Skysaber’s Choice 

Part Nine 

by Jared Ornstead 
  
=====

    The morning dawned bright and early, as they always did (at least 
the early part). Birds cheerily chirped in the sky, the summer sun was 
going to be wonderful, and it looked like it looked to be growing into 
a fine day. 
    Mina skipped over the sidewalk, hardly even touching the ground. 
    It was a weekend! More importantly, she had Jay-chan's ADDRESS!!!! 
They could go on a date and catch up on that dinner they'd missed! 
    In fact, she would insist on it. 
    She rounded the corner to get to the house, and saw a lock of blue 
hair on a girl in a pretty dress standing with a picnic basket outside 
of the wall of the place she was looking for. Mina hurried over. 
    "Amy! Hi... I didn't expect to see you here." Mina got a look at 
the picnic basket and makeup of the other Scout and lost any hope this 
was a social call. 
    Amy looked up from primping her hair. "Oh, hello Mina. You were 
coming here to take Jared out, weren't you?" 
    Mina nodded, and caught Amy dropping her hand to her side, slipping 
into her pocket a piece of note paper that had Jared's address printed 
neatly on it, taken from a phone book and cross referenced with a check 
on license plate number. 
    "You too, huh?" Mina could only ask. 
    The two could only helplessly stare at each other for a moment. 
    Mina sighed, cocking one hip and putting her hand upon it. 'I saw 
him first' didn't seem to her a very strong argument in the present 
case. She saw the deadlock in the other girl's face as well. 
    "This would be easier if he hadn't projected that mental dialog 
about loving *all* of us." She admitted. "How are *we* supposed to 
decide if *he* can't?" 
    Amy sighed. "Well, I suppose we could both go out with him. Perhaps 
if he spent the early part of the day with me, then he could spend the 
evening with you." 
    Mina's eyes began to sparkle. ~Love Hotels!~ 
    "Or perhaps not." Amy corrected upon seeing the look. 
    They both sighed in unison. Amy lifted her head and spoke first. "I 
really don't know what to think of it. Jay-chan's thought broadcast 
admitted strong feelings for each one of us, even that he was falling 
in love with 'each and every' Sailor Scout." 
    Amy ducked her head. "I know I love him, and it *might* have been a 
spell that started it, but I can think of some very strong reasons as 
to why I should still do it. Only I don't know how I feel about having 
to share him, or even if I'd want to. I took his ideas as they *did 
say* I had a chance at him alone, and that's what I was banking this 
whole date idea on." 
    Mina thumped her back against the wall and blew upward, sending her 
locks above her eyes flying. "I suppose. But that broadcast of his also 
said none of us are half as attractive alone as we are together. That 
kind of upsets me." She rocked back and forth on her toes, thinking 
quietly. "Only that bit about being willing to die for us sounded very 
sincere." 
    "Yah." Amy leaned against the wall. "And he acted like it, too. I'm 
not sure what I ought to think about that." 
    Mina looked at her companion and budding friend. "That bit about 
all us Scouts making a better team. It's odd how he knows so much about 
us, even before we'd met any of each other. But so far he's been 
correct... so far." 
    "And it sounded very well reasoned." Amy concluded. "Like he'd 
spent alot of time thinking on it. He might know alot more that we 
don't even suspect." 
    "Yah." Mina agreed. Then they both sighed out little puff-clouds of 
steam. 
    "Well," Amy pushed away from the wall, standing straighter and 
straightening her skirt. "One thing was very clear, though. If we act 
together and reason things out he'll be alot happier with us and we'll 
each have a better chance. That broadcast said he was falling in love 
with all of us, but the team was more important. If one of us were to 
damage that team, it would obviously hurt our chances." 
    Mina gazed out over the street. "I was so worried I couldn't think 
about where he said that about him falling in love with *all* of us. 
How many is all anyway? It seems like it might be more than you and 
me." 
    Amy nodded. "There are obviously more of us out there. Just that 
illusion he cast had three Scouts, and later we *met* Sailor Neptune. 
So it seems logical that the other two might exist as well. There is 
also Mars, and he's been caring for her for days. How many other Scouts 
could there be?" 
    Mina gave a long sigh, smiling because she was torn. On the one 
hand more Scouts meant more people who might be like Amy and Jared, 
people to be there when they were fighting the bad guys. On the other, 
it meant more *rivals* for Jared! 
    She was torn, feeling both good and bad. 
    "I know what you're thinking." Amy told her. "It's about how 
getting us together as a team seems quite a priority to him, but what 
would sharing him with a team feel like?" 
    Mina blew out a deep breath. "I wish I knew. I mean, if it were all 
people like you maybe it wouldn't be so bad. I mean... Oh, I think we 
could make an okay team. With your fog to cloud an area I'm sure I 
could dodge *alot* of attacks more easily, and hit the bad guys with 
more crescent beams. That could actually work really swell. If that's 
what he meant about our 'unique qualities combining so beautifully' 
then I think I could handle that part. Fighting the bad guys might even 
be fun again." 
    "Well, I think stopping the Negaverse is something that we can all 
agree on." 
    "Yup!" Mina also pushed away from the wall. Then she laughed 
nervously. "No hard feelings if we each try and get him alone, though. 
Agreed?" 
    "Agreed. We could even be friends." Amy chirped, proffering her 
hand. 
    Mina accepted. "Friends." Then she checked her new friend over. 
"You're not used to having your hair long, are you?" 
    "No, was it that obvious?" 
    "Only to me it was. Tell you what, we'll *both* go in there and 
share Jared for the morning. Then, if we don't get an attack, we all go 
somewhere with him and pick up the two other Scouts so we can discuss 
Sailor Business. Then this evening we all have a slumber party and I 
help you learn how to wear your hair long, I think we're all *really* 
going to need the time to talk over all that's happening. Interested?" 
    Amy produced some slips from her sleeve. "I have two tickets to an 
amusement park. We could get some more and invite everybody." 
    Mina happily nodded. 
    They headed for the gate. On the other side they were met by both 
Michelle and Rae, the former in a flattering dress and the latter 
wearing a very pretty red skirt and silk blouse. Both were rigged out 
to the nines. 
    "So he said he was in love with *all* of us?" Rae said 
despairingly. 
    "That would confirm the reports I heard on TV." Michelle reported 
thoughtfully. 
    All three other girls stared at her. 
    The aqua-tressed maiden shrugged. "Over a hundred patients and 
hospital staff heard that watching from windows. They've been airing a 
collected transcript since last night. The speculation on THAT is even 
greater than on the revealed knowledge that all of those Dark Generals 
are under some form of mind control." 
    She flashed a smile to the other Scouts. "Though I got a good look 
at what I'll be like in a Sailor costume. Anyone care to tell me how 
that happened? I don't remember being there last night. And if I 
*could* transform I'd like to know it." 
    Amy and Mina both sighed. 
    "We'd better let Jared explain it." 

    Artemis checked the house. Finally empty. 
    He hopped up on the TV set and stuck in a tape he'd picked up with 
his teeth. Jumping back to the couch, he hit the play button on the 
remote control. 
    The opening credits for 'Skysaber, The Motion Picture' began to 
roll. 

    Pluto, who'd been listening for the call, interrupted it before it 
could reach her past self of the age, who was still mourning for the 
loss of her Queen and Kingdom, and opened the gate to let the travelers 
though. 
    The nose cone of a veritech poked through the time portal, followed 
by the rest of the plane in guardian configuration. The transformable 
jet landed on its thrusters and the canopy popped open. 
    "Look, I *said* I was sorry." 
    Queen Serenity, who was held in the transforming fighter's left 
hand, was still too upset to comment. So she stayed silent, though her 
glare was cool bordering on chill. 
    The fighter crouched and released captives from both hands. From 
the left, the Queen of the Moon, from the right, what looked to be 
Jared in his Pheonix guise. A young man with red hair hopped down from 
the cockpit wearing an RDF flight suit. He paused and touched the 
fighter's leg. The entire veritech wavered and vanished, then he turned 
right back to the Queen. 
    Seeing her frosty expression, he gave it up and turned to Pluto. 
    "It's *not* my fault." The youth pled. And Pluto, who'd been 
something of a video junky (the passage of all those boring years. What 
would you do? Knit? She did, and very well), noted the nonregulation 
alterations to his attire. There was a bright scarlet silk sash tied 
around his waist and dangling to his knees on one side. His boots were 
also scarlet and appeared to be made out of something supple, like 
leather, and may well have been worn over the uniform boots, as the 
latter were vacuum-proof. He also had red gloves and a silver head 
ornament that made him look like he had a pair of cat ears perched on 
the top of his head. 
    "What could I have done?" The youth continued to plead. "There were 
three of them in a tight corridor. I *didn't* use any frag missiles. 
And when I shot the arm off that was holding her I did it at the elbow, 
as far away from her as possible! How could I tell if one of those 
would step on her like that? Those were Omega Defense Drones, made to 
defend a *Robotech Factory!* They were even worse than the female 
Zentraedi they were disguised as!" 
    Pluto noted that the Queen continued to behave as if upset at the 
young man. Serenity turned and said hotly. "I do NOT appreciate being a 
*lizard!* Thank you very much." 
    The young man squirmed in frustration. "Look. That was *not* 
subject to my control! You were a bug splat, a smear on the floor. 
Raise Dead couldn't *do* anything for you! I’d a choice between 
bringing you back or not, and I more than half expected that a 
Reincarnate during *that* time period would catch you on to the tail 
end of that huge spell you’d cast over your whole kingdom and just send 
you to Earth to be brought back as a human along with everyone else!" 
    He lowered his voice and grumbled aside, unintentionally letting 
Sailor Pluto hear his words. "If I'd have thought about it I would have 
waited fifty years until I was ready to go back with my work done." 
    The one in the guise of the Pheonix Mage still had not said 
anything, and Jared caught Pluto's curious gaze about it. 
    "A simulacrum." He answered the unspoken question. 
    The young man in the RDF uniform put both his hands behind his 
head, gazed straight up and stretched. "So far he hasn't *said* 
anything, but he's been like another set of hands for me. That seems to 
be his only guise, though. I wonder how I'm going to keep him. That is 
*not* exactly an inconspicuous costume." 
    "You could still fix what *I* am!!" The Queen turned back and 
accused. 
    The veritech pilot dropped his arms. "Sure, if you want to risk it. 
You might end up as a baboon or something, though. I can't help that, 
though if you'd wanted to *wait* a year..." 
    The anger in Queen Serenity's eyes was obvious. 
    Jared turned back to Pluto. "You see? Almost everything magic I own 
got stuck in an extra-dimensional space that I *can't access* as the 
price of casting that second spell that raised her. And this is the 
thanks I get." He shuffled his toe on the floor before Sailor Pluto. 
“And all my favorite clothes were magic, too.” 
    Queen Serenity actually got embarrassed, and much of the heat in 
her died. She turned her face half away. "It's just that... laying 
eggs..." 
    The pilot drooped his head so he was staring at the floor. "You 
know, there are many who'd labor their *entire lives* to be turned into 
dragons, and one that can alter her shape to appear as human, no less." 
    He raised his face and met Pluto's startled gaze. "Silver 
Millennium, Silver Dragon. You'd think there was some cosmic humor at 
work here." 
    The redhead shot the glare of tried patience over to Serenity. "And 
if Her Royal Reproductiveness would calm down and *listen* for a while, 
I'm certain I could get my spells back and something prepared to 
restore her mammalian status *long* before she had a husband and cause 
to worry about it! I'd even give her a Fertility spell as a wedding 
present and she could *fill her house* with diapered little moon 
princesses in bawling little litters if she wanted to!" 
    Pluto was having an extremely hard time keeping her smile 
enigmatic. 
    The young man turned back and saluted her. "First Captain, Jared 
Saotome reporting from special detached duty, ma'am! Timeline unaltered 
save for one less body and one extra hill, which was so thoroughly 
cloaked in ash by the time we left it that even its outline was 
substantially blurred. And if you accept my presence in your timeline 
at all then whatever I do in *this* period has to be valid, so I 
brought this lady back to aid in our battle here." 
    Pluto, looking slightly less than inscrutable, said simply. "At 
ease." 
    He relaxed into a parade rest and flashed a glance over at the 
Queen before his gaze returned to dead center on Sailor Pluto. "I have 
to report that the mission was not a success, though. Circumstances 
arose which prevented any of the designated mission parameters from 
being fulfilled." 
    He relaxed, and smiled to the green haired girl. 
    "We entered what I *thought* to be an unoccupied Zentraedi wreck, 
and wasn't. It *was* a highly automated yet badly damaged battlecruiser 
with a cargo of drones for a Robotech Factory. Queen Serenity got 
attacked and I cast a wish in order to get the 'power and ability' to 
save her. Unfortunately, I forgot to include equipment, but I had a 
clause in there against incomplete solutions, and so became the only 
veritech pilot I'd ever played who had sufficient martial art 
experience that he was able to store a whole veritech in stuff space. 
Thus the clause led to the 'ability' and I had my fighter with me when 
my pilot was added to the gestalt that is me." 
    There arose a sunny smile. "And it was a good thing. The Fire Angel 
is heavily upgraded, I did all the work myself. She's a sweet little 
ship. I would've hated to have to repaint all my squadron markings on 
another one. I've never been shot down, not even in the Mars campaign, 
which was as rough a one as you'll ever hear about. I'd tell ya the 
whole thing if it wasn't so classified I'm not even able to dream about 
it. And then, later, when we'd been sent in that experimental jump ship 
where the fold device didn't work right and we ended up fighting the 
Four Horsemen in Africa. That was a cinch by comparison." 
    He dropped her a wink and said behind his hand. "Though the 
incarnation of Death was a total wimp, let me tell you. Didn't have a 
single weapon or power that could reach out past two thousand feet, and 
*we* didn't have a thing on us that didn't have twice that. And since 
even our destroids were three times as fast as he was we just kept out 
at range and played 'target shoot', occasionally stepping on zombies. 
Pestilence was alot tougher. Those bugs kept getting in the intakes and 
fouling things, so we just dropped back, deployed a nuke, which handled 
all of the bugs *very* nicely, and swept back in while it was still 
raging hot to take the guy out. With either one it was only a matter of 
dropping enough bullets on him faster than he could regenerate. Once 
we’d used our nuclear 'bug spray' Pestilence was as much of a wimp as 
Death, even more really." 
    He rolled back on his heels and shone merrily. "They might've tried 
ritual magic to get some extra range on us but that's hard to do when 
you're blowing up. Though, if we'd thought about it or knew ahead of 
time, we'd have had our veritechs just wrestle them to the ground, bind 
them with this guy's magic manacles and wait with their rune weapons in 
a magic stew pot to melt them at the next solstice. That's what the 
guys taking out Famine did. And let me tell you, that world's been 
*alot* greener since they did it. Hardly any desert at all. You ought 
to see it. A pretty place." 
    He blinked innocently, and with a huge smile. “Alot like your hair. 
Very green.” 
    The pilot made a funny face. "Playing with all those necromancers 
in Egypt was fun, too. Blew up the dam on the river Nile, nuked 'em 
just for fun (which actually didn't do as much as when all that water 
hit and washed away most of their cities, but it *did* stir things up 
an' keep 'em interesting), blew away some of their nasty stuff as it 
rose to greet us, and ran away. Of course, some of the big stuff 
survived. Torqued 'em off like you wouldn't *believe*, though. Guess 
that it's hard to animate a body when all you've got left of him is 
waterlogged ash. Really tore the heart out of their empire, though, and 
all *sorts* of people with grudges against 'em were willing to mop up 
the remains!" 
    Jared leaned forward conspiratorially. "NOTHING as hard as Mars 
was." 
    He popped into a perky stance. "Anyway, I cleaned up the moon for 
ya. Things went swell." He leaned forward and spoke behind his hand 
again, eyes twinkling. "If you overlook certain people's 
*dissatisfactions*." 
    Pluto was having a *very* hard time not liking this young man. She 
resolved to look up this timeline of his. 
    "So," he perked to a higher stance ready to walk away. "How much 
sleep do I get before the night is out?" 
    She waved to another portal. "The morning has already broken..." 
    "WHAAATT!!?" 
    He'd grabbed the Queen's hand and dove with her through the portal 
with her hair flying out behind. The simulacrum followed them through a 
moment later. 
    "Well, this ought to be interesting." Sailor Pluto turned to view 
through the portal. 

    "I have never *been* handled so!" Queen Serenity protested once her 
feet had hit the ground and they were through, into his room. She 
yanked her hand back. 
    "Yeah, whatever. Look, I gotta..." Much blinking was going on. 
"Nah, screw it. If Rini wants to steal from me at least getting her key 
back will give her something to do." 
    "Who is Rini?" Serenity asked, even as the simulacrum wandered 
through and the portal closed behind it. 
    "Your granddaughter. You'll find her with Serena downstairs. Rini's 
the one with pink hair." 

    Serenity swept grandly out of the room. Dropping all concerns for 
lesser things (like the mage) as she descended out of the attic and 
past Mrs. Ikuko Tsukino, who'd been coming to get Jared to come down 
for breakfast. 
    Ikuko noted the Queen's dress (rumpled via veritech handling), hair 
(disturbed for many reasons. Being dead doesn't do wonders for your 
coiffeur), and excited state (anger anyone?) and came to precisely the 
wrong conclusion. 
    Fortunately, Jared's head and upper portions popped down from the 
trapdoor that led from the attic, waving his fist. "And *stay* out! 
Next time you come into my room you'll *wish* it was only giant aliens 
attacking to turn you into a lizard, you oviparous...  Oh, hi mom." 
    The mom was too confused to lose her cool. "Red-kun, who was that 
woman in your room?" 
    He caught the double drift. "What? Her? You gotta be *kidding!* Her 
breath alone would kill a man. Freeze him solid." He'd finally lost his 
patience with Queen's handling of him, and it was showing. 
    His female guardian looked doubtful. 
    "Try throwing her wet and naked into a freezer next to the ice 
cream sometime. She'll enjoy it. Make her feel at home." The redhead 
quipped, still hanging upside down. “Cold blooded icicle drake.” He 
muttered darkly. 
    The mother cocked her head, still confused. "But if you don't like 
her what was she doing in there?" 
    "Other than leaving? Nothing. And leaving is something she can do 
whenever I find her in here." The head and body withdrew back into the 
attic. 
    "Breakfast is ready, Red-kun!" Ikuko called up into the attic after 
him. "You'll want to come down, we're having squid!" 
    There was an almost muffled disgusted noise from beyond the 
trapdoor. ~What, had Rini set this whole thing up to *try* and disgust 
me?~ 
    The doorbell rang and Ikuko, the mother of the household, ran off 
to get it, to the accompanyingly distant sound of her son tearing rock 
posters off his walls. 

    Pluto, watching the scene, began to laugh. She'd mourned for her 
Queen many long years ago, and gotten over it. 
    Now it was almost... no, it *was* funny to see her foibles exposed 
and the antics of the young man as his patience finally snapped 
concerning her overly regal ways. 
    They'd had a place in the Moon Kingdom. 
    This was no longer the Moon Kingdom. 
    A confirmed hero against a misplaced Queen. Provided they worked 
together on important things this ought to be interesting indeed. Out 
of the side of her gaze she watched as the temporal disruption that had 
been growing for years began to diminish at a swifter rate. 
    Interesting indeed. 

    Lita had the drapes drawn, and the radio on, as was usual for most 
of those still trapped in the Greater Tokyo area. Not to listen to 
music, but for the youma alerts and news of the collapse. 
    For weeks before this Phoenix Mage had shown up, the youma 
typically ran the city and drained whoever they pleased. Even if Sailor 
V showed up, they beat her into the ground roughly half the time and 
continued on with what they were doing. The Self Defense Force had been 
slaughtered, the Diet had gotten drained while in session (resulting in 
the survivors now telecommuting), and any sort of large gathering of 
people had become almost an invitation to be attacked. 
    Now it was better, but how long would it last? 
    People didn't want to get their hopes up, though clearly each 
victory against the Negaverse was savored by the masses, the subject of 
lengthy debates and speeches from politicals and reporters. Oh, and 
celebrities, though Lita really wondered if Kotono Mitsuishi's 
proclamation that "the Phoenix Mage could ride on HER motorcycle any 
day!" was actually necessary. Noriko Sakai was uncharacteristically 
vocal on that point as well. 
    Still, Lita stirred her soup (many of her common ingredients being 
out-of-stock due to the high price of shipping into the Tokyo region) 
and considered her options. She still couldn't get out of the Tokyo 
region herself. Her parents had paid for the apartment, and an uncle 
had arranged for a trust fund to pay for it, but transferring it had 
proven impossible. The "mail order bride" business was booming right 
now, with other families and girls trying to get out of Japan, and Lita 
was considering making some correspondents as a potential way out. 
(Talk of nuclear weapons to be used on Japan to contain the menace, now 
that it was sufficiently clear that there WAS a menace, might just be 
speculation and rumor but who wanted to chance such a thing?) 
    At which point a hole ripped open in midair, and an 8ft tall, 4ft 
wide, and 3ft thick metal statue walked through the hole. 
    "WHAT THE?!" The figure looked around her living room, seemingly 
puzzled, and set down a large sack. "This ain't Mimir's Well. I KNEW I 
should'a taken that left turn at Albuquerque!" 
    Lita recovered enough to scream. She did so. 
    "Huh?! Makoto Kino? Or is it Lita Storm here?" 
    Lita realized her back was to the wall, or at least the stove, and 
that there was no escape. "You know me?" She reached into a kitchen 
drawer without looking, grabbing what she hoped would be a weapon. 
Though what a kitchen knife could do against the Boomer, she had no 
idea. 
    "Know OF you, maybe. Actually, i kinda identify with you." 
    "Okay, let me go or... I'll..." Lita realized she was threatening a 
Boomer right out of Bubblegum Crisis with an egg whisk. 
    "Cause me to die of embarrassment?" The creature cocked his head at 
an angle to regard her. "You know, you look taller on television." 
    "Do tell..." Lita began to fractionally relax as she noted the 
posture of the big metal brute. Nervous, obviously, best not to do 
anything to set him off. 
    "Look, give me a couple of minutes. i shouldn't be here, i should 
be in Asgard, but something obviously went wrong and i ended up in the 
wrong timeline or something." 
    "Uh huh." Lita watched the figure unsling his sack and start 
pulling items out. Cloaks, robes, ribbons, shards of crystal, a few 
archaic-looking weapons, a pair of golden bracers, a scepter, and other 
odds and ends she was having trouble classifying. The daisho (katana 
and wakizashi) bound together by a strap of leather especially caught 
her attention. The thought of a samurai Boomer somehow brought a smile 
to her face, humor at the incongruity most likely. 
    "Ah, here it is." The Boomer pulled a black box out of the sack and 
flipped it open. "Activate scan function. Am i still in the timeline 
where i left the Phoenix Mage?" 
    "You're a friend of the Phoenix Mage?!" Lita felt some of her worry 
leave her. 
    "Huh? Yeah, i guess so. Actually i owe him a debt of honor. If i 
hadn't screwed up, he would have gone back home and never come to this 
world." The figure watched some lighted display on the interior of the 
box. "By the way, my name's Grey. Guardian Daemon trainee, full 
conversion cyborg using a modified Triax VX-500 frame out of the 
Germany of Rifts Earth, circa 2321, currently unassigned. Computer: 
analyze why i was not able to leave this timeline." 
    "Lita Storm..." She whispered. What the cyborg had said began to 
penetrate. "You mean, you made a mistake, and the Phoenix Mage that has 
been beating back the Negaverse is here because of that mistake?" 
    "Yeah, that's pretty much it." The cyborg looked over the figures. 
"Oh hell, looks like some sort of temporal anomaly- magical in nature, 
specifically directed at me. i can't leave this timeline just yet." 
    Lita decided that the cyborg wasn't a threat. Or at least, wasn't 
threatening HER. "Uhm, you said earlier that you *identified* with me? 
Could you explain that?" 
    "Uhm sure. Mind if i continue to have this scan while i do?" Grey 
waited for her to consent before leaning back against a wall and 
gesturing to a couch. "See, there's more than one universe. More than 
one timeline, okay? There are versions of Earth where the Roman Empire 
never fell, where China invaded Japan because the 'divine wind' never 
occurred, where the drug traffic to and from China petered out long 
before the Boxer Rebellion, and so on. You with me so far?" 
    Lita nodded. "Sure, I've seen Star Trek." 
    "Okay. That helps. Now i am originally from one of these other 
timelines, where you and a number of your friends are the main cast of 
a television show." 
    "I... don't actually have any friends," Lita confessed, biting her 
lip. Who would want to make a television show based on HER? They'd have 
to have taken a lot of liberties. 
    "You will. You're thirteen or so now? By fourteen, in the series at 
least, you are a member of a close circle of friends. i've seen a 
couple of them, and can get you in touch with them, i think. Anyway, in 
this series you play a certain role. You are the stalwart courageous 
friend, who's always getting into fights on behalf of your friends, 
often getting your butt kicked though you never stop doing it. You also 
find a potential boyfriend, only to continually have your hopes dashed. 
Still, you never give up. i have *lived* the same role, for many 
years." 
    Lita decided she didn't want to see this television series. It 
sounded depressing. "So, this series is American?" 
    "No, but it's dubbed. Why do you ask?" 
    "You started out in Japanese but switched to English after I 
mentioned 'Star Trek'." Lita shrugged. Of course, being half-American, 
she didn't have nearly the usual Japanese prejudice against gaijin. Not 
that there was much to be found in Japan right now, as simply being 
Japanese was to be associated with the latest disasters. 
    "Oh, sorry. Yeah, it's a native language. i gotta datapak that runs 
a translation program, fluent in 27 spoken and written forms of 
communication." The cyborg shrugged. "Well, maybe i should get you in 
touch with the Phoenix Mage, that way you can be Sailor Jupiter." 
    "I could meet the Phoenix Mage?! Waitaminute, what do you mean 
'Sailor Jupiter'?!" 
    "Yeah, well he's working with the Senshi. i mean the Sailor Scouts. 
Sailor V is Sailor Venus. Jupiter is another one. And shouldn't you 
take that soup off the stove?" 
    Lita eeped and leapt to deal with her breakfast. 

    Ikuko Tsukino answered her front door to find four young girls 
arrayed in an attractive semi-circle on her front step. 
    "Is Jay-chan in?" They asked in one, united chorus. 
    The mother turned back to call up the stairs. "Red-kun?" 
    "You disgusting old freak, your mother was a hamster." 
    "RED-KUN!!!" 
    "Are you sure you don't have that dress on backwards? Your hind end 
oughtn't poke through where your face ought to be." 
    Mrs. Tsukino turned more fully toward the argument going on 
upstairs. "Jared, stop fighting with your older sister and get down 
here at once! You have *friends* at the door!" 
    "*Older Sister!*" That got attention enough that he stopped hurling 
vile things to say at Queen Serenity, who'd stopped him in the hall. 
The redhead leaned out over the bannister after catching Rini's vile 
smile from within Serenity's enfolding arms. 
    "Mom, did Rini perhaps show you that parasol of hers on your way 
down the stairs?" 
    The mother blinked. "No dear, it was Serenity. Why? What does that 
have to do with you arguing with your oldest sister again?" 
    "Figures." He mumbled. "Hypnotism happy, the whole family of 'em." 
He vaulted out over the railing, performing a perfect over end twist to 
land balanced on the ball of one foot. "And remember, mom. *I'm* only a 
cousin in this family." 
    Ikuko began to look hurt. "I know, son. But you've been raised as 
one of us and it hurts so much that you can't get along with your older 
sister. Even if you aren't blood sibs you're still first cousins." 
    There came Rini's little face doing a raspberry at him from the 
upper balcony. 
    "Anytime you don't like what I'm doing, you can just fire me and 
I'll leave this little dimension behind! You ancient, bony, 
frog-lipped..." He shouted back up the stairs, waving his fist as he 
did so. 
    "RED-KUN!" 
    Jared turned with a completely honest face to the person who 
believed she was his mother. "But mom, sisters *have* to be argued 
with. Otherwise, they're so beautiful and charming they'll never 
believe any of the boys at school are good enough for them. It is the 
unpleasant duty of a brother." 
    Ikuko got this dazed look of delight on her face. 
    "See ya!" He kissed her on the cheek as he passed in the middle of 
a flying leap out the door, which he closed behind him and leaned 
against the frame, making a disgusted face. "Uhg, I think I'm going to 
be sick." 
    He caught the looks of those around him, shock mingled with horror. 
    On impulse he shot up and gave them all each hugs, delightfully 
shocking them further, but in a good way. Jared straightened and 
smoothed a crease out of his flight suit. "Situation report: Last night 
I stole an artifact of time travel, went back to the end of the Silver 
Millennium, brought Queen Serenity back to life, and discovered that 
she isn't at all inclined to listen to others when she's got her mind 
made up. That bugs me. Authority I've got no regard for, it's *ability* 
that I respect, and I'd forgotten she LOST the last war with the Dark 
Kingdom. Looks like she wants to do it again, too. The first thing she 
asked was how to get to the palace, and almost had a fit when I told 
her we didn't have one. Who could defend one anyway? We can't get into 
a stand-up fight with the Negaverse whenever they feel like attacking!" 
    He stood with both hands cocked on his hips. "And now she's gone 
and used hypnotism to make these guys think she's my sister." 
    They blinked. Once, twice, three times.... Making little squeegee 
noises. 
    "What Queen?" Michelle asked, finally breaching the silence for all 
of them. 
    "If you want to know *what* she is, it's as annoying as underwear 
that always creeps up on you." 
    The girls all winced. 
    "But if you want to know *who*, then she's the ruler of the Silver 
Moon, where you all inherit your Scout powers from. *Former* ruler, I 
should say. Serenity was having a party as Beryl destroyed her kingdom. 
The whole Earth was conquered beneath her while *she* was having a ball 
with music and dancing." 
    "What'd you bring a person like *that* here for!" Mina shrieked, 
aghast. 
    The redhead ducked his head. "Partly because I didn't have any idea 
she was that bad. I mean, I *should* have! The signs were all there. 
Then again, Serenity beat the entire Dark Kingdom assault force, 
including Beryl, all her generals, her army, AND this thing called the 
Invincible Shadow, and did it all at once, by herself, in a single 
blow." 
    He raised his head to meet the eyes all around him. "Except, she 
waited in some kind of regal stupor until all of you had died before 
she did *anything* in that fight. Her entire kingdom was ruined 
because, while she had the power, she wouldn't *use* it until it was 
far, far too late." 
    He sighed, walking away from the front of the house with his hands 
behind his neck in a Ranma-like pose. "Anyway, I thought that bringing 
her back I could sick her on the bad guys and that would be the end of 
our problems. She is powerful enough they wouldn't last long if she'd 
*do* something. But no, that's *our* job. Serenity gets to sit in regal 
comfort listening to reports while people die to defend her right to be 
a royal couch potato." 
    "There's no *way* that I'm serving anybody like that!" Rae shouted. 
    "Same here." Amy added decisively. 
    Mina and Michelle both nodded their heads firmly. 
    He realized he was venting and stopped, ducking his head once 
again. "Sorry, look, she and I got off to a *real* bad start. Give me 
some time to calm down and not be so mad and she won't seem so bad." 
    "But are all the things you've said true?" Michelle asked. 
    He gave a grave nod. "Emphasis of anger, perhaps. But I've seen 
tapes of that final battle. You were all out fighting. Only once you'd 
all fallen did Serenity appear to do anything. It *might* have been a 
useful purpose she was off pursuing, but that *did* look like the main 
attack you guys were facing. All the elements I could think of were 
accounted for there. I don't know of any enemy resource that was 
committed anywhere but where you guys were at." 
    "That paints a pretty bleak picture of her." Amy concluded, getting 
three female nods at her comment. 

    Lita watched as the overlarge figure clumsily navigated the doorway 
with his large sack. She settled for carrying a small tray of hastily 
prepared snacks. It was improper in Japanese culture to visit the home 
of a friend without some sort of gift. And the cyborg was insisting 
that these were indeed her friends, or would be. 
    "So, you said you're a VX-357. What kind of boomer is that?" 
    "Actually, i started life as a human. Got turned into a kind of 
demon by magic, at least physically. Got most of my flesh devoured by 
worms as the price to avoid having to spend time with a girl named 
Akane Tendo..." 
    "Come on, she can't be THAT bad." 
    "Bets? Odds are, she'd lose her temper and belt me for something i 
hadn't done, and then i'd lose my temper at her and proceed to beat the 
snot out of her - or die trying. i don't put up with that sort of 
thing." The cyborg looked around at the way the thin crowds parted like 
the Red Sea upon seeing him. "Not very inconspicuous, am i?" 
    "So your skin was devoured, sounds painful." Lita left off the 
terms "gross", "disgusting", and "insane." 
    "Well, yeah. Sufficient that the experience was largely mindwiped 
from me just to keep me relatively sane. So, what was left of me was 
brought back, the worms killed, and the brain and upper spinal chord 
placed in a cyborg body. It's a combat model, built for strength and 
durability. i immediately put in for a different style of body as soon 
as i could. This sucker is too big, bulky, and frankly doesn't look 
that hot." 

    They sat in silence for a time. Then Michelle, smiling, came up and 
wordlessly took Jared's arm and led him out of the courtyard, the 
little group walking in silence for a time down the street. 
    After a while he leaned into her and sighed. "I love you, 
Michelle." 
    That brought the group to a stone solid halt. 
    ~Uh oh.~