Disclaimer: None of the characters from Ranma �
or Sailor Moon belong to me. I am merely borrowing
them for this fiction.
Twin Dragons under Moonlight
A Ranma 1/2, Sailor Moon X-over
Chapter 4
Mamoru found himself standing a muddy field. The
sky above his head was blood red in the setting sun and
the field itself seemed to be red as well. It only took a
few steps for him to realize why the field was red. It
wasn't the light of the fading sun, it was spilled blood
of the corpses that he could now see littered the field.
He felt an almost calm detachment as he continued to walk
towards a rocky hill that jutted out of the tall grass.
As he neared the hill he saw men, women and children
impaled on tall stakes, but felt nothing. As he reached
the base of the hill, he saw that more dead littered the
sides of the hill. He picked his way gingerly through the
piles of mutilated dead but despite his best efforts, he
was covered in blood and grime by the time he had reached
the summit.
The moon had fully risen by then, pale and full. By
that silvery light he saw a very large man wearing armor
that reminded Mamoru of the armor he wore in the silver
millennium. The large man turned to face him, and Mamoru
suddenly noticed a young girl struggling in his grasp.
Although most of the man's face was concealed in the
shadows, Mamoru could clearly see the evil grin on his
face as he slowly choked his victim to death.
Even that display of cruelty did not spark a hint of
outrage in Mamoru. As the big man tossed away the corpse
he smiled again at Mamoru and finally spoke.
"My son."
Mamoru jerked awake in his bed, breathing hard.
Images from his dream were fading fast, but he suddenly
felt sick to his stomach as he remembered the indifference
he felt as he walked through that field of death. More
curious though, was the man that called him son. Who was
this?
He stumbled into his bathroom and splashed cold
water on his face before staring at his reflection in the
mirror. He frowned slightly when he saw the dark rings
under his eyes. ::Either the stress of these battles is
finally getting to me, or I need more sleep!::
Minako sighed to herself a little as she studied the
different items that filled her room. It almost seemed
like some sort of eclectic mix between stuffed dolls and
sports equipment, primarily volleyball. She studied each
item closely, her crossed arms sending wrinkles across her
pajamas.
"Minako?" Artemis asked as he took in her
contemplative look.
"I'm sorry Artemis, I was just thinking," she sighed
again as she collapsed on the bed.
"Is there a problem?" He asked.
"I was just trying to figure out what I could do to
be more effective, maybe take some of the load off of
Sailor Moon," Minako said as she absently reached over to
scratch Artemis behind the ears.
Artemis smiled in spite of himself. Even though she
was thoroughly head over heels in love with Ryouga, her
devotion to her duty shined forth once again.
"Perhaps if you listed all the weapons you have
available to you..." Artemis started before he leapt away
as Minako leapt to her feet and dashed to her closet.
"Weapons! Perfect idea!" Minako smiled as she
quickly changed into a coverall before she scooped up
Artemis and dashed from the house.
"What is it?" Artemis asked, confused.
"I can't believe I'd forgotten about it until now,"
Minako chided herself as she searched for a secluded spot.
"Forgot what?"
"The sword!" Minako said in exasperation. "The one
we got from the Moon and used to help us fight Beryl and
Metallia!"
Artemis's eyes went wide as he recalled how
Incredibly sharp and strong that sword was.
"You think that that might give you an edge?" He
asked, gritting his teeth as he realized the very bad pun
he had made. Minako nodded absently as she ducked into a
blind alley and transformed.
"All I have to do now is figure out which subspace
pocket I put it in..." Sailor Venus said as she started
her search. With a small groan, Artemis smacked his paw
against his face.
"Didn't we leave the sword at Ami's place?"
"Oh!"
Ami glanced at the clock next to her desk when she
heard someone knocking on the door to the apartment she
shared with her mother.
"Who could that be at this hour?" She asked herself
as she cinched her robe a little tighter and headed
towards the front door.
"Minako!" She exclaimed when she opened the door.
"What are you doing here?"
"Ami, do you still have the crystal sword we got
from the moon when we were fighting Beryl?" Minako asked
breathlessly.
"Of course, please come in," Ami stepped aside and
allowed Minako and Artemis through the door before she
closed it.
"Is your mother home?" Minako asked quietly as she
removed her shoes.
"No," Ami shook her head. "She had to work late
tonight. I have the sword in my room."
"Great!" Minako said enthusiastically as she
followed Ami to her room.
"Why do you want it? Did you remember something we
haven't yet recalled?" Ami asked curiously as she opened
her closet door.
"Not really. I just got to thinking that we should
take advantage of all our resources in these fights,"
Minako said as she watched over Ami's shoulder.
"Maybe I should run a search on the Mercury computer
for any other files on the sword," Ami mused as she pulled
a long, wrapped bundle out of the back of her closet and
handed it to Minako.
"It might be a good idea to include any other
artifacts that may have survived," Artemis said. "If the
sword proves to be useful, who knows what other useful
relics are still on the Moon?"
Minako ignored Artemis as she carefully unwrapped
the gleaming crystal sword. It was a massive weapon,
easily coming up past the bottom of her ribcage if it were
to be stood next to her. Elegant engraving surrounded the
crescent moon crosspiece, and an odd diamond shaped device
near the point added a great deal of weight to the point
of the blade. When Minako grasped the hilt, though, it
seemed like it was more of an extension of her arm than a
separate weapon.
"Minako?" Ami said nervously. "You're glowing."
"Huh?" Minako said as the glow around her and the
sword faded from view. She lowered the sword from the
upraised position it was in and gazed at the reflective
crystalline blade.
"It almost feels like a long lost part of myself,"
Minako said absently as Ami started typing rapidly on the
Mercury computer.
"Ah, here it is," Ami smiled as she looked up at
Minako. "There's a good reason why it feels that way, it
is yours."
"What?" Minako and Artemis asked at once.
"You see, that sword has always belonged to the
leader of the Senshi guarding the princess. That was you,
in your previous incarnation anyway."
"Should I give it to Sailor Moon now?" Minako asked
nervously. "I mean, she is our leader..."
Ami shook her head. "Didn't you come here to find a
way to help take the burden off of her?"
"Well..." Minako trailed off as she looked at the
sword. "I just want to help more."
"Besides," Ami continued, "If you recall, that was
also the same sword she used to suicide in the Silver
Millennium.
Minako reeled back as if she was slapped. The
sudden, clear recollection from the last moments of her
previous life was so vivid, she would later swear she
could feel what had happened in the memory.
In the distant past, high within the Moon Palace,
Sailor Venus panted as she dashed along a corridor. Her
bloodied Crystal sword was still held tightly in her hand
as she searched for the haven her Princess was in. At
last, she found the door she sought. She paused for a
moment to gather will to suppress the painful emotions she
was keeping at bay.
"Princess!" Sailor Venus yelled as she burst into
the room where Princess Serenity and Prince Endymion were.
"Beryl's troops have overrun most of our defenses, we must
get you to safety!"
"What about the others?" Princess Serenity asked as
she rose to her feet.
Sailor Venus looked away, unable to speak, unwilling
to tell the girl in front of her that of all the people in
the palace, only the Senshi and the Queen were still in
any condition to fight.
"That bad?" Prince Endymion asked as he shifted his
sword belt. He frowned slightly when Sailor Venus refused
to answer. "I see. Come, we must go," he said gently to
Princess Serenity.
She nodded her agreement, and the three of them
started moving warily through the darkened corridors of
the palace.
"The queen said something about preparing for the
worst, and the other Senshi are buying her time," Sailor
Venus said in a hushed voice as she peered around a
corner. "Beryl's forces are only marginally human, as if
the evil magic of their leader has corrupted them..."
"Beryl, what have you done?" Endymion growled.
As they continued, they could hear the hoarse war
cries of the hordes of the enemy. The continual chant of
'We will conquer the Moon Kingdom! Take the Ginzoushu!'
set their teeth on edge. Occasionally, they would stumble
across one or two enemy troops. Sailor Venus wouldn't say
a word, but would cut them down as quickly as possible.
Although Princess Serenity was shocked at her protector's
savage attacks, she knew that this was a war and Sailor
Venus was a warrior. Endymion kept watch on their rear,
but he only ever saw the mangled bodies Sailor Venus would
leave behind.
Sailor Venus led them out onto the battlements and
paused for a moment as she used her crescent beam to
collapse the corridor behind them.
"There's a passage on the other side of the north
tower to the kitchens. From there, it's not far to the
sanctuary where the Queen awaits us," she said as led them
past fallen guards and broken siege equipment.
Princess Serenity glanced over the wall and blanched
slightly at the sight of the dead piled at the base of the
wall far below. Endymion wordlessly pulled her squarely
in front of him.
They turned the corner at the north tower and Sailor
Venus swore under her breath. In front of her stood
nearly a dozen of Beryl's elite troopers.
"For the Moon and my Princess!" She cried as she
raised her sword and leapt into the fray. Three of them
fell before they could even draw their swords. Sailor
Venus spun and kicked another out over the battlements,
ignoring his despairing scream as he fell to the ground
far below. By now they had drawn their swords, their
blood red armor gleamed as they spread out and tried to
surround Sailor Venus.
"Get her out of here!" She yelled back to Endymion.
When she heard no response, she spared a glance and found
Endymion engaging others that were attacking them from
behind. She watched his swordsmanship with a critical
eye. She decided that if he were to marry the princess,
he would need lessons in using his sword properly. She
smiled slightly as he neatly sidestepped a charging
spearman and gave him just the right shove to send him
plummeting to his death.
A sharp pain tore through her thigh, reminding her
that she had her own work to do. She turned on the enemy
and swung her sword in dizzying patterns as she
methodically advanced. One elite trooper was foolish
enough to walk right into the pattern, and before he could
even blink both his arms had been removed. He stared in
disbelief at his arms lying in bloody pools before Sailor
Venus lopped his head off and advanced on the remaining
troops. Her angry strokes cleaved armor and flesh with
equal ease, and when the last turned to flee she raised
one finger and spoke in a dispassionate voice.
"Venus Crescent Beam." The lance of light struck
her last foe in the square center of his back and flung
him into a column where he left a bloody smear as he fell
slowly to the ground.
"Venus!" Princess Serenity cried as she rushed
towards her. "You're bleeding!"
"I don't have time to bleed," Sailor Venus said as
she watched Endymion cut down his last opponent. She
looked down at her princess and smiled and then frowned
when she saw the look of horror in her eyes. Sailor Venus
spun around just in time to be stabbed in the gut by a
beautiful, dark haired woman. Her fingers went numb and
her sword fell from her grasp even as she slowly slid off
of the blade. She fell and lay there, breathing slowly
and trying desperately to gain the concentration needed to
summon the rest of the Senshi.
"No! Venus!" Princess Serenity cried and tried to
reach her friend and protector, but Endymion pulled her
behind himself.
"Prince!" The woman exclaimed, lowering her sword.
"Beryl," Endymion growled as he raised his own.
"Do you betray us?!" Beryl asked in shock, "We
fight for Earth!"
"Stop! Stop this useless fighting!" Endymion
pleaded. He quailed as Beryl suddenly raised her sword
above her head and a dark shadow seemed to flow from her
form. He raised his sword in a futile move to defend
himself, but the blade was sheared in two and Beryl's
sword gashed his chest open in a bright spray of blood.
"No!" Princess Serenity cried even as Beryl melted
into the shadows of the battlements. Princess Serenity walked
slowly to where the Crystal Sword had fallen and lifted it.
She saluted Sailor Venus with the sword before she turned it
towards her own chest.
Sailor Venus tried to call out to her, but she only
managed a blood filled gurgle even as Princess Serenity
plunged the blade into her own chest. Sailor Venus clawed
her way across the cold stone battlements to where her
Princess had fallen. With her final bit of strength, she
clasped Princess Serenity's hand.
"Princess!"
Sailor Venus lifted her head and saw the rest of the
Senshi standing in mute shock at their princess, her lover and
their leader laying in pools of their own blood. That momentary
delay cost them their lives. With an inhuman scream, Beryl
leapt from the shadows and struck. Jupiter was the first to fall,
clutching at her wound.
"You!" Mars snarled and leapt to the attack while
Mercury bent to try and tend to Jupiter's wound. Beryl only
laughed as she disdainfully brushed away Mars's fire with a
wave of her hand before burying her sword to the hilt in her
chest.
"You're Queen is next!" Beryl laughed as she
twisted the sword. Mars opened her mouth to respond, but
only blood flowed from her mouth.
Sailor Venus felt a renewed surge of strength as her
friends fell one by one. She stood and gently pulled her sword
from Princess Serenity's chest before she charged Beryl.
Beryl turned to survey her work after kicking Mars off
of her blade and was stunned to see Sailor Venus charging her
with the crystal sword held high.
"I killed you! Why won't you stay dead?" she
screamed as Venus closed the last few steps.
"For my Princess and her Prince!" Sailor Venus
yelled as she swung her sword with both hands. Beryl
was nearly cut in half and was flung against the wall by the
force of the blow.
"Victory, but at what cost?" Sailor Venus whispered
as her strength finally gave out and she collapsed against the cold
stone.
Minako roused from the memory to find Ami and
Artemis standing worriedly over her. She smiled weakly
for them.
"I'm ok... I..." Minako said in a weak voice as she
attempted to sit up.
"Hush, don't talk," Ami admonished her as she
gently pushed her back down.
"I remember," Minako said after a moment. "I
remember seeing Princess Serenity kill herself. I think
your right, Ami. I don't think she would like to use that
sword at all."
"What about you?" Artemis asked.
"To defend Usagi, I would wield whatever weapon I
had to!"
Sailor Pluto stood rigidly, watching the events in
the Time-stream with barely controlled anger. Everything
she had worked for over the centuries could be wiped out
in one single move. Worse than that, the alternatives did
not appeal to her one bit. One showed the end of the
world as she knew it, total devastation. Another showed
something other than Crystal Tokyo. It was naggingly
familiar to her, though, but she couldn't pin down exactly
what it was. She didn't concern herself with that, but
rather sought to figure out how to push the time-stream
back away from those alternatives.
"I wouldn't recommend that," a voice echoed out of
the Time Gates, causing Sailor Pluto to back away a step.
A moment later, a future version of herself stepped out of
the Gates.
"I see you decided to visit," Sailor Pluto sighed
as she lowered her guard, but kept a discrete distance.
"I'm not the only one this time," the future Sailor
Pluto said as she stepped away from the gates. "I told
two others to come. They are in the Time-stream on the
way here."
To Sailor Pluto's surprise, two more versions of
herself stepped out of the gates. One could be best
described as haggard, her hair was a charred mess and her
uniform seemed to be held on by the force of her will
alone. Her face was drawn and dark circles were under her
eyes.
The other one was in much better shape. She was in
perfect control of herself and exerted an aura of power
that Sailor Pluto realized was from gaining her eternal
form at long last.
"We need to talk," all three of her future selves
said at once.
"For simplicities sake, I shall be Crystal," The
version from Crystal Tokyo announced before turning to
each one in turn. "You shall be Eternal," She pointed at
Eternal Sailor Pluto. "You shall be Pluto," she said
gently to the haggard Sailor Pluto. "And finally, our
host shall be Setsuna."
"What's going on? Why are you all here?" Setsuna
asked.
"My future must never happen," Pluto said as she
leaned on her Time Key. "The silence..."
"You must let them live with the consequences of
their choices," Eternal said easily. "The road before
them is hard, but there is a good future in store for
them."
"I don't understand!" Setsuna growled in
frustration before she turned to Crystal. "What does she
mean by live with the consequences?"
"I have visited each of their time gates at your
prompting," Crystal held up one hand to forestall
Setsuna's denial. "You haven't asked me yet. I dare say
that Crystal Tokyo as you know it is doomed."
Setsuna reeled in shock from that revelation.
"But... If I got rid of Ranma and Ryouga now..." She broke
off at the scream of rage that erupted from Pluto.
"No! That's what I did! Now, there's no hope in my
time-line! None! I fought as hard as I could, but the
Senshi just couldn't do it alone, not with..." She broke
off as Crystal raised her hand to silence her.
"Enough! There are some things that she must not
know yet!" Crystal said sharply.
"I was curious when Crystal arrived in my timeline,
and we compared the threads," Eternal said, her voice
sounding oddly serene to Setsuna. "It seems that despite
our best efforts, chance had re-asserted itself."
"Chance?" Setsuna said in disbelief. "I left
nothing to chance."
"Exactly," Eternal smiled gently. "But there is
always that random factor. Look at it this way, we think
of you as 'reality'," she pointed her Time-Key at
Setsuna. "We, are all the results of chance" She gestured
briefly at her small trio.
"No matter how long you gaze into the gates and
marvel at the future I am from, it is still only a chance
to happen," Crystal sighed. "Fortunately, if events
occur in such a manner as to cause my future to vanish, I
wouldn't know it, or even feel a thing. I'd feel sorry
for any time traveler from my time if they hadn't returned
before it happened, though."
"Chibi-usa!" Setsuna gasped in shock.
Eternal nodded sadly. "She stands to suffer the
most from this. You must encourage her to return
immediately."
"She won't want to leave," Pluto said sadly, "and
even then, she can't be forced to leave."
"Getting back on track," Eternal said gently.
"When the prime reality gets disrupted from it's course by
the interactions of time travelers, random changes ripple
across the time stream."
"Are you saying that this is all Chibi-usa's fault?"
Setsuna gasped.
"No, one traveler is not a demonstrable threat, as
you know from what you did for Ranma in the past,"
Eternal smiled as Setsuna blushed. "It was the dangerous
and destructive arrival of the Black Moon family that
truly began this shift."
Crystal looked away ruefully, "Wiseman got his wish
after all, Crystal Tokyo will be no more."
"Isn't there anything we can do to save Crystal
Tokyo?" Setsuna asked.
"No, all you can do is stand with your Princess.
Get Uranus and Neptune to work with them, and whatever you
do, keep the wildcards alive!" Pluto screamed.
"Enough Pluto!" Crystal snapped.
"No, Crystal. She has made a point," Eternal said
in a calming manner. "Her's is the future where we had
made the most incorrect decisions."
"Still," Crystal said as she nodded in agreement.
"We cannot give Setsuna too much foreknowledge. She may
be tempted to stop what must happen."
"Hold the coldest facade that you can," Eternal
said in a pained voice. "What will come to pass will
hurt, but you must be as solid as a rock to survive this
emotionally."
"You mean...?" Setsuna asked in a troubled voice.
Eternal nodded. "There are several alternate
futures where you allowed your emotions to run away with
you when you needed to exercise control. The results
were... not nice."
"Basically, What I need to do is simple. Get
everyone working as a team, keep everyone alive and not
lose control of myself if something untoward happens,"
Setsuna summed up their meeting.
"Not if, when," Eternal said sadly before she
stepped into the time gates and disappeared.
"Don't take this the wrong way," Pluto said with a
wry grin, "But I hope to never see you again."
"I think that you need to avert your curiosity about
Eternal's future. What I saw there..." Crystal broke off
and shook her head. "Let's just say it made me
homesick."
"Homesick?" Setsuna asked, puzzled. She waved as
the last of her future selves stepped into the Gates and
disappeared.
::What in the universe could make me homesick?::
She thought to herself as she began to ponder what she had
learned.
Cologne smiled to herself as she approached Ranma
and Ryouga's campsite. Although it was still before dawn,
she could easily hear the two of them from quite a
distance as they sparred with each other.
::Such dedication,:: she thought to herself. ::It
almost reminds me of myself in my younger days.::
She cleared her mind from her reverie and closed the
last bit of distance to the clearing. She was mildly
surprised when they broke cleanly from their sparring as
she entered the clearing and turned in her direction.
"Hey there, Granny," Ryouga greeted her. "You're
just in time for breakfast."
"Thanks all the same, Ryouga," Cologne said as she
hopped up to them. "But I ate before I left. Shampoo
thinks I'm on a buying trip, so I have all day to work
with you two."
"We learned that Ki channeling technique you told us
about yesterday," Ranma said as he stirred up the fire.
"We also found a new Ki attack in the process."
"Really?" Cologne asked in mild surprise. "What
did it do?"
"It was like a ki blast that exploded from the end
of your fist," Ranma explained. "It knocked Ryouga and I
out cold in one go! Then again, we weren't ready for it
either."
"It's weaker than our Ki blasts, but we can do more
of them at a time," Ryouga said.
"It seems that you two stumbled across today's
lesson," Cologne chuckled. "Very well, I shall be
helping the two of you refine those two techniques today."
"Why don't you ever use those anymore?" Ranma asked
curiously.
"Because, Son-in-law, I have much more powerful
techniques at my disposal. It will serve you well,
though, to be able to have every single one of your
attacks be effective against those monsters."
Ranma and Ryouga nodded grimly as they quickly
cooked and ate their breakfast.
The sun had already risen by the time Hotaru woke
that morning. Despite the heavy drapes across her window,
sunlight still filtered into the room. When Hotaru looked
out the window, she sighed in contentment. It would be a
beautiful day, and she decided that she would watch her
newest friends practice again today.
It was almost midmorning by the time Hotaru made it
to the park. She felt a little guilty about not calling
Chibi-usa, but she also didn't want her noisy friend to
give her away. She peeked cautiously around a tree and
watched with wide-eyed wonder as Ranma and Ryouga
performed feat after feat of amazing physical prowess
under the direction of the ancient Cologne. Ranma was
using his incredible speed to dodge a veritable storm of
rocks being thrown at him by Ryouga. On occasion, Ranma
would let loose a yell and punch one of the rocks. With a
loud noise, the rock would either shatter under his fist,
or fly back at Ryouga, who would calmly catch it only to
hurl it right back at Ranma again.
Hotaru sighed as she watched them. If only she
could be that active, that fast, that strong! She smiled
then, as she recalled what they had told her the previous
day about eating right. She almost felt bloated with the
amount of food she had eaten, but she hadn't thought twice
about it.
"Impressive, aren't they?" an amused voice asked
from behind her. With a startled yelp, Hotaru turned
quickly and put her back against the tree. She looked up
at the blond girl smiling down at her, noting in passing
that she was wearing a loose red sweater and a pair of
blue jeans.
"Minako!" Hotaru gasped as recognition set in.
"You startled me!"
"Sorry, Hotaru," Minako giggled. "I didn't mean to
sneak up on you."
Hotaru smiled shyly at first, and then began to
giggle as well.
"Shall we go over there and say good morning?"
Minako asked.
"I don't know... I'm not sure we should bother
them," Hotaru tried to demure.
"Nonsense! Look, they're taking a break right now!"
Minako pointed before she took Hotaru's hand and started
walking.
Hotaru resisted for only a second before she jogged
a few steps to relieve the pull on her arm.
"Ryo-chan!" Minako waved as she shouted her
greeting across the clearing. Ryouga looked up and waved
as well, but didn't move from where he was standing.
"Shouldn't he walk out and join you like the guys in
the manga do?" Hotaru whispered.
"Ryouga's too shy to do something like that," Minako
giggled. "He's just so cute!"
Hotaru smiled as Minako's eyes seemed to fill with
stars as they got closer to where Ryouga and the others
were waiting for them. Once they had reached the neat
little campsite, Minako released Hotaru's hand and
immediately grabbed onto Ryouga's arm and looked dreamily
up into his blushing face.
"I see you finally decided to come out of hiding,
little one," Cologne said to Hotaru.
"Not really," Hotaru smiled. "Minako forced me to
come over here."
"Is that so? Were you afraid that you would
distract us?" Cologne asked gently. When Hotaru nodded
with a blush, Cologne chuckled.
"Do not worry about it child. I'm sure you couldn't
distract those two if you tried. Now Minako, on the other
hand..." Cologne trailed off as she watched Ryouga
collapse with a nosebleed while Ranma roared with laughter
and Minako gasped and began to fret over his fallen form.
"Oh dear..." Hotaru giggled.
"Enough of that," Cologne chided them. "Since we
are taking a break, I want you two to tell me how hard
those monsters can hit."
Ranma looked up in thought as he recalled his most
recent adventure before he fixed his blue eyes on the old
woman. "I'd say their blasts hit just as hard as Herb's
ki blasts."
"Some of them are as strong as Mint as well," Ryouga
growled.
"A deadly combination," Cologne murmured. "Have
you taken steps to avoid being recognized?"
Ranma and Ryouga looked at each other and sighed.
"No," Ryouga admitted finally. "But usually those
Sailor girls end up killing them, so we didn't really
worry about it."
"Didn't you mention something about a witch that
controls them earlier?" Cologne asked acidly. She
continued without waiting for them to respond. "Ranma, do
you know the Xia Fang Gao shiatsu attack?"
"Yeah," Ranma nodded. "Shampoo used that one on
Akane shortly after she showed up here. What's that gotta
do with anything?"
"I'm going to teach you a subtle variation of that
attack," Cologne cackled for a moment. "It can be used
to force people not to learn something they have never
known as well. For example, if I really hadn't wanted you
to learn the Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken, I could have very
easily used the Xia fang Gao shiatsu attack to prevent
your learning of it. Nothing you could have done training
wise would have worked for unlocking that block."
"I get it!" Ranma smacked one fist into his palm.
"Next time I see that witch, I use that to block any
chance of her learning where Ryouga and I live!"
"Exactly, Son-in-law," Cologne nodded. "Now, let us
train until dark." Cologne turned a hard look on Minako
and Hotaru. "I'm going to have to ask the both of you to
leave for the time being. The techniques I'm going to be
working on with them are simply too dangerous to practice
with distractions about."
Hotaru looked pleadingly at Ranma while Minako hung
her head and scuffed her feet a little.
"C'mon granny," Ranma said in a light tone. "Iffen
they're quiet and sit here by the fire, they wouldn't be
any bother."
"I don't want to take any chances with Ryouga
getting distracted in the middle of his training,"
Cologne countered.
"I wasn't any bother yesterday," Minako said
quietly before she looked up with an odd gleam in her eye.
"Besides, this is a public park, you can't make us leave!"
She crossed her arms and smiled her most winning smile at
Cologne.
"If I hear so much as one peep out of you," Cologne
threatened, "I'll throw you out of the park myself, and
then I'll make Ryouga forget you."
"Knock it off, granny!" Ryouga snapped.
"Don't worry, Ryouga," Minako said. "I'll just sit
here and wait quietly for you to finish. Besides, I still
have to take you to get your school uniform afterwards."
Ryouga mumbled something incoherent as he walked
away and proceeded to blast a tree stump to pieces with
his newly learned explosive ki punch.
"Goodness, I haven't seen him that nervous since the
last time I saw Akane try to feed him something," Cologne
chuckled. "Come along, Son-in-law, we have work to do."
Much later that night, Hotaru smiled to herself.
She couldn't believe how lucky she was to have met Chibi-
usa in the park that day that seemed to have happened so
long ago. Now, she had several friends that she knew
somehow she could trust. Ranma and Ryouga acted almost
like older brothers; they fought all the time amongst
themselves, but they were both kind and gentle towards
her. Hotaru giggled as she recalled how Minako seemed to
enjoy just sitting there next to the campfire and watching
Ryouga train. Hotaru hadn't left until Chibi-usa had
shown up and had wanted to show Hotaru something she had
gotten developed. It was a photograph that Chibi-usa had
a passerby take of all of them standing together Hotaru in
the very center of the photo with Chibi-usa just to her
right.
They had left almost immediately after that to find
a frame for the photo. When Hotaru had glanced back at
the camp, she was surprised to see Ranma, Ryouga and
Minako waving to her. She couldn't tell if Cologne was
waving, but she did have a kind of grandmotherly smile
before she told the boys to return to their training.
That night, Mamoru dreamt again. This time, he
found himself standing next to a giant throne inside what
appeared to be a grand castle. Judging by his
perspective, he was still quite young. He looked around
curiously, and saw that the walls were bare stone. Even
as he looked, people seemed to fade in like mirages
amongst the columns. He didn't have to look at the
throne, he already knew who sat there. He looked anyway
and saw the giant man from his last dream. He was
considerably cleaner this time, but he still wore the same
armor. The man looked directly at him and smiled kindly
at him. The expression seemed out of place on the man's
face, as if kindness rarely showed on his features.
There appeared to be some kind of celebration going
on, but two of the people there seemed to be aloof from
the crowd. Their pale skin was a distinct contract from
the weather beaten ruddiness that seemed to mar the men's
faces around them. Mamoru looked closer at these
visitors. He felt he should know them, but for some
reason he did not. After some time, one of them stepped
up in front of the throne and waited patiently.
"Kneel before the King, wench!" one of the mailed
guards barked at the woman before the throne.
"I kneel only for the royal family of my kingdom,"
she replied calmly as she brushed a few stray strands of
black hair away from her face. Mamoru felt stunned, but
didn't move. He recognized her voice, but still couldn't
quite place it.
The guard growled and raised his pike, but the man
on the throne held up one hand to forestall him. With
obvious reluctance, the guard settled back into his
position. By now, the throne room was silent. All
attention was on the King as he rose from his seat.
"I greet the emissary of the Moon Kingdom," he said
in a booming voice. "What is it that Serenity wants this
time?" He asked in an insulting tone.
"Her Majesty, Queen Serenity, appreciates the kind
words you sent upon the death of her husband, but rejects
your proposal of marriage. Do recall that it is forbidden
for one of the Moon Kingdom to marry one from the Earth."
"Perhaps she will change her mind when our children
come of age. A permanent alliance between the Earth and
the Moon would be in the best interests of everyone," the
King smiled.
"I doubt it."
Stunned whispering filled the hall then. Mamoru
decided that no one here had heard someone deny this
obviously powerful man before.
"Bitch!" The guard yelled as he charged her with
his pike. With a disdainful move, she easily sidestepped
the charge and tripped him. The guard lay sprawled out on
the flagstones as the court laughed.
"If he persists, I will defend our messenger, Your
Majesty." The messenger's escort stated bluntly before
she moved between the woman and the guard. The guard
stood and leveled his pike at her, a strange look in his
eyes, possibly even panic.
"Give them room!" The King bellowed. "Go ahead,
Sailor Venus. Show these people why we have a treaty with
the Moon Kingdom."
"Is this wise, your Majesty?" A robed man asked.
Mamoru decided he was either an advisor or a court
magician.
"One of my men broke the treaty by attacking the
Queen's emissary. Despite our differences, Serenity and I
came to an agreement some time back." He smiled then, a
cruel, haughty smile that seemed to belong on his face.
"Besides, I haven't seen Sailor Venus fight since she did
this to me." He pointed to a long, jagged scar that
barely missed his eye.
Mamoru looked back at where Sailor Venus was facing
off against the hot headed guard. The guard had discarded
his unwieldy pike and had drawn his sword and buckled on a
large shield. Sailor Venus stood a short distance away
wielding the most fantastic looking sword he had ever
seen. Even as they began their duel, Mamoru realized why
the sword seemed so unusual. While the guard wielded a
sword of beaten steel, her sword appeared to have been
carved from a huge crystal.
The duel was over in three strokes. Her first
stroke had neatly cut the shield in half, but had not cut
his arm. The second sent his sword clattering across the
floor. The third stopped barely an inch away from his
throat.
"Do you yield?" She asked formally. When the guard
bowed his head, she stepped away from him and turned to
face the king. Behind her, the guard growled and drew his
dagger.
"Look out!" Mamoru heard himself yell.
In a flash, Sailor Venus spun on her heel and
beheaded him. Even before the man's body fell, the King
burst out laughing.
"This concludes our visit, Rithallex the Conqueror,"
she said as she coolly wiped the blood from her sword and
turned to walk away.
"Wait," Rithallex said in a commanding tone. Sailor
Venus paused and looked over her shoulder. "Tell the
Queen that I hope she reconsiders. Also, I hope that her
daughter is not too distraught over losing her father."
"I shall deliver your message."
"That was a good move, warning her like that,"
Rithallex said to him once Sailor Venus and her entourage
had left. "She will begin to doubt that you are like me."
The dream shifted, and this time he was standing
next to a coffin. Inside lay Rithallex, looking no
different than he had earlier. Although he could not see
the people passing in front of the coffin clearly, he
could hear the whispering.
"I heard he was poisoned by someone from the Moon
Kingdom."
"Nonsense! Serenity wouldn't do something like
that! I heard that his latest wife stabbed him in bed."
"Will Endymion be able to hold the kingdom together?
He's awfully young."
"Word is that four of the most powerful warrior magi
are on their way to protect him. I thought they hated the
King."
"He seems different now. He used to be just like
his father and then one night, poof! I guess the warrior
magi can see that he's changed and they want to make sure
he stays that way."
"Well, it is harder to rule justly than with
terror..."
Mamoru woke more puzzled than he was before. These
were obviously memories from his past life resurfacing,
but they were nothing like what he thought they would be
like. What kind of man was his father in the past? His
memory was clearest from the time he met Princess Serenity
on, but before that there was a blank. Almost like a wall
in his mind, preventing him from going any further.
When Ryouga looked upon Shibakouen Junior High the
next morning, he felt for a moment like he had been cast
into hell. He and Minako had searched until late the
previous night for a uniform for that school that would
fit. Not a single one they had tried would accommodate
his large frame. So now, he stood in his green pants and
yellow sweater ready to run at the slightest chance.
"You're tensing up again, Ryo-chan," Minako
whispered as she latched onto his arm and began to gently
tug him towards the school.
"This is never going to work," Ryouga muttered.
"Why not?"
"Because, I don't fit in here! I'm older than
everyone here, not to mention taller. I'll stick out like
a sore, and the teachers will never leave me alone since
they don't make a uniform in gargantuan!"
Minako gave him a penetrating look before she
giggled. "Are you really that worried about a few
teachers? All they can do is bluff and bluster. As long
as you do well in class, you'll be fine!"
"Aino!" one of the boys waved as he walked up to the
two of them.
"Asai!" Minako greeted him warmly before she
gestured at Ryouga. "This is Ryouga Hibiki, he's starting
class here today."
"Really? He looks a little older than everyone
else."
"So I'm a little behind..." Ryouga muttered even as
Asai pulled Minako away.
"Look, Aino," Asai whispered, "I know why you quit
volleyball, are you sure this guy is safe?"
"What?" Minako glanced back at Ryouga before she
returned her attention to Asai.
"Aino, just be careful, ok? I don't want you
getting hurt because those monsters attack him to get to
you."
Minako gave him a startled glance before she began
to laugh. "Don't worry about him! He's strong enough to
hold his own."
"If you're sure..." he trailed off, a skeptical look
on his face.
Minako smiled and raised an eyebrow at him. "Who
better to judge how well someone can deal with a fight
than me?"
"You've got a point there," Asai agreed with a
chuckle. "You be careful, alright?"
"Sure, see you later," Minako waved as she walked
back to where Ryouga was waiting patiently.
"What was that all about?" Ryouga asked.
"Don't worry about it, Ryo-chan," Minako sighed a
little as she leaned her head on his shoulder. "He just
doesn't want to see me get hurt."
"Huh, too bad he wasn't around the other day,"
Ryouga said as they continued into the building.
"What is it, Mimet?" Professor Tomoe asked as he
entered his laboratory and found Mimet waiting for him
there.
"I discovered something very interesting,
Professor," Mimet smirked as she walked up to him. "I
found that one of Eugeal's old targets displayed an
unusual amount of energy, even after her pure heart was
removed."
"Oh?" His glasses glinted slightly as stopped
walking and turned to look at her. "Go on."
"Apparently, she had sufficient energy to be able to
grab her own heart crystal from Eugeal and flee with it.
Such energy is just what we need."
"Yes..." Professor Tomoe rubbed his chin as he
approached his worktable. "Yes, that is an unbelievable
amount of stamina. How far did she get before she
collapsed?"
"According to the data I recovered from Eugeal's
computer, she escaped with it and apparently put it back
in on her own."
"Fascinating. Let's find out if she can do that
again, shall we? Only this time, I'll send a Daimon
capable of keeping her in place!" He laughed maniacally
as the door of the fusion machine slammed shut, cutting
off a boom box from view.
Ryouga felt even more out of place when time for
sport rolled around. While everyone else had on shorts
and a long sleeved T-shirt, he was still garbed in his
usual traveling clothes. While he didn't expect to sweat
during sport, he still felt awkward.
"Today, we are going to be practicing archery," the
gym teacher announced. Several of the students began
passing out the bows while the teacher began talking to
them about how to shoot. Ryouga gave an askance look at
the fiberglass bow he had been given and snorted. He
raised his hand and waited patiently for the teacher to
recognize him.
"Yes, Mr. Hibiki?"
"Do you have anything with a stronger pull on it?
I'd break this thing if I tried to use it," Ryouga said
as he held up the bow.
The teacher gave him and odd look and shook his head
before he moved the students to their respective targets.
Mimet peeked out of the bushes bordering the
athletic field of Shibakouen Junior High and smiled when
she saw Minako practicing intently with a bow.
"This will be too easy!" She smirked as she
released the Daimon from the briefcase.
"Booming!" The Daimon said loudly as it formed.
"Hush!" Mimet scolded it before she pointed out
Minako. "She's your target. I'm going to go make a
distraction so that the Sailor Senshi won't know what's
happening until it's too late!"
Booming nodded and watched as Mimet fled from the
field. Booming waited for some time, when a distant
explosion startled it. It glanced over its shoulder to
see a column of smoke rising from some distance away,
along with the occasional discharge of a magical attack
that streaked off into the sky. It shrugged and sauntered
out of the bushes. Unnoticed, it snuck up behind Minako,
its power-chord tail whipping back and forth in
anticipation
"Look out, Minako!" One of the other students
yelled when Booming was only a few meters away from
Minako. Minako spun and shot her arrow straight at the
Daimon in one smooth motion. Booming gasped in shock as
the arrow penetrated the side casing of its boom box like
chest.
"Hey! That hurt!" Booming complained as it yanked
the arrow out.
Minako backed up a step and plucked another arrow
out of the turf. The other students in the class also
raised their bows.
"Ready..." Called the teacher while Booming backed
up a step in fear.
"FIRE!" Ryouga yelled as he released his arrow and
then ran, dropping his bow. The other students reacted
immediately, and Booming fled back a few steps before the
sheet of arrows coming at it.
"That does it! Sonic Wave!" It screamed. The
speakers in its chest began emitting a sound so loud, the
students in the field had to cover their ears. The arrows
shattered in mid air, along with the discarded bows.
"Ha! Now let's see you stop me!" Booming laughed.
"Fine by me!" Ryouga yelled as he delivered a jump-
kick to Booming's jaw.
Booming staggered back from the attack slightly
before it counter attacked. As Ryouga and the Daimon
fought, Minako glanced around, looking for a good place to
transform.
Ryouga stepped back from the Daimon and tried to
regain his breath. Despite his strength and skill, he had
only managed to get a few good hits in.
"What's the matter? Not enough power?" Booming
taunted even as its tail whipped around. Instinctively,
Ryouga grabbed it and realized his mistake as electricity
arced through his body. His muscles spasmed as he fell at
the Daimon's feet.
"Ryo-chan!" Minako screamed as she ran up to him.
"Leave him alone!" she yelled as she tried to kick
Booming. The Daimon smirked as it dodged her kick and
leaned in close, grabbing her in a bear hug.
"Get away from her!" Ryouga yelled as he slowly
struggled to regain his feet.
::Oh no!:: Minako thought as she frantically
struggled against Booming's grip. ::It's after me this
time!::
Booming chuckled a few times as it sucked Minako's
heart crystal out. Time seemed to stop for Ryouga as
Minako's eyes seemed to glaze over and her head rolled
back limply while her heart crystal glimmered in the air
mere centimeters from Booming's gaping mouth. Booming
froze as an eerie, high pitched giggle escaped from
Minako's throat as her head snapped back forward.
Startled, the Daimon let go and backed up a step.
"What the? You shouldn't be able to do that!"
Booming gasped.
Minako grabbed the heart crystal hovering before her
and turned to run, still giggling in that strange manner.
With an inarticulate yell, Booming grabbed her again and
struck Minako with its tail, shocking her unconscious and
forcing her to release the heart crystal.
"NO!" Ryouga's scream tore his throat as he leapt
forward with his hand outstretched. With a super human
effort, he managed to snag Minako's heart crystal right
after punching Booming in the face.
With a howl of pain and frustration, Booming dropped
Minako's limp form. Ryouga dove to catch her before
leaping off to the trees surrounding the field. Once he
reached the edge of the field, he gently put Minako down
and shook her shoulders.
"Minako! Speak to me! Minako!" Tears were
standing in his eyes as he watched her face slowly become
more and more ashen.
"Put the crystal near her chest!" An insistent
voice said. Ryouga looked around, but saw no one.
"Just do it, you big oaf!" Artemis called down from
the tree he was hiding in.
Ryouga shook his head before he gingerly picked up
Minako's heart crystal. "This had better work," he
growled as he moved the crystal towards her chest.
He gasped as the crystal seemed to dissolve in his
hands and flowed into Minako in the form of a lot of
little glimmers of light. Although the color returned to
her face, she did not stir.
"Minako!" Ryouga howled as he gingerly hugged her
limp form to his chest. He gently laid her down on the
soft grass and turned towards Booming with fire in his
eyes and tears streaming down his cheeks.
"You..." He said eloquently.
"Get out of here, pest!" Booming made a shooing
gesture.
"Made a big mistake!" Ryouga continued as if he
hadn't heard the Daimon. His battle aura flared around
him, slipping his face into a pool of shadow save his
burning eyes. "You stole my chance for happiness, and for
that you deserve to die."
Booming quailed a little and took a step away from
him. "Can't we talk this over?"
"But worse than that, you stole Minako's chance for
happiness. For that, you deserve to suffer horribly as I
rend you limb from limb before you die," Ryouga continued
in a voice like a death knell.
Booming snarled and whipped it's tail at him again,
only now when it contacted his aura, the end burned off.
Ryouga snarled as he continued his methodical approach.
Booming cut loose with its sound wave attack, but Ryouga
didn't even flinch as he raised his fist. His aura flowed
into that fist like an oil fire in reverse as he cocked it
further and further back.
"For ruining her happiness, destroying her life,"
Ryouga growled as the last of his aura was concentrated in
his fist, causing it to glow like a miniature green sun.
"I will kill you in the most painful manner I can
imagine!" his voice increased in volume until it was a
deafening shout. The other students in the field gaped as
Ryouga faced off against the Daimon, his glowing fist
upraised.
A short distance away, Minako stirred slowly and sat
up.
"Easy now," Artemis cautioned her quietly. "You
had your heart crystal taken. I've called the others, but
it will be a few minutes before they get here."
"Ryouga doesn't have a couple of minutes," Minako
grunted as she struggled to stand.
"Eat this!" Ryouga screamed, "Concussion Fist!"
His glowing fist left a comet like trail as it sped
towards the Daimon. The resulting explosion knocked
Minako off her feet. She brushed her hair out of her face
and looked out across the battlefield. Inside a small
crater, Ryouga was doling out his vengeance on the Daimon.
His eyes had turned blood red and his face was contorted
into a snarl of pure hatred as tears ran down his cheeks,
unashamed. He executed all of the most painful attacks he
could think of as flawlessly as if he was facing off
against a practice dummy.
Minako was speechless as Ryouga savagely broke the
Daimon's arm backwards at the elbow and then twisted the
broken limb while kicking it squarely in the face.
Without bringing his foot down, he looped it over the
Daimon's shoulder and dropped to his other knee without
letting go of its mangled arm. Booming let out a keen of
agony as its shoulder was dislocated. He shattered its
knee with a kick before sweeping it's other foot out from
under it. Without hesitation he pinned it's arms against
the ground with his knees and began to alternate punching
it in the chest and face. His aura flared again, but he
did not focus it again.
Minako held her hands up to her mouth as she watched
his savage attack. There was a complete circle of
students around the crater in which Ryouga was slowly
pounding the Daimon to death.
"This is the end!" Ryouga screamed as he raised his
fist high. With every ounce of strength in him, he drove
his fist into Booming's chest. His fist broke through the
boom-box like torso of the Daimon with the sound of
tortured plastic and he buried his arm up to his elbow in
the Daimon. Ryouga panted slightly as he pulled his fist
from the center of the Daimon's chest and rose from his
crouching position. Like a wavering mirage, the Daimon
shifted back into a boom box. The other students in the
yard stood in a stunned silence, they knew Ryouga was
strong, but they had no idea he was this strong.
Ryouga stood over the boombox and watched as it
expelled the Daimon egg. Before it could break open on
its own like all the others had, he ground it under his
heel with a satisfying crunch. Even though the battle was
won, his aura continued to grow like an out of control
bonfire.
Minako suddenly remembered the pillar of green
energy that he and Ranma had shot off before and the
devastation it had left behind.
"No!" She screamed as she scrambled down the lip of
the crater. "Damnit Ryouga! Don't do this! I'm all
right!" She pleaded as she stumbled into him and clutched
at his shirt. He didn't seem to notice at first, so
Minako grabbed his head and forced him to look down at
her.
"M-Minako? Is it really you?" He asked quietly, his
aura slowly fading away.
"It's really me, Ryo-chan. Thank you," she
whispered as she hugged him gently and laid her head
against his chest.
Ryouga's face suddenly twisted into an ecstatic
smile as his arms twitched at his side, almost as if he
was trying to make a decision. His aura winked out and he
was barely aware of the whistles and catcalls from the
other students. Suddenly, his arms snapped up and
crushed Minako against his chest.
"Oh, Minako..." He sighed dreamily, not noticing
Minako beginning to struggle in his grasp.
"Oh no! He'll crush her!" Artemis gasped as he
leapt from the edge of the crater and latched onto
Ryouga's face before he began clawing and hissing.
Ryouga released his grip on Minako long enough to
brush Artemis away, but when she began to fall, he deftly
moved and caught her.
"Minako?!? Are you alright?"
"Next time, Ryo-chan," she gasped, "be a lot more
gentle!"
Ranma sighed as he approached Setsuna's office. He
had been summoned to her office over the intercom, and he
wondered why she wanted to see him again. He knocked
tentatively on her door and waited.
"Come in, Ranma," her voice sounded oddly strained,
even through the heavy door.
"Yeah, what is it?" Ranma asked as he stepped into
the office. His sharp eyes took note of her general
appearance of being disheveled and quite tired.
"I have gone through several sources available to me
and found you and your friend, Ryouga, a place to live,"
Setsuna said as she brushed back a stray strand of hair
from her face.
"What?!?" Ranma exclaimed as he reeled back in
shock.
"I said..."
"I heard what you said, but why? And how do you
know about Ryouga?" Ranma interrupted.
Setsuna smiled slightly. "I heard about Ryouga from
Usagi. As for why, well... Let's just say that after
reviewing your files and researching your past a little I
felt that it would be in the best interest of your welfare
if you did not have to return to your father for a time.
Also, with winter approaching it would not be wise to
continue camping out in the park."
"I don't wanna take no handouts anymore," Ranma
muttered as he turned to leave the office.
"Sit down!" Setsuna commanded as she rose from her
own chair.
Stunned, Ranma sank onto one of the chairs in the
office. Setsuna paused for a moment and regained her
composure a little.
"Do not think of it as a handout," She lectured.
"Rather, think of it as a fresh starting point. I pulled
a lot of strings to get permission for you two to stay
there, don't make me regret the effort."
"A fresh start, huh?" Ranma mulled his way through
that idea. "Whose place is it?"
"You'll see," she smiled cryptically as she handed
him a slip of paper with the address and directions. "You
may go back to class now," she waved as he turned to
leave the room.
Ranma wondered about Setsuna's seeming change of
heart for the rest of his classes, and throughout his
first shift at the Crown Arcade. Although his mind was
busy mulling that over, he did not allow it to distract
him from his work. Most of what he did that day was clean
the screens of the various games. Although there were a
few customers, the arcade was far from being full.
"Slow day, isn't it?" Ranma asked Motoki as he
wiped down a glass prize case.
"No, this is fairly normal for a school day. You
should be here on a weekend or during break," Motoki gave
a wry smile. "Then it's so busy, you can't hardly turn
around in this place without bumping into someone."
"I see," Ranma murmured as he gave one final swipe
with his cloth and glanced at the clock.
Motoki followed his gaze to the clock as well and
sighed. "Well, that's it for your shift."
"Yeah, see you tomorrow," Ranma waved jauntily and
turned to leave.
"Ranma, do you have a permanent address yet?"
Motoki asked.
"Uh, yeah," Ranma said as he dug through his
pockets for the piece of paper he got from Setsuna. "Ah,
here we go." Ranma repeated the address and then paused.
"Uhm, ya don't give out the addresses of your workers, do
you?"
"Of course not!" Motoki laughed.
"That's good," Ranma breathed a sigh of relief.
"There's a few people that I'd rather didn't know where I
live."
"You're not in trouble with the law, are you?"
"Nah, just some girl and family trouble. See ya,"
Ranma waved and left the arcade.
"What an interesting fellow," Motoki mused before
he leaned on the counter and kept watch over his empty
arcade.
Usagi sighed dreamily as she walked away from the
Hikawa shrine after a study session, interrupted only by a
quick story from Minako and Ryouga about a Daimon attack
at their school.
"To leap to her defense," Usagi giggled to herself,
"How romantic! I've got to tell Mamo-chan about this!"
She hummed happily to herself as she practically
danced her way towards his apartment building. Everyone
who saw her on the street thought that it was nice to see
such a cheerful youth these days. Only one pair of eyes
watching her seemed saddened, but the owner of those eyes
turned and disappeared into the crowd before Usagi could
notice her. Setsuna looked over her shoulder one more
time at Usagi and sighed to herself before she began to
discreetly follow her.
When Usagi reached the door to Mamoru's apartment,
she rang the doorbell and waited impatiently for him to
answer. When he did open the door, she leapt into his
arms.
"Mamo-chan!" She cried as she hugged him tight.
"Hi, Usako," he smiled warmly as he hugged her
back. "You seem more worked up than usual today, what's
going on?"
"Something happened to Minako at school," she paused
for a moment as she suddenly realized the full
implications of the incident. "Mamo-chan, the Daimons are
going after some of their old targets."
"What?" He looked stunned as he closed the door and
led Usagi in to the couch. "What happened?"
"When Minako was at sport, a Daimon appeared and
attacked her. Ryouga tried to fight it, but it knocked
him down long enough to steal Minako's heart crystal."
"Were you able to get it back for her?"
Usagi shook her head, "No, I..."
"What are we waiting for! We have to go find that
Daimon!" Mamoru stood and got ready to transform into
Tuxedo Mask.
"Hold on, Mamo-chan! Let me finish!" Usagi said as
she grabbed onto his arm.
"Is Minako alright?" he demanded.
"Yes. Ryouga was able to get the heart crystal
before the Daimon had a chance to swallow it. When he
returned her heart crystal and she didn't wake up right
away, Ryouga went into a rage. Minako said that he beat
it to death with his bare hands."
"His... Bare hands?" Mamoru sank into the couch, a
strange look on his face.
"Yeah! Minako said that he pinned the Daimon and
just kept pounding and pounding on it until it was dead!
Isn't it romantic the way he fought against impossible
odds for her, and won?"
"Yeah... Great..." Mamoru's voice slowly got deeper
and more melancholy. ::He killed a Daimon with no help at
all... How can I compare to that?::
"Mamo-chan?" Usagi asked worriedly.
"Huh?" He asked as he looked up at her sharply.
"Oh, it's nothing Usako..."
Despite his reassurance, Usagi felt as if there was
something different about him, something she hadn't seen
in him since they had first met. She felt more than just
a little afraid as Mamoru's face twisted its way through
conflicting expressions. For a moment, his face seemed
haughty and cruel, but an instant later he smiled at her
so brightly that she wondered if she had imagined it.
Halfway across town at the Hikawa Shrine, Rei paused
in her duties and looked toward the sacred fire. The fire
shrunk to a single tongue of flame for a minute before
roaring back to life. She frowned before she knelt in
front of the fire and composed herself for a fire reading.
::Something terrible is going to happen,:: she
thought. ::But this time, it feels different then that
unnerving silence. It's almost like some new evil is
approaching...::
Ranma waited impatiently at the campsite for Ryouga
and Minako to show up. When he had gotten there, he had
packed up both his and Ryouga's tents and other gear and
cleaned up the campsite.
"C'mon! What did they do? Go to a movie?" he
growled to himself as he paced about.
Even as he started to consider just leaving a note,
Ryouga and Minako arrived.
"It's about time!" Ranma exclaimed.
"What's your problem?" Ryouga growled.
"C'mon. We got us a place to stay now," Ranma said
as he tossed Ryouga his tent.
"That's great!" Minako enthused as Ryouga stuffed
his tent into his pack.
"How'd you find a place for both of us?" Ryouga
asked as Ranma began to lead the way from the park.
"I didn't. The counselor at my school, Setsuna,
found it."
Minako stifled a gasp and listened intently as Ranma
explained about the house.
"Hmm," Ryouga grunted and shifted his pack, "Why
would she go through that kind of trouble for us?"
"She said somethin' about a fresh start."
"Heh, we were making a fresh start from that
campsite," Ryouga said.
"Now you two have a much better place to stay!"
Minako giggled. "And I get to be the first one to see
your new place too!"
Ryouga blushed a little as Minako nuzzled against
his arm. Ranma chuckled a bit and motioned for them to
follow him. As they walked, Minako recounted the fight at
school to Ranma.
"It was strange," Minako said as they walked. "The
last time my heart crystal was taken, it didn't hurt
nearly as bad."
"That's happened to ya before?" Ranma asked,
amazed.
When Minako nodded slowly, Ryouga growled.
"Never again," Ryouga declared flatly.
"You can say that again," Ranma said as he clenched
his fist.
Minako frowned slightly when she noticed that they
had turned down Usagi's street.
"Are you sure you're going the right way?" She
asked.
"Yeah, I'm sure," Ranma replied.
"I didn't know there was a place for rent on Usagi's
street."
"Usagi lives near here?" Ryouga asked.
"Yeah. See? That's her house," Minako pointed to
the house they were passing just then.
"Hey, that's a nice house. I wonder..." Ranma
peered at the address on Usagi's house and the one on his
note. "Huh? The house is only a few doors down from
Usagi's place!"
"What? Let me see that!" Minako exclaimed as she
snatched the paper from Ranma's hands. A quick glance at
the address showed that Ranma was indeed correct. In
unison, the three of them looked up at the house in front
of them.
The wall surrounding the yard was new looking, and
the house itself was seemed to scream that it had been
built recently.
"B..but..." Minako stammered, remembering that this
was a vacant lot not that long ago. ::Setsuna had better
have an explanation for this!:: She thought fiercely to
herself.
"Wow... It's brand new," Ranma breathed as he
opened the gate. The yard itself was deceptively large.
A small flower garden graced the area next to the front
door. The rest of the yard was open space save a large
tree.
"Cool! Plenty of room to practice!" Ranma laughed
as he read the last bit on the note. "Hold on, I'll get
the place open."
"How? You don't have a key," Minako said, still a
little stunned to see a new house when there wasn't even a
hint of construction the previous day.
"Setsuna's note says that she was gonna leave an
upstairs window open. I'll find it and open the place
up," Ranma said as he walked around the house looking for
the open window.
"There it is, I'll be right back!" Ranma leapt and
disappeared inside the house. Ryouga and Minako walked
around to the front door and waited patiently. A few
moments later, Ranma opened the door and beckoned for them
to enter. He looked stunned, almost as if he had found a
cat in his bookbag.
"What's with you?" Ryouga asked as he stepped past
Ranma into the house before he came to a screeching halt.
"Ow!" Minako complained as she bumped into him from
behind, "Hey Ryo-chan, keep.... moving?" She trailed off
as she looked around in awe.
Instead of a small hallway leading off from the
front door, it opened up into a large room that was fully
furnished and the walls decorated with various martial
arts slogan scrolls. They removed their shoes and began
to walk around the house, amazed at its size and appearing
opulence.
"Man... Who-ever lived here was really into the
Art," Ryouga murmured as he opened a door that lead into
what could be best described as an armory. Minako poked
her head into the room and let out a low whistle as she
took in the wide variety of martial arts weapons that were
carefully stored along the walls of the room and the suit
of samurai armor that was on a rack in the corner.
"Hey! Check this out!" Ranma called from a
different part of the house. Ryouga and Minako closed the
door to the armory and hurried to where Ranma was. When
they found him, he was standing in a fair sized kitchen
that had a full sized refrigerator and freezer. Both of
them were open, revealing that they were packed tightly
with a large amount of food.
"Heh... I think Setsuna knows you better than you
think, Ranma," Ryouga chuckled.
"Hmm," Minako looked through the food and then
closed the doors. "She knows you too, Ryo-chan."
"Huh?"
"No pork in there at all," Minako announced with a
smile. Both of the boys facefaulted as Minako collapsed
giggling
"Hey, Usagi," Chibi-usa said as she entered Usagi's
room that evening.
"What?" Usagi looked up from her manga.
"Did you notice something strange when you came home
today?" she asked as she sat on Usagi's bed.
"No, not really."
"Well, you know the vacant lot that was a few doors
down?"
"Of course we know about it," Luna said as Usagi
took a drink of water.
"Well, someone built a house there overnight."
Usagi's drink sprayed from her mouth, soaking Chibi-
usa and Luna before she fell into a fit of coughing.
"Usagi!" Chibi-usa growled.
"It's your fault! You startled me!" Usagi
countered angrily even as she left the room to fetch a
towel.
"Did you notice anything else about the house?"
Luna asked after she had shaken the water from her fur.
"The place was pretty big, and it had a large yard.
The odd thing was, there was no name plate on the
mailbox," Chibi-usa said as Usagi re-entered the room and
handed her a towel before she finished drying off Luna.
"Should we go and say hi to our new neighbors
then?" Usagi asked brightly.
"Usagi, don't you think it's strange that they built
a house overnight?" Luna asked acidly.
"That's true..." Usagi sighed. "But that doesn't
mean we have to be rude to them." She stood and walked to
the door.
"Where are you going?" Chibi-usa asked as she
finished drying off.
"I'm going to go over there and say hi. Who knows,
they could be really nice people!" Usagi giggled as she
walked off.
"Hey! I'm going too!" Chibi-usa exclaimed as she
dashed to catch up with Usagi. She caught up with Usagi
in front of the new house.
"Wow, that's a nice house," Usagi commented as she
opened the gate. "I wonder why I didn't notice it
earlier?"
"That's because you were too busy pawing at Mamoru
to pay attention!" Chibi-usa snapped.
"Humph! Well, he is my boyfriend!" Usagi crossed
her arms and glared down at her daughter.
"Just knock on the door, Usagi," Chibi-usa said in
a weary tone of voice.
Usagi stuck her tongue out before she composed
herself and knocked on the door.
"Comin'!" A familiar sounding voice called from
inside.
Usagi and Chibi-usa exchanged a startled glance.
"It can't be..." Chibi-usa muttered.
"No way..." Usagi gasped right before the door was
opened.
"Hey, Usagi! Chibi-usa!" Ranma greeted them
warmly. "C'mon in! We were just about ta eat. You two
want some?"
"Ranma?" Usagi gasped. "How... When... What?"
She stammered as she looked around the large living room
area.
"What she meant to say was, how did you manage to
build a house in one day? And how did you get the stuff?"
Chibi-usa said as her eyes narrowed slightly.
"The counselor at my school, Setsuna, said she
pulled some strings to get us this place. I didn't know
she had contacts in Nerima though..." Ranma trailed off as
he started to lead them to the dining room.
"What makes you say that?" Usagi asked, still a
little stunned.
"Heh, the builders there are about the only ones on
Earth that could build a house like this in a day," Ranma
chuckled. "You should see how fast they can re-pave a
street too." He led the way into the dining room where
Minako and Ryouga were waiting patiently at the table.
"Usagi! Chibi-usa!" Minako greeted them as she
waved at them excitedly.
Chibi-usa sat down next to Ryouga while Usagi sat at
the corner on the other side of Minako. Once Chibi-usa
was seated, Ryouga reached over and ruffled her hair.
"Hey there, short stuff! How're you doing?" he
asked. "And how's Hotaru doing?"
Chibi-usa giggled and smiled at him. "I'm fine!
Hotaru seems to be following the advice you two gave her.
She's had so much more energy recently! Thank you!" She
said as she hugged Ryouga.
"Not a problem, kiddo. Happy to help," Ryouga said
as he rubbed the back of his head.
"You're so sweet, Ryo-chan," Minako smiled as she
patted his shoulder.
After they ate, the girls excused themselves and
returned to their homes. Ranma smiled contentedly to
himself as he quickly cleaned the dishes while Ryouga
wiped down the table. Just as they finished cleaning up,
there was a soft knock on the door.
"Now who could it be?" Ryouga asked irritably as
Ranma dried his hands and went to answer the door.
"Setsuna! What are you doing here?" Ranma asked as
he opened the door.
"I own this house. I just stopped by to see how
well you two are settling in," She smiled cryptically.
"Oh, come on in then." He stepped aside enough for
her to enter before he closed the door. "Ryouga and I
were just about to have a quick sparring match."
"Really? I hope you have your homework done," her
voice took on a serious tone. Ranma laughed a bit as he
turned to enter the dining room where Ryouga was waiting
impatiently.
"Who is it now?" Ryouga growled.
"Be nice, Ryouga!" Ranma snapped, "This is Setsuna.
She's the one that got us this house."
"Oh, sorry about that. It's nice to meet you," He
bowed in apology.
"Somehow, you're different than I expected,"
Setsuna said mysteriously. ::Honestly, he looks so
different when he isn't scowling.::
"C'mon, Ryouga. Let's get to our training," Ranma
said as he opened the back door.
"Heh, I'll kick your but this time, Ranma!" Ryouga
yelled as he charged out the door after him. Setsuna
smiled and followed them outside to watch them train for a
short time.
"Heh," Ranma smirked as he grabbed the charging
Ryouga's arm and threw him back into the house. Setsuna
watched in horror as Ryouga crashed through a wall inside.
Setsuna rushed inside and made a strange whimpering noise
even as Ranma came inside and Ryouga dug himself out of
the pile of rubble.
"Ranma! How dare you?!" Ryouga snarled.
"Stop it!" Setsuna screamed, "Look at what you've
done!" She gestured at the wall.
The boys looked at wreck and then looked up at
Setsuna.
"Uhmm... Sorry?" Ranma said sheepishly to Setsuna
as she stared in shock at the rubble where a wall used to
be.
"Sorry? Sorry?!?" Her voice reached the upper
register as she turned on the pair of martial artists and
vented her fury. "Do you two have any idea how much it
costs to fix a wall?!? Do you?"
"No, but I know how to fix one," Ryouga volunteered
hesitantly.
"Good. I expect the two of you to buy the materials
and repair this wall as soon as possible," her tone was
icy as she turned to leave with a toss of her hair.
"Man, and I thought Nabiki could be cold.." Ranma
muttered.
"I heard that, Ranma," Setsuna said over her
shoulder before she slammed the door behind her.
"Think she's pissed?" Ryouga asked.
"Nah, she didn't hit us."
Sailor Pluto practically stomped up to the Time
Gates before she regained control of her temper with a
sigh. She gazed into the swirling colors of the time
stream and started to look in the very distant past, to
when she first became a Senshi. She gazed longingly at
her much younger and more innocent self as she was
escorted to the queen's throne by several armored figures.
Sailor Pluto narrowed her eyes as she tried to remember
the importance of those heavily armored men.
"I know they used to be important... But why?" She
asked herself as she shifted her view to follow the guards
for a time. Even as she watched, she remembered that she
was the first Senshi.
"Of course, they were the royal guard. Why did they
catch my eye, though?" She mused as she continued to
study them.
Close to the end of that week, Ranma picked up his
first paycheck from the Crown Arcade. Some of it he used
to pay for the broken wall, the rest he decided to use to
take Usagi, Mamoru, Ryouga and Minako out to eat. He
smiled slightly to himself as he waited outside the Hikawa
shrine for them. As the sky began to be tinged with crimson,
he realized that he had shown up way too early for the study
group to be finished. Anticipation slowly gave way to
boredom. Even after going through a few of his kata, he
still found himself with plenty of time on his hands. He
got so bored waiting that he pulled out one of his school
books and began reading it.
"I see you are taking your studies more seriously
now," Setsuna commented as she walked up.
"Hey there," Ranma grunted without looking up.
"Which subject is that?" She asked idly as she
peered at the cover.
"Literature," Ranma said as he closed the book.
"Look, is there somethin' ya want?"
"I see your social skills need work," Setsuna said
blandly.
"That's why I'm gonna try talkin' with people. I'm
gonna use what left of my paycheck to take a few of my
friends out fer dinner, if ya don't mind."
"Good for you. I need to talk with a few of them
privately before you go though," Setsuna said as she
continued to walk up the steps to the temple. Curious,
Ranma followed her into the temple.
"I thought I said I wanted to talk to them
privately," Setsuna said without looking over her
shoulder.
"If ya wanna do that, I hafta lead Ryouga away,"
Ranma shrugged.
"I see," she said as she pulled open the door to the
room where they were studying. "Ladies, I have something
important to discuss with you. Ranma, Ryouga? If you
will excuse us please?"
"Sure. C'mon, Ryouga. We can wait on 'em out
front," Ranma said.
Once Ranma and Ryouga had left, Setsuna turned a
serious gaze at the girls.
"Things are getting worse," she said.
"How?" Makoto asked, confused. "With Ranma and
Ryouga helping, the Daimons aren't lasting very long at
all."
"They've been striking in more than one place at a
time, with multiple Daimons. You haven't heard about it
because Uranus, Neptune and myself have been taking care
of them," Setsuna said gravely. "We may have to begin
patrols."
"Ah man!" Usagi complained. "That means more lost
sleep!"
"You would think about sleep," Rei glowered,
although she was just as irritated by the idea.
"Setsuna, have their attacks been diversionary, or
have they been trying to take heart crystals as well?" Ami
asked.
"They seem more diversionary. However, it has been
keeping us very busy," she responded with a weary sigh.
"We have to find a way to track down their headquarters,
or find the messiah before it's too late."
"I agree that patrols are a good idea, but Sailor
Moon seems to be the only one able to actually kill a
Daimon... It could be a problem if we're spread too
thin," Makoto mused.
"I don't know about that," Minako said quietly, "I
haven't had a chance to use the Crystal Sword against one.
It might be able to defeat them. Not to mention the fact
that Ryouga managed to kill one by himself earlier this
week. Who's to say Ranma can't do the same thing?"
"It's a matter of will he, rather than can he,"
Setsuna said. "He's reluctant to kill, and Ryouga only
killed that one because he thought it had killed you at
first. It may take something very serious and almost
catastrophic for those two to use their full potential in
these fights."
"That, and they have to spend a lot of time
dodging," Makoto noted. "They don't have the magical
protection that our uniforms offer us, and they get hurt
often."
"True," Usagi agreed. "If there was only something
we could do to help protect them as much as they protect
us..."
"You mean protect you!" Rei cut in. "I've noticed
how often Ranma ends up jumping in the way of an Daimon
aiming at you."
"Well excuse me!" Usagi said as she stuck her
tongue out at Rei.
"Enough!" Makoto said as she slammed her fist onto
the table. "It doesn't matter how or why they get hurt,
the point is that they do get hurt much easier than we
do!"
"I'll start looking through the Mercury computer for
any ideas on protecting them. Who knows what it will come
up with?" Ami said.
"Good, you do that. Now, I believe Ranma was
waiting outside to ask a few of you a question. Why don't
you go see what he wants?" Setsuna said before leaving.
She nodded at Ranma and Ryouga in passing before she
turned the bend at the bottom of the stairs and
disappeared from view.
"What is it, Ranma?" Usagi asked him as she and the
others came outside.
"Uhm, I wanted to invite you and Chiba out for
dinner, seein' as how it was you guys that got me out
here. Ryouga, you and Minako can come along as well,"
Ranma said a little nervously.
"Wow, thank you! I'll go call Mamo-chan right
away!" Usagi squealed as she dashed back inside to use
the phone.
"Aww, I wanted to go too," Makoto sighed.
"I think Ranma just wanted to bring the people he
feels closest too," Ami said.
"That ain't it at all," Ranma said. "I can only
afford a few people, so I decided to bring the people that
got me outta Nerima." He paused and grinned a little at
Ryouga. "I couldn't leave out my bud and his girlfriend
either."
"Thank you, Ranma," Minako said as she bowed to
cover up her blush.
"Mamo-chan is on his way here!" Usagi said a bit
breathlessly as she ran back up to them.
"Great. The restaurant ain't too far from here, so
we can walk," Ranma said as he sat down on the steps.
"Where are you taking us to eat?" Ryouga asked as
he began to stuff his study materials into his bag.
"No place too fancy, but nice enough I suppose,"
Ranma shrugged as he glared up at the cloudy sky. "I just
hope it don't rain."
Ryouga grunted a response before he closed his pack
and sat down on it.
They didn't have to wait terribly long before Mamoru
arrived on his motorcycle.
"Mamo-chan!" Usagi called as she dashed down the
steps, waving vigorously at him.
"Hi, Usako," he said, just a little listlessly. His
eyes looked slightly sunken in his head and dark circles
were easily visible. Rei suppressed a gasp as she felt
some sort of struggle going on inside of him.
"What's wrong?" Her face mirroring the concern in
her voice.
"It's... Nothing," he replied shortly as he stowed
his helmet. When he looked back toward them, the signs of
strain that had been marring his face were gone. "So,
where are we going to eat, Ranma?"
Rei's eyes narrowed when she noticed the difference
in his features. Although the signs of strain were gone,
there was an almost unnoticeable tightness around his eyes
and his easy smile seemed insincere now. With an casual
seeming movement, she slipped a ward into Usagi's purse.
"It's just up the street. It's really not that
fancy," Ranma said critically as he eyed Mamoru's suit.
"Whatever! C'mon, let's go!" Minako said
enthusiastically as she grabbed onto Ryouga's arm.
"Have fun!" Makoto waved as they walked off down
the street. "I wish I was the one he took..." she sighed
to Rei.
"I'm not sure if I would be wishing the same thing,"
Rei said ominously.
"Oh? Why is that?" Ami asked curiously.
"It's something I felt, something long since sealed
away, but gaining in strength."
"Should we follow them?" Makoto asked, a note of
concern in her voice.
"No..." Rei trailed off as she turned to walk back
into the temple. "This is something he has to face on his
own..."
"What does she mean by that?" Makoto asked Ami as
Rei disappeared inside the temple.
"I don't know. She said something about something
sealed away. Could it be the dark messiah that the Death
Busters have been trying to find finally awakening?"
"I hope not. We still haven't found the messiah,
and the Daimons are attacking all over the place. We're
going to spread ourselves too thin at this rate."
"It can't be helped. We're really on the defensive
until we can gather enough information."
When they reached the restaurant, Ryouga looked at
Ranma in some surprise.
"Sushi? I thought you said you couldn't afford
much."
"Well," Ranma rubbed the back of his head
nervously, "I can't afford much sushi, that's why I only
invited you guys. What kinda thank you dinner would it be
if I sprung for ramen?"
"I suppose you've got a point," Ryouga said as he
opened the door and held it open for everyone.
Mamoru stopped in front of Ryouga and looked at him
carefully before he bowed his head slightly.
"I'm sorry, Ryouga," he said softly, "I shouldn't
have kicked you out over such a small argument."
"Don't worry about it," Ryouga waved it off, "just
don't keep hurting her."
"That's still none of your business," Mamoru hissed.
"Just get in there," Ryouga grumbled, his face
becoming set. "I don't feel like arguing with you about
it again."
Mamoru gave him an icy glare as he stomped into the
restaurant. Minako looked on sadly as Ryouga's facade
crumbled and a very hurt expression overtook his features.
"Ryo-chan?" She asked softly as she took his arm
and led him through the restaurant to where the others
were waiting.
"He's family, but he makes me want to pound him into
the ground... I don't know what to do with him anymore,"
he muttered just loud enough for her to hear.
"Just relax and enjoy dinner, Ryo-chan," Minako
whispered as they sat down at the table.
Mimet smiled as she looked down on the restaurant
from the roof of a building across the street.
"This will be too easy," she giggled as she opened
the briefcases that she had next to her. Two identical
Daimons formed from the mist that sprung from the cases.
"Chop," the first called.
"Stick!" the other screamed.
"Your target is the head chef in that restaurant!
Go, and don't fail to bring it back!" Mimet commanded
them.
Chop and Stick leapt off the roof of the building
and burst into the restaurant below.
"Thanks for dinner!" Usagi said happily as she
sipped her tea.
"Hey, no prob. We're friends ain't we?" Ranma
laughed as he leaned back in his chair.
"Are you sure you can cover the bill?" Mamoru asked
as he took a peek at the check. "It's kind of expensive."
"Got it covered," Ranma winked as he stood. "I
think I'll go settle the bill now."
Even as he turned to leave the table, two Daimons
burst through the window.
"Damn it all!" Ryouga cursed as he rose and grabbed
his umbrella, ignoring the screaming customers as they
fled.
"Get out of here you guys," Ranma said as he
stuffed the check into his pocket. "Let's get 'em,
Ryouga!"
While they leapt to attack the Daimons, Usagi and
Minako rushed to the ladies room to change. Ryouga
knocked aside one of Stick's arms with his umbrella and
used his momentum to body check it into a table,
splintering it.
"Chop!" Chop declared as it dodged Ranma's initial
strike. It counter attacked much faster than Ranma
expected and hit him hard on the shoulder, half turning
him. He flowed with the attack and spun into a kick that
connected solidly on Chops' face. A bright red fluid that
might have been confused for blood if it didn't seem to
glow seeped from between Chop's lips.
"Careful, Ryouga!" Ranma warned as he rubbed at his
sore shoulder, "They're fast!"
"You just worry about your opponent!" Ryouga
growled as he pinned Stick's arms beneath his legs. His
fist began to glow as he prepared to pound it to death
like the last Daimon he had fought. Stick screamed in
agony each time his fist connected. With a sudden burst
of strength, it freed one of it's arms from under Ryouga's
leg and blocked his next punch. Without missing a beat,
Ryouga attempted to punch with his other hand.
Unfortunately, that shifted his weight just enough for
Stick to free it's other arm.
"Damn it!" Ryouga yelled as he struggled to
maintain his superior position. He knew things had gotten
bad when it managed to clamp one hand on his throat.
Despite himself, he stood to pull free of its grip. Stick
released his throat and slid between his legs before
rising and grabbing one of his arms. With a howl of rage,
it flung Ryouga away and dashed into the kitchen.
"Curse you!" Ryouga roared as he flipped to his
feet and dashed after it.
Ranma slammed his fist into his opponent's face
before sweeping it's feet out from under it. Chop crashed
through a table and lay still for a moment. Ranma did not
wait for it to regain its feet, but rather grabbed it by
one arm and twisted hard while placing one foot on its
head.
"You ain't goin' nowhere!" Ranma growled as Chop
screamed in pain. He glanced over his shoulder when he
noticed some movement from the back of the restaurant.
"You who have interrupted the enjoyment of fine
food," Sailor Moon started her speech as she and Sailor
Venus walked into the main area of the restaurant.
"Stop the speeches already and help Ryouga! He's
fighting another one in the kitchen," Ranma interrupted
irritably before Chop threw a fistful of chopsticks at
him. Ranma barely dodged them, noting in irritation that
despite their dull appearing tips, they had managed to cut
his shirt.
"I'll go help Ryouga, you help Ranma!" Sailor Venus
said as she pulled out the crystal sword and dashed for
the kitchen.
"Wait!" Sailor Moon called after her.
Sailor Venus stopped and looked back right before
Ryouga and Stick crashed through the wall right in front
of her. They were growling like wild animals as they
grappled and traded blows. With a mighty heave, Stick
threw Ryouga into Sailor Moon and dashed for the broken
window.
"Stop that thing! It's got a heart crystal!"
Ryouga yelled as he scrambled to his feet and yanked
Sailor Moon back to hers.
"Right!" Sailor Venus ran and cut it off. She held
the sword in front of her briefly before she yelled and
attacked.
Stick held out one hand and summoned a staff sized
metal chopstick and parried the blow. Sailor Venus could
feel her old skills with the sword flowing back into her
as she parried and slashed at the Daimon with tightly
controlled movements. The ring of crystal on steel rung
through the ruined restaurant as they dueled back and
forth. Ranma smirked slightly when he noticed her
technique seem to firm up with every stroke.
::It's almost like she's remembering how to use that
thing,:: he thought as he returned his concentration to
Chop. Ranma's fists glowed a bright blue as he punched
again and again. Each hit seemed to send a shudder
through Chop as it staggered back from the repeated blows.
As it reeled from his attack, it saw that Sailor Venus had
slapped the staff from Stick's hands and had her sword
cocked to run it through.
"We will complete our mission!" Chop yelled as it
leapt away from Ranma and tried to attack Sailor Venus
from behind.
"Oh no you don't!" Ranma yelled as he grabbed it's
foot in passing and threw it over to Ryouga and Sailor
Moon.
Ryouga smashed it in the head with his umbrella even
as Sailor Moon began to power up her attack to take out
the one fighting Sailor Venus.
"Moon Spiral Heart Attack!" Sailor Moon called out
and fired the magical attack at Stick.
"No! The mission!" Chop screamed even as Stick was
destroyed, leaving behind a chopstick and the heart
crystal. With an inhuman growl, Chop leapt forward and
grabbed the heart crystal before Sailor Venus could
retrieve it.
"Chopstick swarm!" Chop yelled and faced it's open
hand at its enemies. A storm of chopsticks shot forth
and pinned all four of them against a wall by their
clothes.
"Damn you!" Ryouga yelled as he struggled to free
himself.
"Finishing touch! Ramen bonds!" It cackled. Chop
grinned evilly as tendrils of energy flowed from each
chopstick and tied each of them up before solidifying. It
waited until the two boys were almost mummified in the
rubbery pasta before it held the heart crystal up for them
to see before promptly swallowing it.
"Eeew! I'm tied up with sticky noodles!" Sailor
Moon wailed as she struggled against the slimy pasta.
Chop laughed and turned to leave only to find itself
face to face with Tuxedo Mask.
"Those who would spoil a traditional dinner should
be punished. Prepare to face me, Daimon!" He said as he
extended his cane and took on an en'garde stance.
"You fool!" Chop said disdainfully as it kicked him
squarely in the stomach, knocking the breath out of him.
"No! Tuxedo Mask!" Sailor Moon cried as she
finally broke free and rushed forward to kneel next to
him.
"Hurry, Sailor Moon!" Sailor Venus said as she
continued to struggle.
Even as Sailor Moon tried to power up her attack,
Chop fled, disappearing into the dust cloud left from the
demolition of the wall.
"Damn it..." Ryouga cursed as he broke free and
retrieved his umbrella.
"Give me a hand here, Ryouga," Ranma asked as he
continued to struggle.
Once Ryouga had freed Ranma and Sailor Venus, he
walked up to the downed Tuxedo Mask.
"It got away," Ryouga growled. "Do you have any
way of following it?"
"No," Sailor Venus said sadly. "If Sailor Mercury
was here, we'd have a chance. But by the time she gets
here, it will be too far away."
"Damn it!" Ranma slammed his fist against the wall.
"It's my fault! I should have killed it when I had the
chance!"
"Ranma," Sailor Moon said softly as she walked up
to him. "It's not your fault. You value all life, even
those who are fighting you. You don't want to kill
because you care for your enemies as well."
"..." Ranma was speechless as he turned to look
down at her.
"They were ready for us," Ryouga growled. "They
sent two of them for one crystal, and we couldn't stop
them." Even as he spoke, his aura sprung up around him.
"Now that cook is gonna die, all because we weren't strong
enough!"
"Ryouga," Ranma said as he approached him.
"Shut up, Ranma!" Ryouga yelled. "The next Daimon
I see dies! They all will die by my hand!"
Ranma glared at him before he punched him squarely
in the jaw, knocking him off of his feet.
"Shut up for a sec, will ya?!" Ranma yelled as
Ryouga looked up and nursed his sore jaw.
"I felt that one, Ranma."
"Ya ain't gonna kill them all alone ya know," Ranma
continued. "Don't forget ya got friends," he paused to
glare at Tuxedo Mask who was still gasping for breath.
"Some stronger than others."
Ryouga glared at him for a moment before he allowed
his aura to fade.
"I guess you've got a point. Come on, let's go find
the others," Ryouga said as he rose to his feet.
Once Ranma and Ryouga had left, Sailor Moon knelt
next to Tuxedo Mask.
"Are you all right?" she asked softly.
"Go... Away..." he gasped.
"What?" Sailor Moon and Sailor Venus said in
unison.
"I said go away! Leave me be!" he said more
forcefully as he regained his breath and stood. His face
was twisted into a snarl and his eyes seemed somehow very
cold behind his mask.
Sailor Moon looked up into his face and then fled
crying. Sailor Venus pointed her sword at him and
growled.
"I don't know what's gotten into you," Sailor Venus
said ominously, "but If you ever make her cry like that
again, I will make you regret it."
"Is that a threat?" he asked in a dead sounding
voice.
"No," she sighed as she lowered her sword. "Look,
it's not your fault the Daimon got away, so don't blame
yourself and take it out on her, ok? None of us were able
to stop it."
"Then it's a good thing we were nearby," Sailor
Uranus said as she and the other Outers walked into the
shattered shell of the restaurant. Sailor Venus's face
lit up when she saw the heart crystal that Sailor Neptune
had in her hands.
"He's in the back!" Sailor Venus said as she
gestured towards the kitchen with her sword. She and
Sailor Neptune hurried into the back to return the heart
crystal.
Tuxedo mask snorted and turned to leave.
"Wait, Prince of the Earth," Sailor Pluto said.
Tuxedo mask stopped and spoke without turning
around. "What?"
"Be careful of the path you choose," Sailor Pluto
warned. "There's more at stake than your pride."
"Heh. I know that already," he said before he leapt
off.
"What was that about?" Sailor Uranus asked.
"It's begun," Sailor Pluto said sadly.
"What's begun? What are you talking about?" Sailor
Uranus demanded.
"Steel yourself, soldier of Uranus. The real fight
for the fate of planet Earth will begin soon," Sailor
Pluto said cryptically as she disappeared through a
portal.
Sailor Uranus was still staring at the point where
Pluto had disappeared when Neptune and Venus came back out
of the kitchen.
"It was a close thing, but he'll live," Neptune
said as they approached Sailor Uranus.
"Good," she said shortly as she eyed the sword
Sailor Venus was still holding. "Where did you get that?"
"This?" Sailor Venus asked as she held up the
crystalline blade. "We got it from the moon a long time
ago."
"I see. Come then, Neptune. It's time for us to
go," Sailor Uranus said before she and Sailor Neptune
walked away.
Sailor Venus watched them leave before she too
departed. ::Why was she so interested in the sword?:: She
thought as she ducked into an alley to de-transform.
Mamoru Chiba grumbled about the indignity from
losing, and then the insult Ranma has so casually thrown
his way as he retrieved his motorcycle from in front of
the Shrine. His fists were clenched tightly as his anger
rose to a level he hadn't known possible. He gasped
suddenly as a searing pain lanced through his head. He
stopped and knelt on the sidewalk, holding his head in
both hands as he forced his breath between clenched teeth.
Despite the pain, he felt more powerful and destructive.
He caught himself looking around for something to destroy,
just to see if he could do it.
At the same time, the small shrine in his apartment
cracked before the shelf it was on broke and it shattered
upon hitting the floor. And then, without warning, the
pain receded and the feeling of power left him. Mamoru
stumbled to a nearby bench and sat down before he began to
think about that sudden rush of power, and how he might be
able to harness it.
Sailor Moon continued to run until she was deep in
her favorite park and standing in front of the thicket
that was her special retreat. Even as she shifted back
into civilian form, she remembered how shortly after their
victory over Beryl and Mettalia, she had retreated here
and cried for what felt like hours. She slowly worked her
way into the thicket and sat down on some protruding roots
before burying her face in her hands. Her chest felt
heavy and it was very difficult to breath, so her soft
sobs did not carry far past the edge of the thicket
It could have been hours, or merely minutes later
when her communicator started to beep urgently. It took
some time before she even noticed it, and even longer
before she could summon the will to answer.
"Y-yes?" she sniffled a little as she answered.
"Are you alright, Usagi?" Minako asked, her tiny
image doing nothing to hide the concern on her face.
"I'll be alright," Usagi said as she rubbed at her
eyes with her arm.
"I wish this was just a courtesy call, but things
just got bad," Ami said as her picture replaced Minako's.
"We have at least three Daimons attacking right now. The
worst part is, we aren't sure which one is the one after a
heart crystal."
"Oh no!" Usagi sprang to her feet only to bang her
head against a branch. "Owww...." More tears fell from
her eyes as she rubbed the sore spot on the top of her
head.
"Mars and Jupiter are each moving to distract one,"
Ami continued, pretending to not have noticed her friend's
bout of clumsiness. "Minako just transformed and is on
her way to the last one. That one is fairly close to you,
so you should meet her and take care of it before moving
to help the others. I can't seem to raise any of the
Outers on the communicator, so it's just us."
"Anything from... Mamo-chan?" Usagi asked timidly.
When Ami shook her head, Usagi felt her heart sink even
further.
"Hurry, Usagi!" Ami urged her. "I'm going to go
lend Mars a hand and keep trying to get the Outers to
help. Good luck!" Ami said with a thumbs up before her
image was replaced by a miniature map of where the closest
Daimon was.
With one last swipe at her eyes, Usagi raised her
broach and once again prepared to leap into action,
although her heart felt too burdened to even bother.
Ranma glanced sidelong at Ryouga as they walked
along a nearly empty street. The lost boy was stomping
his feet hard enough to crack the pavement, his face a
mask of anger.
"Uhm, Ryouga?" Ranma asked.
"What?" Ryouga growled his response through clenched
teeth.
"Ya need to..." his voice trailed off as he noticed
Sailor Venus land a short distance in front of them and
then leap off again, her sword gleaming in the light from
the street lamps.
"I need to what, Ranma?" Ryouga asked, having not
noticed Sailor Venus.
"Ya need to get yourself together quick, I got a
feelin' there's another fight brewing. Come on!" Ranma
yelled as he leapt to follow her.
"Damn it Ranma! Wait up!" Ryouga yelled as he
followed suit.
Unnoticed behind them, Sailor Moon walked slowly in
the same direction they had left in.
It wasn't long before Ranma and Ryouga caught up
with Sailor Venus in a shadowy alleyway. She was
frantically dodging or blocking a Daimon's scythe with her
sword. Despite her desperate looking defense, Ranma's
keen eye noted when she would almost casually flick the
sword point in a quick slash that opened shallow wounds on
the Daimon.
"Gotta buy her some time," Ranma muttered as he
sprinted towards it.
As he neared the Daimon, Sailor Venus's eyes widened
with real fear. "No! Don't!" She called out, but it was
too late.
The Daimon shoved an open palm at Ranma as he neared
it and he was flung backwards by an invisible force. He
was spared from a painful impact with the wall by Ryouga.
"Thanks," Ranma muttered as he knelt and fought to
clear his vision.
"Right, my turn!" Ryouga grinned ferally as he
pulled a number of bandannas from his head and hurled them
at the Daimon. Even as it dodged the wildly twisting
bandannas Ryouga moved in close enough to engage in hand
to hand.
The Daimon's eyes narrowed as it skillfully blocked
his punches and kicks with its scythe, but failed to
completely dodge another slash from Sailor Venus. With an
incoherent growl, it hit Sailor Venus with its force
attack and sent her flying into a wall where she slid
slowly to the ground.
"Protect her! I'll get this thing!" Ranma yelled
as he leapt back into the fray, his fists and feet flying.
Ryouga didn't bother to respond before he leapt over
to where Sailor Venus had fallen and pulled her a little
further away from the fight. Even as he laid her out
gently, he caught a slightly familiar scent. He blinked
in confusion for a moment before he ignored it and
concentrated on trying to wake her up.
Ranma's aura was tightly controlled as he
concentrated a portion of his ki into every strike and
block. Although he felt some small satisfaction when he
saw the winces of pain every time he connected, he knew he
wasn't getting through it's defense enough to put it down.
"Try this on fer size! Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken!"
Ranma yelled as his glowing fists blurred and he pummeled
the Daimon mercilessly. It staggered under the onslaught
of punches before finally being knocked from it's feet.
With a howl of victory, Ranma leapt at it ready to take it
out with the concussion fist. Even as he descended on it,
it once again knocked him away with its force attack.
Ranma twisted catlike in midair and landed heavily
on his feet and fell into a crouch. He looked towards the
Daimon with an intent look before he noticed a presence
right next to him. He looked up and saw Sailor Moon's
profile. Ranma frowned slightly when he noticed that she
had none of her usual energy. The Daimon regained its
feet and looked at her expectantly and at the same time,
Sailor Venus was also standing back up with Ryouga's help.
"I'm Sailor Moon," she said in a half hearted tone
as she pointed at the Daimon. "In the name of the moon, I
will punish you."
"Sailor Moon..." Sailor Venus said softly, certain
that her current lack of enthusiasm was going to be
trouble in this fight. She clenched the crystal sword
tighter in her fist as she charged the Daimon with a
wordless cry of challenge. She barely noticed Ryouga
running along side her as she clashed again with the
Daimon.
Ranma stood and looked closely at Sailor Moon's
face. He saw that her eyes were still red and puffy, and
there were dried tear tracks running down her cheeks.
::Probably from that lost fight earlier,:: He
surmised as he moved to help Ryouga and Sailor Venus.
Sailor Moon continued to stand almost listlessly as
she watched the others fight with the Daimon. Even as
they fought, her head slowly sank until she was staring at
the ground by her feet.
"Backlash Dome!" the Daimon yelled as it slammed
it's palm against the ground. A dome of force sprung up
around it, knocking the others away. As they struggled to
gain their feet, it looked about and saw Sailor Moon
standing in the open and not paying attention. With an
evil grin, it hefted it's scythe and approached her.
"Damn it! Look out!" Ranma yelled as he dashed
towards the somnolent Sailor Moon. She looked up just in
time to see the Daimon approaching quickly, it's scythe
cocked to behead her. Just as she opened her mouth to
scream, Ranma tackled her out of the way. Almost a full
second after Ranma had gotten her out of harm's way, a
single rose spun out of the darkness and struck the Daimon
in the chest, stopping it in its tracks.
"Stay out of the way, Ranma," Tuxedo Mask said
coldly as he stepped out of the shadows.
"If you think yer such hot stuff," Ranma said as he
helped Sailor Moon to her feet.
"It's my place to protect her," Tuxedo mask
interrupted as Ryouga and Sailor Venus engaged the Daimon
behind them.
"Yer tellin' me to stay outta the fight when you
ain't even doin' a single thing!" Ranma shouted. Tuxedo
Mask flinched visibly, but Ranma wasn't finished insulting
the masked protector. "I'm doing more damage and helpin'
her even more, so maybe you should be the one stayin'
outta this!" Ranma turned to return to the fight.
"I can't keep her from getting hurt if you keep
getting in my way!" Tuxedo Mask yelled as he grabbed
Ranma's arm and spun him around so that they were face to
face again..
"Then get yer pansy ass, rose throwin' butt in the
fight if ya don't want to see her get hurt!" Ranma
shouted. "And if ya don't let go of my arm right now, I'm
gonna make you wish you never even had that arm," he
continued in a low, threatening growl.
"Oh no! Stop it, both of you!" Sailor Moon
pleaded with them. "The Daimon is the enemy, not each
other!"
Ranma immediately subsided, pulling his arm out of
Tuxedo mask's grip. Tuxedo Mask turned and snarled at
Sailor Moon.
"Butt out, Sailor Moon! This is between me and
him!" he snapped.
Stunned, Sailor Moon stepped back a step shaking her
head in denial before she sank to her knees and began to
cry. Her whole body shook with heartbreakingly soft sobs
as she covered her face with her hands. Crystalline tears
flowed freely from between her pristinely white gloves to
splatter on the uncaring concrete below. For a split
second, Ranma swore he saw her uniform waver, as if it was
suddenly a flowing white dress for an instant before
returning to its current, miniskirted state.
Ranma's aura flared into life around him with an
angry red flash. He had heard Sailor Moon wail about this
or that minor indignity or injury, but never this kind of
soft, heart wrenching sobbing before. For a moment, it
reminded him of how he thought Kasumi would cry, and that
thought only fueled his anger. All his training on focus
and control flew out the window and for the first time
since Mikado kissed his girl side in the skating rink, he
saw red.
"You jerk!" Ranma yelled as he swung a ki charged
punch at Tuxedo Mask. "Concussion Fist!" The explosive
ki punch sent Tuxedo Mask hurtling to the ground, where he
struggled to rise.
"Dammit, you just don't treat girls like that! If
ya ain't gonna be nothin' but a whiny little wuss, then
you just get on outta here," Ranma snorted.
"Why should I?! She's destined to be mine!" Tuxedo
Mask gasped as he spat out blood onto the cold concrete.
"Fate's real cruel, pal. Sounds like she got dealt
the short end o' the stick if ya ask me," Ranma said in
an icy voice, unknowingly echoing Ryouga's words before he
turned and leapt to attack the Daimon.
Sailor Moon gaped at the fallen Tuxedo Mask as he
struggled to rise. She was torn between helping him stand
and returning to the fight where she was needed by her
hard pressed friends. The Daimon made her mind up for her
as it knocked Ranma aside with a backhanded swing of it's
scythe, sending him flying into a wall where he left an
impression the shape of his body before he slid to the
ground. There was a splatter of blood on the wall where
he had hit. The Daimon charged Sailor Moon with a blood
curdling scream.
"Moon tiara action!" Sailor Moon launched her tiara
as she dodged to one side and then dashed to where Ranma
had fallen. The Daimon was forced to block with it's
scythe before it turned to track her movement. Behind it,
Tuxedo Mask had finished regaining his feet, and the first
thing he saw was Sailor Moon and Ranma dodging around the
Daimon while Sailor Venus was approaching it from behind
with her Crystal sword held low with Ryouga in step with
her. Tuxedo Mask snorted, wiped a trickle of blood from
his lip and walked back into the shadows, leaving the
fight and turning his back on everything he once loved.
Even as he disappeared from view, Sailor Venus
finally got an opening and stabbed the Daimon in the
middle of it's back. It screamed and writhed on the end
of her blade before what passed for its blood gushed from
its mouth. Grimly, she twisted the blade. The Daimon
thrashed for a moment before finally going limp. Sailor
Venus pulled the blade from its back, turned and promptly
threw up.
"Venus!" Sailor Moon cried, "Are you alright?"
"I'm ok," she replied weakly. "It's just, I'm not
used to our enemies bleeding like that."
Tuxedo Mask snarled to himself as he yanked the
white mask from his face.
"Curse you Ranma Saotome!" He yelled into the
uncaring night as he thrust the fist that clenched his
mask into the air. "I will never forgive this insult!"
From the rooftops nearby, Mimet watched him
curiously. She recognized him, of course, but she had
never realized that there might be a split in her enemies
ranks. With a smirk, she assumed her favorite disguise of
a autograph seeker and vaulted off of the rooftop. Even
as she walked up behind him, she could hear him muttering
to himself about needing more power.
"What kind of power?" She asked him in her sweetest
voice.
He stopped and slowly turned to face her. When she
could finally see his face, she almost gasped in shock.
His regal features were twisted into a snarl of pure
hatred and his eyes, though narrowed to mere slits, seemed
to burn with a sickly red glow.
"The kind of power to make mine enemies suffer. The
kind of power to rule this world!" His voice slowly
raised in volume and changed, becoming deeper and more
exultant. "The kind of power I once had!"
Mimet stepped back as he raised his arms to the sky
and sparks of lighting arced across his body. A wordless
scream of pain erupted from his throat as a bolt of
lightning struck him. The force of the blast flung Mimet
from her feet and shattered the windows of the buildings
around them. She looked up at his lightning encased form
with true fear in her eyes. The scream quickly changed
into maniacal laughter as the smell of ozone permeated the
air and the lightning slowly faded away. He stood in
antique blue armor and a sword was strapped at his side.
His arms slowly returned to his sides and his laughter
trailed off. His once neatly combed hair was slightly
unruly now, and his features were twisted into a malicious
grin.
"And thus, the seal is broken. I am Endymion,
prince of the Earth and son of Rithallex the Conqueror,"
Endymion smirked down at her before he leaned forward and
offered her his hand.
"In the interest of conquering this world again, I'd
say we need to join forces," he said smoothly as he
grasped her hand and pulled her to her feet. "To that
end, I want you to take me to your boss."
"B..but..." She tried to object, but he focused his
gaze directly on her eyes and she felt her will drain
away. "Of course, right away," she said demurely as she
turned to lead him off into the dark. Endymion smirked
as his blood red cape swirled in the wind and the sky
began to weep hot rain.
::It is time for this world to once again feel the
iron fist of my family,:: he thought as he looked up into
the rain. ::The key to that power lies in me living long
enough to bend them all to my will once again. It is time
to take the Princess of the Moon, by force if necessary.
Once she is mine and I have control of her power, I will
be unstoppable! This time, though, I won't have to hide
from her mother!:: His laughter rung through the empty
streets of Juuban as he followed Mimet away into the
night.
Ranma-chan looked disgustedly up at the night sky as
she ran along side Sailor Moon, Sailor Venus and Ryouga.
Ryouga had managed to get his umbrella out in time and
thus was spared from the unusual rainstorm.
"Don't this just figure," she complained as they
leapt to the top of a low building.
"It's unnatural," Sailor Moon said softly. "It's
almost as if the sky is crying." Even as they landed on
the next building, her communicator started beeping. She
held it up to her face and talked as she ran. "What is
it?"
"The Daimons suddenly disappeared," Sailor Mercury
announced through the communicator. "A few minutes ago,
they all started writhing like they had gotten stabbed and
then disappeared in puffs of smoke."
"Really? Wow, Venus killed the one we were fighting
with her sword not that long ago."
"She did?" Sailor Mercury asked in a puzzled tone.
"Fascinating, we must have been fighting shadows of the
original one that you two were facing. We better meet up
at the..."
"Usual place, right!!" Sailor Moon interrupted
loudly. "I'll thank Ranma and Ryouga for their help and
meet you there."
Sailor Mercury winced a little at the volume, but
nodded her understanding as she closed the connection.
Sailor Moon looked over at her friends as they stopped on
another roof. Ranma-chan and Ryouga were looking at her
expectantly, while just behind them Sailor Venus gave her
a covert thumbs up gesture.
"Thank you," she said as she bowed to them. "For
everything." Despite herself, her voice cracked a little
as she spoke. Ranma-chan and Ryouga exchanged a quick
glance before Ranma-chan stepped forward and placed her
hand on Sailor Moon's shoulder.
"Any time, kiddo. Look, don't let that jerk boss ya
around. Yer the one everyone counts on in these fights.
The rest of us gotta fight really hard to kill those
things, but with your power the fights end faster. Don't
depend on that jerk protectin' ya!"
"Ranma's right," Ryouga said solemnly. "While it's
good to know that you have friends that will help you if
you get into trouble, it's not a good idea to become
dependant on that. If you can depend on yourself, you
will be that much more powerful."
"Wise words coming from someone that has to follow
his girlfriend to school every day," Ranma-chan quipped.
"Shut up Ranma!" Ryouga snapped before he sighed.
"It's just, well... It's just the way it has to be right
now."
"Whatever. Look, if ya need our help again, don't
be afraid ta ask. We wanna help fight these things too,
with or without that jerk's help. Everyone's counting on
you here, and I for one think ya got the right stuff to
win this battle. You got the magic, now use it!" Ranma-
chan said seriously before she and Ryouga turned to leave.
However, as they were about to bound away in their normal
fashion, Ranma-chan was stopped, her wrist caught. Turning
around, she saw Sailor Moon with tears shining in her
eyes, clearly visible despite the rain.
"Thank you..." was all she said before she released
the redhead's wrist and fled with Sailor Venus right
behind her.
"Ah...heh. Anytime," Ranma-chan whispered at the
fleeting figure.
Endymion smiled to himself as Mimet led him into the
Professor's laboratory. He took in the dark, musty
atmosphere and decided that he liked it. He looked at
Professor Tomoe as he stood over his equipment mixing
various noxious smelling chemicals.
"Is that him?" he asked Mimet. She nodded and
tried to flee, but Endymion caught her arm in an iron
grip. "No, stay," he commanded. Despite her almost
overwhelming fear of him, she stayed. Endymion walked up
behind the Professor and cleared his throat to gain his
attention.
"Who are you and what do you want?" Tomoe asked as
he looked over his shoulder at Endymion.
"I am Endymion, Prince of the Earth and son of
Rithallex the Conqueror. I am here to enlist your
services in taking over this world."
"Enlist... Our services?" Tomoe asked in an amused
tone. He turned back to his equipment and smiled. "So,
the son of a long dead conqueror comes to pick up where
daddy left off..." His shoulders shook slightly as he
began to giggle before he threw his head back and laughed
loudly.
"Careful, fool. I have killed people for less than
that!" Endymion snarled as his hand flashed to his sword.
"Idiot!" Tomoe screamed as he spun and faced him.
"You have no idea do you? You have no concept of what we
are trying to accomplish! You are trifling with powers
that you cannot comprehend! When Mistress 9 is awakened
and Pharaoh 90 has arrived, what makes you think they will
stop to even think of your puny existence?"
"Because, I can kill you right now and they will
never make it here," Endymion smirked. "Without their
pawns, they will remain as they are now, waiting
impatiently for the labors of idiots and madmen to bring
them to glory."
"Only if you do not die first," Professor Tomoe
laughed as he pressed a button on his table. The Daimon
fusor opened and a Daimon with blades for it's arms
stepped out and approached Endymion menacingly.
"Kill him and be quick about it," Tomoe ordered as
he turned back to his workbench. He heard the clash of
steel on steel go on for a short time behind him. A
steely crunch followed by a wet gurgling sound and a thud
as a body hit the floor announced the end of the fight.
"Ah good. Clean up the mess, will you?"
"Fat chance," Endymion said threateningly as he
placed his bloodied sword on the professor's shoulder.
"Now, shall we discuss this, or should I just kill you now
and get it over with?"
"A force to be reckoned with then. Come with me,
you should meet Mistress 9," Tomoe said as he pushed the
blade off of his shoulder with two fingers. He walked
over to a certain doorway and stepped through after a curt
gesture to follow him. Even as Endymion followed him,
Mimet could only stand and stare after them in shock. No
matter how much she wanted to run, she was compelled to
stay.
Endymion kept his guard up as he followed the
Professor down the corridor and into a vaulted room. At
one end of the room, there was a raised dais littered with
dolls and stuffed toys. At each end of the dais, there
was a large speaker, each one easily as tall as himself.
In the very center was a throne, and upon that throne sat
a slight figure enshrouded in shadows.
"What is the meaning of this?" Endymion snarled as
he raised his sword. "You spoke of a Mistress, but you
bring me before a child!"
"ENOUGH!" the speakers blasted as the figure on the
throne straightened. Endymion rocked back from the noise
before he was flung against the far wall and held there by
an unseen force.
"Do not trifle with me, Endymion, son of Rithallex
the Conqueror!" The voice was now hardly more than a
whisper echoing ghostlike through the chamber. Endymion
struggled against the force holding him back but to little
avail.
"I trifle not," he growled as he focused his long
forgotten power. "I either rule, or I die."
"Then," the figure on the throne slowly raised one
hand as a pair of fiery eyes glowed from the shadows,
"die!"
A beam of red energy lanced out from the dais and
would have destroyed him had he not brought his power into
play and shielded himself from the attack. He then broke
free of the force that held him and approached the dais
arrogantly.
"Is that all you can do, oh mistress of the shadows?
Until your awakening, you are little more than hollow
whispers easily ignored." He sneered up at her.
"Your impertinence shall be dealt with," Mistress 9
threatened.
"By whom? I've already proven to your lackeys that
I can either control them utterly, or destroy their
creations. The way I see it, I'm the one who should be
talking about impertinence." He stuck the point of his
sword into the ground and placed his hands on the pommel.
"Enough of this small talk. I have a deal to make with
you. In return for my aid, you and this Pharoh 90 will
leave Earth alone and ravage elsewhere. The Earth is mine
to do with as I please, and if it means destroying your
little group to get what I want, so be it."
"What kind of aid?" The Professor asked.
"I'm not dealing with you!" Endymion snapped.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, you are," Mistress 9's
voice whispered through the chamber. "Gain his
assistance. His demands are reasonable and his power a
worthy asset," she directed the Professor as her voice
slowly faded out. Without warning, she disappeared from
the throne.
"I'll ask you again, what kind of aid?"
"Nothing less than the completion of your goals.
With our combined strength, the Sailor Senshi do not stand
a chance," Endymion said as he started to leave the
chamber and return to the lab. Tomoe hurried to walk next
to him.
"It would be a welcome change to have all those
nuisances dead."
"Not all of them," Endymion smirked as he thought
of something. "One of them I intend to make mine. The
rest I care not what happens to them."
"Very well," Tomoe said as they re-entered the lab.
He walked over to his workbench and selected four vials
that contained Daimon eggs. "These four Daimon I have
been saving for a special project. Since you are now our
ally, I am giving them to you."
"Fitting," Endymion smiled. "I've always been
attended by four great warriors." He looked over to where
Mimet was still standing. His eyes glowed briefly as he
whispered his command. "Come to me."
Mimet walked towards him on trembling legs. She
could feel the waves of power emanating from him, and it
scared her.
"I'll pick them up along with one more first thing
in the morning," Endymion said as he looked closely at
Mimet, a hungry look in his eye. "Tonight, I shall rest
and enjoy the first of my concubines." His hand cupped
Mimet's chin and forced her to look him in the eye. Her
fear seemed to melt away and was replaced with something
else... Something she used to only feel when she looked
upon the different idols and movie stars she had chased
for so long.
"What was that?" Tomoe asked as he looked over his
shoulder. "Ah, yes. You two will be working together, so
get to know each other a little more, hmm?"
"Fear not," Endymion chuckled as he started to walk
out of the lab, his hand placed familiarly on her bottom.
"I shall know her quite well by tomorrow morning."
Professor Tomoe watched them leave, a gleaming drop
of sweat coursed down the side of his face. "That's not
quite what I meant..."
Sailor Pluto stared in shock at what the Time Gates
showed her. She could not believe that Mamoru had turned
that easily.
"There must be some reason behind this..." she said
to herself, "but first, I have to get Small Lady home
before it's too late!" She stepped through the gates and
appeared from a portal not far from the Tsukino home.
Even as she de-transformed Chibi-usa skipped around the
corner, twirling an umbrella and humming happily to
herself.
"Small Lady," Setsuna said softly.
"Puu!" Chibi-usa cried out happily as she turned
and ran towards her friend. "What are you doing here in
the rain?"
"Small Lady," Setsuna gave her a wan little smile,
"Don't you think it's time to go home?"
"But, I like it here," Chibi-usa said petulantly.
"I know, but wouldn't it be nice to visit your
parents for a little while?" Setsuna said relentlessly.
Chibi-usa looked down and scuffed her feet a little.
"I want to stay, can't I stay Puu?" she asked as
she looked up at the older woman with tears standing in
her eyes.
"Small Lady..." Setsuna cried as she engulfed the
small girl in front of her in a hug. "You can stay as
long as you can," she said cryptically.
"Puu? What's wrong?"
"Something completely out of my control. Nothing I
can do now will help." Setsuna's voice cracked slightly
as tears began running down her cheeks.
Chibi-usa hugged Setsuna tightly as her oldest
friend wept, still not understanding her sadness. Even as
she moved her hand to hold her Luna-P umbrella over
Setsuna as well, it disappeared.
"Huh? Luna-p? Where did you go?" Chibi-usa asked
in confusion as she looked around.
"Do not worry, Small Lady," Setsuna said softly as
she stood. "I must bid you farewell now, please
reconsider about returning home."
"Puu? What are you talking about?"
"I really can't say," she replied sadly. She took
one last look at Chibi-usa's face, committing her to
memory before she turned and opened a portal to the Time
Gates. She looked back and held her hand out to her.
"Please."
"Nuh uh. I'm gonna stay here with Usagi and be
friends with Hotaru!" Chibi-usa said as she shook her
head.
"Goodbye then, Small Lady," Setsuna said as she
stepped through the portal. No sooner was she back at the
Time Gates, she broke down and wept. Unnoticed behind
her, the image of Crystal Tokyo shattered.
The next morning found Usagi, Chibi-usa and Minako
knocking on Ranma and Ryouga's door. As they waited for
the boys to answer the door, Chibi-usa thought back to the
rather cryptic visit she had gotten from Setsuna the night
before. No matter how hard she thought about it, nothing
her friend had said had made any sense to her. Further
thought on that was shoved to the back of her mind as
Ranma opened the door. He smiled when he saw them.
"Hey guys, g'morning!" He stepped to one side and
gestured expansively. "C'mon in! Ryouga 'n I were just
getting ready to leave."
"Thank you," Usagi said somewhat listlessly.
"What's wrong?" Ranma asked, a frown darkening his
features.
"She tried calling Mamo-chan last night," Chibi-usa
said, "but he never picked up the phone."
Ranma's face darkened further, but he said nothing.
Instead he placed a comforting hand on Usagi's shoulder.
He was mildly surprised when she placed her hand over his
and turned her blue eyes on his.
"I'll get through this Ranma," Usagi said softly.
"Look, just leave the jerk, alright?" Ranma said
intensely. "You of all people don't deserve this."
"Like you're one to talk about that!" Ryouga said
lightly as he walked up. "I seem to recall a number of
girls you kept stringing along over the last while."
"The difference here is that I didn't want none of
'em!" Ranma snapped.
"Whatever. C'mon, let's get going so that we aren't
late," Ryouga said as he shouldered his pack and Minako
laid claim to his arm. Ranma shrugged and shut the door
behind them as they left. They walked in silence to the
next intersection where Ryouga and Minako turned to go to
their school. He looked down at Chibi-usa and frowned.
"Yer lookin' a bit pale this mornin', squirt,"
Ranma said as he tousled her hair. "Ya feelin' alright?"
"Not really," Chibi-usa said with a sigh. "I
couldn't find Luna-p this morning and I've been feeling
pretty weak as well."
"I hope ya don't catch a cold," Ranma said as he
looked about, his danger sense screaming that something
was terribly wrong. He kept a wary watch as they turned
another corner. His eyes narrowed as he caught sight of a
fleeting shape shadowing them, moving with blinding speed
from one alleyway to the next. Unconsciously, he tensed
and positioned himself between the figure he had seen and
the two girls walking next to him.
That slight movement probably saved his life. A
split second after he had moved ever so slightly closer to
the girls, a blast of energy impacted the ground where he
had been. Ranma reacted without thinking, scooping the
girls into his arms and leaping to the roof of the nearest
building.
"Ranma!" Usagi screamed as she pointed behind him.
Ranma put the girls down and spun on his heel. He now saw
four Daimons, each one looking an awful lot like the
samurai Daimon he and Ryouga had fought a while back.
They parted and an armored figure stepped out from behind
them. Ranma didn't notice Usagi's gasp, but he did hear
Chibi-usa's cry of pain.
"What's wrong?" he asked without looking.
"It feels like I'm being pulled to pieces!" Chibi-
usa gasped.
Ranma growled and dropped into his stance. "That
leaves me no choice! Saotome school of Anything Goes
Martial Arts Final Attack!" he yelled as he let his aura
flare into a blinding pyre of ki, forcing the Daimons and
the mysterious armored figure to cover their eyes. When
they looked again, Ranma and the girls were gone.
"What the?" Endymion gasped. "Find them! Kill the
boy, but do nothing to harm the girls!" he ordered his
minions. Wordlessly, they ran across the roof and leapt
off of the edge in search of Ranma.
"You may have escaped for now, but my Daimons will
find you, Ranma Saotome, and when they do..." He laughed
long and hard as he to leapt off the edge of the building.
Unseen behind him, Sailor Pluto hurried to follow.
Ryouga's eye twitched as he and Minako turned a
corner and found themselves face to face with a Daimon.
This particular Daimon had a segmented green body, a
scorpion-like tail with a wicked looking blade instead of
the stinger and large pincers for hands.
"You better run, Minako," Ryouga growled as he
slowly pulled his umbrella from his pack and held it at
the ready. "Things are about to get ugly."
"Be careful, Ryo-chan," Minako said as she kissed
him on the cheek before she dashed towards the next
alleyway. The Daimon moved as if to intercept her, but
Ryouga jumped in front of it.
"You gotta fight me first!" he roared as he stabbed
his umbrella into the middle of its chest. The Daimon
lurched backwards from the blow and before it could
recover Ryouga had closed in and was viciously battering
at it with his umbrella. The Daimon's tail snaked out and
tripped him just as he was winding up for a massive blow.
Ryouga fell to his back and quickly rolled to one side as
the Daimon lashed at his with its tail.
"Stay still and die!" the outraged Daimon yelled as
Ryouga continued to frantically dodge the deadly strikes.
Just when it seemed that it would impale him on the wicked
blade, a golden chain with heart shaped links snaked out
of the alley and coiled around the tail. Even as the
chain was pulled taut, Ryouga kicked the Daimon solidly in
the knee before flipping to his feet to deliver a ki
charged punch to the Daimon's face.
"Good timing," Ryouga said as Sailor Venus ran to
his side.
"Thanks, let's get this thing!" She said with a wink
as she shifted her grip on the sword and rushed it. The
Daimon caught her sword in one pincer and knocked her to
the side with the other.
"Concussion Fist!" Ryouga roared as he leaped in to
take advantage of the opening. The explosive punch
knocked the Daimon backwards into a wall, causing it to
lose its grip on the Crystal Sword.
"You ok?" Ryouga called over his shoulder even as
he rushed the stunned Daimon.
"Ryouga! Look out!" Sailor Venus screamed as the
Daimon stepped forward, it's tail lashing back and forth
like an angry cat's. Ryouga slowed slightly and juked to
one side. The Daimon took the bait and slashed it's tail
to where it thought Ryouga was going to be. Ryouga
smirked slightly as he grabbed the extended tail and began
to spin. The Daimon was jerked off its feet as Ryouga
spun faster and faster, slamming the Daimon repeatedly
against the already abused wall and the unrelenting
concrete. With a great cry, he released the Daimon's tail
and let it fly across the street where it crashed into a
group of trash cans, sending up a spray of refuse.
"And stay there," Ryouga snarled as he bent to pick
up his umbrella and the Crystal Sword. He walked over to
where Sailor Venus stood and extended the blade to her
hilt first.
"Here, let's go kill that thing!" Ryouga said as he
turned to face where the Daimon had landed. He
backpedaled a step as the Daimon leapt out of the trash to
land directly in front of him. Off balance, Ryouga could
only deflect the tail strike just enough to keep it from
gutting him. There was a rending sound as the bladed end
cut through his shirt and grazed against his skin, opening
a small cut. Ryouga struggled futily as one pincered hand
closed on his throat and lifted him off of the ground.
"I won't let you hurt him any more!" Sailor Venus
screamed as she cut off the arm that held Ryouga. He
landed on his feet, but before he could recover and strike
back, the Daimon smacked him with it's remaining pincer
and sent him sprawling to the pavement.
Sailor Venus scowled as she fired her Crescent beam,
knocking the Daimon away from them. Her scowl faded and
was replaced by a worried expression when she noticed that
Ryouga had not risen yet.
"Ryouga!" Sailor Venus cried out as she rushed over
to where he had fallen, "Ryo-chan, are you all right?"
"It just knocked the wind outta me," he muttered as
he struggled to his feet. ::Wait a sec!:: He did a
double take, ::Did Sailor Venus just call me Ryo-chan?!?!
I thought only Minako called me that::
"Sit this one out, Ryo-chan, and let me take care of
this!"
"No way, Minako!" he hissed. Minako looked stunned
as he picked his umbrella back up, "No way am I going to
let you fight that thing alone!"
"Ryo-chan..." she whispered with stars in her eyes.
"C'mon, let's nail that thing!" Ryouga yelled as he
raised his umbrella over his head and let his aura flare.
The Daimon seemed to shrink back as the grim pair advanced
on it, their weapons at the ready. A low growl started in
the back of Ryouga's throat as his aura flowed into his
umbrella causing it to be sheathed in eerie green flames.
"DIE!" He screamed as he flung his umbrella like a
spear. The Daimon dodged it, but Sailor Venus wrapped the
handle with her Love Me chain and whipped it back towards
the shocked Daimon.
"You wanted to fight both of us," she started.
"And now you got us!" Ryouga finished as the
umbrella slammed into its chest with the force of a
crashing boulder. It fell hard to the ground and as it
struggled to rise Sailor Venus leapt and impaled it with
her sword even as Ryouga planted both his feet firmly on
it's head. With one final agonized scream, the Daimon
faded out and left a mangled toy scorpion behind.
Ranma stopped running and took in his surroundings
even as he set Chibi-usa and Usagi back on their feet. He
appeared to have stopped in an industrial district that
had seen better times. The warehouses and factories
around them were old, and a few were boarded up.
"You alright, kid?" Ranma asked Chibi-usa, who was
breathing hard and clutching at her chest.
"It hurts..." she whimpered as she seemed to blur
for a moment before solidifying again.
Ranma winced at her pain in her voice even as Usagi
knelt to sooth her. "We better keep moving, they can't be
that far behind," Ranma said as he warily watched in the
direction they came from. It was thus that he was caught
offguard by a blast from his left. Usagi gasped and
backed up a step as Ranma was flung into the side of a
warehouse from the force of the attack. She saw that his
shirt was burned and smoking on the right side of his
chest as he rose quickly to his feet.
"You two had better hide," Ranma said as the
Daimons allowed themselves to be seen. He moved between
them and Usagi and dropped into his stance. "Alright,
uglies, who's first?"
"Will you be alright?" Usagi asked, worried.
"No sweat. Get outta here," Ranma said as he gave
her a cocky grin and a thumbs up.
Usagi touched him briefly on his arm before she
gathered Chibi-usa into her arms and ran down an alley.
One of the Daimons moved as if to follow her, but Ranma
intercepted it with a fierce kick.
"Yer fightin' me!" Ranma growled as he let his aura
flare.
The Daimon turned and glared at him. "So be it,"
it intoned before it unsheathed an evil looking sword.
"So be it," the other three repeated in unison as
they too drew their swords.
With great control, Ranma pulled his aura back in as
Cologne had taught him, executing the soul of ice. He
couldn't quite suppress his grin when their swords were
sheathed in fire.
"Come get me then!" Ranma yelled as he prepared to
dodge. A moment later, he realized his mistake as all of
them began to attack in a well co-ordinated strike. The
next few moment were filled with pain as he was battered
from multiple sides. Barely able to dodge the blades, he
quickly re-evaluated his battle plan and closed in with
one of them. He ducked under its sword and punched it
hard in the kneecap. He allowed himself a tight little
smile as the Daimon screamed in pain and fell to the
ground. He backflipped away even as two blasts converged
on where he was a moment ago.
Twisting in mid-air, he changed his trajectory so
that he landed on the shoulder of the first Daimon.
"Concussion fist!" Ranma roared as he punched the
Daimon on the top of it's head. The force of the blast
flung him from his precarious perch, but he was ready.
Before his feet had even touched the ground, he shot a
Mouko Takabisha at the closest one. While the Daimon was
knocked back a few feet, Ranma landed and charged the last
one. Just as soon it was in reach, his aura flared as he
called out his next attack.
"Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken revised! Explosive
fury!" He yelled as he tried punching it with the
concussion fist at Amaguriken speeds. The Daimon's armor
buckled and split from the attack as it was hurled into a
pile of crates from the massive explosion.
Ranma panted slightly and looked around. The first
three Daimons were regaining their feet and holding their
swords aloft, although their approach was much more wary
this time. Ranma swore as he was once again forced to
dodge and weave between the flaming swords. As the fourth
one returned to the deadly dance, Ranma knew he was in
trouble. Small cuts were opened along his arms and chest
as he slowly began to wear down. He grit his teeth and
focused, concentrating all his strength into the soul of
ice as he dodged his way through the spiral.
As he placed his foot in the center of his spiral,
he braced himself and threw an uppercut into the swirling
mass of hot air, not bothering to waste his breath calling
out the attack. The victorious look on the Daimon in
front of him was changed suddenly to surprise as it was
sucked up into the vortex and spun mercilessly about.
Ranma paused and waited as the Daimons were tangled
together and then dropped hard on the concrete. Ranma
swore to himself as he ran down the alley. He had
forgotten about the armored man who had ordered the
Daimons on them.
"If that bastard even thinks of touching her, he's
dead!" he yelled as he sprinted off, searching for where
Usagi was hiding.
"Hang in there!" Usagi said to Chibi-usa as she
ran.
"Usako! Over here!" Mamoru waved at her from the
door of a warehouse. Usagi turned and ran past him into
the warehouse. Mamoru suppressed a smirk as he closed the
door.
"We gotta do something, Mamo-chan!" Usagi cried as
she gently laid Chibi-usa down on the cold floor. Sailor
Pluto entered the warehouse, unnoticed by the others, and
took up a position where she could watch unobserved.
"Yes, you do have to do something," Mamoru said as
he pulled out a wilted looking rose and held it for a
moment.
"What happened to your roses? Are you sick?" Usagi
asked as she knelt next to Chibi-usa and took her hand.
Tears formed in her eyes when she saw that she could
clearly see her hand through Chibi-usa's.
"No, nothing's wrong. Not now, anyways," he grinned
as he transformed into his armored state.
"You!" Usagi cried as she looked up and saw
Endymion standing over her. "I thought it was you that
set those Daimons on us!"
"Correct, _my_ Usako," he said, bowing sardonically
as his voice dripped with venom.
"What happened to you? And what's happening to
Chibi-usa?" Usagi asked as she looked back down at her
whimpering future daughter.
"What happened? You could say that I finally broke
the seal on my powers."
"But, Chibi-usa..."
"She suffers," He shrugged, indifferent to the pain
in front of him. "Soon, she will be no more."
"Why?" Usagi's voice cracked as she looked up from
her daughter's agonized face to the man she thought she
loved.
"Why?" He let loose an evil chuckle, "Why not? She
seems to enjoy making you suffer, so now I guess I'm
making her suffer. Come, join with me and we'll have a
family that will not make you suffer, ever."
From her place of concealment, Sailor Pluto
struggled against her desire to rush out there and protect
Usagi. It took all of her self control to avoid attacking
Endymion with the full intent of killing him.
"I..." Usagi looked away from him, "I don't
know..."
"Don't take too long to decide!" He snapped, "I
could kill you right now if I wanted too, but I'm giving
you the choice, join the Death Busters and aid in the
return of Pharaoh 90, or die!"
Sailor Pluto tensed. The next few seconds were
critical to the survival of the Earth. If she stood and
joined him, all would be lost.
Usagi looked uncertainly at him, but just as it
seemed that she would stand up and join him, a brilliant
blue ball of Ki slammed into him and knocked him away.
Her head swung around and found a very bloody Ranma
standing in the doorway of the warehouse. Sailor Pluto
almost collapsed in relief as Ranma began crossing the
room with stiff, angry strides.
"Get away from her! I don't know what yer problem
is, but I do understand fighting! You wanna try ta fight
me without your little group of Daimon body guards this
time?" Ranma challenged as he neared them.
Endymion stood slowly and casually dusted his armor
off, "Well, it seems that there is another nuisance for me
to get rid of."
"I'll show you nuisance!" Ranma yelled as he
charged, "Meteor shower kick!" Ranma jumped and started
sending ki charged kicks at Endymion. He staggered back
from the assault and threw a wilted rose at Ranma. The
rose hit, but instead of merely sticking in Ranma's arm it
exploded, splattering Usagi with blood.
"Mouko Takabisha!" Ranma let loose another ball of
ki and then held his wounded arm. "Run!"
"What?!?"
"I said run! I'll hold him off while you get the
kid and yourself outta here!" Ranma swore under his
breath as Endymion stood again, "Go on, run!"
"..."
"I said run! Get outta here!" Ranma snapped before
his voice softened. "I don't want you and the kid to get
hurt, ok?"
Usagi stood and tried to lift Chibi-usa, but the
small girl had faded so much that her arms passed right
through her.
"No! Chibi-usa!" Usagi wailed and knelt again next
to her daughter and watched her agonized face fade even
more.
"Go," The single word seemed more like a whisper of
the wind.
"What?" Usagi leaned closer to Chibi-usa's face.
"Go, live. I've been happy, but without you there's
no hope for me to ever exist. Go!"
Usagi stood again with tears running down her face
and ran for the door. "Goodbye, Chibi-usa..."
Endymion smirked when he saw that Chibi-usa had
finally faded away. "Well now, looks like it's just you
and me." He drew his sword with a steely rasp and held it
in an en'guard. Ranma tensed and got ready, sensing the
malevolent power that dripped from him like slime.
"No!" Usagi's voice rang clear and true. Both
Ranma and Endymion turned to look at Usagi.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Ranma
yelled.
Usagi held up her brooch and her face took on a
determined cast. "Helping you," she said simply before
she called out her transformation phrase.
"Moon Cosmic Power, Make Up!"
"No!" Endymion screamed.
Before Ranma's stunned eyes, Usagi was enveloped by
a bright light as her clothes dissolved into translucent
red ribbons. Even though she was technically naked, the
only details that Ranma could discern was her outline and
oddly enough, her eyes. Even as he determined that, the
ribbons wrapped around her, forming her Senshi uniform.
With one last flourish Usagi, no, Sailor Moon, struck a
pose as the lights faded.
Ranma fell over backwards, stunned at the
revelation. Suddenly a thousand little clues clicked into
place in his brain. Endymion was just as stunned, but for
a completely different reason. He still couldn't believe
that Usagi would lift a finger against him.
"You're Sailor Moon?" Ranma asked as he snapped
back to his feet.
Sailor Moon nodded sadly before she looked at Mamoru
with her heart in her eyes. "Mamo-chan, I'll beat
whatever's possessed you. I'll make it all right again."
Endymion let out a bark of derisive laughter.
"Posses? Dear little Usagi... Don't you get it? Nothing
is possessing me, this _is_ me!"
Ranma narrowed his eyes, "You're Chiba, ain't ya?"
"You finally figured it out? I knew jocks were
slow, but you are ridiculous! Still, that's who I used to
be," Endymion smiled bleakly as his group of Daimon
bodyguards entered the room. "And now, my little friends,
you are outnumbered, badly."
Ranma glanced around and swore. He was too wounded
already to be able to fight effectively against all of
them and he knew from experience that Sailor Moon was not
a very good fighter unless she was given enough time to
power up her final attack.
"Maybe so, but I have a little surprise for you!"
With that, Ranma moved so quickly that he was a blur.
Within the blink of an eye, he landed behind Mamoru and
pulled out a small bottle of shampoo "Xi Fang Gao
Shiatsu!"
"What the...!" Mamoru reeled as his head suddenly
felt like a thousand needles were stabbing his scalp at
once. It took only a few seconds to recover, but by then
it was too late. "What? What did you do to me?" He
looked around but could see no trace of Ranma or Sailor
Moon. His Daimons were equally stunned by their rapid
disappearance.
"Just making sure you won't be bugging us at home!"
Ranma's voice filtered down into the room. A chance
reflection revealed his position as he kicked open the
window.
"There! After them!" Mamoru yelled and pointed.
"Dead Scream!" Sailor Pluto launched her attack
from the shadows, knocking him across the room with the
deadly energy.
"That's for making the wrong choice," she snarled
before she faded from view. She knew that imbued with
evil power, Mamoru was much more dangerous. ::The purest
of heart become the most sinister when they fall from the
light,:: She thought philosophically as she reappeared on
the rooftops, not far from where Ranma had stopped to rest
and bind his wounds with Sailor Moon's gentle assistance.
"This is a dangerous path you have chosen, Ranma
Saotome," She said as she approached them. "Are you
prepared for what that entails?"
"Pluto!" Sailor Moon said in an astonished voice
before she clung to her waist and began crying. Sailor
Pluto looked down and smiled warmly before she patted her
on the head and returned her attention to Ranma.
"Well? Are you prepared, Ranma Saotome of the
Anything Goes School of Martial Arts?"
"I ain't sure I understand what yer askin' of me,
but I'm ready for any fight!" Ranma declared as he snapped
to his feet, only to wince in pain from the wounds he had
received at the hands of Endymion's quartet of Daimons.
"Then tell Sailor Mercury to use her computer to
find some kind of armor for you. The protection that
would offer shall assist you in your fight," Sailor Pluto
said before she gently disentangled Sailor Moon from her
waist. "Princess, it would be wise if you and Ranma
hurried to Mamoru's apartment and cleared it of anything
that may help him regain his memory. Especially the
guardian stones."
"R..right," Sailor Moon sniffled before she stood
and dashed her tears away with her fist. "What will you
be doing?"
"I need to convince Uranus and Neptune that it is in
their best interests to work with you now. I'm not sure
how they are going to take it," Sailor Pluto sighed.
"I'm sorry, I failed you."
"No!" Sailor Moon said firmly as she took the
eldest Senshi's hands in her own. "You didn't fail me, we
still have a chance at defeating the Deathbusters! I
still have the grail, and the best friends someone could
hope for..." She trailed off as her eyes filled with
tears again.
"Usagi..." Ranma said as he reached out with one
hand to clasp her on the shoulder.
"But why did Chibi-usa have to die?!?" She wailed
as she buried her face into Ranma's chest. Without even
thinking about it, Ranma gathered her up into his arms and
leapt off towards Mamoru's apartment. Sailor Pluto
watched him leave before she opened a portal to the time
gates and stepped through. The real war for the fate of
the Earth had begun, and there were forces that needed to
be rallied.
A short time later, Ranma landed softly on the
narrow ledge outside the window to Mamoru's apartment. He
set Sailor Moon down and peeked cautiously through.
"Ok, what do these stones look like, Usagi?" He
asked quietly as he moved back away from the window.
"Please, Ranma," Sailor Moon said between sniffles,
"Call me Sailor Moon when I'm like this."
"Alright, Sailor Moon, what do those stupid stones
look like?"
"They're in a glass case on his book shelf," she
said as she looked up in thought. "The one in his
bedroom. They kinda look like uncut gems."
"OK, stay put and I'll be right back out," Ranma
patted her shoulder comfortingly before he silently opened
the window and slipped inside. The interior of the
apartment was strangely dark once the drapes had fallen
back into place and unusually cluttered. All the other
times Ranma had seen it, it was immaculate and brightly
lit. He stooped and picked up a discarded garment and
held it up to his eyes so that he could identify it in the
dim light. It was a gaudy orange miniskirt that he had
seen several times before.
He dropped it with a growl and a snarl and
disappeared into the shadows along the walls. As he edged
towards the closed bedroom door, he heard somewhat heavy
footsteps, as if the person moving about was still very
sleepy. He leapt and clutched to the ceiling, breathing
as quietly as possible to avoid being heard.
The bedroom door opened and Ranma was forced to bite
his lip to keep from making any noise. Just inside the
doorway was the nude form of witch Mimet. Ranma smiled to
himself as he thought of the nosebleed Ryouga would have
gotten from that sight. Mimet stumbled out of the bedroom
with the shuffling gait of someone still mostly asleep.
Shortly after she passed under Ranma, he dropped catlike
to the floor and smiled to himself as a vicious plan came to
mind. He shook his head and pushed the notion to the back
of his mind and he concentrated on his mission.
He ducked into the bedroom and found the glass case
that Sailor Moon had told him about. Inside the case were
four stones that glowed ever so softly. He opened the
case and pulled the stones out and placed them into his
pocket. As he touched each one, he could feel a
consciousness that was overwhelmed with grief.
His task complete, Ranma glanced around the room and
noted that Mimet's staff was leaned against one of the
walls. The half formed plan in the back of his mind came
rushing back. With a self satisfied smirk, he walked over
to the staff and picked it up. He could feel the magical
energies racing through it the moment he touched it. He
sighed as he realized that not even Ryouga's Bakusai
Tenketsu technique would work on it.
His head snapped around when he heard a startled
gasp from the doorway. Mimet stood there holding a
steaming cup of tea in one hand while she tried to hold an
oversized robe on with the other.
"What are you doing here?" Mimet asked in a voice
shaking with fear.
Ranma snarled as he flung the staff away and
advanced on her. Mimet screamed and flung the tea at
Ranma. He ignored the scalding hot liquid as his aura
flared to life and crackled with an angry red glare.
Terrified, Mimet could not move, her eyes riveted on
Ranma's ice hard blue eyes. Ranma grabbed her by the neck
and lifted her off the ground.
"I want you to deliver a message," he growled as
Mimet struggled futily against his iron hard grip. It
took her a moment to realize that he wasn't completely
cutting off her air, just gripping tight enough to make it
very hard to breath. Spots swam in front of her eyes and
she felt more than saw Ranma walk into the living area of
the apartment.
She was flung roughly against the couch and even as
she struggled to regain her breath, Ranma had hog tied
her. Her borrowed bathrobe flopped loosely about her
small frame as she struggled in vain against her bonds.
Amazingly enough, it stayed on her.
"What kind of sick game are you playing?" Mimet
asked hoarsely.
"No games, witch. Tell Mamoru that he had better
watch his own back because someday, I will be there and I
will not hold back," Ranma said in a deathly quiet voice.
He turned and walked towards the window. As he re-opened
the window, he looked back at the hog-tied form of Mimet.
"Ya know, for a witch with an attack named the Charm
Buster, ya sure don't have much in the way of charms!" He
laughed as he stepped out the window, Mimet's angry
shouting falling on deaf ears.
"What was that all about?" Sailor Moon asked as
Ranma reappeared on the ledge.
"I ran into Witch Mimet in there," He shrugged as
he made a quick decision. "I guess she got mad because I
got away." He decided against telling Sailor Moon that by
all appearances, Mamoru was dallying with witch Mimet.
::The poor girl's heart is bruised enough,:: He thought.
::She doesn't need to know about that.::
"Did you get the stones?" Sailor Moon asked as he
picked her up and prepared to leap off the ledge.
"Yeah, piece of cake," he grunted as he leapt, still
feeling all the injuries he had received that morning.
Ami sighed as her communicator went off even as she
neared Juuban Junior High. She glanced around and found a
fairly secluded spot.
"Yes?" Ami asked as the tiny screen lit and
revealed the tear-streaked face of Sailor Moon. "Sailor
Moon! What's wrong?"
"Ami-chan..." Sailor Moon sniffled and then broke
down crying. The perspective of the communicator moved
and revealed Ranma.
"Ranma!?!" Ami gasped.
"Ami?! Nevermind, there's no time to explain. We
all gotta meet at tha shrine, alright? Make sure Ryouga
gets there too."
"What's going on?" Ami asked, a worried note
audible in her voice when she saw his wounds.
"I'll tell ya when everyone's at the shrine," Ranma
said as he cut the connection.
Ami was puzzled, but opened a wide channel and
contacted the rest of the Senshi.
"Everyone, we have a situation..."
****Author's notes:
Sorry it took so long to finish this chapter. A few notes
for those of you that have not seen the Sailor Moon Manga.
The sword that Sailor Venus started using is in the manga
from the Beryl story arc. As far as I know, it never made
an appearance in the anime. Since I am using a blend of
the manga and the anime, I felt it was appropriate to
bring the sword into play.
Also, several of the lines used in Minako's flashback to
the Silver Millennium are also pulled straight from the
manga.
All previous chapters can be found at
http://www.okami-san.net