ChibiMoon. Sailor Venus appears to be
as much a threat as Mars." "But, Sailor ChibiMoon does not appear to be a
threat, for she is but a child, a pint sized version of that
annoyance Sailor Moon."

"You were chased off by a child?"

"My queen if you would let me explain. ChibiMoon by herself is not a
threat, but she was somehow able to call the Nijizuishou Crystal to
herself. Her broach seems to resonate in energy with the Nijizuishou
Crystal. I am afraid that any other attempts to acquire the
Nijizuishou Crystals will meet with similar fates, if that brat is
around." Concluded Zoisite.

"My queen, I have to agree with Zoisite's interpretation. We will
need to change our plans based on the presence of that child." Came
the words from another male voice. The owner of the voice had
previously been unnoticed in the room, but now his presence was
noted.

"Kunzite, since you seem to agree with Zoisite's interpretation I am
placing the two of you in charge of collecting the Nijizuishou
Crystals. If I do not see those crystals soon, both of you will face
the same fate as Jadeite. You are dismissed." The threat caused both
Kunzite and Zoisite to shiver.

After they left the chambers Zoisite asked "Why did you do that for
me back there?"

"There was nothing you could have done differently. And I believe it
will take two to obtain those crystals, without letting the Sailor
Senshi get anymore. If I had not spoken, Beryl in her mood would most
likely have killed you. And, without the help of another, I too would
soon have met with Beryl's temper. Now come, we must plan our next
attack.

* * * * * * * * *
Back in the underside of Tokyo

"Wanderer I think that we may be of beneficial use to each other. I
have seen how you handle yourself in a fight, and I like what I see.
You have lots of talent, and I know of one who would pay well for
your services."

Rubeus turned to address his tail for the past six hours. "Is that
so? What do you have in mind and why should I aid you?"

"Your fighting skills are excellent, and my
boss has need for soldiers. But, I get the feeling that you have far
more to offer, and I am sure that you could find a position in our
organization to your liking. You have the stance and eyes of a leader
of men, and those are always in need. As to why you should consider
my employer. Well it appears that you are not of this locality, and
the way you have been wondering this part of town I assume that you
are in need of the kind of employment that I can provide.
Additionally you are probably in need of an identity, of which would
be no problem for us."

"You are right on your assumptions. I am willing to listen to your
employers offer. My name is Rubeus." The last part he stated while
removing his hood. What the tail saw in the eyes of the man that now
stood in front of him confirmed all his assumptions about the man's
abilities, but also sent a chill down his spine

* * * * * * * * *
Two days later:

The meeting with the employer had gone very well. Rubeus relayed a
fairly accurate account of his past, though with massive holes. But,
the others seemed to buy that he was a general from a foreign country
whose organization had recently bought the dust. There were enough
wars going around that this was a plausible story (they never did ask
what country and whether he was a rebel or loyalist general, it was
not important).

Rubeus was assigned some men and the task of keeping an eye on
certain transactions. He was to be the support should something go
wrong. This was not a permanent assignment for Rubeus, but only a
test of loyalty and ability. Later once he proved himself, he would
be given more choice assignments.

The current assignment had him with three assistants keeping an eye
on a weapons transfer. Each of his assistants carried a concealed
automatic rifle. He himself carried no gun, instead preferring the
knife that he kept (plus if things got hairy he had his powers). He
still wore the cape, it gave him an intimidating appearance. Others
in the organization would go out of their ways to avoid him. But
these three, had been with him since he started and while they might
still fear him, they did not visibly show it. Additionally he had
begun to give them some training, making them into far more lethal
soldiers than before. They had great aptitude for learning; too bad
they had no magical abilities.

Scanning the scene once again he
came across the problem, a car without it lights on was slowly
creeping up on the scene. Motioning to his comrades they moved to outflank the
approaching threat. As he stealthy moved towards the car he noticed
others attempting to stealthy move towards the transfer area. A quick
look confirmed that they were police.

And with that, Rubeus moved out to take out the officer whom he was
just about to pass. A quick motion and the officer silently fell to
the ground, his throat cut. His three assistants already lined up for
their shots each took out another officer. That left one officer
standing and the two in the car. However, the sound of gunfire at the
falling of the other three alerted the remaining three.

"Freeze this is the police!" Came a shout from the car, where its two
officers, actually make that four in SWAT gear had just poured out. A
flick of Rubeus's wrist, sent a knife flying at the other officer and
took him out of the battle. The group at the car still had not
registered his presence. Instead, they were focused on his three
assistants, who had given away their positions with a retaliation of
gunfire.

Normally a drug bust would not have involved the heavy firepower that
the four remaining officers carried. But, ever since the strange
happenings with the appearance of the Sailor Senshi, the Tokyo PD had
quietly begun to create some heavily equipped units. This new unit
had Rubeus's assistants far out classed, and it was obvious to Rubeus
that his assistants would soon perish. He initially considered
letting them die, but they had shown great promise and he did not
want to waste that. So instead, he flung a couple of dark energy
globes at the police car. The resulting explosion lit up the night.
For all anyone knew, one of the bullets must have hit something
explosive.

* * * * * * * * *
The following day at the Tsukino household

The Tsukino family was watching the television, when the report of
the recent gang incident came on screen. As the TV camera panned
across the scene, ChibiUsa suddenly tensed up. Instantly noticing the
change, Usagi placed an arm around the child "ChibiUsa what's wrong?"
asked a concerned Usagi.

"That crater. It looks like one of Rubeus's. Like the ones that were
left after he attacked you while you were protecting me from him."

The statement of his daughter being at the receiving end of whatever
caused one of those craters caused Kenji to wonder again, why he had
agreed to let his daughter continue to be Sailor Moon. But, he knew that his daughter would
never stand for that.

Usagi pulled the child into a hug and tried to reassure her. "Don't
worry there is nothing to worry about. That crater was caused by a
bullet from the gunfight setting off explosives in the car. Anyways I
will always be here to protect her, muzume."

While ChibiUsa was not convinced about the official report of how the
car exploded, she let herself be comforted. "So Odango-Atama did you
flatten Mamo-chan again?" ChibiUsa returned to one of her standard
taunts this time in the past. Usagi still had not figured out
ChibiUsa's use of the familiar with Mamoru-san, she figured that she
must apparently become friends with that creep in the future. How she
did not know, and apparently that child was getting her kicks out of
seeing her badmouth Mamoru-san. At first Usagi did not care for the
taunting, but she quickly realized that whenever ChibiUsa was
taunting she was much more at ease with herself. And that it was only
during long periods of no taunting in which sorrow would cross
ChibiUsa's face.

* * * * * * * * *
Elsewhere in Tokyo

Shortly after Rubeus's craft re-entered the normal flow of time it
broke up. The explosion for the most part turned the craft into
shrapnel. However, a core portion of the ship had survived nearly
intact, the command center. This fragment had landed in a lake in
Tokyo, and carried Rubeus here to earth. His four companions were
also in this portion, however, they did not survive the impact and
subsequent sinking. Most of the rest of the ship burned up upon
reentry into the atmosphere.

However, the cargo of those pieces did not necessarily face
destruction during their reentry. Droid crystals are designed to face
severe stresses. To these crystals, the strain of reentry and impact
was of the order of a strong magical attack. So it was not surprising
that some would survive reentry on their own. Sapphire in designing
these crystals also designed them with a safety feature, designed to
help in the aid of a surprise attack. Any attempt to destroy a
crystal other than a precise dismantling of the stone would activate
the crystal. And as such, those few crystals that did survive were
activated. However, the strain of the abnormal time trip had drained
most of their energy. Consequently, the resulting droids would need
to absorb energy.

The Sailor Senshi already, unknowingly, faced one of these demons.
That particular droid had the misfortune of immediately drawing the
attention of the Senshi upon activating. The current droid was of a
stealth model. Upon activating it decided to gather information
before filling its energy reserves. As such, it had determined that
an ideal location for an energy drain was a nearby elementary school.
It had inserted itself as a new piece of playground equipment,
draining a little energy from each child that used it. Its energy
reserves were now near full and it decided it was time to move onto
default protocol 2: 'Destroy all targets not of the Black Moon
Family.'

With a new course of action set, it revealed itself, to the panicked
screams of the children. With blast of energy the droid quickly began
trapping the children and draining them of their energy. This
particular droid looked like a hodgepodge of various playground
equipment. And, its current attack of choice was a dark energy chain
to entrap and then drain its victim's energy.

Included amongst the children was a pink haired child. Thought the scared child as she tried to hide. Currently
there were still too many conscious people for her to transform, and
anyways she knew that she would never be able to take down this demon
by herself. Cowering and whimpering behind a wall, she once again
wished that her mother was here.

* * * * * * * * *
Juuban Junior High

For Usagi, class was following its normal predictable procession. Her
teacher was droning on in front while she struggled to keep her eyes
open. These past few days she had actually managed to arrive to class
in time in the morning. Though, that was as much ChibiUsa's help as
it was her own doing. ChibiUsa wanted to be walked to school by her
mother, which required making sure her mother was up in time. As a
result, Usagi was forcibly awoken every morning this week and had
made it to class before the final bell. But, if she could not find a
way to stay awake soon she would likely garner detention anyways.

Haruna sighed as she noticed Usagi's head begin to droop for the
umpteenth time this afternoon.

But before Haruna could open her mouth, Usagi suddenly sat straight
up with a panicked look on her face. "ChibiUsa-chan!" she called out,
getting the attention of the entire class. And much to everyone's
surprise, except possibly Ami, she darted out of the room.

Haruna was not sure what to make of Usagi's exclamation, but was
concerned about the look of utter panic on the student's face. But
what caught her attention was the panic that shortly thereafter
appeared on Ami's face. And then, she was left dumfounded as Ami ran
out of the room after Usagi. She was not sure what to make of the
situation, only that something bad must have happened. With her mind
in a daze she gave her class a reading assignment while she tried to
sort out what had just happened.

As if to answer her prayers a call rang out "How dare you disrupt
this peaceful area of learning."

"And disrupt our attempts to learn. I am Sailor Mars."

"And I am Sailor Venus."

"And we will punish you." Venus and Mars finished together.

As the droid turned to take in its two new opponents, it came face to
face with both a fireball and a crescent beam. The attacks had been
launched at near point blank range, and as such the demon was unable
to dodge them. Unfortunately, the attacks barely phased the demon.
Instead, it shot out a set of energy chains at both Senshi. Mars and
Venus were able to dodge the attack, but only barely as they were in
shock over how little damage they did.

With the droid's attention drawn, Sailor Moon attempted to use her
Tiara. However, it too failed to make a dent in the droid. At least,
though, the droid did scream in pain before unleashing a massive
attack barrage that had the Senshi looking for shelter. Around this
time Mercury had finally come to and managed to craw off to the
sidelines of the battle. She still did not have enough energy to
stand or use any of her magic. Instead she deployed her visor and
begun analyze their target. What she saw did not encourage her one
bit. The power levels on this creature were substantially higher than
the ones they had fought before. She wondered to herself on whether
or not they had enough power to destroy the creature.

Tuxedo-kamen noticed the blue Senshi on the sidelines. With a blur of
the eye, he had deposited his bundle. As the child left his arms, he
felt a surge of energy pass from her into himself. Moving to aid the
Senshi, he felt stronger. With a flick of his wrist, he sent a dozen
roses streaming at the demon. he wondered.
In his reflection, he was caught off guard by the retaliatory strike
by the droid. While he was able to dodge the attack, he had lost the
advantageous position he was in moments ago.

* * * * * * * * *
Back at Juuban Junior High School

Makoto sat watching the clock tick away the time, it had been a
little over half an hour since Usagi and Ami's sudden departure. For
some reason she felt a strong urge to be elsewhere. Where she did not
exactly know, only that she needed to get out of here. she wondered. in trying to
sort out her thoughts she thought back to lunch, when Usagi
befriended her. As she thought more about the new friend that she had
made on her first day, she realized that she felt protective of that
girl.

With that thought, she pushed back her chair stood up and walked out
of the room. Once in the hall she began to run, where to she did not
know, only that she needed to get there fast. Haruna noticed the new
student get up and leave the room. She knew of Makoto's reputation, but for some
reason she felt that Makoto's departure had something to do with
Usagi's departure.

Makoto for her part was now barreling down the sidewalks, letting her
instincts guide her. She began to hear sounds of a battle, which only
caused her to run faster. Turning the corner, she saw three Sailor
Senshi and a caped man fighting some kind of monster. Without even
pausing, she continued straight onto the school grounds and towards
the monster.

The droid focusing on what it saw as real threats did not pay much
attention to the newcomer. This inattention allowed Makoto to get a
series of punches in. The next thing the droid knew it was sailing
through the air. If the Senshi had not been fighting for the past
thirty plus minutes they may have been able to finish it off there
and then. But, unfortunately they did not have enough energy to
destroy the creature.

Luna and Artemis who had begun watching the fight with Mercury some
time earlier also noticed the arrival of the newcomer. "Artemis do
you see what I see?" questioned Luna referring to the glowing sigil
of Jupiter on Makoto's forehead.

"Yes, it is the final Senshi, Jupiter." Replied Artemis.

Not really waiting for Artemis's answer, Luna darted onto the
battlefield. She ran towards the newcomer, who had the sense of mind
to be running now from the enraged droid's attacks. "Jupiter take
this wand and call forth your powers" commanded Luna as she did her
back flip.

Makoto turned to see who was talking and saw a black cat that
appeared to be addressing her. And, then a cylinder was flying
towards her. As she grabbed the device, knowledge came up from the
recesses of her mind. "Jupiter Power, Makeup!" she called out. And,
with lighting bolts dancing out of the sky and around her body she
became the Pretty Suited Soldier: Sailor Jupiter.

Turning, she began to advance on the droid. The droid itself began to
back peddle as it attempted to assess this new threat. Unfortunately
for it, Jupiter did not give it anytime as she immediately threw
lightning at the creature and then followed through with more hand-
to-hand combat. As she pulled back out, the dazed demon was hit by a
combined attack from Venus, Mars and Sailor Moon and a floral
arrangement. The combined attack proved too much for it and it
disintegrated into moon dust.

With the monster destroyed, Venus, Mercury, Mars and Sailor Moon
dropped their transformations and slumped to the ground. The three
had managed to move next to Mercury first before collapsing. Jupiter
who was still in relatively good shape moved to join them before
reverting back to her civilian self.

ChibiUsa had begun to stir near the end of the battle, and was now
fully awake. "Momma!" She cried as she saw Usagi collapse to the
ground. She quickly moved from the hold that Ami still held on her to
Usagi who quickly wrapped her up in a bear hug. Turning the pink
haired child noticed Makoto standing outside the group looking a
little lost. "Mako-chan!" she called out happy to see her other
friend again, having wondered why she hadn't seen the Senshi of
Jupiter these past few days. "Where have you been? I thought Usagi
must have been hogging all your delicious food."

A now thoroughly stunned and confused Makoto moved to take a seat
next to the other girls.

However, her questions were going to need to wait. "We had better be
getting back to class, we already are going to be in enough trouble
as it is for skipping out like this." Announced Ami.

Makoto was about to object, but was cut off by Luna. "Ami-chan is
right, you should get back to class. Though, we had better meet at
the shrine later today to discuss this fight and to fill in Sailor
Jupiter on what is happening."

A battered Usagi stood holding her daughter and began to move off the
field. Ami followed Usagi out, with the aid of Makoto. While she had
recovered a lot from the blast, she still could not walk nor stand
for long periods of time on her own. Minako and Rei also stood and
began to move off towards their respective schools. Luna was about to
suggest that Usagi leave ChibiUsa here with her classmates (who were
just now starting to wake up), but one look at her face killed that
thought. There was no way Usagi was going to part with her child
after that battle. Very likely Usagi was not going to let that child
out of her sight for the rest of the day.

* * * * * * * * *

As the trio made their way back to the school, Makoto's head was full
of confusing thoughts as she attempted to make sense of what had just
happened. Normally she would have demanded explanations right then
and there, but something stopped her from asking for them. Instead
she was helping Ami, at least that was what she thought the blue
haired girl's name was, walk back to the school. Usagi walked next to
the two of them cuddling that pink hair child who had a strong
resemblance to her against her chest. Usagi who had finally recovered
from her emotional shock enough to talk interrupted her thoughts.

"Thanks for your help Makoto-chan. I did not think that we were going
to survive that one. After school we will be able to explain
everything to you."

"It was no problem Usagi-chan. I felt a strange urge to find you
after you ran out of class. By the way, who is that child you are
carrying, how did she know my name, and why did she refer to you as
her mother."

"Because she is, and I am from the future Mako-chan." Replied the
pink haired bundle that had decided to enter the conversation.
"Though, to others I am her distant cousin."

Makoto was only half surprised to here this, Kami-sama knows she had
experienced enough weird stuff for one day and with that meeting this
afternoon she expected it to get worse. So unlike the others when
they heard of the relationship she just smiled, continued walking,
her only response being "So that is why she looks so much like you."

The pace of the trio had slowed upon reaching the front of the
school. After a moment to get their nerve the three stepped through
the doors and headed back to the class they had run out on.

Haruna was in the middle of grading some papers, while her students
did some assigned reading when the trio entered the room. as she looked up she saw a battered Ami being
helped to her chair by Makoto. Makoto herself did not appear to have
any bruises on her. Looking at the third member, she saw Usagi
holding a small child in her arms. The protective grasp that Usagi
had on the child and the look of sorrow on her face vanquished any
thought of punishing the trio for running out. Instead, she moved to
the trio to offer assistance.

"Ami-chan, Makoto-chan, Usagi-chan what happened? Here let me take
you three to the nurse."

As they were herded out of the room and down the hall, Makoto, the
only one with any energy to answer the questions, spoke up. "I am not
quite sure what happened, when I arrived the Sailor Senshi were
battling some monster. Ami-chan was knocked out on the ground near
the child whom Usagi is holding. I believe she is a cousin of Usagi."

As she finished her explanation, they arrived at the nurse's office.
Ami was immediately taken and laid down on a bed. The nurse after
convincing herself that Ami was okay and just needed rest now moved
to examine Usagi and the child she held. "Usagi your
little sister is going to be fine. You can let her down now."

As Usagi slowly began to truly become aware of her surroundings, she
looked at her daughter and finally realized that ChibiUsa was in fine
condition, and placed her down on the ground. However, the fact that
the child was okay did not really help her. Instead, the fear she had
been fighting finally got to her and she collapsed into a ball on the
couch she was sitting on. Haruna and the nurse looked worriedly on
the distressed student as they tried to calm her. Unfortunately, for
them, any attempt to tell her that there was nothing she could have
done was unsuccessful. Moreover, it just made her cry even harder,
perplexing them.

* * * * * * * * *

A figure had been watching the battle and aftermath from a place
where time had no meaning. It took all her will not to interfere as
she saw her future queen get taken for a ride by the creature.
Thankfully, as she was about to say screw the rules, Jupiter entered
the scene. She breathed a sigh of relief, as the creature was
defeated. While the Senshi did not know why the creature was so much
stronger than the others, she did. Earlier in the day, she had begun
tracing down the other travelers who were caught by the blast in the
time-stream. Unfortunately, one of them was Rubeus. She had sworn
when she discovered that he had been brought to the past. She had no
idea where he was, but it was obvious that his droids had also
survived the trip. The Senshi were not ready to battle these
creatures.

Currently she was now watching the group in the school's nurse's
office. She was relieved when the nurse announced that Ami and Small
Lady were okay. She had feared that Ami had been seriously hurt when
she was unable to stand for more than a few moments on her own. Now
she was watching as her future queen curled up into a ball and began
to collapse. And with that she
open the Gate of Spacetime and stepped through.

* * * * * * * * *

Feeling a presence, Haruna looked behind her and was startled to find
a strange woman standing behind her.
She thought to herself. The mysterious lady was dressed in a nice
business outfit, had long emerald colored hair, held a strange staff
that resembled a key in her hand, and had eyes of severe
determination that seemed to glow as much as the orb on top of the
staff. The newcomer quickly moved towards the distraught student.

"I am a family friend." She said, answering the unspoken question.
Both the nurse and Haruna sensed that this strange lady might want
some privacy and so moved back a bit.

Noticing the change, ChibiUsa looked up. "PU!" she exclaimed and
bounced from her mother's side where she had been trying to cheer up
the collapsed Usagi into Pluto's arms.

"Small Lady." Pluto acknowledged the little child's presence and
somehow managed to catch the bundle with the limited warning that she
had. Now carrying the concerned child she moved up next to Usagi. "My
queen, forgive me" she quietly asked while kneeling in front of
Usagi.

The formal title use, had the desired effect. "Forgive you for what?"
At first Usagi did not know who this strange woman in front of her
was, but then she noticed the time staff and realized that it was
Pluto.

"For not being there to protect you and the princess, my queen."

"It is not your fault, we should have been better prepared."
responded Usagi, not wanting anyone else to feel responsible for her.

This was the answer that Pluto was looking for. Grasping Usagi's chin
and forcing her to look into her eyes she told Usagi: "If it is not
my fault, then you cannot be at fault either." Without letting Usagi
object, she continued. "Remember that we are your guardians. Your and
the princess's welfare is our responsibility. We have our powers so
that we can protect you. There was nothing you could have done
differently to defeat that droid."

Usagi tried her best to find fault with Pluto's reasoning, trying to
find someway to blame herself. But after a minute, she gave up and
instead attempted to put the incident behind her. To the other two in
the room, Usagi's change was a miracle. One moment she was crying and
emotionally collapsed and the next she had regained her composure.
All because of whatever that strange women had said to her. Looking
more closely Haruna noticed that the strange glow from the orb on top
of that peculiar staff had all but vanished.

Standing, Pluto pulled Usagi up as well. ChibiUsa now stood on the
floor between the two of them. Her mood was now a cheery one, as her
mother was no longer depressed. "Usagi let me take you home."

The nurse made a move to interject. But that look of determination on
the women's face made her consider otherwise.

Pluto looked towards the nurse and addressed her. "I will take Usagi-
chan to her house. Juuban Elementary School should be called and
informed that a student by the name of Tsukino Usagi was brought here
and is now being taken home with her cousin. And, that she is fine
after the demon attack on the school." When she mentioned ChibiUsa's
name, she patted ChibiUsa's head to indicate that she was referring
to the smaller child and not the older teenager.

Pluto stopped on her way out to check on Makoto and Ami. Ami lay
resting on the bed, while Makoto kept an eye on her. "Makoto-chan I
am taking Usagi home. I will see you two later at the Hikawa Shrine."


Makoto muttered to herself. The nurse cleared Makoto to return to
class, and so she returned with Haruna. Ami remained in the nurse's
office, awaiting the arrival of her mom whom had just been called by
the nurse.

For Makoto the rest of the school day passed by in a blur. Afterwards
she did not have any recollection of what they went over in class,
her notebook remained unwritten in. Instead, she was lost in thought
pondering all that had happened that afternoon. Haruna noticed how
distracted Makoto was, but decided it best to let her be. She
herself, after all was having a hard enough time trying to cope with
what had happened. And, she, unlike Makoto, had not seen those
mythical Senshi in action.

* * * * * * * * *
Juuban Elementary School

Zoisite and Kunzite were examining the battlefield for the third
time. Earlier in the day they had decided to locate their next
target. However, shortly after arriving they felt strong energy
surges nearby, usually the hallmark of a battle with magic. Curious
they decided to locate the source of these energy surges, hoping to
possibly use it to aid in their goal.

They were not at all prepared for what they found at this particular
location. Gathering information from those who had seen what had
occurred had just confused the two Dark Kingdom Generals even more.

wandered Kunzite. To Zoisite he spoke "Could this be related to that
energy spike Beryl had you investigating before?"

"I don't know, but I am guessing so. We obviously have another party
here. What worries me is the time span those bystanders gave for the
battle. This battle apparently lasted nearly an hour and according to
at least a couple people the Senshi were being beaten badly."
Unspoken, but evident was the concern that this new party appeared to
be far stronger than the Dark Kingdom.

"We are going to need to inform Beryl of this development, she is not
going to be pleased. But if can find a way to use this new party for
our own purposes." Deciding that they had collected enough
information the two opened a portal and prepared to make their less
than desirable report to Beryl. was the only uplifting thought that they could come up
with as they stepped into the portal.

End Chapter 5

Author's note:
I thought I should probably mention where all of my titles are
coming from. They are derived from "Babylon 5" by JMS.