Act 18 - Time Warp / Sailor Pluto

Originally appeared in Nakayoshi, August 1993.
Translated by Kurozuki (manga@kurozuki.com). Version 1.04, 6.96.

Do not link directly to this page. Do not redistribute this translation in any form, such as by posting it on another web site.

"Save the future Earth of the 30th century!"

"Chibi-Usa... You... You came from the future!?"

"I crossed time," she says. "I came here from Crystal Tokyo, from the 30th century. I didn't believe it at first, but it's true. There was a sudden explosion... Crystal Tokyo, and everyone... I want to save my mom. But I don't know how to do it. I don't really know what happened..."

She rests in Mamoru's arms.

"The 30th century...!" says Luna. "The Black Moon... The UFO... The predictions... Impossible! Has the Black Moon... taken Mars, Mercury, and Jupiter... to the future!?"

"Chibi-Usa," Artemis says. "Who was it that attacked Crystal Tokyo? Was it the Black Moon? Tell us what you can about it, so we can help. We might be able to save your mom."

"Yes," says Luna. "We'd like to help."

"Chibi-Usa," says Minako, picking up the two cats. "Take us to the future! Then we'll know everything. Take us there!"

Chibi-Usa looks down. "Go there again..." she says. "No... I can't go back... I haven't finished by job here."

"Chibi-Usa," Mamoru says, "we want to help you. We want to save your friends. Take your time. Think about it."

"Let's go home," says Usagi, smiling, "and just rest."

"We can stay at Mamo-chan's house," says Chibi-Usa.

"What!?"

Chibi-Usa stands in Mamoru's bedroom, wearing one of his shirts.

"You can sleep in this bed," he says. She gets in it, and pulls the covers up. "Can I ask you something?" he says. "Did you come here alone? From the future, I mean."

She picks up her black ball. "Nope, I came with Luna-P."

"Just Luna-P..." Mamoru thinks. "She came to the past to find Sailor Moon and the Mystical Silver Crystal by herself, to save her mother."

"Chibi-Usa," he says. "If you want us to help you, you can't run away anymore. But you didn't run from your problem. You came here. That's great. You're strong."

Usagi listens nervously from outside.

Mamoru comes out of the room. "Where's Mina?" he asks.

"She took Luna and Artemis home," Usagi says. "Hey... Do you mind if I stay here for a while longer?"

"I guess you can," says Mamoru.

"I've never thought much about the future before," says Usagi. "I can't even imagine what the world would be like..."

Mamoru goes into the kitchen and pours a glass of coffee.

Usagi walks around the room, glancing at him occasionally. She picks up a calendar from a table. "It's almost your birthday, Mamo-chan. Right? August 3rd." She smiles. "What do you want? I'll get you anything you like!"

"What's come over you?" Mamoru asks.

"I just want to get you a present," says Usagi.

"Last spring I met Mamo-chan," she thinks. "And in the summer, I came to his place for the first time. And the bed where I slept... Is where Chibi-Usa is sleeping now."

"You're always thinking about Chibi-Usa," she says to Mamoru. She holds onto his shirt. "Is she pretty? Do you like her now?"

Mamoru looks surprised. He quickly drinks from his glass. "But, she's just a schoolgirl!"

"That has nothing to do with it!" Usagi says. "She's just little! She's-!" She stops, and looks down. "I'm sorry... I'm acting weird... It's that girl."

She turns and walks away from him. "I'm jealous..." she thinks. "I shouldn't be thinking about that... What about Mars, Mercury, and Jupiter..."

She feels Mamoru's arms around her. "Mamo-chan!?"

He holds her close. "I didn't know she was feeling like this," he thinks.

"I'm worried..." Usagi says. "I don't want to lose you, Mamo-chan."

He hugs her tightly. "I don't want to lose you either, Usako. I want to be with you, always."

He rests her down on the floor and lays over her. "I want to protect you." He presses his lips to hers. She wraps her arms around him...

"Here Luna, Artemis!" Minako pats a rug on her bed. "Since you never sleep during the day like ordinary cats, rest here." She gets into the bed and goes to sleep.

The two cats curl up on the rug. "Now about the time warp," says Artemis. "How do you think Chibi-Usa did it?" He hears no answer. "Luna?"

Luna sleeps quietly.

-

"Luna!" calls Queen Selenity. "What are you doing!? You've come here! Luna, you mustn't go to the future!"

Luna sees a large wooden door through the fog. "What's that...?"

"The closed door," the queen says. "It is defended by the solitary guardian. Through it is the sacred land. But entry is not allowed... Luna, what I have told you... Do not forget it. Do not forget, Luna!"

-

"A dream...?"

Luna gets up. Artemis is asleep next to her. She remembers the crystal hanging from Chibi-Usa's neck. "The Mystical Silver Crystal of the future... Chibi-Usa... She probably..."

"If you want us to help you, you can't run away anymore."

Chibi-Usa stares through the window at the rising sun.

Usagi opens the door to the room. She walks in, wearing Mamoru's shirt over her dress. "Chibi-Usa?"

"I'm going to the future," she says. "Usagi, Mamo-chan. Come with me."

Night falls over the Crown Game Center. Sailor Moon, Sailor Venus, and Tuxedo Kamen stand outside with Chibi-Usa, who holds up the key from her necklace.

"Chibi-Usa, what's that?"

"This is the space-time key," she says.

"The space-time key?" asks Minako. "Is that what you use to travel to... the 30th century?"

"Small Lady," says the sailor-suited woman. She holds an ornate staff. Her dark hair flows back over her dark skin. "The highway of time isn't allowed. Using it, or even knowing about it is strongly forbidden."

"Usagi and the others may not be able to go to the future," thinks Chibi-Usa.

"Don't let me leave you," she says.

"Chibi-Usa?"

She raises her key into the air. "Time Guardian! Tear apart the sky, and open the space-time door to me! I call the true name of the almighty god of time, the time guardian's father! Chronos! Reveal to me the path of light!"

A blinding vortex of light flashes in the sky above her.

"What...!? The light...!?"

"A flood of light!? Where's it coming from? It's so strong!"

"The pressure'll crush us!"

Chibi-Usa is drawn by the vortex. Usagi grabs onto her arms. "Chibi-Usa!?" Her grasp begins to slip, and Chibi-Usa flies into the light.

"Oh no!!" cries Usagi. "Chibi-Usa!?"

The wind roars around her.

"Chibi-Usa!?"

Safir looks up. "Someone has opened Nemesis," he says. He stands over a glass displaying the glowing black star. "Without using the Evil Black Crystal, someone has used the time warp!"

The other three turn around.

"The Rabbit?" asks Rubeus.

"Not just one person," says Safir. "The energy is too great."

"Well," Demand says. "They must be returning to the home of the planet's ruler. Wiseman!"

The cloaked figure appears. "Prince Demand. The time has come. Now, destroy the Mystical Silver Crystal, the successor to the throne, and the magnificent castle!"

"The castle?" says Demand. "Can it be destroyed?"

"Prince!" calls Esmeraude. "This is our best chance. Let me take care of things. For you, I will present the beautiful ruler of the sleeping castle."

"Hmm..." Rubeus says. "Do think you can really do that?"

"Chiral!" says Esmeraude. "Achiral!"

Two men appear. "Prince Demand," one says. "We are the Boule Brothers. We will carry out your orders."
"Code: 005, Operation: Remake. We will use the power of the Evil Black Crystal to create the maximum chemical reaction, and take their beautiful leader."

"Chibi-Usa!? Where are you!?"

They stare into the flashing light. It abruptly vanishes, leaving nothing. Darkness is all around them.

"Now what..." says Usagi. "Where are we?"

"Maybe we're in between times," says Luna. "But what happened to Chibi-Usa?"

"Here we're phantoms in time. If we don't find a way out, we'll have to wander here for eternity."

"Hmm," Minako says. "A hole is opening in the darkness."

Mamoru hears a voice in his head.

"Do not go in there! Stay where you are!"

"Chibi-Usa!?"

The brooch on Usagi's chest begins to glow. "The Mystical Silver Crystal... Look!"

They see a large wooden door surrounded in mist.

"Is that... the door!?"

"Stop!" a voice calls. "From here is the future. You cannot proceed." The woman steps forward. She carries a long staff resembling a key. A sailor suit covers her dark skin. Her dark hair blows in the wind. "I am the watcher of the space-time door, the guardian of the underworld. I am Sailor Pluto! And I will eliminate those who violate the law."

They gasp. "Sailor Pluto!?"

She holds her staff out and shouts, "Dead Scream!"

Usagi cries out in pain as wind whips sharply across her skin.

"Sailor Moon!"

Luna stares at the woman. "Sailor Pluto!" she thinks. "She actually exists here... No one has ever seen her before. The solitary guardian of time...!"

"Sailor Pluto!?" says Usagi. "No way... She's a sailor soldier!? We didn't know about her!"

"Sailor Moon," Sailor Pluto says. "No matter who you are, I cannot allow you to break the law. My mission must be to destroy you." She raises her staff again.

"Wait! Sailor Pluto!!"

She turns around and sees Chibi-Usa running quickly toward her. The girl jumps into her arms and hugs her.

"Small Lady!" says Pluto.

"You've got it wrong!" says Chibi-Usa. "I brought them here! Don't kill them! I'm sorry... I broke my promise. I had to bring others with me."

"Small Lady..." Pluto says. "Where have you been!?"

"I thought the Mystical Silver Crystal carried by the soldier of legend, Sailor Moon, would be much stronger than ours. So, I went to the past..."

"The power of the crystal is everlasting," says Pluto. "In any time, it would be the same. It doesn't matter. You broke your promise to me, stole the space-time key, and went to the past without permission."

"Please, don't get mad at me!"

"But, you're safe... Oh, Small Lady! Please don't make me worry like that." She kneels down. "Forgive my rudeness, Princess."

"Princess!?" says Usagi. "Chibi-Usa!?"

Chibi-Usa stands up. "That's right! I hadn't told you about it, but I am the princess. And since you are just ordinary people, you should all be more polite to me."

Usagi grimaces. "So you're a princess? Well, then who are your parents! And didn't they teach you any manners?"

"What!?" says Chibi-Usa. "How dare you talk to me like that!"

Pluto smiles as she watches them. "Your family has had me here since long ago. Now go. The door has opened." She motions toward the door.

Chibi-Usa holds onto Usagi's arm. "This is it, Usagi."

"Wait," says Usagi. "What about you, Sailor Pluto?"

"I cannot leave here," she says. "Visitors, please protect Small Lady."

Usagi, Chibi-Usa, Minako, and Mamoru stare at the light shining through the large doorway.

"On the other side... The 30th century..."

They walk through.

They find themselves looking at a large city before them. The buildings are made of crystal and glass. The moon shines in the sky.

"The moon is so close..." Usagi says. "It's just hanging there."

As they walk forward, the door closes behind them and vanishes.

"This... is the future..." thinks Usagi. "Crystal Tokyo... Such a quiet city."

"This doesn't feel right," Minako says. "It's too quiet. We should look a little closer."

Chibi-Usa holds onto Mamoru's arm, looking at the ground.

They see buildings devastated and torn down. "Everything's ruined..."

A fog surrounds them as they walk further into the city.

"Why aren't there any people?" asks Minako. "Oh my god!" She sees decaying corpses scattered across the ground.

Mamoru looks out and sees a giant black column of stone in a clearing. "A black monument... What is that?"

Chibi-Usa hugs him tightly. "Chibi-Usa!? What's wrong? Is this painful for you?"

"Don't come any closer."

"That voice again..." he thinks. "Who is it?"

"This place looks dangerous," he says.

"What on earth happened here?" asks Minako. "What is this? It just looks like some cluster of rocks..."

"There was an unbelievably huge explosion," Chibi-Usa says. "Afterwards, this was all that was left. In one moment, the flash of light leveled all these buildings. Since then, Crystal Tokyo has been veiled in mist. I don't know why I survived while everyone else... died... As time went by, their bodies deteriorated..."

"Was it the Black Moon that attacked?" asks Usagi.

"I don't know..." she says. "You should meet my mom. Let's go to where she is. To the palace. The Crystal Palace!"

"The Crystal Palace!?"

They approach the large palace before them.

"Lady..."

Chibi-Usa whirls around. "Diana!?"

She sees nothing behind her.

"Chibi-Usa?" calls Usagi.

They disappear outside the crystal wall, and reappear inside.

"Are we inside the palace now?" Minako says. The vast room is completely empty. "There's nothing here."

"No," says Chibi-Usa. "This isn't the Crystal Palace."

"How did we get in here? There's no entrance."

"Glad to see you've come," call two voices together. "We are the Boule Brothers of the Black Moon. Chiral and Achiral!"

They look up and see the two men standing on the crystal floor. "The Black Moon!"

"It is such an honor to meet the Rabbit and the soldier of legend, Sailor Moon," says Chiral.

Three images of Achiral appear. "Allow me to welcome you, ladies."

"He multiplied!?"

Electricity shoots through the air at the four.

"Hahaha! My electric attack will create a wall around you! Nothing will be able to cut through it!"

Usagi draws out her moon rod. "Black Moon! I can't let you destroy us in this place! Moon Princess Halation!"

The end of her rod glows dully. Nothing happens.

"My rod!! The halation didn't happen!?"

Crystal begins to rise off the floor around them, making a wall.

"Heh heh," says Chiral. "This has a magnetic field that prevents your power."

"It will trap you here," says Achiral. "You'll never be able to escape."

Esmeraude appears in the air. "So you've cornered them... In this lovely monument. These people from the past are no match for the power of the Evil Black Crystal. Behind me is the real palace. It was blown away."

"That's a lie!" yells Chibi-Usa. "My mom's inside the palace! It can't be destroyed. And you can't defeat us!"

"You're sure a brat," Esmeraude says. She raises the crystal barrier higher around them. "Such a sad end... Chiral and Achiral will make a chemical reaction causing an explosion, and you'll all be blown to bits."

Mamoru hears the voice in his head.

"Listen! It's not real crystal! Break it!"

He raises his arms and smashes through the crystal.

"Get down!"

He grabs the others and drops to the floor. "Get down!"

The crystal barrier explodes around them.

"No!" says Chiral. "It didn't work right!"

"Now!" yells Minako. She stands up and swings the chain from her waist. "Venus Love-Me Chain!"

"Tuxedo La Smoking Bomber!"

The attacks shoot at Chiral and Achiral, and they're destroyed in a burst of light. Esmeraude leaves.

Mamoru looks back. "The voice..." he thinks. "Who is it? Who's palace is this? Who are we here to save?"

They see a large palace standing before them. "The crystal towers..."

"Is this the Crystal Palace?" asks Minako.

Chibi-Usa runs to the front of the palace, where a large door appears. They walk inside.

The rooms are constructed entirely of crystal. Pillars line the spacious halls they pass through.

Luna pauses. "The Crystal Palace...!"

"Luna?" calls Artemis.

They enter a smaller room, set off by an ornate curtain. A stone table is in the center, with a crystal chamber set on top.

They stop abruptly as they see it.

Usagi stares inside at the unconscious woman with two long ponytails flowing from balls of hair. She lies in a white dress. She looks just like Usagi.

"Chibi-Usa..." mumbles Usagi. "Inside that crystal... Who is that?"

"It's Neo-Queen Selenity."

Chibi-Usa hears a meow behind her. She turns and sees a small gray kitten. "Diana!?" She runs to the cat and picks it up. "Diana! You're alive!"

The cat jumps from her arms and runs over to the curtain. "Diana?"

A gloved hand scratches under the cat's chin. A man steps out from behind the curtain. A mask covers his eyes below his short dark hair. He wears a formal suit with a cape. A star-shaped watch dangles low from his neck.

Usagi and Mamoru stare at him, shocked.

"Tuxedo Kamen!?"

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