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Dream vs Duty

It has been a few years since the senshi battled Galaxia, their final and strongest enemy. Ever since, they've been leading normal lives. They are now on their college years, enjoying being normal girls and even achieving their dreams.

But lately, strange things are starting to happen again in Tokyo. Strange, familiar things. Due to having gone their separate ways in an attempt to achieve their own dreams, the girls haven't been as close as they used to be. They go to different schools now and live their own lives. But now each of them is starting to notice that a new threat might be coming into town, and they dread what it means. Can they fight as senshi again, all these years later, after they have finally gotten their dreams and the normal, peaceful life they've always wanted? Although maybe it will be nice to reunite with their old friends again...

Sailor Moon had once dispersed Chaos back to all corners of the universe, and while it took time, he eventually reformed. They all knew this day would happen, but they never imagined the threat would re-emerge so soon. After being defeated, Chaos had bidden his time until he could regain full strength. This took thousands of years. But instead of attacking the planet's protectors at the time he completely reformed, he chose to go back to the past instead, to a crucial time when the senshi were so close to being divided rather than united. A crucial time that was also the point that would make or break the future of Crystal Tokyo. After suffering for thousands of years, there was no way he would let them have their utopia for just as long. No, he intends to eradicate it before it can even begin.

Manifesting and choosing to take the soldiers on himself now instead of using others, he appears as a villain calling himself Zeolite. The senshi will not know his true identity before he chooses to reveal it. Using his newfound power - power that is even greater than before - Chaos travels to the past, to a time just before Crystal Tokyo comes into power. He creates minions; monsters of all types to wreak havoc in Tokyo, intending to bring about destruction and kill all the senshi. But his number one target? The future Neo Queen Serenity, the world's last hope.

Character Claims:

Ami Mizuno/Sailor Mercury - [Played by Miss Moon Rose]
Rei Hino/Sailor Mars - [Played by Sailor Pluto]
Makoto Kino/Sailor Jupiter - [Played by Addelyn]
Minako Aino/Sailor Venus - [Played by Sailor Mercury]
Usagi Tsukino/Sailor Moon - [Played by Sailor Selene]
Mamoru Chiba/Tuxedo Mask - [Open]
Hachiro/Sailor Earth & Villains - [Played by Guardian-of-Earth]

Haruka Tenoh/Sailor Uranus - [Played by Addelyn]
Michiru Kaioh/Sailor Neptune - [Played by Miss Moon Rose]
Hotaru Tomoe/Sailor Saturn - [Open]
Setsuna Meioh/Sailor Pluto - [Played by Sailor Seren]

Minako never tired of seeing her name written on billboards and magazine covers. She never got bored of seeing her own face blown up to gigantic sizes, posing in a dozen different ways, always smiling and winking and giving her trademark victory sign to any passersby who happened to look. And how could they not look? She was big. Huge. Both literally and metaphorically. It was all she had ever wanted. Fame, fortune, and eternal stardom. It was surreal to think that it finally came true.

Sure, once, she had been big too. Sailor V used to grace the front page of the news as well as occasionally appearing on television as well, even if what little recordings of her used to be just a glimpse here or a flash there. Some days they mistook other blondes for her. (Especially when Sailor Moon first appeared. They confused her with Usagi a lot.) But back then nobody knew who Sailor V was. Nobody could interview her or ask for her opinion on things or how she managed to always look good while kicking butt. And Minako had always wished they could. There had been too many times when she was so tempted to unmask herself, especially when a civilian happened to witness her in action and started swooning. Calling her name and begging for an autograph. It took every ounce of her willpower to fight her natural instincts and walk away—disappear into the night. From her fans.

That was cruel. A cruel necessity, yet one that Minako had followed through until the end because that was how devoted she was to her duty. But now it was over. The fights and battles were done. World peace had been restored, seemingly for good. The henshin rod had been kept away. And Minako’s true potential had finally been unleashed to the world that had been waiting for it far too long.

Her personal driver—yes, she had one of those now! Because what was the point of being a diva without one?—dropped her on her apartment (finally got out of her parents’ house, thank goodness) and Minako skipped out with the satisfaction of another day’s job well done. So maybe she didn’t end up going to university. Her family thought she was going to be a failure because she chose not to pursue a higher education. They thought her foolish for thinking she could make it as a star. Even Ami looked concerned for a while there when Minako announced she wasn't going to college, but in the end, this was what she was meant to do. She had a full-time job that she loved and she was making tons of money. Life couldn’t be more perfect.

As she went into the elevator, she ran into a group of girls who immediately squealed and asked for autographs and pictures. Minako generously obliged, though when they asked if she lived in the building, she just gave them a mysterious smile. She needed to set boundaries after all; even Minako wanted peaceful days every once in a while. When she stepped into her quiet apartment, she heaved a long breath and dropped her keys on the table. It was exhausting sometimes, but totally worth it. Not every girl got to live their dream, and there was a time when Minako thought she was meant for more important things too. She had already quietly tucked away her personal ambitions, thinking the world needed her, and yet here she was given that chance anyway.

Maybe it was a reward for everything she had sacrificed. For dying so many times for the greater good. Thoughts of her past swirled in her mind, and she always felt like they belonged from a different life. She supposed she had been reborn again when Usagi brought her back after the fight with Galaxia, and this time, she was finally done fighting. As Minako walked toward her kitchen, she passed the bookshelf where she had propped up a picture of her and her friends. She paused involuntarily, memories of those days flooding back instantly. Lifting her hand toward the picture, Minako stroke the glass covering it, suddenly assaulted by a wave of nostalgia.

How long had it been since she last saw Usagi and the others? They still tried to keep in touch, of course. But Ami had finally gone abroad to study like she meant to, and Rei occasionally traveled as well in search of spiritual training, so usually Mako and Usagi were the only ones she could reach easily. Even when they were all in Tokyo, sometimes finding a time where all five of them could make it was impossible. Her schedule was so hectic that she had had to miss a couple of chances of being with her friends herself.

They had changed; all of them had. They were still friends, but it wasn’t like it used to be. They didn’t go to the same school, able to see each other every day in classes. They had responsibilities and jobs and couldn’t just drop everything to be with one another anymore. They were each living their dreams. Minako couldn’t be happier for them, as she was happy for herself, but she couldn’t deny that while their duty once seemed terrifying and more than what a teenage girl should bear, it had also been the one thing that united them. That always made sure they were there for each other, forever.

Now they were happier, their future was brighter, and everyone was safe. But they weren’t together. Minako looked around her empty apartment, missing the sounds of their laughter. She told herself this was okay—that people grew up and grew apart sometimes—and sometimes happiness came with a cost. They needed to go their own ways, and they had earned this chance to realize their own dreams. She told herself just because they didn’t hang out all the time anymore didn’t mean they loved each other any less. Their friendship had survived insurmountable things, and mere distance and lack of contact couldn’t break it.

But that still didn’t mean that she didn’t miss them terribly.

Later that night, when the streets were quiet and the skies clear, strange, dark clouds quickly drifted in. The air felt electrified as the sky shook with the sounds of roaring thunder, though it was not raining, nor did the weather predict conditions such as this for tonight. And as the thunder sounded, a strange blue-ish light began to zap through the clouds, lighting up the skies and occasionally zapping nearby traffic lights and any other metallic object that was on the street destroying them. The sounds of screaming could be heard from people on the sidewalks as they quickly ran away from the scene and hid in any nearby building they could find. The lighting shot at a car which was parked directly outside of Minako's apartment building, causing it to explode and several others to sound their sirens. This continued for several more second before the thunder gave one finale roar. It sounded as if the city had been hit with a nuclear missile as, what looked like, a meteor shot straight out from the clouds and headed right for the street and impacted with great force and creating a very large crater that took up the entire width of the street and causing several more cars to explode.
This was no meteor. And as the sounds of the thunder and lighting stopped, people began to come out from their hiding spots to see what happened crashed into the Earth.
Their jaws dropped as they looked at a strange egg shaped metal pod of some sort that was a quarter buried into the ground.
A cloud of air shot out from the front of the pod as it began to move and turn and transform into a door but got stuck. The door was then kicked open as the metal that was stuck shot straight into a wall creating a deep hole in the side of the building. A man then fell out of the pod and to the ground.
Everyone surrounded the pod and stared at the man.
He stood up and looked around. He was very tall, at least 7 feet, and wore what looked like a green Iron Man suit from the future. He directed his attention to one man who had climbed down into the crater to get a better look at the pod.
"What's today's date?" The strange man asked.
"What?" He responded while sounding very scared.
"The date. What is it?" The man asked again in a more serious tone of voice.
"I-it's the 24th... Of February..."
"What year?" He asked, taking a step forward which made everyone around him jump.
"The year...? 2014..." He responded as he fell on his back and tried to make his way out of the crater.
"2014... They should be here also." The man said as he jumped out of the crater and causing everyone to stumble back away several meters.
"I better find her first before they do..." He said to himself, as he reached behind his back and pulled out an assault rifle and ran as quickly away from the pod as he could without caring if anyone saw him. He had more important things to worry about. Things such as the very survival of the human race.

His coughing was getting worse. He always tried to hide it, but Rei knew. She always knew. Despite Grandpa's attempts, the sharp sound carried through the cold night air.  

Rei pushed that thought away, and focused harder into the flames in front of her. They flickered, danced, shifted. Rei never glanced away, never broke her concentration. The heat pulsed at her, though she was unaffected by it. Her clasped hands shook from the tension of her muscles, but she did not let up. She could feel that she was on the edge of something.

There was something to be learned tonight. She just had to find the way.

A loud wheezing cough cut through her concentration like a knife, and the feeling slipped away from her in that split second of worry. Rei frowned at the fire as it continued its eternal dance in front of her.

Well, perhaps a break was for the best.

Getting to her feet, Rei stretched her stiff muscles and slid open the door, letting the night air cool her warm skin. Rei looked up at the sky, her eyes immediately drawn to the moon. Its white beauty captivated her, as it had for many years now. She wondered how her friends were doing right now. It had been so long, too long, since she had seen any of them. They had kept in touch, but in the bare minimal kind of way. Exchanging small phone calls every once was enough to touch base, but there was no real substance to the conversations.

Rei had no idea how Ami was coping with her studies, and she wasn't sure how successful Makoto's business was doing. Was it always busy throughout the day, or were there lulls in the customers? And Minako was becoming more famous every day, but Rei didn't know much else than that. Usagi was still the same Usagi. She was the one Rei heard from the most, as it seemed that Usagi was able to find more time to call everyone up than the rest.

But it wasn't enough. Rei knew she was to blame as well. The last few years she had spent outside of Japan with barely any contact with anyone. Only recently had she come back home.

Another cough, and Rei decided that she was spending too much time thinking about past things. She would make a meeting for all of them to see each other again, and that was all there was to be done about that. Turning away, she went to find a glass of water for her grandpa.

But after two steps, she felt it. Something had just occurred, though she couldn't pinpoint what it was. All she had to go by was this strong sensation, and the direction in which it was coming from.

Frowning, Rei went into the Shrine. First water for Grandpa, then she would investigate.

OOC:

Minako was climbing into her bed when she heard the thunder. A sense of foreboding filled her as she recalled not seeing any stormy weather predictions today. Even when she wasn’t a senshi anymore, old habits die hard. Minako still couldn’t help but pay attention to the news at all hours, trying to look for anything odd or out of place. Artemis once remarked to her that maybe she was looking for trouble when there was none. But then he also gave her that little proud smile he had saved for special occasions, and Minako smiled back.

It didn’t hurt to be vigilant. She was doing it so none of her friends had to. She was being the watchful one so the rest of them could live in peace.

The sound of explosion coming straight from the street in front made Minako jump. No longer relying on baseless suspicions, she ran to her window, poking her head outside. A car was in flames right in front of her apartment. Alarms from the other cars were blaring all over the street. Then something else went boom. The force of it knocked Minako off her feet. She landed roughly across the room, amidst the noises of sirens, screams, and alarms. Struggling to her feet, she suddenly felt cold all over.

It can’t be happening again.

She walked as quickly as she could toward the window again, and found a gigantic hole on the street where before there was none. The last time she saw a crater like this, aliens from outer space had landed and terrorized the city for a good few months. This certainly did not look good. Minako was about to go change and check it out up close when she saw the metal pod. She watched in disbelief when a door materialized on its side, got kicked open, and impacted on the side of another building. Then a man emerged from inside.

He definitely looked like an alien.

As he started talking to the people around him, Minako abandoned all thoughts of even getting out of her pajamas. She grabbed her Crystal Change Rod and jumped out the window, hurrying down the fire escape. She jumped to the ground just when the mysterious man took off with a very big gun. “Hey!” Minako yelled, trying to give chase. Her bare feet however didn’t do so well on the debris littered ground and she still ached all over from the fall earlier. Soon the man had already disappeared, leaving her standing alone in her pajamas in the middle of the street.

She felt people’s stares on her back, and the moment they started murmuring her name in an uncertain way, Minako knew it was time to go. The problem with being a famous person was that she could no longer investigate things easily without attracting attention. Cursing under her breath, she ran back into her apartment, avoiding everyone’s curious gazes.

Back in her room, Minako’s fingers hovered over her phone. Who was she supposed to call? Usagi?

No. She didn’t want to pull Usagi out of her wedding planning bliss until she was absolutely sure this was senshi business. If possible, she’d rather deal with it alone, too, without having to bother Usagi at all.

She ran through the list of the rest of her options. Ami could probably analyze the whole thing with her computer, but Ami was a doctor now and was probably busy saving lives. Again, someone she shouldn’t bother unless she was sure what this even was. Mako was nearby, but she’d probably just suggest chasing down the guy and beating the truth out of him. Also, she wouldn’t be able to keep it a secret from the others.

No, Minako needed someone who could be discreet. Someone she could trust to handle this without causing any alarm to the others. Someone who was used to working alone and keeping secrets. Someone who would understand exactly where she was coming from.

Rei.

She pushed away all her doubts and dialed.

Mako sipped a bottle of water as she stood outside of her future flower shop. After years of hard work, she has finally been able to start her own business. She rented an old flower shop that needed some major TLC. However Mako didn't mind one bit! She loved to work with her hands. Besides she could put her own touch on the place. She sat the bottle of water back on the ground and then picked up a paint brush. She was currently working on repainting the outside of the building a nice spring green.

A hours flew by and she was able to paint the outside all by herself. She wished that someone was here to help her with the renovations. Sadly all her friends were busy with their lives. Mako put the paintbrush back into the paint can and carried it inside the shop. Now that the outside was finished she could focus on the inside. The floors needed new tile, the walls needed a fresh coat of paint, and the water system for the plants was leaking. Mako went to the back room and threw the paint can on the floor in the main office. She sat down on a chair and wondered if she should call someone for help. It wouldn't hurt to try. She pulled out her cell phone and wonder who she should give a call.

Usagi smiled brightly as she walked down the cemented park path, her hand entwined with Mamoru's. She was so happy! The sun was shinning, the sky was bright blue, the park was full of brightly colored flowers, and she was with the love of her life.

"I need to find a dress!" Exclaimed Usagi. "But not just any dress, the perfect dress!!! Pink and glittery...and a bow! Or maybe something more traditional and white. Oh, and we have to pick a cake! A glorious delicious cake!!!"

"You can have whatever you want." Chuckled Mamoru. He was very happy about their engagement and hearing how excited Usagi was/has been. Sure, it got annoying sometimes listening to wedding plans over and over again, but! She was happy and that's all that mattered to him.

"Oh, Mamoru! You're so sweet!!!" Usagi still couldn't believe that he had finally proposed! He was the man of her dreams and she couldn't wait for the day where they get to say 'I do' and live happily ever after. Usagi just wished that her friends could be there as well.

They had all kind of lost contact over the years. With everyone having jobs and lives, they weren't really around each other anymore. When they were back in the same school and fighting side by side the vanquish all evils, it had been simple and easy to interact...to maintain friendships. Now, Ami was studying to be a doctor, Mako owns a bakery and flower shop, Mina is a famous pop star, and Rei was....well doing whatever her heart desired at the moment.

"I just had a brilliant idea!" Exclaimed Usagi suddenly, causing Mamoru to stop in his tracks. "What if we asked Mako to do our wedding cake and flowers and asked Mina to sing at our wedding?!"

"That sounds wonderful, Dumpling Head." Mamoru responded.

"I love when you call me that!" Usagi stood on her tiptoes and gave him a kiss before grabbing hold of his hand again and continuing their walk, talking about wedding plans all the way.

As the rest of the city and news were buzzing with stories of a strange object crashing to earth the mysterious man continued his search for the future ruler of earth. Of course he was using his advanced cloaking technology installed in his armor so he could not be detected.

He made his way to a small park and hid in some bushes and began scanning the area for his target. "Where is she... Historical records said that she still lived in this area." He said to himself as his scanner began to beep as he focused in on Usagi. "Finally." He said with a sigh of relief. "Doesn't look like they've found her yet. Now to keep them away." He said as he continued to follow Usagi and Mamoru undetected.
"I sorta feel bad. She's finally living the peaceful life she deserves. Hopefully I won't have to show myself and deal with this without her knowing."

It had taken longer to get Grandpa settled in to his bed comfortably. Rei left his room, but she hovered by the door, listening for any signs of the cough coming back. They both knew that she was there, that Grandpa's sense of privacy was only an illusion, but that illusion was all that mattered.

This way, Grandpa could pretend that he was still perfectly fine and that nothing had changed. He would always hang on to the damnable pride.

It worried Rei however. If Grandpa was letting her see this much, just how much more was he stubbornly hiding away from her?

Rei glared at him through the wall, as payment for hiding such important things, but the glare quickly slipped away, leaving only a worried frown in its wake.

She would just need to be more vigilant in helping him, that was all. He would be fine. Grandpa had always said that he would outlive them all. Rei wanted to believe him, with every ounce of her being.

And yet, every time Rei would remember those visions of the crystalline future, she never sensed her grandfather's presence.

Rei clenched her fist. That didn't mean anything! Her visions had left information out before. They had even been outright wrong at times. Surely they could be wrong about this too?

A sound from the room caught Rei's attention, but it was just a mumbled phrase, something about a pretty lady. Rei rolled her eyes, but didn't fight the smile that came to her lips.

Some things didn't change, at least.

After peeking into his room once more to make sure he was truly okay, Rei walked back to her own room. Exhaustion tugged at her, but she still needed to go and investigate that strange sensation from earlier.

It had gone away almost completely. Only a small glimmer remained, but that glimmer was still enough to put all of Rei's senses on edge. It was surely nothing. It didn't matter that the glimmer on her senses would make it nearly impossible to pinpoint the exact location. She still had to check.

It had to be nothing.

Rei's room was dark, but the moon cast enough light that it was unnecessary to turn on a lamp. She walked over to her closet and quickly changed into something more suited to a late night air.

She pulled out her Crystal Change Rod then, the red orb catching the light of the moon, making it seem to shimmer. It had been so long since she had used it, and yet it still emanated pure power, warm in her hand. As if it called for her.

Her phone rang, startling Rei out of her own thoughts. But even as she went to reach for the cellphone, Rei knew it would be.

Flipping the phone open, Rei answered the call. "Minako?"

It felt comforting to hear Rei’s familiar voice, the way she sounded like she already knew what Minako was calling about even if she hadn’t said anything yet. How much had Rei’s sixth sense told her already? Minako doubted what just happened in front of her apartment had made it into breaking news already, but it would happen any second now.

“Rei. Something just happened right outside,” she said immediately. There was no time for pleasantries. Of all her friends, Rei would understand this best as well. Minako swallowed, considering her words carefully. “Something… landed from the sky. The impact… it created a huge crater. Took out the entire street. I wouldn’t be surprised if you could hear it from across town, but anyway. Just in case you didn’t. Also, someone emerged from the thing that landed. It’s all… very alien-like.”

Minako bit her lip, wondering if she sounded crazy. She certainly felt like it, standing in the middle of her room, barefooted and leaving trails of dirt all over her pristine floor from her early excursion, her hair a total mess and clutching the phone like a madwoman. But one look outside her window confirmed that what she’d seen wasn’t just a dream. Even now police sirens were filling the air and their cars had begun lining up around the crater.

“It reminded me of when Ail and An arrived. It could be another alien. Or it could be something else. I tried to chase him, but he was too quick. As far as I could see, he’s alone, but he looks to be very strong and fast. He could be…” She paused, reluctant to say the words but knew she had to. “A new enemy.”

Five years. Five long peaceful years of peace they had gotten to enjoy, and apparently it was long enough. Minako had always wondered when it would start again, because out of everyone else, she was the one who didn’t believe it had stopped for good. But when the years went by without so much as a minor disturbance, she realized she had started wanting to believe.

Believe that their battle was over. Crystal Tokyo was meant to come anytime now, though, and she wondered if this was it. Was this how it started? Was this how the world would be destroyed?

She still didn’t fully understand what calamity had befallen the earth, how Usagi would be able to save it, and how long people would fall into that long slumber. How would everyone reawaken? These were questions that scared her, the ones that haunted her thoughts at night.

Minako knew there was no way to stop the future, but she would not be who she was if she didn’t try.

“I don’t want to alarm the others yet until we know more. Have you had any feelings or visions at all about this?” she asked finally, hoping fiercely that Rei would have more clue about this than she did.

As Usagi and Mamoru continued their stroll through the park, Usagi saw something coming up in the distance. As they got closer she could finally make out what kind of building it was.

"ICE CREAM!!!!" Shouted Usagi excitedly. "Can we get some? Please please please please pleeeeasssee!?!" The small shop was painted white, mint green, and pink with what looked like chocolate ice-cream scooped on top.

"Of course we can." Mamoru couldn't help, but smile at his fiancé, she was just so cute when she got excited over anything; let alone if it was about food. Usagi jumped up and down and took off running towards the shop. He chuckled as he watched her take off before running down the path after her.

OOC:

The man continued to follow quietly after the two lovers, once in a while he would accidentally step on a branch and break it or step on an animals tail and cause it to screech, his invisibility equipment was fairly outdated, he never got the chance to upgrade it, so it was difficult to move around since he couldn't detect where his feet were moving to.

The mans crouched behind a tree and used a scanner inside his helmet and began taking a scan of Usagi while at the same time keeping his distance.
Beep, went his scanner as it confirmed what he was scanning for. He shook his head in disbelief. "No. That can't be right." He mumbled to himself as he scanned again.
"There's no way that... That little girl could be the future Neo Queen Serenity..." The man was shocked at how childish Usagi was acting over something like ice cream. All throughout his military career he had heard stories of how brave and mighty Sailor Moon was, a couple of them he had heard from the Queen herself.
"She lied to me..." The man said as he remembered those stories.

The background noise of a hospital had become such a constant in Ami’s life these days that they had become a comforting soundtrack for her as she went about her days. The quiet chatter, the soft footsteps, the occasional steady beep-beep-beeps from patient rooms… most days, the place felt peaceful. Most people did not like hospitals because it reminded them of sickness, death, and decay. For Ami, it was her home now, and with each patient whose life she saved, her purpose in the world became reaffirmed. Of course she couldn’t save everyone. She’d lost some too, and no matter how many times it had happened, the loss still hit her hard every time.

Sometimes it hit so hard she started thinking of herself as a failure and that she couldn’t bear it anymore. In those days she reached out to her friends. They were the only ones who could bring her back from the dark place without fail. Usagi’s warmth was healing as always. Ami found it difficult to talk to Usagi about death, because Usagi was the one person who had never given up on anyone. She always defied limits and rules and boundaries and managed to conjure up enough magic out of nowhere to save the world every time. Ami didn’t have that, and yet Usagi’s faith in her never wavered. It made admitting that she had failed someone doubly worse. But even in those times, Usagi didn’t see her as a failure. She simply listened, sometimes not saying at all, not judging—never judging—and then it was like Ami could feel her love pouring into her even from miles away.

Ami might be the doctor, but Usagi was the best healer she knew.

Then there was Makoto’s steady support. Mako felt the loss of each person as deeply as Ami did, despite the fact that she never knew any of them. But Mako was someone Ami knew she could have good cry with and then provide comfort food right afterwards. There were days when Ami just showed up in Mako’s doorway sometimes without a heads up, and Mako was always there, always ready to receive her, like the dependable friend she was. Being with Mako made it impossible for Ami to be sad anymore.

Rei offered a quieter understanding. There was no grand gesture of support or comfort; just little things that Ami knew meant as much. Sometimes when Ami told her about a patient’s death, Rei would just invite her to have tea together, and they would sit in the silence and not talk about it and it would not be at all uncomfortable. By the end of it, Ami would feel much better, and that was without having to say a word.

Sometimes being with Rei was the easiest.

Ami didn’t like bothering Minako with her sad stories. To the girl who was the epitome of light, Ami hid her grief, though that didn’t mean that Minako didn’t see it.

She saw it easily every single time. And she never mentioned it.

It was precisely the thing Ami needed from Minako.


Leaving a patient’s room after checking to make sure the vitals were still strong, Ami closed the door behind her and walked to the nurse’s station. She was used to working late, and sometimes she completely lost track of time—realizing days had passed without her notice. She didn’t quite know what time it was now, but her attention was soon drawn to the television playing softly in the waiting room.

A mysterious object had hit earth last night, the news was saying. The camera showed a huge crater that was the point of impact, and Ami instantly felt a chill. Wasn’t that Minako’s street? What was going on?

The news went on to say that the pod that had been left behind seemed to be out of this world. The scientists couldn’t figure out where it might have come from, and some people speculated it might have been from outer space. Rumors of an alien invasion were spreading like wildfire and people were panicking.

Ami’s heart started to beat erratically. It had been so long since something like this happened in Tokyo. She didn’t think twice before she went into her office and picked up her phone.

It had been an unspoken agreement between Ami and her friends for the past few years not to bother Usagi with potential new attacks unless it was absolutely necessary. She thought about Rei, who was her first instinct to call. Then Minako, who would no doubt be all over this already.

But she called Mako instead. It had been so long since Ami was Sailor Mercury, and right now she needed Mako’s strength to summon that part of her again. Rei and Minako would expect her to hit the ground running with this new threat, but Ami wasn’t ready.

So she dialed Mako’s number, hoping her friend would be there like she’d always been.

Mako literately jumped to her feet when her phone rang. She was not expecting her phone to ring, when she was about to make a call. She looked down on the screen and saw it was Ami on the caller ID. She was quite surprise to hear from Ami seeing how she was busy with her job. She wondered if she lost another patient? 

Mako hit the button on her phone and replied, "Hey, Ami!" She sounded cheerful hoping her old friend had some good news to share. 

OOC::

Often, Ami would be completely immersed in her work at the hospital for several days at a time. Once she arrived at home, there would still be work that could be done and she often found herself compelled to complete that work. Although Ami did her best to remain up-to-date on the current events of Japan and the world, she rarely found the time to do so more than once or twice a week. Of course, as a doctor and a researcher at a heart, Ami more often than not found the time needed to stay up-to-date about medical research and practices.

Truthfully, there had been a fair amount of luck in her having noticed the news report before someone else had mentioned it to her. Hopefully, Makoto would have some more information about this latest incident. As she waited for Makoto to pick up her phone, Ami held one hand against her mouth as she sighed anxiously. After what must have felt longer than reality, Makoto answered her phone with a cheerful greeting. If Ami had to hazard a guess, she assumed Makoto had not heard about the latest news regarding the possible alien.

"Hello, Makoto." She said, trying to muster an equally cheerful greeting, but her heart fluttered anxiously.

"Have you had the chance to listen to the local news? If not, I would recommend you turn on your television or check your computer. We may have a situation on our hands."

While she waited for Makoto to respond and take some course of action, Ami quickly relayed what little she knew. A spacecraft had landed in Japan last night and whatever had rode inside of it had already left.

Ami did not mention the best course of action was to begin an investigation, because she still did not feel ready. She needed to know Makoto was there for Japan, but, more importantly, that she was there for Ami. It was a little selfish, but she needed Makoto's strength.

The man was still following Usagi as his gaze was quickly turned to the sky. He used his helmet to zoom in and get a closer look. It was them, it had to be. A small purple colored craft soaring high up in the sky, so high that nobody could see it. It looked like it haven't found Usagi. Hopefully they never will. But that's a hope that may die quickly as the man is completely unable to shield Usagi from them without revealing himself. Usually he wouldn't care if others saw him, when he appeared from his pod he didn't care at all if he was talking with others or if anyone managed to catch him on video. He probably would have shown himself to Usagi if he didn't care for the normal life she was now living. The normal life she had always wanted since she became Sailor Moon. She finally has that normal life and the man didn't want to interrupt it unless it was absolutely necessary. He decided to leave Usagi be and left to search for the other scouts. Though he did not leave Usagi unprotected. He deployed a very small electronic probe from his armor in the shape of a butterfly that would follow Usagi and report back if anything should happen.

The man now wandered throughout Tokyo and headed back for the crash site. His reason for being back there was to locate Sailor Venus. He was aware that she was living in the area of the crash and knew that she would be all over the site. Though he wasn't sure where her exact coordinates would be. He arrived at the crash site. The hole was still there and the entire street was blocked off by police and the pod was missing, most likely taken by government officials. He was still cloaked so he could slip past the blocks and security. He looked around him trying to figure out where Venus would be staying at. He turned around and jumped as if frightened by something. A picture of Minako had startled him. She was a famous idol in this time and pictures of her were everywhere. He got a closer look at one of them and noticed that the building in the background matches one of the building in the crash area and just happened to be the one Minako was living in, though he did not know that yet. He hid behind an alley and began tapping some buttons on his suit and with several electronic whirs and chirps his suit began coming part and folding into a backpack. The suit finished transforming as it revealed the being that was underneath it. A human, about 40 years old but had the physical appearance of an 18 year old athlete with short brown hair and green eyes. He then took out a small computer and hacked into the buildings computers and began creating a fake profile to make it look like he lived there. He then walked into the building and headed up to his new, stolen but for good purposes, apartment. On his way up to the room he thought he got a glance at who looked to be Minako. He would keep an eye on her. He found his room but had no key. That didn't stop him, he took out a small device that he planted on the doors knob and unlocked it allowing him to enter the room.
It was a nice room, fully finished but he didn't care, the view from the room allowed him to see almost all of Tokyo, which is what he wanted. He set his backpack on the floor and opened it up and immediately a computer popped out ejecting a small satellite dish. He quickly turned it on and began to listen in on people's phone calls, he knew that after an event like last night the Scouts would be all over it.

Listening to Minako speak, Rei wasn't sure if she wanted to be angry or relieved. She had felt something was wrong, that something had happened, though a part of her had wanted to believe she was wrong. Hearing Minako confirm it brought up more mixed emotions.

Anger to know she had been right, to know that perhaps their moments of peace were going to come to an abrupt end.

There was relief, too. At least she no longer had to worry about when something like this was going to occur. As senshi, they were never allowed to rest for long. It was only a matter of time before someone, somewhere, wanted to ruin the peace. And this time, they had been allowed five years of being normal.

But they were not normal, Rei told herself bitterly. And it was stupid to think that they would be allowed to pretend forever.

It was even more stupid to jump to conclusions so quickly. They knew next to nothing about this situation.

As Minako went on to describe the fact that it was alien-like in nature, Rei frowned, though she remained quiet, only listening and thinking over the words carefully. She also tried to sense something, anything, that would help them come to a more knowledgeable conclusion.

For the moment, however, her psychic powers wanted to tell her nothing at all.

At Minako's question, Rei let out a small sigh. Admitting that she had been having fleeting moments of visions that were just out of reach would only make this whole ordeal more real. If she could just keep it quiet, to not say anything to anyone, it would be much easier to pretend for just a little longer.

"Something like that," Rei said into the phone. She moved over to her bed and sat down upon it. "Nothing concrete. I was meditating just earlier, trying to fully see, but it slipped away before I could get a good grasp on anything at all."

Rei paused, and shifted her position. "The others are going to hear about this soon enough. The news is going to spread quickly. I don't think we will be able to keep them from finding out."

Usagi might not notice the huge news story, but Ami would. And Ami wouldn't think to keep things like this quiet between their group of friends. Hopefully, the other girls wouldn't suspect this to be anything other than a strange occurrence.

A part of Rei still hoped for that, too.

Pained coughing coming from a different part of the home caught Rei's attention, striking through all other thoughts. She glared towards the direction of the sound, as if a single glare would make the coughs go away.

Rei forced herself back to the conversation.

"I want to come over to your place, to take a look at this thing myself before it gets covered with newscasters and police and nosy people," Rei began to say, "but it might even be too late for that already. You and I should get together tomorrow. Early. Then we can come up with a better plan. We'll alert the others about our concerns if we need to."

Mako frown when Ami told her to check out the local news. A situation? Did that mean? No it couldn't be? Why now? Why not later? Mako turned to her computer and got onto the web. She typed in a news source into the web browser and the search results then appeared. She clicked on the website and news about the spacecraft was on the home page. She read the article and lean back in her chair. Mako couldn't believe it. 

"Ami...," she spoke softly. "Is this a new enemy? Have you heard from the others? Does Usagi know?" Mako felt like she babbling, but she couldn't think straight. She did not want this to be true. She hoped it was some extreme prank to trick people into thinking that aliens visited Earth.

In her heart Ami felt that she situation was becoming more dire. The uncertainty of the situation fueled her desire for knowledge and clarity. Not knowing made her uneasy, which partially explained why she was unconsciously chewing on her lower lip while Makoto searched for the local news on her computer. 

While she was at the hospital, she could not search for the answers needed to calm her fluttering stomach. She looked down the hall to quickly gauge how badly the hospital needed her to stay. After a moment, Ami made her decision. 

Still holding on to the phone, she began to quickly walk to the nearest employee's lounge and locker room where her things had been stored for the remainder of her shift. 

"I do not know, Makoto. I have not had the chance to check my own sources, so we likely have the same amount of knowledge about the situation." 

She shrugged off the coat for her uniform and grabbed her things from her locker. Quickly closing the door, Ami switched her phone to her other ear. 

"I have not called Usagi," She paused, "and I am not sure I should until we know more." Any of them would hate to unnecessarily worry their best friend, especially when it had been quiet for so long. 

"I am leaving the hospital now. As soon as I get home, I will begin researching." 

Ami paused again to quickly let the head nurse know that she needed to leave for a family emergency. A few words were exchanged before she smiled and left the hospital. 

"I will let you know as soon as I know more. Expect my call in the next hour."

Once Ami arrived home, she accessed the Super Computer given to her by the powers of Mercury. The television provided background noise and video footage of the current scene. Every so often, a video taken by cell phone of the crash landing played. The Super Computer had already confirmed the veracity of the reports, so the event's legitimacy was no longer in question. 

Based upon what she had gathered, an egg-shaped craft had crashed in the vicinity of Minako's apartment and a man had emerged from within. Witness testimonies claimed he had spoken little before departing. He had only paused to ask the date, which at the very least confirmed he had some knowledge of the local language. 

One witness had attempted to follow the man, but had quickly lost sight of him. The witness said it was as if the man had vanished into the air. That left Ami with little knowledge of who this man was and where he was currently located in Tokyo. He should still be within Tokyo, unless he had access to uncommon modes of transportation. 

Based upon that assumption, the Super Computer calculated a geographical range of his likely location within Tokyo. While the rest of the information processed, Ami reached for her phone. First, she called Makoto back to tell her what she had discovered. And then, Minako was the next logical choice.

Minako didn’t know what she expected Rei to say. Even if she hadn’t had any visions about this, the cold hard truth was undeniable. Something out of this world had entered their city, and sooner or later they would have to deal with it. Again. Minako felt somewhat frustrated about this, because it was harder to move around and investigate now that she was famous. Not to mention this would compromise all her schedules. Of course she would have to put this as her top priority, and somehow figure out how to keep all her appointments still.

Why couldn’t they let it be over? Although a part of her hadn’t expected this stretch of peace to be so long, she thought the next time she would fight, it would be around Crystal Tokyo’s time. Was this it? A shiver went down her spine as she thought about what King Endymion had said; a great calamity befell earth and it had to be put to sleep for a long time. Was this how it started?

Minako didn’t like to think about that calamity. She knew that eventually Usagi would fix everything—as she always did—but she would rather there be no calamity at all. But if they tried to prevent it, would it screw up the future? Was this great apocalypse necessary for Crystal Tokyo to rise?

She didn’t know. She kind of hated having to think about maintaining the future. It was hard enough as it was dealing with the present.

She sighed and fell onto her bed, defeated. “You’re right. Except for maybe Usagi. We could probably rely on her obliviousness and the fact that she’s trapped in the wedding haze. Of course, Mamoru might notice it…”

If he was wise, he would not mention it to his future bride.

Maybe he could use a stern message from her anyway.

“Alright, come here tomorrow bright and early. We’ll try and figure out what it is. I’ll also contact the others tomorrow, tell them not to tell Usagi until we know more.” She took a deep breath, mentally saying goodbye to her peaceful life and the dream she had worked so hard to achieve. “Good night, Rei-chan.”

The man had a small computer hooked up and had on a pair of headphones. He had hacked into all communication devices in the area and had happened to come across Minako's phone call with Rei. "They're all coming here? That'd make things a lot easier, means I won't have to go scattering the country in search of them." When Minako hung up her phone the man shut down his computer so he could think about what to do next. "Maybe I could pay her a visit before the others show up so I can get a visual confirmation that she's really Venus." He wasn't wearing his armor so it should be alright if Minako or anyone else saw him now. "Hopefully she won't see any connection between my sudden arrival in the building and what happened the other night." He set a small communicator in his ear that he linked with his computer so he could monitor communications of the local authorities and headed out the door and straight for Minako's room. He stood at the door of her room, turned his right hand into a small fist, and knocked three times.

Minako was waiting for Rei, pacing back and forth in her room, debating whether or not to go out and investigate on her own first—Rei could always find her when she arrived, of course—and when to call the others. She had just about decided that she could wait no longer when she heard the knock on her door. Relieved, she dashed toward it and opened it, fully expecting it to be Rei. “You’re lat—” her retort died on her lips when she saw who was behind it. It was not Rei at all—in fact, it was a virtual stranger. A young boy whom she had never seen before. A fan who’d gotten lucky in tracking down her apartment, perhaps? Sometimes, no matter how careful she was, some of them proved to be resourceful enough to find out where she lived. Thankfully none of them had been the stalker kind… so far.

“Can I help you?” she asked, hoping whatever it was he wanted wouldn’t take long. She didn’t really have time for this right now.

The man at Minako's door was tall, much taller then the average Japanese male, had green eyes and short brown hair and appeared to be around the age of eighteen. He was also very muscular, almost as if he were an Olympic athlete.
"Hi, my name's Hachiro, I just moved in next door and I thought I'd just go around and say hello to all my new neighbors." His eyes moved all around Minako checking her out but did so in a way that was completely unnoticeable. Yup. It's her, he thought to himself. If this is her the there's no question that the girl she was talking to on the phone was Rei. Perfect, he thought to himself. Two down, three to go.
"Say, you look familiar." He said referring to Minako's fame and trying his best to fit into the 21st culture. He smiled trying to make it seem like he belonged there. Though, there was a look on his face, and a strange energy pulsating from him that suggested he might be a long way from home.

“Right. Well, hello. And welcome, I guess,” she replied with a small smile. Minako was usually more charming than this, but she had a lot in her mind right now and couldn’t seem to turn on that cheerful part of her. It had been a long time since she had to maintain that duality and she found it alarmingly easy to slip back into serious mode after being mostly carefree for so long.

When her new neighbor—Hachiro—said that she looked familiar, Minako just shrugged. “You might have seen me in magazines or posters. I’m kind of famous.” She saw no point in downplaying it—he’d find out sooner or later unless he lived under a rock. At least he didn’t seem to know her, yet, which meant she hopefully didn’t have to deal with a neighbor-slash-crazed-fan. Of course, he could always start falling in love with her—boys tend to do that—but well, she wasn’t a sailor soldier for nothing. No one could try anything funny with her.

She looked him up and down, finally pausing her thoughts about aliens and mysterious pods long enough to really take the sight of him in. There was something odd about him, something she couldn’t put her finger on. After years of dealing with supernatural creatures, Minako had sort of developed a sense of recognizing them. But this guy’s energy was just weird. It wasn’t malicious, exactly, but certainly out of place. Did he have something to do with the crash? His showing up here the morning after surely seemed like a coincidence, and Minako didn’t believe much in coincidences.

Grandpa always did better after a bit of tea in the morning. Full of his usual energy, the man moved around the house with his old vigor, and Rei could only smile at the sight. He tackled his chores with a smile of his own, and did not seem to mind when Rei told him that she was going out for a while.

Instead, Grandpa gave her a knowing smile, mentioned just how strange the news had been this morning, before ushering her out the door, insisting the whole way that he was completely fine, and that he did not need his granddaughter coddling him like this.

After he closed the door, there really was no other reason to stay here. Rei frowned at the door, her worry clenching tight in her chest. But she had to go. She was already late enough as it was, and Rei Hino did not enjoy being late.

"I'll be back as soon as I can," she said softly, before turning and walking towards the bus stop.

On the way to Minako's apartment, Rei's mind raced, picking apart all of the recent occurrences. A part of her wanted to remain stubborn, to deny that the situation was anything more than what it appeared to be on the surface. But it was difficult to convince herself of that, especially after a life full of monsters and fighting.

She had become too comfortable, too relaxed.

Too happy.

Rei glared at her own thoughts. No, that wasn't fair. Even whilst fighting monsters and dealing with all that entailed, she had been happy. But it had been a happiness tinged with constant fear and suspicion. Never being allowed to be a normal girl.

These last few years had lowered her guards too much. Now that she was thrown back into the supernatural, Rei balked against it. She wanted to refuse. She had many things to worry about. Grandpa's health, the future of the shrine, her own future...

But no. There was no proof yet that this was supernatural at all. She was jumping to conclusions, and that was a stupid thing to do. Meteors and the like could happen without being full of enemies intent of destroying the world.

Right?

Rei arrived at Minako's apartment, and as she approached, she realized that there was someone else already there. She didn't recognize who it was, and the first thing she noticed about the man was that he was incredibly tall. A foreigner? What would a foreigner be doing at Minako's own home. Surely Minako didn't give her address out to strangers. But then, how was she to know who Minako had contact with. It wasn't as if they had been in contact much themselves recently.

As she came closer to the pair, Rei heard Minako speaking, saying how she was famous. Oh right. Rei kind of always forgot about that, somehow. To her, Minako was Minako, and that was all there was to it.

"Hello," Rei said in greeting, giving a small bow to the stranger before turning her attention solely on Minako. "Sorry that I am late, it was not my intention."

She paused and glanced over to the stranger. She wanted to talk without reservations, but that was impossible now. So instead, she turned on the pleasantries, and hoped the man would soon go away so that she and Minako could get to business.

"Who is this? I do not believe I have met you before," she said it with a sweet smile, reverting to Rei Hino, the perfect little shrine maiden hoping to sell some charms. But on the inside, her darker thoughts continued to plague her.

Hachiro turned his attention to Rei who had just arrived.
"I'm Hachiro, I just moved in." His face ached from smiling so it went away. He was never much of a smiler, he had been fighting for so long that there hasn't been anything to smile about. His eyes ran all over Rei quickly. This must be Mars, he thought to himself.
"It's nice to meet you." He held his breath afraid of what Rei might think of him, he knew that she could pick up on strange energies and there was, without a doubt, all kinds of strange unknown energy emitting from him. His appearance was strange also. He wasn't a foreigner but was incredibly tall, taller then most Japanese men. He also appeared to be almost inhumanly muscular. And the look on his face, he looked as if he were incredibly focused on something, and there was also a faint look of terror in his eyes, like he's worried that something horrible might happen at any moment. Besides that, he looked absolutely emotionless.

“Rei,” Minako said in relief when she saw her friend coming up to the door. It felt like it had been months since she’d last seen her. In a way she supposed she was grateful about the way this potential new threat was bringing them back together. Minako missed each and every one of them even if she knew they all deserved to follow their own paths to their dreams. But they should have made better attempts at keeping in touch. For her, it was easy to fall back into old familiar routines, but not everyone was as adaptable as she was, and she wondered if it felt weird for the other girls to be around each other so often again should this situation require it. Could they still work together like they used to, relying on instincts and unspoken words? Could they still read each other’s thoughts with just a look? Or had they all changed too much?

Minako was going to have to learn them all over again. Like seeing Rei this polite, for instance, felt strange. Although maybe she was just putting up a front for the stranger. Minako sure hoped she hadn’t behaved as if she was addressing a professional colleague for Minako’s benefit. It felt wrong, somehow, especially since this was her and Rei. They never bothered with decorum before.

As Rei turned on her charm for Hachiro, she became more like the familiar Rei that Minako was used to seeing, and she had to resist to roll her eyes even as she was relieved to see her old friend hadn’t changed that much after all. Her new neighbor introduced himself and Minako watched Rei to see if she picked up anything strange from him. Minako could read people, but she didn’t have Rei’s sixth sense.

“My friend and I here actually have plans to go out right now,” she explained to him. “So, unless you need help with something, perhaps… I’ll see you around?” She asked, trying not to be rude about it. But there was a crater that needed investigating outside and she was wasting precious minutes standing around here. And even if she thought he was worth investigating, it wasn’t like she could just ask him where he’d come from and expect a straight answer if he was, indeed, not of this earth.

"Really? Where are you going? You gonna go check out that big crater in front of the building?" He began asking all sorts of questions, he may have sounded rude like he was invading their personal life or something but he didn't really care. "That crater has really started something, you know people are really freaking out about it, saying the Earth is under attack or something." Hachiro glanced inside Minako's room to see if he could find her little pen that changed her into a Sailor Scout. He saw it, sitting on a table in the middle of the room. "That's a strange looking pen you have over there."

Okay, this guy’s question was starting to get suspicious. How did he know she was checking out the crater out front? Minako didn’t need sixth sense to start feeling like something was wrong. The Earth under attack? She glanced at Rei—this was news to her. Was that what the media had been saying? There were so many news coverage about it that Minako couldn’t keep up with all of them, but she hoped they were only making crazy speculations instead of being dangerously close to the truth.

When Hachiro peeked inside her room and pointed out her transformation rod, the siren that had been slowly building in volume inside her head finally exploded into a full-blown warning alarm. Sure, the rod was weird, but any normal person whom she had just met wouldn’t have singled it out while they weren’t even in the room. He looked as if he’d known of it and had been specifically looking for it. She looked left and right to make sure nobody was around, then dragged both him and Rei inside her apartment quickly. If they were going to have to kill him, she didn’t want to do it in the hallway. Slamming the door closed behind them, Minako turned to face her new neighbor with her hands on her hips.

“Okay, whoever you really are. Give me one good reason not to vanquish you right here and now. You are being very suspicious right now and I don’t like it at all. Who are you really?”

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Hachiro exclaimed as he was yanked inside the room. Sure he knew about her, who she and all the others really were and what they did but he wasn't ready to reveal himself yet. But they were beginning to get suspicious. Hachiro had to come up with something fast.

"What are you talking about? My name is Hachiro, I just moved here from Kyoto to attend Tokyo University!"

Of course that was a lie. In fact he was too old for college, though he didn't look it.

"What's wrong with you anyways? I only noticed that weird pen on your table and now you're interrogating me!"

Hachiro began to back up a bit. He was pretty good at acting when he really needed to. He tried his best to make it seem like he had no idea what Minako was talking about.

"I think I should get going now, got a lot of stuff to unpack."

He turned and headed for the door before turning the knob and opening it up, but before he left the room he stopped and turned to face the girls.

"You two be careful out there." And with that he left and went to his own room. He felt it necessary to give them a bit of warning of what's to come, but not too much of a warning.

Back in his room, Hachiro sighed in relief. "D*mn... That was close..." He then proceeded to activated his computer again and aimed it at the wall that separated his and Minako's room and began listening in on the two girls.