This Fanfiction is a non-profit piece for entertainment
purposes only. If you think that I created Ranma 1/2 or
Sailor Moon, then on behalf of Rumiko Takahashi and Naoko
Takuchi, I will hunt you down and punish you in the name of
the moon!
Twin Dragons under Moonlight
Chapter 5
Sometimes, destiny is not what is meant to be...
Ranma grunted as he leapt from the fence to the
sidewalk below. Despite the fact that he had grabbed a
fresh change of clothes, it was painfully obvious that he
had been hurt recently. Blood soaked bandages covered his
arms and a few smaller ones were on his face. He ignored
the startled looks of the other pedestrians and continued
walking towards the Hikawa shrine. When he reached the
gate he decided to wait a few moments to catch his breath.
He was fairly certain that he had beaten everyone but Rei
here, so waiting a few moments at the gate wouldn't be a
problem. No sooner had he leaned against one of the
imposing stone pillars and closed his eyes than he heard
someone call his name. He spun and fell into a fighting
stance before he even realized that he knew the voice.
"You scared me to death, Ranma!" Makoto placed one
hand on her chest as if to try and slow her heart back
down. Ranma relaxed and leaned back against the pillar.
"Sorry..." he muttered.
"You're hurt!" She gasped when she finally noticed
the bandages. "Let me see if I have something a bit
cleaner for those bandages..." she said as she searched
through her bag for anything that could be used.
"Ferget about it. Just go inside and see if Rei's in
there will ya?"
"What about you?" She stopped her search and looked
at him curiously. "Doesn't that hurt?"
"I'll be fine, just do it will ya?" He said,
exhaustion finally creeping into his voice.
"Geez, it's not like someone died," Makoto said in a
huff as she started walking through the gate.
"That's exactly what happened!" Ranma snapped as he
looked away. Makoto stopped dead in her tracks and turned
slowly to face him. She could now see that the pained look
he had was not from his wounds, but from something much
worse... Grief.
"I'm sorry," she whispered as she bowed her head. "I
didn't know."
An uncomfortable silence settled between them.
Several moments passed before Ranma finally spoke.
"It's alright..."
Makoto jerked as if she had been shocked awake.
"What happened?" She asked.
"I'll tell you guys when everyone's here... Just go
inside." Ranma slowly leaned himself back against the gate
and looked out at the street again.
Makoto nodded and proceeded back up the stairs. When
she was halfway to the top, she looked over her shoulder at
Ranma. His head had rolled forward as if he was asleep on
his feet. She fought the urge to rush back down the stairs
and try to comfort him as she resolutely continued into the
shrine.
Usagi peeked around the lamppost she was hiding
behind and watched as Makoto walked into the shrine.
Although Ranma had told her to stay at his house, she
decided that she would get Luna and follow him to the
shrine. Although she had lost sight of him when he started
to roof-hop, she knew where he was going and had dashed
there. She had arrived just in time to witness the
exchange between Ranma and Makoto. Luna poked her head out
of the duffel bag that Usagi was carrying and frowned.
"What are you doing, Usagi?"
"He's going to be mad at me." Her voice quavered as
she ducked back behind the questionable concealment of the
lamppost. "He wanted me to stay at his place while he told
everyone else. He thought it'd be safer for me."
"Trust me, Usagi; you'll be a lot safer with the rest
of the Senshi with you. He'll understand if you tell him,"
Luna said comfortingly as she ducked back into the bag.
"Now go!"
Usagi swallowed hard and stepped out from behind the
lamppost. Her heart gave a nervous flutter when she caught
sight of Ranma again. She almost turned and ran, but she
shook her head and took the first step towards the shrine.
When she was maybe a meter away from him, his head snapped
up and his blue eyes fixed on hers. Her heart seemed to
leap into her throat as she lost herself in his eyes.
"I thought I told ya to stay put," Ranma said in a
level tone.
"I'm sorry Ranma, but I couldn't take being alone
anymore," her voice sounded small and timid, even to
herself. She broke eye contact with him and looked at her
feet.
"I wanted you safe! I made sure he didn't know about
that place, so you turn around and risk yourself just to
have some company?!" Ranma demanded as he stopped leaning
against the wall. "What would you have done if Chiba had
attacked you on the way here?"
Usagi bit her lower lip and tears began to flow
silently down her cheeks as she looked up at him again.
Ranma's expression softened considerably then and he spread
his arms wide.
"Uh, hey I'm just worried about ya. You've been
through a lot this mornin', I just... You know..." He
trailed off when he noticed that Usagi didn't seem to be
listening to him. Without any warning, she lunged forward
and clutched onto his shirt before she buried her face in
his chest and began to cry in earnest.
"I want them back! I want them back! I want them
baaa-aaack!!" She wailed, her voice only slightly muffled
by Ranma's chest.
Ranma looked around nervously, as if he expected a
mallet wielding fiancee to come out of nowhere. When
nothing happened, he slowly placed his arms around her and
patted her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down. Usagi
gasped as she felt his strong arms encircle her. Suddenly
she felt safe and protected, as if nothing on Earth could
harm her as long as she was in his arms.
::Is this too fast? Do I really want to?:: she
thought briefly before she stopped caring about that and
just enjoyed the security of Ranma's arms.
For his part, Ranma still felt a bit embarrassed
about hugging her like that in public, but for some reason
he didn't mind. He looked down as her crying slowly
tapered off into a contented sigh. She felt so slight, so
frail in his arms but he knew that she was made of tougher
stuff than that. He had seen her in many fights, quite
often diving in to save one of her friends without any
consideration of her own safety.
"You know, if Mamoru saw this, he'd be pissed,"
Ryouga's voice jerked Ranma out of his thoughts. His head
snapped around and he saw that Ami, Minako and Ryouga were
standing there. Minako had one hand over her mouth as if
she was trying to keep from giggling while Ryouga had a
slightly amused expression on his face. Ami was blushing
furiously and she had one fist in front of her mouth. With
a feeling of dread, he turned his head to look the other
way and found Makoto and Rei standing there, looks of anger
were on their faces.
"No fair, Usagi!" Rei said.
"Yeah! You've already got Mamoru!" Makoto chimed in.
At the mention of that name, Usagi burst out crying
again. They shared a startled look as Ranma returned his
attention to the crying girl in his arms.
"He's not my Mamo-chan anymore! I want my old Mamo-
chan back!"
Ranma winced at the volume of her cries and sent a
withering glare at Rei and Makoto.
"Ya know, I almost had her calm again. Help me get
her inside, and I'll tell ya what's goin' on."
"The wind is rustling about," Haruka said softly as
she stared out the window of the house she shared with
Michiru.
"Oh?" Michiru asked mildly as she poured some tea
for her.
"It's ominous, like a storm is about to break."
"The storm has broken," Setsuna said as she
approached the table.
"When did you get here?" Michiru asked as she stood
to get another teacup for Setsuna. "Tea?"
"Please. I have some important news for you two.
The players in this game have changed."
"What do you mean by that?" Haruka asked as she
turned her attention to Setsuna. She didn't respond until
after Michiru had returned with another cup and had begun
pouring the tea.
"Mamoru has changed sides, and Small Lady is..." she
paused as she fought to control her voice. "She is no
more."
"Dead?" Michiru gasped.
"Worse than dead, it's as if she never existed now,"
Setsuna said sadly.
"But, we can remember her!" Haruka protested.
"True, because she came to a time from before she
existed. All that there is of her existence is our
memories." She gave them an intense look as she sipped her
tea.
"Did this happen because Mamoru joined the Death
Busters?" Michiru asked. She heard a slight clinking
noise. When she looked down, she saw that it was because
her hand was shaking as she held her teacup.
"I believe so, yes." Setsuna calmly sipped at her
tea.
"Damn it! How could this have happened?" Haruka
demanded as she crossed her arms.
"I don't know yet, but I will find out," Setsuna said
as she took another sip of her tea.
"So what does this mean for our mission?" Michiru
asked.
"The mission hasn't changed, but you both have a
decision to make. You can continue the way you have in the
past, or you could join forces with the Inner Senshi and
face the enemy together." Setsuna looked into their eyes
and could almost see their reluctance.
"I take it that you have a preference?" Haruka
smirked a bit.
"Yes, but it still has to be your choice. I cannot
force you to do things my way. That can only lead to
disaster." She took one last sip of her tea before she
placed her cup on the table.
"Heh," Haruka flicked her hair back with a toss of
her head. "Why should we join up with them? They're so
weak in comparison. They're children!"
Haruka and Michiru nearly jumped out of their seats
as Setsuna slammed her fist against the table, spilling her
tea. "Those 'children' have been fighting almost
constantly for over a year against various enemies. Those
'weaklings' have defeated beings that have rent asunder the
Time Stream. They have looked down the throats of the
hounds of Hell and yet they fight on! Most of them have
even sacrificed their lives to defeat the evil that claimed
the Silver Millennium when it returned to ruin this era!
While they may lack the individual power that each of us
has, they more than make up for it in spirit and teamwork."
Setsuna's eyes flashed with anger, betraying the calmness
in her voice.
"Have you forgotten who risked her life to save you
from Kaolinite, Michiru?" She asked the green haired girl
in front of her.
"N..no..." Michiru stammered her reply.
"And you!" Setsuna said sharply to a chastened
Haruka. "Did you forget who ran to help you even though
you had threatened to kill her and even took away her means
of transforming? Risking her life by facing the enemy as a
normal girl, and winning?"
"Of course not..." Haruka said softly.
"Keep that in mind when you make your decision. Talk
to them, you might be surprised by what they have to say.
Neither they nor myself will stop you from choosing your
own path; they respect you enough to let you try to do
things your own way." Setsuna stood and walked towards the
door.
"Think about it, but don't choose right away.
Decisions made in haste are never fully thought through,"
she smiled mysteriously before she opened a portal and
stepped through.
"I'm going for a ride to think about this," Haruka
said as she stood to leave the table. Once she was gone,
Michiru gazed at her reflection in the spilt tea and
sighed.
"The sea is very stormy today..."
Endymion threw open the door to his apartment and
stomped inside in disgust. Everything was going according
to his plan when Ranma had interfered! He slammed the door
behind him with enough force to cause a picture of himself,
Usagi and Chibi-usa to fall from its place on the wall and
shatter on the floor. A crack ran down the middle of the
picture, separating Usagi and Mamoru, while the glass that
covered Chibi-usa's image was so spider webbed with cracks
as to make her unrecognizable.
"My lord!" Mimett screamed from the couch, "Help me,
I beg you!"
"What is this?" Endymion asked when he saw Mimett
tied up on the couch.
"Ranma was here! He gave me a message to give you
and then he tied me up. Please, untie me!"
Endymion snarled and with a wave of his hand, a beam
of energy cut her bonds. "Now, what was his message?"
"He said to watch your back, because someday he is
going to be there and he won't pull his punches," Mimett
said as she rubbed her reddened wrists and ankles.
"Call the professor. Have him release another daimon
now!" Endymion snapped as he walked into the bedroom. "We
need to strike again while they are still off balance."
"At once!" Mimett bounced over to the phone and made
a quick call. After speaking with the professor for a
moment, she put her hand over the receiver and called over
to Endymion. "My Lord? He says that he anticipated that
and had released several."
"Excellent. How many are still out there?" Endymion
sighed as he lay down on the bed.
"He says that his sensors indicate that one is still
on the loose." Mimett passed along after a brief pause.
"Tell him to prepare some quarters for me. My home
is no longer secure." He rubbed his temples as he tried
again and again to remember where Sailor Moon lived, but
failed miserably. He thought for a moment and then grinned
evilly.
"If I cannot attack directly, then an indirect attack
shall have to suffice," he laughed aloud. "Ranma Saotome,
you may have found a way to block my memory of where she
lives, but you failed to protect all of her friends!" He
laughed aloud.
"My Lord?" Mimett asked nervously as she entered the
bedroom.
"We'll see how long Sailor Moon continues to fight
once her friends begin to die, one by one!" Endymion
laughed as dark energy began to play across his skin.
"First, I need to relax and then gather my strength for
this..." he said as he reached out to Mimett.
"Now, would you mind telling us just what the hell is
going on?" Rei demanded once she had closed the door to
her room.
"To be blunt, Chiba's gone bad and tried to kill me
an' Usagi. He caused Chibi-usa to just fade out like a
ghost or somethin'. The bastard's got four really mean
daimons workin' for him and his stupid roses explode now,"
Ranma growled, ignoring the gasps of shock and half
screamed protests that followed his words. He looked
around the room to gauge their reactions.
Makoto looked angry more than anything else and Rei
had turned as white as a sheet and was leaning against the
door for support. Ami had her brow furrowed, whether in
thought or anger, he couldn't tell. Minako looked like she
was about to be sick and was clinging to Ryouga's arm like
a life preserver while he glowed a sickly green color as
his aura betrayed his emotions. His scowl alone would have
been enough to cause most people to back away, but with his
aura flaring he looked positively frightening. After a few
minutes, a painful silence fell over them, punctuated only
by a few soft sobs that escaped from Usagi.
Rei sank to the floor in shock. "The last time I saw
him, I could feel something... evil... about him. I had no
idea it would be like this."
"Something evil?" Ami asked as she raised one hand
towards Makoto to silence her. "What do you mean?"
"Last night, when you guys were heading off for
dinner, I felt something sealed away in him, something
malevolent. I thought it was some bad memories from the
Silver Millennium that were starting to resurface." Rei
shook her head ruefully before she turned to look out the
window, at the ceiling, anywhere except straight at Usagi.
"Bad memories? More like memories of being bad!"
Ryouga said with a snarl similar to Ranma's. Like his
friend, he did nothing to conceal the emotion from his
voice.
"That's it!" Ami snapped her fingers. "That's what
was sealed away, it has to be! Usagi," she turned and
gently took Usagi's hand and held it, "did he say anything,
anything at all that would help us figure out how this
happened?"
Usagi looked up in thought, but quickly shook her
head. "No, I'm sorry. All he really said was that he
finally broke the seal on his powers."
"That's not much to go on," Ami sighed as she pulled
out the Mercury computer. "Maybe there's a clue in the
historical files..." Her voice trailed off as she began
typing rapidly on the keyboard.
"I dunno if these things would be of any use, but
Pluto seemed ta think that they would be dangerous in his
hands. I blocked his memory, but that was before I knew
all of you guys were involved in this," Ranma said as he
offered the Guardian Stones to Ami.
"How did you get these?" Ami gasped as she took the
stones and placed them next to the Mercury computer.
"I kinda snuck into his place and stole them. Mimett
was in there, but I managed to evade her and escape," he
rubbed the back of his head as he remembered exactly how he
had escaped.
"What do you mean by that?" Makoto asked.
"I disarmed her and gave her something to think
about..." He shrugged as he leaned back against a wall and
began to absently pick at his bandages. Usagi gently
restrained him, but he pulled his hand away. She put her
hands back in her lap and stared intently at the floor.
"I felt somethin' when I picked those things up. It
was like those things were sad," Ranma said after a moment
of thought.
"Unfortunately, only Mamoru knew how to get the
spirits bound inside them to respond to his questions," Rei
shook her head and passed one hand over the stones. She
closed her eyes for a moment before she frowned and jerked
her hand away from the stones. "I can feel it too, along
with a strong sense of betrayal."
"Do you think you might be able to unlock them long
enough for us to get some answers?" Makoto asked as she
leaned forward excitedly.
"I'm not sure..." Rei slumped back and started to
massage her temples. "Maybe one at a time. The feelings
they are emitting are very strong. If I try to get them
all to respond at once... Well, who knows what could
happen?"
"So basically, we're back at square one again?"
Minako asked sadly.
"I'm afraid so," Ami sighed as she continued to
refine her search through the computer's files. "It
appears that the Central Computer on the moon had very
little in the way of organization, it's almost as if
someone dumped all the data from every terminal in the
kingdom into it at once."
"Considering how quickly Beryl's invasion took place,
I wouldn't be a bit surprised if that's exactly what
happened." Makoto said as she clenched her fist in anger.
"Once again she's coming back to haunt us!"
"Moon?" a bewildered Ranma asked, "What the heck are
you talking about? There ain't no computers on the Moon!"
"Actually, there is. There used to be a civilization
that thrived on the moon and most of the other planets in
the solar system. The only planet that was not part of
that kingdom was Earth. The people of the earth then were
just..." Ami paused and looked apologetically at Ranma,
"Well, too violently unpredictable. Also, their lifespan
was extremely short in comparison. The average citizen
from the Moon Kingdom could live for several thousand
years. It would have made assimilating them into the
kingdom very problematic, so it was decided early on to let
Terrans, well... Grow up."
"Huh?" Ranma and Ryouga blinked in confusion as they
tried to reconcile what they were hearing to what they had
been told all their lives. "Wait a sec! How long ago was
this?" Ranma demanded.
"Several eons, at least," Rei said with a distant
smile as she remembered what the desert canyons of Mars
looked like at sunrise.
"You make it sound like you were there," Ryouga
chuckled.
"We were," Minako said as she placed her hand on his
knee. "In our past lives anyways. When the Silver
Millennium fell, our Queen sacrificed her life to send our
souls into the future, to give her people a second chance
through her daughter, her lover from Earth and her
bodyguards."
"Ok, you're Sailor Venus," Ryouga said to Minako, who
nodded in agreement. "Then the others are?"
"Sailor Mars, Jupiter, Mercury and Sailor Moon," She
replied as she pointed to each one in turn.
"Then, Sailor Moon is...?" Ranma asked, his eyes
widening as he looked over at Usagi who continued to stare
at the floor.
"Her Royal Highness, Princess Serenity," Rei said
seriously. The room fell silent for a brief moment before
Ranma suddenly let out a long, low whistle.
"Then Chiba was her lover in the past?" he asked.
"And in the present, until very recently..." Makoto
said softly. She winced when she noticed that Usagi had
flinched at the mention of his name.
"So how did Chibi-usa fit into all of this?" Ryouga
asked.
"She is... was, my daughter from the future." Usagi
whispered. Ranma opened his mouth to say something when he
suddenly noticed the tears streaming from her eyes. He
clamped his jaw shut and instead placed a comforting hand
on her shoulder. She smiled at him as she placed her hand
over his and stars seemed to dance in her eyes.
It was at that exact moment that Artemis decided to
stick his head out of the bag that Minako brought him in to
say something. Unfortunately, Ranma saw him out of the
corner of his eye.
"Ahhh!!! C-c-cat!!!" He screamed as he scrambled to
the far end of the room and slammed against the wall.
"Artemis!" Minako scolded him, "I thought I told you
to stay in there!" She disengaged herself from Ryouga and
picked up the bag. "Geez, curiosity deafened the cat..."
she muttered under her breath as she opened the door to
leave the room.
"Isn't that supposed to be curiosity killed the cat?"
Makoto asked as she tried to pry Ranma away from the wall
with Usagi's help.
Minako looked over her shoulder and grinned. "Not
this time..."
"Now wait just a second!!!" Artemis screamed after
Minako closed the door behind her. Everyone in the room
sweat dropped as they heard Minako begin to yell at him as
she walked away from the room, Artimes' indignant replies
were nearly drowned out by her voice.
"Did that cat just talk?" A wide-eyed Ryouga asked.
The girls nodded as Ranma finally sat down again.
"We have got to do something about your fear of cats,
Ranma!" Rei snapped. "We can't have you freaking out like
that all the time!"
"I can't help it!" Ranma yelled as he snapped back to
his feet.
"So the high and mighty martial artist can't even
deal with one cute little kitty cat?" Rei yelled as she too
got to her feet and proceeded to try and stare down Ranma.
"Stop it! Both of you! This isn't doing us any
good!" Makoto said firmly as she placed herself between
them and pushed them both out to arms length.
Inside her bag, Luna shook her head and sighed.
Things sounded like it had gone from bad to worse and she
could not do any kind of damage control without Ranma
freaking out. Very cautiously, she peeked out of her bag
and saw that Ranma had his back to her and was arguing
loudly with Rei while Ami and Makoto did their best to calm
them down. Usagi had sat back down again and was hanging
her head. Luna reached out with one paw and tapped on her
leg.
"What is it, Luna?" Usagi asked, her voice sounding
nothing like her usual bright self, but more like she did
after the first time Mamoru had dumped her.
"I need to talk with Rei," Luna whispered. Usagi
nodded as she stood and picked up Luna's bag. With
purposeful strides, she walked right into the middle of the
argument, snagged Rei's arm and dragged her out of the room
before she had a chance to protest. After Usagi had
slammed the door behind her, all activity in the room
halted.
"She do that often?" Ranma asked.
"No, it's usually the other way around..." Makoto
said in a stunned voice.
"Hi! Did I miss much?" Minako asked as she walked
back into the room. She looked around puzzled as they all
sighed and shook their heads.
"Not really, Minako... Not really..." Ryouga grumbled
sourly.
"I'm going to see if I can borrow Rei's kitchen. I
think we all need a snack right about now," Makoto declared
as she walked to the door. Just as she was about to open
it, Usagi flung open the door and barged into the room,
knocking Makoto over, and grabbed Ranma's arm.
"Come on! One of our friends is going to try
something to help with your fear of cats!" She said
excitedly as she yanked on his arm.
"Hey! Take it easy!" Ranma hissed as he pulled his
arm out of her grip and gingerly held his hand over the
wound from Endymion's exploding rose.
"OhmygoddidIhurtyou?DoyouneedapainkillerandIcan'tbeli-
eveIforgotaboutthat!I'msoorry!!!" She fell to her knees
beside him as she fussed over his injured arm for a moment
before she finally broke out crying.
"I'll be ok Usagi! Just stop crying, please!" Ranma
winced. "What were you saying about a cure for my fear of
cats?"
"Oh yeah!" She brightened instantly. She gently took
his hand and gestured for him to follow her. "Come on! We
got this idea that just might work! Let's go, Ranma!"
"Ok, ok! Hold your horses!" Ranma smiled a little
at how quickly her mood changed as he allowed her to drag
him from the room.
"Are you alright, Mako-chan?" Ami asked as she knelt
next to her.
"Sure, just as soon as the little birdies stop
spinning around my head..."
"In here Ranma," Usagi said as she opened the door to
the room where the sacred fire was burning. Ranma stepped
in and looked around. He frowned as he caught sight of Rei
in her miko's robes kneeling in the center of the room.
"What's she doing here?" He growled out the
question.
"This is my Grandfather's temple after all," Rei
sniffed.
"Oooh! Knock it off, both of you!" Usagi snapped.
"OK, OK!" he half yelled as he stepped the rest of
the way into the room. "What do ya want me to do?"
"First, lie down in front of me, your head pointed
towards the sacred fire," Rei said as she gestured to the
spot in front of her.
"So, what now?" Ranma said impatiently as he lay down
on his back in front of Rei. Usagi knelt on the other side
of him.
"I want you to close your eyes and meditate. Just
relax," Rei said soothingly. Ranma grumbled a little, but
did as she asked. Rei beckoned to Luna once she was sure
he was relaxed.
"How's this gonna help me with my fear of cats?"
Ranma asked suddenly.
"It's kind of like an exorcism," Rei lied smoothly as
Luna approached Ranma's head on silent paws.
"Do not worry, Ranma," Luna said softly and
soothingly, "I will not hurt you."
"I'd feel better about this if I could see you, you
know."
"All in good time, Ranma," Luna said as she stopped
next to his head. She slowly placed her forehead against
his and gently probed his mind with hers. The crescent moon
on her forehead glowed slightly as she slowly worked her
way into his psyche.
"Just open the door for me, Ranma. Let me see what
terrors lurk deep in your soul so that I may purge them,"
Luna crooned to him.
Reluctantly, Ranma lowered his mental defenses. Rei
watched with a strange sort of detachment as the minutes
ticked by. Usagi was fidgeting nervously and even reached
out towards Ranma a few times, but snapped her hand back
before she would touch him. Eventually, Luna pulled away
from Ranma and sat down wearily.
"Did it work?" Usagi asked, not quite able to
suppress the excitement in her voice.
"Let's find out," Luna said, her voice as tired as
she looked. "Sit up, Ranma, and open your eyes."
Ranma sat up slowly and opened his eyes, expecting to
see another priestess in the room with Rei and Usagi. His
eyes widened when he saw Luna, but he didn't feel the
terror.
"I'm sitting next to a c-c-c-cat, and I'm not
screaming..." He stuttered slightly. "Did I fall asleep? Is
this a dream?"
"No, it's not a dream," Luna responded.
Ranma jumped and latched onto the ceiling. "The c-c-
c-cat talked!"
"Come down from there, Ranma!" Usagi called up to
him. Ranma let go of the beam he was holding onto and
twisted nimbly to land on his feet.
"I'm... not afraid of you... I'm not afraid!" Ranma
began dancing around the room in joy.
"Oh, Ranma!" Usagi leaped to her feet to give Ranma a
hug, but instead found herself dancing with an ecstatic
Ranma. Usagi blushed as Ranma twirled her around the
floor, a strange warmth covering her heart. For a brief
moment, she found herself forgetting her worries and her
sorrow and just drank deep from the sense of Ranma's
presence.
"Well... Not exactly..." Luna said cautiously from
where she sat. Ranma and Usagi froze mid-step.
"I was able to get him to not be afraid of Artemis
and myself, or any Mao for that matter. But, I was unable
to completely eliminate his fear of cats. It's just too
deep in his psyche."
"That is because I had already placed the means
within him to deal with this very problem." Setsuna said
as she entered the room. "The Neko-ken was too much, even
for me to deal with."
"Huh?" Ranma peered closer at Setsuna, and for the
first time noticed her eyes. "What a sec! You were that
old woman, weren't you?"
"That's rude, Ranma!" Rei snapped. Setsuna held up
one hand to forestall any additional comments.
"He is correct though, Rei. The first time he saw me
I was disguised as an old woman. I couldn't stand to watch
his father train him in that horrid technique any longer.
Unfortunately, I was too late."
"Why didn't you do something sooner?" Usagi asked
quietly.
"I didn't realize what he was doing until it was too
late. I did what I could for him afterwards, but it was
not sufficient." Setsuna hung her head slightly.
"Don't get yerself down about it. I mean, ya did
what ya could, right?" Ranma said, "Besides, without the
Neko-ken, I'd be stuck in China living with the amazons
there."
"Amazons?" Rei blinked a few times.
"Ya know, the old Ghoul's people," Ranma said.
Usagi was staring at Setsuna's face and frowning.
"The neko-ken isn't the only sad thing you're thinking
about, is it?" She asked softly in a voice full of
compassion.
Setsuna gave a wan little smile. "Of course not.
I'm terribly sorry, I didn't see this coming."
"We already went over this," Usagi said gently as she
took her hands.
"We really need to figure out what happened to Mamoru
though," Luna said as she leapt up onto Usagi's shoulder.
"That's why I'm here," Setsuna said. "I discovered
the answer using the Time Gate."
"Let's go back to where the others are," Rei said as
she stood. "They deserve to know as well."
Artemis poked his head through the door. "Is it safe
around him now?" he asked nervously.
Ranma shot a hard glare at Artemis before he shook
his head. "How many more talkin' c-c-cats do you guys have
running around this place?" he asked no one in particular.
Usagi and Rei giggled as they filed past Artemis with
Setsuna and Luna. He shook his head and walked up to
Ranma.
"I don't think we've officially met," Artemis said as
he looked up at Ranma.
"Yeah, well..." Ranma grinned as he picked him up by
the scruff of his neck. "You're the little furball that's
always hanging around Minako, right?"
"My name is Artemis!" he snapped.
"Yeah, yeah. C'mon, let's get back to Rei's room."
Setsuna looked over the gathered Inner Senshi,
martial artists and moon cats and took a deep breath to
compose herself. "Endymion's father was known as Rithallex
the Conqueror. He was an ambitious man whose ruthless
battle tactics and skilled diplomacy allowed him to conquer
the entire earth by the time he was in his thirties. His
son, however, inherited none of his good traits."
"No way!" Usagi screamed in denial. Her outcry set
off the rest of the Senshi who began to barrage Setsuna
with their own questions.
"Let me finish, please." Setsuna said as she lifted
one hand in an attempt to quiet them down. Once they had
subsided, she continued. "Although Rithallex was ruthless
in battle he had a sense of honor and fair play about him.
While his tactics were brutal and his use of power cruel,
he had to be admired for being able to keep that many
nations of people all under one government."
"But Queen Serenity was doing much the same thing,
but with several planets full of people!" Rei protested.
"That is true, but she inherited that kingdom. Also,
the Moon kingdom grew and expanded over many, many years.
The use of magic to facilitate communications and
transportation also helped considerably." She smiled a bit
ruefully. "That is beside the point. When Endymion was
born, Rithallex tried to conquer the Moon Kingdom. He
failed miserably when his army came in contact with a
company of the Royal Guard under the command of Sailor
Venus."
"I don't recall that..." Minako said as she petted
Artemis.
"Of course you don't, your mother in the Silver
Millennium was Sailor Venus at the time. After that
defeat, he apparently contented himself with running his
empire and raising his son. Many of the people that
surrounded him were very cruel people, and more often than
not, they would take over Endymion's education while
Rithallex was brutally crushing a rebellion. It was during
one of those uprisings that he learned something very
important." She paused then for effect. "He learned that
if someone from the Earth were to marry someone from the
Moon Kingdom, the terran would gain the lifespan and
possibly even the magical powers of their mate. He became
obsessed with the idea of becoming a nearly immortal king
on Earth. However, the prospect of also ruling the Moon
Kingdom at the same time was too tempting for him to
ignore, and thus he paid court to Queen Serenity once her
husband had died in a terrible accident."
"Of course, the Queen refused his proposals, quoting
an ancient law forbidding intermarriage between the moon
folk and the terrans. As for Endymion, the education he
had received from the various courtiers had molded him into
a monster of a man. To cross him was death and worse than
death. Then, on the day his father died, he changed
overnight into the man you remember falling in love with,"
Setsuna said directly to Usagi. "It is my belief that he
had the mages from his father's court seal away his evil in
order to lull the Queen into a false sense of security so
that she would relax that law. Quite frankly, he arranged
for your first meeting with him."
"But... What about his generals? They were good men
until Beryl forced them to be evil!" Makoto protested.
"Yes, there is another story behind that. You see,
they were the leaders of four different resistance groups.
Powerful warrior magi that were no strangers to battle.
When they learned of Endymion's apparent change of heart,
they resolved to insure that he didn't follow in his
father's footsteps, or return to the way he was as a youth.
They became his most trusted friends and bodyguards, much
like the Senshi were to the Queen and then the Princess."
Setsuna sighed as she picked up Kunzite's stone. "They too
were fooled. But Endymion made one fatal mistake. His
favorite concubine was not told of his plan and she became
insanely jealous. The rest, as they say, is history."
"You mean all this time, deep in his heart all he
wanted from Usagi was her lifespan and her power?!?" Rei
demanded as she shot to her feet. "This is unforgivable!
I'll tear him to pieces myself! I'll shove a Burning
Mandela so far up his ass that flames will shoot out of his
ears!"
"My, how pungent," Setsuna said mildly.
Usagi dashed from the room, tears streaming from her
eyes as the bitter truth hit home.
"Hey! Usagi!" Ranma yelled as he leapt to follow
her, knocking Setsuna out of the way when she attempted to
stop him. The other girls stood as if to follow, but
Setsuna called for them to stop.
"Now is not the right time to go after her. She
needs to get it out of her system."
"Why didn't you stop Ranma then?" Makoto asked.
"Do you honestly think I could stop him without
transforming?" She asked in an acid tone. "You saw how he
pushed me aside." She rubbed at her arm and visibly calmed
down.
"Now, did Ranma remember to ask you to look up
information on armor for him and Ryouga?" She asked Ami.
"No, I'll get started right away... I just need a
minute to finish writing this search engine." Ami hummed as
she typed rapidly on the computer while Ryouga and the
girls sweat dropped.
"You wrote a search engine from scratch?" Rei
demanded.
"What's a search engine?" Ryouga asked as he
scratched the back of his head.
Tears clouded Usagi's vision as she ran, but she did
not slow down. Even when she stumbled and almost fell down
the stairs that led to the temple. She thought she heard
Ranma following her, but she continued to run.
Ranma shook his head as he tried to force his
battered body to move faster. He failed to notice when the
bandages around his arms became unraveled as he leapt over
the wall surrounding the temple in an effort to cut her
off. He swore when he landed, the pain from the impact
getting the better of him for a moment. When he looked up,
he saw that Usagi had already crossed the street and was
still running. He leapt to follow, not noticing the blood
that dripped from his arms and left a glimmering trail of
red in the air as he ran.
Haruka frowned slightly as she gunned the engine on
her motorcycle, speeding through a turn as she tried to
work things out in her mind. Too often she had looked at
the Inner Senshi as weak obstacles to her mission. Now
Setsuna had forcibly reminded her that they had sacrificed
a lot more than she ever had. She swore as a car right in
front of her suddenly slammed on the brakes. She swerved
around the car and swore again when she saw Usagi running
across the street, ignoring the traffic.
"Dammit!" Haruka screamed as she desperately
downshifted the bike and hit the brakes at the same time.
She felt tires lock up and knew that in a moment, she would
be thrown from the bike and there would be nothing else
that she could do to stop the bike from crushing Usagi.
Just as the bike began to pitch wildly, she saw Usagi
disappear in a red blur. Before she could even wonder what
had happened, a strong arm wrapped around her waist and
lifted her from the out of control bike a split second
before it hit a telephone pole and exploded. Her stomach
was left behind as she watched the street shrink below her.
Without warning, she hit a rooftop in a heap of
tangled limbs with her rescuer. She ripped the helmet off
of her head as she struggled to sit up.
"Are you alright Ranma, Haruka?" Usagi asked
worriedly.
"Keep it down, ok?" Ranma grumbled as he sat up.
Usagi frowned at him as she punched him in the arm.
"You had me worried!"
"I had you worried?" Ranma asked in disbelief.
"What about us when you ran outta the temple bawling your
head off?"
"I'm sorry," Usagi said in a small voice as she
twiddled her hands in her lap.
"Hey, we're all worried about ya, considerin' what
happened..." Ranma clamped his mouth shut as he looked at
Haruka.
"It's ok, Ranma. She knows who I am," Usagi said.
Whatever Ranma was going to say in reply was drowned
out by screams from the street below. They rushed to the
edge of the roof and looked down. In the middle of the
street there was a daimon that looked like it had a
crossbow for a hand chuckling evilly as it stood over a man
who was frantically crawling backwards in an attempt to
escape. Several other people lay still nearby, unconscious
or dead, they couldn't tell.
"Damn, when it rains, it pours." Ranma muttered as
he vaulted over the edge.
"We'd better take care of this," Haruka said as she
pulled out her henshin pen. "Uranus Planet Power, Make
Up!"
Usagi nodded and held up her brooch. "Moon Cosmic
Power, Make Up!"
Meanwhile, Ranma had engaged the daimon. He had
surprised it with his first attack, but he found himself on
the defensive as it fired arrow after arrow at him from its
crossbow like arm. He swallowed hard when he saw one of
the missed arrows bury itself to the fletching in the side
of a car.
"Nyah! Missed!" Ranma taunted as he began to gather
his ki. The daimon smirked at him as it seemed to blur
before it disappeared.
"Above?" Ranma looked up just in time to get the
daimon's foot in his face. He rolled away and its arrows
slammed into the concrete as it tried to get a bead on him.
"Stay still and die!" it snarled as it fired again
and again at the desperately dodging Ranma.
"World Shaking!" The words meant nothing to the
daimon, but the ball of yellow energy that slammed it
across the street definatly got its attention. It looked
up in the direction the attack came from and saw two
figures outlined in the morning sun.
"Who dares?" it snarled as it took aim.
"Guided by a new era, Sailor Uranus acts with grace!"
"Knock off the speeches and let's kick its ass!"
Ranma yelled. "Mouka Takabisha!" His ki blast slammed
into the daimon, spoiling its shot.
"That's not fair!" Sailor Moon cried. "I didn't get
to do my speech!" She frowned as Sailor Uranus leapt from
the rooftop and engaged the daimon in hand to hand. She
followed her down, her rod at the ready in case she could
get a clean shot.
Ranma held his arm as he watched Uranus fought toe to
toe with the daimon, raining down punches on it. He took a
deep breath before he leapt in just as the daimon managed
to trip Sailor Uranus.
"My turn!" He grinned cockily as his ki flared.
"Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken!" The battered daimon flew
backwards into a parked car from the force of the attack.
"Moon Spiral heart attack!" Sailor Moon launched her
attack at the downed daimon, hoping to end the fight
quickly. The daimon dived out of the way at the last
second, leaving the heart shaped attack to explode against
the car. Ranma covered his eyes to protect them from
shrapnel and couldn't see the daimon taking aim at him.
"Look out!" Sailor Uranus cried as she leapt towards
him, her whole body extended in a vain attempt to push him
out of the way.
"Too late!" The daimon laughed as it took the shot.
Sailor Uranus tackled Ranma, but did not stay to see
how he was but rather leapt at the daimon again. Unnoticed
behind her, Ranma lay still.
"World Shaking!" Her attack hit the daimon straight
on, sending it right at Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon screamed
and she swung her rod at the daimon as hard as she could
with both hands as she squeezed her eyes shut. There was a
sickening crunch as the rod caved in the side of the
daimon's head. Its body fell at her feet and twitched for
a moment before it faded out and revealed a crossbow. She
stood there and looked at it before she suddenly looked up.
"Oh no! Ranma!" She screamed as she dashed to where
Ranma still lay on his side. Sailor Uranus followed her
over and knelt next to him looking for any additional
injuries.
"Don't die on me Ranma!! Don't you dare!" Sailor
Moon screamed as she rolled Ranma onto his back, tears
rolling down her face. Sailor Uranus frowned when she saw
the bloody mess that was Ranma's arms and the bloodstains
on his shirt. Ranma began to struggle to sit up.
"No! Keep him lying down!" Sailor Uranus said
sharply as she pushed against his shoulder.
"Uranus? What?" Sailor Moon asked in confusion.
Sailor Uranus pointed solemnly at his chest. When Sailor
Moon saw what she was pointing at, she let out another
scream. One of the daimon's barbed arrows was impaling him
just below his ribs. It was angled upwards into his chest
though, and that made Sailor Uranus even more concerned.
"Ohmygod! Ranma!"
"How bad is it?" Sailor Uranus asked Ranma as she
placed one hand on what little of the shaft was protruding.
"Dunno... Just pull it out, will ya?" Ranma through
clenched teeth as he squeezed his eyes shut. His eyes
snapped open as he felt his hand being picked up. He
looked on in amazement as Sailor Moon held his hand in both
of hers, seemingly calm again.
"Don't worry, Ranma," she said softly. "I'll make it
all better."
Ranma only had a moment to consider the changes he
saw in Sailor Moon before all he knew was pain as Sailor
Uranus pulled the arrow out of his chest. He wanted to
scream in agony, but somehow a sort of calmness overcame
him. He clearly heard the metallic clinking as she tossed
aside the arrow and could feel her binding the wound. For
some reason he couldn't quite focus on any one thing for
very long. She said something that went unanswered.
::Maybe she's talking to me...:: he thought
sluggishly.
He opened his mouth to say something, but all that
came out was a wet sounding gurgle before he coughed up a
spray of blood.
"Damn! It punctured his lung!" Sailor Uranus swore
as she held her hand against the wound. "He's dying." She
couldn't let herself feel anything. It was a war, and
people died in wars. His agony she could ignore but the
sudden look of pain, the soul rending anguish that covered
Sailor Moon's face she could not bear.
::No way..:: Ranma thought as he blinked his eyes.
::I don't feel bad enough to be dying...:: He looked over
at Sailor Moon, an apologetic look on his face. His vision
seemed to blur and she now seemed to be wearing a flowing
white dress as she knelt next to him. She gently lifted
his hand to her face and placed her cheek against it.
Ranma gasped suddenly as all of the pain seemed to leave
his body.
"I won't let you die, Ranma," she whispered as she
began to glow.
Sailor Uranus gasped in shock as she watched Sailor
Moon, no, the Princess, begin to glow a blinding white.
Ranma's wounds slowly closed, leaving behind healthy,
unblemished skin. He coughed long and hard, blood
trickling from the corner of his mouth until finally he
relaxed and breathed easily, seemingly asleep. The glow
around Princess Serenity faded as she transformed back into
her normal self and collapsed across Ranma's chest. Sailor
Uranus reached out for her before she paused and drew back
with a soft smile. Usagi was smiling as she clutched to
Ranma's chest.
"I told you that I wouldn't let you die, Ranma..."
She whispered before she too fell asleep.
Sailor Uranus looked around the street and saw that a
few people were beginning to venture into the area. She
scooped Ranma and Usagi into her arms and leapt off,
grateful for the enchantments that made her stronger and
faster.
Sailor Uranus sighed as she climbed the last step
leading to the Hikawa shrine. Even though she was
transformed, the combined weight of her passengers was
taking its toll on her. Moving as quickly as she could,
she hurried to Rei's room.
Without pausing to knock, she opened the door with
one foot and strode in. She almost fell over backwards
from the concerted yells of the Inner Senshi.
"Usagi!!!" Minako, Rei and Makoto screamed at once as
they rushed to ease her off of Sailor Uranus's shoulder.
"Ranma you idiot! Wake up!" Ryouga yelled as he
leapt to his feet.
"Oh my," Ami said as she held one hand up to her
mouth. Setsuna remained silent as she watched the Inner
Senshi take Usagi off of Uranus's shoulder and then bowed
their thanks to her.
"Are they alright?" Luna asked as she walked up to
Sailor Uranus who was putting Ranma down.
"Yeah. Buns here managed to heal Ranma after we got
into a fight with another daimon. She exhausted herself
with the effort though." With a flutter of rose petals,
her Senshi uniform faded and was replaced with her riding
outfit. "Damned thing nearly killed him."
Silence fell over the room as Haruka's words sunk in.
"He almost died?" Rei managed to squeak out as she
sunk down next to Usagi. Ami crossed the room and examined
Ranma briefly.
"He doesn't appear to be hurt at all," she said as
she looked up at the rest of the gathered Senshi. "A few
of his old scars are gone as well."
"Well?" Setsuna asked Haruka. "Have you decided?"
Haruka shook her head. "No, I still need to talk to
Michiru about this. But," she paused as she looked at the
other girls. "I think it can work. You didn't tell me
that Ranma and Ryouga were working with them!" She accused.
"You didn't ask, did you?" Setsuna said with a faint
smile. Haruka chuckled as she left the room.
"What was that all about?" Minako asked Setsuna
while Rei and Makoto saw to it that Ranma and Usagi were
comfortable.
"I posed a question to the Outer Senshi earlier this
morning. You'll learn more about it later." She turned to
leave.
"Wait!" Ami said as she looked up from the Mercury
Computer. "I think I found something that may work for
their armor, but I want to find out what you think of it."
She turned the computer so that Setsuna could see the
screen.
"That'll do, Ami. That'll do." Setsuna said after
peering at the data for a moment. She straightened and
left the room. The others gathered around the computer and
gazed at the slowly rotating image of a suit of armor on
the screen. Lines would point to various sections while
text scrolled listing capabilities.
"Wow that looks cool..." Minako breathed as she
began to imagine what Ryouga would look like wearing it.
"Where can we find it?" Makoto asked as she eased
away and sat back down.
"According to the computer, we should be able to find
some in what's left of the underground armory on the Moon,"
Ami said as she tapped at the keyboard again. "According
to the central computer there, at least a quarter of the
armory is still intact, so we should have little difficulty
finding two complete sets."
Rei snorted as she flopped back and put her hands
behind her head. "That's if Usagi ever wakes back up."
"She's worn out, Rei," Ryouga growled. "Give her a
chance to rest." He crossed his arms and leaned heavily
against the doorframe.
"He's right, you know," Ami said as she closed the
computer. "Usagi has been through so much this morning.
Personally, I find myself surprised that it took this long
for her to fall asleep." She smiled gently at Usagi's
sleeping form.
Rei snorted and looked away. Ryouga snarled and
pulled away from the wall, ready to rip into Rei but Minako
gently restrained him.
"Don't worry," she whispered. "If she wasn't acting
like this, then I'd be worried."
Ryouga shot her a confused look before he leaned back
against the wall. He glanced around the room and saw that
each of them had silently busied herself with something.
Ami was typing away at her computer again with a frustrated
look on her face. Makoto had slipped out of the room, but
his sensitive nose caught a faint aroma that nearly made
his stomach rumble. Rei was busy with a brush and a few
slips of paper, mumbling under her breath with every
stroke. His eyes finally came to rest on Minako. She
seemed to be just sitting there, watching the others work
industriously towards one end or another. She caught his
eye for a moment before she looked away sharply, but not
before he clearly saw the tears she was desperately trying
to hold back.
"Uhm," Ryouga swallowed hard and blushed as he leaned
towards her. "You wanna go for a walk or something?"
Minako looked at him with an expression of profound
gratitude as she stood and took his arm. "Lead on!" She
said cheerfully, although it sounded a bit forced.
"Maybe you should lead, we still want to find you two
later," Rei said acidly before turning back to her
calligraphy. Ryouga just turned a deeper shade of red as
Minako stuck her tongue out at Rei before leading him
outside.
Once they were safely outside, Minako leaned her head
on his shoulder.
"Thanks."
"Uh, no problem." He rubbed the back of his head.
"What was wrong with you back there?" He jerked his thumb
back towards the house. Minako looked away and blushed as
she mumbled something under her breath.
"What was that?" Ryouga asked as he cocked an ear
towards her.
"I felt out of place," she sighed as her shoulders
slumped. "Everyone else was busy doing something useful,
but I didn't have any skills that could have possibly
helped."
"You gotta be joking," Ryouga said with a laugh.
"Am I? Rei was busy making spirit wards, Makoto is
cooking our lunch and Ami was busy researching...
something. I... I have nothing to contribute... I'm
useless..." she sobbed as she hung her head. Ryouga felt a
great swell of pity for her as he placed his hands on her
shoulders.
"Nonsense," he said. "You might not have had
anything to do back there, but I've seen you in a fight.
You always seem to have a plan when it comes to a fight and
stuff. You might not have anything to do at the moment,
but you are hardly useless."
Her heart was in her eyes as she looked up at him.
His lopsided, nervous smile barely revealed one of those
cute little fangs. She smiled and dashed her tears from
her eyes as she raised herself ever so slightly on her
toes. She leaned slightly towards him and closed her eyes
and waited patiently. Ryouga's eyes bugged as he realized
that she expected him to kiss her. He looked quickly to
his left and to his right before he leaned closer to her.
Minako shuddered with anticipation when she felt
Ryouga's shadow cover her face. She puckered slightly when
she felt his breath. Ryouga began to sweat nervously as he
leaned closer and closer. He stopped suddenly and looked
about with only his eyes.
"What is it?" Minako breathed.
"It almost feels like we're being watched..." he
muttered. Wordlessly, they both looked over each shoulder
in an attempt to catch whoever was spying on them, but they
saw nothing.
"Must have been my imagination," Ryouga chuckled
nervously. When he looked back at Minako, she was
patiently waiting again with her eyes closed in silent
anticipation. His heart leapt into his throat as he slowly
placed his hands on her shoulders and leaned forward.
Minako blushed deeply and shivered slightly as his touch
sent an electric thrill through her.
He was maybe an inch from her lips when they heard a
rather loud sneeze. Ryouga and Minako froze and they both
slowly turned their heads to look towards the bushes lining
the porch. Rei, Makoto and Ami were crouching there,
watching. Rei and Makoto each had a finger under Ami's
nose, who was blushing furiously. Ryouga's eyes rolled
into the back of his head before he fell over backwards in
a dead faint. Minako gasped as he fell and then stomped
towards her friends and began to berate them soundly.
"Damn it, I was so close!" She shouted at last.
"Don't blow an artery, Minako," Makoto said as she
waved her hands in front of her as if to ward off her
shouting friend.
"Are you sure you want to rush into this?" Rei
asked.
"Are you ready to take precautions?" Ami asked
seriously. Makoto and Rei stared at her in astonishment
while she looked away and blushed. Minako's jaw dropped
before she looked back at the comatose Ryouga and her face
turned the same shade of red as her ribbon.
Ranma shook himself awake. He felt sore and
physically drained. He blinked a few times and looked
around the room. His eyesight still seemed very blurry,
but he was able to focus on Usagi's peaceful face right
next to his. He sat bolt upright then and looked around
quickly. He was alone, save for Usagi, and they were on a
futon in Rei's room at the temple. He started patting at
his chest when he realized that he did not hurt anywhere.
He wrenched his shirt open and stared at his chest for a
moment. Right where the arrow had pierced him he saw some
flesh that was slightly pinker than the rest. A quick
inspection revealed that the rest of his wounds had been
healed as well.
"Well I'll be..." he said in an awed whisper.
He froze as Usagi stirred slightly next to him before
she rolled over and clasped her arms around his waist and
laid her head in his lap with a contented sigh. He looked
around in a near panic as he thought about what the others
would say if they saw them like that.
"Why me?" He muttered as he tried to gently
disengage from her. Without warning, she tightened her
grip and curled her legs against his back. Ranma stopped
moving when he heard her start to mumble in her sleep.
"Don't leave me..."
He wasn't sure if she was awake or asleep anymore,
but he didn't want to take any chances. He was still
sitting there with that embarrassed look on his face when
Rei and Makoto re-entered the room.
"Cuddling up to a new guy already?" Rei demanded of
the sleeping Usagi. "How fickle can you get?"
"It ain't like that!" Ranma protested, turning a
bright red. "She's still asleep." He spoke in a much
gentler tone then.
Rei ignored him as she stalked up to Usagi and lifted
her head by her ear and shouted, "Rise and shine!"
Usagi jerked awake with a startled cry. "Rei! What
did you do that for?"
"You needed to get up anyway," Rei said as she let go
of her ear. "Ami found some armor for Ranma and Ryouga and
we have to get it from the moon."
"The moon?" Ranma asked incredulously. "How are we
gonna get there? Hitch a ride on a rocket?"
"No, we'll just teleport there." Rei said as she
crossed her arms. Usagi rubbed at her ear as she pouted.
"You didn't have to yank on my ear you know." She
complained.
"Wait a sec!" Ranma said before Rei could respond.
"What armor? I don't need no armor. It'll just get in my
way."
"What!" Usagi shrieked as she grabbed the front of
shirt. "What do you mean you don't need the armor? Have
you already forgotten what happened to you earlier? You
almost died!"
"I got careless. It won't happen again." He
shrugged.
"Careless? Is that what you call it?" Usagi
demanded as she shook him a little. "What if it happens
again and I can't heal you in time? There won't be a next
time!"
"It's a chance I gotta take! The armor would slow me
down too much." Ranma protested as he tried to free
himself from her grip but was unable to muster the
strength.
Usagi's face seemed to cloud over. Great tears
welled up in her eyes as she pouted at him. "Please? Wear
it for me?" She asked in a quavery little voice. "I won't
ever forgive myself if you or Ryouga gets hurt in the
future."
Ranma's will wavered then. "Uhh...." He hemmed and
hawed for a moment until one glistening tear ran down her
cheek.
"Oh hell, I'll probably regret this, but I'll wear
the stupid armor if it'll make ya happy." He grumbled as
his head drooped in defeat.
Her face cleared instantly as she engulfed him in a
hug. "More than you can imagine," she whispered just loud
enough for him to hear.
"Uhm, anyway," he tried to ease her arms from around
him, "Where's Ryouga?"
"He's outside, kissing the dirt at the moment," Rei
smirked as she tossed her head.
"Huh?"
"Minako wanted him to kiss her, but I guess we
interrupted," Makoto said with a little blush of her own.
"Minako and Ami are trying to wake him up. I have lunch
ready for everyone, and I'd hate for it to get cold."
Haruka paused as she entered the house she shared
with Michiru. She could hear Michiru playing a poignant
melody on her violin. She silently removed her shoes and
followed the music to the source. Haruka smiled to herself
when she saw Michiru standing in the middle of one of the
rooms wearing a flowing powder blue dress and playing her
heart out on the violin. Her eyes were closed as she
expertly pulled the bow across the strings and continued
that heartbreaking song.
"Something happened, didn't it?" Michiru asked
without ever opening her eyes.
"How could you tell?" Haruka asked as she plopped
into a chair.
"I couldn't hear your motorcycle, but I heard you
open the door." She stopped playing and looked at Haruka
as she pulled the violin away from her chin. "What
happened?"
"There was another attack," Haruka said. "The daimon
wasn't after heart crystals, it was just killing people.
Damn thing nearly killed Ranma as well." She practically
spat out that last. Michiru gasped as she slowly sunk into
another chair.
"If that wasn't bad enough, it had to happen right in
front of Usagi. I thought she was going to lose it when it
looked like he wasn't going to make it. She did something
then that I never dreamt was possible." Haruka leaned back
in her chair and looked at the ceiling. "She healed him
completely." Michiru gave a long, low whistle as Haruka
described the seriousness of Ranma's injuries.
"Is that all?" Michiru asked.
"No, she's the princess."
"What?!?" Michiru asked in shock. "Say that again?"
"Usagi is the princess. When she healed Ranma she
changed before my eyes, right into what I remember what the
princess looked like." Haruka said softly as she closed
her eyes to better enable her to envision what she had
seen. "The power I felt just then was like nothing I had
ever felt before." She lifted her head and looked deep
into Michiru's eyes. "I've made my decision. We may have
our mission, but we also have an older and much sterner
duty."
Michiru nodded. "Protect the life of those in the
Royal Family, even to the expense of our own. Are you
sure? She is the most flighty girl I have ever seen."
"That may be true, but I know what I saw and what I
felt." She grinned then. "Too bad it cost me a bike to
find out."
Michiru glared at her for a moment before she
laughed. "You're just impossible, you know that?"
"I'm hurt. So, what's for lunch?"
Michiru gaped at her before tossing a cushion in her
face.
"Don't we have to wait for the full moon or
something, Luna?" Usagi asked as she and the others picked
their way through the wooded park in search of a properly
secluded area.
"Don't worry, you all have gained a lot of strength
since that first trip. I don't think you will have a
problem, even with all the extra weight." Luna said
encouragingly.
"So we're just baggage now?" Ryouga asked sourly.
"Lighten up, Ryouga," Minako chided him.
"Could be worse..." Makoto said as she lifted a
branch out of her way.
"How?" Rei asked as she untangled her hair from a
branch for what seemed like the tenth time. "I'm amazed
you can walk through this and not get tangled up!"
"Well, it could be raining," Ami said with a sly grin
at Ranma and Ryouga. Both of the boys winced and then
laughed.
"You were about the last person I woulda expected to
tease us," Ranma chuckled as he ducked under a branch.
They all laughed for a moment and then proceeded in
silence. When they stopped in a very small clearing, the
girls pulled out their henshin rods and got ready to
transform.
"Moon... Hey!" Usagi shot an angry look at Ranma
who had grabbed her hand.
He ignored her complaint and looked seriously at
Ryouga. "You ain't never seen them transform, have ya?"
He asked bluntly.
"Well, no." Ryouga admitted.
"You'd better look away then," Ranma advised. "I'm
not sure we wanna carry ya all the way to the moon."
"That's not funny, Ranma!" Ryouga snapped as he
crossed his arms.
"It's yer nose bleed, pig butt." Ranma shrugged as
he let go of Usagi's hand. "Just make sure you watch
Minako, I'm sure she'd get a thrill out of it."
"That's uncalled for! Minako is not that kind of
girl!" Ryouga almost yelled as he held Minako's arm
defensively while she blushed a deep red.
"Should we not just transform while they are
arguing?" Ami asked in a low voice.
"Nah, it's more fun this way," Makoto grinned as she
raised her henshin rod. "If you two are quite done, why
don't we get this show on the road?" she asked the arguing
martial artists with just a bit of an edge in her voice.
"Fine with me," Ranma said as he stood back and
smirked at Ryouga.
"Mercury Star Power..."
"Mars Star Power..."
"Venus Star Power..."
"Jupiter Star Power..."
"Moon Crystal Power..."
"Make Up!" The girls yelled as one. There was a
dazzling flash of light that forced Ryouga to squint a
little as he watched Minako undergo her transformation.
His eyes went wide when he saw that her clothes had
disappeared and she was twirling what looked like a
gymnasts' ribbon made out of stars. He blinked once and
then stared even harder when he realized that no matter how
hard he looked, he could only make out her outline and her
eyes, the rest was covered with a multihued, shifting
light. A trickle of blood escaped his nose as his
imagination supplied the details for him. After she
twirled the stars around her for a moment, they seemed to
explode outwards. Involuntarily, he lifted his arms in
front on his face and when he looked again; Sailor Venus
was standing in front of him with one hand reaching above
her head. The stars that had disappeared a moment earlier
flowed back to her outstretched hand and coalesced into the
Crystal sword. She slashed the sword in front of her
twice before she struck a pose with it.
Almost absently, Ryouga wiped the blood from his nose
even as his face continued to turn red.
"See? What'd I tell ya?" Ranma gloated.
"At least he didn't pass out," Sailor Mercury said.
"Shall we get going, or are we going to have to leave
you and Ryouga behind?" Sailor Mars said impatiently.
"We're going, we're going!" Ranma said as he threw
his hands into the air. "Uhm... What do we need to do?"
"Just hold you're hands out to your sides and close
your eyes," Sailor Jupiter instructed as she moved to stand
next to Ranma. With a brief nod, Ranma and Ryouga did as
they were told. They felt a small-gloved hand grasp each
of their hands and a feeling of weightlessness overcame
them. The air around them seemed to seethe with an
unnatural wind. Without any kind of warning, their feet
left the ground, but they felt no sense of motion.
"This is eerie," Ryouga complained. "Can we please
open our eyes now?"
"Alright, just don't let go," they heard Sailor
Mercury advised.
"Don't crush our hands either!" Sailor Venus said as
well.
Cautiously, Ranma opened one eye. He then opened
both eyes wide as he looked around. They were already
miles above the surface and rising quickly, a rainbow like
tail followed them as they effortlessly reached the upper
atmosphere within seconds.
"Oh man.... I'm not seeing this..." Ranma said as
he swallowed hard. A quick glance around showed him that
Sailor Jupiter was on one side of him while Sailor Moon was
on the other. He looked over at Ryouga and saw that the
lost boy was looking around in much the same way.
Absently, he noticed that Sailor Venus was on one side of
Ryouga while Sailor Mercury was on the other. The slightly
pained look on Mercury's face indicated that Ryouga wasn't
quite being as gentle as he really should.
"Ease up, Ryouga. Yer gonna break Ami's hand like
that." Ranma said.
"Just shut up Ranma," Ryouga said in a slightly
pained voice. The look of relief on Mercury's face
indicated that he had relaxed his grip, somewhat.
Ranma smirked then blinked and looked around in
amazement. In the brief amount of time that he was talking
to Ryouga, they had left the atmosphere and was racing
towards the moon at an astounding speed. He looked down
and saw the Earth shrinking far below him.
"I think I see why yer a bit nervous, Ryouga," He
said softly as he looked up and concentrated on watching
the landscape of the moon draw closer with every second.
Faster than he believed possible, they were skimming
over the surface of the moon. Despite their speed, they
were not kicking up any moon dust in their wake. Finally,
they came to a stop and landed softly at the edge of a wide
open area.
"Where on the moon are we now?" Ryouga asked as he
looked around, still unwilling to let go of either Sailor
Venus's or Sailor Mercury's hands.
"Mare Serenetas," Sailor Mercury replied.
"Say what?" Ranma asked as he turned to look at her
sharply.
"The Sea of Serenity," she replied evenly.
"Why didn't ya say so before?" Ranma demanded as he
let go of Sailor Moon's and Sailor Jupiter's hands.
"She did, in Latin," Ryouga said as he looked around
the moonscape, an awed expression on his face. "I don't
see anything though."
"It's an illusion that's been in place for thousands
of years to protect the remains of the palace from being
observed." Sailor Mars said as she led the way. "We
should be able to see the ruins soon."
"Sea of Serenity, huh?" Ranma mumbled to himself as
he followed Sailor Mars.
Sailor Mercury tried to pull her hand away from
Ryouga, but not only did he not let go, he failed to even
notice that she was trying to pull free. With a resigned
sigh, she activated her visor and began scanning for the
armory as they walked.
They had not gone far before broken pillars wavered
into view like solidifying mirages. The ground changed
from the slightly pitted grey to gleaming white marble.
Ranma and Ryouga looked around in wonder at the broken
shell of what had once been a grand palace.
"Whoa... This is freaky," Ranma said as he laid one
hand on the single unbroken pillar. Images seemed to flood
his mind as he stood there. He saw flashes of banquets and
battles, revelry and slaughter. With a startled oath he
snatched his hand from the pillar, but the images continued
to bombard his brain. After a moment, it was over. He
stood trembling as the Senshi spread out, searching for the
armory.
He examined the pillar closely and found a hole on
the other side with jagged cracks that radiated out from
it. He peered into the hole and saw that the darkness
inside of it was not from shadows, but rather from long
dried blood. With a shiver, he turned away. His eyes
clouded with tears as he realized that the visions he had
had a moment ago had not been the disconnected scenes he
had originally thought they were, but more like a fast
forward replay of something that had happed eons ago.
"You bear a far gentler soul than even you would
admit to yourself," a faint voice seemed to whisper in his
ear. Ranma turned towards the voice and saw a wavering
image that slowly solidified into a regal appearing woman
with platinum colored hair done up in the same style as
Usagi. Ranma squinted slightly and found that he could
still see through her if he tried.
"Who...?" He asked before he coughed slightly. "Yer
a ghost, ain't ya?"
The apparition nodded sadly. "I am... Was, Queen
Serenity. Who are you, warrior?"
"Ranma Saotome, of the Anything Goes School of
Martial arts," Ranma said proudly as he hit his fist
against his chest in a kind of salute.
"I sense a great deal of pain and a feeling of
betrayal from my daughter. What has caused this?" She
asked softly as she drifted towards him.
Ranma scowled for a moment before he quickly told the
ghost about what had happened that day. When he had
finished, phantom tears were running down her face.
"Then everything was my fault. If I had not
permitted her to see Endymion, she would have only suffered
for a short time before she got over him. I was blinded by
the hope that the son was a better man than his father..."
She looked away, her face conveying eons of sorrow.
"Don't blame yourself. Blame that bastard Endymion
fer foolin' you and tryin' to seduce your daughter!" Ranma
said earnestly. "Hell, he had everyone fooled! But we're
gonna make him pay fer hurtin' Usagi."
"Thank you, Ranma Saotome, for helping me see the
truth of this. Why did you come here?"
"Ryouga 'n I have been trying to help the Senshi
fight off daimons and stuff. Sailor Moon is insistin' on
making us wear some kind of armor since we keep getting
hurt."
"That would be the course of wisdom," She nodded.
"We don't really need the armor," Ranma insisted.
"Oh?"
"The path of a true martial artist is fraught with
peril," Ranma quoted.
The ghost sighed. "But the path of the truly foolish
is even more perilous, and right now you seem to be walking
the path of the fool rather than the path of the martial
artist."
"Hey!" Ranma said indignantly.
"Which is more foolish, dying for a cause or fighting
for a cause?"
"Dyin' of course," Ranma replied instantly.
"By refusing to wear the armor, you are making
yourself vulnerable to becoming a fool twice over. Once
for dying and a second time for not taking a sensible
precaution." Queen Serenity's ghost hovered close then and
looked deeply into his eyes. "The Senshi are protected to
a degree by their magic. You don't have that advantage."
Ranma flinched as he recalled what it felt like when
Sailor Uranus pulled the arrow out of his chest. "Alright,
I'll wear the stupid armor." Ranma sighed as he glanced
over to where the others were. "Don't you want to talk to
them?" He asked.
"No, it would cause her too much pain to see me again
so soon after her loss," Queen Serenity's ghost said
quietly as it faded away.
"Sleep well, your Majesty," Ranma whispered.
"Fight hard, Ranma Saotome," her disembodied voice
whispered.
Ranma stood there and stared at the pillar until a
soft voice interrupted his musings.
"I see you met our queen," Luna said as she placed
one paw against the pillar.
"How long have you been there?" Ranma asked as he put
one hand over his rapidly beating heart.
Luna looked up at him with a feline smile. "The
whole time. For someone who spent his whole life learning
how to fight, you are a rather soft touch."
Ranma shrugged. "I ain't no softie, I just couldn't
let her keep berating herself over that." He grinned and
cracked his knuckles noisily. "Now I've got another reason
to kick his ass!"
"Come along then, the sooner we clear the rubble
blocking the way into the armory, the sooner we can go back
to Earth." Luna said sternly before she turned and started
walking to where the others were carefully moving pieces of
rubble under Sailor Mercury's direction. "It looks like
you're strength is needed as well..." Luna trailed off as
she watched Ryouga lift a gigantic piece of rock and almost
casually tossed it to one side. "Then again..."
Ranma laughed as he joined them in clearing away
enough rubble to reveal an opening just large enough for
one of the girls to squeeze through.
"I'll be right back," Sailor Mercury said as she
slipped easily inside.
"Be careful!" Sailor Moon cautioned.
Silence was her only answer. Most of them waited
patiently, but Sailor Moon kept shifting from one foot to
the other and otherwise fidgeting enough for all of them.
"Will you knock it off?" Sailor Mars complained.
"I'm worried, she hasn't said anything since she went
in there!" Sailor Moon said worriedly.
"Don't worry, Mercury knows what she's looking for
and we don't. She'll let us know if she needs help."
Sailor Jupiter said soothingly.
"But..." Sailor Moon said as she looked again at the
opening.
"No buts!" Sailor Mars said in an exasperated tone.
Ranma and Ryouga shared a worried look. "Are you
sure you guys saved the Earth a few times already?" Ranma
asked nervously. "You guys fight almost as much as Ryouga
and me."
Sailor Venus sighed. "It's a burden we have to bear.
I'm surprised that we all haven't gone deaf from their
constant wrangling."
"That wasn't nice!" Sailor Moon complained.
"True, though," Sailor Jupiter laughed.
Sailor Mercury squeezed her way back out of the
crevice holding two pairs of ancient looking metal bracers.
"That was quick," Sailor Jupiter commented with a sly
look at Sailor Moon as Sailor Mercury handed a pair to
Ranma and to Ryouga.
"Put these on, please, and we'll see if they still
work." Sailor Mercury opened her computer and began to
type rapidly as the boys replaced their plain leather
bracers with the metal ones.
"How do these things work?" Ranma asked as he
tightened the ancient bracer on his arm.
"Well," Sailor Mercury said a little uncertainly,
"the files said that they were activated by the fighting
spirit of the men that wore them."
"Fighting spirit, huh?" Ranma said as he examined the
ancient bracers on his arms.
"Sounds like our ki..." Ryouga said thoughtfully, his
thick brows knit together.
Ranma nodded and closed his eyes in concentration.
His battle aura flared around him suddenly and seemed to
drain into the bracers on his arms. With a brilliant flash,
the old magic in the bracers was re-awoken.
Tendrils of magical energy snaked its way up Ranma's
arms and wrapped around his body. His clothing began to
glow and quickly changed into a suit of white armor. The
armor covered him from head to toe, and on each shoulder
pad was the symbol of a crescent moon, along with a single
small one on the left side of the breastplate.
"Hey!" Ranma's voice sounded oddly muffled from
within the helmet, "This thing restricts my movement too
much!"
"It looks impressive, though," Sailor Moon said as
she inspected the armor.
"I don't care how impressive it looks, I can't fight
if I can't move!" Ranma complained.
"Let's see," Sailor Mercury tapped at her computer,
bringing up old historical files. "Here we go. Ranma, think
of the parts of the armor you want to remove while
channeling your ki into the bracers again. They should
remember the form for the next time you use them."
Quite suddenly, the bulk of the armor surrounding
Ranma disappeared. All that was left were the hip-guards,
breastplate, the left shoulder pad and the bracers. The
sudden lack of armor revealed a sky blue shirt with full
sleeves and a flowing pair of pants colored in a gray so
shiny it was almost silver. Several flaps of sky blue
material flowed from under the hip-guards as well.
Ranma smirked as he dropped into a stance, "Oh yeah,
much better!"
"Show off," Ryouga said before he began to channel
his ki into the bracers. His bracers seemed to suck in the
light around him, and the magical energies that formed his
armor appeared dark, almost menacing. When the light came
back up around Ryouga, he was revealed to be in jet-black
armor with golden trim, much like a mirror image of
Ranma's. Ryouga's sleeveless shirt was a dark, shimmering
blue and oddly enough the dark purple pants were tied about
the calves in Ryouga's usual fashion. The remaining
shoulder pad was on his right side, along with the small
crescent moon sigil.
"I ain't gonna make no stupid soundin' speeches,"
Ranma grumbled as he inspected his armor.
"Any reason as to why they are different colors?"
Sailor Venus asked, not entirely pleased with the darkness
of Ryouga's armor. Sailor Mercury sighed as she struggled
to come up with a way to tell her without giving offense.
"It has to do a lot with their emotional state of
mind," Sailor Mercury ventured to say. "Ryouga is driven
more by his personal angst and his anger than anything
else. The black doesn't mean he's evil, just... well..."
"Depressive?" Ranma asked pointedly.
"To be short, yes." She nodded.
"Let's just go home," Ryouga said with a sigh.
Without another word, they joined hands again and
sped off back to Earth. Although the trip was still
unnerving, Ranma found himself watching the Earth grow
larger and larger in wide-eyed fascination. Never in his
wildest dreams did he think that he would have ever seen a
view quite like this. It was well after dark when they
arrived back in the secluded clearing. With a brief wave,
they split up and headed back to their homes.
Endymion's mouth twisted into a tight smile as he
watched his target's house. He had left his samurai
quartet back at the professor's and taken a daimon formed
from a ninja uniform. He and his daimon had waited
silently until the lights in his target's room had been out
for over an hour. Now was the time to make their move. As
silent as death they slipped from shadow to shadow. Luck
was with them, her window was open to let in the night
breeze. They leapt through the window and waited as their
eyes adjusted to the darkness.
"Go," Endymion whispered as softly as he could.
"Kill her."
The daimon lunged forward... and fell on its face,
its foot tangled in the cord for the lamp. His target
sprang from the bed, throwing the blanket at him in an
attempt to blind him. He yanked the offending material
away from his face and drew his sword. He smirked when he
saw Minako facing off with him holding the crystal sword
tightly in both hands.
"Give it up," he advised her as the daimon regained
its feet. "You can't win against both of us."
"We'll see, won't we?" She said with confidence in
her voice she didn't really feel. Her henshin pen was
still on the desk behind Endymion and the daimon. She
wasn't sure how she had managed to summon the crystal
sword, but was grateful for it.
The daimon threw about a dozen shuriken at her and
followed with a blindingly fast slash with a blade that was
embedded in its arm. Endymion was slightly surprised when
Minako not only managed to block the shuriken, but also
dodged the daimon's attack with a backwards leap. She then
rebounded off of the wall and cut the daimon lightly across
the back before she made a diving slash at Endymion. He
parried quickly and took a step to one side to get a better
angle.
Minako shifted to a one handed grip and stepped away
from him. Although to him it seemed that she had shifted
styles to deal with two enemies, she was groping
desperately with her other hand for her henshin pen on the
desk behind her. Endymion slashed at her face several
times and then feinted low in an attempt to get past her
guard, but Minako was moving her sword with a speed and
skill that would have made Kuno take note.
The daimon had nearly worked its way over to her side
and was about to leap at her when her door burst open,
slamming it against the wall. Endymion and Minako swung
their heads to see who had entered.
"Don't worry, baby! Daddy's here!" Mr. Aino said
with as much bravado as he could muster as he brandished
his golf club at Endymion. Minako nearly froze. It was
practically her worst nightmare, her parents getting
involved in one of her fights and could possibly discover
her secret. Now she was faced with a decision, continue to
fight as she was, or transform and blow her cover forever?
"Oh, please," Endymion snorted as he casually lopped
the head of the golf club off. While her father distracted
him Minako snatched her pen off the desk, leapt in front of
her parents and made her choice.
"Venus Star Power, Make Up!"
Endymion grimaced in chagrin. Not only was his
daimon next to useless, but now she had transformed and
would be much more difficult to fight.
"You haven't won yet, Sailor Venus," he snarled.
"Maybe not, but I don't intend on giving up!" she
shouted right back, ignoring the gasps from her parents.
Endymion thrust his empty hand at her and her
parents, causing them all to be shoved away from him by an
unseen force. The wall at the other end of the hallway
collapsed as they were slammed into it. Sailor Venus grit
her teeth against the pain and stood to face Endymion and
his daimon as the walked into the hallway.
"Get out of here," she said in an undertone to her
parents. "I'll explain later."
"But..."
"Just go!" Minako shouted as she dashed towards her
enemies, swinging her sword in wide strokes. Endymion
dodged them easily and wondered just what she was trying to
accomplish. Then he saw her parents as they scurried away.
"So, you sought to distract me to give them time, is
that it? Too bad. Daimon, kill them!" He shouted.
Without letting up with the sword, Minako held out
her left hand.
"Venus Love me chain!" She cried out and hoped.
Sure enough, the golden heart linked chain appeared in her
hand and she snapped it at the daimon like a whip. The
chain wrapped around its leg. With an almost casual flip
of her wrist, she sent the daimon flying into another wall.
It was almost deja vu for Sailor Venus as she pointed the
tip of the crystal sword at the prone daimon and yelled,
"Venus Crescent Beam!"
The yellow shaft of light slammed into the daimon's
back, cutting deeply and causing it to shriek in pain.
Endymion took advantage of the distraction and made a quick
thrust. Sailor Venus dodged, but not quite fast enough.
His thrust opened a shallow cut low on her left side.
"First blood is mine!" He laughed as she winced in
pain.
Sailor Venus stumbled back and then focused
everything she could through her sword for her next attack.
"Venus Crescent beam shower!" She yelled her mantra
as she swung her sword in Endymion's general direction.
Neither of them was prepared for what happened. The
ceiling was ripped off of the house as hundreds of
thousands of little beams of yellow energy formed along the
arc of her swing. Endymion barely managed to cast a
shielding spell in front of himself before they hit him,
but the force of the attack hitting his shield flung him
backwards through the wall and out into the street where he
shattered the windshield of a parked car. The daimon
wasn't as lucky. It didn't even get a chance to scream
before the attack pulverized it.
Sailor Venus stared in shock at the ruined upper
floor of her house. An entire corner was open to the
outside now. She cursed when she heard the timbers of the
house groan in protest. She dashed down the stairs and
checked to make sure her parent's were no longer inside and
then ran outside. Her father's car had a shattered
windshield, but there was no sign of Endymion. Exhausted,
she fell to her knees. She barely noticed when her parents
walked up to her and started asking her too many questions
all at once. There was a tremendous noise as the house
finished collapsing behind her, but she barely noticed.
"Mom, Dad... I guess I have a lot to tell you..."
she sighed as she transformed back to normal.
"That may have to wait."
Minako turned her head and wasn't too surprised to
see Sailor Pluto approaching them from the shadows.
"What do you mean, it may have to wait?" Mr. Aino
demanded. "Our little girl is fighting these, these things
and has been doing it for who knows how long without saying
a word; and you say the explanation may have to wait?!?"
"Yes," Sailor Pluto said in that extremely neutral
tone that she knew irritated people to no end.
"What now, Pluto?" Minako asked tiredly.
"We have to get you somewhere safe so that you can
recover," Sailor Pluto said as she helped Minako to her
feet.
"Wait! Where are you taking her?" Ms. Aino asked.
"You don't need to know. Why don't you two go back
to England for a while? You shouldn't get too involved in
this." Sailor Pluto started to move away from them before
she looked over her shoulder at them. "Don't worry about
Minako; she can take care of herself as you have seen.
Just tell the police that she is staying with some friends
while you go to London and your house is rebuilt."
"But..."
Sailor Pluto gently put Minako down before she turned
to glare at the Ainos. "Do you really enjoy endangering
your daughter? If you stay within reach of her enemies,
she will never be certain that you are safe. Believe me,
it is a lot easier to fight without that particular
distraction."
"We might never see her again!" Mr. Aino complained.
"Pray that you do... Because if you don't, it means
that our world is doomed." Sailor Pluto turned and walked
away, pausing only to help Minako back to her feet.
Mr. and Ms Aino stared after them until they heard
the wail of the police sirens and other emergency vehicles.
"Do we trust her?" Ms. Aino asked softly.
"Do we have a choice?" he countered as he wrapped an
arm around his wife and prepared to face the officers that
came running towards them.
Ranma yawned as he stumbled down the stairs. He had
barely gotten himself settled into his futon when he heard
someone knocking at the front door.
"I'm comin'," he called as he reached the foyer. He
could hear Ryouga stumbling down the stairs as, without
even checking at the peephole, he flung the door open.
Setsuna, Minako and Artemis were waiting at the doorstep.
When Ranma saw the blood staining one side of Minako's PJs
he shook himself fully awake and gestured for them to come
inside quickly. As soon as they were inside, he slammed
the door closed.
"What's going... Minako? Are you all right?"
Ryouga asked as he finished running down the stairs and
hurried over to her.
"I'm fine, Ryo-chan. It's just a scratch." She
slumped into a chair.
"Endymion attacked her at home this evening," Setsuna
said gravely. "Artemis sent out the alert and warned the
rest of us. Makoto should be here soon since she doesn't
have to convince any parents to let her go. Did you blank
the shrine out of his memories?"
"Yeah. Made sense to me since Usagi's always
spendin' time there," Ranma said as he shook his head in
disbelief. "Wait a sec, you said Makoto's comin' here?"
"Yes. Ami should be along as well, although I am not
certain he even knows where she lives." Setsuna paused and
looked around the living room. "This house should be large
enough, since Rei and Usagi don't have to move in.
Fortunately, there are sufficient rooms upstairs for
everyone to have their own."
"Wha-what?!" Ryouga asked, his eyes nearly popping
out of his sockets. "You mean... they're moving in?"
"Yes." Setsuna replied simply.
Ryouga flushed as he thought of everything that could
possibly go wrong, and then spaced as he realized that
Minako really was going to be living in the same house as
him.
"It's a dream come true..." He whispered, oblivious
to Ranma's amused look and Minako's blush.
"If yer done daydreamin', maybe ya should go back to
bed," Ranma said as he jerked his thumb towards the stairs.
"But," Ryouga protested before he changed his mind
with a shrug and headed towards the stairs. "See you
tomorrow, Minako," He said with a wave before he
disappeared upstairs.
"Now that that's done," Ranma muttered once Ryouga
was gone. "We need to take a look at that cut of yours,"
he said to Minako.
"It's not that bad," she protested.
"Not bad my foot! It's bleeding too much to not
bandage."
"He's right, we should take a look at it," Setsuna
said evenly as Ranma left the room. He returned a minute
later with the first aid kit.
"Now as fer why I had to get Ryouga outta here, lift
yer shirt," Ranma said as he leaned over her.
Minako blushed a deep red. "No way!" she protested
as she crossed her arms over her chest.
Ranma slapped his forehead. "I didn't mean it like
that, just lift it enough fer me to bandage that cut of
yours."
Somewhat reluctantly, Minako lifted her pajama top
just enough for Ranma to be able to clean and bandage her
cut. Ranma worked quickly and in just a few minutes, he
was cleaning up the first aid kit and preparing to put it
away. It was then that he noticed that Setsuna had
departed.
"That's eerie," he grunted as he stood.
"What?"
"The way she disappears like that.
Endymion staggered into Professor Tomoe's lab. His
armor was scored deeply in many places and smoke still
wafted from underneath a few of the plates.
"Things did not go as you had planned," The professor
stated simply before he turned back to his workbench.
"You noticed," Endymion said dryly before he raised
his voice. "That daimon you gave me was next to useless!
Now they are alerted to this tactic and it won't work
again!"
"Then what do you propose we do about it?"
"Make your daimons smarter! As it is they can barely
comprehend the simplest of orders," Endymion snapped as he
sat on a pipe.
Professor Tomoe turned and gave him a slow, steady
stare. "It took years of valuable time and effort to get
the daimons to their current level. I have been refining
them as we go along, but we are running very short on
time."
"There must be something," Endymion said as he stood.
"The Sailor Senshi are even now organizing and preparing
for our next attack and it won't take them too long to
start a serious search for this place."
Professor Tomoe threw his head back and laughed.
"You overestimate their intelligence now! They have
already been to this house and not realized the truth that
lies under the facade built above." He continued to laugh
for some time, ignoring Endymion's pacing. Finally, he
turned to his workbench and placed both hands palm down on
the smooth surface.
"There is one way, but it does hold a danger," he
said softly.
"What is it?" Endymion demanded.
"Infusing a daimon into a human being. The human's
intelligence will be used by the daimon, but the daimon
will be physically weaker than the others. Also, it will
be unable to steal the heart crystals that we need."
Endymion held his chin as he looked up in thought.
Suddenly he laughed. "What if, professor, I tell you that
I know where there is a human with an already high physical
prowess? One that is nearly on par with Ranma?"
Professor Tomoe's glasses gleamed as an insane smile
spread across his face. "The resulting daimon fusion would
be significantly stronger than its host and it will have
the intelligence you desire. Who is it?" He asked in a
husky whisper.
Endymion smirked as he crossed his arms and leaned
back against the wall. "Let's just say it's the last
person they would ever expect to see..."
Minako yawned and stretched as she slowly woke. She
had fallen asleep in the overstuffed chair the night
before. A coarse wool blanket had been draped over her and
she now wrapped it around herself as she followed the
sounds of Ranma and Ryouga sparring out into the backyard.
Even though she was half expecting to see Ami and Makoto
watching them, she was surprised to see that Rei and Usagi
were there as well. She clutched the blanket a little
tighter around her shoulders as she stepped out into the
slightly chilly air.
"Good morning, Minako!" Usagi said brightly as she
gestured for her friend to join her.
"'Morning," she yawned, "why didn't you guys wake me
up when you got here?"
"You looked like you were sleeping very well and we
all know how rough your night was," Ami said. She held up
a suitcase for Minako. "Here, we managed to find some
decent clothes for you and we hung up school uniforms in
the closet upstairs."
"Thanks," Minako said with a short bow before she
took the suitcase and opened it to look inside. Slowly,
she reclosed the suitcase and looked over at her friends.
"This... Is every bit of clothing any of you ever
borrowed from me," she said evenly.
"Well," Usagi said as she began to fidget, "yeah, but
you need them back now, right?"
Minako laughed as she stepped back into the house to
change. When she returned the boys had stopped sparring
and headed for the gate.
"Where are you two going?" Rei asked.
"To the park," Ranma replied. "The old ghoul is
going to train with us some more today."
"Wait up! We're coming too!" Makoto said as she
scrambled to her feet.
They found Cologne waiting impatiently for them at
the park.
"There you are," Cologne said as they approached. "I
had thought for a minute that something had happened to you
two."
"We just found a different place to stay," Ryouga
said.
"A lotta junk's happened over the last week, not much
of it good." Ranma grumbled as he clenched his fist. "At
least the techniques you showed us last time helped a lot."
Cologne cast her ancient gaze over the group and
sighed. "Are you fit to train Ranma, Ryouga?"
When they nodded their readiness she led them out
into the middle of the clearing and they began their
training in earnest.
Endymion pulled the brim of his hat lower as he
stepped off of the bus in Nerima. He gestured curtly to
his cloaked companion as he started walking briskly towards
the Tendo Dojo. The residents didn't seem to take much
notice of them as they worked their way through the morning
crowds. When he was nearly to the Dojo, he spotted his
quarry on the opposite side of the street.
"Perfect." he smiled as he crossed the street and
began to follow her. The Professor needed someone strong
and somewhat intelligent for the fusion to work, and Akane
was now the unwitting prime candidate.
He ducked quickly into an alleyway and cursed his
carelessness when Akane suddenly turned around. After a
few moments, he cautiously peeked out and spotted her. He
could afford no witnesses to take word back to Ranma and
the Senshi.
"When she's alone, or with one easily eliminated person,
I will strike." He chuckled to himself over the irony that
was going to play out soon.
Kasumi sighed as she looked at the newspaper in her
hand one more time before she knocked on Nabiki's door.
"Come in." Nabiki said.
Kasumi entered the room and sat on Nabiki's bed
before wordlessly handing the paper to her.
"What's this?" Nabiki asked as she took the paper.
"It's the newspaper from Juuban that you subscribed
too." Kasumi's voice was in that extremely level tone she
used when she was doing her best to remain calm.
Nabiki caught the tone in her voice and immediately
looked at the paper. Her eyes widened as she read the
article before she jumped out of her chair.
"I gotta go, Kasumi!" Nabiki said as she dashed to
her closet and grabbed a jacket.
"Akane said she was going to Ukyou's this morning,"
Kasumi said as she stood as well. "Shall I tell Father or
Mr. Saotome?"
"No," Nabiki said after a moments thought. "I'll
send Akane and Ukyou, they're more stable." She pulled the
jacket on and started walking briskly to the front door.
"Are you going too?" Kasumi asked as she followed
Nabiki down the stairs.
"I might, if nothing else I can help keep Akane and
Ukyou from killing each other," she paused and put a
finger on her chin in thought. "Besides, someone's going
to have to pay for his hospital stay."
"Good luck!" Kasumi called as Nabiki put her shoes on
and ran out the gate.
"What's going on?" Soun asked as he and Genma came
in from the dojo.
Kasumi thought quickly before she spoke. "Nabiki got
some news and she has gone to take care of something." She
brushed her hands on her apron before she turned and walked
into the kitchen.
Soun and Genma looked at each other and shrugged
before they pulled out the shogi board.
Ukyou had just opened her shop when Akane walked in.
She had to cough to cover her gasp of surprise on seeing
Akane this early.
"Hi Akane, what can I do for you today?" She asked
in a very level tone. She already knew what Akane's
response was going to be, but she also knew that one wrong
word could set Akane into a fit of rage and that was rough
on her restaurant.
"Hi Ukyou," Akane sighed as she slumped into a stool
at the counter. "Can I get a special please?"
Ukyou blinked a few times. She was expecting Akane
to demand to know where Ranma was and then stomp off.
"Sure hon, just a second." Deftly, she prepared the
okonomiaki and served Akane
Akane merely stared at the food for a while without
touching it. Ukyou shook her head before she walked over
to the door and flipped around the closed sign. "Ok,
what's wrong Akane?"
"I can't find Ranma," Akane said listlessly.
"No-one can find him, hon." Ukyou shrugged. "I've
been looking everywhere I can think of, but it's like he
dropped off the face of the earth. Heck, even the school
lost his transfer papers and the secretary that helped him
moved out of the country. It's almost like someone with a
lot of power is hiding him from everyone in Nerima."
Tears began to well up in Akane's eyes. "I... I just
want a chance to apologize to him. The last while seems
like it was covered in a haze, but everyone keeps telling
me how terrible I've been acting."
"There is that," Ukyou said as she tapped her chin
with one finger. "You want to know what was really odd?
Shampoo hasn't been out looking for Ran-chan."
"Say what?" Akane asked sharply, suddenly sounding a
lot more like her old self.
"Shampoo has barely been out of her restaurant since
Ranma disappeared. She'd make an occasional delivery but
that's about it. Cologne, on the other hand, has been
leaving town every weekend and doesn't seem to be showing
any concern about the fact that Ran-chan is gone." Ukyou
paused and took a deep breath. "I think she knows where he
is."
Before Akane could respond, Nabiki burst into the
restaurant and ran up to them.
"Akane, Ukyou! I found him!" She gasped out as she
put her hands on her knees and tried to catch her breath.
"Ranchan?" Ukyou asked hopefully.
Nabiki nodded, still too out of breath to talk much.
"Where is he?" Akane asked, hope singing through her
voice.
Nabiki sat on one of the stools and held up the
newspaper. "I'm feeling generous today, so I'll be happy
with just a glass of water and a deluxe."
"I'll pay for that deluxe, Ukyou!" Akane said
excitedly as she dug into her purse.
"Two deluxes, coming up!" Ukyou said as she rapidly
made the okonomiaki and served Nabiki. No sooner was the
plate in front of her than she held the paper out to them.
Akane snatched the paper and began reading the
headlines aloud as Ukyou looked over her shoulder.
" 'Mysterious Martial Artists Battle Demons in
Juuban, bystanders describe tremendous physical feats.'"
She looked at Nabiki, "You think he's in Juuban?" she
asked.
"Keep reading," Nabiki replied before she took
another bite of her food.
"'Eyewitnesses report that once again the valiant
Sailor Senshi has received help from a pair of young men
who appear to be highly skilled martial artists...'" her
voice trailed off as she lowered the paper.
"He's in Juuban..." Akane whispered.
"And he's fighting demons," Ukyou said as she
shouldered her battle spatula. "Well, you coming, Akane?"
"Huh?" Akane said as she seemed to shake herself out
of a reverie.
"I'm going to Juuban to help Ran-chan fight those
demons!" Ukyou declared.
"Didn't you read the whole article? You might want
to reconsider the fighting part," Nabiki said flatly.
"I read enough," Ukyou declared.
"I don't think so," she said as she grimly turned the
page and showed them a very grainy photo that showed the
moment that Ranma took an arrow in the chest. "They aren't
even sure he survived that, although they said in the
article that the Senshi carried him off."
"All the more reason to go and help!" Ukyou declared
while Akane almost numbly held the newspaper and gazed at
the photo.
"If they could get through Ranma's defenses like
that, imagine what they would do to you!" Nabiki snapped.
"Right now, he doesn't have any distractions. If he did,
he'd probably be dead. Right now the most important thing
is to make sure he's aright."
Ukyou slumped against the counter as the truth in
Nabiki's words finally sunk in. "So, how do you think he
got involved with those Sailor Senshi people?" She asked
in an attempt to change the subject.
"The usual, I suppose. Ranma probably just happened
to be there when a fight broke out. You know he won't sit
out of a fight like that." Nabiki laughed before she took
on her most serious look. "Ladies, I don't want either of
you to get hurt trying to help him. Just make sure he's
alive and well and then we leave him alone."
"What's your stake in this sugar?" Ukyou asked
bluntly.
"That's for me to know."
Ukyou turned back to Akane. "Well, Akane? Do you
think we should at least go and say hi to Ran-chan? See if
he wants to come back?"
"Well, I do want to see him again..." She trailed off
as a man wearing a dark cloak and a broad brimmed hat slid
the door open.
"We're closed," Ukyou said.
"I'm not here to buy, I'm here with an offer for
Akane Tendo," he said in a soft, yet intense voice. As he
stepped inside a smaller cloaked figure could be seen
lurking just outside of the store. Akane straightened in
her chair, the voice was familiar somehow.
"What is it?" Akane asked despite herself. Nabiki
frowned to herself as she moved away from the man.
Something about him just felt wrong.
"I know where Ranma is, and I offer to take you to
him." His eyes glowed red from under the shadows cast by
his hat. Akane half stood before she was able to fight the
compulsion enough to remain seated. The stranger's eyes
flashed a brilliant red and Akane's hair stood on end as
she continued to resist his power.
Ukyou gasped when she saw his glowing eyes and the
effect it was having on Akane and brought her battle
spatula to bear only to have it slapped out of her hands by
the other cloaked figure.
"Leave Akane alone!" Nabiki yelled as she threw a
chair at him.
In one smooth movement, he drew a sword from under
his cloak and cut the chair in half.
The distraction allowed Akane to break completely
free of his power. With a sharp kai, she leapt forward and
punched him solidly in the face, knocking his hat off. She
gasped as recognition set in.
"You!"
"Enough games, you are coming with me, Akane!"
Endymion snapped as he backhanded her with enough force to
knock her out. He shook his hand a few times as she fell,
amazed at her ability to resist his ability to dominate
people's minds. He looked over at Ukyou and licked his
lips as he threw Akane over his shoulder. The figure next
to him pushed back its cowl and revealed a yellow skinned
somewhat feminine face.
"Maybe I should take you as well. A younger
plaything would be a welcome change." He turned back to
Nabiki and glared. "You, however, will die."
Nabiki backed up a few steps. ::Now would be a good
time to run,:: she thought nervously.
"I'd rather die," Ukyou declared as she jumped over
the counter and retrieved her battle spatula.
"That can be arraigned. Daimon! Kill them!" He
commanded.
Ukyou didn't wait for the yellow skinned daimon to
finish removing its cloak. She slipped one hand into her
blouse and pulled out a bag of flour and threw it at them.
The interior of the restaurant filled with billowing white
clouds of flour.
Endymion cursed as he began to cough on the fine
white powder. He spun as he heard the crash of shattering
glass and moved cautiously in that direction. A moment
later the cloud cleared enough to reveal that one of the
windows had been shattered and there was no sign of Ukyou
or Nabiki other than a few drops of blood near the window.
"No big loss," he said to himself as he hefted
Akane's weight. "I have what I came for. Find and kill
them both before they can find Ranma." He said to the
daimon who leapt off in pursuit.
Ukyou panted as she carried Nabiki along the
rooftops. "I think we lost it," she said finally as she
looked over her shoulder again before putting Nabiki down.
"We need to find Ranma and tell him what's happened,"
Nabiki said as looked around to get her bearings.
A loud crashing sound interrupted them. Both girls
spun around and saw the yellow skinned daimon approaching
them and licking its lips in anticipation.
"Run!" Ukyou said as she hefted her spatula. "I'll
lead it away from you!"
"Good luck! I'm going to go warn my family," Nabiki
said as she ran for a fire escape ladder. The daimon moved
to follow Nabiki, but stopped as Ukyou stepped between
them.
"You're going to have to go through me!" Ukyou
declared as she threw a few of her small spatulas at it.
The daimon dodged the spatulas and charged at Ukyou
who turned and ran. ::I have to buy Nabiki some time and
get to Juuban!::
Hotaru peeked around the tree she was hiding behind
and saw that Ranma and Ryouga were once again training with
the strange old woman. She also saw that Usagi and the
others were sitting nearby talking and otherwise watching
the boys train. Hotaru frowned slightly when she noticed
that Chibi-usa was not with them.
"Where could she be?" She asked herself as she
screwed up her courage and walked over to where the girls
were sitting.
"Hi Hotaru," Usagi said as she patted the turf next
to her. "Have a seat."
"Thanks. Uhm, Usagi?" Hotaru fidgeted a bit as she
asked her question. "Where's Chibi-usa? I haven't seen
her in a while and..." She trailed off as she was suddenly
engulfed in a hug from Usagi.
"I'm really sorry, Hotaru," Usagi whispered in a
choked up voice. "Yesterday... Yesterday Chibi-usa got
very, very ill."
"I've got to visit her then! Is she at your house in
bed?"
Usagi began crying then, and was too choked up to
speak. Minako moved over and gently took Hotaru's hand.
"Hotaru," Minako said softly as Ranma, Ryouga and
Cologne broke from their training and approached the girls.
"Chibi-usa is... going to be missed."
Hotaru's eyes grew wide as her meaning slowly became
clear. She too, began to cry as she clung desperately to
Usagi.
"I'm all alone again," Hotaru sobbed.
"No, you're not, Hotaru. We're all here for you,"
Minako said.
Hotaru apparently hadn't heard as she broke free from
Usagi's grip and tried to stumble away only to be caught up
in a hug from Ryouga.
"Take it from me, kid. Being friendless is about the
worst thing that could ever happen to anyone. Don't turn
it down when it's offered to you in good faith," he said as
slowly rocked her back and forth.
"But, Chibi-usa..."
"I'm not saying to forget about her," Ryouga said
gently. "But rather remember her fondly, as we all do.
Remember her kind heart, her smiles and her laughter. Use
those memories as your pillar of strength during your
darkest days. Thanks to Chibi-usa, you met all of us, and
I for one am grateful to her for that."
Hotaru looked up into his face and saw only concern
there. She clutched his shirt and wept, but no longer
struggled to get away.
It was midmorning by the time Ukyou reached Juuban.
It had been touch and go with the daimon following her, but
she gained some time by jumping on top of a train and
riding it into Juuban. She didn't waste any time in her
search and she began roof hopping as she hunted for likely
placed for Ranma to be staying. More than once she passed
a building that showed signs of recent repair or fresh
patches of pavement on the streets.
"Kinda feels like Nerima," she said to herself as she
hurried along. As she leapt up to the next rooftop, she
saw a number of trees off in the distance.
"A park, it's the kind of place Ranchan would
practice at." Ukyou grinned at her luck before she
continued roof hopping in the general direction of the
park. Almost as soon as she reached the park she was able
to hear what sounded to her like a fight between Ranma and
Ryouga. She wasn't quite prepared to see six girls
watching them train under Cologne's guidance though.
"Ran-chan!" Ukyou yelled as she ran up to them.
"Ucchan? What are you doing here? How'd you find
us?" Ranma asked wearily, fully expecting her to try and
glomp onto him.
"You're hurt," Ryouga said as he pulled off one of
his bandannas and tied it over a cut on her upper arm.
"Nabiki showed us an article from a Juuban newspaper;
they had managed to get a picture of you fighting a demon
yesterday." She poked him in the ribs a few times. "You
don't look like you got an arrow stuck in you at all."
"Was that enough to make you come running over to
Juuban, or was there something else?" Cologne asked. The
girls gathered around them as well as Ukyou began
recounting what had happened earlier that morning.
"This weird guy came into my restaurant and attacked
Akane, Nabiki and I. He was wearing armor and he had a
sword. He also seemed to have this strange power over
Akane for a moment, but she resisted him. He took Akane,
but I managed to escape with Nabiki." Ukyou said as she
sat down. "Nabiki split off and headed for the dojo while
I led his pet demon this way. It won't be long before it
gets here."
"Endymion," Ranma snarled, "It has to be."
"Go home, Ukyou. It's a lot safer there," Ryouga said
in a grim voice as he adjusted one of the bracers on his
arms.
"But I want to help Ran-chan!" She protested.
"Not this time, child," Cologne said grimly. "These
foes are too far beyond your skills. Even Ranma and Ryouga
have a difficult time fighting them and their skill is
tremendously greater than yours. Go to the Nekohanten and
tell Shampoo and Mousse to be on their guard, this Endymion
may try to attack one of them next. Then go to the Tendo
Dojo and tell them that I am looking into the matter. Do
not mention that Ranma is here."
"You didn't call him son-in-law..." Ukyou gasped.
"Uh oh, looks like you're follower just caught up
with you," Ryouga interrupted as he pointed at the daimon
that was rapidly approaching.
"Scatter!" Ranma barked as he charged the daimon.
"Get Hotaru outta here Granny!" Ryouga roared as he
too leapt at the daimon.
Cologne grabbed Hotaru's hand and ran into the woods,
dragging the taller girl behind her. Out of the corner of
her eye, she saw the other girls had split up and run into
the woods, except for Ukyou who had drawn her battle
spatula and was charging the daimon as well.
"Go home, child," Cologne said as she let go of her
hand. "I have to stop Ukyou from being a fool."
Without waiting for a response from Hotaru, Cologne
spun and moved as fast as she could towards Ukyou. Before
she could get close the daimon ploughed head first into the
ground between her and Ukyou, courtesy of a throw from
Ryouga. Cologne jumped backwards as the daimon surged to
its feet and slashed at her with an arm that ended in a
large circular saw.
"Dammit Ucchan! Get outta here!" Ranma yelled as he
kicked the daimon in the chest. With a vicious looking
smirk, the daimon jabbed at him with its buzz saw arm.
Ranma bent over backwards to avoid the spinning blade and
lashed out with a foot at its knee. Although he couldn't
put much into it, he managed to cause it to stumble.
Before the daimon could recover, Ryouga had grabbed its
buzz saw arm with one hand and had snapped his belt out
with the other. With a deafening yell he brought the ki
charged blade down as hard as he could.
Ukyou blanched and backed up a step as purplish blood
sprayed from the maimed daimon.
"You'll pay for that!" It screeched as it grabbed
Ryouga by the throat and lifted him off of the ground.
"Put him down!" Ukyou yelled as she charged with her
battle spatula high overhead. With a mighty yell she
brought it down on top of the daimon's head. To her
chagrin, the daimon seemed unfazed by her attack. Ukyou
backed up a step and stared at the daimon head imprint on
her spatula in confusion for a second until Cologne roughly
tackled her out of the way.
"Foolish girl!" Cologne snapped. "You cannot hope
to defeat one of these. Not even a combined Full Shi Shi
Hokkoudan could take one down."
"But Ryouga..." Ukyou protested and was silenced by
a roar of pain from the daimon as a shaft of yellow light
cut off its other arm. Ryouga dropped heavily to the
ground and was dragged away from the daimon by Ranma as a
gigantic pink heart burst out of the trees and smashed into
the daimon. Ukyou covered her eyes for a moment to protect
them from the bright light as the daimon screamed and
disappeared.
"Go home, Ucchan," Ranma said in a tired voice as he
helped Ryouga to his feet. "Warn the others and then stay
home. It's safer in Nerima."
"Do it," Cologne ordered as she hopped over next to
Ranma. "Or do you really want me as your enemy?" She
spoke in a low, threatening voice.
Ukyou's shoulders slumped and her spatula fell from
her hands. "I get it. You hate me, don't you Ranchan?"
"Dammit! That ain't it at all! I just don't want ya
gettin' hurt tryin' to fight those things! You saw how
little your attack did!" Ranma yelled as he waved his
arms. "The Ghoul wouldn't even let Shampoo come to help.
Do us a favor and go home!"
Ukyou opened her mouth to protest again but collapsed
unconscious as Cologne idly tapped a point on her neck with
her staff.
"I'll take her back to Nerima and insure she doesn't
return. I'm sorry your allies didn't show themselves after
the fight, but they have their reasons I suppose." Cologne
said as she sat on the turf. "You should leave as well."
Ranma and Ryouga nodded before they left. Cologne
sighed and reached into her robes and produced a small
bottle of shampoo.
"I'm sorry, Ukyou, but it's the only way to prevent
you from coming back here."
Professor Tomoe looked over his latest masterpiece
and giggled with glee.
"Perfection! Absolute perfection!" He laughed as he
held up a daimon egg that was colored a deep crimson
instead of the usual white. He turned to the form strapped
down to the table and laughed again, ignoring the frantic
pleas.
"Don't worry. Soon you will understand the purpose
behind being brought here... Soon, you will be mine to
command!" He laughed as he pressed the daimon egg against
his prisoner's forehead who screamed in indescribable
agony. A red light burst from the egg as it slowly sunk
into the skin and left a ruby oval on the forehead like a
third eye. An explosion of force hurled him away from the
slab, but he continued to laugh as his newest warrior rose
from the table and then kneeled before him.
"What is your bidding, my master?" Akane asked. As
she looked up at him the light coming from the ruby in her
forehead dimmed until her face was once again lost in
shadows.
Author's Notes:
What can I say? Sorry it took so long, and I hope
you feel it's worth the effort.
All previous chapters can be found at
http://www.okami-san.net