77Obligatory copyright disclaimer: Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z and relative characters are intellectual property of their respective owners. I'm using them without permission, but this is only a no-profit Fan fiction.
Author Notes: There's a Doctor Who citation in this chapter (slightly modified). I could not resist, I love DW.
AnonymousZGirl: Thanks for all the ideas and for the continuing support. This chapter is dedicated to you ^^
Puffgirl1952: Sorry for the huge delay, I'm having a lot of problems in real life...
Yu Kazama: Expect the unexpected... I'm not finished with the twists.
Elys: Thanks, I'm really happy you like my fic. One of your questions will be answered in this chapter.
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Chapter 16: Twin Conundrum
For the third time in the last hour, Setsuna Meiou, esteemed physicist and lab researcher, fumbled with the controls of her instrumentation. Swearing softly, she altered the proton stream's alignment in the cyclotron to match the current experiment's settings.
"Again Meiou? Hard day, mph?" Her colleague, a small brunette in a white lab coat checked the data from the sensor array, feeding it back to Setsuna's computer screen.
The tall, olive-skinned and dark-green haired woman pinched the bridge of her nose. "It's not that, Kira. I'm simply distracted. Private issues. I'm sorry. I won't do that again."
"Maybe you should take a coffee break. The cyclotron won't be online for the next two hours, we have time." The woman smiled, waving a hand dismissively at the large device in the adjacent room.
At the mention of time, Setsuna coughed. "Time, yes... we should have time." Standing up from her station, she smiled back. "Thanks, I'll take a break after all."
Walking absent-mindedly, Setsuna Meiou alias Sailor Pluto, wandered the long underground corridors of the faculty of Physics at Tōdai university, where she worked. A prestigious job, full of opportunities but demanding both in time and dedication.
"Maybe too much..." she sighed stopping in front of an antiquated coffee machine.
Working at Tōdai was rewarding but her duty as Sailor Pluto, guardian of the Space-time continuum, was of paramount importance. And lately... really annoying.
During most of the previous week she could feel the space-time membrane being prodded from beyond. Such disturbances were normal in a strange universe such as theirs. But three times in a day?
While sipping her coffee she tensed unexpectedly, dropping the small cardboard cup. The hot brown liquid stained her lab coat and splashed on the white floor.
"Again! This is the fourth time today; enough is enough!" Ignoring the mess on the floor, she quickly entered an unused storage room and held high her transformation wand.
"Pluto planet power, make up!"
Unearthly light shone under the door, while the magical transformation heralded the arrival of the Sailor Soldier of Space-Time.
Once fully powered Sailor Pluto opened a small dimensional rift. Walking through it she stood on the roof of the building, wielding her Garnet Staff.
With a flourish she activated it; "Show me the distortion!"
A bright swirl of red and blue light flowered in the sky, more a swirling mass of gaseous vapors than a real light. However Pluto immediately knew the source of the disturbance.
"The same energy of the storm over the fashion building..." Her eyes narrowed, while her magical senses struggled to make sense of the phenomenon.
Months ago she and the Outers were abroad for attending Michiru's tournée, so they missed the battle. She sensed the disturbance however, and the four of them arrived on the scene hours later. Fortunately, the Inners were capable of handling the situation. Nonetheless their report deeply disturbed her.
"I should have sensed those two aliens from the beginning. Instead, Mercury's analysis implied they skulked on earth for months undetected. My failure to detect them endangered the planet. I won't fail again!"
The swirling vapors started to crackle with short lightning bursts, while a hole opened at the very center of the small maelström.
Gasping, Pluto struggled to contain the energy, preventing another destructive storm. This time however the swirling mass was gentler, almost subdued.
"someone is already controlling it. It's a wormhole!"
Clenching her teeth, the Sailor Soldier considered sending a warning to the others. She activated her watch. "Pluto to outers! Emergency at my coordinates! Incoming wormhole, I could need help!"
Haruka's voice immediately answered the call. "Copy that! We're coming, stand fast!"
Having given the necessary warning, Pluto felt free to concentrate on her task. Shutting down the wormhole was her first goal. Identifying the perpetrator the second.
To achieve both, she started to accelerate the speed of the spiraling energy, while trying to prematurely open the wormhole. "This way I should see the other side and at the same time cause the collapse of the entire thing..."
Tensing her muscles against the waves of pressure the phenomenon radiated in the area, Pluto poured all of her power in the effort. She felt her feet scrape on the floor while the energy slowly pushed her away.
"Not again... not on my watch..." She muttered while straining all of her body
Finally, the hole in the sky opened completely, surrounded by a halo of otherworldly light. Inside, an unexpected scene. A huge, hi-tech device was projecting energy in the hole, flanked by a tall woman in a strange armor. A small youth with similar armor was furiously fiddling with the device controls.
But the strangest thing were the five black-haired, black-eyed girls struggling to look all at the same time inside the small hole. They were the exact twins of the Inners, hair and eye color aside. Wearing the same strange armors, they were bulkier, more muscled, but definitely them!
For a single instant, the resemblance stunned her. Only for a moment. All too soon the painful memories of the battle at Mugen Academy reminded her of her duty.
"Alien beings from another dimension! You shall not pass in our universe! Begone!" She shouted while waving at them the Garnet Staff.
The vortex immediately vanished with a popping sound.
"That was easy!" A clapping sound accompanied Uranus voice. Sighing, Pluto turned to face her friends. Neptune was still applauding her with a sweet smile. Saturn stood in the rear, silent.
"Maybe this time... But I've a hunch they'll try again." The tall soldier brushed away the hair from her sweat covered face. "And it wasn't easy at all! The energy of that thing was just a fraction of the storm over the fashion building, but it was really strong all the same. And..."
Now serious, Uranus and Neptune glanced to one another. "And?"
"... I need to speak to the Inners. It's time for a meeting."
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"Oops!" The Runner's voice echoed in the stunned silence. The five girls had horrified expressions plastered over their faces. Eventually they recovered from the surprise and started to speak all at the same time.
"Pluto closed it!", "We should have considered this possibility!", "Why was Setsuna so mean to us!?", "Frak!", "I knew it..."
At the last sentence, four girls looked at the fifth. Sighing, Rei shrugged placidly.
"She's the guardian of space and time in our universe. She simply reacted to our wormhole like the Outers usually do to everything alien-like... by shooting first and asking later. You know her. We have simply to tell her our situation using the device, that's all."
Usagi immediately brightened up. "True. Hey Ami! You can send her a message, can't you?"
The girl nodded wearily. Looking at Tarble she took his place at the console, rapidly encoding a message. "I'll send a simple morse code by amplitude modulation in the negative-mass stream. She should catch it in an instant. I'll use my contact code from our Sailor watches."
Minako gasped, looking at her with wide eyes. "Your contact code? You remember it? It's a 256 symbols long random alphanumeric string! Ami, you always manage to surprise me..."
Usagi, looking puzzled, whispered in Rei's ear. "Rei, what's a simbolon randonumeric alfastir?"
"No idea. Must be something difficult to remember though."
At the same time Ami finished programming the device. "Done! I have set this thing to not open the wormhole completely, only just enough to send the message. Hopefully she will reply. By using the synchronic echo of the quantum feedback she should do it easily."
The Runner nodded sagely. Usagi whispered to her too. "You understood what she said!?"
"Not at all."
"Why on earth you nodded then?"
"In my travels I've learned never to look ignorant. Self assurance could save your life in my line of work. Try it yourself. Start closing your gaping mouth and changing that vapid look of yours..."
"I...I'm not vapid! How rude..."
Red faced and pouting, Usagi leaned again towards Rei. "Hey, do you know what 'Vapid' means?"
The young seer sighed. She knew today was one of these days.
The droning noise of the machine drew their attention. The Runner concentrated her power on the device and the hole opened again, this time much smaller.
Ami activated the controls. "I've sent the code, now we have to wait."
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Only one thing is worse than stuffing nine people in a small room. Stuffing nine sailor soldiers in the same room in their civilian identities. Chit chatting and munching potato chips were the inner's way of easing tension during meetings. Unfortunately the unnerving stares of Haruka and the silent presence of Hotaru were not favorable to such endeavors.
Michiru used a small paper handkerchief to elegantly pick a potato chip from the bowl on the table, under the fascinated gaze of Usagi and Minako.
They were all waiting for Setsuna to speak up. The tall woman was silent, with a deep pensive look on her face.
"Should I eat some of the chips? The last time was... so much time ago! Alas, they are full of saturated fats... but so crispy and delicious!"
A coughing noise brought her out of her revelry. Rei, rightfully concerned for the safety of her room, was clearly eager for the meeting to start.
"Now Setsuna, you called this meeting and we are all here. What's the news?" She Asked, straight to the point.
Looking at the eight pair of eyes looking at her, The woman wondered why she felt so nervous.
"Well... You all remember the battle at the fashion building four months ago."
Five heads nodded.
"While we arrived hours later, I could still perceive the energy of the storm straight from the other side of the world. The energy involved was on a scale of magnitude greater than that from the Mugen Academy incident. Nonetheless, it was surprisingly confined from the start."
At Setsuna's request Ami opened her Mercury computer, projecting on the wall select images taken from the battle. She pointed at the photo.
"It seems that this energy was at the same time present and absent. After long hours of research, I and Setsuna reached the conclusion that the phenomenon was of a quantum nature. This explains my readings and the undetermined nature of Rei's visions. Basically the entire incident was the lynchpin of a quantum divergence of massive proportions. Fortunately the outcome was in our favor, of the planet would have ceased to exist."
"Eeeeh?" Usagi and Minako echoed each other, while Makoto and Rei shrugged. Good doctors need not to be good teachers, fortunately for Ami's future patients.
Trying to explain, Setsuna took the bowl of chips and covered it with a plate.
"Suppose we trap a cat in this bowl with the chips. The cat wants to eat half of the chips and no more, but one of them is poisoned."
"Why someone would be so mean to poison a cat? And, isn't the bowl too small for a cat? Maybe the cat is a kitten?" Usagi asked, a vapid look on her face.
"This is beside the point, Usagi. Let me finish. If we abstain to interfere with the bowl, we could say that after a reasonable amount of time has passed, the cat has a 50% chance of eating the poisonous chip and die, and a 50% chance of not eating it and stay alive."
"However we can't know in any way if the cat is alive or dead, until we open the bowl. So just by looking at it we could say that for all intent and purposes the cat is both alive and dead at the same time."
"In the moment we open the bowl we'd find the cat alive or dead, deciding one of the two possible outcomes of the experiment."
Haruka shrugged. "And the point is?"
Michiru giggled at her. "It's Schrödinger's cat paradox, you dummy."
"The point is, under the many worlds quantum theory, that every time such a choice is given, it creates an entire alternate universe for every possible outcome of said choice. This means that infinite alternate universes exists, each one almost similar to the others near it. The more you distance yourself from your main line of universes, the more dissimilar and weird the differences could be."
Makoto raised a hand. "This implies that there are infinite versions of us, maybe one of them where I have green hairs and my parents are alive?"
Setsuna sighed, knowing this would be a long day. "Yes, more or less. And the storm that day was piercing the membrane dividing our universe from another one, much like that time at Mugen Academy. The difference was primarily in the power involved. The Tau dimension had about the same quantum weight of our universe. This time however the other universe was many, many times more powerful. Almost infinitely so."
"Infinitely?" Haruka's worried expression was the same all the other Sailors had, save Usagi.
"How could this energy be infinitely more powerful?" She asked, placidly munching chips.
Ami stood up near the wall, pointing at the photo of the red and blue storm projected over it.
"We think that this maelström is not a dimension per se, rather the potential energy of all the possible universes still not realized manifesting itself. As such, it is the multiverse's version of the galactic cauldron. It spawns universes and not stars, but the principle is similar. The woman on the roof used the energy she accumulated in the battle to punch through it and open a wormhole to another universe altogether. She shunted the excess energy in the maelström."
Setsuna continued the explanation; "The key word here is 'potential' energy. It could be capable of destroying earth and at the same time could shower on us chocolate bunnies. The chances would be the same..."
"Yumm, chocolate bunnies!"
"Usagi!"
"Rei, you don't like chocolate bunnies? Too bad for you."
"Why you called a meeting if there is no danger now? Or there is?" Asked Minako.
"In the last week I've been distressed by continuous prodding on the dimensional barriers of our reality. Small and weak but continuous. At least once every day. And yesterday, four times in a day! This was unusual, so I tried to stop them. Unfortunately it was again the same storm of four months ago, only smaller and many times weaker."
She gave them a full report of the incident, stressing on the strange last image she saw in the wormhole. Obviously the notion that the invaders were none other than their evil twins from another universe surprised the Inners.
They started to speak at the same time.
"Creepy!", "It gives me the shivers!", "Evil twins? Sounds so cliché!", "We should fight them!", "Why do you think they are evil?"
Everyone looked at Usagi.
Setsuna nodded. "Actually, I don't think they are evil at all. After the incident I started to receive a coded message through the cosmic membrane. It's a simple morse code, with Ami's Sailor watch code."
Ami gasped in surprise. "How that's possible?"
"One of them was you, albeit black-haired. If she's the Sailor Mercury of that universe, it's conceivable that her watch code could be the same as yours. They are asking for a peaceful contact, under any safety measures we want to enforce."
"Seems polite enough to me." Usagi observed.
"We should be very careful with this situation. It could be a trap." Haruka voiced her concerns, backed by Michiru and Makoto.
"I'm a little curious myself. It could be cool to speak to oneself, don't you think Rei? Your twin will be the same as you. You already have black hair."
"I don't think this matters now, Minako..." Rei sighed, facepalming.
Setsuna sighed again. "A long day indeed..."
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In the Science tower, the tension was palpable. Usagi was fidgeting with her scouter. Minako was jumping in place, while Makoto was practicing karate katas. Rei stalked the room in circles, like a hungry lioness.
From the other universe, Sailor Pluto replied immediately with a long list of safety measures to set up. Everything was promptly prepared by Ami and Tarble, while the others, unable to aid, simply stood out-of-the-way. After two long hours they where ready to explode.
"She contacted us almost instantly. Don't you find it strange?" Minako asked to the Runner, not wanting to distract her friend from the preparations.
"Not at all. Remember, the time in this universe could flow differently than in your own. It could be faster, slower, or simply weird."
"How it is possible?" Usagi asked her.
Jean scratched her head, then she mimicked handling something with her hands.
"Most people think that time and space are strictly bound by a sequence of cause and effect. But actually, from a non-linear non-subjective point of view, they are more like a big ball... of pudgy-quivering, bouncing-bubbly... stuff. At least this is what I remember being told by a guy that knew much about this things..."
"I'm more confused than a minute ago, thank you very much!"
"That's a good start. When I was at the beginning I thought I was simply having a dream. I walked nonsensically in dangerous situations without knowing a thing. Ah, blessed ignorance!"
"Please Jean, we need you to open up the wormhole." Ami asked her, while activating the device.
"Ok, no problem. Remember though. I can keep this up for no more than another half an hour. I need the remaining energy to deal with the Void. So it has to be now or never."
"Understood. Let's begin."
The wormhole opened again.
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Standing in their Sailor aliases in Hikawa shrine's grounds, the nine soldiers of love and justice were prepared to fight if needed. The wormhole was smaller than the last time, as Pluto told them. The energy and the looks were the same though.
"It's them, stand ready." Setsuna yelled, trying to overcome the droning sound of the storm.
With a flash the wormhole stabilized, forming a hole in space. Through it they could finally see their twins.
"Fascinating!" Ami struggled to see a resemblance in the gaunt, weary face of her counterpart. A sweet looking youth was on her side, trying to support her without being too obvious.
Rei's twin was almost identical, save for a faraway, sad glimmer in her eyes.
Minako and Usagi twins had black hair and were much more muscular and fit, especially the black Usagi.
Her twin scared Makoto. She seemed stronger, taller, meaner. A cruel scar on her left cheek marred her beauty. Other small scars criss-crossed her skin.
On a more accurate look, they all had little scars here and there. And they all looked weary and a bit sad. And very muscled. Really more muscled.
"Wow! You must really like body-building..." Usagi told to her counterpart.
"Er... actually, yes. I can't believe I'm saying this, but in this body I like training..." She replied.
The dark Makoto stopped her immediately. "We have no time for banter Usagi! Jean has little time left. And how they... we... could be there if we... they... are here!?"
Dark Ami haltingly stood up. "Maybe we messed up with the time factor and ended up contacting ourselves in our future, after returning in our universe." She looked at herself. "Do you have any memory of this conversation, from my side?"
Light Ami shook his head. "Not at all. Mercury computer tells me your quantum signature is the same of us but shifted to your universe's wavelength, and time is accurately synchronized. You can't possibly be us from another timeline."
Dark Minako spoke up. "But the storm pulled us on the fashion building! I remember that! The barrier crashed and we flew up in the wormhole!"
Light Minako shrugged. "I remember being pushed out. I almost fell from the roof that day!"
Light Usagi pointed at the Runner. "The woman on the roof! She's the culprit!"
Jean waved a hand at her. "Hi! You remember me... and this is a real problem."
Haruka did not like the sentence. "Why?" She said, assuming a combat stance.
The Runner ignored her aggressive posture. "Because I'm a singularity. I have no quantum doubles in any universe. Every runner is like that. It's normal for us, the source of our power. If she remembers me, this means she's the original one, from the right universe."
Dark Usagi struggled with the concept. "But I remember you too! This makes me the original too? How can it be?"
She sighed wearily, a sad look in her eyes. "I'm sorry. So sorry..."
Setsuna gasped, echoed by both Amis.
"There's only an explanation for this!" She whispered, while dark Ami crumpled to the floor, aided by a concerned Tarble.
Dark Makoto clenched her fists. "Tell us, Pluto! I want to know!"
Cursing for the first time her calling as a physicist, Setsuna explained.
"It's the energy of the storm. Pure potential in physical form. When it influenced you, two main outcomes were possible. One, where you were thrown out. Another where you were sucked in. Normally only one result could be realized, but with all that energy, especially 'that' energy... both the results..."
Almost everyone looked confused. Only the Amis and the Runner grasped the dire meaning of the situation.
The latter stood up.
"It seems you are responsible for this mess. First time it happens. Normally no one is able to meddle with a reality duel once started. But you were capable of the feat. I warned you not to." She pointed at both Usagis.
They nodded in unison. "I remember that." Their voices echoed each other in weird synchronism.
"The storm doubled you. One dragged with me here, and given an alien body to survive in this universe. The other... it's you." She waved to the light Inners.
"Like the cat? Alive and dead at the same time?" Light Usagi asked.
"Duh? Are you referring to the Cat's paradox? Yes I suppose it's about the same."
Setsuna looked at light Usagi. "At times she surprises me."
"Anyway, there are two of each of you now. By travelling the wormhole you..." She looked at the dark girls. "... will be transformed back into humans. Being the very same girls you see there, with different memories, there could be some... difficulties."
Setsuna shook her head. "I can't allow this! I'm sorry but you have to stay there."
Dark Makoto shouted angrily at her. "Why? Why!? You can't even possibly imagine how much we suffered since we arrived here! I must, have to return! Or I will go mad!"
Uranus, Neptune and Saturn immediately readied an attack. Light Makoto was stricken by the obvious look of despair of her counterpart, as were both Usagis.
"How can we help them? Why can't you allow this, Pluto?"
Sailor Pluto crossed the gaze of each of them, cooling tempers and silencing words. "The woman knows why. Ask her."
Everyone looked at the Runner.
She shook her head, clearly moved. "Er... being the very same... beings, there could be two possible outcomes if they return in their original universe. Either they stay as identical twins, with different memories, or they merge. In the second case they could keep both sets of memories, or one of the sets at random could be erased... oh, there's even the possibility you could destroy one another explosively. I'm sorry... so sorry..."
Sailor Pluto raised her staff, flanked by the outers. "I won't risk the life of the princess for the unlikely possibility of everything going well. I demand you to close the wormhole and stop trying to open it again. Cooperate or we will use lethal force!"