Benjamin A. Oliver
27th January 2008, 03:20 PM
A few days ago, I promised a look at what the last version was like.
Basically I rewrote the chapter based on some feedback I got at
pre-reading stages.
Here's what it looked like without wrangling back and forth with ideas
and clarifying concepts. If you feel so inclined, send me an email
and tell me which version you preferred. In the meantime, enjoy! ^_^
Nuke 'Em 'Till They Glow!!
Terra in Tokyo
---Chapter 16: Temporal Displacement
Apparently stationary, the Sun and Earth shone brightly in the black
Lunar Skyline, vaguely obscuring the stars around them. Twinkling
points of light at opposite horizons gave testament to the thinness of
the atmosphere. A large white marble citadel and its accompanying
suburbs lay peacefully below. On a stone courtyard bench, Terra
Incognita attempted to explain her situation to Queen Serenity.
"So you see, I'm actually from planet Earth, the same earth that you
are currently at war with, and I've taken the place of your daughter
without her knowledge or consent. I've been here for the past day or
so, gathering information in order to determine what should be done
here. Might I say, that's simply a LOVELY courtyard. Very difficult
to defend in a full-out assault, wouldn't you say? If I wanted to
knock this place out, I'd set off a big explosion in that tower right
over there. I mean, that'd be FUN!"
Somewhere between one of those sentences, Serenity had called for the
guards, who anxiously clapped her in irons and dragged her off.
"HEY! I was just getting to the good part!"
^_^;
"Darn it, darn it, darn it! THINK before you speak! THINK
before you speak!"
She had decided to think the situation over. Somehow, somewhere
along the way, Terra realized, she must have said something that
convinced the Queen that she was some sort of spy that had spirited
away her real daughter--in some sense, the girl admitted to herself,
that was probably true, however unintentional it had occurred--and she
got locked in Princess Terra's room under armed guard. In retrospect,
she was glad it wasn't some kind of dank dungeon.
"I'm almost certain I could have handled that a little better," she
commented to herself. Later, she added, "Maybe the next time I wake
up in a strange land with no idea where, when, or who I am, I should
play along with whatever and whoever people say I am."
This was good advice--truly, this was the voice of experience that
inevitably follows a catastrophic series of mistakes. In essence, it
told her: See what you just did? Don't do that.
However, all her lamentation didn't change the fact that she was in a
strange land, far from home, with no friends, and lots of swords and
what looked like flintlock pistols pointed at her.
"Hi there, you look like a reasonable sort," Terra said to the
burliest of the guards. "Believe me, this is just all one huge
misunderstanding, so I'll just be going now--"
When Terra tried to ease past the guards, one of them drew a gun and
fired a shot that grazed her arm and drew blood. "WAAAAAH!!"
Now, the voice of experience was telling her that she ought not to
try and walk past a lot of suspicious soldiers when they've got orders
to kill her if she makes any false moves.
"Guns?" The realization suddenly hit Terra. "They've got GUNS in an
ancient magical kingdom?! But those weren't invented until, like, the
sixteen hundreds or something!"
"They are a recent addition to our arsenal," muttered the large man.
"Copied off of your accursed Terran technology."
"Fine, fine, but why did you have to shoot? I was just sort of
trying to nudge past you."
"This is war," the soldier explained in a battle-hardened manner,
"and you're an enemy spy. The captain'll be here to interrogate you
soon. Until then, sit down and be quiet."
Terra recoiled back to the bed, halfway weeping from the pain. It
had taken a few moments for the pain receptors to kick in, but now it
really stung. The bleeding stopped fairly quickly, though. Now she
was wishing that the voice of experience would tell her what to do to
get herself out of this mess. It was bad enough--and not her fault,
she insisted to herself--that she was living someone else's life, but
she'd also successfully managed to trash trash this one, just like
she'd fought so hard to ruin her own.
"Hold on there," Terra muttered at her mind's analysis, "isn't that
going a little too far? I mean, so what? We've fared okay, despite
some of the spitballs fate's chucked in our direction."
Terra blinked at the remark she'd made. "'We?'" She shrugged it
off. "Okay, me. Give me one example."
"We sacrificed our life and became a true martyred heroine for a
while, and afterwards even got to live to tell the tale."
"But I still sucked afterwards!"
"What is your obsession with self-depreciation? You bum! You're
Queen of the World, baby!"
"But I thought I was a princess right now."
"PRINCESS of the world, then. C'mon, hold your head high!"
The girl had a little trouble accepting what she was telling herself.
"Do you really mean it?"
"You take a beating, both mental and physical, then come back for
more. You may not save the day, exactly, but you turn certain death
into a fighting chance to win."
They were nice words, Terra had to admit, but she wished it was one
of her friends complimenting her, rather than something resulting from
her own personal ego-boosting mind game. It was worrying, too, how
easy this kind of self-conversation came to her. Was she somehow
developing multiple personality disorder? She was in enough confusion
as it was without having to deal with such a thing.
The guards kept a steady aim at her, once commenting between
themselves, "Oh great, she's not just a spy. She's a crazy spy with
multiple personalities!"
"I'm not a crazy spy with multiple personalities!" Terra protested.
"And neither am I!" the girl found herself saying. She gasped and
cupped her hands over her mouth. "I'm kidding! Kidding. Really.
Fingers away from the triggers, please!"
It took another minute, but the interrogator finally came in. He was
kind of short, not very imposing, wore the same kind of
dark-bluish-grey armor as the other soldiers, and had a shock of
medium-long blond hair.
"Captain!" Terra forced herself to beam. She went up and shook his
hand firmly with both of hers. "Or shall I call you Admiral? There's
been some sort of mixup. I appear to be in the wrong place and the
wrong time."
"Yes indeed," the man replied in a neutral tone, withdrawing his
gauntleted hand slowly from hers. He examined his fingers carefully,
as if expecting to see something dangerous. Judging from his
expression, he didn't intend to be big on hospitality. Then he
returned his gaze to her. "I'm here to ask you some questions."
"Are you going to interrogate me with electro-shocks, thumb screws,
and the rack?"
The captain nodded slowly. "If it comes to that."
Terra gulped. "I-is this going to be scary? Because I warn you, I
have no inhibitions against screaming like a whiny little girl. And
quite frankly, that's who and what I am, and I'm quite proud of it."
"In that case, if you don't cooperate, I'll make sure you have your
chance to scream as long and loudly as you like."
"...you will?"
"Oh yes. We have some very nice dungeons. Dark, dank, and
soundproofed."
"Wonderful!" Terra shouted sarcastically. "As long as we're clear on
that. Okay, what is it you want to know?"
"Everything, impostor. Everything."
The girl paused, glanced at the guards' guns, and proceeded to
tell her tale.
---
"And after that was my first tooth. I don't have pictures to share,
so bear with me--"
"I see."
Questioning must have lasted for at least several seconds, because
after what seemed like minutes, the interrogator held up a hand and
said, "Okay, maybe I wasn't clear. Let's narrow it down a bit."
"But you said you wanted me to tell you everything!" Terra pouted.
"Well yes, but I didn't mean from early childhood."
"You're no fun."
"Now, where is Princess Terra?"
Terra had been wondering about that herself. If she was in the place
of Princess Terra, did that mean Princess Terra was back in her place?
....
The redhead struggled against the grip of Sailors Venus and Jupiter,
screaming, "LET ME GO, YOU INSOLENT FOOLS!" She looked at Mars.
"What is it you want this time, Pyra? Money? Ice cream?!"
....
Terra shuddered at the thought. But, remembering her previous
analysis, she realized that she might have a much easier time if she
just pretended she was the not-so-nice Princess Terra in question.
Judging from how they seemed to feel about her, it didn't seem beyond
the realm of possibility that she might play a practical joke on them
such as, say, pretending to be someone else.
As the interrogator started back up again, Terra forced herself to
burst into laughter.
"What's so funny?!"
"I got you guys SO good!" Terra chuckled. "You really thought I
wasn't me! You should've seen the looks on your faces!"
Fast comprehension filled the man's eyes. "You little pseudo-royal
brat! Don't you realize we're on high alert here?! Everyone's wound
up so tight they're afraid Earth's going to attack at any moment!
Pretending to be a spy and taking us away from our posts... that's a
new low, even for YOU, Princess."
"Hah, sucks to be you, don't it?!"
The captain picked up his helmet and motioned for the guards to
leave. "I'm going to formally recommend to the Queen that she have
your peasant rear spanked until it falls off! You're lucky the
lieutenant only grazed you when he fired. It's the least you deserve
for such a childish prank. What you did was mean, Terra. Really
mean, not to mention dangerous."
With that, the guards stormed out, slamming the doors behind them.
Suddenly, Terra's conscience stung her so hard she winced. "Oh,
great, now I feel guilty." She looked at the sudden relax in
security. "But I guess it's better than them thinking I'm an alien
spy."
---
When Terra walked out, she noticed word must have gotten around about
her "prank." Practically everyone who looked at her frowned and shook
their heads. In response, she growled playfully at them, which often
sent them running.
Honestly, Terra wondered, what kind of person WAS this "Princess
Terra?" And more importantly, did she really even want to know? And
why was she walking around in the shoes of such a deranged psychopath,
anyway? As time went on, it seemed more and more like something Arby
might set up.
On the other hand, Terra thought, if Arby were involved, by now she'd
probably be running naked and screaming from some sort of horrible
crowd again, with squirrels, badgers, mushrooms and such. As it was,
she stood walking slowly from nothing in particular and rather
over-clothed. Speaking of which, it'd probably take half an hour and
a full pit crew to shrug off this particular dress. She was willing
to bet that the multilayered bodice could stop bullets. Too bad about
the sleeves, though. Still feeling the graze, she contemplated that
it would have been nice if they had been bulletproof as well.
Since there was nothing left to do, she spent her time wandering down
the hallways in an attempt to find some meaning to why she was here
and what she was supposed to do. Huggyn and Kyssin had been sent away
somewhere, so she was on her own. Down one hallway, Terra noticed
distant harp music, and the sound of many feet tapping lightly against
a tiled floor.
Further investigation revealed a large party taking place in a huge
ballroom. Quite a lot of regal-looking figures in formal attire--both
men and women--went about the dance floor in practiced formations that
would have put a school of stunt pilots to shame.
For a moment, Terra attempted to reconcile the soldier's assertion
that the Moon was in the middle of a war and on high alert while at
the same time people were having a delightful time eating and dancing.
Perhaps it just meant that security was very tight because of the
ball. Or maybe that was the reason the place was in a war: it could
be a rebellion to overcome the insensitive, stuck-up royalty. Being
from Ireland, she herself had no great love for monarchies. All they
seemed to be good for lately were scandals and overzealous
photographers.
She went up to the nearest person, tugged on his sleeve, and said,
"Hi there! Can you please tell me why we're in the middle of a war?"
"Ah-aaah, Princess Terra!" the man jumped. He was an older man, with
a neatly-trimmed gray beard and a rather nice tuxedo. Recovering from
the shock, he replied, "That's a very good question, my young lady.
One can never truly guess the motives of the Dark Kingdom--"
"Dark Kingdom?!" Terra nearly shouted. "That's the name of the enemy
me and my friends were fighting back in Japan!"
The man looked confused. "Ah...?"
Terra waved off her remarks. "Oh, ah hah, nothing, nothing whatever.
We just have a common enemy, is all."
"Well yes, obviously we have a common enemy. Ah-hah, all of us being
from the Moon Kingdom."
"Yes, yes, ah-ha-ha-hah," Terra echoed regally with her nose held
high as she broke away from the conversation. Once she had escaped,
she stared at the floor while her mind worked on the problem.
Whenever this was, there was the Dark Kingdom as well. Assuming, that
is, that these were the same Negamafoozles she knew.
She asked another couple of random people more details about the Dark
Kingdom. The enemy had a ruler named Queen Beryl, four main generals
named Jadeite, Nephrite, Zoicite, and Kunzite. They also had a fleet
of powerful, advanced ships that had already wiped out several other
worlds--though notably Venus and Mercury still were managing to hold
their own. Basically, it was pretty much the same Dark Kingdom she'd
known and fought against. The only new information she could glean
seemed to be about a hyperpowerful demon goddess named Metallia, which
had already turned the majority of Earth's population into mindless
servants.
The gears in Terra's mind finally ground out a plausible theory about
what was going on: She had somehow been thrown back in time, tens of
thousands of years, into someone else's body--who looked remarkably
like her, despite the slightly different build--during a previous
series of battles the Dark Kingdom had fought. Only this time,
instead of facing a handful of magical girls, the Negamafoozles were
triumphing handily against nearly a dozen organized and powerful
worlds.
Distracted by her musings, Terra ran headfirst into Princess Serenity
and her tuxedoed date.
"AAAH!" Serenity cried, holding her bleeding face. "TERRA!"
"Oh! I'm sorry, Usagi--er, I mean, Serenity," Terra apologized, and
wondered how she had cut the other girl's forehead. She reached up
and felt a sharp crescent-shaped ornamentation that Huggyn or Kyssin
must have put on while dressing her that morning. "Oh dear. That
looks serious." Terra recoiled from the sight. "Yeech! They're not
kidding when they say face wounds bleed like crazy. Hey, anybody got
a handkerchief?!"
While Serenity's date watched in horror, Terra ripped off the
bullet-torn sleeve from her own dress. She didn't like it and it
looked terrible on her anyway. She used the cloth scraps to bind the
wound, while Serenity flailed around and tried to get away from her.
"Terra, you're causing a scene," Queen Serenity hissed.
"I am not! I'm performing first aid."
The blonde princess whined loudly and flailed around in Terra's
grasp, knocking over a refreshment table and spilling drinks and
confections across the floor.
"You are Causing a Scene," the Queen insisted impatiently with her
hands on her hips and tapping her feet.
Terra glanced around at the many eyes staring at her. "Oh, ah hah,
so I am." The redhead nearly laughed to herself at the oddity of the
situation. Right beside her was a woman who was in theory a wise,
kind, and gracious queen who never got angry--and whom a lot of people
would have trouble not bowing before--and now Terra was rather
managing to upset her somewhat ferociously.
Eh heh, she thought sheepishly, why don't I just shoot myself now and
save the Negamafoozles the trouble?
"Quiet you," Terra whispered to herself. "Social embarrassment
should be the least of my worries at this point!"
Queen Serenity took Terra by the arm sternly and walked her out into
the courtyard before turning her around and looking at her with a
withering gaze. "These people have almost nothing left, thanks to
you!" she explained hurriedly. "Would you deprive them of even these
last few moments' peace?!"
"Thanks to me?" Terra blinked. "Last few moments? You know
something they don't?"
Right then, a gigantic explosion rippled across the dark sky. About
six miles in the air from their position, an energy mist formed into a
curved white shining wall which blocked the destructive shockwave. As
if illuminated by the attack, the barrier faded out once more when the
detonation subsided.
"It has begun!" Serentiy half-wept, and looked at a shining wand she
held. "I can't keep this world safe forever. The shield is all we
have left. My powers and the powers of my Crystal are fading. Even
if we left our homes and fled, we would never get far enough before
they overtook us. Mercury fell an hour ago. The Venusian defenses
have already begun to buckle. We are the last of our immortal race in
the solar system. Try as I might, I cannot save my people, nor
myself!"
Terra put this new information together with the rest of the junk
she'd been compiling. "So, what you're trying to tell me is that this
civilization is doomed, no matter what you do, all thanks to me?"
"Yes!"
"Whoa, this is heavy." Terra held her head and came up with a few
more questions to ask. "How long does this place have before it
goes?"
"Hours, maybe minutes."
"Yikes... that sucks!"
"A colorful way of describing it, but very accurate, considering that
the atmosphere will be one of the first things to go."
"Does anybody else know about this?"
"They know that it won't be long. With the shield and my powers, I'm
just prolonging the inevitable, and giving everyone a chance to have a
few final enjoyable moments together before the end."
"Have you considered surrender?"
"They've vowed to shed our blood. Simply bowing down will not change
their minds. It would just make their job easier."
"No other options?"
"No, I am afraid not."
Terra clenched her jaw and watched a few more explosions bounce off
the shield. She could barely see its strength fading with each hit.
While she didn't really like this place all that much, she didn't
particularly want to see it destroyed, either. Besides, Angel and
Dewdrop were nice kids. They deserved something better than certain
death.
She grabbed Serenity's shoulder and looked straight into her eyes.
"Look, I know the whole thing here might look hopeless, but I know the
Negamafoozles--er, Dark Kingdom. I've fought them over a dozen times,
and beaten them. They might have bigger weapons than I've seen
before, but they're not invincible. We can fight them, and we can
WIN!"
"What are you talking about? You've never fought any Terran soldiers
before. Besides, I know what we are up against. There is no way we
can win. I simply do not have enough power left to me, and even if
you decided to come to your senses and fight for a righteous cause for
once, you also now lack the means!"
"I'll show you!" Terra shot back defiantly with a fist in the air.
"When they come, I'll fight them, and I'll beat them all!"
"What?! Princess Terra--"
"I'm not Princess Terra. My name is Terra Incognita, I'm a proud
miniskirted Sailor Soldier sent by FREAKING UNKNOWN COSMIC NEON LASER
BEAMS from BILLIONS OF YEARS INTO THE FUTURE to rescue your pale
sweet-scented immortal bottoms from uncertain doom, and for the sake
of the friends I've made here, I WILL BE VICTORIOUS OR DIE IN THE
PROCESS--MWAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!"
Stunned by the girl's sudden deranged outburst, Queen Serenity could
only bring herself to say, "Oh my! You said that all in one breath!"
---
A few minutes later, Queen Serenity climbed to the tallest balcony in
the palace and made her final announcement to the populace.
"Friends, loyal subjects, and visitors, lend me a moment of your
time!" she projected regally. "As you know, the Dark Kingdom of Earth
has sworn to destroy all those who have lived in the Light Kingdoms of
the Moon, Mars, Mercury, Venus, and others. I've received word that
the last two other bastions of our allies, Mercury and Venus, have
been, or are just about to be overrun."
This announcement resulted in several gasps, sighs, and other
expressions of disappointment.
"We are all that is left of our way of life," Serenity continued.
"But our weapons have long been exhausted, and the shield defending
our world will not last much longer. We have nothing left that would
help us escape our fate. The few soldiers we have are dilligently
keeping our cities safe from spies and intruders, and those of us with
power already gave all we had to maintain the shield. I commend you
for your efforts. This has given us a short time to say our goodbyes;
to enjoy a few last precious moments together."
Many hummed their agreement.
"My adopted daughter, Princess Terra--"
The mention of her name met with several boos and hisses.
"I hear your jeers," Serenity sighed sadly, "and cannot help but
agree with them, on more levels than you know. It might be said that
she has caused the very downfall of our civilization by her direct
actions." She raised a hand to quell the crowd's fresh murmur. "But
let us not dwell on the past. Our moments are too few for any more
hatred to exist among us."
Some looked like they agreed with these words, but most didn't.
"I've spoken with her, and she has volunteered to face the coming
onslaught. I come before you to ask if any others will join her in
her, perhaps futile, efforts. Will anyone face certain doom in
battle? What say you?"
The populace looked at each other and discussed the idea amongst
themselves. Their comments ranged from, "Help treasonous Terrifying?
The nerve to ask, after all she's done," to, "Someone should at least
try."
In the end, though, none stepped forward to answer the call.
Serenity looked at the redheaded girl behind her. Somehow, Terra
looked different than before. She looked less like a spoiled,
evil-willed princess, and more like a sweet someone who had seen too
many battles and won too few. It rather hurt the Queen to say,
"Sorry. I'm afraid you are on your own."
Right then, a pair of voices piped up from behind Terra, "I'll
go! I'll go!"
It was Angel and Dewdrop.
---
Terra scratched her head. When she thought about asking the Queen to
ask for help, she thought maybe they had some Sailor Soldiers or
magical guardians in reserve. She hadn't considered her two new
friends would volunteer. It'd be a slaughter.
"So what's the plan?" Huggyn asked.
"Yeah! So how are we going to beat the Terran army?"
The Queen didn't appear very certain about letting them volunteer.
"Basically, they are your last friends left in the solar system," she
noted. "I would be hesitant about asking them to join you in this,"
she motioned with her hand to show she was making an effort to find
the right words, "madness."
"Hah," the redhead laughed, "isn't it MORE madness to just let the
enemy walk over you like that? Hmm? Hmm?"
"Tell me, is everyone from billions of years into the future
completely insane, or is it just you?"
"What?! Naaah, I'm perfectly in control of the situation. Just watch."
"Somehow, I don't think you've thought this through."
"What's to think through? There's going to be a bunch of
Negamafoozles running through the streets in a little while. I've
gotta whack 'em! Hey, how many can there be? A couple dozen? Maybe
a hundred? Feh, might be a really, really tough battle, but I think I
can manage."
"Oh, about that. Neptune succumbed to a lightning invasion force of
five hundred thousand. When they invaded Jupiter, they landed with an
army consisting of about fifteen million. We can expect similar
numbers here. That is, if they don't simply vaporize us from orbit."
"Fifteen million?" Terra froze. "They can vaporize us from orbit?"
"They can, but I doubt very much they will. Queen Beryl of Earth
likes to take a more personal approach. There will be soldiers, and
there will be youma, and there will be the demon goddess herself.
Beryl will want to gloat over us, and over me specifically, when she
comes."
The teen's eyes widened when knowledge of the real odds hit her.
"You know, suddenly, maybe this doesn't seem like such a good idea."
"Why Terra of Ireland," Dewdrop said in a miffed manner, "are you
thinking of chickening out on us?"
"Kind of," Terra whispered in a cracking voice as another tremendous
explosion slammed the shield outside. "Now I'm scared."
"You'll be fine," insisted Angel, and handed her a pink and gold-dyed
chainmail shirt, as well as a short and dull heart-hilted toy sword.
"It's time to suit up. They'll have broken through the barrier soon.
We'll take you outside where they'll land."
"Five hundred thousand?" Terra asked weakly.
"Actually, they will be able to consolidate their forces with all the
other worlds beaten," replied Serenity. "More like ten million to
start, and then get progressively higher as they encounter more
resistance."
"ACK!"
Serenity smiled faintly. "Do you still believe my plan of giving us
all a chance to say goodbye to each other was madness?"
"Eh heh," Terra laughed insanely, "uh, got any nuclear weapons--or
rather, weapons of mass destruction lying around?"
"If we had any left, do you think I'd be giving up so easily?"
"Good point."
"Aside from my Crystal," Serenity continued, "which I've already used
much more than I should have, all we have left is this." She held up
what Terra recognized as her transformation brooch and wand.
"Gimme those!!!"
Terra grabbed both objects, pinned the brooch to her dress, and
exclaimed, "Moon Prism Power, Make Up!"
The transformation sequence flung her high into the air, engulfed her
in a puff of pink smoke, and left her wearing her white and pink
sailor suit. She landed flat on her back. "Augh!"
The others watched as Sailor Chibimoon got back up, dusted herself
off, and pointed at them, saying, "This isn't much, but at least I've
got my gosh-darn WAND this time around!"
Huggin and Kyssin nodded. "Yeah! And you've got us."
Terra looked over at the dimunitive pair. "Eh, yeah. I've got...
you," and added to herself, "for whatever that's going to be worth
against millions and millions of youma. But misery loves company."
She stretched her muscles, cracked her neck both ways, and said aloud,
"Now I KNOW I'm crazy. It was just a suspicion before. Okay, let's
get this thing over with."
---
Queen Serenity and a few guards took them to the outer wall of the
citadel, where large crowds of people were piling in.
"The main planetary shield will fail soon," the Queen explained.
"That leaves the palace barrier, which provides a little more time of
peace for everyone." She drew a line in the dust with her foot.
"This is where the second barrier ends. If you want to face the
enemy, be outside this line when the main shield fails. If you want a
few more minutes to live, stay inside."
Chibimoon found herself rather hesitant to cross outside the line.
"Armies and armies of youma?" she repeated.
Serenity nodded.
"Sworn to kill everyone? No surrender?"
"Correct."
Terra suddenly sniffled when reality finally hit her and fell to her
knees. "I don't wanna go--!"
"Come on, you'll be fine," Huggyn and Kyssin insisted, carefully
dragging the redhead outside the barrier threashold. "We can defeat
them! There's only going to be thirty million of them!"
"Wish I had your confidence," muttered Chibimoon.
"Besides, don't forget your secret weapon," said Dewdrop, tapping
knowingly at her earlobe.
Terra stared. "Secret weapon?"
Serenity waved. "Farewell, Terra, or Terra who somehow is not my
Terra. I don't know if your story is true or if it's just another
delusion. I'll watch from the palace. Be brave. I'll remember you
for as long as I live." She leaned way down to give the Irish girl a
kiss on the forehead. "However long that is. It's been...
terrifying. Angel, Dewdrop... goodbye." She turned around with her
escort, and went back inside. The last of the peasant-folk followed
her through the citadel gates.
"She's just brimming with optimism, isn't she?" Dewdrop said
sarcastically.
"Always look on the broight soide a' loife!" Terra sang insanely,
then followed up with a whistling chorus.
Angel's ears pricked up. "That's a catchy tune. Is it... from
Ireland, in the Future?"
Terra stopped and looked at her. "Hmm? No, it's English. Uhh, by
Eric Idle, I think. Had it on a CD called 'A Faire to Remember.'"
"That's nice. I'm glad they still have music in the future."
"Look on the bright side of things," Dewdrop agreed. "If we fail
here, there might not even BE a future to go back to."
"Oh dear, I hadn't thought about that," Terra whispered in shock.
"No, no, that means we're certain to succeed. You're living
proof of it!"
Terra had to wonder about that, as she looked up and saw a final
blast, an order of magnitude greater than had previously struck the
barrier, flare across the sky. Like a sheet of sugar crystals struck
by a blast of hot water, the great energy shield flaked and dissolved.
A fast wind, a blast of noise, and a flash of light signalled the
raising of the palace barrier behind the three girls.
"The main shield's down, and the Dark Kingdom of Earth will begin
their invasion momentarily." Angel looked up at Terra. "So what do
we do now?"
Sailor Chibimoon hefted her small wand and lifted her gaze to see the
hundreds of troop ships descending upon the Lunar surface. "We die."
---End of Chapter 16
And now it's time for... MIND YOUR MANNERS!!! with Sailor Nuke.
(Terra marches back and forth in her prison)
Sailor Nuke: Today, we learned a very important fact about when
people thing you're an enemy spy.
(Princess Terra rampages against the countryside, destroying countless
buildings.)
Sailor Nuke: DON'T DISAPPOINT 'EM!!!
Sailor Kawaii(screaming, waving her arms): But that didn't happen!
Sailor Nuke: It didn't? Well, it should have!
(Terra talks her way out of the prisoner situation)
Sailor Kawaii: No, what you should do when people thing you're a spy
is convince them otherwise. And giggle if you can! No real spy would
ever do that. Sailor Kawaii says. Tee-hee!
Sailor Nuke: But if that doesn't work, go ahead and blow 'em to bits.
Sailor Nuke sez. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!
--
Benjamin A Oliver
benjamin.a.oliver (AT) gmail (DOT) com
Technical Writer / Translator
M3 Engineering & Technology
Master of Science in Management Information Systems
Eller College of Management
University of Arizona
Writings: Fan Fiction
http://boliver.florestica.com/
Webcomic: Nuke 'Em 'Till They Glow!! The Early Years
http://nettg.com
---
.-------Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List--------.
| Administrators - ffml-admins (AT) chez-vrolet (DOT) net |
| Unsubscribing - ffml-request (AT) chez-vrolet (DOT) net |
| Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject |
`------------ FAQ URL coming soon.... -------------'
Basically I rewrote the chapter based on some feedback I got at
pre-reading stages.
Here's what it looked like without wrangling back and forth with ideas
and clarifying concepts. If you feel so inclined, send me an email
and tell me which version you preferred. In the meantime, enjoy! ^_^
Nuke 'Em 'Till They Glow!!
Terra in Tokyo
---Chapter 16: Temporal Displacement
Apparently stationary, the Sun and Earth shone brightly in the black
Lunar Skyline, vaguely obscuring the stars around them. Twinkling
points of light at opposite horizons gave testament to the thinness of
the atmosphere. A large white marble citadel and its accompanying
suburbs lay peacefully below. On a stone courtyard bench, Terra
Incognita attempted to explain her situation to Queen Serenity.
"So you see, I'm actually from planet Earth, the same earth that you
are currently at war with, and I've taken the place of your daughter
without her knowledge or consent. I've been here for the past day or
so, gathering information in order to determine what should be done
here. Might I say, that's simply a LOVELY courtyard. Very difficult
to defend in a full-out assault, wouldn't you say? If I wanted to
knock this place out, I'd set off a big explosion in that tower right
over there. I mean, that'd be FUN!"
Somewhere between one of those sentences, Serenity had called for the
guards, who anxiously clapped her in irons and dragged her off.
"HEY! I was just getting to the good part!"
^_^;
"Darn it, darn it, darn it! THINK before you speak! THINK
before you speak!"
She had decided to think the situation over. Somehow, somewhere
along the way, Terra realized, she must have said something that
convinced the Queen that she was some sort of spy that had spirited
away her real daughter--in some sense, the girl admitted to herself,
that was probably true, however unintentional it had occurred--and she
got locked in Princess Terra's room under armed guard. In retrospect,
she was glad it wasn't some kind of dank dungeon.
"I'm almost certain I could have handled that a little better," she
commented to herself. Later, she added, "Maybe the next time I wake
up in a strange land with no idea where, when, or who I am, I should
play along with whatever and whoever people say I am."
This was good advice--truly, this was the voice of experience that
inevitably follows a catastrophic series of mistakes. In essence, it
told her: See what you just did? Don't do that.
However, all her lamentation didn't change the fact that she was in a
strange land, far from home, with no friends, and lots of swords and
what looked like flintlock pistols pointed at her.
"Hi there, you look like a reasonable sort," Terra said to the
burliest of the guards. "Believe me, this is just all one huge
misunderstanding, so I'll just be going now--"
When Terra tried to ease past the guards, one of them drew a gun and
fired a shot that grazed her arm and drew blood. "WAAAAAH!!"
Now, the voice of experience was telling her that she ought not to
try and walk past a lot of suspicious soldiers when they've got orders
to kill her if she makes any false moves.
"Guns?" The realization suddenly hit Terra. "They've got GUNS in an
ancient magical kingdom?! But those weren't invented until, like, the
sixteen hundreds or something!"
"They are a recent addition to our arsenal," muttered the large man.
"Copied off of your accursed Terran technology."
"Fine, fine, but why did you have to shoot? I was just sort of
trying to nudge past you."
"This is war," the soldier explained in a battle-hardened manner,
"and you're an enemy spy. The captain'll be here to interrogate you
soon. Until then, sit down and be quiet."
Terra recoiled back to the bed, halfway weeping from the pain. It
had taken a few moments for the pain receptors to kick in, but now it
really stung. The bleeding stopped fairly quickly, though. Now she
was wishing that the voice of experience would tell her what to do to
get herself out of this mess. It was bad enough--and not her fault,
she insisted to herself--that she was living someone else's life, but
she'd also successfully managed to trash trash this one, just like
she'd fought so hard to ruin her own.
"Hold on there," Terra muttered at her mind's analysis, "isn't that
going a little too far? I mean, so what? We've fared okay, despite
some of the spitballs fate's chucked in our direction."
Terra blinked at the remark she'd made. "'We?'" She shrugged it
off. "Okay, me. Give me one example."
"We sacrificed our life and became a true martyred heroine for a
while, and afterwards even got to live to tell the tale."
"But I still sucked afterwards!"
"What is your obsession with self-depreciation? You bum! You're
Queen of the World, baby!"
"But I thought I was a princess right now."
"PRINCESS of the world, then. C'mon, hold your head high!"
The girl had a little trouble accepting what she was telling herself.
"Do you really mean it?"
"You take a beating, both mental and physical, then come back for
more. You may not save the day, exactly, but you turn certain death
into a fighting chance to win."
They were nice words, Terra had to admit, but she wished it was one
of her friends complimenting her, rather than something resulting from
her own personal ego-boosting mind game. It was worrying, too, how
easy this kind of self-conversation came to her. Was she somehow
developing multiple personality disorder? She was in enough confusion
as it was without having to deal with such a thing.
The guards kept a steady aim at her, once commenting between
themselves, "Oh great, she's not just a spy. She's a crazy spy with
multiple personalities!"
"I'm not a crazy spy with multiple personalities!" Terra protested.
"And neither am I!" the girl found herself saying. She gasped and
cupped her hands over her mouth. "I'm kidding! Kidding. Really.
Fingers away from the triggers, please!"
It took another minute, but the interrogator finally came in. He was
kind of short, not very imposing, wore the same kind of
dark-bluish-grey armor as the other soldiers, and had a shock of
medium-long blond hair.
"Captain!" Terra forced herself to beam. She went up and shook his
hand firmly with both of hers. "Or shall I call you Admiral? There's
been some sort of mixup. I appear to be in the wrong place and the
wrong time."
"Yes indeed," the man replied in a neutral tone, withdrawing his
gauntleted hand slowly from hers. He examined his fingers carefully,
as if expecting to see something dangerous. Judging from his
expression, he didn't intend to be big on hospitality. Then he
returned his gaze to her. "I'm here to ask you some questions."
"Are you going to interrogate me with electro-shocks, thumb screws,
and the rack?"
The captain nodded slowly. "If it comes to that."
Terra gulped. "I-is this going to be scary? Because I warn you, I
have no inhibitions against screaming like a whiny little girl. And
quite frankly, that's who and what I am, and I'm quite proud of it."
"In that case, if you don't cooperate, I'll make sure you have your
chance to scream as long and loudly as you like."
"...you will?"
"Oh yes. We have some very nice dungeons. Dark, dank, and
soundproofed."
"Wonderful!" Terra shouted sarcastically. "As long as we're clear on
that. Okay, what is it you want to know?"
"Everything, impostor. Everything."
The girl paused, glanced at the guards' guns, and proceeded to
tell her tale.
---
"And after that was my first tooth. I don't have pictures to share,
so bear with me--"
"I see."
Questioning must have lasted for at least several seconds, because
after what seemed like minutes, the interrogator held up a hand and
said, "Okay, maybe I wasn't clear. Let's narrow it down a bit."
"But you said you wanted me to tell you everything!" Terra pouted.
"Well yes, but I didn't mean from early childhood."
"You're no fun."
"Now, where is Princess Terra?"
Terra had been wondering about that herself. If she was in the place
of Princess Terra, did that mean Princess Terra was back in her place?
....
The redhead struggled against the grip of Sailors Venus and Jupiter,
screaming, "LET ME GO, YOU INSOLENT FOOLS!" She looked at Mars.
"What is it you want this time, Pyra? Money? Ice cream?!"
....
Terra shuddered at the thought. But, remembering her previous
analysis, she realized that she might have a much easier time if she
just pretended she was the not-so-nice Princess Terra in question.
Judging from how they seemed to feel about her, it didn't seem beyond
the realm of possibility that she might play a practical joke on them
such as, say, pretending to be someone else.
As the interrogator started back up again, Terra forced herself to
burst into laughter.
"What's so funny?!"
"I got you guys SO good!" Terra chuckled. "You really thought I
wasn't me! You should've seen the looks on your faces!"
Fast comprehension filled the man's eyes. "You little pseudo-royal
brat! Don't you realize we're on high alert here?! Everyone's wound
up so tight they're afraid Earth's going to attack at any moment!
Pretending to be a spy and taking us away from our posts... that's a
new low, even for YOU, Princess."
"Hah, sucks to be you, don't it?!"
The captain picked up his helmet and motioned for the guards to
leave. "I'm going to formally recommend to the Queen that she have
your peasant rear spanked until it falls off! You're lucky the
lieutenant only grazed you when he fired. It's the least you deserve
for such a childish prank. What you did was mean, Terra. Really
mean, not to mention dangerous."
With that, the guards stormed out, slamming the doors behind them.
Suddenly, Terra's conscience stung her so hard she winced. "Oh,
great, now I feel guilty." She looked at the sudden relax in
security. "But I guess it's better than them thinking I'm an alien
spy."
---
When Terra walked out, she noticed word must have gotten around about
her "prank." Practically everyone who looked at her frowned and shook
their heads. In response, she growled playfully at them, which often
sent them running.
Honestly, Terra wondered, what kind of person WAS this "Princess
Terra?" And more importantly, did she really even want to know? And
why was she walking around in the shoes of such a deranged psychopath,
anyway? As time went on, it seemed more and more like something Arby
might set up.
On the other hand, Terra thought, if Arby were involved, by now she'd
probably be running naked and screaming from some sort of horrible
crowd again, with squirrels, badgers, mushrooms and such. As it was,
she stood walking slowly from nothing in particular and rather
over-clothed. Speaking of which, it'd probably take half an hour and
a full pit crew to shrug off this particular dress. She was willing
to bet that the multilayered bodice could stop bullets. Too bad about
the sleeves, though. Still feeling the graze, she contemplated that
it would have been nice if they had been bulletproof as well.
Since there was nothing left to do, she spent her time wandering down
the hallways in an attempt to find some meaning to why she was here
and what she was supposed to do. Huggyn and Kyssin had been sent away
somewhere, so she was on her own. Down one hallway, Terra noticed
distant harp music, and the sound of many feet tapping lightly against
a tiled floor.
Further investigation revealed a large party taking place in a huge
ballroom. Quite a lot of regal-looking figures in formal attire--both
men and women--went about the dance floor in practiced formations that
would have put a school of stunt pilots to shame.
For a moment, Terra attempted to reconcile the soldier's assertion
that the Moon was in the middle of a war and on high alert while at
the same time people were having a delightful time eating and dancing.
Perhaps it just meant that security was very tight because of the
ball. Or maybe that was the reason the place was in a war: it could
be a rebellion to overcome the insensitive, stuck-up royalty. Being
from Ireland, she herself had no great love for monarchies. All they
seemed to be good for lately were scandals and overzealous
photographers.
She went up to the nearest person, tugged on his sleeve, and said,
"Hi there! Can you please tell me why we're in the middle of a war?"
"Ah-aaah, Princess Terra!" the man jumped. He was an older man, with
a neatly-trimmed gray beard and a rather nice tuxedo. Recovering from
the shock, he replied, "That's a very good question, my young lady.
One can never truly guess the motives of the Dark Kingdom--"
"Dark Kingdom?!" Terra nearly shouted. "That's the name of the enemy
me and my friends were fighting back in Japan!"
The man looked confused. "Ah...?"
Terra waved off her remarks. "Oh, ah hah, nothing, nothing whatever.
We just have a common enemy, is all."
"Well yes, obviously we have a common enemy. Ah-hah, all of us being
from the Moon Kingdom."
"Yes, yes, ah-ha-ha-hah," Terra echoed regally with her nose held
high as she broke away from the conversation. Once she had escaped,
she stared at the floor while her mind worked on the problem.
Whenever this was, there was the Dark Kingdom as well. Assuming, that
is, that these were the same Negamafoozles she knew.
She asked another couple of random people more details about the Dark
Kingdom. The enemy had a ruler named Queen Beryl, four main generals
named Jadeite, Nephrite, Zoicite, and Kunzite. They also had a fleet
of powerful, advanced ships that had already wiped out several other
worlds--though notably Venus and Mercury still were managing to hold
their own. Basically, it was pretty much the same Dark Kingdom she'd
known and fought against. The only new information she could glean
seemed to be about a hyperpowerful demon goddess named Metallia, which
had already turned the majority of Earth's population into mindless
servants.
The gears in Terra's mind finally ground out a plausible theory about
what was going on: She had somehow been thrown back in time, tens of
thousands of years, into someone else's body--who looked remarkably
like her, despite the slightly different build--during a previous
series of battles the Dark Kingdom had fought. Only this time,
instead of facing a handful of magical girls, the Negamafoozles were
triumphing handily against nearly a dozen organized and powerful
worlds.
Distracted by her musings, Terra ran headfirst into Princess Serenity
and her tuxedoed date.
"AAAH!" Serenity cried, holding her bleeding face. "TERRA!"
"Oh! I'm sorry, Usagi--er, I mean, Serenity," Terra apologized, and
wondered how she had cut the other girl's forehead. She reached up
and felt a sharp crescent-shaped ornamentation that Huggyn or Kyssin
must have put on while dressing her that morning. "Oh dear. That
looks serious." Terra recoiled from the sight. "Yeech! They're not
kidding when they say face wounds bleed like crazy. Hey, anybody got
a handkerchief?!"
While Serenity's date watched in horror, Terra ripped off the
bullet-torn sleeve from her own dress. She didn't like it and it
looked terrible on her anyway. She used the cloth scraps to bind the
wound, while Serenity flailed around and tried to get away from her.
"Terra, you're causing a scene," Queen Serenity hissed.
"I am not! I'm performing first aid."
The blonde princess whined loudly and flailed around in Terra's
grasp, knocking over a refreshment table and spilling drinks and
confections across the floor.
"You are Causing a Scene," the Queen insisted impatiently with her
hands on her hips and tapping her feet.
Terra glanced around at the many eyes staring at her. "Oh, ah hah,
so I am." The redhead nearly laughed to herself at the oddity of the
situation. Right beside her was a woman who was in theory a wise,
kind, and gracious queen who never got angry--and whom a lot of people
would have trouble not bowing before--and now Terra was rather
managing to upset her somewhat ferociously.
Eh heh, she thought sheepishly, why don't I just shoot myself now and
save the Negamafoozles the trouble?
"Quiet you," Terra whispered to herself. "Social embarrassment
should be the least of my worries at this point!"
Queen Serenity took Terra by the arm sternly and walked her out into
the courtyard before turning her around and looking at her with a
withering gaze. "These people have almost nothing left, thanks to
you!" she explained hurriedly. "Would you deprive them of even these
last few moments' peace?!"
"Thanks to me?" Terra blinked. "Last few moments? You know
something they don't?"
Right then, a gigantic explosion rippled across the dark sky. About
six miles in the air from their position, an energy mist formed into a
curved white shining wall which blocked the destructive shockwave. As
if illuminated by the attack, the barrier faded out once more when the
detonation subsided.
"It has begun!" Serentiy half-wept, and looked at a shining wand she
held. "I can't keep this world safe forever. The shield is all we
have left. My powers and the powers of my Crystal are fading. Even
if we left our homes and fled, we would never get far enough before
they overtook us. Mercury fell an hour ago. The Venusian defenses
have already begun to buckle. We are the last of our immortal race in
the solar system. Try as I might, I cannot save my people, nor
myself!"
Terra put this new information together with the rest of the junk
she'd been compiling. "So, what you're trying to tell me is that this
civilization is doomed, no matter what you do, all thanks to me?"
"Yes!"
"Whoa, this is heavy." Terra held her head and came up with a few
more questions to ask. "How long does this place have before it
goes?"
"Hours, maybe minutes."
"Yikes... that sucks!"
"A colorful way of describing it, but very accurate, considering that
the atmosphere will be one of the first things to go."
"Does anybody else know about this?"
"They know that it won't be long. With the shield and my powers, I'm
just prolonging the inevitable, and giving everyone a chance to have a
few final enjoyable moments together before the end."
"Have you considered surrender?"
"They've vowed to shed our blood. Simply bowing down will not change
their minds. It would just make their job easier."
"No other options?"
"No, I am afraid not."
Terra clenched her jaw and watched a few more explosions bounce off
the shield. She could barely see its strength fading with each hit.
While she didn't really like this place all that much, she didn't
particularly want to see it destroyed, either. Besides, Angel and
Dewdrop were nice kids. They deserved something better than certain
death.
She grabbed Serenity's shoulder and looked straight into her eyes.
"Look, I know the whole thing here might look hopeless, but I know the
Negamafoozles--er, Dark Kingdom. I've fought them over a dozen times,
and beaten them. They might have bigger weapons than I've seen
before, but they're not invincible. We can fight them, and we can
WIN!"
"What are you talking about? You've never fought any Terran soldiers
before. Besides, I know what we are up against. There is no way we
can win. I simply do not have enough power left to me, and even if
you decided to come to your senses and fight for a righteous cause for
once, you also now lack the means!"
"I'll show you!" Terra shot back defiantly with a fist in the air.
"When they come, I'll fight them, and I'll beat them all!"
"What?! Princess Terra--"
"I'm not Princess Terra. My name is Terra Incognita, I'm a proud
miniskirted Sailor Soldier sent by FREAKING UNKNOWN COSMIC NEON LASER
BEAMS from BILLIONS OF YEARS INTO THE FUTURE to rescue your pale
sweet-scented immortal bottoms from uncertain doom, and for the sake
of the friends I've made here, I WILL BE VICTORIOUS OR DIE IN THE
PROCESS--MWAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!"
Stunned by the girl's sudden deranged outburst, Queen Serenity could
only bring herself to say, "Oh my! You said that all in one breath!"
---
A few minutes later, Queen Serenity climbed to the tallest balcony in
the palace and made her final announcement to the populace.
"Friends, loyal subjects, and visitors, lend me a moment of your
time!" she projected regally. "As you know, the Dark Kingdom of Earth
has sworn to destroy all those who have lived in the Light Kingdoms of
the Moon, Mars, Mercury, Venus, and others. I've received word that
the last two other bastions of our allies, Mercury and Venus, have
been, or are just about to be overrun."
This announcement resulted in several gasps, sighs, and other
expressions of disappointment.
"We are all that is left of our way of life," Serenity continued.
"But our weapons have long been exhausted, and the shield defending
our world will not last much longer. We have nothing left that would
help us escape our fate. The few soldiers we have are dilligently
keeping our cities safe from spies and intruders, and those of us with
power already gave all we had to maintain the shield. I commend you
for your efforts. This has given us a short time to say our goodbyes;
to enjoy a few last precious moments together."
Many hummed their agreement.
"My adopted daughter, Princess Terra--"
The mention of her name met with several boos and hisses.
"I hear your jeers," Serenity sighed sadly, "and cannot help but
agree with them, on more levels than you know. It might be said that
she has caused the very downfall of our civilization by her direct
actions." She raised a hand to quell the crowd's fresh murmur. "But
let us not dwell on the past. Our moments are too few for any more
hatred to exist among us."
Some looked like they agreed with these words, but most didn't.
"I've spoken with her, and she has volunteered to face the coming
onslaught. I come before you to ask if any others will join her in
her, perhaps futile, efforts. Will anyone face certain doom in
battle? What say you?"
The populace looked at each other and discussed the idea amongst
themselves. Their comments ranged from, "Help treasonous Terrifying?
The nerve to ask, after all she's done," to, "Someone should at least
try."
In the end, though, none stepped forward to answer the call.
Serenity looked at the redheaded girl behind her. Somehow, Terra
looked different than before. She looked less like a spoiled,
evil-willed princess, and more like a sweet someone who had seen too
many battles and won too few. It rather hurt the Queen to say,
"Sorry. I'm afraid you are on your own."
Right then, a pair of voices piped up from behind Terra, "I'll
go! I'll go!"
It was Angel and Dewdrop.
---
Terra scratched her head. When she thought about asking the Queen to
ask for help, she thought maybe they had some Sailor Soldiers or
magical guardians in reserve. She hadn't considered her two new
friends would volunteer. It'd be a slaughter.
"So what's the plan?" Huggyn asked.
"Yeah! So how are we going to beat the Terran army?"
The Queen didn't appear very certain about letting them volunteer.
"Basically, they are your last friends left in the solar system," she
noted. "I would be hesitant about asking them to join you in this,"
she motioned with her hand to show she was making an effort to find
the right words, "madness."
"Hah," the redhead laughed, "isn't it MORE madness to just let the
enemy walk over you like that? Hmm? Hmm?"
"Tell me, is everyone from billions of years into the future
completely insane, or is it just you?"
"What?! Naaah, I'm perfectly in control of the situation. Just watch."
"Somehow, I don't think you've thought this through."
"What's to think through? There's going to be a bunch of
Negamafoozles running through the streets in a little while. I've
gotta whack 'em! Hey, how many can there be? A couple dozen? Maybe
a hundred? Feh, might be a really, really tough battle, but I think I
can manage."
"Oh, about that. Neptune succumbed to a lightning invasion force of
five hundred thousand. When they invaded Jupiter, they landed with an
army consisting of about fifteen million. We can expect similar
numbers here. That is, if they don't simply vaporize us from orbit."
"Fifteen million?" Terra froze. "They can vaporize us from orbit?"
"They can, but I doubt very much they will. Queen Beryl of Earth
likes to take a more personal approach. There will be soldiers, and
there will be youma, and there will be the demon goddess herself.
Beryl will want to gloat over us, and over me specifically, when she
comes."
The teen's eyes widened when knowledge of the real odds hit her.
"You know, suddenly, maybe this doesn't seem like such a good idea."
"Why Terra of Ireland," Dewdrop said in a miffed manner, "are you
thinking of chickening out on us?"
"Kind of," Terra whispered in a cracking voice as another tremendous
explosion slammed the shield outside. "Now I'm scared."
"You'll be fine," insisted Angel, and handed her a pink and gold-dyed
chainmail shirt, as well as a short and dull heart-hilted toy sword.
"It's time to suit up. They'll have broken through the barrier soon.
We'll take you outside where they'll land."
"Five hundred thousand?" Terra asked weakly.
"Actually, they will be able to consolidate their forces with all the
other worlds beaten," replied Serenity. "More like ten million to
start, and then get progressively higher as they encounter more
resistance."
"ACK!"
Serenity smiled faintly. "Do you still believe my plan of giving us
all a chance to say goodbye to each other was madness?"
"Eh heh," Terra laughed insanely, "uh, got any nuclear weapons--or
rather, weapons of mass destruction lying around?"
"If we had any left, do you think I'd be giving up so easily?"
"Good point."
"Aside from my Crystal," Serenity continued, "which I've already used
much more than I should have, all we have left is this." She held up
what Terra recognized as her transformation brooch and wand.
"Gimme those!!!"
Terra grabbed both objects, pinned the brooch to her dress, and
exclaimed, "Moon Prism Power, Make Up!"
The transformation sequence flung her high into the air, engulfed her
in a puff of pink smoke, and left her wearing her white and pink
sailor suit. She landed flat on her back. "Augh!"
The others watched as Sailor Chibimoon got back up, dusted herself
off, and pointed at them, saying, "This isn't much, but at least I've
got my gosh-darn WAND this time around!"
Huggin and Kyssin nodded. "Yeah! And you've got us."
Terra looked over at the dimunitive pair. "Eh, yeah. I've got...
you," and added to herself, "for whatever that's going to be worth
against millions and millions of youma. But misery loves company."
She stretched her muscles, cracked her neck both ways, and said aloud,
"Now I KNOW I'm crazy. It was just a suspicion before. Okay, let's
get this thing over with."
---
Queen Serenity and a few guards took them to the outer wall of the
citadel, where large crowds of people were piling in.
"The main planetary shield will fail soon," the Queen explained.
"That leaves the palace barrier, which provides a little more time of
peace for everyone." She drew a line in the dust with her foot.
"This is where the second barrier ends. If you want to face the
enemy, be outside this line when the main shield fails. If you want a
few more minutes to live, stay inside."
Chibimoon found herself rather hesitant to cross outside the line.
"Armies and armies of youma?" she repeated.
Serenity nodded.
"Sworn to kill everyone? No surrender?"
"Correct."
Terra suddenly sniffled when reality finally hit her and fell to her
knees. "I don't wanna go--!"
"Come on, you'll be fine," Huggyn and Kyssin insisted, carefully
dragging the redhead outside the barrier threashold. "We can defeat
them! There's only going to be thirty million of them!"
"Wish I had your confidence," muttered Chibimoon.
"Besides, don't forget your secret weapon," said Dewdrop, tapping
knowingly at her earlobe.
Terra stared. "Secret weapon?"
Serenity waved. "Farewell, Terra, or Terra who somehow is not my
Terra. I don't know if your story is true or if it's just another
delusion. I'll watch from the palace. Be brave. I'll remember you
for as long as I live." She leaned way down to give the Irish girl a
kiss on the forehead. "However long that is. It's been...
terrifying. Angel, Dewdrop... goodbye." She turned around with her
escort, and went back inside. The last of the peasant-folk followed
her through the citadel gates.
"She's just brimming with optimism, isn't she?" Dewdrop said
sarcastically.
"Always look on the broight soide a' loife!" Terra sang insanely,
then followed up with a whistling chorus.
Angel's ears pricked up. "That's a catchy tune. Is it... from
Ireland, in the Future?"
Terra stopped and looked at her. "Hmm? No, it's English. Uhh, by
Eric Idle, I think. Had it on a CD called 'A Faire to Remember.'"
"That's nice. I'm glad they still have music in the future."
"Look on the bright side of things," Dewdrop agreed. "If we fail
here, there might not even BE a future to go back to."
"Oh dear, I hadn't thought about that," Terra whispered in shock.
"No, no, that means we're certain to succeed. You're living
proof of it!"
Terra had to wonder about that, as she looked up and saw a final
blast, an order of magnitude greater than had previously struck the
barrier, flare across the sky. Like a sheet of sugar crystals struck
by a blast of hot water, the great energy shield flaked and dissolved.
A fast wind, a blast of noise, and a flash of light signalled the
raising of the palace barrier behind the three girls.
"The main shield's down, and the Dark Kingdom of Earth will begin
their invasion momentarily." Angel looked up at Terra. "So what do
we do now?"
Sailor Chibimoon hefted her small wand and lifted her gaze to see the
hundreds of troop ships descending upon the Lunar surface. "We die."
---End of Chapter 16
And now it's time for... MIND YOUR MANNERS!!! with Sailor Nuke.
(Terra marches back and forth in her prison)
Sailor Nuke: Today, we learned a very important fact about when
people thing you're an enemy spy.
(Princess Terra rampages against the countryside, destroying countless
buildings.)
Sailor Nuke: DON'T DISAPPOINT 'EM!!!
Sailor Kawaii(screaming, waving her arms): But that didn't happen!
Sailor Nuke: It didn't? Well, it should have!
(Terra talks her way out of the prisoner situation)
Sailor Kawaii: No, what you should do when people thing you're a spy
is convince them otherwise. And giggle if you can! No real spy would
ever do that. Sailor Kawaii says. Tee-hee!
Sailor Nuke: But if that doesn't work, go ahead and blow 'em to bits.
Sailor Nuke sez. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!
--
Benjamin A Oliver
benjamin.a.oliver (AT) gmail (DOT) com
Technical Writer / Translator
M3 Engineering & Technology
Master of Science in Management Information Systems
Eller College of Management
University of Arizona
Writings: Fan Fiction
http://boliver.florestica.com/
Webcomic: Nuke 'Em 'Till They Glow!! The Early Years
http://nettg.com
---
.-------Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List--------.
| Administrators - ffml-admins (AT) chez-vrolet (DOT) net |
| Unsubscribing - ffml-request (AT) chez-vrolet (DOT) net |
| Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject |
`------------ FAQ URL coming soon.... -------------'