Time Loop by: Paul Brusky

*Author's Note:This part picks up towards the end of Bishojo Senshi Sailor

Moon episode 82. But things get wierder from there my friends! (Evil

laughter) Compliments, flames, hate-mail,etc can be sent to PDBrusky@msn.com.

Once again, this story is mine, mine, mine! But the rest (character

names, etc...) are owned by rich guys in suits so please don't sue me!

The dream. Mamoru was in the cathedral with Usagi.

She was beautiful in her white dress. The early morning

light streamed in through windows reflected brightly off

her long blonde hair.

A voice murmers in the background, but not the

voice. "You may kiss the bride"

Why was he having this dream again? He hadn't had

it for weeks, months! Not since we had decided it

would be best not to be married...Gods that still hurts.

He struggled to wake up, to escape the nightmare,

but he couldn't. He was trapped. He saw Usagi look up at him with love in

her blue eyes before she closed her eyes and melted into his embrace.

Then, there was a wind. The walls of the church collapsed. "Usagi!

Don't leave me!" he screamed into the wind as she was torn away from him.

He was surrounded by rubble. None of Tokyo's buildings had been left standing.

But the dream had changed! There was no ominous voice, no omnipotent power

forcing him to his knees when he knew he had to save his lady-love. Oh no!

I even think in cliches! So with a plea to any listening gods to help him,

he began to sprint after her. There! A glimpse of her in the distance

running, light collecting around her and then dissipating as she transformed

into Sailor Moon. He tried to run faster into the growing mists...

Abruptly, the setting changed and Mamoru was once again just an

obeserver. He was back in Tokyo- his Tokyo- on one of the numerous roof-

tops. A crystal loomed over him growing visibly even as he watched a pulsing

a sickening shade of black. He knew somehow that this wasn't right, he

wasn't supposed to be here.

A choked back sob distracted him from his observations. There, cradling

Chibi Usa in her arms, was sailor Moon. A small tear trickled down her cheek,

almost as if that were all the tears she could muster. Or like that was all

the

tears left. "I'm sorry." Sailor Moon whispered. Small Lady, my daughter...

The monolithic crystals continued to grow. There was a flash a black

light, and for a minute nothing could be seen through the darkness. Light

returned as a hole appeared in the sky and beam of the same blinding black

light shone from it. But as the hole widened like a rip in fabric so did the

beam, and whatever it touched became barren, lifeless.

He turned his attention back to Sailor Moon, saw her gently lay Chibi Usa

down on to the cold cement of the roof. Turning directly to him, although

Mamoru had no idea how she saw him since he wasn't there, she smiled wisfully.

Not knowing what else to do, he went and took her in his arms.

"I'm not supposed to be here." he heard himself say.

"I know. But you are, that's what counts." Inexorably, the black column

expanded toward them. "Listen, it's not your fault. It was too late to change

anything."

"I don't understand."

Again the sad little parody of a smile. "I know," she said simply. "You

will." The shadow was not far away. Run fool, run! his brain shrieked at him,

but he couldn't bring himself to care enough to save himself. "You must

remember

this, love. Warn the others."

They had only a minute, perhaps two. I wonder what death will be like

this time. He tilted Sailor Moon's- Usagi's!- head up and kissed her

passionatly. One last time... He could feel his left foot go numb as

it was slowly engulfed by the shadow.

"I love you, Usako" he whipered in her ear.

She looked up at him, mirroring her bride-self. "I love you,

Mamo-chan..."

Tuxedo Kamen woke with a start with two words on his lips. The Death

Phantom!

There was also something else, something he couldn't quite remember... But

already

he could feel the dream slipping away, eluding his attempts. And then it was

gone

leaving Tuxedo Kamen standing alone in the featureless gray wasteland with a

killer headache and a vague feeling he had forgotten something important.

A stab of sharp pain at the base of his skull reminded him just how much

of

a beating he'd taken to get this far. Man, Esmeraude sure meant business. I

feel like football players have been tap dancing on my head in cleats! Off in

the distance a bright light twinkled that hurt his eyes and made him squint.

Well,

for lack of a better direction, I might as well head that way.

"Nooooooooo!!" Tuxedo Kamen cringed as a familiar voice screamed nearby,

triggering another stab of pain at the base of his skull. "Chibi Usa!"

Sailor Moon? Chibi Usa! In his panic he never noticed that he ran into an

increasing fog, through a field of crystal-like rubble.

Where are they? he thought frantically, he could hear Sailor Moon crying

brokenly but he couldn't see very far because of the piles of rubble dotting

the

landscape and the thickening fog. I must be on the outskirts of Crystal Tokyo,

or what's left of it. Exausted from his running, he paused to lean against a

particularly large crystal fragment the size of a boulder.

A crystal tower in the distance... There was something familiar about

this

crystal, like he remembered it, or something like it, from somewhere. The

crystal

tower getting closer, I can almost see inside... The feeling was almost like

the

feeling he got when he was around Chibi Usa. Moving away from the tower,

looking up

at the sky. Srange ships, explosions, fire... Gods! That's what happened to

Crystal

Tokyo!

A small whimper on the other side of the "boulder". He got up and walked

a few

feet only to find Sailor Moon.

"Mamoru-san." she whispered. Her face was red and blotchy from crying.

Chibi Usa

was lying in her arms and the look in Sailor Moon's eyes told him everything

he

needed to know. Chibi Usa was-

"No," he whispered in disbelief. He knelt down beside her and looked back

at

Sailor Moon who had an odd expression on her face. He noticed the odd glint in

her

eyes, a calculating coldness, and the Black Moon symbol in her tiara's ruby.

It's

a trap and I played right into their hands...

Time seemed to slow as he leapt to his feet, saw her hold out her hands.

He tried

to dodge her blast of Dark Power. But it was too little, too late. The stream

of Dark

Power hit him full in the chest, knocking him back into the boulder. He

screamed in

agony as the energy flowed into him. Finally, the droid let off her attack and

vanished from sight. He was going to die alone.

The droid watched unseen as the droid dispassionately watched Tuxedo

Kamen slip

into unconciousness. "Usagi!" he managed to gasp before he crumpled into a

heap at the

base of the rock.

Banishing the image, she conjured another, this time

of Esmeraude. "Master," she said and politely waited for

her to look up fromwhatever she was doing. "The one

called Tuxedo Kamen is about to meet his... untimely

death."

"Excellent," her master laughed as she conjured an

image of her own. It was Tuxedo Kamen and the others.

But with a thought from her master he vanished. "One down,

eight to go..."

As Sailor Moon slowly came back to conciousness she

became aware of a splitting headache. What was that?

Somewhere near her, Sailor Venus groaned softly. Thank the

gods we're all OK, that was too close for comfort!

Underneath her were two lumps. Two very large and warm

lumps. Luna and Artemis!

"Um, Usagi," came Luna's muffled voice. "kindly GET

OFF!"

"Sorry, Luna." She pushed herself up into a sitting

position.

"Usagi, you definitly ate too much before we left." Artemis said as he

stretched,

looking more than a little flattened.

"Oh that is so not fair. I was hungry!"

"Yeah, and what else is new?" Sailor Mars said acidly.

"Come on, you two," Sailor Jupiter interjected. "Now is not the time or

the

place. Where this place is for that matter is a whole different story."

"Don't look at me," Chibi Usa piped up for the first time. "I'm just as

lost as

you are."

"And where is Tuxedo Kamen for that matter?"

Sailor Mars looked thoughtful for a moment. "Hang on guys. I think I can

figure

out where we are." And she promtly sat down and closed her eyes.

"Great. Looks Like we won't be going anywhere for a while."

Rei closed her eyes and slowed her breathing down in preperation for the

trance.

She cleared her mind of all thoughts and concentrated on the idea that she did

not

need eyes to see the world around her. With her mind's eye she gradually

"flew"

higher until she could see herself and the Senshi as tiny dots. And off on the

horizon, Crystal Tokyo reflected the sunlight. Well, that takes care of the

first

question. Now for Tuxedo Kamen.

She could feel his aura somewhere... So she used a kind of "mental sonar"

to trace

the feeling to the source. He was still unconcious but not seriously hurt.

Looks like

he won't need our help. Not that he ever did...

Rei opened her eyes and was confused for a moment by the double vision

until she

blinked a couple times leaving her only with her unaugmented sight. The sun

had already

started to go down. That's the problem with trances. They take so much time!

She

tried to stand but found she was too stiff. "Oh man, somebody help me up. I am

so stiff!"

"Well I should I should think so," Artemis retorted. "You've been sitting

like that

for three hours."

Rei gave him a look that could melt ice and proceeded to tell him what he

could do

himself.

"No thanks, I'll pass."

"Well in answer to Jupiter's question, Crystal Tokyo is... that way." She

pointed to

their right. "It's only a couple miles from here. And, Usagi! Tuxedo Kamen is

OK, he might

even get to the palace before us, depending on when he wakes up."

"Thank the gods for that," she said seriously. But she immediatly perked

up again. "So

lets go already! The sooner we get there, the sooner we can eat!"

"Is that all you think about, odango atama?"

"Reeeeiiiiiiii!"

Sailor Moon and the rest of the Senshi headed toward the Gate of Crystal

Tokyo. Don't

worry, Mamo-chan, we'll find you. Tuxedo Kamen had never joined them at the

Palace. And

according to Rei, he'd never even woken up. The sun shining brightly, the

birds chirping

sleepily in the heat. The clear blue water of the lake in the park. The

expression on his

face as he bent down to-

"No," she said, not even aware that she was talking out loud. She didn't

even notice

the worried glances she received from her friends. "I won't think about that."

A little

tingle as they passed through the Gate told her they were outside the shield

wall.

Somewhere, Tuxedo Kamen heaved a little sigh and

stopped breathing. A red rose in his hand withered and

turned brown as it too died.

Sailor Moon stiffend. A tiny corner of her mind

that had been previously filled with love and

understanding crumbled up and blew away leaving only

an aching void. Mamoru! "Mamo-chan!" she screamed.

"Don't leave me!" Her knees gave out and she wound up sitting on

the ground shaking violently. Looking back at the Senshi she said in a

quavering voice, "he's

gone. Mamo-chan is gone. He didn't even know that Chibi Usa was his... He- he

didn't know

who his own daughter was..." Her eyes rolled back in her head and she

collapsed.

Makoto shrank away from the look in Usagi's eyes, a look of total despair

and insanity

And then she fainted. She cursed loudly, ran over to Usagi and slung her over

her shoulder.

She's so light... Herself, picking up a lady in white lying under a pile of

rocks...

"Come on guys, we've got to get her back to the Palace."

Standing Moon was standing by the lake in the park. An aching depression

gnawed at her

but she couldn't remember why she was so sad.

"Usako?"

She turned slowly, in disbelief. It was Mamoru! Or rather Endymion. She

ran over to hug

him. "But you- you're... dead!"

"Yes. I can't stay long,"

"No. Don't leave me again," she said, pressing her face into his chest.

"Please. Not

again.."

"Listen, Usagi. This is important. The only way to save the future is the

past."

"I don't understand."

Himself on a roof. Sailor Moon smiling wistfully... I understand now but

it's too

late! "I know," he replied, echoing the dream. "You will. And when you save

the future

you save us, me."

"I love you, Endymion."

"Goodbye, Usagi. I'll be waiting."

Usagi- not Sailor Moon- opened her eyes. the void where Mamoru's

prescence had been was

still there, but it no longer hurt so much. It was kind of like a half-healed

scar. But it

still ached. Oh Mamo-chan, how can I live without you? It feels like half of

me is gone. She sat up suddenly, startling a person in a chair next to the bed. The

only way to save the future is the past."I understand!"

"Usagi!" sailor Mars cried out. "Oh I'm so glad you're OK!"

"I'm fine, Rei-chan. Listen, he told me..."

"Who?"

"Endymion... He told me 'the only way to save the future is the past'."

Rei looked puzzled for a moment then shrugged. "Just go back to sleep,

Usagi. You'll need your sleep."

"OK, Rei-chan." And she snuggled back down under the blankets and closed

her eyes.

* * *

Hang on! You didn't think I'd let it end there, did you? Stay tuned for

Part Two,

"Key To The Future"!

Home | Prologue | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5