Act 24 - Infinity 1: Presentiment

Originally appeared in Nakayoshi, March supplement, 1994.
Translated by Kurozuki (manga@kurozuki.com). Version 1.01, 8.96.

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

"The light awakens. The light that will lead us, the Omega Area, to the ruin of the sacred land... I can see another light. A starlight... The brightness of a planet's protection. Filled with the same power as our old world. We, the Omega Area, can draw everyone into that huge aura. Inside the brightness of the planet's protection, I can feel the source of our life in the Taioron Crystal. But, this sacred land is ours. Here we will build the new world. No one will stop us. Extinguish the needless light. Eliminate the alien beings."

"I understand," the woman says. "Master Pharaoh 90."

"Awaken the light that will lead to ruin!"

"Awaken. Awaken. The me inside myself. The time is coming. The three talismans of the guiding light. The beginning of the ruin."

Rei's eyes pop open.

Mamoru sits up in bed. "What was that? That dream...!?"

Rei sits before her fire. "What is it? The fire oracle... It's blinding. What's that light?"

"The sound of a bell? Oh, this is probably... The bell of the wedding ceremony, for me and Mamo-chan!"

The bell rings louder. Faster. Usagi jumps up as she sees her alarm clock.

"Usagi!" her mom calls. "It's after eight!"

She gets dressed and runs downstairs. "Why didn't you wake me!?" She flies out the door.

"Hmph," her mom says. "Each and every morning. I wonder why that girl's like that."

"Really, Ikuko-mama," Chibi-Usa says. "She's still such a child."

She watches the news on TV. "Now the next story," the reporter says. "Yesterday in Minato Ward's S Park, a strange monster appeared. It was said to have attacked the private Infinity School. Eyewitnesses said the girls of that school suddenly changed into monsters. The witnesses stated that it was like atavism."

"What's 'atavism', Kenji-papa?" Chibi-Usa asks.

"You know the ancestors of mankind, with bodies like gorillas. It's when people return to that. I wonder if those are really monsters... Scary."

"Atavism... People into monsters."

"Bye-bye Kenji-papa!" Chibi-Usa calls as she leaves.

"I'm sorrrrrry, Mamo-chaaaaan!"

"You're late, Usa," he says. "I thought we were going to go."

"Mamo-chan called me 'Usa'..." she thinks. "That's not like him..."

She grabs onto his arm. "Mamo-chan! I'm sorry I was late. Starting tomorrow, I'll never be late again, okay? How about a good morning kiss?" She closes her eyes and approaches him.

"Morning, Mamo-chan!" calls Chibi-Usa. She runs up, and wraps her arms around him.

Usagi steams.

"Good morning, Mamoru-sama," says the gray kitten.

"Hey Diana." He picks her up. "Call me Mamo-chan. Morning."

"Okay, okay," Diana says. "Ma- Mamo-chan."

"Ohh..." says Chibi-Usa. "You're only holding Diana! That's not fair!"

"If you become a cat, I'll hold you," Mamoru says.

"Hmph," Usagi mutters. "This was the time for our precious morning rendezvous..."

"Oh, that's right," says Chibi-Usa. She takes out a box. "Usagi! You forgot your lunch. And you should have eaten breakfast when you got up. Breakfast is where you get energy for the day!"

"Chibi-Usa," says Mamoru. "You know a lot."

"Ehehe!"

"Jeez!" Usagi thinks. "What an impudent brat! She really came from the future. She's me and Mamo-chan's child. She came to the past from the 30th century to train to be a sailor soldier. She lives in my house."

"Chibi-Usa-chan!" calls a young girl.

"Momo-chan!" Chibi-Usa says. She waves to the others and runs off with Momoko. "Bye!"

"Averting the Black Moon's future Earth..." Usagi thinks. "That violent battle... Seems far off, in a dream. For me, Tsukino Usagi, the days are peaceful."

She holds onto Mamoru, and looks up at him. He looks into her eyes and kisses her.

"Awaken. The beginning of the ruin."

Mamoru pulls back.

"Mamo-chan?"

"No, it's nothing."

"One moment I'm happy," Usagi thinks. "The next I'm filled with anxiety. This happiness won't last long. I'm worried. There's nothing I can do. But... It's fate. I can overcome whatever happens. That's the mission I carry on my shoulders. That's my ordeal."

A woman with shoulder-length green hair climbs out of the swimming pool on the top floor of the skyscraper. A helicopter hovers outside the window. She picks up the phone.

"Kaiou Maru? Morning. If I don't go to meet him now, I'll be late." She sets the phone down. "The sea is rough today."

A car pulls up at the side of the race track. A man with short blond hair steps out. A huge crowd cheers from the stands.

"Haruka!" another person says. "You took that straight course full throttle!"

"This machine's the best," the man says. "I'd like to drive it some more."

"No! You need to get used to it. You should take five thousand laps, or you'll wreck it!"

Two people watch them from a distance. "That guy's really popular," says one.

"You don't know him?" says the other. "That's Ten'ou Haruka! He's famous in Japan for being a brilliant young racer!" Two helicopters fly overhead. "That's Haruka's plane, the Ten'ou Maru, and his sweetheart's plane, the Kaiou Maru."

Haruka picks up a phone. "Hello? Michiru? You're late." He looks at the sky. "The wind is raging today."

Haruka and Michiru leave the track.

"Hey! Is that Kaiou Michiru!? She's a violinist!"

"She really keeps company with Haruka!? That's a shock! But they're a perfect couple."

"They go to the same school together."

"Oh, they go to the Infinity School!"

"Hello!"

"Welcome!" Motoki says. "Usagi-chan, Naru-chan."

"You're late!" Ami says, smiling. "While I've been waiting for you, I read three books!"

"I was thinking you were out goofing off," says Rei.

Minako sits in a racing game. "Hey!" she calls. "We've been waiting, Usagi!"

"Hurry, hurry," Makoto says. "This game's great!"

"What? 'Battle Lapp'? Are you all racing fans?"

They sit Usagi in the chair and put a helmet on her head. "Your body feels like you're actually racing! Here's the helmet. Step on the clutch and start the engine."

She starts the game car. "Wow! The engine sounds so realistic!"

"Here's the gearshift. It's got five gears to use."

"Wow! It's like I'm really driving a car! It's scary! I'm getting dizzy."

"Accelerate more and you'll do the laps faster."

"Huh?" thinks Naru. "Who's that?" She sees Haruka playing the same racing game nearby. "Wow! He caught up to her right away! How fast is he going? 300 km!? Usagi! Watch out!"

"What!?"

Her car crashes.

Naru runs to Usagi. "Usagi! Are you okay!?"

"The crashes are realistic, too..." Usagi says.

A crowd gathers around Haruka. "Amazing! Look at his time!"

"How fast is he going now?"

"400 km!?"

Usagi yanks her helmet off. "This feels bad! The helmet's heavy!"

"Usagi, you were going fast," says Naru.

"With the helmet on," says Usagi, "I couldn't feel how fast I was going."

Haruka gets up and takes off his helmet. "Hey," he says. "Thinking like that is a quality of a racer."

Minako and Makoto stare at him. "Oh! He's cute!"

-

Mamoru walks down the street, approaching the Crown Game Center. He bumps into Michiru, who is standing outside. A hand mirror drops to the ground.

"Oh," Mamoru says. "Excuse me."

Their hands touch as they both reach to pick it up.

Michiru looks at his reflection in the mirror. "The color of your eyes is very noble. Perhaps you were a prince in a previous life."

Mamoru's eyes widen. "How do you know that?" he asks.

"This mirror reflects previous lives."

Haruka sees the two standing outside. He slaps Usagi on the back. "Let's race again, odango atama." He leaves the game center.

"I'm sorry," Michiru says to Mamoru. "That was a strange thing to say. Don't think badly of me. Goodbye." She walks away with Haruka.

"I haven't seen that uniform around here," Mamoru thinks. "She was beautiful, but I couldn't read her face."

-

"So you've made another friend," Michiru says.

"Jealous?" asks Haruka. "Odango atama. She's still a kid, and she's cute."

-

"Hey, hey! Usagi!" Naru calls. "That cool guy! He's a celebrity! I've seen him somewhere before. He was wearing an Infinity School uniform!"

"Infinity School?" asks Usagi.

"Yeah, don't you know?" says Umino. "It's in the business district delta reclaimed from Tokyo Bay. It's a newly-established private school inside the Infinity district."

"The Infinity School is for talent, Olympic athletes, and musicians," says Naru. "Since all these amazing people go there, it's called a genius school. It's famous now."

Naru picks up a magazine. "Hey look! I thought I'd seen him before! That guy from before is a racer. Ten'ou Haruka!"

Usagi looks at the picture. "Wow! A real racer!"

"He transferred to Infinity from Juuban Municipal High School."

"Maybe he comes to the Juuban shopping district!" thinks Minako.

Two girls walk by.

"Hey! Some Infinity School kids! Their girls' uniforms are cute!"

The heart-shaped brooch on Usagi's chest flashes. "My brooch...!?"

"Usagi?" says Naru.

One of the Infinity girls doubles over, and a black monster comes out from her back. Usagi and the others gasp.

"An enemy!?"

"I've got Naru-chan and Umino!" Mamoru calls. He takes them away.

"Somebody help!!" the girl calls.

"Everyone!" Minako says. "Transform!"

"Moon Cosmic Power!"

"Venus Planet Power!"

"Mars Planet Power!"

"Jupiter Planet Power!"

"Mercury Planet Power!"

"Make Up!!"

"For love and justice," Usagi calls, "we are the sailor soldiers! We will fight you!"

"You're trying to cause trouble!"

"Venus Wink Chain Sword!"

"Jupiter Coconut Cyclone!"

The monster is destroyed. The girl falls to the ground, as the part attached to her fades away.

"It separated from a human!?"

"Hurry!" Makoto says. "Call for first aid!"

Haruka and Michiru watch from a distance.

"Someone's eyes..." thinks Minako. "Is the monster still...!?" She turns around. "No one's there!?"

"Mina?" says Rei.

"The instant when that girl changed into a monster..." Usagi thinks. "My brooch... The Mystical Silver Crystal reacted?"

A faint light glows around Haruka and Michiru.

Luna watches the monster on a monitor in the command center. "That being was attacking that girl... Atavism..."

"Luna?" asks Artemis.

"Did you see the news this morning?" Luna says. "It was about people being attacked by those changed to monsters, through atavism. I think they were Infinity School students too."

"Enemies..." thinks Usagi.

"Smells fishy..." says Ami. "The Infinity School and atavism."

"We should go to investigate that place," says Minako.

"I'm hoooome!"

"You're late, Usagi," says her mom.

"I was eating dinner with everyone at Mako-chan's. It was great!"

Chibi-Usa is talking on the phone. "Okay then, Mamo-chan. See you tomorrow."

Usagi picks her up. "Hey, did you call Mamo-chan? What did you want with him?"

Chibi-Usa sticks out her tongue. "It's a secret!"

"Why you little..!!"

"Cut it out, you two!" her mom yells. "Chibi-Usa-chan is going to the amusement park tomorrow with her friends. I can't watch them. Wouldn't it be dangerous for kids to be alone!? Lots of weird things are going on."

"I'm going to Infinity C Park with Mamo-chan!" Chibi-Usa says. "We're going to ride a roller coaster over the sea!"

"What!?" Usagi cries. "The new amusement park!? That's not faiiiiir!" She grabs the phone.

"Ikuko-mama pushed so hard, I couldn't turn her down," Mamoru says.

"Then I'm going too!" says Usagi.

"Weren't you going to go scout the Infinity School tomorrow?" he asks.

Usagi moans and starts whining loudly.

Mamoru plugs his ear. "Usa!" he says. "The new park is Infinity C Park. It's in the Delta."

"Huh!?"

"That's where the Infinity School is. On Infinity Bank. The park is right next to the Infinity School. You can contact me with your communicator if anything happens."

Luna and Artemis look at a map on the monitor. A triangular park is highlighted.

"The Delta. In the center on the project recovering from Tokyo Bay. It's an equilateral triangle with three parts. The parts are called the Ten'ou zone, the Kaiou zone, and the Meiou zone."

"Office buildings lined in rows have been built in the city. The center of the Delta is called the Infinity zone. That's the location of the Infinity School."

"It seems the daimons have failed," the woman says. "That's regrettable. Things are not going very well. But we will find the true form of the outsiders. The sailor soldiers... They who carry the protection of planets... The defenders of this planet. You have been given a new mission. Eliminate the troublesome outsiders. I don't care if you use the daimons. You may earn the right to be able to contact our master, Pharaoh 90, and take the benefits of the Taioron Crystal. You may gain the position of Magus, like myself."

The five women before her gasp. "Magus!" they think. "The position to contact the Master, and use the benefits of the source of life, the Taioron Crystal!"

"Then locate the vessels and the souls for the our survival!" she says.

The five women kneel before her. "Magus Kaolinite," they say. "We, the Witches 5, will accomplish this for you."

The skyscraper looms before them.

"So this is the Infinity School," Rei says. "I feel an aura. The power of a strong aura is pervading it."

"The density of the building space isn't correct," says Ami. "It's warped."

"This isn't an ordinary building wind," says Makoto. "It's disturbed. A storm is coming."

Minako whirls around.

"Mina!?"

"Again..." she thinks. "Someone's eyes...!?"

A figure behind a tree watches them from a distance.

"Wooooooooaaaaahhhhhhh!"

Chibi-Usa and Momoko ride on the roller coaster.

Mamoru and Asanuma sit at a table with the other kids.

"Aren't you going to ride it, Mamoru-senpai?" Asanuma asks.

"No, I really don't go for that kind of thing."

"Chibi-Usa must be crazy to ride that roller coaster twice!" says Kyusuke.

"Are you all in Chibi-Usa's class too?" asks Mamoru.

"Yeah!" the kids say.

"Why don't you get me some more juice," he says.

As she rides the roller coaster, Chibi-Usa's hat flies off into the sky.

"Oh no!" she says.

She and Momoko get off. "Momo-chan, I'm going to go get my hat!" she says.

"Then I'll go too!" says Momoko.

"I saw where it landed, it's okay! I'll be back right away!"

Momoko joins the others.

"Huh!? Momo-chan?" Mamoru says. "Where's Chibi-Usa?"

"Mamo-chan..."

"She left the park to get her hat!?" he says. "Damnit..." He runs off.

-

"I thought it was around here," Chibi-Usa says. She looks up at the skyscraper nearby. "Oh! The other side of the building!"

"The Infinity School. A kindergarten class, an elementary class, a junior high class, a high school class, a college, and a graduate class. It's a complete education in one school. The owner of the Infinity zone where the school stands is the school management. It looks like various other institutions also run it."

"Guards at the entrance..." Makoto says. "They have the most advanced security system. What should we do?"

"I'll get inside!" Usagi says. "I'll beat it."

"Usagi?" asks Minako.

Usagi takes out her pen. "Moon Power! Transform me into an Infinity School student!" She appears in an Infinity uniform and glasses.

"Usagi!?"

"Stay here while I take a look inside!" Usagi calls as she goes in.

"But Usagi..."

"I wonder if she'll be okay."

"I don't know... Oh, Usagi..."

Usagi enters the magnificent building.

"Wow..." she says. "It is private... A school with sixty floors. I don't believe it."

She stops as music fills the air.

The other four girls look around.

"Such... a beautiful tone..."

Chibi-Usa and Mamoru look around.

"A violin?"

They all begin walking toward the sound.

"It's outstanding..." Usagi thinks. "Who is it? Who's playing?" She peeks from behind a bush, and sees Michiru standing, playing a violin. "The tune is sweet... Like waves..."

Michiru looks up at Usagi.

-

The others stop walking. "It stopped."

"That look!?" Minako thinks. She whips around and sees Haruka running toward them.

-

"You don't know what fear is," Michiru says to Usagi. "Coming to a place like this. It's dangerous. Someday your body will die."

-

"You shouldn't stick your neck out," says Haruka. "You can return safely now, but if you interrupt us, I will not pardon you."

-

"What are you doing there!?" a student calls. "Tell me what class you're in!"

"Busted!" Usagi thinks. She runs away.

"Wait!" the student calls.

"Her eyes were piercing," Usagi thinks of Michiru. "The pupils were dark and cold. It chilled me to the bone. Could she be... An enemy!?" She turns a corner. "The backside of the building!? I have to get back to the others!"

-

"Oh!" Chibi-Usa says. She picks up her hat. "Great. The hat I bought for Ikuko-mama." She sees a high-tech building, with a sign in front written in kanji. "Oh, can I read that?" she thinks. "...research labs?"

[The complete sign reads 'Tomoe Research Labs'.]

She sees a girl sitting on the ground near the entrance, coughing.

-

"Chibi-Usaaaaa?" Mamoru calls. "Where did she go? I have to find her soon."

-

Chibi-Usa touches the girl's shoulder. "Hey, are you okay?"

The girl pushes her away. "I always have these fits," she says. "It'll pass in a minute. Go away. This area is off-limits."

Usagi comes around a corner and sees them. "Chibi-Usa!?"

"Usagi!?"

"What are you doing!?" Usagi says. "Here by yourself. It's dangerous!"

"I lost the hat I bought for Ikuko-mama," says Chibi-Usa. "Then this girl... looked like she was in pain. But I guess she's fine."

"An Infinity School uniform..." Usagi thinks.

A black mass starts to appear.

Usagi and Chibi-Usa's brooches flash.

"The Mystical Silver Crystal is reacting!?"

A large monster grows out and swoops down at Chibi-Usa.

"Atavism!?" Usagi thinks. "Chibi-Usa!?" she calls. Chibi-Usa!! Watch out!!"

Two figures shadowed by the moonlight stand in the distance.

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